The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Packers/Bills + Week 8 NFL Reaction
Episode Date: October 31, 2022John reacts to Week 8 NFL action, including why things are only going to get worse for the Packers, and if the Bills can finally win the AFC with home field advantage in the playoffs, why Josh McDanie...ls is a disaster with the Raiders, why the Seahawks are thriving without Russell Wilson, and why the A.J. Brown trade has been huge for the Eagles. 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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What is going on, everybody, John Middilcock, three and out podcast.
How are we doing, everybody?
What is going on?
Sunday night, Bills, destroy the Packers.
Seems a little harsh, but that game was not as close as the final score.
A lot going on today.
Raiders and Shambles, Seattle, rocking and rolling.
The Eagles, they are sure flying.
Let's hope the Phillies fly as well.
No one wants to see the Houston Astros win a game.
We'll have a big podcast for Tuesday as well,
some stuff on Belichick, Sean McVeigh,
Christian McCaffrey's going nuts, Minnesota.
Like going on in football.
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but we'll play the hits here.
Josh Allen kind of struggled tonight.
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Okay. I think we need to start with the Packers because we thought the bills were a powerhouse.
They're a powerhouse. And they are headed to, I would say it would be an ups.
now if they're not the number one overall seat.
We obviously still have a lot of season to go, but they've already beat the Chiefs, and we'll
dive into them in a second.
But the final score was 27 to 17.
The game was not that close.
The score at halftime was 24 to 7.
And honestly, it felt like it easily could have been 35 to 7.
Here's the thing.
And this is where I screwed up.
I will take the L.
Now, obviously, they've got on record with this.
It's a well-reported story.
they did not want to trade Devante Adams, right?
The Chiefs were cool with doing it.
It was partly their idea.
They had a number.
They weren't going to go above it, and they traded him.
Now, he also wanted to get traded because he had a number.
Devante Adams went to the Packers and said, I'm out.
No mas.
I'm not playing for you anymore.
So even though the NFL is a management league, they were at the spot where he was not going
to sign the contract.
And they were not going to try to fight with a guy that they really,
really respected. And they basically, I wouldn't say gave into his wishes, but they worked with
them. They found a trade partner, which we'll dive into the Raiders here in a second. That's a
fucking disaster. And he got traded. And I thought that the group with the defense and the run game
would be able to be good enough to maybe not be the consistent number one seed, but win the
division, be 11 or 12 wins, because they had the reigning back-to-back MVP. And I think I said this last
week, it's pretty clear that I don't care how good you are in the peak of your powers as a
quarterback.
You need help around you.
Now, does Aaron Rogers look quite as good as he did the last couple years?
I don't know.
For me, it's hard to say.
I mean, he's throwing two guys we've never heard of.
Let's face it.
Until the draft, you didn't know, most people listening to this did not watch the University
of Reno play college football.
They definitely did not watch North Dakota State play football.
Why?
It's impossible.
So anytime you draft wide receivers, I would say based on recent history, you've seen a lot of guys come in and have a lot of success.
But most of the receivers that have come in and had, I would say, relatively immediate success have been bigger program guys.
Whether it be a guy from Clemson, a guy from Ohio State, a guy from the SEC, a guy from the PAC 12 or the Big 10 or the Big 12, right?
They are programs that if you just a couple times during the year are screwing around on Saturday, even if you're,
you're not some diehard college football fan, you might run into C.D. Lamb, T. Igins, Justin
Jefferson, some of these players, right, Debo Samuel, D.K. Medcalf, where when you get players
like the Packers draft, you don't really know much about them. And clearly they're very dependent
on these two guys contributing at a high level. Now, they were never going to be able to fill
Devante's shoes. That's impossible. Right? You would have to hit, to get a guy to fill his shoes
immediately, even if it was just, even if it was two players, they would both have to be,
probably both guys would be catching 50 balls each and getting you five or six touchdowns,
seven touchdowns each.
Like that was never going to happen.
But I did think it was going to be much more functional than it's been because their
passing game blows.
It wasn't until the fourth quarter when Rogers threw that touchdown and it felt like
the game was well over.
And it turned out to be pretty meaningless.
Unless you bet on the Green Baybackers and it was very meaningful because it helped them
cover the spread.
But like the Packers are bad.
They are just a bad football team.
They're three and five.
Now they got a game coming up against the Lions.
And they're playing in Detroit and Dan Campbell is in Chambles.
But then I look their next three games are Cowboys Titans at the Eagles.
So let's even give them a win against the Lions, which I'll be honest,
Lions clearly aren't that good, but they play in a lot of weird games.
And if a ball just bounces their way are going to win one of these weird games.
Like the Lions aren't going 1 and 16.
They're going to go 3 and 14 or 4 and 13.
That means they're going to run into a couple wins when they are 7, 8, 10 point underdogs.
That's just a reality probably of their season.
So I think the Packers should win that game.
Historically, they've kicked the shit out of the Lions.
But I haven't seen a team like this from Green Bay when Aaron was playing well.
Because remember the season, when McCarthy got fired, Aaron looked terrible.
It looked like he had kind of checked out.
it was the biggest reason, in my opinion, that they drafted Jordan Love
because he had been trending bad McCarthy's year
and then Rogers' first year with LaFleur,
even though they went 13 and 3, it didn't feel like he was right.
Like, just a guy that has watched football players for a living for a long time now,
it felt like he was trending the other direction.
Now, that clearly wasn't the case,
but you got the Cowboys Titans and Eagles,
so now that you have a good version of Aaron Rogers,
like even if they just, if they lose two of those,
so they beat the lions and then they lose two out of the three.
You're talking about a five and seven football team.
Or excuse me, a four.
They beat the lions, win one.
Yeah, they'd be five and seven.
Five and seven, I mean, how are they ever going to go on a run?
Like, I don't see them, like, I think it's fair to say,
this team is not a playoff team.
Like, this team is screwed,
which it was pretty clear by the numbers coming in tonight,
and you went, well, they're probably not going to beat the bills.
We start looking at their schedule.
Like, it's pretty wild.
Like, they're more likely,
headed toward six and 11, then 9 and 8, you know?
And any time that you have a $50 million quarterback,
it's one thing to miss the playoffs by a game or two.
It's another thing to be drafted near the top 10.
And 6 and 11 might get you in the top 10.
And then I think you start asking yourself like,
what do you do?
I mean, what if you have a chance to kind of move up,
get one of these quarterbacks?
We saw how he reacted last time.
And I'm not blaming Rogers here.
right, for this season.
But you do have to contemplate how often you're up there in that franchise,
drafting that high.
It would make things very complicated.
And that's where they're headed because this season has been a utter disaster.
Talk about the bills.
What's weird about the bills, right, is I would say they look to me,
I guess if you go 15 and 2, you can only lose one more game.
But I think 15 and 2 is pretty doable.
I mean, they're clearly the cream of their divisions crop.
How are they going to lose?
a game in their debate.
Like, who's the dolphins?
I know they beat them, but think of what a miracle
that victory. They're beating them again.
They're beating the Patriots both times and they're clearly
beating the Jets both times. See Zach Wilson?
Like, that ain't happening.
They won today pretty convincingly
against Aaron Rogers and obviously
like we just talked about
a 6-7 win Packer team.
With Josh Allen playing about as poor game
as you're going to see him. I mean, those two
picks he threw look
like he was, you know, Teddy Bridgewater,
we were set. I've been watching Josh Allen. And he had moments in this game where it hit me,
and I tweeted this out on Elon's app, that you remember mid, if you're my age, you know,
you're born in the 80s and you grew up on Shaq. And not just like Shaq that played for the
Lakers, but the guy that played at LSU, and then the guy that got drafted by the Orlando
Magic, and then even early on before Phil Jackson, he was such a freak. You would watch
Shaquille O'Neal play. And I remember going to see him.
play when he was with the Orlando
Magic and then again early on with the Lakers
against the Sacramento Kings.
And you'd just be like, what am I
watching? The dude was so much
bigger than everyone else. He could
run and jump. He was just
he's an anomaly. He's an all-time
physical outlier. And there are times
when you're watching Josh Allen, you go,
what the fuck am I watching?
Just how fast he is.
How quick he is. Like, now you can say
Cam Newton had that. But for the most part,
Cam Newton was never consistently throwing the ball
like this.
Like, Cam Newton never went to the playoffs back-to-back years.
Like, Josh Allen is going to compete for the number one seed literally every single year.
I mean, we're watching like John Elway meets Stan Marino.
And tonight, if I had to give him a letter grade, I don't even know if they do that in schools
anymore.
To me, his letter grade would be like a C-minus.
They can win C-minus games by double-digit points.
Like, this team is really, really good.
And to me, their biggest advantage, because obviously now when you get a player of his
caliber and you're winning a lot, you're only.
going to get judged on winning big in January.
That is the standard in which they're at.
Ultimately, they're going to win a ton of regular season games for the foreseeable
future. This year, next year, going forward.
They're going to get judged. Can you win games in January?
Like, ultimately, the Chiefs, like, they proved they could do that, right?
They went to a couple Super Bowls.
They won one.
We know they can win big in January.
Now, we've also seen them.
I mean, last year, they, you know, blew it against the, uh, against the Bengals.
And, you know, that first year with Mahomes, they lost to Brady.
But we've seen them.
They beat the 49ers to win the Super Bowl.
The bill's got to win some big games.
And basically, they're going to get judged on, they're going to play the Chiefs.
Like, that game feels very unavoidable.
Can he do it?
Can Josh Allen, can Sean McDermott win that game?
And for the first time, they're going to get that game at home.
And that's a really big deal, especially with that home crowd.
Because forever, Peyton Manning, and I grew up as a kid,
loving Peyton Manning. He couldn't beat the Patriots. He couldn't win in Foxboro, but he always
had to win in Foxborough. And then finally, the year that he won the Super Bowl, they got him in
Indianapolis. And if you remember in that game, I'm pretty sure they were down like 24 to 3 and had
that crazy comeback. And then Marlon Jackson, the Michigan safety ends up picking Brady off at the end of
the game. But he finally got over the hump. And to me, the biggest reason he got over the hump,
it was going to be very, very difficult for him to win in the elements. Now, that's not going to be an
issue with Josh Allen. He can play in the elements on the road. But it is very difficult when you're
playing you're equal to beat them away from home in January, in a one-off game. And I think
the bills having the number one overall seed, like they're going to be strictly judged. And I think
we're already at that point, like as long as they don't have some catastrophic injury to Josh
Allen to Diggs on can they win two games, you know, in January. And they're going to get a buy. And then
they're going to host, who knows, the Titans team, you know, whoever.
We can pick some AFC team and then play the Chiefs.
And if they win those two games, to me, you know, they've never won a Super Bowl,
so I can't say it's Super Bowl or bust.
Like, you get to the Super Bowl, I'm sorry, that's a successful season for the
bills and just let the chips fall where they may.
Now, based on the NFC, you would say they're probably going to be the favorites.
Now, who knows, maybe them or the Eagles, I guess we'll see how the good the Eagles get.
If they play the Eagles, I mean, it's going to be difficult for the Eagles to get there as well.
But that's what they're going to be judged on.
winning those two games at home in January.
And that's fun.
If you're a Bill's fan, like,
your franchise just a couple years ago was a joke, right?
And now you're held to the standard of like,
we're just getting judged off playoff wins and losses.
That's all we're judged on.
That means you've got a pretty good operation.
John McDermott, Brandon Bean, kicking ass.
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Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.
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A win is a win.
A win is a win.
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Speak about someone that's not kicking ass.
You know, for whatever reason,
I was thinking about watching this game a little bit this morning.
Some things just don't work even though they should.
And it happens a lot in football, right?
A coordinator is a really good coordinator,
and then he becomes a head coach, and he just sucks.
And it just does not work.
And you're like, I can't put my finger on it.
And then some coordinators, even Josh McDaniels,
right? For all the guys that have come over the years with New England, you're like, yeah, Patricia,
that guy's going to be head coach, terrible head coach. Joe Judge, dude's coach special teams,
that ain't going to work. And it happens over and over and over. Or a lot of times that we can
label guys like, I can't see that working. Steve Sarkisian, it's like, yeah, this ain't going to work
in Texas. I've seen him coach a USC. Didn't work. But Josh McDaniels, even though he had some red flags,
right? Red flags. Lasted a year and a half in Denver, was a complete disaster, was run out of the
building, everyone hated him.
And then just several years ago, I guess this is about five now, he literally accepted a job,
hired coaches, and then quit.
I don't think we've ever seen that before.
It's unprecedented.
Might not ever see it again.
But once he got this job, it's like, well, it feels like he's got his shit together.
You listen to him talk.
He's impressive.
All the players that played for him, and I've met a couple personally, they always spoke highly
of him.
They thought he was really smart.
People in that New England operation always thought that he was a big reason.
why they had a lot of success.
And then you watch him
coach for the Raiders.
And he inherits a team that won 10 games.
They traded for Devante Adams.
They signed Max, or I mean,
they extended Max Crosby.
He's one of the best pastures in the league.
They have a stable quarterback.
And then they play Dennis Allen,
who, as you know where I stand on Dennis Allen,
he's not a good coach.
He has not been good this year at all.
And he beats a living crap out of Josh McDaniels.
The Raiders did not cross the 50-year-old
yard line today, the 50 yard line, until under four minutes to go in the game. And Derek had already
been yanked from the game. That was as gutless as an embarrassing performance as you will see in the
NFL. Everything they've done has been a disaster this season. They were somewhat forced into
extending Darren Waller. He's been MIA. He hasn't produced and he's been injured and he hasn't played
and that's not helping. Derek Carr is regressing. Like, he's getting worse by the week. Part
hiring Josh McDaniels, right, was
offensive guy, great offensive
schemer, him and Derek should work very
seamlessly together. You get Devante
Adams, his former college teammate
and the peak of his powers to go along with
Renfro, to go along with Josh
Jacobs, and it's just not working.
Zero points
against the Saints? Like, the Saints
defense has not been playing
well.
I just don't even know what to say.
And some things should
work, and they just don't.
We have more than enough evidence to know kind of like Josh McDaniels is a disaster as a head coach.
It ain't working.
And you can't tell me, well, he needs a year to get his guys in.
He literally just inherited a team that won 10 games last year when their coach was fired on a Monday night football game in October.
And their star wide receiver killed someone in their dog within a two week span.
Their interim coach led him to the playoffs.
Now, did they overachieve a little sure?
but the Raiders, I mean, you're looking at like a five-win team.
I looked at the standings.
They would be drafting seventh overall.
They were the fifth seed last year.
Like, that's how, what is going on?
And it's just the Josh McDaniels experiment is an utter disaster right now with the Raiders.
Speaking of something that's not an utter disaster,
one thing that kind of went viral today is Tyler Lockett said after the game that,
something that his high school coach told him, I think, it's amazing.
And this is a statement that most young kids and athletics are taught.
I think your parents try to teach you this, that it's amazing what people can accomplish when,
I don't want to screw up the quote.
Oh, it's amazing what people can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit.
Basically, you know, it's a team environment.
We're all working as one for the greater good.
And if you watch his entire statement, because a lot of,
of people like, taking shots at Russ.
I actually did not think he was taking a shot at Russ.
Because when you watch the press conference,
he's not sitting up there by himself.
He's up there with Gino Smith,
who was having a fantastic season,
and D.K. Metcalf.
And I think what he was saying was just kind of representing
who they are.
Like, when you watch the game this morning,
and I didn't watch much of it, but I watched the ending.
And Russell led the Broncos on a pretty sweet comeback
against the Jags. Trevor Lawrence was throwing some terrible
picks. And of course, when Russell Wilson is on a team and the game ends, the sideline reporter
grabs Russell Wilson. No matter good, bad, indifferent, he is the superstar on the team. He is
bigger than the team. And I've said this for a while now. You guys know where I stand. Unlike Peyton
and unlike Brady and unlike Mahomes and unlike Josh, he doesn't seem like one of the guys.
He seems kind of like a, you know, like when Justin Timberlake was in sync. It's like, yeah,
there's five guys in this band, but there's one guy carrying the thing.
That's how Russell always kind of carried himself.
And his teammates over the years have kind of, you know,
reiterated that through their own words on different podcasts,
different interviews and stuff.
Like, it's not even debatable.
But when Tyler Laka was talking,
I don't think he was specifically even thinking about Russ.
I think he was specifically thinking about the group that they have.
They're five and three.
They just beat the Giants.
Like, let's face it, I watched a lot of that game.
Seattle's pretty solid.
Like, they're pretty good.
and a big reason they're pretty good is their quarterbacks playing at a pretty high level.
But also, they don't feel, and D.K., in a weird way, is kind of understated with this squad.
Tyler Lockett's always very low-key.
And Gino Smith is very, very under the radar.
So they have a group of guys that most people, beside D.K. Metcalfe couldn't point out of a lineup.
And they're overachieving.
They're playing as a unit because they kind of had to.
Because let's face it, the last several years, the Seattle Cia,
was just like Russell and everybody else.
That's the way we talked about them.
That's the way broadcasters talked about them.
That's the way it felt when you watch them play.
It was like, oh, Russell's got to pull this out of his ass.
And he usually did.
And they would win their 10 to 12 games
and they would compete to make the playoffs.
They would be in the playoffs.
And they would get knocked out
because it just always felt like one guy.
And maybe just naturally,
because of the way Russell was,
the way Russell played,
that's how your team became.
you kind of became your superstar.
Well, now they don't really have a superstar,
and they just kind of play as a unit.
And I'm watching them, they're five and three.
Like, they look like a 10-win team.
Now, can Gino maintain this all season?
I don't know why I'd bet against him.
He's been pretty consistent all year.
Whenever I watch him, I go,
that looks like a solid NFL quarterback.
This does not feel fluky.
Like when I watch Daniel Jones or when I watch Zach Wilson,
or you watch some of these guys,
like, I don't know if that's sustainable.
You watch Gino,
throws a beautiful ball.
He's got a big-time arm.
he's been really accurate.
He's well over 70% this season.
Like when I watch them and clearly the way they talk,
but the way they play,
like I think it's going to translate.
Now do I think they'm going to win playoff games
or would they even pick them to win the division?
Like no, but I do think they can make the playoffs.
And I would actually,
I still think the 49ers end up winning the division.
But I think Seattle's probably a wild card,
especially with the shape of the end of season.
And then last but not least,
the Eagles.
Phillies,
Philly's having a good little run here.
Phillies in the World Series,
one one headed to Philly.
And the Eagles have not lost.
And their offensive line
just put it out of record.
But watching that game today,
or just highlights,
I turned it on.
I mean, that was a pretty boring game.
The Eagles beat the shit out of them.
Is everyone's going to make mistakes of their job.
Right?
And most of our jobs,
no one knows about our mistakes.
I've made mistakes.
You've made mistakes.
We've all made them.
But no one knows besides maybe our boss at a company
or maybe our partner at a company
or, you know, in a marriage,
maybe just your wife, when you're in a super public job, like being a general manager of an NFL team,
it's impossible not to make a mistake. It's literally impossible. Like I said, it's literally
impossible to not make mistakes in life. So when you're a general manager of a team in the NFL,
especially a team in a major market, your mistakes are magnified tenfold just because your fan base
is massive. People care about your team. It's a big deal. And you actually get, they end up
talking more about your mistakes than they do sometimes about your successes because
I think humans in a weird way can be naturally little negative and it's impossible to avoid.
Now, some mistakes are bigger than others, right?
Missing on a first round pick or missing on a huge free agent signing is much worse than, you know,
missing on a third round pick or making a bad trade where you flipped a fourth round pick.
We all agree with that.
And sometimes in a draft, when you pick a player,
who then the following pick is a superstar is one that your fan base doesn't live down.
And Howie Roseman is clearly one of the best GMs in the league.
And he made a major mistake with Jalen Rager.
But Howie's skill, and I think Belichick is the best at this,
and I think Howie's not far behind,
is he will not hold on for dear life.
And any successful person always talks about the best thing you can do with a mistake
is pivot off of it, not hold on forever.
and a natural thing for any general manager to do is hold on too long.
Why?
Because I drafted the player.
And the reason I drafted the players is because once upon a time, once upon a time, I believed in them.
The problem is like once you get the information that that guy is not good, you got to pivot.
And when you take the wrong player and then the player that you could have had becomes Justin Jefferson, that one's hard to shake.
But Howie wasn't just able to shake it.
He basically found an equivalent of Justin Jefferson.
He was able to kick Jalen Reger to the curb because he used his first round pick to get A.J. Brown.
And A.J. Brown, I look today is 25, just a couple years older than Justin Jefferson.
So it's not like they acquired, like Devante and Tyree Kilt. Those guys are 29 years old.
Those guys in their contract are going to be well over 30, 30, 31, 32.
A.J. Brown is, you know, still five years away. He just turned 35, like three months ago.
he gets AJ Brown, who right now is basically 40 catches, 650 yards, five touchdowns,
through seven games.
I mean, he's on pace for a massive fucking year.
And you watch him, total eye test guy.
So was the Jalen Rager mistake bad?
Of course it was.
Do you think Howie knew it a lot quicker than he publicly acknowledged when he traded him?
Of course he did.
But he didn't keep forcing it.
Like, I hope this guy's going to figure it out.
I hope this guy's going to figure it out.
I hope this guy's going to figure it out.
the following year he drafts Devante Smith
and then the following year he flips a one for A.J. Brown.
And now he has his team and mainly his quarterback
looking like a star.
Like you watch, and I understand Pittsburgh's bad,
but you watch Jalen play with A.J. Brown
and you just go, this works.
This is going to translate.
They have chemistry.
Like this is just like you don't,
I don't care how good you are.
Like part of like Tanny Hill and A.J.
Brown, like Tanyhill was viewed as a pretty good quarterback.
Most people, including myself, never thought in a million years that Jalen Hertz could be as good
as Ryan Tanyhill one day, like a couple years ago.
I didn't think that was possible.
I didn't think he threw the ball well enough.
Yet they surrounded them with top flight receivers, even after they missed on a first round wide receiver,
and they upgraded.
Because you could argue that, of course, if they could do it over, they just would have taken
Justin Jefferson.
But it's hard, like, is there that big of a gap between Justin Jefferson and A.J. Brown?
because based on this year,
AJ Brown is a top three or four wide receiver in the league.
And on days like today,
he can be the best wide receiver in the league.
He can be every bit as good as Justin Jefferson.
I mean, he can be,
him and Christian McCaffrey,
we're literally the best players
in the National Football League today.
That was an unstoppable force.
And then you watch him, you go,
who is covering this guy?
His physicality, his skills,
his ball skills,
just how smooth he is,
his cohesion with his quarterback.
I mean, the Eagles,
Man, they are, their offensive firepower if their quarterback's going to play like that with Devante
Smith and A.J. Brown. And obviously their tight ends good. Their running back's good. Their offensive
lines good. Their defense is improved. They, uh, they look like the real deal, man. They look like
the real deal.
The volume.
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
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help an a cappella band with their
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Imagine an Olympics where doping is not
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It's the enhanced games. Some
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Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.
I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.
Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This is an I-Hart podcast.
Guaranteed Human.
