The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 10/29/2018

Episode Date: October 29, 2018

Colin reacts to the breaking news that the Browns have fired their Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator. He thinks Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy is in trouble after a loss in LA has the Packers at a boiling point. He talks about where he was right and wrong after the weekend in the NFL. Plus, Super Bowl Champion Greg Jennings comes in studio to talk about why the Vikings loss to the Saints isn't Cousins fault and why he'd be furious at Ty Montgomery right now. 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 best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. All right, we got a lot of things to address here. I don't think I've ever had a Monday show where I have more things to talk about in one hour where Colin was right where Colin was wrong. Let's start with this breaking news. Breaking news. All right. This is the dysfunction I said that Baker Mayfield was going to have to overcome.

Cleveland just fired their football coach. Let me get this straight. you're two five and one with a rookie quarterback. You've already faced the Steelers twice. Baltimore, the Chargers, and at New Orleans, you thought you'd be better than two, five and one? If I'd have told you two, five and one with a game at Drew Brees, at Big Ben, Flacco Big Ben, Phillip River,

you thought you'd be better than two and five and one. By the way, you've gone to overtime like 13 times so far this year. So it's not like your players quit on the coach. Yesterday, your team played your butt off. You got beat by a better team on the road. So this is the dysfunction that Baker Mayfield is going to have to overcome. All these rookie quarterbacks have something to overcome, but Baker's going to have to overcome an organization that now, I think the reason he got fired, and Peter King's going to

join us in a 15 minutes, I hope, bad optics. Hard knocks, he looked juvenile and an egomaniac, Hugh Jackson did. And I thought the last couple of weeks, I'm the head coach, I'm the head coach. again, he looked insecure, really bad optics. But the team was playing hard. They had a tough schedule with a rookie quarterback, and two, five, and one is nothing to be embarrassed about. So it's now Todd Haley's football team.

And good luck to all these rookie quarterbacks, but this is what I said from day one. This, Carson Wentz didn't have to overcome dysfunction. Jared Goff had to overcome it for a year, and look how bad he was. You get a rookie quarterback. It's hard enough. part of me is like this is what Baker's got nine more, 10 more 15 more years of this? Ridiculous.

They got a buy in two weeks. They got a buy in two weeks. You get another two weeks from now. Kansas City's next. I probably don't want to replace my coach as the chiefs are coming up next. So it just happened five minutes ago. Cleveland's going to have another coach.

Speaking of optics, which I think got Hugh Jackson fired. Not just the results, the optics. even a model looks just okay next to a supermodel. I've been telling you for the last couple of weeks, Sean McVeigh is the NFL supermodel of coaches. He's going to get a lot of guys fired. Sean McVeigh is going to get not just bad coaches, but like Mike McCarthy, he's a good coach, got a Super Bowl, winning record,

wins his division. In 52 seconds yesterday, the optics once again against Sean McVeigh were terrible. kickoff. Aaron Rogers is going to get the ball. You know what happens when Aaron Rogers gets the ball. All he needs is a field goal to win. And yet, Ty Montgomery, a marginal player for the Packers, brings it out of the end zone.

Dude, take a knee. Aaron then gets one play before the two-minute timeout, and you still have one left. And we later found out that Mike McCarthy had told him, take a knee. So a marginal Green Bay Packer, player. Instead of being all in with his coach, says hell with my coach. Apparently he was pouting earlier in the game. He wasn't in a series. He was upset. A marginal player bails on his head

coach. And then 52 seconds later, a superstar player, Todd Gurley, on a collection of superstars can score. In 2018, he goes, no, I believe so much in my coach, so much in my system, I just want to win a game. We are in the entertainment capital of the world. We are in the me, not we generation. And a superstar running back so believes in his team and his coach on a roster full of some dysfunctional guys. I am coachable. A marginal player for the Packers, hell with my coach, I'm doing my thing. That was a horrible, horrible look for Mike McCarthy. And I've been saying this, is that McVeigh is going to get a lot of people fired. McVeigh is young and fit and vibrant and intense and charismatic.

He is the hottest young CEO in Los Angeles. And Mike McCarthy looked like an old Chicago cop. And one of his men in his department just bailed on him. And it was for the world to see in one of the great NFL games of the year. Great creates clarity. And Sean McVey is going to get a lot of guys run out of this league. By the way, Mike McCarthy's good. I'm not talking Mike McCoy, Mike Malarkey.

I'm talking Mike McCarthy. I'm talking a good coach. I'm talking the guy that wins his division. He and Aaron have had their issues, but it's a real coach. But when you put him up in that 52-second window juxtaposed against McVeigh, where a marginal guy pouts, tries to run out of kickoff fumbles. Dude, take a knee. Obviously, there's 205 left.

You give Aaron an extra free play, plus a timeout. All he needs is a field goal. You might as well give the Packers a win. That makes McCarthy look weak. Doesn't control his team. Can't even control his marginal players. McVeigh takes a superstar. I mean, weren't you shocked when Gurley did that?

Weren't you like, damn, that doesn't happen anymore in American sports? And that's in L.A. and a market that gasses up all the players and tells them out great a they are and they go to Hollywood and they become stars that man McVeigh has taken a roster full of guys endomic and sue key to leave Marcus Peters you know star quarterback star back where it's so potentially combustible and Gurley does that by the way here's Rogers and McCarthy reacting to tie Montgomery's decision after the game? Yeah, very disappointing.

That play didn't lose the game, but it definitely took away an opportunity for us to go down and win it. The plan was to stay in and give the ball to Aaron Rogers. The plan there is to stay in the end zone. You know, two minutes. We actually talked about it as a team. We wanted to be north of two minutes with the one timeout. We want to put the ball in Aaron's hands. Bad look for McCarthy.

Bad look for his leadership. And that's a good coach. But up against Sean McVey and what he's doing, made him look second tier. Speaking of second tier, folks, there are very few great anything, great doctors, great landscapers,

great architects, great anything. Okay? In baseball, the last great team we had was the Yankees in the late 90s, Hall of Famers. They had everything. Great starting staff. Mariano Rivera, Jeter, leadership, as a great team.

We've gone 20 years in baseball since we've had a great team. The Boston Red Sox are a great team. They're a great team. I mean, they went 11 and 3 in the playoffs. The Dodgers were overwhelmed. The Yankees were overwhelmed. The Astros were overwhelmed. The Yankees won 100 games.

Couldn't compete. Dodgers dominate the National League, couldn't compete. Astros have maybe the best roster outside of the Red Sox and baseball, a great manager, great staff, great game. Couldn't really compete. But this morning, and this is what happens when you face a great team, the fan base that loses, we got to fire our manager. Folks, it's not the manager.

Dave Roberts did not have a great series. You could have put Casey Stingle, Tony LaRusa, Joe Tori, and whoever invented baseball, and you're not beating the Red Sox. They led the division virtually the entire year. Aces, two of them, closers, great. MVP's two candidates. Defense, fantastic. Home away.

Doesn't matter. Every Red Sox pitcher in this series got out. Every Dodger pitcher except rookie Walker Bueller couldn't get out. This is what happens when you face a great team. Great teams don't have to play perfect. Alabama football replaced their quarterback at halftime last year in the national championship game and won. Great teams can do that. The Golden State Warriors had a key injury, and Kevin Durant went into the emotional tank in the Western Conference final for a couple of games.

It didn't matter they won. The Red Sox weren't perfect. They don't have to be. But to beat a Warriors, to beat an Alabama, to beat a Red Sox team like this. you need perfection and they didn't get it. Because perfection doesn't exist against great teams. They put more heat on. They play faster.

They play more efficiently. They've got better players. When you face all time great, the team that loses the fan base is always like, well, what about the game two in this pitching change, in game four and that at bat and game five? Yes, it was not a perfectly managed series. But Las Vegas made the Red Sox prohibitive favorites in the world series and prohibited favorites in every game except game three in which the Dodgers won, but it took them 18 innings.

Folks, we do this every year. You know, we always want to blame the managers in baseball when they make one-six of what GMs do. It's an analytic sport. But we don't have great teams in sports very often. We just don't. The Red Sox are the first great baseball team in two decades. They are stacked everywhere, everywhere.

And for the record, the Red Sox in the last 15 years have won the World Series four times with three different managers. Go ahead, Dodgers. Hire Joe Girardi. He's been fired twice. Hired John Farrell. He just got fired by the Red Sox not long ago. It ain't the manager. The best team in baseball in two decades made the Dodgers look second tier. Made the Dodgers at times look like a AAA ball team. made the Astros, made the Yankees. Couldn't compete. Could not compete against this team.

Let's give the Red Sox credit instead of firing people and dumping people in Los Angeles. Somebody's going to pay for Manny Machado. If Dave Roberts has fired, somebody to hire him. You face great. It's impossible to play perfect. And the Dodgers didn't, as expected. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays

at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Okay, so the breaking news today is Hugh Jackson has been fired by the Cleveland Browns. Todd Haley is the offensive coordinator. He's also been a head coach. He's clearly capable of coaching this team. You know, Cleveland, the only way in the National Football League to really turn around a disaster. There's one way to do it.

You get the right coach and the quarterback. By the way, Indianapolis Colts were a disaster. What did they do? They hired Frank Reich. Andrew Lux's back and healthy. The Colts now, oh, they're scoring a bunch of points. I mean, you know, that's the reality of the NFL. You got to get the coach right in 2018, and you got to get the quarterback right.

Then you get him weapons. Then you protect him with an offensive line. But Cleveland has failed so many times at quarterback. And I wasn't a fan of Baker-Mayfield because, by the way, in about two weeks, we're going to get into hail, snow, wind, and rain in Cleveland, and this is a 5-and-a-half kid with a decent, not a great arm. I thought Cleveland should have taken Carson Wentz a couple years ago from North Dakota, a 6-5 guy.

I thought they should have taken Sam Darnold. I like big quarterbacks in northern divisions or guys with great arms like Aaron Rogers, Jay Cutler, Matt Stafford. If you look at Northern divisions in football, Flacco, Big Ben, Cutler, Stafford, Aaron Rogers, big arms. I'm a proponent of that. I wouldn't have taken Baker. But since you did, you now got to get it right.

You can't screw this up. And so, to me, go get Lincoln Riley. And now you may not be able to do it now, but Oklahoma football is going to win forever. They'll figure out somebody to get. In the Big 12, they're the football program with Texas of note, and they're even bigger than Texas, in terms of winning last 30 years. But to me, you've got to ensure this works. When you are Cleveland, you have this dysfunction and this paralysis, just for years and years,

The way to get out of it, you're in on the quarterback, and he's certainly good enough to win in this league. Baker's good enough to win. I mean, he's 2, 5, and 1, and their schedule has been brutal. You've got to go get a coach. And don't go cheap. Go get an offensive guy to make sure he wins. You know, so Mary Kay Cabot, who's a very legitimate reporter, I've relied on her for years in Cleveland, says Hugh Jackson was fired after a meeting with Jimmy Haslam and John Dorsey, who told him the team had regressed,

and the leadership wasn't what they wanted per a league source. Well, John Dorsey never hired Hugh. Hugh wasn't his coach, so that was problematic to begin with. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. All right, we do it every Monday at this time. Where Colin is right, and where Colin was wrong, I'm plenty of both over the last week, and here we go.

Where Colin was right? We are on fire with our football picks. A Blazing Five, another winning week. We picked the Packers to cover. but not win against the Rams happened. We picked Seattle to go on the road as a dog and win they did. And we picked the Bears to not only win but cover against the injury riddled jets. And they did.

In fact, we should have been four in one. We got a terrible beat on the Bengals' Buccaneers game where we had the Bengals and we were on the right side and then Tampa back doored it. But again, over 60%. Another winning week with Blazing Five. I've never been this hot before. where Colin was wrong. I sold all my Seattle Seahawks stock at the beginning of the year.

Pete Carroll deserves a ton of credit. This is not a rebuilding team. Now, I don't know if they're going to be a playoff team, but they're not a rebuilding team, and they kind of, they changed it up. Pete said, we're going to be a conservative run-first offense. Last year, they couldn't run the ball at all. They drafted another running back,

although they haven't played their first round running back, didn't yesterday. They have become a low-mistake, pound the football, own the time of possession, and has always played good defense. DePiet's always been a very good defensive coach. I don't worry about that side. But I sold my stock. They're a power running team.

Control the clock. Never turn the ball over and play great defense. And I got to tell you, I watched them yesterday. That wasn't close with Detroit. To go on the road in the NFL and dominate a team of the good quarterback is hard to do. And they completely absolutely controlled the Lions, who to that point had been playing. playing good football. Where Colin was right? Oh, yeah, Andrew Luck. It's amazing. When you give him a decent offensive line and a decent running game, he's second in the NFL and touchdown passes,

which is incredible when you consider he's got one go-to offensive player, T.Y. Hilton, who's been hurt some of the year. Listen, all Andrew Luck's ever needed was a little protection. And the new GM Chris Ballard in two years now, less than two years, has rebuilt that offensive line, especially guard, center guard, and they're giving Andrew Luck time to throw. And then they went and drafted a couple years ago, a guy named Marlon Mack, a running back. He's been terrific. This is all Andrew Luck's ever needed. He's going to end up with 45 touchdown passes potentially, and it's not a great.

They don't have a great defense, but every time Andrew Luck has been given a little help, He didn't even have pro bowlers around it. Just a little help. He's second in the NFL and touchdown pat. Not Aaron Rogers, not Brady, not Breeze, Andrew Luck. Where Colin was wrong. Adrian Peterson is fifth in the NFL in rushing? And the only guys he's behind are like Kareem Hunt and Zeke and Gurley.

I mean, he's always kept himself in remarkable shape, but talk about not see this coming. He's even kind of eliminated most of his fumbling. issues. I think he had one yesterday, but by and large, it's not even, it's not just that he's picking up three or four yards at a time. Yesterday, he had a breakaway run. Um, shocked. I mean, there's some guys in the NFL you just like give up on. You're like, okay, they're old, they're coming off injuries. They're not entirely coachable. Maybe this is why everybody kept giving him chances. Maybe it's the Redskins offensive line, but he has been terrific for Washington. First and second down back. He's been absolutely

terrific. Where Colin was right? I said the Minnesota Vikings and the Jacksonville Jaguars would pull back. Got nothing but heat. I said, I don't buy in Saxonville long term. And I don't think Kirk Cousins is going to solve anything. I think he's fine. And the Vikings now are four, three, and one. And they're tying and losing games they should win. And the Jaguars are three and five. And it feels like they've lost the entire locker room. Listen, there are teams in sports that are lightning in a bottle. They get the right schedule. They're bizarrely healthy. They get elevated play from one or two guys who were average players,

Kays Keenham. And this is what I predicted. I said, Minnesota is going to pull itself back. They'll be a good team. Nine and seven, but they're not going to be a great team, and they're not. And Saxonville, I'm like, sorry, when you give yourself a nickname after brief success, you're not the corner office guy. You're the main hallway cubicle guy. and both the Vikings and Jags have been exactly what we predicted. Where Colin was wrong. I did not think Cam Newton would be able to take Norv Turner, be coachable. He's been an MVP, got $100 million in the bank, got a million commercials,

and I said, you know, the Norv Turner thing, he's going to ask him to do things he can do, doesn't want to do. But I got to give Cam a ton of credit. He's completing 66% of his throws. He's never been a precision thrower, and he's doing it now. He's being totally coachable. every one of his games he's been over 60%. That's a big deal for Cam.

I mean, Cam had a year when he completed 53% of his throws. He's not a precision thrower. Six straight multiple touchdown passing games. Never done that in his career. They're five and two. And the schedule for the next couple of weeks, they got the Lions in Tampa. They could wake up and be a seven and two football team. I've always seen Cam as a mega talent that's just going to do what he does.

And he's too talented to get rid of. And when he does get hot and they got a running game and a defense, but he is cams done a great job two weeks ago against Philadelphia fourth quarter to come back on the road was the most impressed I've ever been with cam Newton good for him I didn't think he be this good I didn't think he be this coachable he's been terrific where Colin was right LeBron leaves the calves their 0 and 6 and fire their coach yeah we saw this coming about a mile away listen this is an organization that has been over the last 15 years the worst franchise in the last league when LeBron's not there. That's why they keep getting number one picks. LeBron was the number one pick. And then Kyrie Irving, and then they had Anthony Bennett, and they screwed that up.

This is not when an organization is inept. It's always about the owner in the front office. For years and years, the clippers were inept. Why? It was the owner. They got rid of the owner. Now they're at least, you know, got a puncher's chance. The minute LeBron left, I told you, they're going to go into the tank and be one of the

two or three worst teams, and here they are. Where Colin was wrong. Well, I said before the year the Giants were a dark horse Super Bowl team. It's very dark. They're one in seven. I've been a little off on this. Nothing's working. I mean, I shouldn't say nothing.

Sequin Barclay has been terrific, but it doesn't matter. Nate's sold or left tackle I thought would be an upgrade. He's been totally exposed. I thought Pat Schumer was kind of the guy that could ignite them. He has not been great in the room. I was actually shocked. Brian Cox came on our show before the season, and I was shocked

when he said this. Johnson, no good. Now, that's a little strong. No good? No good. Nate Solder, Odell, Sequin Barclay. No good? No good. They might win five games. Oh, come on.

You got Pat Sherman as your head coach, bro. Yeah. You don't like Pat Schirmer? No. Why? He's a good man, but, I mean, Look at his record. I mean, I don't see winning coming out of there. Yeah, I was wrong on that one.

I saw winning coming out of there. And Brian Cox didn't, and he was right and I was wrong. Where Colin was right? The Steelers continue to be the most talented team in the league that doesn't appear to care about details. Did anybody notice this yesterday in the Steelers game? After a safety, Cleveland got a free kick. You have to catch it.

The Steelers treated it like a punt. That's a live ball. that's what coaches are there to do. Tell players about rules and stuff. This is why I keep saying, this is why I don't like them when they match up against New England. With the Patriots team do that, you've got to know that stuff. That's your job to know that stuff.

I never doubt Pittsburgh's talent. I never doubt it. Their pass rush now is awesome. New England has no pass rush. The Steers pass rush is frightening. But in big games, this is the kind of play. You can get away with this against Cleveland. You're not getting away with this against Andy Reid.

You're not getting away with this against Bill Belichick. It's like, come on. This is like Division III football play. Know the rules. Where Colin was wrong. No, I think I'm right. Aren't I right on this whole Rondo thing? Where Colin was right?

Yeah. Saturday night, Rondo's back. And LeBron James late in the game, passes the ball to Rondo. And Rondo has an opportunity here. Dude, score! And he didn't. You brought him there for IQ. Like, that could have pulled him within one.

This is a better team with Lonzo. It's a better basketball team with Lonzo ball. They came back. Rondo comes back, gets more minutes, and this is what you had. I'm telling you, Lonzo makes the cleaner play. He's as smart. He pushes the ball. Rondo is an agitator and disrupt.

we've seen it time and time again and Saturday night is another example of Rondo can out think the room he'll end up with nine assists and I don't like seven of them that moment to me is like

Lonzo dunks it and makes the play Rondo has a brain fart what are you doing? What are you doing? It's very J.R. Smith-esque. Oh, good Lord. Oh, good hell.

The Browns Breaking news. The Browns have also fired offensive coordinator Todd Haley. So I'm going to eliminate him on the getting the job list. Do they know that they took a quarterback number one overall in the draft? They've got a rookie quarterback. He needs support. Stability.

So the two guys in the room who are the kind of guys who I, as I said before the year, you can't tell me that Hugh Jackson and Todd Haley. Haley don't know offense. They do. So now you fired Haley. By the way, Haley will get a job. Hugh Jackson will get a job. They'll get coordinator jobs. This is, what are you doing to Baker Mayfield?

You got to make this thing work. You got to, I mean, you got to make this thing work. It's just, it's madness. Yeah, I mean, it's done the impossible. I feel bad for Baker Mayfield. God. How can you not? Can you do this kid of solid? Can you have an offensive guy

in the room? One more heard? 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. You know, it's funny. If you look at every division in football, think about this. Let's go division by division. I don't mean to just beat up on the Packers, but it'd be nice if Aaron Rogers had some help. Let's go to the – start in the AFC.

In the AFC East, who leads the division? The Patriots. Who has the best quarterback in that division? Tom Brady, the Patriots. Let's go to the AFC North this morning. Pittsburgh leads the division. Who has the best quarterback in that division? The Pittsburgh Steelers.

Okay, who leads the AFC South right now? Houston Texans, arguably Deshawn Watson, the best quarterback. Who leads the AFC West right now? The Chiefs and the Chargers, Patrick Mahomes, Philip Rivers, arguably the best division. So the best quarterback or the two best quarterbacks lead their division all through the AFC. So let's go now to the NFC. So who leads the NFC East? Alex Smith and Carson Wentz.

I would argue those are the two best quarterbacks in that division. Who leads the NFC South, West? Jared Goff and Russell Wilson. Unquestionably right now, the two best divisions, two best quarterbacks in the division. Who leads the NFC South? Oh, Drew Breeze and Cam Newton. So are you seeing a trend in seven of the eight divisions I've named? The best quarterback leads his division, or the top two quarterbacks lead?

the division. Okay, let's go to the NFC North. Aaron Rogers is third. So what does that tell you? That in 2018, it's hard to screw it up. All the rules are for the quarterback. That if you have the best quarterback in a division, in seven of the eight divisions, the best quarterback leads the division. The only exception is Andrew Luck, who, by the way, doesn't lead his division. But as I said earlier, and if you look at the numbers, he didn't have a ton to work with, and they're coming on strong on the schedule weekends. the only team in the league that you sort of look at that's got the guy, it's been established,

you know, is Aaron Rogers and he's third. Why? He doesn't have much to work with. I'm not saying Green Bay has no talent. Blake Martinez is a very good linebacker. Not a pro bowler, but he's a very good linebacker, a good player. I would say Devonte Adams, is a very nice receiver. Is he a pro bowler habitually in the NFC with all the good receivers?

Probably wouldn't be, but he's a good receiver. and then you have Jair Alexander, he's a rookie corner, he's terrific player, but he's a rookie corner and he was hurt. Those are really good players. I would love to have those football players. But when you compare them to the best of the best, you know, they're not Odell Beckham, they're not Julio Jones. You know, they're not Todd Gurley.

They're not, even Aaron's really, really good teammates are not superstars. They're good football players. So you start looking at the divisions. there's only one division in football, only one, where an elite quarterback doesn't lead the division. And it's Aaron Rogers division, which tells you aggressive Chicago leads it, aggressive Minnesota lead it. And passive Green Bay, who doesn't want to go after Khalil Mack and let Jordy Nelson go, they're in third. That's it. Every other division, the best quarterback, the best two quarterbacks are arguably the best quarterback leads the division.

The best in the NFC North is in third place. And by the way, if you look at the Packer's schedule coming up on the next month, they could be in fourth. And I'm not stretching it. They're at New England next. They could be in fourth place in two weeks. Look at the Lions schedule. Look at the Bears. Look at the Packer's schedule.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Okay, Mary Kay Cabot, very legitimate NFL reporter, is saying that defensive coordinator Greg Williams will be the Cleveland Brown's interim head coach. I don't know if that's the best for Baker Mayfield. He just lost two veteran offensive minds. Todd Haley's been whacked. Hugh Jackson's been whacked. I don't love that for Baker going forward. They'll probably, I guess, get very, very conservative. Good luck. Their schedule gets really, really tough. Browns are two, five, and one. That's a pretty good record when you look at their schedule. Now, Lincoln Riley is the Oklahoma coach. He's terrific.

He's the next Sean McVeigh. A lot of people think. He was at. asked about the NFL opening. And I said before, he coached Baker Mayfield. That's who I'd go get. I think that's the new NFL. I'd get Lincoln Riley. He was asked about it within the hour. I always want to be truthful. The truth is for me is I love Oklahoma. I love coaching here. I love college football. I certainly don't have that itch right now. I don't know that I ever will, but I'm never going to be a guy that's going to stand up here and say, no way, no how will any of these things ever happen. I don't know that. But I know right now I could care less about the NFL. That's as good an answer as you can have. You really can't ask for anything else. He's not going to

get up there and say, yeah, I can't wait to get to the NFL. He said, listen, I'm not going to say never, because who in the world could say that? But I love where I'm at. I don't have an interest in that league. But I'll never say never because who in the world could say that. You just don't know about life. That's a perfect answer. Greg Jennings joining us now. Penn NFL seasons, Super Bowl ring, pro bowler. So you never returned kicks, right? I actually did. When?

Pump returns. In the NFL? Yeah, my first year. And then you stopped doing it. And there was against the Jets. There was an all-out blitz or pump block. I caught the ball and I still tried to make a play. I got hit by like all 11 defensive guys running down.

Mike was like, I don't ever want him back there again. So I'm going to put a little bit this on the Packers. So Ty Montgomery was a college receiver. Green Bay says, I've got to put your running back, but you still got to go to the receiver meetings, and you've got to go to the special teams meetings. Be nice. In New England, they have guys who are like receivers, then they have backs, then they have special teams guys. Is this just Time Montgomery butchering that?

Is he selfish? Was he going rogue? Or is it possible? He's in too many meetings during the week? No, I'm not going to give any excuses. to a guy like Ty Montgomery. He's a very smart player, which is why they have him

and the luxury to move him around in all these different positions because he can handle it not only physically but mentally. I think he shares the blame along with the coaching staff because in this situation, you have to be definitive

and clear with what we're doing. You do not give the option of what you typically will say to a returner if it's three yards or more in the end zone, don't bring it out. Obviously, when I listen to Mike McCarthy in his post-conference interview, he said the game plan was to not return it or whatever he said, and then he said to get the ball to Aaron Rogers.

But the way he said it was almost like it wasn't a definitive game plan. It wasn't that he said it to everyone. In that situation, as a head coach, you have to be. crystal clear. And this is what separates good football teams from great football teams. Every team going into Foxborough or them coming to you, coaching staff and players know that we're not just playing the game on the football field. We're playing the mental game. These players are going to be ready for any and every situation, well coached in any and every situation, because their coaching staff is going to be prepared and ready for every situation.

You look at the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday. In that situation, you even have Antonio Brown back there who doesn't understand the situation. This is why you can't get over that New England Patriot hump. This is it. Because they don't make that mistake. They don't. Everyone on their roster understands every situation. No, a lot of people

So I like authenticity from people If you're mad at me, tell me you're mad I have no problem with that A lot of times you bark at me And we still do I do We fist bump Yeah, because you're being real You're keeping it 100

100. So yesterday, Aaron, you can tell Aaron Turn to a teammate in the sideline and say But you know what? It'd be easy to bang on Aaron this morning But I'd be pissed too I'm not going to blame Aaron Aaron has a right.

Aaron's smart and plays his butt off. You stole, not a game, you stole an opportunity from Aaron. I would be furious if I was Aaron Rogers. Look, I would pose it this way. Watching the game, as a fan, I felt like I was robbed of an opportunity to see what could have been. Whether they score or whether they don't, I still wanted the opportunity to be at the edge of my seat and to be in a place where something great can happen. but at least they will have the opportunity.

Yesterday, with what took place? You stole it from me. By the way, Greg, I felt for three and a half hours, for a majority of it, I thought the Packers outschemed the RAM and outplayed the Rams. Mike Patton did an amazing job. Great job defensively when it came to their approach. And mind you, they're coming off a buy, so he had plenty of time to prep. But they prepped and they basically won that game and put themselves in positions

to where they could have won that game. And again, going to Ty Monk, I am on the sideline. If I'm in that Green Bay uniform. Furious. I'm heated. I'm boiling at Ty Montgomery. But also at the situation. Why?

Because I just want a chance. Aaron Rogers looks at Devonty out. I'm like, what are we doing? Because if you just give me a chance, if you just give us a chance, we're moving the ball, we're making big plays. But now we have it taken away from us. You can't do that. Listen, all these rookie quarterbacks,

yesterday, Donald's, all those receivers are hurt. Baker didn't have time to look. Steelers pass rush was unbelievable. Rosen was bad last week, but had a beautiful game-winning drive this week. Josh Allen's going to get crushed tonight against New England. All these rookie quarterbacks go into bad situations. That's why they go in the top ten of the draft, right? I don't like what the Browns did today.

I don't like. I don't care if they don't like Hugh Jackson. They fired their offensive coach and their coordinator. I don't like that. I don't either. I don't like it because when I'm going into work today, I have to explain to a roster of 53 guys

why we made the decision to fire not only our head coach but an offensive coordinator. In a team in a locker room where did we ever see this Cleveland Brown's team quitting? Did we ever say that they weren't, they've been into three, four,

overtime games this year? Like they are fighting. They just haven't learned how to win. Hey, yesterday this Steelers game, Steelers with much better personnel, was a real football game until about eight minutes left. Absolutely. It was a real game.

And you have a young quarterback that has gained some experience, but more than everything, he's earned the opportunity to draw from these guys that are in his room every single day. Hugh Jackson, Todd Haley, and now he has to start over. Now you give someone with a different vision that's on the other side of the ball that may want to do things a little differently.

Why? You have the guys playing for you. You have a buy coming up. You have Kansas. There are so many reasons why you don't do this. Greg Williams is an old school defensive guys like John Fox. What was Trubisky? But when he had John Fox, what's Trubisky now?

Now, find this kid a young quarterback. Okay, so you live in a beautiful, Minnesota's beautiful people, beautiful state. Yeah, you live in a mostly, it's almost a... Oh, stop it. Just get to the point. Here we go. So I said earlier, I said Kirk Cousins is like, he's like, he's that middle slice of bread in a club sandwich. It's unnecessary.

Just have a BLT. I want more bacon and tomato, less bread. He's empty calories. I got a bunch of completions and a bunch of yards, blah, blah, blah. He doesn't make the play in the moment, and I like him. He's fine, but they paid him 30 large for the play in the moment. What play did he not make yesterday? Yesterday, maybe he made a lot of them.

But it seems to me he's 4 and 21 against teams that are 500 or better. When you didn't get, okay, let me, number one, yes, the bread in the club sandwich. It is pointless. Kirk Cousin is not pointless. The reason why you acquire a guy like Kirk Cousins is because of what he's provided you on the offensive side of the ball. We've seen the way their defense played early in the season where they weren't up the par of what we saw last year and he was able to still win games because of it.

This game that they lost yesterday was not on Kirk Cousins. you can't replace in Xavier Rhodes a who else was Anthony Barr Sandejo you have so many guys that were out on the defensive side and they still played well offensively your two best players outside of your quarterback made the biggest mistakes of the game the fumbled by Adam Thielen he doesn't fumble he fumbled they get the ball they put seven points on the board then your other receiver, Stefan Diggs, look, I just want to say this.

He stopped running. If on that route, it's a drive route, shallow cross, however you want to call it, whatever you want to call it. If you're looking, you're booking. If I'm looking at my quarterback, I am telling my quarterback, I am running or get me the ball. That tells, it almost tells the quarterback, I'm ready. But the moment you're reading zone, manner zone,

If I'm not looking at my quarterback, he knows you're going to sit it down. Did the defender stop running? No. No, that's exactly what Stefan Diggs was supposed to continue to do. What's that whole book and looking thing? If I'm looking, I'm booking. That means if my eyes are on you, I'm not going to sit it down. You see me looking.

I'm ready now. I'm running. You hit me in stride. That's the drive concept. If you see a guy over there, that's why your eyes are supposed to be on the defense. You're reading that. If I see a guy over there that takes away my ability to keep running, I sit it down. I'm not looking at my quarterback because I'm telling him I'm not ready to get the ball yet.

But if I'm looking at my quarterback, that means I'm ready. There's nobody over here. I'm ready. Let me keep going. Not on Kirk Cousins. Not yesterday. Your point, you're done. Club sandwich point was excellent.

The club sandwich point was perfect. Just go BLT. Just but not for Kirk Cousins because they got him to win in the playoffs. and they got him to equate to winning, like I said, in the playoffs, not to go 14 and 2 or 15 and 1 or 16 and 0. No, we know they're going to make the playoffs. How far they go? That's why they got Kurt Cuthers.

But this morning, it was funny. You just said, I know Minnesota is going to make the playoffs. If I said you this morning to the Packers, you seen their schedule? I have seen their schedule. They're not, are you thinking to make the playoffs? You seen the bear schedule? I have seen the Bears. Lions twice, Giants, 49ers.

You see the bear schedule? I like the bear's schedule. Today. Green Bay, Chicago, who makes playoffs? Today, I don't know, but I will tell you this. I trust Green Bay more than I trust the Bears. Okay, that's fair. That's a good answer.

That's a good answer. And you have, in the past, you've been talking about Aaron Rogers doesn't have pieces and all this, but I want to remind you of something. Remember this analogy you made about the iPhone? Yeah, what about it? When I have this, I don't need anything else. Right. Aaron Rogers has enough weapons.

So if you... Remember, he's the iPhone. You said it. If I have my iPhone, I don't need my watch. I don't need my wallet. I can go pay... I went to most today and I pay with my wallet. So Aaron's the iPhone.

He is the iPhone. You don't need anything else, really. But you have... Because you have enough with that. I think the problem is the knee and age. Like, it's starting to creep in there. And I think it's creeping more than what people... More than what people are making mention of it.

No, they said, I think it was, who said this last night? We had the game on Fox. That's what Aikman and Brennaman said, is that if Aaron told the staff, if I'm wearing the brace, he told our Fox crew, if I'm wearing the brace, it's because it ain't right. So to your point, he's wearing the brace because it's not right, and he's turning 35 in December. Absolutely. Good stuff today. I like when you bring back my old bad analogies to burn me.

Absolutely. I mean, come on, stop, stop. Don't forget. And remember when you want to. Book it, look it or something, too. If you're looking, you're booking. 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,

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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? Come out.

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It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moment. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to you. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

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