The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Le'Veon Bell, Browns, QB rules, and why offense matters

Episode Date: September 17, 2018

Colin explains why yesterday was a bad day for Pittsburgh Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell, why the Cleveland Browns should be happy, the rules protecting quarterbacks, and why offense is so important in the ...NFL. Guests include David Carr, Greg Jennings, and Trent Dilfer. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:02:40 Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me on the show today. Good morning. We'll announce bigger news with Joy coming up soon.
Starting point is 00:03:03 Don't want to give away too much early in the show. She had a great weekend. We had a great weekend. It was a great NFL Sunday. It was very exciting. Not so much for the kickers, but everyone else on the field. Yeah, and we had to suffer through watching the Giants on TV again. Let me start with this.
Starting point is 00:03:18 Is that yesterday was a really, really, really, really bad day for one player in the NFL, and he didn't play Levian Bell. Because yesterday, Blake Bortles, who was sort of a, you know, marginal NFL quarterback, did not have Leonard Farrul. Fernette, his star running back. And Blake Bortles dominated the current NFL dynasty, the New England Patriots. Dominated. In fact, Blake Bortles on third down, ooh, when you really need that running back,
Starting point is 00:03:51 Leonard Furnett didn't even dress, wasn't in the game. And Jacksonville's offense, I don't think I've ever seen Blake Bortles, especially on third down, be that effective. By the way, Atlanta did not have Devante Freeman, and they dropped 31 points on the best front seven, arguably in the NFL, the Carolina Panthers. Tampa Bay doesn't have a running back that's combined in two games for 100 yards. They've scored 48 and 37 points. The Steelers scored 37 without Levian Bell. Arizona's got David Johnson.
Starting point is 00:04:28 He's amazing. David Johnson's amazing. Arizona can't pick up first downs. If you're Lavian Bell, if you're an actor, and you're like, I'm not going to work. I want a new contract. And they released the movie anyway, and it gets a 98 on Rotten Tomatoes and sells out theaters. Good luck in your contract negotiations. They don't need you.
Starting point is 00:04:48 Go back to the deodorant commercials because they don't need you. The New York Giants, number two picks, Akewan Barclay. Oh, you got a bunch of catches, bunch of runs. Exciting. They can't score. They can't score. Aaron Rogers has no running game whatsoever. and just dropped 29 against the number one defense in the NFL.
Starting point is 00:05:07 Lavian Bell, that was a bad day for you. Blake Bortles has never looked that good. He was really good on third down. And New England's defense this year is good enough to win a Super Bowl. Not saying they will, but it's better than last year. The Jags had T.J. Yelden, he was fine. He's not Leonard Fernette, but he was fine. If you look at the five leading rushers, you're not going to believe this currently in the NFL.
Starting point is 00:05:31 Let's put this list up. Matt Berita, San Francisco, undrafted. Joe Mixen now hurt. Philip Lindsay, undrafted. Lamar Miller, his team is O. and 2. James Connor is a career backup. You're demanding a long-term contract?
Starting point is 00:05:52 I mean, I was thinking about this this morning. When is the last, and I don't even, I was just, I was walking to the set this morning. When is the last time that a team, won a Super Bowl, and it felt like they were sort of led by the running back. Denver, Terrell Davis, what is that? 30 years ago? Denver's got through nine quarterbacks then.
Starting point is 00:06:14 And by the way, that Denver team had a defense and John Elway. That was the last time I really felt like a running back was leading a team to the Super Bowl. Because John Elway, for years and years and years and years, 15 years couldn't win a Super Bowl, would go to the Super Bowl and get blown out because it was like Aaron Rogers. It was too reliant on John. John Elway. They got him a running back, Terrell Davis, and for a couple of years, they were just knocking people out.
Starting point is 00:06:38 But you're sitting there, Lavian Bell yesterday, and I know you want to go and do emojis. And I like Labian Bell. He's a good kid, and he's a good back. I think he could really help certain teams in this league, especially teams with young quarterbacks and bad offensive lines like the New York Jets. They can help them. He could help Buffalo that doesn't have a quarterback, and they're rebuilding their offensive line. You put them on a Pittsburgh team.
Starting point is 00:07:01 with Big Ben, with Antonio Brown, with Jujuice Schuster, with a veteran coaching staff, with two pro bowlers on the offensive line. That's a bad day for Lavian Bell. Because Jacksonville's offense and Blake Bortles have never, ever been that effective on third down late in the game, beating a quality team. At 15 years old, we all make choices. You choose running back over quarterback, running back over receiver, running back over cornerback, running back over pass rusher.
Starting point is 00:07:32 This is your reality. You don't mean as much. All right, let me shift to this. There were four games yesterday in the NFL that were just fun to watch. Kansas City, Pittsburgh. Steelers Chiefs was crazy. Firework show. Minnesota Green Bay couldn't turn it off.
Starting point is 00:07:52 New England, Jags, went down to the end, very entertaining. I thought Atlanta, Carolina, a lot of points, a lot of movement, a lot of stars, star quarterbacks. But the reason those eight teams and those four games were really, really, really good. Nobody was using a backup quarterback. So this morning, everybody's freaking out in Green Bay. They're overreacting to the penalty on Clay Matthews of the Packers on a hit on Kirk Cousins. Now, first of all, it was a bang, bang play.
Starting point is 00:08:19 And, of course, this was a penalty on Clay Matthews. I probably would not have called it myself. But it wasn't the hit. It was that, quote, he lifted and drove a quarterback into the ground, which is really arguable. But at Green Bay fans, I want to give you a heads up, you do realize the reason there's actually an emphasis on this in the NFL joy is because what happened to your quarterback last year, Aaron Rogers. That's why there is an over emphasis on this play call. Listen, the NBA, 30% of the NBA, and I'm being nice, is unwatchable, non-competitive. There's really only one team in the NFL that's unwatchable.
Starting point is 00:09:00 Buffalo. Why? They don't have a quarterback. NFL football last year, ratings went down. You can tell me a million reasons why Trump, Kaepernick, blah, blah, blah. I'll tell you one of the reasons why. We had too many good quarterbacks hurt. We had too many good quarterbacks in the NFL last year got hurt. And NFL football, even if everybody else in the field is really, really talented, is not that much fun to watch. New York Giants are a great example when your quarterback stinks. The New York Giants have players everywhere, except at one spot. where they're shot. There's only one team in the NFL right now that it's hard to watch. I mean, they're just, I mean, Arizona is losing, but Buffalo's unwatchable.
Starting point is 00:09:40 They can't get the quarterback right. And I'm just, there are certain things, there are certain things I'm okay in society if we're overly cautious. I would rather have overly protective parents opposed to parents who aren't paying attention. I'm okay with overly protective parents. I hear this crowd, let him hit, let them play. All right, then Aaron Rogers, you do realize it's still not 100%. If you just want to let him hit and let them play,
Starting point is 00:10:12 who's the best quarterback in the NFC North, Aaron Rogers? Who has the two best defensive fronts, Vikings Bears? You're right, Green Bay fans. Let's just let them play and let them hit and let them drive quarterbacks into the ground. Because I watched Aaron Rogers yesterday. He's not 100%. and you don't have a running game. And Aaron Rogers does not audible out of sacks.
Starting point is 00:10:33 And he runs around a lot. Tom Brady doesn't get hit. Aaron gets hit all the time yesterday, four or five times. Just taking shots. And you're complaining. Minnesota won 13 games with Case Keenham. The Bears will win seven or eight with Mitch Trubisky. You guys were the Browns last year when Aaron Rogers got hurt.
Starting point is 00:10:52 And you're complaining about that? It's like when people complain about they go to the airport. And they complain about, oh, your plane is late because they're fixing the plane. And people are like, I can't believe it. My flight is delayed. I can't believe my flight is delayed. And I'm like, yeah, they're getting parts so it doesn't drop out of the sky. That's literally the only time you shouldn't be annoyed that your flight is delayed.
Starting point is 00:11:18 You should literally walk up to people at an airport and go, what's wrong? We have to get some additional parts and check maintenance. Right. Thank you. Right. That are flying into horrific weather. Yes. Good looking out.
Starting point is 00:11:30 Yeah, we're going to change the flight plan a little to help you remain alive. I mean, when I hear Green Bay people complaining about the Clay Matthews hit, yes, it's bang, I wouldn't have called it, but there is an emphasis on this. Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner, about seven, eight years ago, he went to the commissioner, Roger Goodell and said, listen, man, our league is not near. is good when the quarterback play is bad. So one of the reasons, the current quarterback rating in the NFL this weekend was 105.1. Why?
Starting point is 00:12:08 Because we got a lot of starting quarterbacks that are upright. Do you know Aaron Rogers' career passer rating is lower than the average quarterback rating in the NFL yesterday? This league's all offense now. You can't win just with a defense. You can't. If you could win just with a defense, the New York Jets would be a viable team to win a Super Bowl.
Starting point is 00:12:29 They're not. They're going to be a 7 to 9 football team with a rookie quarterback throwing 19 picks. But of all the fan bases that shouldn't complain about that call, it's green bays. There's a reason there's an emphasis. Because of your guy getting hit by Minnesota. All right. In 45 minutes, we are low dead today. Greg Jennings, Trent Dilford, David Carr from the NFL Network brother is Derek Carr.
Starting point is 00:12:54 Had an excellent day yesterday for the Raiders. and John Gruden. Raiders weren't bad yesterday. Lost, but they were interesting. Coming up next. Baker Mayfield's coming. Coming around the bend. It's happening because Cleveland's freaking out. And I'm going to tell you why Cleveland. Take a deep breath. You're in a really good spot. All coming out. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Dollar Shave Club, amazing share shower, hair styling, oral care, shaving products,
Starting point is 00:13:35 dollarshaveclub.com slash Colin C-O-L-I-N. Big news. Breaking NFL news with Joy Taylor in a couple minutes. By the way, breaking news with Joy Taylor. This is amazing. Good people deserve to be happy in life. She is newly engaged this weekend. Let's hear it for Joy Taylor, everybody. She would show you her massive ring, but it would screw with our lighting system because of the glare You could skate on that thing. Take the floor. Congratulations. You deserve happiness in your life. Thank you, Colin.
Starting point is 00:14:07 I really appreciate it. It was an amazing weekend for you. It was. It was a very good Friday night. And I heard the whole story. Let's just say, your man is very thoughtful. He's very thoughtful. He claims he didn't plan any of it, that it was all spontaneous.
Starting point is 00:14:20 Well, the place he took you is amazing. My wife and I love it. And it's just an amazing story, so I could not be happier for you. Thank you. You got the football. season, you are an amazing place in your life, and that is awesome. And she will have really big, big, big, big news. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:36 Better news for football fans that don't care about me getting engaged. In about two minutes. I want to say this, though. I tell my kids this all the time, and I'm guilty of this too. I live in the moment, right? We all live in the moment. Social media has made it worse. You watch something on the phone, you're freaking out.
Starting point is 00:14:50 Whenever you're panicking, upset, nervous, anxious, just ask yourself in that moment, three weeks earlier, three hours earlier, three days earlier, would you be freaking out if I'd have told you this was your reality? Or in other words, sometimes we freak out, but if you look at where you are, it's exactly what you would have planned. Okay, I tell my son this, my daughter this all the time. My daughter calls me the other day, I'm bombing math at college. I've got an A and A and A and I'm bombing math.
Starting point is 00:15:26 And I said, three weeks ago, if I had told you as a freshman, you were getting an A and A and A and A minus, and you were struggling a bit in math, would you have freaked out? And they're like, no, I don't really like math. And I'm like, so you're exactly where you thought you'd be. Get a tutor. Let's work on it. But you're exactly where you're going to be.
Starting point is 00:15:43 And by the way, I do this all the time as well. If I would have told you with the Cleveland Browns, who were opening up with Big Ben and the Steelers and Drew Breeze and the Saints, you'd be 0-1-1, and if you had a kicker, you'd be 2-0. Would you have been satisfied? Hell, yeah. But this morning, you know what I'm hearing?
Starting point is 00:16:05 Baker-Mayfield, we got to get Baker-Mayfield. Do you realize Cleveland? You looked at your schedule. You put it down. All right, we'll be 0-2, then we face the Jets. You're 0-1-1. your defense is now 11th in the league. Because you've been so bad for so long,
Starting point is 00:16:24 you have a loaded defensive roster, and now you get to face a rookie quarterback, Sam Darnold, at home on a short week for a Jets offense that has a bad offensive line, is going to get mauled by the Browns. They have a horrible running back set and very mediocre, inconsistent wide receivers. Okay.
Starting point is 00:16:47 You're going to be one, one, and one. I don't put this in my blazing five because it's a Thursday game. It's the lock of the week. Take the Browns minus three. This is a real defense. You've got a real defense here. Tyrod Taylor's averaging 220 yards a game. That's what Tyrod Taylor is.
Starting point is 00:17:07 You're way above it. You put down in your little pocket schedule 0 and 2. And then you had yourself beating the Jets. You're going to be one-one and one. you're a kicker away by Thursday night at 10 o'clock of your time you're a kicker away from being 3 at 0 so you can't live in the moment tyron taylor's been exactly what you thought i don't even think you thought your defense was going to you lead the NFL and takeaways by the way if i'd have told you two weeks in you lead the NFL and takeaways you have made drew
Starting point is 00:17:39 breeze massively struggle in the dome and big ben have one of his worst games of his career And by the way, rookie quarterback and a short work that tends to be reckless and a little interception prone coming up next against a team that's loaded on defense Cleveland and a team that has virtually no elite personnel on offense, the Jets. You're in a great spot. This is why Hugh Jackson chooses Tyrod Taylor because Hugh looked at his defense and went, we can be in games. We just don't want to lose games.
Starting point is 00:18:14 We don't want to lose games. Yesterday you didn't lose that game. Your kicker lost that game. You played great. I mean, Cleveland had that game. Tyrod Taylor made an unbelievable throw in that football game to tie that puppy up. Baker-Mainfield's a good kid. You're not making that throw.
Starting point is 00:18:31 Not yet in the NFL. So if you're struggling, if you're panicking, if you have anxiety, your kids are freaking out, your mom's freaking out, you're freaking out. Just ask yourself, go back a couple days, a couple weeks. weeks, a couple months. Are you at a place that you would have been satisfied with? Remember, happiness is directly tied to expectations. Don't expect 10 and 6 or Tyrod Taylor to throw for 340 yards.
Starting point is 00:19:05 He's not doing it. That's not who he is. Expect low-scoring football games to be in them with this defense every week. Six and ten is realistic, maybe seven and nine, probably six and ten in your division, and expect Baker Mayfield to amp up, get ready, and take over about Thanksgiving. About Thanksgiving. That would be very realistic. That's what well-run football teams would do.
Starting point is 00:19:35 Joy with Breaking News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Big time breaking news. It's not as big as me getting engaged, but Carson Wentz is back. There we go. He has been medically cleared and will start Sunday.
Starting point is 00:19:49 Doug Peterson made an announcement this morning. This tweet is from Ian Rappaport. He said he is going to be prepared mentally. Now it's a matter of the physical part taking over. In my mind, he's cleared. He's cleared. No need to hold back. You know what?
Starting point is 00:20:05 I actually, when I watched him warm up two weeks ago, I don't think he's actually perfectly ready. but when you know you watch them yesterday and you watch them lose and the NFC is loaded and home field's a real thing and I would love to see him I don't honestly I don't think he's quite quite quite quite quite there but I do understand he's good enough and they got to get going you can't keep you got to get going in the NFC you've got to get going if he's medically cleared then he should be out there I mean it makes you a little nervous it feels a bit reactionary but I mean. Remember two weeks ago, though?
Starting point is 00:20:42 We watched them in warm-ups. We were both like, they didn't look quite ready to go. I mean, either way, he's coming back really fast. But if you're an Eagles fan, you're excited about this. I mean, it's a little scary considering what his injury was. And, you know, you don't want to overreact to the Buccaneers. Although, I don't know. Is that lightning in a bottle? We don't know yet.
Starting point is 00:21:01 I'm going to ask our next guest. We don't know yet. I don't know that. Well, Tampa, Cleveland's been so bad for years. They accumulated great draft picks. And now you watch the Cleveland defense and you're like, oh, there's the draft picks. You know, Tampa's been bad for years. They've accumulated some offense.
Starting point is 00:21:16 Well, now you're watching some of their draft picks. They've got some interesting skill people. Right. Well, congrats the Eagles fans. Wentz is back. So most people have probably thought about quitting their job halfway through the workday, except for us, of course. And you would imagine most NFL players.
Starting point is 00:21:30 Yeah. But yesterday, Bill's cornerback, Vante Davis, actually did that. During halftime when the bills trailed the Chargers, 28 to 6, he quit. So let's take listen to his stunned teammate Lorenzo Alexander. Never have seen it ever. Pop Warner, high school, college, pros, never heard of it, never seen it. And it's just completely disrespectful to his teammates. Did he say anything to you?
Starting point is 00:21:56 Did he say anybody day? They say nothing to nobody. He left? Yeah. You know as much as I know. I found out going in the second half of the game. Coming out, they said he's not coming out. He retired.
Starting point is 00:22:09 It's so bizarre. Davis eventually released a statement that said this isn't how I pictured retiring from the NFL. But today on the field, reality hit me fast and hard. I shouldn't be out there anymore. I meant no disrespect to my teammates and coaches while I was on the field. I just didn't feel right. This was an overwhelming decision, but I'm at peace. I just think you should stay dressed, be with your teammates.
Starting point is 00:22:31 I just think you should part of foot. You know, the NBA is different. We all know the NBA. If you have one or two great players, you can carry it to wins. football is a sport where you need help, you need protection. The most valuable player is a quarterback. If the left tackle quits in a play, his career's over. I just think football is one of those sports, that unity is really, really important.
Starting point is 00:22:52 That's a bad message. That's like, I'm a me guy, I'm out. You know what? Take your pads off. Ghost sit down on the sidelines and be with your boys. Or just leave your pads on and say that you don't want to go back in again. It seems very, I mean, it's obviously reactionary, but it's, so bizarre. I feel like there'll be a longer explanation for what actually happened,
Starting point is 00:23:13 but that's one way to snap and quit. That's for sure. Finally, yesterday was someday in the NFL for the kickers. They struggled a lot. So for the day, NFL kickers went 39 of 51 on field goal attempts and 62 of 69 on extra points. And the worst was, which you mentioned earlier, Zane Gonzalez, who in two games, a tie in a three-point loss has left 11 points on the field. for the Browns, who are now obviously, oh, and a tie, and a loss. I always have this theory about sports. The more you sit, the more a sport can get in your head.
Starting point is 00:23:49 Golfers have a lot of time to think and walk. So we've seen great golfers implode. Hunters, kickers, you're watching games. And if you miss a P.A.T., that thing festeres in your head. Like in hockey, basketball, quarterback. You know, if you don't have a short memory. Well, I mean, a quarterback can go. go for four and he's got three more passes. These kickers, what's happened by extending the PAT,
Starting point is 00:24:15 now guys are missing PATs. That gets into their head and kickers go to the sideline and sit there for an hour and a half and just think, God, I can't believe I did that. I'm going to pull it this time because I went, whereas they're running back off a fumble, dude, you're right back in the game. A defensive player gets lit up. You've got to be right next play. I think these kickers, the minute we made PATs harder and you start missing those, they're all a little bit of head cases to begin with. Now it's over the top. It is.
Starting point is 00:24:45 I mean, we knew that that was going to make it more difficult and less of an automatic thing. That's why they did it to make it more challenging. But, I mean, that's just got to be so frustrating, especially if you're the Browns. I think we're all kind of, you know, just waiting for them to just, okay, can you just, like, win a game already? And then it comes down to the kicker of all things. And it's no diss to kickers, but you got one job. Yet Minnesota, I feel like they're going to win plenty of games.
Starting point is 00:25:09 With Cleveland, every time you miss a kick, you feel like that's... So the Browns are working out, Blair Walsh and Cairo Santos. And also on the list of others is Dan Bailey, who declined a chance to work out for them because he's waiting for the right team. About as Dan Bailey, I'd rate for the right team, too. He's made a lot of money. He's very good. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news.
Starting point is 00:25:30 And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Former number one pick played 10 NFL seasons. Giants 49ers, Panthers and Texans. David Carr, an excellent analyst right now at the NFL Network, and yes, the older brother of Derek Carr. That needs to be noted as well.
Starting point is 00:25:46 By the way, can you explain something to me? You know, I was saying Cleveland's been bad for years, so they've accumulated really good defensive players. Okay, they got a bunch of top picks. And you watch Tampa, and in that division, they've kind of been a dormant, and I'm watching some of their players.
Starting point is 00:26:01 They've got a bunch of good players. That said, what do you make of Ryan Fitzpatrick? Patrick, Fitzmagic. What do you make of this? I first saw Ryan in Houston around 2005. All right. And he shows up on the field. We're up 21 to nothing in the first half, okay? And I'm like, who's this kid from, what is this, Ivy League school? Is that right?
Starting point is 00:26:19 Yeah, Harvard. Touchdowns all over the place, onside kick, and the Fitzmagic was real 13, 13, 14 years ago. So, I mean, the guy can play. And what happens is, as a quarterback, if you get older, if you're healthy enough, and you can survive as long as he's survived. Yes. There's nothing you haven't seen. You've seen every coverage.
Starting point is 00:26:37 You've had a bazillion reps at all these throws that he's making to these guys. Oh, by the way, just like you mentioned, crazy talent. They got a ton of talent. OJ. Howard, Deshaun Jackson, Mike Evans. These are big time players. And he's a guy that can get them the football. And he understands his job. He knows how to get it out with pace and accurate.
Starting point is 00:26:56 I mean, it's not a fluke. No, David, you're actually saying what Tom Brady told Jay Glazer a couple years ago. And Jay Glazer talked to Tom Brady at camp, and he goes, How long can you go? And he's like, listen, man, I've mastered it. That's it. You can't fool me anymore. That's exactly right.
Starting point is 00:27:11 So if I can keep my shoulders, right? I can stay healthy. If I can have enough avocado ice cream, I'm good. I'm going to be just fine. Okay, let's talk about, you know, the elephant in the room. I said, I worried, David, there are industries like the post office. I could leave for 10 years, come back. I'd be fine.
Starting point is 00:27:29 Yeah. If you leave Silicon Valley for two weeks, it's like. It's past you by. Okay. Yeah. NFL, the games don't even look on TV like they used to seven years ago. John Gruden was gone for a decade. I know he was close.
Starting point is 00:27:41 I know he did the TV stuff, but he wasn't in the room. Guys are more political now. Guys are more empowered. Quarterbacks, we got wide receivers now, like Brandon Cook's making a fortune. Right. Now, yesterday your brother had some very nice numbers, but you can't just be best friends with a quarterback. I worry about the room with John Gruden. Am I being hyperbolic, or is it fair?
Starting point is 00:28:04 No, it's a healthy fear. I mean, I think this is natural. You know, you've been away from the game for 10 years. Players are different now. I mean, it's not the same as it used to be. So I think that you have to treat him a little bit different. I mean, his relationship with Derek is great. I think they've gotten along great ever since they came in. They've been working hard together. They show up in the morning. They have breakfast. They're all fine. Derek played well yesterday. So, and they're going to continue to improve on offense. They're going to get better and better. Amari Cooper targeted 10 times, had 10 catches. I mean, that's good stuff. I haven't seen Amari do that in a while. So on the defensive side of the ball, though, that's the concerning part. I think that's something. thing that's just not going to go away. You traded away, arguably your best player. You know, one of the best players in the league and the last two games, trying to close out games, or especially in this last game, there's no pass rush. No, no, no. I'm watching yesterday and I'm like, oh, God, did they need a pass rush? Yeah, it made it hard. And Arden Key is gas, Bruce is gassed. You need some depth. You got to rotate guys, whatever you got to do. But if you watch those last couple pass rushes, and those guys were playing, they're playing their heart out. They're trying to get to case, but they just didn't have anything left. So you've got to find
Starting point is 00:29:01 ways and Paul Gunther has done a good job. And I think that honestly, I think, I think their defense is going to be better this year. Yeah. You know, I think they're going to have more turnovers. I think they might even have, they might even have more sacks just based on pressure, but it's not going to be a one-man show like Khalil used to be. They're going to have to do it with multiple guys and you can't get gassed and run out of the tank. David Carr, the older brother of Derek Carr, NFL Network number one pick,
Starting point is 00:29:22 decade in the league. You're talking about quarterbacks and safety. And, you know, I'm a believer. This league is much better with starting quarterbacks. Carson Wentz. That's nothing against Nicky Fools. It's fine. Carson is a spectacular, kind of a generational talent.
Starting point is 00:29:37 MVP candidate last year. Andrew Locke, there's a handful of these guys, Aaron, we all know who they are. So in Clay Matthews, I would not have called this roughing the passer. But I do get airlines putting an emphasis and being overly cautious on safety. I'm with you. And I do get why this was called. I'm with you on all of that. I think that when you look at it, no one wants to watch.
Starting point is 00:30:00 I was a backup quarterback for several years in my career. No one wants to watch the backup quarterback play. They want to see Aaron Rogers. They want to see Tom Brady. That same play is how Aaron Rogers was knocked out of the game by Anthony Barr. It's the putting your body weight. And I like that call, actually. Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:30:16 But the hard part is, what is Clay supposed to do? That's where I, and I'm a quarterback, and I'm all for them calling these penalties and keeping the quarterback safe and for these guys playing into their 40s. But at the same time, I don't know what Clay Matthews was supposed to do, because if you do that and you don't wrap up, if you just hit a quarterback like Ben Rothesberger or Russell Wilson or any of these guys, Carson Wins can spin out of plays.
Starting point is 00:30:37 If you start allowing these guys to just kind of be bumped and knocked over, they're going to break tackles. It's going to ruin that part of the game. It's going to be really difficult. Yeah, and again, this is one I don't love because I really do feel like because it's an arm tackle, and you know, Kirk's about 6'4 and about 2.25. Yeah, he's not a little guy. Yeah, Kirk's about your side.
Starting point is 00:30:56 He's a big guy. I kind of felt like this with the arm. I'm going to let you drive a little. And by the way, his helmet's kind of away from the player. It is. But when you watch it, I mean, what else? When he's about to go down, do you, yeah, do you let go? Even then you're going to land on him?
Starting point is 00:31:13 I just don't know physically. You heard Harrison Smith say this a couple weeks ago, and he was at the podium talking about something similar to this. It was more down-the-field contact. But he said, we're all for safety. We don't want to take anyone out of the game. We want to play clean, hit guys hard, but it has to be physically possible. And that's what he said.
Starting point is 00:31:29 And he was really, you could tell he was racking his brain trying to think, how can we make this safe, but at the same time still allow us to play football? Because that's what you don't want to take away. You don't want to turn into flag football. No one wants that. You don't. Okay, so Patrick Mahomes. I know Andy Reid.
Starting point is 00:31:43 I love Annie Reid. He's a great play designer. And there's not Sean McVeigh. I mean, listen, I know guys like you listen to guys like me, if you ever do, and you think, yeah, cowards is chalking. But even I can watch the Rams and go. That's a good play designer. You guys know.
Starting point is 00:31:57 Yeah, absolutely. Everybody knows. You can see good play design. Okay. Sean Payton, you're like, oh, that's clever. You see it a lot in the red zone. Absolutely. With McVeigh, you're like, creativity stands out.
Starting point is 00:32:05 Andy Reed is a really good play designer. So how much is that Tyree Kill and Patrick Mahomes? Now, so when you watch Patrick Mahomes, people are freaking out. It's a fireworks show. Sure. What do you see? I see. So first of all, with Andy Reid, so when he made the decision to let Alex Smith go, walk,
Starting point is 00:32:24 just walk for a guy that hasn't played, you thought to yourself, man, this guy, is he crazy? But then I tend to lean towards, I'm trusting the guy that's making this decision. That's his livelihood. It's not my livelihood. It's your livelihood. You're letting Alex Smith walk.
Starting point is 00:32:36 A guy that's Pro Bowl quarterback, got you the playoffs. He said Alex Smith was perfect for his system. I wish I had Alex my entire career. He'd be a Hall of Fame player. He said all that. He let him go. He let him walk for this guy, for Patrick. When I saw Patrick the first time on film,
Starting point is 00:32:50 I'm on the way out to the combine to see him, I said, where has this guy been? Am I a bad college football fan because I didn't watch this kid play enough? And then he goes out there. and live and in person, the ball jumps off his hand. And then when I see him in Andy Reid's system, Andy has done a great job. The only thing that I was concerned about watching Patrick in college was that he makes a lot of plays that are just kind of like gunslinger, falling backwards, big throws.
Starting point is 00:33:11 A lot of this stuff, like he sometimes, you know, Chris Carter, the great football player said it's almost biblical. When you have a gift, you want to use it. If you're a great singer, you're singing the car, you'll sing in the shower. Oh, no doubt everywhere. Mahomes has so much faith in his arm. Yeah. He can kind of just slink. Yeah, he does. But he makes great throws.
Starting point is 00:33:30 And I think the magic of what Andy Reid has done is not necessarily just his scheme, which is great. But how he's able to rein him in to where just get the ball. And you even hear Patrick talk, I just got to get the ball to my playmakers. Like to tell a guy that's been a wild stallion out in the prairie, just running free, all you got to do is get it to your playmakers. Just be calm. So he's got the right mindset. He's doing a fantastic job of coaching this kid.
Starting point is 00:33:54 And then the thing about guys with big arms like that, they can get in trouble. but they also don't hesitate. Like his arm strength becomes even more amplified because guys with mediocre arm strength is going to be like, I don't know, I'm going to hesitate a second. He's a go for it guy. He's just, I see it, I'm ripping it, and it's coming out at 70 miles an hour, and it's on the money, and then
Starting point is 00:34:12 you have 10 touchdown passes in two weeks. And so it kind of takes the league by storm, but when you got a guy that's well-coached, great scheme, great players, that kind of talent and has kind of rained him in enough to play quarterback in the league. You got a special player. David Carr, stick around, got some
Starting point is 00:34:27 Baker-Mayfield stuff. I think he's starting soon. I want to attack Dak and the Cowboys. I saw something last night, and it made me think Patriots, Jags. I love the Jags going into yesterday, and they delivered. Blake Bortles, by the way, that was as good as he's been in this league on third down. He was in New England's defense now has been upgraded. David's coming back with us.
Starting point is 00:34:47 Welcome back. Former number one pick, David Carr, 10 years in the NFL. Brother, of course, is Derek Carr with the Raiders. So the Dallas Cowboys, David, are going to have a decision to make. The average quarterback passer rating yesterday in the league was a 105, okay? Some of that's Ryan Fitzpatrick. But that's better than Aaron Rogers' all-time passer rating. We have new legislation.
Starting point is 00:35:11 You can't hit the quarterback. The field's more spread out. Nobody's huddling. Defensive guys are gassed. I like so many things about DAC. But when I watch these combos, Wentz is back as Joy said Peterson. Goff McVeigh, Shanahan, Jimmy G.
Starting point is 00:35:29 Those guys are around for another decade. My feeling on DAC is, I like him. But when you see these quarterback coach combos, we'll put them up here just in the NFC. They're going to be there for eight to ten years except Breeze. I watch Dak and I see a lower ceiling. I like him. Sure. Do you pull the trigger?
Starting point is 00:35:50 Yeah, I don't think that you really hesitate. I mean, because look at that. I mean, you have, we've got five there. Yeah. And I would argue that maybe Mike McCarthy, not so much as it is Aaron Rogers is just great. Yeah. Those other guys are great play callers. I think those guys are the cream of the crop as far as play calling offensive minds.
Starting point is 00:36:08 But look how many, there's only, there's 32 teams, and that's a small list. So every team that's out there is looking for one of those guys. You have a good quarterback in Dak Prescott. The way they ran offense yesterday is the way they have to run offense for the rest of the time that he's their quarterback. involve him in the run game with Zeke. He's not Tony Romo. Don't make him Tony Romo. Don't spend the entire offseason
Starting point is 00:36:27 trying to turn him into something that he's not. Put him in the run game, design some runs for him. He'll have some hidden yards, as we like to call it, in the quarterback room. I don't know what his rushing yards were yesterday, but it was significant
Starting point is 00:36:37 and he made some big time first down runs. And then he'll throw it when there's one-on-one, he'll miss some of those throws too. He had a tight-in wide open in the end zone. He missed him. It happens. It's Dak, right? He's just not there yet.
Starting point is 00:36:47 If he grows and matures into a better pastor and he turns into a Russell Wilson and now from the pocket, boom, voila, you're great. But you don't have to pay him as much as one of those guys. Now that's the interesting point. You can put a lot of bodies around him. You can get a great offensive line. You can put some more pieces on defense. Maybe go find a wide receiver or Levi-on-Bel,
Starting point is 00:37:03 which you don't need. But I'm saying, like, that kind of dynamic player around him, right? And just run behind Zeke. Let Zeke do it. You know, Travis Frederick's not out there, but you didn't need him. You designed runs for him. And they did a good job yesterday. I mean, I think that that's the way. If he doesn't play 15 years, it's fine. If he gets beat up,
Starting point is 00:37:20 you had 10 years of great football or eight years of great football with DAC. That's the way they have to play offense. If you're Lanahan or you're Jason Garrett, you just got to do it that way. So Josh Allen of the Bills had some moments yesterday. Sam Darnold's first two weeks, one in one, had some great moments, had some ugly picks. I believe you, if you ran Cleveland, would you just say, the hell, just go Baker Mayfee?
Starting point is 00:37:45 I would. I don't know. I mean, here's what happened. So yesterday they're winning. the football game. Yeah. And Tyrod or Turad or whatever we're calling him now. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:37:54 Does the one thing that he can't do and he turns the football over. Yeah. In a one score game, he turned it over. He made some big plays too. I mean, he came back, you know, in his defense, makes a great throw. That's a great throw. I mean, Calais is not even running. And then he sees the ball and he's like, I go get this thing.
Starting point is 00:38:08 And that's, that's Taylor just saying, I'm going to make a play here. So that that's great. I think that Baker Mayfield showed enough in the preseason to where you could put him out there. and this team's good enough they could protect him. And he makes throws down the field. He's consistent with those throws. I liked him in the combine.
Starting point is 00:38:26 When I went out there and saw him, I was surprised by his arm strength and his ability to throw the football. Tyrod or to rod, it's a good player. But the ceiling like we talked about earlier with some other guys is not as high. And maybe you don't care. Maybe if you're the Browns, you want to win five games.
Starting point is 00:38:40 Let's try and win one first, right? But I think that in the age we're in now, Baker is ready to go out there. Listen, I would not have drafted Baker, but my takeaway was always, there were three of these guys that were ready to at least win games. Rosen, who hasn't played yet, Darnold and Baker. I think Baker's ceilings lower, in my opinion, than Darnold's. I agree with you. I like Darnold.
Starting point is 00:39:03 I like Sam a lot. I think a little bigger, a little stronger athlete. He does more dynamic things from the pocket. Right. But if you look at Cleveland's defense, it's really, really interesting. It is. So you know that Baker's going to, as long as Baker doesn't throw pick sick after. pick six after pick six.
Starting point is 00:39:18 Yeah. Cleveland's going to be in most of the games they play this year. I agree. And I think that he knows enough. The game has changed to where when I came out of college, I didn't know. I didn't know. They showed me the playbook. And I said, this is Chinese.
Starting point is 00:39:31 I literally can't read this. Like, this is not what we didn't. We threw slants and screens and through some fades. But now these guys coming out, they understand the game. They're running pro-style concepts. Not only they're running pro-style concepts, the NFL has stolen some of the college concepts because there's so many good coordinators there. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:46 And they've brought it over. So Baker runs the RPO's, the run pass options. Like, he gets all that. He has great pocket presence, great pocket presence, you know, for young. I think the best at all these guys. Maybe not Sam Donald. Sam Donald's right up there with him. But you could put a guy like that in there, and he can protect himself,
Starting point is 00:40:02 and then he can grow and get experience and maybe win a couple games for you. Okay. I like the Jags yesterday without Leonard Fournett. I kind of felt like there are games over the course of a year that just mean more to one team. I thought it was a Super Bowl for Jacksonville. Yeah. I thought, and so when I came into the game, I kind of felt like I'm like, listen, New England's a little beat up at running back as well.
Starting point is 00:40:23 They're not dynamic enough at Whiteout. And I think Jacksonville, this game, you can't fake it. That game meant more to, you could tell in the first half. And they're a young, you're a young hungry team. You know, New England's been there. They've won games. I mean, it was a battle for Tom. Tom Brady was in the dog fight yesterday.
Starting point is 00:40:39 And it almost felt like he was by himself because they did a great job taking away Grunk. They did multiple coverages, double coverages. They were coming from everywhere. They weren't giving him clean look, so that was tough. But Blake Borrell's played fantastic. I thought that's the best I've ever seen him. If Blake's going to play like that, Jacksonville is a real problem for everybody in the league.
Starting point is 00:40:55 You know, David, the knock on Bortles has been, again, low ceiling. I thought when he came out, I said he's a poor man's Andrew Luck. He's got the size and the mobility of Andrew. I don't think he's going to be Andrew pre-snap. I don't think he's as accurate. But on third down yesterday, their coaching staff told me, we trust him more now. They made throws late in the game on third down.
Starting point is 00:41:18 Yes. I mean, there's three minutes left in the game they're throwing it. There's a minute 20 left in the game they're throwing the football. I mean, you don't do that with a guy you don't trust. Exactly. And so a lot of that is through the course of the game, he made some plays. Coaching staff gets a good field. Moron's like, yeah, we trust him, let him rip it.
Starting point is 00:41:31 And there was coverage also, Belichick was, they weren't going to let him run the football over the place. They played a lot of one-on-one coverage on the outside. And those wide receivers stepped up, too. They made some big-time plays. Cole made that catch on the sideline. Great blocking down the field. they were hungry football team.
Starting point is 00:41:42 Just like you said, they wanted that game. Not more than New England, because New England obviously wants to win the football game. You see Brady's competitive. But there was an intensity. There was, from the defensive side. No question. That was a huge game for them.
Starting point is 00:41:53 Say hi to your brother Derek, who's an amazing guy. And what's great about you, David, you're coaching your son. I love to see NFL guys who are coaching their sons. It's a blast, man. It's the best. This says a lot about you and your family and Derek and David. I love to have you back on.
Starting point is 00:42:10 I love to. Okay, where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. Next, the herd. This hour number two is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. On a Tuesday live in Los Angeles, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1, Joy Taylor's joining me, newly engaged, Joy Taylor. Joy Taylor had an amazing weekend, newly engaged, happy. You're always happy, but a little happy. Extra happy.
Starting point is 00:42:38 I'd say extra happy. There's some icing on the happy cake. Little icing this week. Yes, Earl did an amazing job. Yes. And you can disclose if you want or not who it is. Earl Watson is my fiance, yes. Yes.
Starting point is 00:42:54 And he did a very good job. He did a very romantic proposal. Phoenix Sun's head coach. Former head coach. UCLA dude. Good dude. We have him as a guest. Yes.
Starting point is 00:43:02 Very romantic. You even said it was romantic. I was like making the rest of us look like schmucks. It's very romantic. Greg Jennings. this hour, Trent Dilfer. We do it every day, every Monday at this time.
Starting point is 00:43:17 And we do it year-round now because people liked it so much. You told us you liked it. So sometimes I've got to be honest. Sometimes I'm right. Sometimes I'm wrong. Here we go. Where Colin was right.
Starting point is 00:43:28 John, you've been with me a lot of years. First couple of weeks are always the roughest on Blazing Five, but yet somehow we had a winning week in the Blazing Five. Gutsy. Leonard Fernette was out. We still like the Dunders. Jags. Gutsy.
Starting point is 00:43:42 We took the Colts to go into D.C. as a touchdown dog and beat Washington. Gutsy. We like the Falcons big at home, having to surrender almost a touchdown. For the record, we like the Seahawks tonight with all their injuries. Gutsy, Blazing Five, another winning week. Where Colin was wrong. All right, this whole Ryan Fitzmagic thing, I didn't really see that coming.
Starting point is 00:44:05 Okay, he has 400 yards each week and four. touchdowns each week in the history of football that's never happened. I'm not going to lie to you. A little bit of a surprise for me. Ryan Fitzpatrick's one of those guys. He'll do this like twice a year. Like twice a year, he just pops. Well, he's...
Starting point is 00:44:24 So you're saying it's ending? You'd think. But here's the thing, as David Carr just said. Tampa Bay's been so bad for years. They've accumulated a lot of high draft picks on offense. They got a ton of talent offensively. tied-in, a wide receiver talent. And, you know, I mean, listen, Ryan Fitzpatrick went to Harvard, so we know he's probably
Starting point is 00:44:47 pretty good pre-snap. Dirk Cutter, his coach, has always been an offensive guy. The question now is, what do you do with James Winston? And I've got to tell you something. I'm not starting James Winston. If this kid keeps putting up even remotely similar numbers, I'm not, because if you put James Winston back in and he struggles, the crowd's going to be cheering for Ryan Fitzpatrick, then you got yourself a Tebow situation in Denver, and you're a mess.
Starting point is 00:45:09 I don't even think it's a question. I think you just ride this until the wheels fall up. In the NFL, it's hard enough to win. If you're winning, let it go. I mean, he's eventually going to lose. Like, even if he does lose a game, at least there's not dysfunction. So. I think you just got to ride it.
Starting point is 00:45:24 Right. Go to Thanksgiving. See how you're doing. Where Colin was right. Matt Patricia spent his entire career with his hat on backwards. Week one, he had his hat on backwards. And I said, grow up. You look like a schmuck.
Starting point is 00:45:37 Don't be that guy. that millennial, do I got to dress like a robot? No, but you're representing an NFL franchise, Matt Patricia. Get your hat on right. And yesterday, for the first time, he heard it. He had his hat on right. I don't know if he heard me, but he heard it. I had three NFL executives this week.
Starting point is 00:46:01 Text me after my rant ripping Patricia saying, Right on. there's 32 NFL coaching jobs Detroit in the state of Michigan a beautiful state, very proud franchise, perhaps dysfunctional, you are representing more than yourself. I'm not asking you be
Starting point is 00:46:21 George Clooney in Ocean's 11. I don't need Pierce Brosnan or James Bond. You can't be the big Lebowski. You're coaching an NFL team. Get your hat on forward. And he did. And by the way, Detroit looked like a legitimate NFL team. They looked like a legitimate
Starting point is 00:46:38 NFL team yesterday. Good for Matt Matricia. Where Colin was wrong. The New York Jets offense is worse. Pat Shermer. No impact. Nate? Giants. I'm sorry. Giants. The New York Giants offense is worse. They brought over Nate
Starting point is 00:46:54 Sold or left tackle. No impact. Sequin Barclay's averaging 2.4 yards per carry. He is a nice wide receiver. Odell Beckham, congrats. Slants. Does he do anything else but slants? I mean, Eli Manning's getting your 30 completions, but they're not going anywhere. I mean, honestly, I thought they upgraded their offensive line.
Starting point is 00:47:14 Is Eli Manning just this shot? I mean, I thought we'd have a pulse. I thought the Giants would be interesting. I mean, you get to a point now, you can't put them on television. I mean, you can't put the New York. I don't care. There's one team in New York you can put on television. They'll be on Thursday, the Jets.
Starting point is 00:47:28 You can put them on television. I mean, the Giants have almost regressed offensively with an upgraded receiver, upgrade it back, upgrade left tackle, upgrade it coach. They're awful. They're awful and unwatchable. Where Colin was right. I told you for two years, Sam Darnold was hiding mediocre coaching at USC. Oklahoma is still scoring 40 a game without Baker Mayfield.
Starting point is 00:47:57 USC can't get first downs without Sam Darnold. The program has completely unraveled. I've said this for years, and I said this is one of the reasons I would take Sam Darnold number one, that you can tell a person's impact not just by where they enter and land, but what happens to the place they leave? When Harbaugh left the 49ers, they fell apart. He can coach. Okay, Baker Mayfield can play, but Oklahoma's fine without Baker Mayfield.
Starting point is 00:48:27 They'll score 45 a weekend. USC can't move the chains without Sam Darnold. I mean, they are unraveling. And it's not like they're playing, you know, Alabama. Texas has a new coach. Couldn't stop Maryland the last two years. And at one point in this game, I think Texas had a 34-0 run in this football game. Brutal.
Starting point is 00:48:52 Where Colin was wrong. Outside of Ohio State, the Big Ten is massively disappointing. This weekend, for the first time in Big Ten history, they had seven losses to unranked teams in non-conference games. That's never happened. Nebraska lost to Troy, Wisconsin lost to BYU. Listen, the SEC, we know it has better players, because you can look at the last 20 NFL drafts.
Starting point is 00:49:14 But I thought the Big Ten had bridged some of the gap due to extensively, they really upgraded their coaching. But this weekend was awful. I mean, Maryland got routed by Temple. Kansas? Kansas? I thought Kansas was the worst program in the country. They beat Rutgers by 40.
Starting point is 00:49:34 Akron beat Northwestern. BYU. I mean, there have been BYU teams that are pretty good. This isn't one of them. My bad. Where Colin was right? We were the only media outlet in America that Wednesday and Thursday told you
Starting point is 00:49:52 Aaron Rogers would play. Ooh, so did you talk to your source? I did. And it was, Joey, you and I have been doing this a long time. And we all have sources. Right. Okay. This was the strangest source I've ever had.
Starting point is 00:50:07 It was 100% accurate. I cannot at the current time to divulge it because the source contacted me yesterday and said, I may give you another story before the end of the year. Maybe I'll write a book someday when I retire and tell you the source. But it was 100% accurate. I knew it by late Wednesday, early Thursday that Aaron Rogers was going to play. And I wouldn't have gone on the air if I didn't believe it. I'm telling you, folks, Big J. Journal.
Starting point is 00:50:32 right here every week. So your source would also not like you to tell where I got it from. Like not who they are, but like you said it was a weird situation. Let's just say it's too close to Aaron Rogers to divulge Aaron Rogers News. And I'll just leave it at that. I'll just leave it at that. Okay.
Starting point is 00:50:52 Where Colin was wrong. Ed Orgeron I've always thought is an amazing football coach, but I wouldn't name in my head coach. Well, I watched LSU Auburn this weekend in Auburn and fourth quarter comeback. They look well coached. They really do. Ed has figured out four and two against the top 10, 24 and 8 as a head coach at USC briefly in LSU. Ed is never going to be saving. Okay. But he's incredibly real, 100%
Starting point is 00:51:24 authentic, an incredibly nice guy. Players love him. A tremendous motivator. And I got to be honest. One of the reasons I didn't have LSU top 10 was Ed Orgeron. I said, listen, I'd name him my defensive line coach, maybe my defensive coordinator. I don't know if he's a guy that can lead a program. They've been great. They have looked absolutely well-coached in both their games this year. I'm wrong so far on Ed Orchon and LSU. They look like a team that can compete for the national championship. You go to Auburn and win, and it's a real Auburn team. You go to Auburn and win, you can win the national title. Where Colin was right? I said before the season, that the Rams had the best roster, but nobody wants to say it,
Starting point is 00:52:05 from kicker to punter to head coach, to defensive coordinator, to the roster. The Rams are dropping 35 points yesterday, and I'm not sure they clicked. Do you realize, think about this, the L.A. Rams since Sean McVeigh took over, think about this, Joy. In the 18 games he's coached, have scored over 30, 11 times. and that's having to resurrect Jared Goff's career, which appeared dead. I mean, I'm watching them yesterday.
Starting point is 00:52:39 I don't even think they played well, and they dropped 35. But a lot of people, there's a resentment about L.A. We all knew LeBron was going to be a Laker. But if you say it, no, you're not going to go to L.A. Yeah, you had two homes here. All his friends live here. All his businesses are here. Magic Johnson here.
Starting point is 00:52:57 Yeah, he'd never go to L.A. There's a slam dunk. Even Jerry West admitted it after it happened. you just don't want to admit it because you don't want to see LA win because there's a resentment about, you know, L.A. They are ridiculous. Coaching, kicking, punning, O-line, D-line, secondary is stacked. Again, it's also, they're just very disciplines in their image also.
Starting point is 00:53:21 You just don't hear a lot from them. I mean, if you compare just the Steelers to the Rams, it's like they're all just quiet. And for Los Angeles, it's so out of care. But I think it's a reflection of how Sean McVeigh just directs the team. That's how Sean McVeigh is. The reflection of him. All right, we have a ton of stuff coming up.
Starting point is 00:53:39 Greg Jennings around the corner. I'm going to give you my thoughts on the Dallas Cowboys. And there was a very good game yesterday between Atlanta and Carolina. And I kind of had an epiphany on Matt Ryan. That is around the corner. Plus Greg Jennings, Trent Dillfer, top of hour number three. We are just starting. We're not even halfway home here on a Monday.
Starting point is 00:54:00 We've got two huge. Big Ten games this weekend on FS1 starting Friday night as number 10 Penn State takes on Illinois at 9 Eastern. Then on Saturday morning, Nebraska battles number 19, Michigan at the Big House, all on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. Nebraska will be fine. Give them time. First year, Nick Saban lost to Louisiana Monroe. It's like you get your first year for a coach. Just just, just forget it. Nick Saban lost to Louisiana Monroe as head coach of Alabama first year at home. Don't worry about it. So here's the thing, is that when you marry somebody, you know, my takeaway is expectations. So if you marry somebody and you marry somebody that's safe, that's fine, but you could get bored.
Starting point is 00:54:45 And you're supposed to be married for life. So if you marry somebody that is a little risky but just does it for you, well, 20, 30 years from now, they probably still do it for you. As long as your expectations are realistic with Dak Prescott, you won't be disappointed. Listen, Dak Prescott was passed over by 32 teams in this league three times. I've been pretty accurate through the years on quarterbacks. I'm pretty good on not going to work, going to work kind of disaster really good. I miss some, but NFL people miss some. People passed on Russell Wilson.
Starting point is 00:55:25 Dax not Russell Wilson. When I'm watching him yesterday, if you take out the Tavon-Austin home run early, they pass for 87 yards, okay, the rest of the game. There's a lot of qualities about DAC I like. I think he's kind of a durable guy. He's a mobile guy. The team feels like they're in control with him. He's very safe. He's not going to lose a lot of games for you.
Starting point is 00:55:50 But if you get into a relationship with somebody and one of their primary assets, is they're safe. You know, they keep a good checkbook. They'll never get you in trouble. They're incredibly dependable. There's nothing wrong with that. But you may get bored and you may get really frustrated if that doesn't align with your expectations.
Starting point is 00:56:12 And Jerry Jones wants to win Super Bowls. Now, Jerry Jones recently last week, said this about Dak Prescott going forward. We've got a quarterback that is somewhere between the one that you saw with the Rams last night and Cam Newton. he can do some of what both of those guys do. Well, you know it's there. You know he's got it. Okay, therein lies the problem.
Starting point is 00:56:37 He's not close to Cam Newton as a physical specimen, and he's not Jared Goff, the thrower. So if Jerry's going to get in this relationship, and he's using Cam, who physically, outside of Big Ben, not a lot of guys have played the position look like Cam and throw like Cam. Or you're going to use Jared Goff, who's going to have Sean McVey as his coach, Todd Gurley, those expectations are not lined up with reality.
Starting point is 00:57:03 I like Dak. There's a lot I like about it. And when he hasn't played for them in the last three years, they've been a mess. He offers durability, mobility, I think it's a sustainability, but the ceiling's low. It's really low. And when you look around the NFC and I got McVan Gough together, and I got, you know, Sark and Matt Ryan are getting better, and I got Breeze and Peyton together, and I got Jimmy G. and Shanahan together, and I got Aaron Rogers talent.
Starting point is 00:57:37 Safe. Safe is going to have to have so many good players around it to burst through those teams. You could be very disappointed. What worries me about Jerry is he's like, well, you see some cam and you see some golf. That's not what anybody in the league sees. Nobody sees almost cam. or throws like golf. No, no, nobody sees that. So if you're going to marry safe and reliable,
Starting point is 00:58:04 get ready for a life of safe and reliable. Not going to be a lot of fireworks shows. Not going to be a lot of chaos. But I think what DAC is showing us is what many scouts said when they passed on him. Armed talent, average to below average, not the kind of guy that can carry an average roster. Cam has carried some average players.
Starting point is 00:58:31 Goff, I think, I have two friends on the Ram staff. Goff is a special player. Goff to me is a better Matt Ryan long term. And Matt Ryan's pretty good. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.
Starting point is 00:58:48 Speaking of Dak, they did get a win yesterday, and Landon Collins gave Jack Prescott and the Cowboys some bulletin board material last week when he made this statement. We just really got to focus on stopping Zee, making sure that every run gap, every we plan our gap assignments, making sure we close the air out of their offensive running game. If we do that, put the ball into deck, and I think we have a better shot of winning.
Starting point is 00:59:13 Well, Dak accepted that challenge. The Cowboys won 20 to 13, and Collins had to be expecting questions on that statement, so let's check in on him. What do you think of how he played tonight? Did he surprise you this one? He controlled the offense. There you go. That's a compliment. Well, I mean, look, if you're going to do a hard call out and you lose, then you got to deal with that.
Starting point is 00:59:38 But as much as that control the offense, I think that it might have been a little more of Brian Cox being right about the Giants. They stink. Brian Cox came on their show and said they stink. He was hearing none of it. He said, call them, they stink. I mean, he did. And they do. No qualifiers. Just trust me on this one.
Starting point is 00:59:57 They're not going to be good. I don't know. I mean, are you ready to believe that? I, they didn't, they do not look good. I don't want to do overreaction to week two. No, but I mean, listen, you get bits and pieces of the truth. Like through two weeks of the NFL, there's bits and pieces of the truth. Patrick Mahomes is really talented.
Starting point is 01:00:17 That's the truth. The New Orleans Saints are not quite as good as I thought, but there's a lot of players there. That's the truth. Sam Darnold's talented, but still a little reckless. and it times over his skis. That's the truth. When you look at the Giants right now, they made massive upgrades on offense,
Starting point is 01:00:37 and they're worse. So maybe it's not the coaching. Maybe it's not McAdoo and Shermer. Maybe it is, but they upgraded left tackle, running back, the tight end's a good player getting better, Odell's back, and they're worse.
Starting point is 01:00:49 This could be a shot fighter, a quarterback. Yes. So Cleveland's decision to leak their announcement to release Josh Gordon is apparently paid off. The Browns are expected to trade Gordon by 4 p.m. Eastern today for legit compensation. Justina Anderson reports that at least
Starting point is 01:01:03 8 to 10 teams have contacted the Browns about a trade. So basically he showed up late to the Browns facility and in addition to showing up late had a tweet hamstring. There was concern that he was struggling with his sobriety again
Starting point is 01:01:17 and on the verge of relapsing according to sources and according to Adam Schaefter, Gordon injured that hamstring at a promotional shoot. So he's 27 years old. He's only appeared in 11 games of the last four plus seasons. because of substance abuse issues.
Starting point is 01:01:31 Yeah. However, he is still that talent. So we'll see what the Browns get for him. You know, it just depends on I can't deal with people like this. Like, I can't, you ever see the show intervention? I just can't deal with people that relapse into that kind of addiction stuff. Like, if my personality doesn't work for it, I could never coach Josh Gordon. Like, I'd rather have a less talented person that shows up to work every day.
Starting point is 01:01:53 Well, I'm sure most people would rather not deal with an addiction issue than would. But I mean, this is a disease. So they have been very supportive of him. Like, you cannot put this on the Browns, in my opinion, unless there's some deeper thing going on here. It appears that the Browns have been incredibly supportive of Josh Gordon throughout his entire process, a rehabilitation process. And you can see that in hard knocks that they're constantly talking about him
Starting point is 01:02:21 and they gave him space to do whatever kind of recovery he needed to do. So I think they've just reached a point where it's like, we've done all we can do. Sometimes it's just like we can't. help you anymore. Maybe a new place, a new environment. We'll give you that inspiration to be better, but they seem to be done with them, so we'll find out what he gets traded for.
Starting point is 01:02:37 And in the same division, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a little different kind of mess. Levian Bell doesn't seem to be returning anytime soon. And now Antonio Brown tweeted something very interesting. He doesn't seem very happy at the moment either. During yesterday's loss to the chiefs, Brown got in a heated argument with several coaches, including the new offensive coordinator. And then today, he responded to a tweet saying,
Starting point is 01:02:58 he should quote thank his lucky stars. The Steelers drafted him, saying a lot of Brown's stats and then his contract are thanks in large part to Ben Rappasborder. And Brown's response was simple enough. Trade me. Let's find out. Oh, brother.
Starting point is 01:03:14 Oh, boy. So now I got Lavian Bell wants a new deal and Antonio Brown. You just don't say that. You can't do that. When you say that, you're saying that to Mike Tomlin and the owners. That's calling them out. Even if you just mean to respond to that, whoever that person is and in an angry fashion to prove a point, you have to be more aware of how that's going to be received.
Starting point is 01:03:39 Yeah, that's not good. That's not good. You can't. You can't do that. They are a circus. It's amazing. I don't understand. I mean, they've always been a loud team.
Starting point is 01:03:51 It's got, been very emotional. They've gone off the rails. But this is just, yeah, this is, it's getting a little ridiculous. Like, you can't. You just can't tweet that. You can't. You can't tweet, trade me, let's find out. We too.
Starting point is 01:04:02 Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line News. So when I used to live on the East Coast, I used to watch how parents parented. And they had their kids in baby Einstein and violin lessons and prep school and kindergarten. And I was always like, what are you doing? They don't have to be a genius.
Starting point is 01:04:23 They have to be smart enough not to implode their life. And they've done studies on this stuff. where kids now are dealing with depression because parents are just loading up kids and loading up kids and they can't go out and play with a dog in the backyard and can't go to the beach and play volleyball. Listen, to succeed in America, go to a mall, go to a bowling alley, and look around. You've got to be smart enough. You don't have to be Einstein to succeed in this country, right? You've got to be smart enough.
Starting point is 01:04:48 And so Matt Ryan I've been critical of through the years, but not really critical. I put him top 10. And I've always said with Matt Ryan, he's good enough. I can win a division with Matt. I can win the NFC championship with Matt. And I can lead 283 and win his Super Bowl with Matt. I don't think he's top five in the league. But he's nine or ten.
Starting point is 01:05:07 Yesterday, Greg Jennings did the Atlanta Carolina game. Let's bring him on the show. The all-pro, the Super Bowl ring wide receiver, who rarely agrees with me. I don't know about the parenting thing. You probably think I'm crazy. But I always tell my wife, we're doing a good enough job as parents. We gave him good DNA. They're loved in the house.
Starting point is 01:05:27 They don't need violin lessons and baby Einstein in prep school in second grade. I actually did baby Einstein with my oldest, my first child. And it worked. What, they're Einstein now? They're Einstein. She honestly, she got tested in the top two percentile gifted. What about the other kids? We didn't do it with them.
Starting point is 01:05:46 And they're just doing nothing with their lives. No, they're special too. Okay, see? That's my point. The good parents. We just agree. First time today. First time on the show, we agree.
Starting point is 01:05:59 So I've said this about, like I watched New England yesterday, and I looked at their defense. And I thought, you know, with Belichick and Brady, they've upgraded, their defense is good enough to get him to a Super Bowl. Kirk Cousins yesterday, he's good enough with that defense. He's good enough. I want you to talk about Matt Ryan because people think I hate him. And I said, no, no, no, I only pushed back when he had a great year with Kyle Shanahan. And everybody told me it was Matt Ron. Aaron Rogers. I was like, slow down.
Starting point is 01:06:27 To me, Matt Ryan's good enough. Matt Ryan is more than good enough. He's like, he could be really, he could be great. He could be great. We just haven't seen the consistency that we have seen with an Aaron Rogers. What did you see yesterday? Yesterday, I saw a great quarterback. I saw exactly what I've seen in his week leading up to that game.
Starting point is 01:06:52 the preparation, the leadership. What we want Matt Ryan to be is who he is in that locker room on that field during the week at practice. He's very loud. He's very demanding to his players and his coaches, coaching staff. He really is. He demands perfection, which is, again, you don't see that on Sundays, but you see how, their red zone. They were four for four in the red zone yesterday.
Starting point is 01:07:24 They were great. And Carolina's defense is real. Really good. Talking to Matt Ryan going into that game, obviously all the chatter that surrounded the woes that they had experienced and were experiencing in the red zone, he said, look, guys, it's all about just executing. Yes, have we pressed?
Starting point is 01:07:42 Have we overthought things? Of course, because you tend to do that when things aren't working. But we work every single day. I put the pressure on my guys because they expect me to get the job done. My expectation is no different from them. So when we step foot out on that field Sunday yesterday, the expectation is to execute when it matters. And when it matters most is in the red zone.
Starting point is 01:08:10 That's why I see, that's why I believe we saw him run for two rushing touchdowns. So when I saw him run yesterday, and this happens, by the way, Matt Patricia, who's had his hat on backwards his entire life yesterday, turned it around because he got massive heat last week. Matt Ryan's been hearing, kind of you terrible in the red soap. Matt Ryan yesterday did a helicopter. Because I think Matt Ryan, athletes say they don't hear it,
Starting point is 01:08:33 but I think Matt Ryan heard the chirping. Yeah, you hear the chirping, but you can't allow it to impact you in a negative way. And I think for Matt Ryan, basically what he was doing was trying to send a message to his team. Like, guys, this. matters to me more than anyone. And like it's going to, because it's going to fall obviously on Matt Ryan's shoulders
Starting point is 01:08:54 with him being the leader in that locker room. But Dan Quinn, Steve Sarkeesian, they have all the faith in the world in Matt Ryan. The relationship between Sarkisian and Matt Ryan is one of the best relationships I've seen. Really? And there's this perception out there that the rapport between the two is there's a riff or there's not the rapport that it needs to be, Dan Quinn couldn't be further from the truth.
Starting point is 01:09:22 By the way, I know Sark. Sark's about as easy to get along with. Oh my gosh. Now, Sark is the... Now, by the way, Kyle Shanahan can be rough. Yes. Kyle can be rough. By the way, Garoppolo and Kyle Shanahan, they're not, it's not going to be perfect. No. And Dan Quinn spoke to that.
Starting point is 01:09:38 He said, look, it couldn't be further from the truth, the relationship that Matt Ryan and Kyle Shanahan perceived. to have had while he was there. Sark is bad. It's like, it's not true. It's not true. There's no truth to that. I mean, they had success with Shanahan. Yes, they had failures with Shanahan. And what Sark has been able to do is number one, his first year, he was dealing with 90% of Shanahan's plays. So he changed it up
Starting point is 01:10:07 a little bit. Now he took about 70%, 30% of his. Verbage is a little different. He can call the plays the way he wants to call him this year. You're going to see strides in the right direction. By the way, it took Shanahan two years to click with Matt. It did. It's going to take Shanahan two years to click with Garapolo because Shanahan has a very intense, a very intense personality. Sark, who by the way, I think is a good coach, this is the second year with Matt. Now, let me shift to the Packers Vikings because you play, you know both very well. You live in Minnesota. You play with the Packers. You know how this whole deal works. And he played with the Vikings. So I'm watching this game yesterday.
Starting point is 01:10:45 In two games in on Green Bay, here's my takeaway. They should be 0 and 2. If Khalil Mack didn't have a snap count, they probably don't come back 20-0. Minnesota had a kicker that have beaten him. Aaron's taken way too many hits. You can't tell me Aaron's 100%. There's no way watching him. He's 100%.
Starting point is 01:11:04 You know, I'm looking at that Green Bay thing yesterday. Greg, he's taking too many hits. He's taken way too many hits. Jacksonville guys were on the sideline. complaining they couldn't get to Brady. Houston guys can't get to Brady. This guy's taking too many hits. Yeah, I'll go back to when you said they could be on to.
Starting point is 01:11:20 Yeah, they could be on to, but they're not. And it's because of what Aaron Rogers provides when he is on the football field. So let's throw that out there. Aaron Rogers healthy or 80%, 70% is better than any option that they have backing him up. So if he's able to go out there and play, let's go out there. with Aaron Rogers. He gives us the best option and possibility of winning. If he's out there, though, you have got to protect your number one asset. Look at these headkeys taking. For me, I just don't understand why you're not able to.
Starting point is 01:11:59 I understand why you're not able to. Why don't they keep the tight end in? I think they should keep them in more. I definitely do. I remember when Aaron Rogers first took over at quarterback in Green Bay, we had protection issues. I mean, he was going down left and right. And we started to hold the tight end, and Bubba Franks could release as much. Donald Lee couldn't release as much. Like, guys, we got to hold you in.
Starting point is 01:12:21 We need seven-man protections. And he can still pick you apart. Sure. With two and three guys out in the route, you're fine with that. But for me, this is unacceptable for him to take this many hits when you know he's already hurt. He's hurt.
Starting point is 01:12:38 I'm watching him yesterday. I'm thinking, the Bears defense in Minnesota, his defense for at least the next three years to that six meetings is loaded with young players under contract. And I'm watching Aaron yesterday, I'm like, Brady doesn't take shots like this. Matt Ryan's, Matt Ryan had took a shot yesterday because he decided to run into the end zone. I don't think there's a quarterback as good in the league that takes as many shots as Aaron Rogers does.
Starting point is 01:13:00 No. And one of the reasons why he takes some of the shots is he doesn't hold the ball as long as Ben Rathesberger. Yeah. But he doesn't release it consistently as quickly as Tom. Brady. You talked about the Houston Texans defenders. Right. Complaining. I mean, they showed him. They were almost defeated because they couldn't get there quick enough. It's almost like, why are we rushing? With Aaron Rogers, he could beat you like that, but a part of his repertoire
Starting point is 01:13:31 is holding the ball, extending the plays, and beating you with his athletic ability and his legs as well. Good luck getting a 42 years old playing. I mean, he's taking too many shots. What did you make? So a player yesterday in the NFL, I'm going to bring it back. You have a strong opinion on this. I do. Okay, just stay there. Why don't you call your baby Einstein kid and then apologize to your other kids
Starting point is 01:14:00 because they didn't do baby Einstein? You got to go all baby Einstein with all the children. Oh, man, we wanted to test both sides. We are a sociologist or more Greg Jennings coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Borrow up to 40 grand to pay off credit card debt. Lendingclub.com slash sports. Lending club.com slash sports.
Starting point is 01:14:22 By the way, just got ratings. At Fox, our 1 o'clock windows up 14% this year. So stop with the NFL's dying. There's one unwatchable. Yeah. Yeah, by the way, put Greg Jennings on games. Boom. Rating skyrocket.
Starting point is 01:14:37 All right, let me start. This is an interesting one. So Vonte Davis has played. Vernon Davis is his brother. was a great 49er tied in, played at Maryland. And Vante Davis came in, and he played for the Colts for a couple of years. Nice corner, very good corner. Yesterday, basically at halftime, he just left.
Starting point is 01:14:54 And I was like, man, football, I mean, I didn't play a ton of football, but that can't sit well with you. You don't quit. Just period. And I remember the first time I tried to quit something in high school, I tried to quit the football team. And I showed up at my house early. dad was at home and he looked at me when I walked through the door like what are you doing here?
Starting point is 01:15:20 And I'm like I quit. He looked at me and said, no, you didn't. Drove me back up to the stadium to the school. I had to, I'm embarrassed now because I walked off all my teammates. I quit on them. I was mad, whatever. But when I look at Vante, like, what message are, forget your team. What message are you sending to Your kids, if you have any, the youth out there that are playing, but your teammates, like, you guys weren't even worth me finishing the game. Sitting for 90 minutes watching with you. Finishing the game on the sideline and then saying,
Starting point is 01:16:02 guys, I'm going to hang it up after tonight. You could do that. But this, for me, not being in this situation, but being an older guy, understanding how, mental of a game it is. Oh, God, yeah. This happened before yesterday. Yeah, he made that decision Tuesday.
Starting point is 01:16:22 This decision, it was before then. This is going into this year, contemplating whether or not, am I going to play, is my head still in the game, can I still do it? These questions you are asking yourself going into training camp,
Starting point is 01:16:38 but once you decide to strap it up, sign the contract, and say I'm in, you can't quit. You can't, you don't quit during the middle of a contest where you're, you're battling. Why did you quit your high school team for a day? I was upset. I was upset about, they weren't feeding you the rock?
Starting point is 01:17:00 No, I wasn't, I wasn't there yet. I was just upset because I felt like we were running too much. It was hard. You know, having one of those in my feeling moments. I thought I was better than what I probably was. and I was above running. And your dad came in and said, nonsense.
Starting point is 01:17:20 But for me, it set a tone in me to where I knew if I start something, I'm going to finish it. And that for me is what disturbs me most. You got 10 other guys out there on the field with you
Starting point is 01:17:34 that are counting on you to just finish. You might get beat. You might. I've never even heard of it. I've never heard of a story like this. No, like, you don't. Like, even boxers, and, like, boxers sometimes will fold when they know that they're unmatched.
Starting point is 01:17:56 Yeah, put in the town done. The one thing I thought of was Misha Tate when she talked about her last fight, and we asked her when she knew she was done. She said in the middle of my last fight. So you can have that moment. That's a bad time, especially in UFC, to realize that you don't want to fight anymore. But, you know, you have that realization, but you finish the fight. You don't just walk out. And you're in it.
Starting point is 01:18:17 You're by yourself. You're not. If anything, leave everything you have out there. It was brutal. Okay, now let's go to the Steelers where, listen, you know, I tend to be a little old school in terms of football is a sport. You have to be coachable. I'm not a big fan of paying a lot of money on the perimeter, icing cake, blah, blah, blah. But I got Lavian Bell holding out.
Starting point is 01:18:38 Antonio Brown yesterday got into an issue on the sideline with his coaches and then goes to Twitter and when somebody suggests he should be lucky to be a Steeler, he goes, trade me and find out. Like, okay, we're getting to a point now with the Steelers. It's a mess. Like, it's, I think there, I think this stuff now is affecting Sunday. If you want to, the Warriors do a lot of chattering, it doesn't affect the playoffs. Like, I watch the Steelers now, and I believe honestly, the chatter's affecting Sundays.
Starting point is 01:19:07 Am I nuts? No. No, not at all. They look, they're unraveling here emotionally. What's affecting them more than anything is the losses. And you can say a tie is a tie. Aaron Rogers put it in the best words, it's close to an L. It's closer to an L than a win.
Starting point is 01:19:27 No question. It feels in the Pittsburgh locker room today, it feels like they're 0 and 2. And this is why you see guys on the sideline, Antonio Brown, frustrated, especially when you're looking across the field and you have a young quarterback that is lighting it up with all his receivers and tight ends. Patrick Mahal spreading the ball around. That does not sit well when that is typically you.
Starting point is 01:19:58 You're typically the guy that is lighting it up and the opposing team is frustrated because the expectation is, guys, you can't stop him. Why is he still getting all these catches? Antonio Brown is frustrated. He wants, especially, and rightfully so, when you don't have a Labion Bill who will consume some of the percentage of your offense, he's not even out there. And you're telling me you can't get, you still can't get me the ball. Like that's when it starts to become a me, me, I, I issue.
Starting point is 01:20:30 But the losses, it escalates that. It increases that. It magnifies it. And for me, this is when Mike Tomlin has. has to step in. Listen, you know what? I'm watching yesterday. I'm thinking to myself, even with New England's loss,
Starting point is 01:20:46 is I'm watching Pittsburgh. It's not even the loss for me. Watching them sort of unravel. I'm like, God, once again, there's a bunch of questions in the AFC, but the thing I do know, the answer I have is Belichick Brady on Sunday, especially in Foxborough, and they're going to win that division. You know, once again, the NFC, I have no idea who's going to win it.
Starting point is 01:21:08 I watched New England yesterday lose, and I'm like, look at Pittsburgh. Because they care. Tom Brady, do your job. He's screaming at guys on the sideline. Care. Yeah. All right. Trent Dilfer is joining us.
Starting point is 01:21:23 Hour three is coming up in the herd. A lot to go. Seahawks. Love the Seahawks tonight against the Bears despite their injuries. Hour three in L.A. next, the herd. Hour number three, this is the herd, wherever you may be. However you may be listening. Live in Los Angeles.
Starting point is 01:21:40 IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me today. We got great 15 minutes, Trent Dillfer stops by. We do have breaking news. Carson Wentz. Joy told you this an hour ago. Carson Wentz is back. Breaking News for the Philadelphia Eagles this week.
Starting point is 01:21:56 This is a real story. Don't forget, when Carson Wentz got hurt last year, he was going to win the MVP. So this, to me, I said a few years ago, Andrew Luck was the last great quarterback talent to come into this league. I think Carson Wentz has even more talent. I don't know if he'll be Stanford pre-snap guy at the line of scrimmage, but in terms of arm, size, mobility, move around, make plays. Carson Wentz is as good as the NFL has for a young quarterback.
Starting point is 01:22:23 Patrick Mahomes looks like he's pretty darn good, but he is back. They host the Indianapolis Colts and Andrew Luck. So I think it's interesting. The two guys that I really like, Andrew Luck and Carson Wentz, this week meet in Philadelphia. Again, Trent Dilfer's got some thoughts on that. He'll be joining us live in 15 minutes. Later and best for last.
Starting point is 01:22:42 Dak Prescott is on a list. He doesn't want any part of. But the Patriots lost to the Jags. You saw that yesterday, but it was much more important for another AFC team. Yesterday was a really, really, really, really bad day for one player in the NFL, and he didn't play Lavian Bell. Because yesterday, Blake Bortles, who was sort of a, you know, marginal NFL quarterback did not have Leonard Furnett, his star running back.
Starting point is 01:23:15 And Blake Bortles dominated the current NFL dynasty, the New England Patriots. Dominated. In fact, Blake Bortles on third down, ooh, when you really need that running back, Leonard Fernette didn't even dress, wasn't in the game. And Jacksonville's offense. I don't think I've ever seen Blake Bortals, especially on third down, be that effective. By the way, Atlanta did not have Devante Freeman, and they dropped 31 points on the best front seven, arguably, in the NFL, the Carolina Panthers. Tampa Bay doesn't have a running back that's combined in two games for 100 yards.
Starting point is 01:23:56 They've scored 48 and 37 points. The Steelers scored 37 without Levian Bell. Arizona's got David Johnson. He's amazing. David Johnson's amazing. Arizona can't pick up first downs. If you're Levian Bell, if you're an actor, and you're like, I'm not going to work.
Starting point is 01:24:15 I want a new contract. And they released the movie anyway, and he gets a 98 on Rotten Tomatoes and sells out theaters. Good luck in your contract negotiations. They don't need you. Go back to the deodorant commercials because they don't need you. The New York Giants, number two picks, Akewon Barclay.
Starting point is 01:24:31 Oh, you got a bunch of catches, bunch of rods, exciting. They can't score. They can't score. Aaron Rogers has no running game whatsoever and just dropped 29 against the number one defense in the NFL. Levian Bell, that was a bad day for you. Blake Bortles has never looked that good. He was really good on third down.
Starting point is 01:24:51 And New England's defense this year is good enough to win a Super Bowl. Not saying they will, but it's better than last year. The Jags had T.J. Yelden, he was fine. He's not Leonard Furnet, but he was fine. If you look at the five leading... rushers. You're not going to believe this currently in the NFL. Let's put this list up. Matt
Starting point is 01:25:11 Burrita, San Francisco, undrafted. Joe Mixen, now hurt. Philip Lindsay, undrafted. Lamar Miller, his team is O. and two. James Connor is a career backup. You're demanding a long
Starting point is 01:25:27 term contract? I mean, I was thinking about this this morning. When is the last time that a team won a Super Bowl, and it felt like they were sort of led by the running back. Denver, Terrell Davis? What is that? 30 years ago? Denver's gone through nine quarterbacks then.
Starting point is 01:25:46 But you're sitting there a Lavian Bell yesterday, and I know you want to go and do emojis. And I like Labian Bell. He's a good kid, and he's a good back. I think he could really help certain teams in this league, especially teams with young quarterbacks and bad offensive lines like the New York Jets. They can help them. He could help Buffalo that doesn't have a quarterback, and they're rebuilding their offensive line. You put them on a Pittsburgh team with Big Ben, with Antonio Brown, with Jujuice Schuster,
Starting point is 01:26:14 with a veteran coaching staff, with two pro bowlers on the offensive line. That was a bad day for Lavian Bell. Because Jacksonville's offense and Blake Bortles have never, ever been that effective on third down, late in the game, beating a quality team. At 15 years old, we all make choices. You choose running back over quarterback, running back over receiver, running back over cornerback, running back over pass rusher. This is your reality. You don't mean as much.
Starting point is 01:26:44 All right, let me shift to this. So this morning, everybody's freaking out in Green Bay. They're overreacting to the penalty on Clay Matthews of the Packers on a hit on Kirk Cousins. Now, first of all, it was a bang, bang play. And, of course, this was a penalty on Clay Matthews. I probably would not have called it myself. But it wasn't the hit. It was that, quote, he lifted and drove a quarterback into the ground, which is really arguable.
Starting point is 01:27:10 But at Green Bay fans, I want to give you a heads up, you do realize the reason there's actually an emphasis on this in the NFL joy is because what happened to your quarterback last year, Aaron Rogers. That's why there is an over-emphasis on this play call. Listen, the NBA, 30% of the NBA, and I'm being nice, is unwatchable, non-competitive. There's really only one team in the NFL that's unwatchable, Buffalo. Why? They don't have a quarterback. NFL football last year, ratings went down. You can tell me a million reasons why Trump, Kaepernick, blah, blah, blah.
Starting point is 01:27:48 I'll tell you one of the reasons why. We had too many good quarterbacks hurt. We had too many good quarterbacks in the NFL last year got hurt. And NFL football, even if everybody else in the field, is really, really talented, is not that much fun to watch. New York Giants are a great example when your quarterback stinks. There are certain things I'm okay in society if we're overly cautious. I would rather have overly protective parents opposed to parents who aren't paying attention. I'm okay with overly protective parents. I hear this crowd, let them hit, let them play.
Starting point is 01:28:24 All right, then Aaron Rogers, you do realize it's still not 100%. If you just want to let them hit and let them play, who's the best quarterback in the NFC North, Aaron Rogers? Who has the two best defensive fronts, Vikings Bears? You're right, Green Bay fans. Let's just let them play and let them hit and let them drive quarterbacks into the ground. Because I watched Aaron Rogers yesterday. He's not 100%.
Starting point is 01:28:47 And you don't have a running game. And Aaron Rogers does not audible out of sacks. And he runs around a lot. Tom Brady doesn't get hit. Aaron gets hit all the time yesterday, four or five times, just taking shots. And you're complaining. Minnesota won 13 games with Case Keenham.
Starting point is 01:29:05 The Bears will win seven or eight with Mitch Trubisky. You guys were the Browns last year when Aaron Rogers got hurt. And you're complaining about that? It's like when people complain about, they go to the airport. And they complain about, oh, your plane is late because they're fixing the plane. And people are like, I can't believe it. My flight is delayed. I can't believe my flight is delayed.
Starting point is 01:29:29 And I'm like, yeah, they're getting parts so it doesn't drop out of the sky. That's literally the only time you shouldn't be annoyed that your flight is delayed. You should literally walk up to people at an airport and go, what's wrong? We have to get some additional parts and check maintenance. Right. Thank you. Right. That are flying into horrific weather.
Starting point is 01:29:48 Yes. Good looking out. Yeah. We're going to change the flight plan a little to help you remain alive. I mean, when I hear Green Bay people complaining about the Clay Matthews hit, yes, it's bang, bang, I wouldn't have called it, but there is an emphasis on this. Do you know Aaron Rogers' career passer rating is lower than the average quarterback rating in the NFL yesterday? This league's all offense now. You can't win just with a defense.
Starting point is 01:30:20 You can't. If you could win just with a defense, the New York Jets would be a viable team to win a Super Bowl. They're not. They're going to be a 7 and 9 football team with a rookie quarterback throwing 19 picks. But of all the fan bases that shouldn't complain about that call, it's green bays. There's a reason there's an emphasis,
Starting point is 01:30:36 because of your guy getting hit by Minnesota. By the way, Trent Dilford disagrees with me. He's going to join me coming up next. Also the bag, look he's smiling already. He just can't wait to just pounce on me. See, I'm a finesse guy. He's a tough guy. He's just, he can't wait for this.
Starting point is 01:30:54 He's coming up around the corner. 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. All right, welcome back. I've known him for a long time. 13 NFL seasons. Want a ring with a Ravens. A Pro Boulder in 97. My buddy now lives in a beautiful town, Austin, Texas. Trent Dilfer's joining us live.
Starting point is 01:31:17 Let's just not waste any time. I'm looking at this roughing the passer. I wouldn't have called it, but I get the emphasis, Because last year we had like six starters out. The ratings were going down. And I think the NFL wants to protect its assets. And it's such a pro-offensive league. I get why they're calling it.
Starting point is 01:31:34 But you hate it. Why? Well, I get why we're trying to protect quarterbacks. I don't disagree with you at all. That it's a better game when our stars are playing. And listen, I want quarterbacks to be healthy and throw for a billion yards. You most of them are my friends. And it's the part of the game I enjoy watching the most.
Starting point is 01:31:53 But let's not forget that this is a lot of. about a five, six-year-old emphasis. And I would like to see some hard data on whether quarterbacks are indeed getting hurt less and if they're getting hit less, because I don't believe they are. There's way more flags being thrown, bad flags being thrown, that are costing teams games like yesterday.
Starting point is 01:32:15 Green Bay has that game won if that penalty is not called because the ball is intercepted, but yet quarterbacks are still getting hurt. They're still being hit. And what we've done is we've, we've legislated all these rules into trying to protect the quarterback, but you're not really protecting them. You're just making the game works. And you've got to put yourself in the defensive perspective that I'll use the Aaron Donald hit against Derek Carr in week one. He's being held. He's being twisted.
Starting point is 01:32:46 He's being thrown to the ground. And his shoulder hits Derek Carr's legs. Now it's a penalty. I get that it's a penalty. but can Donald stop from doing that? Is Derek Parr going to get not hit like that because there's a rule in place to protect the quarterbacks more often? I just don't think there are.
Starting point is 01:33:05 I mean, we've gotten to the point now where you can't hit them below the knees, you can't hit them above the chest, your hand can't hit them in the head, and now we can't land on them. How are you supposed to tackle the quarterback? And when games are being decided about it, I just think the emphasis has gone, overboard and we're really damaging the quality of the game.
Starting point is 01:33:27 Yeah, you're a data guy as well, so you want to see actual data. If this stuff's working, if it's not, let's not. Let me, let me, it's interesting with Patrick Mahomes because you see this in baseball a lot, Trent, where a guy goes around the league once, nobody knows how to pitch him, he bats 310, then at the All-Star break, guys have film on a batter and he can't hit in the second half. Right now with Patrick Mahomes, he's had an off-season with Andy, reads play designing. He looks unstoppable. But how much of it am I seeing that's going to look like
Starting point is 01:33:59 that in Thanksgiving? Because Belichick always says there's two years pre- Thanksgiving, post- Thanksgiving. How much of it's sustainable? How much is off-season work? What do you see with Patrick Mahomes? Well, five touchdowns a weekend is not sustainable. You know, he's obviously not going to throw this touchdowns at this rate like he's doing. His completion percentage will probably balance all of it and he'll make mistakes. But I do. But I do. think the overall quality of his game is sustainable. This guy is the complete package. And I'll give you a couple of reasons why. Number one, I think it's how he's been nurtured since he's gotten in the league. I really think it's the correct formula for young quarterbacks
Starting point is 01:34:36 coming out of these college systems where they don't really make a lot of decisions. They don't have to play with a ton of discipline. He got to be nurtured for a year under a great coach you staff, play behind a season pro and Alex Smith, learn how to become a pro, learn how to play quarterback back instead of just catch. So that's number one. Number two, what you're seeing and why I think it's very sustainable is number one, the physical traits are obviously there and everybody that evaluate him saw the physical traits. He's got a great arm. He's got great athleticism. He's got big, thick joints. He's got stature, so he'll stay healthy. The intangible traits are there. He's a poised kid. He was raised the right way. He's a tough kid. He's a great leader. He's a smart
Starting point is 01:35:20 kid. But what you're starting to see are the passing trait come out. What really impressed me was his ability to pass the ball. He could be early and throw it soft. He could be late and throw it hard. He threw it over defenders. He threw it around defenders. And then he started dictating terms with his eyes. And when you see a quarterback this young start manipulating the defense and dictating terms with his eyes, you know there's a certain level, a graduate level of quarterbacking going on. And because I've seen that in two weeks, it tells me without a doubt that this kid
Starting point is 01:35:54 is going to be a big time player for a long time. Very much like Carson Wentz, you couldn't deny after six, seven, eight weeks of seeing it that he played at a level so much more mature than his years. Yeah. I think we're saying the same, seeing the same thing with Patrick Mahomes.
Starting point is 01:36:10 By the way, I'll make the argument on Cleveland that I think on a short week at home with that defense, they'll beat Sam Darnold, they'll be one, one, and one. And if you'd have asked them before the season with their schedule of Big Ben and then going to New Orleans to face Breeze, if you'd take one, one and one, they would have absolutely taken it. But now people want to see Baker because Donald's playing and Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. And I can see where Cleveland's looking around the league thinking, hey, we've got to get our guy in there.
Starting point is 01:36:39 How would you, tomorrow you're the coach of the Browns, how would you massage? because I think Cleveland's defense has a lot of good players, Trent. They've had a lot of top draft picks. They can really play. How would you massage it going forward with Baker? I wouldn't play them. And I think Baker has a chance to be a really good pro. But I think looking at what's going on with Patrick Mahomes and his ability,
Starting point is 01:37:05 Baker's ability to sit there for an extended period of time. I don't know if this entire year, I would prefer for this entire year, but sit there and watch a pro do his business. Watch Tyrod Taylor work during the week, how he prepares, how he handles adversity, how he handles the media, how he handles in-game situations. Learn from Tyrod's mistakes instead of having to learn from your own mistakes. We mean you've had this conversation about parenting. I told my kids, you don't have to make the mistake to learn from it.
Starting point is 01:37:36 Watch all your friends make that same dumbass mistake and learn from their mistakes. And you don't have to make them. So it's the same thing with quarterbacking. You don't have to go out there and make a mistake and go, oh, I'll learn from that. No, you can sit there with a clipboard, watch the other guy make the mistake, watch how he handles it good or bad, and then put it in the mental roll of, oh, I'm not going to make that one because I saw what he had to go through. I think it is my personal opinion, I know many very respected people out there disagree
Starting point is 01:38:08 with me, but I think the best situation is for these young guys, especially with the state of college football and how little football they're learning to come to the NFL and have an extended period of time to wait and watch somebody in front of you who's a season pro, who's kind of been there, done that,
Starting point is 01:38:27 and learn from that person's mistakes and successes. You know Ryan Fitzpatrick. You guys are, I'm sure you've hung out. He's very funny guy, very smart guy. Okay, he's just tearing things up. What is the explanation when you watch him play for, you know, I mean, this is incredible. Like he is, and by the way, it looks almost, almost effortless.
Starting point is 01:38:50 Like he's having fun playing the position. He is tearing it up. What's going on? Well, I think a couple things. He's always had these stretches when he's played of just crazy success in stints. He's a highly aggressive guy. Now, most big aggressive guys, the guys who want to push the ball down the field are six three, six four, you know, big heavy guys, huge arms, sit there in the pocket and rip it
Starting point is 01:39:17 downfield. And that's not Fitzmagic's thing. But he plays that way. He plays highly aggressive. He loves throwing the ball down the field. He has great downfield accuracy. He has always been this way. And he can get as hot as anybody.
Starting point is 01:39:29 The problem has been he can be as cold as anybody, too, when it turns the other direction. Now, I do think with this offense, with the skill people they have, it fits his type of play well. I think the play caller, I think the ability to. have the keys to the car at the line of scrimmage, he's changing plays, he's changing protections, he's getting into the right looks, so he's playing the game on his terms. I think all that fits him very well. And the one thing that Ryan really hasn't done for an extended period of time is, is play at this level for 12, 13, 14, 14, 15 weeks. I think he can.
Starting point is 01:40:02 I've always been to believe that he's a starter in this league, but for whatever reason, the course of his career, he's had these loles as well. So it'll be really interesting to track this Tampa situation the rest of the year. I'm like everybody else. I'm sitting in my war room watching him play just giddy with the type of success he's having. But we'll see how it plays out. When you watch, I got to ask you about Jared Gough of
Starting point is 01:40:25 the Rams because, listen, I would say from coach to punter, this roster is about as good as you can get. I mean, their left tackled, their core, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald, Indomac. Their secondary right now is ridiculous. I mean, Sam Shields, People forget about how talented he is.
Starting point is 01:40:43 I mean, they're kickers, they're punter, they're return guys. But when you watch it, how much is McVeigh, how much is Gough? Because I'm starting to hear this. I'm starting to hear, well, I mean, good guy. I mean, what how much is, look at the playbook.
Starting point is 01:40:57 Look at what they're doing. Nobody disputes Mahomes raw talent. Is Gough being carried or do you see him doing some of the caring? He carries a lot of water now. It's just different. I think probably the people that are scoffing are the ones that were anti-Jarred Gough coming out. They're more the evaluator that likes the Mahomes type, the darnal type.
Starting point is 01:41:22 The guy that's going to extend plays. He's a little more athletic and devalues the Jared Gough type, which is he's going to play more on time than most people. Jared Gough has elite anticipation. He has elite intermediate accuracy. He's got a very good arm. He's very smart. He's got what I call a twitchy mind. He thinks quickly.
Starting point is 01:41:45 So he processes a lot of information at a very high rate. So this no huddle stuff, people go, oh, they're playing high tempo. They're tricking people. He's digesting, processing a lot of information that allows them to play at that rate. The volume for which their playbook has, that's a lot of consumption during the week. It puts a heavy burden on the quarterback to make a lot of. decisions during the week at the line of scrimmage after the ball snap. So it may be he's not as athletic as some of the other big time quarterbacks in the national football league, but he
Starting point is 01:42:20 plays the position of quarterback as well as anybody. I just think it's a perfect fit. Sean McVeigh need somebody with a twitchy mind. He needs somebody that's very accurate 10 to 25 yards down the field because that's where he likes to attack. He needs somebody that has command at the line of scrimmage like Jared has. So it's been a it's been a really neat marriage and I don't think I don't think it's going to slow down. I think Jared Goff's only going to get better. And the one they all say about Jared Goff and all my time worked with these young quarterbacks and then watching their college careers, he's the best deep ball throw on I have ever seen. Yes. Ever. Yeah. Well, hold on. Jeff Blake, the old quarterback for the Cincinnati
Starting point is 01:42:58 Bengals, probably the best of all time. Jared Goff is right underneath that. And he is yet to catch fire on the deep ball in the NFL. But he's going to. And with Brandon Cooks, so now you're seeing him true of 10 to, let's say, 22 yards. That's where they make their A. Wait until they start getting these two, three vertical shots again. I think this offense has unlimited potential. I think Jared Gough is one of the big reasons why. Okay, I'm going to tell you. I had an NFL guy I trust this weekend tell me this.
Starting point is 01:43:24 He said, listen, Kyle Shanahan is intense, and his offense, it takes a while to, it's not easy. And Garapolo can play a little loose. He's not the student of the game as a Peyton or a Brady. and the guy I trust said, this is not going to be as seamless as McVeigh and Gough, that Shanahan and Garoppolo should work. But Kyle's demanding and intense, and Garapolo kind of sometimes just lets it loose
Starting point is 01:43:55 and he's not the student of the game, Brady. And that was somebody I trusted that said, you're going to see some pick sixes. They may wear each other out occasionally. Talk about that marriage, what you're seeing so far. Because Jimmy G almost lost that puppy. but yesterday with a pick sex. What do you see going forward?
Starting point is 01:44:12 Yeah, Kyle will win this. That's what I'll say going forward. He is very intense. He demands a ton from the quarterback. He got it from his dad. And Steve Young told me stories about how Mike, how demanding Mike was of Steve. So Kyle is the same way with his quarterbacks, and he will win the battle. Jimmy will have to go more
Starting point is 01:44:32 towards Kyle's side where you become an absolute anal retent freak in your preparation. and you play every snap as it's the last snap, the most important snap your life, and you take nothing for granted. Because that's what Kyle demands of his staff and of himself. They prepare as well as anybody. If you watch yesterday's game, yeah, there was a mistake, but there was a lot more discernment in Jimmy's game for the most part.
Starting point is 01:44:58 He was more efficient. He was more careful with the ball. I could see that Tuesday of last week, or Monday of last week, when him and Kyle had their first sit down, after the disastrous opening week, there were some real truth-telling going on. And I'm sure one of those messages was, hey, Jimmy, you're going to do it my way. Exactly my way. Because if you look at these guys, the Tom Brady, the Aaron Rogers, the Drew Brees, the
Starting point is 01:45:22 Phillip Rivers, the best of the best of the best, they've been doing it for a long time. In the beginning, they did it exactly the way their coaches envisioned it happening. You have to earn your coaches. It's one of the greatest mistakes I made my career. was I didn't do it exactly the way my coach has asked me to do it. And if you do it exactly the way they ask you to do it, you'll earn their trust, and then they'll expand the offense, and you'll have a longer leash. Jimmy has not earned that long leash yet.
Starting point is 01:45:51 He's got to earn the respect of Powell and the rest of that staff and that team by doing it exactly the letter of the law for how Powell wants it done. Trent Dilfer, Monday. God, I love this. So good talking. So good talking. Why don't you invite me down to your place in Austin sometime? That'd be nice of you. As soon as you started getting my bio-preck and saying 14 years and say it's 13 years, we'll sit here and watch my five televisions in the war room and drink some beer and watch some gangs. 14.
Starting point is 01:46:19 The staff put 13. That's not me. My staff, we don't have a Kyle Shanahan on my staff. We're not good with details. I told you last week that was a hard year, man. That was a hard year. I earned that 14th year. I almost died.
Starting point is 01:46:34 Okay. I know you did, buddy. All right. Good talking. Trent, great talking to you. See ya. But, you know, I was singing about this. I was watching the Rams yesterday.
Starting point is 01:46:42 And I was just, like Kevin Durant, you ever watch a game with the Warriors? Kevin Durant will have like 31. And the game will be over and you're like, how many Kevin Durant have? I don't remember eight of them. Great teams and great players make it look easy. And Clay Thompson's very good. But if a Ben Simmons or Clay Thompson had 31, you'd be like, oh, my God, you'd be driving home. Clay Thompson dominated the game.
Starting point is 01:47:08 If when you look at the Rams, Kansas City's scoring a lot of points. First of all, Kansas City's defense is terrible. You can't win multiple playoff games with Kansas City's defense. They're fun. They're a fireworks show. That defense is terrible. But when Kansas City drops 35, it
Starting point is 01:47:23 feels like you watched 35 points. The Rams in two weeks have not clicked and they've dropped 35. That's like Kevin Durant. You'll literally look at a box score. Durant's got 29. You don't remember four baskets. Like Michael Jordan would score 34,
Starting point is 01:47:40 and it wasn't, he had maybe one or two great plays. I'm telling you, the Rams right now aren't even clicking, and they're dropping 35. Kansas City's doing it, but you can feel every point. With Kansas City, it might be also that their defense is so bad that the other team is also a scoring
Starting point is 01:47:55 points, so you see how you're seeing how much scoring is happening. They're giving up over 500 points a game. Kansas City's defense is atrocious. So it's fun, and everybody's talking about it, and Patrick Rahms is athletic and a big arm, but, I mean, look at the Chiefs and Rams.
Starting point is 01:48:14 Look at the difference in the quality of defense. First of all, special teams, Rams have the best in the league. Defense, Rams right now is first, second, third best in the league. They're both scoring points, but, God, it's just methodical watching the Rams offense. From McVeigh to their line, to their receivers, to Gurley, to Gough. I mean, they don't have, there's nothing off. Offensively they can't do.
Starting point is 01:48:36 They can go deep. They go underneath. They hand off. Gertley can get a swing pat. They do everything well. Even though the Rams are new as far as McVeigh and this version of the team, they feel like a system. Whereas the chiefs feel like new. Raw town of Patrick Mahomes.
Starting point is 01:48:51 Exactly. Joy Taylor with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, real quick before we get to the news, we know the kickers did really horrible yesterday around the league. the Browns and Vikings have now waived their former kickers and the Vikings are signing former Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey
Starting point is 01:49:12 Okay now so there we go So that's where, see Dan Bailey wanted to go to the right team Right So Dan Bailey turned down four offers Minnesota just got their kicker See Minnesota is a real legitimate Super Bowl team Right so he said he was waiting for the right team
Starting point is 01:49:28 There you go according to Adam Shepter he's signing with The Vikings That game went to overtime Green Bay never threatened to win that game. Minnesota had that game won twice. Right. Well, the Vikings rookie kicker, Daniel Carlson, missed all three of his field goal. Oh, it was painful.
Starting point is 01:49:43 Painful. There's that. All right. So after blowing out Ole Miss, 62 to 7 on the road, Alabama maintained their number one spot in the week four AP poll, which was released yesterday. LSU climbed up six spots to number six after its last second win over Auburn on the road. And Wisconsin fell to 18 from number six after losing to BYU at home.
Starting point is 01:50:00 Georgia also moved past Clemson, claim the number two spots. Two best teams I've seen, Alabama, Ohio State, and then LSU. Ohio State, you know, I said, I thought the Big Ten would close the gap on the SEC, but when you watched Auburn LSU, they haven't closed the gap. That was just, that game looked different than every game I saw this week. Auburn LSU was like 25 NFL guys on the field. Right, just faster.
Starting point is 01:50:27 Bama looks better than everybody, but Ohio State, and again, my takeaway is, Speed, length, Pass rush, Ohio State's pass rush is NFL dudes. Yes. Yeah, Ohio State can play with anybody. Exciting weekend. Okay, so Dwayne Wade is returning for one last dance. He announced
Starting point is 01:50:44 in a video that he plans to rejoin the heat for one final season before retiring. Everyone was kind of on Wade watched. He said he was going to talk with his family. And that he was kind of leaning towards retiring, we don't really know. So he posted a video, and he said he had never wanted an elaborate farewell tour.
Starting point is 01:51:00 Okay. But he said this is going to be his last year and this is his announcement. I've always did things my way. What they've been good or what they've been bad. I got here because I've done things the way that I feel is right for me. And I was right for my family. And what I feel is right, I feel it's right to ask you guys to join me for one last dance, for one last season.
Starting point is 01:51:29 This is it. That I've given this game everything that I have and I'm happy about that. And I'm going to give it for one last season, everything else I have left. There's going to be a 16th season. Udonis Haslam is also returning for one last season with the Heat. So it's going to be a nice little tour for Dwayd and UD for Heat fans. And this is good because the Heat have a young team. So I believe in culture, so with organizations.
Starting point is 01:51:57 So Wade there for his last season, UD there for his last season, kind of sending the heat off into the next chapter and, you know, kind of. I can remember him at Marquette. I never thought he would be this good in the NBA. I remember, in fact, coming out of college, my takeaway was he can't shoot and he's a great defensive player. That was my takeaway. He doesn't really shoot well, which even at the end, he's not an elite shooter. And I was like, God, he's going to be a great defensive player.
Starting point is 01:52:20 I thought he would come into the league and be like a two guard. He would defend people. He'd play forever. Tough kid. If I recall, he was like the fourth pick in the draft. He came out of Marquette. Pat Riley got him. But he's never, what's remarkable about him is all the points he's scored.
Starting point is 01:52:36 at 6'4 without being a great shooter. That's pretty remarkable. Well, he's an incredible finish at the rim. Yes. And, I mean, the leadership qualities that he brings. I mean, LeBron would not be LeBron without Dwayne Way. I'll make this argument. In the history of the National Basketball Association,
Starting point is 01:52:54 the two players that played bigger than they are in the history are Charles Barkley, who's, I'm 6-2. Charles isn't that much bigger than me. He's like 6'4 and a half. he played power forward and you couldn't stop him and duane wade dwayne wade and charles are closer than you think in size now charles a little wider right now but charles played way bigger than his size people think charles a power forward six nine no he's not and he feels bigger too on the court weight has an incredible amount of blocks also yes so um but yeah that's an exciting news okay so finally
Starting point is 01:53:29 you know you don't like nicknames you don't like backwards hats and you don't like nicknames Backward hats. I can't do it. But Fitzmagic is here, at least for the moments. He's stolen, in my opinion, James Winston's job. I think pretty much everyone agrees with that. And he also stole just John Jackson's clothes yesterday. So after leading the bucks to a two-nothing start, he's passed more than 800 yards and eight touchdowns.
Starting point is 01:53:53 So it's Fitzmagic, and he showed up to the press conference looking very Connor McGregor-ish. Sick look. Hey, DJ. I got like two more because DJG needs a stuff bag. I borrowed your stuff. Yeah, I borrowed your stuff. Sorry, Deshaun.
Starting point is 01:54:16 What is yours? Is any of them yours or is that? The chest hair is mine. Brian, you've got people in the fan stands wearing beers. You've got women wearing beers. They're wearing that. Swagging out with 2 and O. I mean, he's taking James's job, that's for sure.
Starting point is 01:54:34 Some weird teams that are 2 and 0 in this league right now. Tampa Baby and 2 and O is the weirdest. Weird. I like my dolphins. I'm not going to get excited about it or anything. Yeah, Florida's undefeated. Tampa's undefeated. The Jags are undefeated and the dolphins are undefeated.
Starting point is 01:54:49 The Bengals are also undefeated. They're all talented. Listen, Adam Gase just said, all you guys that are headcases and divas, you're out of the locker room. I want to change the culture. And Miami's played well. They totally, they outplayed the Jets yesterday. I watched all that puppy. No, they definitely did.
Starting point is 01:55:03 I'm going to remain a skeptic for the moment, but credit where credits do. Anyway, Fitzpatrick is, I mean, he's the quarterback now. You can't turn this knee back over to James. Not right now. Unless this just all ends next week, I don't think it's his job anymore. Not for the time being. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news.
Starting point is 01:55:25 And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Dak Prescott next put himself on a list. He doesn't want any part of. That is next and best for last. Sunday, it's a great slate of NFL action, starting with Saquan Barkley and the Giants, taking on the Texans.
Starting point is 01:55:40 Then it's America's Game of the Week. It's Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys battle Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. It's all on Fox and the Fox Sports app. Check local listings for the game in your area. By the way, next week, 49ers Chiefs, is going to be really interesting. Andrew Luck plays Philadelphia in that one o'clock window. Philadelphia is a team that's very interesting.
Starting point is 01:56:02 and Carson Wentz is back, but even though they've practiced, they haven't played together. So keep your eye on the Colts next week. Andrew Luck's playing well, and the defensive line for the Colts is better than people thought. So the Colts have a chance to go into Philadelphia and upset them. I took the Colts this week. I liked him a lot. Andrew Luck is back. He looks very good.
Starting point is 01:56:22 Took a bunch of underneath routes yesterday. They kind of controlled the Redskins. So when you look at Philadelphia, Wentz is back. That's going to be a big story. that your first game back off an injury is very rarely the sharpest game. Keep your eye on the Colts. I think they're getting about six, seven points. I'm not going to say I'm going to put in my Blazing Five.
Starting point is 01:56:39 But when Andrew Lux's hot, he overcomes a lot, and he's playing really well right now. All right, we call it best for last. After almost three hours, Colin apparently hasn't gotten to the point yet. Quit holding out on us, cowherd. It's the best for last. Well, yesterday, the quarterback rating yesterday on average was, 105.1. That's better than Aaron Rogers' career quarterback rating. The first couple of weeks of the NFL, we predicted before the season because of the rule changes, anti-helmet rule, and pro-catch
Starting point is 01:57:13 that, and we have so many good offensive coaches right now in the NFL, combining with good quarterbacks, offense would be up. Well, it is, except for the quarterbacks with an average arm like Dak Prescott. Now, Jerry Jones, after watching Jared Gough of the Rams last week. Defended Dak Prescott again. Here's the owner of the Cowboys. We've got a quarterback that is somewhere between the one that you
Starting point is 01:57:38 saw with the Rams last night and Cam Newton. He can do some of what both of those guys do. Well, you know it's there. You know he's got it. Well, I do not think Dak has Cam Newton's arm and I do not think Dak throws a football like Jared Goff.
Starting point is 01:57:55 Let me give an example of why I like Dak but think he has an incredibly low ceiling. He was passed on by 32 teams three times. The fewest yards in a win this year are Nick Foles, Blaine Gabbard, and Dak Prescott. Now, many people say, well, Dak's a different quarterback. He's a mobile quarterback. All right, let's talk mobile quarterbacks. In his three seasons with a great offensive line and Zeke, Dak has never thrown for four touchdowns in a game. Let's look at other mobile quarterbacks. Cam Newton, Deshawn, and Russell have done it three times. Andrew Luck and
Starting point is 01:58:29 Blake Bortles have done it two times. Dax never done it. So now let's talk about, all right, all right. There's the other guy. He kind of reminds me of Russell Wilson. Because remember, Jerry Jones said he's got a lot of Jared Goff and Cam. I do not believe that to be true. People make excuses for Dack because he's a mobile quarterback. Okay, I gave you the mobile quarterbacks. The other guy he's compared to is Russell Wilson. I don't think there's any comparison to Russell Wilson and Dak Prescott. Let's go to the fourth quarter when you really have to rely on your arm. You're often trailing late. In the fourth quarter since 2016, the year DAC entered the league, remember, with Zeke and with a great offensive line, Jason Witten and Des Bryant,
Starting point is 01:59:13 Russ has double the touchdown passes. Russ has a significantly higher passer rating. In fact, Russ has the best fourth quarter passer rating in NFL history. So let's stop comparing DAC to Cam, to Russell, to other mobile quarterbacks, to Jared Gough. He's got a much lower ceiling. Now, David Carr, a former number one pick, his brother's Derek Carr, was on the show earlier today. He said there are things he likes about Dak. Here's what we should expect from him. The way they ran offense yesterday is the way they have to run offense for the rest of the time that he's their quarterback.
Starting point is 01:59:49 Involve him in the run game with Zeke. He's not Tony Romo. Don't make him Tony Romo. Don't spend the entire offseason trying to turn him into something that he's not. You can put a lot of bodies around him. You can get a great offensive line. You can put some more pieces on defense.
Starting point is 02:00:00 Maybe go find a wide receiver or Levion Bell, which you don't need. But I'm saying like that kind of dynamic player around him, right? And just run behind Zeke. Let Zeke do it. You know, Travis Frederick's not out there, but you didn't need him. Here's the thing for Dallas. They have a decision to make in the next year and a half. You do not want to be chaotic at quarterback.
Starting point is 02:00:20 Right now the Buffalo Bill's Joy. are chaotic at quarterback. Disaster. That's what you don't want to be. So would I pay DAC? Yes, I would. But it would be about the number. Can I get him for 17 and a half?
Starting point is 02:00:34 19, 18. Then I can give him better pieces. But in the NFL, what you don't want to be is Buffalo. Like just right now, it's chaos at quarterback for Buffalo. You know, again, I'll say I like so many things about DAC. But let's not compare him to golf. He's not. Let's not compare him to Cam.
Starting point is 02:00:56 Let's not compare him to Russell Wilson. Those guys have huge ceilings. Dak was passed on by 32 teams three times and other teams four times. Tomorrow on the show, Heard Hierarchy and Tony Gonzalez. My other takeaway from the weekend is Cleveland's going to rush Baker Mayfield to start here. Cleveland, take a deep breath. You're going to win Thursday because you're going to play Sam Darnel. on a short week, a rookie quarterback against your defense,
Starting point is 02:01:25 you're going to be one, one, and one. You would have taken that before the season started. You would have taken that 100 out of 100 times. For our radio listeners, we're gone. Tony Gonzalez heard hierarchy tomorrow for our TV audience back in a second. Speak for yourself is right around the corner. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind,
Starting point is 02:01:50 and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice 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.
Starting point is 02:02:19 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.
Starting point is 02:02:43 Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. 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.
Starting point is 02:03:00 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 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?
Starting point is 02:03:20 Hey, man. Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifferts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers.
Starting point is 02:03:45 We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest story. story lines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.

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