The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 01/10/2019

Episode Date: January 10, 2019

There is one thing that all of these new NFL coaching hires have in common and Colin explains what it is.  He thinks the Chargers have a much better roster than the Patriots but it won't matter on Sunday.  Plus, Greg Cosell of NFL Films explains why Dak Prescott's impressive 1st down run to beat the Seahawks actually shows how little the Cowboys trust him.  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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This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. It's a Thursday. Here we go. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we are live in Los Angeles. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1, one hour from now to get you ready if you play fantasy football. If you bet the games, you just want to see who's going to win this weekend. One hour from now, Greg Cosell stops by.

Joy Taylor's joining me in a Thursday. Joy, how are you? I'm great. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. I'm so happy today. What a week for us. What a week. This is the best time of the year. It's a lot happening. Oh, God, I got four in, I mean, just incredible games this weekend.

I'm going to have a blazing five tomorrow. By the way, I am. I'm going to have a blazing four tomorrow, actually. Maybe I'll pick a volleyball game or something as the fifth. Let me start with this. So Green Bay went out and hired Matt Lafleur. I don't know. I don't know if he's going to be a great coach. I don't.

But I know this. If he gets the Aaron Rogers thing right, then it'll work. And yesterday, the Jets hired Adam Gase. Why? Because Adam Gase and Sam Darnold had a better connection during the discussion than Sam Darnold and Mike McCarthy. Who did Baker Mayfield want his coach? Freddie Kitchens, he got it.

And why did Arizona hire Cliff Kingsbury? Because they thought he and Josh Rosen would get along. Four for four so far. The offensive coaches hired were the choice of the quarterback. Because due to rule changes, the quarterback now is more important than the coach. So you got to get it right. It did not used to be this way. Think I'm wrong, John Elway and Mike Shanahan won Super Bowls together.

Sometimes not a great relationship. Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Knoll had major issues. Won four Super Bowls. Phil Sims and Bill Parcells were not best buddies. It was ugly. And they won. It used to be a head coach and quarterback league. Due to rule changes, it is now a quarterback and coaches league.

By the way, look at the teams and the quarterbacks and the relationships this weekend. So the Rams are in the playoffs. You think it's a coincidence that Goff and McVeigh are like dad and son? Super tight. The Cowboys will face the Rams. Here's what we know about the Cowboys. Dak and Jason Garrett are all in together. By the way, the MVP is Patrick Mahomes.

Super tight with Andy Reid. He'll face Andrew Luck and Frank Wright. Apparently, it's an incredible bond. Oh, there's also Nick Foles and Doug Peterson. Tight facing Sean Payton and Drew Breeze, tightest in the league. Are you seeing something here? If you do not have a relationship where quarterback and coach are symbiotic, it doesn't work. By the way, tell me the two teams in the NFL this year that you are shocked didn't make the playoffs.

Pittsburgh, Big Ben and Tomlin, not a great relationship. And Green Bay, Aaron Rogers and McCarthy imploded. Also teams that disappointed us. Carolina, Cam and Ron Rivera, my sources tell me they both frustrate each other. By the way, Matt Ryan, Dan Quinn, it's okay. Her cousins, Mike Zimmer, do not see eye to eye. Zimmer drives, you know, cousins drives Zimmer crazy sometimes. It didn't used to be this way.

You could have the demanding, yelling coach. Mike Ditka didn't have to like Jim McMahon. It didn't matter. Buddy Ryan didn't have to love his quarterbacks. You could win Super Bowls. You could win your division for years. It doesn't work that way anymore. The rule changes.

If the relationship is even a, little off between coach and quarterback. It doesn't work. Pittsburgh and Green Bay. By the way, do you want to know why Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rogers did not get along this year? I got this one sourced. They got along fine for years because there was a middleman. There was always a middleman.

But Alex Van Pelt got run off. The middleman. So this year, Rogers and McCarthy had to deal with each other constantly. And the minute it didn't work, the team folded and the coach got fired. Okay. So yesterday, all these teams, named the only team, by the way, that didn't hire an offensive coach.

Denver. Now, why would Denver not worry about that whole quarterback thing? They hired Big Fangio, because Denver doesn't have a franchise quarterback that John Elway thinks is going to be around in four years. So they didn't give a rip. They didn't care. They got Gary Kubiak being the offensive coordinator.

He will eventually have to get a little. along with a quarterback. But they don't think much of Case Keenham, so it didn't matter. They went and got a defensive coach, who, by the way, Vic Fangio is a good coach, not much of a personality, not much of a talker, doesn't have real relationships with quarterbacks. They didn't care. Even Tom Brady this year, Tom Brady was always subservient to Belichick. We all know that, right? For years and years, it was Belichick's team and Tom did what he said. He got rid of Wes Welker. He got rid of Randy Moss. Bill ran the show. What happened this year? Brady said, you re-sign Gronk on my terms and you get rid of Garapolo or I'm out.

And Belichick said as the greatest coach in football history, all right, all right, all right, all right. Even in New England, for the first time, the last couple of years, Tom has flexed. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're not getting rid of Grank. Resign him. Belichick, all right, all right. Belichick didn't do that for 17 years. Brady's like, get Garoppolo out of town.

I'm not getting Garoppel. All right. All right. All right. It is no longer a coach quarterback league. It is a quarterback coach league. Four for four yesterday. Aaron signed off on the floor.

Darnold preferred gays. Baker wanted Freddie. And Cliff and Rosen connect. All right. Let's shift to this. So a dynasty could end this weekend. And I just want to say this. Joy and I have said this multiple times.

She's been in this business a long time. I've been in it longer just because I'm older. We both root for stories. We've said that. You think we root for teams. No, no, no, no, no. We root for content. We root for content.

Content equals ratings, contract extensions. We want fun. We want car wrecks. We want craziness. You know what the best thing that could happen to join us this weekend? Dallas wins. that's good for us. Cowboy Nation erupts.

Cowboys are on Fox. That's our team. And you know the other thing that would be great for us? And you're not going to believe this, but I will set a record Monday if this happens. The Patriots get blown out. And the dynasty dies. Because a lot of people are connecting me to New England through the years. I see the numbers.

They'll tune in to see what I have to say about the dynasty that got crushed. Chargers win by 40. They roll them. beat them 47 to 10. It is awful. Brady stinks. That is great for my business. But that's not going to happen because New England's going to win. But the Chargers have better players. I know. I'm not arguing. So did Jacksonville last year. So does Pittsburgh every year. So did Atlanta in the Super Bowl. Atlanta had better players. Go look at the Pro Bowl list. Seattle had better players in the Super Bowl. By the way, so did the St. Louis Ram 17 years ago. They had better players than New England.

In fact, if you put down the top 10 players, in my opinion, between the Chargers and the Patriots this weekend, Brady won, then Philip Rivers, then the Patriots, Stefan Gilmore, then Devin McIllery. Then it's a bunch of chargers and then Devin McCordy. It's seven to three chargers. Brady Rivers, Stefan Gilmore, Desmond King, Derwin James, Joey Bosa, Melvin, Ingram, Devin, Gordon, Keenan Allen. And by the way, 11 through 20 is a lot of chargers. Seattle had better players, Atlanta had better players, Pittsburgh's always got better players, Chargers have better players, Atlanta did.

Let me give you the advantages, if I may, for New England. At home, Belichick, rested, weather, experience, significantly better kicker. The Chargers are playing on back-to-back, East Coast games. There is not geographically, unless the NFL creates a very quick franchise in Nova Scotia, there is not a further trip the Chargers could make for the second straight weekend. New England does have less talent, but this has become their brand that outside of Brady,

talent doesn't win games. Being at home, cold weather, December and January, one or two trick plays, very good Ben don't break defense. I will tell you, without question, and Joy Taylor knows this, and everybody in my business knows this. We do not root for teams. We root for stories. I rooted for LeBron to become a Laker and LeBron to become a Miami Heat. And when those stories get old like LeBron in Miami, LeBron and Cleveland, I'm rooting for another story. That's what we root for. Dallas winning and New England getting absolutely lit up this weekend is fantastic. But I even think I know how this game's going to go. A rested team on two weeks is going to start quickly New England.

New England is 97 and 8 at home when they score first. And in 15 playoff games in Foxborough, they are 13 and 2 when they score first. So they are 97 and 8 overall winning 92% of their games when they score first. And the West Coast team traveling out east again, will be a little unsettled initially. New England gets on them, jumps on them early, then holds them off. It's not actually what I want. What I want is content, and the Chargers blowing them out, and the Cowboys hammering the Rams, give me four days of stories.

But I think New England is the bet this weekend. 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 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 Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, learn the hard way. with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many

incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

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Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle 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 WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that.

Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't. Don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. 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. Most things I think I can explain in life. You can find the answers for almost everything today on Google. I mean, you can ask any question in the world and they'll have an answer in Google. There are some things, though, I would say three things in the world I cannot explain. Number one is smoking, why people smoke.

You die sooner. It's a painful death. It's very expensive. Increasingly, you are forced into tiny isolated places. You've gone to an airport, seen the smoking section. That's a communal coffin. And it makes you smell. Get a patch.

It makes no sense. I can't explain it. The second thing I can't explain is a state that allow you to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. You do get there is no such thing as a fender bender on a motorcycle. You're upright or you're dead. That's the way it goes. You're either flying around or you're dead. and some hippie in a Prius

checks out, downloads his fish album, doesn't look and knocks you into the next county and you're a street pizza. Ski resorts force you to wear a helmet. You're going 28 miles an hour. New Hampshire, you're going 108. Eh, we're a headband. We're all good here.

I don't get it. Here's the third thing I do not understand. Nick Foles is the best passer in the NFL when blitzed. I do not understand this. He does not have a great arm. He does not have great escapeability. Smoking, states that don't demand a helmet and Nick Foles being the best passer in the NFL when blitzed. I do not understand this.

Peter King yesterday offered this. It may be his personality. The fact that they get Foles whose cool hand Nick. 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. It is remarkable. Even Las Vegas does not get Nick Foles. Nick Foles and Doug Peterson are now four in a number. in the playoffs. And they've beaten good teams.

They beat the New England Patriots. And they beat the Red Hot Minnesota Vikings. And they last week went into Chicago and beat the Bears. And they're eight-point dogs at New Orleans. Vegas can't figure them out. Vegas doesn't like them. And Vegas usually has it right. Vegas has them, do you know what an eight-point favorite is in the NFL?

That's like when a dog goes to Foxboro. Like, you get over like six points in the NFL. you get the average score in the NFL is 26-23. That's like three times the average margin. We're down to the final eight teams. Maybe it's his personality. I do believe I've always had a little anxiety. I'm kind of hyper.

I think there are certain people that are born hyper and born calm. I was not born calm. I tend to be a little too intense, a little too anxious, a little too hyper. I don't sleep particularly well. And then there are people that are just natural DNA. they just can walk into a burning building and their heart rate doesn't go up. I've seen this with race car drivers before.

Years and years ago, they did a test on like the late great Dale Earnhardt and his pulse didn't go up one iota going 190 miles an hour around a turn. Some guys are just built to race cars and some guys are built to jump out of planes and I'm not either. But this is fairly remarkable.

Nick Foll's best quarterback and by the way, it's not like it's a fluky thing. The guys under him are like, you know, breeze and luck and Brady Mooms and most of the good guys. Guys. By the way, Dax's way up there too. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. I have told you before, I've been kind of grading the hirings.

What I don't believe in is if you have a young quarterback, Jets have Sam Darnold. He's trying to figure out how to be an NFL quarterback. I also don't want a young quarterback to have a coach who's trying to figure out how to be an NFL head coach. Freddie Kitchens has never been a high school football coach. I don't love that move in Cleveland. So as Baker's trying to learn how to do this thing, he's got a coach. coach who's trying to how to do this thing. I don't like that. I do like, I don't like Arizona situation where Josh Rosen's trying to figure out how to be an NFL quarterback and he's got

a college coach who's trying to become an NFL quarterback. Adam Gase to the Jets and Jet fans are clueless. I mean, they're dopes. They don't know anything. This is a really good hire. Adam Gase is Kyle Shanahan before Kyle Shanahan. Years ago, Nick Sabin was a coach at LSU. He had this, you know, 19-year-old, 20-year-old kid on his staff named Adam Gase, and he gave him all this responsibility because Nick Saban's like, who's the smart kid? This is a guy that had Peyton Manning's greatest year. Peyton Manning called the Jets.

They're like smartest coordinator I've ever had. He won with Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow went in a six-game winning streak. It was Adam Gase. By the way, he had a winning record with Ryan Tannahill, 13 and 11. He made the playoffs the first year in Miami with Ryan Tannahill. The previous two head coaches that Ryan Tannahill had had losing records. Adam Gase had a winning record with him.

He's a really good coach. But what happened? Tanna Hill got hurt. He had to use Jay Cutler and Brock Osweiler. And by the way, even this year, with Osweiler, they had really good Sundays, followed off them by really bad Sundays because that's what happens when you have a backup quarterback playing for you. But in the end, Gase is a great coach. He gave the Patriots trouble.

He went 10 and 6 rookie year. He was a very successful coordinator. Now, the downside to him is these Kyle Shanahan-ish. He can be condescending. He's really smart and he knows it. He's very intense. He is no passive aggressive to him at all. He'll get right in your face.

He's like Kyle Shanahan. He'll go to a press conference and chew out reporters. He is really intense and he wears people out. He had a winning record with Ryan Tannehill. No Miami coach, there's been three of him now, have ever done that. He made the playoffs the first year. Tebow, Manning, Saban, all call on his behalf. He's a super sharp guy.

Well, he was fired. who gives a rip. Belichick's been fired in the NFL. Pete Carroll's been fired twice. Mike Shanahan's got two Super Bowl's been fired. John Gruden got fired. Next year won a Super Bowl. Jim Harbaugh got to a Super Bowl. Two years later, he got fired. Andy Reid's been fired. Now he's the number one seat in the AFC. Guys, the NFL's for aggressive men to coach. They're aggressive guys. Aggressive guys get fired all the time. They get fired in radio, TV. They get fired in CEO jobs. You can't worry about getting fired. If you're worried about getting fired, don't take any grown-up jobs.

If you want to be comfortable, go coach in college where you can dominate the athletic director. You pick all the players. In the NFL, you've got a billionaire owner. You're in a big city. The media is rough, and they fire you every 15 minutes. And you're also coaching millionaires for kids who are playing for a scholarship.

NFL is a hard league to coach in. But Adam Gase, like Jet fans are like, oh, listen, Mike McCarthy, I think's a great coach. I would have loved to see him get the Jets job. But I said my second choice is Adam Gase. And I also said, and Joy, you were here so you can verify this. About 10 days ago, and the NFL was firing all these coaches. They call it like Black Monday and they're firing everybody. Who is the one

coach I said that got fired that I would hire again? Well, McCarthy obviously, the Gase. Yeah. I said that day of all these guys that got fired that day, I said, Adam Gase is going to get a job. Yes. Because my sources all say, he's Kyle Shanahan before Kyle Shanahan. And by the way, Shannon's never been fired yet, but he wears people out. And he calls out the media. And he's Garof. And he and Garoppolo, by the way, have had battles already. I, you know, I think being a Dolphins fan, my opinion of Gates is probably a bit skewed because I wanted to see him be successful there and he wasn't. Again, I don't think your first stint as a head coach if it's not necessarily successful is a reflection of who you are as a head coach.

Certain situations matter. But Miami is not the most functional organizations, you know, historically. They fired Dave Wanstead years ago. And if you look at his first three years in Miami, he had more wins than Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh kept Tomlin to this day. They fired Wonstadt. Wonstat made the playoffs and had a better record than Tomlin. That's what the Miami Dolphins do. I love the Dolphins.

I obviously will. They have a great place in my heart. But they don't get enough credit for all the bad management decisions that they've made over the years. By the way, when you're a dolphin fan, you hate the Patriots, but the Jets are also a big rival. And Gates was five and one against the Jets. So he's a good coach. He's going to be very good in New York. This is a great.

By the way, Sam Darnold got a choose. Sam Darnold got an opinion. They put him on FaceTime, and he's like, I like Adam Gase more than McCarthy. That's the story today. All right, with that, over 35 years NFL films, as smart a guy as we bring on the show, Greg Kosell. Greg, how are you doing? Colin, what's happening, my friend? Well, let's just start with New England, who is favored against the Chargers.

I said, you know, Jacksonville, everybody told me had more talent than New England, and the Seahawks and the Super Bowl did. And Pittsburgh always seems to. and they kind of figure out ways to win. It looks like when I watch the Chargers play, they have a great disparity talent edge on New England. Do you believe that to be the case? Position by position and feel that the Chargers are better, but I think so much of these games come down to specific tactics

and the way the games play out schematically. I think when you look at New England, they're a little bit different team offensively than they have been in the past. Based on the run game, I'm not sure they can line up the way they mean, might have in years past and just give the ball to Tom Brady the way they have. I'm not sure he's quite at the same level. He's certainly not been as good on third down, and that's been

a defining feature of their offense this year, that Tom Brady's not been as good on third down, and the offense has not been as good on third down. I think Ronkowski is not quite the same guy. I don't think he redirects quite the same way when you watch the tape. So, again, I think that there are certain things you look at and you see on tape. You know, these teams played last year, think you're going to see the Chargers kind of do what they do on defense. The Chargers play with six defensive backs. The seven defensive back thing was specific to Lamar Jackson, but they play with six defensive backs as their foundational approach. They'll do the same thing. Is the Chargers with Philip Rivers, the receiving core is deep. Hunter Henry, the tight end is

back. They're running backs. They've got all sorts of guys who can make plays. Philip Rivers and the Chargers, though, could not get the ball in the end zone against Baltimore. it was a lot of field goals. Does that concern you? Well, I think the one area of their offense that is concerning, and whether New England can exploit it is a different question, is their offensive line. I think that the Chargers' offensive line by NFL standards would probably be considered average at best. I think Philip Rivers is the kind of quarterback that more often than not can compensate for that

and camouflage the flaws in his O-line, but there are games in which he can't do that. I think Baltimore's defense is a really good defense. defense with a ton of looks, multiple looks up front and pressure packages and high percentage blitz, that that's a defense that they can't camouflage it against. So the question is, can they camouflage it against New England, who pretty much not a high percentage blitz team and not a great pass-wrench defense. Let's shift to Kansas City favored at home against Indianapolis. Colt's defense is playing really well.

Kareem Hunt, no longer a Kansas City chief, they don't feel quite. as stable offensively. They're still, again, they still have Cheetah. Travis Kelsey, Andy Reed, the schematics, Patrick Mahom. I think it's a solid O' line. They have Sammy Watkins, who I think is overpaid, but, you know, he's still a weapon. I don't feel they run the ball quite as well. I mean, what are the chiefs do offensively that you think they'll have success

against even this very hot Colts defense? Must have a plan for stopping Tyree Kill when he lines up inside. They love to line him up in the slot. And in the inside slot, when there's three receivers to one side, you cannot let him run down the seams and get on top of your defense. Now, the culture of predominant zone defense, they'll be very conscious of this. And then there's Kelsey. Travis Kelsey is the other player that you really have to take care of. And he works from a lot of different places in the offense.

That's one of the things that makes Andy Reed's offense so good is the multiplicity of formations. And the final thing that you have to deal with is Patrick Mahomes of Bill. to make secondary action improvisational plays. I went through all his third downs this week. Actually, I went through them over the weekend last weekend. And I was kind of astounded by how many came when he moved around improvisational. And he throws the ball down the field on the move. He's not a checkdown guy.

So you cannot let those big explosive plays happen off improvisation. Yeah, I mean, and that's what I think the difference is. I think Mahomes will make a plan and they'll win the game. I will say this about Andrew Locke. It is nice to see him have a wall in front of him. I think Marlon Mack, the running back's underrated. I think overall their offensive personnel is a tad underrated. T.Y. Hilton's a real player.

E. Braun was always highly considered, though a little underwhelming. Their offensive line is at least pass blocking looks to be very efficient and looks fantastic. And they've got depth at running back. And they need a number two receiver. I don't love their tackles. Oh, for sure. But I mean, when I look at the Colts, this is a real team now. This is not a mirage.

I mean, I could see them winning with ball control. You know, well, that I was going to ask you what you thought. I'm struggling in my own mind as to how they'll come out offensively. Clearly, luck is playing at a high level, and I think he's a great quarterback as you do. But I'm curious as to whether they believe that they need to, on some level, run the ball and shorten the game. Yes, that's what I think. Or whether they're going to feel like, hey, Andrew Luck is hot. And not that we want to play a 5148 game, but that, hey, we know this game is probably going to be in the high 20s and early 30s, perhaps, low 30s.

So let's come out and try to be aggressive. I think the Colts want to take the crowd out of it, and you do that with five-yard gains. And I think they'll do a lot of past running backs. I think they'll have a very mundane, boring, five play at a time, death by a thousand cut offense. Well, I think one player to watch is Nahim Hines as a receiver, because the Chiefs play a ton of man coverage, and I think they can get matchups with Neheme Hines. All right, let's go to Philadelphia's. a big underdog.

And, you know, here's the thing. And listen, everybody likes the Saints. Vegas likes the Saints. I get it. I mean, the Saints will probably win the game. But I will say this about Philadelphia. They've got a lot of B players, Golden Tate, Al-Shon Jeffrey, and they've also got several A players like, I mean, you know, Fletcher Cox.

Personnel-wise, and I don't know why this is, I think Philadelphia is a really good football team. They may not have a ton of stars on the offensive side. But I've got to tell you something, when I watch them play, they have guys who create separation, They have big play players. They've got situationally. Golden Tate was very good last weekend. I think Philadelphia matches up with the Saints pretty well.

Yeah, I think it's going to be an intriguing game. I think, look, obviously I don't think it's going to be like the game was Week 11. I think Philly did some interesting things defensively in that game Week 11. And I'm curious what their defensive approach is. Because when they played Week 11, there were numerous plays in which they doubled Michael Thomas. They doubled Alvin Kamara. Now, Ted Ginn is back, and he did not play Week 11. and Ted Ginn is not a volume receiver, but he's a vertical dimension.

He can get on top of your defense, and I think that just presents a little bit different situation for the Eagles defense. You know, there is one thing about Breeze, and I love Drew Breeze. But what is – I'm curious on this. You know, they don't throw the ball vertically a ton. No, they don't. They're not. I mean, we think Breeze Hall of Fame. They can dink and dunk it a little bit, Greg.

Yeah, and I think one reason they didn't do that much this year, is because Ginn was out. Not that they're, not if he was there, they'd be a vertical team, but they didn't really take shots very much this year. And that's where I think Ted Ginn is a factor, and he needs to be addressed, because the last thing a defensive coordinator wants to do is give up a 50 or 60-yard touchdown.

I think offensively for the Eagles, it's interesting because they're, there are a very sort of sustaining-based offense with Nick Foles. The last week's game against a good defense was very representative of what they do with Nick Foles, strong emphasis on the quick game, getting the ball out of Foll's hands, minimizing the pass rush, you know, working the middle of the field. If you play Pressman, he'll throw it to Jeffrey on the outside, and I think you'll see that this week.

So they're pretty defined with what they do offensively. Yeah, I'm just watching some video here from Foles. He's got a decent arm, right? Not a great arm, but a decent arm. No, he's not a power thrower, but he can make the throws. Yeah. Philadelphia is just kind of a mystery wrapped in a riddle. Let's go to the final game, Cowboys Rams.

Okay, listen, I saw a stat this week, and I'm not a guy that jumps on too many stats. I do like to see what you get yards per play. I think explosive offenses, big play offenses can win games sometimes even when they're outplayed. But Dak Prescott leads the NFL and come from behind wins last three years, and fourth quarter game winning drives last three years, rushing touchdowns by a quarterback last three years. I will say this about Dak. Forget the arm. I don't love it.

I don't think he's an all-time. I think he's 18th best. quarterback in the league. But it does appear, and I don't know what the film says, he tends to be pretty good in crisis. I always feel like last drive of the game, I trust him more than I do first drive of the game. What is the tape

say? Let's look macro for one quick sec. The Cowboys have a defined profile. Their run game and their defense are among the best in the league. I think Zeke Elliott's the best back in the league, and their defense is very, very good. So the way they play is they rely on those

two things, they don't ask Dak Prescott to do too much in the passing game. But that profile keeps games close and therefore winnable in the fourth quarter. And that's when Prescott's running by design, his improvisational ability comes into play. And that's when

he's good. But it's really interesting watching their tape, you know, how limited their past game is. They don't really ask him to do a lot, but he becomes a factor in close games in the fourth quarter. And the running's a part that. Without question. And look, you could argue that they need to do more of that with him, particularly

when you do get to the fourth quarter. That is a clear weapon that he possesses. But you also have to remember, look, it was third and 14. They called a draw play for the quarterback. Okay, they didn't want him to throw the ball in that situation. They wanted to kick a field goal. They didn't know he was going to gain 15 or 16 yards. That's a real good point. By the way, I sold my ramstock. You know, most of it, about week 10. I thought they were overvalued when Koubush. Super Cup got hurt. I don't think they're the same offense, and Gurley doesn't feel 100% to me. I know we all love Sean McVeigh. I know he's the Einstein of football, but the Rams have not been the same team to me in the last two, two and a half months. I would agree with that.

I think that Goff has been a little bit up and down with his ball placement. I think he's a rhythm player. I think he's a timing player. I think he's, and this comes across negatively, I don't mean it as such. I think he's a very programmed player in a very well-designed and well-schemed offense that presents the opportunities clearly. And when he's been a little off, he's been missing people. Now, I think he's been a little

better the last couple of weeks. So we'll see after a week off where they stand. But I think you'll also see some tweaks in their offense. And by tweaks, I don't mean anything dramatic, but little things that involve motion, you know, things of that nature to try to create some hesitation

and indecisiveness in the defense. This will be probably the most watched game, so let's go to our big play of the week. It's a Ram Cowboy play, I'm told, from last season. It's from last season. It's actually, it's a play that a lot of people now know. It's called AllGo H. Seam, a number of teams use it. Let's run it right now, and we'll just see the play. It was a 53-yard touchdown to Todd Groley from a year ago, a pass play.

And we've seen it throughout the league now. As I said, it's All-Go half-back seam. That's what it is. So when it starts with jet action, this happens to be Tavon Austin, who is with the Rams a year ago. So he's going to go in jet motion. Here's the all-go part. Three receivers are going to run vertical routes, okay? And then there's Todd Gurley.

He's the halfback. He's going to run a seam route. That's the H-Seam part of this. So it's all-go-H-Seam with the jet action being a part of it. So what's going to happen here is you're going to start this play with Tavon Austin working across the formation. in jet action. That's actually going to have an impact on the defense and a critical impact on the defense. They're across on jet motion. There's the two defenders for the cowboys who both reacted to the jet action across the formation. So they're not conscious of Gurley. And then you have

the wide receiver lifting the corner on the outside with a vertical route. So what you end up with is Gurley running down the seam on the H seam, the half-back seam, beautifully designed play. As I said, it's been in the league now. A lot of teams running. it. People may remember it from week one a year ago on Thursday night when Kareem Hunt scored a 78 yard touchdown for the Chiefs. So it's a play that now is throughout the NFL.

Good stuff, Greg. Love having you on. Thank you so much. Thanks, Colin. 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

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a couple NFL sources on the East Coast. It was great. You're on the phones. Oh, I was on the phone the whole morning. I literally had two calls, call me in the morning, did on Adam Gase, all this stuff. I also, I said yesterday, I don't love when you have a young quarterback in the NFL and he gets somebody who's learning to be a coach. Adam Gase has been an NFL coach. He's been a to the playoffs. He's been a coordinator. So as Sam Darnold's trying to figure out how to do this, Adam Gase has done it. I don't, would it be any good if I was in my first year of radio and my boss was in his first year of running a radio station? Generally, if the younger, the broadcaster, the more veteran experienced person he needs as a broadcaster. I don't love the Cleveland thing,

because I think Baker Mayfield's got some things to learn in terms of maturity and running a franchise, and Freddie Kitchens had never even been hired by a team as a coordinator. So he's trying to figure out how to be a head coach. I don't love that. I will tell you this, though, that Cleveland, I was on the phone this morning with somebody out east in the NFL, Cleveland's final two. Do you think it was strange? Mike McCarthy didn't get much of a look there. Bruce Ariens said he wanted it, but yet they didn't talk to Bruce Ariens. And that didn't make any sense, did it? They weren't interested in Adam Gays who had been a coach.

Why did Cleveland have the two least experienced guys as their candidates? They had a guy that never worked with anybody but the Vikings, 44-year-old. old guy, and they had Freddie Kinchins, who's been around the league, but never been hired as a full-time coordinator. Why? I was told because John Dorsey's running everything. He didn't want Greg Williams, because Greg Williams

has been a coach and has a strong point of view, and John Dorsey didn't want that. And didn't like Mike McCarthy, and he didn't want Bruce Ariens. He didn't want Adam Gase. He wanted somebody could tell him what to do. That's just, I just do not believe in that. I just think that's a recipe for disaster. It's not the way I would vet a job, but

this is what I was told. It is Everybody said, remember this, everybody told me Browns was the best job. And yet they didn't interview seriously any of the best candidates because John Dorsey's running the show here. And by the way, Greg Williams had a winning record. If you're going to hire Freddie Kitchens, why wouldn't you just give the job to Greg Williams who has experience and had a winning record? Because Greg Williams has an opinion and will push back and McCarthy will push back and Adam Gates will push back and Bruce Arons will push back. And Dorsey's like, no, I want that. Don't you want somebody who pushes back?

Yeah, that's kind of the whole What you want to do, you want to hire people that challenge you in any job. Of course. So what I was told is this is not Baker's team. This is Jimmy Haslam owns the team. John Dorsey's making all the calls, all of them, and he'd have no interest getting pushed back. And Freddie Kitchens owes him a debt of gratitude. Because nobody was giving Freddie Kitchens a head coaching job in this league.

He maybe would have got a, he maybe get an interview for a coordinator job. So when you give somebody a job, they would never get without you, you owe them. 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. There's only two coaching positions remaining, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins. And Bengals and the Dolphins are one of five teams not to win a playoff game this century, Detroit, Cleveland, and the Bills. And Miami is obviously wildly dysfunctional, including interim head coaches.

the most coaches in this league since 2004. That's 15 years. So the most coaches in the NFL for 15 years. You think Cleveland's dysfunctional. You know the Raiders is dysfunctional. The dolphins are tied for the lead with 10. So they're your team. They're an absolute mess.

And I mean, here are the coaches. My friend Dave Wonstadt who actually won games. Todd Bowles, Joe Philbin, Dan Campbell, Adam Gates got him to the playoffs. They got rid of him. It's amazing. Sparano, Cam Cameron. Nick Saban, Jim Bates. It's a mess.

So you can really make an argument. The Cleveland Browns, they're understood. They've been complete dysfunctional. I think Miami is equally dysfunctional, but they don't get the reputation. Maybe it's because of Dan Marino and their history with Don Shula that they have this legacy years ago of success,

so we don't lump them in. I think they also just have no expectations every year. But it's getting so bad for the dolphins. They actually called our show because we have a very pro NFL. We talk a lot of NFL in the show. Right. And they wanted us to run some ads for the dolphin job. And I watched them.

And, you know, so this is the first one the dolphins sent us to please consider coaching there. Afraid of getting stuck in the same job? Come coach the dolphins and we'll guarantee that you'll be out of here in two years or less. The Miami Dolphins, we're unstable. You know, that's not how I would have pitched it. It's not inaccurate. It's not how I would have pitched the job, though. Anyway, here's the second commercial ad they want us to run.

Want to see what a successful NFL franchise looks like? Join the Dolphins, and you'll get that chance when you face the Patriots twice a year. The Miami Dolphins. We're waiting for realignment. Now, they do beat the Patriots once a year. Down in Miami, they're very good. You know, I mean, listen, sometimes you have to acknowledge your rival. That is an absolute fact.

The dolphins are the Patriots regular season rival. In the last 15 years, they've had 15 coaches. It's funny with Adam Gase because Adam Gase got him to the playoffs. Adam Gase had a winning record with Ryan Tannahill. I mean, it's like, hello, you keep Adam Gase for another year, but this is what Miami does. Here's the third ad. They were kind of reaching here. What's better than appearing in a Super Bowl?

appearing in Ace Ventura Pet Detective, the Miami Dolphins. We've met Jim Carrey. I don't think that'll... 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,

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Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles, so how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi,

we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything.

I can do anything. 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 IHart Women's Sports. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games.

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