The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 01/09/2019

Episode Date: January 9, 2019

Colin goes through the coaching hires in the NFL and thinks only one makes sense while the others are just teams with low sports self-esteem. Some stats point out that Dak is actually a really good QB and Colin isn't all that surprised.  Plus, FS1's Nick Wright and NBC's Peter King have problems with the Cardinals hiring Kliff Kingsbury and they explain why.  Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin. Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. It is an absolute pleasure to have you in today. Nick Wright, Peter King, Casey Hayward of the Chargers,

Rob Parker, and of course, Joy Taylor is joining me today. Joy, how are you? That's great. Good morning. Good morning. I love this time of the year. We got coaching moves. Crazy that's unbelievable.

It's unbelievable. Okay. So this happens a lot in society. Everybody chases the exception instead of the rule. What do you mean, Colin? Seven of the eight remaining coaches in the playoffs are 50-year-older. And everybody's hiring young guys. It's incredible.

By the way, Tampa Bay is sort of the Cleveland Browns of the NFC. It's a graveyard for coaches. Seven of the last eight years in fourth place. Haven't won a playoff game in 10 years. Haven't been to the playoffs in 10 years. But they actually hired a grown-up yesterday, Bruce Ariens. Carson Palmer's best years with Bruce Ariens. Peyton Manning, Andrew Locke, Big Ben, work with all of them, got the Super Bowls.

Bruce Ariens, a grown-up. He's a 6-year-old man. been a coordinator multiple times. Head coach now a second time. By the way, the last time the Browns made the playoffs, Bruce Ariens was the coordinator. But Cleveland's not interested in him. No.

Either's Arizona. Either's Green Bay. No, he's old. So let's look now that Tampa Bay made the best hire so far. Let's actually look at the remaining three teams in what they're doing. Oh, it looks like this morning Cleveland's going to hire Freddie Kitchens. he, I don't believe, has been a high school coach. Never been a high school head coach.

He's never been hired as a coordinator. He's in his 40s. No, no, no. He was given the interim job for eight games this year. Never actually been hired by a team in the NFL to be a coordinator. He is now going to be an NFL head coach. Good luck in your own division facing Mike Tomlin twice a year. John Harbaugh twice a year.

Good luck when you face Andy Reid, Frank Reich, who was actually a quarterback and a hell of a coordinator and a great coach. Congratulations, getting the young guy with no experience. By the way, let's look at Arizona. Arizona hired Cliff Kingsbury. By the way, everybody thinks he's the next Sean McVeigh. Does everybody realize their offenses don't even look alike? Cliff Kingsbury, just a heads up here, against big 12 teams with winning records, he was 4 and 31.

Now, it's not a misprint. If you take away games against Kansas, the worst program in college football, and you take away FCF schools, he was 16 and 40 at Texas Tech. Let's give him an NFL job. Good hell. How about Matt LaFleur? Matt LaFleur, been a coordinator for one year and Tennessee's offense got worse. This is from a coach who worked with Matt LaFleur.

I got this information last night. This is from a coach who worked with Matt LaFleur. He's smart, very strategic. Doesn't have great leadership skills. Excuse me? doesn't have great leadership skills. Aaron Rogers, Green Bay, Packers, iconic brand. Okay, I'm done.

Cliff Kingsbury got fired by his alma mater. Lefleur had a job for one year as a coordinator, not known as a leader, sort of important. And Cleveland's going to hire a guy who no team in the NFL ever gave an offensive coordinator job to hiring him. He got inserted as an interim. Tampa Bay went and hired a grown blank man. a man who's been to Super Bowls,

a man who has coached Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning and Big Ben and gave Carson Palmer his best coaching. You're all, all you Cleveland's and all you Arizona's and all you Green Bayes, you're chasing the exceptions, Sean McVeigh. He's the exception. The rule is seven of the eight coaches who remain in the NFL this weekend are 50, or older.

By the way, I thought everybody wanted to coach Baker Mayfield. Where's the list of all the candidates? They didn't. Kingsbury wouldn't give him an interview. Mike McCarthy not interested. Bruce Ariens. Oh, I did that job really a little bit. No, no.

Freddie Kitchens. By the way, he does look a little bit like Mike McCarthy. I'll say that. You couldn't hire Mike McCarthy. You hired him. It kind of looks like him, so there's that. Okay. All right, let me shift to this.

We have a great show today. Not going to do much NBA, but this needs to be noted. This was significant. Congratulations to Ryan Saunders. I work with his father, the late great Flip Saunders, wonderful man. I worked with him at the other place. He passed away. He was a pleasure to work with and just a sweetheart of a man.

His son is Ryan Saunders. He won his first game last night. He's the coach now, the Minnesota Timberwolves, which is really cool. He's a young man, and he won his first game. And so let's just, I don't know, randomly show you the last Last play of that game against Oklahoma City. They beat OKC. Let's watch it.

Westbrook, down low. Now in the corner. Walk the dribble the three. And multiple chances for the Thunder that time. Westbrook with two looks. Just could not get a ball to fall for him. Unfortunate for the Thunder. Excuse me.

That was Russell Westbrook. Excuse me? So that was an air ball. For our radio listeners who didn't hear the ball hit the rim, it didn't. That second three was an airball and he was open. This is why Kevin Durant left OKC. 175 NBA players have shot 93s this year. Westbrook is 175th. Since December 1st, James Hardin is the leading score in the NBA and Paul George is second. Paul George last night had hit five threes. Paul George is an elite three-point shooter,

and he was reduced to catching Russell Westbrook's airball. Why is Russell Westbrook still shooting threes? Why is he still shooting five a game? He's shooting 23% on the year. And by the way, his five per game are the most of his career. Paul George is a better shooter. Nobody would deny that. He's not getting any.

looks at the end of games because the Oklahoma City Thunder have enabled and are terrified to say, Russell, stop shooting those. This is why Kevin Durant said, I'm out. This is why they had to move James Hardin. You can't play with him. Paul George is an elite catch-and-shoot player, one of the best in the league. He's 6-8. Generally 6'8 guys get a good look at the end of games.

They're long. He's a great shooter. He was hot. He almost always. is since December 1st, second in the NBA after James Hardin, who's also red hot. You would not avoid Russell. If James Hardin played, wouldn't you give him the last shot on this team? Why wouldn't you give Paul George?

This is what Oklahoma City has done. At one point, think about this. Oklahoma City had James Hardin, Westbrook, and Kevin Durant. And their management chose not the MVP Hardin, not the second best player in the league, Russell Westbrook. And as the game has evolved into a shooters league, Oklahoma City is now officially the worst three-point shooting team in the league. And symptomatic of that is last night. Russell Westbrook, they designed plays for Russell Westbrook.

And Paul George was reduced to catching his airball. Ten years in the league, an airball on an open three. You want to know why KD left? You want to know whether there's that video out of KD laughing a couple years ago at Russell Westbrook jacking up threes? This is it. When you are a fear-based organization, and Oklahoma City is petrified that Hardin and Kevin Durant now gone, they can't tick off. Russell Westbrook, this is what you get.

I'm not a hater for pointing out something that is true. 175 NBA players have shot 93s or more this year. He's 175th. And yet the organization, knowing that, designed the final two shots last night because they wanted him to be a hero. They did. They wanted him to be the star. This is why I said, Paul George, be careful. Congrats on the extra bank.

Congrats on the lettuce. But guys have played with him. And they left. and that's why. 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.

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And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. We got breaking news here. So again, grownups, Tampa Bay hired a grown-up, Bruce Ariens, an experienced grown-up, whose coach Andrew Luck and Big Ben and Peyton Manning and, you know, Carson Palmer was the best years of his life. It looks like Freddie Kitchens just got named coach of the Cleveland Browns, never been hired by a team as an interim or as an offensive coordinator. But hey, Cliff Kingsbury, Freddie Kitchens, Matt Lefleur, they're young, their cheekbones.

I mean, it's unbelievable to me. Seven of the eight coaches left are 50-year-older, and everybody wants the new offensive guy. It is amazing to me. By the way, Denver's going to hire Vic Fangio and bring back Gary Kubiak as an offensive coordinator. Two grown-ups. Two grown-ups. I mean, it's incredible to me what is happening. And by the way, everybody told me everybody wanted to coach the Cleveland Browns.

And I kept pushing back and saying, in my lifetime, the Cleveland Browns have never been the best job opening unless are the only job opening. And even then I'd pass. You can't tell me Cleveland's the best job opening is this as if who you hired. This guy's never been a high school coach. So I said when Baker Mayfield came out, I said, be very careful. There are two things I said when Baker Mayfield came out during the draft. Now, Joy, you weren't on the show at the time about the draft.

But I think you remember me saying these two things. I said two things. He won't be a bust because he's just too darn accurate as a thrower. I said the second thing is he is going to have to overcome Cleveland dysfunction constantly. And he's already had his coach fired. And now this is his head coach. Good luck. And by the way, everybody's like, oh, man, but Freddie Kitchie.

Listen, we saw Lamar Jackson win, Tim Tebow win, the Wildcott offense. Things work. Streaks happen in the NFL. NFL. You don't hire a coach because of a, you know, you won four to five games. Cleveland beat Cincinnati a couple times in Atlanta. They got smoked, you know, by the Chargers. They got whacked by Baltimore, right? I mean, it's like, come on.

But this is what I said about Baker-Mainfield. Everybody kept telling me Browns was the best job opening. So this is who they hired, the least qualified candidate on the market. Well, I mean, with Baker this year, they were. Greg Williams, by the way, was the head coach. And they gave him nothing. He's gone. I mean, if you're going to hire one of the two, hire Greg Williams. Greg Williams is a man. Greg Williams has won games. Greg Williams has been hired by seven teams as a coordinator. I mean, this is classic Cleveland. You know, low self-esteem sports teams. If you just rub their tummy, you tell them they're beautiful, you give them a little three-game winning streak. They're like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. We've got to hire this guy.

I'm like, he's ever been a high school head coach. It's incredible. All right. So I'm seeing a story today. Tom Brady basically said, I'm not sure if we have sound on it. Tom Brady basically came out yesterday. He does this thing, a Why Sports Matter podcast. And Brady came out and basically said he's got more to accomplish, which is, you know,

absurd considering all he's accomplished. We do have the Brady sound. This is one of the things Tom Brady talked about yesterday on is why sports matter podcast. Here it is. I still like feel there's things to accomplish. And I've had an opportunity, based on all the things that have happened the last 12 years of my life, you know, to put myself in a position to achieve things that no one else has achieved. So I feel like I kind of have to do it. It's fucking going to be hard to do. But I think I can do it.

Okay, first of all, forget average players. Even legends retire poorly. John Elway is the only legend ever ever perfect ending. I remember when John Elray retired. It was shocking. He was just winning his second in back-to-back Super Bowls, and he was the MVP. And he could still play. He could still play. John Elway is the only legend ever.

Like Kobe Bryant scored 16 in his last game, but the last couple of years, he was an incredibly inefficient player. Peyton Manning hoisted a trophy last year, but in that year he'd been replaced by Brock Osweiler. He was a shell of himself. John Elway is the only guy to do it right. He retired like Johnny Carson. Last show's great.

Seacrest. I'm out. John Elway was still great. He was a Super Bowl MVP. He was running the league. John Elway controlled the NFL and said, I'm done. Like, that's how you do it. But even in the NBA, Michael Jordan, Wizards, sad. Akeem Olajuwon, Raptors, bad. Shack, pathetic, you know, have luggage will travel. It was like nine teams. So I don't want to see Tom Brady limping at seven and nine with 13 picks in four games mid-season saying, I'm out. But here's the reason. Tom Brady, there's a narrative out there that it should be really easy for Tom to retire.

He's got the net worth. He's got the legacy and he's got the rings. I think it's incredibly hard for two reasons to retire. Okay. The dysfunction in that division between the Jets, Bills, and Dolphins, virtually assures he's going to win the division every year, and Bill Belichick's the best coach ever. It's very difficult to retire as an executive at Apple, at Netflix, at Amazon, at Google. Business is good. You own the world. It is very easy to retire 12 years ago at Blockbuster Video.

It's easy to retire when you're losing, your average, Derek Jeter's numbers go down. But I think it's hard. If I'm 70 years old and I'm on the air and I'm still growing and near the top or at the top of this business, that's hard to retire. To me, that's hard. It's easy to retire if I can't get through shows, if I have no energy, if my ratings are going down 17% a year.

That makes it easy. That decision's made for me. I'm not dumb. you hear the hints from bosses. You see the writing on the wall. I think Brady retiring is hard. If Tom Brady was in a division facing Patrick Mahomes twice a year and Philip Rivers twice a year and Derek Carr twice and Denver can figure their situation, oh, it's easy to retire. And you're battling to be seven and nine. You are in the playoffs every third year. When you have Belichick and you face the dolphins twice, the Jets twice, and the bills twice, I think it's incredibly difficult. I think Tom Brady's smart. He doesn't want to limp off.

He doesn't want to do it like Peyton Manning. He don't want to do it like Derek Jeter or Kobe and have one last great at bat or game. Tom's not what he used to be, but you can't quit now. You can't leave now. You're leaving wins. You can leave a Super Bowl. I don't think so.

He'll live in a Super Bowl on the table. John Elway is the only legend that walked out and could still win another one and was still great and was Super Bowl MVP. That is rare. And so my gut feeling is Brady stays a year too long. It may be next year of the year after. But I understand why. It's not easy.

It's really tough. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I heart radio app. Maybe I'm being an agist and I'm against young people, but I don't think I am. All these young coaches getting jobs in the NFL with virtually no NFL experience, even being a coordinator. And with that, via the Coward Global Satellite Network, Nick Wright joins me. All right, Nick, let's start with this.

And again, I'm rooting for all these guys because the NFL's better with fun offenses and progressive offenses. So I'm rooting for all of them. But Cliff Kingsbury was 4 and 31 against ranked teams in the Big 12. What do you make of his hire? Man.

I understand the argument for it. He was the coach at Houston, when Case Keenan broke records, who's the coordinator at A&M, when Manzell won the Heisman, he coached Pat Mahomes, he knows Sean McVeigh. I get all the reasons that you want to hire the guy when Josh Rosen is your future. And maybe it works out. But I have to be honest, what bothers me the most about the Cliff Kingsbury hire

is that he was interviewing in the first place. I have no problem with upward mobility. I have no problem with people leaving jobs. early. But I do think if you take a job, you should be there more than, I don't know, 30 days. Give it a year. And Colin, you and I have talked about this in my life. There was a moment where I accepted a job. And literally the next morning, I hadn't signed anything. I could have easily extricated myself. The next morning, I got a phone call from a different place offering me what I thought was my dream job.

And I let them finish their offer. I swallowed hard and I said, I really appreciate it. I wish you'd called me 12 hours ago, but I accepted a job yesterday. And I'm not ashamed to say it. I hung up the phone and I cried because I thought I was walking away

from the only job I'd ever wanted. But I had given someone my word. I hadn't gone, interviewed, taken a position, signed, told young people I'm going to come be their coordinator, and two weeks later been like, hey, bra, you know, it turns out crazy thing. There's NFL openings. I didn't know that was on the calendar.

Riddle me that. I don't like how he went about this. Maybe he'll be good. But this rubs me the wrong way. I know that's kind of like an old man yelling at a cloud take. But that's, if you take a job, do the job at least temporarily before you look for the next job. I agree. Baker Mayfield, hottest job.

Everybody wants to coach him. Mike McCarthy's got a Super Bowl resurrected Brett Farve's career, helped create to some degree Aaron Rogers, not interested, reportedly not interested. Bruce Ariens, I want it. Took James Winston instead, okay? I'm sorry, Nick, and I'm not trying to be anti-Baker here, but if Baker's all that, Freddie Kitchens is it? He never been hired by a team as a coordinator.

He was an interim coordinator. I don't understand why the Browns. went with Freddie Kitchens. I do understand why some of the top candidates might not have been interested in the job, absent of Baker. Colin, I have learned this from you. What is the number one thing or one of the number one things you look at you've looked at when deciding if you want to take, yeah, who do you work for?

And Jimmy Haslam is not a guy that I think you can trust whether you're going to one of his gas stations or whether you want to coach his football team. Like Jimmy Haslam, I think we're at 10 combined head coaches and general managers, and I know people love John Dorsey, but John Dorsey is not the boss there. Jimmy Haslam is. And so I think that might have cooled some people who otherwise would be interested in working for Dorsey and working with Baker. To me, I didn't look at this as an indictment on Baker-Mayfield.

I looked at this as a lot of teams or a lot of coaches saying, man, is this more than a two-year window because of who the owner of the team is? I like your take. That's good. That's fair. That's a very fair take. My take may have been a little anti-Baker. That's a very fair take. A baker, I apologize. Thank you. Can I tell you a take of yours I didn't like that I just heard a moment ago? Yeah, please. Are you entertaining working until you're 70?

because part of my career path involves at some point taking over for you and I ain't got 25 years away bro. Like I'm trying to, I love my gig, but I'm trying to get back to L.A. before I die. You're like, oh, maybe I'll Larry King this thing. You and I ain't talked about that. Okay. You get me in hysterics here.

All right, I got to throw this out. Now, there is a lot of pressure on one team in the NFL this weekend. And it's Kansas City. I love Andy Reid, but there's like a number out there. And he'd not winning those playoff games. And Patrick Holmes is the MVP. And you lived in Kansas City and worked there, and they're not really good at winning playoff games, even at home.

Would you acknowledge, Indianapolis comes into your former hometown with house money, hottest team in the league. Kansas City is going to be tight. There's all that, more than any of the eight playoff team. your chiefs, there is massive pressure to win this game. Am I crazy? No, you're not crazy. I think the most pressure's on the Rams, only because 11 wins last year, home playoff game, one and done. If they then go 13 wins, a buy home playoff game, one and done.

I feel like Matt LaFleur and Cliff Kingsbury were smart to take these jobs now, because if the Rams lose this weekend, knowing Sean McVeigh looking like Sean McVeigh, having Sean is your middle name maybe is not quite the chip it is otherwise. But to your point about the Chiefs, listen, the Chiefs have lost a home playoff game after a buy where they lose by three points and miss three field goals. They've lost a home playoff game after a buy where they can't make the other team punt a single time. They've lost a game to Andrew Luck where they blow a 28-point lead and Luck fumbles the ball and then scores a touchdown on it.

They lost a playoff game to the Steelers where the Chief scored two touchdowns. The Steelers scored zero touchdowns, and they lost. And they lost last year to Marcus Marriota after leading 18 points at the halftime. And Marietta threw the game-winning touchdown pass to himself. All of that's happened in Kansas. So yes, the fans will be nervous. And yes, there is a lot of pressure. Thankfully, the Chiefs have the best player in the league.

Thankfully, they have the third highest scoring offense, not in the NFL, but in NFL history. And thankfully, your guy, your godson, Andrew Luck, is playing in the playoffs where he's got a career passer rating of 72, where his touchdown interception ratio is 11 to 13, where in the playoffs outdoors, it's two touchdowns to eight interceptions with a 52 passer rating. So you're right, a lot of pressure on the Chiefs. but it should be noted Andy Reid before he had Alex Smith as his quarterback, a winning record in the postseason, not a history of going one and done the postseason. A lot of pressure on the Chiefs. Luckily, they've got the best offense. One of the best offenses in NFL history with the quarterback having one of the best seasons in NFL history.

I think they're going to be fine. By the way, how did you do last weekend with your picks? Oh, I mean, against the spread, I did well. As far as getting the winners, I mean, it was tough. I feel like this is a bit of a twist to the knife. I think you knew the answer to this question. I got the Colts game right, and then I didn't get anything else right the rest of the weekend. Joy, how did I do it?

I mean, I don't know why you got to bring that up. Colin got all the picks, right? Okay. I'll just run. Colin, you went 4-0. Yeah. Okay, so Colin, okay, so you feel very emboldened. You feel a big, powerful, Colin Cowher.

Should we make a little friendly gentleman's wager? I know you've started to go down the gambling path. We don't have to put money on it. Let's just do Colts Chiefs, Colin. If the Colts win, I will, when I take some time off in February, grow an Andrew Luck neck beard and wear it my first day back. Okay. If the Chiefs win, you'll let the wonderful people at FS1's hairstylist department give you the Patty Mahomes' hairdo for a show. How about that, Colin Cowherd?

I wouldn't even going to do this, but you want to bring up 4-0 verse 1 and 3. Put your hair where your mouth is, big man. Well, actually, I would do this and there's one problem. Oh. The one problem. I like the Chiefs to win. I like the Chiefs to win, too. Oh, oh, the one of the ultimate hedge.

I love it. So you get to be right either way. I picked the Chiefs or I told you, Andrew, look. Oh, look at this guy. Should have been the MVP. What a, what a coward. I can't believe you, man. Unbelievable.

And I will retire before 70. And you can have the job. Nick Wright, ladies and John. Gentlemen, great seeing you, buddy. See you, bro. Later, man. What's up, John Middlecock from the three-and-out podcast. Brought to you by Colin Coward in this podcast network.

You like Colin Scho. You'll like mine. I'm talking football, football, and more football. Today, you know I'm talking national championship. Nabos Sweeney. He just became a legend. But isn't he the next Alabama coach? Sean Watson, Nick Bowles, Dak Prescott,

cover everything that happened over Wildcard Wiesling. in three and out podcast with me, John Middilkoff. You know, I'm not a, I don't always believe stats matter. Kirk Cousins is the greatest example where he completes 70% of his throws, blah, blah, blah, but in the end, he can't win the big games. And so stats, there are some, I look at a lot. What do you average per play offensively? That's what Vegas looks at?

That's what I look at. What is your third down conversion rate? Can you make big plays when it matters, third and inches, fourth and inches? But most stats don't tell me much. But there's a couple, the NFL research, and this is a verified account, came out yesterday. This is remarkable. This is absolutely remarkable on Dak Prescott. Since 2016, he has 15 game winning drives.

That is the most in the NFL. He has 13 prime time quarterback wins. That is the most in the NFL. And 19 rushing touchdowns, most in the NFL by a quarterback. Folks, these are real stats. He is the opposite of Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins is great when it doesn't matter. But with a minute and a half to go in a game,

and it's on Sunday night football or the Fox Big Game or Thursday night football or Monday night football, Dax good. You can't deny this stuff. Dax good. He could say he has the clutch gene. Okay, the clutch gene. And I've said this before. There are just certain guys, Michael Jordan, he was good hitting a free throw late.

Michael Jordan wasn't an 85, 90% free throw shooter. Boy, he was good late, though. Michael was good late, though. There are guys that have it. These are real stats. And I said yesterday, DAC is 80% of Troy Aikman. Now, the 20%'s Troy had a golden arm. And that's why Troy is a Hall of Famer and Troy won three Super Bowls.

That's why I don't think Dak's ever going to be a Hall of Famer and win three Super Bowls. But DAC has something that I think is wildly undervalued. maturity, emotional discipline, even temperament, low emotions, steady personality, opposite of Baker, who drives me crazy, opposite of Cam Newton, who drives me crazy, opposite of, often James Winston, who drives me crazy, opposite of Jay Cutler, who drove me crazy, steady, calm, unemotional, no anxiety, good body, language, better late in games, bigger the game, the bigger the player. You cannot deny these numbers for all you cowboy haters out there.

These are real numbers. Fifteen game winning drives. That means he got the ball and his team trailed late. 13 primetime wins. That means the network said, Cowboys against good teams. They don't put the Cowboys against the Jags on. Cowboys against the Eagles. But the Cowboys against the Packers.

We're going to put the Cowboys against the Saints. Primetime games means the networks. You don't see the Jags on Primetime even against the Cowboys. Primetime is network saying we want the Steelers, we want the Patriots, we want, you know, we want Kansas City, we want Dallas, we want Green Bay. Those are numbers. You can't, this is why I say quarterback is not the best arms in NFL history that I've ever seen.

Let's let's go last 20 years. the best arms I've seen in the NFL that's 20 years. Cam, Jay Cutler, Matt Stafford, Jamarcus Russell, and Brett Farve. One is a winner,

and even Brett Farve, I would argue, underachieved. Considering his talent, Brett Farv should have won more. Brett Farv is one of the great natural talents of all time. But a lot of those guys that had great arms did not have emotional discipline.

Well, that's why I think in 10, Tangibles matter. Like, we talk about it, you know, kind of frivolously. Like, oh, you know, he has good body language and he's, you know, great at the podium. But all of that steadiness is important when you're in a leadership position. Of course. You can't be too high and too low. Have you, like, like I've had, you know, again, I've worked at five or six companies.

And the one common denominator, I'm not going to mention their names. I'm not going to embarrass people or just put people out there. But I've had two or three bosses who I've had. I thought were next level. And the one thing they shared, they weren't prep school. They didn't go to Harvard. They didn't go to Yale. They didn't go to Princeton.

In fact, they went to very popular state schools, both of them. They didn't come from money. They didn't come from privilege. They took weird routes. One of them went to Europe first and came here. One started in a mail room and worked up. But the one thing both of them had, two or three of them had, in big moments, They were take a breath.

They were, let's see macro. Let's get the big picture. Let's not fall for the moment. Let's step back. Let's add a little calm. They weren't fist pumpers. They're not grabbing. They're not doing nonsense on the sideline.

They are, okay, world's caving in a little bit here. Let's take a deep breath. Let's step back. They were a calming influence. And DAC has that and those numbers are crazy. 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced 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 middle 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, Keer 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 Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion-dollar fraud.

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Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring, women in sports and wellness. Professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't.

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And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeartRour.

Heart Women's Sports. Peter King, NBCSports.com. All right, let's start. I'm going to go through. Let's start with Cliff Kingsbury, took the USC job, and then about a month later, he goes to an NFL job,

which is obviously better than being a coordinator in college. What do you make of the hire? What do you make of Kingsbury? Well, Kingsbury really must have convinced Steve Kye, Michael Bidwell, that in fixing Josh Rosen, and in preparing Josh Rosen with one of the best offensive minds in all of football,

that that was going to be worth, you know, basically giving your whole team to. You know, the big knock on Kingsbury at Texas Tech was that he was fairly myopic on the offense and wasn't a great recruiter or, you know, a great defensive guy in any way. So I think the Cardinals have to be convinced. now that they're going to get Kingsbury an above average defensive staff and just let Kingsbury handle the offense. Did you like what he did

leaving USC? No, I didn't like it at all. I'm just not a fan. I mean, he came there in the middle of their recruiting season. They had, what, two weeks left of the recruiting season and then, I mean, who knows if any kid ended up going to USC because of him?

But then he walks out. I don't like it very much. I try not to be on my Morrow High Horse too much, but it just didn't seem right to me. We got a trend going on. If you had a beer in the last three years with Sean McVeer or a picture taken with him, you're going to get an NFL job. I mean, it's ridiculous.

I think we're overreacting. I love what Tampa did with Bruce Ariens. I think we're overreacting, Peter. I think it's become ridiculous now. Freddie Kitchens, I mean, good Lord, he'd never been hired by anybody as a coordinator, eight games. I understand they want somebody that Baker likes. I get it.

I totally get it. But Peter, is it possible here? We're just overreacting, trying to find the next. next guy that knows Sean McVeigh. Well, I think we might be overreacting to the offensive side of the ball because now it looks like there's a very good chance that seven of the eight hires could be offensive guys. Wow.

You know, now because, I mean, who knows, there's a couple of hires left. And, you know, it sounds like the Jets, you know, we're going to hire Mike McCarthy or Adam Gase. So it's amazing that we have gone so far. and yet, Colin, on the first playoff weekend, what happened? There were all these defensive games. So, you know, it's almost like, okay, you know, Wink Martindale can't get a sniff in Baltimore, and he probably has the best defense in football at the end of this year.

It's just a funny time in football because I think everybody has become convinced that you've got to score, score, score to turn on your fans and have a great team. And we'll see if they're right. Hey, look, Freddie Kitchens, I got to know him a little bit late in the year, Colin. And I'll tell you, I think in his own way, I think he's got a chance to be an excellent head coach. He's a gruff guy. He's very much a collector of ideas from his team. And two or three plays that he called this year, the thing that convinced me that Freddie Kitchens knows what he's doing.

is when the Cleveland Browns played Carolina. Yeah. Get this. They ran a play with Brashad Perryman going left across the formation and then sprinting back right pre-snap and getting a fake jet sweep handoff from Baker Mayfield. Then Baker Mayfield turns the other way. Jarvis Landry follows him and he hands it off to Jarvis Landry.

You can barely see it happen. And there's Luke Keekly. just standing there. I never see Luke Keekely fooled. And on that play he was, and it was a touchdown for Cleveland. And again, look, this can't all be about smoke and mirrors and misdirection. But I'll just say this. In eight weeks, you know, on the fly, Freddie Kitchens did an unbelievable job,

not just with Baker Mayfield, but with an entire offense that had been mediocre, and they were very hard to stop late in the year. We'll see what happens. Okay, I want to talk about some of these games because I think they're fascinating this weekend. I think there's massive pressure on the Kansas City Chiefs. Between their history and Andy Reid's, they're a favorite. They have the MVP. So let's talk about Colts chiefs.

I think the pressure, I think the Colts walk in, knowing with the nine draft picks and $100 million, they're really built for next year and the next eight. I think the pressure's all on Kansas City. What do you think transpires there at Arrowhead? I think it's really interesting that you mention that because to me, the Colts are playing with house money. They can be as relaxed as any team heading into this weekend. You know, Frank Reich at the end of the game last week, or, you know, at the end of the regular season, holds up a paper with the number 32. Like in early October, they were rated the 32nd best team in football.

And now here they are on a 10-1 run. and I totally agree with you, but I'll just say this. This isn't Alex Smith's Chiefs anymore. This is Patrick Mahomes' chiefs. And he just is, hey, what me worry? I spent about 45 minutes with him last week, last Friday, for a piece with NBC this week for our pre-game show. And I'm just telling you, Colin, this guy just, you know,

it's one of those he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Right. And he doesn't get all hot and bothered about anything. And I think, hey, Look, I absolutely think the Colts could win this game, but especially if the Chiefs have Sammy Watkins back, okay, and they could have Sammy Watkins one side of the field, Tyreek Hill on the other side of the field,

two, four, three, five guys, speed guys, you know, you know, separating the defensive backfield and really opening up the middle of the field. I don't know. I think they've, if Watkins plays and is a, effective. I think they got too many weapons for almost any team to defend now. I have the Saints and the Chiefs I think should be probably for Super Bowl favorites. Okay, Cowboys Rams similarly. There are no pressure on the Cowboys. Okay, they're underdogs.

They won their game. The owner loves the coach, has endorsed the quarterback and the coach. They've got the better defense. It'll be a neutral field at worse. I think they have the better roster of young talented people. I mean, again, it feels like the pressure is on the ranch. this weekend. It does to me. I mean, this is, come on, Sean, and based. I agree. Colin, I agree because last year they were, they were favored, obviously, and lost to the six-seated Falcons, you know, in the first playoff game at home.

And they've got to show that they're better than they were last year. And that this blip late in the season, you know, is not who they are because they didn't play great in the last month, particularly offensively. They had their moments, but consistently, they were not great on offense. So to me, I think this is a bad matchup for the Rams, because when I watch Ezekiel Elliott, like I wrote in my column this week, I think Ezekiel Elliott could play in any era of football. I think that he's sort of a poor man's Jim Brown. And I'm not saying he's ever going to be Jim Brown, but I'm saying that he reminds me of him because he's physical. He's physical, he's fast, and he's very smart. Those were three traits that Jim Brown had that put him

ahead of his time in the late 50s. Okay, and finally, nobody has given the Eagles a chance. And I picked the Eagles last week, and I think I like him this week, and I know it's zany. But you talk to Golden Tate this past week. There is something about Foles and this staff. Now, my theory on this, Peter, is he has to be more patient in the pocket, and he's is a little more coachable, whereas the Aaron Rogers and the Wents and the Cam, there's a burden of being really truly gifted. Nick's not. He's just good. He's very easy to coach. He spreads the ball around. He is more patient with the play calling. I like Wence, the player over Foles, but you talk to Golden Tate. Philadelphia's got something going on with Nick Foles, and I finally

buy it. What do you make of their chances? I mean, it's crazy to say that six weeks ago, lost by 41 in New Orleans and now they're going back to New Orleans and he say, well, how can this work? How can they really have a chance? And, you know, to me, Fletcher Cox put this well to me maybe two, three weeks ago. I said, what happened? Why has that game been the line of demarcation on your season? And he said, we got back. We met as a veterans committee with Doug Peterson and we all agreed.

Flush that game. eliminate it. It doesn't matter. We're not going to focus on it. We're not going to obsess on it. We're not going to say, look at all the things we did wrong. We're just going to start all over again right now. And that's what they've done. Add to that the fact that they get Foles, who's cool hand Nick, and who basically is, he doesn't get riled up. He is, as he's told me, I play with a quiet mind. The day of a game, what does he do? Does he study film? Does he do? this? No, he journals about how to be a better father. I mean, I'm just telling you, this is a different human being than a lot of the quarterbacks that we've known. He tries to enter a game with classical

music playing in his head, Colin. That is Nick Foles. And the reason I think they have a chance, like, I probably wouldn't pick them in this game. But the reason I think they have a chance is they're a different team with Nick Foles there, and, you know, they're a different team. entirely in the postseason because they are not going to let that Drew Bree's offense breathe the way it did in November. Yep, totally agree. Peter King, NBCSports.com. It's great talking to you. This time of the year is so much fun. Go break some more stories, Peter. Thank you. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode

we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear.

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. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with Robert Smygel and friends, Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. Space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing.

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