The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd 12/16/2019

Episode Date: December 16, 2019

Colin is not impressed with the Cowboys win over the Rams because it shouldn't have taken them until week 15 to figure things out. He explains why Russell Wilson is the MVP, not Lamar Jackson. And, he is still not buying the Packers as a real NFC contender. Colin admits where he was right and wrong over the weekend. Plus, Super Bowl Champion James Harrison talks about why Freddie Kitchens needs to be fired and why the Patriots probably did nothing wrong but should be punished anyway for their latest video-taping scandal. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

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

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

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

Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by search heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Oh, are we packed today live in L.A. on a Monday. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be

listening. We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS 1 in one hour from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, and there is a lot of both. Joy Taylor joining me back for more watching her brother win a state championship in Florida. How are you? I'm great. Congrats. Isaiah Mason and Jason and St. Thomas Aquinas,

winning the state championship. Last play of the game. I have never been so stressed out in my life. I'm only standing. I'm banging on the seats. I was that hot mess auntie in the stands. But it was something else. It was like one of the proudest moments of my life.

Oh, good for you. Congrats, guys. And, well, let's start with this. Lordy, Lordy Lou. Look at Dallas. That's the best team in the world. Everything clicked for Dallas. I mean, it was a showcase.

They averaged nine yards a pass and six yards a run and 475 yards and no turnovers and had the ball for 36 minutes. It was just one of those NFL games where everything clicks. You know, the kind Baltimore has every Sunday. Let me ask you, Cowboy fan. What took so long? All season, we've been asking, where's the identity? What is Dallas? And yesterday they went all in on Zieg.

And the great thing was, even when Zieg left the game, they went all in on Tony Pollard. They made a decision yesterday to pound the football. They have the best offensive line in the league. In a league, there are very few elite offensive lines. Zeke is probably best or second best running back in the league. but do you trust Dallas to do this five more times and win the Super Bowl? Because I don't. I've always struggled in life giving people huge credit for things they should do.

You know, the old Chris Rock joke. I love my kids. Yeah, they're your kids. You're supposed to love your kids, right? Dallas ran the ball yesterday. Yes, you've got the best offensive line in Zeke. I'm not going to give you a ton of credit for that. It's what, week 16, you figured it out?

Baltimore figured it out in week. I don't know, two. You know, I mean, my takeaway is Troy Aikman was the face of the Cowboys, but he only threw it about 24 times because they had Emmett Smith, they had a great offensive line. At that day and age, they didn't even have the best offensive line, arguably in their division. Washington

had a great O line. But the truth is they didn't depend on Aikman, but he was the face of the franchise. And I still think Dax's the face of the franchise. But when you have maybe the best offensive line in the NFL by a mile and Zeke, you have to start with physicality. This should be a physical football team. And too often, they're clever and pretty and cute. And Dax's much better throwing on second and four and third and one.

Dack is much better on play action. And my question is, why did it take so long? I mean, listen, you know how many times I've watched the cowboy game in the last 10 years? It's a highlight real game. They beat a good team. They beat him handily. Everything clicks. It's unbelievable.

Let's start with seven times a year. But is it sustainable? Is it sustainable? Tough, physical, pounded point of attack football? I mean, you can't give them too much credit for figuring out the obvious. Just say it out loud. Yeah, I got this football team with a great running back who can run over people and a tremendous this offensive line in a sport without many.

You should be a physical football team, not giving you credit for it. In fact, if I was a cowboy fan, I'd be discouraged this morning. I can still lose the division and miss the playoffs if I go next week to Philadelphia and lose a football game. Carson Wentz now is feeling it. Philadelphia is getting sort of healthy. I like their head coach. They've been a good big game team last several years.

Cowboys can still miss the playoffs. You found your identity too late. and I don't think you can sustain it over the course of five games. I don't think you can duplicate it six times. I mean, tip of the cap, slow golf clap. Congratulations for that. Jerry Jones, oh, he was just going crazy in the box. He ran down to talk to the media afterwards.

Just what the doctor ordered to get you out of the whatever you're in. You saw a lot of pride out there tonight, and I think I hope you'll see that as we go forward into our really second season. Saints in here. Okay, Saints, they give me the same thing every week. Seattle, same thing every week. Green Bay, I've got my issues. Same thing every week. Dallas was awesome yesterday for three and a half hours. Okay, going to Philadelphia, it's going to be cold, wet, sloppy, may snow, hail. Try to duplicate it. I don't think you can. Let me shift to this. As they say on Twitter, don't at me. Russell's my MVP. Seattle is now the number one seed in the NFC. Seattle, Packers, Saints, Niners, Vikings.

We don't need to talk about the Bears anymore. We don't need to talk about the Rams. We got all our teams. The only question is Dallas or Philadelphia. I don't know how they're the number one seed. Don't ask me how. Pro football focus in a passing league says they have the 30 first best pass blocking line. Their defense is 20,000. 29th against the pass, 29th in sacks, 27th in total defense, 21st in scoring defense. They're wide receivers, don't get me started. And Seattle is the number one seed in the tougher NFC than the AFC. And they are number one for one reason, Russell Wilson.

Listen, Lamar Jackson's fun is great and go ahead and vote for him. But he's got help everywhere. tight ends, O-line, defense, corners. Russell has helped nowhere. I mean, yesterday he puts on an absolute clinic, and Seattle's defense is just giving up touchdown after touchdown to back up quarterbacks for Carolina. By the way, here's what's funny about Seattle.

There's always been an understanding in the NFL since I've been a kid that for Western teams, Pacific teams, traveling to the Eastern time zone and playing in those early games is always a nightmare. Raiders, Seahawks, Niners, Rams going to the Eastern Time Zone. It's the abyss. It's the Bermuda Triangle. Except for one player in the entire sport, Russell Wilson. Seattle's the most geographically isolated sports franchise in the league.

They have the furthest road trips, and Russell is 17 and 4 in the Eastern Time Zone. That's a better home record than everybody but New England in the NFL in the last 21 games. there's a play late in the game with Russell Wilson. It's classic Russell Wilson. It's third and 11. The defense is doing them no favors. The offensive line breaks down, and he's got to go to his gadget guy or his undrafted receiver or D.K. Metcalfe.

And this is classic Russell Wilson, making the play and winning the game, sealing it. So if the Seahawks pick up a first down and stay in bounds, they'll be able to run out the clock. As Wilson rolling to his right. he throws and the catch is made for a first down. Not spectacular. Just Russell Wilson. What does valuable mean?

Valuable to me means important. What other quarterback in this league is a number one seed in? What other team? Who could take this team over and make them a number one seed? By the way, I'm not saying Baltimore would be as good without Lamar. I'm not saying that. He's made him spectacular. I mean, they're just great.

But he's got help. He's getting coaching help and running back help and O-line help and defense help. He's got the best kicker in the league. I mean, I watch Russell Wilson yesterday and I'm like, his receiver is a gadget guy. Every receiver you give him works. Do you know the Seattle Seahunk number three wide receiver this year? It's Will Disley. He's been out a month and a half.

It's like what Carson Winst did yesterday. He's got nothing to work with. I am so impressed with this guy. And Seattle is the number one seat in the NFC. It is inexplicable. It is remarkable to me. It is just remarkable. That's my MVP.

Because I've said this forever and ever and ever and ever. Like what is valuable me? For years and years and years, I've been saying LeBron's been the most valuable NBA player for 15 years. James Hardin will score more points. Yonis will get more rebounds. But what's valuable mean? valuable is what LeBron James has done to the L.A. Lakers. They're easily the best team in the league right now.

Nobody else could do that. Seattle's the number one team in the toughest conference in America. How? Go look at the numbers. Nothing would tell you that. Nothing. The old line atrocious, they can't pass block. Defense can't stop anybody.

Special teams, not as good as Baltimore. It's tip of the cap. Russell Wilson. 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, 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 Nass would 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, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Right, there are two types of quarterbacks in the NFL. And sometimes it takes you a while to separate the two. But there are two types of quarterbacks in the NFL. There are quarterbacks that can win games. Gardner Minshue can win your game.

Nick Foles can win your game. A Case Keenham can have a really good season. And then there's guys you give $300 million too. There's the Aaron Rogers, the Patrick Malhomes. There's the Russell Wilson's. They're franchise guys. They can have down seasons. But we all kind of, you kind of know, right?

So you have to have four things in 2019 for me to give you the big check. You got to have some athleticism. We have a deterioration of offensive lines in the league for now five years. It's getting worse. You got to be accurate. This is not college football. Guys are not wide open. Accuracies always been important.

temperament. These franchises are now worth $5 and $10 billion. I need a grown-up in the room. It's been my knock on James Winston forever. And the other thing is, you can't make a ton of mistakes. Even if you're productive, you can't make a ton of mistakes. That's second interception, boom, loss. You can make about one bad throw a game. And after that, you're in big trouble. And then got to be great at something. Something. Big, arm, size, fat. So I watched the entire game yesterday, Arizona, Cleveland, Kyler Murray, Baker-Mayfield, number one picks Oklahoma. Kyler's better in all four.

Kyler's athletic. Kyler's more accurate. Kyler's got a better temperament. Kyler makes fewer mistakes. And he's got a special. Are we sure Baker Mayfield's not just a guy who can win games? Yeah, you can win some games. Take out his three Cincinnati wins.

What is Baker? Not very good. A guy you can win games with athletic, way overrated. Accurate. to be temperament, nightmare. Mistakes, too many of them. What is he? And what's the special?

Kyler throws a better ball. Kyler's got a better temperament. Tyler's a better athlete. Kyler makes fewer mistakes. And Kyler's got all sorts of special, baby. He has got special. He may throw the nicest ball I've ever seen. That baseball stuff translates.

So, you know, I ask it. Put the pom-poms down. I watched Gardner Minshue yesterday for Jacksonville. Baker's Gardner Minshew with a little stronger arm. That's what he is, a guy that can win you games. And there's a report yesterday from Ian Rappaport. Now, I don't, this is not a knock on Ian. He's a fine reporter.

I don't believe this is going to be the case, but he has it sourced that Cleveland's going to retain Freddie Kitchens. He said that before the game yesterday. I think he's dead man coaching. I think it's done. I don't think they have a choice. I think general manager John Dorsey, If he doesn't get rid of Kitchens, next year goes in.

We see more of the same. He's out of work and he'll never get a GM job again because you get two chances in this league to be a GM. You fail at both. He got booted out of Kansas City. If he gets fired here and this mess doesn't get better. And clearly Baker and Freddie Kitchens, this is not exactly harmony. Something's happening that's not working for Baker. But it's don't give me the excuses.

Tyler Murray started fewer games in college. He's less experienced than Baker. He's a rookie. He's working with a rookie head coach. He's got a worse offensive line. He's got far fewer weapons. So I don't want to hear the, well, the coach. Do you think Cliff Kingsbury's great?

You're going to tell me he's a great coach? Well, the offensive line. Arizona's maybe worse, probably is. Well, yeah, the weapons. Baker's got more. I mean, I'm sitting there yesterday and I'm like, listen, I've said this with Mitch Trubisky. He's not a number two pick.

He can quarterback in this league. You can win games with Mitch Trubisky. I'm not backing up the brink. truck. Forget the draft order. Forget where guys get drafted. 2019. There's four boxes you've got to check. Kyler checks all of them. Baker checks, none of them. Used to be an accuracy guy. Now that's regressed. I don't know what's happened there. Sales everything. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. So now we move into what is it, week 16, a couple games left. We kind of have a sense of what

everybody is. I mean, you know, there are no teams. Baltimore, as I said just a second ago, feels like Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. You had a very unique quarterback athlete. People were kind of trying to figure him out. He was playing with a ton of confidence. The coaching staff had it all working. They were very, very healthy. The schedule worked out. And all of a sudden, you looked up and Carolina was in the Super Bowl. And it feels like that to me. New England will play him again. I don't think they can beat him. Kansas City would have to go to Baltimore. I don't think they could beat him. So Baltimore feels like the team to me.

But everybody, I mean, I know the strengths and weaknesses. I can see teams. I watch except Green Bay. I'll make a stab at what I think they are. Very good on script. They're the actor that can't add lib. But that actor can make a nice living for himself. But yesterday against the Bears, they had 12 first downs.

That's with Aaron Rogers. They had atrocious third down opportunities. They had the ball 10 minutes less than Mitch Trabisky. Their defense couldn't get Mitch Trabisky off the field. Aaron Rogers had 12 first downs. Aaron Rogers leads the NFL right now, first quarter passer rating and first quarter touchdowns. Do you know what Aaron Rogers is in the last six games after the first quarter?

in 18 quarters of football, 57% completion percentage. Aaron Rogers, 81 passer rating, four touchdown passes. Okay, so what that tells you is they have a young coach. They're very good all week in the film room. And they come out with a couple of beautiful drives, 15 scripted plays, and their money. The coaching staff can clearly see opportunities and weaknesses. But this is an adjustment league. you got to be able to do that's what Pete Carroll does and Sean Peyton did and Mike Tomlin's done and that's what Harbaugh does and that's what Pete Carroll and Belichick and Andy Reid and this team doesn't adjust it also tells me they're the opposite of Houston Houston is not necessarily very good on script and then Deshawn and their wide receivers and their playmaking linebackers just kind of adjust and make plays Green Bay doesn't have the ability off the script to make plays why they're not that talented

Houston has a lot of talent. They're not very good on script, but good God. They look like flagged football in the second half of games, making plays running around, athlete better than your athlete. Green Bay, after the first quarter, so the coaching staff is great in the room all week. This is not an incompetent coaching staff. But once they get off the script, they don't adjust. They're not good off the script.

They couldn't get Tribisky off the field yesterday. And Aaron in the last 18 quarters, not in the first. We've got four passing touchdowns and is as accurate as Baker Mayfield. What? Without receiving core? With Aaron Jones? I even Aaron Rogers, I mean, he admitted it yesterday. I don't know that we have the full respect of the entire league at this point,

based on some of our performances, you know, where we got beat by, a couple scores and kind of the reaction, I would assume, to those situations. But we're 7 and 1 at home. You know, we have an inside track at the 2 seed. Obviously, we have an opportunity to wrap up the division next week, which guarantees a home game and probably in the third seed at worst. I like our chances. I like our football team.

I like them, too. But am I wrong here? Am I nuts here? They're not talented enough to make plays off the script. My athlete against your athlete. That's what Houston does. Gets out coached. It doesn't have good protection.

Butchers the special teams game. And Houston just finds a way to Sean Watts and those receivers make plays. Green Bay can't do that because they're not that talented. And at the coaching position, they're clearly competent Monday. morning to Saturday night, they're good. But I don't know. I just, I can't get my arms around it. It feels like a team at Lambo.

Boy, just say it out loud. Do you think they're good enough to beat Minnesota at home, San Francisco at home, Seattle at home? I mean, they're definitely good enough to beat Dallas there, but Dallas and Philadelphia, whoever wins will be playing a home game. I don't know. I don't, and, you know, I know, everybody goes back to this. Well, they're 11 and 3.

I'm not disputing. I'm not saying they're poorly coached. I'm not saying they don't have any talent. But, man, by this time, I got to get, there's got to be, I got to get my arms around something. And it's, I, and for you, Bears fans, I love you. I love you, Bear fans. You got to stop with defending Trubesky.

You got to stop. He's a great kid. I've been told somebody in the room, it's a hard worker. Players love Trubisky. Come on. Come on. You got to stop. There's guys that can win games, Case Keenham, even win a division for a year.

And then there are guys you pay $300 million to. Come on, Chicago. You're a smart sports town. Stop running to Twitter. This is not a franchise, $15,000, $13,000, $33 million a year guy. but what's even more discouraging for Green Bay is he had the ball on the field 10 minutes longer than you did with Aaron Rogers. I mean, they controlled the line of scrimmage.

What? 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. I have big, strong opinions. I do, you know, 15 segments a day. Sometimes I whiff. Sometimes I'm right.

Colin right, Colin wrong. Here we go. Where Colin was right? Been saying this all year. It's not a fad. Mobile quarterbacks are here to stay. Offensive lines are regressing. You've got to have a guy that can move.

This weekend, Lamar won, Mahalms one, Watson one, Aaron Rogers one, Russell Wilson, Carson Wentz, Dak, Prescott, Kyler Murray, and Josh Allen. You know who didn't? Philip Rivers. You got to be able to move. It is, we, listen, this is what high school now in college is giving the pros. So you can try to turn these guys into pocket quarterbacks, but instinctively, that's not how they play. They want to move, they can move, and you've got to build an offense around it, and frankly, I think it's way more fun to watch.

I like my quarterback moving around. I like watching Russell Wilson and Carson Wentz, even though occasionally you may get banged around a little bit. Where Colin was wrong. Blazing 5 went two, three, and one. We are 52% on the year. Don't ask me how Seattle pushed. They were clearly the better team in dominating for most of it. Raiders, I'm in a bad mood over that one, too.

that is life 52% NFL is crazy we got to get to 55% because that's my annual average where Colin was right see Carson Wentz yesterday with three receivers two I'd never heard of one was pretty good in college wench goes 30 of 43 they're asking him to throw now over 40 times a game three touchdowns 270 yards 109 passer rating yes he makes mistakes there's nobody open half the time but that throw to Miles Sanders good lord back to back to weeks, game-winning drives. And again, I'm not saying he's flawless. I'm not

saying there aren't issues. This kid is working with tight ends. That's basically the offense. And guys you've never heard. Look at that throw. Holy moly. So, and again, I want my quarter. Mitch Trubisky yesterday was good except when it counted.

Carson Wentz wasn't always good, but was great when it counted. That's my kind of quarterback. Where Colin was wrong. Well, I've been calling. Kansas City yesterday was spectacular in the snow. And I called him last week. I said they're a windbreaker team. They'll be good as long as it's sunny.

Yesterday, they played in a snowstorm. And Patrick Mahomes was brilliant. And Travis Kelsey had 11. You wouldn't land a plane in that visibility. I mean, it's incredible. He was spot on. 27 to 37 for Mahomes. At times, incredibly low visibility weather.

Everybody caught the ball. Travis Kelsey, Tyree Kill. They played with unbelievable harmony and discipline in lousy weather. And I've said they can't run the football. They feel too finesse. They're a windbreaker team. I like winter coat teams like Baltimore. But boy, they proved me wrong yesterday.

Where Colin was right? Optics matter. I was never a Matt Patricia guy. Oh, he's a genius. I don't doubt that. Hat on backwards, sloppy. This guy's a mess. And they can't even get the Lions defense right.

And he's a defensive coach. They don't take the ball away. Near the bottom and points allowed. Can't win games. Matt Patricia is now 9, 20, and 1. And that division's got a bunch of good players and some really good coaches. And he feels like the fourth best coach in that division. Hat on backwards.

That Roger Goodell T-shirt he wore yesterday. He looked like a frat boy. Don't tell me your coach is smart. A lot of these guys are really smart. You've got to be able to stand in front of millionaires and sell your message. and I never bought into this. I thought he was another really smart, really smart Belichick guy

who would never own the room. Matt Patricia, it's not working. It's not. He can't even get their defense right. You can miss, but you've got to get your side of the ball right. They're not doing that three years in. Where Colin was wrong.

I keep doubting the Minnesota Vikings, and I keep saying, God, Kirk Cousins, but they don't have any holes. They're 10 and 4. that game yesterday against the Chargers. That defense, I mean, you know, what can you say? That counts as a home game, by the way, if you heard the crowd.

What are you going to say? They're very, very good. Kirk Cousins makes enough plays. I mean, yesterday, Dalvin Cook gets heard it running back. They bring in a guy named Mike Boone. 13 carries two touchdowns. Who's Mike Boone? Daniel Boone I've heard of.

Aaron Boone I've heard of. Who's Mike Boone? He's a couple touchdowns. That's who he is. I guess Goulet. Get him on your fan. fantasy team. I got to stop doubting this team. Seriously. Where Colin was right? I also said, listen, it's time to move off Phillip Rivers. You can't be unathletic and mistake prone.

You're going into a new stadium. You can't sell any tickets. Last five games, he's had 11 picks. This isn't working. It's not working. It's just he makes mistakes at veteran quarterbacks. You can't make that throw as a veteran quarterback. Cannot make that throw. Lamar Jackson's not making that throw. He's been playing. playing for an hour. Kyler Marie's not making that throw. He's been playing for less than an hour. It's time.

Go get to a go get Justin Herbert. But you know what he's become? Philip Rivers has become a less productive, James Winston. So I can't go on this show and bang on James Winston and support Philip Rivers. It's time to move on. Where Colin was wrong. Joe Burrow basically broke every Heisman voting record of all time. Highest percentage of first place votes.

Percentage named on ballot. margin of victory in a year where there was a lot of good competition and a lot of good Jalen Hertz, a lot of good emotional stories. More than anything, Ed Orgeron, I never thought Ed Orgeron would be the head coach of a team that's the most interesting offensive team in college football. He's a power guy. He's a great recruiter. Ed Orgeron proved me wrong.

You know, he bombed at Ole Miss. I never thought he fit in L.A. at USC. Well, I was wrong on that one. He's all alpha. He's a great motivator. He's an unbelievable recruiter. And that speech, here's what his star player thinks about him. Wow.

Cocho. Tocho. You have no idea what you mean to my family. I didn't play for three years. You took a chance on me. Not knowing if I could play or not. I'm forever grateful for you. Can you imagine a guy that, Coach,

oh, give me the keys to his. football program. He just means so much to me and my family and to LSU. I sure hope they give him a lifetime contract. He deserves it. Good luck recruiting against LSU over the next month. Where Colin was right? Sideline demeanor matters. And I said Adam Gays and Sam Darnold this week. It matters. Do you see yesterday Cleveland, Freddie Kitchens and Jarvis Landry? The Jets and the Browns, we've been saying this all year with Cleveland. Something's wrong on the sideline. Baker's over there, OBJ's over there before big drives. It matters.

It's not superficial. If the sidelines up tight, then there's problems. I always say if you go to a party and you see a couple and they're icy publicly. What's the drive home like with a couple? What's the couple like in their place? You got to watch body language. Jet sidelines lousy, Cleveland sidelines lousy. And it becomes, in both instances, a wildly inconsistent football operation with the Jets and the

rounds where Colin was wrong. I bought back into the Rams. God, let's stop walking on eggshells with Todd Gurley. Just admit it. You can't get back-to-back games out of him. They weren't competitive yesterday. They got to, speaking to come to Jesus meetings, they got to acknowledge. They got to draft another running back.

I know they got one last year. They got to get another one. They're trying to fool all of us that they do one thing. They're trying to hide the Gurley thing. and everybody in the room knows. They can't run the football. They had 22 yards yesterday. They had 23 minutes of time of possession.

Own your stuff. I fell into it. I'm like, oh, they're moving golf around. And Todd Gurley, yeah, Todd Gurley had a great game last week. Therefore, he can't handle too many carries this week. They got to fix that fast. Where Colin was wrong. Remember when Kyler Murray was on the Dan Patrick show?

and I was like, this video is damning. This is bad. This guy, he's too small. I don't get his personality. I'm watching him yesterday. This kid's going to work. I mean, his instincts, his speed, the way he throws the football, he is gifted. He is, he, now, I still wish he was 6'3.

He is just flat out gifted. And that interview, maybe I looked at it through the wrong end of the telescope. Are you going to the combine? I don't know. Well, wait, wait. Dad, is he going to the combine? Dad had no comment there. Pro day?

I mean, that's after the combine. Yeah, you're going to do a pro day? Yeah. Yeah. I guess if you want to say, yeah, yeah. Is it possible he just didn't want to trap it? himself. He didn't want to say anything that would get him in trouble. He didn't want to make any promises. I had huge, huge doubts about Kyler Murray. But I watched the entire game yesterday. I've

watched them four entire games this year. That's going to work in the NFL in 2019. That works. Still wish he was taller, but that works. Maybe the temperament thing, he's the opposite of Baker. He gives you nothing on the microphone. I'm not so sure that the future of the NFL quarterback isn't that on a microphone and not always having to win the argument on the microphone. Colin right, calling wrong on a Monday. 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. 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. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're

in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't really 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's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff,

like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better.

What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying 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. 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, Izaa, 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. James Harrison, a decade and a half,

15 NFL seasons, multiple Super Bowls, multiple-time pro-bowler, the all-time Steelers sack leader from Kent State. undrafted. We love that story. Let's talk your Steelers last night. I mean, they've been doing it with Smoking Mears. I think it's one of Mike Tomlin's better coaching jobs. They've lost last couple years, A.B. Levian Bell, James Connor hurt. Then he's back. Juju's out. Pouncy out. You know, last night felt like to me this team was doing it with smoking mirrors anyway, right?

I don't think so much they was doing with smoking mirrors. I think last night if they got more into just consistently running the ball and stop trying to have, you know, Hodges do all the passing that he was doing and, you know, targeting, you know, the best, one of the best cornerbacks in the game really wasn't, you know, the way to go. I think up until a certain point, you know, if they had ran the ball more, kind of was running the ball good. They got a whole, you know, group of running backs over there that can run the ball well. The offensive line is doing well. I think they needed to just run a little more and stop looking for chunks. You know, he's a guy that wants chunks. I want chunks. Mike likes big plays. You don't need chunks. You need to win. It don't, it, stop.

points don't matter, right? Get the win. Like, if that's, excuse me, if that's three, you know, three, four yards of, you know, running the ball and in a cloud of dust, then that's what it is, you know. But have consistent, you know, good plays, stay away from the negative plays, and I think they just

went to passing the ball a little too much. So New England, video, once again, spy gate, deflate gate, whatever gate this is, do you believe New England or do you think they're BSing us and they sent somebody to videotape scouts? The reason I have to believe it is because I don't think Belichick is that arrogant or stupid enough to actually go back in there and do that again after they went through all the other stuff that they went through.

When you look at departments, you have a social media broadcast side, you know, people who's creating content, you know, stuff that is worthy for whatever it is they're doing. That's the group that was there. When you have your people that are actually football, people, operations that actually film games, those are two different people. Those two groups don't really communicate. You know what I'm saying? So for them to know every rule is hard. Like it's no way that you could say that everybody in the organization of every NFL team that is in those areas knows every rule. It's not.

Now, this is something that everybody needs to put together and be like, especially over there and say, hey, these are rules. You can't do this. I don't care what content you're creating. And I understand what they're saying as far as we needed to. We're getting this to get a perspective of what he's looking at, what they're looking at, what they're looking at because I did something like that and we shot for literally 10 hours and I was literally on there for like less than two minutes

of actually showing. So they didn't use 99% of the video that we shot. It was just there just in case they thought something looked better here or there. And now you got a situation where they're actually filming a live game and you don't have time to go back and say, hey, redo that because it's a game going on. Right.

So for me, I believe what they're saying, but that's not going to stop the punishment that needs to come down the pike because you broke the rules. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Like I said before, if I'm driving 100 miles an hour and the cop pulls me over, he says, why were you going 100? I say, I didn't know the speed limit. He go not give me the ticket, no. He'll go give me the ticket and maybe take me to jail. So there's definitely going to be a punishment handed down.

It's going to be harser than what it would be for anybody else in that situation because you have a, you know, you have a record already of doing this. Were you blown away by the Cowboys last night? Can they duplicate it? Is it sustainable? What did you make of that blowout win? I think that's what they need to do. I think they need to run the ball. They're supposed to have one of the best offensive lines, right?

They're supposed to have the best run, one of the best running backs. You're spending your money there. Let's run the ball and let Doc pass the ball 20, 25 times a game, giving him high completion rate passes that are likely to, you know, be good for him and get the teams to where they're putting eight in the box. Now let's go ahead and get your pass. that's out here and there. I just don't, I don't see them trying to win the way they've been

or being able to win the way they've been trying to win with DAC passing the ball 30 and 40 times a game because he's consistently inconsistent. Yeah. No, I mean, I think when you have the best offensive line, you should, people forget this with Troy Aikman. Troy only threw it about 24 times a game. They had Michael Irvin.

They had Troy. But the reality is everything started with Emmett. They created from the very beginning of Dallas Cowboy Games, the line of scrimmage, the point of attack, we're going to own it. We're going to run the clock, even with Troy Aikman. So to me, Dax's the face of the franchise. Troy was the face of the franchise, but really the physicality started with Emmett,

and the physicality should, like you're saying, start with Zeke. Right. Okay. So Baker Mayfield was accurate, and now he's not accurate. And unless you want to bail on Baker Mayfield, and I don't think Cleveland does at this point, they want to give him another year. What do you do with Freddie Kitchens? If you fire him, that's your fourth guy in two full seasons.

Your third year for Baker, fourth head coach, interim or full time. Are you willing to make another coaching staff a new playbook, new language, or do you stick with Freddie? What was Freddie's statement about his feelings of being in? Oh, yesterday, Freddie said, somebody asked him about his job security and he said, you know, I want to win games. I don't care about my job security. Don't care about my job security. So up until that point, I would have held on to him one more year. year to see what he could do. That statement, I don't care about my job security means I need to

fire you because you don't care about your job. You didn't go in there getting the job saying, hey, I don't care if I get this job, but hey, I'm here to interview for it. So that statement would make me think that if you don't care, how should my players feel? How much should they care? What should they give to this if you don't care about your job security and being here with us for this team with something that we're trying to build? But isn't this the problem with the Browns? The Steelers are going to have Mike Tomlin, and the Ravens are going to have John Harbaugh, and once again, Cleveland's on another head coach. Couldn't I make the argument just for continuity's sake?

I'm just going to stay with the guy to show the league. I mean, basically you're telling the league, we give you about a year and then we're out. Matt, you're not going to get a very good candidate, are you? Do you think their talent's that good? I think the only way they get a very good candidate is give that candidate a very long contract, something like not I'm not saying like Gruden got but something along six years yeah

that is you know that's guaranteed money they're going to be there going to have time to try and build something in this franchise firing him I don't I would I would have to the state I just don't like that statement but it bothers yes and you like Cleveland's talent

oh yes on paper before the season everybody's like oh Cleveland might be the you know the winners of the division you know people were saying that On paper, they look great. You know, and you got, you know, you got Odell. He's playing through injury. You know, he has been for a while, actually. Yeah.

So, yeah. Let's talk about Lamar Jackson Thursday night. I think the league, I don't think mobile quarterbacks are a fad. I think offensive lines are getting worse. College is giving you more athletes at quarterback. You can only do with what college gives you. And we're seeing increasingly Carson Wentz moves and Kyler Murray moves and Russell Wilson moves.

And this is what the league, Josh Allen's a great runner. The league is now giving you athletes at quarterback, so that's becoming the league. So with Lamar, he is so unique. Is there a way, you face some mobile quarterbacks, is there a way to slow down the freight train? For me, personally, once he does the read option, they lose that protection. So you got a lot of guys coming in there and breaking down. When I'm going to tell my players is don't break down. If you got contained on him, I want you to shoot at his outside leg from his hip down to his knee, and I want you to hit him.

If you miss, you miss, but do not stop, do not break down. If he jumps, that gives whoever's on the other side a half second more to try and get there. If he cuts inside, that keeps inside where he should be or where you want him to be. But this is the thing. You still get to hit him because he went into the read option, which means he loses those protections. When he lose those protections, I get two, three steps now to hit him. So I don't care rather he has the ball or not. When you get there, don't look for him to have the ball.

I want you to hit him, tackle him, whatever it is. Because play in and play out, I talk to Michael Vick about this, actually, back. I said, once you start getting hit so much, you're not going to want to keep running that play. That's like when you do a fake to a running back and he goes through, and the lineback comes down and smacks him and tackles him. those are the same thing that you could do to that quarterback now because he loses their protections once he does that play. Guys that come in there and break down and shake with him,

that's what he wants. Like you see plays all the time where, like the guy from Kansas City, don't break down. I want you to just shoot. So while he's trying to get you to break down, you're getting closer. Just shoot. Even if you miss, you got a 50% chance of missing anyway.

Shoot. If you hit him, you get a little out. And you get enough of them throughout the course of a game. You stop wanting to run certain things. like Mike was saying. Yeah. So there's a team in the NFL. Go back to your history.

I can't figure out. I am a believer. I know this sounds crazy. That the best teams in the league are the best cultures. It's not always the best players. Most of the best cultures in the NFL, Seattle, Green Bay, New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore are cold weather cities. The warm weather cities are a mess.

Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Houston underachieves, Dallas underachieves. Arizona, Chargers. There is something to be said about. The winters are harsh. It's cold. You stay longer. The restaurants aren't open. I show the map all the time.

Mason Dixon line. Only the Saints below the Mason Dixon line are really, really well run, often overachieve. And I would consider them a great, great football culture. And so when I look at the Rams and the chargers and I look at all this stuff, am I nuts on this like I the L.A. Rams I think have to come to Jesus with Todd Gurley either use them or move him because you keep giving me 22 carries 6 2411.

I am my theory crazy? The colder the weather the harsher the NFL rewards tough guys and rewards hard and rewards punitive. And you got to make big tough decisions like Baltimore's got to let go of Joe Flacco and the Steelers had to get let go of A.B. Do you think my theory is crazy? I won't say it's crazy. It's some realness to it.

I believe that teams don't actually have to practice and go through that grind, you know, the rigors of actually going out there every day and practicing in harsh, nasty weather. And to be honest, you, when I was in New England, like, we practiced when it was like negative five, negative eight. Outdoors. They got an indoor facility. We're outdoors. because that's what the game was going to be. That's what it called for. And even when the field froze, the field froze on us because they covered the field.

And I guess by the time they uncovered it, it was a little thin layer of water. And it froze as soon as they uncovered it. So he sent us inside on the turf. We played in the game stadium on the turf. And I'm talking, it was like negative eight. You know, the only time we went inside, it was a blizzard. And we couldn't see. And he was upset about that.

How about Pittsburgh? Did you practice outdoors? Yeah. You practice outside. As long as the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, turf is still, well, the grass turf is still, you know, pliable and you can dig your cleats into it. Okay, Joy. See, my theory's not nuts.

Well, a lot of guys, you got guys, like warm weather teams that come up there when I used to play in Pittsburgh, like San Diego, Miami. Sense it. What you mean? They sit in there. And they're shivering. Like, literally, they're shivering. Well, I mean, you don't spend your day. I mean, aside from the fact that you practice there, you're also living in that climate.

It's not like you're, like, sitting outside on your front porch or anything, but you wake up every day and you're, like, like, you know, defrosting your car. When I played in Pittsburgh, I didn't even put on sweats until it was below 30 degrees. I went through practice with flip-flops, t-shirt, and shorts. In nine degrees. Until it got below 30, that's the only time I put on sweats. See, this is my theory on this league. Football rewards tough.

And the NFL's a winter league and the cold weather, crappy weather teams that deal with weather issues. It's a hardened environment. Especially when you get home field advantage. You got it now, now you got, you got the weather that you're used to. You got a warm weather team. That's the thing I want. I want a warm weather team to come up there and, you know, get there on a Saturday. And all of a sudden, you know, they're dropped into, you know, five, 10 degrees and a windshield of negative something. I want them to have that because they can't, you can't, you can't get that in practice.

It's part of the reason why. You can't make cold. You can make heat. Like we would go inside if we were going somewhere warm and they turn the heat on, you know, and even when Bill was there and we were playing cold and we couldn't practice outside, we had to go inside. He opened all the doors and turned all the fans. I'm talking about, uh, yeah, New England. Bill Cowher. Oh, Bill Cowher. Yes. We had an indoor facility. So if we couldn't practice on a tour because it was froze, we like, you know, he's like, we're going inside. So everybody's like, yeah, yeah, we're going inside. You get in there, all the doors open the fans, blowing it's worse in there than it is outside. That is. That is.

So funny. My theory is not crazy. No, it's part of the reason why Miami usually sneaks a cold weather team towards the end of the season. Because you're used to it. Then you go down there. You got the heat and the humidity. Yep. Matters. Can't handle it. Good seeing you, bud. You so. 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. 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, 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 me. make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama wants you to wave at her.

What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest

playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was part of you. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.