The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 3 - TJ Houshmandzadeh, Three Word Game

Episode Date: January 3, 2022

In this hour of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, former Cincinatti Bengal and Pro Bowl wide receiver (and current FOX Sports NFL analyst and radio host) T.J. Houshmandzadeh joins Colin to discuss the Bengals winning their division, Antonio Brown's odd exit from the Buccaneers, and more. Finally, Colin ends the show with the "Three Word Game."  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.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.

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

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. 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, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Hurd. You're listening to Foxxport's. Sports Radio.

Oh, here we go. We're live. It's our 3. It's Los Angeles. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and F.S. One.

T.J. Hushman's out of 15 minutes. Joy. Yes, Colin? I look at the playoffs. And outside of Tennessee, which is weird. Almost every team in the play. playoffs, I like watching play. Because I was saying this last night, I hate mediocre quarterback play.

I'm not going to name the name of the Vikings quarterback. But I don't like watching bad quarterback play or backup quarterback play, unless it's like Tyler Huntley or Colt McCoy. They've got a little juice. They run around. But a bad pocket quarterback to me is 1984 football. And I turn that Packer game off. First quarter, I'm like, okay, it's, it was like 10-0.

I'm like, it's over. Like they literally can't. It wasn't terribly competitive. No, no. It's one thing if you have a backup quarterback, but he's a playmaker. Like Tyler Huntley and Colt McCoy can run around and make plays. When you get a pocket backup, that means he's the second best quarterback of the team just with limited athletic ability.

It's like, no, I can't watch that. Yeah. Well, I mean, I'm not going to put that game on the backup quarterback's shoulder. He's through his first touchdown pass of his career last night against, you know, the number one seat in the NFC. I'm not going to lay that at his feet, but it was a hard watch. It was. Later, we have my favorite, our three-word game.

Our staff is in a very witty mood this weekend. First, though, Cowboys fell to the Arizona Cardinals yesterday. Many of you watched it here on Fox. I've been saying this all year long. You know, the Cowboys have really only looked great against mediocre teams and quarterbacks. They beat Taylor Heineckee twice. They beat a very young Mack Jones in week six, had to go to overtime. They beat Mike Glennon.

They beat Taysam Hill. Jalen Hertz just coming out of the shoot for Philadelphia. Six and five against everybody. else. You know, it's funny, I watch this all the time. The NFL is a salary cap sport. It's not baseball. It's a salary cap sport. What's my, oh, is my rule. Pay big money rarely, very infrequently. Guarantee it. Don't have it ding your cap. So everybody in the media, oh, DAC deserves the big bag, big bag, DAC. It's funny. Media is great at paying people when they don't have the bank. Media wants to pay everybody. And now you're starting to start.

with Dak, who's a B-plus quarterback, a great kid, a better intangibles than tangibles, 40 million a year. Do you watch that game with Kyler Murray? Do you watch third downs? Dak was three for 11 with excellent weapons. Kyler Murray was missing D'Andre Hopkins, Rondell Moore, James Connor, on the road, missing all of them. Third down, he was magical.

Dak had his guys, three for 11. You watched them, really? everybody in the media wants to pay everybody. It's like you ever run a business? It's a salary cap league. Even in my tiny businesses, I don't have a salary cap. I have salary limitations. NFL's got a salary cap. And, you know, I said this before.

The Jalen Smith deal for the Dallas Cowboys. Jalen Smith's a great story and a great kid. But they paid him too much money. And he couldn't play due to injuries. And you know who lost this weekend? The good stories. Cincinnati football, they deserve a chance. Not competitive.

SEC's overrated. They won. Give Dak the bag. Good luck. Tua deserves an opportunity to carry this team. He stinks. A.B. just deserves another chance. It's OBJ's fault.

He's a bad guy. Poor Cleveland got unraveled. No, he was great too. That's who won this weekend. The SEC Nick Sabes. great quarterbacks, OBJ, you know, that's who won.

So don't confuse great story with great team or great intangibles with great quarterback. Dak is pretty good. And so I picked the Cowboys to make the playoffs this year and be pretty good. Because with Dak, he'll always be pretty good. Because he's a leader, he's a smart kid,

he works hard, the players like him, he's athletic enough. But you're watching him and Kyler on the same field. Kyler's missing everybody. When Dak doesn't get 100 yards rushing, he doesn't win games. He doesn't beat good teams. I mean, oh, he beat Justin Herbert. Yeah, no touchdowns, one interception.

That was his game against Justin Herbert, who threw for almost 350 yards. So I guess the 2020 Dallas reality is, again, some things never change, although a lot changes in football and baseball and basketball, but A coaches, your Coughlin's, your Andy Reeds, your Bill Walsh's, you're Jimmy Johnson's. You know, you start looking at all these Super Bowl coaches. You know, I know, I know, I know, I know. You're saying Mike McCarthy,

Mike McCarthy won in Super Bowl. Aaron Rogers now is the only quarterback left in the National Football League that throws 40 touchdowns a year and almost no interceptions. Okay. I know, I know, I know what you're saying. And there are outliers. But when I look at McCarthy, I think he's a good B coach. And I look at Dak and I'm like, he's a B plus quarterback.

John wanted to pay him the bag. Okay, he's got it. for several years. But boy does he need to run in game and boy does he need to left tackle and Kyler Murray yesterday didn't have a lot of stuff and on the road and it didn't matter. That's why I kept saying with Kyler Murray. I'm like young

quarterbacks struggle more than like a Brady or an Aaron Rogers if they you know if they miss a star receiver or a star something and he got you know Kyler yesterday got a couple pieces back but not all of them and yet he was magical boy was he good on third down.

Mike McCarthy though he did nothing to see here. It's just we're all good here. Here's Mike McCarthy. I didn't view it as a measurement stick. I think we know who we are. And I think we have confidence that we can win any game anywhere. I think we've illustrated that so far

this season. Our focus was tight. It was about winning and improving. And, you know, our penalties were too high. You know, time of possession. You know, they made, you know, frankly, a couple more big plays than we did. That's not what happened yesterday.

What happened yesterday is a team in Arizona missing several of its biggest stars, has a magical quarterback, went on the road, and led every second of the game, and there wasn't really a point ever when you thought Dallas was better. That's what really happened yesterday. That was just word salad. All right, let's talk Rams Roadwin. A lot of people beating up on Matt Stapper, but I want you to think about this. Back in the 70s and 80s, now I know a lot of you don't remember this,

this. There was kind of a fascinating player. His name was Dave Kingman. He was like six foot six. He was this lanky, wiry, strong six-six guy. And all he did was strike out or hit home runs. Like that's all he did. And so he never got big money. He was considered sort of a limited player. Today, he would be Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, who mostly strikes out and hits home runs. Now, Bellinger's better than Kingman, but the point is analytics makes us view the world differently. is that Kingman had a lot of Cody Ballinger. Like, now, Cody's a better defensive player, but analytics has said, ground balls the death of you.

Strikeouts, aren't. Jack's strikeouts. And it's funny, football used to be different. You know, you'd have maybe the Rams, the greatest show on turf in St. Louis. Like, you had a name for any great offense. Now you have divisions with three great offenses. You have conferences with seven, eight great offenses. It used to be if you were a big offense, you got a nickname.

It's a greatest show on turf. That team wouldn't even be the greatest offense in the NFC West. So it's funny about how the game has changed. It used to be if quarterbacks make mistakes. Ooh, lose games. Oh, boy, we're a loser. You can't throw a pick six. You can't throw, oh, boy.

You watch the NFL now? Guys are throwing for 35 touchdowns, 40 touchdowns, Mahalms through for 50 touchdowns. Matt Stafford out of pick six. He won. Derek Carr had two picks. He won. In 2021, you can overcome a really bad mistake. What you can't overcome is Tua. What you can't overcome is low ceiling. You want to know the interception leaders in the NFL this year near the top? Joe Burrow, Matt Stafford, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert. Those guys are all going to make the playoffs. Here's who's not. Jared Gough. Tua, Kirk Cousins, you can't overcome average at that position. And so, you know, years ago, we just beat up on quarterbacks. If you looked years ago, it was like defensive coaches were 75% of the league.

Offensive coaches now in every division, every division in the NFC. Oh, by the way, the wildcard teams, Philadelphia's got an offensive coach, San Francisco's got an offensive coach. And the NFC may just go all offensive coach. Arians and Matt Lafleur and Mike McCarthy and Nick Seriani, start looking up and down. It's all offensive coaches. And increasingly, Zach Taylor, he's going to win his division, offensive coach. Andy Reid, he's going to win his division, offensive coach. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know there's Belichick and Sean McDermott,

but every coach in the AFCs is a defensive coach, so somebody's going to win it. And I would argue Brian Daubles, the hottest coaching prospect as a coordinator in that division. So the best defensive coach, Belichick, has got a great O.C. And Sean McDermott's a defensive coach, and he's got a great O.C. It's very obvious what's happened. You can make mistakes. But you know what Matt Stafford did yesterday? Fourth quarter, eight for eight.

Fourth quarter passer rating, 155. Matt Stafford in the fourth quarter this year. 11 touchdowns, no picks. Look it up. Matt Stafford leads the entire NFL in second half passer rating. I can deal with Matt Stafford's pick six occasionally. What I can't deal with is Tua's ceiling. Matt Stafford yesterday is just getting crushed.

Oh, it's another bad. He leads the league when it matters. And that's what I want from a quarterback. Can you make – Carson Wentz is reckless. My problem is I don't see the ceiling this year. Sam Narnold's reckless. I don't get the ceiling. Matt Stafford's reckless?

What does he got? 38 touchdown pass? I mean, yesterday. Faye, summed it up after the win in Baltimore. I thought he was at his best when his best was required. You know, we talk about competitive greatness all the time. He's a mentally tough guy, and that's what you want from your quarterback. When we had to have it, defense makes a stop.

He made big throw after big throw in a clutch situation, and that's what the great players do. All right, T.J. Hushman Zata, around the corner, and joins us next. 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. 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 iHartisan. hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

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

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

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 Bole 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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so... Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Shout out to Nicole from Chicago, who won $100,000 of Terry Bradshaw's money yesterday playing Fox Bet Super Six. Super Six players have won over $6 million in cash prizes today. And there are winners every week.

Scan the QR code, download the app, and enter any contest for your chance. to win. It's free to play. Who won? Nicole from Chicago won $100,000. Can you imagine that? Free to play. We don't have to imagine. Go play. Simply safe. You ever wanted to make your home feel safe? 20% off. Go to simply safe,

Colin.com. Fox Sports analysts played in the NFL for over a decade. One of the smarter guys out there. We love him. T.J. Hochmanzada. So you must be like a proud. You saw Joe Burrow back when. You've known him for a while. You've known him for a while. liked him. You kept telling me he's going to be special. Are you even a little surprised that, I mean, Cincinnati is going to win their division. Cincinnati is going to host a playoff game.

He got hurt last year. So he didn't even have a full last year. Are you a little surprised how good and confident Burrow is? I'm surprised that in his second year or his third year, just coming off that injury, his second year off an entry, I'm very surprised. I didn't think this year, I thought this year they'd win five to seven game. This team is going to be good for such a long period of time. They better figure this out. Every player they have that matters is young and they're under contract the next four to five years.

The Bengals are, number one, Burroughs should be talked about for MVP. I don't know why I haven't heard Zach Taylor's name mentioned his coach at a year. Just two years ago, they were 214. Yeah. They're 214. And so the Bengals about to takeover to the AFC. and whether teams like it or not, they're going to have stand power this time,

unlike when we were there. So Justin Herbert's another quarterback. You kept telling me on and off the air, this kid is big and strong, and the Chargers can drive you nuts. And he still can have inconsistent, you know, Sundays, but 35 touchdown passes. Even Dan Fouch didn't do it, Philip Rivers.

He's getting better. Well, again, you must be kind of beaming, having kind of called it before they got into the, league. What do you make of Herbert? Herbert is what he is. He's a big dude that can run. He can throw, he can do anything that you need a quarterback to do. And when you look at what they're doing defensively, they're not there. They don't have a defense that's slowing and shutting teams down. It's all falling on the back of this offense and Justin Herbert. And he's getting it done. And the best part is this Sunday is win or go home. They beat the Raiders. They end. They lose.

They go home. And so he's played in big games in college. His first game starting in the NFL, like, oh, we're just getting ready to go. I'm going to beat the backup. Oh, no, you're going to start and you're going to go against Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. And he held his own. And so not surprised one bit. I saw it on the field before he came out.

And he's actually playing better than I thought because the NFL is not easy. And these young guys are making it look fairly easy. You surprised it all by the Raiders, interim coach, lost Henry Ruggs, Darren out, cut their first round quarterback. I mean, it's just a turbulent. The flight's been turbulent since about week three, week four. Are you surprised they're still here? I am surprised.

Very surprising. You got to give Carr a lot of credit, man. DC, the quarterback, they get so much blame. They probably get too much credit, and it starts with Colin. But what he's done with this team, considering what they've been through, you lose your head coach. a teammate has the incident that he has that's unfortunate. And for them to be one game out of the playoffs,

you've got to give him credit because he's held this team together. The way he carries him, he doesn't have a collection of receivers that you look and say, oh, man, I would love to play with those receivers. His best receiver is technically Darren Waller. He's been out the last month of the season. And so I don't understand how they're, here, but when you look at it, you got to give

Carr all the credit in the world, man. He's rallied this team, he's put them on his back and they're one game away. So, we were talking about Antonio Brown. One of the things that always sticks with me with Antonio is he just, whether it's young, old men or women, he's treated a lot of people

poorly, coaches, teammates, there's accusations with a woman, there's, he robbed a delivery driver, he stiffed a chef, and it's like, yeah, I have empathy for people, but Boy, when you have, you can have mental health struggles and not be awful to people. I just can't.

I could not. I know he's talented. I couldn't bring him on my team. I just couldn't. I don't. If you treat people poorly over and over, I just don't want you a part of my company. And you can be flawed. That's different.

You can have issues. That's different. I'll get you help. Do you think he ever plays again? Absolutely not. He's done. And if anybody does sign them, they're crazy. You can't bring him on a team.

to walk out during a game after Mike Evans tried to stop you two or three times. The Mike was just like, you know what, bro, if you want to go ahead and do this, go ahead and do it. And Colin, I've been saying this for years, and I'm being honest with you. Everybody talks about when you meet anyone that always tell you, oh, man, the game is 85% mental, 15% physical. Everybody tells you that. Every player in every sport. we spend 99% preparing ourselves physically. Nobody ever prepares mentally.

Nobody goes over how to prepare mentally. Colin, I've been saying this for 10, 15 years. That if the game is so mental, why don't we work on our mental? I'm very empathetic to what's going on. But you can't do that. Number one, Tom Brady stuck his neck out for you. And this is how you do them. This is how you reward them.

And then he still comes out and he shows empathy towards you. Better yet. Mike Tomlin, how did Mike Tomlin deal with this for nine years, man? Mike Tomlin deserves kudos for this. Yeah, no kidding. So it's, you know, it's funny. Big Ben plays probably his last game tonight. And everybody ages differently, you know, like some guys are elegant, some guys.

Steph Curry's still great. Westbrook's not quite the player, right? And they're both kind of the same age. Cam's kind of struggle here at the end. But, you know, other guys, Brady, you know, looks pretty seamless. And then there's Ben. And it's been pretty clunky for two years. And, you know, it's pretty well documented.

He didn't take great care of his body in the off season. He kind of came in. He took a lot of shots. He's a remarkable all-time talent. Your thoughts about being in a division with him for a long time. Hall of Fame overall. As somebody that faced him, how do you view Ben now? Big Man was a monster.

Will always be one, none but respect for the way he played the game of football. Big Ben can play. And my last important game of my career, playing with the Ravens, we're beating them pretty handily at halftime. And actually it was one Antonio Brown that made a lot of clutch catches to come back and beat us. I dropped the ball at the end of the game. But Big Ben will them in that game. I have nothing but respect for him.

Even playing for the Bengals, man. Big Ben as a quarterback that didn't really get his credit, but you look at all the receivers that played with him. and Plexico Burris, Antonio Holmes, Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown. They were all really good with them. Outside of Plexico, what did those guys do when they left Ben?

Yeah, that's true. So here we go. You look at the playoffs. It's overwhelmingly in the NFC, every team that's winning, even the wildcard teams, has an offensive coach. If you take out the AFC East,

Belichick, McDermott, Brian Flores, Robert Sal, They're all defensive coaches. So take that one out. If you take that conference out where an offensive coach can't win that division, in the remaining seven, six, an offensive coach is winning. The only exception is Frank Reich is going to finish second to Mike Vrable, who's a heck of a coach.

And Denver, Minnesota, I don't think Fangio and Zimmer are incompetent. But would you adjust after years and years of not getting it done, would you just make a move and just say to your, yourself, TJ. You know what? The game's changing. The culture's changing. We got to go get an young offensive guy. That's just what we got to do. And I know it sounds rash and like living in the moment, but I'm looking around at the game changing. And I think outside of the Belichicks, these offensive coaches are winning and ending up in the playoffs in virtually every division. Denver, Minnesota. Nobody thinks Zimmer can't

coach. Like nobody thinks that, but would you make a move in Minnesota, for instance? Yeah, you have, Zim is a, and by the way, Big Ben, sure fire Hall of Famer. But like, did you see the question when they asked them? Will Kelly Ma'an get a chance to play? No. They're like, why? I see them in practice.

Like, matter of fact, just this late in the season, you mean to tell me this guy isn't ready to play? The problem I have with these defensive coaches is this. They want to be so conservative, let's run the ball, has played great defense. They don't want to take the chances that these offensive coaches take.

Like, you watch these games and who is actually, different is Brandon Staley. He's a defensive coach, but his background is on the offensive side of the ball. They're just real conservative. They want to run the ball. They want to throw it when they have to. And so you

just can't do that in today's game. It's just not working. And I'll give McDermott credit because the bills, they don't play like they have a defensive coach. They play like they have an offensive coach. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's a really good point. Staley and McDermott, they let their

dude roll. That's a really good point. Yeah. You know, the other thing I worry about a little bit, I'm going to ask you about this. Offensive coaches, their friends, their coaching allies are offensive coaches. They're in offensive coaching rooms, right? Pete Carroll's always had more buddies on the defensive side. He's struggled to find the right offensive line coach. He's run through offensive coordinators. And I look at Zimmer and I look at Vic Fangio is Drew Locke's getting worse. Cousins isn't, you know, like, so when I look at these defensive coaches,

my question is when they have young offensive talent, why would they develop it well? McVeigh's got, McVe develops everybody. Have the Rams ever missed on a wide receiver pick with McVe? They all work. Like you tell me when you had offensive coaches, did a defensive coach know you as well as your offensive coaches? No, I mean, my entire career in Cincinnati,

obviously Marvin Lewis was the head coach. He pretty much delegated to, an offensive coordinator. I mean, that's just what it is. And then I went with a Jim Moore in Seattle, defensive coach, with Harbaugh, he was a special teams coach. He probably got it more than any head coach that I've been around. What he didn't know, he would ask. I mean, he literally would ask what's the game plan this week. What you think about it. And you had never, I had never seen a head coach come ask you what the game plan was and what I thought about it. I thought that was pretty cool for him to come up to me and ask me that at times. And so an offensive coach can relate to you

in certain things. Like you get certain coaches calling no lie. They'll pause the film and say, why did you do this? And I remember one time saying, well, if I could pause a game in the middle of a game, pause a play in the middle of a game, I'll tell you why. I have no idea. An offensive coach, they're not going to do that because they understand. They get it. And so it's just a different dynamic for sure. Yeah. No, it's something I think about a lot is that the NFL at halftime, the offensive coaches go to the right, the defensive coaches go to the left. It practiced, the offensive goes to that end zone. So, of course, offensive coaches have a synergy and their allies are offensive guys.

So defensive coaches generally, they don't develop offensive players as well. Why would they? A lot of them, like a lot of these defensive coaches were defensive players or have spent 30 years in defensive rooms, film rooms. All right, TJ, happy holidays. is such a well-dressed man, doing very well. Pro Bowls, great kids. And by the way, the SEC dominates college football. He's got kids playing in the SEC baseball. So congratulations. Before you win championships, I know your kids will win championships because that's what they do in the South. All right. I appreciate you guys, man. You guys keep up the great work. What's up, Joy?

Hi, TJ. All right, T.J. Hushman Zata. No, but it makes sense. I mean, he just told you. He had defensive coaches often come up and ask him questions. Like John Harbaugh's a special team coach, what do you think of a game plan? Smart people ask questions when they don't know the answer. Well, yeah, but I mean... Dumb people will tell you the answer even though they don't have it.

Yeah, that's... It sums up social media. But this is my question about why can't Pete Carroll solve the offensive line? Yet why does Shanahan and McVeigh always have a good offensive line? Why... I mean, Mike Tomlin,

they've been battling this offensive line in Pittsburgh for years. Well, you're going to default to what you do best. Sean McDermott, what's the weakness of that team? Their offensive line. They've drafted it for three years. It doesn't mean they're not competent, but it's just if you start looking at the offensive coaches, why is Cincinnati's offense, now it's Joe Burrell, but Cincinnati's offense, they've yet to miss in a wide receiver. Zach Taylor.

But it's weird, it's weird holes that people have. Because the Steelers draft wide receivers really well, despite Mike Tomlin being a defensive coach. Well, some of that could have been Big Ben and his prime. Belichick has a great offensive line all the time. He had Dante Scarnacia. Right. But that's what I'm saying.

When you have people in those positions that you rely on that do what they do at the highest level, you don't have to meddle on that. Nor do you have to worry about that being your blind spot. Yeah. Like Belichick is so secure in himself. He's like, Josh, it's yours. Dante, it's your. Now, the Patriots did have Belichick so smart he was able to discover the greatest offensive line coach ever. And by the way, he went into retirement.

Belichick got him back to come out of retirement. And they also had Tom Brady. He's good, reportedly. Breaking news. All right. Have we done? No, Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Talk some more about these Bengals. So Jamar Chase finished. The Bengals went over the Chiefs with 266 receiving yards, which set a new record for the most receiving yards in a game

by a rookie and in Bengals franchise history. That performance also gives him 1,000. He's remarkable. I mean, this play is insane. That's just like high school football. He just cuts through eight guys. He's one of those players that you can see the talent.

Like he just separates himself. Well, he falls under the other one too. Great ones make it look easy. Yes. Like, why is he always so open? I mean, watch this play. Seven defensive players around him. That was like a high school star receiver.

He just runs through everybody. Yeah, that team's defense is pretty good. It's really remarkable. The performance also gives him 1,429 yards on this season, which breaks the rookie record for receiving yards in the Super Bowl era that Justin Jefferson, also pretty good, set last year. And after the game, Chase said he was excited,

but overwhelmed by his achievements and the team win. With that win, the Bengals also clinched the AFC North. They have quite the wide receiving core there in Cincinnati. Tatar Boy. Chase, 79 catches, over 1,400 yards, 13 touchdowns. T. Higgins, 74 catches, 1,091 yards, 6 touchdowns, and Tyler Boyd, 67 catches, 828 yards and 5 touchdowns. Yeah, they've got the tall guy, the fast guy.

And they're all young. All young. Joe Mixon's not that old. Burroughs young. Yeah, but even talk about Joe Mixon. Like, it's really exciting what Cincinnati is put together there. Joe Burrow also had a funny response, and he was asked about Jamar's performance. Everyone knows that mean, you know, effort.

Jamar's down there somewhere. I'm going to just throw it up to him. He's going to make a play. He really is just. Mike Williams of the Chargers is a little bit like this. Like when you get these just great one-on-one battle guys, just Devante Adams. Throw it up sometimes Calvin Johnson.

You got to just not everybody's open in the league. You got to trust them. You got to throw them open. Yep. That's the difference. But I also think what I like about what's happened with Jamar and Joe Burrow is that sometimes when you have your franchise guy, it's okay to lean on him for a little advice.

What do you think about this player? Do you, did you enjoy playing with him? Do you think he has the ability to do what he did with you at your school on the next level? Like, we're seeing this happen with receivers. And also, we're seeing how valuable it is to have a receiver with a special skill level with young quarterbacks. Like that is obviously you want to have an offensive line. Obviously, you want to have a good run game.

But if you're not quite there yet with your offensive line and your run game, maybe go get one of these super talented white receivers. You know I love the draft. Yeah. And I play this game at home and thinks I'm out of my mind. But I'll write like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. I'll pick a team and think if I was the GM for three years, what would I draft?

And I'll just go through and I'll look. And something that's happened over the last, remember I used to call receivers icing? Yes. I can make an argument. You should draft a receiver every single year before the fifth round. No matter what your needs are, just draft a quarterback in your first four picks.

Now, I'm not counting free agency. I wouldn't necessarily go on the market for receivers. They tend to be overpriced. But when you start looking around, because if you get a good offensive tackle, like Roshan Slater, he's there for 12 years. Right. But wide receivers, they take hits. They're slender athletes. If they're performing at a high level, they become very expensive very quickly.

So as I play this game that Anne finds pieces of paper all over the house, she's like, what is W. you are D-T-O-L-B. I'm like, though, that's outside linebacker. But I play this game a lot of times with my friends who run teams, and I look at their draft picks, and I think, what do they need? Wide receiver now, you can almost not have enough. Well, because all the, we talk about this all the time. All the rules are leaning towards the offensive side of the ball.

So why not get the highest level of talent on that side of it? I'm just imagining Colin at home in, like, his room, in his man cave, like Russell Crow in a beautiful mind. Like with all these sketches all over the wall. And for the longest time, she's like, what are these pieces of paper everywhere? You have like yarn connecting the different teams. And I'm looking at the chargers have like compensatory picks, nine picks. I'm trying to figure out, I'm going to send this to Tom, the GM.

I'm just going to tell him what he should draft. So the bills punch their ticket to the postseason with a win over the Falcons. Josh Allen had two rushing touchdowns. He did struggle to throw the ball with three interceptions. So they turned to the running game instead. Devin Singletary had two rushing touchdowns of his own in the second half. So the bills went on to win 2915. Similar to Matthew Stafford and Trent Dilford talked a little bit about this earlier.

This is my fear with these type of quarterbacks in the postseason. You can overcome beating the Ravens without Lamar Jackson making those turnovers. You can overcome beating the Falcons with those turnovers. When you get to the postseason, you're not going to be able to throw three interceptions in a row and overcome. Yeah, yeah. Josh is bad. You know what he is? His goods, the best in the league. I mean, when he has moments, he does stuff. That drive against New England two weeks ago is the best drive in the league. And he's great with his legs. Unbelievable. But his bad is bad fat. Like Herbert doesn't have these bad swings. I mean, Justin will throw a pick. but Justin isn't as twitchy as Josh Allen

but he also, he's a little more mechanical but boy I never worry when Justin throws the ball. I never really worry like Stafford I get nervous. Wence, Josh Allen. Because they have this thing where it's like we got it just like it's confidence, it's an innate.

Yeah, there's confidence but like that works when you're playing an inferior opponent. Right. Right? Like that's not, you're not going to be able to overcome that on the road in the playoffs. Like that's where it starts to get sketchy. Kyle Pitts did become the second rookie titan ever with a thousand yards season. So that was a high point for the Falcons yesterday. So Ohio State had one of their biggest offensive days in school history in the Rose Bowl.

What a game. On Saturday. This is game of the weekend. C.J. Stroud passed for a school record 573 yards and a record tying six touchdowns for the Buckeyes. These were both Rose Bowl records as well. And receiver Jackson Smith in Jigba also made a name for himself, setting a record for any FBS bowl game with 347

receiving yards and caught a school record 15 passes and three touchdowns. Despite all that, Ohio State was still playing from behind against Utah for a majority of the game and won it on a game winning field goal 48, 45, really wild game. Great watch after a completely boring Friday

with Alabama beating Cincinnati 276. I'm glad the nation saw how great Utah youth fans are. Yeah. They have been great forever. They travel great. The country finally saw, like Utah, by the way, just updated their facilities. They added $80 million to this. So the stadium now has like got beautiful wait rooms.

And they've been doing it for years with two and three star recruits and winning bowl games. Well, you said before, I think you said with Joel that this game was going to be really close. Oh, no, no, no. Utah's great in bowl games. Watch the Utah program next four or five years. Watch. Their facilities now, they finally are pouring big money. into it. They are always, always represent the PAC 12 well in bowl games.

Well, it was a great game. And now we have the college football championship set. It will be Monday, January 10th, Georgia versus Alabama. Two best teams in college football. It's very deserving. According to Fox bet, Georgia favorite by three. I don't know. I'll take the points in Alabama. I don't know. I'm not betting against Nick in a big game. I'm sorry. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd Lye News. Three word game next. 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. Twice 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. 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, Dan Byer on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you be your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing. human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games

and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clipper 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 is. isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right what you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, 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 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 podcast. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me. Not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

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

Your podcasts. All right, here we go, the three-word game, week 17. Every game can be described in just three words succinctly. Here we go. Philadelphia, Washington, washed football team. Four straight loss. Taylor Heineke last three games. O' and three completed 54% of his passes.

We told them, you've got to have a star quarterback to win in this league. Why'd you waste all offseason? Rams Ravens, ramming into the play. playoffs, five-game winning streak for L.A. Stafford leads the NFL in passer rating in the second half. OBJ, now five touchdown catches. This was all about big plays late to Cooper Cup, here to OBJ. Stafford was eight for eight in the fourth quarter. It wasn't always pretty, but Stafford was fantastic when it counted in the second half. Tampa Bay in New York, a premature solubration. Jets coach Robert Sala.

14 point lead against the bucks. The biggest Jets lead of the season. And here comes Tom Brady from behind to win. The Jets fifth lost this year by one possession. But they've got a little juice. Played pretty well in the last couple of weeks. Miami, Tennessee, Tennessee's the playoffs. Titans, the number one seed in the AFC.

They have used 88 different players. this year. Almost 40 guys in the IR. Hard to explain how they end. You talk about a team that's overcome and been resilient. That picture is the Tennessee Titans. Jacksonville and New England. Bella checks and balances. Patriots had more rushing attempts than passing attempts.

Belichick knows what he has at quarterback. It's the sixth game allowing 10 points or fewer by New England, most in the NFL. So they can throw a little, run a lot, play defense special teams, all balanced as usual by Belichick in New England. Vegas Indy making Madden proud. Former Raiders coach, the late great John Madden. Raiders are the first team to win nine plus games in a single season with multiple head coaches

since the 2000 Detroit Lions. And Derek Carr needs just 72 yards passing to pass Rich Gannon for the most passing yards in a season by a Raiders quarterback. His throw to Hunter Renfro in the fourth was one of his great plays of his career. Kansas City, Cincinnati, the Tiger Kings.

First AFC North title for CINC since 2015. Jamar Chase had more receiving yards than Patrick Mahomes had passing yards, and Burroughs the first quarterback in league history, to have 400 plus passing yards, four touchdowns and no picks in back-to-back games. Isn't that crazy? Not even Marino did that. Giants bears, a giant embarrassment. Joe Judge gave an impassioned rambling 11-minute speech after the game.

saying this is not a clown show organization. Boy, you set yourself up there. Nobody had said it was. I wouldn't bring it up. By the way, the Giants back-to-back weeks, it's getting worse before it's getting better. A season low in total yards, 151. By the way, the Giants in that one o'clock window every week

are the first team to look bad. And they turn over, sack, fumble. They look bad, seven minutes into the one o'clock window every week. Atlanta Buffalo, a slow build. Third straight playoff performance. Josh Allen did not play well, some spectacular plays, but he had a career low 17-passer rating. He had more carries than completions.

Weather wasn't great, but as Joy said, you get a lot ugly with Josh Allen. I will say this for the bills. They have not punted in back-to-back games. So there's a lot of activity with this offense. There's interceptions. there's touchdowns, there's movement. They are the classic Mike Tyson.

That's what we call them. They got the knockout punch. If you're not prepared for him, if you leave yourself vulnerable, they will blow you out fast. But they make a lot of mistakes. Houston, San Francisco, advance with Lance. Six and two in their last eight. Niners are red hot. Trey Lance moving right here in the video. 116 passer rating.

31 rushing yards. He's a big strong kid. Got to clean up that delivery. It's a little bit, he's got a little bit of a herky jerkiness to it, but he's got a big arm, he's a big strong athlete, he can really move. LA and Denver, Chargers look electric, scored on each of their three possessions in the second half, excluding the kneel down, Justin Herbert, rocket arm.

Does anybody throw it with more velocity? I mean, look at Justin Herbert's deep balls. Most touchdown passes in a single season by any Charger quarterback, and they have a proud tradition. Dan Fouts is a top 10 guy I've ever seen, Phillip Rivers, and they've had great receivers through the years as well. Carolina, New Orleans, there's no rules, as in Matt Rule. Six straight loss.

Matt Rules lost 11 of 13, and Mr. Offensive Guy, the quarterbacking is regressing. All of them are getting worse. Detroit, Seattle. Russ looked right. Seahawks scored on nine straight drives, Even my sister text me. She's a Seahawk fan.

She's like, that was random. Yes, Marlene, it was. I mean, who knows? Russell had 133 passer rating. You know, it's funny, the Lions, Amaran St. Brown had a good day. But, yeah, I'll give the Lions credit. They're not very good.

But they make interesting games. They've been in a lot of interesting games. Arizona, Dallas, what was Dak? Three fumbles? Prescott's 0 for 5. year when the Cowboys are held under 100 rushing yards. He's become very reliant on the rushing game for the Cowboys.

Minnesota Green Bay missed Captain Kirk. Kirk Cousins placed on the COVID list on Friday unvaxed. What do we tell you? And it surfaced in the biggest game of the year for them. And finally, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Monday night football, Big Ben's goodbye.

Last home game for Ben. Steeders must win to stay in contention. It is a hollow of Fame career. It has been a little rocky in the last several years. A lot of turbulence, wildly inconsistent. But I do expect him to play with a great deal of passion.

All right, good stuff today. Excellent show today. Trent Dillford, T.J. Hushman's out of Warren Moon. Joy, Ryan. We'll see you tomorrow. It's the HARD. One more HARD. The HARD streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search HARD to listen live or on demand whenever

you'd like. 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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. on the Look Back at it podcast For 1979, that was a big moment for me 84 was big to me I'm Sam Jay And I'm Alex English Each episode, we pick a year

unpack what went down And try to make sense of how we survived it With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s 84 was a wild year 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. 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, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford Show

on the Iheart radio app, podcast or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.