The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for Feb 05, 2020

Episode Date: February 5, 2020

Colin says you need a top 2 QB in your division to succeed and thinks the Cowboys aren't sold that Dak Prescott will be that going forward. He thinks the Lakers are crazy to trade the one young player they have and explains why. He talks with Greg Cosell of NFL Films about Jimmy Garoppolo's performance in the Super Bowl and why Kyle Shanahan didn't struggle as much as people think. Plus, Colin explains why the 76ers should trade Joel Embiid before Thursdays trade deadline. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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, and 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 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played. with and just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to listen to learn the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up guys

this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert 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 a 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, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 iHeart

Radio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Wednesday. Absolutely packed live in Los Angeles. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. Greg Kosel one hour, wrap it up, Super Bowl.

What did he see on film? Was Garopolo as bad as everybody thinks? Patrick Mulm. struggled. One hour from now, Greg Cole Cells'all stops by wraps up the Super Bowl. What did he see on film? Rick Buecker, Nick Wright this hour is always a hoot. Good to have you. Joy Taylor, joining me.

Joy, how are you? Great. Good morning. Good morning, everybody. I saw two stories today, and they're kind of converging, and they don't feel like they would be joined, but they kind of are. The first story is the chiefs are going to break the bank on Patrick Mahomes, and they may do it sooner than later. And the second one is,

Troy Ackman thinks Dak Prescott's going to get a long-term deal. Now, let me just say this. I think the NBA allows its stars more mobility. They bounce around the league. LeBron's in Cleveland, then he's in Miami, then he's in Cleveland, then he's in the Lakers. He doesn't even have to stay for the Lakers to end it if he doesn't want. The NFL's different. You're a packer, you're a packer. Mahomes is going to be in Kansas City for the next 15 years. They're not letting him go. Now, I would say it empowers the individual in the NBA, but I think it powers the league in the NFL because you feel inclusive. Small Marks. Baltimore's got Lamar for 15 years, small market, Kansas City, small market, Green Bay.

They don't feel inferior. In fact, they feel superior to the L.A.s and the New York's. NBA is more about the glamour cities, and it makes the Sacramento's and the Memphis's and the Portland sometimes feel Milwaukee. You know, you're on edge. You're going to lose your stars. Again, both have salary caps. All the stars, Aaron Rogers to LeBron could make more without a salary cap.

It's not like, you know, the NFL Tom Brady hasn't suffered. In New England, it's the first time he's on the market, though. But I was thinking about this. Let's start with Troy Eichmann. Troy says, despite some Adam Schaefter reports that the Cowboys would prefer franchise tagging him, Troy talks about Dak going forward. My guess is they work something out. I think the Cowboys, they've said it.

I believe they really want him back. I have no reason to think otherwise. I believe Mike McCarthy really wants him back. Dak wants to be there. I think it's inevitable that they're going to reach. a deal. I would be surprised right now if that's the route that they go. I think that everyone understands that he's the quarterback of the future. Well, a franchise tag means he's the quarterback of the near future. Jay Glazer always says if you get the quarterback right,

your coffee tastes better for a decade, the breakfast is better, you drive to the facility every day knowing you can win on Sunday. And sometimes your quarterback can carry you. He said, if you don't have the right quarterback. It's no fun coaching in the league. You have to overcoach. You need breaks. Everything is harder. Nobody says you can't win with DAC, but is he the right quarterback to spend 35 million large? Here's my simple rule on this thing. Ask yourself this if you know you have the right quarterback. Is he at least absolutely the second best quarterback in the division? Then you should probably pay him. Now, history tells you if you have the best quarterback in the division, you will win the division more and win playoff games more often. You don't want the second

best quarterback in your division. But if you have a Peyton Manning, if you have a Patrick Mahomes, you could have a Pro Bowl quarterback. He's just not Mahomes. So now let's shift to the second best quarterbacks, the top two quarterbacks. You're not going to win with the third best quarterback in your division consistently. What about Nick Foles? Nick Foles got home field in the playoffs because Carson Wentz, the best quarterback in his division, got him home field. Otherwise, Nick Foles is going on the road in those playoffs. It was a number one quarterback Carson Wentz that got the Eagles home field throughout. They're not winning that Atlanta game going down to Atlanta.

So let's go to the AFC and the NFC. So in the AFC East, Brady's the best quarterback. I like Darnold long term over Josh Allen, but right now it's close. If Darnold doesn't make up some ground in the next year or two, it's time to move on. But I would go Brady and Darnold. AFC North, I'd go Lamar and Ben. AFC West, I'd go Mahomes, Derek Carr. AFC South, I'd go to Sean Watson, and this is why Indianapolis is going to draft a quarterback, probably Tannehill.

In the NFC, I'd go, NFC North, I'd go Aaron Rogers, Kirk Cousins, Detroit, you got some moves to make. NFC South, I'd go Breeze and Matt Ryan. NFC West, I'd go Russell Wilson Easley. I'm a little... Garoppolo edge over golf. Let's watch that play out in a year. If you don't like Garoppolo or golf, LA's got a problem.

San Francisco can move off him. Then you get to the NFC East. Wentz is clearly from his draft position to his armed talent, to his size and mobility. He's number one. You saw at the end of the year, Wentz carried a injury-riddled mess to the playoffs.

Dak had everything and couldn't score touchdowns against average defenses. So who's the second best quarterback in the division? The obvious answer is it was Dak. But as Jerry Jones saying to himself, I've been in this football league 30 years. We won titles with Aikman. When Eli was number one, the Giants won titles. Carson Wentz in my division got Nick Fowles's home field advantage.

Does Jerry want to watch Daniel Jones of the Giants and DAC? Let's watch him play twice. Next year, Daniel Jones no longer a rookie, perhaps has a better coaching staff. What if Daniel Jones, with less around him, outplays DAC? Do you have the third best quarterback in your division? I got news for you. You pay that guy $38 million for the third best quarterback in your division. You are not a playoff team.

I think that's incredibly reasonable for the Cowboys to say, we're franchise tagging him for a year, and we believe now he's number two. But if we're wrong on this, if we are wrong on this, it's three to four years of hell. And Jerry's not getting younger. And Jerry's only goal is to win Super Bowls.

So just ask yourself, Chicago, is Tribisky as good as Kirk Cousins? Because we know he's not Aaron Rogers? No, it's time to move off. Baker Mayfield. If this year, we know he's not Lamar, I don't think he's Big Ben off an injury. If Baker this year doesn't move back into his accuracy strength, it's time to start thinking about somebody else. That's the cruelty, the vulgarity, and the reality of the NFL.

You cannot have the third best quarterback in your division. If Jerry believes DAC is a two, sign him long term today. Go fart. what do I care? Gonna have to pay him 35 million, but if you're paying 35 million and Daniel Jones next year at some point appears to be

the second best quarterback in that division because he looked really good in spots last year, then you're in trouble, and Jerry's got no more Super Bowls in his future. Oh, I'll have to this. You know, and this is the way the NBA draft works, after about the seventh pick, you run out of players historically.

We had two really good draft picks. John Morant's terrific. I think everybody thought he would be. People thought he could be a better shooting Westbrook. He's been terrific. And Zion, who I would have taken because I do think there's a merch. I'm getting very cool. There is a merch dynamic to Zion, a size and merchandise dynamic.

He's a ticket seller, a shoe seller, a jersey seller. Not that John Morant couldn't be great. Zion's one of those guys in a football city like New Orleans to bring in him. Boy, you can move the needle. You can sell 7,000 season tickets or whatever you have to. sell. So Zion last night played Janice in Milwaukee. Now, just to give you a heads up, I was just, before the Super Bowl on Sunday, I went for a walk on a place

on the beach near my house. And Humblebragg. And I ran into one of my NBA scouts, an advanced scout. I'm not going to say his name, very smart guy, excellent source. And he had just gotten off a road trip, and he said, man, Milwaukee's loaded. He said, Milwaukee is going to breeze through the east. He goes, they got the best player. They have this, maybe the second best coach. They have the deepest roster. It's Clippers deep. He goes, they play real defense. And now they have playoff experience. He said, Milwaukee's really good. So last night, Zion faced Milwaukee. And Milwaukee threw bodies at him and they threw different defenses at him.

And Zion kind of struggled. And at the end, Zion dropped 20. That's the best defense in the East, probably the best defense in the league. And Zion dropped 20. His shooting percentage wasn't great. you can't ask a 19-year-old in his seventh game this year, who's still not in good shape? He's still not in good shape. He didn't look like he was in good shape last night. But for Zion to drop 20 last night against the best defensive team in this league,

the best big in Janus in the league, you got yourself a star. That's what a star looks like. Was he efficient? Oh, God, no. He's not in shape. That is a great team he faced. And New Orleans has got a bunch of babies

and a bunch of kids. they're not ready to win that game, and they're not ready to fight through that defense. But I thought Zion last night, when you can go out and face the best defense and the best big, struggle from the floor, but flourish in the fourth and finish with 20, that's again what a star looks like in the NBA. He's 19. Nine months ago he was at Duke, coming off a surgery, still not in shape. Folks, Jaumaran and Zion are two stars.

I feel as strongly today as I've ever felt. Zion talked about scrapping a little last night to get to 20 points. A little bit. You know, it's frustrating sometimes when I feel like I can go do my 45-inch vert, like layup or dunk, and I'm like at 30, 35. So it is frustrating, but I'm never one to see her making excuses. they did play great defense and it's got to learn from it. Yeah, they just threw waves of people at him.

It's the deepest roster in the east, and they threw a bunch of different looks at him. They're one of the best defenses, one of the best coach teams. But I think Zion Williamson is a breath of fresh air, and to drop 20 last night against that defense and not shoot well, very impressive to me. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day,

seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search Herd to listen live, on demand whenever you'd like. 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. SportsClyce brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsCise on the IHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in 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 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 or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust i want you to just really be a good person join me keer gains is 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 cliver taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert 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 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. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-maser.

in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more.

Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. We know this to be true. Toronto is a great example last year. Veterans win in the playoffs. The NBA officials, there's two NBA seasons.

There's a regular season and then there's a postseason, right? And in the postseason, this is the way it works. The refs swallow their whistles. Translation, older, stronger veteran players flourish. They do. They have forever. Let's not argue about it. So I would prefer to have a roster led by veterans.

But having some young guys matters because they eat minutes. And you can't just rely on old guys. You've got to save these guys on certain nights. Kyle Kuzma has been on the trading block for the Lakers now for several weeks. I don't like it. Listen, he's not good defensively, nor does he have much feel for passing. But he's 6'8, long, athletic, and gives you 26 minutes a night. And he can space the floor a little bit and hit the occasional three.

He's not a great player, but he's young. And the Lakers are old. and one of their only other fairly young players is Anthony Davis, who can't stay healthy. The longest stretch the last two years for Anthony Davis is 17 games before he has an injury. And when he plays, he's in pain. You watch the Laker games, he hits the floor, he's grabbing his back, he's got a shoulder issue.

This has been a chronic problem. Big guys don't get healthier the older they get. In fact, I've been told that LeBron gets on Anthony to play through injuries because the rep for Anthony Davis in his career early was he didn't. He just took the night off. So if you trade Kyle Kuzma, and this is the way LeBron teams work, LeBron and Tom Brady are very similar. They like older, more mature players. Why? Higher IQ.

They get the playbook faster. You can rely on them in the playoffs. The downside of that, of course, for Brady is the Patriots look old and slow. Kansas City and Baltimore do not. The downside of the Lakers is you trade Kuzma, Anthony Davis gets nicked up, it's LeBron carrying a bunch of old guys that can't defend Goulet. Sorry, John.

Here's the reality. You're not going to rely on Kyle Kuzma in the playoffs, but he's an innings eater. He's a 26 minute-a-night, 6-8 long kid who can space the floor. This team is going to be LeBron. You can't rely on Anthony Davis in the postseason. LeBron's going to carry this team, and my guess is he's going to carry this team,

and my guess is he's going to carry him to the Western Conference Finals before they're eclipsed by a deeper, more talented clipper team. We'll see what happens. I like Utah a lot too. But Utah can't defend LeBron or Coilander. So I guess my point is when LeBron leaves teams, we've seen a pattern. They're bad, but they're always old because LeBron doesn't want young guys.

That's why Josh Hart's no longer a Laker. Brandon Ingram's no longer a Laker. Lonzo Ball is no longer a Laker. They got rid of all of them. That's fine to get Anthony Davis. But you better have some innings eaters. You better have 26 minutes a night because Anthony Davis gets hurt. And the Western Conference is not going to be a breeze for the Lakers.

They're not going to sweep 4-0-4-0. This isn't the East. Okay, LeBron in the first round could end up facing Houston or a Utah. You know, a dangerous Dallas team that can shoot. And so you're going to have five and six game series. You think Anthony Davis is going to go through four series like that and not have an injury and not miss games? And it's going to be LeBron and a bunch of old guys that can't defend.

You don't rely on Kuzma, but he's young, he's long, he's athletic, 26 minutes a night. Be very careful. You got to push back on LeBron sometimes. This is one of those, didn't LeBron say a week ago, were good enough to win a title, didn't he? And they are. They are good enough to win a title. Be very careful here at the trading deadline.

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. So our job in the media is, my have always felt my job is to add contact. Your fans, short for fanatic, fans go crazy. My job is to come in here and say, okay, I don't care who wins, this is what I saw. We're not supposed to act like drunk fans. USA Today acted like a drunk fan this morning. Their headline, the Niners should consider trading Jimmy Garoppolo.

All right. Let me add some context and not be a drunk fan. Jimmy G. 20 or 31, 220 yards, completed 64.5% of his throws. His pass rating was 70. If Jimmy G completes the pass to Emmanuel Sanders, not only is the MVP of the Super Bowl, his passer rating is 90. He throws for 270 yards, 2-2Ds, two-picks, and outplayes Mahomes.

Gets the MVP. San Francisco's 4 and 20 since Kyle Shanahan arrived without him. They got to the Super Bowl with him, and you want to trade him. Come on now. So let's just take out. Like, if I had a great, great show, but a lousy last four minutes, would it be a terrible show? Would I be a terrible host? You're allowed to have bad quarters.

Mahomes had three of them in the Super Bowl. If you take Jimmy Garoppolo's entire regular season, his entire postseason, and three of the four quarters in the Super Bowl, here are his numbers this year. 69% completion rate, pass a rating of 101, two touchdowns for every pick. That's a top 10 quarterback in the league. and you want to trade him because he stunk for six minutes. It should be noted, Chris Jones is great. Outside of Bosa, the best defensive linemen in the game,

hard to block, batted down a pass. Should be noted, he had a completion of George Kittle, called P.I. That would have helped. He also had a ball over the middle that was a pass interference on the Chiefs that wasn't called. They eventually scored. A couple little breaks didn't go his way, and he missed badly on a wide open, deep throw.

But we're supposed to add context in the media. Fans can be drunk and crazy and trade this bum and give this guy a zillion dollars. Jimmy G. is not Patrick Mahomes. But if you tank out the fourth quarter of his season in one game, 70% completion, passer rating over 100, I'll take it. That's better than what I'm getting from DAC and you're outraged. They don't want to pay him 35 million. For the record, Jimmy G.

he's only making about 27 million, which seemingly every other week that feels more reasonable and more reasonable. Mahomes may get up to 40. He'll be making 27, so he's not an outrageous number. So let's slow down. He missed on that pass deep. No question and deserves criticism and did not play well in the fourth. And I'm not saying we know he's not a top two or three guy in the league.

But you better have answers if you're going to move off 69. percent completion rate and a passer rating of 101. You better have answers. I mean, maybe Tommy Brady's knocking on the door outside the facility, okay? Maybe that's the point. But I think we just take a deep breath on this stuff. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. 40 years NFL films. I went to dinner last night with my buddy Eric, big Niners fan. He goes, get CoSel on. I want answers on this. So, Greg, let's start with this. Patrick Mahomes did struggle, I thought. in the first three quarters. It was fairly visible and obvious. Was it just a matter of pressure?

What did you see? I also think he missed some throws that we normally expect him to make and that he normally makes. He just missed some throws. And you know what? Sometimes that happens. We just not used to seeing Mahomes do that. I think there were as pressure at times. You know, I think the 49ers had a distinct plan. They decided to play a lot of split safety, as I think we talked about leading up to the game. They played a lot of what we call cover four and they locked the boundary by that I mean they played man to man to the boundary receiver and cover four is a really good coverage to play it's a matched coverage concept that allows your safeties to be involved in the run game so it helps you in the past game it takes away a lot of

seam throws and it also helps your safeties be involved in the run game and I think it was effective and obviously you play that if you feel really comfortable with your down four and they did And by the way, as we're watching this video, you forget how many bad throws he made. He made a lot of bad throws. He just missed throws. I mean, we're just not used to seeing him do that because he doesn't miss too many, but he missed a bunch in this game that were there. Now, what changed in the fourth quarter for Patrick?

Well, I think he obviously made throws, but then you get to some of the big plays in the game, obviously. And we'll get to the hill 44-yarder. That will be the play. But that was obviously the game-changing play. And it was a play that they actually ran in the AFC championship game last year against the Chiefs. And he hit, excuse me, against the Patriots. And he hit Hill on that play for, I believe, 42 yards. And it was the only completion to Hill in that ASC championship game a year ago.

But it was the same play. And then the Watkins 38-yarder was obviously another big play, and that was a really good throw. And they caught Sherman playing a locked man coverage, and Watkins beat Sherman. So he made the quarter when they had to be made. Now Jimmy G, I thought played like Jimmy G for three quarters, not spectacular, but moved the chains. I thought he outplayed Mahomes often for the first three. Is he getting beaten up a little too much because 70% of the game he kind of played to his level?

Well, I think the 49ers offense did exactly what they intended to do. And throughout three quarters for sure. I mean, through three quarters, Garoppolo was 11 for 12 on play action with a touchdown. I think through three quarters, he was 17 for 20 overall. They played 49er football. They scored on four of their first six possessions. And depending on one's view of the past interference on Kittle, you could have argued that they would have scored on five of their first six possessions.

So they played 49er football. That's what their offense is. You know, the question going forward for Kyle Shanahan, and I think Kyle does a great job, and then we'll get to the fourth quarter in a sec, is whether their past game can operate independently of their run game. And I think that's something they'll probably talk about in the offseason and work on. You know, I think you have to remember that this was Jimmy Garoppolo's first year as a starter. Yes.

First full season where he played every game. My sense is maybe I'm wrong, Colin, that getting to the Super Bowl in your first year as a full-time starter, to me that's pretty good. I'm kind of struggling with the idea of, well, they got to replace Jimmy G. He's not the guy. You know, it was his first full year as a starter. I think that's pretty good. You know, there's a lot of criticism on Shanahan for not running the football, but there's a lot of different ways to run it. I thought they ran it enough, did you? Oh, sure. To me, that narrative is pointless. That just, you know, figures in. I don't know why people are talking about that.

but, you know, look, Jimmy G. missed a couple of things in the fourth quarter. Obviously, everybody talks about the long pass to the deep post. That's a throw you must make. But actually, the bigger throw was third and five with 523 remaining in the fourth quarter. It was the throw that came right after Jones knocked down the pass to Kittle, who was wide open, by the way. It was the very next play.

And Garapolo got locked on to Bourne and did not see Kittle, who was within the progression, same size of it. of the field right in his sight line. Kittle was wide open. Not only would it have been a first down, but Kittle had room to run because it was man coverage. And if he had just, if he had made that throw,

the game would have been over because Kittle would have gained 25 yards, maybe more because Kittle in the open field, you never know. But that was third and five with 523 remaining in the fourth quarter. The chiefs went man. Neiman, the linebacker, ended up rushing, but it was what we call a

green dog. He was not part of the pressure. He rushed because he was part of coverage on the back, and the back went away so he could rush. But that's a throw Garapolo had to make. It was something he had to see. He had to see Kittle open within his progression. Kyle Shanahan gets beat up, but let's be positive here. What did you? Because ever some things I loved Shanahan did, I thought the first half was a coaching clinic in creative looks.

What did he do, Shanahan, that you actually loved? Well, we talked about this before that when they get safe. Samuel involved in the run game, that's not a gimmick for them. That's just building off their basic run concepts. And that's what they did. And I think they did it twice in the first half once in the third quarter. They ran their offense. You know, I don't know what people expect.

That's their offense. They're not a drop back and toss it all over the yard offense. They're a play action, past game offense. They run the ball. They have a very multiple run game. They do a lot of different things, a lot of different looks. And that's what their offense is. and they're very, you know, in some ways it's an offense that's not really big play-ish.

It's just consistent with what they do. That's what they are. They did the same thing in the fourth quarter. You know, it's easy to say they should have run the ball. There was one first down play where they ran the ball. They gained one yard. I don't hear people talking about that play. You know, they just ran their offense.

And again, you're playing a team that we know can score quickly. Yeah. So, you know, there was a lot of time left. You're not, you just have to play football. you've got a score. Yeah, that was my takeaway. I said this yesterday. Joey and I talked about it.

I went to my Twitter account after the game. When they got the ball with five minutes left, I went on social media and said, they better not get conservative here. You better throw the football. Years ago, Belichick went for it deep in his own territory, and he was facing Peyton Manning. You know, after the game, Belichick's like, you know, I don't do that if I'm not facing Peyton Manning.

Mahomes forces you to be more aggressive as Brett Farve did. This is the reality of sports. Now, I do want to talk about Nick Bosa. I don't remember a rookie defensive lineman this influential. I really, I covered Warren Sapp. He wasn't, this was not Warren Sapp. I thought Bosa was fantastic. Your thoughts, Greg?

Yeah, I do too. And Bosa is a really good player. You know, it's so funny how every year we talk about defensive linemen in the draft and how, you know, their generational talents. You know, we have a generational talent every year, it seems. Doesn't it seem to work that way, Colin? You know, this year the generational talent is Chase Young. But Boas is such the way he uses his hands.

I think he understands leverage as well as any young player could possibly understand leverage. And he's a lot more athletic and explosive than I think he's given credit for. Yeah. I'm watching this here. He does use his hands great. Really, really well. I mean, he just wrecks plays. I mean, he is just, he wrecks plays.

Okay, let's give us your big play. Wrap it up, Greg, your big play. Well, it's a 44-yard completion. to Hill, which really was the game changer. So let's start it right now and just run the play. And obviously, you know, this was the game-changing play on 3rd and 15. You have

to get off the field here if you're the 49ers. They have a really good defense. You've got to get off the field. So what happened on this play is, first of all, they lined up with two tight ends on 3rd and 15. Very, very surprising. But they wanted a chip and protect. Then they had Hill and Watkins as number

two and number 1 to the three-receiver side. They're both, going to run vertical routes. Now, this is important. Now, the 49ers, much of the game had played with split safety coverage. That's what it looks like right now. But what they're ultimately going to do is high safety coverage. And this particular route concept worked really well against cover three.

Now, it would have worked against split safety as well. But what you're going to get, keep your focus on Watkins and Hill. They're both running vertically. So what Watkins does on his route on the outside is he eats up the corner. The corner has to stay with him. He's responsible for the deep third. Watkins is running vertically. So now you get Hill matched on a safety.

Looks like he's running the deep post. So the safety moves that way. But no, he bends back and runs the deep sail or deep corner route. And there's no one in the deep third because the corner had to be locked low on Watkins' vertical route. So it was a great play call. As I mentioned, they ran this against the Patriots last year. It was a great play concept against a coverage that they had kind of seen all game. Great stuff.

And the guy that can deliver it with the arm, Patrick Mahomes. Greg is always great stuff. Wrapped up the Super Bowl. Thanks, my man. Right, Con. Appreciate it. Thanks. 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. So in the NBA, a lot of you don't watch it until the football season is over. Some of you don't watch it, period. Here's the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee is easily the best team. They're the deepest. They're the clippers of the East.

They're the deepest team. They have the best player. They've got a tremendous coach. They've got multiple scores. Not every team in this league plays real defense. They do on a nightly basis. And they're unbeatable at home. That it's Toronto, Boston, Miami, Indie, Philly, Brooklyn, Orlando.

Huh? How's Philadelphia sixth? Only 11 above 500? Because Philadelphia's got a problem. They've got two stars. they don't like each other and they don't mix. It doesn't work. Embed is imperfect.

Super talented, little like Baby Shack, but he gets hurt a lot. Ben Simmons is a little like magic. 610 point guard, but he can't shoot at all. But earlier this season, when Ambide was out for about eight games, there was clear evidence what happens to Ben Simmons when Embedde's not there. He's in a better mood and he gives you 22, 9. nine. That's an all-star. Okay, this league is about availability. Ben Simmons is younger than Embed. He doesn't get hurt as much. He does something top five in the league. He gets the

ball to shooters. Okay. Embedd clogs up the lane for him. You can get more for Embed because Embedd's considered the greater talent. That's fine. That means I can get more of a haul form at the trading deadline. Sports is about trying to get great play. But if they don't work together, and these two don't like each other, and it doesn't work, you've got to make a choice. Ben Simmons, when Embed doesn't play, plays with more energy, signals to you, this is what I am when the big fella's out. And what I am is 22, 8 and a half and 9. That's an all-star. He's not a great shooter, but he can finish at the rim.

He can be highly efficient in field goal percentage. trade M-B'd get picks and guys who can shoot and spread the floor this isn't working okay the west is loaded the east has about four legitimate teams Philadelphia right now is only ahead of Brooklyn that's a mess and mostly mediocre Orlando it doesn't work own it like Kansas City at Alex Smith they were winning they're like it's not good enough they moved to Mahomes Baltimore was winning Joe Flacko it's not good enough they moved on Lamar hardest person to be honest honest to is yourself. Philadelphia. Doesn't work. They don't like each other.

They're both flawed. Take the one that you can get the most for. Trade him, elevate Simmons, surrounding him with shooters. That feels right to me. Gotta be honest with yourself. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed the game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. 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 answer. Sports Slice 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 Slic 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 trip, Martin, 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 Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search, Learn the Hardway, 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? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clifford Show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor.

I'm a comedian, and recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're,

on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Coutura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. I love having bukes on the show. Someday you and I should do a podcast together, just you and I. Let's do it. I can just sit and talk to you. Remember the air day I called you for 45 minutes? about my stupid theory about the G League. And I had things to do.

But I couldn't get out the phone. Yes. No, we definitely should. Rick Buecker, Bleacher Report, other places. Buker and Friends cover the NBA since the early 90s. So I watched Zion last night. Listen, when you're 19 years old, you don't maybe eat the right way. I look at him and I think to myself, he doesn't, he's not in great shape.

No, he's not. And what is shocking is that the. Pelicans had all these months to get him into shape after two injuries, like getting the weight off and keeping him light. What is it? Lower, like, he's from the South. And he's, as you said, he's 19 years old. That's, I mean, I literally, I said, what is, what's the deal with someone in the organization? Is it he's got a slow metabolism or is it his diet?

He said, he's 19. I'll just leave it at death. So that's what it is. And I've seen plenty of of players who have to learn how to eat better. There's no question. You're in college and now he's in the pros. You finally make money. You see those steakhouses.

And he's in New Orleans. I mean, that's not the place where you're going to find a lot of, you know, locale. Vegan options. Absolutely not. So it's understandable. But what is dangerous? I mean, it's fun to talk about.

But he's had two, he's the number one pick. He's had two serious injuries. And he's already built heavier than the rest of us. If you or I eat badly at 19, okay, well, so what? We're not playing 82 games and whatever. But he's 6-6-280 and he's carrying an extra 10, 15, 20 pounds with knees that have already suffered some damage. That's where it gets very tricky. Okay, I said this.

The NBA has always been about in the playoffs. They swallow the whistle. It helps veteran players, guys who have been in a wait room for eight years. It gets very physical in the postseason. More so, yes. Generally speaking. You got these Andre Aguadalas and you got Draymond Greens and there's young kids. They just swallow whistles.

And so Kyle Kuzma is not going to lead the Lakers anywhere. But he's their last pair of young legs. It's 26 minutes. You're at the game last night, Joy. There's a little juice. You trade Kyle Kuzma. LeBron now, Anthony Davis is dinged when he's healthy. Yes.

Like, I don't like this move. Would you trade? He's their only pair of young legs? I would trade him if I could get a veteran that could contribute right now. If we're talking of Marcus Morris type, and the biggest problem is in making any kind of a deal is that Kyle is on his rookie deal. He only makes $1.9 million.

Who are you going to trade? him for that is going to be appreciably better talent-wise that is only making 1.9 million. There aren't any veterans out there that you say have playoff experience and are going to come in. So now you have to aggregate it. As soon as you have to start to aggregate players, now it gets even more difficult. So getting somebody who's better than Kuzma for the price, it doesn't work. But if I could get a Marcus Morris, I would do that in a heartbeat. because the time is now.

And Kuzma's never played in the postseason. So you can have young legs all you want, and you can look good in a game that's a blowout game where, look, hitting threes and going to him when you're up by 12, 14, 16, doesn't nearly, in the regular season, doesn't nearly replicate the pressure of a playoff situation where now you're down by three or you're up by one,

and now we need a bucket. Cous, go see what you can get. I've seen him in those situations in the regular season, and I've seen DeAngelo Russell basically defend him and stop him. That can't happen. You know, when the season started, LeBron James said, I can't wait, Anthony's going to have to lead this team. And I've watched this team.

It's LeBron's team. And Anthony Davis, in the last two years, the longest stretch he's played without an injury is 17 games. and when I watch him and he's playing, there's always nagging stuff. You know, as much as we think Anthony Davis is formidable, this is still LeBron's team, right? He's, Anthony Davis is more formidable this year than I've ever seen him. This is as good as I've seen him. I don't care what the numbers say.

He has been more effective at both ends. He's been more dominant in situations. to your point, whenever he does get dinged up in a game, he doesn't just go down and maybe go to the bench. He goes to the locker room and he's gone for a quarter. And then he might come back. And even now, they've played 49 games. He's missed seven games.

Like, that's a, and this feels like a relatively healthy season for him, right? So this was the problem that I saw for the Lakers from the very beginning, was that they were going to have to lean heavy on LeBron. N-A-D. And those guys were in the regular season. Yes, and they were going to have to stay healthy from beginning to end without loss. And that's where the Clippers just have all this luxury. Like Paul George wants to take a couple games off. Doesn't matter. We can win. Quay Leonard wants to take a couple games off. We can win like Lou Williams, whatever it is. They just have that luxury of being able to get through without having all hands on deck. The Lakers are simply not in that position. And this is the challenge. And you can't trade Kuzma for a guy who's going to add to that nucleus equation when it comes to the postseason. Rick Buecker joining us. All right.

Listen, Embed's imperfect. He gets hurt. Instagram star. Simmons is imperfect. He can't shoot and doesn't have any real interest to shoot. But there is a shack quality to Embed and there is a magic quality to Simmons that a 610 point who gives you 28, 8, and 8 on the night's Embed's been off this year. It doesn't work. It's not ideal.

I've been told they don't like each other. Simmons is often a much better, more productive player when Embed's not on the floor. He needs a clear lane because he can't shoot and he's lethal scoring at the rim. Simmons is also very good at getting the ball to shooters. He's also a moody player who when Embedith is out, it's almost as if he's signaling,

hey, this is what I can do when the big fella's out of town. He's a very moody player. He goes up and down on effort. To me, you've got to split him up. I keep Simmons younger healthier. If we tagged Ben Simmons not as a point guard, but as a power forward, a wing guard, like what they call it a point forward. Right.

But let's just say, because what he really is is he's a power forward. You want him playing below the free throw line. If he's a power forward, you're not worried about his three-point shooting as much. Today's game, everybody's supposed to shoot a three. And then you would look at it and go, you know, our greatest strength is, at the two power positions. That doesn't work. We need to fix this. If you looked at it that way. But people keep thinking it can work because Ben Simmons is labeled as a point guard. He's not. What they need is a point guard. Mike Conley, Utah,

do they need him now? That would work. That would work. Mike Conley. Derek Rose. Derek Rose would work. And largely because of what Derek told me about the New York situation. He said the New York situation for him was good. because he learned to play without the ball. Playing with Carmelo and Porzingis, it was a struggle for him at first, but he figured out how to be able to do that. So that would work.

But yes, Mike Connolly would also as a, and it would be easier for him. Connolly's problem in Utah is they have one of the most complicated offenses in the league. And so coming in there and being effective right away for a guy like Conley, he's still having to think through everything. Sure.

And you can't, for the level that the Utah Jazz want to play and the expectations for Conley, it's a struggle. And it's going to be a struggle when he gets there, who knows? Now, what do NBA people think about? I like Simmons. I understand the limitations. But I come down to a 22, 8 and 8 player. Because I do believe Simmons can be moody. We heard that in college.

And I do think with Embed there are nights, he just shuts it off. He's not in a good mood. But when Embeddead is gone, Simmons says, okay, this is what I'll go. give you if I run the team and it's 29, 9, and 9. What do your scouts say? What did GMs and executives say on Simmons? Have people, have some bailed on him because

his inability to even attempt to shoot? It's the personality. It's that indifference. It's that I don't know what I'm going to get on a nightly basis. And you're saying this is going to be the leader of my team? No, thank you. Everybody knows how talented he is.

But the fact that Janus has developed a three-point shot, Like, there are other guys in the league who have developed a three-point shot in the same time. Derek Rose has improved his three-point shot. Ben Simmons hasn't come. Lonzo Ball has transformed his three-point shot. What's ball shooting threes this year? He really has.

Shout out to Fred Vincent, by the way, who's their shooting coach, done a remarkable job with Lonzo Ball. But Ben Simmons is not taking them. It looks like he doesn't care or doesn't. want to. Who knows why, but that's what scares teams about building around him. M. Bede is looked at as still being immature, but you can grow out of that. Zach Randolph was wildly immature. Covered it. And then went to Memphis and grew up a little bit, and now you could play through him. So if you're asking me which way teams would go, they see issues with both of them. But M. Bid and his ability to dominate his position and the feeling that what holds him back,

is just a lack of maturity is why if you took a vote, I believe that more would go on the side of MB. All right, Rick Buecker, Fox Sports NBA analyst. Houston made a trade. Houston got rid of Clint Capella. I should ask you that when I ran out of time. That was just a mistake by me. It was a bad broadcaster.

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, and 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 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.

Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to learn the hard. way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn

the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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, 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, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed human.