The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 10/12/2018

Episode Date: October 12, 2018

Today on The Best of Herd Podcast with Colin Cowherd... Colin warns every NFL franchise not to become a prisoner of nostalgia like the New York Giants & Oakland Raiders, and to stop falling in love with the new shiny toy every year as exemplified by the infatuation with Patrick Mahomes, The best player for almost a decade in the NFC north is no longer Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are not Super Bowl contenders. The Cowboys are trying everything possible to convince us that things are actually alright and Colin gives you his upset specials in College Football! Guest : Peter King Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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 Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the Best of the Hurd. with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it is a Friday. This is The Heard.

Wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. Good morning. That is a fuchsia dress. Yes, it is. The future is fuchsia. Blazing five in one hour.

Yes. We've had three, four winning weeks. And last week, another winning week, I think I've got my strongest picks of the year. It's going to be a crazy weekend. I think they're going to see a lot of upsets in the NFL. We didn't have one last night. We did not have an upset. The better team, the team we picked last year to be a Super Bowl dark horse team,

the team we picked to win the division this year, pull back a little Philadelphia, destroy the New York Giants last night. I got to tell you something. I didn't grow up in a traditional family. We didn't go to church like everybody. And I don't live a traditional. life. I've moved around the country, moved my kids, and it's the life I choose, and I like it. Because I think nostalgia, especially in sports, is really dangerous. Ask yourself this morning,

what are the two biggest messes in the NFL? Ask yourself, you're driving around America, you're watching me on TV. The two biggest messes in the NFL this morning, won the Oakland Raiders, nostalgia. Let's hire John Gruden. He was great for us a decade ago. A number of Two, the New York Giants in Eli Manning. They're a mess. Rearview mirror is no way to live life. It's called a windshield. It shows you what's ahead. By the way, the Kansas City Chiefs are a great example of how you should do it. Alex Smith had a very good year. But in sports, you bail a year early, you never bail late. And the giant should have bailed on Eli Manning three or four years ago. Everybody loves Kansas City today. Alex Smith, MVP leader in September last year. Five and no start.

Bailed on him a year early. Now he's not as good in Washington. Folks, nostalgia's a burden. Nostalgia's a trap. Nostalgia's living through the rearview mirror. Ask the Raiders and the Giants. And the New York media fell for it. They so hated Ben McAdoo, the head coach, that when he benched Eli last year, the New York media freaked out. He's a fool.

This is gutless. They couldn't understand. Eli was done. Eli should have been benched. Do you remember the game before Eli was benched? He threw for 113 yards. The team fell to 2 and 9.

They had a longer week of preparation, and Eli was the worst quarterback in the league. Okay, if you go back to 2013, 2014, Eli was shot. The numbers are there. Completed 57% of his throws, 18 TDs, 27 picks. He had a passer rating under 70. But the New York media threw a hissy fit because he gave us Super Bowls. And it freaked out the Giants owners, and it freaked out the Giants front office. and there's been nine great quarterbacks drafted since,

and they've passed on all of them. Derek Carr, Garoppolo, Gough, Wenz, Trubisky, Mahomes, Deshaun, Baker, Sam, all available to them. All available to them. No, we benched him. Oh, my God. Guy was shot fighter after the 2013-2014 season. 18 TDs, 27 picks, passer rating in the 70s.

60s, actually. And stop telling me, Sequin Barclays the answer. Answer for what? He was unbelievable last night and you still lost at home by three touchdowns. You start falling in love with tradition, nostalgia, the good old days. That's the rearview mirror. The New York media so overreacted to his benching that now the ownership and the management is stuck with that. whatever that is.

Here's the second play of the game. I mean, here's Eli hearing nothing but heat all week. By the second play of the game, this is what transpires. Look for Eli Manning getting the ball out of his hands quickly because of that pass rush as well. Chip Mc Throws and that one is picked. Dangerous throw by Manning and he got burned on it. You can see where Simonson was expecting the ball. He thought it was going to be to his left shoulder.

the ball was on the inside. That's why Hicks was able to drive on it and deflect the pass. Second play of the game. All week, I'll prove you wrong. He can't. If he was a major league pitcher, he'd be throwing 86 miles an hour. And all these young bucks are throwing 97. Be very careful about nostalgia.

It is as much a burden as it is a joy. Let me shift to this. Big game this weekend. New England, pay, The Patriots hosts the Kansas City Chiefs. I saw a headline this morning, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in position to take the torch from all-time great Tom Brady. Excuse me.

He's got five wins this year. Tom's got five Super Bowl trophies. I want to remind you Sunday night football, Belichick, Foxborough, Brady against the young quarterback. New England is 23 and O in Foxborough. When they face quarterbacks under 25 years old, it will be 24-0 after Sunday night. By the way, Vegas has New England favored by more than a field goal. Here's a little context on this.

Let's just go back one year. Pretty much the same roster, same coach. One year ago, Alex Smith's numbers on the left, Patrick Mahomes' numbers on the right. One year ago today, with these same players and coach, both were 5'0, Alex Smith was significantly better in completion percentage and passer rating, and Alex Smith had 11 TDs and no interceptions.

Were we talking about Alex Smith taking the torch from Tom Brady? Listen, man, this is the way sports works. We fall in love. with the new shiny toy. Oh my God, Baker Mayfield. Oh my God. Cleveland leads the NFL in rushing. Cleveland, defensive analytics, second in the NFL in defense.

Cleveland leads the NFL in takeaways. And you keep trying to convince me their quarterback who has three touchdowns and three interceptions leading them. He's better than to Rod Taylor, but Cleveland Browns are led by their running game and their defense. But Baker Mayfield, he's the star. One year ago, Alex Smith had better numbers than Patrick Mahomes. He's fun.

He's really talented. But folks, go back to Dak Prescott's first year. What's happened since? Go back to Deshawn Watson's first year. How's he looked now? Go back to Marcus Mariotas' first year. Better than now. Nobody has a lot of film.

Guy hasn't faced a winter. Patrick Mahomes. Some of this is it's a perfect storm. He's got two great deep threats. Last year's NFL leading rusher got the best tied in in football, a tremendous game strategist and play designer and Andy Reid. Some of this is just a perfect storm. When Patrick Mahomes can lead his team to the Super Bowl against the Jags

without Gronk and without Julian Edelman who got hurt, and he's using Danny M. Mandola to beat the Jags in the A.F. championship and get to the Super Bowl. Danny Amandola. Gron got hurt. Edelman not available. They weren't running the ball with great authority. And it was Brady and Danny Amandola beating the Jags. Ready to take the torch from Brady. Can I see a little adversity? A couple injuries? Bad weather? A hail storm? A snow drift? Can you give me something? Belichick, Brady, Foxborough.

23 and 0. 23 and O. By the way, Greg Kosell said it. Last week, when they faced a real defense, it was at home. Jackson was a crappy road team. But even last week, little pressure, Patrick Mahomes looked vulnerable. A quarterback who came into this league as essentially a sandlot and playground player who has mechanical issues that needed to be worked on that can crop up at any time. We're dealing with a quarterback in Mahomes who has a tendency to play out.

outside of structure and leave the pocket. But I think that Mahomes leaving the pocket when it's not necessary is something to watch for as we continue because that's the way he played in college. And that's sort of the way he plays. And in September, the weather's perfect. You have all offseason. Players are all healthy, no dissension, nobody's hurt. Five wins does not equal five Super Bowls.

Patriots win that game, and I think they win it convincingly. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. All right, latest story. Aaron Rogers may need a bigger brace, Joy Taylor. He had a setback this ailing left knee. He needed extra time, rest and rehab. Took a hit from the Lions linebacker Christian Jones this week. And he said, yeah, a little bit of a setback. I trust my medical staff. But he's got a strain medial collateral ligament, deep bone brew since the season opener. And, of course, this all started week one with Khalil Mack. When Khalil Mack got traded by Oakland to the Bears,

and that was the first game for Aaron Rogers, and the Bears were bringing heat, and Khalil Mack had the greatest defensive first half in the history of football, and they suddenly couldn't block Khalil, and they were dubbing Khalil, and there was a sack on Aaron Rogers, and Aaron Rogers got hurt, and Khalil Mack is massively affecting three teams. This won't happen, but right now I'd give Khalil Mack the MVP, not Patrick Mahomes. literally Oakland has a top six defense in the NFL.

They're one and four. Why? Because they're last in the NFL in sacks. They can't hold a lead. They can't get to the other quarterback. The Chicago Bears defense, number one in the NFC. They're number two in the NFL in sacks. Number two defense overall.

They lead the division. Why, Kaleel Mack? It ain't Mitch Trubisky. And Green Bay, Aaron Rogers, still isn't right. I mean, just look at it. Kaleel Mack's the only player in the NFL affecting either positively bears or negatively Packers-Raders, three different teams. To me, if you ask me who the MVP of the league is today, it's Kalee Mack. And Aaron Rogers is 34. By December he's 35.

Now, this week he gets the Niners. He'll win. Then he gets a buy. Then Green Bay schedule is brutal. At the Rams, at New England, Miami, at Seattle on a short week, at Minnesota. and they got to go to Chicago again and Khalil Mack. So that would be my MVP if I voted on it today. I'm not a big MVP guy.

I don't care about the Heisman or awards, but I'd give it to Khalil Mack. Nobody's affecting three teams. Patrick Mahomes is not affecting three teams. Khalil Mack is. And by the way, I think Aaron Rogers knows. Every year in the last decade, we have all considered Green Bay a Super Bowl threat.

And they are not a Super Bowl threat this year. And I think Aaron Rogers knows it. Remember, Greg Jennings came on this show. And Aaron Rogers is somebody who wears his emotions. You can see it. And Greg Jennings said this a couple of weeks ago about Aaron Rogers. He knows this is not a Super Bowl team. For me, what stood out was his body language, his demeanor,

his lack of involvement with the guys during the game. He had a look on him like he was disgusted, but it was kind of that, whoa, here we go again. There was one image that they shone during the broadcast of the game where he went to the sideline, he put his hands across his lap, he's sitting there. They show his receivers there on another bench, they're looking as lost as little puppy dogs as well. There's no fire. There isn't. He knows it.

By the way, you think I'm crazy saying Khalil Mack should be the MVP? What is value? Let me ask you this. Is Aaron Rogers now the best player in his own division? I don't think he is. If you go to every division in the NFL, let's do it right now. Best player in every division. Let's go AFC East.

Well, there's no question that Tom Brady's the best player in that division still. Could have been the MVP last year. In the AFC East, Tom Brady's the best player in the division. Let's go to AFC West. Joey Bose is very good for the Chargers. I'd say Patrick Mahomes right now is the best player this second, right? And by the way, he's flawed, but he's healthy and playing well. Best player in the AFC South, Andrew looks good, but I'd say it's Jalen Ramsey, who's the best

pure corner cover in the NFL, shut down Gronk when they played him. In the AFC North, the best players is Antonio Brown. Again, there's a bunch of good players in that division. There's a bunch of good players. Let's go to the NFC. Best player in the NFC East. Odell Beckham's really, really good. But if you're asking me best player, not necessarily value, who's the best player right now in the NFC East?

I would say Carson Wentz, who's the best player in the NFC West? Aaron Donald's good. I'd say it's Todd Gurley. Who's the best player in the NFC South? I'd say Drew Breeze. And who's the best player in the NFC North? It's Khalil Mack. It's Khalil Mack.

It is not Aaron Rogers. I mean, Aaron Rogers is not as good as Khalil Mack as a player right now. Aaron Rogers is a quarterback. You can talk about valuable. But, you know, I look around and at Aaron Rogers, and I hear this story this morning, another setback, and I watch his body language.

First time in a decade, I think he knows it. This is not a Super Bowl contender. Now, it's only early October, but it doesn't feel like it, and I think Aaron Rogers knows it. 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.

Whenever people are trying too hard to tell me things are great, You hear politicians. Oh, our campaign is just doing great. I know we're down in the polls, but everybody here, we feel great about our campaign. You see this all the time in businesses. You see it with families. No, we're no. You see it in Hollywood all the time.

You see the rumors, Jennifer Anderson is going to get a divorce, followed by a picture of her boyfriend. Poor Jennifer Anderson on this show, man. She's so pretty and he's so handsome. And then a week later, they're divorced. So the Dallas Cowboys, boy, they are on PR mode. They are in PR spin, don't you think? Aren't they trying a little too hard to tell you how good things are? Cole Hamels came out a couple weeks ago, and Cole Hamels was, Cole Beasley, excuse me,

Cole Hamill's a pitcher. Cole Beasley's a slot receiver for the Cowboys. He said, hey, we're getting open. We're doing all we can do. Watch the tape. I'm doing what we're supposed to be doing. I'm getting open. Oh.

And then Alan Hearns came out this week, and he's talking on Twitter. He's like, hey, some of our audibles, we got an audible out of place. This is terrible. You can't run the stuff. we're running, this is terrible. But yet, yet in the last 24 hours, oh, things are great. Zekiel Elliott yesterday said, don't you believe any of these silly news reports? We're all best friends in here.

I mean, there hasn't been any finger pointed at all. You know what I mean? There's enough accountability in this locker room that, you know, there's not going to be in the figure point. the guy that may get pointed out is going to say, hey, that's on me. I'm not going to need anyone to go over there and say, hey, you need to get your shit together. It's all good.

By the way, Dak Prescott, I'm just reading this quote from Dak Prescott yesterday. Quote, things are great with Alan Hearns. They're just fantastic with Alan Hearns. You know what this reminds me of? You ever get that Christmas card from a family? And you know that. little kid in that Christmas card doesn't want to be in that itchy sweater. And you can look at the

face of the teenage daughter and she's like, this is so, so uncool. And the kids have no interest being in that Christmas picture. They don't. The little boys don't want to be in sweaters that are that tight and they look, you know, something you'd put in a goofy dog. And the teenage daughter, she wants to hang out with her boyfriend. She has no interest wearing that sweater in that goofy family Christmas picture and the wife and the husband are at odds constantly. Everybody smiles. Christmas picture. We're all getting along.

Great. The cowboys are doing everything just shy of sending out a Christmas card this week. That's Cole Beasley. It's all good here. We couldn't be happy here. We're really. This is what we wanted to post for this picture. Very happy.

Things are great. Come on, Dallas. This is a spin job. What's the, don't pee in my leg and tell me it's raining. I mean, come on now. Dallas, we're watching the same games. This offense is not good. Like you've got Cole Beasley and Alan Herns were totally honest about it.

And Troy Aikman, who knows the game's been totally honest about it. But man, every, every loss, it's Jerry's, it's great. Dak gets great Zee gets great Now just send out a Christmas card with a strange smile and itchy sweaters and the teenage daughter

and the son don't want to be any part of that Christmas card Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the IHeard Radio app Last night I'm watching the Philadelphia Eagles play

and the Philadelphia Eagles look really good and the Philadelphia Eagles did not look really good in September. But September in the NFL is similar to a grand opening at a restaurant. And, you know, everybody, everybody's happy at the grand opening at a restaurant. It's overstaffed. You got all your fresh fish, all your cutleries there. Everybody's in a good mood, grand opening. You've been preparing for it for a month. But what happens two and a half months into that restaurant or a month into the restaurant where people call in sick? The chef now doesn't get along

with the owner. The chef doesn't like his staff. A delivery doesn't show. show up. I mean, think about who was great in September in the NFL. The weather's perfect. Nobody's hurt. How about those dolphins? Oh, Miami was good and Ryan Fitzmagic and the Denver Broncos and the bills went to Minnesota and were amazing. Remember the shot of Ryan Fitzmagic? Go think about what happened in September in the NFL. The Redskins, the Lions, the Broncos, Miami, Tampa. But here's who struggled. The Steelers, the Eagles, the Patriots. Well, look. who's good now. Last week, the Steelers crushed Atlanta.

Last night, Philadelphia looked fantastic. New England last two weeks is piling on points. So, you know, again, every restaurant is great for the grand opening. You've been preparing a month for it. You're overstaffed. Nobody's called in

sick. No shipments have been missed. The chef's still in a good mood. A month later, in the NFL, now you're playing in worse weather. Oh, now you've got multiple injuries. Now you're on a two-game losing streak. Now your culture matters. And I know the Eagles have a good culture. I know the Patriots have a good culture. So, you know, I just, I'm watching Philadelphia last night, and I'm like, oh, no, no, they're fine. Philadelphia is fine. They're doing September in the NFL

is a lot of fools' goal. Never forget, Bill Belichick's worst month is September. He gets better in October. His best months are November and December. Okay. And by the way, it should be noted that In January, he's good, too, and that's when you play the best teams in the playoffs. So I think Philadelphia is in a really good spot. I also think something to think about, too, is that if you think it's bad for Eli Manning today, wait till Sunday. Because you and I all know that the New York Giants could have had Sam Darnold. Okay, they had the number of you pick and they took a running back. The Jets hosts the Colts and they're favored to win.

Okay, and remember, let's go back to the NFL draft. This could very well live in infamy. This was draft night. Cleveland takes Baker. Giants on the clock. Do you remember this moment? Sam Darnold is now there for the drafting by the Giants or somebody to come up and get him.

It could be the Jets. It could be the Broncos. The Giants might give pause and go ahead and choose that young man out of USC. The New York Giants have not traded this pick. They have made it. Could it be Sam Darnold? Could it be Sequan Barkley? This is a linchpin pick of the 2018 draft.

With the second pick in the 2018 NFL draft, the New York Giants Select, Sequin Barkley, winning back, Penn State. Well, what it tells you right off the bat is that Dave Gettleman did not believe that any of the quarterbacks left on the board were a franchise quarterback. That's exactly right. and Sam Darnold has seven touchdown passes

working with below average tight ends, running backs on an offensive line. And Eli has OBJ, Sequin Barclay, one more game, and has six touchdown passes. What if Darnold choose up the Colts defense on Sunday? You think the newspapers are after Eli this morning? What's going to happen if Darnold is great on Sunday against the Colts?

Now, I think the Colts defensive front is right now, the most underrated defensive front in the league. Colts have actually kind of bondoed together, duct taped together a pretty interesting pass rush. But you look at Eli, and that's the last impression of Eli, what if Darnold against the beat-up Indianapolis Colts team at home knocks it out of the park? I got to tell you about Sam Darnold.

He got seven touchdown passes, and it's more than Eli in one last game, and he's got nothing to work with. The fact that he has several over-the-top. home run throws is amazing because that offensive line gives him very little time to throw. So they made a decision in that draft and they are every Sunday. Simultaneously, Eli is eroding and Donald is rising. And if Sammy plays well on Sunday, the New York Post, the tabloids,

talk radio in New York are going to be crazy. What's up, everybody, John Middlecough, three and out podcast, brought to you by Colin Coward's podcast. network. If you like Collins Show, you will like mine. I talk a lot of football. Some thoughts on the Odell Beckham Jr. disaster. And Pat Schumer looks like he's over his head. Mahomes v. Brady can't wait. And why you cannot discount Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverine. You can find me wherever you listen to podcast. Three and out with John Middilcoff right now. Turn away if you don't want to know the outcomes of the two biggest college football games of the weekend. You know how you don't want to be around somebody when a new movie comes out and you're like,

hey, spoiler alert, spoiler alert. So please turn away as I pick the two biggest games of the weekend. Warning, Colin is about to reveal the outcomes of the biggest college football games this week. If you don't want to know exactly what's going to happen, turn away now. All right, let's start Georgia and LSU. Listen, Kirby smarts the head coach of Georgia. He's been the one Nick Saban assistant who's been an absolute head coaching home run. You think of as a defensive guy, but Georgia for the first time in school history has scored 35 plus points in all six games. They're the second best scoring in the SEC to Alabama. They right now, along with Auburn, are the only teams that can go toe to toe with Alabama, and you think they have a chance to win.

Here's the thing. Is LSU is overtime. I don't trust Ed Orgeron. to guide this to national prominence and at the top of the food chain. By the way, five turnovers last two games, six of their last seven games against top five teams they've lost.

I just don't buy LSU long-term going forward with this coaching staff. I think Georgia's got the better staff, so please turn away. Spoiler alert. Georgia wins 2720. All right, let's talk Michigan at home against Wisconsin. Listen, you can bang.

on Harball you want. Here's what I know he's doing well. That defense with coordinator Don Brown is crushing it. They lead college football in total defense. They lead in past defense. They have a pass rush. Listen, everything on the defensive side of the ball is great. Now Harbaugh

was a quarterback, so we expect their offense to be better. Well, it's better than Wisconsin. Wisconsin can't throw the football. They've been the big disappointment in college football to me. You know, Wisconsin always runs the ball because they really coach up their offense line. But Michigan's 4-0 at home against Wisconsin when both teams are ranked, I am getting

what I think is an elite coach, the best defense in college football. I think Michigan's defense is better than Alabama this year. I really do. So turn away, please. Turn away. Spoiler alert. Michigan wins 2820. By the way, I'm not picking Washington, Oregon, because I don't know who's going to win that game. I will tell you my gut feeling. Washington's more banged up than they're letting on. I think Oregon may win that game, but I don't feel great about it. Washington's a little beat up.

Oregon in this spot, it's got a little upset on it. A little got a little upset. Washington's the better coaching staff by far. Washington's coaching staffs up there with Alabama. It's really, really good. Keep your eye on an upset here. Keep your eye. Oregon's got the best player in college football quarterback Justin Herbert.

He's really, really good. Chris Peterson, those great coach. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Three-time national sports writer of the year. One of my favorites, he joins us now on a Friday via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Peter King. Peter, I started my show today saying nostalgia is great, but it can be a burden. And the two teams in the NFL that look like a mess are the Raiders who went back. into their past to sign Gruden, and the Giants who are still living on those Super Bowls, and they still stuck with Eli. And that nostalgia in the NFL, you know, Kansas City moved off Alex Smith.

You want to move off early, not late. And Alex had a terrific year last year. I look at the Giants as a franchise right now where nostalgia is holding them back with Eli. How do you see it? We saw it last year, Colin last December, when Ben McAdoo tried to do the right thing. He was shouted down as an oaf, an idiot, a jerk,

a no-nothing coach. What he tried to do is he tried to say, hey, we got a 36-year-old quarterback. There's a huge draft coming up with four or five first-round quarterbacks in it. We need to see what we have on our bench to see if any

of those guys might be the quarterbacks of the future or give us hope that they might be the quarterbacks of the future. And he's shouted down. He's told he's an idiot. It turns out Ben McAdoe, I said it at the time. Ben McAdoe was the only adult in the room last year with the New York Giants. Has anybody been watching this team play since they beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl in February 2012?

If you've been watching the Giants play, you've seen that Eli Manning with all sorts of different teams, not teams that can protect very well, I grant you that, but with all sorts of different teams, he's been a subpar NFL quarterback, period. You look at the numbers, you look at the wins. Do you realize, Colin, that since that Super Bowl game was played, since that day that the Patriots lost to the Giants in February 2012, the New England Patriots are 60 games above 500 and have won a playoff game in every season. The New York Giants with Eli Manning are 15 games.

below 500 and have not won a single playoff game in any season. So, I mean, there's a commonality there, and that is that you can say that, oh, the quarterback gets too much blame when you lose. But the quarterback, you know, basically has not done the job at all with the New York Giants. It's time to move on. Yeah, it is. And, you know, it's interesting because they had a chance at Darnold. He faces Andrew Luck this weekend, and you live in New York.

I saw Darnold play in college. He is the youngest of all the rookie quarterbacks, and I think he can play a little fast and reckless. So I said, I suspect Rosen and Baker are a little older. Baker's got double the college starts, five years in college. I think Darnold, I'm seeing exactly what I thought. When he gets a running game in protection, pretty darn good. When he does it, he can be reckless.

But what if Darnold chops it up this weekend, beats the Colts off the Eli loss? What do you make of this luck Darnold matchup this weekend? Your thoughts on it going in, because I think if Darnold plays well, the heat just gets turned up again on Eli and the Giants. No question about it. The headline in the New York

Post already this morning was from bad to hearse. And I just think it's just going to be a lot worse. Obviously, you know, Colin, you've been in this city. And the issue is a guy like Eli Manning could

care less if they burn him in effigy. He's just, he's nonplussed by any of that stuff. But the whole point is last year, what I saw anyway is that the organization is affected by what is said in the public. Yeah. And what is said in, and is also affected by what is said by veterans around the team. Like, it was almost like the New York Giants Alumni Association all rallied around Eli. Yeah. And that's one. one of the reasons why John Mara and the rest of the organization, Steve Spagnolo in charge, and he'll play our beloved Eli the last four games of the year. A waste of time, a total waste of time, or five games, whatever it was.

But I'm thinking about this, Colin. I think you're right. People are all going to forget. You played a great clip just then of the crowd when the New York Giants took Saquan Barkley. They went nuts. Everybody was happy. The city was euphoric.

You got this great guy. And I think basically now we're going to look back at that moment in history, and especially if Sam Darnold is good for the Jets. And everybody's going to say, because by the time, it could be, by the time a quarterback gets good, you'll be halfway through the shelf life of Saquan Berkeley. Because the giants are going to be tempted to overuse Barclay. Yes.

Because as you saw last night, he's, he's their own. only hope on offense. Even the great $20 million or $19 million, O'Dell Beckham Jr., if you can't get him the ball, how can he be this great, incredible player? So I think you're right. I think the heat does get turned up this week if Darnell plays well against luck. I'm not a big award guy. I like college football, but I don't pay attention to the Heisman. I've, you know, NBA coach of the year. The rule is you win it and get fired the next year. I'm not an award guy. in my business and other businesses. But I was thinking this morning,

Khalil Mack, I could make an argument. Give me 30 seconds here is the MVP of the league. He's affecting three teams. Oakland is a top six offense. Last in the league in sacks. Kaleo Max affecting them. Green Bay's quarterback is hurt. There's a reason.

It was against the Bears. Kaleo Max affecting them. And the Chicago Bears lead their division are now the number two defense in the NFL, number one in the NFC, number one in Sacks. He's, I'd argue, not Trubisky, turned around just the energy in the room. I think Kaleel Mack, I know Lawrence Taylor gets thrown out,

I think you could argue he's an MVP vote-getter at this point. Am I nuts? Not nuts at all. I would have him fourth on my list behind Mahomes, Breeze, golf, in some order. than I would take Kaleo Mack. I agree with you, Colin. And I think the one other thing that he has done,

Matt Nagy told me this last week that he's even affected how they practice. Wow. He told me that every day, before they go out to defensive team drills, a ball boy will put the ball on the field, and Kaleo Mack has started this. They will all race to the football

to see who gets there first. There's nothing on the line yet. so and so gets to the ball first. It's just, it's a competitive thing. Mack has made mundane practice stuff competitive. And this is something that the bears had no idea about when they traded for him. If the guy was mute all practice long, they wouldn't care as long as he played. But he's brought something additional to the inside the team stuff that new guys often don't bring

because they're sort of walking on eggshells when they get. there. Not Khalil Mack. So it's that time of the year to question whether Jason Garrett will survive. And you know, people are complex. Good people do bad things and vice versa. Jerry

can be driven by ego and vanity. But he has often been very supportive of troubled players and average coaches. Jerry's a complex guy to get your arms around. And, you know, I kind of look at Jason Garrett and I kind of think he likes the fact

that Jason Garrett allows him to sit in on film sessions, and Jimmy and Bill Parcells would not. I think Garrett survives unless it's 5 and 11. What say you? I think he probably, I don't know that he can survive with a losing record. I think it depends on how well Dak Scott develops down the stretch. The Cowboys need Dak Prescott to be better than he's been in the last year and a quarter, Colin. He's got to have more of an anticipatory feel, especially on throws down the field.

He's got to be more accurate. So that's important, I think, for the future of Jason Garrett. One other thing I would say here, you hit the nail on the head. I've been around the Cowboys a lot over the years. And one of the reasons that Jason Garrett is a good fit, Jason Garrett's dad was a scout for a long time with the Dallas Cowboys. So the family's got a lot of history. and and and Jim Garrett who's a who was a great guy before he died this past year

he he basically had this uh had this thing with Jason where he said listen trust Jerry he's not going to lead you astray he's a great guy to work for I found it Jason Garrett has really enjoyed working for Jerry even though he understands that there's some showbiz that's going to happen and and I think the one thing that people don't understand. And I'm not necessarily blindly sticking up for Jerry Jones. People think that Jerry Jones goes in the draft room and says, okay, this is what we're doing. He doesn't do that. They have a meeting of the minds and, you know, he lost the Johnny Mansell thing. So, you know, obviously they get Zach Martin and he doesn't throw a tantrum. He's not happy, but he doesn't throw a tantrum. And he lets his

son and the scouting staff win if they claim that such and such a guy is better. I saw the Dallas Cowboys in the Ezekiel Elliott year in the draft. They gave up trying to get Paxton Lynch and in that draft. And Jerry Jones was angry. He wasn't happy about it. But he doesn't dictate to this room what they should do. So I think that's a little bit, you know, misunderstood by people. I understand.

Everybody wants another general manager, a real GM, a polion type. I get it. But it's not like Jerry is sitting there being, you know, a dictatorial sort. He listens to people in that room. By the way, about a minute left here. Patrick Mahomes goes to New England. You lived in Boston briefly. They're 23 and 0 in the last 23 times they faced a quarterback under 25 years old.

There's some magic Sunday night, Foxborough. You've been at those games. It's an incredible TV experience. It's a great fan experience. I like Belichick and Brady Sunday night. I've just seen it too many times, Peter. I've seen it too many times. I've seen Peyton Manning and his prime get unraveled in these big Foxborough games.

What do you think happened Sunday? Well, they had a big Foxborough game on opening night against Andy Reed and the Chiefs open last season, and they gave up 41 points. You know, they had a big Monday night game in Kansas City a couple of years ago, three years ago, I guess now, in game four of. the season and they gave up 42 points or whatever. The last two regular season games against this team and this coach, and I would argue this year a better quarterback,

the Chiefs have manhandled him. So I get it. I get in Bill We Trust. I understand that. But I think the Chiefs are a little bit different, Colin. I can't wait to watch it. Ratings are up around the NFL. It's going to be great.

Yeah, it's going to be fantastic. Peter King, NBCSports.com. Great talking to you, Peter. Thanks, Colin. You bet. 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.

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