The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 1 - Wilson, Jimmy G, Bills

Episode Date: September 26, 2022

Thoughts on the Broncos win over the 49ers Colin defends 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo The biggest concern for the Bills as they lost another close game to a divisional rival   Guest: Trent DilferSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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.

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Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Monday. What a crazy Saturday and Sunday. A remarkable weekend of college in pro football.

It's the herd wherever you may be, however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Sean Payton will join us last hour. Trent Dilfer this hour. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. A lot of wrong in one hour from now. J. Mack had a great weekend. He liked both the Packers and the Denver Broncos.

Last night, I mean, we all know that social media. media, J-Mack, can be a little negative. A little bit. I mean, yesterday the world was ending, and I'm like, do we think Kansas City and Buffalo stink? Like, do we wake up this morning? Like, if you're all beat up and injured and you go on the road, it is hard to win. This is not college football. Pat Mahomes loses.

Josh Allen loses. Tom Brady goes down. Justin Herbert looks awful. I mean, the Chargers, by the way, are the most injured team in the league at this point. They are really beat up. I want to start with this. So I'm watching the Niners, Denver. It was ugly.

I'm sorry, not every game can be a firework show. But I took a lot of positive out of it. So the headline in Denver today is Russell Wilson has one clutch drive and they narrowly escape. So let's just think about this. So Russell takes his act to Denver, all new team, all new everything. Nathaniel Hackett brings the Green Bay Aaron Rogers offense to Denver. Now, we don't know if Hackett can coach. I'm concerned about some of his choices.

But Russell Wilson, we saw it in game one, plays the good soldier. I'm going to be the Hall of Famer. I got the big contract. I'm going to be the good soldier. I'm going to be the good guy. And he kind of defers to him in week one. It did not work. But then in the fourth quarter, you watch it and you're like,

Russell said, okay, I'm just going to go and use my superpower. I'm going to move around a lot. And he did. And it was a great drive. And the Niners defense, second only in my opinion to the Buffalo bills and talent were flummoxed. Because that's what Russell Wilson did before he came to Denver. He runs around.

He makes things happen. and he's great off script. He picks up yards. And he does need to move and improvise and scramble. That is his superpower. It would be like Lamar Jackson saying, I'm never going to leave the pocket. Or Justin Herbert saying,

I'm never going to throw a deep ball. But remember, it took Aaron a year to learn this offense. And we don't think Hackett's as good as Matt LaFleur. Do you remember Aaron Rogers' first year with this offense? Do you know what he completed? 62% of his throws. Passer rating mid-90s. touchdowns only 26. That's Aaron Rogers in a bad division with a bunch of layup wins.

It took Aaron Rogers a year. Russell doesn't get it. Russell was changing operations, changing staff, changing teams, new city, new conference. And here comes Nathaniel Hackett. We don't know if he's a good teacher or not. We know he's a nice guy. And I think that's part of the problem. Nathaniel Hackett, Aaron Rogers is like, oh, made me laugh. My darts buddy. Great. guy and Russell Wilson wants to be a great guy. And last night in the fourth quarter, Russell Wilson said, yeah, enough with that. It's my offense. I'm taking it over and did what he does.

And that's what it should be. But I think it's harder than people think two new camps converge. They're both trying to make nice first impressions. Russell doesn't want, he got the big money. He doesn't want to be domineering and bulldoze everybody. And Hackett's a little over his head. And he's a little deferential. but it's his offense and it worked with Aaron

and then Russell's thinking, well, I can show that I can be Aaron, I can sit in the pocket. Aaron wasn't great with this offense first year in a bad division. And so here's the good news for Denver. The charges are a mess. The Raiders are messier. Kansas City lost. And if you look at the schedule right now this morning,

you're not going to face a defense that looks anything like the 49ers for the next two months. It's Las Vegas a couple of times. It's Carolina. It's Tennessee. It's the Jets. It's Jacksonville. That's the best defense you'll face. But I do think it's not as easy as just, hey, let's just Russell run your thing.

I think Russell's sitting here struggling with how much of the offense do I use, how much of his offense do I defer to. But in the end, there are a two-and-one football team with a softer part of their schedule coming up. And Russell Wilson was optimistic afterwards. I know it was ugly. I know it was inartistic. But it's a win over. probably the second best defensive personnel in the NFL.

Here's Russ after. Really in the fourth court, I had to kind of use my legs and kind of take over and just try to move around and find some first downs. We're still all learning each other. There's a whole new system and everybody's coming together, but there's so much greatness in store, and I can't wait for it. I know it's just too optimistic for you, but you know they always say you can lose games, you can't lose locker rooms.

You don't lose a locker room with Russell. Yes, he's a little too optimistic. the glass is always half full. But right now, they're two and one. Would you rather be Denver at two and one and choppy offensively or the Chargers right now? Or the Raiders right now?

I wouldn't. Take a deep breath. I'll defend Garoppolo after the break. So we know Buffalo's really good. I still contend this morning. I think Buffalo's the best team in the league. But there is a trend now. You can be a great company,

and there can be a little bit of a disturbing trend. What I'm about to tell you now covers more than a year. Since the start of last season, the bills are now 0 and 6 in close games. Only the Texans are that bad. What? Isn't that weird, right? It would be almost like a fighter who has a bunch of first and second round knockouts,

but any time the fight goes 10 rounds, they can't win. Sounds like Tyson, which is what we compare Buffalo too. And it's really interesting about it. this. Buffalo is the better team than Miami. Baltimore was the better team than Miami, but Miami deserves credit for figuring out ways to win. But I mean, Buffalo dominated time of possession. They had three times as many plays. They had over double the first downs. Buffalo's the better team than Miami. They are the better team. Buffalo had major cluster injuries in the

secondary. Half their defensive line was gone. It's Miami. It's hot. When you play any team in Miami in September, you're facing the team and you're facing the conditions. But here's the thing that worries me. Six years in with Buffalo and their excellent defensive coach, six years, they still haven't developed a run game. Sean McDermott developed a defensive line that's great, linebacker's great, secondary that's great.

He has leaned into and solved his side of the ball. And here's why it worries me. Six years in, they still rely heavily on Josh Allen to pick up yards running the ball. sort of like another defensive coach. Ron Rivera did with Cam. And often Mike Tomlin did with Big Ben, defensive coaches. Let those huge quarterbacks pick up yards,

kind of run things. It doesn't last. It's why Cam fell over a cliff at 32, like literally aged overnight. It's why Ben aged overnight. And Josh Allen, this cannot last. You got 90 snaps. He attempts 68 passes and eight rush a,

attempts, it feels very much defensive coaches. By the way, Chicago defensive coach can't get the offense right. Chargers defensive coach. Chargers' offense can't get right. Steelers' defensive coach can't get the offense right. Bill's defensive coach, six years in, can't develop a running game. I've been on this now. I know ad nauseum for years and it's exhausting.

But this is not going to last. I've seen it with Cam and I've seen it with Big Ben. And I think Josh has some of the talents of both. He's a power runner like Cam. He'll run guys over. He's got the arm, the deep ball, you know, like Big Ben. There's a lot of qualities here that they share. It doesn't last.

And to these defensive coaches who love physicality and they love toughness, do you get the sensibility of protect your quarterback? I mean, 63 pass attempts, eight carries for a northern team in that kind of sauna water with a roster that has major. deficiencies due to injuries all over the defense? Sean McDermott after. You know, you should win those games. We just didn't take care of the ball enough and come out, come away with some takeaways.

But again, I like the way we fought in all three phases until the end, and we've got to learn from it. I thought Josh Allen was exhausted and a little sloppy at the end. Of course he is, because they rely so heavily on him for the offense. And by the way, I'm not saying Kansas City owes has a great run game. But I never feel like with Kansas City, it's all on Mahomes. I feel like there are Andy Reid's play design. They can at times run the ball effectively. Mahomes is the centerpiece of it, but I don't feel they just completely rely on Mahomes.

I'm starting to feel this is Carolina with a defensive coach, where if Cam plays well, they win, if Cam doesn't, they lose. they sometimes play downhill like Carolina did with Cam and they end up in a Super Bowl. But the consistency in close games with Cam, the inability sometimes to create offense outside of Cam. I mean, go to the last couple of years with Pittsburgh. They had no run game, bad offensive line. It was Big Ben trying to save the day offensively with another coordinator that doesn't work in Pittsburgh. So I can love what Buffalo is all about and think to the best team in the league. but this is a trend now.

Only the Houston Texans since the start of last year are as bad as Buffalo in close games. So that's not just random osmosis, coincidence. When you can't develop a consistent running game outside of Josh Allen, it's hard when you have a game and you want to ice it and you go to the ground and Tom turns to Leonard Fernette and he eats three and a half minutes off the clock and you lead by eight and that's how the game ends.

That is such a benefit for an. Aaron Jones with Aaron Rogers or a Leonard Furnett with a Tom Brady, that run game, that ice his game so you don't have to get into a shootout every week. Because Buffalo is great knocking out people in the first round. But some of these fights, they go 10 rounds. And you've got to win those fights, too, to be the champ. All right. Glass half full Uncle Colin.

I'll tell you, it's just a great way. You wake up in the morning. It's a very good feeling. Was Vegas good to you over the weekend? I had my first losing, blazing five. I took San Francisco, which I meant Las Vegas, the actual city. Oh, no, no, I just, I watched eight college football games, hung out with my son. We baked, we hung out, we laughed, we did some driving.

He's trying to get his license, so it was one of those weekends. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard 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'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. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care where you're talking. 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

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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 Jett. 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 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.

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 Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

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on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. Welcome back. So after I made my blazing five pick to take Tampa to beat Green Bay in a close game, Mike Evans announced he wasn't going to play. And then right before the game, Julio Jones announced he wasn't going to play. So Tampa Bay was missing their top three wide receivers, all of them great,

and their left tackle Donovan Smith, and came within one play of going to overtime. Oh, they're also using backups all over the offensive line interior. if you're Green Bay in the last two, I've seen Green Bay play one healthy, good team this year, and they got crushed. They beat low-wadded Chicago that can't complete passes and no team in the league. Campus quarterback's going through a marriage crisis. Their top three weapons are out in a weapons league.

Their left tackle Donovan Smith is out, and boy, is that obvious, they need him. And that came down to one play. Green Bay has got to be concerned. How in the hell did Tampa Bay have much? more first downs, more passing first downs, better on fourth, more passing yards. How is that possible? Green Bay has been reduced to winning one way beating injury riddle teams or teams that can't score.

And in Tampa's case, they're both. They've got no juice. They've got none of their best players. I mean, if you take Aaron Jones out of the Packers yesterday and you take, let's say, Alan Lazard out of the Packers yesterday, and Tampa was healthy, would that game be close? I have watched the media fawn over this organization for the last two years. I still contend. Do we know if Matt LaFlewere is a great coach?

He's beating the Bears and the Lions. I don't know if he's a great coach. He's barely above 500 against the Vikings. He can't beat the Niners. Yesterday is the first time they beat Brady, and it was an almost. And here's the other thing. Green Bay has scored three points in the second half, combined last two games.

So if it's not on script, Aaron doesn't trust young receivers to ad lib and make stuff up. It's obvious. If you have Aaron Rogers, and in two back-to-back games, you've had three points, one field goal. You got yourself a problem here. So in game one, Aaron ghosted the rookie receivers. In game two afterwards, he said, I'm not going to change. And did you see what happened yesterday?

His team fumbled in the first half. After that, Aaron, I rolled it, got disappointed. Eight drives, seven punts, most of them four plays. That was it. 92 passing yards after a teammate fumbled. Aaron rolled his eyes. The Fox cameras catch it. Aaron's disappointed with a teammate.

Somebody let me down. I'm a victim. Woe is me. And they just stopped playing offense. So, I mean, I looked at this thing. I've got, this team needs patience. This team needs a mentor because they've got two really good young receivers. You better have a relationship with them.

You better like curry favor of those young. young receivers. Generational, they probably listen to different music. They have different interests. They like different tech. They get up and do different things. You better figure out a way to make it work because Green Bay can't score off the script this year. Scripted plays, they'll score, they'll take a lead or keep it close. Minnesota, what did they do in the second half? Chicago, second half. Tampa second half. It's because Aaron's not willing to add lib. In the second half, you've got to go off script. You've got to make stuff happen. That's when a leader's a leader. Russell Wilson last night.

Goes off script. I got to win the game. That's what you got to do late in games. Tom Brady yesterday. They got nothing to work with. Everybody's out. When did he have his best drive? Last drive of the game. That's what Brady does. So this team, what they need at quarterback isn't just talent. They need a mentor. They need patience. Now, here's what will happen to Green Bay. Go look at their schedule.

It's awful. New England without Mack Jones. Giants, Jets, Washington's a mess. So they're going to roll to a six and one start, and all the media guys are going to fall in love with Aaron Rogers again. This team's got major problems. I do not think they're a top 10 team in this league. They have played one healthy team and got boxed. They can't do anything in the second half. They've been reduced to a run.

They can win one way. Low scoring. They can beat teams that can't move the ball. Chicago and Tampa with injuries. That's what they can beat. By the way, in the second case, barely. So that to me was a really concerning win. I'm not sure if these are fixable because I'm not sure Aaron is going to become benevolent, altruistic, great teammate, mentor, Aaron.

I'm not sure that's in his bag of tricks. J-MAC with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Holland, loving your boy, Aaron Rogers. Isn't that crazy, though? Look at their second half scoring.

They're double-digit favorites against the Patriots. Oh, and they'll crush them because maybe. Brian Hoyer against Darren Rogers. And they're going to finish 14 or 13 and 3 and we're going to do this again. But you've got to look for trends. Buffalo can't win close games. It's concerning. Context matters big time. Yes. The Chicago Bears are two and one. Nobody thinks they're good. No one. All right. Let's get started, Colin, with Lamar Jackson, the early MVP through three games. He has been incredible. Five touchdowns yesterday in the win over the Patriots. Over 200 passing yards, ran for over 100 as well. John Harbaugh said,

he has been very impressed with Lamar's growth this year. I just think it's a natural next step in terms of like finding his rhythm during the week. What he's looking at, how he studies defenses, how he breaks defenses down. It's not a light bulb thing. It's an evolution of studying the game that you see quarterbacks go through. He's still a young QB. You watch him play. Does it look like he understand what he's going up against and what he's dealing with out there?

Right. And that's a result of that process and that work effort that he's putting in. it's really impressive. Listen, they're going to pay the price on him. If you're going to think you're going to get a discount. No. And the other thing is, and I've, I've got to say, I'm wrong all the time, but I've been right on Lamar over the last three years.

You keep telling me what he can't do, and I keep seeing what he can do, which is win games. And again, you can't blame him for the Miami loss. They had three rookies in the secondary. That's not a Lamar loss. Lamar outplayed Tua. I'm watching him yesterday and every year he finds a weakness and solves it.

I don't think throwing's a problem at all. I really don't. To me, he throws a beautiful deep ball. He can obviously read the defense because he's finding open guys. I don't, you know, I had this conversation yesterday with somebody. I said, so let's take the narrative

that he can't win a Super Bowl. He can't win multiple playoff games. I said to you, I said to this person, I said, so let's say in the next four years, you sign him to a big contract. He never wins a Super Bowl. He wins only two playoff games in four years and wins the division once or twice, which is these are realistic, right?

That's not overly cynical or optimistic. Is he worth the money? Yes. Of course. What are the other options? Mahomes and Brady are the only two quarterbacks in this league that both, all of us would agree they can win multiple playoff games, home or road, and win a Super Bowl.

We've seen it repeatedly with Brady, and we think we'll see it repeatedly. Josh Allen's yet to get to a Super Bowl. So, like, what are you waiting for in Lamar? This idea that he can't win a Super Bowl, outside of Mahomes and Brady, Josh Allen's three and three and six playoff games. And so what? You're only going to resign quarterbacks who you know are as good as Mahomes are going to have a resume that looks like Brady.

The kid is a 77% winner in the league. And to me, it looks like every year he adds a pitch to his arsenal. So last year, he was kind of weak against the Blitz. You saw teams go with zero blitz. bring the safeties, and he struggled. So, so far through three weeks, he's the best quarterback against the Blitz in the league. According to every advanced stat, he had three touchdowns against the Blitz against the Patriots for the week before against Miami.

So right now, Lamar is basically unguardable. And Colin, who's he throwing to on the outside? I saw Rashad Bateman drop a touchdown pass. I'm sure you saw that. Mark Andrews and Devin Duverne. Okay. And the other thing that needs to be pointed out, I think he's only, is he only 23 or 24 years old? I'm not sure the age.

Is he 24 now? But bottom line is he's the MVP through three weeks. He looks like you bet. I know people are going to yell Tua. No, it's Lamar Jackson. Lamar was better when they faced Tua. They lost the game. Lamar was the better player.

He was incredible. All right, let's get to the second story here. And this game ticked me off, Colin. The Colts came back to beat the Chiefs, Kansas City's first loss of the season. And if you saw this at the end of the first half, Patrick Mahomes wants to be aggressive, try to go down the field. Eric Bienimi, the offensive coordinator is like, no, no, no, let's shut it down. So they start to walk off the field.

And Mahomes and Bienami have words. And there's some video. Andy Reed ends up pulling Mahomes away. Now Mahomes downplayed here. Here's a video here if you're watching on FS1. And Mahomes is like, we can score on these guys. And Andy Reid comes and grabs them out of there. I don't know, Colin.

Much ado about nothing? Because I'll say this. Second half, they were not able to finish drives and it killed him. Well, Mahomes is going to win that argument. Obviously. And some people came to Mahomes as defense on the internet who have played with Kansas City. And I've always thought Mahomes is totally coachable. So let's not.

Bienimi, by the way, has got a pretty rough edge to him. Has not, you know, people have always defended Bienami. Why doesn't he get head coaching jobs? Well, you've got to crush the interview, right? Like, is he harder to get along with? Because Mahomes had defenders all over the internet last night saying, Mahomes is right here. Yeah, and Kelsey dropped a touchdown pass.

That game, there was an awful call. against Chris Jones for trash-talking Matt Ryan on a key third down that would have ended the game. But one final word, we had LaShaul McCoy on Friday. Remember, I was asking about Biennesty, and he's like, he doesn't even call the plays in Kansas City. This situation with Be enemy, it's going to be tough for him to get a job, especially with this Mahomes situation. Yeah, I mean, I'm just going to, I'm going to lean in the direction of Mahomes because he's been an incredibly amenable player to any change. He's always willing to move. They gave him a whole new receivers.

gave him a packer, they gave him a stealer, they gave him a rookie. Unlike Aaron Rogers, he's integrating these rookies as much as he possibly can't. You're going to be hard for me to criticize Mahalms when I've seen his body of work, which is just evolving, coachable, growing. Now they traveled to Tampa this week for a monster game against that Bucks defense. No, Kansas cities. While there is a hurricane bearing down on Florida that could impact the game weather-wise, it's a little early in the week to know, but could be weird, wacky weather down there this weekend. That's a big game. And finally, Colin. Cincinnati Bengals got in the wind column.

They're back. They smoked by jets. They're back. They're back. A good call by you. Joe Burrow came out and guess what? Zach Taylor called a good game. Let's not run Joe Mixing into the line of scrimmage.

To start, let's just throw the ball and T. Higgins and Tyler Boyd. You know, Burrow only got sacked twice. Three touchdown passes. Listen, Joe Flacco was a dumpster fire. He's officially done. Zach Wilson should be the starter. Colin, are the Bengals back? Yes.

And I know Ryan Music's very excited. No, I felt last week, I said this. I thought the Cowboy second half. I'm like, they're back. Again, Burrow had surgery. Yeah. Burrow didn't practice. Burrow didn't take a preseason snap. They brought in several new offensive linemen. And it's like, oh, wow, it's not great in the first two weeks.

If you watch the second half of the Cowboys, you were like, okay, now it's working. But it was too late. They didn't make a stop late. When I watched them, this was one of the, I don't like taking big favorites. This was the game. I wanted to take a big favorite in Cincinnati. I thought, I made a mistake. I'm like, let me get one more game.

Well, that's not the way the odds work. The market now corrects to it. But I thought Cincinnati was the play. I think they've solved their issues. I don't know if they're as good as Baltimore right now, but I don't think they are, but they're fine. This team's got too much talent offensively not to win like 9-10 games. Good read by you.

I'll say this. Sauce Gardner, the Jets rookie, did a good job against Jemar Chase. Kind of shut him down head-to-head. One other note, the Bengals play Thursday night football against Miami. They're going to roll. Miami is an underdog. And of course, everybody's like, oh, three and O Miami's an underdog.

No, no, no. Their defense was on the field for 90 plays against Josh Allen. Boom. And they got to go on a short week to Cincinnati. And a rookie head coach. Thursday night football. This is a great, not that I'm some wise guy, this is a great gambling tip.

Miami's defense played 90 snaps in that heat. Now they get, they have to go on the road to Cincinnati. Watch Cincinnati's offense. light up Miami's defense, especially in the second half where, you know, you'll bring your energy, you're on, you know, it's the Amazon game, you come in, 90 snaps in that heat. By the way, Buffalo, but their defense wasn't on the field much. So watch Buffalo rebound with a great defensive effort this week. Yes. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurdline News. Now, this is crazy to me. So I,

obviously, I'm just going to say, I like Garoppolo more than everybody, but I know what he is. He's a B-plus quarterback. So Brady, Burrow, and Stafford, can we all admit they're really good? All of them had bad game ones. They didn't practice for different reasons. Tom took 11 days off for family. Stafford had elbow concerns or elbow pain. Matt, Joe Burrow literally had appendectomy surgery, a major surgery.

And those are great quarterbacks. Stafford, Burrow, Brady. Game one, no practice, no preseason, they were bad. Now consider Jimmy Garoppolo. They wouldn't give him a playbook because they wanted to see if Tray Lance developed. He took no snaps. Didn't play in the preseason. Didn't start week one.

Didn't start last week. This was his first start of the year. Trent Williams, the best left tackle and football got hurt. didn't have their number one running back and Kettle had to stand and block most of the game. And you're shocked against that defense, a top five or six defense, Garapolo struggled.

So you give Brady, Burrow, and Stafford a break. And you don't give Garoppolo one. No playbook. They wouldn't give it to him. No practice. Coming off a shoulder surgery to his throwing side. And that's his opening game against Randy Gregory,

Bradley Chubb, two of the best young, I mean, the best young corner in the game in Patrick Sartan, altitude, mile high, desperate Denver. And he led with a couple of minutes to go in the fourth. And you're blaming that on Jimmy G. George Kittle had to stay in and block most of the night because of the pressure. Trent Williams got hurt. So then they really got to keep Kittle in.

He didn't have his number one back. The guy wasn't given a playbook. This was the first week in nine months. he was allowed to take all the snaps all week in practice. Remember, he didn't start last week. Traylands got hurt. He didn't start last week. So he didn't take the snaps.

So this was the first week in nine months, 10 months, whenever it is, that he got all the snaps with the first team. And he has to face Randy Gregory, Bradley Chubb, that defense, those corners in that altitude, in a desperate Denver team. And you're like, oh, he was terrible. I'm not making excuses.

But it's hard to quarterback in this league. especially when you're coming off shoulder surgery. You don't get a playbook. You don't practice. You don't play in the preseason. And you don't start the first two weeks. First assignment, go 7,000 feet in the air and play Denver with that pass rush. Yeah, it wasn't pretty.

San Francisco's really good. They're going to win a bunch of games. There's a difference between a reason and excuses. Of course he wasn't great. Burroughs more talented. Brady's more talented. staffer's more talented. And they look bad in week one without practice. They didn't have shoulder surgery. They had the playbook. Of course last night was choppy. Jimmy G. After.

It was kind of my first week with these guys and I just got to get in a rhythm with them, especially like third down. I mean, we were terrible today and I just got to get on the same page with those guys and we got to convert those. Yeah, my arm's feeling it right now. It's, yeah, I mean, just it's different. You try to do all the prex and preparation you can on the sideline being the number two. And then when you get tossed into it, you just, you know, I didn't go through OTAs in training camp. And I'm not trying to make excuses or anything.

But I just got getting game shape and get rolling now. Yeah, the guy's not in shape. I mean, the one thing that was very obvious was third down. Well, what a shock. Randy Gregory pinning his ears back on a third and eight, Bradley Chubb right behind him, DJ Jones on the middle. They're bringing the house and Jimmy wasn't very good on third down. I got news for you.

A lot of quarterbacks going to face that defense. and if it's third and eight, they're going to be bad on third down. And they're more talented sometimes than Jimmy Garapolo. So, like, take a deep breath. That was a brutal opening exam from the school teacher. That's not a game. I mean, I thought they would win because I just don't know what's going on with Denver's offense. And until Russell started to run at the end, I still don't know what's going on with Denver's offense.

But take a deep breath. Burrell, Brady, Stafford all struggled in a similar situation. and it was worse for Garoppolo because they wouldn't even give him the playbook. Be sure to catch live editions of The Horde, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of LaVarrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler, T.J. Hushman Zada and Super Bowl champion.

Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. On Game. We're going to be sharing our real-life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me, LaVar Arington, T.J. Hushmanzada, and Plexico Burris on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. 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. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little count? 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. That's correct. 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. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast,

learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. It's great to have you in. Trent Dilfer had a week off at Lipsman Academy as the head football coach in Nashville, Tennessee. So we've got to watch some football, and we want to bring in Trentville for the Super Bowl champ, decade and a half in the NFL.

You know, I'll say this is that I'm hitting on this constantly, and it's annoying. But I do think it matters that you played quarterback, and you're going to be really good and understand quarterbacks. You know the psychology of it, the emotion of it. I think it matters. I've said this before. You start looking around the offenses right now. the Chargers offense, they can't get right, the Bears' offense they can't get right, Belichick, a legend.

They can't get that thing going, even the coordinators. So I look at Tua, and my takeaway is, I don't know how good he is, but emotionally, he just looks like he's having fun, he's playing with confidence. And again, I'm a doubter, you love him. But I think the coach on that side of the ball matters when I watch. I agree. And I think one of the biggest things the offensive staff can do, because it's more than just one person in the NFL. You got your, if you're offensive-minded head coach, you're obviously the boss, and you have coordinators, quarterback coaches. You have guys passing game coordinators, run game coordinators. Those coaches have to create a conviction for your quarterback. So for a quarterback to play well, he's got to play decisively and he's got to play with conviction. Take the talent piece out of it. Take the skill position. people out of it. If he's going to do his job well, he has to be completely bought into the why of the offense. And that's the biggest thing I see in Miami right now. Yes, they are very talented

players. Waddle, Tyreek Hill. I like the runner too. Tideon's a good player. They're blocking well. But the biggest thing you see, you see decisiveness with Tua. He has mastery of what they're asking him to do. He's bought into the why of how they're going to do offense. And he's playing an extremely high level within his skill set. And I think you have to value what his skill set is a lot of people credit how much horse, I mean, question how much horsepower he has. He's got enough on third and 22 to run the double move corner post to hit wattle for 50 something yards and dropping in there perfectly. He's piercing in those 20-yard throws on crossing routes. So they built a system around him that maximizes his skill set and he has total buy-in for what that is. So you know this in your career.

Defensive coaches, they like tough. That sense, they like tough. So Tomlin, tough guy, physical guy, had Big Ben and let Big Ben take a beating for years. He liked his quarterback tough. Ron Rivera, defensive coach, Cam Newton, big body. Didn't mind Cam getting out there. But those guys aged quickly. And I watched Sean McDermott and Josh Allen and I'm like, coach, you can't play like that.

You can't throw 70 times and run eight times. I love Josh Allen. But that is not sustainable. I've seen it with Cam and Big Ben. I worry they are so Josh Allen-centric. I worry about that. Your thoughts at all? Yeah, I actually agree with you.

And again, it's actually complimenting Josh Allen. I mean, it might be the biggest Josh Allen fan in the world. It is so awesome to watch his competitive nature, not just a skill set, but his competitive nature. His intuition, his instincts for the game. I mean, you can go down the line of traits, and he's got. a Hall of Fame traits and he's playing at a Hall of Fame level. But I totally agree with you. Your quarterback can only sustain so much.

And then you also have to understand that the personality of your quarterback and Josh is so hyper competitive. He's actually looking for contact. He's ripping the helmets off of guys at the bottom of piles. That can be managed from the sideline a little bit. I do not think you just unleash Josh Allen for 60 minutes and let him do whatever he wants because you're going to shorten his career. So I'm 100% with you.

I think this needs to be managed from the sideline a little bit more. And the biggest way they can manage is turn around and give the ball to the back more. You can't rely so much on Josh as a runner. He's got to be a little wiser as he scrambles around. It extends plays. Now, I love him moving around. I love him attacking the line of scrimmage and buying yards, but get down. He doesn't have to look for contact all the time.

And for those of you out there saying, well, he's six, four and a half. He's 245. I get all that. So am I. Your body, you're still going against guys. guys that are 6-5, 265, and they run 4-6. So eventually those collisions take a toll, and you'll start seeing these Hall of Fame traits diminish in a few years if he's not managed better from the sideline. So every year there's a team that shocks us.

And if you really look at the team that shocks us, it shouldn't shock us. So you had said you like Jacksonville. I spent the entire offseason saying, would somebody please hire Doug P. I saw him out maneuver Belichick. He can coach. He played in this league. So what am I, because it's obvious, Trevor Lawrence is getting better like every week. What am I seeing?

What am I watching with his development that you see having played for a decade and half in the National Football League? Well, I think very similar to Tua. I think what Doug and his staff have done is they've gotten a buy-in from Trevor and the rest of the office people how they're going to play football. I think they've identified Trevor's strength. Thanks to this point and some of his challenges at this point, they cut the field in half a lot. A lot of what they do is establish a good run game and then cut the field in half and let

them work either or reeds, pick and stick type reads. Let him use his armed talent, let him use his aggressive nature and make big time half field read throws. There's nothing wrong with that. There's guys that played seven, eight, nine, ten years in NFL that play that way. He's still evolving as a sideline to sideline passer. That means peer progressions, five eligibles, all that stuff. A bore everybody if I get too much into that.

But they're doing a really good job identifying what he does well. They play really good defense. I think part of Trevor's evolution and this offense evolution also traces to their defense. They're big, they're physical on defense. They're a bulky type roster, which he deserves a lot of credit on building this roster with Urban Meyer last year and now this year with Doug Peterson. They look like those 49ers teams. They're long, they're thick-jointed, they're athletic,

they're powerful. They're the kind of rosters they want. That translates to the defensive side of the ball. I think they're very well coached on defense. They take away what you want to do best. So I think the whole thing fits together in Jackson. That's why they're playing at a much higher level than people thought they would. What am I seeing with Jalen Hertz? I said last year, I said, you know, it's productive. That's all I know. They move the sticks. They get 300 yards. It's productive. What am I seeing? I think you're seeing a product of a lot of lonely work. Jalen Hertz, I remember acting me, he was 17 years old. He was mature like a 25-year-old.

He's an old soul, but he's also an incredibly hard worker, and he's done a lot of the lonely work, the boring, monotonous stuff that nobody gets credit for. You don't post it on Instagram, you don't post it on Twitter. Don't patch yourself, put them back and say, look at me working hard. You just go to work, and you work on the nuance of your game. You work on your technique. You work on film study. You lock yourself when you could be doing a lot of other things because you got a lot of money and a lot of fame.

Instead, you decide to do the hard thing, the boring thing, which is lock yourself in a room and study yourself, study your opponent, work on every aspect of your game. Talk to Quincy Avery about his offseason regimen. It was intensive. He did say no to a lot of the luxuries of life so that he could get better. And you're seeing the payoff of that right now. He's playing at high levels, anybody. and he's not just doing it as an athlete. He's not just doing it the way everybody thought he would do it.

He's doing it as a true, nuanced quarterback in the NFL. And my hat's off to him because I think of all the people in the NFL, you've got to look at Jalen Hurts as the guy that has made the biggest stride from last year to this year, and he's become a bona fide superstar. Listen, I only got a minute left. I beat up on the Packers, but I said this. You've got to be able to win more than one way. They can't score in the second half, three games.

what is that telling you? What's going on there? They don't trust that wide receiver core. You make your biggest adjustments at halftime the things you can change on the fly. The easiest is the passing game, especially with route concepts, different formation, different activations of defenders, different matchups. Those are things you can easily change at halftime. They don't have the experience at wide receiver that can play at the same intellectual level as Aaron Rogers to make those adjustments. So what they came out in the first half is what they're coming out in the second half. And NFL defenses, they'll adjust to what they see in the first half of a game.

You know what? I guessed that a while 30 minutes ago, and I guessed right. That was my takeaway. I said they need a mentor, a very patient mentor right now with this group because moody and prickly and eye roll and ain't going to work. This is a total work in progress. Trent and Dilfer. He's got a podcast Beyond the X's and O's with Trent Dilfer. It's great seeing you, man. Thanks, brother. You bet. So we guessed right on that. That was my takeaway is that they can't

score in the second half. They're fine on script, but Aaron doesn't trust them off script. Ad libing. You have to. This roster, you're never going to beat San Francisco, Philadelphia, Tampa when they're healthy, Minnesota. You know, you're not going to beat those teams saying, I'm only going to go on script. You've got to go off script. Jalen Hertz lives for it. Brady's best drive yesterday, his last one. Russell's best drive,

his last one. You can't just be a great team on script with design plays. So Aaron's talent's amazing, but it's like, dude, you got to get out of the bad body language, eye rolling stuff. Like, you've got to go back and back and back to these guys because you're basically, you know, you're going to be a playoff team in the NFC. You know you're going to make the playoffs. Carsheel.com code heard. Car breaks down. You have a plan.

You are protected. carshield.com slash heard. 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 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 ton-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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. 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. This is an IHeart podcast.

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