The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Colin's AFC/NFC Champ. Reaction and RGIII on Mahomes Meltdown, Burrow Rise, Jimmy G's Fail, Stafford/OBJ Impact

Episode Date: January 31, 2022

Colin reacts to Patrick Mahomes' meltdown in the Chiefs loss to Joe Burrow and the Bengals (3:00), and then the Rams win over the 49ers, what it says about Matthew Stafford and Odell Beckham Jr., and why it spells the end of Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco (8:00). Then former NFL QB and ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III joins Colin to discuss Sean McVay's impact with the Rams (15:00), if the 49ers should move off of Jimmy G (24:00), what went wrong with Mahomes (28:00), why Joe Burrow's youth is actually an advantage (30:00), what they expect from the Bengals-Rams Super Bowl (34:00), and how Aaron Rodgers is turning into Brett Favre (36:00), and what he saw from Matt LaFleur when he worked with him in Washington (41:00).Make sure to Subscribe and follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

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And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Using your Aspiration Zero credit card helps fight climate change. It's true. See, Aspiration Zero plants a tree each time you make a purchase, and tree planting is one of the most effective ways to combat global warming. Track your progress in the app and earn 1% cash back each month you reach Carbon Zero. One card, zero, zero carbon footprint. Learn more at Aspiration.com. The Aspiration Zero MasterC is issued by Beneficial State Bank,

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The knock on Mahomes when he came out of college, and we've seen this for two extended periods for Patrick Mahomes in the NFL, where he's going to be six to seven game slumps where mechanically he's off. He just sort of loses his mojo. This was a prime example of him losing it in a game. He went from brilliant 18 for 21 in the first half to off in the second half to incredibly tight. in overtime. He really regressed. And for all the greatness of Patrick Mahomes, he was out-duled by Burrough. He got tight. Burrow got right. And there's your ballgame. And that's really something we've

talked about over and over with Mahomes. One of the reasons he didn't go number one, two, three, or four. And the chiefs moved up to get him was his mechanical issues, his footwork. He can be very much an ad libber and you got to get him right. You got to coach him up. And we've seen multiple times in his career this year. He had about a seven-game stretch where they were really struggling at home to beat teams like the New York Giants. But I thought in the second half he had open throws. He gets reluctant. It gets in his head.

And then in overtime, he almost threw a pick six. So, you know, when Patrick Mahomes came out and one is for Super Bowl, I cautioned everybody. I said, you know, you understand eventually you're going to have to pay him. You're going to lose coordinators. It looks like the AFC has these emerging young star quarterbacks. And now you see it. Burrow out-duled him, Joe Kuh, who I think what is the stat? He is 8-0 in the eight biggest games of his career, Joe Burrow.

I did think there was something interesting. I'm not sure how many of you noticed it. When Mixon had that big run that set up the field goal and he fell to the ground, he was never touched and he got up and put the ball on the ground. That's supposed to be a fumble. He was never touched. Is that me? Or did nobody else see that?

Be that as it may, refs didn't catch it, and the Bengals win. I thought once again, Mahomes, Kansas City, when they are rolling, they have the best knockout punch, the best home run hitters in the NFL

along with the Buffalo Bills. But both Buffalo and Kansas City this year showed a propensity to get off their game and have these jagged little spikes throughout the course of the season. And we saw early in the year Mahomes struggled, their running game disappeared. And after that first half, I thought Cincinnati was baked. But if this is not an advertisement, forget the quarterback right, I don't know what it is. What was Zach Taylor's record, 625 and 1 before Burrow?

It's the worst offensive line in the playoffs. It's probably, was probably the worst overall roster, in my opinion. in last week's divisional round, just get the quarterback right. That's why Josh McDaniels leaves New England and takes the Raiders job. I mean, he's got Derek Carr. Derek Carr, some weapons, decent protection.

You can win a lot of games in this league. And as Brian Daibald took the New York Giants job this week, my thought was, well, if the Mara family makes him retain Daniel Jones, you know, in two or three years, Brian Daibble's in trouble. So Burrell's just a special player. He didn't have the biggest arm. He's not the most athletic scrambler of the football, but he plays with a ton of confidence.

Listen, we better stop doubting the Bengals. I thought Kansas City was a better team. I thought Buffalo was a better team. I think the Rams have a better roster. I think San Francisco's got a better overall roster. But the rules are all in place. Now, I do worry about the Bengals losing their tight end for the Super Bowl. They're starting tight end.

That is a concern. But I think this one's on Mahomes. I think he was clearly and visibly off, reluctant, and tight in the second half and overtime. And so this is part of his legacy now, too. You know, every quarterback over the course of time, Brady had bad Sundays, Brady had bad playoff games. This was a really rough look for Mahomes. Can't put it on Andy Reid. It was a really rough, rough look for Patrick Mahomes to be in the second half and an overtime.

I mean, you could just tell. You've watched enough football. I've watched enough football. In that red zone situation, he just would not pull the trigger. Three different plays. I mean, he just ran around. He was totally reluctant to spin it and let it go. All right, my thoughts on the Rams 49ers, first time in seven meetings, the Rams beat the 49ers.

And I felt the same way, I've seen every one of those Rams Niners games, the last seven, of which the Rams finally won, I always think the Rams are the better team in almost every matchup. They have the better playmakers, they have more depth of talent. But it's that 49ers defensive front that blows up a lot of Sean McVeigh's running game, jet sweeps, and his passing offense. You know, my takeaway on this game is I think the Rams are the better team. I picked them to win by a field goal, and that's what they won by.

But San Francisco, there is a reason that the 49ers hold Sean McVe more than a touchdown under his NFL average as a head coach. And it starts with that defensive front. I think in the end, the weakness of the 49ers, and they will address this in the draft and free agency, is corner. And it's now the strength of the Rams, you could argue,

is their defensive front and their wide receiver talent. That's even without Robert Woods. Their tight-end talent, they've got depth. OBJ has been a great addition. Cooper Cup is virtually unguardable. Van Jefferson. They're only going to get better next year as Woods comes back and a rookie from the SEC they drafted. I don't know if OBJ will be back next year just because too expensive and they have depth of talent at wide receiver.

But I feel the right team got in. I mean, could you imagine if the Niners beat the Rams, we had a Niners Bengals Super Bowl? Can you imagine in November if you try to argue that over a beer with buddies? Yeah, the Bengals and Niners are going to make it. The Niners now, I think, move off Jimmy Garoppolo, give the reins to Tray Lance, give him every snap. until the beginning of next year. Garoplo will fetch something on the market, probably a second round pick.

His injury history is going to scare a lot of people off. But if you're the Steelers or, you know, a Washington, you can certainly do worse. This Rams team is very clever. Matt Stafford answered all the critics. He made a huge throw to Cooper Cup to set up that field goal. When I look at the Bengals and the Rams, I think you're going to get a little bit of a shootout. The Rams defensive front is going to have its way with the Bingles offensive line. That's going to be broken down a lot over the next two weeks.

I think the Bingles Offensive line is going to have their hands tied with Aaron Donald and Vaughn Miller and that group. So, you know, Sean McVeigh and Kyle Shanahan, to me, are the best young coaches in the NFL. And McVeigh is going to get some heat for burning those timeouts. But I think what Sean McVe was doing is, listen, if the refs missed a fumble, I'm going to roll the dice on this because we could get the ball at midfield. What I don't want to have to do is beat the Niners and drive 75 or 85 yards down the field. So McVeigh, trust Stafford, trust his receivers, trust his skill people, trust his two-minute offense.

He's going to burn those timeouts. He's going to use challenges if he can catch a break and get a short field score. That's what he was looking to do. Everybody on social media is killing him. But, you know, his takeaway was, I can't drive 85 yards on this team. This Niner defense literally shut us out in the fourth quarter and overtime, you know, three weeks ago. So I was okay. I understood what he was doing is he was trying to make something happen with the Niners.

They put you under duress on virtually every snap. And I thought the other thing, you know, Garoppolo is limited, but I do think Jimmy's a starting quarterback in the NFL. The Rams did a really good job to mostly shut down the Niners running game, and that really limits their offense. You're not going to win with shootouts with Garoppolo. That's not really the way Kyle Shanahan coaches. So this game, for a lot of reasons, played into the Niners style, lower scoring. That's how they've been able to beat the Rams. But it was just situational football.

Matt Stafford, a couple of big throws. OBJ, Cooper Cup, huge catches. And they hit the field goal to win it. So it's Rams and the Bengals and the Super Bowl. I would guess the Rams will be about a field goal favorite in that game. something that I underestimated is the power of coaching and the power of culture. You know, I know both are important. But not only has OBJ been a crucial, especially on third down, on big downs for the Rams.

But it's been a seamless transition. He is not a decoy. They are using them in big third downs, red zone plays. There's a physicality to him. It looks like he's actually gained a little weight. He's got his hands back. He got a little bit of what golfers call the yips. He started dropping passes in Cleveland.

And it just wasn't a good fit from day one. It wasn't, you knew it, I know it. Browns fans privately knew it. Didn't want to admit it. But he has worked so well and so quickly and so seamlessly with the Rams. And I think a lot of this is he worked well with Eli Manning, a veteran. He works well with Matt Stafford, a veteran. OBJ is too big of a presence to put him with a very young quarterback.

Young quarterbacks often feel forced to get the ball to a star marquee receiver. A Dak Prescott with Des Bryant felt forced and was a better quarterback when he spreads it around. I think Baker Mayfield's a better quarterback when he spreads it around. So OBJ has really worked in Los Angeles. Vaughn Miller has been better than I suspected. And again, when you play around really good players and other stars, there's no pressure. There's kind of a let it rip attitude with the Rams. Nobody's bigger than the franchise.

You know, Aaron Donald is like the Tim Duncan of the NBA, the hardest working guy, the greatest player with virtually no ego. So he keeps everybody else in line. And when your best player, you know, that was a New England Patriots Tom Brady feel. Your best player was your hardest working and had really no. outwardly obvious ego. So if you're a number two receiver, you don't get one either. And I feel that with Aaron Donald. That's kind of the culture. Like McVeigh didn't have a big ego. Aaron Donald doesn't have a big ego. Cooper Cup doesn't have a big ego. So it would be ill-fitting and odd if Vaughn Miller or OBJ came into the Rams and, you know, made demands.

Not that they would. But that's the benefit of your best player being chill. of your best player like Aaron Donald being a complete and utter professional that everybody falls in line. All right, let's bring in Robert Griffin III, the former offensive rookie of the year for the Washington football team. He has played backup to Lamar Jackson. Now he's into broadcasting for ESPN. He's kind enough to join us and give us his thoughts on this weekend. Two more great football games, by the way. The last six NFL games played.

gut-wrenching. I don't want to hear about any other leagues in America. The NFL has so pulled away from every other sport in America. When's the last bad football game you saw? Was it like three weeks ago? When's the last game that wasn't heart-stopping in the NFL? It's like three weeks ago. Robert, I want to start.

I'm going to, I defended Sean McVeigh. burning timeouts on the challenge. I'm going to throw you my theory on it and you tell me if I'm wrong, is that when you're facing the Niners, you face them twice a year, their defensive line, you're not driving the field 80 yards on that defensive front and Sean knows it. And he's thinking to himself, I trust Stafford, I trust, I have good wide receiver matchups against their corners. What I can't do is drive 85 yards down the field and score on this defense.

I've faced him six times now. I'm 0 and 6. So he sees an opportunity for a challenge because a ref in mayhem may have missed it. And he's like, if I get a short field, I'm going to roll the dice. Everybody killed him on social media. And I'm like, no, I saw what he was trying to do. So that's my theory on him thinking, hey, I'm going to roll the dice on this challenge. I trust Stafford with two minutes and no timeouts.

He's a grown up, right? Your thoughts. Well, I mean, they gave up so many first round picks for Stafford, right? for him to trust him in that situation. But I do think that McVe, if you watched him after the 49ers went up 17 to 7, he kind of had a look on his face that was a little concerning. Like, oh, my goodness, here we go again. So, yeah, so when I saw him, you know, that look on his face,

in those moments when he's burning through the challenges and he's burning through his timeouts, I really think he's just throwing everything at the wall, trying to figure out something to get the momentum back on his team's side. And believe it or not, is that everybody was killing him on social media, during that challenge, it also gave his team a time to regroup, right? Think about what they're going to do next, calm themselves down. And I think I listened to him when he was talking in the post game and he said, you know,

shout out to the players because he's a coach that knows it. He's a boy genius. We all know this. He's a very talented play caller, very, sees a game very well. But he can't do without his players. That's why they gave up so many draft picks since 2018, right? Six first round picks since 2018. because he wants to go get guys that he know can make plays for him.

So he does trust the quarterback that they took from Detroit, Stafford, to go out there with no timeouts and lead them down the field to a victory. So he's not really as worried about it. But if they didn't get the victory, he undoubtedly would have been questioned by everybody. You know, it's interesting. They've got a lot of there's, it's obviously, I underestimated the culture.

OBJ is a veteran. Aaron Donald's a veteran. Von Miller's a veteran. I think he likes older players. Now, the 14 of their 22 starters are drafted, so it's not all old guys. But Robert, he's a really smart guy. And that system, Andrew Whitworth is the oldest tackle. I think he goes to Les Need.

And he's like, listen, man, this system, it's not for kids, right? Like, that's how I feel. Like, he's getting in Les Needs here and like, I'll take Fawn Miller. Or you can have the draft picks. Right. No, no, I think you're dead on there. And I really wanted to hit that today because, you know, I was coached by Sean McBey. He was tied in coach when it was in Washington initially in 2012 and then became the O.C.

Yeah, I feel like Sean McBey is a guy that leans on the coaching or the things he's learned from his mentor. And I'm not talking about Mike Shanahan or Kyle Shanahan or Jay Gruden. I'm talking about John Gruden. I know he's a little taboo to mention him, you know, right about now. but John was a guy that also didn't truly develop talent, right? He liked older guys, guys that knew how to play, and he would take established guys that maybe a little older like a Derek Brooks or guys like Stafford who still have some time on their career to play.

And he would work with those guys because he knew they knew how to win. Now, in Stafford's situation, he wasn't winning a lot, but he was very talented. So I feel like they bring in Von Miller on a trade, they bring in OBJ on a trade, and he's going to sneak and telling him, I know we have to develop talent because that's going to help our program for the long term, but in the short term, we need to win so that we can get these contract extensions

and get the excitement going in L.A. And what better way to do that than to bring in these big time players who are already proven. And I tweeted out during the game, OBJ, nine catches 11 yards on 11 targets, but everybody before was saying he was washed. But that's not the point.

The fact that OBJ is doing so well is a testament to McVeigh and his staff, but it's also a testament that if you get talented players in his system, they will excel, especially when you have guys like OBJ, who's a generational type talent, in my opinion. Fionduel Sportsbook is an official sports betting partner of Super Bowl 56. So to celebrate new customers can bet $5 to win $280 in cash on either team to win if you use the promo code column. That's right. You get your winnings, cold hard cash, because we know cash is always... Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for Raw, Untax.

filtered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot. or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

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waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so... Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black. black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Better than free bets. Fandall Sportsbook, the number one sports book in America. They got same game parlays. You can combine small bets for bigger wins, tons of Super Bowl props, and more. Don't miss out for your chance to turn five bucks into $280 in cash, download the Fandul Sportsbook app, please use the promo code, Colin, C-O-L-I-N, payout in as little as two hours, safe and secure Fandul Sportsbook.

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2021. Terms and conditions apply. Visit aspiration.com slash zero for more information. Obviously, you don't move up for Trey Lance unless you want to play him. And he and Jimmy are really two different players. I mean, Trey is a bigger, stronger, more athletic kid. I don't think he has a very refined release yet. They have to work on him. And my takeaway is one of the hardest things to do in the NFL for a coach, ask Matt Nagy, is balance veteran and young guy. And I have always been one of these. I like what the chiefs did with Mahomes. I like the veteran. I mean, what you did is rare. You had a veteran coach. You had a running game. And that roster was offensively was okay.

Most of the times, rookie quarterback said that you know what kicked out of you. And so, I mean, so with Trey Lance with Garapolo, I think you have to kind of move him out of town because I want, I want Trey to get every snap in camp,

every snap. Because his, I think his delivery, Robert, it's not refined. It's not easy. He doesn't throw the ball like a burrow. And they need to work on it.

So I think I would move Garapolo despite his success. Your thoughts? Yeah, I said it during the game or should I say at the end of the game, you know, the game ended on a Jimmy Garapolo interception, however you want to look at that, right? It was tipped up by the wide out into the DB's hands, but it's a Jimmy Garoppolo interception on the stat sheet. And likely his career, most likely is going to end on that interception with the 49ers. And it should. I think Jimmy G. and Trey Lance, with Jimmy G., you know what you're going to get, right? Kyle trust his, trust him in those situations at the end of the game to maybe leave. you down the field or help you win a game 20 to 17.

But with Trey Lance, the things that Jimmy couldn't do there at the end of that game when the pocket collapsed, right? And the off schedule plays, that's what Trey Lance can do simply because he's talented in that way. Jimmy's been through a couple injuries. And as you've noticed over the course of his career, he doesn't run quite as much. He's not quite as confident while he's running. But when he was in college, he wasn't Lamar Jackson, right? but he could run and he could do some things.

So when you talk about Trey Lance and Jimmy G, in my opinion, we don't know how Trey Lance throws the ball in game situations for an extended period of time. But you're right, he does need to get all the reps because every single rep that he's going to get in the office season is going to help him get much, much better. And you're also right that when you talk about rookie quarterbacks, look at our guy over there with the Jets, Zach Wilson,

look at the Jags with Trevor Lawrence. They just got beat up a lot. Now, when we were in Washington, you know, we kind of took a system and used the parts that we had to make it work. Yes. I look at Pierre Garsohn, right? He was my number one guy. We missed him for much of that, my rookie year. But he was kind of like a Debo Samuel.

We just didn't use him in the running game the way that Kyle is using Debo. But Pierre, I mean, if he caught the ball, he was a load to handle. And we had other pieces. You know, we had Leonard Hankerson, who was a big slot receiver. We had an older Santana Moss who can make plays for. And I just feel like with Kyle, he's going to find a way schematically to get his guys in the best position to be successful. But when you have Jimmy G there and he's already led you to a Super Bowl, you're not going to replace him with Trey Lance. So I agree with you. Tray Lance, it should

be the guy that drafted him in the first round. You got to get Jimmy G out of there because, one, the team loves the guy, right? They just absolutely play their hearts out for him. And two, Trey Lance is your future. So you've got to go ahead. You've already put all your books on that show, you got to start reading. Okay, so let's pivot to the first game. So, you know, I talked about this. When Patrick Mahomes came out of college, the knock on him was, mechanically, he was a lot of work. And he didn't have a repetitive nature.

Every throw looked different. The ankles, his feet. And I can remember reading scouting reports saying, you know, he's great. But, man, you're going to have to stay on him. And we've seen a couple times, Robert, in his career. He goes into these five and six game, I would say mechanical slumps where he gets, he gets, I don't, it's not a criticism. It's a golfer who needs a weekend with his coach. Right.

Right. And I felt like for whatever reasons in the second half, Robert, I felt he got the yips. He just did not throw with confidence. Did you see it? Yeah, I mean, let's talk about the first half, right? He goes, what, 12 or 13 versus two high safeties? Everyone's talking about it, you know, how they struggled earlier in the year with being patient. And, I mean, he was beyond patient in the first half, right, going through his progressions,

throwing checkdowns. They got Tyree Kiel involved. They got Travis Kelsey involved early. Jared McKinnon looked like an all-star there in the first half as well. So I think in the second half, it was a number of things. Third down, they weren't playing very well. on third downs throughout the whole year, they've been the best team in football.

So when you get to third and six, third and five, third and seven, and now you're not converting, well, now you're kicking the ball, you're putting the ball, and you're putting your defense on the field for exuberant amounts of time. And you're giving Joe Burrow a guy that, I mean, I know you and other people have said

is the next or better than Tom Brady, at least at this point in his career, you're giving him more opportunities to get going. So what you see from Burrow? Burrow starts running the ball. He starts being Houdini and the pocket. And I think that put a lot of pressure on the Chiefs. And Uncle Moe, as you know, is very fickle, right?

Uncle Moe's very fickle. He's not loyal to anybody. And that momentum got on the Bengals side. And I just felt like the Chiefs could never get it back. It was an interception here, a penalty there, sacks. They had, I think the Bengals had four sacks in the game, but they were all at crucial times in the game. So I don't know if Mahomes necessarily got the yips.

I just feel like they were really. they relaxed just a little bit, just a little bit they relaxed and they were trying to hit that home run, take him out the game type play. And because of that, they allowed the Bengals to creep back into it. Burrow is such what I would call an easy thrower. It's just it looks when he came out and people compared him to Brady, I said he reminds me a Tony Romo actually is that they wore the same number. They move around. They're kind of elusive. They often duck under pressure, not a huge arm, good enough. Mobile, not Josh Allen.

He's obviously, I think he's a more consistently accurate thrower than Romo. But when you watch him, you know, what's so hard about this game is, Robert, there is an it thing. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's, and there's something about Joe. He just, it's almost like he plays with urgency at certain times. His body language is really, he's upright. I don't know. When I watch him, I'm like, I can't describe it.

But there's a sense of there's an urgency to him where he gets really smart and really accurate at the right times. Like he knows he's a let it rip guy. He will throw interceptions. And then all of a sudden there's three minutes left and he doesn't throw interceptions. Like right? It's like the temperature and the room changes. No, I'm with you. I like Joey B, Joey Burr, whatever you want to call them.

Joe cool, I don't care. The kid's story is incredible. Resilience, right? Transferring from Ohio State going to LSU, doing all that. But I just look at Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase, right, just those two guys, because I feel like that's a key cog for them. You've got T. Higgins and Tyler Boyd and Mixing and Uzama being out. I don't know how long it would be out, but that'll be, you know,

that'll hurt them at the tight-in position. But I look at those two guys, and they're just young. They're young and dumb. They don't know what they don't know. So I watched Joe Burrell, not on the Houdini scramble, where he put the ball out for the first down, but on the next one, where he ran for 14 yards down the middle of field, kind of had like the little awkward slide.

And we both know I know a little bit about awkward slides, right? So Joe Burrell, in that moment, like, he got up and he kind of like shrugged his shoulders off. And I'm like, man, like this guy in these moments, you don't want him to be driving down the field with a chance to win the game if you're the opposing team because he does have ice in his veins. And you hear all these cliches, but what you said before, that it factor, right? He just has it. In those moments, he knows he can get the job done. And he's blessed with a skill set that is different than Tom Brady's, right? Everyone wants to talk about the cerebral side and the killer instinct of Tom Brady, but Tom Brady doesn't run and can't run

like Joe Burrow can. And I've always felt like Burrow's an underrated runner when it comes to those situations. You can't just play two men against the guy because he can pull it down and he can go get you 14, 15 yards on a scramble. So in those moments, I just look at Burrow and I'm like, there's probably nobody I'd rather have at this point, even over Stafford, who's going to be, he'll be playing against in the Super Bowl, the Rams have to blow the Bengals out. If they don't blow them out, I think the Bengals can win the Super Bowl. Yeah, it's my gut feeling. I haven't seen the line. It'll be a field goal game. The Rams make enough mistakes to keep a young team in it.

You know, I said something when the playoffs started. I said it's hard to win a World Series with a bad bullpen. It's almost impossible to find it. It's hard to win a Super Bowl with a suboptimal O line. Agreed. The Bengals O line is just not. It leaks. It's not great.

And I do think Von Miller, Aaron Donald, that grew. is going to be a handful. Oh, yeah. So I feel like Los Angeles will have an opportunity to control the line of scrimmage. That doesn't, again, so did Tennessee. Yeah. It didn't matter. But there's a difference between Tanna Hill and Stafford and just the ceiling of it.

So I like the Rams, but, you know, they make one of the, you know, they make enough mistakes, Robert. They keep you in it, I guess. I'm with you. Yeah. And like early in the game, the first game, early in the day, which I thought was a much more exciting game, bigger comeback, more plays that were going on. It was a more exciting game. But in that game, you had the feeling like, man, the chiefs are about to blow them out. Like, it's going to be 45 to 20 when this thing is all said and done.

And then the Bengals defense did what they did the first time they played against the chiefs and they shut them down in the second half. Right. We can talk about Mahomes and maybe some of the decision making. And we can talk about the timeout that they gave. gave up before they challenged the play, even though they won the challenge, they still lost the time out, which then hurt them before the half, getting at least three points when Mahomes threw the ball outside of the end zone to Tyreek Hill. But when you look at that game, and it just makes me think, like, the Bengals are a resilient group. I think they are outnumbered

and outmaned at certain positions, especially along the offensive line. And now you got them going against Von Miller, Aaron, Donald, Floyd, you know, all these different guys while Eric Weddell tries to win a Super Bowl, which is just incredible to me, right? Just sits out the whole year. Now he's a starting safety in the Super Bowl. But I think that you're right from the standpoint that the Rams do make a lot of mistakes that keep teams in the game. And I do feel like they have to blow the Bengals out.

Otherwise, it'll go a way they don't want it to go. Because that Bingles defense and their defensive coordinator, they're doing a great job in these second halves of shutting teams down and really creating turnovers. Jesse Bates getting that tip on Tyree Q. Yes. For Von Bell to catch that interception was textbook, right? You can't catch the pick there. Get your hand on the ball.

Von Bell makes a big play in a big moment. I said it was basically a punt. And then they just needed 20 or so odd yards to get in, you know, range to win the game. So I think this Bengals team, you know, don't count them out. But if the Rams go out there and make a bunch of mistakes, I'd rather have Joe Burrow than Matt Stafford at the end of the game. Wow. I want to ask you one question not aligned with the championship weekend is I joked about it the other day on the air. I called it the Green Bay Packer quarterback syndrome. So Farr and Aaron Rogers are totally different guys. One's the small town southerner. One's the hipster from California. And yet they become the same guy talking retirement, threatening. really like high maintenance, kind of playing the victim.

And I said last week, I'm going to call it the Packer quarterback syndrome, that it's not a very good division. You tend to be the most high profile player in that division, obviously the town of Green Bay. The expectations are high. It's a formidable brand. It's an easy sort of Middle America brand to root for people that don't live in Wisconsin. You know, the Packers are a little engine that could. Right. And when you have playoff disappointments, Favre and Rogers, you do feel like you don't get a full deck of cards.

Everybody else gets 52. You don't have your kings and your jacks and your queens, right? You don't have an owner. You can't go bang on your owner like Les Needing Sean McVay did to get Stafford. You don't have that. You don't have free agents. Most dudes don't want to play in Green Bay. And so what happens is in the NFL, unfortunately, you can be franchise tagged.

You're trapped. And so Farben Rogers get into this sort of like, man, I'm getting beat up here. I know I'm good. And I just want an owner and I want a free agent market. Right. But they share some similarities. And I feel like for Aaron, Green Bay is a wonderful thing. But I do feel like the stories played out.

I do feel like Aaron needs an owner. Aaron needs Denver. Like I really do. Like I have sympathy for Aaron. And I think, and I had it for far. Like Green Bay looks like it kind of in the modern day football. It kind of wears a star quarterback out a little, right? Do you sense that?

I see where you're going with it. But I'm going to tie it back into the games that we just watched. Okay. So Aaron Rogers has Devante Adams. Arguably, best receiver in all of football. I mean, you could throw some other guys out there. One guy you could throw out there is Jamar Chase, who didn't have the greatest game today. T. Higgins obviously had a lot of football.

100 yards received and played great for the Bengals. But a guy like Devante Adams and a guy like Jamar Chase, they're what I call HBO type players, right? They help a brother out. So when Joe Burrell throws the touchdown to Jamar Chase, the previous play, he threw a similar pass. It was terrible, right? The touchdown that he had, the back shoulder slash jump ball

that really wasn't a great throw either, Jamar Chase made it work, right? And I think Aaron needs more of those guys. He stood on the table to get Randall Cobb back to Green Bay, right? Everyone talked about it, how he demanded a certain amount of things in order to come back and play and not go host Jeopard. So you're talking about the difference between a Randall Cobb, who in his prime, unbelievable player and a Jamar Chase right now, who is also arguably the best receiver in all of the NFL. I think when you look at Green Bay, if Rogers gets the say to say, look, I want that guy. I want that guy.

I want you to draft that guy and they don't draft another DB for the fourth straight year in the first round. I think he might be a little happier, you know? Yeah. Joe Burrow won a national championship with Jamar Chase. You're telling me they didn't go to him and say, hey, do you want this guy? Can you win with this guy? One thousand percent they did, but they didn't present it that way. You know, they didn't say Joe Burrow drafted Jamar Chase.

But I'm more than sure they got him on the phone and said, listen, we're going to get you guy. We're going to bring him in here. Because at the end of the day, at the end of games, who is Joe Burrow looking for? He's looking for Jamar Chase. That's why he threw that interception to what is the Leris Sneed, Laderieh, when he undercut the bench route. But over the course of the season, Jamar Chase puts up all these crazy numbers. He makes Joe Burroughs life easier.

And Aaron doesn't have enough of those guys. And I think it's also a little bit about Will Flore, who is my quarterback coach in Washington. And the system that he runs, it's more similar to Kyle's. than it is to McVease. And because of that, you get in these games where you throw the ball 24 times. And if everything's going great, you kill it, right? You throw four touchdowns. The game's over.

You win by 14. But if everything is not great, then at the end of the game, now you're having to come back from behind when you really haven't gotten a chance to get in that much of a rhythm throughout the game. So I think there's a lot of things to weigh there. I know LaFleur and I know he loves Aaron and wants him to come back. I just think they got to get him more help, you know, get him another star receiver. Get him to go out and recruit some guys to come to Green Bay because you're right. No one wants to play in Green Bay, but they do want to play with Aaron Rogers.

And I think that's the selling point. And he just hasn't gotten enough say in those matters for him to feel like, yeah, I should just stay here. Because he wants a Super Bowl. And that team is ready to win a Super Bowl. They're just missing a couple pieces, just a couple. Well, you've been fantastic. If you're ever looking for work on a podcast network, give us a call because I think they're insights.

I think they're fantastic. You really have an understanding of the game. You add such insight. And I've heard you before. So we went out and I said, get him on our podcast, but you're just terrific. And again, if those guys don't understand your value, we are always hiring. Robert. Hey, man.

I appreciate that, brother. I really do. That means a lot coming from you. You've been in the business a long time. And, you know, I'm just now getting into this. I only been in it for five months. And it's been a lot more fun than I thought it would ever be. So I appreciate you saying that.

And just like quarterback, man. You just got that playbook. You know your guys. You know your, you bring something that guy like me can't. You've been in those rooms. You know those coaches. You've been in those meetings. If you can give me and my audience that, which you did, I thought it was fantastic.

I'd love to have you on again, man. Oh, man. Anytime. You let me know. Thank you. All right, brother. God bless. Please, please, please, please, please, please.

Subscribe to the Volume Sports YouTube channel. Red button, push, click. Wasn't Robert great? What great insight. And a lot of great guests coming up. A lot of coaches getting hired. Raiders have a new coach. Josh McDaniel.

At least they went offense. I don't know if it'll work. They went offense. Denver Broncos went offense. I'm good with it. We'll talk soon. The volume. Get right to the Roman.

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