The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 11/13/2019

Episode Date: November 13, 2019

Colin explains why Baker Mayfield is just a guy especially when you consider how talented some of the QBs coming into the NFL are. He says the Playoff Committee is sending a clear message about one conference in college football. He talks with FS1's Nick Wright about why even after 17 years nobody has been able to stop LeBron. Plus, Colin updates his Super Bowl bubble and it has one AFC favorite on the outside looking in. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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,

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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 a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? 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 moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 SportsRodio.com

Or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a loaded Wednesday. This is the herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. One hour from now, Joel Kladd and I will argue about the college football committee's newest

top four. I agree with it. I'm sure he won't. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you today? I'm great. Good morning. You're from Pittsburgh.

Tomorrow, the Steelers who have once again proven culture matters in the NFL. Right. No Big Ben, no Leveon, no A-B, and they are a playoff team today against Cleveland, which has been a mess. And I want to start with that

because it has been now, I counted this morning, seven straight weeks, that there's been a mini-controversy, or a distraction during a Browns game. And it's almost always them talking about last week's game as the Steelers are coming up their arrival on a short week on Thursday. Now, I'll get to the bites by Baker Mayfield,

which he should not talk about it, but we'll get to that in a second. But it's funny about the NFL. It changes really fast. Really, really fast. I want you to think about this. Ten games ago, end of last year, Baker Mayfield Mania hit the NFL.

because of two big games against awful Cincinnati where he had seven touchdowns and no picks. And I kept saying he's short. He's not getting taller. He's not athletically dynamic. That's not going to change. And he's cocky and I don't think that's what the best quarterbacks of my life are. Slow down everybody. He's going to face much better teams and coaches next year.

Ten games later from Baker Mania, Lamar Jackson's clearly the most dynamic quarterback. in the class and may end up getting many, many MVP votes. Kyler Murray, though you're not watching him in Arizona, is a dynamic, much better athlete than Baker, much better accurate thrower than Baker, and doing amazing things with far less talent than Baker. Baker's now going to be on his fourth head coach in two years, according to reports. Freddie Kitchens in trouble.

His accuracy has eroded. We have Tua, the greatest quarterback, prospect. They say, you know, in a decade coming into the NFL next year, forget Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, who are 6-4 can throw it. The following year, you're going to have Justin Fields at Ohio State and Trevor Lawrence, who, in my opinion, that's Elway Marino. Those are two absolute can't-fail home runs. And this morning, Baker, 10 games removed from Baker Mania, is just a guy. 30 second in passer rating, 30th in completion percentage, second in interceptions. That's with an elite running back, an elite receiving core.

He's just a guy. A 5-11 and a half guy who's too cocky, accuracy is eroded and not dynamic athletically as the quarterback position changes to more dynamic athletically. This year, Baker Mayfield wasn't even the most interesting quarterback in the AFC with a mustache. That was Gardner Minshu. Cleveland's now closer to the Miami Dolphins than the Pittsburgh Steelers without Big Ben. The NFL, what do they say?

NFL, not for long. This is why you don't do 15 commercials. This is why you come in humble. This is why you come in hungry. This is why you don't make bold predictions. The interest now in Baker is simply about the disaster known as Baker. This league's got two a-comin. We're two years away from just a-combin.

Fields and Trevor Lawrence coming. We've got Kyler's here and better. We got Lamar's here and he's dynamic. Baker is this morning just a guy. And my least favorite thing he does is that he, you know, there's an old Bill Belichick line when you ask him about something. He goes on to Cincinnati. It's like the running joke and like, look, do not live in the rear view mirror.

So here are the Browns this week facing their rival. short week, red hot Steelers, national TV, and Baker's talking about the crowd noise against Buffalo last week. Yoie. No, it wasn't that. It was just the fact that we're an offense. We needed to be quiet. It might have ruffled some feathers.

Once again, that's okay. But when we're an offense and a critical down, you know, we need to be able to have silence in our home stadium. It's got to be an advantage for us. And then when they get the ball, it's got to be really loud. It's just, you know, the basis of football. You're not wrong, except for the fact you're talking once again about last week and not the biggest game of the year. Ten games removed.

He's just a guy. He doesn't look anything close to Lamar. You're not watching Arizona. I am. I'm paid to watch him. He ain't close to Kyler Murray. He's not going to be close to Tua. Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields.

Hell, Sam Darnold last week looked really good. Eric Mangini on First Things First this morning about Baker. comments about the crowd against Buffalo. Just take a step back and focus on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not the fans, not your facial hair, not your sneakers and whatever design they have, not the $100,000 watch that you have. Can we please focus on the task at hand as opposed to everything else? The Browns just find a way to create more problems and distractions themselves.

Just a guy, 10 games removed from Baker mania. The league changes fast and humbles you quickly. Ask the Rams. That was the future. Everybody was copying the Rams a year ago. Ten games ago, the league was copying the Rams. Now they have a crisis at running back, offensive line, and salary cap. All right, let me shift to this.

College football, what do you want me to pay attention to? Okay, when I look at college football, I consider recruiting. What kind of players are going into your conference? I look at the NFL draft. What kind of players are coming out of your conference? And I can say unequivocally, without an argument, for the last 10 to 15 years, the SEC is the best conference. So yesterday, the committee came out and had LSU, Ohio State 2, Georgia, and Clemson are in, and Bama 5. So what they are saying is three of the top five teams are from the SEC

and people are all worked up about it. Clearly the committee wants two SEC teams in. I don't have a problem with it. Ohio State, Clemson, and two SEC teams. I watch the SEC every Saturday. Bigger, stronger, faster. I watch the recruiting rankings every year. I'm kind of a dork.

Every year, six SEC teams in the top 10 to 12. By the way, Oregon faced Auburn. Auburn had a freshman quarterback starting his first game, neutral field. Oregon has a quarterback many believe is the first or second best in college football and three offensive linemen in the NFL returning their entire offense. Auburn won. And then Georgia beat Notre Dame. And then LSU beat Texas.

What do you want to count? I look at the recruiting SEC's got better players. The mock draft, I looked up two mock drafts this morning. Four of the top five players are SEC, half of the first round is SEC players. Am I not supposed to look at that? They got better players coming in. They got better players going out.

Half of the first round is SEC. LSU beats Texas. Auburn with a first-year quarterback beats Oregon with a stud quarterback. I got Georgia beat in Notre Dame. The committee's saying we want two SEC teams in the final poll. I agree with that. Give me Ohio State Clemson and then let the guys down south sort it out. But I don't know what people get worked up over.

Oregon's going to win the PAC 12. They could not beat the SECs. I'll say fourth best team, Auburn. Some think they're worse than Florida. Maybe they're the fifth best team with a true freshman quarterback. So I try to pay attention to this stuff. I watch games. I watch recruiting.

I watch mock drafts. I'm a nerd. I spend time on it. I keep getting the same answer. SEC's got more good teams, more good players, more NFL bodies. How do I not consider that? Because this is all subjective, right? I mean, the schedules don't work out perfect.

Well, that team played that team and that team played that team. You got to win these September games, Oregon. That's why you schedule them because you want to make a statement. And you have a junior senior superstar quarterback. Auburn's got a freshman and Auburn beats you. We outplayed them for the entire game. That makes it worse. Can you imagine if Auburn outplayed you for the entire game

that have beaten you by 20. You outplayed them and still lost. So I look at recruiting. I look at September games. I look at the mock drafts. I look at the speed of the games. LSU Alabama. No other conference gives you a game like that. I mean, Utah play Oregon. They're both very good. It won't look like that. Won't have 25 NFL guys on the field. So I don't have a problem. The committee is saying, listen, we like Clemson. We like Ohio State. And we like the SEC. see. That's what my eyes tell me too. I like Oregon. I like Utah. I like Oklahoma. But that conference down South has got more good players every year coming into the conference and leaving the conference. I'm okay with the committee. I'm not sure what you want me to pay attention

to. I mean, I have some attention deficit disorder issues in my life, but I can pay attention to simple stuff like recruiting rankings and mock drafts and what my eyes tell me on Saturday, LSU Bama played. That didn't look like any other conference. That game didn't look like any other conference. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHard Radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

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 wrapped 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. we have real conversations 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. 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. 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 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 Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue with 42. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne.

This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the best.

Back of my Honda Odyssey with all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing?

Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. How did you put? I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky.

I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You are. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love the difference. team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh.

Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. That's pretty amazing. I've said this about LeBron James forever. I've been watching the NBA for 40 years. I was watching it when there was Spencer Haywood, Calvin Murphy. I've been watching the NBA since I was like eight years old. LeBron is the Swiss Army knife. There's never been a player. In fact, there's nobody ever been close to

LeBron, he is great at more things than any player ever. Michael was a better pure score. Kobe was more artistic. Kareem had the unstoppable shot. Bill Russell, the better defender. LeBron's the greatest player at multiple things. And 538's a website. And they were talking about this this morning.

His move to point guard. First of all, he was a power player for years. Then he decided I got to shoot threes. In the last three years, he is a top five three-point shoot. which again, for a 6-9 forward's remarkable. And then this year he's like, I'm going to play point. Well, statistically, he's now the NBA's best point guard. So, I mean, it backs up what I believe is he is either the first or second best player in my life.

The three best players to me, and I don't count centers. You know, Jordan, Magic, LeBron. Centers a little bit just, I mean, come on. You're 7-2, you should score a lot. Nothing against big guys. But it's Magic who's always been better than we think. Michael, the greatest score, most relentless player. mind control, Michael.

And then LeBron's great at everything. So everybody's trying to sell me parity this year in the NBA. And there are a lot of teams I like. I think Utah's really good. I think Denver's good. Milwaukee's good. The Sixers are good.

Portland's interesting, not good yet. But to me, I don't buy it because the NBA has never been about parity. It's about the best players joining forces. And the best team in the NBA, to me, is the Clippers. And the second best team is LeBron. And the question this year is the question every year, except last year, which is

who's guarding LeBron in May? Because that's been the NBA for eight straight years. A healthy LeBron has made the finals eight straight years. So the question is, who's stopping LeBron? And for four years, about four and a half, we had an answer, Golden State, because they had a bunch of great shooters hitting threes,

and they threw a bunch of guys at him. Draymon a little, an Iggy, a little, and Clay, and threw it. Okay, so now that's imploded. So the question is, who's stopping LeBron? Because now he's the best point guard in the NBA. Who's stopping LeBron? And I believe the answer is the Clippers, because they have guys who can hit threes,

Paul George, Lou Williams, and they also have a bunch of guys. In fact, I could make an argument. They have the three best guys in the league to stop LeBron. Paul George, Kauai Leonard, and frankly, Patrick Beverly, who loves guarding him and is a pain in the rump. And they, so, you know, we talk about all this stuff about the NBA, and this story, 538 comes out.

LeBron once again, I mean, as much as you love Michael Jordan, he was never the best point guard in the league. He was never a great rebounder or a great passer. But I come down to you tell you're selling me parity. And I'm like, if LeBron's healthy, late April, May, June, who's stopping him? One team. Not Utah, not Denver, not Milwaukee, not Boston, not the Sixers. Not Portland, not Houston, the Clippers. 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 got some NFL things I want to talk to Nick Wright about, but I do want to address an offensive thing because I know he is giddy this morning. That LeBron, and he was the first to really get into this, LeBron's now a point guard. Oh, he's the best in the league at it. So via the Coward Global Satellite Network, I cannot deny this. I said this in the last eight years that LeBron's been healthy, he ends up in the finals. Golden State's the only thing that's given him an issue. And I do think the Clippers have some Golden State components a little bit. Wing defenders, shoot threes.

But you are loving this whole thing, aren't you? Yeah. Oh, yeah, I mean, if this whole thing you mean the last 17 years, it's been pretty great. I would agree. Being able to sit here, have a front row seat to watching the greatest, most durable, most versatile athlete in human history, continue to reinvent himself and continue to be at the top of profession. It's been amazing.

I would, and by the way, your takes this morning have been shockingly spot on. I just heard me you said about the Patriots. I welcome you to reality on their offense. I'm glad you finally got here. But on LeBron, it is surprising to me because people don't know this about you, Colin. You're a student of history, much like myself. I can't count how many times you've called me we've discussed. the Crimean War, pardon me, and many of those things.

But your history is a little off when it comes to LeBron. Because I heard you say what has stopped LeBron aside from the injury over the last four years was the warriors threw all these wing defenders at him. And I'm going to do this in my head off the top of my head. But so just tell me the year those wing defenders, because that is what the clippers have. They have all these wing defenders that the wing defenders slowed down LeBron. because there was the first year of the finals where he went 36, 13, and 9,

and the guy who held him to that won finals MVP and Andre Aguadala. There's the second year of the finals where he had the greatest three-game stretch in the history of the sport and coming back from 3-1 down. There's the third year in the finals where he averaged a 34-point triple double,

and then there's the fourth year of the finals against the Warriors where he opened the finals with a 51-9. and nine and then played the rest of the finals with a broken hand because J.R. Smith forgot the score. So I would say those waves of wing defenders they threw at him didn't do nary a thing. Golden State beat them because they could outscore them. I don't know that the clippers can outscore the Lakers. The thing that actually has given LeBron trouble offensively, the only thing in his career, aside for maybe at times having to play for Luke Walton, is Bigman, is

rim protectors. Once upon a time there was a giant named Roy Hibbert who gave LeBron legitimate trouble. You live in L.A. Who's the Clippers big guy? Is it the 6'7 Montrez-Harrel or is it Zubach that's going to give LeBron trouble? I don't know, but I'm yet to see that person exist for that basketball. These are all fairly reasonable arguments. I'm going to move to football, give you a win on that one, give you a W on that one. So let's move to football. I am seen as very critical of Baker Mayfield, but I said, 10 games ago, it was Baker Mania. Today, he's not close to Lamar. Nobody's watching, but he's not close to Kyler Murray. Two is coming into the league. Deshawn's now a star. Dach's getting better. He is now not even the most interesting mustache

in the AFC. Am I too critical of Baker as he plays tomorrow, or was I right on this? Well, I, you know, I have a deep, unwavering commitment to take integrity. And if I say something, I need to be pulled off it by Hurricane Force wins. But the more Baker plays and the more Baker talks, the more right you appear to be. It's frustrating. It's disappointing. I still think one day my Baker Mayfield stock is going to be worse something. But right now it's trading on the same exchange blockbuster is and it ain't great. I hate the, you said something that I had never thought about a few weeks ago. And it's when you were talking about his judgment and you were talking about the moments you knew it would be a problem. And you brought up the moment in college with the cops. And what you said that I hadn't even thought of was the moment he ran from the cops,

he wasn't even the one in trouble. And, you know, before I became the man I am today, I don't mind admitting this. I might have been someone who ran from the cops a few times. Every damn time I was in trouble. It was the right decision. I had to go. Baker didn't have to go. But his instinct was, I got to go.

And his instincts are bad. You were right. His instinct this week when he throws, when he has more turnovers than anyone in football, except for, I think, Jared Gough and James Winston, to start lecturing the fans on proper etiquette is abysmal. And if you were to be 30 minutes late twice a week to your own show and the ratings fall apart and then you say, well, you know what? Our gaffer guy is really blowing it for me. The lack of accountability is unacceptable. So maybe Baker will mature, but that is the very long way of me saying this appears to be where Colin was right and it really is frustrating. Thank you.

I mean, I gave you a W on the first friend. I get a W on the second one. I met Russell Wilson when he was very, very young at a college and I turned to my producer at the time at the other network and I said he'll be commissioner by 45. I said, I don't know what it is, but he is different. And that was before he had just beaten out Matt Flynn. And I watched him Monday night. His stats, he doesn't care about stats. He's a remark. human being. After interceptions, he's over it in less than a second. He is the most optimistic. His alpha, his leadership. Every receiver works for him. I don't even know who half these guys are. I'm from the Pacific Northwest. To you, so I was in on the Russell stuff early. Some of that

maybe because of where I grew up and my sister doesn't like sports and then he made her like football. But what did you make of Monday with Russell? I made a Monday with Russell, even though it was far in a way, not his best game of the year, one of the only two games all year where he's made a legitimate mistake, the other being against Baltimore to Marcus Peters, that it further reinforces everything he's been since the moment he walked into the NFL, which is a future first ballot Hall of Famer who does nothing but produce. The history is unimpeachable, and I can do it very quickly. His rookie year, their down 14-0-0 in the first round of the playoffs, he brings them back. They're down 20 to nothing in the second round of the playoffs.

He brings them all the way back to where they have a lead over Atlanta, 28, 27 with second remaining for Matt Bryant wins the game. Second year wins the Super Bowl. Third year comes within a game of the Super Bowl. Over the next four years, one year leads the league in pass rating, one year leads the league in touchdown passes, never misses a game, never is below 500. When they're rebuilding, they make the playoffs. And this year he's going to win the MVP.

But the thing you said about your sister is interesting. Because he does, listen, Russell Wilson is a true believer, and I don't say this with any judgment. I don't say this tongue in cheek. He talks as if he believes he has been touched by God. And whether or not you are inclined to believe that, he makes his teammates believe it. He makes his teammates believe things they otherwise wouldn't. And that is that extra 5% that separates the great quarterbacks from. from the greatest quarterbacks ever.

And through eight years, Russell Wilson is in route to being one of the greatest quarterbacks ever. For a long time, people argued luck over Wilson or this shiny new toy over Wilson. He's always been that dude from NC State to Wisconsin to win he took over for Matt Flynn

days after Matt Flynn was given $40 million. And I'm glad he's going to win the MVP this year because he damn well deserves it. Finally, I didn't give out my, I do my Wednesday Super Bowl bubble, and it's just so much fun here. We do bubble music and stuff. And I have my bubble this week, and I'm not going to unveil it yet. But Kansas City is the one really good team with Dallas out. Dallas is out because the coach and the identity, I don't know what their offensive identity is.

I don't think they know or they wouldn't give the ball to Zeeke late that let Dak do it. And Kansas City, so I know you're from there, but I'm going to just throw this out there. You can tell me how great you are. I need to see you be great. LeBron is great. Michael was great. Of the eight biggest games in Mahomes' career, he's one and seven.

They don't win enough. Yeah. They don't win enough for me. Go ahead. Yeah, so the one in seven, I again, you've done this once before with Patrick Mahomes, which is you go to what I assume is the Colin Cowherd big game index and you look at the ones he has lost and you circle them and say, okay, well, he lost,

it must be a big game. Oh, well, damn it, he did win that one playoff game, so I guess I have to include it. I'm not certain where you got that stat, but I'd like to dig into the numbers on it. Here's what I know. Kansas City's a flawed team. There's no doubt about it. There's no question. They are not as good as I thought they were before the year.

But one thing you can't argue is against their ceiling. Lamar Jackson is 13 and 4 in his career. Half those losses to that guy right there, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Your golden god, Tom Brady, has played Patrick Holmes twice in the last 12 months. Both of those games, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs back to take a lead in the fourth quarter. One game they were done in by a coin flip, one game they were done in by their defense. Now, what's problematic for Kansas City is while they can beat anybody, they also have proven they can lose to anybody. But I don't know what your Super Bowl bubble is going to be, but I'll tell you what it should be. Green Bay, New Orleans, Baltimore, Seattle, New England, San Francisco, Kansas City. There are seven teams that can win the Super Bowl. Philly, Minnesota, Houston, you're out.

Those seven teams they are in. That is the what's the Nick Wright Super Bowl bubble that I just stole from you and I might try to do on my television show tomorrow and pretend you never came up with it. Nick Wright. By the way, a new haircut boy, he looks really good today, doesn't he? Last week he had kind of a sweeping thing. It was uncapped today. You look just terrific. I don't really know, man. I'll be honest with you, Colin. LeBron moved to the West Coast. I get about an hour and a half to sleep each night. I sleep before I talk to you and I wake up and sometimes I even fix my hair. Today I did. That's the only difference.

Good seeing you, buddy. Nick Ryan. See you, man. One of my favorite spots every week. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays and noon Eastern. 9 a.m. Pacific. I said this before, and this, people get mad when I say this, but by the time you're 45 years old, you are where you have, you deserve to be in life. Now, you can have bad parents and struggle in your 20s, economic hardships. That can take you a decade or more to burrow out of. But think about this. We all make thousands of decisions a day, but let's borrow it down to about 12 decisions a day. You know, cutting in traffic, maybe I shouldn't, talk to your boss, open a door, 12 decisions a day. That's,

It's as little as you could do. 12 decisions today. Seven days a week is what, 84. 84 times four weeks in a month is 360. 360 times 12 months a year is about 4,000 decisions a year. There's probably that many made in a week, but I'll say a year. At the time you're 45, you have made millions of decisions. People that make better decisions end up in a better place by 45.

I'm not saying at 22 you can overcome a bad childhood or even 32. mid-40s get it together. Most of the people running the NFL are in their mid-40s. You deserve to be where you're at in the NFL. Don't blame the officials. I don't want to hear about the officials. I don't want to hear about anything. Pittsburgh and Cleveland have the same topography, weather, and division.

One's great. One stinks. Always. There's a reason. The Roonies are smarter. The GM is smarter. Mike Tomlin's smarter. There's a reason Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

There's no reason Pittsburgh should have any topology. geography, geography, or economic advantage. They do. So I was thinking about there's a story out today that John Fox, former Bears coach, and the quarterback coach of the Bears, did not want Mitch Trubisky. They were like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We want Deshaun Watson because they're in the same conference. And Deshawn's way better, which me, just a radio TV moron, said before the draft.

Everybody here is my witness. How do you draft Mitch Trubisky, who I did not see really as a starting NFL quarterback, front leg thrower, ball dies, marginally athletic, over Deshaunson. They played in the same conference. What are you doing? Nick Saban, twice, six weeks, couldn't stop Deshaun. What are you doing? Dabo Sweeney, I know it's bias, but sometimes bias is right.

Dabo Sweeney's like, he's Michael Jordan. I'm just a dumb old college coach, but that's Michael Jordan. Okay. So Cleveland has passed on, think about this. Cleveland passed on Deshawn Watson, Patrick Mahomes, and Carson Wentz for a 5-11 and a half two-time walk-on, cocky guy. Chicago navigated, gave up picks to move up, not take Mahomes, not take Deshaun Watson to get Mitch Trubiskey. Okay. Cincinnati, you've always been Cincinnati. Tua's available.

If you don't pick him, that's why you're Cincinnati. Joe Burrell's good. Tua, Trent Dilford does an 11 for an 11 camp. Bucky Brooks and Trent have been doing that for years. They have both told me on the record and off. Two is the best prospect they have ever seen. This was Trent Dolfo on my show this week. I think two is the single best prospect I have ever studied in my years of doing it.

He is so uniquely gifted in so many ways that I think he is head and shoulders better than Burrow and Herbert. to a target Taio Voloa has a chance to be a generational type talent in the NFL and go down as one of the better quarterbacks it's ever played in the NFL. He was two weeks off a surgery table and nearly flawless against LSU. He's completing 71% of his throws with a conservative defensive-minded head coach, 31 TDs three picks. Well, Alabama doesn't run the kind of offense that highlights quarterbacks. They play it safe. And now you have Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray. who are really giving you the prototype for him.

There's no excuse. Like Lamar Jackson, I can get people going, I haven't seen anything like Lamar since Michael Vick and that was like 15 years ago. You got two guys in the NFL right now flourishing that play like Tua. Russell Wilson on Monday night and Kyler Murray in Arizona, you're not watching their games.

He is Tua, but probably not as good. So, you know, again, you deserve in the NFL to be where you're at. And there's a reason, Cleveland could have had all these guys. Carson went, and there's a reason Cleveland's Cleveland. And there's a reason Chicago is Chicago, which is mostly outside of a very brief run with Mike Ditka. Chicago's been dysfunctional. Good for a year, bad, good, bad, mostly bad, mostly mediocre. Two is out there, go get him. Because, by the way, Joy and I both a year ago, I was like,

he gets hurt a lot, he tends to be kind of a one side of the field thrower. He has gotten better. And for him to play at 75% two weeks off a surgery table, be that accurate and that good. Gary Danielson said, I saw him on Friday. He doesn't look right. Well, I saw him on Saturday. He looked really right. When you have multiple people who've seen him since high school saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, this is the best ever. And so, I mean, you can like the other guys.

I get it. But I think this kid's getting better. His numbers are insane. and we got, he's a left-handed Russell Wilson, which I think has always been his prototype. But now that Kyler Murray's in, you know, for the record, two, I believe, is over six feet tall. Two is not, he's six-one.

Okay, so he's taller than Russell Wilson. He's much taller than Kyler Murray. He's six-one. Two is not that small. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the I-Hard Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the hard way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped 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 a ball.

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 healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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.

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 of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, Fam, Miss Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ 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 stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball. After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick.

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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I do this. I think we should make it a tradition. You know, on Monday we do Colin right, Colin wrong, and then Friday we do Blazing 5. And, you know, we got Joel Clatt in 45 minutes, yelling at each other on Wednesday during the college football season. I think we should make the Super Bowl bubble.

Bubble music, John. It always comes down to eight teams, I truly believe it. It's always eight teams in my Super Bowl bubble. What is bubble music? Just bubble sound effects by Super Bowl bubble. Oh, okay. So can we do Super Bowl? That's a bong, John. Not interested in the... Bongs have bubbles.

Yeah, but that's not the kind of... Kids are watching this show. And that's legal in California, but we got $19 a gallon gas out here, so it's crazy town. Let's go for the non-bong. Again, that kind of sounds like a bong to me, but great. It could be like a boiling cauldron.

Okay. So here are my Super Bowl bubble teams. These can win the Super Bowl. My eight teams. New England, Baltimore, Houston. Green Bay, Minnesota. I wedged them in after beating the Cowboys.

I thought Kirk Cousins managed the game well. Seattle, San Francisco Saints. Dallas and Kansas City are out. I like Dallas a lot. My question becomes, what's their offensive identity? I don't know it. It should be DAC. I don't think they know it.

And I say that because I watch their play calling late in the game. They don't know what they are. Seattle knows what they are. Russell Wilson take the game over. LSU knew what they were. Joe Burrow, take the game over. Minnesota knew what they were Sunday night. Delvin Cook, screens, take the game over.

And Kansas City is the other team that I've moved out of the bubble. I love the coach. I love the quarterback, but you've got to win more games. So Nick Wright made fun of my big game index. But I was thinking this morning the eight biggest games in Patrick Mahomes' career. AFC championship lost. AFC division round one. Monday night football against the Rams game moved from Mexico lost.

Against New England, Sunday night football lost. Seattle Sunday night football lost. That Thursday night game against the Chargers with playoff implications lost. This year, Mahomes against DeShon Watson, that was the game. We were like, oh, that's the game of the weekend. Lost. And Sunday night football against the Colts, when we were shocked, Jacoby Brissette went in there, ball control lost.

One in seven in your eight biggest games. Yes, you blow out bad teams. Yes, you're unbeaten in September. Yes, you can throw the ball and not look. I get it. I need you to win more. games against TV games. You know, we always roll our eyes at Kirk Cousins.

And we all know Mahomes is better than Kirk Cousins. But you've got to start winning those Sunday games and the Thursday games and the stand-alone games and the pressure games. You've got to start winning those games. Kansas City doesn't win those enough. And so they're out of my Super Bowl bubble. What was that? That was one bubble.

That wasn't even a series of bubbles. Well, we only have one Super Bowl bubble. What do you mean? There's not multiple bubbles. You're very particular about your bubbles. sounds. Well, we've got kids watching. I prefer a kick. Kids love bubbles. All right. Is Mercedes

around here? Okay, I got something else, but I'm going to hold it off. We had him on a couple of weeks ago, and he's nice enough. He went to UCLA. He decided, I'm in town. I'm coming on the herd. Let's bring him on. 14 years in the NFL. Mercedes Lewis, buy week for

the Packers. Buy week for the Packers. How are you, my friend? Good. First of all, Buy weeks are nice, right? 14 years in the league. Do you just go out, eat chicken, parm, hang out, pasta, drink wine.

What are you doing your, like I would just be like, oh, I'm just going to just hang out and have a good time. Yeah, well, I think it all depends on, you know, what you're standing is when the biweek comes up. If you're on a team that you're not doing so well, I think you absolutely try to get away from football as fast as possible. But, you know, in our case, we're 8 and 2. And we're doing really well right now. I think, you know, mentally it's all about ball still. And right now it's just trying to get my body right so we can get ready for this second half. Interesting moment.

I think Green Bay is a good team. I do worry about teams have at the point of attack, Philadelphia, I thought kind of pushed them around a little bit. And I think I've seen twice this year right where I thought offensive lines pushed them back. They do have a running game. The defense is better. It was interesting. chargers were the other team that I thought at the point of attack gave them trouble. Aaron had a very interesting bite.

I thought this was funny. A very interesting bite about coming out to L.A. and not focused. Let's run the bite here by Aaron. We've got to be, you know, honest with our, you know, our routine and decisions we made the last 48 hours and make sure that our head's in the right place the next time we come on a big road trip. Aaron was as brutally honest as you can be. we got a young team. Some of the guys went out to Hollywood,

came home late. Is that what he was saying? I mean, you're a veteran. You live here. You're not in awe of L.A. Yeah, no. Was there a flight? When you flew home, was there a sense that we just weren't ready to play? Well, it's one of those things to where, you know, obviously, you know, we have good

leadership on our team, but for the most part, we're still a pretty young team. Very. Right? And so, you know, when you go into West Coast trips, you know, normally you would leave Friday instead of Saturday. And we have curfew, so it's not. not like you can just be out in the club, but, you know, a big part of it is, like, actually staying off your feet, you know,

as well as just, you know, staying out of trouble. And so, you know, when you get the young guys, you know, being out and being, and seeing LA for the first time like that, standing off your feet is not going to happen. I totally get it. Yeah. But for you, you live, you got a house here. You went to UCLA over in Bel Air.

So for you, it's no, but you come out here to business trip. Yeah. And Aaron, by the way, has got a place out here. For sure. So, you know, Aaron does get, you know, I know he doesn't like me and he gets some pushback and stuff, but you are again, you're a veteran smart player, went to a very heady academic school. I would think you and Aaron connect. I would think it's a good relationship. Yeah, we have a really good relationship and, you know, it started, you know, even being there from last year.

It was something that just wasn't forced. It just kind of happened. We respect each other very much. It was a situation, you know, being in Jacksonville the entire time, my whole career. You know, I was always, even as a young one, like, I was always, like, the leader, you know? Right. And, you know, coming over to Green Bay and, you know, getting a chance to, you know, be around a guy kind of like myself as far as not a rah, raw leader, just leaves by example. Pro.

You know, and just a good pro. And, you know, for all the things that these accomplished, MVP, Super Bowl, all of that, I wanted to be a part of that. And, you know, we kind of share the same ideas as far as, like, how we. we should lead. You know, being the older guys in the locker room, and, you know, he kind of bounced his ideas off me, so it works really well. You have played in the two smallest NFL cities, Jacksonville and Green Bay. It's not like you'd get in trouble anyway, but it's different.

I mean, just take our audience down. Yeah. So you're a big city kid. Right. And then you go to Jacksonville, which makes, is sleepy by sleepy standards. For sure. And then you go to Green Bay where they got a hotel. it's different, right?

Like you guys know in Green Bay, it is not the rest of American pro sports. Nah. Like I thought that when I was in Jacksonville. I remember when I got there in Jacksonville as a rookie, I was like, is this what the NFL is like? This is not like why we were at the rookie symposium and they're telling us to watch out

for all these things coming our way and all these different obstacles we'll have to watch out for because Jacksonville definitely didn't provide any of that. A lot of old people who golf. Yeah. And then when I got to Green Bay, I was like, okay, Jacksonville, but 25 degrees. So I've honestly been blessed to being, you know, two spots to where I can just totally focus in on ball. And, you know, it's paid dividends for me.

I'm in, you know, my 14th year and I'm still ascending and still learning and getting better. So definitely blessed to have that. Take me to, it's an interesting team where even Devante Adams is a kid. kid, but he's been out, meaning Aaron's going to have to deal with some young receivers. So take me in our audience sort of inside practice, a week of practice. You got a big game against Dallas. And Aaron teaching young players, what's it like? Well, obviously, Devante being, you know, amazing.

He's a dope guy. And, you know, what he does on the football field, I mean, I haven't seen it like that. You know, his release is off the line. And, you know, he's just a technician and everything. Isn't he a Fresno State guy? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. He's just a technician as far as running his routes, great hands.

So when he went down, it was just like, okay, obviously it was a blow. But throughout the whole entire process, you know, Aaron is, you know, grooming guys just in case something like this happens. And what do you mean grooming? You know, Aaron is one of those guys that, like, if he notices that you care about it and you really love what you're doing and you love to be in a building and, you know, know, you're at practice and you're doing everything you're supposed to be doing to prepare to be a pro, he's going to take to you more. Okay. So he's not, listen, you've got to show him you're into it.

You have to. And if you don't, then you're here for the wrong reason. So, you know, fortunate, we're fortunate enough to have young guys that, you know, kind of take the bull by the horns and understanding that when you're on this offense is so intricate. It's simple but intricate. And what I mean by that is, you know, we have, like our passes, we're, will, for the most part, match up at least from the outside with our run plays, right? So we'll go to the line and have a certain, a set of plays that we can run from the line. And then you have Aaron and you have Aaron's plays.

Okay, so if Aaron gets to the line and he doesn't like what he sees, he'll check out of it and get us into the best play possible. And so from having those two things, and then Aaron has signs and signals for at least three for every pass. right? What I mean signals? Like he can look at you and do, if you looked up and he would give you, you know, he'd give you the cross. Yeah. So he'll look at you.

He'll give you a signal. And depending on what play he wants, he has three different signals for one play, right? So defenses can't get a beat on what it is. When, will Aaron ever say, like people say he ad-libs a lot. Does he ever practice ad-libs? I always watch Russell Wilson and Aaron and I'm like, I think he. you practice that. Yeah, Aaron is, we practice off-scheduled plays. Okay, you practice them. Yeah, so obviously, you know, we'll have our set plays or whatever. And then, you know,

sometimes Aaron will, whatever, no matter what the play is, he'll just start, he'll start scrambling and expect you to be in certain spots when he's scrambling. And Aaron has the ability to, he can throw the ball anywhere on the field from anywhere in the pocket, you know, so you always have to be alert. You always have to be doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing and in the spot that you're supposed to be in. And he throws no looks. So it's kind of like you just always got to be like on your toes because you can get hit in the face with the ball at any moment. And by the way is, you know, Aaron can be, Aaron's very confident. He looks like a movie star. He's always in commercials and stuff. And he is the biggest star in Green Bay. I mean, we have this,

you know, this great looking legend in the smallest city, right? Like, His life can't always be easy. He's even dating a celebrity. Like, he can't go to the grocery store, right? Yeah, no, I don't think. I asked him that last year, like, bro, how do you go to the grocery store? He was like, you know, I wear my sweats and, you know, I don't waste time. I just get in and I get out.

I'm like, okay, I'm pretty sure you get mug as soon as you walk outside. Can you imagine going to a grocery store in Green Bay and you're grabbing lettuce, and that's Aaron Rogers next to you? Wouldn't it be different? I'm trying to figure out why Aaron has a prince voice. He just saw spoken. So how do you feel when you look at your team?

I'll say to you, what do you think the strength is that you really like? And is there any little thing you're a little concerned about you feel you need to get better at? I think as a team where we are resilient. I think that if you take a look at our schedule and go back to the games that we've won, we've won them in every way possible

that you can win them in, from injuries to, having to come back to win games, to count on young guys to help you win games. Haven't played an easy schedule. No. You got offensive struggling a little bit at the beginning. The defense was right there, right? Defense struggling, you know, in the mid, and the offense was right there. So I think that you're showing different ways to win.

Different ways to win. And I think, you know, our resiliency is what, you know, has us in this position that we're in right now. What worries you a little or you have to get back? at? We have to always remember to eat crumbs. And what I mean by that is stay humble. You know, it's not always about the big meal. Focus on the details and everything else will fall in place.

Goulet, it's a good message for you out there, always looking for the big hit. Weren't ready when I asked for bubbles today. Did bong water. See, we got a producer over there. That's a good one. Worry about the crumbs in life. That's a great line. Where did you get that? I was fortunate enough to meet Gus Bradley when he was

coaching in Jacksonville. And, you know, obviously he helped me become a better football player at that time, but just a man in general and the psychological part of it was huge. And he was one of those guys that, you know, from the Pete Carroll tree, it's all about

being on the energy bus and focusing on the process. And, you know, it's not always about the end result, you know. We're not focusing on wins and losses. We're focusing on being the best that you could be that day. And you always attaining like your personal legend. And whatever that is, it's going to help the team.

Wow. I think he's great having him on the show. You should be a broadcaster when you're done. When are you going to hang this little side job up? When are you going to get rid of it? I mean, I still love it when I wake up. I'm still in really good shape. You love going to practice.

Yeah. I love the process. I love getting better. I love the competition. Great. And I've never had any surgeries or major injuries. Isn't that crazy? You've never had a surgery.

No. That is crazy. Yeah. No load management in your future. No, I'm straight. It's great having you on. I love it. Every time you're available.

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. locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlicse on the IHeartRadio 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 Acapist a pelle a band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys?

This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. 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. to wave at her. What?

Come on. My quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, Rhett, Mom, I want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. 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. 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 moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was calling it. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to, 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. Guaranteed human.