The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Black Monday, Steelers, Patriots, Baker Mayfield, & LeBron James

Episode Date: December 31, 2018

Colin discusses Black Monday in the NFL, the disappointment of the Pittsburgh Steelers, why you shouldn't count out the New England Patriots, the performance of Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield, and why people refuse to call Los Angeles Lakers F LeBron James the GOAT. Guests include T. J. Houshmandzadeh, Peter King, and Dave Wannstedt. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

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Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

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It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to her, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The 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 Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, this is the herd. Wherever you may be, and however, you may be listening live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. We are locked in for the next three hours, absolutely packed. Eight coaches and counting have been fired in the end.

NFL since, you know, about November, December. Mike McCarthy, the first to get axed. Green Bay looking for a coach. Joy Taylor is back from the holiday vacation. I don't even think it's vacation. It's just the holidays. Nice to have you back. It's kind of a vacation. It's some time off work. How was your holiday? Well, my holiday was fantastic. And you are from Pittsburgh. And I think that you spent some time in Pittsburgh and you heard the media in Pittsburgh going nuts. So let me start with this. Ask yourself a question. If I said to you, what? team or teams would you like to see on HBO's hard knocks next year? If the answer is Pittsburgh and Oakland, yeah, those aren't good teams right now. If the teams you want to watch on hard knocks, if you put a list in your head and I would say, I'd love to watch the Raiders with Gruden, I'd love to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers, there's a reason they're both out of the playoffs. Football's hard, noisy football, noisy locker rooms make it harder. Pittsburgh's a mess.

Pittsburgh's the team you'd want to watch on hard knocks now. The coach. Antonio Brown. Big Ben. Media. Comments. Chatter. Selfies.

Listen, think about this. Does everybody understand how bad and how embarrassing this is for the Steelers? Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor, and Andy Dalton, all three starters in their division, got hurt. And Pittsburgh couldn't win the division. And those three starters, Andy Dalton, Flacco, and Tyrod Taylor were replaced by Jeff Driscoll and two rookie quarterbacks who had never won an NFL game. I mean, and Pittsburgh couldn't win the division. Been saying this for years. The media loves their athletes to talk politics and be outspoken and be noisy and be on Instagram.

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

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

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

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

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

There are times, you know, Matt, Ryan, Cam Newton, lose to Drew Brees. You're like, well, yeah, the Saints are really good. Pittsburgh, this division, this was the weakest and the easiest the division had ever been. Rookie quarterbacks, Jeff Driscoll? Leave the NFL and sacks? But here's the problem. because Pittsburgh also led the NFL in noise, in chatter, in selfies, in dumb penalties, in blowing leads, in tying Oakland.

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

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

Seattle's dynasty died the minute defensive players thought they were more important than a quarterback. football is hard, football practice is hard, distractions create bad underachieving football teams. Here's Mike Tomlin after this embarrassing season and Big Ben. We accept the outcome. Obviously, we've had 17 weeks, man, to state a case for ourselves. We stand by our work. You have to in this business. But I am appreciative of the efforts today.

It is what it is. Oh, this is just not. It's not that Pittsburgh missed the playoffs. Look at them statistically. Look at their division. This is as good a team as I've ever seen and as dysfunctional a division as I've ever seen. And they couldn't win it. This is way bad than the media is making it out to be.

Let me shift gears to this. I'm not sure if you watched. I was glued yesterday to the Steelers game, and I was glued yesterday to the Cleveland Ravens game. So I just saw bits and pieces, probably about 45 minutes total of the Patriots and the Jets, but I don't know if you noticed, but oh damn, New England looks really good again. That's the best they've looked all season. I was watching that game, and you know what I thought of? Kansas City Chiefs, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, they're sitting there thinking,

Now we're not playing well. They are playing well. And all the pressure's on Kansas City. Because Kansas City's been the darling team this year. And here's what's funny. Kansas City's the opposite of New England. Kansas City was amazing in September and has the league's flashiest quarterback. And has a great head coach who struggled in the playoffs and have dynamic individual players.

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

I want you to think about Kansas City and New England. Remember, New England beat Kansas City, so they had the tiebreaker, and New England finished this year 11 and 5, and we see it as a down year. Kansas City finished the year 12 and 4, and we see it as an amazing year. Does everybody realize that is listening to the show and watching it? The only reason that New England is not a number one seed is because Gronk isn't a very good safety. That's it. Because New England had the tiebreaker. But if Gronk in the last year of his long career could tackle people, could take a better angle,

and they'd have won the Miami game, they would be the number one seed. And Kansas City would be going to Foxborough, where New England is the, well, 8-0 again in Foxborough, and we'll have a buy. if Grunk wasn't a crappy tackler, this down year for New England, they'd be the number one seed. And if it wasn't for an amazing Patrick Mahomes play against Baltimore, they'd be the number two seed. But here we go. Here we go. This is January football. And you go do your own homework.

You look at the teams the media loves that are flashy, that are gritty. that are great in September, you do realize last six games for the Chiefs. Three and three. I'm watching that Patriot game yesterday, and I'm like two words for the AFC. Uh-oh. New England's healthy, rolling, running it, best coached,

buy at home, situational pass rush and one of the best secondaries in the NFL. Two words, AFC. Uh-oh. Coming up next. So, Dak Prescott, four touchdowns, set some sort of record, looked amazing. But Dak Prescott reminded me yesterday of what we saw all weekend in college and pro football. trust your eyes. That's next. In LA, it's The Herd.

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. Welcome back. This is The Herd, Albert Breer in 20 minutes and also at the top, at the top of next hour, 45 minutes, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. One of our better versions of the year. We talk about things we nailed this year and things we were wrong on. So great to have you back. Huge bowl games tomorrow, late afternoon, rolls bowls and stuff like that. That's tomorrow. Today there's a ton of NFL stuff. Any story that breaks, we'll have it for you. There's currently eight coaching openings.

We'll talk about that. Keep your eye on Jim Harbaugh. I want to talk about the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. Dak had four touchdowns, and Dak led them to a meaningless win over the New York Giants. He did have a good play late. He tends to be a little better late in games than early. But I'm noticing something in football. all the stat talk.

I'm not into stats. Stats is baseball. All the baseball nerds. They want to talk about WIP and DMV and W-A-R and I don't know what half the stuff means. Football's never been about stats. I don't care about Tom Brady's stats. He wins playoff games and gets to Super Bowls. I don't even need you to win all your Super Bowls, but I want you to get there.

Football's never been about nerds. It's alpha males, big men imposing their will. I beat you. Baseball is antelitical and it's a thinking man's game and there's no clock and no real urgency and there's a zillion games. Football's about winning games, bro. I want quarterbacks who win games. All I watch yesterday is all these stats coming out now. Oh, this guy did this and this guy did this. There's one with Dak Prescott. He has 30 plus wins, 25 or fewer interceptions in his first three seasons. That's an NFL record. Yippee. Fit yourself for a yellow jacket, in Canton. Nobody cares.

Russell Wilson will face DAC this weekend. Russell Wilson's way better. He doesn't have that record in his first three years. Because he didn't have what Dallas had. He didn't have a Zeke. He didn't have that sketch. He was going up against Harbaugh and the Niners and Aaron Rogers and his prime. Can we stop the stat talking football?

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

Who cares? It doesn't make Sam Darnel anything. It means the league now is a passing league. By the way, if you want to go stats, Kirk Cousins, this year finished with 30 TDs, 10-picks, 70% completions, 10th in passing yards, and 100-passer rating. You want Kirk Cousins starting your quarterback for a big football game? Football is about winning games. And I'm seeing this all the time now.

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

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

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

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

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

I don't care about DAC or Baker's numbers or Sam Darnold threw for blankety-blank yards at 21 years old. There are four quarterbacks in this league. That is it. that can carry average players, carry them to the playoffs. And they're my bore four, Brady Breeze Luckin Wilson. They don't have big personalities. They probably don't hold a bunch of records, although Brady's been around forever, I'm sure he does.

Those guys take average rosters and average receiving cores and bad offense in line and carry teams into the playoffs. And don't give me Aaron Rogers. Because Aaron Rogers is sitting home again. second year in a row. That's it. I am over all these stats suddenly. Maybe it's fantasy football. And by the way, I don't play fantasy football. I bet games. I don't play fantasy football. I like that you play fantasy football because anything that gets people emotionally involved in football, I'm for. I love that you love fantasy football. I think it's great. It's good for my business. It's good for Joey and I. People are all emotional with football. I love it. But it's creating this goofy, Look at that number and look at that record and look at that. Dax got 30 plus wins and 25 or fewer interceptions in his first three seasons. And with all those weapons he's got shut out against the Colts.

And with all those weapons, why were they playing him yesterday? And not Zeke. Trust your eyes. That's the truth. Not a baseball war slugging percentage. watch the games, trust your eyes. You can see who can play and who can't. Joy Taylor with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Just for the record, I won one of my leagues this year. You won one of your fantasy leagues? Yes. Came in third and the other one, but we're not going to talk about that. Well, that's not terrible either.

But I didn't sub out Matt Ryan, not once. Matt Ryan right to the championship. So that should tell you everything you need to know about fantasy football. Did you happen in both leagues? No, I didn't. I didn't. But he, you know, he did well for me this year. All right. So, six NFL coaches have been fired following the regular season. There are eight openings now that ended with firings across the league. The season did. Six head coaches have been let go since yesterday. The other two openings are obviously with the Browns and the Packers who both fired their coaches midseason. Todd Bowles, Adam Gase, Hugh Jackson, obviously, Vance Joseph, Dirk Cutter, Marvin Lewis, Mike McCarthy, and Steve Wilkes have all been fired this year. Can I just tell you the two, I think Mike McCarthy is going to get another job and should. And I'll tell you this, Adam Gase is interesting. You spent a lot of time in Miami.

Do you know he won 13 of his last 24 games with Ryan Tannehill? I'm just saying, I'm not saying he's Belichick. McCarthy's proven he's a good coach. He'll get a job. Adam Gase, keep your eye on. Just keep your eye on Adam Gase. You know, the thing with Adam Gase is he came in with this aura about him because he was the, he was the Jake Cutler whisperer, right?

So he was like, oh, I mean, if he could get along with Jay Cutler. He can make anything work. And I think that was an exaggeration. Obviously, his time in Miami had some waves with the quarterback situation and Jay Cutler. Yeah. Actually, almost all of these coaches are going to get another job because there's not that many qualified college coaches, in my opinion, to fill all of these places. And a lot of these college guys now make more money than NFL guys, so they don't want it. And they don't want to go through.

this. They don't want to go through three years and you're gone when you can stay in college and recruit as much as you want and yeah and have job stability and not have to move your family around. Mike McCarthy obviously is going to get another job. I think that Todd Bowles is going to get another job. Marvin Lewis is interesting because he was with the Bengals for so long and it just kind of it was I didn't even think about it really like the idea of firing Marvin Lewis. I've supported him. He's the Doc Rivers of the NFL. I think he's a good coach. I think he's a good guy. I think he develops players. I think he develops young men.

But it had kind of played itself out. And I supported him for years and years. But I do think they need a new voice and a new set of eyes. And that's fine. Marvin doesn't need to work. Marvin's got a pile of money and is really respected and will have all sorts of consulting jobs. Yeah. He could sit home and make a million a year taking phone calls from owners and GMs and answering questions.

Yeah. I'm not going to say I'm surprised by it, obviously, because they've overall not had much success there. but it just doesn't seem like there's much of a future because he's been there for so long. So the Cardinals finished their season, 3 and 13 after 27, 24 lost the Seahawks yesterday, and that means they have clinched the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft.

They don't need a quarterback. So here is the draft order as it right now. Obviously, trades will move this around, but it's the Cardinals, Niners, Jets, Raiders, bucks, giants, jags, lions, Broncos, and Bills in the first 10. And if you're looking at it, who needs a quarterback? You know what it's interesting, Joy?

It's the most defensive driven draft. They're saying of all time, 24 of the top 32 players are defensive players. There is one quarterback who, to me, is a first round pick. Dwayne Haskins. And I think I would keep your eye on him. Now, again, the Cardinals aren't going to pick a quarterback. The Niners aren't.

The Jets aren't. I don't think the Raiders are. The Bucks might. I think the Giants should draft DeWain Haskins and sit him for a year behind Eli, learn what it's like to be a pro in the NFL. I think that kid from Ohio State is better than the scouts think. Go to his last month at Ohio State.

He was fantastic. And watch him in the Rose Bowl tomorrow. Go watch him in the Rose Bowl tomorrow. And listen, if he's bad, I'm wrong. I think that kid at Ohio State is going to shine in the Rose Bowl and we're all going to be going, he could be a number one pick. Well, I mean, yeah, if somebody makes a trade,

obviously. But if you look at the top 20, there's really, I mean, maybe three teams that you would even think would consider drafting a quarterback. So it's going to be a very interesting draft. Finally, the Browns fired Hugh Jackson after their week eight loss to Pittsburgh. And Greg Williams obviously filled in as interim head coach. They went five and three since his firing. And now they're looking for a more permanent solution. And it's being reported that they reached out to Mike McCarthy for their coaching vacancy. Do you like Mike McCarthy in Cleveland? I do. I do. I love. I love. I love him. With Baker? I love him. I think he is stable. He's dealt with a little bit of an ego at quarterback. If I was the Cleveland Browns, I'd hire Mike McCarthy. I think it's the world's best thing for Baker Mayfield. It will ensure Baker Mayfield wins a bunch of games in the NFL. Listen, a lot of this stuff in the NFL is who you get as coach. I mean, don't kid yourself. If Sam Darnold doesn't get the right coach, it's not going to help his career. Go look at Andrew Luck's career. Oh, now he's got an offensive coach. Oh, Andrew Luck's tearing the league up. I think if I'm the Cleveland Browns, I hire Mike McCarthy.

If I'm the New York Jets, I hire Mike McCarthy. That's what I would do. If I was Green Bay or I'm the Jets, that's my guy. A proven, stable, smart, experienced guy. He doesn't have to be on the headset. You can bring in a hot shot little coordinator. This is a grown-up for two organizations that I don't love the ownership, Jets and Browns.

I think, for me, I feel like it's a better fit. If Mike McCarthy has the option of where he wants to go, if I'm Mike McCarthy, I'm going to New York. Yes. just because even though the Jets, we have its idea that they've been that dysfunctional, they haven't really been that dysfunctional. No, that I haven't. The Giants are in a worse spot than the Jets right now.

Cleveland is. Right. And I think that I really feel like they're going to give Greg Williams a serious consideration for that job. And I don't know that he hasn't earned it. Like he's done well. And I don't feel like it was a Dan Campbell situation where he just, I mean, did bring in some energy, but they've won. So there you go. Good stuff. Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. I'm saying again, if I'm the Jets, and I don't trust the Jets ownership, and I'm the Browns, and I don't trust the Browns ownership, what do I want? Stability. Mike McCarthy to me screams maturity, stability, no BS. That's who I'd hire.

I'm a big believer in that. Okay. So we got the playoff picture. It's all set. So I want to talk about the first weekend. First of all, these games are going to be close. Three of the four playoff games this weekend, Vegas has under a field goal. there's also going to be upsets this weekend.

There's going to be upsets. You're going to get upset, but some of these favorites, maybe all of them, could lose. So I want to talk about the AFC first. Let me talk about the AFC. Colts at Texans. Colts are a two and a half point dog. They're hotter. Right now they have the better defense.

The Colts have the better quarterback. And the Houston Texans, to me, are going in the wrong direction. They have the worst offensive line in the playoffs. They have a sketchy running game. They have not been a step-up franchise, and that matters. Houston has been, you know, like Cincinnati, they have players. They're not a step-up franchise. I think the Texans, who just got beat by the Colts,

I think it's going to be a really good football game. Houston's got better personnel today, but the better quarterback, arguably the better coach, the significantly better offensive line, right now the better running game, and right now statistically the better defense, I'm going to lean Colts, go on the road, and win close. Now, the next game is Chargers are a two and a half point dog at Baltimore.

This is a very interesting game. Two really good defenses. The Chargers are actually a better road team, 7 and 1. In fact, their only road loss was against the Rams. They were 7 and 0 out of the state of California on the road. They are a better road team. Play with more energy. They're a much better vertical passing team than Baltimore.

And here's the, to me, this is the most interesting game of the weekend. Lamar Jackson is difficult to defend. But if you see Lamar Jackson twice in less than a month, is he significantly easier to defend? That was the Tebow thing. When you face Tebow, when you face the Wildcat, when you face these contrarian running offenses, they're hard to figure out. but if you face them for a second time in less than a month, does Baltimore get much easier to defend?

My gut feeling is the Chargers go on the road and narrowly beat the Ravens. So that would be the Colts at the Chiefs and the Chargers at the New England Patriots. That's what I see happening in the AFC. Those will be really, really good games. Let's go to the NFC. Seattle is a two and a half point dog at Dallas Saturday night on Fox. Quarterback, huge advantage Russell Wilson and huge playoff experience advantage Russell Wilson. Seattle's got the most underrated wide receivers in the NFL.

Tyler Lockett is always open and Doug Baldwin catches everything. You also have a significant edge, I believe, in coaching staffs with the the Seattle Seahawks. Now, the Cowboys, when you give Dak 120 yards rushing, he's good at home. They were 7 and 1 at home, and their front 7 is unbelievable. This is the toughest game for me to call. My gut feeling is, DAC at home, a low-scoring game, better defensive front 7, Zeke busts a couple of big runs. Seattle really is, to a large degree, in a rebuilding year with their personnel, Dallas wins it very close at home.

And now we go to Philadelphia at Chicago. Bears are the biggest favorite of the weekend at five and a half. Okay, Philadelphia's got the Nick Foles factor. I mean, what the, you know, I mean, come on now. The guy completed 25 straight throws yesterday. Philadelphia's number one weakness is their second. but I don't think the Bears and Mitch Trubisky exploit that. I still love Philadelphia's personnel.

Joy was on this show two, three weeks ago when I was asked, would the Vikings or the Eagles make the playoffs? And I said, I'm going with Philadelphia. I love their personnel. I love their GM. I like their coach. Now, Chicago's also missing a couple of wide receivers who were banged up. They have a very young quarterback.

I do not think Mitch Trubisky rises to the moment. I'm going to pick an upset here. I think Nick Foles, no longer Foles gold. He's not Fools Gold. I think they're going to upset the Bears. So I think Philadelphia is going to end up

as a six-seed winning a road playoff game. Happens every year. There's a shocker. I think that's it. And they'll face the Saints and that could get ugly. And then I think the Dallas Cowboys go to Los Angeles to face the Rams. And I just want to say that will be a whole game for the Cowboys.

When the Dallas Cowboys come to Los Angeles to play, and I'm not joking here, John Goulet is my witness, that will be a 60-40 cowboy. That might even be generous for the Rams. I was thinking like 75. Yeah, I agree. It will be such a cowboy advantage until they build that new stadium a couple years out in Los Angeles. So I think that I think you're going to have a lot of dogs win these games.

I think the Chargers are going to go to Baltimore and win, and I think Philadelphia is going to go to Chicago and win. And I'll say, Philadelphia thinks I hate their teams. But I was told years ago by a guy I trust deeply in the NFL, owner, GM coach quarterback. If you're good at those, take them in the playoffs. I mean, there's a lot of teams with a lot of talent. But we're going to see Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Mitch Trubisky.

We're watching some, these are Cubs. These are babies in these playoff games. And I'm going to tell you something. These playoff games come Saturday, come Sunday, they feel different. This is not the regular season. Andy Reid wins a lot of regular season games. Marty Schottnheimer won a lot of regular season games. You get to the postseason.

Everybody gets a little tight. Rookie quarterbacks, get a little tight. Tom Brady doesn't get tight. Drew Brees, doesn't get tight. So I think Philadelphia is going to pick off. the Bears. I love working at Fox. We got all primetime games. NFL was good to us. I got Philadelphia. I got the Cowboys. I got Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll. I got the Chicago Bears. I got Drew Breeze and the Saints. I'm just incredible. Colin Wright,

Colin wrong at the top of next hour. Albert Brear, Monday morning quarterback is going to be joining us. The Packers have an opening. The Dolphins were told are going hard after Jim Harbaugh. A lot of stuff happening in the NFL on a Monday where eight teams are looking for openings. By the way, I watched every snap yesterday, the Cleveland Browns, Baker Mayfield at the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson, and all the announcers wanted to talk about was Baker Mayfield. And all the headlines this morning are about Baker Mayfield. Oh, he breaks this record for a rookie. He breaks that record. Does everybody understand that the story of the game was Lamar Jackson?

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

I don't think he's a bad kid. He's not my type of quarterback, but I think he's a good kid. He's fun for Cleveland. But he was not the story yesterday. He had a 2.5 passer rating when blitzed. A good quarterback rating for a game is 1.30. His was two. Okay?

He gets overwhelmed with pressure. Fact. He's exciting but has an ego which equals roller coaster for quarterbacks historically. Fact. See, he'll have to overcome the dysfunction of Cleveland. Fact. He's already had to deal with some as a rookie. Here's what I know about Lamar Jackson.

He doesn't get overwhelmed with pressure. He burns it. He's not going to have an ego and be a roller coaster. What you get with Lamar is what you're going to get with him every game. And I also know this. Baltimore doesn't have dysfunction. It's a well-run football franchise. The story of the game was not Baker.

The story of the game was Lamar Jackson. He's six and one. He went to the Chargers. I saw him against the Chargers. He ate him alive. I saw Baker against the Chargers at home. He got destroyed. Again, here's the quarterbacks we love.

Cam, Ben, Baker, Rogers, no playoffs. Here's the guys I'll take. Deshawn Watson, Wilson, Locke, Dak, who drives me nuts. Foles now. No big personality. Very coachable. Not big egos. Don't fall for the headline guys.

None of them made the playoffs this year. Garoppelos with an adult star, not playing. Aaron Rogers, heard again. Big Ben, underachieved, Cam, never had a back-to-back winning season. Baker, three picks yesterday. Two of them short guy picks. We've got to stop this whole thing. The guys I'm betting on are the Lux and the Wilson's and the Breeze and the Deshawns,

the guys that aren't quotable. And with that, chief content is not ready yet, Albert, not quite yet. All right, give me a heads up. And this is not a shot at Baker. But I'm watching that game yesterday, and people are just going on and on and on. And I'm like, the guy that's, by the way, Baker Mayfield is exactly what I thought he would be. Short, marginally athletic, bizarrely accurate, cocky, taunting, grabbing his stuff. And he adds an energy and a juice to a franchise.

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

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

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

It's just, it just doesn't work for me. Apparently Albert Breer's having some audio problems. I also want to jump to this. So we've got, as Joyce said, eight NFL coaching openings. Eight. And we can put them all up there. it's Arizona, Green Bay, Cleveland, Denver, Jets, Miami this morning, Cincinnati this morning, and Tampa Bay.

So, you know, listen, they didn't win enough games, and they're all getting fired. I have three what I think are kind of strong opinions on all the coaching openings. My first is Adam Gase won 13 to 24 games with a bunch of new players, Ryan Tannahill, Jay Cutler stuff, kind of impulsive dysfunctional ownership. I think Adam Gase is a guy I would look at if I was Denver. If I was Arizona, I think I'd look at Adam Gase. I think I'd look at Adam Gase. That's my first strong opinion.

My second strong opinion on the coaching openings, people perceive Green Bay to be the best opening I think it's a little overrated. The six highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL, Joy, bagel, zero, made the playoffs. You pay your quarterback, Aaron Rogers, $33 million. You're going to have to use a backup at right tackle and a backup your second corner and an average Mike linebacker. You're not going to be able to resign your stud wide receiver.

I think the Green Bay job, Aaron Rogers is 35. He got hurt again yesterday. None of the sixth highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL. None of them won a division. They're not in the playoffs. This is a salary cap league. It's not baseball where the Yankees have endless revenue streams. You pay a quarterback $29 million. You're going to have to sacrifice elsewhere. So my first takeaway is Adam Gase. If I'm Arizona, I'd take a look at him. Number two, Green Bay is not the job everybody thinks it is. And my third is this. Jim Harbaugh got to a Super Bowl. Jim Harbaugh was successful in the NFL. Don't kid yourself.

Jim Harbaugh is now a college coach at Michigan. Four of Michigan's best players sat out of the bowl game because they wanted to prepare for the NFL. Ask yourself this. this is a growing trend. Okay, it's a drip, drip, drip. Last year it was one player. The next year it was three players. Oh, it's just going to continue.

No, no, no. Now it was four players on one team. By next year, you are going to be seeing the entire first round sit. This is not going anywhere. This is a massive growing trend. And Jim Harbaugh's always been very calculated. He knows when to exit and when to enter. He's a very smart guy.

You're at Michigan. your players at the end of the year don't even want to play college football. How does Jim Harbaugh not consider that? I'm Jim Harbaugh. I got NFL teams want me. I got college teams. I am now in a sport with a growing problem. A, at Michigan, I cannot recruit with Clemson and Alabama.

In my geographical footprint, I can't get their dudes. So my last game, every year, I'm going to have to play one of those big Southern teams and get the you know what kicked out of me. And secondly, my best players, they don't even want to play unless we're playing for the national championship. So Adam Gase, strongly consider him. Green Bay, not as good a job as you think. And Jim Harbaugh, he has been a great exit guy. He knows when to leave jobs. He has always left a year earlier. He did at Stanford. San Francisco, he has always been a guy very smart. He knows when to get out of jobs and when to get in them.

And he's been at his job now. Yeah, he's a four-year guy. He goes, hey, listen, I was a six-year guy. I stay at places six years and I bolt. Now, the good news, I have a contract. But the reality is Jim Harbaugh is in the prime of his coaching. The next 10, 11, 12 years, you're not going to get a better job in the Jets. Sam Darnold, rookie contract, got your defense set, and you get control personnel-wise.

That's a really good job at Green Bay, Aaron Rogers. I don't think it's as good as the Jets. Maybe not be as good as Cleveland. Aaron Rogers, interesting. By the way, Harbaugh spent four at Stanford, four at the Niners, four at Michigan. He has a track record. I'm just saying. One other thing I want to throw out there is I was talking to a general manager in the NFL

yesterday. And listen, sometimes you can kind of see it, but generally dynasties catch us a little off guard. Like we didn't, we didn't see the Warriors dynasty coming. Did we? Did you know Steph Curry and Clay Thompson were going to be that good? A lot of times you don't, we thought the Miami Heat were going to be an eight-year dynasty. We didn't, we didn't see the Warriors.

A lot of times, we didn't know Tim Duncan was going to be that good in San Antonio. I mean, we knew Nick Saving was a good football coach. We didn't think it'd be like this. You didn't see Dabo Sweeney coming. A lot of times dynasties sneak up on you. I think we're a year away from a dynasty in the NFL. I talked to a GM this weekend. He goes, you better beat the Colts now.

Nine draft picks, $100 million in cap space. And Andrew Lux's contract now is a bargain. For the next three years, his contract is a bargain. The GM said, better beat him this year. He goes, because Chris Ballard is going to load that team up, and you're not going to beat that team for eight years. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong.

Next. Hour 2 in L.A. This is the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. We are just starting today. Peter King stopping by next hour on all the coaching openings. Uncle Dave, Dave Wanstatt,

the last coach to win a playoff game for the Dolphins, the last Chicago Bear coach that won a road playoff game. Dave Wanstatt's going to be joining us. I get more information from Dave Wanstatt off the air than any source I've ever had. The guy knows everybody. Jimmy Johnson's best friend, Cowboy Super Bowl. Joy Taylor's joining me. You know Dave Wanstatt was the first celebrity I ever met.

Dave Wanstatt is the most connected human being in the NFL. And if you met Dave, you don't understand why. Yeah, he knows my mother. Hi, Mom. There you go. All right, here we go. I love this time. It's my favorite thing all week. Sometimes I say stuff and I'm right. Sometimes I say stuff and I'm wrong. And I just want to own both, right? So we do it every Monday at this time all year. Colin was right. Colin was wrong. Here we go. Where Colin was right. The John Gruden story, we predicted it. We told you the Raiders, you cannot be out of the National Football League for a decade and not be out of sync. Kalil Mack has made the Bears a playoff team. Amari Cooper has been a home run for the Cowboys. They had the worst record in the AFC at 4 and 12 and the worst point differential in the AFC. They're hiring their next general manager reportedly is going to be Mike Mayock, a TV guy.

So John Gruden did TV, he's the coach. Mike Mayock did TV. He's going to be their GM. I may be the director of scouting in a week for the Raiders. I just don't think you can be out of this sport this long, come in and not be completely out of sync. I do think Gruden knows offense, and he may write the ship. I'm not sure he can take all these draft picks and make it work. He was not a great drafter in Tampa.

Where Colin was wrong. Yeah, my two Super Bowl teams were Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Neither made the playoffs. Atlanta just fired their coordinators. Atlanta came into the season with all sorts of injuries, never got it right. Pittsburgh, I don't have any answers. It's the most talented NFL team I've ever seen that didn't make the playoffs. And it's not just that they missed the playoffs.

They couldn't beat out two rookie quarterbacks and Jeff Driscoll. The organization, I mean, the division was there for the taking. Atlanta, some of it was just injuries. They walked into the season on crutches and they never got right. Pittsburgh, I whiffed. Where Colin was right? Called it three months ago. I said the team to keep your eye on that's going to sneak into the playoffs,

the Indianapolis Colts. I said they figured out their offensive line. Andrew Lux never had an elite. offensive line. And even though they had a losing record, I said, Andrew Luck has time to throw, and it appears with Marlon Mack, a little bit of a running game. He's never had it, and he put up huge numbers without it, and they have become the hottest team in the league. They also have nine draft picks and $100 million to spend, and I think the best young GM in the sport and Chris Ballard. But of all the rights this year, it is easy to like teams

when they're winning. We like the Colts when they had a losing record and we liked them because we said luck is transformative and has a real running game and a real low line

and they've delivered for us. Where Colin was wrong. I said a week ago, LeBron James is the only star that never gets hurt and the next day he got hurt and it was an old man injury. It wasn't like he collided with somebody

he slipped on the floor and heard something pop. That's what happens to me. That's what happens to old guy. when you get a big injury and miss a week or two, and you didn't even collide with anybody? It's a groin strain out for a week. Now, it should be noted,

this is his first, second, even minor injury, but it is interesting. To this point, not only has he been the NBA Swiss Army knife, he can do everything well, he just doesn't get hurt ever. And the way it works in pro sports, once you get hurt in your 30s, it starts to escalate.

So keep our eye on that. Where Colin was right? I've been saying this. The best of Aaron Rogers is over. And we called it coming into the season. We said, listen, man, he's going to be 35. He's increasingly brittle. He's hard to coach.

There's a lot of ego. He just got Mike McCarthy out of there. And for the record, Green Bay was two and two after McCarthy got fired. And those wins were over. Atlanta, awful. And the Jets awful. I think his best years are behind him. He beat one winning team this week, the year.

One winning team. It's not that I don't like Aaron. But the division's better. The Bears have a great coach, a terrific young general manager in Ryan Pace, and they have a better roster. And most of Chicago's best players are babies. They're on rookie contracts. And Minnesota's roster is better than Green Bay.

And I don't know who, is this really a great job? It's nothing. We're not anti-Aaron Rogers. We're real with Aaron Rogers. We said it before the year. We said it last year. He's going to be like Brett Favre. First 10 to the best 10.

After that, he'll be good, but he won't change the league. Where Colin was wrong. I thought Todd Bowles was going to work in New York. Every time I watched the Jets, the defense and the special teams were excellent. They had an attention to detail. But he got fired. And I think a lot of this is the general manager. Jamal Adams came out yesterday and said, we need more players.

Jamal Adams didn't come out yesterday and say, we need a new coach. He came out and said, we need more dogs. We don't have any guys. So I think this is a GM problem, not a coach problem. But I will say this, and this is where I was wrong, is that as much as I like Todd Bowles, he is not only quiet, he's like nonverbal. And when you're a coach in the NFL, sometimes you have to walk in a room and own it.

Todd is really uniquely quiet and reticent. I think he's a tremendous defensive coordinator, maybe a college coach, but I think at the NFL, people question if he's the alpha that can walk in the room and own it. And the Jets said he wasn't, so I was wrong on that. Where Colin was right? How'd Kurt Cousins do yesterday?

He threw for 132 yards. He's now 4 and 25 against teams with winning records. And he laid another egg in a big game. And I also called Minnesota the stepback team in the NFL. Remember that? I said, listen, every year there's a team or two in the NFL that catches lightning in a bottle. And I said, Jacksonville's going to pull back and Minnesota's going to pull back. Because I think, frankly, Case Keenham was a better fit with this offense than Kirk Cousins. It's nothing against him.

Yesterday, I watched he and his wide receivers yelling at each other on the sideline. They're getting tired of it. And it's not that he can't win big games. He can't make plays any of them in big games. After a while, the wide receivers, Stefan Diggs, Adam Thielen, those guys are great receivers. He can't get the ball to him. Where Colin was wrong. I can't figure out the Nick Foles thing.

I just can't figure it out. I mean, I know Carson Wentz is better. Every scout I have, every GM, every GM, every kid. executive, every source I have in the league. Is he though? Every single person in the league is like, oh yeah, Wents is way better. And I'm like, well, then how come Foles is 9 and 2 in his last 11?

And he completed 25 straight passes. It's amazing. He is literally either the best backup in the history of the league or he's a starter somewhere. Because as an athlete, he's average. Arm okay. Mobility, me. Leadership,

kind of quiet. I can't figure him out. 25 straight completions yesterday. What is this high school football? Maybe the offense just works better with him. Every source I have, we're all like, what the heck's happening? What do you say? Use your eyes? I think I was wrong.

Here's what I say. I was wrong. I continue to be wrong on Nick Foles. Where Colin was right? We told you, Clemson, Alabama's dominance was not good for college football. It has become, in the last five years, it is now a regional sport, and the ratings collapsed this weekend. They collapsed.

The Notre Dame game, Clemson was down 32%. A third of college football fans did not watch. Alabama's a dynasty. Nobody watched. More people watched Alabama, Georgia than Alabama, Oklahoma. Folks, four years in a row, we've had Bama, Clemson in the final or semifinal, and it's just too regional. I'm not blaming them.

Alabama's the best program. Clemson's number two. I'm not blaming them. I'm saying it's bad for business. This year, I made a decision as a host to talk less college football. Joy and Ice Fall ratings up 33%. We moved off of it. I'm not in the business of talking about regional sports.

I'm in the business of talking about national sports. College football is desperate for somebody Denver West or somebody in the north to at least ding the armor of Bamma Clemson. Where Colin was wrong. Patrick Mahomes, I picked the Chiefs to be 8 and 8, and I said, Would you quit telling me Patrick Mahomes going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread? I've never seen him play.

He's pretty good. 50 touchdowns. And beyond the stats, he's good. He's got a little Brett Favre, a little flashy for me. I like my quarterbacks to look where they throw. But he is better than I thought. He actually, with Andy Reed, is a better pro quarterback than he is a college quarterback.

He looks more under control than he did in college. You know, he's got some good pieces here. But there's no question. He's going to get the MVP. I would have voted Andrew Locke, but my Holmes is way better than I thought. And I'd heard stuff. Andy Reid was texting me last year. He kept saying, this kid's good.

His kid's crazy. It's going to be fun. I was like, oh, come on. That was wrong. Where Colin was right. John Wall out for eight months. Folks, point guards that can't shoot. You can't build around him.

You can't build around Derek Rose. You can't build around John Wall. You're not going to win champion. with Westbrook, who, by the way, yesterday was 4 for 22, 0 for 8 for 3s, and apologize, Westbrook did. We have a history in this league. Point guards that can't shoot have to use their athletic ability and drive to the basket to score. And they get beat up and worn down and they don't last.

And by year 7, year 8, year 9, they're not the same player. That's when D. Rose curtailed. That's John Wall now is not the same player. Westbrook is all over the map. It's not that they're not great players. highlight guys. You can't give 30 and 40 million dollars to an athletic point guard that can't shoot. They can be your third best player. They can win highlights and sell tickets. But look at the history of the NBA. The point guards that win title, Steph Curry, elite shooter. Kyrie

Irving, elite shooter, Wall, Westbrook, Derek Rose, learn it, live it, love it, very predictable. We're calling right, we're calling it's wrong. The last coach to win a game for the Dolphins. The last coach to win a road playoff game for the Bears, my friend, the wildly connected from Pittsburgh, the first celebrity joy ever met. Dave Wants that around the corner is the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. National champ, Miami Hurricanes, Super Bowls, multiple with Jimmy Johnson, Bears' Dolphin head coach, last Dolphin coach to win a playoff game, last Bears coach to win a road playoff game. We got questions to ask here. Coach, eight job openings in the NFL.

Dave Wonstat joining us. Best opening to you all things considered. Capspace, quarterback, personnel, best job available. I learned the hard way, you know, as far as a quarterback thing. I thought you could win in this league in any league without a quarterback defense, run the ball, special teams. You can't. That's obvious.

I would say when you look at the conference, the competition, young quarterback that I like, that I think is a winner, and draft picks, Cleveland. Cleveland Browns could be the best job available. Crazy chaotic ownership. Well, maybe. General manager, John Dorsey, Alonzo High Smith up there. I know those guys, they are solid. They've got picks.

I believe they know what they're doing. Baker's grabbing his stuff, got a big ego. Well, yes, I mean, but still, he's won games for him. And I think the guy can only get better. You know, now I'm going to give that offense coordinator some credit up there. he's done a great job with them, but I think that's the best job. And look at your competition. To me, you've got to win your division first.

That's what we used to always say. So Cincinnati's Blah. Dalton, who knows what's going on there? They could be Ben and those guys, you know, the clock is running on Ben. It's fair. And the whole situation there. And then Baltimore, can you beat, you know, their defense has got some older players on it? It does.

And also, you know, you're looking at Lamar Jackson and saying, okay, yeah, he's a great player, but I'll take Baker Mayfield. So I like Cleveland. How about that? When the last time America said that? I know. I can't believe it. I'm a Pittsburgh guy picking Cleveland.

Okay. So you believe like I do, Green Bay jobs overrated? Well, I don't know about overrated. I mean, you still got a great quarterback. I think it's a heck of a job. I really do. 33 million for Aaron. Yep.

But I think the expectations, if you're a new head coach going in there, the expectations are going to be playoff Super Bowl. Or you're getting fired. getting fired because the clock's running on Aaron. We've got to do this thing while Aaron is here. And hey, if that's your cup of tea, then go for it. But I think I'd rather have a young team I'd rather build from the ground floor up. That's why I like Cleveland.

Yeah, Cleveland's got more picks, more cap space, and their quarterbacks on a rookie contract. And up with the running back. Nick Chubbys. Oh, good, he sets a Cleveland record. Baker Mayfield breaks Peyton Manning's record for time. You've got some good young players there. Okay. Jim Harbaugh, you're a college.

college guy for us at FS1 and an NFL guy. You're the only guy that does both. And we got a trend. Joy and I talked about this. It's no longer a trend. It's a reality. Players are not playing at the end of these college football seasons. I'm Jim Harbaugh.

I look up and I think, four of my guys sat, I might as well, they want to go play in the NFL. Why don't I just go coach in the NFL? Well, no, I see, I think you've got to look at it this way. If this starts happening when you're competing for a national championship, then I think I would look at it in a little different light. But you've got to understand. and how recruiting is nowadays.

And I've talked to enough head coaches and assistant coaches, and I know what's being told to these kids. Come to my school. What do you think I told to Sean McCoy? You come with me. I'm going to make your first-run draft pick. I'm going to put you in a pro system. I'm going to develop your talents,

and I'll get you to the NFL as fast as you can get there. And so when you have that mentality and you make a commitment to a kid, and now all of a sudden he's going to be a first-run draft pick. and you're playing a meaningless game, not to you or to the university, but in his mind it's not going to improve anything. You're not going to win a conference. You're not going to win a championship.

How can you fault them? I couldn't fault them. No, I agree with you. If I was in Pitt right now, and I had LaShawn McCoy or Aaron Donald, and they says, Coach, DeRoura Rivas, they all left me early, and they said, hey, coach, I want to leave, you know,

at this bowl game, I'm just afraid of getting hurt. I'd say, you know what? Go. You're a nice guy. Right, Steelers missed the playoffs. You're from Pittsburgh. What hell happened with that? I got to say a load of Joy.

We were referencing Joy. I used to go to Joy's mother was a high school teacher at a high school where her brother was one of them off Hall of Famer, Jason, for played for me at the dog. So you recruited him? No, I didn't recruit him. No. But he went. He was one of my, obviously, best players, but he was one of my best people.

I would go back and go see Joy's mother at the high school, up there at Woodland Hills High School in Pittsburgh, and I recruited players out of that high school came for me and played a pit. So when I was up there recruiting, George Novak, the coached, Joy knows him, who coach Jason, him and I competed against, we were high school buddies. We banged heads in high school against each other. You also have, and Joy does too, you have a great history in Pittsburgh. You know the city well.

Mike Tomlin, I mean, at some point, is it, is it Mike? You're not going to trade Ben. You don't fire quarterbacks. What's going on in Pittsburgh? Well, you know, everybody has their own style, and you put up with that style, whatever it is. You know, there's the Bill Belichick style, there's the Mike Thomas style.

Everybody's got their own style dealing with a team and coaching a team. And I think everybody puts up with that as long as you're winning. And when you don't win and there's off-the-field issues, now all of a sudden the problem gets magnified and it's an issue. You know, I believe that this can, I think it happened with Mike McCarthy a little bit at Green Bay. I think you get into a little bit of a comfort zone, you know, and you have good players, and the system has worked.

You're kind of given the same message. Al Davis used to say 10 years was the maximum at any job. Al Davis believed in that. And, you know, the 10 years after that, the message starts becoming a little bit old. And nowadays, I think there's probably something to that, you know, that Mike, you know, he's banging on these guys. He's frustrated.

He's an excellent coach. Him and I are friends. We did a lot of charity work together when I was in Pittsburgh. He's got some players that right now, they're bought in, but they're not. Antonio Brown, you know what, how does he get hurt the last game of the year? Yeah. There seems to be where there's smoked as far. One minute left.

Cowboys hosting Seattle. Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson, a lot of playoff experience. Jason, Garrett, and Dak, not a lot of great playoff experience who you like. You know what? I like Seattle in this game only because the fact that I think both their defenses, you know, Kenny Norton, who's a defense coordinator for Pete, you know, was our middle linebacker for the Super Bowl teams at Dallas. They run similar styles. Neither team is a big pressure team. I think with that offensive line concerns me with the Cowboys. Yes.

I think it's banged up. It's banged up, you know, you know, they've had one, they lose Frederick for the year. they have two guys Smith obviously is banged up the guards banged up that concerns me I don't know if they're going to be able to effectively run the ball if they can't run the ball

Dax's in trouble By the way I love Russell Wilson Do you see him yesterday? Coach fourth quarter he's equal to Brady in the fourth quarter God he's good No they're good and they're doing the little things right he's not turning the ball over that's the thing that's

given Seattle the biggest chance to play offense defense and win He's got to go. He's got another show to go on. He is Uncle Dave Wonstat. We love this guy. Bears, Dolphins, Pitt, national titles. Jimmy Johnson. Good seeing you, Coach. All right. Always a pleasure. All right, Joy with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So we've talked a lot about this. We like to look at trends and see what's happening, what's coming for everyone. Well, if you plan on playing your quarterback a whole bunch of money, you may want to rethink that. The highest six-paid quarterbacks all have something in common, other than making a ton of money. every single one of them will not be in the playoffs. Yep. Aaron Rogers making $33.5 million, followed by Matt Ryan, $30 million. Kirk Cousins, $28 million, Jimmy Garoppolo, $27.5 million. Matthew Stafford, $27 million.

This is not a coincidence. There are things in life that are coincidence, like a car gets hit by a meteor. That's planned. That's not planned. That's like, oh, it was in a wrong intersection. You can argue the universe planned that. Yeah, well, I guess fate. This is a direct, you pay a quarterback this, you don't have.

What options do you have? This is their profession. And by the way, John just said this. Not a great stat for cowboy fans because Dax's going to go to them. And he's going to go, oh, when the division again, I want $29 million. By the way, here's what's funny. When Andrew Luck signed a contract two years ago, everybody said, oh, my God, it's too much. His deal now is kind of a bargain for his level of play.

Well, in, say, five years, maybe these deals won't be as dramatic as they are now because the cap continues to go up. That's right. right now, this is what's happening. And you're absolutely right. You have to pay, Dak. What grounds do you have to stand on? Or you're lucky to be playing for the Dallas Cowboys?

You'd be like, you're lucky I'm playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Wait, listen, when you win that division that's got the Giants in Washington and Philadelphia, and these are legendary franchises, and I keep winning them, Dak's going to go to the dairy and say, Jerry. And by the way, Dax also got a great argument here, Joy, is that this team, he saved them. Yeah. Because Tony Romo got hurt again. They were 3 and 13.

When Tony got hurt again, they could have been 3 and 13. The brand was in trouble. And he saved the brand. And he could say, Jerry, I'm the most underpaid player in the league the last three years. I've saved your brand. You're going to have to pay him 28. Oh, they've had him at an incredible discount. A discount.

I mean, what is he making? 800,000? I think you're right. Compared to 33 million? Let's see. His three years, he's as a starter. 13 and 2, 9 and 7, 10, and 6. Okay, so that is...

So he's lost in three years, he's lost 15 games. That's like Tom Brady. I mean, yeah, he really has a great argument. So Mark Richt shocked the entire college football world by retiring on Sunday after three seasons with Miami. And Miami has already found his replacement. The former defensive coordinator, Mani Diaz, has returned to the school, has decided to return to the school.

after taking over at Temple as a head coach on December 13th. He released this statement on Sunday night. The University of Miami is home. The U has truly been the job for me since I first got into coaching. We will restore the football program to its place among the nation's elite, and we will do it with hard work, dedicated coaches, and outstanding student athletes. I really had the feeling that this was in motion when Mark Rick came to Miami.

And the thing about it is, is their defense has been very, very good under Manny Diaz. Yeah, and by the way, Mani Diaz, his father was mayor of Miami. Oh, yeah, he has very, very strong ties to Miami. He's the right guy for the job. Yeah. I think he's the right thing. But he better bring in a strong offensive coordinator, like the best available, because their offense has been abysmal. I mean, they got crushed in the bowl game, 35 to 3 by Wisconsin.

And defense is great, and don't get me wrong, Miami has been incredible on defense, and he was the brainchild of the turnover chain. And he's brought a lot of energy. back to the school. But I feel like college football, and we talk about this all the time, it's obviously very regional. Again, the University of Miami is in the South, although a national brand. Yes.

And historic brands, I just feel like in college football today, you have to have a strong offense. And I also, like, I'm going to tell you something right now. College football was at its best when Miami was great. Oh, of course, yes. Miami has a question. Alabama's got no personality. They're a coaching story.

I mean, if you're recruiting, and look, everybody has different preferences. maybe you don't want to live in Miami. But you have an advantage when you're recruiting at the University of Miami. Who doesn't want to live in Miami at 18? I mean, I don't know. Some people like this.

Crazy people. I don't know. But they're in a good position with Manny Diaz, but he needs a strong offensive coordinator. And finally, LeBron James finally brought a championship to Cleveland.

He led the captain's the title in 2016. And in the latest episode of more than an athlete, he feels like he believed that was the moment he became the best of all time. That one right there made me the greatest player of all time.

For so many reasons. I was super, super ecstatic. The win one for Cleveland because of the 52 year drought. Like, I was ecstatic. Like, obviously, I showed that the first wave of emotion was when you everyone saw me crying. Like, that was all for 52 years. Everything, the sports had gone on in Cleveland.

And then after I stopped, I was like, that one right there made you the greatest player of all time. No, everybody was just how they were the greatest team of all time. Like, there was the greatest team to ever assume. assembled. And for us to come back, you know, the way we came back in that fashion, I was like, you did something special. That's why one of the only times in my career I felt like, oh, shit, like you did something special. I haven't really had time to really, like, sit back and think, but that, that was a moment. It's kind of like giving yourself a nickname. You really just

can't do that. You can't call yourself the greatest of all time, especially not when you're still playing. I want you to have all your I have opinions on this after the news. Okay, all right, let's do it. So you, so you don't like it. I just don't think you can call you. I get it that it was a very dramatic moment. Not everybody cares that much about Cleveland not winning a championship as you do.

Even though it was a great comeback and they were the greatest regular season team of all time. You did get Draymond suspended for calling you a name, so there are some other things in play there. I just don't think you should call yourself the greatest of all time. That's fair. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Heard Lye News. So I want to talk about that story. Statistically, there is no argument. There is no argument. LeBron is the greatest player of all time. Analytically, and that matters to the smart people in the league, there is no argument. He's a much better player than MJ.

And impact wins and losses, enters teams, leaves teams. It's not close. statistically, analytically, impact. He is the greatest player of all time. Now, guys at a bar, six for six, Michael Jordan. Don't want to put it in context. Never want to playoff series without Scotty Pippin. LeBron never had a Scotty Pippen at the beginning of his career.

Kyrie Irving's not Scottie Pippen. Sorry, he's not. All LeBron did there is point to one moment that he felt that. I've got multiple layers that I can prove that. But here's the interesting thing. When Muhammad Ali said, I am the greatest,

it was celebrated because he wasn't replacing anybody. When Tom Brady beat Atlanta, we acknowledged, oh, he's the greatest quarterback. And Joe Montana is no longer in football. So it was okay.

What's hard for Tiger Woods and LeBron James, they're not only replacing if they call themselves the greatest. Icons, Jack Nicholas and Michael, but Jack and Michael are still in their games. Jack's still at Pro Ams, designing courses. Michael owns a team still at games. We've never had a problem with an athlete saying,

I am the greatest. Ali, embraced it. Because there was nobody out there that we really loved that he was knocking off the ledge. and when Tom Brady replaced Montana as the greatest ever, I didn't spend, in fact, a single day arguing it. Nobody pushed back. It was like, oh, Tom's got another one.

Bye, Joe! Because Joe's no longer in the game. But what makes it hard for Tiger Woods, and he is the greatest golfer I've ever seen, he didn't win as many, you know, majors as Jack, but for 10, 11 years when he was healthy, there's never been anything close to Tiger. and analytically, statistically impact, there's never been anything close to LeBron.

I've been watching this league for 40 years. Half of you that loved Michael, you're wearing his shoes. You never saw him play. There is a cultural element to both Jack and Tiger and LeBron and Michael. Golfers wear Jack's stuff. Young athletes wear Michael's stuff. And we don't like replacing stuff like that that we're emotionally, viscerally connected. do. But statistically, it's not close. Michael's better. Analytically, it's not close. Michael's better.

Impact on winning and losing. Bra, it's not close. Michael's better. But go around. Look down. Kids are wearing Michael's shoes. More than LeBron's shoes. Michael's still with us. We wear them out. We wear them to the store. We wear them playing hoops. We wear them at the Y. And that's a real emotional, cultural element. That's why it is so difficult to let go of Michael and in golf so difficult to let go of Jack. Coming up next, T.J. Hushman Zada, his friend Marvin Lewis got whacked today. Hugh Jackson's already fired. There's some job openings. We have a massive, massive playoff weekend coming up. Peter King next hour. Don't go anywhere in Los Angeles. It's the herd. Coming up later today, the Red Box Bowl kicks off with Justin Herbert and the Oregon Ducks,

taking on Michigan State at 2.30 Eastern on Fox. Then flip over to FS1 as number 17, Utah, battles number 22 Northwestern in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl at 630 Eastern or Catch It All on the Fox Sports app. I'm going to take Michigan State close and Utah close. T.J. Hushman Zada played for over a decade in the NFL made the Pro Bowl. He was a seventh round guy who I covered in college. He doesn't remember at Oregon State with Ocho Cinco.

You don't even remember that. I was a big TV star. You're a big TV star now. And you're in college, eating 12. Top ramen. Top ramen pizza pipeline in Corvallis. Pizza pipeline. There you go, buddy. All right.

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

Segris game in the hit. And I'm like, you lost. I think Lamar Jackson, is the story of all the rookie quarterbacks. I watched him live and I've watched him in person. He doesn't have an interception in December. He's six and one. He's in total control.

He's bizarrely athletic. I'm watching the Browns Raven yesterday. And the announcers are going crazy for Baker. And I'm like, is anybody watching what's going on? Who wants to play Baltimore in the playoffs? What do you make a little more? Did you think he was going to be this good? I didn't know the Ravens' defense was this great.

Now, it kind of reminds me of Russell Wilson when he got drafted. Seattle. Russell Wilson's first three years in the league, Seattle had the number one defense. Very similar with Lamar Jackson. The Ravens are really good defensively. Baker Mayfield played great yesterday, but he's the reason they lost.

In these big games, you cannot throw three interceptions. And two of them were short guy picks. Little guy picks. Just hope they're not intercepted. Like the last play when they blitzed them, it was, he was just begging to be intercepted.

Yeah. It was one, Lamar Jackson is playing great. But he has so much help around him. If he does not make a mistake, they're going to be in every game. I think that's fair. You're adding context to it. And that's what I've said. Sam Darnold's got nothing to work with.

Josh Allen has nothing to work with. Josh Rosen has nothing to work with. Baker's got some pretty good players. Baltimore's got a defense that Lamar can basically go into a game knowing just eat it. Don't throw the ball. Don't turn the ball over wearing every game. Yeah. I will say this.

I'll say this about Lamar Jackson. I didn't think he was capable of starting in the first year. His poise? He's very calm. Totally. I noticed it when I went to the game. He's in total control of the game. And it also, Lamar is coachable as hell.

You know how I know this? The idea that I could come in in week 11, and it's a totally different offense. And the coaches, every week, trust him more and more. That tells you that kid goes in there without an ego, comes in there and it's like, teach me. You're watching one of the best coaching jobs, but a lot of players, you know this, TJ, they're not willing to accept coaching. Yes.

Lamar Jackson, to do this this early is really coachable. The Ravens are going to be a problem. I don't like the fact that they're playing the Chargers. They're playing them again. Again, so soon that and the Chargers didn't have Melvin Gordon. Keenan Allen got hurt early. Lamar Jackson makes a great throw to Mark Andrews. So it's like, I know.

That's the only thing. Chargers are really good and they're playing them so close again. Yep. All right. Let's move to this. Coaching Carousel. There's a bunch of job openings. Is Green Bay a little overrated?

Like who would, there's eight openings. You like what? The best team right now with opening is probably Cleveland. Best roster. The best roster. You have a rookie quarterback. They have good receivers. Their offensive line is good.

Defensively, they're good. Nick Chub can run it. They have a great running. I mean, Nick Chubb, when he got in there, you're like, man, why weren't they playing Nick Chub? this entire season. Cleveland is the most attractive opening. Yes, Green Bay is over. Number one, because it's in Green Bay, it's going to be hard to get players there. The Packers haven't been in the playoffs in the last two years. What makes it attractive that they have Aaron Rogers?

Joy said this. Top six paid quarterbacks in the NFL, none made the playoffs. It's not a coincidence, T.J. If you pay a quarterback 32 million bucks, you can't. Do we erase Jimmy G. since he got hurt? Well, we take him out. But now, and I think they'll be better. But still. My takeaway is if you pay a quarterback what you're paying Aaron. You can't keep your second best corner or your second or third best receiver or your right tackle. And all of a sudden your quarterback's getting hit more and he doesn't have that number two, you know, that kind of a Sterling Shepard like kind of second number two receiver, Marvin Jones kind of guy. It's I think when you pay a quarterback what they're paying Aaron Rogers, it's not the same. So you

and I think Cleveland's pretty good. Now, what am I to do with Kirk Cousins? Just talk. Kirk Cousins disappointed me, man. That's why Bruce Allen called him Kurt. Like it's, Before the two minute warning In the game yesterday, he was four for six for 27 yards in the first half. You're in Minnesota in a dome. 27 yards in the first half?

Really? And then him and Thielen are getting into it on a, they were arguing because Thielen took a high angle on the corner route. Kirk Cousin wasn't even to come flat. Dude, this is the last game of the season. You guys have repped this route a thousand times in practice. Why is their miscommunication?

The pressure got to Kirk Cousins. I'm done. found it like you Chicago didn't even have much to play for all they did the Minnesota's defense wasn't great yesterday they're missing Kendricks one of their better defensive players but it wasn't close they couldn't move the ball Minnesota couldn't he had 27 you give him 84 million dollars guaranteed and all you can give me is 27 yards technically in the first half so on the sideline when they're arguing with each other what they're basically arguing is Thelan's trying to make it a home run ball and Kirk wants it to be a possession ball.

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

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

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

They're going to lose their first playoff game. The Jets, I've been in a situation like the Jets. What happens? Once you get behind, it's like, you're, okay, my exit meeting is at 10 o'clock. I'm going to set my flight and I'm leaving at 1230. I mean, I've been there. And so they gave up. But, like, Gruncowski, like, if you watch film on Gruncowski from just 2013.

Not same player. Oh, my God. He moves different, night and day difference. New England. As long as they have Tom Brady, I'm not counting them out. Tom Brady is, he's just that good. He has the weakest skill players in the league and he still gets it done. All right, let's go to some wildcard games.

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

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

Yeah. That's my problem. And the Colts defensively are pretty good. Honestly, I'll pick Houston. Why? I don't know. It's just a gut feeling. They have a better offensive roster

defensively, they got JJ Watt, you have J. Davion and Clowny. You should be able to pressure Andrew Luck even though Indy's offensive line is pretty good. They're playing at home. I'll go with Houston. I don't like to pick, but I'll pick Houston. They are favored in Vegas. Seattle

at Dallas, toughest game for me to call your thoughts. If Zeeke can get about 125 to 35 yards and they're able to run the ball, Seattle's defense is good, but they give up a lot of yards. They do. Bobby Wagner is great and then it's a bunch of young dudes. Bobby is a pro bowler in the middle of that

thing, but boy, after Bobby, it's mostly kids playing their butts off for Pete Carroll. Yes, and Chris Richard kind of knows the players. He knows that offense. Seattle wants to run the ball. If Dallas can slow that run game down and man their receivers up, I like Dallas. Chargers at Baltimore. Oh, man. I got to tell you something. Lamar Jackson's hard to defend, but if I see him twice in three weeks? That game was really close. That was a great throw he made to Mark Andrews to kind of win the game technically.

Melvin Ingram didn't play. I mean Melvin Gordon didn't play. Keenan Allen got hurt early. Antonio Gates fumbles when they're going in a tight of game. Oh, man. Baltimore is like the team that I don't think anybody wants to play, but I just think it's tough to beat a really good team twice in such a short span.

By the way, Chargers have not lost this year out of the state of California. They're 7 and 0. Only road loss was at the Rams. Chargers are a better road team this year because of that weird home field situation. But playing in Baltimore, it's loud, extremely tough. I'm going with the Ravens. I'm going Chargers.

Philadelphia, Chicago. Philadelphia is Chicago. Everybody wants, like, Chicago is a dark-course Super Bowl team. Everybody loves them. The way the Eagles are playing, man, I think the Eagles are going to win the game. So do I. Oh, really? No, no, I think it's the upset of the weekend.

First of all, Nick Foles. I can't explain it. The offense hums with him. But defense, the thing, Chicago wants to run the ball. Yes. And if you, the weakness of the Eagles is their secondary, but Chicago's not a throwing team. They want to run the ball. And Chicago's also got two receivers.

Anthony Miller is hurt. And Alan Robinson got hurt yesterday. See, this is the thing. The weakest part of either team is Philly secondary. But I don't think Chicago. Can they exploit it? I don't think they do. And I'll say this.

You can say what you want about Philadelphia. They got dudes everywhere. Philadelphia has a strong roster. They got veteran guys who have been in playoff games. TJ, you know what playoffs are like. Some guys, deer in headlights. Mitch Trubisky. It's going to be, they're going to run the ball a ton.

Just minimize the mistakes. Try to minimize his opportunities to make mistakes. Easy. They're going to try to ball to the back out of the backfield. Those are easy to find reads. If it's there, we throw it. If not, we throw it out of bounds. Easy reads.

Philadelphia. Yeah, I like Philly. House money. House money. Philadelphia is a Super Bowl champ coming in with zero pressure. There is no pressure. There's a little bit of pressure on Chicago.

It's their season. Aaron Rogers is back. He's going to have a new coach. I mean, to me it feels like, hey, Chicago, you're at home. It's going to be tough sled. Now, Chicago's at home. It's going to be loud. And that defense Chicago has is great.

But I got a role with Philly on this. They're playing great at the right time of the year. It's great. seeing you. Peter King is joining us in our last hour. Happy holidays to you and your fam. The same. Thank you guys. He's got kids are starring all over America and intercollegiate sports. T.J. Hushman Zada. He was the Oregon State receiver I talked to and that was responsible. The guy on the other side of the field was crazy. You were the responsible one. We got to get out of here. Peter King, final hour. Monday, The Hurt.

Ah, here we go, hour three. This is The Hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio on FS1, Joy Taylor is joining me. We love Mondays. Three-word game in 45 minutes. We can describe every NFL game in three words. There are all sorts of firings happening, Joy. This is crazy, actually. Your Miami Dolphins got rid of Adam Gays eight openings.

I'm going to throw this out there. I am currently getting text by somebody in the NFL. What do we call this on the show? Big J journalism. This is Big J. journalism right here. I'm just winging it. Adam Gase and Hugh Jackson are the leaders in the clubhouse in Cincinnati with Mike Brown, the owner. Adam Gase, Hugh Jackson, both offensive guys.

They need a quarterback, too. So there you go. That's one of them. And I'll continue to say, I think Adam Gase won 13 to 24 games with Ryan Tannahill, dysfunctional, quarterback injuries, Jay Cutler. You know, Brady's in his division twice a year. They did pretty well against New England. Keep your eye on Adam Gase.

I think he's a really good coach. Hugh Jackson, again, I think Hugh should be a college coach. I've said this before. There's a handful of guys like John Gruden, Herm Edwards, Hugh Jackson, I think could go coach college, recruit, handsome, good-looking, big energy, hit it out of the park. But Hugh wants the coach in the NFL. So three-word game, Peter King coming up in 15 minutes. Don't go anywhere.

Peter's going to have the very latest on all the NFL coaching firings. So the Steelers yesterday, my Super Bowl pick Steelers yesterday, eliminated from the postseason after an extremely noisy season. So let me start our third hour with this. Ask yourself a question. If I said to you, what team or teams would you like to see on HBO's hard knocks next year? if the answer is Pittsburgh and Oakland yeah those aren't good teams right now

if the teams you want to watch on hard knocks if you put a list in your head and I would say I'd love to watch the Raiders with Gruden I'd love to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers there's a reason they're both out of the playoffs football's hard noisy football noisy locker rooms make it harder Pittsburgh's a mess

Pittsburgh's the team you'd want to watch on hard knocks now the coach Antonio Brown, Big Ben, media, comments, chatter, selfies.

Listen, think about this. Does everybody understand how bad and embarrassing this is for the Steelers? Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor, and Andy Dalton, all three starters in their division got hurt, and Pittsburgh couldn't win the division. And those three starters,

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

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

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

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

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

for the NFL lead in sacks. Big Ben led the NFL in passing yards. Two receivers in a receiving league now over 1,200 yards. Those are Super Bowl numbers. It'd be one thing that Chargers can't win their division against, you know,

Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes. You're like, yeah, totally get it. Or the Colts can't. win their division and you're like, well, JJ Watt, the Texans defense, Deshawn Watson, I get it. There are times, you know, Matt, Ryan, Cam Newton, lose to Drew Brees. You're like, well, yeah, the Saints are really good. Pittsburgh, this division, this was the weakest and the easiest the division had ever been. Rookie quarterbacks, Jeff Dreskell?

Leave the NFL in sacks. But here's the problem, because Pittsburgh also led the NFL in noise, in chatter, in selfies, in dumb penalties, in blowing leads, in tying Oakland. Don't fall for what the media does. The media loved Rex Ryan. They can't stand Belichick. The media loves noisy quarterbacks. The media loves quotes.

But look at who's not in the playoffs this year. Noisy Jacksonville. And big personality Baker. And Big Ben and Aaron Rogers. And you know who is in the playoffs? Quiet Andrew Luck. And quiet Russell Wilson. And quiet Deshawn Watson.

And not that talkative Dak Prescott. And the unquotable Mitch Trubisky. You can have all your personality. Not interested. Seattle's dynasty died the minute defensive players thought they were more important than a quarterback. It's not that Pittsburgh missed the playoffs. Look at them statistically.

Look at their division. this is as good a team as I've ever seen and it has dysfunctional a division as I've ever seen and they couldn't win it. This is way bad than the media is making it out to be. Let me shift gears to this. I'm not sure if you watched. I was glued yesterday to the Steelers game

and I was glued yesterday to the Cleveland Ravens game. So I just saw bits and pieces, probably about 45 minutes total of the Patriots and the Jets, but I don't know if you noticed, but oh damn, New England looks really good again. That's the best they've looked all season. I was watching that game, and you know what I thought of? Kansas City Chiefs, Andy Reed, Patrick Mahomes, they're sitting there thinking, bruh, now we're not playing well, they are playing well, and all the pressure's on Kansas City.

Because Kansas City's been the darling team this year. And here's what's funny. Kansas City is the opposite of New England. Kansas City was amazing in September and has the league's flashiest quarterback and has a great head coach who struggled in the playoffs and have dynamic individual players. New England is now really good in December. Have a quarterback who's efficient and not flashy. Have a head coach who's a legend in the playoffs and our system over individual players. The 45 minutes I watched that game yesterday. Wide receiver Philip Dorset, best I've ever seen him as a Patriot,

running game over 130 yards again, Tom Brady, four TDs, no picks, defense suffocating a real pass rush. Never forget this. I want you to think about Kansas City and New England. Remember, New England beat Kansas City, so they had the tiebreaker. And New England finished this year 11 and 5, and we see it as a down year, Kansas City finished the year 12 and 4, and we see it as an amazing year.

Does everybody realize that is listening to the show and watching it? The only reason that New England is not a number one seed is because Gronk isn't a very good safety. That's it, because New England had a tiebreaker. But if Gronk in the last year of his long career could tackle people could take a better angle and they'd have won the Miami game, they would be the number one seed. And Kansas City would be going to Foxborough. And if it wasn't for an amazing Patrick Mahomes play against Baltimore, they'd be the number two seed. But here we go. Here we go.

This is January football. And you go do your own homework. You look at the teams, the media loves that are flashy, that are great in September, you do realize last six games for the Chiefs, three and three. I'm watching that Patriot game yesterday, and I'm like two words for the AFC. Uh-oh. New England's healthy, rolling, running it, best coached,

buy at home, situational pass rush and one of the best secondaries in the NFL. Two words, AFC. Uh-oh. A lot of stuff with Peter King around the corner. We have eight job openings. I am being told Adam Gase and Hugh Jackson are the leading candidates for Cincinnati. I don't think, I have no problem with either selection.

Marvin Lewis was a longtime defensive coach. Hugh knows his offense. Got a little ego with Hugh. They call him hubris. A little ego with Hugh. I like him. A little ego. Adam Gase is pretty intense.

Can be a little bit rigid, but I think he's a pretty good coach, too. So those are the leaders in the clubhouse with Cincinnati, what I'm being told right now. Peter King is going to be joining us from NBC Sports next. The three-word NFL game on a Monday in L.A. It's the Hurt. One more HARD? The HARD streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search HARD to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

Saturday, it's a huge showdown in Dallas, says Russell Wilson and the Seahawks take on Ezeko Elliott and the Cowboys in the NFC wildcard game. It all starts at 7.30 Eastern, 430 Pacific Saturday on Fox and the Fox Sports app. How great. God, I love the playoffs. That game's going to be spectacular. There's certain games in football you kind of know what they're going to look like. Like Dallas at home against Seattle is going to be fairly low scoring

because the Cowboys coaching staff doesn't want DAC thrown it 30 times. is going to be a field position game. It's going to be a lot of good punting, good field goals. That is to me a complete coin flip game. But DAC is 7 and 1 at home when he gets good running efficiency at a Zique. They're hard to beat. And I do think Dallas's front seven defensively is the best in football. For as dysfunctional as we think the cowboys are, they're wildly functional.

They won their division again. It's a real division. They've got tremendous young talent. And most of it is like on a rookie contractor very young. with that NBCSports.com. Football Morning in America via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Peter King is joining us. All right, here we go to the playoffs.

It's so crazy, Peter. We've got young, exciting quarterbacks. The game that I am completely confused by, I know Carson Wentz is great, and I think Nick Foles is a backup, but Philadelphia is better with Nick Foles in their last 11 starts. I think Philadelphia goes to Chicago and wins.

I can't figure them out. my sources can't figure out the Nick Foles thing in Philadelphia. How do you explain a team that appears to be better with their backup? Well, I don't know that it would be better with the backup over a full season, but, you know, and I hate to be cliche, but, you know, Foles caught lightning in a bottle. And I think this was some about that Carson Wentz just simply wasn't right, Colin. He wasn't playing the same way as he did last year.

He wasn't playing with his legs as much, no matter what the stats would tell you about how much he was running. I just don't think he trusted his body as much yet. And so I don't think he was playing with the innate confidence that he has. Whereas Nick Foles, every time he goes out there, he can just let it all go. Yeah. They're really, other than Nate Sudfeld, there's really not a safety net there. So he understands that he's just going to play, let it all go, and let the chips. fall. And I think the players on this team love Nick Foles. You saw the shrine that Chris Long

set up to him. I talked to Fletcher Cox after the game yesterday. He said, thank God for Nick Foles. And so I think the players on this team are fond of them, play hard for him, and look, he's pretty good. You don't complete 25 balls in a row in an NFL game without being pretty good. So I just think it's the right time for Foles. And, you know, look, as far as the bear game, you know, my, my heart says Foles, my head says Kaleel Mack. I wrote that in football morning in America this morning. I just think right now that the Bears defense is a suffocating defense.

And again, the Minnesota offensive lines stinks. So they helped in getting Kirk Cousins killed and reviled in the state of the state of of Minnesota in that game. And so Philadelphia ought to be able to protect a little bit better, but I really think that defensive line is going to tell the tale of this game. You know, I'm watching New England yesterday, and I've been one of these where I've been like, they're not dynamic enough, blah, blah, blah. But Peter, if you think about it, that they had the tiebreaker because they beat Kansas City.

If Gronk was a better safety, they'd be the number one seat in the AFC again. And I watched them yesterday, and Dorset looked good. they're healthy. The running backs are rolling. Brady had time. They had situational pass rushing. It feels different for New England this year, but they're Peter, their eight and no at home. They have the best coach in the sport. Am I hyperbolic here? Or is it the same old New England's going to end up in the Super Bowl Patriots? Might be, Colin. You know, they're going to have to go to Kansas City if they win this week. I would assume they're going to have to go to Kansas City and hold Patrick Mahomes down. Tom Brady's not going to have a lot to do with that.

But I will just say this. The one thing you said about if Gronk can make a tackle, yeah, I mean, or Bill Belichick's biggest coaching blunder of the year, having Gronk in there and not having his best defensive back and his best tackler, Devin McCordy, in the game at all. So, you know, there's one time this year that Belichick really helped cost his team a game. Yeah. But I would only say,

say this. The one thing about Josh McDaniels offense, and the reason that I think if you study Josh McDaniels, if you're Cleveland or Green Bay or any of these teams, the one thing you're going to see is he makes chicken salad out of chicken feathers an awful lot of times. And

whether Brady hits him or not, on almost every throw that he makes, if you look at the wide angle view or the end zone tape, there will be a receiver open for the Patriots. There almost always is. Josh McDaniels' figures away to make sure that he's going to have somebody open on almost every pass play.

And that is one of the big reasons why the Patriots, even though they didn't have Brandon Cooks, even though they've had like a 70% grunk, why they've been able to play well enough to again be one of the highest scoring teams in the game. All right, we got eight openings. Even Marvin Lewis got whacked today and Marvin's been around forever. They want a new voice. I get it. He was 0.17 in the playoffs. I think Green Bay is the most fascinating situation. I think the Jets in Cleveland, talented rookie quarterbacks on rookie contracts are better jobs than Green Bay right now. Many would disagree with me.

But Green Bay is the most fascinating because of Aaron Rogers. I think Adam Gase would work. He won 13 to 24 with Tanna Hill. I think McCarthy with the Jets works. If I said to you, just let's just guess Jets, guess Packers. is there a couple you feel strongly about not all the openings but a couple i think it's too early to to forecast who's going to go where for a very simple reason if josh mcdaniels hasn't sat down with mart murphy or brian gudicunds in green bay if josh mcdainiels hasn't talked to aaron

rogers or or you know pick if if mike mccarthy hasn't sat down with mike mcagnan with the jets or Christopher Johnson with the Jets. You have no idea whether it would be a fit, a match, whether the chemistry would be right. Having said that, look, I mean, I think Adam Gase is an interesting, a very interesting candidate. But the fact is, Colin,

the last 21 games that Ryan Tannahill started for the Miami Dolphins, with Adam Gase as his coach, he never threw for 300 yards in a game. Adam Gase could not get Jay Cutler ratcheted back up to play well when he had to in 2017 in Miami. So I think the bloom is off the rose a little bit with Adam Gase. I'm not saying he won't get one of these jobs.

I think there's a good chance he will. But I'm not sure that anybody said, oh man, we got a quarterback guru here, bringing Adam Gase. He didn't show that in Miami. I would say this about the jobs as they sit right now. Cleveland's the best job because it's Baker-May 4th. field and it's the best young talent of any availability out there. Yes.

Now, the Jets is an interesting job because of Sam Darnold, but it's been a dysfunctional team and organization for quite a while. Green Bay, do you go somewhere because you're going to have Aaron Rogers and really a poor supporting cast for the next four or five years? You know, maybe you do. I think anybody would love to work with Aaron Rogers. But the fact is the supporting cast in Green Bay. Yeah.

Think about this, Colin. Aaron Rogers playing 16 games, starting 16 games and winning six. Who's he playing with? Ashkosh High School? I mean, how is that possible? How's that possible that Aaron Rogers win six out of 16 games? It's a stunner. So the Packers have a long rebuild ahead of them.

Peter King, NBC Sports, Football Morning in America. Finally, I think, Pittsburgh's the most talented team I remember not making the playoffs, led the NFL in sacks, sixth in defense, fourth in offense, two 1,200 yard wide receivers. Big Ben led the NFL in passing. Kind of a dysfunction. I mean, he had to go up against Jeff Driscoll and two rookie quarterbacks. They couldn't win the division.

But when Seattle got a little noisy, John Schneider and Pete Carroll moved some noisy guys out of town. You're not firing Tomlin. You're not moving Big Ben or Aaron Antonio Brown out of town. I don't think Pittsburgh solvable. I think, Peter, this is their culture. They're dramatic and they talk a lot. What do you do in Pittsburgh? What I do in Pittsburgh is stay the course.

I remember going into Pittsburgh after a six-win season when Dan Rooney gave a contract extension of Bill Coward. And I said, what are you doing? He goes, we'll be fine. And the next year they go 15 and 1. I'm not saying they go 15 and 1. But I don't see, like in Jacksonville, I see some cancerous cells that need to be served.

surgically removed. Right. I don't necessarily see that in Pittsburgh. I see a team that has some distractions that maybe has some players who say some dumb things sometimes or do some things that aren't that smart. If I were them, I would continue to build the secondary. And believe me, this is a team right now that needs a good, hard-hitting safety and needs one more cover corner.

Yeah. I think their front seven's okay. their offensive line is okay. I would not do major surgery on the Steelers. Yeah, I mean, the history of them is they don't. To your point, they bounce back NBCSports.com. Peter King into Monday. Can't wait for the weekend.

Peter, thank you so much. All right, Colin. All right, about 15 minutes away, NFL three-word game. Here is Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So amongst the firings this morning was Steve Wilkes of the Cardinals.

They went three and 13 in his first season with the team and they are searching for his replacements. Dang, that's fast. And yes, and at the top of their list is former Packers coach Mike McCarthy. I would hire him in a second. It was being reported that they offered McCarthy full control over personnel, which would mean they would likely be moving on from their GM, Steve Kime, as well. So that's interesting. Well, I'm told Kime will go with the Raiders.

not Mike Mayock. What I'm told is if Kime gets blown out, this is, you know, minutiae stuff, I guess. But he would go to Oakland with John Gruden, but maybe that's too late because of Mayock. You know what? I'll say this. How about we say, instead of we always say in our business, what are the best jobs? How about who are the best candidates? In my opinion, Mike McCarthy is the best candidate available along with Jim Harbaugh for all these jobs.

And so I think McCarthy, McCarthy's a grown-up. I think Arizona needs a grown-up. right now and a stabilizing force, and I think McCarthy's in. Well, let's talk about those coaches that were fired. So six head coaches have been let go since yesterday. The two other openings are obviously McCarthy and Hugh Jackson, who were fired during the season. Todd Bowles, Adam Gase, Lance Joseph, Dirk Cutter, Marvin Lewis,

and as we just mentioned, Steve Wilkes, Melbourne fired today, and Hugh Jackson and Mike McCarthy are in that conversation as well. To me, I mean, obviously everyone wants to hire a head coach that is going to be there for a long-term situation. But if you're the Jets or if you're the Cardinals who have brand-new quarterbacks, you need to find someone who can not only have, has a track record of being able to develop a quarterback

but can put together a stable situation around them. Like not everybody in these situations. Like if you're, for example, the Packers, you don't need someone who can develop a quarterback. You need somebody who can turn an organization around like that and win. I can make the argument Aaron Rogers need a defensive coach more than an offensive coach. Aaron can figure the offense out. Right.

What he can't do is win a shootout every week. And also don't undervalue the coordinators in these situations either. So Steve Sarkeesium was fired by the Falcons as well. Now he may end up in college. Who knows? He may be the Miami Hurricanes next offensive coordinator. Who knows? But I mean, the coordinator positions are very important too.

We always only talk about the head coaching situations. But, you know, they're not even calling. plays some of the time. So that's important as well. And finally, we've talked about this a lot today. The six highest quarterbacks all have something in common besides making a lot of money. They are not playing in a single playoff game. But if you go all the way down to the top 10 highest paid quarterbacks, only two of them are playing in a playoff game. And by the way, Andrew Luck. Blacko lost his position, I mean, to injury, but he is he is not playing. So it's only Drew Breeze and Andrew Luck. Yeah. And you know what?

Both of them, it should be noted, on the open market, would get $35 million a year. Right. So they're both playing a discount. I mean, Andrew Luck, it's funny, when Andrew Luck signed that contract with Indianapolis, remember his GM at the time, Ryan Grigson had made a comment that it's kind of, in the moment it was really expensive. But he has three years left on that deal. Andrew Luck now is one of the best contracts in football. At $25 million for his.

Yeah. Anytime you sign the biggest quarterback or biggest contract in the league, it's going to seem enormous. But the tap is going to go up. and over time those numbers are going to change. But this is a trend, though, and I don't really know how you solve this, because this is what these guys do for a profession. We were talking about Zach earlier. How do you tell Zach he's not worth all that money?

Well, I think it's for Andrew Luck, whose dad was an NFL quarterback or an Eli Manning that grow up around, not wealth, but they grow up around comfortable. I think it's easier to say that Eli Manning could you take a little less? You know, you grow up with Peyton and you're out. Whereas if I'm Dak Prescott, I'm a fourth round pick and I haven't planned for nothing. I'm not taking a discount. And look, Eli Manning and Andrew Luck don't deserve to have to take discounts either. I don't like the idea of a professional having to take a discount.

I'm not taking a discount. Yeah, no kidding. Me neither. No. No discounts here. No discount. No discount double check on this show. Goulet.

Opposite. We need you to take a discount. I just don't like the idea of it. So I don't really know how you solve this. It is a trend, though. So maybe it is that you want to try and win when your quarterback is on this rookie quarterback. We have visitors today, and we just have them produce the show. We need to make some cuts.

I don't know what you do. Because Joy and I are not taking cuts. No discounts, no cuts. Wow, crazy stuff. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News.

I'm just getting stuff. Let me talk about the Cowboys real quick. I like Dak Prescott. I like his intangibles more than his talent. I've said this. People think when Dak came in the league, I said, I watched him playing college. Yeah, I'm really, yeah, right.

And then he had a great year. And I'm like, all right, I was wrong on that one. And now he's gone back to kind of what I saw in college, which is, you know, I like the, he's a, he's the really talented version of Tebow, where I like the intangibles, the leadership, the toughness, the mobility. He's kind of rises to the moment more than I like the actual talent. Now, DEC is obviously way better than Tebow, and I felt that coming out of college. You know, one of the things.

things I do like about DAC, though. I don't want to just bang on DAC. I think there's only four quarterbacks in the NFL who can carry average players to playoff wins. I call them my bore four. They're boring guys. Brady, Breeze, Luck, and Wilson. Not big personalities, not flashy, not cool, not hip. Russell's kind of hip. Neckbeard's kind of becoming a trend. But the point is, the one thing I will say about DAC is that if I said to you, quarterbacks and drama, you'd say Cam, you'd say Rogers, you'd say Ben, you'd say Baker. I got to tell you, none of those guys are in the playoffs.

You want to know who's in the playoffs? Luck Wilson, Breeze Brady, Deshawn Watson, Dachan Watson, Dak Prescott. I do not believe this is a coincidence. I'm not anti-Baker Mayfield. I'm anti-grabbing your junk and taunting coaches. Look at the current NFL. All the quarterbacks with personality.

Big Ben underachieving. Aaron didn't make the playoffs. Cam can't win back-to-back seasons. Baker Mayfield, congrats, three picks, two bad throws late. The media loves hard knocks. The media loves quarterbacks who are quotable. They love Rex Ryan. They love guarantees.

Football's hard. It's harder with distractions. The one thing I'll say about Dak Prescott is that Dak Prescott Dallas Cowboys had a major anthem controversy. Remember that joy? He stood right next to the owner, put his hand in his heart, and said,

I stand for the anthem. You didn't have to agree with that, but that got a lot of pushback. That was an adult grown-up. I'm not going to go on Twitter and listen to nonsense. The thing Dak has going for him, and this is something I think is real, it is tangible.

You can see it. Is that being a grown-up, leadership stuff, being quiet, it's getting to the playoffs and winning. Cam didn't make it again. Ben underachieved. Rogers is out. Baker.

Go ahead. They'll get all the headlines. They're more interesting. I'm not doubting that. The one thing I like about that, Dallas Cowboy quarterback is the most scrutinized position in American sports.

It's like being the goal score for Manu. It's like being the best soccer player in Barcelona, Real Madrid. Dallas Cowboy quarterback, Yankee shortstop, Laker leading score is a lot of heat. DAC is tremendous. That's saying the right thing, doing the right thing,

and putting a wet blanket on fires. He's not going to be a headline guy. He's not that fascinating. But the bore four are the four guys I think in this league that can carry average players to the playoffs. And you can no longer say that about highly dramatic, very quotable, always in the news, Big Ben and Aaron Rogers. By the way, the only quotable quarterback in the playoffs, and it's marginal is Patrick Mahomes and his catch-up deal. And by the way, that's not. He doesn't really, not even.

It's just more how he plays. He's great at the podium. I totally agree. It's one of the things I like about him. I don't get a lot of this drama stuff. I mean, Deshaun Watson never talks. Perfect. That's what I love.

Andrew Luck, never talks. Rosa Wilson. Breeze, Brady. I mean, Breeze puts a hat on sunglasses, walks around America and a wall. Nobody cares. And not a big controversy guy. All right, coming up, three-word game. In L.A., it's the herd.

Right, welcome back in Los Angeles. Peter King, T.J. Hushmanzada, the coach. Dave Wonstat stopped by today. Albert Breer scheduled for tomorrow. It is a Monday. Tomorrow, some big bowl games in the afternoon after our show. Today is kind of a, you know, it's one of those Mondays in the NFL. We've got eight openings. I'll still say it about Jim Harbaugh.

Four Michigan players decided, I'm not going to play in the bowl game. That is not a drip, drip, drip. The faucets now open. That is a trend in college football. I think that has to frustrate Jim Harbaugh. that the only way his best players want to plan a bowl game is if they're playing for the national championship. Good luck with Alabama and Clemson and college football rolling. Dabo Sabin going nowhere.

So that's a development. I think Harbaugh has to listen to some of these jobs. Cleveland, Jets, Green Bay, all very interesting. All right, here we go. Best for last. We call it the three-word game we can describe every NFL game over the last week in three words. Here we go. Jets Patriots.

AFC's worst nightmare. Patriots have appeared in the last seven AFC championship games. They get a buy. Ninth straight year with a buy. They're rested. They're in Foxborough and they appear to be healthy. Now, I don't think there is dynamic offensively.

Edelman's past his prime. This is Gronks last year. He doesn't run the same. But their offensive line, they rebuilt it. It's fixed. Belichick is a great coach. Brady doesn't lose at home. And there is a change.

with an upset or two, they could get a warm weather charger team or a warm weather Houston team or a kind of a rebuilding Indianapolis team at home. Watch out AFC. Dolphins, Bills did not watch. Yeah, bills crushed him. I had better things to do. That was awful. Bears and Vikings, classic Kirk Cousins. Come on, season low, 132 yards. He's now what, like five and five, and 24 against winning quarterbacks. Again, you can't even overpay the great quarterbacks. If you're paying Kirk Cousins $30 million a year, it's over.

It's over. You're going to be limited. They have two dynamic wide receivers. They have an excellent tied in and Kyle Rudolph. Delvin Cook, they have a very good young running back. Now, their offensive line is not great. But I got news for you. Deshawn Watson's got a worse offensive line, and he's in the playoffs, this roster way too good to be watching the postseason on television.

Eagles Redskins, Foles me twice. I don't even understand it. Nick Foles is 9 and 2 in his last 11 starts for the Eagles. And to be honest with you, I think one of those losses was sort of a mailing game last year in week 17, where they wrested a bunch of their starters. He tied the NFL record for 25 consecutive completions. He appears to be incredibly coachable. Watch out for Philadelphia.

Watch out. This roster is outside of the secondary. It's really, really good. And it's experienced Chicago. Get your seatbelts on. I think Philadelphia can upset Chicago this Saturday. Raiders Chiefs, regular season champs. Kansas City's the AFC's number one seed, 12 and 4,

the media darlings of the NFL. Listen, it's a great NFL franchise. Andy Reid, and I love him, is a great coach. Patrick Mahomes is flashy and Brett Fav-like and fun. But Kansas City has not won a playoff game since 1994 in Joe Montana. Watch out. Pressure. There's a little Red Sox feel to this team, like before they actually broke through,

had the players for years, couldn't quite make the play. Chargers, Broncos. Mile high, low. Since 72, Vance Joseph has the Broncos' worst winning percentage. I will say this. I grew up loving John Elway, but it looks like he missed on a coach, and he missed on a quarterback. And some of this is on Elway, who, for years and years, Denver kind of lived in the ghost of John Elway. Now he's chasing himself.

He's trying to find the next John Elway. And they've got an aging roster. Now they do have two. unbelievable pass rushers in Bradley Chubbin, Vaughn Miller. That's the core of your team, and that's a good core. But some of this is on John Elway. We can blame everybody else, and I love John, but in this league, if you get the quarterback and the coach right, you win.

If you whiff on the coach and the quarterback, you don't, and that's where Denver's at. Cardinal Seahawks, dangerous five seed. Seattle's won six to seven. They got a superstar quarterback, superstar defensive player in Bobby Wagner. It's a Pete Carroll's always been really good with young rosters. Now, some veterans get tired of Pete's kumbaya style, and he's kind of a lot of the speeches and a lot of the same stuff.

But if you look at Pete's history, young teams, young coachable guys, Pete lines him up. They got a star on both sides of the ball. And the best fourth quarter quarterback in the NFL, you're looking at him, folks. That's him. Not Tom Bray. That is the best. fourth quarter playmaking quarterback in the NFL, and he'll be facing a Dallas defense, a real challenge.

Brown's Ravens. Lamar's the story. Come on, he's six and one. We're talking about Donald and Baker and Josh out. Lamar Jackson's six and one. Hasn't thrown an interception in December. I saw him live and I watched him yesterday. He is in complete control.

It's a, it's heavily, it looks like a 1988 college offense, but I got to be. being honest with you. They run it really well. And they run downhill. They can kick field goals. They play great defense. They're great at home. I mean, would you be shocked if I said Lamar Jackson meets, you know, whoever, Tom Brady in the AFC championship? I wouldn't. Now, again, like the Chicago Bears, I think they're sealing offensively. They're not built to play from behind. But yesterday it was all Baker Mayfield talk. Lamar's the story. 49ers Rams. Rams rested and ready. Todd Gurley didn't last two weeks. First round by. Last two weeks, 40 points. This is the way they kind of struggled in early December, and they said, you know what? We're going to rest some veterans. They got a

scheduling break with Arizona and the Niners. Now they get a reboot it. Looks like Todd Gurley won't have taken a meaningful snap in a month, and they'll be at home. I don't know. You sold all your Rams stock, though. I know. I still don't love their defense. But there is one way to cure a beat-up fatigue team. Get some rest. Rest. And Todd Gurley is going to be fresh and they'll be at home. Rams rested and ready.

Lions Packers. Rogers hurt again. Listen, he's 35. I'm not blaming him. He got a concussion. Green Bay, do yourself a favor. Draft offensive linemen and then resign them. They've let a lot of good offensive linemen go through the years.

Aaron's not a big guy. guy. Aaron's 6-2. He's 215. He's not a big guy. He's not one of these big Ben. You can pound on him. He's 35. I mean, look of this thing. Joy, last two, three years. We've got multiple injuries. You've got to

protect this, dude. You've got to get a coach in there that does what the Colts did Andrew luck. Beef up the O line. Say, Aaron, three steps. Get it out. Falcons Bucks. Walk the plank. Dirk cutters fired. Nobody knows

the future of James Winston. I like some of their players, but I heard a story this weekend. And I know the Glazer family. I liked them. Brian Glazer, I covered them. I like them. But man, after a while, if you

can't get it right and you keep running through GMs and coaches and quarterbacks, they're starting to feel like the Cleveland Browns with better weather. Seriously. They just feel dysfunctional to me. Cowboys Giants. hooray for Dak.

Four touchdowns in a meaningless game. I wouldn't have played him. I got to be honest with you. I think they took some unnecessary risks. But I think Dallas feels like, you know what? He's young. We want to get him some reps. They sat Zeke and sit back, and he played very well late.

Panther Saints. Back up against backup. Kyle Allen faced Teddy Bridgewater. I don't know what I'm supposed to take from that game at all. The Guards, Texans, weakest playoff team. Listen, Texans have the NFL's worst pass defense in December. They allowed over 300 yards a game, and I don't like their offensive line. You know, teams are funny.

New England's now playing better late. Kansas City was great early. About a month ago, I really liked Houston, and today, I don't really like Houston. I don't think you can go into the playoffs with the worst offensive line easily and come out of it. I just don't like where Houston's at right now. Colts Titans, good luck AFC. They've won 9 to 10. Andrew Luck's contract now for the next three years is good.

They've got nine draft picks. Joy, they've got over $100 million of cap space. You've got the dysfunctional Jaguars in the division. You've got the Titans. They don't know what they're doing with Marcus Mariotta going forward. I'll say it again. The Colts starting next year. I also think they have the best young GM in the sport, Chris Ballard.

If they do half as well on the draft as they've done the last two years, you're looking at the beginning of an eight to 10-year dynasty with the Colts. Bingle Steelers. That's the Pits. How can you tie for first in sacks, second and pass offense, six in total defense, and not make the playoffs? I don't even know how that's possible. I mean, if you just...

Pittsburgh found a way. how do you have that many pro? They have pro bowlers on the O line, quarterback, receiving court. They draft incredibly well. They went, forget Labian Bell, James Connor. They went to a third running back this year, and he could play. And they won yesterday. And for the record, it was so typical.

Last night, they needed a tie by the Colts and Titans to make the playoffs. And I'm just trying to think of teams that have been this talented and not made the playoffs. And it is a really short list. I don't think, you know, Peter King was on earlier. Peter King said, hey, only thing you can do, stay the course. You got the coach, you got the quarterback. I do think their secondary needs help. But I can't, top of my head, I can't remember a team with this many elite players

with that dysfunctional a division this year, two rookies and Jeff Driscoll, and you couldn't make the playoffs. Weird. Greg Jennings and Albert Breer will be joining. us tomorrow. I want to thank Peter King, T.J. Hushmanzada, and Dave Wonstat, who had all sorts of great stuff. Happy New Year. To everybody, be safe. Please get your New Year's resolutions in. I got mine. I'm not telling you, but I got mine. And we'll see you tomorrow. It's the hurt. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling

you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of. kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood.

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