The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - NFL Divisional Round picks

Episode Date: January 18, 2024

Colin shares his picks for the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs. Greg Cosell from NFL Films joins the show to diagnose the issues the Eagles have had on offense during their shocking collapse at the end of the yearSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We're live in Los Angeles. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. It is great to be here on a Thursday. Greg CoSell in five minutes. J-MAC, you had a great weekend last week with your picks. You went, what'd you go? 4-0 for the Fox Sports.com.

picks. I went three and two. I stayed away from the Steelers bills. Three and two. Very wrong on Philadelphia. You know you can do totals, teasers, part of these. I don't on, I don't know on Blazing Five. So our Blazing Five wrapped up last week, three and two. I think the numbers are pretty good. There's, there's some things here, some props, I think I'll probably lean on. But I'm going to give you my, these are kind of my picks where I think, I think the numbers are pretty much on. There's not a game I absolutely love. So you're ready to go? Yes. Fire away. All right. Here we go. Here are my picks.

Texans and Ravens. I think the number's right. I think Baltimore is a better team. They led the NFL in wins, point differential, turnover differential, and opposing quarterbacks against the Ravens defense end up with a 74 passer rating. That's the lowest in the league.

Remember, five of the six wild card games were blowouts. I think, you know, sometimes rubber meets the road. Lamar Jackson's 10-1 over his last 11 games. The reasons I like the reason I like the Texans over Cleveland. They had the better quarterback. The better quarterback in this game is Lamar Jackson. The better roster. Probably the better coach. Everything lines up for

Baltimore. They're at home, and they get Mark Andrews the tight end back. I think the number's right. I think the Texans are a great story. The Ravens are a great team. I think Baltimore wins by about 10, 3323. Packers at 49ers.

Listen, I think San Francisco's at home. They're rested, and they have more veteran star players. It's a better team. But I think the Packers will keep it close. Packers have won 7 of 9, four-game winning streak over the last month. Number one offense in the NFL.

Getting better every week. Number one third down offense. Very good first quarter offense. Don't be surprised if they win the coin flip, take it, drive down the field, and score. 400-plus straight three games in a row, 400-plus yards, and Aaron Jones is humming. This is the offense that Matt LaFleur

wants to run that Aaron Rogers doesn't audible out of. Brock Purdy's last couple of games, a couple of TDs, four picks. I think it's a pretty close game. Wouldn't be surprised if startling Green Bay takes an early lead. I'll take the Niners 30, 24.

I think nine and a half point spread. It sounds ridiculous to give LaFleur, Jordan Love, that offense, that run game, and that old line that many points is weird to me. Buccaneers and Lions. Listen, I think Detroit's clearly a team. two years, Tampa Bay's 500 team.

17 and 17. That's what they are. Detroit's a really good team. Beating the Rams is more impressive than people think. That first half, they went up and down the field on that Rams defense. Their 10 and 1 are the Lions when they score 24 points. All right, the way to beat them's a shootout. I don't think Tampa's built for a shootout. Jared Goff, especially

at home, is a really elite quarterback. And again, Tampa this year was 2 and 5 against playoff teams. They caught an Eagles team that waved the white flag. early. I think Detroit's a better team here and they're going to win this game 28 to 20.

Again, I think the Baker story is a great story. This is not a great team. Last two years, they're 500, 17 and 17. Chiefs said bills. I like Buffalo. I think this is the weakest version of the Chiefs in several years. The bills are on a six-game winning streak and it started

by beating Kansas City in Kansas City. Also, they're seven and one since they fired Ken Dorsey. They're six and one again. playoff teams. Baltimore and Buffalo, they beat the good teams, often soundly. Six teams, straight games, Josh Allen, with multiple touchdowns. He's a unicorn.

The Chiefs, folks, they're averaging 21 a game over their last 11 games. That's what they are. Rishie Rice is a low-end number one receiver. They don't have a two or a three. This offense, every metric tells you it's the worst Kansas City offense. First time they're on the road. I think Buffalo is going to win it. I think it's lower scoring than you think, despite having the great quarterbacks.

24-20, Buffalo wins the game. So I think the numbers are close. Now, last week, I loved dogs this week, Baltimore, Detroit, Buffalo. I kind of like the favorites. Is this Kansas City's last stand? You know, Travis Kelsey, kind of not falling off a cliff. I'm not going to use the word washed, but he has regressed considerably. Well, he's had 10, I think he said he had 10 surgeries.

Yeah. The teams get the old, the offense, Mahomes' contract. Yeah. Big one for the Chiefs, Colin. Yeah, I like Buffalo. All right, here we go. Greg Kosal, 44 years, NFL films. Hey, before we get to the matchups, I want to talk about three teams that were eliminated.

So let's start with the Eagles. Listen, there's a direct connection to Shane Stuyken leaving, and that offense not looking the same. What does the film say? Would you be concerned if you're Jalen Hertz? If you're Jeffrey Lurie the owner, you're Howie Roseman. What's the film say on Philadelphia? Yeah, boy, that's a lengthy answer to that, but we'll keep it short. I think that it's a combination of some concepts, which are particularly against splits,

which are not what you'd ideally like them to be, but also Jalen Hertz, as he did not do very much last year, but did far more this year. He tended to leave the pocket prematurely. he disrupted the timing and flow of the offense. He has to just develop staying in the pocket longer, letting the offense work for him, not getting out of the pocket. But I think that conceptually, they did not look the same as a year ago. Now, keep one thing in mind,

they made a lot of plays down the field a year ago with vertical throws outside the numbers. Those are plays you cannot count on. They cannot be foundational to your offense. So, Dak, very uneven. and somebody came on our show earlier this week. I forget who it was and said they thought DAC looked a little anxious.

Dak made a couple of one interception, a really bad read for a veteran quarterback. What did you see on the film from Dak? Yeah, it's funny. You're probably talking I would think about the Savage Interception, which was a fascinating play, because

I understood exactly when I looked at the tape why Dak threw that ball. It looked really bad because it just looked like he threw it to Savage. But if you see the tape, you understand why he made that throw. It was actually a great play by Savage. But what really struck me watching the tape was there was very little intermediate and downfield throwing in this game. And again, I can't tell you why that is, Colin, but it seemed like they were not the least bit aggressive at all in the past game. And that surprised me, particularly against a Packer

defense whose weakness is the back end. The other thing that was interesting to me, you know, coaches tell you what they think of their players by how they deploy them. That's something I've always believed it. And Dan Quinn decided in this game to play a significantly lower percentage of man coverage than he had during the season. He played far more zone. And when you watch tape of the secondary of the Cowboys, Durand Blan is not a very good man corner. And Gilmore was playing with a harness. So I think he felt that he could not match up to those young package receivers.

watching Mike McDaniel coach two in the second half was almost protective. Some of that is he didn't have a, you've noted this, he doesn't have a big arm outside the numbers, and we had a 20-mile-an-hour wind. Was it just elements that limited Miami? To some degree. I mean, I think if you're Mike McDaniel, and I'm sure they're thinking about this now, you have to decide how you can expand your offense within what your quarterback does. And some might say that's an organizational decision as well.

how do you want to play offense, but ultimately you build your offense around your quarterback in this league. And I'm not going to sit here and say Tua can't throw, but Tua is a certain kind of quarterback. He's clearly a timing, rhythmic player. When he can hit his back foot and deliver the football, then he's very good. But you know what? Teams are going to study them in a lot of detail this offseason, particularly in their division. And when the schedule comes out, those teams will study them. and they're going to have to expand what they do offensively. And obviously they have to work within the confines of Tua, but there needs to be more to what they do.

All right, that's a good point. Okay, let's get into the matchups, bucks lions. We know kind of what Detroit is. What does the film say on what Baker's success has been down the stretch? What is Tampa doing that is elevating Baker and giving this team more confidence? Well, I think they made a decision I forget exactly what week, but it was earlier in the season to put Baker much more in the shotgun.

He's not really an under-center quarterback. You know, Colin, you watch a ton of college football. You know that at Oklahoma he was a shotgun quarterback. He's much more comfortable. He's much more effective. And I think one player on this offense that is overlooked a bit, I know he had a couple of drops in the Eagles game, but Kate Otten has become kind of a significant player for them. Maybe not a high, high-volume receiver.

We certainly think of Evans and Godwin, mostly, but I think Kate Otton is an important player within the context of what they do, because Baker does throw between the numbers very well. Yeah, he does. Packers, Niners, so I said this. I've talked to executives in the league and scouts. Nobody has a good third corner in the league, you know, but almost every team's got a good second or third receiver.

So the weapons is where the money's at. There's never been more money paid to wide receivers, tight ends, and there's kids see it? And they don't want to be corners. They want to be receivers. And I watch Green Bay's receivers, tight ends. And I think to myself, well, I don't know if San Francisco matches up that well. Dallas didn't. I think there's no fluke to it.

I think they're running a very true Matt Lefleur offense now. Jordan's not audible out of it. And I think Green Bay presents a lot of issues with very twitchy athletic players. I mean, when you watch Jordan Love, was it athletic ability, was it scheme? What personnel? What did the film say? It's a combination of both. You know, I think Love has grown so much just in what he sees, how he processes it.

I mean, keep in mind, that 20-yard touchdown, he threw to Wixner, the end of the first half. That was mental and physical because he saw the zero blitz, and he used his cadence. Remember, he's still a young quarterback. He's in his first year. Granted, he's played a lot of games now, but he's still a young quarterback. And he used his cadence to have the Cowboys to clear their blitz, Colin. That is really good. And then, obviously, he made the great throw.

Motion is a major part of their offense. We'll see how the 49ers match up. The key for the 49ers could well be their defensive front, because I think that's where they do have an advantage. Can they pressure love? Can they get him to play a little faster? He does. If you want to have a knock on love over these last 10 weeks,

every once in a while, he gets a little reckless. Yes. And then he throws some balls off balance that he shouldn't. So we'll see if they can get him to play faster. But he's played very smart football, processing things really well, both pre-snap and post-snap. Okay, this sounds like a shot at Brock Purdy. It's not meant to be, but Brock has some physical limitations. So, you know, a buy week, what are you going to add to the playbook?

It would be adding it with your weapons. I think Brock Purdy is what he is. Now, Lamar Jackson, you give him an extra week. You know, they could put in some wrinkles with Lamar, who can extend and broaden the offense. So I think about my Brock Purdy, buy week. I mean, what do you expect to see from Purdy in San Francisco here with a little extra time? I would say you'll see, you might see tweaks, but I think you'll see what they do. I mean, they start with the run game.

Keep one thing in mind, too. We always think of the 49ers as a 21 personnel. offense with two backs, you know, use check plays a lot, probably 40% of the snaps, but they're the best running team in the league with three wide receivers on the field. So I'm very curious to see how they approach this. The Packers do have a very good front. It's in the secondary where they have their struggles. They thought this season would be Stokes and Alexander at Corner. Stokes hardly played. Alexander has been in and out of the lineup, mostly out. He got hurt again last week. As we're speaking Thursday, I don't know what his status is for this game. But they've had

problems on the back end, but their front's pretty good. So I would expect the Niners, you know, as I said, every team is going to have tweaks, particularly when you have two weeks off, but I don't think they're going to be different from a methodology standpoint. They're going to do what they do and what they've done really, really well all season. Texans going to the Ravens. So we got into this discussion this week. We didn't want to be overreactionary, right? But boy, the way C.J. Stroud throws deep balls, pretty effortless. He's got the right O.C., weapons, protection. When you look at him on film, do you say to yourself, boy, this looks like a top six or seven quarterback, or is that just too much right now? I'm not good with Liss, Colin, but I will say this. Stroud to me is a classic case of where the nuances with which he plays separate him.

I mean, obviously, it's easy to look at him and say, boy, he's an accurate thrower. Sure, and then you have to be an accurate thrower, obviously. You've got to have precise ball location. But I think the way he sees things, the fact that he'll stand and deliver and he doesn't get out of the pocket, he makes throws. So he lets the offense work for him. So he makes throws late in the down. I can't tell you how many quarterbacks in this league do not do that. And we automatically then assume, while it's the O lines fall or receivers aren't open.

I can tell you from watching tape, that's rarely ever the case. Quarterbacks need to stand and deliver the football. I mean, Patrick Mahomes did that exceptionally well in the game against Miami last week. He hardly ever left the pocket unless it was the exact last thing that was possible to do. That's what playing quarterback is. Stroud knows from a nuanced, detailed, disciplined craft end how to play quarterback. That's what playing quarterback is. How does Lamar, and I've watched him just disassemble good defenses like San Francisco,

how does he match up on film with what the Texans try to do defensively? Yeah, the Texans are much more of an execution defense than a highly skiing defense. They're not a high percentage split defense. They will once in a while. They don't play a ton of man, which is probably good in this matchup with Lamar. And they're really going to have eyes on Lamar. Jackson with the way they play coverage. Now, what people forget about the Ravens is they're the number one rushing team in the

league by a wide margin. And Lamar is a significant part of that. And they're particularly good running the ball in the red zone, which is you have the Jackson factor there. And they get in the red zone a lot. So, you know, I think that you'll see the Texans play a fairly sound fundamental defense. They'll try to keep things under control. You know, Lamar has become really, really good.

I mean, he's always been good, no question. But I think he's been really, really good at working through zone windows this year. He lets those plays work. He throws the ball between defenders. I think he's become much, much better at that, and it's raised his level of play as a passer against zone coverage. All right. The marquee matchup, Chief Spills, Mahomes Allen. So I thought considering the elements, I thought Kansas City's offense was pretty good.

That's what it looked like. I thought it was pretty functional. What did you make in Mahomes? I thought Mahomes was phenomenal. And the numbers might not compare to other numbers he's put up this year and previous years. But I thought that he played really a terrific game, mentally and physically. Keep in mind, Vic Fangio came in and did something that was probably unexpected. He went zero coverage, meaning that it was all out blitz with man-to-man matchups across the board and no deep safety.

He did that 15 times in the game, which is an unheard of number. There are many teams in the league that haven't done that 15 times all season. And I thought Mahomes saw it, recognized it, knew exactly where to go with the football. He stayed in the pocket. He delivered. He was sharp. I thought he played outstanding football. In fact, I thought it was one of his best games of this season.

And, you know, Rice has turned into a pretty solid receiver. Yeah. I mean, you know, I'm not going to get caught up in. Is he a one? Is he a two? You know, he's their best receiver right now. And he's the one that they pretty much focus on. but I thought it was one of the home's best games.

And the question for the bills on defense, they have a ton of injuries, Colin. I mean, that could be a big issue in this game, the people that they put out there, it could be a problem. So Josh Allen, I like this Bill's offense. I think the Boise State kid, they're kind of twitchy. They've got a thousand-yard rusher. I think the O-line has looked better this year in run-blocking situation. So I kind of like this team. How did they look against the Steelers on film?

Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, obviously Alan played a clean game. And when they play a clean game, even if, you know, obviously they're not scoring in every drive. But when they play a clean game, the pace and tempo of the game works in their favor. They kind of control the game a little bit. You know, even if they punt, they usually move the ball. They're still really good on third down. A lot of people may not be aware of that. They are one of the best third down offenses in the league and have been for years.

And Shakir here, who we just saw catch the touchdown, he has added a significant element. their offense. You know, and obviously you always have the Allen factor for special plays. He's going to play the way he plays. He's going to get out of the pocket too early sometimes. He's going to leave some throws on the field, but he's also going to run for 52 yards for a touchdown sometimes. So, you know, and he made a terrific seam throw to Kincaid. And Kincaid is kind of coming on here. To me, he's a really important factor in this game. But that Chief's defense, that's a really, really good defense. They don't get the credit they deserve because of Patrick Mahomes.

But Spaggs does an unbelievable job, and they are difficult to play against. A very good mix, Colin, of really good players, and schematically, they're really difficult to play against. So let's talk about Kincaid. He's the rookie tight end from Utah. Yep. The number one tight end. Utah makes their tight ends block, but tight ends usually in this league takes them a year to figure it out. So not a surprise that he is now, as we get to the end of the year, Dalton Kincaid is finally like.

young tight ends finding his space and that's your play yeah and kinkade just one quick point before we get to the play you know obviously i'm not comparing anyone to kelsey in terms of you know production over time can kinkade's a rookie but he can be deployed in the context of an offense much like kelsey you can split him out you can detach him he can run wide receiver routes uh he certainly can line up attached to the formation as well he can work the middle of the field effectively but the play we're going to show was from last week against pittsburgh and they knew that that they were going to get this coverage at some point in the game. And they had the right play called dialed up.

So let's take a look at it. This is the touchdown to Kincaid. It's a 29-yard touchdown. It's a seam throw by Alan. Beautiful throw. But to me, this was all done in pre-planning. Because what you're going to see here is you're going to see Alan in the gun. Okay, he's in an empty set right now.

So there's nobody in the backfield with him. So what's he looking at? He's looking at two high safeties. The middle is open. He sees that. And now he'll confirm that, but that's what he sees now. Kincade and Shakir are the two receivers you want to look at to the trip side of the formation. Basically, they're going to run vertical routes to attack the safety to that side.

They're going to put him in conflict. He can't cover both vertical routes. So as Alan drops back, what does he do? He looks left because he wants to make sure the safety to the other side can't become a factor on this throw. Because he wants to get the seen throw to Kincade because he's not worried about the lineback. He knows Kincaid's going to run by the linebacker. The linebacker is not really relevant to him. He had to make sure that the safeties are taken care of so the middle stayed open.

And that's exactly what happened here. And you see, it's a seam throw by Allen. He can make these throws. I mean, this is easy for him. And so Kincaid is the guy, this is a vertical stretch play, a seam stretcher. Kincaid can do that. He can give you that element, that dimension in your offense. Yeah, they're a different looking offense.

It's a little twitchier. A little, a few more elements to it. Greg CoSell, NFL Films, as always. Great seeing. You can't wait for the weekend. Thanks, Greg. Me too. Thanks, Colin.

Yeah. I like my bills. Beat up on the defensive side. Injuries, and it matters, but it's... I didn't hear him mention two days less rest for Buffalo. It's just, it's a really tough spot for them. But I... It's funny.

I said yesterday, I can see the Chiefs getting blown out. And, of course, all these Kansas City fans are. take it and throw it on the internet, you know, they could get blown. They're not a great, they're not a great team this year. No, I mean, they're averaging 21 a game, and they usually are in the 27 a game. So they're not a bad team. They're more vulnerable. Well, how much stock do you put in the Miami win last round?

I don't, not a tough. Nothing, right? Well, no, but I mean, as Greg said, it was really impressed. They put on a performance, give them credit. But it was, Miami was a beaten team on the bus. I mean, it didn't, like Pittsburgh coming in. You could tell from the jump, they had no chance. Didn't have a lot of juice.

So it's, yeah, it's, New England had more vulnerable. When you have, like, really, really good coaches and really good rosters, there's vulnerabilities. Like, Baltimore was vulnerable, and now they get Mark Andrews to tie them back. Now they're not as vulnerable. Now, I mean, now you've got Zay Flowers.

Now you got the other young receiver number 80. And then you got Andrews. LaMont. Bateman, Odell. Zay. They got a full arson. Now I got a guy that dominates the middle of the field in Andrews. So it's like, okay, so they were kind of vulnerable for

a while because Andrews is arguably the second best tied in football. Oh, now he's back. So the getting was good on Baltimore and they were still blowing people out. So that about Baltimore offense, good luck to the Texans. No thing. That is a stacked team.

Other than Marlon Humphrey, the Ravens might be the healthiest team right now. And guess who's second? The Niners. McCaffrey's fine. Defensive line, fine. I would take that super near. Got a great parley for you this weekend. Thanks to Drafking Sportsbook, new users, please use the code heard, H-E-R-D, when you download the app, which takes 90 seconds. So my parley pick of the week via Draft King Sportsbook. I'm going to take the Texans plus nine

at the Ravens, a young Texans team playing with confidence. I don't necessarily think a couple of weeks off helps the Ravens. I think Baltimore wins. I'll take the nine. I'm going to take the Lions minus six against the bucks. They're a better team. That Rams team they beat and controlled in the first half was arguably next to Baltimore, the hottest team in the league. Lions at home win by a touchdown. I'm going to take Bills minus three over the Chiefs. Kansas City this year is not Kansas City previous years. And I think Buffalo at home is going to score some points. If you want to take the herd parlay, check out Draft King's Sportsbook. New users,

use the code heard when you download the app. 21 plus in most eligible states, but age varies by jurisdiction. Eligibility restrictions apply. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler. In New York. Call 8778-8 Hope-N-Wire. Text Hope and Y 467369.

See show notes for full details. 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 which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

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

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-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 a little kill. Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so 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. 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. All right. Greg and CoSell, good stuff. J-Mack, we got a lot of things going on. None better than Herdline News.

Here we go. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. All right, Chiefs'Bills, Josh Allen Mahomes, third meeting in the playoffs. Patrick Mahomes talked about his growing rivalry with his good friend, Josh Allen. It compared it to that of Brady versus Manning. I'm excited for the challenge.

I mean, I grew up watching those games and remember how much memories I have from that. And so hopefully we can play in these great games as well and get memories to the kids that come up. behind us. Josh is a great dude. I respect the way he plays football and just the guy that he is. But it's like when two guys that are ultra competitive that our friends off the field go up against each other, we obviously both want to win because we know we see each other in the offseason and you want to have a little bit of those bragging rights. Very excited. This is the time to beat Mahomes. Now is the time. You know, I know you don't love when I do this, but sometimes I like to holster some good material. Yeah, I know. For when you're out. I'm saving it for

tomorrow. Have you looked at Patrick Mahomes' stats this year, Colin? He's down on everything. Interesting. I'm just curious, like, if you were to rank the quarterbacks this season. Well, based on what? On their production? Based on them this season, this weekend, division around. Well, that would be Josh Allen one, Lamar, two.

Keep going. Jared Goff, three. All right, keep going. Mahomes four. Oh, no, no, excuse me? What? He's not four. He's not five.

Brought Perties out of him, obviously. Patrick Mahomes is having the worst season of his career in every statistical category. That's true. Yeah. And I don't want to hear, oh, it's the drops. It's the drops. Like, yeah, they lead the league and drops. C.J. Stroud and the Texans.

By the way, P.S., C.J. Strow's having a better season than the Holmes. That's undeniable. I don't want to hear it from anybody. Not even your boy, Nick. He knows it. Strouds had a better season than Patrick Mahomes. It's not a knock. Well, it is kind of a knock.

It's factually based. I know we don't like to deal with facts now in, you know, in America. But, CJ Stroud's had a better season than Patrick Mahomes. Oh, boy. So is Jordan Love has he not? Well, Jordan Love's had a better seven-week stretch. It's been on fire. Jordan Love has in this seven-week stretch almost as many T-Ds as the Mahomes has all season.

Yeah, yeah. You're not. You're not too spicy for you? Okay. I picked Buffalo to win. I think Buffalo's going to win the game. Yeah, I'm the idiot who has Kansas City. All right, let's move on to the Eagles.

Boy, talk about it. disaster. Goodness gracious. Remember, midseason, they demoted Sean Decide, their defensive coordinator, and handed a play calling over to Matt Patricia, the rocket scientist. It did not work out. Eagles went one in four in their final five games under Patricia. Here's Darius Lay talking about the difficulty of the transition. There's a harder than that, as in just a whole new coordinator coming in.

You know, that's tough, but, you know, I don't control that kind of stuff. I'm just kind of like, you know, try to do my job best for I can. but trying to find two identities of a coach is tough. That's like having like two marriages. You know, how hard of two marriages would probably be in a housework. Two personalities of two women. That's tough. That's tough.

Talk about the same time. Yeah, that's crazy tough. Like, you gotta, what? I don't know, one might want a feet well, one might back on the shoulder rub. That'd be crazy. So, I mean, this is on Siriani. He's the one who said, hey, let's have Matt Patricia of me make the play calls. Well, listen, that job is not decided yet, according to Diana Rusini.

Philadelphia hasn't made their mind up. You know who's not? So here's what's interesting. So Belichick's names all over Atlanta, multiple reports, Harbaugh's name, it's out there. Ben Johnson's getting rumored. Patriots have already hired their guy. Anybody notice Mike Vrabel quietly has disappeared? I mean, what does that tell you?

I mean, Belichick, his people, I know what he had to? for breakfast and the Patriots job solved and Harbaugh's out there. I even know his new agent. Brable's a great candidate and he's nothing. You're not hearing a word about it. Lurking in the shadows. I don't want to turn this into the hot take happy hour, but Colin, what do you, whose side do you think leaked all this Siriani stuff? Because there's a lot coming out about he's meeting with the ownership. The ownership needs to hear his plan. What's his plan to replace coordinators? Give it what happened last year.

Who's leaking it? I don't know. It almost feels like Eagles ownership. Like there's some players in the locker room who like Siriani and want to keep him. But it's almost like, we need to hear his plan. Just so everybody knows, the plan last year stunk. Right? Hiring these guys.

We need to hear a real plan. I think you're on to something. They're negotiating with Rabel behind the scenes. Can we lock you up? Can we move quickly? Do we satisfy the Rooney rule applying? Why would Hart? Barbaw is making sure Michigan, NFL, everybody knows about his stuff.

Belichick's making sure everybody knows about his stuff. Very weird, right? Pete Carroll wanted to make sure at the microphone, everybody knows he's got great energy. I'm open for business. Everybody's talking. Ben Johnson's people leaked something earlier this week. Yeah. Oh, he's interviewing with somebody tomorrow.

It sounds like Washington and Ben Johnson. Not a peep from Grable. And Adam Schepter reported there was a mystery. job potentially available if things didn't go right over the weekend. And it seems to me stuff gets out when people

want it out. Why is Vrable so quiet? Because he's actually negotiating the best potential job of all of them, which is Philadelphia. I like that. Is that a hot take? No, that's not, I don't think that's that hot. Let me ask you.

Do you think, by the way, Jerry Jones in Dallas, do you think after that disaster on Sunday. He kicked the tires with Harbaugh and Belichick, heard, not for me, and then just decided, let me keep McCarthy. I read that. Yeah, I think that was my theory that I floated last night.

Yeah, I don't know that to be true. I don't know. I think Jerry's proven that he likes to be needed and Mike McCarthy needs him, and Jerry likes that role in people's lives. Well, a prominent reporter said, to my knowledge, Jerry did not talk to Harbaugh. I have no idea. Yeah. All right, final story. After the

Cowboys lost to the Packers, a lot of people thought McCarthy would be toasted. Well, he's sticking around and spoke to the media today about his meeting with Jerry Jones. We talked about everything, you know, the right, the wrong, the indifferent with, you know, what we need to build off of, you know, and so yeah, I don't know for as much we didn't talk about as far as topics, you know, that apply to the football, the football operation. So, yeah, so it's a conversation, hard conversation, you know, definitely throughout a number of points there. But there are conversations that I personally always look forward to because I've never walked out of a one-on-one with Jerry where I didn't think I was better. Well, that's a nice thing to say.

And again, that makes Jerry feel needed. I think you like when I float some of these crazy takes. Well, yeah, they're not that crazy. See, this is what we're doing three hours. I'm here for a couple crazy takes today. This is wild. So Dion Sanders is staying at Colorado to coach his son. Yeah.

His son's going to come out in the draft next year. Did Jerry say, let me just keep McCarthy football. We'll give him one more chance. After that, I'm bringing to Dion Sanders. No, it's not. Next year. I don't think it's crazy. Deon Lord probably want to stick around with his kid.

I don't think it's crazy. I just think Jerry Jones. Dax in the final year of his deal. Dion, by the way, Colorado is going to the big. 12, which might as well be the Mountain West Conference, so he'll find out after a year how irrelevant that is with no chance to get to the playoffs. If you're not watching at home. And Colorado doesn't have any money in their program.

So the bottom line is Nick Saban saw this. Alabama's collective isn't nearly as rich as like Michigan or Texas. Nick Saban's like, I can't just keep selling Nick Saban. We don't have money for the kids. Dion's going to figure out after a year on the Mountain West called the Big 12. We can't get into this playoff. one bid with a million teams. My collective isn't any money

and kids aren't buying, hey, I'm going to get coached by Dion. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not a crazy take. I'm going to have Wes clip this off because the reaction you had, it was like a grin like, holy damn, how did he come up with that? That was not bad, right? Well, Jack's final year of his deal. I mean, things line up, and Jerry's not getting

in life. Shoulder Sanders, quarterback of the Cowboys. How about Dion Sanders? I mean, you saw the number for Cowboys Packers. What is it with Dion Sanders on the sideline? It's something. Deont Ignited Colorado in college football. There's a lot of times that you people extend people at work knowing that in a year somebody else is available.

That's one of your better. I hear laughter back here for Ryan. I'm actually, I'm not saying it's happening. No, no, no. But we can manifest it here. Just float stuff. It's fun. This is what we do, right?

Yeah, and Sadoor Sanders will be a really top pick next year. I mean, I don't know how Dallas would get up to him. I would have drafted him second round on this year. I think he's really talented. I think he probably thinks he could maybe go number one next year. Maybe he will. I don't know. We've got to see.

Jemak with the crazy take news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. I didn't think that was out there. It's something. You're trying to see around corners, as they say. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, what's up, everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl and LeVar. Arrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler, T.J. Hushmanzada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right. Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it.

Up on Game. We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me, LaVar Arrington, T.J. Hushman Zada and Plexico Burris. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the 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, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

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

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jette. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed 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. Tonight on FS1, it's a college hoops triple header. First at 630 Eastern, Minnesota takes on Michigan State. Then at 8.30, Illinois faces Michigan. In the nightcap, it's Oregon, Colorado.

It all tips off tonight on FS1. Tommy Izzo, still doing it. Yeah, by the way, I did just bet two college hoops games. You have a fascination and an acumen with college basketball betting. I'm a nerd. I bet Iowa women's basketball. Caleb Clark, that's a good bet. Always.

I just bet them to cover and the over. You know, it's interesting. So Mike McCarthy retains his job. A lot of people unhappy. Mike Tomlin retains his job. Not everybody happy. we wouldn't deny both have you know both have hoisted a trophy

both are successful coaches both have built cultures one old school defense one a little old school offense and you know it it's I can argue in both cases and did that both are more than capable but maybe it's time

but we've said this before the Roonies do not like chaos and Jerry Jones doesn't love it either and so the Cowboys haven't been bad under Jerry. Last 20 years, they've only

been under 5004 times. Three of that was DAC or Romo got hurt. So a lot of this, the ownership groups in the NFL, Steelers and the Cowboys are two of the biggest brands. Maybe the two biggest brands were the Packers. Probably are. They don't want chaos.

Right? And so, you know, guys like me can argue you're not winning in January. Well, the Cowboys don't have chaos. They still made the playoffs. still got the biggest TV number, what was it ever, for a wild card round playoff game? And Steelers made the playoffs on a third-string quarterback. So I said this before. I think the Rooney's want to win, and I think Jerry wants to win.

But there are owners, David Tepper wants to win too quickly and doesn't know what he's doing. When you're a billionaire, what you don't want is chaos. It's like Wall Street, the big companies. Big companies have bad earnings quarters. What they don't want is CEO fired. harassment and so like Pittsburgh saying hey we don't need to make any crazy moves here

we made the playoffs with Mason Rudolph Jerry Jones saying the same thing we made the playoffs we were a favor to win here's Mike Tomlin at a press conference today good afternoon in a little better mood today man anybody got any contract questions yes I expect to be back

and I'd imagine that those contract things are going to run their course man Art and I have a really good transparent relationship. We communicate continually often. I don't imagine it's going to be an issue, and I imagine it's going to get done in a timely manner at the appropriate time. But, you know, my mindset is to coach this football team, certainly. So, I mean, if you want to look at the Steelers on a macro level,

so they have won big three times. Legendary coach, legendary quarterback, Bradshaw Null. and then pretty legendary coach, legendary young quarterback, Cowr, Big Ben, and then Tomlin. So Tomlin doesn't, Tom, all they need, I mean, if you look at their history, when they get the coach quarterback right, they can dominate the league, right?

They can, you get it. I mean, Coward won a lot of games. Tomlin's won a lot of games, hoist a trophy. They're just looking for their third Bradshaw. They're looking for their third. Now, Green Bay may have hit three in a row. They haven't. So they went Bradshaw, and then they went through a lot of Tommy Maddox,

Neil O'Donnell, Bubby Brister, Cordell Stewart. They won some games, and they get Big Ben. And then they go to Super Bowls again. They're just looking for the next Big Ben, the next Bradshaw. Because the history says drafting and development, A, stability, A plus, plus, plus, ownership, A plus, plus, plus, plus, revenue fan base, A plus, plus, plus, they just need their quarterback. A lot of this can just be solved.

We said it, you can win Super Bowl. today with a defensive coach. But he's got to have a great quarterback, not a good one. What we know this year to be true is that offensive coaches, A, do a much better job with B quarterbacks on average, on guys, and back up, and offensive coaches do a much better job if there's quarterback disruption in a season. Cleveland on their fourth quarterback, right? Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota.

I don't know how many they started. So the offensive coach is better at taking like a C or a B-minus guy and moving them up half a grade to a grade. You're not going to make Kirk Cousinsmore, but they make them better, a better version. And I think also offensive coaches do a great job of taking like Gardner Minshew and making him viable. Defensive coaches don't. But if you give a defensive coach, John Harbaugh, Lamar, Sean McDermott, Josh Allen,

Demico Ryan, C.J. Stroud, and Mike Tomlin, his next Big Ben, they can hoist a trophy again. But because of rule changes for safety, defensive coaches, they need the guy. Belichick needed Brady. Even Belichick. Pete Carroll, he needed his guy. Pete Carroll's coach on the Seahawks today, and Belichick is coaching the Patriots today if Mac Jones would have hit. you know and Pete Carroll still be in Seattle if they had a draft of a quarterback and he hit so the defensive coaches they're not going to elevate the quarterback spot you just cross your fingers they can hire the right OC and that's a little bit of Tomlin's issue since Aryans and he didn't hire Ariens they just can't get the OC right but they'll eventually draft and hit the quarterback that I don't doubt over the next seven eight years all right final hour on a Thursday to have flown by live in LA it's the first Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year.

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