The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Drew Brees' Journey, The Cleveland Browns Drama And The Herd Hierarchy

Episode Date: December 17, 2019

Colin talks about the journey of Drew Brees and what the greats have to deal with to succeed, the continuing drama of the Browns, one major advantage Drew Brees has over Tom Brady going forward, and his new Herd Hierarchy.Guests include Geoff Schwartz, Peter King, Zach Strief, and LaVar Arrington. 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 to her. 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the Herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching heard.

We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. We're packed on a Tuesday, live in L.A. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, one hour from now, the herd hierarchy. We know who's good and who's not feel very good about this week's herd hierarchy. And Joy Taylor is joining me, Joy. How are you? I feel good, too.

I've loved the Saints all year. here we go. Pretty good night last night. Pretty good night last night. They clobbered the Colts, of course, and Drew Brees that's the all-time touchdown record. I'm going to ask you a little trivia question here. Name the one NFL quarterback that was the number one high school quarterback,

and they went to college and he won a bunch of games, had no critics at a power school, and they went number one in the NFL draft, that it was perfect. There were very few speed bumps, a lot of support, not a lot of critics, high school, great, college great, number one NFL pick. I mean, it was smooth sailing. Matt Stafford is it. His career now, close to the 18th hole.

Not a lot of big wins. Is it because Matt Stafford lacked talent? New. Or perhaps it was because Matt Stafford never has that medal, that intensity needed. after being told, no, you're too short, you're to this and you're to that. Folks, Drew Breeze is what Hall of Fame quarterbacks, that's where they come from. Too small.

Second round pick. One of the great Texas high school quarterbacks, nobody offered him a scholarship, had to go to Cold Weather Purdue. His first NFL team, the Chargers, chose Philip Rivers. Miami, he wanted to go there. Nah, we don't like your shoulder. He goes to New Orleans. A losing franchise with a bad front office.

He gets a coach nobody's heard of, some young kid with a lot of energy. Then there's Katrina, a natural disaster, moves the team out of the city. And he's the all-time leader in touchdowns. Five, 11 and a half, maybe six foot tall, Drew Brees. Yeah. NFL media and the media in general acts like overly protective mothers for our quarterbacks. Lamar Jackson

dropped in the first round. They asked him to work out at wide receiver. I know it's great, right? That's exactly exactly the formula for legends. You know, we like it quarterback, but try out at wide receiver. But I was great in college. Go over there and try out at wide receiver. No, I mean, I

set records at Louisville. You all freak out because Lamar Jackson didn't get drafted in the top 10. He had to go all the way to the bottom of the first round. And somebody had the audacity to ask him to maybe want to try out at quarterback and receiver. Now, that's exactly the kind of jet fuel and roadblock and doubters and critics that creates legends. Only one quarterback in this league, one that most of us think is underachieved and not lived up to it, was a high school number one.

and a college number one and an NFL number one, Cam Newton had to transfer. The last two number one picks, Kyler and Baker had the transfer. Russell Wilson had to transfer. Aaron Rogers had to go to a junior college. Carson Wentz went to, I don't know, North Dakota State, South Dakota State,

some Dakota State. Patrick Mahalms, 30th best Texas quarterback. You know who offered him a scholarship? Rice and Texas Tech. The whole league is a series of, you'll never make it. You're too short. I told my wife last night.

America. If you looked at Bill Clinton's resume, you're like, my mom grew up in England. She's like, you're born into it. You're a royal family. We don't have a royal family. You've got to overcome Ronald Reagan's the most popular president of my lifetime. He was an actor who moved to a governor, who people made fun of. I mean, this is exactly, Drew Breeze, the NBA

has Jerry West as a logo. Drew Breeze should be the NFL logo. I mean, he is the NFL. Too short, injuries, overcome. Chargers are like, no, we like Philip Rivers. But I was, I, I was in Purdue, my nut. Now get out of here. He goes to Miami. Now we don't like your shoulder. Then he goes to New Orleans.

Then the natural disaster. He's had to overcome his whole life. And he leads the NFL all time and touchdown passes. Are you kidding me? This is why I love the NFL. You have to grind. We're always overly protecting. Josh Allen played in California. in high school. Nobody liked him. He had to go to Wyoming and play in the mountains.

That's what defines the league. Breeze defines it. Right now, the two best quarterbacks in my three best quarterbacks in the NFC, Aaron Rogers, Junior College, Drew Breeze, first team bailed on him, and Russell Wilson. Even the team that drafted him passed on him twice when the only thing they had at quarterback was Matt Flynn. Here's the record by Breeze and his thoughts afterwards. First and goal from the five, makes the handoff, looks at throw, wide open, touch. Touchdown! 273 games, over 76,000 yards.

And now, 540 touchdowns. Drew Brees, take a bow. Listen, it was special. Everything about the night, you know. I don't know how they pick, I don't know how they pick them, right? Monday night football, playing the Colts, right? The team that, you know, we won the Super Bowl against 10 years ago, so the whole whole, uh,

Super Bowl 44 team is back for the 10th anniversary and obviously national television. You know, big game and now, you know, that record in the balance as well. And just kind of makes you shake your head. It shouldn't. You are what Hall of Fame quarterbacks look like. Not quite tall enough, not quite the arm, overlooked, not a number one pick, had to transfer. Congrats. For the record, years ago, I was at the play.

place I used to work, they had a gym on campus. And I've told this story a couple times. So it was like June. And Drew Breeze showed up to the other place. He was going to be on a bunch of shows. Can't do it during the season. And I walk into the gym just to, you know, daily workout. And I look over and I'm like, that looks like Drew Breeze.

He's got a hat on. I'm like, what are you doing here? He's not just in between shows. I'm like, he's like, I got to work out. I'm like, you've been on four shows. He goes, I know, I know. I got a 45 minutes. I want to work out.

He's drenched in sweat. He's doing these arm, shoulder, pull up things that I'm sitting to myself. The guy's dripping sweat because he has 45 minutes in between shows. Just got to get a workout in. Why? Because they told him he was too short. That never, ever leaves you, the fear of being replaced. All right, let's shift gears to this.

Even by Cleveland Brown standards, this is a tire fire. according to Mike Silver, NFL network reporter, multiple brown players said to Arizona players, come get me, including Jarvis Landry. Have you noticed over the last four to five weeks with Cleveland? There's been a lot of noise. Who hasn't said a word? The outspoken, verbose general manager, John Dorsey, has not said a word.

The helmet mess? Remember the helmet thing? Didn't say a word. J. Rumors didn't say a word. Baker Mayfield ripped the medical staff didn't say a word. The Kitchens' t-shirt debacle

didn't say a word. The sideline argument this weekend has not said a word. Freddie Kitchens, I don't care about my job, has not said a word. Not a peep. He's not only not throwing Freddie Kitchens a life preserver. He's at the edge of the boat

watching him drown and smiling. This is, of course, why I do not believe Freddie Kitchens will retain his job. This is called job preservation by a general manager because he has to go to the owner, Jimmy has them. And he can't go and say, I whiffed on Baker Mayfield. We don't have a quarterback. Not a lot of those out there.

He can't go to his owner and say, hey, OBJ thing, I completely whiffed because they gave up too much for him. But he can go to his owner and say, listen. wasn't a ton of candidates out there Baker went to us and said I like Freddy Kitchens they had a great relationship I rolled the dice I missed on that I just missed on the coach just let me go get Mike McCarthy

and we're all good here this is a team that has made nothing but noise for the last six weeks and not a peep from the outspoken general manager I got nothing against John Dorsey but I do know self-preservation is a real thing.

You get two chances in this league to be a GM. You whiff on the second. You're done making seven figures. You just become like a regional scout, a consultant, maybe a TV guy. Maybe he'd be a great TV guy. But it is interesting to me in this ongoing tire fire, and we have had seven or eight opportunities for a general manager to jump in and support his quarterback

and support Freddie Kitchens and support the player. Not a peep. By the way, Freddie Kitchens, who said, I don't care about my job, clarified it because he can feel the heat. Freddie Kitchens clarified that yesterday. I care about my job, all right? I only care, though, about getting better today. That's what I was trying to illustrate is I'm only focused on today.

of course I want to be back. I mean, Dee and Jimmy Haslam and John Dorsey would much rather me be worried about getting our team to play better than worried about my job security. I'll say it again. Nothing against the reporter. I do not believe the report this weekend that Freddie Kitchens is safe and will be retained.

The fact that John Dorsey, multiple opportunities, has not thrown him a life preserve, as a rookie head coach signals to me he's a dead coach walking. That's what I feel like. Coming up next, obviously Brady sent out a congratulatory tweet to Drew Breeze. They're the two old guys left standing.

Ben's hurt. Manning's gone. Farve retired. It's Breeze. It's Brady. And really bad news for Tom. If the current trend continues, I'll tell you what that trend is.

plus herd hierarchy, 50 minutes from now, top of next hour. Jeff Schwartz in studio today. What a pleasure for us. Peter King next hour too. That's all coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games,

from buzzer beaters, to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. 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 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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, 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. 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, Keir 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 Hardway and listen now.

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? Come out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam, Ms. Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron Heading and to the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night. the night bases on offense. And when IT's friends stopped by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers,

why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Great to have you in on a Tuesday,

Jeff Schwartz, around the corner. Great offensive linemen. His brother Mitchell, great offensive lineman similarly with the Kansas City Chiefs. Top of next hour, the herd hierarchy. I think we're all settled in on the best teams in the NFL. So Tom Brady sent a very congratulatory

tweet to Drew Breeze last night. They're the last two old guys standing, right? And they have, you know, last year I thought Drew looked really, really tired at the end. That hand injury gave him a respite. He looks absolutely fantastic. Brady

meanwhile has had all the success in the postseason. He looks a little tired now. But if you ask me for the next two years, who's going to really flourish, it would be Breeze over Brady. And here's why. Because the Saints do that thing called the draft really, really well. And New England doesn't. Here are the last four drafts for the New Orleans Saints.

I count seven home runs. Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, Marshaun, Marshaun, Marshaun, Marshaun, Marcia, Latimer. more. Marcus Williams is a stud. Ryan Ramzick's great. Marcus Davenport before his injury. Very good. Eric McCoy at center has been a home run. I mean, it is just, they hit multiple home runs. Guys come in and immediately play at a pro bowl level. Your last four drafts for the New England Patriots, they don't do the draft very well. Joe Thuny's a nice guard and Sony Michelle has something going and that's about it. four drafts, that's it.

They don't do the draft well. Blame who you want. Belichick's great on Sunday and he really knows NFL players. And also the last several years, the Saints have smartly asked Drew Brees to do less. Last couple of years, his attempts have gone down. Do you know

who was number one in attempts most of this year, Tom Brady? I think he's now right behind James Winston. He's number two. The Saints have figured it out. The older any employee gets to retain his excellence, to extend his greatness. Get him more help. Drew Breeze can still be unbelievable. But asking him to do it for 17, 18, 19 weeks last year, he looked tired. So they

have drafted exceptionally well. You watch New England. They don't look dynamic. You watch the Saints they do. Why? It's called the draft. The Saints have gone back to back to back to back grabbing home runs, immediate stars who get implemented into their culture and hit it out of the park. Wildly productive. Day one. New England, a lot of misses, a lot of maz, a lot of backups, a lot of non-factors. By the way, both players, Brady and Breeze take pay cuts. But Tom looks around and goes, what am I getting for the pay cut? Breeze can look around and go, yeah, I get it. I'm taking a pay cut, but I don't have to throw as much, and I'm throwing to really good people. Gronk was hurt, folks. Three,

years ago. You saw retirement coming three years ago. New England's never addressed the tied-end position seriously. Old guys, late round guys. I mean, if you ask me the next two years, I know Belichick's a genius, but at some point, New Orleans has got the draft thing down. They figured it out with Breeze. They're asking less, surrounding him with more. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So, Dak Prescott suffered a sprained wrist and an index finger injury when they Cowboys faced the Bears two weeks ago. Troy Aikman reported on Sunday that the finger injury was a hairline fracture,

but another report says that DAC is actually just dealing with a phone bruise. Jason Garrett was asked about DAC's injury status, but he wouldn't give any details about the severity of the injury. I've never had a hairline fracture to my finger to throw, but I think a lot of quarterbacks have had jammed fingers and they dealt with different things. And, you know, it's hard, obviously. having the ball in your hand and feeling good is a big part of throwing the ball well. But Dax's a tough guy.

Dax's a physically tough guy. He's a mentally tough guy. And so whatever he's dealing with doesn't let a lot of people know about. He goes out and does his job. And he's able to do that again yesterday. Yeah, he's not affecting him the way through Saturday or Sunday. It didn't affect him at all. No, but he did have the fewest past attempts of the season.

So they may have kind of game plans a little bit, which worked out well for them. I can't remember. Patrick Malmes, remember we saw him, hand was banging. up against New England. Second half, reportedly Andy Reid took about 10 plays out of the playbook. Right. And you saw the difference in the second half with them, but it obviously didn't matter. But yeah, I mean, this is, look, you want to go into the postseason healthy. Obviously, they need to handle business before they make it to the postseason in the next two weeks. But it is something to pay attention to. And obviously, anytime it's an injury to the quarterback, you got a kind of game plan for that. But it obviously didn't affect them last game. What was it?

Was it last year or the year before that Brady ripped his hand up on somebody's helmet? Was that last year or the year before? I mean, it's amazing. So we have proof that your hand can, for a quarterback. Yeah, that gash was disgusting. And they still went and beat, like, that was against before the Super Bowl for the Eagles, the huge gash. So we've had Mahomes' hands banged up, daxes. We've seen Brady's before.

So happened with Breeze earlier in the year. Yeah. So something to pay attention to. That gash was so gross. Oh, it was awful. I'm so bad with injuries. I could not ever work. Like in the medical field, I don't, it's like I'm sweating.

It's, I can't. You ever seen that commercial where the doctor comes in and it goes, are you nervous? And the guy says, yeah, he goes, me too. That's what I would be like as a surgeon. Listen, I don't like blood any more than you do. I'm going to close my eyes in this. I mean, blood doesn't really bother me, but it's like look like open. No, no thanks.

So the Patriots organization has been dealing with the follow-out from the investigation into videotaping the Bengals sideline. Yeah. But Tom Brady says the players never let the drama become an issue. I don't think any player gave it one second, I thought. So we just move on, man. There's a lot of distractions out there. And if you can lose focus on your job, then that's really a waste of time. So there's a lot of people out there that can create distractions for us.

But, you know, we just want to go out there and focus on what we can do and what our job is and try to go out there and play the best we possibly can. Well, if I can be a little petty here, they're probably used to this kind of drama at this point. They've gotten used to being audited by the IRS a lot. It's standard. However, this doesn't really feel like a con... I mean, any controversy or, you know, distraction, as he put,

is going to surround the team. And obviously, people are having this conversation. But I would imagine, as a player, this particular kind of thing is affecting the coaches in the front office more than it is the player. I was just thinking as Tom saying that. This is an easy one to go, yeah, it's the video department. I don't even know where it is in the building. Nothing to do with the players,

unless, of course, they're getting help from that video or other videos. But in general, I don't think that Tom Brady is relying on that kind of video to beat the Bengals, obviously. But the point is, this is not a controversy that the players, I think, would be directly affected by anyway. So finally, the Raiders obviously played their last game at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday. And while fans in Oakland were not happy that the team is leaving. and the way that they lost, owner Mark Davis is not super concerned about it.

It doesn't feel the same way. Any nostalgia for you at all, knowing that this is it here? No, you know, I went through this in 82. And, you know, that's true. Not a little tone deaf. That's not a great answer. That's a terrible answer.

Listen, just because you went through, obviously fans have already been through, some fans, obviously. That was 1982, so some fans that are there have been through that, but you have a whole generation of new Raiders fans that have not been through this. Let me ask you, if I said, it's fascinating about the Raiders. Generally, we think

Joy, great brands are great teams. Like, Alabama's a great brand, they're winning. But USC's a great college football brand. They're not winning enough. If I said to you in the NFL, strongest brands, Dallas is the number one. Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh. Packers, Giants, Raiders, 49ers.

I'm not so sure in terms of the outlaw quality of the Raiders brand, I think it makes top five. Now it's been a poorly run brand. Right. Well, they've been, they're 54 and 88 since Mark Davis took over when Al died. They have. Like when I think of the Cowboys, I think of stars. When I think of the Steelers, I think of tough.

I just think of legendary NFL stories, owner, fans, Off brand. Environment. Black hole. Yeah, just everything around the Raiders is like a story. You know what I mean? To me, they're the outlaw of the NFL. I think their brand's incredibly powerful.

And I think it's going to move to another city and hit a home run. And they have cool colors and their logos, cool. Like, if you're a Raiders fan, you know, you're kind of tough. I feel bad for Oakland, though. Obviously, the Raiders brand is going to live on and going to Vegas and they'll do well there. But I just feel bad for Oakland. And him giving that answer is like, come on. Like say something nice for the fans.

Like you're the owner. Like, of course we know you've been through this. But it's a little different this time. They're not coming back. Like, it's different. Good stuff, Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Heard Lye News. Guys, stop using your girlfriend shampoo. Get your own Dove Men Plus Care available at Walmart. Dove Men Plus Care. His brother's a pro bowl offensive linemen for the Chiefs. He played for nearly a decade in the NFL. He's our friend. Jeff Schwartz is joining us in the chairs today. We don't have a couch anymore. It's the chairs. Look at you. But those chairs are big enough for a big offensive linemen. Last time you were in town, we went out and ate steaks.

I know. You were surprised by how little I ate. I know. I was. Yeah. It had like two little broccoli spears. A bite of steak went home and I'm like, how do you weigh three in a quarter? I don't understand this. You know, I was saying is that we, the media acts like overly protective mothers to our quarterbacks. Like, oh my God, Lamar Jackson dropped, asked to be a wide receiver. And I would argue outside of Matt Stafford, almost every quarterback in the league either dropped, transferred, doubted, hurt. I mean, it's like Aaron Rogers Junior College. Mahomes got recruited by Rice and Texas Tech. To me, Drew Breeze's story, I said he should be the NFL logo like Jerry West is.

I look at him and I think that that's what the NFL is. You were in this league for a decade. Half the league, by the way, Jeff, is undrafted. Well, I think most of us are doubted or told we can't do things. And that fuels a lot. Fulme, I have a list on my phone, actually, everyone who told me I couldn't play in the NFL. Really?

Yeah, I still keep. I look at every now and then I was told by coaches, by friends, by high school coaches, college coaches. I couldn't do it. It fuels all of us. And the way Drew Reeves plays with his intelligence, with just his style of play, his love of the game. Everyone says he's an amazing teammate, great leader,

even better off the field. and his passing efficiency, which is amazing. Obviously, last night set records, all those things would lead me to believe that he is the epitome of what you want in an NFL player. So I'd be fine with him being the logo. But one thing that I don't think we talked about enough is that he got six weeks off this year. I know. And his arm strength last night and his feet and just his crispness was different than it was last year,

this time of year. And that's a huge difference, I think, and why he's playing so well right now. Well, there's a stat. We looked at it. We talked about this a year ago. Tom Brady's December numbers, once he got to 38, went down. Of course. All those reps.

Drew Breeze last year, I thought, looked tired at the end of the year. If you go back in like week 12 on, Drew didn't throw the ball down the field. He is totally in. We were saying this morning it would be weird. But would you keep Bridgewater on and overpay him and say, you're going to be our November quarterback? We're going to play about four to five weeks a year. He is Breeze, by the way. It's not a crazy idea.

But imagine if you had lost two games. Two of those six, two of those five games, which, you know, you played at Seattle. You could have lost that game. You played the Cowboys at home. You played the Bears. And now you're not a one or two seed. You're on the road. Drew Brees is five and one on the road in the playoffs with Sean Pink.

You can't afford to lose a game in the NFL. This is why the NFL is awesome. The sense of urgency is what we love about this league. Each week is a new week and you have to win that week. And if you sit him for a month and you go two and two, does that benefit you on the back end if you're not playing at home or you're a five or six seat? You have to go in the road to win three games. It's hard to win three road games in the playoffs. Let me ask you this.

If you're New Orleans, if I run New Orleans, I'm not drafting another quarterback. I'm getting him another weapon. Yeah, why would you draft a quarterback? Teddy may leave. My thing is, I'm good, Tason Hill. I think New Orleans is so close to winning. Like in New England, I get drafting another quarterback.

But in New Orleans, I'm like, if Teddy leaves, I'm just going to give Drew another piece. It doesn't look like he's close to ending. No, but I think you should draft someone three to four. third the fifth round. I mean, the pitcher did this for what, every other year they drafted at least somebody. And Jimmy G. was that guy. If you'd brought you had left, Jimmy G could have filled the void.

So I think you draft a quarterback someone, you hope you hit someone. You hope you hit a Dak Prescott or a Jimmy Garopp. You're not spending a first or second round draft pick on a quarterback. That'd be silly. I want to talk about of the many stories coming up. Let's segue to the team your brother is on Kansas City.

So I said, I felt they feel like green Bay with Aaron Rogers. They're very Patrick Mahomes dependent. And I don't think you can win Super Bowls that way. I just think you can be fun. Aaron did win one. But ultimately, there has to be more than Patrick. I actually thought it was wildly impressive that they played in the snow, and they were exceptional. But do you worry? This team doesn't run the ball. Andy Reid doesn't have a history of developing great run games. Is this more highlight real Aaron Rogers Green Bay? Can they go to a New England again?

Can they go to Baltimore? Can they face a San Francisco? Are they a little hollow the deeper you go? Well, their past defense this year is a big difference. Their past defense is top five. They're excellent against the past, which has been different than they have since Andy Reid has really been there. They're the one team that can beat Baltimore, in my opinion, in the AFC,

because they can score points. We're often focused on what Lamar is doing, and he's been great. He'll be the MVP. It's a hard offense to stop. But if you can score points, you put them in an uncomfortable situation. They have not been in a lot this year. They have not been behind in games. They haven't had to keep up with someone else.

They blitz a lot. Pat Mahomes is great against the blitz. You have a bunch of guys that get beat man coverage. You know, Hill and Kelsey and Watkins and Robinson and Hardman. You're so deep in that situation that the chiefs, I think, are the best option to beat the Ravens. It's a good point. Nobody's going to truly stop this contrarian offense in Baltimore. But can you force them to play from behind?

That's what Kansas City did the first time. And last year as well. And they beat them twice so far. They're two-no against us offense. Well, think, you know, the league has really changed if you think about it. Nobody can stop anybody. San Francisco's great defense. Think about what happened against the Saints.

Think about what happened against Baltimore. Like, you really can't with the rules. A great defense today. A great defense, Buffalo holds you to about 21. That's a great defense. I grew up with a Steelers. Had five straight shutouts in the 70s. So your point is basically,

Listen, it's all a fireworks show offense. Kansas City is the only team that can go point for point with Baltimore. I think if you could rush the pastor on defense and force turnover. Obviously, that's kind of the way you win on defense. And the Ravens, and look, I think there's things we forget with the Ravens that we talk about with other teams. We haven't talked to because all the focus is on Lamar. They do not make mistakes. I've tweet this out for six weeks now.

They make no mistakes. They do not commit penalties. They do not turn the ball over. they do not have weird game management situations. They don't have special teams issues. Now, I know they got a punt blocked recently, but they're the Patriots. They do not make mistakes.

You know what, Baltimore reminds me of a team you know well. The 2015 Carolina Panthers, they stayed strangely healthy. They got hot. They had a unique quarterback. The league felt like it was trying to kind of catch up to how to play them. You were in the city at the time. And by the way, all of a sudden you wake up, they got a bunch of home playoff games.

They're playing with a weird energy that it's almost, collegiate feeling. The last three games they've forced to fumble in the opponent's red zone and got a quick touchdown. Right? Like they just, everything is going exactly to play. And you mentioned injuries. That's a huge part of who wins a Super Bowl. Baltimore, nobody's hurt. Their center's

hurt. They've replaced. That's really it. And you come to the Niners. The Niners' defense is beat up right now. They have three or four guys out. Like, that's the reason why they're not playing as well. So Baltimore's healthy. They'll be at home. They have an offense that's really tough to stop. Their defense is outstanding. They've built this up to where they're doing everything exactly right. And

luck, and you make your own luck in the NFL. Luck matters at this point of the year, and they have it going in their direction. Okay, we got a bunch of stuff to talk about. Indianaapolis is going to draft a quarterback. Justin Herbert, you went to school Oregon. Don't, don't, don't. I'm going to tease it.

Okay, because he went to Oregon. He's got great sources. Troyickman says the Cowboys are scary. We'll see if he buys that. We'll talk about John Dorsey has not thrown a life preserver in a month and a half to Freddie Kitchens. That's a So Jeff Schwartz is ready to go.

So are we back in a second. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reaction. actions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo SlicLife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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 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? 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 Hard Way.

Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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 walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Cliverts 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, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows.

Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing.

That man, hell get to fly. He running up the court licking his fingers while he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out. real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Almost a decade in the NFL, Jeff Schwartz, offensive linemen, eat my Schwartz, his brother

Mitchell, he and I, they wrote that book. He's a broadcaster, good dude, joining us now. All right, so I watched Arizona Cleveland play. Yes. And Kyler Murray was significantly better than Baker-Mainfield at everything. Accuracy, everything. just he's just better. Both number one picks, one in my opinions are reach.

But he has regressed so much this year, Baker, it does lead me to believe a lot of it is coaching. Do you agree or disagree? Well, I totally agree. I mean, we talked before the season about Freddie Kitchens and what he was not going to do, and this is kind of what we thought. Now, we even overshot.

I thought they win nine games, and they're obviously not going to do that. The coaching is horrendous there. When you have all these reports about players openly wanting to leave, when they're not prepared against Arizona is not a good football team. They have three wins entering this game. Cleveland's better.

Complete no-show. So, the coaching is terrible. So I want to see Baker-Mayfield with a good coach. And I think Baker-Mayfield, I hope he learns lessons from this season. Basically that the NFL will humble you if you try to get ahead of yourself, right?

If you try to become a star before the NFL kind of lets you be a star, the NFL will find a way to humble you and it did this season, right? It's just more of an attitude thing. So I hope he figures out, I'm going to lay low this off-season. I'm like, get my work in.

Hopefully I have a new coach to help me. I mend the relationships with Odell and Jarvis. Everyone stays. They give me some offensive linemen, and we're good to go. I'm not giving up on him yet because he has shown that he can be at certain times. We know that coaching matters more than anything in this league, and his coaching is atrocious. Let's talk about quarterback play. The Colts lost last night.

Clearly, Andrew Luck mattered. I mean, they are literally drowning. And they have a good roster, a good GM, a good coach, and they just can't. They just, people have figured now, everybody now has film on Jacoby Brissette. First five or six weeks. Now everybody's got film. They see his limitations. They have no margin for air.

They got boat raced. In a very winnable division, they are just third best team outside. Thank God Jacksonville is in the division. So they're going to draft another quarterback. Brissette plays maybe for one more year. Justin Herbert is not getting the love of Joe Burrell or probably to us. So he would drop to the 9, 10, 11, 12. Now, I believe there are eight teams that could potentially draft a quarterback in the first 14 picks.

Bingles, dolphins, lions, jags, Chargers, Panthers, Broncos, Colts. You went to Oregon. You've got good contacts with Justin Herbert. He's going to fall to one of those fifth, six, eight, nine. Could be a very good team like the Chargers. Do you buy Justin Herbert? He's getting now no love in every. everybody else is. So if you watched them play this year, it was very obvious that the team is very

run-oriented up front. Their offense lines really good. They didn't have great wide receivers. They're all-American tight end, got hurt halfway through the season. And Herbert wasn't asked to be the guy. And then against Utah championship game, they said, Justin, you be the guy. He ran the football for the first time all season, multiple times. He tried to run dudes over. He had not done that all season. He became aggressive in the past game. They had dudes wide open. He was very accurate. He didn't make any bad throws. I mean, that's the guy that I expected all season. So if you draft Herbert, you need to have a coach

that's aggressive with him. So you're basically saying they sort of sheltered him and protected him because they had a great O line and because they had bad receivers. Then against Utah in the championship game, take the gloves off kid, go win the game. He had a play in the first drive

where he rolled to the right. He threw interception the same point as Arizona State, just forced the ball. He tucked it and ran the other direction for 15 yards. I've watched every snap this year. He had not done that one time this season. And I think that if you have a coach like Frank Reich who says, look, dude, you're our guy. Justin's very smart. He won the

award this year for like, you know, student athlete. He won the award this year for like student athlete combined with player, right? Like the, I forget what it was called, but the combination for that award. He can do it all. But I think he needs a strong personality coach to guide him in that direction and tell him

you need to be the dude. I think Frank Reich, if you have the offensive line, you have the skill position plays, you have him as the mind, Justin can do whatever you tell him to do. You should have to take the gloves off of him. And I think it's hard to evaluate him because those things you see on tape, like, oh, he made some bad decisions. You know, they often just say, Justin, like, go jumpstart our offense for us in the third quarter.

Like, that's hard to do at quarterback when the first two and a half quarters, you run the ball every play. So I think he's going to be going to the NFL if you take him in the right spot. You're in a very interesting spot in the NFL in Carolina. And we've talked about Cam. I don't think they should have fired Ron Rivera. I don't think he was the issue. Imperfect, but I think he'll get many job offers.

So Cam Newton's funny. He's actually a bargain right now. Carolina, they've got the Greer kid. Kyle Allen was a nice transitional piece. But again, could win for a few weeks. And then everybody gets film on he or Jacoby Percette. And it's like, okay, he can't make this. He can't do this.

And you find Kyle, he's a transitional piece. He's not a franchise guy. What are they going to do with Cam Newton? This is the question, right? I guess it depends on who the new head coach is, right? If you have a head coach who comes in and says, look, I don't want Cam, then he's probably gone. I would imagine. I mean, if you hire someone, you pay him all his money and he tells the owner, I don't want Cam, then he's not going to have.

Now, the owner might say, whoever coach, you're keeping Cam. I think that this is a time for David Tepper, the new owner to cut ties with kind of the old Panthers. This is now his team. Yeah. He got rid of Ron Rivera. You're going to ship Cam off somewhere. Greg Olson probably will retire because he's. getting up there in age. He'll have a job here pretty soon.

Yeah. I think you're kind of cutting ties with the older Panthers, and now this is David Tepper's team. You start over with a new quarterback, a new coach, and Cam will play somewhere next year if he's healthy, and health is a concern, right? So if you say to a new coach, you're keeping Cam Newton and you build your team around, and then he gets hurt again in week three, you've now wasted another season where you cannot develop a young court. Will Greer is not the guy, Kyle's not the guy. You have to go draft someone or bring someone in, but I think that that is the concern is if you tie a new coach to Cam, he's not healthy, then you wasted another season with a head coach. So start over, get a new quarterback, and begin new. All right,

Troy Aikman's talking about the Dallas Cowboys on the broadcast the other day. He said this team is scary. Watch out for the Cowboys. I think I like watching the Cowboys. I don't know if I'd want to watch out for the Cowboys. I don't really buy it, do you? Well, this is why Jason Garrett has to go, because what we saw against the Rams is how they should be play all season. They have an elite quarterback, elite running back, elite offensive line, elite wide receivers, decent tight ends, a pass rush, elite linebackers,

good secondary players. I mean, they have all those players. Where has it been all season? Where's it been all season? I said yesterday, I would have been discouraged as a cowboy fan. Yes. It took us 16 weeks to find our identity.

So if they can play this way in the playoffs, heck yeah, they're scary. They're going to have a home game against the Niners, Seahawks, or Saints, probably. Totally winnable game. And then they, you know, go on the road somewhere. Yes, they can be good in the playoffs. The problem is,

how do you expect this team to show up? You don't know week to week what team they're going to be. And that's the problem with just Jason Garrett team right now, is that you don't know week to week what you're going to get. That was a beat down. They played to their strengths. They played well on defense. Dak played well. They ran the ball well. Did everything they're supposed to do. So yeah, they're a scary team if this

is the team that's going to show up. Here's why I don't think they're scary. Let's say San Francisco and Seattle play, not this week the next week. So one of those teams, San Francisco or Seattle, will have go on the road and may play Dallas. If you ask Kyle Shanahan or Pete Carroll,

you got to go to Lambo and face Aaron Rogers or go to the Superdome and face Breeze or go to Dallas and face Jason Garrett and Dack. What would they choose? Oh, they choose the Cowboys, of course. That's why I don't seem as scary. I see him as talented, but I do think teams do develop

late in the NFC. We've seen it in recent years. But this feels too late. And we could change our minds after Sunday when they play the Eagles. who I don't think are very good right now and beat them. Obviously, we'll know. If they go into Philly and kind of win by 10, 14 points, maybe we change our tune.

But I think they're dangerous just because they have the personnel. Now, you're right. Garrett is out-coached by Pete Carroll and out-coached by Kyle Shan for sure. But you're playing a home. You want a home playoff game. I mean, you can do it. But to your point, the coaching worries me on the Cowboys. It's always worried me all season.

You have to go find someone who can get this effort each and every week. By the way, Urban Meyer was in a press box. What did you make? of that. Supposing he's helping with the higher in what... He can't go to the Redskins, right? I mean, why would you...

No, no. They cannot go to the Redskins. Here at Fox, we don't want him to leave. If he left for the Cowboys at Fox, I think we would all acknowledge, okay, he left us for the Dallas Cowboys. His five-minute segment every week is you learned, you learn something every single time.

It's unbelievable. He's a great broadcaster. And I, so, yeah, the Cowboys feel like the spot he'd go. But again, if you're urban who had so much control at Ohio State, you're not going to get that with Jerry Jones. And so do you want to go there and lose all that control? As much as Jerry says, all that you have it, I don't believe that. Do you?

Yeah, I think, and I've said, I've known Urban for a long time. He's never been an NFL guy. He doesn't. He never watched, he didn't watch the NFL. He's not, like Sabin's first jobs were with Belichick in Cleveland. I just never feel, I always felt Jimmy Johnson and Sabin as college guys were eyeing the NFL. Never felt that with Urban Meyer. Jeff Schwartz, great seeing you, bud. Check out all his work. Eat My Schwartz. Great book with

his brother. Herd hierarchy next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, here we go. Hour number two, Peter King in 15 minutes live in Los Angeles. us this is the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for joining us. We're on IHeart, Fox Sports Radio, FS1, all good stuff.

Also, Zach Streif, former Saints offensive tackle will be joining us later this hour. He's the one that gave that emotional, when he retired, that emotional commentary on Drew Breeze and how much Drew meant for him. He's retired now. He's part of the Saints broadcast team. He's got great insight into the Saints. He's a terrific guest. We'll have him on later today. Very, very good player. You know, during that, remember that announcement he was retiring and he and Drew Brees are sobbing. It was very terrible, yes.

Yes. He's now a saint's broadcaster, so he'll be joining us. Joy Taylor, of course, that's her voice on radio if you're listening. Here we go. So we get into the point. Not a lot of surprises now. I say Green Bay is a little bit of an enigma to me, but not a lot of surprises. I kind of know what I got now, right? Yeah, we're there. We're there. So here we go. Here's our herd hierarchy. heard hierarchy the top 10 NFL teams according to college number 10 Houston Texans are they wildly

inconsistent yes but are they good yes they're good they have not lost back-to-back games all season third down percentage one of the best teams in league rushing offense total offense top seven in the NFL Deshawn Watson and Steve Young

are the only players in NFL history, multiple seasons of 25 plus touchdown passes and five plus rushing touchdowns. They're just dynamic enough to go somewhere and beat a Kansas City or beat in New England, wildly inconsistent. You bet they are. But they're also good at their best. Number nine. I think the Buffalo Bills have the best defense in the NFL.

They have the second best scoring defense, and they also opposing quarterbacks have the second lowest passer ratings. And again, just got enough with Josh Allen's arm to just make things interesting. Now, there are ceilings to almost every team not named Baltimore and San Francisco in the NFL, but I think they've earned their spot. Listen, they've won four or five games. Their only losses to the Ravens, and they were very competitive in that game. So it's time to get with the Bills and the Bills Mafia some credit.

Number nine. Number eight. Green Bay, I can't really wrap my arms around them. They're kind of a finesse team that's very good on script. Don't adjust terribly well. Last 18 quarters for Aaron Rogers, not the first quarter, he completes less than 60% of his throws, and in 18 quarters, have four touchdown passes.

They don't adjust terribly well, and they beat Chicago, but they've won seven of the last eight games against Chicago. So, you know, it's the Tribesky factor. to some degree. Aaron's good this year, but he's not special Aaron. 63% completion percentage. Their bottom third in the NFL in second half scoring. His passer rating is 100. I see a lot of good.

Aaron's good. He's not what he was. I just, I don't trust this team. They're going to play at Lambo. That helps. But I could see a lot of teams going in there and shutting them out, shutting them down. Number seven. New England, because I like their coach.

and I think coaching matters at this time of the year. But they've become incredibly dependent on Tom Brady at 42, taking below-average offensive personnel and saving them. Julian Edelman, according to various reports, is physically falling apart. They don't have an A-back. They haven't addressed the tight-end position. Now, they lead the league in plus-19 turnover differential, so they're going to take the ball away from you,

and they're not going to give it back to you, and they've got a great quarterback in crisis. But I think this team has a total offensive ceiling. They've been resorting to trick plays and block punts to win. And I don't think that's getting past Kansas City, and I don't think that's getting past Baltimore Patriots and 7. Number six. Minnesota, love their roster, and they're 6 and 0 at home this year

for the first time since 2009. But here's my problem. You're not going to be playing at home in the playoffs. that's a concern for me. Now, again, very good roster. Mike Zimmer may be the most underrated coach in the league. They're fourth in takeaways. They play fast.

They play aggressive. But again, they can beat anybody at home. I'm not sure I trust this team in a big spot on the road, and that's likely where they'll play in the playoffs. Number five. San Francisco, here's an interesting stat, and I think it's a very, very important stat. coaching matters. We know that in the playoffs. San Francisco leads the NFL in third quarter scoring.

That is a big deal. They adjust exceptionally well. So that's a big deal now in this league. They're the opposite of Green Bay. Where Green Bay, you know what they give you for about 10 minutes, and that's the ceiling. San Francisco comes in going full bore with that defensive front and Jimmy G. and then half, they give you another new wave of energy and new looks. I think that's very important. And the second highest scoring team in the NFL, 30 a game. So you're not, you've got to bring, you're in for a firework show. Bring your tarp when you play San Francisco. Number four.

Kansas City. I think they'd have an easier path than San Francisco. Only team the last two years not to lose a game by more than seven points. I think they're more special than San Francisco at quarterback, and I think Andy Reed and Mahomes is going to be a tough out. They're getting healthy where San Francisco, who I've liked all year, is all banged up on defense. So a lot of this league is about attrition. Where is your health? For the record, Baltimore healthiest team in the league. So Kansas City, Mahomes now playing very well. They don't lose. They're in every game.

I thought the snow win this week was very impressive. The windbreaker team, put a winner coat on and look great. Number three. Seattle. A lot of this is Russell Wilson. They are also like Minnesota going to probably play on the road in the playoffs. The difference is, I trust Seattle on the road. They're great on the road. They're great in any time zone because of Russell Wilson. Now, are they two Russell Wilson dependent? Yes, and that's why I don't have them winning the Super Bowl.

I mean, the fact that they are third in rush offense and third in passing percentage and fourth and total offense with an offensive line and a receiving core and tight end group that's below average, that is all Russell Wilson. But I got a Hall of Fame head coach. They travel well. They can't eat the clock with that run game.

When they're healthy in the backfield, they can eat some clock and take the ball away from a Jimmy G, an Aaron Rogers. Drew Breeze. So they could go to the Superdome and win. They could go to San Francisco and win or Green Bay. That I don't doubt, number three. Number two.

The Saints. I get all the diet. dynamic explosive athleticism, and they don't make any mistakes. Second fewest sacks in the NFL, the fewest giveaways, eight in the NFL. I love teams that give me all the fireworks show and all the explosiveness and the dynamic athletes, and don't make any mistakes. That's what Baltimore is given you. So that's what I get with the Saints.

They protect the ball. You don't get to breeze. They're fourth in sacks. So their line play is unbelievable. Now, they don't throw the ball over the time. hot much, and that's why I have them at number two. Number one. Baltimore, which is New Orleans.

They don't make any mistakes. They get all the great athletes, but they have a little more explosiveness over the top. And again, it's nice to get an occasional freebie in this league. You can't be 13-play drive team. You need a freebie. And with Lamar Jackson's legs and their receivers, they're going to give you a, you're going to get a freebie touchdown with them that you don't put on paper. as a defensive coach, there's nothing you can do about it.

21 straight games with 20 plus points. It's hard in this league. You have bad Sundays. There's weather. They remind me of Carolina in 2015. The league is playing catch up. They're unique at quarterback. Watch out.

I have the Ravens in the Super Bowl. Kansas City, their only realistic shot to knock them out. That's our top 10. As you can see, I still don't know what to do with Green Bay. I just don't. You really do not have any faith in great way. I just don't, don't, seen him pushed around multiple times this year, seen him blown out. San Francisco blew them out.

Chargers blew them out. Don't have any faith. By the way, Troy Aikman has a ton of faith in the Dallas Cowboys. He was saying this over the weekend about the Cowboys after they beat the Rams. People might laugh at this if they're critics of the Cowboys, but they're capable of playing like they did yesterday. And that is a good Rams team. And I don't think there's a team in the NFC that wants to face the Cowboys if they're playing as well as they're capable of playing. There's very few teams in this league that are really good on both sides of the ball or at least capable of being great on both sides of the ball.

And this is one of those teams. If Dallas gets in, they're capable if they hit it at the right time doing some damage. That's the Dan Patrick show yesterday, I'm told. So here's my thing about Dallas. Ask yourself this. If I said to you, you know, put the pom-poms down, who are the six or seven teams that should be favored to win the Super Bowl? Most of us would say, St. San Francisco, Baltimore, New England, Kansas City, Seattle. What do they all have? A-plus coaching.

Folks, five days ago, you wanted Urban Meyer to replace Jason Garrett. So five days ago, you didn't even want your coach around the facility, and now because they beat the Rams at home with extra rest, I'm supposed to like them. They don't have any wins over a playoff team. They're not going to have a single win over a playoff team because if they beat Philly, Philly doesn't make the playoff. playoffs. The Cleveland Browns have two wins over playoff teams. And if the Steelers make it in, they'll have three wins over playoff teams. Dallas has none. Rams are okay, but they're kind of a hot mess right now in the offensive line and the running back situation. They're walking on eggshells in the building and out of the building. So nothing's changed for me. If you asked

all these NFC wildcard teams, like a Seattle, San Francisco potentially, where they'd want to play. They don't want to go to Lambo with Rogers, and they don't want to go to the Superdome with Breeze. I think they'd all choose Garrett Cowboys' Dack. All of them would. So I don't think they're scary. I think they're talented,

but I don't think they're, I think most teams would take Dallas in that. Also remember this. Dallas has not been a great home team with Jerry's new stadium. Goulet, you watch every second. They're okay. That is not an intimidating road presence in Dallas. It's an art gallery with a football field.

I mean, you got the big screen, you got the art galleries, it's got all this new technology. Nobody wants to go to Lambo in January. Nobody wants to go to the Superdome. Nobody wants anything to do with that stuff. Dallas, I'd go there. Feel pretty good about it. All right.

Peter King is right around the corner and coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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. 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? 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. 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 walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? This is Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard, like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by,

like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Sunday, it's a huge doubleheader on Fox, highlighted by America's Game of the Week, as Dak Prescott leads the Cowboys against Carson Wentz and the Eagles.

For control of the NFC East and a playoff berth, check your local listings or catch it all on the Fox Sports app. So Dallas is healthier. They get that break. The weather is going to be sunny mid-40s. Dallas gets that break. Philadelphia doesn't really have a deep threat. They've got that break.

The table is set for Dallas to. to beat Philadelphia. They're getting a series of health breaks and weather breaks. And Dallas, by the way, has own Philadelphia. Zeeks's 5 and 0 against him. I think Dak is four and one in games. He's played the entire four quarters. Amari Cooper's had a couple of huge games against Philadelphia. So this has been a very one-sided since Dak arrived and Zika arrived, kind of a one-sided affair. And it just kind of feels like, to me, Philadelphia all year, the health's been bad. First, the secondary fell apart. Then the line fell apart. offensively. Now the wide receivers fall apart. Sometimes it's a series of bad breaks. Baltimore

hasn't had outside of the center, a big injury all year. They've had three different cluster injury units on Philadelphia, so I suspect Dallas would win. Peter King now joins us via the Coward Global Satellite Network NBC Sports. You know, you spent, it's interesting when I look at Dallas and Philadelphia. I think Philadelphia's infrastructure is fantastic. Howie Roseman, the owner, the GM, the coach. But I would be shocked if Dallas didn't win this game. It feels like the table is set for Dallas. This morning here on a Tuesday, that's what it feels like to me. How about you? Colin, I won't be shocked because it's in Philly. The Eagles have a little bit of mojo going after two season saving wins in the span of seven days. They got a lot of emotion on their side. The

Greg Ward story is a great story. I agree. Dallas ought to win, but I won't be shocked if Philadelphia wins the game. It's a rivalry game. Really, these two teams, I mean, it's not like Pittsburgh, Baltimore, but these two teams have a really good rivalry. I would not be shocked if Carson Wentz plays his game of the year and they win. Now, to me, the craziest thing about this is that if Dallas wins the game, they'll be eight and seven, and they can sit all their guys in week seven.

and get healthy to prepare for a team that might be 13 and 3. The 13 and 3 team can't rest to get their guys healthy, but the 8-8 team, they can take the week off. It is, the NFL is totally preposterous with this home field advantage that I just, not that this would change it, but it is so ridiculous that a 13 and 3 team is going to have to play on the road, or 12 and 4 team, whichever. Yeah, I've said before, I like Seattle, San Francisco, Minnesota. I take all of them to go to Dallas and win.

Dallas hasn't shown me the kind of sustainable consistency that I like from my teams, like a Buffalo has defensively or the Ravens have overall. So Drew Breeze is fascinating. I said earlier, Jerry West is the NBA logo. Drew Bree should be the NFL logo because outside of Matt Stafford, there's not a single quarterback in this league that was number one in high school, great college quarterback at a powerhouse, in the NFL. They're all Drew Breeze. Drop to the second round. Told no, too short. Chargers

bail on him. Dolphins wanted him get out of here. Goes to New Orleans. Terrible franchise. Gets a first time coach Sean Payton. He deals with a natural disaster in Katrina. His story is really very common in the NFL. When was the first time that you looked at Drew Breeze? Probably before New Orleans, because I remember the San Diego years, do you remember the first time you were like, oh, this guy is really not just a guy. He's special. I just remember how different I thought he was when he was a rookie in San Diego Chargers training camp back in, what, 2001? I remember I went to training camp that year, and I walk in there, and he's eating alone in the room, and he's eating, he's got a tray there, and somebody else has left his tray there, and he takes his tray and whoever

else's tray it was and goes up and puts them away. I mean, and that's the kind of guy he was. Colin, I went to do a story on him when I work for Inside the NFL at HBO. I'm guessing maybe 2006, 2007. I think it was 2006 his first year in New Orleans. And we walked his dog. And Drew Brees insisted when his dog took a massive dump. He insisted, I said, hey, I'll get it. I'll get it. He goes, no, no, no, no. And our producer who was there said, Drew, we got it, we got it. He goes, no, my dog, I take care of my own dog. And so, you know, that's just, he's just a guy. And I also think that he died and went to heaven going to work with Sean Payton. Last year, on a Saturday night before they played the Eagles in the regular season,

I got to sit in on their team meeting, their offensive staff meeting. And then Sean Payton and Drew Brees getting the final touches on the game plan together. He had, Drew Brees had 46 plays that he liked, that Sean Payton starred on his play sheet. And we're walking out of there. And I said to Peyton, I said, how many of those tomorrow do you think he run? And he goes, hopefully everyone. And that is what's been great about their relationship. Peyton doesn't think he invented football.

He's going to put him out there. But if his quarterback wants to run certain plays, Peyton's going to call him. That's why their relationship has been so special. Okay, so the Freddie Kitchens thing, even by Cleveland standards, it's a tire fire what's happening. You got players yelling at coaches. According to Mike Silver, players are like, get me out of here.

And by the way, John Dorsey hasn't said a peep multiple times to throw a life preserver to Kitchens, he stayed away from it. So there is this likelihood, I think, that Kitchens, it'd be an easy. guy to let go of. The fans would buy into it. The league would get it. So I think Freddie's gone, despite one report that he's staying. Here's what's interesting. I don't think the best candidate would go to Cleveland. But I do think there's an interesting candidate that could save Baker Mayfield. And it's Mike McCarthy, and you just spent time with him. I don't think he's the sexy candidate for maybe the Falcon's job. But Peter, you spent time with him. He won a Super Bowl.

And according to your story, he's kind of becoming a different guy? He's not necessarily becoming a different guy. He's just retooling mentally and in some of the ways that he wants to handle his team. He wants a big analytics department, a big football tech department, for instance. That's something that surprised me about Mike McCarthy. He's watching coaches this year, how they call games, plays that they call. and he's adding stuff to his repertoire. So I think people will look at him and say, well, in 56 years old, 23, 23, and 1 his last three years.

And they might say, eh, we're going to go young or we're going to go Josh McDaniels or whatever. And look, I don't, I, the only thing that I said when I walked away from Green Bay last week, Colin, if I were an owner, if I'm Jerry Jones, if I'm Arthur Blank, if I'm Dan Snyder, whoever, if I'm an owner, I want to talk to Mike McCarthy. Do you remember in the old days, Colin? You always heard these stories. Al Davis would interview seven, eight or nine coaches for his opening. And you'd say, man, why are you interviewing all those people?

Al used it as kind of a school. Come in. Give me your best ideas. And when you interview with me, empty your bucket. I want to know what you think. I want to know what you can add to our program. So he wouldn't hire a guy, but he'd steal all his ideas. And I'm not suggesting somebody should just come in and milk Mike McCarthy's ideas.

I just think he's got a lot of interesting ideas to offer. The two guys, the old guys standing are Breeze and Brady. But if you ask me today, who's going to have the next two years are going to be dynamic, I would say Breeze. And a lot of this is because if you go back to the last, we put it up this morning, The last four drafts by the Saints, personnel department, they have hit seven home runs, maybe eight, and identified 10 players that came in and made an immediate impact.

The Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, Marshawn Latimore, Marcus Williams, Ryan Ramchick, Barkas Davenport, Eric McCoy, the center. New England, in that same period, Sony Michelle, Joe Thuny, not pro bowlers. I look at Brady in New England and I see a franchise that is asking Tom at 42 to be second in the NFL in attempts and save very average drafts and very average personnel. I don't think doubting New England this point forward is crazy. I watch New England, Peter, they're not dynamic. I watch New Orleans with Breeze. They are dynamic.

I do think the dynasty is ending. I absolutely believe that. but I can understand people saying it come on Colin we've said it before it does feel different to me Peter does it to you it feels different and I agree that it does but let's go back to the Super Bowl you know the Patriots really didn't do a lot offensively in that Super Bowl and you know they had enough to beat the Rams and I think they had enough because hey you know they had a great defensive game plan number one and number two they had an idea for how they wanted to defend the Rams that other teams really had not developed fully.

And they did enough offensively. And so that is why, you know, to me, and this year, they lose Gronk on the same weekend that, you know, all these tight ends are just falling into place all over the NFL. Jared Cook signs with the Saints. You saw Jared Cook last night. That guy could have been a mini gronk. I don't even mean. mini because he's a big guy, but he could have been invaluable to this team this year. And yet they were too late on it because Gronk told him so late that he was going to retire. So they have been just like struggling to stand still all year this year. Josh Gordon, Colin, I don't know what happened there, but I think they knew something.

And clearly he'd be gone by now anyway if he had stayed in New England. So, you know, they just have not been able to replenish the tank. of offensive weapons. Peter King, NBCSports.com, football morning in America. Peter is always great stuff. Thanks. Thank you, Colin.

By the way, guys, get your own hair products. Stop borrowing your girlfriend or your wife's dove men plus care available at Walmart, Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So Drew Brees not only broke Peyton Manning's touchdown pass record last night, he also broke Philip Rivers record for the highest completion percentage in a single game.

He completed 29 of 30 passes for a completion percentage of 96.7, but he says he won't forget that one miss. Well, I'll be honest with you. You know, you always think about the one that you missed, right? And if I just set my darn feet and throw it to the running back, it's 30 for 30. So that one may haunt me for a little while. I feel like that quote completely defines Drew Brees. That one in completion. Yeah, forget the fact that you had a record-breaking, incredible, unbelievable night. It's going to bother you that you missed that one pass and went 29 for 30, which I kind of understand how he feels,

but it's just funny that that is on his mind in that moment. But to me, that's what really defines Drew Breeze and anyone that strives for excellence all the time. It's not about like the accomplishment that you just achieved. It's about the one place where you kind of failed or you need to get better. Some people are in it for rewards and awards. Like some people are in sports and in our business. I mean, radio and television. I've worked with people who are into the awards.

Other people like the process. And I always find the process people over time separate. And Breeze, I mean, Breeze has 38 NFL records. I bet he can name four. He just doesn't care. I was looking at his records earlier. It's absurd. If he plays two more years, he'll own 75% of the record book.

he owes everything. He really is, like, if Tom Brady didn't exist, he would be in the conversation for, and I still think he should be for the greatest of all time. I said this three years ago. I said if you're telling me, I think Breeze, two years ago, I said, I think Breeze is better than Aaron Rogers. And people were like, hot take. It's like, no, we're going to look at record books 10 years from now. It's the only reason that you can have. It is. Because we always have the conversation, well, not always, but for a few years, we were having the conversation of is Aaron Rogers the better quarterback than Tom Brady. And of course, Aaron Rogers is incredible.

And it's kind of unfair to all of their talents to be compared to each other because they're so different. But they are. But they are, because that's part of the business. But Drew Breeze is the one you have the conversation about who's better Drew Breese or Tom Brady. I mean, they're just completely comparable. Breeze wins a second Super Bowl. You can make an argument he's going to move ahead of Marino, Elway. He's moving into that class.

And I just feel like it's a perfect formula. for Drew Brees because he's with a team that for the most part, nobody hates the Saints. Even if you don't pay attention to the Saints, you don't dislike the Saints. John Payton is extremely likable. Their fan base is great. He is just first class in everything

that he does. So it was a perfect moment for him. It was a nice moment for the NFL last night and it was good to see. So the Browns. There's some dysfunction in the Browns organization and it seems to be an all-time high right now. running back Kareem Hunt's is calling out his teammates for the lack of effort that some of them are putting in during Sunday's loss. I feel like it was some plays that everybody didn't leave it.

They 110% out there through the whole play, you know, through the whole whistle. And we all got to do that if we want to be successful. You know, we got to be contagious to everybody. And if we do that, usually good things happen if you're playing with great effort. Contagious, bro. I don't know what to make of the ball. Browns. I do.

They're not very good. They exhaust me. As I said yesterday, they're officially the only NFL franchise that will finish this decade without a winning season. That's hard. Detroit jumped to mind. I thought to, no, no, no, matched efforts had winning season. They made the playoffs. The Bengals have had good seasons.

Nope, it's the Browns. And I've never met a fan base that is so arrogant. Cleveland fans have been wrong for a decade on everything. And yet, if you question anything about them, they come out with. daggers and knives. It's like Cleveland Brown fans, just stop talking, listen to the rest of us because you've been wrong for a decade straight. This is not a solvable situation with the head coach. You've got O-line issues, Baker maturity issues, OBJ issues, ownership issues. This is not a solve, and by the way, good luck with Lamar now, who's way better than we all thought, and Big Ben's

coming back, and that Steeler defense is young. And the Bengals are going to get a new quarterback. I think their window to be special for Cleveland, it may have just closed. I agree. And to me, you don't go a decade of losing, which is inarguable at this point. It's been a decade of losing without it being a cultural issue. This is not about Freddie Kitchens. Or players.

Or the players. And this particular season, you can't argue the talent at all. And I don't put this on Freddie Kitchens because to me, you were just talking about the process. to me, if you are granted an opportunity, you're not ready for. I don't blame the person for taking that opportunity. But to me, the process is always important because you want to be ready when that big opportunity comes to you.

So people who skip the process or skip the line, they're only really successful when they have an incredible support system and culture that's strong. So maybe they aren't quite ready for that opportunity, but they have people around them that elevate them or that help them along the way. So then that sort of smooths over the steps that they've skipped. That's not available in Cleveland. Right, that's right. So to me, he was set up for failure from the beginning.

And he's not enabled. You're also in a division with two of the best cultures, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. So it's not that yours is shaky. You know, it's like Arizona. The downside of being Arizona Cardinals is I got to Seattle's culture is good, the Niners culture is good, and the Rams got a bunch of smart people. You're not just beating players. Right.

You have to beat cultures in this. League and right now, Baltimore and Pittsburgh have two of the strongest winningest cultures. Yes. And speaking of Arizona, Kyler Murray hasn't even finished a full NFL season, but Cardinals coach Cliff Kingsbury is impressed with what he has seen. He praised Kyler's growth throughout the season and said his leadership skills have improved a lot since he's joined the team. You have a bunch of grown millionaires looking at you for direction and leadership and how you carry yourself. I mean, that's a lot to walk into. And so I just think the comfort level of being able to handle that every day and the expectation on him every.

day. You know, this franchise goes as he goes, whether it's in a meeting or a practice or in a game. And I think he's growing into that. Yeah, fun to watch too. He's getting better. It's fun. I mean, it's everything I just said. And not that Kyler Murray has skipped any of the process, obviously not. Neither is Cliff Kingsbury. But if you go into a situation where you have stability and you're enabled, and this is Cliff Kingsbury's franchise, and he picked his guy, and they can grow together. That's not the situation in Cleveland. And you were just speaking about this We played the interview with Dan Patrick, I think it was yesterday, about Kyler Murray. It does feel like he's grown tremendously.

He only started. He and Darnell just didn't play that much. Right. He transferred. He didn't have that many stars. Kyler Murray's got a lot of growth. So does Darnell. I think Kyler's got even more.

But you feel good about both of those franchises. Yeah. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. By the way, LeBron said something yesterday I like. We don't talk a lot of NBA.

until January, February, but LeBron said something about playing every night, and I like it. Here it is. If I'm healthy, I play. That's just going to be your approach all year? I mean, that should be the approach. I mean, unless we're getting to, like, you know, late in the season, we've clenched, and we can't get any better or any worse, and, you know, it could benefit from that, but, I mean, why wouldn't I play if I'm healthy?

It doesn't make any sense to me, personally. I mean, I don't know how many games I got left in my career. I don't know how many kids that may show up to a game to come see me play and if I sit out then what? You know, that's my obligation. My obligation is to play, play for my teammates. And if I'm healthy, then I'm a play. If coach sits me out, then I'm not healthy.

And it's just that simple. Maybe it's a shot at Kauai Leonard, but let's just at least acknowledge for the last 15 years. LeBron has had a piano on his back. It's called the burden of being LeBron. The only athlete in my lifetime, maybe Michael Jordan, but mostly LeBron and Tiger Woods are 50% of the sport.

LeBron left the Eastern Conference, went west, and the Eastern Conference ratings collapsed and have never recovered. Kauai Leonard, the Greek freak, James Hardin, are really special basketball players. LeBron is the face of the league. Kauai doesn't talk.

LeBron had a comment about the NBA China deal. The internet exploded. Connor McDavid's great. So is Mike Trout and Brady. They're not the face of their sport. It's a pressure that doesn't get spoken about. Yes, he tattooed the chosen one. Some of it's on him, but most of it's on his greatness. And he faces a pressure nobody else in his sport has for probably over 20 years. Lakers are red hot. Coming up next, Zach Streif, offensive lineman formerly of the

Saints, knows the ins and outs of New Orleans. He will join us next. Now a Saints broadcaster, it's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to

hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier 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 hard way.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search, learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Clifford 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 walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts 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, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows.

Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the game. the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, I said? you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Twelve years, all with the Saints' Super Bowl chant, the emotional farewell about a year ago as he retired a couple of years ago.

Zach Streep, former Saints offensive lineman via the Coward Global Satellite Network. I'm going to tell you an amazing story about him in about five minutes. Don't go anywhere. So you came in, Zach, you came into the same year as Drew Brees. You're a Northwestern kid. He'd been a big 10 guy that went to the, you know, chargers and the injuries. When did you know, oh, Lord, he's special? It wasn't early.

I'll tell you that. I remember walking out to training camp, the first practice in Jackson, Mississippi, and he was still recovering. And he couldn't throw past about 15 yards. So it took a little while. I would say it was probably halfway through that season where we started seeing him make plays, you know, that were incredible and putting balls in windows that, you know, shouldn't exist. So it took a little while.

It was a different impression early on with Drew. His leadership style, highly energetic. Does he occasionally, even though you loved him, Zach, does he bark occasionally? Does he get after guys? It takes a lot. And I would say it's usually, I can't remember him doing it to an offensive lineman. But yeah, he'll get after a receiver that's not running the right route. He'll get after a defense in practice, a scout defense that's not running the look right,

you know, guys that are kind of freelancing in a defense. But it's pretty rare. It takes a lot to really get him worked up to that point. It's not really his style to go after somebody. You know, he's really more of a positive mindset guy, and it's reflected in the way that he leads. He missed five games this year due to an injury. I said last year, I thought he looked tired. He doesn't this year.

Did it benefit him, frankly, getting hurt? It's possible, right? I mean, it wouldn't be crazy to say that having that time off and kind of, you know, resetting the batteries a little bit on his shoulder has helped him. I mean, he's 40 years old, right? So what he's doing is amazing. and yet, you know, there is going to be physical limitations in there somewhere. So we talked about it when it was going on saying, man, this might end up being a blessing in disguise.

Certainly a blessing in disguise when you see Teddy Bridgewater go out and win five games just to take a little bit of work off of his arm. And, you know, it certainly didn't look, it did not look like he was tired last night. You got drafted in the seventh round and had a great career. The Saints have hit seven to eight home runs in the draft over the last three or four drafts. They have a tremendous eye for personnel. You know, beyond Breeze and beyond the Superdome and the crowd, when you're being part of that organization, did you always feel like, man, I'm lucky to work here?

Yeah, from very early on. And, you know, it's interesting. And we had our Super Bowl reunion party this past weekend. And Mickey Loomis said this. You know, in 2006, this was a place nobody wanted to come. You know, nobody wanted to be in New Orleans. This was like a last resort for people. And now it's a destination that guys want to be at.

And the organization is first class. It is first class in every single way. The facilities, the way they treat their people, the way they treat you even after you're gone. It really is a special group. And I think more than anything, there's just been so much consistency in the building, you know, with Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis, Mrs. Benson, you know, from the top down, there's been consistency. And it's kind of a family atmosphere. they take great care of their people.

How much does Drew have left in the tank in your opinion, Zach? I gave up guessing about three years ago. I've been wrong now, you know, three times. I mean, it's like, I mean, you look at a game last night and you say, I don't know, six years. I mean, you know, it doesn't even look close, you know, and he takes such good care of his body. You know, he's always been meticulous with how he takes care of himself. And with the way that the offense has kind of, you know, changed over time to fit, you know,

what he's still good at and take. away some of things. Maybe he's not great at anymore. You know, I think he could keep playing for a few years. I think, you know, I would say two or three years, but I've been saying two or three years for two or three years. So, you know, I don't know. It's hard to say. Okay, I want you to listen to something very closely, folks. Here is the record setting play by play. Just listen to this. First and goal from the five, makes the handoff. Looks to throw. Wide open. Touchdown. Drop 273 games over 76,000 yards.

And now, 540 touchdowns. Drew Brees take a bow. That's the voice of Zach Streif. He's the play-by-play announcer for the Saints. I didn't believe that. Nobody knows that outside of New Orleans. You did not major in broadcasting, and now you're stealing jobs from schmucks like me. did you how did this happen yeah it's uh it was it was kind of a weird deal you know i took some

some interviews with some local media people just to find out what was available when i retired in 2017 and i was meeting with the with intercom or w w l local uh saints affiliate and you know they're the ones that make that higher and they said you know in this industry it's so much about you know what's available and the only thing that's available right now is play by play Jim Henderson, a longtime Saints, Voice of the Saints had retired. And they said, but you know, that's not a player job. You know, it's a broadcasting role. And I said, I get it.

And I walked out of the office by the time I got to my car, I said, that's it. I mean, that's the job. If you could have any job in the media in the world and you're a former player, man, what better than getting to be the voice of the team that you played for. So I went back. I said, hey, I want to be the voice of the Saints. And they giggled. I literally got an audible laugh out of the office. and I said, listen, give me some time.

Let me try to put an audition tape together. And, you know, I think my relationships in the city and with the organization certainly helped me in that. But, yeah, they gave me the opportunity, and I'm in the second year with a former teammate, Deuce McAllister. Good God, that's incredible. What a story you are. Seventh-rounder, Northwest. You know, I said this, Drew Breeze should be the NFL logo because all these quarterbacks in the league were overlooked. Darren Rogers Junior College, Patrick Mahomes, nobody wanted him except Rice and Texas Tech.

That is the NFL. Your stories, the NFL. Half the league is undrafted. You're a remarkable guy. I'd love to have you on again. Good luck to you and the Saints. And thanks for stealing all of our jobs. I really appreciate that, Zach.

Anytime, Colin. Thanks for having me, man. Managing partner, by the way, for Port Orleans Brewing Company in New Orleans, a craft brewery. So talk about a winner. How about that? He said Al Michaels, Al Michaels peppered him with question for six minutes. He didn't believe the former player had gone right into the booth to be the voice of the Saints.

It takes a lot of confidence to do that, but he's right. Don't give up on the opportunity. Worked out for him. God, that's great. Yeah. That is incredible. I'd never heard of that before. The guy's a play-by-play voice of the Saints and owns a brewery.

I mean, just the only thing he's missing is owning like a bank. Like a tech company. It's like the world's greatest job. Awesome. Coming up last hour, LeVar Erington stops by. We're loaded. This show is flying by. Don't go anywhere.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Lavaar Erington played for almost a decade, multiple time, Pro Bowler. High School All-American, College All-American, top, what were you in? I don't know.

I was top everything. Fifth pick or something like that. Then I went pro. You know, it's interesting. We were talking about Drew Breeze. Drew Breeze is the NFL. Doubters, too small, not top recruit. Second round.

You are the rarity. Great high school, great college, top pick, great career. You're the rare. But go back to your career. Yep. Half this league is undrafted. This league, football is hard and it needs hard guys. Go back to your career.

Look around. Did you ever play with a Drew Breeze? kind of personality that didn't have a huge high school career, didn't have a huge college, didn't go first, second round. Do you remember that? Yeah, the first, first name that comes of mind is Antonio Pierce. He was undrafted. I recall going against him in college, and he had the big hits in the game. He made a lot of big plays with Lance Briggs and different guys on that same Arizona team. And he came in undrafted. I couldn't believe he was undrafted when we got him. And you knew instantly. Well, I knew before we,

you know, yeah, when I saw him out there, because I didn't even know he was on our team until we got out in spring spring practices. And so, it's like, man, like, we got this guy. And they couldn't justify playing him because that was the same time we had brought in Jeremiah Trotter

and Jesse Armstead. And you were paying him money. So they couldn't justify and playing them. So that's the way they do this in baseball the time. If you get drafted in baseball, they'll call you up. Even if you don't have a good spring and, you know, and the lower draft pick had a great spring.

Same in the NFL. The undrafted guys, they want to be good, but not better than the draft picks. Yeah, you got to follow the money and you got to follow the optics. You know, a lot of times people are like, well, oh, I was all of those things. I actually was as good as advertised, but I also passed the eye test.

Yeah. You know, there's a comfort, there's a comfort level in knowing that a guy is of the size and skill sets. that I possessed for my position. So you get a guy, I was breaking the mold. Now the mold is going back to more of a smaller type of linebacker. But when I was coming out, to be 6-3, I ran a 4-4-5 coming out. You were what everybody wanted.

So I passed eye test. Yeah. You know, you face Breeze a couple times in college. Do you remember the early Drew Breeze in the NFL in San Diego? Do you remember him? Sure. What do you remember about him? I mean, to me, Drew Breeze,

has always been Drew Breeze. I mean, I played against Drew in college. So, he cherry up? No, he never won against us. You watched that highlight. That's, that's wonderful work by FS1, bro. I mean, look at that. Look at what I did to your boy. This is what they call a trip trifecta, right? That's a sack. That's a scoop. That's a score. That's a bad man right there. What about the second, third, fourth quarters? We won. Drew Breeze never beat me in college. But he was good, though. Remember how good he was? Tom Brady beat me every time in college Think about the error of time that I played in in college

I went against Drew Brees look that's me sacking them I got them multiple times in this game I blocked a field goal with my chest in this game I was literally Superman in college and then I went pro and then You were a good player in pros? Well they kept my cape in state college Is that what it is? I remember you being pretty good in the pros as well

I'm not bitter I smile about it. Let me ask you about this. I always say when it comes to a coach, optics matter some. You got to stand in front of guys like you. Alpha males, going to be millionaires. Adam Gase to me sometimes looks like a coordinator. Matt Patricia, hat on backwards.

It feels like a defensive coach, not a head coach. Freddie Kitchens now. You got players barking at him. He's got the big hoodie. You know, he was a quarterback in college. When I watched them unravel this weekend, Is it possible guys just don't buy him? Yes, it is possible.

You can buy being friends with somebody and not having them as an authoritative figure over you, right? You could go have a couple cold ones with kitchens and you guys laugh and have a good time and dab each other up and maybe even pass out together, right? Wake up, do it again. I don't know him, but he seems like he has, a really cool personality, somebody that.

A Mike McCarthy relatability. Yeah, I like, and I think that's a great, I think that's a great comparison. And Mike McCarthy is definitely that type of guy. But I think the differentiator between those two is that I believe Mike McCarthy was much more well prepared to be a head coach than what Kitchens is. Okay, that's your point.

They could have a lot of similarities. The difference is Mike was ready when given the opportunity. Yes. could be as good, but he may not quite be ready. By the way, the GM also gave him OBJ. He gave him big personalities, which Green Bay historically doesn't go after big personalities. I don't, with as much personalities and as much talent as Cleveland has, you should still be able to win at a higher level than what they are, even not being maybe an amazing coach. I think you have enough talent that if you just simplify things, you.

things and go out there and like you said and you have the buy-in and the belief from the players, you should be able to have success. And to me, I think that that's what raises the biggest concern about kitchens right now and his ability to lead this team and guide this team is with all the talent that you have, you don't have to be an amazing coach. Don't try to make it about you. Manage those personalities and make it about them. Obj, what do you want to do? how do you get the most yards in the game? How do you score the most points in the game? I go down the list.

I go across the list. And then now I'm giving myself a fair opportunity. And if that doesn't work, I don't think the other way, obviously isn't working, whatever it is he's doing right now. But I would really, really try to figure out what that balance is with those personalities and try to deliver what it is that they're looking for. because sometimes it's just as simple as saying, okay, this is the route I love to run.

Let him run the route. I want to ask you, the league is obviously getting more mobile a quarterback. So I'm going to give you 10 guys that move pretty well. Okay. Wentz, Lamar, Kyler, Russell, Mahomes, Josh Allen, Russell. Did you say Russell already? So let me do it again. Ten is a long, that's a large number, man.

Let me give you, let me get again, a little moving guy. Mahomes moves, Lamar moves, Kyler moves, Josh Allen moves, Carson Wentz moves, Russell Wilson moves. Of the six movers, okay. Next 10 years, who wins the most? Next 10 years? Russell Wilson's not about to hang it up, so he doesn't get hit. Who wins the most over the next start from where we are right now?

Who wins the most over the next 10 years? years, who you taken, of all the new mobile dude tonight, Russell's not old by any stretch. I think Russell Wilson is the safest pick for me. That's what I think. That's what I think. But I could be horribly wrong in my estimation of Lamar Jackson. I really could. What did you think he was going to be? I thought he would, I thought he would be good, and I thought he would be, I thought he would be better than what prognosticators put out on him. Okay.

I did not think that he would be as good as he is right now. And I think that that's the most intriguing aspect of all of those names are what are their capabilities. Because Kyler Murray, again, I was with Kyleor Murray at the Under Armour All-American Game, and I saw his work ethic, and I saw his maturity level back then as a senior in high school. I don't know what his ceiling is. I don't know what Lamar Jackson's ceiling is. I have had enough of a sample size of what Russell Wilson

brings to the table to say confidently. Win the Super Bowl. Be the guy. I'm okay. And a lot of people say, well, it was the Legion of Boom that led that team and this, that another. And that's fine. But we're getting a very, very good information grab of who Russell Wilson is as the undisputed leader and driver of a team this year. And so, he hasn't skipped the beat. Everything that's been asked of him

in terms of his professional job description, he's filled the bill. Oh, he's exceeded everything. And so I can't, with him being in that list, and there are some fine names in that list, my homes is one of the most gifted throwers that I've seen that has the mobility. Allen is pretty, pretty doggone good over there.

He has an arm. He's really built. really building his reputation. And obviously it goes without saying what Lamar Jackson is doing for the Ravens. But if I'm looking at sample size and for the long run of what I believe would have the truest sense of success over that extended amount of time, I think Russell Wilson fits that bill. What did you make of the Cowboys win? Anything?

They showed what people felt the capabilities of this roster could achieve. But I mean, that's it for me. I don't think that that one win erases everything that we've been seeing, everything that we've been discussing. I don't think that one win erases that. They're going to have to erase that. Talented roster. What was the most talented single roster you played on?

You played for the Redskins, you played for the Giants. Was there a year that you were like dudes everywhere? In the league? For you? I mean, that's my whole. whole career. No, but the team you played on that was the most gifted, physically the most gifted. There was a red-skinned team that went out and got somebody. My freshman, or my rookie year, was when they brought in Bruce Smith and Dion Sanders. But they were old. They were old. Dereau

Green was on that team. Champ Bailey was on that team. That's a lot of dudes. It's a lot of dudes. How did you do that year? Well, we didn't make the playoffs. There you go. It's not always about talent. know what though if we would have had a kicker I think we ended up with Murray what's Murray's first name man godly Murray Murray nobody can remember he was literally like 90 years old man he was like a puff of smoke if you

would have touched him the right way man out of there gone like rest in peace but that most talented team didn't make the playoffs we did not make the playoffs we were losing games by like 1 point 2 points 3 points like literally the combined losing average that we had that

year it was if we had a field goal kicker, we would have probably been all right. What did you say, Greg? And it might have changed the trajectory of my career. Eddie Murray. Eddie Murray. How old is he right now? Like 90. 63?

Close enough. Right now he's 63? Wow. I thought you were embellishing. I thought he was 63 back dead. Lamar Arrington, high school football coach. What's the name of the school in Pasadena? Maranatha Hyde.

And they say you can't get into the school unless you could spell it. Mayor Anatha High, how'd you do this year? We were 7 and 4, actually. Would you ever coach college football? I don't know. If I went with Urban, I would go. You would? If James Franklin called me, I'd go.

And you'd be a linebacker coach. If Brent Pry called me, I'd go. All right. There's a few names that if they called, I'd think about going. Good to see you, buddy. Hey, Joy with the news. Hi, Joy with the news. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. So, Dak Prescott suffered a sprained wrist and index finger injury when the Cowboys faced the Bears two weeks ago. Troy Aikman reported on Sunday that the finger injury was a hairline fracture, but another report says DAC is actually just dealing with a bone bruise. Jason Garrett was asked about DAC's status, and he wouldn't give any details about the severity of the injury. I never had a hairline fracture to my finger to throw, but I think a lot of quarterbacks have had jammed fingers and they dealt with different things.

And, you know, it's hard, obviously. Having the ball in your hand and feeling good is a big part of throwing the ball well. But Dax's a tough guy. Dax's a physically tough guy, is a mentally tough guy. And so whatever he's dealing with doesn't let a lot of people know about. He goes out and does his job. And he was able to do that again yesterday. So he did have the fewest past attempts of the season last week, despite their blowout win over the Rams.

But he did begin the game with the Rams with tape on the tip of his finger. He removed it after the first quarter. you want to go into the last part of the season healthy or as healthy as you can. So I'm sure that they're watching this closely. But the situation with the Cowboys and the Eagles is very interesting. So obviously the Cowboys and Eagles play this weekend. If the Cowboys beat the Eagles in Philadelphia, they clinch and it's over. Now, if they lose, they can still make it if the Eagles lose to the Giants in the last week

because they both play divisional opponents. So it's a little complicated. It's really going to be hard for Dallas. The Eagles need to win out, basically. Yeah, and Dallas is getting every break. The weather's going to be good. They're healthier. They can lose the game and still get in.

Listen, I don't like firing people. If Dallas doesn't get into the playoffs, you've got to fire the coach. I mean, there's no getting around. Everything is working in their favor. They're mostly healthy. Philadelphia, they're going to Philadelphia in late December, and the weather is perfect. Mid-40s. Sunny.

I mean, this has been, if Philadelphia beats Dallas, it borders on embarrassing. It borders on embarrassing. I don't disagree, and I don't think that Garrett is there next year. I just don't. I can't imagine who's in that spot. What if Philadelphia beats Dallas? They've had major cluster injuries at defensive back, O-line, and receiver. There's no way Philadelphia should win this game.

They have no receivers. Yeah, I mean, they're decimated. They're out of them. They just don't have any. Yes, they're having to bring up guys from the practice squad. By the way, the line on this, Fox Bed is only Philadelphia. Dallas is only a two and a half point favorite. That does not speak well to coaching.

I don't hate Philadelphia in this spot. Oh, Lord. Again, I just can't imagine who is in that position. And even psychologically, the Cowboys have an edge because Zeeks's 5 and O against them. Dallas has played well. Dallas should absolutely win this game. This is a game. Dallas coming off a great win. They feel good.

They dominated a good team. the weather's good, they're healthier. How are they only a two and a half point favorite? Dallas should win the... I may bet Dallas. I have stayed away from Dallas all year in the Blazing Five. I might take Dallas this week. I think I'm taking Dallas.

Mine is two and a half. So again, the Eagles need to win out, or if they beat the Cowboys and loss of the Giants, then they need the Cowboys to lose to the Redskins. So that's how the NFC East is set up right now. So this function of the Browns organization has kind of reached an all-time high. Some of the players are a little bit desperate.

Odell was the first player reportedly that asked to other teams to get him out of Cleveland, and now some other players are apparently following his lead. Mike Silver is reporting that multiple Browns players, including Jarvis Landry, were yelling, come get me to the Cardinals bench during the game Sunday. Maybe they were saying, like, come get me in a different way. Can you get me some Gatorade? I'm thirsty. I don't know.

But the Browns are, as I said yesterday, officially the only NFL franchise that will finish this decade without a winning season. Their overall record for the decade is first. 42, 115, and one. Best case scenario. By far the worst in the NFL. They land Mike McCarthy, somebody bites on OBJ and gives them a lineman. Best case scenario.

Then Mike McCarthy, OBJ gone, he's happier, Landry's the guy, and Joku's back healthy, and they can get an offensive lineman for OBJ. It's not the end of the world. If you land McCarthy, Mike knows enough guys in the league, he can get a long five-year. Here's the one good thing for Cleveland. they're going to have to overpay for a coach. Otherwise, they're going to have to overpay. So if you overpay...

As they should. But they're going to overpay. And if they sign McCarthy, he would bring in a nice staff. So Baker would get a real coaching staff. I don't consider that overpaying. Yeah. Are you overpaying for a Super Bowl winning coach with a ridiculous resume? Who's essentially just probably...

Yeah, who just took a year off from the sport? Like, he had offers and just decided it wasn't the right situation for him. Yeah. It wasn't like nobody won. wanted him. That's not overpaying to me. You should pay whatever he asks and let him put together the staff that he wants, as you said, and empower him and let him be the head coach and make head coaching decisions. That's what the Browns need. Finally, the Patriots organization has been dealing with the fallout of the investigation into the videotaping of the Bengals sideline,

and Tom Brady said the players never let the drama become an issue. I don't think any player gave it one second, I thought. So you just move on, man. There's a lot of distractions out there. And if you can lose focus on your job, then that's a really a waste of time. So there's a lot of people out there that can create distractions for us. But, you know, we just want to go out there and focus on what we can do and what our job is and try to go out there and play as best we possibly can. They clinch the playoffs spot with the win over the Bengals, the 3413 win over the Bengals.

They are still under investigation. They'll likely receive a punishment. It could be up a six-figure fine, loss of a drop pick. This to me is not a player issue. This wasn't a deflate gate kind of situation. this is something that has nothing to do with any of the players on the field. Obviously, they're going to be asked about it, and there is a little bit of, I'm sure, frustration around the organization.

But to me, this isn't something that should be distracting to the players. So it's not surprising that Tom Brady said that. They have the bills this weekend and then the dolphins, both at home. They get the buy if they win out. If they lose one of the last two games and the Chiefs went out, they'd be tied at 12 and 4 and the Chiefs would get the buy. And the bills can still win the AFC East if they went out and the Patriots lose out. If I'm New England,

I beat Buffalo, I rest everybody. Edelman included week 17. I don't even care about home away. I want to be healthy. And then I'll take my chances with a buy and being healthy. You got to win a couple games. I think you want to get the game at home if you're the Patriots. I only can afford to sit in.

They're not going to get the Baltimore game at home, though. Well, but no, but you need that you want that buy if you're the Patriots. Yes, they need time. Edelman, according to reports, is falling apart. His one weapon's falling apart. Well, I still believe in them. Yeah, Joy with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Line News. Listen to this. Listen to this. Last two games for Drew Brees. And this is against, by the way, San Francisco's defense and the Colts defense, these are not bad defenses. Last two games for Bree, 660 yards, nine touchdowns, no picks, 145 passer rating, sat some of the fourth quarter, 83%.

That five games off did him a huge face. He's his feet last night, his arm, he looked absolutely great. Coming up, it's our best for last. Super Bowl windows, open, kind of open, officially closed going forward. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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, 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, Keir 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 Hardway and listen now.

What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, Rhett, mom, I want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast

point game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I gotta manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's gonna be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the

lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stopped by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Troy Aikman said yesterday that nobody wants to. wants to face the Dallas Cowboys, scary good if they get to the playoffs. So here is Troy Aikman talking about that. People might laugh at this if they're critics of the Cowboys, but they're capable of playing like they did yesterday. And that is a good Rams team.

And the NFC that wants to face the Cowboys if they're playing as well as they're capable of playing. There's very few teams in this league that are really good on both sides of the ball, or at least capable of being great on both sides of the ball. And this is one of those teams. If Dallas gets in, they're capable if they hit it at the right time doing some damage. So we'll talk about that. For this year going forward, is the window wide open, partially open with concerns, or it's closed based on what we've seen? Here we go, Joy.

All right, the Dallas Cowboys. I believe the Dallas Cowboys window is closed despite what we saw with the game against the L.A. Rams. They're 0-15 versus teams currently in the playoffs. They don't have a history delivering in this spot. They have not. They only have three playoff wins since the 90s, the mid-90s. This is a team defensively that outside of Jared Goff has made every single quarterback they've faced this year comfortable, including Sam Darnold, Jeff Driscoll.

It's closed. All right, Philadelphia Eagles. The Philadelphia Eagles window is closed. Minus 6 turnover differential. So they don't take it away from you and they give it up. This is a sloppy team that has no deep threat. Injuries everywhere. And even with some great defensive line personnel,

you get a lot of touchdowns, not field goals. They're only 24th in red zone defense. So too many mistakes, not enough dynamic perimeter players. Eagles windows closed. You're not very high on this team. the Green Bay Packers. Well, I would say the Packers window is halfway open because they're very good getting leads in the NFL.

Remember, about 60% of the teams in the NFL that take a lead in a game win. Playoff games, too. Scoring first matters, playing from ahead matters. And they only have nine turnovers all season. So this is a team that does. They don't give you any freebies. Their defense can get pushed around, but keeps them in games. And again, great off the scumns.

I have huge issues about their ability to adjust at half, but their window's half open. How about the Minnesota Vikings? I'm going to say similarly, I like their roster better than Green Bay, but the window is only halfway open. They're very good at home this year, but they're probably going to play road playoff games. Kirk Cousins, 0-1 in the playoffs, never seen him have a playoff run. They're one and three currently against playoff teams, and again, they'll play on the road in the playoffs. It's open because of the depth of the roster, but partially open. Drew Breez's New Orleans Saints?

This is wide open. This is as open as any window. I was wrong. They do everything right. They don't let you get to their quarterback, but they get to yours. They don't turn it over. They're dynamic. Now, they don't have a deep threat, so they're not going to get a lot of freebie touchdowns.

They're not somebody that can overcome their defense failing them. That's why they lost it home to San Francisco, but they should be among the Super Bowl favorites. What about the Niners? With the Niners, even though they beat the Saints, I would say it's halfway open because they play in a much tougher division, meaning they could end up as low as a six seed. And I just don't trust anybody to go on the road three or four times. I just think it's really, especially in the NFC right now, when you'd have to go to Lambo, you'd have to go to the Superdome. Remember, they're only three and three after an eight and oh start.

And their three losses have been last second losses. so situationally, they've not been great. I do love this about it. Best team in the league in the third quarter. Excellent at adjusting. That'll win them a playoff game. How about the Seahawks? See, now, I think it's all the way open.

I've got an MVP at quarterback. I've got a Super Bowl-winning coach. And they have proven time and time again, unlike San Francisco and Jimmy Garoppolo, they've proven they're great on the road. Road is not a problem for Seattle. I don't know if San Francisco can go on the road. I mean, they lost a ball.

Baltimore, they beat New Orleans, but playoffs are different. They're also, they've won six of their last seven games. This team has proven time and time again. They also upgraded during the season, Quadry dig safety, Jadavian Clowning on the defense. So this to me, I said before, I think their window is more open than San Francisco. And after this weekend, I even feel more strongly about that. The New England Patriots?

I think it's closed. They're 0 and 3 against division leaders in the AFC. They couldn't beat the Texans. They couldn't beat the Ravens and they couldn't beat the Chiefs. They, Julian Edelman's their go-to offensive weapon and he's all banged up. They've scored 22 points or less in five of their last six games. So it's not getting better. They're not getting healthier.

They didn't address the tight-end position last two drafts. There's a price to pay for that. And again, after an 8-0 start, they're a 3-3 football team with an offense that is regressing. How about the Baltimore Raven? Easy one open. Everything goes their way. No injuries. They're running quarterback.

Lamar Jackson leads the NFL with 33 passing touchdown. So even their perceived weaknesses or strengths. I got a Super Bowl winning coach. I've always believed you can't win a World Series with a bad bullpen. You cannot win a Super Bowl with a bad O line. Offensive lines got a couple of pro bowlers, maybe the best run blocking left tackle and football. So everything's warm.

wide open here. The Chiefs? I'll say there's as wide open. And I'm going to go wide open. Again, a couple of things to remember. Five and one on the road this year. That's a big deal to me. Seattle's a good road team.

Kansas City's five and one on the road. They've shown last week they can play brilliant football and crappy weather since the by week. Number one scoring defense in the NFL since the by week. So they're secondary has gotten significantly better.

They are 2-0 against Lamar Jackson. They've seen him. They've beaten him, and they know how to beat him. So, Cowboys closed, Eagles closed, Packers, Vikings halfway open, Saints open, Seahawks open, Niners halfway open, Patriots closed, Ravens, Chiefs, wide open.

I think as long as you've got Belichick and Brady, it's just got to be just packed a little bit. It's a little bit. It's a little draft. No. No tight in. Can't throw over the top. Edelman Herd.

Offensive line on their fourth kicker. I've been traumatized by them. I can't. I understand it. I do get that. I understand Pittsburgh, Miami person is traumatized. I've suffered a lot. One more herd?

The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice 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 10. TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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, 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart 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 crying. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis' come in. 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.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.