The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Eagles Fly Over Dolphins, Power>Speed, Lamar Jackson, USC

Episode Date: October 23, 2023

Colin reacts to the Eagles dominant performance over the Dolphins on Sunday Night Football. He explains why he’s warmed up to an “unstoppable” play, and why the Eagles proved they are built for late-season success while the Dolphins are not. John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out,” joins Colin to debate whether Lamar Jackson has become the second best quarterback in the NFL and whether the Lions loss was a blip or a cause for real concern. They also perform an autopsy on USC and Caleb Williams after the Trojans’ home loss to Utah.  Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #3AndOut #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I just love John's takes today. Plus, we do some Caleb Williams USC in the mess with the Trojans and Lincoln Riley. But, you know, my first takeaway on Philadelphia's resounding win in the second half, you know, they just leaned on them. It's so much of Miami, I've been calling them the speedboat of the NFL, you know, the fake Gucci shoes, loafers, the fake gold watch, the speedboat. You know, it's really fast and really flashy and really fun. But this team's not built for November, December, January football. And that's why the Kansas City Chiefs are the current dynasty. They can do both.

They can play real defense and dominate the line of scrimmage and be flashy and fun. Miami has yet to prove they can just do the flashy fun stuff, which flourishes in September and October and early November, and then it doesn't. So the two teams that have faced them, Buffalo and Philadelphia, that are physical teams, have pushed them all over the ring. But let me talk about Philadelphia first. that, you know, I don't like the aesthetics, the optics of the brotherly shove, the

push, whatever you want to call it. And I do think you have to worry about, I mean, the NFL's a TV show. It is. Baseball has never understood this. Networks have helped them a little over the last few years, but the NFL's always understood, we make our money in TV. We're a TV show. It's not good TV.

It's why the NFL's cut back on preseason games, empty seats, looks bad. It's why the NFL got rid of the no-catch rule. It looked bad. It's really smart. You're a TV show. That's where all the money comes from. So I don't think it looks very good. And I don't think you want everybody in the league doing it.

But I was thinking about this tonight. Why does the tush push, the Broad Ordey Shove, work for Philadelphia? Well, two reasons. They have the best center, Jason Kelsey, probably in over a decade in the NFL, top five center ever. And Jalen Hertz, a small, powerful, 600-pound bench-press quarterback. was built for it. Well, that's just the coach identifying the talent of his players. Innovative, ingenuity.

Don't we want to reward that in all businesses? It's not like the Eagles have a passive owner. You know, Jeffrey Lurie owns it, and they have this guy that owns 5% and he's a shoe designer and he created a cleat that he put a patent on, that he won't let anybody else build, and the cleat has an ability to, has some sort of physical advantage over other shoes in the NFL and nobody else can buy it or use it or, no, that feels

like the Houston Astros. This is a coaching staff saying hurts, his strength, Jason Kelsey, and they designed a play that people are trying to duplicate, and they can't. It's a business model. Nobody can duplicate. And for that reason, because I'm all for trying new stuff, I kind of respect the hell out of it. It's not good to look at. I wouldn't want to see, you know, when the Wildcat started, thank God it didn't work very long.

Do you really want the NFL hiking the ball to a tailback? It's not, it doesn't look good. And this stuff matters. I mean, the commissioners that understand the television dynamic and baseball, you know, Bud Seelig didn't. He was leaning in to seam heads and traditionalists. They're not paying the bills. TV is. So I don't love the look of it. I don't love the look of it. I think some teams are trying to duplicate it with six five quarterbacks and six six quarterbacks and skinny quarterbacks. It doesn't work. But it is innovative. There's a genius to it. It's a coaching staff identifying it. Kind of like it. Learning to like it. This game ended up looking a lot like. I thought it would look like. I mean, in the end, the Dolphins scored 10 offensive points and had 12 first downs. That's it.

70 points against Denver, 12 first downs against Philadelphia. So, you know, it's last week of my herd hierarchy. I forget where I had them like eight. And people are like eight. And I'm like, yeah, that's about it. In the herd hierarchy, I always consider the first four teams, the Super Bowl favorites. You know, Kansas City's up there. Baltimore's playing great. San Francisco, those are gimmies. Miami's not a Super Bowl team. They're fun. They should, they should over the course of a season as the weather gets colder, you know, have a little less success. You throw in 12, 15 mile an hour winds on the road. You know, you're in a division with Buffalo and New York and New England and there's those late season games. They're just not built for it. Even Miami, or excuse me, even New England, or excuse me, even New England.

in the second half early in the season pushed back on him was very competitive. So Buffalo's throttled them. Philadelphia's dominated them and New England for a half did. And I think that's just who they are. I still think Miami's great for the NFL because a lot of people are going to use a lot of these motions. It's clever. They work. You know, I am for clever coaching and smart stuff and new football. And so I'm, I like, I don't dislike Miami. I love watching them play. But I just think there's a ceiling on what they can do. And they're the classic speedboat. They are built for warm weather.

And there's been a lot of teams like this. And we've seen a lot of bad GMs through the years. You know, quarterback gets hot. People get hot and they sign them to big extensions in season. Don't do that. That's not what you do. Never forget that a majority of this football season is in cold weather. November 1st to February, what is it, 10th now,

is the majority of the football season. Starts in the second week of September. And Philadelphia is, you know, Jalen Hertz is clearly not 100%. He's not. I mean, I think it was once early he had a bootleg and just sat down. And I thought, is he limping? And it was almost as if he was hiding it. Then later, I think it was in the first half.

It could have been in the third quarter. I think it was first half. He ran to the sideline and he like limped over. So let's give Philadelphia credit. The quarterback's not healthy. Jalen Hurts wasn't healthy last season. But I do believe they've been searching for an identity all season. I do believe Philadelphia has found their identity.

I just feel like A.J. Brown's more comfortable. He's getting attention. They're using the tight ends effectively. Swift. DeBonte Smith. I think it takes time. I don't care if you're running a business or a football team, right? it takes about six, seven weeks to kind of practice, play, live games, more practice, what are we?

And I think what they are is a power football team. Even A.J. Brown, the tight ends. You know, how many times tonight did Philadelphia get stopped and they get three to four more yards, they lean, they drag a dolphin with them? It is a power football team. Miami is a speed football team. Both can win a lot of games. One is built for Thanksgiving on. So again, 10 offensive points, 12 first downs. This sport with a regulated level of violence is still about big strong guys.

And Philadelphia is, you just don't want any part of Philadelphia Eagles or the Philadelphia Phillies. They just, they're big, they're brash, they're tough, they know it. And I felt especially, you know, you watch a football game and even when this game was tied, be honest, unless you're a Dolphin fan, even when it was tied, you kind of have a lot of I felt Philadelphia was the better team, right? Like I was watching the Chargers and the Chiefs today. And even though it was close, early, it's tied, you're like, yeah, the Chargers lose games like this.

And the Chiefs always win games like this. And so hats off to Philadelphia, a really good football team that has found, more importantly, their identity. They're good now, really good. They're a Super Bowl team now. And now for a segment called Making It Look Easy, brought to you by Morgan and Morgan. America's largest injury law firm. Lamar Jackson made it look easy today against Detroit, 21 and 27. Nimble, smart, three touchdowns, 155.8 passer rating. Lamar Jackson making it look

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Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for Raw, Untebrough. 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,

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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. Three and out, John, Middlecock, former NFL Scout. So Kansas City's offense has been sputtering, sputtering, sputtering, sputtering, can't get it right. So they bring a receiver over who is not, he's a three in this. I mean, they let him go. So that's all you need to know. And then they get him back. And a lot of people today are going to say, what about, what about Herber. What about Herber? So Kansas City threw for 415 yards today with a receiving core, which with Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reed and Kelsey, they were struggling to score for 20 points. Today they get 31. Kelsey was a machine. And so this is a great example of when the coach isn't right, I think in Buffalo McDermott, we just look at Josh Allen and go, how can you lose to Mac Jones?

But ask yourself this, what do the Chargers do well? They had a special teams gaff. They got to Mahomes one time. So they've got what's perceived to be. They drafted a young kid out of SC, good pass rushers. They've got real good pass rushers. One sack. The Chiefs got five sacks, and you've got an elite left tackle and Slater.

And you have arguably not as mobile as Mahomes, but a very mobile, big, strong, mobile quarterback. So special teams gals, gals. Chargers. Five sacks, Chiefs. Once again, big third down mistakes by the Chargers defense. So when you don't have the coach right and you're not doing anything well, and to me, John, whenever you question the quarterback, ask yourself, what does the team do well? The Chargers don't do anything really well. So to me, Mahomes is obviously brilliant, but that's probably the first time all year that Mahomes has done that. Should he really be doing it against the highest paid defense today in the National Football League with a defensive head coach? Colin, he threw for more yards in the first half than he ever had in his career.

And he's arguably had the greatest start to a career we've ever seen. I mean, this guy's won multiple MVP's. He just set his own personal record. Now, in a vacuum, losing to the Chiefs, if you're the Chargers, isn't that crazy. But given the way their season has started, there's somewhat desperation. Now, listen, I would still be a little stunned if we woke up on Monday morning. He was gone, but you're two and four. You got major issues.

Listen, like you said, everyone's going to be like, look, he threw some picks. What's the end of the game? What the hell is Justin Herbert's supposed to do? And the other thing is, like, here's a thing with the Chiefs. Right. Sky Moore, everyone's like, who cares? They got another guy, Rice. The thing with Andy, they'll just keep taking swings, and they'll eventually hit on a guy, and they'll keep coaching guys up, and the cream will eventually rise, like Pacheco last year.

The Rice kid, you know Kelsey and Patrick, you could argue, they got a chance to be the greatest combination we've ever seen. They're like, their generation's version of, like, Montana and Rice. So now that their defense is good, now they did take a pretty major injury to their linebacker, who I think the sideline reporter said was screaming in pain, so maybe he broke his wrist or something. that would be a little bit of a problem. But I think you see, you know, I don't think the gap, obviously Mahomes is a better player than Herbert,

but the gap between those two guys shouldn't be one team winning 14, 15 games with ease and another team scraping and clawing for eight and nine wins. Also, who's got the better left tackle, Chargers? The best receiver in that game is Keenan Allen. The best back, arguably, is Austin Echler. Why can't they move the ball? Now, again, you can blame Herbert.

But remember, they lost Mike Williams, so they don't really have a deep threat. And Quentin Johnston, the rookie, appears to be a complete whiff. Yeah. So they, Mike Williams has gone, who they love to throw the ball down the field. Kenan's not really that guy. He's a third down receiver. He's a third down receiver. He's not a deep threat.

Slot guy. So they don't have a deep threat on the roster. It was Mike he's gone. And Quentin Johnston appears to be at least one year in. Is he learning the playbook? If they're not even getting him in the game, if they're not targeting him, that means the coaches and the quarterback don't trust him. Generally, that means he's not up to snuff right now currently with a system, with a playbook. Takes time.

Some rookies at all positions takes time. But it's all going to fall on Herbert. Ask yourself, name the quarterback whose big, strong, power arm athletic 4-2 major in college who doesn't work. Now, can he be a bit mechanical? Absolutely. That's a total— Mahomes is the most fluid guy that's ever played the position. Lamar's incredibly fluid.

Allen can be fluid. Herbert can be a little stiff. I'm not putting him in Mahomes' class. But Josh Allen now struggled for weeks. Burrow had a bad September. Stuff happens. It's hard to play the position. But I'll just go back to this.

When you're questioning the quarterback, it's not as though this defense is playing lights out. Mahomes broke his own personal record throwing in the first half. Again, they don't have a number one receiver. How's that possible? One problem. And the only way the AFC is going to take down this team, obviously they did a couple years ago, but I think Bahams might have been like concussed in the second half when the Bengals beat them.

You're just probably not beating them in Kansas City. You're going to need them. Not that Kansas City couldn't win on the road in the playoffs. The Patriots are a good example during their dynasty. They're definitely equipped to. but if you're just giving them the number one seed year in, year out, they're going to consistently just be in the Super Bowl. And you kind of look at the way this is shaping out.

I say this every week, and it was on full display today. Like the Patriots, for those 20 years, they benefited a lot because they had five wins and most times six wins in their division. Look at the Chief's division right now. I mean, the Raiders just got curb stomped by a quarterback no one's ever heard of. Denver won, but they are not any good. And we just saw the Chargers. So the Chiefs are going to have this thing locked up.

probably by like December 1st. And it's just going to be very, very difficult, especially with the Taylor Swift edition, to beat them in Arrowhead. They're just not losing games there, Colin. Let's talk, Denver. So there's two young quarterbacks I want to discuss. Kenny Pickett in a second Pittsburgh and Jordan Love Now.

So I had said on this podcast and on FS1 multiple times that I had heard from a source I trust who had been around the Packers during the Jordan Love years. There was just no special. bad game manager. We saw how cautiously they coached him in the preseason. We know they give their quarterback protection. They've got excellent backs, young but emerging tied in wide receivers. Today, Jordan Love, again, if you didn't watch the game, you're like, well, one interception, a couple of touchdown passes, you know, he was like 20 for 28. Well, one of the touchdown passes was a deflection. The other one could have easily been intercepted. It was a jump ball.

and one of his biggest plays of the day was a dump off to a running back and the Broncos defense surrendered 30 yards is that it really becomes dumped down stuff. I don't see him accurately, consistently throw the ball down the field. I mean, now, Russell Wilson's lost confidence. He missed on a four-yard swing pass

that he threw too low. He was like pushing the ball. That's a quarterback who's lost confidence. But I watched Jordan Love and you're a former NFL scout. Like, you can't, I don't see it. I don't see it at all. It's game managing four years in. Yeah.

Today was ugly. Obviously, Denver's terrible on defense. We've seen all season long. And like you said, the only plays they could really mustered up to get any flow in their offense. I mean, early on their offense was pretty embarrassing. We're screen passes, were schemeed up kind of wide receiver screen. Yes.

To me, the two touchdowns, like you said, if you just go to the box court, you're like, oh, he threw two touchdowns. I think Sir Tan picks that off 70% of the time, the one, the jump ball, and the other pick. But the majority of time, that ball's tip, it always lands into defender's hands, and he takes it 100 yards the other way. I know. I'll get the Packers credit on this one, though. And we've seen teams be in position where they pick up the fifth-year option when they shouldn't

or they don't pick up a fifth-year option. They just let it play out, like the Giants. They extended this guy on basically a backup quarterback contract. Remember, they gave them like $11 million over two years. they are going to be in position. They have some young pieces, right? You can still get a quarterback. You could easily put him back to the backup spot.

Financially didn't screw yourself. You took a calculated risk. But clearly the contract told you what they kind of believed in them. They're like, we're not picking up the fifth year option. We're not giving you some extension here. Give you $11 million going right for a backup quarterback, $3, $5 million a year. Nothing crazy.

If he's a backup quarterback has to play an individual game, not terrible. But I think with every snap, that plays out, probably pretty clear that they don't have their next Aaron Rogers on their hand. Yeah. And so right now they're probably going to draft in the, you know, somewhere between 12 and 16. They're not very good, Colin. I mean, they are, the more you watch them, you're like, ah, this team, five wins? Yeah. And so let's say they draft 11. You could get, I don't think Bo Nix rises to that. You could get panics potentially. You're not going to get Caleb or Drake May, but you could get the third or fourth best quarterback. And I think, you know,

I will say this because I think they hit on receivers and tight ends in the last couple drafts. I like all of them. Then they got the Reed kid from Michigan State, I think he's from. Yeah. They added another piece with Watson and Romeo Dobbs. So they have good young receivers. If you go get another quarterback, you can bring a veteran in, spend some money and bring a veteran in now because you got a bunch of young kids at tied-in wide receiver. Probably got a draft your next David Bakhtiari.

But they don't have a lot of huge holes. So they usually go defense, Green Bay does in the first round. probably time to go get another quarterback. Remember, if you hit on one of two, that's better than the league average. And the other thing, if you're a Packer fan, which probably feels because you're not used to this, it's going to be a long season, look at the NFC big picture, right? Beside like the Niners and the Eagles, obviously the Lions got exposed a little bit today, a lot today.

It's not like you are playing in a conference with seven-star young quarterbacks. So if you can, within a year, turn the thing over a little bit and just get to nine wins, you can compete to be a wildcard. Rams, Seattle, you watch some of these teams. You know, they are not. The drop-off after the top two teams roster-wise in the NFC is not like the AFC. Because, let's face it, we talk about the Chargers. They get the right coach.

All of a sudden, they're an 11-win team next year, right? Right. Right. Hey, Brock Purdy right now and Gino Smith, those are playoff quarterbacks, right? So the NFC is Barrywatered down. So let's go to the Rams Steelers. So the Steelers have a better roster. The Rams were in a bit of a rebuild. And I think the game felt like a go-either-way game until about eight minutes left.

And then Pittsburgh's depth and physicality took over and the better team won. But I don't love Kenny Pickett. But I do think he plays with confidence that Jordan Love doesn't, that Russell Wilson no longer does. And Pickett made two or three big throws downfield. And again, don't love him. I had a GM who we both know and respect. I'm not going to give it up. He's an AFC GM on the East Coast, and he told me he viewed him as a top of the third round,

and this is a good GM, a top of the third round pick. Pittsburgh takes the guy. They needed a quarterback. I don't think there's a ton of special. But he made big throws. And Pittsburgh's one of the more confident physical teams in the league. And I think part of that, to be a steeler quarterback, you have to play with ego. Like, it doesn't matter.

Bradshaw, big bet, you have to. You know, Mike Tomlin's teams are all big. chest, big emotion, big swaggered. They look great off the bus. And I think Kenny plays with enough of that. It may be false confidence, but it's confidence. And I watched him today and I'm like, I don't love him. But he has some self-belief. And I think when you're a B-ish, B-minus guy, if that gets you to a B or a C-plus, it gets you to a B-minus, you know this. Confidence matters. And I think Kenny Pickett, I watch Jordan Love, and I see a staff terribly. terrified of throwing the ball down the field. Pittsburgh, Canada, he's dialing it up.

He's asking him to make big throws and he made a couple. I don't know if you've seen some of these viral videos, Colin, but the Mac Canada hate from Steelers fans around the country has been growing and growing. Today was a good day. Listen, as a fellow bald brother, I was rooting for him. The one thing, listen, historically, the Mac Jones, Kenny Pickets, those talents are third, fourth round picks. But we're in the time of quarterback inflation,

where desperation meets the power of, a rookie contract. There are a lot of combinations leading to that quarterback inflation, but one guy went 15th, the other went 20th. Listen, I'm not a Mac Jones guy. I'm not even a Kenny Pickett guy, but you got to surround those guys with high-end talent. Mac Jones obviously had a couple moments today, but for the most part is going to be very limited when he's playing with average players. The Steelers draft, develop, and find skill guys like no team in the league. Picking's look, I mean, let's face it, like a top 7-8 wide receiver in the league today. Physically, he definitely is, and he's making back shoulder plays, plays down the scene, breaking tackles, and you get Johnson back.

Their explosion on the outside, Warren, the little running back, he adds a speed element. So, yeah, you just saw Pickens, like you said, confidence is a real thing. He's a mobile quarterback, not a great athlete, but he's not a bad athlete by any means, can move the ball. And like you said, once he got in a rhythm, you saw Mack Jones when he had success early on his career, same thing. Kind of that Kirk Cousin's mold of rhythm matters a lot. They can't just at any moment go Josh Allen or Justin Herbert and pull some play at their ass. They don't have those physical capabilities. Yeah, and I thought, I mean, Naji Harris, Warren are, that's a really nice combo,

probably both BB Plus, but good solid backs. Tide end I like. Deontay Johnson picket is tremendous. I don't think, you know, I think the Canada thing is, I don't think he's one of the more creative thinkers in the league. He's not. But, you know, when you watch that game, if I, if you wouldn't have known anything about football, it's a classic example of a rebuilding roster with some really nice players.

Pooka Nakuwa, Matt Stafford, Matt Stafford, Havenstein, the right tackle, some really not. And a really full-blown Super Bowl-capable roster. And it looks really even until about late third. And you're like, all right, Pittsburgh's just got way more guys. And one thing the Rams can't match is, you know, Donald, one of the great players of all time. Kind of on an island now. You know, Jalen Ramsey's long gone.

Some of their stud safeties just have passed. They've had to let go. obviously their linebacking core pretty unknown. He doesn't have many high-end friends on the defensive line anymore. A lot of young guys. Where you look at the other side of the ball, you got T.J. Watt, who's like Donald, an elite Hall of Fame level guy. They have other sweet pass rushers in Highsmith.

Minkup Fitzpatrick's one of the more versatile players in the NFL. Joey Porter's son looks like a future star. So they got classic receivers coming on are healthy and their core, their ethos, the defensive side of the ball. the team speed, the physicality the Steelers have. I mean, the Steelers were able to just kind of keep their head above water. And now if they can just gain a little momentum on offense, you know, they should. Listen, I liked them probably a little too much.

But at the end of the day, they're probably an 11 win team, maybe not a 14 win team like I thought. But they're definitely better than that 8-9 field that they definitely had for what, about two and a half weeks. You're like, God, the Steelers aren't in trouble. And they've just, to me, that's an organization so far this year that is just kind of found away. now they feel like they got a little momentum moving forward. Yeah, Pete Carroll did that today. Ugly win, win. Yeah.

Pete just sort of just teaches up, coaches up, and they play like crap for long stretches. And you look up and the Steelers didn't play well, the Seahawks didn't, but veteran Hall of Fame level coaches, they just find ways to win ugly games. I do think one thing that was on full display today was divisional games, regardless the record, even if you got new coaches, players know each other. So scouting reports on guys, you've played a guy for three or four years. strengths and the weaknesses, things they like to do. You have an understanding of their schemes, of the things that they do, and you see it from the, you know, Belichick, beating the bills. Think about

Belichick. He has, on every single player of the bills, especially their high-end ones, think of the knowledge he has from a scouting report standpoint and that he can give to their players. Think even Arizona today, like their player's knowledge, the guys that have been there for a couple years, understanding of D.K. Meckhaff, Tyler Lockett, Jamal Adams' weakness. So to me, against Washington, these players, it's why you kind of sometimes have to throw the record out, regardless of playoff team, you know, top seven drafting team, when their division matchups, even when the coaching staff has turnover, because the player's comfort level, even going into that stadium, you know the locker room, you know where to come out, sometimes the random games,

right, you never know what you're going to get, like the Bears beating the crap out of the Raiders. But Bill's Patriots, like, Belichick knows what Josh Allen does. what he doesn't do well. Yeah, I want to talk about the early game of the day, and it was my kind of favorite pick. I really like the Ravens at home against Detroit. Now, Detroit's not the Detroit of the last three years where golf, last two years, where golf can only win at home, only on the dome, only a certain way. It's a different team. It's a great old line they can run. I thought it was a bit of a snake pit. I did not like this matchup for Detroit. Baltimore's a tough place to play, and I said, I think I told you this last week, I thought Baltimore's first half in London

against Tennessee was the best half of football I've seen any team play in the league. I think Lamar right now is playing easily the best football. And for all the things the Ravens do well, they haven't in the last six, seven years, been a great wide receiver organization, the opposite of the Steelers. But Zay Flowers, Odell, I think Lamar is healthy. He's got a contract. He feels buoyed by that. I mean, I think he's playing with a ton of confidence.

He's very happy now. that's not hanging over him, a guy that runs a lot and gets hurt. Is he going to get paid? He's paid. He's happy. I don't think less of Detroit today. I think San Francisco and the Ravens today. And then Kansas City, after what I saw, but I'm tempering it because it was the

Chargers defense, I think Baltimore's a great football team right now. I don't think Harbaugh is a special teams guy, the defense top five, the offense top five, and Lamar, you know, contracts do different. things to different people. I think Lamar, it's really helped him because there was that, now he can play full speed. Now he play, listen, man, if you run around, you've been banged up and you're staring at $300 million. And I'd be like, you know, if I was staring at $300 million at $26 years old. Right. You'd be like, I'm going to run out of bounds on this one. He's playing with like, hey, I got my money. I'm just going to go win games. I think Lamar right now, I'm not serious.

there are a lot of Sundays. He's his second best player in the league to Mahomes. I think he is so good right now. Well, two things. Knowing some people there, I know last year when it got weird, they never thought it was that weird because they really trusted the guy. All the people that have been around him the whole time, his character, everything that he stood for, they understood that the contract situation was kind of its own little thing and it was throwing him off. But they always, when football, like football came first for Lamar, obviously this year, think about that division. two contracts, Deshaun Watson, that thing's been weird nonstop. Shoulder injury, today injury, it just feels, and their team, talent-wise,

is every bit as good as these top teams, but the Deshawn Watson situation is all just out of whack. When you look at the Ravens Day, they showed up like Mike Tyson in his prime. That thing was over in the first quarter. It was a knockout blow. To me, if I was doing a little herd hierarchy AFC, I would still have the Chiefs won.

They've earned it. Like, they're just the resume of all those guys and their coach, I would have the Ravens too in the AFC, though. Yeah, that's what I'm playing. And like we talked about earlier, if somehow, if I'm the Ravens, like getting those home games, I do not want to go to Kansas City. Obviously, they have one less lost than you right now, but, you know, Kansas City's probably a 14 and 3 team.

You got to keep stacking these wins because I do think the home field advantage for a team that, and let's face it, the other elephant in the room is Lamar hasn't had that much, really hasn't had any postseason success. So that's an element to going to Kansas City. I got to do everything humanly possible to try to get that one seat because I'm with you. Lamar, is he the MVP right now? I mean, based in the end of October. I think he is.

And I think, again, he's playing with great confidence. Money can ruin players. It's made him a better player. Yeah. And by the way, this team, this receiving group, they're only going to get better. They've only played six games together, right? Like Odell's new. You know, last year, Lamar's not healthy.

now they got the rookie wide receiver. It's like, oh, they're good now. We also said this. That's the fastest team in the league right now. He doesn't get enough credit. Mahomes didn't save Kansas City. He just elevated them, right? The Ravens were dead before Lamar.

John Harbaugh's career was heading in the wrong direction in Baltimore. He would have got a job somewhere else. But the flaco situation that the team was just kind of, it just felt like it had run its course. They had lacked juice. And he came and he's not just resurrected that franchise, turned them into perennial power. and it does feel, like you said, adding Jose Flowers, Mark Andrews playing really well,

the scheme with Todd Monkin. Like, I was nervous that they were going to try to get away from what they do well, right? But they've kind of integrated a more explosive passing offense, yet he's still very active as a mover, right? I wouldn't call him running like he did in 2019, 2020,

but his activity level as an athlete is still there and it throws you. He had a touchdown in the day. I think to go up 20 when nothing kind of. scrambled around. It was just, I don't know who else had that in the bag in the NFL. Well, it's almost like

Jamie Fox was so naturally funny, you forgot how good of an actor he was. Right? Like you're like, He can sing too. Yeah. But he was so naturally funny and good looking and funny

that you forget like, oh, have you ever watched his movies? Lamar was so gifted running. I don't think we've ever given him credit. Shit in the pocket. But for the record, he's the other guy in the league. Sidearms it.

running left can throw it, can go the deep ball, can run right. Like a lot of guys when they move, Mahomes and Lamar, when they move, their accuracy doesn't dip, which is hard, right? Think about it. Think about it. You're moving. You're going up and down. Lamar moving. His feet are good. I just, when I watch that game today, it's one of those. Detroit's better than that. If they played in Detroit, it would be better.

But Detroit looked a little plotting. Baltimore looked like a track team. Just was so fast. I think the one red flag big picture is going to be on Detroit because I'm with you. Like this is going to be a throwaway game. They'll be 11 and 6 and win that division easily. It's, they'll probably win their first round game depending on who they play, some crappy wildcard team, maybe a Seattle or the ramps. They could lose that game, but they're going to get it home and the place will be rocking.

But the second game, they'll have to go on the road to San Francisco or to the Eagles. And Jared Goff's just not built the play outside in just an environment like that. He's not in January. We both like him. He's earned a lot of respect since the trade. It's been remarkable. But there are limitations. He's kind of got the cousins thing for him.

When things are right, he can look really good. He can lead you to 12 wins. He can throw a lot of touchdowns. But do you really trust him when 25 million people are watching and you're playing the two seed on the road? Probably not. All right. Let's do 10 minutes on USC football. Okay.

So, you know, Alabama close one, Washington close one, Oklahoma close one. USC close lost. Once again, the defense couldn't make a stop. So I think the defensive side, I think you can shore up a lot of what they do with a new defensive coordinator, with Alex Grinch losing, you know, moving on. I do think Bear Alexander will play in the pros. I think they have a linebacker who's a probe. I think they've got a safety that's a pro. They don't have Michigan talent. They don't have Bama, Georgia talent. But if you went to like Team 6 to Team 16 in the college football world, their talent somewhat comparable. I mean, Washington doesn't have great talent. They have a good edge rusher. What, here's something, let me throw at you. What's really regressed has been their offensive line. And you're like, they got a couple NFL guys there. They absolutely upgraded with transfers. They actually have some depth on the interior due to

recruiting. What's happened. As I watched them, I think Caleb is just ad-libbing a lot. lot more than he was last year. Between the confidence, the Heisman, the power, the NIL money, he's sort of doing his own thing. And it's a little Josh Allen that when you're, we always say the Bill's O line is terrible. It's not, they've got a pro bowler, but Josh at times, he's a little more this year, I think he's a little more defined or refined. But when Josh is out there running, it's hard as an offensive lineman. You're kind of at the whim of what Josh Allen wanted to do.

And when I watch USC, because their O-Line looks terrible, but it's not terrible. Their personnel's not terrible. I wonder if Caleb now is sort of like, hey, I'm out of the Natty picture. I got my NIL money. I'm going to do what I want to do.

You think that could be possible? Do you remember when the division and really some of the animosity started in Seattle? you know, probably around 17, 18, everyone started shitting on their offensive line and saying Russell Wilson was running for his life. And a lot of former offensive linemen said, well, he's taken off early and he would make hero ball plays. Now, he would make them. So it kind of bandated, well, look at what he did. But the result was you should have just stayed in the pocket.

And clearly the coaching staff, everyone just kind of started button heads. I think Caleb's talent is extraordinary. His arm strength, his athleticism, his ability to throw. moving left or right, especially across his body, Mahom style. He had a throw last night, cross his body to the left side that was only five guys on this planet can do that. But he definitely has this hero ball syndrome, which might not be all his fault. The program is in somewhat disarray. I do think, and I get this a lot because they're like, oh, your boy, he's hyping Caleb up again. And listen, I'm guilty of this too.

We kind of annoyed players as generational talent. or all. He has generational capabilities from an arm standpoint, but as a prospect, like if you go luck or Elway or Manning, he's short relative to those guys. Like the great prospects have all been 6'4 to 6.5. And he's, I talked to a guy who's been around them,

thinks he's a shade under 6 foot 1. But he's built like a tank. And he knows that. He's very thick and powerful. I do think the all-time great prospects up, he's a really good prospect who is going to go 95% number one overall and worst case scenario go number two overall. But I think we see some flaws. I mean, we see some of the numbers now against better teams.

Notre Dame and especially Utah, high-end defensive players, well coached guys that are going to be playing on Sunday. And he doesn't look like he did against Arizona in some of these games. Now, listen, the program, I think banning the reporter not allowing NFL scouts in there for a month and a half, not having the players talk. Like, to me, some of their priorities, it's like, is Nick Sabin obsessed with that bullshit? Of course not. Like, what is Lincoln?

I don't, I think some of their priorities. And I think sometimes, I remember when the 49ers drafted Hufunga and Drake Jackson. And they said, obviously, the SC was in shambles then with Clayhilton. And they said, you know, Drake Jackson got a bad rap, but so do most players when coaches are getting fired and things are in disarray. who funga was the rare guy that even people that are getting fired, getting tarnished coaches, they all had good things to say about him. And that's a very, very small percentage of humans that are able to kind of rise above it.

And I don't know, Caleb, I've never heard bad things, but it does feel like he's kind of in the middle right now of the weirdness. And I got to start with the blame. You pay a guy $120 million. It does start with the head coach. And it feels like he's lost control a little bit of just some of the basic details of a high-end program. Yeah. So Pete Carroll was perfect.

And I didn't know it at the time, but it was obvious after about four or five years. He'd been in the NFL. So he didn't care about people on campus. He didn't care about media. Pete treated USC. He was like scouts, GMs, get in here. Media. Doors wide open.

Everybody. These college coaches, people I like, Urban Meyer, get very provincial, very Gainesville, very Tuscaloosa, small, timid media that has one game to cover in town. it's like Lincoln, we're not, we're not Norman, Oklahoma. There's two NFL teams. The Dodgers draw five million, two NBA teams, LAFC, the Galaxy, UCLA. It's like we just, we just don't need, if USC goes on a two-game losing streak, LA doesn't go. And so I think Lincoln's finding out, and I think college coaches have found this out here, is that Pete was perfect. Pete's a big city, big thinker. He'd had Boston media. New York media. Pete knew, you know, you couldn't, Pete just was used to the wind, the heat you get.

Boston media is as cranky as any. And so when Pete got to L.A., like he was, take shots at me. I don't care. I think Lincoln sometimes feels a little like those small college town guys that want to control everything. And that's not L.A. We got options here. The other thing is Pete, having been an assistant coach for the great 49er teams, been with the Jets and then took over Bill Parcell Squad. He understood what elite players looked like at every position. Like he valued Reggie Bush, just like he did Brian Cushing or a great defensive lineman or a great offensive lineman. They were good at every position because he emphasized it, right?

Look at Sabin, how he's adapted. And that's my one question with Lincoln. I know he's going to be able to find quarterbacks and wide receivers and running backs. Does he truly understand how to find Ray Maluga at linebacker or an elite, you know, Minka Fitzpatrick at safety, because he's never been around it at Oklahoma. And his mentor in college football, and I think you are who your mentors are when you're young as a football coach. It kind of shapes your offensive philosophy. Like if you watch Kellan Moore, he kind of likes tricky shit.

Well, he comes from Chris Peterson who love that stuff. And it gets ingrained in you as a coach. It doesn't mean you can't adapt. But Andy Reid played at BYU in the early 80s when they were the only college team throwing it forever. He's been throwing it for 30 plus years. And you watch Lincoln, offense, offense, offense, offense. And when that goes, the defense, and you know better than me, he clearly really likes the defensive coordinator as a friend.

Now they're pressing, like, who's forcing him to fire him? You know, I know from a football standpoint he should, but are we 100% sure like he's going to do that? Because I think he needs help in the personnel department on what to look for. And I, because I would go, if I was him, I would go to like, you know, Bama, Georgia, a program like that, and hire their GM. What do you need? What's your salary?

500 grand there. We'll give you 900 grand to come here and help us build the defense, the SEC way. Because I heard this. Well, there's not as many great defensive prospects in L.A. Who gives a shit to 2003. Go buy the best guys in the South or Texas. Right. He has no – Pete used to do that well before NIL.

Their players were coming. Oh, Jersey here, PA here, Louisiana here. There is no excuse to USC. Honestly, and listen, Utah would – Kyle Whittingham has done is freaking awesome. But you know, those people at USC do not view Utah as equals. Last night was one thing last year,

okay, we get them at home this year to lose like that. That is, that's worse than Notre Dame loss. Hey, well, listen, listen, Utah had a backup quarterback. Throw for how many yards? Utah was great on third down. Big yards. He's their third string, Colin, because their backup got hurt in a scrimmage in August.

He's their third string quarterback. Well, hey, Arizona's, backup quarterback gave USC fits three weeks ago. Yeah. So it's, one more, I watched a lot of the UNC game for what, it just came at a time during the day.

We're not, Drake May, and I've been kind of hyping him up, he's a good prospect. I think he's like 80, 85% of kind of Herbert, big, athletic, good arm.

Yes. But he's not. And I had a buddy that his assistant GM was like, you know, I'm glad we're not in the quarterback kind of realm, because I think Caleb thing's going to get weird, his dad plays a big role. There's a lot of things that are just going to be said about equity,

just moving forward. And then the Drake May, he's going to go really high, but he by no means is not just some guarantee savior franchise. And that's how it turns out every time because, you know, I'm sure, like Caleb, are they one more loss away? Like, would he play out the string? I just looked at their schedule. Obviously, I think they play Cal this week,

but then they go Oregon, Washington, UCLA, They easily could lose all three of those games. UCLA, I didn't realize. I mean, their defense, Anthony Linsons is their defensive coordinator. They are really good on defense. Oh, yeah. USC could lose. I think they will lose to Oregon.

They'll beat Cal. They'll beat Cal. I think they'll lose to Washington. I think they'll beat UCLA. But this is the Lincoln Riley, it's a bad time for the PAC 12 to be the best. It's ever been. It's not a good year for Lincoln. And by the way, Oregon, pro quarterback, Washington, pro quarterback.

UCLA, I don't think they never had a five-star quarterback at a high school. It's the first five-star guy. And so for the third-string quarterback for Utah to just march up and down the field, it's like this is... He hadn't thrown touchdowns. He was averaging like five yards a pass attempt the last couple of weeks. He looked like Joe Montana out there moving around last night making place. Yeah, both teams yesterday, I think averaged 6.9 yards of play. That's fine if you have Caleb.

A third-string quarterback can't average 6.9 yards of play. So it is big problems. All right. We're going to go watch Sunday night football. Yeah, what a weekend. Good to see anybody. Three and out, John Middle Calf, former NFL Scout. So much fun.

And good talking to you. See you, Colin. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. 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 Mike. Day and head writer Streeter Seidel

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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 Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that

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