The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Aaron Rodgers, Chiefs-49ers, and where Colin was right & wrong

Episode Date: January 20, 2020

Colin explains why he was never sold on the Green Bay Packers, why Aaron Rodgers isn't one of his favorite quarterbacks, what to expect when the Chiefs play the 49ers, and where he was right and wrong over the weekend. Guests include Antonio Cromartie, A. J. Hawk, Trent Dilfer, and Tony Gonzalez. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports, Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching herd. Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go on a Monday.

Absolutely packed. Live in Los Angeles, this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are on IHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Week from today, we're in Miami, baby. One hour from now, Colin Wright, Colin wrong. Love shows like today. Love shows like today.

Joy Taylor off a weekend in New Orleans and watching football games joins us. Joy, how are you? I'm great. I am so excited for the Super Bowl. Sometimes you kind of root a little bit, you know, kind of easier to root for Mahomes than Tanna Hill. I'm not going to lie about that. Look, we got what we wanted. Yes.

We got what we wanted. But I think it's going to be a very interesting game. So let me start with a team I didn't buy all year. I said all year with Green Bay. I don't care about the record. I don't care about stats. I just know what my eyes tell me, and this is a 9 and 7 football team.

Masquerading is 14 and 3. And yesterday is a prime example of Green Bay. Pushed all over the field. If you look at the stats, 7 yards of play, Aaron 31 and 39, had more first downs, great on third down, two for two on fourth, time of possession. Green Bay, if you just looked at the stats,

twice they played the Niners. They were outscored 50 to 9. nothing in the first half. Green Bay is a finesse team, and the stats and their record didn't fool my eyes. I didn't buy them all year. Their defense is opportunistic, but we've all watched great defenses before. They jumped through the television set. They punch you in the forehead.

This defense doesn't scare anybody. It didn't want any part of those running backs yesterday. Half the guys in the back end of that defense looked intimidated. I watched a fight in the Octagon this weekend, Cowboy Soroni and Connor McGregor. Octagon gets very small. When you're the second toughest guy in the octagon, it gets really small. And San Francisco is like Connor McGregor. They'll take anybody on any time.

And Green Bay looked a lot like Cowboy Soroni. Let me get out of here. I'm not comfortable. I think Green Bay got very lucky this year. I don't think they're untalented. They won their division and that takes something. But Green Bay got lucky. They faced Patrick Mahomes or they faced Kansas.

Santa City. Mahomes was out. Their division unraveled, the bears and the lions. They got lucky in the playoff. They were healthy all year. Then in the playoffs, Minnesota upsets the Saints and they get a Seattle team instead of the Saints. Seattle fell apart two weeks earlier. Everything went their way. I always trust my eyes. Then I go to stats to see if the stats tell me what I think my eyes tell me. You could not watch Green Bay this year get pushed around by Philadelphia, pushed around by the Chargers, pushed around by San Francisco. Hell, they were an eight-point underdog at 14-and-3. An 8-point underdog. That's insane.

I don't even know. Has there ever been a 14-3 team that's over a touchdown underdog against Jimmy Garoppolo? Not like they were facing Mahomes. Like, I get 8-point underdog to Mahomes to Jimmy Garoppolo? come on now to a young 49ers team do you know that green bay only beat one playoff team all year that had their starting cornerback Minnesota and in the two games they faced san francisco and got into the octagon 106 yards for erin rogers a pick and a 52 passer rating and i've said this about erin rogers in the first half let me say this about erin rogers he's very good obvious he's very talented but i think his

mythology now is greater than the reality. Did you see him in the first half? Do you think he was good? He was missing on little stuff out into the flat. He had fumbles. He had picks. He played it safe. Aaron's talented.

I'm not denying that. But I said this going into the game, you better crank it up. You better throw some haymakers against this team because they're going to smell it. Just like an octagon. The tougher guy in the octagon can smell the fear. They say animals can smell fear. Like San Francisco could smell Minnesota's fear a week ago. They could smell that Minnesota didn't want to get Kirk Cousins in harm's way.

San Francisco could smell the fraudulent Packers fear. Dumpoffs, quick hits, get out. Little Cam Newton there with Aaron Rogers' fumbles lost. I'm not getting in that pile. I got nothing against Green Bay. But there are team. Remember this year we got into this big thing? Everybody was freaking out.

can't believe that somebody is going to win the NFC East, the Cowboys, and the Eagles, and they're going to be eight and eight. They should have to go on the road. Time out. Philadelphia went to Lambo and rolled Green Bay. They're not worthy of a home playoff game? I can make an argument Green Bay, based on my eyes, was never worthy of a home playoff game. If Seattle didn't get banged up on the O line and at running back,

Seattle should have been hosting Green Bay. If it's all about what you think and record and this and that, listen, I got nothing against Green Bay. I'll say it again. But I'm not a stat guy, and I'm not a guy that looks at all the glossy numbers and stats, and you were telling me all this stuff. All I know is when I watch Green Bay play San Francisco twice, they were Cowboy Soroni.

They had no interest being in that octagon. Now, Aaron Rogers says we are very, very, and for the record, what have I said about Aaron Rogers now? He doesn't like discomfort. He doesn't like playing on the road. But he thinks they're very close to San Francisco. Well, it looks pretty big. You know, it got us a couple times, but I don't think it's that big. I think we're really close.

I think we're just a, you know, just a little more consistent performance away from consistently playing with. these guys, but, you know, we got them at home their place twice. I've said this before, you know, we got to get one of these at home. It's a different ball game. It's different, you know, playing in 20-degree weather and snow, cold and wind is a different type of game than playing here. Okay. All right.

Well, you could earn that had you beaten Philadelphia at home. Could earn that if you'd have gone on to San Francisco and one on the road. Yeah, you got to win. those uncomfortable games. For the record, I think Green Bay is the poorest coached, the least talented, and the least physical of the final four teams that survived in the NFL playoffs. So is that close? You make the call. I don't think it is. All right, let me shift to a happier story. I love Andy Reid. I love smart. I love tough. I love clever. I like I like creative. I like talented. And I like Andy Reid. Check, check, check, check, check. I'm very happy for them. One of the things I love about excellence, and I've said this before, I don't root for the underdog. I root for great. I rooted for Kobe. I rooted for Shaq. I rooted for Michael Jordan. I rooted for the warriors. I root for the Yankees. I want to watch history. I root for great.

I root for excellence. You want to root for George Mason, knock yourself out. I root for Duke. I want 36 and O. I like to see Kentucky go on rolls. We're different that way. I've always argued everybody plays the lottery for the same reason. We all want to be rich.

When we don't win, we just hate what we're not. But there's nobody playing the lottery because they want to be middle class. We're all rooting for great. We want to be great and we want to be excellent. We want to eat excellent. We want to fly excellent. We want to stay at excellent. What I love about Patrick Mahomes is that he's great and great creates clarity.

Half the teams in this NFL can't have an honest conversation with themselves about their quarterback. Chicago's trying to convince himself we got the right guy. Half the teams in this league use qualifiers to explain their quarterback. Well, he's good at home. If you give him a great tight end and an excellent running game, You watch Kirk Cousins against San Francisco pick up two first downs in the first half. Compare him to Mahomes. You saw Ryan Tannehill this weekend trailing, trying to go toe-to-to-again's Patrick Mahomes.

What'd that look like? Kansas City for years. You know Alex Smith is good enough? No, he's not. He's good. But he's not good enough. Patrick Mahomes creates clarity. For the next 10 years, Andy Rehn's.

Andy reads Colin and designing the plays. Mahomes is slinging it. They'll draft great weapons. This is the offensive bar. Stop going into rooms. What do they say? The hardest person to be honest with is yourself. Stop trying to convince yourself the Tanna Hills and the Trubiskees and the Kirk Cousins.

Or even, I would argue, the Cam Newton's. This is the bar. Okay? Well, well, Colin, once you pay Mahomes big money, they won't have. have the weapons. You're right, but like Russell Wilson, he'll still make them great. You don't, you don't think Travis Kelsey's numbers are inflated because of Mahomes? I like Tyreek Hill too. You think he put, you put him with every other quarterback in the league and Tyreek Hill is getting that ball softly in his hands, Sammy Watkins perfectly timed? Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong.

They'll have to move off some of their players because of Patrick Mahomes' salary. That's okay. Russell Wilson's never had a great receiving core, never had a great offensive line, and he's one play from two Super Bowls. The NFL, unlike the NBA, is not beholden to one player for ratings. But I'll tell you this, if I ran a network, I would put Patrick Mahomes with Andy Reed on television every week. I'd be fighting for him for Monday night football. I'd be fighting for him for Thursday night football.

And I also think Mahomes, not only is he a great talent, certainly he benefits from Andy Reed and the playmakers. We all get the game here. Nobody lives on an island. As good as LeBron is, he was much better with D. Wade and Chris Bosch than Matthew Delavadova. Right? Like we all get Kobe Bryant was way better with Shaq and Palgassol

than the years he didn't have either. We all get that, right? Nobody lives on an island. Everybody needs help. But I would say Mahomes does remind me a little bit of Steph Curry in Kansas City, Golden State. Steph Curry would be great in any time. But it does help that he plays in the league that you can't hand check, and he's a smaller

guard, and that coaches are encouraging three-point shots. It plays to his strengths. And it does help that Patrick Mahomes doesn't play in 1960, 70, 80, or early 90s, where coaches really believe passing gets you in trouble. It's a passing league. You can't touch receivers. That allows Kansas City to go get track guys, run as fast as you can. They don't worry about getting hit, and Patrick's got the golden arm.

This is the way football, if you look at the rules designed by the NFL or the NBA, the NBA wants you to look like Golden State last year, and they want you to look like Kansas City now. Hard not to root for them. They check all the boxes. They're smart, they're fun, they're clever, they're cool, they're tough, they're exciting, and they're going to Miami. Arrow heading to Miami.

Here's Andy Reid after. Where's a trophy? Listen, first of all, I'm so happy for the Hunt family and bringing that trophy back here. Wow. How great is that? That's right. That's right.

Fired up. Fired up to go to Miami. You need to get on a diet so I can fit in my clothes so we can go do our thing. But very proud, very proud of everybody and the job that they did. Can't wait. I'll talk about who I'm rooting for.

A tough one, because I love Andy Reed and I love Mahomes, but I just have so much respect for the Shanahan family, Jimmy Garoppelow, we were right on that. 45 minutes from now, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. Coming up next, I know it's a tough day for you, Aaron Rogers' Palm Waivers. I'd like to add some context to that coming up next. Again, Colin Wright, Wrong, 45 minutes from now.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

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And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

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Little as four months. Classes are live online. Go to mycomputercareer. dot edu and take the free career evaluation today. That's a great idea. Go to my computer career.edu. 319 person. That's a great idea.

I should have thought of that. That's a great idea. I think you landed in the right career. I did, but that's a way. But that is a good career to be in these days. Quick, I can go online, do it. So, you know, here's the way it works in our business. Once somebody gets famous and popular, if you offer any criticism, you're a

hater. I would vote Aaron Rogers into the Hall of Fame first ballot. he's not one of my favorite six or seven quarterbacks I've ever seen. I like Breeze better for a lot of leadership reasons. And I think leadership is huge. I think it's one of the reasons I like the Sean Watson and Mahomes and Carson Wentz and Goff. I think they have the right temperament.

But Aaron's great. But I would say I was the first national guy about seven, eight years ago that offered criticism, that he was condescending. He could be moody. You know, he had family members call him out. Sometimes he's aloof. So the pom-pom. waivers. Every time Aaron loses a big game, the

pom-pom waivers come out. What about the defense? What about the defense? Let's revisit this. First of all, is it the defense's fault that Aaron Rogers in two games against San Francisco didn't score a point? I mean, none. Is that the defense's fault? Aaron Rogers did not play well

in the first half. A couple of fumbles. He had a pick. He wasn't real self-aware in the pocket. I thought he was inaccurate even on swing passes. Something else. His numbers dropped this year with Mike McCarthy. Stop blaming Mike McCarthy. Took another shot at him yesterday.

Stop blaming Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy's a better football coach than Matt LaFleur. Get over it. One of them's got a Super Bowl. One of them couldn't score points this year consistently in the third quarter. Here's another thing. Aaron's not a very good road quarterback.

He's not. He's 500. And he's bad as a road quarterback in the playoffs. Amongst his contemporaries, Tony Romo, Breeze, Russell Wilson, Brady, Manning, Ben. he's easily got the worst road record. He's got a worse road record percentage than Matt Ryan.

And Matt Ryan's numbers don't fall off a cliff like Aaron's can on the road. I'll get to that in a second. Here's another thing of the 12 playoff teams, only Buffalo. Buffalo with Josh Allen had more three-in-outs this year. Aaron doesn't help his defense at times because Aaron, as a GM once told me, he's Jay Cutler with much more talent. He's moody. He can be condescending.

He's not liked by all teammates. We've had multiple call him out. He can be thin-skinned. He can be defensive. He can be aloof. Here's another thing. Aaron bails. He bails on coaches.

He bailed on McCarthy last year. He bails on plays. He led the NFL in throwaways last year. He just bails on stuff. I quit. He quit on McCarthy. He quits on plays. He's quit on teammates.

He won't throw to anybody on this team, not named Jimmy Graham or Devante Adams. That's why they only buffalo of the 12 playoff. teams had more three and outs. Aaron bails on people, coaches, assistants, plays, teammates that he doesn't like. You can't do that if you want to win on the road. I'll give you an example. Russell Wilson has a great road record. Russell Wilson could constantly bail on his coach. Pete Carroll calls plays like he's Blake Bortles. Seattle's play calling against Green Bay Stunk. They treat Russell Wilson like he's less than Andy Dalton. They try to

configure some running game when they're on their fifth string running back. Seattle rarely has a good offensive line. They've had to fire multiple offensive line coaches. They never, ever, it feels like to me, get it right at wide receiver or tight end. They either get guys like, you know, Jimmy Graham too late or receivers you've never heard of. And Russell Wilson never bails on him. He supports his coaches. He supports his teammates.

He supports the plays. He fights to the end on every play. You may not like Russell Wilson. Has there ever been a player that fights for every inch on every play? I mean, the kid is so... But that's why Russell Wilson's good on the road. Because on the road, you don't get the weather, you don't get the crowd, you got to fight through stuff. And Russell Wilson's a fighter.

Aaron's not. This bails on a play. This bails on a receiver. I don't trust that guy. I don't trust this coach. I don't trust that play. That's why he's a bad road quarterback. Tony Romo was a fighter.

Breeze is a fighter. Brady's a fighter. Manning's a fighter. a fighter. Aaron's not. Aaron likes it when it's all comfortable, and the road isn't about comfort. He's a bailer.

I've worked with people like this. Road gets tough, boom, sea crest out, exit stage right. And I think that goes a long way in explaining why is such a bad road quarterback and why, next to Josh Allen, Green Bay, with Aaron Jones, with Aaron Rogers, with clever bat, Matt LaFleur, with Devonthe Adams. Only Buffalo had more three. And out? What? It's what happens when you have a bailer at quarterback.

Oh, you don't like him. It's not about that. I think he's a first ballot, Hall of Fame, but talent has a ceiling. Quarterback is about toughness, body language, fighting, leadership. There's a million things it's about. It's not just about, hey, this guy's got a great arm. I mean, yes, that's awesome. Jay Cutler had a great arm.

I mean, Jeff George had a great arm. Aaron's better than both, obviously. But the palm-pom-pom waivers, do we have it, Aaron Rogers, but the palm-wam waivers out in full force today for Aaron Rogers. So, you know, go to your local radio station near Milwaukee to defend Aaron Rogers. Here's Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. I was a pom-pom-pom waver all season. Well, no, no, you weren't a pom-pom-waiver for Aaron Rogers. You liked, you weren't a pompo. You liked the team. I like the team because of Aaron Rogers. There's nothing wrong with that. But am I wrong on the-

I mean, look, they were in the NFC championship game. Everybody has to get some breaks along the way. I did not like that performance, obviously, yesterday. But San Francisco is a way better team, and that was obvious. Yeah, they are. Very early. Yeah. So they were never in that game.

So Jason Garrett has landed a new job. The Giants have hired the former Cowboys head coach to be their offensive coordinator next season. Giants hope Garrett's experience as a head coach and play caller will be an asset for their first time head coach Joe Judge. he hasn't called offensive plays since 2012, though. I know you don't really love this. I think it's the strangest thing in the world.

It would be like being the frontman for you two. They replace you. And then I go to the TikTok in to watch a music festival and you're playing backup to somebody. And I'd be like, I mean, I don't know if I would classify the Giants as the TikTok in backup. But look, I think he just wants to coach. All right.

He probably feels like he has something to prove. he wants to coach. Some guys just, that's just what he wants to do. Now, you and I would probably just take a year off, relax a little bit, decompressed, you know, wait and see what the next bigger opportunity is because he's clearly going to get another head coaching job. He should. Should get another coaching job. I mean, he can still do that while still while being the head coach, or I'm sorry, while being the offensive coordinator for the Giants. It's not like he's out of the coaching search because he's took this job. I just think you think it's a step down. I think if you want a coach, you're going to take what's out there.

And this is not a bad job. Offensive coordinator for the New York Giants is not a bad job. He's 13 and 6 against the Giants. I'm arguing it's a bad job for Jason. Garrett, it's not a bad job at all for a football coach. Yeah, but to me, I just think he wants to coach. Like, I think he just doesn't want to take any time off. That's probably what it is.

So Tom Brady is a free agent, and there's a lot of speculation about where he's going to play next season. He has spent his entire career with the Patriots, but he says he's keeping an open mind. I'm open-minded about the process, and, you know, at the same time, you know, I love playing football, and I want to continue to play and do a great job. So I'm looking forward to what's ahead, whatever the future may bring. I'll embrace it with open arms. That's not entirely committal to New England.

This is his first time not playing an AFC title game since 2010. Very political. It was very, I mean, I don't think he gains anything by saying he's going to do one thing or the other, and then he changes his mind. You don't want to put yourself in a corner if you're Tom Brady. You have all the leverage in the world right now with the Patriots. But he is making it public. He's once again making himself available for those who ask about it.

Right. He was seen talking to Mark Davis at UFC on Saturday night. I don't know if that means anything. But this is what we're going to get into because it's what we do with free agency. Every little breadcrumb matters. But I think this is a fun story. I told you before the season, I'm done trying to predict when he's going to retire. Right.

I think this is a fun story. story. Well, it's because it's how, when would this ever happen, that he would be a free agent and it's Tom Brady. Now, I don't think anyone thinks Tom Brady is what he used to be. Like, he's been playing for two decades, so that that's going to happen. And I don't think that the market is that big

for him. I do think there's some moves that could be made that would shake up the NFL quite a bit. For example, if he came to L.A., play with the Chargers, not only would that be huge for that organization because obviously they're having, you know, some issues selling tickets and buzz and all that in Los Angeles. Our next, our next

was drafted by the Chargers who have never been big spenders, but I think as they move into the new stadium, they may have to... Yeah, they're going to have to probably stop doing that. Yeah, it's a bigger stage now. It's a little different in Los Angeles. Finally, despite interest from teams looking to move up in the draft, it appears the Bengals are reportedly not making any plans to trade the first overall pick. I say this with great disappointment because obviously my hope is that Miami's going to give them

whatever they want to move up. But there were some rumors that Carolina, obviously, hired Joe Brady that they were looking to try and make a move to move up in the draft. And Miami has a ton of picks in this draft. But all signs point to Cincinnati as Burroughs landing spots this year. His dad talked about it last week saying he would play there. And it just doesn't seem like that's going to be going. He's not going to refuse to play with the Bengals.

The Bengals have had top three or four picks so many times. God, they've just had a lot of great picks. I mean, yeah, that's not a good thing. You're picking at the high end of the draft. I was not thrilled about the idea of him going to Cincinnati, not because of anything against Cincinnati. It's just they haven't shown the ability to elevate talent there. I would trade out of that pick, get a bunch of it.

You got Baltimore? You need more than Joe Burrow. You need a lot more than Joe Burrow. If I could get three picks out of that, I'd do it in one second. By the way, this, you could get another quarterback. This draft may have 60 legitimate NFL wide receivers or 40. You can get wide receivers in the fifth, six, six. around this year. You need picks.

They could potentially get a lot of them, but is it worth it if they don't have the guy at quarterback? I don't know. I'm Cincinnati. I'm probably not doing that because you do need the guy. He's just not going to be enough. That's the issue. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. For almost half his career, four out of 11 years, he was a pro bowler again drafted by the San San Diego Chargers. You may know him also playing for the New York Jets, India, Arizona. Antonio Cromarty is now joining us, the former All-Pro multiple-time,

all-pro defensive back. So we got our Super Bowl set. I want to first talk about defense, okay? Let's talk a little bit about it. I do worry, I think Richard Sherman's had a very good year. I was wrong on that. I thought it felt like Seattle was sort of the end of it. What did he tear?

Achilles. Achilles. And I thought, you know, it's the worst position you could play. It's corner. but I'm wrong. He negotiated his own deal. He had a hell of a year. He's a great verbal, high IQ leader.

Let's talk defense. As somebody that was in the league for 11 years, how much easier is it to be in the secondary when you have a defensive front like San Francisco's? Oh, it's a lot easier. I mean, you got to think about it. The year that I had 10 picks, 2007, I had Sean Merriman, Sean Phillips, Luis Castile,

Igor Shansky, Jamal Williams, I had those old guys. So you have to think when you got a pass rush and you can sit back in your zone coverage, it's easy. That's easy money.

Because it's a timing. You know the rush is going to get there. The only thing I do is just sit back, wait for the ball. Know the route's not going to be more than deeper than 12 yards because the quarterback trying to get the ball out quick. Yeah, so you know as a defensive back,

it's mostly short underneath routes. That's what you got to throw. Definitely. When you look at San Francisco offensively. You know, listen, if you don't have to throw, don't. It reminds me of Mike Shanahan's offenses. You know, they didn't ask Jimmy Garoppolo to throw much. Do you have a problem with kind of the restrictive conservative 49er offensive game plan? No. I mean, it worked for the Titans for two playoff games. And you go and throw the ball, I think what, 20, 20 sometimes.

So, I mean, it's just the point of when something is going well and they can't stop it, why I go to the other well. I'm going back to that same well over and over and over. I mean, they almost ran for almost 300 some yards in that game. It had 160 I mean, say, you know, the running back had 160 yards in the first half. I'm not going to stop running the ball.

You know what I noticed yesterday? Most DBs, you were a physical DB. Derwin James, Chargers, physical. Richard Sherman can be very physical. Deon Sanders was great. You didn't want any part of tackling. Green Bay's secondary.

Savage is a hitter. The other guy's little more finesse. I noticed early in this game. San Francisco started running downhill. You could sense this is a power team. We're going to go right at you. And I think it sort of changed the way Green Bay play. I said this earlier.

You can always tell who's the bully in the octagon. Because when you're the second toughest guy in the octagon, the octagon gets really small. And I feel like Green Bay is just a finesse team. and they were exposed against the toughest team in the NFC? Well, I feel like, I don't think it was, that thing they got more exposed to a, they can't stop a zone,

they can't stop a running game. They can't. The outside zone, they can't do that. Why do they not have the personnel? I don't, I don't know. They couldn't get off blocks. If you watch the game, they did not get off blocks at all. Everyone was attached to a block,

couldn't get off a block, couldn't make a tackle. I mean, when you look at it, what's the kid name, Monster? Yeah, for San Francisco. He on a 30-yard touchdown, he never got touched. No one touched him on a 30-yard touchdown. That's hard to do. He put his foot in the dirt on his own read and nobody touched him for 30 yards.

That's unheard of. How you not get touched? Well, to your point, the zone running game, Mike Shanahan hands at the Kyle. If you can't get off blocks, that's what, by the way, that's what scouts look for. Can you get off blocks? Kenny Clark can, by the way. Kenny Clark's an unbelievable player for Green Bay. most of the Packers' defensive players could not,

and the very physical 49ers took advantage of it. Before I get to Kansas City. Listen, Aaron's great, Hall of Famer, I get it. But here's my thing about him. He's a bailer. He can bail on coaches. He can bail on plays. He can bail on players.

He can be a little condescending with people. He does. He rubs some people the wrong way. Of the 12 teams in the playoffs, Green Bay, only Buffalo had more three-and-outs. When I look at Green Bay, it feels like an all-or-nothing office. offense. Aaron will burn you, but they don't, they get, there's a lot of quick drives with them. That's what it feels like. What does it feel like to you?

Well, when you're watching the, when you watch Green Bayplay, it was everything is built off big plays also. So they don't have a big play in that drive. They won't, they can't go down the field and just actually drive down the field. It's a ding and don't team. And when you have a, when you have, when you look at that game yesterday, the front four of San Fran didn't give him time to sit back in the pocket. Even when he tried to get out, get out of the pocket. He couldn't get out in the pocket. Something that he normally do is to extend the plays. And it just showed

that it was a mediocre offense. It actually really showed. It really does. Yes. They throw to one guy. It is a very mediocre offense. You know why he only throws him one guy? Because he don't trust the other guys. That's right. It's all about trust with him. If you drop a pass on him, I don't think he'll throw the ball to you again the rest of the game. Yeah.

Let's shift to Patrick Mahomes. Let's go back to his early career. First of all, he got drafted to a good team. He didn't go number one. We all love the Joe Burroughs and we all love the cams that go number one. But you often go to a bad team.

Yes. So Patrick slides down and he goes to a good team and a good GM and a good coach. That helps. Secondly, he sat. How much value does that create? He creates a lot of value

because what it does for him it takes a lot of pressure off of them, first of all. Now he gets a chance to actually learn the offense, learn the inside and out, learning the better than the back of his hand. And it gives him a chance to actually, once he gets to take the realms of the offense, he can start implementing things that he wants, or he likes and what he don't like.

And I think when you can get a quarterback that can come in at a young of an age and play the way he's played, you can tell those things in the offense that he doesn't like and there's things in the offense that he takes to exception to what he does very well. Of course, he throws a deep ball very well. Yeah. So a lot of passes are wet 15, 20 yards down the field. You don't really have a lot of thinking don't passes unless it's down to the running back. So it just shows you what he's capable of of and they trust him and they trust his arm.

You know, it's really interesting you said that. I read a story this year about Adam Gase and Sam Darnold. And about halfway through the season, Jets got blown out. Yeah, the quarterback whisper. Yeah. And Darnold went to Gase. I read a story and said, listen, we're doing about 15 things I don't like. Here's what I like to do.

And it would be like making me talk about sports I don't care about. football and basketball. Those are the sports I love. And to your point, when you get a sit for a year and practice, you can tell Andy, Andy can watch you, develop stuff for you, and you can communicate, I just don't do well here, and I do well there. So you played for a variety of

quarterbacks. You played for a veteran quarterback, young quarterbacks, old quarterbacks. Yes. All quarter. Even Mahomes has, you know, it's funny about Mahomes. Even he's got little weaknesses. Sometimes his arm is so gifted. He gets sloppy on short stuff. Yes, he do. He'll sidearm stuff and you're like oh no Patrick guys he's better on his 28 yards seam

yeah I've seen it a long time yeah I mean if you look at the throw to tarry kill in the end zone the ball didn't even go over the DB helmet it went right past his helmet it's just little throws like that it's just you can't you can't teach you're asking a home run hitter to bunt sometimes he's not great in the short stuff okay just your overall sense of the Super Bowl the dominating run game for San Francisco. This is a classic chess match and the D-line against the fireworks show. Gut feeling who wins? Kansas City.

About seven. All right. Good game. Good game. I think it's going to be a high-scoring game. I think it's going to be somewhere around 2835 or 2837, something. Somewhere around that. It's going to be a high-scoring game.

I think a total average probably going to be over 60 points between these two teams. But I think San Fran can't go ahead thinking they're going to run the ball. Tennessee tried that too. Yeah, there's limitations. There's-Lan. Kansas City's defensive front is better than people think. Well, I think the add of Terrell sucks. It added a little more fire to it.

Not only that, but you get 32, Ty and Matthew, be able to play the way he wants to play. He's free. They just let him wrong. Yeah, and he's great at that. And he's great at that. Antonio Cromarty, good seeing you, bud. Thank you.

Coming up next, why you should copy, why it's okay to steal and borrow. In football, especially. That's coming up. Live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context,

and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast,

Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist. Kier 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. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose. On my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clifford Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clifford Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Come on out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio.

app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows.

Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exactly. exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court licking his fingers while he got the bar like, you go through a training

camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tommy John believes in the three Fs of fabric fit and function. Luxurious lightweight fabrics. Go to

Tommyjohn.com right now. The code's heard, H.E.R.D. for 20% off top of the hour. Colin right, Colin wrong. Trent Dill for next hour. I want to thank Antonio Cromartie for stopping by. I know a lot of you hipsters out there, you are just too cool to copy. I'm above borrowing.

I do not steal. But there's an old saying, if you steal from one person, you're a thief. But if you steal from everybody, it's just called research. The smartest most successful people I've ever met are not trying to be unique. What they're trying to do is watch everything they can

and read everything they can from smart people and then take concepts and schemes, not just football, life from other people. They don't get caught up and being too cool to borrow, too cool to do anything but be unique. If you want to be Picasso, knock yourself out, there's one. But there's a lot of stuff out there to borrow from other smart people. Kyle Shanahan is the best young coach in football, not Sean McVeigh, and he has borrowed a lot from his pops, Mike Shanahan. The Niners do remind me of some of those Shanahan Denver teams. Good offensive, defense,

line. Don't spend a fortune on running backs. Plenty available. Be intense, but pro player. Have a capable, very good quarterback, but don't be beholden and sometimes take the ball out of his hand for long stretches. Mike Shanahan made a lot of no-name running backs, household names in America in Denver, and Kyle Shanahan's doing it too. George Kittled, by the way, tight end was a fifth rounder. They don't have a first round-wide receiving talent. Jimmy Garoppolo was second round, and most of you still don't like him. Rahim Most of the running back is on his seventh team. Tevin Coleman was a third round guy.

Copy success. Borrow stuff. Stealing from one person. That's plagiarism. Steal from everybody. It's called research. The best football coaches, I can remember years ago, talking to Bobby Bowden, the legendary Florida State coach.

He goes, I come home after we win. and he goes, you know, I get a nice tea and I get in my lounge recliner and I watch Oregon football. He goes, oh, they got so many clever plays out there. He goes, I know the other coaches are gone to bed and I'm out there stealing plays from them. And I'm like, of course you are.

It's okay. Don't be too proud to borrow. Don't be too cool to say, you know, that's somebody else. She figured it out before I did. He figured it out before I did. I'm going to implement this stuff and then put my own little wrinkle on it. Kyle Shanahan reminds me so much

of his dad. Of course, DNA shared. Of course they would. But their styles are very, very similar with modern wrinkles, and I love it. By the way, this is an interesting Super Bowl. This is the Super Bowl I wanted. I picked San Francisco to win and cover the spread. I pick Kansas City to win. I thought it would be close. But in the end, Kansas City's got, you know, really good players and it was a tough matchup. This is also one of these Super Bowls where it's tough for me, because I don't really root for teams, believe it or not. I root for people I like. I root for smart and interesting and fun and people I respect. Russell Wilson, Tom Brady. You know, LeBron James, I like to see him, Steph Curry. I root for people more than I root for teams. This Super Bowl, with Andy Reed, who I absolutely

adore in Kansas City, I think Andy Reid's brilliant. I think he's the best play designer since maybe Bill Walsh. I think he's a Hall of Fame coach. It's his second Super Bowl. He's taken now two teams and two conferences. Only six people have taken more than one team to a Super Bowl. And then I got John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan. I know Mike Shanahan. I love him. I love Kyle. John Lynch. I covered him in Tampa. I work with him at Fox. And I text him occasionally after he wins big games and after the draft because he knows I'm a mock draft dork. This is a very hard Super Bowl for me. I'm going to enjoy the hell out of it. And I don't, I mean, I guess I've got a little lean toward Andy Reed, but I'm really happy for these teams.

I think San Francisco is the better team. I really do collection of everything they have. Kansas City's defense won't make San Francisco as uncomfortable, as San Francisco's defense will make Kansas City occasionally uncomfortable. And defenses usually play a big part in these Super Bowl and these conference championships. So, you know, I would probably, Kansas City's favored. If you get points with San Francisco, that would feel like the side for me. but I probably a slight lean to Andy Reed and the Chiefs.

The way it works with Super Bowls, this reminds me of the New England Seattle Super Bowl, where I grew up in Seattle. So, you know, I always liked the Seahawks. And then I fell in love with Russell Wilson. And then I lived in Connecticut, and I love Brady. And they played a Super Bowl. And I said, just make it great.

Just make it a great Super Bowl. And it ended up, you know, I'm heartbroken for Russell. I'm happy for Brady. I feel the same way. Now, there have been Super Bowls where I absolutely, I used to like the Dallas Cowboys with Aikman and Jimmy Johnson. They were big and fun and fast. And I was rooting for them over Buffalo.

You know, I thought that was good for football. And they were a fun team to root for, and I wanted the band to stay together forever. Cowboys was one of the last teams. I really, I felt like a fan sometimes. They were so big and over the top and explosive and dynamic. And I like the coach and the quarterback and Michael Irvin and Emmett. You know, I liked everything. Jerry was young and funny and full of, you know, vinegar.

And then I did root for New Orleans. England when they were 18 and O against the New York Giants because I was rooting for history. Nothing against the Miami Dolphins in 1972, but I was like, you know what, that team was kind of a no-name defense, Bob Greasy, Paul Warfield, Mercury Morris, it was okay. But I was looking at history. I think it was in Glendale, Arizona. I was like, I want to see history. You know what I mean?

I like no hitters. I like holes in one. I like Tiger winning and then coming back. I like history. And the New York Giants had Super Bowls. It's not like they'd never had one. they weren't Jacksonville, they weren't Cincinnati or Cleveland. I was like, yeah, giants have had their fun.

I also kind of rooted for Arizona over the Pittsburgh Steelers, because I figured Pittsburgh's got them. They'll be there again. This is a one-off for Kurt Warner. It was easy to root for them. I also rooted for Peyton Manning over Rex Grossman and the Bears, nothing against Chicago, but I felt like Peyton Manning at that point didn't have a Super Bowl. I was like, okay, give this guy a Super Bowl.

Give Peyton Manning a Super Bowl. By and large, most of them I don't care. This one, I care passionately. about both. So it'll be a very interesting Sunday for me in Miami, and I can't wait. I feel like we all won this weekend. Colin Wright, Colin wrong next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode,

we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice. On the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you, you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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 or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person join me care games is we have real conversations about healing growth fatherhood pressure and purpose on my new podcast Podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Dude. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a paramedepa nasal chin here you do.

So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria. where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive.

Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, How Hard Can It Be?

I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of My Cultura Podcast Network available on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ah, here we go. It is hour two on a Monday. we are live in Los Angeles. This is The Hurd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1. By the way, let's have some beef jerky. Well, burkey jerky. Hey, one week from today, we're in Miami. Yes, 305. I can't wait. I booked yesterday all day. I texted a friend in Miami and I booked restaurants all day yesterday. Sat in the couch watching football, booking restaurants, everything.

I'm taking that city by storm. You're going to get a Prime 112? That's a cliche. I'm going to new places. Prime 112 is very consistent. It's very good. It's delicious fried Oreos. Fried Oreos?

Yeah, I mean, that's not really on the Super Bowl diet, but they're really good. I may put on a few pounds, a couple cocktails in Miami. Food in Miami is great. That, of course, is Joy Taylor for our radio listeners. All right, Colin right, Colin wrong. I whiff all the time. Got to hold myself accountable. So every Monday, we used to just do it in the football season,

but now we do it year-round. Where was I right, where was I wrong, last seven, ten days? Where Colin was right? We said Green Bay better be aggressive early because San Francisco's going to smell blood. And Aaron Rogers and Green Bay in that first half looked a lot like Minnesota. Dink and Dunk, take no risks, and San Francisco smelled it. For the second time, Green Bay played it safe in the first half against the Niners.

I don't think you can do it. When you fight Tyson, you go. to land something in the first round, or he'll sense it and smell it. By the way, in the second half, they took more shots, and in the second half, they delivered on some of their shots. You cannot be safe. You watch Kansas City against San Francisco, and they're going to struggle to block that defensive front of San Francisco. They're going to take big shots down the field to force San Francisco to back off, and I think Matt LaFleur played it safe. Aaron dumped it off too much and the Niners sensed it.

Where Colin was wrong. Well, being reliant on Patrick Mahomes apparently is working. I've said before about Kansas City. My concern is when you have a great quarterback, teams sometimes can get too reliant on their great quarterback. And Mahomes has led Kansas City in rushing in both playoff games. He is an outlier. He's got the right coach and the right weapons.

They are the exception. They didn't run the ball much at one point yesterday. they ran it three or four straight times, and Tony Romo just started laughing. I don't love football teams. I think Seattle too often is built for Russell Wilson to save the world. I think Aaron Rogers six, seven years ago, they were too reliant on Aaron Rogers. Kansas City at times can be a little reliant on Patrick Mahomes saving the day, but they're in the Super Bowl.

So what do I know? Where Colin was right? We've been on this Niner thing for a couple years here. We said Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be a big success. We were right. He's in a Super Bowl. we said Kyle Shanahan is the best young coach in football, not Sean McVey. And we like Sean McVey, but we said Shanahan's the genius here.

We said they'd be the most improved team in the NFL this year. Now, I didn't think they'd get to the Super Bowl, but we said they were the safest double-your-win bet in Vegas. So we've been on this thing for a couple years. I watched Kyle Shanahan go from team to team to quarterback to quarterback and just made everybody better. Their growth is faster than I predicted, but we're not shocked they're here

and we kind of called it a couple years ago. Watch out. This is the future, potentially, of the NFC, not the Rams. Where Colin was wrong. Another Tom Brady's story about him being open to leaving. I thought this story kind of had fake news written all over it. You know, it's Tuesday, Wednesday, let's bring a Tom Brady story out. But there was a story this weekend that he's unhappy with his salary

and he's not going to be the 15th highest paid quarterback anymore. And when stuff like that comes out, that can come from an agent or Tom. That's sending a message. So I think the market's small for Tom because of his age and lack of athletic ability as offensive lines have gotten worse over the last five years, thanks to the new CBA and spread football in college.

But there's more here than I thought initially, and it's not going away. And people I trust are breaking more stories on him. So it's a real thing. Where Colin was right? Speaking of old quarterbacks, Philip Rivers has moved to Florida. Florida. And I think that signals the end of his charger run.

Listen, when you're old, unathletic and mistake prone, football's not built for you anymore. And we had said this during the season. Like, let's move off this. You know, it's Tom's unathletic. Philip takes it to another level. He's the most unathletic quarterback right now in the league. He's had a great career. He's going to get Hall of Fame boats. I love him. And I do think, you know, I think 15 years ago he would have gotten another big contract. I think the I think the shelf life now for his style. A lot of mistakes, not really athletic, not a lot of great old lines out there is limited.

They're going to get a Justin Herbert or a Tewy. They're going to be fine. They're going to move up in the draft if they have to to get a quarterback. But we called this, we said early in the season, this thing has run its course. They're moving to a new stadium. They've got to add some juice to the franchise. Where Colin was wrong. Boy, LSU proved me wrong in about a million levels.

So Ed Orgeron wins a natty. I didn't see that coming. Joe Brough is going to be the number one pick. I didn't see that coming. LSU is going to go 15 and O and be led by their offense. What? I didn't see that coming. Talk about off-brand.

LSU being the Kansas City Chiefs of college football, it's like the Big 12 deciding to play defense. Everything about this, Orgeron, Joe Burrow, LSU becoming a progressive offense. It just is so off-brand. but they deserve all the love. They were clearly better than Clemson. And that's hard for me to say because I really like Clemson,

but they were absolutely top to bottom, a much better team than Clemson. And I was wrong. Where Colin was right? I love me some Andy Reid. I mean, Andy Reid doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. He gives Belichick fits. Belichick hates playing him.

he's now taking two teams to the Super Bowl, one in the AFC, one in the NFC. By the way, he has the second best record in the history of the NFL in bi-weeks. So good luck to San Francisco because Andy Reed is tough when he doesn't get extra time. When you give the scientist the schematic genius another four or five days in the film room,

it's going to be all sorts of wizardry and crazy stuff. I love this guy. We spend way too much time. Well, this guy didn't win this. Charles Bartley didn't win a title. So it's one of the top 20 basketball players in my life. Dan Marino didn't win a Super Bowl. Did you ever see Dan Marino play?

You don't think he was any good? Well, Andy Reed, Andy Reid until Patrick Mahomes has taken a bunch of B-minus quarterbacks and won the conference, got in the conference championships, won Super Bowls. Love the guy. Where Colin was wrong. Jason Garrett, I don't get. So you win 56% of your games. You only had one losing season.

You're the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, biggest brand in the NFL. You win three division titles. And, you know, you weren't even a disaster this year. You did some good things offensively. And instead of just sitting out, playing a little golf, you rush to be a coordinator for a rival in your division to a coach, Joe Judge, who's never even been an offensive coordinator. It seems like a weird brand play to me.

I mean, Ron Rivera, being a defensive coordinator for Cincinnati. I just, I don't know. I didn't, I saw this story and I thought, why would Jason Garrett, he doesn't know if Joe Judge can coach? That's a weird. Maybe he feels good in division. He knows the defenses.

He knows Dallas's defense, a little revenge at Dallas. I don't know. I thought he and Jerry were tight, but this feels weird. Where Colin was right. Josh McDaniels, I'm not as high on him as all you media people and fans are. Five job openings. He got one interview. I think what he did to the Indianapolis Colts, accepting a job, then bailing on him, did not sit well in the National Football League.

People have a great deal of respect for Chris Ballard and Frank Reich. And that organization, Indianapolis, has always been a great NFL franchise and a city. And I think Josh McDaniels has some Lane Kiff. And I think he's smart and talented. But I think it's a love-hate thing inside the league. And I don't think it's a coincidence that he didn't. didn't even get interviews at other places. And I never thought he was a good fit in Cleveland.

People in Cleveland are all freaked out that he didn't get the job. I do not think he was a good fit with an impulsive owner in Cleveland, an impulsive quarterback. I think he can be an impulsive coach. I think Kevin Stefansky's a better fit. Where Colin was wrong. Jimmy Butler in Miami. The heat or the number two seed in the east. The malcontent.

Jimmy Butler can't get along with anybody. And then he goes to Miami for the most demanding franchise. Like they still practice two hours a day. And he gets along with everybody. He's having a great year. 20.7 rebounds, six assists. You know, he's a guy that has just struggled. You know, in Philadelphia, all these players, and he had a great role in Philadelphia,

and he got the ball in big spots. He didn't like it. He's like, okay, I'll go to Miami. I'm thinking Pat Riley, and Pat Riley is bottom line, and Eric Spolster's bottom line, and he works. He's having a great year. Miami's been, you know, they drafted a really good kid. They got some good young players.

They play their butt off. Jimmy Butler plays hard. And Miami is young and they play hard. And it all works. And I didn't see it coming. Where Colin was right. So when Connor McGregor got scheduled to fight, Cowboy Soroni, and all these UFC sycophant fanboys were like, oh, it's going to be unbelievable. It's a set-up fight.

Connor McGregor wants a set-up fight before face. facing Mayweather again. That's why he's talking Mayweather and Mayweather's surfacing here in the last month. I never bought into Cowboy Soroni. Here's earlier last week. Connor McGregor makes his return to the Octagon against Donald Cowboy Soroni on Saturday. I'm very interested. I don't know much about Cowboy Soroni. Goulet, you know anything about old... He's 36, 13 and 0. Who is that? Seroni. That's not a good record. 3613 and 0. McGregor's 21-4-0.

Oh, Soroni's baloney. He doesn't have anything. Well, the fight lasted like 25 seconds, and, you know, he's got nice abs and everything. But this is just a set-up fight. That's all this. It's a setup fight for Mayweather. And UFC wants to make a bunch of money, and Mayweather and Connor would fight again. And, you know, it's a little bit of a con.

We all know who's going to win. But, you know, you buy is buying in this cowboy Seroni nonsense. Do you notice McGregor is much nicer now, though? Yeah, I don't know what this is about. He's very... Very strange brand turn. He's like not polite and he's very... Everyone is brother.

He's very nice now. I like this Connor McGregor. I mean, the villain was fun, but he got a little over the top for me. It definitely got out of control. He was throwing stuff at people. It got out of control. But, I mean, that's part of what made McGregor what he is. I like the new McGregor.

Yeah? Yeah, I think he's, I think is, he's respectful. He's playful. I like the playful part of it. I don't like throwing crap at people. No, that's ridiculous, of course. You can't have... But I knew Cowboy Soroni was nothing but baloney from day one.

How stupid do I sound? You were right. It was a 40-second fight. 40 seconds. That was a lot of money to spend on a 40-second fight. Now, I watched it by myself, which makes it even worse. I didn't even get a share it. Coming up next, Trent Dilfer, on a wild weekend at what appears to be a crazy Super Bowl.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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, Tript 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, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th.

And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue with 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series

because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night bases on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, After you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're headed to Miami starting next Monday, January 27th. The herd and all of our FS1 shows will be live at Luma's Park on South Beach as we get ready for Super Bowl 54.

We'll have great guests, wall-to-wall coverage, giveaways, and a whole lot more FS1 Super Bowl Week live from Miami is just one week away. They have a lot of good restaurants there. Booked them all yesterday. Double book some. Can't wait. Good to have you in. Trent Dilfer's around the corner. And Aaron Rogers was talking yesterday.

I know you all think I hate Aaron Rogers, but he was talking yesterday about he doesn't think the runs over. Not yet. Here's Aaron Rogers. Well, I thought we were going to have Aaron Rogers. I said it last week. The window was open for us. And that's the exciting thing.

It doesn't make this feeling any easier, but that is very exciting moving forward. Like I said, the window's open and I think we're going to be on the right side of one of these real soon. Totally agree here. First of all, Aaron's easily the best quarterback in his division. That's not going to change anytime soon. They have an incredibly young team. The other thing is, outside of Russell Wilson, name another NFC quarterback who's got a great coach, is always healthy, is elite. So Russell Wilson is an obstacle, but Carson Wentz has struggled to stay healthy. There's a lot of young quarterbacks. I don't think Jared Goff is at his level. I also think the AFC's got better coaches

right now. I mean, I love I love Vrable. I love Belichick. I think Brian Flores is good in Miami. Sean McDermott. John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, Andy Reid, Gruden's got something. Who am I forgetting here? Frank Reich can coach. I think the AFC, there's a lot of obstacles. You know, Pete Carroll's obviously Sean Payton world class. Sean McVey, Shanahan are good. But I think Green Bay is going to be fine. I think Aaron's going to be fine.

If you're the best quarterback in your division, you're generally, that's a sign. If you have competent coaching and a great quarterback, and Lefleur's, you know, they went 13, 14, and 3. He's clearly competent with Aaron. I think Aaron's got a long road ahead of him. And with that, let's go live via the Coward Global Satellite Network, Trent Dilfer. Brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing, 15 years in the NFL, Super Bowl,

Pro Bowl. All right, let's defend Aaron Rogers. I've been tough on him today. I do think he's got a lot of years left, and much more Super Bowl runs in him. They're a young team. He's fine, blah, blah, blah. But I've been tough on him today saying he's a bailer. I think he bails on people, teammates, coaches, plays.

And yesterday, the body language I read early was, He didn't like this matchup. He didn't like it at all. Am I wrong there? Defend Aaron. Yeah, you're not wrong. You could tell early on. He could tell early on.

I think the whole world could tell early on. This was a really bad matchup for the Packers. And I think Aaron is being as smart as he is, as great as he is. It was his worst nightmare when the Niners got the early lead. We're able to unleash the hounds up front to rush them and then drop really soft in the secondary. You're forced at that point, no matter who you are,

and if you're Superman, that you got to dump the ball off. He was giving place chances down the field with his eyes, but he knew he couldn't turn it over. He's dumping off. And then he tried to take that one wrist where he tried to jamming in on the seam round. It gets intercepted.

And then it's like, oh, man, this is going to be an all day sucker. There's nothing I can do. We're going to need some type of good break. We're going to need a turnover. We're going to need a momentum switch. But there's no way that we're just going to be able to get big plays throughout the game. We're going to have to nitpick down the football field, and that just wasn't going to happen as down as many points as they were.

I've used this reference several times today. I didn't buy Green Bay this year. I thought they were finesse, a little stat-driven. I didn't think they had. Of the four remaining teams, I thought they were the least physical. I thought they had the coach I trusted the least. And, you know, we were talking about the Octagon. You watch a fight in UFC. Boy, that ring gets small if you're the less the tough guy, right? And like, this is a tough guy and a finesse team. Do you, I mean, I looked at Green Bay's defense. I'm not sure that back in one at any part of those running backs. Did you see that? Yeah, and we talked about this last week. I mean, that's a junk ball defense. That's Mike Patton's defense. They have a lot of moving parts. They try to trick you as much as

beat you up. And then it works against past first teams, against teams that are predictable, teams that are soft in the middle of the offensive line, that stuff works. But, you know, when you can play a balanced offensive set like the Niners do, basically this balance you out and attack you at your core on the edges, not let you get away with all this little, what I call junkball stuff in the middle and now get up on your secondary players. This had the right on the wall last week. This was a horrible matchup for the Green Bay Packers,

especially their defense against the Niners' offense. It didn't take long for Mike McDaniel, the run game coordinator, and Kyle Shanahan to figure out that, you know, we don't have to run a bunch of stuff. We can just run stuff that they can't defend. They don't have solid edges. They don't have war daddies in the secondary. They're going to come up and impose their will on you. We can get to the edges with the fastest backs in football. We can physically dominate them.

And our receivers, and this is the thing that goes on a nose a lot of time. The 49ers receivers were as physical as the 49ers, tight ends and offensive alignment. Yeah. They got after the Packers. I mean, finish them, made the Packers secondary want nothing to do with that football game. And that's why you saw plays that were blocked for maybe four to six went 16 to 30 because those secondary players just wanted nothing to do with the run game. Let's shift to Kansas City.

It's kind of a perfect marriage, smart coach, gifted quarterback, fun weapons. Eventually they're going to pay Patrick a boatload of money and they won't have quite the weapons. But like Russell Wilson, he'll make him good. I mean, you probably watch Mahomes, and most of you quarterback, I can give you a football now and you could still spin it 60 yards. But when you watch Mahomes, there's an it, there's an arm. It just looks different to me than everybody else, right? It looked different when he was 17.

I mean, it just, it's always looked different. I don't, and I don't have the vocabulary to describe it. He's got that perfect balance of carefreeness, but he's a fierce leader. He's not a world-class athlete, but he's the best athlete in the room. He's got incredible armed town, but he's got feel and instincts and nuance to his game. I'm stealing this from Steve Young. I steal this stuff all the time and work together so long, but he's a true artist as a quarterback. Most of us live in the world of science.

He is an artist. He just does stuff that others can't do with the football. he does his spatial awareness like he knows when people around and when people aren't around them he just does all this stuff like if you're doing a list of quarterback traits the dream quarterback he's got he's an eight or nine on like the entire list so he's a generational talent you don't see you haven't seen quarterbacks truly just carry their teams on their back very often this is one of those guys is doing that I got to tell you my gut feeling on this game as I like San Francisco.

It's my gut feeling. I think, listen, Kansas City created matchup problems for Tennessee in the back end. You have to pick your spots. I don't think they create as many matchup problems for the Niners' defense. And I think the Niners' defensive front can really give Mahalms rush him,

force him to do things he doesn't want to do. You know, my eyes tell me the Niners, and these are, I mean, these are great coaches, and these are great players. I kind of like the matchups with San Francisco personnel. What do you see without jumping into film yet? Yeah. No, I agree with you 100%.

I think the Niners defense can really get after this passing game. When you're a pass-first team or a perimeter run team, you kind of can defend both with the same defensive format. But I do think the Niners have to decide that they're going to allow certain things to happen. They're going to allow them to run the ball a little bit. They're going to allow Patrick. Mahomes to escape vertically, not horizontally, and live with some of that. If they do that and they unleash that pass rush, they use their speed to eliminate that outside run game and really force

Kansas City, force Andy Reid to do what he doesn't want to do, which is call 30 runs in the Super Bowl. Like at the end of the day, what's Andy Reid not want to do? He does not want to call 30 runs. And I would dare him to do that. I would play the run on the way to the passer. I would contain it from the outside in. I wouldn't let anything get outside of me. And I would make it our number one core value is an organization that we are going to hit Patrick Mahomes a lot. And we're going to hit him hard. And lots of people are going to hit him. And let's say if he's the same guy when he keeps getting hit. Because that's the one thing the modern day quarterback really doesn't have to do that often is play a 60 minute game.

game while he's also getting hit constantly. And I think the 49ers have the tools to be able to do that. Now, they're going to give up some plays in the middle if you're going to, if you're going to make that your calling card. But I think at the end of the day, that'll win in the Super Bowl. Finally, when you watch San Francisco, and again, I'm a not a newbie, but I don't watch the 22 film all day like you do. San Francisco's offense is all sorts of deception and fun, yet it's got power.

for Jimmy G. Is it a complicated offense or are they making me think it's complicated and San Francisco runs a fairly simple offense? Well, it's a lot to manage. You know, he's managing a lot of the line of scrimmage, motion shifts, different directions of the run game. He's after identifying shades of the defensive line, linebacker profiles, safety inserts. There's a lot of information going through his head to run to manage a complex run game like that. And I don't want to minimize Jimmy G's effect on this football team. Like, yes, he only threw it, whatever, eight times or something yesterday.

But you go back to the middle of the football season, Jimmy G is the reason they won football games. They didn't win despite him. So just because he didn't have flashing numbers, doesn't minimize his impact on the 49er season. And I think, you know, when you look at it, when you judge a quarterback, you don't just judge it for a couple games. You look at the entirety of the season.

I think he's really had a great year. And he's the right quarterback. for this team. Trent Dilfer, so great seeing you, decade and a half in the league of Super Bowl. You're going to be down in Miami? I'm going to see you in person next Monday. All right, buddy.

Can't wait to see you. Trent Dilfer. By the way, upgrade your wiper blades. Winner is here. Michelin Endurance XT silicone wipers. Performance last two times longer. Available at Walmart, Joy Taylor, with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, speaking of that Niners' offense, they relied heavily on the run game to beat the Packers yesterday. that's kind of an understatement because Jimmy Caropolo only had eight pass attempts the entire game. I know. It's weird, but I don't feel like it was unjust. Green Bay couldn't tackle.

It made perfect sense. It's just a staggering number. And he joked about the win and how easy his day was. Got to talk to Kyle or something, man. You know, it's just a, I mean, the hell out of a ball night. It was made my life very easy back there. So I think I had like eight pass attempts. So it was a fun night. And actually was tied for the third fewest attempts in playoff history.

But it didn't feel like they're ducking it. It was like, listen, first of all, once they got a lead, you're like, they just want to get out of the game healthy. They want to eat the clock and get out of there and go to Miami. Why would you do anything other than what's working in the game? But like with Kirk Cousins, there's times I sense. Like they don't want him to do. This was, we've got a lead.

Let's get out of here healthy. Win this game. Keep the ball away from Aaron Rogers. Game plan to me didn't feel defensive. It was lead, get out, eat the clock. The reality is they are a power running team. Now, Rhee Moster had 29 carries for 220 yards and four touchdowns. So I don't think anyone was expecting that.

He's the only player in NFL history with at least 200 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a playoff game. This is the most by any 49ers player in a game regular season or playoff, 220 rushing yards. This is why I love the NFL. That guy's in his seventh team. He had more touchdowns in that game that he did in his career in Purdue or something. I mean, that's why half the NFL's undrafted. You'll get your opportunity. Guys get hurt.

You will get an opportunity in this league to play. And take advantage of it. Take advantage of it. He was unbelievable yesterday. I don't think that game plan will be the same for the Chiefs, but do what you got to do. They look amazing. They're so physical.

Oh, yeah. They're just, they are. It is the one thing that makes me nervous about it. Not that the Chiefs are very physical as well, but it's just, it pops up the screen how physical San Francisco is. It is old school football. Yeah, they are tough. So Philip Rivers has reported.

He reportedly moved his family from San Diego to Florida permanently. The SBN reports that he sent a text message saying what this means football-wise is to be determined, but it was time for us to move back closer to home. He spent 16 seasons with the Chargers and is a free agent this year. He said after the Chargers final game this season, that he plans to continue playing football in 2020. Kind of a strange move. I mean, obviously we didn't know what the future was with the Chargers, so it kind of feels like at least we know. that because he didn't even move his family out of San Diego when he was playing with the Chargers.

He was commuting, as we know, and he has a very, very big family. I don't know. I just don't see a space for Rivers. I mean, obviously, you always need that position. So, quarterback, but I mean, if he's not playing with the Chargers, do you see him playing next year? If Carolina said we, you know, Carolina, you know, what are they going to do? They got new people there. I, I, I, I would Carolina move up of Cam Newton for Rivers? Because I think if you want to just move on from Cam emotionally, but then you bring in Phillip and Phillips. Rivers is, I mean, I don't think that Rivers is going to have a better year

next year than Cam Newton. I think it's more than better year. I think they're ready to start anew with their own peeps. I think there's a lot of people in Carolina and front office would like to just move on. I don't know. I couldn't sign him. I couldn't. I couldn't either.

I mean, Philip Rivers has had an incredible career, obviously. It just feels like there's going to be so much talent moving around from veteran quarterbacks this this offseason. And then you have a whole drafts, kind of has a lot of guys. I don't know. I don't think there's that many openings. There's not that much of a market. Well, with the three teams that really need a quarterback are all going to draft one. Right.

So you don't have, there's not a lot of desperation. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. There's just where would he go? Yeah. I don't know. Finally, Connor McGregor dominated in his return to the Octagon this weekend. He defeated Donald Cowboy Soroni.

by TKO in just 40 seconds, so didn't take too much time out of your night. Quick finish drew the attention of Floyd Mayweather, who posted on Instagram a fake promo of a rematch between the two fighters. Now, Dana White said he hopes he's pretty sure that McGregor's next fight will be a rematch with Habib. Oh, that's not good for McGregor.

He'd get smoked. Maybe, because he did talk about, so you were just talking about not too, a few moments ago, that he feels a little different, McGregor. He's like a little more humble, he's nicer. you know, that villain persona is kind of gone. And he talked about it.

He said he was drinking during the Habib camp. So that played a big role in how that fight went for him. He's not doing that anymore. He has a life coach, Tony Robbins, he's working with now. He also took some inspiration from LeBron James, because he said he read that LeBron spends about $1.5 million on his body. He said other than his camp, he spends none on his body.

So he changed that. He has a daughter now. So he's a son and a daughter. So he's just like, he just said he's just a changed man, basically. He matured. He obviously went through a lot of away from the ring issues and legal issues. So he's a different guy. So it's not that this thing that you feel with him is real, according to him.

So I don't know. He could fight a bunch this year, though, because Habib doesn't fight until April. So if they have a rematch, it'll be after that. And then we all kind of feel like he's going to fight maybe later in the year, which we will watch. Well, you know, of course we will. We will watch. Sucker for a good fight, Joy, with the News. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The herd line. Jay Hawk of the Green Bay Packers adding buy into them. But I'll be nice. I just, I don't think they're physical enough to match up with San Francisco. I think they match up with almost everybody in the NFC.

I do not think they match it with San Francisco. It's almost like Connor McGregor. I don't think he matches up with Habib. I think he matches up with everybody else. That fight doesn't feel like it works for me, AJ Hawk coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments. that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context,

and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12

in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier Game. 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. Join me, Kear Gaines, is 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliver Show, I'm bringing.

you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. Listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. By the way, the Titans are a good football team that struggled with a pass rush all year. Patrick Mahomes had a lot of time to throw yesterday. He will not have that much time to throw against San Francisco.

So it's going to be a very interesting matchup. I think the Titans are terrific. I love their coach. I love their team. They just didn't generate a pass rush all year. That's a bad matchup against Patrick Mahomes, who's good with a pass rush. AJ Hawk played for over a decade. Super Bowl champ has a podcast now, The Hock cast with AJ Hock. Former Packer joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network nine years in Green Bay.

All right, sum up Matt LaFleur's first year. I don't think they adjusted terribly well in some big games. Yesterday they had a good second half. I mean, what is your grade on Matt LaFleur? What did he do you like? What did he do, in your opinion, AJ, that needs improvement? Well, I guess if I had to give him a grade, maybe you give him a grade. B plus. I mean, I understand we're still so, we're not very far away from the crushing loss. They had an NFC championship game. I've lost a few NFC championship games. I understand. It's like

whatever you did that whole regular season, it doesn't matter. It's all flushed down the toilet. But when you just take a step back and you look at it, I mean, I think he did a heck of a job. Going to the NFC championship game, year one as the head coach, you have Devonte Adams, who's hurt for a chunk of the season. There's still a little bit of win 13 regular season games. I like what he was able to do, kind of have a seamless transition. And I know their offense didn't have crazy numbers. And they didn't beat, I guess, when they had huge, like, tough matchups, they didn't tend to win them. But last night in the game, you're down 27-0 at halftime.

The game plan kind of goes out the window. You're playing catch-up and you're too far behind. Why is the matchup specifically with the 49ers so bad for Green Bay? They got beat 50-0 in the two games in the first half. So that's personnel. I mean, you can blame coaching, but that feels like personnel issues to me, AJ. I guess in some spots,

I got to give a lot of credit to Kyle Shanahan and what he's able to do. I mean, look at the score zero zero yesterday. It's third and eight. It's a known, it's usually a passing down. And Green Bay brings pressure from the field, and they run it backside into the boundary. And most of it's not even touched for a 36-yard touchdown run on third to eight.

So right there, I kind of set the tone like, all right, we're going to have to really. starting to thinking some stuff up and try to outthink Shanahan, and they just haven't been able to do that so far. They haven't been able to find a way to stop San Francisco, and they haven't really been and found a way to turn it on and really getting a rhythm offensively. And yesterday when they did, it was almost too late.

Does Green Bay, if this is the best team, San Francisco in the NFC, how far are they away? What do they have to do over the next six months, AJ? Well, you're going to have to do a lot. I mean, San Francisco, they can beat. you many different ways. And I understand Jimmy Garoppel only has eight passing attempts yesterday. It's crazy to think that they had so much success running the ball. I just, I think what Green Bay needs to do is just more of what they've been doing. Now, obviously, you get blown out twice by the Niners,

so you think that's a stupid statement. But no, I mean, if Aaron can find a way to get in rhythm early and don't fall behind early to a team like the Niners that can gash you in the run game and then hit you over the top with guys like George Kiddle, which they didn't even really need other than in the game yesterday for him. You got a long ways to go, but it's not like you can't get there. You still, with the Smith brothers on the outside, on the defense, they're amazing. They impact every single game. Their window is still open if you're trying to ask me that.

Let's go to Kansas City. You know, Mahomes has some Aaron in him, so you faced Aaron at practice a lot. Now, again, I think you have to be careful because the Titans are a terrific team, but they can't generate a pass rush. They haven't all year. That's been their Achilles heel. They can't get smoke up front. San Francisco gets it with four guys.

So it's going to be a different-looking football game. Is there a way, though, when you were practicing against Aaron, is there things you can do to these gifted quarterbacks to make them uncomfortable? I mean, honestly, you've got to limit throws over the top. We played against the Chicago Bears twice a year. Obviously, they're in our division. And when they had Erlacker, Lance Briggs, those physical corners that love to tackle, they could get a four-man rush.

And when you can get a four-man rush, you can do a lot of things in the back end to where you're a bend, but don't break defense. I talked to Erlack at one time. He said in one game, they played out of like 65 defensive snaps, they played 62 snaps of Tampa 2 or something against us. And sometimes we would struggle. You can move the ball.

You can get yardage, but it's just hard to score. And they're going to get those tips and overthrows and convert them into interceptions. And I think that's what you have to try to do maybe against Mahomes. but then he tends to pick you apart a little bit. If you're sitting in zone, you play man. If your back is turned as a DB, he looks at you, hey, you're open. I'm going to put it where only my receiver can catch the ball.

So it's not an easy thing at all to do. But if you can get four-man pressure, you have a chance. By the way, my eyes tell me San Francisco has a little greater collection of talent, and I think their D-line talent is filthy. I don't remember, I'm just thinking top of my head. I guess the Giants team that beat New England that had Ossiou Minora, Michael Strand, Justin Tuck. I mean, you got All-Stars. They got, I mean, Solomon Thomas now is a backup.

I think San Francisco has got a little more talent than Kansas City. Do you agree or disagree? I think defensively, yeah, I think they are set, like up front, they are scary to deal with. They really are. And then you have a guy like Richard Sherman on one side. So a lot of times you're cutting half the field off for a quarterback. you're not going to attack Richard Sherman too much. I know he got beat over the top last night

in a play that he may have had some help over the top or he thought he had some better help. But yeah, they may be a little bit more talented. The question is, can they get home? Can they win those one-on-one matchups when they get them? That's what Green Bay didn't do last night. They just couldn't get off box and they couldn't win the one-on-one matchup. Green Bay, I tend to think they've got, I said earlier,

the only quarterback in the NFC that Aaron's going to face for the next six years that never gets hurt, that is excellent and has a great coach as Russell Wilson. Otherwise, I mean, I think Jimmy Garoppolo's good. I don't think he's Aaron quite as a talent. I don't think this run in Green Bay is over. I think it's got about four to five years left. Is there a little fear in Green Bay, though?

I mean, most of their players I like are young. Kenny Clark's pretty young. How many years' legs does this thing have in Green Bay? Well, you mentioned six years. I don't know where you came up with that number, but I agree with you. I think you could easily say five or six more years. If Aaron can stay healthy, you're always going to have a chance. And I know at times he may not have looked like he has in the past throughout this year.

But when they needed the most, a lot of times throughout this season, when they needed those big throws, like look what he did to throw to Jimmy Graham to seal the game against Seattle. Stuff like that, Aaron can still do. And he can still do it at a consistent level. They just weren't able to do it against the 49ers this year. The Hock cast with A.J. Hawk and a cool looking. podcast studio. You've done well for yourself. I'm happy, AJ.

Thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for having me. You bet. Yeah, I don't think Green Bayes runs over. I don't worry about that at all. They're fine. They're good. They got, you know, if you have a competent coach and a great quarterback, you're fine. And I think Matt Lafleur was the weakest of the four coaches left. You know, I said this last year. Now, look who we have, look who's meeting in the Super Bowl. Andy Reed and Kyle Shanahan. Maybe the second best coach in the game and the best young coach. Like folks, this sport is so much about coaching.

I don't know. You thought they had some limitations this year. They were kind of, you know, a fraudulent 13 and 3 team, but they were in the NFC championship game. Yes. In his first year. They got some breaks. But, you know, I always think the NFC is better than the AFC. The NFC is better than the AFC. I think the coaching now is in the AFC. Good God. I mean, Vrable, Tomlin, Harbaugh. Belichick, Sean McDermott. Flores had a great year as a rookie coach in Miami. I mean, people are out on Adam Gase, but, I mean, if Sam Darnel doesn't get mono,

that team's going to make a run at the playoffs. You've got John Gruden, Andy Reed. I thought, you know, big fan Gio at Denver, you know, because he's the old guy and it's a new league, right? But if you looked at Denver this year, they gave good teams all sorts of troubles. So I don't know. I think the coaching in the AFC is better. I think Aaron Rogers in Green Bay

you know Trebisky, Stafford's broken down, Kirk Cousins has a year left. I think Minnesota drafts a quarterback, by the way, this draft. I think they have so much talent in their roster. Cousins has a year left. Sometimes when you have a good roster,

there's a little desperation in the building. We're going to lose some of these dudes. We got to get players. You're not going to have Thielen, Stefan Diggs, Dalvin Cook, Irv Smith, Kyle Rudolph. You're not going to have that collection forever. Like, you got to get that thing going here.

in the next couple years in Minnesota. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. We're heading to Miami starting next Monday, January 27th. The Herd and all of our FS1 shows will be live at Limous Park on South Beach as we get ready for Super Bowl 54. We'll have great guests, wall-to-wall coverage, giveaways, and a whole lot more. FS1 Super Bowl week live from Miami is just one week away.

Oh, Miami is fun. Tony Gonzalez. You've been in Miami before. Oh, been ven-vino on Miami. Welcome. Remember the Will Smith song? Of course. Miami's joy lived there. You look like a guy that when you lived in Kansas City, you hung out in Miami a little bit.

I was there a lot. I almost moved there. I was looking at property when I was a little bit younger. And thank God that didn't happen. That would have been a disaster. I wouldn't be sitting here right now. You'd have played nine years in the week and retired. Just done.

Kansas City actually did you some good. Just boring enough for you to concentrate on football. I think so. Let's talk about Kansas City yesterday. There was a moment yesterday when Mahomes went back, and I think he found like it was Sammy Watkins or somebody over the top. I forget now at this point.

Sammy. And it was like in that moment, you're like, okay, Kansas City's going to the Super Bowl. Done. And what did it feel like to you? Oh, I don't know if you follow me on the social media stuff. But, yeah, I was so excited for them for so many reasons. I mean, first of all, Andy Reid.

the chief fans, 50 years, the Hunt family watching them after, watching them celebrate up in the box. I mean, this team doing something that, you know, I was there for 12 years and we wanted it so bad. And you were on some good teams. Some good team, never a great team. This is a different team. This is a different caliber team. And it starts with the quarterback, not against the quarterbacks that I played with, but this guy is a special, special player who's going to be the face of the league for the next 10, 12 years.

and, you know, I'm just so happy for the whole city. It was a fun day. You know, it's interesting. Kansas City reminds me a little of the Packers. The Packers have more titles because historically they've been better at quarterback. Len Dawson and now Patrick Mahomes are special, but they had Bart Star, Farr, Aaron Rogers. But when Green Bay didn't have great quarterback play, they went about 20 years where they were pretty average. I think people just don't realize Kansas City's been brilliantly owned, the Hunt family.

when you were there, you know, you wanted, after all those years, you got tired of it, but they treat their players great. There's been so many great Kansas City Chiefs. If you did the Kansas City Chiefs' All-Star Team, it's like 20 of the best players in league history. Yeah. And you were treated well. That was unbelievable. The first-class organization, the Hunt family, like you said, remember Lamar Hunt, the owner.

God rest his soul, he used to come around before the games and go up to every. and shake their hand, no matter who you were on the team, and he knew everything about you being, hey, how you doing, Tony, how's, how's October, how's Nico, how's your kid? I mean, he, like, he knows everything about the players because he cares about the players, and that starts from the top. And then, obviously, the fans, second to none. They, they, they, I know people talk about the greatest fans in the, in the NFL, but they're such diehards.

They live and die with that team. That's what I'm, I'm so happy for the whole city, because they're on fire right now. Let's go to San Francisco. So yesterday, Mahomes had a ton of time to throw. The Titans just don't, they don't generate a pass rush. So you have this gifted Kansas City team with all these weapons and nine seconds to throw. San Francisco is not going to give you more than about three and a half if you get that. Go, have you ever played against the team?

I felt yesterday it was almost not a fair fight physically. San Francisco is bigger and stronger and Green Bay is a finesse team. you your early years in Kansas City your chiefs teams with Willie Rowe if you have the best offensive line of football did you send sometimes on a Sunday you just knew people didn't want any part of you no part of you no party

there's two games I can remember playing against Atlanta and I think we ran for eight touchdowns eight touchdown runs both running backs priest homes had four and the backup running back had four Blaylock and we were just mashing them I think we probably threw the ball maybe 10 times just like yesterday for San Francisco. And then playing against Baltimore Ravens one time.

I think it was Monday night football going against Ray Lewis and all those guys. And I remember Wheel Shields, Hall of Famer, Brian Waters, Willie Roof, they were just massing them. They want no part of you. You can see when you got the running game like that as a receiver, a guy who wants to catch the ball, you better put your big boy hat on and try to switch them in town and go, I'm just not going to catch any balls today. I'm going to block.

And I just got to block today. And I felt this yesterday was San Francisco. You predicted it on the air. This is just not a fair fight. Yeah, it's not fair. I mean, they have so many players and that running scheme with Shanahan. I got the seat up close when I was out in Kansas City. My first year is there when his dad was coaching out there for the Broncos.

In that zone scheme, they would just plug any running back. Remember guys were coming. I can't remember his name. He was coming. He was in the service. Yeah, we were talking about this morning. Mike Anderson, I think that was. Mike Anderson.

Yeah, he's just. Just plug and play, and all those guys were getting, you know, 150 yards and they're going over a thousand yards. It didn't matter who they put back there. Nothing against Mostert, and congratulations to him. But that scheme that they have is second to none. And then on the defensive side of the ball, it's not fair. It's that Ferrari front four, I called it,

where you can get pressure with four guys and drop everybody back, including Richard Sherman, well, and best ever play, you're going to have a successful defense. That's going to be Kansas City's biggest obstacle on offense is being able to get open against that front four. They're going to have to protect. When you would play, and Kansas City is going, Patrick Mahomes, for one of the few times this year,

is going to be rushed. Patrick's going to be under duress. When you went into games, knowing you were facing a good defensive front, do you just shorten your routes? How does it change how you get Travis Kelsey? You're Travis Kelsey in the Super Bowl. How will it change for him?

I think they're going to do a lot quicker routes, some crossing routes, maybe a lot of chipping too. Sometimes you'll see maybe the extra tight end come in or Travis where he'll bang, you got to get a bang on Bosa because that guy is relentless. Probably, I've never seen a more dominant rookie

come in on the defensive side of the ball. I've never seen it, what he's been able to do. So you definitely got to bang him and then get out to the flats. Andy Reid is a genius, though. He's got two weeks to prepare for this defense. And I think he's going to come up with a good plan. By the way, you had a couple of buys in your career and you lost games.

Andy's the second best coach in league history on a buy. So he's obviously very, if you give the genius another week to go into his laboratory. But there are downsides. Kansas City offensively is clever. There's some timing. Did you like buys? Like a Super Bowl is two weeks. It doesn't affect teams the same.

Now, I can make an argument. A physical team like the Niners love a. buy that can get a little healthier. Kansas City be like, listen, we're a track meet here. We want to play every week. In your career, did you like buys? You like it because

at the time, you're like, okay, well, then we only have to win two games to get to the Super Bowl instead of three games. And you think, okay, it's going to make you healthier. But there's nothing like going out there and playing to keep you. It's like anybody who's played basketball out there. You can't take a couple weeks off.

Your shots is not going to be the same. Unless you have the extreme focus and where you're practicing like you play Michael Jordan type type stuff. Not every team does that. Bill Belichick type stuff. That's why I always think they do well with the buy because Bill doesn't give him an inch. He says, no, we're going to go out there like we're preparing and we're going to practice, you know, the Wednesday. Before the week of preparation, we're going to practice just like we're going to practice that next Wednesday. And if you guys don't do it, then I'm going to yell at you and embarrass you in front of everybody.

and that and that starts I think with the stars on the team and that's where Mahomes is going to have to come in Kelsey Clark on defense maybe Suggs who has some some experience with this like just keeping everybody

focused because they're about to go through a whole bunch of distraction down there now what was the biggest game you ever played in an FC championship game the Super Bowl Bill Romanoowski told me one time he goes I don't remember the first one he goes the first quarter I just flash bulbs and

I was in the second quarter. Yeah. Like I don't even, the nerves. Mahomes is young. Do you press? Did you press a little? Was it different? You know, for me it wasn't.

Because I learned a long time ago when I went through my dropped second year in the league, dropping all those passes. When you study the greats and you see someone like Michael Jordan or Jerry Rice, you hear the words out of their mouth saying you practice how you're going to play in the game. And that way when the game shows. up there is no difference there's nothing to prepare for and that's how i prepared i've especially towards the end of my career you're a grinder i was grinding it out because i knew how precious it was to get to the playoffs it doesn't new england is an that's an outlier doesn't happen most teams we can go to the

playoffs a couple years and then your window closes and then you know you never know when you're going to get back so for me i was practicing like a madman that week focusing really just like it was the first game of the season versus the last game of the season. And then when I showed up in the games, the game would slow down because that's what you want. You want the game to be slow. That's when you know you're in control when you're prepared. When you're not nervous, there's not too much excitement there. It's just business as usual one play at a time.

Tony Gonzalez, the Hall of Famer, 17 NFL seasons, 14-time Pro Bowl. I will see you about a week from now in beautiful Miami. He got very close to buying a condo down there and would have ruined your life. No, I'd have a nice tan. And I probably have a shrunk liver. I would have dropped a couple more balls maybe, but you never know. Tony Gonzalez, good seeing you, bud. Thank you.

Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, you said you're staying up till midnight every night at the Super Bowl. 11.30. Oh, it's 11.30 now. Well, a midnight here and there is nine.

And I don't want to go to bed at 8.30, 9 o'clock. And then that's six here. And then I come home here, and it's ridiculous. So I have already made plans. All my dinner plans were like 7.30. So I'm going to force myself to eat late. You had to make reservations at 7.30 in Miami? Yeah.

People out east live harder. People out east, they eat later, they party harder. Haven't you ever thought about that? Of course. Because California, everything closes kind of relatively early. Like bars, restaurants, everything closes at 1.30 no matter what here. Like you are out. Please go.

They will push you out. You live in Miami. Nobody goes to dinner at 515. Well, no, a lot of people go to dinner at 515. They're just retired. Yeah, that's the old people. Matlock. Yeah.

He goes to a lot of Matlock. I got to get in bed before the sun gets down. So Derek Henry average 188.5 yards per game in the postseason wins over the Patriots and Ravens. But he got shut down by the Chiefs yesterday in the AFC championship game. And he got emotional after the run came to an end. Yeah, I definitely showed a couple of tears, you know, just because, you know, I love my teammates, love the chemistry that we had. You know, throughout this whole. season, you know, and we had to sit together, you know, through the adversity. You know,

we got a lot of great guys in the locker room. It's football. We know the locker room is going change, but, you know, and I just felt like I could have did more for this team. I love this team. I love playing football. I love competing, you know, love being around my teammates. You know, life is not always, you know, laughing giggles is going to be hard, but, you know, you got your brothers to lean on, you know, to get you through those hard times. Listen, they were a lot of fun. Now, they have a quarterback situation. What do you do with Cana Hill. He's good. I guess you franchise tag him. They have a quarterback situation and a Derek Henry situation.

He's a free agent. Oh, I'd pay Derek Henry. Absolutely. He fits their culture. They're a toughest. He is their culture. Yeah. No, no, I have no problem. They have to pay him. Yeah, no, he, again, you can have great players. They don't fit your culture. He is the Titans. Just the physical nature. Mike Vrable. I mean, Mike, they have the biggest, toughest looking coach. Derek Henry is what they're going to be.

Right. And to me yesterday, he had a couple good runs. And obviously he had that touchdown. I don't think he had a bad game. He just couldn't get to the magic number. In those two games, he had 32 carries. He averaged 32 carries in both of those playoff wins, and he only had 19 carries yesterday. So they didn't get to him enough, but they couldn't. Oh, and they also in the second half trail.

Right. Then it changes everything. But they go through him. So that's sort of the issue when you rely on the run that much. And the Chiefs did a great job containing him, obviously. They held him less than 70 yards for the first time since week nine. Wow. After the game, defense event, Frank Clark was pumped up about shutting down Henry and the Titans rushing attack to reach the Super Bowl.

Over 200 yards each game. I know damn well we want to go win the game. We let that happen. They come in here. He ran for 70 yards. They come the best Russian league. We sit in this home early. At the end of the day, we f*** champions.

AFC. That trophy that got my own, the last name on it. That's the K.C. By the way, he's good. Chris Jones. It should be noted. we can bang on Tennessee. If you look at Honey Badger, if you look at their defensive front,

Kansas City's defense was actually in the last six weeks of the year. Really good. I think that Kansas City should be commended for that because that was the biggest question last year, right? It was their defense. And we didn't know if they were going to improve this year, which he felt like they had to because it can't just all go through Patrick Mahomes. As amazing as Patrick Mahomes was yesterday.

I mean, you had that one run, and three sacks and four tackles and falls into the end zone. I mean, we know he's a magician. He's incredible. But can the defense get the stops? and shut down Derek Henry, who's been running all over every team, as he just said. And that's really what it came down to in this game. And they did a fantastic job doing that, which is why I think that the Super Bowl is going to be an incredible watch.

Because as physical as San Francisco is, we're kind of really not paying attention to how much improved the Chief's defense is. So we got really lucky. We're going to have a great, great Super Bowl. So finally, a little pettiness. Usually we reserve the pettiness for the NBA. But Dorel Rievis took a shot at Richard Sherman during the NFC championship yesterday. He shared some criticism on Twitter saying, fear of getting beat in man-to-man coverage, every snap, every play, the fact that he doesn't

travel as a cornerback is lame. Except the challenge is the best and shut Adams down the entire game, do it for the game. Football. Stop hiding a cover three zone. Well, Richard Sherman never went to hold back, saw his comments and responded, I would go in on this has been, but I have a Super Bowl to prepare for. Enjoy the view from the couch. Your ninth year looked a lot different than this, and it's except. I thought I would give you a lesson while I was here because he said. Yeah, Stanford guy is just.

You know, just flaunting their genius. I'm happy for Richard Sherman. So why? Richard Sherman fought his way all the way back. He's second team all pro this season, reached his fifth pro ball. He's a huge part of that defense. And he's right. He is playing in a Super Bowl, and their defense is physical and incredible.

And he's always going to defend his craft. He's very proud about what he does. And he did an amazing job. Yeah, and I don't think, listen, man, if you get beat over the top by Devane Adams once a game, you can live with that. He had a good game. Richard Sherman, prove me wrong. I thought after the injury in Seattle, I thought it was done.

I thought he was kind of a... It's a very hard injury to come back from. He had a great year. He's also good for their... They've got some young players on this team. You know, that defensive front for the Niners, they're almost all under 25. It's really actually a young team. Debo, Kittle, Garoppolo, their right tackle, defensively, their corners.

No, he's huge for them. He's been there before. He's a grown-up. He knows how to prepare for this game. He's going to be crucial for them. Good stuff. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd-Ly News. We do this game in sports. We talk about this a lot. Windows closed very quickly. You know, in the NBA, sometimes you have a Kobe in shack and they wear each other out. Players get hurt in football. You know, in baseball, how many innings can a great pitcher give you how many straight years? So windows are often open for a championship or they're partially open or they're closed.

and we look at the playoff teams this year, whose Super Bowl window, I think it'll surprise you, is still open and who's is closed based on contracts, age, injuries, and free agency that's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Welcome back. Good to have you in. You know, we talk about, Aaron Rogers said after the game, he believed that the Super Bowl window for the Green Bay Packers was still open. Here is Aaron Rogers after yesterday is crushing loss to the Niners in the NFC championship. I said it last week.

The window was open for us, and that's the exciting thing. It doesn't make this feeling any easier, but that is very exciting moving forward. Like I said, the window's open, and I think we're going to be on the right side of one of these real soon. The Chiefs and 49ers wins,

windows, young, talented quarterbacks are clearly open. So we thought we look at the rest of the playoff teams plus the Dallas Cowboys. Window opened, partially open, halfway open or closed. Here we go, Joy. Okay, well, let's start with the Packers. Is there Super Bowl window open, window open, closed, or halfway open? Okay, it's open. And the reason it's open, it's the fifth youngest roster in the National Football League.

They went from six to 13 wins. Aaron had an injury-free season. It should be noted this was the first year in Matt LaFleur's system. You know, second year in the system. And I also think the division is Kirk Cousins, broken down Matt Stafford, and Mitch Trubisky, wide open for at least the next half decade. All right.

How about the Titans, open, closed, or halfway open? I think it's halfway open, leaning toward closed. Remember, Derek Henry's a free agent. they'll pay him a lot. Tanna Hill, they probably have to franchise tag him. This is the fourth oldest roster. This is the fourth oldest roster in the NFL. And let's be honest about it.

You got a lot of good young quarterbacks in the AFC. Josh Allen, Watson, Mahomes. They're only getting better, Sam Darnold. Where Tanna Hill, you've got to start drafting a guy. My takeaway is this is kind of a one-off year. I don't think it's closed, though, because I do think the culture that Mike Vrable creates, they're capable of getting into the playoffs. I think their ceilings lower.

I agree. Vikings, is their Super Bowl window open, closed, or halfway open? I think it's closed. I think you have one year left with Kirk Cousins, so that is going to hang over the organization. They're going to ask all year long, you've got to answer the Kirk Cousin questions. Matt LaFleur now and Aaron Rogers and a year. young roster in their second year. So Green Bay's younger, Aaron's better, Lefleur, second year in the system. They haven't made the playoffs in Minnesota for the first time since 2009. I think they're

going to draft a quarterback. And I think that quarterback thing is going to hang over them in the division. Wouldn't be surprised if Chicago doesn't come back and jump over Minnesota next year. Seahawks, open, closed, or halfway open? Absolutely open. Again, Russell Wilson's. in his prime. Pete Carroll's a Hall of Fame coach. They have the fourth youngest roster in the National Football League. They get all those running backs who got hurt back. Their offensive linemen come back. And under Russell Wilson, they've never been under 500. So this is still a very young team. Now, the NFC West cannibalizes itself a little bit. But I think going forward, young team, quarterback prime, Hall of Fame coach, and all their young players,

you know, to me, are getting better. And Russell and Bobby Wagner are maybe not getting better, but in their prime. The Ravens Open, Open, closed, halfway open. Yeah, this is open. I think Lamar is just going to keep getting better. I think John Bar, Harbaugh has an extension. I think in this division, I still think they have the best overall roster. Also, Big Ben may come back or maybe not.

So I think this has topped about them, the best organization. For the record, Lamar has struggled a little in the postseason. and young quarterbacks do. He's 19 and 3 as a starter. So let's not forget the regular season gets you the contract extension, quarterback coach. They're a great regular season football team. They're just young and learning how to cap it off in the postseason. How about the Texans, open, closed, halfway open?

I feel it's closed. First of all, they don't have any first round picks. Tui, how many years? They don't have a next year or first round. No first round this year. No first round pick this year. No first round pick next year in a second as long. And they have major issues.

this football team. Bill O'Brien in a power grab now has all the power. I mean, I think this is a team. They kind of went all in this year to fix the offensive line to make it a run this year. They gave up valuable draft picks. And I think organizationally, you can't ask to Sean Watson to keep saving what's a dysfunctional organization. And I don't think they're any more functional today than they were at the beginning of the season. I think their division now, you know, I don't think.

I think the Colts are going to be better next year. So I think it's closed. The Philadelphia Eagles is there a Super Bowl window open, closed, or halfway open? I think it's wide open. I think owner, GM coach, quarterback, they're great. They had 18 players last year going the IR. I mean, that's just not going to happen again. They also, they have one key component to upgrade, and that is speed at wide receiver.

And Joy, it's the best receiver draft maybe in our lives. So the one thing they need, they got picks, and the draft is going to supply them with multiple opportunities to get that. Also, Carson Wentz signed a contract extension. You don't have to worry about all the key leadership areas. You're in really good shape. They are getting a little old on the offensive line. They've got to address that as well in free agency or the draft.

The New Orleans Saints open, closed halfway open. It's halfway open, but Drew's going to be 41. Teddy Bridgewater, somebody may make a big offer. he's a free agent on that. Again, I like their roster. I think they've done a really good job to address their defense in the last several drafts. Mickey Loomis is a tremendous, tremendous eye for personnel.

So when you can restock the fridge over and over, it's going to be halfway open. But boy, they have lost. You know, three straight years now, you think they're there, and they just don't quite have the juice at the end of the season. And in some key spots, they're not getting younger. Yeah. How about the bills, Super Bowl window open, closed, or halfway open? It's halfway open.

I think their division's getting better. I think Miami's going to be better, and the Jets are going to be better. And I think the AFC next year is going to have a bunch of new quarterbacks, and it's getting better. They also had an older roster. I love the coaching staff and Josh Allen, but they're going to have to make some decisions. It's a fairly old roster. In fact, let me look. It's the seventh oldest roster in the NFL.

So not that they're just built to win now, but this may have been a little bit of a special year and they have to recalibrate in certain spots. But it's open, but there's some limitations. How about the Patriots? Halfway open only because of the respect I have for Belichick, Skarnackia. Now they get their center back, their kicker back, and the young receivers are in year two. But this is an old team. they have an older unathletic quarterback. They're going to have to pay Tom if he stays.

And I think they have some real limitations at wide receiver. They have not addressed the tight end position post-gronk. This is not a great draft for tight ends. So I think they'd have to really spend some money. They'd have to go off-brand and spend some money in places. They don't want to spend money. I think it's mostly closed, but out of respect to the staff and the culture, you'll leave it open a little.

If Brady's not theirs, it's still halfway open. No, it's closed. It's close. How about the Cowboys? Super Bowl window open, closed, or halfway open? It's halfway open. I think they have an upgraded coach, Dax 26, Zeex 24. Now, the reason it's halfway open, this offensive line, Goulet, is starting to get old.

We're seeing now you can't go a season without injuries. So I think they've got about a year left with this offensive line, and then they're going to have to start drafting it and refurnishing it. Tyron Smith, yeah. And also, you're going to have to pay Dax. mid-30s, you're going to lose somebody, Byron Jones the corner, Amari Cooper, the receiver. I'd like to see, I could live with

Byron Jones being gone, but then you have weaknesses in what appears to be the weakness of the team anyway, they're secondary. So the coaching upgrade, my stars are young, but you pay DAC and there may me some limitations. Open, closed, halfway open. Panthers Wild, today's Discover

Card Key matchup. Discover matches all the cash back. You earn into your first year automatically. No limit. Millions of people a are getting cash back, go to discover.com slash cash back match. It's a good show today. It was. Nice stuff. So we are all set for the Super Bowl in Miami.

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