The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - Patrick Mahomes is a special player

Episode Date: January 30, 2023

Thoughts on the Chiefs advancing to their third Super Bowl in four seasons After their loss the Eagles, the 49ers should go after Tom Brady People need to stop blaming the officiating See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Pretty good quarterback, right? Decent. At one point, in the fourth quarter, one of his key targets because of injuries, was Marcus Kemp, who's got more career tackles than catches. When anybody complains about their quarterback, well, he needs this and he needs that, just look at Patrick Mahomes yesterday. On a bumwheel, making all the big plays,

just such a clutch quarterback. I like your Mahomes take to start the show. So let's start with this. I've been a sportscaster for over 30 years, and I don't remember in 30 years a team losing a close playoff game and not blaming the refs. Oh, boy. So Kansas City is better than Cincinnati, and I thought Cincinnati would win. But Kansas City's quarterback played better than the other team. Kansas City dominated the first half. Kansas City made fewer mistakes. Kansas City protected their quarterback better than Cincinnati did. And 99.9% of the time, the team, that does those four or five things wins the game. Mahomes is different. He played on one leg, had no run support, was missing at one point, three of his top wide receivers

and put up a line that is, you know, a Mahomesian line that's now his league average. A couple of TDs, passer rating at 105, completion percentage, 67%. The great ones overcome. And both those quarter

are great, but one is greater. Five years, five AFC championships, all at home. MVP's, trophies, he doesn't have him stacked like Brady. But Bill Russell won almost twice as many titles as MJ and was a better defensive player. In fact, maybe the greatest of all time. We didn't wait to call MJ the goat. What are we waiting for? His instincts, faster, better than Brady. He moves better than Brady, arm better than Brady. winning more early over Brady, not relying on defense like Brady. It's the best quarterback I've ever seen. You can blame the refs.

But the Chiefs had more yards, more first downs, were better on third down, more yards per play, fewer turnovers, dominate time of possession. And their quarterback had two touchdowns, no picks, and Joe Burrow had two picks, one really, really bad. And I love Joe Burrow. It wasn't the refs. Keep blaming them.

You've got to get better. Everybody does in the world. By the way, pain tolerance is also a skill. He's A plus plus at that. Wincing more than once, running around. I had said last week, I think we're overstating the injury. I've seen Mahomes playing a high ankle sprain a couple years ago, and he had 440 yards. Now, it was the Raiders, but it was still something to see.

Every other quarterback had something they worked around. Brady's not very physically mobile. Manning could get rigid. Farr made too many mistakes. Maybe Montana wasn't big enough. Mahomes checks every box, and his instincts are bizarre. His ability to see an open player and get the ball out of his hands quickly. Marino was close, but Dan's not this.

I've literally never seen a quarterback without a hole. Every couple of years, he goes off the reservation a bit with his mechanics, and Andy has to reel him back in. But with no run game, every quarterback's good with. a lead. Every quarterback's great with a run game. Every quarterback's great with time. Mahomes went 67%, 105.4 passer rating, two TDs, no picks, 326, throwing the backups, throwing the guys in the fourth quarter who have more career tackles than catches. And those numbers I just gave you, there is per game average. He doesn't dip in the playoffs.

When Sky Moore and Bengal fans don't want to talk about this, return that punt at the the end of the game for 27 yards to midfield, I literally thought, okay, it's over. I can go poor cocktail. I never feel like that with any other player on the planet. Game's over. By the way, that return, you're watching now, got about twice as many yards as the late hit penalty, which bingo fans apparently have amnesia on the punt return. But the ability of Mahomes is like nothing I've ever seen. And it creates great clarity. You're complaining in New York that Daniel Jones doesn't have this or your quarterback doesn't have that. No run game, one leg facing a great defense, using backups.

That Bengals defense is as good as any in the league in the fourth quarter. By the way, Burrow had two fourth quarter drives, a pick and a punt, and I love Burrow. But what you're watching here is different. It is just different. And when you can juxtapose them, put him side by side, you see the difference. And Mahomes, seriously, I think he's getting. better. I honestly think he's getting better. I don't know how it's possible, but Andy Reed, obviously one of the smartest offensive guys ever. When he talks about him after games,

he just smiles. Our players, our team, coaches, we're all lucky to have him in that position and the mindset, that whole mindset. So it carries over to everybody. For Pat to do what he did And then to have that run at the end, I can't say enough, he is the MVP in my eyes. Patrick Mahomes is the greatest quarterback talent I've ever seen. And I don't know why I've got to keep waiting. He's not probably going to get this trophy or that trophy or this or this. If we're just talking about stacking things, then Michael Jordan is not the best basketball player ever. You have to contextualize stuff.

But when I watch Mahomes play, arm, instincts, mobility, pain tolerance, intense. I've never seen anything like it. Never seen anything like it. I don't want to hear about your crappy quarterback's average O line. I don't want to hear about your crappier average quarterback's lack of receivers. Who was he thrown to yesterday? Guys that Aaron Rogers couldn't make viable. He makes viable an AFC championship game.

Absolutely an insane talent. We're lucky to have him. He's also a great guy and a great teammate. All right. Now to the next game. You know, I'd set, you know, circumstances change opinions. And like Tom Brady with his kids in Florida playing for the Niners, I'm thinking to myself, that's just a lot, even though his parents are there. But I'm sitting watching that game and I'm thinking, Kyle Shanahan went through Tray Lance,

Jimmy Garabolo, Brock Purdy, Josh Johnson, and they're hiking a ball to Christian McCaffrey. And I'm thinking to myself, I could see Brady texting him saying, you know, I don't get hurt. and the Niners going, Debo's getting older, McCaffrey's taking hits, Trent Williams getting older, Kittles taking hits, these guys aren't going to last forever. I could see the Niners after this weekend going, Brock Purdy is a little small. He is a seventh rounder. Maybe we got to go big because the Niners are loaded. But Philadelphia is a remarkable story.

You know, I lived out east for about 10 years. And out west, if we want a new building, we blow stuff up. We don't have a lot of old churches. We don't care much about that. For an old Eastern city that's proud of its tradition, you really got to hand it to Philadelphia. Multiple quarterbacks, multiple coaches, second Super Bowl in seven years, four different coaches in 23 years, three of four have been to the Super Bowl, all winning records, have all gotten to the playoffs. I really appreciate the way Philadelphia is willing to evolve. I don't even like all the moves.

I thought Sariani was a week higher. I couldn't understand firing Doug Peterson, moving off Carson Wentz. But for an old established Eastern City, which has great pride and tradition, they will change direction in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat. They're Amazon. You think they're one thing? The minute you do, they're another. It's remarkable.

It is a completely stacked roster. And what's remarkable is there two playoff games were blowouts and Jalen Hertz is not right. That dude needs to get healthy. He had no touch on deep balls. His stuff underneath was short. I don't know if Jalen Hertz is 70%. You know, we talked about Mahalms injury. I think Jalen Hertz is really hurt.

I don't think he's right at all. But this roster may be gifted enough. It's got much more depth of talent in Kansas City. You could argue almost every unit, Philadelphia is deeper and more talented. It may be close in some, but they may be deeper and more talented in every single unit. It's really, what I love about Philadelphia,

is what has confused me about Philadelphia. When I lived out east, people were into prep schools and tradition and churches. And sometimes I'd look at it and think, you know, it's, why are you so beholden to tradition? It is hard to move off it. Grandpa went to this church. Dad went to this church. You go to this church. Your kids will go to this church.

You went to this summer camp. Your dad went to this summer camp. The East is very much about tradition. And then there's Philadelphia. And they're like, yeah. Yeah, that coach was great. We want a Super Bowl with Nick Fulst. We've got to move off that coach.

What? We've got to move off Andy Reid. What? We've got to move off. Even Chip Kelly had a winning record. And here they are. Nick Sariani is pumped to be going to the Super Bowl. This is something you dream about your whole life.

And like I said, to the guys, we've all been dreaming about it. Whether you were dreaming about it when you were 2, 10, 14, 18, or when you got in the NFL, this is something we all dream about. and we get to do it because, you know, we did it better than anybody else in the NFC this year. Different coaches, different quarterbacks, disagree with a lot of the moves, and here they are. Two blowout playoff wins. People say, well, they had one of the easiest routes of all time, potentially. I remember when USC was dominating college football, the Pac-12 had never been worse.

They were still better than everybody. They're still better than everybody. Just because you have an easier route doesn't mean you're not the best team. and the Eagles are absolutely stacked. And it's because they've taken chance after chance. They've moved off winning coaches and winning quarterbacks. It's something to behold. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

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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 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 on day, but just so y'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 for finishing that sentence. 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 back. So there was a lot of arguing Laker Celtics Friday, Niners, Eagles, early. Chiefs bingles late. There was a lot of complaining about officiating. Adrian Amos was on Twitter saying, I'm not saying it's a terrible call because he was out, but I just don't like it.

You think running full speed, knowing he's out of bounds, it's not easy. No, it's not easy. It's not. Joseph Asai, I feel bad for him. It's not easy. But the you can't call that crowd is silly. First of all, regardless of clock,

an official has to call what he sees. That was by definition a late hit. pushing a quarterback into a bench. The Bengals player, after the game was crying, saying, I've got to be better. He wasn't saying the ref had to be better. All players and refs outside of Mahomes could be better. There are moments for situational officiating. One of them is a Hail Mary pass.

I've said this for years. They don't call pass interference on Hail Marys. Otherwise, people would do it all the time because you would get like a 40 and a 50-yard penalty. But by definition, that is a late hit. pushing the best quarterback in the universe into a bench on a bad leg. It's 2023. You got to know the temperature in the room. You don't do it in that moment.

What's interesting was almost double the yards for that penalty was created by Sky Moore on a punt return. Nobody's talking about that this morning. Why did the Bengals punt it to the middle of the field? What are you doing? 27 yards got it to midfield. And at that moment, all of us went, oh, game over. Let me ask a Bengal fan.

A little nervous when he got to the 50 with Mahomes and 41 seconds left? You should be. He took the ball down the field in 13 against Buffalo. That was the game. By the way, we could go moments earlier, previous drive. Why did Cincinnati call a timeout on second and eight? That gave the Chiefs more time late in the game. It is easy to blame the officials in the Lakers Celtics game.

Go ahead, blame the refs. It was a bad call. but the Lakers had 12 turnovers. Nine, they win the game. Westbrook himself had five. What was he doing in there late? Niners? Yeah, I didn't like that Devante Smith, no catch.

But the Niners coaches didn't ask for a review, didn't challenge it. All right. That's your job. And in this instance, why are you punting to the middle of the field in Skymore? Why did you call a timeout on second and eight? You don't have to love the call. but a referee almost always is going to call what he sees. He's not supposed to categorize them.

Well, there was a play about six minutes ago that wasn't called. Let me think about that. You call what you see. It's 2023. Pushing a quarterback into a bench? Of course it's a flag. Here's the coach and the player after. I got to learn from experience.

I got to know not to get close to that quarterback when he's close to that style. if there's anything that could possibly cause a penalty in a dire situation like that, I got to do better. Understanding it's never one play, but obviously the late hit, put them in field goal range. Again, when you're trying to communicate things to players, especially ones involved in that play, how do you do it? We're not going to make it about one play.

You know, there was plenty of plays that we left on the field today that could have put us in a better position. Fans want perfect officials. You don't have perfect coaches. I didn't like Cincinnati's timeout. I didn't like the coaching decision to punt the ball to Skymore in the middle of the field. There's a lot of things that didn't go Cincinnati's way. But the general rule is if there's two quarterbacks and the home quarterback plays better than the road quarterback, dominates the first half, gets better protection, he'll win.

And Kansas City did. J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Hello, Colin. Hello, J-Mack. How are you doing after the ski?

injury. Can I bring that up on air real quick? I'm fine. You know what? I'm going to start playing crossword puzzles, backgammon. Pickle ball? Yeah, pickleball. Yeah, I got to stop going down hills. It's 40 miles an hour. That's not great. Tried to tell you. Yeah, you did. Let's move on to the Niners, Colin. Tough hand against the Eagles when Brock Purdy got hurt. I was kind of upset with this entire game. The first quarter game was kind of ruined. And, you know, listen, he had to go back in. Purdy did after Josh Johnson, the fourth stringer gets knocked unconscious.

Well, I don't know if he's unconscious, but concussed. It was limited. Purdy couldn't throw the ball down the field. Here's George Kittle after the game talking about just a crappy quarterback situation. How's that feel to losing the NFC championship game because I don't have a quarterback? Pretty s'i. To be honest. I mean, losing sucks regardless.

Duh, you know, last year, I mean, to fight just to get into the playoffs. upset some teams. And this year, you know, we had all the momentum, played well in the first round, played well in the second round. And, uh, I mean, you didn't really get to see all the 49er football that we wanted to put out there on tape. But, you know, life kind of just punches you in the face sometimes and it is what it is. I don't want to go on a referee rant. I save that for the podcast. I will say this, Colin, every play is reviewable. Okay. It, in Bengals, uh, versus Patrick Mahomes, Mahomes knee went down as he was unloading and the refs did not initially notice it. Bengals tried a challenge.

The rest were like, no, no, no, we're going to look at it. Okay, his knee was down, you know, sack. The refs, every play is reviewable. Why didn't they do the same thing with the Devante Smith fourth down catch, which very clearly was not a catch? Why did the refs let that slide? Well, first of all, I initially thought it was a catch, and I think the officials did too.

Secondly, for the fluidity of a game, referees in the NBA don't call a foul on LeBron every time down the floor they could, nor do you want to review everything. So what you're trying to do, and it's a balance, you're trying to keep the flow of the game up, keep it to three and a half hours, make it a good product, and make all the big calls you can. I was shocked, and usually I'm pretty good at guessing catch-no-catch.

I was shocked it wasn't a catch. The Niners thought it was a catch, apparently, and give the Eagles credit. They flew back to the line and got a playoff. Avanti Smith did the sign to the bench, they quickly knew let's go. But how the hell does Shinnahan and his crew not see that? Well, again, we've got to give credit to well-run organizations. Philadelphia quickly got to the line and the Niners in the frenzy of it, like the rest of us thought, is a hell of a catch.

And I bring this up because, you know, they let it slide, they get a touchdown. And six plays later, Purdy's elbow gets wrecked. And at that point, you instantly had to live bet the Eagles. You know it was over. I texted you about this. I'm like, Purdy's elbow, forget this game. Now I know Josh Johnson handed off a bunch and McCaffrey had a great touchdown. The game was over when Purdy got her.

It was over. It's one of those games you wish you could just kind of press the reset button, you know, on the Nintendo system. And just start it over because it was garbage. There was, you're probably, you may remember this, but we went through about a decade-long run, and it may have been shorter longer, where the Super Bowls were awful. It was just like Dallas Buffalo. Blow up, blow up, blow it. We went through a long run of dreadful Super Bowls.

We've been very lucky. Most of the last 10 have been exhilarating, have been fantastic. Many of the Brady Super Bowls outside the Rams game are last play of the game, last series of the game. So generally speaking, the big games deliver something. I mean, I thought most of the playoff game, obviously Eagles blew out a Giants team. but I mean I feel like the NFL generally the games live up to what you think they will be and this is just one of those and injuries derailed. Yeah, I do.

We talked about Mahomes as a warrior, right? I mean, out there gutting it out on one leg, just tough and great. Was it a little disappointing to see Purdy in the game handing off and throwing screen passes but not even trying to throw downfield? Well, Terry Bradshaw at halftime said he will get the feeling back in his elbow. He doesn't have it now. So, you know, I'm left to believe that he just couldn't. I don't know. I mean, I have no idea.

It's just odd down 21-7 that they were still handing the ball off. Like, I would rather see McCaffrey or Debo Samuel just throwing the football. At least that's fun. This was just not a fun. Well, I don't think they're thinking about fun. Oh, okay. Well, handing the ball off, you're not getting a chance to win the game coming. Yeah, I mean, the Niners run the ball well. I don't know what to say about Purdy. You know, I saw Josh Allen go through a similar thing and his elbow was fine. Purdy did want to play. I mean, you wouldn't pull yourself out of a game so much.

My guess is he just couldn't feel, he probably, Bradshaw said it half, you just can't feel, you can't, there's numbness. So, I mean, Purdy obviously would play. You don't prep all the way. It's the biggest moment of his life. It happens. We'll save our longer takes on Purdy for the future. Next up, big news is the Cowboys dumped Kellynne Moore on Sunday.

Today, this morning, the Chargers have zeroed in on Kellyn Moore to be their next offensive coordinator. Colin, what an upgrade. You know, sometimes in life you feel like. Like in the moment, this sucks is the worst thing ever. Oh my gosh, I hate it. 24 hours later, Kellyn Moore got an upgrade. Absolutely.

Also, it wasn't that Joe Lombardi, the former offensive coordinator, didn't create offense. They were very poor post-half. They didn't adjust. It was a bad adjusting offense. So Frank Reich got, I think, poorly fired, and Carolina benefited, and Kellynne Moore shouldn't have been fired. and now the Chargers benefit. Sometimes it's rare, but good people get let go all the time, and your job is to find them.

If you look at the numbers under Kellynne Moore, and there's some Cooper Rush games in there, there's some Andy Dalton stuff in there. Colin, pretty good to me. These Cowboys fans are, they're like, oh, we can't do anything in the playoffs. You faced the Niners twice, elite defense. Did you see what the Niners did to the Eagles yesterday? I know the Eagles won 33-17.

But they didn't really move. They had 270 yards of offense. I know. This Niners defense is, Elite. Yeah. Bagging on Kellan Moore like he was the problem. Good luck, Dallas. Final story, Colin. Ooh, a little spicy. So Jim Harbaugh, earlier this month, said he's staying in Michigan. Remember that? Yeah. Well, there was a report that the Broncos never stopped their pursuit of him with team owner Greg Penner flying to Ann Arbor last week to meet with Harbaugh in person. Now, no offer was made, but you have to wonder if Denver now realizes, boy, looks like Dan Quinn staying in Dallas. Demico Ryan sounds like he's headed toward Houston.

Sean Payton, who maybe we'll talk about it, doesn't sound like he's going to Denver. And now you've got nothing. And maybe you're trying to hail Mary to Jim Harbaugh. Yeah, I think the two things that worry everybody are no cap flexibility for years, potentially. The GM now doesn't really have any power. And you have a quarterback situation that you're landlocked into and no, somebody's quite sure how to change it. So I said this a while back.

Sean Peyton's always been the best candidate. Harbaugh's career actually matches up perfectly with this team. You can make an argument that Harbaugh would be a better fit for Denver. His history is building up offensive lines and mobile quarterbacks. That's his history. Andrew Luck, Colin Kaepernick, Alex Smith. If you look at what Jim's done, he goes into Michigan, and he's, He makes them a power run team eventually.

That's kind of what he does. And I think that's how you escape this Russell Wilson contract. Defense, a little bit like Tennessee. Look like Tennessee. Tennessee was the number one seed last year in the EFC. So Harbaugh, his history, his resume is this kind of is what he does. People forget how bad the Niners were, how hopeless they looked. And he turned them around the first year.

Aren't people missing this? like Denver has a lot of talent, Colin. This team was double-digit projection for wins. Even if they go 9 and 8 next year, let's say the Harbaugh goes there. They go 9 and 8 and miss the playoffs. Well, they're not touching Harbaugh. They're not dumping Russ.

The GM will get fired. That's your move. So I think Denver is an undervalued job right now. And hey, how about this? We love the draft. Why don't you go take a chance in the fourth round on Stett? Well, not Stets and Benner right now. But, you know, pick a guy, a Max Duggan.

Yeah. In the event that, hey, it's not working with Russ. We cut loose, take the dead cap hit, and we got a cheap quarterback under center. Generally, so a year ago, if I would have told you, take away this year for Denver, the minute Russell Wilson arrives, I would have told you, hey, the Bronco coach, Hackett won't work. Would you want the job? You would say, yeah, I got Russell Wilson in that defense. So you have to be careful of not completely overreacting to what appeared to be a head coach

who was completely over his skis. So I will say this. Russell played a little better down the stretch in the last couple of games. Did they sort of, the further hackett got away? Did Russell kind of go back to Russell moving more? But to your point, this is not the Texans. There are pro bowlers, the receivers, the secondary, the linebackers. Like there's real player.

Left tackles good. They have a star running back, a star safety. This idea that Houston's a better job than Denver, Colin. I mean, Houston, you're not sniffing the playoffs for at least. two years, right? You're not better than Jacksonville in that division. No. You have no quarterback. I couldn't tell you the top five players on the Houston Texans right now. I mean, could you? I can't name a defender who's an impact guy. Stainley wasn't even good. I'm surprised D'Amico Ryan's, if he does pick Houston, would go Houston over Denver.

Agree. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. I do think off what Jay Mack said, the San Francisco 49ers situation is really, really interesting. So you have this roster with very physical players, Christian McCaffrey, Debo, Kittle. They're not going to last forever. They're just not. The way they play, if I said any of those guys in two years have retired, have moved on,

are not the same player. Trent Williams left tackle up there in age. They've got some great players, but the physicality means you may have like a year and a half window, a two-year window. Now, Philadelphia's window appears longer, and even they have some age on the O-line and D-line. But this San Francisco team, which has battled injuries for the last two or three years, I figured if Purdy played well, even if he lost against Philly, I think I said last week, if he plays well, 27, 24, but I was sitting there thinking to myself,

Mahomes is running around on one leg, Josh Allen's getting, you know what kicked out of him. So was Joe Burrow, and they're playing, and Purdy, something hits his elbow, he's out. And I thought to myself, I could see the Niners saying, Trey Lance, Garoppolo, Purdy, Josh Johnson. Are they sitting flying back from Philadelphia saying, we just need a guy that doesn't get hurt. And Brady texting him and saying, guys, I'll take a small salary, let's go.

I can see having that discussion. And you could say to yourself, well, Colin, it was, I mean, it's circumstance. I know. Absolutely. But size is an ideal for Purdy. He's a gamer. He's twitchy.

He's athletic. he's competitive. But they're in a really fascinating situation as a franchise where a lot of their key players, you may have a year to two years in this window to hit it. And I am fascinated to see what they do. It's not like the Jets. The Jets, almost all their players are good or young. You got a broad window.

If you can get a quarterback, you can take some time. You can't be too patient with this organization. It's why I would Tray Lance, you know, there was consternation and issues in the camp. It's like he's just not good enough to win now, and we're going to win now. And so, you know, as I watch Purdy, you know, his elbow gets hit and he's like, I can't play. And I'm thinking, I've seen Josh Allen get knocked blank over tea kettle and stay in. Size matters in this sport. Some of the smaller quarterbacks get banged up.

I don't know what they're going to do with Purdy. I don't know what they're going to do. But I could see Brady. I didn't last week. I thought, you're not going to move that far away from your kids. That doesn't make any sense. But I'm sitting there watching that game, and Brady is watching all those players and and hey man, I will play for almost nothing.

And I could see, I could see Kyle looking at that text talking to John Lynch and it's like, dude, can you just give me a guy? Can you just give me a guy that can play? The other thing about Purdy's lightning in a bottle run is we have to be totally honest about this. He beat two last place teams. He beat the Raiders with Jared Stidham. His division went into the tank. When he finally played a really good defense, Dallas, he's pretty average with all those

weapons. Philadelphia, I don't know how he would have played, but they weren't moving the ball much. So, you know, I think this is one of the things about sports is to have these moments. I've said this. Jalen Hertz gets banged up. Kyler gets banged up. Suddenly their GM, Lamar is hurt. Their GMs around the league because of those injuries thinking, we've got to be careful about mobile quarterbacks. Circumstances change everything. The Brock Purdy situation is fascinating. Did you get lucky and hit lightning in a bottle? You just got lucky. Never forget. The magical run, isn't necessarily the magical quarterback. Nick Foles is a magical run. Where was he the next year? He was on the bench. You can't fall in love with, I mean, you played a bunch of bad teams.

Your division went into the tank. What if the Rams in Seattle next year are really good? And Brock Purdy doesn't feel like an automatic W with this roster. So I think it's fascinating. I don't know where they're going. But watching him sit it out and watching them hiking the ball to Christian McCaffrey, I can see Kyle Shanahan sitting down with John Lynch over an iced tea at lunch saying, just get me a 17 game starter. Get me a guy who's 6-3, who's accurate. It could be Derek Carr, however big he is. It could be Brady.

But it's a, they were the most fascinating team in the league. They may well be the most fascinating team in the league next year. Because this roster, the two rosters in the league that don't even look like everybody else, Eagles-Niners. They don't even look like other teams. I mean, Philadelphia is better than Kansas. Kansas City in virtually every, every unit. I mean, I love the Chiefs O line.

Phillies is better. I just looked at the Niners roster, Colin. They have two guys on the entire defense who are impact players who are over 30. This is a young defense with a lot of upside. No, but they're offensive guys. McCaffrey, Kettle, and Debo, those guys get dinged up a lot. They do. They do.

To push back, McCaffrey joined the team mid-season. Brock Purdy was a seventh round rookie. So you could say, listen, we're just scratching the service. fist with these two guys in the offense. Next year, they can be a lot better. Who needs Tom Brady? I'm saying, go out and get me an offensive lineman to maybe block Hassan Redick. Okay.

Right. No, no, no. That was my gut feeling. But I do think you can make the argument that Shanahan is just over it. How many years can Shanahan sit there and not have a healthy quarterback? You can be the most patient guy with your kids. But after the third kid screws up, You know what I mean?

Like at some point we've all got limits. Is Kyle Shanahan flying back from Philly? He's hit his limit on plucky overachievers who can't stay healthy. I'm just, it's a, it's a thought balloon, but it is something. Yeah. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Two NBA insiders podcasting twice a week to plug you right into the NBA great fight. All happening in only one place.

This League Uncut, the new NBA podcast with me, Chris Haines, and me, Mark Stein. Join us as we team up to expound on everything we're covering, hearing, and chasing. Listen to This League Uncut with Chris Haynes and Mark Stein. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 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 unleashed. 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 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. Clipper 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 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 a 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 on 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. Now you're 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. Sunday, buckle up.

Because one of NASCAR's most thrilling events is returning to the Lodagh. Coliseum under the lights. NASCAR's Bush Light Class at the Coliseum Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific, only on Fox. All right, I got

two takes in the NBA. Great game Saturday night. Lakers Celtics was absolutely phenomenal television and the Celtics won in overtime. And there was a play at the end of the game people freaked out. Now, is officiating worse? Well, first of all, the cameras are better than ever

so we now see the bad calls in slow-mo at a granular level. Secondly, in the NBA, it's a global game. The athletes have never been longer, faster. The game's going 1,000 miles an hour. I don't think officials suddenly got bad. I think it's a harder game to officiate. And LeBron-like Shaq is fouled on almost every play. He's impossible, even in year 20, to stay in front of.

But they don't call a foul on all those plays, nor should they. Otherwise, everybody would foul out and the game would take six hours. Everybody watching this show or listening goes over the speed limit. You may notice it's called speed limit. Limit. Yet you go over it every day and so do I. And cops don't pull you over. Why?

The same reasoning, fluidity of traffic. You don't want to be driving to work in Chicago, New York, L.A., Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Seattle, Denver, big cities, and the commute is three hours because cops have pulled everybody over. You allow for some speeding if the flow of traffic is good and safe. You don't want to foul everybody out. Shaq was impossible to defend. LeBron is fouled on virtually every play. But for fluidity and quality of broadcast, you don't call all of them.

Now, was that a miss call? Yes, should it be reviewable? Yes, and it isn't. That's zany and frustrating. But I will say this. The Lakers are one and three against the Clippers and one and three against Sacramento. The Lakers have lost to the Pacers. The Lakers have lost to the Hornets.

One of the reasons that LeBron has been complaining all year about officiating is because the team is so beholden to LeBron late to get fouled. Because even as good as they've played against Milwaukee and Boston in one-off, they still need more shooters, more people to help LeBron. The team is overwhelmingly dependent on LeBron late, and therefore he's got the ball in his hands, and LeBron wants every call. And just like the speed limit,

not everybody's getting pulled over. Not every time LeBron's fouled, it's getting called. That's the way sports work. Never forget who pays all the salaries. It's not you. It's the TV networks. They're paying for everything now. They want the games to move.

They want the games to be under two and a half hours. They get slow as it is with replays constantly in the NBA. The last two minutes can last 25 minutes. It's tedious. So the Lakers had 12 turnovers. They win the game if they had eight. The game went to overtime. Make more shots.

They still need to make a deal at the trade deadline. I hope they do. It's hard to sell prospects and draft picks in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas. people have things to do. They don't care about the future. They're taking their family to a game tomorrow. It costs 600 bucks. They want a team now. Here's LeBron after the loss in Boston. I mean, you guys seen some of the games that we've lost this year with late game miscarls. We had an opportunity to literally, you know, win the game. I don't understand what we're doing. And I watch basketball every single day. I watch these games every single day. And I don't see it happening to nobody else. It's just weird. The other story that's interesting this weekend is there's a lot of stuff surfacing now on Aaron Rogers and the Packers from legitimate reporters are contemplating a trade. We've been on this.

We think it's the time to rip the Band-Aid off. It's not a shot at Aaron. We think Green Bay, I do, is uniquely ready to move off him if they can get a number one pick this year and a two next year. They don't have a lot of holes in their roster. They need another tight end. They need another receiver. They could use an edge rusher. Packers have a really good top eight, nine roster in the NFL.

They're really, really good. It is interesting, though, you know, Aaron at some point, because Aaron has already talked so much about retiring that Aaron has to be sent somewhere where he's all in. And if he's not, why would you make the move? I'm not giving up two, three first round picks for Aaron Rogers if he doesn't want to be here. There's a lot of talk about the Jets. It's a weird situation. The Jets have a lot of young players and a defensive coach who's not really proven.

Whereas Nashville, the Titans, Tennessee has a veteran coach who's proven and a lot of older players and a run game and a defense, which Aaron has had very few great defenses in his career. That one, both AFC, that one feels more like the perfect landing spot for him. I still think, you know, Aaron going playing with young Jets players. he's got young Packer players. And by the way, the Packers'O line is significantly better than the Jets O'Line. The Packers'O line is significantly better than the Titans' own line. If I'm a quarterback and I'm getting 39 years old, do I get protection?

What was the first thing Brady wanted? Get me gronk and get me a right tackle. Like, I want to be protected. Brady this year, offensive line injuries, not much of a run game, not as effective. So the Aaron thing is interesting. In the bigger picture, we don't know where he's going to go. I don't have any insight on this. But the more interesting thing is the fact that it's getting out is telling you, in my opinion,

the Packers are letting it out to soften the market. So when it happens, people don't freak out. The Packers are letting it out slowly, somebody in the organization or an agent somewhere, to soften the market up, get ready. People talk about it. It doesn't shock anybody. I think it's time to rip the Band-Aid off. I do not think it's a shot at Aaron wherever he goes.

I just think Green Bay in that division. Minnesota's not going 11 and 0 in one-score games. They're not. Chicago's still Chicago, and Detroit was a great story, but they missed the playoffs and the NFC for a reason. They weren't a great team. So I think it's time. I think we're close.

I know you're a Jets fan. I have no insight where he's going to go, but I've said this for years. Why does story? get out. It's not what gets out. Why do they get out? This is getting out because somebody wants it out. Didn't we have this last year right around this time with the Denver Broncos after they hired Hackett? I remember Mark Schlewrest went on the radio in Denver and was like, yeah, is Aaron Rogers thing's real. This is probably going to happen. And everybody reported Aaron Rogers, Denver,

and it never materialized. I don't see it happening. Why on earth would the Jets do this? I know Woody Johnson loves stars. He's the one. Next time we have Mangini on, you can ask how badly Woody Johnson demanded Brett Farf. Because you want to start a sell tickets in New York and win the back page because Woody Johnson does that

1990s crap where he plays to the media. That doesn't work when you're building a football team. Yeah. I would think if you were Aaron, 39 years old, had a couple of surgeries close to retirement, wouldn't offensive line and

coaching matter? Just a little bit. To me, Vrabel's more proven. Both O-lines are bad. Jets, Titans. But I have a proven home run hitter running back. I don't know. When I look at the whole situation, Green Bay does one thing. I was talking to somebody yesterday.

The Steelers draft and develop wide receivers as well as anybody in the sport. They've been doing it for 20 years. The Packers draft and develop offensive linemen. They don't take O-Lignment in the first round. They've always got a great O' line. The grass is not always greener. You get really good protection, a star back, emerging star receivers. How about this?

From a content perspective, Aaron Rogers versus the New York media, five days a week, would be fun. It would be great for this show, right? Oh, yeah. I mean, we root for tire fires. That's what my jets would be. We root for drama. All right, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong next.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Oden, Kirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella 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 J. 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. 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. This is an IHeart podcast.

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