The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 2 - Lakers, QBs

Episode Date: November 18, 2021

The Lakers don't have enough youthThe quarterbacks who are hurt in the NFLGuest: Greg Cosell Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but the show. celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox SportsRod. Oh, good to have you in.

Live in L.A., it's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. It's nice to have you in. I think we've got a good game tonight. I'll take the Patriots to win, five, six points. Lines about right. Joy Taylor is joining me. Greg Kosell in a few minutes.

So did you watch any of the Laker Buck game last night? I did. I watched bits and pieces of it. I actually thought. I don't think regular season NBA games for a defending champ don't mean a ton. Milwaukee's really good. They're not playing great. When you're a young team and you haven't won a championship, like a Denver, like seating matters more, you play harder.

And then like Milwaukee, now they've got a championship. Like take the night off. They're not playing real good right now. I thought it was actually a really good loss for the Lakers. First of all, they were competitive. Yeah. On the road, competitive. That nothing wrong with that.

Milwaukee's a really good team. Still no LeBron. Still no Brilbron. And I thought the important thing was two of their young players, this is a old team. They have no young minutes, right? Their bench is ridiculous. You don't want your bench to be Carmelo, Anthony, Dwight, Howard, Rondo. They need young legs.

Malik Monk now is playing more. And Talen Horton Tucker, who's 20 years old, has had back-to-back games where he's been wildly effective offensively. He's got a weird body. He's a second-round guy. He's got kind of a sick. four. It looks thick. He's built like a four, but he's kind of a guard. He's a score. And Malik Monk is a score. And so I thought it was a good loss. And those guys played some minutes.

They like Tucker. LeBron likes Tucker a lot. A very unique second round player. But I thought it was a good loss. Number one, you've got to find some young legs on this franchise. Number two, you're allowing these young guys to grow and get better and play real teams like Milwaukee on the road. That's a real game, a real team. They're physical. The other thing that's going on with the Lakers, that it's, remember last year when AD came in out of shape? I was told LeBron was not happy. LeBron was wanting to pass the regular season baton to AD. AD did not come in shape.

So LeBron had to play more minutes. LeBron got hurt and was not 100% in the playoffs. So LeBron this year gets banged up and he's in no hurry to get back. He's saying, AD, this year I'm going to let you carry a little bit. he wasn't happy with him last year. And I'm not saying LeBron would be at 100%, but LeBron knows he's not only important. This team's totally

dependent on. They're not going to win a playoff game. A game without LeBron James. They're not. The West has got too many solid teams. So I think what's happening to the Lakers last night, I watched that game and I thought, oh, that's a positive loss for the Lakers. I got two young guys playing now. AD is

playing pretty well, appears to be in good shape. You're viable on the road against a very, very championship level team. team. Not all losses are terrible. And they were competitive. They had a good third quarter. Lakers had been trash all year in the third quarter. They had a terrible second quarter, but they came out and played lights out in the third quarter. So I did not think it was a bad night at all for the Lakers. I think they were down to the stretch. It was competitive, and that's okay. Well, if you like fantasy football, betting on football, or just getting smarter at football, I think Greg Kosell is

about the best 15 minutes out there. I learned something new every week, and he is now joining us, 42 years at NFL films. So I want to go back to Thursday. Sure. Because I do think Lamar Jackson's going to be a playoff quarterback, so let's just figure this out. Miami did something defensively against Lamar, I think. What was it?

It's funny. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a committed game plan approach like that, where they pretty much lined up with defined seven and eight. man pressure fronts and basically play kind of zero match coverage behind it. They didn't press. It was kind of zero match. And they did that. I would say maybe 40 snaps, Colin? The Ravens never had an answer. Now, not every team is equipped to do this. The dolphins are. We actually saw the dolphins do something similar, nowhere near to it, but something similar a year ago against Jared Goff and the Rams when they beat the Rams pretty badly, as you may recall.

But they did that, like I said, maybe 40 snaps, and the Ravens had no answer. And it'll be interesting. As I said, it's not a blueprint per se because not every team can do it. But I think you'll see more teams try to create pressure. Look, a year ago in Kansas City, not this year, but a year ago in 2020, Steve Spagnolo and the Chiefs played meaningful snaps of zero coverage as well against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens and caused some problems for them. So they're going to have to prove that they can beat this somewhere along the line. I think Buffalo's as talented as every team in the league, but their offense has not been as consistent.

It feels like to me watching on TV this year. They've gotten some pushback on the O line. they got back on track this weekend after a stunning loss to Jacksonville. What did they do to get the offense back on track? It was actually fascinating because when you think of the bills, Colin, you think of Allen in the shotgun, spread formations, and he's either throwing it around or he's running a lot. Well, in this game, they decided to go base personnel.

They played 15 snaps with a fullback on the field. Wow. They played 10 snaps with two tight ends. almost 60% of their snaps came out of some form of base personnel. And they put Josh Allen under center, Colin. Josh Allen under center in this game had 14 passes for 192 yards. So they kind of made a philosophical adjustment in how they wanted to play. Now, we don't know if they did this just to get back on track or if this is something that they're going to continue to do.

but they need to run the ball with more volume in production. They started to do that in this game, and they need to protect their offensive line, Colin. This offensive line is not good enough in past protection to protect for Josh Allen in the shotgun with 45 by choice dropbacks every week. They're not good enough to do that. So, you know, you'd think every quarterback has a crutch. something they need, something they like, a comfort level. Coaches have it. Sure.

Brady doesn't have Gronk and AB, and it was suggested to me this week that they're a bigger deal than people think for Brady. He needs his middle of the field guy. A.B. can be, you can move him in the slot. And, you know, Brady's always had a guy like that. Welker was his guy like that. Edelman was his guy like that. Right. Deion Branch was a guy like that.

Like the guy I always know I can target 13 times. What are you seeing with Brady in the offense because it doesn't feel right? Is it just that? No. Well, it didn't feel right in this game. And I think my guess is that they were surprised. And I'll tell you why. Because Washington had played a lot of man coverage until this game.

A lot of what we call cover one with a single high safety and man coverage. They played almost none of it in this game. They came out with a totally different approach philosophically and conceptually from what they had done prior. So my guess is that they showed the bucks. something they did not anticipate. And the other factor in this game was that the Bucs offensive line did not do a particularly good job in pass protection, even after Chase Young went out of the game. And this was one of those games, and I think even great quarterbacks it happens to, I don't think Brady saw things really well. I think that he played a little fast, a ton of checkdowns

because there was so much zone, which I think might have surprised him, as I said. I think he wasn't waiting for things to develop at the intermediate and deeper levels, and there were a ton of quick checkdown throws to Leonard Fournett. So they were totally out of sync in this game, and what made it even worse is their defense did not play well. So they were only able to run 47 offensive plays, and that's not enough. So the Rams in the last couple of weeks have been pushed around, and I had said this, that sometimes McVeigh can get a little cute and a little pretty, and the Titans and the Niners are really physical teams. And I thought, when I watched that game early, they get Jimmy Ward back, they're getting healthier,

Kittles always been a great blocker, he's valuable. And I thought, boy, this is a classic, the pretty teams lose into the physical team. That's what it looked like on TV to me. How did you describe that? Yeah, I was more interested in the Niners tactics because obviously they ran the ball with volume in production. But normally when you do that, there's a problem. play action pass game that works off that with your quarterback under center you get the play action pass game you get the reaction you want from the second level defenders well what was fascinating to me

about this game is even though the 49ers ran with volume in production they didn't feature the play action pass game at all with garoppolo under center garoppolo had 19 pass attempts in that game 18 came out of the shotgun so there wasn't really a marriage between their run game and their past game, but yet Garoppolo was exceedingly efficient in this game. Yes. Yeah, he was. He was very accurate. So first time Russell Wilson

has been shut out in his career. And they weren't Listen, I think they're too run happy. Pete's answered everything tends to be run more. I don't think they have elite backs. I think they have good backs. Chris Carson has his moments, but he struggles to stay healthy. So now, or we can be honest

about this. Between Mahomes, Tyler Murray and Russell Wilson, the Packers' defense is actually pretty good without Jair Alexander. Maybe they're just, maybe this is a Green Bay defense story, or is it a Russell Wilson Seahawk offense story getting shut out? I think it's a combination. I think their O-line really struggled. You know, Russell Wilson's always been a fascinating player to me. He's a really good thrower of the football. And that's always been, I think, what has separated him from a lot of other quarterbacks who run a good amount and have second reaction ability is that he's a really,

really good thrower of the football. I think he missed some throws in this game. Maybe that was due to his finger. I can't answer that part of it. But I always saw him, Colin, and I don't know you're feeling, despite being a really good thrower, I always saw him as more of an instinctive quarterback, more so than a true rhythm player. Yeah. And do you agree with that, by the way? Well, yeah, he told me one time I asked him how he scrambles and never gets hit, and he told me as a kid he ran through shopping malls and avoided people. And that's instinct. So his DNA is he's always been a baseball player. Baseball is a lot of instinct.

I think he plays with instinct over rhythm. I agree. Yeah. So, you know, and I think that at some point because, and again, we don't know the answer to this yet, he just came back from an injury. But obviously he didn't really run very much in this game. and I don't know whether he'll continue to do that as he gets healthier and feels more comfortable. I know they're trying to put in a rhythm passing game because it's Shane Waldron who came from the Rams. So he's trying to put in a rhythm passing game.

My sense is that that marriage is not yet working. Now, Wilson's missed time, so he hasn't been able to practice, so it may take longer. And I think there's a lot of detail and nuance to that style of offense because it's basically McVeigh's offense. So this might just be the kind of thing that takes some time to develop. Because right now, their past game has very, very little rhythm to it at all. It just looks like random plays. Yeah. So Joy and I have been pushing back a little on the Mack Jones love.

He's obvious, listen, if you start looking, a lot of this season for the Patriots has been Belichick beating first and second year quarterbacks. And, I mean, he's beaten like Zach Wilson twice and Darno. And a lot of this has been their defense. They're not asking Mack to do a ton. But for a rookie quarterback, he doesn't make the big mistake, which a lot of rookie quarterbacks do. That's what my eyes tell me he's gotten out of the big mistake category. And young guys, even, you know, Justin Herbert still occasionally makes him, and he's very good.

How impressed are you with Mack Jones? Well, and your point is valid. They're not asking him to drop back 35, 40 times every week and really be the driving force. They run the ball very well, by the way, and a lot of people overlook that, plus their defense has played extremely well. I think what you really like about Mack Jones, and this is not a function of how many dropbacks, is the ball comes out of his hand. It goes to the right receiver at the right time with the right kind of throw, and his ball placement is very precise. So the question is, can he do more than that as he develops? I'm not comparing him to Tom Brady. I don't do that.

I don't compare guys to, you know, first ballot hall of famers. But I remember speaking with Charlie Weiss talking about Brady early in his career, and they didn't ask Brady to do a lot either early in his career. And then he reached a point where they said, you know what, he's capable of doing more. We'll see how Mack Jones develops. But he's executing really well what he's asked to do because of his traits. And those traits are pretty strong. You know, it's interesting.

He's not a move around guy. He's not a second reaction guy, but he doesn't get sacked a lot because the ball comes out. He knows where to go with the football. Yeah. So I'll tell you, as I watched the Chief's offense get right against the Raiders. And again, this is not nuanced. This is just Colin watching TV and trying to think, what am I seeing here? And what I watch Kansas City do, I said, oh, Andy Reid all week said, patience, more throws to the backs, more throws to the tight ends.

patience. It's almost like Andy just said, let's simplify this thing. Give yourself more layups. You're asking too much. That's what it looked like against the Raiders. They activated running backs catching the pass. A lot of tight end stuff. That's what it looked like they did to their offense to, I think, hey, Patrick, shrink it a little bit. Let's make it easier for you. More layups. Hit more layups. That's what it looked like to me. What did the film say against the Raiders? And you're right. Take the throws that immediately present them. Don't wait in the pocket for something that may or may not happen and then get stuck. And I think that was evident pretty quickly.

If you noticed in that game, with very few exceptions, he cut out all the unnecessary movement, both inside and outside the pocket that had defined his game far too much over the last month. He was efficient playing within the structure. He had a sense of timing and rhythm. He took the throws that were immediately there versus the defense. And I think they want to get him back to that. It's like a running back, Colin. Don't try to make every run a 25-yard run.

Take what's there, and then the 25-yard runs show up. And I think Mahomes had to get back to just, hey, let me get the ball out of my hand. Let me take what's there. And we'll get back to sustaining offense, and the big plays will come. Credit to Steve Spagnola, because we don't talk about this, but their defense has gotten better in the last month. It has gotten a lot better. Now, explain that, and if it matches up with the Cowboys, what do you think?

Well, the Cowboys have a very good offense, obviously. But one thing I've noticed over the last, oh, three, four weeks, this is a team that predominantly has played three coverage, predominantly. Cover one, which is man to man with a deep safety, cover zero, and cover two. They've really increased their percentage of Cover Two, which is a zone concept over the last three, four weeks. and we'll see what they do against the Cowboys. I think they'll probably continue to do the same thing,

because given who they're playing at Corner, my sense is they won't feel they can realistically match up playing a more significant percentage of man coverage. Let's move to a fascinating team. So I never want to be somebody who lives in the rearview mirror. And I've been telling Joy this about Jalen Hertz. I said, okay, he doesn't throw a deep ball. And in my life, you've got to be a.

able to hit stuff over the top to be a great quarterback. But they're productive. He's given good defensive and good defensive coaches. Trouble. There's something going on here. I don't want to be stuck in my, this is what a quarterback has to play like and look like because the game is changing. So what do the Eagles offense do differently this week against the Broncos because

they had them flummoxed at times? Well, it's funny you say that because the previous two weeks they put Hertz under center and they ran an offense where he was under center with the play action pass game. and many of us, including myself, thought, hey, that's a good thing to do. And then all of a sudden this week against the Broncos, he's almost never under center. This was a Hertz game. They put him in the gun. They worked the run game off him with both zone read and design run elements.

And they threw just enough on first down. You know, I came in Monday, and I put that tape on, and I'm halfway through the tape, and I'm saying to myself, this looks like the Ravens offense with Lamar Jackson. They're playing kind of the same way. and I'm very curious to see what they do going forward, Colin, because the last number of weeks, this past week was totally different than the two previous weeks. So is this week against the Broncos?

Is that going to be the template? Or are they going to go back and put them under center? I certainly don't have the answer to that. But I think Hertz is getting incrementally better, and he's seeing things better. Okay, so let's go to the big play. Yeah, the big play was a touchdown to Devontas Smith. It was a five-yard touchdown.

And we can take a look at it right now because ultimately this touchdown was really interesting because the Broncos played zero coverage, which they do in the tight red zone. So Jalen Hertz is in the shotgun. And the Eagles are going to be what we call a one by three set, meaning it's the tight end who's the single receiver. And in the trip side to the formation, Devontas Smith is the point man. He's the point man in the tight bunch. And as I said, you're going to get cover zero. There's going to be no safety in the middle of the field. And that means you're going to get pressure.

But you're going to get the matchup of Devontas Smith versus Kyle Fuller, a very good corner. And Curtis Robinson, a linebacker, he's one of the blitzers because you're going to get all-out, sell-out pressure. And he's going to get in clean. But Smith wins to the inside. Hertz sees him immediately, and they defeat the pressure. You can see that. You get a clean rusher, but because of the timing of the throw, it's a lot. beats the pressure. And I think Hertz is starting to see things a little better. The question is,

each week, how well will he throw it? Because the bottom line is, he hasn't made a lot of throws in each of the last three weeks. I think he's only thrown, maybe the most balls he's thrown is 23 or 24. That's not going to happen every week in the NFL. Get smarter every week. Greg Kossel, my friend. It's great seeing you. Thanks, Colin. Appreciate it. Yeah. By the way, we talk about draft picks, and there's a lot of different ways to get players. You can get them undrafted, waiver-wire, trades-free agency or the draft. And the Cowboys hit a couple, four home runs in the draft, and it should be noted. Jalen Hertz, second-round pick is a starting quarterback, so you're not paying him anything.

Devante Smith has been a total home run. I worried he's skinny. I worried about his body. So, you know, to me, Jalen Hertz, a second-round pick last year, and Devonte Smith, a first-round wide receiver pick, kind of transforms their offense. So one of the things that I love, in the NFL, a draft could really, young labor can really change everything very quickly. In the NBA, where it's a one and done culture, you could get a great player. Anthony Edwards at Minnesota is a terrific young player. It takes, I mean, they're kids.

Like, it takes them two and three and four and five years. You know, in the NFL, you've got to be there at minimum three, mostly four years in college. You get a man. and so when you guys come into the NFL, they've had hard coaching in college. They know a playbook. They can learn stuff fast. They know their assignments. I mean, it's amazing.

The draft has been a huge boon for the Patriots this year, a massive boon for the Cowboys this year in Philadelphia. Last two years, Jalen Hurts Devonte Smith. This offense was just stuck in the mud. Last couple years, we just, oh, quarterback can move. DeVontay Smith is fast. Boom. And I do think it's why the NFL.

as the League of Hope. As bad as you are, if Detroit in the draft drafted a quarterback and he looked like, you know, like Kyler Murray good, it's a different franchise. I mean, Arizona, three years ago,

we're like, oh, the GM and the coach aren't going to make it. Now, when they're healthy, it's as good as any team in the league. They hit in a couple draft picks. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app.

Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what y'all saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 be a take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush

didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Thank you 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.

Tonight on Thursday Night Football, Mack Jones leads the Patriots to Atlanta to battle Matt Ryan and the Falcons. It all starts at 7.30 Eastern, 430 Pacific on Fox NFL Network and streaming on Prime Video. Don't miss your chance to win $30,000 of Terry Bradshaw's money on the Fox Bet Super 6 app, the Thursday Night Football Jackpot, has been hit four times already this season, and you could be next. Scan the QR code, download the app, and answer six questions about tonight's game for your shot to win. Colin, one of the questions is who will win and by how many points?

What do you think? New England 2620. I think Atlanta will have trouble moving the football. This is a really good secondary, New England. They're getting a better pass rush. New England's interesting. They don't always get sacks, but they make your life uncomfortable. They do that really, really well.

And Christian Baramore, draft pick has been really good. So, yeah, I'll take Patriots just around the line. If I had to, I'd probably take points. veteran quarterbacks at home, but I think New England's a better team. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. That is what's interesting to me about this game, obviously, other than watching Mac Jones. It is Matt Ryan at home. I know what Belichick has been doing against young coaches, but head to head against a veteran,

a real veteran quarterback, they don't have a win yet. Atlanta's an interesting. team. You know Atlanta's not great for two reasons. One reason. When they win, it's close, and when they lose, they can get pounded. So their margins, they're not, I mean, a couple of weeks

ago they played Atlanta, they were clearly the better team and had to hold on for dear life against Trevor Simeon, and they were clearly the better team. They had a better game planned by Arthur Smith. Matt Ryan made great throws. They had too many drops. So when they win, it does matter. Buffalo blows

out a lot of people. Like Dallas now is showing an ability to blow out people. Like, Arizona can blow people out. That usually foreshadows success in the playoffs. Well, Baker Mayfield's long-term future with the Browns is up in the air. He's eligible for a contract extension, but the team hasn't made any significant moves towards getting a deal done yet. And Jake Glazer reported on the Pat McAfee show that while the Browns can be a winning team with Baker,

he believes they'll be looking at all quarterback options available in the offseason. I think Jay is right. And I think that's exactly what we've talked about. You have to consider calling. I don't think it's, I don't think that you shouldn't consider other options. But at the end of the day, I think two things. One, you have been a dysfunctional organization for a very long time. Yes.

And you've proven a unique ability to bail on things before letting them fully develop. Yeah, that's their history. And you don't have a history of being able to put it together. So like the Buccaneers, for example, well, they have a Super Bowl. before Tom Brady got there. It was a long time ago. It was a different organization completely. They've been high and low.

But you have to have some history of some level of consistency and winning. If I am someone like Russell Wilson or Aaron Rogers, you have to have more to offer me than just a good roster. That's why I don't like comparing them to, say, a Denver. Hello, Denver is a very well-run organization. They are having some down years, okay? But they just won a Super Bowl by doing essentially what happens. with Tampa Bay last year. Yeah.

So I don't, I don't, I think you have to have some self-awareness. It's like this conversation we've been having all week about these college situations. Who are you as a program? Take a look in the mirror. Yeah. Get out of the whole ego thing bragging to your buddies at the golf course about your school. Who are you really? And while I think the Browns have done a good job over the past couple years of building a culture,

of actually putting together real wins and a real roster, don't get ahead of yourself. You've been a disaster for a really long time because you move too quickly on things. I get it. Baker is 27 and 27. He's won in the playoffs. He's had a lot of problems with consistency

and he's banged up this year. Take the swing by all means. If someone wants to come there and you're a Russell Wilson or an Aaron Rogers, which I don't believe is possible, but why not? Deshawn Watson might be into it.

Who knows? But at the end of the day, I do think you are more realistic with Baker about the money than necessarily moving on from him. Because you can go from what you are now to really bad again really quickly. Yeah, I mean, I think they're 50-50 on it with the hope he'll get healthy and no-win games. It could be this simple.

They play Baltimore after Detroit. They pay Baltimore twice. If Baker goes 2-0, that goes a long way upstairs. I do think it's in Baker's hands. Absolutely. They play Baltimore back-to-back games. Baker beats them twice in a row. He's already beaten Burrow.

Pittsburgh doesn't have a quarterback. I feel way better if I'm a GM in Ohio. Yeah, and I still, I don't believe he should be in the Patrick Mahomes contract situation. I don't think he should be in the Russell Wilson market, the Aaron Rogers market, but a contract extension is reasonable. And they also, it should be noted, Cleveland has matched up well with Baltimore. Remember a couple years ago, and they went in there, Baker went in there,

Cleveland has the kind of deep weapon with peoples. they could give Baltimore secondary a real challenge. Well, they are obviously massive favorites, 11 and a half against the Lions this weekend, according to Foxx bet. And I think they'll crush the Lions because they're coming up of a very embarrassing loss to the Patriots last week. But the Ravens back to back, the Raiders,

which you never know what you're going to get, the Packers, Steelers, and then the Bengals. So it is a reasonable schedule moving forward for Baker Mayfield if he can get it done. So, Kyler Murray missed the Cardinals last two games with an ankle injury. They are one-and-one without him. and they have a divisional matchup against the Seahawks on Sunday. Kyler was limited in yesterday's practice,

but he said he feels pretty close to returning. But he did practice a little. He was limited. Yes, he was limited. And he's much farther along than he thought he would be. Now, this is a divisional matchup, obviously. The Cardinals are favored by two, according to Fox Bet. Rams lost gives them, I would say this.

When the Rams lost, they could sit in for one more week. That was kind of a break for them. It was, I, well, here's the thing. They have the Seahawks, then they have a box. So do you push forward without Kyler Murray against the Seahawks who are struggling this weekend? That's what I would do. And give him another week of rest. I mean, it was hurt last year.

That's a great point. To come back against the Bears, Rams, Lions, Colts, Cowboys and the Seahawks again. I would sit him. Listen, once the Rams lost and the Seahawks lost, I'm good. Well, they have a lot of cushion within the division. Yeah. But, you know, how much of it do you want to just kind of rely on? But it is a bit of a scheduling break that they do have the Seahawks this weekend and then the buy.

So, yeah, I mean, to your point, you're not going to ask your backup quarterback to play four or five games and keep you in it. But three games is reasonable and we'll see what they can do. So the Warriors, they're back, huh? 12 and 2 this year, and they've done it without Clay Thompson. I know. He's still rehabbing after missing the last two seasons and he's getting closer. Steve Kerr said that Clay participated in five-on-five action and practice for the first time this week. And he said he sells a ways to go, but all the reports have been good.

he's progressing very well. That is scary, considering the way the Warriors are playing already this season. One of their draft picks is a young athletic kid, and he's not going to be in the playoff rotation per se. But they're doing this without Clay. They're doing that without James Wiseman.

So Draymond looks like he's got years left. Steph is... Steff is leading the league in points per game, 28.7, and averaging 6.3 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. God. credit yesterday, a little publicity. Steph going to Brooklyn and the fans chanting MVP.

It's pretty remarkable. Steph is one of those guys that I mean, he's obviously a mega superstar, but he's just so consistent. Skip Bayless, I believe it was Skip. I'll give him credit. I think Skip said this. Is that

Steph Curry now, even more so I would argue than LeBron, Steph is the number one needle mover in the league now. Remember that playing game the Warriors had last year? Yeah. And the ratings were, we were like, like God, like a playing game, NBA ratings. I think Steph has something that big guys can't have. He is so relatable.

When you watch an NBA game, now I'm 6-2 and Steph is 6-4. So this is the context of I would look like a tiny little boy in the NBA. Steph looks small when you watch on television. Well, little kids watching can't relate to Anthony Davis or Joel Embed. They're centers. But they can go in their backyard and grab that ball and dribble around it and shoot. I think Steph is the most relatable player in the NBA right now. He's married, family.

He's nice. He's funny. He's got a little wiggle, a little shim to him. He likes to play it up. I think he is, I never think he's gotten the respect he deserves because he's not a physical presence. He's not cool. I mean, players for years were way big. are Westbrook fans than Steph, and I'm like,

but Steph's a way better winning basketball player. So I love the fact that he almost has now a second career, like a post-KD career. And it's like, I would love to see him have six more great years. Well, he's also transformed the game so much because of his size and relatability and what he does while, which is shooting, which a lot of people can talk themselves into, I'm a good shooter. But when kids are seeing that, like, hey, I can't, you know,

get to the basket and bang around down there with a seven-foot guy. Yeah. But I might be able to develop a shot from the outside. So I'll work on that. Steph does it. Why not? Just so you know, it's very hard. Yeah.

And it's very, very far where Steph Curry is shooting from. He looks little. He's not. He's very strong. That is hard to do. Have you ever tried to shoot from a three-point NBA three-point-line? Yeah, I mean, the only thing I could do in high school basketball was shoot. And so I was a really good corner shooter.

So I can hit corner threes. I don't worry about that. But the other parts of the arc are hard. It's a long shot. My shoulder out trying to get it. I didn't want to airball it. Trying to get it. As long as I hit the rim, that's acceptable.

I haven't shot basketball in 12 years. I should go and just see. Oh, really? I should go to the, I played every day of my life until I was 24. And then I just went cold. I hurt my knee and I said, I'm done rehabbing. I've never. I think I played again.

I haven't played in 10, 12 years, something like that. But I played every day in my life as a kid until I was about 26 years old. I tore my ACL playing soccer as an adult, which obviously traumatized me for competing anything. But when I first moved to L.A., I would go to L.A. Fitness and I got a ball and would shoot around. And then I was like, you know what? This is enough. It's amazing what injuries do. It's terrifying.

Yeah. Enjoy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd line. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Hey, it's Ben, host of the fifth hour with Ben Mather, along with my trusty sidekick, David Gascone, would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey.

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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, Waxon, 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 all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Real credit card questions require real people. Somebody who understands your issues can resolve them. That's why Discover offers helpful. U.S.-based help, available 24-7, discover exceptionally common sense. So I thought this was just interesting, is that, you know, it is football. You get tackled even at practice. And that historically, there is an ideal side. for quarterback. It's about 6.3.5. It's about 2.30. A little bit of mobility, but you can take

hits. What's interesting. So Baker Mayfield talked about his injuries yesterday, which is ironic because there was an ambulance that went by him as he was talking about. It's kind of funny. I think he laughed at it. So here's Baker talking about his injuries he's dealing with this year. Probably the most beat-up I've ever been in my career. And it's not like it's one particular thing. It's multiple. A lot of crime on Maria right now. I thought you called the ambulance for you. I might have. No, it's just that time of the year and things add up and just a couple things after another.

So it is what it is. The interesting part is he's 23rd in the league in hits taken. He's not getting hit. They have a great O line. He's throwing the fewest passes of his career. They're run first. He's not getting hit. And he's got three injuries.

And it's interesting. think about who's hurt right now in the NFL quarterback. There's Baker, Tua, Kyler, Murray, and Zach Wilson. Smaller frames than you'd love. Then there's Sam Darnal, James, Winston, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Reckless. Baker's a little of both, a little small, and a little reckless. The reason he's really hurt is he tried to square up a safety after an interception.

Teddy Bridgewater threw a pick. He just docy-dode out of the way and didn't try to tackle him. So if you look at the healthy quarterbacks in the league right now, Justin Herbert's not hurt, Josh Allen's not hurt, Patrick Mahomes isn't hurt, Dak Prescott's not hurt, Tom Brady's not hurt, Ryan Tannihill's not hurt, they're bigger guys. And if you look in the history of what works in the NFL, almost all of our great quarterbacks, Elway was a big man,

Aikman, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon, Terry Bradshaw, most of them, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, they're big guys. Because even in this league now where we don't hit as much at press, practice, start looking at the quarterback's hurt right now. Don't count Big Ben, that's COVID. Okay, that's a different ball game we're going on. That's protocols. But if you look at a lot of the guys hurt, they're small or they're reckless, you don't want to be both. So Baker's really not getting hurt and he's got three injuries. Is it a deal breaker? No, but it's something to think about. He really is a quarterback that's just not like Tannahill is bigger. But would Derek Henry

taken most of the hits. That's a quarterback team where Tannihill had some injuries in Miami behind bad old lines and running for his life. But in Tennessee, that offense is built for a quarterback to really pick and choose danger. In the red zone, he can run around a little, and Ryan's bigger than Baker and a better athlete. He was a college receiver. But when you have a star running back, you're driven by your running game, you know, Aaron Rogers has now Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. So he's got a speedback, a powerback. So he's got a speedback. A.J. Dillan. So he's So Aaron, and he's also been around forever. Aaron's very good in the last several years.

After getting hurt, collarbone surgery second time, Aaron's very good to getting rid of it. But it is a little concerning. Baker's not getting hit much and he's got three injuries. That's why judgment is really important in this position. Tom Brady practices getting sacked. Like it's a real thing in the NFL. The other thing we had talked about earlier,

I don't spend a ton of time before Christmas talking NBA because, I mean, you know, not a lot of this stuff. LeBron right now is not playing. You kind of look at the Lakers. It's a young team. They're getting young guys' minutes. The Milwaukee Bucks right now are struggling. James Hardens trying to adjust the new rules.

Clay Thompson's not back for the Warriors. I don't talk NBA much until Christmas. I always think that's the starting point for the NBA Christmas. That's when now you've got your rotations tightened. And now you start thinking about, all right, teams want to know what they are around Christmas because the trading deadlines about a month later. And that's when you start saying, here's what we can't do. Here's where we have extra depth.

Here are the moves. So by Christmas, teams start getting serious on their defensive rotations, on their depth. What can my guys do? What can the young guys be counted on? What can't they? I did think, though, the Lakers last night, they're the oldest team in the league historically by a long shot. and Taylin Horton and Malik Monk are actually nice young players. And for the oldest team in the world, I thought last night for the Lakers was a really nice loss.

They were competitive with Milwaukee. They were on the road. Milwaukee's now, I think, starting a long homestand. They were in it until the very end. They got young guys playing. And they're doing it without LeBron James. And so to be able to compete with a Milwaukee team that's got veterans and size and they're strong, I thought it was pretty impressive.

They had a really good third quarter. That had been a huge problem for the Lakers this year. An old team was bad out of the gate. There's still limitations. I still don't always love the lineups Vogle has out there, but it's a weird roster. It's brand new players. There's a couple young guys.

It's mostly old. Where do you put Rondo? Who on the floor with? Because he's not an offensive threat. But overall, I don't think it's a championship team, especially the way the Warriors are playing. But for a regular season, season game. If you were a Laker fan, you may not like the name of your new arena, but I watched that

and I thought, that's not a bad loss. People were freaking out in Twitter and I'm like, that's actually a good loss for them. It's fine. You didn't get blown out. You were in it with four minutes to go. It's okay. People freak out on Twitter a lot. It is November. The NBA doesn't really start. LeBron's not even playing. The Bron is not even playing. What is it to freak out about? Nothing. Escape QuickBooks Quickstand would NetSuite by Oracle, the number one financial system. Special financing is back. Go to NetSuite.com slash herd right now, H-E-R-D.

Dwayne Wade, one of the all-time great. It's got a new book out. He'll be joining us around the corner. The great D. Wade. It's the hurt. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends.

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

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.