The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 09/18/2018

Episode Date: September 18, 2018

Colin thinks the Pete Carroll era is coming to an abrupt and sad ending just like it did at USC. He thinks it’s ridiculous to talk about Josh Gordon going to the Patriots as Randy Moss 2.0 and talks with FOX NFL Analyst Peter Schrager about it. Plus, he reveals his top ten NFL teams in the Herd Hierarchy which does not include one team thought to be a Super Bowl contender. 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 Herd on a Tuesday, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS-Wan. Joy Taylor is joining me loaded today. Everybody from Vaughn Miller of the Denver Broncos, their 2-0, Tony. Gonzalez, Pete Schrager, joining us, breaking stories in Pittsburgh and New England. Joy Taylor is joining me on a Tuesday. Today we've got Monday night football game to talk about? Yes.

Good point. Proud tradition. Chicago Bears, Monsters of the Midway and Pete Carroll's Seahawks. I want to start with the Chicago Bears. Have you ever been driving down the road? And there's like, there's a car up there and it's not moving very fast. And you're in traffic. You could be on a small country road.

you could be, you know, I grew up in a small town, and you see this sometimes. You're driving on that small road. What's going on up there? Why is it so slow? And all of a sudden you move up, and about five minutes later, you look up, and it's the driver's ed car, or the driver's education teacher and the student driver. And on the back, it says, student driver, be slow. That was the Bears offense last night.

The coach Matt Nagy is the driver's ed teacher, and Mitch Trevisky is the student driver. And that offense, that wasn't a win last night. That was an indictment. The Bears are the L.A. Rams if the Rams had no offense. You have this super clever offensive coach. Rams have Sean McGay. And the Bears have Matt Nagy. Super clever.

I mean, you can watch that game and not even know football. And the motions and the traps and the screens and the sets. The Bears look like the Rams. They have a different playbook. You've got tremendous special teams with the Rams and the Bears way above average. And you've got defensive studs with the Rams. And you've got defensive studs with the Bears. The difference is one has an offense.

I mean, forget sealing. The Chicago Bears offensive ceiling is a crawl space. That's a college offense. I'm looking at the box score from last night. You would have no idea. If you didn't watch that game and you'd took the box score. You would think that was an evenly matched game.

And it wasn't. Chicago's defensive line malled the Seahawks' offensive line for three and a half hours. The Bears were at home. They had a 10-minute edge time of possession. They had six sacks and basically a pick six decided it. 24-17. What do you think the Rams would have done with that Seahawk team last night? That game wasn't even competitive, but Russell Wilson kept his team alive, and Mitch Trubisky kept his team in training wheels.

I mean, think about this. The first round quarterbacks picked in 2017 were Trubisky, Baholmes, and Deshaun Watson. Trubisky's got 12 touchdowns in 14 starts. Watson's got 24 and 8. Mahomes has 10 and 3 stars. Now, here's the good news for the Chicago Bears. is in the NFL, here's the thing you can't be at quarterback. You can't be chaotic.

You can't be Buffalo. That's what you can't be. And the bears in the last 30 years have been chaotic a lot. So the good news for the Chicago Bears, beyond the great special teams, the great defense, and that tremendously clever head coach, they are not chaotic at quarterback. And that's a thing. But the ceiling. on that offense.

If you put anybody, Matt Ryan, Kirk Cousins, I mean, you could put B guys in this league on that offense. Give Cam Newton those weapons. That clever offensive coordinator, that defense, those special teams?

Wow. You can't win in January and February with that. By the way, you can win a lot of games with a low-ceiling quarterback. Ryan Tannihil wins seven a year. Andy Dalton, wins in his career 80 year, but you're looking at the L.A. Rams with no offense. That's what they are.

I'm watching the Bears last night. That offensive coach, Matt Nagy, is so clever. Those special teams are so above average, and that defense has playmakers everywhere. The difference is, I don't want to hear anybody out there bang on the Rams and support the Bears, because that's the Rams. But the Rams have a quarterback who also went number one, who has a much high. higher ceiling, who has a much higher ceiling. So let me talk about the other team last night, Monday night football, the Seahawks. Once again, Russell Wilson's running for his life. Once again, there's no running game.

Once again, the offensive lines of mass. Once again, below average at wide receiver and tight end. Yeah. Yep. Pete Carroll, USC, New England, and the Seahawks. starts hot, everybody's talking about them, crazy fun, crazy wild. And then with USC and the Seahawks by year nine, the slogans don't work. There are four teams, five teams in the NFL, O and two.

The coaches are guys like Steve Wilkes, Matt Patricia, Pat Schumer. In the NFC, the fourth coach with an O&2 record is Pete Carroll, and he's the only one with the great quarterback. I always felt this. You ever heard of Tony Robbins? I've been watching Tony Robbins. I've known of him for 35 years. Tony Robbins at 29 years old, he's that big giant motivational speaker at 29 years old

for $10 million, $15 million bought a resort in Fiji. And he is not a scam. He is still working, sell out arenas. Tony Robbins, absolutely. That's a real business. And I do think he helps people. I have not seen Tony Robbins I've watched a couple of documentaries on Tony Robbins

I've met Tony Robbins he seems like a likable guy he is flawed like all of us but that's a real business but the problem with Tony Robbins is when you're in the arena and a couple of weeks after that stadium and that motivational speech

three or four weeks later you're at home you're preoccupied you're tired your dog's next to you and you just want a big bowl of macaroni and cheese and you don't feel like you're going to change the world. You fall back into routine and patterns and once Tony's not there to go raw and sweat and yell and scream,

you come back down to earth. Because in real life, nobody's that motivated every day. Pete Carroll's very similar. Pete Carroll has Tell the Truth Monday. That's what he calls Seahawk practices. Tell the truth Monday. Be honest with yourself.

Look at film. There's competition Wednesday. There's turnover Thursday when we talk about the importance of ball security. There's no repeat Friday slogans. Last night was a mediocre Monday. That Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick, the reason this dynasty lasts for 18 years, it's built on academics and those last. And the reason Nick Saban has a decade-long dynasty that appears to be strong. longer than ever because it's built on details and those last and Pete Carroll a lot of it's

built on slogans and emotion bra those don't last slogans you know you've all gone seen the hallmark card it's not the destination it's the journey you see that card that poster you put it on a wall it doesn't mean anything maybe in the moment at hallmark you open the car it kind of feels special. I mean, Tony Robbins is great, and Pete Carroll's a very good coach. I'm not saying either one of them is a scam. I'm not. Pete won his Super Bowl was a great college coach. I mean, from the looks of it, he may get that USC job again if he wants it. And by the way, Tony Robbins, that's a real business. I'm old enough to remember Tony Robbins doing infomercials with Fran Tarkinton. I remember him as a kid when we didn't have cable TV. Not much of it.

Okay, but in the end, Tony Robbins is a lot richer than all the people. people go into his auditoriums. Because you, once you're in the room and raw, raw and yeah, change your life, go to the moon. This is amazing. We're going to, yeah, sweat, slogans, awesome. Three weeks later you get home. You just want a beer and some macaroni and cheese. Your kids are wearing your arse out.

You're preoccupied. You really don't want to, you don't even want to go to the refrigerator to get the beer. You're tired. Your boss is driving you crazy. You got stuck in traffic. That's real life. Real life's not slogans. That's why Belichick's dynasty last.

And that's why Sabin's dynasty lasts because smarts and details last. You can be smart every day. You can be detailed every day. Slogans don't last. Tell the truth, Monday, competition, Wednesday. That was mediocre Monday right there last night. nine years in at USC and nine years in with the Seahawks. Players have all heard the slogans.

Remember Cliff Everl, the former Seahawks told us before the season. Cliff Avril before the season came on the show. Remember what he said about the raw raw stuff? Me personally, I'm not going to lie, I never listened to Coach Carroll. I never needed him to kind of motivate me on game day or for practice. I understood it was a job. I understood what I needed to do. So I never really paid attention personally.

Now, for other guys, I can see how, you know, the message could get crossed a little bit, especially after like the Super Bowl run when guys started kind of questioning what our foundation was after that play. By the way, people always say to me, why don't you like Pete Carroll? And I'm like, I like Pete Carroll. And I like Tony Robbins. I'm not calling it a scam. I'm not saying what they're doing doesn't work, but there's an end to it. It unravels.

You can sell guys in the room. But Pete's not always in the room. And Tony Robbins can sell you on the tape and in the auditorium, but you don't have Tony Robbins' energy. And you don't have Tony Robbins size, gravitas, history. And in the end, academics and details last. No repeat Friday. The only repetition I'm seeing is once again, the offensive line's awful, the running game's awful, the receivers are below average, and Russell Wilson's running for his life.

I'm seeing repeat Sunday and Monday all the time. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. So the Browns traded their enigmatic star receiver Josh Gordon, who was really good for one year, five years ago to the Patriots for a lower round draft pick. I checked this morning in Las Vegas. The Patriots Super Bowl odds did not change. The Patriots AFC East odds did not change. The Patriots game odds did not change.

I don't think this long term works. Some stuff works briefly, but is not sustainable. But let me address the Randy Moss and Josh Gordon comparisons. I don't buy them for a second. Randy Moss was never suspended for drugs. And Randy Moss was a football savant who could memorize a playbook in two hours. Okay. Josh Gordon is.

not focused enough to work long term with Brady. Comparing Randy Moss and Josh Gordon because they're wide receivers is like comparing Christian Bale and Charlie Sheen because they're actors. Randy Moss and Christian Bale are world-class talents. Okay. Who are difficult. Yes. They're difficult.

They're not dysfunctional. Randy Moss is difficult. I work with him. And Christian Bale on a movie set is difficult. But first of all, Randy Moss is better than Josh Gordon. And Christian Bail's a lot better than Charlie Sheen. But Charlie Sheen's dysfunctional. Josh Gordon's completely dysfunctional.

I don't get these comparisons at all. Here's one of the things I've known enough people from Mike Lombardi to people, you know, Teddy Bruskees, guys inside the New England Patriot Organization. Here's how the game works. They've got an incredibly demanding offense. and they ask you to figure it out really quickly. They'll put a package or two in for this guy. They'll throw over the top a couple of times.

He may pop for a play or two. But are you focused? Because if you're not, it's not sustainable. And are you going to work really, really, really hard for the next 20 weeks? There's no history of this. I mean, the last time this guy was good, Peyton Manning was the best quarterback in the NFL, and Johnny Mansell was the talk of college football.

I mean, even the Patriots in their press release, when they talk about Josh Gordon, they're talking about the 2013 season. I mean, there's a press release. Oh, my God. Oh, my whole Lord, he was great in 2013. I don't want to hear the Randy Moss stuff. Again, my entire life, I've worked in the media, right, 25 years. I've worked with intense, difficult people.

Here's what I know doesn't work. Dysfunctional people. Josh Gordon's one of those guys. If you're a coach, you're looking out the window at the parking lot, crossing your fingers that he shows up. You never have to worry about Christian Bale. He'll show up. Randy Moss, he'll show up.

And they'll test you, and they'll push you, and they'll poke you, and they'll prod you. And they're difficult. And they'll be demanding. I get that. I mean, you can't play. If you're trying to get a locker room of guys who aren't demanding, you're not going to have a championship locker room.

Golden State's locker room is demanding. They have fights. It's well chronicled. New England's had fights. Alabama's got issues. I mean, coaches go, work, get out of there with Nick saving. It's not easy. But there's a difference between

difficult and dysfunctional. And I don't see this thing working very long at all. 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 like. Senior NFL writer

Fox Sports.com. You see him as a Fox NFL reporter. He's on our Sunday kickoff show as well in New York via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Let's go to Peter. Shreger, let's start with Josh Gordon. I don't think it works, and I don't get the Randy Moss comparisons, but I mean

they're both very, very talented. What are your sources saying? Do you think it works in New England with him? Oh, well, I'll see how it works, but to the Randy Moss comparisons. You realize how insulting and disrespectful it is to Randy Moss and to Chad Johnson, to Corey Dylan, and all the other guys who had great

careers. Josh Gordon has played in four games, or 11 games over the last four seasons, and he has won one of them. This is not exactly Randy Now, here's what people are failing to realize. It's not fantasy football. It's real football. And the Browns bent over backwards to do whatever they could to give Josh Gordon every last chance. He had last chances with three different head coaches. He had warning after warning after warning. And like Joy said, look, he had a opportunity to make a great season here with the Browns. He showed up

Friday. It was fine. Showed up Saturday and hurt his hamstring doing a promotional video on Instagram. And that's when the Browns finally cut bait. So you're not dealing with a generational talent who's coming in hot right now. You're dealing with a guy that the Cleveland Browns gave a million chances and said, and if you think Belichick is going to stop what locomotive they have going on in New England to make sure this guy has a thousand chances, be ready. I would just say this. I'm sensitive to all the substance abuse stuff.

I get it. I know addiction. I understand it. I would also say they're on a path to the Super Bowl, and if he gets in the way, there will not be a spot on that team. All right. So I said to start my show, the Bears special teams excellent defense playmakers, coach wildly creative.

They're the Rams, except the Rams can score. I watched that game last night, and if you look at the stat sheet, the Bears had a 10-minute edge time of possession, entering the fourth, the Seahawks had 80 yards of total offense, and that was a touchdown game. I felt like it was an indictment on Mitch Trubisky that with that coach, who's great, those defensive players who were remarkable, and those special teams at home on Monday night,

that should have been a blowout. I mean, the ceiling on Trubisky feels incredibly low to me. Does it not? It's an amazing situation because, you know who was taken right after him at the quarterback position, Patrick Mahomes? You know who was taken after him? Deshawn Watson? So the Bears traded up to make Trubisky the guy.

They gave him an offensive coach. They gave him Taylor Gabriel, Alan Robinson, Trey Burton, they gave him to Khalil Mack. They got everything. Is he the guy? And last night, there should have been two other interceptions that the players just dropped. Here's what I would say about it. You mentioned Matt Nagy. Matt Nagy is one of the most creative play callers in the entire NFL.

If you saw last night in key situations, they put Trey Burton under center, and they also ran some plays where Trubisky went out wide, and Taylor Gabriel took the snap. He will protect Trubisky until Trubisky starts delivering. There were some bad passes last night by Mitchell. I don't think he's in the same conversation as Patrick Mahomes yet, and I certainly don't think he's Deshaun Watson with his feet. I would say this, though.

He might have the best play caller in all of football, not named Sean McVeigh, calling players for him. protecting him. I think the Bears will be fine because Matt Nagy is that creative as a play caller. No, the two teams I've watched, we'll get to Kansas City in a second, but when I watch the Bears, I see the Rams. It's like they've got this new, clever playbook that nobody else in the league has, the sets, the motion, the trapping, it's remarkably fun to watch. I want to say this before I get to Mahomes, this is unheard of. If in the height of the Yankees, if Jeter Pasada and Mariano Vera and Andy Pettit had come out and all within a year said, we want out, trade me, I'll

retire. We'd have fired Joe Torrey. I got Big Ben, Antonio Brown, Lavian Bell in the last year. One guy says I'll retire. One guy says trade me. The other guy's like, I'm not going to play. At some point, do the Roonies look at the situation and say, we may have a coaching disconnect here?

I mean, what's going on? You know, you say that in one breath and the other breath. they're down 21-0 at home and Tomlin fires them up and they find a way to tie the game at halftime. So he's a way to motivate these guys. I don't think it's a question about his ability as a coach and a motivator and even X as an O's. What was fascinating about this thing with Antonio

Brown, the original tweet that went out was from a guy named Ryan Scarpino. Ryan Scarpino was an old PR guy for the Steelers. He recently left. And he didn't tag Antonio Brown. He didn't tweet at Antonio Brown. He made his observation. And Antonio Brown, who's on the cover of Madden and showed up to

training camp at a helicopter this year. be the most decorated player in the entire organization for him to be searching out tweets the day after a loss and responding and saying trade me. And then today, I don't know if it's out there. Apparently, he wasn't out and practice on Monday. So something's weird going on in Pittsburgh. Bizarre stuff. And, you know, this is an old colleague, but really didn't at Antonio Brown on Twitter if you want to get into the mechanics of it. So he sought it out or someone told him it just seems ugly, right? It seems muddy. It doesn't happen in New England and it certainly doesn't happen elsewhere. I was saying this. If I was out for laryngitis, I get my job back. But if it's a self-sustained,

self-induced problem I create for myself and miss a month, then Fox Sports One has no reason to put me back if my replacement's better. James Winston is not playing because of James Winston. Does Dirk cutter feel a pressure to replace Fitzpatrick? Because again, this is not an injury, Shrags. James is out because of James's immaturity. Does Dirk Cutter feel from the owner and the GM? You've got to get back to James. Or is he saying to himself, Fitzmagic works, baby. We're better without him.

I'm going to take you on a journey back to March when I spoke with Jason Light, the general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They had a lot of looming contracts. They were going to spend a lot of money in free agency. I said, what is your first priority? He says, Mike Evans is my first priority. He said, okay, well, we got to beef up the defense. They were 30.

He goes, Ryan Fitzpatrick's my second. priority. This is before James was suspended. I said, Ryan Fitzpatrick, he goes, he's going to be a free agent. We need to make sure he doesn't go to free agency. He is that much of a leader. And he's such a leader that I will put that priority over our defense, which was the worst in the league. These guys love Ryan Fitzpatrick. No one is happier for Ryan Fitzpatrick than his teammates and the front office. So I'm not going to put it in print. I'm not going to put it in ink. I will just say this. If Ryan Fitzpatrick keeps winning, Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers until something drastically goes wrong. Wow. Little news there.

Okay, that's good to hear. Now, finally, you came on our show a while back, and you made this prediction on Patrick Mahomes. I want to play the tape. Go ahead, run it now. Colin, I hate to hype this up like a summer blockbuster. The Patrick Mahomes era is about to begin. This kid is going to take the league by storm this year.

And, Colin, everyone I talked to in Kansas City is like one of those things where they're like quietly, like, just like, all right, we're not going to be the ones to say it. Just wait. This is the guy that a franchise is really banking on. And Colin, I'm telling you, because I know you love being on a stock early. Get on the bandwagon now because every week there's going to be a pass like this. Okay, he's been amazing. I mean, he has been pretty good.

I mean, I like Sam Darnold, but in terms of raw armed talent, Darnold's not close to Patrick Mahomes. In just terms of raw throwing the football down the field. And you know I like Sammy Darnold playing Thursday here. What is your takeaway on Mahomes? Is he even greater than expectations to Andy Reed? Yes, here's why it's so amazing. All right, this is a guy from Texas Tech,

and the big knock on him was he runs the spread offense that 700 yards of Texas Tech doesn't translate to the NFL. Andy Reed has a completely different offense for Patrick Mahomes built than he did for Alex Smith last year, for Donovan McNabb back then, and for Michael Vic and Kevin Cobb and whoever else. This offense, it's like the air raid offense. They went empty last week.

I hate to sound like Greg Kosell, but they went empty last week 22 times. What does that mean? No running back in the backfield. Shotgun five wide receipts. You don't see that in the NFL. That's what he ran at Texas Tech. So they're taking the Kingsbury elements of what worked and what made Baker-Mayfield

transfer and what made Davis Webb transfer because this guy was that good. And they're using it in the NFL. Andy Reid has built the offense around his skill set. It's a completely different look than what Alex Smith ran last year, which means there's no tape on them. There's no way to solve them. And these passes are incredible. I think it is the real deal.

He's got 10 touchdown, zero interceptions. And last week, he threw six touchdowns. passes and five incomplete passes. It is something to enjoy. I think it keeps on going. They play the Niners this weekend. Home opener, Arrowhead on Fox. I'm telling you, watch out. This guy could shatter records this year.

Shragge, this may have been your best appearance. You just had so much information. God, you were really good this week. You were really good. Colin, how good is our Sunday show, though? Oh, it's so much fun. It's so good. We can't tell our bosses that we have fun because they'll reduce

our pay. We just go and screw off for an hour on Sunday. Shraig's great seeing you. Love seeing it. Congrats to Joy. Awesome stuff. Yeah, where to go, Joy. Who now is wearing a gigantic ice skating rink on her hand. 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. Now, every Tuesday during the NFL season, I do something called herd hierarchy.

It's not just based on your record. Okay, the Miami Dolphins are not making my list. They're two and oh. That doesn't mean just because you have a loss, New England's on this list. They have a loss. But they also, does coaching and quarterback matter in the NFL? I'm going to take New England. These are the teams that I believe this morning are the best teams in the NFL, that I can get my arms around and I see something I can explain.

Let's hit it. Heard hierarchy. Time is now. Let's go. The top 10 NFL teams, according to college. Number 10. I don't think Cincinnati's ever made it. They're in now 2-0.

They're not in just for the record. First of all, Andy Dalton is what he is, a lower ceiling. But he doesn't turn the ball over, and they've got playmakers on the defensive side. They're fourth in points per game and fourth in point differential. Now, they've started very quickly before. Remember a couple years ago? 2015, they were 8-0. I think their defense right now is humming.

I think going to Indianapolis and beating the Colts is more impressive than people think. Bengals at 10. Number nine. I don't know how long this thing's going to last. I don't think the Buccaneers have ever made the list, but I'm not doing it just for record. Yes, they're very explosive. But when you're bad for years, you get great draft picks. They have got a lot of good young players that they've been drafted over the last three and four years.

The thing that blows me away is not just they lead the NFL in towed. offense, they're number two in rush defense. They got some dudes up front defensively. I would stay with Ryan Fitzmagic as long as I could. Again, James Winston didn't lose his job to injury. He lost it due to personal behavior. I'd stay with Fitzmagic as long as he's winning. Number eight. L.A. Chargers. I love their roster. Listen, they got ambushed by Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes, who nobody had tape on in the first week. But they do a lot of things really well. Third in time of possession.

They can keep the ball away from you. Third in total offense. By the way, that wide receiver, Mike Williams got hurt that draft pick a couple years ago. Dude can play. They've been a little sketchy on the perimeter last few years, but good on the interior. They're third now in passing. They got playmakers on the outside. Chargers at eight.

Number seven. Kansas City. Now, again, you're thinking, why are they so close? Okay, Kansas City, Andy Reid does this every year. All off season, he works on his bag of tricks. He comes out, and everybody's like, dang, Andy came out with some new stuff. And I do like Patrick Mahomes. And they're one of the three teams in the NFL that hasn't even played a home game yet.

But their defense gives up explosion play after explosion play. And I think in the end, an offense that can get those seven-yard chunks, seven-yard chunks may keep Patrick Mahomes off the field. They are first in point, so I've got them at seven. Number six. Carson Wentz is back. I don't care that they lost. This morning, Carson Wentz is the quarterback. So the Philadelphia Eagles are number six.

They're still first in the NFL in rush defense. They're just averaging 10 fewer points a game because that's what Carson Wentz is worth over. Nick Foles and they've been outscored badly in the first half, they won't be now with Carson Wentz. This team still has, in my opinion, offensive, defensive line combination, the best in the league. Great O line, great D line. Eagle 6.

Number five. Patriots. It's typical Patriots. Does coaching matter? They got the best one. Does quarterback matter? They got the best one. They're also the least penalized team in the league.

I can't put them, though, in my top four for one reason. Their defense up front does look better. But again, this year, through two games, they're struggling to get offenses off the field on third down. They're 26 in the league. Third down defense. That's why at number four, number four. I have the Jags.

Not much. I think in a neutral field, they're very even with New England. but Blake Bortles looked really good on third down, didn't he? Doesn't have Marquis Lee, didn't have Leonard Fernett, Alan Robinson, Alan Hearns gone to free agency. I thought Blake Bortles, that's the best he's ever looked on third down. Now, they're always good at home. The Jacks were, what, 7-0, 7 straight home wins, and it's a sauna down there in September. So to bring a Northeast team up to play down in Jacksonville in September, that's an edge.

Here's what worries me. Their left tackles Cam Robinson. they'd only allowed one sack lowest in the NFL out for the year. That worries me long term. Number three. I think the Minnesota Vikings have the best roster in the league, top to bottom. Almost no C players. They have good receivers.

They have a good back. They're linebackers, a pass rusher. Tremendous corners. Maybe the best first or second best safety in the NFL. And by the way, here's where the Vikings are really tough. Even Aaron Rogers, once you get them in the red zone, if you can get it, Get him in the red zone, it's hard to score. Through two games, their opponents are two for nine, 22% in the red zone.

Even Aaron Rogers. You get the best guy in the league down there in that congested area in the red zone. If you can get there on that defense, good luck getting touchdowns against that defense. Number two. Atlanta's good. Let's not overreact to Atlanta losing twice to the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia. Okay? their 11th in total defense.

They were 4 in 4 in the red zone against Carolina, and the Panthers front sevens got dudes. They generally start very well. They're 9 and 2 in September over the last four years, but this is Steve Sarkesian's second year with Matt Ryan. It took Kyle Shanahan two years to work with Matt Ryan. You've got to give these players time to work with their coordinators. I still think Atlanta, I picked him to make the Super Bowl,

not win it but make it. I still have them in. Number one. LA Rams. Folks, I know a lot of you hate L.A. because it's L.A., but they don't give the ball up. To have that explosive of an offense and only one giveaway, their third in total defense,

Indomacan Su, Aaron Donald, good luck moving those guys on the interior. Fewest points allowed. First and point differential. I said this. from coach Sean McVey to punter and kicker return guys defensive coordinator the only weakness I can see for the Rams

I don't think they're special at linebacker but good God their secondary's got Marcus Peters Akeeb Taleb and Sam Shield and a good young safety this is the best team in the league I've seen I didn't think they played great Sunday and they dropped 35 now the team I did not have on there yeah what's what's going on

I didn't have the Denver Broncos on there Broncos, where's the Packers? I don't have them in. What do you mean? I don't have the Packers in. They play two home games. They should be 0 and 2. I mean, you don't have the Packers above the Bengals, at least?

No. No? Since today's got a much better defense, they're better at one position. Aaron Rogers is the second best school back in the league. And he's playing about 80%. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Josh Gordon is this enigmatic wide receiver, super, super,

talented. We've seen this story. Come on. We've all seen stories like this in all these sports over and over and over again. Super talented guy. Can't get his act together. Sometimes has personal behavioral issues. In this case, you got some of that, some drug addiction, been suspended a couple times. Not a couple times, a lot of times, probably shouldn't be in the eyes of many in the league anymore. Browns brought him in. Browns need talent. Even the Browns said, we're out. I mean, Baylor football and Art Bryles, we know the story there. they said we can't handle him. The Cleveland Browns are desperate for players. We don't want him. So now he goes to New England, and the theory is, you know, football, pro sports can be a lot like the adopting agency business. You look for a good family that can help a troubled kid.

A kid's had some chaos in his life, and he's up for adoption, and you try to put him with a big, strong, successful, organized family. And New England, everybody's like, well, look at New England. did Albert Hainsworth work in New England? They didn't work in New England. Certain guys, you're not going to save. They don't want to play. They're not focused. New England's a very demanding business model.

And I don't think Josh Gordon's going to work. Tom Brady, I want you to just listen to this, Joy. Here's Tom Brady. Here's what he said about Josh Gordon. I hate to make projections and expectations. That's not fair. I never met Josh personally. Just like I had met some of the guys that have come in a lot of.

couple weeks. So we'll see how it goes this week. Hopefully he can work hard, put the team first and, you know, end up helping us in any role that he can find for himself on the team. The word is hopefully he can work hard and put the team first. Those are basic requirements. Listen to it one more time. Hopefully he can work hard, put the team first and, you know, end up helping us in any role that he can find for himself on the team. Hopefully he can work hard. Put the team first. Listen, if you walk into a restaurant with your wife and she says to you, hopefully we don't

get food poisoning, walk out, go next door. Like, these are basic life things. I want everybody to think about this. When's the last time when discussing an event or a person that you use the word hopefully? I did this morning. hopefully there's no construction on the 405 driving to work. I used it Sunday, had to pick up somebody from the airport.

Hopefully, security's not brutal at the airport. I mean, hopefully your nephew doesn't get fired again. Hopefully is resigned of very low expectations. Tom Brady's an optimistic guy. Team first, go team. Love my guys. Tom Brady is, hopefully he can practice hard. Hopefully he puts the team first.

That's not going to work. That's telling you, they didn't give up much for him. And by the way, I think there's a, we'll have Albert Breer in about 15 minutes. New England tends to protect themselves when they make a move like this. But, I mean, nobody in a good marriage should ever say, hopefully I don't cheat tonight. That's kind of a basic thing. You probably shouldn't. And if you're a good marriage, you're not ever saying that.

I just don't, I don't see the Moss connections. I don't think there's any chance. This is a long-term success story. 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. After almost three hours, Colin apparently hasn't gotten to the point yet. Quit holding out on us, cowherd.

It's the best for last. Okay, there's a lot of surprises. There's several two and oh teams. and many won't make the playoffs. There's some 0 and 2 teams that will make the playoffs. In the past five years, when a team starts 2-0, they make the playoffs only about half the time, 57%. So here are the 2-0 teams.

Of these 2-0 teams, I'm going to make a prediction on which one won't make the playoffs. Now, here are the teams that are 2-0. Miami is 2-0. Now, they get to play the bills twice, and they've already beaten the Jets once. So regardless of how they fare against New England, viable wild card team,

I think they're in that Baltimore Raven group or they could perhaps vie for a wild card. I pick them to be an 8-and-8 team. I don't think they're going to go 60 and 0 despite their start. You've got the Bengals. I think, again, it's a wild card team. I do think their defense is for real. The Jags are 2-0, and let's not deny.

great defense, terrific at home, and when Leonard Fournett and Yeldon are both healthy, it's a really good offensive running game. Chiefs are too good offensively to suddenly go into the tank, although I will say we're getting all worked up. That defense right now is giving up massive dash plays. Broncos, I'm not sure what to make of. Rams are going to finish number one, in my opinion. Buccaneers right now are playing great defense, great run defense, and lead the NFL in

scoring. So which one of these teams? Envelope, please. Oh, very dramatic. Which one of these two and O teams is most likely to miss the playoffs? The Buccaneers. You're on a Fitzmajoric bandwagon? Here's why. They gave

up 40 points to the Saints and they did beat the Eagles with Nick Foles. The division is really tough. Carolina's defense. Atlanta's offense. Atlanta's offense, the Saints offense. By the way, their next three games are not easy. Steelers at the Bears, at the Falcons.

Of the two and no teams, I think the Buccaneers come down to earth. Now let's go to look at the O.N2 teams in the past five years, at least one team that started O'N2 has made the playoffs. So we have the bills or O&2. It's not going to be them,

I don't think. Their offensive line is rebuilding and they have a young quarterback. That's a really crappy combination. in the NFL. The Raiders, I will give them credit, looked very, very interesting this week. Winning in Denver's tough. Did the Raiders lose but turn a corner? The Texans, listen, Deshawn Watson struggled in the first couple of games, but outside of offensive line, it's a pretty stacked roster.

The Giants appeared to regress defensively, but don't give up hope. New York is often a late starting team. Matt Patricia and the Lions? Okay, they're probably not going to make it. He did turn his hat around. Matt Patricia did turn his hat around. And the Arizona Cardinals, outside of the Rams in that division, there is a lot of, there's a lot of wins. So here's the envelope P.

Oh, the Seahawks are O and two. Well, they have Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll. They have Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll. So here we go, envelope please. Which O&2 team will make the playoffs? Sealed very tight. The Houston Texans are the best shot. Okay, here's why.

So they lost to the Patriots in Foxborough 27 to 20. Not exactly an indictment of a football team. They lost to the Titans on a game that could have gone either way 20 to 17. The AFC South, the Colts have Andrew Luck and a lot of guys playing really hard. Do you really trust Tennessee? Jacksonville, get them away from home. Last year lost to San Francisco and Arizona on the road. By the way, their schedule is not tough at all.

The Houston Texans may be 0.2. Now they host the Giants, go to the Colts, host the Cowboys, and have the bills at home. So the buccaneers are the 2-0 team that I think's going to fade. The Texans are the 0-2 team, I think has a real chance. 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. In 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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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, S&L'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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations

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

Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope From a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions.

Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the Iheart radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.