The Herd with Colin Cowherd - BEST OF THE HERD – Bears Record Breaking Offense | Jaxson Dart Is A Star | Packers Identity Issue 

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

Colin Cowherd reacts to a wild week 1 of the NFL season! He starts by discussing the Bears recording breaking offense scoring 59 points against the Panthers and how head coach Ben Johnson is getting the most out of QB Caleb Williams. He talks about Jaxson Dart lighting up the Cowboys defense in the Giants win over the Cowboys. He believes new head coach John Harbaugh is establishing a structure for Dart to flourish while maintaining his playmaking ability. Colin shares this week’s “Where Colin Was Right, Where Colin Was Wrong” segment: Why he was right about Josh Allen but wrong about the Rams. Plus, Colin talks to 3-time Pro Bowler Matt Hasselbeck about the Packers blowing another double-digit lead and if the team lacks toughness under head coach Matt LaFleur.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned about your gambling or that of someone close to you? visit connectsonterio.ca. I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files.

Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, this is Kylie Breakman. Angel Geratana. Jeremy Colhain. Patrick McDonald.

And we're the hosts of the Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists Podcast. The Improvised Character Comedy Podcasts where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. He gets right up next to the microphone. I hear you can almost hear the eyelashes hit each other.

You never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to Artists on Artists on Artists every Thursday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions.

Yeah, I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio.com. us live every day on the Iheart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening to the Heard podcast. Here we go. It is NFL week one nearly in the books. I'm live. I'm in L.A. It's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be watching or listening. Thanks for making us part of

your day on a Monday. Well, the Chicago Bears, five seconds before Ben Johnson took over took over this franchise. The day before he took over the franchise, the Bears had the worst offense in the league. 20 games later, 59 points. Utter brilliance.

And what's remarkable, Colston Loveland didn't have a catch. They didn't need him. Luther Burden, Romo Dundze, didn't have a touchdown. They didn't need it. They didn't need a defensive touchdown. Every few years, there is a brilliant quarterback or a brilliant offensive head coach that enters the league.

And this time, they landed together. It is unbelievable. Year one, Ben Johnson came in and said, we got to clean up the sacks. There were a lot of messes to clean up. Year one was, we can't get you hit like this. They cleaned them up. Year two was, you're really good, but you miss too many laps. Let's get the efficiency and completion percentage up.

Mission accomplished. Remember after last year's 0.2 start, Ben Johnson came out and he said, we do not have the practice habits of a championship level football team. Talent's not the issue. So there were a lot of things to clean up. Practice was bad. The schemes were bad. They had to get, you know, they had to go to the draft board and get more high-end players.

Yesterday they didn't need them. And like a McVeigh and like a Shanahan, these young offensive coaches, almost all of them actually love to build offensive lines. run game, right? Here's what's remarkable. Yesterday was the third time the bears have rushed for 280 yards or more. Do you know how hard that is in the NFL to rush for 280 yards third time? Yesterday scored 59 points.

They had more rushing attempts than passing attempts. They had more rushing yards than passing yards. It was eight offensive touchdowns. eight plays of 20 yards. The bears haven't run the ball like this since the late-great Walter Payton was a bear and Walter Mondale was in office. And they're young. They're like the Seahawks.

They're ascending. They're young on the offensive line. They're young at tight end. They're young at quarterback. They're young at wide receiver. They're young in the secondary. They're an ascending team. So Ben Johnson had to break a lot of bad habits in the organization.

and then year two, what you're seeing is, okay, we're going to have a standard of excellence, even at practice. That was a big thing with Ben Johnson last year. We have talent. We don't even practice good enough. So it's just a gift to the league that you get the brilliant head coach and the brilliant young quarterback, and we're going to put them together in a blue blood franchise. It is a total gift of the league.

And it's not just being a good head coach. It's being the right coach. Phil Jackson was the right coach for Michael Jordan. Okay, Doug Collins won a lot of games with Michael Jordan, and Michael Jordan liked him. But Phil Jackson, Phil Jackson created a new Michael where he would trust teammates. He would elevate others.

So Michael Jordan won the scoring title seven times with Phil Jackson. Phil did not take away the scoring. What he created was trust with teammates, elevating others, in big moments knowing you don't have to carry all of it. And that's what I see. Phil Jackson created the triangle. He created structure without getting in the way

of Michael Jordan's greatness. He didn't get in the way of it. Andy Reed with Mahomes, I'm going to create structure. Last couple years, Greg Kosell comes on their show and he goes, you know, Mahomes is not playing within structure. His efficiency numbers go down. Joe Brady yesterday with Alan, structure.

Structure gets a bad. Artists may not like structure. They need it. Right? Like that's what I watched yesterday. The practice habits are better. And I told you I went to a bear's practice and I said, Caleb is thinner and he's faster. Well, there have been 13 plays since the start of last year in which a quarterback,

ran 20 miles an hour. 13. He's got over half of them. So for Ben and Caleb, in Blue Blood, Chicago with the Bears, to be joined. I mean, it's just, it's, they're young, it's getting better, they run the ball,

they're dynamic. It is everything. And here's Ben Johnson. And I'm not saying Carolina's great, but 59 and Colston Loveland didn't have a catch. Usually if it's 59, it's like, okay, three block punts, two pick, sixes. No, we just ran the ball. We didn't even throw to our number one target.

Our top three targets, none of them had a touchdown. No DJ more. We traded him to Buffalo. Wow. Here's Ben Johnson after. That'll always be the goal is we want to be the highest scoring. We want to have the most wins. We want to win Super Bowls.

We want to, like, that's what we do. We didn't get into this profession trying to be, trying to be mediocre. average. And that's every NFL team. So that is what it is. You know, we make decisions over the course of a week what's best for our football team to win the game. That's the most important thing. And that goes into everything that we do. Week one against the Panthers, they had the most points in the league in a very high scoring week one. They had the most points, the most yards, the most rush yards, the most offensive TDs, the most 20 plus yard plays led the league in all of those categories. And I said this Friday, road game against the

team that can move the ball. Bryce Young was not bad. Dave Canales, good offensive coach. They got good weapons. Carolina's got players. Chicago needed those points. Okay. Well, well, well, my prediction this year was the New York Giants would be the most improved team in the NFL. And in any business, getting good does not take that long. Now, getting elite, getting great, that's a different story. don't think the Giants this year are going to be top of the league. But they're going to be good to very good. And they have talent.

Brian Burns, Malik Neighbors, Jackson Dart, Andrew Thomas, Abdul Carter, Arvel Reese, Scataboo. I don't worry about talent. But what you saw last night, and this has always been true, you can coach talented people to have good habits. You can't take people with just good habits to have way more talent. So what you saw is talent with better habits and more decisive. Jackson Dart can really play.

Now, it helped that the Cowboys blew three different assignments. Some of those throws were pretty easy, but he's athletic. He's confident, clearly, good-looking. The teammates, you know, they gravitate around him. He is a leader of men. He walks into a room and he's a good-looking kid and he's got a swagger. And, you know, page six in New York. but I will say this. Last night, what I saw was decisive.

John Harbaugh's coaching was decisive. We are going to control the line of scrimmage. It wasn't a lot of home runs. It was a lot of singles and doubles. It was a decisive game plan. So there was a play in the first quarter when he was running for a first down. And last year he would have taken his shoulder. Instead he goes out of bounds.

And that play ends up, you know, maturity. Like that play last year would have been blue tent stuff. And instead, his teammates rally around him. So John Harbaugh could have chosen a lot of jobs. A lot of people wanted him. He understood this team's history. He understood the fit. He understood Jackson Dart.

He understood there's talent on this roster. I've been arguing this all-off season. It's not a talent issue. It's a structure issue. It is an organizational issue. They need another really, really good draft. Then next year at this time with four more good draft picks, another free agent because they're still not paying Jackson Dartney thing.

But I mean, Harbaugh, a Harbaugh taken over a Blue Blood is like Scorsese directing a mob movie. It just feels right. That offense, it's unbelievable. They take that ball in the fourth quarter and the second half. Their last three drives, eight minutes touchdown, eight minutes touchdown, five minutes, bleed the clock out. That is the best, most impressive offensive performance for me in that second half since Eli Manning. It's not just about touchdowns. It's dominating people up front. Eight-minute touchdown, eight-minute touchdown, five-minute game over. That was impressive.

Here's Jackson Dart on playing under John Harbaugh. I just think that we have so much respect for coach harbs and this team will will do whatever he says because because we have all the faith in him that he's going to put us in the best situation to win so um you know he's the identity of a team starts at the top and it starts with with how he's conducted himself with how he's you know created a tough team Jim did this at Michigan Jim did it with the chargers he did it in San Francisco John did it with the Ravens and now John has done it with a New York giant It doesn't take long to get good if you have talent. I mean, like the Miami Dolphins, they can't win games.

Okay, and they know it. They're paying more money for guys not playing than guys playing. I'm not making that up. I've said this before. Jets have talent. Cleveland's got talent. The Giants have talent and the coach and the quarterback. It's hard to judge Jackson Dark because the Cowboys kept blowing assignments.

So some of those throws were pitch and catch. not knocking him, but like Dallas made it a little easier than it needed to be. But this is what I said in the offseason. This was my, I said, listen, they won four games. They had big leads. They didn't have the right structure. Dart was a rookie. They had a great draft class.

This is a real team. This is a playoff team. What you watched last night was taking a great Dallas offense and playing keepaway. It felt like Dallas never had the ball. That's, that's a playoff looking team. Now, injuries, you know, now the schedule is tougher. The Rams are in a lousy mood. I think they'll be, I think that, I think they match up very well with the L.A. Rams.

So, J. Mack, I know it's hard, but you should be in a good mood. Your Jets. Jets did get the win. I will say this for the Giants. I bashed them all preseason. Jackson Dart, number one in EPA per play, number one in success rate. He was really good. That's a good win for the Giants.

They look like they're going to be competitive against the Rams this weekend and so far. That will not be a walkover, even though the spread is seven and a half, I believe. Yeah, that's too much. So underdogs did pretty well in week one, starting with the Niners. And by the way, the Patriots were an underdog and we're driving for the win. So, I mean, to me in this league, if you have a really good coach check, a clearly capable quarterback check, one really elite weapon check, a great left tackle, Giants check. And you have a consistent rush somewhere on the D line.

between Abdul Carter and Brian Burns, those are, that's big boy athleticism on the edge. I don't love that you're probably right about the Giants. It's only week one. Remember last year, week one, what, Seahawks lost and Patriots lost? That's right. wound up in the Super Bowl. Let's not overreact.

Did you notice this, though? I know the audience. I'm not sure if everybody noticed. So there was three offenses where you went, wow. Josh Allen's offense, Lamar's offense, and Caleb's offense. You went, wow, why is that? because offensive linemen don't play in the preseason the good ones. So offensive line play was awful.

Teams that rely on great offensive line play, Philadelphia's offense, Rams offense, because they have an immobile quarterback, Lions are bad. Why? Offensive line play in the league is sketchy in September. So the three offenses that blew us away

have the three most athletic quarterbacks, Caleb, Lamar, and Josh. And Trevor Lawrence also was pretty incredible. Athletic. So it's like the reality is athleticism at quarterback is important. But in early weeks in the NFL season, it's like huge. It's really, really a big deal. 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.

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The hard-rock bet casino app is here, Ontario. Roll with us. Must be 19 years of age or older to play. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned about your gambling or that of someone close to you, visit connectsonterio.ca. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the Survivor Files.

I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there. There was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. There's stories about what it takes to make it out alive.

Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your for you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed.

From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro Society on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Hi, this is Kylie Breakman.

Angel Geratana. Jeremy Colhane, Patrick McDonald. And we're the hosts of the Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists Podcast. The Improvised Character Comedy Podcast where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of wellness influencers. What I try to do is faux journal. I don't know. Have you guys heard of faux journaling? Yeah, it's reading. It's called reading.

So we don't like to use that word anymore. A panel of New Yorker cartoonists. Have you guys done Terry Gross's Peloton class? No! I've been dying too. I'm so sorry. I'm seeing a reading of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Audra McDonald's at the Wonderland Bookstore on 14th. That's crazy.

I went to the Wonderland Bookstore yesterday and I heard Nora Jones do a reading of Zero Dark 30. No way. You have to come to the last bookstore though. Kim Cottrell is reading the guitar tabs of yesterday. A panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween.

He gets right up next to the microphone. I hear you can almost hear the eyelashes hit each other. You never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to artists on artists on artists on artists on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here we go. It is a Monday. It's our two, Matt Hasselbeck, four minutes out.

We are live. We're in Los Angeles. Oh, what I tell you, I move to a city. All the teams get good. Cubs World Series Parade. Get ready. Bears. Oh, a word. What was that? Just incredible offense ruled the day. A lot of the big blowout scores, Liam Cohen, Kyle Shanahan, Ben Johnson, these offensive coaches.

Every Monday we do it, Colin right, Colin wrong. Let's not waste any time. Where Colin was right. I said in the offseason, Caleb Williams, would be a top three quarterback in the league this year. Part of it, Ben Johnson, the other part, his horsepower. I said he was going to be an MVP. Eight touchdowns? I think there's two quarterbacks in this league that are just physically different. Alan and Caleb, 59 points with no defensive touchdowns,

72% completion rate. Clearly he's coachable between the improvement on efficiency this year and getting out of the sacks last year. You get the gift of talent, but he also listens. That's important. Where Colin was wrong. Boy, did I whiff on the Rams. Chopper in, chopper out, win a game and leave was a dud.

They were in a fog against San Francisco. Now Miles Garrett, bummer is on the IR. So less than 300 yards, bad on third down. They got to the goal line and did a Matt Stafford sneak. that's not really the strength of the team. Listen, I thought chopper and seal team six, I kept calling it. Well, it didn't work and I was wrong. Where Colin was right.

I said the longhorns will win. The game matters more to Texas, and they're going to win close. Listen, they control the second half, outscored the Buckeyes, 21 to 3. Yes, Ryan Day got conservative. Most coaches do when they're leading a really good team late. The Longhorns in the second half had 240 yards of offense. Ohio State's going to be fine. They're a really good team.

It's Sark's biggest regular season win. Listen, I thought the Longhorns got a couple of really bad first half breaks on that quirky pick. And then Wingo drops the touchdown. So I thought the score at half was a little closer than it looked. But Ohio State deserves credit. They came within a yard of winning that game. where Colin was wrong. Well, the SEC is off to a burning start, 8 and 2.

Non-conference record. The Big 10 is only 3 and 7. 6 SEC teams in the top 10. The Big 10, Indiana is carrying them because Oregon defensively appears to be lost with a new D.C. And the Buckeyes have a respectable loss, but a loss nonetheless. Yeah, SEC's played really well. It just means more.

They keep telling us that. Well, so far through 10 non-conference games, they're just winning more. Where Colin was right. I said Josh Allen is the best athlete that's ever played the sport. It's not Mahomes. Mahomes may be more decorated, but nobody could do that to the Texans defense.

That's Mahomes. That's singular. On the road, 130 passer rating, 300 yards. He's got a new coach. He's got a new number one receiver. I mean, that thing was majestic. Nobody but Josh Allen is going to deliver that. And does he get reckless?

Absolutely. The great ones often do. But to me, he's the greatest single talent I've ever seen play quarterback. And he's on a short list of the most talented people at any position that I've ever played this game. Mahomes may be more decorated. He's Mahomes with more size and more power. And Mahomes is great. where Colin was wrong.

Well, I was told this was the best Oregon roster ever. Apparently, it's not as good as Oklahoma State, which was one in 11 last year. I don't even know what I watched. Now, they have a new defensive coordinator. It's not working. In two games, not a lot of pass rush. I looked it up this morning, three sacks in two games. That's, you know, against Oklahoma State, you should have six.

That's the worst Oregon loss. I'm trying to think in a decade. I mean, again, you can lose close. You can lose on the road. You can lose to a good team. Oklahoma State's a lot. It's an awful program right now. Where Colin was right.

I took the Giants not only to beat the Cowboys, but the New York Giants, I said, have plenty of talent. They will be the most improved team in the league. It's not a talent issue. It is a culture and a quarterback improvement. Stay out of the blue tent issue. I thought Jackson Dart was decisive.

Now, the Cowboys blew several coverages. That made it look spectacular. But this was the team I said. They won four games last year. I'm like, listen, they had like double-digit leads in three or four games in the fourth quarter. Scataboo, Brian Burns, Malik Neighbors, Jackson Dart, Andrew Thomas. This is not a talent issue with the Giants. It was a coach and culture issue.

Where Colin was right. My second most improved team was going to be the Bengals because I said they spent money on defense. so unscintanati like. Well, they forced four turnovers. They had four sacks. They just looked bigger and stronger. What was interesting was they spent money on defense and you could see the money. The Cowboys spent money on defense.

You could not see the money. So I said, this is, this is to me after the Giants will be the most improved team. Not only record-wise, they were 6 and 11 last year, but they'll just look different. And I thought, I think the Giants have more talent, in my opinion, then the bingles. So I think the ceiling's very high, but there's a, you know, Jackson, Darten, Burrow, at this point, it's all Burrow.

So Colin Wright, Colin Wrong on a Monday. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Behind every night spent making the kids' lunches, there's a lot of suspense. Will they finally eat the veggies? Will the pasto survive the first bite? Will the lunchbox come home empty, half full,

or come home at all? And will you finish episode 8 before you're done slicing the QVille? Gumbers? Get Bell Pure Fiber Internet with Craved Netflix and Disney Plus from $94 a month. Price guaranteed for two years on internet with a two-year term and auto pay credit. Visit bell.ca for details and to check availability. Bell, connection is everything. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the Survivor Files.

I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. but these aren't stories about what's taken from them. There's stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsesives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story.

I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. From best-selling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro Society on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages.

Hi, this is Kylie Breckman. Angela Geratana. Jeremy Colhane. Patrick McDonald. And we're the hosts of the Artists on Artists on Artists on Artists Podcast. The Improvised Character Comedy Podcast where each week a new panel of artists, discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of wellness influencers. What I try to do is faux journal.

I don't know. Have you guys heard of faux journaling? Yeah, it's reading. It's called reading. So we don't like to use that word anymore. Okay. A panel of New Yorker cartoonists. Have you guys done Terry Gross's Peloton class?

No! I've been dying too. I'm so sorry. I'm seeing a reading of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Audra McDonald's at the Wonderland bookstore on 14th. That's crazy. See, I went to the Wonderland Bookstore yesterday, and I heard Nora Jones do a reading of Zero Dark 30. No way.

We have to come to the last bookstore, though. Kim Cottral is reading the guitar tabs of yesterday. A panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. He gets right up next to the microphone. I hear you can almost hear the eyelashes hit each other.

You never seen Italy so quiet as when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to artists on artists on artists on artists on artists on the IHeard radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And with that Matt Hasselbeck, 18 years in this league is joining. Let's start with this. Show me the money, Colin. Show me the money. You said, I can see the money.

Cincinnati's defense, you're like, oh, these are Dexter Lawrence. That's what it looks like when you're spending that kind of money in a D-Lyman. Now, week one, Matt was very high scoring. Why? Why were there so many outrageous offensive performances? Well, I'm glad you brought it up. I mean, is it really a surprise the way that we practice? I mean, Colin, I played a long time ago. My rookie year was 98. My last year was 2015. The way we practiced in 98 was completely different to 2015. I can't even imagine what it's like now. This is still tackle football on Sundays.

It's 11 on 11. Buckle your chint strap. Get the guy down. hold on to the ball, like all that stuff. That's why I think quarterback scrambles were such a huge thing. Yeah. Quarterback scrambles, like when you do a practice in the NFL and the quarterback scrambles, you just blow the whistle. Like the guys chase you.

You stay away from the guy in the red jersey, blow the whistle. It's almost like it doesn't count. You know, it's like it just gets talked about like, yeah, yeah, yeah, and just make sure you get the quarterback. Hey, plaster, make you go to, but in real tackle football, the physical teams won and dominated.

and the teams with the quarterback, quarterback got out, they made plays and had huge days. It doesn't surprise me at all. No, I said this. Offensive lines are the one group for football that it's hardest to build cohesion and chemistry. None of the starters play.

So teams that had unathletic quarterbacks, like the Rams or the Lions or the Steelers, they struggle. The three best offenses were Caleb, Lamar, and Josh, where it's like, because I don't think O line play anymore is good until October. It's just too hard to create cohesion. Now, I will say.

Can I just add to that, though? Another thing to that, it's a great point by you. Another thing, just like it's a disadvantage for the defensive time, the defense was getting the ball back. You mentioned Cincinnati earlier. As a quarterback, when you over read Jersey, you're sitting in the pocket, ball security, two hands on the ball, fumbling in the pocket.

It's a wake-up call for some guys, week one. They haven't been touched in a long time. So I think you're on to it with the mobile quarterbacks in a week one. So listen, I said when Jackson Dart came out, I said, I think he's top of the second round guy. I do think having Lane Kiffin for several years is a huge advantage. That's kind of a pro system. And then he gets Brian Daibel. It's like, so that's pretty good.

So, but it's funny watching him yesterday is there are just certain quarterbacks that they're guys. Like, you can tell the team loves them. You can tell the team trust them. He was so decisive last night. It was a lot of singles and doubles. But I saw a game plan. Like I saw, I still don't know what Dallas was trying to do. I watched the Giants and I'm like, oh, that's a real game plan.

Like, hey, dude, get out of bounds, slide. We're going to do a lot of singles and doubles. Like I saw the coaching with the Giants last night. What did you see? I 100% agree with you. And I thought that Chris Collinsworth on the broadcast. did an excellent job of highlighting the command that this young quarterback had at the line of scrimmage. It was check with me's.

It was on the ball. We're running right. We're running left. It could be a run to the left. It could be a run to the right. It could be a pass or a run. He had total command of the, so it wasn't like they were just running the ball. They were running the ball with intention, having an advantage on every run call based on the front that they were seeing.

And they absolutely dominated. You want to talk about being physical and tactical and intention. in the run game. I don't think the Dallas Cowboys had the ball hardly at all in the second half. And so you talk about a four-minute offense. Really what that means is for the last five minutes of the game, we're going to control the clock, we're going to stay in bounds, and we're going to just shove it down your throat and be the more physically dominant team. That's exactly what the New York Giants did in run situations when the Cowboys knew they were trying to run. So, you know, I said this with Caleb. You get the horsepower. But that doesn't mean every place.

player is easy to coach. I mean, there's now funny stories about Lawrence Taylor and Parcells. Like, they're funny, funny stories. Lawrence was just so gifted, but Lawrence was also a pass rusher. Go get the quarterback. What I see with Caleb is last year was, hey, get out of the sack business. He got out of it. This year is, hey, we got to hit layup.

So I went to a practice, and I watched 30 minutes of Caleb after practice throwing a 12-yard out route. He must have thrown 80 of them. And I'm like, this is so tedious. It's boring to watch. I can't imagine doing it. But when I watched them yesterday, I noticed it. I'm like, okay, he's taken to this.

Like, it just, it felt easier. Like, it wasn't a big deal. Now, they ran a lot, but I do think not all gifted athletes are coachable. Because the more gift you have, the easier it can be. And maybe I'm going overboard. But I just, when I watched yesterday, I'm like, God, did he correct the efficiency thing too that quickly? I mean, or is this just week one and deep Dallas was lost defensively?

Well, you know, in general, I think week one is a liar in the NFL. Look to last year, the two teams in the Super Bowl, both lost at home week one. So it's a little bit dangerous to overreact too much. However, Ben Johnson and his body of work and what he's done with this young quarterback is incredible. Mentioned physicality. I thought this was the most physical team this weekend, week one, where they run for six touchdowns.

It was ridiculous. And I think about these like these slogans that coaches have about being physical and no block, no rock is what Antoine Randallel L, the wide receivers coach, I believe he says. And some for some people, it's a slogan. For the Chicago Bears, it feels like a standard. It's what they do. It's just who they are. And I, you know, they, they have just improved in every way.

The quarterback's improved. The team's improved. I'm a believer. I mean, they're sending a message to the entire team with how they ran the ball. And we know they can throw the ball. They just didn't have to do it yesterday. So their rival, the Packers have lost six straight. And I think the most troubling part, Matt, is we all know why.

Smart teams get leads. Tough team seal wins. They can't keep leads. And Micah is sort of their physical initiator. Well, he's not there. And Josh Jacobs, again, very physical, an initiator that, oh, he may not be there. like this is not just a week one issue you got to go back to last year matt like and i hate to say this because i didn't play pro football but there are teams that feel pretty there are teams that feel

smart and then there are teams you're like san francisco you're like oh that hurts god i i i don't know if i could last a play in the league to me green bay everybody can see it and yet after the game matt lafleur's arguing about penalties like that's not it to me. What is it to you? It's all of it. But yeah, and they don't have their closer, their great pass rush. They don't have their closer with their running back. That's fair. But just the intelligence on the football field, Jordan Love talked about it. We got, you know, we got to be smarter. Like we got to, we got to play smarter. We got to be mentally tougher. And until they kind of shut the door on this thing where they can't finish because of what happened

last year, everyone's going to keep talking about it. And so, Yeah, this is a real thing. It's kind of like blood in the water, you know, with sharks. It's the same thing that happens to a team when they start, you know, hey, the whispers are there. And it happens even on the sidelines. Like, you know, oh, here we go again. It's kind of a loser's mentality.

And so the challenge is going to be for this team is not letting that be a thing. Like somehow rising above that and just, you know, crossing this hurdle. It's a real thing that the doubt does creep in for coaches, for players. And sometimes not addressing it makes it worse. I compared Derek Henry to Nolan Ryan. Nolan Ryan threw a no hitter at 44. The guy just never aged. Like he threw, he was an all-star at 42.

And I look at Derek Henry and I'm like, he's got 2,700 carries at running back. Did you ever play with anybody similarly where you're like just hard work, whatever, DNA, hard work? Like, they just didn't get hurt. I did, Colin. And listen, I started nine games as a 40-year-old, and I credit that to guys that I played with that, you know, I wasn't the oldest guy in my team when I did that. Adam Venetary was there. Dude was just a stud. Walter Jones did that. I played with Jerry Rice when he was 42 years old, and he was still crossing up dude scoring touchdowns. We had a fullback name Max Strong at fullback playing a ridiculous amount of years. I mean, he was so old. They didn't even make him do half of the conditioning things as the team. They were like, uh, we're just going to save you. And so, like, there is something to, you know, guys taking care of their body. And yet at the same time, not being too civilized when it's Sunday at one o'clock. And what I mean by that, it's kind of like a Rocky 4 thing, a Rocky 4 quote,

the worst thing that can happen to a prize fighter is he can become civilized. He can become soft. He can be the guy, forget who he was, forget what got him there. And I think there's a great example of Derek Henry. he's taking care of his body off the field. But when it's 1 o'clock on Sunday, the dude is still a warrior, just like he always was.

And that's, you know, I think of Frank Gore, another guy I played with. You know, there's just guys like, they don't have to say a word, how they approach it on Sundays, speaks volumes enough. Oh, God, Frank Gore was just, as they say, tougher than a $10 steak.

He was, he was so physical. Okay. There was one performance over the weekend, and we were sitting watching it as a group, I'm like, I don't have an answer for it. The Chargers got pushed around by Arizona. And I mean, I felt like Arizona had the ball, the whole game. Like, I mean, did you ever plan a great team that just had an awful early Sunday in the season?

Yeah, 100%. You went to the Super Bowl in Seattle. We went down to Jacksonville and got absolutely spanked. And then I think we were the best team in football that year. It didn't win the Super Bowl because we didn't play our best at the end. But we were a great team that year. And that happens week one, especially for teams that I think are really good at game planning. I can think of even a Patriots team that went to Buffalo one year and got spanked week one like badly, like badly beat.

And because I, you know, the game planning thing is real. If you're good at game planning, you go into a week one matchup, you don't know what you're going to see. You got a new coordinators. You got a new head coach. You have no idea. So especially in today's day and age with personnel changes, with formation, shifts, motion, shotgun, pistol, under center, all the stuff. It's a little bit like a blind date. And you can get punched in the mouth.

And that's what happened to the chargers. They got punched in the mouth. Arizona said, hey, don't sleep on us. And they look pretty good. So I said there's an old saying that opposites attract. And though I'm sure they do, it's not ideal. You'd like to have some commonalities with your partner. And I know you can win a Super Bowl as a defensive coach, Mike McDonald, and Bill Belichick.

I know that. But there is something about the language and the sensibility of an offensive coach with a quarterback. It's just, I'm sorry, Andy Reed and Mahomes, like there's a, like you let him, you don't try to harness it, right? Like, I'm going to give you some structure, but I'm very comfortable being aggressive. I'm watching the bills yesterday with Joe Brady. fourth down. Like,

like, yes, Josh can be reckless, but I did feel like more 13 personnel, more big plays. Explain. And again, we know there are great defensive coaches. But almost by nature,

they get a lead and they just get conservative. And it feels like Joe Brady unleashed a little something with Josh. Yeah, he unleashed it and he unleashed it for an interception to lose the game to Lasseter and Lasseter dropped the ball. I mean, this is a, it's, it's one play here, one play there. And then the next play, Josh is Josh and scores the game winner. And you're just like, wow, this guy's amazing. So, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to poo on defensive coaches too much. As a quarterback, you love having an offensive head coach. Like, you absolutely

love it. They see things through your lens. They see things the way you do. Defensive head coaches kind of make you feel confined and crammed. And, you know, I remember when Pete Carroll came to Seattle, he was a defensive head coach and I didn't play my best for him. Jim Mora was a defensive head coach I had. I didn't play my best. You saw when Brett Farve went from Mike Holmgren to Ray Rhodes, he didn't play his best. Like it's,

it is a change and so it makes you feel free. Yet at the same time, that's just what's good for the quarterback. There's, you know, sometimes a defensive head coach is good for the benefit of the team. So I don't want to overreact too much on a week one because I really do think week one is a liar.

I mean, more underdogs you covered than didn't cover week one. It's how it is. Like you just don't know what's going to happen. And as a player, I can just tell you, especially as someone who prided himself on game planning and preparing, I never felt good going into a week one game. Like I literally don't even know who the opponent is.

You know, you're watching other teams. You're watching college film. You're doing some crazy stuff. And there were, there are so many new, like half the league is a new defensive coordinator. You got 17 new offensive coordinators. So I think week two things settle in a lot better than week one. But I'll say this, to your point, the bills are going to be really fun to watch offensively this year.

Oh, yeah. Oh, there's no question. I want to circle back to the Giants. I said earlier, having a Harbaugh take over the Giants. It's like Scorsese doing a mob movie. It feels right. Like it's just Harbaugh, bottom line, toughness, the name. Like, I'm watching that game last time.

I'm like, this is so good for the league. This is Harbaugh with the Giants. It's just like when Jim was with the Niners. Or Jim's at Michigan, you're like, they're just certain teams. I came out of that game with New York and I'm like, man, coaching's important. Like I, I mean, I just, now again, Arvel Reese is a new guy. He's very good. Likely wasn't there.

Sealing. Let's not take too much. but when you watch their talent, is there a ceiling with the Giants? Do you see things that like, okay, they're not blank? Overall, what was your take on that? Great foundational game to start this Harbaugh era off. And you mentioned defensive head coaches, offensive head coaches. Harbaugh is neither one of those.

He was a special teams coach in Philly. What makes him so special to me, though, is his leadership intangible style. I remember when Lamar Jackson was a young quarterback and I'd listen to him, miced up. And I hear Harbaugh go over to him. And the way he would converse with his young quarterback, he kept it simple and direct and empowered the young guy. It was like, hey, fourth and one, what do you, what do you think we should do? Coach, I want to go for it. Now, now he's invested. He has to find a way to make it work, you know, and how to protect his body and how to go for it and cut it loose. And now he's doing the same thing with Jackson Dart.

You know, Jackson Dart told the story about how, you know, Malik neighbors hadn't been hit in a while. He's going to be tackled for the first time. Who is the first person to tackle him? It was Coach Harbaugh at the walkthrough the day before to kind of like break the seal. Like what head coach is going over and tackling a guy? Probably a guy that used to be a special teams coach that's one of the guys. Sees the whole sees the big picture. Isn't just like locked in on just offense, just defense. Sees the whole team understands like the elephant in the room.

Hey, our star receiver, man, how's it going to go? He's coming off a big injury. What's the deal? You know, blah, blah, blah. Like, so that intangible and what they have going in New York right now, It's a foundational start for them. Could they win this division after last night? Yeah, absolutely they can't.

Yeah. So good seeing you. It's football season's fun. I mean, how do people, who are these people that don't love the NFL? Like, I don't, they're not many of them. Probably people with a lot of free time. That's the thing. And the thing is week one's not even over.

We got another one tonight. Amazing. So fun. A rivalry game. Matt, great seeing you, Zola. Same. See you going. I survived nine months in captivity.

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