The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - The Steelers still have issues on offense

Episode Date: October 7, 2024

Colin can't believe the Steelers still have not embraced offensive football in today's NFL after they struggled to move the ball against a banged-up Cowboys defense Jets fans are overreacting by wanting HC Robert Saleh fired Thoughts on the Bills making a crucial mistake during the end of their loss to the TexansSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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All right, it is a Monday. I don't know if we could have a crazier weekend live in Los Angeles. It's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. A couple hours, Michael Urban stops by as Miami Hurricanes and Dallas Cowboys. He is feeling it today. One hour from now, working out. Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, there's plenty of both.

J-Mack, I guess it's a win for the Cowboys. I could not take my eyes off that. Outdated is kind to the Steelers' offense. Everything set up for them to win. That game left me speechless. I couldn't sleep last night. I was so ticked off at the Pittsburgh Steelers, Colin. Oh, my gosh.

The Steelers' offense this morning should be humiliated. should be completely embarrassed. Their defense picked off a couple of balls, blocks a kick, three times the Cowboys in the Red Zone. With Dak Prescott, CD-Lamp, get no points. Michael Parsons is out. DeMarcus Lawrence is out. You're at home.

It is perfect. The Cowboys are reeling. It's perfect. And the Pittsburgh offense, the 1977 Pittsburgh offense, engineered 97 yards, atrocious on third down, four yards of play.

Against the Dallas team, without their top due defenders. Pittsburgh's offensive line, shocker. It stinks for years. The only happy Steelers should be Russell Wilson because at least he'll eventually get to play. Pittsburgh's offense is the flip phone of the league. What do they do well?

It looks outdated. It's incredible. Since Terry Bradshaw retired in 1983 until today, they've had 25 different quarterbacks. I counted last night. Maybe I'm off one or two. 25. One has been exceptional.

Big Ben. One of 25. Green Bay is like three for its last three. So, you know, this was not about the Cowboys' Excellence. They handed the game to Pittsburgh. But, Dack, a real pro, said for years, he's the Kirk Cousins with a bigger brand, a star on the helmet. He's a pro. high EQ, high IQ.

He doesn't have to play well in long stretches. He is stoic. He is unflappable. He can stink. He can argue with CD Lamb for an hour. Jerry can be doing silly stuff. McCarthy can butcher play calling and clock management. But Dak will show up, grind it out, 15 plays, and you win the game.

And I find with Pittsburgh, and you see this with a lot of businesses, their strengths are actually their weakness. Their strength is they're tough and. physical. Their weakness is they rely on that too often. Tough and physical. How about smart, thoughtful, clever on offense? Once again, the Steelers lead the NFL in defensive spending in 24. And once again, they're last in offensive spending. Sometimes I think they actually believe you could just rub dirt on it and it'll be better. That's the culture. Mike Tomlin's great at the podium. and he's got, you know, trophies. But cultures change and move.

That game was there. No Micah, no Nabarkis Lawrence, multiple picks, at home, block a kick. Cowboys kind of reeling. C.D. Lamb and D.D. Lamb and D.D. Lam was a non-factor in the second half. And Micah Parsons was out. and that's what you generated offensively. And by the way, Arthur Smith, the Steelers offensive coordinator, he made Ryan Tannahill, four or five years ago, a pro bowler in the AFC.

In the AFC, made him a pro bowler. It's not the O.C. It's the culture. It's drawn, plays up in the dirt is what it looks like. That was embarrassing. Steelers' defense always does their job. Rarely embarrasses them. In a division now with a bunch of bad defenses, Pittsburgh's is always tough and reliable and physical.

What a mess. And stop telling me Tomlin's never had a losing season. Raise your standards. Here's the coach after. There's a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes in our business. And, you know, that's an example of it. You know, that ball's on the ground right there in the red area. And that's the difference.

It was a hard fought game tonight. but it's nothing mystical about the outcome. I just thought we didn't do enough over 60 minutes to position ourselves. Listen, there are wins where you lose star players and they're like bad wins. And there are losses where you look up and you're like, we're better than we thought. That was an atrocious loss handed to you and you wouldn't take it. 97 yards against that defense. Wow.

All right. So I kind of like getting up watching games at 6.30. if you give me a good game. I love that. Of course, Aaron Rogers does not love that because that one's on him. 3.6 yards of play, 36 yards rushing. And we talk about this all the time. When Aaron throws a couple of picks, dude, his body language tanks, he gets very cool and breezy with his mechanics.

He's barking at the offensive coordinator, treating him like a personal assistant. Aaron goes into a darkness retreat during the game. Everybody then is walking on eggshells. It's the opposite, really, of Kirk Cousins, and Dak. You never know what the score is. They never change. Aaron pivots on a dime when things don't go well.

And it was the problem in Green Bay. You can call it pouting. You can call it darkness retreat. You call it whatever you want. We discussed this last week. Nobody goes darker, faster than Aaron. and bro, you wanted Hackett. You wanted Alan Lazard.

How in the world with two capable running backs, won a semi-star, can you be 32nd in the NFL in rushing? And by the way, Garrett Wilson targeted 22 times is excellent, but this is really troubling. When they target their best offensive player, Garrett Wilson, Aaron only completes 59% of his throws and a passer rating at 70. and I don't want to hear this blame Robert Salon nonsense. His defense was great.

If his GM and owner would assign Hassan Reddick, I don't know how you'd move on them. They just totally shut down in the second half the best offense in the NFL. Shut it down. They got great corners. They're aggressive. They don't have huff now.

They don't have Reddick. Quinn and Williams got hurt. They shut Minnesota down. That's the first time this year, Sam Darnold. You're like, uh-oh, old Sam Darnold. Don't blame Sala. He didn't whiff on a quarterback in the draft. He didn't whiff on a left tackle, forcing the franchise to give Aaron all control.

And we know what Aaron does when you do that. He seeks comfort. He wants a Randall Cobb and Alan Lazzard. He wants a Nat Hackett. That's all on Aaron. But Salah's side of the ball, he didn't want to, he wouldn't have hired Hackett. They were forced to because the GM whiffed on the left tackle on a quarterback. He's not impulsive.

The owner is. I mean, the only thing they're, I mean, tell me if you've heard this before. It's 2024. The Jets are great on defense, but their offense is holding them back. Did you know through five games? I couldn't believe it when I saw this. Through five games, the Jets have 93 points. That's the exact same they had last year with Zach Wilson.

Aaron isn't shot, but he is way past his prime. And this franchise, out of desperation, they're a better version of the Browns, honestly. Desperate, low self-esteem, impulsive, have handed the franchise to a guy that seeks comfort, pivots the dark in a second if things don't go his way. I mean, I'll give Aaron credit. He's still pretty. But boy, when he throws a couple of picks, watch his mechanics. He gets real cool and breezy.

Without saying it, he's saying it. He's doing this to his offensive coordinator to humiliate him. He's not your personal assistant. You shouldn't treat your personal assistant like that. So, you know, if you get called the savior and you built an offense that made you comfortable, then it's on you. Now, Aaron, to his credit after, took the hit.

It's got to be, you know, honest with your performance every single week and hold yourself to a standard. Obviously, that was below my standard. I just found out I've never thrown two picks in the first quarter before. So that's the first. In a game where you lose by six, you know, plays like that are exponentially highlighted. So three turnovers for me is definitely out of character and I'm disappointed. By the way, the reaction in New York is predictably intense and silly.

Let's fire Sala. The defense is the only thing that works since he went to the Jets. That's his side of the ball. He didn't whiff on a quarterback in the first round. He didn't whiff on a left tackle. He wouldn't have hired Nat Hackett. I mean, the only thing that works. I said this about Chicago a couple weeks ago.

I don't know if Iber flus is a good head coach. The bear's defense is excellent. So at least he knows his side of the ball. At least he's got that down. But you want to get rid of the only thing that works. Oh, that's great. Let's create more chaos. Who are you going to give the job to?

Generally in the NFL, if you fire a defensive coach, you'd give the head coaching job to the offensive coordinator. You'd give it to Nat Hackett? You know what's funny about this? The Giants are making no noise across town. Same stadium. Giants making no noise. Good O line.

Excellent defensive line. Daniel Jones makes no mistakes in his prime, whether you like his prime or not. We talked all off-season about the Jets. The Giants actually have a fighting chance here to maybe make a playoff run. Brutal. And you want to fire Sala. the only thing good is your defense and he's doing it without

he's got injuries Soss Gardner got hurt Vikings have rolled over everybody they couldn't move the ball and the second half they couldn't move the ball at all you want to get rid of that guy you're going to even hack at the gig

a lot of this stuff is Sala's trapped he got into a shouting match reportedly last year with the owner and he's trying to push back he's doing everything he can and he's trying to be friends with Aaron he gives him a bro hug and Aaron pushes back. He's trying.

Well, why would you fire the only thing that works? Amazing. Jay Mack, Colin Wright, Colin wrong in 50 minutes from now. What a... Boy, the way, the Giants, as the bills are falling into the tank, reeling, and the Jets are a mess. The New York Giants are something special. Just stop it.

Just stop with the Giants' nonsense. But despite that rant, what was that, six minutes, just blasting the Jets, which they deserve. Colin, Jets' bills, a week from 10. today for first place in the division. They still got a shot. It's not over for the Jets. No. But, for the record, what makes the NFL great,

and by the way, this is now what makes college football. Great. Vandy beat Bama. So what? It's a 12-team playoff. You can lose games now. USC may be out of the playoff. Michigan may be out of the playoff, but you can lose a game. Oregon, Ohio State play.

Losers not out of the time. If it's a good close game, they're a loser's fine. So, you know, this is, it's, we're, We're not even, what's funny about this, we're not even a third through the season. What are we going into week what? Going in a week six. Okay. So we are a third, what's 18 weeks count the buy.

So we're a third through the NFL season. And the Jets don't know who they are, which is real nice. 54 passes for Aaron Rogers. 54. What happened? I thought all off season it was, hey, we're going to run the football. We got Breece Hall. Well, you've got three new offensive linemen.

We got this. They haven't thrown 50 times a game. By the way, they got a dance running back. They got a power running back, and none of them work. I mean, I actually like their backfield. It's like a real backfield, and they don't use it. 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. Well, one of the more entertaining games of the day, the Arizona Cardinals, Tom Brady got a good one, beat San Francisco 24 to 23.

said before this season, I worried about San Francisco. J. Mack is my witness. I said, I think they've peaked. They're getting very old. They're getting very reliant on Christian McCaffrey. I did not like all the money talk and the noise in the offseason. That creates some animosity. There are reports this morning from a reporter Mike Silver that there's a weird vibe in the locker room. And this morning, here's what we know about the Niners. They've beaten the Jets and the Patriots. And their defense. the names are bigger than production.

It's just not that intimidating. Windows closed because of the regulated level of violence very quickly in the NFL. Players get old fast. The only thing that lasts a long time in this league is the great coach, great quarterback combination, Walsh and Montana, Belichick and Brady, Reed and Mahomes. You get the right coach and the right quarterback. That puppy can last a long. time. But does this

sound like it lasts a long time? Super physical team that's solid at quarterback. I know what you're saying. Brock Purdy's more than that. Folks, Brock Purdy in his career now, it's been established. When he leads, a bit of a frontrunner,

131 quarterback rating. In his career, when Brock Purdy trails in the fourth quarter, his passer rating is 62. He is good when he's comfortable. He's good with a lead. He's not good trailing.

Here comes the house, and everybody knows you've got to throw it. And that is the difference between Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy. If you know he's throwing, he's not anything other than ordinary. The roster's physical, but when you watch that game, it was Arizona that was spry and dynamic and twitchy and had young. Young Stars, McBride and Kyler and Harrison on offense. That's what it looked like to me. I just don't see and I don't feel the magic with the Niners, and maybe it's just this.

Christian McCaffrey's the magic. About three or four times a game, he turns a three to four-yard gain into a 24-yard game. Kyle Shanahan's record without him is a losing record. And I like Kyle, but I don't see the special. They blew another fourth quarter lead. They've become a terrible red zone offense. Last year, they were the number one red zone offense.

Now they're one of the worst. 22 trips, nine touchdowns. What's missing? Christian McCaffrey. That's it. Same O line. Debo, Kittle, Kyle, same names on defense. Why are they so bad in the red zone?

zone. The magic was Christian McCaffrey. I had said they're getting too Christian McCaffrey reliant and the numbers bear it out. Kyle Shanahan on blowing another game they had

won. Extremely frustrated. I think we had 13 points and 17 and the other. By no means should we be able to give that away. Always will come back to turnovers in my opinion. There's other things you can do to overcome them. talked about last night how we thought a key in this game would be turnovers and that's exactly

what the first half was gave us a huge advantage and then it flipped in the second half and when you do that's tough to win listen bellichick andy reed they'll all tell you the quarterback is more valuable than the coach but there are these rare instances barry sanders walter payton christian mcalfrey they may not be quarterbacks but they drive the operation and without christian They get into these situations in the red zone where he would turn a three-yard gain into a clever seven-yard game and a touchdown. I mean, that game, Kyler Murray threw a pick-the-bosa. Block kicks, it was there for the taking. Just like the Steelers, it was there for the taking.

And they couldn't do it. It was Arizona with a more dynamic, younger athletic offense making plays. here's J-Mac with the news no no no no turn on the news this is the herd line news can I just defend Purdy for a quick second 49ers scored 23 points in the first half

didn't punt in the second half and lost I don't think you could pin it on Purdy or Shanahan their kicker got hurt Colin so they basically they had what turnover on downs when it was fourth and 20 they're like we can't kick

let's just throw 15 years yards to kittle. They had the unlucky Mason fumble. Like, it was just, that was a wacky game, right? I mean, you don't think there's major problems. When Tom Brady would get a block kick for a touchdown and a defensive lineman intercepting the ball, he wouldn't complain about his kicker. That game, at home, Arizona, off a blowout, better roster. Why can we only, when it's convenient, compliment Purdy?

They needed. because I'm watching Kyler make crazy plays. His special teams screwed him over. Make it crazy plays. You've got to be able to win those games. Four and five, he made the jump ball off his back foot to Harrison to save the game. I know people don't like... That was a nice play.

No, I'm not a good game. I mean, listen, he's 5'9. He can do only so much in the pocket. It's fast. Oh, no, he's a crazy athlete. Yeah. Oh, okay. All right.

I see where we're going here. It's a purdy jet show. Okay, I like it. Let's start with Texas. receiver Stefan Diggs. He got the last laugh in a revenge game against the Bills. They actually got lucky to survive that game, which was a crazy game. Diggs and the Bills quarterback Josh Allen downplayed the storylines around the separation of those two.

After the game, Diggs said this one meant something to him. Obviously playing my old team. I'm not going to see her and act like it was just regular. It meant a lot to him. And it was reassuring that the guys around me knew that it meant a lot to me. If I did say it, you know, because I try to just keep it poised or treat every week like it's the same. You know, I like the fact that Stefan Diggs was totally authentic there and admits, yeah, it did mean a lot to me. I love that.

I mean, most people are like, no big deal. It's like, no, this, I don't like the way it ended. That meant a lot to me. I'm surprised he didn't take any jabs at Josh Allen having one of the worst games any quarterback has had in like the last five years, Colin. I mean, nine of 30? Yes, it was bad. Meanwhile, Diggs is Guy Stroud looked pretty good for the first three quarters.

But yeah, I don't... Where are you on the Texans? Four and one, you know, No, I like them. Listen, they have all the components I like. Coach, quarterback, left tackle, edge rusher, star weapons. I do think C.J. Stroud needs

Mixon. I remember when they signed Mixon, you and I were like, this is a huge story, and it was kind of like Joe Mixon. Young quarterbacks especially, by the way, Caleb Williams, last two weekends, had a run game. It's amazing. Caleb Williams looks more poised and under control. I like them a lot. I think they're a bit young to be a Super Bowl hoisting team in the

AFC. But if you look at this schedule, airs a lot of... They got Tennessee still twice. Patriots this week should be a dub. It feels a little like the Bengals team with Burrough that went to the Super Bowl. I mean, Colin, with Rico Collins healthy, they were dominating the bills early in that game. 14-3, like running away with it. Their point differential this year, despite their record, is minus 12. They need their run game. Again, the foundation's there. Quarterback coach left tackle edge rusher weapons.

That's where the league starts. I do think, though, Stroud at this point, I mean, everybody needs a run game. By the way, if Joe Mixon was still a Bengal and they weren't so cheap, the Bengals wouldn't be as relying on Burrow, they'd have better ball control so their defense wouldn't be on the field. They're so Burrow dominated in Jamar Chase. What's happened, it's not just defense. You let Mixon go.

You don't control the line of scrimmage in the clock. I mean, if you have an average defense, one of the ways to save it, keep them fresh. Run game. Right? Yeah. So Cincinnati is now all Burrow and Chase, no run game, and their defense is totally exposed.

I will say Texans, Bill's, was a crazy game fun game wild. It didn't feel like two teams that are contenders for the Super Bowl. I agree totally. A lot of screw-ups. A lot. McDermott's under fire right now for the way he handled the other than that in a second. That was embarrassing. Very bad. Next up, hey, how about this one? Sean Peyton and Bo Nix got into it on the sideline yesterday. Your guy, two of your guys, you love these two. Many people brought up last year where Sean Payton and Russell Wilson got into a heated debate. But the back and forth here with the rookie quarterback a little bit different. And here's Sean Payton.

is part of the deal listen there's still a little bit of Ferris Bueller in this player that we've got to get rid of all right talking about Bo and I love him to death and so sometimes it's my love language I love that

and they both apologize Ferris Bueller meaning he's a little mischievous he's going to kind of do things and he's not going to ask for permission which is Ferris Bueller's day off remains one of the great films comedies of all time but I think what he's saying is He's going to do what he wants to do.

He's had 61 snaps in college. He comes in with kind of an identity, and this is what I do. And he's trying to get that little mischievous. I'm going to do things without asking for permission out of that. But I will say about Bo Nix. He may not big deep ball thrower. He is way more athletic than people give him credit for. He can, not Jaden Daniels, but the dude can move.

I feel like he's probably as athletic as Caleb as Caleb. Is that crazy to say? Well, he's not as big as Caleb, not his power thrower. But he's quicker, man. When he hits those holes running, scrambling, Knicks can pick up five, eight, ten yards easily. And here's the other thing. Offensively, I'm not surprised because I think their personnel is better than people think offensively.

Their defense is playing out of its mind. Well, it helps when Gardner Minshue throws the ball right to Patrick Sertan for 100-yard-pick six. The Raiders have a lot of problems. I wouldn't get too excited. However, look at the Bow-Nicks numbers, the first two games versus the next three. We got a screen here. I want to see this. Nick started out struggling the first two games, and he's rebounded since that Tampa game.

Five touchdowns, zero interceptions. Like the turnovers have stopped. All three rookie quarterbacks, by the way, won this Sunday. Remember we talked briefly about that? They were all favored. I was like, mm-hmm. They all won. Go look at Caleb Williams first 10 quarters and his last 10 quarters.

He is a completely different player. And to your point, we're seeing that with Bo Nix. Jane Daniels is just a superstar already. But yeah, shout out to Bo Nix. Hey, man. They've turned it around. Denver, I think Denver and the Chargers are going to be watching this Kansas City game tonight very close. I think it's going to be close.

Are the Chiefs susceptible? Here comes Denver. I don't know. Denver's defense? Interesting. Final story is Major League Baseball. Boy, this series has been fascinating. Well, we told you it was going to be intense.

Oh, yeah. It got out of hand yesterday. Very much so. So here's a fellow by the name of Jurekson profile. of the Padres, he had an awesome robbery of a Mookie Betts home run in the first inning. Yeah. Just stole it from the fans. It was fantastic.

However, that flexing that he did after the robbery started to get back and forth of words with the fans. And in the seventh inning, a Dodger fan threw a baseball at him from the stands. He was irate. And after the game, he kind of sounded off. That's all so sad. I mean, it was just, you know, the best, you can't. can hurt someone. I hope our people in San Diego don't do that. I got to tell you something. The talent between these two rosters, there's like six Hall of Fame level.

Watch this. This is just a tremendous play. I thought it was gone. The announcers were like, is it out? Is it gone? Nobody knew. So he was dissing the fans. Yeah, that's a cool move. What's wrong with that? Later, though, Mani Machado, I don't know if you saw him exchanging verbal stuff. He was telling the guy, meet me in the parking lot. I'll see you outside. the pitcher for the Dodgers who got shelled. I'm just telling you, this game three on Tuesday in Petco is going to be crazy. Because you know the Padres fans are all worked up. I'm not going to lie.

They might win this series. I'll be honest. I'm sorry to get worried about the Dodgers. They lost a pitcher right a couple, like a week ago. Was it Moss Grove? If they had, that is like Padre fans are freaking out. I think when you're close to his talented, as the team you're facing, and you have nothing to lose and the pressure's on the Dodgers,

I kind of think San Diego is going to win this series. Otani had a home run in his, what, second app ad? It was awesome. Blast. I was watching that Saturday night over some of the college football. Oh, yeah, so was I. And he hasn't done much since. This is game three is going to be big.

You don't want to, because the producers here have been telling me, listen, the Dodgers pitching is not. It's just not up the top of the nods race. I don't follow baseball ratings. It has a chance to be one of the highest. regular season, well, no, it's playoffs now. One of the highest non-world series ratings in a long time. I mean, this is just divisional round. And Philly's Mets, by the way, is excellent as well. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, you know what's funny about that series? The Mets all year long, eight-ninth

inning come from behind. So they did it in the first game. They almost did it. They did it in the second and the Phillies score. That series, it's just the way the Mets are built, late-inning offense, that series will be insane. But the quality of talent in the Padres Dodgers. I wonder what, if you take World Series ratings out the last 10 years, take all the World Series stuff out, what is the highest rated baseball game? Don't count the All-Star game, the home run derby, or those event games. I'm talking any baseball game, not in the World Series, what is the highest rating?

Padres are attractive, right? They got a lot of young dudes. They got the swag. They're hockey. Yeah, exactly. And that is what is attracting. I believe young fans. The old school guys, they don't like that.

the bat flings and all that. I love that stuff. I don't know about you. Pretty fun. Jay McElhne News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News.

So I do want to talk about Buffalo because I'm starting to think that Buffalo has the wrong coach for a superstar quarterback. So Buffalo, this is unforgivable. And I'm not somebody that beats up on play calling by coaches. I don't know who's injured, who's healthy. I think in our business, it's too many hosts are overwrought ripping play calling. There's a lot more that goes into a game than just a single play. But it was tied at 20. You're deep in your own territory.

Your quarterback just got his head banged into, and he's not playing well. Your run game's kind of effective. Houston has three timeouts. Force Houston to use them because there's not much time left. And yet, Buffalo only burned 16 seconds because they passed at three straight times. times. That is unforgivable. And that's on the heels a couple of weeks ago from that zany, weird trick play against the Ravens that just muted all your momentum. I don't think you'd have won that game anyway, but it was a weird call that McDermott had to address.

So it just doesn't make sense. Like there are certain things in football. When there's, you know, 35 seconds in a game, it's 20-20, you're on the road. You are kind of effectively running the ball. Your quarterback just got hurt, and he's having his worst game as a pro, and you didn't even have your best slot receiver available. So it was just a terrible day for Josh Allen, and you're going to ask him deep in the territory on the road to fling it up the field three times? Therefore, Houston gets it back, doesn't have to move it much, gets a field goal, and wins the game.

Coaching lost that game. And again, Buffalo is way too noisy when it comes to coaching game. game management and coordinators. The Dorsey blow up, the goofy trick play. It's just, it's way too noisy. And again, Josh got hurt, didn't have a slot receiver. You just run the ball. Texans take three timeouts.

Maybe you lose the game in overtime. I get it. You can't lose like that. There are losses that you're like, hey, chalk it up to a bad call, chalk it up to a bad day, the weather. that is totally on the head coach. Here's Sean McDermott after. You know, that's on me.

The end of game situation on offense. They were on three timeouts. I got a good field goal kicker. We needed to run the clock and move the chains. And that's on me. We didn't do that there. And that's my fault. I love Josh with the ball in his hands.

You know, I do. And, you know, again, efficient offense was the right approach there. Listen, Andy Reed in crisis feels like a life preserver for the chiefs. Sean McDermott in crisis is starting to feel like a kettleball for the bills. He is pulling them down. And those losses, the last couple of weeks, are to teams that you'll probably have an opportunity to play in the postseason. And you're giving home field up. And Buffalo is one of the great home field advantages due to weather and their crowd noise in the league.

So you're just giving up home field advantage. Nobody wants to go to Buffalo in January. Nobody wants to go to Buffalo. I mean, forget Josh Allen. If you're a good team and you're a better roster, you don't want to go up to Buffalo. Outdoors, that crowd, Josh Allen, that weather, you're just giving up home field advantage.

Brutal. I don't even get it. I don't even understand it. You ever have something in your life happen And you're like, did I miss something? What am I not getting? So I go online and people are freaking out and I'm like, okay, all right. So I'm not crazy.

They're doing something here that is unforgivable as a head coach. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Tomorrow, the NLDS is on FS1 with a pair of pivotal game threes. As both series are tied at one apiece. Coverage begins at 4 p.m. Eastern as the Phillies. Please take all the Mets, followed by Dodgers Padres, only on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. All right. Can't wait for that.

Don't forget top of next hour where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. So, I mean, DAC was 29 of 42, 350 yards, a couple of touchdowns, couple of picks. Passer rating wasn't great. But, you know, when you pay a quarterback $60 million, you occasionally need them to be Superman, put on a cape and be a superhero. And Dak, he is a superhero, but it feels he's like the Green Lantern, where he's officially a superhero. We're not quite sure what he does. In fact, the Green Lantern has a ring. Dak doesn't.

I know. I don't know what to say. I mean, he was two for five in the Red Zone with two turnovers before the 15 play drive. I don't know what to say. It was a win. So his superpower is his EQ. And what I mean by that is Kirk Cousins, who have said, DAC is a better athlete than Kirk Cousins.

Kirk's a better thrower. But they're the same guy. You can tune into any DAC game in the third quarter and you can watch him. And you have no idea if he's playing well or not. If Aaron throws a pick, he pouts. He's yelling at his offensive coordinator. He's ghosting guys. He goes on a personal darkness retreat.

In a game, he gets sullen and dark. Dak and Kirk Cousins. Kurt Thursday, Dak Sunday night. You can't tell. It's a vanity-driven franchise with ego everywhere, expectations through the roof. He's got C.D. Lamb barking at him. And like, Dak doesn't care. Unflappable.

Stoic. Grown-up. Adult. High IQ. High EQ. And that matters a lot. Now, a lot of the great all-time quarterbacks, sometimes we're barkers and they're very emotional.

You can do that. But in this franchise, I could argue he is the perfect personality for what Dallas is, a noisy, vanity-driven franchise. And Dacton appeared to have much of an ego. He's confident without being cocky. And again, he was not good in the red zone. On the road, C.D. Lamb started banging on Dak on the sidelines. And did, did Dak get into a whizzing match with him? No. He ignored him. Actually, literally ignored him in the second half and used all the B&C guys and engineered to win on the road.

So it's a road win. You didn't have Micah. You didn't play particularly well in the red zone situational football. So for Dak, it's kind of what Dak does. And here he was after. The ups, the downs, dabs and flows, a lot of things that Mike preaches on, two minutes. And for us to just stay resilient, win the game in two minutes is one of those games. I don't care how long you play, you'll never forget it. And so I just kept saying, let's make it one to remember. And I think we did that. Now, you desperately needed to win last night because the Cowboys schedule, this is the tough part of it.

It's not early and late. Their schedule now, look at this puppy. Detroit, at San Francisco, at Atlanta, rival Philly, Houston, at Suddenly Great Washington, Joe Burrow is right after the Giants, and the Giants offensive line is, we talked about this about three weeks ago. If you're paying attention to the Giants, they're O' line, and they've drafted it and put money into it.

It's good. I don't know where it ranks this morning on PFF, but that Giants O line totally dominated Seattle. And the Dallas's D-line, again, Pittsburgh doesn't know what they're doing offensively. They're lost. The Giants is not an easy. easy out. Really good coach. Excellent D-line. Excellent O line. Giants won a game in the Pacific Northwest,

3,000 miles away without Malik neighbors or Singletary. So it was like Daniel Jones was doing his thing. And J-Mack doesn't like him. And I'll just say this. In New York, they want to run the coach out of town. In the other New York, the Giants, you should give them an extension. They are getting everything out of Daniel Jones. He no longer, this is what Kevin O'Connell's done with Donald. He's coached the reckless out of him. So you get big athletic Darnold making plays. Daniel Jones doesn't throw picks anymore. He's not fumbling the ball anymore. He was a turnover machine. He was Justin Fields. They've coached that all out of him. And they don't even have, I mean, obviously next year, they got to upgrade the

running back room. They dominated Seattle. This was not, I don't care what the score was. Seattle was never on the field. They completely owned the line of scrimmage. That game, I don't care what it was 10-10. Seattle's offense was three and out, quick, quick, quick. Giants went on long drives. That Giants team, the one that nobody's talking about in New York, the one that has the trophies,

is actually going to be a really tough out. I don't love Daniel Jones. But what you're seeing with the Giants, that is coaching. If we're going to love Kevin O'Connell, because Darnold's got more natural ability than Daniel Jones. Daniel Jones, to me, I'm sitting there watching him yesterday, and I'm like, it's a little Alex Smith. The ceiling's a little lower, but he's big, he moves, he's not making mistakes,

he's clearly coachable. This guy was a fumble disaster. He's not. So not all coaches, you can look at just wins. Day Bowl is coaching the you know what out of this team. they are competitive. And that O-line just ate the Seahawks alive in a really tough environment to play. I know you want to only hear it, J-MAC, but that Giants team is going to be a spoiler.

That division's been turned upside down. It's the Giants O-Line and D-Line, and it's Washington's entire operation right now. Obviously, I'm the idiot who loved Seattle. You might have to me. Well, we got sucked into the Malik neighbors. But we did give out the whole face to Detroit Lions. The next week, teams feel beat up and they get smashed. We gave that out.

The other one that I missed, Colin, I'm really ticked that I miss this. This is Seattle's early season schedule. At home against Denver, fly across the country to New England. Fly back home. Play Miami. Fly back to the Midwest, play Detroit. Fly back home, play the Giants. They looked exhausted.

First quarter, they got just run over. I think they had like two yards in the first quarter. The Giants had like 200. some insane number, but it was just a bad spot for Seattle. I don't read too much into it, and I'm sorry to report, the New York Giants still stink at football. They are not good. I mean, let's just, please, just stop.

Dude, there are a few teams in the NFL that have a better O-line, D-line combination than the Giants. They're top five in that. Most of these teams that have good D-lines have bad O-lines. Their O-line-D-line combo and their coach is real. Bengals by 30 this week. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was 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. 84 was a wild year. 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. 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, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard,

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