The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 11/30/2018

Episode Date: November 30, 2018

After the Cowboys big win Colin thinks Dak Prescott is simply a better version of Tim Tebow who can only win when the defense and running game are playing great. He thinks people are using irrelevant... stats in the new pass happy NFL to justify poor quarterback play. Plus, Super Bowl Champion James Harrison comes in studio and talks about the Cowboys impressive defense that shut down the Saints Thursday night  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:02:29 The Best of the Hurt with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Friday. This is The Hurt, wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles. Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. One hour from now, blazing five, rebounding from our only losing week of the year. Love our picks, a great NFL weekend, which started last night. Joy Taylor is here. That was great.
Starting point is 00:02:58 Highest-rated Thursday night football game in the history of Thursday night football games. By the way, New Orleans got a 60 local rating, which means that's the best football market in America, New Orleans. They don't feel good about themselves this morning, though. Right. But you said yesterday, biggest game of Dax life. Biggest game for the year of the Cowboys. I want to start with this. Let's give credit where credit is due.
Starting point is 00:03:20 The Cowboys right now don't just have two great young linebackers in Layton Van der Leyen-Resh and Jalen Smith. Layton Van deresh is the best linebacker in football. He's Brian Erlacher. You didn't watch him in college. He's Brian Erlacker. He's the best linebacker in football. And they have the best tandem linebackers. I mean, Drew Breeze had never gone 0 for four to start a game.
Starting point is 00:03:40 Drew Breeze got shut out in the first half. Drew Breeze could only have the ball for 23 minutes. Let's give the Cowboys defensive front seven, which we told you early last year when they beat San Francisco. I said, this front seven's good. Now they've made it Layton Van der Esh. They batted him. Jalen Smith is now healthy.
Starting point is 00:03:55 front seven is out of this world good. And that's no big surprise. We all knew it was good. We've been saying that on this show for two years. It's now really good because they have the best young linebacker in football. And I would argue he's the best linebacker in football. But let me just tell you something. This is starting to look like Tim Tebow and the Broncos, folks.
Starting point is 00:04:12 There's one way to win for Dallas. It's got to be low scoring. Got to be at home. The defense has to be great. You got to make your field goals. This is starting to feel like the Tebow. This is starting to feel like the Tebow Broncos. And by the way, before you push back on that, you remember how crazy everybody went with Tebow.
Starting point is 00:04:31 You all convinced me, or you try to convince me, that Tebow thing was going to last forever. And I kept saying Saturday Night Live was doing skits on it. Like they don't even like sports. Like you had to win one way. Like Tebow would, you know, and I'll tell you the similarities here. By the way, DAC doesn't throw down field. Dak needs a great running game. DAC has no pocket awareness.
Starting point is 00:04:54 Like Tebow, Dak leads the NFL in percentage of dropbacks that he sacked. Tebow led that too. By the way, there's a fumble issue. Tebow had a major fumble issue. He led the NFL in fumbles for a quarterback. Dak leads the NFL in fumbles for a quarterback.
Starting point is 00:05:14 That is not a small thing. He doesn't throw many picks because he doesn't throw the ball down the field. Either did Tebow. I'm saying a lot of the similarities. It was week nine, Denver and Tebow. They had a great defense. They made their field goals. They had a good schedule.
Starting point is 00:05:28 And it was, oh, it looked really, really good. Everybody was like, oh, my God. By the way, what did I call Dak when he came out of college? I said, he's a better version of Tebow. That's what I call him out of college. And everybody went crazy when they were winning. And literally, I used to work at ESPN. It took over the world.
Starting point is 00:05:43 The Tebow games would get three times as many clicks and read as even like the cowboy games, even like the Patriots, Steeler games. This is a better version, a better offensive version. They had a Demarius Thomas. Now they have Amari Cooper in Dallas. By the way, Troy Aikman talked about the fumble issue. It is now just part of Dax's reality. He fumbles a lot.
Starting point is 00:06:07 Here the ball is out. Prescott cannot get on it. I tell you, that's one thing we have seen way too much of from Dack Prescott this year is him putting the ball on the ground. He's had 10 fumbles. This season, Prescott. Flag is down, ball is out. This is Prescott, and I talked about it.
Starting point is 00:06:28 You've got to be more secure with the ball when you have it in your hands in these situations when you're giving up points at the ball's loose. That was Tebow's issue. A lot of underneath throws, didn't throw downfield, wasn't accurate, fumbled a lot, terrible pocket presence where he got sacked in inordinate amount of times
Starting point is 00:06:49 because he couldn't see the pressure. And by the way, Tebow was a first round pick. Dak was a fourth round pick. I watched Dak in college, and I kept saying it on and on. I'm like, he's a better Tebow. We're seeing now, everybody's got film on him. Tebow needed a great defense. Tebow needed to be at home.
Starting point is 00:07:04 Tebow needed to have his field goal kicker. Tebowl needed the rushing. By the way, and I know the Cowboys are winning, and you're freaking out. But I saw Mark Sanchez win for two years like this. I saw Blake Bortles win last year like this. I saw Tebow going a six game. streak like this. This looks a lot like the Denver Broncos where they got the one receiver that
Starting point is 00:07:25 Tebow could rely on. They have a great defense, a nice running game, a kicker. The game's got to be close. Dallas has become a team that can only win one way. The game's got to be at home. They got to be close. I mean, they did win in Philadelphia, but they've got to be played a certain way. ZCast have a big day. A big day. Field goal kicker, got to make their kicks. You can't get in the 30s. And by the way, Greg Kossel talked about this yesterday on the show. This is, and he brings up a very interesting point here. So it's not a lot of misdirection, deception, you know, it's not jet sweep. It's basically let's line up and run the ball with a really good back. And it's a very basic pass game that by NFL standards is somewhat remedial and elementary. But that's what
Starting point is 00:08:05 their offense is. And they play to their defense and they play to their run game. So the question is, can their defense be good enough to hold the highest scoring team in the league, let's say under 30, which the Cowboys have not given up in any game? And can their offense put up enough points if they don't get, you know, 20-yard passes that become 90-yard touchdowns. Remedial. That's what the, that's what Tebow's offense was. It was remedial. Now, again, you can go on winning streaks.
Starting point is 00:08:32 Tebow won a playoff game. Dallas could be at home and win a playoff game if they win the division. I'm not saying that. But pen to paper, DAC is about the 18th to 22nd best quarterback in the league, and he's about, as I said yesterday, I said, if he won this game, he's getting $110 million. For all the praise, we're here.
Starting point is 00:08:50 heaping on the Cowboys defense. Dallas didn't score in the second half and score a point at home. And that Saints defense was worn out at the end. They were on the field for 37 minutes. They still couldn't get in the end zone. You're looking at the 22nd best quarterback in the NFL. You're going to pay him $110 million. People keep telling me, oh, the future is bright in Dallas. And I'm like, no, no, no, the future in Dallas is going to be hard and confusing. Because by the way, DeMarcus Lawrence, he's on a franchise. tag, bra. You got paying big money. Zeke coming up, big money. Byron Jones Corner, guys outstanding, big money. Amari Cooper this year, big money. You pay $110 million to
Starting point is 00:09:31 Dak Prescott. You are not going to be able to resign some of these guys you need. The future is now. It is now. John Elway did not buy into the Tebow stick. He went out and got Peyton Manning. He's like, I don't buy into this stuff. Remember, Mark Sanchez won for two years this way. Bortle's almost got to the Super Bowl last year this way. Tebow, who's not an NFL quarterback, better baseball player than a football player, won six straight games to beat the Steelers at home in the playoffs this way. That's all I'm saying.
Starting point is 00:10:04 This is a remedial offense. And for the record, this morning, I know you all hate me. God, that was great. It was great. It was unbelievable. And Tebow beat the Steelers. It was unbelievable. It was crazy.
Starting point is 00:10:17 You think the future is great. The future is now. I mean, this morning I wrote down. I was sitting to myself, even the Cowboys, by the way, last night sent out Zeke and Vanderec in the postgame interview. They knew who won the game. It was a running back and the linebacker. I thought to myself, who are the most important Cowboys right now?
Starting point is 00:10:35 I think Van der Lech has changed the defense. He is the best linebacker in football. He is Erlacker for the Bears. I think Zeke's number two. I think DeMarcus Lawrence. You tell me who was more valuable last night. Dack thrown underneath routes or DeMarcus Lawrence in Drew Brees's jock all night. left tackle tyron Smith linebacker jalen Smith Jason Garrett I think that's about seven or eight
Starting point is 00:10:54 Rod Marinelli with a young defense very valuable eighth most important cowboy I'd put DAC seven 110 million bucks I mean you better get a home you better get a discount Dallas because you tell me the future is bright now the future is confusing with Tebow it was confusing with Mark Sanchez you're like it's confusing and with Blake Bortles Jacksonville struggled we don't think he's that good he's totally limited, but we got to pay them. What are we going to do? The future's bright when you've got Jared Goff and Patrick Mahomes. That's when the future's bright. The future is bright when you have Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson and Deshawn Watson. But when you're winning this way,
Starting point is 00:11:36 Sanchez, Tebow, DAC, Bortles, the future is not bright. The future is confusing as heck. Because you've got to now pay a guy 20 million plus a year. Don't kid yourself. fumbles, doesn't look downfield, gets sack constantly, has some nice mobility. But again, there's limitations on that. Do you think I hate the Cowboys? I thought it was great. It was fun. I work at Fox.
Starting point is 00:12:02 It's the highest redded Thursday night game ever. But, you know, this is what we said yesterday. We said, if they win, Dak Prescott's agent is walking into Jerry and saying, I want 25,000 28. What do you say now? They're going to win their division again. Is it a bigger win for the Cowboys or for Dak Prescott? Scott. I would say DAC. I think Dak. It has a big win for Dak last night. Dallas still,
Starting point is 00:12:27 you think Dallas going to go on the road in Chicago win? Dallas is going to go on to New Orleans and win. Dallas going to go to the rent. I mean, there's so much I like about this cowboy team. But that future is bright thing. No, no, no. It's bright with golf and Mahomes. Deshawn Watson luck. Russell Wilson, Wins. That's the future's bright. Okay. Future is darn confusing when you have to pay Blake Bortles 20 million a year. That's when it gets tough. Want 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. There are certain things you can brag about in life, and there are certain things you can't brag about.
Starting point is 00:13:04 If you're advertising a car, you can't say in your advertisement, we have power steering. I'd hope so. Otherwise, you're a tank. You can't, if you're one of these Samsung, Apple phones, we have a camera on our phone. I would think so unless you're 90. Everybody has a camera on their phone. You can no longer with a hotel say, we have free Wi-Fi. Yeah. Yeah, you can't.
Starting point is 00:13:31 If you drive by a hotel, you ever drive by a motel and it says free HBO, do not go to that hotel. That hotel, they gut deer in the shower. Like, stay away from that hotel. You can't brag about those things. Here's another thing you can't brag about anymore in football. My quarterback completed like 16 straight throws. Who cares?
Starting point is 00:13:53 Are you watching the games anymore? Last night, I went to Twitter and I said, that's a liability. Cowboys should have sewn this thing up an hour and a half ago. Good God, the defense is unbelievable. So best defensive effort I've seen by a team all year. Cowboys' front seven is the best in football. It's better than the Bears.
Starting point is 00:14:09 It's better than the Steelers. It's better than the Chargers. It's better than the Texans. That's the best front seven in football. And at home, Drew Brees had the ball for about seven minutes. in the first half. And that's it? And people are like, oh, but he completed 17 straight throws.
Starting point is 00:14:26 Last week, Philip Rivers was like 25 verse, first 25. I mean, what does it mean? Yes, 17 straight completions. Fantastic. He's been sacked more than any quarterback. He's fumbled more than any quarterback, and he doesn't throw the ball down the field. Let me give you some examples here. A couple weeks ago, I heard this about Marcus Mariota.
Starting point is 00:14:44 Marcus Mariota. Everybody said, oh, my God, he completed 90s. second best in NFL history, 19 straight completions, 96% completion percentage. They lost by 17. Aaron Rogers, his touchdown to interception ratio, 20 to 1 best of his career. They're 0 and 6 on the road.
Starting point is 00:15:05 He's never played worse. Everybody now is setting records. Carson Wentz is having his best statistical year ever. 280 a game, 70% completion, 7.7 yards are to all best. Philadelphia's 23rd and points a game. Eli Manning is a shot fighter. He's having his best statistical year.
Starting point is 00:15:28 By the way, do you know Ryan Tannahill's passer rating right now? Is better than any Hall of Fame quarterback. Ryan Tannahill. You can't listen. Even five years ago, I would have been blown away by 68% completion percentage. Tannehill, Eli, when,
Starting point is 00:15:48 These guys are putting up Eli are putting up huge numbers. Everybody is. You can't brag about having Wi-Fi in your hotel or a camera on your phone or power steering. Like those aren't things to brag about anymore. Here's what I look at. If your team is average,
Starting point is 00:16:05 can you carry it? If your defense is average, can you carry it? If your field goal kicker goes swirley and misses four kicks, can you win? That's the guys I'm looking for. That's the guys you want to pay. $125 million to. Other than that, if you're not going to, if that's not your quarterback, I'll pay my pass
Starting point is 00:16:22 rush or that. I'll pay my running back. My left tackle that. But I'm not paying a quarterback. You got to get past this. Dack completed 17 straight. It means nothing to me. I mean, it's something.
Starting point is 00:16:33 At least you can throw the ball from where I sit to where Joy's at, because that was about 80% of his completions last night, by eight yards. But the world has changed. Every camera's got a phone and every car's got power steering and every hotel has free Wi-Fi. And Ryan Tannahill right now, statistically, this year is better than Joe Montana. And Troy Aikman and Tom Brady. I mean, come on, settle down.
Starting point is 00:16:59 Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Our next guest made a bet with Jason Whitlock yesterday, and I would have made the same bet because I thought New Orleans would win by about 10 last night. Vegas thought it was going to be a seven-point win for the Saints. This was on speak for yourself. James, I'm going to bet you straight up. The Cowboys are going to win this game. You set the stakes.
Starting point is 00:17:30 I feel like I need to help you out. How you feel about 10 anytime push-up? That means any time I ask for him, you give me them. And with that, we bring in the. the multiple time pro bowler, two-time Super Bowl champ, defensive player of the year, all-time sack leader in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers James Harrison. So I said to start my show, and I know I'm going to get a ton of pushback. This looks, there's a lot of Tebow, Denver here, one-star receiver, need a running game,
Starting point is 00:18:04 Matt Prater's hitting field goals, you win close, lower scoring games at home. Am I nuts on that? It feels a little, DAC and the Cowell? Yeah, I don't feel like you're nuts on it. I mean, you got to look at it. He went 24 of 28 and still only had 240, 50 yards. And they only won by three points. They scored a total of 13.
Starting point is 00:18:23 The real thing of this is the defense. The defense went out there and held him to 176 yards. Wow. Like you held Drew Brees and the Saints to 176 yards. 10 points. They shouldn't even got 10 points. You got Gregory, who's the best Saints player on the team at that time, you know, and he's giving them every opportunity they can to try and, you know,
Starting point is 00:18:42 extend plays and stretch down. stretch down the field from penalties. So I don't think you're wrong in that in that analogy. You know, James, it's interesting. Joy and I just talked about this. You guys, a confident
Starting point is 00:18:56 football player is a better football player. And even great athletes like Arod, great golfers can get the yips. They can lose confidence. I do think I watched Dallas and those linebackers last night. And it was like, if I went to bed last night, after what I did,
Starting point is 00:19:11 I would wake up the next morning thinking, I'm as good as any defense. I mean, I kind of feel like the game meant it's a difference maker game. Dallas's defense is young anyway. Did they wake up this morning thinking, we're it? We're the best defense in this league. They definitely wake up with a lot more confidence. I don't think you come into the we're it, but now you're like, hey, we're in that argument.
Starting point is 00:19:32 We are, you know, one of the best, you know, we went out there and did something that no other team has done this year. So it is something that gives you a lot of confidence. And that's something that you can definitely build on, it's swag that you walk with. now that you go into, you know, each day and you're trying to build off of that performance. You know, each day you're trying to get better. So it is definitely something that can, you know, lead that defense into one of the higher-tier defenses this year easily. What do you make a late in Banderesh, the kid that played at eight-man football in Idaho? He reminds me of Erlacker.
Starting point is 00:20:02 He played lights out. Like I said, the whole defense played lights out, really. But for him to be a rookie and be in that situation, and I mean, he was like, you know, leg and leg right there with the running. back tomorrow and it was like he couldn't get away from him and everything was short tackles every every every uh every pass was contested everyone everyone you know it was it was catching tackle it was no run after the catch uh defense that that was just it was just absolutely dominant performance by the defense do you give credit to rod marinelli the coach or do you is this just Dallas has athletes everywhere byron jones by the way is a really good corner he's emerged as a really good corner is it
Starting point is 00:20:42 athletes? Is it coaching? What is it? Combination. You have to have somebody that can go out there and play the game, obviously, but everybody that is in the league right now, they're going to be an athlete. They didn't get there by chance. Now you add into the coaching factor, and the fact that they went out there and they played together
Starting point is 00:21:00 for 60 minutes. Each guy did his job. If you were there to make the tackle, they made the tackle. If you were supposed to contest that catch, they contested the catch. You look at the other side. You look at Eli Apple. And you could see, like each catch it was just dragging on him as they kept throwing at him and they kept catching and you're looking at you could see you could see as the cameras it's just a dull look in his eyes he's
Starting point is 00:21:23 not talking to anyone it's just a blank stare and that's just eating at him and that's one of those things where you say his confidence each catch is tearing him down it's wearing on him and that's something that you know they picked on at the beginning of the game and you know it worked for him you know i was saying uh i listed earlier i said and i i i I didn't buy into DAC when he came in the league. I said he's a better Tebow. And then he blew me away as rookie year. And I'm like, well, I'm wrong because the guy's putting up gigantic numbers.
Starting point is 00:21:52 But I said last night, if I put the eight Cowboys that mattered, you know, I have Dak about seven. And that's how I felt with Tebow. Tebow got all the credit from the press, but it was Matt Prater, the kicker, the pass rusher, the receiving court, the head coach. How important is Dak to the Cowboys to you? To me, Dak is a manager. He's not someone that's going to go out there and win you a game. I wouldn't put him that high on that list. I would put the defense coordinator above that,
Starting point is 00:22:20 and I'll put Jason Garrett at the bottom of that list, actually. But that's just my personal feelings. I don't, like I said, right now, it's the defense. You take away that defense. That's an average football team. It's very, at best, at best. And it's a totally different, you know, turnout than a 13 to 10 game. I want to segue to a team.
Starting point is 00:22:40 the Steelers play the Chargers this weekend. It's a late-night game. It'll be the most watched, probably Sunday game, right? One of the big TV games, right? And I've always been a supporter of Ben, but I've always felt Aaron Rogers, Ben, and Cam Newton. I get law drama. They're dramatic personalities. They have big quotes. Sometimes they finger point a little bit, but they're great.
Starting point is 00:23:00 They're Hall of Fame level guys. So Big Ben this week throws a pick, bad pick, kind of points to Antonio Brown, then comes out and says, I deserve the right to an opinion. you are, you're going to be tied to the Steelers for the rest of your life. All time sack leader, defensive player of the year, Super Bowls. In the locker room, you've been there. How has Ben viewed? Everyone gets along.
Starting point is 00:23:22 You know, for me, I can't tell you how other individuals view someone because I have, I had a great relationship with Ben. You did. Yeah, yeah. Me and Ben talked on the concert. I was probably one of the, as an offensive player, he's probably one of the people that I talked to the most except for Antonio Brown because he was my locker mate. So as far as me, I had a good relationship with men, you know, so I can't say.
Starting point is 00:23:48 Why do you think yours was so good? Well, I was, I guess I was there with him longer, you know. When he came in, I was, you know, I was already there. He obviously respected him. Yeah, yeah, I respected him too, but I think it's just familiarity, you know, you hang with with him. Like when he first came in, like, we'd go out and it'd be 20 of us out and, man, it's right there with us, you know, having a good time.
Starting point is 00:24:08 Yeah. So I think that's, you know, that along the years and just... Do you think he has the right to a strong opinion? Are you bothered when he calls out a receiver? I think that's where you got six in one hand, half a dozen the other, because it could turn it to something to where now everybody wants to publicly call someone out. I have no problem with you calling someone out behind closed doors straight to them.
Starting point is 00:24:27 Right. Without having to go to the media with it because now it looks like, like you said, like your finger pointing, you're saying you this, you that. But at the same time, Ben has stepped on that. podium and said, you know what, that's on me. That's my fault. I don't have, the only thing I would have an issue is that you're doing it in front of the media and it looks like you're finger pointing now. Instead of going behind closed doors and saying, hey, next time, why don't you cut this rot a little shallower or, hey, you got to do this or
Starting point is 00:24:53 you got to do that. I just don't like it, you know, being out in front of the media. James, people freaked out. Rams, chiefs, a thousand points. Everybody said defense doesn't matter. and I'm watching that game last night, and I'm thinking, post- Thanksgiving, Bears are going to make the playoffs, Cowboys going to make the playoffs. I'm seeing a lot of defenses making the playoffs in the NFC. Minnesota's probably going to make the playoffs. That's real defense.
Starting point is 00:25:17 Like, there is something weird, like Thanksgiving hits, and is it because the defenses catch up to the offense? I think it's a combination, like you said, you've been seeing the same thing for a long time. And now a big thing, I believe, is you're getting into December football. You're getting into different. weather, especially for outside games. Now those high flying, you know, 40, 60, you know,
Starting point is 00:25:40 times passing the ball is not going to work when the ball is, you know, it's cold. It don't fly as well. So now you've got to get into doing a combination of running and passing. And now the defense, you're playing on grass that may be a little bit muddy. Footing's a little different. And like you say, the wearing tear of a season, you know, what guys are actually doing what they need to do to take care of their bodies. This is an interesting point. Dallas is actually really healthy right now. You know, people are forgetting this. Dallas is a very healthy football team. You look around the NFL.
Starting point is 00:26:08 There are, Eric Barry just came back to the Chiefs. It's like, okay, that's a real player. Are you getting healthy at the right time? Are you rising? Are you ascending into December instead of being that team that you know you're flying high through September, October, and now you know what? It's starting to wear on you. You're starting to, you're not, you didn't do the things
Starting point is 00:26:24 at the beginning of the year to take care of yourself. And now you're downhill sliding. You're barely winning games instead of that team that's, you know, coming into December. And now all of a sudden, oh my God, these guys are taking off. You know, they're ready to go and do some things now. Great seeing you, ma'am. You too.
Starting point is 00:26:38 What's up, everybody? John Middlecock, the three-and-out podcast on Colin Coward's Podcast Network. If you like Colin's show, you'll love mine. I talk all football. You know we're talking Dallas Cowboys, who've got one of the biggest wins of the year tonight against the New Orleans Saints. The Bears are in trouble. Their quarterback's missing.
Starting point is 00:26:58 And why this Alabama team is three wins away. from being the best team ever. Again, you can subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast, John Middlok, three and out. I'm a believer, Joy Taylor, joining me, that if something's going well, don't change it. Don't change good. Change bad. Change dysfunctional. Change ineffective.
Starting point is 00:27:20 Don't change good. Don't don't think they're wrong. Something's working. Just, just don't get in the way. LeBron's always had an identity. Every team that LeBron's won a championship, with has had one identity. In Miami, in Cleveland, LeBron dominates the ball, either scores himself or as he's driving dishes out to a variety, several good shooters. But the Lakers, hey, we're going to do
Starting point is 00:27:49 some new things here with this LeBron guy. We're going to tweak his game. He's going to play off the ball. And he's going to, no, last night, LeBron dominates the ball in the first quarter. Lakers take a huge lead over the Pacers. And then LeBron sits back and lets the other guys generate the offense. Oh, it didn't work. And then LeBron James in the fourth quarter said, okay, let me take over the ball again and dominate the game. And this, sound up, is what happened.
Starting point is 00:28:17 11 point lead. A bucket here that's definitely over. Lebron's shooting a three here. He's sizing it up. Oh, he's in a doubt real good. Stepping back. Lakers are. going to win tonight.
Starting point is 00:28:33 They're going to stop this little losing streak, and LeBron's got 37. That's a difficult shot to converse consistently. LeBron scored or assisted on the Lakers' final 15 points. This is the way it works. Can we stop pretending, yeah, let's get LeBron off the ball. Let's get others involved. No, no, no, no. We have an identity here.
Starting point is 00:28:52 This is a movie trilogy with an identity. This is the third part. Give LeBron the ball, acquire a bunch of shooters on the wing, and he'll drive and score, he'll do the freight train thing, or if he drives, doubled, passes out to a Ray Allen, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Chris Boss, Shane Batti, Mike Miller. We got a thing going on. And even LeBron now is kind of struggling to figure out exactly what he should do. Here he was after. That's the challenging things I've been, you know, kind of battling with, you know, since the season
Starting point is 00:29:24 started on how much do I, you know, defer and allow, you know, some our young guys to kind of try to figure out and how much do I try to take over games. But I'm available anytime we need a play to be made. Yeah, because that's what you do. You make plays. They have no elite shooters. It's why I like the Bradley Beale move to the Lakers, but I'm told they're not going to do it.
Starting point is 00:29:45 I'm told they want Durant. I'm told they want Anthony Davis. But they've got no identity. They've got seven, eight athletic guys. That's good, but that's not what works for LeBron. LeBron ball. LeBron dominates. LeBron dishes when stopped to a variety of shooters.
Starting point is 00:30:02 Bradley Beal would start to give him the identity that's won. As Chris Broussard yesterday said, we're talking about this LeBron off the ball thing. Is it even a thing? Here's Broussard. They're better with LeBron on the ball. I know he's talked about he wanted to be off the ball. This might sound ridiculous.
Starting point is 00:30:22 He's not LeBron off the ball. He doesn't really know how to play that well off the ball. But generally he's standing around and, you know, just consistently, he's not great off the ball. He's better with the ball in his hands, and you're right. Your game is your game. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Let me shift to this. For the last, let me think about this.
Starting point is 00:30:48 One, two, three. About four years. One year at the other place, last three here. I have been saying, yeah, McCarthy and Rogers don't like each other. And the Green Bay media would push back. What does that national guy know? NFL media, a clickbait, hot take. Well, well, well, well, well, well.
Starting point is 00:31:06 Welcome in, boys. Girls, thanks for coming to my side. It is now official that don't like each other. They didn't like each other four years ago. According to a report in Sports Illustrated, Kalin Kaler wrote, Rogers has the approval to change plays called by McCarthy, as he sees fit.
Starting point is 00:31:31 Sometimes Rogers takes advantage of that. Several sources familiar with the inner workings of the Packers say it is devolved into a competition who can call the better play and both want credit now for when things go right. Okay, this has been a simmering divorce for years. I got good sources on this. Multiple players who have played for the organization, many of whom I don't bring on the air here.
Starting point is 00:32:01 Greg Jennings has been honest about it. I got three other guys. Also, Aaron Rogers leads the NFL by a country mile in throwaways. Remember that? We were talking about that, Joy. A couple weeks ago, I said throwaways. It's one thing if Aaron had been hurt all season. He's not been hurt the last three weeks.
Starting point is 00:32:23 He's fine. He leads the NFL in throwaways. And here's what a throwaway is. A throwaway is, occasionally I'm under massive duress. I get that. I mean, Jared Goff, Alex Smith, Brady, they have 20 throwaways. He's got 50. Here's what a throwaway is.
Starting point is 00:32:41 You grabbing a piece of paper and going, this is the crap you gave me. Watch Aaron Rogers. Watch him on the sideline. When you have double the league throwaways, and by the way, you now have a good running back, you now have a go-to receiver. You have a pretty good second receiver, a rookie. Your offensive line is better than average. It's not a terrible offensive line.
Starting point is 00:33:01 You have a go-to-wide receiver. You have a veteran head coach. When you lead by double the NFL in throwaways, that is showing disgust and in animus toward the guy on the sidelines. So all I'd like to say on this is that, A, it's nice that everybody now is acknowledging what we've been on for four years. It wasn't a hot take. It wasn't clickbait.
Starting point is 00:33:25 They don't like each other. They never, one's a Milwaukee cop, one's the L.A. cool, aloof guy. They were never a perfect fit. But I heard grumblings four years ago that Rogers kind of rolled his eyes at McCarthy. But here's the other thing I want to throw at you. There is this feeling now. So I want to be ahead of this as well. I was ahead of that.
Starting point is 00:33:46 I want to be ahead of this. That if Rogers gets a clever, young, precise, intricate, innovative, young coach, this will all go away. It will not. Because then that McVeigh or Matt Nagy will get too much of the credit. What's happening with Rogers and McCarthy is not an innovative struggle. It is a power struggle. Aaron likes power.
Starting point is 00:34:17 Aaron wants to do what Aaron wants to do, and he's gifted. But even Troy Aikman was coachable. Troy Aikman wasn't tough to coach. Terry Broucho wasn't tough to coach. Brady's not tough to coach. Andrew Luck's not tough to coach. Russell Wilson's not tough to coach. Joe Montana was not tough to coach.
Starting point is 00:34:33 Aaron's tough to coach. So this idea now that's permeating that, you know, if you just give him the next Sean McVe, the next Matt Nagy, if you just give him one of those gurus, it will all go away. No, it won't. Well, people want to see that because Aaron Rogers is so talented.
Starting point is 00:34:47 Right. And they want to see his remaining years at his prime, utilized properly. But remember, as Greg Cosell's always told us, He's an ad-libber. This is what he is. He's an ad-libber. So if you give him McVeer-Naggy or McCarthy...
Starting point is 00:35:02 He's got to work within that system. Do you think he wants some young 33-year-old to come in and get all the headlines? This is the gut. Aaron likes power. Aaron likes control. Aaron's in ad-libber. And Aaron's difficult to get along with. Gifted, yes.
Starting point is 00:35:16 Amazing yes. But four-for-four. Those are all true. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the I-Heart radio app. Search Herd to listen. live or on demand whenever you'd like. Let me just do the college games.
Starting point is 00:35:30 I'm just going to tell you. It's called spoiler alert. And so turn away if you don't want to know what happens. I don't want to give away the ending for those of you who want to, you know, fulfill your obligation to support your team. So spoiler alert right now. Warning. Colin is about to reveal the outcomes of the biggest college football games this week.
Starting point is 00:35:49 If you don't want to know exactly what's going to happen, turn away now. All right. SEC Championship. Georgia Bama. I keep hearing all these arguments. What if Georgia beats Alabama? When Georgia beats Alabama, will Bama and Georgia both get in? They won't. Bama's got the better coach, the better quarterback, the better roster, the better big game experience.
Starting point is 00:36:09 Listen, Alabama's won four straight of these games against Georgia, and in three of them, Georgia had a chance to win and kind of choked it away. Bama's beating people by 35 points a game. There's nobody in the country close to that. Their quarterback, too, has got 36 T-Ds and towpecks. Alabama doesn't make mistake. It'd be one thing if they were flashy and turnover prone. Alabama's a better team.
Starting point is 00:36:31 They're the better defense, the better quarterback, the better coach. Turn away. Spoiler alert. Alabama wins, 35, 23. Big 12 championship. Oklahoma wants to exact some revenge on Texas. Oddsmakers think this is going to be close. I don't.
Starting point is 00:36:51 First of all, Oklahoma leads the nation not only in points but yards. by a ton. Even in their loss, by the way, to the Longhorns the first time, the average over nine yards of play. So it's not like Texas slowed them down. Now, three of the last four sooner games have been close, but again, I feel like because of the previous result, I get an emotional edge with Oklahoma. Spoiler alert, 4733. I think it's more of a blowout than the experts think. Let's go to the Big Ten. Everybody now loves Ohio State. Everybody's down on Michigan.
Starting point is 00:37:26 It's Ohio State Northwestern. This Northwestern could not win an out-of-conference game before the Big Ten play. They're a very limited football team. Ohio State, by the way, is second-most yards in everybody in college football except Oklahoma. So, you know, the Buckeyes put points up. I do like their quarterback, Dwayne Haskins. He has really emerged. I think he got to put him as the second or third best quarterback in college football if he decides to come out after the kid at
Starting point is 00:37:52 Oregon, Justin Herbert and Will Greer at Oklahoma. I think Dwayne Haskins, he broke Drew Brees, Big Ten record for passing yards and T-Ds in a single season. And the offense has been cooking against Michigan and cooking against Maryland. So he's getting better
Starting point is 00:38:08 as the season progresses. Spoiler alert. Ohio State wins by a couple of touchdowns, 37. All right. There's a lot of people a couple weeks ago. Rams, Chiefs, Monday Night Football, everybody's. Like, ah, nobody plays defense.
Starting point is 00:38:25 It was a lot of these, ah, like I miss old school football. Old school football. Get off my lawn. Nobody tackles anymore. My takeaway was it was great. It's fun. Everybody in the world was talking about that game. I drove through my neighborhood that day, and I can see when I drive through my neighborhood,
Starting point is 00:38:40 I can see into houses, you know, because we're on a hill a little bit. Everybody had the Rams Chiefs game on. Everybody knew it was going to be good. It was good. It over-delivered. It was unbelievable. But if you're one of those cranky people, I want leather helmets and good defenses.
Starting point is 00:38:55 Then you've got to like the Cowboys. You got to like the Cowboys. The Cowboys, the Bears are too clever to be old school. The Steelers throw too much to be old school. And the Ravens have a running quarterback. That's not old school. Cowboys are old school. I mean, they rely overwhelmingly on running back and not just a bunch of running backs.
Starting point is 00:39:16 It's old school football. We've got a bell cow, 28 carry-a-case. game running back. That is very 1980s. That is very 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s. They don't have a bunch of them like the Patriots or a bunch of them like the Eagles. No, they got one great running back. They don't even have a good backup running back. They also have a dominating front seven with rangy linebackers who sometimes should be penalized for their hits and are not penalized. Like they're over the top. Like Layton Banderash, Jalen Smith last night had a shot. They're borderline, you know, little dirty linebackers.
Starting point is 00:39:50 And by the way, they have a quarterback, you know, who doesn't take a lot of chances, pretty safe, under 200 yards a game. I mean, this is very 1979, 1979, 1999 football. They have a quarterback under 200 yards. They have a defense front seven, which is aggressive, almost to the point of penalty. they have an owner front and center now that all those owners just hide as front and center owner
Starting point is 00:40:22 and they've got a singularly one running back lead offense so for cranky old school guy this is what this is what football was 10 years ago and that's what Dallas looks like I think they look a little too much like Denver and Tebow
Starting point is 00:40:37 but this is what the cowboys are they're very old school yeah here's the NFC playoff picture. And it feels, to me anyway, very two-tiered. So the current division leaders, Rams, Saints, Bears, Cowboys, Wild Card teams would be Vikings and Redskins, and the Seahawks, Panthers, Eagles, Packers, here's what it feels like to me. The NFC is the first tier, Ram Saints, the second tier, limited offenses, great defenses, Cowboys, Bears, and the third tier is everybody else. That's what it feels like to me.
Starting point is 00:41:17 I mean, despite what happened last night, I don't think of those two teams played, that's what the game would look like. I feel the Rams and the Saints can win a bunch of ways. I feel the Cowboys and the Bears, and I like the Bears better than the Cowboys, because I like Tribisky better than Dak. I think the Bears and the Cowboys
Starting point is 00:41:36 have to sort of play one way to win, but Chicago could kind of go to a second way, but not a third or a fourth way. They've got to keep the score mostly low. And then I think the other teams are, I just, I just, I, it's really hard for me to see Philadelphia, Washington, Minnesota, Carolina, Seattle. I just think they have limitations. So it's a three-tiered NFC. Rams Saints, Cowboys Bears, and then everybody else.
Starting point is 00:42:07 What are the wise guys where? I get asked that from time to time. The answer is the new gear from theherdnow.com merchandise store. We are now officially open for business. We have all the apparel, diehard herd fans need to represent the show. Go to theherdnow.com. If you don't, that's a you problem.
Starting point is 00:42:24 And that's a you problem is one of our shirts. Check it out. Theherdnow.com. Theherdnow.com store is open for business today. 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.
Starting point is 00:42:45 I'm Timbo. In 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,
Starting point is 00:42:58 and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy,
Starting point is 00:43:13 not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Spice. Myrtle and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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.
Starting point is 00:43:32 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. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, We're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world.
Starting point is 00:44:00 Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the stream. strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last?
Starting point is 00:44:31 Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human

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