The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Rams-Bengals, Stafford, Burrow

Episode Date: February 14, 2022

Colin talks about the Rams Super Bowl victory over the BengalsMatt Stafford proves where you get drafted mattersStop complaining about the officiatingThe Bengals will have a difficult season next yearGuest: Shannon Sharpe Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Oh, what a glorious Monday it is. in beautiful Los Angeles, the home of champions, Lakers, Dodgers, Rams, welcome in, it's the herd, wherever you may be, and however, you may be listening.

IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, Joy Taylor and I, not even trying to match, but we are today on F-A. It's Valentine's Day. I know. Happy Valentine's Day.

So I figured out they're pink and obviously great minds think alike. Yes, so happy Valentine's day. A lot of hearts here around the country, especially in Los Angeles. City of champions. What a showcase of beauty. It was an infomercial for Southern California. Everybody pulled it off to all the Bengal fans who traveled here. Hope you had a great time. It was a really fun game to watch.

Let's start with this. And this is the way most championships are decided. Just say this out loud. Who are the best players in the game and how did they play? The Rams best players were all great. Aaron Donald was the most physically dominating player in the game. Vaughn Miller, past deflections, two sacks was unbelievable. Matt Stafford, the best drive by any quarterback. Cooper Cup, the MVP. The Bengals stars Joe Mixon, Jamar Chase, Joe Burrow.

The Bengals coaches told you, the game plan told you, what the Bengals thought about the game. We can't block the Rams. Joe Burrow was sacked seven times. They were anemic on third down. Outside of a gift touchdown on a pass interference call that wasn't called on the Bengals, that 150 yards passing.

The Bengals could not sustain drives. The Bengal coaches were telling you how they prepared the game plan. We're not going to be able to block Aaron Donald. And they couldn't. the Bengals did not have a single normal touchdown drive. They had a 75-yard gift from the officials. You're complaining about Logan Wilson.

It's the reason you led. And then they had a half-back pass telling you they knew if they got down to the red zone. They would not be able to move the Rams defensive line. They had to go to tricks. And the Rams on a third to four-string-wide receiver, on a third string tight end, butchered call that gave the Bengals a touchdown, still won.

In the one drive-all game for the Rams, that they had to pass, and I talk about this all the time, it's much harder to pass in the NFL when everybody knows you have to pass. And the Bengals have a very good defensive front. That was on display, very good. Bengals are very, very good up front.

But in the one drive, the Rams had, to pass and everybody in the stadium knew it, 15 plays 79 yards. If you take out that gift touchdown to T. Higgins, the Bengals, the rest of the second half, didn't have that many yards, 75. The box score tells you the story. Rams moved the ball. They were fine on third down. They were fine through the air. They were perfect in the red zone. They had plenty of time of possession that didn't get sacked much. The box score tells you the story. Now, the Bengals fought like crazy. I said it Friday. They felt like a sixth seed in the tournament that won some buzzer beaters. And then they get to the final game in the NCAA tournament like

Butler did against Duke, but Duke's got better players. You can't complain about a Logan Wilson Tickey Tickie-Tac call in your eyes when the reason you had the lead was a 75-yard gifted touchdown by the officials. The Bengals were a good team, but they lost eight times this year. Could have been 10, if not for a great kicker. They were overwhelmed physically by the Titans in long stretches. They were outgained by the Raiders in the playoffs. They trailed 21-3 to the Chiefs. The best players in the game, all the Rams' best players, were clearly unstoppable. Stafford, Cup, Vaughn Miller, Aaron Donald. And they did it with an unbelievable resilience because they had a receiver plan in the game, a rookie from Notre Dame, you didn't see him the regular season almost at all. He became a vital receiver.

They were on a third string tight end because the backup had some brace on his shoulder. Cincinnati's coach also got really conservative, or maybe they pulled off the upset, and it would have been an upset. But what you saw from the Rams is what people in Los Angeles who watched the Rams every week had seen. Resilient, overcoming injuries, the best players dominating when they had to, and the best fourth quarter, quarterback in the National Football League, Sean McVeigh, after the game. It's going to sound like a broken record, but that's what makes this team great. That's why their world champs is our best players stepped up in the most crucial and critical moments.

You end up losing some guys. Guys were asked to step up. I just can't say enough about how much I love this group. They played for one another. There's something really powerful about being a part of something bigger than yourself. And you could see that the way that these guys competed. love these players, love these coaches, and their world champs. Let me talk about Matt Stafford for a second.

And we know what I'm about to say is true. It's self-evident. Where you land in the NFL will overwhelmingly dictate your success as a quarterback. Andrew Luck, Joe Burrow are exceptions, where they overcome a lot of stuff. And let's be honest, the Bengals have some really good players. Bengals have a bunch of good players. Andrew Luck got his team to the AFC championship, with like one of their pro bowler.

But where are you land matters? And after a dominating high school career and a great college career, Matt Stafford went to the Lions. So finally this year, for the first time in 13 years, he got a functional head coach and a functional owner and a functional GM and a functional roster. One year. And he already has after last night three game winning playoff drives. In 13 years in Green Bay, Aaron Rogers has two. But Aaron's cool, single, the chosen one by the media. But Aaron doesn't win enough in big games.

He's not great late. Matt Stafford, one year in a functional organization, look at his numbers. Across the board. 13 years of turmoil, tumult, and turbulence. And he got better playoff stats than Aaron. But Stafford has no drama. He's not Jonesing for attention. He's not the single guy trying to find himself.

He's an adult. He married his college sweetheart. He has adorable kids. His only celebrity friend is his buddy from high school, Clayton Kirshah. I wish we'd spend less time talking about people who create drama and more time about guys like Matt Stafford, who put his head down for 13 years in lowly to trouble. Detroit, didn't talk about it, didn't complain about it.

And after all that time, he finally went to management and said, may I please be released? And they had so much respect for him in Detroit. They cared so deeply about Matt Stafford. They let him choose the team and they let him stay in the NFC because they respected him. They knew they'd underserved him. Can you imagine that? How often does that happen?

They felt guilty. He was better than them and they knew it. I know he's not cool and single. Doesn't wear corduroy suits and tell you, hey, man, that's just your opinion on vaccines. No, we've got an adult. We've got a grown-up who knows who he is, has since college, is defined by his smarts, his ability in crisis to make plays. He's not jonesing for attention.

And one year of a legitimate organization, one. one after 13 years of nonsense in Detroit. Look at his numbers. And what's most impressive about Matt Stafford is a great quality in our parents, our grandparents, and a great quality in bosses. It's just a great human quality. When the fit hits the Shan, when your team is melting down in Tampa, when you have to be great in crisis and things aren't perfect like yesterday, OBJ is out, and you're tied in. now is your third and four stringer and you're playing rookies at wide receiver, that's when he's at his best.

The guy in Green Bay is great when he's comfortable. It's Detroit. It's the regular season. They're favored by a touchdown and they lead late. Matt Stanford this morning has more game-winning playoff drives than the guy he shared a division with. The difference is he got no support. So little support that the lions put their arms around him when he just asked a please be traded and allowed him to go to a team that was likely going to beat them if they faced.

That tells you a lot about Matt Stafford. No drama, total adult, at his best in crisis, and a complete and utter baller. Never a bailer. Always a baller. That's my kind of quarterback. Boy, there's just, I have our prep for today's show went fast. because there were so many things to talk about. It was so much fun.

Listen, man, Cincinnati travels well. There must be a lot of flights from Cincinnati to L.A. Bengal fans were everywhere. They were gracious. It was unbelievable. It really is a beautiful stadium. You know, as many of you found out once you get into the stadium, sometimes it's hard to find your seats, as Joy can attest.

It's kind of a jigsaw puzzle. It is an absolutely stunning facility. It really is America's most beautiful football facility. You fly over it, you buy it. And I'll give NBC credit. They did a really good job showcasing the beauty of the city all over Southern California. But I want to talk about that Logan Wilson call that got everybody all worked up. We'll talk about that in a second.

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Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Oh, what a glorious Monday. Now, I know some of you are saying, Colin, no football for seven months. There's a ton of football. There's a ton of, you got combines, USFL, we're going to have college games in August. We have free agency. We've got the draft. Football's our life.

What are you kidding me? We're fine. We got a lot of football. We're talking football today. So a lot of people are into this Logan Wilson penalty. Oh, against the Bengals. Number one, it was only third down for the Rams. They had another down.

We don't know what they would have done with the next down. The Rams also had all three timeouts. If they failed on fourth down, they would have called three straight timeouts. The Bengals would have been punting from their end zone because the Bengals couldn't sustain a drive all second half. The Bengals also got a free touchdown from the refs. Stop complaining. It's embarrassing.

And number four is, Logan Wilson, watch the replay. He's got his hands all over the best wide receiver in the NFL in a crucial situation. But Colin, they didn't call it all games. So what? I parent differently depending on what situation we're in. There's a lot of things I don't do all day with my kids. And then I do later at night tell him to go to bed and stop eating sugar.

In big sporting events, refs usually swallow whistles. It doesn't mean situationally when the Super Bowl could be decided. They're not going to call pass interference. he's got his hands all over, Cooper Cup. He's grabbing him. You can't just ignore that. The Bengals lost for several reasons. Let me give you three moments of crisis they lost.

Number one, 46-yard completion to Jamar Chase. It was the one big play Jamar Chase had all day. It was a great play. It was the only one they had all day to Jamar Chase that mattered. Next three pays, nothing settled for a field goal. Had all this momentum, got three. A second moment. They get a pick from Matt Stafford, kind of get a lucky break ball bounces.

Don't move the ball. Settle for a field goal. That's eight points right there. A third. Final drive of the game, it's third and one. They give it to their ninth best offensive player. Samajé P. Ryan, what are you doing? What are you doing?

That made no sense to me. In crucial situations when they had momentum, the interception, the jump, Mar Chase play. They settled for field goals or couldn't move the football. Then late game call, and I think Zach Taylor's a good coach. I don't think he's McVeigh, when the game mattered, said Matt Stafford and Cooper Cup, it's all you. That's the difference. I'm going with my greatest players. The Bengals had multiple opportunities in this game when they had huge momentum. It was a 60-40 Bengals crowd, and they settled for field goals. They couldn't move the ball after because the Bengals could not sustain drives.

The Rams sustained drives early. They sustained a 15 drive late. Rams moved the ball around with backups at tight end, with backups at wide receiver. That OBJ injury was not a small thing. You could tell early on because of what the Bengals were doing against Cooper Cup. They decided to take Cooper Cup out of the game. OBJ had a mismatch advantage. That injury cannot be overstated.

OBJ getting hurt was a huge. break for the Cincinnati Bengals. This game wasn't decided because of a play that you don't like. You got a 75-yard touchdown gift from the officials. You don't want to talk about that one? It was a huge momentum changer. This is a call situationally in a Super Bowl with a couple of minutes left that can go either way.

And it didn't go your way. Overcome it. You had ample opportunities to win this game. You were sacked seven times. Joe Burrow released the ball. sooner in last night's game that at any moment in the season. The bingo coaches told you, we do not match up with this team at all up front. And that's why the Rams won.

Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Yeah, those seven sacks matter. And there could have been more. I mean, they had relentless. All you have to know is this. Look at the box score and take out seven.

75 yards on a pass interference that wasn't called. And look at the number. Even looking at the numbers with that, the sacks, the third down, Bengals got pushed around for three and a half hours. Well, Cooper Cup capped off an incredible season by being named Super Bowl MVP. He had eight catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns, including the game winner. He is just the eighth wide receiver to be named the Super Bowl MVP.

He also joins Joe Montana as the only players to win AP offensive player of the year and Super Bowl MVP in the same season. This season, he's at 145 catches for 19-47 yards, 16 touchdowns all lead the NFL. So he has the Triple Crown and catches yards and touchdowns this season. Coupe and Jerry Rice are the only two players to win. They're receiving Triple Crown, Office of the Year, and Super Bowl MVP. Rice did it in his career. Coup did it all this season.

He is... Ridiculous. He is the best wide receiver in football. He reminds me so much of Jerry Rice because Jerry Rice could run, Cooper can run, but Jerry wasn't a blazer. There were faster wide receivers in the game. But Jerry had three or four routes that he had mastered. And when you combine that with a good quarterback Montana Stafford and a great scheming coach, McVeigh, Bill Walsh, does everybody understand that after the Super Bowl, he ended up with like 180 catches this year?

That doesn't even make, that's like two great seasons. Well, the thing about Cooper Cup that on top of all of that is even more interesting is that we all know Matthew Stafford is a great quarterback now. Like we can call him that. He's just won the Super Bowl. We're going to forgive him his Detroit days. Like he just proved it that he really was that good. But it's one year. So Cooper and Matthew Stafford were able to make that connection in one year, which is also very remarkable.

Like you can have, we've seen all the time, these teams try to put good players and great players together and the chemistry doesn't work. They have to work on that. It's a reliant position. So for him to have this season in Matthew Stafford's first year in this system is even more impressive. And it shows to the work ethic that the two of them have, but also that Cooper is flexible enough to be able to make that connection with Matthew Stafford. And he had an unbelievable season. Look at those two. I mean, you are looking at the greatest defensive player since Reggie White or L.T. I love Aaron Donald. Aaron Donald is such a dude. He is such a dude.

He is very likable. I mean, look, we said it before the game. There's no villains in this game. Whoever wins, it's going to be a nice story. It's going to be a different story, depending on who wins, but it's going to be a nice story nonetheless. And you just can't help feel good for those Rams players. They have stars everywhere, guys that have worked very hard throughout their career, and now they have a ring to validate the greatest that we thought they had.

And so it was a nice night. Odell had a great start to the Super Bowl. He had two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. Yeah. But he had to leave after suffering a non-contact knee injury in the second quarter after the win. He said he was still waiting to hear about the extent of his injury, but the Rams reportedly fear that it is a torn ACL. This is obviously devastating. It was showing the moment here. But I will say to be able to contribute in the Super Bowl,

when it like get a touchdown. You were a part of this win, even though you had this injury and couldn't come back. I'm going to ask our next guess this, though, but if I'm Odell, there's not much of a market. I just say, listen, man, this is where I want to play. This is the organization I like. I've made good money. I mean, by the way, Odell in L.A. going to make a lot of money on the side. It's like, if I'm Odell Beckham, I'm like, I'm going to get healthy. I'm going to work out here. And with Cooper, you don't have the pressure of being the volume receiver. And Robert Woods comes back. Right. So you can have your moments without it being all on you, which in times past was probably the way that Odell always should have been playing.

But it wasn't put in that situation to succeed. So the Bengals obviously came up short in the Super Bowl last night after the Los Burroughs said the Bengals should be proud of what they did season, but he's hoping the team will use this experience to drive them forward. Yeah, I mean, we're a young team. He'd like to think that we'll be back in this situation, you know, multiple times over the course of the next few years. So, you know, we take this and, you know, let it feel for the rest of our careers. Well, you were there.

He's fantastic. There are a couple things you could really notice, seeing them on the field. Aaron Donald, obviously, is unblocking. better than everybody. And Joe Burrow is that dude. I mean, just, it's fascinating to watch him play. And we were talking about this in the meeting. Like, when you're a professional player that is obviously better than all the other professional players, like, you have something special. That's, that's hard to do. All these guys are great that are on the field. There are 1% of 1%ers who are on that field. To stick out in that space is remarkable. We were watching two great defensive lines.

Yes. And despite that, two surgeons at quarterback. I mean, I mean, the one interception, obviously, Stafford through, he came up short in the end zone. The other one's just a ball batted in the air. But, I mean, considering how great the defensive fronts were and how much trouble both teams had blocking them, I thought the quarterback play was pretty darn good. I think the Bengals' defense did not get enough credit all season long, obviously because we talked so much about Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase, deservedly so. But their defense was really good all season long.

And you saw it throughout the postseason as well. Burrow was one of the last Bengals to leave the locker room out. After the loss, after the game, he tweeted, sorry we couldn't get done proud of our team and our fans. Love these guys. And Jamar Chase just tweeted, damn. I will say that they're a young team. Oh, good. The kids.

They were not out in the streets. No, they were great. They took this Super Bowl preparation very seriously. I know we always say like, oh, they're going to be back. And it's really hard to get back to the Super Bowl. Like you have to take advantage of the moments. It's hard to get back to the playoffs. Right.

That you have there. But he is right. They have a young team. They have the third most cap space in the last. league, lots of draft picks. So if they continue to run things the way they've been running them over the last two years, I do anticipate they'll be competitive for a long time. Yep, I agree. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurdline News. When he left the NFL, he led all time for a tight end. Receiving yards, receiving touchdowns,

most receptions. He's a Hall of Famer. He's also a star at our network, the three-time. Super Bowl champ. Shannon Sharp, we only ask him to come on our show once twice a year. Let's bring a man on who's got rings. You know, it's funny, you weren't a Super Bowl. I remember this. You were in a Super Bowl that there was trash talking and

you were hysterically funny. We said this. There were no villains. It was not a lively Super Bowl week. We would talk to NBA this week as much as NFL. What was your interpretation? Mine was, the best players for the Rams were

better than the best players for the Bengals. When you go to a Super Bowl, there's eight stars. Let's say each team has four. The Rams four... Showed up. And the other four... That was my takeaway. That's what I took away also. The questions that we had all week long was, could the

Cincinnati Bengals offensive line, could they hold up against the front four of the Rams? And early on, Joe Burrow did a great job of getting the ball out of his hand. Fast. But he didn't have a whole lot to show for it. So he got impatient and they wanted to push the ball down the field.

So we go scat protection, which means all eligible receivers are out in the route. There's no chipping. There's no max protecting. And if you notice something, and I noticed it very early on, Rahim Morris did a great job. He lined up Bond Miller and Aaron Donald

on the same side a lot. And he did a lot of games with them. Because Cincinnati, the offensive line isn't that good. So if you get on different levels, Aaron Donald is looking to get a crease. He can hit a crease, which in the football terms,

we say making yourself skinny. Well, a 285 man making himself skinny is very hard to do. But he does a very good job of that, getting his body into crease. And what he can do, he can bend the edge. If you notice on that last play that he made, he got skinny and then he turned the corner so quickly. Burrow really didn't have a chance to do anything. But that's on Zach Taylor. You got three plays.

You get three plays, three downs to get one yard. You can't get one yard on three downs? You threw one away because you thought Jalen Ram, was going to get nosy. The second one, Donald walks the guard back, tackles P. Ryan with one arm, and then the next play is like, okay, he's like, it's scat protection. You're going to leave me one-on-one with the guard? Okay, bye, I'm home. You know, the Logan Wilson, I looked at it this way. The 75-yard no-call touchdown. Right. I thought it was a big miss, but I always kind of bake in, refs will miss a couple. Yes. The Logan Wilson one, you can argue they didn't call it all game,

but situationally in the Super Bowl with an MVP receiver, there was a lot of touching. What did you make of it? I thought they let them play a lot. I was surprised that they actually called it, considering that up until that point, they really only called three penalties. They called two false starts on the Rams,

and they called unsports him like conduct with the guy in civilian clothes was out on the field and the line was celebrating with the defense after they got a turnover. So that was it. That was the only three. And so the last minute and a half, two minutes of the ball game, They threw like four or five flags that turned into a flag fest.

But I thought some of the calls were deserved. I thought Henderson on the Texas route with the back, he goes out and he comes on a little angle route, I thought 57 grabbed him. They didn't call that. You still, even though, okay, Matthew Stafford leads him down on a 15-play drive, Colin, gets the game, go-ahead touchdown. Joe Burrow, you still have two timeouts in a minute and 30 seconds to go get in field-go range. You have a kicker that's a young guy.

Justin Tucker. He has that kind of leg, that kind of accuracy. Okay, go get it done. You got it second and one. Third and one. Fourth and one. But I thought Zach Taylor made a mistake by not running Joe Mixing more. A lot of times you get into the game

column like this and you have young, talented quarterbacks, you try to play to them. Run through Joe Mixing. Make them sit in there and so they just don't pin their ears back. Once in the second half, Joe Burrow, his last 22 drop back. Got sacked seven times.

Jesus. The last player of the first half, Aaron Donald got him, made him settle for a field goal, and then 21 dropbacks after that, he got sacked six times. Wow. So last 22 dropbacks, he was sacked seven times.

Wow. Last five drives, punt, punt, punt, turn off on downs. After they took a 20 to 13 lead, they had 50 total yards. That's not on the officials. That's on the Bengals. Yeah, and I said this to start my show, teams will tell you what the tape says by their game plan.

Cincinnati told you we're not going to be able to block their front. I mean, they were just getting the ball. Burrow had his fastest release point all year. The coach has told you we're going to be overwhelmed up front. But that's not their offense. Their offense is to push the ball down the field. That's right. So let me do what I feel.

Yeah, that's good. Because you mention it. They got a 75-yard touchdown. They got a 46-yard catch from Jamar Chase. So that's 100 and what, 20? That's 120-121 yards. They had 263 passing. So the other 21 of 31, they had 140 yards passing.

What do you make, you know, it's funny about this, Shannon. So you had 12 great years with the Broncos, a very functional organization, and then you went to the Ravens. So it's hard for you to relate to Matt Stafford's first 13 yards. You had Mr. Boland. You had really good teammates. And that's not to say all your teams were great. but when you missed in a draft pick or you had injuries, the functionality of your career.

I look at Stafford, and I put his numbers up against Darren Rogers today in the playoffs with one functional year. Right. Did you think Matt would be this good this quickly? Yeah, I knew it was good because sometimes you can be a great actor and a bad movie and people think you suck. He was a great player in a dysfunctional organization and people thought he sucked. One of the biggest plays of the game is he's,

threw a no look pass. He's looking at the tight end. I love that. The safety drive the tight end because he thinks he throws it to him and he throws the ball to Cooper Cup who's coming on the end cut in behind it. He's done that play a hundred times in Detroit. Who cares? You're in Detroit. You're not in the playoffs. You're losing. But he did in the Super Bowl. He has unbelievable ability and I'm glad he got an opportunity to showcase it on a big stage. This changes the perception of how people will look at Matthew Stafford moving forward because guess what would have been said had tom brady done that very drive they'd had a parade they wouldn't wait until tuesday they'd had a parade last night he did exactly what

tom brady had tom done a lot of those drives and they resorted in field goals a field goal wasn't going to do it for him he had to put the ball into the end zone and he did it um you know you were one of these players so and i can remember watching you with denver you you look different you were you look like an offensive end that ran and could catch. And it happens infrequently. When an athlete, Mike Tyson in his prime scared other boxers, you're like, okay, don't want any part of that. Aaron Donald, to me, you knew Reggie White. Yes. That's what it feels like to me. Significantly better than Pro Bowl offensive linemen. There's a reason why when they rate him, they say he's a top five player, not quarterback, not positional player.

He's a top five player in the league. And the thing that makes them, and even though T.J. Watt deserved to win defensive player of the year. There's no question about that. But the de facto best player in the league is Aaron Donald because he does what he does year in and year out, double team after double team. And you see how his game took off once they added Von Miller. So now you can't devote all your attention to him or Vaughn's going to eat.

Vaughn looked like Super Bowl 50 Vaughn yesterday. People like, well, Vaughn is done. Well, yeah, he's done. Drew Locke was his quarterback and he's playing down 21-0. You can't rush the quarterback when you're down 21-0. Now all of a sudden he's playing with a lead. He has another great player alongside him.

Remember Bond when he had DeWare? He had Malik Jackson. He had Derek Wolf. He had Peyton Manning as his quarterback. You remember his numbers? Well, this is what he has in L.A. now. But Aaron Donald, I believe, When it's all said and done, you will probably say LT is 1A and he's going to be 1B.

I agree. I believe he should have won defensive MVP last night. I thought he was – I thought he dictated the game. The Bengals game plan. So for two weeks, the Bengals game plan – I mean, obviously Cooper Cup, the game plan – who they couldn't stop late. But if you looked – you said this earlier in this interview. Cincinnati is a throw the ball down the field team.

They did that against Tennessee's pass rush. Yes. Cincinnati coaches said, yeah, we won't be able to do that. Right. When I can force you over two weeks of practice to say, yeah, we're going to have to, here's our fastball. We can't throw it. Right. That to me is Aaron Donald.

If you look at Cincinnati was about to blow this game open, they get the touchdown first play of the game. Yeah. They come back and Matthew Stafford throws an interception. This is about to go, this is about to get blown wide open. Aaron Donald gets the sack. now they have to settle for a field goal, and then he takes the game over again late. So it's not to say Cooper Cup wasn't deserving, but I think Aaron Donald, the total domination, they took the game completely over in the second half.

But it was an unbelievable ball game last night, and to watch Aaron Donald and to watch that defense dictate. And Joe Burrough says, we got plenty of years. They said the same thing. As a matter of fact, Marino was younger than Joe Burrow when he went in the second year, and he never got back to the Super Bowl. And Joey, you said they have the third most cap space. Guess what? Cheap Mike Brown, they'll have the first most cap space because he ain't spending the nickel.

That's just the way they operate. But, Colin, he won't make it to year 10 if they don't protect him better. No. He got hurt. I'm not so sure he would have stayed in the game if this was a regular season game. He stayed in that game after they got enrolled because this was the Super Bowl. You can't get sacked 70 times in the season and expect to play an extended period of time. It's not going to happen.

There's an argument to be made. Cincinnati's first three draft picks should be offensive. Absolutely. Now, now, now, we do know last year they thought about taking an offensive line. Pena Soule. Yeah, yeah. And who had a nice year, by the way. But they went on and took Jamar Chase.

I didn't have a problem with it knowing what 2022 football is. Right. But you paid the price this year for that pick. Yes. That probably cost you a Super Bowl. Because if you could block, let's just say for the sake of argument, instead of giving up seven sacks, you give up three or you give up four. And the matter in which you can't give up six sacks in the second half.

On 21 drop back, you give up six sacks. You're probably going to lose. And people are like, well, he did get nine sacked nine times against Tennessee and he won. But Tennessee's offense isn't comparable to the Rams offense. Not close. So that's the difference in the ball game. Joy, you said something very interesting. You said Cooper Cup and Jerry Rice are the only guys to win offensive player of the year and Super Bowl MVP.

only thing is, and the Triple Crown, Cooper Cup did it in one season. He won the Triple Crown, offensive player of the year, and Super Bowl MVP in one season. Jerry won his, he won two of the three in 87. Well, Rice and Cooper also have brilliant coaches and great quarterbacks and very functional offensive lines. So the quarterback has more. Now, it's not to say Cooper Cup's not great. But there is some, you know this better than everybody. It did help you because.

You had a functional franchise. Cooper Cup benefits. Quarterback is everything. Yes. I mean, Cooper Cup has been here. He ain't put up 145 with Jerry golf. Right. I thought Sean McVeigh did a very good thing.

He learned his lesson from the first Super Bowl loss. He found that he couldn't run the ball early in that game, and he just abandoned the run completely and started throwing. Even though he was getting less than two yards of carry, he was still making sense to that he think, I still might throw a run in here. Zach Taylor totally abandoned the run and just went throw, throw, throw.

And so the offensive line says it's quarterback season. Let's just go hunt. Shannon Sharp. By the way, the whole spectacle, the television broadcast, the halftime show, you were there. I thought it was an advertisement, NBC, 10 hours of saying,

hey, you're a high school football player. We got some colleges here. I honestly did. I always feel that with the Rose Bowl. debt of winter. Right. The event for you. How was it?

I thought it was very well. Outside of the parking that was between $900,000 for a parking pass, which I did not pay for, but I'm just saying, look, it's become a very, very expensive event. And I understand because here's the thing, Colin. When I went to the Super Bowl, you know how much the tickets cost? $325. $325. But people were willing to pay $4,000 and $5,000 for the ticket.

So the NFL says if you'll pay for it, we just put that at Facebook. You know, the aftermarket, you get the markup, we'll just charge that. It's become a very corporate, expensive event. The casual fan is getting priced out of it. I had a friend of mine took his son, and it was a four-day minimum, and he got tickets and everything, cost him 27 grand for him and his son. Oh, boy. So a family of four, good luck with that.

Hey, what a pleasure it is to have you. Love you being part of this network. You knocked it out of the park again. And congrats on all your success. Thank you. Colin, I want to thank you, because I don't know if I've ever told you this. Guys, when I was out of work, I would pay my own pocket to come on Colin's show. And Colin's like, well, is he pelling a book?

You want to talk about something? What does he want to talk about? I said, I want to talk about whatever you want to talk about. And every time I would come out here, even though I had nothing to do, you would put me on the show. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you because you gave me an opportunity to get in front of the camera. Some people at FS1 saw me. It's like, well, hey, if he can talk like that, maybe we should find a way, find something for him to do here. So I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Well, you know what? You're one of the most verbal people I've ever met in my life. You are, I went back and looked at your Super Bowl. Was it Ray Anderson? Or Ray Buchanan. Ray Buchanan. Folks, you got to YouTube it. Ray Buchanan, it's unbelievable.

Ray Buchanan trash talk you before a Super Bowl. Yeah. It is swear to God, it's like you had a comedy team of writers for you. It's literally hysterically funny you have earned every step of your success. You're just a great guy. Thank you. I appreciate it. Joy, good to see you again.

You too, Shannon. All right. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller, along with my trusty sidekick, David Gascon, would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mather show. cult hit overnight's on FSR. Why should you listen?

Picture if you will a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports, and more every week, explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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 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-tapped 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 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 a 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 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. 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 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.

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Open your free, our heart radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. So teams that lose Super Bowls historically fall off the ledge. I think Cincinnati, it will get much tougher, but here's the good news for the Bengals. Joe Burrow is out of this world talented. The offensive line can't get worse. Your coach is young. Your quarterback's young.

Your wide receivers are young. And again, your O line can't possibly be this bad forever. But half the teams that make the playoffs, half do not make it the following year. And Stafford and McVeigh and Cooper Cup and Aaron Donald, they're going to make the playoffs. Because the AFC now, in my opinion, is stronger than the NFC. Baltimore gets Lamar Jackson back. Cleveland that's really been tough on Cincinnati, gets Baker back. What if the Steelers land a Garoppolo or a solid quarterback, the Chargers, Denver?

These teams have a chance to get really good, really fast. The Bengals owners are historically cheap. You're now drafting, by the way, Cincinnati, at the bottom of the first round. Now you know what it's like. That's what the Rams do. That's why they give up first round picks. Now you're drafted at the bottom of the first round. getting to Jamar Chase anymore. You're not getting him in the draft. No more Jamar Chase is in the draft. No more Joe Burroughs in the draft. You're now a good team. And this is rare territory for you. But Cincinnati, no more fourth place schedules. Nah, you don't get the Jags next year. Right. And the Jets next year. Right. Yeah, you're not going to get that or the lions. You're not getting that steady diet of that. That's been the last 20 years. Well, you've been bad with a bad schedule, with an easy schedule. Now your schedule gets tougher. You draft at the bottom. You draft at the bottom.

bottom of the first round, you got cheap owners. Your division is historically very tough. The Steelers need a quarterback. If tomorrow I told you Aaron Rogers chose them, they'd be a top five Super Bowl team. I don't think he would. I don't think he will. But my guess is they're going to have a very nice 10 to 12 year run with Joe Burrell. Good coach, good quarterback, good weapons.

But that division, generally the Steelers find a quarterback. Bradshaw, Big Ben, and he stays around for a long time. Also, the Rams biggest issue, because Russell Wilson could leave the conference, Aaron Rogers could leave, Bree's just retired, Brady retired, it's wide open. The Rams issue is a simple one, that the team that gives them the biggest fits is in their division, San Francisco. So Kyle Shanahan, who's probably as smart as any young coach schematically, in fact, McBae would tell you privately, there is no Kyle Shanahan schematically. he's Sean's better in a room. Sean's got the bigger presence. Kyle's a brilliant offensive mind.

And he's given McVe Fitts. And if Trey Lance can play, and I think he can, I'm not sure, but I think he can. If Trey Lance is good, he doesn't even have to be great. If he's good, they're going to be a handful. Rams going to be, it's going to be, you know, George Obama. You know, like, like you, when you watch them play, who's got the better players? I'm not sure. So that's the Rams issue.

right in front of them twice a year in division. Burroughs issue is called Josh Allen and Mahalms and Herbert and Lamar and the AFC to me is going to be tough next 10 years. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong next. 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

Acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away. such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot,

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick you here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite artists. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s 84 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

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