The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Mayfield, Cowboys, Wilson, Patriots

Episode Date: October 13, 2021

Baker Mayfield isn't the problem in ClevelandThe Cowboys are better when they don't rely on Dak Prescott as muchYou can't compare Zach Wilson with Josh AllenPatriots can't seem to take advantage of the cultural change in the NFLGuest: Nick Wright Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Dodgers Giants is going to a game five. Of course it is. It's been the way the series has gone all year, all week, back and forth. two great teams. Joy Taylor, how are you? Doing amazing. Love your earrings. Thank you. You know, just bring a little pop to the set. I'm going to get you a purple shirt. Well, Baker Mayfield has a wife. She's beautiful. Her name is Emily Mayfield, and she is defending her man. So Baker played Sunday against Justin Herbert.

Justin Herbert's better. Baker lost, but Baker was fine. Baker was not the problem. A little bit, but not the problem entirely. So Emily has come out and she's upset. She says, for all you fans blaming Sunday's loss on Baker, wake up. Hell of a game could have gone either way. You truly don't know what you have, says Emily. I have watched him give his all and change the entire culture in Cleveland. Slow down.

A lot of people get credit for that, not just Baker. yet he gets so little credit for it. He never asked for recognition. Excuse me? How many national commercials does he have? Tom Brady won Super Bowls in New England and refused. I know his agent Don Yee refused to do commercials for years. When he finally did, he did a visa commercial and he would only do it if his entire offensive line would do it with him.

Spare me on the he never asked for recognition and he gets no credit. Baker Mayfield through 50 starts has won 26. He's a 500 quarterback. Nobody in the history of the league, since I've been covering it, has had more national commercials and is a 500 quarterback in a small market. Aaron Rogers, I get. Mahomes, I get. Brady, I get.

Breeze, Manning, Russell, Will's. Baker's a 500 quarterback. He's got one playoff win. Come on. He gets lots of credit. What is happening with this situation, though, is that Baker's safe zone is deteriorating. What do you mean, Colin? Where he doesn't get criticism is Ohio.

Oh, that has changed. Talk radio. The pom-pom waving Cleveland media is finally doing their job. Yeah, the safe zone where he didn't get criticized, where mean people like me got a lot of hate. The Cleveland media is like, dude, Stefansky's great. He just won coach of the year. Offensive lines number one rated in the league.

Defense is playing better. We have the best running back tandem in the league by far. We're three and two. We've lost the two really good teams. We've had 10 point plus leads in both those losses, and we blew it. People are finally going, eh. But the Cleveland media has been wrong on Baker from the beginning. They wave pom-poms early when he deserve more criticism.

And now they're criticizing him when he actually isn't the problem today. Baker's fine. Baker is not the problem for Cleveland today. The problem for Cleveland is tomorrow and beyond do they pay him? Because in the AFC alone, I'm not talking about all quarterbacks. I'm not going to bring up Derek Carr. I'm not going to bring up potentially Deshaun Watson. Uh-uh.

I'm just talking about, and I'm not going to bring up all quarterbacks like over in the NFC, Brady, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers. I'm not going to bring those guys up either. I'm just saying among his AFC age similar peers, he's not close to Justin Herbert in talent. He's not close to Lamar Jackson in talent. He's not close to Patrick Mahomes in talent. He's not close to Josh Allen. That's four.

In my opinion, he's not as good as Joe Burrow, though I can't prove it yet with a record. And he's not close to Trevor Lawrence, but he hasn't won a game yet. I can't prove that. But if those two bear out and my sources who I trust in scouting in the league, both like Burrow and Lawrence, more than Baker, he's the seventh best AFC quarterback not overall, not in the league, not in the entire AFC. He's seventh best among his age similar peers. Baker today isn't the issue.

You're stuck with him and you're not paying him anything. So that's fine. You can have a great roster. The question will be when you watch him at Kansas City and he has to throw and his two last drives are three and out and a pick. And you watch him in his last two drives in Los Angeles against a peer he looks like he checked down on a third and 10 to run and then his final drive was egregiously bad.

Daniel Jeremiah has been a scout for three teams. One of the sharpest guys in the league was doing the game for the Chargers and talks about what he saw and what would worry him. You know, Baker's not at the level as those other top quarterbacks. He's not. When you're getting that in the playoffs, you're going to have to see Mahomes and potentially Herbert and Josh Allen. He's not in that group.

When you go watch the two-minute drill at the end with that type of time and you take the elite quarterbacks, a special quarterbacks, they're going to get right down the field. And it was check down, check down, and then a couple Hail Mary's. They had time to do work in the middle of the field and he wouldn't take shots. That was, to me, the biggest takeaway. And I think Coach Dufansky or someone after the game said, well, we had two backup tackles and we, you know, the Charters hit him one time. Derwin James hit him one time in that game. Those backup tackles played really well. I said this going in to October November.

The next eight weeks, he's got Burrow and Kyler and Herbert and Lamar twice and Mac Jones. And the GM who inherited him didn't draft him is going to have to make a decision. The Cleveland media is again wrong on Mayfield. Too hyperbolic early and now too critical. You're stuck with Baker and you're not paying him. He's fine now. for what you're paying him, he's fine now. Really?

You're not paying him anything. The issue, Jared Gough was fine when you weren't paying him, and you could stack the roster. The issue will be going forward when you have to pay him. Seventh best, in my opinion, and I'm not counting next year's draft. What if somebody else comes out is great? Seventh best, AFC alone among his age-similar peers.

That's your issue. And I don't think if you watch the way Cleveland coaches, they necessarily, the coaches in Cleveland don't necessarily trust him. But let's stop on the he doesn't get recognition or credit. Every other commercials, Baker Mayfield, he's a 500 quarterback. He gets plenty of recognition. Heard brought to you by Jersey Mike's subs, be a sub above. So it is interesting.

I want to talk about Dak Prescott here for a second. So there's a story today, and it is pretty interesting, that Zechio Elliott's playing really, really good football. like really, really good football. And he's averaging 5.3 yards of carry, and he is now third in the NFL in rushing. And don't confuse the truth with hate. In fact, don't even confuse data and the truth for criticism. Here's something that you cannot argue is that the Dallas Cowboys are better when they don't

use DAC much. How do I know that? The more and the better Zeke plays, more the Cowboys win. That is not anti-Dak. That is not saying he's overrated. That is not saying he's overpaid. Here is the data this morning on Dak Prescott. He is 4 and 11 when he throws over 40 times. He's 4 and 4 when he has over 400 yards. And yet he is 34 and 7. That's like Brady, Aaron Roger's category when he makes fewer than 32 throws. That is not hate. That is not criticism. There is a commonality with Dak Prescott.

Here it is. This year, he is tied for 19th in pass attempts. His rookie year, Dak was 23rd in pass attempts. And do you know, in the two years. of his career when he's had the fewest pass attempts. Do you know what his record is? 17 and 4. This is not hate and it's not criticism.

What we're seeing with DAC, his intangibles, leadership, smarts, moxie, toughness has always been better than his tangibles arm athletic ability. And it's all playing out. The numbers are conclusive. They are inarguable. They're not anti-DAC. They're not even criticism of DAC. This organization is 17 and 4.

That's a Super Bowl winning record, right? 17 and 4 when DAC is like 20th or in the ballpark of 20th most attempts in the league. He's got to be somewhat managed. Every quarterback does. Even Mahomes shouldn't throw 50 times. You don't want Mahomes back being a target 50. 50 times. But it is interesting when you look at the cowboy success and I'll listen to a talk show, it is all, oh, DAC, DAC, DAC, no, less DAC, more Zieg, fewer pass attempts. Cowboys

are hard to beat. 17 and 4. That's a team good enough to win the Super Bowl. When you have DAC throw 28 times, 29 times. Not even 35. That's too many. Don't view it as hate and don't view it as criticism. It's just the reality of DAC. We got a lot today. Joel Clatt in 45 minutes from now. Listen, he was in Iowa this past weekend. So he dealt with a lot of fans.

I am beloved in Iowa. I think that's understood. I consume a lot of corn. And so Clatt went to Iowa. And for 36 hours, my fan club there, just accosted him, and so he will join us in 45 minutes to talk about that experience. There's a lot. By the way, he's bringing the hammer today on a couple people.

Joel's bringing the hammer on a couple people. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball.

to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see the desert through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite

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Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Not all struggling rookie quarterback are the same. People often use examples. Well, my guy's struggling. Go back and look at Josh Allen. Yeah, go ahead. Google YouTube Josh Allen's rookie year. Eight rushing touchdowns, 650 yards rushing, 660 running over people or leaping over them as if he wore a cape. Robert Salas says, hey, my guy is struggling, but come on. I mean, he's a rookie. Go look at Josh Allen. Here we go. it's not easy being a rookie quarterback. It never will be.

It never has, never will be if you look at, I'll just throw a guy out there, Josh Allen, who everyone wanted to throw away after his first two years. His first five games of his rookie year are damn near identical to what our young kids going through. So he's going to get better. He's got tremendous armed talent. He goes through things the right way. And I know it can be frustrating sometimes,

and we're looking at some of these things. It's like, God, he should be making these throws. But it's going to start clicking. And, you know, like I said, it's a roller coaster right. You know, they're going to take the good with the good, the bad with the bad, and find ways to get better than you will. That's a bad comp. Josh Allen, in his rookie year, was 6-6, 240 and humble beginnings.

Zach's 6.1.5, 2-14, too small for my taste, and comes from wealth. Also, Josh Allen was drafted by a team that made the playoffs the year before in a division with Belichick and the Patriots dynasty was still going. That was hard. It was hard to make the playoffs in that division because it was sewn up every year with Brady and Belichick. You only could make it as a wild card. And Sean McDermott did. The Jets, what Zach Wilson inherits is a franchise leaking oil for seven years,

and I would say 10 of the last 11. A, I'm not a huge Zach Wilson fan, but Joy and I always say it. We root for everybody to win. The Jets are better of Zach Wilson's successful. Better watch. It's better that a New York team is engaging and fun to watch. Nobody wants to watch bad football. It's called the Lions for 20 years.

We all scream because they were on Thanksgiving every year. I think he's a show-off. He's small, plays... The second thing is, Josh Allen was called one of the 10 best prospects of all time by Mel Kiper Jr. Like Josh Allen was a crazy talent. But remember, just because your rookie quarterback struggles, and they all do at some point,

Kyler Murray was still amazing as he struggled. Josh Allen still had amazing qualities as he struggled. What worries me about Zach Wilson is during the pro day, remember that pro day? We were always wowed by the ability to kind of move off to his left or right and make big throws down the field. Yeah, his two highlights this year are that. That's 1% to 2% of playing quarterback in the NFL. He misses layups, he's undisciplined, he plays too loose, he's careless, he's small. this is not a good comp. E.J. Manuel, one of the nicest guys I've ever met a rookie. I played at Florida

State. Met him. I was at ESPN. He's just a wonderful kid. You fell in love with him. About eight games in, you're like, oh, boy, that's not going to work in this league. He couldn't throw. That's not the same as Josh Allen either. And Zach Wilson is better than E.J. Manuel, but that's a bad comp. Like, the Jets fell in love with Zach Wilson. My guys didn't like him. My scouts were not fans of him. Doesn't mean he can't be successful. Does it mean this won't work? That's not the point. I've been wrong before. But this isn't the same comp.

Like Josh Allen was a monster, eight rushing touchdowns, went to a playoff team, went to a proven coach, a franchise had momentum. You got to be special to overcome what the Jets currently are. Like this is the fourth best coach team, probably the fourth best offensive line. Well, the Patriots are bad. The third best weapons in a weapons league. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. Well, Tua Tunga Vailoa is officially designated to return to practice from Inter Reserve on Tuesday, according to NFL networks Tom Pelliserro. He broke his ribs week two against the bills, and he was placed on IR September 25th. Jacoby Brissette has filled in since and has had a 65.2 completion percentage, four touchdowns, two interceptions and 82.2 pass the rating to before the injury, 54.8 completion percentage, 215 passing yards, one passing touchdown, one interception. Now it was week two, but the dolphins have had a rough go so far this season. The next six weeks, you got the Jets and the

Jags and Atlanta and the Texans. What's happening to him, Joy, he has no career momentum. Correct. So in the next six weeks, he's got to find it. Like now he's been injured twice. He came in injured. He's injured again. I didn't know the playbook. Didn't get voted team captain. He's got to gain momentum and he's got a great opportunity, Joy, because the next six weeks.

Now, I think they play the Packers and the Ravens, too. Those are L's. But for their next six games, there's real winnable games. And if he doesn't win or look good in those, Joy, I think it's over. Like they made a decision. We're out. Well, they travel to London and face the Jaguars on Sunday. They have to win.

They're favored by three and a half, according to Fox Bed. They absolutely have to win that game. Then they have the Falcons at home. They have the bills, the Texans, the Ravens, the Jets, Panthers and Giants. Those are a lot of winnable games. There's a lot of winnable games there. If you are a competitive team and if, to your point, can get some momentum going. But if you look at the AFC East standings, bills are four and one,

Patriots are two and three. Dolphins and Jets are one and four. So going into the season, I think we probably were a little too high on the Dolphins defense overall and what they were going to be able to do with Tua as a starter. Now, the injury part to me is not surprising because Tua is consistently injured. Yes. Which was my concern about him coming out in the draft, that you're taking a player that has had multiple injuries in college.

That's likely going to transfer to the NFL, and it has. But to your point, the momentum thing is the best way to put it with Tua. He's never been able to get any momentum in the NFL, and that's not all entirely his fault. No, that's right. But even in our business, in any business, you get hired at a law firm. You're going to stumble early. You're not a partner. You don't have the support.

But there'll be a point over two years where you've got to make people think, oh, she's getting better. He's getting better. With Tua, he has no momentum. It's not just wins. it's like if you lose a shootout, it's like, okay, he doesn't, his momentum now is it zero? Well, we haven't been able to see any growth. Which is, again, last year, why I didn't like the Vion Fitzpatrick move. Let him have his rookie year to see what he is.

So unless he was injured last year, then he should have been out there because at least you have more time to evaluate what he is capable of. And to your point, now he's injured and we got to start over again to see what he's going to do. So Aaron Rogers was praising Joe Burr. Borough yesterday. It's a very pro-Joe Burrow show. Well, it's hard not to. On the record, I was way ahead of Joe Burrow on this show. You did like Joe.

I had my questions, but immediately Game 2 pivoted to he and Kyler Murray second game at half. I'm like, all right, they're better than I thought. You've got to toss those takes. Well, he was on the Pat McAfee show and he had some advice for Joe Burrow.

I'm a Joe Burrow fan. I enjoy the way he goes about his business. I enjoy the way he plays with confidence. I I will tell you the thing that I told him, which I've told other quarterbacks from time of time, slide. I said you're too damn talented. You got so much in front of you had to accomplish in this league. Just sometimes you got to slide. You know, I would have said the same thing to Andrew.

You know, Andrew initially got hurt in Indy, you know, being Superman and running guys over and stuff. It's not wrong. Burroughs taking 14 sacks. he's tied for fourth most and 27 hits, 36 pressures. He had to go to the hospital last week after the game against the Packers with throat contusion. He took a scary hit in the second quarter, but he was able to shake it off and didn't leave the game and he was okay. He's fun to watch, and I will say this, Joy, they have three legitimate receivers. One, Jamar Chase appears to be a A, like a star.

Yeah, he is a star. Yeah. And look, I like the momentum that the Bengals have been building. That game against the Packers, I didn't expect them to win. but that performance, you have to feel good about that in some, at least if you're a Bengals fan, I'm sure, like, you know, the players that are not trying to hear that. But you're building something in Cincinnati and you know you have your guy.

He's obviously got to be protected and Aaron's point does slide. There's no point in, there's really no point at all if you are a quarterback in this league to try and do anything physical. Like all of the rules are in your favor. You're completely protected. Just get down. But the sliding thing is. weird. Some guys cannot slide. Well, I don't think it's a coincidence. I talked to Steve

Kime, the GM of Arizona yesterday with Kyler Murray and Kyler and Russell Wilson are baseball players. They're both the two best sliders in the sport. So there is value. I mean, even Aaron Rogers, who's very athletic, I remember early in Aaron's career. He was not, it looked awkward. He would sometimes roll more than slide. And he's taking some big hits. Yeah. Sure, which is why he's probably telling him that. But also, Aaron is probably the best in the league with Tom. Brady at this play's done. I'm out. We're to bail on it. Burrow plays the Lions on Sunday,

Burrow and the Bengals, at one Eastern on Fox and they are favored by three and a half. According to Fox Bet. Finally, Kyrie Irving will not be practicing or playing any games, home or road, with the nets to start the season. Shams Sharania of the Athletic explains

Irving's stance on vaccines yesterday. He said multiple sources with direct knowledge of Irving's decision have told the athletic that Irving is not anti- vaccine is that his stance is that he's upset the people are losing their jobs due to vaccine mandates. So to him, this is about a grander fight than the one on the court. And Irving is challenging a perceived control of society and people's livelihood. All right. So once people didn't buy into his nonsense, then he pivots to his agent and he pivot to. Actually, we're about the people. This is the

classic Ben Simmons is Ben Simmons can't win the argument. So he shifts it and his people to it's a little bit of a mental health issue, which nobody like me or you want to talk about, right? Like we back off. When you lose an argument and then you move the football, in this case, the basketball to an argument you can win. So now it's the I am just, I'm just part of the people. And he will, of course, there are certain people that will now, oh. Oh, yeah, he got a crew. Oh, yeah. I don't know if it's the crew you want backing you. But he's got a crew. they are out here and happy about everything Kyrie is saying. Here's the thing.

It doesn't really matter what Kyrie's opinion about the vaccines are, or if he wants to, quote, be a voice for the voiceless, which, by the way, people not getting a vaccine have plenty of voices. They are not voiceless, the people not getting the vaccine. The point is you are unavailable for your team. Now not because you don't want to do the one thing that they're asking you to do. It's because now you're a freedom fighter for people who, don't want to get vaccinated in a pandemic.

I don't know what the nets are supposed to do with this. Like, is this going to be a distraction all season long, whether he's there or not. And especially if they start struggling at any point, if he's still not available, it's just, it's a ridiculous situation. You could lose up to $16 million this season. So ironically, you're fighting for people's livelihood

while losing $16 million. Your own livelihood. Okay. But he's an American hero now suddenly. Okay. I mean. I don't know. Freedom fighter.

The anarchy thing is really like an interesting hill to to jump on for this whole situation. But this is what the nuts are right now. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. Well, it was a glorious week for me as I predicted Buffalo would beat Kansas City

and I said there's a chance they'll blow them out. I don't know if you watched. They did. But there is no reason to start with that when Nick Wright brought you by Mercedes-Benz the best or nothing. Instead, I want to talk about this. Why do I even show up here? Why do I even do these anymore? So Emily may feel beautiful young lady supporting her man. Totally get it. Totally support that. But I do think now, she said he doesn't get recognition. He's a 500 quarterback through 50 games and has more commercials,

I swear, than Brady. He gets recognition and credit. That's not the issue. I think what the issue is is Ohio media. The safe zone is now going after him. And that's where Baker and Emily live, and they hear it now and see it in the papers. The safe zone, the pom-poms are down in Cleveland, they're three and two and have lost to the two good teams they've played and had big leads in both. But you tell me, what should Cleveland's expectations be with Baker Mayfield? Well, first of all, my big takeaway from your setup there is you acknowledge the chiefs are a good team. so thank you for that because that's one of the losses, two good teams, one of them the Chiefs, so thank you, I hope for that can be the entirety of the Chief's discussion for this little

interview today. My takeaway is this. You have been a Baker-Mayfield critic. I have been a Baker-Mayfield supporter through five games of the most important season of his career up to this point, your side of the argument's winning. And it's weird when your team scores 42 and you get hosed on a bad pass interference call and people are like, well, the quarterback should have played better. But if you watched the game, the fact that matter is the quarterback needed to play better in the biggest spots. And I don't think Kevin Stefansky is an idiot. In fact, I think quite differently, I think he's very, very sharp. And I do think it was telling in a bit of an indictment that in a game that was up and down, up and down,

third and ten, two and a half left, he hands the ball off when they knew they had to score. They knew they had to go get points there because they weren't going to stop the charge. even though they were up one there. So, yeah, this is a moment of truth for Baker over the next few months because the point you've been making this morning is a similar one to one I was making in regards to Mac Jones, which was Patriot fans are all excited about it. I'm like, okay, what is your best case scenario for Mac Jones? That he's the ninth best quarterback in his prime in the AFC,

because the AFC does have a glut of excellent young quarterbacks. You have Patrick Mahomes, you have Justin Herbert, you have Lamar Jackson, you have Josh Allen, I believe Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrough, so they're six. So what's Baker? They're seven, and I might have left one out if I'm forgetting somebody. So it's a problem for the Patriot's long term. It might be a problem for Cleveland right now. Now, do I think he can get it together?

I do. But so far, Colin, your point about when they know you're going to throw, can you throw, he has not excelled in that spot. He needs to be better. And I'm sure the Ohio media has gone the other way. I'm not streaming the fan there. But I imagine they've gone from, you know, he's an MVP candidate to should we even give a contract. Right.

Right. Somewhere in the middle. But unfortunately right now, Colin Cowherd appears to be winning the argument. Has not won the argument is winning the Baker-Mefield argument. I want to go to this. So Wednesday is the day you have tears. So I was walking into FS1 today, the Fox Building, it's beautiful. And the security guys were complaining about Nick, and they yelled, look, and he created a new tear just so we'd have a place for Kansas City.

They literally, it was 550, and they're going, and I looked at my way. Isn't that ridiculous? I'll ask him about it today. So give me your tears. All right, well, listen, people, I am, Colin, there are a few things I've learned from you, my television mentor. where one of them is to always just cloak yourself an objectivity. I'm just dripping an objectivity. Do you know how much it pained me to put the chiefs beneath those eight teams?

But I did it because they have not earned a higher ranking. Now, if we are being honest, all the teams beneath them, they deserve to be ahead of. What you're not seeing on your screen, the Browns, the Seahawks with no Russ, then Niners. They're better than those teams. But they're not as good as the teams above them, so they had to be by themselves. What I think people are upset by, to be honest, is the name of that tier, future favorites. Again, if you're by yourself alone, you don't have to deal with any of your friends, family, sports fans, and you're having an honest moment.

You know at the end of the year the Chiefs are going to be right there where they're supposed to be back on top. But right now they're not. And I think right now the Cowboys are the best team in football. I think Colin right now the Cowboys are the best team in football. Let's talk about that. They are, if you go back to the rookie year, Dack was 23rd in attempts. Now he's 19th. And in those two years, this year and that year, they're 17 and 4.

I said, don't confuse that with hate. Don't even confuse it with criticism. It's called reality. Cowboys are better, the less Dack throws. If he's in the 28 to 30 throws. I don't think that's criticism. I just think that's the reality of what Dac is, right? Well, kind of.

I also, listen, I have learned a lot from you as I demonstrated with the objectivity thing. I think one of the things, if I may dare to try to teach you something is if during a segment, that's five minutes long, you spend two of those minutes saying a variation of, this isn't criticism, this isn't hate, this isn't criticism, then maybe it's a little criticism. Maybe there's a little hint of it there. Here's the thing. I think those numbers are a little misleading because some, I'd rather look at if we wanted to really get in the weeds of it, like first half pass a 10. How much of it is they're running the ball late once they've gotten the lead, very often gotten the lead through throwing.

But I do think the Cowboys formula from Dax Rookie Year, which was a quarterback that doesn't make a lot of mistakes, can make big throws, lean on the running game, and this to me is why have the Cowboys as high as I do, a defense that isn't a disaster. Trayvon Diggs has been spectacular. Micah Parsons has been as advertised. They don't even have Demarchus Lawrence. They'll be getting him back. So you do wonder how much of it was just terrible defensive coordinator last year. Now they have Dan Quinn. I do think you're underselling DAC a tiny bit.

I think it's remarkable that DAC has not shown any atrophy from the injury. And I just, I don't think they'll stay there. But I think right now the Cowboys are one of the only teams in league you can say they don't do anything poorly. They do everything either good or great right now. and that to me is enough to make you the best team in football through five weeks. So the Nets and Kyrie, I said yesterday, I told Joy, I said what the NBA should have is once a decade, you should be able to just get rid of a player, the player still gets paid, but it doesn't hurt your cap. If there's a tragic injury, there was a team years ago that drafted a young man from Iowa State,

Royce White, he didn't like flying, and they were trapped. And I'm like, you should just be able, once a decade, you get an exemption for, this thing happened, we can't do anything, we shouldn't be punished for, it, but the player still gets paid. Then you could say with Kyrie Irving, all right, we're just moving off of him, but we don't want to be punitive on the books. What would you do if you can't do that, obviously? What would you do if you were Brooklyn with Kyrie?

By the way, Royce White yelled at me in a mall parking lot once. He was drafted by my buddy, Darryl Morey in the Rockets. I was somewhat critical of him. He was not a fan of mine. So what you're describing is like the amnesty clause, which the NBA did do once upon a time, but it was a one-time thing. You can amnesty one player. I think the Nets did exactly what they had to do yesterday.

Go home. This part-time thing's not going to happen. And we don't even have to get into Kyrie's utter nonsense, that embarrassment of an article in the athletic, where a voice for the voiceless, you're not talking, brother. You're literally saying nothing. And then the freedom fighter stuff,

it's like, yeah, I'm going to think of Ali sitting out the Vietnam War, or Maya Moore missing a year to try to get someone out of prison. and Kyrie Irving doing what now? But what should the Nets do? I think they should trade him. I think it's very, now I reported three weeks ago that he said, if you trade me all retire, I think that there will be a team that would call his bluff on.

Yeah, yeah. And say, okay, really you're going to retire? To me, that's the move, is you trade him not for a star. Ben Simmons, the Sixers would not trade Kyrie for Ben Simmons anymore. That's gone. Kire's trade value has plummeted. But could you get Zach Lowe posited, you know, like Marcus Morris, Nick Batum, some Clippers pieces?

Could you get some role players? That's the question I would ask. And I think the answer is yes. That's the next move. You have to sever this entirely. And where Colin was right, leaving Steph for Kyrie appears to be a major mistake by Kevin Durant. Now, maybe with Hardin, they can overcome it. But that is an all-time gaffe.

Boy, a little bit of a come-upance. There was some acknowledgement to the accuracy of this show, and it's pained you to do it. But nonetheless, you had the courage to face a reality. Speaking of realities, that sometimes we hit on these things. Occasionally? Yeah, listen, I'm happy for you. You'd been wrong a lot lately, so it was good for you and for the network for you to get some things right. And I'll talk to you next week.

All right, Nick Wright, first things first. Does a great job. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a.m. He's by Carmen. I'm Dan Byard. We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, we come up with new episodes to not only look back at what happened, what you need to do at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world. That's right, Dan. Every week, we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup. Sit, starts, fantasy football players' rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Harmon and me, Dan Byer, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions. bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, is 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. With Marcus by Goldman Sachs, get personal loans with a fixed rate and no fees ever. Go to Marcus.com. fee personal loans. Joel Clatt in Iowa this past weekend. He'll be joining me at the top of next hour.

So I think one of my favorite things in sports, I mean, there's a million games. Every night I turn on a game. I'm not, you know, not that I'm not moved by games, but I think intellectually there are people out there and a lot of people like me that I like how sports change,

the ebb, the flow of cultural changes in sports. try to be ahead of the curve on stuff. And so Leonard Fernette, Tampa Bay Buccaneer, he was with Jacksonville, and he came to Tampa, and Richard Sherman just joined the Buccaneers. And Sherman and Leonard Fernette, there's a story out today. They were talking, and they're like, dude, it's different here. There's like 10 Hall of Fame talents on the team.

And Tampa is number one in passing yards in the NFL by a wide margin. And so I had a conversation yesterday. I really, really, really liked it. Steve Kime, as a friend, he's the general manager of the Arizona Cardinals, and I do a podcast, and it's on that podcast. It's 30 minutes. It's fascinating. And I started asking him about, he's a former scout.

He was a scout. He played in the NFL. In fact, played briefly for Jimmy Johnson, got cut. Then he was a scout for years and years, a regional scout, area scout. And then he became Cardinal Scout. And then he was a big deal in scouting. And then he became GM. And one of the questions I asked him is, you know, some of the changes that are happening in the NFL.

And it was really an interesting answer. He says, you know, two things are going to happening simultaneously. The receiving talent is exploding in America, high school, college, and pro. And the cornerback talent is drying up in high school college or pro. What does that mean? There's a lot more money catching touchdowns than defending touchdowns. And as I've said often, trends in music and art and sports culturally are started by kids. Kids aren't stupid.

Who's making the money? Who's selling the shoes? In the NBA, this guy shooting threes. Not the center, not the defender. In the NFL, who's making money? Quarterbacks and wide receivers. Who's not running backs? Nobody wants to play running back.

Very few corners get big money. I mean, Seattle had a bad defense, and they let one go this past year. like Seattle needs a corner. They don't have a one or a two. And so what you're seeing right now that Steve talked about, that's fascinating, he says everybody's usually got one good corner. He goes, but if you're a team like Arizona or Buffalo or Dallas or Tampa, and you've got three legitimate receivers, forget the one-on-one matchup,

your best corner and my best receiver. By the time you get to my second best receiver and your second best receiver, and your second best corner. My third best receiver, Michael Gallup, and your third best corner, you're done. It is a complete physical mismatch. And the four teams, the top four scoring teams in the NFL, have one thing in common.

They don't all have great offensive lines. They don't necessarily have a plus plus quarterback. They don't all have great running games. We don't know if they all have great coaches. The four top scoring teams are, Buffalo, Dallas, Tampa, Arizona. Great receiving cores. They're 17 and 3.

That's the common thread, is that with the ascension of wide receiver talent, which is unbelievable, it's like 30 kids a year out of college, undrafted guys, drafted guys, first round guys, fourth round guys, they can all play. That's exploding simultaneously as cornerback talent is eroding, And it's creating, this is why New England is trapped. You can love Belichick. They're trapped. They cannot take advantage of the number one on-field cultural change, the explosion of receiver

and the erosion of corner. Tampa's got great corners. They got, hey, they have no receivers. They don't have a one receiver. So, you know, in all sports, you have to take advantage of cultural changes. The three-point shot became really important. Golden State had Clay, KD, and Steph, they won titles. Not saying you can't win a title without doing that, but when things happen culturally in sports,

you have to take advantage. As we know now in baseball, it's much more about power and home runs. Nobody cares about strikeouts. Then what happens if you have home run hitters in your farm system, don't trade them. And if you have home run hitters in your roster, don't trade them. Keep them. You're lucky to have them. They're hard to find, and you don't want to get in bidding wars for them.

weather is changing change your underwear as well Tommy John 20% off your first order at Tommy John.com slash heard check out their site for the merch and the details over 16 million pairs sold I've got at least a couple of those Tommy John dot com slash h e r d 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games.

This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me

I'm Sam Jay And I'm Alex English Each episode We pick a year unpack what went down And try to make sense Of how we survived it With our friends

Fellow comedians And favorite authors Like Mark Lamont Hill On the 80s 80s It was a wild year I don't think There's a more important

year for black people Listen to look back at it On the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts This is an IHeart podcast Guaranteed in.