The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Blazing 5, hope, Kelly

Episode Date: December 10, 2021

Colin's new Blazing 5 picks for the weekendThere's a lot of hope in the NFLWill Chip Kelly go back to Oregon?Guest: Zach Ertz Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. Now let's get this party started. Opening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. Live in L.A. It's the herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio FS1. Joy Taylor from Pittsburgh and I.

I'm not from Pittsburgh. She is. She's going crazy. I tried to be, last night when Chase Claypool did the point first down thing, I was literally beside myself. And I thought, no, I can't just blame him. The run defense was pathetic. the center wouldn't snap the ball. You know, I always think they're young kids. Don't be angry old guy yelling at kids.

But I was comforted to know that it drove you more crazy than me because I, it's like, dude, you don't have timeouts, two-minute drill. You can't waste a second. Not a second. I don't. First down. I was calling the game last night. So I could go back and look at what my in-the-moment reaction was.

There's no, there's not, I don't, I don't have that. I've been searching for the words to describe how absolutely, it's not even, it's this crazy. It's madness. It's insanity. You're in the middle of a football game. The other thing is whether or not it won or lost the game is not relevant. No. You would not see a Patriot player do that.

No. That cannot be allowed in your football culture. Period. It's, it's a little bit on Tomlin. This is one of, my knock on Tomlin's always been. It's very Pete Carroll. It's a little loose. my taste. Like I like stuff buttoned up.

First thing I thought after I went, what are you doing was that Belichick, you'd never see a Belichick player do that. I don't think you would see that on a lot of teams. It's just, I mean, obviously the first example that everyone points to is Larry Fitzgerald. Yeah. Because he's spectacular in those situations. But it just, it's, I don't have the words. Like, it is a, you have no time out. It's one thing if a guy, if it's like, you know, you messed up. Like, okay, you didn't get out of bounds. Like, you made the It's a lot going on. You didn't quite get out of balance.

Okay. But celebrating? That's self-inflicted. That's not situational. That's self-inflicted. And by the way, it's an ego maniac move that think you're more important. It's situational, no self-awareness. It's all ego.

And probably most of the people defending him have ego. What are you celebrating? It was beyond comprehension. I don't know. All right. All of our odds provided by Fox Bet Sportsbook off a winning week. Been picking better of light. Here we go.

That's a hot one. Let's blaze it up. Fire it up. It's Collins blazing fire. Ravens and Browns. Browns minus three. I got it at two and a half. The line is not as good as it was a few days ago, but I still like Cleveland.

First of all, they're more desperate, they're healthier, and they're coming off a buy. And Lamar Jackson, this happens, asked Patrick Mahomes. He's in a slump. Since week 12, against the Brown's week 12, and they've done very well against him, Cleveland. And they're healthier now. They've had his number. the Ravens under 20 points in four straight games and they have fallen apart physically. Ronnie Stanley, Marcus Peters, Marlon Humphrey, Deshawn Elliott, Derek Wolfe.

This defense is falling apart. John Harbaugh acknowledged that in the Steelers game. So I get a well-coached team, healthier, more rest, more desperate. I like the Browns. I'll swallow the points 2723. Giants at Chargers. Love the Giants, love them plus nine and a half. Mike Glennon's going to play.

Listen, I don't care if they win or lose. That's not what we're talking about here. The Giants in their last six games are four and two against the spread because nobody thinks they can play. They can keep games close. They've held their opponents to 20 or fewer points in five of their last six games. If you look at their defense, they take the ball away, multiple takeaways in five of their last eight games since week seven to top five defense.

And the Chargers are dealing with COVID issues. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Chris Harris, and five of the seven wins this year by the Chargers are by six or fewer. Last week's a prime example. They almost let Cincinnati back into this thing. I don't like the Chargers rush defense or their situational third down defense. I think the Giants keep it close. I'll take the nine and a half.

Chargers win. I don't think I've lost the Charger game this year. Chargers win, but it's going to be competitive. 49ers at Bengals. Now, the 49ers are favored now. I loved them as underdogs. I like them here. It's my weakest pick, but I like him here.

Here's why. They've outgained their last four opponents. Okay, they're starting to get healthy. They're running the football. And their offense is the best red zone offense in the league. This is amazing. They've scored a touchdown on 76% of the red zone drives. That means they can finish on third down.

They can push you back. The defense is starting to play well, multiple takeaways in the last month. But here's the key. Cincinnati's getting sloppy. Joe Burrow is hurt. They've had multiple games offensively with a turnover or more for Cincinnati. Joe Burrow leads the NFL, and I like Joe. He's got 14 picks, 16 giveaways.

That's more than anybody in the league right now. And now he is hurt. I think the Niners, I like them more as underdogs. I'll swallow the two here. I'll take the 49ers to win 28, 23, a more physical football team that won't make the big mistake in a very close game. Bills and Buccaneers. I love Buffalo plus three.

In fact, I got them at three and a half. If you wait, I think it could go up to three and a half or four. You're all selling your bill stock. Give it all to me. I'm buying it. I think they go on a heater. They're four and oh after a loss this year. Folks, their defense is still exceptional.

Number one total defense, number two scoring defense, every analytic, every point per game, yards per game, opposer passer rating. First up and down the board. Josh Allen, 4-0 with multiple touchdown passes after every loss. And by the way, Brady, we love him. Five straight games, one or more turnover. They're getting a little sloppy. This game, you have a proud good football team that was mocked, made fun of, laughed at,

ripped by their own media. So was their coach. The bills are going to play their best game of the year. And I think they're going to whack Tommy and the table. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 3423. Rams at Cardinals. You know, Vegas guys are back and forth on this. It's a numbers game.

I get Arizona minus two and a half at home. I'm going to take him with that number. I like it. They're one of two teams, Bill's the other. Top five scoring, top five defense. Kyler Murray this year, the kid's incredible. His completion percentage is 73%. You can't stop him off strip.

I think he's incredible. I don't know what you do to defend this kid when he's healthy. I mean, I like Russell Wilson. There's things he does that Russell can't. do. The Rams are a little overinflated, in my opinion. Six of their eight wins have come with teams with losing records. In fact, they haven't beaten a team with the winning records since week three. They don't have Robert Woods. So now they're a little, they're asking Van Jefferson to be Robert Woods. He's young. He's not. I just think they're overvalued. I think this line should be much bigger,

like Arizona minus four. And the Rams, by the way, to show you they're overvalued since week seven, the Rams are one and five against the spread. They're overvalued by the public. I like them. I just don't love them. In Arizona at home, I'm going to take them to win by 10. Close game throughout. Pull away late, 34, 24. All odds provided by Fox Bet Sportsbook. So there you go. I got the favored Browns, the dog giants, the favored Niners, the dog bills, and the favored Arizona Cardinals. I really like these picks. San Francisco, I loved them as a favorite. I like them. I loved them as a dog. They opened up. Niners opened up

getting points. Now I got to give two, but I'm fine at that number. At three, I'd probably pass, but I like that number. And Joe Burrell has just gotten a little mistake prone. So there you go. Mike McCarthy, I don't think this is a big deal. You know, coaches talk all the time. You ask coaches questions, they give you answers. If I was literally doing an NFL coach, and I went to the microphone 40 to 50 times a year. I'd say something stupid. Wouldn't we all? So Mike McCarthy made a little promise about the Washington game this weekend. Here it is. You know, we're going to win this game. I'm confident in that. I mean, what am I supposed to say? Yeah. I mean, I fully expect to win every game I've ever competed in. I mean, that's what sports is all about. That's what the NFL. I trust

me, I understand how hard it is. Yeah, we're clearly playing on going to, you know, to Washington to win the game. I mean, there's no doubt about that. All right. I don't think that's a big deal. I don't think that's a big deal at all. I think what is a big deal, and it does worry me because I like Dack, is that it's one thing to be better when you have a good run game. Every quarterback is. It's another to be reliant on it. Dak Prescott, in his career, is 43 and 14, what he has a 100-yard-plus run support. He's 6 and 17. Without it, mostly wins over crappy teams. So, Dak is 0 and 4 this year when the Cowboys have less than 100 yards. That's why I always said, I would struggle to give Dak the big bag. There's the big bag, that's 40 million. There's the medium bag. That's

29 to 32. And then there's like what Teddy Bridgewater makes, the small bag. They're all rich. But this is why. This is not a referendum on what Mike McCarthy said. This weekend, Tony Pollard's not 100% and either is Zique. So you're going to need DAC to play well. Now, the good news is that Amari Cooper is ready to go. And DAC's numbers are also very reliant at times on the health of Amari Cooper. So I do like Dallas. Dallas is a better team.

They're the only team ranked in the top 10 in both passing and rushing this year. The problem this weekend, they won't have the rushing. So they're also, their defense is nine takeaways last. four games. And Taylor Heineke, to me, is pretty marginal. So I think their defense is going to get, you know, it will make plays this weekend. But the story is not what Mike McCarthy said. The story is the concern over DAC is that Aaron Rogers is always better with a great defense. He's not reliant on it. He got to back-to-back NFC championships without a great defense. Andrew Luck was better when he had a great defense, which he never did. But he got to the

AFC championship without it. There's a big difference. Every quarterback's better with a run game. Dax numbers are wildly skewed when he doesn't have it. So that's the story of the weekend. By the way, Dack doubled down on McCarthy's guarantee for those wondering. Yeah, I agree. No, it doesn't put us in a bad spot. I mean, obviously if you're preparing for this game, you're Dallas Cowboy, if you're a fan, you expect to go in and win each and every game. So I don't think he's said anything different than everyone in this build in Staltz. He just voiced it. So now we've got to. got to make sure that we're accountable of our words.

And I think that's all that is, is a coach setting the tone for the week. Yep, I feel the exact same way. 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 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.

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Open your free, I Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. You know a game I'm interested to watch this weekend? And I think I know the outcome. I think Green Bay is going to beat Chicago. But it's like I want to see Justin Fields play. This is a big game. Cold weather, on the road, Aaron Rogers, Lambeau Field.

Like, I think one of the strengths of the NFL, it's the League of Hope. I mean, right now, 13 of 16 AFC teams are not only viable. They're very viable. 12 of 16 NFC teams are very viable. I mean, the Detroit's not. Houston, Jacksonville, not. Everybody else, almost everybody else falls into a very viable. Whereas this morning I went and looked at the NBA,

and there's like seven to eight teams. Indiana is 11 and 16, but there's already rumors at the trade deadline. They're going to move people, Miles Turner, whoever. They're like seven, eight teams. We're two months from the trade deadline. And there's like eight teams out of it. It's like you got 25 teams very much into it. Like last night, Pittsburgh losing.

If you're a Cleveland Brown fan, you've got to be rooting it. against Pittsburgh. It's like, I look up this morning, Pittsburgh's 6-6-1, Cleveland 6-6-0, Cleveland beats Baltimore. Now Pittsburgh's in last place. I mean, these games are so crucial at this time of the year. Joy with the News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. Well, speaking of Pittsburgh, Chase Claypool led the Steelers in receiving yards last night, eight catches for 93 yards, had some incredible catches.

Oh, he's a great player. But made some incredible mental errors as well, most notably when he celebrated first down catch when the team needed to spike the ball to save time. Ben Rathesberger talked about it and said he doesn't think he should be the one to talk to Claypool about these mistakes. That's not really my job. I mean, that's, to me, that goes up to Coach Tomlin.

That's what he needs to do. That's his job as the head coach. It's not as the quarterback. It's my job to help manage what we do on the field and getting first downs and trying to score. dealing with player issues and whatever else you want to say. That's the coach's job, not mine. Now, people go back and forth on this.

So the downside to Ben going to Claypool, Claypool's immature. How will he take it? What if he takes it poorly? Does it disrupt their harmony or communication? Like, by and large, I like, if I had a problem with you, I just come up and talk to you. Correct. Right. Like, that's how I would do it.

But my question is, what if the player's emotional, immature? Young. Like, look at him get, look at how upset Claypool was. Not only did he do the first down thing, look how upset he gets with the center of the Steelers who's like, dude, give us the ball. His ego is just out of control. Look at him. He's still furious. I don't want to overreact to it, but it's one of the craziest things I've ever seen, like, in sports. It's crazy. It is crazy that you would be celebrating in that situation, like that that is where your mental state would be. He said that he tried to defer some blame, which makes it even worse to me, that you're not completely apologetic.

And just like, I was totally outside of myself, totally wrong, no excuse whatsoever. He said that the ref wouldn't have been there to hand the ball to before his celebration anyway. And then Trey Turner knocked it out of his hands. Like, in that moment, you're, you should be hyper-focused. He should be sprinting back to give it to the ball to the ref. And it's only three or four, it's not maybe- Five seconds. I know, I know, it is something.

That's an additional play. There's no question. And there's a lot of defenders of them. It's like, stop. No, he's not the reason they lost that game. That's right. That is, I don't like when anything comes down to one singular play. They were down 29 nothing.

So he's not the reason that they lost that game by any means. But that does not absolve you in any way of making a mental error of that magnitude. And I don't even like to call it a mental error because it's really an ego error. And I can pick apart what Ben said and like it's Ben's responsibility or not. So I'll just speak from my own personal experience and who I am as a person, and I think you just alluded to it. I don't care if you're emotional. If we're on a team together, you have to function a certain way in order for us to win. Yeah, I would hope so, yes.

And if you don't like what I have to say, by the way, when you are 100% wrong, that's what it is. I don't care if you don't like what I have to say. But with enormous – Chase Claypool has got an enormous sense of importance. It's hard to break through that. I mean, listen. Right. Maybe it is.

And maybe Ben's saying something to him will go right over his head and he won't paying any attention to it. But if I'm Ben, I've got to say something to him. It's not a matter of like if he's going to absorb it. I can't control how people absorb what I say. Yeah. But I got to say it. And that is just a crazy situation.

Now, Ben's not totally wrong. It is on Mike Tomlin as well. Because to me, when people act a certain way under leadership, it tells you they're allowed to. They're allowed to. And in. some ways, it shows how much respects you have for that leadership. Because there's no way Mike Tomlin tolerates that. There's no way that he, I mean, he talked about it because

Chase Claypool was asking for music and practice. And Tomlin was very clear about it. I'm the one in charge. You play the game. I mean, that's a good point. Chase Claypool's the player last week that said the key to the team is more music at practice. I mean, I can't. I just, I can't relate to that at all. It's literally generationally, I can't relate to it. Okay. The music and practice thing, I could go either way on. Yeah. But that's not the point. If you're not asked for music and practice,

how about you not celebrate during a two-minute drill with no timeouts and cost your team five seconds? And then you lose the game. Like that's how you're going to get criticism for that. And it's deserved. Now who's going to address it? Who knows? But that to me is a reflection of you behave a certain way.

You've worked at places where people just disregard who's in charge. Oh, yeah, yeah. And you've worked at places where they don't. Yeah. And for me, it comes down to, in some cases, fear, but it's also respect. So, O'Dell is only three games into his Rams career, but he's already averaging more receiving yards per game and has more touchdowns with L.A. than he had earlier this season with Cleveland.

So Matthew Stafford said on The Rich Eisen's show that he has been impressed with how O'Dell has adapted to the Rams' offense. What he's been able to do in a short period of time, as far as understanding what we're trying to do and accomplish offensively is pretty impressive to me. I didn't know what the, you know, what kind of exposure you had to an offense like this, and truthfully, didn't have much, you know, verbiage-wise or anything like that, that was much carryover. But he's done a great job kind of just jumping in.

Well, this is a very, very, very, very big game for the Rams. They are Cardinals are two and a half-point favorites, according to Foxbat. Aaron Donald said he's treating like this game, like a playoff game. Yeah, no, it's a big deal. Now, now, they're the only division. The NFC West is the only division where the second-place team is a good team. team. And the third place team, San Francisco, is also a good team. So Seattle's still in the playoff hunt. I wouldn't classify them as a good team. But I mean, this matters because of the

division. This is not a winnable game if you're in almost every other division in the NFC. In fact, every other division. But in this division, it's huge for the Rams. Here's the thing about the Rams, though. I just, I'm not, I'm not, they did what they were supposed to do against Jacksonville. Right, right. So it's like, oh, like, are the Rams back on track? like they beat Jacksonville in the way that they should have beaten Jacksonville. But they got pushed around by the Packers, the Niners, and the Titans. Yes, it's a real thing. And they beat the Texans and they beat the Lions and they beat the Giants.

They beat everybody they should and often soundly. That's never the quite. They beat the bad teams and usually soundly. So what does that mean? That means you're above average team. That's exactly what they are. But they're not special. Arizona's special.

So if you beat the Cardinals, then we're having different conversations. Yes. And that's why I don't like them. this, that's why I like Arizona this week. But also Arizona is really good. So before the season, speaking of that division, a big topic of conversation was Russell Wilson's future with the Seahawks, whether he wanted a trade.

Well, this week, rumors about which teams he would accept in a trade started up again, mostly because of how they're playing. And he strongly denied them, saying he's only focused on his team right now. That's not in my head right now at all. I didn't say that either. So, you know, I'm focused on what we're doing here. Obviously, I love Seattle. This is a place that I've loved every day, every moment.

Hopefully I get to play here for 20 years in my career. Will that happen? I don't know. But that's my prayer. That's my hope. You know, all that stuff's in the future. You know, that stuff's down the road. I think my mission and my focus that I can only do right now is focus on right now today.

And for the record, he was great last week. He was actually last week better than his stats. He completed like 80%. His one pick should have been a touchdown. So, like last week, so he's gone, Stioch stink. He comes back. He's clearly not healthy. Seattle's bad.

Last week was the first week. You're like, okay, because if you go back to the first two games when he came back, and you didn't see it every play, but you could see the grip on the ball. Like stuff would, he would miss easy stuff badly. He clearly rushed back. Yeah. It's like when the Cleveland quarterback, who I won't mention, when he was beat up and I defended him on the air, I said, okay, he may not be my favorite quarterback,

but on a slant when he misses by seven yards, he's not healthy. Yeah, but the thing about that part of it is that if you're so injured that the injury is going to hinder your ability to play and therefore hurt the team, should you be out there? Because guys play through injuries all the time. Yeah, I know. But if you are so injured that you're now a liability. I really believe Seattle schematically is outdated. Ken Norton's stuff. The offense is fine.

I think he's got a real decision on his hands because if you look at, you know, we all think Pittsburgh's the answer, but their offensive coordinator, they've run through them in Pittsburgh. So that I still, I'll say. Pittsburgh's the answer for us? No, no, I don't think it is. I think the answer is New Orleans. I think New Orleans has picks.

I think New Orleans has, they have players. Seattle's in a rebuild. They just don't want to admit it. and New Orleans could give them a top corner, a top line. If you gave me DeMario Davis the linebacker, well, they already got Bobby Watt. Demario Davis is insane. If you gave me Ramzick, their offensive linemen maybe,

and a couple of picks, and maybe there's, New Orleans has gifts to give Seattle beyond picks for Russ. The question is, then what does Seattle have at quarterback? Right, which is why if I'm Seattle, I'm not even entertaining it unless Russ makes me. me do it. But Russ signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension in 2019 that goes through 2023. And he has a $32 million cap hit this season, which is the highest in the NFL, and it'll be the sixth highest next year at $37 million. So I think it really just depends on how the rest of the

season goes. There's favored by nine this weekend against the Texans, according to Foxbet. Then they're at the Rams, then the Bears, lions, and then at the Cardinals. So I'm not saying they need to win out. But if they can get this back on track, kind of end the season on a bit of a high I note, everyone's a little more cheery or hopeful, at least, then maybe they move forward and make some adjustments. But what I do know, Russ can say all of that, and I do believe him. And I don't think he's thinking about this at all right now. No, I agree.

I think he's thinking about the season. But Russell Wilson's too talented to play out the rest of his career in a place that's not going to be able to put the right pieces around. Listen, when you get a Kyler Murray, when you get a Russell Wilson, okay, smaller guys move a little. You got to strike on the iron's hot. You've got to get them the right coach, Cliff Kingsbury. You've got to get them the right coordinator. You don't have, you know, there's a lot of these guys, Brady doesn't get hit anymore. But when you got a little bit, a little bit, like Kyler, they get maybe dinged a little

little bit more. Then you got to, you don't look at it as a 12-year timeline, look at it as a six-year timeline to me. And with that, Joy, with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. You know, there are players in professional sports.

that are stars and we know it. And then there are players that are stars, but maybe because of position, time, the team they're on, the region they're in, you just don't realize how great they are. The NFL record, for most receptions ever by a tight end in NFL history,

is held by Zach Ertz. In fact, since he entered the league, only Travis Kelsey with Andy Reid has more catches. And in week seven, he was traded to Arizona. and immediately, not a shock, Stanford guy, immediately made an impact. He is now joining us live. Arizona hosts a Seahawks or the Rams, excuse me, on Monday.

You know, it's interesting, Zach, you got traded midseason. And when you did, I'm like, oh, my God, what a pickup by Arizona. That's incredible. He's been in big games. And so I always think when a guy gets traded, he's like, okay, you got to give him a month. You got to give him three weeks. And if I recall, first week, you had catches, second week, was the offense, Easy was it your years in the league?

What made it so accessible to you to pick it up quickly and produce? I mean, I think first and foremost, I had a lot of people that helped me out. It wasn't like I was out here studying by myself. I had a lot of great coaches and teammates that would literally stay after with me and just be able to put in the work with me. And so it was not a product of myself. I played in Philly on Thursday night. I flew Friday to Arizona.

And then ever since then I was trying to learn the offense. and then the first game was against the Texans, and then we play the Packers four days later on Thursday night football. Obviously, I feel like I understand schemes. It's not like we're running anything that I've never run before. It's just the different names of formation, different names of plays. So there's been a lot of help. It's not by myself, and it's been a lot of fun to be out there.

You know, Zach, you're playing with a quarterback now. The comp is Russell Wilson, where he's very good off script. He's very clever. As a tight end, they always say tight ends are a, or a young quarterback's best friend, which you are, but he's a different quarterback. There's not a lot of stuff in the world playing like Kyler Murray. Is there, what's the benefit? What are the challenges to a highly hyper-athletic mobile quarterback?

Yeah, I think that is what people on the outside, how they view Kyler. And if I'm being honest, that's how I viewed him before I came here, that he was a guy that made a lot of plays off script, that didn't play a lot from the pocket. and in my experience, he uses his feet as a luxury. He's not going out there each and every play, be like, hey, I'm a scramble. He wants to play football from the pocket. And I've been so impressed with him as a passer,

being able to stand in the pocket and make plays as a true quarterback that I was not expecting when I got traded out here, if I'm being honest. And he is a great quarterback. He's probably the most talented player I've ever been around. There's nothing on the football field he can't do, and he's a really good leader. So it's been a joy to play with him and with Cliff out here calling the shots.

So it's been a lot of fun for me. You know, Cliff is a fascinating guy. You're in a division now. You've got, you know, you got McVeigh's an offensive guy. Kyle is and Cliff, and they're all different. They're all totally different coaches. Give me a little secret sauce. Like, how is Cliff different than offensive coaches you've had, Zach?

Well, I mean, I've had three really offensive coaches in my career. I've had Coach Kelly, Coach Peterson, and now Cliff. And Cliff wants to, he's, the offense is the most different than anything I've been a part of. Obviously, Chips was a little different, but Cliffs is just very different than anything I've been a part of. Just in terms of formationally playing fast, putting us in positions to be successful, he solely believes in his players. And he wants us to go out there and play fast and put on a show. And I think that's why all of us love playing for him because he wants to score as many points as possible. He wants to put his foot on the gas each and every play and make the deep.

defense respect us. And so it's been a blast learning from him and just seeing how he dials up the games. He's got a really good feel for what to call, when to call during the game. Obviously, the game plans are great, but they don't really mean anything if you don't call it when they're supposed to be calling. He's been able to dial it up. He's got a great feel. I think playing the quarterback position obviously helps him being a head coach. And so it's just fun to be a part of it. We've got so much talent on this offense. We got D'Andre Hopkins, A. A.J. Green, Kirk, Rondale Moore, myself and then you got a quarterback like Kyler it's just a lot of fun yeah James Connor the running backs as well it you know it is interesting that and you're not a selfish guy and I don't think anybody

is but you have so many mouths to feed is do you think that's something keiler thinks about or is it here's the scheme here's the play here's who's open because there's an argument to be made that you have more elite players including running back tied in and wide receiver than anybody in the league Yeah, I mean, I think that's a great question. I don't think Kyler goes into a game and says, hey, I need to get DeAndre seven catches. I need to get Zach six, AJ six. The game is going to dictate who's going to get the ball. And obviously, all of us are going to have plays going into a game.

But at the end of the day, all of us have had so much individual success elsewhere. Yeah. That the only thing the three of us care about is winning football games. And when I say the three of us, I mean, myself, AJ, and hot because we've just been in this league for so long. and had so much success elsewhere. And now we're coming together for an opportunity to play into February. And that's all we care about. No one cares about whether either you have eight catches or one catch,

all we're focused on is winning football games. And I think that speaks to the culture that they've built out here. You know, Arizona is a great home field advantage. I've been there a couple times. It's crazy. And I think this RAM game is big because the top of the NFC, Tampa's good and Dallas is good and Arizona's good. This is a big, big game, Green Bay.

You do not have the number one seed locked up. You know, obviously you'd rather play at home than away. But talk a little bit about the value when you get into these big games, December and January, of playing at home. Yeah, I mean, it's a huge advantage playing at home. Obviously, when we won the Super Bowl in Philly, we were the number one seed and had home field advantage. we have the buy.

And obviously, home field advantage is huge. But being able to get the buy this time of year would be a game changer. I feel like all playoff teams, I don't think people realize how important that is. You win one game and you're in the NFC championship. And so to us, none of that matters. It's down the road. We've got to take care of business this Monday night against a really good football team. I know they lost kind of three in a row and people are down on them.

But you look at their defense, you look at their offense. They have so much talent, especially on defense. They have three Hall of Famers. on their defense. So it's going to be a great challenge for us. They're extremely well-coached. It's going to be a fun game. It's going to be a great atmosphere. These are the games, this is the games that why I wanted to come out here. Meaningful games in December, primetime games in December and January. And I'm looking forward to it. Of course, he is married to a professional soccer player Julie Ertz. So it's a,

Arizona is a nice place in the winter to be a professional athlete, by the way. Finally, you're a free agent after this year. And I've always said, I think you guys all deserve every penny you make. I don't want to be tackled. I'm not tackled when I do my talk to every day. I have great respect for all of you. You're going to have money on the market. That's not a question.

How do you weigh, I like my quarterback, I like where I live, the money's great, because you're going to get offers, right? There's not many Zach Hertz on the market. How does that at the end of a year? How much, does it take you a long time to figure that out? is it a long discussion? Take me there for, where is it land for you? I mean, I've been fortunate enough to play a long time in NFL. This is my ninth year, and I feel like I still have a lot of really good years of football left.

And so the money to me, I've always said it, has never been the most important thing. There are so many other factors to happiness and money is low on that list. And so for me, I'm just focused right now on these last five games of the season going into the playoffs, putting on the best film that I can put on, because I've always just loved the game. People ask, why do you love this game? I just love going to work every day. I love the process of getting better. That's the one thing about sports as an athlete.

You're never going to be a finished product. You're never going to be a perfect player. There's always something I can work on. And so for me, just being around people that continue to help me grow in this sport is something that I love to be a part of. And these coaches here have done this since I've been here. The culture here is phenomenal. Obviously, the weather kind of speaks for itself.

But when you find a really good quarterback, you really don't want to leave those guys. That's right. And Kyler is definitely one of those players. So I'm not looking at it at all. It's not even in my thought process right now. I'm just trying to win some games. Zach, you're a credit to the game. You're a great player going to get a lot of Hall of Fame votes.

And I think it's pretty obvious. You've got a lot of years left. In fact, right now you've got 41 catches. Is that what it says? Let me see here. Yep, you're at 41. You're probably going to end close to 60 or more. another great year, five TDs already.

It's great seeing you again and appreciate it. Thanks, John. Take care. You bet. Listen to all the offensive coaches he's had. He's had Kingsbury, Chip Kelly, Doug Peterson, Nick Sariani, Frank Reich, Jim Harbaugh, David Shaw. He's had a lot of different offensive looks. And Kingsbury is different. The division's funny.

Like Kyle Shanahan in that division is an offensive coach, I think power. Kingsbury, spread it out. McVeigh is a little of both. McVeigh is more power than he is passing, but I think he's falling in love a little bit with Matt Stafford this year, and he's got a pendulum swung a little too much. But it's good when Arizona wins. They're fun.

They're the best watch in the league. The best watch. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of LaVore Arrington, 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. Hushmanzada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up On Game. We're going to be sharing our real-life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up On Game with me, LaVar Arrington, T.J.

Hushman Zada 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's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, CliverTaylor 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 Clivered 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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick 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 was 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, so. 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, Keir Gaines, we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast,

Learn the Hardway. Open your free I Heart Radio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Sunday on Fox, the fight for the NFCs continues as DAC leads the Cowboys into a huge showdown against Taylor Heineke and Washington. Catch it only on Fox in the Fox Sports app. Check local listings for the game in your area.

Don't miss your chance to win $100,000 of Terry Bradshaw's money playing Fox Bet Super 6, players of won over $5.5 million in cash prizes, and there are winners every week. Scan the QR code and pick the outcomes of six NFL games for your shot to win. Cowboys at Washington is one of the matchups. Colin, who wins and by how many points? 27-21 Cowboys win by six. They are the better team.

They'll be more relying on DAC, but I do like, this is not one of my blazing five picks. It was the last pick I didn't make. So it was my number six pick. Dallas, 27-21, competitive. Good game, but I do think Dallas is healthy in a lot of spots, not just running back. So just not running back. So I think they'll win. By the way, this is the NFL is the League of Hope.

Hope is an important thing. When people are hopeless in America, any sector, any group of people are hopeless, it's a bad space. They do desperate things. The NFL is the League of Hope. This morning, 13 of 16 teams in the AFC are not just viable. I'm not talking mathematically. they're very viable. New England, Buffalo, Miami, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Tennessee, Indie, Kansas City Chargers, Vegas, Denver.

Now, it may change after this weekend. They're all viable as playoff teams. Very viable. They win this weekend. I mean, Cleveland beats Baltimore this weekend. They're seven and six. That would put them, depending on what happens to the Chargers and the Colts. They're all locked into a playoff wildcard spot.

in the NFC, 12 of 16 are very viable. Now, again, the Giants, Chicago, and Seattle are still mathematically in the playoff race. So is Detroit. I wouldn't call them very viable. But Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia, Green Bay, Minnesota, Tampa, Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans. I know.

Atlanta is. Arizona, Ram, San Francisco. So 25 to 32 teams, very viable. You go to baseball. There are eight teams every year. opening day that can't compete. There's no salary cap. They just can't compete.

Pittsburgh every year. NBA, two months away from the trading deadline. And there's eight teams, seven or eight I counted this morning, can't really compete. It's week 13. We're at the end of a season. End of a season. As we go into the weekend, there are 25 what I would call, not just viable, very viable teams. Hope is one of the underrated aspects to the,

this league. College football doesn't have that much hope. You lose two games by October 15th. You're not playing for the big boy money. The other story is, and there's a lot of strong rumors on this, Chip Kelly to Oregon from UCLA. I'll try to simplify it as much as I can. The element of surprise is really valuable. You can sucker punch somebody and win a fight. Doesn't mean you're a better fighter, right? Like the element of new or surprise, the wildcat offense worked for a year in the NFL. Think about how dumb it is. Let's hike the ball to a guy that can't throw. It worked.

So Chip Kelly, for about three years, caught the sport of college football completely flat-footed. I'll play every 13 seconds. I remember the USC game. Pete Carroll went to Eugene. His guys were gassed by the second quarter. What is this? And Chip's not a recruiter.

The sport is now caught up to that pace of play, right? It even worked in the NFL the first couple of years. They were 10 and 6, 10 and 6. It caught everybody flat-footed. I like Chip a lot. I think he's super smart. It's virtually impossible in college football. It is impossible to win big if you're not into recruiting.

UCLA doesn't like the fact that in Los Angeles, Chip doesn't land big time classes. And they also don't like the fact that he has very little time for boosters. It's just not who he is. He's like a college math professor. He's bright, not a loner, but he likes what he likes. He's not going to try to play cater. P's people. That's not his game. And I think UCLA has found a really smart guy and you can win.

They won eight games this year. Go to the Holiday Bowl. They win a ninth. That's a great year for UCLA football. But a source told me this week that people upstairs at UCLA asked him to take a pay cut this year. I wouldn't do that. He's really not that expensive when you consider the conference and the going rate. Mel Tucker now costs $9 million a year. But this story's got legs. Oregon knows, I think, deep down, he's not going to duplicate the 33 and 3 the last time in conference. He's not going to do that.

He went 92 or something like that percent of his games, like 88 percent of his games total. He's not going to duplicate that. But can he inherit Mario Cristobal's excellent recruiting classes, his weakness, and keep him relevant for four or five years. And by that time, Chipp will be in his early 60s. he may just say, Bon voyage, I'm done with this sport. That's certainly a reasonable take. Bring him in, recruiting's his liability. He inherits a ton of good players, and he can do a good enough job to keep us relevant for five years,

and we find the next young Chip Kelly. So we'll keep you updated on that. Strong rumors. Oregon has its confirm, asked to speak to him. Be careful, UCLA. The great candidates are gone. Be very, very careful. Our number three on a Friday next.

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 I-heart radio app, 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, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Keer Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor?

It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.