The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - NFL schedule

Episode Date: May 12, 2023

Colin reacts to the full release of the 2023 NFL schedule The 76ers blew their chance last night The Jets might have a tough season even with Aaron RodgersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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There's a lot of choices out there, and you know I always appreciate that. J-MAC, last night, I mean, I'm just sitting there with a notepad. I love it's almost unhealthy. I love the schedule release. We know who's playing. We don't know when and where in the time. And the NFL's got all this data historically on what helps their broadcasting partners. And you saw them act.

It was on full display last night. Not great news for the New York Jets, Colin. Brutal first six games. I'm going to have to adjust that floor of 10 or 11 wins. Just a little bit. Just a taste. So I've been in TV a long time in the NFL's, but in TV a lot longer than I have. they front load the schedule. And the reason they do this is because the fall weather in September and early October in America is absolutely beautiful.

And so a lot of people, I'm one of them. I don't want to go back inside and watch TV, but I'm a sportscaster, it's what I do for a living. But to get people in Chicago and San Francisco and Philly and New York back into the house in September and October when the weather is wonderful, you front load the schedule with big games. Everybody organically comes back into the house Thanksgiving, December, January, February, because the weather. stinks, right? And so in a lot of the country, the ratings surge, because now everybody's in the house. But so they frontload the schedule to put big marquee games up in September and October to get you back in the house. They've been in this TV business for a long time. It works. And the NFL front loads their schedule. But boy, I'll tell you what. The Jets took the brunt of it. This is what happens. Be careful what you wish for. You want a star quarterback since Joe Namath. You haven't

had one. You got one. And this is what you get. And I always say the schedule, I know who you play, but when you play them, does absolutely, in my opinion, change how I view you by a game or two. The Jets with a bunch of young players, if Zach Wilson's the quarterback, this is not the schedule. Bills at the Cowboys, Patriots, Mahomes, Denver, Sean, Peyton, Russell, Eagles, buy. Yeah, bye, like, bye-bye, that's brutal. And again, if Zach Wilson's the quarterback, that's not the schedule. That's not the schedule.

You do this because Aaron's a star quarterback, he is polarizing, and by the way, where it really hurts them as go look at Miami's schedule. Because I see these teams as nine or ten win teams. But I look at that schedule and I think the Jets win one less game than I thought due to that. I think the dolphins win one more game than I thought due to theirs. The dolphins do their longest road trip of the year in week one. The league does them a favor in L.A. They get it right out of the way. then they get both the Patriots and the Bills, their primary rivals.

Those could be awful winter road games. They get them done by October 1st. And then from December 3rd when they play the commanders, that's an afternoon game on Fox. The minute that game is over, they get on a plane. They, for the next 34 days, are in Miami all but two days. They'll fly up the day before to face Baltimore, December 30th, and they'll play them the 31st and get back.

28 to 33 days or something like that in your home state, at home, comfortable. That is a favorable schedule. And the fact that they're in the same division and about equally talented, that to me is the difference between if Tua is healthy, putting Miami second and the Jets third. Now, the Jets could still get as a wild card. But that is where schedules matter. You've got Aaron Rogers who can be prickly, doesn't love criticism, he's got young kids. You could have easily put the Eagles later.

could have put the bills later. They got the Cowboys on a short week. The other thing is, is now you've got all these television games for Aaron Rogers and the Jets. Oh, I love that. Players hate it. Peyton Manning hated that because football players as a rule, they like routine. They like habits. Peyton Manning hated the double halftime in the playoff games, the long pre-games.

He had a routine. Most quarterbacks do. And so now they're going to be on six standalone games. That is not good. So when I look at the Jets and the Dolphins, that is exactly. Now, when Russell Wilson was a Bronco last year for the first time, you also saw a little bit of this where they started on Monday night football like the Jets. Remember the Seahawks?

And then week three, they were on Sunday night football. And then week six, they were on Monday night again because of Russell Wilson. They front-loaded that schedule too. But it didn't look anything like this. Josh Allen, Dak, Prescott, Belichick, Mahomes, Russell Wilson now with a Hall of Fame coach and Jalen Hertz on that offense? That is insane. Now, if you can go three and three, you should be overjoyed. And they may do that. But if you look at the Dolphin schedule, there's no question. They get small benefits. The end of the season, they're at home. They get the

New England Buffalo games without the bad weather. They get their long road trip, right? Their long domestic road trip out week one. It all helps inches, not feet. And that's the difference to me between the dolphins winning 10, not 9, and maybe the Jets winning 9, not 10. Oh, God, I just poured over this stuff all night. Are you kidding me? You thought I was pouring over gin and soda. I was pouring over schedules, baby.

Okay. Let me just talk briefly about the Sixers meltdown last night. So we said yesterday on the show, I don't trust Philadelphia. And I've been on this all year. Love Philadelphia. I've watched more Philadelphia than I have every team in the league except the Lakers and the Warriors. I love Embedied. Harden, Maxi, Doc, Alpha,

crowd, rowdy. I love Philadelphia. But I can love something and not trust it. Right? I love Philly. I don't trust them. And they have become the Kirk cousins of the NBA. The brighter the lights, the more they shrink. Because they have all sorts of people with bad playoff history.

Doc Rivers has lost a couple of 3-1 series leads. Harden historically gags in the playoffs. And now, Joe L.M. Beds never made a conference final. Now, it's only game six last night. They have one more chance. They're not beating Boston in Boston. You know they're not. And I said all season long.

I love watching this team play. All sorts of flash and fun and ego and alpha. But Doc Rivers teams now are on an eight game losing streak in games in which they can clinch a conference final. Oh, and eight. And yesterday I picked the Celtics by four or five. I said they're going to take control of this thing. and what do you know they did?

And think about this. Think about this. You're at home. It's going to be the biggest, loudest, most lubricated crowd of the year. You got a, you got a three-two series lead. You got a chance to go to the Eastern Conference finals.

And their star player, their star, Jason Tatum, misses 13 of his first 14 shots. And you are so unprepared. You trail by seven at half. I mean, when Coe was in his prime and you played the Lakers, if he missed 13 of his first 14 shots,

you damn well better lead at half. They trailed at half. They weren't ready to play. And now you saw Hardin and Joe L.M.B. Walking up that floor late, now you wonder, as you head to a game seven, is there dissension in the ranks? We stopped moving the ball.

And I think, I don't think I touched the ball the last four minutes of the game. I got to be, you know, more demanding, but kind of went away from what was working at the beginning on that four quarter. Yeah, but, you know, as a big, it's hard to, you know, go get the ball and, you know, just create, you know, for yourself. But, you know, I just got to go get it. Not good. I'll also throw this out. There are times.

I know he's the MVP. times when Harden and Embed are both on the floor, the ball dies. Embed, early in the game, give him the ball, bro, turn and drive or turn and shoot. Don't kill the rhythm of the offense. Sometimes when you get Hardin who over dribbles and Embed, who pauses, herks and jerks a bit too much before shirting, you just kill. It's like the opposite of the warriors. just it just dies.

There are times I think they're actually, and the net rating proves it better with him off the floor in tight situations. The ball movement's better. So I like the Boston Celtics to eventually win this thing. Good game by Tatum, I'll discuss that later on. So a lot of stuff on the schedule. I got to tell you something. Another reason that schedules matter, and again, we know when you're playing people home and away. but I can tell you right now,

I'll make my strongest opinion on the AFC coming up. And it's not about the chiefs, and I do not believe the Kansas City Chiefs will be the number one seed in the AFC. My strongest opinion on that, based on the schedule, how it works out, that is coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd

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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. American Grass Seed Company, Pennington on a mission to ban turf fields.

Go to pennington.com slash flip the turf. Far more injuries to our football players on turf. Let's get rid of it. Okay, I said people perceive either Kansas City or Cincinnati or Buffalo is the number one seed. in the AFC. I do not. And schedules matter. The Jacksonville Jaguars got a schedule break. So they only face four elite quarterbacks and we knew this, three at home

and one in a neutral field. But they got them all spaced out. They faced Mahomes at home week two. And they don't have to face Josh Allen until October, week five. Then they don't have to face Burrow at home, week 12. And then later it's

at home again. They get Lamar Jackson. It all got spaced out. In the other 13 games, they have a decided quarterback advantage. Three of them at home won a neutral field, but we knew that before the schedule came out. It's very hard to beat great quarterbacks in their stadium or in succession, week after week after week. The Jags don't. They never face one on the road, and they don't have to face them. They're all spaced out. What about Kansas City? Now, didn't work that way. Chiefs did not get a scheduling break from October 1st to November 20th. Seven weeks in a row, it is a gauntlet at Aaron Rogers, at Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, and Sean

Peyton on a short week at home. Then you get the Chargers and Justin Herbert. Then it's back to Denver and Sean Peyton and Russell Wilson. Then it's Miami and Tua in Frankfurt. And then it's Jalen Hertz. You're not beating seven teams in a row like that. When you face a gauntlet of elite quarterbacks, you just, You're not going to do it, especially when many of the good ones are on the road.

You're not going to do it. Jacksonville doesn't have to face any of them on the road, and they're all spaced out. Also for Jacksonville, you get Doug Peterson. These free agents now in year two are all baked in. Jacksonville reminds me of Philadelphia last year. The head coach for the Eagles and these Jags is in year two. The young promising quarterback for those Eagles and these Jags is. is in year three.

Both were a surprise playoff team, the Jags last year and the Eagles the year before last year. And both get an easy schedule. The Jags this year and the Eagles last year. What did the Eagles become? The number one seed in the NFC surprising a lot of people. J-MAC, if you recall, was not surprised. J-Mack was on this last summer when he first got on the show. He said, look at Philadelphia's schedule.

they're going to be a number one seat. They don't face a lot of elite quarterbacks. This is the JAG schedule. They face four elite quarterbacks, three at home, one in the neutral field, and the games are all spaced out. You can beat Herbert and Hertz and Mahomes. You're not beating them three times in a row if you play them. So the NFL jammed a lot of the great quarterbacks the Chiefs play into a seven,

eight week period. And some on a short week, one overseas. that is a really tough draw. We knew the Chiefs would have a tough schedule. That makes it a little harder. Jags are going to be the number one seed in the AFC. He called the Eagles last year. I'm calling the Jags this year.

And JMAQ with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Like a spicy NFL take in May. That's a good one. It's very much. We're going to do some NFL and headlines later.

I don't know if the Jags will make an appearance or not. But I can tell you the Jets will. Okay. Let's get started with the Nuggets, man. What a blasting of Phoenix last night. 17-0-0-0-1-1-the-first quarter. Blows the game wide open. Yokic, utterly dominant.

32-10, 12 assists. Man, Kevin Durant was so impressed with Yokic after the game. Here's what he had to say. I always knew how great he was. I was watching these guys. You know what I'm saying? All the great players in the league. Not surprised that these guys are good, especially somebody like Yokish.

I've been watching it, playing against him for a minute now. No, I wasn't surprised at all. Yokish is an all-time great. I'm going to go down as one of the all-time great centers to ever touch a basketball. So he went out there and did what he's supposed to do. By the way, he's not wrong. He is not wrong on this. That's why this ridiculous, the idea that the media, which is just loves outrage,

thinks it's an outrageous opinion to think Yok is. deserves the MVP. He is more available, more efficient than the guy who beat him for the MVP. He's not more exciting. He's not more flamboyant. Yokic is an imp-in-fact, I had an NBA coach tell me that if the Warriors face Denver, he said, Draymond's stuff works against everybody in the league, except Yokic. Like Draymond's game, it's been effective against Anthony Davis.

And this coach said, it does not work. It was Chris Finch. She said it doesn't work against Yokic. Warriors fans right now are like, it worked. It worked last year. Whoa, whoa, hold up. Yokic didn't have Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. This team is really well-rounded.

Really good. The passing, the coaching. I got, they're going to be favorites against the Lakers or the Warriors. And the Celtics. Yeah. Or the heat. I think they're the better team. Like, Anthony Davis has been incredible.

You have him as your number one player in the postseason. I don't know, man. It's going to be a tall order to slow this guy down. He's just getting whatever he wanted. Now, we didn't talk about the son's injuries, the DeAndre Aitin's situation. Didn't help. I mean, listen, Paul got hurt, Aiton. This team was thin going into the playoffs, and we both said this during the Clipper series.

We're like, they're about a guy shy. Chris Paul goes. They're two guys shy. Aitin hurt. Like, they were thin to start. This is like one of these teams in the NFL where you're like, they're kind of banged up, and then they have cluster injuries and you're like, okay, it's just like the Rams last year. They were banged up early, and then the whole offensive line folded and got hurt.

Like, you're done. Season's over. Nothing can do. But. The sons were still favored in the West coming into the postseason. They were. I know. I did.

But I also knew information. New information. Chris Paul and Aiton Hertz, new information. Fair. One last question. I don't want us to go too long on this. It's a long show. We've got to pace ourselves.

Tell me the last time, a big time NBA superstar, a top 15 guy all time, got his butt kicked by 30 at home in an elimination game. You can't find it. It doesn't exist. I spent a lot of time looking last night. there's just no precedent for like Magic Johnson losing an elimination game at home by 30. Like it just doesn't happen. Are you saying Kevin Durant's a little over-rated?

I don't, I just, I mean, Devin Booker's now had it happen to him two years in a row. I know people want to bring up Kobe losing the Sons when they were up 3-1. That game was on the road in Phoenix, okay? At home, it's kind of gutless to lose by 30. No, it's... Devin Booker was 4 of 13. At one point, KD was 1 or 10. By the way...

KD's an all-time great. By the way, I love it. I got a lot of pushback when I said Booker's not sustainable. Would your power go out? The Internet not work? It's funny, the Internet suddenly now doesn't work. Oh, yep, yep, yep, yep. When I said he's not going to shoot 65 percent.

Booker's going to pull way back. Where'd all the critics go? Sit here every day. And we both like Monty Williams. I don't think you can blame Monty Williams for what happened, but we just saw the Bucks fire their coach. No, you're not going to fire him. You sure about that?

I am positive. There's already chatter. that the new owner wants to put his stamp on the team. Go get Kevin Durant. Now he's going to get his head coach in place. Let me tell you the rumor in the league. But Monty Williams is already rumored for the buck's opening. They haven't filled it yet.

Yeah, you want to hear the rumor. Okay. I'm just saying it's a rumor. Tailu to the Sons. That is a persistent two-week rumor, Tai Loo to the Sons. That Tailu is exhausted with what's going on with Kauai and Paul George, especially Kauai.

I'm telling you, just a rumor. What a charmed life, Tyloo Lee. No, but he's heard it. He coaches LeBron. He coaches Kauai Leonard and Paul George, and now he may be coached Kevin Devin Booker. Boy. He's pretty good coach. That helps.

It also helps to have amazing superstars on your team. Go coach in Orlando. Let me see what you can do there, buddy. Let's see it. You're on one today. I'm serious. Let's be real. Like, Tailu's done great.

I know he's a good coach. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Coaching Kauai's been a real walk in the park. Maybe one of these days he'll talk. All right, fine, fine. Go coach Charlotte. Let me see you. A couple of the playoffs.

Iron Man. A little tougher there. Next up. A couple Brett Fards out there. A.D. Anthony Davis, good news. Colin, he's probable ahead of game six after that inadvertent shot to the head from Kevin Loney. I don't care about him.

I care about Wiggins. Well, this is the interesting thing. We need to show this Wiggins thing again. This bothers me. I didn't see this in real time. Okay. And when you look at what happened to Wiggins, we like LeBron. I'm not bashing LeBron.

But if LeBron does what he did to Anthony Wiggins. Here it is. Look, in the mid-air. the push from behind, that's probably starting a fight at a pickup basketball game. Let me see this. I didn't see this. And LeBron just comes, look. Well, that's, you can't do that.

Oh, that is nothing. You can't push somebody who's in the air. Come on. That is a brush by LeBron. LeBron's a 260 pound man. Two hundred sixty-pound guy with both arms? I'm not saying LeBron's dirty. I didn't like that.

Now, I don't see the score when this happened. Maybe Likers were getting run off the court here. Come on. That's not. That is like NBA. That's walked by on a sidewalk in New York City bumping someone. I get it. You love the Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, headlock pushing fights days, Xavier McDaniel. And this looks like patty cake. Somebody's in the air. You push him. I don't know. Anyways, Anthony Davis is questionable after suffering a rib cartilage fracture.

So if LeBron's so weak, how did you get a rib cartilage fracture from a push? I don't know. Well, maybe it's that Andrew Wiggins is... Well, he's thin. He's frail. When somebody's in the air, you don't mess. Hey, when I played at the YMCA, if you're in the air, you're like a satellite. I can take anything I want from it. A satellite?

Listen, is it, this game tonight? I'm going to tell you something right now. I don't know if I can take, I don't know how fans do it. Like, if I lived in Philadelphia last night, I don't know how you watch. I was like, I was watching it because we predicted the Celtics would win by five. We said watch, sixers will melt. So I'm watching it. And I'm laughing because I'm on the right.

You know, I'd rather be right than wrong. I'm wrong all the time. but I'd rather be right than wrong. We were right on the Knicks. We were right on the Warriors. We were right last night on the Celtics. We were right on the Suns, by the way. We said after they tied it.

It's been a good run here. But I'm a Philadelphia fan. I may find something to do on the weekend. I don't know if I can watch that game. How heartbreaking are some of these games for fans? So tonight I'm sitting there because I'm not a fan of this stuff, but I do love watching the aesthetically pleasing Warriors basketball style. They lose tonight.

They're going to reboot this puppy. We'll see. I don't know if I can take the pressure. You know, we got plenty of time left in the show, but can we talk? Are we going to at any point talk about Jim Hardin? Because it wasn't James Hardin last night. It was Jim Hardin. Four of 16.

0 for six on threes. Vanishing act again from Hart. Like, just a crazy night in sports. All right, final story. Let's talk about this green and white team that plays the pigskin. The New York Jets. Everything's in all about Aaron Rogers in the offseason. Let's not forget young superstar sauce Gardner, the rookie cornerback.

He's on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Colin. He's great. Yes, this is news. Sauce Gardner, look at him. Now, at first glance, I'm like, why does he have blood on his fingers? But I guess it's Sauce for his nickname. Yeah, Sauce Gardner, yeah. He's going to have a tough for six weeks facing a lot of good wide receivers.

Now, I will say this. We did get that one right. A couple years ago, I said he's the best player I saw in college football. Cincinnati didn't give up a touchdown in three years. I watched him play, and I said, that's the best college football play. sauce gardener. Where did he go to the Jets? Four or five or whatever he went? Where'd he go? He went after Stingley went to the Texans.

Yeah. So I said, on record, I thought he was going to be great. He's better than I thought. I'm not saying he's Deon Sanders. Well, wait, he was first team all-pro with a rookie. So he's already in that class early of Deon. He is. He is absolutely all-time uniquely gifted. He is great. You know, I don't want to go too deep on this, but I have an image of my phone of the Jets' first

six games. What is it? Saus Gardner against Stefan Diggs in the opener, then C.D. Lamb, then he gets a week off the Patriots don't have receivers. Then he's got to face Kansas City.

Do you put him on Travis Kelsey? Tony. Put him on Tony. Tony's going to be there one. Paddyria is Tony? He's not really hard. Denver, Jerry Judy, that's not an easy task,

but he did shut down Judy last year. And then Philadelphia and A.J. Brown. Now, now, now, he'll win all those battles except A.J. Brown. A.J. Brown is big, physical. He could win every battle. By the way, Jets' first six games. Oh, my God.

They also have a useless early buy. That's a bad buy. You need a buy like a month after. Well, they'll need a buy after that gauntlet. They're facing like Hurtz, Mahomes, like all the elite quarterback. Josh Allen, I'll say this. If they go four and two. In that stretch.

I will book a ticket tape parade. book a hotel Super Bowl room in Vegas. Park Avenue, tick or tape parade. I'm going to be going, it's going to be, if they go forward too.

After one and five, well, I may not show. All right, J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news.

So, let me tell you, so this is something else I looked at. And, you know, there's always this thing, I talk to my buddies about this, is that, you know,

you don't want a baby and coddle your kids, but you want them to have a better life than you did. But the truth is, you know, if you coddle your kids and they have a better life, yeah, they probably grow up softer and not as tough. And there's an old saying, I forget what it is. It's like hard times create tough men, tough men create soft times, soft times create soft men or something

like that. I don't know what it is. But the reality is they got to take the training wheels off, Jordan, love of the Packers. because if you look at the schedule, folks, for the first five games, they face really bad defenses last year. I'm not saying all these defenses will be bad, but the Bears, the Falcons, the Lions, the Raiders, certainly aren't going to be great defenses.

So this entire landscape for Jordan Love is built for a success. Three years of tutoring behind Aaron, same system three years, same coach, three years, good old line run game, and an early schedule that really benefits Jordan Love. This is a really workable schedule. By December 9th against the Raiders, we'll know if he can play. I don't need them to be 5 and 0. I don't need them to be 4 and 1, but I better see some talent, composure, and it. Because this is not, you know what this reminds me of a little bit? I mean, we've had the training wheels on Jordan Love here, and that's fine. But this reminds me of Mack Jones. When Max Jones went to the Patriots, they didn't have good

wide receiver talent. And right now, Green Bay does not have great wide receiver talent. But they had a good old line like the Packers, a good run game like the Packers, a good culture like the Packers, a good head coach like the Packers. Okay. And so Mack Jones came in as a rookie. Now, Jordan Love has had three years. Mack just came in as a rookie and had to play. So if you go back and look at Mack Jones, the rookie year numbers, now look at those numbers for Mack Jones rookie year. 67% completion percentage, 92 and a half passer rating,

22 touchdowns, 13 picks. Jordan Love, if he's that with better mobility, I would be satisfied. That is not unrealistic. This is very much Mac Jones. You do not have great wide receivers. You don't get it all. But the Packers in New England,

you get the coach, you get the culture, you get the stable low line, you get the inertia, you get the winning momentum, you get a good run game. that is more than enough. That is more than enough. No more babysitting. Because at Chicago, at Atlanta,

Detroit and at Vegas, those are bad. Those were atrocious defenses last year. Now, they all addressed it in the offseason, but they're not going to go from that to the Niners or that, you know, that to the Eagles. These are not going to be great, or that to the Bengals or that to the Ravens.

That's not what they're going to do. Or that to the Steelers. We know those teams are not going to be that good. Now, New Orleans, at home, You get them at home? That's the good defense you face. And I don't need you to beat all these teams. I don't need you to beat four of these teams.

But, man, this is the training wheels are off for Jordan Love. I'm not even waiting to think. I watched this schedule last night. I'm like, it'd been one thing that they'd have had, you know, the Steelers, the Chiefs, you know, the Giants. If you had to stacked it early with defenses, this is like a layup drill for a good quarterback. And I don't need him to be great.

If he is as good as Mack Jones, who didn't get. get three years in the league practice, a tutor. He didn't get that. Mac Jones had to come in and play if he can give me Mac Jones numbers and with more mobility than I think you have to be satisfied. Not saying you have a star, but Mac Jones went out without three years and the same quality O-line run game culture, top coach. Great home field advantage, Green Bay and New England. 92 and a half passer rating, 67% completion percentage. 22.30. By the way, Mac didn't also, he had competent tight ends.

He didn't have great tight ends. Green Bay just drafted two tight ends. They should be more than competent. They won't be great as rookies, but they'll be more than competent. This is very much Mack Jones, but Mac didn't have the advantage of just sitting at practice for three years. I thought Mac did pretty well, all things considered. So it's a, you know what I like about?

this stuff now is that I'm waiting to see if Justin Fields, I'm going to talk about the Bears later. If you look at Chicago's schedule, it is made to order for Justin. We're going to get answers this NFL season, right? Like you go into a season, you guys, is this guy good? Is this coach good? This is going to be the year of answers. Is Robert Saul of the coach? Can Tua stay healthy? Is Jordan Love it? Justin Fields? No more excuses. But I looked at this with Jordan Love and I thought, okay, we're going to know by week six. When that, what's that, when that Vegas game on October 9th, it's Monday night football, 7.15, that's Eastern. So 415 Pacific. So out here by 745 on October 9th, Green Bay at Vegas,

we will know if Jordan loves it. We'll know. Three years in this system, that old line, that coach, that run game, we'll know. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd, weekdays, noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host of the fifth hour with Ben Mallor, and would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mather show, a cult hit overnights on FSR.

Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry, in media, sports, and more every week, explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. 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, 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. 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 Cliverts 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 Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, 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 Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a 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 you 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. 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. Bain, zigzagging across the field, takes it to the house.

Alonzo Moore goes high to get it, make a play 13. Thompson bouncing off tacklers, stiff arm, all one man. And that pass is fought for Germain Kelly. Turns the corner, touchdown, New Jersey. What a catch-by-y. Jones. Give me that, Odell. That is as good as it gets. The 2023 USFL season continues this weekend on Fox, starting tomorrow as the Houston gamblers take on the Birmingham Stallions at 4 p.m. Eastern. Then Sunday, it's the Memphis

Showboats versus the New Orleans Breakers at 3 p.m. Eastern. Also on Fox and all streaming on the Fox Sports app. So earlier this week, I had a remarkably, um, brilliant trade proposal. And then I've said, and any Celtic fan will tell you this who watches the games is they have to win by blowout. They can't win close games. They did last night, but they felt it was a very comfortable game in which I really did feel like Boston controlled the game, even though Tatum was awful for three quarters. But in my trade scenario, it was you keep Jason Tatum.

But can you find him a partner that doesn't sap some of the alpha out of him? He's more Wiggins than MJ or Kobe. He just is. And so when he had a great fourth quarter last night, it doesn't change my view at all on Jason Tatum. He's a top 10 player. He's fantastic. I just wish he was more alpha. He had a great fourth quarter. He's had dozens of great fourth quarters over the last six years.

My concern remains the Celtics in close games. Last night doesn't change anything. I would keep Jason Tatum. The question is, why don't we get that more often where Jason Tatum literally takes over a game. He was dominant in the fourth quarter. It was, by the way, another great example of why is Marcus Smart taking shots in the fourth? Why is Al Horford get the ball? This is what fourth quarter should look like for Boston. The numbers don't lie. They have struggled in close games. It's not because Tatum's not talented. It's because he feels Brown is a more aggressive athlete and

person and he takes some of the alpha away from Tatum. So last night's only what all Celtic fans have been hoping for, but have seen before, they just want more of it. And I said, even if they won a title, Boston would be satisfied because they only have one in 35 years. But even if they won the title, you're still going to pay these guys. They've qualified for a $613 million max deal. And I don't think Tatum and Jalen Brown are a.

perfect match. I think if you moved Brown and you could get a lot for him, regardless of where you moved him and got more natural shooting around Tatum, the Celtics are good enough defensively. Tatum's an elite defender. Robert Williams is. Marcus Smart is. I don't worry about the Celtics defense. It's not as good as last year. That could be coaching, but there's still a good defensive team. Here was Tatum after his great fourth quarter last night. I'm one of the humbly, one of the best basketball players in the world, you know, go through struggles, go through slumps. It's a long game. And, you know, thankful I got some great teammates that held it down, Brogden, J.B., Smart, Al. And they all trust me, right? They tell me, keep taking great looks. It's going to fall, keep impacting the game in other

ways. And all that matter was we won this game, right, give ourselves another chance, come back home, you know, for game seven. Listen, being humble for great athletes is a wonderful thing off the field. At home, at dinner, with your children. I'm not interested in humble in the fourth quarter. I want you to almost be delusional, kind of off-center, believing you're the greatest performer in an arena. Then you flip the switch as you walk off the court,

and you can be gracious and humble. Performers do this all the time on Broadway. They don't go home singing all day. They turn it on. They're theatrical. Nobody questions whether Tatum's a great basketball player or a great person. But he's got to flip that

that Michael Kobe switch, that James Harden regular season switch, and say, it's my team, my franchise, my game. Give me the ball. I don't like humble players in the fourth court. Steph Curry's a wonderful human.

He ain't humble in the fourth. He's shaking it. He's taunting you. He's getting in your face. He's exactly what I want. Great off the court. Great dad. Great husband.

Great person. Great ambassador. all ego and self-confidence in the fourth. That's exactly what our entertainers and our performers should be. We just want more of it from Jason Tatum. We don't want to trade Jason Tatum. He's great. Okay. NFL schedule.

Here was another thing I saw last night. So there is debate about Justin Fields. I think he's a 60-40 going into this year. It's going to work. I do not believe the Bears historically have known what the hell they're doing with offense. You can't even name their best receiver ever, their best quarterback. I mean, it's embarrassing. They've been around for a zillion years. But I thought the schedule really worked in Chicago's favor. I mean, they got to face Mahomes. That's week three. And then they

got to go on the road late October to Justin Herbert. That'll probably be a home game. There'll be a of Bears fans at that Chargers game. But they face two elite quarterbacks all season, Derek Carr at home, Jared Goff, you know, but I look at that schedule and here's what I think is fair with Justin Fields.

You're going to lose to Mahomes on the road. Fair. You're going to lose to Herbert on the road. He's better than you. Fair. I'll even give you losing the Derek Carr and Jared Goff on the road. I think you could be better than both, but right now they're better

than you, and it is hard to beat, B-plus quarterbacks are better on the road. There's four losses. And maybe I give you losing it home to the Denver Broncos and Russell Wilson, that being in week four. But now you've got two legitimate tight ends. Cole Komet, Robert Tonnion from the Packers, three legitimate receivers, Mooney, DJ Moran Claypool. You're now in year two of Luke Getsey's offense.

and your O-line, though not great, was rated 14th. That's the top half, not the bottom half of the NFL. It ain't great. It's not as bad as the Giants, and they made the playoffs with Daniel Jones. And no receivers. No more excuses. This schedule, they even space out the tough quarterback games. You got Mahomes on the road early, mid-season at Justin Herbert,

Uh, mid-November, a few weeks later, you got to go face Jared Gough on the road. Then it's a bunch of Desmond Ritters, Arizona potential backup, Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield, rookie Bryce Young, this schedule, if you're a, I'm not even asking to be Mahomes Herbert. I'm not even asking you to beat Jared Gough or Derek Carr. But if you're more than just a highlight YouTube quarterback, If you're a good quarterback, I got to see 10 wins. Now, JMAQ is a believer on them. But I look at this schedule.

They spaced out the tough ones. He now has, they spent real money on their offense. He has three legitimate receivers. DJ Moore is real. Mooney's a very nice number two. Claypool's maybe a three. They've all had big seasons or big games or big moments. Those are legitimate.

Two tight ends. Second year, Luke Getsey. left tackle the rookie last year, rated actually, higher than anybody could have hoped. I want to see it. Are you a highlight guy or are you a guy that can move the chains? Because this schedule, there's not a single streak of elite passers anywhere on this schedule. Because I've said before, if you look at Kansas City schedule and they have Andy Reed

Mahomes, they have a seven-game gauntlet of great quarterbacks. You don't go seven and oh in those. You can't win shootouts week after week after. and nobody can stop anybody in this league. Okay. So you're not going to go. I mean, they couldn't stop Philadelphia in the Super Bowl. You needed a quarterback to win it.

And I'm not saying you're Mahomes, but there is no gauntlet. There's no back-to-back roadies against great quarterback. They're all spaced out. Now we see. I love this year. Jordan Love, no excuses. Schedule works in your favor. Justin Fields, it's a nice, comfortable schedule.

When you look at the schedules and how they shape up with strength of schedule and opponent win totals, Colin? Because you shouldn't look at the record from last year because a lot changed, right? Like Tom Brady's not there anymore. Tampa, forget about that. The team you have been down on, the Atlanta Falcons, have you seen some of the buzz?

Easiest schedule in the league. I know, I know. Can I throw one more thing? Maybe we'll do it later. Look at the quarterback's face. You just did it for Chicago. Here's another edge to Chicago. Late in the year when the weather stinks in Chicago,

dome team Detroit in Chicago. dome team Arizona in Chicago. It's fair. Dome team Atlanta in Chicago. The Bears get three dome teams having to face 28 mile an hour wins at Soldier. I thought that for the Lions last year, they went into New York and beat my jets. They went into Green Bay and beat the Packers in the final game in the season. No, no, definitely there's something there.

Yeah. They get dome teams late in the season at Soldier Field in that weather. That is a big schedule and break. Playoffs. 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, S&L'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. On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was 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. 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 Cliford 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 Clippert 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.