The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd for Sep 29, 2020

Episode Date: September 29, 2020

-We can't unsee what happened to the Ravens last night-It's not Doc Rivers' fault that Paul George isn't clutch-The Chiefs are still vulnerable to two teams in the NFL-Jerry Jones makes a strange comment regarding Dak and Tony Romo-Benching Carson Wentz is a really bad idea-The Herd Hierarchy, Colin's top ten teams in the NFLGuest: Peter King, NBC Sports 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.

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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. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was 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. 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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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 Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Heard. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Tuesday with all sorts of news.

Live in Los Angeles, this is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're right here on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. One hour from now, a very, very interesting herd hierarchy. Week 3 in the NFL, some musical chairs going on after last night. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you? I'm great. What a game, huh?

Wow. It was kind of one of those jarring like, okay, what do I make of that moment? We get those in sports. It's a million games, a lot don't mean anything. It spiraled pretty quickly. Yeah, so let's start with that. Last year, I want to go back to last year.

Green Bay had been pushed around a little bit by Philadelphia and the Chargers. And then in week 12, they faced San Francisco. And Green Bay got punched right in the neck. 37 to 8, over at halftime. Hell, over in the second quarter. Green Bay won the rest of its games and went to the NFC championship. I could never unsee that. I never took Green Bay seriously.

Between getting pushed around by Philadelphia, get pushed around by the Chargers, but San Francisco wasn't even a fair fight. It looked like a boxing match with a heavyweight and a lightweight. I couldn't unsee it. I never took Green Bay seriously. By the way, either did Green Bay because they went and drafted three interior linemen, a blocking tight end and a power running back. Green Bay knew they had an issue.

I'm watching Lamar Jackson take on Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City, and Baltimore. I can't unsee that. It changes things. The gap between Mahomes and Lamar is growing. The gap between the Chief's confidence and the Ravens confidence when they play the Chiefs is widening. It's getting worse, not better. Lamar's now 0 and 5 against the Chiefs in playoff teams, and he doesn't look the same on 30.

down trailing. I feel like Patrick Mahomes is on an escalator. You see those in the mall, he's just slowly ascending. Every time I see him, he's just a little better reaching the top floor. The question is, with Lamar Jackson, is he on one of those people movers at the airport? It gets you there faster. It's really efficient. I love getting on him. But it's useless if you're trying to go to the very top floor. And the very top floor in the NFL is, of course, the Super Bowl. Lamar Jackson trailing. Lamar Jackson has to pass third and long. It's widening. He's not the same.

Third and 14 for Mahomes, they just drop touchdown plays. I mean, score doesn't matter. Like on the field where your field position doesn't matter. Time doesn't really matter on third and 14. Russell Wilson's got a little bit of that, a lot of that. With Patrick Mahomes, it doesn't. feel like that. Score, trailing, down in distance feels like it matters. It impacts him. Now, Patrick Mahomes admitted last year. He admitted this, his words. He goes, I couldn't really

read a defense until just a little bit past halfway on the season. All right, so I went and looked a little past halfway in the season. That's week 11. He's 12 and 0. He's lost three games, by the way, last year. Two in a bad ankle and one. Remember he had the dislocated knee? It was the first game back and you could tell he didn't want to run. He had dislocated knee. I mean, Tom Brady, after he had a knee issue, didn't want to get hit for a year. For about a game, Mahomes is like, I'm not running. That's it. Since then, week 11, 12 and 0, and it's getting worse. Now, now, let's add perspective. Let's not go crazy here. It's Monday night football. The only game being played, you know, a week ago, we thought the

Raiders were great. Let's slow down. Let's add perspective. Let's put those numbers up. Yes, Lamar Jackson is still great. Baltimore's going to win their division. They're going to off a bunch of wins and Lamar Jackson is 21 and one against the rest of the NFL. He's just not good against Kansas City. But part of why he's not is he gets into a gunfight and he falls behind and he doesn't quite feel the same. Now, Baltimore is not going to be behind in most of the games. I think they're going to win their division.

He's going to have a great year. He's an incredible young talent. But when I saw the Packers last year just get pushed all over the field, it was like a mismatch in an octagon. I couldn't take them seriously. I knew they were good. I knew they could get to the NFC championship, but against San Francisco, they played in the second time.

I'm like, this is not competitive. This is not, and it wasn't. And if these two teams play again, and I think Baltimore could end up in the AFC championship, but if across the fields, Patrick Mahomes, I can't unsee what I saw last night. I can't.

Either can John Harbaugh, he talked after. Well, obviously, we haven't beaten them, So, you know, they've outplayed us in all three games if you want to go back for three years. But we didn't play well today. They beat us. They out-executed us. They out-game-planned us. They just beat us.

So that's the story tonight. Big picture stuff, all that. I don't know. They're better. Obviously, they're a better football team at this point in time. So you win or do you learn, and we have a lot to learn from this game right here. May still be the two best teams in the AFC. I still think Baltimore is a top four or five team in the NFL?

Absolutely. I still think they're going to win the next. Most of the games they play. And they're going to win a playoff game, maybe two. But that leaves a mark. All right, Doc Rivers left shift to the NBA for a few minutes. Was fired yesterday, dismissed by Steve Balmer, the owner. I listened to every radio and TV commentator, and they all had the same opinion.

It was time for Doc to go. I mean, he's a good guy, but, you know, is a coach. I don't think this is a right fit. There's a couple of halves in sports. I'm going to defend Doc Rivers here. in the NFL, Andy Reid got fired. So did Pete Carroll twice and Bill Belichick, because they didn't have what you need in the NFL,

a top quarterback to win rings. Pete Andy and Bill got them, and they all got hardware. In the NBA, the have, everybody thinks it's a star. No, it's not. There's a lot of stars. Who's your number two? If you do not have a dependable clutch number two star,

you will not win titles. Doc did in Boston. Paul Pierce's clutch. He won a title. But in L.A., the clippers, he had Blake Griffin next to Carmelo, the most overrated a player in the league for 15 years. And then this team has Paul George. I've seen Paul George in Indy, O.K.C. in L.A.

He's good. He ain't clutch, bruh. How do I know this is true? Because Michael Jordan, the best player ever, couldn't win without Pippin. Kevin Durant couldn't win titles without Steph. And LeBron's got titles with D. Wade, always clutch. Irving, a little bit of a headcase, but he's a closer in clutch. By the way, the best basketball coach I've ever seen is Phil Jackson. When Pippin was his two, he won titles. When Kobe was a two

to Shaq, he won titles. When Powell Gasol was a two to Kobe, he won titles. You know what he won? When he didn't have a dependable clutch two in the playoffs? And nothing. Go ahead, but Doc Rivers didn't miss open jumpers. Doc Rivers didn't melt down. Look at the resumes of the other coaches you want to bring in. It's not as good as Doc Rivers. Belichick's record in the NFL pre-Bradie, 41 wins and 57 losses. Pete Carroll fired twice was a slightly sub-500 coach pre-Russell Wilson. Rings when they got the guy. Paul George's history is clear. He is a very good player, but the reason he's more B-plus than A-plus, he melts when it matters. By the way, Frank Vogel got fired two when he had Paul George.

Now he's got LeBron. And Anthony Davis is a two. Now Frank Vogels, the talk of the town. Is Ty Lou going to make Paul George clutch? Sort of like Mike Dan Tony's going to make Russell Westbrook clutch. In the NFL, you've got to have a quarterback

or you end up being a TV broadcaster. You end up being Herm Edwards. You go to television, you're great. You go to college. You do a great job. But you're not coaching in the NFL very long if you don't have a quarterback, especially in the last seven to 10 years. The game has changed, man. Used to be able to win with defense. They changed all the rules now.

It's pinball out there. Everybody bouncing around, can't hit anybody. The rules have all changed. Maybe you could do it 20 years ago. You can't now. And in the NBA, it's not just about the star. Michael was a star and didn't win anything. You know, went anything until he had Pippet. You got to have a two. Doc had it in Boston and won. Should have won a second championship. Got to a game seven and, you know, met a world, talked with psychologist. He told us hit a jumper and it's all history. But go ahead, bang on Doc. But when he had a two, he won.

And when Pete didn't have a quarterback, he was fired Pete Carroll in New England and fired Pete Carroll in New York. And Pete Carroll was 14 and 18 in Seattle. And they were ready to run him out of town as he had Matt Flynn in the locker room ready to take the Seahawks out. Then something called Russell Wilson happened. Just like something called Paul George happened in L.A. I like Paul. I met Paul.

He's a good player. He's a really good player. We got a history here, and the history is Doc wins with a good two, and Paul shrinks when he's asked to be the one of the two in the playoffs. 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 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, 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 of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental 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-tap 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 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 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. 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. 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 Hard Way 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 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, Keer Gaines, 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. Beyond the obvious butt kicking last night, the first thing I'm thinking of, because the game felt like it was over, like midway through the second, you're like, this thing's getting out of hand. It was the closest blowout I'd ever seen. It was like 20 to 10 and it felt like a lops out. And my first takeaway is, well, how do you beat Kansas City? And I think there's two teams in the league that can do something. First of all, it's nice to have a little bit of a running game so you could take the

ball out of Kansas City's hands, eat the clock. That's important. That's usually a way to beat great quarterbacks, is keep them on the bench. But what's more important is getting to Mahomes without blitzing. The two teams I've seen in the league that can get pressure without blitzing and have a quarterback good enough to be a headache, New England with Cam and Tampa with Brady. They both can eat some clock running. That's the second thing.

But the first thing is, they'll get pressure without bringing heat. Because as Patrick Mahomes said, once he figured out how to read a defense, blitzes no longer work. They didn't work against Peyton Manning. They didn't work against Tom Brady in his prime. And they're now not working against Mahomes. against the blitz last night he was 17 to 23 touchdowns and 156 quarterback rating blitzings out unless it comes from the weak side and he can't see it remember monday night football we over

hyperventilate the raiders are amazing no they're not week one stephen goskowski's the worst kicker in the league he was six for six last week he's won three games with game winning kicks he's not the worst kicker in the league so let's not go crazy but if you go to the super bowl what did san francisco against Patrick Mahomes. And this is the Patrick that admitted he'd learn how to read a defense. They got pressure with four. And for three quarters, it worked. And probably would have worked if Jimmy Garoppolo hits one deep ball to Emmanuel Sanders.

By the way, this is what the New York Giants did to beat the undefeated New England Patriots with Tom Brady. That wasn't about Eli Manning. Eli had one great throw. That was about getting massive pressure with four and then dropping seven into coverage. So Tom was hurried and throwing in. to seven defenders. And so if you look at what Tampa can do right now with Vitavia and Dama Kinsu,

Shaq Barrett, JPP, they'll get heat, and they have an amazing linebacking core. So Tampa didn't have to blitz. They'll get heat. New England now doesn't need to blitz and they can get heat. Then augment that with a nice little running game with Cam, Sony Michelle, Rex Burkhead, or you go with Tampa and Leonard Fernette and Ronald Jones.

So it's nice to have occasionally once or twice a game, have Mahomes sitting on the sidelines for eight minutes, 20 minutes of real time, eight minutes of game time and watching, get him a little, potentially a little out of sync. But I'm watching last night, and I see Tampa's defense and Tom Brady, New England's defense, and Cam in that running game, and I think that's the way to beat him. And by the way, Vegas sees that. What do you think the line is for New England at Kansas City? It's seven.

That's all it is. It's seven. because they know Patrick Mahomes is going to be under duress and Belichick's going to drop that amazing secondary back into coverage and they're going to pound and pound and pound the ball and keep Patrick

at least for a little while off the field. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHard Radio app. Search Heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Jerry Jones has press conferences every like Tuesday morning in Dallas and about twice a year

he steps in it. He was talking about watching Monday Night Football last night on a radio station 105-3, The Fan in Dallas. So he's talking about Patrick Mahomes, which he watched last night, and some people were offended. He was talking about how Mahomes can run around, and he has this it quality to run around and always make the play successful. Here's Jerry. As much as just his natural ability to make plays, his mobility.

This guy's very quick and elusive and can get in and out of situations. with his feet and by time. The quarterback we played Sunday is of that kind of nature. He has great ability to get in and out and then make the play. That played Dak made at the end of the game that got intercepted. The result of Dak's ability that let him get that ball off was really great and outstanding. Well, these guys have that ability a lot. Romo had that.

They could turn his back on it and turn around and hand. and get it done quick. Oh, boy. So somebody that covers the Dallas Cowboys, Clarence Hill, went to Twitter and said, Jerry just said, Dak, not being able to pull off the last play of the game is the difference between he and Patrick Mahomes or even Tony Romo. They could have pulled it off. Did I hear that?

Wow. Okay. Now, you could say Dak's not Mahomes or Russell Wilson. That's not a story. Saying Dak's not Tony Romo and Dallas, obviously, it's going to be a huge story. I actually think Romo and Dak have a lot of similarities. I think they're much more similar than dissimilar. Good leaders.

Going to get you a lot of wins and a lot of stats. Well-liked, athletic. Biggest games, always a little short. And I would say this, DAC gets you close, but in fairness, doesn't have much of a defense. And Tony Romo got you close. But in fairness, most of his career until the very last year,

Dallas's offensive line was a mess. It got really good when he left. But when you consider talent and circumstances and resume, I think Dak and Tony Romo are very similar. Clearly talented, a lot of numbers, a lot of yards, a lot of touchdowns, excellent leaders. I think Tony's a little bit more of a gunslinger, you know, a little livelier arm, a little more of a gunslinger. Dak's much more durable physically, a little safer, better securing the ball.

I think when they do design running plays, DAC is better than Romo. but this is going to make, you know, a lot of news in Dallas. I don't think it should be. I think what we've seen with Dak in his career is we know what he is. And I think it's funny. I had to defend Romo for years. I was always like he's way better than you people think. I always feel like I'm negative for Dak because I think the feeling on Dak is he's a little better than he is, but they're kind of the same guy.

I like the leadership. I like the talent. I like Dak's durability more. I thought Tony was a little livelier with the arm, but in the biggest stages, cowboy games are all on television, a little short. That's the same for both.

And both have a legitimate excuse. The cowboy defense for DAC hasn't been great, and Romo's O-line for almost all of his career was nonsense. They got all the good guys, for the time he left and gave it to Dak, the O-line was great. Okay, so here's something that drives me nuts. I'm not going to say it's about the younger generation or older generation.

I don't want to do that. But sometimes you just have to solve problems. You can't run from everything. If your house gets a leak, you can't just abandon your house. You got mortgages. You got kids. If you and your kid get in a fight, you can't put them up for adoption. Okay.

If your car breaks down in the road, you're going to leave it there on the freeway? Or you're going to get it fixed? Call A AAA. Or you got to go to the trunk and get a tire. You got to fix stuff. The answer is and always. We're getting rid of the plan. Toughen up.

Sometimes you have to, you know, get off your podium, get down, and fix crap. In Philadelphia, Carson Wentz is struggling. And of course, the solution is bench him. You paid him $150 million. Here's Doug Peterson at a press conference this week. No, no, you don't go there. That's a knee-jerk reaction. That's a reaction to the aura that's out there, right?

That's not what we believe internally. And we're going to continue to get better. Carson's our quarterback. we're going to get it fixed. He's going to get it fixed. And we've got a long seat. Listen, we're only half game out of first place for goodness sake. The whole division right now is not playing very good football. So we're not that far off. So let's think about two things here. Number one, as he said, they're a half game out of first. We're going into week four. We're not even, we're not even, we're not even a quarter through the season yet. Okay. This division is going to be won by a team

that probably doesn't get their act together until Thanksgiving. And you can And that's why I said this weekend, going for a tie made sense. This division, a tie is better than a loss always. But in this division, 7, 8, and 1 could win the division. We had that years ago. I think years ago Seattle won a division at 7, 8 and 1. And then the Saints were a better team, had to travel up to Seattle. It could be wrong, but I think those were the particulars.

This division could be a 7, 8, and 1. It's not going to be Washington or New York, so it's Dallas or Philadelphia. The second thing is, have you seen the next three games for the Philadelphia Eagles? Okay, at San Francisco, at Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. You want to give Jaylerts that? That's how you want to give. Jay, Jalen, good luck, kid. Our offensive lines banged up.

I know you just played college. Go face that. No, thanks. I'm watching Joe Burrell get annihilated. No thanks. So they're a half game out of first. The next three games are brutal. And the other thing is, you've got to solve.

You just paid them $150 million. It could be the offensive coordinator. What about your quarterback coach? We know Aaron Rogers now, second year with Matt LaFleur is working. I think honestly, Philadelphia misses Frank Reich, who now coaches the Colts. When Frank Wright was there, Carson Wentz had a winning record. He had a winning record. He was getting better every game.

Since Frank Reich has left, Carson Wentz is 14, 15, and 1, and he appears to be regressing. So with Frank Reich, he was talented and slowly got better. Frank Reich leaves, he's good and slowly gets worse. It's not that he doesn't have talent. How do I know that? Because I watched the last month of the NFL last year. Carson Wentz carried an offense where nobody outside of his tight ends were healthy. The other thing is the easiest answer, Joy and I talked about this earlier.

The easiest answer is, oh, is play Jalen Hertz, play the backup. Backups are in-laws. Lest you see, the better they are. The more you see, you get tired of them fast. Jalen Hertz this morning would probably come in, healthier. He'd be fresh. Nobody has tape. It would probably look great.

for a game. Probably for a game, you'd be like, whoa, they're going to San Francisco. They don't have Bosa for us. DeForest Bruckner was traded. So San Francisco's pass rush isn't quite as bad. You know, San Francisco right now is going to have a backup quarterback. For a week, it would look great. Then you'd go to Pittsburgh's defense. Then you'd see Baltimore and you'd be like, ah, that's not, that's not great. Take a deep breath. It's going to be fine. You've got to figure stuff out. They've paid big money. The solution, you can't put your kids up for adoption because you guys get into an argument and they swear at you. Like, you've got to fix stuff.

This, you know, the thing that's interesting about the NFL, you really don't have that many players. I mean, almost nobody carries a third quarterback anymore, right? Like, you have a starter, you have a backup, and then there's a guy in the scout team. The reality is you got, college football, you got 85 players. In the NFL, you got

50 to 55, and it's a more violent game. More guys get hurt. So it's a lot of times in the NFL, you just got to figure, you got here, you got this, you can't make a trade. There's a trading deadline in the NFL. Like there's a time where you can't make any trade.

You're done. So figure it out, solve it. 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. Heard hierarchy. Time is now. Let's go. The top 10 NFL teams, according to college.

Number 10. Tennessee Titans may have limitations, but they have an identity. They've won six of their last seven dating back to last year. Derek Henry, they're 15 and 0 when Derek Henry has 100 plus rushing yards. And Ryan Tannehill, what do you know? Once he left Miami and Adam Gase, he's pretty darn good. He's a top 15 quarterback if you look at the numbers since he arrived and started in Tennessee. And Stephen Goskowski, as we said a moment ago, six for six last weekend, their special teams will not hurt them. Number 10. Number nine. L.A. Rams. Listen, they're next to a

of the Giants in Washington, and they, outside of a bad call at the end, had Buffalo beat. I am concerned that they got pushed around for the first half of the game, but the Bill's defense is excellent. They trailed 28 to 3 and we're out of it. But they have the third best offense and the third best rushing offense in the league, and this is what McVeigh is. For all the multiple sets and the movement and the passing, he's really a power running coach like Kyle Shanahan, and they are running the football, and they've got three different backs to choose from. I like the Rams.

Number eight. Buffalo's one spot ahead because they beat the Rams, and the story here is Josh Allen. Great job of the coaching staff. His first 15 games in the NFL, he completed 55% of his throws with a passer rating in the 60s. He is now a pro-bowl level quarterback in his last 15 games. He's not only 10 and 5, but his quarterback passer rating is over 100. This is a very good staff that has developed a talented young quarterback who looks like a very young Ben Rathesburger, Buffalo at 8.

Number 7. Pittsburgh Steelers. Listen, this is the best front 7 in football, in my opinion. You can't run on them. Best run defense in the league. And they have 15 sacks. So good luck passing. This is a team that could give Kansas City some pushback.

They don't have to bring people to get pressure on you. And their offense, which always drives me nuts, because they leave a lot on. on the dance floor, no turnovers last week. I still have my question sometimes about being buttoned up in big games, but this defense, veteran staff, veteran quarterback is a top seven team. Number six. Green Bay Packers, I think they're better at quarterback, not as good defensively as Pittsburgh. They have not had a turnover this season, so they're really smart and efficient.

I like the fact that Drew, Aaron Rogers, completed balls to eight different receivers last week, are eight different targets. They're the highest scoring team in the NFL. Now, I'd love to see them be a little less dependent on Aaron Rogers, so that's why I have them at six. Number five. And why I have Seattle at five. They feel so dependent on Russell Wilson.

They have no pass rush. It's the worst defense in the league. And I feel Green Bay is very dependent on Aaron. I think Seattle, and I like them slightly more, because I think Russell is the world's best football player. He and Mahomes is better than Aaron by an inch. But this is no pass rush, terrible pass defense. But Russell is doing stuff now.

Every single player they draft that can catch a football, Russell makes work instantly. And D.K. Metcalf now has become a legitimate deep threat in this league. Number four. Baltimore. Listen, they're really, really good. I always say my top four teams feel like Super Bowl teams, but they're 0 and 3 against the Chiefs,

and they're 0 and 5, this worries me more. They're 0 and 5 when trailing by 10 plus points. That doesn't, you know, Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers, trailing at half is not the end game. I do feel like a little bit now we're getting a narrative, that they're not the same. They don't call the plays the same. They don't play with the same velocity when they trail.

Now, the good news is they're not going to trail much for the rest of the season, and they're going to win their division probably, and they're going to win at least 14, 13 games. So that's not a problem most weeks, but it does feel like a roadblock to beat the teams above them. Number three. The Patriots, pass rush without blitzing. Right now, the Patriots are the best rushing team in the NFL and have forced the most turnovers. Tied with seven. What does that tell you? They play real fast defensively.

They get you out of sorts defensively and you make mistakes, and they run the football and eat the clock. That is the way to beat good teams. We know Belichick's a great coach. I think they make a move at the trading deadline. They are a piece away. If you gave them an OBJ or you gave them an element over the top, I don't think Kansas City wants any piece of them.

That would be a really interesting matchup, Patriots at 3. Number two. Tampa Bay, this defense is fantastic. Since the beginning of last year, it's the best rushing defense in the NFL. Can't run on them. Can't. They're just too fast and athletic. They have four guys, Sue, JPP, Shack Barrett, Vitavia.

They get a pass rush without blitzing. And their offense is getting better every Sunday. They've held the last nine opponents to under 100 rushing yards. So when you give me a pass rush without blitzing and you can't run on them, You're in every football game. And oh, by the way, they're running game with Leonard Furnett's getting better every week. Now they're throwing to the tight ends. I think this is the team that can beat Kansas City.

Number one. But they wouldn't today. They would not beat him today. Maybe at Thanksgiving, maybe in January. They're not beating them now or February. I don't, three words, Monday night football. That game was not even close. It was not as close as the score would tell you.

If not for a Raven's special teams touchdown, That thing's a blowout at halftime. It is totally absolutely over. And the thing I like about Kansas City right now is that Andy Reid is coaching with no limitations. It doesn't even matter if they're in the red zone. They are doing, they're throwing to linemen, they're doing shuffle passes. When you can coach with absolute trust in your quarterback, leading, trailing, red zone, midfield, deep in your own territory. I think they're really special.

And I don't think anybody can beat them right now. 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 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 what 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 of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental 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 Podcasts, 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-tap 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 Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. 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 y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. They're 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 Hard Way 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, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, I Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Peter King now joining us, Football Morning in America, his column NBC Sports. You know, it's perspective and context are in short supply after a Monday night football butt whipping. But I do think this is something, Peter. said earlier, Mahomes feels like he's on an escalator. He's gradually moving up and ascending. And I wonder if Lamar is on one of those things you see at the airport, the people movers, where it's not going up, but it does get you there faster. And it is efficient. And I

love getting on him. But do you worry that Lamar has a little bit of a ceiling, Peter, that we know what he is now and we know what he's not and he's not good playing from behind? You know, Colin, I'm not exactly sure what this means, but I think it means something. Lamar Jackson has played 27 games in his NFL career, including playoffs. He has been behind at halftime of six of those games. He's lost all six. Yeah. And he's won all 21 of the other ones.

Now, so that's a kind of a funny stat. Okay. But when you think about it, honestly, I think, it's meaningful. And I think, but I'll tell you what I think about the game last night. He got zero help from his teammates. Right. Do you, I mean, you know, first of all, Mark Andrews has great hands. Three seconds left in the first half, a ball right in his chest, and he drops it. The tough catch in the end zone, he misses that one. You know, how about, how about on the first snap of the second half. First snap for the Ravens of the second half. It's a vital series. They're down 17.

You've got to get something going. Your most important series of the year so far. Screen pass to Mark Ingram. And, you know, the left tackle, Stanley just stands there and watches Anthony Hitchens, the linebacker, who was his assignment, you know, from Kansas City. blow up Mark Ingram in complete pass. And I mean, there were so many examples of that last night where the Ravens, a lot of them, not just listen, you can say a lot to criticize Lamar Jackson. I can say a lot to criticize about a lot of Baltimore Ravens last night. I think that's fair.

So a game that people didn't watch, at least in mass this weekend, was Tampa Bay at Denver because we were all watching Russell against Dak, Seattle against Dallas. So I, on my second screen, I'm watching Tampa. Tampa Bay. And we always forget, whenever there's a great coordinator and he gets a head coaching job and gets fired, we forget how great a coordinator he was. I watch that Tampa Bay defense. I think it's the best defense in the league. I think they get a pass rush without blitzing. You can't run on them. They're secondaries young, but hyper athletic. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking to myself last night watching the Chiefs. I'm thinking there's two teams in

this league that have veteran quarterbacks that have defenses that can get a pass rush on Mahomes without blitzing. New England? and Cam and Brady and the Buccaneers. And we're not watching the Buccaneers since the opening week, right? But I got to tell you, I make them number two in the league right now. What do you make of their progression? I like their defense too. I like it a lot.

I think you're forgetting the Pittsburgh Steelers who so far this year have gotten a great early season from both T.J. Watt and from Bud Dupree. and look, I'll say this. I watched a lot of that Bucks game. It's funny you say that. I had that game on my second screen in the late window, and I looked up, I didn't watch it regularly, but I watched a lot of that game. And what was so interesting about the game

is that I really thought the Bucks might put up 35 or 40. So did I. But the fact is, the fact is, over the last 35, minutes of the game or so. Their defense won the game for him. And nothing against Brady. You know, he played well. He threw the ball well downfield. And I think they're, but I, you know, it's so funny with the Achilles heels right now that the New Orleans Saints are showing, you know, the NFC South is no lock at all. And I kind of like what I've seen in the last two weeks. I even liked a bunch of what I saw in the first week, really, with Tampa. It was, you know, a hellscape for

them to go into one month after Tom Brady first huddled with his team. He's got to go play at New Orleans in the opening game of the season. So I think that's going to be a dogfight in that division. You know, it's interesting. I posed this question yesterday is I believe the difference between the great young coaches and the great old coaches is halftime, is that I think even very, very good young coaches are good on the script. But I think what separates Belichick and Pete, Carol, and Andy Reed is their ability in 15 minutes to go into a room, make adjustments and come out. And last year, Green Bay, with Matt LaFleur and his first head coaching job, were a very good first half team. I did not like them at all after half. I didn't think they adjusted. It's funny, Peter,

they're now a great second half team. That tells me the improvement may not be Aaron. It may be as coach, any insight on LeFleuars off season and kind of rebooting what he was doing at halftime, because they look like this is a Super Bowl level team to me now because they're good after half. I think that's a really interesting point. I think the big difference, though, and again, I don't deny it. I mean, look, this guy is 17 and 4 now as an NFL head coach. And two of the four were when they were completely outclassed by San Francisco.

and so to come back this year and to play as well as this team has done, there's no question you've got a lift in coaching. But the biggest thing I think that happened is Aaron Rogers did not get a mat on coming into training camp. Shouldn't he have been ticked off coming into training camp about not getting one of the really good young receivers in this draft? And I think Aaron Rogers coming in with the attitude of, hey, it is what it is, I'm going to come in here, and I'm going to try everything I can to win because at the end of the day, that's going to be great for me too.

And I think even that even not having Devante Adams fully healthy, I think what Aaron Rogers summer did, his five weeks in training camp with the lesser wide receivers who we criticize all the time, the Lazards, you know, the Valdez Scantlings, you know, the St. Browns, those guys, they have become good pieces on a very good team. You know, it's, I want to circle back to the Kansas City Chiefs and talk Patrick Mahomes. You know, when I watch him play, I was always a huge fan of Andy Reed. and Pete Carroll, Belichick got fired too, Andy got run out, is it's pretty remarkable. And I want to have some perspective here and not go crazy.

But last year, what's interesting, Mahomes was only 11th in the NFL, I think, in either passerating or completions. And he admitted as a quarterback, he goes, I didn't really learn to read a defense until the second half of the season. Is when I watched that last night, my takeaway was, oh boy, this, this, this. He is just, like, this isn't the top end of it. And I wonder, I mean, you can go back to the 40 years you've been covering this sport. Did you, was this Marino, was this Elway, or is Mahomes now more refined earlier than the all-time greats you've seen? Dan Marino was incredibly refined early. He was a different player, but Dan Marino walked into the NFL ready to go.

I mean, you know, he was so terrific early on. He made the Super Bowl in his second year. But what I think is so interesting about Mahomes, I recorded Ryan Fitzpatrick yesterday, Colin, for my podcast, which is going to drop tomorrow. And one of the, I asked him, I said, why are there 16 quarterbacks in the NFL right now over 95 quarterback rating? You realize that in the year 2000,

There were only five quarterbacks who were over 95. And we can criticize quarterback rating all we want. It's not the greatest stat in the world, I understand. But it says something. And the first thing that Ryan Fitzpatrick said is he goes, hey, these quarterbacks are coming into the league, and they are so ready to play right now. They're ready to play a lot earlier than they used to be. And so let's get to Mahomes.

Mahomes says, I wasn't really good. great at reading defenses. I get that. I think that's a little bit of a self-effacing comment, quite honestly, because I think he was really good at it in his first start in the NFL in Denver in 2017. But let me just say one thing about Mahomes. Colin, I'm going to, this is going to sound idiotic, okay, and it's going to sound way too early. I thought we were watching the Michael Jordan of football last night. I don't think it's nice. That was, that's an unbelievable performance by Patrick Mahomes. Honestly,

against one of the best defenses in the league easily, a defense that had smothered two teams. And I just was extremely impressed with Mahomes. And I think imagine how much better he's going to be with Andy Reid. He's really something. I remember sitting on a couch in Las Vegas, Michael Jordan was playing Charles Barkley in the finals, and I turned to who I was with. And I said, you know, there's 70 guys in the league that are 6-6 and look like Michael.

Why is it so easy for him? The league's all 6-6. There's a few centers and a few point guards. And I'm watching Mahomes last night. And to your point, Peter, it's the first time ever with any quarterback that down and distance doesn't matter. I don't even think about it. Third and 12 is 3rd and 4. It doesn't mean anything.

Right. It doesn't. See, even Russell Wilson, I'm like, ah, third and 11. Ah, that off, that's not, that's a tough get. I don't think you're nuts. I'm going to tell you how baseball has really helped him.

Everybody talks about, you know, all these various things in baseball. But here's how baseball helps him. Okay. If you're a shortstop, if you're a middle infielder in baseball, you have to throw from three or four different arm slots every single game.

Okay, you've got to throw sidearm, you've got to throw three quarters, you've got to throw overhand. And last night, Patrick Mahomes made two or three completions throwing at bizarre arm angles, including the underhand touchdown pass. Yeah.

How many underhand touchdown passes have there been? Yeah. And all I'm saying, all I'm saying is that he does things, and I love Russell Wilson. Patrick Mahomes does things. things that even Russell Wilson doesn't do. No, totally agree. And I love him too.

Peter King, Football Morning in America, NBC, great scene you, Peter. Thank you so much. 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was 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... 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway 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 IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.