The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd's Blazing 5: 09/22/2018

Episode Date: September 22, 2018

RJ Bell of Pregame.com tells Colin which of his Blazing 5 picks the wise guys in Vegas agree with and which they don't. Plus, Colin includes a bonus pick for week 3 that was not in his Blazing 5. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. you just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming till he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, everybody. It's time for our Saturday morning, RJ Bell, pregame podcast. I give you my blazing five, then we bring in RJ. But first, in sports, there are smart moves, and then there are moves that are not so smart. throwing a Hail Mary final play of the game down by six that's a smart move but kicking a field goal final drive of the game final play down by five that's not smart same is true when you're hiring there are smart ways not smart ways to get things done job sites that overwhelm you with tons of the wrong resumes is not smart nor is it effective but posting a job on zip recruiter and letting them find the right candidate for you is smart they've got powerful matches technology. And what they do is they scan thousands of resumes. They, at ZipRecruiter, identify the people

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So here we go. Here was yesterday's Blazing Five. That's a hot one. Let's Blaze it up. Fire it up. It's Collins, Blazing Five. Oh, I love this. I get Andrew Luck against Carson Went,

two of the great young quarterbacks in the game. Here's what I wonder, though. Carson Wentz isn't 100%. Does Philadelphia go a little conservative on the game planning? Does Philadelphia not quite give him the entire playbook? By the way, Andrew Luck's got an offensive guy, Frank Reich. Have you noticed right now the Colts? Third down offense, best in the league.

Andrew Luck, 71% best of his career. Finally, as an offensive guy, Andrew Luck's efficiency has improved. And I think Philadelphia is the better team, but I think they go conservative with Carson Wentz's first game back. Listen, I think the Eagles at home probably win this game. But this is six and a half points. Like it, I love it. I'm going to go 26-24 Eagles win, but I will absolutely take the points. Giants at Texas.

Okay, Giants played on TV against the Cowboys. Everybody watched and they were terrible. And so this is what happens in those stand-alone games. Everybody now is like, Giants are terrible. No, actually, Houston's not very good. Houston has 17 penalties for the first couple of games. Their offensive line is the worst or second worst for the Jets in the national football league. In fact, Deshawn Watson's been under pressure for 47.6% of his dropbacks.

That's the highest rate in the NFL. And you may not like the Giants' offense, but actually their defense has been solid. Passing yards allowed, second in the NFL, total yards allowed, six in the NFL. I get six points. Giants are desperate. Historically, giants start slow. I got New York. I'll take the points.

I have them winning outright. 23 to 20. Big Blue. Bengals at Panthers. I think I get the better team. I'm going to take Cincinnati in the points plus three. You know what bothers me this year about Carolina? I love their front seven defensively.

But their opponents have scored a touchdown in all five of their red zone visits. That's that's counterintuitive to me because I like Carolina's defense, but their defense has not been very good this year in certain red zone spots. The other thing is the Bengals going back to last year on a four-game winning streak, and it's been their offense. Andy Dalton's pass-er rating, those four games have been over 105. I'm going to take Cincinnati to go on the road, not an easy one. I think it's very competitive. I'll take the points, 27, 24 outright winner. Packers and Redskins.

I pick an upset every week. I'm going to go Washington plus three. I'm going to pick them to win the game. Again, we're talking about a Green Bay team at home that's like a player or two away from being an O and two against Mitch Trebisky and Kirk Cousins. Now they go on the road against veteran Alex Smith, who doesn't make a lot of mistakes here. I just don't buy into Green Bay. They have no running game.

I saw him last year without Aaron Rogers. They were the Cleveland Browns. And by the Redskins had the number one total defense in passing defense. defense right now in the NFL. Points allowed second, yards allowed first, passing yards allowed first. It's my upset of the week. Washington wins outright at home. Alex Smith, 3028.

Cowboys at Seahawks. Strongest play of the week. Again, you'll watch Seattle on Monday Night Football. It's terrible. Not really. Pete Carroll's not terrible. Russell Wilson's not terrible. And I only have to give up a point in a half at home against the Dallas team.

Dak Prescott struggling offensively. By the way, Russell Wilson's played 48 games at home in Seattle. He's 38 and 10. And the Cowboys' offense is weak. Yards their 30th. Passing yards 30th. Third down 31st. Points 29th.

Dak Prescott hasn't thrown a touchdown pass in sixth of his last 10 starts. They've got possession-wide receivers. Offensive lines not as good. And Ezekiel Elliott's even struggling to find yards. we're overly critiquing Seattle because, gosh, Khalil Mack and that Bears defense engulfs one of the league's weakest offensive lines. Seattle's going to win this game, and I think they're going to win it comfortably, 28, 17.

That's my blazing 5. And with that, we bring in RJ Bell, pregame.com. Pregame is the exclusive odds provider to the Associated Press. We had a winning week. In fact, our first two weeks have been winning weeks. So let's start here. Colts getting six against the Eagles. The Colts are playing very solid defense. They're turning third downs into first downs.

And it's Carson Wentz's first game back. I think the Eagles may win. I'm going to take the six points. What do the wise guys think? Agreement and six and a halves are out there. So even a little bit more, you touched on it, Colin. It's about Wentz. How good is he?

I would make the case if I were drafting quarterbacks today for the career, I would take Wend's first. That would be my pick. All that said, two concerns about first game back. One, did they rush him just a little bit because they're one and one? Kind of feels like that to me a little bit, yes. Number two, even if he's there 100%, do the Eagles call a less aggressive offensive game to protect him? Because his strength is running the ball and being able to throw, meaning he's a great thrower, but his ability to scramble, run, make plays, makes wence, that's his difference-making element. Is that going to be somehow limited because of concern about the injury? Plus other injuries, Eagles playmakers,

many of them out or hobbled. The D-line hasn't been nearly as disruptive this year for the Eagles. Now, listen, I don't love the Colts. I'm still, I still got a question. Mark with Andrew Luck. If you look at the advanced metrics last week, he was only the 27th best thrown quarterback, and that was in their win. And by the way, they won against a Washington team who only won this season against Arizona, who could be the worst team. So I don't love the Colts, but in this spot, I like the Colts plus six or six and a half. All right, Bengals get three at the Panthers. Here's the thing. The Bengals have won four straight games going back to last year.

And the thing I like is, is that Dalton's not making a ton of mistakes. They're running the football. He's getting pretty good production. And I just think in this instance, I may have the better team here and I get a field goal. I'm going to take the Bengals plus three against Carolina. What are the wise guys think? Disagreement here. Wow.

Let me ask you this question. The Bengals in Indy. Did you watch that game the first week? Yes, yes, I did. I thought they were, you know, listen, they banged up Andrew Luck pretty early in that game. But let's agree. That was a coin flip game. Yes, for Sinci.

Colts were driving for the win. If Sinci were one in one and not two and oh, what do you think the line would be in this game? I mean, I... Yeah, yeah, okay. I think the line's four, four and a half. You know, two and oh looks good, right? In the newspaper, I think because they won this coin flip game,

Cincinnati did in week one, it's driving this narrative. Uh-oh, here comes the Bengals. There's 70% of cash on the Bengals. Can you imagine Andy Dalton, Now, you said you were going to retire the beige water. I heard it. I heard it. Very mean spirit of me. All right.

Well, is he, do you imagine the public putting 70% of their cash on the beige water pistol? No, against Cam, no. And that's what they're doing here because they're 2 and 0. So to me, it's all the difference in this game. If it were four and a half, I would like the Bengals. The fact is it's three and I don't. Mixing is out. That's a big deal for Cincinnati offensively.

And the Panthers are pretty good at home. Five straight home victories. And the only game they lost this season was to Atlanta team you like a lot. And they won against a Dallas team that then dominated the Giants at team you like a lot. It's early in the year. We don't know quite how good these teams are. I just don't think the value is on the Bengals. Disagreement.

Okay, I'm going to take the Giants Plus 6. Okay, when you play one of those standalone TV games and you lose and look bad, we overreact. Listen, New England handled Houston? Easily. It wasn't really that competitive until the end. I just think six is too tasty of a number. I think we're overreacting to an ugly giant's loss. What are the wise guys think? Agreement here. Now, different wise guys feel differently about the Texans. Fasic, a guy you like. Yeah, really smart. Really sharp. Only two-time winner of the Super Contest. He still has Houston number 11. Wow. Okay. In his rankings. I disagree. We actually had on our new Fox show, we had great

Ray Kosell on this week, and he was talking about Watson seeing ghosts, the idea that with his knee injury, with that bad offensive line, he just isn't a player, at least right now he was last year. And Colin, imagine how different this narrative would be if we just considered Watson today, meaning we looked at last year's games, this year's games added him up. What would we say? We would say, yeah, a lot of potential. Boy, he can make some plays, but very, very.

inconsistent. But that's not how we're thinking about it. We had a whole off season to talk about him being one of the best young quarterbacks out there off of what, three and a half games. And now we're seeing two more games where he doesn't look near as good. I think that narrative from the offseason is coloring people's optimism. They're making them too optimistic about Watson. One last thing about the Giants here. They tend to start slow every year. Yeah, they do. Go back to 2013, they're two and ten straight up the first two weeks of the year, two and ten against the spread. So to me, yeah, you don't excuse it, but it's really not unusual for the Giants to start

slow. I think getting the six value on the Giants. Okay, here's my upset of the week. I'm going to take the Redskins plus three at home against the Packers. Green Bay is seriously, if Khalil Max not on a snap count, I think they lose to the Bears, and if Minnesota had a kicker, they'd lose to the Vikings both at home. I don't think Aaron Rogers for the second straight week didn't practice as much. I think Washington at home gets the points.

I think they're going to win outright. What are the wise guys think? Well, this is a pros versus Joe's game. All right, here we go. The pros are on the Redskins agreement. Yeah. The Joe's are heavy on the Packers here. And it makes sense, right?

Because road favorites with elite teams, the public is so attracted to it because they think, oh, I'm only laying three. But you've got to flip it. If this game were in Green Bay, they'd be a nine-point favor. They would. It's a six-point adjustment when you flip home fields in the NFL, and no one would be all that anxious to lay nine with Green Bay. You've got to wonder about Rogers' health,

and you've got to wonder about him being a little mentally burnout. You know, this week they talked about all of this injury is worse than I thought. I mean, is there a chance that he's a little bit, let's say, because it's not such a big game as the other two, that with this injury, is he a little passive? Does he potentially, you know, not prepare as well this week? This feels like a flat spot for Aaron Rogers for sure. And the public's so excited about what they've seen from him the last two weeks.

But boy, the Packers are mighty close to being, oh, and two. And they're not running the football at all. So I like Washington here. Before I get to my best pick of the week, the scoop, upstart, has really. revolutionized how we borrow money by going beyond the traditional FICA score to offer personal loans taking into account factors like your job experience, your education when determining your interest rate. It's quick and easy. It's free. Check your upstart rate is free. No effect on your credit score. So your upstart rate check takes just two minutes. And if you're approved,

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slash h-e-r-d all right this is my best pick of the week cowboys won on a standalone game the Seahawks lost and looked ugly on a standalone game. But Russell Wilson, at home against a very meek offense in Dallas, this looks like the bet of the week to me. I would have guessed this line's four to four and a half. I think we're overly critical right now of Seattle. I get the better coach, the better quarterback, and a significant home field.

I'll take Seattle minus one and a half. What are the wise guys think? Agreement. Very sharp analysis. it is about this number. At three, I probably pass it. It's one and a half. That means Seattle simply has to win the game.

And it's all about narrative here again. Yeah, Seattle's not near as good as they've been. Agreed. And they're off to an 0 and 2 start. So it looks like, oh, see, we were right. They were in a coin flip game against Denver, in Denver early in the year, which is tough. Yeah.

And also, they were driving late against the Bears. Pick six made that game look very different. on the scoreboard than it was on the field. You mentioned home field. Seattle, even in their heyday, struggled on the road. I remember fading you on a lot of Seattle picks on the road. Now, at home, much better. But what is the one thing at home that you benefit the most?

It's offensive line play because your crowd is quiet when you're on offense. And Seattle has one of the worst offensive lines. So I think that big negative of Seattle isn't quite as big. at home and now flip it quickly. Dallas, if Dak has to throw, if the other team knows it, he's in trouble, thus establishing the run is key for Dallas, it's harder to do on the road, especially in Seattle that's going to be rocking because the Cowboys are in town. Agreement, Seahawks.

Every week this year, RJ and I, I'm going to give a bonus pick. Now, this is a pick that I didn't include in my Blazing Five, but it was the last one that I didn't include. Broncos Ravens is interesting. I like Baltimore. But again, this is a number. I'm getting Denver plus five. Actually, Denver right now leads the NFL in big plays.

A big play is considered a runover 10 or a pass over 20. That is shocking to me because I've always thought Case Keenham is pretty marginal. So I just think the number is too big. I'll take Denver plus five in my bonus pick at Baltimore. What would the wise guys say? Well, we talked about FASIC. His best pick of the week is the Ravens here. So big disagreement.

Two big numbers here. The Broncos at home, their first two weeks of the season, this is an amazing stat, Colin. Last 30 years. So if it's week one or two and they play at home, they're 33 and three straight up. It's amazing. We talked about this last week. That is an amazing number. So they're two and oh off that, two home games.

Obviously advantages cause a fatigue early in the season at altitude when the players aren't in as good shape. Now we flip over. In September, Joe Flacco at home, 16 and 2 straight up, 13 and 5 against the spread. 31 touchdowns, 8 interceptions. He starts out at home really well. Lastly, Ravens with Harbaal, 9 or more days rest. He's a great preparer. Let's give him credit.

16 and 5 straight up. Okay, that's something. And what's his record against the spread? 14 and 7. Okay, well, there you go. That would have been a tragic bet by me. luckily avoided. By the way, congratulations.

R.J. Bell has a new Fox Sports Radio show on a daily basis. Tell people about that, RJ. Well, okay, here's the way I look at it. It's Colin Cowherd, Doug Gottlieb, R.J. Bell. Can you imagine that? It makes me a little nervous, to be honest, six Easter into seven. It's one hour a day, and the phrase we're using, Colin, it's called Straight Out of Vegas, but it's the pregame show America always wanted.

Every day for one hour, we're getting you ready for. that night's games. That's on all the Fox stations and the IHeart radio app. RJ Bell, pregame.com, the exclusive odds provider of the Associated Press at RJ in Vegas. That's your Twitter account, right? That's correct. At RJ in Vegas. Hey, great talking to you, bud. Thank you, Colin.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest. moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment,

and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite on humor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odin, 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Cliver Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her.

What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.

And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.