The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 09/20/2018

Episode Date: September 20, 2018

Colin thinks that Jon Gruden is having trouble turning his media personality side off and it’s getting him into trouble. He thinks the Browns owner will pressure Hue Jackson into playing Baker Mayfield on Thursday Night Football and explains why. Plus, Greg Cosell of NFL Films talks about Patrick Mahomes early success and why the Patriots’ offense isn't struggling the way people say it is. Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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,

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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.

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

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. 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, Marquis, 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. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRodio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by search heard. This is the best of the herd with

Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. So fired up for tonight.

Thursday night game, we could see Baker Mayfield. Get to that in the moment. Sam Donald, we will see. Joy Taylor is joining me here on a Thursday. Thursday night games this year. They're better games. Oh, tonight's game is huge. Tonight's game's fascinating.

I mean, it's the Browns and the Jets. The NBA equivalent to that is the Brooklyn Nets and the Orlando Magic. But in the NFL, rookies matter. Rookies have an impact, especially if they're playing quarterback. So let me start right here on tonight's game. You know, as a parent, nobody wants to be seen as a bad parent. And I mean, right, it's like that's what people judge you on years later. Not how much you made, not what you did.

What do your kids turn out to be like? And if your kids are schmucks, your views are schmuck. And I don't know how good I am as a parent, but I've always thought a really important thing is the amount of responsibility I can give my kids at an early age will sort of be the grading system. If at 27 years old, I'm still doing my son's laundry. I failed as a parent. If at 26 years old, I don't trust my daughter to go to Europe with a friend by herself. I failed as a parent. I don't know necessarily what makes a great parent and a bad parent.

But holding their hand, I know, doesn't create a strong independent kid. And that's what we're all trying to create. They can do things for themselves. They don't need mommy and daddy in their mid-20s. So tonight Sam Darnold's going to play and Sam Darnold's going to struggle because Cleveland has real defensive players. When you're bad for a long time and you draft the defensive sidewell, you've got good players. And the Jets, they're not. defense isn't bad, but offensively they have nothing outside of Darnold.

Offensive line, bottom two in the league. Running backs could be the worst. Tight ends, absolutely the worst. Wide receivers, little talent, kind of flaky guys, get hurt, have problems. Okay, not great. At times, depending on health, pretty bad. Sam Darnold is going to struggle tonight. Short week in Cleveland, rookie quarterback.

But the Jets are telling you we think he's physically and emotionally capable of it. And that's the win. Carson Wentz, nobody would deny, has been an A-plus draft pick. He's a stud. He plays this week. He's a stud. And they just threw Carson Wentz out there. That's all I needed to know from Doug Peterson and Howie Roseman.

They had somebody else who'd played in the NFL. They traded him. The Jets had Teddy Bridgewater, and they traded him. Carson Wentz, by the way, like Sam Donald, had an amazing, amazing first game. And then in Carson Wentz, rookie years, from weeks 4 to 14, he was 2 and 9, had way more picks than touchdowns,

and his passer rating was terrible. It was like 72. Carson Wentz's rookie year, he had a couple of great weeks, and he went into the toilet. But they didn't pull him, and he were never worried, and that's for an A-plus quarterback.

Against Minnesota, 52-passing. rating two picks. Against Cincinnati, three picks and a 58 passer rating. And he's an A-plus guy, and he was awful in a couple of those early games. And so was Andrew Luck with the Colts. He was

awful. And Sam Darnold tonight and next week against Jacksonville has an opportunity he could be awful. Short week on the road, Brown's defense. But the Jets with Donald and the Eagles with Wents and the Colts

with luck. They're telling you, we trust our kids. The Eagles had Sam Bradford, traded him away. The Colts had Peyton Manning, moved off him. The Jets had Teddy Bridgewater. So good Drew Breeze sees him as the next. Sean Peyton sees him as the next Drew Breeze. So when I look at these young quarterbacks, the coaching staffs tell me what they think of the player. I don't have to watch with Carson Wentz. I don't have to watch practices with Andrew Luck. I don't have to watch practices with Sam Darnold. If you have a quarterback you could go to, Peyton Manning,

Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater, and you move off him, and you're willing to let them play rookie year, knowing they're going to be completely over their head, not just physically. You trust Sam Darnold tonight and against Jacksonville to go into a game, get sacks six times. Jets O'Lines awful. I mean, awful. Pro football focus ranks it like 31st in the league. that you trust Carson Wins to get to you know what kicked out of him and you're like,

oh, he's a tough kid. He'll go hunt and fish the following day, take a day off, wake up Tuesday morning, come to practice, ready to go. Sam Darnold's going to struggle tonight, but with he luck and wince, the staff is telling you, he had a veteran in house. Nah, he can not only physically handle it, he can mentally if he struggles, handle it. That's all I need to know. All I need to know about Sam Darnel.

Let me shift to this. John Gruden stepped in it again. Anybody listening to my show today that's ever been a waitress or a waiter in your life? Anybody listening to me, I worked in a restaurant as a kid. Did you, Joy? I worked in many restaurants. Okay. Let's say you've ever been a waiter or a waitress in your life.

What often happens, you can sympathize with them. you kind of get into the cycle of it. So if you go to a restaurant after you quit doing that, so you're a waiter, a waitress, and your teens, early 20s, and then you go do other stuff. Joy did that and did that other stuff. What happens is every time you go to a restaurant after that,

you still, when you're done with the meal, kind of clean the table up for the waiter or the waitress. Start pre-bussing? You pre-bus. You kind of clean the table up for them. Because it's sort of hard to turn that off. It's in you. And it was in you for eight to ten years.

So John Gruden yesterday once again stepped in it. He was asked a question about a pass rush. And John Gruden gave a long answer and this avenue and that exit and started talking and kept talking and here it is. It's hard to find a great one. It's hard to find a good one. It's hard to find one. You just said it. And, you know, college football now they're not really dropping back to pass and throwing footballs anymore. They're throwing laterals and they're throwing bubble screens and they're running read options.

So you've got to train these guys. It takes a little bit of time to learn how to rush the pastor. And we've got some guys that are in that process right now. That could have been a very quick answer. John Gruden did not have to give that long of an answer because that answer became the story yesterday in the NFL. Hey, coach, you had a great one. You let him go. But when you hire a TV analyst who for 10 years is a performer like Joy was a waitress for a decade,

when Joy goes to the restaurant after quitting waitressing, she starts pre-bussing because it's hard to turn that off forever. John Gruden for a decade was a TV performer. You don't mumble. You don't give short answers. You explain, you define, you give long answers, and it's hard to turn that off. He has still got television analyst in him. And he keeps stepping in it because he believes he has to give a TV answer. No, no, no.

Bill Belichick yesterday was asked a question about a book about him. It's got all sorts of juicy details. It's a biography on Bill Belichick. It's the talk of the NFL. But Bill's never been a TV analyst and would probably be a lousy one and felt no need to perform for the media. I feel a biography of me was coming out this month and you didn't participate. I was curious why.

Because I don't have anything to do with it. Focus right now in Detroit, 2018 football season. I'd like to try to do a good job on that. Ah. The football coach who's been a performer is still performing. And this is why I always had questions about John Gruden.

He's not just a football coach, he's a television star, and he was damn good. And you can't just turn off once you've been a waiter or waitress for a decade, go to a restaurant, you can't turn it off. You always have sympathy for the waiter, sympathy for the bus boy, sympathy for the waitress, and you start pre-cleaning. By the way, I worked in a restaurant as a kid for a long time. My kids make fun of me. I'm a pre-cleaner because I've been in those restaurants.

I've moved the salt back to where it should be and I start stacking the things and I wipe the table down and the kids are like, oh, dad, but my kids have never worked in restaurants. John Gruden was hired as a TV star. He's a football coach now, but he is struggling to turn off the TV star performer. Belichick, who's never been one, here's the question. He turned it on mute. No reason to give the media an inch. there's a big difference. It's hard enough to be out of this sport for 10 years.

But Groon's going to have to figure this out because he stepped again yesterday, set himself up to be ripped because he started talking about how hard it is to find pass rushers. Yeah, you just had the world's best and you let him go. John, reel it back in. More coach. Less performer. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. So tonight, Browns, Baker Mayfield backup, host the Jets, rookie Sam Darnold starter. And I've told you from the very beginning, one of the things that Baker Mayfield is going to have to overcome is Jimmy Haslam, the owner of the Browns. He's the biggest booster for Tennessee volunteer football, which is the most underachieving football program in the country.

They can't get the coach right. he's also the owner of the most dysfunctional NFL franchise to Cleveland Browns. I do not believe those are a coincidence. Should be noted, his wife is a CEO of a media company, very media savvy. So Mary Kay Cabot has been covering the Cleveland Browns, very respected reporter. I've had Mary Kay on before. She's excellent. She said this morning on Sirius XM NFL, I think everybody should be on the Baker watch

tonight to some extent. Now, I want you to think about this. This was my prediction that Jimmy Haslam was going to come down and at one point ask about Baker early in the season and Hugh will be able to push him off. But by the second time Jimmy Haslam comes, Hugh Jackson, you know, didn't have enough credits, enough wins. Haslam's going to say, start Baker. And as I told you, I suspect that Sam Darnold's success early, any success he has.

has will put more pressure on Hugh Jackson to start him, not because Hugh cares about that, because the owner does and his media savvy wife. So think about this. Tyrod Taylor's career statistics. And then I'm going to put up right next to him how he fared last week against New Orleans. Sean Payton will make the Hall of Fame. Drew Brees will make the Hall of Fame. New Orleans is the hardest place according to Vegas to win in the road for a visiting team. So last week, Terrod Taylor's statistics against the state.

the Saints, in the four key categories, completion percentage, passing yards, yards per attempt, pass a rating were all better last week than his career average. In some cases, significantly better. And yet the story this morning is he could get benched. If I'd have told Brown fans, you're a kicker away from being two and oh against the Steelers and the Saints and the Saints on the road. Would you have taken it? Because by the way, that's the truth. You are a kicker away from being 2-0 against two teams with much better rosters, Steelers, Saints. But because of that kicker and because of that owner of that franchise, Mary Kay Cabot is saying tonight, everybody should be on watch for Baker Watch.

So that tells you the owner, not the coach, is running the team. And by the way, let's say Sam Darnold, and I think Cleveland's going to win tonight. They should. Short week at home, their favorite in Vegas, their defense actually, pretty good. top 10 personnel defense so far, I think it'll play out. It's a real defense. And Sam Darnold's got a bad old line, no running backs, no tight ends, and inconsistent, not untalented, but inconsistent wide receivers.

So here we go. If Sam Darnold comes out tonight and looks pretty good for a half or a quarter, I'm not sure he will, but if he does and let's say the Browns fall behind, 10-0, Jimmy Haslam at halftime is going to be calling the coach. This is something that has to be considered. on the Baker-Mayfield trajectory, and something I always talked about. Cleveland's different.

It is in the NFL, the owner is really important to have somebody as good as Robert Kraft. Paul Allen of the Seahawks is not known as a big meddler. Stan Cronky is not known as a big meddler. It's really an advantage. The bear's ownership through the years,

dysfunctional. Dolphins' ownership, Cleveland's ownership through the years, dysfunctional. So Cleveland's, just don't forget, Terrod Taylor last week, better stats than his career. Terrod Taylor is a kicker from beating the Saints and the Steelers. The Browns are a favorite tonight. The plan's working perfectly. And yet, this cannot be undersold.

This is the only Cleveland Browns game this year. year that is a stand-alone TV game. This is it. And Jimmy Haslam's media savvy wife, CEO of a company, can't be undersold. This is the only Browns game that is a standalone NFL game all year. Tonight, Baker Watch. Shouldn't be, but Baker Watch. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. So yesterday at the end of our show, Joy, was a big story. Jimmy Butler is one of the top 20 players, top 20 player on the NBA, not a top 10, but a top 20.

Somewhere in that 14, 16, 18, good player. It's got an injury issue. Nobody wants to talk about it's real. And anybody that's leaving a good company in Minnesota right now has got Carl Anthony Towns, good coach, Andrew Wiggins, decent bench. He wants out. I have questions. And I like Jimmy.

I know Jimmy I've had him on. He's a very good NBA player, top 20, not top 10. But here's what I've found through the years. And this is something I've seen in the media a lot. I'm always suspicious of anybody in the media that wants to be the man. The great people want to be part of several great men. And this happens in the NBA. Jimmy Butler wants to go to the Clippers or the Knicks or the Nets because he wants to be the man.

The smart guys in this league like D. Wade recruited players better than them, Shaq and LeBron. Because D. Wade understood he doesn't need to be the man. D. Wade wants to be one of several great men because they win titles. Steph Curry recruited a player Kevin Durant who's better than him. Because Steph Curry doesn't have this insecurity, this need to be the man. Steph Curry wants to be one of several great men. They win championships.

LeBron James, though he is the best player, so it's impossible for LeBron to recruit somebody better than him. You don't think he's recruiting Kevin Durant right now in Golden State? Let me give you some sourcing. He is. LeBron's trying to get Durant from the Warriors to the Lakers. That's who he's going after. He went to D. Wade, Chris Bosch, Kyrie Irving joined him.

Kevin Love. Could have gone for the rookie Andrew Wiggins. He wanted a veteran all-star, Kevin Love. The NBA has got two types of players. Guy who wants to be the man. guy that wants to be the man, if Jimmy Butler's the best player on your team, you're not going to be playing late May and June. And in the NBA, nobody watches the regular season.

I've seen the ratings. The Pro Bowl in the NFL gets three times the ratings of the NBA regular season. And nobody watches the first and second round of the playoffs. The ratings double and triple in late May and June. And the man, guys that have to be the man and don't want to play with other great men, aren't on TV then. By the way, Chris Paul joined a team with a player better than him. And by the way, then actively recruited another player, Carmela,

who offensively is more skill than him. This league is so easy to figure out. These guys, Russell Westbrook, everybody now suddenly loves Russell Westbrook because he recruited Paul George. Isn't it interesting that Russell Westbrook recruited Paul George much more aggressively than Kevin Duran. Kevin Durant's better than Russell Westbrook. Westbrook's insecure.

He didn't want to be the second best player. He wants to be the man in OKC. But he goes out and recruits hard Paul George, who's not as good as Russell Westbrook. So he can remain the man. With Kevin Durant's 50-50 split and frankly, all-time Kevin Durant's a better player. This is what the league is.

So the guys that I've always liked in the NBA, who has been a bigger fan than LeBron? on, nobody. Who's been a bigger fan than Chris Paul? Dwayne Wade. The guys I always align with Steph Curry are guys that are secure enough in themselves that they don't have to be the man. They're part of several great men. I mean, Steph Curry's like, I'm going to, I am right now unanimous MVP, top of the basketball world. I'm going to go get Kevin Durant, who's better than me. One of the three guys, two guys in the world are absolutely better than Steph Curry. LeBroad and Kevin Durant. And Steph Curry is like,

Hey, Kevin, you want to come on the team? I'll shoot less. You'll be the finals MVP. You'll be the go-to guy in big games. So whenever I see people that have this desperate need, you know, you see this all the time, somebody's got a big shield. I'm the man. I'm authoritative.

I'm the man. They're just hiding insecurity. The people that are comfortable working with other great talented people, join the party, join the team, join the group. They're very secure people. They want others to succeed because they know who cares if you're the man in Brooklyn? You're going to leave Andrew Wiggins

and Carl Anthony Towns for DeAngelo Russell? Really? What sign is that? That team's going nowhere. You think you're going to beat Boston for the rest of your career? Toronto for the rest of your career? Philadelphia for the rest of your career? Milwaukee?

I mean, at best you're the fifth best team. At best, I don't even think you're as good as Washington. cracks me up. And I like Jimmy, but this is classic, you know, everybody celebrates Russell Westbrook for recruiting Paul George. Why didn't you recruit Kevin Durant to stay? He's a way better player than Paul George, because Kevin Durant is better than you. And you don't like that. By the way, Derek Rose, another guy who has been quoted saying, it's not my job to recruit, insecure. Not your job to recruit? Are you watching the current NBA? The best player in the world, Durant or LeBron James are both recruiting people.

They're both looking around at the best stops. I mean, Kevin Durant could have gone anywhere. Kevin Durant could have gone anywhere in this league. Anywhere. He went to the team. What's Kevin Durant do better than anything else? Shoot. He's not the best defender, best rebounder, not the toughest guy.

What is Kevin Durant do better than anything else he shoots? He is a great shooter. Kevin Durant was secure enough in himself to go, you know what? I'm going to go to the team that maybe as the only two people on earth who shoot better than me, Stefan Clay. That is security. That is being comfortable and secure with yourself. I got to tell you something. This idea that Clippers are just like, oh, we've got to have Jimmy Butler.

Look at his injury history. And if you're willing to leave Minnesota, that coach and those two players and that roster for Brooklyn, Wow. That's not attracted. That's good for Brooklyn. Yeah, I guess. That's a bad roster. That roster doesn't have it. That team doesn't have a history of attracting great other teammates. Bad move Jimmy Ball. I think literally, I like Jimmy Butler. I think less of him today. Leave in Minnesota for. Now, Clippers have some interesting pieces. And I get the LA thing. But Brooklyn?

Wow. Wow. Wow. Do not get it. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day. Seven days. a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. John Gruden yesterday stepped in it again. He was asked a question about Kaleel Mack, about pass rushing.

And here's John Gruden, once again kind of stepping at it, and as the media is just staying on this story, stand on this story, stand on this story, stand on this story about Kaleel Mack trading him for a couple of picks. Here's the media and Gruden yesterday. It's hard to find a great one. It's hard to find a good one. It's hard to find

one. You just said it. and you know college football now they're not really dropping back to pass and throwing footballs anymore they're throwing laterals and they're throwing bubble screens and they're running read options so you've got to train these guys it takes a little bit of time to learn how to rush the pastor and we've got some guys that are in that process right now and that was a disaster quote for gruden because everybody went on the internet and said dude you're telling how hard it is to find one you had the best guy in the league with Von Miller and you let him go. And so he got crushed yesterday.

Here's the danger that Gruden did in trading a superstar. By the way, the NFL draft is an inexact science. The best people in the league, Bill Belichick, have whiffed multiple times. Pete Carroll's great at it. He's had like one legit player in the last several drafts. I mean, big time guy. It's hard. Drafting's hard.

You know the best rookie I've seen this year? He's a linebacker that went in the second round of the Indianapolis Colts. Darius Leonard is the best rookie. rookie I've seen. He played football at South Carolina State, wherever that's at, somewhere in South Carolina. He had like 19 tackles this week. He's as good a rookie as I've seen. He's unbelievable. He played in a college you never saw on television. He had 19, who has 19 tackles in a football game? That's like eight-man football. And he's dominant. And he went in the second round, and you never saw him play. Some of this stuff, you didn't watch Kalee Mack play in college.

Here's the thing. Trading a superstar is dicey because the media will pay attention to superstars. The media is mostly lazy. I mean, in this business, 30 years. Most guys are lazy. They don't pay attention. Just the big headlines. Bill Belichick had a really bad trade a couple years ago and nobody's paid attention to it.

He let go of Chandler Jones. Chandler Jones goes to Arizona, but because most people don't watch the Arizona Cardinals play, he led the NFL in Sacks. What could New England use right now? A pass rusher? They've got almost everything else. O-line, running backs, Tom Brady, Gronk, nice corners, decent safety,

linebackers move, defensive interior linemen. They've upgraded. They could use a pass rusher. They had Chandler Jones. They let him go. By the way, they got Jonathan Cooper a guard for that, and they cut him almost immediately. They got a second round pick.

They traded down to a third round pick. Took Malcolm Mitchell. They just waived him. They didn't get much for that trade, did they? But the media doesn't pay attention because Chandler Jones wasn't a superstar. That was a bad deal. The one thing New England needs, maybe Nick Foles doesn't throw for 8,000 yards, is a pass rusher.

They could have used one against Blake Bortles, a pass rusher. They let one go. Got nothing in return. Not much anyway. But when you trade Khalil Mack, the media is going to pay attention to that. He's going to be on TV twice a year playing Aaron Rogers. He's an amazing talent, obviously. He's going to put up big numbers.

The media is going to pay attention. NFL sack leaders right now, Chicago Bears. It's a proud big market. Chicago, Fox's going to put them on a ton of times. If Chicago's good, they get on TV a lot. So when you trade a superstar, the often apathetic media pays attention, and he's going to be asked this question a lot. And yesterday, Gruden stepped in it once again.

And with that, our NFL meat sandwich over three decades working in NFL films. He is joining us now, Greg CoSell. I want to start with this. The knee injury to Aaron Rogers. Now, the numbers were still very good against the Vikings defense. Did you think the knee injury, when you looked at film, Greg, had any impact on Aaron's play? Well, the offense, in terms of what they did in the past game, there was a lot of quick game throws. The ball came out quickly.

Obviously, he didn't move very much, but they built that into the game plan. So the ball would come out. He wouldn't sit in the pocket because what makes Rogers, what he normally is, is as late in the down. ability, his ability to move within the pocket and out of the pocket. So they had to limit that by design because he couldn't do that. And the few times he tried to do it once or twice it worked, a couple of other times he got sacked. But that's what they did with their game plan because they had to make sure they accounted

for the fact that he couldn't move very well. Good stuff. Okay. So Tom Brady, Jacksonville's got very good personnel. Tom had a lot of trouble in the first three quarters. What do the Jags do that other people don't? See, I think because when all said and done, when I watched that tape, I thought Brady played well. And the stats actually bore that out.

Do you know that Brady had, again, this is a stat, but I'm just using this as an example, because I actually thought he played pretty well, given the defense he was playing against. He had the highest quarterback rating against the Jags. If you go back to all of last season, it would have been the highest quarterback rating against the Jaguars. Wow. So I think, to be honest with you, people are reacting to the score of the game. and the fact that obviously the Patriots lost, and they lost big mostly because of their defense. But I don't think that Tom Brady and the passing game were the reason for it.

By the way, Josh Gordon is a remarkably talented guy. When you looked at New England footage and film over the years, does his ability fit their style? Could it work? George Gordon fits any offense theoretically. What normally happens with receivers who come in like that, Colin, is they're given two or three routes. They're not given a whole route tree. They're not given the whole offense. It's not necessary.

It reminds me of Don Corrielle years ago when he was in coaching at San Diego State, and he could bring in transfers. And this was back when they could play three days after you brought them in, and he'd give them three routes so they could line up on Saturday in college football. That's what they'll do with Josh Gordon. Okay. Let's segue to Carson Wentz returns from an injury, and he faces Andrew Luck. These are two of my absolute favorite young quarterbacks. You know, going forward, if I said project going forward, how do you think it's going to work? Is there one you prefer more than the other?

Is for which quarterback? Yeah. Oh, I would say skill set-wise, they're relatively similar. Yeah. What I think that Wince brings to the Eagles now, which Nick Foles does not, is I think you'll see the Eagles, even with a limited wide receiver core, I think Wentz it's in his DNA to be aggressive and push the ball. down the field. That's what the Eagles were lacking. Plus, Wentz is so good at a young age before the snap of the ball. He is. Yeah. He's so good pre-snap. And then, of course, you always have to validate post-snap because the defense changes and moves. But he's so advanced in that regard.

He had a number of big plays last year where he saw something pre-snap, made a change, and then post-snap had to make a change as well. That's really difficult to do, particularly when he was in his second season. Luck is another guy who's a big ball. In an odd way, I think the fact that Wince is an aggressive thrower with that kind of mindset, I think he's less risky a thrower than Andrew Luck. Andrew Luck still has some interceptions that I can't say what Carson Wenswell do this Sunday, but I don't think he plays like that.

Yeah. Yeah, I thought Andrew had one bad pick against the Redskins. I'm not anti-pick, but I thought he had a bad one. It's to DJ Sweringer. I know exactly the play. you're talking about. Yeah. So Ryan Fitzpatrick is he's had these streaks. And right now he's on one of these two gamers.

How much is real? How much is scheme? How much is personnel? Like when you watch this tape, and if you didn't know Ryan Fitzpatrick, you just watched their game, does he get the credit, the personnel, the schemes? What's happening in Tampa? Well, I think it's all of that. Don't forget, you can make the argument that their skill position players, particularly the receiving core, including tight end. is top three in the league. They've got O.J. Howard, Cameron, Bray to tight end. They've got Godwin, Jackson, Evans, at wide receiver. This is high-level talent now. Yeah. And Mike Evans ate up Marshawn Lattimore, week one. I don't think most

people probably thought that would happen. So then when he's dialed concepts and they're getting zone coverage. So everything is working perfectly. It's a perfect positive storm. And what Fitzpatrick is doing, which he's always been erratic with in his career, is right now he's throwing the ball with excellent accuracy. He's had stretches in his career where his accuracy has been way, way off. But that's not the case right now. I like that you're acknowledging, and the film is acknowledging that Tampa's got real good players.

It's almost like the Brown's defense. When you're bad for several years, you get good draft picks. And Cleveland's defense and Tampa's offense, there's dudes here. Absolutely. And the Eagles game was a really intriguing game because the Eagles chose to play a certain way defensively, and the Bucks just kind of ate them up. It would actually with short passes because the Eagles played with their corners with a big cushion, and there were so many quick game throws that negated the Eagles pass rush.

Pete Carroll said this week, this kind of landed wrong for me that Russell Wilson is, he's overtrying. What does that mean, by the way? I mean, I never watched that game Monday and said, you know, the problem with Seattle is Russell's overtrying. He seemed like he was running for his life. What did the tape say? This is my feeling watching their tape through the first two games.

To running the football, in my view, you have to decide who your back is. I don't think you can commit to a running game and have running back by committee. So whether it's Chris Carson who I prefer or Rashad Penny, who I think the organization prefers, either one, it's okay. But you have to commit to running the ball with one back. The other guy can spell a running game with two backs getting 10 carries. You've got to pick a back. Secondly, I think that Russell Wilson, first two games of the season, and it's easy to rip the offensive line.

But there's too many plays in which Wilson is breaking down too early and prematurely in the pocket, and that disrupts the timing of the past game. Now, if he makes an unbelievable play, we all get excited. But when they don't get made, the past game has no rhythm and timing to it. By the way, Khalil Mack has obviously had an impact on the Bears. What's the tape say? How big of an impact? Well, the impact is now you have two-edge pass rushers, and now offenses, think of it this way.

There's five eligible receivers on every play, correct, for the offense? If you have to keep one or two of them to block, whether you do that where they stay there, or even if they're just going to chip and then release late, losing the numbers game as an offense, right, just sending out three receivers immediately into routes. extension limits the number of eligible receivers that can go out into routes, and therefore that limits the passing game concepts. I want to talk about a guy who right now, if you voted MVP, would win Patrick Mahomes. Listen, he's been on fire.

Before we get to the play, just watching as a consumer, he's got tremendous arm talent. Now, that's no question. So did Jeff George. But there are guys in this league. Cam Newton's got great armed talent. There are guys in this league, though, that popped. Jay Cutler. You just watch it and you're like, wow, Aaron Rogers. Sure. So that part, that part's obvious. We know that part.

Okay. So what else do you see? Well, I think for the most part, he's been very poised and composed. I do have to give this caveat. And again, it takes nothing away from a homes. It just inflates his numbers. He's obviously played well through two weeks. But the numbers were inflated this week because I have to tell you what the film showed. Pittsburgh made more mistakes on defense than I think I've seen one team make in a given game. And it was just, it was tough to watch. I mean, Mike Tom won't address it, they'll take care of some of that, but that just inflated Mahomes' numbers. But he's obviously a great thrower of the football. And keep in mind, Andy Reid has always been very good at designing

past game concept. And that's what he does exceptionally well. And, you know, I think when those work, then the quarterback always looks really good. But Mahomes obviously has special arm talent. So let's go finally to, you call it your one big play, let's talk about it, we'll roll it when you decide to roll it and then give our TV audience this play. This was pretty basic stuff. I mean, it was executed beautifully. Let's run the plane now and let's start it. And what this was, this was the touchdown that put them ahead, and it was a seam ball to Kelsey.

And basic stuff, there's Mahomes in the gun. They're an empty. And by the way, they weren't empty a lot and were very effective. Yes, yes. So what do you see? You see safeties that are split. safeties. So what does that mean? The middle of the field is open. Now they want Travis Kelsey on the seam because he has to run vertically as well because he has to control the safety on that

side to prevent him from working into the middle. You can see the middle of the field is wide open. It's the middle's open, split safeties. So that safety needs to be controlled. What Pat Mahomes throw to Kelsey has to beat the safety on the other side because if he waits too long, the safety on the other side becomes a factor in the throw. So he has to throw this ball with anticipation, and obviously we know he has tremendous velocity. But there's a pretty routine play, middle of the field open, you hit the scene, single high safety.

So this is pretty basic stuff and just executed really well. By the way, Kelsey is such an advantage to have a tight end who can run that seam, go right through it with speed. He's a tough mat. Linebackers, I can see, have trouble with Kelsey. He's fast. He's big. He also runs what we call the flood concept, or a three-level stretch, which is three

routes to one side of the field, short, intermediate vertical, and he's very good breaking down zone defenses with that. Good stuff. Greg Kosel, 30-plus years, NFL films. Thanks, Greg. Thanks, Colin. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app.

Something that's frustrating, probably to you and me, when somebody doesn't. doesn't get the big picture. They get caught up in the details and the minutia in the moment. They live in the moment and they don't see the big picture and they're fighting over something. Somebody's fighting over a little thing that doesn't really matter in the big picture. And they don't get the holistic approach to life. Green Bay Packer fans, smallest NFL community, it's almost a college town, are living in a tunnel right now. So they're all freaking out about this call against Clay Matthews, a call that will benefit them going forward. So here's what we know.

The two best pass rushes in the NFL right now are arguably the Bears and the Vikings. And they're in your division. And the next four years, you're going to face them eight times. Seven more actually because you've already faced him once. And Aaron already got hurt once. Let me give you some facts, Packer fans. Fact. Aaron Rogers has a partial tear.

Fact. He's not a really big guy. Fact. he's had several injuries in his career. Fact. We saw you without him last year. You're the Cleveland Browns. Those are four facts you can't dispute.

You're getting all worked up because the NFL has now instituted a rule that should have been around 25 years ago, which is 300 pound defensive guys shouldn't be able to grab a quarterback and drive their body into the ground to hurt him. That rule should have been 30 years ago. the idea that you're getting all worked up this rule you're going to benefit from this rule far more Tribisky's young has never really been hurt Kirk Cousins doesn't have an injury history your guy does meaning when you get into your mid-30s and by the way Kirk Cousins is in his 20s and Trubisky's in his early 20s and your body rebound from injuries

Green Bay you have the older quarterback closing in on 34th 35. You have the quarterback with injuries. And when your body gets hurt over and over and over, it is more susceptible to injuries. You have the quarterback, Aaron Rogers, and the franchise that won't spend money on free agents on the offensive line, keep them to protect him. I mean, the Bears went out and spent money on Kalil Mack. The Vikings went out and spent a fortune on players. They just gave one of their wide receivers a fortune. Green Bay doesn't like to keep offensive linemen who are elite. They don't want to pay for them. They've let several good ones go. this rule is to benefit you.

So what did it cost you that Clay Matthews penalty? Half a game. Really? As I said earlier, you see law enforcement do this all the time. Before a holiday weekend when people drink more and they're on the road, they set up DUI checkpoints. And the reason law enforcement does that to get in everybody's head, think twice about that third glass of wine,

think twice about that fourth or fifth beer. That's what law enforcement does. They put up checkpoints. They want to get in your head. What the NFL's doing with Clay Matthews is, week two, week three, week four, we're calling this stuff. We're going to overcall, arguably overcall this stuff to protect Aaron Rogers in week eight,

and Brady in week nine, and Big Ben in week 10, and Matt Ryan in week 11, and Russell Wilson and Cam. It's remarkable to me that the rule was created to protect guys like Aaron Rogers, little smaller than average, history of getting hurt, getting into their mid-30s,

move around a lot and get hit. And you're whining about it? You should be cheering the NFL. It cost you half a game. Last year, a hit on Aaron Rogers cost you. How many games you missed seven? Now, that's a season in the NFL. You can't overcome that.

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

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And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in 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 Odenk

to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam. It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. 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 crying. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow.

Then after that Game 7, Marquis keep coming to him. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.