The Herd with Colin Cowherd - HOUR 3 - Steelers, playoffs

Episode Date: January 4, 2022

More on Big Ben not taking care of his bodyColin breaks down the NFL playoff teamsGuest: Bucky Brooks Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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.

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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. A win is a win. A win is a win.

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

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, great to have you in. It's Wednesday. Tuesday. Sometimes I'll lose count. Tuesday. We're live in L.A. It's the herd.

Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio FS1. Joy and I were talking about this during the break. L.A. has had so much success. The Lakers have won so many championships. The Dodgers have won. U.S.C.'s got seven national championships. Stars everywhere.

That our teams are, like right now, almost all of them are confident or good. I mean, we went and got Lincoln and Riley to solve our football problem. It's like, things are good. And so what happens is when things are, when you have a lot of championships and you've had a lot of success and you've got a lot of stars, you're never desperate. So like fans often brag like, our fans care more. No, your fans are more tribal and that punctures intelligence. Like, L.A. fans are never desperate. L.A. fans with the Dodgers this year, all they did was complain all year because they'd won like,

seven straight division titles. So they become very smart fans. They're like, our bullpen's not good enough. We don't have a four starter. The Dodger fans were really smart. They were almost like media. They were cynical. And that's what happens when you're successful. When you're the New England Patriots, like, and you have so much success, like winning is, you don't worry about winning. You don't get desperate. You start like being cynical. Like, hey, our right side of our offensive line's not good enough. They can get more impatience. That's the downside. Yeah. Yeah. You like, we want it like, because the standards are higher. Yankee fans. let's get another big bat like you don't have enough like home runs or a problem like you know solve your bullpen

so but but the downside is when you don't win like buffalo forever or cleveland your fans lose all perspective and they're and like can you imagine trying to sell baker mayfield to sean mcvay he'd be like out i mean they moved off golf like so it's it's a lot of times fans think we're impressed in the media with we go to games and sit in blizzards not to you problem. Like I wouldn't sit in the blizzard. Fine. But what I really like is when fans have perspective and they really deeply care, like a Chicago Black Hawks hockey fan. Like they've won cups, they've had good teams. They're critical. Well, I mean, I don't blame any fan for, you know, enjoying their sports, how they do it. But I would say it is, it's more reasonable conversationally

to talk to a fan that understands the process of what the team is trying to do. Like if you know, hey, realistically, we're not going to be that good this year, but we're developing a quarterback or we're in a rebuild. And next year we have these draft picks. So I'm just going to enjoy this regular season for what it is, look for some growth and not be out of my mind if we don't end up winning a Super Bowl with what we have. That's when the conversation is like, look, like,

realistically, what did you expect this year? There has to be some perspective on things. You're not going to win a championship every year. Only one team does that. Yeah, it's, I mean, if you look, I was thinking about this. Right here. So here's the NFL standings today.

These are the teams. 14 teams get in. These are the 11 NFL teams that are currently clinched the playoff spot. I'll just read their quarterbacks. Josh Allen, Mack Jones, Joe Burrow, Ryan Tannahill, Patrick Mahomes, Dack, Jalen Hertz, Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady, Matt Stafford, Kyler Murray. There's no bad quarterbacks. Now, I think Dak, I think Mac Jones has a low ceiling, but he's certainly competent.

Nine times he completed over 70% of his throat. So he's certainly competent, and he has the best coaching staff in the history of the world. And I think Jalen Hertz is unique. I don't know how far he can ascend. I don't know exactly what he is, but he's he's hella productive. Like, they're scoring a lot of points all the time. And they have the number one rushing offense. So it's like, what are your standards?

That's my knock on Cleveland. Like, like, what are your standards? Stop the tribalism. No good coach. And, I mean, Tua makes far fewer mistakes than Baker Mayfield. Always says the right thing at the podium. But like Baker is small, can get beat up physically, not Uber athletic. And like, they're moving off him.

Like, they got into the Deshawn Watson. discussion once, they're going to do it again. Like, they just come, they're clean with it. Like, okay, we have standards. We had Marino. We've won a Super Bowl or two. Like, we have a history. And it's like, I think I'm more impressed with fans that are tougher on their teams and have standards.

And those are always teams that have won championships. By the way, Pittsburgh is a great example. It was a wonderful night last night. They beat up on Mike Tomlin constantly. Mike Tomlin gets more crowd. for a guy that's never had a losing season. And Mike is a tremendous coach. But they're tough on Mike Tomlin,

because they got a lot of Super Bowls. And they had Terry Bradshaw, and they had Big Ben in their prime. So Pittsburgh fans are perfect. They have that Midwestern ethos, will sit in the rainstorm to watch. But they're not delusional in Pittsburgh. They've been ripping Ben for two years,

and they've been ripping Tomlin for six. Every time he loses to Belichick, which, you know, by the way, everybody loses to Belichick, outside of Andy Reed, who doesn't have massive trouble with Belichick. But a Pittsburgh fan base is perfect. It's like they've won, so there's no low self-esteem. They are critical of their Hall of Fame quarterback the last three years, Big Ben, as they should. He didn't age that well.

They are tough on Mike Tomlin, who's been in two Super Bowls and one of them. That's a perfect fan base. So you get the, now, L.A., you can argue we're not as passionate. A lot of that is, we have beaches, mountains, perfect weather. I mean, if you're bad here, we've got other crap to do. I mean, Pittsburgh's like, it's penguins, it's Steelers, drink craft beer. I mean, that's what you do. That's nothing wrong with that.

But I look at Pittsburgh, if you look at the topography of it. So you have Pittsburgh and Cleveland are kind of in the same geography, topography, same weather. Same division. Pittsburgh's got high self-esteem. They're not desperate. Can you imagine trying to sell Baker to the Pittsburgh fans? You've had Ben and Bradshaw, they'd be like, get him out of here. He's a shrimp. He's hurt. He's cocky. He's not. He's like 28 and 29. You couldn't even set in Baker, everybody's still grabbing onto it. Well, he's not healthy. It's like that's the, that's why the fan bases in this country that I think are the ones I respect the most, aren't the most tribal. Who we can sit in a blizzard. Like, do you have perspective? And I always think like Pittsburgh's got the perfect perspective. I think Los Angeles is a great city of perspective. Like, we've wanted to.

enough. We've got options. We don't sit around and watch bad teams. We'll go to the beach. We'll go watch our other NBA team or our other, you know, our other hockey team or our soccer team. I mean, we got, we got two NFL teams and two like pack 12 teams. There's just stuff to do on a Saturday and a Sunday if your team's not good. So I guess that's my takeaway. The Ben stuff was nice last night, but it is time. Like it is time, right? Like we all know that. And Pittsburgh had a great night and they did a bunch of signs and it was really awesome. It was ugly. It was choppy. It was a Ben game. and it was a wonderful night.

But if you turn on radio today, you don't have a bunch of Steeler fans going, we got to keep him. This is terrible. He's always, they're like, okay, we saw it coming. We're moving on. We saw it coming. That's the kind of perspective that I think fans

that have had success can offer. Like Pittsburgh fans, no. Great run. Kind of tapped out a couple years ago. You can't win big in the NFL with what we have. And by the way, you know what they're doing now? In Pittsburgh on radio today, they're like, we love Ben, you're the all-time. By tomorrow, they're ripping Tomlin again.

And it's like, that's actually what good fans do. They're self-critical. They can go, hey, we're not good enough right now. We can't beat blank, blank, blank. And the ownership is smart enough and well-run and has enough history to know not to move off of coaches just because there's a little bit of a temperature in the room. They do not move off of coaches. Success breeds confidence.

Yes, and it's more than, not false confidence. But no, but when you're successful, you know what it took to get there. So when you have to start over, you know what you have to do to get there again. So it's not a surprise. And when you don't have success, Cleveland, and you get a taste of it last year, a taste of it, you don't go overboard. Like getting to the playoffs is not the standard. No, but I do think in Cleveland this year, it feels like that,

that wave is starting to turn because traditionally you're right. But they have a good GM now. They have a coach of the year in Kevin Stefanski. And they've got a lot of talent on that team. That is, when healthy, that's the best offensive line in the league. Now, they lost their tackles and they'll both be back. But like guard center guard, that's the best in the league. But for the first time since I really can remember, Cleveland has a culture.

They're building a culture. Yeah, I think the culture starts GM coach quarterback. it's just there's too much toxicity around them. There's calling out staff yesterday. Yeah, but you feel like they have the guy and the GM and the coach. Yeah, no, no, I do. Like I like where they're going. But I guess my whole point of this rant is Pittsburgh is what you want to be.

Yeah, of course. I agree. High, I mean, high standards. They love their guys. But they've been Ripon Tomlin and Ben for several years, not clinging to suboptimal quarterback play or Mike doing some stuff that they don't love. No, and also, they understand. understand what the contract situation was with Ben.

Like all of this conversation wasn't just about like the Steelers want to hold on to Ben for nostalgia purposes. Like I think they should have been more aggressive when Ben got hurt to find the successor. Yeah, you and I said that two years ago. But I think everyone in Pittsburgh agrees. But now here we are. But it was also the contract situation. It wasn't like they could just cut him. Like they were in a bit of a situation with him. So that's what I'm saying. Like it's an acceptable season. This one. But I've always said this. The standard of Pittsburgh is championships. That's right.

So I think this is a very unique year and that Pittsburgh fans accepted like this is Ben's last year. We're probably not going to be great. Let's finish on a high note and let's move into the future. We love you. We appreciate it. And now it's time to just to move forward. Now let's pivot to the next generation. And I think Pittsburgh, you know, today they're probably crying on radio.

We love you, big bye-bye tomorrow. There's a time for that. We've got in our game. We still get in. We got win the game. And if Mike Tomlin gets out, coach Sunday, we're going to yell and scream about him. And that's very, very healthy. In fact, if you want to knock anybody, I think who you'd knock in Pittsburgh today, if I was a fan in Pittsburgh calling a sports talk radio show, I'd be out, I'd go after Kevin Colbert, the GM, who I think is very competent.

They draft very well. What are you doing two years ago? We have been on this as outsiders. We went on this for like three years. The minute Ben got hurt, it's like, okay, when guys who are not in great shape get hurt, they deteriorate fast. Aaron Rogers in great shape, bad toe, he's still great. Like your body, I always say the story years ago. years and years ago, I worked with, I won't ramble too long. I work with a weather guy.

It's like 30 years ago. It's very talented guy. I'm not going to say his name. He partied hard. He partied hard. And he looked great for his age. And then he went through a really rough patch in his personal life. He came into work like a week later and looked 80. Like your body will tell you, like Ben's one of those that he didn't really commit to it. And then when he did get a serious injury, he went off the cliff. What Brady gets that? that injury that you can, you know, your body's going to treat you how you treated it. And so I think the big knock on Pittsburgh isn't Tomlin or the old Ben. Ben was what he was.

And you knew what he was because he told you what he was for 15 years. He was the same guy. Didn't work out in the offseason. The front office whiffed on this three years ago. When guys who aren't committed physically get hurt late in their career, it gets bad fast. Drew Breeze, workaholic. I was literally at ESPN once. Drew Breeze came in in the summer it was July and he was doing the car wash at ESPN and I used to

work out I'm lean anyway and I'm in the gym and I look over and he had just been on the air and he was just sweating and working out I'm like aren't you on the air in like 10 minutes he goes I just got 30 minutes I had to get a workout in I'm like that's why Drew Bree is alleged he jammed it he towels off put the tie on goes back on the air it's like that is Brady and that is Russell Wilson and that is the truly committed. So, all right. He's got a lot of show left. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal,

but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care which I'll say. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became. became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun,

thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got? to do a little kill. Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're a valued customer, you deserve a simple gesture or appreciation from your credit card company. That's Discover matches all the cash back you earn in your first year automatically. discovery.com slash match. Limitations apply. So I'm interested. I just I just floated my Seattle Seahawk Russell Wilson because Adam Schefter came out yesterday and said sources say there is major friction Pete and Russ. And I know Russ well enough. I don't know. I mean, I know both, but Mark Rogers, the agent for Russ, you know, he's not going to give me great information, but there's

clearly some complexities to this relationship. And my thing is, Russ has already mentioned he's got a no trade clause. He'll go to the Saints. I'd trade him to the Saints. I want three first two-twos, Marcus Latimore. So I solved my corner issue. I'd go get Tyler Huntley if I could afford him in Baltimore, if the Ravens let him go. And I would draft the Iowa Center in the first round. I'd go get a number one receiver if I could. I'd get a legit running back. And then I'd go back to defense. I think it's, I mean, listen, you're never going to get equal value. You're never going to get equal value. The question, though, is, can I rebuild my roster in one-off season? if I move Bobby Wagner and Russell Wilson and get draft picks.

And I think the answer is yes, because you've got some good players there. Bucky Brooks played in the league. Bucky Brooks scouted in the league. Now Fox Sports Analyst. All right, what about my stupid idea? I like Tyler Huntley. I really do. I think he's very interesting player, two-year player.

He's Case Keenham with, I think, more wiggle. He's Tyrod Taylor with more wiggle and a better... I think he's somewhere between the Case Keenham can win games if it's perfect and Justin Herbert. He's somewhere in between there. What about my idea? Look, man, the hardest thing to find, Colin, is a franchise quarterback. You think about the number of franchises that are still wandering around in the desert

looking for the quarterback. The last thing that you're going to do is tradeaway of Russell Wilson on a scheme that we're going to take draft picks and those things. Think about the Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino and how they're still looking for a replacement for Dan Marino. I think you're better served to get Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson locked in a room to work out their grievances, to figure out how they can go forward because the path to win in the NFC West now, you have to have star power. And I don't know if the Seahawks in recent times have drafted well enough to say, hey, we're going to move on from some established players and we're going to go to the lottery and we're going to make sure that we're cash in these lottery tickets, even though we haven't done it in the last five years. I don't know if that's a great point.

enjoy Taylor. No fun. Never give up to start quarterback. No fun. I'm having fantasy football dreams over here. You guys be the old stick in the muds. All right. Trey Lance against the Texans because a lot of people are watching Dallas and Arizona in other games and I was watching that and the Chargers. I had that one on on the upper right side. I worry about Tray Lance's delivery. It's not. It needs to be cleaned up, but there's some Herbert here. Big, mobile, strong moves, power arm. Did you like what you see? I did like what I saw, and I thought he got better in the second half,

and I thought you saw what the 49ers offense could be if he's the full-time starter. And the thing is, they didn't even fully utilize his legs and his running ability. Here's the thing I would say about the 49ers offense. The 49ers offense is adaptable, is moldable around the quarterback. We saw the big shot that you're showing right now. Devo Samir that was a touchdown. I don't understand why Tray Lance hasn't played, but now that he has an opportunity to play,

look, I think you have to just keep him in there. It's very similar to what they had when they had the situation with Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith. Look, Jimmy Garapolo has gotten to the Super Bowl, and he's been fine. But we saw a couple weeks ago against the Tennessee Titans, Jimmy Garapolo couldn't make plays. I would rather air with the young guy

gaming experience while we're playing than to do it with someone that I know I know exactly who he is and I know how far we can go with it. Yeah, I mean, listen, Kyle Shanahan's safe. I mean, nobody's going to blame him if he goes with Trey Lance. Whatever they do, Peter King suggested, I think, on this show a couple of weeks ago that he said, hey, I would keep Garoppolo around. And I thought about that.

And I'm like, you know what? No, because then you get into an Andy Dalton, Justin Field. Like the minute this season's over, Tray Lance gets every snap. He's got to clean up that delivery. I'm not wasting a single snap. And I like Garapolo. There's going to be somebody that will make a bit of it. on him. I'm sorry there is. We got nine teams

desperate for a quarterback. Garoppolo has a market. Doesn't he have some market? Yeah, no, he has some value. I mean, he's a solid starting quarterback. I wouldn't say he's a top 15 quarterback, but he's good enough to start games. He's shown that he can win games. But he's always going to leave you

wanting more. The reason why Tray Lance is in the building is because the 49ers wanted more. They wanted somebody who could bring more electricity. Somebody maybe could give them more consistency when it came to the delivering the big play. That's why Tray Lance is there. And as long as Tray Lance and Jimmy Garapolo are in the same building, it always prevents Trey Lance from fully seizing control of the team.

And so it's one of those situations, like you saw in New England. Look, when Mack Jones was the starter, Ken Newton had to go. So it could be Mack Jones's team. The same thing has to happen in San Francisco. Hey, we love you, Jimmy Garapolo. We got to let you go so Trey Lance can take over the leadership part of the team. Yeah, that's what it feels like to me. All right, Jalen hurts. What the heck do I make of him? They score a lot. They're productive. What do I make of him? Look, man, we have to look at these quarterbacks now through different eyes. Like, if you want to look at the passing competition, is he a pocket pass in those things?

He's not that. But what he has done, he's energized the offense with his ability to run. He's very similar to what Lamar Jackson was able to do in Baltimore. Not the athlete or the explosive playmaker that Lamar Jackson was. But when they put Jalen Hurts in and allowed him to run and they built that offense kind of like an Oklahoma offense, the Eagles took off. The running game is hard to defend. He makes enough plays in the passing game to make it balanced enough. And lo and behold, the Philadelphia Eagles are in the playoffs. And I don't think if you ask people in their building if they thought they would be a playoff team at the beginning of the season, that they would have said yes. So I think Jalen

Hurts has been a nice fine for them. I think now with three first round picks, man, you really can build this team around him and do some special things down the road. What do you do with Baker in Cleveland? you do with him? He leads the NFL in picks and batted balls since he showed up. He's a smaller athlete and a lot of small athletes get beat up. He's not terribly expensive. There's probably a market. What do you do with this thing? I'm going to treat Baker-Mayfield like we used to treat my furniture in college. I'm going to rent it, but I'm not going to own it. So I'm going to hold on for it. I'm going to hold on tour for a little bit, but I am not going to put myself in a position where he's my long-term answer. They have it. Fifth-year option,

franchise tags if they want to use that, but I would not make a long-term commitment to Baker-Mayfield. I think this season more than any other season, we've seen exactly who he is. Kevin Safansky, maybe this is something upstairs that they decided. Hey, let's see what we look like when we give it to Baker so we can make a decision. It fell miserably.

The more they throw over Baker-Mayfield, the worst the team has gotten. I think they know exactly who he is. I think they just have to figure out what's the best way for us to proceed to eventually get a franchise quarterback that can lead us to the Promise Land because it's not going to get easy in that division. Joe Burrow is legit. Lamar Jackson has been an MVP.

If the Browns are going to do it, they have to make sure that their quarterback can compete with those guys, and right now their quarterback can't do it. Is it bothering you at all, Matt Stafford, and all those picks? You know, we said this the other day. This past weekend was such a validation for less need. Von Miller-Kisack, Sony, Michelle, who they gave up two picks for, is a work, course. Jalen Ramsey was a little unraveled early, but made a big play. Matt Stafford's going to end it with 40 touchdown passes. OBJ, two huge catches late. And it was like, we can say all we want,

but they went big swings. And that was a huge game, and those guys were all money late. And, you know, I know, people don't like giving up draft picks, but, you know, the Stafford thing, it should worry people. But this is a, this. This is the Yankees. We may doubt they're pitching, but man, they have, they got guys who can hit. And I look at him and I'm like, can you make those kind of mistakes, though, and end up in the Super Bowl? Look, man, they are a talented team. And I actually like what Les Need and the Rams are done.

I think they've done what you have to do in L.A. and Hollywood. It's like the Lakers. The Lakers go and get stars. They let you develop them, and then they take them. And that's what the Rams have basically done. And so the Rams have stars, and their star-pros. power can get them over the threshold. Now, the key will be, how does Matthew Stafford perform in the postseason?

The turnovers are a problem. It's the number one deciding factor in who wins and loses games. You have to be concerned because he has four pick sixes. He's had a ton of turnover, seven turnovers in the last three games. It is a concern. And so which Matthew Stafford is going to show up in the postseason? But as the Rams illustrated on Sunday, they're talented enough that in some scenarios, they can overcome it.

I don't think you can overcome a bunch of turnovers in the postseason, but they are certainly talented enough to do it. And I believe the Rams are the only team in the NFC that can threaten the Green Bay Packers. That's how good they firepower is. So you have issues with Tampa too. Oh, absolutely, because now with AB out of the equation, I don't know if they're good enough on offense to get into a shootout.

You have Mike Evans, but you don't have Chris Godwin. You don't have another weapon. Robbenkowski can give you stuff in spurs, but not over at three-game span, is he going to dominate? And the defense is not the kind of defense that it was last year. You got injury, Shaq Barrett didn't play. JPP has been in and out the lineup. And so in the back end, they haven't covered as well.

And so the one thing that Bruce Arias can do is, because they, Todd, we're going to have to be a little more scale back on offense. So you're going to have to ratchet up the pressure on defense, and we're going to have to play for turnovers and disruptive plays. And so they can win that way. man, that is a risky proposition when you try and go all in blitzing and doing all that stuff on defense to try and get plays. I don't know if they're good enough to repeat in the fashion of which we saw them win last year. Great seeing you, Bucky. Nice talking again, my man.

Hey, man. Be good, Colin with Steve. All right. Listen, I'm out here having fun doing deals for Russell Wilson. If Bucky and Joy don't want to have any fun in life, I'm Mr. Celebration over here. I'm just making deals every segment. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the heard-line news. Big old wet blanket on that thing. I'm not saying I wouldn't deal

Russell Wilson. Well, yeah, you said that. That's okay. But he's got to make me do it. It's not my idea. Yeah, that's different. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to make you do it. If he wants to go, he's got to make me do it. But I'm not walking in like, you know who?

We know who we should shake up around here? Our first bat, Hall of Fame, or is still at his prime. That's not what I'm trying to move. Let's shake things up. Yeah, just a little different energy around here. So TJ Wyatt had an amazing game last night. against the Browns, sacking Baker-Mayfield four times in the 26-14 wins.

So Watt now has 21-5 sacks this season, putting him one sack behind Michael Strayhan's single-season sack record. But he said he's not focusing on records, just destroying offenses. First year or two, I used to do big individual goals, X amount of sacks, TFLs, all that stuff, but it adds too much pressure. You start chasing and all that stuff. And now it's just trying to affect every game the best that I can prepare. and it's been working for me,

so I'm not really looking at goals like that anymore, just trying to be a game record. His four sacks were the most in the game by a Steeler player since Joey Porter in 2001. He also had five total tackles, five quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, two batter balls, and six quarterback pressures. Yeah, backup tackles, starting tackles struggle with him,

backups are dead. You can't, I mean, they should have chip blocked. He's got, I mean, look at that stuff. That's not even competitive. That one was the one with that. That's like a movie, like when you have a football movie and the quarterbacks of the pressure. Like that sack? Not that one, but this one.

Yeah, it's like that. Oh, my gosh. I saw the other angle of that. I saw a low field view of that hit, like from a local TV camera guy. Brutal. That was a rough night for Baker Mayfield. Oh, yeah, yeah. And then, by the way, you got to do a better job.

When you have a Khalil Mack in his prime or T.J. Watt, you, you can. You've got a chip block. You've got to give him a break. You've got to give him out. He became a 12 player since Sacks were recorded to take the quarterback down at least 20 times in a season. He's joined Hall of Famer Reggie White and his brother, JJ, as the only players since individual sacks became official in 82 with over 70 plus sacks in their first five NFL seasons. He's just tremendous. He is remarkable. One of the few defensive players literally is worth points. He is a game record. Yes. Yeah. And look, obviously the conversation about if he should be. and the MVP, we can go on and on forever about what the MVP actually means and who is actually going to go to. But he would certainly be someone that if you were interested in a defensive player being in that conversation, he should be. Who the Giants in the fifth straight losing season and second underhead coach Joe Judge. But Judge doesn't think the team has passed the point of no return. There's obviously some things we have to do better. And I'm not going to sit here and

hide behind anything. I'm not going to say that, you know, what perfect anything is. But I've seen a lot of improvement from our players in a lot of different ways. And sometimes not all that's magnified, but I look at different things that show up with our team. So look, I'm very confident the way we're pushing forward right now. All right, there's things we have to improve on. Obviously, the most important thing in this league is winning, okay? So we've got to do a better job, putting ourselves in a position to finalize and finish out some games of winning. What are they going to do? Also, there is, um, sometimes you should just say less. Oh yeah. No, no, no, no. Definitely should be saying less. Totally agree. He's talking on.

We don't need to filibuster about what's wrong with the Giants. Like, I'm with you on that. Give me solutions. You and I talk for a living, and quite eloquently, I might add, but we prepare for the show. Correct. I've always felt coaches that wing it, like, you've got to go to that, the PR person. We prepare a lot and we still make mistakes all so long. So when you get the PR person and you have a press conference, you sit down with that PR person for 15 minutes, like, get me out of this space.

Here's what I can talk about. Like, you got to prepare. When you watch Sean McVeigh, like, Sean knows where to go, and he knows the two big questions they're going to ask from the LA media. He deflects them. He's got a glib, funny answer. You've got to prepare for this stuff. But if you talk to Sean McVeigh, Sean McVe is brilliant. Okay.

Like, I'm not saying that it's like a smart thing, but like you talk to Sean McVeigh, you're like, oh, okay. Like, you're just you're in a different category. Okay, he is. You get it on a different level. at Mike Tomlin, different level. I don't need you to be, you know, give a speech for the ages. But if you're going to talk a lot, talk a lot about what you're going to do. Like, what are the Giants going to do?

Joe is a rambler. He tends to ramble. Nick Seriani can do this too. Like he starts qualifying his comments and correcting his comments. It's like, go in, think of 10 second sound bites, stop talking. Yeah, but the difference is Nick Seriani might not be great at the microphone. He's winning. But he's winning.

Yeah. So it doesn't matter if he ran. rambles anymore. Like, wrong about that. I do not think he was going to be able to command a room. Clearly, he can. Yeah. So what's happening with the Giants is going from bad to worse very quickly.

They finished with minus 10 net passing yards Sunday in Chicago. It's bad. They're 4 and 12 this season. They've been 10 and 22 under Joe Judge. And I don't necessarily think they should move on from Joe Judge, but the without Daniel Jones and Mike Glennon, who will undergo surgery on his left wrist. Jake Fromm will make a second start. He threw for 25 yards in a second.

first start. I guess it's, is it safe to say it's a disaster? Like it's a disaster right now. Oh, yeah. And, you know, Tom Coughlin and Eli for about eight years, they were really good. You know what I mean? It's not like the Mara family was perfect or the front office was perfect. It's amazing.

When you get the coaching quarterback, right, you don't have these messes. Wow. It's amazing. The Chargers have had some weird. Weird coaching decisions. Right? And Zach Taylor is going forward on fourth down. I don't understand.

It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. But when you have Burrow and Herbert, it kind of gets you out of those like, this place is lost. Burrow just solves issues. And Herbert, when your quarterback's bad and your coach is young and hasn't proven it, like we don't know if Zach Taylor's a great coach. They've gotten better every year since he's been there. No question. But that coaching stuff he did the other day going forward on fourth, I'm like, I need a

cocktail because I am going to lose my stuff. And then Joe Burrow does, you have Joe Burrow. And it's like, yeah, I think he's a really smart coach. If Joe Judge did that, you'd be like, he's insane. A great quarterback, you never become what the Giants are, which is you start questioning the GM, the owner, the coach. You may lose a game like Herbert did the Texans. And for a week, you're like, what is going on? Then you watch them the next week. You're like, everything's good here. Nothing to say. see here. Herbert's great. The New York football is down bad right now, but the giants to me, I guess the reason why I get

so bothered by it is there's just certain organizations that just can't afford to be down like this for as long as they have. Like the giants, the Steelers, the 49ers, the Patriots, the Packers, like the Cowboys. Like there's just certain organizations in this league that have done too much winning. The markets are too big. There's too much at stake within the league. Not that the league is suffering or anything, but like, you need to have a team in New York that is viable. And they're both really bad. Yeah. The difference is, I don't know what Robert Sala and Zach Wilson can

grow into, but we know they're going to be there next year. We've no idea. The Giants are lost. That's what it feels like. That was a good way to describe it. The loss. Lost. So Kyrie Irving is reportedly expected to make his season debut for the Nets tomorrow night against the Pacers. He's missed 35 games of the season. The Nets are 23 and 12. And our second. And our second and in the Eastern Conference. Irving has not played the season, obviously, because he refused to get vaccinated. And the New York City mandate requires anyone over the age of five

to be vaccinated to enter the arenas. So he's still ineligible for home games, which would, as of right now, include playoff games later this spring. But he will be playing in the road games. And we're finally going to get to see the Nets with Kyrie Irving, Katie, and James Hardin. Well, I saw it last year for eight games. Yeah, we saw her a little bit.

I'm actually, I'm, look, I don't really get outraged about anything. I thought this was a, I obviously don't agree with his decision, but I understood why the Nets did not want a part-time player, and now I understand why they think it's beneficial to the team to bring him back. It's just as simple as that. I'm a very flexible person that makes sense to me. That's what it is. But I also, as a fan, wanted to see what this look like.

So we're going to get to see some of that. Well, you're not going to win the championship. I'd say this. It gives you a much greater chance with three great scores. than two. I do worry that he's flaky, but he's also one of the great small finishers in league history. That's indisputable. He may be the best closer, left or right hand, under 6-3 in league history. He's that good. Yeah. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Live. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. He's by Carmen. I'm Dan Byrd. We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. a week every Tuesday and Friday we come up with new episodes to not only look back at what happened, what you need to do at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world. That's right, Dan. Every week we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup. Sit, starts, fantasy football players' rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Harmon and me, me, Dan Beyer, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

at 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. 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, 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 where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or where wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking

Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-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 a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick you 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 was 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 crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Then you're 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 I-HartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Not running your business on NetSuite's like trying to sink a pot with a cap over your eyes. NetSuite by Oracle, number one cloud financial system, visibility control over your financials and inventory. NetSuite.com slash H-E-R-D. So we're going to put all the playoff teams in. These are the teams that are in the playoffs. and they've all got, as we say with a salary cap, Joy, there are no perfect teams. Correct. So you give me the team and I'll say, what is data tell?

Like, what's their issue? What is the potential playoff problem for the Tennessee Titans? That's an easy one. Quarterback. Since Derek Henry's been out, Ryan Tannihill has seven touchdowns and seven picks and his pass-a-ratings like low 80s. So they don't want to get in shootouts. That's not how they're going to play.

They're not going to, if they fall behind big to a Kansas City, they're not catching up. So there's a way for them to play, control the clock, take a lead, Tanna Hills the weakness. The Chiefs. The offense is still really hit and miss. It really is. Patrick Mahomes has had six games with a passer rating under 80 this year. And you saw in the second half against Cincinnati, they had a field goal. They also have 25 giveaways this season.

That is a lot. Now, the Rams have a lot of giveaways, too, but their offense has been more. consistent. So the offense still just isn't consistent enough half to half game to game. The Cincinnati Bengals. Mistake prone, and there's still a rebuilding roster. This is the eighth youngest team in the league. So most of their great players are like third year or less in the NFL. And Joe Burrow is the most sack quarterback this year. So like they're still rebuilding that offensive line. It tells you how much talent Joe Burrow has.

has that they're here. Because I would argue they're the only rebuilding roster that'll be a top seat. They're it. Nobody else is rebuilding. They're still rebuilding. The Buffalo Bills. Very Josh Allen dependent and no run game. If you took out Josh Allen's 700 yards rushing, they're the worst rush team in the league.

They need him to play great. Now, their defense is good. Their coaching is good. But, you know, they're 8 and 1 when Josh Allen plays really well. If he struggles, he has picks, they can struggle at home against Atlanta. So this team, the floor drops pretty quickly if Josh isn't on. The New England Patriots. They have no deep threat and they're completely limited at quarterback.

I know you all love Mack Jones. Let me read some things to you. He completes 30% of his passes on throws of 20 plus yards down the field. Like awful. Like they have no downfield threat. And again, there is a formula. When they're behind and have to score quickly, they don't have a difference. deep threat. I mean, Jacoby Myers is their leading receiver. He is 37th in the league in receiving

yards. The Green Bay Packers. The run defense and it's getting worse. So like three of the last four weeks, they've given up big chunks. Right now they give up 4.8 yards per run. That is the worst among playoff teams. So Kenny Clark's very good up front. He can clog stuff up. They've got some talent here, but to beat a great offense, there's usually a way to do it. And that is when they have a bad rush defense. And you can just keep the quarterback. Remember when Cleveland played Kansas City week one and Mahomes watched the first half? They came back to win, but that's how you beat. Cleveland, with four interceptions, almost beat Green Bay. Because they just ran the ball at will. So if they had to play like a Philadelphia, the Rams, not a great matchup for Green Bay.

What is the potential playoff problem for the Rams? Really high ceiling and a lot of mistakes. I mean, half to half you can get completely different Matt Stafford. Now, he's the best quarterback in the league after intermission. His fourth quarter passer rating is best in the NFL. But three of their four losses, three of their last four losses this year, they got blown out. So, I mean, the wheels come off really fast on this team, and you can do that in the regular season. when you have 17 games, the playoffs do or die.

You can't have a disastrous first half against Green Bay or Tom Brady. So they have a super high ceiling and a bizarrely occasional low floor. Tampa Bay. They're falling apart and Brady's not consistent. Now, Antonio Brown's done. A JPP's not healthy. Leonard Fernette's hurt. Ronald Jones is hurt.

Chris Godwin's out. So you've got like a lot of injuries. Also, let's be honest about Brady. People say he's not showing his age. Yes, he is. we've always said as you get older you can be great but you're not great every Sunday Thomas had five games with a passer rating under 90 but every third game tom's off the Dallas Cowboys average coach average quarterback um playoffs you have the best quarterbacks and the best coaches

I think McCarthy and DAC are both B to B plus um also DAC we have history now if he does not get a hundred yards rushing he's 0 and 5 so he's really reliant on throwing on play action and throwing on third and short or second and five. Cardinals. Not quite sure what I get week to week. They're banged up. Also, they're great on the road, can struggle at home, can lose to bad teams and be great teams. Like, I do think most of their problems are lack of star power injuries.

I think that's, I think you saw it with Dallas. They're still missing pieces. But I do worry a little bit. they've only scored over 30 in one of their last seven games. So it's a tale of two teams. The first half, the second half. Worry a little bit that they've peaked about two months ago. I worry a little bit about we saw the best of them early.

The Eagles. Very limited pass game. As much as I like Jalen Hertz, and I think he's a fun story, and they do that well, here's some numbers for you, and they're pretty stark. Jalen Hertz completes 61% of his throws, averages 209. passing yards a game and has 16 quarterbacks. Those are all last among playoff quarterbacks. So again, there is a way for them to play. You don't want to, like New England, you don't want to get down big. They're not going to score quickly. They're more of a time of possession, grind,

grind, grind, and they're kind of the same team first, half, second half. You look at the data. There's just a way for them to play. There's a way for New England to win. There's a way for Tennessee to win. It's not really a way for Kansas City to win or Green Bay to win. win, even a team like the Chargers who may not get in. There's not really a way for them to win. They can win shootouts. I don't think Philadelphia is built for that. All right.

That was a fun day today. I got more Russell Wilson deals tomorrow. I may do four or five segments. I'm over here creating fun fantasy content. You know, sometimes it's just whimsical. Let's just move off Russell and get him to the Saints and Sean Payton. All right, we'll see you tomorrow. Great stuff. Speak for yourself is around the corner on a Tuesday live in Los Angeles. It's the hurt.

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 I-Heart 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 put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliver Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes,

creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.