The Herd with Colin Cowherd - San Francisco 49ers, Baker Mayfield and the end of the New England Patriots Dynasty

Episode Date: December 30, 2019

On today's episode of The Herd, Colin explains how the San Fransisco 49ers are a modern day heavyweight champion going into the post season, and why they're a clear cut number one seed! The Cleveland Browns are in search of a leader for their team, and Colin explains why the Browns could be best served moving away from Baker Mayfield at QB! New England's dynasty looks to be coming to an end, and Colin thinks the San Antonio Spurs are the perfect parallel to show why. Plus, find out where Colin was Right and where Colin was Wrong as we head into 2020! Guests include Michael Vick, Trent Dilfer, Orlando Scandrick, and Brady Quinn! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert show i'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff like being an internet famous referee we're in the middle of a game this linebacker this linebacker walks up to me he goes a ref my mom wants you to wave at her what Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

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Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a holiday Monday, live in Los Angeles. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1, one hour from now. Colin was right, Colin was wrong.

Plenty of both had last week mostly off. Joy Taylor is joining me, Michael Vic today, Trent Dilfer today, Orlando Scandrick today, we may end up having a member of the San Francisco 49ers or Baltimore Ravens on the show today. Joy, how are you? I'm great. I hope you had a great Christmas. Hope everyone had a great holiday.

Yes, yes. Quite an eventful weekend. It was. It was. Here we go with a playoffs. You know, when I was a kid growing up, Muhammad Ali was a heavyweight champ. He felt like a heavyweight champ. The personality, suave and smart and dancing and talented and athletic.

And then I saw Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson felt like a heavyweight champ. He could knock over a battleship with a left hook. And there was George Foreman. A lot of guys felt like heavyweight chance. Then there was Larry Holmes. He had a good jab. I never liked Larry Holmes.

He never felt like the best heavyweight on the planet or should be. When I watch San Francisco, they feel like Ali, Tyson, George Foreman. That's what a number one seed should look at. Eight yards of play, 11 yards of pass, going into season. Seattle and beating a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame quarterback. San Francisco is a number one seed in the NFC, and they look like it and they feel like it. Their coach is an A-plus Kyle Shanahan. Their quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is an A-to-an-a-minus, but he's clutch.

Defensive-line talent when healthy is scary. Offensive line tackles are excellent. Add the full-back, excellent. Special teams capable, weapons B-plus to A-minus. they knock teams out. That is Ali. That is Tyson. Green Bay, give me a break.

That's Larry Holmes. Finesse, they didn't lead Detroit all year. Now, they beat them twice, but they didn't lead the Detroit Lions all year when they played him. Two-clock expiring field goals to win it. New Orleans doesn't feel like a number one seed because they played San Francisco at home and they couldn't beat them. Seattle, love them, but way too Russell Wilson to do.

independent in Philadelphia, resilient as hell. Great story, but they're not a number one seed. They're a one and done in the playoffs. I think Seattle beats them. Listen, we watch San Francisco and Baltimore. That's Ali Frazier. That's the big boys. Those teams play 10 times.

Baltimore, San Francisco split at 5, 5 or 6.4. It was like watching Ohio State Clemson. Those teams played 10 times. They split it right down the middle. Ohio State, end of the day, can complain about officials, but they had the ball, they had the moment, couldn't make the play. If they played Clemson another nine times, they'd probably make the play on five, six, or four, or five of them. San Francisco has earned the number one seat in the

better conference. I watched Green Bay. I thought it would have been a shame for Green Bay to get home field advantage. I don't think they're a number one seat. I don't think they're close to San Francisco. I don't think they're close to New Orleans. And I got to be honest, I think Seattle and Philadelphia could both go into Lambo and win. I have watched Aaron Rogers all year, see what he did in the last month? He completed less than 60% of his throws, had a quarterback rating in the high 70s. He's not very good. He's just not right now very consistent. So San Francisco, that is what a number one seed looks like. Kyle Shanahan

after summing it up, really, the great heavyweight champs can beat you in more ways than one, and that's what the Niners did all season long. I'm very proud of the guys. We've had to win a lot of different ways this year. feeling like we've done it every way possible, and then we find a new way to do it. I wish it wouldn't have been that close at the end, but it doesn't matter now. Pumped how they finished it. All right. Now, let's shift gears to the AFC and the Cleveland Browns.

The Cleveland Browns are going to be giving Baker Mayfield his third playbook and his third head coach in three years. There was a sportscaster nationally that took a lot of flack when he said Baker's not a number one pick. Freddie Kitchens is a ridiculous head coaching hire, and Baker is not talented enough to overcome the dysfunction he will inherit in Cleveland. Oh, wait, that was me. Here's the problem. Go ahead, fire Freddy Kitchens. But the best candidates, Ron Rivera, not interested.

He'll take the Washington job today. Lincoln Riley, Urban Meyer, sources tell me, neither's interested. Urban Wood listened to the Cowboys. and Matt Rule already came out through a source at another network and said, I'm not interested. That leaves you with two legitimate candidates, neither a great candidate. There's the kid named Josh McDaniels in New England, who's never won without Brady and was a disaster in Denver, and there's Mike McCarthy, Green Bay's winning more without him.

And that's the problem when you fire coaches one after another after another. The message is, don't take the job. Ron Rivera isn't even going to interview with Cleveland. Instead, take the wildly dysfunctional Washington job. He can have both. Josh McDaniels, good luck. Good luck. I saw it in Denver without Tom Brady.

Josh McDaniels thought Tim Tebow was a first round pick. I'm a sportscaster. I knew he wasn't. Two things, though, with the new coach for Cleveland. Here's two things you got to do right. Number one, you got to hire an alpha male. Freddie Kitchens never felt big enough, secure enough, experienced enough. You could see OBJ and Jarvis Landry once they sense blood.

They were talking back to him on every other series. Freddie Kitchens was not big enough to own Baker. That's the first thing. You got to get a man, a Jack Del Rio, an Anthony Lentite, walks into a room and says, Zip it. The second thing Cleveland has to do, and this is going to be very difficult, is hire a coach that can go to the general manager and they can reassess Baker Mayfield. He ain't that good.

He cannot be the face of the franchise. He's not mature enough. You have to build around these excellent running backs and this excellent defensive front and John Dorsey, the GM, who drafted the wrong quarterback, and pick the wrong coach, has to have a sit down with a new coach, and they both have to reassess Baker Mayfield, who is currently the third best quarterback in his division, maybe fourth, and when the Bengals get Joe Burrow,

he will be the fourth best quarterback in his division. He's not even the top five best young AFC quarterback. He's not close to Lamar. He's not close to Josh Allen physically. He's not Donald. He's not Deshawn. He's not Patrick Mahomes at Bestie 6th. And after the chiefs take Burrow and the Chargers maybe get Justin Herbert,

he's not in the top seven best young quarterback talents in the AFC. And he sure as hell isn't mature enough to be the face of the franchise. So that's where you're at, Cleveland. I'm looking for a bunch of boxes to get checked. There's not really a guy out there. Oh, there is Ron Rivera. There is Urban Meyer. Neither will take it.

So you're going to be left with Mike McCrack. McCarthy kind of looks Cleveland. He's got experience. He's an offensive guy. He does have a Super Bowl, though we don't give him a ton of credit for it. McCarthy feels like not a great candidate, but a great candidate for Cleveland.

And that's where the franchise is at. Six and ten, about to after the draft, have the fourth best quarterback in the division. they have to reassess and re-identify who the real franchise face is. It can't be Baker. You can't have a guy arguing with Bengal fans, challenging them to fight to be the face of the franchise. Nick Chubb, new coach, defensive stalwart, I'm good with that.

But six and ten, that's where we're at. That's what you are. McCarthy checks most of the boxes. I think they're going to offer him the job because Josh McDaniels will have other suitors or stay in New England. And that's where we're at. Okay, there was a lot of stuff happening yesterday. Fifty minutes from now, Colin right, calling wrong. I've got a million opinions.

Michael Vick in about 15, 20 minutes. Of all the job openings, there is one that comes with no issues, no issues. And I think it's a wildly underrated job. I've said this before. Think about jobs as a stock. There's about a $75 stock you can get for about $30 right now. And I want to talk about that. But coming up next, it's time to take a deep breath.

We've seen the end of a dynasty like New England before. In fact, we saw it a couple years ago and we saw it in another sport. And it is precisely exactly what we saw. It's over. gradually, not suddenly, but it is over. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app.

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Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

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Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, A, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Hey, Wreck, Mom, I want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcasts presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet.

Hey. And we have been joined at the hip since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger. hips wider. This is a podcast we're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey with all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar something here? Just a

What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on. Can you move? I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh.

Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 45 minutes from now where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, four-time pro-boulder, Michael. Vic stops by to talk about both the A.F. he played with Andy Reed, and the NFC, he, of course, was in Philadelphia playoff pictures. I don't think it's an overreach. I've been saying this for the last couple of years. I think generally dynasties end gradually. What the Warriors are doing this year is rare.

Great, unwatchable. They generally slowly, slowly age. And I think what you're seeing with New England, we've seen before, and it's called the San Antonio Spurs with Tim Duncan. The Patriots are good enough due to a great system and coach to win a division. But they're not a home field advantage through the playoff team. They're not good enough to get a buy. And they're clearly not athletic and dynamic like Kansas City, San Francisco,

New Orleans, or Baltimore. And as Tim Duncan age for the Spurs, they could still make the playoffs, you still respected them. They still had a Hall of Fame head coach, but they weren't dynamic enough. Golden State got too dynamic. Any LeBron team felt too dynamic. Houston Rockets in their own state felt too dynamic. And as Tom Brady is aged, you can still win your division.

You can still win games. And people respect you. But nobody fears the San Antonio Spurs this morning. And nobody fears the New England Patriots. Yes, yes. And both have the same flaw. San Antonio had this great Hall of Fame coach. and there was a certain rigidity and loyalty to their culture.

And guys like Kauai Leonard are like, eh, I don't really like it. We're not bending our culture. And in New England, there's a certain rigidity and loyalty to their culture. And all these young receivers are like, yeah, it's hard to fit. We don't really fit here. And if many of those young wide receivers like the NBA could leave, they would. And this is how dynasties end.

You have these great cultures. You're loyal to the culture. over the players. That's not necessarily bad business. But you can't really, you don't want to get rid of the Dunkin and the Tom Brady because they've won so many titles and they're still capable in big spots briefly of having a great drive or a great quarter or a great series or a great moment. And I'm the biggest Tom Brady fan in the world. Everybody knows that. But God, you look around right now. The league is changing. You've got to win games with your leg sometimes. You've got to win a series. You've got to make something happen and extend it. And the games,

more wide open and I'm watching Trevor Lawrence and I'm watching Justin Fields and I'm watching Mahomes and Lamar and Tom feels old. He feels old. The system feels rigid. The coach still feels great and New England is precisely the way dynasties slowly end. And afterwards Tom even sounded like Tim Duncan, all class. It was a great chance for us to not play next. week so and we didn't take advantage of it we just didn't play good enough and you know we always we've done a better job certainly I do all class for the record they could not get Ryan Fitzpatrick off the field yesterday why because their defense is tired because the offense doesn't extend drives and the offense has to play perfect to score and you can't ask anybody in football from the

officials to the coaches the quarterback's the linemen to play perfect football for three and a half hours. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Jason Garrett's been on the hot seat for weeks, but Jerry Jones would not make any announcements

about the coach's future after the game last night. Garrett spoke with Dallas radio this morning and said he's still not sure what the future holds. We're going to go in this morning and the guys have exit physical, so we're going to talk to our players. We're going to have a team meeting at 12 noon, and I'm scheduled to visit with the Joneses after that. And we'll have a good visit and we'll see what's next.

Jerry Jones said last night, I really want to make sure I'm clear and communicate that there's no door shut here tonight. He also did not blame the entire season entirely on Garrett. So there's a lot of blame to go around here and I certainly accept my share of it. It's not the easiest team to coach. It's very difficult because we have, as we've discussed many times,

normalized Jerry Jones to the point where, this is just something that is associated with the Cowboys, where I think if it was just any other team, we would be very critical of the owner. And if you talk about this not being a good job. Yeah, I mean, if you do something over and over and you're a big personality, we got a guy in the White House like that, Jerry Jones. You're a big personality.

You get desensitized to it. Yeah. And everybody kind of normalizes the owner holding press conferences after games and the owner saying publicly, I'm the GM. And it's not that Jerry's a bad guy, But we have sort of normalized this owner behavior, which is nothing more than meddling. And that's not good in this league. No, in any other team that has a meddling owner where you are very critical up.

And like you said, Jerry isn't a bad guy. And by all accounts, other than those two very big issues, he is a great owner. He's great to his players. He's great to the city. He's built an incredible facilities. He's great for the league. He's a hall of famer. He's advanced the league in ways that no one really else could.

But at the end of the day, you are now in a situation. where if you take a head coaching job here, and that's what we're assuming that Jason Garrett's out, very possible he's not out. That's also available. I mean, we're all assuming he's done, but what if he's not?

I mean, I'm just throwing that out there. We're all assuming it. Like, I think it's perfectly available that he keeps Jason Garrett. Well, if they get the right offensive coordinator, listen, here's what we know about coaching hires, Joy. You know, your brother's a Hall of Fame football player. You know this.

Look at the Miami Dolphi. where you grow up. Take the Steelers out of the whole league because they do it right. The Miami Dolphins are a great example. We're going to have a bunch of hirings in the next five days. Most won't work. Ron Rivera is the best candidate and if he goes to Washington, the chances of that lasting eight years are slim and he's a great candidate, but that's a dysfunctional owner. So everybody's going to love, this is the way it works. Fans just love all the new hiring. Here's what I love. Sean

Peyton, Belichick, Pete Carroll, John Harbin, the read, the guys that don't ever get rumored to get fired because they're really good and they have stability. But it's stability. And the stability is at the top. So even though I don't think that Jason Garrett is, I think that he's reached his ceiling. Yes. And that journey

with the Cowboys has ended. I don't necessarily think he has done a terrible job there. There's, I mean, obviously, he wasn't successful. Like, you need to be winning Super Bowls. But you have to give a coach enough time to either be he's win a Super Bowl or not? Like that's, what do all those franchises have in common that you just mentioned?

Stability at the top. So the Giants have announced that they parted ways with head coach Pat Schumer. He was 9 and 23 in two seasons with the team. I think he was 9 and 23 in Cleveland too. He was, yes. The Giants will now be looking for their third coach in five years. They also announced that Dave Gettleman will remain with the team for his third season as general manager. That is a bit confusing to me.

Well, he did pick Daniel Jones. In fairness, he got that right because Daniel has played great in the last seven weeks. And Segoin-Barkley, which I'm not sure anyone could have done. Yeah, the Jets and the Giants get the first pick right. It's the preceding, the following ones that are not that great. Well, their offensive line from Pro Football Focus ranked 17th in past blocking and 22nd and run blocking, so they need to advance there in a lot of ways. But the issue with the coaching higher for the Giants, and it's kind of strange because all those teams that you just mentioned

that stick with coaches for a long time do have great consistent ownership. And I think the Giants ownership is, I think they're great owners. Quiet, smart. Yes. But it's not very reflective in their coaching situation

over the past five years. It's been pretty dysfunctional. Listen, I got to tell you, if you look at the history of the NFL, 80% of coaching hires don't work, and about 70% of GM moves don't work. And when you're a bad team like Cleveland, the percentage is higher

because you're not getting the best available. people on the market. So be very careful about Trump just thinking that now in the Freddie Kitchens case, I've said before, I don't think you're going to get one of the top five candidates in Cleveland. So I would But the Giants should get a top candidate. But if you are one of those

guys that has your choice, are you going to go to an organization where you know you're not going to have final say over your personnel? Here's the one thing about the New York Giants. they have the number four pick. The three teams that draft after the New York Giants, Carolina, Miami Chargers. So the Giants have the four pick.

All three of those teams need a quarterback. So you could get into a, if you get the Giants job, the three teams after you need a quarterback and there's a bunch, there's like two of them out there, it's very possible you could turn that number four pick into two or three picks,

then that job would, New York is really, really good because I got my quarterback. If Gettelman does that, I think Gettelman knows the three guys after me need a quarterback and the Chargers call and say, we want Tua. I think the Chargers have enough good players, Joy, that they could call the Giants and go, listen, we'll give you our number two cornerback and a second round pick and a third round pick, give us your pick. Then the Giants, then that job's a very, very interesting job.

Well, I think there's going to be a lot of movement in this draft no matter what. Finally, the Redskins have found their next head coach. Washington will reportedly hire Ron Rivera for the 2020 season. He's good. They have also fired team president, Bruce Allen, who had a record of 60 102. Yeah. Since joining the team in 2009, Rivera will be the seventh head coach hired by Dan Snyder. And the best.

Yes, they haven't made the playoffs since 2015 and haven't won a postseason game. Since 2005, they ranked 19th in attendance and 30th in percentage of seats used this season. and so Rivera will have his work cut out for him, that's for sure. Have you seen Carolina since he was fired? They're a college team. I, you know, I would have loved to see Rivera with the Giants or possibly with the Cowboys. But I do think that this is a, I mean, he was going to be a great hire no matter where he went. But I do think it's an interesting hire for Washington because the reputation with the fans and the city is not great right now.

Bad. They are moving on from Bruce Allen, who doesn't seem to be very, very, well liked by fans either. And Rivera is beloved and is by all accounts not only a great coach, but a great person, a great personnel guy. He is a franchise changing hire. Yes. And I think

he will have huge say in personnel. As he should. I trust Ron Rivera's personnel. Carolina drafts pretty well. I like him. I'm excited for them. Yeah. As excited as I could be for a grand Dan Snyder own team. Joy with the news. Well, that's the

news. And thanks for stopping by. heard lie news. I'm going to get to Ohio State Clemson in about 15 minutes. Colin Wright, Colin wrong, top of the hour. Let's bring in the four-time pro-boulder 13 years in the NFL. And my friend at Fox Sports, NFL analyst Michael Vick, former number one picked by the Falcons 18 years ago. So I was saying to start the show, I like boxing.

And Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ali always felt like a heavyweight champ. Yeah. He was an athlete. Yeah. And Mike Tyson felt like a heavyweight champ. Larry Holmes to me was always like, eh. He jabs. In between.

He's kind of a jabber. When I look at the San Francisco 49ers, go back to your career, they feel like a number one seed. They do. Dynamic, powerful, can humiliate you. They feel like the San Francisco 49ers from back in the day, from, you know, the early 90s, late 80s, where they can step into any arena and beat any team.

And I think, you know, the catalyst for this team is it's the run game. You know, it's most of this breeder. It's the zone run. I think Calh Shanahan did a great job of being an understudy under his dad and learning that zone run game and running into perfection. It's very hard to stop when you do it well. Yeah, by the way, when you say zone run game, what does that mean to the fans?

Kind of explain it for the average guy. Well, you have to put offensive alignment in space. And what you're doing, you're taking one or two defensive players out of the run game. So it is a very intricate way of blocking. You know, it's not. Very few teams do it. Very few teams do it because you have to be able to understand the scheme and know what to do with it.

We ran it a little bit in 2004, and work done and T.J. Duck, it was very good at doing it. We had a coach who came from the Denver Broncos. Yeah. You know, put the scheme in place, and it was very effective. So Mike Shanahan was kind of the legendary zone blocking coach, his son, Kyle. We look at the Niners as this fireworks show, but they're really a pound of football with a fullback team.

Yeah, I mean, they got a fullback. that's effective and everything that Jimmy G. You know, has been able to accomplish has come from the run game and benefiting from that. And we talk about it all the time, how good you can be when you run the ball successfully. And that's what they've been able to do. And it makes the game so much easier for a quarterback.

And I think Calh Shanher was with his experience, understands what it takes to make the game easier for his guys all around for the entire offense. And, you know, the game just flows. I want to talk about a team that doesn't feel like a number one seed, but it may be my favorite NFL story this year, the Philadelphia Eagles, you're a former eagle. I mean, they got nothing but backup.

They got backups to backups. Yeah. And Carson went, it's incredible, scout team guys. And now, I'm not saying it was a gauntlet down the stretch of great teams. Right. But Carson Wentz, over the last month, literally is the definition of a franchise quarterback. I got nothing but lawn furniture and deck chairs. Yeah.

Get on my back. Wence has taken a lot of heat. I love him. Did you initially like him? Yeah, I always like Carson. I always felt like he was, you know, one of the top-tier quarterbacks in the National Football League

over the last three years. Just had a couple bad breaks, you know, this last year, the year before and had to fight his way through it. So he faced some adversity. He showed that he can work through. He showed that he's worth the money that he's being paid.

But, you know, at the end of the day, I still think coaching trumps everything. And when you have a coach who understands, the player or players. They always put him in a position where they could be successful. And he's very fortunate to have a coach like Doug Peterson, who I work with. Oh, you did.

So you did. So you knew Peterson? Yeah, I had Doug for three years in Philadelphia. So I know how, you know, detail he can be. I know how he, you know, he caters to the quarterback to make sure that you are so prepared and you understand the game plan and what you're trying to do. But not only Doug, you know, you got to look at the rest of the coaches on the staff. I think Duce Daly is probably the primary reason. that the run game has been able to be effective with Boston Scott and Miles Sanders.

I think he should be taking into consideration for head coaching job at some point. Jim Schwartz, the defensive guy. On defense, these guys are putting it all together with scout team players. And like you said earlier, you know, credit to the general manager and Howard Roseman, credit to the scouting department for being able to find talent and know that we can plug these guys in for a guy like Deshaun Jackson or outshine Jeffries. I mean, you got Denzel War who played in the AAF last year.

And he's looking like a superstar. So, I mean, you're a big believer in coaches. I think that coaches make players. And, you know, it's not the other way around. You know, you have guys like, you know, Tom Brady and Ben Rogers Berger who can overcome coaching, you know, and all great players can overcome coaching. I was able to do it. you know, at times and felt good about it,

but I still felt like I needed my coach to put me in a position where I can understand the game plan. I can go out and be comfortable throughout the week before we even got to the game, knowing that I can go out and execute the game plan based on what they delivered to me during the week. Let's talk about the Cleveland Browns. So I'm a big believer in stability.

I've said this before. I grew up with a little bit of instability in my life as a kid. So I'm kind of reluctant to get involved with, companies that have instability. When I chose the Murdox, the Fox, I'm like, okay, they've been around forever, they know TV, you know, the business channel, the news channel, everything they'd done. I'm like the Simpsons NFL. Yeah, it was like, okay, this is a stable family that I can come to. I don't like instability.

I don't think Baker's talented enough Baker Mayfield to overcome dysfunction. Like Carson Wentz, Mahomes, what kind of coach should Cleveland hire? I think a coach like Mike McCarthy, you look at his resume, you look at what he's been able to do with Aaron Rogers. And I think instantly he gains respect from Baker Mayfield. And, you know, when you have a great coach who's had success, it's easy for him to make a player believe in what he's telling them. Sometimes it don't always resonate with, you know, certain quarterback and coaches in that relationship. So Baker needs a guy who's going to be stern, firm, understands the quarterback position

and has had success in the National Football League to make him a believer to, you know, put the battery in his back and make him feel like he can go out and be the best play on the field. That's what it takes. That's what a guy like Mike McCarthy can do for a guy like Baker Mayfield, make him feel like he's the best play on the field. And that's based on the game plan.

That's based on how, you know, he prepares him during the week and how he builds him up. I always go back to coaching for a young quarterback. He's going to be the staple for his success. And I think you just can't put anybody, you know, with a young quarterback who's been, who's the first round pick who has to go out and prove that he's not a bus. You know, it's a lot of pressure there's a lot. And there's more pressure next year.

Oh, even more in the third year. Yeah, even more pressure in the third season. Because if you stink next year, you'll move off Baker. You move off, you consider the bus, and it's a big blow to your ego and your pride, you know, if you care enough about the game of football. Did you ever feel pressure? Because you didn't play initially, and then you did and you had success. But did you feel the pressure of being a number one pick? Yeah, I felt the pressure, absolutely, and it doesn't go anywhere.

You know, you can say I'm playing for a contract. I'm playing to show my teammates that I'm the best guy for the job. But at the end of the day, nobody wants to be labeled a bus or nobody wants to be labeled a guy who couldn't get it done. That's all I thought about in the back of my mind. I didn't want to be, you know, a guy who played four years and was done. You know, I wanted to have a 10 to 12 year career and be successful and be productive. But that never goes away. It starts to fade away after year four and five.

When you won at Lambeau. Yeah, when you have some wins and some signature wins at that. Yeah, that is interesting. It never goes away. It never goes away. Never goes away. Finally, I'm told I watched New England and I'm. I'm like, listen, my whole, listen, they're great.

I just don't see it, Mike. They're not athletic enough. What do you think? So they're going to host Tennessee, right? Yeah. So my gut tells me they'll win. But I mean, what do you? I think the dinant, I think, I said it earlier,

they looked like the San Antonio Spurs when Tim Duncan moved out of his prime. And there's still. A lot of years. You respect them. Yeah. You don't fear them. You respect Brady. You respect Belichick, but you just get a sense that it's not the year for the New

England Patriots. And it's been years where they've gone into the divisional rounds and lost and went to the AFC championship game and didn't win it all. So it's just natural. But I feel like, you know, that loss of the Dolphins yesterday kind of told the story about the New England Patriots and their struggles throughout the season and, you know, how they got to try to find a way to win this game, regroup and, you know, pray that things, you know, fall into their lap.

But it's not going to be easy this time. Let me ask you, when you went in, how many times do you make, the playoffs? Four. Okay. In your four playoff appearances, did you ever lose the last week of the year?

Did you, when you went into the playoffs, did you sense we're pretty good? Or did you ever go into the playoffs thinking? Unfortunately, for me, every year I made the playoffs, I was always hurt to find a week of the season, so I never got a chance to experience what that was like. But I can only imagine, like,

you know, at the end of the season, it's all about momentum. And, you know, of course, they have a buy, which I had in 2004. You know, it always helps the team. It helps them around. It helps guys get healthy and gives you a better feel and sense of what needs to happen going into, you know, the following week or the divisional round. But, you know, at the end of the season, when you lose that game, it's like everybody's, like, kind of down. You're figuring out, trying to figure out what happened in the final game of the regular season and what needs to happen, you know, in the first week of the post.

postseason, wild card. It's a difficult situation. It's a lot to deal with, and it can you mentally, but you have to relish to the fact that you have an opportunity. You know, things are still in your favor. You're at home. You're at home, and it's zero, zero. It's a new season.

Yeah. All right, Mike, Vic, 13 years, four-time Pro Boulder, a former comeback player of the year. It's great seeing you, bud. Thank you. Thoughts on Ohio State and Clemson. Buckeye fans think they were robbed by the overreged. reaching of the replay system and the officials. I'll try to put some context on that. Plus

Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, top of second hour. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan, And Clark, sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search, learn the hard way and listen now. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHart Podcasts presents soccer moms.

So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hipsons High School. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount. of years later. We're still joined at the hip.

Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? They had a bogo. Well, then you got it. Do you want a white claw or something here? Just take it.

What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? I would. Come on. How did you believe? I would buy it. Cutts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict.

You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Good to have you in. Ohio State Clemson played this weekend. I think if they played 10 times, they'd split it right down the middle at 5.

It was like watching Baltimore and San Francisco this year in the NFL. You're talking 15 pro bowlers. Those guys shall meet in the Super Bowl, and you wouldn't be surprised. I think both Clemson and Ohio State are good enough to beat LSU. It doesn't mean they would beat LSU. But I think we had three teams in the playoff who were excellent. And Oklahoma's offense is fun, but they're not good enough defensively. Big 12 teams generally aren't on the defensive side.

But let's talk about Ohio State Clemson. Ohio State fans think there are two replays that just took the game from their hands. one I thought was brutal. The other, I think you've got to learn to deal with it. But let me ask you this. If you're a Buckeye fan, if I told you an hour before the game, you're going to have two interceptions. Clemson will have none.

You're going to have more penalties. You are going to settle for field goals, although dominating the first quarter. Just field goals. You will butcher a 16-0 lead. if I told you all that, does it sound like you're beating Clemson? So you had two picks. You also had a brutal roughing the kicker penalty.

Was that the official fault too? So you want the officials to be perfect and the replay to be perfect, but you had more penalties, more interceptions. Clemson averaged 7.4 yards of play in the second half. If I'd have told you that, okay, you're going to have more penalties, more kicks, you're going to whiff on a block kick. they're going to average seven and a half yards of play. Does it sound like you'd beat Clemson?

I've never seen a big game in football in my life without either a bad call or a bad replay. You've got to overcome it. The first bad replay you didn't like is when the quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, you had all this momentum, and then one of your guys hit him in a head with a helmet, and boom, they said, you're out of the game.

Now, I don't like that he's thrown out of the game. I didn't think it was, you know, I didn't think he did it on purpose. It was accidental. But folks, you cannot argue. He led with the crown of his helmet. You cannot do that with a star quarterback. You can't do that with a wide receiver. This whole thing about he's ducking into you.

I don't care what he's ducking into or out of. Ohio State's guy led with his helmet against the star quarterback. You can't do that against any star quarterback. And if you can't figure that out of Ohio State, then you're not watching games. Because that's an automatic. Now, I hate that he's thrown out of a game. I hate it. It's too punitive.

I believe if it's accidental, and I don't think he was trying to end the guy's career, but you cannot lead like that. You put your head down, you now have no vision where the quarterback's doing, and if he ducks into it, that's on you. Now, the second replay I thought was brutalized on two ends. I never thought it was a catch. The refs ruled it was a catch. And then they overreached on the replay and called it no touchdown.

In real time, I didn't think he made a football move. I did not think, I really didn't. Now, in slow-mo, it's like, okay, he's got one foot down, two-foot down, three-foot. But I got to tell you, that goes either way. Now, I do think Ohio State has a legitimate complaint that the replay official is now overreaching on something that I think is a go-either-way call. I don't think there's enough to change the call there. but for the record, I didn't like the initial call.

I didn't think it was a catch. In real speed, I didn't think it was a catch. But I think Ohio State fans have a legitimate beef to say that's an overreach by the replay system, which, by the way, we see way too much in college football. But folks, football is about overcoming. The New Orleans Saints complained, oh, the Rams, the call. You had overtime. You got the ball first.

Score. That's why I had no sympathy for the Saints. You have to overcome bad calls. You had more penalties. You had the only two interceptions. You couldn't stop Clemson situationally. You settled for red zone field goals. You had a play at the end of the game.

Justin Field was there to win it. And you didn't make the play. Here's the play. All sorts of time. No pressure. And that's the result. That's the throw. Justin Fields has five seconds with all those NFL wide receivers.

Great protection. 30 yard line. Plenty of time. and that is the result. You always want to point fingers. There are no perfectly played, coached, or officiated football games. It's a heavyweight fight. You expect the judge to be perfect and the refs to be perfect.

It doesn't exist. Go back to every big football game in the last 10 years. Every big Bama game, Clemson game, Buckeye game, Raven game, Patriot game, Cowboy game, Eagle game. There's always a butcher call. This, there was, I think, a real overreact. reach in the replay system. I hated it. I don't like the replay system. I like it in limited doses. I think we use too much of it. I think it's a real struggle with all these college games to find

great officiating crews and great replay crews. But if I'd have told you before the game, Ohio State, you had two books, they had none, you had more penalties, you settled for field goals, you had a play to win it, you couldn't stop Clemson in the second half. You're not winning that game. you're not when you could not stop Trevor Lawrence when it mattered and you couldn't make the play when it mattered. And that decides Super Bowls. That decides national championships. So everybody likes to point fingers. Point, point, point, point, point.

Nobody ever goes in the bathroom anymore in America and looks in the mirror. And they still work, I'm told. Mirrors still work. You can look at them and go, God, we had eight penalties. We threw two picks. We settled for field goals. We blew a lead. And I hear this argument.

Well, these officiating replays kill. momentum? Yes. Who has momentum for four hours in any football game? College football, pro football, I've never done a show in my entire career where I had momentum for three hours. I have good segments, bad segments. I have great interviews, boring interviews. You don't have momentum for three hours. You had it. There was a call. A guy led with his head. I'm not defending it all in that one. You lead with your helmet and you give up the right to argue once a tackler puts his down and can't see where my helmet's going. Once you put the head down, you're a pilot flying with his eyes closed. Okay. So I'm not going to defend you on that. I do think it's absurd.

We keep throwing these kids out for these incidental blows. I don't think the kid woke up in the morning thinking I'm taking him out with a head hit. And I do think Trevor Lawrence in an instant did ducked down. But you couldn't see it because you ducked your head. And that's on you. And if you're arguing you lost momentum on that, guess what? Football's a series of, if you think you have a right to four hours of momentum when you play Clemson, you're delusional. By the way, the game was easy to figure out. Clemson had played a soft schedule. Ohio State played a better schedule.

The first quarter, Clemson was just not used to this kind of level of athleticism. They were just bailing water to stay in. Then they got their bearings a little bit. then it's like, oh, they get a call that goes in their favor to go either way, call. I would have absolutely thrown a penalty on that against the Ohio State guy for the helmet. I'm amazed how many Ohio State fans are arguing about the helmet. You think that's not going to be called a penalty? You don't have to like the ejection, but if you think that's not going to be called a penalty,

you're not watching college football. They've made that play a priority, especially to receivers and absolutely to star quarterbacks. That's just the way the game's officiated. All right, calling up next, Colin right, calling wrong. I'm going to have Brady Quinn on later. Maybe he disagrees. Whatevs? We'll talk about that.

Trent Dilfer, too. Don't go anywhere. And Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. I don't see Super Bowls in your future. Why next? One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart Radio app.

Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, this is the herd hour two. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're live in Los Angeles. IHeart Radio. Fox Sports Radio and FS1, closing out the new year. Joy Taylor is joining me. We want to thank everybody who is on this holiday stretch watched us.

We've had an unbelievable year, double-digit growth in radio, podcast, TV, digital, you know, all the social media stuff. We're very, very happy here, and we really appreciate those who have supported us. Things are going very, very well for Joy and I. Now, we're off Wednesday. I've never had a New Year's off in my life. I am going to stay up to 10 on Tuesday night. Believe you mean. I've had a New Year's day off, but it was unexpected.

Yes, but I'm excited. We get Wednesday off. It is. Listen, when you're an adult, it's always a thrill to have a day off. There's no question. Especially a holiday. All right, Colin wrong. I make a bunch of mistakes.

I got to be held accountable. And so here we go on a Monday. Where Colin was right. You know, I like Carson. Wentz, this guy took an injury-ridled stage coach across the desert. He turned Dallas Goddard, Greg Ward and Boston Scott into his weapons. I don't want to hear about, well, he only beat this team and that team. I thought Miami was a bad team. I thought Cincinnati was a bad team. It's the NFL. This is not the Big 12. All wins are impressive. This kid is the

definition of a franchise quarterback. He's the only quarterback in league history. In league history to throw for 4,000 yards and not have a single receiver over 500, which means he's taken C minus D plus nonsense and throwing for 4,000 yards. This is what franchise quarterbacks are. You have to ask them some months. Dude, we got nothing but lawn chairs and deck furniture. Carry us to wins. He did.

It's unbelievable. Where Colin was raw. I thought Odell Beckham's production in Cleveland would be pretty profound. I said before the year, put him on your fantasy team. because he runs a great slant pattern and Baker throws a great slant pattern. And instead, career lows in virtually everything. And Cleveland, by the way, was 28 yards passing yards per game worse than last year. And that's Baker and his rookie year, and that's unbelievable to me.

I just thought it would be far more productive. And with David and Joku, the excellent tight end getting hurt, he should have had an excellent year because only Jarvis Landry was in his way. They also got rid of Callaway earlier in the year. This should have been a huge year for OBJ. I predicted it and I was wrong. Where Colin was right? Carolina fired Ron Rivera and Carolina quit the minute he left. The players told you what they thought about the move. They quit. They went 0 and 4. They lost by 90 points. This guy has been the super glue to Carolina for years. I got great sources within this organization and have for the

last several years. There's a lot of nonsense with Cam and a lot of distractions and a lot of immaturity and Ron Rivera eats it and hides it. And I'm just here to tell you, the team's response to his firing is they quit. This guy is excellent. He knows personnel. For the record, what coach that got fired had multiple offers within the week, Ron Rivera. Okay, that's all you need to know. A lot of people in line. Howard Stern got fired. fired. Mark Cuban got fired. A lot of people have been fired. When you get hired and have multiple suitors within a week tells you they fired the wrong guy. Where Colin was wrong. I felt the Lakers, I've been saying this, they're built for the regular season. But the Clippers are built for the

postseason. But I've watched the Clippers played the Lakers twice and beat it both times, and the clippers are also better than the Lakers in the regular season. Here's the thing. They got 10 guys that can play. They had 10 guys score against the Lakers. They throw three different guys at LeBron, Patrick Beverly's annoying. Kauai Leonard can guard him. Paul George can guard him. And the bottom line is, I'm not sure anybody can guard Kauai because LeBron can't make those kind of stops

against great players in their prime anymore. The Clippers are better. They've got a better coach. They've got a better bench. I think their young stars, Paul and Kauai, are closer to their prime than LeBron is. And I thought the Lakers would end up being the superior regular season team. Nope, Clippers are better now too.

where Colin was right? My issue with Baker Mayfield was not his talent, although I thought he was good, not special. It was his temperament, it was his judgment, it was his maturity. Before the game against Cincinnati,

got into a verbal altercation with a fan, challenging him to do a fight. I mean, this is just, I mean, I didn't even, I don't even need you to hear it. It's all over the internet. I'm so right on this.

I feel like I'm piling on now. This is why I, would have passed on him. And as I said, if I'm a GM, he's undraftable as my franchise quarterback. He's draftable. I'm not going to deal with this nonsense. He cannot get out of his own way. He needs to grow up.

He needs a coach to tell him to be quiet. Getting into an argument with Bengal fans, challenging them to fights. Come on down here and tell me that. It's such a bad look. And we were right on that. Where Colin was wrong.

Joe Burroughs, seven touchdowns against Oklahoma. I mean, he was just playing catch. Oklahoma couldn't create any pass rush. Listen, I don't think he's a number one talent, but I think he's going to get drafted number one. There's nothing I can say. I mean, the kid just looks great. He looks poised.

He looks athletic. He's accurate. I mean, that was 78% completion percentage on the year. 55 TDs and six picks. I mean, I didn't even know he played for Ohio State. I don't follow backups. You know, I don't have depth chart. Big 10 things plastered all over my internet.

But the kids are remarkable player. I still think two is more special, but he's been great. He's answered his critics. Every time they've asked him to make a big throw, he has. I cannot wait to watch them play Clemson. I don't think Clemson's going to generate a pass rush against LSU. So I would suspect he and Trevor Lawrence both have very big days. And it's a fantastic game and it's a coin flip game.

But Joe Burrell, I never saw. this coming. Where Colin was right. Sam Darnold, six and two down the stretch. Seven and five with the worst offensive line in the league, arguably, after Mono. Okay, I got news for you. He doesn't have nearly Baker Mayfield's weapons. They don't have a number one receiver. They have a worse offensive line. They have coaching issues as well. But down the stretch, 13 TDs, four picks, 93 quarterback rating. I don't think he's Mahomes. I don't think he has the talent of Wendt or an Andrew Luck. But I've said before, his temperament, his size, his athletic ability, his ability with

that bad Jets O line to just make stuff happen. Now, he still throws bad picks, and he's not an elite armed talent. He's good. He's not special. But I was right on, Darnold. He's better than Baker. And what he's done with similar, similar dysfunction at head coach speaks to who should have gone ahead of the other in the draft.

where Colin was wrong. I thought Drew Breeze looked old and tired last year. I don't know what he ate. Beta carotene, raw juice. I don't know. He looks unbelievable. He looks 32 years old. So far this year, 75% completion percentage,

passerating over 115 and eight turnovers all season. Breeze, not Brady, is the best older quarterback in the league. he looks absolutely fantastic. I just didn't think Drew. I thought it was done. I thought the tank. I thought he was on the 17th hole. That five-week stretch that he got to sat and watch Teddy Bridgewater,

the Saints are for real. He is unbelievable. I got to be honest. I'd figure out a way if I'm the Saints to give him a month off in the middle of the season and just say, dude, start the season and the season. We'll give you October off because he looks energized, accurate as ever. ever. Where Colin was right? Said all year, Clemson was my bet

of the year in the bowl games. Colin, you got lucky. I won. Clemson 7.5 yards a play in the second half. Yes, I thought they got a break from the officials. They also never threw a pick, never had a special teams gaff,

had this unbelievable run by Trevor Lawrence. Trevor Lawrence, I said before the year, This is going to be potentially the greatest offense in college football. I made a mistake. They'll be better next year because the kids they have coming back and the recruiting classes. I just think Clemson had a bad first quarter because they had such a weak schedule. They were not used to Ohio State's physicality. But the last three quarters, I thought they were the better football team.

Where Colin was wrong. Well, I only predicted six out of 12 division winners. So I got six playoff teams right. Eagles, Patriots, Chief, Texans, Packers, Titans. But I also butchered Baltimore, St. San Francisco, Minnesota, Buffalo. And I don't think it's very difficult to get half of them right. Because let's be honest, you kind of know Patrick Mahomes going to win the division. I went 50-50 on the divisions.

I don't think that's good enough. I think you should be able to go 65, 70 percent on divisions. Because we know quarterbacks and coaches win. So I can't brag because I got half of them right. Baltimore, Buffalo, San Francisco is way better than I thought. Where Colin was right? We did predict Kyle Shanahan, not Sean McVey. The rest of the media was all into this Sean McVey, cheekbones, best coach ever.

I said, no, no, no. Kyle Shanahan's a better coach in his own division. Mike Shanahan's an all-time coach. Kyle Shanahan, four different times, took over to offense and had four massive upgrades. He made Matt Shaba Pro Bowler. He made Matt Ryan an MVP candidate. it. We predicted when everybody else was into Sean McVeigh, we said we like Sean McVeigh. This is the best young coach. McVeigh is the second best young coach in his own division.

And I think he's created an offense that can beat you in multiple ways. Why, I think the Rams offense can sort of beat you one or two ways. And if they don't have a power back, they're not the same team. So we also said San Francisco would be the most improved team in the NFL. They're even better, though, than we thought. Colin right, Colin wrong. I've got Trent Dilfer coming up next. We're going to have Orlando Scandrick before the end of the hour. He's been critical of the Eagles. They win a division.

He likes the Cowboys or did, and they got good way too late. Both those addressed coming up next. Trent Dilfer on a Monday. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience

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

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search learn the hard way and listen now. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,

and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions

everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

What's up, guys? This is CliverTaylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, inside American soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic.

I'm not worried about Balagan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at. making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team.

It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Michael Vic last hour just had Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. Hope you're having a great holiday season.

My next guest is a friend played in the NFL for, a decade and a half. One of Super Bowl with the Ravens and a Pro Bowl as well. Draft that I remember years ago I covered him. He doesn't remember me much in Tampa where he had to overcome dysfunction and we've talked about that a lot today with young quarterbacks. Boy, you better

be Patrick Mahomes special if you want to overcome dysfunction. Most players in this league are much more Sam Darnold where they're talented but they need help and let's go to Trent Delfer via the Coward Global Satellite Network. By the way, I'm blown away by Carson Wentz and I said this.

the resilience of that organization. I do think Wence is the kind of kid, Troy, and there's about four in the league, maybe three, that can overcome some limitations. And I think he proved it in the last month. I don't recall your initial gut feeling on Wence. What have you seen the last three years you like? I love them coming out.

Unique talent, mature beyond his years. I think what you've seen in the last five weeks. And you can make an argument. I know Lamar Jackson is going to win the MVP. You can make a really strong argument that Carson Wentz has been the best quarterback in the NFL for the last five weeks of the season. He's been just remarkable. And he's been doing it with guys you've never heard of and under pressure the whole time.

I mean, he literally is playing beyond the X's and O's 30 to 40 snaps a game. And you would hope that a guy would play beyond the X's and O's five to 10 plays a game. I've never been a believer that you just throw the team on your back and you carry him to victory. I think there's guys that can take over games. but Carson Wentz has truly put this Philadelphia Eagles team on his back and carried them into the playoffs. It's been nothing short or remarkable. I don't want to take too many shots at Aaron Rogers here because I think he's great, but I will say over the last month, he's been pretty pedestrian.

I think he trusts one receiver, Devante Adams. They change coaches. They've got a real running game, and he didn't lead Detroit for a second in those two wins this year. Aaron doesn't quite, is it personnel, is it confidence? He's just something's not clicking, Trent. What is it? Well, I think this entire Packers team, 13 and 3, but yet they don't have a lot of sizzle. They're solid.

They're fundamentally sound. They do the boring things really well. I think Matt LaFlefler has done a great job of just kind of centering them as a football team. but I think Aaron has kind of, I don't want to say suffered because he's benefited from it by going 13 and 3. But Aaron was always the sizzle to this offense. And now he's just the guy running the show. And I think there's a difference there. And I'm not asking him to play spectacular football all game long.

Now, what that's done is is minimized errors. He hardly ever makes a mistake. They're incredibly efficient. But they just don't take a lot of chances so you don't see that sizzle, sexy. this in the offense, and especially with Aaron Rogers. Let's go to a team that is completely dysfunctional, the Cleveland Browns. I don't love asking Baker to figure out a third playbook in three years. I just, I don't think he's ever going to reach his potential regardless of coaches from

this point forward. That's why I thought Adam Gase drives me nuts sometimes, but I was a big believer in give Adam help. Don't ask Sam Donald to have another playbook. So I like Gayst staying, even though he can. be inconsistent. What works for Baker Mayfield now? Well, I don't disagree with you. I think by, even though I don't think Freddie Kitchens was the right hire, I think now that you make a third move, a third playbook, you really set Baker behind the eight ball here. But I do think the next guy

comes in has to have a few very specific traits. Number one, I think he's got to have the ability to hold not just Baker, but the entire team accountable. There has to be a sophisticated, sophistication, a gravitas to how he runs this ship. It needs to be buttoned up all the time. They've gone now a few years where it hasn't been buttoned up in that organization. So this next guy has to come in and really shower it with that discipline, that accountability and sophistication all. I think number two, he's got to have some street cred in the quarterback world.

I think this head coach or the office coordinator has to have developed a all pro Hall of Fame type quarterback because they're going to have Tell Baker some really hard things that he's not going to want to hear. Number one, shut your mouth. Number two, you're not that great of an athlete. And number three, right now you're fighting for your life. You're not talking about Pro Bowls. You're fighting for your career. He's not going to like to hear those things. But he'll listen if it's a guy that's also said those things to another Hall of Fame quarterback or, you know, perennial pro bowl quarterback. So I think the street cred piece is big. I think if you see this higher and it's somebody that hasn't developed a big-time quarterback,

and you could chalk Baker-Mayfield's career up to being a failure. I do not think he'll survive unless it's a Mike Holmgren type of person. I'm not saying Mike Holmgren, but a Mike Holmgren type of head coach that has the been there, done that, the pelt's on the wall and the sophistication gravitas to kind of button everything up in the organization. Is Josh McDaniels have that? Yes, Josh McDaniels has that. I think Mike McCarthy has that. I wasn't a huge Mike McCarthy fan towards the end.

I was in the beginning, but I really appreciate what he's done this last year with him and his staff. I think he'll come in invigorated. I think he'll he can lean on his pass with Brett Farr, Aaron Rogers both have some, you know, Baker has some of both of those guys in him. I think both of those hires would be tremendous. If they can get Josh McDaniels or Mike McCarthy,

I think they hit a home run. Okay, I'm going to ask you about two college guys. The first one I love. of Trevor Lawrence. I think he's Andrew Luck with better straight line speed. You've worked with all these guys. I saw him in high school as a junior at a camp down in San Diego. I thought he was significantly better than all the other five-star quarterbacks. What do your eyes tell you? I don't disagree. He's a unique talent. I think there's a few guys, and I'll just, I'll make this a bigger conversation between Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, and Tua. I think you have three generational talents. that we'll see enter the NFL in the next couple years. Then Joe Burrow, I think, is going to be a fantastic pro and is very worthy of wherever he gets picked, but he's not a generational talent.

He's just mature beyond his years. He's super smart. He's almost like having a coach on the field. And he's going to be a great pro, so I'm not knocking Joe Burrow. I think in terms of generational talents, like they have something that very, very, very, very, very few people have. you have Trevor Lawrence, Tua, and Justin Fields. All three of them will, they're just incredible talents.

They have more ability than most people have ever seen. I think between those four, you're going to have four great pros. But on your conversation piece, I think from a talent standpoint, a horsepower standpoint, those three are special. By the way, can Tennessee beat New England and Foxborough? I think New England figures out a way to win, but I feel like the Patriot to become the Spurs with Tim Duncan, you respected them, you didn't fear them.

And I think there's teams in the league now. I would fear playing, and New England's not one of those. That's a great analogy. The Spurs with Tim Duncan's a great, great analogy there. I will say this, though, everybody, the sky is falling on the Patriots, except in that locker room, except in that organization. Like, everybody's, hey, they're done. The dynasty's over.

you know, you don't, you're not scared to go there. There's no chance they'll make a run. And I get it. I see all the reasons why people are saying that. But I do know this. And that building, that's not their narrative. When they say onto, they really mean it. They live it.

It is part of their DNA. So I'm sure they're disappointed. I'm sure they're a little surprised they lost Miami Dolphins. But they're going to watch the film. They're going to learn from it. They're going to go to work. And they'll be a team that'll be dangerous to play in the playoffs, regardless of how much horsepower they have on offense or what issues they have,

I still wouldn't want to go there to play them. Trent Dilfer, enjoy your time in Tahoe, buddy. Happy holidays to you and your fam and your kids. We're sitting right next to you. Thanks, man. You too, buddy. Happy New Year. All right.

Joy, by the way, you went to Pittsburgh, right, Joy? I did, yes. I went to Utah and Skeed and Snowmobile. What'd you do? I just hung with the family. It actually wasn't bad weather at all. It was really nice. It was probably actually warmer in Pittsburgh than it was here.

I heard it was cold and rainy here. It was. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, the college football championship game is set between top-rank LSU and number three, Clemson. LSU earned a spot with a 63-28 route of number four, Oklahoma. Joe Burrow setting plenty of records, including the most total touchdowns in a playoff game with eight.

Clemson obviously beat Ohio State 29-23 after Trevor Lawrence led Clemson on a 90-5. four-yard game winning touchdown drive. Ohio State had a chance to seal the win, but Clemson intercepted Justin Fields in the end zone to end the game. A pretty dramatic interception. It took me a couple times to watch it before. I could finally digest what it happened. I don't know what he saw there. It felt like one of those seeing ghost situations. Yeah, Justin Field, and it was funny because Justin is great and had five seconds to throw. He was not rushed. He had so much time to throw. There was a receiver right there open. I didn't need to go for the end zone on that play either.

It was very strange. But this will be Clemson's fourth trip to the national title game in the last five seasons. I do think my biggest takeaway from the weekend, obviously, other than Joe Burrow being incredible. So I'll give myself credit for that. But, wow, we don't need an expanded playoff. Wow. Everybody wants eight teams because people feel like, oh, if you give us more teams, it's more fair. No, it's just more butt kickings.

Like, do I need to see Clemson against a two-loss Pack 12 team? No, no. Okay, so all you college fans, when you expand playoffs, you think, remember, pro sports are not built for dynasties because if you're good, you get the worst draft picked the following year. In college, if you're good, you get more great players in recruiting. So the idea, once again, we get Clemson against an SEC power. And by the way, Bama's better next year and so is Clemson because they return everybody. So it's like all the, you know. this idea that in a playoff illustrates fairness.

No, it just gives us more butt whippings because there's no, remember, Texas and the South have more good high school football players by far than any other region. And most kids want to play closer to home. So unless Texas or USC get hot and get these Urban Meyer level coaches, you're going to get this for the next 10 years. The contrast between the early game and late game with watchability. I mean, at a point, it was like, how long is this LSU game? Like, there's a whole other quarter of the play. We should have had a beer league rule. Let's shut it down.

I mean, it was dramatic. And for the most part, I've been a fan of the idea of expanding playoffs, but having, after watching this weekend, I'm good. I'm sold on the four. Like, there's a, there's a big gap. So Philip Rivers' future with the Chargers is. uncertain after disappointing five and 11th season. He'll be a free agent in March, and he says he plans to keep playing, even if it's not with the Chargers. And he got emotional talking about what he's most proud about with his time with the team.

I think it's that I can say I gave it everything I had. I mean, every week, you know, so, you know, and maybe it means an interception on fourth and 18 when you're down 10. Because I don't care that it's going to say two interceptions, you know. I really don't. It's just like, I ain't quitting. So I think that, I think that, that doing it with so many guys over, you know, 14 years. And going to the locker room, win or lose, and I can say, we're short. We fell short, or we won, you know, but shoot, I couldn't try it any harder.

I love that. And I think he's had a great career and he'll get Hall of Fame votes. But I do think it's also time. I can be both. I can love you and think it's time. Oh, I can't watch grown men cry. It always gets me every time. You know what, though?

That really put it in perspective for Philip Rivers, because Philip Rivers is very well liked. And it's just kind of, and very well respected. And I love how he plays the game, even though it hasn't been great the past couple years. He hasn't missed a start in last 14 seasons. He's one of the, like, when you think of Philip Rivers, or at least when I think of Philip Rivers,

I think of absolute toughness and everything that he just said. Like, he plays with an energy that is very unique. Now sometimes that does lead to interceptions. and obviously they've had the Chargers just seem to find a way to lose these games. And the most, I mean, it's become a running joke. It's just the Chargers-like fashion. Like, how did you lose that game? Like, you had it right there.

But he's also on that- He's not planning on retiring. Yeah. Well, Carolina is an interesting fit because he played college there. And if they don't want to re-sign Cam, and they wanted a two-year fix and draft a guy, Phillips, you know, he's productive. He's become a little bit like James Winston. he is productive for both teams.

Like he, James Winston is, he's a lot of, that's not the goal of the team that he's on. But it's like you can't, you can't argue with Phillips production or James's production. You just, they make too many mistakes. Yeah, but that's just like they neutralize themselves.

That's right. And so does Philip. That's a great way to point. Right. That last interception, I'm like, oh, God. Yeah, you can't, you can't do it. And obviously, you know what happened with James yesterday at 30 for 30 season. But they have, the charge is in kind of a unique situation.

And they have Tyrod Taylor. Well, they've got... So if they don't want to necessarily try and get a quarterback this year... Oh, I think they're going to. I think they have way too much talent. And I think they have big contracts coming up. So I think they're going to go. And what are they right now?

Like, they're seventh. So they're great because they can literally go to a team. They have two good corners. They can just say, listen, I'll give you our number two pick and a starting corner if we can move about one slot. And I think teams will do... If I was the New York Giants, and the Chargers called me and I said,

we want your pick, we want to move up two picks and I'm like, okay, give me a number two pick and a starting corner. If I was the Giants, I'd do it in one second. They got to build their lines. Finally, Baker Mayfield threw three interceptions and the loss of the Bengals yesterday to finish with 21 on the season. That was the second most by any quarterback this season. And he vowed after the game to get that fixed in the offseason.

The amount of interceptions I've had this year is, I think, more than I've had in the past two or three years combined. So it's quite frankly embarrassing for me. It's something I take pride on. So I'm not happy with that, but a lot of things I can look back on the film and point out exactly where it went wrong. But that's the good thing about it. It all can be fixed.

I'm going to come back at a different animal come in springtime. Fewer commercials, more focus, better coach. I still contend he's an NFL quarterback. He is just not the quarterback that I would take one. He is not a special athlete with a special arm. I always said he's Kay's Keenan with a better arm. You can win games, but he can't be the focal point of the offense. I just, with Baker this year, I feel like every, not just Baker.

I feel like everything with the Browns fell apart this year, at least from what the expectations were going into the season. But yesterday was just like, come on. Come on. Come on. Like it's the Bengals, it's the last game of the season. You're arguing with a fan telling them to come down. You know he can't come down and fight you.

Why are you telling a fan to fight you? I just can't. I've reached the point with the Browns where it's like I don't want to say it because I don't want to put myself through this next year. But unless it's Mike McCarthy, who's the only candidate out there that I truly believe can come in, if he's allowed to take over the entire organization and get things at least somewhat on track, I just don't know how much more energy I can commit to this. By the way, John Dorsey picked Baker.

John Dorsey hired Freddie Kitchens. I said before, I could hammer Baker Mayfield all year. No, I don't think it's all Baker's fault. No. Baker didn't draft himself and Baker didn't hire Freddie Kitchens. John Dorsey's the GM. That leash is short. You got to get the right coach.

Josh McDaniels is my gut feeling who they, I think they want Josh McDaniels, not McCarthy. I think, well, Urban Meyer's name is out there as well. I don't think that Urban will go there. He shouldn't. That'd be a bad move. I mean, Urban's beyond that job. Dallas Cowboys call, consider it. I mean, I agree.

Yeah, Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lide News. By the way, there are six openings we know of in the NFL. Cleveland, Washington, Giants, Carolina, Jacksonville, Dallas. I got to tell you, I think the Giants could be the best job here. Number one, in every other place except the Giants,

you have an issue. In Jacksonville, it's an apathy and a quarterback issue. Who's your quarterback? Gardner Minchew. In Dallas, you got a meddling owner issue. In Washington, you have a Dan Snyder issue. In Cleveland, you have a dysfunction issue and a Baker issue. In Carolina, what do you do with Cam? You got a Cam Newton issue. In New York, what's your issue? Got a quiet owner that doesn't meddle. Got a franchise quarterback. You have a star running back. Your offensive line probably needs a slight upgrade, but it's not awful. You got a bunch of six. Dave Gettleman is going to remain the GM for at least one more year. So what? Gettleman helped build Carolina. Gettleman's been very good on some of his picks. He's not

my cup of tea. I don't think he's a great GM, but he's not totally incompetent. The Giants have also proven they'll spend money. The Giants have also proven they can win Super Bowls. When I look at the New York Giants job, I think it's a pretty good job. I get a quiet, smart owner. I get a decent offensive line, not a rebuild. I get a star back. Daniel Jones in his last seven games, 18 touchdowns, five picks

and a quarterback rating in the mid-90s, so you got that right. And I think your GM, Dave Gettleman, would not be a top 10 GM to me, but he's nailed Sequin Barclay and Daniel Jones. Those were both great picks. And also in the NFC East, Dallas has dysfunction, and

Washington has dysfunction, and that's four of the games you play a year. So I think the Giants job and you have the number four pick and the three teams that follow all need a quarterback. So you may be able to take this job and get multiple first and second round picks over the next two years. So the draft selection for the Giants is real. You're at four and Carolina's after you and Chargers are after you and Miami's after you and they may all want Tua. They may all want the same guy and they'll give you players and picks to get him. Orlando Scandrick, the former Eagle and Cowboy, is joining us next.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase. that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

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Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaders to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this guy, this linebacker walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely.

Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer gate. in the back of my Honda Odyssey with all the snacks and drink sidebar why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer they had a

bogo well then you got it do you want a white collar something here just take it what are y'all doing microphones are you making a rap album I would come on you boot I would buy it cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake that sounds delicious

oh you're lucky I'm not a drug addict you're lucky I'm not an alcoholic you're lucky I'm not a kill I love this team, and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Said before, I think the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones, too much ego at play. He's given too many people jobs that feel indebted to him.

The Cowboys have three coaches with no previous experience as former cowboy and Eagle Orlando Scandrick is joining him. When I look at Dallas, I think they do some things well. I think they draft players pretty well. I think they treat players very well. I think the facilities are world class. But when I look at that town, Orlando, and you liked it there, but there's something wrong inside the building because they were week to week. I didn't know what I was getting.

I felt the same way. Made me come on TV and look like a complete total jerk. Disappointing. I know Mr. Jones is disappointed. I know Jason Garrett is disappointed as much as everyone wants to blame him. I think he takes as much pride and, you know, having his team come out and preparing his team to play well, having them play well. You liked him. I loved him.

I loved the Jones family. I loved it there. And I still do admire their organization. But it's clearly broken. There needs to be change. It's not a lot of belief. And they just completely underachieved. 8 and 8 has seemed to be the status quo with Jason Gair's job.

I think more than not, he's finished 8 and 8. I think this is his third or fourth, eight and eight season. I know I had a few eight and eight seasons there myself. Yeah. You don't think he's a bad coach, though. I don't, but I think that ultimately how he's going to lose his job is kind of how he got it. It was a very, very strange situation in 2010. 2009, we win the division.

2010, we come out. We're struggling. With Wade Phillips. With Wade Phillips. We're one in eight, I believe. One in seven. We go up to Green Bay. We just get completely embarrassed.

Jason gets promoted after Wade's fired. We kind of turned around. I think we went six games. We win five out of the last eight. We finished, what is that, six and ten, I think it is. And he becomes the head coach. Without much experience. Yeah, without much experience at all.

He's still calling, you know, plays at this point. And then he gets forced to hire Scott Linehan. And I think Coach Linehan came over. I think his just philosophical way of calling offense was a little bit different. He's kind of forced to use Jason's playbook. That relationship sours really, really fast. It goes through its ups and downs. It runs its course, and then they move on to Kellyn Moore.

I think Kellan's a great coach. I think he's got to be a great coach. But I think he was just, you know, his offense statistically was well. But I think he was in over his head at key and crucial moments. I think if you can ask Kellan, and he would probably tell you the same thing, if he was sitting here right next to me. And I would say this if he was sitting right next to me. He could have been better at times himself.

I think the blame should be shared equally to him. everyone. I think it's a team effort. They win collectively. They lose collectively. Yeah. No, maybe it's just time for some change. By the way, you've had coaches where sometimes the message, it's just white noise. And I think with Jason, I think players like him, they don't fear him, though. And sometimes with Belichick and Kyle Shanahan and Tomlin, there's a 5% like fear. Well, it's hard to fear someone when at the end of the day you can walk down the hall and go talk to the owner.

That's really a good point. And if you're of significance that you're not having any fear installed in you and you can just walk down the hall and just talk to the owner and kind of talk it out, then where do you go from there? Let's say Urban Meyer was offered the job and said, I'll take it. Would Cowboy players respect him? I don't know. I don't know anything about Urban Meyer.

I know he's a great college coach. I know he has had a lot of success at three different institutions. But ultimately, until that Mr. Jones becomes, comfortable as he was when he had Jimmy Johnson and Bill until he becomes comfortable enough to let someone have an equal say in the full

roster and the decisions of the organization. I think it's going to be really really tough to get to where they want to go. I'm not sure Jerry's going to do that and I think you're absolutely right. All right, I like Carson Wentz more than you and most people. I do think he's a special talent, though I think he's flawed. I think he's a little

loose. I think he makes some bad throw. but I think he's a little bit of an artist. He's a little Kobe Bryant. He takes some bad shots. But boy, when he's good, he's special. What did you make? You've been critical of Philadelphia. What did you make of their last month in their playoff? They finished the season strong.

They beat the teams that they were supposed to beat. They played really well defensively. Yeah. They were really simplistic. They rushed the quarterback. They cover well. I think on offense, they ran the ball great. Carson made plays when he had to make plays.

And, you know, I'm just going to sit here today and say, I tip my hat. And I was really impressed what they did. I'm really looking forward to see how this postseason plays out for them for several reasons. But I mean, I'm really, like, what they did is with the injuries and just the backups and having people in and out of the lineup was very, very impressive. Are you more impressed with Carson or Doug Peterson? Who gets the credit to you?

I'm very, very impressed with Doug Peterson being able to keep a steady message and keep the guys engaged, but also just Carson, you know, going out there weekend. a week out and doing whatever it takes to win, whether it be him scrambling, whether it be him throwing it to Ertz, Goddard, Greg Ward, JJ, Artiga, Whiteside. Those are kind of scout guys, right? I mean, at some point in everyone's career,

you had to grow up and become that guy. And we've just been able to witness these guys growing up and becoming those guys in a crucial month of the season with a team with their back against the wall. I want to ask you about Baker Mayfield. As a former defensive back, you know, I thought he was overdrafted,

I think he's a quarterback, but I would never give my $5 billion franchise. I think quarterbacks are different. I don't want cocky. I want my corners to be cocky and my receivers to be confident, but I do think the position of quarterback is different. You're kind of an extension of a coach. What do you make of this whole season and him going forward? I just think he wasn't ready.

He was kind of handed everything. He didn't really have to work for everything. And I think he had some early success. He broke the rookie touchdown record. I don't know if he worked to get to where he's, he had to get. They surrounded him with all of these receivers that had all these accolades and these big egos. And I don't know if they were ever able to get the mutual respect of being able to tell him what they see or for him to tell him what he thinks. I just think they were playing as a bunch of individuals. And I love Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. and Nick Chubb. And it's just really sad that it didn't work out for him. Would you move on from Baker or would you stick with him a few more? What can I get? Yeah. If the price is right, I'd move on from anything. I think that if you could get a trade that presented himself

and you don't think that he's the guy. I think if you think one of these other young guys that are coming out in the draft. Do you think you can change his maturity issues? I think everybody is going to grow. I don't think he's the man that he's going to be tomorrow or next year or next month today. But I think that he has a strong, strong personality and some flaws, as we all do. And I don't know if that's going to last. So I went on Joy's podcasts, and I said, I don't know, Joy, and she was not as responsive as me.

She wasn't as accepting as me, so maybe she's changed her mind. About Baker? Yes. It's hard to get over it. Do people change? I don't think it's, I do think he's going to grow and change. It's just, I don't think it's all on him. He's going to be on his fourth head coach.

He's on his 21st interception. Yeah, but I don't, I mean, is that all on him? I don't know. I think the maturity is. The maturity is on him. you have a responsibility as a professional to know what's on your shoulders. I don't like him yelling at fans. I have four head coaches.

How many interceptions that Freddie have? No, so you're not. Hey, listen, I've said before. I do not think he's the number one pick. I think Joe Burroughs good. He'll be overdrafted. I don't think most guys are deserving a number one. I mean, I don't even go into the draft situation.

I just go into where we are, the here and the now. I just think that he does some things that got him drafted that just aren't winning things in the NFL. such as his reads. He's not comfortable in the pocket. He doesn't trust the pocket. He's not comfortable looking downfield. He has he got some great athletic ability, some great talents. He got a strong arm.

He can make some great throws on the run. But when every play begins and ends with you rolling to the right, that's you faced him. That's kind of the, that's the book on him. He doesn't trust the pocket. He wants to move to the right and throw. Yeah, he just moves. I mean, he turns everything into a sprint out.

And if you're a left tackle and you're trying to set up, up a pocket and you're like, okay, I'm going to deep set this guy and make him run the hoop and run around and have Baker step up. And then you got this guy running to the right. You're just setting up the defensive end for a sack. By the way, would you pay Dak the money? Yes. No question. Yes. No question, Zax. I think you look at Baker. That's just use Baker. We're talking about him. You look at Baker. He was drafted number one overall. Look at Dak. He was fourth round. I mean, I'm just not that confident in the draft. And I think that Dak, he's got some great, great qualities as a leader, as a man, as a football player.

I think he's deserving. He's over-deserving. All right, fair. He's got, boy, he's been on the cheap. I'll tell you that. He's won more games and gotten paid less than any guy I can remember in my life. And Russell Wilson was number one for a long time and he finally got paid. It's Orlando Scandrick. We got our second hour coming up. Brady, third hour. Brady Quinn. His thoughts on Ohio State Clemson, a controversial outcome. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the I-Heart

radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hour three, so fired up. Brady, Quinn, in 15 minutes. We're talking college football, LSU, Clemson, Ohio State. We won't talk Oklahoma. That was ugly. This is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, Channel 83, Series XM. Joy and I were talking about this earlier.

If you want to change college football, we have a lob-sided problem where once again, Clemson's facing an SEC power, rinse and repeat. It just, I mean, the college football fans that complain about the lack of parity in the NBA, I just laugh at that. I'm like, what, Clemson against put in the SEC power. The only way you can change this is not extending the playoff. That's superficial. That's just, if you want to change college football, 70 scholarships per program.

And so a great running back who can go to these big powers like Clemson, Ohio State, LSU, Georgia, Alabama, there are so many scholars. is available on a yearly basis. They can take kids they know can't play to just keep them away from rivals. So you've got this lob-sided nature where you've got Clemson, Ohio State, LSU, Georgia, Bama, way up here. And then even Oklahoma's a gap below. Oregon, Washington, good schools, a gap below. So we'll talk to Brady Quinn about that.

I think you just have to limit scholarship so that everybody, even Clemson, has an injury or two, and they suddenly have a hole on the football team. These teams now, like Ohio State have so many great players, their backups are NFL guys. LSU's got 38 NFL guys on two deeps. I mean, it's ridiculous. Right. Well, on the plus side, when Ohio State and Clemson play, we get an incredible game.

Yes. But the other game, that's much. LSU had 49 and half. Listen, it was a thrill for me to watch Joe Burrow be the greatness that I think he is. But, you know, it was like five hours of that. Yeah. Brady Quinn in 15 minutes, he's just outstanding. He'll be joining us to talk about the controversy in that game.

Also, the three-word game, we wrap up the NFL season, regular season. Every game described in succinct fashion with three words. Let's start with San Francisco in Seattle last night in the Pacific Northwest. Exciting finish to the regular season, Niners and Seahawks and San Francisco locking up the number one seed in the NFC. It was great. When I was a kid growing up, Muhammad Ali was a heavyweight champ. He felt like a heavyweight champ. The personality, suave and smart and dancing and talented and athletic.

Then I saw Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson felt like a heavyweight champ. He could knock over a battleship with a left hook. And there was George Foreman. And a lot of guys felt like heavyweight champs. Then there was Larry Holmes. He had a good jab. I never liked Larry Holmes.

He never felt like the best heavyweight on the planet or should be. When I watch San Francisco, they feel like Ali, Tyson, George Foreman. That's what a number one seed should look at. eight yards of play, 11 yards a pass, going into Seattle and beating a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame quarterback. San Francisco is a number one seed in the NFC, and they look like it and they feel like it. Their coach is an A plus Kyle Shanahan. Their quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is an A to an A minus, but he's clutch. Defensive line talent when healthy is scary.

Offensive line tackles are excellent. Add the fullback, excellent. Special teams capable, weapon. B plus to A minus, they knock teams out. That is Ollie. That is Tyson. Green Bay, give me a break. That's Larry Holmes.

Finesse, they didn't lead Detroit all year. Now, they beat them twice, but they didn't lead the Detroit Lions all year when they played them. Two clock expiring field goals to win it. New Orleans doesn't feel like a number one seed because they played San Francisco at home and they couldn't beat them. Seattle love them, but way too Russell Wilson dependent. And Philadelphia, resilient as hell. Great story, but they're not a number one seed. They're a one and done in the playoffs.

I think Seattle beats them. Listen, we watch San Francisco and Baltimore. That's Ali Frazier. That's the big boys. Those teams play 10 times. Baltimore, San Francisco split at 5, 5 or 6.4. It was like watching Ohio State Clemson. Those teams played 10 times.

They split it right down the middle. Ohio State, end of the day, can completely. playing about officials, but they had the ball, they had the moment, and couldn't make the play. If they played Clemson another nine times, they'd probably make the play on five, six, or four, or five of them. San Francisco has earned the number one seat in the better conference. I watched Green Bay. I thought it would have been a shame for Green Bay to get home field advantage.

I don't think they're a number one seat. I don't think they're close to San Francisco. I don't think they're close to New Orleans. And I got to be honest, I think Seattle and Philadelphia could both go into Lamble. Bowen win. I have watched Aaron Rogers all year. Do you see what he did in the last month? He completed less than 60% of his throws, had a quarterback rating in the high 70s. He's not very good. He's just not right now very consistent. So San Francisco, that is what a number one seed looks like. Kyle Shanahan after summing it up, really, the great heavyweight champs can beat you in more ways than

one, and that's what the Niners did all season long. I'm very proud of the guys. We've had to win a lot of different ways this year. I keep feeling like we've done it every way possible, and then we find a new way to do it. Wish it wouldn't have been that close at the end, but it doesn't matter now. Pumped how they finished it. All right, now let's shift gears to the AFC and the Cleveland Browns.

The Cleveland Browns are going to be giving Baker Mayfield his third playbook and his third head coach in three years. There was a sportscaster nationally that took a lot of flack, when he said Baker's not a number one pick. Freddie Kitchens is a ridiculous head coaching hire, and Baker is not talented enough to overcome the dysfunction he will inherit in Cleveland. Oh, wait, that was me. Here's the problem.

Go ahead, fire Freddy Kitchens. But the best candidates, Ron Rivera, not interested. He'll take the Washington job today. Lincoln Riley, Urban Meyer, sources tell me, neither's interested. Urban Wood, listen to the Cowboys. And Matt Rule already came out through a source at another network and said, I'm not interested. That leaves you with two legitimate candidates, neither a great candidate. There's the kid named Josh McDaniels in New England, who's never won without Brady and was a disaster in Denver.

And there's Mike McCarthy, Green Bay's winning more without him. And that's the problem when you fire coaches one after another after another. The message is, don't take the job. Ron Rivera isn't even going to interview with Cleveland, instead take the wildly dysfunctional Washington job. He could have both. Josh McDaniels, good luck. Good luck.

I saw it in Denver without Tom Brady. Josh McDaniels thought Tim Tebow was a first round pick. I'm a sportscaster. I knew he wasn't. Two things, though, with the new coach for Cleveland. Here's two things you've got to do right. Number one, you got to hire an alpha male. Freddie Kitchens never felt big enough, secure enough, experienced enough.

You could see OBJ and Jarvis Landry once they sense blood. They were talking back to him on every other series. Freddie Kitchens was not big enough to own Baker. That's the first thing. You got to get a man, a Jack Del Rio, an Anthony Lentite, walks into a room and says, Zip it. The second thing Cleveland has to do, and this is going to be very difficult, is hire a coach that can go to the general manager and they can reassess Baker Mayfield.

He ain't that good. He cannot be the face of the franchise. He's not mature enough. You have to build around these excellent running backs and this excellent defensive front and John Dorsey, the GM, who drafted the wrong quarterback, and pick the wrong coach, has to have a sit down with a new coach, and they both have to reassess Baker Mayfield, who is currently the third best quarterback in his division,

maybe fourth, and when the Bengals get Joe Burrow, he will be the fourth best quarterback in his division. He's not even the top five best young AFC quarterback. He's not close to Lamar. He's not close to Josh Allen physically. He's not Donald. He's not Deshawn. He's not Patrick Mahomes.

At best he's sixth. after the Chiefs take Burrow and the Chargers maybe get Justin Herbert, he's not in the top seven best young quarterback talents in the AFC. And he sure as hell isn't mature enough to be the face of the franchise. So that's where you're at, Cleveland. I'm looking for a bunch of boxes to get checked. There's not really a guy out there. Oh, there is Ron Rivera.

There is Urban Meyer. Neither will take it. So you're going to be left with Mike McCarthy, kind of looks Cleveland. He's got experience. He's an offensive guy. He does have a Super Bowl, though we don't give him a ton of credit for it. McCarthy feels like not a great candidate, but a great candidate for Cleveland. And that's where the franchise is at. Six and ten, about to after the draft, have the fourth best quarterback in the division. They have to reassess and re-identify who the real franchise face is, it can't be Baker.

You can't have a guy arguing with Bengal fans, challenging them to fight to be the face of the franchise. Nick Chubb, new coach, defensive stalwart, I'm good with that. But six and ten, that's where we're at. That's what you are. McCarthy checks most of the boxes. I think they're going to offer him the job because Josh, McDaniels will have other suitors or stay in New England.

And that's where we're at. Does Brady Quinn think Ohio State got job by the officials? That's what I'm hearing this morning, Brady Quinn, around the corner. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite there. Care Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month,

I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it,

and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

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

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is CliverTaylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama wants you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

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

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the He has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying.

He run up the court licking his fingers while he got the ball. After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Red Box Bowl kicks off today. It's the Cow Golden Bears battling Lovey Smith's fighting Illinois. Catch all the action starting at 3.30 Eastern on Fox and the Fox Sports app.

Lovey Smith, I like Cal on this game, but if Illinois wins it, Lovey Smith first winning season, and they played very, very well down the stretch. They got an interesting defense. They upset Wisconsin. Wisconsin. That's right. All right, Brady Quinn, we got 12 minutes with Brady Quinn. So listen.

Ohio State fans are going crazy. Because I said it, Clemson was my bowl lock of the year. And my first takeaway in the game was Clemson had not played a great schedule. So the first quarter, it's like facing Mike Tyson when you've had sparring partners. Clemson was like, whoa, slow the game's way too fast. And then they got the helmet call. They got low momentum. And then it was about seven and a half yards of play for two hours.

But you don't like the officiating. No, I don't like the officiating. It felt like it went against Ohio State more often than not, excluding the targeting call, which I think that rule in particular, there needs to be something done to change so a player like Sean Wade isn't ejected from that game. Okay, I agree, but it is a penalty, right? Shouldn't it be? You can call it a penalty, but then at least allow him to stay in the game.

And then it still doesn't take away from a schematic advantage that you have now, having a backup who they targeted right away. When Amir Reap went in the game, there was a shot down field, right away and you knew they were going to try to pick on that weakness. That was something that we saw when Michigan was trying to attack Ohio State's secondary in that matchup. So to me, it played too big of an advantage, I think, for Clemson in that regard, even though that is the rule. It's the catch that was a fumble, that was a return that got overturned.

You know, that's the play that I think really changed the momentum in this game. And it's not that Ohio State didn't have chances to win. They didn't have a good red zone offense in the first half, or you can credit Clemson's defense for stepping up. But that one point, could have drastically changed the momentum of the game. And I think, you know, you have to look for solutions with how do we go about fixing this? Because I reverted back to watching a play that was controversial in the Fiesta Bowl back in 2005 when we were playing Ohio State. Anthony Gonzalez caught the ball. He turned, got a couple feet down.

Then as he went to tuck it, he ended up fumbling. Tommy Zimbakowski returned to back to the end zone for a touchdown. Could have completely changed the momentum of that game. That was the first year we had replay in college football. the first postseason. We're now 15 years later and we're still having issues with how we go about implementing it. So I just think they need to be more specific and looking at once we go to replay, do we just need to re-officiate the play and not take into account what what the call was on the field? Because the criticism by Buckeye fans, and I think on the, especially on the,

on the targeting thing, listen, don't lower your head against the court. Just just, just you got to be taught better. You lower your head and hit a quarterback. It's over. It's the execution of the play. and that's something, again, you can talk about the ejection how that impacted it, but you're right. That penalty is not one that you can really point to and say, this changed the outcome of the game. Again, the fumble return for a touchdown, that one more did. I think you do have to talk about the merits of replay and how we go about using it moving forward because we haven't seen on a consistent basis then be able to implement it where I think we see a play like this,

and we all go, okay, that shouldn't be overturned because nothing looks indisputable in that case. Yeah, no, my initial thought was it wasn't a catch. and then they gave him a catch. So I thought they butchered the initial call. But then I do get the Ohio State criticism of that's a huge overreach. Because I don't think the replay indisputably turn the call around. Look, bottom line, Ohio State had opportunities to win that football game. No question.

You can talk about the first half. We can talk about the end of the game. We're not blaming this on officiating. I just think moving forward, much like we saw in the NFC championship game, where you had an egregious penalty or no call in that case, and you're looking for solutions moving forward. I think this is a case where in college football, we do need to find a better solution for replay,

how it's implemented. And so we don't get calls like this where I think you see probably the majority of people looked at and thought it shouldn't have been overturned. Whatever the call was, whether it was incomplete or complete, it shouldn't have been overturned. That I agree with. It was an overreach.

And by the way, the Seahawks, San Francisco game came down to a call. When you get great teams playing late, these games are just, I couldn't tell you the last big game I watched where I didn't think a call or a replay was butchered. And now you can make the argument calls will get butchered. Replay should never be butchered. That's a fair argument too. And that's where we're at.

That's the crossroads where we're at is we've got the technology. Everyone at home has the technology and the ability to see these plays and have just as good of an angle as the officials in the replay booth. And we're having a hard time all coming to a determination as far as how that should be called and what should be made. And whether or not we want to continue to keep giving credits of what the call is on the field. and then how replay ends up impacting that. And if we should just completely re-officiate the play altogether. Okay, so I love Clemson, and I pick them to win the national championship. But I'm going to be honest, football's about matchups.

And what I see when Clemson plays LSU is Joe Burrow, I don't think Clemson generates much of a pass rush. And Joe Burrell is going to have six seconds to throw. Even though I'm a Clemson guy on this stuff, I kind of feel like LSU has the one big advantage. I think Burrell is going to have all day to throw, and I'm not sure Trevor Lawrence is going to have all day to throw. It's a fair assessment in looking at the two teams.

I think the fascinating thing about this LSU offense and just how Joe Burroughs operated within it is, when they brought in Joe Brady become the passing game coordinator, one of the things he does and allows Joe Burrow to be successful, but all quarterbacks is when you can get answers to the test before the play starts, right? So formationally, when you look out these empty formations, in particular when they use the running back or Clyde Edwards-Elair, when he's all the way on the outside of a formation,

it's going to give you a coverage indicator, right? Man or zone? And so if it's man, Joe Burrell's already sitting there saying, where's my matchup? Who am I picking on within this defense? Where's your weak spot that I'm going to put pressure on all game long until you stop it? If it's zone, now he's looking for the weakness within the zone coverage and what concept works based on the three-man, two-man side of those empty formation. So those are some of the things that have allowed Burr to win a Heism this year.

The counter to that is with Isaiah Simmons and what Brett and Venerable does their defense coordinator Clemson. A lot of stuff. They disguise a lot of stuff. And Isaiah Simmons, who's their nickel slash linebacker but plays safety. And you don't have to go back any further than just watching the interception he had versus Justin Fields. He gave a look as if he was playing the middle of field safety, right? He all of a sudden had snap the football runs to the half field and ends up actually picking off that football on the sidelines.

Brent Venerables makes it incredibly complicated after the snap. And that's going to be the challenge for Joe Burrell. game is even if he has time, it's going to be diagnosing after the snap where he needs to go with the football. And then on the flip side with Trevor Lawrence, keep an eye on this. If you go back and watch that semifinal game, House State plays a lot, a lot of man-to-man coverage. We'll have great corner. And we don't look at Trevor Lawrence as a running quarterback. But if you go back and look at the times he took off the passing game versus man-to-man, the times they ran some of the zone read and some of the other quarterback run game versus man-to-man. You know who else likes to play a lot of man-to-man coverage?

LSU. LSU. And it's going to be interesting to see how that. that matchup plays an impact on the play calling for Clemson moving forward because it was it worked by the way it worked and they know they've got in their back pocket and now that he's capable of that that to me makes him even more dangerous in the pocket throwing because if they start playing zone coverage that young man will pick you apart he is as good of a prospect for that 2021 draft i think as if we've seen maybe since Andrew luck and before that uh paid manning but you know again completely different prospect and sense of his athleticism arm strength pocket movement all those things. Trevor Lawrence has it all. Okay, I've always said you can tax people,

you can tax the rich more, but it doesn't solve poor people's primary issue. That's superficial. Rich people will still be rich. They're not just handing poor Americans the rich money. It goes to a government and programs. It's an easy thing and everybody goes, yeah, more taxes on the rich, but it doesn't solve a lot of the problems. What solves all problems with disparities of income is better schools, freer schools, more access to computers, blah, blah, blah, blah. I have the same feeling about college football. A bigger playoff is superficial.

Yeah, let's just let more two lost big 12 teams in. The way to change college football is limit scholarships. If you go to 70 instead of 85, Alabama doesn't have a third great running back and a fourth NFL corner. They have injuries.

They have average units. I think we have a lobsided sport, and I don't think a bigger playoffs solves the fairness issue. Well, I'll say this and a lot of people have complained about the outcomes of some of the semifinal games. I would think this year would be one though where you can't really make an argument because as much as you look at the LSU Oklahoma matchup, then there's Ohio State Clemson, which was a fantastic game. Either team really could have won that down the stretch.

So more often than not, the semifinals have been blowouts, but I think if you expand, you're still going to have a few of those matchups, but you're also going to have some more competitive football. Because I think one thing that we've seen, at least over recent years, is it's basically been Clemson and Bama this year being the exception of it being LSU. So it's pretty much been a two-team playoff anyway, at least in recent history, since the playoff has started. So you could probably make a case either way for an expansion or saying you really could have just had it down to these two teams playing off almost every year. They've been two of the best teams every year more often than not. To your point about scholarships, here's the issue, Colin, is what do you do about Title IX?

Because you're limiting scholarships now for men's sports, which technically it has to be one for one when you look at what you provide on the other side for female sports. I would take football, specialize it, almost privatize it, and make it a different business than the rest of the athletic department. And that's taking on a huge challenge, right? Like what you just said, okay, it sounds good in theory. But then you hear less scholarships. Okay, that doesn't seem as inclusive. I don't necessarily know that we want to take less away, right? Especially with more programs, you know, joining FBS.

I think people would want more opportunities. Now, does it make some sense as far as how it would impact teams? Of course. but I listened to you earlier say some teams are, you know, they're trying to find players to stash them on the roster so other schools don't have them. That doesn't happen because much like we see with the draft with organizations having a hard time sometimes

be able to make it work for certain players, it's the same thing for players who go to different schools at a high school. It's just as difficult evaluating them and what they're going to be once they come to your university. So we obviously need to do something to try to find a way for more parody in college football. Yes. I don't know that limiting scholarships is the way I'd go about,

doing it. Okay, that's fair. That's fair. Finally, I was not a Baker fan. I never had been. I didn't like the temperament. I think being a quarterback takes a certain, I need you to be mature at 22. It's not my problem if you're not. That's why I'm going to interview your mom, your dad, your cousins, your coach. I don't demand that for other positions. What do you, the baker, Freddie, third coach. Can you just put a ball on it? How do you solve this? Yeah, it starts at the top for me. so it starts with ownership because what the Browns lack right now what they've really lacked since 1999

is culture and it's hard to build a culture when you have so many moving pieces and if you go back and look at the track record since Jimmy Haslam has taken over as the owner, majority of the Browns in 2012 you've got two times now he's fired a coach after one year. Rob

Chazinski back in 2013 and now Freddie Kitchens and then you could go on through the list of different head coaches they've had so at some point you have to realize what head coach wants to walk into that scenario where whatever you're saying to him on the way in, he's probably thinking in the back of his head, like a year from now, it could be an entirely different story, much like Freddie Kitchens is dealing with right now. And so, you know, I think when you look at some of the problems that Baker has had,

whether it's playing or just how he's been off the field, they have been enabled because you've got a culture there in Cleveland where from the top, there's no stability. There's no consistency. I mean, I feel bad for Baker and every other quarterback since I was there because how, How can you expect them to be able to go through that three-year cycle that I think you're looking for and be successful? First year, you're trying to learn your playbook. You're trying to learn what your offense is mastering that. Second year, you're then learning what the defense is trying to do to attack you. And the third year, you're just playing.

That should be the year where you can really cut it loose. We're two years into this with Baker, and he's already had two different head coaches. And two different playbooks. And he could be on to another one. And so now you're talking about a different language that you've got to speak to communicate those plays, potentially different personnel. I mean, and that's part of that learning process in the first year is, you know, your first year with O'Dell Beckham, how does he come out of his routes?

You know, what's he like when he has an option route or downfield with his speed and his burst? Can he hit that next gear to go get the football? All those things you're trying to figure out engage in your first year playing with that guy. And so unfortunately, because of how Jimmy Haslam has handled the head coaching position, it's not provided an environment or a culture that when Baker Mayfield steps out of liner does something that we kind of sit back and go, that's not what a franchise quarterback does. There's not really that culture there, whether it's a player

or coach, anyone within the organization to step in and say, like, that's not how we do things here. And so that that to me is the problem with Cleveland right now. And unfortunately, you know, now they're looking for their next head coach. And I think because the track record, you've got to be worried about who that next guy is. I have no idea why they didn't interview

Mike McCarthy last year. It just, it blows my mind considering the success he had at Green Bay. He's out there for you. And apparently they didn't even get an interview with him. Now finally, it sounds like they will this year. But until they provide a head coach an opportunity to be there for a while and then actually get through some of that adversity, I just don't know how you're ever going to build it up so you can make this franchise competitive with especially some of the other more stable franchise in the NFL when you talk about Baltimore and Pittsburgh who are sitting

there right in your own division. Yeah. Brady Quinn, good stuff comes and disagrees with me. I love that. I love that. Brady Quinn, great having you on the show. I'm told you have a big meeting. Oh, by the way, by the way, you are Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, Reggie Bush, Matt Liner, Brady Quinn. You guys did an amazing job. Are you guys going to be doing the pregame stuff for the Cal Illinois game? I've got to run in the next studio now. Get ready for that. All right.

Brady's coming. Stop yelling at me. Joy with the news. Thank you, buddy. No, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, the Patriots had a chance to lock up a first round by in the playoffs, but lost to my dolphins, 27, 24, and dropped to the third seed.

How about that offense for Miami? You know, I got to be honest, I did not expect it. Now, the dolphins are tricky. They do this thing where they beat the Patriots at the end of the year. Every year. But it's usually in Miami. So they tricked me this year. Now we're doing it on the road.

If I said this, this sounds crazy. Coaches of the year, Doug Peterson and Brian Flores. No, I think Brian Flores should get votes. Mike Tomlin. To me, great coaching is overcoming. I'm sorry, but Miami, that's the best. tank job in the history of American sports? Well, I mean, if you're trying to tank, no.

But if you your original identity was a tanking team and you turn out the way that the dolphins have, absolutely. I mean, we've talked about it all year. The dolphins don't play like a team that's tanking. They started off like 0 and 7. So how many

wins they end up with five? Four, five. They end up with five wins. And so they're basically if they were a 500 team at the end of the year. I don't want to over react too much because there's are it's going to the roster is going to look different but I do think that the important piece there is Brian Flores and he's shown me that he he is capable and he has he's

building a culture there that I like I just don't want them to get don't thank you Ryan Fitzpatrick great job this season yeah don't get crazy okay but here's no I agree but here's what I'll say they got better on both sides of the ball this year now defensively they just don't have many dudes. But offensively, he's a defensive coach. Offensively, they at the end of the year could drop points on you. They could move the ball at the end of the year. I'm very proud of the Dolphins this year. But the Patriots will now host the Titans in the wild card round because they did not beat the dolphins, who were they very much supposed to beat? And Tom Brady's disappointed they couldn't get the job done. It was a great chance for us to not play next week. So we didn't

take advantage of it. We just didn't play good enough. And we always should have done a better job. Certainly I do. Well, the Patriots haven't had a first round by. Well, it's the first time the Patriots haven't had a first round by in the playoffs in 10 years. They lost to the Ravens in the wildcard game the last time that that happened. Poor Clay Travis. They're going to go up there and lose. He's going to lose his mind.

They're not going to go up there and win. Even though I'll say this about Tennessee offensively, they're fun to watch. I'm not going to lose my mind. I've been riding with the Patriots all year despite all of their perceived, not even going to call it dysfunction. It's not dysfunction. All of their issues that. everyone has been freaking out about all year.

And it was pretty much exhibited in that game against the Dolphins. But their five-point favorites are at home, according to Foxbat. They win that game. Then they go on the road and play the Chiefs. Oh, they're going to get blasted, I think. I think they're in big trouble. I want to see how this game

goes before I predict the Chiefs game. I want to see how this goes. But look, the Titans are... They got a lot of offensive pieces, man. They can go over the top. I like their tight end. Derek Henry, their offensive line. Tanny Hill can move. They are a dynamic offense. They will score on New England.

Five points is a lot to give Tennessee. I think New England wins, but I think it's really good to the very last series. Yeah. Well, the Redskins have reportedly found their next head coach. Rahmavara is meeting with the team today to discuss becoming the team's next head coach. But the Washington Post is now reporting that talks are progressing more slowly than expected. And a deal is not yet in play. That's what the Washington Post is reporting.

The Washington Post is saying. So maybe they're just, you know, ironing out some details. But Rivera would be the seventh head coach hired by owner Dan Snyder. They haven't made the playoffs since 2015. Haven't won a postseason game since 2005. And they ranked 19th in attendance and 30th and percentage of seats used this season. They also fire their president, Bruce Allen, the team president. They were 60102 since he joined the team in 2009.

Yeah, he didn't work. I think Ron Rivera would be a great hire for any team that has an opening. I did find it kind of interesting that this is where he is reportedly going to land because if he has his choice of any situation, which we're assuming he does. I mean, now that said, the Cowboys job is not available yet. Well, here's what I think happened. I think Washington talked big money and he stepped up and he got close and then somebody else called and somebody else called. And I think Ron Rivera's got three offers right now. and I think he got his first offer he wanted to coach

and Snyder probably pays well and so he got all excited and then all of a sudden his agent said by the way you can have this job that job this job and he's saying Dwayne Haskins I don't know if I want to take Dwayne into battle with Daxe twice a year and Wendz twice a year and Daniel Jones twice a year I'm just saying I think Ron's going to get a better offer than that and you're as good as your quarterback and asleep.

So you don't think he's going to end up with Washington. I think he's a smart guy and I think he's a smart guy and I think he's going to get multiple offers here, and I think some of these offers are better than Washington. Dwayne Haskins is your guy. I would like to see Ron Rivera with the Giants. Oh, I think he, that to me is the best fit. He, they would win, they would be a, they would be a very good team.

I'm not saying great. He would turn the Giants around with one draft. They'd be good next year. I think so too. I think that's the best fit for him. Finally, LeBron James has been named the AP male athlete of the decade over the last 10 years. He won more games in MVP award than school. more points than any other NBA player.

Obviously, also played in eight straight NBA finals, took home three championships, two with Miami 1 in Cleveland. And he also recorded his 9,000th career assists Sunday. So he is now the first player in NBA history with at least 30,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, and 9,000 assists. He's always been a great passer. Much better passer than Jordan, much better passer than Kobe. I mean, he's not magic, but he, LeBron is...

He's not magic in that... Magic is magic. Like magic's, magic had a flare to his passing that, you know, defined his game. But yes, LeBron is, I mean, I think he's 1A to Magic when it comes to assists. LeBron's one of the four or five greatest passer distributors. I mean, he's got great court vision. Larry Bird was great. Magic's great.

Stockton, Isaiah. Most guys that were great were point guards. He's a power forward. He also leads the league and assists with 10.8. And it's his birthday. So, happy birthday, LeBron. LeBron is 35. Wow.

He's aged well. Yes, I would say like LeBron and Don Brady and Drew Brees all in a category of aging very well. We should have done something much more for LeBron's 35th birthday. We just threw it at the end of the show. We should have been more dramatic about it. Yeah, I mean, it's we talked. Happy birthday, LeBron James. Yeah, I mean, it seems bigger than just a throwaway line.

Well, you know what's important about that, Colin? It's also Tiger Woods birthday today? Capricorns. And Carson Wences. Are you guys just throwing crap against a wall? Is that true? Is it really Carson Wences' birthday too? And Tiger and LeBron and Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

No. And Oprah. These guys are just saying stuff in my ear. It is LeBron James' birthday today and he is a Capricorn and we're both Capricorn. We are. Is it a Capricorn? It's Capricorn season. I thought Capricorn was J-1, January 1st.

So Capricorn is- No, it starts in December, yeah. Really? So we're both Capricorns. My wife is and so is LeBron. And Carson Wentz. You know what they say about Capricorns? We're the best. Smartest, most dominant people ever made. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line News. Are we stubborn? We're strong-willed and stubborn. Well, yeah, so we're goats. So we're climbers.

We're climbers. You're a climber. I'm a climber. I'm definitely a climber. I love climbing. I climb all day long. Coming up next to three-word NFL game, we can describe every NFL game in three words. Want to hear something amazing? Discover matches all the cash back you earn into your first year automatically. No limit on how much they'll match. Go to Discover.com slash cash back match. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Vic Sinak's nasal spray works within seconds lasts up to 12 hours. I just read here from somebody I trust that Revere probably does take the wash and job. I don't think it's the best job out there. I think Duane Haskins is your quarterback. I think he's not close to Carson Wentz. I don't think he's as good as DAC and I don't think he's as good as Daniel Jones. I think you could be the best coach in the world. If you have the fourth best quarterback in a division, you're not winning the division much. So I don't think, you know, they'll pay him a lot of money. He'll have control. But I think you have to strongly consider like one more year with DeWain Haskins. If he doesn't grow substantially, you've got to draft

another quarterback. That's a tough place to be. I think you have to look at your quarterback and your ownership stability. And I think the New York Giants have Daniel Jones and the Mara family. I like that. That to me, I got my owner's good. I got my quarterback who's good. And my GM's got one year left. He's either good or we fire him.

I like that job the best. All right, we call it the three-word game. Here we go. Three-word game, best for last. Brown's bingles, every NFL game, three words. Kitchen's Nightmare Over. The Haslam's own the team. I've now had six coaches since you can play.

music beneath that. Six coaches since 2012. Utter chaos, Freddie Kitchens, won and done, should have never been made head coach, but the GM John Dorsey wanted control, and by hiring a guy that had never been a coach, he gained it. Saints Panthers, good luck, Kirk. Kirk Cousins now faces a New Orleans team that has made life difficult for virtually every quarterback they've faced. Kirk Cousins against teams with winning records is 1 and 4 and completes 55% of his throws,

now has to face the Saints, get into a shootout with Drew Breeze, in perhaps the loudest stadium in the NFL, the Superdome. Chargers Chiefs, Rivers runs dry. Philip Rivers this year, 23 touchdowns and 20 picks. Got a very emotional after the game. Listen, we can like a guy. but also like changing the guy because he's no longer good enough at the position. Packers Lions still not convinced.

Lions lost 12 with our last 13 games, and did they give Green Bay a struggle both times? I just don't think the Packers are explosive enough on the defensive side of the ball, and I think outside of Devante Adams, Aaron Rogers doesn't trust any of these wide receivers. I would not be shocked if they lost at Lambo their first home playoff game. Jets Bills, maybe without mono. Listen, Sam Darnold got mono and it was man overboard, season over.

But he won six of his last eight with a regrettable offensive line. He completed 61% of his throws, 13 TDs, four picks. They're going to address the offensive line, Joe Douglas, who's the new, GM is going to address the offensive line. I think the future is pretty bright. C.J. Mosley comes back. If he doesn't get mono, maybe it's not 7 and 9. and 7, and they're knocking on the door like Tennessee for a playoff spot.

Bears Vikings, Vikings didn't care. Anthony Barr sat, Delvin Cook sat, Kirk Cousinsack, Eric Kendrick sat. Nobody cared for Minnesota. They're already in the playoffs. Dolphins Patriots, bye-bye. Bye-bye. Patriots have had a buy a lot of years, and it's over. Now they go on the road.

The Patriots are 27 and 7 with a buy since 2001. They're 3 and 3 without a buy. It matters. Falcons bucks, 30 for 30. James Winston's now the first NFL quarterback ever, with 30 touchdown passes and 30 picks. The Falcons Dion Jones right there. Pick Winston first play of overtime for the pick six.

Bruce Ariens nailed it. There's a lot of good and there's a lot of terrible. You know, in college, I didn't love his judgment and instincts. And in the NFL, it's the same. I got talent. I got bad instincts. He just makes terrible throws. Redskins Cowboys.

A little too late. I mean, Dak had almost 5,000 yards throwing. They had a lot of big games, but two of their last three games were their best. games of the season. I just thought this team all year long could not figure out what their identity was. I think at the end of the year, they found it. But this is an organization where Jerry has a lot of his kids and a lot of his friends who are indebted to him in the organization.

I think they need to make great change. And as Joy said earlier, Jason Garrett has not been fired yet. He has not been fired yet. Don't say that's 100%. Steelers Ravens, good with backups. Earl Thomas didn't play. Mark Ingram didn't play. Lamar Jackson didn't play.

Ravens still won their 12th. They played. Titans, Texans, nine and seven. Four straight year. First team in NFL history. To go nine and seven, it's actually fundamentally a very good offense.

They will take up to Foxborough. They can run it with Eric Henry. they can go over the top. They can do time possession control. Tanyhill can throw deep, intermediate. He can run. They're a tough out. They're going to score some points.

The offensive coordinator changed this year mattered, and they've got a lot of weapons, and moving to Tanna Hill over Marriota was the right call. Eagles Giants, Philly really special. Second time three years, the Eagles win the division, and Carson Wentz had to carry this franchise, only quarterback now in NFL history. that throws for over 4,000 yards and did not have a single receiver over 500 yards receiving.

That tells you it's a bunch of average receivers and a really, really talented quarterback. By the way, one passing TD for Wents in all 16 games, he's special. Colts Jags, quarterback needed here. Jacoby Brissette, four passing touchdown since week eight. If you look at the NFL draft order, the Colts pick 13th. The Jags pick nine, and I would suggest. just both draft a quarterback. Cardinals Rams,

closing the Coliseum. Rams played the last game at the Coliseum, now sharing it with USC. There's the new stadium. So-Fi Stadium in Inglewood, which is about 15 minutes from my house, and I fly over it a couple of times a month. They say it's going to be the most

remarkable football stadium in America. Raiders, Broncos, save me money. I said I'd buy two. Raiders season tickets if they went eight and eight. They lost yesterday to go seven, nine. So, yeah, I was going to be one of the guys in the black hole there, but instead, I just saved me some money. Geico and the Raiders saved me money. They lost five of their last six. They really need to solve some defensive issues. I like their offense. They've got clever

pieces. Clearly, Gruden has a feel for the offensive part of the game. They drafted it very well. 49ers Seahawks finally, game of inches. Seattle at the ball. to one, 23 seconds left, then a delay a game, set them back to the six. There's your final play. Some thought there was a pass interference. Listen, Seattle doesn't feel like a one or two seed. They're two Russell Wilson dependent, but they should be lauded for having an absolutely unbelievable season.

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

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