The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Steelers-Browns, Myles Garrett, Baker Mayfield, & the Blazing 5

Episode Date: November 15, 2019

Colin discusses the violent end of the Steelers-Browns Thursday night game, Myles Garrett's suspension, Baker Mayfield's response, and his new Blazing 5 picks for the weekend. Guests include Danny Kanell, Eric Dickerson, DeForest Buckner, Jason McIntyre, and T. J. Houshmandzadeh. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played. with and just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to listen to learn the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up guys

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, Ms. Parker.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching herd.

Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go in a lively. Suspension-filled, fine-filled Friday. This is the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, I Heart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1, Blazing 5, my strongest, I swear to you,

of the year in one hour. Feel great with my Blazing 5. Joy Taylor from Pittsburgh. Mason Rudolph may have driven her nuts last night for the first three and a half hours. you find yourself defending him after that debacle, that embarrassing league-wide debacle last night. Let's blame it on the Browns, not the NFL. What did you think?

Well, I mean, we're going to discuss that all day. But, I mean, it's a rivalry and tensions are high, but you can never turn the game off. You've got to watch the very last second. You do. And let me start with that. The NFL has come down. Breaking News, Miles Garrett, suspended indefinitely out for the year, out for playoffs. so Cleveland thought they won last night.

You're still behind the Steelers and the standings. Let me start with this. Stop defending Miles Garrett. Ohio, get off the internet. You've embarrassed yourself long enough in the league for your play. You're embarrassing yourself for defending Miles Garrett. If I jumped you in a bar and then seven seconds later hit you over the head with a beer bottle, in those seven seconds when I'm on top of you,

you have a right to grab me wherever you want and swing. wildly to defend yourself. Mason Rudolph was illegally attacked a penalty and then a guy 30 pounds heavier than him jumps on top of it. Miles Rudolph can do whatever the hell he wants for those seven seconds between getting hit illegally, penalty, and getting hit over the head with a helmet. It's called self-defense.

Okay, you knock me down and get on me and you're 40 pounds heavier. I'll scratch, claw, grab any part of you I want. That's called self-defense. That is a right in America, a judicial right. Forget sports. Stop it. This is 100% on Miles Garrett. You know what this is in baseball?

This would be, I'm a pitcher, I throw at you, hit you, rush to the plate, grab the bat, and hit you over the fence. And you're making the pitcher the victim. No, no, no, no, no. Mason Rudolph has a right to self-defense as a 40-pound man heavier. 40 pounds heavier is attacking him. I mean, Miles Garrett's one of the NFL leaders in late hits and penalties. You don't know if the guy's wired right. After he throws the helmet, he's not.

So this is 100% on Miles Garrett. I can't walk up to you, tackle you to Barbie on top of you, and you can't fight back. You grab my eyes. You grab your car keys. You stab me. You do whatever. That's self-defense. Then I grab a bottle and bang you over the head with it.

The cops aren't going to come in and go, you know, he's stuck him with car keys in the neck. They're going to go, hey, good move. You got him off you. 100% Miles Garrett. Second thing is there's something called foreshadowing. You see it in movies. You see it in books. It's called foreshadowing.

It's giving clues through a movie. You watch the end of the movie and you go, oh, those were little hints through the movie. A lot of foreshadowing in that game last night. Five or six, helmet-on-helmet hits by the Browns. That was very much Buddy Ryan in the 90s. That was very much Greg Williams. That was very much a message.

and a plan going into that game by Cleveland. That's called foreshadowing. The clues throughout the game. Now, Miles Garrett, because all through the game, you're like, are these incidental helmet-on-helmet hits? These look, and then you watch that, the late hit on Mason and the helmet, foreshadowing. This was a game plan.

Now, Freddie Kitchens got very defensive about that. What do people get defensive about when they're guilty? They get very defensive. Here's Freddie Kitchens, Cleveland's coach, after the game on that. I remember okayed fights. Did you say that? Did you say I okayed fights? I never okayed fights.

Did I want them to get after their ass? Yes, I did. But that's not fighting. That's not after the whistle. But that's between the whistles, yes. I never condoned fighting on a football field because that's penalties. I don't coach penalties. I don't coach false starts.

I don't coach after the whistle grabbing somebody's face masks. I don't coach that. Yeah, either's Greg Williams or buddy. But there's messages, dads and coaches can send. And there was clearly last night. They're coming to our place. Multiple helmet-on-helmot-helt-hielment hits. A Steeler bleeding from the years.

Then the tackle late in the game on Mason-Rudolph, game no longer in doubt, then the helmet. Freddie, nobody thinks you went in there and said, grab a helmet and hit Mason-Rudolph. You don't have to, but there's a culpability and a responsibility as a head coach. Two, as an older man teaching younger men, words matter. And the messaging was clear last night from the opening kickoff. Be dirty and cheap.

The third thing is, if Cleveland would have lost last night, Freddie Kitchens would be fired today because GM John Dorsey wants to fire him to save Baker Mayfield, who he should never have taken with the number one pick. And the owner Jimmy Haslam wants to fire him and maybe John Dorsey. but because Cleveland won, two-game winning streak, chance to make the playoffs. I don't think so, but many do. They won't fire him. But Cleveland does now have an out.

They can be martyrs. Freddie Kitchens is done. It doesn't matter what happens. Freddie Kitchens is done. First of all, they're not getting to the playoffs. They're not beating Baltimore. I don't think they're going to Arizona beating them. They're a mess.

But now they can go, this was outrageous. John Dorsey can go, we are, this is outrageous. This is an embarrassment to the organization. We do not teach that Freddie Kitchens must go. They would do that today if they lost. They would do it today. They'd have an out. They could be martyrs.

But it's Cleveland. Low self-esteem. I mean, listen, there are two games below 500 this morning, and they're all thinking they made the playoffs already. That's Cleveland in a nutshell. Pittsburgh this morning is, you know, a 500 team, and they think, we got to get our stuff together. You wake up this morning, Pittsburgh's still ahead of Cleveland.

Cleveland's already, you know, planning a parade for the playoffs. But Freddie Kitchens would be fired this morning if they lost the game. Because they want him out. Everybody knows they want him out. But Cleveland knows their reputation. The optics are horrible. They don't want to fire another coach after a Steeler game in the season, so they won't fire him. But now they have the out to fire him.

They can be the martyrs. This is outrageous. This is disgusting. We feel terrible. This would never be condoned. Although clearly the messaging last night, we know what it was. Once again, Miles Garrett, out for the year, out for the playoffs. Baseball would do this if you hit somebody with a bat.

A helmet weighs what, four or five pounds, whatever it weighs. Inexcusable. You know, I'm not going to go as far as to call it assault. It's sports assault. Outrageous, 100% in Miles Garrett. I think there was messaging by Cleveland going into that game. And let me then segue to this because Cleveland does deserve, one person does, deserve accolades Baker Mayfield.

Forget his play. I couldn't give a rip. After the game, though, last night, he was what he, rarely is in what I criticize him for. He was a grown-up. He was adult. He was not emotional. He was bottom line. He was totally spot on talking about that vicious play by Miles Garrett. I didn't see why it started, but it's inexcusable. You know, I don't care of rivalry or not. We can't do that. That's kind of the history of, you know, what's been going on here lately, hurting yourself. And that's just endangering the other team. That's inexcusable.

He knows that. I hope he does now. You know what? The reality is he's going to get suspended. We don't know how long and that hurts our team. And we can't do that. We can't continue to hurt this team. That's inexcusable.

Tip of the cap, Baker Mayfield. That's what quarterback should say. No excuses. Don't blame Mason Rudolph like the idiotic brown fans. Totally on us. Totally inexcusable. And by the way, golf clap to Baker Mayfield, who I'm very critical of, spot on.

Inexcusable. But it's not going to change. And this is why Baker's never going to reach his ultimate potential. Baker Mayfield's a lot better than we've seen this year. He's not as good as we saw him at the end of last year against Cincinnati twice. But he's a lot better than this. But he'll never reach his potential in the NFL. He may make a Pro Bowl as a backup.

But I covered the Portland Trailblazers. Oregonian newspaper called him the jailblazers, gave him that term because they were so dysfunctional. The reason they were that dysfunctional is because the general manager, a very smart guy who I like Bob Witsitts, didn't care about character. That was the coach's issue. And Bob would just go find players. The personalities didn't match. They weren't responsible. They weren't adult.

The chemistry stinks. And he would just give it to the coach and say, figure it out. That's John Dorsey. By the way, do you know the Browns actually released a wide receiver before the game last night? Anthony Calloway, knucklehead, drafted, everybody else passed. This is what John Dorsey is. So Baker Mayfield is going to have to over. come, goofy teammates, immature teammates, teammates who hit people with helmets,

teammates who get thrown off the team before a Thursday night game with the Steelers. This is what Baker Mayfield's reality is. When you have a general manager and I covered one and he was really smart and I think John Dorsey's really smart and Bob Witsitt could see talent, I'll never deny that and John Dorsey can see talent, but there are these guys that run these teams that don't care about chemistry. They don't care about, you know, maturity. And I covered one and Dorsey's one.

He doesn't care. He doesn't care. OBJ, who, by the way, is not a character issue, but is a person out. Bring him in for Baker. Kareem Hunt, bring him in. Calloway, bring him in. Coach will figure it out. Well, maybe that works if you got Pete Carroll or Mike Tomlin or Bill Belichick.

It doesn't work if he got Freddie Kitchens, who probably shouldn't even be a head coach. So the reality to Baker-Mayfield's career, suboptimal owner, GM that doesn't give a rip-about character and fourth coach in three years starting next year because Freddie's done. That guaranteed it last night. He'll never reach his potential. It doesn't mean, you know, Baker's better than what you're seeing.

Baker's better than this year. There's no question. But you, Patrick Mahomes is talented enough to overcome. Carson Wentz, Patrick Mahomes, Deshawn Watson. You know, these guys are talented enough. I mean, Andrew Luck overcame a poll. owner, bad GM, terrible line, wrong coach. Baker's not that.

He's not luck. He's not Deshaun. He's not that. He's a fine young quarterback who with a very competent experience coach, Mike McCarthy, with a very good GM who surrounds him, Chris Ballard, with good character guys, an owner that's not impulsive but patient. You know, Baker could end up with a nice 12-year career, make a pro bowl or two maybe as a backup in the AFC, get to a playoff game or two, win one or two.

Not a Super Bowl guy having to carry a team, but this is what he's going to have to deal with. Last night, did anybody watch that game last night? Did you learn anything about Cleveland? They're the most undisciplined team I've ever seen in my life. Even when they win, you're like, oh, I don't feel good about that. Same with Buffalo. Last week we're like, yeah, they won, but oh, they just see them in the red zone. My stomach hurts.

Just a mess. Blazing 5 and 50 minutes. Coming up, the one thing that was crystal clear after watching. the Steelers and the Browns last night. Again, Miles Garrett, suspended indefinitely, out this year, out playoffs if they get there. That's coming up. Wild day today. Blazing 5 and 45 minutes.

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 middle health field and conversations with so many incredible guests i'm talking trip fontaine ryan clark sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing

and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch life becomes about wins and losses steve burns dustin ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. A pin. A pin.

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 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. 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. You know this kid. This linebacker whops up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Look.

Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior. and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month,

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sorts of fines here in suspensions. We are told here at the herd there's going to be multiple players who left the bench, who left it early. Mason Rudolph, the quarterback, did not get fined, has not been suspended. No punishment for the quarterback, nor should there be. He's the quarterback. This is not every other position. It's the highest paid. It's the most important. It's the position you don't hit in practice. The quarterback is different. These are not all the same. It's like your ace in baseball. He only pitches every five days and he's on a pitch count. Second baseman, you're sick.

Get out there. Quarterback is, you see this in business all the time. There are departments in every business and people that have certain access. You don't. Quarterbacks are that employee. You protect them. Once you get drilled late, I don't need any pictures

from Ohio guy. Well, Mason Rudolph, grab this. He can grab whatever he wants. He was illegally hit. He is vulnerable. quarterback can't see it coming. Then somebody balks him on the head with a helmet. I 100% support all quarterbacks here. They can be blindside hit.

They're the most valuable. They're really the least protected. And so I have no, I think the NFL is sending a message. Don't mess with quarterbacks. Period. In fact, I think if Miles Garrett would have done most of this against another player, maybe a four to six game suspension. This is a message by the NFL.

Don't kid yourself. Quarterback, nothing. They got the tape. Nothing. Player out, maybe forever. Okay, so Freddie Kitchens in Cleveland, this is typical Cleveland Browns. They came in wanting to send a message. The NFL sent one to them.

Your best player out indefinitely. Never mess with a quarterback. And I would be defending Baker-Mayfield today if a Steeler did the same thing. You got to protect these quarterbacks. They're not like everybody else. We don't compensate them the same. They wear a special shield at practice. You can't hit them the same.

That's how I've always said this about college football. You can transfer all you want. But I think if you're a college quarterback, you should be able to transfer one time because you put so much irreparable damage if you're bouncing around in and out of programs. And a college coach wakes up one day and goes, I don't have a quarterback. The whole program, you can make it with a bad left tackle. You can't play without a quarterback. And the other thing I saw last night, you know what I watched?

That was a four-hour slog fest between two bad teams. Here's what I saw last night. This is Baltimore's division. It's over. This is Baltimore's division. Baltimore's got the best coach. They got the best identity. They got the best young quarterback by far.

They got the best tight ends. They got the improving defense. Maybe not as good as the Steelers, but it's getting better. They've got experience, a great front office, great scout. to get Marcus Peters. That's what last night was. Everybody thinks it's about Steelers, Browns. That game was about Baltimore.

Season over, division over. These two teams are not playoff teams. And this is what happens in November and the NFL, is that you can start eliminating teams. You see certain things, certain images, like the Rams against the Steelers. You're like, oh, hell, the Rams interior offensive line, that's not fixable.

Rams are not a playoff team. Out. You watched Chicago two weeks ago against Philadelphia. Bears had one first half, first down. Boom. They can't play at the next level against an elite defensive line. And, you know, the NFC's got Phillies line, Cowboys Line, San Francisco, Saints line. So you see these indelible images in November.

You can't cancel a team in like September or October. But by November, 9 or 10 games in, problems, they're too late to fix. You just don't have any remedy. You don't have a trade deadline. It's over. These teams are done. Cleveland, here's how bad Cleveland is. That you didn't know Cleveland had this game wrapped up until Mason Rudolph,

through his fourth pick. You got 120 yards in penalties. This game at home should have been over. Pittsburgh was on their backup quarterback, their third string running back, and lost their two best arguable, two best receivers. And it wasn't done until Mason Rudolph threw his fourth pick because Cleveland's an

undisciplined tire fire. And as for Pittsburgh, they're done. I said this yesterday. It's the AFC. You got Tom Brady. I got Patrick Mahomes. I got Derek Carr. I got Lamar Jackson.

I got the Sean Watson. Mason Rudolph? I mean, come on. Let's just stop the nonsense. Maybe one of these teams sneaks in, but I don't think so. Tennessee's better. Ryan Tanna, he'll can play a little bit. Oakland's better.

Indianapolis has a very... Jacoby Preset's coming back. The Chargers, Philip Rivers. These are awful. I mean, listen, I really love Pittsburgh's history. I love their culture. I love... There's so much I like about Pittsburgh.

But when you get to November, you can just start canceling checks. I mean, you watch the rain. Lam's O-line, you're like, oh, hell, you can't fix that. It's too late. You watch Chicago, Trabisky, they can't move the ball with a good D-line in Philadelphia. That season's over. These teams, this is Baltimore's division. Baltimore's better at everything. Identity, O-line, coach, now secondary, it's over.

This was a mess. This was just, I sat there and thought, if I didn't work for Fox, I mean, I was like, I got to watch this because I got to talk about it tomorrow morning on my show. If I didn't work today, I'd just turn the game off. Those are not playoff teams. Enjoy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. That was a brutal performance to watch by Mason Rudolph. Oh, God. And that's why I said the Steelers should be in the conversation for getting a quarterback next year. Oh, I think they have to draft one. Yeah, I mean. I'm not, I was never a believer in Mason Rudolph. They don't need a first round pick.

Go to the second round, but Mason Rudolph's not the answer. Whatever the question is, he's not the answer. answer. Well, there was obviously a ton of reaction to the incident with Miles Garrett and Mason Rudolph last night online. Patrick Mahomes tweeted, bro, I can't even believe that just happened. J.J. Watt said that is insanity. Wow. Des Bryant said he's done for the rest of the year. Dion Sanders, Mason Rudolph should be significantly fined as well for trying to rip Miles Garrett's helmet off his head, which ignited the retaliation. He's not without fault in the unfortunate matter. This is a physical, emotional game played by men. Let's not forget that.

hashtag truth. So obviously he's somewhat in the other camp as far as Mason Rudolph being responsible for it. Bill Belichick was informed this morning that this is a very big topic around the sports world, this incident with Miles Garrett. Yeah.

And Mason Rudolph. And he explained that post-play skirmishes have been addressed multiple time with the Patriots team. He said every situation is different. We can go back and look at 50 of these through the years, some type of fighting or ejections. They're all different.

I wouldn't say it's like off-side penalties. There's a lot of different things. things happening, different situations, and so forth and so on. Yes, fundamentally, I told players what we should do in those situations, how we should handle them. I think they've done a good job with it. So this is something that Bill Belichick actively spoke with his team about before it happened. Obviously, I can't even, I mean, we don't even, we would never see something like this

with the Patriots. You know, here's the other thing we have to consider. Miles Garrett is heavily penalized. Like, this is a Miles Garrett thing now. Yes, reputation is going to play a role in this. It's just like anything else. It's like as a parent. If you have two kids and one's never in trouble and one always is, the one that always is, the leash.

You don't get the benefit of the doubt. You don't get it. Look, I don't think that Mason Rudolph is fully without blame here, but say that. And then it just goes straight to the fact that there's no excuse for what Miles Garrett did. Like, you can acknowledge that Mason Rudolph played a role in this, but none of it reaches that level. None of it explains away or excuses Miles Garrett retaliating that way. Now, pouncy for the Steelers got suspended for three. I don't have a problem with him being suspended.

You can't kick people. So now Pouncey, there's an argument to me maybe he's defending his guy, but you can't kick players in sports. I think three is excessive, but I'm not going to argue with it either. Yeah. Although I do think it's excessive.

However, this, again, is not a story about the Steelers or how Pouncey retaliated from seeing his quarterback getting hit over the head with a helmet by one of the biggest, strongest defense events in the league. In that moment, of course, things are going to happen. This is all about the Brown. Like the Browns won a very significant game last night, and instead of talking about how they played

and what a good win that was when everyone thought they were going to lose, except for Browns fans, of course, we're talking about what a disaster they are. And they're just the most undisciplined team, maybe of all time. They have four ejections that's tied for most in the NFL since 2001. They have the most penalties accepted at 87, and the most penalty yards at 822. It's like a joke.

Like they are literally the most undisciplined team, perhaps in the history of the NFL. Well, think about the last two weeks if you're Browns fan. You won both games, but go to Twitter. Your own team drove you crazy in the red zone because you were an undisciplined, unfocused mess. And last night, Browns fans were like, this is a disaster. There were five seconds left in the game.

It's bad, bad. Five seconds. So the Cowboys are five and four tied atop of the NFC East, but they've lost four of their last six games and obviously need to step it up. Jack Prescott. However, continues to express confidence in his team. He's not worried about their record right now. No concerns, no concerns. They're going to, they're going to flip. And when we get them flipping this team, these players, the character of these men, there's no doubt that it's going to go the right way.

You go back and look at it, we're playing better, right? We just hadn't won those games. So, I mean, we're continuing to get better. You don't want to peek too early. And this is a confident group that know we're going to peak at the right time. We've got all the faith and trust that we're going to get there. We're going to be accountable in doing that and handle the things we need to handle. I don't really have any doubt that they're going to win their division. Matt Stafford's not playing. I don't think this weekend. So that's a win. That's a win. Just came down.

I've no doubt they're going to win their division. The rest of their season is at the Lions, then at the Patriots, the bills at the Bears, Rams at home, at the Eagles and the Redskins. The Eagles, the rest of the schedule, they're also five and four, Patriots, Seahawks at home, at the Dolphins, Giants, at the Redskins, the Cowboys, and then at the Giants. So the Eagles have a slightly lighter schedule.

Yeah. But I'm not really worried about them when the division are making the playoffs. It's what are you going to do in the playoffs? Yeah, I think. Like the way that they're playing in starting games is not going to work in playoff football. I'll say, of all the division leaders, if we count the Cowboys as a division leader, of all the division leaders in the NFL, one, I can't figure out their offensive identity. Houston is iffy.

It's Deshaun Watson and cross your fingers, but at least they've addressed their running game at O line. And so I feel like it's Deshaun in a running game. Right. Dallas is good, but I don't know what their identity is offensively. And I don't think they do or they wouldn't give the ball to Zeeke against Minnesota late when Dach was playing the best game as a pro. Right. And I think for the last, since Zique has entered a league, obviously, we've said that it's Ezekiel Elliott. Obviously, their offensive identity was Ezekiel Elliott.

But it's not feeling like that this year. And that's an issue for them because that's the way their team is built. Yeah. chance. He will reportedly sign with the Portland Trail Blazers and we'll get a non-guaranteed deal. He'll join the team for their upcoming six game road trip, which starts tomorrow in San Antonio. The Blazers are 13th in the Western Conference right now with a four and eight record. So not a great start for the Blazers this year, who pretty much everyone felt like was going to be playing better than this at this point. You know, people put their biggest, longest defender on Damien Lillard,

and Portland needs a second gear. They've got some good players, but they need somebody that can hit the 18-footer, even if it's not a three or two, and Carmelo probably provides that. Hopefully. That's what they're hoping for. He hasn't played since he was cut November 15th in 2018, but obviously he's been in discussion a lot. I'm very excited to see what he can do. Again, I don't like the narrative around Carmelo Anthony,

and I don't like the way that it seemed like it was going to end. So I'd like to see him finish this year with a team and see what he can possibly contribute. It would certainly if he helped them, it would be a nice little caveat at the end. of his career, yes. Yeah, it'd be a nice instill away at clunky.

Right, and I don't think he deserved that kind of exit because he has been a great player. He's a Hall of Famer. Yeah, and for its end, that way, would not feel right. I'm not a Camelo fan, but he is a Hall of Famer. Joy with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Hurdline news. Don't be the guy in the room, the sloppy looking untucked shirt, untucket.com code her 20% off. A guy I just love. Danny Cannell, known him for a long time. Former NFL or six NFL years. Great college player in the ACC. He is joining us now.

the Coward Global Satellite Network, Danny Cannell. And as Danny is prone to do, there I was going to say, I saw my thought in a turtleneck this morning. So there we go. There's the Danny Connell I know and love. All right, let's start with this. First of all, they didn't suspend Mason Rudolph. And my analogy was this, Danny.

If I walked into a bar, jumped on top of you, six seconds later hit you with a beer bottle. In the six seconds between me jumping you and hitting you, you have six seconds to defend yourself. And I don't care if you take your car keys and rake my. eyes. I don't think Mason Rudolph. He's a quarterback. This league's about protecting him. I wouldn't, I wouldn't suspend him. I wasn't bothered, but were you? I was, and not so much for a suspension. I'll be really watching this closely to see if they do come out with a hefty fine for Mason Rudolph

because, you know, you're the smaller guy, you're the quarterback position, the one that's supposed to protect. You're the one that had your helmet off. So again, you were left more in a vulnerable position. But he was the aggressor. He was the initiator. He was the first. He was. He was the one to grab Miles Garrett's helmet before Miles Garrett retaliated and then grabbed his. And then again, he went after him, chased after him, which did allow this issue to keep escalating the way it did. So I think if Mason Rudolph walks away unscathed, I think it sends a really bad message. And there already is enough unfair advantage to playing the quarterback position. And if you let him walk away unscathed, I think it does. It sends it, it's not the message the NFL should want to

end, which is really, yes, obviously, you don't want to condone what Miles Garrett did. No one is saying that, but you also don't want to condone any of this or anything, any action that could lead up to this. So I do think they will find Mason Rudolph. It's just a matter of how much. We were talking about foreshadowing when you watch a movie and then at the end, the final scene, you see a scene and you're like, oh, oh, the movie had a bunch of clues and this wraps them all up.

I thought that was foreshadowing in the game. By the time Miles Garrett did what he did. when the game was over, and I had four helmet-to-helmet heads, a Steeler bleeding through the ears. It felt very buddy Ryan. It felt very Greg Williams that you don't have to tell guys to rip somebody's head off, but you tell guys, hit a little late, hit a little high. We're sending a message in the AFC North. I thought there was foreshadowing, and I hold the Browns responsible. Am I reaching? No, I don't think you are. Here's the thing. I'm actually okay at times in a game if a defensive lineman or a defense in that end,

a linebacker is going to get the quarterback and the ball is out and he's going to take his chance and hit him a little bit later past the echo of the whistle, right? And you get a flag. I am okay with that if that happens. And I think most defensive coordinators are situationally early in the game, first half, when it doesn't have too many ramifications. And you can set a tone and all of a sudden that quarterback has to be mindful,

hey, these guys, they're coming after me today, and you can get under their skin. The problem is, and this has been something that's plagued the Browns all season long, is they're not disciplined, clearly, but they're also not very smart. And I think that was something that Freddie Kitchens alluded to at the end of the game when he's saying, what are we doing? There's five seconds left, six seconds left in the game, and we're going to have this play out at that point in the game. So not only are they undisciplined, they're really not that smart of a football team,

which is why you've seen this year play out the way it has and why they're in this position clawing their way back into potentially making a playoff run. Yeah, and Baltimore, by the way, is brilliantly coached. And New England is brilliantly coached. And I think Indianapolis is very well coached. So in the AFC where you have all sorts of really smart, disciplined teams, Cleveland is talented. But that juxtaposition with them being kind of a penalized mess does not bode well. And I was thinking about this this morning, is that I said with, I think Baker Mayfield's better than what we've seen this year,

but not as good as he was last year against Atlanta and Cincinnati twice. But I think the future of Baker-Mayfield will never be as good as it could because the general manager, John Dorsey, doesn't care about chemistry. He doesn't care about character. And, Danny, you were in this league for six years with a great organization, the Giants. There are, as you know, a handful of organizations in GMs at any one time in this league. They don't give a rip about character. They want to win games.

their low self-esteem franchises. Pittsburgh historically does or a giant, they do. And I watched Baker last night, and I thought to myself after the game as he apologized, basically. This is what Baker's career is going to be. Nonsense around him. Your thoughts on that. You know, it's interesting because I do think that's a very interesting take that you have.

And I actually thought Baker Mayfield showed for once a mature side of him that I wish you would show more. Like, we've seen a very immature quarterback in the first year and a half of his career, whether it's getting, you know, chasing after Hugh Jackson after he's gone and shown a kick to the curb, whether it's calling out Duke Johnson earlier this soft season, whether it's getting in tussles with you, Colin. Like, those things aren't very mature, like for a franchise quarterback to do. But I do think he stepped up to the plate last night in a very small time frame. There wasn't a lot of time to react there. It's the fight happens. It occurs. And boom, there's a microphone in front of your face. And I thought him to take a. a strong statement against a teammate saying, man, this is not good for the game. It's going to hurt us. He's going to get suspended. I thought that was a very aware, mature thing for a quarterback to do, but I do think it is going to be challenging. And that was one of my biggest concerns for this team was, yes, you're bringing in some of these personalities, like Odell

Beckham, like Jarvis Landry, on the defensive side of the ball. Now we're seeing a player like Miles Garrett, who probably a lot of people just appreciated for what an amazing player is, but now you're seeing a different side of him and a team that is just, it's a mess. And I do think Freddie Kitchens deserves a lot of the blame. Somebody on that team has to take, has to step up and be the parent. It's kind of like you have to, and be the strict parent. Somebody that's going to stand up and hold this team accountable. I don't think it has to fall on Baker just yet.

I think it falls on Freddie Kitchens. And I do think John Dorsey has to, because you are 100% right. talent doesn't always win out, the most talented team. There is chemistry. And if you ask any coach around the league, whether it's college, pro, high school, I don't care what level it is, it's yes, give me talented players, but I would rather have less talented players who are hungrier, have a better work ethic, who are smarter football players, because that's how you create a team that can go out there and beat teams that are better than you, which is something we haven't seen the Cleveland Browns do.

A couple of minutes left, Danny Canal. I think last night got Freddie Kitchens fired. I think had they lost the game, John Dorsey may come out and be a martyr and say, this is nonsense. I think they want him out. But I just don't think they like the optics because they know they're Cleveland and they fire everybody mid-season.

But I do think it gives them an out. Because we're all going to make fun of them if they give Baker Mayfield his fourth coach in three years. We're going to go, what a joke. But it gives them an out last night because they can be martyrs, Danny. they can say what happened against Pittsburgh is unacceptable to our fine organization. This we have, but they won last night and they're going to let him ride it out. But I think last night got him fired.

I really, coaches don't get fired much off a win. Am I nuts here? No, I think you might be on to something. And I thought you saw Freddie Kitchens get extremely defensive with the media when they challenged him. And I don't think he takes the blame for this incident with Miles Garrett, but he was very sensitive saying, I don't coach penalties. I don't coach off sides. I don't coach false starts.

He got very defensive there. And I thought it was interesting that he also kind of snuck in there, a little bit of a pump up to his own resume saying, hey, the Browns did something we never have done before, beating the Steelers and the Ravens in the same season. But I do. So here's, I think the end of the season matters now, because I do think the Browns could go on a little bit of a run.

I really thought they had a chance to make the playoffs. Without Miles Garrett, it's clearly going to be a much bigger challenge. But their schedule on the back end is so easy. I mean, they play the Steelers again, who they just beat. They've got the Dolphins in there. They've got the Bengals. They have a very winnable, manageable schedule. The Ravens are their toughest opponent who they already beat once.

Now, it's on the road and it's later. It could be more of crunch time. But the thing that kind of makes me think maybe he salvages his job is if they make the unlikelyest to playoff runs. And don't forget this team last year got into almost a situation where they almost got in. The schedule sets up. I've never seen the NFL like this before, Colin, where there is this great disparity in good teams and really bad teams where you kind of can go through the schedule and you can start checking off Ws because there are some teams that aren't very competitive right now. And for the Browns, they're playing a lot of them to finish the season.

Danny Connell, great stuff, buddy. Have a nice weekend. Love having you on the show. I'm going to keep the turtleneck on next time just for you. Thanks, buddy. It's fall. I need the turtleneck. Coming up next, I'm going to address that. I'm going to address this idea this morning that Cleveland's a playoff team. I think their schedule is much tougher now. And I think they're to blame for that. 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 Fantine, 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, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the 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 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, Brett, my mama 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. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast.

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I think it's my strongest of the year. I feel great about my Blazing Five. I really do. It's time now to go on a roll. I got very hot at the end of last year post- Thanksgiving. I got scorching hot, and that is why it's got to happen again. All right, let me talk about this. So this morning, it's funny, I'm sensing this.

Ooh, I'm hearing even Danny Connell, ooh, Cleveland's schedule is easy and they're going to be. No, no, no, no, time out. Cleveland schedule's not as easy as you think. They play Baltimore. They embarrass Baltimore. Baltimore's a way better team. They're pissed. They have a much better offensive identity.

they've got a much better coach and a much better quarterback. Baltimore's beating Cleveland in Cleveland. And probably substantially, they're fighting the Patriots for the number one seed. That game's going to mean everything to Baltimore. You don't beat John Harbaugh a lot twice in the season. Good luck. Secondly, Miami. You watch Miami lately?

Arizona at Arizona. You watched Arizona lately? Not easy outs. Not easy outs. Miami's playing their arse off. and Arizona is too with a great young quarterback who's better than Baker. Then you've got Pittsburgh. Oh, I don't know if you'd notice, but they're really in a bad mood, and it'll be at Pittsburgh.

They're really in a bad mood. It's not that easy of a schedule. Cincinnati stinks. Arizona doesn't. Baltimore doesn't. Miami's, I told you this when they were winless. I said, they're well-coached. You can be winless and well-coached when you're tanking.

This schedule's not that easy. And now you don't get Miles Garrett. He's out. He's your best defensive player. Easily. We know you're undisciplined. This is all incredibly predictable. So on October 28th, by the way, I said before this season, I said Cleveland's going to get off to a bad start. In fact, Joy is my witness. I said, they're going to get smoked at home by Tennessee in the first game. Remember when I said that? I said, this is one of the bets of the year. Take Tennessee and Cleveland. Veteran line, blah, blah, blah, they won. And I said it's going to be real choppy. Then they're going to start facing Cincinnati and backup quarterbacks.

They're going to win a bunch of games. And they're going to finish with what I predicted, 8 and 8, 9, and 7. But there's too many, the Raiders are better than we thought. The Colts are better than we thought, and Jacoby Brissette's coming back. By the way, Jacksonville is 4 and 5. Cleveland's 4 and 6. Jacksonville gets Nick Foles back. If they win this weekend, they're 500. Okay. So this is what I said on October 29th. This is all predictable. Bad early, schedule weekends, quarterbacks are not as good, backup quarterbacks. You win a bunch of games. Cleveland last year comes out. They're awful. Then the schedule lightens up. Baker throws a bunch of touchdowns against bad teams. And all of a sudden, all we heard all off season. Super Bowl. Like last year, they're going to finish with some Ws.

and they're going to be outraged at all of us, media and you, that we don't get it. No, we do get it. I'll stand by my prediction. Cleveland will not make the playoffs, but they'll be in the 8-and-8, 9-7 bubble. It's deja vu all over again. So there's six spots in the AFC, and there's 12 teams fighting for them. Do you know who has the worst record of the remaining? Cleveland.

That has to face maybe the best team, Baltimore, one of the toughest outs, Arizona on the Road and Pittsburgh who is this morning. Anybody hear Mike Tomlin after the game? Do you hear Mike Tomlin after the game? I mean, Mike Tomlin is not going to be allowed to be pushed around in this league. Mike Tomlin just the guy that doesn't brag is the guy that intimidates me. Mike Tomlin was asked about what he saw last night. I'll keep my thoughts to myself.

You guys saw what happened at the end. You have no comment about it? That's exactly what I said. I got no comment. Have you ever seen anything like that at the end of the game? No more questions regarding that, because I'm saying nothing. Good luck facing him. And by the way, he won't be on his third receiver.

James Connor will be back. Juju Smith-Schuster will be back. They'll be furious. Now, Pouncey won't be available. He's going to appeal his suspension, his three-gamer. They'll probably knock it down to two, but he'll miss the Brown's game. But Miles Garrett will not be in that game. Miles Garrett's a great player.

Looney Tunes sometimes, but a great player, he's out for the year. It's been announced, suspended indefinitely. Mason Rudolph probably gets some sort of fine. But I think the NFL, you know, Danny Kannel and I, and Joy and I can disagree on this. I think the NFL, I think people send messages all the time. Parents do with their kids. I think the NFL's messages do not mess with quarterbacks. We will err on the side of protecting him.

And the NFL, by the way, this was years and years ago. You could take shots at the NFL, and Jerry Jones went to Roger Cadell and said, You do understand when that guy gets hurt, it ruins our franchises. This league protects quarterbacks. Practice, games, preseason, they're sending messages. Weather can be unpredictable. Get Michelin Endurance X.D. Silicon Wiper Blades. Two times longer than other blades.

Walmart's where you get them. Real world proven. Michelin endurance XD. Silicon Wiper Blades. Picks of the week, my strongest perhaps of the year, blazing five. I love them. Next. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app.

Search her to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

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

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about 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 Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clifford Taylor the 4th. 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, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app.

Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA.

Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ah, here we go. Hour 2, absolutely packed on a Friday, blazing 5 and 90 seconds. This is The Hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor is joining me. She's from Pittsburgh and struggled through the slog fest of making. Jason Rudolph still think he sounds like a painter for four hours. Greg CoSell is going to get called on the carpet next week.

You know. He's got nothing. I'm not going to lie. I thought about Greg last night. I was like, well. I don't see it. I got nothing for me. I'm interested to see what the tape says this week because it's not very good.

And now he was down to, you know, his third string receiver and his second back. But NFL has suspended Miles Garrett indefinitely. He's out for the year, out for the playoffs. He's their best defensive player. He's a great player. He's sometimes looney tunes, though, late hit. You know, Mike Mason Rudolph, you know, my defense of him is if you're attacked at a bar, you have a right to do whatever you have to do to survive.

So a big, strong Miles Garrett hit the quarterback late, jumped on top of him. And Miles Garrett tried to, you just, you're in a fight right there. I don't care what you grab. I'll grab your junk. Whatever it is, I'm on the bottom. I'm a guy. You're bigger. You attack me.

I'm going after anything. Eyes, car keys. I'm trying to survive. I do think the NFL will probably look at the tape, sprinkle around some fines to Mason Rudolph. They'll see a few images they don't like. Pouncey's been suspended three games. He'll appeal that, probably get it down to two.

But let's not make Miles Garrett the victim. I see this all the time in the American media, sports and political. Miles Garrett's a guy that's been doing this all year. This is an undisciplined team that came in with a message. Let's make him pay for it. Multiple hits above the shoulders. helmet-to-helmet-hits.

Cleveland should be absolutely grotesquely embarrassed. I'm surprised they didn't come out this morning and levied their own fines and suspensions. That would have been classy, but what am I expecting? But the NFL handed him down. Miles Garrett out for the year. You know, out for the playoffs. And they haven't made a final proclamation or referendum on him. He's just out for the year in playoffs, and we'll figure out the rest of it later.

Don't be surprised if he gets suspended for a month next year. as well. So that's where we start this morning. A lot of both teams were fine 250 grand. All right. Blazing five, this is the time of the year. You know, NFL teams get to this time of the year and the NFL teams are like, okay, football matters. And I think it's time for us now. Football matters. Let's get all these right. Blazing five, all of our odds provided by Fox Bet. Here we go. Let's blaze it up. Fire it up. It's Collins, Blazing Fox. Texans and Ravens. I'll take Houston plus four at Baltimore. Deshawn Watson in his career in November.

I mean, he's always good. It's been his best month. He is 4-0 completion percentage mid-70s. And by the way, you know how good Russell Wilson is this year? Only Russell Wilson has accounted for more touchdowns than Deshawn Watson. Texans' offense right now, since they elevated their running game, they've got a real offensive line, a pro-bowl level left tackle, and they can run the ball. Houston's top five in total yards, rushing yards, red zone percent.

percentage. It's a number here. I'm going to take Houston plus four. It's four and a half in some places. We'll just go four. I think the Texans with the upset. Not much of an upset, really. I like them a lot. 28, 26. Broncos and Vikings. I'm betting a number. Denver, 10 and a half's the side here. Listen, Minnesota off a big Sunday night win. They don't win those games ever. They beat the Cowboys. They're going to pull back. This is going to be a low-scoring game. Vic Fangio for Denver is one of the better defensive guys in the league. And he knows Mike Zimmer well. The Broncos, defense ranks top four in yards, passing yards in red zone touchdown percentage, which is amazing when you consider how bad their offense has been, so their defense is often on the field all game. Their four and one is Denver against the spread over their last five. For the last five opponents, they've held under 20 points. Denver's not a terrible team. You don't like their record. Denver beat Cleveland. Denver with a backup beat Cleveland. Denver's a real team. They've lost three games expiring clock. The Chicago loss was

horrible officiating. This is a very, very competitive game. Denver uglies it up. Broncos cover. Now, I'll take the Vikings to win 2620, but I think it's ugly and choppy and I'll take the points. Jets and Redskins. I'll take the Jets plus two. Redskins have the worst offense ever. They haven't scored a touchdown in a month. Their offense is not only the worst in the NFL, their last in scoring. They've scored nine points or fewer in five games. And now they're on a rookie quarterback who probably shouldn't be playing Dwayne Haskins. And Jay Gruden, one of their smart coaches, the coach they fired, now what's their offense? Because he was keeping it afloat. They're last in virtually everything offensively. They're 0 and four at home. And by the way, the Jets announced

this week, Adam Gase is the coach. What does that mean? Jet players, they want to put good stuff on tape for coach Adam Gase. Okay, Adam Gaze isn't going anywhere. So don't think you can screw off and get a new coach. Adam Gase is coming back. Watch the players play hard. Jets win this football game

2723. Cardinals and 49ers. Like it. I love it. I'll take Arizona plus 10. Anybody else watching these games besides people that live in Phoenix? Arizona's a real football team. You think the Raiders are the big shock of the league. I don't know. Arizona's pretty good. I'm getting

10s. 49ers are still banged up with some of their receivers on the perimeter. The Cardinals are five and betting the Cardinals for weeks. They're five and one against the spread last six games. By the way, Arizona's won eight to nine meetings. They always played Seattle tough. Arizona is better than we think. And right now, Jimmy Garoppolo's coming off a bad game. And a lot of this is he didn't have all his weapons.

George Kittles banged up, Emmanuel Sanders. The first game they played was not a mirage. I think it's competitive. Niners win, but the Cardinals cover. 2720 San Francisco. Don't kid yourself on Arizona. They're not going away. Kyler Murray's really, really tough to defend.

Wait until he gets an old line of the defense. Chiefs at Chargers. Love the Chargers. Chargers getting four here. Do you know this game's in Mexico, altitude 7,200 feet, right? Chargers went to Colorado to train in 7,000 feet. Kansas City didn't. Kansas City's not happy with the league. They said, no, we're going to stay in Kansas City.

They're going to be sucking air by the second quarter. Chargers are like, we're not happy we're going to Mexico either, but we're going to go to Colorado on the mountains and train. Remember, what are the chargers do? They can run the football. Philip Rivers, for the record, he'll drive me crazy in two-minute drills. He makes mistakes a rookie would make, but he leads the NFL in passing yards. They have excellent weapons. They have a good tight end.

They can run the football, and Kansas City can't get people off the field. And if you look at the most rushing yards allowed this year in the NFL, you think Cincinnati's bad. They're the only team working. Kansas City can't stop the run. Chargers can run. They trained in Colorado. You know, you're all telling me Cleveland still has a chance for the playoffs. Well, don't they have the, what's the record of the Chargers?

Kind of the same record. And you tell me the Chargers have no shot. Chargers absolutely bully. Anthony Lynn's got to win games here. They got to win games here. Jobs are on the line with the Chargers, and I'm getting over a field goal. I'm going to take the Chargers to upset Kansas City 28 to 27. Blazing five, all of our odds provided by Fox Bet.

Let me go to one game in particular. Lamar Jackson against Deshaun Watson. I like the Texans in this game. I think Lamar Jackson is a great kid, a great story. This is what's interesting about football. We forget this all the time. Lamar Jackson comes into the NFL. He's got a better coach right now than Deshawn Watson.

He's got a better offensive line. He's got a better star running back. He may have a better defense, probably does, better secondary. Baltimore is a better organization structurally with better players. They have better tight ends than Houston. Lamar Jackson's inheriting a really good roster and a really good organization, and he's been good. He's a coachable kid.

He's working his butt off. And they're doing some things schematically that's taking the league a little while to pick up on. And they're getting better and better because they draft well. To me, Deshawn Watson is Andrew Luck. I just cross my fingers he survives. He's Andrew Luck. He comes into the NFL, impulsive owner, bad GM, wrong,

or a coach we don't love, and a terrible offensive line. And Andrew Luck and Deshawn Watson win 11 games and win their division. It makes no sense. And they can't win games in the playoffs because, you know, they're not that good. They're saving the franchise.

Deshawn is Andrew Luck. hurt, had to take a bust last year to a game. He really is. He is so uniquely gifted like Andrew Luck. And I've said this before. Tom Brady and Aaron Rogers could not overcome what Deshaun has the last couple of years. Deshawn's Andrew Luck. Lamar's good. But there's a lot of Kaepernick with Lamar.

He's got Harbaugh as a coach. He's got Greg Roman as a coordinator. It is a power running team built around him with our feeling that, and for the record, Kaepernick beat Green Bay twice. Capernick got to a Super Bowl. Don't kid yourself. I got fooled by Kaepernick. For two years in this league, I would go on the air every day and go,

I think that's the future of the NFL. So now I'm a little reluctant to go with Lamar Jackson. That's the future of the NFL. I think the future of the NFL is Deshawn Watson. Great athlete can make plays, is a wizard. But eventually sits in the pocket, throws the ball, good high school, good college, good pro, good thrower. So when I see Deshawn Watson, I see Andrew Luck.

When I see Lamar, I see a little of Capron. And in the end, I always felt luck as long as he could stay healthy. It's a 15-year run. Kaepernick, I kind of felt fooled on him. Now, I do think Lamar has a more throws the ball. How would I say this? Kaepernick had a huge arm, but the joke was everything was a fastball. Had no touch.

Screen pass, throw it through a battleship. Where I think Lamar's got better touch. I think he's very coachable. I think he's got some leadership stuff. Kaepernick doesn't. But I like Houston in this game. And I said this yesterday. Deshawn Watson, here's another reason he's Andrew Luck.

Andrew Luck came into this league and because he had the neck beard and he had a book club and he didn't have a person now. He didn't talk. All these other young quarterbacks, RG3, we fell in love with. And I'm like, now Andrew Luck's the good one. Deshawn Watson comes into this league. Mitch Trubisky in the same conference gets drafted over him. His coach starts Tom Savage over him.

Then Patrick Mahomes comes in and we talk about him more. And now just about the time we want to put our arms around Deshawn Watson and go, man, you are so good. You know, it's Lamar Jackson guys, unbelievable. Like Luck and Deshawn, can we just put our arms around them? They're doing what I don't think other people can do. I don't think anybody else in my lifetime, maybe Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck and DeShon Watson, Houston doesn't have a GM.

India had the wrong one. Coach we don't love. Bad old line, no running game, and you look up and they're winning their division. Tom Brady can't do that. I don't think Aaron Rogers can do that. So I like DeShon this weekend. I like Houston. I think they're real good, and I'll tell you this,

we all banged on this organization when they went and got Laramie Tonsel and gave up too many picks. That old line now, left side, it's a real old line. They've quietly, they have a real running game. So Deshawn now's got a left tackle and real NFL running backs.

I know y'all have Baltimore in the Super Bowl. I'd strongly consider Houston. I'd strongly consider it to me this morning. You know, Patriots Houston. I totally buy that. I think we're a little high now on Baltimore, and we've forgotten Houston and Deshawn Watson. And by the way, it's not that I don't like Lamar.

I do, but they're doing some stuff schematically. Greg Kosell talked about it yesterday. The league is kind of trying to figure out Baltimore. Like everybody's figured out in New England. They can't stop them. You can figure out Aaron Rogers and Mahomes. You can't stop them. Baltimore's doing some stuff schematically, which is new,

and people are kind of trying to figure it out. Here's Greg Kossel. It's very low risk, but extremely hard to defend. They play with multiple tight ends a lot. So what do defenses do? They line up with their base personnel, which means they have bigger, slower people on the field. And now they run their offense, the Ravens, this multiple run-dimension offense that spread you out horizontally. So I'm curious what defensive coordinators will do going forward because they're playing with slow people against Lamar Jackson.

Yeah, interesting stuff. Can't wait for that, my favorite game to watch this weekend. I'll take the Texans to win that game outright. I don't think it's a big upset, and I think we're undervaluing Houston right now. By the way, next hour, DeForest Buckner of the San Francisco 49ers, great defensive linemen. What's it like to play on that defensive line? If people can't double team you, there's too much talent. He'll be joining us.

Jason McIntyre, we're moving him up an hour. He'll be joining us in 30 minutes from now. Tomorrow's headlines today. Eric Dickerson, Ram Seasons Caput, in my opinion. His thoughts on that violent act last. night by Miles Garrett, who's been suspended by the NFL for the year. We'll address all those things coming up. We're not even halfway home packed on a Friday in the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the

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 middle health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

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

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, 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 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 no. 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 answers. 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? Come out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Red, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jared Adano. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor, I'm a comedian, and recently I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives,

helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian! I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit.

Hey, cream, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrat, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrat as part of the Mike Pulura Podcast Network available on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Sunday on Fox, Dak Prescott looks to get the Cowboys back on track as they face the line. Lions or after suffering their first loss of the season, Jimmy Jean, the 49ers, face Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. Check local listings for the game in your area. No, Dallas will win that one. By the way, Eric Dickerson and I have something in common. He didn't eat before a game,

and I don't eat before a workout because I feel fast. That's how I felt light. I always felt light. I never eat before I work out, so I fly around the gym. You fly around the gym? Okay, so can you explain to me? You've been in fights. Yes. Okay, you were feisty. So Miles Garrett takes his helmet off.

Explain what a football player's thinking. Well, first of all, you got to understand. You go into a game. To a game. It's all about context. It's about hitting. You know, you hear him, hit him, kill him, knock him out. You know, that's the mentality.

You have a game that is a very violent game. you have a game that is a divisional game. They don't like each other. And, you know, Mason Rudolph, tried to, you know, grab his helmet after the sack, you know, pull his helmet off. And, you know, he's already mad because, you know, you just, that's how football is.

You're hyped up. And all of a sudden, you know, he jerks his helmet off. And I have to give David DeCastro credit. I don't think anybody's really said much about this. What he did, he's really saved both of them because he tackled Miles Garrier. and just kind of held him down like, hey, man, settle down. Like, settle down.

The only one that he was going to listen to at that point was one of his teammates are someone like a David DeCastro who was, like, look at it. He's holding him down like, hey, just just, not even punching at him. But you lose your cool. I mean, you do. Did you ever lose your mom? Most definitely. I lost my cool before, but not like this.

I mean, I would never pull my helmet off. That's chin strapped, better to stay strapped up. That's your moneymaker. Yeah, that's it because we had to fight with the Jets. And John Robinson said before the game looked. If Gaston gets a sack, gets a sack, don't you let him do that silly dance.

And you got it on Jackie, and Jackie pushed him, and the fight was on. I mean, both bitches. I don't know what happened to Jackie. Stay after he's on the ground somewhere. We're fighting everywhere. It's fights everywhere.

I mean, and see, we're fighting. I mean, and both bitches came over here. Oh, my God. Where are you? I'm there somewhere. I had a defensive back somewhere, and then I can't think of his name.

And so your coach said, Don't let him do that dance. Don't let him do that. Okay, there you are to the left. Yep. I went on a route. Well, there's Vince Farragamo. Because I was down field by the DB, so when they started, I grabbed the defensive back was holding him back.

Oh, look at it. And we're fighting. I mean, it was fines everywhere. And so, by the way, it's just mayhem. You've been in that. It's mayhem. It's mayhem everywhere. See, back in those days, they're showing the fight.

Now they try to cut away from the fight. I mean, because you don't want to have that image of the National Football League fighting. Right, right. But, you're like, that stuff is gone. on it still. What about Mason Rudolph? A lot of people want him suspended. I think a quarterback should be protected.

Here's the thing. I said this. If I walked into a bar and I jumped on you and I was bigger and then in eight seconds, I hit you with the beer bottle. In the eight seconds between I jumped on you and the beer bottle, you have a right to gouge my eyes. You're defending yourself. Yeah.

I got a guy that's 45 pounds heavier on me. I'll grab your stuff. I'll do whatever I got to do. So to me, Mason Rudolph, I'm going to give you a lot of latitude. if a big guy hits you late penalty, jumps on top you, pinge you down. I'm going to give you latitude on that. Well, Mason Rudolph, you can say he started. He didn't start it.

I mean, look, I'm going to say again, this is football. This is a rough, tough sport. He grabbed Garrett's helmet, trying to pull his helmet off. That kind of started it all. Well, the late hit started it all. Yeah, but, well, yeah, I mean, yes, yes, it did. You're right. It started off.

But that's what got it kicked off. But when you get into a fight in a football game, you're not thinking about the ramble. You're not thinking I'm going to get suspended. You know, I'm hurting my team. You're thinking about I'm fighting. I don't care what nobody says, what nobody does. Only people that can really control you would be your teammates. And in this case, it's not even his teammates.

It's David DeCastro that held him down. And really, I think about this could have turned out very tragic. I mean, he could have hit him in the forehead and killed him or hit him in the side of his head and killed him with that helmet. Well, that's why the suspension, by the way, is indefinite. The NFL is going to, you're out for the year. We may keep you out till next year. Right.

Like, even in the fight we just showed with you guys, I mean, you're just throwing punches. We see fights almost every week. This was a weapon. Yeah, I mean. Like a baseball bat. If I threw it your head and then came after you with a bat. Like, it's funny, baseball, you would be so ostracized as a baseball player if you used a bat

bat and a player. I don't think players would ever let you in. In football. No, it happened in baseball. And I think in the 60s, it happened. It did. And that guy was, won Marischel. Yeah, it happened.

Right. But I think that player was so ostracized. I don't remember the repercussions. But in football, there is violence. So I think players will support Miles Garrett eventually. But I think it's best to get him out of the league right now. Well, I think he has to sit the whole season out. You know, I think what would happen is once he's to, because Miles, look, Miles is not that guy.

He's not a dirty player. Oh, no, no. He's not a dirty player. I know dirty players, and he's not a dirty player. A lot of late hit. You know, the late penalties are because how the league has changed. When I look at some of the penalties, they call late hits on him, the guy's thrown the ball, and they want the defensive player to stop in his tracks.

Stop your momentum. Don't hit our precious quarterback. You know, hey, he's on a football field. He's got to get hit sometime. I mean, I know they don't want to hit him, but you got to hit him. And I don't like the cause way to protect the quarterback. Protect our. What about the pro running back?

Protect us. So you can't say nothing to that, can you? Let me ask you about this. So you said John Robinson, who I don't know but watch for years, you said Robinson said, don't let Gaston don't do that silly dance, go after him. Here's what I said. When I watched. He didn't say go after him.

He didn't say go after him. He just said, don't. He said, don't let him do that silly dance. We knew what that meant. Okay, you knew what to me. So Freddie Kitchens last night, four helmet to helmet hits by Cleveland. It felt real buddy Ryan to me. Then the Miles Garrett,

thing. Do you think Freddie Kitchen should be their coach? Well, you know, that's not my job. But when you watch, what do you see? I see a team that's really in disarray, very dysfunctional. That's a good word. Disarray. Yeah, I see that. I mean, you have to have

discipline. I mean, and you don't have to do it in a form of like, I'm the head coach and you're the players. You don't have to do it like that. You know, you have to respect is earned. It's what it is. It's earned. It's like discipline. It's something that, you know, You work and you earn it. You know, I want my players to be disciplined.

You would never see nothing like this in New England. You just wouldn't see that. You wouldn't see it in L.A. You don't see it with the Colts, by the way, because they respect their coach. You respect their coach. I mean, this is a young coach. I mean, and so I just feel like they got so many different personalities on this Cleveland Browns team. You got, you know, you expect so much.

Now, I say this much, if the Cleveland Browns right now were 8 and 1, and even this would have happened, they said this would have happened. you know, they wouldn't be talking by Freda Kitchen's job at all. It wouldn't even be a... Oh, I think this got him fired. I think they don't want him there. And Eric, this is an easy out.

Cleveland at the end of the year can say, we were so embarrassed by it. It was so not us. We believe we have... I think they can be a martyr. Watch Cleveland... You know Cleveland doesn't want him there. You know John Dorsey knows.

He doesn't want him there. I think this signals the end, win or lose. Okay, let's move to this. Okay. You have a relationship with the Los Angeles Rams. A lot of finger pointing at Jared Goff. Does he deserve it? Some of it, yes, he does.

I mean, right now, he has 14 turnovers. He has 9 and 17. You can't turn the ball over 14 times in 9 games. You have to take some of it. I mean, it's no different from myself. I always go back to the game. I played against the Washington Redskins in the play. I had three turnovers in the playoff.

I feel like I lost that game. I'll put it on me. but you have to take some of it. But you have to put someone to head coach too, Sean McVeigh, because look, we know that our offensive line is beat up. Our offensive line is not what it is. But you have to put your quarterback in a position to succeed. And you have to run the football.

We don't run the football. I'm sorry, we just don't. I mean, we are a running football. I feel for Todd Gurley. I'm frustrated for him because I know he wants to run the ball. You don't see Zeke splitting time. You don't see McCaffrey splitting time. You don't see Sequin Barclay spending time.

As a running back, you have to get into a rhythm. It's all about a rhythm. You know, you got, when you're carrying the ball 12 times, six times, eight times, you can't get into a rhythm doing that. People say, oh, Todd's not the same. If you carried the ball 12 times, what you want, you want him to rip off a 60-yarder, you know, on every carrier? You always say, do you like 25 carries?

I like 25 carries. I'm into it now. I'm into it. I mean, I could take it. I mean, that's what you want. I think Todd liked the ball, at least 20. It's just say he rushed the ball, ran the ball 20 times and caught five or six passes. That's, he's in a rhythm.

All of a sudden, you're out of the game, you're back in the game, maybe six series later, four series later. How do you get into a rhythm? You can't get into a rhythm. I say some of this has to come on Sean McVeigh. I mean, you have to find a way to get your best player, which is Todd Gurley, into the game. Even though the offensive line is beat up, you have to be committed to the run. It's a commitment. San Francisco, they're committed to the run.

Seattle are committed to the run. Last night, the Cleveland Browns are committed to rain the football. We have no commitment to the run. We are a passing football team. And no, I call it like I see it. You have to put some of this on our head coach, Sean McBay. And our offensive line is beat up. It's not the same.

But if you're the head coach, you have to come up at a wood of way to help our quarterback out. I mean, he is what he is. And we know that. I mean, he's not that guy that's going to be. He's Matt Ryan. He's not Deshawn Watson. That's exactly. He's not a guy that's going to run out the pocket and going to run to the, he's not.

He's a guy that can, he can make him move right to the left a little bit, but you can't ask him to run 15 to 20 yards, you know, three or four times. That's not going to happen. Eric Dickerson, the Hall of Famer, that fight video was spectacular by you. I don't condone violence, but I'd love to see you mix it up a little bit. Yeah, to mix it up a little bit. Good stuff. By the way, feel better with MDrive. MDrive from MDrive from N.com.

Code heard 20% off your first month. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So Patrick Bahams only missed two games after dislocating his kneecap, but despite losing the first game back, he had a great performance, and he says he feels as good as he did in week one. So really is the last time you felt this good physically? Yeah, I would probably say going into the Jacksonville game, just being able to not have to worry about the ankle or not have to worry about the knee and just being able to go out there and play football the way that I've played it in my.

whole career so far. Well, that's great news. But the one question about the chiefs or questions about the chiefs do not involve Patrick Mahomes and his health. Obviously, Tennessee was 36, 50, 446 yards and three touchdowns with a 119.3 pass a rating.

So he had a game, a great game, and they still couldn't get it together. So the question with the chiefs is not Patrick Mahomes. He clearly is, I mean, he's saying he feels healthy, which is great, but they've got other issues. You got to stop the run. Otherwise, he's never on the field. They just don't.

And the Chargers run the ball. The Chiefs rushing yards allowed per game is 148.1. That's second most in the NFL. In a passing league, people run for 150 every Sunday. Well, the Chargers rank 26th in rushing. Their old lines not good, but their backs are good. And their 19th in the NFL and rushing yards allowed per game. So this game is really going to come down to, A, who doesn't get worn out because of the elevation?

Because they're playing in Mexico City with elevation, 7,300. 82 feet. Now, you said the Chargers practiced all week in Colorado, Colorado, with elevation 6,800 feet. So they may have an advantage there. But so other than who's going to run out of steam first, it's going to come down to who's going to get the rushing game going because we know the Chargers can week to week have a great game. Yes. Philip Rivers can go out there and do it. Oh, no, they can score. And we know that Patrick Mahomes is going to play at the highest level. So those two things we know are set. It's going to come down to the rushing game and who doesn't, who doesn't get into trouble with the

elevation. But this is a huge game. Oh, no, no, no, it's, by the way, if you think Cleveland has a playoff shot, why don't you think the Chargers do? Because they got the same record. And they got better players. I mean, if I'm, yes, exactly. And I'm going to say I'm leaning towards the Chargers there because it's the Chargers and I just can't do it. They're both in the same situation. And the Chiefs really need this win as well. So it would be easy for the Raiders to overlook the winless Bengals this Sunday. But Gruden knows he has to keep his team motivated if they want to avoid the upsets. Yeah. So he said, we've got a lot of respect for the Bengals. This is the National Football League. I don't. really care about anybody's record. You've just got to remind some of the young people that you can't believe everything you read. If you don't respect, you know Atkins and Carlos Dunlap. If you don't think Will Jackson and Joe Mixing are great players, then you better get some film and look at it. This is a really good point. I do think that Bengals are going to sneak someone in an important

isn't this funny, Joey? We're talking about the Raiders overlooking teams now. The Raiders better not be too confident, but they are. They've got real weapons. But that's the truth. And Gruden is right, because this is what, well, the dolphins are we're an obvious team to pick for for an upset win. You can tell just by the way that they play. That was the team you should not just ignore. Cincinnati's bad.

They're backup quarterback. They're going to get the number one pick and take to it. They are, but it's still the NFL. And week to week, if you come in with the attitude that it's just a gimmie, then that's what can happen. And the Raiders need to not do that this week. I don't have any concern about them winning the game. But to keep the motivation levels up, and you're right,

Like this is actually quite a turn that the Raiders are going to have to stay motivated when at the beginning of the season. It was looking like it was going to be a disaster. So finally, before being trade to the Lakers, Anthony Davis was open to the idea of going to the Knicks. But the Knicks front office didn't think they needed the six-time All-Star. Knicks president, Steve Mills and Scott Perry, were reportedly turned off by the Pelicans' high asking price for Anthony Davis. They were looking for multiple first-round draft picks and young players in return. They also felt that adding Davis would undercut their long. term plan of building through the draft and developing young stars.

Stop building through the draft. When did the Warriors get unbeatable? They got Durant already in the league. What's LeBron been recruiting his whole life? Guys already in the league. Kevin Love, D. Wade. Stop with a draft. Phoenix has been building through the draft forever.

Give me a break. Yeah. And this is the first year in a very long time. We've had a conversation about the Phoenix Sun's being competitive. Toronto last year, Sayakams through the draft. But it was, Lowry didn't start there. and Gassal didn't start there and Baca didn't start there

and Danny Green didn't start there. I didn't start there. It's like, come on, get players and then, you know, I'm not saying you don't have a draft pick and develop, but this league's a man's league. 21-year-old guys aren't doing anything in this league. I mean, it's a mixture of all of it, right?

And you want to make sure that you have a high-level talent, strong veteran there, if that's your plan to build through the draft. And really, if you're a Knicks fan, why would you have faith in the organization that's going to be able to do that anyway? The three and nine this season, their starting lineup is,

Taj Gibson, Julius Randall, Marcus Morris, R.J. Barrett. I mean, RJ Barrett has been great this season. He's shown that he is worthy of that pick. And I do think he's going to develop into a great player. But, I mean. We thought the Pelicans would be really interesting because they had Lonzo who's young and Ingrams who's young. And look at the Pelicans. Lonzo's been injured. And Zion is out, obviously. I don't want to react too much to the Pelicans yet because they don't have their entire team healthy and together. But they're young. They are very young. But I'm going to give the Pelicans. Ellicons more time. The Knicks are, you know, this is just not the story you want to hear if you're a Knicks fan.

Good stuff, Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Miles Garrett suspended Cleveland helmet thrower indefinitely out for the playoffs, regular season. By the way, I don't think Cleveland's schedules as easy as you think. Baltimore is a better team with a better quarterback. Arizona on the road is not an easy out. Pittsburgh now will host them. No Miles Garrett. They are fired up. And I also think Miami, although it's Miami, is a tough, tough out. I don't think Cleveland or Pittsburgh are playoff teams. Miles Garrett, best Brown's player out for the year.

Even when Cleveland wins, they lose. That's coming up. Jason McIntyre, if you've never seen this segment, it's one of my favorite. Tomorrow's Headlines Today. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the hard way 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. 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 Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. 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 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? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know, there's a lot to break down. Georgia accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. I like the bougie style of Housewives show. I think it looks like it's going to be interesting. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King,

recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise. The drama, the alliances, M&T, everybody's talking about. As an executive producer in reality television, I'm not just watching it. I understand the game. As somebody who creates shows, I'll even say this.

At the end of the day, when people are at home, they want entertainment. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

By the way, in the NFL, they're going to keep looking at this tape over and over and over and over. So in the next 24 to 36 hours, the NFL is going to hand out more fines because initially you watch it on TV it's bad for the NFL.

NFL doesn't want this. NFL's trying to make the game safer for the players. We say this all the time. You've got all these great young players. Protect them. I want these guys hurt. I want to watch the great players. I want to watch Tom Brady play until he's 50.

I want to watch Jimmy Garoppolo play forever. I want these guys hurt. So this is bad optics, bad imaging. They're going to scour this tape. I do think Mason Rudolph, the quarterback, will be fined. But I think the NFL is sending a message. Don't mess with our quarterbacks. I mean, look at San Francisco last year.

Okay, Jimmy Garoppolo's hurt. It's one team. Garapolo's back. What is he? 16 and 3 as a starter. That doesn't mean other players don't have value, but this league is so much about quarterbacks. The league is telling you,

you attack a quarterback. You're out indefinitely. Quarterback, here's a little fine. And I want to segue to one of the great young players in the NFL. One of these guys we hope plays for a long time. They're a great story. they just came off one of the crazy, I'm from the Pacific Northwest,

I love Russell Wilson, and I've been watching him do this for five years. It was one of the craziest games I've ever seen. Via the Coward Global Satellite Network, DeForest. Partner is joining us from the 49ers, Pro Bowl defensive tackle. First of all, thank you very much. The best-looking hoodie in the league right there,

the San Francisco 49ers. You're watching that. I imagine you saw some of the highlights of Miles Garrett. Were you shocked like the, I mean, I know football's a violent game, but were you shocked? Yeah. I was definitely shocked. I was watching the game early on, and, you know, as it was getting towards the fourth quarter, I kind of turned it off. But I saw the videos after. I mean, I was pretty shocked

when he, you know, his reaction and how he handled all that. You know, DeForest, it's a violent game. It's tough. Defensive linemen like yourself. It is a really hard position. You are in hand-to-hand combat for three hours. And I get it. I mean, it's, you know, a wide receiver you can't touch him, A quarterback you can't touch him. You guys are in a wrestling match for four hours. Is it easier? Not to say what Miles Garrett did is acceptable, but have you lost your temper? Is it sometimes hard to stay under control?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I've definitely lost my temper, my rookie year. You know, I got a personal foul. And, you know, I learned from it. In this game, you can't let your emotions get the best of you. And, I mean, that's unfortunate what happened with Miles Garrett. And, you know, he let his emotions get the best of them. and you guys saw the result.

What do you do? How did you do it? Why don't, why didn't it happen to you anymore? How did you change? I mean, it's just, you know, it's just a bad look. You're professional. You know, I want to, you know, it was out of character by me. And, you know, it hurts me, hurts my team, especially. And, you know, just the, I mean, you saw the results. He's suspended indefinitely. That definitely hurts his team. He's the, he's their best player. And, you know, it's supposed to be one of the leaders on the team. And, you know, that's not how you want to lead your guys. By the way, you are one of the leaders of the 49ers. It's an interesting team where it's not just the quarterback, but Jimmy G's obviously very good. You face Arizona this week, Kyler Murray. You just face Russell Wilson.

The league's changing. Lamar Jackson, Deshawn Watson. As a defensive tackle, I would imagine you lose sleep when you've got to face a Russell Wilson or a Kyler Murray. Does it change how you have to prepare or play that week? No, definitely. You know, as a unit up front when you're rushing the passer, you know, you got to work together. And especially with mobile quarterbacks like you just named, Kyle Murray, the Russell's, even Aaron Rogers. You know, you have to know where you are in your rush and you can't get too high in your rush or any of that because they can find those, you know, those lanes that open up and extend plays.

Yeah. I mean, you have faced Russell before and now it's Kyler Murray. when you look at tape of Kyler Murray, who you'll face this week, does it look like Russell Wilson? Are you watching a slightly shorter version? Yeah, bro, pretty much. I mean, you know, obviously Russ has done it a long time. And, you know, there's this young kid coming in. And he definitely shows glimpses of, like, you know, like Russell Wilson type moves and, you know, spinning out of the pocket and extending plays with his arm. I mean, kid has a cannon.

We faced him, you know, on Thursday night football two weeks ago. and he showed us what he could do. And, you know, as a defensive unit, I mean, it wasn't our best game. And, you know, we were definitely looking forward to this one. Nick Bosa comes in, college guy shows up, and he is great day one. Go back to when Nick Bosa showed up. Were you shocked by how good he was? Did you know instantly?

Could you spot it at practice? Like, when was the moment you're like, okay, dude can play? No, just watching, you know, watching some film on him, looking at some Ohio State tape and everything, you know, as a draft process was going on. And, you know, I was, I heard he's one of the guys that we were looking for. And that was the guy I wanted, you know, from the start to come and help us up front. And, you know, just seeing him throughout OTAs, I mean, training camp, the way he was moving. You know, you could tell he was rusty at first because, you know, but he hasn't played in, what, a year, year and a half of football.

And as soon as he got back rolling, you know, it's crazy what he can do. Sky's the limit with him. He's definitely going to be a great one for a long time. Kyle Shanahan's known as an offensive guru, a genius. Is Shanahan ever show up in the defensive meetings? Or is it pretty much you guys, you got your defensive coordinator, the guy on the sidelines with a high energy who looks like he's crazy? Or does Shanahan duck into the defensive meeting sometimes? Or is it you guys are on your own?

No, we're on our own, but he does, you know, he addresses the whole team in our team meetings. And, you know, you can kind of see he's the, you know, picking apart certain plays and, you know, showing us, you know, oh, the different looks on, the different deviances that, you know, that are shown to him and, you know, against our offense and things like that. And it's pretty cool to hear him, you know, talk and, you know, kind of show everybody what's going on in his mind. When you guys were undefeated, it's a weird, because most teams are not undefeated to mid-November. in the NFL and you'd been in close games. The minute you lose to Seattle, was there a, okay, we're not going 16 and 0 here.

What was the locker room like after losing your first game? No, yeah, it was, I mean, it was quiet. I mean, it was a tough one. You know, the guys fought to the very last second, you know, with the field goal that they made. And I was just very, personally, I was just very proud of the entire team. You know, we battled throughout the whole game.

There was the ups and downs. You guys saw it. It was a very tight game, division game. And, you know, just we all learned from it. We came in the next day. We watched the film as a team. And, you know, just the little things that one or two plays that we, you know, each and every one of us, you know, could have made to change the end result. You know, it is what it is.

And, you know, the guys learn from it. And we're just ready to, we're pumped up and ready to move on. Finally, DeForest Buckner, 49er, Pro Bowl defensive tackle. What's interesting. Urban Meyer's a friend of mine. He always says this. He goes, I like my football players to play other sports. You were a great high school basketball player.

Were you not? You were like the gator. Yes, sir. Yes, I was. Yeah, you were the Hawaii basketball gatorade player of the year. So there was a moment in your life that you could have chosen basketball. Why choose football, practice? this is harder, you play outdoors, you get hurt. Why football over basketball? Yeah, I mean,

I just love it. I mean, it's the greatest team sport there is. And, you know, honestly, growing up, I had a lot of family members that played it. You know, a lot of my uncles played it. And it's just, I mean, it's in my blood, man. What kind of basketball? It's the biggest sport in Hawaii. Yeah, it is by far away, the biggest sport in Hawaii. What kind of basketball player were you? Do you have a little Kauai? were you a little Anthony Davis? What was your game like? No, no, no, no.

I was more like a, like a, oh, what I would say, Kevin Garnett. Okay, tall. Yeah, yeah. Shoot a little bit. Okay. DeForest Buckner, San Francisco 49ers. Appreciate you stopping by the show.

I appreciate it. Thank you for having me calling. Yeah, Bosa, him, Solomon Thomas, Armstead. That is an Robert Sal is the defensive coordinator. He's a bald guy who's like going a thousand miles an hour. Yeah, he has a hold me back guy. He has his own. What's that?

He has his own hold me back guy. Yeah, hold me, get back guy. Yeah. He's a little tightly wound. But that's okay. I think he brings a lot of, he's fun to watch. I actually, I mean, obviously, I know that's not my brother, but I've caught myself on several occasions.

Like, what does Jason do it? Like, he looks so much like my brother for like a quick flash. I don't know if Jason would appreciate that. But like, he does, though. Handsome guy, no question about it. Good stuff today. T.J. Hushman Zata's coming up around the corner. The AFC North just got very interesting.

I think last night showed us one thing. Cleveland and Pittsburgh aren't very good, and this is Baltimore's division. That was my takeaway on last night. I don't think Cleveland's a playoff team. I don't think Pittsburgh is, although I have unbelievable respect for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I think there's a massive limitation at quarterback. Now they've got receivers banged up. November is the time of the year.

year in football where you, you know, you can say, check that team's out. Rams last week can't block out. Bears two weeks ago couldn't get the first down in the first half. They had one against Philly. Check you're out. I think Cleveland is too dysfunctional. I think their schedule is tough. They won't have Miles Garrett. They're undisciplined. And I think they're over their skis at head coach. And I think Pittsburgh's got a quarterback issue and a wide receiver running back banged up issue. Think season's over for both teams. and I think more than ever, I mean, if Baltimore wins this weekend, we know it's Baltimore's division. That's not up for debate.

It's Baltimore is going to win the division. The question is Steelers, Browns, can they scrape it, get over Buffalo? Don't kid yourself. The record this morning for Cleveland is four and six. It's not six and four of the 12 teams vying for the playoffs in the AFC. Cleveland's got the worst record. And they still have to play maybe the best team Baltimore. and I think Miami and at Arizona are tough out

and they're going back to Pittsburgh without Miles Garrett. 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. Congrats to the 281 winners who split the Thursday night football Super 6 jackpot yesterday. It's time to talk Super 6 NFL Sunday. Cardinals 49ers is one of the matchups this week. Colin, help us win some money this weekend. Give us a winner and a final score.

Niners win. Arizona covers 2720. You know, Browns are lucky. If you watch that Miles Garrett play, I've watched like 400 times. You know, there was not a penalty initially on that hit. There should have been. Yes. I mean, they're lucky. I mean, Cleveland is, it was a late hit, jumps on top of him, throws the helmet.

I mean, it's just an undisciplined mess of a franchise. Just a complete, utter mess. 120 yards. Think about that. Cleveland dominated the game last night. Like, dominated the game. You needed a fourth interception with Mason Rudolph quarterbacking to go at home. Okay, it's ours.

You think you're going to beat Baltimore, Arizona, Pittsburgh? They are so – but again, Cleveland doesn't get the best of anything. The best people don't want to work in Cleveland. They don't want to work for the Browns. You don't get the best scouts. You don't get the best coordinators. It's not the best staff. The best people in the NBA, let's be honest, don't want to work for the calves.

They don't want to work for the Browns. I mean, do you think it's a coincidence that the Indians, Browns, you know, cavaliers? If you take LeBron James out of the city of Cleveland, they're mostly bad the last 20 years. It's an old world economy. It's not a place players want to go. It's kind of a St. Louis. It's kind of a Hartford. It's kind of a Cleveland.

It's an old world economy. But, I mean, it's just, it's, they're so hard to watch. It's such a mess. Just, again, when you keep, this is, this is something. I don't think people in Cleveland understand. again, if the Rams called, you could get the best regional scout in the country in L.A. Because Stan Cronkey's the richest owner, people want to live in Los Angeles. If the Patriots called, if the Steelers called, there are organizations in the NFL that if they call you, you pick the phone up and go, oh, Arthur Blank.

You know, you look at the Benson family, Mickey Looma, Sean Payton, and they called you and said regional scouting director for the Saints. You'd be like, well, I get Sean Payton, I get Gail Benson, I get Mickey. Lumas. You know, it's just like anybody else. It's like the best, Tom Hanks gets the best scripts. 99% of actors don't get the best scripts. They get garbage. You know, they do one episode, bit things on TV shows that don't last.

The reality is with Cleveland, you'll never get the best people. You'll never get the best scouts. You'll never get the best. They don't want to work for you. That thing last night is just, it's Cleveland. And the fans were cheering. It's like, now I don't blame fans are fans. I mean, they are what they are.

But you just keep running through these coaches. You're going to, when Cleveland calls, they call agents because coaches are all represented by agents. That's the way it works in the NFL. So all the best coaches in the NFL have the best agents, right? That's like Nick Saban's got Jimmy Sexton. You know, Urban Meyer probably had like a Jimmy Sexton. Like there's three or four agents. In the NFL, when they call you and ask, would you go to Cleveland?

The top people are like, no, no, no, no, no, not, not interested. So that's what you get. You get bad coaching, bad coordinators, bad assistants. This is just a mess. But that Miles Garrett hit on Mason Rudolph, that should have been a penalty too. I think they just didn't call it because there was five seconds left. Like it was it was borderline. I feel like it was a penalty.

But I think they just didn't throw a flag because the game was essentially over. You know, it's funny because Cleveland won the game. And I think there are some people that think, okay, this is a high point for Cleveland. But just think about this. Just think about the AFC. The two best quarterbacks, the two best young quarterbacks in the NFL are arguably Deshawn Watson and Patrick Mahomes. I'm not even mentioning Lamar Jackson.

In your own division, Lamar's getting better and Big Ben's coming back. In your own division. And two is going to Cincinnati. And then you have Deshawn Watson and Patrick Mahomes. New England, Brady's not going to retire. Oakland looks legit.

Indy, Jacoby Berset comes back. I mean, it's like this, we have this, oh, Cleveland's at a high point. Everybody, Lamar's getting better. Deshawn's getting better. Mahom's getting healthy. Brady's going nowhere. Big Ben's coming back.

Tua is going to end up in your division. The quarterbacks next year are going to be Big Ben, Lamar Jackson, Tua, and Baker Mayfield. This next five-game stretch, that may be your Mardi Gras. That may be as good as it gets because I don't see next year. I mean, let's ask you, Joy, if I asked you this morning. Okay, Big Ben returns. Next year, who's favored in the AFC North?

It'll be Baltimore. Yeah, Baltimore. Who will be picked second? Steelers. So this year, this was the, the year. No, this was the opportunity. Big Ben's out. You know, Big Ben's back and Lamar's better

and DeShon's better and Patrick's healthy and Brady and Belichick are great. And the Raider thing, Derek Carr's good and Tua's going to go in your division. I mean, it's not dramatic. The Browns are just going to go back to being exactly what the Browns are all the time. Irrelevant.

And not even as much fun as Cincinnati because Tua's going to be fun. Joy with the news. No, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, the NFL is still dealing with a fallout from Miles Garrett's objection for hitting Mason Rudolph with his own helmet.

The league announced that Garrett has been suspended indefinitely. And Garrett released this statement this morning regarding his actions. He said, last night I made a terrible mistake. I lost my cool. And what I did was selfish and unacceptable. I know we are all responsible for our actions and I can only prove my true character through my actions moving forward. I want to apologize to Mason Rudolph.

My teammates, our entire organization, our first. fans and to the NFL. I know I have to be accountable for what happened. Learn from my mistake and I fully intend to do so. Now, there are reports that Mason Rudolph will reportedly also receive a fine. The amount is still to be determined. Both teams were fined $250,000. I mean, just every time I watch it, it's worse. It's really embarrassing. Who would swing a helmet at a guy without a helmet on? Well, no one, because we've never seen this before, really. I mean, that's the reaction that everyone had. Marky's Pouncey was also suspended five games, or I'm sorry, three games and find he's appealing it. I think it'll

I'm with you. I think it'll go down to two. Here's the thing about Miles Garrett. I think obviously we know that Miles Garrett is talented. He's the best player on their team. He was fined in week one for punching Delaney Walker. He was fined for two separate late hits on

Trevor Simeon. One on the second hit, he broke his leg, if you remember. They had eight penalties last night for 120 yards. They're tied for fifth for the most in the game of season. The most was week one. By the way, that was a penalty not called. So it's already nine penalties for 130 yards.

Right. That was a penalty. They just didn't call it. For 18, they had in week one, 18 penalties in week one, which is the most that they had. This team is just completely undisciplined, but this is not, like, to say that this is extremely out of character for Miles Garrett.

It's not. It's not. Whatever you think of Miles Garrett, that's fine. But it's not, it's a stretch to say it's out of character. That said, I think the way that the NFL calms all this down, it can't be an indefinite suspension. The union's going to push back on that. It can't be an indefinite suspension.

They're just saying that to calm everyone down. They're going to come up with a number of games. He's going to appeal it. But he's gone for the rest of the season. I think we can all safely assume that because it's unprecedented. That said, I do think that Mason Rudolph should probably get a game because the reaction to him starting the fight with whether I think that the hit was a late hit and Mason Rudolph was reacting to it. Clearly Mason Rudolph was frustrated because he had a terrible game and they were losing. That's not an excuse to start a fight.

But we see fights every single week all the time. They don't escalate to this level. So there's no excuse for what Miles Garrett did, no matter if Mason Rudolph started or re-engaged afterwards after they got up. Regardless, it doesn't matter. There's no excuse for what Miles Garrett did. I do think Mason Rudolph should probably get a game because that will calm everyone down. Everyone's going to get fines.

Pouncey's going to get two games. They're going to watch. The NFL is going to watch this tape. So this is what, remember the, you know, remember the malice in the palace? Yes. So they went and looked at the tape over and over. The funny thing about, not funny,

The amazing thing about malice in the palace, the stories that came out within two weeks, how many of the fans involved in that like had criminal records? Right. Like everybody, everybody, I remember defending the players saying, I'm in an arena. People are throwing things at me. Fans are taking swings at me. I have a right to protect myself in an arena. I don't even like to compare those two things because I'm with you.

Like if someone, any time that a fan engages with a player, you want that smoke. Like, you think you do. You don't actually, but like that's a different. set of rules. Like you're now outside of the game. This is something that happened on the field. That's what I'm saying. It's not assault.

But this could have ended tragically. Like for all the talk about who started it and who's responsible and fines and all that, you can't have this. You just can't. Like it's not, it's not a salt. It's not something that the police are going to prosecute or it's none of that. Just forget all that. You can't do that.

And to say that this is not character, it is. You can't lose your composure like that and hit someone with a helmet. That said, I never understand. Why do you punch someone with a helmet on? What kind of damage do you think you're going to cause? Just the idea of swinging a baseball back and hitting a guy in the head or swinging a helmet and hitting a guy in the head, you're not all there. Well, it's a very highly emotional game.

It's a violent game. It's not like we're sitting here in front of microphones and all of a sudden I get up and throw this table at you. Like there's heightened emotions and energy and testosterone, but it's still not excusable. Yeah, I mean, there's heightened emotions for all players. They don't hit people with a helmet. Right. Like every week, there's tough games.

Nobody rips a helmet off and hits someone with it. So the Cowboys are five and four, tied atop the NFC East. They've lost four of their last six games. Obviously, they need to step it up, but Doc is still confident in his team. No concerns, no concerns. They're going to flip.

And when we get them flipping this team, these players, the character of these men, there's no doubt that it's going to go the right way. You go back and look at it, we're playing better, right? We just hadn't won those games. So, I mean, we're continuing to get better. You don't want to peek too early, and this is a confident group

that know we're going to peak at the right time. We've got all the faith and trust that we're going to get there. We're going to be accountable in doing that and handle the things we need to handle. They're also healthy in Detroit's not. And this league, a lot of this league is attrition. Dallas is healthy. And Detroit's not, so they're going to win this weekend. I probably would have given it to the Cowboys either way.

But I don't really have a concern about the Cowboys winning their division. My concerns about how the Cowboys are going to perform in the playoffs. Which worries me because they have no offensive identity. They don't. And it's Ben Zeke. Their offensive identity has Ben Zeke, and that's not rolling this year. So they have to figure that out before the postseason. Finally, Carmelo Anthony is getting another chance in the NBA.

He will reportedly sign with the Portland Trail Blazers. And we'll get a non-guaranteed deal. He'll join the team for their upcoming six-game road trip, which starts tomorrow in San Antonio. The Blazers are 13th in the Western Conference right now with a four-and-eight record. So really disappointing start for the Blazers this year. So they want to try and get that turned around. Mello, last play with the Rockets, obviously, he played 10 games. It was cut November 15th, 2018.

Their next six games are all, as I said, away. Spurs, Rockets, Pelicans, bucks, cabs and bulls. They face the Knicks at home on December 10th. So if he's there with them, that'll be an interesting game to watch. One of the criticisms I had for years with Kaepernick when he didn't play was put video out. Mello to his- No, Melo's been in the gym. No, and he's always sending video out.

So there's no mystery. Every time Mello's like, I'm practicing, I'm playing. You're telling me, I'm in shape, ready to go. And I think Portland, that's a real big thing. When you're out of leagues, like Will Blackman the other day, is like, I went down to London, and I told the writers, I want to work out. You got to keep telling teams in this league, I'm working out and I'm ready to play. And Mello, for the last year, he sends these videos out. And it's kind of funny because, like, you see these workout videos online.

You're like, what does that mean, really? You know what I mean? And like, like, Cameron, put some videos out. Mello's putting videos out. We see that. Like, if you didn't Instagram your lunch, you didn't really eat, you know what I mean? So there is that mentality now. Like you want to see what people are doing.

Absolutely. And that's your brand. He's been in the gym. Des Bryant. I'm working out. It doesn't matter what you think of the video. You got to tell me I'm in. This matters.

I'm working out. These executives are busy. They have to be reminded constantly. Hey, I'm Des Brian. I've worked out twice today. Here's my video. I just hope he ends the season on a team because I want to see Carmelo go out in a respectable way. Like the narrative on Mello is outrageous.

and he's been a great player and he didn't deserve what was happening. So I'm glad he's back on the scene. Good stuff, Joy, with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Coming up, T.J. Hushman Zata,

former Cincinnati Bingle. He's been in this division. He knows the intensity of Pittsburgh and Cleveland and Baltimore and Cincinnati. He's been a Rabin. He's been a Bengal. He's going to break down what he saw last night and just take us inside to this division,

which has always been one of the, I mean, let's be honest, It's been cheap. It's at times been violent. It's been a little petty. And I think we've reached a new level after last night's mess. 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. All right, crazy stuff. Minnesota and Iowa this weekend. I like Iowa for the upset. Brought to you by Discover at Miles Car limitations apply. Discover.com slash travel. They double your miles first year. T.J. Hushman's auto played for over a decade in the NFL.

NFL made a Pro Bowl. You played in this division with Baltimore and Cincinnati. Let's start with this. Football's an incredibly emotional game. I get it. This isn't the first time I've seen a fight. You and I were just joking. Richie Incognito got into one of these. He got his helmet ripped off years ago in a preseason game against. Antonio Smith. Houston Texans. And there was a three-game suspension for that. So Antonio took a swing at Richie Incognito without a helmet on in a preseason game and didn't land. He didn't hit. And they suspended him three games. So we've seen this before. But it is, did you ever get into one of these?

Because listen, I don't want to be one of these guys that said, you know, this is not golf. This is not volleyball. This is an intense. You're in basically wrestling matches for four hours. Did you ever get in stuff like this? Nothing like this, but I'm an emotional person. Anybody that knows me knows that's the case. I get very emotional.

And when you play football, you're allowed to kind of take that emotion out to a certain degree. Yeah. And so we played Baltimore Ravens one time. I was at Baltimore. It wasn't like this, but it was somewhat. Um, it's fourth down ball came to me. I thought I got pass interfered. They didn't call it. I took my helmet off as I was walking to the sideline and I threw it at the ref's feet. All my stuff flew out my helmet, got a 15-yard penalty, did not get fine, did not get suspended. But that ended up hurting us because we stopped them and got the ball back and we missed a 50-yard field goal. And that would have won the game. And for me, it was a lesson learned because, because I thought the game was over.

They're going to get the ball, run the clock out. We stopped them, and we missed a 50-yard field golf. I don't get that penalty. Who knows how the game turns out? Listen, a lot of people are defending Miles Garrett saying Mason Rudolph started it, but you have a big player that grabs a quarterback. He wrestles him to the ground. He's on top of him, and Mason Rudolph's thinking, dude, come on, get off me.

You know, you're not supposed to land in a player anymore. So Mason starts grabbing him, and my takeaway is if you came up to me in a bar, and jump on top me here, you're 40 pounds heavier. I'll grab my car keys and gouge your eyes out. I'll do what I got to do. But you think this quarterback's getting away with it here. Oh, 100%. Now, you say he slammed him to the ground.

He did not. He kind of laid him on the ground. And if you go back and watch it, look at grabbing that helmet. Mason Rudolph was on top of Miles Garrett when they initially hit the ground. Miles Garrett wasn't on top of Mason Rudolph. Mason Rudolph was on top. And what I believe said Miles Garrett off was,

Mason Rudolph was trying to pull his helmet off. That's why he pulled off Mason Rudolph's helmet. Now, everything after that is ridiculous. It's inexcusable. Any other adjective we can come up with. He shouldn't have done it. But emotions are high when you- See, now watch that again.

That's not, this is why this should have been a penalty. You're not allowed when the quarterback doesn't have the ball. I cannot grab you. I don't know if he realized that Mason didn't have the ball. Miles Garrett, the amount of penalties, The amount of penalties he had, I'm going to say he knew he didn't have the ball. Watch this again when you show it. You're not allowed to do this.

You're not allowed to grab a quarterback. And you can't do that in this 2019. That's not allowed. He jammed him into the- I don't think he jammed him. If you watched that, Miles Garrett back hit the ground before Mason Rudolph did. I think they didn't, you know why? They didn't call a penalty?

Because the fight started and they were too caught up. I don't think he was going to call a penalty. It's five seconds left in the game. The game is, and all, it's over. I don't. He's lucky. Miles Garrett should be praying he didn't hit him with the crown of the helmet because you don't know how that would have turned out. It's like a five pounds. But I will say this, Mason Rudolph, you started it.

Don't start the fight and then when I want to fight you back. Mason Rudolph? Yeah. No, I wouldn't suspend him. So if he started to fight? He should be fined. He started the fight, but Miles Garrett just went above and beyond. He shouldn't have done what he did.

But don't start a fight with me and then play the victim and act like you didn't have any part in this. If you don't try to yank his helmet off, there's no incident. There's no incident. Yeah, but if you try, if I was on top of you and I try, you try to yank my helmet off, I wouldn't grab your face mask and pull your helmet off and beat you with it. Miles Garrett is a different dude, and it's coming from the same guy that got punched by a fan and put it on social media. So it's just, I don't get it.

He's an odd dude. He got Miles Garrett, by the way, this story came out a month ago. Remember that story came out? It was so weird. He got punched by a fan, went to Twitter and talked about being punched by a fan. and talked about being punched by a fan and didn't punch the fan back. Mild mannered outside of football. He also, as Joy pointed out 10 minutes ago,

Miles Garrett's had half a dozen of these. I thought he was the most penalized defensive lineman for the first six or seven weeks in the year. That's why when you said earlier, it does not surprise me that he took him to the ground because he has penalized a lot. But Freddie Kitchens should be nipping this right now. Okay.

Put it into it. Could I make the argument you wouldn't do this if you respected your coach? It has nothing to do with respect for the coach. It has something to do with respect for everybody within the organization. Your teammates, dumb penalties. I mean, just so many different things is, oh, I don't tell my guys how to act. Marvin Lewis was a player's coach, but he would be hard on you. Like, he's not letting you come out on the field if he knows you shouldn't be wearing certain things.

take that off. You're not even getting out there. He's going to tell the position coach, and they're going to come tell us, take that off. Freddie Kitchens lets OBJ do what he wants. And that's the problem. The guys know they can get away with it. And I get it, Freddie Kitchens, you want to be a player's coach. But when you see things like this going to, you know, most penalized team in the league, you have to make an example out of one of your best players.

And you probably don't want to do that because you want to be their friend. But if you make an example out of one of your best players, everybody else falls in line. What about this? I said, Baker Mayfield's not as good as he was. at the end of last year. He's not as bad as he has looked over the last two months is that in the end, I don't think he's talented enough

like a Deshawn Watson or Andrew Luck to overcome massive dysfunction. And John Dorsey, the GM in Cleveland, doesn't give a rip about character. He doesn't care. Kareem, get over. I don't care. I covered a GM in the NBA, Bob Wittitts.

Very smart guy, but he used to just say, it's not my job to make these guys... It's Portland, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's when I was in college. I remember that. Yeah, yeah.

They were called the Oregonian newspaper called them the jailblazers, and it was just a collection of talented misfits. And Bob Witts at the GM, his theory was not my job to make the show the get long. I just get players. Stad of Mara, Rishie, Wallace, Zach Randolph, Jermaine, O'Neill. And by the way, a lot of them were nice guys and funny. But the point is, is John Dorsey's whole thing is be talented.

I don't give a rip about it. So that's what my takeaway is Baker's going to have to deal with this nonsense for the rest of his career in Cleveland, because this is what the GM likes. Guys who are difficult. Things can change. If you get a head coach in there, that that first meeting, you know by the tone of that meeting, this is different.

You know. And so once you get a new coach in there that's going to lay the law down and this is what it's going to be, oh, don't for sure fall in line. Baker Mayfield is, he's not playing well, at least not as he did last year. But you look at it just from Baker Mayfield's perspective. His quarterback coach is Ryan Lindley. Last year he had Ken Zampizi. I played under his Ken Zampi.

You are going to be prepared. you're going to know everything. Maybe too much information, but he's going to give it to you. That could be the case. Offensive line play isn't great. He has weapons to be better, but, I mean, he was running around a lot yesterday. Thought he played well. They should have blew him out.

I thought, no, no, it's, I said when I watched that game, my takeaway, Baltimore's easily the best team in this division. But Baker missed so many throws. Like on the out route to Odell, just he's wide open, third down, just misses him. And even a deep route, O'Dell had to slow down for that. that. He's playing well enough for them to win these games, but if they were to make the playoffs, they're going to get smoked, especially with Miles Garrett not playing. Well, I mean, if, remember, right now they're Cleveland's four and six. If the Raiders win this week,

they're going to be a wild card team because Kansas City is going to win their division. So this morning, to me, I look at Oakland and Buffalo, and I think, and by the way, Tennessee, I don't, I don't, everybody this morning is like Cleveland's going to make the playoffs. There are 12 teams currently in the AFC battling for six spots. Cleveland's got the worst record. I would say Cleveland, they can probably finish nine and seven. They're not beating Baltimore. They might.

They're not. Go to Arizona and face Kyler Murray. Have you seen that guy? That guy's really good. He is underrated. I've picked the Cardinals the last two weeks. Okay, look at this. Here we go.

So here's the records. Where are they sneaking in? Jacksonville gets Nick Foles back. They've already beat Buffalo. They're two games behind Buffalo. They're too far back. They've already beat the Steelers. They'll play them again.

Pittsburgh's not getting in. Tennessee's. Jacoby Brissette is supposed to come back. So what if Indy runs off four straight wins? It's going to be tough. They could conceivably go 10 and 6. I doubt if they do. But at worst, I'm going to say 9 and 7.

They're going to beat the Cardinals. They might make it tough. They're going to beat the Cardinals. T.J. Hushmanzada, ladies. Hey, Cleveland Browns, though, they remind me of a pretty girl. You know you need to leave her alone, but it's like, I can't. Yeah, I guess. It didn't look very pretty girl to me last night.

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