The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 11/25/2019

Episode Date: November 25, 2019

The Cowboys do not know their own identity and that's why they struggled so much against the Patriots. He wonders what excuse people will use to defend another bad performance from Aaron Rodgers. Former Pro Bowl QB Michael Vick talks about Dak's performance in New England and if Jason Garrett will last much longer in Dallas. Plus, Colin admits where he was right and wrong over the weekend including having too much faith in Carson Wentz. 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. Ah, here we go on a Monday live in Los Angeles. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, one hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. There's a whole bunch of both. two huge NFL games yesterday later in the day, but a lot of stories developing now and throughout the course of yesterday,

and Joy Taylor is joining me on a Monday. Joy, how are you? I'm great. Good morning. Good morning, everybody. So, listen, Jerry Jones is mad after the game, and it's that block punt thing. And, you know, I look at the box score this morning,

and statistically it's very close. Time of Possessions, almost dead even, and penalties is dead even, and rushing is dead even, and yards per play, Dallas slightly better, total yards pretty darn close. And, you know, we can blame the blocked punt and all this. But I had two big takeaways from that game last night. Two big takeaways from New England, Dallas.

Number one is Tom Brady, that's the most comfortable he's been all year. He had six drops. His elbow hurt, missing two of his top three wide receivers. He was comfortable. He had time to throw in a rainstorm in New England. Brady looked good to me. Brady had six drops. Brady was comfortable. His feet were good. His arm was good. He threw it aggressively. He had a nice running game, had nice protection. Here's the problem. Sam Darnold was also really comfortable against Dallas's defense. So was Kirk Cousins a couple of weeks ago. So was Aaron Rogers. Everybody's comfortable against the Cowboys defense. Jeff Driscoll of the Lions had a pass a rating of 109 two weeks ago. This Dallas' Defense, let's quarterbacks be comfortable.

You don't beat good teams that way. Brady last night in a rainstorm, 42, bad elbow, missing his second and third wide receiver. Left tackle just got back. Brady looked comfortable. Brady threw a great ball last night. I had seven drops. He threw a great ball last night. Can't have that.

So my number one takeaway is not the punting, not the tripping. You're tripping. I would be upset about everybody looks comfortable. Kirk Cousins looked unbelievable. Aaron Rogers, Sam Darnold Aitam alive, Tom Brady, Jeff Driscoll. Can't win in this league. I mean, I said this for years. In the NFL, it's kind of simple.

Make your quarterback comfortable. Make theirs uncomfortable. And you'll win 90% of your games. I mean, you'll win 90% of your games if your quarterback's comfortable and there's isn't. So that's my first takeaway. I don't think that's a solvable problem. I mean, DeMarcus Lawrence, the personnel is what it is. The coaching on the defensive side is what it is.

I don't think it's solvable. This next one, it's my second takeaway. Maybe this is solvable. So Dallas is a running team, I thought. So they go on the road in a rainstorm as an indoor football team with the best offensive line in the NFL. Six times Dallas had a third and three or less. They passed it six times.

Over six. Time out. Aren't you an indoor football team? Don't you have Doppler radar in Dallas? You knew you flew in there. It was going to be cold and rainy. Didn't you know as a power running football team with the best offensive line in football?

You probably should have got into that game. And if you didn't know it before, you figured it out early. Dax got a glove issue. Amari Cooper's all sealed up by Stefan Gilmore. That should have been a Zeke runs at 30 times. Tony Pollard runs at eight, six screen passes to both out in the flat. You've got to be able to find an identity.

We are 11 weeks in. What are you? At home when Dax hot, you become a running team. On the road in a rainstorm when you actually had a nice running game, it wasn't great, but you were finding little... Zeke ran as hard as he had all year long. He was getting four yards of carry. You're not moving the ball through the air.

Dak clearly had some issues grabbing the football. It happens, you know. It does in Foxboro. It happened to Peyton Manning. And now you're flinging the ball all over the field. Like this is a correctable problem if you had a coach who could figure out stuff during games. That's really what separates the Pete Carrolls and the Bill Belichick's. You have a game plan.

All of a sudden something changes. halftime, you're like, all right, that doesn't work. Let's blow it up. Let's do something else. So, I mean, just say this out loud. Quarterbacks always feel really comfortable against your defense, and 11 games in, you do not have an offensive identity. You're an indoor power running football team with the best offensive line in football in a rainy Sunday night with your quarterback having problems gripping the football and Amari Cooper being taken out of a game. What are you doing? Six times, third down and three or less. We're going to throw all of them. None of them worked. By the way, you know I love DAC.

You know I love Dak. That was Zeke's night. Last night was Zeke's. On Tuesday and Wednesday, first thing coaches do, game plan. You go to your Doppler radar and you're like, it's going to be windy up there in cold. And then by every day you're checking it. Then by the time you get on the flight, you're like the pilot tells you. It's going to be turbulent.

We're landing in Boston. It's windy and rainy. So if you hadn't figured it out, the pilot tells you. When we land in Boston, Logan Airport, Windy and Rainy, then you get there, the water. through the day before you're like, oh, it's kind of cold and wet. And then you get to the game and you're like, oh, hell, it's cold and wet. You couldn't figure out it was Zeke's night? I mean, and I'm a DAC fan. At home against Minnesota, that's a DAC night. Amari was open, Cobb was open, you had a comfortable pocket last night. Just trying to give it to Zeke, 30 times, 34.

By the way, you know, if you're looking for a sign, Jason Garrett during a game, looking for a sign. Look up. It's called rain. It's hitting you in the face. It wasn't a one. So, you know, Jerry Jones after the game is mad at his coaches and everybody's talking about special teams and I'm sure you've heard it by now and it bears repeating for Jerry Jones. He made some strong comments about coaching and special teams and that clearly was a huge issue. But to me, every quarterback's comfortable against Dallas's defense and you still can't figure out your offensive identity. Those are my two big takeaways. But here's Jerry on the special teams gaff. To me, special teams is 100% coaching.

It's 100% coaching. How strategy, it's having players ready, and that's why today give Belichick and give them credit. They did a great job on special teams and that was really probably the determining difference. But special teams is nothing to coaching. There will be no coaching changes in season. there haven't been this morning. The block punt, obviously on the scoreboard, that's a killer because statistically it was very even. New England and Dallas were even except for the details where Belichick was better than Jason Garrett.

We knew it coming in, and we now know it going out. And let me shift to the Niners and Packers now. So Green Bay has faced three very physical teams this year, and they're 0 and 3 against them. Gotten pushed around the field against the 49ers last night. So the knock on Mike McCarthy, remember? That's the former Green Bay coach. Was Aaron Rogers is special? He is special.

You got to get him a special coach. And you got to get him a special running game. And you got to get him a more special defense. Because Mike McCarthy, even though he won a Super Bowl with Aaron, he's not special. Even though Farrs swears by McCarthy, he's not special. So let's get Aaron. Aaron Rogers special. So they do.

Aaron Jones, running back is special. Their linebackers, they got free agents are special. Their coach, Matt LaFleur, Wiz kid, I'm told is special. And you're blown out. Okay. All right. Let me guess it's your offensive line. Yeah.

Can I ask you, how often do you in the NFL have a night where you get great protection? Aaron Rogers had the ball 35 minutes, passed for 104 yards. Aaron Rogers had a running game last night. Yes, Aaron Rogers got sacked. Tom Brady won yesterday with Julian Edelman, two rookie wide receivers at 42 in a rainstorm. Russell Wilson went on the road yesterday, was sacked six times. That's more than Aaron was sacked last night.

With a bunch of undrafted rookie wide receivers, Josh Jordan just got the town, and Jadavian Clowny best teammate wasn't there. And Russell Wilson won because Russell Wilson wins close games. and Russell Wilson wins on the road, and Tom Brady wins when he doesn't have great weapons. Tom Brady would kill for Devante Adams. He was there last night, Aaron. Tom Brady and Russell Wilson would kill for Jimmy Graham.

He was there last night. Tom Brady and Russell Wilson would have killed to have a buy week. Green Bay did. Don't tell me that everything has to be perfect for Aaron Rogers to win. Well, his offensive line got pushed around. Welcome to the NFL. That happens to everybody. Did you see Tom Brady last week at Philadelphia?

his offensive line got pushed around. Have you watched the last two games for the Seahawks? Russell Wilson's been sacked a total of 11 times, but he wins both games, San Francisco and Philadelphia on the road. This whole thing about Aaron Rogers, he always escapes criticism. Well, the offensive line, they're all bad outside of Dallas. Who's got a great offensive line? He had Jimmy Graham.

He had DeBonte Adams. He had a running game. He had 35 minutes. You gave him a special coach. You gave him a special running game. You gave him special linebackers. At some point, he gets blown out. too much.

Aaron Rogers simply gets blown out. Does it have to be perfect? Do you have to be at Lambo with all the cheeseheads there? Do you have to be playing a team with a bad quarterback or Detroit? Do you have to have perfect protection? Do you have to have all your receivers healthy? That's the NFL you're looking for because that one doesn't exist. I mean, that doesn't exist.

Brady last night's doing it with Edelman and a bunch of guys. I don't even know who they are. Russell Wilson's running for his life the last two weeks. So you can keep saying, by the way, career record on the road, Aaron Rogers, one game under 500, 42 and 43. And he's getting blown out too much. So this league is not about being comfortable. This league is the ability for a quarterback when you don't get great protection to not make mistakes, hang around, go to the sidelines, not be by yourself, talk to the coaches, pick up first downs, and hang around. I mean, you kept telling me, Aaron's special, he needs more special.

That running game is special. Aaron Jones is special. Matt Lefleur, I'm told, is special. You know, you went and got two special linebackers in free agency. Those are special guys. The world's not perfect. Look at a quarterback's record on the road. Look at Brady and Russell Wilson's record on the road.

Because on the road, you can't hear. On the road, your protection's never quite as good because the lineman can't hear. You know, on the road, let's be honest, the fans are worth four points. So you go in down for nothing. You're staying at a hotel. Somebody pulls the fire alarm, get you up early. You have to take a crappy bus to the game. Bumpy turbulence in town.

You know, you'll walk around practice. It doesn't go as well. On the road, it's discomfort. On the road is not perfect. On the road is uncomfortable. Aaron Rogers is under 500. You can keep telling me about the offensive line for Green Bay. Where's Russell Wilson's?

By the way, where's Kyler Murray? Because I saw Kyler Murray two times in the last month give San Francisco fits, his offensive lines worse than Green Bay's running game. And he had a college coach. So, I mean, it's just always an excuse. I don't buy it. I think if you look at Green Bay's weapons, Aaron Jones, Devonthe Adams, Jimmy Graham, Brady would kill for that. It would love that.

Sorry, you can't have perfect weather. You can't have perfect protection. It can't be a perfect game. Your defense can't have to get turnovers. Some of this is on Aaron. Some of it is on Aaron Rogers. And again, blown out, not close, over early. That team's too talented for that.

And, you know, guess what? San Francisco made Russell Wilson uncomfortable last week he won, made Kyler uncomfortable twice, and he made a game out of it. That thing was over middle of the second quarter. Your first ballot hall fame guy, you're getting blown out much. You can't win on the road. You can't wait when you're uncomfortable. NFL's not about being comfortable. Quarterbacks are rarely comfortable.

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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. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

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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, Brett. My mama want you to weigh better.

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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 Nash will get that thing.

That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, 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. So let's talk about the tripping penalty people freaked out. Oh, my God, that tripping penalty letters a couple of them. Let's talk about the big one. Fourth quarter. It's a third down. Dallas should be given a first down. It changed the entire game.

I don't see it that way. It negated a first down. Now, I did not like the call. I don't think anybody liked the call. It's just not my cup of tea. I don't like tripping as a general rule is a call against offensive linemen. Feet moving all the time. But you're tripping if you think that tripping is the game.

Folks, they would have been given, they would have had a first down at the 38-yard line. Dallas's own 38. They had one big completion all night. There was a minute 53 left. It was a driving rainstorm. Amari Cooper was taken out of the game. You don't have time to run the football, but you actually did it four yards of carry by Zeke pretty well.

He had one big completion all night. That wasn't the game. You literally Amari Cooper out of the game. Minute 53 left. Rainstorm. Dak, not on. Zeke is, but you can't use him. because you've got to get the ball down the field to get a touchdown, not a field goal.

Okay, the previous drive is where actually you had a chance, once again, own it, stop pointing fingers, own it. So you trail 13 to 6, and you get down to the red zone, and there are six minutes left. And again, you're struggling to move the football. A field goal does you nothing, because think about it, you're 13 to 6 if you kick a field goal. It's 13 to 9. It's not like it gets you within a point or two where another field goal wins. You still have to score a touchdown to win the game.

And as Troy Aikman said, this is just bad situational coaching. And I generally am a guy take the points. But in this instance, situationally, rainstorm. Amari Cooper can do anything. Very little time left. New England gets the ball back. By the way, they didn't burn three and a half minutes. that field goal you kicked isn't getting you in the situation

where if you stop New England get it back, another field goal wins. Troy Aikman didn't like it either. So here's the field goal try. Joe, I just think I said it. I would be going for it here on fourth down. If you think you're going to get enough possessions, two more possessions and field goals are your game,

but otherwise you're going to have to come away with a touchdown regardless. If you miss and you don't convert here, you've got New England backed up into the wind. I would not be settling for three points. Yeah, that's not good. It's fourth and seven. It's not fourth and 18. It's fourth and seven. You've got excellent weapons.

You've got protection, great offensive lines. Swing it out to Zeeke or Tony Pollard. So you can blame the tripping all you want. But when you go on the road, aren't we all as football fans? You always feel like there's one call you don't get late. There's always a fourth quarter call you don't get on the road. You kind of bake it in. You know, it's like, like, you know, you kind of look.

When my teams would go on the road, I'm like, I don't want to allow the refs to be part of the game. You got to have the ball, have the lead be comfortable. Previous drive to the tripping, you're in fourth and seven. You've watched the entire game. You're moving the ball on them. Amari Cooper come out with a big play. You had one big completion all night. The Randall Cobb won on kind of a borderline broken coverage, which New England

never allows 59-yard completions. They gave you one. You're not getting another one. Again, point fingers all you want. That's bad situational coaching, and I'm glad Aikman called it out. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 13 years in the NFL, 4 as a pro bowler.

Michael Vic joins us on a Monday. He'll be watching closely Lamar Jackson tonight in Los Angeles against the Rams. You know, I was talking about, I was kind of critical air. Rogers. I said, listen, you can't just win at Lambo and you have great protection in your face in the Lions. The NFL's all about, oh, you don't have great protection, your receivers aren't getting very

open, your defense is not great, you're getting bad field position. Brady yesterday went in, 42-year-old sore elbow, rainstorm, missing Muhammad Sunniu, Philip Dorset, and got it done. And by the way, Russell Wilson played this Niner defense and was running for his life. And got it done.

And I'm not, and anti-Aaron but they're the green bay has given him some nice weapons he had the ball 35 minutes it's not like they didn't have a running game yeah well i mean he was definitely putting in position where you know he had some opportunities to at least keep the game close now how that game got out of hand was strictly based on the 49th's defense and the containment of erin rogers and the blanket coverage of his receivers downfield uh i felt like it was more that erin could have done um he was one for 15 on third down yeah i mean It just wasn't your typical Aaron Rogers that we're used to saying,

and I did not think that this game would play out that way. It was all around them, tugging on them under duress, and Aaron couldn't find a solution to the problem, and that's not like him. But even in a certain level of difficulty, you've got to find, you know, some form of success. Yeah, you've got to move the chains. When you're won for 50...

You know, what you find with the San Francisco defense, and I've noticed this the last couple of weeks, Even Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray in the first quarter, Joey Bosa's got his steam. If you can keep them on the field a little longer, those defensive ends, 290 carrying that weight. They slow down. They start to wear down.

So listen, I mean, it's the reality of San Francisco is they're going to get to you early, but you got to pick up. Just get first downs. Eight played drives. Keep 298-pound athletes on the field. And then by the second quarter of the third, the defensive line comes back down to earth. That's what Russell Wilson did.

You get to overtime and those guys, they don't want to run and chase you. Yeah, you got to wear them down. You got to constantly put pressure on the defense ends, on the interior lineman, you know, for the fourth quarter. If not, they're going to do the same thing to you on the other side of the ball. You know, the way they run the football, the way they control the clock, you know, they'll put themselves in a position where, you know, now, you know, they score. Now the pressure is on you. And when the defense, Joy Bowes and those guys are getting rest and you can't keep them on the sideline,

then they're going to be full throttle when they step back on the field. That's right. So, you know, the 49ers offense killed the clock. They run the football. They play action pass. They get into the end zone. Six, seven minutes don't want off the clock. You get back out on the field, you know, a la Aaron Rogers.

Now you're cold, you know, left tackles gone, right tackles, guys missing on the offensive line. And then it's just an all-out bum rush. Let's go to Dak. Dak is an indoor quarterback. It's a power running team, and he goes into the rain. You were a dome quarterback. I didn't expect Dak to be brilliant last night. He struggled.

He was struggling with gripping the football. Gilmore takes Amari out of the game. So my takeaway in that game was when you looked at the weather early, before the game they showed a shot up by the lights. And you're like, okay, this is a 32-carry Zeeke game. It's a nine-carry Tony Pollard game. This is not Dax Day. But that's okay.

Eliviate that. Best secondary in the NFL. And yet during the game, six times. on third and three or less, they passed and went old for six. Have you ever in the middle of a game? Dome quarterback, inclement weather, gone to the staff and said, listen, we got to pound the ball. Yeah.

Or before the game even starts, you know that you're going into the game and you're going to have to run the football more than you pass the football. The completion percentage and the opportunity for completion just goes all the way down when you got rainfall and it's cold. The football is not going to be what the quarter of. Doesn't feel the same. It's just going to be hard. It's going to be brick.

So, you know, that's established from the get-go. I honestly thought that Zeke would carry this team to a victory yesterday. I thought he would run the football more often than not. Less pressure on deck to pass the football only when needed and easier throws, not trying to force the ball down the field and play like, you know, a 65 and sunny. Yeah. It was just backwards. That's exactly what I thought.

As far as the blocked punt, Jerry Jones was furious about it. You've been engaged. It's almost, I read a stat one time. I don't think anybody's ever won a Super Bowl having a punt blocked. A blocked punt is so New England, it's so resourceful. When I watched that game, what I basically saw, this is my takeaway, New England, defensive touchdown, special teams touchdown, they're the most resourceful team in the league. Absolutely.

They just, like the block punt to me was, oh, yeah, of course they blocked. the punt in a game like this where Bill probably told them. When they needed it the most. We need to block punt. Yeah. I said yes, the good always finds the New England Patriots one way or another. And that was the turning point in the game. That was the only way that the New England Patriots was going to be able to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown.

They didn't even drive the length of the field. They got it on like the 20. Then they had this situation where they lost yardage on the punt. And, you know, things just continue to happen for these guys. and it's because of the coaching. They out-coach you. And if they beat you 13-9 and it was a tough game on both sides, both teams had to deal with the same conditions,

then somehow, somewhere you got out-coached. They didn't get out-played. They got out-coached, I think. You can't? You can't? You can't ever happen to you? I don't think that's the answer. I think the team's-

No, it's not the answer right now. I think they fight it out. They continue to try to battle. They got a couple more games. It's not over for the Dallas Cowboys, but it's crunch time. Okay, Dan Quinn, they said he was fired three weeks ago. Atlanta went out and won two straight games. When the cowboy players hear it

and they'll hear it, Jason Garrett's getting fired. Does it change the locker room at all? Yeah. It definitely changes the locker room for the guys who admire Jason Garrett and appreciate what he's been to them, not only as a coach, but probably as a friend and as a confid on. Do you think the Cowboys play harder? They play harder. I think they, and it's hard to say right now, because you think it's been 10 years with Jason Garrett and, you know, it's a pattern and things started to happen. You see the same things, you know, developing over and over and over again. Thank you. At some point, you reach a breaking point.

You're like, I'm tired of this. Maybe we need something new. Maybe we need something fresh. That's going to surface. And for guys like, you know, Dag Prescott and, you know, Zeke O'Elli, maybe some of the offensive alignment who's older and knows the, you know, the game in and out. And what comes along with it from a business perspective can. for see this coming and you know in some ways appreciate it.

No, I do think you get to a point is it's not like Jason's over his head, but some of these offensive linemen Tyron Smith has been with him for seven years. Yeah. Tyron Smith is tired of losing big games. There are special teams when you can be bad in

football, but when you goof up on special teams, it makes your coaching staff look in-napped. Yeah. And not only that, when you have a locker room full of guys who are I'm so committed to winning. And they see the flaws. Maybe we can do this better.

Maybe we can do that better. This coach is not listening. I'm trying to get them to do this. This locker room talking, it's real. And when they don't see that the things that they're trying to get done, the initiatives aren't being taken into consideration, you know, you'll be surprised at how fast a locker room can turn on the coach and be against you.

So, you know, they might need to have, you know, one of the committee meeting where everybody gets together and what they call it the locker room meeting where guys get together and figure out what's the problem, get to the root of it and find a solution

because next year it can all blow up. All right, big game tonight. If Baltimore beats the Rams, I could argue the NFC, we've got our six teams. So this is Lamar's most noteworthy road game. Now, he played Seattle, but it's up in the Northwest. That was a Sunday game.

Monday night football in the entertainment capital of the world. want you to go back to your career because many people say Lamar is Michael. Go back to your first big TV game. Now, there's playoff games. I'm not saying this is now Lamar's MVP consideration in L.A. Monday night football. Do you remember your first big roadie like that? I'll go back to my second season. I had a big Monday night game against the Carolina Panthers. How'd you play? I play really well. I played good. And did you know, did you sense it was Monday night football? I sense there was Monday night

they had this big introduction and you know it was like the new guy on the scene and the fate of the franchise and added pressure, no doubt. You felt it? I felt it. The good thing about it, we was at home. And, you know, I was able to play a good football game and we won.

But, you know, for Lamar Jackson tonight, it's on the road, it's against a good football team. We're playing one of the best defensive linemen in the game. Yeah, you know, and Aaron Donald, you and I talked about this on the air yesterday, when you can create interior pressure against the Ravens defense. That's the way to beat him.

So we'll see tonight, is there a little bit of a blueprint on pressure up the middle, forced Lamar to be uncomfortable throwing the football? You know, I've seen some practice clips of Lamar throwing a football this weekend and it looked like he's in sync with the offense and his accuracy is on another level right now.

And that's because of the offense allow him to be accurate with the things he's been asked to do. But it's just still that Lamar Jackson X-Factor can you stop him for four quarters? And that's what it's going to take for the Los Angeles Rams tonight. Can you stop four quarters? I don't.

I think the answer is no. I know. And oh, I get that part of it. Michael, Vic, great seeing you 13 years, all time. Now, Lamar's on the precipice of knocking down some of Michael's records, so we'll watch that stuff tonight. Thanks, bud. One more herd?

The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Aaron Rogers came into the league and sat for three. years behind Fav. Then he started finally, and I push back a lot. I'm like, you know, he's talented, but then he won a Super Bowl, came on my radio show at the other place. He said, is that good enough? So we've always had a little bit of a sparring thing. I do think he's wildly talented, but I prefer Russell Wilson over Aaron Rogers. And I'm clearly I'm in the minority, but this year more than ever

is a great example. Yesterday is great. So Russell Wilson goes on the road. Weather's awful. sack six times under siege all day, four drops on the road. Jadavian Clowny, best guy on the roster maybe defensively did not play. He's got a new receiver in Josh Gordon. He's got young wide receivers and he finds a way to win. Six straight years, seven after this year, he'll have been sacked 40 or more times. Never had a losing season. Never made an excuse.

Never thrown a teammate under the bus. we never hear about it. There's no eye rolling. He just finds a way to win. He's never hurt. He's been to more Super Bowls. He never gets blown out. You almost never see him get blown out.

He keeps you in games. Aaron this year has better weapons. He's got a better offensive line. He's been blown out more. I'm sorry. It comes down to this. In this league, when things aren't going perfectly, how are you?

Russell Wilson keeps you in every game and wins most of them. He's now 6-0 on the road. And the last two games at San Francisco and at Philadelphia been sacked 11 times. Josh Gordon, new guy comes in. I mean, I'm telling you, folks, three years ago, he had the lowest rated offensive line in the NFL and led the league in passing touchdowns. That's unheard of. Tom Brady couldn't do that. Rogers couldn't do that.

Mahomes couldn't do that. Nobody could do that. And so yesterday was a prime example. Eight of Seattle's nine wins have been one possession. He just finds a way to win when things aren't perfect. The weather's not good. I've got four drops. Running games hit and miss.

Protection is unraveled. There you go. That was a classic Russell Wilson game. And when you start stacking him up with Aaron Rogers, Russell wins more one possession games, wins more road games, gets to more Super Bowls, less condescending, never in blowout games.

Like Aaron yesterday, nine minutes in, game over. Well, Russell played in San Francisco a couple weeks ago. It's not just that he won, but that game could have gone sideways for Russell Wilson. He was under duress. He got sack five times. Aaron yesterday got sack five times. This is why, to me,

Russell Wilson's just one of those guys I want in my foxhole. You know, bad weather, bad drops. battle line. He just kind of moves the chains, keeps you in the game. And man, the whole game I'm just, it was just you're like waiting and waiting and waiting and it's ugly and it's awful and the weather. And all of a sudden it's like one big play, two big scrambles, boom, they lead. And well, he's got such a great coach. Oh God, there's always an excuse in Green Bay. There is always an excuse in Green Bay. And Russell Wilson said after, you ever noticed this? I've never seen a quarterback smile more. Like he's just so

eternally optimistic. Here he is about another ugly, salty road win by Russell Wilson. I think across the board, just to be able to stay within the game and stay focused in a tough environment, really tough environment, it was cold, it was windy, all those things, and to stay composed, and then to hit a big one and a clutch game. You know, we don't fear anything and don't fear any situations, and that's really where we are and who we are. I'll tell you, Joy, we said this last week.

I think they're going to make the NFC championship. I think the downside to Seattle is they may end up facing San Francisco again in the NFC championship, so it would be a third time and they did win in San Francisco. But, you know, so much of this league is how you deal when things go sideways. And Seattle, and not just because I'm from there and not just because I love Russell Wilson,

but, God, they just figure it out. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays and New Neas, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer 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 or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person join me care games is we have real conversations about healing growth fatherhood pressure and purpose on my new podcast learn the hard way. 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. Sportslice 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 Clifford the 4th, and on my podcast, the Clifford 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 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Cliverts show on the Ironwood show on the Iron. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's 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 bases on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court licking his fingers while he got the ball. Like, 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 I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. I have big strong opinions and sometimes I'm right and sometimes I completely whiff and I got to hold myself accountable when I'm wrong. You guys like that when I admit I'm wrong. So here we go. Colin right, calling wrong on Monday. Where Colin

was right. Blazing five, I took the Giants to cover they did. Dallas plus six and a half in Seattle to beat Philadelphia. We have won nine of 12 weeks. And that's what pays money on Fox Bet if you follow us. I've also had back-to-back winning college football weeks, although it was crappy early. But I felt pretty good yesterday.

And I've already looked at the lines this morning, and I really like my lines. Now, I will admit, I was on the wrong side of the Raiders. That was ugly. And that got ugly really fast. I was on the wrong side of that one. Where Colin was wrong. I've always been a huge fan of Carson Wentz, but his mechanics are a mess, his feet are a mess. He's missing wide open people.

and he's 21st in completion percentage. He's 30th in yards per attempt. Now, some of this is, he had nothing to work with yesterday, but it's more than that. If you watch him, his mechanics are off. He throws in a million different arm angles. He's got very much the Patrick Mahomes skill set, big, strong, great arm, but something's wrong.

His feet are wrong. His mechanics are wrong. I will say this is what's troubling. Frank Reich was on that staff and left to go coach the Colts. Carson Wentz is 10 and 12 since Frank Reich left to take over the Colts job. So John D. Philippa was an offensive coach. He left, too, to go to Minnesota. So maybe Philadelphia's got to go out and get some guys to help him behind the scenes

because he is super talented. We make every excuse for Aaron Rogers, but I can't make the excuses for Carson Wentz. That's on him. He had open guys yesterday and missed him. Where Colin was right? Well, I said on Friday, if the Cowboys lose, this is going to be. be a referendum on Jason Garrett. Dallas was a six and a half point underdog on Fox Bed. There's no way they should have been a six and a half point underdog. And that was before

Muhammad Sunu got hurt and Philip Dorset got hurt. And they still, Dallas couldn't win. And what do you know, Jerry Jones after the game, he also made it a referendum on the coaching. To me, special teams is 100% coaching. It's 100% coaching. It's 100% coaching. how strategy it's having players ready and that's why today give bellichette and give them credit they did a great job on special teams and that was really probably the determining difference but special teams is nothing but coaching yeah that's that's a shot and they also had the field position issue and the punt gets blocked and man it's he's not getting fired now but jason garretton trouble maybe put that house on the market. Where Colin was wrong. Hey, listen, I didn't think Buffalo'd be eight and three. More than that, Josh Allen's getting better.

In his last six games, Josh Allen has 11 touchdowns and one pick. And it doesn't plan the most ideal weather. Their offensive line is okay. And he also can run. The dude give you 40, 50 yards of running. He's not out of Wyoming, I said, I think he has a chance to be a huge bust. Wild, erratic. He does a good job.

You know, when the guy is open, he's got a very strong arm. I said when he came out, he's a little bit of a poor man's big Ben, but, you know, listen, six games, 11 TD's one pick. He's getting better. He looked way more, he made one bad throw yesterday. It was almost like the win got a hold of it. But I was wrong on that. I thought he was going to be a real, I thought it was a 50-50 bust, and he's getting better, and he's looked pretty good. Where Colin was right?

Oh, Jim Harbaugh won. And now Michigan is 9 and 2, which is what Michigan football has been my entire life. And if they can win one of their remaining two games, they'll win 10 games, which is more than Bo Schembeckler averaged. This is an academic power. They are not a complete football school like Ohio State, so they shouldn't beat them three out of four years. Like Ohio State should beat Michigan. Jim Harbaugh has lost this year at Wisconsin and at Penn State. There are greater crimes than that.

Those are really good football teams, and they were in that Penn State game at the very end. Brady Hoke was averaging six and a half wins. Harbaugh is averaging nine. I think they'll win a bowl game, and I do think they're going to give Ohio State a real push here. I think it's going to be a very competitive football game. But, you know, once again, he took a program. He's averaging three more wins, and he's at the traditional number of wins for the program. I thought the Indiana game was going to be tight.

they steamrolled a very competent who's your offense in the second half. Where Colin was wrong. I think I jumped on the Raiders about a week too early. They got up to a 3-0 lead and lost 34 to 3. John Gruden acknowledged that he said, listen, we're a developing team. We're not the 85 Bears.

They didn't do anything right yesterday. They look lost. And I do think I will say this. I think the Jets have, Joy and I have been saying this all year. Jets have some players. It's not like the Jets or the Bengals. They've got six or seven. Really, really good players.

And their run defense is spectacular. Jamal Adams is unbelievable. But that was two turnovers. Couldn't do anything, 68 yards rushing. They looked like a, you know what? They looked like a young developing team. Got over at skis. And that's probably what they are.

And I got a little high on him. Where Colin was right? Steeler quarterback Mason Rudolph stinks. I don't get it. I don't get what anybody. I don't get it. I wouldn't have drafted him. I remember years ago when he came out like three years ago.

I was getting text. People are like, hey, how come you don't talk about Mason Rudolph? And I'm like, he can't play in the NFL. He's not NFL quarterback. He's like a third string guy. He's like, he's not, come on. Yesterday, he got benched against Cincinnati. That's impossible.

Nobody gets benched against Cincinnati. They have the worst defense in the league. You can't get benched against New England or benched against Buffalo's defense or benched against Philadelphia's defense. Can't bench against Philadelphia? I don't see it. I don't see the arm. I don't see the it.

I don't see the athletic ability. I mean, I'm no expert at this stuff, but I don't see it. Even Greg Kossel a couple weeks ago, I like him. What? Like what? He said he likes what he saw on the tape from that week. But I'm 100% with you. He stinks.

You can't get benched against Cincinnati. You should have your career game against Cincinnati. Baker Mayfield last year had 17. He's no picks as a rookie with a bad offensive line against Cincinnati. Where Colin was wrong. I got to slow down on the Justin Herbert is a guaranteed number one or two pick the Oregon quarterback. Two is going to get drafted ahead of him. I had two NFL executives.

Text me during this game and say, I think I like Tua more than Justin Herbert. Listen, he ended up with 300 yards and a couple touchdowns against Arizona State, but he also had two bad picks. He makes bad decisions. He's just one of those guys where every other throw is brilliant, and he can make him, and then every other throw is awful. They become very dependent on one of their swing guys that they swing it out to,

number three there, Johnson. He's just, he's very erratic. Again, big arm. Good size. Supposed to be a smart kid. But you know what? He's a little harder to evaluate than I. Look at that pass right there.

It's a little harder to evaluate because his accuracy is so inconsistent. With Tua, I love Tua's accuracy. I worry about the injuries. But a lot of this league is Kirk Cousins has his issues, but he puts the ball where it needs to be. You got small windows in the NFL. And Justin Herbert's inconsistency worries me. where Colin was right. Sam Darnold's on fire.

I always said, just give him reasonable pieces. Jameson Crowder on the slot. Labian Bell, Griffin the Tide End, Demarius Thomas. You don't have to give him A weapons. Just give him B minus. He entered a franchise that had bad receivers,

a battle line and no running backs. Now, by the way, he's on fire. A hundred and 17 passer rating last three games. They've scored 34 points in each of their last three games. and got Cincinnati coming up. Donald is an A quarterback. Now, he didn't have a lot of college starts. He was the youngest quarterback that came into the league.

He makes some mistakes. He's a playmaker. But this year, they got him an elite slot guy, an elite running back. They found a really good tight end on the market. And what do you know? Now he's not sick. Now, the offensive line needs to be rebuilt. It's lousy, except left tackle.

It's terrible. But he's finally what I thought he would be in the NFL. Once you give him a little support. where Colin was right. Matt Patricia Detroit, never bought him as a head coach. I saw him as a hat on backwards guy, smart guy, supposed to be some astrophysicist under Bill Belichick. Detroit's now 9-17 and 1.

And he's supposed to be, they lost a Washington. He's supposed to be a defensive whiz, right? Well, they're 29th in scoring defense. That's his strength. Like, you can say what you want, but when you wear your cap backwards as a head coach in your first game, It tells me sort of your lack of self-awareness. He looks sloppy.

The team looks sloppy. I don't want to hear about Matt Stafford. They were not tearing the league up with a healthy Matt Stafford. Only the third team all time with 11 leads in the season with three or fewer wins. They don't button up the games. And again, you can blame Matt Stafford, but I just, I see a team that is sloppy. I see a coach that often looks sloppy. If you're Belichick and have nine Super Bowls, you can wear what you want.

But the look, the feel, it just never felt right to me. and they're not very good. Calling right, calling wrong on a Monday. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode,

we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear.

Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing.

How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. and just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to listen to learn the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up guys this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert show i'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff like being an internet famous referee we're in the middle of a game this linebacker this linebacker walks up to me he goes hey ref my mom wants you to wave at her what Look, quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, 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.

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