The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 - Diana Russini, Ric Bucher

Episode Date: December 26, 2023

In this hour of The Herd, Dianna Russini—senior NFL Insider for The Athletic—stops by to chat about quarterback Aaron Rodgers' outlook with the New York Jets for 2024, the NFL coaching carousel, quarterback Baker Mayfield possibly signing an extension with the Buccaneers, and more! Finally, FOX Sports NBA analyst Ric Bucher joins the show to talk about all the latest happenings in the Association.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. All right. Live in Los Angeles, it's the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for Meganas' party your day. I flew in last night, and LAX was empty. Salt Lake Airport pretty busy.

There are some holiday travelers. I was surprised flown on Christmas night back to work multiple times, and I'm always surprised how busy it is. And I always think I'm a weirdo. I'm the only one flying on Christmas night. I open presents. I went skiing, I watched games, had a great dinner, came home.

There's people out there moving. Now, this week most of America has off, right? Isn't that the case? Something like that, yeah. Traffic today was very slow driving in. Yeah, I don't often work this week. I usually take it off. New commitment to the herd.

Hey, Ryan, did you hear that? He usually has this week off. See how committed I am going forward. We'll see. If this constant work thing continue. All right, the Ravens, the Niners, 33 to 19. It is time Baltimore starts getting their respect they richly deserve.

Lamar Jackson was the best player on the field, on a field with 10 Hall of Famers, and it wasn't particularly close. Stop with the Tua, DAC, Brock Purdy nonsense. Baltimore's been ravaged by injuries. What are they on their 19th running back? They lost their Pro Bowl tight end, left tackle plays, doesn't play, plays, doesn't play. Doesn't matter. receiver, multiple drops, doesn't matter. If you were a scout and were sent to this game,

and they said, give me a take on the two quarterbacks, your take would be on Brock Purdy. Kind of a guy could be a backup. And your take on Lamar Jackson would be, holy God, I've never seen a player like that. The dude runs, looks like half speed against the Niners, half speed, Thursdays Thanksgiving football backyard with cousins, half speed. Who runs whenever he wants. Whenever he wants, home, road, good weather, bad weather, against the 49ers defense, there's nothing like him on the planet. I don't need to see passer rating. He wins 80% of his games and he wins big games. People in Miami freaking out, Miami hasn't want a playoff game since 2000. Ooh, we want a home game over Dallas. Lamar Jackson wins games like this every Sunday,

home or away. He's 20 and one in his career against the NFC. Because if you don't see him regularly, you don't know how to contain him. You don't know what to do with him. You've never seen any player like him. And all it is is disrespect and doubt. Tua and Lamar Jackson, same breath. Stop it. Pretty Lamar Jackson, same breath. It's incredible. And then you add a really good coach and a really physical culture and what you have as a team that can go into San Francisco. Despite referees getting in the way, push the 49ers all over the field. The Ravens did to the Niners what the Niners do to everybody else.

They embarrassed them. They pushed them around. They had all the answers. The Niners were left with all the questions. They poked you in their ribs. They lowered your self-esteem. And you come out of a game with the Niners and think, what are we? And now the Niners this morning wake up.

Do to Lamar Jackson and ask themselves, what are we? Ooh, we beat Dallas at home. Ooh, we can bully bad teams. But against a good Brown's defense on the road, loss. Against a physical Ravens team at home and Lamar Jackson, outplayed and bullied. I mean, last night is what a most valuable player looks like. You ever watch a game and think two is the best athlete on the field or DAC or Brock Purdy? Last night, on a game with 7-8 Hall of Fame level talent.

That's just on the Niners. He was easily the best player on the field. It was high school in JV. Running, is it half speed? Getting whatever he wants. Finding crevices where there are none. That's what a most valuable player looks like. Not stats, not a coach, not because the weapons.

This is a team with a rookie wide receiver who half the time can't catch. Ronnie Stanley left tackle sometimes plays. Pro Bowl tight end gone for the year, on a third running back, against the best roster in the league, and annihilates him, humiliates him, and leaves the Niners asking the question that Niner opponents do. What are we? Here's John Harbaugh after. I thought Lamar had an MVP performance tonight. You know, it takes a team to create a performance like that. But it takes a player to play at that level, to play at an MVP level, takes a player to play that way. And Lamar was all over the field doing everything.

Yeah, it was pretty good. So the Dallas Cowboys lost in Miami. I won't get into the officiating. But wasn't this the season that things were going to be different for Dallas? Mike McCarthy preached, we are going to run the football more, be less reliant on DAC physical. No, they just wanted to push Kellynne Moore out of the building because Mike McCarthy was threatened by him.

Once again, the Cowboys are totally DAC-reliant. Tony Pollard has had one 100-yard rushing game, week three. Mike McCarthy wanted Kellan Moore out of the building because Mike McCarthy is threatened by lots of things. So he went, remember that before Dallas, went down to his basement. an analytics crew and then told everybody he watched every cowboy play the previous season. Later acknowledged, yeah, I didn't. The Cowboys once again are totally DAC reliant, seven and one when he doesn't turn it over,

sub 500 when he does at least once. I said, and I'll say it again, I said at the trade deadline, you got to go get Derek Henry. You got to have a physical presence. You're not going to be totally DAC reliant in road games. win against high-scoring offenses. Because every road game for the Cowboys against the decent offense looks the same.

One turnover, average to slightly above average head coach, a B-plus quarterback. They all look the same and Dallas can't run and doesn't run. And that's all we heard all off-season. That's it, right? It's a new day. It's a new team.

It's a new physicality. Oh, nonsense. Jerry Jones is a great salesman. But he doesn't have a very good BS radar. And Mike McCarthy keeps telling him what he wants to hear. I watched every one of your plays before I came here. No, I didn't. We're going to be physical to run the football.

No, I don't. Totally dachraline. The three times this year Dallas has had to face, like a top five or six offense, San Francisco number three, Miami number one, Buffalo number six. Dallas can't run the ball because Tony Pollard's a second back. He's an off-speed pitch. He's a breaking pitch.

He's not a Derek Henry. You can't lean behind him. So what happens? Dak gets into a shootout as a B-plus quarterback on the road with high-powered offenses. And Dallas is going to lose a lot of those games. And Dak, through the years, has lost a lot of those games. Dak was at his very best, his first couple of years when Zeke was his best running back in the league. And the Cowboys' Online was the best in the NFL.

and you go into this game against Miami and your great all-world left tackle, Tyron Smith's not there, and you can't run the football because you can't run the football. This was all about Mike McCarthy once again saying whatever it takes to impress Jerry and keep Jerry off his back and retain his employment. This was going to be different.

We're going to run the ball, less DAC reliant. The team's totally relying on DAC. Who, when he faces, you know, like a Josh Allen or a lot of weapons with Miami or a lot of weapons, weapons with the Niners, has to save the day. And that's not who Dak is. Dak's good. He's not special.

Doesn't have a great arm. Doesn't run around like Lamar Jackson. He's good. He's good. But when you can't run the ball, you have a coach situationally that scares us away from home. This is what Dallas games look like against another team that can score. And again, it's, it's, it's, Mike McCarthy just wanted Kelmore out of the building.

You know, that's what he wanted. He wanted Kellan out of here because Kellan was a threat. And he keeps telling Jerry what he wants to hear. But I still think when Dallas plays with Tyron Smith available at left tackle, I think it's a good, good, good team. Very good team. Tyron Smith leaves. Bradley Chub looks like Lawrence Taylor.

Tyron Smith plays. Bradley Chub would have been invisible. But Tyrone Smith didn't play. And you don't run the ball. And it's a bunch of promises you've never kept. And you lost again. It's not the end of the season, but doesn't it feel like Groundhog Day?

Here's Dak after. I mean, I guess it feeds it, right? We didn't come out with the win, but I can tell you the confidence is high from that group. Obviously, this one sucks. It hurts, especially, as you just said, in the manner that we did, that we lost this one. But the confidence is high in these guys.

We understand that we can. Obviously, we haven't done it. but we will and obviously the road forward looks like we'll be going on the road. Well, the teams in New York would love to have the Dallas Cowboys champagne problems. They're still have a chance to win their division. And I thought it was a good time to check in with our friend Diana Rusini at the Athletic Senior NFL Insider. First of all, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. This is a really busy time.

I know a lot of people get the holidays off. This is actually an incredibly busy. time for you. So I know you're squeezing us in and I appreciate it. I do want to start with something that you've been very hot on and you know it. The jet situation. So give me the mindset of a historically impulsive ownership group with Sala Hackett, Joe Douglas. Diana, where are they on all this stuff? Yeah, I'll get there in a sec. First, I just want to say thank you. You're saving me from having to spend any more time with my family. I've been with them for about four days here. You know, Colin, you know when I was at ESPN, I traveled tons during football weekends,

but now I'm a senior insider. So I got my phone. So that helps a lot. So I don't have to travel as much, which is definitely a perk of the job. But that being said, I'm now stuck in this house. So really thank you. Thank you to everyone at Fox right now for having me because this has been the best Christmas present ever. But that being said, right? So you know I live in the New Jersey area. I'm very close to the Jets facility and this morning even when I was out picking up some bagels to start the morning the day after Christmas here. A lot of chatter about what's going on with the Jets and how they barely were able to get a win against the commanders after right before the pregame started all the hoopla there out on the field. The New York Post reported that Woody Johnson, you know,

spoke with them and said this this whole regime is coming back. And Colin, you hear, you hear that and you think, how, why? What has this group done to prove that they deserve to go back out there? Because when you watch what they've done on the field over the last few weeks, at least since Aaron Rogers went down in week one, they've had moments of really good play, right? How could you not with a defense like that? But it always just felt when you were around this team that after Aaron went down,

they were like, we're good. We'll just wait for next year. And I think that's what the ownership mentality, and least his philosophy is he's understanding. They were put in a really bad position. All the chips were pushed in on Aaron Rogers. And once Aaron went down, they decided, this year won't really count.

We'll get to next year. So now Robert Salah is going to be the head coach again. And Joe Douglas, of course, will be the general manager. And, you know, Kyle, you have to wonder, Is this a scenario where they're looking around going, all right, we know Aaron's comfortable with him, Robert Salove, Joe Douglas, Nathaniel Hackett. Do we really want to ruffle the feathers here and bring in someone new, even if maybe we don't think Robert's been great this year? And look, bottom line on everything that happens in New York, it goes back to what Aaron Rogers wants. And obviously, this is the most comfortable coaching staff through the perception or perspective.

of the New York Jets. This group is who Aaron Rogers wants, and this is the group that we'll see next year in Aaron Rogers' return in New York. All right, we got some job openings going to happen in the NFL. What is the latest on the job openings in the NFL, like Washington feels obvious Raiders? Antonio Pierce did himself a big solid with that effort. So what's the latest, Diana? He did. And look, I've had tons of conversations around the league the last few weeks. And You know, I know everyone wants to know right now. What is the owner doing? What do they want?

Are they safe? Are they not? There are situations where there's ownership out there that is still deciding what they want to do. I can tell you for the readers, though, they're casting a YNet. Yes, they're very happy with what Antonio Pierce has done. He's won over this locker room. The players won him the last time we saw a situation like this, Rich Basatia was the interim head coach.

And it just, it felt right. But he, of course, went on. Davis went on to make that decision to hire Josh McDaniels, and we know that did not work. So he's, of course, making the consideration that maybe Antonio Pierce is the right guy. But this is Las Vegas, right? They want a big name. They always will, and we know who the owner is. So they're going to continue to have conversations outside of who the interim head coach is right now,

and they're going to have to do that either way. Okay, so then you have the Carolina Panthers. David Tepper, from a couple of the conversations I've had with people who've been talking to him about what this year has been because it's been bad, right? And he pulled the band-aid on it all right after Thanksgiving, firing Frank Wright knowing, you know what? I've got the number one overall draft pick in Bryce Young, and this looks atrocious and you're the problem. I need to fix it. We did a whole piece on the dysfunction in Carolina. And from what I was told, David Tepper knows he messed up. And he wants to make this right. And he's going to try to

very patient in terms of gathering the amount of information for the next head coach he picks. But his eyes are once again on Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator in Detroit, who we know was his number one choice last year. Washington, look, you said it. I hate talking about it as if it's just, it's got to happen, but it is, right? So this is new ownership. It's a new organization. And there was buzz, right?

Which, when was the last time you and I had a conversation about the Washington commanders and once the Washington Redskins, obviously, is their old name, saying that they were the destination spot, the team that a coach wanted to be part of. Well, now coaches that I'm talking to, coordinators that want an opportunity, they believe that this is a destination spot, right? Their roster's not that bad.

They've got a bunch of draft picks coming up. They just got to figure out what they're going to do with the quarterback position, whether or not Sam Howell is the answer or not. And then New England, right? Right now, we're all. all still waiting to see what they decide. Tons of chatter, tons of whispers.

But from what I can gather, no decision has been made just yet. Yeah, Belichick, I read, I think over the weekend, has come to terms with his future is unsettled there, so we'll take a wait and see. You know, I'm watching Baker Mayfield, who's always played well when he has confidence and he has a good cast around him. And he's playing well, and I'm happy for him. You know, Tampa now is probably going to make the playoffs, meaning they don't get a great draft pick.

you know, they could cobble together some draft picks and some players. They have some good personnel and move up in the draft. But my guess is they're not going to get one of the three or four best quarterbacks and they don't want to gut their franchise and their draft capital. So Diana, is Baker, I mean, I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. Is he the future for the next couple of years? Like, what's going on with Baker and his opportunities?

I don't think it's the worst thing in the world at all. And I don't think Tampa Bay believes it's the worst thing at all. Colin, a few weeks ago, when I was digging, taking on what the Tampa Bay Bucks organization was going to look like at the end of this season. It was my understanding that it was going to look very different. They were going to gut it out. They were going to get a new head coach, perhaps a new GM. And look how much this has changed in just a matter of weeks, thanks to Baker Mayfield.

And I remember during free agency, and I was sitting with my former colleague, Adam Schifter at ESPN, when Baker Mayfield was making a decision of where he wanted to play. and there were a few teams out there that wanted Baker services at the time. And Tampa pushed hard to get him into their organization. And at the time, I was a little bit like you, wondering why. Why Baker? Why are they have so much confidence and belief? He kind of showed us what he was.

And I don't really, this is a guy that's got to step in for Tom Brady. And I can tell you, the laugh is definitely on me for not believing in what Baker can do. And they've really been able to find the best of him. and Baker always plays his best when we doubt them. We being all the fans out there that don't believe that perhaps maybe he is that guy. So Tampa believes that he can be the guy. And how could they not? Because perhaps this quarterback saves some of their jobs.

Yeah. By the way, finally, the Harbaugh situation, I was told last week from somebody I trust is the Chargers would like to shed a reputation because they don't think it's true that they're cheap. And they're going to go after Belichick or they're going to go after Harbaugh. And that, you know, their takeaway is, listen, you know, at the time, Brandon Staley was up for the Eagles job. That's the reason we went and got him, not because he was cheap and true to fight. He was. Staley was up for the Eagles job.

So they want to shed that image. And I do think Harbaugh is sitting there thinking, listen, I've done the NFL. You got to have a quarterback. Chargers do. What are you hearing, though, because Jim wants some control, what are you hearing from your NFL sources finally on the Harbaugh situation? Jim's smart enough to know. He watches his brother. If you don't have a star quarterback,

it's really hard to win in this league. Diana, he can win 11 games at Michigan, three out of four years, without a superstar quarterback. So what are you hearing on him? Colin, I have a brother-in-law who's very, very cheap, and he hates that we call him cheap, right? Because he's really trying to beat it.

He makes a lot of money, actually. There's no reason why he should be cheap. But you know what he gave me for Christmas yesterday? What? A gravy. like a gravy boat. A gravy boat. What do I need a gravy boat? I'm telling you, I have like 15 of them, right?

So he's not changing the perception of what he is because he's shown us. So until I believe the charges go out there and really bring in and catch that big fish. And I understand the Eagles were in on Brandon Staley. I remember when that was all happening, how he was trying to bring him there. And they made that move and they stayed patient with him. him and they believed in what he was selling them at the time. And maybe there was a little too much of growth too quickly there. But Jim Harbaugh wants to come back to the NFL.

I can tell you that. I've had numerous discussions this entire season about. He wants to come back to the NFL and coach. But he is smart. And he's been in positions where he hasn't had a quarterback. And he's been positions where he has. And if you look at all the teams, all the openings that are going to be out there, The charter situation sounds the best.

It looks the best on paper. You take out some of the roster situation, some of the cap problems that they have because they do have some money issues in terms of players. The Charter job last year, Colin, was the dream spot. I would say he's almost a year late on it.

That last year would have been the time when he wanted in on it. But that being said, he's a talented coach who I believe can get the best set of Justin Herbert. We'll just see if this spanish. believes he's the right guy here to give this organization some identity, some consistency, and perhaps they can change that reputation they have of being cheap and give the organization and the team the tools they need to keep up with the rest of that division. Yeah.

Diana Rusini, the Athletic Senior NFL Insider. Again, happy holidays. Thanks for stopping by. It's great seeing you on a busy time of the year for you certainly, and I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Merry Christmas. Thanks for having me, guys.

All right. Yeah, I mean, the Chargers are very sensitive about the, you know, the label. They're building a beautiful facility up in Los Angeles County. And Harbaugh is, I mean, my takeaway on the cap situation with the Chargers, they can't keep Mack, Bosa, and Derwin James. They're going to move off two of them. You could probably get more for Bosa than Calilio Mack and Derwin James. But my guess is they're going to, in the NFL, if you talk to a lot of the sharp people

behind the scenes, the feeling is these days in the NFL, keep your defense young and cheap. but pay for one great pass rusher. Chris Jones, Aaron Donald, a Bosa, a Miles Garrett. But other than that, keep your defense cheap. Spend your money on offense because that's where the wins are in the league. Can I ask a quick question? We've heard Belichick's name come up now with Diana. You've mentioned it.

Someone else said it. Maybe it was last week. Honest question. We know Belichick is the greatest coach in NFL history. Greatest defensive coach ever. He turned 72 in April. He's always had total control. Why are we so sure someone's going to go out, whether it's Carolina,

Chargers, Cowboys, who, why are we so sure that someone is clamoring for someone like Belichick to come in, knowing that everywhere he's gone New England for 20 years? He's at total control. No, I don't think he has a gigantic market. And the knock on bill is, if you look at his staff, he's got his kids, he's got kind of retreads, people who have been fired. A lot of the good young coaches do not want to be under the power of Belichick. He's a bit of a downer.

He's rough. Everybody has to sacrifice. And the takeaway is Bill now is not willing to sacrifice. Bill's only willing to coach players he likes. Well, that's not sacrificing, Bill. You've got to have at a company, you don't have to love everybody. Bill's whole mantra, sacrifice all about the win. It's not true.

That's not Bill anymore. Bill wants to coach who he wants to coach. Well, that's not sacrificing. So if I was a young coach, I would not go to Belichick. If I was a young offensive coach, no thing. I feel like everybody out there is saying Belichick is one of the top names. I think this show's probably the only one. He's not.

I don't even think Belichick's coaching in the league. Again, there's a guy who drafted a kicker and loves to draft interior offensive linemen. You can't go to a team around the league and just demand that you're getting whoever you. No, I would take Ben Johnson over him. I would take Harbaugh. I was thinking about this weekend. There are people out there. This is not you and I.

But there are a lot of people. Maybe they're more Midwestern ethos. of the past. This is the way we do things, and that's fine. But the NFL's like media and tech. It's a highly fluid industry. Like tech changes every two years. But the media, I mean, there's a new platform, there's a new company, there's mergers,

it changes every two years. Other sports don't. Took baseball forever to embrace speeding up the game, right? Like football changes annually. And the game is now about drafting, developing an offense. And Belichick's not great at any of those. He saw J.C. Jackson out there with the charges. Oh, oh, let me get J.C. J.C. We'll recapture the magic we had. Two weeks later, it wouldn't play him. I mean, the guy was a disaster. Like, it, I'm not saying

the game Pat's Belichick or he's washed or any of that nonsense. I'm just saying, I don't think currently it makes sense for anyone to bring him in. I just, I don't like Chicago Bears or Washington. Because it's East Coast, it's a little private jet to his place in Nantucket. Washington's got a lot of money. I think, Bill likes that. Bill's used to that. Joe Gibbs all over again. Remember Gibbs was a star and then he left and he came back. I just saying, I would hire Harbaugh. One, I would do Ben Johnson. I'd consider Dan Quinn.

But if the sport now to me is keeping your defense cheap, spending money on offense, that's what Kansas City, you know, Pittsburgh spends a fortune on defense. What are the Steelers done in a decade? So the league now has changed. The Steeler defense, nobody can stop anybody. why did the Steelers look so good against the Bengals? Offense, up the sideline, wide receivers. That game wasn't about defense.

That game was about George Pickens owning. I mean, this weekend, look how often the best receiver changed the game. A Tyree Kill, a George Pickens. Amari Cooper. Amari Cooper. Go look at this weekend. I mean, go look at this weekend, the biggest games. It was wide receivers often making the difference.

And it's like the game's changed. It's nothing anti-Bill. But Bill's the greatest defensive coach. ever. He's a wildly productive head coach. Take Brady out of his life. Everything changes. I'm sorry, does 12 of the 14 playoff teams today have an offensive coach. It's a second year in a row. Last year, it was seven for seven NFC playoff teams all had offensive coaches. And this is not a shot at Baker, but Tampa's going to win the division because it's awful and Baker's the best quarterback. So Baker, you know, they have a defensive coach,

but Baker's head and shoulders the best offensive coach. They have the best offensive weapons and the most explosive offense, and they're winning because of offense. That's the sport. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app.

Hi, this is Jay Glazer, and you may know me for the world of football or fighting or even shows like HBO's ballers. What you don't know is for my entire life, I have lived in something I refer to as the gray, depression, anxiety. So now I'm coming out with a new podcast. Unbreakable, a mental health podcast with Jay Glazer,

where each week, while we talk about mental health, I hope to describe it. Give it words. Listen to Unbreakable with Jay Glazer 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 Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball. 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,

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Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam 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 all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks. 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. All right, J-Mac. Busy Day. Lots to talk about J-Mack with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline News. We didn't really much get into this Steelers win on Saturday, 3411, blew out Cincinnati. I'll say this, the kid Pickens was phenomenal. He's been phenomenal now for two years. They just can't get him the ball. So I hiked the hell out of him in the preseason, got him in all my fantasy teams,

and he carried me in the fantasy football semifinals. Big win. Tomlin was the big winner, though, right? Remember there was some chatter last week? Does Washington get involved? Bears, blah, blah. blah, now a report indicates

the Steelers want to extend Tomlin after his win over the Bengals. Colin, you never want to read too much into one win. It was Jake Browning in Pittsburgh. It was also his agent didn't like all the chatter

about Tomlin. So they win a game big and they go and put pressure. They now leak this story. Why is this story out? Somebody wants it out. So I got no problem keeping Tomlin, but at some point, this is a defensive culture. Those days are over.

You can come to terms with it or not. But Cincinnati's getting to Super Bowls. Baltimore looks like they're getting to Super Bowls. Cleveland's better than you. Right now you have the fourth best offense on a consistent basis in the division. You have no chance going forward to be a viable Super Bowl contender if you have the fourth best quarterback in your division. So Lamar's better.

Burroughs better. I'd argue Jake Browning's even with Kenny Pickett. Joe Flacko's better than Kenny Pickett. Deshawn Watson's better than Kenny Pickett. So you may have the fifth best quarterback in your division going forward. You are not a serious Super Bowl team. So you have to go get into a quarterback. I know he's a Pittsburgh kid, but you have to get the right O.C.

You've got plenty of players. This is still a stacked roster. Listen, a lot of offensive coordinators, right, you hire them as head coaches. We know Tomlin's not going anywhere. I think this is a great opportunity for someone to come in, be offensive coordinator. Crush it, right? You're going to have high-profile games. you know you're facing good quarterbacks.

And you could be a head coach in like two years. Like I think this is a good offensive coaching opening. The question is the quarterback. Like, we know it ain't Trubisky. He should not even be on the roster. No good offensive coordinator. I don't think it's rude off, right? Well, ask yourself, you're an offensive coordinator, and you're good, and you have options.

You're going to go to Kenny Pickett? Well, if I'm a quarterback coach, look at it, make the leap? No. Of course I would. Why wouldn't you consider it? If I'm in the Shanahan tree, if I'm in the McDaniel tree, all those guys should be interviewing. Do you know what gets you fired in the? this league, the wrong quarterback. That's what gets you fired.

Again, Pittsburgh's got some, like, I think they're going to be in the mix for Justin Fields. Is that crazy? I think Kenny Pickett is significantly less talented than Brock Purdy. And I think Brock Pretty's good. I'm just saying, if you're viable, if I was viable in any business, this one, what's my company's history, what are the strengths, what kind of rights do we have with football, college, World Cup.

Everything's about what am I walking into? You're going to walk into a defensive culture. They spend all their money on defense and a quarterback who's a local kid that they will not move off of. That is not a good job. Well, that's a wait a minute. Hold on. The offensive coordinator can walk in and be like, well, what's your plan of QB, Tomlin and GM and ownership? What are you going to do?

Who are you bringing in? Because if it's, well, we like Kenny Pickett, he's our guy. Thank you. That would be like when you guys tried to pull me onto the show. if I came on and met with you and I was like, Colin, what's your game plan? I saw you did it this way. You're going to do it this way. And I didn't hear what I liked.

I wouldn't be on the show. I heard awesome stuff. You and I know each other. The offensive coordinator, whoever it is, is clearly going to say, I need to know who else we have a quarter of them. You're going to do that before you take the job. Exactly. But you're not take, so you keep saying it's a great job. No, because you're going to sit down and they're going to go, Tomlin's here.

We spend money on defense. That's our culture. We love picking. Well, they're not doing it that way anymore. It's not a good job. That is not a good job. You know who thinks that's a good job? Steeler fanboy, who sits there wearing his jersey and screams at the TV.

If this job, because they're not moving off Pickett, they feel loyalty to a Pittsburgh kid. I'm not saying you move off him, but he is now fighting for the quarterback role with whoever you bring in. You cannot go in with Kenny Pickett's our guy. If they do that, it's over and Tomlin forget about everything. That's what they're doing. No. They just beat Jake Browning and double down on Tomlin forever. Wait a minute.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over. Then Pittsburgh's insane. Because that's what they just did. They're literally, we beat Jake Browning. Just ask yourself in the NFL. Is their court, is Kenny Pickett as good as Lamar? No. Deshawn, no.

Burrow, no. I don't think he's as good as Flacco. So I'm telling you, you're going to go in and Flacco stays on that squad with the fifth best quarterback. You are not winning a division. You are not a serious football. football operation. If that's your, if that's your... Fy and C consulting. Quick question. Colin, is there a quarterback out there you would like us to go after

to potentially add to the quarterback room? Give me one name. Baker Mayfield's not out there. I'm not counting him. No. Baker Mayfield, I'd go vie for him. No, he's not going to come on. He's in a good spot. Gardner Minshew? Are you making a move for him? That's not your guy. I'd go draft him. You have to draft someone. Or Justin Fields, right? They got a lot of players. I'd trade picks. I'd trade players. I'd move up. They're not going to make the playoffs. Probably, I gave a quarterback.

All right. Next story is emerging here within the last hour. According to Doug Peterson, Trevor Lawrence suffered a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder against the bucks in what was a horrific, embarrassing game for Jackson Road. And the Jags don't know if Trevor Lawrence will be able to go in week 17. Now, this is the Trevor Lawrence story. Every week he demands to play, whether it's a concussion, an ankle, whatever. We'll see. Jacksonville is 8 and 7.

Three-way tie for first. Colin, I'm kind of out on this team. I don't know what to do. I don't want a knee-jerk on Trevor Lawrence. He's been bad. He's banged up. Listen, they're reeling. Well-coached teams get better at the end of the year.

Rams are getting better. Seattle's finding ways to win. Some of this is Doug Peterson. Like this team is getting worse, the longer he's there. It's a mess. some of this is on the coach. They got players. Some of this is on Doug.

Like, I'm sorry, but like if a CEO, the longer a CEO is out of place. If the company starts eroding, look at the boss. The longer Peterson's there, the more of a mess they are. What are they? Seriously, what are they? I know what Tampa is offensively more than Jacksonville. You have Trevor Lawrence. You have weapons just been.

Not pretty. Final story. This is a little spicy, Colin. So the 2024 draft order shaping up, The Bears are holding number one from Carolina and the eighth pick. Well, of course, social media happened. And a Bears fan tweeted the only option for the Bears. It's not Caleb Williams.

The answer is Marvin Harrison Jr. And of course, guess who liked it? Caleb Williams. A lot of people are saying, you don't want to go to Chicago. He's going to force his way. He doesn't. I don't think he wants to go to Chicago. I don't think his dad wants him to go to Chicago.

I'm being totally honest here. I don't have this sourced yet. I can say with some degree of confidence, he doesn't want to go to Chicago. Chicago's never developed a great quarterback in the franchise's history. Do you want to play in Chicago weather? Let me see who the coaches.

Oldest ownership in the league, wonky front office. Hey, the Miami Dolphins were garbage, a laughing stock since Dan Marino left. They got one coach in there who's amazing, and they're winning games. It's all about the coach. Let's see what they do.

If it's Iber flus, if they decide to stay with him, I can understand, Caleb, saying. There is nothing about the bears I love. There's stuff I think is okay. But there's nothing. Quarterback, coach, front office, ownership, nothing I love about the bear.

I got to love something. If I get a like Baltimore, I love everything. Chicago, I love nothing. Another season where the Ravens are good, the bear stink. There's a reason. I think they've looked okay down the stretch. Maybe not great, but there's some pieces in place. I like the bears going forward.

I may bet them to win the division next year. Sight unseen. Don't say that. There's some pieces here, dude. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News.

All right, Celtics, Lakers, what do we take from Beyond Boston's good next? Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashed. reaching human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. 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 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 what you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye They 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 camp? 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 y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you 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. Well, we've got a couple of things in the NBA that are interesting. Most notably, the first. Phoenix Sun's had Booker and KD and Bradley Beale. And now you're hearing stuff on a hot mic that nobody likes anybody.

Woj reporting there's issues in Phoenix. Rick Buecker joins us live. So there's, give people a little insight. I'm shocked. I didn't know Bradley Beale was this banged up. I thought he'd be more available. Like, what do you hear about KD supporting cast comments on his teammates? Well, let's face it.

This was a team that was put. together with stars in mind and then let's backfill everything else. And it's just not a well-constructed team. The names are a lot more exciting than the actual composition of it. And so the tell for me was watching the game yesterday, and there was a dribble handoff between KD and Grace and Allen. Ball ended up going out of bounds. And as KD is running back, the cameras catch him saying,

every damn time. So I was not surprised at all by Woj's report. High expectations for this team, and they clearly haven't met those. And perhaps the scariest part of this, Colin, is that they have played the easiest schedule in the NBA, and they're struggling to stay above 500. It gets brutal from mid-January on, and so it's not going to get easier. But I look at, look, who's their offensive orchestrator? Who is their defensive backbone? Those are two elements that they don't have here. And while we can say that they backfilled the supporting cast,

the reality is I'm not seeing a whole lot of leadership from KD or Devin Booker and obviously Bradley Beale is MIA. So the Lakers against top teams are struggling. I do feel like when Westbrook didn't work, they brought in Rui and Jared Vanderbilt. and I thought it was a band-aid to a bigger issue. They still lacked to me twitchiness, wing athletic ability, but I do think Rob Polika got credit, justifiably so,

for kind of solving the Westbrook piece. They were bigger and longer and better. Yeah. But it didn't make them great. Don't they have to make a move here? Yeah. Yeah, but at this point, I mean, how many times you go back to the drawer

and you pull something out and you switch it out? And then you, like, there's only so many times you can do that. and actually make improvement. And let's face it, the thing that you're talking about, which I agree with, which is you need athletic wing two-way wing defenders. They're just short on that. Yes. I mean, they're loaded with big men.

Yeah. Well, the problem is, if you're going to play LeBron and AD, how are you going to use Rui Hachamura? He's a power forward. How are you going to use Christian Wood? How are you going to use Jackson Hayes? So they have all these bigs. and now they don't have guys who can match up with those wings. So if you're going to play quality teams,

you have to be able to defend the three and you have to be able to shoot it. And those are two things that they don't do very well. And bottom line, if they don't get to the free throw line, the free throw line allows them to set their defense. It allows them to score easy points. If a team can defend them without fouling, then they are in the driver's seat.

They attempt 27 free throws in their wins, 21 in their losses. That's a huge disparity. And the difference between the number of free throws that they take and their opponents take is the largest in the league. Okay, Draymond Green. NBA is like therapy needed. What do you make of that story in Draymond going forward for the Warriors? Oh, man. You know, one kind of innocent comment by Yusuf Nerkich, I don't know what's wrong with that guy.

Rudy Gobert saying the same thing. I'll tell you what's wrong with Draymond Green. He's 6'230 pounds, and he's made a living playing 7 foot 300 pounders. You have to play with an edge. You have to have a little bit crazy and try to find a way to intimidate. There is nothing different about Draymond Green today than there was 8, 10 years ago when he came into the league. The difference is he's not quite as good. and the warriors are not quite as good.

And he has been frustrated with trying to figure out a way to make all of this work. So I would expect the challenge for him coming back is going to be there's sort of a target on his back now. He's always had to play, though, with this certain amount of how do I create an intimidation factor? Because I'm the smaller guy. He's usually been very smart about it. I expect that he will be smart about it when he comes back. I just wonder, like, how are they going to make this work? Largely because the Warriors just aren't as good as they used to be.

Right. And I think a lot of the frustration is coming out with that. They expect to still be playing for championships, and they're struggling to meet that bar. All right, Rick Buecker, NBA stuff. Good seeing you's always buddy up against it, and we'll talk soon. Sounds good. You bet.

So Luca last night went off. J. Mack loves Luca. He loves Luca. I tend to think he's a great, got a lot of James Harden, great regular season performer. Will he be out of gas for the postseason? Because he doesn't stay in the best shape. He's very offensive leaning.

He has the ball in his hands. It's what the late Kobe Bryant told James Harden. You can't play that way and be fresh for the playoffs. You can score a bunch of points and get an MVP voter to. Luca, do you buy Dallas? Of course I do. Luca, unbelievable. I'll just remind people, he took Dallas to the conference finals.

Joel and Bede has not taken Philly to the conference finals. You say you like wins. Luca wins. Puts up stats. Dude, I mean, the guy before the age of 25, the stuff he's done, Colin, you never want to get too hyperbolic. He's on track to be a top 10 player in the history of basketball. Well, he's a top 10 scorer. He elevates his teammates like nobody we've seen since Magic and LeBron.

Nobody makes their teammates better like Luca Donjidge. I think he's like fourth in the league and assists. Come on. You can't not guard. He's got the ball in his hands constantly. He does. You just don't like that he's not a great defender. Well, I think my age, I've seen this before. Kobe and his prime was a great defender.

LeBron was a great defender. Michael Jordan was an elite defender. I've seen score a bunch of points, don't defend guy. It's called James Harden. And you end up a top 10 score of it. It's Carmelo Anthem. Oh, no, no, no. You think he's significantly different than Carmelo?

I feel like I'm watching. Look at Dunch is way better than Carmelo ever was. Stop. It's not even close. He passes the basketball. Come on. Jeez.

Hour three is done. We're done. We're back tomorrow. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a

full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to.

Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.