The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Lions Hold Off Rams, Cowboys Embarrassed, Dak’s Limitations, Love Is A Star, Chiefs SB Chances

Episode Date: January 15, 2024

Colin reacts to the Lions beating the Rams and the Packers embarrassing the Cowboys! He tips his cap to both Goff and Stafford for putting on great performances but saves his highest praise for the Lions’ true star… their front office (3:00). John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” joins Colin to break down the Green Bay’s beatdown of Dallas and debate whether the Cowboys should look to move on from Dak Prescott (17:00).  Colin argues that Jordan Love is actually an upgrade for the Packers compared to Aaron Rodgers (24:30) and they both agree that the Cowboys need to clean house (26:00) and the Dolphins won’t find playoff success with Tua (38:00). They also handicap the Chiefs chances of making the Super Bowl (43:00). (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. Draft King Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL is bringing you, yes, an offer that'll help you win money in the NFL playoffs. New customers, bet five bucks. That's it.

Five bucks. That's it. Five dollars. Any game. And get $200 instantly in bonus bets. Are you kidding me? I bet five, that's it. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app now. It takes 90 seconds and put in Colin, C-O-L-I-N. Easy, peasy. New customers, five bucks. That's all you have to bet.

And get $200 instantly in bonus bets, only on the Draft King Sportsbook. The code is Colin, C-O-L-I-N. And the crown is yours. Gambling problem, call 1-800 Gambler or visit www. www.1-8-800-Gambler.net in New York. Call 8778-Hop-N-Y or text Hope N-N-Y-4-6-7-6-9 in Connecticut. Help is available. For problem gambling.

Call 888-88-98-9-7-77 or visit ccpg.org, please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort, KS, licensee partner, Golden Nugget Lake Charles, 21-plus age varies by jurisdiction, void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See sportsbook.draftkings.com slash basketball terms for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. All right, instant reaction. I think you'll like the pod tonight because I think Middukoff and I dig really deep on the Cowboys.

but I thought the Rams Lions game, I felt it was going to be a very, very close game. I had the Rams winning by, I think, one really elevated quarterback play. First of all, Matt Stafford's insane. Pooka Nakuwa for a rookie is insane. I mean, you are watching. Matt Stafford is making throws out there that maybe only Mahomes can do. This is a rebuilding year for Sean McVan the Rams. And Stafford playing with guts, his hands all ripped up.

What an athlete that guy is. It's just, you know, the difference in the game was pretty simple. The Lions had three long drives and got touchdowns out of them. And in the second half, it was the Rams having long drives and just getting field goals out of them. And that's the difference in the game. I thought Detroit, you know, Rams, pretty poor tackling first half. And, you know, the Lions physical up front O line, punishing running backs, hard to tackle, kind of push the Rams around.

They made adjustments at half, which Sean McVeigh is prone to do. and they slowed Gough down. Gough was just too comfortable in the first half. And when Jared Gough is comfortable, you know, he's just a really, really good quarterback. I've seen Jared Gough, comfortable Jared Gough, out dual Patrick Mahomes on a Monday night football game. He throws a beautiful football.

But if you pressure him, he's not the same quarterback. So he didn't face any pressure in the first half. Long, 75-yard drive after 75-yard drive, and you're getting touchdowns. In the second half, he got some pressure on him. He was less effective. And Stafford put on a clinic. I mean, it was 2-2.

It was Puka, Cooper Cup. It didn't matter. Everything worked. It was beautiful to watch. I just thought you watched a really good football game. And if you go look at this weekend, here's what we saw this weekend. C.J. Stroud, elevated quarterback play. Stafford, golf, elevated quarterback play.

Mahomes, elevated quarterback play in terrible weather. That's the sport. Tua, disappointing. Flacco, too many picks. I mean, Stafford played like a winning quarterback, but, you know, the Lions got the W at home. And, you know, listen, I'm, you know, the thing about all these games is the league is different in the postseason, right? It's more intense, and players will tell you that every time I talk to a player. It's much more intense in the playoffs.

But it really does come down regular season and postseason. Do you trust your coach and do you trust your quarterback? And I thought the Lions Rams, that is about as good a playoff game as you're going to get. Two culture setters as head coaches and Stafford and Gough are, especially when they have time, are really, really elite throwers on the football. I thought that was so much fun to watch. And I'm very happy. My wife's from Michigan.

So I'm very happy for Detroit. I think the architect of this Lions Renaissance is not Dan Campbell, though he's been effective. And it's not Jared Gough, although I like him. I think it's Brad Holmes, the executive upstairs they got from the Rams. I think they've had back-to-back-to-back great drafts. Remember Dan Campbell's first year and a half? Go back and look at the record.

It wasn't very good. They have done just a remarkable job of fixing that offensive line via the draft, upgrading tight-end, wide receiver, pass rushers. Detroit's got this convergence of excellent GM, really strong quarterback play, a culture-setting head coach, and you jam it all together. Listen, defensively, they can give up some big plays. They're not great on the back end. But we have a salary cap era, and you're paying golf some real money, so you're not going to have a perfect roster.

You know, you're not going to have the Niners when you're paying Brock Pretty Nothing. You can retain all your stars. You know, Detroit's going to pay Jared Goff. And so when you're paying him and his contract's up after next year, so it's going to get bigger if you retain him. So there's just going to be some limitations to a team when you pay your quarterback a lot. The Rams, they pay Stafford. That defense on the back end, it's okay, right? And so Kansas City, they pay Mahomes.

They're receiving corps for the chiefs, rice, Travis Kelsey, and a bunch of guys. So San Francisco is a really stacked roster in the NFC. But I think the Lions match up pretty well with it. I do. I think the offensive line for Detroit matches up pretty well with everybody. And, you know, we've talked about this before. Even Mahomes got humiliated in the Super Bowl when he didn't have his tackles. When the lions are blocking for Jared Goff and they have really twitchy, hard-running, elusive, tackle-breaking running backs.

If Leport is healthy, you know, Detroit's offense could be a Super Bowl-winning offense. the defense I worry about a little bit, but I still don't think they have the greatest ownership in the league. But so much of success in professional sports, so much of it is upstairs. And, you know, we just don't pay attention to general managers. We don't pay attention to scouting departments, but God, Detroit's done a good job via the draft. They've really done a good job. They, you know, they're not paying a lot of their best players. They're not paying of anything yet. And they're like pro bowl level guys, and they're not paying them. So that's upstairs. And I'm excited. I think if you're the Rams, you have to pat yourself in the back.

I mean, you're limping pukes banged up. Kiron Williams is banged up. I don't think Cooper Cup's been healthy most of the year. Aaron Donald's getting triple team. They have to go get an edge rusher in free agency. Got a few holes to fill, but a really good job of the Rams to go on the road, a very formidable opponent and took him to the very edge. And I think this is, this feels like a special year for Detroit. And I couldn't be happier for him. Jared Gough was blamed for everything in Los Angeles and, you know, people. And I think everybody in L.A. Because Stafford comes out, they win a Super Bowl. It's easy to dump on Jared. Jared's are really effective. He's Matt Ryan with a better arm. He throws a beautiful football. He's a good kid.

He was a number one pick for a reason. And he's a little bit of an underdog now, which is hard to be as a number one pick. I guess Baker Mayfield's a little bit of an underdog as a former number one pick. Gough has sort of an underdog field to him. So it's perfect, right? Like it's perfect for Detroit. Dan Campbell had a job and, you know, we kind of roll our eyes at Dan Campbell and Jared Gough, Rams got rid of him and, you know, the lion's history. That's a really powerful force. When everybody's got a little chip on their shoulder and doesn't quite feel they're as respected as they deserve to be, hard to root against Detroit. Hard to, hard to root against him. There was a call late in the game, no pass interference,

Puka, grabbed his jersey. That could have been the difference in the game. You get a first down there, you kick a field goal. I mean, that, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it. That was a miss call. But you know what? The Rams have multiple opportunities, and they settled for field goals. They couldn't score in the red zone. So officials don't decide games. There are infractions called and not called that can affect momentum and opportunities, but the Rams had theirs in the second half, and they just could not get into the end zone. Lines did a good job. It was sort of a bend didn't break defense in the second half. They got just a good enough pass rush on Matt Stafford to hurry him. And again, Matt put on the clinic. Jesus. I'm telling you, in a losing effort,

I hope it's not lost how good Matt Stafford is. I mean, some of those throws, some of that submarine It's crazy. That guy is freaking remarkably gifted. So lions move on, Packers move on, Chiefs move on, Texans move on, and I like Philadelphia tomorrow. Let's bring on John Middlethuff. Hi, folks. Game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all sports and comedy and concerts and theater. All those events near you. Killer last minute deals at game time. All in prices, views from the seat, best price guaranteed, and that's the key. Game time takes the guesswork out of buying tickets, which is the thing most people get anxious about. Game time eliminates it. Easy to find tickets for every kind of event in your area. They're obsessed with saving you money

and me money on tickets. That's what Game Time does. It's the place to find last minute deals. The game time guarantees mean you always get the best price, and if you find tickets in the same section at a certain row for less, game time will credit you a hundred, ten percent of the difference. Pretty cool. Download the game time app. Like all apps, it takes 90 seconds. Download the game time app, create an account, use the code, Colin, me, C-O-L-I-N, $20 off your first purchase if you do it. Download the game time app, the code is Colin, 20 bucks off your first purchase. Terms apply. Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.

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

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, 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 Cliverts Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or we're at you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross

double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out

on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode, with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack 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. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, here we go. John Middilkoff, what a circus that was for Dallas. And you know, John, we've talked about this. For years and years, I've never bought into Dallas.

I always had this rule, the pretty good rule. Romo, DAC, they'd be pretty good. And then there was about a five-week stretch this year that I bought into it. And then they went to Miami, and I'm like, okay. It's the same old shit. And then I just, I said on the air, I was reeled in, I got fooled. But if you look in retrospect now, blown out by the Niners, blown out by Buffalo, pounded by Green Bay in the playoffs, lost to Miami, and beat Detroit on, you know, a really

dubious officiating moment. And in that game, DAC had two picks and ten completions. And so you look at it, and my takeaway is, this was just an average team. team, right? Like the slightly better than average team. Well, to me, I'm with you. I bought into them. Their downfall now, three straight years is the quarterback who makes a ton of money this year in all pro. Interceptions. Interceptions. Three years ago against the Niners at home, threw an awful pick and was not good in that game. Last year against the Niners in the playoffs, two interceptions. Today, how many could he have thrown? Five?

I mean, there were some drops. Obviously, the picks. which the guy walked into the end zone was not some freaky play. And then the other thing the Cowboys kind of hung their hat on was physicality, being a tough defense. What the hell was that? So if I tell you, the Cowboys defense, gun a no-show. And Dak Prescott, I don't care what the final numbers look like. The game was over in the first half when he's throwing the ball to the other team and getting thoroughly outplayed by a first-year starter. Just a horrendous effort by the defense at Dak Prescott.

Yeah, I mean, when you size up a player and Jordan Love and Dak on the same, field, Jordan loves more talented. He moves better. He's got more of a whip. He made a sidearm throw late in the game into the end zone to Romeo Dobbs. Dat can't do that. That's just beyond deck. That was a Mahomes level throw, a Lamar Jackson throw. It reminded me a Lamar, and I'm like, oh, Dak can't do that. Dak doesn't put a ton of velocity on the ball. He really has to step into it. He was never a natural thrower. I mean, I joked out of college. I thought he was a better version of Tebow. He had all the intangibles, but he wasn't a beautiful thrower. And when I've used Kirk Cousins as a comp, he's, he's, Kirk Cousins with the Jordan brand, is that

Kirk's a more accurate thrower, Dax's a better athlete, but we always feel with Kirk, he's holding you back from a Super Bowl. But we somehow feel that Dack is carrying you to one. And I watched today and I'm like, oh, he's easily the second best quarterback on the field that's not particularly close. Well, the reason guys like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins, to be so elite with their footwork because they can't afford to throw off their back foot. The one reason why Aaron Rogers always pushed back on some of that, like let me freelance. He'd get away with it. Brett Far, the big arm guys, right? You see it with Mahomes and Josh Allen. They're not beholden to the quarterback feet, you know, quote unquote rules that the coaches harp on because of their talent.

And you saw today Jordan Love had countless throws off his back foot that hit guys in stride way down the field. That's Prescott, if the timing's a little off, he's way off. And today, I mean, he was terrible, Colin. I mean, he was, this is three straight years of just absolute no-shows in these playoff games. And I know, in the one playoff game he had that was good was against Tampa Bay, who was clearly got awful and was, you know, headed home should not have made the playoffs last year.

So against the Packers, whose defense has been really bad. I mean, the number one conversation is like Matt LaFlor has got to fire his buddy Joe Barry. And then for them, I know they got the touchdown late in the game, but to only have 10, I mean, they, they. How does this happen? I don't understand. Obviously, Mike's the offensive play caller. There's a combination of them both. Yeah. No, it's one of those things where, you know, and I want to talk about this because I think McCarthy's in real trouble. I had said, I defended McCarthy most of the season, but I said he has to beat Green Bay. If he can't beat Green Bay, it's a different conversation. Well, to get absolutely dominated by Green Bay and Jordan Love, now that's a different conversation from losing an overtime game on a bad officiating call. Now we have a different conversation, and I think he gets replaced.

I think, and Dan Quinn, by the way, there went his job market outside of Seattle. That was a dubious effort. So, I mean, let's just talk about it. Does Jerry have to, I mean, Jerry's got to pay DAC. He loves DAC. He views DAC as some sort of elite quarterback and is willing to pay him. So let me ask you, how good of a job is it? If the starting point is, owner loves the quarterback, thinks he should be paid among the

Top five, aren't you working uphill from that point forward? I think it's a pretty good job because I think the guys, I mean, immediately obviously Belichick and their relationship has been, you know, talked about a lot. I think Jim Harbaugh is going to have to get a call. Those guys have the juice and the power to say, we're not doing this. We're not giving this guy $50 million a year. You know, Mike had to lie to get the job. And the other thing that was on full display today, Matlifflor has the most important quality you can have in the NFL. He has the ability to develop and make a quarterback into a star, right?

I mean, DAC was already pretty good when he got there, right? Dak had had success before Mike McCarthy, and one thing he has done is shit the bed now in three consecutive playoff games. Two of them have been at home. I think it's worse, like you said, last year they lose the 49ers in a very tight game on the road. You hold your head high. It wasn't a bad loss.

They have had two awful losses, though, in 2021 and this one at home. And that to me is unacceptable. I personally thought, coming into the game, Mike McCarthy to keep his job was going to have to win both home games, right? Because if you won this game, he'd have another home game. You can't be losing it home. If you lose on the road in the NFC championship game where they hadn't been in 25 years, okay. But now I think all signs point to Belichick. And one thing's pretty clear is Belichick has his offensive coordinator available. We talk a lot about offensive and defensive coaches. Well, the reason to me, Mike Vrable and Bill Belichick, obviously Bill's resume speaks for itself, but what makes him truly powerful, Vrable has Arthur Smith available, who he had a lot of success with. Belichick has Josh McDaniels available, who he has all the success with, and they can allow those guys to coach the offense.

So I think to me, you could argue Mike Vrable if the Belichick and Arthur Smith makes sense. There was a toughness lacking. But again, I say if Jerry believes DAC is it. I mean, I think we have to have. How could he believe that now, Colin, after what he just witnessed? How could he? Again, I have been on this for years. Dak is a good B plus quarterback.

Jerry views him as an A. It's really interesting. This job is fascinating. It's not that Jerry runs a turn style, but I'd almost rather Jerry be impatient than delusional on quarterback evaluation. I'd rather a guy want me to get ratings in my job. I'm fine with a little pressure. What I'm not fine with is unrealistic expectations

or forcing me to work with people aren't as good as you think. Dax's just not a top 10 level guy and Jerry thinks he's a top seven guy. I understood some of the support before, even though I never agreed, even the contract they gave him. I didn't view him as a $40 million guy. Right. But after today, to me, if he stands on that belief, he's entered Al Davis territory. Yes, yes. Right.

To me, if he's able to pivot, which he's proven as a successful businessman over the years. And like you said, they do a pretty good job on personnel. There's a weird loyalty here. To me, he has to pivot off today's experience because he had a first-hand look, Jordan Love signed a two-year, $11 million contract. And he looks like a combination. I think that's one of the greatest development jobs we've ever seen. Well, you know what?

I mean, he looks like a flat-out superstar right now. He looks like Brett Farv meets Aaron Rogers. Like, listen, the internet loves, I mean, this is what they love. They forget that new information, new opinion. Matt LaFleur was calling out Jordan Love in October press conferences. So was the GM. The GM and the coach were disappointed with him. Have you ever seen an in-season improvement for a quarterback?

Not only is Jordan, think about this, he's cheaper than Aaron Rogers. He's now more athletic than Aaron Rogers. He throws the ball a lot like Aaron Rogers. You get no drama like Aaron Rogers. And generationally, he is completely copacetic with all these receivers and tight ends. I mean, right now, Green Bay's young receiver tight-end talent is the envy of virtually every team in the league. Like, it's hard to wrap your brain around this based on what we saw in October. Jordan Love is a significant, multifaceted upgrade from Aaron Rogers, right?

That's not debatable now. Well, I think that you become a legend in the business of football by making moves like Ted Thompson once you made, right? Brett Farve, you're gone. we're going with Aaron. Bill Walsh, we got to pivot to Steve Young. When you pivot off Aaron Rogers, who had just previously won a couple MVP's, the coach and the GM are behind it. And then by the end of the season, into the playoffs, he looks like this. And as a GM, you have put around the youngest offense in the league. And these guys, I mean, Watson didn't even really do anything. Reed up until the end of the game hadn't done it. It was Dobbs making all

the plays, and he's really good. Think of the talent they have. We know how well they build offensive lines. I think these guys have immediately entered, like Ron Wolf, Ted Thompson, we have stars running our operation. Because I think it was okay to question it early in the season. Not because they made the wrong move getting rid of Aaron. It's like, well, it's really hard to replace that. It was rocky. And by the end of the season, the guy's a flat out superstar, and so's the unit around him. So to me, it's Gutakins and LaFourne. Like, this is why your argument on hiring offensive coaches when you get the right one. Kyle Shanahan has owned the Cowboys the last two years in the playoffs. Why? Because he has, he's comfortable playing against Dan Quinn. Matt LaFour was

also on that staff in Atlanta with Kyle, who's the quarterback coach. You saw it a day, he wasn't uncomfortable going up against that defense and that coordinator. And honestly, embarrassed him worse than Kyle ever did the last two years. So to me, the stinks on Mike McCarthy, the stinks clearly on Dan Quinn and all the positivity on the other side, it's hard. If they were stock, they feel like Tesla or something five years ago. I mean, this is a team that you'd have to buy into because they've been so well run. This was always the pushback on Aaron Rogers. Do you realize how well you have it in Green Bay, how well run this opera?

I get there's no owner. And then you go to the Jets and this is the complete shit show. Yeah, I mean, I said that before with Aaron. He never had a bad offensive line in 15 years in Green Bay. Farrv didn't have many. The one thing, New England under Dante Scarnacchio and Green Bay for 15 years do a great job of drafting third, fourth, fifth, six-round offensive linemen and developing them slowly into really good players.

So, I mean, Green Bay is just, it's something we've hit on. 11 of the 14 coaches in the playoffs are offensive coaches. Now, you can as a defensive coach work if you have a star quarterback, Sean McDermott, Damico Ryan's.

You know, it can work that way. But there is no question when to develop a young quarterback, edge offensive coach, and if you have a disruption at quarterback, you're on a third or a fourth, Stapansky. major advantage offensive coach. So, you know, Mike Tomlin got into the playoffs, mostly because

Joe Burrow got hurt, and Cleveland lost three quarterbacks. I think they'll be extinguished very quickly. But I don't think, I don't think any, I mean, I talked to, I texted two GMs today. I'm on the phone with during the game texting. And they're saying the same thing is Jordan Love. Matt LaFleur deserves a lot of credit for Jordan Love. And you know the other thing today that you noticed on that first drive. When Aaron Jones is running like that, downhill, and that's, you know, Matt LaFleur, when he came to Green Bay, it was I want to develop a run game that McCarthy had not developed a run game. I watched this Green Bay team.

I'm not saying they're going to be to San Francisco or Rams. There are a lot to defend because Matt can run it. Jordan can go off script. Nobody's got two to three good corners. This Green Bay offense, John, creates a lot of matchup issues. One thing I wrote down immediately is the advantage at the running back position in this game was evident early. Yeah. I mean, the gap between Aaron Jones and all the other guys, they're running out. I mean, Pollard is a gadget player.

And there's nothing wrong with that as long as you have a young Zika Elliott in his prime, right? And to me, when you have the running game like that and then all the explosive weapons, that's why guys were wide open all day long. Dallas Cowboys had no clue what to do, but don't you think, you know, you talk a lot about and everyone does about Belichick being a historian. Can you imagine breaking the record as the Cowboys coach? I know the Eastern Seaboard. He's comfortable. Atlanta's close to his new house in Jupiter, but Jerry can offer a lot of money. Obviously, Arthur Blank can't too, but there's the cowboy coach, Belichick, little revenge after just getting forced out by Robert, which he was clearly fired, right? I think all signs are going to point to, Bill, because you're the, you're the, you're the,

coach newsbreaker now. A lot of people I know expect Harbaugh to be with the Chargers. That's where a lot of people in the league think he's going to go. So Belichick, people have already been, you know, they said that before the game, Philly too. But now the Cowboys have a chance to have a head start because they could fire McCarthy first thing Monday morning, have Belichick on the horn and get the ball rolling. Here, there is certain things create clarity in life. Getting your ass kicked like that at home. For sure. It allows Jerry to go, wow, I can clean house. And it really does.

It also, Jerry has to look himself in the mirror and sit down with Stephen tonight at the house at the ranch. And they have to sit down and go, we got to do a clean break here of everybody. Dan, Mike, I don't know what they'll do with DAC. He may defend DAC, but I can see this being actually beneficial to Dallas that Jerry Jones has to sit down. His scouts have to come to one and say, Jerry, we can have DAC, but you can't pay him $45, $50 million. He's already made $20 million a year in endorsements being the cowboy quarterback. We've got to start drafting quarterbacks here.

And it also, would it make Jerry, I mean, again, when you're a billionaire, can't relate, obviously, would Jerry acknowledge our way's not working? Like my way's not working and give up some control. I think it's easier after today. Like you said, maybe they lose an overtime. Maybe you can justify it in your head, run it back, give them one more shot. But get embarrassed like that. Have a game be over at halftime.

This was obviously the number one pick in the wildcard round, right? In terms of brands and television networks, I don't see how he survived. I don't see how he's not out by the morning. To me, it's clearly over. And you have the opportunity, right? Sometimes, like, getting the number one draft pick isn't ideal because if you need a quarterback if it's not a great quarterback draft. This is an incredible head coaching opportunity with all these guys that have proven to be winners. And I do think the Belichick thing, a little bit like,

you know, almost a couple decades now with Bill Parcells would just reinvigorate the fan base because they're going to be down. And there's going to be a lot of negativity. And it's rightly deserved. Because the last three years, they've been knocked out by Kyle twice and now LaFleur. So how are you beating those guys? And we know your guy's not as good as Sean McVeigh either. So it's like, you got to deal with those. In the AFC, you got to deal with the quarterbacks. In the NFC, you got to deal with the star offensive coaches all that came from Washington in 2012. Listen to this, John. Coaches that had to move off talented quarterbacks.

John Harbaugh Flacco. He moved often for Lamar. Been pretty beneficial. Andy Reed, Alex Smith was a pro bowler. McVeigh Gough. Shanahan Garapolo. We've watched multiple coaches. And these guys were getting to Super Bowls.

I mean, Flacco, six years removed from that can still sling it. And those coaches took big swings. They moved off popular, playoff winning, or Super Bowl appearing quarterbacks. For a Lamar, for a Mahomes, for a Stafford,

for a Brock Purdy, whoever it is. There is a recent history. Go back to Lamar is when you take that big swing and go, listen, we're just kind of stuck. I may have a slightly deteriorating product or a product with a ceiling. The teams that go for it,

I mean, hey, Philadelphia, Carson Wentz, they moved off him, Jalen Hertz. I mean, Wentz that year he got hurt. He was leading in the MVP voting. So, I mean, there's, and I think, by the way, Miami's going to have this discussion. Yeah. I think Miami and Dallas have to go, you got to get over Pro Bowls really quickly. Those are bullshit awards that nobody buys into.

I think a big thing, too, for Jerry is, and this happened to Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll got fired, in my opinion, because they started looking around and going, he has no chance to beat McVey and Kyle Shanahan. Kyle beat him five straight times. McVeigh swept him this year. It wasn't even the macro. To me, it was the micro. We're getting lapped in our own division.

So to me, if you're Jerry, you go, well, I've known Adam Peters for 15 years. I mean, look at his resume. For a non-GM, it's pretty incredible. Won Super Bowls multiple places now help John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan build that thing. I think Washington's going to be well run. Even the owner has proven to be a good NBA owner. Yeah. Obviously, the Philadelphia Eagles will not hesitate to pull the trigger if they have to pivot, right?

So you have an owner that you know has, I don't exactly know the wealth between Lurie, but he has enough money to do whatever he wants as well. And he will be aggressive. So to me, that has to inspire Jerry knowing they play tomorrow night, even if they win and then get knocked out next week, like the Eagles have no problem pivoting. So I think when you just look at the short-term view of your division, you go, we got to figure this out. And you also know that Arthur Blank and some of these other big money guys are sniffing around the top coaches,

is why not rip the Band-Aid off? We already had a lot of question marks with McCarthy sometimes throughout the year. This is an all-timer. You just don't survive. They were seven and a half-point favorite. And it was truly, it was the right move. I mean, they should have been a heavy favor coming into this game. And to get beaten down, like, I'm not trying to be hyperbolic,

but that feels like one of the more glaring games I remember watching in a long time in playoffs. Hey, listen, I wrote it down. Opening drive, run, pass effectively, look too easy. couple dumb Dallas penalties. Then pick Jeyer Alexander. Uh-oh. Dallas in trouble. That's first quarter, second quarter stuff.

Like that's, it felt like, oh, we got it. We got big, right. And Dallas had two or three silly penalties early. You're like one and a pun. Which has always been a problem for them. Yeah. It's, you know, it's everything changes. You know, it's just one of those things.

I thought McCarthy was in the, clear if he beat Green Bay. Even if he lost 2827 on bad officiating, it was a Detroit Dallas ending fiasco. When you're not prepared to play on either side, I mean, it's, I'm trying to think of a, of a, but you know what? It had Brandon, it had Brandon's daily vibes today. I mean, their defense, no clue what was going on. They were talking to C.D. Lamb early in the game. Like, what's going on?

By the way. It was red flags everywhere. Okay, that's a great point. I wrote that down in my notes, too. Dax CD off. Kevin Burkhart mentioned that. Greg Olson mentioned that. So there was something really weird about that.

And my takeaway was it was CD was frustrated appropriately with Dax ball placement, which, by the way, was terrible early in this game, threw behind him on a corner route. So I think it was CD was frustrated with just basically D's ball placement. Well, that's another thing with Dak Prescott. When you look at the two quarterbacks right there, Jordan Love, who actually has been really accurate lately, can't afford to be a little inaccurate because he has such an explosive arm and now with their wide receivers can make big plays. When you're Dak Prescott in that group of, you know, I would say Cousins has been there for a long

time, Drew Breeze, Philip Rivers, Manning, and you don't have a huge arm. Accuracy is what you have to hang your hat on. You have to be the most accurate guy on the field. So when you become, like, how did Alex Smith resurrect his career? It wasn't throwing bombs. It was having 70% completion percentage. Well, Dak's slinging around like he's James Winston balls flying all over the place. You're like, you can't function.

Even if their defense had played well today, they would have lost with that type performance out of the quarterback. And the other thing is you cannot turn the ball over in the biggest games, right? You cannot. Pick six is kill you. And Dak just now, remember last year at the end of the season, we're going to spend some time in March and May and April and go over all the picks. And what ended up being some of his downfall again, throwing the ball to the other team.

It happened early in the season in the big, hyped up game against the 49ers, turnovers, and it was ultimately their undoing again in this game. And I just, I can't get over LaFleur, Goudicans, the Packers. What a muscle flex as an organization. They feel like the Miami heat or something right now. It's incredible how they pivoted. All right. I want to talk 10 minutes.

I want to give Miami, Kansas City some discussion. on this. Tua has proven in warm weather, with time to throw, he's a highly accurate thrower. But he has also proven that he's not very athletic. He's smaller than you'd like. He has an injury history. And unless the weather conditions are fairly ideal, he's limited. So unlike Dak, he is accurate. His ball placement's excellent. That's not the case with Dak. He is a pretty thrower. He's a little bit of Drew Breeze. So I don't think you move off him now, but I think it does limit your extension ideas. So we know Kansas City's better.

Most of us thought they'd win. I thought it was a shockingly bad effort by Miami in the second half. Obviously, the cowboy loss was surprising, but Miami's offensive effort in the second half was really dubious. I mean, they were doing bubble screens late. They didn't want two at a throw. So that tells you the staff is worried about protecting them. The staff is worried about his physical viability in games like that.

What do you do with Tua? You're a former NFL scout. You have sources throughout the league. What do you do with them going forward? I think they're in the worst spot you can be in football because they're almost stuck. But I almost think you have to pivot because this was his fourth year. So all the guys in his draft class, Herbert Burrow, were paid after their third year, right? Because after your fourth year, you get the fifth year option, which for quarterbacks is essentially a franchise tag.

1.0 and then the real one comes. It's all guaranteed on the cap. So ideally, you want to extend the guy. But there aren't, you know, this isn't the NBA. You don't give out a mid-level exception to a quarterback, right? You either pay him the premium, which is well over $40 million a year and hundreds of millions of dollars, which in what world in the AFC could you pay to a, let's even just say, $150 million guaranteed, when the only way to compete in the playoffs is go on the road against Mahom.

who clearly was in a different universe. Lamar Jackson, who plays in frigid conditions, Joe Burrow, who while he doesn't have the big arm, has proven he excels in the cold, Ohio kid. And Josh Allen, who's been kicking your ass, thrives in the cold. Like, that's who you have to go through in that conference, in cold conditions. And if Denver ever figures out, also a cold place. So unless you're the number one seed, which they're not even remotely close to be,

like, to me, 16 to 7 at halftime, that was not a normal 16 to 7, like in a dome because it was so cold it was going to be hard to score. That score might as well have been 28 to 3. To me, the game was over at halftime. They threw one lollipop touchdown. The Tyreek Hill had to come back toward and then ran around three guys. They didn't do anything else. So like, listen, he's a solid player.

And if he plays in a dome or in Miami, but that's not the AFC. Because the AFC playoffs is at Buffalo, is at Kansas City. I mean, this is Buffalo is like an avalanche right now. Kansas City, there's a coldest game. one of them in NFL history. And Patrick Mahomes, do you know what made him so remarkable? I don't even know what his box score was. He just played completely normal.

Like they were throwing the ball down the field. He just like played a normal Patrick Mahomes game. With Tua, he can't even function in that, which I understand. You've lived in the Northeast. I've lived in the Northeast. It's really cold. And when you're not used to it, it really throws you off. And they say it takes like three months to get acclimated.

There's no way you get acclimated in 24 hours. And physically, when you have a weak arm, like from a scouting perspective, it's very hard to pierce through the wind and the cold slows down the ball. So Mahomes and Allen, the reason these guys can thrive, look at Peyton Manning back in his heyday. He struggled on the road in cold weather conditions. And he's remarkably better a couple years into his career than Tua. So I couldn't pay him. I couldn't do it.

But I think we know how they'll just play it on the fifth year option. If you extend them, you're basically just acknowledging we'll try to compete to win 10 plus games and then losing the playoffs. not going to win in the playoffs. Yeah, Ethan Strauss was talking about this on a podcast where he said if you're somebody that struggles in cold weather, you want to be in the NFC. But in the AFC, it's, I mean, even in your own division, just think about December, January games, Buffalo, New England, New York, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland. I mean, it's like, and, you know, and then, again, Denver and Kansas City.

So it's just one of those things where, again, if you played in the SEC, you're hidden for, or the Pack 12. You're, you know, former Pac-12. And he thrived. You know, he's from Hawaii, went to Alabama, and he's now in Miami. He's lived an incredible warm climate life. And Ethan was right. San Francisco, number one seed. What's the game going to be there next year?

Next week. 62 degrees. Dallas, number two seed, dome. Detroit, dome. Tampa, warm weather place. Philly is one place where you get kind of cold, but it's not that cold. I mean, Kansas City, that's stretch in the Midwest to me.

Kansas City, Chicago. Green Bay is. as cold as it gets. And that's why I'd feel pretty good if I was Green Bay. I got another strong-armed quarterback who's going to be able to play in that frigid condition if we ever get home games moving forward. By the way, let's touch on Kansas City. So Brett Veach is one of the sharper GMs in the league, Andy Reid.

I think there's a functionality and an intelligence from the Hunt family, Vech, Andy Mahomes. They have a really good scouting department, obviously. You can see what their late round picks is I think they're a great example, like Green Bay, hey, we got a flaw. We're not good at receiver. Let's just develop it. So Rishi Rice feels like to me now, he's not a top five one, but he's a number one receiver. Thick, good after the catch. Not a high-end one, not even a CD lamb yet, but he's a low-end one, Travis Kelsey, and then they have a bunch of threes. They don't really have a two. It's Watson. It's, you know, it's guys that you wouldn't trust as a two, but they're threes. So they have a hole. They're just not great. at wide receiver. But as I watched them yesterday in their run game, as they pivot to the second stage of their dynasty, they're going to be more run-centric and they're going to be more defensive-centric, at least for another draft. I think there's three teams right now in the AFC, Buffalo, Baltimore, and Kansas City, they feel like they're a bit above the fray.

I agree. And my takeaway is, I think Buffalo right now and Baltimore are better, but boy, there is something to be said about have the bag, have the ring. Do you give Kansas City an outside shot to win the AFC, or do you feel like it's just that receiving weakness? They can't play quite from behind. I don't give them an outside shot. I give them a real shot because the playoffs is not, it doesn't usually look like Green Bay and Dallas, right? It's usually a pretty ugly game, especially in that conference like we talked about, because the weather is such a factor. It's like a different sport.

That game in Kansas City has nothing in common in what we just witnessed in a controlled environment in Dallas. Nothing. I mean, it's negative five degrees. They know how to win. I mean, they have championship medal, championship culture. Obviously, they have championship quarterback and coach, the two most important guys in the building. All their defensive guys, the young ones, were part of the team last year. Offensively, Pacheco, Kelsey played huge roles last year.

So now you just got to integrate the young player, who, she's, shined last night, and they're used to playing in the weather. So next week in Buffalo, assuming Buffalo wins, which I think we all do, probably be freezing cold. Well, who's not going to be phased by that? You saw Tua walking into the game last night. It looked like he was going on an Aspen vacation. Mahomes showed up in a windbreaker, right?

I mean, they're just, Mahomes wasn't wearing sleeves. I know. He's lived there for how long now, six plus years. He's used to it. Andy's, you know, the mustache is frozen. And he's been coaching in these games for 25 years. And before that, he was in Green Bay with Farvin, homegrown. Yeah.

They're comfortable in that environment. It all gets back to their competitive culture starting in training camp. They're still one of the last teams that practices hard. And that's where it shows. And listen, we can nitpick. I don't know a lot of people do with Sean McDermott, but he's a defensive tough guy. John Harbaugh, defensive tough guy. The one problem for Miami is their head coach is an offensive guy.

Now they added McFangio. To me, they had a lot of injuries. But like last night, to me, was a toughness clinic because everyone in the NFL is tough, right? Just like any Marine going to the Navy SEALs is going to be a tough guy. But there's a reason most guys don't make it. And there's a big difference between the toughest teams and that next tier. And you saw it last night.

It wasn't, I didn't even think the game was close. Even 16 to 7, I'm like, Miami has no shot to win this game. Yeah, Miami's tackling was really poor. They look cold. They look cold. And I never forget when I got hired in Philly and it got to like November. in December on the sideline pregame, you have so much respect for playing in these games. And that's, I'm talking like 20 degrees where you can't feel your hands.

It's really cold. Once you get to those level temperatures, remember the Seattle, Minnesota game years ago outside, when Cam Chancellor claimed you had frostbite on his foot like two weeks later, the level of mental toughness and focus on top of the talent, it's really hard to focus. And to me, you just saw Kansas City, like, they dropped a couple big plays because their wide receivers, maybe the win threw them off. They were open, you know. And Mahomes, the ball wasn't even that far off. That game could have been, honestly, like 40 to seven. Couldn't it have been? Yeah, I thought, I mean, I really was, I felt like Dallas has lost today. A lot of it was

Jordan Love. And they're just, I'd said it on Friday. I thought, I took Green Bay to cover. I said, listen, Dallas, nobody has three good corners in the NFL. I just think Green Bay has too many good people. And so some of that loss was Jordan Love looked like Aaron Rogers. Not that Miami quit, but I thought it was one of the more discouraging efforts. Like the team was literally protecting TWA. I mean, Mike McCarthy wasn't protecting DAC today. Dak is limited. But I thought that was one of those where you fly back. I'm the owner and I'm like, what do I have here? Like it's- you agree under no circumstances you can give them that $220 million contract. Yeah, I've always been I'm just, listen, I have a theory, you know, it doesn't matter what business it is.

You can pay big money, but you have to do it infrequently, and you really have to be sure it's right. It's got to be really glue people or stars. And I think, I don't blame the defensive effort because they were missing six stars, but that offensive effort in the second half, if I'm an owner, I'm like, oh, my coach doesn't trust my quarterback. The hell I ain't going to pay him. I'm writing the checks. There's no way I'm paying him.

So I think what you do if you're Miami, you don't cut to a. What you do is you let them play out next year. And you draft another quarterback, maybe first, second, third. I think they have a lot of pieces. I really do. I think they can score a lot of points.

I don't think they're a Super Bowl team, but I don't think there's a lot of needs. The offensive line needs some attention. They've got receivers, corners. They have edge rushers. They just all got hurt. So I don't feel like,

you know, I kind of feel like it's Denver. If they could get the quarterback right, Miami gets a star quarterback. You went a lot of games with those two offensive coaches. Yeah, they definitely have the infrastructure with the coaches, too, because defensively, with Vic Fangio, it's going to get better as they get better players. It was on full display these first three games, right? C.J. Stroud was in a different world than Joe Flacco, whose Disney movie came to a crashing halt.

And obviously, Mahomes versus Tua, and then today love versus Dack. It really, really matters. You know, it's why the 49ers can manipulate it a little bit because their roster is so good. It would have been hard for Brock Purdy in that situation on the road in Kansas City, right, when you don't have a great arm. But what their team is so good. So when your team's a little flawed and your quarterback is not elite, you can get exposed really quick if your team's a little off.

And Cowboys, the Browns, I mean, the Browns have had an incredible season, but that was the Joe Flacco that we have seen the last five or six years. And the moment you get that type effort, you go home. All right. Well, you could join me later for the Lions, Detroit, but I don't want to. get in the way of your Tito's night. I'm going to pour one right now and watch the lion's Rams. I can't even believe. How about your guy, Jed Fish, taking the Washington job? Well, you nailed the Dubor story. We got Adam Schaefter here. Well, yeah, that one I was told Wednesday

that he, people think he was the second, third, or fourth choice. He wasn't because Saban almost hired the OC from Washington the previous year. So Saban had his eye, and Greg Byrne had their eye on Kalin DeBoer. He was, they called Sark on that, you know, it was out of respect for Sark, but they knew Sark wasn't coming. Sark, Sark loves Texas. Austin's a better place to live, the Tuscaloosa. Sark's got it rolling. The boosters love him. So, perfunctory call, but Kailen Dabore was like their first legitimate guy. So this idea he was second, I was told Wednesday, like, they're going after Kailen Dabor. Jed Fish was interesting. Lance Leopold at Kansas was, they were really interested. It apparently had, I think, a phoneer or a Zoom and blew everybody's socks off.

But Jedfish and Lance Leopold, and then it came down to Jed. Jed now, Jed will be able to assemble an offensive unit very quickly. And that's a big part of it. Washington has lost most of their offense transfer portal. They only, you know, they've got a decent NIL collective, but not huge. So Jed Fish can keep them afloat very quickly. I mean, I would say the offense for Arizona is better today than Washington. So he's going to have to rebuild it. But Washington, I think we both agree, is a better job. There's more money in the athletic department.

Yeah, you go into the Big Ten. I mean, it's going to get three or four teams every year in the 12th team playoff. The Big 12 is going to get one. Yes. They're going to be a one-bid league. The other thing is, Jed, the guys, he has, you know, he was going to have a top 15 team coming back. Those guys can transfer if they want to go join them.

So some of his talent can follow in there. To me, how about Alabama? They tried to get Ryan Grub last year to be Sabins-O-C. now they get Ryan Grubb and Dubor with Saban retiring. So what a what a coup for Alabama. Now the cultural fit, my theory has often been, where you're from really matters. You know, Kirby,

Jimbo, Daabbo, think the guys that Nick's from West Virginia, the Northeast guys, obviously the West Coast guys, but there are outliers. As someone in the league told me, winners win and Urban was a good example. He'll win no matter what. And Dubour might be that. And his resume would say he's going to win no matter where he's coaching. Yeah, I don't think, I think he'll win.

And he's not a great recruiter. And so I think he feels like the South and the brand. Washington's hard to recruit to. There's not a lot of players, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Alaska. There's not. There's maybe eight high-end Division I players in all those states combined. So I think the feeling is DeBore is like this brand sells. The state's got 30 Division I players. The region has 200. And so, and because Robster is loaded. Loaded. So I think DeBore looks at this and thinks it's just an easier place to recruit. And by the way, with the NIL transfer portal. Recruiting is now a pain in the butt. It's more difficult than ever. So Alabama's

one of those four or five jobs. Even bad USC and Texas teams usually have players. Oklahoma always has. Ohio State always has players. All right, good stuff. John, as always, money. Okay, see you. 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 helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and

friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.