The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 09/24/2019

Episode Date: September 24, 2019

Colin actually agrees with Baker Mayfield that he will not panic but he's worried his owner might and that's the problem with being bad at the top of an organization. He compares Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to Steph Curry and the Warriors. This week's Herd Hierarchy sees one team lose but stay in the top 4. Plus, NBC's Peter King talks about the Packers and what the Browns need to do to turn their season around. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a loaded Tuesday. This is the herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening, we are live in beautiful Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, one hour from now. I think it's my favorite herd hierarchy ever. There are a lot of good teams in this league.

And there are some sneaky good teams in this league. And coming up in one hour from now, the herd hierarchy, all fired up for that. Great show today. Reggie Bush is coming on the show. What a mess in college football in Michigan. Some saying Harbaugh. This is his last year. Oh, Lord.

Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you? I'm great. Are the bills going to sneak in the hurricane? They just, I tell you, Nick Wright was right. He said, watch out for the bills. And some interesting numbers. We dive into the data on are the bills?

bills for real and other teams. I want to start with this, though. I watch the Monday night football game. I mean, Chicago's better. Chicago got a big lead. Chicago held on, not a surprise. Trebisky looked good. Don't go crazy. But I'm watching Washington, and there's MTC, and it's a bad organization, and they're dysfunctional. They're because they've got a bad owner, Dan Snyder. I'm sure he's very good at many things. He's not good at owning an NFL team. He's really bad at it. Washington, since they moved into that building is, what, 2 and 17 Monday Night Football at home? I mean, they're just a mess. And so are the Raiders. And so historically are the Bengals. And so are the dolphins. And you know what they all have in common, of course. And that would be below average ownership.

Owners made their fortune out of football. This is often a toy for them. And you know what you do with toys. You know, you beat up toys. You don't take toys seriously. You put them in the garage and forget about toys. There's a lot of bad teams in this league. They all, all, all historically have bad. owners. Some have good quarterback, some have good lines, some have good players, some have pro bowlers. Bad owner, bad franchise. And so Baker Mayfield, it reminded me of Baker Mayfield. So yesterday, Cleveland loses, of course, on Sunday night. And I said, you know, don't, don't go crazy. And Baker Mayfield had the right attitude. I want you to listen to what Baker Mayfield said, because it's the right attitude to have. Don't hit the panic button. I think we realize how

close we are, but that's the frustrating part is we can't have continued mistakes. You know, the same thing over and over again. We have to do our job. Let me defend Baker Mayfield here. He's right. Don't panic. I don't worry about Baker Mayfield panicking. He won't.

The Brown's owner will because that's what he does for coaches seven years. When Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold came into the league, and I said specifically over and over with Baker, Baker's talented, but he's going to have to be so much more talented to succeed than Lamar Jackson. because he's going to have to overcome complete dysfunction. Year two in Cleveland, Baker's on his third head coach and his third offensive coordinator.

And would you be surprised if Freddie Kitchens has a couple more Sundays like that if they fire him? Baker Mayfield has already had as many head coaches. Three, Hugh, Greg, Williams, and now Freddie Kitchens that Baltimore has had since they returned to Baltimore and that Pittsburgh has had since 1969. I don't worry about panic from Baker Mayfield. What college football program is the biggest underachieving program in America, Tennessee?

They should be 11 and 1 every year. Biggest boosters Jimmy Haslam is the Brown's owner. What do they have in common? Reportedly Tennessee is considering firing their coach five games in. Their owner panics. He's a bad NFL owner. He may be a great guy, a great husband, a great dad, a great business owner. He's a bad owner.

Baltimore considered for about an hour firing John Harbaugh. And then they said, no, no, no, that's not who we are. We got to give John Harbaugh more support. So they draft Lamar Jackson. Then they get a great coordinator for Lamar Jackson. In fact, think about all the help Lamar Jackson's had. They went and got Greg Roman, a coordinator known just for quarterbacks that run around like Lamar Jackson.

And then they got two tight ends. Then they drafted two receivers. Then they got two running backs. And they let C.J. Mosley, a very good player, but expensive, to get more young players, more support for Lamar Jackson. It's not that the Steelers haven't had a meeting or two about Mike Tomlin. It's not that Steve Bouchotti and the Ravens haven't had meetings about firing John Harbaugh. Oh, they've had those phone calls.

Oh, they've considered it, but they don't because they don't panic. That's why the Ravens have a great owner and the Steelers have a great owner. And when I looked the whole Baker-Mayfield thing, you don't think Brady's benefited from a lack of chaos? You don't think Russell Wilson's benefited from John Snyder, Paul Allen, the late Paul Allen and Pete Carroll. You don't think Drew Breeze has benefited from Mickey Loomis and Sean Payton? I mean, I love those guys. These are my guys. Brady, Breeze, Russell Wilson are my guys.

You don't think they benefit it? Ask yourself if Andrew Lux's career was cut short by a bad GM. Let's start with yes. Absolutely. You don't think Deshawn Watson's career scares the you-know-what out of me because they don't have a general manager in Houston. I don't worry about Baker-Mayfield panicking. I never worry about Baker-Mayville panicking.

I worry about his boss whose entire, ownership booster persona is panic. And Freddie Kitchens, I don't know if he's a good coach, but it would be like hiring a talk show host and giving him two shows and going, you know, it's not working.

I had been in the business 20 years. I started this network. I couldn't even get my hair right for a month. I mean, Freddie Kitchens, you've got to give the guy a couple years, right? And they won't. So I got Bakers back on this. He won't panic.

They will. All right, let me shift. to this. You know, there was no reason for the New England Patriots to get A.B. They had just won the Super Bowl.

Bill Belichick's defense, he was telling people after the Super Bowl, we have a chance to be so good defensively. They had suffocated the last seven quarterbacks had faced.

They go into this season. Josh Gordon's coming back. Edelman's healthy, and they draft a wide receiver. There was no reason to get Antonio Brown back, who has a reputation that is well documented.

Why do they do it? because of Patrick Mahomes. And let me give you an example. Patrick Mahomes is becoming Steph Curry. He's shifting the paradigm. We never thought in the NBA, if you had told people 10 years ago in the NBA, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're going to just shoot threes. I mean, like a couple? No, like 40 a game. Who's going to shoot him? This little tiny guy from Davidson, he's going to shoot threes. And it's going to change the whole league. In fact, he's going to get rid of centers.

What? Yeah, like the game will get so fast. and Steph Curry will have such incredible range that you will be now seeking to find the next Steph Curry. He will change the NBA. It sounds ridiculous, and that's what Houston's copying, and Portland's copying, and Milwaukee's trying to find, and the Celtics are trying to find, the next Steph Curry,

who has a range that is hard to explain. What's frightening about Patrick Mahomes, he hasn't gotten breaks. Kareem Hunt out the door. This year, offensive line banged up. Tyreek Hill hurt. They're on their third running back. And he is putting up numbers that are frightening. They're the only team I've ever seen at the midfield stripe. It feels like they're in the red zone. That's the red zone for them. Everybody else, it's 20 and in. For Chicago, sometimes it feels like

six yards and in. For Kansas City, midfield is the red zone. Think about this. Their last two second quarters, these are just the second quarter. They've scored 51 points, had 480 yards, six touchdown passes and a completion percentage of 77. That's just in their last two second quarters. This is why Belichick went out and rolled the dice on Antonio Brown. Think about this. The last six, seven quarterbacks he is faced. They can't move the ball in New England.

They can't move the ball. Philip Rivers could not move the ball. Garrett Goff and Sean McVeigh could not move the ball. Sam Darnel was playing great the last four or five weeks of the year. Played New England. Could not get first downs. Nobody moves the ball. Patrick Mahomes plays them and scores 24 points in the fourth quarter.

Inhale. It was hailing. Belichick at that point said, okay, this is Steph Curry. We could put the world's best defense up. Steph Curry hits a 37 footer. hits seven out of eight. We led by 18, we now trail by one. There are players that just shift the paradigm.

You just can't explain them. You can't defend them. They're different than everybody else. That's Steph Curry. 18 point deficit entering the fourth. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we got a shot. In fact, we could be ahead with four minutes to go in the fourth. Patrick Mahomes, Belichick has the, they don't get beat over the top.

They have the best corners in the league. Everything New England does defensively is brilliant. And he dropped 24 points on them in lousy weather in a quarter. And so I think what you're seeing with Patrick Mahomes, who has not gotten every break, his running backs aren't healthy. Tyreek Hill is out. They've had judicial issues, had to get rid of Kareem Hunt. I mean, offensive line issues.

It's not been perfect. This has not been everybody. It's like DAC right now. Everybody's healthy. Everybody's play. It's not been that way in Kansas City. And, you know, Steph Curry, everybody woke up one morning and goes, you can just shoot threes. And you just win a championship on winning threes.

Yeah, that's what you do. And I'm wondering Kansas City right now if Belichick is thinking, am I going to get beat with a team that I got better special teams, significantly better defense, I think our coaching is better. I think we're better across the board. We just can't stop him. Will they change the NFL? That they can be average everywhere else.

And Andy Reed and Mahomes will out clever you, outaggressive you, outplay you, and beat you. Because right now what they're doing, without a lot of their key, pieces. It's just insane. 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 what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

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And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new. Podcasts learn the hard way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

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Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

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I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us.

Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. So sometimes Tony Gonzalez talked about this yesterday. when you get into a relationship and you want out of the relationship, you need a break, you need a pivot, you need a transition, you need help. You start making excuses, picking fights. I always felt Oklahoma City actually wanted to move off Russell Westbrook two years ago and they got a break. Paul George came to him and said, I want out. And that allowed Oklahoma City to go to Westbrook and go, you know what, our bad.

You deserve better than us, Russell. You go to Houston. We can't get anybody to stay here. Oklahoma City wanted to pivot off Russell, Westbrook. But he's popular. Ask the Giants on Eli Manning. It's hard to pivot off popular, especially if popular's won or been to a Super Bowl or been to a finals. Westbrook had.

Eli had two Super Bowls. Cam Newton's been to a Super Bowl. He's been an MVP. It's hard to pivot off him. I believe Carolina made a decision about a year ago. They're done with him. They just kind of, they're kind of out. They want to get out of the Cam business.

And they don't, they don't, you know, they're drafting all these players offensively. And they're not working. and they know they're talented, and now Cam takes a day off, and everybody looks unbelievable, and how do you pivot out? This is a little bit of a break. Tom Pellasaro is reporting this morning that Cam is believed to be dealing with a Liz Frank injury. The plan now is to keep rehabbing in terms of returning and avoiding an injury. It could be a while before he returns to the field. This is classic. Cam, we rushed you back, our bad. It was irresponsible of us. Cam, we want you fully healthy. Let's go to Thanksgiving. Let's just get to Thanksgiving. This is the transition

piece they need. Cam, and by the way, Cam's always had other interest in his life. Cam, rehab, our mistake, our bad, you stay, get totally healthy. And then they can watch six, seven games of Kyle Allen and make a determination. This is good. McCaffrey, Kyle, Samuel, DJ Moore, Greg Olson. This is good. That's what Carolina needs. Because they're ready to move off Cam. They just don't know what they have, and they need, I think you've got to have six, seven games with Kyle Allen. I mean, it was nice in Arizona. Now he plays Houston. But, you know, Arizona's rebuilding team, and Houston's secondary is weak.

So even after two wins, what can you say about Kyle Allen? You need about five, six, seven games. Let's see him at home. Let's see him on the road. Let's see him against the veteran coach. Let's see him again. Because Arizona's nice, but it's Arizona. And Houston's talented, but that secondary is kind of a mess.

So even if Kyle Allen lights it up this weekend, my takeaway to be, okay, that's great. We're not going to face those teams in our division. I got Drew Brees and the Saints. I got Atlanta, Dan Quinn. I got Todd Bowles, very good coach in Tampa. So this is the break they need because I, listen, Cam's been in this league now nine years. He completes 59% of his throws.

His passer rating is in 85. There's never been in the history of American television. A show that after nine years was just like, eh. And then it became Seinfeld. It became Game of Thrones. It doesn't work that way. years is a lifetime in pro sports. Nobody in the NBA is for nine years. And then next year, Russell Westbrook

becomes an elite three-point shooter. His game is defined. He is what he is. He's got some great strength. So does Cam. So I think this is kind of a break for them. They want to see what Kyle Allen is. And so they can use the old, it's not you, it's us. We rushed you back. Our bad, it's irresponsible. Please take Thanksgiving to get back. And it gives Caroline. the opening to see if they've got the next guy.

And by the way, Cam's got a year left on his contract after this, but it would not be. He's actually a little bit of a steal. He's making $22 million a year. He's actually kind of a, I don't know if bargains the right word, but in terms of sales and merchandising and, you know, Cam's a little bit of a bargain. So if you had to move off him a year early, you know,

this is not moving off 35 large. It's moving off 22. John Middilkoff, that's me. Three and out, that's my podcast. Go subscribe if you like football. And I'm sure many of you do, because I know I do. Used to work in the NFL, and that's all I talk about now. You'll like the show, go subscribe to the podcast.

Coming up on this show, Danny Dimes, the Eagles, Khalil Mack, change the franchise forever, Kyle Shanahan, Freddie Kitchens, even Jim Harbaugh, I talk about it all. Again, John Middilcoff, that's me, three and outs the podcast. We do it on Tuesdays at that's time. I wait until Monday night football is over. and it's very tough this week because I'm leaving two teams out of my herd hierarchy that are really good football teams.

There's a lot of good teams in this league. I think we've only got one lousy team in the league. That's Miami. They're tanking. They've got a plan. I get it. I respect it. They play hard.

I think the Jets will get better with Sam Darnold. Won't be great, but they'll get better. So they'll be a viable team. The Jets will be able to beat anybody outside of probably Kansas City, New England, you know, maybe a green bay in this league. Other than that, I think we got. mostly competitive teams in this league. When Gardner Minshue can come in and win a game, you've got a competitive league.

So here we go, our herd hierarchy. My belief, I do a lot of homework on this, our 10 best teams today in the NFL. Heard hierarchy. Time is now. Let's go. The top 10 NFL teams, according to college. All right. Number 10.

San Francisco. Now, they're 3 and 0, and they can be very turnover prone. They're a young team, and young teams like Cleveland make more mistakes. Garoppolo 9 and 2 is a starter under Kyle Shanahan. You know I love Kyle Shanahan, but the story of this team is defense. Last year, they couldn't take the ball away. I mean, they just gave up drive after drive this year. They're second in the NFL with seven takeaways.

The guys they drafted in the secondary can play, their pass rush now with Bosa is better, and their second in total defense. Now, that's rare. When you can get a great offensive coach, and you're actually rated higher on the defensive side. Now, again, I think they're going to end up being a football team that's fun to watch and beating themselves in big games.

They are really young, but they do a lot of exotics, a lot of different shifts. They're tremendously young and talented on the perimeter, San Francisco at 10. Number nine. I may have underrated the New Orleans Saints. Listen, Teddy Bridgewater, the reason I said they're not going to go away, Teddy Bridgewater, in his last 19 starts, is 13 and 6. he's actually not a bad replica of Drew Brees. Smart, grown-up, not real scrambler, doesn't throw the ball down the field,

but it's very coachable. Their defense is excellent. And by the way, they are, all three teams they've played this year were playoff teams last year. The Rams, Seattle, and Houston. So they have arguably played the toughest schedule in the NFL. I thought going to Seattle if you watched that game. They beat Seattle defensively. They beat Seattle in special teams.

They beat them up front. They beat them in coaching. That was actually a really impressive game. And by the way, the Saints, now over the next four or five weeks, play a lot of teams they should be favored over Saints at 9. Number 8. Well, I like Houston. My knock on Houston has been.

Deshawn can be a little turnover prone. He has not been this year. Only two turnovers all year for Deshawn. And when you play with his style, you will fumble more. He's not. The other thing is they're getting sacked less each game. Six sacks in game one, four in game two. to the last game. Why? Because they went out and got Laramie Tunzel. They are now playing their

top traffic on the left side of their offensive line. Their offensive line is still a work in progress. But the left side of it, which for a right-handed quarterback is the more important side because he can't see that. The left side of their O line is better. Deshawn has pulled back on turnovers. I think they'll win this division for the foreseeable future due to Deshawn's greatness and Andrew Luck's retirement there at eight. Number seven. I think Buffalo is for real. And I know, first of all, I've said, great coaching staff, excellent defense. Here's the gem on Buffalo. Three and O, they have scored on TD drives of 85 yards, 80, 75, 70, 98, 75, 73, 78. You do that when you got an offensive line. Okay, this is a cold weather team. They're built to win in the cold.

That's why they drafted Josh Allen. Huge arm. When you play in Buffalo, you can't have Case Keenum. You got a guy. they can throw it. And they have built this offensive and defensive line to win in cold weather. They are putting the ball on the ground and these are 75 and they're not Kansas City. They're not in the red zone at midfield. They're the opposite of Kansas City, but it's been incredibly effective and I love this coaching staff. Number seven. Number six. Green Bay Packers. Again, last year their issue was sometimes Aaron Rogers sits on the sideline and watches the game. Right now they have eight takeaways. like San Francisco, that's the difference.

When you get a takeaway and you give the ball to Aaron Rogers, that's even better. They lead the NFL in takeaways. They're second and scoring defense. They're tied for third in sacks. I still can't believe Washington wouldn't pay for Preston Smith. They got Adrian Amos in the back end. That savage, that rookie from Maryland's a monster hitter.

This is a real defense. It's going to end up the year being a top 10 defense. Don't worry about Aaron Rogers' offense. Just get out of that. space. You know, you look at some stats with Green Bay and it's been a little choppy. Come on, they play Denver, Chicago, Minnesota. The defenses this point forward gets significantly easier. The defense is the story for Green Bay. Number five. You know, I put the Rams here, and I know everybody, they're three and oh, but I got to tell you, Todd Gurley, he's not the same.

They do not have the juice in the backfield. I like Jared Gough. He's a better home quarterback than a road quarterback. So what? Almost so was Carson Wend. So is Mitch Trubisky. Most young quarterbacks are better at home than on the road. And I will say this. I do think they have a very good coach. And they're not, they don't have a liability. Like they're secondary.

They're D-line. Their O-lines getting old. They're receivers. They're kind of B at everything. Now, they used to be B at everything with Todd Gurley A-plus and Aaron Donald A-plus. But I worry about the running game here. It just doesn't have the juice, meaning good luck in the NFC. seeing shootouts because Goff isn't yet ready to, on a regular basis, outdoimal Holmes.

He did it once, but the offense doesn't feel as dynamic as a year ago. Number four. I told you, Baltimore Ravens blew me away. I don't care they lost. They lead the NFL in time of possession. Lamar Jackson, 10 starts, 8 and 2. You know who he's lost to? Kansas City twice.

Get used to that world. The other thing, this is what I like. to be as dynamic as Lamar is, and Brett Farth threw a lot of interceptions. Like that's when you're running around and making plays, you make turnovers. Lamar Jackson hasn't thrown an interception since week 11 of last year.

So I get all the upside of his mobility. I get his running. But he's not making the big rookie mistakes, which by the way, Baker Mayfield is. Baker Mayfield's got like 16 interceptions in a year. So I'm getting all the upside of Lamar. And again, he's, this is growing. He's a kid.

I get no turnovers. I get a great running game. I think Baltimore is no fun to play. They're contrarian to the league. They've done a great job in coaching. I have them at four. Number three. I'm going to go Dallas Cowboys.

My only question with Dallas is, you know, they haven't played very good teams. So I know they're good. When I look at Dallas, I see eight great young players. Amari, Dak, Zeke, DeMarcus, Lawrence, Byron Jones, Van der Rash, Jalen Smith. I see nothing but town. I like their defensive line. Their offensive line gets all the credit. I like their defensive line.

Their first on third down offense. What does that tell you? Third down and three, they get the push on the offensive line. It's still, I think, when healthy, the best offensive line in football, third in rushing. And the other thing, they've only allowed one sack. Now, some of that's Dax pretty good at moving around. The other thing is, when healthy, this is the best offensive line. Probably the last five years in the NFL, four to five, maybe six years in the NFL, Dallas at three.

Number two. Kansas City. I mean, listen, Patrick Mahomes, 14 straight games over two touchdown passes. Okay, they're going to break the Peyton Manning record. I don't even know what to tell you. That's the Warriors six years ago hitting threes. How do you explain it? They're changing the game.

I don't, now I will say this. The reason they're not number one is they've got to get another corner. I do not think. Now, they'll probably win most of those fireworks shows. They are deficient at corner. And who's my number one team? Number one. The team that would beat you if you're,

deficient corner New England. Now, I will say this. New England's got real issues here. They just lost Devlin, their fullback, and you could see Bill Belichick at the press conference. He didn't like that. They got no Gronk. They have a left tackle health issue.

They lost their center for the year. Their wide receivers are a mess. A.B's gone. Edelman's hurt. Chris Hogan's gone. Gronk retired and the rookies on IR. This is, you know, the last couple of years we felt like everybody helped Brady. Brady's keeping this puppy afloat.

They have all sorts of offensive issues, but I will say this. Their defense, they're the first team since the 1951 Cleveland Browns, and who would forget those teams, to shut out five straights opponents in the first half. And that includes Patrick Mahomes. This defense is rangy, fast, it's the best secondary. They lead the NFL in pressures. Their linebackers hit and can run.

It's smart. It's well coach. You can't beat them over the top. This defense, until they get healthy at wide receiver, will probably. probably win them all but one of their next seven, eight games. I've got them losing one. Maybe sooner than you think. One more herd.

The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed 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 SportsSlic on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 rapidly. 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. 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, is we have real conversations about on 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, 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, 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, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on the earnies.

I'm Taboramos. I'm Tom Bo. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the Reef. storylines. I'm not worried about Policicic. I'm not worried about Balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back.

The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us.

with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcast. By the way, I'm a huge Carson Wentz fan, size, arm, athletic ability. He's the only guy in the league that looks like at times like Patrick Mahomes. Big, strong, runs. He can throw it for multiple angles. He's got to win more games. Now, again, they are a mess on the offensive line at left tackle. They're a mess at wide receiver. They had seven drops against the Lions. Nelson Aguilar held onto a ball in Atlanta. They could be 3-0.

They're 1-2. I think they're going to lose at Green Bay. But here's the thing about Carson Wentz. And again, I'm a huge Carson-Wince fan. I said before, I think he's more naturally talented than Andrew Luck. But Andrew Luck with bad teams won 11 games every year. Carson's not winning enough games. This is an interesting.

He's 1-3 against DAC. Now you say, well, that's just a small sample size. He is also in 18 opportunities. to come from behind and win, Carson Wentz is 4 and 14. In 25 opportunities to come back in the fourth quarter and win, DAC is 15 and 10. Dak wins games. Spectacular is great.

But you know what Tom Brady can give me every week precision? You can't get, Patrick Mahomes is a global all-time outlier. He's Brett Fav, okay? Carson Wins can be spectacular. he's not consistent enough for my taste. By the way, I think the strangest thing in the world, and again, I am a huge Carson Wentz fan. He has to walk by a Nick Full statue every week.

Now think about that. What if Brady had to walk by a Jimmy Garoppolo statue every week? Could that mess with your head? And I like him, but Philadelphia's got to win more games. And it's just like Andrew Luck had a terrible team on 11 and 5, 11 and 5, 11 and 5. 11 and 5. Carson Went is a good old line. Left tackle now is a mess of turnstile.

I mean, they lost Malik Jackson, but they have Fletcher Cox. It's Dax winning those fourth quarter moments. Dax's 15 and 10 in fourth quarter comeback opportunities. Wentz is 4 and 14. Just because one of them throws a prettier ball, like I like the winning part on that. Peter King is now joining us via the Cower Global Satellite Network. Football Morning in America, NBC. I got to tell you, I thought I was wildly entertaining.

if you'd have told me two weeks ago, New York Giants at Tampa, I just said, I'll pass. I found it wildly entertaining. I'm rooting for Daniel Jones. I really did. I couldn't. My wife came over. She didn't like football. She's like, oh, this is fun.

What did you make of it? I made that that's what the Giants should have done at the beginning of this year. They have put off replacing Eli Manning, and I understand the loyalty to him, but they've put it off for far too long. And it was, it was, it was time. It was long past time. And Colin, when you knew that everything had changed is when they called a design run pass option, you know, right away. Yeah. Early in the first half.

Yep. When, you know, he faked it. He put it in the gut of, uh, of, uh, of Sequin Barkley and then pulled it out and ran around the right side. And he scored a seven yard touchdown. I mean, he scored half as many touchdowns in that game, basically, as Manning has run for in his career. I'm exaggerating, but it's close. And the Giants now have a 2019 quarterback. They used to have a 1995 quarterback.

And all I know is that you can win with the 1995 quarterback, but I would rather have, if the 1995 quarterback isn't winning, then let's go with the 2019 quarterback. and wisely, Pat Shermer made that call. By the way, Baltimore moved off Flacco. They're happy. Giants moved off Eli. They're happy. Arizona moved off Josh Rosen.

They're happy. You can go back. We looked at this this morning. Buffalo moved off Tyrod Taylor who made the playoffs. They're happy. Everybody that's moved off their quarterback. And some of these quarterbacks, Eli, Flacco, they've been to Super Bowls. Everybody's working.

The young quarterbacks are working. So I look at Cam. And, I mean, listen, we're nine years into this thing. He's not physically the same. percent completion percentage. Quarterback rating 85. Kyle Allen comes in, who was a spotty college quarterback, but a great high school quarterback. He's got a good arm. And everything works Sunday. Now, it's Arizona, but everything works. All these teams, Peter, that are moving off quarterbacks, it's working. And the teams that are stubborn, maybe a Cincinnati, maybe a Tennessee,

they're stuck. I wonder with Cam and this injury now, which they say is going to be multiple weeks, is Carolina looking at Kyle Allen saying, this is our break, this is our opportunity to see if we have the next guy in the building. Do you think that's true? I mean, they're doing it out of necessity right now, and they're basically saying Ron Rivera and the offensive coordinator, Norv Turner, basically saying, let's see what happens. I think it's unfair to judge Cam Newton on the first two weeks of this year. Number one, he had a bad foot from a preseason injury. And number two, like he told me in training camp, he was going to be a different quarterback in

2019 than he had been earlier in his career. You take that, those two things, plus the fact that no quarterback coming off shoulder surgery is going to have the howitzer that he had. Right. And he's not going to play the same as the way he had. So I think it's brutally unfair to judge what Cam Newton did in the first two weeks and to say, well, if Kyle Allen plays, they got to replace Cam Newton. Cam Newton was a work in progress. We'll see if that still happens. I don't know if it will. But, you know, hey, Kyle Allen has got a chance.

He looked fantastic. Even though he was playing a bad defensive team, he looked really good. Now a bigger test comes on the road in Houston when he's got to play a team that's going to chase him all over the field down in Houston. Lamar Jackson, 8 and 2 as a starter, only lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. I said, I said this yesterday. It happens occasionally where I watch.

watch a team lose and I'm more impressed with them than I am in wins. They never gave up. I think their offensive line is excellent. Their running game's tremendous. Lamar, to me, they've got a point of view and an identity. I still can't figure out Cleveland's identity. I'm not blaming Baker. I can't figure it out.

I know exactly what Baltimore is and what they do well. I got to tell you, I think Baltimore, everybody knows New England, Kansas City's good. I think Baltimore is the third best team in the AFC. I think Lamar's getting better. It's happening in front of our eyes. he's obviously coachable, he's bulked up. I came out of that Kansas City game and I'm like, I think I'm finally all in on Lamar.

Am I overreacting? No, you're not. In fact, for my column next Monday, I'm doing a big chunk on Baltimore because I think that they're the type of team that on December 1st could be a lot better than they are on October 1st because they have a young quarterback who's young and growing and learning and especially if Earl Thomas can stay healthy and they can continue to mature on defense,

that's going to be a team that can beat anybody anywhere. I thought it was hilarious yesterday. I forget where I read this, but somebody did, you know, people do power rankings. And somebody said that Baltimore dropped one spot to number six in their power rankings. Now hold on a minute. They played the most explosive team we've seen in football.

football in years. You know, they played this incredible offensive machine at home with this quarterback who's on pace to throw for 6,400 yards and 54 touchdowns or something absurd like that. But they took the Kansas City Chiefs right down to the end and lost by five. And you drop them in your rankings? I mean, it's the most absurd thing I've ever heard. but but I do think now Baltimore is that one team

that and I'm just telling you Colin they are built to last because they always always always gather more draft choices through compensatory picks that is one team that if I'm a fan of a team right now and I want to be a fan of a team for like the next 10 years

obviously Kansas City I get it obviously the Rams but don't overlook Baltimore Yeah, I think the Rams have their issues. I don't think Todd Gurley's the same player, and that's no knock on anybody. Yet, I have not seen the juice of the first couple years in the league. Peter King's joining us, NBCSports.com. Peter, it's really remarkable. There was a time very recently where 50% of first-round quarterbacks busted.

The last 15, only Paxton Lynch hasn't worked. Everybody works now. I think it's a great sign for the NFL. I'm not a huge fan of Trubisky, but he's winning games and I can't, I can't criticize him. Kyler Murray's better than I thought. Daniel Jones is better than I thought. I want to go now to Aaron Rogers, because we've always put Aaron in the Veteran Hall of Fame class. We know he's good, but their offense has been clunky early.

Now, it is the Bears, the Vikings in Denver. Give me your takeaway, your macro view on what we've seen on Green Bay, Aaron, post-McArthur, Lefleur that we had doubts about, the veteran guy we expect. What do you make a Green Bay, their offense, how it's all clicking? They play Thursday night, by the way, against Philadelphia at home, a huge game for both. Well, I think the one thing that you can say about the Green Bay offense is that Aaron Rogers takes the field knowing that he doesn't have to score 33 points every week to win. Yeah, that's right.

He knows now that he's got a defense. Brian Gutakunt's the general manager in the offseason. not only did he think, of course, this is a huge decision. Who's going to be our head coach? Who can really go head to head with Aaron Rogers? We need to find somebody who Aaron Rogers is going to respect and is going to go head to head with and be a good partner of in terms of the game plan and all that.

But in addition, they had to find a defense that was going to be competitive. So they went out and spent a trillion dollars on the Smith, brothers, Preston and Zadarius. And on Sunday, when they really needed a boost defensively, you know, those two guys combined for five sacks. And I think now going forward, what you're doing in building that defense up is that you're giving Aaron Rogers and Matt LaFleur a chance to mature into a very good offensive team. It wasn't going to come right away. If you tell Aaron Rogers, we want to play tempo.

He's never played tempo his whole lot. I'm not saying he occasionally hasn't gone no huddle, but mostly he comes to the line. He's a thoughtful guy. Okay? And now Matt LaFleurr wants him to, let's go, let's go, let's go. Continue to put the pressure on the defense. Not necessarily going no huddle,

but coming to the line and snapping it with 12 seconds to go. Let's go, let's go, play fast. And so Aaron Rogers has to adjust to that. He will, and I still think, think this will be a top six or eight offensive team by December. By the way, do you think Cleveland unravels here a little bit? I think they're going to lose at Baltimore to New England to Denver. It's a young team.

Freddie Kitchens. I don't put a lot of this on Baker. I've been critical of Baker, but there's a lot of issues here. Fundamentally, their owner moves off coaches. Baker's now in his third head coach in his second year. Do you think they unravel over the next couple of weeks with that schedule, or do you trust them? I mean, think about this schedule. Baltimore, San Francisco, Seattle, New England.

I mean, this is a team right now that, okay, they're one and two, and, you know, the Rams are a tough team to beat anywhere. So I get that one. But this is a team that really, you're right, you talked about Aaron Rogers being clunky on offense. This is a clunky offensive team. Yeah, yeah. And right now, I mean, if I could give Freddie Kitchens one piece of advice,

if he wants to call the plays, then he needs to give the authority of things like clock management and some other things. He needs to think about giving that away. Yeah. And I'm fine with him, I'm fine with him holding on to,

you know, holding on to offensive play calling. That's fine. He's good at it. He was terrible on Sunday because I think he's thinking about too many things. Yeah.

Hey, look, a year ago, he was the running backs coach. Yeah. What's your authority? hey, you know, put this guy in and nickel. I mean, you don't have any huge job. And now he's got the biggest job of them all, and he's got the weight of great expectations on his shoulders.

There's just too much to think about. And that was an ugly end of the Rams game on Sunday night. Yeah, I don't put all this on Baker. I think these young guys need support. Lamar's getting support. Baker's not getting as much support. And it's fun to watch, but it could unravel quick.

King NBC Sports Football Morning in America. Good stuff. Peter. Love having it on our show on Tuesdays. Thank you, Colin. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, 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 and 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 Clifford Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clivert 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, A, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021.

And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind. the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.