The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 01/24/2019

Episode Date: January 24, 2019

Colin just isn't all that impressed with what James Harden is doing because he is just playing by himself and taking as many shots as he wants.  He thinks Tom Brady has done an amazing job handling superstardom and still finding a way to get his team to buy in.  Plus, Greg Cosell of NFL Films talks about how the Patriots will try to defend a very talented and efficient Rams offense in the Super Bowl.  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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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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.

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What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. By the way, I agree with skip on that. 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, right here in FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me on a Thursday. Greg Kossel one hour from now.

going to look ahead of the Super Bowl. It's one of my favorite guests. Joy, how are you? I'm doing great. How are you? You were having computer issues this morning. Yes, my meltdown. My gigabytes and megabytes are overloaded or something. I don't know what's going on. Yeah, I know.

I heard the conversation, folks. Believe me, I didn't know what he was saying. I appreciate the help. Great to have you. And James Harrow, the world is buzzing about this story. We read all about it. Oh, my Lord, the buzz for you. this story is just everywhere.

Kids read all about it. James Hardin scored 61 last night, and the Rockets beat those very, very competitive nicks. In the last five games, James Hardin has scored 211 points. And I want you to think about this. Zero have come from an assist. Iso ball. Zero have come from an assist.

By the way, Clay Thompson had 44 Monday against the Lakers. All 44, all of them came from an assist. But Colin! Colin, that's because Chris Paul's hurt. Clint Capella's hurt. No, that's not the only reason. For the record, if Steph Curry was hurt Monday against the Lakers and Draymond Green, Do you think zero of Clay Thompson's 44 points had come from an assist? This is why the Warriors are a dynasty.

Steffs out they win, Durant's out they win, Clay's out they win, Boogie Cousins didn't play yet, they win. It's a system. Yes, it's got very good players within the system, but when players leave, they can still win. This is not sustainable. The usage rate, which, by the way, over time is, creating resentment. It is. It's ISO ball. It's YMCA with a ball hog who's talented, but he doesn't

include you. His usage rate is number one in the NBA by a mile, number two all time. And here's the bombshell. Of the top eight usage rates in NBA history, zero have won a playoff series. That includes Michael Jordan, the ball hog before he got Pippin. That includes Kobe Bryant, Iverson, Duane Wade, Harden, Westbrook twice. Never won a playoff series. Every year, the board NBA media, as the NFL's pulling away because it's the playoffs, and we're all talking about it, the NBA's got to come up with narratives and stories to fill their space, fawn over somebody going off in January.

And the new NBA is all about guard play. And so the usage rate, somebody shows off, Harden, you know, Westbrook, And we all go, oh, my God, this is Slam Magazine's going to have a 14-page spread on James Harden. NBA riders have already sealed their envelopes on James Harden. It should be noted, this is not sustainable. And in the last eight games, the Rockets are four and four, and their wins are over the worst team in the league, the Cavs, the New York Knicks who are awful, the Lakers without LeBron, and the Grizzlies who have a win won this month. For the record, fans are much more in tune to this act than the media who's fawning over it.

The fans don't think it's that fascinating. James Hardin is seventh in the West in All-Star voting. Seventh. It's ISO ball. It never lasts. And even if Clay Thompson, who scored all 44 of his points and who actually likes to play defense, be a good teammate. All 44 of Clay Thompson's points

came from an assist from a teammate. None of Hardens' 211 half. And I know Chris Paul and Clint Capella injuries are part of the usage rate. But even if Steph and Draymond were out for the Warriors, you know a large percentage of Clay Thompson's points would have come via a warrior assist to him. It's not sustainable.

It creates resentment. And when Chris Paul comes back, Hardin's going to have to dramatically shift his game. And it will mean the end of this team probably in the first round. I don't buy this for a second. I don't have to cover the NBA and make stories that really don't create sustainability. I don't have to make him into 12-page articles. I don't buy this for a second. Let me shift to this.

You ever heard of Tony Robbins? He's that motivational speaker. That guy's been kicking butt since I was a kid, like 40 years. And a lot of people are cynical, cynical with Tony Robbins. Oh, come on, rah, rah, rah. Folks, you do not last 40 years. He's more powerful today than he's ever been. It's all about with Tony Robbins, the buy-in.

He stands on a stage. 6,000 people. I'm going to change your life. And for some, he does. also deals with CEOs, rock stars, the greatest athletes in the world. Tony Robbins is all about buy-in, and a lot of people are cynical of buy-in. Tom Brady is the sports version of Tony Robbins. He is the best player on an 18-year dynasty, and he has convinced everybody, everybody in New England,

that nobody likes us, nobody believes in us, nobody thinks we can win, which sounds absurd on its face. And Tony Robbins, yelling, screaming on stage, changing your life, similarly sounds ridiculous. But when the star can sell it, buy-in is an incredibly powerful tool. Do you see that game, Kansas City,

there's now footage of Edelman screaming at Brady he has got everybody on this team believing nobody believes in us here it is you're too old Tom's got everybody buying in like Tony Robbins has for 40 years and you can be cynical but it's powerful think about this when you become a legend you're not only battling rivals you're kind of battling yourself you got the money you got the trophies you got the supermodel wife you have the legacy and it's really hard your opponents aren't hard beating you the psychology of it's hard let's think about this

Tiger Woods became a legend. He couldn't handle it. He went off the rails. Women, money, gambling. Tiger Woods couldn't handle it. Michael Jordan had to retire. Not to go to the NFL, to play minor league baseball. Michael's like, it's too much.

I got to retire. Connor McGregor, complete meltdown. Lance Armstrong tried to ruin everybody's life in cycling. Forget a psychopath. He was a cyclopath. LeBron James tends to move his family and just exit. That's how he coves. Tom Brady, stays put, reinvents, nobody believes in us.

That's as impressive as it gets. Kevin Durant has won back-to-back titles with the Warriors. I'm reading a story this morning. He's already restless. Kevin Durant's not struggling with opponents now. They'll win the third straight championship. Kevin Durant's struggling with Kevin Durant. That's why he's on Twitter and Instagram and burner accounts.

He's struggling with Kevin Durant. This happens in and out of sports. Elvis was the biggest star in America. He became fat Elvis, drugs Elvis. Michael Jackson got weird. Bill Clinton, most powerful political figure in the world, Monica. Mike Tyson, personal demons. Similarly, Whitney Houston.

It's hard because once, once you become an iconic American sports, entertainment political icon. You're not just battling others. Kevin Durant, beating teams isn't hard. Staying discipline, staying present, staying in the moment. Convincing yourself is really, really difficult. Tiger couldn't handle it. MJ needed a break. Clinton couldn't handle it. Elvis couldn't handle it. Lance Armstrong couldn't handle it. They had to had everything. The money, the trophies, the fawning, the legacy, the women, the wives, the girlfriend. They had all of it. And here's Tom Brady, 41, 9th Super Bowl, $800 million net worth, supermodel wife. And he's going nowhere. And he has convinced himself. He is so strong emotionally.

He has convinced himself. Nobody believes in me. Nobody believes in us. And buy-in is an incredibly powerful thing. You can be cynical at Tony Robbins and you can be cynical of Brady. But in both instances, it works. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd

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Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 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, 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,

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learn the hard way. 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 walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio, 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 exhaust. at 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 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.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. One of the criticisms of my show is Colin, you just talk about Brady during the football season way too much. Well, I mean, does Fox News feel guilty about talking about Trump? Does MSNBC? If you don't talk about Tom Brady every day

in your show during the football season, you're a dope. He's going to his ninth Super Bowl. He's the greatest player in the history of the league. You don't think I should talk about LeBron and the Golden State War. Well, should I break down tennis. That's what they're doing at the other network today. You knock yourself out with tennis talk. So there's an old saying.

Athletes want to be rock stars and rock stars want to be athletes. Actors want to be athletes. Athletes want to be, you know, Jamie Fox. They want to be, you know, actors. And I think a lot of times with NFL players, NFL is easily the most popular sport in the world. They look at all the money, you know, the hip-hop star can make or the actor can make or the NBA star can make.

And they say our league is way, way more popular. NFL guys look at NBA guys and go, what? I mean, the Pro Bowl is more popular than NBA playoff games. And we don't even like the Pro Bowl. How do we not get paid? Well, you shouldn't. And here's another reason why. Antonio Brown may be the best most athletic player in the National Football League.

He's on the market. Anybody want him? it's a passing league now. As Joey and I have talked about the last six months, it's become a passing league. Nobody's interested. According to a report this morning, Steelers haven't gotten much interest in Antonio Brown.

You ever watched Antonio Brown play? I mean, if he was an NBA player, you can make an argument. He's James Harden. He's unstoppable. Nobody's interested. For a lot of reasons, this is predictable.

The current dynasty and a Copycat League New England proves, even Tom Brady should take a pay cut. The system's bigger than the players. I mean, Aaron Rogers, if Green Bay two years ago, not Kansas City, had said, let's draft Patrick Mahomes. How valuable this morning would Aaron Rogers, 35 years old and brittle, be? Not very. NFL is mostly a coaching sport. The final four coaches this year, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Sean McVe,

Bill Belichick, probably the four best coaches in football. The NBA is more about collecting two or three stars. You don't need depth. Golden State has no bench. They've never had a team with less of a bench. It will not matter. Half of the NBA possessions, if you think about it, aren't even plays. Half the time the team comes down, score the ball.

In the NFL, it's choreography. Every offensive play has to be designed and run perfectly, move your left hand is a right guard, it's an off-sides penalty. Listen, in the NBA, David Blatt had been to a finals. They were a number one seat in the east. Star wanted him out. He's gone.

Antonio Brown, with a coach many people think it's sort of kind of a little bit underachieving, Mike Tomlin says, get him out of here. One of the reasons I think the NFL is so popular in America is that, you don't become beholden and captive to the whims, needs, and sometimes egos of a 27-year-old kid. I remember when I was 27 years old, I was just not ready to make $100 million and be a star. And when I look around at Antonio Brown, the Cowboys dumped Des, went back to the playoffs. New England got rid of Randy Moss, been to four Super Bowls, one half of them, Seattle moved off Richard Sherman

had a surprisingly good year. In the NFL, man, you got to beware and be very careful about what you think you're worth. Antonio Brown feels like James Hardin, kind of an unstoppable force. You literally have to put two people on him. Jacksonville tried that a couple years ago in a playoff game. still didn't matter. On the market, passing league, receiver league, not many people are

interested. NFL players, you're not worth as much as NBA players. You're not worth as much as Robert Downey Jr. who's doing Iron Man. You're not worth as much as that star Drake who single-handedly goes on stage and we can't take our eyes off him. football is about coaching, choreography, and system. And if you think you're really, really valuable, no trade offers for an absolutely transcendent, remarkably gifted player, Antonio Brown. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

You know, I saw something, you and I had Jay Glazer on before. Yes. And, you know, people, Jay knows his stuff. And when Jay says something, you know, a lot of guys, out there talking NFL. They don't know what they're talking about. Well, Jay Glazer says something. He doesn't talk a lot. It generally has got a beat on it. So he writes for the athletic now, which is a subscription-based service for sports writers and stuff. And Glazer was on there, and he had like a mailbag segment. And he said, he goes, I have nothing to base this on,

besides a gut feeling, I can see it happening this year. I can see it being a Brady steps away before Drew Breeze. This is one of the ones I strongly disagree, and I'll tell you why. if you were thinking about retirement. Now, I know a lot of you are watching me. You're 18, you're 28, you're 38, you're 48, you're 48, you're not talking about retirement. But if you're 55, 65 years old and watching me and you're thinking about retirement, generally, the thing that gets you out the door faster is the job's harder. If the job's easier, you'll stick around for a couple years.

I mean, at this job, I'll do this job for a long time as long as they'll keep me. But if it gets to a point where we're cutting back on staffing and there's more demands. That's when you're like, yeah, I've done my stuff. I'm going to go hang out at the beach. Just think about this between Brady and Breeze. Tom Brady's in a division with Sam Darnall, Josh Allen, and Ryan Tannahill. That's an easier division to win games than facing Cam Newton twice, Matt Ryan twice. And by the way, James Winston with Bruce Ariens, that's going to be the best James Winston. I don't know how good it's going to be, but it's going to be the best James Winston. Advantage Brady. It's easier. How about this?

This, Brady and New England have 12 draft picks. They could return all five offensive linemen, guaranteed four. They're fairly young. He gets great protection. The team is getting younger. Gronks retiring, they'll have cap space. Or Drew Brees. They have no cap space.

They don't have a first, a third, or a fourth round pick. They gave them all up. They were all in this year. Good luck in proving. Here's another thing. Breeze looked very tired at the end of the year. Last six games, seven touchdowns, five picks. Tom Brady's best game of the year, I thought it was against the Chargers.

And he was damn good against Kansas City late. Think about this. The Saints, the last two years, their season has ended on a wildly emotional loss. The controversy against the Rams, that inexplicable loss to the Vikings, it is hard to overcome bizarrely strange emotional loss. losses. The last three years, there have been 12 teams that have made the conference championships, AFC, NFC. Half did not make the playoffs the following year. Saints, no cap space, no first, third, fourth. Breeze looked tired at the end of the year. Emotional losses

last two years. Tougher division. When you're talking about retirement, the easier your life is, the easier your job is, the younger the teammates, I think Brady, I can see himself talking himself in saying, we got 12 new draft picks. I'm around a bunch of young guys. As long as the offensive line set for Brady, he tends to be a happy camper. As long as he's not taking hits, he's a happy camper. I think Brady is sticking around longer than Breeze. I think the last two years for the Saints, those emotional losses, I don't know how many of those you can withstand. I do not know how many. The two toughest losses in the NFL, the last two years, both been to the Saints.

Those are brutal beatdowns. That loss of the Vikings and that loss to the Rams. And with that, one of our favorite guests, over 30 years at NFL films, as objective as anybody that joins me every week, Greg Kosell. Greg, how are you this morning? Colin, I'm doing great. How you doing? Well, I got to tell you, when I watched, I felt strongly that I liked Kansas City this weekend.

and I sat there with my jaw dropped watching the dominant and ball control of New England in the first half. And I sat to myself and I thought all year I kept saying I don't like their weapons, they're not dynamic. And then I watch them against the Chargers and the Chiefs. And I'm like, am I wrong? Is Edelman, Sony Michelle, James White? Maybe they're a little more dynamic than I give them credit for. Well, the last two games, the two playoff wins, they essentially came out in the first half, Colin, running the ball. Sony-Michel had 16 carries in the first half alone versus the Chargers, and 19 carries in the first half alone versus the Chiefs.

In fact, that first-long drive against the Chiefs, they had six first and 10 runs, okay? And all six were totally different runs. They have evolved into a team that is so multiple and so diverse with their run game. They run out of 21 personnel with a fullback on the field. They run out of 11 personnel. It's really, I'm sure for offensive line coaches, it's such a fun run game to watch. Yeah. You know, it's interesting because when you watch Kansas City, I mean, they basically took Tyreek Hill out of the game,

and Travis Kelsey did not have great influence. So that tells me New England did what they always do, which I didn't think was possible against an Andy Reid team. Did you feel like New England simply won the coaching battle here? To some degree, yes, because here was the Patriots approach. It was actually what they did is they took their worst corner, either Jones or crossing, and put him on hill with Devin McCordy with a dedicated double team over the top.

So Hill was doubled on almost every play. They took a corner, the rookie Jackson, and put him on Kelsey. But the bottom line was everybody else, because McCordy was occupied as part of the dedicated double on Hill, everybody else was playing man-to-man coverage with no help at all. So in that framework, Hill was a non-factor and Kelsey was a non-factor. And by the way, for young quarterbacks, you know, I've seen this. Carson Wentz and Zach Ertz, sometimes young quarterbacks have a favorite

target. And I mean, if you take out Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey from a Holmes, and he was so good with each, is it possible that he, you know, he pats the ball, he waits too long, they're not open? He became a, and therefore that extra step gave New England's pass rush, just enough.

They needed to get to him. And the thing is playing defense the way they did, they pretty much had five to work in the pass rush. And they did that really effectively with stunts up front and caused some pressure. But the thing that when you watch that game, and when I watch it on tape, there were a few plays in the second half that were really well designed by Andy Reid to attack the coverage that he was getting. But there were very few of those plays. The big plays, the majority of them came

with Mahomes making those second reaction improvisational plays, which he's outstanding at. We know that, but I still believe it's very hard to live off that. Now, I know people will say they scored 31 points, and they did. But it was not a really consistent game for the Chiefs' offense in any way. Ram Saints. I think the Rams present a little bit of a dilemma for New England in this. That early in the year, they were very Todd Gurley dependent. Now they're not.

Cooper Cup has always been, it feels like, Goff's favorite target. He's no longer there. They had six different guys with over 50 targets. targets. Josh Reynolds has ended up being a very nice player. They've got two backs, two tight ends. Brandon Cooks. I don't think there's a guy that you can just take away, not a Travis Kelsey. Do they present a little bit of an issue that they spread the ball around a little, so you've got to kind of, they kind of throw to the open guy? That's built on scheme more than people. Now, obviously, if you're going to play man to man against them, which my guess is the Patriots will,

that's been their track record, then receivers do have to win one-on-one. We've seen cooks able to do that throughout the year. I think Robert Woods is a very underrated receiver. I'm sure he's not underrated by the Patriots and by coaches around the league. I'm just talking from a media perspective. But the other point I'd like to make, and we'll talk about this more next week, it would not surprise me to see the Patriots maybe play a little more zone for this reason, in that you want Goff to be able to have to read it.

read it out. I think in some ways it's a very schemed offense. He's somewhat programmed, and that's not a bad thing. People take that word to be a bad thing. It's really well-defined for him because they do such a good job in their design, and we'll get to that when we

get to our play, and I'll show you that. But, you know, sometimes with a quarterback, you want him to have to read it out just a little bit more, and zone presents that normally more so than man. I almost never pick against the Saints in a playoff game at home. I did pick the Rams. And one of the reasons I did is I kept going back to what

you had said about Breeze. I thought you were ahead of the country on this, is they were a lot less flash than you think of the Saints. They became a little dink and dunk. I think I think Breeze had almost a little arm fatigue late. I thought golf out played Breeze late. Now, I love Drew, but you know, this is a team that doesn't have a first, a third, or a fourth, no cap space. I thought at the end of the year, frankly, Greg, the Saints offense was not a big asset. I thought it was very pedestrian. I would agree. And, you know, we talked about this, and you know me, Colin.

I'm just looking at the tape. You know, nothing I say is personal. And I thought over the last four or five weeks of the season, I thought that Breeze was not as sharp. I thought that he was uncharacteristically inaccurate at times. And when I say inaccurate, it's not scattershot. Just his ball placement wasn't as precise. And that has been a major part of his game over the years.

I thought he left some throws on the field at times by not turning it loose. And the one thing they could not count on this. year that they had a year ago. They did not have a consistent week-to-week run game to help bail them out. It is interesting. As you break down, you know, Belichick's background is defense. He takes average defensive guys and elevates him. And McVeigh takes good offense.

I mean, Robert Woods was always a nice player in Buffalo. He's been a really, really good player in L.A. He takes offensive players like golf and elevates them. So it's kind of a generational battle. the old wizard, you know, the iconic Belichick defensive mind against McVeigh, who's known as a brilliant offensive mind, to me it feels like we'll get a real chess match, which I love that part of football. You watch that part of football.

I think we've got a real matchup issue. I don't see a wild, high-scoring game. I see chess, chess, chess match, chess match. Well, I'm fascinated to see Belichick's defense versus the Rams offense, because the Rams are very defined in what they do. Now, with two weeks, things are tweaked. There are some changes. There won't be anything dramatic.

It's not as of Sean McVeigh will have a whole new offense in the Super Bowl, but teams do tweak and change because they have the extra week. And that's why I mentioned. I'll be real curious how Belichick does this because I think the Rams can do a good job versus man with how they line up in those what we call nasty splits or minus splits with the receivers close to the formation. Oftentimes it's difficult to play press man to that. and then corners have to play with more width and depth,

and it's a little bit more difficult. So I'm anxious to see how Belichick handles that. And as I said, I'm anxious to see if he perhaps might line up with a few more snaps of zone, just to sort of see how Jared Goff kind of reads it out. You know what? Listen, I said earlier that maybe the weapons are a little better for New England than I gave him credit for. C.J. Anderson got bounced by two teams. Now he's become a huge asset.

Can I make the comment that the Rams offensive? line, it may be one of the most underrated units in the NFL, because C.J. Anderson, running downhill in front of this line, golf isn't getting hit much. The Ramso line, when you look at film, is it better than the Chargers? Is it better than the Chiefs? Oh, I mean, yeah, I'm not comparing like that because I don't necessarily think that way, but I think it's very good. And they played with the same group pretty much in every game. So there's a, you know, a group. I mean, they work together extremely well. It's a good, good group. You know, one point, I just have to believe that Todd Gurley's going to play a lot in the Super Bowl.

I'm sure he's hurt, and they didn't want to say so, and McVeigh did absolutely the right thing by taking the blame, so to speak, and not putting it on his player. But now we have two weeks to get ready, and I just have to believe Todd Gurley is going to – I can't sit here and tell you what the yard is going to be, but that he'll be a meaningful part of the game. Finally, big play of the week.

It was in the Saints Rams game. Go ahead. Yeah, and, you know, just before we run it, this is what I was talking about with how good Sean McVeigh is with the little thing. So let's start the play. This was a 33-yard pass from Goff to Reynolds. And the way they did this was so beautifully done. It was against cover three.

It ended up being a cover three-beater. You see the Saints in cover three right here. Now, what they do is they take Robert Woods from one side, and they do the jet action, which brings him to the other side. And it makes it a three-by-one set when he gets there. And here's the routes. Cooks is going to lift the corner vertically. Reynolds is going to run an out and up.

The critical part of this as well is the play action in the backfield, because the key player becomes to Mario Davis. DeMario Davis is a stacked linebacker who's going to have to run with Josh Reynolds because of the jet action by Woods. Because what the jet action by Woods does is it widens the formation and forces Von Bell to play in the flat. Okay, he's now a flat defender. We know that Cook's is lifting Latimore, so Latimore is out of there.

And remember, this is zone. So what you have is the out and up by Reynolds. The only player who can now play him is to Mario Davis, and he's a hooked defender inside. He now has to run with a wide receiver. This is the beauty and the brilliance of Sean McVeigh. Just by that jet action by Woods, he changed the responsibilities in the defense for the Rams, excuse me, for the Saints. and he caused all kinds of problems in coverage and got a matchup in zone of a wide receiver on a linebacker. Yeah, football is, I remember talking to Charlie Weiss about this.

He said, what you're trying to do is get fast guys on slightly smaller or slower guys. And that's it. You got a long, fast, wide receiver on a talented but slightly slower linebacker, and there you go. That's a home run play. Who has his eyes in the backfield initially because of run action? Greg, great talking to you. Thanks, Colin. Appreciate it.

Want 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. You know, I've said, I do believe that of all the young quarterbacks, we do have one that's going to be the next Tom Brady. Now, he's not going to go to nine Super Bowls, but I do think Jared Goff shares a word that I think is very important, traits with Tom Brady. but there are three reasons that I think are really important factors that Brady and Goff share. Number one, teammates love Brady. I mean, they love Brady. You've never heard any, even Randy Moss leaves still loves him.

Nobody badmouse Brady. Opposite of Aaron Rogers. Nobody badmouse him. Guys that come, guys that go, guys that overachieve, guys that underachieve, teammates love him. the respect Jared Goff shares in that Rams locker room is very Brady-like. Andrew Whitworth is an unbelievable Hall of Fame level left tackle. He said something after the game that he went into that game Sunday, and for the first time on his career, it wasn't about him.

It was about his teammate. Listen. I've realized that he's a special kid. And you know what? I told my wife, before this playoff started, this is the first year that I really didn't, it really wasn't about me. I really honestly felt like I was more nervous for this playoffs because I believe in Jared Goff and I believe that he deserves to win. And I just want to be right about that. And that's what it means the most of me. And I can't be more proud of him.

I mean, that's, that's a Pro Bowl guy saying it wasn't about me. It was about my quarterback. For professional athletes to say that, Rob Haventstein is another offensive lineman, came out and said, Jared came in the huddle. He said, listen, this is my huddle. This is the way it's going to be done. This is the way we're going to roll. They really like him. They're really into him. That's very Brady-like. The second thing is Tom Brady came into this league and ran about as fast as I did at the NFL Combine and was kind of mocked for his body. I mean, they show this video all the time, the picture of Brady. I don't think it's a coincidence that Brady's body and physique and athleticism have been mocked and yet he is now 20 years later

the most body-obsessed player. He knows that video's out there. He's aware that you don't think he's an athlete, and no professional athlete is more body-obsessed than Brady. I think a lot of it says Combine stuff. Similarly, Goff came into this league. Look skinny. Couldn't take a snap.

Got blown up by Richard Sherman on the sideline. Jared Goff heard what everybody said. He doesn't even look like a number one pick. He looked skinny and gawkey. Similarly, Jared Gough kind of got laughed at for his body, for his awkwardness, for he did, he did look like he just couldn't. It just didn't not much of a chest. He was skinny. He couldn't take a snap.

He looked like. I think Goff hears that. And we'll become very much like Brady into career longevity. Take care of his body. Low alcohol. Eat right. happens to be, by the way, in L.A. where everybody's a vegan. The third thing that I think is big, motivation is, it doesn't matter if it's joy, it's me,

there's a childhood experience, whatever it is. Motivation kind of separates people. Some people have that chip on their shoulder, others don't. Brady, despite his night's Super Bowl, there are people that call him a system quarterback, and that is because of one thing, Bill Belichick. When you have a genius coach, if Brett Farr was going to a night's Super Bowl, Would we even acknowledge that he had a coach? Nobody ever says, you know, Chuck Null is the reason for Jimmy Johnson is the reason for,

no, half the people out there are like, well, I mean, he's good, but he's got Belichick. Who does Goff have? The next Belichick, the genius, who over the course of time is going to take a lot of, he won't take the credit, he'll be given a ton of credit for Goff's success, which will drive Jim. it. The three things I really see similarities is their teammates love them, sacrifice for them. You don't hear that a lot with Aaron Rogers. You didn't hear that a lot with Jay Cutler. You don't hear that a lot with Big Ben. Their teammates love them, their teammates love them, want to win for them. Second thing, body image issues, mocked for it. Uh-huh. I'll show you.

Third thing is, when you have an all-time genius head coach, they get a ton of the credit for your success. And let's be honest. You want to prove people wrong. I think we're looking at the next Brady. You're not getting a nine Super Bowles. But I think golf of all these young quarterbacks absolutely shares Brady traits.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the ice. i heart radio app. By the way, a report earlier today that despite his greatness, and you know, Brady's only had one superstar receiver ever, Randy Moss briefly. Antonio Brown, according to a report, is not getting a lot of interest on the trade market. Antonio Brown went to Twitter, three words today, open for business. You know, New England, again, is not good for star receivers because they're, favored in the Super Bowl without one. Jason Whitlock talked about that yesterday and speak for yourself.

Look at New England. Their receivers aren't divas. The Los Angeles Rams don't have any divas. The ball goes where it needs to go for what's best for the team. You get these diva receivers and you overpay them. They start complaining. The front office starts, man, we pay this dude, a lot of money. And the next thing you know, you're doing things that don't make sense in terms of wins and losses. It makes sense in terms of dollars and cents and shutting this person up. For the record, the key to this league, really, getting first downs. Whether it's at seven yards a chunk, 13 yards a chunk, or 38 yards a chunk, I'm for people who can get first downs. New England's not dynamic, but they got a lot of guys, Chris Hogan, James White, Sony Michelle,

Gronk, Edelman, Dorset, good hands can catch, good routes. Big time receivers have a place in this league. But this is not the NBA where you have to have stars that you can't win. You know, the L.A. Rams got to a Super Bowl. Todd Gurley was on an exercise bike Sunday. And they went full in on stars. And their biggest star, Gurley, literally didn't play Sunday. and they won in New Orleans.

So watch out. Just be aware. Antonio Brown, Twitter today, open for business. 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 SportsSlice 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. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day

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What's up, guys? This is Clivert 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, 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, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. 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 C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprise. of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk

ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know, I love you, dog.

You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.