The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 – Handing JJ McCarthy the Keys, Golden Era Gone for the Steelers

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

Jonas and LaVar, filling in for Colin, believe JJ McCarthy should be allowed to struggle even though the Vikings have everything else in place. The golden era for the Steelers feels long gone while the Chiefs want to keep getting better. Plus, gripes with Brock Purdy and much more! #2prosSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. It is to heard Fox Sports Radio. LeVar Erington, Jonas Knox, in for Colin. You can listen to us on the IHard Radio app. You can find us on hundreds of affiliates all across the country

as we take you all the way up until the end of this hour. That'll be 3 p.m. Eastern time, noon Pacific. You can hear LeVar and myself weekday mornings on two pros and a cup of Joe here on many of these Fox Sports Radio affiliates alongside Brady Quinn. but when Brady Quinn's not in and he's at Big 12 media days it's just black and drag weekday morning 6 a.m.

Eastern time where you can find us coming up tomorrow morning as well too. So with that being said here we open up the show talking about Kirk Cousins who on the latest edition of Netflix's quarterback season two

he discussed how he felt a little bit misled by the Atlanta Falcons in drafting Michael Pennix Jr. The quarterback out of Washington in the first round after Kirk Cousin signed his big deal there. I wasn't expecting us to take a quarterback so high. At the time, it felt like I had been a little bit misled or certainly if I had the information around free agency, it certainly would have affected my decision. I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback.

high, but I've also learned in 12 years in this league that you're not entitled to anything. It's all about being able to earn your spot and prove yourself. So that was Kirk Cousins, not thrilled with the handling of everything when it came to the Atlanta Falcons still drafting a quarterback after giving him all that money to beat the guy there. And what a state put in Minnesota. But the damn Atlanta Falcons decided, hey, we'll throw you a bunch of cash, you'll be our guy, only to, lo and behold, do the same thing the Minnesota Vikings did and take a quarterback of the first round? I mean, I can't understand where he's coming from.

You felt misled. I can get that. And if what the conversation you had with them made you feel comfortable in moving forward with them, then you made a decision. Listen, Michael Pennix was taken with the eighth overall pick in the draft. And to me, when you look at that, 2024 draft, eighth pick, there had already been, some people would say perceivably, most all of the top talent was gone by that eighth pick. You still have Bow Nix and Michael Pinnock's still available.

Now, your boy saw something more in Bow Nix. Sean Payton saw something more than anybody else did. felt as though he was in great position to get his quarterback where he wanted to get him from. Michael Pennix is a great unknown because while he is a really, really fine quarterback, he has dealt with some injuries and serious ones. And so when you look at the health bill of Michael Pennix, it made it questionable as to where he would fall and what his value would be, even though he had a brilliant season,

maybe even worthy of the Heisman trophy that year, how well he did. He was there. He was there. The Atlanta Falcons had just picked up a new head coach. You just added a journeyman. Now he's a journeyman. He's hitting his third team and Kirk Cousins.

You have a starter. but if Minnesota saw you as being being expendable and being movable and they moved you why would you not think that he did say I didn't think they would take a quarterback that high but if you know that you're going to have to eventually in the near future one to two years

right we're saying one to two years time maybe three at the most you got to you have to replace Kirk Cousins as your starter yes Yeah. Okay. Then if you have a quarterback that you believe is a really, really gifted quarterback at that eight position and you didn't think he was going to be there, could it be possible that the Atlanta Falcons gave him the real information at that point in time that was relevant? And it changed once you got to the eighth pick in the draft during draft day.

And Michael Pinnock's and Boatniks were still available. Yeah, I mean. That would be my guess. I don't think the Falcons straight up lied to him and said, oh, we're absolutely not going to be taking a quarterback. Because they probably had some conversations. And he said, look, I'm not going back to Minnesota because they've already told me. Minnesota was up front and said, hey, we'd love to have you back, but we're still taking a quarterback.

I don't think Atlanta straight up lied to him and said absolutely not under, you know, it's not like he had to sign a deal to guarantee they weren't going to take a quarterback. I just think maybe Atlanta's the draft got closer, fell in love with the idea of Michael Penix Jr. And then when you look at just how the handling of that was, their reasoning afterwards, and I remember this because I amongst every, along with a lot of other people after they made the pick, was looking around going, really? You just signed Kirk Cousin Jr. drafting a quarterback. Atlanta's reasoning was we don't plan on drafting this high and if it's a loaded draft class, we don't plan on being here this high again.

So let's go and get our guy for the future. Hopefully we don't have to play him for a year or two. If you're projecting out and you're Atlanta and you're in this draft with a new coach, you got a new quarterback coming in through free agency that just came off of a major surgery on his Achilles and you're moving forward trying to figure out what you're going to do with your team. Do you pass up on a quarterback with that draft class that you had a quarterback with that Pinnock's class

for the class that you would have had this year? And what pick did you have in this year's draft? And what quarterback would you have taken in this year's draft that is going to be prepared in the next year or this season in particular? year two or year three, that rookie would have had to have been ready to play. In this case, year one was when the quarterback needed to play. If I got any quarterback out of this year's draft,

out of this year's draft, there is one quarterback that I would say that I feel confident going into week one with, and that be Cam Ward. I like Dart. I think Dart is cool. Think he might have a good career, maybe. Name a number. one that bona fide in this year's pet this patch draft that oh we're going to pass up on a

quarterback in this draft at the eighth pick michael pinnicks is right here sitting here at the eighth pick and we have our pick we're just going to pass them up what would have been the other option why feel why feel let down why feel misled it was there you got a guy that that can learn and sit behind you just like jordan love did and soon as it's your time you're not you're time to move on, he's ready to come in. There shouldn't have been any issue with that. I think this is

this is more telling of the fact that he didn't really want to leave me. Come on, man. Now that's not, now you're preaching to the second. Preach to the pews. Preach to the people. That's the real point here. There was some discussion that

the appeal of Atlanta was the fact that his wife's family was from there. And Kirk Cousins decided to have a conversation with Vikings. They told him we're going to draft a guy. And so he feels like convinced himself. He was probably going to be the guy. He was probably but hurt by the idea that they were going to draft another quarterback.

And now he's having levers remorse. And so then you start to hear this report that came out, courtesy of Alec Lewis of the Athletic and talking about J.J. McCarthy, who was drafted by the Vikings last year after Pennix. and Alec Lewis of the Athletic writes, The Vikings tossed J.J. McCarthy, the keys to the Ferrari. The directive is simple. Take what's there. No need to be a hero.

Expecting McCarthy to be perfect would be foolish, thinking he'll thrive on intermediate routes and anticipatory throws is fair. Most everyone who has spent meaningful time around him raves about him, how he looks, will be one of the biggest stories of the NFL season. Here's the other possible big story, the NFL season. reason. If Kirk Cousins feels this way about the situation, and Kirk Cousins pointed out, and it was pretty obvious, basically having to learn a whole new system, a whole new offense, struggling to do so

after feeling so comfortable and confident in Kevin O'Connell's system, if something does happen to J.J. McCarthy, and I'm curious to see what that leash looks like for him, considering they feel like they've got a Super Bowl contending team. Kirk Cousins, a year removed from his Achilles, if J.G. McCarthy's not up to snuff early on, I could see Minnesota maybe potentially contacting Atlanta and being like, what would it take? If, like, the idea of, well, you know,

if you don't have J.J. McCarthy performing, we've got somebody else in the room that could get it done. if you're Minnesota and you feel like you've got a legitimate team, if there's an injury, if he's not performing well, Atlanta's still holding on to Kirk Cousins. They picked up his $10 million option. They weren't willing to trade him. Minnesota might get desperate and Kirk Cousins might ultimately get what he wanted the whole time,

which is to not have to leave there and go back to where he played his best football of his career. I mean, it's a dream scenario for Kirk Cousins. If it were to play out in that manner, is it likely? I don't think it's likely. No. Is it possible? Anything is possible. Because Minnesota and J.J. McCarthy's the envy of, I think, a lot of quarterbacks around the NFL because of how set up and ready to go they are. And it's almost like, hey, just don't screw it up. Yes.

But if he did, and you're Kevin O'Connell and you have this great relationship with Kirk Cousins and he's basically telling you I didn't want to leave. What is screwing it up and how far? Like, how far long are we in the season? what is considered to be screwing it up? Because that has to play a major part in how this all plays out. Because that is a high draft pick. And this is, in essence, his rookie season. They're in this weird spot because they can compete, especially in the NFC, especially in that division.

Like, they can compete to win. I don't know how patient they really want to be if he's going through. those growing pains. I mean, if it looks like bad, if it looks awful, I just, I wonder if they would be considering early in the season, hey man, this doesn't

look right. We need to bring in a veteran here and let's sit JJ McCarthy down and give them an opportunity. Understanding you're running the risk of potentially damaging his confidence moving forward. I just can't imagine the Vikings are going to deal with a six-win season with

this roster. This is the problem I have. with this microwave-ass culture that we live in in 2026, 2025, hitting into 26, is that everybody wants things so quickly that you've lost sight and you've lost track of the idea that struggling and pain and failure is a part of the growth process. People expect a top draft pick to come in and be lights out. That man struggles, you should actually expect him to struggle more than you should expect him to thrive and be successful because he has to learn the speed of the game.

He has to learn what they're doing to him. He has to learn what it is to be playing out there on the field as a pro quarterback. That is, I don't care if it's year one, you go on the field, two, three, four, or whatever. the moment you get out there on the field is when you start the real learning of how to either succeed or figuring out that you can't. If he has a slow start, that doesn't mean he's a failure. If he doesn't play well to begin with, it doesn't mean abort the mission. It just means that he's going through a growth period of time where he has to understand what his preparation is.

Get some film in the can where you can study what are these defensive coordinators trying to do to me. Can you comprehend it? Can your coaches comprehend it? Can you guys sit together and come together and come up with solutions? Can the receivers help you? Can the offensive linemen help you and let you know, okay, Hey, you might not realize that they're stemming to this and they're running this coverage and they're blitzing you when you do this. When we run this route, they're doing this.

They're bringing pressure from the secondary. These are things, little things that you start to learn and the game starts to slow down for you once you see enough reps. If you never gave the kid enough time to get the reps on film, how do you know if he's going to be able to adapt and to adjust to being a successful NFL quarterback? if you expect them to be great from day one. I'm with you. I think you've got to expect growing pains. I think you've got to expect that they're going to go through early struggles. And I hate the fact that it is a microwave NFL to where they're going to turn it over

and go in another direction that quick. But I say that in acknowledging that Minnesota is in a really unique spot. And your alternative and that unique spot is to go get Kirk Cousins who lost his job in Atlanta. I'm just saying that's a possibility because if you're Atlanta, you're in this unique spot to where you're juggling. We're a contender. We're legitimately a Super Bowl contender, but we've also got a young

quarterback we're going to try and develop. We've got to go through the rookie growing pains while trying to be a contender. It's just a really tricky spot for Kevin O'Connell. Can I just say this, Jonas? You allow you allow Darnold to leave. Yes. After you

you had the season that you had, even though it ended poorly, you had a very, very fine season. Like, one the best of all teams in the National Football League with Sam Darnold. You let him go after the season you had with him.

That says all I need to know about what your confidence level is and what you believe him being competent, him being prepared, and him being the guy that you want him to be. If you let the person that took over for Kirk Cousins

and took over for injured J.J. McCarthy, you let him go. You didn't keep him on the roster. If you were so caught up into having a safety valve situation for J.J. McCarthy, where we got to have the conversation about Kirk Cousins coming from Atlanta, you do not allow that man to leave the building. Case closed. They made their decision.

They said that the value is not with Sam Darnold. It's clearly with the talent that they have with this team. and we can plug and play at the quarterback's position if that quarterback has at least the amount of talent that we saw with Sam Darnold or Kirk Cousins. Keep in mind, Kirk Cousins wasn't your first pick when he came into the league. He came in much like a Michael Pinnock's.

You're the backup. You got drafted, but you're the backup to a same draft class quarterback. He got his chance after injuries, took over for RG3. If RG3 doesn't get injured, we're not even talking about Kirk Cousins. Do you think that the leash will be as long as it would be in a normal situation with a young quarterback? Yes, because they made it.

They made it this way. Minnesota, they have to give him a long leash because they made it this way. It's a really interesting team to watch because that's the big question mark. And he is a rookie because nobody knows. Nobody has any idea. You got to wrap with it because you allowed what is a known commodity to your team. Walk. You let him go.

And he's still an NFC. They don't seem to be too concerned about Sam Darno leaving Minnesota. I ain't heard seeing no articles or seeing anybody. I got remorse the fact that he's not here anymore and this, that and the other. You don't see anything coming out of Minnesota but positivity because they're loaded. Loaded. You want me to do it again? Today they are loaded.

Drew could go out there and be the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Better not. He could. Daddy, go Vikings. Yo, Daddy. You daddy did it. Yeah, listen. So look, Kirk, if you're pissed off like you were on Netflix about being misled,

about being misled, who knows? Maybe things go sideways and you'll be back at Minnesota. You got millions and millions of. upon millions of reasons to be just fine in the situation you're in right now. By the way, you know what is kind of funny, though, the way Alec Lewis of the Athletic writes it, he says, the Vikings tossed J.J. McCarthy the keys to a Ferrari. How much pressure do you think that guy feels? Hey, buddy, don't screw this up.

It's a push button to start. Hey, JJ, park it over and out back, parallel it, and don't dent the sides, okay? I've never played before. You gave him a key so that he could give it to valet and they can see that it's a Ferrari because you don't even need it to start the car. Let's be clear there. It is the herd here on Fox Sports Radio. Levary, Erington, Jonas Knox,

in for Colin, and you can hang out with us as always on the I-Heart radio app. Come on up next here, though. We are going to tell you about how one Hall of Famer says another quarterback really didn't get a fair shot. That's yours here on FSR. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific

on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of 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. Hushman Zada 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 Arington, T.J. Hushmanzada, and Plexico Burrits on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name?

Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide. range of podcasts throughout there.

But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early

names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, for people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas,

and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and Head, writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple

podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris.

Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Genshin won. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck.

Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. grace. Listen to Superhuman on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The dog in the fight, but, you know, Jim Jones was saying he was a more influential rapper than Nas, and this is Ether that's being played right now, which is when Nas totally

destroyed and battle beef rap, Jay-Z. Stop saying you're better than Nas, man. Like, a lot of people bang with you. I'm a fan of Jim. Jones. I like dip set. Yeah. But you ain't better than Nause. Yeah. All right. That's not breaking news either, by the way. It's not?

No, that was just a quick, put it in, put it in there real quick and get out of there. You know what I mean? Yeah, well, nothing happens after that. I do know this. Here's what's going to be happening. Here's going to be happening 20 minutes from now in the herd line news. There's a dynasty that's back. Okay. It's back, baby. We've got the info for you here.

a little over 20 minutes from now. It is LeVar Erington, Jonas Knox, in for calling here on the herd on Fox Sports Radio. LeVar, you're a Pittsburgh guy. I am. You're Mr. Pittsburgh, Mr. 412. Yeah, where to Three Rivers meet, baby. All right, well, apparently there's some people not so happy about the handling of one quarterback situation in Pittsburgh.

And normally you would hear that go. Where? Carnegie Mellon? Well, you've got a Kenny, Kenny, Kenny, Kenickett. Kenny Pickett, who's no longer a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's true. Went to Pitt. He had to leave there to go win a Super Bowl in Philly.

He did beat it. Nonetheless, didn't lead the state. No, he didn't. But he did go to Ohio, so not far away. But now he's among the cast of characters that make up the quarterback room in Cleveland. That's a lot. And Terry Bradshaw, another legendary Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback. Not a fan of Mike Tomlin.

was on the To the Point Home Services podcast and did not agree with the handling of one Kenny Pickett in Pittsburgh. Steelers get rid of Kenny Pickett. A first rounder got rid of him after two years, all right? And they're still looking for a quarterback. They didn't even do anything to build around him. Sam Darnel goes into Minnesota. Look at all those weapons.

All those weapons. And look what happened. So that was Terry Bradshaw as a summarizing the... He's getting a little older, but... but what he said was clear. I'll say that. It's not a sentiment to really disagree with. What are you going to say to disagree with the fact that what did you really do to, one, develop Kenny Pickett,

two, put in front of him the opportunities to have the success. And three, if it wasn't going to be him, what was your contingency plans upon not? using him. So when we were in, we did the show from Las Vegas at the draft and we were doing the morning show there, which by the way, let me just tell you something. Whoever's idea, that was great idea to have us at three in the morning doing two pros in a cup of Joe right next to the escalator next to Hakasan at the MGM Grand. It was clearly an escape route of women of the evening. Oh my God. And men of the evening. And men of the evening. by the way. Big fans of

of LaVar Arrington. One of them was I got the pants to show for it. The evidence is there. She did the Lebar leap and all three of them jumped out. I stirred my coffee and everything. We were there though and one of the storylines that led off

Friday morning after the first round of the draft was the Steelers taking Kenny Pickett and having the discussion about man they were going nuts. There was a lot of positive energy connected to that. Yeah, like everyone was really, really excited about it because he was a Pittsburgh guy. They needed

to go in the direction of... He played at Pittsburgh. New Jersey kid, I believe, but he played for Pittsburgh college. And so they draft him and the feeling was all right, this makes way too much sense. There were some people looking at it going, yeah,

but you know, they missed out on Dan Marino. They should have drafted him. And now they've got Kenny Pickett. maybe this will undo, you know, kind of half-kitting, maybe this will undo the wrong of not drafting Dan Marino and bringing in Kenny Pickett. And then you see how it plays out, and it was one of those situations where be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

It didn't work. And whether you want to blame Matt Canada, the offensive coordinator, which was, people were very critical of him, not happy with the way that he was handling. It was probably a well-placed assessment and a well-placed conclusion that Canada wasn't the guy. But there was also the incident that took place, I think, in Seattle, and Mark Madden, the radio host in Pittsburgh

was pointing this out at the time that Kenny Pickett had an opportunity late in the year there as the Steelers were trying to make a push for the playoffs to suit up, but he wasn't going to start. And Kenny Pickett opted not to suit up. Now, Kenny Pickett has refuted that, but there's enough people there

that are like, no, he chose not to play. And that didn't sit well with Mike Tom and with other members of the organization there. And so whether you want to blame it on what wasn't around Kenny Pickett or not, it just was bad from the get-go. It didn't work. Like, there wasn't, like, Kenny Pickett, that wasn't the best situation for him,

and Kenny Pickett wasn't the best quarterback in that situation for the Steelers through and through. But it does further the fact that at quarterback, they've been a mess for a long time. and we've discussed the Russell Wilson, Justin Field, stuff, the Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph. This goes back to Ben Rothesberger, second to last year maybe, the last time they've had legitimate quarterback play. And there's all sorts of fingers that could be pointed in all sorts of different directions.

But it's why I made the point yesterday, man, if Justin Fields goes out there and looks the part that everyone thinks that he has the potential to do so, and say Russell Wilson, as you laid out, looks the part in New York with the Giants, all of the questions are going to be asked of Mike Tomlin, and all the fingers are going to be pointed in the direction of the Steelers' quarterback. Steelers' handling of developing quarterbacks there since Ben Rothesberger, and it's a problem. Because we're looking at close to a decade.

We're getting close where they have not had an answer at that position, the most important position in the sport. You know what's interesting. Lavion Bell was the best running back you've had since the bus. When Ben Ralph Lusberger came into the league, he was able to be developed in a scheme where they had one of the best defenses ever in the history of the game, one of the top defenses in there for discussion. And you had a very, very elite group of leaders

in that locker room on offense, mainly, mainly Jerome Bettis. The support of having a running game with Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker, you all remember Fast Willie? Yeah. You had Willie Parker

and you had an offensive line that was outstanding. You had receivers and Heinz Ward and San Antonio homes, guys like that, that were elite and outstanding. When you look at where this team is from where they won that Super Bowl, where they went on the road and won. And then they came back and were able to do it again against the Arizona Cardinals, this was a team that was a team that had such

a structured leadership that allowed the growth and allowed for Ben Rafflesberger to ease and settle in to being the quarterback that he would eventually become. Kenny Pickett did not have that luxury.

No. You don't have, like, Najee Harris, pretty good running back, not elite. Mendenhall, pretty good running back, not elite. Lavey.

Beyond Bell was the best that you had and that fell off of the tracks. Antonio Brown with that whole Mike Wallace and all those guys, it was a real golden period for receivers in Pittsburgh for a time. That

doesn't seem to be the case lately. You don't seem to see an established guy. Even Pickens being as good as he was. You don't see the established leadership on this team. that Ben Rafflesberger was brought into.

Not on the defensive side of the ball. While I'll give Cam Hayward a ton of credit for being a great leader, you know, I don't know how well T.J. Watt leads. I don't know. I'm sure he's a great leader, a fine leader of men. I'm not sure the other guys on that unit, but you never had to question it in years past, whether it was Joey Porter and James Ferrier

and, you know, James Harrison to, you know, guys like, I mean, if you want to go back before them, you're talking about guys like Greg Lloyd and Kevin Green and Levant Kirkland and guys like that. You have always had defined leadership at those positions. At the receiver's position, you've always had an anchor guy. At the running back's position, you've always had an anchor guy. on the defense linebackers, defense events, and the secondary, you have always had to find guys, whether it was Troy Palomalu or it was Rod Woodson and Cornell Lake or Darren Perry. The bottom line here is we're pinpointing a position as a failure to launch. But there's really a bigger issue going on in Pittsburgh right now, and it's the total hole.

of what the fabric of this Pittsburgh Steelers team is. You don't have what has been the winning solution and the winning recipe. You have some of the pieces of the recipe, but it does not taste like what it's tasted like in years past even when they didn't win Super Bowls. They didn't win Super Bowls with Greg Lloyd and Kevin Green and them. They lost to the Dallas Cowboys.

I remember where I was at. Upset. games, make it to the Super Bowl. They were close every year. They've digressed and not approach. They have not been that competitive. And they, in a lot of ways, were able to benefit from Ben Verrofelsberger being in an environment and around players that were elite. Yeah.

Nobody has had that in recent years as a quarterback in Pittsburgh. So it's very difficult to say you've got to pinpoint the quarterback as the problem in Pittsburgh. It is the play calling, but it is ultimately the players that are in that locker room as well. And Brothusberger was the stabilizing. He was sort of the consistency from one coaching regime to the next because he was at the end of Bill Cowher. He was at the beginning of Mike Tomlin. And then he's not there anymore. And now you're just looking around going.

So what is the plan? Because to your point, they were always considered a threat in the AFC. Always. Everybody was a little brother to the Steelers. That's over now. The Ravens? Anybody else. The Ravens were the only ones that would give you the idea that, man, this could be the year that they could deal with them.

But they were mirror-image teams. That's over. Mirror-image teams. And Cincinnati had their run with Marvin Lewis, but they just weren't very good in the playoffs. They were pretty good during the regular season. Always had a talented team. Same with the Browns. Always have had talented teams.

Just can't win. They're a fringe playoff team now. They are. And if you're looking at the levels, in the AFC, you've obviously got the upper echelon in Kansas City, you've got Buffalo, you've got Baltimore, and then I almost look at a team like Denver as more of a threat than I look at a team like Pittsburgh now,

just based on where they're at, which is, look, they tried some different stuff this offseason. They spent some money. They did all that. You know, Terry Bradshaw talking about they didn't surround Kenny Pickett. They had him. They drafted him. They didn't do enough to surround him.

Maybe, maybe not. Maybe some of that was his, I just think overall there's been some slipping there and it's no longer the vaunted, feared Pittsburgh Steelers that it wants to do. You got to take a look at the larger, you got to take a look at the whole entire roster. Because what they were doing was they were winning and they were developing. I mean, you think about James Harrison, he's going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. I think he's coming up pretty soon here to have his opportunity to go into the Hall of Fame.

He was not a starter. he did not make the roster. He was getting put on the practice squad and worse. He was getting cut. Wasn't even good enough to be on the team at one point. And now he's going to be a Hall of Famer. It's because they had a culture that forced you to fit what it was to be a Pittsburgh Steeler football player. And I do not think that exists today.

And that's kind of a sad thing to say. but I do not think it exists. Ask any of these Steelers. There might be a handful of guys that understand what that statement means. You remember the good old days when Jeff Reed, the kicker was just walking around Pittsburgh with his shirt off, bombed, you know, and then he nearly got in a fight at the Hall of Fame game because he got a drunken public there.

He was just annihilated? And then you had, what was it, Todd Haley, the offensive coordinator? Oh, that's my dog. Yeah, he was. They haven't been good since Todd Haley left. Todd Haley went out after a win. He was at the tequila cowboy in Pittsburgh and got into a fight with some guy

and some guy shoved him down. I think he broke his hip. But like, you just, those were the good old days where you could really see what was going on there in Pittsburgh and you could see the direction of the organization and exactly what they were,

what they were planning and what the goal was is as a team and the fan base had something to rally around. And now we're just looking at him going, listen, let's hope this one, works and let's hope this edition of the Steelers works because the one that we've rolled out the past five six, seven years just hasn't. You've been

won and done in the playoffs and it's been a long ass time since they've had any success there. Did Lee just shoot It's chaos. Did Lee just shoot outside the window on that last situation? By the way, we're trying to figure out what's because a bull elephant

just walked by and we're trying to figure out exactly what. Lee, you are ridiculous for shooting. You are ridiculous We're pulling the trigger on that Lee. I will never go hunting with you. I'll say this. You know, after seeing what just walked by, I thank God for SimplySafe.

Because True Security is having a system that is proactive, not just reactive. SimplySafe is designed to help you stop crime before it starts. Get 50% off your system with professional monitoring. Plus your first month free at SimplisaveColon.com. There's no save like SimplySafe. It is the herd here on Fox Sports Radio. LeVar Erington, Jonas Knox,

in for Colin. And guess what? The Dynasty's back. We've got the proof next here on FSR. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there.

But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name? Hey Jonas, guys. I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking. I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs.

And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chinchin win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface.

Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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. That's one hell of a quarterback room, Johnson. You got to manage.

It is there. You don't got to be a playmaker. Just manage. On Fox Sports Radio, LeVar Erington, Jonas Knox, in for Colin. By the way, we'll be back at our normal time slot coming up tomorrow, 6 a.m. Eastern time, 3 o'clock Pacific. You can hear this edition of Black and Drag early in the morning here.

If you can make that. Black and Drack. We will be. having fun there. Pick it up. Sounds like a burger. Get the black and drag. Now speaking it.

Some fries? It sure looks like one too. Now, before we get to the herd line news, a reminder that shortly after the show, the podcast of this show will be going up. So if you've missed any of it, be sure to check out the pod. Search herd or two pros wherever you get your podcast. Be sure to also follow, rate, and review it. Again, just search herd or two pros wherever get your podcast.

You'll see this show posted right after we get off the air. No, no, no. lose. This is the Heard Line news. All right, Ryan music, yeah, yeah. Last one of the day. Come on, guys. Come on. Let's go. To the NFL

we go. Chiefs offense had a roller coaster season, but Patrick Mahomes thinks they're ready for a breakout season. Here's what he told up and Adams about the expectations for the offense this upcoming year. I think it's just going to be, it's going to come from everywhere. We have so many weapons.

Let's go out there and just maximize it all. It's going to be just one person. It's going to be the entire offense going out there and showcase what the Kansas City Chiefs truly are. It's coming from everywhere, guys. Nice. I mean, look. They got a lot to prove. Yeah. Without, with having already

proven a ton. Because it wasn't like it looked all that great last year. It would be honest. 16th in total offense. Yeah, it wasn't, you know. So there you go. Malmes didn't have his signature year. That is literally middle of the pack. Yeah.

Literally. Totally average. And Kelsey, you know, he compiled a bunch of receptions and all that, but, you know, his yardage is, his touchdowns. His girlfriend was more important than he was. Damn. To the offense and to the chiefs last year. I mean, think about it. She was a more vital part, critical part to the show than they were. Okay, so think about that, though.

Even with that production offensively in that conference, they still want it. That's scary. That's what makes the whole thing scary. The year before they had to go on the road to do it all, did that too. And then this past year, the offense wasn't up to snuff. They couldn't get it together or get any consistency going. And still, they figured out to get to the Super Bowl anyways.

And lose the third one, right? The third in a row, which, again, 16th in an offensive ranking, lose the Super Bowl. Everybody feels high and uplifted about the Philadelphia Eagles and how they build their team. Oh, by the way, a team that Andy Reid coached and had great success with, the GM was GMing there with learning and learning the ropes. And they brought that to Kansas City. There is a bird there. There is a whole lot of inspiration.

I'm certain for a lot of people inside Kansas City. kingdom that want to have a great year this year. You know, I feel bad for, I feel bad for Chiefsaholic, the guy who was Robin Banks, stressed up as the Chiefs mascot. He was a big mother effort too, by the way. Because, man, that guy was a Chiefs fan when they were, you know, rolling out, like, Steve Bono and Nick Lowry and all this. And, you know, he's rooting on Christian Acoye and Barry Word.

And now there's... Was he their fan back then? Oh, of course he was. I don't know. I think he was like new school. Chief fan. And now they've got this dynasty to where all they know. know his conference championship game losses in overtime or Super Bowls and the guy's stuck in

prison. Dang. He's in Shawshank while they're out there putting a dynasty together after all that time you put in. It's too bad, man. But he was really robbing them banks though. Yeah. Hey.

Yeah, he was. He was really robbing them banks. Yes, he was. Dang. All right. That is correct. We'll wrap up with this. Brock Purdy got his big payday, but he did lose his wide receiver.

Debo Samuel. Here he was on the Bustin' with boys' podcasts talking about what it meant to lose Debo. It sucks, dude. He's my boy. I love Debo. Day one, he's always on my back and believed to me when I got in. I didn't really know how the guys were going to take it when I did get thrown in. Jimmy went down. I was like the last quarterback in Debo, man, was nothing but just great to me, dude, building me up and just give me confidence, man. In games, you know, we fed off each other's energy and building each other up. It was awesome. They was definitely feeding off one another.

One more than the other, they say these days. By the way, if you were listening and you're wondering, do we just hear somebody scoff and disgust as music was setting that up? That is correct. Greg Toohey just disgusted with Brock Purdy. It's just the Brock Purdy, like, just in general. What's your right? Music knows how I feel about it.

Like, Brock Purdy and I have a really weird relationship. What's the issue with Brock Purdy? I don't think you guys have a weird relationship. I think you've got a problem with. I just can't. Why? You're a Niners fan? You're a Niners fan?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Why you take such a heart, like, I don't know. He just, like, he's just not interesting. He's not, interesting. That's the most interesting thing. Oh, play that time on again, Lee. Do we have time?

Oh, I don't know. I don't get some guys. Oh, hey. Dang. Tooie. Talk about closing the show out. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day,

seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what?

We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired. of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story. behind the headline.

And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slicalif 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.