The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 12/31/2018

Episode Date: December 31, 2018

Colin says loud teams don't win in the NFL and that’s why a team like the Steelers that is great on offense and defense missed out on the playoffs. He says to use your eyeballs not a stat-sheet when looking at Dak Prescott. Plus, former NFL WR TJ Houshmandzadeh talks about the disappointment in Kirk Cousins and why the Browns coaching vacancy is the best one available. 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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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.

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This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, this is the herd. Wherever you may be. And however, you may be listening live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS-1. We are locked in for the next three hours, absolutely packed. Eight coaches and counting have been five. in the NFL since, you know, about November, December.

Mike McCarthy, the first to get axed. Green Bay looking for a coach. Joy Taylor is back from the holiday vacation. I don't even think it's vacation. It's just the holidays. It's nice to have you back. It's kind of a vacation. It's some time off work.

How was your holiday? Well, my holiday was fantastic, and you are from Pittsburgh, and I think that you spent some time in Pittsburgh, and you heard the media in Pittsburgh going nuts. So let me start with this. Ask yourself a question. If I said to you, What team or teams would you like to see on HBO's hard knocks next year?

If the answer is Pittsburgh and Oakland, yeah, those aren't good teams right now. If the teams you want to watch on hard knocks, if you put a list in your head and I would say, I'd love to watch the Raiders with Gruden, I'd love to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers, there's a reason they're both out of the playoffs. Football's hard, noisy football, noisy locker rooms make it harder. Pittsburgh's a mess. Pittsburgh's the team you'd want to watch on hard knocks now. The coach.

Antonio Brown. A big Ben. Media. Comments. Chatter. Selfies. Listen, think about this. Does everybody understand how bad and now embarrassing this is for the Steelers?

Joe Flacco, Tyrod, Taylor, and Andy Dalton, all three starters in their division got hurt. And Pittsburgh could win the division. And those three starters. Andy Dalton, Flacco, and Tyrod Taylor were replaced by Jeff Driscoll and two rookie quarterbacks who had never won an NFL game. I mean, and Pittsburgh couldn't win the division. Been saying this for years. The media loves their athletes to talk politics and be outspoken and be noisy and be on Instagram. The media loved Rex Ryan and they loved Richard Sherman.

And they love their athletes to talk and create stories and headlines. And those teams don't make the playoffs. You know who got noisy this year? Green Bay, not making the playoffs. You know who was noisy all year? Oakland, not in the playoffs. You know who got noisy this year? Jacksonville.

Seattle, though, was able to move their noisy players, their outspoken guys, out of town. That is the problem. Can't fire Mike Tomlin. You can't trade Big Ben. You can't get rid of Antonio Brown in 2018. He's the best receiver in football. whereas Seattle could move their veteran noisy players.

Pittsburgh's trapped. I got to fire Mike Tomlin. He's been on multiple Super Bowls. You get a job in 30 seconds. You can't get rid of Big Ben. You can't get rid of Antonio Brown. They shipped Labian Bell out of the city. They got noisier.

This was not about Labian Bell. I'm going to read this to you. I don't think people understand this. They could not want to. win a division against Jeff Driscoll and two rookies. What? The Steelers are sixth in total defense, fourth in total offense, tied for the NFL lead in sacks. Big Ben led the NFL in passing yards.

Two receivers in a receiving league now over 1,200 yards. What? Those are Super Bowl numbers. It'd be one thing that Chargers can't win their division. against, you know, Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes. You're like, yeah, totally get it. Or the Colts can't win their division. And you're like, well, JJ Watt, the Texans defense, Deshaun Watson, I get it.

There are times, you know, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, lose to Drew Brees. You're like, well, yeah, the Saints are really good. Pittsburgh, this division, this was the weakest and the easiest the division had ever been. Rookie quarterbacks, Jeff Driscoll, leave the NFL in sacks. But here's the problem, because Pittsburgh also. led the NFL in noise, in chatter, in selfies, in dumb penalties, in blowing leads, in tying Oakland. Don't fall for what the media does.

The media loved Rex Ryan. They can't stand Belichick. The media loves noisy quarterbacks. The media loves quotes. But look at who's not in the playoffs this year. Noisy Jacksonville. And big personality Baker. And Big Ben and Aaron Rogers.

And you know who is in the playoffs? Quiet Andrew Luck. And quiet Russell Wilson. And quiet Deshawn Watson. And not that talkative Dak Prescott. And the unquotable Mitch Trubisky. You can have all your personality. Not interested.

Seattle's dynasty died the minute defensive players thought they were more important than a quarterback. Football is hard. Football practice is hard. distractions create bad underachieving football teams. Here's Mike Tomlin after this embarrassing season.

And Big Ben. We accept the outcome. Obviously, we've had 17 weeks, man, to state a case for ourselves. We stand by our work. You have to in this business. But I am appreciative of the efforts today. It is what it is.

Oh, this is just not. It's not. that Pittsburgh missed the playoffs. Look at them statistically. Look at their division. This is as good a team as I've ever seen. And it has dysfunctional a division as I've ever seen. And they couldn't win it.

This is way bad than the media is making it out to be. Let me shift gears to this. I'm not sure if you watched. I was glued yesterday to the Steelers game. and I was glued yesterday to the Cleveland Ravens game. So I just saw bits and pieces, probably about 45 minutes total of the Patriots and the Jets. But I don't know if you noticed, but oh damn, New England looks really good again. That's the best they've looked all season.

I was watching that game and you know what I thought of? Kansas City Chiefs, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, they're sitting there thinking, bruh. Now we're not playing well. playing well and all the pressure's on Kansas City. Because Kansas City's been the darling team this year. And here's what's funny. Kansas City's the opposite of New England. Kansas City was amazing in September and has the league's flashiest quarterback. And has a great head coach who struggled in the playoffs and have dynamic individual players.

New England is now really good in December. Have a quarterback who's efficient and not flashy. have a head coach who's a legend in the playoffs and our system over individual players. The 45 minutes I watched that game yesterday, wide receiver Philip Dorset, best I've ever seen him as a patriot, running game over 130 yards again, Tom Brady, four TDs, no picks, defense suffocating a real pass rush. Never forget this. I want you to think about Kansas City and New England.

Remember, New England. England beat Kansas City. So they had the tiebreaker. And New England finished this year 11 and 5, and we see it as a down year. Kansas City finished the year 12 and 4, and we see it as an amazing year. Does everybody realize that is listening to the show and watching it? The only reason that New England is not a number one seed is because Gronk isn't a very good safety. That's it.

Because New England had the tiebreaker. But if Gronk, in the last year of his long career, could tackle people, could take a better angle, and they'd have won the Miami game, they would be the number one seed. And Kansas City would be going to Foxborough, where New England is the, well, 8-0 again in Foxborough, and we'll have a buy. if Grunk wasn't a crappy tackler, this down year for New England, they'd be the number one seed. And if it wasn't for an amazing Patrick Mahomes play against Baltimore, they'd be the number two seed.

But here we go. Here we go. This is January football. And you go do your own homework. You look at the teams, the media loves, that are flashy, that are gritty, that are great in September, you do realize last six games for the Chiefs.

Three and three. I'm watching that Patriot game yesterday, and I'm like two words for the AFC. Uh-oh. New England's healthy, rolling, running it, best coached, by at-home, situational pass rush and one of the best secondaries in the NFL. Two words, AFC.

Uh-oh. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. I want to talk about the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. Dak had four touchdowns and Dak led them to a meaningless win over the New York Giants. He did have a good play late. He tends to be a little better late in games than early. but I'm noticing something in football.

All the stat talk. I'm not into stats. Stats is baseball. All the baseball nerds. They want to talk about WIP and DMV and W-A-R and I don't know what half the stuff means. Football's never been about stats. I don't care about Tom Brady's stats.

He wins playoff games and gets to Super Bowls. I don't even need you to win all your Super Bowls, but I want you to get there. Football's never been about nerds. It's alpha male. Big men imposing their will, I beat you. Baseball is antelitical, and it's a thinking man's game, and there's no clock and no real urgency, and there's a zillion games.

Football's about winning games, bro. I want quarterbacks who win games. All I watch yesterday is all these stats coming out now. Oh, this guy did this, and this guy did this. There's one with Dak Prescott. He has 30-plus wins, 25 or fewer interceptions in his first three seasons. That's an NFL record. Yippee. Fit yourself for a yellow jacket in Canton.

Nobody cares. Russell Wilson will face DAC this weekend. Russell Wilson's way better. He doesn't have that record in his first three years. Because he didn't have what Dallas had. He didn't have a Zique. He didn't have that sketch. He was going up against Harbaugh and the Niners and Aaron Rogers and his prime.

Can we stop the stat talking football? First of all, there's no contest. The new NFL, they've totally handcuffed defense. All the quarterbacks are setting records. I didn't even mention the day that Sam Darnold became the first 21-year-old to throw up for 300 yards in an NFL game. I didn't even mention it. Finally did.

Who cares? It doesn't make Sam Darnel anything. It means the league now is a passing league. By the way, if you want to go stats, Kirk Cousins, this year finished with 30 TDs, 10th and 10th-packs, 70-per-Rating. You want Kirk Cousins starting your quarterback for a big football game? Football is about winning games. And I'm seeing this all the time now.

Three words, folks, trust your eyes. I don't give a rip that Notre Dame's undefeated. They don't look like Clemson. That's why I bet my 401K on Clemson this weekend. I don't care that Westbrook wins the MVP. He's not half the player of Kauai Leonard. Forget LeBron. I don't care that Dax set a record yesterday.

He's not even close to Russell Wilson. Stats are for baseball. Stats offer no context. Stats make Kirk Cousins great. Stats tell you that the best three-year quarterback in league history is Dack Prescott. He's a nice kid, but the stuff I like about him isn't even football. It's intangibles. He's tough.

He's a leader. Tends to be better late in games and early. Don't love his arm at all. Statistically, he's middle of the packer blow and everything. And that's with a good old line, a star running back, a number one wide receiver. continuity in coaching and the best front seven in defense in the league. But you get him on the road, under 100 yards rushing, defense doesn't play well. They got shut out by the Colts.

You know how hard it is sometimes? With all those weapons they have, this is not a rebuilding team. This is a real team with stars everywhere to get shut out. Dallas sat Zeke yesterday. Why? Because Zeke doesn't have anything to prove. Why did Dallas play DAC? Get him some reps.

So I'm seeing this. your eyes in sports. This isn't baseball. Who gives a rip about Westbrook's stats? He's not half the player of Kauai Leonard. I don't care that Notre Dame's undefeated. They don't even look like Clemson. They shouldn't even

be on the same field as Clemson. I don't care about DAC or Baker's numbers or Sam Darnold threw for blankety blank yards at 21 years old. There are four quarterbacks in this league. That is it. That can carry average players. Carry them.

to the playoffs. And they're my bore four, Brady, Breeze, Luck, and Wilson. They don't have big personalities. They probably don't hold a bunch of records, although Brady's been around forever, I'm sure he does. Those guys take average rosters and average receiving cores and bad offense in line and carry teams into the playoffs. And don't give me Aaron Rogers.

Because Aaron Rogers is sitting home again. Second year in a row. That's it. I am over all these stats suddenly. Maybe it's fantasy football. And by the way, I don't play fantasy football. I bet games I don't play fantasy football. I like that you play fantasy football because anything that gets people emotionally involved in football, I'm for.

I love that you love fantasy football. I think it's great. It's good for my business. It's good for Joey and I. People are all emotional with football. I love it. But it's creating this goofy, weird, look at that number and look at that record and look at that record. of that and

Dax got 30 plus wins and 25 or fewer interceptions in his first three seasons. And with all those weapons he's got shut out against the Colts and with all those weapons, why were they playing him yesterday? And not Zeke. Trust your eyes.

That's the truth. Not a baseball war. Slugging percentage. Watch the games. Trust your eyes. You can see who can play and who can't. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

By the way, I watched every snap yesterday, the Cleveland Browns, Baker Mayfield at the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson, and all the announcers wanted to talk about was Baker Mayfield. And all the headlines this morning are about Baker Mayfield. Oh, he breaks this record for a rookie. He breaks that record. Does everybody understand that the story of the game was Lamar Jackson?

A Lamar Jackson did not throw an interception in December. Baker had three yesterday. and two of them were short guy interceptions. Baker Mayfield was 23 of 42, lost, had two awful throws late, had three picks, and that's all anybody wants to talk about. I understand he's a headliner. I understand he's vocal and taunts coaches and grabs his junk. I get it.

And he's got a big ego and he's fun. He's always welcome on my show. I don't think he's a bad kid. He's not my type of quarterback, but I think he's a good kid. He's fun for Cleveland. But he was not the story yesterday. He had a 2.5 passerer. rating when blitzed. A good quarterback rating for a game is 1.30. His was two. Okay? He gets overwhelmed

with pressure. Fact. He's exciting but has an ego which equals roller coaster for for quarterbacks historically. Fact. See, he'll have to overcome the dysfunction of Cleveland. Fact. He's already had to deal with some as a rookie. Here's what I know about Lamar Jackson. He doesn't get overwhelmed with pressure. He burns it. He's not going to have an ego and be a roller coaster. What you get with Lamar is what you're going to get with him every game. And I also know this. Baltimore doesn't have dysfunction. It's a well-run football franchise.

The story of the game was not Baker. The story of the game was Lamar Jackson. He's six and one. He went to the Chargers. I saw him against the Chargers. He ate him alive. I saw Baker against the Chargers. At home, he got destroyed.

Again, here's the quarterbacks we love. Cam, Ben, Baker, Rogers, no playoffs. Here's the guys I'll take. DeShon Watson, Wilson, Luck, Dak, who drives me nuts. Foles now. No big personality. Very coachable.

Not big egos. Don't fall for the headline guys. None of them made the playoffs this year. Garoppelos with an adult star. Not playing. Aaron Rogers. Heard again. Big Ben, underachieved, Cam, never had a back-to-back winning season.

Baker, three picks yesterday, two of them short guy picks. We've got to stop this whole thing. The guys I'm betting on are the Lux and the Wilson's and the Breeze and the Deshawns, the guys that aren't quotable. And this is not a shot at Baker. But I'm watching that game yesterday, and people are just going on and on and on. And I'm like, the guy that's, by the way, Baker Mayfield is exactly what I thought he would be. short, marginally athletic, bizarrely accurate, cocky, taunting, grabbing his stuff, and he adds an energy and a juice to a franchise.

He's kind of a chippy guy. He's exactly what I thought he would be. No big surprise here. Oh, Colin, can you? Yesterday he had three picks. By the way, he called me out on Twitter. He said, Merry Christmas to everybody. Great time of the year.

Even to you, Colin Cowardy Grinch. By the way, I don't dislike him. I would bring him on the show tomorrow. I think he's a great guest. I think he's a smart kid. I don't think he's a bad guy. But I'm telling you, we have a history in this league. Cocky guy, Jeff George, big ego guy, Cam Newton.

Aaron, Big Ben, does not wear well over time. Deshawn Watson's personality is what wins in this league. Andrew Lucks personality, Russell Wilson's personality. I don't like taunting coaches. It doesn't work with me. Never has. I don't like it. It's just, it just doesn't work for.

me. Want 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 love this time. It's my favorite thing all week. Sometimes I say stuff and I'm right. Sometimes I say stuff and I'm wrong. And I just want to own both, right? So we do it every Monday at this time all year. Colin was right. Colin was wrong. Here we go. Where Colin was right? The John Gruden story, we predicted it. We told you the Raiders, you cannot be out of the National Football League for a decade and not be out of sync. Khalil Mack has made the Bears a playoff team.

Amari Cooper has been a home run for the Cowboys. They had the worst record in the AFC at 4 and 12 and the worst point differential in the AFC. They're hiring their next general manager reportedly is going to be Mike Mayock, a TV guy. So John Gruden did TV, he's the coach. Mike Mayok did TV. He's going to be their GM. I may be the director of scouting in a week for the Raiders.

I just don't think you can be out of this sport this long, come in and not be completely out of sync. I do think Gruden knows offense, and he may right the ship. I'm not sure he can take all these draft picks and make it work. He was not a great drafter in Tampa. Where Colin was wrong. Yeah, my two Super Bowl teams were Atlanta and Pittsburgh.

Neither made the playoffs. Atlanta just fired their coordinators. Atlanta came into the season with all sorts of injuries, never got it right. Pittsburgh, I don't have any answers. It's the most talented NFL team I've ever seen that didn't make the playoffs. And it's not just that they missed the playoffs. They couldn't beat out two rookie quarterbacks and Jeff Driscoll.

The organization, I mean, the division was there for the taking. Atlanta, some of it was just injuries. They walked into the season on crutches and they never got right. Pittsburgh, I whiffed. Where Colin was right? Called it three months ago. I said the team to keep your eye on that's going to sneak into the playoffs, the Indianapolis Colts. I said, they figured out their offensive line.

Andrew Luck's never had an elite offensive line. And even though they had a losing record, I said, Andrew Luck has time to throw. And it appears with Marlon Mack a little bit of a running game. He's never had it. And he put up huge numbers without it. And they have become the hottest team in the league. they also have nine draft picks and $100 million to spend and I think the best young GM in the sport

and Chris Ballard but of all the rights this year it is easy to like teams when they're winning we like the Colts when they had a losing record and we liked them because we said luck is transformative and has a real running game and a real O line and they've delivered for us where Colin was wrong

I said a week ago LeBron James is the only star that never gets hurt. And the next day, he got hurt. And it was an old man injury. It wasn't like he collided with somebody. He slipped on the floor and heard something pop. That's what happens to me. That's what happens to old guys. When you get a big injury and miss a week or two and you didn't even collide with anybody, it's a groin strain out for a week. Now, it should be noted, this is his first, second, even minor injury. But it is interesting. Is that to this point, not only has he been the NBA Swiss Army knife, he can do everything.

well, he just doesn't get hurt ever. And the way it works in pro sports, once you get hurt in your 30s, it starts to escalate. So keep our eye on that. Where Colin was right? I've been saying this, the best of Aaron Rogers is over. And we called it coming into the season. We said, listen, man, he's going to be 35. He's increasingly brittle. He's hard to coach. There's a lot of ego. He just got Mike McCarthy out of there. And for the record, Green Bay was two and two after McCarthy got fired and those wins were over Atlanta awful and the Jets awful. I think his best years are behind him. He beat one winning team this week, the year, one winning team.

It's not that I don't like Aaron, but the division's better. The Bears have a great coach, a terrific young general manager in Ryan Pace, and they have a better roster. And most of Chicago's best players are babies. They're on rookie contracts. And Minnesota's roster is better than Green Bay. And I don't know who, is this really a great job? It's nothing.

We're not anti- Aaron Rogers. We're real with Aaron Rogers. We said it before the year. We said it last year. He's going to be like Brett Favre. First 10 of the best 10. After that, he'll be good, but he won't change the league. Where Colin was wrong.

I thought Todd Bowles was going to work in New York. Every time I watched the Jets, the defense and the special teams were excellent. They had an attention to detail. But he got fired. And I think a lot of this is the general manager. Jamal Adams came out yesterday and said, we need more players. Jamal Adams didn't come.

out yesterday and say, we need a new coach. He came out and said, we need more dogs. We don't have any guys. So I think this is a GM problem, not a coach problem, but I will say this, and this is where I was wrong, is that as much as I like Todd Bowles, he is not only quiet. He's like nonverbal. And when you're a coach in the NFL, there's sometimes you have to walk in a room and own it. Todd is really uniquely quiet and reticent. I think he's a tremendous defensive coordinator, maybe a college coach, but I think at the NFL, people question if he's the alpha that can walk in the room and own it. And the Jets said he wasn't, so I was wrong on that.

Where Colin was right? How'd Kurt Cousins do yesterday? He threw for 132 yards. He's now 4 and 25 against teams with winning records, and he laid another egg in a big game. And I also called Minnesota the stepback team in the NFL. Remember that? I said, listen, every year there's a team or two in the NFL.

that catches lightning in a bottle. And I said, Jacksonville's going to pull back and Minnesota's going to pull back. Because I think, frankly, Case Keenham was a better fit with this offense than Kirk Cousins. It's nothing against him. But yesterday, I watched he and his wide receivers yelling at each other on the sideline. They're getting tired of it. And it's not that he can't win big games. He can't make plays any of them in big games.

After a while, the wide receiver, Stefan Diggs, Adam Dillon. Those guys are great receivers. He can't get the ball to him. Where Colin was wrong. I can't figure out the Nick Foles thing. I just can't figure it out. I mean, I know Carson Wenz is better. Every scout I have, every GM, every executive, every source I have in the league.

Is he, though? Every single person in the league is like, oh yeah, Wence is way better. And I'm like, well, then how come Foles is 9 and 2 in his last 11? And he completed 25 straight passes. It's amazing. He is literally either the best. backup in the history of the league or he's a starter somewhere. Because as an athlete, he's average. Arm okay. Mobility, meh. Leadership, kind of quiet. I can't figure him out.

25 straight completions yesterday. What is this? High school football? Maybe the offense just works better with him. Every source I have, we're all like, what the heck's happening? What do you say? Use your eyes. I think I was wrong. Here's what I say. I was wrong. I continue to be wrong on Nick Foles. Where Colin was right? We told you, Clemson, Alabama's dominance was not good for college football. It has become, in the last five years, it is now a regional sport, and the ratings collapsed this weekend. They weren't down.

They collapsed. The Notre Dame game, Clemson was down 32%. A third of college football fans did not watch. Alabama's a dynasty. Nobody watched. More people watched Alabama, Georgia than Alabama. than Alabama, Oklahoma. Folks, four years in a row.

We've had Bama Clemson in the final or semifinal, and it's just too regional. I'm not blaming them. Alabama's the best program. Clemson's number two. I'm not blaming them. I'm saying it's bad for business. This year, I made a decision as a host to talk less college football.

Joy and Ice Fall ratings up 33%. We moved off of it. I'm not in the business of talking about regional sports. I'm in the business of talking about national sports. college football is desperate for somebody Denver West or somebody in the north to at least ding the armor of Bamma Clemson. Where Colin was wrong. Patrick Mahomes, I picked the Chiefs to be eight and eight and I said, would you quit telling me

Patrick Mahomes going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread? I've never seen him play. He's pretty good. 50 touchdowns. And beyond the stats, he's good. He's got a little Brett Favre, a little flashy for me. I like my quarterbacks to look. where they throw.

But he is better than I thought. He actually, with Andy Reed, is a better pro quarterback than he is a college quarterback. He looks more under control than he did in college. Now he's got some good pieces here. But there's no question. He's going to get the MVP. I would have voted Andrew Locke, but Mahomes is way better than I thought. And I'd heard stuff.

Andy Reid was texting me last year. He kept saying, this kid's good. His kid's crazy. It's going to be fun. And I was like, oh, come on. That was wrong. Where Colin was right. John Wall out for eight months.

Folks, point guards that can't shoot. You can't build around them. You can't build around Derek Rose. You can't build around John Wall. You're not going to win championships with Westbrook, who, by the way, yesterday was 4 for 22, 0 for 8 for 3s, and apologize, Westbrook did. We have a history in this league.

Point guards that can't shoot have to use their athletic ability and drive to the basket to score. and they get beat up and worn down and they don't last. And by year seven, year eight, year nine, they're not the same player. That's when D. Rose curtailed. That's John Wall now is not the same player. Westbrook is all over the map. It's not that they're not great players.

Good highlight guys. You can't give $30 and $40 million to an athletic point guard that can't shoot. They can be your third best player. They can win highlights and sell tickets. But look at the history of the NBA. The point guards that win title, Steph Curry, elite shooter. Kyrie Irving, elite shooter. Wall, Westbrook, Derek Rose, learn it, live it, love it.

Very predictable. We're calling right. We're calling it's wrong. 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. T.J. Hushman Zada played for over a decade in the NFL made the Pro Bowl. He was a seventh round guy who, I covered in college.

He doesn't remember at Oregon State with Ocho Sinko. You don't even remember that. I was a big TV star. You're a big TV star now. And you're in college eating top ramen. Top ramen pizza pipeline in Quirvalis. A pizza pipeline. There you go, buddy.

All right. So here's what's funny. So LeBron left Ohio. That's a kick in the groin. Urban Meyer retires in Ohio, kicking the groin. So I get that Ohio just want some good news. Yesterday, Baker throws three picks, has two bad ones late, completes 55% of his throws, loses, and Cleveland's like,

it's the greatest game in the hit. And I'm like, you lost. I think Lamar Jackson is the story of all the rookie quarterbacks. I watched him live and I've watched him in person. He doesn't have an interception in December. He's six and one. He's in total control. He's bizarrely athletic. I'm watching the Browns Raven yesterday. And the announcers are going crazy for Baker. And I'm like, is anybody watching what's going? Who wants to play Baltimore in the playoffs? What do you make of Lamar? Did you think he was going to be this good? I didn't know the Ravens' defense was this great.

Now, it kind of reminds me of Russell Wilson when he got drafted in Seattle. Russell Wilson's first three years in the league, Seattle had the number one defense. Yes. Very similar with Lamar Jackson. The Ravens are really good defensively. Baker Mayfield played great yesterday, but he's the reason they lost. In these big games, you cannot throw three interceptions. And two of them were short guy picks.

Little guy picks. Just hope they're not intercept. Like the last play when they're not. they blitzed him, it was, he was just begging to be intercepted. Yeah. It was one of, Lamar Jackson is playing great. He, but he has so much help around him. If he does not make a mistake, they're going to be in every game.

I think that's fair. You're adding context to it. And that's what I've said. Sam Darnold's got nothing to work with. Josh Allen has nothing to work with. Josh Rosen has nothing to work with. Baker's got some pretty good players. Baltimore's got a defense that Lamar can basically go into a game

knowing just eat it. Don't throw the ball. Don't turn the ball over wearing every game. Yeah. But I will say this. I'll say this about Lamar Jackson. I didn't think he was capable of starting in the first year. His poised.

He's very calm. Totally. I noticed it when I went to the game. He's in total control of the game. And it also, Lamar is coachable as hell. You know how I know this? The idea that I could come in in week 11 and it's a totally different offense. and the coaches every week trust him more and more.

That tells you that kid goes in there without an ego, comes in there and it's like, teach me. Like you're watching one of the best coaching jobs, but a lot of players, you know this, T.J. They're not willing to accept coaching. Yes. Lamar Jackson, to do this this early is really coachable. The Ravens are going to be a problem. I don't like the fact that they're playing the Chargers. They're playing them.

I know. Again. Again, so soon that. And the Chargers did. have Melvin Gordon. Keenan Allen got hurt early. Lamar Jackson makes a great throw to Mark Andrews. So it's like, I know. That's the only thing.

I agree with you. I agree with you. I agree with you. Really good, and they're playing them so close again. Yep. All right. Let's move to this. Coaching Carousel.

There's a bunch of job openings. Is Green Bay a little overrated? Like who would, there's eight openings. You like what? The best team right now with opening is probably Cleveland. Best roster. The best roster. You have a rookie quarterback.

They have good. receivers, their offensive line is good. Defensively, they're good. Nick Chub can run it. I mean, Nick Chub, when he got in there, you're like, man, why weren't they playing Nick Chub this entire season? Cleveland is the most attractive opening. Yes, Green Bay is over. Number one, because it's in Green Bay, it's going to be hard to get

players there. The Packers haven't been in the playoffs in the last two years. What makes it attractive? That they have Aaron Rogers? Joy said this. Top six paid quarterbacks in the NFL, none made the playoffs. It's not a coincidence, T.J. If you pay a quarterback $32 million, you can't.

Do we erase Jimmy G. since he got hurt? Well, we take him out. But now, and I think they'll be better. My takeaway is if you pay a quarterback what you're paying Aaron, you can't keep your second best corner or your second or third best receiver or your right tackle. And all of a sudden your quarterback's getting hit more,

and he doesn't have that number two, you know, that kind of a Sterling Shepherd like kind of second number two receiver, Marvin Jones kind of guy. I think when you pay a quarterback what they're paying Aaron Rogers, it's not the same. So you and I think Cleveland's pretty good. Now, what am I to do with Kirk Cousins? Oh, man.

Kirk Cousins disappointed me, man. That's why Bruce Allen called him Kurt. Like, it's, before the two-minute warning in the game yesterday, he was four for six for 27 yards in the first half. You're in Minnesota in a dome. 27 yards in the first half, really? And then him and Thielen are getting into it on the, they were arguing because Thielen took a high angle on the corner route.

Kirk Cousin wasn't even to come from. Dude, this is the last game of the season. You guys have repped this route a thousand times in practice. Why is their miscommunication? The pressure got to Kirk Cousins. I'm dumbfounded. You Chicago didn't even have much to play for all they did. Minnesota's defense wasn't great yesterday.

They were missing Kendricks, one of their better defensive players, but it wasn't close. They couldn't move the ball. Minnesota couldn't. He had 27. You give him $84 million guaranteed, and all you can give me is 27 yards technically in the first half. So on the sideline, when they're arguing with each other, what they're basically arguing is Thelan's trying to make it a home run ball.

Yes. And Kirk wants it to be a possession ball. Normally as a receiver, if you get man to man and I'm even with the corner on a corner route, if we're even, I'm taking the high angle, which Thelan did. If the corner is over the top of me, then I will come flat. But you rep these. So you do this in routes on air before practice. You do it in seven-on-seven.

You do these routes. You practice these routes so often. I don't understand how it was a miscommunication. I want to talk. So I watched this yesterday, and the Patriots looked really good. And I mean, their running game, Dorset was open. And I'm sitting there and I'm like, are they camouflaging stuff? What's going?

Now they're healthy. Am I making too much of beating a Jets team with nothing to play for? Or when you watched New England yesterday, was it in the best, back of your mind. Okay, they're a eight-note home. It's a little bit of both. It's funny because last week everybody was saying, oh my God, the Patriots sucked. Tom Brady is, he's

done, they're going to lose their first playoff game. The Jets, I've been in a situation like the Jets. What happens? Once you get behind, it's like, you're, okay, my exit meeting is at 10 o'clock. I'm going to set my flight and I'm leaving at 12.30. I mean, I've been there. And so

they gave up. But, But, like, Gruncowski, like, if you watch film on Gruncowski from just 2013. Not same player. Oh, my God. He moves different, night and day difference. New England, as long as they have Tom Brady, I'm not counting them out. Tom Brady is, he's just that good. He has the weakest skill players in the league and he still gets it done.

All right, let's go to some wild card games. We've got about five minutes here. We're going to lay some wild card games out for you. And TJ and I are just going to talk about these games. We can start, let's start, this wildcard week. So you get a Saturday, you get the Colts and the Texans, and then later at night, Seahawks at the Cowboys. And then Sunday, it's the Chargers at the Ravens and then the Eagles at the Colts. Let's start with Andrew Luck going to Houston.

Who do you like? Oh, man, that's a tough one. They split the games this year. Houston's offensive line is God awful. They're terrible. It's the worst O line easily in the playoffs. Easily. Yeah.

That's my problem. And the Colts defensively are pretty good. honestly, I'll pick Houston. Why? I don't know. It's just a gut feeling. They have a better offensive roster. Defensively, they got JJ Watt. You have J. Davion and Clown. You should be able to pressure Andrew Luck, even though

Indies' offensive line is pretty good. They're playing at home. I'll go with Houston. I don't like to pick, but I'll pick Houston. They are favored in Vegas. Seattle at Dallas, toughest game for me to call your thoughts. If Zeke can get about 125 to 35 yards and they're able to run the ball Seattle's defense is good but they give up a lot of yards They do. Bobby Wagner is great and then it's a bunch of young dudes

Bobby is a pro bowler in the middle of that thing But boy after Bobby it's mostly kids playing their butts off for Pete Carroll Yes and Chris Richard kind of knows the players He knows that offense Seattle wants to run the ball. If Dallas can slow that run game down and man their receivers up, I like Dallas. Chargers at Baltimore.

Oh, man. I got to tell you something. Lamar Jackson's hard to defend, but if I see him twice in three weeks. That game was really close. That was a great throw he made to Mark Andrews to kind of win the game technically. Melvin Ingram didn't play.

I mean, Melvin Gordon didn't play. Keenan Allen got hurt early. Antonio Gates fumbles when they're going in to tie the game. Oh, man. And Baltimore is like the team that I don't think anybody wants to play, but I just think it's tough to beat a really good team twice in such a short span. By the way, Chargers have not lost this year out of the state of California. They're 7 and O.

Only road loss was at the Rams. Chargers are a better road team this year because of that weird home field situation. But playing in Baltimore, it's loud, extremely tough. I'm going with the Ravens. I'm going Chargers. Philadelphia, Chicago. Philadelphia, Chicago. Everybody wants, like, Chicago is a dark-course Super Bowl team.

Everybody loves them. The way the Eagles are playing, man, I think the Eagles are going to win the game. So do I. Oh, really? No, no, I think it's the upset of the weekend. First of all, Nick Foles, I can't explain it. The offense hums with him. But defense, the thing, Chicago wants to run the ball.

Yes. And if you, the weakness of the Eagles is their secondary, but Chicago's not a throwing team. They want to run the ball. And Chicago's also got two receivers, Anthony Millie. is hurt and Alan Robinson got hurt yesterday. See, this is the thing. The weakest part of either team is Philly secondary,

but I don't think Chicago. Can they exploit it? I don't think they do. And I'll say this. You can say what you want about Philadelphia. They got dudes everywhere. Philadelphia has a strong roster. They got veteran guys who have been in playoff games.

TJ, you know what playoffs are like. Some guys, Deering Headlights, Mitch Trubisky. It's going to be, they're going to run the ball a ton, just minimize the mistakes. Try to minimize his. opportunities to make mistakes. Easy. They're going to try to ball to the back out of the backfield.

Those are easy to find reads. If it's there, we throw it. If not, we throw it out of bounds. Easy reads. Philadelphia. Yeah, I like Philly. House money. House money.

Philadelphia is a Super Bowl champ coming in with zero pressure. There is no pressure. There's a little bit of pressure on Chicago. It's their season. Aaron Rogers is back. He's going to have a new coach. I mean, to me it feels like, hey, Chicago, you're at home.

It's going to be tough sled now. Chicago's at home. It's going to be loud. And that defense Chicago has is great. But I got a role with Philly on this. They're playing great at the right time of the year. It's great seeing you. Peter King is joining us in our last hour.

Happy holidays to you and your fan. The same. Thank you guys. 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.

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This is Clever 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 walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue of 42.

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