The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - Harbaugh Sends A Message, Sean Payton Has “Fixed” The Broncos, Lamar Jackson’s Accuracy, Lions Legit, Sharp or Square

Episode Date: November 18, 2023

Colin’s top takes of the week!  Colin explains that Michigan and Jim Harbaugh were sending a message with HOW they won over Penn State (1:50). He points to multiple reasons that prove that Sean Payton has fixed the Denver Broncos (7:00) and that Lamar Jackson’s most “WOW” trait is not his athleticism (10:45). John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” stops by to weigh in on another disastrous defensive performance for the Chargers and the Lions being legitimate contenders to win the NFC (18:33). They also contrast and compare the start of Bryce Young and CJ Stroud’s careers and why Stroud is looking like a superstar while Bryce looks like a bust (26:30)  Chad Millman, Chief Content Officer of the Action Network, stops by for a round of “Sharp or Square,” where they provide the sharpest betting advice for the Week 11 NFL slate. 34:30 - Bears vs Lions 35:56 - Broncos vs Vikings 38:54 - Bills vs Jets 41:03 - Eagles vs Chiefs 42:33- Dolphins vs Raiders   #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. This week on Prime Cuts, Chad Millman, Sharper Square, John Middilkoff on Brandon Staley's Big Flaw are the Lions legit NFC contenders and my top takes of the week.

Jim Harbaugh, and he's done this in his entire career, will send messages. And I know he burns hot. I know he's not perfect. I know he wears people. out. I have said, everybody speeds on the 405 in Los Angeles. You don't want to go 90 sunglasses in a Maserati taunting law enforcement. Did Michigan go over the top? Appear so. But you can't convince me a 1994 rule that none of you knew is suddenly embezzlement and forfeit wins and fire the coach. The other thing that jumped out to me is find me the great college football coaches that have been pristine. Want to go back and look at some of the methods of Bear Bryant or Barry Switzer or Woody Hayes?

Jimmy Johnson was polarizing. Buckeye fans, Urban Meyer. Really? Great coach. Nick Sabin. They wear people out. They're tough. I mean, Pete Carroll, one of the great college football coaches ever.

When he left, there was all sorts of NCAA issues around the program. So I'm not looking for pristine. Okay. In the NFL, coaches have to deal with wacko-impulsive ego-infested owners. And in college football, you've got to deal with needy donors. Los Angeles phone book thick NCAA handbook. You have to deal with 17 hours of practice. Kids are emotional.

They come from all different backgrounds. I think Jim Harbaugh, you can see his coach. is crying on the sideline, enriches coaches, enriches players, elevates young people's lives. And I think that's such an important part of college football coaching, basketball, men's, women's, whatever it is, enriching their lives. But if you're looking for pristine, wrong business. Our churches aren't pristine, okay? Wall Street's not. Silicon Valley is not. College sports is not. A lot of handouts. Folks, for years and years, they were paying players. Now they are legally, right?

That's why it's so balanced now because not just the SEC is paying players. The idea that Jim Harbaugh is the bad guy in all this, all of this is laughable to me. And I also thought about this. The Big Ten sees itself as like, you know, either the most important conference, certainly I'd argue it is, because it's located right in the middle of the country, massive tradition-filled universities, Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin. But it's really become a two-team conference. Penn State, though, doesn't win these kind of games. It's Michigan and Ohio State. And I think Big Ten fans think by adding Michigan, Washington, Oregon, USC, UCLA.

They look at the soft California schools. And then they look at Washington and Oregon as sort of like Oregon plus, Michigan State-ish plus. No, right now, Washington and Oregon have as good coaches as maybe they've ever had. and they are Ohio State. You're adding two Ohio states to the conference. I don't think Big Ten fans get this. Every time Washington has had an elite coach, Don James, national title,

Rick Newheisel, won Rose Bulls, Chris Peterson got to the playoff, Kaelin DeBores, when's the last time they lost? What are they on? Like a 16-17 game-winning streak? Same for Oregon since Phil Knight got involved. Mike Bellotti with Jeff Tedford, number two in the country.

Mike Bellotti with Chip Kelly, blew people out. Chip Kelly Mark Helfrich. get to a natty. And right now with Dan Lannning, I think there's an argument that Oregon's the second best team in the country to Michigan. They're in that Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, Texas class, in my opinion, I'd take him against Texas and Alabama. Not sure I would against Georgia, but it would be close. So the Big Ten, maybe it's the perfect time for Jim Harbaugh to exit if he wins a national championship or even if he doesn't. But the truth is, for him to continue to win

when he's not on the sidelines, it shows the formidable culture that he's built running and just running in the second half. To me, it was a sign to the conference that we will do it our way, that Michigan football, power football, regardless of I'm on the sidelines, will prevail. I wish Maryland and Ohio State the best of luck. But listen, man, if you're looking for pristine, you've got to be kidding yourself. I mean, Buckeye fans, slow down on pristine. Woody Hayes, smackin a player during a game, love Urban Meyer. All sorts of noise when Urban was there. Jim Harbaugh's not the bad guy.

Hey, we all make mistakes. Again, Jimmy Johnson, polarizing, Barry Switzer, Pete Carroll, Lou Holtz. These are not perfect jobs or perfect men. But I loved. I loved. I don't generally root in these games. I just like a good TV product. I loved not only that Michigan won, Harbaugh won, but how they won. I think what you're seeing with Denver is a really well-coached team. Sean Payton was asked to fix Russell. He has. I mean, Russell tonight, 24 or 29, a couple of touchdowns, multiple laterals, a couple of huge long drives late in the game. You got to, to give Russell Wilson credit for that. They don't have a star receiver. Cortland Sutton, Jerry, Judy, mims, no stars. Tide ends, okay, no stars. A couple of nice running backs. Williams, I think, is a good young running back off an injury. No stars. P. Rhine, good backup. There's no real stars on the offense.

And Russell Wilson's probably about 75 to 80 percent of what he was, doesn't quite have the speed, the twitchiness, or the juice. But he still makes really good decisions. He doesn't make a lot of big mistakes. He plays with it himself. Sean Payton has centered the ship. He was asked to fix Russell Wilson. He has. I think this is about what Russell Wilson is. Now, if they had an elite deep threat, I think Jerry Judy's always been disappointing, very fast. The old line's not great, so Russell's not going to have very rarely a lot of time to throw. Tonight he had a 19-yard completion to Jerry Judy. On that play, he had great protection. By and large, though, Russell is getting the ball out very quickly because it's not a great offensive line.

McGlinchy's been kind of a, not a bust, but he's been an suboptimal acquisition at right tackle. So, but I mean, Russell Wilson had 36, 37 minutes time of possession. Sean Payton has fixed Russell Wilson to the level he can be fixed relative to what he has to work with. The defense, it was a mess early. They moved off a couple of older players, one Randy Gregory. They're playing younger players.

It's not a great unit, but they keep things in front of them. Don't let cheap touchdowns over the top. They don't make a ton of mistakes. They have a lot of penalties tonight, but not a lot of turnovers. Buffalo was a mess, meanwhile. And so I think Peyton was in charge of fix the culture, fix the quarterback, get the roster as right as you possibly can. And I think he's done it.

I think he's done it. I mean, the chargers are four and five. The Broncos are four and five. What did Brandon Staley have to fix? Right? What did he have to fix? So Sean Payton comes in, and it takes a while. It took him five, six weeks to get it right.

But I think Denver's as good as they can possibly be, and that's why I liked him tonight. They kind of know what they are. They keep things in front of them. They dominate time of possession. You know, Buffalo, on the other hand, I wrote this down just in the first half. Fumble, interception, three drops, no-run game, and Buffalo Trail. 12-8 at half at home. They were just not prepared to play. So I look at a Buffalo team that has a superstar quarterback, a really star-wide receiver, a couple of star defensive linemen,

and at home felt like they were, I mean, let's be honest. There's an old saying, you lose more games and then you win in the NFL. Buffalo lost that thing tonight. Who was the quarterback, last couple of drives, didn't make any mistakes, kept picking up third downs. I mean, Russell Wilson was 8 for 19 on the road, third down, against the defensive coach Sean McDermott, good defensive front, pretty good. So, you know, if you want to know what coaching looks like, it's not just the coaches that get to the playoffs. Denver, Sean Payton was asked to fix the coaching staff, fix Russell Wilson, fix the culture,

and in the middle of a season, fix the defense. he's done all four. Denver, relative to their talent, is okay. Listen, the smartest guys in the NFL miss all the time during drafts. And I didn't know what Lamar Jackson was going to be. I really didn't know. I don't think anybody did. That's why virtually everybody passed on him. And the Baltimore Ravens got him at the end of the first round. I mean, as good as Russell Wilson was in his prime, everybody passed on him, including Seattle a couple of times. Everybody passed on Brady five times and six in many instances.

So there's no great valor in saying, you know, well, you were wrong on a quarterback. Everybody's wrong. The best GMs in the history of the league are wrong. But, you know, it became very evident very quickly with Lamar Jackson when he started week 11 of year one. He was really a unique talent. And I say this all the time. And I would say this.

I argued with Jason McIntyre today about Brock Purdy. Every great quarterback of my life, there is something that is special. And with Brock Purdy, there's not. He throws a good ball, not a great ball. There's no wow. With Lamar Jackson, I don't get the critics. I just, I don't get it. When you watch him, he had a couple plays in the first half, one in the second half. It was incomplete. He threw a ball deep into the end zone. It was caught, but out of the end zone. His escapeability, his ability to move to his left or his right and keep his eyes downfield. His ability to throw accurately deep when he's running. Lamar Jackson just doesn't play. play the game like anybody else. And, you know, when he first broke into the league, the knock was, well, he doesn't play well from behind. For the record, almost nobody does, you know, outside of Patma Holmes, almost nobody has a winning record playing from behind if they played, you know, at least 50 starts in their career. And now the knock is, well, he can't keep a lead. So we know

he can play from behind. I can't hold a lead. He can hold a lead. A lot of that's on the defense. You know, his turnovers are up this year. He can be frenetic. He can play a little bit too fast. But just ask yourself, Herbert, size, wow, arm strength, wow. Josh Allen, Mahomes, Burroughs accuracy. If your quarterback doesn't have any, wow, that was the knock on C.J. Strout. He was big enough. He was accurate.

But it was sort of his comp was Jared Goff. And I had said with Goff, and I still say it, there's not a lot of juice with Jared Goff, but he's really good. And that's C.J. Stroud. His it is his ability to see the field very quickly, recognize and throw the ball accurately. Burrow and C.J. Stroud have the same wow. And it's the ability to accurately throw a football from 45 yards in with dead eye accuracy. That is wow. Drew Breeze's wow was accuracy. Like through a tire from 30 yards, you know, regularly over and over and over. Your wow doesn't have to be size or speed or arm strength. It can be just Drew Breeze, Joe Burrow, C.J. Stroud accuracy. That there's just not that many people can just drop a ball over linebackers in front of safeties, 28 yards, on a dime every time. But Lamar's just jumps off the television set. Like when I watch him, I'm like, yeah, I didn't know how it would work. But if you're still denying it, I don't know what you're watching. The guys won 78% of his games. This is the first year he's had good receivers. He's got a good tight end, but he's had running back injuries and O-line injuries and Ronnie Stanley. And I think the guy's just incredibly special. In the NBA, the games can change in an instant, but no matter how the action unfold. Do you know that Draft King's Sportsbook has you covered?

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A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clipper 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 is. isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the

iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Former NFL scout. He's on the volume. One of our faves, John Midlokov joining us. So let's start with something that I know irritates the hell out of both of us. The Chargers gave up 533 yards and about eight and a half yards of play to Jared Gough in the Lions, who by the way were off a by. I thought it was my favorite bet of the week. It was a push. It was at minus one Monday. But by Friday, I get blazing five. I got minus.

three, but listen, this is not an easy team to defend, although Baltimore did it. They were off a buy, but the ease in which Detroit scored quickly in the second half, Derwin James, and I say this all the time when I watch a coach, do your players get better? We tend to think that good players in the NFL, like they're set, like they can't be coached. Derwin James, between the penalties, getting beat, and obviously he can be sporadic in terms of availability. I don't think Derwin James, I wouldn't resign him. I mean, I like him, but I wouldn't pay a safety that anymore, what you have to pay, Herbert. I am just, it's, John, at some point we have to acknowledge, I like Jared Gough. I like this whole line.

They're not eight and a half yards of play good, right? I think the defining thing of the Brandon Staley tenure so far as the defensive coordinator, while he's the head coach, he calls the defense, has been in big spots, guys are wide open. And I think as a coach, it doesn't matter what you know. And guys like Brandon Staley, I'm sure on a whiteboard, just like Josh McDaniels, who was fired last week, knows a lot. Like their football knowledge, understanding every yard, every landmark where everyone's supposed to be, what you're supposed to do against this, if this happens, do your players know?

That's what coaching is. That's what separated Belichick for 20 years. His players always knew what's a new. Andy Reid now with Mahomes. the player for his whole career, but now they've gone up a level that he has the quarterback. And you watch Brandon Staling that last drive, the first play, tie game, guys wide open goes for 40 yards. And then ultimately they get in field goal position because of that play.

And I think it's always going back to the playoff game. What happened against the Jacks? They had an enormous lead. And then blown coverage, blown coverage. And listen, most guys aren't Dion Sanders, Derell Revis. D.Bs are there. They get plays made on them. Football's hard.

But when no one's around you, that's the problem with USC's defense the last couple years. Like there's not even a soul around. This can't be normal. You know, and I think that's the Brandon Staley ultimately is undoing because Herbert today had a little bit of a muscle flex. Like this is the reason I'm 170, 180 million dollar quarterback. Keenan Allen's been fantastic this season, clearly playing injured. You can't have a quarterback at that level.

Like you said, Jared Goff resurrected his career. Everyone has a lot of respect if you like football for what he's done. but Herbert's on a different level, but his defense is just better. Yeah, Quentin Johnson had a touchdown today, which is big for the Chargers. And I call the Chargers and asked him, they're like, we really like him. But the TCU offense was different than the Chargers' offense completely, and we're asking a lot of our receivers. That's why even Palmer, year two, year three, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, they've been in the system. Gerald Everett, this is a hard offense.

We at Kellan Moore now. We introduce a new offense. So I was happy to see that happen. Yeah. And I think, you know, people can believe what they want about quarterbacks. I mean, Jordan Love had two picks today, lost, and people will say, oh, he made some great throws. You know, Justin Herbert was throwing dimes all over the field loses, and people will say he's overrated. I felt today, I mean, the Spanos family and Tom Telesco have been frustrated.

I mean, I could tell you that, that with some of what's gone on, great disappointment and the money spent on the money spent on defense and the inability for it to make stops. But I thought today, I thought, I mean, Herbert marched down the field. Doesn't have Mike Williams, doesn't have that offensive line. I thought he was stupendous. You know, it's funny. I told you this. Obviously, there's a communicate, we don't think Brandon Staley's a dumb guy. There's a communication gap between Brandon and the players. When you get Mike Vrable, Dan Campbell, an Andy Reid, and Mike Tomlin, there's almost a physical presence. Or with Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh,

sort of a legendary presence. They're like almost brands. With Brandon Staley, he's a smart guy. Is he willing to confront a player? He's a smaller guy. Is he willing to confront a player? Is he willing to bark? Is he willing to use volume?

Because I don't understand how you can have veteran players an older expensive defense in the wrong spot. Is he willing to call players out? And by the way, Vrable is, Tomlin is, Pete is, Harbaugh is. That part of this whole thing is connecting. I mean, I know guys, Greg Olson told me Pete Carroll's meetings, you didn't make a sound. There was reverence toward Pete. Andy Reed, he will bark at Mahomes.

He's intimidating. You know, Spolstra, Kerr, these guys will snip. They'll get after you. Staley to me is sort of this intellectual to players respect him. They may know he's smart, but a lot of times, John, I've had bosses. They're smart. It doesn't connect with me. And that's what I wonder.

There was a famous story when I worked in the Eagles office about Andy and a high draft pick at offensive line. This would have been the mid-2000s, basically getting in a shoving match. I don't know if it lasted that long, but Andy's enormous. This offensive lineman, a tackle enormous, and the whole place kind of moved, right? The whole building. And you bring up Steve Kerr. Think how Steve is perceived on the outside, very progressive, liberal, outspoken, feels like he resonates with a certain crowd.

Yet from a sports crowd, he's famous for fighting Michael Jordan. He had a historical knockdown dragout with Draymond once upon a time in Oklahoma City that went public, a ton more that are not public. And part of it, like you said, is Brandon Staley really willing? You've got to be confrontational. It's part of the sport. And it's the football in general is probably the most uncomfortable of a mall because of the power coaches yield, right?

You know, in basketball, some coaches, not everyone has Steve Kerr or spolestress pull, but in football, the head coach can always bench a player at any moment, or he's in charge. Even if you work for Jerry Jones, the coach has a lot of pull over you, and you watch Brandon Staley like, are players intimidated by this guy?

And nothing ever changes. And listen, I have nothing personal against the guy. People think I hate him. I just, you know, I've just watched his thing over and over. Now, the one thing I read flagged is, you know, the media is not that difficult to deal with. If you just call them by their first name,

you can get on their grid graces. He was good at that. And that was the phony element. I saw it with the San Francisco Giants with Gabe Kapler. Because ultimately, if you win or lose, who cares what they think about you? That's what you're paid there to do. And he's just struggled at that.

And now, you know, this year's been hanging on by a thread. And when you have this quarterback, there's a couple players, I think, that are pretty polarizing, who are pretty good. Trevor Lawrence and Justin Herbert. And I think I got a couple texts today about Trevor Lawrence. We're like, yeah, you know, there's some intangible stuff.

I wish he had a little more of. I think he can be a little overrated. One guy I never hear that from. I don't care. It could be the Chiefs, the Eagles, or just other random teams. Everyone supports Justin Herbert as a player. He is not polarizing internally in the NFL.

Good teams, bad teams, middle of the road teams, everyone stamps. This guy is a baller, right? He's in that crew of what gets universal agreement. And, you know, you wasted his rookie contract. Now you're paying him big money. Luckily, the way football is he can play at this level for a long period of time, but the time is now. I mean, what are we doing?

Whether it's Jim Harbaugh, whether it's, I don't know exactly who the coach is, but you have to upgrade. It's not even debatable. I want to talk about Bengals, Houston Texans, because this was a spot. This is one of the bets I should have taken. I should have taken Houston plus the point. Everybody told me to take this because, you know, Cincinnati had beaten Buffalo, Ravens next. And this is that classic sandwich game, is that I don't want to hear. hear any excuses for Daniel Jones. I don't want to hear it for Jordan Love or Kenny Pickett.

I watched every snap of that thing today. C.J. Stroud is so accurate, so impressive. He had a bad pick, very much like Andrew Luck, shrugged it off, had zero effect, very short memory. And listen, we all know Burroughs great. But I got to tell you something, when I watched C.J. Stroud, that was a real moment. That is a better roster on the road. bad pick, bounced back, march down the field with no time left.

Now, if Boyd could catch, maybe it's a different outcome. But I got to tell you, John, I looked at him. You know, it's funny,

his comp was Jared Goff with a little more mobility. Well, if I told you, you know, if you think about that, that's like, well, hell,

if Goff had mobility, it'd be like a top eight quarterback. I know, right? 100%. So I watched Stroud, and I'm just like, I'm sold.

I mean, I, today was just like, that last drive, It's like, man, I am sold on him. Well, you and I have been talking about it all season long. The separating factor, what makes guys have success that are drafted high or not, their ability to layer those throws.

It's not the Brett Far of 70-yard on a rope, you know, into double coverage. Most guys can't do that. Can you layer the throw over an underneath defender, whether it's a corner or a linebacker, and then a safety behind them and put it in there? And a lot of guys can't. Most guys can't. And most guys can't consistently do it. this guy does it with ease.

And let's face it, with the Thursday night game, with Bryce on display and this, when I got out of football and went to radio and started going to a lot of baseball games and basketball games, and I knew this being so many NFL games. But the importance of size in pro sports, the outliers of small guys is so small. Like, Steph Curry is considered a small guy. Steph Curry's 6'4. And now he's jacked. Like, he's not that small.

He's not Isaiah Thomas. You know, he's not as small as you think. Listen, I'm six two. I'd be like the fifth tallest president in the history of the country. And I've been around Steph Curry twice. He's bigger than me and 15 pounds heavier. I remember going to Giants baseball games seeing Hunter Pence and Madison Bumber and the size of these guys. And you see Bryce Young, I just don't see how that's going to work.

He is so small. It's one thing to be. Kyler Murray small. But he's 220 pounds and he's faster than every guy on the field. So he has things that he can hang his hat on. Even today, I'm watching some of his highlights. I don't know if he's 100%, but he's still faster than everyone in the Atlanta Falcons. Bryce shows not that fast, doesn't have a great arm, and he weighs 170 pounds.

And when Javon Hargrave or some of these defensive linemen fall on you, there's no way to just get back up. You watch CJ Stroud, he's big, he can move, and throwing is the easiest part of this game. It just comes, like, I don't even think it's that debatable. I'm not trying to, we're only in November. The Texans wouldn't even pick up their phone call if they try to do a trade. How would Carolina not have a redo on that? And is that just David Temper forcing it? Because I'd say the Houston Texans, who also really like Bryce Young, sometimes you need

a little luck. Hell, the chargers would have taken to him. He's on your team. That's all that matters. They should be doing cartwheels that this guy, the way it all played out fell to them because I don't see any chance Bryce Young could be like a quarter of as good as this guy. Well, and also Ohio State has a history. Think how great Ohio State football has had and they've never had a great NFL quarterback.

And part of that is because Ohio State, outside of Michigan, has significantly better talent than everybody in their conference. Alabama's great. Even during their run, LSU, Georgia, stacked. Texas A&M didn't have the coach, stacked. Ohio State faces one game a year, and they out-recruit historically Michigan. So, C.J. Strout, five-star tackle, a lot of time, five-star receivers. Heartline recruits better than anybody in the country at wide receiver. So there's a reason Ohio State, it's not USC, similar. Matt Liner, barely got touched in college. There is a reason.

It's not really living an NFL experience. So C.J. Stroud, my thing was, these Ohio State quarterbacks are talented, but God, they all put up gigantic numbers. But his accuracy is just today he had a couple. And now, it helps. Dimeco Ryan's great coach, Tank Dell. Holy moly, is that? What a pick.

So, like, sometimes you need, he's got juice. Bryce Young has no juice. Bryce Young, Herb Street said it the other day. He goes, they ran one offense. They're transitioning to another, and they have none of the players. So it's going to be really ugly. Some of this for Houston is, they had a very good offseason. They signed in free agency, if you remember, John, some B-level players. And I remember saying on FS1, I was like, they're having it quietly. They picked up about six, seven rotational starters, you know, guys that will play. So then you head on Tank Dell. So I will say CJ's got a little better talent that I think, I think Houston's pretty got some juice.

Don't you think a little bit? For sure. And they've drafted well. They're going to have a ton of money. The Cowboys never have any cash base to sign free agents because Jerry's always overpaying his own guys. If they ever did, people would love to go to Texas in the no state income tax. Houston now, if they can take advantage these next couple years, could have a chance to kind of load up. Make some bold trades.

They got some picks from the Deshaun Watson's thing still coming in. they'd have a chance they got a star coach. I heard what Herb Street said. The only thing I would disagree, because I don't disagree that their offense looks terrible and their lack of talent, but there is a physical characteristic attribute thing at the highest level of pro sports that you go.

It's going to be difficult for them. So even if they get the right offense, they upgrade an offensive coordinator, how they fire frank and get a better coach, when does that, what it looks like to all of us, how minuscule the guy is going to work. Yeah. Even if CJ Stroud,

hadn't been this good, his body type, his movement. We've seen that before. I've never seen anything like Bryce before. And I like Bryce coming out in Alabama. I'm not trying to act like I'm some genius. I thought he was sweet, but it ain't working. And it doesn't even look like it has a chance to. Listen, Fran Tarkington was small, but nobody drafted small guys after Fran.

It's more of a copycat league now. Like that was just a unique player, Georgia, Fran Tarkenden ran around. But there wasn't like seven, eight guys drafted after it. It was six four, six, five, guys that could throw the ball, down the field did not move. The truth is Russell Wilson got Johnny Mansell drafted, Baker drafted, Kyler drafted. He got a lot of these guys drafted. And we've watched, I think fairly, even though Russell over the last three weeks has been better because they've established a run game under Peyton, he's lost his juice. It's just the bottom line is when you're that small in this

league, it doesn't take as many hits. I saw Cam Newton, Ben, age 33. You're like, whoa, that doesn't look anything like it did at 29. So it's like Ben got old fast. Cam got old fast. Josh Allen's got about three more years of this. And he's going like he's going for sure. And he's 6-6-2-60. So I do think with Bryce,

and your point on Tyler is right. For the record, Kyler's been banged up several times. Kyler did not want to run in the playoff game. Like, you know, 5-10 guys don't want to run. Sharper Square, Chad Millman, CCO Action Network. I actually this week, love the lines. And I love dogs everywhere this week.

I'm going, I'm going value shopping because I've been heavy on the favorites for about a month. It's done me okay. You ready to go? I'm ready, brother. Let me hear what you're selling. I don't like the line as much now, but Chicago plus seven and a half at Detroit, lines off a big win. Justin Fields is capable of big plays.

Detroit gives up a lot of them. Lost in that win is that the Chargers marched up and down the field. and had five straight touchdowns at the end. And often very quickly, I would love it at nine and a half. I thought it was second best line of the week. But at seven and a half, I would take the bear sharper square. Totally sharp. Look, you're still getting more than a touchdown.

The line was at 10 on Tuesday. Went to nine, went to eight and a half, went to eight, woke up Thursday morning, 48 hours later. It's at seven and a half. A couple things going on here. One, when it was a 10, a load of inflation. And what I mean is the Lions are now a public team. People want to bet them.

People who don't know anything about football want to bet on the Lions. The same way they used to want to bet on the Patriots, the same way they used to want to bet on the Packers, the same way they still want to bet on the Cowboys, right? So there was inflation. That's why the Wise guys came in and took the 10 and took the 9 and took the 8 and now it's down to 7 and 1 half. That's number one. Number two, divisional matchups. Divisional matchups favor the road team. They favor the underdog.

So when you get that Venn diagram, you want to bet the road underdog. It's a lot of divisional matchups this week. This is one the wise guy spotted right away. This, I'm going to throw my theory at you. I like the Vikings plus two and a half at Denver. Denver, you always talk about lucky. That was the luckiest win in the league this year.

12 man, multiple fumbles, three drop passes. I mean, how many time did the Broncos get a drive starting at the 50 and not give me points? Meanwhile, Buffalo was a bit unlucky, 12th man among them. Minnesota, I think a lot of people think, hey, it's a cute story. Well, it's more than that. Josh Dobbs is effective. He's accurate. Justin Jefferson could come back.

They have an excellent offensive coach. I like their personnel a lot. Two and a half is too much. I think Minnesota is a real team. The Josh Dobb thing, he's more mobile now than Russell. He's accurate. They have better weapons. I know the number's telling me to bet Denver.

I'm going to take Minnesota plus two and a half sharper square. Square. The wise guys are taking Denver. The public is taking Minnesota. You can see this by what's called the reverse line move. You see all the bets coming in on Minnesota, and yet the line continues to go up. It's gone from one.

to one and a half. Before the Buffalo game is at one and a half. After the game, it only went up to two because bookmakers are trying to figure out which way is the public and which way are the wise guys going to go with two teams that are winning in surprising ways. The public came in on Minnesota. The wise guys came in on Denver. So what you're saying about Jop Jobs is totally accurate. But let's look at what Denver has done. Denver has won three games in a row. After that devastating lost to the Chiefs on a Thursday night, Russell Wilson had fewer than 100 yards passing. He had two picks. That was following up a week in which they lost to the Jets in which the game was clinched by Russell Wilson scrambling and then forcing his own fumble by knocking the ball

out of his hand with his own leg and the Jets pick it up and run it back for a touchdown. Since then, they've completely retooled not just this defense, which has been considerably better, but Russell Wilson in this offense, they get him into a position to make a decision faster. They were they were snapping the ball with 10 seconds or less too often. Now they're not doing that. You even saw it last week against the bills. They weren't game-changing

plays except they were plays that didn't cause Denver to lose yardage and lose momentum. It was a simple pass under the first quarter. Russell Wilson, second and one, looks down the field instead of scrambling, instead of trying to find someone deep, he just dumps it off, right?

First down. Very next play. Pass rush is coming up both sides. the middle of field opens. Russell Wilson doesn't hesitate. Sprints for 10 yards. Russell Wilson has 18 touchdown passes second in the league behind Tua. Four interceptions.

Second fewest. Seventh best rated passer against the rush according to PFF. They're a better team right now. Okay, there's a line, and it happens maybe twice a year, that I do not get.

And my instinct is Vegas knows something I don't. and this is the first one this year. The Bills minus 7 against the Jets seems outrageous. Vegas knows. I'm taking Buffalo minus 7. That line makes no sense. The Jets are an awful, awful third down team.

They can't move the chains. Buffalo is incredibly unlucky between drops and penalties against Denver. They were the better team. This line, I thought I guessed lines before they come out. I'm like three? I'm like seven? Buffalo fires a coach, inspired. Everybody's backs against the wall. The country's bailed on them. The city's on their ass. I'm taking Buffalo minus seven here, Sharper Square. So in the same way that CJ Stroud might be a bit of a cheat code, Zach Wilson is the opposite.

In every way, wise guys want to take the Jets in this spot, a much, much better defense, a team in the bills that is fading, they're not even in plus money to make the, or minus money to make the playoffs. They're not favorites to make the playoffs anymore. They're in a real struggle spot, except nobody wants to back Zach Wilson. They just can't find it within themselves to back this quarterback at this number, no matter how big it is. Meanwhile, Josh Allen, historically, in this spot at home, when Josh Allen wins, he covers. That isn't the story this year, right? It's been a lot more of a struggle.

There's zero consensus on this column. Like, you're not going to find any wise guy who's like, oh, my God, I love Josh Allen at minus seven. There are games where they do like big favorites this week. You're on your own on this one. There's nobody who's like, yeah, I got it. There's value on this one. Don't forget, wise guys like to bet where they think they have an edge. they do not have an on-the-field edge against this number.

Finally, Eagles plus three at the Chiefs. Jalen Hertz has beaten 12 straight winning teams. This is weird. I never do this. I think Philly blows them out. I think Philly blows out Kansas City. I think it's one of those games that makes for great sports talk radio on Tuesday. I'm going to take Philly like 3326, 3323, 2323,

physically pushes him around sharper square. Dude, this is the scariest game on the board. I have bet the Eagles. My first instinct on this game, me and Simon Hunter both, professional better Simon Hunter, the co-host of my podcast with me. We looked at this game and we're like,

the Eagles are the better team, right? Like every single way you look at it, they are the better team. And we bet the Eagles. We've heard some wise guys coming out on the Eagles. But what's scary is Patrick Mahomes, this isn't hyperbole, virtually unbeatable in November, December, virtually unbeatable as a favorite of three or less. Andy Reid, great off the by. We're talking about bucking incredibly strong historical trends.

You and I can make an executive decision on this. I'm with you. I think the Eagles are going to cover. But we're not going to find a ton of support from the betting community that is consensus on this. There are games where we're going to get consensus. This ain't one of them. Okay, give me, as you know, there's a game I thought about, I want you to talk me into, and then pull one or two out that I didn't think of.

So the number was smaller earlier, but I think Miami could destroy the Raiders. I think it could be absolutely one of the ugly games of the year. Last week I took Dallas over the Giants. I felt great about it. That thing was over in eight minutes. I think Miami's going to win by three touchdowns over the Raiders. The number is now like minus 13 and a half. I would take the huge favorite, Sharper Square.

100% sharp. That's the play. The reason this number's gone from 11 and a half to 12 to 12 and a half to 13 to 13 and a half in the past 48 hours, West guys are piling on. They're not looking at the Raiders going to, with Antonio Pierce and Aiden O'Connell and thinking, oh, yeah, they got a shot. When the dolphins play bad teams, they blow them out. When they play good teams, they lose.

That's just their MO right now. Maybe one day they'll get better. Maybe one day they'll be competitive with more higher caliber teams. But they blow out bad teams. Look at that Carolina again. Remember Rip Carolina was up by 14? You're like, oh, my God, they got a shot. Before halftime, it was 35, 14.

All right, Millman. That's pretty good. Good to see your back from Dusseldorf or wherever you were at. It was very... Listen, it was Copenhagen. You love Copenhagen. You want to move there. Hagen.

Copenhagen. Thank you for correcting me. Yeah. You know what? You got content. You got class. I don't know about that. All right, buddy. I see you later.

The volume. 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, S&L'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.

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