The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR-1-Brady, Browns, Dodgers, Lakers

Episode Date: October 16, 2020

Tom Brady probably didn't think playing for the Buccaneers would be this difficultThe Browns won't be able to run the ball on the SteelersClayton Kershaw isn't built for the postseasonChris Paul would be a good fit for the LakersGuest: Albert Breer Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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 Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Friday that will include Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson and Blazing 5 live in Los Angeles. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Fox Sports Radio right here on FS1, one hour from now our Blazing 5. It is the biggest NFL weekend by far. We have classic rivalries, Rams, Niners, Browns, Steelers.

We have iconic Hall of Fame-level quarterbacks meeting. Brady and Rogers and Joy Taylor looks like she's on Broadway today. Look at Joy Taylor. Oh, my God. I felt like this is a Friday dress. It is like a New Year's dress. It is Uptown Joy Taylor. The truth is it was stretchy, and I didn't feel like being uncomfortable.

You do not look like a Pittsburgh girl this morning. It's great to have you in. So I just want to talk about two games to start. The two biggest games of the weekend to me, the two I can't wait to watch. These are five soup games. I'm going to start with the Tampa Bay, Green Bay, Tom Brady against Aaron Rogers. So change is really hard. Most Americans, they do studies on this, don't want to change.

We like habits. Most Americans have jobs. They have conquered. They have figured out. And they're not challenged. But the money's okay. And change stinks. You've got to move offices, move bosses, change cultures, change cities.

So most people in their lives stay in jobs that are beneath them. They're no longer challenged by. They're certainly smart enough. People are certainly capable, but changes hard. And Tom Brady not only left a job he had kind of mastered, but the best system in the league and he chose Tampa, largely loose, not buttoned up, dysfunctional organization. And he knew it was hard.

He knew it was a new system. And he knew they lacked discipline. and he knew Bruce Ariens wasn't Bill Belichick. But I think it's been harder than Tom thought. Because Joy and I were on the news back in like March or April when the story broke. In fact, we broke it Tom to the Buccaneers. And we thought COVID would be done by June or July. And it's still a pandemic and the numbers are rising.

And Tom Brady thought he was going to get an OTA. He thought he was going to get a preseason. He thought most of his young players, young players don't get hurt as much. they'd always be available. They're not again this weekend. Light practices, players hurt. Tom Brady is aspirational. And people that are take chances and take jobs that are challenging.

But Tampa Bay's offense doesn't do anything well. They're 21st in yards per play. They're 21st and third down conversion. And if you've watched their offense this year, it's looked clunky. It's hard. It looks like it's hard. It's undisciplined, 25 offensive penalties. And then here comes Green Bay.

It has looked easy. They are top three in third down conversion. They are top three in protecting the quarterback. They are number one in yards per play. So when you've got a big game and two great players and one, we said this with LeBron and AD this year, the chemistry just looked easy. I probably should have picked up on this earlier. The chemistry for the clippers always looked hard.

And in the end, the team, the chemistry just fit and it worked and it was easy, ended up winning the championship. If you've watched Green Bay this year, and they haven't played very good of defenses, I mean, they've played sort of weaker defenses, but it's looked easy. It's not just winning, it looks like they're happy. They're functional. Devonthe Adams is healthy.

And for Tampa Bay, it has just looked hard and Tom loves challenges, but I think this is tougher than he thought. The injuries, no OTAs, no pre-season. lack of discipline has been alarming and Brady talks about facing Aaron who always makes it look so smooth. I think there's a lot to like about his his play and his ability to pass football. He's um I think everybody always is pretty much in awe of how he makes it look so easy. You know, just the throwing motion, the velocity on the ball, the placement of the ball. He's, you know, one of the great quarterbacks ever played the game.

Tom needs for Aaron Rogers to not make it look easy. This game could be a blowout. It is all the Fox promos are Aaron against Tom. No, it's really Aaron Rogers against Tampa Bay's defense. The only way Tampa Bay wins this weekend, if it's a little ugly for Aaron, if there's pressure on him and if the defense carries him. Because Tom likes challenges. and when he signed with Tampa, he thought he was getting an OTA, a preseason,

and young players who generally stay healthier than old players. None of those have transpired, and I like the Packers this weekend. Here is the other game I'm really interested in. Cleveland, this is the best they've been since Belichick, and they face the Steelers. And teams and coaches tell you what they think of their quarter. by what they allow them to do. Mike Zimmer does not allow Kirk Cousins to do much.

He's telling you what he thinks of Kirk Cousins. And Kevin Stefansky is telling you what he thinks of Baker Mayfield. They are number one in running the football. And secondly, multiple times this year on big plays offensively, they've let receivers throw the ball downfield. He's telling you he doesn't trust Baker Mayfield to carry them. and why should he? After all these games this year, five games we have a pattern.

Game one, they let Baker throw 37 times. They were blown out. Games two, three, and four, they allowed him to throw 23, 23, and 30. They look good in all of them. Last week, they threw a lot in the second half, 37 attempts, and Baker almost blew it. That should have been a blowout and not competitive. Kevin Stefansky is telling you what he thinks of Baker. He's limited.

Pro Football Focus has him rated as the second lowest-graded offensive starter for the Cleveland Browns. Only a rookie left tackle, who's a poor run blocker is lower. And Greg CoSell came on this week and said despite the glossy four-and-one record, here's what the film says on Baker. I quite honestly don't believe Baker Mayfield has played that well. I think Baker is playing a little fast, both mentally and first. physically. I think he needs to slow down his entire process. He's a very talented kid. I think he's got a really good arm. We've seen him be exceedingly accurate throughout his career at times.

But I think that for them to get to where they believe I'm sure they can get to, he's going to have to play a lot better than he's playing now. And what do the Pittsburgh Steelers do really well? They make you play fast. They've got the best pass rush. They lead the NFL in Sacks with 20. and hits with 70, and they're going to make Baker Mayfield play very, very fast. And PFF and Greg Cosell and people that look at film tell you, when he plays fast, he's not very good. That's why Stefansky has the Browns as the number one run ratio team in the league, and why he is this year more than once asked his wide receivers to make big throws-down field

in big spots of games. coaches tell you what they think of their players by what they allow them to do and not allow them to do. Stefansky, ideally against Pittsburgh, would love to run the ball 30 to 45 times. And he's not going to be able to because nobody's going to run the ball successfully 40 times on the Steelers this year. I like Pittsburgh. And Green Bay, two favorites this weekend. and I generally like underdogs. So a lot of different stuff on a Friday.

Dodgers continue to melt down. You know, it's interesting here in Los Angeles, where Joy and I live, Broadway star Joy Taylor, that we've had a lot of successful teams lately. The Lakers won the championship. The Clippers were very good. Outside of the hockey team in this town, everybody's kind of winning. And the Dodgers are. But, you know, it's interesting with winning is that Clayton,

Kershaw, who is beloved in Los Angeles, again last night, melted down. And it was fascinating to watch Dodger fans fight amongst themselves last night. He never gets support from the office. He never gets support from the manager. They didn't pull him fast enough. Here's all I know. His regular season ERA, 2.4. His postseason ERA, closer to 4.4. That's the data. You can keep arguing about it, but we have seen this in the NBA and we see it with baseball. Some people are built for regular season. Some people slightly unravel in the postseason. Westbrook, we've seen that.

Harden. Clayton Kershaw is not the same pitcher in the postseason. That is indisputable. He's just not. Coming up next, though, there is a rumor out there. And when you start to see rumors, and it's not just, hey, this might happen, they start to mention players that could be part of a trade, then there's something to it.

Chris Paul to the Lakers will discuss that blazing five top of next hour. Albert Breer talking football too this hour. 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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clipper Taylor the 4. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment.

And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health. purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMA? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little camp? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we picky here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack all day, but yeah, yeah, literally. But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast.

Learn the Hard Way with me. and your favorite therapist, Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

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

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 Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. RECTECTEC more than a grill, a lifestyle, smart grill technology allows for even heat. Can't go wrong. Built by grillers for grillers, RackTech withacu.com. So here's a rumor that's very interesting. Chris Paul, we thought his career was done. Clippers, people were disappointed, goes to Houston, really good, gets hurt, it's over, goes to Oklahoma City.

Wow. Shocking team of the year. But Chris Paul's always loved Los Angeles, reportedly wants to come back, wants to leave Oklahoma City. and the Lakers are interested and Chris Paul wants to play with LeBron James. Two years left on his deal, $85 million. What are the Lakers care? They just want one title in two years, and they just won a title many are surprised by. You'd have to give up Danny Green, Kyle Kuzma, Avery Bradley, and Quinn Cook.

Here's why I love this. Remember this. Championship teams need to always tweak. They need to add juice and energy. And I was reading a business book earlier this year. and they said, what kills every great company is always the same thing. It's arrogance. It's this belief we've got it figured out.

We've got it solved that even when you're a championship team, it is the easiest time to sell to your employees a tweak. Because the bosses have to be smart. You just had great earnings. It's very difficult to take your staff, to take your team when you're struggling and say, all right, this didn't work. We're going to try something new. That's tough. But when you're a champion and you twirling.

and you tweak, there's an understanding with employees, oh, they know what they're doing. They just let us do a championship. Michael Jordan's Bulls, the first three Pete and the second three Pete, they were different teams. The Warriors, they add Shane Battier, they win a title, then they add Ray Allen. They kept adding juice.

The Warriors had won a title loss. They bring in KD. They win a couple of titles. They bring in DeMarcus cousins. The Lakers need juice. That's not that they're not good, but remember, they flew through Portland and flew through Houston and they frankly flew through Denver and they ended up beating Miami by like

30 points or 20 points although it was a blowout. You have got to add a dimension to this team. Something else and now was the time and Chris Paul is the perfect fit. Number one, super high IQ basketball player. LeBron has no interest teaching you how to play basketball. This is a high functioning IQ basketball team. LeBron, the center of it. Adding Chris Paul makes a lot of sense. Secondly, like Miami with LeBron, this is a market that is attractive to free agents. You start adding Chris Paul and LeBron, Anthony Davis, that's a championship team. You will attract older players who have made their money and only thing missing is a ring.

That's how you get, like a Shane Badiere. That's how you get, like a Warriors can get a guy that will take a little less. So I think the Chris Paul Laker rumors are real. Chris Paul loves L.A. LeBron loves smart veteran players. And by the way, the Western Conference is all about guards. Who's the emerging stars? Devin Booker and Jamal Murray, guards.

What does Chris Paul do? Play defense. If you really look at the number one threat next year to the Lakers, it's not the Clippers. It's probably the Warriors. What are they built on? Stefan Clay, back court. A stingy, tough, physical guard. and Chris Paul, veteran high basketball IQ is a perfect fit for the Lakers.

And here's Broadway Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. That's how you should do the entire. I can't sing, though. I love Broadway, though. So Levy on Bell is signing with the Kansas City Chiefs.

He agreed to join the reigning Super Bowl champs on a one-year deal. He tweeted his excitement after the news broke, saying, City hashtag Chiefs Kingdom. Thank you for the opportunity. Let's go. They're quick with these edits, aren't they? I'm no kidding. Just ready to go.

Boom, New Jersey. Yep. So, so far this season is at 19 carries 74 yards in two games. He won't be available Monday night against the bills because he has to complete COVID protocol. So his first game with the Chiefs will be facing the New York Jets. Oh, my gosh. In week eight.

The Chiefs are obviously having a great season, but there's three. 13th in rushing guards per game, 119.4. Obviously, they have Clyde Edward Teller, Daryl Williams, Darwin Thompson, and DeAndre Washington, Damien Williams decided to opt out this season. So they could use a little bit of help. Clyde Advertillard has been running well, but he is still a rookie. So this is a significant piece for them. And I think Levian Bell was in a great organization, then went to a crappy one,

and he could have gone to a lot of places. But instead of choosing revenge and going to the bill, or revenge on the Jets and going to the Dolphins, who he would play twice a year. He went, okay, I'm not going to go for stats and carries. I'm going to go for culture, stability, winning. This is a really smart decision. I didn't like him taking the Jets outside of Pittsburgh.

Really good, stable organization to dumpster fire. Now he goes, I think he learned from it. He said, you know what, I'm going to go back to where I flourished, which is stability, maturity, play calling. I think, now, again, I don't know how much left in the tank, but as a red zone weapon, very good out of the backfield, Andy Reid's very clever.

Lavian Bill is, he'll at least semi-fourish within a month in this system. Well, it's just like everything you were just saying with Chris Paul and the Lakers. You just can't get complacent just because you are a Super Bowl-winning organization.

You're playing well. You have Patrick Mahomes. Everything is still clicking. Forget this Raiders loss, right? It's on the end of the world in Kansas City. Keep retooling. Keep upgrading. Keep adding new pieces.

Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don't. but this is a great situation for Levy on Bell and for Kansas City. It's a one-year deal. Why not? He may be able to play week seven against the Broncos, so the Jets might not be his first game back, but either way, he's going to be playing the Jets very, very soon.

And then I'm sure that quote from Adam Gase about it's irrelevant, how we use him will be circulating everywhere that week. It always works that way. You get picked up by a team, and two weeks later, you know, you break out with somebody, swear to God, there at Walgreens every time you are. It never fails. You're bump into them.

You guys had the same routine for a while. Yeah. So the clippers are built around Kauai Leonard, but some of his teammates are reportedly unhappy that he gets special treatment from the organization. According to the athletic, players like Patrick Beverly, Montrez-Harrel, and Lou Williams bristled

when Kauai was allowed to take games off and live in San Diego, which often made him late for team flights. The team also reportedly allowed Kauai to dictate when he would be pulled from games. He played in 57 of 72 regular season games this season. for comparison, LeBron played in 67 of the 71 regular season games this season. I'm sorry, regular season games this season. Anyway, Tyloo just signed a five-year deal.

He's already been in the building. So he's very aware of this situation, what this story is about, how much meat is on the bone with this situation. I will say this. I really don't get excited to hear that the team is upset with special treatment of the superstars. It's always very confusing to me. But I also feel like that lies, that responsibility to keep the team energy fluid and to keep that animosity low is on the superstar that's getting the special treatment. No, no, no, no, it is. Here's the thing. The Clippers brand right before Kauai got there was play hard. There was a bunch of overachievers. And then Kauai engineered a deal with

Paul George. They brought two stars in. And it was, stars get a little extra benefit. So I think the hard thing is maybe it was asking a lot in a six-month bubble to say, okay, here's the team culture, which is like a bunch of overachievers, right? Like people that, people that doubt a lot of these people. They've been moved. They've been traded. They're off the bench. Lou Williams. And that was a culture. Had a low ceiling, but it was a good culture and it was a winning culture. And then you bring stars in and the culture is, no, we're going to take some. Our ceiling's going to be way higher, but we're going to change our culture. So Ty Lou, Doc, obviously, there was some acknowledgement within the organization.

They were a little entitled. And Doc's a veteran coach. He takes care of stars. And that may have set some of the younger players off. So now Ty is going to, not to totally fix this team. No, but you have to pivot. You have to pivot and tweak it a little back to a little more of a grinding team. A little bit more.

How about 12 days off, not 17 games off? Like tweak it. It's going to be tough for Kauai to continue this level of load management going forward. because you just saw what LeBron did, and obviously LeBron is on a different level. But AD even played all the games. But, yes, like the load management thing, I think, is kind of out the window now.

Obviously, guys are still going to take games off, as they should. It's a very long season, and sometimes you just need a night off. Understandable. But that amount of games off is not going to be favorable moving forward. But again, I mean, even, I mean, we're in L.A., right? Like, superstars get special treatment.

All over in any business, superstars get special treatment. The best sales guy gets an extra weekend. vacation. That's the way it works. You have to be responsible, knowing that you're the star, knowing that you're the leader. You have to be responsible to make sure that the guys that don't get that treatment don't feel that way. Right. Like, it's on you. If you want the special treatment, you have to be responsible for everyone else when you're on a team. Once again, Clayton Kershaw came up short in the postseason start for the Dodgers. He returned to the mound in the sixth inning, having given up only one run so far. But the Braves opens up the

floodgates with three straight hits to score two and not Kershaw out of the game. The bullpen was not able to stop the surging Atlanta offense, who finished the inning with a 7-1 lead and got the game for a victory 10 to 2. Everybody's banging on Dave Roberts today because he should have pulled Kershaw batter earlier, but he had given up one run through five innings, and then in the six he gave up an infield single and a double, and Dave Roberts said, I'm paying you $93 million two years. You got an extension. I'm going to give you one more batter.

Like the idea that Dave Roberts made some sort of gaff, it's like their bullpens the weakness of the team. Like you're paying him to get, the reason you're paying him is not to get through the second and third inning. It's to get through the sixth. Right. So this is a moment where you give your guy, your bull, your guy, all right, you gave him an in-veiled single and a double. And he knows you can look over to the dugout. You get one more batter and he gave up a double and then you pull him. But this idea that, you know, he never gets-

That's not on Roberts. It's not. You're paying him to get through the, sixth innings and seventh innings and he has struggled. So it's, and he's a very, it's a generational talent, but he has not been the same guy. We see this all the time in sports.

Everyone is not the same in the postseason. Some people are just great, regular season players. Some guys get to Paul George is a terrific player. He gets tight. But that becomes a part of your legacy and that's why people are kind of slamming Roberts saying like, you know this is the case,

but you have to give him the opportunity. Listen, what made Derek Jeter great, it's not that Derek was amazing in the postseason. Derek was a 300 hitter in the regular season, and he was a 300 hitter in the post. There was no dip. Derek was always a clutch player. It's Goulet will tell you.

The criticism of Arod, he was unbelievable in the regular season, and there was a dip in the postseason. I think A. Rod had a couple of great series postseason against the twins one year. But the difference was Jeter was the same guy. That's until this year, that was Kauai. That's been LeBron. But we do have Paul George. James Harden, Clayton.

Maybe it's the anxiety. Maybe they're just, you know, they're out pitch. You face teams. I mean, I don't know the why. It's usually in the head. It's not the talent. But he's not the same guy in the phone. He obviously has a talent or we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Of course. But it just is what it is. Like after a certain amount of body of work, like this is, we know this is the case. Coverage for, well, now they're on the brink of elimination, obviously, in game five tonight. And coverage begins at 8. 30 Eastern on FS1. Good stuff. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. All sorts of good stuff today. 30 minutes from now are Blazing 5. Don't forget, check engine light comes on. Don't freak out. Carsheel.com. 10% off. Put in my name, Herd. CarShield.com. Code Herd, a deductible may apply.

Let's go to Albert Breer. Senior NFL reporter, lead content strategist Monday morning. Quarterback, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz. the best or nothing. So, you know, it is interesting. Every Fox promo, it's Brady against Rogers, but I really think it is Rogers against Tampa's defense because Tom Brady knew

this was going to be difficult, Albert. He did. He's an old guy. It's a new offense. But he didn't predict no OTAs. He didn't predict no preseason. He didn't predict this many injuries to skill people. And they're not doing outside of the red zone.

They're not very good. offensively, do you believe that it's a little more right now than Tom thought he'd have to dig himself out of? Yeah, I think to some degree, Colin, Tom's learning how the other 31 live. You know, the Patriots are so buttoned up and such a tight operation, you don't have things like jumping off sides on fourth down. You don't have things like blocked punts. You don't have things like fumbled kickoffs. Those things generally don't happen in New England, and you won't see those things happen multiple times in a game ever with the Patriots. And so I think there's been an adjustment from that standpoint for Tom Brady, no question about it.

You know, and they're dealing with the injuries, which, you know, that's just more bad luck than anything. But yeah, I mean, I think there's an element of this that has taken some getting used to. And I think before that Bears game, to be honest with you, we started to see signs of what it could be with Brady getting a little bit more comfortable getting the ball down field. I think a little bit of a regression on a short week against the Bears, but there are some signs that it's coming along. And I do think, you know, like you said, he's playing with an awfully good defense. That buck's defense has been playing well going back to the end of last year under Todd Volz. So Baker Mayfield will face the best defense he has faced so far this year.

Pro football focus has Baker as the second lowest graded offensive player for the Browns. Last week, again, when they ran it early against the Colts, he was terrific. half, they asked him to throw more, he got loose and actually kept that game close. Is it fair to me to, I think that the Baker season's been a little bit of a mirage that it's, they're trying to become a run team. And when they've been forced to throw it, it's kind of gotten ugly so far for Baker. Well, I think to some degree, the coaches there are trying to rebuild Baker a little bit. And I'm not saying he needs a complete overhaul, but I know one of the focuses there,

they wanted him to play calmer. wanted him to play a less frantic game. And to be fair to Baker, like that sort of style of play really worked for him at Oklahoma. But, you know, they wanted him to sort of settle down. And the best way to do that was to establish the running game. And they started to see signs that he's getting there. But this was always going to be a process, you know. And I think that they felt like coming in, establishing the Shanahan run game was going to be huge for him. And so being able to do that behind Nick Chubb before he got hurt now, Kareem Hunt, and fixing the offensive line. where job number one.

Yeah. And that's why I think Baker's best friend has been Bill Callahan, the offensive line coach, who wherever he goes, and you can look it up, Washington, Dallas, wherever he's been, he gets there, the offensive line's fixed, the run game's fixed. And so I think so much of this was about getting Baker to settle down and doing that through the run game. And I think now that they've established that to some degree, they can start to build Baker back up, which was part of the plan all along.

You know, people will bristle at this. And I do like DAC over Andy Dalton. but we forget now that Andy Dalton is 32 years old. That's it. He could absolutely, if he flourishes here in Dallas, there may be teams that say in the next year, we like to offer him some money. I think in Cincinnati, I said this yesterday,

when he was asked to be a pass-first point guard, to distribute the ball in those first four years in Cincinnati, he was actually very effective. I think that's what he's going to be asked to do in Dallas. Now, I think Dax better, but I think we're being hyperbolic saying the gap is large. I mean, you talked to so. I think Andy Dalton with this offense can be a very highly functional player. Your thoughts?

I mean, I talked to Stephen Jones about this two days ago, and he said that they felt incredibly fortunate. Based on the way the quarterback market went for the first time and forever, there was more supply than demand out there, they felt incredibly fortunate that they were able to to Andy Dalton under the circumstances they wound up getting them. And you're right. Five years in a row, Colin. Five years in a row in Cincinnati. He brought them to the playoffs, right? Now, I know they didn't win when they got there, but you got to be pretty good to get him there. And what you saw in Cincinnati, I think is exactly who he is. He's an incredibly effective bus driver.

When you give him a good environment to operate in, he can do it. When he had AJ Green and Marvin Jones and Mohammed Sunoo and the tackles were Andrew Whitworth and Andre Smith. Yep. He was a really good quarterback. What happens when the offensive line crumbles? Well, then he crumbled a little bit. So, you know, I think as much as anything else, the really interesting part about this, Colin, to me, this gives the Cowboys a great chance to assess the rest of their roster because if you're good around Andy Dalton,

I think he's going to be just fine. They've paid a lot of guys in that roster. Obviously, Amari Cooper, Ezekiel Elliott, the offensive line, they've invested a ton up there. This is going to give them a really good chance to kind of assess how good the rest of their team is because if you're good around Andy Dalton, I think he's shown he can do it.

So the Chiefs add Lavian Bell. There's some Gen X stats that say he shot. He is. He was McCaffrey before McCaffrey. He's a great pass catcher out of the backfield. And I think he made a really smart decision to go to a highly functional stable organization from the Jets. That's why I never like when he left the Steelers. Do you think he shot?

What are your sources say? I think as a red zone weapon, I think he could be really interesting for the Chiefs. I think he has something left. I think so much of it about it for him is like he's going to sort of go the way the wind blows him. So if he's in a good environment, like he'll go that way. If he's in a bad environment, he's going to be a problem. And so I think that's sort of what you saw over the last couple of years with the Jets. I don't think he's what he was four years ago when he was averaging 4.9 yards of carry.

That said, the chiefs can really use him. They missed Damien Williams in short yardage close to the goal line. Here's the other thing. They love Clyde Edwards-Alair, and they believe in Clyde Edwards-Alair. But if you look at Clyde Edwards-Alair's history, he really only had one year as the Belkow at LSU, and that was with all these great things going on around him. And so to ask him to be that guy in year one in the NFL, I think it was always a little bit much.

And so now what can they do? Now they can pace them a little bit more. And now this is going to allow them to get more out of their first round pick when you get to December and January, when you'd be worrying about him hitting that rookies. wall if you were really taxing him. Now you can pull back a little bit on him and maybe get a little bit more from him when you get to the playoff. That's a really, really good point. Albert Breer joining us. So I said this week, Alex Smith-Lwin comeback player of the year, I'll give Cam-Newton comeback player of the year. I think he's been terrific and I've been a doubter forever.

And then he got COVID and I thought, oh, brother, oh, don't, don't lose Bill. Don't lose the locker room on this. Just, just don't. And then I thought to myself, I wonder if, you know, Bill, his tolerance for stuff like that with veterans is pretty low. Did he lose any equity in the locker room? Is everybody still all in on Cam Newton in New England? Yeah, I think that they are. You know, look, like this isn't just a one-year thing too. I mean, you know, his history, if you really dig into it and you talk to people in Carolina,

he was actually a really good locker room guy there. Like if you talk to the Greg Olsons, the Ryan Colleals, the Thomas Davis, the Luke Keekleys, the guys who were foundation pieces with him in Carolina, they all love him. And so, yeah, I mean, I think that the Patriots look at Cam Newton as a guy who potentially could be their quarterback for the next three, four, five years, and at the very least could be somebody who helps them get to the next guy, sort of the same way that Alex Smith was for the Kansas City Chiefs and getting them to Patrick Mahomes. And the Patriots are in an interesting spot now. I actually think, Colin, and this is sort of an interesting twist. The Dwayne

Haskins benching in Washington could reverberate in New England before you were sort of wondering, where's the market for Cam Newton going to be after the season? Now Washington's future at quarterback looks wide open. Their head coach is Ron Rivera. Their offensive coordinator, Scott Turner. And now the Patriots actually have something to worry about as far as where Cam Newton could go after the year. And so I think this storyline only gets more interesting as we go on. Yeah, I said this to Joy this week. I'm not there yet, but I'm close. If, Cam beats Denver. If Cam the next two weeks plays really well, and I feel like, okay, I've got a new guy here. Does, does, do they sit down and just offer him and just say, listen, here's a two-year deal?

We may draft a quarterback, Cam. We're going to try to, but for two years, we're building around you. Do you think they would start talks in a couple of weeks if he flourished against, let's say, Denver this weekend? I wouldn't be surprised if they did what they did with Jimmy Garoppolo. And Jimmy Garoppolo, before they traded him, they'd offered him like a first. fair kind of bridge deal. And he turned it down and he wound up winning in that scenario. Became a starter in San Francisco got paid there. But it wouldn't surprise me if they offered him some sort of bridge deal that sort of takes care of him the next few years, gets him some money early, takes some of that injury risk that he's facing the rest of the year off of his plate.

And I think it would make all the sense in the world to do that, Colin, for a couple different reasons. Number one, the cap's going to go down next year because of the revenue shortfall. So if you can dump some money into this year where you still have some cap space and they still have like between $25 and $30 million in cap space, I think you do it. And then it allows you to sort of plan fiscally around Cam for the next few years. And again, I think the Alex Smith comp in Kansas City is the right one where it's we're really happy with our quarterback right now. And maybe he's the long term answer. And maybe he gets back to being MVP Cam. But at the very least, we've got a guy we're happy with for now that's going to help us get to the next.

guy. That's why we bring him on all sorts of good insight. Albert Breyer's senior NFL guy, lead content dude. Monday morning quarterback. Have a great week. This is a really good NFL weekend. That's right. Yeah. A lot of clarity this weekend. Thanks, Albert. All right. Thanks, Colin. Enjoy the weekend. Coming up next, they got housed by Kansas City and everybody kind of peeled back some of their stock on the Ravens. I understand a little bit of that. Let's explore what they actually are this morning. They're not quite the same. We'll tell you why, plus Blazing 5. Top of the hour on a Friday.

Thanks so much for joining us. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand-new podcast,

The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is a good. is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it. here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year. for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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. Keep you. games is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Weather's tough during the winter. Be prepared. Michelin Endurance XT silicone wiper blades last two times longer than other blades. Available only at Walmart. Blazing five top of the hour. Great NFL weekend. This will be a last week was kind of clunky.

there were a lot of bad quarterback versus bad quarterback. Now we've got stars meeting this week, star coaches, McVey and Kyle Shanahan, star brand Steelers taking on the Browns. By the way, Dallas Monday Night against Arizona is a sneaky good game. Andy Dalton, you know, it just freaks everybody out, but I like Dak more than Andy Dalton. But the gap right now is not that big. Dalton, when asked at 32 years old, to distribute,

you can do it in this team. This is a really good receiving court, capable tight ends. If they can give him protection, Dalton's going to move the ball with this offense, which dacted to a higher level, I believe. So, you know, it's funny. In the NFL, it's always kind of been this way, is that new stuff gets introduced all the time. Like, analytics have changed the way baseball looks. It used to be, oh, you can't strike out.

Got to get the ball in play. Baseball looks different today than when I grow. up. It's all home runs and strikeouts. You'll use six different pitchers. They all throw 98 miles and that new guy in. Baseball doesn't even look like it used to. There's no cat and mouse game. There's no base runners. Home runs and strikeouts. Basketball doesn't look the same. It's all three pointers. There's no centers. I mean, if you're a seven foot guy, if you can't shoot, you're mostly useless. It looks totally different than even 12 years ago. But football, we introduce a bunch of stuff.

But it's all kind of the same. At some point, you need efficient quarterback play, good coaching, got to run the ball situationally, and good defense almost always ends up in the playoffs winning. We had the Wildcat offense. It lasted about an hour. And we've had running quarterbacks, but in the end you've got to throw the ball.

That we've seen a Kaepernick or we've seen a Wildcat offense. We've seen stuff introduced, but it's why analytics in football have not changed the sport like analytics in baseball or the NBA or basketball. Lamar Jackson was new and he was fresh and he was dynamic and he blew everybody away. But now we've seen a lot of them. Everybody's played him. Everybody in division two or three times has played him.

Baltimore is really good. But they're not quite as dynamic. One of the reasons is they're trying to protect Lamar Jackson who was taking too many shots. Now, they're still very good, but last year he ran it 12 times a game for seven yards of pop. This year he runs at eight times for a still very dynamic 5.8 yards of pop. This is a team that introduced itself two years ago as an almost collegiate running team. Now you're taking away the leader of that run, Lamar Jackson, asking him to run a little less. I like Mark Ingram.

He's not a top five running back. J.K. Dobbins is good, but not that dynamic. So what you're saying is, here's what we were. We ran more than everybody else. Lamar ran significantly more than everybody else, and we're just not going to run it that much. What does it tell me? It tells me they're reverting back toward the league and what the league demands,

and the newness and the freshness is not quite what it was. Everybody's seen it now. It doesn't mean Baltimore is not excellent. they really are and could absolutely win the Super Bowl. But their defense has been good, not special. Their running game now is excellent but not quite as dynamic. Scale back a little. The NFL always reverts back to sort of the same game.

Protect your quarterback. Get theirs. Don't turn it over. Run the ball in crucial situations. And you will win a bunch of games in this league. Lamar Jackson, still better runner than thrower. Gotta keep refining that. Gotta keep getting better at that.

But I think too many people sold too much stock on Baltimore. They're still really good and better than 85 to 90% of the league. But the newness is off. And the NFL, it always goes back to what it was. Baseball and basketball look different than even 10 to 12 years ago. Football looks mostly the same. We got rid of huddles about seven. eight years ago. That was different, like that we got rid of huddles. But the last seven,

eight years, it's always the same stuff. Kansas City last year. When did they really get special? Week 11. Why? Their defense got better. Patrick Mahomes didn't suddenly get way better in week 12. Another defense got better. The pass rush got better. They got a little healthier on defense. So there you go. Blazing five is coming up. Ty Lou, new clipper coach. Chris Paul, going to the Lakers potentially. It's very exciting time. You know, I feel bad for other cities, namely New York, that are trapped by bad GMs, bad coaches, and some bad owners. They'll be more interesting next year. Maybe. We'll see. But again, Kyrie and Katie and Trevor Lawrence going on in New York next year. Yeah. You cross your

fingers on Katie and Kyrie's health. They've had some, they've had some issues there. All right, Blazing Five is around the corner as well as Michael Rapaport and Jimmy Johnson, the Hall of Fame Head Coach joins us two. Hour 2 coming up in L.A. heard. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits,

my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators,

and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliverd Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.