The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Ezekiel Elliot, Eli Manning, Josh Rosen and the NFL Preseason

Episode Date: August 30, 2019

Colin comments on the possibility of the Cowboys playing without Ezekiel Elliott, what the Giants are probably doing with Eli Manning, Josh Rosen not starting for the Dolphins, and what the preseason has shown us. Guests include Eric Dickerson, Andy Reid, Jason Whitlock, Steve Beuerlein and Jason McIntyre.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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.

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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.

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It is a Friday. We are absolutely packed. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. All sorts of interesting guests in 15 minutes. Great coach for the Kansas City Chiefs, Andy Reid, stops by. Steve Burline today had those controversial thoughts about Andrew. lot, not necessarily controversial in my opinion.

Many thought they were. Jason Whitlock stops by the way, stops by a Jason McIntyre. Joy Taylor is joining me. I've got my cowboy colors on today. I am ready to go and lead my show with Dallas Talk. What better to lead the show with? What better.

The Dallas Cowboys have become a very functional team. Now, they haven't won Super Bowls, but I've been saying this for the last couple of years. They're a lot smarter than we think. Jerry sometimes has the ego and the vanity. But if you look at their drafting over the last six or seven years, oh, my friends, it has been unbelievable. Even when they make trades, Amari Cooper, oh my word, that's good.

They found their franchise quarterback in the fourth round. Dallas is a really well-run football team. Most of the analytic sites say Dallas has the first or second best roster in the NFL of under 25-year-old talent. Now, sometimes they look like a little bit of a clown show because of all this and that and craziness, but Jason Garrett steady, drafting Stephen Jones steady, offensive line fantastic. This is an organization that looks at details. Okay, they find their quarterback in the fourth round.

Their offensive line has been the best in the league. Details. Anybody notice something with the Cowboys? This defense is interesting. In the preseason, they've been dominating. They've been the third best defense in the preseason. Last year, they were the sixth best defense in the NFL. And they haven't done it with easy fixes.

In fact, I'm going to give you the last six years of the Cowboys defensive ranks. This is fascinating. Last 19th, 17th, 14th, 8th, and 7th. This is not a business organization that's going for a quick fix. Through smart drafting, they have steadily, No other defense in the NFL has gone six straight years of solid improvement. This defense, by the way, if you've watched the preseason in late last year, will be the best they've had.

Details matter. I'm going to give the Cowboys credit on this. I think one of the reasons they're playing hardball with Zeke is, they're looking at that defense and they're going, we don't have to be as great offensively as everybody thinks. We can play Tony Pollard, average 4.6 yards of carry and win a lot of football games with our defense. Here's another interesting number. If you think the cowboys are smart and you think they pay attention to details, we know New England does.

We know New England always avoids a crisis before a crisis occurs. Here's the other thing about Jerry Jones, Zeke, and the leverage. It is very difficult unless you just throw a ton of money at it to go from bad to great in an area. The first three games the Cowboys play this year, they play bad run defenses. Giants, Washington, Miami. I think Miami was like 31st. What does that tell you? If the Cowboys are as smart as I think due to their drafting,

and drafting's all about details. Nobody's drafted more good young players than Dallas. Even when they did a trade last year, gave up a first round pick, Amari Cooper. They were seven and two once Amari and Dak worked together. All their moves work. They know their defense, this is going to be their best defense ever. They know they face with a healthy offensive line still arguably the best in football. They face lousy run defenses and they can go two in one or three and O.

and Tony Pollard's going to average five yards a carry. Translation, less leverage for Zeke. I think they're smart. Jerry Jones is a smart cookie. Think about this. The NFL has 32 billionaire owners. Actually, Mark Davis and 31. Of all those billionaires, there's two billionaires that the rest of them listen to.

Jerry Jones and Bob Kraft. These guys didn't luck out into their success. They didn't. Belichick had a losing record in Cleveland, and Bob Kraft saw something. He wasn't the hot coaching hired. He was a disaster with the media in Cleveland. He had a losing record in Cleveland. He bailed on the jets.

Belichick, a lot of people were done with Belichick. He was impossible to deal with in Cleveland. Go read the book about Belichick. It was ugly at the end in Cleveland. People don't want to touch Belichick. Kraft saw it. I think Dallas knows our defense this year is stacked. It's the best it's been.

And for six straight years, it's been fantastic. Have you watched it in the preseason? And I think they're looking at that schedule thinking, we face bad run defenses. They're going to get to Zique. They're going to pay Zique, but they're not paying him $17.5 million. I think this is a smart organization.

And Jerry Jones after the game last night addressed it. He's ready. He's ready to play with. without them. I'm operating this, though, right now is going to miss regular season games. My entire expectation

for what we're putting together as a team right now would anticipate with the home now and not having no union training count that is going to miss games. I just accept that.

All right. By the way, I mentioned this yesterday. The Dallas schedule has all sorts of soft spots and mini vacations. Three rebuilding teams to start. Soft with two New York rebuilding teams in a buy in the middle. The Rams at home late, 10 days to prep, and the bills on a short week.

I think Jerry's smart. I think they know at least for the first month. The numbers add up. They can win and run the ball effectively without Zieg, giving them leverage. Let me shift to this. Daniel Jones, once again in the first, preseason last night.

It looked amazing. I'm going to give you Daniel Jones preseason numbers. They're almost cartoonish. They're like high school. He completed 85% of his throws. 29 of 34. 450 yards, 2 TT's, no picks. Pat Shermer, we don't know if Pat Shermer's a good head coach.

But with Case Keenham, Eli Manning, Nick Foles, and Sam Bradford, all four have had significant statistical elevation under Pat Shermer. But I think, and this is my belief, that Pat Shermer and John Mara know after that Bench-Ely debacle with Ben McAdo,

they had to change the narrative. And they knew when they drafted Daniel Jones, there was going to be a little plan. And I'm going to give you the three steps to it. The first thing they did is they released a video of Daniel Jones in camp. Do you remember that? Slow motion, perfect throws, all on target, came out.

All of a sudden it was being reported only a handful of people. Oh, actually, no media there. He was just unbelievable. It was like a glossy video. Remember that video came out and people were just saying, oh, my word, Daniel Joseph. The second thing that came out, CBS Sports in May breaks a story. Eli Manning does not look good. He threw a bunch of interceptions today that conveniently was leaked to the press.

And then in the preseason this year, and this is to take nothing away from Daniel Jones, I don't know if you notice this, but most good teams do not play their offensive linemen in the preseason. The crosstown jets who don't even have a great offensive line, they haven't played their offensive line starters. The New York Giants, have you noticed this? how much they've played their offensive line starters. Eli has played 28 snaps. That's it. The offensive line is played 60, the starters.

Ah, make sure Daniel Jones succeeds in the preseason. Why? Because when you're 1 in 4 or 2 and 5, you have now created momentum within the media and the fans that when the suggestion to bench Eli Manning comes out, WFAN Radio in New York is, got to be honest, guys. The guy was unbelievable in preseason.

It matters. Narratives matter. Optics matter. The Giants behind the scenes released the video of Daniel Jones being perfect. Then a story leaks to CBS. Eli is really struggling. They play their offensive line starters

through the preseason. double what most teams do to protect Daniel Jones. They give him good timing routes, things he'll do well. I mean, folks, 85% completion rate. These are throws, quarterbacks making their sleep. They have planted all of this knowing it's coming soon. It's a behind-the-scenes plant. By the way, pro footballfocus.com, pfffff.com.

Sam Munson came on our show this week. He said, listen, if you're really looking at it, at the film, Daniel Jones is not tearing it up. It's as almost if the organization is grooving his stats for the replacement eight weeks from now. Interesting, even his preseason grade hasn't been quite as good as I think the general perception of his play has been. When you really break it down, throw by throw, and, you know, there's a bad fumble in there that we charge to him that won't show up in the box score, that kind of thing. He hasn't been quite a spectacular as I think a lot of people are thinking. But ultimately for the Giants, you've got to ask yourself,

what are you losing by starting Daniel Jones? So, you know, PFF wasn't in love with Daniel Jones as a prospect, but right now we'd be asking the question of why not start him week one? But again, when you really look at the play, the numbers are better than reality. I think the Giants have a plan. I think it's smart. I think Eli is mostly a shot fighter, elevated last year by Pat Schumer, who's elevated Case Keenham and Sam Bradford and many quarterbacks. So that's where we stand today. Andy Reed is around the corner, a Kansas City Chiefs coach. We are packed today.

I think there's a couple of things happening in the NFL. You know, I talk about New England, always being kind of a step ahead of the league. Anybody notice, I saw a little bit of it last night. They're doing something at the end of last year and now. They are changing their offense. And by the way, they were the first team to go to the tied in in the NFL, Well, dual tight ends attack the middle of the field. New England now is doing something and the rest of the league is not doing it as much.

Very interesting. I hope you noticed it. And if you noticed it, you also noticed their personnel acquisitions in the last draft until today. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at 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.

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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.

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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, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

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I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you look at all the preseason games, you know, I know a lot of people, I'm not going to take a lot out of preseason. You have to take something out of preseason. Dak Prescott is, he popped. Remember his first game in Los Angeles?

And we were all like, I was a skeptic. I was like, it's preseason. I learned my lesson. Preseason means something. Daniel Jones, although I don't think he'll complete 85% of his throws in the NFL, appears to be good enough at this point in Eli. Manning's career to play and give you at least what Eli Manning does. The Giants do have an upgraded offensive line.

They have a superstar running back. Pat Shermer's a very good offensive coach. I don't know if their defense is good enough. I don't think their defense is good enough in their division to compete with Philadelphia and Dallas. But of the two or three things I've noticed in preseason, my takeaway is Daniel Jones is now good enough to put in behind Eli Manning. Manning and you feel confident he can at least give you an Eli level of play with better legs,

better athletic ability, and I think at this point, more upside. That's the thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed in the preseason, Pittsburgh has upgraded their defense significantly. Devin Bush, maybe the steal of the draft, maybe the best player in the draft, the linebacker from Michigan. He's been amazing. They went and got a starting corner from Kansas City, Steve Nelson. They've gone from the AAF.

They addressed it in the draft. My second thing I've noticed in this preseason, and again, this stuff, some of it matters. Pittsburgh looks focused. They've been hearing all year that Cleveland's going to dominate the division. Antonio Brown is out. James Washington has been as good as any young receiver in the NFL. So that's another takeaway. I think Pittsburgh looks better defensively.

And for the record, they led the NFL, I believe, or the AFC last year in SACS. So it's not like they didn't have talent. So these are the two big takeaways for me in the preseason. Giants have a quarterback now to replace Eli. He is at least as good as Eli with Pat Shermer as the coordinator with much higher upside at this point in Eli's career. And he's an athlete. He can move better than Eli. And the Steelers defense is absolutely for real.

There's a couple other individual things I've seen, individual players. But so far, those are the two things that jump out to me. I don't think you can take a ton from it. I will say this about New England. Is that New England last year, and this is what the Patriots have done very, very well, they're a step ahead of the league on little alterations, seeing a crisis before it becomes one, seeing a trend before it becomes one. Last year, New England was 11 and 1 when they won time of possession.

And as Tom Brady has aged, did you notice what? they did in the playoffs last year. What was their time of possession against the Chargers 38 minutes? Chiefs 44 minutes. Rams 33. What they're doing, did you notice their off-season acquisitions? Of all those fast receivers in the draft, they went and got the physical one that can block, Nikiel Harry. Of all the receivers in free agency, Demarius Thomas,

Big can block. They made a real effort to bring back Josh Gordon. Very strong can block. They didn't really need a running back. But they went and drafted one from Alabama, not a clever back, not a make-you-miss guy, a physical running back. They just also upgraded their offensive line with a trade. Are you watching what New England's doing and you started seeing it at the end of last year?

They are moving back to a power football team. Look at their time of possession in the playoffs. They see that the 40 touchdown years, those are gone from Tom Brady. The 30-plus touchdown years are probably gone from Tom Brady. So they are smartly becoming a time of possession power offense. Look at their acquisitions, a power Alabama running back, and they didn't really need him. Nikiel Harry, the physical receiver, Josh Gordon, DeMario Thomas. Gone are the small guys outside of Alabama.

gentlemen, big physical receivers, backs from the SEC that can hit the hole, hit it hard, drag you down. They are changing their MO in New England. If you watch their personnel and you watch

what they're doing in the preseason and late last year. All right, Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, we finally have our answer. The Dolphins quarterback competition is over.

Head coach Brian Flores has announced yesterday that Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the week one starter against the Ravens. Fitzpatrick has been the front runner all season, preseason. But Flores said Rosenstong training camp has made it a tough decision. I think he's improved greatly over the course of training camp. Playing quarterback in this league, it takes some times. He's in a new offense. and I think he'll get there. I do.

I really do. The battle in competition never stops. I mean, I'll push him every single day for him to get better. And if he doesn't get better, I'll hopefully surpass him at some point. I think it's only time that this team is mine. But until then, I'm going to be as supportive of the backup as I can. And like I said, push him every single day. He's just California cool, isn't he?

I said this. He reminds me so much of Aaron Rod. I was just thinking that. He looks like it. I didn't want to say it because then I'm going to be the person that's comparing Joshua and Aaron Rogers. But he does remind you of him, doesn't he? They look, they sound, they're political, they're up front, they make us a little uncomfortable. I don't think every teammate's going to love him.

I told you this is, now I think Aaron's obviously as an armed talent. But when the draft came out, didn't we all say Rosen was the one thrower of the football of the five first round quarterbacks, who was going to be the great arm guy? He looks like him. He does. He does. And listen, I'm a Rosen fan. I want Rosen to be the star.

So I'm saying that in support of Rosen. I get it. They don't feel like he's ready yet. Fine. They don't have anything to lose, I guess. First four games are no day at the beach either. Well, I think that's probably what the mentality was. They don't want to go into the season and he is 0 and 4.

And then they have to go to Fitzpatrick because you can't start a guy like Rosen, give him the team, and then sit him and then reignite his confidence again. What's that saying? I can't unsee something. Right. Like if he goes 0 and 4, their schedule is brutal to start against pass. They face like four great pass rushes. If Rosen's on his back, you can't unsee that.

Right. So give Fitzpatrick the first four games, see how it goes. He's going to be the starter by the end of the season, I'm sure. How about this? How many starting quarterbacks from Miami do you think that they've had since Marino retired in 1999? It's Brown's level bad. Well, because they've had some injuries.

I would say 17. 20. I mean. That's my team. That is in Chicago for a while, had that. Hey, listen, Denver found Jake Plummer after Elway, and he was always better than people gave him credit for. Man, when you have these iconic dudes, good luck.

Yeah, you never want to be the dude that follows the dude. We know that, but sometimes. By the way, good luck. You're going to be the dude that's been hanging out with the dude for a while, like Aaron Rogers, and then... Best thing had ever happened to Jimmy Garoppolo, he got traded to San Francisco. Oh, yeah. He followed Blaine Gabbard. You know what I mean?

Right. No, I always find that it's better to go into a situation where you have. have no expectations and then you overachieve. Then you have a bar that's been set for you that's practically unreachable and all-time outlier that you have to overcome. Like, who wants to be the guy that replaces Tom Brady? Play Howard Stern. First guy after him, dead.

Then you replace, who was the guy that replaced him? It was the Van Halen singer, David Lee Roth. Then you want to come in and replace David Lee Roth, who did radio and bombed. Then you won't be compared to Howard. You'll be compared to David Lee Roth. And it'll be like, that guy's fantastic. That's, well, that's not the situation for Fitzpatrick or Rosen. but we'll see how this season goes.

But now we have our answer. So college football's number one, team Clemson, kicked off their season last night. They took down Georgia Tech with a huge 52 to 14 win. Current Heisman favorite quarterback Trevor Lawrence had a decent performance. He went 13 for 23 with 168 yards, one touchdown and two interception. But the true star of the game was the running back, Travis Sateen, who had a career high 205 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns.

his career high, 205 yards on 12. It's just an absurd number. They are so good offensively. First of all, they have an all-American running back, an all-American receiver, the best quarterback, and NFL guys on the offensive line. Now, their defense will not be as good as last year. But offensively, this has the potential to be the best offensive college team in the history of the sport. And I think it'll be the best since those Reggie Bush, Lendale White, Matt Liner, NFL receivers.

This offense is just NFL. talent everywhere. I mean, those numbers are absurd. 205 yards and 12 carries. It's silly. Now, he did have a 90-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, which tied his school record, and he tied his personal record with three touchdowns.

By the way, he had a night. Georgia Tech makes bowl games. Like, Georgia Tech's not a dog. Georgia Tech's a real team that goes to bowl games. The dominant teams in college football are just a level above everyone else. We know that. As a whole team, I'm still going to put the 2001 Hurricanes as the best all-around.

college football team of all time. Most talent. I think they had the most NFL talent. Probably. Definitely up there. I mean, if you look at their bench, it's absurd. Butch Davis recruited him, handed him to Larry Coker, and there were like 24 NFL guys. They were ridiculous. Finally, international NFL games have been gaining popularity over the last few years, but Roger Goodell knows that the demand for more games outside the U.S. may be growing faster than the league can handle right now.

He said the reality is the demand for playing those games is greater than we have. in the inventory, but what we're trying to do is this. It's a combination of the media, the events themselves, and our partnerships. I have no doubt that the fan base and the commercial opportunity is there for a franchise abroad. Can we do it where our 32 teams can compete at a competitive level? That's critical. There are four London games and one game in Mexico City scheduled for this season. You remember the Rams Chiefs game that was scheduled in Mexico City last year was moved due to poor field conditions,

and that ended up being an incredible game, best game of the season. But preseason game in Winnipeg this year for the Packers. Raiders did not go so well. They had to play on an 80-yard field. That was brutal. Traditionally, these international games are great showcases for the NFL. They're done well. They're huge events and well-attended and celebrated,

which is why there's more of a demand for them. I don't love them. It's weird times. It feels like it's a huge pain for franchises. They lose a home game. It's not the best situation, I think, for the players and the team. I get it's great for the sport because you're growing it internationally. But I think four games in London and one in Mexico City is enough for now.

Can I do an unpopular thing? I'll have an unpopular opinion. NFL franchises are not Starbucks. You can't put them in Beijing and Singapore. You have professional athletes here, right? So you can't put a team in Europe because most players don't want to live there, and it would be a travel disadvantage. I would, if you're asking me if there was one international team,

I would put it in Toronto. We have a major league baseball team, an NBA team. It's a very high-end, I mean, it's a sophisticated North American city. I love Vancouver, but it geographically is just too far away. Toronto could play the Buffaloes, the New England, the Baltimore, the Phillies, the Pittsburghs. Mexico City, you know, there's issues there with the air quality. There are sometimes safety concerns. But these football teams, they're not like McDonald's.

or Starbucks. Well, that's what Roger Goodell is saying. You have to keep the quality of the product at the same level. And the more that you expand, it's harder to do that. Why not do it with Canada and Toronto? Toronto. Toronto or Mexico City makes the most sense if you're going to expand internationally because it's still in the Americas. Because travel is the main concern. Yes, of course. I mean, I mean, listen, if I just don't think it's fair to put a team in Dusseldorf. Every road trip would be daunting. I mean, listen, if you're flying a Toronto, I mean, listen, if you're flying a Toronto, Toronto or Buffalo. You just move the plane, the steering wheel of the cockpit, a little left, and you land and can see Buffalo from there.

Toronto, to me, makes so much sense. And for all the Kauai left Toronto, Toronto's, in the NFL, you'd only play eight home games. Right. I think players in the NFL would be much more willing to live in Toronto during the season than an NBA guy that has to let there. And it's a cold weather sport. So it's not like it's a situation where, oh, you know, it's so cold.

Like, we've got a team in Chicago. And you just did. And Toronto's got money. Do you make a dome? Yeah. I think they have a... I just think Toronto's a natural fit. I agree.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Andy Reid, by the way, is going to join us next hour at 15 minutes after. If you're going to go international, we've got a city out of the United States that is working. It's called Toronto. And Toronto is, in a football season where you only have eight home games, you're not asking the players to live there for nine months.

These NBA seasons, camp starts since early October, and if you make the playoffs, you're playing until June. So I think Toronto is an automatic, and it's nothing against Mexico City and an occasional game, but I sound like an old timer on that one. No, it makes perfect sense. That's why London is a great event. It's beautiful. It looks like it's a lot of fun, but it's an event, and it's become, I can't imagine that any team enjoys being a part of that schedule. Like, yes, it's a great trip, and I'm sure it's fun, but football-wise, it makes more sense to keep it in the area. Okay, so here, you know, I've been very high on the Pittsburgh Steelers, not just because they're moving out of the drama.

It's not just that. I think they're a very, I just said, listen, they draft receivers better than anybody in this sport. They draft linebackers. They needed a linebacker and a receiver. And from what I can tell the last two years, they got a home run in James Washington. They got a home run in Devin Bush. And I also like they got rid of the noise. Here's something else I like.

Big Ben, if you recall, during the offseason, invited players back to his summer home on a lake. He had done that early in his career. Then he stopped doing it. He was sort of above the rest of the team. That's when he's had some issues surface with teammates, right? He's not one of us. Big Ben, this off season, invited players, skill players back to his lake place, back to being one of the guys, which, by the way, Brady may be worth not.

$900 million. But what does every rookie say when they go to New England's camp? Tom Brady comes up and goes, hi, I'm Tom Brady. Tom is trying to connect. Here's where Ben is disconnecting and I like it. He has decided he will no longer do his Monday radio hit for 93.7 in Pittsburgh, the fan. He did a morning radio hit. It is not built for his personality.

Tom is very much diplomatic. He almost sounds like a seasoned senator on the radio. He is sending a coach's message. Tom Brady never gets in trouble on his longtime Boston morning radio hit. He puts out fires. Ben on his morning radio hit starts them. Ben is looser. He's not as, I would say, as refined. He's gotten better, by the way, but he tends to be a little opinionated, a little bit of a fire starter. He can be a little passive aggressive and plant little seeds that people figure out, oh, you're taking a shot at a ride receiver. At this point, there's no win in these radio appearances for Big Ben.

A big part of football is sort of figuring out what your weaknesses are. That's a big part of football. Like, we're not good at this. How do we hide this? Because not everybody with a salary cap, you can't be great at everything. You can't. New England's secondary is great. Their pass rush is spotty.

This year at tight end, they don't bring much to the table. wide receiver running back, they're very good. You can't be great at everything. Nobody's going to be the 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers, where they had Hall of Famers at every position. They had no weakness. And I mean, I watched them, no weakness. The San Francisco 49ers, no weakness.

The Dallas Cowboys with Jimmy Johnson, those teams did not have a weakness. Teams now all have a hole because of the hard cap. And so one of Pittsburgh's issues, and this sounds weird, but has been focus. They've been talented. We've done this really talented and unfocused thing for like five years. Let's give the really talented and focused thing a try for just one year and see if it works.

Big Ben's like, I'm out of the radio business. This is smart. This is really smart. Brady's Monday appearance is a senatorial. It's very refined. Tom's got a super bottle of life. He goes to fashion shows. He is, Tom is really good doing a Derek Jeter.

talking and saying absolutely nothing. Big Ben's a looser, opinionated personality, tad bit passive-aggressive, like Aaron Rogers, sometimes he's just not perfect in front of a mic. He drops things. Aaron's done this, by the way. It's not a smart thing. Aaron's plenty smart. He'll go on these radio shows, plan a little seed.

I would say Tom's more corporate. Ben and Aaron Rogers are more entrepreneurial. They're going to own their own business. Tom's a little more corporate, a little more IBM. So once again, I think this is Pittsburgh, seeing a weakness, getting into the focus business. I expect great things this year from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coming up, Jerry Jones on the Zeeke contract.

I've got a theory on this, why he's being tough on Zique. It's not just the off-the-field stuff. Jerry has a history. He does have a history. And his history is becoming more cemented on what he likes. That is coming up. Plus, my thoughts on Chip Kelly. Looked like a disaster last night.

I don't think it is and I'll defend him. That's coming up. 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.

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 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? 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 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, 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationship. Can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming.

The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Well, look who stopped by, Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, led the NFL in rushing 4. times, eight all-time NFL rushing leader. Zeke is holding out. Jerry's punishing him a little bit, by the way.

Melvin Gordon, by the way, is also just one year out. Melvin Gordon's problem is they have a good backup running back for the L.A. Chargers. Yeah, he's not Melvin Gordon, though. Let's be for real. Well, you like running backs to be paid. Of course. They should get paid. They do the dirty work. We can hit. We play real football, Colin. Real football. Not that pity patch stuff. You know, it is, I want to talk, Marshall Falk said something. I guess he went down to Cabo to talk to Zeke, and he said he's in great shape, but he hasn't gotten hit.

And, you know, there's this feeling. Joy and I have talked about this with Levian Bell. There is something to get to getting hit, right? Like, it does matter? It matters a lot. I mean, you have to get hit. I mean, I had a 47-day holdout with the Rams, and I don't forget when I came back, I mean, I had two days of practice, but you need to get hit. I mean, because when you forget that first hit, it's almost like getting slapped and like, ooh.

I mean, it's shot because you haven't had it in a while, you know, the pushing and the pulling. I mean, you have to have that. I think the big thing is the Cowboys like to run the football. You know, are they going to try to ease into it, or are they going to try to throw him right back in and get right back at it? You know, when I came back after two days of practice, I cared about 31 times. Oh, my Lord. I mean, I still had 150 yards. I had a broke hand, got a broke hand, and hurt my hamstring.

So you had all the talent, but you weren't physically ready for it. No, I was not ready for it. I mean, it does take some time. Even though you think in practice, you don't, well, they don't really hit in practice now, but you still have to get the running, the pushing, the pulling, the blocking, you know. All those muscles have to get stretched out. You have to get used to it, almost like you have to reset your body to get hit again. Yeah, Bill Polion, and you make a good point, practice they don't hit as much.

So the gap between practice and the games is greater than it's ever been. Bill Polly and the old GM, the Hall of Famer, used to tell me three weeks of hitting. And if you get to two, you will not tackle well early in the season. He goes, your tackling gets worse and your fumbling goes up. Like guys fumble more when they're not. You watch it in college football. These first couple of weeks, teams don't tackle very well. No, they don't.

They don't. No, they don't. So, you know, let's talk about the Andrew Luck situation. Steve Burline's on later. The initial reaction is, hey, no criticism of Andrew Luck. over the course of the last week, the story comes out that Chris Ballard, the GM and Jim Ursaid tried to talk him into

just going on the IR for eight weeks. You're allowed to do that now. Now in your day, IR's out for the year. Now the NFL allows two guys to go on the IR and just sit around and practice. Is there anything about quitting two weeks out as a quarterback that does bother you? No, look, this is a sport that's a physical sport.

And you know one thing? He said one thing that really resonated with me when he says, I'm done mentally. I'm mentally burned. And I get it because people think it's just about the football, the physicality of it. That is a mentally draining sport. It really is. I mean, he gave his awe to Indianapolis. And another thing, as you said, he could have sit out and, you know, and they should have still paid him.

You got to commend a man that says, you know, I'm not going to take this $30 million just to sit out. I can't do that. I mean, that's a very honorable guy. I mean, most people say, I can get $30 million to play. Oh, I'm cool with that. I'll take that deal all day. So for him, I think in any other job, you want to retire? No big deal.

But if it's sports, oh, you're giving up. Oh, it's this. You have life after football. That's the people don't realize. They will not, they don't know the pains and the physicality and the headaches and the non-sleep you don't have when you retire. They're not there. Your wife, your mother, your father, they see all that stuff.

The fans don't. So your career was 11 years. Right. So when physically did you sense in your career pain was a bigger discussion, the joy was leaving about what year in 11 years? You know what? I can say some of the joy left me when I left the Rams. I mean, okay, I say, okay, this is strictly a business. I mean, after like five years, this is strictly business now.

So for you, at least mentally was it wasn't just playing football. Man, let me tell you something. When I first started playing football, the first couple of years of the first couple of years, that the Rams. I loved everything about football, the smell of it. I hear guys say, we all say the same thing. I would have played for free if somebody would have paid all my bills, because that's how much you love it. You just loved everything about it. Then all of a sudden, you see the ugly side of football, the business side. And that's what it is. But after, I'm going to say by the year seven or eight, I'm like, man, you don't heal as quick. You start, you start hurting a little bit

more. It's not easy to get up. That's what I hear from players. It's the, it's the body doesn't bounce back. No, it does not. I won't forget. We played the Cleveland Browns in 1984. You got to rush for 2,000 yards. And I would go out after every game. Son, after every game.

We'd go to Red Onion after every game. I carry the ball, I think 31 or 32 times. And that defense beat me up badly. I mean, we won. I had 102 yards on 30, like 30-some carries. And they were like, man, let's go out. I'm like, oh, I can't go out. I was two.

And I was only 20, I think, 23 years old. So, you know, your body, it just doesn't bounce back all the time. Yeah, I was a waiter with the red onion there, and we were looking for you the whole night. You never. I was there if you had the right red onion. Okay, so Daniel Jones, preseason's not, it means something. You can't tell me it means nothing because I saw Dak come to Los Angeles, play against the Rams as a rookie in preseason.

We all went, who's that guy? And he's been very good since. So it means something. Daniel Jones completes 83% of his throws. That means something. Come on. mean something. I mean, look, the Giants are going to have to

eventually move on from Eli. I mean, is Daniel Jones the guy? He could be. I think it has to be at this point. He'll probably be the guy. I think if you start with him, you have to stick with him. If it's a bad season, you got to just stick with him because that's how football is now. You know, when I came in the league and guys before

me, they set a quarterback for three or four years. No question. No question about it. But now they can because, you know, the salary situation and also, you know, he's a number six pick. You're paying the money. Oh, you're paying him. he's going to play. I think he's going to play. You know, I tell the story.

When I was a kid, I went to college at Eastern Washington University, the Seahawks held camp there. And Eugene Robinson was from Colgate, and I got the media guide. As a college student, and number 41 was blowing people up. I'm like, Colgate, Eugene Robinson ended up having a great career.

So this idea preseason means nothing. Go back to your career. Was there ever a guy you saw in preseason? You never heard of him, and he was from nowhere, and he hit in preseason. all went, oh, Lord, we got ourselves a player. Yeah. Because you were a star out of college.

Yeah, I mean, I can think of one guy. I was at the coach. We got a guy named Jeff Arrod from Southern Mississippi. And, man, I think so, no, Ole Miss, Ole Miss, Ole Miss. And he was physical. I mean, very physical. I mean, he's like, y'all can't block me. Jeff was strong.

But right now, I should tell him this. I said, Jeff, stop running into us full speed. You're going to hurt yourself. I said, look, you're on our team. You play for us. Y'all can't black. I say, what about the other team? So now when I see Jeff,

his hands are really, really messed up. fingers. I mean, he got so many problems beat up. He said, Eric, he said, man, I wish I would have listened to you. I said, because, I mean, that's what it is. I mean, when you practice, some guys, you know, you just see it right away. You just see how good they are, how good they're going to be.

And this guy, to me, Jeff Arroyd was that guy. Eric Dickerson, Hall of Famer, led the NFL in rushing four times. Andy Reid of the Chiefs. We'll be joining us at the start of next hour. Have yourself a great weekend. Have a great weekend. All right. All right. All right, folks. Don't go anywhere. Hour to 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. Here we go. Hour two. Andy Reed in 15 minutes. Plus Jason Whitlock this hour. This is The Herd, wherever you may be. However you may be listening. We are live. in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. I want to thank Eric Dickerson for just jumping in last 15 minutes. That was great stuff. And Joy Taylor is joining me on a Friday. NFL preseason's over.

Yes. It's over official. I'm finally here. I'm so ready. Now we go into college football where you've got about four games. Oregon, Auburn is the biggie. You know, that's the big showcase game. I told you yesterday I think Auburn's going to win that game close.

Listen, to be a billionaire, you know, maybe I'm being too cynical here, but you've got to be a little self-absorbed. You have to step on people occasionally. Some of its market timing. Not every billionaire is a bad person. They philanthropically give millions of dollars. But, you know, these NFL owners, they like themselves a little bit, and most of them like to get a little love and a little acknowledgement. And, you know, there's nothing wrong with that. And so, you know, I look at all these Dallas Cowboy.

holdouts. And Jerry Jones likes to tell a good story. He's kind of legendary at this. Jerry, you saw when he signed Jalen Smith, he just took over the press conference. Jerry is a legendary storyteller. You show up to a bar in Dallas, no boo in Malibu during training camp, and Jerry holds court. And so I want you to think about that storytelling. Jerry has also heavily promoted Tony Romo to CBS, Troy Aikman to Fox, Michael Irvin to the NFL network. All three of those guys have one thing in common. They're all great storytellers. Troy Aikman waxes poetic.

Michael Urban tells hysterically funny stories, Tony Romo. So Jerry, who loves a great story, has spotted through the years his storytellers and pushed him on the air to tell more cowboy stories. He's being very rough on Zeke of all these players out here that are dealing with contract holdouts. Zeeke's the one dominant star player. And he's, that's the one Jerry is really stubborn on. Because maybe it's because Jerry likes a good story or at least a story that makes Jerry look good. So the first player they sign is, is DeMarcus Lawrence. DeMarcus Lawrence, it's a story that makes Jerry look good. He's a first round talent. They got him in the second

round. He overachieves. Makes Jerry, Dallas, Stephen look very good. They sign him up. Jalen Smith is the next story. Jerry took a big risk. Jerry's an oil maverick. Jalen Smith gets hurt. People passed on him. Jerry rolls the dice. Signs Jalen Smith. Sits out a year. Comes back amazing. Jerry signs him early. Why? It's a good story and it makes Jerry look good. Then Amari Cooper. They trade a first round pick. I remember the day that happened, I'm like, I like that move. I thought everybody would like it. It got major pushback.

Amari Cooper, he had a bad last year. Jerry's made it a point. We're going to pay Amari Cooper. Why? Because the story looks good. Jerry took a risk on DeMarcus Lawrence. He took a risk on Dak Prescott. It's a good story.

Jerry found his quarterback in the fourth round. It's a good story for Jerry. Jerry linebacker, Layton Vandereche, eight-man football. When he got drafted in the first round, people were like, I don't know, eight-man football, rural Idaho. Look at all the players whose contracts are coming up. They're all either really good stories, Jerry the Great Storyteller, or their stories make Dallas, Jerry, Stephen, look good. The brand look good. Now we go to Zeke.

Well, everybody knew Zeke was going to go high. And Zeke has not been a great story. Zeeke has had problems with women, there's allegations, there's judicial issues. Zique was an easy draft pick, and he has not been a good story, and he's not been good for the brand. So Jerry, the legendary storyteller, who loves stories, people who tell them, and stories that look good being told about Dallas, he's going to make Zique pay. He's in Kabul, not good for the brand, holding out two years early, not good for the brand, didn't show up at camp, not good for the brand, judicial legal legal. issues off the field, not good for the brand. I mean, Jerry could pay Zique right now.

Is he punishing him because, you know, everybody says, Jerry pays his players. But older Jerry moved off Des Bryant. Older Jerry is looking for good stories that sell the brand, are good for the organization, are good for his daughter, Charlotte, his son, Stephen, good going forward as he hands the organization off. maybe I'm reaching, but he's not budging on this Zeke thing. According to Clarence Hill yesterday, they are miles apart.

Zeke and Jerry are not close. Okay, just want to remind everybody of that. So one of the things that happens in the new current ecosystem of the media is that a story gets going and becomes an avalanche. you just can't stop it. When I was a kid growing up, there'd be a story in the newspaper. When I was a kid growing up, there was no talk radio. There was no internet.

There was no Twitter. There was no Facebook. Stories didn't gain this massive momentum. You'd hear a story and then you had to wait for the newspaper to have the story the next day. You'd read the story and talk about it at the barbershop. You'd talk about it at the cafe. Talk about it at school. Now, stories get a life of their own.

They don't even have to be true. and they just become massive stories. There's a story in football now that Chip Kelly just doesn't know what he's doing. And it's like, oh, so nobody's going to actually refute this. So the first job Chip Kelly had was at New Hampshire. Seven straight years, they average over 400 yards a game. New Hampshire doesn't do that. His first job, raging success.

He goes to Oregon. I don't know if you ever paid attention to this, but in the history of college football, nobody has ever taken over a program in a state that has no high school. talent. Oregon's got less than five elite high school players a year. And he went 46 and 7 and 33 and 3 in the Pac 12. He left because he got bored. It's the greatest power five story. Nobody's ever gone to a state without great high school talent and dominated any major conference. He then goes to the NFL where he makes Nick Foles an MVP candidate, 27 touchdowns two picks. He goes 10 and 6. He goes 10 and 6. He 10 and 6 with backup quarterbacks.

Nobody does that in the NFL. Belichick couldn't win in the NFL without a quarterback. Belichick could not win in the NFL without a star quarterback. He goes 10 and 6, 10 and 6. His overall record in Philadelphia, five games over 500. Saban disaster in the NFL. Spurrier, disaster in the NFL. Pete Carroll fired twice.

Belichick fired. So his first three jobs are big success, absurd historic success, and marginal success. then he goes to San Francisco and it's a hot mess. First year, the owner turns on him. Jim Tom Sulla left him nothing, no momentum. Had to rebuild his staff. He later admits I should have never taken it. Blaine Gabbard's quarterback.

It's just a hot mess. So four jobs into his career, it's big success, historic success, marginal success, hot mess. Listen, I've been in this business 30 years. I had a hot mess stop. It was called Tampa. You're not going to go linear. Tom Hanks has had bad movies.

Marlon Brando had six stinkers. Nobody goes, by the way, Nick Saban, mess. Steve's Burier's got a mess. So now he takes over UCLA last night and they lose. It took Davo Sweeney four years to win at Clemson. Clemson's not an academic power. UCLA is. Clemson's all about football.

UCLA is all about their medical center, their basketball team, their international studies. UCLA is not a football school. He took over a program last year played 18 true freshmen. Now the team is all freshmen and sophomores. He blew out the staff. He blew out the systems. He's playing kids.

Last year when they beat USC, they had 54 players on scholarship and 18 freshmen and beat a USC team with juniors everywhere. The bottom line, folks, this is a narrative. If he's a fraud, then 99% of you listening or watching me, your frauds. This guy won at New Hampshire, one at Oregon, actually one in the NFL, had a hot mess. Oregon's not. Danbo Sweeney lost 16 games in three years at Clemson. Clemson's a football school.

Every booster at Clemsons line up with football. The two boosters UCLA has, one's a basketball guy, one's a football guy. It's a basketball school. It's an academic power. It's an international university. 100,000 kids a year apply to Notre Dame or to UCLA. That's the lead, that's more than Harvard. So this is not an easy place to win.

Tell me the last time UCLA was dominant in football. I can't think of it either. Troy Aikman? He's been out of the sport? NFL, like what, 15, 20 years? So, you know, this idea that Chip Kelly has been, if Chip Kelly's a fraud, look at your life and career in the mirror.

Then my career is total fraud. Because I haven't had that much success. Yes, UCLA lost last night. You've got to give these guys four years. at non-football schools. You gave dabble four at Clemson. And he didn't really pop until you're like five. Take a deep breath.

We live in a time now where stories become reality when they're just factually not true. Andy Reid around the corner, Chiefs Coach, it's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. 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 athletes 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 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, as 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 Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff,

like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of the 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. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Where's she at? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity,

peace and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually need people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get to. It's your podcast.

He's got 195 wins in the NFL, seven, all time, seventh. Entering his 21st season as head coach, he's the one guy that's given Belichick fits through the years. The city of Denver is given Belichick problems, and Andy Reid is given Bill Belichick problems. And Andy's one of my friends and one of the guys I listen to and makes me think about football. Andy's joining us now. You know, it's interesting. the last football memory I have of the Chiefs is that New England game. And Andy, when you draft, when you acquire free agents, are you building now for teams like New England?

Because with you, Mahomes, your O-line, your personnel, your general manager, you're not going to be bad anytime soon. When you build in the off-season, who are you building against? What are you building for? Yeah, well, you build to be the best. and then you pick out who the best is and what they've got their strengths and weaknesses, but you do that with every team. So in your personnel department, they give every team and every player a grade, and then they have a system where they say, okay, this team here has more blue players than the other team.

And this is what we need to increase in this area on our football team. When you look at certain positions in this league, yesterday I counted down 24 running backs that I consider to be elite running backs, but yet teams struggle to find a kicker. There are positions that are harder to fill. I look at your offensive personnel, Andy, and I wonder, is this the most talent offensively you've ever had in your career?

I think if you go by position, it would be as a collective group. Have I had somebody that's more talented at one spot than I do here? Yeah, I probably did, but collectively, I think it's a pretty good. group. Andy, when you have somebody as gifted as Patrick Mahomes, there is something called paralysis by analysis. There are instances

of overcoaching in all sports. What's the balance between letting Patrick add live a little and then being within the system? Don't mess them up, Colin. Let him just let his personality show. You start messing with that part of his game and you've got a problem.

and so I learned that with Brett and Donovan and Michael Vic. They all put their own stamp on it and their own personality shows through the offense. And you go different places with the office. One of the great things is you have flexibility within the offense to do different things. And man, you play to their strength and you cut them loose and let them go. Is there an audible system? Are there things now that he is entering another year? So he sits for a year, then he plays for a year.

Now it's year three. Are you adding more to the playbook? Are you allowing more audibles? Where will he be this year emotionally intellectually? Maybe that he wasn't 18 months ago. Well, one of the smartest players I ever coached was Alex Smith. And I thought when Alex left us that we might have to back up an inch, didn't have to do that. We just kept adding and adding and adding.

And the kid, the kid wants it. He wants you to give him stuff to make him even better than what he is now. And so if you say an area that he's got better, he's been checking since he was here. He just picked up where Alex left off. And I don't worry much about that. He's got his aptitude is top-notch. He's been blessed with a beautiful mind. And then he puts that together with that athletic ability.

that great vision that you need. You know, Andy, it's a hard cap league. So you've got to make tough choices. We just watched Andrew Luck retire. He got beat up in the first three years. You know, you have always been able to elevate talent offensively. How valuable in terms of the cap is your offensive line, knowing that you have an asset in Patrick Mahomes that many consider the best quarterback asset for the next 12 years?

Well, you know how I feel about this. I believe that you take care of the bigs. both sides of the ball. And it's no more evident than when you get in the playoffs. Those guys start, that's their time to shine. But you got to take care of your quarterback and the guys up front are very, very important. If you don't have those guys the run game and the past game, they're not going to work. How painful was the loss in New England? It was so close. Are the losses harder now? Were they harder in the 30s? Was that a tough one for you? Well, yeah, you want it to be tough.

I mean, you spend a lot of time doing it. I want it to be tough on the players. We had a young football team. And so what a great experience to get in there and learn and see what it is. You sit here as a coach and you say, listen, the further you go in the playoffs, the tougher it gets. The faster the game is. And so until you experience it, you know, firsthand, you can't quite quantify. exactly how that thing goes. But I think, you know, I looked at it as a very valuable lesson.

Andy, your teams historically start very hot in September. And I've talked to coaches and scouts about this. And they're like, Andy's a great play designer. He'll bring wrinkles in. And he can humiliate you if you're not ready. Is there, when you look at the season now at 16 games, are there things you'll hide where you throw it all out there and experiment? Is September football different than say November December football the way your archetype the way you build it. You know what we do, Colin, is

we try to utilize the system that we're in. We have these three phases in the off season. We try to load the players up with new thoughts and plays. We put them on a we put them in our computer and on a big old

sheet of paper that we've got. And then we work on those through training camp and then we bank them. And so you've got enough plays there to get you about through the season. There's enough new things, new little wrinkles on that sheet that you can pull from or draw from throughout the year. Yeah. Andy Reid is joining us, 21st season, 195 wins seventh most of all time. Andy, the NBA is a very star-driven league. The NFL has always been about the trenches and the

GM and the coach. But as we, you know, as we age, there is Odell Beckham now as a shoe deal. A, B, is going to have a helmet deal. Players are different today. I think you've always been, you and Belichick, I've given you both credit for this. You have always been a step ahead of the league in development, in trends. Are players different today for you entering the league? Yeah, I think they're smarter. Just technology-wise, they're more advanced.

And so they're used to standing up in front of a camera or speaking into a microphone. they're polished with that with that side of the game and I think that gives the impression that they're different once you get down to the base of learning the plays that's that part's the same and they're still there's still young men and and they're blessed to have the opportunity to play in this league and to make money and so they still need the guidelines for that but as far as being just educated in the world they're a little bit more worldly than maybe you and I were coming up yeah and you still find players coachable. Patrick Mahomes to me looks incredibly coachable. Just the body language when I watch

him on the sidelines. Do you find most players today coachable? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. These guys are the best in the world and all they want from you, they just want you to go find one more thing to make them even greater. And that's what drives you as a coach. I mean, that's the beauty of this thing. So, you know, we go out and we do that. We're teachers and we go out and we try to find things to try to exploit their ability and talent. You know, when you got Patrick Mahomes, he was not a number one pick. You traded up to get him. And I remember saying on the air, I'm like, I don't know if that air raid stuff,

I don't know. When did you know you were right on Patrick Mahomes and the rest of us were sort of wrong? Was there a moment in that first chief's camp? Well, you know, Brett Veach was the one who jumped on this thing early. That was in his area and he went out and he

started laying down these plays on my desk from the first time Patrick started. He says, this guy is unbelievable. And I put tape on. I looked at it. So I had a chance of watching for a couple of years there. And then I'm going, well, I'll be curious to see how this transfers into

the National Football League. All these no-look passes and no stuff. And he comes in. And he starts whizzing these things off of people's ears in practice. And you go, all right, I'm feeling it. Let's just keep growing here. Yeah, well, you've grown. Quite a young man

and Kansas City's loaded this year. It's going to be a fantastic decade or more. And we hope you're around for all of it. Andy Reid, it's great talking to you on a Friday, Coach. All right, Colin, your best. Thank you, man. All right, Andy Reid. Yeah, I remember when he came out, my first takeaway was, I didn't watch him a lot in college. He's really raw.

He's a little wiry. I don't, he was kind of an ad libber, and I'm thinking, is this, this looks like four touchdowns and three picks every Sunday. I'm not sure if it works. And you know, the other thing, this can't be overstated. So he inherits Andy Reid, a grown-up, a great play designer. he inherits Alex Smith, a grown-up that can groom him for a year. You know, you look at these stories, the Tom Brady's, the Aaron Rogers,

you look at a lot of these stories, they inherit a good coach. They inherit either a veteran quarterback, Sam Darnold last year, inherits McCown. He sits in that film room and gets a teacher. You know, that's what I've said about Baker. I'm not worried about Baker's talent. Baker's good enough to win playoff games. He inherited an owner, a rookie, head coach, a GM that got fired, what you inherit.

Patrick Mahomes got Andy Reid, a great GM, a nice old line, good weapons, and a grown-up in Alex Smith. Now, I'm not saying he wouldn't be talented, but folks, look at Josh Rosen, what he inherited, and I think Patrick's a much better high-end talent, but he got, that was a nice, no turbulence, that was a nice soft landing on that first flight. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the heard. line news. All right, the Cowboys are running out of time to get Ezekiel Elliott back before the season starts. And Jerry is adamant. The Cowboys are prepared to start without Zeke. The facts are that this game is about availability, sometimes more than ability. No one does anybody any good themselves or the team if they're not available. And there's many reasons to not be available, and I don't want to get elementary here. but one of them is to not come in and play if you have a contract and the game and the season and life, if you will, goes on. Tony Palmer looks very, very interesting.

Jerry is getting sassy about this holdout. I don't mean to get elementary here. I mean, you can hear it that he is. Well, I tell you. I'm not going to speculate here. I'm just basing this off of what I'm hearing from Jerry. It seems like his patience is running out for the situation. And it also does sound, Joy.

It sounds like they want him in. I mean, he wouldn't be talking. I mean, they want him into camp. They've made an offer here. Right. No, of course they want him. I mean, who wouldn't want him? But it's a matter of not just principle here.

Like, there's other people that they have to consider. And moving towards the future. Like, if you lock Zeeke up, it's almost in a weird way to Zeeq's benefit. Because if you lock Zeeke up to an unrealistic contract, you're not going to be able to put other pieces around Zeeke for Seek to be successful. Like, yes, you'll be paid. but at one point or another, everybody can't make the most amount of money of everybody in the league. Right.

And to Jerry's credit, Jerry did stand by Zeke through all of the Zeke roller coasters. That's why I think makes him mad. Yeah, I agree. That's where it's a little personal. It's like the commissioner was after you. I almost got the commissioner, you know, exiled. Right. I went to the wall on this.

And to your point earlier, Jerry's about stories. and the story of being able to do all that and then get Zeke on the right track and then they eventually win the Super Bowl, this is kind of a little bump in the road. Right, right, the Zeke roller coaster. All right, everyone's fear that they're going to make the game so safe that it turns into flag football is actually something that Joe Horn thinks is a good idea. Obviously, improving player safety has been an important topic for the NFL, and former wide receiver Joe Horn has a suggestion that would involve some massive changes.

I think it should be flag football. I think the fans would still pay to see it. Yeah, I don't. I obviously do not agree with this. Now, full clarity, he was one of the players that settled the class action concussion lawsuit with the NFL. And now, the American Flag Football League, I do think would be something, a product that people would watch on television.

Yeah, it'd be fun. Well, I say all the time. Sports are a premium for television. It's the only thing that we watch live anymore. Sports and politics are the only thing that we have to watch in that moment. everything else gets recorded. You watch it on your own time. You watch it on your phone.

You watch it wherever. Like, you don't have to be in front of your television anymore. Right. That's it. So any kind of sports competition that you have can be made into a television product. So, yeah, this could be, American flag football, could be a television product for sure, which I'm sure people would watch. And a lot of former players play in the AFFL.

So I'm sure that it would be, like, there's big names in it. You have 33 sports networks now. we're all looking. For content. Listen, this is why the XFL is going to work. You've got the biggest two sports companies in the country behind it, Fox and the SPN. You have the WWEB behind it, and you have a legitimate businessman, Aldover Luck, running it. And I've been watching these preseason games.

Nobody keeps three quarterbacks now. The bottom line, joy, is you're going to see in the XFL, all eight teams are going to have an NFL quarterback. It used to be when I was a kid. You kept, I remember as a kid, Vince Evans, I swear to God, held a clipboard for the Raiders for 15 years. years or David Hums, you'd have these backup guys. It doesn't happen anymore. And so the reality is you're going to see eight quarterbacks. So I don't doubt in my lifetime that there would be a flag football league that could get

on a network and get a decent time slot in the off season. I really don't. But they are never going to make enough changes to the NFL to make it into flag football. And there's no replacement for that. Finally, Carmelo Anthony continues to dominate the NBA headlines even well into the offseason. He still wants to play in the NBA. and has been trying to make a roster. And one potential landing spot could be New York in Brooklyn.

Frank Isola is reporting that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are on board with bringing Mello to the Nets. And they've been pushing the front office to sign him. Now, this obviously becomes kind of interesting because Durant will obviously be out this year, but also Wilson Chandler is to spend for 25 games for PEDs. And he's participated in unofficial workouts and scrimmages with Nets players. I actually love this. The Nets are a really deep team. Yeah.

If the superstars that are there want him. I think the Nets are deep enough and in a solid enough position this year that they could handle having Mello there. I really thought the Lakers were the best place if Mello was going to get on a roster to be, but the Nets actually makes sense. And then obviously, what better jab for the Nets at the Nix than for Mello to come there and be successful. So Kevin Durant's going to go from Clay Thompson, Steph, and Dremont,

to the earth is flat, Kyrie and Carmel. I'm saying that is not an upgrade. That is my personal opinion. I mean, right now, face value, sure. But I'm telling you, if Kevin Durant ends up winning a championship, it's going to be dramatic. I'm not going to say it's going to be as dramatic as when LeBron left the heat and went back to Cleveland and made Cleveland into a championship organization. But, I mean, that is, that's quite the dynasty to leave to a unproven situation with doubted players. I have my, I have massive doubts on Brooklyn.

Now, of course, Kevin's not going to play this year. This year, yeah, this year is just a development year for the rest for everyone else. Just keep it afloat. But I don't know. I have some faith in Brooklyn. I don't. I don't. I'm a seller on that stock.

Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping back. The herd line news. By the way, Josh Rosen has not been given the starting job in Miami. And a lot of people are like, oh, this means they're going to draft a quarterback. Again, we talked about narratives mattering. in the NFL.

Daniel Jones, they groove him in. The Giants play their offensive linemen, 60 snaps. They're starting offensive linemen, 60 snaps. They're creating a narrative in New York. So when Eli struggles, sports radio, the media and the fan base is like, hey, we're ready. This new guy's good. PFF.com said his numbers are overinflated. He wasn't that impressive.

The point being is the Giants are rebooting the narrative. We now have the guy, and he looked better than Eli in the preseason. This stuff, this is why people hire PR firms. Just look at Miami's first four games. Baltimore, New England, at Dallas Chargers. New England led the NFL in pressures. Dallas and the Chargers have nasty pass rushes, and the Ravens isn't bad either.

Josh Rosen, the narrative on him outside of Arizona is, this isn't going to work. He starts 0 and 4 on his back. You're done. You can't sell that to the locker room. You can't sell that to Miami. But if you look at the schedule for Miami, well, this is interesting.

Where would be the spot that would be the perfect place to play Josh Rosen? Oh, after the Chargers in week four, a buy and Washington at home, a Washington team in a rebuild, then it's Buffalo, Pittsburgh Jets, Indy with no luck in Buffalo. again. I believe what they're saying is based on what Arizona was, the imagery of Arizona, Rosen's a potential bust. They are not lining him up to face three of the best pass rushes in the league. They're going to give it to Fitzpatrick. They're probably going to go one and three. It's the perfect time, two weeks for Josh at home to debut against Washington and then Buffalo.

and again, you can sell him now to the locker room. Not saying he's a savior, but the narrative, don't kid yourself. There's a reason Daniel Jones got to play in front of the first team offensive line. New York Giants are creating a narrative that they may have to use in week six, seven, eight, or nine. I don't think it's the end of the world, Josh not playing. Look at the schedule. Look at the entry point. The buy week, they got a really early buy, which isn't good,

but they're going to use that buy to their advantage, I think, and make a quarterback change in the buy and get Washington at home. A rebuilding team, very winnable game. All right, Jason Whitlock is stopping by. He'll be joining us in studio next. 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 SportsSlice comes in. On 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... 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, 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 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 with 42.

Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole,

this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Jason Whitlock, speak for yourself host from Kansas City. I just had Andy Reid on. I imagine they had some losses on the defensive side. I still think they'll win their division. I still think they're the number two team in the AFC. Where do you, where do you land with the chiefs? The number two team, you have the Patriots number one. I think New England's younger, more physical, and deeper this year.

Yeah, look, the Chiefs have made some interesting additions to their defense. They've lost some guys, but I think adding Frank Clark going to that four or three defense, adding Tyrone Math out, Matthew. Those are interesting additions. I want to see it play out. I think Patrick Mahomes is going to be even better this year, not saying his numbers are going to be better, but I think he's going to be more efficient and better.

And I'm not sure his numbers are going to back up. I think he and Andy Reid are the Don Corrielle and Dan Fouts of this era. I completely agree. By the way, the best signing of the offseason nobody talked about was Frank Clark, next to Chris Jones, is probably the best tandem in the league inside compared to Philadelphia. So Frank Clark was unblockable in Seattle. And by the way, the big loss for Seattle's off season is Frank Clark.

I don't think they'll replace him. Andrew Lux's retirement, I defended him, didn't love the timing, what say you? Yeah, I don't have a problem with his retirement. You know, there is an opportunity. People want to be critical of him. I don't have a problem with that. I will say this, though, I do think, particularly if he doesn't come back, his career is disappointing. And I think if you talk to people in Indianapolis, he's an odd dude.

He was not a great leader. and I think the people that say and question like his passion for the game is it at the same level as a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or Ray Lewis. I think that's fair criticism. I think that's why. And again, I got no problem with him walking away. But if he loved the game the way that some of the other guys do, I don't think he would have walked away. No, people said this about Jay Cutler. They were like, Jay Cutler's really smart, sometimes too smart.

You know, it's hard to relate to people if you are like Aaron Rogers sometimes. I think Aaron is tough on coaches because Aaron's smarter than most of his coaches. And I think Andrew Luck, there is, I mean, everybody has blamed everybody else. And I love Luck. He's my favorite college quarterback I've ever seen. But in the first couple of years, he was not great at getting down and getting rid of the ball. He's smart enough to know his offensive line. Some of those hits were just not necessary hits.

And I think some of that is, listen, I got a battle line. Get down. He didn't. And I think over time, Frank Wright came in and said, fella, just throw the ball away. Don't extend every play. Zeke holdout. You know, running backs. I don't know.

This Tony Pollard guy, Whitlock? No. He looks very good to me. Very tight. And I don't care how good he looks. He's not Ezekielie. There are a handful of NFL running backs who are difference makers and are unique from everybody else in the league. I think Zeke is one of those guys.

I don't think it's fair to compare him to Todd Gurley and say, Todd Gurley came into the NFL with knee problems. Zeeke's been a durable football player since, you know, being a little kid. So I think that Zieg does make a difference. I think he deserves to be the highest paid running back in the NFL. Coming two years early in a contract, you'd still make in the highest paid. Well, because I think this system is unfair. I think that this system, this collective bargaining agreement that locks up these

rookies to this wage scale and then for five years you got control of him, Zika 24 is worth a lot more money than he's being paid, and I don't blame me for trying to go get it right now. What did you make at the AB helmet fiasco? It was a hoax. I think that AB wants to retire as healthy as possible. That's his goal right now. It's not winning.

It's not being super productive. It's about how can I squeeze these last $30 million out of Oakland with taking as little risk as possible? And if I need an excuse to get out of training camp and miss all the preseason and anything, anything to avoid work I think Zeke is into. I mean, not Zieg, A.B. is into. And so I think the whole helmet deal was just a charade to take, giving an excuse to be away and take heat off of the fact that he burned up his feet doing cryotherapy.

Well, it's interesting because OBJ, Julio Jones has practiced less in recent years. OBJ has been absent from some practices. Some of the biggest stars on the perimeter in the league may be just saying, hey, we've got a little NBA feel to us. We're not going to take these hits if we don't have to. I think for AB it's more pronounced than for OBJ or Julio Jones. I think both of those guys, Julio and OBJ are still about building their resume and legacy. I think AB thinks he's done all he needs to do. Those nine years he put up in Pittsburgh will get him.

into the Hall of Fame. Now it's just how can I get out of here with this bag of money and make sure I'm never in concussion protocol again. Big Ben will not do his Monday radio show. And I always thought Brady, Brady's very corporate. Brady goes on the air, sounds like a local senator. Ben can be a little more passive aggressive like Aaron Rogers. You put him on a radio, ask him a question, and he can go sideways. You know, plant a little passive aggressive seat. I'm a fan of Ben not going on radio. Yeah, I think it's a good move. I'm been a critic and a fan of Ben Walthusberger.

You can be both. Yeah. And so I'm going to defend him in this regard. He and Tom, and we talked about it earlier this week. Looking at AB and what he's done in Oakland has made me go, oh my God, what was Pittsburgh going through? Because all we're dealing with is the stuff we hear about.

Just imagine all the things we don't hear about. And so I think for Ben as a leader, for Mike Tomlin as a head coach and a leader, I think they were very compromised by AB. And so I can't wait to see what they do this year. And in the next couple, two or three years, without the AB headache. I think Pittsburgh's the team that I kind of like the most going into this year. It's the old theory. If you see a couple arguing in public or at a party, what's the ride home like?

I always feel that. So I have a friend, I'm not going to mention his name. He played in the NFL. You know him. And he's an offensive lineman. And part-time broadcaster, he went, he called Mike Tomlin during this AB thing. And Mike, who's very player-friendly, told this guy that we both know, oh, you have no idea. Yeah.

He goes, listen, we hide stuff pretty good here. He's like, and by the way, the league, this league has always had expressive guys. so it's not the end of the world. I kind of wish both Pittsburgh and AB would say this. Pittsburgh's like, we didn't pay him much, and we got a ton of production. And AB's like, I inherited the best deep ball thrower. This should be a very happy divorce. It really should be.

It should be, but if I'm AB, it's not. Because, you know, Pittsburgh is a winning franchise year after year. Big Ben is a guy that will take hits to get his receivers the ball down the field. he's leaving probably the best quarterback in the league for Antonio Brown to go work with Derek Carr, who knows what he is, but he's certainly not Big Ben. I think everybody wins in this divorce except for A.B., and that's why he's been the most irate. You're a huge college football fan, so am I. I said this.

I think Clemson offensively we could be looking at the best offense I've ever seen in college. football. Running back all-American, receiver all-American, quarterback best I've seen. Offensive linemen, four NFL players. Now, last night they're choppy because they don't get four preseason games and Georgia Tech goes to Bulls. Maybe I'm overstating it.

When I look at that Clemson offense, I don't think they've replaced Alabama. Although Alabama's had two key off-season linebacker injuries. But I do think, Jason, we're looking at something special here. When you say that, I'm starting to run through my mind.

Miami Hurricanes 2001, the Butch Davis recruited team. I think the Reggie Bush, Matt Liner team that had nine pros on it. I think we're getting in that category with this team. I go even further back with USC. There were some USC teams with Marcus Allen or Charles White in the backfield and the entire offensive line, damn near first team, All Americans, had some receivers on the outside. Quarterback's not as good.

But it's like when Rodney Pete was at USC. and so I've seen some great, and you're right, what Clemson has assembled reminds me of that. You know, it's funny, it took him four years to pop, and Clemson's a football school. Chip Kelly's 13 games in, everybody's bailing on him. It's like John Wooden took 16 years to pop to win his first title at UCLA. We have no patience.

I will say that I did watch UCLA last night. They weren't good. They couldn't block anybody. That was bad. Well, I mean, he's 13. They're young. They're young. It's 13 games in.

But it is funny. We bail on people. And I'm not saying Chip Kelly, but it should be noted, he won 12 games a year at Oregon. They've got no players in that state. Well, what I would defend him for last night is like, 20 seconds. They were overmatched, but somehow stayed in that game. So he knows he's doing something right.

Speak for yourself after our show today. Jason Whitlock. Good to see in your but hour three next. One more heard. 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 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. SportsClyce brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClace on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices 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, 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 hard way 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? Time out. Quarterback on office, Blue, 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Norsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues.

I like the bougie style of Housewives of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real Housewives franchise, the drama, the alliances, and the team everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it, I understand the game.

As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this. At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, Listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 14 NFL seasons, made a Pro Bowl, went to Notre Dame, drafted by the Raiders, played for that 92 Cowboys team that won a Super Bowl. You had a long NFL career, Steve Burline. Now as CBS analyst, you also had 18 or 19 surgeries. Interesting, you almost replaced.

You were very close to replacing John Elway at Stanford. They were offering new scholarships. you chose Notre Dame. It's been a great life for you and a great career for you. So let's get to the Andrew Luck retirement. You said, listen, I just can't defend it. Now, initially there's blowback, but I do think, as we've all kind of contextualized it over the last week, people don't love the timing of it. It's brutal.

So let's go back to and address your initial comments, which were on Andrew Luck. The initial comments were. Right. And first off, I played 17 in the NFL. They don't give me credit for some reason for the three. years I was on Injure Reserve. So I played 17 years in the NFL. People get confused with those numbers.

I don't know why. But the bottom line, it was a long time. And a lot of surgeries, a lot of different injury issues over the course of the career. But with Andrew Luck, for me, number one, I love Andrew Luck. I'm a huge fan of Andrew Luck. And my tweets, I made that very clear. And I've never said a negative thing about them. It's all about the timing for me.

And going into the season, I just felt and still feel very strongly, that you cannot do that to your team and to your organization at that point, especially when you come out and admit that you've only been thinking about it for 10 days. That's what he said. Yeah, he said that. He's been contemplating it for 10 days. In my opinion, and I guess it's come out that the Colts organization tried to get him to go on to IR. To me, it's a no-brainer.

That would have been no sacrifice by Andrew Luck, no sacrifice for his family, for him to just say, I'm going on IR for the first half of the year. going to get my head right, going to get away for a month, if I need to get away for a month. Maybe his foot needed to do nothing for a month. We don't know now because he didn't give it that opportunity. But I felt IR would have been the right way to go to give him the opportunity to really consider all of his options. And also as important as anything else not to throw that whole organization in a chaos, which is what it did. And his teammates, if they knew he was going on injured reserve, they would still have hope that, hey, maybe we're going to get him for the second half of the season.

If we can keep it together and play decent enough in the first half of the season, he may come back in the second half and take us to the Super Bowl. By retiring, he's eliminated that hope and that belief and that possibility in their minds. Yeah, I mean, these days it's very difficult and come out and have a contrarian opinion. People have watched how Andrew's been kind of taken apart physically. Now, you had many surgeries. He talked about, he just made up his mind about a year ago or two years ago. I'm not going to do this again.

I'm not going to go into a season and hurt all year. talk about your mental exhaustion because you had, I mean, you had rehab 15 times, like you were in constant rehab. Did you ever get to a point eight, nine years before you retired? And did you think on those car rides going back to camp, I can't do this again? Well, there are many times those thoughts into the picture and enter your mind. And number one, you can't compare my career to Andrew Lux. And a lot of people on Twitter are doing that. And I don't know how it gets to that.

You know, what did you do in your 17-year career? or his numbers are greater than your numbers in seven years. And they get into all this comparison type of stuff. And that's not what this is all about. It's not about what Andrew Luck has accomplished, what I accomplished in my career. The bottom line is the timing of his announcement. Yeah.

I felt was just not acceptable to do what he did. It is a grind. Believe me, I mean, every rehab is difficult. And the more they stack one on top of the other, and you get a little bit older, it's harder to come back from those things. As Eric Dickerson was saying earlier, the nagging injuries become a lot more difficult to get through.

And it is a grind mentally. I mean, there's no doubt about it. I get that. And if he would have retired three months ago after the previous season, I would have had absolutely no problem with it. Or if he retired after this coming season, I would have had no problem with it. He has every right in the world to retire whenever he wants to.

I just felt like the best decision would have been, for the timing standpoint, would have been to go on injury reserve at this point. Keep hope alive. You never know how he might change his mind. And you give at least the option of him coming back and then he can retire at the end of the year. Yeah, I mean, one of the narratives I didn't like is,

hey, players can retire whenever they want. And no, you can't. The defining quality of all great quarterbacks is not arm-sized mobility. It's really leadership. Great men, generals, our military, people running companies, quarterbacks. We consider it a leadership position.

You don't bail on your infantry men going into battle. If Patrick Mahomes retired before the Super Bowl and said, you know, I'm just mentally exhausted. Right. That'd be not acceptable. No, not acceptable. It's not acceptable. This is a leadership position.

These guys are now making $35 million a year. They're not the best athletes. They don't do the blocking. They don't do the tackling. Oh, come on now. Sometimes you tackle after an interception. But bottom loan, we are paying a premium for leadership. Right.

I mean, that salary, some of it is just we trust him running a our organization as a on-field coach. So I never bought the narrative that anybody can retire whenever they want. Half of your salary in the NFL is, is he a grown-up? Russell Wilson, day one, you're like, oh, I can hand in the franchise for 15 years. Right. And there is an obligation. And as a leader, as a franchise guy, that they're investing hundreds of millions of dollars,

literally, and Andrew made right around 100 during the course of his career, they're expecting you to at least give them, you know, they have a window. They kind of know where your mind is most of the time, so they know what they were hoping to get out of Andrew Luck. And I guarantee you it was at least five more years. They were expecting to get out of him. So I believe when you reverse that,

it's not a matter of what did the Colts do to protect Andrew Luck during the course of his career. What does he owe the Colts from the standpoint of, they can cut him at any point they want, they can cut anybody else. These are a lot of the arguments I've been hearing. The bottom line is as a leader, as a franchise quarterback,

there is an obligation to try to make the right decisions that are in the best interests of the organization of the team, with the right timing. And I just think this is an example where the emotions, the frustration, the mental state that he was in at that point, he just felt that he couldn't do it anymore. And I think somehow at some point,

he's going to regret that. That's why I said it will haunt him. I don't mean it's going to be a big black cloud falling him around the rest of his life. I just meant he's going to, at some point, I think, look back and say, I wish I would have handled that a little bit differently. Yeah, I don't think that's an outrageous thought. Aaron Rogers, Matt LaFleur. Matt LaFleur's never been a head coach, was a coordinator briefly with Tennessee, and it was not, by the way, a great year for him. He and Vrable didn't see eye to eye, so he gets a job. The kind of the momentum currently in the NFL is young, progressive, offense, give him a head job. But the knock on Matt LaFleur was he didn't really own the room.

in Tennessee and to be a head coach, you got to own the room. You had said you thought it was a little bit of a reach as a coaching hire. You know, I did. When the Packers made that decision, it surprised me. I don't think a lot of people were considering Matt LaFleur for that position or any head coach position around the NFL. So obviously there was something that resonated with the decision makers of the Packers that they felt this guy was something special.

There's no doubt coming up in the Shanahan system. I know Mike Shanahan very well is one of my best friends. I saw Kyle Shannon raised when I was playing with the Raiders and through my time at the Broncos. A lot of respect for Kyle. And Matt had a lot of years of both of those guys and he knows offense. The question is, is he ready to be a head coach? And we're going to find out. We're going to find out.

And there's going to be some roadblocks and some adversity that's going to come their way this year because the Packers, I don't think anybody is really expecting them to make a Super Bowl run, even though they have arguably the best quarterback in the NFL. Well, I will say this, between the Bears and the Vikings defenses, whether they win a division or not, it's going to be, it's tough. The division, you know, Aaron's first six or seven years in that division, it was kind of a sloppy mess. The Bears were a mess. Right. The Lions were.

And Minnesota was just sort of talented. Chicago's good enough to win playoff games. Minnesota's got a great roster. And I think Detroit's the best fourth place team in the NFL. So win this division or not, this is going to be bumpy. It's a strong division, no doubt about it. And I guess my point is, we don't. know what to expect out of Matt LaFleur, how he's going to handle those situations, how he's going to

command the room, like you said. There's a question about that until he's done it and he's established himself doing those type of things. We just don't know how it's going to go over. And my question is the history between Aaron Rogers and Mike McCarthy was documented. There was some tension between the two of them toward the end. When things get bumpy, is Matt LaFleur going to be able to keep that relationship strong? And is Aaron Rogers going to be able to handle it and be able to control and manage the relationship in a way that doesn't affect the team negatively. It's going to be an issue. But it can very well end up being a great marriage.

We're not going to know until we see how it plays itself out. You're a CBS NFL analyst. You guys have the AFC. I want to talk about New England. They've been very good at being a little ahead of a crisis, a little ahead of the game. Very interesting to me. So there were a lot of speed receivers available in this draft. They went for Nikiel Harry, who is more of.

in An Anquan Bolden physical receiver. There was a lot of free agent receivers. They got Demarius Thomas. Big physical can block. They went out and got Josh Gordon again, above average blocker. They didn't really need a running back, but they went to the SEC and got a Bama guy who's a bulldozer. It feels like to me, they just made two trades on the offensive line that as somebody who sees the Patriots, it feels like they're not getting 40 touchdown years out of Tom.

They're not getting 30 touchdown years out of Gronk. it feels like they're turning into a power time of possession team. Last year in the playoffs, Steve, 38 minutes time of possession against the Chargers, 33 against the Rams, 44 against the Chiefs. I just watched their personnel moves and I'm like, okay, they're going to be a power team this year. This is what they're going to be. All those receivers now, Edelman's the, for a long time, Steve,

there was all these slot guys, these little guys. They're going big. They want to block you and take the ball away from you. Well, I agree with that. And the one thing that I do know is that in Tom Brady's incredible career, he has reinvented or they have reinvented that offense many times over. Yes, they have. You think about it when they were tied in, heaven when they had Aaron Hernandez and Ben Watson

and Gronk was young, you know, just seven, eight years ago. They were a tied-in featured team. Then they went through a few years where they had Danny Woodhead and the other running backs that they were using a lot, kind of incorporating them into the passing game. And then they had the years with Randy Moss, and they brought the receiver. More vertical. They've reinvented themselves many times.

And what I think they believe is whatever they put out on the field with Tom Brady, he and Josh McDaniel are going to find a way to make it work, make it very efficient. But I think you're 100% right. They're realizing they've only got a limited amount of time with Tom Brady left. They want to try to take as much pressure off of him as they can to keep him healthy, to keep him feeling really good going into the postseason. and then if he has to win a game for him, he'll be able to still step up and do it. They know that.

But if they can reinvent themselves as a power running football team and not have him throwing the ball 40 times a game, I think they'd love to win that way. Let's talk finally, Steve Burline, about Cleveland. Youngest roster, rookie head coach, very talented outspoken quarterback. A lot of stars on the perimeter. Don't love their offensive line outside of their center. A lot of people are saying, homerunner at implodes. I don't.

I think they'll be somewhere around the middle nine. and seven, what do you forecast? I think the over and under be about nine wins for them right now. And personally, I think with the confidence they've got right now and with the way that young defense is playing and with coming off of Baker's first year, which wasn't surprised to me. I didn't expect them to have that much success that quickly.

And I was very impressive what he did last year. And then bringing in OBJ and having another year with Nick Chubb now to really get that running game going. I think they're going to be a really good football team. I would take the over on that. I'm thinking they're going to win nine to ten games this year. They're going to challenge for that division. They're going to challenge the Steelers for that division.

And I'm drinking the Kool-Aid right now. I think they're a pretty good team, and they believe in Freddie Kitchens. And I think that they're going to ride that wave. And the question is going to be, if they do run into a little bit of a roadblock, are they going to be mature enough to keep this thing on the path and be able to right the ship in time to get it straight for the playoffs? back to your career. Did you ever have an immature locker room you're in? Oh man, we probably had plenty. We had several immature locker rooms that were led by different

coaches that I had. I was one year of Buddy Ryan in Phoenix and I don't want to get into that, but that was a very immature locker room just the way a lot of things were handling. It resonated from the top. But yeah, there are a lot of teams that just don't have a strong enough leadership element. Or history. Whether it be with the coaching staff, whether it be just with the history of the organization, or whether it be with veteran players that have been there before, that know how to get the job done and know how to keep a team focused, no one to lighten it up, no one to push a little bit harder. That's a very important part of winning a championship, having those people in place.

Long time, 92 Super Bowl Cowboys team, pro bowler drafted by the Raiders, college at Notre Dame now at CBS. Steve, great seeing you yet. Hey, great to be here, Colin. Thanks for having me. You bet Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. The news we've all been waiting for all preseason. Who is going to be the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins?

Yeah, no question. Don't worry about Zeke. Yeah, I mean, who cares? Shady and Clowny. The Dolphins. Well, head coach Brian Flores announced yesterday. The wait is over. Ryan Fitzpatrick has won the starting job.

He will start against the Ravens Week 1. He's been the front runner, obviously. but Flores said that Rosen's strong training camp made it a tough decision. I think he's improved greatly over the course of training camp. Playing quarterback in this league, it takes some times. He's in a new offense, and I think he'll get there. I do. I really do.

The battle in competition never stops. I mean, I'll push him every single day for him to get better, and if he doesn't get better, I'll hopefully surpass him at some point. I think it's only time that this team is mine. But until then, I'm going to be as supportive of the backup as I can. And like I said, push him every single day. You know, he said something very telling in that quote there. It's only a matter of time before the team is mine.

I know. I saw that. Very Aaron Rogers. He very confident? Yes. And you could take that the wrong way if you were Ryan Fitzpatrick. Right. If you were listening, depending on where you're sitting, that might be a little bit of a jab.

Or depending on where we're sitting and considering. your bit of tinfoil hat conspiracy theory about why they did this going into the week five-bye. Yeah, week five-bye looks like the perfect time to play him. Maybe he knows a little something that the rest of us are just assuming, which is that. Week four, they play the Chargers who have a monster pass rush after playing Dallas, who has a great pass rush. Then there's a buy, and what do you know, lousy Washington comes to town. It's a rough start to the season for the Dolphins.

So it does surfacing look like it makes sense to wait until the buy if you're going to make a mid-season change. You mean like teams would have sort of an ulterior motive? Our strategy. Yeah, gosh, that never happens in stuff in sports. I don't know. What I do know is that Ryan Fitzpatrick is the 20th starting quarterback for Miami since Marino retired in 1999 season. I was actually way off earlier when I said that the dolphins are like the Browns. We're actually nothing like the Browns. The Browns have had 30. Oh my God. Well, you know, the funny thing about the Dolphins is despite their dysfunction, it feels like to me they're either 7 and 9 or 8 and 8, for the last two decades.

Nobody wants to be that either, though. It just means you're just good enough not to get the guy that you need to get. And that's why they've stayed in that position. I mean, to me, I would rather, at least one of the years, be truly atrocious so that we can draft a quarterback and get the franchise guy. We'll see what happens during the season,

but there's no way that you could, similar to Daniel Jones, as much as I would like to see them start the season, because I think that the only thing that makes you better at football is actually playing football. The optics do matter when it comes to fans. and the locker room. So starting the guy that has been there that has the experience when you have a rough start of the season and then making a change midseason to the younger guy, seems like the more prudent way to go about it. So the Cowboys are running out of time to get

Ezekiel Elliott back before the season starts. And Jerry is making it very clear they are prepared to start without him. The facts are that this game is about availability, sometimes more than ability. No one does anybody any good. themselves or the team if they're not available. And there's many reasons to not be available, and I don't want to get elementary here. But one of them is to not come in and play if you have a contract and the game and the season and life, if you will, goes on.

I like sassy, Jerry. Very subtle on that. I just barely mentioned it. I mean, anytime you throw the word elementary in there, you're getting matter-fact about it, I think he's frustrated, obviously. one in this entire situation is probably frustrated. That's obvious.

But Jerry particularly because Jerry really went out there on a ledge for Zieg. And based off of the numbers that at least the team put out, he has been offered in the $13 to $14 million range. Very reasonable numbers. Reasonable. That was making the second highest paid. Levion is around 13.2, I believe. And we all know Todd Gurley's is in the 14. So that makes sense.

And based off of Zeeke's roller coaster experience in the NFL so far, that, That is a completely, that is a great offer to me. And I'm not Zeke, so whatever, whatever I think. But I just feel like it's unreasonable to ask to get a Todd Gurley contract in this environment. You know who's loving this? Philadelphia Eagles fans. And they decided to take a little jab at Jerry just to remind him that they're out there. And they put a little billboard up with a joke, knock knock who's there, Zeke, Ziku.

Oh, boy. So Eagles fans are loving this if no one else is. Of their. Finally, college football is number one. team Clemson kick out their season last night. They beat Georgia huge, 52 to 14. And the current Heisman favorite quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, had a decent performance. He went 13 for 23, 168 yards, and one touchdown, two interceptions. But the true star of the game was their running back, Travis Etyen, who had a career high 205 yards on 12 carries. He's incredible. And three touchdowns,

which ties his career record, personal record. And his 90-yard touchdown run in the first quarter ties a school record. They're going to be obviously great this year. You've put them in, at least their offense in the category of one of the best ever. All time stuff. I think Alabama actually has a rough road. A&M's better. Florida is going to be better. LSU is going to be good.

George is really good. Auburns will figure out they return their offensive line. So Auburn's going to be at least capable. So Alabama could stumble. They got four or five tough games. I think this is. Next week, Clemson plays Texas A&M at home. after that, it is smooth sailing.

For Clemson, yeah. I'm not rooting for anyone to fail, obviously, but I like that at least there's a thought that the competitive landscape may be a little more evened out in college football. We're going to have some great stories this year and an interesting playoff race. Good stuff. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Heard Lye News. One of my favorite segments of the week, former newspaper man Jason McIntyre tomorrow's headlines today he's bizarrely accurate. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

All right. Jason McIntyre, J. Mack, used to work in the newspaper industry, bailed on that thing. Went to the big lead. Now he's at Fox Sports Radio. You come on and we do a segment called Tomorrow's Headlines Today with stunning and bizarre levels of accuracy, even though at the the time when you release these headlines, we often roll our eyes.

Yes. So now you're going to talk about NFL predictions in today's segment, but you're going to start with a trade, a big trade out there. So tomorrow's headlines today, which team will get Texans, Jadavia and Clownie, the linebacker? Well, you know, Clownie's in high demand. You can get after the quarterback, and I think the headline will be, Circus gets new clown.

The Oakland Raiders, you know, the situation there with Richie and, incognito and Von Dez Burfect and Antonio Brown in his feet. Can you imagine if they traded for Clownie? They have extra picks. And they need a pass rush. 13 sacks last year, dead last in the league by a mile. And listen, if you're looking at Clowny and you've got those extra picks in the Khalil Mac trade, you're going to Vegas.

You need these splashy superstars. I do wonder, though, does Clowny still qualify as a superstar? Because this is a guy who went number one overall, Colin. and five years in the league, guess how many double-digit sack seasons he's had? I don't know if he's had one. He's had none. Yeah. And that's playing opposite JJ Watt, which is a little bit disappointing.

He is a, he's an explosion player. You get big plays from him. I don't love his consistency, but I do get moments where he makes big plays. And you're in a division where Patrick Mahomes is going to be running around for the next five to 10, 15 years. It's a really interesting take. Philip Rivers is immobile. The Raiders have the, uh, draft equity built up with the picks from the Khalil-Mack deal.

I think it's a smart move, actually. That's actually pretty smart. All right, tomorrow's headlines today. What will be the biggest surprise of the NFL season? So they asked me, Jason, what's your biggest shocker for the NFL season? And I said, guys, take it to the bank. The headline will be, teamed not-named Patriots wins the AFC East. And you can see Adam Gaze there with the crazy eyes.

I see Joyce side-eyeing me. Yes, Colin, I have already been in Vegas. I've bet this. The Jets will win the AFC East time. Well, I will say this. Plus 700. Okay, so defensively, if they got star players. They went out and got star players. They paid for it. But the key is, Colin, again, I cannot keep harping on this. The Patriots last year, we talked about Brady slightly declining, okay? You know they were nine and five there late in the season? In the wild card mix? I mean, they were going to get to the playoffs. They had to beat two rookie quarterbacks down the stretch. in Josh Allen and Sam Darnold to get that number one seed. And then, sorry, number two seed. But Colin, also, this is a Patriots team that, let's be honest, they lose grunk.

They now lost their starting center. The left tackle has never started an NFL game. There are a lot of questions. And when I look at the New York Jets and you look at the Patriots last 10 years have won this division, everything good comes to an end. You know that, Colin. I think this is the year. Sam Darnold, year too.

I don't like the Jets corners, but it's an interesting team. Quarterbacks are bad. We'll agree on that. Troumaine Johnson hopefully stays healthy and rebounds from an awful first year with the Jets. Tomorrow's headlines today, which team will see the biggest drop-off this season? Yes, well, you know, in my life, I like to zig when everybody's zagging. You do. You're a zigger. And you love me for that. And you like zagin too, yeah.

Well, everybody loves the Chicago Bears. They're betting on the Bears to win the Super Bowl and Mitch Trubisky to win the MVP. The headline will be not so win, D.C. Did he? I don't think this is a terrible take. The Bears are going to be regressing big time. I mean, I know they had an awesome year last year, but that defense is going to drop off significantly, okay?

They lose their defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio. That's a big loss. He's a genius. And he took his secondaries coach. They led the league in interceptions, and they lose two starters in the secondary. So suddenly, teams are going to be able to open it up on them, and a word of caution about Mitchell Tribeschi,

who, you know, people went a bit nuts for last year. in games against teams that made the playoffs, just six TDs and seven interceptions. Yes, this is a... Feasted on the bad teams and nobody wants to look beyond the obvious. Also, you have now a full year. Film Mitch Trubisky. I think the Packers defense is better.

I think their first place schedule. I think this, I do think Chicago, and I think Matt and Aggie, there's some smoking mirrors here. Well, you had to because Trubisky's accuracy was so bad in the short passes. Colin, in another word, that is the toughest division in football. We could spend an hour debating this. But I'm telling you, the Vikings are potentially a 10-win team.

Aaron Rogers is always going to be there. And you know the Detroit Lions are my sleeper this year. Tough division, bears regress, no playoffs. All right. Finally, tomorrow's headlines today. What's the matchup going to be in the Super Bowl 54? I haven't heard your Super Bowl pick yet. I'm sure he'll save it for next week.

I have not made it yet. You're going to be on a plane to Vegas and you're going to be making your pick. My headline for the Super Bowl is Phil versus Philly. I've got Philip Rivers and the Chargers in the Super Bowl against the Eagles. All right. I don't think it's crazy. That's not crazy. First of all, Eagles plus 1,400.

They're going to steamroll the division. We know that. Unless Wenz gets another injury. But the defense is deep. The secondary is healthy. I think the Eagles are the class of the NFC. I think that's a very strong bet. The Chargers, Colin, you know, I know everybody kind of scoffs and they're injury prone.

This is a team that was the only one in the NFL, top eight offense and defense last year. Okay? Bosa missed half the season with an injury. Denzel Perryman, the great middle linebacker, he missed the final seven games. And here's a stat that I love that I unearthed this offseason. In that playoff game against New England, they had five new defensive starters as opposed to week one.

And we're all surprised when the Patriots just picked them apart. Remember they crushed them? It was an embarrassment. The defense had five new guys starting that weren't there week one. The LSA had to travel cross-country for the second straight week, which is just for West Coast teams historically, you lose. You just do not win. The other thing is Melvin Gordon's going to sign.

This is interesting. We've talked so much about Zeke. Melvin Gordon will eventually sign. What if he signs week seven or eight, and you get a fresh Melvin Gordon down the stretch? Remember, without Gordon last year, they were 4-0, an average like 27 points a game. So they can hold off without him.

I know the division's hard, but they will miss Derwin James, obviously. Yes, he's their best athlete. He'll be back late in the season for the two games against the Chiefs. He's expected back around week 10 or 11. They don't play the Chiefs until late both games. So that's a huge win for them. I know people don't love the Chargers. They laugh at the powder blue uniforms and no home field advantage.

I like Rivers to finally break through and get to the Super Bowl. You know, it's funny because I had Andy Reid on earlier, but I do feel like Andy and Patrick are going to have multiple opportunities. This is one of the last chances for Phillip Rivers. It would be, listen, man, Stan Humphreys and the Chargers. I remember the year they made. I remember the year they, I think they faced San Francisco. They ended up, it was a Miami Super Bowl.

They popped. San Diego's in Los Angeles Chargers slash, you know, they've had a lot of years where you look up and you're like, they got eight pro bowlers. It's not like this franchise has not had great players. I think I remember that Stan Hunt. Was that that blood bath that was like 5510? Yeah, it was bad. 49ers destroyed them.

Right. Jason McIntyre tomorrow's headlines today. M Drive, I use it every day. M Drive boost and burn, boosting healthy testosterone. and burning fat. Visit MDrive for Men.com today and refine your prime as you age. I love it. Speak for yourself.

Coming up next, have a safe weekend. 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 a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicel Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with Robert Smygle 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 Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliver 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 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

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? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that Game 7, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.