The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd’s Instant Reaction - NFL Week 18: Lions/Packers, Aaron Era Over (?), Cowboys/Commanders, Bears #1 Pick

Episode Date: January 9, 2023

Colin gives his instant reaction to the NFL Week 18 games, including the Lions eliminating the Packers from the Playoffs in Lambeau, and if it’s time for Green Bay to finally move on from Rodgers. He also discusses what the Bears will do with the #1 pick, the Cowboys embarrassing showing against the Commanders,  Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates, check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action, and visit Cuts for the latest Fall fits! #Herd #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Wow. Wow. The Detroit Lions outplay the Packers and beat Green Bay at Lambo with nothing to play for. Nothing to play for. Seattle beat the Rams, season's over for Detroit. The game, let's talk lions first, because I have a lot to say on Green Bay. So, you know, the first two and a half, three quarters felt like a lion's game. Touchdown called back because of a penalty.

Crucial interception called back because of a penalty. Detroit's had all sorts of talent through the years. Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Barry Sanders, to name a few offensive players. They have a way of beating themselves. And this game, their personnel and Green Bay's personnel offensively, seriously, I would take the Lions. Now, defensively, I'd take Green Bay. But this was not a mismatch. You're talking about a Lions team offensively that's drafted extraordinarily well.

And I thought what really jumped out, and I've said this before, there's not a lot of great in any business. The NFL's got about six great owners, six great coaches, six great quarterbacks, and at any one time, six great coordinators. Ben Johnson, the Lions coordinator, is a top six coordinator in this league. The final two drives by Detroit were beautiful. Power, perimeter, deception, screens. How about the trick play that picks up the big first. down. What a time to call that. Ben Johnson's fantastic. And you know, you wonder if he gets a job about seven openings a year. Harbaugh could get one. Sean Payton will probably if he wants one.

Ben Johnson's probably, especially with the league now pivoting to offense. Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator lines, going to get a head coaching opportunity, I would guess. Those final two drives, that's the ball game. Green Bay's defense. And there's a lot of good players. on that defense, we're guessing. I'm watching that thing. I'm like, man, he's deceptive and smart and screens and power down the field. You got everything. Different personnel, multiple looks.

It's like, wow, that is a great, great coordinator. And there's not, you know, Wink Martindale, defensive coordinator for the Giants, hell of a year. Kyle Shanahan for years, offensive coordinator around the league. It's just you can see it jump off the team. TV screen. So this game felt like your typical Lions loss where they've got good players. They make big plays, but, you know, pour on details and they kick a win to the curb. Nope. They were the better coach team down the stretch. And Ben Johnson is going to make somebody probably very happy. Jared Gough may give up salary to keep him. All right, let's talk Green Bay.

You know, I said this Friday on FS1. If Green Bay loses, and I didn't think they would, but if Green Bay loses, or they got into the playoffs and got rolled, don't you have a meeting upstairs about Aaron Rogers? Folks, you can miss the playoffs with Jordan Love and you don't get drama, and you get somebody that's around in the offseason, and you get somebody that embraces all the young teammates. This roster in Green Bay is very good. Let's think ahead.

But the two things they absolutely need offensively, another wide receiver, many mock drafts are speculating. They'll get USC's Jordan Addison, and they need a number. another tight end, a rookie receiver and a rookie tight end. Will Aaron be around in the offseason or on another one of his renaissance seeking journeys? Because they're going to bring in another receiver and another tight end. And they're going to be rookies.

And Christian Watson eventually developed into a stud for the Packers. But in September, October, he and Robio Dobbs were lost. Would they have been if Aaron stuck around? if Aaron's not doing Aaron's thing? I'm sorry. But there's no excuse for the Packers' offense being as inept as it was in September and October and early November because it was mostly, and there's some limitations on it. They need more perimeter weapons. But why did it get good in December?

Because you bring rookies in? This is a complicated league. Aaron can be prickly. Matt Lefleur's, you know, probably. a reasonably complex offense. Can't pick it up in three months. So Green Bay is going to do this again. They're going to go get pieces for the quarterback.

Jordan Love will be at O.M.T.A.s. Jordan Love will be there in preseason. Jordan Love will fly the guys out and have private throwing sessions. If I'm Green Bay, I can miss the playoffs with Jordan Love. This roster is a good roster. This is not a rebuild. Jordan Love in this division. We don't know how good the Bears are.

Right? The Vikings always kind of feel like there's a ceiling with Kirk Cousins. Detroit's good, kind of, but missed the playoffs. And Ben Johnson, their brilliant offensive coordinator could leave. So I just look at the whole Aaron thing. Aaron is so busy, you know, manifesting his destiny. This team is once again going to go out and get young, skill people in the draft. Is Aaron going to be there? And remember, Green Bay's got all of its picks. It would probably get two firsts or a first in two seconds if they moved Aaron. So you get more pieces. And Green Bay historically has drafted pretty well. They're a top third team in the league in drafting. Get two firsts, not just one. Two first, two thirds, maybe a second next year. Give Jordan Lovemore to work with. Now, people always talk about Aaron's salary and the dead cap money. But because you're not paying Jordan love anything, it lessens the financial burden. And this roster, Green Bay has never been a big free agent destination anyway. And this roster doesn't have a lot of immediate needs.

They could use another edge rusher. But their corners are good. Safeties are fine. E-line's strong. O-line strong. They have two good backs. Aaron Jones is, he's a great player. So not a lot of needs.

Receiver, Tide-end. Who's going to be there in the off-season to work with him? Jordan Lovewood. I'll go back to it again. The Tennessee Titans feel like the destination for me. But, you know, it's funny about Aaron. I was watching the Sean Watson, and he took a couple years off, and he comes back into the AFC.

He's not close to Allen. He's not close to Mahomes. He's not close to Herbert. He's not close to Burrow. This AFC, Trevor Lawrence, has gotten so good at quarterback. Aaron Rogers, folks, he's like the hotel that hasn't kept up. You ever go to a hotel? There's a hotel chain.

And then, you know, over the course of time, they get new owners or new management. you go back to it and it's more about the reputation than it is reality. You know, we've all done that before, restaurants or hotels and, you know, they just don't keep up. Aaron doesn't keep up in the offseason like Joe Burrow and Herbert and Mahomes and Alan. Aaron's more prickly. He's less coachable. You know, I look at Aaron Rogers right now.

I'm in no way insinuating he holds Green Bay back. But this is a really good roster. With an offensive coach, good old line, need a couple more weapons. I think you have to have a meeting if you're Green Bay. They have been walking on eggshells for four years with Aaron. The passive aggressive nonsense. At some point, you moved up in the first round for Jordan and Love. Rip the Band-Aid off.

Rip it off. I think Tennessee is the location. I think the Raiders would have to look at it. But, you know, you can just, we can keep making excuses for Aaron Rogers. But a lot of this is on him. He's not keeping up. He is not as committed as others. He's no longer in his prime.

He's going to be 39. He's super expensive. He won't be around in the offseason. I think you have to have that meeting upstairs. Way to go, Lions. Hell of a win. All right. I want to talk about this.

So a lot of people. people ripped the Houston Texans because the Chicago Bears now have the number one pick because the Texans beat the Colts, right? This is not a tanking league. That's the league with an orange basketball that's round. They tank. You don't tank in football. You can't tell guys to take. You get hurt if you tank. So the Chicago Bears now have the number one pick. They're going to have great leverage. They have their quarterback. And they need to rebuild a lot, mostly their offense, which is a perpetual issue. So the Bears' GM is Ryan Poles.

They'll trade out of the number one spot potentially and get another number two pick, number three pick. Who knows what they'll get? Maybe they'll get another first round pick. But I just do not trust this organization to build or rebuild an offense. The last time they had an elite offense was nine years ago in 2013. Remember the Jay Cutler offense, Matt Forte, Martellus Bennett, tight end. Alshan Jeffrey wide receiver. I think Brandon Marshall may have been a receiver on that team.

I could be wrong. That was a top two, three scoring team in the NFL. That was a really good offense. But, I mean, you could go online and look up 10 best bears offenses of all time. I mean, half will be in the 50s. This is an organization that can't get offense right. Last year is a great example. They bring in a new GM and a coach.

They hire a defensive coach. First two picks. Cornerback safety, both excellent. Third picks or receiver. Borderline bust. Beelis Jones. They could have called me. I watched them at USC. He couldn't track the ball in the air. He's a gadget player with good speed. He's not a go-to receiver. He's not a third-round pick. He's a sixth or a seventh-round pick. So you've got to give the Texans a break. This is not a tanking league. It's just the game's too fast. It's got too much violence. People could get hurt. You've got to play full speed. Your head's on a swivel. You're not going out there and half-assing it. That's just not football. And to be honest with, yeah, I thought it was cool the way the Texans play. It's one of the reasons I love the NFL. Guys play hurt. Guys play with passion.

Guys always play hard. I mean, the Detroit Lions tonight had nothing to play for. The Houston Texans could have lost. Doesn't that really? Isn't that why we love professional football in America? Isn't that why? Every game matters. That's why the sport is so much more popular than every other professional league in America.

There is no load management nonsense. I just, I don't trust the Bears to rebuild the offense. I don't. I've said this before, outside of Trevor Lawrence, Andrew Luck, maybe John Elway, most quarterbacks are as good as their support system. I mean, look at Mack Jones, how he regressed this year. Why? The Patriots.

They don't have enough skill players. They need to upgrade their own line. They used a defensive coordinator. Matt Patricia is an offensive coordinator. Unless you're Trevor Lawrence or Andrew Luck or, you know, maybe Mahomes. I mean, even Josh Allen, as good as he is, has regressed a little bit situationally since Brian Daibble left.

Like coaching matters, support systems matter, and I don't trust the bears offensively. They've built a lot of great defenses. But, you know, they're just certain organizations that get offense right and the bears do defense well. But they are in the cat bird seat. It is a great opportunity for them. All right, let's talk Cowboys, embarrassing performance against the commanders. Listen, as I've said a million times, I never get disappointed with the Cowboys because I've always

kind of classified them as pretty good. I think they're pretty good. Dak is Kirk Cousins with a better PR team. His career passer rating is 98. He's a mostly accurate throw over the football with certain limitations and arm strength and his intangibles or better than his tangibles. I thought the interesting comment, though, was really smart. NBC's Jason Garrett. I thought this was really interesting.

He said, watch the Cowboys defense, because I don't want to pick on DAC all night. Dak is what he is. I've been saying this for years. You know, he's a B plus quarterback, and there's a dozen in the league. Jason Garrett said on NBC, he said, this defense relies on speed. And when they play on grass against Green Bay at Lambo, against the commanders, They're not as fast. This defense, when they play in that cowboy stadium or they play on the fast turf inside, they are a track team.

But you watch them at Lambo, you watch them against the commanders. I thought Jason Garrett nailed it, and he knows this personnel. They're just not the same defense. So, you know, I look at the cowboys. I'm not sure they're that much. much more talented than the commanders. The commanders just can't get quarterback right. I think the Cowboys, I've said this for months.

I think they have some really special individual players. I don't think they have that many special units. I don't think their secondary is great. I think Zique doesn't have the pop he used to. I think they're a wide receiver shy. I think their offensive line is sometimes feels like it's a little bit patchwork. It's okay. defensive line is inconsistent. They have great individual players. Tell me the unit that is great.

They don't rank, they're not nearly as talented offensively as Cincinnati or San Francisco. They're not as good defensively as Philadelphia or San Francisco or as talented as Buffalo defensively. I think they're pretty good. And pretty good teams usually get into the playoffs and when one game, or are eliminated. And I feel once again, that's what we'll see. Was I surprised the Cowboys laid a complete egg? You know, the NFL has extended the season. It's longer than ever. I've seen a half a dozen games this year. I mean, Minnesota getting destroyed by both the Cowboys in Green Bay. I'm surprised. I thought the Raiders effort against the Chiefs this weekend was pathetic. They didn't look prepared offensively. I thought the Packers tonight were a little flat,

to be honest with you. I think Dallas, Dallas feels like a team capable of winning a single playoff game. And that's about it. If you start holistically looking at where the playoffs are, increasingly, I'm going to go look this morning when I get to Fox Sports, but I think I called six of the seven AFC playoff teams and five of the seven NFC playoff teams. I did not see the Seahawks getting in. I did not see the Jaguars getting in. I thought the Rams would be better. I thought the Broncos would be better. But in most instances, if you look around at the teams that got into the playoffs, including Miami, who limped in, but they got in because they were very strong early offensively with Tua and the cast. If you look around this league, it's because

fairly predictable. It has become more and more quarterback-centric. Dax a B-plus quarterback. You've got to have a B-plus and up at quarterback. You're going to generally find your way into the postseason. So we're instant reaction. The lead story, that's circle back. Detroit with a really clever final two offensive drives

with brilliant coordinator Ben Johnson gets themselves a W. The Packers missed the playoffs in large part. Aaron Rogers wouldn't put in the time in the offseason. It took them until well-past Thanksgiving to get their act together offensively, and they got out played tonight. That was a fun game, wasn't it? That was fun. There was a lot at stake.

The NFL's last regular season game. I mean, this is why it's in its own galaxy. A playoff spot was determined. on the final drive of the NFL regular season. Can't ask for more. I'm lucky to do what I do. All right, that's tonight's instant reaction. Volume.

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