The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 10/14/2019

Episode Date: October 14, 2019

Colin is not as concerned with the Cowboys as everyone else and explains why. He is not surprised by the browns struggles because everyone who doesn't live in Ohio saw this coming for Baker and the Browns. He explains where he was right and wrong over the weekend including a rough week for the Blazing 5. Plus, Super Bowl Champion QB Trent Dilfer talks with Colin about the Eagles awful performance and why Deshaun Watson's success is not a surprise to him. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up guys this is clivert 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 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 Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 iHeart Radio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go on a Monday, a crazy Monday when the world is turned upside down. This is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We are live in Los Angeles, beautiful Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. One hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. my pleasure. Thanks for joining us.

Enjoy Taylor's here. Joy, the NFL does this every year. One or two weekends, when the good teams get crushed, the bad teams look good, the good quarterbacks are terrible, the teams that should win at home can't. Welcome to the NFL. Yep, now we have to sort through all of it. Yes, we're going to sort through all of it. So here's what happened. If I had told you a year ago, listen, Kyler Murray and Cliff Kingsbury, their offense is way better than Sean McVey and golf. You just said, what?

if I told you a year ago, Patrick Mahomes, he can't even win at home. You'd be like, what? If I said, Drew Breeze is going to get hurt and the Saints don't miss a beat, you'd be like, what? Cam Newton's out for probably the year and Carolina with a guy who couldn't start in college is unbeatable. What? Philadelphia destroyed, maybe the best roster in the NFL against Kirk Cousins. He looked like Brett Farr. What?

This is called the NFL. So Dallas this morning, everybody's freaking out. Okay, so let's figure this out. Both their offensive tackles were hurt. Amari Cooper was hurt. Byron Jones got hurt. And Sam Darnold comes back at home. They unveiled what appears to be a playbook they only used for Sam Darnold.

And the Cowboys lose 2422 with a chance, as always with Dak. You're in the game in the last two minute to the game. And they lose on the road. Yeah, that's called the NFL. It is really easy to lose in this league. Listen, even winning, even for the Patriots, it can be hard. It's hard for Andy Reid. It's hard for Mahomes.

Losing in this league is really easy. It is really easy. What did Dallas do that shocked you? Well, Dak really struggled without all his parts. What, that's breaking news? Is that the head of the New York Times this morning? Dak struggles without all his parts. Well, Colin, a quarterback that had a flag.

jacket on and spent the last three weeks in a hospital came out and out dueled him. Yeah, Sam Darnold was a first round pick and has a much higher ceiling. Sam Darnold is a better quarterback talent than Dack. That surprised you. Did you watch Darnold? Did you? Okay, here's the thing, if you're Dallas today, that would be concerning. You look flat, offensively, you look a little stale.

It doesn't feel like, you know, Jason Garrett, who's never been a big energy guy, is more the academic. He's not the Ivey, you know, he's not the raw, raw run through a wall guy. And the team looks really, really flat. But timeout here. Do not overreact. Dak Prescott on the road was 10 for 17 on third down. That Jets defense is not terrible.

That's what. Greg Williams is a very good. They got good safeties, good linebackers, good pass rush. By the way, they had 270 yards passing, 130 rushing, and had the ball for 32 minutes. Don't go crazy here. Now, now, now, I will say this. They look flat. Last three weeks can't score a first half touchdown.

I do not think this is an offense built to play from behind. I think it's an offense that should come out scripted, give DAC a lead and give the ball to Zeke, play downhill, and let those pass rushers the Cowboys have unleash a little bit. That's the formula for me. Get a lead, run downhill, and let DAC throw on play action. Not down 14 late, have to catch up. But that's, I mean, don't overreact. You beat Philadelphia at home on Sunday or in first place. You were three and five last year.

It is a week-to-week league. You know, three words in the NFL solve every problem. Just win Sunday. Win Sunday, it's all good. Had the Browns won yesterday? Marty Gras. They lost their freaking out. Well, you've got to buy a week, go play New England.

So now I also hear this, and I think it's a fair criticism. Colin, you said last week that every time Dallas loses, they sort of lose the same way, which is my argument, which is when they lose, it's because the offense is a pop gun. It's a dinkin' DAC, you know, they can't dynamic, forget it. Over the top, no chance. Big plays, rarely. But can I also say this? Everybody that loses in this league loses the same way.

Kansas City is now losing the same way. They can't stop the run. Whenever Houston loses, it's the same way. Deshawn Watson has no protection. Every time the Rams lose now, it's the same way. They have no running game. It's totally dependent on the passing game. Every time Philadelphia loses, don't we always say this?

God, their secondary is terrible. Everybody in this league loses generally the same way. Now, Miami is losing the same way too. They just don't have the offensive personnel to score points. So Dallas is not unique. The teams that lose in this league generally lose because they have a personnel deficiency at one spot. And in Dallas's case, the concern is it's not a personnel deficiency because I still think Dax is a franchise quarterback. Is it a coaching deficiency?

Do they need energy? Do they need a spark? Do they need a new life? That's a very fair criticism. They can't score in the first half last three games. But you can't tell me they don't win games against good teams. I saw them beat the Saints last year. I've seen them beat Philadelphia.

You can't tell me they don't beat good teams. They do beat good teams. Now, they're better against bad teams, but again, so is the league. Just win Sunday and you're in first place. Cleveland had an opportunity yesterday and butchered it with four turnovers and a punt blocked. So let me seg the Cleveland. So isn't it funny?

Fans locally, I hear this a lot from local fans. You don't even watch our games. You don't know us. You don't even watch our games. First of all, I watch every NFL game. I even watched Tennessee, Denver yesterday. It was awful. Just a heads up.

Isn't it funny that fans locally, generally, especially like in baseball where there's 162 regular season games, you do see your team more than we see your team. But the truth about the Cleveland Browns is everybody was right on them. Everybody. You, me, Joy.

John, Greg, America. Everybody was right, except Ohio. Because all of us called everything that's happening. Every one of you out there, didn't you say the same thing? Freddie Kitchens has never even been a coordinator. They could be over their head coaching. Well, at least situationally, that appears to be true. All of you out there said, do we know if Baker's great?

He throws a lot of picks. He's not that tall. All of you out there said, clearly the offensive line is the weakness for the team. All of you out there thought, if you didn't say it, it's the youngest roster in the NFL. Young rosters generally don't win Super Bowls. Everybody had Cleveland right, except Cleveland. What's happening is not a shock. That if you simply looked at the schedule like you and I did, everybody said the same thing.

You got to face Sean McVeigh in the first month, Pete Carroll in the first month. Pete Carroll in the first month, Kyle Shanahan in the first month, and Belichick mid-October. This will probably be a little bit of a rough start. Oh, by the way, three of your first five games are on national TV with the youngest roster in the NFL

and a coach who's never been a coordinator and a quarterback who's had, what, 15 starts coming into the season. This was all incredibly predictable. None of this is shocking. It's not, we also all knew outside of Ohio that it was a very talented roster. Yesterday, Cleveland had a punt blocked, fumbled, and had three picks, and still had a chance

to win with three minutes left. Cleveland was in that game yesterday. The average NFL team that has three picks, a fumble, and a pump block loses by 17 to 24 points. Cleveland didn't, because Cleveland was the right side yesterday. That game was there for them. But young teams make mistakes, and young head coaches situationally get over their head, and Baker Mayfield, and here's the funny thing about Baker, is that not only was all

this predictable, it was predictable with Baker. There's three quarterbacks that I have been very critical of coming into the NFL for the same reason. Judgment. I was very critical about Johnny Mansell's judgment. I said, don't draft him. He's out of the league. I was hypercritical about James Winston's judgment. Did some really stupid stuff. I said he's talented. I worry about his judgment. Yesterday, five picks. That's the problem. And I was really concerned about Baker Mayfield's judgment. Police video taunting. I said, I don't doubt his talent. his judgment worries me. Yesterday, Baker's judgment lost that game. 25 picks and 20 games. After the game blaming the officials. That's my issue. Even Baker Mayfield is predictable. Do I think he's a franchise

quarterback? Yes. Do I think he would be better with a veteran head coach? Yes. Do I think Baker has some real talent? Yes. But do I think he's too cocky, a little too small, and not a world-class athlete to be a number one pick in a draft? Yes. But the great thing about sports and why I love it is because smart people in Ohio, reasonable people that make rational decisions all day, everybody could see all of this coming. I don't think Cleveland's season's over.

I think they have a chance to go nine and seven. There's a lot of Ws on the back end, but yesterday was a real problem. because now New England, Buffalo are the two best defenses in the NFL coming up and Baker against good defenses and good pass rushes. And New England and Buffalo will have both. He makes mistakes because I don't like his judgment. So this is, you know, none of this is a shock.

You got to buy, keep quiet, head down, stop talking, get it right, cut back on mistakes, and go give New England a team that is struggling to move the often because of injuries, a real game. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. 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. SportsSlice 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 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

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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.

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podcast. I ask you coming into the weekend. I said a little homework assignment. We don't get this very often where you'd get like a manning against the Brady, right? Or you get, like the classic matchup. Troy Aikman is playing Steve Young or Marino's playing Elway and it's the same TV you get to watch it. So I said, Mahomes and Watson, I said, tell me after the game who's better. Because I'm not sure Patrick Mahomes is better. And that's not a knock on Patrick. I think he and Deshaun are both great. But it's always been easier to see Mahom. Mahomes being great. Mahomes has the big arm, and Mahomes is flashier, so as highlights get shown far more on TV.

You don't see a lot of Deshawn Watson highlights. You see a million Mahomes. Mahomes comes into a great head coach. He's got nice weapons, organizational structure. But in the last, what, 17 games they've played, Deshaun Watson's 13 and 4, and Patrick Mahomes is 11 and 6. And many of Mahomes' biggest games have been at home, and many of Deshaun's biggest games, games have been on the road. And Deshawn's done it overwhelmingly with a worse offensive line, fewer weapons, without a

running game until recently, and a coach, Bill O'Brien, who I think is a coach, he's a good coach. I don't think he's Andy Reid. And they also, by the way, don't have a general manager. But Deshawn Watson is something that Trent Dullfer taught me years ago. You can be smart, but not have a twitchy mind. Deshawn is very twitchy athletically. He's very twitchy upstairs.

Is anybody in the league at his age? as good against the Blitz as Deshaun Watson. Used to be a weakness. Now it's a strength. He picks up everything quickly. And remember, he was Mahomes before Mahomes. He averaged as a rookie 39 points a game in his last five games with an atrocious offensive line.

Mahomes couldn't do that. Now, if you told me I had to pick one for the next 10 years, I would take Mahomes because Mahomes doesn't have any injuries and Deshaun has two. Just like Carson Wentz, you know, Andrew Luck. If you're giving me guys to take for 10 years, the first thing I look at is durability is the most in part of availability is staying in the games. And Deshaun runs around. He's been hurt. But I think in my lifetime, there have been quarterbacks that are easy to spot early.

Dan Marino, well, he inherited Don Shula, organizational structure. John Elway. Aaron Rogers. You know, he inherits an offense, Brett Farb. They have pieces, organizational structure. Patrick Mahomes, Brett Farb. There's these guys. that are very easy to spot, and they usually have big arms or they win, they've got weapons,

they inherit those, and so they're on the highlights and shows like this talk about him. And then there's guys that come into the league, and they're harder to get your hands around. Is that unathletic guy for New England really that good? Well, he's got Belichick. I swear for eight years he was winning Super Bowls, and it was, well, he's a system quarterback. Russell Wilson. He's 5-11 and a half. I mean, his college coach basically said, we don't want to start.

start you. It's all Marshaun Lynch. It's the Legion of Doom. And then you wake up one day and all those pieces are gone and you're like, no, it's Russell Wilson. He always wins those close games. And then there's Deshaun Watson, who's not a big arm guy. He's got a good arm, not a great arm, who is, you know, he's not huge, doesn't have a cannon. Frankly, he's not that flashy. He's not an elegant thrower. Now, he'll run around and make plays, but a lot of what he does is get rid of the ball quickly, make the obvious throws. They're about twice a game. He's ridiculous and magic, maybe three times.

So it's harder to get your arms around a young Brady, any young Russell Wilson, any young Deshawn Watson. They're not Farrv. Huge arm. Big Ben, massive size. Brett Farr, Patrick Mahomes. But this morning, who wins more in this league

than Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, and Patrick Mahomes the last three years? The answer is nobody. Nobody wins more. So just because somebody's, it takes a little time, you have to have a little more discretion, you have to consider everything. When I watch these two play,

now I think Kansas City is going to be fine. They're all beat up. Kansas City's going to be fine. And Patrick Mahomes is going to be a first ballot, HOF. Don't worry about that. And by the way, Houston's going to win their division. They're not going to win the rest of their games, but they're going to win their division,

and they're going to be fine, too, especially if they can get, you know, a general manager. But in the end, the homework assignment was, are we sure this one's here and this one's here? And my takeaway is, this is what they are. If they played 10 times, it's 5'5. Mahomes, bigger arm, no question. Deshawn Watson, to me, better athlete.

And now Deshawn finally has a reasonable offensive line, finally has the semblance on most Sundays of a running game. now he's not having to overcome stuff like Mahomes has never had to until now overcoming injuries. And guess what? It's a lot harder for Patrick than it was last year at this time. And it's a lot easier for Deshaun than it was four weeks ago. So I think when you look at the weapons and you look at the running game and you look at the old lines, it's a coin flip. It is a coin flip.

Deshawn's always been underrated. Patrick hasn't been overrated. He was just easier to spot. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. All right. We do it every Monday, right and wrong. I'm a lot of both.

And you seem to like it when I admit I'm wrong. So here we go. Where Colin was right. OBJ, over 100 yards, 11 targets, and Cleveland loses at home. Okay, this is what I said. He's a good player. But he's the definition. of icing, and I do think they're trying to get the ball to him too hard. There is no correlation to

his production and his team's winning. This is what happened in New York. All of his 100-yard games in New York, he had like 16. He won five. I thought he and Baker would work, but my concern is happening, which is, I think they're trying to force the ball to him. This is going to be a running team, and that's what they are. And by the way, they get Kareem Hunt in a month, and I think they should run the ball 37 to 47 times a game. But once again, my greater point is OBJ does not correlate to wins. You have a problem on this team. Offensive line, fix it.

Because when that blocks well, Baker wins, and they're not. Where Colin was raw. Boy, my blazing five came down to earth hard. One and four. I'm still 65% for the year, 1910 and 1. But every break I got earlier in the year, I didn't get. For the record, why do I keep betting on Marcus Mario? why do I keep betting on Atlanta?

It's my fault. I rail on these teams all week, and then on Friday I pick them. You did say you were done with Atlanta. I'm done with Atlanta again, and I'm done with Markets Marioada. I don't know why I keep betting on them. That's my problem.

I got a psychological deficiency here. I bet the teams I hate. What am I doing? I like Brady. Why don't I bet Brady? I like Russell Wilson. I never bet on Russell Wilson. I got a problem.

It's deep. where Colin was right? I said for years, are we sure Cam's making them better? Is Cam Newton holding them back? Carolina's now 4-0 without him. A story came out this weekend. This is not my opinion that he may not get his job back. Nine years, he's had one great year.

I've always thought he's marginally committed. He's always been distracted. Now, he does play hurt. I will give him credit. He's tough. He's a unique athlete. But I have been on this for years. Stop telling me.

Carolina doesn't have elite talent. MVP at running, Luke Keeckley's the best linebacker in 10 years in this league. McCaffrey may be the best running back in this league. Their defense once again is top seven in this league. Stop telling me that Cam needs help. No, Cam's got more than enough help. Cam, nine years, one great year.

Not doubting his toughness. But this team with a quarterback, I mean, did you even classify Kyle Allen as a second stringer? Was he a third stringer? They keep winning and looking great. Where Colin was wrong. I said the Saints are my number one pullback team in the NFL. Sort of wrong on that one.

They may be the best roster in the NFL. And what I like about them, they've won different ways. They've won on the road. They've won at home. They've won on the East Coast. They've won on the West Coast. They've won with Sacks. In Seattle, they help win with special teams.

They've won with a run game. Yesterday it's the pass game. Their only loss was a bad whistle in L.A. Leonard Furnett was rolling. They stopped him. I got to tell you, when you watch them, this defense right now, you don't want any part of it. They are, this defense is, you can't run on them. They get massive pressure, and I think they have the best corner in the league in Marshawn Latimore.

So I got a lockdown corner, you can't run, and I get pressure on virtually every pass. And Teddy Bridgewater is doing exactly what we thought, which is. It's not a huge drop-off with him and an old Drew Breeze. Where Colin was right. The Houston Texans coach, Bill O'Brien, got ripped to shreds. When he said, I'm trading first-round picks. I'm trading three picks. I'm getting Laramie Tunzel left tackle.

Well, what do you know? Houston Texans are now, Deshawn Watson's 7 and 0 when he gets sacked once or fewer. Now they have a left side of the offensive line. Deshaun Watson's not under constant duress. Bill O'Brien's a national pinata because, and we keep forgetting this, Doesn't he keep winning his division? Doesn't he keep winning his division? Did you think he had help upstairs?

The GM? No, they fired that guy. Do you think they have great ownership? I would say no. So when a guy keeps winning a division, you can't keep telling me how bad Bill O'Brien is. My number one rule in the NFL is get a quarterback. One, number two, protect your quarterback.

And that's what he did. And I don't care how many draft picks you give up to get a left tackle for the next five years to protect that asset, Deshawn Watson. I'm four. I don't care how many picks. you give up. I've seen NFL teams give up six picks and draft RG3 and then win the division, even if RG3 the next year can't play. I can't give up two first rounders and a second rounder

for Laramie Tunzel and at Kenny Stills. That's outrageous. I think it was outrageous to rip him. Where Colin was wrong. I never thought Ed Orgeron was a head coach. He's going to quirky at LSU, but I've got to be honest with you. He's played 11 top 10 teams. He's 1-8. They look great Saturday night. It's the best L.A. team I've seen in years. And you know what I like about Ed? Ed knows what he's not. I think this is a great quality. When you get to be 50 and you got some money, you think you know it all. Ed's like, you know what? I'm going to give the offense up. I was going to give the offense up, and he's given the offense up, and they look great. It's the first time I've ever seen them have

a sophisticated passing offense. He's always been a great guy, and he's always been a great recruiter. But I always felt he was a little out of his element being a Power 5, National Power head coach. He looks great. And you're not going to be a better guy. A USC passed on him. Probably made a mistake. Congrats to Ed Orgeron. Where Colin was right. I had my reservations about the Lakers and I said, listen, they're going to be the second best team in their own town and they're old. And they've got a bunch of guys who've been hurt. AD, LeBron, Rondo, but what do you know? AD's got a thumb injury. So this was my problem with this roster and all the expectations.

LeBron's off a big injury. Rondo's always hurt. DeMarcus Cousins is already out for the year with an injury. Anthony Davis has a history of not being brittle, but a lot of nagging injuries. And let me ask you this, if he's out for a month, is this roster this morning without AD better than last year's roster? I'm not sure it is.

Old players get hurt more and it takes longer to recover. And so the season has, started, we got DeMarcus Cousins out for the year and AD hurt. This was my concern and this is what we have. Where Colin was raw. I'm not a big celebration guy.

And a couple years ago, the NFL said, we're going to take a little page from the NBA and be into celebrations. And I was like, oh, Lord, really? You know what? They're actually funny. And you know something I never thought about? They actually, if you notice this, there's almost always three, four, five or six guys doing the celebration. So it actually

is a team thing. And I remember when they brought it in the league. I was like, oh, this is just going to be preening and it's ridiculous. A lot of them are funny. Guys are generally doing them together. They're not getting it. By the way, some of the winning his teams in the league do the best celebrations. And, you know, I don't think a five-second post-touchdown celebration is the end of the world.

And the truth is they go viral. They're great digitally. People share them on the internet. And it makes the NFL, which can be very corporate and very heavy. You know, no screwing around. Do your job. It lightens the league up, and I was wrong. Where Colin was right.

Well, it said, pay guys when you have to. Don't pay players early. Dak Prescott, you know, Jerry may save 50 million bucks on this deal. Now, that may only be $4.5.5 million a year. But again, the Rams paid Todd Gurley early. Now they have no money to correct their O-line issues. Dak Prescott, he's a franchise quarterback.

He'll get paid. don't blame all of this on him. I don't think he has a great head coach. But in the end, there's no hurry. This is not like entrepreneurship. This is not, this is a salary cap sport. If it's baseball, pay the guy. But unless you think you have a Patrick Mahomes, just be patient, let things play out. There is no rush. Dax's not going to get to the market. He's got a year left. You've got a lot of defensive games coming up with great coaches, defensive players, let it play out. And I think Jerry knows this. Jerry wanted to get at least a reasonably favorable contract with Dak. And I think he now probably saved himself four to five to six

million dollars a year. And Dak at 28 and a half to 29 million, I'm much more comfortable than DAC at 36 million, which is what everybody wanted to pay him after the Miami game. Where Colin was right? The Washington Nationals, two wins away from the World Series. The chemistry is better. I like Bryce Harper. I do not buy $250, $300 million, $10, 12 years contracts. I think they're bad for locker rooms. I think they're bad for chemistry.

I think they put enormous pressure on teams. The Nats are now totally committed to starting pitching, which is what their strength should have been. The Phillies, by the way, brought on Bryce Harper, got their manager fired, and they watched two other teams in their own division make the playoffs. Baseball, you do not want to be tight. And when you have the superstar and the home run guy and the expectations are high,

teams get tight. And I think, and again, I like Bryce Harper, but we said we think the Phillies will underachieve with him. It will not pay off. And you'll be two years into the Bryce deal in Philadelphia and you'll have reservations. And once again, the Dodgers made the playoffs. Don't spend big. The Astros made the playoffs. Don't spend big.

And the Nats let the big player go. And look at them. Two wins from the World Series. 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 athletes 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 beaders 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, 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 rapid. 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. 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, guys?

This is Clivert 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, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts 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, and our podcast Point Game is about defining 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 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 Reid. 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 stopped 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, ISA, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Had a bounceback week as high school football team out there in Nashville, Lipscomb Academy won 35-0-0. So he's in a great mood now. He doesn't...

Losing as a football coach is... It's not easy. NFL high school college, Trent Dillfer, via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So now we get relieved. He's not going to get, you know, the general manager's not on your butt. Now you feel good this week, right?

Absolutely. I'll tell you what. Winning's the greatest perfume of all time, Colin. All right. Speaking of perfume, Sam Darnel did something for the Jets. It was almost like Adam Gase just buried some of the playbook and said, listen, there's stuff we can't do without Sam.

I'm not going to show it because I watched that first half, Trent, and there was a lot of multiple looks and they looked sharp and they had specific plays. What did you take away with the Jets, especially early against the Dallas Cowboys? Yeah, it was open. It wasn't sequestered like it had felt watching the Jets offense. And a part of that's probably their record, how poor they've been on offense. They just said, hey, the way we're trying to do things isn't working. Let's try something new.

Obviously, a big part of it, Sam coming back. I mean, I believe this guy is a big time franchise quarterback in the NFL. I believe that ever since his time back at USC. So obviously the signal caller, the trigger man has a lot to do with it. But it just looked like a different Jets offense. It looked like one that had purpose. It looked like one that was willing to take some chances and one that was willing to push the ball down the field a little bit when it made sense to.

You also like Baker, but, I mean, yesterday. again, 25 picks and 20 games. You know, it's interesting. Antonio Cromarty came in earlier and made a point. He said, listen, when Greg Williams, who's a big physical, you know, presence, had this team, Baker felt like he played a little more under control. Now you get the rookie head coach, and sometimes Baker's not playing under control. And I thought it was an interesting observation.

What do you think? I think it's a great observation. I think I like Baker when Baker plays on time. And I've said that since he was in college. I love Baker when Baker plays on time. I love Baker when he just tries to execute the offense and not try to play beyond the X's and O's. I don't like Baker when he's when his mind rights checks, his body can't cash. There's times he thinks he's an exceptional athlete.

There's times he thinks he has exceptional arm talent and he's neither. He's a very, very twitchy athlete. He's very accurate. He makes really good decisions on time. the longer the plays go, the worst Baker is. Now, there's some exceptions, and people will show highlight reels of him running around and doing great things. But if you look at the entire year, when you add it all up,

he will be exponentially better when he plays on time instead of when he tries to extend plays. A guy that you were a big fan of out of college, and I remember when there was a lot of questions about Deshawn Watson, and my takeaway was, okay, this guy won the Georgia high jump championship, in eighth grade. We're talking about this is transformational stuff and he's clearly incredibly

coachable. You were on him, I think you had him at some very, very early camps. So I take it you're not surprised by what you see with Deshaun. Not at all and I think the simplest way to explain Deshawn Watson is this. If you are fortunate enough to spend a lot of time

around him, then you will appreciate him. You can't appreciate the depth of this guy, his talent, his soul, his thoughtfulness, his leadership qualities, his impact until you spend time with him. And I go back to his sophomore year in high school. This is before he can be part of the elite 11 as a rising senior, so he's a rising junior. And even at that camp, you could sense there was something different about Deshawn Watson.

He makes everybody in the room better. He makes every environment better. He makes every team better. He's been through more than most people at a young age. He doesn't have extreme highs or extreme lows People, when you're around him, you're more confident I can go on and on and on He's not the best at any one thing

He's not the best thrower, the best athlete, The best X-O guy, But he's close to the best at almost everything And Davos-Sweeney is not a guy That makes these extreme hot take comments very often And when he said, if you pass up to Sean Watson You're passing up Michael Jordan I think he said that because he just got to spend a lot of time around

DeShan. He saw what Deshawn did for that Clemson program. I think anybody that gets to really know Deshaun and be impacted by him for a long amount of time truly understands the depth of this guy. I think he's one of the top five players in the NFL. I think he's going to be for a long time. Trent Dill for joining us,

a decade and a half, Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, a friend of the show. So we didn't think the Saints would capsize, you know, with Teddy Bridgewater. He was a high round pick. It was a great high school player. was a multiple year starter. I've heard from multiple scouts that I've talked to.

He's got kind of a coach's mind. He picks stuff up. You call it twitchy. So when you watch the Saints who win again, they've won out west, they've won on the road, they've won with special teams. What do you make of the Bridgewater story?

Well, you're not limited. I think so often a backup quarterback conversation gets off track or gets convoluted. And really, when a backup comes in, the better backups don't. don't limit your offense. All of a sudden, you don't have to go, okay, we have to cut the playbook in half. So Teddy, number one, he doesn't limit what you can do offensively.

No, he's not Drew Breeze. Drew Brees is one of the greatest players ever played football. But Teddy Bridgewiser is a smart guy. He does have that coach's mind. He has that twitchy mind. He's an accurate passer. He has movement capabilities. He's got command.

He's got leadership. So he's got all the stuff it takes to help you win games. Now, they're also, this is also a great example of when a team can fill some of your gaps. This is a really good football team. They play really good defense. They run the ball well. They can block well. They play good on special teams.

So if there are any gaps in Teddy's game, the team can cover those gaps, can fill in those gaps. But I think the best thing watching the Saints offense right now, it's not like they've cut the playbook and half. It's not like they've changed. It's not like they're scared. Yeah. Teddy doesn't limit. what you can do. You're just not going to do it quite as well as you would do it if you had Drew

Breeze. Yeah, that's a good point. So, listen, I think at this point, you get to mid-October, and September can be a little fool's gold. Everybody's healthy. The weather's perfect. But I think you get six, seven games into a season. You get a sense of who can play. I mean, Buffalo's defense is good. I feel comfortable saying that. And I'm very comfortable saying San Francisco is a real team. We all knew Trent, they'd be better. I think we're all a little surprised they're this good. What's the secret sauce here? Patience. Think about it. Cleveland Brown's won the offseason with all the shiny bells and whistles and, you know, all this stuff they've been wanting to talk about. And then you had the 49ers over. They're just quietly sitting

out there in California, not making any big time offseason splashes. They trade for D. Ford, but they know they're going to get better with Jimmy G. coming back. A lot of people talking about their defense wasn't very good. Fire the defensive coordinator. They stayed paid. patient there. They didn't panic when McKinnon got hurt again. They quietly signed Tevin Coleman. Yep. They're very comfortable with who they are and they knew the process would take over. I give John Lynch a ton of credit for not knee-jerk reacting to anything. Kyle Shanahan, we've talked about one of the best minds in all of football, but also showing really good global leadership with this football team. And all of a sudden, these young,

talented players, one more year under Coach Shanahan's belt, a one. One more year we're learning the system. One more year running the same defensive system, getting Jimmy G back. They don't panic when Joe Staley gets hurt. They don't panic when the fullback gets hurt. They just go about their business. They're the second best defense in the NFL, 12.8 points per game. They're really good in critical situations.

Red zone defense. Third down defense. This team is very much for real. And it's an example of how patience can pay off in the NFL. You know, Trent, you were in this league a long time. it's hard to win, it's easy to lose. And there are these games. There'll be three or four games that last year, New England played Miami.

Miami had the 32nd ranked offense and they dropped 34 in New England. Last year, Buffalo was a 17-point dog. They went to Minnesota with a rookie quarterback and took a 27-0 lead. If I'm Philadelphia this morning, do I just say, okay, let's just burn the tape? Let's just bury the tape. Or do you have real concerns about the Eagles back end? I have real concerns about the Eagles as a championship type team. Now, I don't disagree with what you're saying about there are these aberration games that you can't freak out about.

But if you look at the Eagles for the season, do you love anything about them or do you just like them? I think they're just a likable team. I don't think they're a team you fall in love with. They've shown no ability to be consistent. They found ways to lose games, not win games. I just don't think there's any one thing about. this Eagle team that you fall in love with. I think it's a team that you like

and you're hoping there's a little bit more, but they're still resting a little bit on their championship and what they have done and not what they need to be doing right now. First season at Lipscomb Academy High School football, Nashville, Tennessee. Okay, what's your record? We're five and two, Colin. We're this team and won three games in two years. So trying to teach these guys how to deal with success now.

It's the first time they've had success in their high school careers, and we hope to have a lot more. but as we've talked to us, success is harder to handle than failure sometimes. Yeah, so listen, you're on a winning streak here. Don't get ahead of yourself. Listen to Uncle Colin. Don't, you know, don't give him popsicles at practice, Trent. You know, you're a good guy.

I still want, don't break headsets, but to stay on this team, right? Tip of the spear, baby. Tip of the spear. That's where we're trying to live. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the ice. Hard Radio app. Philadelphia got smoke yesterday by Minnesota. Never forget this. New England lost five games last year to non-playoff teams. So even good teams have bad Sundays. And every year in

the NFL, there's about three games. I can't, I can't give you an answer. One of them last year, I don't think Kirk Cousins is going to have another game like that this year. Last year, New England faced the worst offense in the league, Miami, and Miami scored 34 in them. Remember that, New England wasn't even prepared at the end of the game. We're gronging. on the field on the Hail Mary or whatever it was. Buffalo, 17-point dog, went to Minnesota. Remember that? And took a 27-0-0 leading the first half.

That game makes no sense. There was a game last year. The Colts run a five-game winning streak. They'd scored 35 a game. They went to Jacksonville and got shut out. I had the Colts in that game. They got shut out. They couldn't pick up first downs.

So you have these games every year in the NFL. You're like, what just happened? My gut feeling yesterday with Philadelphia just bury the tape. But Trent Dilfer said earlier, and this is legit, they're not great at anything. They're okay or pretty good at a lot of things. Yesterday, the Eagles were exposed. I still like them. They go to Dallas. They're an underdog. And I think Philadelphia wins in Dallas. 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 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. Space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your

podcast. What's up, guys? This is Cliver Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversation. conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app. or wherever you get your podcast.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.