The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR-1-Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Cowboys, Buccaneers

Episode Date: September 21, 2020

Cam Newton finally has structureRussell Wilson is playing the best football of his careerThe Cowboys won but their flaws are showingIt's going to take time for everything to click for the BuccaneersGuest: Michael Vick Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, what a Monday we have today. Live in Los Angeles, this is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Fox Sports Radio right here, FS1, quite a crowded weekend, tons of NFL, capped off by a wildly entertaining Russell Wilson, Cam Newton battle late into the night. Joy Taylor is joining me one hour from now, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, every Monday. I thought that was one of the best football games I've seen this year. It was amazing down to the last second. And I actually don't have a problem with how it ended.

No, either do I. Either do I. Because if Cam would have thrown it and something bad would have happened, all the internet would have talked about was how we should have run it. You know, let me start with this. Structure matters in life. A lot of you get it from your family. If you don't get it from your family, maybe you get it from religion.

Maybe you get it from coworkers, somebody you meet. But structure is really important. Habits. It's good on your body. It's good on your stress level. Things you can count on. Structure. I know, but you're talented.

I know, but you're flamboyant and independent. You want to do what you want to do. That's great. But talent without structure is what happened to Antonio Brown's career. Cam Newton has real structure, and I'm all in on it. Cam Newton, who's got all sorts of flair, just join the best system and the best structure in the NFL. Mechanics? No more sloppy throws.

Won't be tolerated. His mechanics are the best I've seen since he was a rookie. Ad-libbing, you're still allowed to do that. New England allows you to do Superman, have fun at practice, wear the big hats, have some personality, but no more series just mailing it in. No more taking it off. every single series has a point of view. Talent with structure is Russell Wilson. It's LeBron James.

Talent without structure that doesn't want to be coached that can be difficult is what Kyrie Irving's careers look like post-Lebron. OBJ, post-Tom Tom Coughlin. OBJ wants to be coached. He wants to be coached. Most great players want to be coached. Kevin Durant does. LeBron does.

Anthony Davis does. Sometimes the coaching stinks. and sometimes the athletes like don't want to deal with it. Cam is embracing it because nobody coaches are like New England. This is the first time I watched Cam. And he's not a rental player for New England. Well, this works. If you gave him one vertical threat, if you gave him a Tyree kill,

you know, if New England could actually draft a receiver, if you gave him a Travis Kelsey, this team would be a handful. You wouldn't want to play this team if you're Andy Reed. You wouldn't want to play this team. Now, this team does not have a lot. a vertical dimension and it limits them. So there's kind of one way they could win. Last night's a shootout and that's not best served for New England. But here's what's interesting. I could make an argument. This is the least talented offense in terms of personnel.

Rex Burkhead, Julian Edelman, Nikiel Harry, no great tight end. This is the least talented offense. No Christian McCaffrey here. No Curtis Samuel, DJ Moore here. No great. Well, there's Greg Olson, but he's the older Greg Olson here. And yet, what did Cam Newton do? Oh, wait, he completed 68% of his throws, way above his career average, and his passer rating was in the mid-90s against Pete Carroll and Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams. Structure matters and Cam's embracing it.

Too many people push back. Oh, I don't want to eat the same thing every month. I don't want to be coached. Cam's like, I mean it, I need it, I want it, and look at him. And I'll tell you the thing that jumped out to me, his mechanics have always been kind of hot and cold. I think his mechanics now are excellent. And I've always been a critic of Cam Newton. But if that's the cam I get, I'm good.

You can win that. Belichick, that defense, and that cam. They are basically a vertical dimension away from being a handful. Maybe they get it in the draft. Maybe they get it in free agency. Maybe they go ahead and get OBJ. but what I'm watching right there looks like Cam has put his arms around the system.

The system. Bill Belichick's put his arms around Cam. What a pleasure to watch. That's football. The player's getting the most out of the team and the team's getting the most out of the player. And that's why I love football. It is structure.

It gave me structure. My Sundays are structured. I've got everything written out and everybody needs structure. Michael Jordan, the two times he had the best coaches, Carolina Dean Smith and Phil Jackson, with the great structures, he won championships. When he didn't have the coach, he didn't have the triangle offense, or he didn't have the college, he didn't have, he didn't win.

LeBron James was at his best, the best team he ever played on. Pat Riley, Eric Spolstra, D. Wade, people that thrive in the structure. So as far as giving Cam the ball in the last play of the game, listen, what is my rule? I said this last week with joy. When you get down to a play of the game and you give it to your best player, I'm all good. I mean, that was Cam Newton against, I don't know, the entire city of Seattle. If he goes outside, maybe he scores. I'm not going to blame him.

He had 400 yards, two touchdowns, played great. I thought he was tremendous. But I'll never bang on a football coaching staff. When on the biggest play of the game, you give it to your game. best player. Cam was on fire, playing with a ton of confidence, making great decisions, playing smart football. Oh, God, he couldn't beat 11 guys. Here's Cam after. Yeah, it was a great play by them. That's a play we had favorite in the game playing. We ran it a couple times and figured, you know, I just think we probably went to the well too many times. But at the end of the day,

said, felt confident about it. I would just have to execute. And I could have bounced it, you know, looking at the clip. I just got to be better. I'm good with it. If that's the Cam Newton I get, he's a patriot. He's not a rental player. That's a real NFL quarterback.

You know, it's funny in this league. You know, you get drafted by a team, and if it doesn't go well, like Sam Darnold, you may not get a second chance. Like for Cam, great Cam, hurt Cam, Cam Act 2. I mean, this, I'm all in on this.

I thought he was great. That's, including the MVP year. I like this cam more. Structured cam, dependable cam, good mechanics cam. And yes, he can still do a Superman. I'm okay with that. It's okay. You can have a little flare.

You can have a little flare. But I'll tell you, flare needs structure more than structure needs flare. All right, let's shift to this. I'll give the Dallas Cowboys credit. First of all, that first quarter was a mess. you got to give Dallas credit for this. They just kept fighting. And this is one of the things I like about DAC.

He's got, DAC's formidable. You talk about leadership. Leaders don't quit. They just kept playing hard. But let me ask you about this. Sometimes you need to ignore the result in life. If my kids run into traffic and don't get hit by a car,

I'm not going, excellent job. Excellent job. I'm chewing them out. Sometimes you got to ignore the result. There are lessons to be learned. And I would ask this about Dallas. What do they, what do they do well? I mean, compete to the end, but I mean multiple fumbles, two fake punts, lousy execution, weird late game strategy. It's not just schemes. They're not close defensively in the secondary. I mean, they have talented individuals. I would not, I would not deny that. But what collectively

does Dallas do well? What can you put your arms around? Okay, they competed until the end. Well, you're paid to do that. But when I look at Dallas, I see Amari Cooper and Zeke and Dak. But you know what's happening to Dallas? They're starting to look a lot like last year by week two. Zeke's going to get a lot of yards.

Dax's going to get a lot of yards. They're going to have three 1,000 yard receivers, and they're not going to be able to beat good teams. They're going to beat Atlanta. They're starting to look like. last year, which is you're going to get some individual performances. Dax's going to have a bunch of yards. Amari Cooper's fantastic.

Zique, I love Zinc. Nothing about him I don't like. Not quite as good as two years ago, love him. But collectively, what do you rely on? Ah. If you look at Dax's final numbers, if you look at those and you look at the final score, if you look at the results, you're like, whoo, party. But this is a good fantasy team.

This is a good highlights team. Do you believe this morning, if you're a cowboy fan, it's a good football team? I don't. And by the way, Mike McCarthy, we've said this in the last couple of weeks, he's trying too hard. In week one, he wanted to show that he wasn't conservative against Sean McVeigh. So he went for it in an obvious kick-of-field goal situation. Yesterday, he reverted back to the old conservative Mike McCarthy facing a defensive coach. And at the end of the game, after the onside kick, they get a nice reception to C.D. Lamb, and then they run, run, kneel.

It's like, 46-yard field goal. I mean, I know you have a great kicker. Atlanta was gassed. Atlanta was tired. Atlanta couldn't stop anybody. Come on. This is the time to be aggressive. 36-yard field goals, even for a great kicker, are easier than 46-yard field goals. I don't think Dallas knows what they are. And I think self-identity is a real thing. the NFL. Like already New England knows what they are. They knew what they were first series. We're going to run the football, control the clock, put it in Cam's

hands, give him a lot of time to throw, play great defense, hit our field goals. New England's identified. They always do this exactly what they are. Lamar Jackson to Baltimore, very early in his career. They identified what they were. What is Dallas? They fight. I don't know

what they are. I don't know what collectively they do very well. I mean, Mike McCarthy saw it as a strident. This win is it means something. And I just don't know what it means other than they're not beating good teams with that performance. You know, you look past experiences. You look at any great season that you're able to put together. You have you have big moments that you're able to build off of it.

This is a big moment to build off of it. You know, the fact of matter is, you know, we're one and one. We find out a lot about ourselves today. And that was really the message at halftime. And once again, I can't say how proud of our players. I didn't see that. I don't know. I mean, listen, the virtual fans were booing.

I don't know what they are. I don't think they have an identity. I think they are what we thought they were. It's individually talented, but collectively a big bowl of, I don't think you can beat good teams with that performance. and I don't think Atlanta's very good, and they may have a new coach soon. Coming up, not only is Russell Wilson unbelievable,

but did you see who he went after last night? The most fearless football player in America and the best football player on the earth. And did you notice who he went after last night? That spoke volumes. That's coming up. Colin right, Colin wrong, 45 minutes from now, top of next hour, plus Michael Vic this hour.

Be sure to catch you. 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 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

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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 Jek. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what we. went down and tried 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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you 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. Thank you for finishing that sentence.

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An RV policies, motorcycle policies, car policies, GEICO.com. Bill Belichick has a history. Let's add some context here. He humiliates young quarter of I mean, Josh Allen and Sam Darnold are pitiful against him. He's done this his whole career. I think he's like 18 and 1 against rookie quarterbacks. And then as you get better and more experienced, it's not like you flourish against him, but at least you're not humiliated by Belichick, the greatest defensive coach and greatest coach in NFL history.

And then there's Russell Wilson, who is now 3 and 1 against New England, should be 4 and 0, 66% completion percentage, 13 TDs, 2 picks, and 130. 31 pass-er rating. And he's getting better each time he plays him. Like he's won the war against Bill. He's better than Bill's coaching. Russell Wilson's the best football player in the world. Lamar's more dynamic athletically.

Patrick Mahomes is maybe a flashier with a better arm. Russell Wilson went after the best coach in the game and the best corner last night, Stefan Gilmore. And he went right at him. He went right after their best corner. Everybody passes away from Stefan Gilmore. Everybody moves to the other side. Russell goes, I'm going right at you.

And I love listening to announcers. Oh, the Seattle receivers. Oh, you mean Freddie Swain in the sixth round or David Moore in the seventh round? Or Will Disley, who Washington uses a blocking tight end in college, or Doug Baldwin who was undrafted, or Tyler Lockett, who was a gadget guy in college, or D.K. Metcalfe, who dropped in the draft. Those receivers? What are you talking?

I mean, I'm not knocking the announcers, but I always say, Oh, this receiver is thrown open. Everybody works with Russell Wilson. That's why I never understand. Seattle should just draft offensive guys. There'll be no busts. They all work with Russell Wilson. He has right now 11 incompletions and nine touchdown passes.

I mean, and he's doing it against two defensive coaches to start the year. Dan Quinn was a Pete Carroll protégé. So Dan Quinn was at practice for years. watching Russell Wilson. Dan Quinn should know all the tricks with Russell Wilson. Ateam alive. And then Bill Belichick's now faced him four times. He's only better.

This is the best football player in the world. I mean, I just watched this kid, and we've been pleading with Pete Carroll for years. Just now they call it let Russ Cook. Just let him go. This is his team. Five different touchdown targets last night. And what's interesting, Seattle could be. come Dallas.

A lot of talented individuals, but nobody can cinch it up. That's what Russell does. He just pulls it all together. And Seattle's now throwing the football early. More Russell Wilson dependent. I mean, he is a humble guy, but he's admitting now, like this thing, I'm hot. Here's Russell. I think that definitely in the zone.

Locked in, focused, dialed in. My teammates are too. Every day it's my mindset, you know, just my performance team and everything else. Just everything that we put into is just getting ready, you know, and trying to be great. You know, and I think that, you know, I have an obsession with this thought process of always trying to find more. For the record, 2020's been rough on all of us. And it's gotten a lot of us out of our habits, which make us comfortable. but you are really seeing who is thriving in all this chaos.

LeBron James in the NBA, I mean, this Laker team is a bunch of new coach, new staff, new players, new teammates, in a bubble. The Lakers are playing their best basketball of the year this morning. And Russell Wilson, this thing could unravel everybody. This is the best he's ever played. it's there to me if you count line of scrimmage coachability leadership elevating others accuracy that's the best football player in the world in the world others can be flashier faster bigger arm

throw left-handed that's a i don't know at russle wilson at this point what's his flaw you can't tell me the short thing because kailer murray's shorter and he's all over the league that doesn't matter anymore the the way the spacing and the moving the pocket that's the football player in the league and the best one I think I've seen in years. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

Justin Herbert made his NFL debut yesterday. Letter rip, not bad. Very last minute kind of crazy situation. I look like a, that's not Tyrod, but it's going on here. Yeah. Last minute injury to Tyrod Taylor in warmups. So Justin Herbert was out there for the Chargers, made his NFL debut, 2233 for 300. 11 yards and a touchdown and interception.

He also ran for a touchdown. But despite his strong performance yesterday, Anthony Lynn confirmed after the game that if Tyrod is healthy, he will still be the starter. Okay. I don't know. He added juice to me. I mean, I'm sorry, but he was poised. I mean, his first two or three throws, it looked like he was so nervous.

He was flying. Yeah, I mean, he overthrew. He looked like a rookie. But, I mean, I had no idea what to expect from him. him and he obviously wasn't planning on starting. That's why I was confused. I'm like, if they were going to start Justin Herbert, wouldn't we have known? Like, there's no announcement about this.

They're just going to slide him on out out there. And then, you know, obviously you found out Tyra was injured. But I thought he looked great considering the circumstances. Oh, I thought he looked unbelievable. He's a let it rip kid. He reminds me a little of Josh Allen, although Josh Allen was more erratic his first two years in Buffalo. That kid can play.

And by the way, the Chargers don't have a great identity in Los Angeles, a city with teams that have a great identity. Dodgers, Lakers. Like, that gives them juice. And it's funny because a lot of people with a charger are like, well, he's not quite ready. Can I just say this? Nobody is quite ready for a hard job. Nobody is ready.

LeBron wasn't quite ready to deal with some of the Lakers dysfunction when he arrived. Nobody is ready for anything new. But are you talented enough to be ready enough? And Herbert was ready enough. Sharks are born swimming. I like that. I mean, that's what it is. You got to get out there.

It's just like you said, when is the right time to go do something that's incredibly difficult with a lot of pressure in a big moment. You should never work, your first day at work at any new job, you should not be great. Or you literally took a job too easy for you.

You should bail water a little. It should be challenging. Every first week, month of any job, you should be like, God, I can't keep up. I'm at Google, the new system. I can't. That's what challenging yourself looks like.

And look, that was a good game. The Chiefs did not look great. I mean, it took three kicks by the Chief's kicker, who was a baller. They got pushed around to the first couple of corners. Yeah, I mean, the defense was giving them problems. We know the Chiefs are the better team. Right. This is how it goes.

It's the NFL. Sometimes you're going to have great games. Sometimes you're not. You just get the win. But I think it's interesting that Anthony Lynn immediately confirmed that Tyrod is still the starter. And look, I feel bad for Tyrod. Anytime you get injured. See, I don't like the concept of you can't lose your job to injury.

Yes, you absolutely. can. Now, we know people get injured in the NFL, as we're just going to talk about in a second, and nobody wants that, but they drafted him for a reason. Yeah, no, there may be promises that have been made. It's like Tyrod, we got a guy behind you. We're going to give you a month. Maybe there are promises being made in the building, but you could not watch that game and not go, oh, that's the future of the Chargers, right? There it is. That's very Burrow. You're like, big arm, mobile moves. It felt like Burrow. And again, I like Tyrod, and I think he's,

is starting quarterbacking this league. But that's the future. I don't know how you just abandon that right away. Just because Tyraud's healthy. I will say, though, and obviously this is going to take time, can't be taking those hits, Justin, you've got to get down. Oh, my God. I mean, that's...

This is not the Pac-12s. Speaking of, there were a lot of big injuries around the league in week two. The 49ers got decimated, hit the hardest. Nick Bosa is feared to have a torn ACL, so he is likely out for the season. I mean, look at this list. Jimmy Garoppolo, Rahim Moster, and Solomon Thomas. A lot of yesterday's game with injuries. A lot of skill players.

Yes. Giants lost, Sequin Barclay for the year, torn ACL. It's awful. Christian McCaffrey is expected to miss multiple weeks with an ankle injury. Andrew Locke will be out for two to six weeks with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder. Cortland Sutton, Tyrod Taylor, obviously, DeMonté Adams, Malie Cooker, and Byron Jones also injured. It does kind of feel like maybe we needed a few. preseason games. Maybe four is too much, but two is like the magic number.

Yeah. Because this is just, this feels like a lot. Yeah. And by the way, it's not just players are getting injured, but Devante Adams, Green Bay's offense, like he's a go-to guy, like Nick Bosa. These are, Sequin Barclay is the Giants offense to this point. Yeah. It's really, it's something they pay attention to. And they were complaining about the turf at MedLife. So, you know, but there was injuries all around the league. So. Davis made the biggest shot of his career last night for the Lakers.

There was so much stuff on yesterday. U.S. Open happened. It was overwhelming because at one point I had the Lakers game and the Emmys in another box and the NFL game on. But this was unbelievable. He had the game-winning three-pointer as time expired to give his team a 2-0

series lead over the Nuggets. The team was wearing the black Mamba jerseys last night that Kobe helped design. And after the game, AD confirmed that he yelled Kobe after hitting the big shot. I did. You know, I mean, obviously, we won the jerseys. He's had countless shots like that, you know, to win games, greatest season playoffs. I mean, a special moment for me, special moment for the team to do something like that, you know, and in the jersey award tonight,

you know, it just makes it even more special. That was one of those shots. As soon as it went up, I was like, oh, it's in. Well, and this is, the knock on Anthony Davis has been he doesn't hit this shot. Right. Like, he's great. The whole game and two and a half left, he disappears. And he's never been in a situation like this in his career because he's never been this far in the playoffs. This is where I miss the crowds.

Yeah. This shot, I was like, okay, this just feels like the why. That would have been, if that's in Los Angeles, what would Staples be like? I mean, it's, it is an all-time moment, really. Our two biggest moments yesterday, Seattle's stopping Cam at the one, and Anthony Davis hitting that. Those would have been home games. Well, I mean, and Dallas. I mean, Dallas had fans there.

Imagine if that place was full. Like, that was incredible. Now, look, it was a little bit more on Atlanta, which I'm sure we'll get into. But this was an incredible moment, and it really kind of felt like this was the series. Obviously, they have more work to do. But, I mean, for the nuggets to climb back in that game and then for him to hit that shot, and who knows what Mason Plumley was doing there. By the way, you mean

LeBron goes to the West and wins the West too? So it's not just the Eastern Conference? Maybe he's just really good. Really? It might just be really good. Can we get a breaking news banner for that? Loran James is really good at basketball. Joy Taylor with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for

stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. 13 years in the NFL, four times a pro bowler in my friend. He's on Fox NFL Sunday every Sunday morning with me. Michael Vic now joining us, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz the best or nothing. I've been critical at Cam my whole life, but I said, Michael, if this is the Cam Newton now, if this is the new Cam Newton where his mechanics were better, he played with a purpose, he didn't waste downs, I thought

that's his good, I'm even talking his MVP year. Like, I like this Cam with all this structure, even better than the Carolina Cam that won games. I mean, what did you make of his performance? I was very impressed. I thought Cam came out and showed that he's back full form. I think he's in a much better offense than he was the last couple years. And we got to remember that Cam was coming off some significant injury. So he's excited to be back. And, you know, through that excitement, can come some good play. And, you know, that's what he's doing.

I mean, I've never seen him this comfortable. I never seen him this much in control. And he's doing it on, you know, with his legs and his arm and thinking his way through games. So he's in a great spot right now. I like what he's doing with doing and I like what they're doing with him. rather and putting them in the position where Cam can be Cam and that just helps the floor of the game and it helps the team overall. Yeah, I mean, I thought last night he saw the field well, like you said, he's not playing. He's thinking the game.

He's playing the game. He's totally engaged. His mechanics, he had a couple, he was off a couple times last night, but his mechanics have always been spotty. I thought his mechanics were great last night. Yeah. Let's go to Russell Wilson. He literally went after Stefan Gilmore last night, which nobody does. what did you make of his performance?

I thought Russell played keep away with the defense like he always does. Another guy is in total control of the system he's running. And being in year nine, you know, you're going to be much more mature and, you know, that much more savvy as a quarterback than you are in year four and year five. And I think he's just hitting a level where he's really feeling it. You know, sometimes you get to a point in the game where you feel like you can't do no wrong, you know, especially when you're making all the right decisions and keeping the ball out of harm's way. And, you know, no other receiver or anybody on the field touches

the ball, you know, other than Russell Wilson's receivers. The D.Bs don't have a chance. You know, he don't put the ball in harm's way. You know, he's not throwing it into coverage. You know, if he's doing it, is where his receiver can get it than nobody else. So, man, we're looking at a guy who's just in, definitely in mid-season form and look like he's really having fun playing the game of football. Now, let's go to a quarterback that is really struggling. I don't know what it is, Michael, but I watched the Rams Eagles yesterday, and I am a fan of Carson Wentz.

His accuracy is off. He doesn't look comfortable. What is it? Is it a coaching thing? He doesn't even look comfortable in the pocket. What is it with Carson Wentz? Well, playing in Philadelphia is always going to be an immense amount of pressure to perform and win games.

You know, you look at the one interception that he threw, you know, down in the red zone. And I just felt like it was a throw that he shouldn't have been trying to make. You know, he's trying to do it all. And it seems like he's trying to, you know, put the team on his back, which is what you're supposed to do. But you can't force it. You know, anytime you start to play that way, things just don't go your way. So, you know, with this team, if it's not one thing, it's another. You know, week one, we thought it was the problem with the offensive line.

And week two, it was just bad defense and some turnovers and missed the opportunity. So, you know, this is something costing has to clean up. Nobody can do it for them. Coaching, you can't even overcome it with coaching because once you coach this, he has to go out and be the guy who can perform it. And if he's not comfortable with it, then you should just say it, you know, in the film room or throughout the course of the week. You can only go out there and execute the plays that you know you can execute and beat the defense with. Yeah. So in the last few days, I've seen Joe Burrow was Cincinnati and Justin Herbert were the Chargers, two of the three quarterbacks drafted.

And my takeaway with both of them is they make mistakes. They're not there yet, but both of them have a quality I like. They go back, they're athletes, they move, and they let it rip. And Justin Herbert found out five minutes before the game you're starting. And I don't know if you've ever been in that situation, but Michael, considering he probably didn't get first-tube. team reps all week. Wasn't bad, right? I thought Justin Herbert played well.

Finding out three minutes before the game that you're going to go in. Everybody has some form of nervousness or anxiety. I think every man on that football field before they step on the field. And I can only imagine what he went through. So it took them some time to get settled in and get rid of the butterflies. And he had a couple welcome to the NFL moments. But that's what was needed. I think, I mean, he looks like.

a good quarterback. I mean, big, tall, strong guy, made some good decisions, and obviously going to learn from the mistakes that he made yesterday. He played winning football, if he asked me. Yeah. No, that's how I felt. Okay, so I said sometimes in life, you've got to ignore the results. You can win a football game and know when you get on that plane or knowing you're driving home, we got lucky. Dallas tried to fake two punts. The execution was lousy. They couldn't hold on to the ball. If you're the Dallas Cowboys this morning, how do you feel about what I watched for four hours?

Well, they need everything that happened yesterday, they need to delete it out of their mind. Other than, you know, the last couple seconds of the game when, you know, they kick the field goal and they put themselves in a position to win. It was a difficult game yesterday, and our conversations would have been totally different this morning had they lost that game, you know,

from the fake punts and all the fumbles and just the sloppy play. But it's definitely teaching tape that's something that they can learn from. And I think Mike McCarty had capitalized on this. I really like what Dak is doing. He looked comfortable yesterday. And he looked better in week two than he did in week one. So, you know, it's on and up for the Dallas Cowboys. Hopefully, you know, if they continue to stick to this game plan,

but they can't dig themselves in a hole and create a huge deficit like they did yesterday. Yeah. By the way, I thought Seattle and New England. last night, Michael. I thought that was such a great game. I am. I am amazing. We had no preseason. Cam's brand new into the building. He had to share snaps his first two weeks. This is supposed to be a complicated system. Are you a little surprised how good Cam's been? I mean, I am. Well, yesterday I kept reminding myself that Cam has won an MVP and Cam has played in the Super Bowl. and, you know, it takes a lot to, you know, make those type of things happen, you know,

throughout the course of your career. Everything has to go right and you have to play good football. And, you know, Cam is just, you know, look like a guy who is on a mission and I think they're going going to win a lot of games and I feel like Cam is going to be in the Wengland for a long time. Something is just telling me that. And I, you know, I just like what they're doing, man. I think, you know, Bill Belichick is looking at Cam as a, as a, as a lot of, you know, a long-term project now and the offense is going to continue to expand and you know he'll have a lot of fun

you know playing this type of offense you know which is like you know similar to the albara offense that he ran yeah you know he was in college by the way oh justin fields at ohio state you draft him you sit him behind cam for a couple years you can win a lot of games with cam newton and defense and bellichick's coaching mike vick good talking to you buddy good talking to you coming up next uh tom brayette Brady's performance, we've got to kind of reboot and reset our expectations because something's happening and it's going to take a lot of time to figure it out with Brady. Colin right, calling wrong, top of hour two. 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 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 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball. 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 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-taped 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 a little kill?

Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam J. 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 on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks.

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

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

Or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way.

Open your free, our heart radio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now. Check engine light comes on. Don't freak out. Get Carsheel.com. Put in the code heard. a warranty after yours runs out. Over a million Americans use at carshield.com.

Whenever, some people have a job and they have it forever, but most of us have two or three or four or five jobs in our life. And whenever I have a new job, there's certain boxes you have to check. Okay, can I find my way around the building and find my way to work without thinking too much? Check. You move to a new city. Second thing, you know, what are the places, you know, the managers that are easy to get

along with, the managers that aren't, that'll take a while. Check. where do I fit really well in a company? Where should I avoid? Check. This stuff takes a lot of time. There's an old saying, old dog, new tricks, doesn't work, right? Like Tom Brady's an old dog.

You're asking him to learn new stuff. And it's really a work in progress. Yesterday, he had another bad pick. He's not using the tight ends at all. He left a lot on the field. His passer ratings in the mid-80s. You know, when Tom was in New England, there was always like two things to do.

Okay, get it to Randy Moss and Wes Welker or Gronk and Julian Edelman. And Tom would just go back and back and back. This is, they got three tight ends. They got two, three good running backs. They have multiple wide receivers. This is a lot. Old dog, new tricks and just a bevy of weapons. And that's not been Tom's new thing.

So Tom's going to get a lot of publicity because he's Brady. Now, the defense is rolling. Tampa's defense, as we predicted, we said in September, the defensively the team. Tampa's defense is great. It's young, it's fast, it's athletic, it strips the ball, the guys in the back can catch. It's like really a defense. They shut down Camara, Drew Brees through for 162 yards, Bridgewater struggled. McAfree didn't have many yards. They shut Christian McCaffrey down last year as well. So it's, the defense is right where you want to be. But in terms of the offense, I think Bruce Ariens summed it up. This is a, this is going to be a long,

work in progress. This game should have never gotten to as close as it did, but we let them back in. It's going to take time. And with having no preseason and all those practices we missed, we're just growing day by day with Tom and the receivers and the entire offense. I think we'll just get better and better. We're nowhere near, I think, what we are in September, what I think will be in November. Now, the good news is running back, talent, tight end, talent, receiver, talent,

linebacker, talent. There's all sorts of talent here. Defensive line, talent. Even the secondary is better than I thought it would be. But I would say this. Here's the two areas, maybe one and a half where you can check a box. First week, Mike Evans and Tom, one catch

didn't look good. Yesterday, maybe we can check that box off. Seven catches touchdown. That timing pass that he threw behind the defensive back, that's a timing pass. That's what Aaron Rogers and Devante Adams took a year or two to get. So the Mike Evans box, it looks like they're building something. Check. The Leonard Fournet box, it looks like he's going to be the

starting running back. Maybe we can half check that box off. So those two feel good. Brady talked about the Mike Evan situation. Yeah, it was better. It could be, it certainly, we left some out there. I think he and I both know that. So, you know, we just got to practice and work hard at it. It's not an easy game. We've got to work at it. There's no, no easy way about it. You got to get to work and, you know, find our rhythm and keep it for the rest of the year. So far in the NFL, the good teams look pretty good. The bad teams are really bad. I do think the really encouraging thing for Tampa Bay is I think they're a team right now

that's not playing particularly well, but could be great. Like I kind of feel like I know Baltimore's really good. Kansas City's really good. Seattle's really good. Green Bay looks really good. We all knew they would be good. Maybe they're a little better, a little. But they're good.

We knew Cincinnati would strike. struggle. Okay, we knew Cleveland, well, I'd say Cincinnati would struggle. You know, Miami's still in a rebuild mode. We knew the jets and the Giants would be kind of a mess. And then you get into that middle and you're like, boy, this team's not as good, Minnesota. This team, New England appears to be better, but maybe not a Super Bowl team. And then there's Tampa. And Tampa's the one team I've seen so far. I'm like, they're not great. They're not functioning at a high level, but I think they have a ton of runway. I think their defense is good. always question their special teams.

But the offense yesterday, there were two series early, and you're like, oh, that's a real offense. Like, that's, that's moving. That's perimeter guys, Leonard Fernette, and that's a good space to be. It is, but this is an old dog and new tricks. It's going to take a long time. They're not even throwing to the tight ends. They're not even, I think the tight ends yesterday, they have three good tight ends for Tampa. I think they had a catch for like 11 yards.

They're not even throwing to the tight ends. So this is going to be, you know, it's funny about the no preseason. the quality of football has been to me shockingly good for no preseason. The downside is we're getting a lot of injuries, more it feels like than usual. And I could make the argument in terms of old dog, new tricks, new system, Tampa needed the preseason more than any team. Baltimore and Kansas City were going to be fine. Russell Wilson was going to be fine. There's a lot, Green Bay, Aaron Jones, Aaron Rogers, DeVan.

Adams, they were going to be fine. Tampa really needed reps, really badly. And I mean, just think about this. Fournette just got there. Gronk was retired. Chris Godwin now has had concussion protocol. Mike Evans' mispractices due to hamstring. Whole new system. The left tackle opted out. They went and drafted a right tackle to solve right tackle. Then the left tackle opted out. So this is an organization, Tampa right now. Big, big runway. They need work. And the interesting part is we're spending so much time on Brady. We're forgetting the defense is great. Tampa's defense looked great in the first two weeks most of the time. All right. So Colin Wright, Colin wrong, top of next hour. Lakers peel off a win. I'm not sure how many people watched it

outside of Los Angeles. I will say this. LeBron James, not happy about the the MVP voting, and he voiced it. It's funny. We like our athletes to be honest. And then when they're honest, and LeBron's like, that's all the MVP votes I got. We're like, oh, come on. What more do you want? Do you want your athletes to be honest?

I do. So we've all got to get comfortable when they're honest with we may honestly not always want to hear their honesty. Like, LeBron's honest. I'm the MVP or a heck of a lot closer than the final tally. And he's right. Hour two next to No Hurd. 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 Podcast.

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. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway 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 AHA radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.

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