The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Blazing 5, Cowboys, NFL

Episode Date: September 23, 2022

Colin gives his Blazing 5 picks for the weekend The Cowboys are trying to stay relevant with their QB situation Only great QBs can overcome bad coaching   Guest: Eric ManginiSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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. 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 tauntons 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 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. 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 Heard 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. Hour 2, Friday live in L.A. It's the Herd, wherever you may be. and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. J-MAC had a sizzling week last week.

I went four-and-one. How did you do? With the headlines 9 and 3 through two weeks. Pretty good, so far. America. Decent. A couple of winners right here. The old Colin got rid of him.

There's some other radio hosts who do not do gambling well. They try to fake it. That doesn't work. We're talking about gambling during commercial breaks like every day. Every day. Yeah. So off a couple of winning weeks, it's an interesting week where you know I generally like points. I like underdogs.

Most fans bet favorites and star quarterbacks. I'm looking for points. Average game in this league decided by four and a half points. So here we go, my blazing five. That's a hot one. Let's blaze it up. Fire it up. It's Collins blazing five.

Eagles at commanders. Listen, I like Philly, but not giving the commander six and a half at home in a division rivalry. I'm taking Washington here. Carson Wentz revenge game. He's played great back-to-back 300 plus passing yard games. He's got nice white outs. I like Washington. This season, Carson Wentz has been excellent. He's tied for first in passing touchdowns, six in passer rating. The Eagles are coming off a short week. Their defense gave up 35 to the Lions. I think you can move the ball on Philadelphia. They come back down to Earth a little. I like them big picture, but six and a half points to Washington.

I'm calling for the upset. 27, 26, Wents and the commanders with the W. Jaguars at Chargers. How about another upset? I'm going to take the Jaguars plus seven. Their defense is top 10 in scoring, top 10 in total defense and takeaways. They'll put pressure on whoever the quarterback is for the Chargers. Trevor Lawrence finally found the right coach in year two.

He's playing great football, getting rid of it quicker. And Justin Herbert has a fractured cartilage in his ribs, three or four ribs. Day to day may not play. Their center, Corey Lindley, a pro bowler. Knee may not play. Keenan Allen, not 100%. J.C. Jackson, the corner, not 100%. Trey Pipkins, offensive linemen, not at 100%.

The banged-up chargers, they may just rest, Justin Herbert. You know, it's not a divisional game. I think the Jags plus sevens, the bet, 27, 23, Jacksonville with the upset. Falcons at Seahawks. One of my favorite bets of the week. Like it, I love it. Falcons plus one. First of all, they have two losses by a total of five points.

Marcus Mariotas, O's been good. He just can't stay healthy. He's been excellent so far. They're five and two dating back to last year when they face teams under 500. They can't beat the good teams. They beat the bad teams, though. And Seattle's a bad team. Drake London's been spectacular.

Marioita, he's one of three quarterbacks with 400 passing yards and 75 rushing yards this year. Lamar and Jalen Hertz of the others. Seahawks offense, they can't run the football. Gino Smith is 14 and 22 in his career. My favorite bet may be on the board, Falcons go to the Northwest. They stayed out west after losing to the Rams. They beat Seattle 2723. Packers at Buccaneers.

Keep your eye on this line. I'm going to take the bucks. It's currently minus one and a half. You know, I'm going to take Tampa here. It's their home debut. By the way, their defense forced five turnovers in the second half against the Saints, and their defense is absolutely healthy and on fire, and Todd Bowles is a great defensive coach.

The Packers have lost four of five road games. Their defense, God, the Bears gashed them. Six and a half yards of carry, so Green Bay's defense looks good on paper, but it's young in spots and not quite jelling. I think Tampa wins this game. Tommy pulls it out late, 28 to 21. 49ers at Broncos. All right, Jimmy G came in last week for T. Lance.

He looked good. Passer rating over 100, two TDs, no picks. I know you don't like him, but he distributes them all to their playmakers. On Sunday night football, he's played six times. He's won four of them, and his passer ratings 105. Their offense in San Francisco outrushing their opponents by 230 yards this year, and their defense has been absolutely fantastic. And the Broncos can't score in the red zone because Russell Wilson doesn't run around anymore.

They're 0 and 6 in red scoring opportunities. And they're the only team in the league with 100 plus penalty yards per game and their burning timeouts and situationally. They're a mess. And I think San Francisco has the second best roster in the league to Buffalo. pains me to say it, but I can't wait to watch it. I think San Francisco swallowing a point in a half, I'll take it. It may not be this close. 24-21-niners.

All right, let's bring on Eric Mangini. My guy, three rings with the New England Patriots, former Jet Head Coach, former Cleveland Brown Head Coach. You know, take me into the mind of what Mike Tomlin's thinking. So if you take out the George Pickens catch in a couple of tight-end throws when Cleveland's playing pre-vent defense, Trubisky threw about 130 yards. They lost to a backup quarterback with one one.

legitimate receiver, Amari Cooper. Now, it's on the road, but it's an indivision game. The players, you can see the body language of these receivers. They're like, they want the ball and Trubisky can't, he can't get it to him. Like George Pickens is an emotional kid. His hands are in the air and I think to myself, oh boy, we're about one more week from a locker room fissure that nobody wants. Take me into, is he thinking to himself, hey, I know I'm moving off Trubisky, but I don't want to have Pickett face. And then Tom Brady, that's going to be overwhelming because once I go to him, I'm going to him. What do you think Tomlin's thinking?

Well, it's a little bit more difficult just because Mitch Trubisky hasn't been horrible. He's been manageable. He hasn't been exciting. He hasn't been terrible. So it's not the easiest decision just to move off him right now because you don't know what you're going to get with Kenny Pickett. And there's going to be a learning curve when you're, when you put a rookie quarterback in, there's all kinds of things that you have to go through with a young guy

that you're not dealing with with Trubisky. Now, the upside is the unknown. You're hoping that Pickett's going to give your offense a chance to take a leap from where it's been the last couple of weeks, but there's just not anything compelling enough to make that change right now. All right. So Jerry Jones,

as he's prone to do, likes to talk. I would prefer if I was a coach not to have my owner be talking because then you've got to apologize or address what the owner said and this, it's not my, I'm not a fan of it, but it's his team. So Jerry said this about Cooper Rush. Listen. Wouldn't it be something if you had a dilemma as to which way you go? You do that if he gets 10 wins. Same thing that happened with Prescott. I think think like that. So you'd want that? You'd want that controversy? Of course I would. Okay. Of course that means we'd won. If it comes in here and played as well as Prescott played, Rush, played that well over these next games ahead. I'd walk New York to get that.

Oh, boy. Listen, I get wanting your backup to play well. I don't think I would tell everybody I'm looking for a quarterback controversy. How did that land for you? I don't mind. I actually don't mind and owner that talks because at least you know where he's coming from and you're not going to get you're not going to get side swiped by something out of the blue he's he's pretty transparent with how he feels and why wouldn't you want your backup quarterback to go in and do great things and have somebody like that on your bench quarterbacks are currency they're not going to move off of deck but if you get a great backup you potentially do something with him i don't think this is a Drew Bledso Tom Brady situation by any stretch of the imagination.

But it's always a good thing if your backup comes in and can win. I wonder about the 10 game thing. I thought Dak was going to be back here in the next week or so. Yeah. By the way, former Jets coach, Flack O'1, here comes Zach Wilson. And I said, I was not a huge Zach Wilson fan coming into the league, a little small, little hero ball. He's been hurting back-to-back years.

He's got a slight frame. So when Zach Wilson comes back in a week or two, how patient should the Jets be? When do you start having private phone calls driving home with the owner? They're going to have to be really patient if it continues along the same way that it has. I think Joe Flacko is at about a 90 quarterback rating, and he's experienced. He's won. He gives him a chance for deep balls. Things have gone fairly well.

so there's no guarantee that when you put Zach Wilson in, you're getting upside. If anything, you're really wondering about that. It's totally different than Kenny Pickett because you've got a year of information on him and he's coming off an injury. So the nice thing is you can let him sit longer, justify him sitting longer, as long as Flacco continues to play well and give him a chance. So listen, I'm not a coach, never been a coach. I've always said, I can't tell, you know, a good coach.

coach from a very good coach. I'm not in the, I'm not in the room. I, you know, I mean, I thought Belichick was amazing and then Tom leaves and it's not nearly as amazing. But I can see bad. I can watch American Idol and go, that person can't sing, right? I can go to a steakhouse. I can, I can open a bottle of wine. I don't know anything about wine, but I can open a bottle of wine and go, that's a lousy wine, right? So I'm watching Cleveland, and this is what concerns me. you coaches usually solve your side of the ball in the first year. Lincoln, Riley, Sean McVeigh, Sean McDermott. You figure out your side.

That's what you know. And I get that. What worries me about Denver is Nathaniel Hackett's an offensive coordinator, and they're terrifying situationally. They're burning timeout. And I'm like, with Russell Wilson and good backs and receivers, it's not supposed to look like this. I would get if the defense had hold.

shouldn't I be concerned that his side of the ball is looks disorganized and disjointed? Yeah, there's a lot of concern there. There's concern for the number of penalties. There's concern for the time management, for the delay of games, for all of those things. There's learning curves for coaches too, but you should be able to get the plays in on time on a consistent basis, especially with a veteran quarterback. He's got an unbelievable advantage to have a guy like Russell Wilson there. That's a coup if you're a first-time head coach to have someone like that.

So it should look substantially better than other rookie head coaches and not the opposite of that. And it didn't get better in week two. It's going to have to get a lot better here in week three before, you know, the people that are above him start. pulling some cords. Yeah. By the way, in that game, the Niners, they go back to Jimmy Garoppolo. So I was saying this earlier to Channing Crowder is I have defended Jimmy for years because I believe in San Francisco's offense.

They don't need somebody like, they need a distributor. Just get the ball to the guys. Kittle after the catch. Debo after the catch. Now Brandon Ayuk after the catch. The offense is, that's why he liked Mack Jones out of college. The offense is built. for a quarterback that's accurate and distributes.

He doesn't want, I mean, Lamar Jackson's obviously better than Jimmy, but he may not work in this offense because he's so gifted athletically that he would run out of place. Aaron does this from time to time. He just moves out of completions. And I look at San Francisco and I think, how do we, I mean, if Jimmy Garoppolo never been hurt, could I not argue he's almost perfect for this offense? Yeah, and when you look at his track record,

the track record says that he's almost perfect for this offense. And as a head coach and as an offensive coordinator, you want to be able to run the plays the way the plays are designed to be run. And you want to read the defense and you want to get the ball to the right place. And that's what makes guys like Tom, Brady and Peyton Manning and the ones that understand not only what you're doing offensively, but what's being done defensively so good. When it starts becoming recess and everybody's running around,

it's hard to evaluate how well you execute, how well the plan was that was put in place. So a guy like Jimmy allows this offense to run the way it's supposed to be. The downside is the lack of upside. And you're probably not going to get the explosive plays. He's not going to go win games for you. But for the most part, he's not going to lose games. And that's, look, so many games in the NFL are lost.

They're straight lost, not necessarily won. And he's been really good at, for the most part, not doing that. Yeah, I mean, if you believe your system is superior, what you don't want is somebody losing a game for you because you believe you have a 60-40 coaching edge. And so Jimmy doesn't have to save the day. Jimmy just does. So I get especially offensive coaches.

Like I get, I get, I really do believe McDaniels. and Shanahan believe this offense is going to win games. Just don't turn the ball over. It's going to beat 90% of this league most Sundays. If you play clear. They're 100% believe in their own abilities. They 100% believe in their offense. And the feeling is you go in and do what I tell you to do

and go through the progressions I give you. We're going to win. We're going to score a lot of points. Where we get into problems is when you go off script. Right. And that's what those guys don't want. All right, so Matt Castle said this week, he said, the Bill Belichick, I know, would not let Jacoby Myers go out and question the offense publicly.

The Bill Belichick, I know, has a plan. I can't figure out their offense. DC now, Matt Patricia, running the offense, Joe Judge. You know as management style. It's a little bit of an enigma wrapped in a riddle. Nobody can quite figure it out. You know Bill better than anybody I know. What do you kind of make of what they're going through right now?

Yeah, I heard you talking about. about Bill yesterday where he said that he changed. And I don't know many people in their 70s that change, if anything, they become more ingrained in what they believe in. Bill, Bill has not changed. There's been one comment from one guy. There wasn't comments before. There haven't been comments after. And you're not going to see, you're not going to see any more comments. That's been handled. That's been addressed. And there is a plan and there is a consistent plan. And I can promise you the money hasn't changed them. The fame hasn't changed them.

He's been wealthy since he was in Cleveland. So the additional money, it means nothing. And as you get older, you get more ingrained in what you believe in. There is no chance that that's changed. So you're saying as I get older, I'm just going to keep blabbing about sports and think I know everything. You are one. The money's not going to matter. The fame's not going to matter.

As you get older, you're going to keep doing what works. Yeah, rolling out of bed and having bad takes. Good seeing you, Eric. Have a great weekend. Good seeing you, too. All right. I'll give you my top five in college football around the corner. Like Michigan, way more than everybody else does. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app.

Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

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

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-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 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 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, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

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

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way.

Open your free, our heart radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. Tomorrow, a jam-packed day of college football on Fox kicks off with Maryland taking on number four Michigan on big noon Saturday. Then it's 15th ranked Oregon versus Washington State, followed by K-state and number six, Oklahoma. It's a college football triple header tomorrow on Fox. I like Michigan more than everybody else does. My top five in college football that I've seen my eye test. I think George is easily the best team in the country.

I think Oklahoma is the second best team I've seen. I think they're a little feistyer defensively. I think they're better so far than I've seen from Alabama. Alabama's offensive line concerns me. I think it's very average. Michigan, Ohio State, four and five. And I do think there's a drop-off from Alabama to Michigan and Ohio State. But I think a lot of people look at Michigan,

and that went over Ohio State as it was windy and cold and it was in Michigan. It's a one-off. I don't think so. I think Michigan now, they've had the power with Harbaugh. now they can throw it down the field and they have the power. And Bruce Feldman agrees that that win over Ohio State may have been sort of the ignition switch to change everything for the Wolverines going forward. Jay J. McCarthy is a better runner than Kaden McNamara, bigger arm. He has been really sharp.

He's completing well over 80% of his passes so far. The other thing that I think really helps him is they won the Big Ten championship last year without Ronnie Bell, who is their best receiver. he's back. The receiving core is much deeper. They have speed in the backfield with Blake Coram and Donovan Edwards. They're a dangerous team. To me, what's really interesting, having spent some time around the Michigan players and the staff going into the fall camp was they really felt like, hey, everybody thought last year was a fluke that we beat the Buckeyes. It was snowy. They were down. It was just awkward. They feel like there was nothing fluky about it. They have as big a chip on their shoulder now having beaten them.

as I think that group did last year because people said you couldn't beat them. So that's my top five. Georgia, Oklahoma, Alabama, Michigan, and Ohio State. Keep your eye on Kentucky. I think they're better than people think. Did you see Michigan is facing Tua's younger brother? He's the quarterback at Maryland. Michigan's favored by, I think, 17.

Well, they're going to score. I don't know what the over. I think those two teams are going to score. Michigan. There's a lot of points. Lay it with Michigan. Wolverines. Under on Michigan State, Minnesota.

Underrun everything Michigan State can't score. J-Mac with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, we talked about a little bit earlier. Mike Tomlin has made it clear he's not changing quarterbacks after the Steelers' loss. It makes sense, though, right?

They have 10 days off until the Jets, probably the most winnable game they'll have for the next month. But Trubisky is still in line to start against the Jets. Here's what he had to say about their inability to move the football last night. I think we just missed on some plays that we could have had, could have went either way. So especially in the second half, we'll have to look at those, see where we could have got better. And communication is crucial. On the sidelines, these next few days, communicate what we can get better at. Everyone just got to be brutally honest with themselves.

And I think everybody can be a lot better, myself included. And we'll just have to look at that, see where we can improve. But just stick together. It's only going to get better if we stick together, communicate, talk about the problems, and everybody's willing to fix it. Now remember, they have Buffalo's defense and Tampa's defense coming up. Okay, so the question becomes, when is Kenny Pickett going to get a shot here? We both know he's going to play.

But that Buffalo defense completely unraveled Matt Stafford. Okay. And then that Buffalo defense completely unraveled, very capable B quarterback Ryan Tannehill. And the Tampa defense, right now in the NFC is the number one scoring. defense. So what happens with Trubisky? Like last night, Miles Garrett is great, but you've got to be able to move the ball. That defense is not top two or three in the league. So the next two weeks, Tribisky is going to really, really struggle. And that's when I think you have to consider go with a kid. I know Trubisky's getting hammered and rightfully so. But I'm just going to say,

the offensive line is total garbage in Pittsburgh. So even when Pickett comes in, he's not going to have a chance, Colin. He's going to have to drop back two, three, steps and quickly go through the progressions. That's a big ask on a rookie. Chibisky's just not that dude. Let's look at the O line on this play. And wait. I mean, it crumbles on every single play. They got to roll him out to give him extra time because they can't protect at all. So this is a bigger issue than Trubisky. I don't think there's a quick fix, unfortunately, for Pittsburgh. All right. All right. Next up, undefeated Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins set for a big

AFC East Clash this weekend. Offenses are rolling, but the Bills' defense short-handed, a lot of injuries, and Sean McDermann has announced safety Micahide and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips are out on Sunday. Well, Micahide's a big loss. They have a lot of depth on D-line. Poir is the other safety who's very good, but listen, we saw what happened with Baltimore. Kyle Hamilton, the rookie from Notre Dame, was at safety. He had no clue what Waddle and Hill were doing.

They got lit up. You're talking about rookie cornerbacks in Buffalo and backup safeties in Miami against Hill and Waddle. I think we're going to see this line drop. I'm glad you did not take. the Buffalo Bills. Well, everybody, I think the public likes the bills, right? Yeah. I mean, it is going to be a high-scoring game. Bet the over, you know, put a house payment on the over, the over's going to hit. The question is, can Miami come in the back door or even win this outright? Think about this. The Jets and Bills could be tied for second in the AFC East behind Miami if the Dolphins win this game coming. Wow. I just blew your mind. I mean, Miami Dolphins. Seriously, first place potentially. All right. Final story here. The latest NBA player rankings have been

released by ESPN as voted by reporters, editors, producers, and analysts around the country. Listen, we could probably do 30 minutes on this nonsense later. Okay, let's look at it. Here we go. Let's throw it up here. LeBron James six. Well, let's go. Janus is one.

Yonis is one. I can kind of dig that. Yokic, the second best player in the NBA, like, come on, give me a break. Luca 3. M. I got to be honest with you. If you're asking me for everything, is this just got, you know. They're calling this player rankings.

I don't know. Is this a team? Are you building a team around Joel and B. Over Steph Curry? That's just nonsense. Can we agree that Yonis has won? One or two, sure. He's up there for sure.

Okay. See, Luca plays no defense. So I would probably go. See, you guys think I'm crazy. LeBron, when he's healthy, he's probably my two, Joel M. Bede's my three. Currie's my four. Joel Mbid has had a better supporting cast than Luca every year,

and he can't get to the conference finals, okay? Like, there's no way he's better than Luca Dodgers. The other name on here, John Morant, number nine. John Morant, the ninth best player in the NBA? Well, what do we do with Kevin Durant? Are we saying there's seven guys in the NBA you'd rather have the ball in his hands with a minute left than Kevin Durant? Because I think Kevin plays good defense.

So Kevin Durant's way, way low, way, way low. I think LeBron's low. I think Jason Tatum's too high. I think Nicole I think Nicola Yokic is too high. Yeah, Yolkich is too high. He's too high. But I mean,

Yonah is the best player in league. Minute to go. I'd go Durant LeBron. I mean, have the ball in your hands with a minute to go. I'll float a guy who's decent and not even on the list. Kauai Leonard. Well, he's never plays, but I love him. I mean, he's got to be on the top 10, Colin.

Kauai Leonard? Kauai Leonard is the movie that's been in production for three years and yet to come out. I hear it's great. I'd like to see it actually in a theater. He does miss a lot of basketball. Yeah, a lot of basketball. Who else?

Donovan Mitchell should have made this list? Oh, no, no. I'm kidding. That's a joke. Hold on, time out. My list is Janice, LeBron, Durant, Luca, Curry, Embed, and you guys can have the rest. Curry far down the list, huh? Steph Curry, the most underappreciated athlete in the history of sports this century.

This guy's incredible. He's unbelievable. And he watches this show, by the way. So shout out to Steph Curry. Where to go, Steph Curry. We got your back here on this show. We do indeed. Other shows, I turn them off right now.

Yeah. And that goes to the rest of America. Just turn them off. Jay Mack with the news. Okay, so I go, every week I go back to my predictions, my standing predictions. Last year, I got 7 of 7. No, it was two years ago. Seven to seven in the AFC, I guessed all the playoff teams.

So, I mean, basically, you look at a roster. You know who's bad. And you know who's got a good. quarterback. So, you know, AFC East, I had Miami Buffalo one and two. I feel good about that. I had Philadelphia, Minnesota, Tampa went in the division, feel good about that. I had Rams, Niners, top of the NFC West, feeling good about that. AFC South and AFC North, they're going to be fine. I mean, the Colts are off to a slow start. They may be a little chippy this week against Kansas City. Keep your eye on that. But the one prediction I've made, which I'm about two weeks

from bailing on is Denver. So I was very, very opinionated on Denver. I really like Denver because I like their roster and I like Russell Wilson. But here's the thing. Even a top 10 quarterback cannot, you think they can, but they can't overcome a complete disastrous head coach. A great quarterback can overcome limited weapons. How do I know that?

Because Brady won three Super Bowls in his last six years in New England on a steady diet of older Julian Edelman and beat up Gronk. You can overcome average weapons. A great quarterback can overcome a shaky defense. Peyton Manning in Indy and Aaron Rogers in Green Bay, very few great defenses. Patrick Mahomes won a Super Bowl. The Chief's defense was like 17th or 18th. But a disaster at head coach, hard to overcome.

Aaron Rogers, the last couple years with McCarthy, when it veered way downhill, went 8, 10, and 1, Aaron Rogers. Matt Stafford's very good with Matt Patricia, 13 wins, 21 losses and a tie. Alex Smith, for the record, do you know Alex Smith made three Pro Bowls? But remember when Mike Singletary was his first coach? We thought he was a bust. He was 8 and 12. He went on to make three Pro Bowls. So Russell Wilson won in high school, NC State.

He won at Wisconsin. He won in Seattle. He's overcome his size. He's overcome the critics. A lot of critics. I don't think you can overcome from what I've seen Nathaniel Hackett to this point. Now, it's early. You want to let it breathe, but it would be nice if Denver, as their offense struggles,

if you didn't have to face the best defense probably in the NFC. So situationally, they've been poor. They're burning timeouts, kicking 64-yard field goals. They didn't have a punt returner on the field. And you can really, in this league, because of the salary cap, there's no, nobody looks like the 70s Steelers or the 80s 49ers. Teams have flaws in holes. There's two places you can be weak at linebacker. Rams were last year. You can be weak in the O line. Bingles were last year. Got to a Super Bowl. You can be weak at tight end safety. You can be weak in a lot of areas. You can't be bad at

quarterback or head coach. And increasingly, you can't be bad at weapons. So Denver's good in the weapons department. But it's a little bit of a fatal flaw that I don't think, I don't think you can overcome if your coach doesn't. I mean, if you don't think coaches matter, we know in high school and college football, the coach is more important than all the players. Nothing against Tua or Mack Jones at Alabama. Nick Saban's one with eight quarterbacks, maybe 10. High school and college, it's the coach.

You get to the NFL, though, it's the quarterback and the coach, meaning they should be okay with Russell Wilson, but they won't be special. So you keep your eye on it. it is and I go back to something that it feels obvious to say it but generally in my lifetime college or pro a coach solves his side of the ball first. McVe figured out the offense Lincoln Riley at USC's figured out the offense. McDermott in Buffalo figured out the defense if you go back to Belichick in New England first five years he figured out the defense then Brady was a game manager then Brady about year 10, it started being about Tom and the offense as much as the defense.

But great coaches, Andy Reed, Kansas City, they get the offense figured out. But when a coach is an offensive guy and the offense is a disaster and we can see it optically. I mean, watch the game. You can see it. I don't know. It may just be we hired the wrong guy. 70% of coordinators get fired.

And you can get fooled. I thought Joe Judge for a year. I bought into him. you can get fooled on this stuff. This is one of these. It's got a tire-fire sense to it like, wow. If I see that for two more weekends, because you can't fool the players.

The players are reading all the stuff. They're hearing about it too. This weekend, now you face this defense in San Francisco. If they unravel the Broncos and just it's unraveled, it's very hard to throw on the Niners, excellent secondary back end, and they put pressure on you. Do you remember when Adam Gaze got a bunch of head coaching offers.

Peyton Manning was hyping him everywhere. Oh, this guy's a genius. He's going to be a great coach. Peyton Manning sold everybody on him. Adam is now coaching like high school football, I think, in upstate New York. No, Adam, I trusted Peyton Manning and a couple people I knew that thought, oh, he's special. And all of a sudden you look up and he may have been special offensively, but he couldn't lead men. There you go.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeartRadio app. He's by Carmen. I'm Dan Byard. We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, we come up with new episodes to not only look back at what happened, what you need to do at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world. That's right, Dan. Every week we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup. Sit, starts, fantasy football players' rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Harmon and me, Dan Byer, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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

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

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay 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's big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that. sentence.

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

Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests, I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

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

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

pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search, Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Fox Pet Super 6 is upping the ante this week and increasing the jackpot to $1 million. They've already given away over $6.5 million. So make sure you download the app and enter your picks in the NFL Sunday, challenge contest for a chance to win Terry Bradshaw's money. Colin, one of the matchups is America's game of the week between the Packers and the Bucks on Fox. We are on different sides here. I'm riding with your, can I say enemy?

You guys are enemies. No, it's not an enemy thing. It's a Aaron's great. I like him more than FARV, especially now when I hear about FARV post-retirement, but I was always an Aaron guy over a FarrV guy. I think he plays smarter football and, you know, I think he's a, you know, I I think he's a thoughtful guy. I don't always agree with him. I'm not anti-Aaron, but, you know, he talks a lot. A lot of it's not right. A lot of nonsense, too.

There's a lot of nonsense. I'm smarter than you. Yes. Like, you meet a guy at a dinner party. You're sitting next to a dinner. And like five minutes in you realize, man, this is just not a guy I want to hang with. That's right. He's not a good hang.

Like, I don't think Rogers is a good hang. But I agree with that. Unless he's doing, you know, some of these plant-based. Yeah, yeah, there you go. Well, he said this week, these are not drugs. They're all plants, although heroin comes from poppy seeds and Coke from a coca plant, and vodka from distilled potatoes. So my son now wants to just drink bottles of potatoes.

Anyway, so Dallas is an underdog. They're going to a backup quarterback Cooper Rush. Again, he's won his last two starts. Dallas is the underdog to the Giants, and the Giants have been mostly bad for, you know, nine of the last 10 years. So, you know, I get asked this all the time. Why do you talk to the Dallas Cowboys? And I say, you know, first of all, the NFL by far and away is the most popular league.

They're the number one brand. And they haven't been terrible. They're always kind of viable. I don't like them as much as, you know, Skip or other people in the media. I don't think I talk about them that much. I think Philadelphia going forward is going to be a big topic of conversation. I talk a lot of Brady. I talk a lot of Green Bay.

I used to talk a lot Baker. You know, the Cowboys because of Jerry Jones, they're newsmakers. Jerry did it again yesterday, creating a potential quarterback controversy. Jerry creates storylines. and we talk about popular teams and storylines. Here was Jerry yesterday. Wouldn't it be something if you had a dilemma as to which way you go? You do that if he gets 10 wins.

Same thing that happened with Prescott. I think like that. So you'd want that? You'd want that controversy? Of course I would. Of course that means we'd won. If it comes in here and played as well as Prescott played, Rush, played that well. over these next games ahead.

I'd walk New York to get there. Yeah, I mean, he wants Cooper Rush to play well. It is, I do believe Jerry does care about winning, but I think it's neck and neck with marketing and branding, which he's brilliant at. And I think the relationship needs to be 90-10 on the winning thing. That's what I feel in Buffalo or Kansas City. You know, I've said this before.

One of the advantages that Green Bay has, has and New Orleans has and, you know, Buffalo has. And some of these smaller markets, they're not big major glamorous markets. And you can just kind of concentrate on football. Both New York teams are in the toilet. I mean, let's be honest about that. Dallas is, you know, that's a big market. Atlanta's a big market.

A lot of the big market teams aren't very good right now. Atlanta's not. Dallas isn't. The two New York teams aren't. Chicago isn't. And sometimes I feel like in these big cities, these glamour markets, is that, you know, winning's important. Everybody wants to win, but it's like a 60-40 split. There's so much money to be made if the marketing is great.

And I think Dallas is, I mean, like Mike McCarthy talked this morning about Jerry's comments, they don't even take them seriously. You know, clearly everybody in our locker room and everybody in the building, Jerry included, you know, Dak is our quarterback and we want Cooper to be as, successful as possible. So I think it stopped right there. And Zeke, by the way, doesn't take it seriously. He's figured out Jerry's game, which is get people talking about you.

This is really people on TV to get clicks to get views. You're going to say the most outrageous stuff. You're going to get the most attention. That's their job. So who knows they even believe that? He wants to be clicking and listen to him, too. It's all marketing, man. It's all marketing.

Yeah, but you'd prefer your own or not talking, not having a Monday press conference. And again, I've seen this in the NBA where like the Los Angeles Lakers. I'm not saying they don't want to win, but there's a lot of egos. Like right now, there's a feeling inside the organization. Just give up the two draft picks down the road and go get a good player. Go get a Miles Turner and a buddy heel. Just give the draft picks up. But there's a sense there's some stubbornness going on.

Jeannie Buss felt like she was co-worked. into getting Westbrook, which has been a disaster. So she doesn't want to reward LeBron with more good players. She wants to hold on to the future, which you got to win. L.A. is too distracted and busy. If you can win now, win now. You got LeBron for the next several years, at least two. Just go get players.

So I think in these big cities, the Bears and the New York teams and the Dallas Cowboys and the Lakers, there is so much money when it's right. There's so much fame and glamour and money when it's right. right that the marketing starts creeping up into the culture, not overtaking winning, but being too big a slice of the pie. And I think Dallas now, you know, it's not that the NFL could not overcome the Cowboys being awful. Peyton Manning left, ratings are still great.

Brett Farve left, the ratings are still great. Brady left, the ratings would be fine. That's not really what it is. But they are, I talk more Lakers than I do 90% of, you know, outside of the Warriors, I probably talk more Lakers. Outside of maybe Green Bay and Rogers and Brady, I talk more Cowboys. They are big brands. And Dallas is not terrible. But you can't look at that operation and look at Kansas City and see the same thing. Like, I just don't. You can't. We've been talking about the Cowboys offensive line eroding for three years. Now it's a catastrophe. Three years, it's like Pittsburgh. We told you three years ago. Ben,

Can't move. Like, you got to start moving off Ben. Pittsburgh waited. Dallas O line. Tyron Smith can't stay healthy. You got to start drafting left tackles here. And they waited, and it's a catastrophe. This league, it's like tech.

The NFL moves fast. You can go from good to not very good to bad, like in two off seasons. You can get bad really fast. You can also, by the way, replace about 35, 40% of your roster. I mean, Bill Parcells went down to Miami, and they were one in 15. the next year they won 11 games. I mean, it was, you know, he just replaced the middle and bottom of the roster. So you got to stay on top of stuff.

And I feel like with Pittsburgh, they're living a little in the past, holding on to the past and defense. And I feel like Dallas, a lot of these problems, you overpaid for a running back. The smart people in the league weren't. You didn't draft the offensive line aggressively a couple of years ago. You kind of waited on deck. If you wanted deck, you should have paid. them probably a year to a year and a half earlier. These are all self-induced issues.

And now you've got an owner who's stirring the pot and, you know, distracting. So these are not, like sometimes you get a bad break. Like Aaron Rogers, if he got hurt Sunday, that's a terrible break. But I think Green Bay's problem, most of the problems in this league are your own problems. Right. Like Aaron Rogers, Devonte Adams. They didn't have a good enough relationship. I mean, Brady is like taking his receivers to Costa Rica to the Kentucky.

to the Kentucky Derby. He didn't have guys leaving him. Aaron didn't build a strong enough relationship, and Devana Adams left him. That's kind of a Green Bay Aaron Rogers problem. This is one of these leagues where most of the time, it's not like the NBA where if Kevin Durant goes down, there's nothing you can do.

You can, outside of losing your quarterback, you can solve and see most of the problems coming. I mean, you get seven, eight draft picks a year, free agent, you know, the salary cap, there's plenty of space unless you're paying your quarterback 50 million a year. you can solve problems. Dallas's issues are Dallas. Dallas induced.

Start to finish. Carsheel.com, 10% off. Sign up, 100 bucks a month, never goes up. Carsheel.com. Code heard. 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, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter 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 is,

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 IHeart 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 bowl 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 you're 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 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 Podcast, 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, guaranteed human.