The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Patrick Mahomes, Cowboys-Eagles, Tom Brady, & the Blazing 5

Episode Date: October 18, 2019

Colin gives his reasons why he feels the Chiefs should worry about being to reliant on Patrick Mahomes, why the loser of the Cowboys-Eagles game might be fine, why Tom Brady will win the AFC again, and his new Blazing 5 picks. Guests include Rashad Jennings, Eric Dickerson, Urban Meyer, T. J. Houshmandzadeh, and Jason McIntyre. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joy Taylor is joining me. He's got a little Pittsburgh Cedar thing there going on, a little bit. Yeah, with the black and yellow going this weekend. So last night, kind of scary moment for us. Yes. Yeah, so Patrick Mahomes, we're waiting for the MRI. If he doesn't need surgery, he'll be out, they say. The speculation is three weeks.

So we won't speculate. We're not going to go Twitter doctor on this. I have no idea. I'm not a doctor. I don't even have a hunch, so we'll wait on it. But there's a lot of feelings that came out last night when I saw it. Let me start with the first is, good God. The football gods keep giving Tom Brady these little subtle gifts.

Andrew Luck retires, Big Ben out for the year. Nick Fulz got hurt after a quarter. Patrick Mahomes, cross your fingers. I mean, literally Brady's roadblocks now. His healthy roadblocks to the Super Bowl are to Sean Watson. Houston's never won in Foxborough. And Lamar Jackson, a kid who struggles throwing the ball. You know, you cross your fingers on it.

I think it's good for football when Patrick. MaHombs plays. I actually think it's good for everybody, not just Kansas City. I think it's good for the NFL. It's good for CBS. They've got those games. I don't like to see Patrick Mahomes out. I'm crossing my fingers. I love Andy Reid. I think they're a Super Bowl team with him. And it's just, I mean, the NFC's a gauntlet. You have no idea. Russell Wilson's 5 and 1. And Aaron Rogers is 5 and 1. And Garoppolo's 5 and O. And Drew Breeze is coming back. And Minnesota and Caroline and Carson Wentz wins this Sunday. And the Rams are the 11th best team. I kid you not. NFC, the 11th best team with McBay.

The NFC's a gauntlet. Whoever comes through the NFC, it is going to be well-deserved. I think Patrick Mahomes is good for football. I would like to see him up so the Patriots have a challenge because I think football's better when we don't know who's going to win the games. And I really feel bad for Patrick Mahomes. But here's what worries me about Kansas City. And this worries me, this is one of my rules in life.

There are things I buy in life. but I don't want to be dependent on those things for my happiness, right? Like, I'm going to buy a nice car, but if it's making me too happy, it says my life is fairly shallow, right? Like, I like nice things like you do, but I don't want to be dependent on those things for happiness. Here's the thing. Kansas City, and this is actually, the media tends to think this is great,

is becoming too dependent on Patrick Mahomes. And they're not even paying him yet. When they pay him $300 million, what do you think that defense, which is bad now, is going to look like? Green Bay became way too dependent on Aaron Rogers. This year, they're not. Now they've got a defense.

Now they've got a running game. Think about New England. Tom Brady got hurt. They won 11 games. Think about the Saints. Drew Breeze gets hurt. They're 4-0. Think about San Francisco, that defensive front.

They can win low-scoring games with a bad. backup quarterback. Think about Seattle. They've got a running game in Pete Carroll's defense. Those teams need quarterbacks, but they're not completely reliant on them. And I think Green Bay two years ago figured it out. God, if Aaron misses games, we can't even move the ball. So Green Bay went out and went and drafted nothing but defensive players in the first three rounds. Their free agents were nothing but top defensive players. And this year, they're trying to establish a running game. So they're not, they want Aaron. But then don't want to be totally dependent on Aaron.

And that's what worries me about Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. Listen, I work with Troy Aikman and Terry Bradshaw. Two Fox great broadcasters. They have seven Super Bowls. Okay. Both Aikman and Bradshaw do not win those Super Bowls without both had great running games and both had great defenses. And Troy Aikman missed games in Dallas and they won.

You can't be completely dependent. on an individual. Nobody's saying the Cowboys didn't want Aikman. Nobody's saying Bradshaw didn't make the Steelers better. That's not the point. But Pittsburgh could win games with that defense and running game if Terry missed two weeks. And if Troy got out with a bum knee for a couple of weeks, shoulder issue, Dallas was good enough with Emmett and that defense to win with a backup.

That's where you want to be in this league. New England, right now, you can't score on them. You can't score on New England. I mean, Buffalo is really building it the right way, where Buffalo's defense is great, their coaching's amazing, they're starting to run the football. They don't have to play very good offensively. They can still win on the road. You know, this league is so much about treading water when the big injury happens.

Philadelphia loses Carson Wentz. They win a Super Bowl with Nick Foles. The Colts lose Andrew Luck. They're three and two, and I think they win this weekend and lead the division. Carolina loses Cam Newton. They're 4 and 0 without him. Again, the Saints, 4 and 0 with the Hall of Famer Drew Bree's gone. We all, you want the great quarterback.

But I think Kansas City's become like Green Bay two years ago or a year ago, way due dependent on him. There's all sorts of players on this team. You should be able to lose Patrick Mahomes for three weeks and go two and one with Andy Reed is your coach with those skill players in that division? So I'm crossing my fingers on Patrick. He's a remarkable

kid and a great player. But be very, very careful. They don't pay Patrick Mahomes anything now. What happens when they do? This going forward, remember, Andy Reed doesn't have a history of building great running games. Like, that's not his thing. That's what worries me about Kansas

City. Andy always does the passing thing. Andy always gets the quarterbacks right. They may also want to create a running game, not forcing Mahomes to be magical, hold on to the ball, wait too long, have to hit the big track meet home run play down the sideline. Again, no ligament damage. If that's true, then report say he'll only miss three weeks. We're waiting for an MRI.

I'm not going to speculate. I'm not a Twitter doctor. That's where we stand. By the way, I've got another thing I heard about Mahomes, which I think is ridiculous. I'll get to that in five minutes. All right. So it's better for me in my business. Let me segue to the Cowboy Eagle game.

It's better in my business if I create urgency. I mean, look at sports right now. World Cup every four years gets huge ratings. Olympics every four year gets huge ratings. Football once a week on Sunday gets huge ratings. The more urgency there is, you know, college basketball, regular season doesn't have ratings. March madness, Duke loses, season's over. Urgency, ratings go up.

So it's better, sports is better when there's urgency. And it would be great for me to go on the end. air today and say, Cowboys, Eagles, it's a game of the year. It means everything. Michael Irvin this weekend, NFL Network said, this is it for the loser. Honestly, it worries me because Dallas has injuries and very key position right now, and I'm very concerned that the loser of this game may end up missing the playoffs. Totally disagree. First of all, let's talk NFC. 12 teams. are still in the NFC chase. Take out Washington, disaster. Atlanta, they've quit on their coach. Arizona,

talented but too young to win. And Tampa Bay, I don't trust James Winston. I even think the Giants are still in it. Sequan's back. Evan Ingram's back. And they play the Dolphins and the Redskins second half of the schedule. And I think the Rams brought in Jalen Ramsey that buoys the locker room. Todd Gurley's back. Offensive line getting healthier. I think they win this weekend. They're four and three. So I count the Rams and Giants is absolutely still in it. Philadelphia and Dallas, neither of these teams are good enough to put the other away. They've got massive secondary issues in Philadelphia. Both have brutal schedules.

The only division in football to me that feels, and I won't even say decided, because injuries happen, the only division in football now where I really feel like I would strongly say New England will win their division because they've already beaten Buffalo and they're in a game and a half up, and that feels like to me the safest bet in the league. But in the NFC, ask yourself this. If you think the cowboy Philadelphia winner is home free or has a big edge, let's just take Dallas. Let's say Dallas wins Sunday and goes four and three.

They've got a buy. Then they face, I'm going to read the next 10 weeks, I'll take the Giants game out, they should win that. then they face the Vikings defense at Detroit at New England, Buffalo's defense at Chicago and 9 degrees at Philadelphia and the Rams at home. With Jalen Ramsey. You think four and three decides anything with Dallas? So I think the loser of this game is fine.

I mean, as fine as somebody is in that division, because Washington's not a threat, and I think New York still is, and I think the Cowboys and the Eagles will play to week 17. This is only the first of two games. They're going to play to week 17 to figure out the winner of this division. Philadelphia's got a major problem in the back end. I'm not sure they can solve it, although injuries heal, they'll get better. And Dallas just isn't special enough offensively,

especially with an aging offensive line that gets hurt. So it would be much better for me if I sold urgency because urgency works. That's why the NFL gets the ratings. It's one game a week. We gather around the TV and the World Cup and March Madness and the Olympics get ratings. You just don't get them very often or once a year or once a week. But I think the loser of this game is fine because I don't think either of these teams right now, the way they're built and health-wise, are good enough to put the other away.

Coming up next, somebody suggested what? What to do with Patrick Mahomes the rest of the way is perhaps sit him because this injury, if you don't get surgery, you can make it worse. I think that's ridiculous and I'll tell you why 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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don't know about Patrick Mahomes. We all cross our fingers for Andy Reid, for the chiefs, for the NFL, for the AFC. I like to see Tom Brady challenged. And I think when Andrew Luck retired and Big Ben's out for the year, I mean, you got some limitations here in the AFC who can even challenge Tom Brady and Foxboro. You can't trust Josh Allen. He's a kid. I mean, you can't ask Lamar Jackson to go in, having played 15 games and went in New England. That's outrageous. I mean, Deshaun Watson, I think, can do it. But I saw a story. I saw a story. this morning. I'm not going to mention the outlet or the name because I think it's a silly

column. But he's saying here you could have big questions in Kansas city, do they push for a return in a matter of weeks and keep the season alive but risk another shot at an injured knee that could need eventual surgical attention? You play through it.

You don't punt on the season, not with Andy Reid, not in that division. If Oakland loses Sunday nobody in the division has a winning record. This is sports. I told you this years ago, I had an NFL general manager tell me this, a Super Bowl-winning general manager. When you pay an NFL quarterback, I'm not talking to baseball, player, a basketball player, a hockey player. When you pay an NFL quarterback, 75% of it is for talent and production.

25% of it is toughness and leadership. Play hurt. No. This year alone, Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Gardner Minshue, Josh Allen, Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Big Ben, Andrew Luck, Tom Brady, was on it. injury report. I mean, you play, Deshawn Watson had to take a bus to a game last year. He couldn't fly. Aaron Rogers was hurt in the first half of the first game and played hurt all year. Drew Breeze is rushing to get back and his team is four and no without him. Carson Wentz is always hurt. Donovan McNabb threw four touchdowns on a broken ankle. Andrew

Luck finished a game with a lacerated kidney. Philip Rivers played the AFC championship on a torn ACL. It's funny, there's a doctor on Twitter. He's a former charger doctor. He's a Twitter doctor. He talks about this stuff. I think he was the doctor when Philip Rivers played

on a torn ACL. You can be a doctor, but part of the salary is you play if you can play. By the way, we compare Patrick Mahomes to Brett Fav. You think Brett Fav was always healthy? Do you see the hits Brett Fav took? I know Kurt Warner played hurt. I saw Kurt Warner.

take some of the biggest shots I've ever seen a quarterback take. Joe Montana, go back into YouTube, biggest sacks on Joe Montana. Joe Montana was, when he started before Bill Walsh got there, I mean, Joe Montana didn't always play with the perfect offense. He got beat up early in his career by those New York Giants defenses. So Troy Aitman played hurt. Peyton Manning always played hurt. And so, you know, we're pre-MRI here.

Let's not speculate on what happens. But, you know, if the idea that, oh, you could play hurt and if you play hurt, Sam Darnold, they worried about a spleen exploding last week. He wore a flack jacket. It's 75% of your quarterback salary. This is not baseball where you have another game tomorrow. You got another game tomorrow. And you have no salary cap.

So some teams just have a surplus of money in town. In the NBA, regular season, you don't risk it with LeBron James, Kauai Leonard. They have a term called load management. There is no load management. Now, you take him out of the game last night, absolutely. And you rest him until you feel you're getting the 80% of Patrick Mahomes. But if he can play, the NFL's different. And if I look at Kansas City schedule the rest of the way, boy, oh boy, there's a lot of home.

Green Bay at home, Minnesota at home, Oakland at home, Denver at home, Chargers at home, at Tennessee. Even with Patrick Mahomes at 75%, you're favored in all those games. Now, do I believe this team should be less reliant on Patrick Mahomes? I absolutely do. But at this point, they're not. This is what they are. They are reliant on him. And they can win games with Matt Moore.

And this is not me in any way saying, I don't care about Patrick Mahomes. That's not the point here. The point is, I can give you a million examples of Peyton Manning playing hurt. And it's, I think it, you know, I think it comes with the territory. is Brett Farr spent an entire career waking up on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday morning, not feeling great. Same with Troy Aikman. They may have had good cowboy teams. Troy Aikman took a lot of shots.

And football's never been safer. They don't even hit during practice now. I mean, hit during the way. They only wear pads once a week during the week in NFL seasons right now. Once a week you wear pads. And even when you wear pads, it's not a heavy hitting practice. So in college football, I have had coaches tell me by the third game. game in September, they stop hitting in practice.

Like we don't, the kids, they have the, you know, the metal, the toughness by week three in college football. It's about keeping the kids healthy, having them ready by Saturday, having them hydrated, healthy, and ready to go. So I just think the idea that if Patrick could play, you'd worry about him. Yeah, listen, it could help. The other thing is, don't you think Patrick Mahomes would want to play? These are professional athletes.

These quarterbacks, you can't keep them off the field. You know, they don't, I mean, what's funny about quarterback is quarterback tends to wear, if you ever played football in your life, you wear the red jersey. So there's a sensibility with quarterbacks in the NFL. They want to prove they're as tough as everybody else because you can't hit them in practice, right? You're not allowed to hit the quarterback in practice. They often wear the red jerseys. So quarterbacks have this thing where they love to take their offensive linemen to dinner.

They buy their offensive linemen gifts to say, listen, I appreciate it. And I know how you've hit all the time. have to hit. There's a real understanding in culture and football that the quarterbacks, special teams guy in the quarterback, you don't hit them in practice. You don't tackle the punter, you don't tackle the kicker. Everybody else gets their butt kicked.

So quarterbacks like to prove, hey, I can play in pain here. I can take a hit. And I think it's going to be really hard to keep Patrick Mahomes off the field. I think Patrick Mahomes going to be like, no, no, no, no, no, no. I've watched my entire offensive line get hurt this year. I've watched everybody on this team be hurt for

two years. You think I can't play hurt. I think Patrick will really want to play. And you know, he's a tough kid. He's been playing the last few games hurt. All right, Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Major

injury news today. So Zion Williamson will miss the beginning of his first NBA regular season with a knee injury. Brojornowski is reporting that the injury is not severe, but he is expected to miss a period of weeks. The pelicans are being very

cautious with Zion, but there is total confidence that he'll make a full recovery. You know, this is something, Joy, people said to me, what what's the weakness of Zion? And I said, it's not his game. What I worry about is a 285-pound kid

that plays with that much torque and explosiveness. His body worries me. In fact, me, and I have had two scouts. In fact, if you go ask the scouting community in the NBA, Joy, They all say the same thing. We don't know if his knees can last.

Yeah, I mean, that's pretty much the consensus on him overall. It's just that he needs to lose a little weight. And they said that they were working on it with him over the summer, him dropping around 15 pounds or so. So he does need to lose a little bit of weight. And not that he is out of shape. No. It's just that he has to lean up.

Like, it's just a fact. And while he is young and, you know, jumping out of the ceiling right now, over time, that's only going to get worse. so it's better to get ahead of it. I mean, he's just entering the league. So they're going to get him with the best dietitians and trainers and make that happen. But this is disappointing news. I mean, the Pelicans were supposed to play the Raptor,

or they're going to play the Raptors opening night, you know, the NBA champs, and everyone's expected to see Zion making his debut, and he's not going to be there. So it's obviously disappointing for fans, but this is also very, very alarming because this was the conversation surrounding Zion. And as you said, really the only critique of Zion was, is his body going to be able to hold up? So it was listed as right knee sortness, and he didn't travel to New York for the last preseason game for more tests.

And he also missed six games in February. You remember when he injured the same knee slipping out of his shoe against UNC. So it appears that this is the trouble area for him. And I mean, he's playing out of his mind. He's the first NBA rookie in the last 20 years to finish the preseason averaging more than 20 points. So disappointing news, but we hope it gets well quickly, but he is going to miss a few weeks at the beginning of the season with that knee injury. So the Cowboys are three and three and pressure is mounting for the team to turn things around. But despite the three game losing streak, Dac Prescott is confident that his team is happy and they're getting their struggle.

He's happy that they're getting their struggles out of the way early. He said, I'd rather it happen now when we still have a chance to go into game seven playing for first place in the division rather than later in the year when we only have one game of a game or two left before the playoffs or be forced to try to make the playoffs. It's never good to lose three, never ever. but if there ever was an ideal time, I'd say it's now. I know we have a great team. I know it. I mean, the issue with the Cowboys is pretty obvious. Like, the offensive line is a major problem for the Cowboys.

I don't think that Dak has regressed. I don't think that Ezekiel Elliott is not the same guy. They've had incredible amount of injuries. Amari Cooper, Dax's main guy, is injured as well. And the teams that they beat were terrible. When they played really good defenses, the offensive line struggled, and they struggled as a whole. So I don't think that the Cowboys are a bad team. It's kind of similar situation to the Chiefs.

Like, there's just an amounting amount of injuries. So how do you really assess what's going on with them? It's week seven. I mean, we forget. Doesn't Belichick OSA? The league's decided after Thanksgiving. We're not even in November yet. Forget Thanksgiving.

We're not even in that month yet. And Thanksgiving's at the end of November. But I think with the Cowboys, you know, especially this game against the Eagles, like Michael Irvin was saying, the clip that we played earlier, that whoever loses this game will miss the playoffs, they do have the Eagles in their division.

So it's not a walkaway situation, and the NFC is completely staffed. So while it isn't, you know, there's still a lot of season left, there is more of a sense of urgency with the way that they have been playing. Like if they lose this game, it's not the end of the season,

but things are really going to heat up. So there's a stress level existing already. Finally, the Jets offense was rejuvenated last week and Sam Darnold returned to the team. They finally got their first win of the season, and Darnold thinks the sky. and limit for the Jets when everyone is healthy. Right now we're just missing Chris.

Once all the guys are back together, I think, you know, we're unstoppable as an offense, or we can be. It's just up to us how much we execute or how well we go out there and play. So it's really up to us, you know, how many points we score, I think. I think we're capable of scoring so many points. And with our offensive line, too, the way they played last game, you know, with the way we've been running the ball and the way they've been protecting, you know, I think, this guy's the limit for us.

You know, I love Sam Darnold. I wish he would have waited a week to say this, because I think he's going to really struggle against New England. You can only beat New England now. You only beat them one way with this defense. You've got to have guys on the outside who can beat them down the field. Because, and the Jets do not have those receivers. So Sam's going to struggle against New England.

And I say this, it's a nine and a half point spread. I'll tell you now, it's not in my blazing five. I think the Jets are, after the New England game, things will start to pick up. But let me tell you, this offense will have real limitations, and you're going to see them this week, because New England's corners are going to shut down the Jets' average receivers, and New England is going to put massive pressure on Sam Darnold, because that offensive line for the Jets is a draft away from being solved. So I love Sam and we just love that cowboy win, anyone player of the week, but New England is a whole different defense than Dallas.

So you think that box bet line is fair? I think the line. Listen, Vegas doesn't make many mistakes. When that line comes out at 10, everybody's like, oh, you got to take the Jets. The Patriot Corners are going to shut down the Jets receivers and they're going to put so much heat on Sam. this is one of these, as high as the Jet fan is this morning, is as low as they'll be after Monday night. I mean, do they think they're going to beat the Patriots?

Well, of course they do. They're pro athletes and I don't blame them. No, no, not the Jets. I'm saying Jets fans. Yes. Like, of course, of course the Jets feel like they have. And I, listen, nobody's rooting for Donald and the Jets more than me in America. I love the kid and I really, I go check their draft board every 15 minutes.

I, this is going to be a rough Monday for them. The Patriot matchup is a. bad one for the Jets offense. Battle line, no go-to receiver, they'll be totally shut down. I still think it's a little high, but... It's fun. It is fun. It's going to be a good watch

because now we're going to see Sam Donald against Tom Brady at home, so... There we go. Enjoy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. You know, I get him on about twice a year. I love having him on. He's the former New York giant.

Not only did he write a New York Times bestselling book, but he's a raider and a giant and a jet. and his name is Rashad Jennings, and let's bring him on the show today. And it's actually timely today in a weird sort of way. Rashad, great to see you again. Dancing with the Stars champion, which, frankly, is more impressive than anything you've ever done. I wrote a book, too, but dancing, that's over my head. You played Patrick Mahomes' injury last night.

You actually had an MCL. Was it a tear? Yeah. And you, did you play with it? Yeah, I was out for several weeks. Then I came back and I played with it. How did you play with it? That's not easy.

There's a lot of torque because it's harder to actually make defenders miss because you have to run in a straight line. Okay, so let's talk about that. You're a running back. Part of running back is making guys miss. Yeah. Patrick does not have to make guys miss. He can go down, he can throw it.

Do you think a quarterback with an MCL sprain or a tear, it would be doable if you had some protection? If you had some protection, yeah, I believe so. And then, too, because of the rules. are predicated to protect the quarterback. Sure. And to be quite frankly, I think if a quarterback is coming off an injury, believe it or not, I think the referees will be more kind to that position and that particular player to protect them.

So you got that on his favor. And then also because of what he's asked to do, he's an exceptional talent. I think he can play without having to scramble as much. Because he has such a wicked arm. He does. He really does. And obviously, you know, it's overlooked. because of how impressive he is in comparison with his feet. But he could throw the ball from the pocket as well.

You know, the other thing, Frank Reich has this talent. So does Sean Payton. And he reads a great play designer. Andy's going to go into games now with Patrick, perhaps thinking, I need to design stuff so he gets the ball out quicker. We're not going to do the track meet post routes as much. So I think to your case, the referee, here's the other thing I said.

And I think it would be hard to keep Patrick Mahomes out because punters, kickers, and quarterbacks. Can't hit him in practice. I've talked to quarterback. Trent Dilfer used to say this. Listen, I want to prove to the guys, I can take a hit too. There is a certain sensibility. We all know running backs get hit, and we all know linebackers are tough.

Right. He loves the game. He loves the sport. He's definitely going to argue to play ball. Now, the question, I think after seeing the MRI, I don't think anybody really got that back yet. No, you're right. And so it's hard to determine when he should come back. They do have a byweek in, what, like three, four weeks or so. So you got that additional week. This is definitely not a situation.

The way he walked off the field, at least from what we know so far, where you're thinking about hanging it up for the season. Does it matter? Let me ask you this, Rashad. When you got hurt, does it matter? Like in Kansas City, if you think we're a Super Bowl contender. Is that going to your head when you go to bed at night like, listen, man, if we were one and nine, it's different. Yes, absolutely. If you're a one and nine team and you don't see anything for the future, a lot of guys, I see, I've seen it.

I haven't obviously given no names, but I've seen players literally say, you know what, listen, hey, we ain't going to where. I got to think about my contract. I got to think about my family. I got to think about future. Hey, y'all, I'm hurt. I'm hurt. Concussion still. I got a headache.

I've seen players that have injuries say I'm not injured at all. Go home, cry, limp, getting oxygen chambers, do what they need to do to get ready to play because they see an opportunity to win a Super Bowl. You know, it's funny. I told this with Joy. In the NBA, there's a term load management. There's a game tomorrow. In baseball, almost every other sport, there's a game tomorrow. There is a badge of honor in the NFL.

It is part of the contract, which is. we're going to ask you some weeks to play a little hurt. The question is how little is little. Concussions, you're not playing. There's a protocol for that. So I think he comes back. I'm going to take a break, come back, because I've got a bunch of questions I want to ask you about your New York Giants.

I know everybody loves Eli, but I think Daniel Jones has been way better than I thought, and he gets Sequin back this week. And boys in the blue looking good. And Evan Ingram comes back this week. And the schedule, they get the dolphins and the red. Redskins, I don't think the Giants are done. I think they've got a lot left in this season.

Back with Rashad Jennings, the former New York giant after this. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing, and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

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

How healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's your responsibility to not just seek help, but to identify that you need help. This is Mental Health Awareness Month. Tune in to the podcast, Just Healed with Dr. J. And take real steps toward healing, growth, and becoming your best self. When you hear the word healing, what does that mean? What came right back to mine are the three P's that I live by, I'll go through the process of

healing so that patience, that perseverance, and that prayer equals healing to me. From understanding your mental health to doing the work, we break down practical tools, real conversations, and the mindset shifts you need to move forward and thrive. You matter too. Your mental health is your responsibility, not your wife, not your partner, not your children, not the church, not the pastor, not the council. It's your responsibility. It's time to stop putting your healing on hold and start doing something about it.

Listen to Just Here With Dr. Jay on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Think I like my blazing five picks more than any week this year. Joy, I'm telling you, I absolutely love my picks. Love him. Rashad Jennings, he is either, as you said during the break, writing or dancing. He won Dancing with the Stars. He has his third book out. did not bring it here.

I said, dude, I'm your Oprah. Bring it on. I'll pump your books. Children's books. Super smart guy, Rashad Jennings. Let's talk three teams. I know you like Eli Manning, but something's happening in this league.

Offensive lines are getting bad and worse. And if you have a quarterback who is a sit-in-the-pocket guy, Flacco, unwatchable last night, unwatchable. Cincinnati, unwatchable. I love Eli, but it was becoming unwatchable. I think Daniel Jones, ability to buy time, I think these giant skill players are pretty good. Rashad, and I like

Daniel Jones what he brings to the offense. Yeah, I mean, movement, when you can get movement from a quarterback position, unless you're talking about, you're one of the elites of, you know, you're bringing up Tom Brady. But Drew Breeze, he moves, he moves out of the pockets. You know what I mean? You take Aaron Rogers, he moves.

Everybody, they're mobile. The movers are winning. Russell Wilson, Deshawn, Patrick. Move, move, everybody. So it is, the game is kind of, it's so dynamic and, again, it's driven to be able to throw the and get the ball in the playmaker's hands ASAP. And you made a point during the break that what a split second means for a receiver.

Yes. And so far as a defender's looking at it, if it's three seconds before the quarterback has to get the ball out of his hands, the receiver's hands, it's easier to defend. But when you can extend the play. Half a second. Half a second. If you got to run with a guy now for four seconds, let alone five seconds, it's so hard as a defender to run with somebody that long.

And it starts to deteriorate on a defense, and then that's what opens up the run game. And then a defense-al-line will get tired. And then the offensive line has to do less. So it's a win if you have a mobile quarterback. By the way, Sterling Shepard's not back, but Evan Ingram is. He's a terrific young tight end. I think they're offensive line. It's not

great, but with Daniel Jones athletic ability, it's good. Seekwan Barclay's back. So I like the Giants this weekend, and I think Daniel's given them, and I think the way you put it, Just use the word movers. In this league right now, the quarterbacks that are winning are movers.

Brady's the exception. The rest of them are moving. Yeah, you can't compare nobody to Brady anyway. Okay. Jalen Ramsey goes to the Rams. I'm going to sell you on something and you tell me if this is true or not. So he's great, not disputing that. You give up a lot of picks.

I don't love that. A lot. Two first rounders and a fourth rounder. But could I make the argument that when your seasons on the line and the Rams are in a division, like every Sunday now counts. The Niners are no joke, and Seattle or Russell Wilson, no joke.

That you make that move, and part of it is it plays really big in the locker room. No doubt. Listen, so that changes the move. You know, when you bring in, if you're inside a locker room and your team is kind of having

some positions that's wavy and you're kind of halfway of trying to figure out what are we going to be this year and you make a major move, what you're bringing in, one of the best, arguably the best cornerbacks in the game on your team to shut down the secondary.

So you can combine him and the secondary. And then you got up front with Aaron Donald. Aaron Donald. Like them two are going to complete each other. And so that lets the team know, hey, listen, we're trying to win now. Now. And we are setting up something with a 25-year-old, I think he is, playing a corner with another young buck up front in Aeronel, say, listen, we're trying to plan something for the future, too.

Yeah, I think we forget about this sometimes. Football's hard. Football practice is hard. Mood changes, wins and losses. Mood changes everything. Listen, changing a player in a locker room is like turning on the music you like. All of a sudden, hey, it's my jam. I kind of say, what are we doing today? And so it changes the mood and the practice, how you prepare new energy. That's a good thing, especially in this division and the team that they have to play throughout. Their schedule is difficult. Rush Jennings is joining us. All right, Cowboys Eagles. My take it today is neither of these teams right now

are good enough to put the other away and this is the first to two. I think this division, I don't think this is the end of the world game. I should say that because it's better for ratings if I pretend like it's the biggest game ever. But I'm like, these teams are both going to win five. They're going to lose four. Like I think this is the classic Ollie Frazier.

I'm old enough to remember that. Connor McGregor Diaz, they can fight three times. One punch could change everything. Neither's significantly better than the other. I don't think this guy I mean I think I like Philadelphia this weekend What say you? I got Dallas this weekend

Why? I got Dallas man I think because you know Coming off the three game losing streak And something about DAC that I like man And one thing about them too And this is injuries Teams having to learn how to play with injuries

We haven't seen really the Cowboys Full team together either Right Yeah we got Austin was hurt Then you have Gallup Then you're now Cooper and then you're still trying to. Randall Cobbs banged up.

Cobbs banged up. Tyron Smith left tackle. Left tag. They're tackle. The best in the game. Yes. And then you got Zeeke coming in two. Now he's fresh.

Like so they're interesting how they're going to grow. But I take them this week just because they're coming off the three game, Lusion streak. They got something to prove. Yeah. Let's go back. I want to revisit if you're just joining us, Rashad Jennings, New York Times bestselling offer,

former running back for the New York Giants. You remember that, the Raiders and the Jags. let's do a little more Mahomes on this. So as we discussed earlier, he would want to play hurt. I want to throw this at you. The Saints are winning without Breeze. Carolina is winning without Cam. But Green Bay did something the last two years.

Green Bay said, we love Aaron, but man, we are way too dependent on him. So they get Aaron Jones, they draft nothing but defense. They don't rely on Aaron for everything. Aaron had a couple games early, didn't play great, they won. Are you worried that when they pay Mahomes, they're already relying on him. But, Rashad, if they pay him $300 million, they're going to be asking him 37 times a game to make a play. Like, I want a good quarterback. But Troy Aikman also had a defense in a running game, and Brady's defense and running game is great.

Are you worried they're too reliant on Patrick Mahomes? It's a good question. So I think at some point you have to just make a decision, how you want to. want to win and how you are okay with losing. And so Patrick Mahomes is elite. You know, if you don't have him on the field, it changes the defensive coordinator and how they prepare week to week. And so I think they can be dependent on him.

Obviously, they let go of what, D.4, they let go of Houston. They let go of some guys they were going to have to pay to try to open up, which I believe, the pay book, I mean, the book to pay my homes. But if you're relying on him, it's okay because he's a. quarterback. He's a position that's okay to rely on. I think every single team in NFL relies on the quarterback. But you got to also understand they got, they got Reed there as a coordinator. So whoever you put in that quarterback position, I think you're going to get production, which you saw him, you saw more be able to come in and finish the game. Last year, two years ago, you saw Alex

was able to play. This team is good enough to beat most teams in the NFL. Yeah. Mahomes gives you that little extra torque. Yeah, it's just interesting. I think Green Bay a couple years ago, after Aaron went down again, Green Bay said, okay, we love Aaron. We are completely beholden to him. When he goes down, the season's over. Listen, you look at the Saints right now and Carolina right now, don't get me wrong.

They're going to be, you know, Cam's better than Kyle Allen and Teddy's better than, Drew's better than Teddy a little bit. But in the end, I don't feel like in the locker room, Drew gets hurt and everybody's like, it's over. Yeah. Like I said this about Pete Carroll. Russell Wilson's obviously great, but they always run the ball and play defense. Hold on, man.

If you're over there in Carolina, Cam comes back, who are you playing? See, I don't know about that one. The Drew Breeze, the Drew Breeze? Yeah, Drew Breeze. We've talked about this. But it's been, it's three quarterbacks that's been on, you know, the kind of cuts right to second. Would you play Marriota? Would I play Cam?

I definitely would. I would bring him in first through packages. though. I definitely would. He wouldn't come in and just start right away. Listen, let's say you bring Cam in and they lose. What are they saying in the locker room? Oh, man, it hurts even more. It hurts even more. Now they're saying in the locker room, media,

everybody's like, hey, he can't play for us anymore. Look, we had a thing going, what's going to put Allen back in? He's going to, we're thinking futuristic anyway, right? And so, you know, that's a difficult thing. I love Cam. Cam's freak athlete. But you've got to think about future, team, mood of a locker room.

all these things count. Guys get real loyal to wins. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You want to listen. I mean, you can love a guy. I mean, Russell Westbrook and Hardin may love each other. They go in a four-game winning, losing streak.

Yeah. That love is temperate. Like friendship, D. Wade and LeBron. LeBron's like, D. Wade gets hurt a lot. I'm going to Cleveland. Like winning is what everybody in this league. The locker room's way easier when everybody's winning games. Okay, Rashad Jennings, buy it.

What's your book called? Arcade and the Golden Travel Guide in the South. All the stores right now. All right. Blazing 5 next. Great having you. You're always welcome on the show. Blazing 5 coming up next off of losing week. We rarely have back-to-back losing weeks.

The Herd. 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending.

Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions

everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action, with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth.

Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, is we have real. conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's your responsibility to not just seek help, but to identify that you need help. This is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Tune in to the podcast, Just Healed with Dr. J. And take real steps toward healing, growth, and becoming your best self. When you hear the word healing, what does that mean? What came right back to mine are the three P's that I live by. I'll go through the process of healing so that patience, that perseverance, and that prayer equals healing to me. From understanding your mental health to doing the work, we break down practical tools, real conversations, and the mindset shifts you need to move forward and thrive.

You matter too. Your mental health is your responsibility, not your wife, not your partner, not your children, not the church, not the pastor, not the counselor. your responsibility. It's time to stop putting your healing on hold and start doing something about it. Listen to Just Here With Dr. Jay on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Oh, here we go. We are packed today. Urban Meyer later this hour and Eric Dickerson, too, this is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. What a pleasure it is today to have you in.

The sad news, Patrick Mahomes, we wait for the report on the MRI. We don't have an answer yet. We'll get to Patrick Mahomes in a couple of minutes. Denver is dreadful, by the way. Denver, Cincinnati, Miami, Washington, unwatchable. Bottom of the NFL right now, mostly AFC teams is Drek. Top is great. Middle is outstanding.

Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy, how are you? I am great. Can I read this a commercial very quickly? Don't be the guy in the room with a long, sloppy looking shirt. Go to Untucket.com. Code heard, 20% off. They also have like 1,200 retail locations. Go to Untucket.com.

All right, like, listen, sometimes I don't win. Six weeks in the NFL, I've had five winning weeks and one losing week. You know, I'm not going to complain about it. A couple of breaks didn't go my way. It'd be nice if Atlanta could kick a PAT. Let's not get into it. But this week is a week. I thought the numbers lined up.

I felt very good when I looked at the numbers Monday. They changed in my favor, a couple of them. So I like the numbers this week. I feel very good about these picks. And here we go, my Blazing 5, pow. That's a hot one. Let's blaze it up. Fire it up.

It's Collins, Blazing 5. Rams at Falcons. I'll take the Rams minus 2.5. As I said earlier, adding Jalen Ramsey, booies a locker room. I think Atlanta's quit. Also, Jared Goff is fine when he's comfortable. Atlanta's defense makes everybody comfortable.

They're terrible, especially when it comes to sacks their last in the NFL and takeaways their 29th. This means Jared Doff has time to throw. Todd Gurley returns. And the secondary now, again, this is a team that is playing for something. There is urgency here for the Rams. They can't lose with San Francisco and Seattle playing so well. And I think that Atlanta locker room has bailed. It's over.

Like season over, new coach soon. Love the number. I'm going to take the Rams minus two and a half to win, 28, 21. Texans at Colts. Like it? I absolutely love the Colts at minus one. First of all, all buys are not created equal. I like well-run teams, smartly coached teams off a buy.

They take bigger advantage of it, like Belichick and Andy Reefi. off a by. Frank Reich's an excellent coach. Remember, Jacoby Versette has played Houston before three times. He's three and O and has a passer rating close to 100. Also, Jacobi Versette's only been sacked six times this year, second fewest in the NFL. He'll have time to throw and the semblance of a running game behind him at home off a buy. The Coulterola is also the least penalized team in the NFL. They are actually structurally the closest thing to New England in the league. They don't make mistakes. They run the ball.

They protect their quarterback. And Darius Leonard comes back. I really like the Colts in this spot. They're a very good home team. Take that Raider loss at home out. Indianapolis, 28. The Houston Texans 24 like the Colts. Cardinals and Giants.

One of my picks of the year, I'll take the New York Giants minus three. Listen, Arizona won last week, was dominated the last half of that game. and I mean pushed around the field. Sequin Barclay comes back. Evan Ingram comes back. This is a New York giant quarterback in Daniel Jones. When he has a running game and time to throw, he completes over 60% of his passes and they're 2-0.

And again, Arizona's defense is a problem. 30th, 29th in everything. Daniel Jones will be comfortable. Daniel Jones at home. I get a warm weather dome team going out east to the chilly northeast. Arizona's never been a great East Coast travel team. Giants win here. I think it's one of the blowouts of the weekend.

3624, a healthy Giants team, which I think is better than their record. Ravens at Seahawks. Counterintuitive. I'm going to go with Baltimore plus three on this. I have some fears. It's called Russell Wilson just winning the game because he's a magician. But Baltimore is sneaky. Number one in the league in rushing yards.

Number one in the league in time of possession. Number one in total offense. Did you realize that? Translation. Keep Russell Wilson off the field. Seattle's played three games at home this year. They've been outscored by four points. They came a football length away from losing to the Rams at home.

They beat Cincinnati by one. They got dominated at times by the Saints. I like Seattle. But they this year have had to depend on turnovers. Those never last. They got lucky last week. I mean, Baker was throwing bad picks and a fumble. Cleveland outplayed them for big spots.

I think Baltimore got a buy coming up. This is going to feel big for them. John Harbaugh against Pete Carroll. The Harbaugh's and Pete Carroll, a little, little animosity there. USC Stanford, the Harbaugh family, Pete Carroll. Upset, Baltimore upset Seattle 2420. Eagles at Cowboys. Philadelphia, I'm going to take the Eagles plus two and a half.

By the way, they've won six of nine at Dallas. I think they match up very well against Dallas. Dallas's offensive line is beat up, and I love, love the Eagles defensive front. Ronald Darby. Now, remember this. The Eagles issue is secondary, but Jalen Mills is coming back, and Ronald Darby, who special, did practice this week. So that secondary is going to be better, if not spectacular.

The other thing, I have a rule in this league. When talented teams are humiliated, they almost always bounce back. And Philadelphia was humiliated. Eagles are 16 and 7 when Carson Wentz doesn't have a pick. And here's what the Cowboys don't do this year. John Gulell tell you, they don't intercept the football. And Byron Jones is not healthy. They do not intercept the football.

Carson Wentz is going to have a little bit of a running game. I don't think the Cowboys secondary is healthy. I'm going to take the points. I think they win straight out by a touchdown. Eagles 27-220. There you go. Eagles also have a great run defense. Great run defense, forcing Dak to have a big day.

Okay, here we go. Here's our breaking news. Breaking news. The MRI has confirmed the chiefs Patrick Mahomes dislocated kneecap, not significant additional damage. I mean, this is the season for Kansas City. And by the way, this is good for the NFL. It's good for Patrick Mahomes.

So he'll seek additional opinions to be sure. The plan is for him to return this season after a brief absence. Can you put the chief schedule up? So the MRI has confirmed, like when he came off the field last night, He was in pain. It looked like they popped something back in. Then he walked off. He was in the X-ray room very, very briefly.

Who broke that story? Can I give him credit? Ian Rappaport broke that story. So again, not significant damage. I think they got a buy coming up here in the next month, I believe. I don't have the chief schedule right in front of me. I think you play them. I think this is a league that you, 25% of what you pay quarterbacks is,

listen, you're going to play some games. He was already hurt. You're going to play some games beat up. So here's the chief schedule. print this right now. So here we go. I'm looking at this live if you're listening on radio. So. They're biased at the end of November.

Okay, so they host Green Bay. They're not going to have Mahomes. They host Minnesota. They're not going to have Mahomes. Those could be losses. They're not going to have Mahomes at Tennessee. I like them there. Then they may have them by the Chargers at Kansas City, a team they've mostly won. Then they get a buy.

Then they get Raiders at home, New England, Denver at home. I see a Chargers at home. must see it. But yeah, I mean, I I think Kansas City is fine. I think Kansas City, you want to be honest here? I think the next two weeks are really tough for them. Yeah, I mean, Packers and

Vikings, they're both at home, so that's good, but that's, they're going to be tough. Teams, these are good defenses preparing knowing Patrick Mahomes is not there. That said, Matt Moore is a good backup quarterback, but unfortunately, as you mentioned several times, the chiefs are dependent on Patrick Mahomes. And they,

that is the issue. Yeah. Drew Brees gets hurt, and I think Patrick right now is better than Drew, but the difference is that Saints' defense and that Saints running game. They're stacked. You can ask Teddy, throw it 21 times. You're going to be asking Matt Moore to throw it 35 times. That's not a good space. So Patrick Mahomes will return.

He's going to get additional opinions, which I think is very, very important. But I think this is a big win for the NFL. We've had, you know, lots of quarterbacks get hurt. The AFC's been weird this year. Foles out first quarter. Andrew Luck, retired. Big Ben out. Mono for Sam Darnold.

I mean, it's just the craziest year. By the way, Baker Mayfield's a little banged up. Gardner Menchews a little banged up. AFC is poor CBS execs. I probably think, can we get a break here? The NFC is Aaron's healthy and Russell Wilson's amazing and Garoppola. Oh, my God. And I'll tell you, the interesting thing here, very interesting thing.

The Raiders now, that Green Bay Raider game is interesting because the Raiders are just five and a half point dogs. The Raiders going to Green Bay. Don't kid yourself on this. The Wise guys are betting, the Vegas guys are betting Oakland. The Vegas guys are all in Oakland. Oakland's top eight running. Derek Carr is 73%.

They're off a buy. They're feeling great about themselves. They're getting, they're pretty healthy. This is the chance for Oakland over the next two weeks. We got Derek Carr and you have a backup quarterback. If you're a Raider fan, you don't get many opportunities in life that the superstar quarterback of your rival is out for a few weeks. you're the Raiders.

I'll tell you this, Joy, if you're a Raider player this morning and you just heard what we said, your takeaway is, listen, man, three weeks, we got to make up ground on them. These are the three weeks the Raiders have to make up ground. Because once Patrick's back, all bets are off. He'll win games you should lose. Man, it's crazy.

Patrick dislocated kneecap. We'll seek additional opinions, but the damage is not severe enough that he would have to sit out the season. Coming up next, Eric Dickerson stops by, I like the Rams this weekend. By the way, Philadelphia's general manager is getting a lot of heat for not going after Jalen Ramsey. I'll tell you what side I land on there coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,

FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Kier Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations. with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth?

Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, I Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way,

The podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's your responsibility to not just seek help, but to identify that you need help. This is Mental Health Awareness Month. Tune in to the podcast, Just Healed with Dr. J. and take real steps toward healing, growth, and becoming your best self. When you hear the word healing, what does that mean for you?

What came right back to mine are the three P's that I live by. I'll go through the process of healing so that patience, that perseverance, and that prayer equals healing to me. From understanding your mental health to doing the work, we break down practical tools, real conversations, and the mindset shifts you need to move forward and thrive. You matter too. Your mental health is your responsibility, not your wife, not your partner, not your children, not the church, not the pastor, not the council. It's your responsibility.

It's time to stop putting your healing on hold and start doing something about it. Listen to Just Here with Dr. Jay on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The Michelin Endurance XT silicone wiper blades. Real World Proven two times longer than other blades is how long they'll last blades available. at Walmart, new Michelin Endurance X-T Silicon Wiper Blades. By the way, so Howie Roseman is becoming, he's the GM of the Eagles, he's becoming the Danny Aange of the NFL. Every time there's a trade rumor, you know, his name gets involved.

Jadavian Cloudy going to the Seattle Seahawks. Howie Roseman was, yeah, they want him, and Vaughn Miller's name came out last night, and oh, Philadelphia may want him. He can't make every deal. So they didn't get Jalen Ramsey, and they have a bad secondary, and everybody in Philadelphia is freaking out, and the radio station, in Philadelphia, which are angry on a beautiful day, are crushing Howie Roseman, and Jason Kelsey defended him, a player for the Eagles, defended him not going after Jalen Ramsey.

From the sounds of it, how he did just about everything he could to try and get him, and didn't work out. It's not like the Rams gave him, what, two first rounders and a fourth rounder. It wasn't like, you know, they got him out of steel and Howie didn't offer him anything. So, you know, I got supreme confidence in that guy. He makes some incredible things happen, and I'm sure we're working really hard to make sure that we have the best team possible. I know that that's always case. Okay, I wouldn't have made the move even if I'm Philadelphia. Number one, the Eagles are a sneaky old team.

Okay? What they don't need is expensive players, more of them, and giving up a bunch of draft picks. They are sneaky old. They've got to get a little younger. Get some draft picks. They cannot afford to give away three grand. draft picks. They're old and expensive and you age fast in this league. Go look at the Rams offensive line. Great last year. A mess this year. Secondly, is they paid Carson Wentz a fortune.

So again, once you pay the Russell Wilson a lot of money, what did the Seahawks do this year? They had four draft picks. They turned them into 11 draft picks. They got inexpensive in spots. So once you pay Russell that, the Seattle Seahawks had to, right before the draft they paid him. And they're like, we've got to get draft picks. We got to get inexpensive. And you have to make these decisions. Philadelphia is sneaky old, and so if you pay Jalen Ramsey, now you're going to have to give up multiple draft picks. There's a reason New England accumulates draft picks. Okay, they're valuable. Now, I'm all for giving up a first rounder to get a Jalen Ramsey, but boy, two first rounders and a fourth, that is a lot of capital. First rounders, especially for teams, you know, that know what

they're doing usually become like really, really good players. I mean, look how many first round guys this year. They're really, really good players. They can change their quarterback, running back. They can change your organization. So Philadelphia sniffed around on this. I think they made the right call. And with that, let's bring in Eric Dickerson. Now, he must love Jalen Ramsey. He is just beside himself with Jalen Ramsey. You are. Now, you know, first of all, they gave up a ton. I'll throw this. I said to Rashad Jennings. The season, it's tough. The division's good. You're sitting there. Now you go get Jalen Ramsey. I can make an argument. It signals to the locker room. We're still in this puppy. And I think it's a good, I think the vibe in the locker

room when you get an elite star, it's good for the locker room. It is good for the locker room because Jaylon Ramsey is a well-known player and a great player. I think we're lucky to have him. I think most definitely he will add something to our football team. I think he's a, more of a, I think a team player, you know, I think people might not like how he held getting out of Jacksonville, but hey, I like that. I like him players do that. I mean, that's the new wave in NFL.

I mean, when I played, you couldn't do that. Well, they sent you to Siberia, basically. Now, you tried to force a trade once, didn't you? Well, I did. I did pretty much. I mean, and I didn't really want to be traded, but I wanted to go to a good football team. I want to, I felt like if the Rams didn't want me,

and they said no one was interested in me. I said, well, how about I go somewhere I want to go? Where? I want to go to the Redskins. They were good back then. Very good. Good old line. Good old line.

My cousin was at because Dexter Manley was my cousin. And he called me. He said, Eric, he's my head. We're trying to get you. I said, man, I know. And I won't forget his reply. Man, they ain't going to let that happen. That's too much like Wright.

You know. And that's the truth. I mean, so they send me to Indianapolis. But I like the Jailen Ram to deal. Yeah. You know, in terms of players demanding trades, I do think sometimes NFL guys think their NBA guys. And I do think NBA guys are special.

They're like soccer stars. There is no other Messi. There is no other Rinaldo. There is no other, you know, Aaron Rogers. I do think, though, for positional players, you got to be careful of, like, A, B is a guy. I think he left a better environment. Oh, most definitely. I agree with that.

I think he left a great situation that he had in Pittsburgh. I mean, a team that supported him through some of his antics. And I think a lot of antics we don't even know about because he was in Pittsburgh. Well, a person that I trust as a source within the New York Giants told me, you have no idea. You saw the OBJ stuff, but it was a lot of drama. And again, I would argue that Giants are always a better place to be than Cleveland. So OBJ is like, I don't like it. I want out.

Be careful what you ask for in life. Mom's always tell you, you know, be careful what you ask for a little bit. Now, I do think for Jalen this is a better fit, though. What happened to Marcus Peters? You know, I think with Marcus, and I think he, I think he, I think he's, play great for our football team, but I think I don't think he fits sometimes in the schemes because Marcus Peter is a guy

I think that sometimes more to do his own thing, which he can get away with that. Sometimes. You win and you lose doing that. But that's scary also. I mean, example is that when we play New Orleans and New Orleans that first game, I think he tried to jump a couple of routes, and he's known for that. Jumping routes and trying to jump right and read it wrong and get

burned big time. He did this year. And he's done that a lot this year. So I think I said, I think they went with a player that, you know, is a younger player. And I think in my opinion, better player. Okay, let's go to the Patrick Mahomes thing. So here's the good news. It's not a season ending or injury,

according to the MRI today. He walked off the field, and we saw him walking, you know, he was in the X-ray facility. The thing is, Eric, in the NFL, this is not baseball where there's a game tomorrow. Isn't part of it to play kind of dinged up?

Come on, Colin. This is football. say pity pat yeah you have to play hurt that's part of the deal and look say all right let's say we're going we're going to can the season and we're going to get ready and just get ready for next year okay what if you get hurt next year we're going to can that season get ready for the next year after that it doesn't work like this football is a physical sport you know what can happen on any play any play it could be over the quarterback sneak is one of the most safest plays in football for a quarterback usually I mean I don't even know of a quarterback ever getting hurt during a quarterback

That's a good point. Now it's a good point. Yeah, Tom Brady has the most quarterback sneaks. I think of any quarterback. I mean, that's his play, believe it or not. He likes that play, quarterback sneak. I mean, he also even saw him do it from three-yard. I'm like, dang.

Dang, a quarterback sneak from three-yard line with Tom Brady? You know, it's funny. I saw a stat last year. Most quarterbacks don't get hurt running. They get hurt in the pocket. They get hurt to pocket. The running quarterbacks don't get hurt running. Yeah, no, you'd be surprised.

I mean, but, you know, that play, it's just a freak accident. And, you know, and people are talking about, who do you blame? I mean, you want to blame someone. If you have to blame, I got to blame somebody. I just got to put it on somebody. You put it on the offensive line. Second and one, can't make it. Third one, can't make it.

So I'll never go to the quarterback sneak. I mean, you should be able to get one yard out of the offensive line, but there's no one to blame. That's just football. Go back to your career, Eric. You were a big strong back. I don't remember a lot of injuries, but I would say by week six, you're sore.

I mean, you're... You can be beat up. It just depends. I mean, Colin, I mean, you know, know, I won't forget when I'll give you an example, and this is, this is starting the season. I missed all the training camp. It hurt or just wanted to not play? No, I wanted to get paid.

Okay, okay. I missed all the training camp. And then I missed two regular season games and came in to play the first game, playing the Seahawks in Seattle. And people are like, man, ain't a way. He can't, you know, he can't play. You know, he won't be up to the standards, you know, and I wouldn't get into credit anyway, so it wasn't no big deal. but, you know, they'll show him, well, I had 153 touchdowns. So, you know, playing hurt is just, I support.

But I broke my hand in that game, broke my hand in that game, and played the rest of the season with a broke hand. You know, that's football, man. This is a violent sport. Know that. I love the sport, but it's violent, and that's just it. Are the Chiefs too reliant on Patrick Mahomes? Aaron Rogers in Green Bay, that organization in the last two years,

they just drafted defense and a running game. They're like, listen, we love Aaron. But Troy Aikman had a defense and a running game. Terry Bradshaw had a defense in a running game. Kenny Stabler had a defense in a running game. Kansas City, Eric, feels completely dependent on, I don't think that's a great spot. I don't know. I was a great spot.

You know, I watched them play the coach two weeks ago. Yes. And they showed a view of the Kansas City Chief's defensive line. and they couldn't stop to run and they were huffing and puffing and I kept saying I heard the commentator kept saying it

and I kept saying it I'm like the chiefs don't seem like they can run the football they rely on my homes too much and I agree with you with that I think that if you can't run the football you're going to rely on your quarterback solely that play action

it doesn't become play action it doesn't work anymore we know what you it's only so many past plays you can come up with you know what was amazing last night, Tyreek Hill wasn't even targeted. One time I saw that. The whole night. So the bottom line in the NFL, if you become, you know, one dimensional.

Okay. We'll take, you could literally take Tyreek out of the game. Yeah. What can you do? So, and Andy Reed does not have a history of developing great run games. Now, he's great with quarterbacks, and he's a great play designer, but they're going to pay him $300 million, and you don't think their defense is bad now. So Eric Dickerson joining us. I know it was very difficult to watch the Niners steamroll your Rams. Oh, girl.

Can we just say this? Do we have to? Niners have more good players. Man, I'm going to tell you, honestly, I mean, I didn't think they were that, you know, I didn't, I didn't, I just, I just don't, some things you don't want to believe. Yeah. I didn't want to believe it. When I saw them play Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh is not a good football team right now. But you know what?

The 49ers turned the ball over four times almost in a row every time they got the ball. and they held the Pittsburgh Steelers to 20 points. And the ball was on their end of the field like it could have been touchdowns easily. He held them a 20 points. I'm like, that's a pretty good defense. That's a pretty good football team. Well, I'll tell you, against the Rams, when you looked at the size and speed of San Francisco's front sex, Kwan Alexander, Bruckner, Bosa, those are.

Them's a man. I mean, seriously, those guys just in T-shirts. Yeah, they're some men. I mean, they really, and look, our offensive line is beat up. I mean, they're not that good. it this year. I mean, it's got to be, it's the fact. We're beat up. We lost Rob Havenstein. That hurt. But to watch

what they did to our offensive unit was disheartening. I mean, it really was. I mean, the defense looked like they were moving like in light speed. And our offense at points looked like they were moving like, where we're trying to figure out what we want to do. I mean, and it is

what it is, but I'm still, I'm still, we're going to be okay. Okay. Eric Dickerson, Hall of Famer. Great seeing you, bud. Good seeing you too. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, it's been a lot of devastating injury news today, Zion Williamson and Patrick Mahomes, although both of them seem like they're going to be okay.

Sequin Barclay is going to be okay. The Giants will be getting two big pieces of their offensive back this week against the Cardinals. Sequin Barclay and Evan Ingram have both been cleared to play. Seekwon has been out with a high ankle sprain. He suffered in week three, and Engram sprained his MCL in week. five. However, Sterling Shepard is still in concussion protocol, so he will not play on Sunday. Golden Tate, though. Golden Tate, Evan Ingram, Barclay? Yeah, I mean, their offense is back. Obviously, like to have Sterling Shepard, too, but having Searle and Barclay back is huge for them.

And, I mean, at this point in the season, like, a lot's going to be determined with this Eagles Cowboys game. It seems like it's just getting more and more important by the second. Yep. The NFCE standings, Eagles and Cowboys are obviously both three and three. Giants are two and four. I think the Giants win this week, and they'll be three and four, and then either the Cowboys and the Eagles are three and four. And again, it's a pretty easy. When the Giants give Daniel Jones a little time to throw in a running game, they're 2-0.

And if you look at the Giants' schedule moving forward, obviously they have the Cardinals this weekend, then they're at Detroit, then they have Dallas at home, then they're at the New York Jets, and then they're at Chicago. So there's a couple games in there that are going to be challenges, but it's the NFC East is always very interesting. This year, though, it feels a lot more even. I mean, losing Saquan and Barclay obviously felt like, you know,

okay, this is a development year now, but that's huge to get him back so quickly. So Patrick Mahom's injury is going to have huge repercussions for the Chiefs, obviously will influence their chances at reaching the Super Bowl. And according to Fox Bet, the Chiefs have dropped from third best odds to fifth best odds to get to the Super Bowl before the injury of the Chiefs were 9 to 1, and now they are 12 to 1. Mahomes did have an MRI today.

They confirmed that he did dislocate his kneecap, but found no other significant damage he is going to get an additional opinion. So the plan is to return to the team. After a brief absence, they have the Packers next and the Vikings next to tough teams, but both at home. Then they're at Tennessee. Then they have the Chargers, which is a game in Mexico City. So that could be a little interesting if he's back for that,

and then they have the buy. But Vegas still sees him as a top five Super Bowl team. don't think that's wrong. I think I'd have him closer to six or seven, but I put him in my eight still. For sure. Yeah. I mean, look, the Chiefs aren't terrible. It just they have been relying too much on Patrick Mahomes. They really need to get the run game going and they've got to figure out what to do on the defense to stop other teams from rushing the ball as much as they are. I mean, obviously the Patriots are still favored and the Saints, you know, those are the two top teams. But I mean, if Patrick Mahomes was back, say the best case scenario they were saying yesterday was

three weeks. Let's say it's four weeks and he's back for the game in Mexico City and then they have a buy. I mean, it's those games were going to be hard games with Patrick Mahomes. So obviously you feel better having it going against the Packers and the Vikings at home with Patrick Mahomes. But Matt Moore is a veteran backup

as long as they can get some sort of running game going and, you know, the defense doesn't let it get out of hands. Those are manageable games. Finally, the Packers line backers, Darias Smith, is having great season. He has six sacks and six games. And he typically celebrates his sacks with an elaborate dance.

You've probably seen some of them on social media. But Smith says that head coach Matt LaFleur isn't a fan of his moves. Coach don't want me to do celebrations anymore. I had one for this week. It was going to be nice. Get a chance, talk to him, get up to Roger Cadell, see if we could get some

celebration time. So we're showing some videos of his sack celebrations. I don't love him, but I'm not a celebration guy. I just, when there's a man down right next to you, I'm not a fan of celebrating that. Well, I am on the polar opposite side of that. I've been watching SAC celebrations my whole life, and I've obviously very fond of them. Jason's was, Jason's famous one, was a, my brother's Jason Taylor. He would draw a circle, like a target, and then punched through.

So I enjoyed that. I love the celebrations, and I mean, why shouldn't he get to celebrate? The receivers get to celebrate. It's a big guy celebrate, too. It's a big thing. The floor's reason is that it's taking too long. Do you know the only people that don't get to celebrate are offensive linemen? Yeah, that's why I love when the offense has a planned celebration that includes the big guys.

Like sometimes there's been a few of them. We're like they wait until, you know, the offensive linemen can get down there and they include them in the celebration. I don't think they're taking too long. The floor's being a grump, but we'll see how this goes. I think you should let him do it. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurd Line News. Before we get to Urban Meyer, let me just say this. So I think the two big beneficiaries of Patrick Mahomes being out for three or four weeks, Tom Brady and New England can extend that lead, play home in Foxborough later in the year. So if they have to play Mahomes, it's in cold weather, it's in Foxborough. The other one is the Raiders. The other one is the Raiders. Raiders go and beat Green Bay.

Don't kid yourself. Green Bay's on a short week. Green Bay's got their issues. Green Bay can be pushed around sometimes defensively. up front and the Raiders are top eight in rushing. Derek Carr, 73% completion percentage, and they're seventh on third down offensively. The Raiders can keep your quarterback on the field. They do a little bit of Baltimore sometimes. They get first downs, first downs. You look at the Raiders schedule, folks. I got news for you. At Green Bay, at Houston, there are a lot of home

games after that. Detroit home, Chargers home, Cincinnati home, Tennessee home, Jacksonville home. They end the year Chargers, Denver. Both will be out of the playoff races. we presume. So if John Gruden was talking about facing Aaron, I just like John Gruden talking about quarterback. He was talking about facing Aaron Rogers this week. Here it is. Rogers is still working a snap count.

You see him beat Denver with a hard count. His magnificent scrambling, creating offense is uncommon. It's just unbearable to watch. I hate watching this guy. He's fun to watch, but he's really not fun to watch when you've got to play against them. He still has a very quick trigger, deadly accurate, a lot of overall athleticism, and a great competitor. He saw it again the other night.

Listen, they beat, they beat Green Bay, Kansas City's 5 and 2, Oakland's 4 and 2, and the Chargers Denver, feel dead. It all turned for me. I was out on the Raiders until they beat Chicago and until I saw this in the locker room from the great John Gruden. I don't have a disco. Well, let's all start dancing. I'm 56 years old. That's the most fun I've ever had tonight. I'm so proud of you.

You have no idea. I mean, we've been through a roller coaster already, but what you proved today is one thing. You can beat anybody anywhere on any time song. We're going to have a great flight home. We have some injuries. I want everybody to have a great bye week. You have a whole week off.

I got to be honest. I got to be honest. Makes me want to jump on the bandwagon. he is so good at a microphone. They beat Chicago in London. I'm like, okay, I'm wrong. I'm wrong. I mean, that's the magic that he possesses.

Thank you. That's the math. You know, Adam Gase comes up to the, I don't know if everybody's hurt this week. And Gruden's like, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. He's a salesman. And you're selling players all the time. So, you know, I was wrong on that.

Urban Myers around the corner. Good college football weekend. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete

themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth?

Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

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

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's your responsibility to not just seek help, but to identify that you need help. This is Mental Health Awareness Month. Tune in to the podcast, Just Healed with Dr. Jay, and take real steps toward healing, growth, and becoming your best self. When you hear the word healing, what does that mean for you? What came right back to mine are the three P's that I live by. I'll go through the process of healing so that patience, that perseverance, and that prayer equals healing to me.

From understanding your mental health to doing the work, we break down practical tools, real conversations, and the mindset shifts you need to move forward and thrive. You matter too. Your mental health is your responsibility, not your wife, not your partner, not your children, not the church, not the pastor, not the council. It's your responsibility. It's time to stop putting your healing on hold and start doing something about it. Listen to Just Here with Dr. Jade on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcast. Oh, I'm so excited to have Urban Meyer on. Part of the Big Noon kickoff. Next week in Columbus for Wisconsin and the Badgers, which is going to be a great game. Best defense Wisconsin's had maybe in my life. A bunch of shutouts.

Really, really good. Jim Leonard has done a great job. So Urban Meyer, my buddies here. Okay, let's start with this. Lincoln Riley, I suggested this week. Dallas Cowboy Jobs different. Jerry Jones is hired Jimmy Johnson out of college and Barry Switzer and won Super Bowls.

That's a big job. Okay. Do you think Lincoln Riley, even as great as Oklahoma is, that's a great job, would he consider leaving for the Cowboys? Pure speculation because he's not, I know him, but I don't know him like that. But that's the one. You know, that's New York Yankees. That's the Dallas Cowboys. That's the one.

Great city. You've got Dak Prescott. You got Zeke Ellie. You got loaded team. You know, and I can't speak for him. Obviously, I hate to even speculate because I don't know him. That's really not fair. but to me, that's the one job in professional football.

You kind of say, I got to go do that. Had you been called by the Cowboys? I have not. But if you would have been, you'd have spent a couple days with it. Sure. Absolutely. That one, yes. Okay, fair enough.

All right, let's go to this. This is also a situation that you didn't deal with us a lot because you were a turnaround specialist, but boosters turn on you quick. You can lose one game, and the guy that you think loves you, the big rich guy in the room is a little icy at the cocktail party. Harbaugh is, I think they're getting a little restless boosters.

You know, gyms can be a little bit of work here. How do you not let that get into your head as a coach if you've underachieved a little? Because I think I'm starting to read stuff now. Even some of the Michigan diehards are over it. How do you make sure that's not a distraction for you personally? Once again, speaking, putting yourself in his mindset. that, you know, I think coaches during the season, you have zero time to even think about that. You're dealing with injuries, who's going to leave for the NFL draft recruiting?

You don't have time after the season. And, you know, if it does get nasty, which I don't think it's nasty right now, but you lose at Penn State, you lose again to Ohio State, and I think you can't ignore it then. You know, once again, I very gratefully have not been in that scenario. But I don't know how, like right now, zero conversation. However, you get a couple, because right now there have only lost one game. They control their own destiny. You go win at Penn State that solves everything. So I don't think at now, but you lose this one and then you lose that one at the end of November.

Those can be ugly off-seasons. Ugly. But once again, that's once again speculation. But the Wolverine alumni, that's a proud place. And you can't, you know, that'd be five in a row to Ohio State. You lose to Penn State. That's a problem. Yeah.

I think Clemson's the best team in the country. I think they're bored. I think USC Pete Carroll dealt with this. USC was so much better than the PAC 12, Pac 10 at the time, that Pete wins a title, it brings back Liner at Bush, and that coaching staff and Peter are like,

I don't know if you get motivated, or a 27-point favorite over Oregon State. I think Clemson's really good. I think apathy is setting in. I've watched him at times, and I'm like, boy, they are not focused and they are not tight. You'll love this. So we wanted in 06, we did not have a returning

team coming back. So that's a different story. 08, we won it. We had Tebow, everybody back, and nothing was ever good enough. We won every game during the season and every game, why did you only win by two scores? It was very hard to coach that team. A lot of the team already had their eyes set on the NFL, great kids, but once again, hard to coach. We won in a 14, have a bunch of them back in 15. That was the Cardell and JT year and Zeke and Thomas. Very hard. And so I met with Joe Madden one time. And this is after they won the first. the World Series. Cubs manager.

And we sat about, and he actually had it written down, all the teams that have failed to repeat because the world changes. You change as a coach, your players change, the hunger might change. And once again, it's speculation what's going on in Clemson. They have a great team, great staff, but they don't look great. But that does not mean they're not still a great team. I remember when you were at Florida and Billy Donovan won a championship, they brought the whole team back all NBA guys.

They sleepwalked until a tournament. They were, I mean, it was like they had four. Well, Joe Kim Noah one time at a game, they barely won, and Billy, I was in the locker room, and Billy jumped their tail about something. And Noah looked at me, he goes, you know, it used to be fun winning around here. And I remember me and Billy talking about that saying, how do you keep? Because it gets on the coach, too. You have this premium placed on excellence.

You don't play, and you should beat the mess out of this team, and you don't. You got to let the players enjoy it. And I tried to do that in 15th. Let them enjoy a win, then fix the problems after they enjoy a win. Who's the best team in college football? I think LSU, and here's why, when I hear the committee say they don't look well. First of all, who's making that decision? Who has the right?

You know, certainly you're a fan, but who's got the expertise to say what looks good, what doesn't look good? You know, I hear some of these people say, well, they don't look good. I'm like, how do you know that? You know, they're not playing great. There's a lot going into a team. Florida is pretty good football team. And LSU made the decision to go to Texas and play, and they won. LSU made the decision to play Florida.

I mean, it's part of their game. They beat two top 10 teams. They look great doing it. I say LSU right now. And then I think Alabama and Ohio State have the best rosters. I think they're a little bit better than LSU, but LSU's earned that right with two top 10 wins. By the way, the three northern teams,

and I think they're all legit, I think this Notre Dame team proved it at Georgia. It's a real football team. This is the best Wisconsin. team quarterback aside. Coach, I think Wisconsin team is the best defense. I liked their quarterback. You liked their quarterback. Yeah, we actually did a little piece on him the other day and something tells me,

you know, I don't know him and obviously never coached against him. But they had a good player that left, Horniburg. Remember he left? And I liked him. So this kid must be that much better. And he's been challenged a little bit. I like the way he gets the ball out on time. I love the Cephas, that receiver they have. By the way, Jonathan Taylor. is Zeke-like, maybe not Zeke? Coach, he is a track guy. He's a real deal. And by the way, I don't know Jim Leonard.

He played in the NFL. He was a great badger. That's the best badger defense I've ever seen. We're going to find it in a week from now. It's going to be game on. Wow, that'll be incredible. So, you know, it's funny about I'm watching the NFL in college, and you're really through and through.

You're a college guy. And I watched the NFL. It used to be, I always thought the college jobs, a better life. Then they added a second recruiting period, and then they added the transfer portal. And this is why I bring up the Lincoln Riley situation. I don't know if it is. I mean, you recruit a quarterback. If the dad's upset his son's not playing, you're on the phone with a family. And by the way, I support kids transferring, but some are transferring two and three times. That's what makes me believe, I think if Nick Saban was 50, he'd go to the NFL. I think he's

closer to 65. Is college football for the Harbaas, who, by the way, at the end of this year, he may make a decision. He succeeded in pro football. Is college football got a little bit of a coaching crisis where the joy has been sapped out of a little bit of the college coaching experience? A little bit because the recruiting rules changed. And you mentioned the early signing period.

All that's done is sped up everything. When we first got into coaching, you had, after the season's over, you went recruited drew tail off the month of December and January had signing date and you moved on. Now it's a 365 and even more so than this early sign-in date is this early visitation period. So every weekend,

a lot of times in April, May, and June, you're allowed to bring kids on official visits. And that's usually a time when a coach has young children or children and they want to go watch and play baseball stuff. And someone says, well, those people are people too now, the coaches. So you're exactly right. The lifestyle

is much different. That got to me quite a bit. It did. You reached a point like, you know, I remember another weekend, another weekend, another weekend, another weekend, another weekend. And it's 24-7 because everybody's making decisions now early, you're on the phone nonstop with sophomores. Think about what I just said. You're talking to 16-year-olds that are getting ready to make decisions for the rest of their life that basically aren't ready to make that decision yet everybody's pushing them to. By the way, watching Ohio State and not coaching them. Is it hard?

Because they're really good. think they'd be this good. They're really good. What's the experience like for you, 45 seconds left? Well, I love Ryan Day, obviously, and our coaching staff, everything's still in place, the infrastructure. People don't give that enough value. The strength coach, the nutritionist, the recruiting, those people are all still there. No, it's not hard. I mean, that was my dream to hand it off to someone to even make it better, and I think he is. And I think that's one of, if not the most talented team in America, it's them or Alabama. Yeah, no, when you watch the speed of two or three teams in the country, they just, I always look, what do you like in the perimeter?

Catch up speed corners, linebacker speed in the flat, really, really good. And they're all NFL guys. Yep, NFO guys. Yep. Hour 3 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. Oh, here we go. We're live. It's L.A. It's hour three in a Friday. is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening,

we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, on FS1. T.J. Hushmanzada joins us this hour. Jason McIntyre, tomorrow's headlines today, and Joy Taylor, of course, is here. We have big news today, breaking news today. It's actually as good as bad

news can get. Ian Rappaport broke the story. The MRI has confirmed that Chief Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a dislocated kneecap, not good, but not significant additional damage. He'll seek opinions, additional opinions to be sure. The plan is for him to return this season after a brief absence.

So I got three things to say about it. Number one, yes, he's going to have to play hurt this year. Andrew Luck played with a lacerated kidney. Carson once plays hurt every week. Brett Farve, whose Mahomes is idle. You think he was healthy on Sundays. Listen, in the NFL, you play hurt. you play hurt.

And quarterbacks, especially, who get to wear the jersey all week, they feel like they need to play hurt because everybody else in the locker room is. So Drew Breeze is rushing to get back. His team's 4-0 without him. You know, Deshawn Watson had to take a bus to a game last year. They were worried that he couldn't play. Sam Darnold has a flack jacket on because they don't want his spleen to explode. Aaron Rogers, for the record last year, Aaron doesn't get credit for this.

Aaron played hurt all last year. He got hurt game one against the Bears. Aaron wasn't right all last year. Andrew Luck played entire seasons not healthy. Philip Rivers played an AFC championship game with a torn ACL. I was looking at the list of guys this year that have been on the injury report. Patrick Mahomes, Baker, Mayfield is hurt. I'm not sure if he's on a report yet.

Sam Darnold, Gordon Minchew, Josh Allen, Mitch Trubisky, Nick Foles, Big Ben's out. Andrew Luck retired. It's the league. So that's number one. You play hurt. Number two is that when you start looking at Kansas City, what worries me about Kansas City, and I think they feel a little bit like the Green Bay Packers

with Aaron Rogers a few years ago, that we were all like, oh, my God, I love watching Aaron Rogers. Oh, my God, I love watching Kansas City. But they became so Aaron Rogers dependent. I think the Chiefs have become two Patrick Mahomes dependent. New Orleans loses Drew Brees. they're 4-0. Carolina loses Cam Newton, they're 4-0.

You got to build beyond your star quarterback. And they're not paying Mahomes yet. You've got to be careful here because Aaron Rogers gets hurt. I mean, the season is over. They can't move the football. New England. Tom Brady, greatest quarterback ever left for a year.

They went 11 and 5. There's a difference between wanting a great quarterback and having to have him to just win games. Troy Ackman missed games for the Cowboys, because of Emmett Smith and that defense and that coaching, they want a lot of games. Terry Bradshaw missed games.

Chuck Null, that running game and defense. They want a lot of games. So that's what's impressive about New Orleans this year. I mean, they lost Drew Brees early in the year, and it's like, all right, and their schedule wasn't easy. Dallas, go to Seattle, divisional games. So I think the second thing, number one, he's hurt. You got to play hurt.

You don't punt in the season. two is what scares me about Kansas City. Andy Reid doesn't have a history of developing great running games. I think they have to look at this injury like the Packers looked at their team of two years ago and said, we're just too damn Aaron dependent. We love him, but we should

only ask Aaron to have to be great four times a game, not 28. And we've got to be able to understand that some weeks Aaron's going to be off. We've got to have a running game on a defense to keep us in games when Aaron's not a superstar. Even Aaron Rogers has bad weeks. Patrick Mahomes has bad weeks. Tom Brady's had terrible

weeks. He had two last year. And the third thing is, you know, when you start looking at Kansas City's schedule here, and here's another reason you can't pun on the season. Andrew Luck retired, Big Ben's gone,

Nick Foles hurt. The AFC is wide open. Like, you got to consider that. You got to think to yourself, listen, if Kansas City was 0 and 6, don't come back. If the Raiders lose to Green Bay, there's not a team above 500 in that division. And look at this schedule.

They got a Tennessee game, a charger game. They got a lot of home games. They got a buy coming up here. So you do look at your schedule on this league. I had Rashad Jennings on earlier. He said, of course. If you're one and eight, guys find ways, the shoulder hurts a lot more than it did if you were eight and one. So I think Kansas City is going to be fine. As Joy told us, Vegas still has them as a top five Super Bowl team. I have them probably top six or seven. I don't think they're New England today. Even when Mahomes comes back at 75, 80 percent,

I don't think they're New England. I don't think they're San Francisco. I don't think they're the Saints. Then you can start putting them in a class of five teams. I think they are. All right, let me segue to something before I do. don't forget MDrive, everyday supplement.

I take it. MDrive for men.com, boost natural testosterone levels already in your body. Patrick Mahomes, dislocated kneecap, out about three to four weeks. Season not over, we'll come back.

Let's segue to this. When you get to week six or seven, the Seattle Baltimore game is fascinating to me. First of all, Russell is the MVP of the league. But Seattle's a weird team. They were outplayed last week and won due to turnovers.

They were outplayed at home against the Rams. came a football length from losing. New Orleans beat him at home. Cincinnati, they struggled with. But Russell Wilson is a magical player. And I said, I think Baltimore is going to upset them this week. Baltimore has an identity. They've got flaws, but they do what they do, and they do it well.

Their number one time of possession, Baltimore is number one in rushing. number one in total yards. Baltimore is the most unique team in the NFL. And what I love about the NFL, I'm going to really figure out both Seattle and Baltimore this week. I think I like Baltimore, but they've only beaten crappy teams, Miami and Arizona, and they lost to Baker-Mayfield in Cleveland and lost to Kansas City.

I'm going to finally figure, if they go to Seattle and win, I'm on board. They're limited, but what they do, they do extraordinarily well. But I feel that way about Seattle, that Russell Wilson is just saving them every week. He's just making plays. So I think this is a fascinating game, and I'm going to call for Baltimore in an upset. Pete Carroll talked about the challenges of facing a guy that's on-paced Lamar Jackson to surpass Michael Vick as the greatest running quarterback in NFL history. He's as good as we've ever seen.

He's as fast and as elusive as we've seen. He's tough and physical and explosive. and creative and he's throwing the ball well too. You know, so it's a real nightmare. It's very difficult. In this offense, more than any offense that we'll face, will demand that we have to do right. And that means you've got to gap control stuff,

the way we scrape, the way we fill and fit our run plays, it's, they tax you to the maximum. It's, I think this is a fascinating game because everybody thinks Seattle is great. But if everybody, who do I rely on a lot, Vegas has this as a, field goal game. So Vegas is telling you they don't buy Seattle as much as everybody else. And that's where I have my

that's where I have my concerns about Seattle. Russell's just making ridiculous plays to save them. I don't think their offensive lines great. I think their defense is a work in progress. There's some gaps in that defense. They've become a little reliant on

needing David Copperfield slash Russell Wilson that just pull stuff out of a hat. And Baltimore, man, if you're starting a company, most companies don't have huge capital, right? You have to have an identity. Like, this is what we do as a company. Is there a team in the league that does what they do better than Baltimore? I don't think there is. Now, the concern is they beat Miami, Arizona, Pittsburgh without Big Ben in Cincinnati. So to me, this is kind of the unveiling of the truth. This is the truth game. Is Seattle been a little bit too Russell Wilson, Magic Smoke and Mirrors, is Baltimore

a team that can beat the crappy teams, but he really can't beat an elite quarterback. I can't wait to watch this one. But boy, I'll tell you about Baltimore and this coaching staff. What they do is time of possession, nobody's close. Rutting the football, nobody's close.

All right, good stuff. T.J. Hushman Zata comes in more on Patrick Mahomes. It's a good bad news day, right? Bad news, he's out, good news. He's back. All that's coming up. Be sure to catch live. of the herd weekdays in noon

Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Sunday, it's a huge doubleheader on Fox. First, Tyler Murray and the Cardinals take on Daniel Jones and the Giants, then in America's Game of the Week, Alvin Kamar and the Saints, face Khalil Mack and the Bears. Check local listings for

the game in your area or catch it all on the Fox Sports app. Congratulations to the lucky Minnesotan who nailed all six questions in last night's Thursday night football super six game and took home Terry Bradshaw. does 25 grand. 250,000.

25 grand. Oh, okay. Yes. Cardinals Giants is one of the Super 6 NFL Sunday matchups this week. So Colin, give me a winner in a final score. Giants dominate the game 3624. Evan Ingram back, Sequin Barclay back, Arizona's defense. If you watch the second half against the Atlanta game, after really playing well in the first half,

they were completely physically dominated by a bad Atlanta team. The weather is going to be cold. dome team, warm team, heads east. Love the giant in a blowout this week. By the way, don't be the guy in the room with a long, sloppy looking on a tuck shirt. Go to untucket.com. Code Hurd, GQ calls a perfection. Let's bring in T.J. Hushmanzada, Fox Sports NFL analyst.

Let's bring him on the show a decade and then some in the NFL. So there was a, there was a Yahoo sports writer. I'm not going to mention his name that wrote an article that he suggested, let's just, even if Patrick Mahomes doesn't have a season-ending. Do you just put him down for the year? And my takeaway is, listen, this is like there's certain sports. Hockey, UFC football. You play hurt.

That's like that's part of the contract, right? You had to play hurt more than once. Yeah, that guy's crazy. I'll give you a story. I want to hear this good. I did a lot of dumb things when I was playing. But when I got mad, I really did dumb things. And so we're playing Baltimore.

And I was mad about something. I don't remember what it was. And I got the ball and I tried to run Ray Lewis over. And I don't know why I did it, but I was mad. He just stood me up. It was like I ran into a wall. He stood me up and then Terrell Suggs just came and hit me in my back. And I was like, oh, what is that?

Long story short, I cracked four bones in my back and I played the next week. Transverse process. I cracked four bones in my transverse process and I played the next week. Had two touchdowns against the Steelers. True story. First pass, Carson threw me against the Steelers. a hitch, it was kind of high, and I was like, oh, my God, he about to tear my back up because I had to jump for the ball. But you just, you play needle that long. You take a shot and you play. It is what

it is. Yeah, it's, it's, listen, especially on Twitter, everybody's PC, these players can't play. All you have to do is go watch an NFL game or a UFC fight or a hockey game up close. This is the reality of it. I'm willing to make millions of dollars. Go bang me up a little bit. 100%. But this is the thing. Patrick Mahomes would not, if the Chiefs were 0 and 7, Patrick Mahomes would still want to play. They would have to tell him no.

He would still want to play. You compete. Like I don't, O and 12, I want to play. If I'm the quarterback and I'm Pat Mahomes and I'm 012, I want to play. Now, though advise me not to play and I'll probably listen, but I'm 5 and 2 and we still have a chance. No way I'm not playing. No way. Did you, I made the argument that quarterbacks, because they were, you know, the kicker, punter, and the quarterback, you can't hit them at practice, they want to prove to the players, I can take a hit too.

Quarterbacks will play through injuries. There's a certain badge of honor to, because all you guys get hit, the quarterback's not even allowed to get hit at practice. And so when quarterbacks do get hurt, they kind of want to prove to all the players, no, no, no, I'm an alpha too. The thing about the quarterback position is when they do get hit at, not. Not as much now, but when I was playing, those are some painful blind sight. You get a lot of times you get hit from the back. You don't see it coming. Well, you're a receiver of a running back.

You know you're going to get hit. You can kind of brace for it. Quarterback, you're sitting in the pocket. You're staring down that rush. You're going to throw the ball. And a lot of times you're going to get hammered and you really can't protect yourself. So their hits are a lot worse than ours. So they don't get hit often.

But when they do, they want to show their toughness, like, I'm not a punk. By the way, Patriots, is it a lock there in. The AFC Championship now? I mean... It seems that way they're going to have home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. They only have to win one game. So, yeah, pretty much.

It's a lot. Here's what's interesting. I also, I thought of the Brady last night, New England. I thought of the Raiders. I mean, the Raiders are like, listen, next four weeks, you've got to make hay, right? Like, when you were in the league, and if Big Ben got hurt, which he often did,

did you guys as a team say, Big Ben's out for three weeks in Cincinnati? We got to make hay. have that optimism about it like, wow, we got a chance to win this. The Raiders run the ball very well. Run game travels on the road at home. You can run the ball. It doesn't matter where you're playing at.

And so you look at it from the Raiders perspective. Mahomes, if Kansas City handles this the right way, they keep them out the four weeks. Until the buy. After the buy, bring them back versus the Raiders. The Raiders have to go two and two in those four games. They need to go to a two. TJ, I honestly thought this last night. If I was John Gruden, nobody ever, you know, you don't want Patrick Mahomes to be hurt.

But boy, it gave him another. He probably smiled. No, it gave him a speech in the locker room. He can go that day at practice. He goes, fellas, we got four weeks with Noma Holmes. We got to go three in one here. We're going to make up ground. We're going to win this to be.

I can sell that to my team. But the Raiders are surprisingly a good team. They're a good. They're a good. They're running a ball. Derek Carr is really accurate throwing a ball. Are you shocked by that? He was accurate last year.

He just checked it down a lot. The Raiders have a good offensive line. They got good players. Receiver-wise, they're searching. They're trading for guys. They're signing guys. But they're not bad. It's working.

It's working. So when you watch the Raiders, you see good personnel. Yeah. And John Gru is a good coach. Pauly Gunther is a good defensive coordinator. He loses his defensive coach on the field in Vontes Burfick, and they're still doing well. Yeah, it is amazing. So I want to talk about a.

couple of games this weekend. I always feel like, and Joy and I have said this, mid-October to late October. You can fool me for a while. I mean, in September, the weather's good. Ryan Fitzpatrick looks great. Weather's good. But now you're having to play and win this weekend. It gets cold.

Quarterbacks don't have all their offensive line. There's injuries. I'm rarely fooled by a team in week seven or eight. So the teams this weekend, the two teams I'm just not sure about, are playing. Seattle and Baltimore. So Baltimore's beating bad teams, but lost to Baker and Mahomes. Seattle's just had Russell Wilson make absurd,

magical plays to save them week after week. Are these teams good? That's a great question. First game of the season, Seattle, the kicker for the Bengals could make a field go. They lose the game. At home. If Zerline could make a kick against the rounds,

they lose the game. Cleveland outplay them. Baker gave them the game. And so they're five and one. But I don't know. They could easily be two and four. And so Russell Wilson is done well. They've had some breaks.

They had some things go there away. And so you make a great point. And Baltimore has the number one rush defense. I mean, rush offense in the league. They're number one in total offense. And time of possession. And so when you play in Seattle, which next to Kansas City and New Orleans is the hardest place to play on the road, you can quiet the crowd by running the ball.

and that's what Baltimore does very well. And so this is a pivotal game for both. If I look at this, you would favor Baltimore just because they run the ball so well. And you say, who's the number one offense? Nobody would think Baltimore, and it's them. I know. We were talking about this earlier. You start looking at numbers.

This is what guys in Vegas do. So when the line came out, I instinctively thought Seattle at home by a touchdown. I'm like a field goal. And then I just said, so you just go to the NFL offensive stats. And I'm like, hell, Baltimore leads in everything. Time of possession, rushing yards, total yards. You're like, oh, my Lord. They just had a stinker weekend.

By the way, when they lost to Kansas City, Kansas City was healthy. The weather was good. Mahomes was humming. And they never bailed in that game. They were in the game with four minutes left. They just played like crap against Cleveland. And by the way, it happens. You were on good team.

Sometimes you show up Sunday. Game plan doesn't work. You're down 14, not in game over. Here's another one. Eagles Cowboys. Something tells me Philadelphia is a lot better. It's tough for me.

I like the Cowboys. I really do. They're just injuries. Offensive line. Amari Cooper is hurt. Even if he plays, he's hurt. And so, DAC doesn't have one to protection. So if you don't have a protection,

which is your own line, you probably can't run the ball as well as you would like. You don't have Amari Cooper. Weakness of the Eagles defense is a lot. a secondary, but Amari Cooper is not there to exploit it. And so, but the Eagles, they're up and down as well. And so their defensive line on paper is really good. Fletcher Cox doesn't have a sack.

And so he's good, but he's not producing like he should. And so this game for me is, you would think the winner of this game has the inside track to win the division, but neither team has played great football consistently. Neither team to me is good enough to pull away from the other. I think they're going to be playing week 16, We'll look up and it'll be... If both teams are at full strength, I would favor the Cowboys, but that's not the case.

Okay, I want to let you listen. So I'm watching Baltimore. We're not going to talk much about Denver. I'm watching Denver last night take on Kansas City. So Troy Aikman is doing the game. And my wife doesn't love football. She'll watch a little NFL with me last night. And so we're watching it.

My wife is like, this poor Flacco guy is getting killed. So Denver is just a mess. on the offensive line. So let's play this by Troy Aikman, and I'll ask you a question. They're down in 16. Underneath, the pass is caught by Hamilton, and he's swallowed up by Felton. They can't even go downfield.

No, this is about as bad on offense as I've seen. I'm shocked. There's as many people still here at the game. It was, did you ever plan an offense, and it may have been due to injuries or the opponent, where you were inept. Literally, Denver was, it looked like a high school offense. They couldn't block.

Did you ever have a Sunday, a week? Because I'm watching that and I'm thinking, the Denver players are done. They're just done playing tonight. Early in my career in Cincinnati, we weren't very good on offense. We were pretty good on defense because we had Dick LeBoe. He was a head coach, and we were pretty good.

But early on, we weren't very good. and you just, you think, man, our coaches aren't as good as other coaches. As a player, you know, you're going to blame the coaches. But then as you play long enough and you start to realize, and for me, when I went to other teams, I realized like, oh, these coaches were pretty damn good. We just weren't that good as players as we thought we were. And so, yeah, I've been on very bad offenses early in my career.

I think after my fourth year, I was lucky. Cincinnati, we're always pretty good on offense. We got Carson Palmer. One of the probably the most underrated quarterback to ever play. Went to Seattle, we were pretty good. Went to Baltimore. We were good. Could have been better.

But we had a really good defense. Flacco was young, but Flacco was, I like Joe Flacco. I played with him. I like him as a person. He's a good quarterback. If no offense catches a couple of those balls yesterday, it's a different game. Like Flacco threw him some nice balls under through one, but he should have caught it, threw one down the scene that went right through his hands.

It was a great throw. They just didn't make plays for him. T.J. Hushmanzada, great. Have a great weekend. Great seeing you. The same. Appreciate it. You bet Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. So kind of being overshadowed by Patrick Mahomes' injury news, Zion Williamson will miss the beginning of the NBA season with a knee injury. Wojianowski is reporting that the injury isn't severe, but he is expected to miss a period of weeks. The Pelicans are being very cautious with Zion, but there's total confidence that he's going to make a full recovery. It was listed as right knee soreness.

He didn't travel to New York for the last preseason game for more tests, and he also missed six games in February when he injured the same knee when he slipped out of his shoe or exploded the shoe against UNC. So this is the same knee that's been bothering him, and obviously the Pelicans are scheduled to open up against Toronto, against NBA champs, beginning of the season, season opener, so that's a bummer for fans. Obviously, everyone's very excited to see Zion.

But the pelicans have to be careful with this because they don't want it to turn into a bigger issue, and clearly this is a lingering thing for Zion. And this also lends to what everyone, the one critique that people had of Zion, which is that he's too heavy and needs to lean up a little bit because the torque and the way that he plays,

that amount of weight is eventually going to have wear and tear in your joints. It's inevitable. Yeah, no, that's the knock. And I agree. I think he's too heavy. I think he probably should play at 265. I don't know, whatever. If he's 280 now, he should play at 24. Yeah, he should play at 265.

To me, and by the way, when you get into an NBA season, just to tell our audience how this works, so you play, you burn 7,000 calories playing, then you get a smoothie, you get on the plane, you fall asleep. He's naturally going to lean up once the season starts. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, Zion's the kind of kid that when he retires, he'll probably be a fit-looking 295, 300.

I mean, he's just a big dude. But I do think rookies generally do shave weight. In fact, I've talked to young players in the NBA and they're like, listen, your first couple of years in the league, it's hard to keep weight on. Well, rookies are always interesting to begin with because if you're on the smaller side, then you usually grow into more of a man body like we saw with Alonzo Ball. I mean, his father said he doesn't have his ball body yet. Like he looks, his body is completely transformed from his rookie year. And reversal, what you're talking about, him losing weight, you know, that he's going to have an

entirely different workload this year than college. play more games. It's to travel. You're working with different nutritionists. So once the season goes on, he will lose weight. But this is an actual problem for that as well because if he is going to be out for a couple weeks, it's not like he's going to be running the way that he needs to. It's going to be resting. So he's got to be even more careful

when it comes to what he's eating and how he's training. So the Cowboys are three and three and pressure's mounting for the team to turn things around. But despite the three-game losing streak, Dak Prescott is still confident in his team and happy that they're getting their struggles out of the way early. He said, I'd rather it happen now

when we still have a chance to go to game seven playing for first place in the division, rather than later in the year when we only have a game or two left before the playoffs or be forced to try to make the playoffs. It's never good to lose three, never ever. But if there ever was an ideal time, I say it's now. I know we have a great team. I know it. So he's taking the positive side of the situation, which is very Dr. Prescott-like.

But this game is very important for the rest of the season. Obviously, Michael Irvin said that the, you know, the loser of this game is going to lose miss the playoffs. I don't know if that can be determined, but things have changed. Sequin Barclay's back. Evan Ingram is back. Giants are pretty good. The Giants are two and four right now. If Giants win, they're tied with a loser of this game. Yes. So this is very crucial. It's going to determine a lot of things for the end of the season. So even though he's talking about, you know, you'd rather be having this losing streak right now rather than trying to

make it into the playoffs. Losing this game is probably more important than that losing streak that you just went on. Finally, the Jets offense was transformed. last week when Sam Donald returned to the team. Your boy, Sam Darnold, they finally got their first win in the season. And Sam thinks the sky's limit for the Jets when everyone is healthy. Right now we're just missing Chris. Once all the guys are back together, I think, you know, we're unstoppable as an offense, or we can be.

It's just up to us how much we execute or how well we go out there and play. So it's really up to us, you know, how many points we score, I think. I think we're capable of scoring so many points. And with our offensive line, too, the way they played last. game, you know, with the way we've been running the ball and the way they've been protecting. You know, I think sky's the limit for us. By the way, they played a team like New England called Buffalo. They had a very good first half on the script, and then they couldn't score in the second

half against Buffalo. I do think the Jets will be able to early in the game. Adam Gase is a good play designer, but I like New England in this game, and I like New England by 10 points. To beat New England Joy, you have to. have receivers, like Kansas City, by the way, would do this, that can beat New England's corners, man-and-man coverage on the outside. And if you don't, and the Jets don't, it is going to be a long Monday night for the Jets. This is why the Jets two needs next year. Number one,

they got to get a go-to big-time receiver because you're just New England's corners are young, talented. I think this is a, I wish Sam would have waited a week to say this because I think we're a little too high on the Jets after the Dallas game, and there was a special energy to the Jets. This is a bad matchup for the Jets. Well, Gase also announced today that Senator Ryan Khalil heard his shoulder yesterday and we'll miss today's practice. Oh, boy.

So there's another layer to this as well. Obviously, we'll have to watch that throughout the weekend to see if he's going to be available for this game. But, I mean, I don't think that I'm too high on the Jets. I like that win, and it was very obvious that Sam Donald is that entire offense, because they couldn't get anything done without him. And we've seen lots of teams around the league be functional with their backup quarterbacks,

if not good with their backup quarterback. So there's really no excuse for that. But I'm not going to get crazy about this game. Like they're going to win or anything. But I just, I mean, I think they're coming in with a lot of confidence. You know, I don't have a problem with Sam saying this right now. Like, they still are missing pieces. They still have Chris Herndon out with their tight end with the hamstring injury.

Is he going to play? He's still dealing with it as of now. because he is I think they lose the New England by about 10 and then I think the Jets when Hernden comes back and C.J. Mosley, I think they're a handful.

Well, that's what he's saying. We're not at full capacity yet. And obviously they haven't been all season. They've got Miami twice. That's nice. That's nice. Miami's nice for a lot of reasons. Going there and playing them. Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. You know, it's one of my absolute favorite segments where Jason McIntyre comes on. We talk about the NFL games this weekend. He makes his predictions, which are bizarrely accurate. We call it tomorrow's headlines today. I love it. And that is coming up. 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. Discover it Miles Card. Sooners in West Virginia, Discover Card Key Matchup, 35,000 miles first year becomes 7.000. any new card members only discover.com slash travel try their discover it Miles card well years ago I was watching a TV show and they were doing this thing where they would show you it was

Brian Williams would show you he would have the Washington Post New York Times Wall Street Journal headlines the newspapers they would get the early edition and I thought I'm going to use that with the Jason McIntyre former newspaper guy so we'll make up headlines for games coming up first of all

how are you you've had a I'm excellent How is the betting year gone for you? I think we both struggled a bit last week. But, you know, I've been doing picks for Fox and FS1, and I haven't had a losing week in the NFL this season. So it's been a good run. You have. I love this weekend set of games.

I mean, I don't love the gambling aspect of them, but I love the games. By the way, let me just throw this at you. Before we get to this, our tomorrow's headlines today, just before we get to this, what do you make of the Raiders and the Packers game? Not a headline game, but all the perceived sharps and the professional gamblers are on the Oakland Raiders. Everybody in Vegas is, and it makes no sense to me. The Packers' numbers, if you dig into them, they're not that impressive, the yards per play, the net yards per play. And these guys are obsessed with that.

And I just look at the Raiders, this is their third trip to the Midwest in five weeks. They had to go play the Colts. They had to go play the Vikings. They had to go to London. Then they come back, they got to buy week. Now they've got to go back on a plane and go back to the Midwest and face Aaron Rogers. And the way I saw Pat Mahomes carve them up, the Raiders secondary, it's awful. I just, I cannot back Oakland here.

I still don't trust John Gruden. I will take this. Both of I, you and I both have, we know enough wise guys in the business. It's the, I think it's one of the craziest lines of the year. The line is telling you that Green Bay is just a point and a half. Because Lambo's worth four points. They're basically telling you, Vegas is like, yeah, Raiders Green Bay, it's a point difference. I mean, did the Packers didn't look great on Monday night football against the Lions, right?

No. But remember, Aaron Jones drops a wide open touchdown pass. on the two-yard line. Ball goes off his hands intercepted. Like, that kind of stuff is luck, and it usually changes week-to-week. But they had two huge breaks go against them. They did.

A couple flags went against them. I like the Packers there. Yeah, no, it's just a week. It's not one of our headlines, but it's, you know, folks, if Oakland wins, like four and two. And with Pat Mahomes down now for a minute, to the Raiders suddenly have a, now I will say the Packers are slated to play the Chiefs next week. Okay, that was going to be the Aaron Rogers Showdown. against Pat Mahomes.

Mentally, do the Packers dial in more now to the Raiders game? Because you don't have to think about that Chiefs game. It's Matt Moore. Let's focus. Let's focus on this big game against the Raiders. I like the Packers here. Yeah. All right, here we go.

We call it tomorrow's headlines today. Here we go. What will the headline be after the Saints Bears game? Saints keep killing me. They just can't. Don't stop losing. Teddy Bridgewater's money. I like the headline on Monday to be Teddy Bear down.

I actually think finally the Saints lose a game here. We talk every Sunday, right? And last week, I think I remember saying to you, man, these Saints, they look like a Super Bowl team. But the Teddy Bridgewater Magic, you start looking. You look at the box scores, Colin, and you're like, man, they're getting like 250 yards of offense, 300. Now they've got to face a Bears team off the by.

And Alvin Kamara has been hurt all week. Did you see the big news in the transaction wire? No. The Saints just picked up a running back. and you just wonder if they rest Kamara here because he's not 100% and we know what this bear's defense can do. Camara's listed as doubtful, I believe, right now.

If he doesn't play, where do they get offense from? I love the Chicago Bears here at home to take down Bridgewater and the same. I do think well-coached teams off a buy. Chicago's well-coached. By the way, the Colts, Frank Reich off a-bye. I like not all buys are equal. No.

You give me Ander Reed and a buy, Sean Payton, in a buy, Matt Nagy in a buy, Delichick by Pete Carroll by. How about bears at home, though? Remember what they did to the Vikings? And then they go to London, you get their butts kicked in by the Raiders at home. This team's nasty.

All right. Tomorrow's headlines today. What will it be after the Raven Seahawks game in the Northwest? So I'd say the biggest band to come out of the Northwest. It has to be Pearl Jam, right? I mean, they were massive. Nirvana. Nirvana was big.

Pearl Jam. Jimmy Hendricks is from there. Indeed, a good one. I believe the headline will be Earl Jam. You see what I did there? Earl Thomas returns to the Northwest. Massive game. Cowherd cannot contain himself.

Come on, that's a classic. Earl Thomas, by the way, his lasting image leaving Seattle on a cart. Remember he was flicking off the sideline? Because they played him with the middle finger. I think Earl Thomas and the Ravens go across the country. This is a good spot for them. I'm still not buying the Seahawks.

I'm not. And that's what I tell people is my guy, I tend to guess the lines. So I thought, you know, touchdown Seattle favorite, and it's down at three. You start looking at Baltimore's time of possession, rushing yards. They lead the NFL in offense. Number one run offense, according to football outsiders, Seattle's run defense 21st. So this is the first time they're seeing Lamar Jackson.

We've seen teams struggle in the first meeting with Lamar. A lot of the read option. That's right. Dynamic. Okay. And also, if you watch Seattle, Cleveland, I watched every second of it, Cleveland, Cleveland gave that game away. Baker Mayfield. You killed us.

All right. tomorrow's headlines today. Eagles Cowboys battled for the NFC East lead. This for me is the second best game of the weekend. We'll get to the best game next. But I think I'm very excited for Sunday night, and I believe Colin, the headline Monday will be DAC to the drawing board.

Listen, I know people are going to say, you bang on DAC every single week. Colin, this is a team that's faced the 30th toughest schedule in the league so far. DAC has just come back to the pack. I'm not buying it. I mean, I know the protection. protection issues are there. The Jets really bottled up

Dak Prescott last weekend. I just, you know, Kell and Moore got all the hype after the first three weeks when they beat a bunch of tomato cans. I mean, look at Dak missing Wittenair in the end zone. I just you know, we've talked about this at nauseam. Are you given Dak Prescott $35 million? You can't. I couldn't. And they don't beat the Eagles. You know, what are we looking at Monday morning? Jason Garrett on the firing line. Well, it's funny. I said, you know, my rule in sports is pay very few people huge.

money. You know, play what you got pay. But there are very few people. You're LeBron, James, Kauai Leonard. I'm rolling out the truck. Steph Curry. Like, but pay very few people huge money. Aaron Rogers, Russell Wilson, pay him with the market bears. But don't pay anybody early. If you look at the Dallas schedule, they have about six great defenses coming up in eight weeks. Oh yeah. That's when I'd get on the phone and say, because if I can get him at 27 and a half or 28 and say, listen, no state tax, I get your commercials. You had seven bad weeks. The difference between that and 34 million is two players. And remember one other thing on this game.

Doug Peterson against Jason Garrett. Who gets the coaching? I don't even need to ask. I got a bad news for Cowboys fans. I know Skip over here is a big Cowboys guy. A lot of Cowboys fans in the building. They could miss the playoffs easily, Colin. All right, here we go.

Tomorrow's headlines today, Patriots Jets. Monday Night Football. Colin, we're on opposite sides on this one, and I think we're strong on opposite sides. I believe the headline will be Tom Brady is darn old. Yes, a play on Sam Darnold. Colin, I wanted to get them.

This is a good, good Friday. I wanted to pull up the Patriots opponents that they face so far. Okay, let's do that right now. I mean, listen, you open up with the Steelers, Ben Rothersberger, then you face Luke Falk, who by the way is out of the league already, the Jets third stringer, they face the Dolphins quarterbacks, whoever they are, the Reds. They haven't seen a good quarterback.

I got a month. No, I will say this. And when they face the Giants, the Giants didn't have Sequin Barclay and Evan Ingram. Now, here's the thing. You're not wrong. But what I would take away is this. Here's my butt. But last year when they faced golf, Mahomes, at the end of the year, Philip Rivers,

and I think their defense is younger and faster, this is not like a five-game thing. This is like a 10-game thing where they have just- No doubt about it. Yeah, they were incredible at the end of last year. I also think people are going to start to scrutinize Brady. We keep talking MVP here at FS1. I don't hear Brady's name anywhere. He hasn't been incredible.

Josh Gordon has not practiced this week. Who's he throwing to? Edelman? They're just not a dynamic offense. 28th in the league in yards per carry. Jets are getting C.J. Mosley back. They're awesome linebacker. He's told the media he's going to play.

He didn't practice yesterday. I don't know. They're playing Monday. What about Hearn in the tight end? I think he's going to be out with the hamstring. That hurts. How do you miss four games due to his suspension? and you get you come, but you can't practice.

You come back and you have a ham frame. Those injuries are like, that's what happens when you aren't playing. The big thing I look at, Levy on Bell. Colin, you're a big fantasy football guy, right? No, you're not. Okay. Levy on Bell, yes, Joy. Levy on Bell probably like 10 catches, 25 carries, heavy dosage of him. And remember, this is a revenge game.

The Jets got their teeth kicked in by the Patriots a few weeks ago with the third string quarterback. Couldn't move the football. Listen, I know the line is coming down. It was 10. It's nine and a half. It's now nine. Oh, it is nine.

I'm going for the outright Jets victory. Let's bet. Let's bet a meal. We'll bet a meal. Come on. I'll take you to your favorite restaurant. I know you like an Arthur Jays. I'm a Strandhouse guy.

But wherever you want to go. We'll go to either one. We'll flip a coin. I got the Jets winning. You don't need to give me points. So I'll give you nine. I don't need the point. I'm telling that content.

Don't do that. Listen, Adam Gaze has done fairly well. You're not going to take the point? I don't need the points here. That's how confident I am in the Jets. Jameson Crowder, big game in the slot. On the outside, Gilmore's very good. I'm going too much on the Jets here.

I know. Have you seen the Patriots defense this year? I have against a lot of bad quarterbacks. You're not even going to take the points. I mean, when I'm gambling, I'll take the points. I bet with you I'm confident in the Jets. And I will be texting up a storm with you when the Jets are up 17 to 6 in the third quarter. Let's watch it somewhere Monday.

Let's do that. All right. I'm free for Joy and Jason. Greg Tewy, John Gouley. We are done. Speak for yourself. And a Friday is right around the corner. Thanks for joining us. See you Monday in the herd. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

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