The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Prime Cuts: Madden Stories with Sam Farmer, Cowboys Playoffs with Matt Mosley, Tom Curran on Mac's Struggles

Episode Date: January 1, 2022

It's the best of The Colin Cowherd Podcast! First, it's top takes of the week, including how one of John Madden's cornerstone beliefs would benefit today's coaches (3:00), and what Dak Prescott and Baker Mayfield have in common, and their biggest difference (8:00). Then, L.A. Times NFL Writer Sam Farmer shares some of his favorite personal interactions with Madden (18:00). NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots insider Tom Curran reacts to Mac Jones's struggles in a loss to the Bills, and how much longer Belichick will coach (28:00). Cowboys writer Matt Mosley examines what looked different about Dak against Washington, and how Dallas stacks up against the Packers in a potential playoff matchup (34:00). Finally, The Action Network's Chad Millman tells Colin if his week 17 Browns/Steelers, and Cardinals/Cowboys picks are "sharp" or "square" (44:00).Make sure to Subscribe and follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Get started now. Sign up. Please use the promo code Colin so they know we sent you. Please use the promo code Colin, C-O-L-I-N. Fandul-Sports book app, sign up. This is Prime Cuts, the best of the Colin Coward podcast, still bringing it during a short holiday week. Matt Mosley reacted Dax bounce back against Washington. look ahead of the potential cowboy playoff matchups.

Tom Curran, great reporter in Boston, inside look on Mac Jones slamming into a rookie quarterback wall. Sam Farmer, great NFL reporter, sharing his most memorable John Madden stories. And as old was Chad Millman, Sharps versus me, a square, week 17 lines. First, though, my top takes of the week. I was thinking about the John Madden stuff. And years ago, I was a minor league baseball announcer. And this is the kind of story I can't really tell on any other platform than this.

So I got a job out of college as a minor league baseball announced for a AAA job with the Las Vegas stars. And I had to sell for about 75% of the year. And then for about 25% of my job was broadcasting one inning a game. And it was worth it because I was going from college broadcasting into AAA baseball, which was one step away from Major League Baseball. and that was my dream when I was like 22 years old. I wanted to be the voice of the Seattle Mariners. Because I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, as many of you know.

And so the first year with the team, I just did sales. And they gave me one or two innings all year. Like less than half a dozen innings all year. Second year I got more innings because I was doing really well in sales. And I almost that first year gave up the broadcasting dream because I thought nobody believes in me. And then finally, a guy named Don Logan was. convincing enough to the guy who owned the team, Larry Kentop, give this kid, he's a good salesman, give him some innings. And I did, and I worked really hard. And I wasn't great, but I was good enough

to get noticed. And the rest is history. Local TV station hired me, KVBC, Channel 3. And, you know, again, a series of breaks, blah, blah, blah. You don't want to hear about my career. But during the time I was a AAA baseball announcer, I was like the number two guy or the number three guy, right? They gave me like three road trips that one year. And I never forget, one of them was Phoenix. And the manager was a guy named Wendell Kim. Nice guy. And I went into the clubhouse because I wanted to do some pregame stuff. And on the wall of the clubhouse, he had like 25 rules. And I remember thinking, who could remember all these rules? And it just all these years later, it's 30 years later, I remember it.

And I'm like, that's too many rules. And when I became a parent, one of the things I quickly realized is that if you tell your kids when they're young, more than two things, if you give them three, they'll forget all of them. So you have to say like, put your plate away after dinner and brush your teeth. You can only go two. If you go to a third and say, eat your vegetables, put your plate away and brush your teeth, they get discombobulated and forget all of them. You can give your kids two assignments. Brush your teeth and put your pajamas on. And that's it.

You go to a third. It wipes everything out. Simplicity is the key. And I always loved John Madden because he had three rules. Show up on time. Listen when you're here and play hard on Sunday. And I remember Pete Carroll telling me this one time when he was at USC. He said, you know, the fewer rules and the less.

you make guys think, the faster they get. You don't want guys thinking on a football field too much. Maybe your center, maybe your quarterback audibling, but you want your best athletes reacting instinctively, pursuing, chasing, catching, running, avoiding tackling. And I think that's one of the things about Madden that always impressed me, is that there's a brilliance in simplicity. And I go back to that minor league clubhouse where somebody had 20 rules in the clubhouse.

And I remember staring at it and thinking, even if you were somebody who liked rules, wouldn't you have the self-awareness to acknowledge nobody could remember 20 rules? You're paralyzing players. Madden had a saying, the fewer rules you have, the fewer rules you have, the fewer rules you can break. And my wife always says this. She has one rule in marriage. And Anne is my wife.

Her one rule is, don't go where you shouldn't go and don't do what you shouldn't do. And that's it. So strip clubs, I have checked those off. No strip clubs for daddy. Not that I was ever hanging at them. But I always thought, what a simple rule. don't go where you shouldn't go as a husband. Don't do what you shouldn't do.

Raps it all in a nice, memorable little package. You know, obviously people are linked to me because I'm in the business of having strong opinions. I don't hold back and I'm not ever terribly concerned how my opinions land for you. I have a right to an opinion. You haven't a right to an opinion on my opinion. And that's where it ends. Baker Mayfield had his worst professional game, standalone national TV game over the weekend.

And I do believe that Andrew Barry, the GM, a really smart, respected guy, has already made his decision on Baker Mayfield. I think they're going to go after Derek Carr, Deshawn Watson. They'll make a run on Russell Wilson. But I just don't think they think Baker is face of the franchise material, beyond playing.

And I'll give you a great example. Dak Prescott of the Cowboys and Baker Mayfield of the Browns have a lot in common because the Cowboys and Browns are essentially the same team. One is on fire and pulling away with a chance to be a number one seed and one is circling the drain. Now think about this.

Dallas has five pro bowlers. Tyron Smith, Zach Martin, Micah Parsons, Trayvon Diggs and Brian Andrew. a punter. Cleveland has five pro bowlers. Two on the offensive line, Wyatt Teller and Joel Betonio, a pass rusher Miles Garrett, a corner Denzel Ward, just like the Cowboys have Trayvon Diggs and a running back Nick Chubb. Both are really built around the run game. Zeke and Tony Pollard, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, both have star volume veteran receivers, great

route runners, Amari Cooper and Jarvis Landry, both, as aforementioned, elite corners. Trayvon Diggs, Denzel, both have standouts at left tackle who have missed games this year, Tyron Smith and Jedrick Wills, Jeremiah Owusu Coromoa for the Browns is not as lively athletically as Micah Parsons for Dallas, but both serve the same purpose, a hyper-athletic rookie linebacker. Both have above-average defenses, offensive-minded head coaches, charismatic billionaire owners. They're on high-profile, often discussed teams. The difference is, Dak Prescott has much better judgment. There is no constant agitation calling out his medical staff, talking about turmoil between he and the coaches, which doesn't exist. Baker did that two

weeks ago, just look at their off-field judgment and look at their podium judgment and look at their playing judgment. They're essentially both playing for the exact same team. The difference is Dax judgment is better. He's completing this year 69% of his throws. Baker 62. That's judgment. One has 29 touchdowns 10 picks. That's Dack. Baker has 15 touchdowns 11 picks. One is a pass rating over 100. That's DAC. One is a pass rating mid-80s. Both have essentially the same personnel.

I think Nick Chubb is better than both the Cowboys running backs. But I do feel Micah Parsons is better than the Browns rookie linebacker. But if you look at the construct of the Browns and the Cowboys, both quarterbacks essentially are given the same opportunity. the more mature quarterback, the smarter quarterback, the quarterback with the better self-awareness since college is flourishing, and the other is floundering. Baker is constantly looking to prove everybody wrong. He is a risk taker in his private life. I'll leave some of those details out, although I know them. The police video is what we've both seen. Baker is a risk taker at the podium. saying things that are not necessary. He is a risk taker more than DAC on the field. And the truth is in both Baker and Dak Prescott's situations, very similar.

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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, 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 Clifford show on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever 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 Jay. 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 on 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. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine,

Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about

wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person.

Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, IHeartRadio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. Neither needs to be a risk taker. This is a run-first operation in both Cleveland and Dallas. The difference is DAC understand. stands it. DAC audibles out of trouble. Dak puts out fires. Baker starts them. And so we have

a comp for Baker. It's Dak. Look at the pro bowlers. Look at the basis, the foundation, the strength of the team. I don't think I'm tough on Baker Mayfield. I think I'm brutally honest. I think Dallas waited and waited on Dak because he was not a spectacular. arm talent, but ultimately made the decision to sign him up long term for the big bag because of his intangibles. I think Cleveland is waiting, waiting, and waiting on Baker because he isn't a big-time arm or athletic talent. He won't get any bag due to his lack of intangibles. Auto done easy. That's Driveways' three-word game. Driveway makes buying a car online easy, and their nationwide inventory superb.

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More than a store, Shopify grows with you. Go to Shopify.com slash Colin, all lowercase. Shopify.com slash Colin for a free 14-day trial, full access at Shopify's entire suite of features. Shopify.com slash C-O-L-I-N. And we're live here outside the Perez family home just waiting for the... And there they go. Almost on time this morning. Mom is coming out the front door strong with a double-armed kid carry.

Looks like Dad has the bags. Daughter is bringing up the rear. Oh, but the diaper bag wasn't closed. Dipers and toys are everywhere. Ooh, but Mom has just nailed the perfect car seat buckle for the toddler. And now the eldest... daughter who looks to be about nine or ten has secured herself in the booster seat.

Dad zips the bag closed and they're off. Ah, but looks like mom doesn't realize her coffee cup is still on the roof of the car and there it goes! Oh, that's a shame. That mug was a fam favorite. Don't sweat the small stuff. Just nail the big

stuff. Like making sure your kids are buckled correctly in the right seat for their age and size. Learn more at nhtsa.gov slash the right seat. Visit nhtsa.gov Slash the right seat. Brought to you by Netsa and the Ad Council. All right. Let's bring in Sam Farmer, who for years and years before I lived in Los Angeles, I read Sam, and he's incredibly well connected and is active because he's always posting pictures hiking around Pasadena.

And that's why I look so young and he keeps his mind fresh. So I only interviewed Madden one time. And I'm from a very dark, bleak, gray place in America called Gray's Harbor County on the coast. to Washington. And he coached at Gray's Harbor. The chokers, that was their name. Not because they lost leads in games, it was a wrestling term choking out chokers. And I asked him about it once in my one interview, and he had a steel trap for a memory.

He could remember anything. Do you remember the first time you either met John Madden? I'm sure there were several times. and what your impression was of him in person, not on TV? I'm trying to think of our first meeting because I would have seen him at I was a Raiders beat writer from 95 to 2000, so I would have seen him at practice. You know, probably my first extended period one-on-one with John was the first season of Sunday night football. football in 2005 or six, I was in the booth with John and Al and sat with them in Carolina

for a whole game. I almost walked in front of the camera once coming out of a timeout, out of a commercial. And, you know, I kind of feel the way, you know, I'm thinking about my son meeting him for the first time. My son, who was a young boy, played a lot of madden. He didn't even realize he was a real person. He thought he was a virtual creation or a hologram. So I saw John and I said, will you go say hello to Thomas? My son, he tapped him on the shoulder and Thomas turned around and his jaw just dropped. I'm trying to think of what my first impressions of John were. I guess just that he was such an approachable, a regular guy,

and that's what I wrote about today. He really made an effort to, I'm probably not putting it the right way, but put himself on your level and not put himself above you and make you feel like you were at the feet of John Maddenor at the feet of this NFL icon. he tried to relate to you and said relatable things. I remember him telling me one time I was with John and Virginia, his wife, and Virginia was kind of haranguing him a little bit. I was just gently nudging him about his habit of feeding the dogs the freshly cut deli meat out of the fridge.

And I just felt that's so relatable because I've gotten, my wife has gotten pissed at me about that. about, you know, wait, it's salty. It's not good for the dogs. We spent a lot of money, you know, buying this stuff. So I'm really not giving you a good answer here because I do feel like this sort of collage of memories of John. And it's really picked up in the last couple of years, mostly texting back and forth.

And that happened probably, oh, once or twice a month. for the last two years that we've sort of gotten to text exchanges about various players. But I don't know that I can put my finger on exactly how I felt the first time I met him. Eric Shanks, my boss at Fox, CEO, he called him to the very end. He said, Eric said, you know, he taught me about TV a lot. John was a good idea guy. Eric said he was very observational about stuff, very observational. incredibly yeah i mean that's that was sort of the thing i mean talked and eric obviously was his assistant

for a long time i believe sandy montag his agent also was this assistant yes um john had these it was very seinfeldean if that's a word i mean his ability to and i and i talked about a couple of those things today how you know um vini row who's a production assistant um uh in on Monday night football, they were at production meeting in Philadelphia, and they sent out Vinnie Rao to get sandwiches. And he brought back 20 of these anemic, pathetic-looking cheese steaks. And the whole thing was like, how could you find a bad cheese steak in Philadelphia? But he did it.

And he brought back 20 of them. And John immediately turned to Fred Godelli and said, don't ever send a skinny guy out for food because skinny guys don't appreciate food. They don't know about food. And the other thing, I was talking to Troy Eggman, this was, it just so happened that this was a couple of weeks ago we were talking. And we were laughing about John. One of the things that always struck me about John was he said, you know, fat guys will tie their shoes on the outside of their, the knot on the outside of their foot. Because they can't reach down and center the knot.

And so the heavier you get, the more your bow not migrates out to the side of your foot. And Troy said, that is so funny you'd say that because we were in a production meeting. And John, you know, has his spyglass hat on and he's kind of hunkered down. He looks down a lot. And the production meeting was a lot of Troy and John, I've been in one of these things asking the questions. and Bob Stenner, who was a producer, John's producer for a long time, mentioned that and that human observation. And Troy said, I, out of my side of my eye, I look over at John, and I noticed that his

shoes are tied on the outside of his seat. He said, John, John is looking down, looking at his feet as Bob Stenner is saying this. And then kind of looks up and he and Troy meet eyes and then Troy just bust some like he said, he said, John, you could tell, just hoovered up that observation. And then John used it all the time and he talked about. So he was a collector, two of those things. He would make incredible observations about people and ask these questions. I remember that Monday night game, him going around.

It was a Packers play in the Panthers. And John had gone down to the field. And his mission was his self-appointed. admission was to find out what different players had on their iPods that they were listening to. And that's just sort of like the weird quirkiness of John and the things that he liked. I'll tell you, one of the really cool things that I've ever done, the Monday Night Football thing was cool. But in 2009, I think it was. eight or nine.

I went up to Pleasanton as part of a direct TV thing. Yeah. Got to be a fly on the wall. Had dinner with six quarterback dads. And some of the guys had two kids in the league. So it was like Archie Manning, obviously two guys, two quarterbacks in the league, Matthew Stafford's dad, Drew Breese's dad, Don Hasselbeck, Bill Palmer, Carson Palmer's dad. Anyway, great group of dads.

And I got to be the fly on the wall. And John sent us to a steakhouse in Flesington that night. And we just sat around and I just absorbed everything in this conversation of these dads talking. And then in the morning, John brought the Madden Cruiser around and picked us up at our hotel and took us to his studio, which is like a big airplane hangar. I don't know if you were into that. No.

And then had setups for us, lazy boys. for each of us. With John sort of had like kind of a wooden throne in the middle of these things. And it was a giant, if you could imagine, I called it in the story, Turduckingham Palace, because it was like this huge movie screen,

cinematic movie screen, surrounded by smaller, like 60-inch TVs. And then he had a DJ there. And John would just say, put the Raiders on screen one. He had a chart, like a little menu, a laminated menu. He'd say screen on Raiders and the guy would switch it over.

And any time the operative was never a commercial, which I always thought was funny because he made it such a fortune on being a pitchman, but he never wanted to watch a commercial. But just watching with these quarterback dads, these guys who wouldn't ordinarily, wouldn't ordinarily do anything but watch the kid on Sunday. They would never leave the house. they wouldn't have friends around or whatever,

but just to be in the presence of John Madden and to be with each other watching their kids play and rooting their kids on. And in this particular weekend, strangely, nobody was playing each other. I did this another year when Archie was playing, when Peyton was playing, Doug Smith, Alex Smith.

So we had Doug Smith and Archie sitting next to each other and the kids are playing each other. But anyway, it was just, so cool and to be around John and his enthusiasm for football. And I'm rambling here, but I just, I feel sort of flooded with memories. He's one of my absolute favorite people. I rely on about a half dozen NFL reporters. And when I used to live in the Northeast, I thought Tom Curran, NBC Sports Boston, was as accurate, as smart, as connected as anybody there. And so I never like to bother him. But I got to bring him on about twice during the football season.

So your column after the Patriots lost to the bills was Josh Allen's bills expose a hard truth in stopping the Patriots. So I'm not going to give it away. Tell everybody what the hard truth is. The hard truth is that as nicely as Mack Jones has fit into the Patriot system and into the NFL, the Patriots got beat by a team that has better players and its best player took over. And the Patriots had no answer. And I don't know if a lot of teams would have had an answer for what Josh Allen was doing yesterday. I mean, that was a Jordanesque, a Curry-esque, a look, we got our hand in his face

and he's still making the shots. What else do you want to do? And people don't really talk about that column with the NFL, but this was kind of a tip-your-cap performance by him. You know, listen, I'll say again what I felt about Mack Jones. Low ceiling, but because of the infrastructure in New England, we would see... 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-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, 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 Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, Follow at Clifford and a 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 Jek. 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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you 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 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field

and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines,

is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. His best game quicker than Justin Fields,

Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance, we know very early what he is and what he isn't. So in the last three games, he's one and two, in the last two games where he's trailed in the second half,

he's completing 50% of his throws. And, you know, Tom, I was saying this on my show that by the time you get to week 15, 16, 14, 15, 16, everybody's seen your shit. You're not fooling anybody on schemes. And the teams that are now flourishing have guys that can make plays off the script. It's that simple.

And I look at this New England offense and I'm like, listen, you can fool people and you can out scheme them. But those days kind of feel like we're done with that now. Now it's the playmakers. And I have real questions about New England going forward. Do you? I don't think that Mac Jones is necessarily. the root cause. I think he will end up being the answer to the question as to how did you capable replace Brady. But, you know, on a day like yesterday, and that's why the Patriots,

when they elevated to the number one seat, and I said they were the most consistent and trustworthy team in the AFC was because they were playing so well in all three fronts. But if the defense is not returning the ball to the offense frequently enough, and you get in this panic mode, And that's what you're going to be looking at because Kendrick Bourne was only out there for 30 plays he had COVID all week. But regardless, the bills were overwhelming the Patriots. And it just, look, here's the interesting thing, Colin about Matt Jones. He wins the national championship in Alabama after a, you know, I guess an arduous 2020 season. Then he competes to rise in the draft for the next three or four months.

That whole process is exhausting. gets here, gets waterboarded with their entire system, retains it, stares down a former MVP with a huge personality in Cam Newton, goes through the Brady game, goes to the Dallas game, goes through a seven-game winning streak. This kid has been, I kept saying he's so resilient. He's bouncing back. Is he going to hit a wall or is this kid just a robot?

I think he's starting to hit a wall. It's not making an excuse. Too bad, so sad. That's the way it is. but he's making some mistakes that are inexcusable in some of the throws. We had a delay a game on the first drive last week. And some of the throws, Colin, are just so scattershot that you're like, this isn't the same guy. But last thing I'll say, mixed in, you see some very capable plays what you would like to see from a guy in his third with their fifth year,

understanding where guys are, stepping up in the pocket, throwing with accuracy. It's just at some of those ass plays that we didn't see before, they're showing up. How long do you think Belichick coaches? Do you see a guy that is still completely, absolutely, emotionally embedded and enjoying the work? Do you see that? Do you sense that on a press conference to press conference basis? Yeah. He amazes me.

I mean, he's got 15 years on me and the energy level to do, you know, he coaches the game yesterday. He gets up. He does 630 W.E.I. up here. And he does an 8.30 conference call with us. not that those are the most engaged portions of the day, but he's already probably been there since 5.30 after a 1 o'clock game that he probably got home at 9 o'clock from.

And he's 69 years old, pushing 70, and he's going to be out there in the field, in the cold, twirling his whistle. He's remarkable. He really is. And I don't think he's sick of it. You know, it's amazing. So I would say three more years,

just to be reasonable. But he's got control of Mack Jones for three more years. the team has drafted well in the last two years. They've signed some free agents who are going to be good for a couple of years. I think he'd probably like to see at least close to not the fruition of where Mack Jones is in five years, but I don't think he's interested in going someplace else. He doesn't, he's a good golfer, but he doesn't play. I just don't think he's anxious to go someplace else to the next thing.

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face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not enough people know about and we're here to change that. I'm April Dinnwity host of the new podcast, Navigating Adoption, presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts. Visit Adoptuskids.org slash podcast or subscribe to

navigating adoption presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council. You know, I was saying this today. If you look at the Cleveland Browns and the Dallas Cowboys, it's a lot of the same stuff. Two pro bowlers in the O line, veteran high volume receiver, quality tight ends, two excellent running backs, a star corner, an elite pass rusher, a rookie linebacker who is outperforming, Mike is better, outperforming expectations. The difference is one quarterback is pulling down his franchise. DAC is distributing, doing a Chris Paul and elevating it. And I was thinking about the criticisms of DAC this year that he won't go downtown.

He won't throw it deep. And I thought, I'm watching this game. And I can't compare it to Chris Paul. I got Devin Booker to the right. I've got bridges on the outside. I've got a deep bench. I've got D'Andre Aiton inside for the lobs. I can give you 14 and we win by 11.

I don't need to give you 29. I don't need to shoot threes. And I watched Dak yesterday and I thought, you know, he's really figured out he knows exactly where to go with the ball. If you look at his home and road splits, he makes virtually no mistakes at home. He makes no bad throws at home. And it was just, not just because they won, but I just kind of appreciated Dak's self-awareness. He's looking at this talent going, I don't have to. to score 29 a night.

I can go 14 points and 13 assists, and we win easily. And I think that's why when he went into that funk, it seemed so weird to us that he was like making poor decisions to the point. Like every certain other quarterbacks, Baker or whoever, we don't immediately go, he must be hurt, he must be hurt. I think you're right, to your point, Dak can be so on point usually that when he's not, we're like, wrong. Okay.

And even last night, you could tell NBC was ready to show all these shots they had of, look at his foot, look at his weight transfer, look at his back foot. And it was like, well, we've got all these things. We might as well show them. Well, the guy's 20 for 22. I mean, something's going, something's going right. But I think, I think it's a good, I think it's a really fair point to say, yeah, he sometimes, now, where he gave you last night that you haven't seen in a while

and what makes you think he is feeling better is, and we've always sort of known he might, even though he doesn't admit it, we've sort of thought he wasn't physically right. He took off a couple of times. Now, it wasn't as beautiful as watching Kyler, even as Josh Allen, who on fourth down, is jukeing people, running over people. it wasn't that, but it's enough. It's enough to make him a threat. And then how about when he extended that one play, and he pointed, it's like, you know,

a schoolyard football head on down the field, Gallup, and he made that play. That's sort of the old deck. And that's why, man, this is why it's so exciting. The NFL is so great right now. I only can think of one team that I would say, I would think the Cowboys, I just, wouldn't give them much of a chance against impartial part of it's because of that environment going into lamo but everybody else i mean i my cowboys are as good as anybody you know it's really interesting matt i i was talking about the packers on the show a couple days ago so something that vegas

cares about is it's much more fun to watch a boxer with a knockout punch whether you love tyson or George Foreman or Ollie in his prime, they were much more dynamic than Larry Holmes, who was the king of the jab, is that Dallas take out the Denver game. Dallas either wins, but they often win like a Buffalo or a Tampa or a Kansas City. They can blow you out.

They can embarrass you. Green Bay's point differential is plus 59 this year. It's 11th in the league. 43 of the 59 is two wins over the Bears and won over the Lions is that Green Bay is not finishing off teams. The fact that Cleveland, threw four picks in Lambo,

220 left, Cleveland's going for the win. I watched, I went and I went and did some digging. The Packers are 31st against the run yards per carry. You can attack, I honestly believe,

Dallas, the Rams now. with Cam Acres Sony Michelle. San Francisco. If Leonard Fernette comes back. Green Bay has got to me, Matt, a hole. You can own time of control. Cleveland is a great...

Cleveland is Dallas. If you look at their pro bowlers on offense, an offensive coach, interior, pro bowl linemen, left tackle, struggle to stay healthy, two good backs, volume receiver, capable tight ends. I think Dallas matches up okay with Green Bay. I really do.

And a much more athletic defensive front. The only thing I would say to that is something you let off with. The splits at home, the Cowboys are unbelievable. And it's just not, the offense is not traveling. Now, the defense is capable of traveling. But what I'm saying is, Dak has to show that he can do it in those sorts of elements. And what he's shown is that in the 72 degrees of Jerry World, that he's extremely comfortable.

I don't, I mean, we can look at Josh Allen, we can look at Tom Brady, we can look at Aaron Rogers. We know they are all built to win in the cold. Mahomes can do it because Kansas City is actually a cold weather place. You know, it gets crazy cold there. I don't think we have a great feel for DAC in that environment. Now, to your point, could you lean on Zeke and Pollard? Maybe so. And those tight ends.

And that's why it's, you're right. And George's coming back. Darwin's about ready to come back. And Schultz can take a hit. And he's a really good weapon. He's a nice weapon. I just, I worry a little bit about DAC in those types of environment. And you have to trust what you're seeing.

And this year, what we're seeing is a team that functions unbelievably better at home than they do on the road. Yeah. So if they are able to grab that number two seed, then you can stay at home until you get to the NFC title game. All right, Chad Millman, CCO Action Network. All right, Brown Steelers, interesting, Big Ben's last game. So I expect an elevated emotional performance. Steelers were embarrassed. Elevated emotional performance.

Steelers are home dogs. Mike Tomlin's history as dogs. So Pittsburgh Plus 3 feels like the side. I do wonder, Chad, if I should wait and it goes up. But sharper square first. Let's start with that. Definitely sharp betting the Steelers. You can get the Steelers right now at three and a half.

And this is a massive, massive, pros Joe's game. And what I mean when I say that every single week is you've got the professional letters on one side. So the majority of the money, about 69% of the money, is coming in on the Steelers. And you've got majority of the bets coming in on the Browns. So that's the discrepancy. When you have bets, that's what the public is doing. When you have money, that's what the pros are doing. This has been a pros game all week. It did get bet down to three for about. 24 hours. It's come back up to three and a half because of the public money coming in the Browns. But you're right. I mean, people are betting on the emotion of Ben Ralthusberger's

last game at home of Mike Tomlin being a coach who can rally his troops and put them in the rah-rah Mike Tomlin's spot. The fact that these games in the division tend to end up being around a field goal, a lot of sort of signals playing in your favor here. So the Cowboys are swallowing four and a half against Arizona. Arizona's problems, according to Greg Coe's cell, are that they're not handling pressure in man-to-man coverage particularly well. The cowboys create pressure and play the most man-to-man coverage in the NFL. So I think Dallas at home wins. I do worry about teams that win easily. Games over by half can lack the intensity and urgency the following week. So my guess is the sharp play is Arizona.

My play is Dallas minus four and a half sharper square. You're playing both sides of it and the wise guys are kind of playing both sides of it too. I can't give you a definitive sharper square on this. The game was at six and it got bet down to four and a half. And then when it got to four and a half with the Cowboys favored by four and a half points, it got bet bad up to six. And I think a lot of people, a lot of wise guys, as they've done the research this week, similar to what Greg talked to you about, and Greg's amazing, and I always love when he's on

your show, is Kyler especially, Kyler Murray on third down, is just struggling without DeAndre Hopkins. And I think Cliff Kingsbury, professional betters have always thought Cliff Kingsbury, once it gets to the second half of the season, is a terrible coach. And you can go back to his record at Texas tag. Playing with Patrick Mahomes, awful, awful once you get out of September October. And it's proving to be true again. What he did in that game last weekend, the decision decision-making he had on that Saturday night was just dreadful. Even against like the new sort of looks at analytics and how people are thinking about going forward in various spots, just terrible. So you've got Cliff making bad decisions. You've got Kyler Murray struggling on

third downs without Hopkins. It's kind of a game like if you can get the Cowboys at six, I think it's still the right side. If it gets to six and a half or seven, you probably want to skip it. Check us out. YouTube page. Put that little red button, click it, subscribe to us at the Volume Sports plus Instagram rate review subscribe. Talk soon. The volume. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this valentines with

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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.

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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to.

Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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, 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.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.