The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for Sep 11, 2020

Episode Date: September 11, 2020

-The difference between Mahomes and Watson is their support systems-The Rockets are unique and that doesn't win-Colin explains why the most important Buccaneer is a player you have never seen play-Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys might be in trouble on SundayGuests: Ryan Clark, The RingerTJ Houshmandzadeh, FOX Sports NFL Analyst 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. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians,

and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1, find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Friday, our first Friday of the football season live in Los Angeles.

This is The Hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks so much for joining us, Fox Sports Radio and right here on FS1, one hour from now, The Blazing Five, five NFL picks, debuts, love my picks, love some underdogs this week. Very interesting. Joy Taylor is joining me. So we got the NFL. It looked like, sounded like mostly a regular football game, right?

Well, I wasn't prepared for all the fans. Right. So I was mentally preparing myself for a completely empty stadiums, which we still have to do because there are going to be some stadiums that are, empty, but the Chiefs fans were... Amazing. They were there. Yeah. But it was a great night.

Yeah, I mean, to me, outside of Andy Reid's foggy shield, it kind of looked and sounded like an NFL game or an NFL game with, you know, fewer fans. I liked it. I thought the NFL did a good job. Congrats to the Chiefs and the Texans, both for, you know, getting through camp and here we go. I want to remind everybody, Deshawn Watson was a better high school quarterback than Patrick Mahomes.

Deshawn Watson was a better college quarterback than Patrick Mahomes. And one year into the league officially, Deshawn Watson was better than Patrick Mahomes. Remember when he was setting records? DeShan's first year, he's like, just going crazy. A couple years later, look at him. One guy runs the league. The other is bailing water. Deshawn Watson looked overwhelmed.

We say this all the time, even for great quarterbacks. I watched that game last night. You know what I thought of? Joe Burrow. I feel sorry for him. Patrick Mahomes is the big three. Super talented, super support system, and super coachable. Deshaun is two of those, but he doesn't have the support system.

And Deshawn Watson has been putting a lot of makeup on those pimples for years, and there's just limitations. The acne's too bad with the Texans. There's too many pimples. Making bad trades, moving off DeAndre Hopkins. And it's funny, too, once you get the quarterback and coach, right, it just, everything else works. You draft a rookie running back from LSU. I mean, I like him.

He's that good? First game? Would he be that good anywhere else? Sammy Watkins, you know, they kind of overpaid for him? Nah, Mahomes and Andy Reid make it work. Honey Badgers. Do you have anything left in the tank? how that worked too.

Once you get the quarterback and the head coach right, everything works. I mean, Sam Darnold was way better than Josh Allen all through high school and college. Josh Allen played high school football, California. Had to go to Wyoming to play. But when you watch them now, who wins? You can be coachable. You can work hard and be talented. What's your support system?

Anytime Patrick Mahomes makes a mistake, he's got this incredible safety net of coaching, management, executives. This is why I always support professional athletes. Mobility, moving to a better team, joining star players, going to better coaching, going to bigger venues, demanding trades. Eli Manning is going to be a Hall of Famer because before he was drafted, he uttered this sentence. I want to play for the New York Giants, not the San Diego Chargers.

And that is why he's a Hall of Famer. and that's probably why no shot at the Chargers, Philip Rivers will not be. Patrick Mahomes comes into this league as wildly talented, but didn't win a lot in college. Then he gets Brett Veets, the GM, Andy Reed, and they're building the O line in the offense, and then he was a little bit of a gunslinger.

Last year he was only 11th in completion percentage, and a little bit wild. And then last night, oh wait, he took another step in the evolution. Last night he was Mr. Efficient. He was a Tesla. He was no longer a flame thrower. He was a surgeon. A lot of guys come into this league.

They got cannons. And that's it. I always use Jeff George. They never get better. That's what they... They don't have the coaching. They don't have the support system. But last night, we got another level.

We've seen this with Lamar. Another level of Patrick Mahomes. Audubling, reading defenses, efficiency. see, it's not just talent and coachability. You need the support system. That's why I'm always four players moving because they have short careers. Here's Andy Reid afterwards. What you see is a maturity where he's not forcing things downfield.

So as a play caller, EB and I sit there and we go, listen, we can call deep throws, but yet he'll, he's willing to check this thing down. So that's, we appreciate that. By the way, last night was not a referendum against Deshaun Watson or a referendum for Patrick Mahomes. But it is a referendum on you can't do it alone and how valuable coaching, support, executives, offensive lines, stability, and a lack of chaos are. A lot of football today, blazing five in one hour. So Unique is overrated.

I said it right there. It's overrated. Starbucks did not invent coffee. McDonald's did not invent the burger. Amazon was not the first person who was really good at retail. Netflix was not the first channel you had to pay for. HBO did it 30 years ago or more. But they're all really good at it and all really efficient at it.

I think Unique is overrated. Unique is like, nobody's tried this before. and usually there's a reason for it. There's a lot of smart people in America have been since 1950 on. If something's unique, there's a reason usually. Somebody thought of it and it didn't work.

The Houston Rockets came up with small ball. No, that's adorable. In the sport in America with the tallest athletes, let's be the shortest team in league history. Do you watch the box score last night? Lakers had 52 rebounds. The Rockets had 26. There were 13 offensive rebounds in that game.

Lakers had 12 of them. Anthony Davis, tall guy, was great. I grew up in the first great player I saw was Wilt. The leading score in league history is Kareem. They're big. The first great point guy at Arsaw was Magic Johnson. He was 6.9 and a half. My favorite rookie was Zion.

The best player in the league is LeBron. Size. I'm not saying it's a league for centers, but the last finals MVP that was a small guy is 6-6 Kobe Bryant. Houston looks small. They look exhausted. They look tired. Sort of like smaller Damian Lillard did at the end of that series.

I don't believe you build around centers, but small ball. It's like the wildcat in the NFL. Remember the Miami Dolphins did that? We're going to hike the ball to running backs. And it was kind of effective for about a month. and then everybody went, there's a reason you hike the ball to the quarterback. Unique can and often does catch people off guard. LeBron said after game one of this series.

LeBron's like, you know, you can't really duplicate what they do. It's jarring. But you can figure out unique. What is hard to beat is efficiency. Does Starbucks have the best coffee? Up for debate. Not my favorite. But their efficiency is a remarkable.

Is Amazon the best retailer? They're really efficient. All I know is I click, I want it, and it's on my step 10 minutes later. A drone just dropped it in my backyard. The reality was small ball. There's a reason the Professional League in America with the tallest best athletes never really thought of it. It doesn't work. They look tired.

They look small. They couldn't keep Anthony Davis off the glass. They can't get rebounds and second chance points. They had one offensive remount all night. That was Russell Westbrook, another small guy. Again, I don't think it's a center league anymore. You don't need a back to the basket center, but I, Luca, it's hard to stop. Why?

He's big for his position. LeBron, big and fast. Zion, big and fast. The reality is the rockets, this is mostly nonsense. And for the record, the reaction, why did they have no spirit? why do they look tired? Why with the season on the line, didn't you get much of an effort?

Here is James Harden. James, in the game was so much at stake. Why did you guys seem so flat through three quarters? Good question. Remember the Titans. Remember that movie? There's a great line. Reflection.

Attitude reflects leadership. No, no. Small ball, no center. I'm nothing against Houston, but man, they struggle to be Do KC. They're not competitive against the Lakers. Unique. Sorry.

Sorry garage bands. It's overrated. It's not about inventing stuff. It's about becoming really efficient at stuff that has worked for decades. The Lakers are. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, personal health, personal health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you. But just so y'all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. 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? 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, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. So there are a new head coach or a new quarterback on your roster who is starting for nine NFL teams this weekend. I have eight losing. I think Carolina with Teddy Bridgewater will beat the Raiders. Other than that, I have them all losing. I have Tom Brady losing. My one big NFL prediction this year, same quarterback and head coach with no OTAs and no camp is. a big advantage. I also think there's a weird fit for Tom Brady in Tampa. This wide receiver

core, this tight end core is built to throw the ball down the field. Translation, the offensive line is going to be really important. Tom doesn't like to get hit. Old quarterbacks do not like to get hit. They like their knees protected. They want to go to their kids high school football games and not limp around the field. Young quarterbacks are a tad more daring until they get hit for a few years and then they don't want to get hit. Tom Brady's got a wide receiving core, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, really, really good tight ends. They're going to throw the ball down the field and that's who the head coach is.

And Breeze and Brady in the last four or five years, as they've aged, are winning games at the line of scrimmage, checking down, being smart, getting out, audibly out of blitzes, into efficiency, slot receivers, rarely throwing deep. This is a roster that should throw the ball deep. What does that mean? The offensive line is going to tell me. If you told me right now the grade of the Tampa Bay offensive line at Thanksgiving, I would tell you what their record would be.

To me, I know this is a rock star roster with Grunk and Brady and Shack Barrett and, oh, there's all sorts. I want you to pay attention to somebody you have never seen play. His name is Tristan Wirfs. He's from Iowa. He's a right tackle. he's going to go up against Cameron Jordan, who is the best 4-3 defensive end in football. He's on our show all the time.

You will know by the end of the first quarter if Tom Brady is running for his life, Tampa Bay is in trouble. That's what this game is going to come down to. Can the rookie from Iowa, who unlike other rookies at right tackle, had no OTAs and had no exhibition games, these will be his first live NFL snaps against Cameron Jordan,

who's unbelievably talented. And oh, by the way, if you were a young person in your 20s and you go to the NFL, and your first assignment is to protect the greatest living quarterback at the greatest player in league history, a couple butterflies maybe, a little, that the pressure, is on Tristan Wharfs, who has a legendary calorie intake.

Love the kid. But you talk about a rough opening assignment, best 4-3 DE in the NFL. You got to protect Tom Brady, new pieces, new system. You want to slide gronk over next to the rookie from Iowa to help out. That to me is the game. This offense is built to throw the ball down the field, and that's not who Tommy's been the last four or five years. It's not who Drew Breeze has been last four or five years.

and Aaron Rogers, by the way, has been leading the NFL and throwaways. He doesn't want to get hit either, and he's really athletic. That to me is the game. I think Tommy and the Brady, the Buccaneers, lose. And I think eight of the nine, new coach, new system, or new quarterback on the roster who is starting.

I don't count the chargers, because Tyrod Taylor was there. I have eight of nine losing. 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.

We bring in one of my faves. Kevin Clark, writer, NFL for the ringer formerly at the Wall Street Journal. And he is joining us now. Brought to you by Mercedes Ben's the best or nothing. Very smart guy. Great reporter. And all right, Kevin Clark and a Friday. For the record, I have a beard.

You have a mustache. Yeah. 2020 is a lot of different stuff. Can we start with that? It started with laziness for me, and now it's a fashion statement. I don't know if it's going to go away. But when life returns to normal, I think the facial hair stays. I don't know.

I mean, I think you have great facial hair right now. But I just feel like this is a long-term plan for me that started out as a short-term plan. Yeah, agree totally. All right. So I watched last night, and my takeaway was, oh, wait, now Patrick Mahomes is efficient, too. He went from gunslinger to surgeon. I thought, you know, this will never make his highlight real games, but I was kind of blown away by his efficiency last night. you. So when I talk to people around the league, but what this season's going to look like,

everybody said that it's going to be the obvious stuff. You know, Lamar Jackson's going to be hard to tackle. Patrick Mahomes is going to be a great passer because defenses just aren't going to be ready for. I mean, it's what people say about curb your enthusiasm, right? Is that Larry David just playing a heightened version of himself. Right. That's what all the great players are going to be doing this year. And Patrick Mahomes is going to be a better version of Patrick Mahomes because defenses will be more simplified coverages and they'll be able to take the next step. Dominance is, is there. key this year. And Patrick Mahomes will be able to take the next step. And I think it's really interesting to see how good he can get. Because listen, he's going to make $503 million of the

next decade. He is the best quarterback in football. And you wonder where the ceiling is. And right now, I don't know if there is one. I don't know if there is one because this is also, this is a season about cohesion, about being on the same page. Who's more on the same page than Andy Reid, Eric B. Enemy, Patrick Mahomes, Tyree, Travis Kelsey. And now Clyde de Rueh, I mean, this is, I don't see much competition outside of Baltimore in the AFC. NFL rider the ringer, Kevin Clark, our friend bring him on often. So I say everybody likes

Tampa Bay to some degree. And my theory is, defense will carry him early. Todd Bowles is underrated. Front seven's very good. And then I think the offense will catch up. But if I said to you, Kevin, it doesn't go well. It doesn't go well. And I say,

Kevin, predict, it doesn't go well, what's the problem? Where where is the potential pothole landmine for this team? I would say kind of what the opposite of the Mahomes thing, the cohesion thing. No one cares about throwing passes to the inch like Tom Brady. And all of a sudden, instead of 20 years of institutional memory in New England and knowing exactly where everyone's going to be, not only on the field, but in the building, he's coming in and trying to replicate that very quickly in Tampa Bay.

You cannot get those sort of OTA-type reps on high school fields in Tampa. You just can't. And so I think there might be a slow September or October with Tom Brady. I think it's going to happen for him. But I think that maybe there might be some communication issues or timing issues or verbiage issues in the offense. You're just learning all new things in a year where that's really hard to do. I'm never going to bet against Tom Brady. I think the bucks are going to make the playoffs.

But I think that we're going to see a better bucks in November and December than we are September, October, just because of the mechanics of this season. There are nine teams that either have a new head coach slash system or a new quarterback on the roster that they're starting. I think eight lose. I do think Carolina at home beats the Raiders who don't travel well or play much defense. So let's talk a little bit about Baker and Stefansky. Now, in Stafansky, in fact, Coach Case Keenham, I think he's going to make it more run-centric. I think Baker is going to be a component to it, not the drive.

of it? That's my guess. What are you hearing? What's your thoughts about what we see from Cleveland, who by the way, has a brutal opener at Baltimore. Yeah, I think that the Baltimore thing, you kind of throw that out. Okay, their season starts from week two on Thursday against Cincinnati. So I talked to Andrew Barry, the Browns GM this week, actually. We talked a bit about how he's just, he's building around the quarterback. But when I hear building around the quarterback, I think a lot of people here getting O'D Beckham or getting, you know, some of the things they've the last couple years where it's weapons, but I think that a lot of it is just the basics. And that's, you traded Kevin Zitler for Olivier Vernon.

Everybody got excited and I hyped them up. But it turns out you need a guard. And it turns out that signing Jack Conklin to play tackle is a great move. And we skipped so many of the basics last year that mistakes were made. And I think that now they've seen a year of not only Baker's bad habits, but also just the holes that they had in that hyped up roster. And they were able to plug them very quietly without hype. I really like Kevin Stefansky.

I really like the things that they're going to do. And I just, I have a lot of optimism because this is a post-hyped team that's able to see where mistakes were made. A lot of that was Freddie Kitchens. I put way more blame on Freddie Kitchens for Baker's 2019 than you do. But I think there's a huge addition by subtraction thing in Cleveland right now. Now, by the way, we said yesterday all the issues in Cleveland, you cannot totally unfair to blame Baker. He's a kid. He's had too much instability here.

He was fine in Oklahoma when you have a. a very stable program. So this is an interesting one. The other day, I was reading a story and Aaron Rogers said, I think we're a little under the radar. I don't. I think we all kind of know what Green Bay is. Last year, they were talented, but a little bit of a finesse team that got pushed around by the Chargers, pushed around by Philadelphia, pushed around by San Francisco, so they go to the draft and they get a blocking tight end and a physical running back, an interior offensive lineman. But here's the question. Is the last three years Aaron Rogers completion percentage down, is pass a rating down.

Two years ago, I was told it was clickbait if I said, I don't buy the Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady, goat conversation. One is and one's just super talented. Have we seen, in your opinion, Kevin, the best, Aaron? And it's just from this point forward, it is just a little bit less every year. I don't want to get into the goat conversation, but I'm going to make a comparison. It's going to confuse you. in that sense. Aaron reminds me at this stage a little bit of Tiger Woods. And what I mean by

that is that there's still the capability on every time he drops back to see the best thing you've ever seen in the sport. I mean, he might roll out and, you know, he might go back to the sort of Proto Mahomes thing he was doing a decade ago. And there's always that possibility. He still has that. It's just becoming less and less likely every time. I still think he's one of the most talented passers we've ever seen. I still think he's capable. We saw, you know, he was one game away from the Super Bowl last year, but that kind of gets dismissed because of how large that gap was between Green Bay and the 49ers.

I like what they did. You know, could they have added a receiver in the first round? Absolutely. I think that's a separate thing. But as far as trying to get a little more physical, trying to play San Francisco style of ball, I'm fine with that. And I think that he still has the capability to be a top 10 quarterback. and I still feel like he has a lot of the things he had when he was in league quarterback.

I just think time comes for us all, and I just don't think he has the capability to be the best quarterback in football anymore. And that wasn't true two years ago. I think he still had that. So this is just natural aging curve. I mean, I think there's a lot of guys, Drew Breeze, Tom Brady, all those guys. I mean, there's an age gap there. But at some point, after age 35, 36, you're just not going to be Mahomes or Lamar Jackson anymore. So last year, once or twice on camera, we heard Tom Brady yelling at his receivers, get open, separate.

Cam Newton has the misfortune of inheriting those possession receivers. What are realistic expectations for what I believe is the least dynamic, wide receiving, tight end core in the league? What's realistic for him? I think there's a very interesting thing going on in New England right now, which is they are, they've been claiming to be the underdog for 20 years, Colin. You know this. Every time there will be 8 and 1, they'll lose one game and they'll say nobody believed in us. I said, what are you talking about? Okay. So I think that the expectations are quite low. I think realistically, they think realistically, they could be a 9 or 10 win team just because they still have talent. Stefan Gilmore and J.C. Jackson are two lockdown quarterbacks. We saw that since we last year. I think those opt-outs really, really hurt their ability. No one is a better judge at 1 through 53 on the roster than Bill Belichick and getting those mid-tier veterans. I mean, that's been their bread and butter the last decade is the guys who make $7, 8, 9, $10 million and just having a deeper roster than everybody. Well, if six of those guys opt out, well, that's a problem. And so I worry about New England a little bit in that regard.

But from an offensive standpoint, I think Cam's going to be able to get a lot of free yardage. No one, no one in the NFL is better at figuring out how to get free yardage over whether that's on. special teams, defense, offense, whatever it is, the Bill Belichick in all three phases of the game. And so I think you're going to see a lot of easy first downs for Cam Newton. But I agree with you. I think overall he's not going to have a lot of open guys. And listen, you look at Cam's 2015 receiving core with Carolina when he won the MVP, it wasn't that good. Okay.

You know, Greg Olson was a good safety valve and all that stuff. But I just, I don't think that he's really had an incredible infrastructure here. And so I think, I think they're a 10-win team. I think with the opt-outs is different conversation, but I like Buffalo in the AFC East. Good stuff. Kevin Clark got a mustache. Fits him well. The ringer does great work. It is a pleasure to see you. Last night was fun. I cannot wait for the weekend. And thank you so much. Thanks for having to go.

What's up, everybody, John Middlecock, three-and-out podcast. Go subscribe right now wherever you listen to your podcast. Coming up this weekend, we dive into Mahomes, Watson's struggles, dive into Sunday's games, Alichick and Cam, Tom Brady's new team, Rams Cowboys. We talk about it all. Football is back, and I have you covered. Three and out, go subscribe right now. I think sometimes you just get bad matchups.

You know, it'd be like you come into work and get a lousy night's sleep and you have a huge meeting. That's a bad matchup. You just didn't sleep well, got a lot of responsibility, and a bad day gets worse. Dallas at the Rams is not a good matchup in here's one. why. Sean McVeigh is a really creative coach. Creative coaches have off-season to draw up

plays. Andy Reed is great in September. Doug Peterson is 4-0 in openers. Sean McVeigh is 3 in-0 in openers. Now, Matt Nagy's creative, but he has Mitch Trubisky. But if you have a good quarterback, Carson Wence, Jared Goff,

you know, Alex Smith or Mahomes, and you get an off-season to draw up some plays, Andy Reid, about a month sent me some of his plays he's got for his opener against the Texans. That's what creative guys do. Sean McVeigh averages over 31 points a game and season openers. He'll be taking on Mike McCarthy. Conservative, little old, going to probably play it safe to start.

New system, deck. I don't think this is a good spot for Dallas. I think I get a better coach in Sean McVeigh. And by the way, Mike McCarthy was 9 and 4. and openers with Brett Farv and Aaron Rogers. And that was against Leslie Frazier and Jim Caldwell and John Fox and Lovie Smith and Jim Schwartz, very conservative coaches, many of them defensive coaches. In fact, all of those defensive coaches, except I think Caldwell.

But I say McVeigh, I think clever. I think daring. I think exotic. And I think McCarthy, I think kind of stayed and conservative and safe. And I think this is a good spot for the. Rams who I think have the second or third best wide receiving core in the NFL. The Rams bring back the same coach, the same left tackle, the same quarterback, the same tight end, the same system, the same two top receivers.

Peter Schreger talked about Dallas this year and Mike McCarthy. I am fascinated to see how this Mike McCarthy thing goes, Colin, because look, let's call it like it was. Steve Wilkes and the Arizona Cardinals led by Josh Rosen beat Mike McCarthy and the Packers. They fired Mike McCarthy midway through that season, and he was out of work all last year. So we're supposed to believe that all of a sudden, Mike McCarthy is going to suddenly become this rejuvenated coach of the year type guy. Let's see if Mike McCarthy is the magic elixir that gets Dak Prescott over the hump.

You know, this is just kind of your classic. There's nine teams with a new coach and system and a new quarterback, and I don't like any of them this weekend, except Carolina, because I really think Teddy Bridgewater's underrated and I don't trust the Raiders who were a awful team last year and didn't have OTAs or a preseason to work out their issues. But I, you know, it's funny about this, you think to yourself, like I'm watching last night, and this is what's scary about Kansas City. This was the time to beat Kansas City.

Think about this. So when you tell people you got to go to Kansas City to play the Chiefs, first thing you think about is that's one of the loudest places. There weren't many fans last night. well, what's the weather? By November, it's like hailing sideways. But the weather was perfect. Well, Mahomes, Mahomes and Reid are coming off the Super Bowl. You would totally get them being flat in the opener. The weather was perfect, which it never is in Kansas City. There was no crowd to speak of, no crowd noise. And Kansas City rolled. It's like, okay, that was your

opportunity. And if you ever want to beat a Super Bowl, I mean, even Belichick, they make the Super Bowl, When you go to the Super Bowl, you also play longer and longer and longer. And as Akeed Talib said yesterday on the show, you go back to your hometown. A lot of these football players are from small hometowns. They go to big universities and NFL teams and you go back to Allen, Texas, and you're the big star, and you're in the parade and everybody loves you. And you just get off to a late start. You're not as good as shape when you go to OTAs or camp.

That was the moment to beat Kansas City. And it wasn't really even competitive. Now, one of the things we always say about Fridays, Friday's all about hope, Monday's all about overreaction. So these Thursday games, Houston's going to win games because they have Deshawn Watson and Bill O'Brien historically is pretty good at engineering and offense. So don't overreact. I think we have to, as we watch football all Sunday, we've got to really be honest about this. With no preseason, nobody really knows. Tampa doesn't know what they're going to look like.

Tom Brady doesn't know what this is going to look like. He doesn't. You can't replicate full-speed practice against buddies in the locker next to you and full-speed game. I think there's going to be a lot of surprises. There'll be a little sloppiness. I do think defenses are going to play fairly vanilla schemes. Don't get too complicated, which could mean a big offensive weekend.

We saw the NBA bubble was all offense. games were every other night. You didn't have time to adjust defensively, so it was great for offense. I think we're going to see a lot of offense Sunday. Kind of generic defenses, great offenses. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes

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Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite things. 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 Fantine, 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's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Games, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hard Way and listen now. T.J. Hushmanzada played in the NFL for over a decade, a pro bowler, all full of wisdom. He is joining us here now on a Friday as we get ready for a great NFL weekend via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So let's start with this. You watched the game last night. I thought it looked and sounded like football.

The empty seats didn't bother me. If you were playing, is it harder to play without fans, many fans in the stands? It seems like it would be in training camp, for instance, in training camp. You practice in training camp and the day you scrimmage and fans are allowed in, you just have a better practice. You're excited. You just feel better about, okay, I'm tired of going against the same guy, but there's fans here to watch us.

So I have to give it my all. So I'm sure for the guys that's been in the league and used to big crowds, it was a big difference for him. you're just ready to play football. At the end of the day, it's a different jersey. You're ready to play football. Your former team, the Bengals, has Joe Burrow. I don't think it's entirely fair to say save the franchise day one with no preseason,

but that's what we have. What are realistic expectations, T.J. Like, let's say they have a bad record, four and 12, five, and 11. But what will you look at because the records, we can't judge him on the record. That's not him. But what will you look at from a rookie quarterback having played in this league for over a decade and go, I like that, I like that, I like that. What are you looking for from Burrow?

Is he getting rid of the ball on time? Is he skittish in the pocket? He showed at LSU last year that he had really good pocket presence. He was able to move around when need be. But he threw the ball on time. He put the ball. The biggest thing was he was very accurate. If he can throw the ball with accuracy,

and the good thing, he has weapons at the skilled position with the bingles. You got A.J. Green, if he can stay healthy, Tyler Boy, T. Higgins, John Ross, Joe Mixing, good collection of tightness. If that offensive line can protect him, I believe the Bengals should win between five and seven games, but I just want to see him get rid of the ball on time and throw with accuracy. And if he's protected, he should do both of those things well. So, Dax got a new coach and a new system. How long did it take you to learn a new coach and a new system offensively?

When you're the quarterback and you have to note protections, the run game, checks and there's a lot to go into it. Now, it's been reported supposedly that they're keeping the same system and it's going to be Mike McCarthy learning of what they do. But I doubt that's going to be the case. I doubt it's going to be a little bit of both, but it's going to take some time with no preseason games and you can practice it and practice it and do very well. But when you get out there, you really have to execute when it matters, it's going to take four, three to four weeks for them to feel good about what works, what does it work. I really, really like this playing practice, but it's just not showing up in the game that I like it the way

I thought I did. And so it's not, it's going to take three to four weeks for them to feel some cohesiveness and get an idea of what works and what doesn't. Yeah, that's really interesting. Some stuff, boy, it works great in practice. It doesn't work in the games. So one of the things, James Winston is talented, but he could be wild. Brady is super accurate. And I think that does matter. When you're a wide receiver, and James probably has as much armed talent as Brady, or more at this point, but Tom's really accurate. How would it affect you when you work with different quarterbacks and the ball's in the right spot and the timing's perfect? Does it change how you think breaking the huddle, how you run routes, how confident you are? Because these Tampa

wide receivers, Tom will put it on a spot. How does it change you as a receiver? It just lets you know You got a lot of catch and run opportunity. As far as coming out the huddle, you're not too much worried about that. I don't know how their offense works, but a lot of offense is predicated on one high, two high reads. If it's a too high safety, the quarterback is going to work a certain side of the field. If it's one high safety, he's going to work a certain side of the field. So if you're a smart receiver, you line up, you read the defense. You have an idea of where the ball should go.

And so you start to look at, man, if he hits the ball right here, I got a nice catch and run situation. You know, a lot of guys nowadays, they catch the ball and they fall down. And so that could probably be the only thing that they'll say, ah, read the defense. Oh, this ball's probably going to come to me. If it's here, I can really catch a knife and get up the field and try to get some of right after the catch. But with Brady, they've seen in practice.

And again, intensity, when you go against each other in practice, it's not going to be the same intensity that the defenders you play against and the game is going to bring. And so they'll get a feel for that. But with Brady's accuracy, they've seen, we're going to have a lot of catching run opportunities. You know, it's interesting with, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

So he actually played really well down the stretch, the playoff game excluded, but he played very, very well. And I just think he's a kid. One of the things he's really good at is he listens to the critics, and he has said, he's come out back-to-back off seasons and said, yeah, I listen to people, they're right, I have to do this better. And the most pro athletes, if they do that, they wouldn't tell you. I expect him to just take it up another level.

but it does appear at this point in his career. He plays better with a lead than he does behind. Most quarterbacks it should be noted due. Where do you think the growth will be from Lamar Jackson, who we know is athletic, we know he's coachable, we know he puts the time in, but do you think there's another level, and if so, what would it look like?

It's what you said. We won't see this until the playoffs start. We're talking Lamar Jack. He led the league in touchdown passes last year. Like Lamar Jackson had more touchdown passes than any quarterback in the league. He's the reigning league MVP. And so his only knock on him, and it's a big knock, is he has not won a playoff game. And so that growth, that next step will have to come in the playoffs because if he leaves the league and touchdown passes again, what are we?

Oh, he laid it last year. And so it's going to be, can you do it in the playoffs when your team needs it the most? and we'll see that in January. Yeah. I'm excited for it. I think Baltimore is the best team in the league, and I think, you know, when you bring back the coach and the quarterback, you know, it's funny about week one. Harbaugh is a great week one coach. So the last four years, they've held opponents to 10 or fewer points.

McVeigh, Doug Peterson, offensive guys, Andy Reid, are great opening week coaches because they come out with new wrinkles offensively and catch people off guard. Go back to your career. did you ever have a coach who was really very, very good in week one or two? Just kind of a creative thinker. Did you have one of those? Well, in Cincinnati, we had played the same offense every year and then going to Seattle and Baltimore. It's, I will say this, I feel like every team going into the first couple weeks of the season always have wrinkles.

you always put in new things in training Kevin. That's what I talked about earlier. Man, when you're in practice you're like, oh my God, I cannot wait today until we run this play. It looks so good in practice in every coverage against every front. And then you get in the game and you're like,

it couldn't work the way I thought it did. And so things that look good might not work, but every team has wrinkles. And it really boils down to calling the right play at the right time, expecting a certain defense. And that's why a guy like Andy Reid is so successful because he just has a knack for calling the right play at the right time.

Yeah. T.J. Hushmanjada joining us. So last three years, Aaron Rogers' passer ratings come down, completion percentages come down. And you can make an argument. It's the O line. It's wide receivers. When you look at a quarterback, what do you look at and say, he's not quite what he was.

What's the first thing you see from a quarterback, and you can tell having played in this league for over a decade, not quite what he was. What do quarterbacks lose first? I mean, you would initially, if you talk physical, you would say, oh, the ball doesn't have the zip on it. He doesn't have the arm strength that he used to have. But a lot of it is if a quarterback is protected and the pocket is clean,

they're going to be fine. And so if they have a clean pocket, they're not being touched up often. And the key is not to get touched up early in the game. If you can keep the quarterback pocket fairly clean early in the game, then they'll go throughout that game, even if they start to get a little pressure later on in the game, if you give them that confidence and at comfort level early,

they should be fine. But guys like Aaron Rogers, man, he's so, so talented that once he's, lost Donald driver, Greg, Jenny, his Jordy Nelson. I mean, he was used to having great receivers year in and year out. And so now he's looking at it like, I go from

having three studs to just Devonte give me more help and I can do what I was doing then now. All right, I'm going to give you a couple of games and you tell me who do you like and why? Seattle at Atlanta, who do you like and why?

I like the Seahawks. I like, I just like Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson is one of the best players in the league. I like the fact that Seattle added Jamal Adams to the back end of that defense, Bobby Wagner in the middle of that defense. Seattle's going to be, they're going to be tough to deal with. If Russell Wilson, if they let him play early, don't, don't go out to the club and come in at one o'clock at the morning and everybody hungry and say, hey, Russell, go cooking some food meetings. They're going to be losing. Hey, Russell, come save the game. Let, let Russell. Let Russell.

play early and display the type of player he is early, instead of playing catch up at the end of the game, you can just run the ball to kill the game. And so if they do that early, I like Seattle, no problem. Miami at Cam in New England. Who do you like and why? Oh, man, that's a tough one. I don't know what to expect out of New England. I don't know what to expect out of Cam. You can be excited and you can bring Super Cam out, but once the whistle blows Super Cam, nobody cares about that it's probably the worst collection in this is no disrespect no disrespect of skill players that he's played with in his career even when he was in Carolina and so they're going to bring it defensively the Patriots are going to be in a game defensively but you look at it I would

have to go with Miami they beat in essence not the Patriots from a home field player or a playoff by last year last game in the season and so you would think they're improved yeah new offense didn't get signed till super late does he really know it They're going to probably run a zone read often and try to capitalize on his athleticism. But I like Miami. Dallas at the Rams. Who do you like and why? I think Dallas has one of the better teams in the league.

But for some reason, new head coach, no offseason, DAC no contract, and then Sean McVeigh being who he is. Yeah. And if the Rams can stay healthy, and you would assume they are. But you talked about earlier, these new wrinkles, that's what Sean McVey is going to get a Cowboys on Sunday. Yep. New wrinkles that they haven't seen plays that they've worked on in practice, that they really are anxious to see how they play out in the game.

That's what McBey is going to do. And so new stadium, I'm sure it's nice. I like the Rams in this one. Good seeing you, buddy. You look great. I'm going to move into a new home eventually. Man. Yeah. T.J. Hushmanzada. Thanks, buddy.

Appreciate it, Colin. Take care, man. 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? 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10, 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifor Show. This is a place for

raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84's big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year.

It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.