The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 12/11/2018

Episode Date: December 11, 2018

Colin talks about Kirk Cousins being a garbage time QB who never makes the big play while Russell Wilson can struggle all game but step up when he needs to. He also explains why Kirk Cousins is the reason the Cowboys have to pay Dak Prescott. He updates his Herd Hierarchy including a new team at #1. Plus, Super Bowl Champion Trent Dilfer talks about why Aaron Rodgers shouldn't be given too much power in Green Bay. Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. We are packed on a Tuesday. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio at FS1, one hour from now. I care too much. It's sort of sad.

The herd hierarchy, top 10 teams in the league. Joy Taylor joining me is always. Good morning. How are you? I'm great. How are you? Sweeter Weather? It is sweater weather, yes.

We are packed today. This can be a great show today. I don't think I remember an NFL season. It's crazy. This is wild. Ten teams in the NFC have a playoff possibility still. Ten teams. We got a third of the NBA's tanking.

One team can win. We got a whole NFC is wide open in this thing. And so Minnesota's lost last night. It's crazy. For the record, breaking news. John D. Philippo, the offensive coordinator for the Vikings, just got fired. Yeah, it's his fault.

Yeah, by the way, Philadelphia, go get him for Carson Wentz. So this is funny about last night. There's a reason. Last night was classic Kirk Cousins. He lost the game in prime time and ends up with garbage yards at the end. And this is why I say, you got to watch the games. Last night, I said this to my wife. I said, man, this is, this is boring. Well, why you keep watching it? I said, because you got to watch the games. Don't pay attention to stats. There have been years. that if you didn't watch Andy Dalton, you looked at his box score, you're like, ooh, there's a pro bowler.

Jacksonville gave Blake Bortles. Oh, Blake. Did you watch Blake Bortles? Last night is the difference between Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins. Neither played well. In fact, Russell had a terrible interception. Russell Wilson always makes the play in the game. And that was an equally huge game for both teams.

Kirk Cousins never makes the play. Neither played great, but one made a great play. Russell Wilson scrambles right there, down the sideline. That changed everything. Quarterbacks don't play well every weekend. Peyton Manning didn't. Brady doesn't. Breeze had a stinker against the Cowboys.

But do you make the play? The NBA is littered with guys like Zach Levine, who scored 24 a night, and you won't remember three baskets when he's done. Blake Griffin, 26 a night, an endless highlight reel. Has he ever hit a big shot? Russell Wilson right now is behind Matt Ryan.

He's 11th in fantasy football quarterback points. He's behind Matt Ryan, who's on a five-game losing streak and never makes the play. He's behind Cam Newton, also on a five-game losing streak. I say this. judge a person on a bad day.

That's who they are. Every parent's in a good mood when little Johnny hits the game-winning little league home run. But what about when little Johnny goes 0 for three and the umpire hosed him? How's dad act then? Because that's who dad is. Russell Wilson put up a stinker last night. Had the worst interception of the season. The craziest, goofiest, awful throw of the year.

But he made the play. Kirk Cousins is now 4 and 13 in primetime games. Russell Wilson is 21 and 5. Russell Wilson wins 60% of his road games. Kirk Cousins wins 36% of them. But if you looked at the box score last night, Kirk Cousins, oh, 20 of 33, over 200 yards, touchdown, no picks, 90 passer rating.

If you look at the box score, Russell Wilson, 10 for 20, 72 yards, no TDs, a pick and a passer rating of 37. Tell my wife, I got to watch these games. And last night's why you got to watch the games. By the way, Minnesota, I don't want to hear about officiating. You're the only team in the league that through 13 games, you could make 13 a round number. You're 6, 6' and 1. You define average.

You've got two world-class receivers, excellent defense, and you couldn't score till garbage time. I don't want to hear about officiating. You got a gift call against the Packers and Clay Matthews earlier this year. And true to form, you couldn't even win that game. You tied it. Watch the games. That was a great classic Russell Wilson game because he stunk, had a terrible pick, but unlike Cousins, made the play.

And let me segue to another guy that a lot of people criticize, myself included, but he oftentimes wins close games, Dak Prescott. So I want to remind everybody as we shift the DAC talk that Kirk Cousins was the best free agent quarterback on the market this year. Easily. Was actually outside of maybe like a Peyton Manning, the best available quarterback in years. And Peyton, by the way, would never have left if Andrew Luck was not going to get drafted. If Andrew Luck was not available out of college, the best quarterback out of college since John Elway, the Colts would have kept Peyton Manning.

They wouldn't have moved him. Yeah. Kirk Cousins was the gem of the free agent class. He has two and a half more years in his contract with the Vikings at $28 million a year. If Minnesota could get out of that contract on the flight home, they would have last night. They'd get out of that thing tomorrow if they could.

And they can't. So if you have any doubts about Dak Prescott, let me remind you, and I have been critical of him. He does give you four things which are really important things in 2018. Stability at the position. You don't want to be Jacksonville. They've got stability at the position.

He's mobile in an era where I do want my quarterbacks. I like him to move around a little. Number three, he has incredible leadership qualities. And number four, this is weird, but he wins a lot. of close games. I think he's limited to. I've said before, if you're going to sign him,

it better be 18 to 21 million. He needs a lot of help. But college football only gives you about one to two quarterbacks a year, and it should be noted. Dallas doesn't have a first round pick next year. DAC has the leverage

of scarcity. there's not many quarterbacks out there. And as I'm watching Kirk Cousins last night, I'm thinking about Dack. And I'm thinking, Kurt Cousins, he was the gem of the quarterback free agent class. He cannot win a close game. He cannot win a primetime game. Jerry Jones was on Dallas radio this morning, and he knows Dack better than all of us. And he said, Dak, you ever notice how often he wins?

the big games? The thing you've got to remember, I don't know we've had a player. Then he takes to the practice field. I can't emphasize enough that you hang around and you hang through a mistake on a given play and you're going to have something good happen. And that's the way I feel about Dak. I think that was somebody playing Jerry Jones. It sounded almost too much like Jerry Jones, but he's right.

So in review in my first segment today, Russell Wilson played lousy, but I love him because he makes the play. And Dak Prescott, in my opinion, is an average quarterback talent. But man, he makes plays in big games, offers stability, can move around a little bit, and has incredible leadership qualities. Do not forget, Kirk Cousins was the gem of the free agent class. Okay, just don't forget that. Is that we can bang on Russell Wilson's interception and performance last night.

And the guy like me can come out and say, Dak drives me crazy. And I think he has an incredibly low ceiling. It's about two inches from the floor. But sports isn't about Blake Griffin average in 26 a night. It's not about Zach Levine average in 24 a night. I don't know what Ray Allen averaged, but I can remember a dozen big shots in his career.

I don't know what Dwayne Wade's career average is. I can think of 50 huge plays in his career. I want guys who make plays, even if they're incredibly flawed. Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins don't. As long as the number is right with Dak, he does. And Jerry's not getting rid of him.

He does. And all these games on this five-game winning street for Dallas, they're all like one-play, one-possession games, and they're winning all of them. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Here's the thing about the media. The media hates the term fake news, right? They don't like that.

It invalidates the media. But there is a bias and agenda, and I see it a lot in the media. And that's why when Trump says fake news, it kind of sticks. Because I read the media. media and I see it all the time. I'm like, that's agenda. That's bias. That's not facts. So I always give credit when a local reporter can come out and take on an icon because he's going to get stares. He's going to get death threats and hate mail. Mark Madden's a very talented Pittsburgh radio host and a writer in Pittsburgh. He came out today and they have a column. It's

time to consider firing Mike Tomlin. And for the record, it is. Okay. This is a totally fair column. Mike McCarthy just had a bad eight-game stretch. He got run out mid-season. Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl. Mike McCarthy rejuvenated Brett Farv's career. Brett Farv was done. He handled the FAR of Aaron Rogers mess. I got nothing against Mike Tomlin.

But Mark Madden lays it out. He says, in the last 11 years, when the Steelers are favored by nine or more, they're six and five straight up. The rest of the league's 52 and 10. that defines who they are. They play down to the competition. Their special teams now are the worst in the league. That's about coaching.

That's why New England always has great special teams. Pittsburgh's now are the league's most penalized. By the way, they lost to a Raiders team Sunday that didn't even play well. Raiders had 13 penalties, 130-yard penalties. And oh, by the way, what really got mad and furious is the way they handle a big Ben situation. He was ready to play in the second half and they wouldn't put him in. Tomlin said I kept Josh Dobbs in because of the flow of the game. game. Mark Madden said, what does that mean? In the four possessions without Big Ben, who was ready to

play, punt turned over on downs, interception punt. What flow? There was no flow. The media, because Mike, and this is why I think the media does this with Tomlin, he's blunt, he's brutally frank, he's bizarrely candid, he's wildly animated. There's a Mike Ditka quality to him. He's a great quote. He's great at the podium. You can't take your eyes off him. He's a great media coach. Mike McCarthy is grumpy and Tom Coughlin was grumpy and Tom Coughlin people wanted to ride him out of New York and he'd won two Super Bowls.

Tom Coughlin was under heat for five straight years after winning Super Bowls. McCarthy gets ridden out of town. Tomlin's likable and he's animated and he's Frank and he's a great quote and he's great at the podium. But this is a – why isn't Tomlin under the same microscope as Mike McCarthy? Is it fair to say this?

The longer Tomlin has been this, coach, is it fair for me to say, they now underachieve more than achieve? I'm not even asking for overachieve. Just achieve to the level you should with a Hall of Fame quarterback. Now, by the way, I'm tougher on coaches if you have two things. If you have a Hall of Fame quarterback and ownership stability, I'm going to be tougher on you. That's why I'm tough on Pete Carroll. That's why I'm tough on Mike Tomlin. It's why I always defend Marvin Lewis. bad quarterback and cheap ownership. If you have Aaron Rogers, Big Ben, Brady, Breeze, Philip Rivers,

and then you also have with that great ownership, oh, I'm going to ride you. I'm going to hold you a higher standard. Ohio State football should win 11 games a year. Kansas State should win about four. There's different standards. Alabama is all in. They should win 11 a year. Every year regardless of coach.

Kentucky football should win about 4. five. So all I'm saying, Green Bay doesn't have Pittsburgh's talent and McCarthy got ridden out mid-season. Tomlin and the Steelers in 2018 are doing once again what they've been doing for years, unraveling, not buttoned up, and underachieving with this roster. Terry Bradshaw came out, said something about a year and a half ago, got major heat for it. And what he said, said, I thought was accurate. I've had several sources through the years say the same thing, and the media attacked him for saying,

I don't know, Terry sort of knows football this. He's really a great cheerleader guy. I don't know what he does, but I don't think that he's a great coach at all. His name never even pops in my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL. And I'm saying you have to fire him. But boy, there's a reason fake news,

I mean, McCarthy's ridden out of town. Grumpy Mike McCarthy, lousy quote Mike McCarthy, takes a bullet for the franchise with Aaron Rogers, who's got a lot of drama. Yeah, I know Big Ben's got a lot of drama, but McCarthy was ridden out of town. I think this column is fair. Not saying it's right, but I do think it's fair, and it's something we've been on for a couple years.

That's why I defend Marvin Lewis. when you get a big band and you get that ownership, does anybody draft better than the Pittsburgh Steelers? Does anybody in the league consistently draft as well as the Steelers? God, when's the last time they whiffed on a wide receiver of back? God, it's just like they're always great. O lines are almost always good. Receivers are always loaded.

They've always got a star back. They've always got an edge rusher. I mean, it's like, they've always got good linebackers. Ryan Chaserer career ends. I've got two other guys. I mean, I always got talent. just think the column's fair. The question is fair.

Make it right, but I think it's fair. It's fair for McCarthy. It's fair for Tomlin. Just because he's funnier, better at a podium, incredibly animated. You know, that part, he's the best in the league by far. By far. Most coaches are the pits. He's like, I mean, he's a combination of, he's like an actor.

And like, if you hired a football coach to be good at the podium, you just hire Mike Tomlin. Just do like he does. Mike Tomlin should go into acting when he leaves coaching and play a coach in every movie. 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.

By the way, we had a breaking story today. The Vikings fired their offensive coordinator, John D. Filippo. He was with Carson Wentz. Super Bowl winning Eagles last year. They fired, and Minnesota had to fire somebody after that egg they laid last night. So they fired John D. Filippo. Philadelphia. Go hire him. Okay, Josh McDaniels or the Patriots went to the Broncos and got fired.

And what did New England do? Got on the phone? Brought him right back. Go get John D. Filippo. Carson Wence is an all-time talent. Okay, he's an all-time talent. He's lost offensive linemen this year, running backs. There's injuries to wide receiver. Go get Carson Wence, his guy. You're not going to get Frank Reich back. Go get D. Philippo. Just make room for him. Okay, Minnesota's got to pay him. You don't even have to pay him.

Give him a couple coupons to a local sizzler. You get him. But go get that guy. Let me tell you something. Colts wasted a lot of years not getting the right people to coach Andrew Luck. Now they got the right people coaching him. What do you know? Carson Wentz is Andrew Luck.

This is a 10-year gold bar. All right, here we go. It's the herd hierarchy. I pay way too much attention to this stuff. I've got no social life. Here we go. Herd Hierarchy Time is now, let's go!

The top 10 NFL teams, according to college. Number 10. Not sure they're one of the best teams, but they're one of the best stories. I'm going to give the Colts number 10. They've won 6 of 7. Yes, Frank Reich has been great. Yes, Andrew Luck is setting all personal bests. But what is the most remarkable thing about this story is

since week 7? They're the best defense in the league, which I don't even know how it's possible. They have Darius Leonard and one corner I like. This team is so cohesive defensively and plays so hard, and I think this is one of the great stories in the league. Eric Ebron was a bust, I thought. No longer, he and Travis Kelsey are tearing the league up. Andrew Lux's on fire.

You talk about a culture that's changed in the last several months. They are all headed in the same direction. One of the first teams I turn on every Sunday is the Colts. I got him at 10. Number nine. Ravens, again, what's their identity? It's very important for teams to have an identity. They were swimming around until Lamar Jackson took over,

and then they said, you know what, we're going to play good defense, we got the players, and we're going to run the football. And since week 11, they lead the league in rushing. They had all the same players. Lamar Jackson has some limitations. He didn't know, I mean, he'd not flaccoe. I haven't been in this league for a decade, but they figured out we play defense, They're number one in scoring defense, and we run the football since week 11.

They're not glamorous. They don't have lost superstars, but they have figured out what they are, and man, they had every chance to go in to Kansas City and win. They had a real shot at that game. Ravens at 9. Number 8. I like the Seahawks. I just asked Greg Jennings, I believe it. I think this is a wildcard team. There's one or two wildcard teams every year that I think could win the Super Bowl.

Maybe not likely, but could Seattle's it. Again, turnover differential plus 11, second in the league. Bobby Wagner's, their star defensively, they're very young defensively, but they, again, play cohesively. They're fifth and third down defense, so they get you off the field, and they run the football. Again, you don't have to be graded everything in this league, but you got to know what you are.

Nobody in this, I could argue Baltimore and Seattle have more limitations, but know exactly what they are. I have the Seahawks at eight. Number seven. Dallas Cowboys. Listen, I love the Amari Cooper trade. I didn't love it this much. I didn't think he was going to lead the NFL and T-Ds in yards since he arrived.

He has given them a legitimate number one receiver. I never bought into the stories that Amari Cooper didn't work hard. I made one call to a college football coach who had Amari Cooper. I said, how is his work ethic? He's like, fantastic. Why? I said, because there are stories out there. Amari Cooper doesn't work hard.

He's like, you've got to be kidding me. He was the hardest worker we had in the team. High football IQ. He is elevated DAC. Their front seven's fantastic. They run the football. I do think their passing game as a lower ceiling. So what?

So does Chicago. I like them. Cowboys at 7. Number six. New England Patriots. Listen, Sunday was a mess. It's Miami. They don't play well in Miami.

And they have not been a great road team. Here's what I would say about New England. Do they have the best coach? Yeah. Do they have the best pre-snap quarterback? Yeah. Are they situationally usually great? Yeah.

And they will play a home playoff game. Now, this team, the margins are shrinking. They're two and four this year when they don't rush for 100 yards. They really need Burkhead, James White, and Sony Michelle to be healthy. They're not beaten the Kansas City Chiefs or a Chargers if they're dinged up in the backfield. Again, like Dallas, nobody wants to admit this, but there's kind of a certain way New England has to win now. Running backs are healthy. Little home field would help.

I got him at six. five. I've been cool on the Rams for over a month. Jared Goff, multiple turnovers in three straight games. I think they miss wide receiver Cooper Cup. I think their defense too often freelances with Marcus Peters sometimes doing his own things. Same with Indomacan Su. That was the first game without an offensive touchdown since Sean McVeigh took over. Now, I still like the Rams. I have them at five. I think NFL coaching is really good and people can catch up the tricks. I think some of the things they do without Cooper Cup, they can't do at the same level, and people, you know, they're not great when they get out of their 72-degree palm tree comfort zone. You put them in

New Orleans with noise, you put them in Chicago with cold, not the same offense, Rams at 5. Number four. Put the bears ahead of them because they beat him and not just beat them, they physically pushed them around. Listen, they're the only team in the NFL, top five in scoring defense, total defense, takeaways, they're first, by the way, in that. Again, I'm not a Mitch Shrabisky fan. I think it's a lot of smoke and mirrors. I think I think Matt Nagy is my coach of the year in the NFL. I think he's done an unbelievable job with a very limited quarterback. But I will say this. Again, they know what they are. What's funny about this list, five of the teams on my list are considered high offensive octane teams. Five play defense. Chicago's a defensive story. I have the

bears at four. Number three. Chargers. They won nine of their last ten. Again, you think of this team is an offensive juggernaut, and they are loaded at receiver and incredibly deep at running back. But with Joey Bosa back and Derwin James at safety, and Ingram, this is a real defense. And they have allowed since week five, 16 points a game. That's first in the NFL. So don't fall in love with Philip Rivers having a career year.

They can go over the top and beat you. But they get you off the field, and they are one of the few teams in the NFL. They'll just bring four guys no blitzes. They don't blitz much. And they get a tremendous pass rush with four guys and no blitzing. That is a huge edge in the NFL. Number two.

Saints, I'm taking them out of the number one chair. I still love them. I still think they'll probably end up in the Super Bowl. Is it arm fatigue? Drew has not played well last couple of weeks. It's very possible. Got a little arm fatigue. These are long seasons.

You can have emotional fatigue. teams, there's different arcs. You know, Rams and Saints felt like about four weeks ago, they peaked. And they're not quite the same. But, but their defense, it's not kid yourself. They play real defense

here. This is a team that's very, very hard to run on. And if you play great run defense and you have to play Dallas, that's going to be a huge edge. If you have to play the Rams again, it's going to be a huge edge. Saints at 2. Number one. I haven't put the

at number one, I don't think this season. But I thought the Baltimore win impressed me because you got, coming up, you have the Chargers. And there wasn't a single Kansas City player. And this is a young roster that wasn't looking at that Thursday night game and thinking, here come the Chargers. And they beat a Baltimore team, a good team. Go ask Pittsburgh, because Pittsburgh's got New England left next. How did Pittsburgh look against Oakland in the sandwich game?

They looked like crud. This was a very easy game to lose. They've scored 25 points in every game. Mahomes is going to win the MVP. They are a great story. He can be a little erratic. He can make some throws that I win at. But he's got a lot of Carson Wentz in him.

That Patrick Mahomes and Carson Wentz do stuff, you just can't teach. Like, no look passes. Like, you just can't teach a lot of what Patrick Mahomes does. And I think Andy Reid's got a real shot to win his first Super Bowl. What's up, everybody? John Middlethoff from the three and out podcast brought to you by Colin Coward's podcast network. If you like Colin's show, you will like mine. I talk all football.

Coming up on this week's show, Kurt Cousins, is he good or not? Brady, Mahomes, Amari thriving, Reggie McKenzie fired. There is a lot going on in the NFL world and we talk it all. Again, the three and out podcast, wherever you listen to your podcast with me, John Middilcoff. The NFL's got a little bit of an issue. this year. By the way, every great business has an issue. The officiating appears to have regressed in the last year. Dean Blandino left. He came over here, Fox. I think they miss him and should hire him back and pay him a lot of money because I think the officiating in big games has not been great.

Minnesota last night, two calls went against the Vikings that I didn't like either of them. There was a pass interference call against the Vikings. I thought it was a bogus call. And the block kick, I thought Bobby Wagner jumped over and touched his teammates. Can't do that. And I think it did take a field goal, you know, off the board. But don't kid yourself, Minnesota. You've had 13 chances this year to prove you're a step-up franchise and you're 0 for 13. You're terrible in these big games. You never make the play.

You're the only team in the NFL that can turn 13, and this is mathematically impossible, you turn 13 into an even number, 6, 6 and 1. You've got a big break against the Packers and Clay Matthews. You couldn't even win that game. So there's no team in the NFL that would be 11. and two, but instead they're seven and six because of the officiating. That took a field goal off to board. I thought it was a lousy call, but Seattle has an identity and you don't offensively.

Your offensive lines average. You don't run the ball. You have two great receivers, but you never hit them downfield, and Kirk Cousin stinks in big games. So here, and I'll say this, the NFL does the best job of any sport in America. This is why it's the king of fixing their on-field problems quickly. Catch rule. turn it around. In fact, they changed the catch rule during last year's Super Bowl.

They were getting so much heat for it that literally the Super Bowl in season, biggest game, most viewers, you know what? We're going to start making those 50-50 calls catches. They did it in the Super Bowl. Philadelphia got two calls. They should have. They earned it and they won the Super Bowl. And nobody complained about it since that point forward. I mean, the NBA's got real issues. A third of the league is tanking to get Zian Williamson, Zion Williamson from Duke. A third of the league minimum is tanking. The Eastern Conference ratings are down 20% because one player LeBron left. And oh, by the way, I think we already know who's going to win the NBA championship. I mean, seriously, Houston's now a mess. So I don't

want to hear about, you know, the officiating, I think has regressed this year. But I don't remember a year. There are 10 teams in the NFC. Are we in week 15, Joy? Is it week 15? We're in week 15. We have 10 NFC teams with a chance to make the playoffs. And we have two wildcard teams Chargers and Seahawks, maybe Baltimore, that are capable of winning multiple playoff games. I don't really remember this many teams being legitimate playoff contenders. In week 15. Right. It's incredible.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. By the way, LeBron and the Lakers beat Duane Wade in the Miami Heat last night. The Lakers are now rolling. Yes, they've won 15. of their last 20 games. They've won six of seven. They won last night. LeBron took over late. It's what he does. Made a couple of big shots over Dwayne Wade. Yes, the Lakers are rolling. I've always said LeBron's not just about talent. It's about his IQ. He always chooses the right team. Let me remind you of the teams that wanted LeBron. Philadelphia is now already dysfunctional

with Jimmy Butler. Houston, an ugly 11 and 14 season. They're a mess. San Antonio is irrelevant. And then there was the Lakers, a deep young roster that played hard but needed a centralized leader, LeBron James. LeBron's always made the right decision. Carmelo Anthony forced to trade. Nicks had no players. Happens all the time.

Russell Westbrook, great guy, doesn't get how great Kevin Durant is. Never the same franchise. Here was LeBron and Dee Wade last night, two of my favorite guys after. words. You can do anything he wants. He's shown that. He's proven that. Not only he's one of the greatest players, one of the greatest people. You know, what he's done on and off the court, second to none. No one has, has they been able to accomplish what he's been able to accomplishes. He's taking advantage of his opportunities from day one. And I have no doubt that this team would be in the finals at some point. This guy can play for as long as he won't. And I'll be here to see it.

personally I would have been very successful in this league without D-WA but to accomplish what I really wanted to accomplish in this league and that's winning at the highest level I needed them and that's why I made the jump a lot of guys in this league have talent but to chase money they want to be the man like Mello they forced trades and are left with nothing on their own roster LeBron makes really good choices he left Miami Wade and Bosch physically eroding. He left Cleveland. They're now a mess.

He joins the Lakers. What are they, a game and a half out of first place in the West? It's not just his talent and his passion. He makes really good choices. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Played a decade and a half. Super Bowl, pro-Buller. Trent Dilfer,

via the Coward Global Satellite Networks joining us. All right. Washington kept franchise tagging Kurt Cousins. Vikings needed a quarterback said we're going to move off Case Keenham. We're going to bring in Kirk Cousins. I'm watching last night, Trent, sometimes I think they missed Case Keenum. What went wrong in this deal? Well, I think a lot went wrong.

I think the starting point is that obviously, and I think most people believe this is this time, the Vikings overpaid for Kirk Cousins. But it's what the market was dictated at the time. Kirk had good timing in the whole process. Therefore, he gets overpaid, say, 20, 30 percent. But I think there's a bigger issue going on. It's how when the Vikings were looking at a new quarterback, to upgrade a quarterback in Minnesota,

mis-evaluating who Kirk Cousins was. We know Mike Zimmer is an old-school defensive-centric coach. He's going to want to run the ball at a high volume. He's going to want his quarterback to move the chains on critical downs, and then obviously finish drives in the red zone. That's not who Kirk Cousins was in Washington. Kirk Cousins is a volume passer. he's a guy that thrived on early downs, not late down.

He thrived in the middle of games, not at the end of halves at the end of game. He's a guy that is a stat junkie. That's not his fault, but he was a product of a lot of early down passes, schemes that fit his talent level and allowed him to be really successful. The Vikings mis-evaluated the type of player he is, so now you get stuck in the situation where Zimmer is forcing his coordinator of more runs, therefore you're going to have more must-permore. situations where a Tom Brady thrives, Aaron Rogers thrives,

a Philip Rivers thrives, but not where Kirk cousin thrives. So it was really the mis-evaluation of the Vikings, and they overpaid for him, and it's making Kirk look like a shell of what he really is, whereas if he had a coach that understood who he was, then you'd be more of a volume pass team, which, by the way, they were early. You would highlight your best players on the team, Thineland, Diggs, Rudolph, and you would be a more 65, 35 past run team, but that's not who Zemmer wants to be, and that's not what Kirk Cousins does well.

Okay, let's shift to Dack. The conversation now, Jerry wants him. What are we going to pay him? Where would you go with Dack on that money situation? Well, we got another year to figure it out. I would personally internally want to see him do something special on a playoff run. Doesn't mean win the Super Bowl, but carry a little bit more water for his team. in the fourth quarter the other day against the Eagles,

where he kind of puts the team on his shoulders in big situations and big moments, especially in January. I think that's one way he can earn a big contract. I still think you need to be having conversations with his agent right now saying, if you think you're going to break the bank, you're not going to. We'll start looking into the draft. We'll start looking at different options because we're not going to do it. Say the Vikings did.

But I think Colin, I think this is something you can build off of here the rest of the season. And it's the next season. It builds on a bigger issue. And that's where the salary cap is really flawed when it comes to quarterback. In this next collective bargaining agreement, the players have to fight, take the quarterback salary out of the standard salary cap and create its own quarterback salary cap because players are getting hurt from it because there's a lot of players on the Cowboys that if they pay

DAC, they're not going to be able to pay them. And it seems too easy, excuse me, just to set. Separate the quarterback out of the salary cap, put a separate salary cap on that position so that the rest of the 52 men on the roster can be rewarded as they should. Because right now, when you overpay for a quarterback, you're affecting four to six other guys that should be getting rewarded for their efforts. And they're really not. I swear to God, I had this conversation with the buddy two nights ago. We had the same conversation is that if you separated the quarterback, I don't like franchise tags either for quarterbacks. It traps them.

Okay. Aaron Rogers, you run the organization tomorrow. What kind of coach do you give him? Do you give him any pull? Should he have a say in the hire? You should not have a say in the hire. But as an organization, you should understand Aaron well enough now over time to know what kind of coach will fit his personality. We'll get the most from him. You can never empower one player that much.

I guarantee Bill Belichick is not consulted with Tom Brady on very many-to-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-decision. big global decisions. You don't ever want to give a player that type of status. It will separate him from the rest of the team and it'll alienate him from the rest of the team because now the team's wondering, does he have a say in my being here or not? So it breaks that trust. For Aaron, it's pretty simple. I said this, I think a week or two and we talked about it. It's a guy that's going to demand a ton from Aaron. That's going to come in day one and say, listen, you're already one of the greatest ever, but I'm going to push you to tap into every single thing that's in your soul to bring out even more in you.

I'm going to challenge you every single day to be better. And I'm going to coach you hard. And I'm going to be honest with you when you mess up. And I will hold you to the same standard as I hold everybody else on this team to. You give Aaron that type of guy and he's going to respond. Why do I know that? Because that's what Jeff Tedford did for him at Cal. And that's what Mike McCarthy did, his first years in Green Bay.

But over time, Aaron began to get treated differently, and Aaron began to have a little more say than maybe he deserves to have. And what happens is erode your team that erodes the trust level. So a strong person that can come in there and have that conversation with Aaron, I think Aaron will respond great to. And I think you'll see him have multiple MVP seasons if they find that guy. Mike McCarthy got run midseason after a bad year. Mike Tomlin, Steelers are unraveling again and underachieving. Is it fair to say, Mike Tomlin should feel heat?

I mean, should Mike Tomlin be retained? Or should he, like McCarthy, should there be rumors swirling? Is it time to make a move? No, I think it's fair. I think when you underachieve, which definitely the Steelers are, it is fair. I think when drama comes out of your quarterback's mouth

or your head coach's mouth, it's fair to be critical of it. I always say this. When you see the quarterback and the head coach having conflict in the media or more, let's say it this way, contradicting each other in the media, telling different sides of the same event, you know there's issues. We saw this, again, a reference back five years ago at the old place, me and you talking about Aaron and McCarthy about when it started. You saw it because they started contradicting each.

other in the media. Therefore, you can start piecing it together. The same thing's happening with Ben and Coach Tomlin, that they're contradicting each other when something comes up. Drama comes up after a game. Therefore, there's room to criticize Coach Tomlin. I've always felt that he gets a little bit of a hall path on certain situations. And now's about time. People dig in. Why are they underachieving? Hey, do you have a team you want to see in the Super Bowl? I kind of like to see Andy reading Mahomes in the Super Bowl. I think it'd be fun. Not that I'm bored with the Patriots, but there is a little fatigue going on. Is there a team you'd like to see in the Super Bowl? Yeah, I want to see the Chiefs, not because I don't like the other teams, but I want to see

a team throw their way to a championship. It really has never been done where it's spread out, take huge risks, be aggressive all the time, playmaking up and down the yard, because that's who the Chiefs are, I would like to see a team throw their way all the way of the championship game. They're on the center TV every week. It's must see TV and I want to see it all the way through the first weekend of February. Yeah, I like that call and I wouldn't, it wouldn't break my heart to see Drew Breeze win another Super Bowl. That wouldn't break my heart either. Agreed. And I think if the Saints do it, they won't throw their way to the Super Bowl. And I'm not taking any way from Drew, but I think that team is the most dangerous because they have

such great balance because they're offensive line play. That's the thing that this time of year can't be talked about enough is offensive line play and the Saints have it. And that's why I would say they're probably the favorite because they'll have balance in this race to the finish. Good stuff today. Trent Dillford. God, I love having you on the show. Trent, thanks so much, bud. Thanks, brother. 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 SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo.

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