The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Le'Veon Bell Drama, Packers Missing Defense, NFL Prediction and the Herd Hierarchy

Episode Date: September 6, 2018

Colin discusses the situation between RB Le'Veon Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers, why the Green Bay Packers should spend money on defense, teams he likes this coming NFL season, and the Herd Hierarchy. Guests include Nick Wright, Peter King, Greg Cosell, and TJ Houshmandzadeh. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ah, this is the herd. NFL season tonight, baby. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, FS1. Joy Taylor, sitting alongside. We are ready to go. Eagles hosting the Atlanta Falcons tonight. What a day.

What a season that starts tonight. quarterbacks outside of Carson Wentz all ready to go. Can't wait. Morning, Colin? Morning joy. Well, well, well, well, well. Lavian Bell, so I'm not going to show up for the Steelers. He's a great player. And yesterday, Pittsburgh Steelers, right after my show, all the offensive lines started

ripping Lavin'Lavium Bell. It's cats and dogs living together. It's crazy in Pittsburgh, and I love Pittsburgh, but it's a zoo. Lavian Bell made a choice. 14 years old, he chose to be a running back. 20 of them were drafted this year. Another eight will make the NFL that are undrafted. Tom Brady has been the only steady in the Patriots dynasty.

They have had nine different leading rushers. You have to be mature earlier than you usually want to. 14, 15 years old, you can make decisions that will end your life or extended. be ready, I tell my kids. I was 14 years old. I wanted to be in the media. I read the newspaper, front to back, and I watched local TV. So when I was 14 years old, I set up a meeting with the local newspaper, and I drove there.

And I drove to my local newspaper, and the parking lot had beat up cars. And I went inside the newsroom, and it smelled like old newsprint. And people weren't well dressed, and they were grumpy, and their head were down. There was no energy in the building. A week later, my dad set up a meeting with King TV in Seattle. That was a TV station I watched. I loved King TV in Seattle. And I met with them, and I pulled into the parking lot.

There was a beautiful woman getting out of a cabriolet, which at the time was an amazing car. Not so much now. And I went into the lobby, and there were flowers and attractive people, and the energy was great. And I went into the newsroom, and people were laughing and high-fiving and watching TV and having fun. And at 14 years old, I made a choice. There was a lot of different jobs in the media. I'm doing the TV radio thing over the newspaper thing. And it has done well for me.

Levian Bell was 14 years old. Could have picked any position. He was that talented. He chose the one that's a pinata in which there are dozens upon dozens of running backs every year that come into the league. Second round, third round, fourth round, fifth round, fifth round, seventh round, undrafted. And become great players, Alvin Kamara. These are the choices we make. This is happening all over in America for young men and women who are very very,

very, very smart. They are choosing tech. Wall Street over medicine. Why? Because they don't want to be on call 24-7. They don't want to get out of college with $300,000 in college debt. They don't want the horrible hours and staying in college for eight years and watching blood. They want to go and create new things. And maybe they won't save people, but maybe they will. They'll make an app that'll save people. And it's fun and it's better energy and you don't have that college debt. And you make that choice at 14 and 15 years old. If you make it at 38, it's too late. It's the downside to youth.

As Winston Churchill said, it's wasted on the young. You've got to have it together, baby, at 15, because those choices end a life or extend a life. I tell my kids, figure out what you love and pursue it with passion. But take a while to figure out what you love because it's going to reshape your life. Yes, Libby and Bell is unbelievable.

believably talented. Talent doesn't always mean you're the highest paid. Daniel Day Lewis is considered a greatest actor. He chooses art. He chooses to play Lincoln for school and seven years ago. He goes into character for nine months. He goes home at night. His kids are like, Dad, we're playing basketball.

You want to be the ref? A house divided against itself cannot stand. Dad, we're just playing basketball. do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? Dad, can't you just be a dad? Full score and seven years ago, he chooses art. The Rock chooses action. And he plays himself.

And he makes double Daniel Day Lewis. We all make choices. Don't complain about the choices you make. They're yours. And yours singular. You want to choose art? You may end up waiting tables in Hollywood for nine years. You choose action?

Yeah, a lot of those movies. Make a lot of money. Man a lot of money, but play yourself. Get big muscles go to a gym. You'll never be respected by the critics, and you'll never be respected by the artists. But I think Rock seems pretty happy. Last time I heard from Rock, you wanted to be president. And considering who's there now, he may be.

Who knows? But Levy and Bill made a choice. He made a choice. We all make choices and take your time and choose wisely because it's going to shape your life. And the Steelers offered him, I mean, depending on the story you read, the franchise tag 15, 16, 17 million bucks? It's not like they're saying, here's some top ramen enjoy your season. You know, go down to the cafe where, you know, we're not asking here for double, you know, to basically giving you nickels and pennies and, you know, old beat up furniture. We're giving you like $16, $17 million.

But by the way, I love you, Lavian Bell, but weren't you the guy that got high in a car going to a game with a teammate? Aren't you the guy that's had some baggage? Those were also your choices. I'm not against Daniel Day Lewis and Abraham Lincoln. I am not against Lavian Bell. I am not against kids who choose medical careers. But those are all choices we make and we make them early and they matter. Don't complain about them.

Don't complain about him. Running backs are incredibly replaceable in this league. I mean, the league right now has got four great quarterbacks. Four! The Steelers are saying this morning, we have two great running backs. One won't show up, and we're going to show you how good the second one is. Make choices. They're yours.

Don't resent them later. So there's a reason I am not a super-tenth. techie guy, but I do upgrade my phone regularly, the iPhone thing. And I, you know, I see myself as not super techy, but I got kids, so I got to pay attention to the devices and what they're on and, you know, make sure nothing crazy is going on. But I will spend money, I will on the iPhone. I'll update it every year and I'll spend money. And the reason I do that is because it saves me money elsewhere.

Because my iPhone means I don't have to have a newspaper subscription. I don't have to have an alarm clock. I don't have to have a watch, a high-deaf camera, a roll-a-dex, a voice recorder. It is all in my phone. I don't need a calculator or a music player or a video game or a flashlight or a notepad or a computer or a GPS. So I overspend on the phone and they're way too expensive in my opinion, but I do so because they save me elsewhere. The Green Bay Packers, I contend and I said this yesterday, should have gone for it with Kaleel Mac.

Now instead they'll face him two times a year. Aaron Rogers will feel that breath. At least a dozen times a year now for the next several years. A guy off, by the way, two collarbone surgeries. The Green Bay Packers have wasted years of Aaron Rogers. Because like the iPhone, you don't have to give him the best offensive line. You don't have to give Aaron Rogers the best running game. You don't have to give him Hall of Fame tied ends.

You don't have to give Aaron Rogers. amazing wide receivers. You can give him C plus B minus across the board and he elevates everybody to another level. Brady does the same thing. So there's no excuse for New England not to spend money on defensive stars. I've been critical of them.

And there's no reason why if the L.A. Rams, who were also interested in Khalil Mack, can pay five and six guys huge money, the Packers can't play. two guys huge money. Okay, don't tell me, well, you can't, I mean, you can't pay like a quarterback

and a defensive end, all that money. Rams are paying guys a ton. Well, same league, same salary cap. Rams also wanted Khalil Mac. When you have the iPhone, it allows you not to spend big money elsewhere because it elevates your life. When you have Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady, There is no reason to spend a fortune on tight ends.

You just have to have good, solid players around you, and then they'll elevate everything, which allows you the freedom to overpay a little and take risks on pass rushers. There's no excuse. To me, this idea that, yeah, I mean, you can't just spend all this money on, why not? It's a salary cap. Once you have a guy as good as Brady or Aaron Rogers,

you can save so much money on the offensive side, it allows you to overpay for the next Lawrence Taylor. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Would you rather have your superstar quarterback who's had two collarbone surgeries, probably physically now, not in his prime, slightly on the 10th or 11th hole, face Khalil Mack, face the Vikings defense, or just face them in the locker room as they both head to the shower on the same team,

I think it's obvious. If the Rams can pay for five or six stars and they wanted them, the Packers can certainly pay for two. Coming up next, there was, you know, season starts tonight. And something that is always for me, in fact, I've written about this in my books, I like people with a chip on their shoulder. I like people who have been hurt, told no, rejected, because they're vulnerable, they work harder, they get that little chip. And there are four teams as we enter the NFL season tonight that I like more than everybody else.

And they're the four teams in the NFL with a chip on their shoulder. And I'll talk about all four coming up next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Joy Taylor is joining me NFL season tonight. I like Atlanta to beat the Philadelphia Eagles. We've seen, we've talked about this ad nauseum that I'm just a big believer that most of the people I've worked with in my life in sports, in the media, they got a little chip on their shoulder.

Somebody told them, no, you can't do it. And I love hiring those kind of people. I love supporting those kind of people. I think the white picket fence, you know, private school. That's great. Congratulations. But I have overwhelmingly seen people at every corporation I've worked at who started in the mailroom, who didn't have rich parents, who didn't get all the breaks.

They have a toughness about them. We've seen this in the NFL. Aaron Rogers had to go to a junior college dropped in the draft. Tom Brady, six round. Drew Brees was too small. Wouldn't go in the first round. University of Texas ignored him. Oklahoma ignored him.

Had to go to Purdue. Russell Wilson. His coach told him you can transfer. He goes to Wisconsin. Dominates. You're too small. You run too much. Big Ben grows up in Ohio, doesn't get an offer to Michigan or Ohio State. I mean, you can go up and down NFL quarterbacks. 99% of the good ones have been told outside of Peyton Manning, you're no good. You're not tall enough. You're not this enough. You're not that enough. I also love teams like that. And I think there are four teams in the NFL this year that come in with a chip. on their shoulder. Now, in order to love you, you got to have the talent good enough to win the Super Bowl, and all four of these teams do. And there's about 12 teams in the league that have the talent to win the Super Bowl. About a third of the league, maybe 11 or 12. Maybe not that many,

but close, about a third of the league. But so if you can give me talent in that chip on the shoulder that you've spent the entire offseason being told, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'll give you four teams. I'll start with Atlanta. I love Atlanta this year. Atlanta's got two massive motivating factors. They led the Patriots two years ago, 28 to 3 in the Super Bowl, and blew it and had to live with it. They lost their top coordinator and were told they're no good. They come back last year and they have the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia. They go all the way to L.A., beat the Rams, dominate the game, go back home to Atlanta, practice, go up to Philadelphia,

nine-yard line first and goal, get down to the two. This plays the difference between this play. I'm showing you on FS1. facing and beating the Minnesota Vikings going to the Super Bowl. They have had to live the last two off seasons being this close. And Philly gets all the love and Tom Brady gets all the love and the fame and the endorsements and the intention. And they are just sitting there for two years seething. Their offensive line out is really good.

Dan Quinn's clearly a great coach. Steve Sarkeesian's second year working with Matt Ryan. Key pickup at a wide receiver spot and defensive positions. Love Atlanta chip on the shoulder this year. second team is Baltimore. Baltimore was the most impressive team to me. First of all, they draft Lamar Jackson to push Joe Flacco. He looked great in preseason.

This is a Baltimore team last year that was going to make the playoffs. But Andy Dalton, Andy Dalton, Andy Dalton, fourth down prayer, touchdown pass out of the playoffs. They've had to live with that in the wait room every day since then. They were also five and two down the stretch. Their last five losses last year, all five. one possession losses. Baltimore is going to rebound big.

Every workout this offseason, they're thinking about that Andy Dalton prayer and a wasted opportunity. The third team's the L.A. Chargers. They started the year 0 and 4, and in three of the four games, outplayed the opposition, and two of four out gained them. Why?

They couldn't get down the field goal thing. It was brutal. They ended the year winning six of seven, and 9 of 12. They were as good as anybody in the NFL not named the Patriots and Eagles at the end of the season. Their only losses at the end of the season came against playoff teams. They addressed all their draft needs. They have to play in a soccer stadium.

They have a major chip on their shoulder. They don't really get home games like everybody else. This is a loaded roster. Vegas even gets it. They're only 18 to 1 to win the Super Bowl. That is a team last year that was better than a couple of the teams in the playoffs. They think they've solved their kicker issue and have addressed their defensive needs. And the fourth team that playing with a chip on their shoulder that I love this year,

maybe you remember them and maybe you remember how their season ended, the New Orleans Saints. Now 10 seconds remain. Kianom steps into it. Pass is called. Case Keenham has just taken the Minnesota Vikings to the NFC championship game in a game none of us will soon forget. Yeah, that leaves a mark.

I'm going to say they've been pretty salty in New Orleans. They've been a little salty in New Orleans for the last five months. Is it wrong with me that when I watch these plays, I never enjoy the excitement of it. I just feel this like drop in my stuff. I immediately feel for the people that have lost so much more than I feel happy for the winners. Drew Brees had as good a year as he's ever. had. He's got two great ones left. So Atlanta,

Baltimore, the L.A. Chargers, and the New Orleans Saints. This is a league in which the great quarterbacks all play with a ship, chip on their shoulder, all overlooked, too small, too short, run too much, and they all rise. Big Ben, Breeze, Beatty, Rogers. That's the league. Matt Ryan, none of the big programs recruited him. None of the big programs recruited Breeze, Big Ben, Tom Brady, couldn't even start at Michigan. Aaron Rogers,

go to a junior, drop in the draft, same for teams. Those workouts for six months. When you're salty, work a little harder, a little more focused. Nick right around the corner, Joy Taylor now with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

All right, the Steelers locker room is going to be a little interesting this weekend. It took a massive hit on Wednesday when Levyon Bell decided to continue his holdout. Yeah. It was only a matter of time until players lashed out. but the veteran trio of Ben Rappasberger, Marquis Pouncey, and Raymond Foster were a bit surprising to hear from yesterday. I think we're a very good offense. You know, football is the ultimate team sport. One person doesn't make or break you.

So, you know, I'd like to say that the linemen are more important than any skill position player, including myself, on this team. So, you know, we're more than this offense is more than just one guy. Cross the line, I think we're just all grown enough to finally accept things at some point. point and you're just like, all right, you know what? If you don't want to be here, it is what it is. And hold out 10 weeks. It's totally fine with us. Like, as a team, we're totally fine. It takes 11 guys, not just one.

And the ultimate team sport, we've created a league of individuals in a sense. I know the league is all about get your money. Get paid. I love it. But my perspective is a whole lot different now. I mean, year 10. This guy, what is leaving on, I'm about to go into year 7. You know, you're not getting younger.

So win it, get paid next year. Hmm. Unraveling. I love them so much, too. Well, it is interesting that they're, to me, what I'm hearing from them is that there's no communication from Leveon to his teammates. Hasn't this been? That seems to be the issue. Hasn't been this, the Mike Tomlin thing, the communication thing?

Yeah. Remember when Villanueva, the offensive lineman came out to do the anthem? And he later said, I didn't, I wasn't going to do it by myself. I thought guys were behind me. He goes, we didn't communicate in the locker room. He goes, every time I see a picture of me doing the anthem by myself, I'm totally. embarrassed because that wasn't the plan. Yeah, because it looks like he just separated

himself from the team. And that was not his plan. He's a great kid. Again, communication. Remember James Harrison came on our show and he said, my problem with the Pittsburgh Steelers is sometimes they'd send two calls under the defense. You'd have to defense doing this. Half the defense doing that. Discipline. It's always communication

and lack of structure. Yeah, and the Steelers are not going to rescind the franchise tag. So it's looking like the Steelers are done with this negotiation thing. so it's either show up and play or wait until week 10 and then we'll expect to see you then. But there's got to be some communication because what's the point? At this juncture for Levi-on Bell, if the Steelers are saying we're not budging, like this is it.

We're not taking back the franchise tag. So you either show up or wait until week 10. At this point, you might as well just make your decision. Just tell them, hey, I'm coming week 10 or, hey, I'm going to be there because otherwise you're just giving up over $800,000 a week for no reason. I would have a hard time walking back into a locker room. Listen, man, football is a physical violent battle. Hey, guys, meet you in week 10.

I mean, that's like saying, we're all going to go hiking down the Grand Canyon. And right before you're like, you know what, I'll meet you. I'll meet you. I'm going to drive over there. I'm going to drive over there. You guys, it's like, we're in this together, man. It's hard. We all play hurt.

That would be tough for me. You know, again, it's easy for me to say, but I'd have a hard. hard time saying, hey, week 10, I'm ready to go. Like, everybody else is playing hurt by then. Well, it seems like the rest of the team is out on that idea also. Ben also said that he's not even the most important part of the offense that the, you know, the guys in the trenches are, himself included. So that's kind of what, that's really where it is right now.

Like the guys blocking for Leveon are probably not getting any communication from him to find out what's going on. They're constantly being asked about it and everyone's just tired of it. Yeah. So even though Deshawn Watson's rookie season was cut short door to injury, his on-the-field production was off the charts in key categories, and his coach, Bill O'Brien, is equally impressed with how he handles his business on the field and off the field and compared him to someone which you might like to be compared to as a quarterback,

and that is Tom Brady. Stick listen. I do. I do. DeShon is, in that regard, very passionate about football, loves to watch tape, loves to talk about the game, come in early, stay late. always has good suggestions, ideas on game plans, or certain things that maybe our defense was doing in training camp. You know, how can we take advantage of that, you know, this, that, and the other, whether

it was a preseason game or against our own defense. So he really loves the game and it shows every day. By the way, one of the more shocking numbers of the weekend, Houston's getting six and a half points in Foxborough. Weather is not a concern. Houston's got a better group of players. That's a lot of points to give Deshawn Watson, Bill O'Brien, that defense. I think Houston's going to win the game straight out.

I really do. September's always been a crappy month for Belichick. It's his worst month. I can't believe that number. It doesn't make any sense to me. You're picking the Texans this weekend? Yeah, I think it's my upset pick. I think Houston just straight up.

They call that money line. I think Houston's going to win the football game. I'm very excited to see what Deshawn Watson does this year. That was one of the more disappointing injuries. I mean, obviously, one matters more than the other, obviously. But Deshawn Watson was exciting, and I'm interested to see what he does this year. And watching Tom versus Time, how obsessed Tom Brady is with football in general, if that's the kind of work I think you're getting from Deshaun, if you're a Houston fan,

you should be excited about that. Finally, could this be the resurgence of Adrian Peterson? We'll find out on Sunday because he's getting his first start with Washington. He will be starting against the Cardinals. AP also told ESPN, he's looking forward to prove. proving the doubters wrong. So, Adrian Peterson has beef with Chris Carter and Shannon Sharp. Well, because they're being realistic, which is it's admirable for him to still be willing to play.

Right. But you're talking, he's throwing 87-mile-an-hour fastballs now. He's not throwing 96. That's what, I mean, I think it's admirable for him to play. But Chris Carter and Shannon Sharper are right. This is not Alvin Kamara. Those legs have taken a beating. Well, it's up to Adrian Peterson to prove everyone wrong.

And look, I understand when people are being critical of you, it's you want to defend yourself. It's a little different when you're an athlete or a politician or an entertainer because there are a whole entire industries created around discussing what it is that you do. Right. And Shannon Sharp and Chris Carter are a hall of fame. So they're not just me and you talking about football from an outsider's perspective. They are, they were actually there. And they're not rooting against Adrian Peterson. No.

I think I'd link, I think both of them would like to see Adrian Peterson succeeded a very high. level. They're just giving their opinion about what they think they're going to see. It's going to be okay. And you have the opportunity now to start the game and show everyone what you can still do. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. All right, 30 minutes from now, I unveil my preseason poll. It's called Herd Hierarchy. I usually do it on Tuesdays, but, you know, because of Labor Day, this week's kind of been messed up. Now let's go to New York co-host First Things First via the coward, global, satellite network.

Nick Wright. All right, Lavian Bell. I said this to start my show. We all make choices. I could have chose newspapers. I chose TV because I walked into a TV newsroom, and there were flowers, and there was energy, and people were well-dressed, and it was fun and lively, and newspapers were a bunch of grumpy old guys.

And I said, I want to do TV and radio. And Lavian Bell, by the way, at 1415, he's probably good enough to play a lot of positions. Cho's running back. Now he's resentful. I like the guy a lot, but what side are you on? Steelers, teammates, offensive liner Lavian Bell? I'm on the side of right, which is when it comes to the teammates, mind your own damn pockets and zip it. If you have an issue with Levi-on-Bel and the money he's making, handle that privately.

You're right, though, everyone does have choices. And the Steelers had a choice. They chose to put the franchise tag on Levy on Bell for the second straight year. That gave him no choice. He cannot negotiate with another team. He cannot negotiate with them. He cannot get a long-term deal. So he is now choosing his only recourse, which is to withhold his services as long as possible.

I promise you this, had they made him a real long-term contract offer, he'd be there. But they didn't. What people need to understand about the Pittsburgh Steelers is the following. Up to and including Antonio Brown, they do not guarantee $1 to any player passed one year that is not a quarterback. So when Antonio Brown signed that top of the market deal, it had the guaranteed money for year one. Everything else was play as you go. El Bell would have been insane to sign that offer. So he is handling this like a business.

What's the saying when you say it's personal, I say it's a business. When I say it's a personal, you say it's a business. I butcher that, but you know what I'm talking about. Let me on Bell is treating this the way teams treat it all the time. Where was the sympathy for Des Bryant? when the Cowboys cut him as a business decision protecting their interests. He's treating this like a business. No player in the history of professional football has gotten more touches per game than this guy.

And that was before the team knew he was on his final year with the team. They're worried he's going to be used like a rental car. Put the cheap gas in it. Jump the curb. Who cares? Somebody else's problem next week. I totally understand his concern. That is exactly how I treat a rental car.

It should be noted. Yeah, of course. Kaleel Mack, I said earlier, the reason I'll spend money on my iPhone, because it saves me money on a GPS elsewhere, don't have to add newspapers, don't need a calendar, don't need an alarm clock. Aaron Rogers allows you to go cheap everywhere else on that offense, therefore allowing me to go heavy on Kalee Mac and defense. I think the Packers made a mistake.

We got two collarbone surgery. for Aaron. And now we have this generation's Lawrence Taylor potentially. I've got to face him twice a year, breathing down my neck. I'm Green Bay. I think they blew it. What say you? Listen, I think almost every team in the league would have been better with

Khalil Mack than without Kalil Mac. And if you're a team that's fortunate enough to have one of the true superstar players in the league and they've got in Green Bay the single biggest superstar in the league, yes, of course, I would rather have Khalil Mack in his prime right now than

draft picks and I would make the salary cap work. And I know you can say, oh, it's more complicated than making the salary cap work. But we, I mean, the Rams tried to trade for him, knowing they were paying Donald, knowing they already paid Gurley, knowing they'd already paid Cook saying, we'll deal with tomorrow's problems tomorrow. Let's go try to win a Super Bowl. I think this was compounded for Green Bay when he gets traded not to them, but to a divisional rival who now he gets to go after Aaron Rogers two times a year. But let's be totally honest,

the Packers have done a disservice to Rogers over the course of the last decade. They have not drafted well. They have focused on defense in the first round since 2010, only drafting one pro bowler. They don't participate in free agency, at least not until this offseason. They have won the least you could possibly win, given the fact that they've had the best quarterback or second best quarterback in football over this stretch. So it doesn't shock me that they didn't go all in for Mack, even if I would have. You know, when I watch the Tom versus Time documentary, the one thing that really sticks out to me is that Tom is the only quarterback in the league that has the rings, the legacy, the net worth, and the family.

Everything's settled. He's like LeBron. Got the rings. He's first or second best player. his net worth is remarkable, and he's got an amazing family. Kevin Durant doesn't. He's got a legacy that's still in the air, and his family is unsettled. And I believe that's one of the reasons LeBron handles criticism better than KD.

Once you go four for four, that confidence, that success builds a shield around you, and you don't need to fire back at critics. Now, Brady's got the rings, the legacy, the net worth, an amazing family. Aaron Rogers, we know this, can be a little rabbit ears. So when I hear again this year, you know, Aaron's better than Tom. I'm like, no, no, no, Aaron's a little Kevin Durant. He still gets bothered by the media. His legacy is still a little fuzzy.

He should win more rings. And he doesn't go home to a supermodel in kids. He goes home to a house in Green Bay. I still contend that Brady, you stack it up. We never said Elway was better than Montana. Elway had a better arm. We don't think Jay Cutler's better than quarterbacks because he has a better arm. Take the arm out.

I like Brady. Why is everybody telling me, year in and year out, Vegas, Rogers is better than Brady. I got proof he's not. Okay. All right. So there's a lot you just threw out me there. That was the Colin Cowher Galaxy brain that I love so much. Let me tell you why the Seattle Seahawks are like airports.

And then at the end of it, I'm like, they are like. like airports. They're flipping JFK. Okay, so I don't know exactly about the KD LeBron analogy, but I will address the end of the question directly. This is, I'm glad you brought up LeBron in this regard. There's a question about who is the most accomplished and who is

the best. So like, to use the basketball analogy, the two most accomplished basketball players ever are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan or those two guys reversed. But the greatest, the best, who at his best is the best, who can do the most, who's the most talented, that's LeBron.

There is no question that Tom Brady is the most accomplished football player ever. But if you're asking me in a vacuum, who can make the most throws, who can play the position at the highest level that I've ever seen it played, it's Aaron Rogers. And while you can make a case for Brady, most of those cases involve team success and winning, while Rogers has the greatest touchdown interception. ratio by an enormous margin in NFL history, the greatest pass-a rating by an enormous margin in NFL history. Like, I can make the case for Rogers as well, and what Rogers hasn't had to go along with him the whole way is the greatest coach ever. Instead, he's had Mike McCarthy, who I don't think is the greatest coach currently in his

own division in the NFC North. So, listen, and this is not a knock on Brady. Brady, it's a weird thing. Brady is on Mount Rushmore. Rogers is not yet. Brady is the face of Mount Rushmore. Rogers isn't on the mountain. But I think Rogers is better,

and I think he's been better for almost seven years now. I know those sound like, I know they sound like they go against each other, but I watch it and I say, man, you know this is the analogy I like to go with. If aliens came down and they didn't know anything about rings or success, but they knew the rules of football, and we said, watch each of these dudes.

play. Tell me who's better. Everyone's picking 12 in Green Bay. So it boiled down to no scouting reports in rings to little green men in a spaceship. You think my analogies are... Scouting reports, pardon me, sir, scouting reports from the little green men in the spaceship if you were listening. Nick Wright. Have a great Thursday. We'll talk soon, buddy. You two. Falcons Plus One, column. Let's start the year.

Off right. I love. Blazing 5 tomorrow. I love Atlanta tonight. Coming up next, structure and stability matter, even in creative fields. Plus, herd hierarchy top of next hour, it's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. I think structure and stability matter, even in very, very creative fields. This is why artists and musicians get completely worked by corporations.

as because they're considered flakes and they're considered artists and corporations have rated them for years. But then occasionally you'll get a band or a Mick Jagger or a Bono or a Beyonce and they've got some structure and they've got some stability and that's when artists get rich when they can add structure to their life and structure to their band and structure to their business and structure to their talent. even in artistic fields, in comedy. Jay Leno and Seinfeld are the two kings, huge net worths. They're in the funny business, but stability and structure, dependability, accountability, accountability, is sustainability. Okay. When I see what's happening with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I got offensive linemen shouting

out Lavian Bell, this has been my knock on Mike Tomlin. It's the messaging is scattered, multiple voles, voices, lack of communication. And this is what I see. By the way, the last time the Steelers finished with a better record than New England, when Tom Brady was healthy was when Bill Cower was coach. I like Mike Tomlin, but he's Pete Carroll. Pro player.

A lot of different people talking about people, anonymous quotes. Too much talking. New England's got structure and stability. And Seattle, that dynasty, it should be still, it just now should be tapering off. We got about two years of it. We should have five and six. But you had players ripping Russell Wilson and ESPN, the magazine, people getting political. And I understand it's 2018.

Players want a voice. I get it. But man, that dynasty just went red hot to, oh, to done. They're picked third in their own division now. And they don't have an offensive line. so good luck blocking Endomac and Sue and Aaron Donald with the Rams. Remember when they did that anthem thing with Villanueva, the offensive linemen? What was the big problem there?

Alejandro Villanova said he never intended to stand alone during the anthem. He said it was embarrassing. It was a botching of the team's game plan. Every time I see that picture of me standing, I'm embarrassed. We butchered our plan. Why? Lack of communication. This is what it always is with the Steelers, different messages.

and by the way, New England, 18 years one message. The minute they've had a little strife in their messaging, New England's had issues. It's just, you know, James Harrison came on our show. And again, it was communication. When James Harrison sat in this couch and I said, you know, there's some bitterness here, how it ended. What was your biggest complaint? Here's what he said. I feel like it needs to be more discipline.

Some of the things that they do coaching-wise, I feel like some of the situations that we were in when we were there as far as time management, calling of defenses. We had a situation where we had double-call defenses because one thing was said, then someone said something else. I mean, it's always the same thing. Well, when you look at managing a team,

you're really managing people. Yeah, people. You have 53 different personalities, plus the coaching staff, plus the training staff, plus the executive staff, plus the owner. So if you're the head coach, you really actually have to have one message

because you've got literally hundreds of people who all need to be on the same page. So when you tell one person this and then you tell someone else that, of course the lines are going to get crossed. And then if you have players who clearly have no idea what's happening with Levion,

who were under the impression that he was going to be there yesterday and are now angry, which is why they're saying in the media that they're fed up with it because they clearly don't know. And Nick is right. It's really not Levion's fault.

He is a professional. He should be trying to get as much money as possible. Yes, the idea is that you want to win and you want to be a team player, but those other guys aren't paying Levion's bills. Not that he's broke or anything, but this is what he's here to do. He only has this amount of time at this moment in his life to make this kind of money. So however he's being advised to do that is what he should do. He's a grown man. This is what he's supposed to do.

But would you want, do you really want multiple offensive linemen the day before the season starts firing at him? No, you don't. But I would say that that's Mike Tomlin's fault because he should have all of them. Ben included, because Ben is talking also, they should all be on the same page. This is what's happening with Levion. This is what we would like to happen. He is not going to be here. We're moving forward without him.

I don't know what you're hearing from him. This is the message. The media loves Pete Carroll. They fell in love with Pete Carroll. I mean, remember when Seattle got hot? I mean, it was like, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Suddenly, my team was the hottest team in the world. And it was politics and talking and players and outspoken.

And it unraveled. And that's what I've said about Philadelphia. a coach got a book and Lane Johnson talking this and it's like you know I know everybody in 2018 I've said this yesterday nobody's ever walked up to me and said Colin name your top five senators they ask me all the time name your top five NBA players is that that's why I stay out of politics my audience tells me what they want every day and it's not my ideas about if you were a political commentator it'd be different come up and ask you that's right but the bigger the bigger point is we live in a time where everybody has a personality and everybody is able to give their opinions

and everyone's able to have their own platform because of social media, players included, so they have their own brands. But the brand still has to be one thing. And that's boring, but that's just, that's the reality. There's too many people involved. You can have a spark. You can win one championship with that. What's amazing is you got Ben ripping the coach,

and you got players ripping the teammate, and it's just all scattered. And I know the media loves when all the players, but football's built differently. Well, yeah, we love it because it's content. Football's the only sport where you practice six times more than you play. Football is hard. You get tackled.

You don't get tackled in baseball. You don't get tackled. You get tackled in football. I can literally do the play perfect. And if the left tackle moves his pinky finger, flag, we all go five yards back. You have to be unified in football. There's a different culture. It is not star-driven.

Even Brady plays by the coach's rules. Pittsburgh's a mess. Seattle's a mess. It feels like they're unraveling. Coming up next, the herd hierarchy, essentially my preseason top 10, everything, considered health quarterback coach momentum next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Ah, this is the herd, wherever you may be. And however, you may be listening.

Live in Los Angeles, hour two, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1, Joy Taylor is joining me a feisty first hour with Nick Wright. A lot of laughs, a lot of fun. My favorite time of the year, Joy, I get Peter King and Hurd hierarchy in the next 15 minutes. That's as happy as I can get. I could not be happier unless I had a bowl of ice cream right in front of me where I was watching my kids ski, the things that make me happy. You're a big ice cream guy?

Well, I'm not supposed to be. I've got to like toast. What's that weird cake you eat? Olive oil cake. Olive oil cake. I'm on. Listen, yesterday we found out you were a muralist. You were a division two athlete.

you're a talk show host and there was something else you did. What was that? Oh, and you want to be president. No, but there was something else. All right, here we go. We do it usually on Tuesdays. We had Labor Day. We're doing it on Thursday.

This is my preseason top 10. Here we go. The third hierarchy. Time is now. Let's go. The top 10 NFL teams, according to college. Number 10. All right, New England Patriots, number 10.

29th in total defense, 30th and past defense. Now, they do get to the quarterback. They were seventh in sacks. It's not necessarily their losses in all of them. I do think Nate Solder at left tackle is going to be an important loss for an aging quarterback that's not overly mobile. Brady and Nate Soulder were very tight. It's not Danny M. Mandola. They'll find another slot receiver, Malcolm Butler, or Brandon Cooks.

But I do think we have a little bit of a rebuild left side of the offensive line. I don't think they have a dynamic wide receiving core. and Gronk is giving me about 10 and a half games a year over the last half decade. My favorite thing about the Patriots right now, they're division, and they're going to win their division because of their structure and stability. And they have the best football coach probably of my life. But I just do not see the dynamic perimeter athletes, the dynamic pass rush, and players that other teams have Patriots at 10.

Number nine. Minnesota's good, and by the way, from 9 to about 4, it's really jumbled up. to have them pull back a little. First of all, this is a big deal. They lost Pat Schumer offensive coordinator. What happened to Atlanta a few years ago when I lost Kyle Shanahan? They weren't the same football team. They were good, not great. They added Kurt Cousins. I like him better than Case Keenham. But again, new coordinator. Aaron Rogers is back in the division. They were bizarrely healthy last year. This is a very good football team. They will be in the playoff hunt and maybe a

playoff team. I like them. But last year, Rogers is out. You know, you start looking at quarterbacks banged up. Theirs was healthy. Perfect offensive coordinator. Defense didn't get banged up. It all kind of worked perfectly. Now they have a first place schedule. Good, not as great.

Vikings 9. Number 8. Listen, everybody in Vegas I talk to says the best long shot Super Bowl team is the L.A. Chargers. They won nine of their last 12 and six of their last seven. They added Mike Pouncey. So they got Russell O'Koon left side of the offensive line. Had a good year.

Now they add a Pro Bowl. Center in Mike Pouncey. They also had a defensive weakness right up the middle. They went and got Derwin James. I've been watching the practice video. He is tearing it up. Going to be a pro bowler at safety in no time. They solved their one issue on this football team.

Was right up the middle. Safety linebacker and nose tackle. This is a football team. If you look at that division now, they get John Gruden twice. They get rookie Patrick Mahomes, and he really is a rookie a couple times. We got Denver. that offensive line case, Keenham, I think the division has weakened in the last year, except the Chargers. They're at eight.

Number seven. Green Bay Packers, and again, this is really tight. They went out and they got three corners in the last couple years. They drafted a couple. They go in free agency. Aaron Rogers is back. Now, there are things about this team that drive me crazy. I think they should have gone after Khalil Mack. I don't think it's a glamour market where they can get free agents star defensive players. But Green Bay, to me, plays in a division now that's really good. This is why I lower them a little bit. Chicago's defensive front is nasty. Minnesota's roster is nasty. And Detroit's got Matt Stafford. So I like Green Bay, but that division's tough. You can make an argument. There are Sundays that looks

like the best division in football. Green Bay at seven. Number six. Again, very close New Orleans. And one of the reasons I don't have them higher, Atlanta's good, Carolina's good. Yeah, a lot of tough Sundays in the NFL in that division. They traded up in the draft to get marked. Davenport. So they want more of a pass rush. Not like they had no pass rush last year. They did lose Willie Sneed. They did lose Kenny Baccaro, but they had the offensive and defensive rookies of the year. Listen, this is a little like Brady Belichick and the AFC. I get the brain of Sean Payton. I get the brain in the town of Drew Brees. They're going to win a lot of football games, but a very, very tough division, unlike Tom Brady.

And I think right now I like Atlanta more than I do, New Orleans. In that division, I have the Saints at Sex. Number five. A little Super Bowl hangover for the Philadelphia Eagles. Carson Wendz isn't ready to play. And they bring in Michael Bennett, hello to Nata. I like that. But, you know, you start looking out Sean. Jeffrey's not ready to play. Some running backs are dinged up. I think the division's better. And frankly, I think there's a reason, on average, four teams that didn't make the playoffs, make them the next year. Last year, we had even more than that. I think it's tough. I think there's a bullseye on their back. I think Philadelphia teams from the Phillies to the Sixers to the

Flyers. Philadelphia is a puffier chest town. When you win, when you win there, it is a pot. And teams tend in Philadelphia slide back down. Malcolm Jenkins came out and said, get that goofy banner out of our locker room. Again, I don't have Carson Wentz. And stop telling me Nick Foles is almost Carson Wentz. You compare an Air Force One and a prop plane. They're different players. Philly at 5.

Number 4. My underrated team in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens. Again, if it wasn't for an Andy Dalton walkoff, they would have been a playoff team. They won five of their last seven. Their last five losses were all one possession. They went out and drafted two tight ends. They added nice spark players on the outside, wide receiver John Brown, Michael Crabtree, Willie Sneed. Joe Flacco's always played better when motivated.

That's why they overdrafted, in my opinion, Lamar Jackson. Baltimore looked tremendous in preseason in those first series, both offensively and defensively. This is the best team in the league playing with a chip on their shoulder the way the season ended with an inspired Joe Flacco and a coach on the hot seat, Baltimore number four. Number three. You know what? Pittsburgh, I love their talent. I just, I love, I love Pittsburgh, but good Lord, could they have a week when they're not in the news? I got a locker room now that's all splintered offensive lines banging on Libyan Bell. They've got a couple of linebackers. I like Bud DePree's really good. But Ryan Chazier did offer range and speed that I don't think you can duplicate. Like Sean Lee to the Cowboys, it's just there are certain players in this league. Luke Keekeley, you lose them at linebacker. You're not the same football team. There's just something about certain players. The communication, the speed, the range. Again, I like this team. Big Ben's not as efficient as I would prefer.

He's not as efficient. That is dipped in recent years. Still like him a lot. Don't love him like I do, the top two or three guys in the league. Steelers three. Number two. Listen, I told you LeBron was coming to the Lakers. You said I was an L.A. Homer. You're going to call me an L.A. Homer because I do my show in L.A. But the Rams are ridiculous.

Folks, they were 11 and 5 last year with a rookie head coach. Jared Gough, now coming back with McVe. They had a good receiving Court. They added Brandon Cook. They had Aaron Donald. They added Indomac and Sue. Their cornerback. They had Trumane Johnson. Okay, they lose him, but they had Sam Shields. They had Marcus Peters, who may be the best pure corner cover in the league in the league and a key to leave, a really good veteran tough guy. They also have the best punter and

the kicker in the league. The best special teams in the league. I'm telling you, I think we're undervaluing them at two. If you stack up rosters, what don't I like? They even went after Khalil Mack. I could argue they need a pass rusher. Everybody in the league not named Denver and the L.A. Chargers could use another pass rusher. Rams at 2. Number one. I love the Falcons.

I love. Do you know they're the only team in the NFL without a single player in the IR as of tonight? They added Calvin Ridley to a loaded wide receiving core that plays on a fast track. They needed corners. They went and got one in free agency and drafted one in the second round. The biggest story, though. There's two big stories here. Sarks in his second year. I think that's a big underreported story.

Kyle Shanahan gets him to a Super Bowl, leaves. Of course you're going to dip. Now Steve Sarkesian, second year working with Matt Ryan. Remember, Kyle Shanahan needed two years to click with Matt Ryan, too. And they also have the most underrated offensive line in the NFL. I love their owner. I love their GM. I love their coach, Dan Quinn.

I love their quarterback. and they got pieces on the perimeter. They solved their cornerback issues. Atlanta is my best team in the league as of this morning. That was fun. I love the NFL. You love the Falcons and the Ravens. I love them.

And you know, people think I don't like Atlanta. And I said, you came into the Super Bowl, yappy, yappy, yappy, yappy, yappy, New England won by the score I virtually predicted. Then last year you lose Kyle Shanahan. yappy, yappy, I'm like, you're not going to be as good and I was right. Atlanta just admit I'm right, but I don't want to be a jerk about it because this year, I think you're the team that is completely under the radar.

L.A. Rams are flashy and the Eagles got the Super Bowl. Everybody's talking about Aaron Rogers. Oh, I love Drew Brees. Atlanta's just like, don't pay attention to us. We're just opening this season tonight on another network. Atlanta in the Super Bowl. I like it. I love it. Tomorrow at this time, Blazing 5, I'll give you my 5 NFL picks.

Peter King, coming up next, joining us live. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Well, it's a great time tonight. I'll take Atlanta over the Philadelphia Eagles. I put Atlanta number one in my herd hierarchy as Joy Taylor sort of smirks at me. I like Philadelphia.

I think the NFC is absurdly, I don't remember a time in my life. The NFC, there's no gimmies. There's not a lot in the AFC. Buffalo a little bit now, a little bit of a gimmie with their O-line rebuild and their quarterback. There's no gimmies in the NFC. I'm less smiley about the Falcons than I am about the Ravens. You don't like the Ravens. Oh, because you're from Pittsburgh.

Well, look, I don't love the Ravens. You love the Ravens. I love them. And you went from being like, man, not sure, to really liking the Ravens. Ravens off of preseason, which is the only thing that gives me pause. All right. But Joe Flacco does play better when the pressure is on. Everybody's got to have a Super Bowl dark horse.

The Ravens are mine. Let's go to Peter King Football Morning in America, formerly of Sports Illustrated. Now, NBCSports.com via the Coward Global Satellite Network. All right, let's, you know, it's funny. I was seeing this, Peter. I was very reluctant to say LeBron was coming to the Lakers because I live in Los Angeles and everybody would go, oh, you're a Laker Homer. And I'm very reluctant to say the Rams and the Chargers are great.

But I look down at your predictions. You have the Chargers and the Rams in the conference championships. So you believe like me and you're on the East Coast. I almost think, Peter, that we're being ridiculous, not acknowledging. The Rams may have the most complete roster, including kickers in the last several years. Do they not? Oh, I totally agree, Colin. I was at their camp, and I just, I don't see a weakness.

Now that they've got two cover corners, you know, the only thing they probably don't have is the, you know, exterior rushers on defense. But with what, with the damage that Aaron Donald and Endomic and Sue, I think, are going to do in the middle of that line, that's going to compensate for, you know, the loss of Robert Quinn and not. having a pure pass rusher. I thought it was great that Newsleek that Les Sneed called about Khalil Mack. I mean, you know, talk about the rich getting richer. If they had Mac, man, they might go 17 and 0 in a 16 game regular season. Let's talk about Khalil Mack. You know, I get tired of hearing, like in Green Bay, we can't pay Aaron Rogers and Khalil Mack. And I'm like, listen, that's why it's called the draft. I don't want to hear that you can't pay Derek Carr and Khalil Mack. I think the Raiders made a mistake.

Your thoughts? I know the Raiders made a mistake. I think it's a debacle what the Raiders did. Colin, I did this in my Monday column this week. I basically factored out the salary cap over the next six years based on the last five years. And the salary cap is going to go up about $10 million a year. If it does, then Khalil Max's contract, his average salary, his average cap, number is going to be 10 to 11% of the bear's salary cap. Now you tell me, if you said to all the

general managers in football, I'll give you the best defensive player in football, or one of the two or three best defensive players in football, and you have to pay him 10 to 11% of the salary cap in his prime over the next seven years. I think the majority of general managers would do it. It just so happens that the Raiders do not employ those general managers. By the way, it should be noted in a division with Aaron Rogers and Matt Stafford and Kirk Cousins, and you have Mitch Trubisky, the least talented. I can make a real analytic argument that I have to reduce the effectiveness of my rival quarterbacks in division. And if you add Khalil Mack to that bare defensive front, you can't double team anybody.

So this is not a situation where you can double Mac, chip him. They are already pretty good up front defensively. Now, I will say this. I thought Green Bay should have made a run at him. But I understand, you know, they've got their Rogers. Everybody has sort of annoyed it Green Bay, the team. Every place I read, give me your takeaway. Minnesota now plays the first place schedule.

Got a new coordinator quarterback. Give me the rub, the Peter King rub on the Vikings Packers you see for the next four months. I think it's almost a tall. I think the quarterback is Green Bay's advantage in a big way. I mean, I think Kirk Cousins is good, but Kirk Cousins has to prove that he's good in January. He hasn't proven that yet. So I think he gets to January, and then it goes on the shoulders of the quarterback. I think where Minnesota has the big advantage, obviously, is on defense, both in pressuring the quarterback and in the secondary. Now, I pick Josh Jackson, the cornerback from Iowa to be my

NFL defensive rookie of the year. Great player. I think he will be an, I think he'll be an impact player from day one, from night one starting Sunday night. But in my opinion, I look at these two teams. I think it's a great matchup, but I think Green Bay is going to have to outscore Minnesota when they play. By the way, the Levian Bell situation, you know, there's so many, there's so many legit arguments you can make. And you can say running backs, you know, they're the pinnobes. You know, they're the pinata of the league. Don't show up until week 10 and you know

you don't want to carry the ball 300 times. Your career, you only get one shot at this. I can make an argument that well, what kind of teammate are you? Because football's a game with some violence. Everybody's playing hurt. Everybody's playing at major risk. You can go either way on this.

Once again, I feel the Steelers, there's more chatter in that locker room than any locker room in the NFL. I don't love that. Where do you fall on Levian Bell this morning? Well, it's a great question, Colin. Part of me thinks, hey, he's just handling his business, and all players should respect that. But I do think that it would have been smart for Levion to have dropped a few clues to his teammates to say,

hey, listen, I'm not coming into week 10 or whatever it is he's going to do. It appears now that he's going to try to limit wear and tear on his body so that he can get a great contract at age 12. next March. That would be my guess. In order to do that, he's got to come in by week 10. So that's what my gut feeling is. And the fact that he really sort of blindsided his teammates, that's why they were all yappy yesterday.

Yeah. But I do, I think that the Steelers are still going to be good and potentially really good. But that offense needs depth at running back, Colin, because they're not going to be a great defense. and so they have to, underlying have to, get great production out of their running game, and they got to score 27 a week, in my opinion, to win that division. You know, there used to be an old saying that, you know, in baseball,

the greatest catch is the last one you've ever seen. Bob Gibson may have said that, is that, you know, you forget, you know, there's just, that's the way the world works, out of sight, out of mind. I think a lot of people are forgetting, Peter, how great. Andrew Luck was when he didn't have a lacerated kidney. You spent time with Andrew Luck. I thought he was incredibly vulnerable, said he was a miserable person to hang around. What are your expectations for a guy that his third year in the league at 40 touchdowns

took a very weak roster to the AFC championship. I'm not sure Tom could have taken that offensive line to the AFC championship, Brady. Kind of what do you expect from luck? I wrote my column this week basically that Andrew Luck stared into the abyss of no football in his life, didn't like what he saw in himself as a person, and he worked on that. And I think that, if anything, is also going to make him a better football player because he doesn't realize that all of his value in life is as a football player. And 20 months without football is going to do that to you.

In my opinion, I think that Chris Ballard made a superb pick in Quentin Nelson. Now, if you think that you know, you got Costanzo here, you got Ryan Kelly here, and then you've obviously got Quentin Nelson now as one of your guards, you ought to be really good at three of the five positions on the offensive line. And so to me, they're finally addressing the needs that this team, has needed with Andrew Luck. I think they're not going to be a very good team this year. I think their defense is really lacking in impact players, Colin. But I think Andrew Luck is going to come back and play exceedingly well on offense back in his first year.

Brian Cox, the Pro Bowl linebacker, was on my show a couple days ago, and he's been here at Fox Sports one a couple of times. He has a very good close relationship with New England. And he said yesterday, he said, listen, Bill spends his off seasons in Jupiter. He doesn't love the cold weather, and they got to coach in Josh McDaniels. We always talk about how long will Brady play. Let's shift this to how long Bill will coach. Listen, the

relationship with Tom and Bill, the Garoppolo trade may have been forced. Forget Brady for a second. Bill's legacy is cemented. He likes to golf. He likes the warm weather. They've got a coach. You know, are we, Brian Cox said yesterday, I don't think it's that long

before Bill goes upstairs and gets out of the day-to-day grind of coaching. You buy that? Do you see that coming? I mean, look, I go by what Chris Sims told me after he was on their staff for like 18 months a few years ago. He said one of the reasons that Bill Belichick is going to coach for a long time still. He just told me this last year is because there's no stress in his life as a coach. Look at him on the sidelines against Seattle in the last minute of the game where he's just staring out there. His heart rate is probably 62. And he's just staring waiting for the Seattle

Seahawks to make a mistake. He's not going to call a timeout. He's going to put the pressure on the Seahawks. Now, we all would have called him the goat of all time if Seattle converts leaving Tom Brady with 17 seconds on the clock. I get that. But I do think that there's something to be said for the fact that Bill Belichick at this point in his life is a total flatliner. And he doesn't get stressed out by football. So in other words, I don't think you can go by all the same rules that we go by in our walk of life where you say, well, you get to be 65, 66, time to turn it off. I don't think Bill is, I think he's turned on by this, not turned off by it.

So I think he's going to coach at least another two or three years. By the way, your NFC playoff picture, you got really. Rams beating the Eagles getting to the Super Bowl, New England, beating the Chargers, getting to the Super Bowl Rams. Listen, I live in L.A. and I love the Patriot, so that would be the world's greatest Super Bowl to me. Peter King, Football Morning in America by Peter King at NBCSports.com. We put his predictions up.

Check it out, read him. Peter, I hope you had a great summer. We're ready to go starting in about six hours. Good talking to you. Sounds great, Colin. Thank you. Peter King, this is a great time of the year. Greg Cosell, later this hour, T.J. Hushman, Zod.

by the way, Goulet, I ask Goulet, what are you doing this weekend? He goes, I'm going to Safeco Field in Seattle. I'm like, why? He's like, oh, Yankees in town. So we got a scout doing baseball as you and I are doing football. And then we got LeBron and the Lakers in October. We are totally covered on this show. Baseball's still going on.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's still going on. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Yes, Gule. Colin did just call you a scout.

You kind of a scout. We expect a full report. You can get, I want reports so because I can't sit and watch every regular season baseball game. I get a little here and a little there. You will get the perspective of someone half drunk watching baseball, for sure. All right. So week one is upon us. It's that time of year when people believe they're contenders.

Everybody has a chance. And some believe that they have something to prove. And Kirk Cousins is one of those people. He told Mike Silver, there's still a lot to prove. And believe me, there's plenty of people out there that are doubting that I was worth it. and there's probably a lot more people who believe that it wasn't worth it to bring me here than people who are excited about it and believe that I'll deliver. Well, Kirk, somebody believes in you because they gave you $84 million guaranteed. I know you like the guy with the chip on his shoulder.

I think that's, you know, and I've talked to my wife about this. Listen, once that chip is developed, it doesn't leave. Yeah. Like, you know, that's just one of the great things about psychology is that little chip on your shoulder that you got turned down in high school at the prom. It's not like once you're happily married at leaves. You still have that like, oh, yeah, I'm going to prove I'm a great husband. I'm a great boyfriend. I'm a great guy.

Guys are wired differently than women. You guys, I think, get over stuff. Like, I think, you guys don't. Oh, what? Women forget nothing. We just put it on a shelf for whenever we, and then like a year later we'll be like, that one. Remember that time you did that thing?

Really? I didn't forget. So you put all these grudges on a shelf? Women are excellent at acting like nothing is wrong. So you're a bunch of fakers. Later on, we'll bring it up. A bunch of fakers? I would call it more managers of the situation.

We have to manage situations. We don't have the opportunity to just react. Okay. We tend to react and punch stuff and yell and scream and do stupid. Remar strategic with our anger. Okay. Ram C-O, Kevin Demoff admitted yesterday that the Rams also made a play for Callio Mac. So they would have Callio Mac and Aaron Donald.

So that would be the 2016 and 2017 defensive players of the year on one team. We are constantly talking about how the Rams have a, I don't know, a salary cap of their own. It'd be kind of insane to imagine paying Aaron Donald 22.5 million a year in new money and MAC, 23.5 million in new money per year because that's what he got from the Bears. How could I even admit this? I don't even, I think they're using a different bank than every other NFL team. Like the Yankees years and years ago. They've already paid Todd Gurley and Brandon Cooks.

And Aaron Donald. And now they're going to pay Khalil Mack. And they inherited Akeb Talib's contract and Indomac and Sue's contract. I don't know. Whoever does their salary cap management, though, I'd love for them to do my taxes. Yeah, I know. They wouldn't have been able to just sign Khalil. They probably would have moved Brandon Cooks.

I don't know. Like, what would they do? But it's just insane to imagine that this would be possible. Would that be like an NBA three team trade? I feel like it would have to be like an NBA where you'd have to almost match the salary. Like they'd have to dump a bunch of one-year guys to the Raiders just to clear up the space probably. Well, it didn't happen, but it's fun to imagine that they would pull this off and the sports world would lose their mind. Finally, when you think of the most talented recent quarterbacks.

Yeah. I think of who. Tom Brady. Yeah. Peyton Manning. Aaron Rogers. Yeah. And of course, Jay Cutler.

During an appearance on the Dan Patrick show, Brian Erlacker compared Roger. and color. Talent-wise, I put him in the category with Aaron Rogers, physically. Running around-wise, arm strength, it's just the decision-making process wasn't quite as fast as Aaron makes decisions with the football. Well, nobody is. No. Look, there you go.

Yeah. So, yeah, but athletically and arm-strength-wise, there's out there with all of them. There are plenty of athletes who are not Aaron Rogers. And the reason that they're not Aaron Rogers is because Aaron Rogers can make those decisions. That's kind of like... Listen, I said this years ago and got crap. I, and Jay Cutler's talent is obscene. His likability is, you know, below average to say the least.

Cottle. But he can move around, got a cannon. I went to Vanderbilt, super smart guy. But he's just one of those guys. Like, there's something to be said about there are just certain guys. Other men will follow over the hill. And there are just other guys that they want. And Cutler just doesn't have the personality that you want to put your arms around him and risk your life and follow him over a hill.

Well, maybe there's that, but also just on the field in general, what Erlacker is talking about, making fast, quick decisions. The thing that separates great quarterbacks from average quarterbacks is their ability to do that. Yeah, snap decisions. There's plenty of insane athletes who have played the quarterback position who are not great. The difference is they're not Tom Brady. They're not Aaron Rogers. They're not studying the film the way they are. They're not processing the game.

It's different for a quarterback. That's why you want somebody who is not just book smart, but who is football smart. And there's a distinct difference. Yes, there is. You have to be able to process a ton of things in split seconds, or it's your head and it's the game. Yep. Point. Joy Taylor, the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. Greg CoSells right around the corner. We get ready. NFL tonight. Strong opinions. Greg GoSell breaks it down.

I think Philadelphia is really good, but Atlanta beats them tonight in Philadelphia. By the way, the NFC East is in four great games this weekend. Just the NFC East alone, the Cowboys take on Carolina. Philadelphia, Atlanta tonight. The Giants are hosting the Jaguars. And the Redskins go to Arizona. That's a one-point game. So the NFC East by itself this weekend is packed Greg Hosell around the corner.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herds. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Okay, I trust his word. If you're a TV or radio, listener or viewer, none better than Greg Coasell. 30 plus years at NFL films, the most objective NFL voice I ever bring on this show via the Coward Global Satellite Network. Greg CoSell is now joining us. All right, tonight, Greg, season opens rematch of a divisional playoff game. Nick Foles, Matt Ryan.

What are Atlanta? What are they going to present tonight? night to turn the table with the Eagles? Well, Atlanta is really versatile on offense, Colin. I mean, they can line up with two backs, and they'll put Coleman and Freeman on the field at the same time. They can line up with three wide receivers with the rookie Calvin Riddley, and they can present some issues for Philadelphia.

They can also line up with two backs, one being a fullback, and force the Eagles to play with three linebackers, and they've got some questions at linebacker tonight, because because Nigel Bradham will not be playing. That's right. So there are really versatile offense that I think can really present a lot of problems with the unique set of playmakers at the skilled positions. Let's shift to defense. The Bears already a pretty tasty defensive year.

Yes. They add Khalil Mack. Talk about somebody that can give you different looks. They also have a great defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio. What are the Bears going to throw out Aaron Rogers Sunday? Well, think of it this way. In terms of past defense, there's two things you'd really like to do. You'd like to slow down the quarterback's reading your secondary looks.

Vic Fangio is a master at that part of it. The flip side is you want to speed up the quarterback with your pressure. So you want to speed him up physically, slow him down mentally. The bears are now in an excellent position to do that with the addition of Khalil Mack. Yeah, he is, you know, people have compared him to, Lawrence Taylor, that's a little quick, but he is a guy that tackles for losses. You know, Deshawn Watson opens with New England. He started his great run last year against New England.

Now, they've upgraded their defensive front. What's he going to be looking at against the Patriots on Sunday? Well, I think one of the things, you have to look at it from the Texans perspective, Colin, because they have not really upgraded their offensive line. And one of the things Bill O'Brien did a lot of last year was what we call seven-man pass protection concepts. Oftentimes they'd only send two receivers on routes and maybe a checkdown. And I think that was one of the things that helped them keep Deshawn Watson secure in the pocket. And I think you'll still see a lot of that because the O line is a potential issue.

They'll do a lot of backfield actions, deception, misdirection, the kinds of things that define the throws quickly for Deshawn. Watson. By the way, speaking of young quarterbacks, Jimmy Garapolo faces a loaded defense. They're back, they have a pass rush, one of the best safeties in the game, athletic corners. Jimmy Garapolo, what's he

going to see that could potentially give him problems with the Vikings? Well, that's a defense that's good at all three levels, but I think what you'll see, which is different from most NFL teams, Garapolo started five games last year. They played with a fullback on the field on almost 45% of their offensive snaps with Garoppolo.

That's unheard of in the NFL. So the name to remember in the game Sunday, Colin, get this, Ben Gideon, he's the third linebacker for Minnesota. He's going to play a lot of snaps this Sunday, and normally he does not play much at all. So you'll see a lot of what we call 21 personnel from San Francisco with two backs and the full-back Kyle Hughes-check being the second back. By the way, do you like Garoppolo as just a pure thrower?

I think he's one of those guys that has that quick snap delivery. The ball comes out with good velocity. Yeah, he's a good throw over the football, and he's very quick twitch in the pocket. So he's able to snap the ball off. And because of that, he's able to wait late in the down when there are bodies around him and deliver those kinds of necessary NFL throws. I think one of the most fascinating games for me, the Giants host of Jaguars. We know about Saxonville.

We know about their pressure. corners. I got Pat Shermer, and it usually, it always feels like to me it takes coordinators and offensive guys and quarterbacks about a year to mesh like Kyle Shanahan did in Atlanta. But I got an upgraded left tackle. I got a, I got at least a home run running back, not sure how many carries Saquan Barkley can give me. Odell Beckham, I like their young tight end. I can't wait to watch the Giants. Do you think they'll be effective immediately against the team like Jacksonville? Well, I guess more generally, I don't think it'll take a year for Eli Manning in this offense to be successful with Pat Schumer there.

I think it'll take less time. I think they've got some pretty good personnel on offense. There's still a question on the right side of the offensive line. They took a problem at left tackle, and now he's a problem at right tackle. So they have some issues. I don't think unless Jacksonville changes what they did last year, I don't think you'll see specifically the Odell Beckham, Jalen Ramsey match up, because Jacksonville a year ago was not a match-up team. They're a predominant zone team, and Jalen Ramsey played the left side.

So unless they change, which they could, but if they don't, you're not going to see that match up that often. Yeah. There are some things you – I thought Baltimore looked interesting when their number one offense and defense was on the field in the preseason. I thought Darnold looked – he played cleaner as a pro than he did at USC. I would agree. It was just, you and I have talked about this off air. He just, he was cleaner. I don't know what I'm going to get, but I think I'll get, I think he's functional. I don't think he plays, it's funny, he plays less reckless with the jets than he did at USC. What do you expect? Arnold, as he starts his NFL career, because he looked like a different player, which one can say is a product of great coaching, or maybe the sample size is not large enough yet, and we don't know, which is clearly true. And we also don't know how he'll react to pressure. In the NFL, we didn't see much of that in the preseason. But you're 100% right.

He looked much cleaner with his footwork. He was more accurate throwing the football in the preseason than he was in his last year at USC. Yeah, some of that could be Josh McCown. That's a hell of a quarterback room. I mean, coaching matters. I mean, it does. Oh, more than people probably think. Okay, I want to go to your big play.

Cowboys Panthers. We got Norv Turner entering a relationship with Cam Newton. I know what Cam does, and I know what Norm likes, and there are two different things sometimes. Give me what you expect, at least whether it works or not, what are we going to see here in this relationship between the offensive coordinator of the veteran and the veteran quarterback Cam? Well, it looks like you're going to see what Norve has done throughout his career, an offense that starts with a run game, and it appears it'll be Christian McCaffrey. They really worked him hard in the preseason. whether he can hold up as a quote-unquote foundation back is a question of speculation. But the one thing we will see, and this takes us right to our play, and we can start it now,

is you will see McCaffrey as a receiver out of the backfield and certainly split as well. But out of the backfield, he is as good as there is. You know, he has Alvin Kamara, who's terrific. McCaffrey is really good. And here you see him. He's offset in the backfield. This will be man to man against the Neuble. Orleans Saints. You have the linebacker Craig Robertson. So what you're going to get is a man-to-man

matchup. And you see McCaffrey's going to square up on him and he's going to beat him with a move. Great move here. And it becomes what we call an angle route or a Texas route. That's just really, really good. He is a really difficult matchup on these kinds of routes out of the backfield, particularly man-to-man on linebackers. And now you go to the preseason. This is now North Turner as the offensive coordinator. This is a little different, but same concept. man to man on a linebacker. But this time, Colin, instead of working outside, he works through the line of scrimmage, but you get the same one-on-one matchup against a linebacker.

And this really is what they want to do to help Cam. They want to define quicker throws, get the ball out of his hands quicker, because Cam does have a tendency to want to hold the ball and make plays down the field, and he can get himself in trouble. So McCaffrey will be critical as a runner, and he'll be just as a runner. and he'll be just as important as a receiver. I'm really excited to watch that game. And I got to tell you, the NFC, I really don't.

I really don't. I love Atlanta this year, but I don't know what I'm going to get out of the NFC. There's no days off. There's no weeks off. No. So, so good. Yeah. Greg CoSell, NFL films over three decades.

Great talking to you. Can't wait for the year to start tonight. Thanks, Greg. Thanks, Colin. Appreciate it. Good stuff. All right. Jay Hushmanzada, final hour.

Man, just so many storylines. And I also think the big thing in the NFL, scoring's going to go up. Wence is back eventually. Aaron Rogers is back. Andrew Luck is back. Sean Watson is back. And you have a catch rule now that's been flipped. So you're going to have at least, I mean, I think three to 500 catches are going to be allowed that were disallowed last year.

Some of those are going to be touchdowns. You're going to have some helmet rule late hit stuff that is going to see automatic first downs, ejection of defensive players. May not get a ton of ejections, but you're going to get some automatic first downs. Some of those are going to be in the red zone and going to become points. So I expect more offense this year in the National Football

League more points. Hour 3, T.J. Hushman Zata next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard radio app. This is the herd. Hour number three live in Los Angeles, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening.

IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. The NFL season starts tonight in earnest with the Atlanta Falcons traveling to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles. I will take Atlanta to win that game. Joy Taylor is joining me, hour number three today. We've had a lot of football. We're not messing around. We are not. Not messing around.

This is serious business. All these words matter now. Sometimes in August, words come out, blah, blah, I don't mean. This kind of disappear. From this point forward, all things that slip out. No more amendments. Exclamation points. No more amendments.

This is it. All the words stick now. You have to stick with that Ravens decision. Yes. Very good football team. Coming up in 15 minutes, T.J. Hushman Zada joins us as we have the NFL season starting tonight, former Pro Bowl wide receiver, T.J. Hushman Zada. I picked the Falcons to get to the Super Bowl. I got good news and best for last in terms of that. And we think Lavian Bell, great running back for

the Pittsburgh Steelers, just recently made his decision about holding out. But he actually made it a decade ago. So let me start there with that. Lavian Bell was 14 years old. Could have picked any position. He was that talented. He chose the one that's a pinata. in which there are dozens upon dozens of running backs every year that come into the league, second round, third round, fourth round, fifth round, sixth round, seventh round, undrafted, and become great players, Alvin Kamara. These are the choices we make. This is happening all over in America for young men and women who are very, very smart.

They are choosing tech. Wall Street over medicine. Why? Because they don't want to be on call 24-7. They don't want to get out of college with $300,000 in time. college debt. They don't want the horrible hours and staying in college for eight years and watching blood. They want to go and create new things. And maybe they won't save people, but maybe they will. They'll make an app that'll save people. And it's fun and it's better energy and you don't have

that college debt. And you make that choice at 14 and 15 years old. If you make it at 38, it's too late. It's the downside to youth. As Winston Churchill said, it's wasted on the young. you've got to have it together, baby, at 15, because those choices end of life or extend a life. I tell my kids, figure out what you love and pursue it with passion. But take a while to figure out what you love because it's going to reshape your life.

Yes, Libby and Bell is unbelievably talented. Talent doesn't always mean you're the highest paid. Daniel Day Lewis is considered our greatest actor. He chooses art. He chooses to play Lincoln, four school and seven years ago. He goes into character for nine months. He goes home at night.

His kids are like, Dad, we're playing basketball. You want to be the ref? A house divided against itself cannot stand. Dad, we're just playing basketball. Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? Dad, can't you just be a dad? Four score and seven years ago, he chooses art.

The Rock chooses action. And he plays himself. And he makes double Daniel Day Lewis. We all make choices. Don't complain about the choices you make. They're yours and yours singularly.

You want to choose art? You may end up waiting tables in Hollywood for nine years. You choose action? Yeah, a lot of those movies. Make a lot of money. May a lot of money, but play yourself. Get big muscles.

Go to a gym. You'll never be respected by the critics, and you'll never be respected by the artists. But I think Rock seems pretty happy. Last time I heard from Rock, you wanted to be president. And considering who's there now, he may be. Who knows? But Levy and Bill made a choice.

He made a choice. We all make choices. And take your time and choose wisely. I'm not against Daniel Day Lewis and Abram. I am Lincoln. I am not against Labian Bell. I am not against kids who choose medical careers. But those are all choices we make and we make them early and they matter. Don't complain about him. Don't complain about him. Running backs are incredibly replaceable in this league. I mean, the league right now has got four great quarterbacks. Four. The Steelers are saying this morning,

we have two great running backs. One won't show up, and we're going to show you how good the second one is. Make choices. They're yours. Don't resent them later. So there's a reason I am not a super techie guy, but I do upgrade my phone regularly, the iPhone thing. And I see myself as not super techie, but I got kids, so I got to pay attention to the devices and what they're on and, you know, make sure nothing crazy is going on. But I will spend money.

I will on the iPhone. I'll update it every year and I'll spend money. And the reason I do that is because it saves me money elsewhere. Because my iPhone means I don't have to have a newspaper subscription. I don't have to have an alarm clock. I don't have to have a watch, a high-deaf camera, a roll-a-dex, a voice recorder. It is all in my phone. I don't need a calculator or a music player or a video game or a flashlight or a notepad or a

computer or a GPS. So I overspend on the phone, and they're way too expensive in my opinion, but I do so because they save me elsewhere. The Green Bay Packers, I contend, and I said this yesterday, should have gone for it with Kaleel Mack. Now instead, they'll face him two times a year. Aaron Rogers will feel that breath. At least a dozen times a year now for the next several years.

a guy off, by the way, two collarbone surgeries. The Green Bay Packers have wasted years of Aaron Rogers because like the iPhone, you don't have to give him the best offensive line. You don't have to give Aaron Rogers the best running game. You don't have to give him Hall of Fame tight ends. You don't have to give Aaron Rogers amazing wide receivers. You can give him C plus B minus across the board and he elevates everybody to another level.

Brady does the same thing. So there's no excuse for New England not to spend money on defensive stars. I've been critical of them. And there's no reason why if the L.A. Rams, who were all so interested in Khalil Mack can pay five and six guys huge money, the Packers can't play two guys huge money. Okay. Don't tell me, well, you can't, I mean, you can't pay like a quarterback and a, and, and, and, and, and, a defensive end, all that money.

Rams are paying guys a ton. Well, same league, same salary cap. Rams also wanted Khalil Mac. When you have the iPhone, it allows you not to spend big money elsewhere because it elevates your life. When you have Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady, there is no reason to spend a fortune on tight ends. You just have to have good, solid players around you.

And then they'll elevate everything, which allows you the freedom to overpay a little and take risks on pass rushers. There's no excuse. To me, this idea that, yeah, I mean, you can't just spend all this money on, why not? It's a salary cap. Once you have a guy as good as Brady or Aaron Rogers, you can save so much money on the offensive side, it allows you to overpay for the next Lawrence Taylor. I've said it before and I'll say it again.

Would you rather have your superstar quarterback who's had two collarbone surgeries, probably physically now, not in this prime, slightly on the 10th or 11th hole, face Khalil Mack, face the Vikings defense, or just face them in the locker room as they both head to the shower on the same team? I think it's obvious. If the Rams can pay for five or six stars and they wanted him, The Packers can certainly pay for two. T.J. Hushmanzada is joining us next.

Best for last, why my Falcon Super Bowl pick looks better than I even knew when I made it this morning. Joy and I are around the corner coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Man, there's stuff going on. Pittsburgh Steelers. Offensive linemen are ripping liby and bell. It's all public and stuff. And my next guest is one of our favorites.

T.J. Hushman Zada as we get set for the Eagles hosting the Atlanta Falcons tonight, 11 seasons in the NFL, drafted by Cincinnati. Let's bring him on. T.J. Hushman Zada on a Thursday. Okay, so I got to play the tape. Steeler players are not happy with Lavian Bell's holdout. So let me play the offensive players talking about Lavian Bell and his deal and his contract and whatevs. I think we're a very good offense. You know, football is the ultimate team sport. One person doesn't make or break you. So, you know, I'd like to say that the linemen are more important than any skill position player,

including myself, on this team. So, you know, we're more than, this offense is more than just one guy. Across the line, I think we're just all grown enough to finally accept things at some point. And you're just like, all right, you know what? If you don't want to be here, it is what it is. And hold out 10 weeks. It's totally fine with us. Like, as a team, we're totally fine.

It takes 11 guys, not just one. And the ultimate team sport, we've created a league of individuals in a sense. I know the league is all about get your money, get paid. I love it. But my perspective is a whole lot different now. I mean, year 10. This guy, what is leaving on? I'm about to go into year seven.

You know, you're not getting younger. So win it, get paid next year. Woo! T.J. Hushmanzada, there's a rule in football. And that rule is what? You don't discuss what a guy makes, what he can make. and you don't mess with somebody's wife or girlfriend, period. You just don't do those things.

Like when I saw this, I couldn't believe it. I was flabbergasted. I mean, they threw him under the bus, hit reverse, ran over him, put it back in drive, and ran over him again. It's almost unhurt. Every team I've been on, every single team I've been on, Wednesday morning meetings goes as follows. First meeting, the final cuss, this is our team.

Every team thinks they have a chance. Marvin Lewis will get up and say, Levyon Bell isn't here. The media is going to ask us this question. Avoid the topic. He's not here. We wish he was here. When he gets here, we're welcoming him with open arms. For Mike Tomlin not to have done that, I'm shocked.

Because he had to have done the opposite because they feel very comfortable talking about this. Oh, God, the four different guys. And then Rafflesberger, see, he has his linemen's back. Oh, nobody's more important than the linemen. If that's the case, then why is Ramon Foster making so little money, then, Ben? if everybody is so important that's not a lineman why isn't romano foster making more money why is uh levion

making oh he makes seven times more to me so what so what because he honed his talent and you did not you're mad you're bitter they're hating at his finest and and are players texting you yes i've got text messages like bro you see this i'm like yeah like nope they can't believe this is like you just don't do this you don't even have to tell a guy not to do it you just Just don't do it because if the Steelers wanted Levyon Bell there, he would be there. They're franchising him twice. Big Ben has been paid. Pounty, you've been paid.

Antonio Brown, you've been paid. The Steelers, when they want to take care of a guy, they take care of a guy. And people say, oh, he's making $14 million just show up. It's a lot of money. It is a lot of money. If I'm him, I show up Saturday. Pay me this $800,000. It's going to be problems because I'm going to approach Big Ben.

been. I'm going to approach Pouncey and I'm going to approach Foster in an aggressive manner and it will go however they wanted to go. I don't know if he will do that, but I play with a running back Corey Dillon that for sure would do that. Yeah, Corey was tough. You just don't do this. It's not right. You don't put this type of pressure on him publicly. Like call him. And now if he told you I'm showing up on Wednesday, that's a different story. You still call him. Levion, what's going on, bro? We got a season to play. But you don't do this. You don't do it. Yeah. You know, money's a funny thing.

Like the Raiders, obviously, Kaleel Mack is way better than any other defensive player they have. And obviously, players loved him. You know, when I,

if I was Green Bay, my theory on this is, I use the iPhone as an example. When you have Aaron Rogers, that I don't need to have a bunch of A plus receivers and A plus backs and A, I can have a bunch of Bs. He elevates everybody.

So if you have Aaron, I'm going to spend most of my money on defense. Because I know Brady and Aaron are going to elevate. It's like my iPhone. When I have this, I don't need GPS. I don't need an alarm clock. I don't need a DVR. That's a good one.

So I pay a ton for my phone because I don't have to have an iPad. I don't have to have video games. It's all right here. Very true. So when I have Aaron, Aaron's my iPhone. Okay, when I have Aaron, I don't have to pay the most. Good God, they get rid of good off. offensive lineman every other year. Aaron just runs around and makes stuff have. But I'm sure as

heck, you know what Aaron Rogers record is? When the Packers' defense allows under 23 points in a playoff game, 7 and 0. So load up on defense. I thought the Packers whipped on it. But they, they pay, like, they will pay you on offense. So like, Devonte Adams, he's, he's up there. He's making 14 and a half a year. Randall Cobb is making 10 a year. So they've paid their receivers. I've talked about this before. I was against giving up two. first round picks. You were against it. I was because it's just this old narrative. Oh, everybody, the GMs, they're very, they're very cocky in a way where it's, I'm going to draft a great player with my first round pick. So you think ego goes into it. One thousand percent ego went into it.

And so if I can get a second round pick back, I make that deal now because although I'm losing two first round picks, I'm gaining a second round pick. It's just like you're trading them for a one in too, really, to be honest with you. And it's very rare that you get a chance to get a young player in the prime of his career, one of the top three players at his position. It's very, if they can draft

a guy, they'll take that and you basically have one that's here. Just give us your draft hits. That's a funny thing. So Kalil leaves the Raiders. You know what they're going to draft a pass rusher? 100%. And he will not be Kalil Matt. He will not. Hell no. But what happened, until they get

out of this old adage of, oh, draft picks matter, draft picks matter. That's the problem. And you watch hard knocks when they, oh, man, that's quarterback money. They have to get that out of their mind. That's bottom of the barrel quarterback money, really, on what Khalil Mack, until they get that narrative out of their mind like, man, a defensive lineman at $22 million a year, that's the problem.

The cap is rising every year, and they can't get that out their mind. Yeah, you know, Peter King came on earlier and said, if you look at the way the cap is rising, that Khalil Mac's only going to be 10% of the cap. And here's the thing about Chicago. Chicago's already got some really nice defensive pieces, and Vic Fonjio is a great defensive coordinator. So you can't double Khalil. It's not like he's going to do a terrible defense

that you can double him and chip him. They will. They will. But their defense up front is got, and that Rokon Smith, they think, is going to be, their linebacking corps is excellent. They have pass rushers. So Khalil's going to walk in and be with the best defensive coordinator

or maybe in the league. Another. I also think this, that if you have Mitch Trubisky, and I have to go against Aaron Rogers twice, Matt Stafford twice, and Kurt Cousin twice, how do I reduce the effectiveness of your quarterback in my division? Get to him. So if Chicago's like, we don't think Mitch Trubisky's Aaron Rogers,

but we're going to reduce the effectiveness of Aaron so we can compete with the Green Bay Packers. And if Trubisky can perform at an adequate level. That's about what he is. And that's the problem. They have a chance to do, they'll still finish at the bottom of the division because offensively they just don't have it in my eyes. I don't see them putting it together to be able to be better than the teams in their

division. But defensively, they'll be very strong. They'll have to be, it'll be somewhat like Jacksonville last year. Okay, so do you have an underdog? I don't, Joey, is it fair to say, I love Atlanta this year? Because Sarkson is second year. But you wouldn't call them an underdog. Would you?

That's what I see. I don't think they're an underdog. Oh, I got an underdog for you. Okay. Okay, Joey. Atlanta is not an underdog? No, is Baltimore an underdog? Because I have Baltimore as my fourth best team in the league this morning.

Kind of. Because of the way they've played in years past, you would have to say, yeah. Baltimore is. I would say, I kind of feel like they're underdog. They won five of their last seven. All their last five losses were one possession. They added three different receivers. They drafted two tight ends.

Flackos on a got. Lamar Jackson breathing down his neck. They really made it. Like the Rams last year went out and said, we're going to get a left tackle, a center, two receivers. Ravens went all in on offense. And it's like, you know what? Okay, underdog.

Underdog. Would you consider, I have two teams that I can think of as being underdogs. Would you say, what about the Houston Texans? Kind of an underdog. If Deshawn Watson stays healthy and JJ Wachan come back healthy with him and Clowney, they have something special because he has one of the best receivers in the leave in Hopkins. He has a good running game. He has a great offensive mind as a coach in O'Brien.

Can Will Fuller play at all? Will Fuller. He just has to stay healthy. He's been hurt. Notre Dame King. He can run. So they have a chance. And then the Bengals. The Bengals are going to be good. Okay, remember I told you that. Remember I told you that. The Bengals will go to the playoffs this year. In a way, the Steelers are acting, the Bengals might win the division.

Just remember I told you this. Retract that. I just don't want you to have to regret saying anything. No, I'm not. Just spin that one back. If that happens, I just made a bad assumption. The Bengals are going to be good this year. Why? If Andy, it's going to come down to Andy Dawton. He's fine.

He's going to have to perform. You got one of the top five receivers in the league in A.J. Green. Yes. If John Ross, which he's going, if he performs how he should. Didn't you coach him or something? I did. I did. I helped him out quite a bit.

And I hope I see that, you know, when the season starts, they have a great young run. The Bengals are going to surprise some people this year. Who did they draft? Two years ago it was mixing, a good running back. Who did they draft this year? Who did Cincinnati draft? I always, you know, it's funny. You like Marvin Lewis.

I always like Marvin Lewis. They drafted Jesse Bates because I, the safety corner. Oh, the All-American Center. Okay. Marvin Lewis is a, he's a good coach. Like, you can't, it's hard to defend them when they haven't won a playoff game. But players have to play, man. Like, players have to play the game.

You only can do so much. Are you watching this Tom versus Time stuff? I've watched bits and pieces of it. Can we run of the, I want to run some Tom versus Time, and you just react to it. Gotcha. Okay, so I'm going to, I got two or three different bites here. So Tom versus Time, the last episode finally dropped. And I thought it was a very good series.

I find him for an American superstar, fairly simple. Family, wife, sports, like he's not a wildly complicated guy. All right, what's my screen? Let's see. All right, first of all, here's Brady talking about why he skipped OTAs over the summer and how his connection with Belichick has changed. Let's play this when you react to it. When I look at probably the last six months, it's been the first time where I've taken a little break,

I think, from what I've done, I needed something different this year. My family needed something different. If I'm going to do something at this point, it's going to be because I enjoy it. The last couple years, a lot of parts about football weren't enjoyable when they should have been. You know, I think anytime you're together with people for a long period of time, relationships ebb and flow. Man, what do you make of that thing? So basically he's, last couple years, obviously the suspension played a part in that.

So he could be talking about that as well. It's just like anything. He's been in New England so long. It's like when you raise your kids. You hope you raise them well so that when they're going to the real world, they're prepared. Yeah. And you start to loosen up. You know, you're 15, 16 years old.

You got to be back by 11. You get a little older, okay, you got to be in a house a little later. You relax the rules because you've hoped you raised them. Man, Bill Belichick is still squeezing. And Tom is like, bro, I get it. I get, I know you're just relax a little bit. And Bill doesn't seem like he's willing to do that. And that's all he's saying is, like, I've been with this, I've been around this guy for so long.

So many, I've won five Super Bowls. I've shown you that I know the way. and you still won't relax. Give us a little leeway. Let us have a little fun. I'm getting a little older now. I want to enjoy this. To me, that's what he's saying.

No, I think you're right. Okay, here's Brady talking about how he's dealing with the outside criticism of loud mouse like, I don't know, me. You're learning to deal with the better. I don't just don't get that much anymore about anything. You know, like I think a lot of keeping things in perspective, like nothing's that big a deal to me anymore.

And maybe I'm just caring about certain things that really matter. Like my family, like, you know, people's health, you know, like life and death. But to worry about a lot of bullshit that people may say or think or feel like, I really don't care anymore. What do you think he's saying there? So it's more so, you know, he dealt with the situation, with his mother. Yes. And so you start to put things in perspective. And me and Tom, we're not friends. We see each other. We speak. We're cordial because of Alex and we've worked out together. he's super for him to be like up here super super super super down earth no never big time that I've been around him and so it's just when you deal with what he's dealt with with with his mother you put

things like I don't care what you say about me yeah I don't I mean you're gonna say great things you're gonna say bad things it is what it is I can't be happy when you praise me and then hate you when you when you say something bad about me you know it's funny when a lot of people I mean your career my career that we're good at climbing the ladder, we climb the ladder, but there's never been a class that once you get to the NFL or you get like me to you're doing a radio or TV show in front of people, there's never been a class you take a college is, okay, the criticism's going to be nasty how you handle it. Right.

That's just humanity, like how you were raised, your confidence. The part and partial to what happens in America is we elevate stars and then once they're up there, we chip away at them. and I think Brady is this is what stars often say in their 40s, 50s, in my business and your business, once you have the rings and you got some money and you got the family and it's all,

then the criticism just doesn't hurt as much. It takes you a while to get to that. Oh, it does, though. It takes a while to get to that because every, oh, I don't care what they say. Oh, I don't watch TV. I don't read internet. You're lying, you do.

But when you get to LeBron or Brady, I do think when they say most of it, most of it doesn't bother. No, because you've heard, you've heard everything now. It's like, what else you're going to say? I've been through this. No, once you get to a certain point, it doesn't bother you anymore because you've heard it all. You've heard

and seen it all. T.J. Hushmanzada, season starts tonight. Great seeing you, man. Man, the Steelers. I can't, oh, man, y'all get y'all stuff together. All right, all right. Yeah, she's from Pittsburgh. It's fine. Okay. In Pittsburgh. What do you think of it?

I mean, I agree with what you're saying. But to me, it's just, it's coming from Tomlin. Up top. Like you said, like Tomlin has to into the meeting room, like this is the answer. You know you're going to get asked this question, just like everyone was asked about who's going to be a starting quarterback last week. You know you're going to get asked this question.

This is the answer. And that's it. And so he gave them the okay. And then if somebody goes rogue on their own, then you deal with that. Maybe people from Pittsburgh are just big gossip. When the quarterback gets in it, Mike Tomlin basically said thumbs up, do what you want to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's Ben's guy.

That's, it's left me on in bed. Interesting. Interesting. They better hope the Cleveland Browns don't park them on Sunday. Sunday. Oh. at the moment. Yes.

But in case you were wondering, if it's not, Michigan president, Michigan president is here to make it clear. He told the Detroit Free Press, he is not on the hot seat. He is under contract for four more years. I joke with some of our coaches who all expect to win a league every year and have a perfect record. It's mathematically impossible for everyone to have a perfect record, after the first game anyway.

There's people that think Jim Harbaugh is on the hot seat? Or are we just like saying hot seat? No, I mean, it's like Mike Tomlin and Pete Carroll are not winning as much as people want. Harbaugh's not winning as much as people want. But we know they're capable coaches. Mike Tomlin won a Super Bowl. So, I mean, there's two different standards. Is this guy good enough to be coached?

Yes. Is this guy getting the most out of the current situation? No. That's how I feel about Tomlin. I think when you're a winner, you get held to a different standard. Absolutely. That's exactly right. You just get held to a different standard.

Anybody that argues Harbaugh can't coach Just know what they're talking about I've seen like his resume is like championship title Bull win championship NFC Super Bowl It's well I mean it's college football too So you know Alumni I don't want to hear anything else Except for winning

But I think everyone just needs to calm down He's making $7 million under contract A year under contract till 2021 So he's not going anywhere So Deshawn Watson had a short but impressive Rookie season and Bill O'Brien was asked If he sees a bit of Tom Brady in the way that Watson carries himself off the field.

And let's take listen to his answer. I do. I do. Deshaun is, in that regard, very passionate about football, loves to watch tape, loves to talk about the game, come in early, stay late, always has good suggestions, ideas on game plans, or certain things that maybe our defense was doing in training camp. You know, how can we take advantage of that, you know,

this, that, and the other, whether it was a preseason game or against our own defense. So he really loves the game, and it shows every day. So actual Tom Brady versus new Tom Brady. It's time now for the fantasy headlines, sponsored by Draft Kings. Colin, you predicted. Texans are going to win this one, despite the Patriots being a six-and-a-half-point favorite. New England's Belichick's weakest month has generally been September.

He's a little more experimental, and they don't have Julian Edelman. I think their receiving court is way below average in September, and I just think they've got a lot of work to do. Patriots are 6 and 0 overall against the Texans at home. They've met the Houston 10 times and holding 9 and 1 advantage in the series. Texans have never won in New England. Correct. Well, you know what?

It's got to end. The streaks are made to be broken. Streaks are men. Our contracts made to be broken? Aren't they all now? There's a way out of everything. All right. Finally, Seahawks linebacker, Shakeem Griffin, is more than an inspirational story.

He is about to be a starter in the NFL. Pete Carroll confirmed. news yesterday in his news conference. We remember this is the rookie who was drafted out of UCF. He had one hand amputated when he was four years old due to amniotic band syndrome. So he's going to make his NFL debut

against the Broncos. And he is going to be lining up alongside his brother, who also plays for the Seahawks, Shaquille Griffin, who is a cornerback. That's a nice story. Isn't this an amazing story? It is, yes. It's an incredible story. It's like a movie.

Storylines to keep an eye on for this Sunday. Good stuff. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Yeah, about Tom versus Time, the final episode, my takeaway on that was he is remarkably, his life is remarkably simple. You know, you think simplicity to me equals happiness.

The more choices you give people, everybody thinks more choices makes everybody happier. It's just more confusing, creates more anxiety. Brady's got a really simple life. loves his job, loves his wife, loves his fam, and that's about it. You don't see a lot of, like he doesn't go to Dubai by himself. He's just with the fam hanging out. It made me want to go see those camels in the desert.

Did you see that picture on that? Yeah. That was fascinating looking. You want to go try and ride a camel? Yeah, I'm kind of interested by that. All right, coming up next, I'm going to get you ready for the season opener tonight. The best stat I've seen on any single team gives you a little inkling about who may end up playing in February in the Super Bowl in Atlanta.

That's best for last coming up next. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. So here we go. We do this at the end of every show. And it won't be long. Starting next Monday,

Speak for Yourself will be on live right after our show. So for the first time in FS1's history, coming on Monday, after our show, we'll have Speak for Yourself Live. So that's cool. Marcellus Wiley, Jason Whitlock, and all their guests. So this is one of the last shows where we go into First Things First. That's coming up starting Monday. But as we do, every day at this time, 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. So tonight the NFL season begins in earnest. The Falcons, I'll take them over the Eagles in Philadelphia. Now, the last time these two teams met was January 13th. It was a divisional round playoff game. Fourth quarter, a little over a minute left. Falcons down 15 to 10 facing fourth and goal.

And here's what transpired. They converted on the fourth and six earlier on this drive. Ryan rolling. Leo Jones falls down. So first Super Bowl and Eagles history, is hard to imagine, and it's also hard to imagine, that the Falcons have never won a Super Bowl. That loss put the Falcons in a very unique class. So think about this.

Here's the teams with the most wins this century from 2001. The Falcons are the only team on this list that has not won a Super Bowl. New England, Pittsburgh, Colts, Packers, Eagles, Seahawks, Ravens, Denver, New Orleans, and the Falcons. So I think sometimes we forget this is a franchise that wins a lot of games. Now, it gets worse. Just since Matt Ryan arrived, since 2008, that's Matt Ryan quarterback rookie year at a Boston college. This is regular season and postseason combined.

Again, the Falcons are the only team on this list that has not won the Super Bowl. The eight winning his teams are New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Baltimore, New Orleans, Atlanta, Denver, and Seattle. Colin, that's just because the Falcons are in a really easy division. Well, last season, the NFC South had three teams that won 10 or more football games. The Falcons won 10, the Saints won, and the Panthers won 11 games. That's the first time that has happened in any division in 11 years when the AFC South did it. In fact, the NFC South is the only division in football in which all four teams have gone to the Super Bowl this century.

So you look at the teams that have made the Super Bowl since 2001, the NFC South, the Falcons, Panthers, Saints, and Bucks, the only division. So the good news for the Falcon fans, I think they're on their way back to the Super Bowl. The bad news for Falcon fans,

I think they lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl. So that's my NFL prediction. Oh, that's good information. So Tom versus time, final episode dropped yesterday. Right. And Tom, of the many things he discussed, talked about prolonging his career. Listen to this.

Look at my career from, I don't know, 30, 32, 33 on, you know, like a lot of players retire at 33, you know. I mean, you look at football tenure, your career. That's an amazing career. I mean, I think the last eight years of my career have been better than the first 10, though. I should just prolong it. And that's what I'm trying to do. And it's amazing to think about 18 years. So here's the quarterbacks.

We're going to scroll the Patriot quarterbacks that have played at least a game as a starting quarterback since Tom Brady entered the league 18 years ago. So let's scroll the quarterbacks who have started for New England. And it's over. That was a pretty short list. Now let's scroll the quarterbacks who have started for the Cleveland Browns since Tom Brady entered the NFL. Tim Couch, Jeff Garcia, Kelly Holcomb, Luke McCown, Trent Dilfer.

Some of these guys are broadcastersters, Charlie Fry, Ken Dorsey, Bruce Gradskowski, Brady, Quind, Derek Anderson, Cole McCoy, Jake Del Ome, Seneca, Wallace, Thad Lewis, Jason, Camel, Braden, Brian Hoyer, Connor, Shaw, Johnny Mansell, Dawton Davis, RG3, Josh McCown, Cody, Cessor. Deshawn Kaiser, Kevin Hogan, Tyrod Taylor. And by October 17th, I'm predicting, Baker Mayfield will be on that list. This goes back to something I am such a strong believer in, that stability is so underrated. And it's one of the things about the Pittsburgh Steelers, like structure and stability. I mean, you know, they talk about this in child psychologists, that if a kid has stability and love, 0 to 8, you avoid almost all the systematic problems that kids can incur in life as adults. Like if you get to 08 and the kids are safe and the kids are loved and the kids wake up for being morning and they're in a really good environment,

all the issues that can occur in life are reduced statistically, reduced to a dramatic level. When you have instability in a life, in a business on a football team, it's just you're going to underachieve. And this is what I think with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's not that they don't win games, but in eight years, is it seven or eight years, they won three playoff games with Big Ben. And I mean, the wins were ugly. There was the win against Cincinnati, when Cincinnati outplayed them. There was the win, um,

Dolphins. Miami, and they face Matt Moore. And then there was the win against Kansas City where they had six field goals and couldn't score a touchdown with Big Ben. So it's not that chaos and instability in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh means they're bad. It just means they're not achieving to the level they should achieve. And I think that's my issue with Pittsburgh.

Tomlin can coach. It's not like they don't win games, but they should win more. Here are the MVP odds as we start the season tonight. Aaron Rogers, Wendt, Brady, Deshawn Watson, Breeze, Garoppolo. I do think it's funny. We have a great show tomorrow, by the way. Ed Reed, one of the greatest players I've ever watched play football. Joe Thomas, funny, funny guy.

met Joe. Joe Thomas just cracks me up. Very funny guy. Going to be a Hall of Fame first ballot guy. Never missed a start in all those years with the Cleveland Browns. Just retired. Baker Mayfield could really use him. Here are the MVP odds. I do think it's funny that

we never really argue that Joe Montana was better than John Elway. John Elway was the better athlete, the bigger athlete, the better arm, better mobility. But it is funny to watch how many people, whenever you talk about Brady and Rogers, it is almost like understood now. Well, Rogers is better. And to that, I say, is quarterback a leadership position, Joy?

Yes. Have you ever read a leadership book? No. Okay, I have. And do they ever say these are great leadership qualities? Arrogance, aloof, condescending, ego. Rogers has a lot of those categories. Tom doesn't.

So like everybody's, listen, Cam's got a great arm. Jay Cotler had a great arm. Jeff George had a great arm. Joe Flacko's got a great arm. Matt Stafford's got a great arm. Tom Brady's arm is good enough. I think we sometimes just fall over ourselves with Aaron Rogers' arm.

It's like one of these things, when I hire, if I've ever had opportunities to hire people, and people say, oh, she's really smart. And I'm like, I don't need her to be a scientist. Is she smart enough? that we can bring somebody on the show and we can all have a good time and everybody likes her. I don't need a genius. In fact, if you are a genius, it creates its own problems.

You've probably been told you're a genius. You're too smart to relate to. You're the smartest person in the room. I don't need a genius. I want to work with everybody that's smart enough. It's like having a great arm. I don't need you to throw the ball like Jay Cutler. I need you to have a good enough arm to make the,

throws in tight windows. I think sometimes we just fall in love with Aaron Roger's arm. Elway had a better arm than Joe Montana. But Montana was better in crisis. Well, I think it's also like a balance, you know? There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. I think Aaron Rogers

sometimes kind of little. I mean, you have to be confident. You have to be a bit arrogant to get to that position, but it's how you manage those emotions and those characteristics once you get to that point. You've worked with me now two months. Do you see an iota of arrogance?

No, but you are extremely confident, especially in that Ravens' pick. Okay. Ed Reed and Joe Thomas tomorrow, I'm so excited. I'm going to go home tonight, have my kale salad, and just sit there. Who's kidding who? It's chicken wings, pizza, burgers tonight.

I cannot wait. In Los Angeles, it's the herd. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet, lost its mind, 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.

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