The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Herd Hierarchy, upsets

Episode Date: January 11, 2022

Colin's new Herd HierarchyWhich NFL upsets might happen this weekendGuest: Daryl Johnston 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 Hurt at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go, live in Los Angeles, hour number two, wherever you may be, however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. So I said, uh, Randau on social media this week, I could not find, it's been like six months, I can't find Diet Red Bull anywhere, anywhere, every store I go to. So I, about once a week, twice a week, I like to knock down a Diet Red Bull, and I found them. somebody in the company went and found Diet Red Bulls, and I like, by the way, people always bang on energy drinks. It makes me feel dynamic and vibrant.

I like them. So much done back there. So you're saying there's a diet energy red bull. Shortage. So every time I go to a store, they have the sugary Red Bull, which is the darker blue label, and I don't like that. Yeah, I prefer those as well. So I.

But I reserve those for nights when it's really party time. because I told you my Red Bull story, didn't I? I don't know. First time, can I tell Uncle Colin tell a story? So years ago, I'm in Las Vegas. I don't know if you know this. Gambling's legal there. So anyway, I'm in Vegas, and I don't know what Red Bull is, and I fly in from the East Coast.

I work to the other company, and I land with a friend Randy and Jack. And I'm kind of tired, right? I've already hosted America's most beloved sports talk show, and I fly across country. I'm exhausted. So they're like, hey, it's party. And I'm like, oh, I'm dead. So they say, hey, go to the bartender. Give me a vodka.

And they say, put a red bull in it. And I'm like, what is Red Bull? And so I didn't think much of it. I had six of them. Oh. Yeah. And so my heart exploded four hours later. I literally was staring at the ceiling in a bad hotel room in Vegas at like five in the morning.

I'm staring at the ceiling. So that was my first thing with it. So I scaled back to only like two a night. but they make me, I feel better with a diet Red Bull. Yeah, I mean, they are great and they're very effective. There was a time where all of us who were out doing the drinking things were pouring the Red Bull. We used to do Red Bull shots. I actually think that's what a Vegas shot is.

A Red Bull's been a while since I've been a bartender. I feel like it's like Crown Royal and Red Bull sounds like it. By the way, you just got about $2 million of free advertising. You may want to throw a few six packs my way on the Red Bull. Yeah, if you can find the shortage, the stash of Diet Red Bull. cargo ship somewhere like all the furniture in America. All right, let's go. It is the herd hierarchy.

It's one of our last ones of the year, maybe second to last, 10 best teams in the NFL as of this morning. Heard hierarchy. Time is now, let's go. The top 10 NFL teams, according to college. Number 10. The New England Patriots, listen, they give you 18 points a game. Their defense and their coaching keeps you in every game.

But Mack Jones over his last five starts, two and three. He's completing about 60% of his throws, nothing down field with a 79 passer rating. You have seen the ceiling. Now, I think he can get better, but this is what he is, and they don't draft wide receiving talent particularly well. They need teams to make mistakes. In the games in which they have multiple takeaways, they win almost all of them. If they don't, they don't have the dynamic offense to overcome it. So it's real simple. If they can force the bills into two turnovers, they got a shot to win. If Buffalo doesn't turn over, there's a Chance they blow out New England. Patriots 10.

Number nine. Bingles, a big playoffense. I think it's one of the weaker, if not the weakest roster in the NFL playoffs. Doesn't mean they can't win a home game against the Raiders. Again, they are 10 and 2 when they don't give the ball away. The truth is, though, they give the ball away a lot because it's a big play offense and they throw it down the field. They have 21 big play touchdowns this year.

Nobody in the league has more than 17. So they had the Green Bay Packers beat. they beat up on some really good teams this year, but they tend to make mistakes because it's a bad offensive line, and Joe Burrow is never going to dump it low. He's going to go over the top. It's a lot of Justin Herber. You're going to throw a few more picks, but I got him at nine.

Number eight. Cowboys. Listen, they dominate their division, then they're six and five against everybody else. I do like this, though. I think, and this has been my constant sort of chorus on the Cowboys all year. They lead the NFL in picks and takeaways. They got playmakers on both sides. And you've got a fighter's chance to win any game, any game.

At Lambo, at Arrowhead, if you have corners that can score touchdowns and Micah Parsons. So they've drafted well. They've got playmakers. But I do think quarterback playing coaching matters a lot in situational playoff football. I think they're closer to B to B plus there. So I have Dallas at number eight. Number seven. Rams at seven.

It's a very good football team. Make too many mistakes sometimes. early in the game with Matt Stafford, but Cam Acres returning is a big deal. Again, like Dallas, playmakers, Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald, Cooper Cup, Matt Stafford, now Cam Acres. So I think they got a better coach than Dallas and a better quarterback than Dallas. So that's why I put them one spot ahead. I think they're very much like Dallas that they've got playmakers on both sides, a little concerned.

Dak doesn't throw the picks like Matt Stafford. They tend to be high ceiling, low floor for halves. Number six. Niners. How do I not put the Niners ahead of them? They've won their last six straight. Jimmy G, six and all against the Rams, I have to put them ahead of them. And in the last four games, three times they've rushed for 150 plus yards.

And what's that mean? Well, the Niners have not lost a game this year when Jimmy Garoppolo doesn't throw a pick. And Jimmy doesn't throw a pick if you can throw him 32 times a game on play action when the running game is rolling. and right now they're healthy and it's rolling. This is a team I would want no part of. And you know I put them ahead of Dallas, so I think they're going to beat Dallas first round of the playoffs. Number five.

Buffalo, number one scoring defense. It's an aggressive team on offense. It's an aggressive team on defense. I've compared it to Mike Tyson. Didn't have the best jab. Didn't know us protect himself. You better be prepared because they are aggressive on both sides of the ball. I love Josh Allen.

Yep, he makes too many mistakes. He's got 15 picks. Only Trevor Lawrence and Matt Stafford have. more, but I think this is the kind of team that they're hard to predict. I mean, they lost to the Jags. They struggle with the Jets. Why? There's so much they do off script offensively.

So much is Josh Allen just making stuff go. That's why they can beat anybody and lose to anybody. Number four. The Titans, six and two against playoff teams and six and three without Derek Henry. And here's the key, though. since Derek Henry has been gone, Matt, Ryan Tanniel struggled initially, but he's got his feet under him in his last three games. So Tannehill in his last three games, 73% completion percentage, 7 TDs, no picks.

So listen, he's not a quarterback that's going to carry it. He needs a guy. But at least now, the ship is steady when Derek Henry comes back. This team is built to beat every team in the league. Not saying they will, but they will own the clock, play tough defense. They get a pass rush, bring an only four. They can disrupt your offense. Go ask the Rams.

Love the Titans. Number three. Kansas City. They've won nine of ten. They have the best third down offense in the league. I still think their offense feels a little uneven, but their scoring defense since week six is outstanding. Only gives up 17 a game.

They should be favorites or co-favorites. They got playmakers. They got a great coach. They have a great quarterback. And even though I feel their offense is uneven, it is so lightning strike. It's so capable of still dropping 21 points in three drives that I think you have to put them in the top three in this league. Number two. Tampa.

I think they have a more consistent pass rush. It's also impossible to run on them. So you're forced to pass. And Brady's having another remarkable year. They also have a stat here that I pay attention to called SAC differential. I'm sure many of you do, meaning they lead the NFL and sack differential, meaning Tom is usually comfortable and your quarterback's usually uncomfortable. That is a big deal to me. If you can go into an NFL game, win the turnover battle and have the more comfortable quarterback, you win almost every Sunday.

Number one. Green Bay, 8-0 at home. They get a buy home field advantage. There's nothing. I look at this team and say, what's their whole? Little concerned, yards per play run defense. You can run the football on them. They have had trouble putting average teams away.

They had trouble putting Cleveland away at Lambo with four picks. They had problems putting Chicago away at Lambo. So I like them a lot. There's not a lot to not like. But I do think sometimes they don't quite have the knockout punch that a Tampa does, a Buffalo does, the Rams do, Kansas City does. They're just good and consistent and smart and well-coached and beautifully quarterback. And with that, Moose Johnson, Fox Sports NFL analyst, 11 years, three Super Bowls.

All right. There was my goofy top 10. You know, it is interesting. You've played in these big, big games. And what's funny, Moose, is when people talk about the Cowboys, they talk Jimmy Johnson, and they talk Aikman, and they talk. Irvin. But what it really was on most Sundays was a power running team with you and Emmett that neutralized other high-powered offenses. Do you worry about Green Bay that their run defense is

near the bottom? And there are moments when Philadelphia's or San Francisco's or Dallas's could take Aaron Rogers out of the game. Does that concern you with the Packers? I think it should. I think you're exactly right. And when you see that matchup and you talked about the yards per rush during the course of the season for that defense. One of the things that you're going to do is everything you possibly can to keep Aaron Rogers on the sideline. And the best way to do that are long drives running the football. So, yeah, I would think that those types of matchups are something that Green Bay is going to be of. And the big one is San Francisco. I agree with you. You've got them ranked the exact

right way. San Francisco is a dangerous team coming into the playoffs. So listen, Dallas has a good, it's funny. Everybody bangs on Mike McCarthy, but he won a lot of games in Gray and he's won a lot of games in Dallas. So obviously he can build a staff. Obviously something's working. Everybody loves to criticize Mike. But Moose, he's got to be doing something right. Tell me something about McCarthy a positive, something you do like that he perhaps doesn't get credit for. I think the great thing was when he came in, he really just turned the offense over to Kell and Moore because he was comfortable with Dak Prescott. That's the most important thing. You talked about your quarterback being comfortable. The best way for

Mike McCarthy to do that was to keep everything the same as much as he possibly could. And he did that with not bringing in the Green Bay Packer offense to Dallas, but allowing Kellyn Moore to kind of continue to grow and add some things that Mike would suggest that he felt worked with their personnel. But I think that's the biggest thing. And then going out and getting Dan Quinn this year, not having an ego, not being worried about a former head coach on your staff and what the reaction would be there. I think that that was a huge plus, too. And Dan Quinn has done a

tremendous job, and that defense is playing fantastic this year. So I think we both think Arizona is a really good team, but they haven't played well in the last month. Moose, take me to your career. Is it crucial that your last couple of games in the regular season, you're rolling? Was there ever a moment in your career? You stumbled late, it wasn't quite tight, and then the playoffs start and you're fine. Can Arizona pivot into playing the kind of football that did in week nine or is it lost? No, they can. If you go back to our last Super Bowl, we were one and three in the month of December. We were going out to Arizona to play on Christmas night, Monday night football. And when we got on the plane, we had found out that the 49ers were upset by the Atlanta

Falcons that day. So if we went out to Arizona, as poorly as we had played, during the month of December, we could get home field back. And that was really important at that time because we struggled to beat San Francisco, especially in San Francisco. San Francisco struggled to beat Green Bay, and Green Bay struggled to beat us. So by being able to get home field back, that meant Green Bay was going to go out to San Francisco. And if they won, which is what had happened over the past couple of matchups, then they would come to Texas Stadium and have to play us.

So you can get it turned around, but we also got a little bit lucky there with the Atlanta Falcons, helping us out, but we were not playing good football in the month of December, getting ready to go into the playoffs. And we were able to take a few lucky breaks and turn that into another Super Bowl championship. In 11 years, Darrell, you played in seven playoffs. And it's easy to say something, but I want you to describe it. And people often say, there's the preseason, the regular season, and the playoffs, and it's different. So explain to me in the audience, how is a playoff game different? How does it feel, the smell, the feel, the taste, the situations? Why is it different? Yeah, it's hard to explain it, right?

Because we all talk about playoff football, and it's like, well, do you play differently once the playoffs start? You know, you guys haven't been playing it at your optimum level all season long, and that's not the case. You know, every time you walk onto the field, you're playing as hard as you can, the best football you can, you know, trying to win games. You know, one of my big things is you can't win a championship in the month of September, but you sure can't lose one. If you get off to a one and three start and have to dig yourself out of that hole, and we did that one year, starting out of one two. And that was a tough hill to climb during the course of the season. The way I explain it to people is if you go out and you have a bad game, you can always work on the things that you did wrong during the preparation for the next upcoming opponent.

When you get to the playoffs, if you have a bad game, that's it. You're out. So there's so much pressure to be as good as you possibly can be for four, five, six games during the course of that playoff run, that that's where I think that that, pressure comes from. The game doesn't move any faster. There's nothing that really changes, you know, from regular season to postseason, except in my opinion, the finality of what happens. So there tends to be more pressure on every individual, on each group, and then on the entire team to go out and play the best possible football you can because you know if you have

critical mistakes during the course of the game, your season's over with. Finally, you did the Giants Washington game Sunday. You're sitting there watching their personnel. I've said before, it feels hopeless. I don't know if they have the right coach, the quarterback, the GM. Is there something, though, if you ran them, John Lynch went from player to broadcaster to GM? Tomorrow you're the GM of the Giants. What is the thing you put your arms around and go, okay, this is a building block. This I like, this unit, this player.

Where do you start the build, in your opinion, Moose, with the Giants? I think on the defensive side of the ball, I think that there's some good players on that side. at all three levels. And remember, Blake Martinez went out early in the season back of the month of September, and that was a big loss for them. So you got some good snaps from Tate Crowder, who's done a nice job. Their secondary is young, but I think they matured and are playing well. They've got some guys that can take the ball away on the back end. They've got some good players in the defensive line, but they still need that guy off the edge who really concerns offensive coordinators and offensive line coaches on how are we going to protect this guy on the critical

snaps in the game. I think they're solid up front, but they're not great. They don't have anybody that really scares you coming off the edge. The hard part is on the offensive side of the ball, and it's mainly injury-related. And I think that that's the hardest thing the Giants have to look at. I think the Sequan-Barkley decision to go with him in his fifth year made sense, because it wasn't a huge number that they were going to have to pay, but the Daniel Jones number is a huge number. And for me, the biggest thing is the fact that he has missed multiple games during the course of his career so far, and injuries have impacted three of those seasons. So I think the biggest decision they have to do is that quarterback. And then when you look at everything, and we talked

about this with Washington and kind of their dilemma with Taylor Heineke is, is that guy out there this year in the draft, in free agency? Can you find that quarterback that you want to build around? And those are some of the decisions. And then the offensive line. I mean, you looked at the New York Giants and they struggled mightily in multiple offensive categories. And it all came down of their offensive line. I think Andrew Thomas is a building block that they have there, but they may have to do an overhaul on the other four positions. So they've got to get really, really good in their offensive line quickly. And then if the skill players can stay healthy, there's productivity there. But it's just that they missed so many games during the course of

the season. So it's really that availability factor of a football player that's really haunted the Giants. And then the fact that when you get the backup players in there, that offensive line just could not hold up. They couldn't create running lanes. They couldn't pass protect for the quarterbacks. And that often struggled mightily down the stretch. Moose, great seeing you. It looks like you're at some sort of practice. You probably have some star sun doing something out there, I imagine. So I appreciate you stopping by. You got it. You got it. The college gridiron showcase. Getting ready for the USFL, Colin. Oh, that's right. Fantastic. Good stuff. Good seeing you, Moose.

All right. Take care. Yeah. It, Giants is rough. It's, it's, you know, I like to get my pieces of paper and draft for teams. I may do that during the break on the Giants. They have a left tackle. I like one of their corners. I like a young receiver they have. The Saquan Barkley thing, I would draft a running back, not early, but I'd go third, fourth, fifth round, get a running back. But they just don't, I just don't see the whole. That's the only game changer for them is go get Russell Wilson, but you're going to have to give up some stuff. And if I was Seattle, I'd want their top corner. I'd want that Tony, that kid, and then a couple of picks. I don't want all draft picks.

Every time I talk to a GM, they're like, you guys always have us giving up a quarterback getting nine picks. We don't want nine picks. We want players. I just don't know why Russell Wilson would want to go there. New York? His wife? It's a big city. No, I mean, New York is amazing. I love New York. Also a weak division. But he's not going to New York

to be an executive. He's got to play football for the New York Giants. That's a good point. Very good point. You may have to have a Red Bull and think about that. I'd go to the Saints if I was going to leave. Yeah. No, that's absolutely. the best place to go. Want 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, 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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No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. That was a fun national championship game last night. Oh, I thought it was. I mean, it's, I'm defending Alabama just saying, you can't lose your two best wide receivers over the course of three games and then beat Georgia. Like, I'm sorry, but if Cincinnati, if we got a report today that Jamar Chase and T. Higgins were not playing against the Raiders,

then I would like the Raiders. Right. If Robert Woods left for the Rams, if Cooper Cup sprained an ankle, today at practice, I wouldn't like the Rams. They lost their big over-the-top playmakers, and you're not going to beat Georgia because they couldn't run the ball with any consistency. No, it was tough for them to lose them. But I don't like using that as an excuse for why they didn't.

That's right. I mean, attrition health matter. Yeah, you've got to be healthy. Well, this brought an end to a 41-year drought for the dogs, who last one under head coach Vince Dooley, led by Herschel Walker. That's the fifth longest gap between championships seasons in college football history. Alabama obviously struggled after losing Jameson Williams to the knee injury

in the first half and they were without John Mechie who suffered the ACL and the terror in the SEC title game. Bryce Young was 35 of 57 season high in passing attempts. He had only thrown five interceptions all season before last night through two interceptions last night.

Did you see Sabin smiling during the handshake? Yeah, I actually thought Sabin had quite an endearing night. His post-game press conference. He was very sweet. And I think he was genuinely happy for Kirby Smart. I mean, they're friends.

They've been way worked together for a long time. Yeah, and I think Nick is smart enough to understand there's a baton passing. He's not ready to do it yet. But it's like it does make you feel good of people that you really admire and were loyal to you and helped get you championships win. Like that's the least ticked off. Nick Saban's ever been after a loss in the history of his NFL or college career. He was like genuinely happy.

for a young coach he really admires. Well, he was an assistant under Sabin at LSU and with the Dolphins in eight seasons as his defensive coordinator at Alabama. So to your point, in a lot of ways, this is a testament to Nick Sabin. Like he was with him for a long time and now he's having success on his own. That's what you want. You know, especially if you're a legend in that space, like you don't want your legacy to be just you.

You really can't win that way anyway. So I thought it was a fun night. obviously really great win for Georgia and was happy for Georgia fans. And that was a, that was a, it was a, it felt like a Georgia heavy building. Well, and the, I thought one thing felt true. The energy, I thought Georgia played with great energy. Yeah. Like, and let's be honest, they got handed, their jock handed to them the first.

So it is always easier if you're running and chasing somebody. Like I thought their energy was like, jump through the television in the first quarter. And they were so fast. I mean, their defense is just unbelievable. So the Colts have a decision to make at quarterback for the fifth consecutive offseason. Yesterday, Frank Reich was asked about Carson Wentz, and he declined to comments on the quarterback going forward. We love the team we had this year.

We knew everyone we brought in this year. We expected to play winning football. Next year's roster will be next year's roster. I'm not going to evaluate or talk about any. I don't want to just open it up with one player. and then start talking about all of them. We'll take it piece by piece. You know, we'll evaluate his play.

I'll evaluate, you know, how we're coaching him, how I'm coaching him with each position in the past game. Take it apart piece by piece and then put it back together. Yeah, for the people criticizing the Carson Wentz move, here's my pushback. What was the alternative? Yeah, I mean, there's, they were competent. It's kind of the same conversation in Cleveland right now. Like, what other options do you have?

Baker is on his best gaze, competent. You can be mad about their ceiling and the mistakes that they make and all of that and whatever. There's availability. But what's your other option? There's eight great quarterbacks on the planet. And then there's another 10 that are competent. And Wentz is one of those after those eight. He certainly is competent.

He can certainly make plays. He won a lot of games. But he is reckless. And in the biggest games of the year, the Titans two games in the last two games, his recklessness was an issue. Can we, is it safe now to put to bed the DAC Prescott-Went's comparisons? Well, or is it still too early for that? I didn't even think about it's a great question. Wentz's size arm you would think, oh, it's a better talent.

The difference is I trust DAC with the ball. Right. I think the ceiling's lower. But I don't trust, I always say this. If you're a baseball fan, you really a diehard baseball fan. team every night. You know if you trust your bullpen. How do you feel watching the game when the manager puts up his right arm? Do you're like, oh, I don't feel good about this? Because a national broadcaster doesn't live with your bullpen. It's the same with quarterbacks. Do you trust a minute 40

left with Wins? Here's how I watch him. With Dak, I'm always like, no, that can, Jimmy G, Derek Carr. With Wend, I am nervous watching the Colts with Wence. And that sums it up. I'm always nervous in big spots with Wants. Yeah. I don't know what they're going to do moving forward with the situation, but he said they have to improve the passing game and it was below team standards. But to your point, what's the better option that they have out there right now? So reports started to surface yesterday that the part with Brian Flores might have been due to a strained relationship with Tua.

Stephen Ross wouldn't confirm and also said that Tua's fate will rest in the hands of their new coach. I have no plans. It would be up to the head coach in terms of, what he does with a quarterback. Tua, as I said before, I have a lot of confidence in Tua, but it's really going to depend who the next head coach is

and the direction that he wants to take that position. Okay, so that means there's no confidence in Tua, because if he was the franchise quarterback, the answer would be Tua is our quarterback. He is. He's a quarterback today. Why would it be up to, it wouldn't be up to the new coach to see if Lamar Jackson was the future of the franchise.

Is it ever okay to lie in sports? ethical, is it ever okay to lie? To fans? Yeah, absolutely. I think so too. So when Nick Saban said, I'm not going to Alabama, he had to say it in the time, and he didn't have any loyalty to Miami. I think you don't have to lie. I think you can answer, you cannot answer a question while making a statement.

You don't have to speak in an absolute. So Stephen Ross right there, would I crush him if he said, Tua, is. our quarterback now and for the foreseeable future. And even if he doesn't believe it, it's his franchise. I'm supporting my player. The fans don't care if you lie to the media. Like I often think that if I ran a team and I'm in the media, I know the questions they're going to ask.

I would lie to the media. I'm sorry, I would. I have no problem with lying to the media. My thing is, if you do, you can't then get mad at one if the media turns on you. They always do anyway, so who cares? Not always. I think fans and media and players, everyone respects authenticity. There's a difference between being authentic and being a liar.

You don't have to answer every question. Someone can come up to me and ask me a personal question. I don't have to answer them. I don't have to lie to them either. Like I can opt out of saying things or I can say things in a way that aren't absolutes. Like I don't have to say Tua is our guy moving forward. I thought that was an open-ended answer, but I can also read around. Because I know teams that have franchise quarterbacks, and the answer would unequivocally be, he is our guy.

And the next coach that is brought in will be brought in to develop this position, which will be here for the first year. I guess what I'm saying is I'm for lying, just not to my wife or my kids. No, I don't get on the, I don't get on the soapbox with that stuff. I think people get wildly ridiculous with what people are owed. I would like to be branded pro line. I thought you were America's honesty broker. Except for the lying part. Well, Dable is, Brian Dable is apparently the first known candidate to interview for the position.

They have requested an interview with Brian Dable. I do believe they want to go in the offensive direction. So, I mean, if you're going to move on from Brian Flores, who's a defensive guy, that makes the most sense. But, you know, again, with the dolphins, you never know what direction they're going to go in and what the point is. Best of luck, whoever ends up there because we'll probably be talking about you in your new position in three years. That's what Dolphins do. Yeah. Joy, with a new.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Yeah, I'm just thinking about this. If I ran the Dolphins and you asked me about Tua, I'm thinking to myself, my loyalty's to my coach or my quarterback or my locker room and my GM, the media turns on you always. Good God, they turn on Belichick after a 20-year dynasty when he struggled to win a few games during COVID. In theory, though, the media is a vessel to the fans. So especially when you're at a press conference, you're answering questions.

from the media, the media is essentially asking the questions that a fan would want to know the answer to, right? Like, that's, they are the middleman, we are the middleman, we're not reporters, obviously, but the middleman between the fans who can't all come in and ask the owner questions and the owner. So if you are answering a question in that space, you are hypothetically, you know, talking to the fans. So I'm with you. I don't get on a soapbox about being honest all the time. I don't think you owe everybody pure honesty all the time. I don't think that's realistic. But

you know, if you got to tell a fib every once in a while to keep the peace within the building. Yeah. I always defend these college coaches. So the, because the NCAA screwed this up, I mean, it's $8 billion annual business with no

CEO. You think this got problems? So they have this dual signing period. Yeah. I hate it. Because it forces coaches constantly the season ends, and you have to take jobs like Brian Kelly immediately. Please don't do a southern accent if you're not from the South, but nonetheless, I get the move by Lincoln Riley. You have to get six or seven recruits in and save them.

And so the media comes, are you interested? And you have to kind of fib. And my takeaway is, yes, for the growth of your new program and for the protection of your new employer, the media has a right to ask it. And I kind of feel like, well, I got a right to fib. Well, in any decision you make in life, what's the win? There's a cost, benefit. Yeah, I'm not lying to my wife ever.

That one's not going to. There's no win in that. No, I'm not going to lie to my kids. I don't think much. But there probably was a point when you lied to the kids. Well, the Santa thing. Exactly. You know what?

Santa is real, guys. We never know who's watching. Oh, that's right. Yeah. My son came to me at about six and had some questions. And I said, just Google North Pole. All right. Earmuffs.

Earmuffs. for the kids, Airmops, if you're listening. I did not grow up with Santa. I was never introduced to, like I knew of him, obviously, but I did not grow up in a household where that was a thing. All right. Well, let's just move off that one.

Don't want to ruin a kid's life. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeartRadio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day.

Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book, and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre 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. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clever 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, personal 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 a 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 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but literally. Literally, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you 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? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. HARD 20% off. Fairety founded by twin brothers. Never slouchy but cool and relaxed clothes. Fairedibrand.com slash heard. So we have six playoff games this weekend. And, you know, the way it works usually with betting, fans like favorites. Fans overwhelmingly bet the big

brands, the great quarterbacks and the favorites, and they win a lot of games. But if you go back to 2017, four years ago in the first round of the playoffs, a bunch of close games. All right, let's go 2018. A bunch of close games. 2019. First round, bunch of close games, two overtime games. Last year, a bunch of close games except the Saints

and the Bears. Even the Steelers Browns was ugly early and got close late. So if you're thinking all the favorites are going to win and all the Brady's and Aaron Rogers and all the Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are going to cruise, it's not going to work that way. That's not the way it works. We've got to have

a lot of close games. So I thought this morning I would do my upset tier. So there's six total games. I'll give you at the bottom, the three, in my opinion, least likely upsets. Above them, the two more likely upsets. And then I'll call my upset. I do believe I see one I'll call. So let's go to the three less likely out upsets, but they're possible. And here's why. Raiders are almost a touchdown underdog to Cincinnati. Here's why the Raiders have a chance. They're 6 and 0 in games this year. 4 and 0 in overtime, 6 and 0 in games decided on the final play of regulation or overtime, meaning this thing's close late.

They have a ton of confidence and a ton of success and a playmaking quarterback. Bengals have not won a playoff game since 1990. This is new territory for Cincinnati, and the Raiders are playing as a dog with total house money. I like the Bengals to win. That's why an upset could happen. Kansas City in Pittsburgh. Kansas City turned the ball over 25 times this year.

That's tied for most among all playoff teams. The Chiefs will give you opportunities. The Steelers for the fourth straight year led the NFL in sacks. Translation, they put pressure on quarterbacks that make more mistakes. Mike Tomlin's also the best underdog coach to bet on in the league and the Steelers are 12.5 point dogs. You really think Ben's last game, his last game at home he won. He won this past weekend. It's not always pretty.

That's no way I can give the Pittsburgh Steelers 12 and a half points, even though I think they'll probably lose. But that's their chance. Casey turns it over, can be reckless, and Pittsburgh forces turnovers because they have a great pass rush. All right, Tampa and Philadelphia. You may not know this, but the Philadelphia Eagles led the NFL with 128 big plays this year.

Now, what's a big play? A run for over 10 yards, a pass for over 20. Yeah, they're big plays, though, come on the ground. So this is a Tampa team that is all beat up, including Leonard Fernette. A lot of injuries, no A-B, no Chris Godwin, perhaps not as explosive offensively in the playoffs. They struggled last year with Washington in the playoffs.

So in this instance, I like the favorites. but they have a puncher's chance and that's why. Now let's go to more likely upsets. Let's go Cardinals Rams. Well, first of all, it's in L.A. and the Cardinals this year were 8 and 1 in the road. For whatever reason, and I do not have the answer, Arizona is a better road team than a Hode team.

Also, the Cardinals only turned it over 15 times. So Matt Stafford had 17 picks. That's the most among playoff quarterbacks. The Rams give you opportunities in short fields. Cardinals don't. So the Rams are going to have to win this thing straight out against a great road team that never gives you a short field or cheat points. And the Rams, as we've seen, they can give you a great half followed by a disaster.

They are high ceiling, low floor. I like the Rams, totally see an upset potential. The next one is New England and Buffalo. Well, this is a pretty easy one to figure out. Josh Allen is three and four in seven games against Belichick, and Josh Allen has the second lowest completion percentage of the playoff quarterbacks. And he, like Matt Stafford, big arm, wildly talented, makes big mistakes.

He is a high risk. When you have an arm that good, Joe Namath had a big army through picks. Elway had a big army through picks. Farve had a big arm. He throws picks. Josh Allen, trust his arm and trust his talent. He makes mistakes. And New England, say what you want.

They feast on that stuff. So they're going to go on with a conservative game plan, try to win the takeaway battle. I like Buffalo. I like the Rams. But I'm not shocked if there's an upset. The one upset I do see, and now it's become so talked about,

maybe it won't be. But San Francisco, Dallas is a problem for Dallas. First of all, if Jimmy G. doesn't throw an interstate, they're 7-0. Now, Dallas does take the ball away. And Jimmy G. can get sloppy. He throws the ball over the middle of the field a lot. But when I look at this game, there's a stat that has always mattered in the NFL, yards per play. And the San Francisco 49ers led the NFL. They got it. They stole this stat in the final weekend. They lead the NFL in yards per play. 6.1 yards. That is a big play

offense that is mostly healthy. Also, DAC has been great against the NFC East. He has been not so great against everybody else, six and five this year. Also, Dallas has not been necessarily a great home team. They were blown out by Denver at home. They lost Arizona at home. Some of their best performances this year, like Arizona, we're away from home. So the pressure's on the big brand cowboys, the pressures on the favored cowboys, and they don't have a history in the last three or four years of necessarily putting away teams outside of their division. So I think San Francisco has a coach edge and Jimmy G have been here before Edge. Jimmy G. again, they also have a Tray Lance factor. They could use him if need be in the red zone for something different.

So there's my upset tears. Least likely, more than likely, highly likely. How about them cowboys? Well, you know, the Cowboys kind of do that every year. I like this fun, exciting team, and get to the postseason. It's a little different situation. I do think their defense is a different factor this year, though. It's why I have a little more faith in them in this postseason.

You know, it is funny who there are a handful of teams. Dallas reminds me a lot of the Rams where it just depends on the half. There have been halves this year where the Rams looked like the best team in the league. I mean, they made Tom Brady look so mortal. And then they've had halves, Tennessee, they're awful.

Same with Dallas. If you watch most of that game against Arizona, Dallas in the first half was awful. You watch them against Denver, they're awful. So it's this high ceiling, low floor thing. Whereas with Tennessee, I feel like I get the same team every week. New England, despite their limitations over the top. I kind of get the same team every week.

So I think the team's favored should be favored. Tampa, Green Bay, and Kansas City should be fair. It's funny. We talk about football. We do it for months and months and months. And in the end, it's a lot of people we thought would be here. Brady, Aaron, Mahomes, and Josh Allen. I mean, we kind of talked to our, and Matt Stofford to the Ramsel chain stuff. 17 weeks, we kind of feel like 18 weeks. This is where we thought we would be.

especially in the NFC, it feels like that. All right, hour three. Joel Clatt will be joining us for our number three, that transfer portal. Boy, that's become good news for some of these teams. It's the herd. 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 acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with,

athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear 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. 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 IHard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.