The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 09/20/2019

Episode Date: September 20, 2019

Colin doesn't understand what else doubters need to see from Dak Prescott in order to think he's for real. He wonders if Baker Mayfield might have a low ceiling because of how good his coaching was in college with Lincoln Riley. Plus, Fox NFL Insider Peter Schrager talks about Kellen Moore being the next young offensive genius in the NFL. 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,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. 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, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. 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 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.

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 SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app

by searching herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Friday. Live in Los Angeles, this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, one hour from now. Red Hot, baby, blazing five off of four in one week. It's a crazy line.

Vegas lines this week. I'm going big dogs. Like last week I went heavy favorites, and I never do that. This week I'm going on a lot of underdogs with just one or two little tiny exceptions. So Joy Taylor is joining me. Here we go on a Friday, Joy. This week has flown by. It has a lot going on in the big weekend.

Yeah, before I talk about that dreadful football game last night, I'm going to start with this. There's two quarterbacks in the NFL, and I think they're both going to win this week. Jared Gough of the Rams and Dak Prescott. And I think it's funny. I'm reading some stories about, you know, Dak Prescott this morning. And Amari is like, we work together. It's like certain foods work together.

You know, like ketchup on a hamburger. We work together. And I thought, yes, they do obviously work very well together. And that was the moment for me when I bought into Dak completely. When they brought in Amari Cooper and I'm like, okay, he's finally got a grown-up a wide receiver. He's finally got a young receiver in his prime. this is not Zeke's team, this is Dax team and Amari's team.

But it's funny, there's this idea that Dac has just had it perfect. You mean, come on, the offensive line. Injuries on the O line all last year. Zeke is amazing and is missed games due to suspensions. Their wide receiving core was kind of atrocious his first year. Cole Beasley overrated and Des Bryant sort of a needy high maintenance, couldn't catch the ball at times or separate wide receiver and Jason Whitten was old.

We also have an owner who holds weekly press conferences. You do realize this is not the easiest team to quarterback. It's the most popular team. Every game's a primetime game. The owner talks more than every other owner. You're running backs a star, but has had some judicial issues. And oh, by the way, Dak wasn't even getting elite coaching. It appears in his first three years.

What more do you need to see with him? Okay? He's clearly got a better OC now, so he didn't have an elite OC. Oline was beat up. Zeke's stuff. Des the headcase. Whitten was old. And Jerry never stops talking.

We're making it sound like he got Andy Reid, Tyree Kill, Great O'line. No, he had all sorts of issues. He didn't have Brady's, I would say, reliability, coach, coordinator, line, weapons, defense. He didn't have any of that. He didn't have Sean McVeigh. Here's my thing.

How much more do you need to see with DAC? I've got 53 games. He's won 35 of them. He's won a division. He's won a playoff game. He's beating the Steelers, the Packers, the Eagles, and he's unbelievable at the podium. You guys keep defending Cam Newton.

I got 132 games. He's won 54 of them. I don't like him at the podium. He's now older and beat up. He can be moody. He's roller coaster cam and you keep defending him. I don't think it's that hard. Trust your eyes.

You're usually right on this stuff. I needed to watch three games of Mitch Tribisky. I didn't care that he was winning. I'm out. I needed to watch two games of Carson, Brent, Andrew Luck, and Patrick Mahomes. I was in. I don't think this stuff is terribly difficult.

I think basically with Jared Goff, I bought into him when he went up against Patrick Mahomes, Monday night football, a game that was rescheduled late. Remember that? Because of the field in Mexico. And they brought him out here, and he outplayed Patrick Mahomes. I was like, all right, I'm in. Where do I sign the check? And once Dak, remember that game with Jared Goff?

Like he literally was unbelievable. Throw for throw. He was Mahomes without the turnovers. It was over. I made my decision that day. If you can go home, toe to toe in a game that gets moved late against Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid,

and it's a firework show, and you win, I'm in, give me the check. And when Dak Prescott finally got a non-needy wide receiver named Amari Cooper, a hardworking grown-up in its prime, and went seven and one at the end of last year, like with offensive line issues, I was like, all right, I'm in. Now you give me another layer with Kellynne Moore who appears to really get him. I mean, what does DAC have to do?

Does he have to lose his entire offensive line, Zeke and Amari and Jason Whitten, to meninitis? What do they call it? What does it call it? Menangitis. They get meningitis. He has to go on the road and win in Foxborough. And then you're like, well, that was pretty impressive.

He had all backups and they beat New England in Foxborough. and it's a blizzard. Does that what you're looking for? Because I don't know what more you have to see with these guys. I think it's really easy. And it's not just winning. Tribeschi won. Never bought in.

Tebow one. Never bought in. Vince Young won. Never bought in. We've got everything we need to see on golf. We've got everything we need to see on DAC. We know golf isn't a great athlete. And we know DAC isn't a beautiful artistic thrower.

All right. Tom Brady's not a great athlete. athlete. I'm good. Dach Gough, I don't need to see anything more. All right. So I'm watching last night as much as I could. It was awful. Of course it was. It was the Jags Titans. And, you know, Tennessee's now officially done with Marcus Mariotta, why it took those so long I'll never understand. But think about this. So last year, Baltimore moved off Joe Flacco. Why? They were honest with themselves. And they're happy now. The dolphins and the Jags moved off. Hannah Hill and Bortles.

The Giants just moved off Eli and Tennessee will now move off Marcus Marietta. Like corporate America, keep up or get benched. Okay. Look around the league right now. I mean, Kyler Murray's been in the league for two weeks. He's thrown for 350 yards and 308. Okay. I'm not all in yet, but I can see the door.

about to knock on and open. Stop trying to talk yourself into crappy quarterbacks. There's 16 of them I'm buying into. You can have the rest. I'm buying into Brady and Mahomes and Darnold and Josh Allen and Russell Wilson and Carson Wendt, Ryan, and Breeze briefly. And Deshawn, Watson, Phillip Rivers, Jared Goff, Jimmy Garoppolo, Derek Carr, Dak, Lamar, Jackson, Aaron Rogers.

give me three more weeks for Kyler Murray, maybe four. That's half the league I'm in. Big Ben, old and hurt, out. Baker, Tukaki, out. Tribisky, pass. Cam, I'm over it. Dalton, Matt Stafford, sorry, combine, no playoff wins. Half the league I'm in. Half the league I'm out.

All these Big 12 spread offense quarterbacks from all over the country, they're all working. All of them. I mean, we've got young, schematic, idealistic. progressive offensive coaches. Kellan Moore. You're giving them to young guys and they're all working. Not like 50%, not

60, not 80. All of them not named Paxton Lynch. Even the guys I don't like, Trubisky, are winning. So, you know, Tennessee has been trying to convince themselves. I'm watching this game last night and I'm laughing. And I knew Clay Travis was going to have a meltdown because it's his favorite

team and I watched them on Twitter last night. I'm laughing. I'm thinking, Clay, 13 games last year. He had 11 touchdown. Cuyler Murray's got 650 yards in two weeks for the worst offensive line in the league. Why are people trying to convince themselves? Average is good. Instead of being as a fan defensive about it, fans always get defensive. My guys get offensive.

Just go draft another guy. Next year's draft has minimum four quarterbacks that the Greg Co-sells and the, you know, the Mel Kuiper types, are already like, these are first round quarterbacks. And by the way, every single team that's moved off a guy, Baltimore did. They're happy. Arizona did. They're happy.

Kansas City moved off Alex Smith who was getting to the playoffs. They're happy. New York Giants, Daniel Jones, by Sunday afternoon, they'll be happy. These are not, stop being defensive. Like what you, people that, listen, if you look into the mirror and you think I put on 20 pounds, don't deliberate on them. that. Sign up for a gym membership. Okay. Stop trying

to convince yourself. Average is good enough. Patrick Mahomes doesn't take long. Your eyes are telling you the truth. All the teams that moved off there, guys this morning are happy. Baltimore is head over heels happy.

And the New York Giants will be by late in Tampa Sunday afternoon. Good stuff, by the way, the Kansas City Baltimore game, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson is one of my blazing five picks. It's going to be a wildly entertaining game. And I will say this

about all these quarterbacks. I like the, you know, I grew up with pocket quarterbacks. And then I was very, I questioned running quarterbacks. I can't wait to watch Daniel Jones. I can't wait to watch Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. Maybe it was Russell Wilson who sort of opened everybody's eyes. Maybe it was Michael Vick the first

time. Maybe it was Steve Young. Maybe it was Fran Tarkington, but running quarterbacks work. They generally don't last, but it's making the games wildly entertaining. I mean, you say what you want about Kyler Murray. He's got 650 yards with a battle line and a Big 12 football coach in two weeks. Stuff's working fast. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer-beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the 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, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. a good person. Join me, Keir Games, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying 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 out of

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 exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reed. 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 will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. Like, after 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. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lulman,

create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30, you shouldn't have to share room with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them?

Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. Realistic, I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You know, it's interesting about child actors.

Welcome back. Most do not become stars. Denzel Tom Hanks was not a child actor that I recall. Denzel, why am I, I'm just Spacey today. Washington. Denzel Washington was not a child actor that I recall.

Either was John Malkovich or Jeremy Irons. I don't think Samuel L. Jackson started acting. Oh, it's like he was 35, right? But child actors are adorable at eight, super cute at 12, kind of obnoxious by 19, and then you find out at 22, they can't act. There are people that were. exposed to that they're really good early, but like they don't have a second gear.

Child actors. He's just adorable. And then when the adorable rubs off, he can't act. There's a lot of that in Hollywood. Adorable early can't act later. The same thing, there's numbers out, and I'm not picking on Baker, believe it or not, but the numbers are really stark. So Baker Mayfield is 14th in the AFC this morning in passer rating. His completion percentage is near the bottom, 25th in the NFL,

four interceptions, tied for the second most. His passerating is 19th. He's fallen off a cliff. Now, in fairness to Baker, I don't know if he's got the right head coach. I don't think his offensive line's very good. And people have tape on him. I mean, that happens all the time. But people have tape on Lamar Jackson. He's getting

way better. People have all sorts of on DAC, DAC's getting better. People have all sorts of tape on Patrick Mahon and Wins and Deshawn-Watson, and they're getting better. Baker, to me, is 5-11-and-a-half, not that athletic. Let me just throw this at you. Is it possible, and we see this all the time in football? Nick Saban is known as one of the great secondary coaches in college football.

Probably the best defensive coach in college football history. He's a great secondary coach. His corners and safeties come to the NFL and not. Nick has squeezed every bit of talent out of them, and they're never as good as they were in college. Outside of Aaron Rogers, every quarterback that Jeff Tedford had in college was better in college and more dominating than in the NFL. When you get a great college coach, Nick Saban defensive backs, they squeeze every ounce of your game out of you.

When you get a great offensive quarterback coach, Jeff Tedford, Aaron Rogers, the exception, players never grow to the next level. Not everybody, not every actor has a second gear. In the last 10 years, four quarterbacks have won rookie of the year in the last decade. Sam Bradford, RG3, Cam Newton, and Dak. One of those I'm all in on. Some of them, the first of what you saw, was the best of what you saw. Tim Tebow, Vince Young, early. There was no second gear.

People got tape and figured them out. Dak, Carson Wentz, Russell Wilson had a second gear. They weren't just adorable child actors. They could actually act. Most child actors cannot. They're cute and that's it. And just think about this with Baker. He had the best, I don't think anybody denies this.

He has the best offensive coach in college football, maybe ever. So it's very possible he's not going to get better coaching in the NFL like Sabin or Jeff Tedford. He was the oldest rookie quarterback. He had the most starts 44. Is it possible that Baker Mayfield, what he was is now what he is? That there's not a massive room to grow. That's not saying that he doesn't have talent he does. That's not saying he doesn't throw an accurate football he does.

That's not saying he'll never win games or division. He may. But I've watched my whole life really elite coaches. When Pete Carroll was at USC, he squeezed a lot out of his defensive players. And they would go to the NFL and Clay Matthews, who was a late bloomer from the Matthews family, did hit. But a lot didn't. They were as good with Pete at USC defensively as they ever were. and Sabin's corners and safeties.

Most, that's as good as they ever are. And Tedford's college quarterbacks outside of Aaron Rogers. That's as dominant as they ever are. I don't think Jalen Hertz is as good as Lincoln Riley makes him look. I don't think Baker Mayfield is a wizard. I think he's 5.11 and a half, kind of brash. Easy to put your arms around if you're in Cleveland. He's got confidence that you haven't had in Moxie.

He's semi-athletic, but, I mean, look around the league. He's not Carson Wentz athletic. He's not Mahomes athletic. He's not, you know, you know, look around. Lamar athletic, not Russell. He's not. So I'm not saying he's not talented, but I'm saying, is it possible? I've seen it with Sabin's guys, Tedford guys, and Pete Carroll's guys in college,

that Baker's way closer to the ceiling than we think. Generally, I was told this years ago by an NFL general manager. He goes, I loved drafting Georgia players. I said, why? He said, because Mark Rick could recruit, but I never thought his staffs got the most out of the players. So you'd get a Georgia Bulldog player, and he was super talented. Mark Rick and his staff at the time could spot talent, but they weren't great at developing and getting the most out of the talent.

So this GM, who's very successful and has ring, said, I like drafting Georgia players. I always felt there were two or three more levels to get out of them. People don't feel that with Sabin. Like what you see is what you get because Nick's a great coach. 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. Peter Shragers, our Fox Sports NFL reporter, spent last week on the sidelines, Ravens, Arizona.

We'll get to that in a second now, joining us via the Coward. Global Satellite Network. Let's start with Dak. I do think it's funny that there's a lot of critics for DAC. And listen, initially, I saw him in college. I didn't love his throwing motion. But last year when he connected with Amari Cooper, went 7 and 1 down the stretch. You know, I just came to the realization.

You gave him a grown-up wide receiver in his prime. Amari's a good dude. And I'm like, okay, won seven of eight games he got better. That to me was the moment. For Jared Goff, it was the Mahomes game. And I'm like, all right, sign the checks. When you're talking to sources around the league, what do they say about Dak? Well, you know, the initial bias against DAC is the fact that he went in the fourth round.

So everyone wants to hold their judgment because that means 32 teams got it wrong three different times. And Connor Cook was taken right before him. I don't know where Connor Cook is playing right now. So people are always hesitant about saying, oh, DAC is amazing because it's them admitting that, oh, wait, we were wrong three different times and three different rounds. That said, there's still not this overwhelming love for DAC the player. There's always got the great offensive line. He's got this. and now it's Kellyn Moore.

Like, they have a new offensive coordinator. Scott Linnehan was running the same old offense, the last three seasons for DAC, and as great as Dak was, and he won a playoff game last year, Kellyn Moore has come in and has totally revitalized the excitement around this Cowboys' offense. You're seeing Jason Witten get involved. You're seeing Amari have great games,

but you're also seeing a new confidence in Dak Prescott. Kellyn Moore is a 31-year-old offensive coordinator in a league where everyone's looking to dawn the next great offensive mind. He might be the guy right under our nose, goes with the biggest spotlight team in the entire NFL, a former quarterback and a guy who, ironically, should have had that opportunity after Romo went down in the preseason a few years ago, but he also got injured, which led to Dak Prescott never giving up that throne as the quarterback. It's amazing.

Kellyn Moore, 31-year-old Boise State quarterback might be the key to the Dallas Cowboys making a run to the Super Bowl this season. So you did sidelines, and you picked this game months ago. You told our Fox executives, I want to be on the sideline. for Baltimore, Arizona. And I got to tell you, I've seen enough of Lamar. I'm in. It works.

And I like what Baltimore is doing with him. But Kyler now had over 300 yards with a bad old line. I'm not that many games away with Kyler saying, all right, I'm in. I said to start my show today, I'm in on about 15 to 16 of the quarterbacks. You can have the rest and talk yourself into them. What was your takeaway on Baltimore and Kyler last week? All right. Kyler, this team moved right up and down the field and they would get in the red zone.

It was like they couldn't punch it in. They settled for field goals. They had three different field goal attempts within the five-yard line last week, which was the first time since 1974. So that's a crazy stat. Kyler will get going. I like what Cliff's doing with those guys. Lamar, though, Colin.

I was a skeptic, and I don't mean a skeptic about the kid. I was a skeptic about this offense, how revolutionary it was going to be because all offseason, everyone in the Ravens building, was raving about Lamar Jackson's development and how it's going to be such an impressive performance, not from the running game. But from the passing game, and I said, all right, well, hold on, let's just see it. Guess what?

I'm a believer. It was awesome. And it's not just him on the field within the hash marks. This guy has a charisma at the age of 22 that I can't really quantify with stats or numbers. I can only tell you anecdotally that Marshall Yonda, this old veteran offensive lineman, is following Lamar Jackson's lead. Mark Ingram played with Drew Brees for all these years is following Lamar Jackson's lead. And we know how much that franchise love Flacco? I didn't hear Flacco's name once last week.

Everyone is all in on Lamar. And he might not necessarily have the sound bites of Baker Mayfield or the charisma of Gardner Minshu, who we saw last night. But Lamar Jackson has it. I can't quantify it. These guys love him. They play for him. And he is a raven, which means a lot in that city.

By the way, I was just talking about Baker Mayfield's numbers. And we've seen this. You have a lot of sources. We've seen this for years that Sabin's defensive backs. he squeezes everything out of them. They don't have a second gear in the NFL. Pete Carroll's defensive guys at USC, many topped out. Jeff Tedford quarterback's not name Aaron Rogers.

He squeezes all the talent out. Lincoln Riley's making you and I, I mean, it looks like we could play in the Big 12, and I look at Baker Mayfield's stats, and I'm saying to myself, you know, maybe he doesn't have a second gear. I mean, now, again, the offensive line's not great, but now Aaron Donald comes to town.

Are there real concerns? Is it possible that we just jump the gun too fast on the Baker fandom? Look, you and I are often looked at as the Baker haters because we say, well, slow down here. They haven't really won anything yet. They won seven games. They also lost eight games and missed the playoffs last year. And this year, it's a slow build. It was almost like people were tweeting at me, Colin, where they're saying, look, you love Kyler Murray.

You love Kyler Murray. But look at Baker. They just blew out the jets. And I'm like, well, slow down. They got the Rams next week. Let's see. The truth of the matter is this. That offensive line in Cleveland is not good. And Aaron Donald is good. And so is Dante Fowler. So it was a bunch of different guys. So I think Sunday night is another opportunity for us on a national stage to see how Baker Mayfield is. Look, it's all great when you beat the Jets and O'Dell has an 80-yard play. Let's see as the season gets on and the weather gets cold. I'm with you on this one. Let's pump the brakes on the Brown's offense being this high-fly machine. And let's maybe pump the brakes on Baker until we see him do it against Aaron Donald in his face. By the way, an interesting number. Our staff has this.

Baker Mayfield's career against Cincinnati, he's Joe Montana, 2-0, 7 touchdowns, no picks, and a pass-a-rating of 135. Against everybody else for our FS1 listeners, look at the numbers to the right. He almost has as many picks as touchdowns. He's 5 and 8 and a quarterback rating of 86. Again, all we're saying here is just slow down. Cincinnati had the fifth worst defense in league history last year. Now, you're in New York.

Let's talk Eli. I honestly feel, I like the Giants this weekend. I think that Daniel Jones, it's almost like Kyler to Arizona replacing Josh Rosen. There's an energy. I feel like, oh, this is going to be fine. I don't think the Giants are a Super Bowl team. How is it landing in New York with the new kid, the rookie, coming in for the legacy guy? Colin, you and I look at things from like 30,000 feet.

And it's not just week to week. It's NFL. The Giants were stale. And it's not just this year. It was last year. It was the year before. And here we are, week three, Giants at Tampa Bay, four o'clock window. Who was, I don't know who was signing up to watch that game.

They announced Daniel Jones is the starter. And suddenly I look at that four o'clock window. I say, well, Breeze isn't playing for the Saints. And I don't know about this game. I don't know. I don't know about Mason Rudolph. I don't know if I want to watch. It's the game in the four o'clock window.

It is the game. I want to see what Daniel Jones brings. I want to see how the Giants come out of the gates. And I think there's some sizzle to the New York Giants. and they ripped the Band-Aid off, and no one is now being blindsided by it. They drafted the guy in April. You knew this was eventually going to happen. Last week, I had a lot of friends who were at Giant Stadium or MetLife, whatever it's called right now,

and they said, there were a lot of Bill's fans in the building, and it kind of felt like this is the end of the era. So they ripped the Band-Aid off, and there's at least another restart and some recharge to the Giants. They were on the back page all this week in New York in the tabloids. I can't tell you the last time they actually mattered in a football conversation in New York, let alone big picture NFL. Four o'clock window, that's your game. Daniel Jones, I can't wait to see it.

Finally, Tennessee, they're moving off Marcus Mariotta. I think they should have moved off two years ago, but last night was, you know, nail coffin, right? Like, they're done with Marioita. Yeah, look, this is the fifth year of his contract. They had the opportunity to give him the big contract extension. They didn't. They said, let's play this thing out.

I'm not announcing their starter from here on out. They didn't replace him last night. but that was as, again, sizzle. That was as boring. What are you getting here? That was as boring a game last night as you could ever imagine from a quarterback in a big spot, a national TV. And it's like, here we go again. Fifth year, the Mario de facto experience.

A big win, week one, a terrible loss week two, a terrible loss week three. And maybe it's not all Marcus Marioas fault. But the Tennessee Titans are not in a major market. They're in Nashville, Tennessee. They had a primetime game last night. And we come away with it talking about Gardner Minshu and Callias Campbell. We're not talking about the Titans. I mean, last night I give Buck, Aikman, Aaron, Christina Pink,

and the producer, Richie Zions, whoever else is on that crew, so much credit because that did not feel like a game that mattered, and yet you're watching it on NFL Network, and it's all of our top talent from Fox, and you're like, they're giving it they're all. Like, we're trying here. But if we don't hear about the Titans for a couple more weeks and maybe a couple more months, I wouldn't be shocked.

This is just one of those teams that until there's a big splash change, I can't get on board and say, yes, I'm convinced. This is the team I want to follow. This is a team I want to watch, and maybe it's the quarterback position that they've got to switch up. Peter Schrager, Fox Sports NFL Reporter. By the way, New York Times bestseller Out of the Blue. He's on the NFL Network. Good morning, football in the morning.

Good seeing you, buddy. I will see you Sunday. Fox NFL kickoff. Love doing that show with you. All right, Shrag, so do I. Love it. What's going on, everybody? John Middlecock, three-in-out podcast.

That's me. That's the show. I used to scout in the NFL. Now I talk for a living. Coming up on this show, Jalen Ramsey, Why the Jags should keep him. Marcus Marriota, future backup, Eli Manning, Hall of Famer, the Cowboys, they were right to slow play DAC, and you know we dive into every game coming up Sunday.

Three and Out podcast, go subscribe. There is an interesting story. Odell Beckham is upset because he had a visor the other night and he thinks the referees are singling him out. Here's Odell Beckham complaining about the NFL, the refs, he's a victim, they're out to get him, blah, blah, blah. Here it is. Just open your eyes a little bit, you know. It's just like I said, there's people across the league.

It's in the visors, black vizers, and it's, you know, it's me on Monday night in New York and all la, and pull them off the field. Okay, red sports cars statistically get more speeding tickets because they draw more attention. This is a very expressive player. Being in the end zone, proposing to a kicking net, refs are human, everybody's watching O'Dill. They watch him in warm up. He's the only player in the league that we go for the warm-ups. He's the most watched player, not a quarterback in the league. He really is.

You don't go and watch Khalil Mack in warm-ups. You don't go watch Julio Jones in warm-ups. So Odell Beckham is the red sports car of NFL players, and people are paying more attention. And they probably picked up on his visor and would not have, perhaps, if he wasn't that player. But he's also simultaneously building a brand in the middle of a season wearing a watch. So he's trying to get accumulate endorsement. deals while the season's going on in games. Look at my watch. People are watching his watch, and they're watching him. And, I mean, listen, football is like the military. You get fined as a

player if you lose the playbook. You get fined millions of dollars if you secretly taped somebody else's practice. In baseball, you can watch the other guy's batting practice. In the NBA, you can watch the other team shoot around. But in football, you can't watch my practice. I can't watch yours. It's covert, it's secret. And it is like the military. It's about having secrets. You don't know. The best offensive linemen hold, but hide it.

New England has figured out how to have pass interference on their secondary, on every play, and never get called. If you watch the Patriot's secondary, Stefan Gilmore is the master at it. The whole time down the field, slapping, poking, slapping, poking, never gets called for PI. It's the subtle. nature of football, the best coaches. They put in the groupings quietly, quickly, that create mismatches. The best offensive linemen hold, you don't see it. The best corners touch, poke, prods, Defon Gilmore, you don't call it. Well, there is no subtlety to OBJ's game. There's no subtlety to his hair. There's no subtlety to his Bentley, which is orange. There's no subtlety to his style,

his warmups. And so they're watching him more. I mean, he's a player. He's highly expressive. And so everybody's watching him, including the refs. So in a league where subtlety is rewarded, he's the NFL's red sports car. He's the least subtle player in the NFL. I don't think he's a victim. 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters, to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions

everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action, with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo 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, Kier 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 because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying 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. ever 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 exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys

like Nas Reed. 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 Nass would get that thing. that man,

hell get the flying, he running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, after 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. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast, cultivating her space,

Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health.

These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas.

They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You know, it's funny. Greg Jennings is joining us. Ten NFL seasons, a couple of Pro Bowl, Super Bowl. Like when quarterbacks go down, like Pittsburgh now has Mason Rudolph. And he was pretty good last week.

It was solid. And then Teddy Bridgewater, Greg Jennings, you guys turn his bike on there. It's not you. It's, uh, sorry, can you hear you? There you go. There we go. And, and Teddy Bridgewater. And, you know, I always think to my, I think about this all the time.

Well, he got all week. You guys don't have, you know, your job is football. You just sit around there all day. But there are times when you get a new quarterback in and you're like, wow, this is rough. Trevor Simeon for the Jets with Adam Gase, you're like, did they practice? So like with New Orleans, Teddy Bridgewater been in the league, one games for Minnesota, Sean Payton, he's been with him now a year, offensive line veteran, Alvin Kamarro's

been almost a better road running back than home. Like I think New Orleans should go into Seattle and not skip a ton of beats, right? Well, it's, yeah, to a degree. Your expectations are always next man up. And in this instance, when you look at Teddy Bridgewater and what you're, you look at Teddy Bridgewater and what he affords this team, there's not a huge drop-off in regard. And this is no disrespect to Drew Breeze.

He's not 40, though. We know who he is. As far as experience, Drew Breeze has seen it all. Teddy Bridgewater, he has experience. He has started in this league. So you're dealing with a guy who's played as a starter,

who now has a full week of preparation where the game plan is going, he's going to have a game plan that's tailored for him. himself. By the smartest offensive guy, arguably in the league, with a top running back, an elite receiver, and a top 10 line. Yes, the one thing I would caution viewers and Saints fans,

and really Teddy Bridgewater is to, when I played with him as a rookie in Minnesota, I remember having this conversation with him. I'm like, Teddy, you got to feel it, don't see it. And when I watched him last week take over against the Rams. A little conservative. He was, it wasn't so much. much that he was conservative, his reaction time and decision time was delayed. The receiver had to be wide open and then he threw the ball. You can't do that in year, what, five now for Teddy

Bridgewater? Like, your expectations are to get that ball out and be timely, timely. Fill it. When you know Michael Thomas is about to break, you got to throw that ball. You got to trust that he's going to make that play without being wide open. A lot of quarterbacks don't like to do that. They don't. That's what separates the great ones from the good ones. Dak Prescott, why do we still doubt him? He's won a division twice, 66% wins. The minute he got, I was a doubter a little bit. I mean, I thought he was competent. But when he got Amari and went 7 and 1 at the end of last year, I said, all right, boom, check, write the check. I'm okay with it. Why do you think we still doubt him?

We still doubt Dak, I don't doubt him any longer. Let me just say that. But I think there are doubters out there because when he entered this league, we still don't. saw that they had a phenomenal offensive line. So that was kind of a label right there. Oh, he doesn't have to do so much because his offensive line is great. True. Running back turned out to be phenomenal

that year, led the league and rushing. So none of the weight was really on Dak Prescott. He was being asked to just manage the game. Don't turn the ball over. Don't wreck the Mercedes. He did that. So he met that expectation and they went 13 and 3. Okay, but let me push

back. He had an incredibly high Maintin's demanding wide receiver and Das, Des Bryant. Yes. That was not perfect. He had a coordinator, clearly in Scott Linehan, who was super conservative. By year two, he had Zeke in trouble and suspended. Jerry holds a press conference after games and before them. They have had offensive line issues last year.

And a tight end, essentially when Witten left, they just didn't have one. It's not like it's been ideal for him. He's had bumps too. He has had bumps, but for me, when I, look at Dak Prescott in his career really in a full complete look, he's been what they've asked him to be. The one time that he didn't really step up was when Ezekiel Elliott was out in year two. When he missed those games and the expectation was now, okay, you got to lead us. You got to win games.

And it didn't look as good as we would have hoped. By the way, Zieg got hurt at the same time the offensive line got banged out. Exactly. So you had, again, when Kareem Hunt, was cut by the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes, when Todd Gurley left Jared Gough, all these young quarterbacks lose to start running back, none of them are as good.

Yeah, I mean, when you can start a young quarterback with a running game the way that Ezekiel Elliott has helped and afforded Dak Prescott, it's a positive. But then now you look at he's, uh, Dak Prescott now with Amari Cooper. I mean, he's been lights out. And this is dating back to when he acquired him before, Prior to acquiring Amari Cooper last year, weeks one through seven,

like he had one game where he threw 20 completions. After that, once he got Amari Cooper, he hasn't thrown a game without 20 completions yet. Yeah. He hasn't. That's because of the trust, because of what you provide him. Now, we can all say, and I've been one to say it, the guys around him has made him look better and made him look good.

Well, now Dak Prescott is of the mentality, and he's showing us and he has the confidence, no, it is me too. And so he's stepped his elevation, his game, and his elevation up, and the guys around him has afforded him that opportunity. So it's a win-win situation for Dak, but he's in that star. He's going to always be doubted because it's a run-first team and it's the Dallas Cowboys. So, there's, Dak, we're going to always label you with something. So just get ready for it.

By the way, the Baker Mayfield stuff, I am sometimes reluctant to be critical because I'm viewed as a hater. Are you? No, I don't care. I would invite him on the show. I don't care. I'm always willing to take. I've invited, Russell Westbrook wants to come and yell at me. I don't care.

They can't eat me. I don't care. It's like, I mean, I brought Richie Incognito on. I brought T.O. on. Everybody I'm critical of, come on the show. Baker was on also. Yes. Come on.

Come on. My knock on him, as I said, his personality traits are not my cup of tea. But big deal. I was never a Jay Cutler guy. I didn't like his personality. You know, Jim McMahon was never my cup of tea as a personality. By the way, Cam is too much into Cam. It's okay.

I'm not everybody. You know, Tebow, I didn't buy. A lot of guys I don't buy. It's no big deal. He's just a more popular one. By the way, I got a lot of hate mail on Tebow for many years because people thought I was like anti-faith based. And I'm like, no, I'm anti.

He can't throw the ball. on the out route. I don't care about your faith. But Baker, it's interesting, though. So you know this. So generally speaking, you get a better NFL coach than college coach. But there are exceptions.

Nick Saban is such a good defensive coach that a lot of Alabama defensive backs come into the league, and he squeezed every ounce out of him. The best football they ever played was with Nick. And they come to the NFL, D. Milner's step...

They're not the same player. Jeff Tedford has had like seven NFL quarterbacks. Take out Aaron Rogers. They've all were better... in college than in pro. Lincoln Riley right now is incredible. Is it possible that Lincoln Riley took Baker Mayfield to a place that was special

and that at 5-11 and a half and a two-time walk-on, he's not quite as special as we think. He's been, he had balls batted down last week. If you look at his career against everybody in this league not named Cincinnati, he's 5 and 8, 22 touchdowns, 18 picks and a quarterback rating in the mid-80s. is it possible that Sabin does that. Pete Carroll's defense at USC, Clay Matthews, was rare, was a great player immediately as a troach. Most would go to the NFL, and they were like,

Pete squeezed everything out of them. Like, I watched Baker last week, and I'm like, he didn't look special to me. Deshawn Watson looks special. He doesn't look special. Am I wrong? I don't agree totally with this. And here's why, because number one last year,

Baker Mayfield, he was playing. with house money. He walked into a situation where he pretty much knew this was going to be my job. Eventually, there was no pressure. There was absolutely no pressure. The standard of winning, there was none. They hadn't won. And so anything he did, he was setting the bar. And so you walk into this season after winning some last year, the standard of winning and the expectations have now risen. And it's because of Baker Mayfield. It's because of what he was able to showcase the wins and the losses. Not so much the stats and the numbers because he's a young quarterback.

He's going to have growing pains. But this year, typically in the history of the National Football League, year two is the sophomore slump. Okay, well, there's your sophomore slump. Rams at the Ravens, at the Niners, Seattle, at the Patriots. He's facing some defenses. And I think to the defender's credit, like they're doing something with Baker Mayfield.

And Booger did a great, Booger McFarland called the game last Monday night. He did a great job with showing this or saying or communicating this. The defenses, the defenders, they're disguising the coverage at the snap. Pre-snap, they're showing him one thing. And then once the ball is snap, they're going to a different coverage, which in return for a young quarterback, whether it's Baker, Mayfield, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold, whomever, how you deal with that is predicated on your success, meaning Baker Mayfield is struggling with that.

What he's seeing pre-snap, you're having a number one option right now. You know your progression right now. But when the defense now has disguised it and they go to something different, your number one, number two progression has now changed. And so you have to decisively make those decisions quicker. and that just didn't happen. He had one throw with on the run last week, and he just missed Odell Beckham,

and typically Baker makes that throw. Like he's an accurate quarterback, and I think a little bit is he's feeling the pressure of what he created. Like, this is what comes with expectations. Well, I told my wife this the other night, we were talking about this. I said, if I got a new job,

And I promised I was going to be great. And I said, I am going to be unbelievable. And I'm like, actually, I put pressure on me. I'd be like, oh, crap, I got to be great. You're much better to be self-deprecating in any environment as an entertainer or a performer because you don't put massive pressure on yourself. I never, you want to know, like the whole diva receiver, like I hated that term. And I was never that guy.

Do you want to know why? Why? Because of that. I never wanted to create more attention, draw more attention, put my game under a microscope any more than it already was. Like there was no need for that. To add pressure in a pressure-filled game, that makes no sense. Now, would I have thrived?

I don't know, but that just wasn't my cup of tea to add more on top of me. Like, I know I have to perform. I don't need to show up my quarterback or talk about all these targets that I'm not getting or make this big hissy fit. There's a psychology in life to promising less and delivering more. I got into a discussion with my daughter the other day, and she goes, I was so stressed out. She goes, I get sick when I'm stressed out. And I said, you know what eliminates in college stress is preparation.

If you study for the test for four days, by the time it's test day, there's no stress. I said, you can be a procrastinator at times, so you wake up and you're like, oh, my God. I'm stressed. I said, just prep better and you'll have less stress. It's the same thing with hype. It makes me nervous. If I would brag to everybody how great I was, I'd step in front of the mic every day and think, oh, my God. If I don't nail this.

Exactly. So, like, to me, Baker kind of said, I'm the man. It's like, don't do that. Do that Lamar Jackson literally hid in the offseason. Like, there's no pressure on Lamar. We were all like, I don't know if he's very good. He's playing so free. He's playing so light.

He's playing. You can tell there's a lightness to Lamar Jackson. There is. There is. And one thing that I love about Lamar Jackson that he did, and he said this in a tweet earlier this week. He said something about negativity. It's a fuel booster or it boost you.

And he understood everything that everyone was saying to be true. It didn't mean that he didn't know prior to anyone's saying. He needs to be more accurate. He needs to not take those hits. Well, what he did was say, you know what, these things are true, not because they say it, but because I see the film too. And I know them to be true. So this offseason, what did he go do? He worked on being more accurate.

He got put on bulk. Like, he understood if I'm going to make this work, I'm going to have to do things that I didn't do last season to progress to make these strides. And I don't have to tell everybody that I'm doing it. I just need to do it. The best, the beauty of playing this game is when you can play and you're free, but to your point, because you've prepared, because you have checked every box. And you haven't put pressure on yourself to perform. Exactly.

Go out, be humble. I mean, it's amazing how simple it is, but you start promising stuff and the games get heavy. They do. I remember, well, I go back to the Cleveland Browns with them acquiring Odell Beckham, with them having this amazing looking offense on paper, which we all were so excited for. And we're still excited to see it come to fruition. But that brings about a pressure.

I don't care who you are. You have that many weapons. You have that high of expectation. Everyone wants to perform and meet those expectations or exceed them. And the Cleveland Browns just have not done 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 SportsSlice 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 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 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 of 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers 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 part of you. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love.

This was just playoffs. This was just. just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.