The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 10/18/2018

Episode Date: October 18, 2018

Colin thinks the controversial HR call between the Astros and Red Sox could have been solved had the ump simply let it play out instead of rushing to make a call. He thinks Carmelo Anthony has already brought down the Rockets to some degree after just one game. Plus, Greg Cosell of NFL Films talks with Colin about Brady's execution of the two minute offense and why one AFC team is better than we give them credit for. Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening, live in Los Angeles. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, Joy Taylor is joining me. We are absolutely packed today from one hour NFL meat sandwich Greg Cosell. LeBron and Laker starts tonight. Dodgers won yesterday. get to that in a second. We have all sorts of sports. October's an incredible time of the year. Last night was wild drama and great storylines everywhere.

So let's talk about, like this happens every postseason in baseball. There is the controversial play. And it didn't need to be a controversial play. Jose Al Tuvei, last year's MVP, unbelievable talent, at home, hits a 97 mile an hour seat over the wall. Mookie Becks outfielder, Mookie Betts, outfielder for the Red Sox, probably this year's MVP, arguably. They got two guys that could be for the Red Sox.

He goes up. He's about to make a catch. A ball and the fans and it's a crazy. And Joe West, the older, heavy set umpire who had a lousy view came up and said, that is an out because there was fan interference. Okay, first of all, don't blame the fans. If a ball is heading to you and you're a fan at 115 miles an hour, you're going to put your hands out. I don't want to hear anybody blaming a fan.

I'm not sure if anybody is, but it's human instinct. Fans, when the ball's hit near the wall and they have front row seats, they reach for the ball. Of course they do. It's going 115 miles an hour. But this never needed to be controversial. Why not just let the entire play play out? Let it play out. Never get in the way of great athletes potentially doing great things.

There was no real. reason to make that call. Joe West had a lousy view. Even on replay, I can't tell exactly what happens. If I took 100 calls right now, 50 would say interference, 50 would say not. Everybody in Houston would say home run. Everybody in Boston says they got it right. Now, there is a ground rule double rule in baseball. You can't use it here because the ball didn't hit the ground first. I wish you could split the difference. But the bigger issue is don't get in the way in an NBA finals. Don't get in the way in the Super Bowl. Don't get in the way in the ALCS of great players. doing great stuff. Let it play out and then go to the replay. If you didn't see it in real

time, if you didn't see it live, here it is. Al-Tubei, right field. That's at the track. He leaked off a fan. No, they're saying off of bats in his in-play. They may be calling it interference. I'm trying to get a read on the right field umpire here. And out is the call. Wow. Well, does this game ever start with some controversy. That is a tough, tough call to make. It didn't need to be made. Let it

play out. Use the satellites and the replays later. But you don't stop last year's MVP and this year's MVP in the middle of it's just a wild scene in Houston. Get out of the way. Let the bird in the sky figure out the rest. Brutal.

You ever gone out in a date? And the waiter keeps coming over too often? And you're like, dude, come on. You're overwaiting. And the wait staff keeps coming over and keeps coming over. And you're like, I'm trying to create a little momentum here. You can be a waiter and you can get in the way of a date, of a night, of the pace. Joe West got in the way of that thing.

Three terrible things happened there. First of all, you stopped a wild, oh my God play in the ALCS. You stopped it. The second thing is you didn't have a very good view on it. And you still made a call. That's bad. third, you became the focal point, Joe West, not Mookie Betts and not Jose Al Tuve. That's the worst of the three.

You know what the NFL did? The NFL's figure this out. They just let a play go and then they come back and look at it. But they don't get in the middle of the play. And it took them a while to figure this out in football, but they've figured it out. They're not the waiter that comes up and keeps interrupting. You want more bread, can you get more water? You could get out of here.

I'd be happier. Anytime you're talking about an umpire. An umpire. You're mentioning an umpire referee's name after a playoff. game, something went wrong. Something went wrong. And the NFL has learned this. And I would say this.

If you do this on a Tuesday night in a Denver Nugget, Sacramento Kings game, but an umpire and an official has to realize, sports rarely gives us superstars in the moment doing super things. You want to be invisible. And unfortunately, Joe West was the most visible. And this is, it's a, baseball's already got an action problem due to analytics, not enough base runners, too many home runs, strikeouts. They've already got an action problem. This was unbelievable action, and you stopped it. It was an OMG moment. You stopped it. And the NFL

figured something else out. The NFL had that catch rule for 10 years, and then they just changed the catch rule. And the reason they did is because they wanted to reward great athletes doing great things. You play fantasy football. They want to reward you the fans. They want to reward the people in the stadium. They didn't want to reward the ground. Nobody buys a jersey in the back of it says, ground. That's my favorite player. Ground. No, you has Julio Jones, Matt Ryan, you know, Aaron Rogers, Brady. So the NFL said, let's flip the catch rule. So the star is who we talk about, not the ground. I mean, we were watching NFL games for a decade talking about the ground. Nobody buys a jersey for the ground. Okay, Des Bryant is who you should be talking about.

I spent four days talking about the ground in Lambo. Hard to sell the jersey for the ground. Last night I'm talking about Joe West. I'm talking about fans. I'm talking about interference. I should be talking about monkey bets and Jose Al-Atuve. That's who I should be talking about. And the NFL has figured this out.

I mean, it just drives me crazy. And there was no perfect camera angle. And that's the thing in baseball is that we created all these centers, you know, these umpire centers, these official centers in New York and the NHL, it's in Toronto, and you created them to eliminate these. But the umpires and the officials should get the hell out of the way and let guys do what they do, which is Jose Al Tuvei Rakes and Mookie Betts Fields. And now it should be noted.

I don't think this was early in the game. By the way, Boston's been better defensively. Boston's had the better bullpen. Boston had 108 wins. I think Boston this year is the better team. Like Houston was the best team in baseball last year. And they've even had a disadvantage. Chris Sale couldn't pitch last night.

He was in the hospital. So it's not like everything has gone Boston's way, but Boston made two great plays last night defensively. Betts made one later, catch at the end of the game. They've had the better defense. They've had the better bullpen. But God, Joe West, baseball's got an action problem. Don't make it worse.

Let stuff play out. Stop coming up to me if you're a waiter. Do you need more bread? I'll flag you down if I do. Trying to connect here with the misses here, okay? Meanwhile, across the street in Houston, the rockets were terrible and gave up 131 points, the most points they've given up in the regular season

since Mike Dan Tony got there. That's the most. Not so coincidentally, Carmelo, Anthony, is now a member of the Rockets. Mello arrives, chemistry goes into the toilet, and he doesn't play defense.

Here's what's amazing about this. Here is what's amazing about this. Is that Houston does two or three things well. They shoot threes well. It's the one thing Carmelo can do. Last year, we gave him credit because they started really finally playing defense.

Yeah, he's crappy at that. Well, at least, you know what? last year, we all worried about Hardening Chris Paul's chemistry. Mello's on his third team in three years. It's inexplicable to me. Houston is known as the anti-mid-range jumper team. It's the only thing Mello does. We gave him credit last year because they finally played defense.

He's terrible at it. And oh, by the way, the one thing we really worried about the rockets was chemistry. Chris Paul Harden worked perfectly. It's probably his number one weakness. Carmel O. Anthony has become Will Seventh. Smith, the actor. You know, he does men in black, Independence Day. He's got some early success. Carmelo wins a title at Syracuse. He gets the Denver Nuggets to the Western Conference Championship. He has a little success. And 10 years later, we're still living off that.

Stop trying to convince me in 2018, Carmelo Anthony is a great player. He's not. You got to shoot threes. He can't. Don't shoot mid-range jumpers. It's all he does well. Defense now matters on the perimeter. He's awful. Chemistry. Stars playing together has become the new trend in the NBA. Yeah, he didn't get along with anybody. He's Will Smith. He had this run for about six years, and everybody's like, woo, we.

Oh, that's not discount, fresh prints. Okay, fresh prince. And then Independence Day. And then men in black. And it's been bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb. Pursuit of happiness was good. Mello and Will Smith have figured one thing out. How to make money.

They are great at making money. Because they're not making hits. They're not winning games. They're not getting me to a box office. they're not getting you to the finals, but those guys have figured out how to make money. Maybe there's a rule in life. Be really successful early, and then you can just quit working.

Because I can't figure out Houston, all the things they're great at, and we finally gave him a pat on the back for, they went the other way. Finally played defense. Let's get mellow. Finally had great chemistry. Let's get mellow. Finally got the three down.

Let's get mellow. He doesn't fit any of those. And they got box last night, and their front court defense was terrible. 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. I've made no bones about it. A lot of times fans can be dishonest. They say they like the underdog, but when you put the underdog in the final four, nobody watches, when you put the

underdog in the basketball playoffs, nobody watches, you don't want underdogs to win. I watch games and I look at the stadiums and I see people's jerseys and they always have the name of the star on the back of the jersey. Put TCU in a bowl game, nobody watches. Put Ohio state in the bowl game, everybody watches. You keep telling me what you like, but what you like, according to all the data, is stars. Baseball's got to be careful here. Analytics and baseball are becoming perilously close to becoming anti-star. Last night was great for the Dodgers because I was emotionally vested.

Why? Because a star Clayton Kershaw, who's a fading star. He didn't throw 97. He's got to rely on his curveball now. But he's a fading star. He's Michael Jordan at the end. He's Kobe at the end. He's Joe Montana at the end.

But I'm emotionally invested because he's a star, and I've been really. watching him and I've seen him live pitch six times. And you don't know if he can get the guys out in a big spot because he can't throw 98 consistently anymore. He's more 92 using the breaking stuff. And yesterday was great because we're all in it with him together. He's a star. We know him. We know his struggle. We know he was dominant. We know he struggled in the postseason. And now I'm, I am watching him go, okay, he's getting through this. He's through the third. He's through the fifth. Now he's to the seventh. It's great. I have a rooting interest. By the way, the Dodgers also have Mani Machado, who is very, very polarizing.

Take a side. Yassil Pug, polarizing, take aside. You know who Milwaukee Star has been in this series so far? Their manager, Craig Counsel. He was boring as a player. I don't want to see him visit the mound 12 times. That doesn't interest me. You've got to be careful about analytics.

In the NFL and NBA, analytics are helping the stars. It's getting close in baseball where let's go to the bullpen early. No, let's not. Let's not go to the bullpen early. defensive shift take hits away from power hitters no get rid of the defensive shift just like hockey got rid of guys sitting in the crease NBA said nobody in the line yet after one batter yesterday Craig counsel comes out and pulls the pitcher to get an analytics edge now let's go to another commercial let's not let's go and see great pitchers pitch and great hitters hit and I found myself yesterday emotionally wrapped up in Clayton Kershaw I saw him be dominant and fail in the postseason now

he's not a dominant, wouldn't it be ironic if he succeeds in the postseason? If he wins a World Series. So, you know, I, I understand it makes everybody feel smart. I get that. And I understand that baseball's always had a chess match mentality. But over the last couple of days, I've talked a lot of baseball. Why? Because Jose Al-Tuvae was in a play.

And Clayton Kershaw was pitching. And Mookie Betts made a play. Oh, Manny Machado did that. I don't talk about those things with bullpen guys. Stars. Like this don't over, I don't want, you know, remember the old Simpsons thing? I don't want baseball to become this. As a pitcher, Cliffley is clearly superior to Zach Grenke.

Yes, I completely agree with the following colossal exception before the fourth inning after a road loss in a dumb stadium. Then it's good to be Grangee unless he's got a bunion, in which case he is notably ineffective. Blue Haven't. Yeah, I don't want baseball to be that. Clayton Kirshah's a star. I fought's the star. The night before I saw a man named Machado who was a star, and he was controversial. That's fun.

That's what I want to see in the World Series. And I think I'm going to get it in the World Series, even though I felt Milwaukee was the better team the entire series. Yesterday it just so happened that Clayton Kirshah gave you a great outing, seven innings pitched, three hits, one run, two walks, nine strikeouts. It was the old Clayton Kirshah. Actually, it was the new Clayton Kirshah. He's not as dominant in the regular season.

He was dominant in the postseason. So, but I don't want to see all these analytics. I love, I want to see Chris Sale, Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez. I don't want to see Joe West. I want to see Kershaw, Machado. It's not major markets. It's major stars. And Kershaw yesterday was fascinating.

Because at the end of MJ's career, the end of Brady's career, at the end of Farve's career, these are fast. We've watched these people for 10 years, succeed, fail, triumph. Oh, I'm all in. These are like, you know, I'm all in on these guys. These are the stars of the sport. Let them be stars. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Everybody's talking about LeBron. How many games are going to win? How many minutes he's going to play? I don't know. I'll make one prediction on the Lakers that Brandon Ingram will become LeBron's favorite Laker and he will emerge as the second best player on the team. That's my one prediction. Listen, the NBA gives you a lot of.

absolutes. 15 teams in this league are awful. I could name them. They have no chance to win the championship. You know, your Sacramento's, your Memphis, Phoenix is getting better, but they're not there. Dallas, Brooklyn, Knicks, Orlando, Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte. 15 teams, absolutely no shot to win a championship. On most nights, not even that interesting. Then there's two rosters that are spectacular and that absolutely will be around in the end. Boston, great coach, great young players, great stars, great GM, great home court advantage, and the Warriors, great coach, great front office, great home court, great stars. I get a lot of absolutes.

Okay, I got absolutely no shot to win a championship and absolutely be there in the end. The Lakers are kind of a mystery. You got a superstar, emerging young players. Some, Lonzo, we're not sure how much he will emerge or fit, and Kuzma may not play as much as he thinks, and I think Ingram's a star. Then he got a bunch of wackos.

He got a bunch old castoffs and crazy people. Charles Barkley was talking about this on the Dan Patrick show. This is the rare LeBron team. I don't even know what they are. Those young guys play. That's why I didn't. I don't know what the Lakers are doing. I mean, I have no idea what the Lakers are doing.

And I think that's what I'm going to be watching for the most. Yeah, my prediction is it's going to take them about 30 games to figure it out. Brandon Ingram will become the next star off of Lebron. on and by the end they will be a middle of the Western seed with a real chance and a real threat in the West to win a lot of games in the playoffs. That's my, that's my prediction, is that going to take a while, A, going to take a while, B, Ingram's going to become a star this year, and then C in the end, they're going to mostly figure out what they are, have some limitations, but they're going to figure it out after the All-Star break.

Want 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. And with that, over three decades at NFL film's senior producer, the most objective and enlightening voice this show brings on. His name is Greg Kosell. So I'm watching Tom Brady against Kansas City. And I know we're in an ear and out, Greg, where, you know, it's easier for, for quarterbacks. But the nonchalant of that two-minute drill was, by any standards, Montana to Rogers, unbelievable. Does the film tell you that Brady's as good as anybody that's ever done the two-minute

drill? And, you know, that's a hard question to answer because there's a lot of quarterbacks that have played. And I think two-minute drills are always a function as well, because the playbook is somewhat limited in a real two-minute drill. So I think you get into issues where the plays you design against specific defenses and defenses you pretty much can anticipate and expect is so critical because the last thing you want to have in a two-minute drill in my view, and I know a lot of guys, Colin, make plays outside of structure, but you don't want it to become a fire drill. You don't want your quarterback just taking the snap and running around. You'd like to play within structure and not eat up time and keep moving.

Yeah, and he's done it so many times. Listen, there's no replacement for experience. He's been doing this for 15 years. If you're a dentist for 15 years or an accountant or a senior producer at NFL films, you get really comfortable. No question. I mean, and look, he hit Grunkowski for 39 yards on that winning drive, and that was,

you know, to me, that sort of encapsulated the entire matchup. They got Grunkowski matched on Josh Shaw, and it was a slot fade, and it wasn't a complicated concept or anything like that, but you have Grunk and you have Brady making just a great throw. Okay, so the team that both Peter

King and Trent Dilfer told me this week and they said, listen, everybody's falling in love with the Rams. You may want to look at the Chargers. Philip Rivers is having a spectacular year. Is his protection better? Is it the receivers? What do you see with the Chargers and Philip Rivers? I don't think there's much difference in the way Philip Rivers has played for any number of years. I think that he's in many ways, just like Peyton Manning has been. He's terrific before the ball is snapped. He has a great feel for what he's seeing. They're a difficult offense to play against in more recent years because of the size of their receivers. Now that they also have that back, Austin Echler, who combines with Melvin Gordon,

and Echler is a terrific receiver who can detach from the formation. And they present problems in the intermediate and vertical passing game because they push the ball down the field. And Rivers has always been a turn-it-loose guy. Yeah. And I think now with big receivers, it really helps them. Yeah, they really have some nice assets. They're receiving coming into the year.

We didn't know Mike Williams if he'd return. He's been great. When I watched them against Cleveland this week, they're a tough matchup. They're a very tough matchup. They did something that you don't see very often in the league this particular week. They repeated plays consistently that were successful. And you normally don't see coaches just continually repeat plays. But they did that and they did it very well.

You know, I said this about the Packers. I watched that game with San Francisco and I came out of it blown away by the development of the Niners' offensive line, which I think is way better than I thought it would be, with some of their young playmakers. C.J. Bethard is more than solid as a backup. And I watch Green Bay, and what does the film say? I don't see an elite team here. I see an elite intuitive quarterback saving them late in games.

But what's the film say on Green Bay? Well, I think they're working through a new defensive scheme and philosophy with Mike Petten. And I think they're trying to figure that out right now. And that'll take some time because there's a lot of detail. to a Mike Petten defense. And it's tough to get in a short period. Just in my view, I still don't think they play with a real strong philosophical sense of balance. It's an Aaron Rogers offense.

And when Aaron Rogers is making phenomenal throws, which he's capable of any given week, I mean, some of those throws on that final drive, particularly the one to Equanimia St. Brown, I mean, he literally placed it on the sideline. It was beautiful. When he's doing that, they can be really effective and they can win and they can score a lot. but I think there's an inconsistency to their offense because they rely so much on that, and so much of that reliance comes from Rogers outside of structure, and that just can't be counted on.

Yeah, no, you've been saying this for years. So this weekend, I get the best defense in the league, Ravens, against one of the best offenses, the Saints, and what's going to be the Ravens' biggest challenge with Drew Breeze Peyton and this Saints offense? Well, Breeze and that offense will have a very big challenge against the defense, because this is a defense that's outstanding when they blitz. They lead the league in sacks with 26. Fifteen of those 26 have come when they blitz.

They're very, very good at showing pressure from one side of the formation and then forcing the protection to work that way, and Breeze will change the protection when he sees that, but then they bring pressure from the other side. In fact, the Saints had a little bit of a problem with that when they played the Browns a number of weeks ago. You might remember that game they won late. They didn't score many points, and they won late.

and Breeze did not throw for a lot of yards in that game because there's a lot of pressure. And I think that it'll be difficult. You know, Drew Breeze is great. We know that. Could he go out and throw for $3.50? Of course he could. But I think tactically, this presents a difficult challenge for the Saints offense. Yeah, Baltimore's a real team this year.

You know, I was saying the other day about Dak Prescott, and we got to do our weekly Dak Prescott thing, is that he is mediocre, and how do I know? Because he's all over the map. He was great first year, not as good second. year week to week. I don't know what I'm getting. You know, I watched that win over Jacksonville, and it doesn't have any resonance with me. I don't think he's going to come out and play that well.

You know, I just find him to be the kind of quarterback. There's an Andy Dalton thing here. Average quarterbacks are hot and cold, and he's hot and cold. I mean, did you take any thing away from that win over Jacksonville? Well, I would say that the Cowboys coaching staff did a much better job in this game. I've talked a lot about the fact

that they needed more integrated route concepts, and they did that. They attacked the Jaguar's own coverage concepts well. Now, Beasley was a big factor in this game winning one-on-one. But I think the key thing is they're going to use DAC as a runner by design. And I think that's critical to them situationally. And I think they'll keep doing that because even though DAC played a solid game, he didn't turn it over. That's the key thing. But I don't think they can expect 250, 300-yard passing games on a weekly basis, so they have to sort of orchestrate and manufacture play situationally.

And I think Prescott's legs will be a big part of that going forward. Yeah. I do like their defensive personnel up front. I think they're linebackers are athletic. They move all over the field. They're past rushers. You like Van der Leyenresch? I do.

I think he's really athletic. And I think, yeah, I mean, so when I watch Dallas, I think the strength of their team is their athleticism and their front seven defensively. I don't think it's Zique. I think it's their front seven defensively athleticism. I'm like, that's the next five. years, that feels like the key of that team. Yeah, they're pretty good.

I thought he was a better player than Edmonds. Not necessarily a pure athlete, but a better player at this point. All right, let's go to Sequin, Barclay, Odell Beckham. Barclay's putting up nice numbers. But if you looked at the film and you said, how do you stop the Giants, who is more important for them between Beckham and Barclay? Who really makes this offense go to you when it does go? Well, I can tell you what the Eagles thought.

They thought it was more about Beckham than Barclay. Keep in mind, Berkeley had 229 yards of total offense, and they scored one touchdown. So, you know, the Eagles clearly thought by their coverage, typically geared to Beckham, that Beckham was far more critical. The thing about Barclay is he's incredibly spectacular. That's not in question, Colin. We all know that. We can see that. But he at this point in time, and I'm not suggesting it's his fault, but the run game is not sustaining.

And that's the issue. he'll make long runs, Barclay, but I think the game that was very representative of Barclay and the run game was the week before against Carolina when he had a 20-yard run and a 30-yard run, and his other 13 runs went for minus two. And I think as great as he is in spectacular offense like that. Yeah, no, I've always felt there's a Reggie Bush quality to him. It's a firework show on three carries, and then it's just a lot of, you know, it's a lot of one-yard gains on the other 14.

he's a spectacularly great. He's like an NBA player who dunks well. The yards he gets are fascinating. He's a home run hitter. But this was what he was in college. A majority of his runs, you're not blowing people. He's not running people over. And I'm not going to put that on him,

although I do think that he needs to or about the fact that three yards means something. But he's obviously spectacular. Okay, Josh Rose and Arizona quarterback, the young rookie that most of us, I've watched every snap. I know his mom. He's from the area where I live.

We know him. We've talked to him. You know him better than I, but I've been around him. The nation's going to get to see him tonight. So far on tape, I think his offensive coordinator's super conservative, Mike McCoy. I wish they'd let it rip a little bit more. But what have you seen on film with him? Well, I think they're concerned about their all line.

That's why. Okay. Because I think McCoy, at his core, likes to push the ball down the field, and you see a lot of those concepts and principles in their past game. But in order to do that, you need protection. and then if you start getting caught up in six and seven man protection concepts, then you have fewer eligible receivers that are releasing into routes, and then you have seven defenders for three receivers, and that's tough.

So I think they're trying to figure this out because their old line has been, to be kind of work in progress. But Rosen's been very refined. He's very nuanced. He was inaccurate last week. This particular week he threw the ball much better, and I think he looks comfortable in the pocket. He looks poised.

And the word I just used, I think he looks refined. Yeah. No, so do I. I think it is best so far. You're like, there's a lot of wow. He'll make a couple throws a game, and you're like, wow. But he's also a guy that doesn't slide particularly well. He's not that athletic.

So you need good tackles, and they've got to upgrade. Now, your play, I'm so tickled. Well, you know, I did this because we did and Mayfield last week, and, you know, we did a little fog hat. I thought, you know, maybe with Sam Donald, we need a little Led Zeppelin for this or something, you know? Yeah. So your play of the week features. Sam Darnold, take it away. Who, by the way, had a very good game last week.

Not against a great defense, but that's irrelevant. It's still an NFL team. So let's start the play right now, and I'm sure you remember this column. It was a touchdown to Chris Herndon, who, by the way, I like a lot, like them coming out of the U quite a bit. This was a play we see a lot in the NFL. It's a great concept. It sets up initially as a wide receiver tunnel screen, as we call it,

to Robbie Anderson with Chris Herndon and Jordan Legget. Two tight ends, by the way, out in front as potential blockers on what looks like a tunnel screen. So as the play starts, you can see that Anderson is all set. Darner looks out there. It looks like a tunnel screen all the way. And in fact, the two go as if they're going to block. So Nate Hairston and Darius Leonard, the two defenders over the tight end look,

and then you just send Herndon up the sideline, and it's really a pitch and catch kind of throw. This is an example of great coaching. You see it really well from this angle as well with Hirsten and Leonard and how they react so hard to the tunnel screen action because that's what they're presented with. So there's a deception element to this play, but it's really effective. And when you get this, it's an easy throw, and this is the kind of thing you want to do with a young quarterback to help him. Oh, boy, that was nice. It should be noted in all fairness as much as I love Darnold.

The games in which he's played well, they've generally had fairly good running afternoons as well. So like a rookie quarterback, he needs help. I don't think they have a great O-line or a great receiving core. I do think the tight end's good. And frankly, their running game has been surprisingly good. And I think that's one of the advantages Donald's had so far. No question. And he certainly was helped out week one when you want to get him off on the right foot

by the play of his defense and special teams. And he's been up and down. But I think there's more ups than downs. And I think he's trending upward, clearly. Good stuff. Thank you, Greg. Thanks, Colin. 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. Over a decade in the NFL a pro bowler drafted by the Bengals made it into a nice career. He was a seventh round pick. 204th guy picked. There was a play this week

where Tyreek Hill's a great player and he runs gets a touchdown and his momentum carries him to the wall in New England and some fan flipped him off and threw beer on him. And that I would imagine happen to you a lot.

I don't believe I ever got in. I remember vividly one time getting into a Pittsburgh fans, but they were actually pretty cool. It was during the course of the game, I actually would take them Gatorade. I'd be like, early season game. I'd be like, you guys thirsty? And I never forget taking them Gatorade,

and I was like, God, I hope he doesn't throw this back in my face. And he didn't. But they talked to you super crazy, all fans. T.J. Hushman's out. I'll throw this out at you. is that in my experience, I had a situation years ago. This was like 20 years ago. I was in South Dakota and I went jogging.

And people wave to me. Hey. I was like, I thought they were like a cousin. I'm like, oh, people. I don't think this happens in Green Bay. I don't think it happens in most Midwest cities. But I think fans in these big northeast cities, and I'm, you know, I'm not, I'm a coastal guy, but there are cities that are rougher.

Pittsburgh's got nice people. It's got a Midwestern field. to it. Green Bay's got a Midwestern feel. Indianapolis has a Midwestern feel. I mean, you were around this league. Did you get treated harsher in certain cities? Yeah, of course. Yeah. That's the, I just, I just, I know what I chalk it up

to is, it's late in the game. You've had quite a bit the drink. The game's almost over, and he's drunk. I'm, I am shocked. I'm not shocked by this at all, because I think players now go on the road in the NFL. You guys almost, you almost predict it's coming. Yeah, if you play long enough,

You've seen it all. You've heard it. You just kind of get used to it. What I'm shocked by is players that tell me of the racial slurs, the idea that I'd be around 30 people and somebody would use a racial slur, every player ever talked to said, oh, yeah, I heard those. As long as they don't touch you, as long as you don't touch me, I'm fine. Because I'll go back at them verbally.

Did you hear slurs? Oh, yeah, all the time. It's 2018. I don't understand that. Well, it would probably 20, 2008, 2010 for me. It's none any better than. So with you, now Tyreek is, T.J. is going to, I think, bring up, you may take God of court? He's looking into suing him, yeah.

Would you sue a fan? Nah, I wouldn't. Over that, no. I mean, he's just proven a point. You can say what you want to say, because how I am, I'm a verbally say what I want to say. Just don't touch me. As long as you don't touch me, we're cool. Okay, we're going to play a game. We call it a stat or bull stat. And we have a stat, and if we think it's a legit, legitimate stat that means something, it's a stat. If you think it's just a bunch of bologna and it's just a random stat that doesn't mean anything,

then it's a bull stat. So, John, Joy, or, okay, Joy is going to play it. Here we go. A stat or bull stat. Real stat or bull stat. So Sunday night, the Bengals faced the Chiefs. This could be bad news for the Bengals since 2011. The year Andy Dalton was drafted,

Dalton has the second worst winning percentage in night games behind only Mark Sanchez. So Dalton has just won 32% of his games at 9. So, TJ, does this mean that Andy Dalton can't handle the spotlight? Nah, that's a bull stat. That's a bull. That's coincidence. And the good thing about it is, who did you say they play this weekend?

The Chiefs. The Chiefs. Terrible defense. Andy Dalton going to light them up. Their offense is pretty good. Their offense is really good. But Andy Dalton will be facing a defense who they can't stop a nosebleed. So it's going to be good for the Sincey offense.

So you think that's a bull stat? Bull stat. 100%. I think it's a real stat. The bingo's going to beat the Chiefs. He's 3 and 12 against Pittsburgh. Andy Dalton has a history of shrinking in the biggest games. A lot of it, honestly.

They should have won. They should have won. Defense, make a play. Make a play. Andy Dalton has shrunk in big games for years. He didn't play great this past Sunday against Pittsburgh, but this Sunday, going against this defense, perfect recipe. So you think it's a bull stat.

Bull stat, for sure, this weekend. I think it's a real stat. Next one. Okay, so the Eagles are three and three. to an okay start in their quest to repeat as NFC East champs. But there's a stat that doesn't bode well for Philly. No NFC East team has won back-to-back division champs since 2004. That's the longest stretch in any division.

So, Colin, does this mean the Eagles won't repeat this year? I think it's a bull stat. There are coincidences. There are coincidences. It's been a very competitive division. Generally in this division, the two giant Super Bowl years in Philadelphia, the team that emerges about November,

because weather plays a factor in this division, and a lot of teams start hot and then fade. This division has been up for grabs mostly for years, and whoever plays well in his healthy late wins, and that means you have to have depth, and Philadelphia has the most depth of good players. So the fact that this division is decided by a different team every year, I just think it's competitive, it's mostly even,

and I think it's a bull staff. I'm going to call that a real stead. He made the argument for me. It's competitive. It's pretty much even. The Cowboys have the best defense in the division. They're fourth in the league in the NFL defensively. The Redskins are playing pretty well.

They're up and down. The Eagles play pretty well. They're up and down. The Cowboys play pretty well. They're up and down. All three of those teams can win it. I'd probably choose the Cowboys right now. They have the best defense in the division.

It's just not just going off that whenever. By the way, Dallas's defense is up front. I would say this is young. Their linebackers are young. Their pass rushers are young. Dallas got a very interesting. Chris Rashard has done a fantastic job with that defense. The Cowboys are very, very formidable defensively.

Okay, sticking with NFC. East. If you're an Eli Manning hater, you'll love this one. Among quarterbacks who have won 100 games during their career, Eli Manning has the lowest win percentage out of any quarterback ever. He's only won 50% of his games. So, TJ, does this mean it's time to put Eli out to pasture? Oh man, you know, be honest, his name was Eli Mitchell.

Would he still be the starting quarterback? No. Of course not. So you think it's a real stat. Real stat, real stat, real stat, I mean, that's obvious. It's a real stat. If his last name was not manning, he would have been a backup quarterback three to four years ago. Totally completely agree.

And the other thing is he's not only a manning, but he's an incredibly light. He's a nice guy. He seems to be a nice guy. And they're, listen, likeability matters. Marcus Marietta, I think, is pretty average. I think he's likable. And I think Tennessee looks at Marioata, and they don't want to say what they really think, which is he's not as good as we thought. I think quarterback is a face of a franchise.

And Eli is that droopy sad face when you pulled him. So I think it's a real stat. I think Eli has been shot for three to four years. Do you think they're regretting, not taking your boy, Darno? Of course they are. Seekwant Barkley's having a great year. but it's not mattering. It doesn't matter at all.

Running backs change stats. They don't change outcomes. Darnold's changing outcomes. This is an outcome league. And bottom line is Darnold is the difference this year. You are forever associated with Sam Darnold. Yes, I'm proud of that. So the Chiefs are currently 5 and 1, but their defense definitely doesn't deserve much credit for that.

In fact, how about this? The Chiefs have the worst defense of any team in NFL history through the first six weeks. They've given up 460. 58.2 yards per game. So, Colin, does this mean Kansas City can't possibly win a Super Bowl? That's a real stat. Now, they face Big Ben and Brady, but in the end, the reason they can't stop anybody is because they don't have their pass rush right now outside of D. Ford.

Their secondary is a mess. Now, can they get better defensively? Yes. But you can't win a Super Bowl with this defense. Because, by the way, again, a lot of offenses look good in September in the first two weeks of October. Post- Thanksgiving is the real season. And you're going to make stops.

By the way, last year, if you go to the playoffs, the Rams got stopped. And the Eagles got stopped by Atlanta and could have lost. And by the way, Brady got stopped on the final drive, and that's why Philly One. Defense will eventually matter in December and January. And unless Eric Berry gets healthy, you cannot win with this defense. Bullstat. Because of what he just said, their best defensive player is Eric Barry. When he comes back, he's going to shore some things up.

If Kansas City can win some games, which they're going to continue to, it's hard to play in Kansas City, man. It's loud. Offensively, you have to score with them. So it puts pressure on the opposing team's play caller to, I have to keep up with Kansas City's offense. So you start to get out of character and call plays and do things that you normally wouldn't do. The way they put up points. And their defense has made some plays. When they get Eric Berry back, they'll be a lot better.

He'll shore some things up. Guys won't have to take as many chances. he'll make plays that other guys aren't making. Remember, Eric Berry has been Gronk's toughest matchup. So if Eric Barry comes back, he took Gronk out of the last game. Because Gronk basically can be really tough

for a linebacker or safety. So the one thing Kansas that he has, if Barry comes back, Annie Reid will put him on Gronk if they met, and he'll take Gronk out of the game. By the way, New England took Travis Kelsey out when they played. These tight ends are hugely important. If you have to go through Kansas City

with those fans in that weather, it's tough. Did you ever play baseball, by the way? In high school. Your daughter played. softball. She played softball, so I love baseball now. Yeah. Well, I totally get it. So you're watching these games, the Dodgers. Every inning and every game. You're all in on it.

All in. I went to we went to the first game when they played the Brewers. No, not who they played the first round? The Dodgers. I'm getting old. Braves. The Braves. We went to that game and we'll go to the first game and they play at Dodger Stadium

in the World Series. Well, they're not there yet. We'll make it. We'll win. We're going to win tomorrow. We'll win. We're. Yeah, we'll win. Tomorrow. Yeah, I'm a huge baseball fan, no, man. I love baseball. All right. I figured you played. Your daughter's a scholarship athlete baseball player. Yeah, she can play a little bit. First game, first college game tomorrow. By the way, have you seen Arizona tonight on Fox? Denver is at Arizona. Have you seen

Josh Rosen yet play around a little bit? No, but I mean, you saw him here in L.A. Have you seen him for Arizona yet? Oh, yeah, I've seen him play a couple games. What do you make of him? You know, up and down. He's like any Ricky quarterback, he doesn't have the office. offensive line. He doesn't have the weapons around him that the other rookie quarterback has. He's a good running back, but David Johnson isn't having a great year. Darrell lines the problem. And he doesn't have, he has Larry Fish drill, but Fitz isn't getting the ball.

You see his dad comes out and complains that he's not getting the ball much. It's the good thing they play Denver tonight. The last two games Denver has given up over 200 yards on the ground. Great recipe for a rookie quarterback to have a great game. Hand the ball off to David Johnson. You can get single high coverage. Easy to find reads for the quarterback. Yeah. I'll take Arizona tonight in a close game at home. They're pretty conservative, bad O line. I agree. T.J. Hushman's out. Good seeing you, bud.

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 reaction. in the moment and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert 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 acapella band

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