The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Patriots, Anthony Davis, Big Ben, and the Blazing 5

Episode Date: December 21, 2018

Colin discusses why the the New England Patriots are wasting QB Tom Brady, why NBA owners believe the Los Angeles Lakers are tampering so they can sign New Orleans Pelicans F Anthony Daivs, why Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger can't be put in a certain era, and his Blazing 5 picks for the weekend. Guests include Chris Broussard, Joe Thomas, Greg Jennings, and Jason McIntyre. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Friday. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening live in Los Angeles, Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Our final blazing

five of the NFL regular season in one hour from now. I'm on the air Monday, Christmas Eve, and I'm going to hang out with fan for a few days. Jamie Maggio is joining me today. Great to see you. I'll be with you Monday too. I can't wait. This will be great. Today, a ton of stories. I feel so lucky. And then Monday will be on the air where you'll have a million stories to talk about. This is a great time to be a sports radio host. It is just an incredible next two days, all sorts of stuff. So I've said this for years.

Stories get out when people want them out. I have certain stories right now. I know to be be true, but I don't want to burn a source. I don't want to burn a friend. And they're not massively newsworthy. So I don't put everything out there I have. If I wanted it out, I'd put it out. I'd leak it to somebody else. The reality is the media suppresses some stories and the media gets stories only when people allow them to have stories. We need sources. Well, suddenly yesterday, oh, my word, stories started leaking right after the news that Josh Gordon is out of the NFL, out of the Patriots. He was a Hail Mary Pass to begin with.

Story started leaking that the Patriots reportedly tried to trade for Demarius Thomas. They knew Gordon probably wouldn't last. The athletics, Jeff Howe, a fine NFL reporter works for the athletic, a fine subscription sports service. You should subscribe today. Think about this. The NFL has done a year-long investigations on New England to get current. of information. Josh Gordon's out.

Six hours later, stories coming out of New England. You know, we tried to get other people. Why? Because the narrative is swinging anti-Belichek. This is on him, not Tom. By the way, even the Boston newspapers this morning are crushing the Patriots. The Boston, they're taking Brady's side on this like we did yesterday.

Hey, this is not on Brady. What Brady's doing this year, His numbers are remarkable when you consider what he has to work with. A rookie running back that's been hurt. Another running back who's more of a receiver. They've turned Cordarell Patterson, a receiver into a running back. Gronks on his last year. Edelman can't catch big balls.

Dorset's a bust. Gordon couldn't stay in the league. So what happens, New England, knowing they're getting crushed in Boston nationally? Let's throw a few of these gems out to make sure everybody knows. Hey, listen, we tried to get to Marius Thomas. There's a reason we wouldn't cut Philip Dorset. Stories leak when people want them leaked. And Billichick also knows, and New England also knows, they're in big trouble.

They cannot now, without a deep threat, beat Kansas City, beat Pittsburgh, go on the road and beat the Chargers. I don't know if they could beat Baltimore or Houston at home. But this New England team is old, beat up with second-tier weapons for the greatest quarterback that's ever played. By the way, LeBron left Cleveland twice because of this sort of situation. I got nothing here. Dan Gilbert got me nothing. Brady, if this was the NBA, should leave. Look at the weapons the Chargers have, the Steelers have, the Texans have. Look at the weapons that Dak Prescott has. Amari Cooper, Zeke, elite offensive line, great front seven defensively. Patriots passing weapons, Cordorrell Patterson, Philip Dorset, Chris Hogan, an old gronk and Julian Edelman.

They've drafted one legitimate receiver in a decade. Edelman, and he was a quarterback at Kent State. They had Brandon Cooks, inexplicably, let him go. So remember, when people talk about Hail Mary's, what is a Hail Mary in football? It's a desperation pass. It's our last chance. Josh Gordon was a Hail Mary. That's all. this was. Why was he a Hail Mary? Because New England and Belichick have done a lousy job getting Tom elite college receivers. They're all over this league.

Pittsburgh drafts two every other year. New England hasn't done anything for Tom in a decade at wide receiver. They have to scout the NFL, find cheap guys who fit into a system. No Julio Jones. They can get Randy Moss.

They can get him from an NFL team. So stories leak. when somebody wants them leaked, and even Boston today is crushing the front office in Belichick, you are wasting Brady's final years. You're wasting. People say Aaron Rogers has no help. Jordy Nelson. They got him Jimmy Graham, Devante Adams, Randall Cobb, these guys can play.

Aaron Rogers and Favreve had players. Peyton Manning had all stars. Brady last seven years. Randy Moss for an hour. ugly. This story is amazing, and it's kind of a bummer. It's very easy in the NBA, especially, to get trapped. Where you sign a guy, he's passed his prime, he's been hurt. So when Houston brought in Chris Paul, and he got hurt last year. I said, you can't sign him to a five-year deal. I wouldn't sign him to a four-year deal. I don't care what you promised him. I would go to Chris and say, listen, I can't give you four years. I'm not going to trap my franchise.

But Daryl Morey, you know, went out and signed him. And, oh, by the way, Chris Paul's hurt again. MRI this morning. He is going to be out sometime. Houston is completely trapped. But you know what this story makes me think of? LeBron James. His remarkable durability.

What's LeBron made of? He's never hurt. You ever seen that banana boat picture? Mello's on it. He's unemployed. D. Wade's on it. Retiring. Chris Paul's on it falling apart.

LeBron never hurt, played 82 last year, still the best player in the league. There is not a single contract you could give LeBron James that you would say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we don't want to get trapped. Give him a six-year deal. Give him a five-year deal. I told Houston, on this air, we've got it archived, you can't give Chris Paul four years. You can't. In fact, you go to him.

And you give him three with a team option in the third. Look around sports right now, folks. 6-6-255-pound Cam Newton. They're shutting his season down. Aaron Rogers, hurt again. Westbrook entered the year on crutches. Steph and K.D. constantly hurt. Carson Wentz.

Should we play him? Odell Beckham, Jr., hurt again. LeBron 15th year played every regular season game last year. When they write the book on LeBron, chapter one should be, is he the greatest of all time and chapter two should be he is the greatest, most durable, professional athlete in the history of sports. Michael Jordan missed a season, and then he missed three to play baseball. Brady broke his leg.

John Stockton. Think about the NBA right now. Think about all the guys. I'm going to list to you, I'm going to give you a list of NBA stars who get hurt a lot. Kauai Leonard, John Wall, Love, Kyrie, Westbrook, NBA. Steve. Kevin Durant, Steph. It's incredible. We're shutting down NFL players. Baseball pitchers can't pitch a full season. I always say this about sports. It's not about winning. It's about durability. It's about sustainability. Tim Tebow in Denver, I told you on the air, that's not

sustainable. Blake Bortles in Jacksonville. You're running too much. You've got to pass more downfield, not sustainable. Lamar Jackson of Baltimore, you know, they're good now. You can't run 20 times a game as a quarterback. That's not sustainable. They've got to cut it down to about seven. But Chris Paul, little by little, is falling apart. And I love Chris Paul. I'm pro Chris Paul. I love Steph Curry. I love Kevin Durant. I'm all in on these guys. But it is unbelievable. You never see this story 15 years. LeBron hurt, team trapped with his contract. You know, LeBron's the only star in American sports. In the history, and in the history of sports. He's the only player that wants to sign one-year deals. When he signed with

the Lakers and signed a four-year deal, the story was, oh, my God, LeBron committed to four years? Because LeBron is so confident in his body that he's like, well, I can just sign a one-year deal. What if he get hurt? I don't. I mean, every other athlete, Michael Jordan, Caram-Malone, Charles Barclay, they wanted long-term deals to guarantee the money. Until the Laker deal, LeBron was like, I'll just sign a one-year contract. Well, why would I want to give you two years? Well, you guarantee money. I don't need it.

I don't get hurt. And even the Laker four-year deal, I think ideally LeBron would have rather signed a one-year deal, but he wanted to commit to the city of Los Angeles. He knew he was replacing Kobe Bryant. He wanted to be popular. He didn't want to be like a vagabond, a traveling salesman. You know, the free agent pitches, hey, I'm here for the long term. I signed a four-year deal in Los Angeles.

you can come and join me. I'm not going anywhere. But I think LeBron ideally wanted to sign a one-year deal with the Lakers. But he knew for the brand, for magic, replacing Kobe, to get free agents. I mean, Chris Paul's hurt. Again. Carson Wentz, great player. Cam, Aaron, hurt. Again, again, second chapter in LeBron's book. Most durable athlete ever. Nobody's even close to him.

We think of Kauai Leonard is a tough guy. He missed all last season. He's already missed several games this year. Lord. We are packed today in 50 minutes blazing five, last blazing five of the regular season. Off back-to-back winning weeks. Love our picks today. Love them.

We're going to get 60% on the year, which is a record high for us. Coming up next, a very good football player, Cam Jordan of the Saints, said, Big Ben, you think he's top five of his era? And I'll tell you why you can't even make the argument he is or he isn't because one guy screwed the era talk all up. That's coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app.

Got so many little nuggets today to talk about. Try to get to him in the next couple of hours. Just packed today, Jamie Maggio, joining us. Joy Taylor's out for a while. She's traveling across the country. go and seeing fams. Great to have you in, Jamie. Great to have everybody in.

Just a day. We got a lot of things to talk about Blazing 5 in 40 minutes, my strongest Blazing 5, I think, in weeks. This will cap our regular season, Blazing 5. And so it's interesting. There's about four games this weekend that are huge. In my lifetime, and I'm sure maybe there was a year, I don't remember a year where in week 16,

we have this many games that matter. I mean, Kansas City at Seattle, could change the entire AFC picture. Baltimore at the Chargers. Pittsburgh goes to New Orleans is a massive game. The Colts play.

The Giants should win and if they do, they could seize a playoff spot here. Looks like they have a chance to make the playoffs after a horrible start. So Pittsburgh kind of rebooted last week, played very well beat New England, goes to

New Orleans. Cam Jordan's a great player for the Saints, and he was asked about Big Ben this week, and I don't think he took a shot of him. I think Cam's a very outspoken guy, knowledgeable guy, funny guy, and he gets into a sparring thing about Big Ben with a reporter. Here it is. We've got a quarterback who might be going to the Hall of Fame. He's going in fact 20-time.

Is that true? Lothusburg? Yes. So, really? What is this offense too well? In this era, you put them at top five of this era. Drew. Tom.

Tom. Aaron. Peyton. Peyton. Manny. he's not I didn't count him in the era he retired two years ago

that was most of Rutherzberger's career you're saying he's better he's better than Philip Rivers right now right now career wise I'd honestly put Eli before I put Ben but okay

okay but there's a moment in that when he's talking about eras and there's confusion about eras first of all quarterbacks are playing longer so they're moving into different eras Tom Brady has really screwed the era talk up

he screwed it up. Think about this. Tom Brady and Russell Wilson are now considered in the same era. Russell Wilson was drafted 12 years later than Tom. Tom is older than the

Houston Texans. When Tom on his first Super Bowl, the Seahawks were in the AFC. The Arizona Cardinals were in the NFC East. And Tampa Bay was in something called the NFC Central. That doesn't even exist anymore.

Is that Brady screwed up all of this because he's played so long. He won a Super Bowl against Kurt Warner. Kurt Warner is already in the Hall of Fame and has been broadcasting five years after that. Donovan McNabb, Jake Del Ome. How long's Jake Del Ome been out of the league? He made him in a Super Bowl. There's literally, we're on the third Tom Brady era.

There was the first Tom Brady era. He was winning Super Bowls, but the defense was doing a lot of the heavy lifting. The Steelers, he was beating Cordellers. he was beating Cordell Stewart and the Steelers to get there. Big Ben wasn't even around yet. Then there's the second, second big Tom Brady era. Peyton and he in their prime, his contemporaries are an older Favre, an older Carson Palmer, Peyton Manning, Eli is blossoming into something, and he's winning Super Bowls,

and he's the reason why they're winning Super Bowls. That's the second Tom Brady era. The third is 40-41-year-old Tom, where he's now facing. facing the kids. Deshawn Watson, Carson Wentz, Russell Wilson, Andrew Locke, Maddie Ryan. He's trying to win one more Super Bowl without any weapons. He doesn't have any weapons. I mean, Brady has messed. Now, do I think Big Ben is whatever in his era is? Do I think Big Ben's a Hall of Famer? Yes. Do I think he's more of a Hall of Famer than Philip Rivers? Yes. Do I think he's better than Eli Manning? Not even close. Yes.

but when you start talking about eras, it used to be very, very simple. Oh, Bradshaw played in the 70s and, you know, Aikman was playing, you know, in the 90s, and you had this guy in the 80s. You guys realize Tom Brady is still got two to three years left. He's going to play 21 years. There are guys that were literally aged with Tom, retired, went into a Hall of Fame five years later, waited a couple years, went on TV, and now their TV veterans. Kurt Warner.

They messed the whole darn thing up. Here's Jamie with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Colin, you saw the movie Major League, right? I did see the movie Major League. It's a classic. Pedro Serrano had that voodoo shrine working in his locker room. Well, Chris Long of the Philadelphia Eagles, is doing something similar for his teammate, Nick Bowles.

Here's Chris Long talking to the media in Philly. See a little anti-boot thing going to do on your own? No, it's just good energy. for Nick Furles. I know you guys wanted to do the interview over there, but it's kind of a sacred area. So, yeah, I don't do interviews in front of the shrine, but it gives Nick good energy.

Is Nick Cina? Nick has seen it? And what's next impression? He just shook his head. They did a shrine. It's a shrine. Yeah, I have a picture of it here. They did a shrine in front of Nick Ful's locker. I have no problem with this.

1986 Mets is what drew me into sports, and we lit candles and parade around the kitchen table at my grandma's house for the 86 Mets. True story. So we're a little weird. I get it. I get the shrine. But here's where I want to get into it with you. Nick Foles. I like it. I like Nick Foles moving forward. I think they should go all in on Nick Foles. Oh, God, no. By the way, I'll talk about this. You know, Nick Foles, we talk about sustainability, has never had four great games in her own his career. Now he's had now.

Like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Nick Foles, there are guys who can give you months or three weeks weeks. Nick's never had four great games in a row. Carson Wentz not only went on a nine-game winning streak, but the game that snapped at Seattle, he had one of the plays of the year in the NFL. Carson Wentz could give you a season of great games. Nick Foles has never in his career had four great games in a row. That's facts, and I'm not saying that Nick Foles is a better quarterback than Carson Wenz. But what I am saying is that there is a voodoo locker going on in Chris Long's locker. and the team is sprinkling a little bit of magic around Nick Foles taking the helm again. And I think that's pretty cool.

But if Houston comes out and wins this week. Then it's over. Then the magic is over. Okay. The magic's over. But we'll see what happens. Next one for you. Oh, Anthony Davis.

Obviously, Pelicans playing the Lakers at Staples tonight. So the chatter about Anthony Davis joining LeBron with the Lakers is heating up. Oh, but not only heating up, but like general managers around the league are upset with it. As they should be. As they should be. So Anthony Davis, as this is happening, is playing it cool. He was asked about LeBron's praise and he did the PC thing. And he said, I don't really care. It's cool to hear any high caliber players say they want to play with me. But my job is to turn this team around. We're 15 and 17. That means I'm not doing my job. Okay, that's the right thing for Anthony Davis to say. There's the quote board. But here's my thought. Okay. And I know you kind of agree with this, right? When Anthony Davis signed with clutch sports of Rich Paul, which is LeBron's agent in September, everyone thought, okay, this is a done. deal, right? Yeah. He can't abandon New Orleans.

They've done what they need to do. They brought in Biggie C cousins and Julius Randall. Drew Holiday is a hell of a player. They swept in the first round, a three-seat of the playoffs last year. Let's see what they can do together. Laker fans are going to hate me for this. Listen, they're next to last in attendance. Their TV contract deal is awful.

Which is why they need Anthony Davis. Yeah, but he doesn't need them. Yeah, they do need him. They need... Chris Paul left. If Anthony Davis goes, I feel sorry. Sorry for New Orleans. I'm always going to side with a player on this.

New Orleans is a great food city. It's a great tourist city. It is a great NFL city. It's a great college football city. It's a great hotel city. It's not a great NBA city. But billionaire owners, because they like expansion fees, give teams all over America franchises. Jacksonville is a college football town.

Okay? It's a, Phoenix, I love Phoenix, but they got like four pro teams. They can handle about two. You know what I mean? it's not a Fortune 500 city. Nothing against New Orleans, but Anthony Davis, whenever you get into this situation where the team needs

the player to survive, the player should go. Anthony's too good to have to save a franchise. I'm in favor of competitive balance. I am not. Fine. Then we'll just disagree on this one. I'm for stars going to really captivating places.

Oh, God, you're the worst. Okay, last one for you. Urban Meyer, obviously he's retiring after his team plays in the Rose this year against Washington. But, Colin, if you thought he was going to ride off into the sunset and spend his days playing golf and drinking umbrella drinks on the beach, you're wrong. He's returning to school. He's going to be teaching at the business school at Ohio State with Lieutenant Colonel Charles

Buchanan. It's a course titled Leadership and Character. Can we sign up for this? Because I think that sounds really cool. Well, that'll probably get ripped on Twitter. I'm sure that's getting crushed on Twitter. Probably, because that's what people do. But he could certainly host a leadership class.

I mean, he's run four different college football programs. He's the second best college football coach in the history of the sport, in my opinion. I think it's great. Yeah, I mean, people can say what they want on Twitter, but he's the second best college football coach in the last 30 years. And I would argue all time, it's probably Sabin, Urban, Bear Bryant, you know, Barry Switzer, you know, there's a handful of guys. I mean, he's an all-time guy to me.

He said he doesn't anticipate a return to coaching. What do you think? If somebody pays him $3 million to be a college football analyst, He'll do that. Money talks. Yeah. January the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. You know, by the way, the reason I support stars going to star places because that's America. You support parity, which is largely socialism, which is everybody should be even. That's not a shot at you. Most fans agree with you. And I say, are you the same fans that would vote for Bernie Sanders? Because he's a socialist, right?

That's his whole thing. Everybody should. So fans are American. It's like, I hate socialism. I can't do it. but you want sports socialism where all the players are sprinkled about. I'm for capitalism, which is big dogs, eat the little puppy. That's life.

I want to have a reason to watch a random NBA game on a Tuesday night. I want there to be players in that game that I want to watch. I am for star players and star Americans and star doctors and star landscapers and star educators and teachers. You're going overboard. Having options. Everybody always tells me they hate socialism in America, but everybody wants sports socialism. I think you want capitalism.

And with that, the great capitalist Greg Jennings via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So I said yesterday, see, I like stars. I want players to get paid. I want Greg Jennings to have all these options in life. And he had options and he came to FS1. And I'm very happy for that. But I said yesterday, I said, listen,

you cannot win the AFC this year with no deep threat. Chargers have two. Chiefs have two. Steelers have one to two. Josh Gordon was second on their team in yards. I don't think New England can get out of the AFC. They're not dynamic enough in a court. We've really become a wide receiver quarterback league.

Agree or disagree? I know. That's weird. There you go. There you go with those wide receiver talks again. I absolutely disagree with you on this one, though. When you look at the track record of the New England Patriots and what they've been able to do over the course of their run, their greatness, they've been able to operate their best in the midst

of adversity. And so when they get the most out of their roster, their personnel, is when they have someone that they are going to really rely on a lot removed from the equation, a la Rob Grunkowski in years past, Julian Ellumann. They're big name guys. They're guys that they rely on to do quite a bit. This is going to bring the best out of everyone on that roster, including the head coach Bill Belichick. And you can rip them.

You can poke holes in whatever you want and say he hasn't supported Tom Brady in his final years and he's not putting pieces around him. He does whatever he knows he needs to do to win. And it's not always about getting the most vibrant, the most exciting player, the best player that's out there. It's getting the best player that fits what you're trying to get done and who you are as a team. And that's why they continue to win. So I don't like them now in the AFC. I think Kansas City is better.

I think Pittsburgh's better. I think the Chargers are significantly better. I think Baltimore is dangerous. I want to ask you about, though, Kansas City is very interesting. So of the last 10 Super Bowl participants, nine have been number one seeds. They could fall to a fifth seed if they lose in Seattle.

They don't have anything guaranteed. They're an awful past defense. You can't be as bad as them defensively and win the Super Bowl, according to Super Bowl history. They don't now have their top back. When you look at the Chiefs, They lose in Seattle. They're going to go on the road in the playoffs.

How do you look at this firework show on offense, this abysmal defensive team on the back end? Do you see them winning the AFC? You know what? I see them having an opportunity to, whether they're playing at home or on the road. When you look at them, if we want to talk history, you look at the Chief's history of playoffs at home. They don't fare well. So, you know, sometimes you have to get, you have to do something different to get a different result. And when it comes to the chiefs, this is what, this is what's scary about the National Football League.

When games count the most is when teams have to start coming together. But when we start seeing teams kind of falling apart with the Kareem Hunt situation, Patrick McComb, Patrick Mahomes is starting to unravel. a little bit. You're not going to start seeing all the big plays as we did early in the season because teams are now, they have a beat on what you'd like to do offensively. Your defense has to play better. And these things aren't happening for the Kansas City Chiefs, but they do have an offense that can put up points. And I think that they can show well on the road or at home. So I think they have a chance, but it doesn't look good because of things unraveling at the wrong time. And this is why Andy Reid has been struggling in the playoffs because his teams tend to unravel when it matters most.

You know, when you pay a quarterback a lot of money, we know that you can't afford to have a deep roster. That's why Breeze, Brady, Big Ben in recent years have taken pay cuts. And that's why many of the good teams have quarterbacks on their first contract, Gough, Tribalbath, Bisckey, Dak Prescott, Wenz, that kind of stuff. The Rams have hit a wall. Now, they have a quarterback on his first contract, but they are star-studded. Sue, Talee, Donald, Gurley. They have absolutely hit a wall.

They look tired. Gurley doesn't have a backup. They're the opposite of the Chargers who have won multiple games without Joey Bosa, Melvin Gordon, Keenan Allen. I think that Rams are too top-heavy. I think, and we called it a month ago, Greg, I don't. don't think they have the depth of players you need for December and January. Do you think they reboot it if they get a week off in the playoffs for a buy or they clinch this weekend

and rest guys? Take me to your career. If you're struggling in late December, were you ever on a team that could reboot in a buy and recapture the magic? I think they definitely can recapture the magic, but it starts from the top down. And their top, I'm talking within their locker room, the veteran guys, because you got so many guys that you mentioned that have had success individually, but haven't quite had the success of winning a Super Bowl. And with that comes guys who feel entitled. They're excited to play with one another when the season first starts and they'll do any and everything to make it work because everybody's going to say that it can't work and can't fit.

And so everything is pointing in the right direction. Well, when you get longer in the season, now you have to dig a little deeper. Your body is sore. That sense of entitlement is like, why am I practicing this week? Come on, coach, I shouldn't be out here practicing. I'm seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven years in this game. Let me back off a little bit. And that tends to creep into how you perform on Sundays.

You can't do that. feel like you can't reboot that. Once somebody feels entitled, they're entitled. They're not going to reset that. And so when you've acquired these personalities, it will work for a period of time. But the period of time that you needed to work most is late in the season when they've kind of settled in and grown comfortable a little bit and complacent. Yeah, boy, I think you've nailed that.

I completely agree with you on that. And finally, Aaron Rogers is not healthy. they're shutting Cam down, but Aaron has made a point, I want to play, which I think is what leaders do. Aaron Jones is out. Their left tackle could be out. The game means nothing. You know, it's very interesting. I'm just going to ask you a why, and I'm not sure if there's a definitive answer.

Aaron could easily shut down the season. He acknowledges he's not 100%. They're shutting it down for Cam. Why do you think Aaron's playing this week? What is he trying to tell us? Well, he's playing this week because they already got rid of Mike McCarthy. And everyone in the media as well as fans believe that he's a big reason why. So if he's a big reason why, well, we at least need to see him out there playing.

And last year, if you remember, he had an opportunity to come back and finish out the season against Carolina. They lost so they didn't have the opportunity to make the playoffs. And so they were eliminated. And then they shut him down. Well, this year, he can be shut down, but he remembers what transpired last year. Mike McCarthy's gone. His fans, they want to keep them engaged. They will always be engaged, but now it's the Aaron Rogers show.

That's all they have there. There's no Mike McCarthy. We don't even have a head coach right now. So give us something to cheer for, Aaron. You have to go out there and play. That's very interesting. Interesting way to put out. By the way, you live in Minnesota.

Vikings, very interesting little side note here. Viking players voted to practice Monday, according to reports, because they've got a new offensive coordinator now. Minnesota is very healthy. They're battling Philadelphia. So Minnesota goes on the road to Detroit. You live in that city. What is the vibe on the Vikings this morning? Again, this team has been hot and cold.

The players said we're not taking Monday off. this week. We're going to practice Monday. They're incredibly healthy. How do you think it ends for the Vikings quickly? They're hungry. These guys haven't won. They know how close they got last year and they see something slipping away. And they're trying to capture what they had last year and then build on that. And so what you see with the Minnesota Vikings is a team that's starting to trend in the right direction at the right time in the season. What Mike Zimmer did about getting rid of that offensive coordinator, he set a message to his offense and to his team. Either you're in this or you will be gone.

Either you're going to do it my way or you will be gone. They have gotten the message. They will perform well. All right. Good stuff, Greg. All sorts of information today, Greg Jennings, in his amazing Greg Jennings showcase room. That's a very impressive room.

Stop it. You got a Dolphins jersey in that room, by the way? I do. I do. With the way we frame it. It's hard to get it in. Okay. I want to make sure you didn't ignore the fish, the fins.

All right, buddy. Greg Jennings, good stuff. Joe Thomas next hour. Probably going to give me crap about Baker Mayfield. An all-time left tackle legend, funny guy, good young broadcaster, Joe Thomas. Coming up next two things. Number one, listen, I got to tell you, this Anthony Davis thing and LeBron is getting so bad that general managers and owners in the league are complaining that LeBron.

and the Lakers are tampering, Pelicans say will not trade him. Pelicans, I'm going to lay it out for you. The longer you wait, the uglier it gets. When a star into Magite's leaving,

you better step on it, and I'll lay it out for you. That, and could the season totally unravel Sunday night for the Chiefs? Nick Wright is freaking out. Next. By the way, Very interesting now that in the NBA, the Boston Celtics are rumored to want Anthony Davis with the Pelicans.

The Lakers, we know, want Anthony Davis of the Pelicans. And those are the two leaders in the clubhouse. Now, the way the NBA works with contracts, Boston can't make a deal with Kyrie Irving. They couldn't have Kyrie and Anthony Davis until like June or July on the same contract. It's confusing. It's bad radio TV. The Lakers with LeBron, Los Angeles. He signed with Clutch Sports.

I would say are the favorite lien, but Boston has more to give them, but has some limitations. Here's the thing. Yesterday, the Pelican said, we're not trading him ever. Alvin Gentry, I mean, is Alvin Gentry going to be there in two years? Who knows? Alvin Gentry said, we will not trade him. All right, don't. And then in a year and a half, he walks and you're left with nothing.

We have a history, folks. When big stars are rumored to be leaving, they do. Here's the last 10 star players rumored to be leaving. leaving. Jimmy Butler left. Jimmy Butler again left. Kevin Durant left. Paul George left. Paul George stayed. Blake Griffin left. LeBron left. DeAndre Jordan left. Quai Leonard left. Chris Paul left. Nine of the ten. And Chris and Paul George is the only one that stayed with an organization, Oklahoma City, with a star and that has a history of winning. New Orleans doesn't have either for Anthony Davis. I don't believe you get rigid.

I think when the word is out, you have more leverage the sooner you get rid of somebody. By the way, Indiana, Paul George said, I'm not interested. I want to leave. The Pacers, Kevin Pritchard, got right on it, and they ended up getting Sabonis and Victorola Depot, and the Pacers are a real team. The Pacers are a real team. By the way, Lobb City, Clippers got them all out of town. Clippers are 18 and 13 tied with the Lakers.

They're a real team. and many believe leading candidate to land Kauai Leonard. Those two teams didn't wait around. Also remember this. The quicker New Orleans would make a deal would say the Lakers, they would get Laker parts that are still in their rookie contracts, cheap players that you can use and sell. But if you wait a year and a half,

you're going to have to pay guys like Brandon Ingram. You have to pay, it could be closer to pay in Kuzma, pay and Josh Hart, those players are not as valuable. Cheap players and players on expiring contracts. A lot of people want those. So I know you're saying, Colin, you just want to see Anthony Davis in Los Angeles. No, what I'm saying is we have a history in this league. When small markets say, you know, this is unfair.

No, what is unfair is billionaire owners in the NBA knowing that franchises have no shot to compete on the open market, but taking a $400 million expansion fee and allow them. a team in that's not really an NBA city. This is billionaires getting greedy, and then the billionaires are angry when they're a small market billionaire and can't keep their stars. Anthony Davis is in the Witness Protection Program in New Orleans. He deserves better. Fans deserve.

I'm tired of the NBA TV, Anthony Davis. I want the TNT Anthony Davis. And Charles Barkley talking about it. All right. So of the last 10. Super Bowl participants. Nine are number one seeds. It's all like March madness.

We talk about all the upsets, but you always end up with Duke and Kansas and, you know, all the big dogs. Of the last 10 Super Bowl participants, nine are one seeds, the Falcons were two seed. Chalk gets there. Last five years, chalk gets there. And I do believe this year the Saints will get there.

The question is, who will be the number one seed in the AFC. And this weekend we have massive games, Ravens at the Chargers, Pittsburgh at New Orleans, Houston at Philly, none bigger than Kansas City at Seattle. It is a fascinating game for a lot of reasons. Now, Nick Wright, who works at FS1, is from Kansas City. He's freaking out.

And this morning, he freaked out some more. He had a very nice outfit on, but he was freaking out and sweating while he was talking. I've been saying all year this is the best team of football that this right now in 2018 is the best player in football Patrick Mahomes. I'm going to look right into the camera.

My friend's in Kansas City, you got a chance to prove me right this weekend. To go to Seattle, put up four touchdowns, essentially lock up the one seed and remind everyone the road to the Super Bowl goes through Arrowhead. If they can't do that, they are likely going to be the five seat.

And this amazing, magical season in Kansas City with an MVP quarterback could end in one road playoff game. This is a prove-it moment for the Chiefs. None of their losses have been bad, but all of them have been preventable. Kansas City and the Rams met on Monday Night Football. Remember that game?

It was the wildest craziest Monday Night Football game ever. I would say one of the craziest games I've ever seen in league history, 54-51. It was supposed to be played in Mexico City. Then they moved it to Los Angeles. The teams moved all over the place. Since that time, the Rams are 1 and 2. and since that time the Chiefs are two and one with an overtime win and struggled with the Raiders. So if Kansas City loses at Seattle, the AFC is entirely different.

You know, it's funny about sports. We tend to think these are alpha males and they're very confident and nothing gets in their head. But for years and years until Kurt Schilling arrived, Boston often had better. players than the Yankees. It took a transformational Hall of Fame level pitcher, Kurt Schilling, to come in and say, ride my arm. Manny Ramirez, crazy Manny, ride my bat. I'll get us through this. Kansas City, you've got the Andy Reed component where he has struggled in some of these big games. I still think he's an amazing coach. Patrick Mahomes can be kind of a wing it gunslinger guy. The Chiefs is a franchise, kind of get into the playoffs, regardless of coach, and they let you down.

There are a lot of things working above the shoulders for Kansas City this weekend. Seattle, in primetime games with Russell Wilson, has been better than every team in the league except New England. Nobody in the league has been better in stand-alone, prime time games. Super Bowls, playoffs, at home. They don't only win, they cover the spread. they win big. This is the biggest Chiefs game in, I mean, you can make an argument. It's the biggest Chiefs game in a decade.

It's that big this weekend. Blazing five, final regular season, Blazing Five of the year. Next in LA, The Heard. Ah, hour two on a Friday, this is The Heard. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Live in Los Angeles, Iheart. Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1, Jamie Maggio is joining me today in a Friday. We are packed. Listen, Jamie, you haven't been here most of the year. I have been on fire, my best blazing five-year,

first or second best ever in the last two decades. Donald Trump said make America great again. Friday's on this show. I make America rich again. I may take Monday off and just start an offshore betting site. I mean, I'm tired of making everybody money. Seriously, what am I robin hood here? You're humble. You're humble. I am a humble servant to the public. By the way, it's now sponsored. Chili's is like, give me part of this. Blazing 5 sponsored by Chili's. Take your three for $10 to go.

Starter, Entree Coke, 10 bucks. Makes the holidays easier. Three for $10 to go. Let's not waste any time. We are rolling. I love our picks. Here's our Blazing 5. That's a hot one.

Let's blaze it up. Fire it up. It's Collins. Blazing 5. Ravens at Chargers. Saturday night game, Chargers, minus four and a half. It's going to be a good game. Low scoring for a while. Ravens play real defense. But the Chargers, who we fell in love with about week eight, lead the NFL in big plays with 118. That's a running play over 10 yards, a passing play over 20. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson

is yet to throw for 200 yards in a game. Baltimore will hang around in this football game, and they'll keep it close. But in the end, they're running a wing tee against the most explosive offense in the National Football League, Chargers win it, and cover 27 to 20. Packers at Jets. Packers minus three. Like it. I love the Packers. Listen, Sam Darnold played well last week.

Best game he's ever played as a pro, and they still lost at home. They've lost eight of nine games. They're a total rebuild offensively, offensive line, receivers, backs. They have a decent tight end, and Sam Darnold. The Packers are 0 and 7 on the road. They haven't gone winless on the road since the 50s. Aaron Rogers is playing for a reason to still prove they fired the coach for the right reasons. I'm going to take the Jets to battle for a while.

But Aaron wins covers 28, 23. Bears at 49ers. San Francisco on the road is a mess, 0.7, because they don't have a starting quarterback of note. But at home, they're a tough out. They have beaten back-to-back weeks at home, Denver and Seattle, and I like them to be super competitive here, getting four points against Chicago. By the way, Mitch Trubisky, young quarterback, very good at home, incredibly mediocre away from home.

That happens with young quarterbacks. I mean, it just does. Young quarterbacks are good in spots, but you get a roller coaster home and away. By the way, the best statistical rookie quarterback in the league is not Baker Mayfield. It's Nick Mullins. Look it up. Niners cover. I think the Bears win last second field goal, but I'll take the points in the Niners 2423.

Giants at Colts. I get the Giants plus nine and a half. Indianapolis is a better team, but they just came off a shutout over the Cowboys. They are feeling themselves today, and they're a good team. But they're not a good enough team to blow people out if they come down emotionally. The Giants have been a better road team this year, yet to lose by more. than seven on the road, average 26 a game on the road. Again, the Colts are a better team, but they are a better, they're only a few weeks out

from getting shut out by the Jaguars. They have to be totally focused. I think they lose a little focus. They win the game, but I'll take the Giants plus nine and a half, 30, 23 Colts. Chiefs at Seahawks. Listen, Seattle, at home, off an embarrassing loss, getting two and a half points on Sunday night football. The Seahawks at home in prime time, the last six years including playoffs, are 16 and 2. And Russell Wilson's got 35 touchdowns and nine picks. Seattle's got the number

one ranked running game. The Chiefs have the 26-rank rushing defense. Patrick Mahomes will watch this game from the sidelines. For most of it, ball control, raining in Seattle, pressures on Kansas City. 28, 26 Seahawks win. I will take the two and a half points. The Blazing Five is sponsored by Chili's. Three for $10 to go. Pull up.

Go to their app. Take it home. Easy score. Perfect play for the holidays. Chili's three for $10 to go. Joe Thomas, great talker, great left tackle. Going to be a Hall of Famer. Give me crap about Baker Mayfield.

we'll be coming up in about 10 minutes. So one of the big games this weekend is the Steelers, who rebooted a little this past week, beat Pittsburgh, beat New England. They go to New Orleans where I think they're going to lose to the Saints. Close game. And Cam Jordan's a great player for the Saints, and he was giving Big Ben,

he was pushing back on how great Big Ben is. Here's the sound. We've got a quarterback who might be going to the Hall of Fame. He's going to in fact 20-time. Is that true? Lothisburg. Yeah. So really?

What is this offense do you were? In this era. You put him at top five of this area. Drew. Tom. Ahron. Peyton. Payton, who?

Manning. He's not. I didn't even count him in the era. He retired two years ago. That was most of Rutherberg's career. You're saying he's better than Philip Rivers right now. Right now? Career-wise.

I'd honestly put Eli before I put Ben, but okay. Okay, so just interesting. I like Big Ben. I think Big Ben's what we thought Cam Newton could be. I'll tell you, he wins more recently and on the road than Aaron Rogers. But let's be fair about this. Let's just say, how good is Big Ben? Let's go to the year he was drafted, 2004.

I'm going to list the significant quarterbacks. There's 21 that have come out since 2004. I'm not listing all of them, just the guys who have had some modicum of success. Eli, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rogers, Jay Cutler, Matt Ryan, Flacco, Matt Stafford, Sam Bradford, Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick, Alex Smith, Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, Derek Carr, Mariotta, Goff, Wentz, Mahomes, Deshawn Watson, Mitch Trubisky. So in 14 years, 21 guys have come out, and I would consider them, they've had some modicum of success. I'd put Big Ben number one. Ben 1, Rogers 2, Russell 3, Philip 4, Andrew Luck 5. Now, I think Russell Wilson still has seven years to go.

Andrew Luck has 7 to 8. Now you're saying to yourself, Ben and Aaron Rogers, folks, I've been saying this for the last couple of years. Aaron compares to Ben, not Brady. Brady pulled away years ago from him just too much hardware, too many wins. But once again, Aaron, back-to-back years, not in the playoffs. harder to coach. We don't even know who his coach is. A lot of drama. And, you know, I'll say this, and I'm not blaming Aaron, but Big Ben's just got a better organization. They draft better than Green Bay, and they've given him better pieces. And I'm not knocking Aaron Rogers for that. But if you're

telling me the last 14 years, the 21 quarterbacks drafted, Big Ben is no worse than second, and I would put him first over Aaron Rogers. I'd go, Ben, Rogers, Russell, Rivers, Luck. I love all of them. I don't even put Eli in that classification. Let's get past Eli. All five of these guys I like. And I do think Big Ben has the benefit of the Rooney family, great owners. He's had a very good defensive coach, Mike Tomlin, and they've drafted the heck out of running backs and wide receivers and offensive linemen.

And the Steelers are a better free agent city. So some of that Ben over Rogers is, you know, Ben didn't have a lot to do with it. His team gets him better players, keeps better players, drafts better players. But you start talking about Ben Rathesberger. At worst, he's second. And I love Russell Wilson. And I think Russell Wilson could eventually be better than Big Ben. Russell, I think it's a Hall of Fame or two.

But let's not go crazy on Big Ben and bang on him here because he's got a lot of drama. Aaron's got his drama. Andrew Lucks had his injuries. Philip Rivers hasn't won. If you look at the top five guys, they've all got a ding against him. Aaron Rogers, hurt again, a lot of drama. Russell had that Super Bowl loss. still consider him, I don't, many do, better runner than thrower.

Philip Rivers, not enough playoff wins. Andrew Locke, a lot of picks. Doesn't matter to me, but it does to a lot of people, and he's been hurt for a lot of it. So let's not go crazy on Big Ben's a great player. Big Ben is what we thought Cam Newton could be, and Cam's not even in the same galaxy, not even in the same area code. Big Ben's an all-timer. Coming up next, why one team fizzled, and I've seen it happen before, it's happening again,

and their only hope to reboot it. I'm talking to the L.A. Rams. Joe Thomas. There's Big Joe. Look at, he's got a big old microphone in his house. All you athletes watching, that's how you do it. You put something in your den and you become a radio podcast star. He'll join us next.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Blazing 5 was brought to you by Chili's. Three for $10. Make your pick. Start her entree Coke, just $10. Our next guest was not only a pro bowler, 10 of the 11 years he played. He played in almost 11,000 straight snaps, an NFL record.

He didn't get hurt or miss a game for 10 years. He'll be a first ballot hall of famer in the history of left tackle. He protected 29 brown quarterbacks, which says a lot about the brown, frankly, and also Joe Thomas. But he's in a short list of Walter Jones, John Hannah, Jonathan Ogden. Anthony Munoz of the great all-time left tackles, which is now outside of quarterback. Many believe the second most important position in the National Football League

and via the Coward Global Satellite Network, Joe Thomas. All right, Baker is four and two in his last six, Joe. He is rolling. But here's the dilemma. We've seen this over time. Some coaches bring an energy and enthusiasm, a curtness, a frankness, a candor,

which can work for six weeks to eight weeks, but it may not work for 10 years. Greg Williams is intense, and he makes people accountable, and it is working short-term. And you don't want to screw the Baker thing up. But Joe, is he a long-term answer? Who's Baker's next coach do you?

Yeah, I think Greg Williams can definitely be the long-term answer there in Cleveland. Like you mentioned, he's tough. He holds people accountable. but I think he also brings a steadying force. And that's what a lot of players have been saying coming out of that locker room, that the stuff that you saw from Hard Knocks and the things that Greg Williams is most well known for

is not exactly who he is as a head coach. He's a very stable, level, even keel head coach. And I think you see that a lot even on the sidelines when you watch the games. And I think that's what the team is performing like right now. You know, Joe, Tony Dungey was a defensive coordinator, Tomlin, Belichek, Parcells, Jimmy Johnson, Chuck Knoll. A lot of Super Bowls have been won.

when a quarterback gets a guy to fix the defense, and the quarterbacks can figure out the offense. Do you think there's a case to be made that Baker is smart enough? High IQ, five years of college, he doesn't need an offensive guru. What he needs is a defensive coach, like even a Nick Saban. Where would you go? Do you think a defense or an offensive guy for him? I think a defensive guy could definitely work for Baker,

because when you have a defensive head coach, he worries mostly about the defense. And then a lot of times you get a lot more cooperation between the offensive coordinator and the quarterback. And they work together hand in hand coming up with a game plan. Whereas if you have an offensive-minded head coach, a lot of times he just kind of forces what he wants on that quarterback. And I definitely think Baker is smart enough.

Even though he's a young player, the guy plays way smarter than his age. And I think you're only going to continue to see that grow. So I could definitely see a defensive head coach being a great fit for Baker. By the way, all these quarterbacks, as much as I have criticized Baker, all these rookies are succeeding. Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen are way better than I thought initially. Now I want to segue to a veteran, Tom Brady.

Josh Gordon is out. I look at this team this morning, and I just, Joe, you played in the AFC for a long time. I respect Belichick. I think Brady's the best I've ever seen. But man, Joe, they don't have an overreact. the top threat. Gronks a shell of himself. I do think Josh Gordon's departure

is kind of a margin squeezer. I don't think they can get through the AFC. Do you? I definitely wouldn't bet on the Patriots making it through the AFC, like you mentioned. They lost their deep threat. So now teams are going to be able to see that. They're going to come up with a great game plan and just squeeze

everybody because Gronk can't stretch the field vertically. All they have is some of that underneath stuff. They're not running the ball as well as they have in the past. And their defense isn't playing as well as it has in years past. So without that formula that the Patriots have been putting together for years, I'm not sure that they're really going to be able to do anything in the playoffs. I would expect them to probably lose.

But just when everybody is counting the Patriots out, sometimes it seems that's when they play the best and they circle the wagons and they get that team mentality. So your guess is as good as mine. The Rams have hit a wall. They've got a lot of expensive stars. Therefore, they don't have a ton of depth. Do you believe if they get a buy-we?

week that they could use that to get rest and reboot or in your history in the NFL. Do you feel like once a team goes sideways post Thanksgiving, can you turn it around? Or is it kind of a, listen, if you're bad in September, you can turn it around by December. But if you struggle in November and early December, it's over. Your thoughts on the Rams right now? They're definitely going to have to turn it around in their last couple games because we've seen a little bit of complacency kind of slide in. They haven't played very well in the last couple weeks.

And if they can't turn it around and have one of those great offensive performances that we've seen earlier on in the season, they're going to just sleepwalk right through the postseason and probably lose the first game that they play. When you look at the AFC, which you played in for 11 years, what am I supposed to do with a team like Kansas City? Struggles defensively. It's not a franchise with a history of winning. I've got a very young quarterback. I now don't have a star running back. You know, you know how this season works, Joe,

is that some team, Kansas City has a history of great early, disappointing late. Give me your thoughts on what we're going to see from the Chiefs the rest of the way. Yeah, I actually think this is going to be a little bit of a different season for the Chiefs. They did, they lost the Chargers on Thursday night football a few weeks ago. But I really think with the offensive weapons that they have, And with that defensive line playing the way that they've been playing as of late, I think that's going to be a big key for them because they'll be able to pressure the passer in the playoffs. And they'll be able to score points.

And teams are going to struggle to keep up with them scoring points. Even though they've had years past where they get eliminated early on and Andy Reid hasn't had great postseason success, I definitely just get a different sense that this team is a lot different with Patrick Mahomes being there. It's almost a fresh start with that young quarterback. You face Big Ben probably what, 20 times in your career, 20, 22, times, obviously. Yeah. And you know, Cam Jordan said yesterday, he was kind of questioning who he is. You know, I've always said this with Big Ben. He is flawed. He is imperfect. But in my lifetime, there's never been a 6-foot-6-265-pound quarterback. He's the only guy I ever saw

pump fake with one hand. He didn't even have to use his second hand. I think Big Ben's one of the great players I have ever seen in league history. In your 11 years of watching Ben play, film live. How do you describe him if I'd never seen him? If I'd never watched a football game and you were telling me about him, how do you describe him? Well, he's like a big dinosaur that can throw the football. It's pretty amazing when you see him because he's impossible to tackle. I can't remember how many times, especially early on in his career where we'd have free runners just bouncing off him. We'd have big defensive linemen have him wrapped up and he'd somehow be able to shake them off and throw the football down the field. So I agree with you. Ben Rothersberger is one of the

best quarterbacks to ever play in this game. And in my opinion, his Pro Bowl statistics and resume is never in doubt whatsoever. I think sometimes you see this in the NFL where guys don't like somebody personally and they kind of try to take shots at their ability and their resume when really it's not warranted because in my opinion, you can't argue with what Ben Rothesberger has been doing as a quarterback for 14 or 15 seasons. Joe Thomas, one of the great left tackles ever. Finally, when you get into, we're close to Christmas now. And you didn't miss start. You went 10,400 snaps until you had an injury. That's an NFL record.

But it is different, Joe. Defense is now are better. A lot of guys are dinged up. On average, and you are a big, healthy player. Explain to my audience the difference between December and January football, how your body feels. Is it better to be a young guy or a veteran? Take my audience into what these top teams are facing now.

they're 15 games in. Some of have played 20 with the preseason. Where are guys at now? Well, even a rookie is going to be getting sore at this point in the season. But for a veteran, the most important thing is just finding little ways during the week to try to get your legs back, to try to start feeling as good as you can on Sunday. Because by December and even into January, that week is not enough time to recover between games. And so you need to be getting extra time in the ice tub.

You need to be getting extra stretching, extra massage. and really it's a battle of attrition once you get to December and January. Rookies, they're probably not feeling as bad because young guys, they've got a lot more things going on for them where they're able to easily recover between games, but then they don't have the mental side of it. So as a veteran, you just got to take care of your body as good as you can. And you're going to see a lot of guys probably just taking days of practice off, trying to be smart with it.

And that's what a good head coach is going to do. He's going to find little ways to try to rest his team for the stretch run in January. I think the best team and roster in the league, today is the LA Chargers. Who do you think? I totally agree. Yeah, I totally agree. I saw them on Thursday night football in person against the Kansas City Chiefs. And I think when you look at from the back end of their defense to their defense of line, the way they can rush the passer, the way they can run the football with

Melvin Gordon now coming back, the way Philip Rivers is playing the best of his entire career, that's the team that I wouldn't want to play. They may only be the wild card going into it, but that's to me the favorite right now because they're a tough team, they're disciplined. Anthony Lynn's done a great job. got a great leader and Philip Rivers is that quarterback and they're competitive and they really don't have any weaknesses and that's the team I wouldn't want to play. By the way, they're the only team really that I thought Baker looked overwhelmed with. Mary, if you remember that game at home and I'm not saying it's all Baker's fault, but he had no chance against the Chargers. They just

overwhelmed him and Baker has not been overwhelmed much in his young career. So to your point, even in Cleveland, do you remember that game earlier in the year with Baker? Yeah, I was there. Yeah, I was there. That was probably one of his tougher games because when you look at what the Chargers defense can do, like I mentioned, they've got two great pass rushers, Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram. Those guys can also stop the run. They've got Derwin James. They've got a great

secondary. Their linebackers run all over the field. So their defense is really tough. So they make scoring hard on you. And then all of a sudden Philip Rivers is throwing touchdowns to Keenan Allen. He's handing the ball off to Melvin Gordon. They can beat you in so many different ways that they can take advantage of whatever your weakness is. And that's why they provide such a difficult

matchup to all these different teams. All right, Joe Thomas podcast, the Tomahawk show hosted by Joe and his former teammate Andrew Hawkins. Absolute pleasure to have you on. I love your setup. You got it all dialed in there, buddy. Look at that thing. I appreciate that. $150 mic right here and $100 stand on Amazon and life is good.

I appreciate you having me on. All right. Thanks, Joe. Good stuff. Yeah, it's funny about because I live in Los Angeles, Jamie, you and I, when you do a show from a city, let's say this show was in Dallas. and if I said I love the Cowboys, people would say, oh, you're a cowboy fan. And I've only lived in LA three years. So I said, about two months ago, I said, I think the Chargers are better than the Rams.

And I'm watching all these games. And now everybody's like, oh, God. So I always try to go out of my way to be kind of hypercritical of local teams. I don't want to be seen as a homer. But the Chargers, I talk to two people in this league I respect, executives. And I said, what's their flaw? one of them goes, they're okay at Guard. I'm like, that's it.

He's like, they're not bad. He's like, they're excellent everywhere. They're okay at Guard. Linebacker, pretty good. They are stacked. Jamie with the News. Turn on the news. This is the Herd Line News.

All right, Colin, let's continue the conversation about the Cleveland Browns. I don't know how you did that interview with a straight face. Joe Thomas is wearing a size medium T-shirt. The giant microphone. I think he was trying to intimidate you, to be honest. A little bit distracting. Anyway, you guys were talking about Greg Williams, the defensive coordinator who's now the interim head coach. What about Freddie Kitchens?

He's too young. He doesn't look like a head coach. But that's what everybody says. But look at the numbers. Baker-Mayfield's numbers are vastly improved since he's taken over after that week eight firing of Haley and Hugh Jackson. I don't think he feels, maybe I'm wrong. He doesn't feel big enough. He doesn't feel big enough for the room.

Keep him as your OC. He says he wants to be a head coach. You know, he was on Nick Saban staff at LSU. So, like, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's been around. I just feel like this, why not give him a chance? But you guys are all about Craig Williams. I don't think an offensive-minded coach is better for Baker-Mayfield. Well, I don't necessarily.

I did, and they had Hugh Jackson and Todd Haley, and their egos collided. They got divorced and he's better. I would say this. You can make a very compelling argument. that for young quarterbacks, the offensive hot shot coach is great. But I don't think Aaron Rogers, Big Ben, need to be taught football. So, I mean, Cam's won a lot of games with Ron Rivera, Peyton won a lot of games with Dungee, Brady with Belichick.

Baker's different than the other rookies because he played more games in college. He went the entire five years. He's more refined right now than all of them. Now, I don't think his ceilings as high as Sam Darnel. Or is Josh Allen. But I don't know if there's a right answer with him. I think they're going to go with Greg Williams because Cleveland's historic self-esteem is low. And if they win a few games, they'll fall in love with Greg Williams and give them the job.

And I'm not sure it's right or wrong, but it doesn't feel like that would be the best long-term choice. I'd be curious to see if Freddie Kitchens stays there as the offensive coordinator or if he goes somewhere else and tries to pursue a head coaching job. I don't know. Good question. Next up, James Worthy was caught by TMZ Sports. Talking about Carmelo Anthony and the potential of Mello coming to Los Angeles. Oh, God. Oh, here we go. Carmelo has proven that he's, you know, outstanding shooter.

That's kind of what we need. In his career, I think if he'd be willing to take a certain role, I think it'd be okay. No, I'm not even interested in talking about that. Key phrase here, well, you have to just for a second. Entertain me for a second. The key phrase, though, from Worthy, if he's willing to take. take a certain role, which I think Melo has proven he's not really willing to take a certain role with the failure at OKC at the Houston Rockets. Do you think he would maybe change his tune and mentality

to play alongside LeBron's buddy? He went to OKC and he laughed at the suggestion he come off the bench. It's like, dude, you're a bench player now. Self-awareness is a really great thing. And young people, men and women, don't generally have it. I mean, you generally have more self-awareness as you get into your late 30s, 40s, 40s, I didn't have it any in my 20s. You don't really understand the temperature of the room. A lot of these pro athletes, by the time they get self-awareness, they're retired, they're 34.

And Carnella's always had really poor self-awareness. He really thinks he's, I mean, if you asked him today, he thinks he's as good as anybody in the league. And it's like, dude, you're not a starter in this league anymore. All right, can we talk NFL head coaches again? Sure, no. All right. In Denver, Vance Joseph is expected to be fired by the Broncos after the season.

Yes. But it was reported that after they went 5 and 11 last season, that John Elway nearly struck a deal with Mike Shanahan. So this season, they've been eliminated from playoff contention last week after the loss to the Cleveland Browns. They're now 6 and 8. Mike Shanahan, do you think that would be a good replacement for Vance Joseph, who's in the second year of four-year deal?

Have we not learned anything from John Gruden in Oakland this season? I don't know of Mike. Mike Shanahan made a lot of money. I think he's really happy. Five years removed from the game. I think he knows football. I don't doubt that. By the way, his son, Kyle,

is everybody seeing what Kyle's doing with Nate Mullins? Nick Mullins. Has anybody seen what he's doing with him? It's good God. They beat Denver. They beat Seattle. I think Mike's done his thing. I don't think he wants the grind of it.

I've talked to Jimmy Johnson about this. Jimmy Johnson wants to have a life. He wants to go fish. I think once these guys get enough money, Bill Parcells, do you want to wake up at 3.45 in the morning? Mike Shanahan can sleep in, have breakfast. All of these guys have egos. I know.

And Shanahan, by the 20 years, three Super Bowls, I'm not knocking Mike Shanahan whatsoever. The man is an icon. You know what? Also, though, he's got a son coaching. I think Mike Shanahan loves advising his son. Oh, yeah. And the GM for the Niners is John Lynch. That's another Shanahan guy.

So I think when you're a dad and your son's excelling, I really think the ego moves aside and you're in you. As a dad, I've had my day in the spotlight. But if my son got to a point, he's not going to be a sportscaster, no interest. But if he did this and I was older and I could get another job, I think at some point I'd be like, no, and he wanted my help. I'd rather help my son. I don't think I'm doing anything.

Every dad listening would do the same thing. I don't think I'm special. But I think Shanahan's old enough now. I think he's getting incredible joy out of his son succeeding in San Francisco. And I think it would break his heart if his son didn't succeed in San Francisco. And I'm not, again, I'm not special. I think every dad in the world would say this about their kids. Once you've done it, I think you get much more enjoyment out of elevating one of your kids.

I mean, again, it'd be one thing if Shanahan didn't have a Super Bowl, was struggling to pay the bills. But he is a legend. and he's a real legend in Denver. So why spoil that thing? By the way, you're not special, but it's sweet that you're showing your softer side. Is that my soft side? Goulet is a little soft as I'm rolling his eyes back there. John, you've seen my softers.

Yeah, that's about as soft as you're going to get. It's funny. Jamie with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. By the way, so everybody loves what they're doing in Philadelphia. Chris Long built a locker room,

shrine to Nick Foles, it's very cute. But my favorite moment, because everybody loves Nick Foles now, and he's a very nice kid. But we do this, we fall in love with these microburst winning streaks. Nick Foles has never played great for four weeks in a row. Greg Kosell was on my show yesterday. And I just threw out the possibility, though I don't believe it, that Philadelphia is better with Foles than Wendell. Here you go. Carson Wentz is probably a top three or four talent in the league at the position.

Last year, the Eagles were scoring well over 30 points a game before he got heard, and he would have been the league MVP. He came back from an ACL. Who knows if he came back too early. Nick Foles, there's an incredibly wide variance in Nick Foles. He shouldn't be in the same conversation with Carson Wins. So to me, this is not even worth a conversation. This is like trying to tell me that two and two is five.

He just shut it down immediately. Nick Foles has never played great for four straight weekends. Carson Wentz a year ago was on fire, won nine straight games, was 9-0, 24 touchdowns, three picks, and a pass-a-rating of 109. He lost finally to Seattle. And even in the game he lost, had one of the best plays by a quarterback in recent years. The pressure put on wins. They almost get it from behind. Sling it deep that feeling it's caught by Agilore.

And Aguilor into Seattle Territory. This is unbelievable. Watch this throw falling down, getting tackled, and gets it about 45 yards down the field. I don't think that Byron Maxwell thought he could throw it that far from that position. Holy smokes what a play. But you want to make a highlight reel for player of the year, MVP.

Put that one on it. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Nick Foles are awesome backups. And they'll go two or three weeks and light the sky up. Nick Foles has never had four straight great weekends. Carson Wence went 9 and 0, should have been MVP, and on the game he lost, I thought that was the most impressive moment by a quarterback. It was the game he lost against Seattle on the road. They're not close.

Coming up next, NBA owners and NBA small market GMs are, saying the Lakers, LeBron, are tampering with Anthony Davis. Chris Broussard talks about that. We're just starting out, man, Jay Mack, Monday's headlines today. Coming up on New Year's Eve, the Red Box Bowl kicks off between Oregon and Michigan State at 230 Eastern on Fox. Then flip over to FS1 as number 17 Utah battles number 22 Northwestern in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl.

That's 630 Eastern, or you can catch. at all on the Fox Sports app. Are you going to any of these bowls, sidelines, do anything like that? Mm-mm. You're not? I'm going to The Spectator, maybe. Yeah. I'm going to the Chargers this weekend.

Are you? Oh, yeah. Incognito. All right, Chris Broussard. We've got two major stories here. Number one, NBA general managers in small markets and owners are claiming the Lakers are tampering, leaking stuff to the media. Anthony Davis-Lebron talk.

Do you think it's fair to claim that? I think it's fair. I talked to an executive yesterday from a big market team, but he said the same thing. He said, look, if Magic Johnson or Rob Polinka had said what LeBron said, it's tampering. And LeBron said basically it would be amazing. He didn't say that much.

I mean, he just said common sense. It'd be amazing. It'd be incredible. But it does let a guy know you want him to come to your team. They shared the same agent. So, of course, they. Anthony knows that. So why can't?

See, this is funny. Let me add this. Know what this executive said? What? The next thing he said, there should have been a follow-up question. Who you giving up for him? Who you giving up for Anthony? It'll be amazing or incredible that it comes.

See, and my thing, LeBron, we know for the last nine years, there's been drama every season with LeBron on his team. Some of it's self-made, right? Right. The tweets, the Instagram. So I think he thrives in. that. And he did, he could have started up a little drama recently just with that quote about Anthony Davis because if you're on his team, you're saying, wait a minute, we can't just go sign

Anthony Davis. So LeBron is saying it'd be amazing to get him. Is he saying me, you, whoever should be shipped out? Yeah, he is. Well, I also think, you know, owners love to control the league. This is the downside of the NBA. In the NFL, owners, GMs, coaches largely the commissioner control the players. They do. Everybody pushes back, but it's the strongest league by a mile. In the NBA, the star players control the league. Now, they didn't under Davis Thurn. By the way, the media loves that, but it's tough because when you give players total control, they can go wherever they want to go. And it hurts parity. The NBA's got no parity. The NFL controls its players.

You have incredible parity. I mean, God, Chris, this weekend, 12 of the 16 games have playoff implications. You're right. The executives control the league. In the NBA, the media loves the stars, but the stars are like, we don't want to play in New Orleans.

We don't want to play in Memphis. So all the media loves the NBA and the stars, but this is what happens when stars control the league. They want to play in about six cities. Adam Silver has been great so far, but he's clearly a big-time player's, commissioner. Stern was not.

And I think Stern was the best commissioner in American sports history. With the obstacles he had to overcome, the racial obstacles, the drug, that's fair. You know, all that. With that, he was the best, in my opinion. And Adam's been very pro player. And since Adams arrived, we have less parity. Right. And again, I think Adam's been great.

And this may never happen, but it may be 15 years from now, maybe 20 years. it may not happen, but if there comes a big-time division between the owners and the players, like a lockout, a strike, whatever, that's when Adam Silver is going to be tested. Because then you have to, you got to be pro-owner because that's who you're representing. Obviously, you want to balance, but that's where his softness with the players could come back to Biden. Second issue, Darry, friend of the show, smart guy, said on our show last year, as the rockets were trying to knock off the Warriors, he said this. I mean, it's the only thing we think about.

I think I'm not supposed to say that, but I mean, we're basically obsessed with how do we beat the Warriors. We counted it's like 90% if we're going to win a title. We've got to obviously beat the Warriors at some point. And so we're extremely focused on that. Okay. Obsessed is not necessarily always great for business. Because of that obsession, they sign a lot. Chris Paul to a prohibitively expensive contract, he's hurt again.

Do you think their window's done? Chris Paul can't stay healthy. I think it pretty much is. I do too. I remember sitting on this couch when it was the couch and saying that they were having second thoughts about signing Chris to that four-year, $160 million deal. But they had made a gentleman's agreement, and so they felt, Daryl felt like I can't, I can't go against my handshake deal, to which I say, you can't.

go against your handshake deal because the bottom line, my boss is the owner. And if Chris Paul is not healthy, and I love Chris, he can't stay healthy. Chris will be 34 at the end in May, I believe. He's, he's playing on average about 60 games a year. Even when he was younger, he had seasons where he got injured. Yes. And his numbers are way down. 15 points a game, his shooting percentages down.

Here's the problem with Darryl, though. And he's a good GM. Don't get me wrong. Very good gym. But he's the poster child for analytics. And I agree with you. I like man analytics. I'm not totally analytics.

I'm 70% analytics, 30% manalics. I like that philosophy. However, Mori, to be the poster child of analytics, he makes moves that go directly opposite to analytics. Signing Dwight Howard. That was a good basketball move to most people, but it didn't fit analytics. Chris Paul's done a good thing. Chris Paul was a mid-ranking.

shooter. And now he, when you signed him to this deal, he was 33 years old with the injury history. That didn't fit analytics. Carmelo Anthony? How did that fit your analytics? A midrange ball stopping player. And then the second problem with analytics guys is that a lot of them don't understand chemistry, locker room dynamic, leadership, the people skills. And a guy that's not just in the analytics would have looked at Trevor Areza and say, you know what? Yeah, he may not be the greatest player, but he's a fit. Carmelo Anthony is a better individual player, but Trevor Arisa fits what we do. They didn't have to change a thing.

They didn't have to change a thing. You could have came back as is, maybe added another role player or something and been fine, but they tamper with it and now look at them. To your point, the fact that Chris Paul can't stay healthy, without him, they don't have a chance to win the West. Yes. And by the way, because of his contract, they had to get rid of pieces. And now you're getting less of Chris Paul because he's playing less. By the way, 40 seconds left.

Perfect scenario this summer for the league. I'll say the player, you tell me where he ends up. Cowai Leonard. Clippers. Perfect for the league. Close the Clippers. Kevin Durant. I could say Toronto about saying.

New York. Anthony Davis. Lakers. Jimmy Butler. Philly. Clay Thompson. Golden State. Oh boy, that would be great. Kyrie Irving, New York.

So Kyrie and Durant, New York. Oh, God, I love that. You have no idea. Now, what I think are more realistic, Kawhi, Clippers, Durant, stays Golden State. A.D. ends up with the Lakers. Good stuff today.

A lot of gossip. The herd. Here we go. Final hour of the week. Live in Los Angeles. Hour number three, this is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio.

We're on FS2 this hour because of some soccer stuff going on this week. Jamie Maggio is filling in today. She'll be here Monday as well. In about 40 minutes. It's become one of my favorite segments on this show. Monday's headlines today with J-Mack, Jason McIntyre, the founder of the Big League. Jamie Maggio, Majo is Italian from Long Island. So you are a Mets fan and a Jets fan.

I mentioned the 86 Mets because that is when I became a sports fan. That's what drew me in. But as I became older and wiser... You went to the Yankees. Don't blame you at all. And I always wondered that if you were in, you know, sports are an amazing thing. If you were in New York City and you've got two teams and the Yankees have 27 World Series, wouldn't you at some point as a New Yorker be like, well, I still love New York and those guys live in New York,

this is the first time I've ever lived in a state that has two of everything. And it's like, it's nothing, the clippers are really interesting, but it would be weird to be a clipper fan. And for years and years to watch a team also a representative. representing your city, the Lakers, that are winning title after title after title. There is something special about fans that live in these two sports cities like, you know, Clipper fan, Jet Fan, Metfan, that just stay. They go for the underdog. Some people like the underdog.

I like the underdog. But it's one thing if the other team is better, but if the other team becomes the team in the sport, it would be hard to be a Met fan. And for 27, 30 years, the Yankees are not only good, they define the sport and you remain a Mets fan. That says something about the power of sports. Thank you for not judging me. I'm not judging you. No.

I tell my wife this all the time. Here's another thing that's remarkable about sports. Think about this. You can watch televisions now are great. I mean like HD TV, like you're at the game. You can sit home and have soup. And I sit there with my dog next to me. I have a corona.

I have soup. I am on a flat screen. I got a fire on. And people are like, no. I'd rather sit in a driving hail storm and sit in traffic for two hours and watch the game that way. And it's like, man, I tell my wife, the power of sports is amazing. I mean, like home is like a Rich Carlton, right? You got all the good stuff and the warmth and the friends and the chicken wings and it's all.

Well, and then you also have the multiple TV camera angles, which I like. Yeah. Like if you have fantasy, you can keep track of everybody. Right. Thank God people love sports for us. Best for Last. Monday's headlines today with Jason McIntyre. Well, yesterday, the big story, of course, was Josh Gordon, broke right before our show,

stepping away from football. And today, the rumors are flying. Stories get out when people want them out. I have certain stories right now. I know to be true, but I don't want to burn a source. I don't want to burn a friend. And they're not massively newsworthy. I don't put everything out there I have.

If I wanted it out, I'd put it out. I'd leak it to somebody else. The reality is the media suppresses some stories, and the media gets stories only when people allow them to have stories. We need sources. Well, suddenly yesterday, oh, my word, stories started leaking right after the news that Josh Gordon is out of the NFL, out of the Patriots. He was a Hail Mary Pass to begin with.

story started leaking that the Patriots reportedly tried to trade for Demarius Thomas. They knew Gordon probably wouldn't last. The athletics, Jeff Howe, a fine NFL reporter works for the athletic, a fine subscription sports service. You should subscribe today. Why? Think about this. The NFL has done a year-long investigations on New England to get kernels of information.

Josh Gordon's out. Six hours later, stories coming out of New England. You know, we tried to get other people. Why? Because the narrative is swinging anti-Belichick. This is on him, not Tom. By the way, even the Boston newspapers this morning are crushing the Patriots. The Boston, they're taking Brady's side on this like we did yesterday.

Hey, this is not on Brady. What Brady's doing this year, his numbers are remarkable when you consider what he has to work with. A rookie running back that's been hurt. another running back who's more of a receiver. They've turned Cordarell Patterson, a receiver into a running back. Gronks on his last year. Edelman can't catch big balls. Dorset's a bust.

Gordon couldn't stay in the league. So what happens? New England? Knowing they're getting crushed in Boston nationally? Let's throw a few of these gems out to make sure everybody knows. Hey, listen, we tried to get to Marius Thomas. There's a reason we wouldn't cut Philip Dorset. Stories leak when.

people want them leaked. And Billichick also knows, and New England also knows, they're in big trouble. They cannot now, without a deep threat, beat Kansas City, beat Pittsburgh, go on the road and beat the Chargers. I don't know if they could beat Baltimore or Houston at home. But this New England team is old, beat up with second-tier weapons for the greatest quarterback that's ever played. By the way, LeBron left Cleveland twice because of this sort of situation.

I got nothing here. Dan Gilbert got me nothing. Brady, if this was the NBA, should leave. Look at the weapons the Chargers have, the Steelers have, the Texans have. Look at the weapons that Dak Prescott has. Amari Cooper, Zeke, elite offensive line, great front seven defensively. Patriots passing weapons? Cordarell Patterson, Philip Dorset, Chris Hogan, an old gronk, and Julian Edelman. they've drafted one legitimate receiver in a decade. Edelman, and he was a quarterback at Kent State. They had Brandon Cooks, inexplicably, let him go. So remember, when people talk about Hail Marys,

what is a Hail Mary in football? It's a desperation pass. It's our last chance. Josh Gordon was a Hail Mary. That's all this was. Why was he a Hail Mary? Because New England and Belichick have done a lousy job getting Tom elite college receivers.

They're all over this league. Pittsburgh drafts two every other year. New England hasn't done anything for Tom in a decade at wide receiver. They have to scout the NFL, find cheap guys who fit into a system. No Julio Jones. They can get Randy Moss. They can get him from an NFL team. So stories leak when somebody wants them leaked. And even Boston today is crushing the front office and

Belichick, you are wasting Brady's final years. You're wasting. People say Aaron Rogers has no help. Jordy Nelson. They got him Jimmy Graham, Devonte Adams, Randall Cobb. These guys can play. Aaron Rogers and Fav. They had players. Peyton Manning at all stars. Brady, last seven years. Randy Moss for an hour. Ugly. This story's amazing. And it's kind of a bummer. it's very easy in the NBA, especially, to get trapped. Where you sign a guy, he's past his prime, he's been hurt. So when Houston brought in Chris Paul and he got hurt last year, I said,

you can't sign him to a five-year deal. I wouldn't sign him to a four-year deal. I don't care what you promised him. I would go to Chris and say, listen, I can't give you four years. I'm not going to trap my franchise. But Daryl, you know, went out and signed him. and oh, by the way, Chris Paul's hurt again. MRI this morning.

He is going to be out sometime. Houston is completely trapped. But you know what this story makes me think of? LeBron James. His remarkable durability. What's LeBron made of? He's never hurt. You ever seen that banana boat picture?

Mello's on it. He's unemployed. D. Wade's on it, retiring. Chris Paul's on it falling apart. LeBron never hurt. played 82 last year, still the best player in the league. Okay, there is not a single contract you could give LeBron James that you would say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we don't want to get trapped.

Give him a six-year deal. Give him a five-year deal. I told Houston, on this air, we've got it archived, you can't give Chris Paul four years. You can't. In fact, you go to him and you give him three with a team option in the third. Look around sports right now, folks. 6-6-255-pound Cam Newton. They're shutting his season down.

Aaron Rogers, hurt again. Westbrook entered the year on crutches. Stefan K.D. constantly hurt. Carson Wentz. Should we play him? Odell Beckham, Jr., hurt again. LeBron 15th year, played every regular season game last year. When they write the book on LeBron, chapter one should be,

is he the greatest of all time and chapter two should be he is the greatest, most durable, professional athlete in the history of sports. Michael Jordan missed a season, and then he missed three to play baseball. Brady broke his leg. John Stockton. Think about the NBA right now. Think about all the guys. I'm going to list to you, I'm going to give you a list of NBA stars who get hurt a lot.

Kauai Leonard, John Wall, Love, Kyrie, Westbrook, NBA. Beed, Kevin Durant, Steph. It's incredible. We're shutting down NFL players. Baseball pitchers can't pitch a full season. I always say this about sports. It's not about winning. It's about durability.

Tim Tebow in Denver, I told you on the air, that's not sustainable. Blake Bortles in Jacksonville. You're running too much. You've got to pass more downfield, not sustainable. Lamar Jackson of Baltimore, you know, they're good now. you can't run 20 times a game as a quarterback. That's not sustainable. They've got to cut it down to about seven.

But Chris Paul, little by little, is falling apart. And I love Chris Paul. I'm pro-Christ Paul. I love Steph Curry. I love Kevin Durant. I'm all in on these guys. But it is unbelievable. You never see this story 15 years.

LeBron hurt, team trapped with his contract. You know, LeBron's the only star in American sports. In the history of sports, he's the only player that wants to sign one-year deals. When he signed with the Lakers and signed a four-year deal, the story was, oh, my God, LeBron committed to four years? Because LeBron is so confident in his body that he's like, well, I can just sign a one-year deal. What if he get hurt? I don't. I mean, every other athlete, Michael Jordan, Caram-Malone, Charles Barkley, they wanted long-term deals to guarantee the money.

until the Laker deal LeBron was like, I'll just sign a one-year contract. Well, why would I want to give you two years? Well, you guarantee money. I don't need it. I don't get hurt. And even the Laker four-year deal,

I think ideally LeBron would have rather signed a one-year deal, but he wanted to commit to the city of Los Angeles. He knew he was replacing Kobe Bryant. He wanted to be popular. He didn't want to be like a vagabond, a traveling salesman. You know, the free agent pitches,

hey, I'm here for the long term. I signed a four-year deal. in Los Angeles, you can come and join me. I'm not going anywhere. But I think LeBron ideally wanted to sign a one-year deal with the Lakers. But he knew for the brand, for magic, replacing Kobe, to get free agents. I mean, Chris Paul's hurt.

Again. Carson Wentz, great player. Cam, Aaron, hurt. Again, again, again. Second chapter in LeBron's book. Most durable athlete ever. Nobody's even close to him. All right.

Mondays, headlines. today, one of my favorite segments, as we learn more about Jamie Maggio, as the show continues on FS2, Mets fan who realized this is useless, let's go with the winner and went to the Yankees. I don't blame you at all. It was the first sports experience that I had as a little girl.

The 86 Mets, they were exciting. My first uniform was a Cleveland Browns uniform when I was eight. Different, very different. I saw the bonding of the community, the excitement, the emotional roller coaster. And then they wore you out because they're stupid. Like I said, I got older and wiser. I went to the Yankees.

I don't blame you at all. 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. You know, it's funny about this Anthony Davis to, you know, the Lakers talk. By the way, they play tonight.

You know, maybe this is just an ESPN generated story to get ratings on a Friday night. Who knows? But, you know, it's funny. When Donald Trump comes out and says fake news, the reason it worked and helped him in the election because there is enough fake news. The media has got agendas. And I'm in the media, and I see it all the time.

Now, I think the media, by and large, works hard and deserves credit. But the media loves Adam Silver because he's progressive, he's pro athlete, he's pro gambling. but the NBA, you talk about halves and have-nots, you got multiple teams tanking for multiple years now. That David Stern was not pro player. He put his foot down. David Stern was rough on the media. He was not, didn't suck up to the players.

He was pro-owner. And the league was not as top-heavy. We have a Western Conference now. There's one team that can win it. I mean, if the Warriors don't break up, they are so far ahead of everybody else, there's not even a two. and you know you've got seven or eight teams at the bottom of the east and west a third of this league is just they actively wanted to get that kid out of duke Zion Williamson

Roger Goodell isn't nearly as popular with the media but he has the best TV contracts in the world the league's never been more popular popular the gambling is going to benefit the NFL more than any league it's now legalized by the supreme court and they have incredible parity there is no dead franchise in the NFL there is multiple dead franchises in the NBA but the media likes Silver. And I like Adam Silver. I think he's a little too cozy with the players. I think Roger Godell could be perhaps a little cozyer with the players, but Roger Goodell and Silver are paid their salaries by owners. And Adam Silver leans to me a little too heavy players. You have unhappy owners, you got real trouble. You have unhappy players. They come in and out of the league. Owners don't. So Goodell, it's funny.

This is the best NFL season in my life. Roger Goodell has He's not rigid at all. And by the way, what league had a dress code? Wasn't the NFL? What league has removed tattoos from players? Not the NFL. What league allows kneeling?

The NFL. Players aren't doing it. But the NFL does a better job than any league in my lifetime of changing things mid-season. They changed the catch rule in the Super Bowl last year. They're never rigid. They, doesn't mean they're perfect. And, but when they, I'm talking on-field product. I'm not talking about domestic violence issues. They've butchered some of those. They're tone-deaf. These leagues aren't perfect. Presidents aren't. Governors aren't. Commissioners aren't. People aren't. But in terms of product, Roger Goodell has hit it out of the park. NFL right now is on fire.

They have adapted college rules. They have constantly improved their television product. It is very pro player right now. It's pro star player. It's pro running back, pro wide receiver. Whereas the NBA's got, you know, this is what happens when you hand the league to the players. A third of the league's not competitive. And everybody wants that kid at Duke, Zion Williamson.

So you watch at the trading deadline. You're going to have seven teams again this year, literally playing back. That's not good. That's not good sports. People are paying $300 to go to an NBA game, and you're going to have a third of this league, maybe a quarter, but could be a third, trying to get Zion Williamson. Because watch that kid. When he lights up March Madness, the nation's going to go crazy for that kid out of Duke,

and he's going to be averaging like 28 a game. Duke's going to win it going away in the tournament. And I'm telling you, you're going to watch teams the last two months of the regular season. They are going to be starting backups. and G-League guys because they want that kid. Many people perceive him, I don't, as the next LeBron. I just think he's going to be a great player. I don't see.

They'll never be a next LeBron. Speaking of LeBron, by the way, he missed shoot-around this morning. He was sick. He's sick. Javelle McGee was sick. What? That's his backup? Well, I mean, that's as bad as LeBron.

I mean, LeBron never gets hurt. Occasionally he hits the sniffles. Well, if you're on a plane with a bunch of guys for seven months in the winter. Yeah, but you're on a plane with, like, guys that you're in the locker room with every day. You're not exposed to a bunch of random strangers. You're just sick. I don't know. He's probably going to play it in a day.

By the way, you and I both love the NBA. You covered. I've covered it for years. I think the NBA is good watching year round, really. No, I like it. But what I get tired of, the reason fake news works is if you go on to social media, the NBA can do no wrong. The NFL is terrible.

It's like, no, that's just not the case. The NFL is, when I'm talking about on-field product, parody, great capital, players will play anywhere. stars are not conjoining in one place. In fact, the dynasty in the League, New England, isn't star-driven. You've got stars in small Green Bay. You've got stars in small New Orleans. You have almost no stars with the New York Jets. Think about that. In the NFL, the Jets have no offensive stars outside of a rookie quarterback. And Little Green Bay has them. New Orleans has them. Carolina's got a superstar. You know, Carolina, New Orleans, Green Bay have stars. Jets don't have any.

That's a good point. What does that tell you? That's a really healthy league. And you've got all these historically bad teams now have emerging star quarterbacks. Dreaded cold and flu season. Try Vic Synex nasal spray. Works up to 12 hours. Vic Synex nasal spray.

Use as directed. Jamie Warshia with a noose. No. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin. So the NFL handing down another suspension to wide receiver, Josh Gordon, which means that his time with Patriots has come to a close.

Probably the league. Yeah, so that's how Bill Belichick opened his Friday press conference talking about Josh Gordon. Okay. I spoke with Josh yesterday morning, as I have several times since he's been here. And, you know, it's obviously an unfortunate situation. And personally, I wish him the very best, as we all do on this team. It's a private matter. and hope that he's able to deal with it successfully.

So otherwise, we're moved on to Buffalo. Yep. Does he sleep in that hoodie? I think it's done. Yeah. And, you know, the other thing that hurts Josh is, because of the way college football is played now, there are just so many good receivers in college football.

And this is, I was looking over a draft thing about a week ago. There's not a lot of great receivers. of college football. There's two or three great ones, but there's about nine guys that are going to nine to 12 receivers minimum. They're going to get drafted in the first five rounds. You can't be this. Josh is going to struggle because the big 12 now has become a wide receiver conference. The PAC 12's always been a wide receiver conference. The SEC, ACC are, it's tough. You're in a time now where the college football players on offense can come to the NFL and succeed very quickly because college football and pro football are starting to look a lot of like.

And I just think who's going to take that risk on Josh? I don't. Well, Belichick did. Didn't pan out. Now he's down a receiver heading into week 16. We're talking about Zion Williamson. Man, he is fun to watch. Oh, God, he's just a blast.

Yeah. So he played, Duke played Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden. I watched it. Yeah. So Zion was asked about playing at the Mecca. Yeah. And he said 41 games at the Garden. I mean, it would probably be incredible.

This is The Garden, showing some love. A lot of greats have come through here. Playing 41 games here wouldn't be so bad. Well, the New York Knicks play 41 games there. I'm a closet Nick fan since we're talking about my sports affiliations. I would love to see this kid. He's made for the Big Apple. Yeah, and he's got a great energy to him.

You can tell there's no attitude. Like, he's a good kid. For now. Yeah, I mean, you know, you put some money in people's pockets. But he's got a really good energy. energy about him. He's not sullen. Like, he's been the best 16-year-old, best 17-year-old, best day. So about five years now, he has been sort of an internet sensation. And I don't see any attitude. I just see a kid that loves the game, plays his butt off. And by the way, that's part

of it. Like, when you come into this league, LeBron just wanted to get better. He wanted to play with better players. LeBron loved the game. Not all players love the game. They like the game. They love what it can provide them. He feels like, by the way, I think Duke, Goulet, look this up. I'm not sure. Does Duke have the one, two, and three pick in the NBA draft? I think they may have the top, they have the top two for sure. I think they may have three of the top four picks in the draft this year.

Yeah. This is the best basketball team since that college basketball team since when? They have, say what it is? What is it? Three of the top five. Three of the top five players are Duke. I don't remember a college team that had this many. great potential NBA players.

I mean, they're all babies. They may go one, two, three. They are all babies. Yeah. I think they should stay for another year. Anyway, Sean Payton in New Orleans, was playing with one healthy offensive linemen on Monday night against the Panthers. So that led him to talk about the 46-man roster.

Yes. Short, small. Yes. The 46-man roster on game day, is soon to be, I think, dated. I think that's got a change. If we're interested in health and safety, and it sounds like we are, at least that's something that we talk about a lot.

That number should be higher. And that'll affect the overall roster size. And that might cost a little bit more money, but that's the price. I think this is my number one off-season ask of the NFL, increase roster size. Put it in the suggestion box. Yeah, no, this is something Sean Payton's talking about. I see this all the time.

And the guys that get hurt are O linemen. And you're sitting there blocking 330-pound guys. If you added five guys to a roster, I think two to three of them would be O lineman. And people don't carry third quarterbacks anymore. But this is a reasonable ask. As the league makes more money, you have to expand roster size. By the way, if you go into a game without offensive lineman, what happens? your quarterback gets hit more.

Right. Like this is a, this is a, don't jump over a $20 bill to get to a $5. Spend more money on your roster to protect your Carson Wentz.

And you had two weeks, I think it was, that Cordor L. Patterson is running the ball as a wide receiver. That's not a good situation. Well, who was it with the chargers that got hurt?

Oh, the chargers were down to Justin Jackson, their third back, and then they used Newsom. There was another kid they like, no, they've been down to their third and fourth backs. And so their first two,

are both. I think this week is Melvin Gordon. Melvin Gordon's back this week. Yeah, I think so. He's great. But if you look at the college sidelines, it's like endless. 85. Yeah, the Buffalo bills were down to four running backs. They lost four running backs. They didn't use a running back on sets. They just, they went to the line and didn't have a running back. Got to fix that. Jamie with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd line news. DNA genetic testing kits, 23 and me through December, 25th, get 30% off, 23MeMe.com slash the herd. 23Mee.com slash the herd.

Isn't that interesting to think about that, though? So in college football, with fewer games, and in fact, not only fewer games, but fewer really equal games, you have 85 people on a roster. In the NFL, with 16 games against all pros, it's faster, stronger, and more violent, you have only 45 guys. I mean, that counterintuitive, right? Yeah, in the college game, I mean, the cream always rises to the top. The programs that are supposed to win generally do.

So it's not like that extended roster is benefiting or affecting the wins and the losses. It's a matter of player safety and health. So the college game where quarterbacks don't get hurt nearly as much, some teams will have five quarterbacks in a roster. The NFL, where quarterbacks get hit by bigger, stronger people more often, they have two. So it doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense.

By the way, we had Joe Thomas on earlier today. Steelers at New Orleans. You know, Cam Jordan came out for the Saints and said, you know, I don't think Big Ben's, you know, I don't think he's top five in his era, blah, blah, blah. Sometimes, I think we forget, in the history of certain positions, Zion Williamson for Duke looks different. He does not look like a college player. He looks like a nine-year NBA veteran. Jadavia and Clownie came out of high school. He did not look like a college player.

He looked like an NFL player. Joe Thomas, Cleveland Brown, going to be a Hall of Famer, was talking about Big Ben. Nobody's ever looked like big. He was the first quarterback to come in the league that 6-6-2-60 and could pump fake without using his second hand. His hands were that big. Joe Thomas talks about him.

He's like a big dinosaur that can throw the football. It's pretty amazing when you see him because he's impossible to tackle. I can't remember how many times, especially early on in his career, where we'd have free runners just bouncing off him. We'd have big defensive linemen have him wrapped up, and he'd somehow be able to shake them off and throw the football down the field. So I agree with you. Ben Rothesberger is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play in this game. Sometimes you see this in the NFL where guys don't like somebody personally, and they kind of try to take shots at their ability and their resume when really it's not warranted.

Because in my opinion, you can't argue with what Ben Rathesberger has been doing as a quarterback for 14 or 15 seasons. He was drafted in 2004. The five best quarterbacks drafted since 2004, to me, are Ben, Rogers, Wilson, Rivers, and Luck. Now, I think Russell, and maybe Aaron and Andrew may finish above Ben eventually, but right now, Ben's got three trips to the Super Bowl, two wins, all the stats, wins his division regularly. I think he's the best quarterback since 2004. Now, I think Aaron gets the right coach, plays seven more years, he could surpass him. Same with Russell, Andrew Luck.

I think Ben's career is better than Philip Rivers always will be, although I think Philip this year is having a better year. Coming up, one of my favorite segments, Monday's headlines today with Jason McIntyre. Best for Last, next. Great to have him in. Your friend, my friend, Jason McIntyre, founder of the big lead.com. You're on Fox Sports Radio Saturdays. I listen to you 10 to 1. You have a podcast called Coming Up Winters.

You were one of the first guys that you were always in on this. sports gambling thing. Like you have been gambling forever. I have started in college, a bit degenerate action with a buddy of mine who's probably watching right now. And since I started the podcast, I mean, you know, I've focused a lot on the NFL in the last two weeks in the $1.4 million contest. I'm five and oh each week. So I'm in the money right now. For $1.4 million? Yeah. I mean, I don't think I'm going to win, you know, but getting in the money feels pretty good. I've taken you to dinner twice. Twice. You have, actually. I owe you one, Colin. I need a Lambo.

Yeah, we'll go to Vegas together on your private jet. How about that? I don't have a private jet. By the way, we got into this conversation. Oh, here we go. Earlier, the media loves Adam Silver. Since he took over, the league has wild tanking and no parody. The media clobbers Roger Goodell, and this is the best NFL season with the best rule evolution.

They made two major moves in the offseason. Both have been a complete home run. The catch rule was flipped. and the late hit over the middle. This is my theory, that when Trump uses fake news, the reason it holds and works is because there's a lot of bias in the media. I think we can agree on that. That was one of the driving forces behind the big lead when I started the website, what, 2006? The media was biased.

We wrote a lot about the media. At one point, you got a little upset with me. A lot of people did. But, you know, that's how the media is. It's really you're part of a tribe now. You're either on this side or that side. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of in-between now. It's kind of annoying, but to your NBA point, you've been all over this Anthony Davis story this week.

Yes. Okay, do you remember this summer when I came to you and I said, hey, man, Draymond Green got punched out by Tristan Thompson? And I told you about that, and then the story broke maybe like a week later. I remember that. So the same people who told me that told me that you are spot on and Anthony Davis will be a Laker. He's going to, apparently this summer. Now, again, this is just from some people out here in L.A.

he's coming to the Lakers. Now that's scary because he's going to have to force his way out, Colin. That's not usually a good look. I don't want to play in New Orleans. I will always defend these players. Fans say this. All these guys care about is money. A guy like LeBron or one of these players says,

no, I'll actually give up money. Chris Bosch is like, I'll get paid less. I want to go play and win. When you look at all these, Kevin Durant's like, I want to make less and win. Kevin Durant could make more money else. So whenever I hear fans, NBA players are constantly saying with mobility, I want to win games.

It's not all. Baseball guys never take a cent less. NBA guys are constantly taking less money. Guess who took the most money this past off season? Who? Chris Paul. Got 40 million a year. He's hurt again. The rocket stink.

Be careful chasing money, right? I think we can agree on that. It's about happiness and all that other fun stuff in life. And sports winning games. Okay. So Lebrow, the Lebrow meter is in full effect. Full effect. So my sources.

Coward, this is going to be one of your best calls, I think, maybe ever. Maybe ever. I don't want to go too much. That would be hard. It's Friday. I've had so many, Greg. Yes, there have been so many hits, Colley. You never miss ever.

Jamie, I think he's batting like $9.99. Yeah, it's incredible. All right, enough of me. Here we go. Monday headlines today. Will we start with your new email? Bill's Patriots. So I heard the open to your show.

You want to play the blame game with the Patriots. They're outside your show. Super Bowl bubble. I believe Monday's headline will be breaking news. Patriots figure it out again. Colin, I understand where you're coming from with this anti-Patriot stuff.

And there's a lot of issues in that team. They're still the best team in the AFC. I don't think you can argue that at this point, can you? The Chiefs, Andy Reid, will get to him shortly. He can't win in the postseason. Mike Tomlin, we know he's got issues. Who do you trust? We talked about this last week in the AFC.

I trust Bill Belichick. I mean, It's what it comes down to. Big game, Belichick Brady. Now, I will say they've had some breaks. Kareem Hunt out of the league. Pittsburgh losing James Connor. They've unraveled a bit. Baltimore's running the wing T. Chargers do not really have a true home field.

There are, I would say, and by the way, Houston's O-line is a disaster. Oh, goodness. I will say this. Keep your eye on the Colts. Yeah. Yes. Good call. They're actually the best defensive team in the AFC the last two months.

You know, I regret last week I said Russell Wilson should be in the MVP conversation. I think I should have gone on Andrew Luck because he has been phenomenal. That guy's amazing. But Patriots this weekend, big. Chiefs at Seahawks Monday's headline today. I think this is the game of the weekend. People like Steelers Saints, but I'm all in on Chief Seahawks because you know my Andy Reid bashing. I believe Monday's headline will be Seahawks devour

Christmas candy. Listen, Andy Reid, stop laughing. Andy Reid going into Seattle at night. Seahawks under Pete Carroll's 16 and 2 in primetime at home. Isn't that an incredible? You know, we always talk about Kirk Cousins, Andy Dalton, are guys that are good

but don't rise to the moment. Russell Wilson clutch. Is absolutely, along with Tom Brady, the greatest big game quarterback in the last 20 years. Quick note on the Seahawks, though. They're both starting safeties.

are injured this week, which is a little cause for concern. It is. But this is easy. Colin, you or I could help coach this one. Seattle, one of the best teams at running the football this season. KC., 32nd rank rush defense. You just hand it off, keep Mahomes off the field. The Broncos did it twice and covered.

You're right. I mean, it's not that hard. I think Seattle wins over Kansas City Sunday night. Ravens at the Chargers Monday's headline today. So I've told you'll be at this game. I will. Saturday. I'm a little nervous to give out this headline.

I believe the headline Monday will be action Jackson locks in on wild card. You can joke about the wing tea and they look like Army. Colin, teams simply cannot stop this run game. And again, just like we said with Seattle, weather gets colder, December, the games are slowed down. They're just going to run the football, the Gus bus. Lamar Jackson, see, listen, the Chargers, 18th ranked rush defense. They're starting middle linebacker, Perryman's done for the year. their two interior linemen have been injured and not playing well.

I think the Ravens come in here and steal one in L.A. and kind of upset you Saturday night. It's only four to four and a half point spread. I will say this. I kind of like that every few years in the NFL, but every other year you get this team that is just limited throwing and goes all in on just we're going to run the football. Denver Tebow is the most notable.

This does have some Tebow, Denver, situation. You have a great kicker. Defense is on fire. You run the heck out of the football and you have skilled enough receivers and tight ends. You've got to be a little honest with them because they'll go over the top and beat you. I think this is going to be, I said it earlier.

I think the Chargers win, but I think it's a very good game for three hours. Special teams, huge advantage to Baltimore with Justin Tucker, of course, and the Chargers, you know, their kickers been good this year, but historically and at home, they didn't cover. They didn't beat the Broncos and they didn't cover against the Bengals. There's no homefield advantage.

there Saturday night, enjoy the game, by the way. All right, Texans at Eagles, Mondays. So we could do an entire 10 minutes today. On this, your Wend's take. Your Wens take, we are completely on opposite sides. You like Nick Foles. I don't like Nick Foles, but Monday's headline

will be, Foles me twice, shame on me. Listen, we were, on, Jamie loves that one. We were all wrong last year about Nick Foles, right? We can, the egg over my face on social media, I don't care. I'm not going to fall for it again. Big difference when you talk to people around the league is Carson Wentz likes to ad lib a little bit.

He's going to try to beat you with his legs, do all this crazy stuff to make plays happen. And that's why he's among the league leaders and fumbles again. And he's been hurt now four years in a row dating back to college. Nick Foles is a soldier under Peterson. Drop back in the pocket. Do exactly this. Go through your progressions. No ad libs.

Check it down. I think he's a safe play here and watch these Eagles, Colin. I don't think there's a Super Bowl run. but I do believe they can make some noise here to end the season. They have a great defensive front with Fletcher Cox, a top 10 player in the league. The Texans O lines a mess. Really bad. It's the Jets is worse, but the Texans O line is a mess.

Sam Darnold last week against the Texan secondary. He shredded him. His best game of the season. It was. What is Nick Foles going to do with the Reed option and Jeffrey and Tate and the tight end? They got so many weapons. I like the Eagles this weekend. Yeah, I don't.

You're not feeling like. do like the Eagles because I think, again, I think Fletcher Cox and Michael Bennett will eat the Texans offensive line alive. Deshawn Watson, that poor kid's running for his life last week. The Jets had six sacks. Could have had 10. Yeah. I don't know how you can take a pick against the Eagles in this spot at home. And they're going with the whole ski mask theme. Remember last year? Oh, good. God. I know it's cheesy and it's very Philly, but they think they can steal a playoff spot. I like it. I'm feeling it. And finally Monday's headline today. Please, Colin, don't kick me out for this one.

Bengals? Of course. At Browns. Yeah, we have to close. I think I'm contractually obligated to bring up Baker Mayfield here. The headline Monday will be undraftable. And yes, you are going to be on the front page of the J-Mac Journal with Baker Mayfield. Hey, Rookie of the Year, you feeling that? It's not going to be Seekoine Barkley. Oh, Sequin's going to, it's a landslide. Stop it, Colin. Did Seekoine Berkeley change the culture of the New York Giants? No. Baker Mayfield has done that with the Browns. They were winless last year. They were almost in the playoffs because of one guy. They're not almost there because of Nick Chubb or Miles Garrett or Gibral-Peppers. It's Baker-Macon. Let me ask you this. Do you know who has the highest winning percentage

of any rookie quarterback, Lamar Jackson? Do you know who is the best per game, statistically? Nick Mullins. He's like, I think he's doing a great job, but let's slow down a little. I just said rookie of the year. That's it. Do you think he'll win?

He should. You would vote for Seekuan Barclan because he had a couple big games. the way, what about that running back in Denver, Philip Lindsay? Oh, come on. He's faded down the stretch. No, no, no. Baker, it's a quarterback league, Colin, you say this all the time. It is. He's just, Jamie,

he is just against Baker. No, I'm not. I'm willing to admit, I was wrong on Baker Mayfield. All the Ohio fans watching right now and they get over your case on social media. I was wrong about him coming into the league. I didn't think he'd be this good. It's been tremendous. I said he would be a better version of Case Keenham. Case Keenham is 21 and 11

in his last 32 games. And by the way, the Vikings are worse without him. Denver's way better with him. I said he's going to be a better Case Keenham. You'd have thought I would have said he's going to be a better Perlman or whatever that guy. Marks, Sanchez. Yeah, I mean, it's like, Case Keenom's a starter in this league.

He leaves Minnesota. They're not as good. He goes to Denver saves him. Like, Case Keenom's limited. I do want to see second time through the order next year when defenses have like a read on him. Remember, you get him off his spot. He's not great outside the pocket. He's not very that athletic.

He's a great thrower. He's small. I'm impressed by what I've seen this year. By the way, you and I, 90 seconds, they're going to fire Todd Bowles. Yeah. And they're going to keep the general manager, I'm told. Schrager's pretty dialed in, told me they'll keep the GM.

Interesting. Their GM has no history of drafting offensive players. Yeah, he's not had a good... But he did make the darnald trade. I mean, there's something there. Listen, they traded it up and got a franchise quarterback. Okay, he got very lucky. Got lucky the Giants, you know, are a mess.

So what are you feeling for head coach? Don't tell me, Mike McCarthy, the Green Bay guy. Who do you like? Can we go outside the box? I don't want to retread. I've seen Mike McCarthy. Aaron Rogers carried him for a bunch of years there. Okay, give me your outside the box guy.

I've written this on the big lead. I would make a run. I know he's going to say no, at Dobos-Sweeney. I think what he's done at Clemson's been tremendous. People say it's not a geographical fit. You know, a guy from the deep south going to New York. but I like outsiders. I consider myself an outsider in sports media.

I would go Dabo Sweeney. I'd make a run at him to be the next Jets head coach. I don't think he's leaving in Clemson. Freddie Kitchens. What? Well, he's pretty good. He's been impressive. I'll take him as a coordinator, but head coach, come on.

All right. Where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong on Monday, Eric Dickerson, Tony Gintalas. We'll see you then, Jamie Majo. Thank you so much for tolerating all of us. See you Monday, the herd. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

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