The Herd with Colin Cowherd - LeBron’s injury causing tension, Kyrie apologizes and Kansas City needs to close games

Episode Date: January 17, 2019

Colin discusses the friction between LeBron James' camp and the Los Angeles Lakers, the Kansas City Chiefs not being able to close out big games, Boston Celtics G Kyrie Irving calling LeBron James, and why the New England Patriots are not old. Guests include Plaxico Burress, Greg Cosell, Chris Broussard, and Greg Jennings. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming till. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

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Here we go on a Thursday. This is The Herd. Live in wet, and again, rainy Los Angeles. We are on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, on FS1. One hour from now, Greg Kosell. Best 10 minutes you'll hear on the matchups this weekend, Saints, Rams, Chiefs, New England. Joining me now, Joy Taylor, after a very, very fun week.

How are you, Joy? I'm doing great. Good morning. Good morning. I went to a NBA game last night. I watched the other L.A. team. The Clippers get whacked by the Utah Jazz. And there's a story this morning, and I think it's very interesting, and I want to start there.

The Lakers kind of released something yesterday, a little press release saying, yeah, LeBron will be back in here just a couple of days, you know, just like a random press release. He's being evaluated by the team medical staff and physicians. He'll not travel with a team on the upcoming two guys. game, roadie, has been cleared to return to practice commencing next week and progress towards a return thereafter. Yeah, it's just kind of a random press release, no big thing. Oh, but the reaction by Rich Paul in LeBron's camp, a little more than sensitive, quote,

we don't give a blank what nobody thinks. We're going to do what's best for him when he feels he is best he'll play. We're not on nobody's timeline. Look, LeBron's in his 16th year. don't know nothing to nobody. When he's ready, he'll be back. It's as simple as that. Excuse me.

That's a... So the Lakers just released a very common press release, and Rich Ball delivered a double middle finger. Whoa! Folks, to six-week injury. I was told yesterday it's more serious than people are letting on. And LeBron is a guy that... uses his own people and a team staff.

Six-week injury. Already missed 11 games. We've never had this with LeBron. He's the all-time NBA leader in minutes played, playoff minutes played. He's actually paid like three other full seasons in just like playoff games. He's like a baseball pitcher that goes to game seven

of the World Series seven, eight years in a row. He's not getting more dynamic. This is a real injury. Previously the most games he'd missed in succession. were eight, and that was when he went down to De Wade, and they worked out in Miami after he left and went to Cleveland, and it was almost precautionary. It wasn't a real injury.

We're at 11 games. It's probably going to get to 15. And, oh, by the way, every other star in this league has been hurt. Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Kauai Leonard, James Hardin, Westbrook, Paul George, Joe L.M.B., everybody in this league gets hurt,

except LeBron. And now LeBron's hurt. They're saying it's a three, to six-week injury. Folks, he didn't get touched by anybody. He slipped on the floor, heard a pop. And here's the thing with LeBron. LeBron's great.

Argue he's the goat. But he's no longer the best two-way player in the league. Kaui Leonard is. He's no longer the best closer at the rim. Yonis is. He's no longer the best score. James Hardin is. Durant, Steph Curry,

are. He was number one in all of those five, six years ago. let me just throw this out there. LeBron comes back in a week. Plays for a month and a half. It's late March. Andy hears another pop.

Does Anthony Davis want to join him? There's a new trend with LeBron. Oh, he's human too. And I think what this shows is that the LeBron-Laker situation, there is not perfect harmony. Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson were emotionally and physically all in on the Lakers. Let's just say LeBron's at the bar having a cocktail hasn't gone into the restaurant yet. I was told when he first arrived he was reluctant to sign basketballs with the rest of the players.

He uses his own training staff. He still doesn't quite know if he's got a number two on this roster, nor does he know Uffey-Land. and Anthony Davis. When LeBron joins your team, and I understand this, he's always felt he and his camp, hey, we're doing you a favor. Deliver for us. It's why Dan Gilbert said at the end, I want my team back. It's why Pat Riley at the end said, it's LeBron and everybody else.

This thing is not in full harmony. And here's the problem. There's real tension with LeBron and the Lakers. Is Luke the guy? Do we have another guy? Do you keep Lonzo and Brandon Ingram? When Boogie Cousins comes back, if he stays in Golden State, what's the point? But the scariest part in all of this, the scariest part is this entire empire of LeBron is built on his body.

He's never been the most fluid score. He's not the best ball handler in the league. He's not the best shooter in the league. He's not the best rebounder in the league. He's the best body of all time. It is the temple to the empire. And it's now hurt, untouched, slipping, hear a pop, six-week injury.

Rich Paul's reaction speaks volumes. Little fear. Little fear. The temple, the body is like everybody else's. That was a massive overreaction, a middle double finger, to a simple, common pedestrian press release. There's real tension. This proves it.

Let me shift to this. A couple of big football games, not sure if you've heard about them. Rams are at the Saints, Patriots. at Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes a very good player. I don't know. I mean, MVP, I guess, a terrific player. He said yesterday, and this is not surprising because this happens all the time,

that the first time he faced New England, they kind of confused him. I mean, they do what they always do, and they come out with unscouted, unscouted looks, stuff that they haven't shown in weeks, maybe in years, and they try to throw it on you and surprise you. When you played teams of this caliber, you play teams with this much history of knowing how to win and capitalizing on people's mistakes. I mean, you can't come back and win games like that. And it was shown that game. And so for us, we have to learn from that, know that we can't make those mistakes.

We have to come out with our best effort from beginning of the game all way through the end. And it's going to be a dog fight for the entire game if you want to try to come out with a win. I will pick this game tomorrow on the show. We are eight no straight up in our eight playoff games. I just want to remind everybody and enjoy what I'm going to do. is just simply, I'm just going to remind people of something that has happened this year. Okay. This is not an opinion.

I'm just going to remind you of what's happened. Patrick Mahomes' biggest games this year. Against the Patriots lost, two turnovers. Against the Rams lost, five turnovers. At Chargers, at Seahawks, lost, loss. And they did beat the Colts at home. By the way, a rebuilding team. And he didn't play brilliantly.

I want to remind people in Tom Brady's five biggest games this year. I'm not going to count the Bears win. Chiefs, Packers Sunday night football, Viking Sunday night football, Steelers, Chargers, they're four and one. Tom Brady had fewer turnovers in all five games than Patrick Mahomes had in one against the Rams. I'm just reminding you of facts. I am sorry if they collide with your feelings, but Kansas City is two and four this year against playoff teams. And New England is four and oh against playoff teams. I think it's an incredibly fair narrative. Sorry if it gets you all derailed in Kansas City.

It's a very fair narrative to say Kansas City is mostly played well in big games, but really hasn't learned how to close. It's also a very fair narrative to say, New England against playoff teams, still the best closers in the league. New England has not lost against a playoff team this year. New England stubbed their toe against bad teams who consider the Patriots a Super Bowl. The Jags, Tennessee, Detroit, Miami Dolphins. But when they play the good teams, they went four and out.

And Brady was overwhelmingly brilliant. The one exceptional year, and I didn't count the Bears win in Chicago, was the Pittsburgh game. And that was a game in which Josh Gordon, we later found out 48 hours later, had derailed, gone off course, And they cut him. And so they didn't really have anybody to throw to down the field late. You remember that. It was odd. We talked about it the next day.

Why didn't they look her throw to Josh Gordon? 36 hours later, he's off the team. These are just facts. Biggest games this weekend. Kansas Cities played generally well, hasn't learned to close. New England still best closers in the league. Was that fair? Was that incendiary?

Was that controversial? Was that a hot take or anything? I mean, you're just, you're pointing to numbers. Yeah, data. I mean, I'm not trying to, tomorrow's the big picks. Are you going to surprise everyone with your pick? Well, America's media icon delivers only data and facts. And so I will deliver what I have been working on these all week, Joy.

And I have, I feel so strongly about one, I can't contain myself. I can't contain myself. that's how I feel. Oh, oh, by the way, two things coming up. Don't go anywhere. Okay. Major news coming up and Kyrie Irving says, I called LeBron.

I wanted to learn how to be a leader. It's a problem throughout the NBA, and there's a simple explanation for Kyrie and others. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, 1 and the I Heart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

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We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight. from viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood,

pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you. conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app. podcast or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this. series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court licking his fingers why he got the bar like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down the court. you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. By the way, don't let your age beat you. MDrive. BuyMDrive.com. Refind your prime. More energy, more stamina. Big announcement here in a couple of minutes. Kyrie Irving came out yesterday.

He used to play with LeBron, bailed on him. And LeBron James didn't like it because LeBron James thought he was helping Kyrie Irving grow. Kierre Irving was a one-and-done guy at college, played eight college games at Duke, couldn't get off campus fast. enough. Well, Kyrie Irving is now admitting, yeah, I was kind of learning stuff from LeBron and maybe I should have been learning more stuff and not trying to get out of town so fast. Here's Kyrie Irving. It was a big deal for me because I had to call Bronn, you know, and tell him, like, you know, I apologize for being that young player that wanted to everything at his, you know, at its fingertips and I wanted everything to be at my threshold.

I wanted to be the guy that led us to the championship. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that. And the responsibility of being the best player in the world and leading a team is something that's not meant for many people. And Brown was one of those guys that came to Cleveland and tried to really show us what it's like to win a championship. And it was hard for him.

And sometimes getting the most out of the group, it's not the easiest thing in the world. First of all, I like that Kyrie Irving admits it. that's a real sign of maturity. Kyrie Irving, of course Kyrie Irving is simply a talent and not a leader. The NBA has got a leadership problem. I went to a game last night. It was a bunch of talented players.

Who was really a leader? Steph Curry's a leader. Steph Curry grew up with an NBA father and then didn't try to get out of college as soon as he could. If you look at the Golden State Warriors, it's not a coincidence that Steph Curry went to three years of college and Clay Thompson three and Draymond Green four and

Andre Iguodala too. Steve Kerr also big part of the college experience. But the basketball culture in America, my friends, is broken. The basketball culture in America now is spot a talent in high school and let's get him paid in the pros. College basketball bad. Ah, no, it's not. College for all of us, men and women is the time we grow up. I had to buy my own groceries.

get a job and pay for things. I almost flunked out. I wasn't a grown-up. You kind of learned to be a man, and I'll just speak for 19-year-old me. I learned to be a man in college. I had to figure out a checkbook and a budget and do my shopping and do my own clothes.

Nobody made my bed. Nobody washed my stuff. College matters. Dwayne Wade taught LeBron how to be a leader in Miami. Until that point, LeBron was just talented. But LeBron joined the Miami Heat.

Shane Badiere, four years of college. Ray Allen, three years of college. D. Wade, three years of college. Udanaus Haslam, four years of college. Men, leaders. LeBron, to that point, was just talented. It is then when LeBron became a leader. Talked about politics.

Took vocal, tribal opinions that were unpopular to many. That's what being a man is. The NFL has never struggled. with this because the NFL culture, the football culture in America, is about developing boys into men. You're 19 years old. You get recruited. The university says you will not play. We will redshirt you. Grow up. Get stronger. You will then play three to four years. Come out at 23 years old. Statistically football players in America. Get married sooner. Older men leading a family, leading an offensive line. They walk into this league like Russell Wilson, four years of college,

and J.J. Watt and their community leaders overnight. But the basketball culture is simply about find the talent and get it paid. Yesterday, Scotty Pippen submitted to all of us that Zion Williamson should no longer play at Duke. Let's just get him paid. So therefore, Zion Williamson will be a long list of marvelously talented NBA players who have no real leadership skills. Kairie Irving had two opportunities in his life to learn from two great leaders. Mike Shoshchevsky, and yet he couldn't leave him fast enough. And LeBron James, after Miami, a real leader, and he couldn't leave him fast enough either. I went to an NBA game last night, and when I look at this league, I don't see leaders.

I see talent. Kevin Durant's too flaky. James Hardens into James. Same with Westbrook. Kauai doesn't talk. Steph Curry is a leader. And a big component to that is college, is playing within a system. LeBron was just talented forever.

Then he joined a group of players who had been to college, been on their own. Don't be so fast to roll your eyes at the college experience. Yeah, I know. Yeah, I know. You'll want to get paid. I get it. And maybe over time, the NCAA will figure something out. I'd like to hope they would.

But Kyrie Irving had two chances in his life to learn how to be a leader. He couldn't exit either fast enough. Now to some gigantic news, it's Joy Taylor's birthday today. Let's hear it for Joy. Oh. Happy birthday. Thank you, Colin. Happy birthday to Ann also.

My wife's birthday today. Yes. Oh, thank you. the same thing you are. Thank you. And it's Joy Taylor's birthday today. We're not even going to get into specifics on it. Specifically, I'm turning 21 today.

So it's a very big day. I can finally legally drink. I've been waiting for this for a long time. But the roads are wet in Los Angeles. Wait till tomorrow. It's supposed to dry out. Yes. It refuses to stop raining here.

We literally live in London or Seattle for the last seven days in Los Angeles. Anyway, you're a great teammate. Happy birthday to you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. So, 17 years ago, the Rams played a Super Bowl in the Super Dome. Now they return there for a chance to get back to Super Bowl for the first time since that 2001 season. And they know it will be especially loud. And Jared Goff knows that. Whenever you're in a place like that and it is loud, you know, you obviously can't hear very well and have to use a lot of visual signals and a lot of, you know, visual communication. just be on the screws just that much, that much more because you can't really communicate the line of scrimmage.

You can't get things changed much of the line of scrimand. So in the huddle, just making sure everyone's on the screws and knows what they're doing. That's a big thing. It's going to be wild there, for sure. If any team is going to come in there prepared for that, I'm going to go with the Rams just because Sean McVeigh is so thorough. Yeah.

I don't know that the, I mean, I haven't been to a Rams game out here. I don't know if it's the same environment. but we do know what it's like at the Superdome. Yeah, it's hard to win that. There's a reason Tom Brady even doesn't win as much on the road. There's an advantage to playing at home. If you go to an NFL stadium, they're really smart fan bases. When their team gets the ball, they don't yell.

Right. Like Brady, when Brady has the ball in Foxborough, I've been to one of those games. Goulet, you've been to several those games. When Brady gets the ball in Foxborough, the crowd's quiet. And then when the other team has the ball, the crowd cheers. Like in the Superdome, they figured it out. Saints have the ball. Nobody says anything.

Well, I mean, I think we kind of are maybe ignoring that home field advantage. I mean, I feel we talked about it a lot yesterday with the weather in Kansas City. You gave a very scientific explanation for why it will be difficult for anyone to cheer there. But the environment is more about the energy, you know, because there is a lot of emotions and motivation and energy and momentum and stuff that goes throughout the game. So having the crowd on your side does matter. We ignore that because we're at home. You know, we're not in that space. But it is important.

So it's definitely going to play a factor. The Mike Tomlin hasn't won a replay challenge in the last two seasons. He's 0 for 9. His clock management and his use of timeouts have also been questions. It's kind of remarkable. Is that true? Yes. He's 0 for 9 on his challenges?

He's not one challenge in the last two seasons. Wasn't Tom Coughlin, wasn't Tom Coughlin bad on challenges? Somebody else that's kind of a legendary coach was bad on challenges. Well, Atlanta hired a clock management and challenge assistant for Dan Quinn this off season, and Panthers owner David Tepper is wanting one for Ron Rivera. So Art Rooney the second said he's looking into it too. He said having someone with that responsibility is important. Mike and I have talked about it.

It would have to be somebody who is on the staff that has a role to fill there. Whether we have the right people, we're looking at that. It's fair game for discussion. I'm surprised this isn't already a thing. Seriously, in my lifetime, the average NFL scores like 26, 23, most games are one and lost with four minutes to go. Right. I don't, I mean, obviously I assume that this is the, we all assume this is the responsibility of the head coach and apparently it is the responsibility of the head coach.

But I don't know why I just, in my mind, I imagine there was someone who just stands next to the coaches like, hey, we only got two timeouts up. I don't, but that feels like a small role, but also very important, especially when you're looking at 0 and 9 and challenges. Like that seems like a very big responsibility. I got to figure out who it is. There's somebody else in the league that we know. is a good coach that was bad with challenges.

And I don't know who it is, but there's somebody out there. Whoa. My next guest just told me that Coughlin's good with challenges. So I thought Coughlin was bad. Somebody that's good. I mean, Tomlin obviously knows what he's doing. He's been to two Super Bowls. Yeah, but I mean, there's so much going on when you're a head coach.

It seems like it would be smart to have someone just standing there, helping you take that off your play. Finally, after leading the Celtics to win over the Raptors last night, we talked about this a few minutes ago. Kyrie Irving made some reveals in post-game. unprompted, Kyrie said he called his old teammate LeBron and wanted to apologize in talking about leadership. So this is what he had to say. I apologize for being that young player that wanted to everything at his, you know, at his fingertips. And I wanted everything to be at, you know,

my threshold. I wanted to be the guy that led us to championship. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that. And, you know, the responsibility of being the best player in the world and leading a team is something that's not meant for many people. And Brown was one of those guys. that came to Cleveland and tried to really show us what it's like to win a championship. And it was hard for him and sometimes getting the most out of the group, it's not the easiest thing in the world. Don't kid yourself. LeBron was just super talented when he went to Miami with all those veteran guys.

That's when LeBron became political, more outspoken, took on challenges. Really, I thought became a leader. Then when he went to Cleveland, he took, and he admitted it, LeBron admitted it, I took all those things I learned from Pat Riley and D. Wade. Of course. And I took him to Cleveland. He took the championship blueprint and brought it to Cleveland and won a championship there. And that was leadership.

And he needed to go to Miami and get that new environment and be around an organization that already had a championship and championship level players and ownership and leadership. And leadership, that's really what it is. But to me, this comes down to Kyrie, even though it's kind of like another little backhanded jab at his team there. Right. Expectations change things. you may think you're a leader, you may think that you're on the right path and that you know everything

or you know what it takes in a championship because you have one. And then you become the guy. It's different. And you realize, oh, this is really how it works. It actually is all my fault at the end of the day. And that's what I think happened here. Maybe he's a leader when he's not the guy. Well, I always said with LeBron, the great thing about playing with LeBron,

Kyrie could just drive to an arena, drop 24, and when the game was over, all the media, came and said, LeBron, your thoughts about the game, and Kyrie could slide out the back door. Right. It's very easy to play with LeBron because, you know, Michael Jordan had this. Scotty Pippen could just play, and the microphones all went to Michael Jordan, and Michael Jordan had to sit up there and answer every question. And the minute Michael left, Scotty was no less talented, but do you remember what happened to Scottie?

He had an issue with Phil Jackson. Scotty was never the great leader. Scotty was a great talent, and he was allowed to be. You know, games were done. People cared about Michael. Michael's opinion made the headline. Scotty could play and leave. When Michael left and Scotty had to be the guy that answered the questions,

he melted down. As a team, you still have the same level of pressure when you have someone like LeBron or MJ on your team. But it's the spotlight, the focus, the answers, like you said, are not on you. And that's what I think happened here. He has those expectations now. It changes things. Drive with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Well, he played for over a decade, and you remember him as a Steeler when he entered the league, then as a great New York Giants, spent a little time with the Jets. Plaxico Burris, who is in Los Angeles today, coaching the NFLPA collegiate bowl. Future NFL players take on the field against college football all-stars. Good to have you in, man. How you doing, man?

You know, it's funny. When we talk about the games this weekend, let's talk Rams and Saints. So you've played in the Superdome. It's really loud. You've also played in a game that was so cold, you told me you had to rub your body in Vaseline. Would you rather play in absurdly cold conditions plaques, which you've done,

or would you rather play in a stadium you can't hear your audibles and can't think? What's a bigger disadvantage? Crowd or weather? I think any receiver would love the playing doors versus outside. I mean, going up to Green Bay and playing with minus 16, nobody knows what that feels like. Tell us what it was like. Tell my audience. Oh, my goodness.

I think that the water was freezing on the sideline in like less than 10 minutes. That's how cold it was. It was like minus 23 winship, minus 16. And it's so cold that you can't believe it. You had a great game. Oh, yeah. Me and Eli go out on the field and warm up two hours before the game. And there's nobody in the stadium.

You would not thought that was a football game that day. That's how cold it was. And you rubbed Vaseline on your body? Yeah, I basically had on an adult onesie underneath my uniform. And you ended up having a, and I would imagine, so it didn't affect your performance. Did it affect your routes? But did it affect when you got hit, it hurt more? Mentally, because you had a good game.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you can't prepare to go playing minus 16 degrees. Those, because dishes really don't exist. Anywhere else? Yeah, except in Green Bay, but we needed to win that game, and we did. Yeah. And in terms of, let's say you're the Rams and you're in the Superdome this weekend, explain this to people listening or watching on our show.

You can't really audible the line. I guess a lineman could, but it's just a series of hand signals. Yeah, absolutely. I think the Rams going into this game, their offense will basically be going off a silent count. You know, it'll be a lot of hand singles between the quarterbacks and wide receivers because you can't hear. And they will basically be going off a silent count all game. Is that a disadvantage? Does it affect the running game because you don't have the uniform?

It's definitely a disadvantage for the offense because your officer line doesn't get off the ball as quickly. Okay, fair enough. don't think that affects the passing game, though, as much. It may affect the running game. Oh, absolutely, yeah, definitely. When, you know, it's interesting. Let's let's go back, let's go back to the Patriots and the Chiefs this weekend. Kansas City is seen as having kind of this, you know, I mean, Cheetah, Travis Kelsey, Sammy Watkins, Mitchell Schwartz, good offensive lineman, Patrick Mahomes, has a lot of talent. But Bill Belichick, and you faced

him multiple times. Okay? What does Belichick do do to an offense? When you talk to quarterbacks, he's given through his career. He eats young quarterbacks alive. Mahomes had two

turnovers against the Patriots. What does Belichick do defensively to slow down multi-talented offenses? It's not just about what he does to an offense. And all three phases of the all three phases of the game,

what you do well, he takes it away from. And you're basically just playing left-handed. You just have to go in and beat them because they're not going to turn the football over and you just have to go out and basically get pressure on time ready without blitzing.

I think that's one of the keys to winning the game. And Kansas City definitely has the better football team, but you just can't count New England out. Did you play well against New England secondary and Belichick's defense? I did, but they were basically taking away everything that I ran inside. Oh, they took away your inside routes?

taking away everything. And they was basically using the sideline as another man. So you could sense they defended you differently than other teams. Yes, definitely. They take away everything that you do well and just make you react on the fly. That's what they do. Let's go to the Rams and the Saints. If I said to you, who's got better personnel? L.A. or New Orleans? Who's got

better players? L.A. I feel the same way. Right. I believe that the Rams have more talent. but I picked the New Orleans Saints to win the Super Bowl that week eight, and I'm not going back on it. Why? Because I think they're a better football team that people get them credit for.

I think they have the best defense in the playoffs right now. I really do. You think the Saints do? I do. You know, it's interesting when we have an interesting weekend where we have Breeze and Brady. These guys don't make all the throws. They don't have the big arms. They're not really mobile.

they're really good pre-snap. They know what they're doing before the ball is snapped. Goff and Mahomes, younger athletes, both clearly more mobile than who they'll face this weekend. Goff can make all the throws. Mahomes can make all the throws and then some. If I just told you, would you rather have and play with a young quarterback who can make all the throws

but still takes a lot of info from the sideline or play with Brady and Breeze who basically pre-snap, They don't need the coach. As a receiver, the talent, the youth, the arm, or the pre-snap excellence? I would take Drew Breeze any day at a week, any day at a week, because watching him play over the last, you know, 12 or 13 years that he's been playing, it's been legendary.

I mean, look at his numbers. Look at what he's been able to do. And he's going to go down to do it in the greatest, quarterbacks ever play. Yeah. When you're in the city of New York now, you live over in, you know, New Jersey. Yeah. You got some, you know, a backyard and deer and all that stuff.

So you have the Giants and the Jets. The Jets have the Sam Darnold thing and the Adam Gase thing. Right. And the Giants have the Eli situation. Just take me through. New York is a proud franchise. The Mara family. We always say they're kind of like an accounting firm.

They're kind of conservative. now they got OBJ who's a rock star and now they got Eli who they're petrified to offend it feels like to me in the last couple years the giants have lost their way they're afraid to draft another quarterback they kind of feel beholden to OBJ when you were there you were allowed to be a personality right Lawrence Taylor was allowed to be a personality right but you felt they were so formidable and well run are the giants well run today oh Absolutely.

You believe that? They're definitely one of the top five organizations in football. I had the privilege for playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Giants. And they're definitely... You felt they were great franchises. Yes, absolutely. You didn't feel that with the Jets? I did not.

Walking into the Jets building and going into a game on the weekend, your mindset was, I hope we win this week. that was kind of the aura of being in the building. But when you were with the Steelers and the Giants, it was, we will win this week. Oh, yeah, we will win this week. Okay, so Kansas City, New England, you'll take. Kansas City. Ram Saints, you'll take.

New Orleans. Okay, so you have a Kansas City Saint Super Bowl. I think that's what Vegas likes. Yes. Plaxico Burris, 11 years in the NFL. You are coaching this. 12 years in the NFL. What's the name of the bowl you're coaching this weekend?

NFL PA Collegiate Bowl. And it's college guys? Yeah, college seniors going into the NFL draft. Okay. Yeah. The game is here in Los Angeles? At the Rose Bowl. Saturday?

Yes. Is it on television? National television. Okay. All right. Fair enough. Good seeing you, plaques. All right, thanks.

Coming up next, Andy Reid talks about Tom Brady and makes a point all of us should take seriously. In L.A. next, The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, Weekdays and noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, 730 tonight. Discover card key matchup, free credit scorecard today. Even if you're not a Discover customer does include your FICA credit score.

Discover.com slash credit scoreboard. Limitations apply. Andy Reid was saying this yesterday. Coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, he was standing on Tom Brady. He goes, I look at the film, and like the age thing hasn't hit him. And so, you know, there are things that happen, and we know everybody ages. Baseball had a steroid problem, so 37-year-old guys got way better. I don't suspect Tom Brady's doing that stuff.

But people are looking at film and saying it's hard to see the decline. It is interesting to point out that with no deep threat and a tight end in Gronk, who will be a Hall of Famer that was a shell of himself and with Julian Edelman missing September. Now, I just want you to think about this. no deep threat, no longer a dominating force at tight end. Their best running backs are rookie. The offensive line was getting, remember their draft pick got hurt. They had to go get a right tackle, put him at left, and Edelman missed September.

Tom Brady, 29 touchdowns, 11 picks, 66% completion percentage, 4,300 yards. That had been Cam Newton's best year by a mile, working with the least he's ever had. So just remember that. The other thing that's important to remember is I think a lot of people feel New England is old. Gromk is. And Tom Brady is. One will not be a patriot next year. It's a very good tight end class in the NFL draft.

Gronk won't be a patriot. But you're forgetting that New England's core is mostly really young. Stefan Gilmore is 28. Trey Flowers is 25. Sony Michelle is 23, James White's 26, Trent Brown the left tackles 25, Stephen Gaskowski's their kicker, he'll play forever, Shaq Mason's their best offensive lineman 25, and Joanne Bentley, a rookie's 22, won the starting job last year

as a rookie at linebackerman got hurt. And that's something interesting here. Two rookies popped for them in camp. Isaiah win, a first rounder, and Joanne Bentley, a fifth rounder. They also had Duke Dawson and Braxton Berius. They all got hurt. So they have four young players, two, Joanne Bentley and Isaiah win, they think are going to be stars. They didn't play this year.

One starting roles didn't play. They also have 12 draft picks. So they'll actually become one of the middle to younger teams in the league next year as Gronk's term expires. So don't forget this. Number one, Brady had very good numbers considering Edelman didn't play in September. Gronks pretty much a shot fighter and no deep threat. They still had very solid offensive numbers. They are 12 draft picks and actually you could count it as 16 because four draft picks last year,

they were planning to play major minutes. Two in fact looked like stars in. camp had won starting roles. So there is this idea. Don't forget, the NFL is a year-to-year proposition. The three teams, I'll guarantee you that it'll be good next year. Going to be good. Kansas City, New England, and the Colts.

Everybody else, year-to-year proposition, generally I lean to the Steelers. But we thought Baltimore was that, and they eroded for about three years straight until this year with Lamar Jackson. Nobody takes the Texans seriously. implode in the playoffs. We like the Chargers, but they just melted down. And they play in a tough division. We don't know what we're getting with Gruden.

Sam Dardle and Adam Gase could be interesting, but it's a dysfunctional organization. So, you know, what Andy Reid says is, I'm looking at tape. I don't see the decline. And what I think a lot of people misunderstand, New England has a chance to be very young next year outside of Brady. And he's not showing huge decline. It is a very good draft for the two things New England needs. Tight end and a wide receiver.

And it's a deep draft, not a ton of stars, but a deep draft with both. They've got six picks in the first three rounds, 12 overall. And I think a lot of people are forgetting. Four draft picks last year got hurt, didn't play. Two had earned starting roles got hurt. So this is really, they're going to sustain this thing. Belichick's still the best coach in the league. It is still arguably the best home field advantage in the AFC.

And Brady's Brady. Greg CoSell, top of the hour. You know, it's interesting. James Hardin went crazy last night. And I've said this for a long time that there's a lot of things as you gain power in life, as you gain income, as you gain experience. There's a lot of things you can do in life that you shouldn't necessarily do in life. James Harden took 34 shots last night, six time he's done it in January, 30 plus shots.

They're two and four in these games. Now, Chris Paul is hurt, Clint Capella too. So they're not a great basketball team, and obviously his usage rate will increase. But last night, it was fairly remarkable. Of the 115 points he has scored in two games, there have been zero assists. he's basically not passing. It should be noted Steph Curry could do this too

when Kevin Durant's hurt and he never does. James Hardin is more of a day trader. Steph Curry is a financial planner. A day trader's number one concern is what can I make in the next 24 hours? A financial planner,

Steph Curry's worldview, is what is long-term viable and sustainable. James Hardin is day trading. He's getting his. He'll win the MVP. He's setting scoring records. But the reality is,

Steph Curry could do this when Draymond and KD are out, when Clay is out. And he doesn't. Because Steph Curry doesn't play, look at me basketball, knows it's not sustainable. It doesn't involve teammates,

and it actually can create resentment. And once you fall into these scoring streaks, it's hard to break the habit. Chris Paul comes back in Capella. Hardin is in this scoring, Torrid scoring tunnel. It's going to hard to break this habit. He's convincing himself he can drop 50 points a night.

Steph Curry could do this, but he's not a day trader. He never has been. There's a lot of guys in this league. Kevin Durant could score 45 a night, even when Curry's out, doesn't make a point of shooting 36 times. Again, some guys are day traders. What can I get tonight? Some guys are financial planners.

I don't like this. 115 points with no assists. It's ISO ball. I think it sends a bad message, win or lose. I would still involve teammates. Greg Kosel next. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day,

seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. This hour two live in LA, wet L.A. is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio on FS1. It's Joy Taylor's birthday today. Look at those beautiful flowers. Greg CoSell in a couple of minutes. The beautiful flowers. I do feel like we need to explain why there's a bouquet of flowers next to my head. But thank you, Colin. It's my wife's birthday today and Joy Taylor's birthday today. Yes, happy birthday. And that actually makes it way easier for me. Yes.

We're all Capricorns. I'm a Capricorn. You're a Capricorn. Capricorn's very difficult. I mean, I disagree, but that seems to be the word on the street. The word on the street is we're very difficult. That's what the street... We're just determined and focused. That's how I see it.

That's how I see it. It's all about perspective. I am determined and you are determined. Yeah, you may think I'm difficult, but I really just have stuff to do today. Yeah, my stuff. Yeah. Good day and Greg CoSell a couple of minutes. Actually, this weekend's pretty interesting because

Rams at Saints, Patriots at Chiefs is the same matchup. A hot shot quarterback, everybody's in love with, right? Patrick Mahomes, got the youth, he's got the mobility, he's got the arm, he's got the playmakers, and Jared Goff has got the arm, he's a number one pick, he's got the great play designer, he's got Robert Woods, he got Todd Gurley, got the offensive line, and both are facing old guys. And Tom Brady can't make all the throws, you know, but he kind of knows what he's doing before the snap. And Drew

Breeze can't make all the throw the ball deep much anymore, but he knows where he's going before the snap. And so what's more valuable? Having the young make all the throws in his youth, a little better mobility at the line

of scrimmage, not making a ton now so you get a bunch of weapons and a head coach, Sean McVey in his ear until the ball is snapped. Or the two guys, Breeze and Brady, the veteran, who are making way more, but they don't have to turn to the coach.

They know what they're doing before the ball is snapped. Here's one thing to remember. The last four Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, the average age was 36. And the last two young whippersnappers to win a Super Bowl were Big Ben and Russell Wilson. Those were the last two kid quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl. Both had historically good defenses,

and neither was asked to do a ton. Nick Foles is almost 30, Brady's almost 40, Peyton was almost 40, Brady's 37. We're watching the same matchup this week. Old veteran quarterback who's essentially a coach on the field, he has seen everything before, and there are some athletic mobility arm limitations. Or the young, not as highly compensated quarterback with a bunch of weapons who is still a kid quarterback. Just don't forget kid quarterbacks

with the weapons, turning and looking to the coach, relying on the coach on the sidelines more, don't win a lot of Super Bowls in this league. Nick Foles, multiple teams, very coachable, six, seven years, not nearly

the talent of Carson Wentz. But even when you watch the Eagles, there is something about Foles in that lineup that kind of seems to click. Talent alone. It's not win Super Bowls. These old guys who don't rely on the coaching as much are winning them. A lot.

With that, over 30 years at NFL films, one of my favorite segments of the week, we have three football games left until, you know, next year. And we bring in Greg CoSell. I want to start on the Rams and the Saints. That will be the first game. It'll be on Fox. So I want to start with this, Greg. The Saints offense, September, October, November was one offense, pretty high-flying.

Then they faced the Cowboys, and since then, yards per play has gone down, haven't been quite as dynamic. What is the film saying happened to the Saints? Being honest, Colin, in studying the tape, you will say that Drew Breeze has not played particularly well over the last, I don't know when that started, but it was certainly the last four or five weeks of the regular season. and I would say that he was uncharacteristically inaccurate, and by that I mean his ball placement wasn't quite as precise. I thought there were times based on the route concepts and where I know that he should be going with the ball,

that he didn't turn it loose a number of times he did that. So I would say overall, if you're being honest in your evaluation, you would say that Drew Brees did not play at the same level. Which I would argue is there's a number on Tom Brady that he's not quite been as good in December. as he has been in October and early. That would point to fatigue and age. Is that unrealistic?

You know, that's hard to know for sure because now we're trying to just sort of speculate as to why that may be the case. You know, in the case of Breeze, I don't know the answer to that. Breeze has always been a quarterback that I think his lower body has been really important to his game,

not in terms of running around, like let's say a Russell Wilson, but just how strong he's, is in his lower body to move within the pocket and then to be able to drive the ball. Not necessarily with a power arm. He's not a power thrower, but just the ability to move, reset, stay on balance with a very firm base. Some might even look at the first play of the game against the Eagles last week when he had

to stay in the pocket and sort of reset and try to drive a deep ball to Ted Ginnon and it came up short. Yeah. The Rams are interesting. They kind of had to reboot. very dynamic early, hit a rough stretch, and then they kind of rebooted against the Niners in Arizona, got a buy, and continued that sort of power running game they'd used against the Cardinals and Niners against the Cowboys. So they've kind of rebooted. I thought the buy week was kind of very important

for this veteran offensive line to get rest, and they looked very sharp. But let's go to the Ram specifically, it does feel like they've gone back or perhaps created with C.J. Anderson and Gurley a little bit of a different offense than I saw early. It feels very run-centric. Well, I think it's always been that way. It's just they've been more successful because that's the way they start their offense. During the regular season, keep in mind, they were the third best rushing team in the league, and they run the ball a lot. They were just very successful, and they're coming off the Cowboys game in which they're. They did some really good things, some really nuanced things.

They did a lot of tempo. They played against the Cowboys defense that's very quick, very fast, likes to move. So what they did is they went tempo, and they got got off to the line of scrimmage. Now, he didn't always snap the ball right away. Sometimes he waited until there were three, four seconds on the clock. But when you do that, the defense can't move. The defense has to be static. And they got the front looks that they wanted.

They got the defense static, and they were able to attack those front looks. Their run game is all about attacking the front, the defensive front that they're facing, because their run game is not overly diverse. It's different terms, different coaches use, but it's essentially outside zone and inside zone. So it's not a really diverse run game. You know, it's interesting. Goff, I think we talked about this, had kind of a rough November. And, you know, teams have different personalities.

Belichick's never been quite as, you know, New England in September, New England and January. two different teams sometimes. What do you make of the matchup with Goff? What do you like that he does well? When is he at his best? Well, I think Goff is very much a, and this is not a negative term. I think Godf is very much a programmed player. I think that when their offense works functionally and effectively in all its dimensions, and he drops back and is relatively secure in the pocket, that he throws a beautiful ball. He's an easy thrower. He's a comfortable thrower. He has a good arm. For the most part, he's an accurate thrower. He lost some of his accuracy down the stretch.

But when he's a comfortable player within the context of a multi-dimensional offense, he's very pretty to watch. The ball comes out really well. And that offensive line is healthy. Is it as good as any offensive line left in the playoffs? Well, the one thing that has been talked about all year. I remember it was talked about with the Eagles a year ago is all five starters played all 16 games. And I think that when you get to this point in the season,

that's really important. It's not likely you'll have eras in cohesion and those kinds of things where there's assignment mistakes based on a lack of understanding of what you're trying to get done. So I think that's really important going forward. By the way, Sean McVeigh and Sean Payton are considered very smart play designers, very clever offensive coaches, so people can kind of lump them in together. Do you see similarities or are they dissimilar sometimes? Similar because I think that Sean Payton is very much built on multiple personnel packages, multiple formation looks. Sean McVeigh doesn't do much of that at all.

They line up in what we call 11 personnel with three wide receivers on probably 95% of their snaps, and they're not that multiple with their formation looks. In fact, in the week 9 game, they lined up in 11 personnel on every single snap, and the Saints defense lined up in nickel on every single snap. So now, here's a perfect example where teams have, done things like this and it hasn't worked. And then people say, oh, you can't play like that. You're not creative. It works. Yeah. You know, a player that played against Bill Walsh in the Niners 20 years ago told me, he said the Niners ran 12 plays. They had 30 different looks. He goes,

they only ran 12 plays. And then I had a player that played with Sam Wyshe. It said, we had 1,600 plays. We just didn't do any of them well. I've always thought the number of plays is overblown. You have to disguise looks. But do what you do. well in life and in football. Yeah. And the Rams are what they're trying to do with all that jet motion and the things that they do. Even just with your base outside zone run look, is they're just trying to cause misreads based on how people have to react to what they're doing. You know, they're not fancy. They're not multiple in the way people think multiple,

but they're just trying to cause defenders' eyes not to be in the right place. And then that causes them to be a beat late in their reactions. Let's shift to the AFC. Good stuff. Greg Kossel, join. running us. So Patriots are 10 and 0 this year when they rush for 100 yards. They use their running backs as receivers very effectively. Sony Michelle is now healthy. He's a very small but nimble, clever runner. He can go outside or inside the tackles. So when you look at their running game, where they're 10 and 0 when they get 100 yards, and you look at Kansas City's run defense. What does the film say? Its run game is, they run different concepts depending on the personnel

that are on the field. They run certain concepts when they have 21 personnel, meaning the Bullback Devlin is on the field, and they run other concepts when they're an 11 personnel with three wide receivers. You know, it depends what the look is, and the Chiefs, I think, will line up with their personnel accordingly. My guess is they'll play their base defense against 21 personnel, and they'll be a nickel versus the 11 personnel, and you'll see different formations. One of the things the Patriots have always done, Colin, almost better than anybody over these

last five, six, seven years is when they have base personnel on the field, they are so diverse with their formation looks, that they create a lot of problems for defenses. You know, I don't recall them playing any better than they did against the Chargers. I was shocked by their effectiveness. What blew you away on the film about New England's offense against what we consider to be excellent charger personnel? Well, I think that game was an odd game because of what the Chargers chose to do. The Chargers essentially chose to play with six defensive backs as their base defense.

So when the Patriots lined up with a fallback on the field and big people, they had Devlin and Grunk on the field, the Chargers still had six defensive backs on the field, and they really got hurt with the run game through the first half. And again, that's what they chose to do. They spent all week taking that approach. They obviously thought it would be the best approach, but it hurt them. Yeah. Let's go to Kansas City's offense.

Tyreek Hills, the fastest player probably in football. He gave the Patriots fits, and I consider the Patriots secondary, you know, Devin McCordy, Stefan Gilmore. Generally, it's very well coached. Belichick has a history with DVs. I think they have a pretty good secondary, in my opinion. Maybe not as gifted as like a Chargers, but I think Gilmore's terrific player. I think Devin McCordy's in his 30s, but he's a very good player. Tyreek Hill ate him alive. You know, Plaxico Burris was on my show 40 minutes ago, and he said,

nobody takes away the inside routes like Belichick. They use the sideline as a defender. The Patriots, they had no success against Tyreek Hill. and they generally take away your big receiving threat. Why is he such a nightmare for them? Well, keep this in mind. In the first game they played, and that was week six, Belichick made a decision.

The decision he made in that game was that he was going to take away Kelsey and not Hill. Now, he may change that decision in this game. Yeah. You know, because one thing about the Chiefs is besides being very well schemed, they have very good personnel. And Hill presents a different issue because of the pure speed. but there's certain defined tendencies that the formations. And if I know that, Bill Belichick will know that,

and I'll be very anxious to see what they do. One tendency in particular, when they go empty, and the chiefs are very good out of empty, in the inside slot to the trip side, what we call three strong. And they tend to run him vertically from there. And you can't let him get over the top of you. Yeah. So you're saying the chiefs are a tad more predictable

out of their sets. One seen before. Everybody is right word. Everybody has tendencies. And teams know what the opponent's tendencies are. You don't win these games because you're tricking people and you're fooling people. I'm going to throw a guy's name out. I don't even know if we have tape for him that I think is going to be big this weekend.

Chris Jones, defensive lineman for the chiefs. He has emerged, and maybe I just wasn't paying attention. But it seems in the last two months he has emerged as a real, force, a really difficult guy to block. My takeaway on this game is if New England struggles with him and has to double him, it could affect the run game. Just talk a little about Kansas City's defensive front. I think Chris, I'm not saying Aaron Donald or Fletcher Cox, but boy, when I watch Kansas City play, Greg, he is hard to stay in front of. This is not profound, Colin, but it speaks to what you're saying of the Patriots being able to

stay relatively on schedule. Because when they're playing well, and when you saw them last week, it seemed as if Brady got the ball out so quick. They were rarely in long-yarded situations. There may be no more patient quarterback that I can remember than Tom Brady in willing to throw the ball five yards. And very often those five-yard gains become eight-yard gains. And while that may not appear on a highlight, that's a big play, particularly if it's first down. You know, then it's second and two. So the key thing to limit not only Chris Jones working inside, but Justin Houston, who didn't play week six, and D-4 is the ability to stay within the schedule of the offense, and then the ball comes out so quick.

And that's the key for the Patriots. When Brady's secure, and I thought this year, one of the differences with Brady is he wasn't as good when there were people around him as he's been in years past. So if you can keep him secure and get the ball out, it might negate that pass rush. Well, Joey Bosa, I was watching film last night. Joey Bosa, they had him miced, he was just frustrated. He kept going to the sideline saying he's getting rid of the ball. He can't get there.

He can't get there. He's like, it doesn't matter how good our pass rushes. Right. And I look up and the ball's down the field. All right, your big play this week is Brady to Edelman against the Chiefs. Roll it. Go, tell us what you got. Yeah, we'll jump right into it.

So let's start it right now. Okay. And this was a 17-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Edelman. And it was very reflective of this first matchup in a number of ways. And we'll start with the fact that the page. that. The Patriots go with a trips formation here to the field. And this is they do a lot

of, you see the three receivers, it's a trip's formation, it's a bunch formation, and the Chiefs are playing man to man. They play a lot of man coverage. You're going to see this. But now the other thing, which is really representative of the first game, and what the Chiefs do is the Chiefs rushed three.

Okay, they rushed three, and they dropped two defenders as kind of underneath lurkers. And so this is what they did. Many snaps in that game. It was cover one man coverage behind a three-man rush, two lurkers. Now you get to the matchup of Edelman versus Fuller, and they'll take that every time. Fuller's a good player, but they like that matchup. They'll take Edelman in the slot versus Fuller all day long. But that's something to really watch for in this game, because the Chiefs, they rush three quite a bit. That's

part of what they do, and they like to play coverage, but they play man coverage with a lot of, with two, those two free defenders, which I think they'll do against New England. Yeah. Who's got the better offensive line, by the way? What's the film say? Pences are different. You know, there's more deep drops for Kansas City, and there's more quick drops for the Patriots. So, you know, that's a hard call. They just play totally differently. Yeah. You do like Kansas City's defensive front better than New England, though Trey Flowers is pretty good. Well, you know, the Patriots don't have that one pass rusher like a D. Ford or Justin Houston. And Chris Jones is certainly very good on the inside. So, you know, as individuals, the Chiefs are better. Yeah, I can't wait for this. I really do.

I think it's very easy to look at Kansas City and say payback big weekend, but I'll tell you this, New England was four and oh against playoff teams this year, and they have a tendency to be very, very good in these big games. So I just can't wait. Well, I'm glad it's going to be downright balmy now, at least in the 20s as opposed to zero. No kidding. Greg, great talking to you. Thanks, Colin. Appreciate it.

Yeah, John, do we have breaking news on the weather in Kansas City? two days ago Breaking news Yeah two days ago They were playing Literally in the North Pole And now it's going to be Like upper 20s

Upper 20s I mean Why even do that That's what weather does It changes No it listen That's why radar Was invented

So weather guys can go on the air And not say on Monday We're all going to die And then say on Tuesday Bring out your shorts Well I don't think it's wise for anyone to get on television and say we're all going to die. Okay, first of all, I'm a sports guy.

I don't have radar to give me the scores and I still get them right. Weather guy's got a radar and it can't get the weather right. It changes. They're supposed to update it. It would be irresponsible of them to have everyone go out there expecting an Arctic blast when they know that that's not the case. It's going to be just normally cold. For years and years, I was a local sports guy.

I had to give time back to weather all the time. Oh, we've got to get more time to weather. You know what you should do with weather? Coming out weather. and put a big question mark on the screen and then go, our bad, more sports. They have radar and they can't get the weather right. I got no radar.

I'm knocking out NFL picks. They ain't no. They are getting it right. They're updating it. That's what they're supposed to do. Guys, if the radar changes, it's supposed to say, sorry, we made you all panic and make your bets and your predictions off of what we said, but now we have updated information. We have new information.

But it would just change too much. We're all going to die. It ain't that bad. a question. Let's say I'm not going to say anything horrible. Let's say the quarterback of a said team that may play in New England all of a sudden got the flu. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. You've already made your pick in your mind. Let's say you've already picked that team to win and you got that information today. Maybe that would change your opinion. Nope. Nope. I play hurt. So are my favorite players. Tom Brady, cold, sick, flu season. I'm just saying updated information

needs to be shared. The information is new. And I'm just saying, weather guys, I just turn the channel. Click, making crap up. Coming up next, buy, seller, hold. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed the game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games,

from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action, with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience

in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real. conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast,

learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves,

I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's a big night of college basketball tonight on FS1, beginning at 730 Eastern, as number six Michigan State, faces off with Nebraska, then Oregon State battles Arizona State at 10, a college hoops doubleheader tonight on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. Duke's going to face Michigan in the NCAA championship. I'm going to tell you right right now.

Happy birthday to Joy Taylor. Duke will face Michigan in the NCAA championship. By the way, Peloton, I always mess this name up. Peloton is a game-changing indoor cycling bike. It gives you the energy of live studio classes in your home. 14 live rides a day, 10,000 more on demand. Go to Onepelleton.com. Is that right?

Peloton, yes. Onepelaton.com. I've seen these things. They're very good. I love cycling. Yeah. Especially in the rain. It's a great workout.

Well, Peloton solves that because you get to stay inside. Here's Joy with the news. No. Turn on the news. This is the Herd Line News. All right. So the 2018 season is behind Dallas Cowboys. What will he do with Jason Garrett?

Rumors after the season suggested that Garrett was in line for an extension. but they've yet to ink a new deal. And this is what he told 1053, the fan in Dallas, when he was asked to commit to the 2019 return of their head coach. Why would I put some kind of statement out that says, this is what we're going to do when we might have an opportunity here next week. This is the time when these things are thought about. This is the time when they're chewed on.

This is the time when you may see an opportunity next week. It didn't know existed this week. in the area of personnel or in the area of coaching. And I'm not trying to be cute here. I'm just saying that one of the advantages that we have is that we can operate with that kind of flexibility. I love when Jerry gets cranky. You know, for the record, they did win their division. Yeah.

I mean, I just want to remind everybody that Dallas Cowboys won their division and won a playoff game. They're all good. They're not perfect. They're not perfect. Everybody's got a problem. Brady's 41. That'll be a problem in two years. And the Cowboys' offense is kind of simplistic. I'll throw this at you. Dax's young. It took Russell Wilson, he admits, about year three, when the light went on. It is possible that some of this offense is not only based to Dax's limitations, but that he's young. And they don't want to,

you know, I mean, Dack became a surprise starter a couple years ago. He was fourth round pick. Tony got hurt. Some of this could just be the coaching staff saying, you know, every year we're going to give him a little more and a little more and a little more. But they did win their invasion and win the playoff game. There's no, there's no change going to happen at the head coaching position. Sean Payton's not leaving the Saints. McVeigh is not going to make himself available for the Cowboys. That's even possible, which I doubt it is.

Jason Garrett's going to stay right where he is. I do like when Jerry fires back, though. Jerry's usually very good with the media. You know, he does his, he does his thing, but every once in a while, it gets a question he doesn't like. Yes. And he still does his thing, but he does it with a little. little bit extra

umph. Yeah, a little attitude to it. So Antonio Brown is now stirring things up on the internet again. He recently removed references to Pittsburgh and the Steelers

from his social media accounts. And he has also hinted at an interview coming up that would explain his following out with the team and other figures around the league. Please do that. We would like to see that.

These moves of cause, people like Bruce Ariens and Emmanuel Sanders to criticize Brown, Bruce Ariens said that he was a diva. Manuel Sanders said, you know, he wasn't the best teammate,

who of course, he took offense to their comments. In response to Ariens, he tweeted, he didn't draft me. He drafted Emmanuel Sanders. Same guy who missed rehab to go on networks to talk about me on a situation he has zero clue. Ariens now wears Kangle hats and glasses, but I'm a diva. Then seen it all. Then they say we're friends.

Stop lying. Why are you always lying? Well, he doesn't like people talking about him. And then in response to Sanders, he tweeted, clearly they feel indifferent about me seeing all these reports. The big interview is coming, watching my teammates, fans, and the organization show me how they really feel stay woke. All right. Well, he'll play somewhere. He will play somewhere.

I will say this. It's not a good feeling to have people talk about you, especially if they're being critical of you. But I would also say that if this is not really what's happening, just let everyone know what it is then. But there's multiple people coming out and saying that this is who you are, and then you're responding to them. I don't know. Like, you have to, you have no explanation for why all this is happening. He has the opportunity to create his own narrative here. He's just saying that they're all wrong, they're all wrong.

Finally, there's probably not a more coveted player right now in the NBA than Anthony Davis with his unique blend of skills. He's a very valuable trade chip, which is probably why we've heard teams like the Lakers and the Celtics interested in him. But yesterday, Wode said, Rich Paul told me they have not had any real substantial discussions about Anthony's future in New Orleans. he's with clutch. There's no promises about his future beyond the trade deadline. It's safe to say right now, New Orleans does not want to trade him. They will have to be forced into doing that. By the way, now that the Lakers are going into the tank without LeBron, what are they going to trade to New Orleans that New Orleans would want? I'll be honest with you. Boston can trade a ton. I mean, if I'm New Orleans and I look at what Boston can give me, Jalen Brown, Al Orford,

I mean, you could give me several pieces. I'm going to look at Los Angeles and go, I saw Brandon Ingram when LeBron was hurt. I saw Lonzo. They didn't do anything. Well, New Orleans can obviously offer him the most amount of money because they can give him the Supermax deal. But he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports

that legacy was more important to him than money. However, if he stays in New Orleans, he's going to be a legend in New Orleans for the rest of time. Like for the future well beyond after basketball. football as well. But if he goes to Boston, I mean, this idea that now LeBron's hurt, he's going to miss 15 straight games, this idea, New Orleans at some point wants more good players. Boston's got far, I watched Boston beat Toronto last time.

They got far more good players. The Lakers, without LeBron, look at them. Outside of Kyle Kuzma, what do they have? What are they going to give me, Boston can give three legitimate players? And Boston, I think, also has more picks. Boston, and this idea that Anthony Davis wouldn't stay in Boston, if Anthony Davis goes to Boston and plays with Kyrie Irving and Jason Tatum, they're in the finals, it's going to be hard to leave that.

Leave and go where? That's what I'm saying. If I was Boston, I think I'd roll the dice and say, I'm bringing you in and you bring Anthony Davis to the Celtics and you still have like a Jason Tatum, Kyrie Irving. I mean, that team's either winning the championship or extending it, hard for Anthony Davis to leave that. It's going to be very interesting.

closer to the trade deadline. No question. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. By the way, tomorrow, Joy, I don't know if I've told you this. There's been eight playoff games. We're eight for eight. This is my first time hearing that.

So tomorrow, America's Media icon, that would be me, is going to make two more picks. And it's a blazing five, but it'll be the Blazing Two. And I will tell you this. I'm thinking of calling one by lock of the year. That's aggressive. Well, you do say aggressive wins now. Hey, well, you're defending weather guys who are like, you're going to die.

It's ball me out. They're aggressive. I'm going to go from now on. The new me, more aggressive on picks. You've also said you don't like picking playoff games. Hate it, but that's the old me. The new me calls for an Arctic blast on Monday. New Year, new me.

And Tuesday, it'd be like 40. It's not going to be 40. It's going to be a low of six degrees. I'm still extremely cold. Okay. From now on, this show is aggressive. I think we're already there. But sure, let's push with the extra inch.

I think we need it. All right, Chris Broussard will tell us why Kyrie should join LeBron in Los Angeles. Ooh. That's coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Interesting moment. Chris Broussard joining me. New York Times.

Our basketball guru, very, very well connected. I went to the Jazz Clippers last night. Jazz are interesting. Clippers are guys. They need Kauai Leonard. Guys fit well around a superstar. Yeah. They don't have one.

So Kyrie Irving comes out yesterday and apologizes to LeBron, calls him on the phone and says, you know, I didn't really understand what being a leader is. And kind of a Mia Copa. What do you make of it? What does it mean? A few things. One, what people are missing is that this was also a message.

of Kai Rhee's teammates in Boston. Like the young guys like, hey, I was where you're at. I get where you're coming from, but listen to me. You know, that's what he's, he's trying to get them to listen because he faces a challenge that LeBron does not face as a leader. LeBron obviously has won championship, so as Kyrie, but when LeBron leaves a team, they plummet. Yeah.

Okay. Cleveland was no good before him. They didn't win games when he was there when he didn't play, and once he left, they plummeted. the players in the Boston locker room got to be thinking when Kyrie says all this stuff, dude, we were one game from the finals without you. Thank you. We know you're the best individual player here.

There's no question about that. But as a team, we might be better without you. That's what he's fighting. Terry Rozier was playing better and Jalen Brown was playing better. Jason Tatum was playing better. No, these are not opinions. facts. Jason Tatum was better without Kyrie. No question. The ball was

moving more. So that's the first thing. The second thing is this is just would Kyrie go back to play with LeBron? He's a free agent. Would he go to the Lakers? Well, I think intellectually they're both

kind of quick, smart guys. Like I think LeBron will play with, I mean, who does LeBron like? Kevin Love, D. Wade. He liked He loved playing with Kyrie. He has major respect for Kyrie's game. Oh, you should.

Cairo's great. LeBron, to me, gets frustrated when guys aren't basketball savants. Mario Chalmers wore him out. J.R. Smith wore him out. Kyrie, the intellectual part of Kyrie, you're a smart kid. I mean, the earth is flat thing, you know, notwithstanding. But by and large, Kyrie and

LeBron, I always thought, worked. They did work. And Kyrie is recognizing that now. Here's what Kyrie has to ask himself. could determine whether he would want to go back to play with LeBron or not. Do I want the responsibility of being the team leader?

Because in Cleveland, Kyrie could just ball. He would go to practice. Yeah, he would go to practice. Now, you know, him and LeBron never had a blow up. He helped LeBron with his handle. They did ball handling drills together. LeBron was hurt when he left.

Right. Yeah, he was. And Kyrie would be at LeBron's house. LeBron would teach him about business and stuff like that. Now, Kyrie's trying to start a media company. So they had a good relations or a solid relationship. But Kyrie was the type, I go to the gym, I get my practice in, I do my stuff, and then I'm out. LeBron as the leader was the one who dealt with the egos in the locker room, bringing everybody together, making sure we're on the same page.

All that comes with a leader. Kyrie now has to deal with that. And I'm not sure he loves it. No, because he said everybody's not cut out for this. He didn't say I'm not or I am. So we don't know we could inferto from his comment that he might have been saying I'm not cut out for it. For him to do that type of Mia Coppa and admit I called LeBron,

maybe he's saying, look, man, I just want to ball. And there's no shame in that. By the way, I said this. Scotty Pippen was allowed to just ball. Right. Michael left. Scotty had to stick around for an hour and answer questions. Scotty didn't like it. Great point.

And then I covered him. He went to Houston. He didn't get along with Barclay. He went to Portland. I covered him. He didn't like it. Scotty liked balling. That's a great point.

And look, if Kai Reese is thinking in himself, no, I do want this responsibility. He'll either stay in Boston, go to New York or Brooklyn, is what I'm thinking. If he decides, I just want to ball. And win titles. And win titles, then he could look at joining LeBron with the Lakers. I think it would be great. And I think they could win titles. And Kyrie has to understand, too, even though Duane Wade won the championship before LeBron,

his legacy was enhanced by those four years and two titles they won in Miami. You mentioned Pippen. His legacy was enhanced by winning with Jordan. Kyrie can be, he's going to be probably a Hall of Famer if he stays healthy anyway. but if he becomes a part of this iconic duo, LeBron and Kyrie, they win another championship for the Lakers or two, that's going to enhance his career much more

than just being the number one guy, a perennial all-star, on a team that was always close, but never quite wanted. So I hear you don't like my theory, and you love football and played it, and basketball. I have a theory. Is that the football culture in America

is about taking young men. Football's always been more, I depend on you, you depend on me. Even the best player Tom Brady is like, if you don't block, I get crushed. It's always been a very unified us. Offenses choreography. One of us moves an inch.

It's a penalty. It's more of a we than a me. And then you go to college and they redshirt you. You will not play. And you will spend four years in college. And then NFL players get married sooner than NBA guys.

Statistically, you have to be a leader of your family. Yep. NFL's never had a leadership void. Players are older. They go through college for four and five years. Basketball's culture in America used to be more like that. Michael Jordan went three years. Larry Bird went to college multiple years.

Ewing did. Duncan did. The current basketball culture in America is it skips a vital step. Spot the talent in high school and let's get him paid in the pros. And all of us grow up in college. you did I did oh now you got to shop for your own groceries and pay your own rent and you make a lot of mistakes in college because I didn't my mom did my wash mom did the shopping and I think basketball culture karee duke I'm out LeBron I'm out what kairi is is what the league has become unbelievable gifted players

not a ton of leaders I think basketball's got a leadership void I certainly agree with your point on college and how you mature and grow as a college person. No question about it. However, it's not that black and white. Alan Iverson stayed at Georgetown under John Thompson, no less, a great leader of men. And we saw how he was in the NBA. Great player, but not a leader. Didn't want to practice.

Didn't want to show up on time. And LeBron didn't go to college. And he is a great leader. And Kevin Garnett didn't go to college. I would argue, a lot of people might argue against it, for all his faults or whatever, But Kobe Bryant, you got to say he was a good leader. I mean, look, he led a team to two championships. Look, Michael Jordan.

Was a good leader. Kobe led a lot like Mike, though. Mike was like, get on board. He was, you know, he didn't have much, you know, he didn't fancy people's shortcomings. Look, I'm so, get on board. I'm going to lead you. We're going to win my way.

That's what Kobe did. It only works if you win. If you don't win, you're a jerk. Michael was on that plane every night playing cards. with the boys. Okay. There's a difference there. That's the difference in personality.

Yeah. Kobe was up in his hotel room. Yeah. I'll give you that. Now, a lot of that was he grew up outside of American culture, especially black American culture. So you don't, you don't think my, my, my, there are exceptions. Yeah, I think there's a lot of exceptions, though. Barclay was in college, through people through windows, spin off fans.

I'm just saying. I'm, I'm, I'm saying, though, I do feel like in the NBA, we are, we want to get these kids, we spot the talent, let's get them paid. And I think you're skiming. a step, a three-year, four-year window of, hey, man, make your own bed, wash your own clothes, play and assist. Michael Jordan, you know the old joke, the only guy to keep Michael under 20 points was Dean Smith. You learned to sacrifice in college.

You're doing your own laundry. You're playing with other stars. It's almost like hazing your first year as a freshman, Michael, you sit down. Right. You learned, to me, college was a grown-up stage. Football, everybody goes to college, minimum three years, most four, some five. I'll say that I don't think it would be. fair if you went back to the old way where guys basically stayed three years in college.

But I do think it would be better for the game of basketball. Oh, I do too. Now, again, I don't think it would be fair. Right. But it would be better for the game of basketball. The game of basketball has never been more skilled. Right. And guys have never made more money.

And I love, you know, I'm for that. You and I are both big player mobility guys. But I do think the basketball culture is a little broken in America where college is seen as just a avoid it. And you cannot tell me there's not a very, value of being on a college campus, a diverse campus, going to class, learning from a coach, being in a system, being the youngest guy in a team. Right.

I like that too. But you know what? I think instead of going that route, I think the basketball is going to head more toward the European route. They are. Because Luca Donchick, yes. Look, he reminds me a Larry Bird. Yeah.

I'm just throwing that out there. All right. That's not the worst thing to throw out there. All right. He was good. Chris Brousard. Greg Jennings final hour. Number three.

Next. One more herd? The herd streams 24. hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hour three, here we go. Live in Los Angeles. This is The Heard, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

We are live. An IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. I'm supposed to stop raining today, Joy Taylor. In two hours, it's going to stop raining. I don't believe that. I'm not joking with people. LA, you know, California had a five-year drought where you turn your shower on, you hope water came out. Like, there was no water for six years.

It has been pouring for six great days. We sound like snobby, ungrateful elitist. But this is what we live. So this is what we talk about. And in California, like you said, it never rains. So it has been... pouring. It's been insanity.

No one can drive. If you drive the speed limit, your tires will melt or something. I don't know what happens. People do not know how to drive here in the rain. No, and the mountains are getting hit. It's great for the snow communities and it's great for California. It is a good thing. It's a great thing.

And we're not in an Arctic blast. So we're grateful for that also. Yeah, thank God. And nobody is apparently. Although the world was Monday and now nobody is. By the way, the rest of the country is going to get the weather we're getting. It'll just be way colder. We're just getting warm rain, but it's been pouring here.

I've been in L.A. for three years. I've never seen anything like it. It's just pouring. It's like we live in Seattle here for six straight days. All right. Coming up in 15 minutes, Super Bowl champ, Greg Jennings. he's going to be great because we're going to talk about what's it like to play in the dome with the noise,

big disadvantage to the Rams, and what's it like to play in Kansas City with the cold? He played in Green Bay. Also, later and best for last, there's this thing called, Joy, explain this, called the 10-year challenge. And it's a big thing going on in the internet, 10-year challenge.

Yeah, I have not participated. Okay, either of I, but basically you go back 10 years and you compare things to 10. It's kind of fun. It's kind of fun. We're going to do something in Best for Last. Things that would have been hot takes 10 years ago that have all come to,

true that if we had said them 10 years ago, you would have just mocked us. It's remarkable what they are. I like that. But first, the L.A. Lakers released kind of a pedestrian casual press release yesterday on LeBron's health. You know, it was just your casual, you know, he's day-to-day, blah, blah, blah. And Rich Paul, part of LeBron's camp, reacted strongly and emotionally. Rich Paul came out and said this about LeBron's status, reacting to the

press release. We don't give a blank what nobody thinks. We're going to do what's best for him. When he feels his best, he'll play. We're not on nobody else's timeline. Look, LeBron's in his 16th year. He doesn't know nothing to nobody. When he's ready to be back, he'll be back. It's as simple as that. Whoa! Folks, to six-week injury, I was told yesterday it's more serious than people are letting on. and LeBron is a guy that uses his own people and a team staff. Six-week injury. Already missed 11 games. We've never had this for LeBron.

He's the all-time NBA leader in minutes played, playoff minutes played. He's actually paid like three other full seasons in just like playoff games. He's like a baseball pitcher that goes to Game 7 in the World Series, seven, eight years in a row. He's not getting more dynamic. This is a real injury. Previously, the most games he'd missed in succession were eight,

and that was when he went down to D. Wade, and they worked out in Miami after he left and went to Cleveland, and it was almost precautionary. It wasn't a real injury. Word 11 games. It's probably going to get to 15. And, oh, by the way, every other star in this league has been hurt. Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Kauai Leonard, James Hardin, Westbrook,

Paul George, Joe L.M.B., everybody in this league gets hurt, except LeBron. And now LeBron's hurt. They're saying it's a three to six week injury. Folks, he didn't get touched by anybody. He slipped on the floor, hurt a pop. And here's the thing with LeBron. LeBron's great.

Argue he's the goat. But he's no longer the best two-way player in the league. Coisle-Lennard is. He's no longer the best closer at the rim. Yonis is. He's no longer the best score. James Hardin is. Durant, Steph Curry are.

He was number one in all of those five, six years ago. Let me just throw this out there. LeBron comes back in a week. Plays for a month and a half. It's late March. Andy hears another pop. Does Anthony Davis want to join him?

There's a new trend with LeBron. Oh, he's human too. And I think what this shows is that the LeBron Laker situation, there is not perfect harmony. Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson were emotionally and physically all in on the Lakers. Let's just say LeBron's at the bar having a cocktail hasn't gone into the restaurant yet. I was told when he first arrived he was reluctant to sign basketballs with the rest of the players. he uses his own training staff.

He still doesn't quite know if he's got a number two on this roster, nor does he know Uffieland Anthony Davis. When LeBron joins your team, and I understand this, he's always felt he and his camp, hey, we're doing you a favor. Deliver for us. It's why Dan Gilbert said at the end, I want my team back. It's why Pat Riley at the end said,

it's LeBron and everybody else. This thing is not in full harmony. And here's the problem. There's real tension with LeBron and the Lakers. Is Luke the guy? Do we have another guy? Do you keep Lonzo and Brandon Ingram? When Boogie Cousins comes back,

if he stays in Golden State, what's the point? But the scariest part in all of this, The scariest part is this entire empire of LeBron is built on his body. He's never been the most fluid score. He's not the best ball handler in the league. He's not the best shooter in the league. He's not the best rebounder in the league. He's the best body of all time.

It is the temple to the empire. and it's now hurt, untouched, slipping, hear a pop, six-week injury. Rich Paul's reaction speaks volumes. Little fear. Little fear. The temple, the body is like everybody else's. That was a massive overreaction, a middle double finger to a simple, common pedestrian press release.

There's real tension. This proves it. Let me shift to this. A couple of big football games, not sure if you've heard about them. Rams are at the Saints, Patriots at Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes a very good player. I don't know. I mean, MVP, I guess, a terrific player.

He said yesterday, and this is a very good player. not surprising because this happens all the time that the first time he faced New England, they kind of confused him. I mean, they do what they always do, and they come out with unscotted looks, stuff that they haven't shown in weeks, maybe in years, and they try to throw it on you and surprise you. And when you played teams of this caliber, you play teams with this much history of knowing how to win and capitalizing on people's mistakes. I mean, you can't come back and win games like that. And it was shown that game. And so for us, we have to learn from that, know that we can't make those mistakes.

We have to come out with our best effort from beginning of the game all the way through the end. And it's going to be a dog fight for the entire game if you want to try to come out with a win. I will pick this game tomorrow on the show. We are eight and no straight up in our eight playoff games. I just want to remind everybody and enjoy what I'm going to do is just simply, I'm just going to remind people of something that has happened this year. Okay. This is not an opinion.

I'm just going to remind you of what's happened. Patrick Mahomes' biggest games this year, against the Patriots lost two turnovers. Against the Rams lost, five turnovers. Chargers at Seahawks lost loss. And they did beat the Colts at home, by the way, a rebuilding team. And he didn't play brilliantly. I want to remind people in Tom Brady's five biggest games this year.

I'm not going to count the Bears win. Chiefs, Packers, Sunday night football, Vikings, Steelers, Chargers, they're four and one. Tom Brady had fewer turnovers in all five games than Patrick Mahomes had in one against the Rams. I'm just reminding you of facts. I am sorry if they collide with your feelings, but Kansas City is two and four this year against playoff teams. And New England is four and oh against playoff teams. I think it's an incredibly fair narrative. Sorry if it gets you all derailed in Kansas City. It's a very fair narrative to say Kansas City is mostly played well in big games, but really hasn't learned how to close.

It's also a very fair narrative to say, New England against playoff teams, still the best closers in the league. New England has not lost against a playoff team this year. New England stubbed their toe against bad teams who consider the Patriots a Super Bowl. The Jags, Tennessee, Detroit, Miami Dolphins. but when they play the good teams, they went four and out. And Brady was overwhelmingly brilliant. The one exceptional year, and I didn't count the Bears win in Chicago,

was the Pittsburgh game. And that was a game in which Josh Gordon, we later found out 48 hours later, had derailed, gone off course, and they cut him. And so they didn't really have anybody to throw to down the field late. You remember that. It was odd. We talked about it the next day.

Why didn't they look or throw to Josh Gordon? 36 hours later, he's off. the team. These are just facts. Biggest games this weekend. Kansas Cities played generally well, hasn't learned to close. New England still best closers in the league. By the way, I will pick the Patriots Chiefs game tomorrow in our second hour. I will pick the Rams at the Saints game tomorrow in our second hour. A gentle reminder, eight playoff games. We are eight and no. We set some sort of a television record. Gentle reminder. Just a subtle reminder in the history of cable television.

I don't think anybody's ever gone 10 and 0. Certainly nobody's gone 8 in 0. So we are breaking cable. And I picked all eight winners. What were you saying, Goulet? Well, I mean, you didn't, you know, against the spread. I'm 6'1 and 1. Still impressive.

That's a cable record. Why don't you go worry about a big Arctic blast? I'll do the facts on this show. You guys just make stuff up. All right. Greg Jetting's around the corner. He'll be great today because I want to ask him some questions about catching in the cold and playing in the Superdome. 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending,

opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch life becomes about wins and losses steve burns dustin ross because you find it important to be a

good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust i want you to just really be a good person join me keer gains is we have real conversations about healing growth fatherhood pressure and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys?

This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office. Blue with 42. Hey, Wreck. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

His IQ is out of love. level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He

running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. Try Vic Sinx Nasal Spray. Use his directed up to 12 hours. Be ready when congestion strikes. I thought a perfect guess for today is a guy that has not only played in the noisy Superdome where the Rams are going, but has played in the NFL's coldest city, Green Bay, in many big games, January games,

via the Coward Global Satellite Network, former Packer Greg Jennings, 10 years in the NFL, Super Bowl ring, multiple-time Pro Boulder. Let's start, let's start Kansas City New England, let's start cold weather. You played in a legendary game against the Giants. Tom Coughlin,

He looked like a plum. His face was purple. It was like minus 23 wind chill. What do you remember about it? It was cold and we lost. It's one of those deals where it is truly a mental game. In that moment, when you understand how cold it is, you go out to pregame. And that's where you have to mentally strengthen your mindset, your mindset.

You have to, like, it's almost a mental preparation going through pregame because if you're defeated in pregame, it's going to trickle over once the clock starts. And for us in that game, man, it was just a matter of being cold. We didn't get on the field and get into position and get into rhythm the way we had always done all season long as an offense. And when it's that cold outside, it is just hard to get a. rhythm going. You can't solely rely on the run game because we didn't have one that great. And we were a passing team. And when you're a passing team in the weather like that, all things have to be correct. You can't make those mistakes. You can't slip on those routes because the footing is going to be a little different. The ball is going to be harder. The wind, everything matters. Everything is going to

come into play this late in the season when the weather is projected to be the way it is going to be in Kansas City on the side. Now, Kansas City is more of a vertical passing team, even their tight end runs seam routes. Travis Kelsey, New England's more underneath stuff. Did you find in cold weather in your career in Green Bay, shorter routes were easier, longer routes were easier? I mean, does the weather affect your routes, how you play? Do you shorten stuff, extend stuff?

It does affect the way you play. You have to stay loose. stay warm. I think the misconception that fans probably get because of players on the sideline is that the heaters keep you warm. But in reality, yes, do they keep you warm? But they

do, but they hinder you because your muscles, you're almost giving yourself your body this false sense of reality that is that warm outside. So the moment you walk away from those heaters, you have to go run that long nine route or that corner route. Your legs

aren't really as warm as they are standing next to that heater. So you get muscle pulls, you get all these different things on those longer routes. That's why you're going to see a lot of intermediate routes. Damien Williams will be the X factor in this game. How well he's used. We saw him last week and what he was able to do

in his outing last week against the Colts. That's what they need. They need that production. They need him to come out of the backfield, catch the ball for Patrick Mahomes, and make guys miss and have a big day for them. Do you feel how much of an advantage is it for Brady's been in, you know, 15 games under 40? Now, it's not going to be brutally cold.

Let's get off the weather for a second. But when you were with Favrevin Rogers, you were in the playoffs. And you often played teams that it was, you know, not virgin territory. Sometimes it was, but it was foreign territory. How big of an edge, Homer away, is it to have played in multiple games like this? You did as a packer and faced teams that don't regularly plan games this big. Huge. When I look at the New England Patriots, they're not concerned about the weather. And so it's really no advantage to Kansas City where you look at the Colts, which is why I should have not picked the Coats last week. That's a whole other topic.

They went down in Houston. They were in a dome. They were in their environment, their natural habitat, if you will, as players. And so this is who the New England Patriots are. They are custom to playing outside in this type of weather just on the East Coast. So I like the Patriots in this game. I'm looking forward to seeing what Patrick Mahomes do, but I just think they're too close to fall apart the New England Patriots are. Let's shift to another factor in many big games. One of the advantages of Green Bay was a daunting home field edge where it was so loud. The Packer Faithful were quiet when you had the ball.

And then when the other team gets it, they make noise and steal your audible system. You've played in the Superdome. So what will Jared Goff be facing? What will Robert Woods be facing? What will Gurley be facing when you can't hear offensively? The same thing, honestly, that they faced all year on the road. They played down there this year already. So they know what they're walking into.

And if they think that it was a hostile environment when they went down there early in the regular season, it's going to be even louder and even more enthused fans and irate fans. and all that you can think of of hostility. And so they're going to have to be on point with their nonverbal communication. Jared Gough to his receivers, communicating with your offensive line, them reciprocating what they're checking to, the receivers talking to one another. They're going to have to really be on with their nonverbal communication. You know, the Rams are the healthier team.

Their offensive line hasn't missed a start. the Saints offensive line, Max Unger's excellent at center, is banged up. So, you know, you've gone into these playoff games before. The Rams are clearly the healthier team. You know, I mean, how much is the second best defensive tackle or your best guard? But did you find in your playoff career that health was a factor or overrated at this point? Overrated. Overrated at this point.

we won the Super Bowl with almost 10 key guys on IR. I mean, like five to 10 key guys on IR and then Charles Woodson went down, Donald Driver went down in the Super Bowl. So we knew what it was like to play with adversity with guys who had to step in and fill in at big levels. And so at this point in the season, you know who you are as a team. You know what you have and you know what you're without. It doesn't matter. It's not an excuse. No one cares. You don't even care. You're not even thinking about that anymore. So it's a matter of how well you execute the game plan. And can you win your one-on-one match-ups?

You said you lean New England in the second game of the day. The first game, Saints, Rams, do you have a feeling, a lean? You know, I honestly like the Rams. And here's why. When I look at the Rams, they went down there, they were without a key to leave. he's going to play a huge role in this game. When the Saints have lost outside, we can throw their week 17 game out and as well as week one. Let's just throw those two out. It was a slings fest. Everybody was throwing the ball across the field.

But against Dallas, one thing they did, they took away Michael Thomas and they limited, they limited his ability to impact the game. And I think when you add one of your playmakers in a secondary, like Akeem to leave, who is willing to face a guy like that head up. And you have a Marcus Peters who can then second that. I think that's an advantage for them. And then when you've lost to a team and you feel like you should have won, trust me, that flight back to L.A. was, man, we could have done this and we let this go. And we didn't do this.

And, man, we had that. So they feel like they had beaten this team, but the points didn't add up. The time ran out, if you will. So I like the Rams because of all those factors. Well, Rams, New England. You know, I was saying this yesterday, Greg. I've always been in favor of players in mobility. I like free agent mattering.

I don't think it's fair that the harder you work in college, you go to a team. Now, you are lucky. You got a good organization, but you go to a crappy team. and you're stuck with them. So one of the things I like about the NBA, it's a pro player league. The NFL has generally been a GM and a coach league. I'll throw this at you.

If I was a player, I would root for the Rams. Because for years and years, New England's been bad for the player. I mean, they don't pay anybody. Last year, the Eagles went big into free agency and won the Super Bowl. And this year, the Rams went big into free agency. I actually think if I was a player in this league,

I am pulling big for the Rams because you guys have always looked at NBA guys and think, how come marginal NBA guys get paid and stars here don't? That's my crazy, goofy theory that when I watch this game, I'm like, man, if I was a player, I think free agency, Greg's becoming bigger in the national football league. I really do. Colin, you're not wrong. I think a lot of players think that way already. It's been circling in the National Football League.

the New England Patriots for players are the worst thing that can happen. Because when they continue to win, they set the precedent of how owners and general managers are going to come up with their rosters and produce these players without having to pay them, excuse me. And so when you look at the Rams, they're creative, they're innovative, they're young, they're friends. Yeah, we just lost him. I think the point was made, though, by Greg Jennings. The mic just went out. Thank you, Greg. I am so, because I've moved my whole career.

You've moved, Joy. So, like, I can't sit here on the set and say, you know, it's about the system. Players shouldn't move. Players should get paid. Bottom line to me is, if the Rams win this weekend off the Eagles Super Bowl going big and free agency, it's going to create the best march in the history of the NFL. Is it everybody going to copy this thing? You have a bidding wars on free agent players.

By the way, I've said it before, NBA free agency, it may not be as good as the playoffs. It's way better than the regular season when you got Steph and Kauai and all these guys. No, it's incredible. It's incredible. To follow. But you and I and our whole life's joy, NFL free agency's been like one receiver will go. If the Rams win it, everybody's jumping on free agency in the NFL. Our march is going to be fantastic.

Well, you always talk about the mobility in the NBA, and that's really created the frenzy around NBA. free agency. That's right. And if the NFL can do, and that's why we talk about the NBA all year round because of free agency just carries you through the off season before you know it, we're back. And that's something that if the NFL could duplicate in any way. And it will be interesting to see if it's like that this year because there are a lot of interesting free agents. And the other thing, Joy, it's the one thing the NFL has never done well. Like they do the draft better than the NBA. They do the regular season better on the NBA. Their playoffs are better in the NBA. Their free agency is not nearly as good as the NBA. Because guys can't

move like that, especially marquee guys and quarterbacks. Can you imagine if you and I, just like the NBA in July, can you imagine if you and I for three weeks in March every year were like, oh my God, 28 guys move and there's bidding wars? I mean, I think that is fascinating. And I think the Rams, if you're a player, you are pro Rams. No, I think all players should be pro what the Rams are doing. Yes. People are already copying the Sean McVeigh style.

Well, they copy the Eagles last year. Yeah. Why did the Rams go all into it? Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Of those Rams, they played a Super Bowl in the Superdome in 2001.

They have a chance to go back to the Super Bowl if they get to win this weekend. But they know that it will be especially loud there. And Jared Goff talked about that. Whenever you're in a place like that and it is loud, you know, you obviously can't hear very well and have to use a lot of visual signals. and a lot of visual communication and just be on the screws just that much, that much more

because you can't really communicate the line of scrimmage. You can't get things changed much with the line of scrimmage. So in the huddle, just making sure everyone's on the screws and knows what they're doing. On the screws. Yeah. I do think that of all of the two home teams, I feel like

Kansas City has more of an advantage just because of the reputation of Arrowhead Stadium and the fans there and now it isn't going to be as cold as we thought. it would be. Yeah. So there is that. But New England is used to playing in cold weather. I think it's going to be wilder in New Orleans, but I just, I still think the Rams just,

they were really impressive. It is, it is interesting to watch. I've told you, of the two games, one, I think as good at bet as I've had in the playoffs, did I mention I made no straight out? Yes. The other one, I am literally struggling with it. I'm really good. I made my decision, but it is a really tough game to call, and I'll just say that.

I've made my decision, too. All right. But either way, all of these games are going to be, or all of these teams are going to be impressive. Yeah. Watch this weekend. All right. So you mentioned this a little bit earlier. Zion Williamson is a freshman, and his talent has sent him to the top of nearly every NBA draft projection.

Now, Scotty Pippen thinks that Zion should cut his Duke career a little short. On a recent episode of ESPN's The Jump, Pippin says, said he's locked up the biggest shoe deal. I think he's definitely going to be the number one pick. I think he's done enough for college basketball. That it's more about him personally. I would shut it down. I would stop playing because I feel he could risk a major injury that could really hurt

his career. Now, I get what he's trying to say here. And when it comes to football, I have a completely different opinion of it. I feel like Zion should finish the season. He should go through the tournament and play as much basketball as he can. He's at Duke. He's going to get great competition experience, leadership experience, like we were talking about earlier with Kyrie.

And this is what he's committed to do. And just because he's locked up the number one or number two spot in the NBA draft, does not mean that he doesn't need more reps. If you were going to cut back on wear and tear on your body, I wish these kids would play less AAU games because they play an incredible amount of AAU games. With crappy coaches. And by the time they get to the league, their knees are shot.

So it's not about college basketball. That's where I would like to see them play. If they have to play for a year, play for the year. Get the experience, work with a great coach, work on your team skills, all of that. Now, football, I have a completely different opinion about guys sitting out these meaningless, useless bowl games. Y'all have no problem with that. I don't care that you've committed your body to this school for four years. You have to be there.

You're not going to do anything but put bad film out there or possibly get hurt. And this bowl game doesn't matter. If it's a national championship game or the playoffs, cool. If not, I don't care. It's just so different basketball and football in this regard. Yeah, I mean, listen, if, you know, we've gotten to a point now where we're basically saying that college basketball has no redeemable qualities. And I'm sorry when I watch Duke in Kansas and Beheim. And I think kids need another year, not less time with these great coaches.

And I think college is a great time for all young people. I grew up in college. I'd never been by myself. I had to figure out, I almost flunked out. I had to figure out my schedule. I was lousy with time. I had to figure out the checkbook. I had to buy my own groceries.

I had to budget stuff. I grew up in college. And made a lot of mistakes before I had a roommate and was a professional worker. College to me is less about, we were talking about this earlier. It's not about the school to me. You don't really, at least for me, I didn't really learn anything, any skills that I'm here today at work. I got a degree in until I wait into my junior and a little bit of my senior year. it's about learning how to be an adult.

And deal with people, by the way. And everyone that you're with is learning at the same time. I've never had a roommate. It's the first time in your life you're likely around people from different places in the world. You had a roommate? Yeah. You know, my sister was older than me. I have a civilian brothers and sisters, so I've always had roommates.

But if you want to look at it like that. But I do agree with you. There are things that you learn in college that you just can't replace. Finally, talking about Kyrie, he led the Celtics to a win over the Raptors last night. And he had a big reveal post-game unprompted. Kyrie said that he called LeBron to apologize about the leadership issues. Should. Should apologize.

I apologize for being that young player that wanted to everything at his fingertips. And I wanted everything to be at my threshold. I wanted to be the guy that led us to championship. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that. And the responsibility of being the best player in the world and leading a team is something that's not meant for many people. And Brown was one of those guys that came to Cleveland. and tried to really show us what it's like to win a championship.

And it was hard for him. And sometimes getting the most out of the group, it's not the easiest thing in the world. Still, it's not a little shot at the group at the end of there. But I do understand what he's saying. Sounds like he regrets leaving LeBron. Maybe. Or maybe he's, you know, we're talking about college and growing up. Sometimes you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone.

No kidding. And maybe it's not just playing with LeBron. Maybe it's the expectation. are on Kyrie now. He may very well be happy that he has his own team and he's the star, but he didn't realize coming with that is when you guys are losing. It's your fault. Even if it's not your fault, it's still your fault. And the media comes and asks you and you have to be available. And you're the champions. So you're the ones supposed to be teaching all these guys how to be champions. Leadership is hard. And the way to do it is not necessarily going out

and telling the entire world that they're not listening to you. But very good. Good to see. I think the world should apologize to LeBron. Paul George should right now be apologizing for not coming here. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Coming up, we're going to do our own special version of the 10-year challenge.

Things that we would have said 10 years ago that would have been called Hot Takes, and they all came true. It's a fairly remarkable list. 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. Car shopping's confusing. A lot of terms, dealer price, list price, invoice. Here's what's not. Go to truecar.com. Save three grand off MSRP. One of the reasons I don't like the term hot take is because sports delivers the amazing.

Sports delivers the unpredictable. Things happen in sports that would be ridiculous to predict. And yet, over time, they happen. Very rarely in sports, is it predictable? And so these days, everybody's afraid to have a strong opinion because social media will branded a hot take. Well, right now, social media is having something called the 10-year challenge. You go back to 2009 and you show pictures and you compare them to yourself and compare yourself to now, 2019.

And I thought it would be interesting to go back 10 years to look at things we could have said what happened in sports and how absolutely absurd. absurd. It would have sounded 10 years ago, and they all came true. So let's actually go back in time. It's time to look back at the year 2009 to see how much has changed, how different people looked, and whatever was going on with Goulet in this photo. Get ready for the herd special version of the 10-year challenge. Okay, a hot take, 2009. This would have been a hot take. The Patriot. It's dynasty. I know Brady's hurt.

It's going to last another 10 years, and he's still going to be an MVP at 40. That's exactly what happened. Tom Brady was an MVP at 40. In 2009, he was coming off an injury. Peyton Manning was in his prime, just turning the corner to the back nine, and the dynasty would last double the length of the longest dynasty Steelers in NFL history. 10 years ago. How about this one? Tony Romo will only appear in a Super Bowl as an announcer. What if I would have said that in 2009? He was only a third year starter for the Cowboys.

Well, I would have believed you. But by the way, he is now younger than Brady and Breeze, who are playing this weekend. Only in his third year as a starter, had just won a playoff game. I come on the air and say, he will, 10 years from now, be doing the Super Bowl as an announcer. He won't even be playing. Well, that's actually true. It gets better. The NFL's best future coach is a 22-year-old assistant in Tampa. His name is Sean McVeigh.

He'll go on to coach the Florida Tuscars of the United Football League. That's something, huh? He will go on. He was the youngest assistant in the league. He will go on to be the most duplicated, copied coach in the national football. Ball League from the Florida Tustkers. How about this one? This is why I got to be careful about saying it's a hot take.

Sports delivers the insane. In 2009, I said, Davidson Jr. shooting guard, Steph Curry will revolutionize the NBA. In 2009, he missed the tournament. He couldn't make the tournament.

He has since gone on to win the first unanimous MVP's three NBA titles currently has set the record for the most threes in a season three separate times. Ten years ago, you'd be laughed off sports radio for saying that little guy that just missed the tournament will revolutionize professional basketball forever. How about this? if I said 10 years ago, centers in the NBA will become mostly irrelevant. 2009, Dwight Howard was an MVP candidate and led the Orlando Magic to the NBA finals. He has now been on five teams and never reached the finals again. Even the NBA franchise, the Lakers, known as the final landing spot for most of the great centers, had him, and in the end weren't that truly interested, nor was he interested.

interested in the Lakers. How about this one? 10 years ago. 10 year challenge. If I'd have said, hey, LeBron's going to be a Laker. What? That would have been an incredible hot take.

In 2009, the biggest rivalry in the NBA was LeBron against Kobe in the Lakers. The Lakers won the title that year. Certainly didn't appear to need LeBron. LeBron is now in his fourth team. That in itself would have been a crazy hot take. If I'd have said he leaves Cleveland and comes back. How about this one?

2009, 10-year challenge. Be careful about saying hot take. If I'd have said 2009, hey, Tiger Woods never win another major. What? In 2009, Tiger Woods had won 14 majors and was on pace to shatter Jack Nicholas's record of 18. Woods has won a major. I think, what is it, won since winning the U.S. Open in 2000. 2008. Tiger had been the world's number one-ranked golfer since June of 2005 to 2009.

He was the most dominant golfer on the planet. There was no second place. Mickelson was seen as a large Grand Canyon gap behind him. 2009. Tiger will never win another major. How about this? If I'd have said this 10 years ago. Now think about this. The Chicago Cubs will become one of baseball's best franchises. They had a horrible facility. In 2009, they'd got 101 years without winning a World Series. They have now, over the last four years, amassed 387 wins. That is the most in Major League Baseball.

But how about the craziest thing if I'd have said this 10 years ago? Clemson will blow out Alabama to win the college football players. off and get served McDonald's by President Donald Trump. Oh, man. That would have been the craziest hot take of all time. And that's exactly what happened. Not only is it a surprise that Clemson now was the dominant force because Clemson at that time in 2009 hadn't won double-digit games in 2009. 19 years.

So Clemson is not only the crazy story. the guy in the White House kind of a crazy story. Yeah, that picture will be in history books. Our grandchildren will see that picture. But it is interesting. Whenever anybody says hot take, I always say, time out. Sports, the truly bizarre happens. A junior at Davidson who can't make the tournament changes the world.

Tiger falls off a cliff. Donald Trump becomes president and serves Clemson McDonald's. LeBron becomes a Laker. I mean, the Cubs become, along with the Red Sox. you know, arguably the best analytic team in baseball. I think maybe the NBA centers and Tom Brady are the most bizarre. I mean, obviously, like, no one other than Steph Curry could have predicted what Steph Curry is done. In our lifetime, Joy, dynasties in the NFL lasted about six years.

I mean, the Steelers were about seven. You got about six years of this stuff. Then players fell apart. Players couldn't play forever. Oh, yeah, no. I mean, you can do so much more now with nutrition. It's incredible. But 2009, they'd already been to the Super Bowl three times.

Brady just got hurt. And 10 years from now, they'll win their division every year for a decade. You'd be like, well, nobody can last that long. Brady's thrown a touchdown pass to 74 different people. Like, it's insane to even think what they're doing. So I always blanch it hot take. I love sportscasters who not only report on just what happened, but are not afraid to go out and say,

I think this is going to happen. Social media shames you and mocks you for doing that. The guys that I listen to or the gals I listen to on sports talk radio and sports radio are not just reporting what did happen. They're projecting what they think will happen. That's what I think sports is what's great about sports. It delivers the wildly unpredictable. Tomorrow, Peter King, tomorrow are Blazing Five. Blazing Five, we make our picks in Peter King tomorrow.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment,

and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clifford Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers.

show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis' keep coming to him. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.