The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - Russell Wilson

Episode Date: October 13, 2023

Things are going from bad to worse for the Broncos as they fall to 1-5 and Colin admits Russell Wilson deserves a big portion of the blame Colin continues his praise of the Phillies as they advance to the NLCS for the second straight season  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Friday absolutely jammed live in Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be. Fresh off of a 5-0 blazing five. Love my picks this week. Maybe won't love them Sunday night, but I love them today. J-Mack joining Malcolm Jenkins, former Eagles joining us today.

Wow, wow, wow, wow. Last night, at some point, you have to acknowledge and admit what you are. And I think Sean Payton, Russell Wilson, I think Sean knows what he wants to do. It's a matter of how you do it, but that was ugly. Russell Wilson had, what, 57 passing yards at one point in the fourth quarter? It's like, they can't move the football. That's an ugly, ugly watch. They can't pass the football.

Also true. Yeah. So let's start with that. issues in the NFL are very easy to see. And when you have a star quarterback, it's even easier to see your issues. Kansas City's offense is struggling. We know, it's not Andy Reed and it's not Mahomes and it's not Kelsey. They need another receiver. Rishi Rice and Cadarius Tony, it's just not good enough. Now, again, they'll get to the playoffs. They'll win their division. They'll probably end up in the AFC championship. I don't think this receiving core can be to San Francisco or Philadelphia.

I don't. But it's pretty easy to see that. The Denver's issues are more complex, or are they? The defense has fallen off the ledge, probably got to spend a lot of draft capital on defense and get a new DC. But Russell Wilson is an enigma. He's only 34 years old. He has no major injuries. He is a ghost of his former self.

Listen, you can, in the Denver media, it's not Russell, it's not the offense. Yes, it is. When you trail 13 to nothing and you know it's over, it's the quarterback. You wouldn't feel that way with Josh Allen. Jalen Hertz. You wouldn't feel that way with Justin Herbert. Lamar Jackson. You wouldn't feel that way.

13-0-0. Hell, 10-0. It felt over. And that's with Cortland Sutton, a very strong number two receiver. Greg Dulcich, excellent young tied-in. Upgrades on the offensive line. And Sean Payton won a Super Bowl as a winning record against every quarterback he's ever coached for any duration.

Russell had a finger injury. That's it. On his throwing hand is last year in Seattle. But even that year, he finished with 103 passer rating, 25 touchdowns, just six picks. He was still really good. And that's behind a shaky O line. 25 touchdown, six picks, 103 passer rating, bad O line. Winning games.

What my eyes tell me. I watched the entire game and what my eyes tell me that his mom. mobility and elusiveness and escapability and the ability to extend plays was a much larger part of his success than I gave it credit for. I thought that was his off-speed pitch. I thought intelligence, pre-snap, pocket passer, and he moves a little. No, no, that's not it. I was wrong.

And Pete Carroll saw it. His elusiveness, his mobility, his escapeability. his escapeability was probably 60% of his game. I thought it was 20 or 30. He's a pitcher that threw 99 and now it's 93. And that's the difference between an all-star pitcher and getting hit. That's it. I gave his pocket awareness IQ a lot of credit.

I always sought the elusiveness. Hey, it did. It's a great curveball. What a nice additive. Now, that was it. and he's going to be 35 soon, and it's not there. Pete Carroll knows personnel. He's like, hey, if it's just going to be pocket stuff,

Gino's better than Russ. And right now, the last year and a half, Gino is better than Rush, throwing from the pocket. And it's not going to get better. Russell's getting older. So plus, in the weird thing is, from what we can tell from players literally saying publicly they didn't love Russ in Seattle,

he wasn't beloved in that locker room. And he was an insider. He was Pete's guy. He drafted him. John Snyder, Pete, that was her guy. They protected him. We've seen stories now. They kind of protected him.

He's not Sean Payton's guy. He's an outsider in Denver with a big mansion on the hill and the beautiful wife. He's an outsider. So he doesn't have that protective mechanism, which I don't think he realized quite in Seattle. He saw Pete sometimes as a barrier to his success. But the truth is in the NFL, if the GM and the coach draft you and you win a Super Bowl, they're your ally. Doesn't mean they think you're perfect.

They're going to go look at Mahomes' workout. They're going to go watch Josh Allen's workout. But you're their guy. Them finding you in the third round, that makes Pete and John look like geniuses. Two and you. So how do you fix the defense? It's not that hard. It really isn't.

Go hit on four draft picks. Seattle did it. You can hit on four draft picks, get a new D.C. You can fix stuff in a year. Bill Parcells as a GM. took the dolphins from 1 and 15 to 11 wins with Tony Sparano was the coach. He found a guy like you, coach, I'll fix the roster. You can fix a lot of problems in this league easily.

The Russell Wilson component fixing, not easy. He talked after. We had a chance, and I think we just got to play better, play cleaner. I got to play better, and that starts with me. Our defense played great tonight. They battled all night. They came up with a pick, and our defense did. did and could have two, you know, and they did a really good job of keeping us in the game.

I think offensively, we had some really good things. And then, you know, obviously the two terms by me is unacceptable. We can't happen. So now it gets interesting. Mike Lombardi is a former NFL GM. He had a tweet this morning. He said, nobody's going to touch Russell Wilson now. But if he's on the roster for the fifth day of the league year in 2024, his 2025 salary

becomes fully guaranteed. And that's 37 million bucks. Yikes. The Broncos will have to eat the 17 million guaranteed for the 2024 season as Wilson either continues to play or move to the TV booth. You can honestly say without one ounce of hesitation, the next 11 games are the last games Bronco fans will see Wilson in their uniform. And I believe it's the only reasonable conclusion.

Great college quarterback draft class. Denver currently has the number two pick. Sean Payton wants his guy. You can keep running this back. It doesn't work. Russ is going to be 35. I made a mistake. I thought his running and elusiveness was a small component to his game.

It was much bigger. We've discovered that Lamar Jackson is a much better thrower than people gave him credit for. Just the opposite. Lamar is actually really good in the pocket. The running is an additive, a great attitude. With Russell, we gave the pocket stuff too much credit. Greg Kosell for years and years said, I don't love it. I should have listened better.

But listen, you can have untenable situations, tire fires, and fix them overnight. Houston's a great example. One year ago, Houston was an unstable, unmitigated disaster ownership now. Now they have a star quarterback on the rise cheap for the next four years, a defensive coach people like, and they found a couple of really nice pieces, weapons in the draft. They can go to free agency big because they don't pay C.J. Stroud. You get the quarterback right and on the cheap. And you get the coach right.

And Sean Payton's a good coach. You get fast in this league, even if you're a mess. And Denver's got really rich owners, the best corner arguably in the league. They've upgraded the O line, some pieces they could move. number two pick in the draft. Go draft Drake May and then spend the rest of the draft on defensive players. Resign Patrick Zertaine. Build around him. Go get your quarterback. Things change very quickly in this league. And by the way, not all quarterback struggles are the same. So Justin Fields struggled, right? But he's cheap. He's in his prime. There's other people. We don't know if the coach can coach.

Russell's older, out of his prime, and Sean Payton's a brilliant offensive coach. Who gives a rip about that stupid call at the end of the half you don't like? Lincoln Riley made a call last week for USC that was egregious. Caleb Williams scored a touchdown because he's Caleb Williams. So Russell, Justin Fields, you may say he didn't have a ring, but he's in his prime and he's inexpensive. And he's learning. Russell's out of the learning years. That's not the issue here.

And I want you to listen to Sean Payton after the game. This is a message up the food chain in Denver. Obviously, offensively, we struggled throwing the ball. Our third down numbers were poor. Tonight was a game where we certainly played well enough defensively, but offensively from a third down perspective, keeping drives going. We struggled to get anything until really late in the game. To win in our league, you've got to be better throwing the ball, especially, you know,

I don't think the win was that big of a factor. He mentioned that four times. Throwing the ball, got to throw the ball, win wasn't a factor, we can't throw the ball, down, got to throw the ball, we can't throw the ball. He didn't draft him. Pete Carroll tried to keep quiet when he let Russ go, right? May it leaked a thing or two. The Seahawks did,

thing or two. But it was like, hey, best wishes. That's not the case here. There are no best wishes. Unless I can get out of his contract and get Drake May. Then it's all full steam ahead. But this is messaging up the chain. You've got to be able to throw the ball.

and Denver can't. 95 passing yards. Cortland Sutton, good tight end, read out offensive line. I like Williams, the running backs of beast, Sean Payton. Stop with Sean Payton. He knows what he's doing. People used to crush Andy Reed.

Then he got Mahalms and people forgot about the clock issues. Coaches make mistakes all the time. It's a live, fluid game. They make mistakes all the time. That didn't decide the game. 95 passing yards is deciding the season. All right. J-MAC, blazing five picks in 50 minutes.

The Denver Broncos thing. We talked about it this week. What do you do with Russ? Complicated situation. And I think you have to just go nuclear, right? You just, we're going to eat his dead cap money. We're going to get rid of him and we're going to start over. I looked it up.

Remember when Matt Ryan was on the Falcons? Yeah. And they had to move him to Indy. They were like, hey, that's our only option. $40 million dead cap hit. They just absorbed it. One year of pain. Get our quarterback.

Let's rebound. And I think that's what we're headed for. Remember, remember, like Kansas City, if you hit, they hit on like seven rookie contracts, right? Like they had a great draft, Brett Veach. It's amazing how much you can absorb when you hit on six or seven rookies. Seattle was a bit of a wobbly mess post-russ.

They found two tackles. They got a running back. They got a pass rush. They found a corner in the fifth round that's a pro bowler. This draft, when you overpay, what it does put is enormous pressure on you. So the Jets missed on a left tackle and a quarterback. Those are hard to admit, but they're still viable because they had enough money to get Aaron and they hit on enough other draft picks. Joe Thomas or Joe Douglas outside of the left tackle quarterback,

he's hit on a lot of picks. So there's ways around stuff, but I am a believer. I always tell my wife this of getting stuff off the table. If we have a family issue, no matter how painful it is, get it off the table because if stuff lingers, it's bad for the room, it's bad for the family, it's bad for road trips, it's bad for our stress, it's bad for get trouble off the table, start over and just deal with it. Dad will figure out a way to solve it. But don't let stuff linger. See a therapist, address stuff.

So in this situation, you can keep bringing Russ back. It's over. By the way, it's trouble in the NFC. You're done in the AFC. In your own division, it's Mahomes and Herbert. Those are four of your games. What happens if the Raiders end up getting Michael Pennicks from Washington with all those offensive weapons? Six year games, you're in a quarterback deficit.

Short-term pain, right? One year and then long-term gain. You get your Drake May to battle Justin Herbert and Patrick Mahomes in a division where the quarterbacks are stacked. We've talked about this before. In life, discomfort is actually a great thing because it means you're doing something. You generally know it's coming. the tsunami of pain, but you're getting rid of stress. And so Russell leaves the building tomorrow.

And even if for a year it's awful, the stress is out of the building. And I liked him. But it's not working. Stop. And by way, the contract hasn't even started yet. It can be uncomfortable there for the next four months. But long term, it's going to be great. I have a great parlay for you this weekend, thanks to Drafking Sportsbook.

New users, use the code heard. H-E-R-D when you download the app. Here's my parlay. I'll take the Jags at Home minus 4 to win and cover against the Colts, who are going with a backup quarterback. Colts out played them in week one. Jags will not overlook Indy, Jags minus 4. Seahks at the Bengals, Cincinnati found their groove.

This game is urgent. They're in a very tough division. Every game matters now after a rocky start. I'll take the Bengals minus 3 to cover. and the commanders with extra prep off a blowout loss, humiliated, get points, two and a half at Atlanta. Atlanta beat Houston. I don't think they're better than Houston. They just beat them.

I'm going to take the commanders plus two and a half. If you want to take the herd parlay, check out Draft King Sportsbook. New users use the code herd, H-E-R-D when you download the app. 21 plus in most eligible states, but age varies by jurisdiction. Eligibility restrictions apply. gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. In New York, call 8778-8 Hope-N-W or text Hope and Y 4669. See show notes for full details. 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 a 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'll say it. 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 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. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away,

such as the biology of ton-tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back. Blazing Five, top of next hour off of five and a week. So I love watching the Philadelphia Phillies played. Baseball diehards are kind of freaking out

because all the teams that were dominant in the regular season are getting crushed. Baltimore. See you. Tampa. See you. Dodgers. See you. Brave. See ya. So I get the Astros, the most polarizing team in baseball and superstar Justin Verlander. I get the Phillies and superstar Bryce Harper. Great teams, great stories, great stars. Phillies fun to watch. Watch them again last night. Alpha, cool. Bryce Harper. That is a great television product. So I love watching the Phillies play. I don't think baseball is hurting at all. the playoffs bigger issue is the Yankees and the Red Sox, just one would be nice. They're no longer elite.

So if you had the Yankees in these playoffs in the American League and Aaron Judge hitting bombs and they'd have to get through the polarizing Astros and Justin Verlander and on the National League side, you know, I get Bryce Harper. Baseball's ratings are up this year. There's no fear. There's nothing wrong with wild. card teams winning. What baseball's always needed is fewer games in a season. That'll never change. And superstars that are marketable. If Aaron Judge was in these playoffs, they'd be great.

We're missing the Yankees or the Red Sox. We don't need both. Houston's polarizing and has a star. Philadelphia's all alpha with Bryce Harper. We're missing Aaron Judge. But the baseball playoffs have been magnetic. What baseball needs, you don't have to have great teams, but what the NBA and the NFL has are big name stars. Aaron Judge looks like Paul Bunyan, Bryce Harper, Verlander, recognizable, personalities, dominant postseason performers. That's what we need. What's here right now is great. It's just missing two teams that basically ran the sport it felt like for 10 years, the Yankees and the Red Sox.

But I don't buy the wild card teams winning like I was sitting around watching the Orioles this year or the Blue Jays of the Rays. No, I was hoping Bryce Harper, as I said in June, my dark horse to win the World Series was Philadelphia. You get me Verlander, you give me Bryce Harper. And then if you throw in the Yankees of the Red Sox and all the anxiety and the tension of the Northeast baseball seamheads, I think you're great. But I think Philadelphia is a tremendous watch, and I am rooting for him.

Jay Mackle of the News. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Let's start with Thursday night football, Colin. Not a great game last night, but the Chiefs did figure out a 16th straight win over the Broncos. Casey's offense still hasn't totally hit its stride. No. They look bored, disinterested.

Well, I mean, they're doing tricks, razzled. Last night felt like they were excited. experimenting a couple times. A little bit. It does feel like Patrick Mahomes is force-feeding Travis Kelsey whenever Taylor Swift is in the building. Travis Kelsey, nine targets, nine catches. And how is he so wide open against that defense? Anyways, Patrick Wilhombs, there's a lot to improve on.

Luckily for us, our defense is playing great. So we can go through these growing pains and try to get better and better. But, I mean, the talent's there, you can see it in spurts. We did a great job of staying patient and getting the ball down the field. But in this league, three points, seven points is just such a big difference. And so if we found the way to execute in the red zone and score those touchdowns, we'd come away feeling great. But since we didn't, we have a lot of room to improve.

And so that's just something that we've got to continue to work on. It's just putting a full game together. I think we've had spurts of playing good. In the middle of the field, we've had spurts of playing good in the red zone. Let's put a full game together and see what we can do. You know, I was thinking about this. When you get the quarterback right, Kansas City, and the coach right, Andy Reed, or like Drew Brees and Sean Payton,

or Belichick and Brady. When you get those two things right, it's very easy to discern what your issues are. Like, the problem in Denver now is, is it Jerry Judy or is it Russ? Is it Cortland Sutton or is it the offensive line? Or is it... If Justin Herbert was with Sean Payton,

the job I thought he would take, then you'd be able to go, yeah, we have a bad corner. Or that receiver's not good enough. Because we know Peyton has a history of making middle-round receivers into stars and quarterbacks into winners. So the problem with Denver that they've been going through for five or six weeks since Peyton

arrived, we know the coach is better than Hackett. Is it Jerry Judy or is it Russ? Is it the O-Line or is it Russ? Sean Payton is telling you it's Russ. So my takeaway here is with Kansas City because the coach and the quarterback are right, it's very easy to see the issue. They don't have a number one receiver. And if people roll coverage to Kelsey, who's now older and banged up,

like they need Rishi Rice is a very interesting player, but he's a kid, he's a second round pick last year. How much of this, Colin, is just, listen, they've been to the Super Bowl three times in four years. They know these September-October games don't matter a whole ton. They're just playing with their food in the second quarter, third quarter. I mean, they couldn't put the jets away, the Jaguars. They're just not as locked in, and I understand that because we see this in the NBA all the time. Like, hey, man, they're just going to flip the switch in the playoffs. Colin, coming up on the schedule, Chargers, that's a tough game.

They always play in time. Bills and Eagles. They're going to have to be locked in for those games because the effort they put forth so far will not work against those teams. Well, remember when Brady and Belichick were winning rings, September, Julian Edelman has admitted it to us on the air. It was kind of the experimental time. What is our identity? It takes you about four or five games. I think Kansas City is doing the same thing.

We got the rings. What is our idea? Philadelphia, by the way, feels like they're trying to find their identity. They have the coordinator changes. Yeah, yeah. So I think once you're successful, you have. Saryani and Jalen, you got that figure now. Belichick Brady, Mahal.

When it was, you know, it's just easy to figure out Kansas City now, as you said, playing with their food. They know what the issue is. They're hoping Rishi Rice and Lederius Tony and Sky Moore can go from what they are now by Thanksgiving to better players. But they know exactly what it is. And I think a part of it is they're doing things now. They're pushing young receivers to do things they may not be able to do.

They did a razzle-dazzle play last night. They're experimenting a little bit to see what these young guys are capable and can do sustainably week after week. You know who they do know. They know Pacheco is a bad boy. That dude runs so hard. I don't want to tackle him. Like I see some of these, he just lowers his shoulder.

He doesn't, it looks like he's impervious to pain. He's also fast. Rocked up. I mean, that's a dude right there. I like him, man. What round was he again, Colin? Seven. Yeah, seventh round pick, huh?

Running back. Seven round. Looks pretty good. Interesting. All right, let's move to the bills. Tough loss in London were Josh Diggs kind of went off on the sideline and smashed one of those tablets. Josh Allen, of course, had his back, and Diggs was, you know, very thankful to have his quarterback backing. Obviously, I'm thankful to have a quarterback to have my backing.

Someone that understands somebody that's out there, somebody that plays the game of football. For other people, it's just like it's hard for me to put it in words, how much time and effort that goes into football and how serious it is out there. I'm saying when things aren't going right and you put a lot on yourself and you want more for yourself, you want more for your team. I've been the same guy. I'm not going to change up who I am, how I am. I'm saying I approached this game with love and respect and I'm going to continue to do so. You looking for a prop bet maybe by any chance? Stefan Diggs overs after what went down. I just looked at the Giants cornerbacks.

Some kid named Jackson, who is Adori Jackson. Oh man. Remember when he was good? USC, Tennessee. 104th out of 108 corners. And the other guy, Banks is a rookie. We saw D.K.K. McCack cook him. You know, if Wink Martindale leaves these guys on an island,

Stefan Diggs is going to eat this weekend. It's like a payback, right? Josh will be like, hey, let's get him the ball. Let's make our guy happy. Much to do about nothing, right? One of those deals? I can't wait for you to watch my Blazing Five picks today because I think it's the strange, I think I found water in the desert.

I think it's the goofiest line. Not bad. Like last week I told you going in. I didn't love any pick. I love two or three of my picks. this week. There are some, are you noticing this in the NFL?

Like every weekend, there's three to four games, like 10, 11, 12 points spreads. I don't remember that in the 70s, 80s, 90s. Like the numbers now are, because the league is so quarterback-driven, if you don't have a dude,

and you're facing the dude, it's like a college line. If you're betting on Buffalo and Miami this weekend, you're paying a tax. You're paying an increased tax against two teams. I stayed away from both. I stayed away from both.

So this might be the top of the market. for those guys. I would express caution. I agree with you there. Final story. We've talked about the Deshawn Watson situation, Colin. Remember, we were on this early Wednesday when he missed practice. Well, it's officially being reported by Josina Anderson and others that PJ Walker is going to start. Deshawn Watson will not play again. Now, this is after a buy. I guess this is week two and a half. Bet the under. Well, that's long gone now. I mean, PJ Walker. That game 1710. That game 17 to 9. 17. 10. 17. 9. So the line was three and a half on Sunday night. I was like, I love the Browns. 10. What is it now? It's 10.5. 10, 9 and a half right in that range. Yeah, Beth, what's the over-under? This game's going to be, because I'll tell you something.

I'll just say, remember I had the number that Jim Schwartz defensively has had Shanahan's number. I had six wins in a row. Someone updated it to me, eight and three, head-to-head. Schwartz now, he wasn't head coach in all those, but his defensive scheme against Shanahan, it's had some success. For me, this is a stayaway game. I'm not messing around. I can see the Niners winning this like you said, 24-0-0 or something. Defensive touchdown for one of the linebackers. This is going to be a ugly, cold-weather windy day. Stay-away.

Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. When I don't like my picks, I do well. When I love my picks, I go into the tank. So I have all this apprehension going into 30 minutes from now. So it was interesting. Everybody likes D. Well, I shouldn't say everybody likes D.N. Sanders. He has added a great bit of enthusiasm for college football, and I think it's wonderful.

So he's not a fan of these primetime kickoffs. The Buffaloes will play late into the night, once again tonight, Friday. They host Stanford's Folsom Fields sold out in Colorado. The students probably love it, but it won't start until 8 p.m. Mountain Time. He said, quote, who makes these 8 o'clock games? Dumbest thing ever. Here's Deon. makes these 8 o'clock games. They're the dumbest thing ever. I know. I know. It's those fellows over the television side. The stupidest thing ever invented in life.

Who wants to stay up to 8 o'clock for a darn? You wait till we do it. What about the West Coast? I mean, the East Coast. They even care about ratings or anybody watching it? I don't. What are we supposed to do it? I'm sorry, I'm Vinny.

What are we supposed to do with the kids all day until 8 o'clock? And then the next to, when we have a game like that on the road, we get home at 5 o'clock in the morning. Right. Yeah. Thank God, we're not going to be in this conference. So I prefer high school games on Friday, college games on Saturday, and pro football on Sunday and Monday night. But football is now America's number one TV show, and frankly, it's not even close.

And college football ratings are up 12%. They're going to be up another 12 to 15 next year because of USC, Washington, Oregon, UCLA in the conference with Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa, Nebraska. They're going up, up, up. So you think football dominates TV now? Just wait. It's the world we live in. And I've accepted it.

I'm not an idealist. I'd love a chick-fil-A sandwich every Sunday. It's not available. I'd love to never spend another second in the DMV. I will. I see people all the time on the interweb, Twitter, yelling, screaming, miserable, complaining about the world. I care about my wife, my kids, and my business.

Everything else is commentary. You can't change things. When the PAC 12 started blowing up and eroding and disbanding, people said, Colin, you're a PAC 12 guy. It's a $2 billion deal. I've accepted it. I looked for the positives. Go spend time on X complaining about the world. The Sonics left Seattle.

Colin, you should be outraged. Howard Schultz owned the team, made a mistake, sold it to a guy who said he'd keep it in the Northwest, didn't. It's a multiple billion dollar deal. You can spend your life complaining. I'm not an idealist. Every Sunday I'm driving around and see Chick-fil-A. Every Sunday I want to stop in because I don't want to cook. It's not open.

They've got their reasons. It's their reasons. Stop fighting stuff. You have no chance to change. Baseball fans, root for the rank. he's to get good. You don't have to change because the wildcard teams are winning. It's the way it is. It's okay. It's cool that Philadelphia upset Atlanta. I like the debacks beat the Dodgers. Dodgers didn't have an ace and their two best hiters couldn't hit. One for 21, Freeman and

Mookiee. Arizona deserved to win. Take a deep breath. Football has changed. It is now driven by networks, don't have to love it, it's our reality. Friday and Saturdays now, you're going to have some college football. And here comes the 12-team playoff and conference realignment, and you can tell me you're never going to watch again. Ratings or Truth Serum. Up 12% this year, add another 12% next year. USC will be playing Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, Oregon, Penn State.

It's going to be far more captivating than regional. games I've watched my entire life. Deion is upset, but the truth is they're getting moved to Friday because he's succeeding. That's why he's on TV, because they're interesting. If they got blown out by 40 points by TCU, would he be happier? Not having people want him on television? It is the reality. I don't like Thursday night games. I really don't NFL. I don't really like them. I don't think the quality is very good. Have you seen what Amazon profits on a daily basis? We're going to have Thursday games.

All right. Blazing 5. Also, a lot of you folks are out there complaining about Sean Peyton's play calling. I will address that coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball.

We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talk to coaches. We talk to players. We tell you stories. You download it. You listen to it. I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb 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 Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me

or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to bowl your

mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Forget about it. Rangers strike first. Jose Abrae. He is on fire right now. It's gone. It's a grand slam. What a play by Pena. The gold glover. The Texas Rangers are going to the championship series. And the Astros for a seventh consecutive season are headed to the American League Championship series. Sunday on Fox, the ALCS begins. Corey Seger and the Rangers look to continue their incredible run

as they take on the reigning champion Astros. Catch game won Sunday at 8 Eastern on Fox. So I see this all the time. A coach has a Super Bowl. He makes a mistake during a game. What a guy doesn't know what he's doing. No, he does. A coach's mind.

It's cluttered. If your pilot makes a mistake or your surgeon operating on your, your son makes a mistake, be very concerned. All football coaches, including Belichick and his prime, made mistakes. Andy Reed was raked over the coals for years in Philadelphia because of his clock management. Nobody talks about that anymore because of Patrick Mahomes. I was saying this.

Star quarterbacks in the NFL are a lot like big money. If a school teacher invests $15,000 in a stock in her 50s and it goes sideways, bankrupt, belly up, that's punitive. What were you doing? If a rich person invest that and it doesn't work out, they make that a week. You have much greater margins for air when you're a rich person, right? Andy Reid, Kyle Shanahan, John Lynch, Tray Lance, how do you draft him? Brock Purdy arrived. Nobody cares. There is no perfect coach. There is no perfect general manager.

I have six different GMs on my phone. They have all at one point had a strong opinion about a player and bought him or drafted him. And he's been a bust. And they're the six smartest guys I think in the league. Bill Belichick has whiffed over and over, not only on the draft in games. I know anonymous people on Reddit boards, you're the geniuses. in society. There are no perfect coaches. Sean Payton's one with Taysam Hill, a winning record with Teddy Bridgewater, with James Winston. He's never had a shutout. Super Bowl with Drew Breeze. He's fine. He doesn't have a quarterback. Go to a Green Bay Packer message board these days. Suddenly, Matt LaFleur is a dummy. You notice that? Didn't call him that with Aaron much. He was,

you Packer fans defended Matt LaFleur. He's way better than McCarthy. He is the man. Now he's a dummy. He's got Jordan Love instead of Aaron Rogers. It's funny, Belichick has gone in the last four years from the greatest coach of all time to get that bomb out of town. Let's see, did his IQ precipitously drop? He lost Tom Brady. Sean Payton with Drew Breeze. We never talked about coaching much, right?

We blame the officials for that call against the Rams. NFL is rigged. It's the officials out to get. Breeze in Peyton. Now suddenly Sean's a dummy. Come on, man. Go back to your Reddit board. Peyton had a bonehead call. End of the first half. He acknowledged it.

That's a boneheaded mistake by me. They were calling one as well and I'm off a down, but that was stupid. They obviously would have taken it. Yeah. Yeah, it just was. By the way, I think Lincoln Riley is about as smart as any

college football coach. They went to overtime against Arizona this past week. They had a play I thought was the silliest thing I've ever seen. And Caleb Williams grabbed the ball and ran past two defenders and scored. Nobody talked about it. I mean, guys on Reddit board, then they deleted it once the touchdown was scored. If you have a great quarterback, you have unbelievable margins for errors. Did you see Kansas City last night with that razzle-dazzle play? It looked like my intramural flag football team in college. It was an absolute mess. Just a mess. It's like they didn't practice it, and you know they did.

Nobody cares because you have Patrick Mahomes. Folks, Jay Glazer said it years ago. Coaching in the NFL is a miserable job if you don't have a top six or seven quarterback. Even if you have Dak, who's like 12th, 13th, Jason Garrett, gone. Mike McCarthy, about to be at the end of the year, gone. So before you sit there and nitpick all these, is Sean Peyton a friend? Yeah.

Do I like Lincoln Ronnie? Yeah. I don't necessarily love Belichick. I think he's grumpy and difficult. But he's not a bad coach. He's just got a bad quarterback. And as the NFL has become increasingly quarterback-centric, you used to be able to win.

Dave Wonstadt winning record, Bears, dolphins, running game defense. You can't win that way anymore. Mike Vrable is a brilliant coach. Not winning a lot of plays. playoff games. It's got Ryan Tannehill. It's a great coach, great running game, great defense, great defense. So much of Rabel and the Titans is great. They're okay at quarterback. Steelers, last five years. Great defense, great owners, great cultures, great defensive coach.

I don't win a lot of big games. Old Ben and Kenny Pickett. Mike Tomlin now, dummy! You weren't saying that when he was hoist on a trophy. So, yeah, it doesn't matter. Let me give you an example of what I think's happening right now in Denver. Sean Payton has to worry about so much with Russell Wilson that he didn't have to worry about with Drew Brees. He has to call a different game. They just can't do certain things. So his mind's a little cluttered.

It happens. But I know you think coaches are perfect. Green Bay Packer fans literally have turned on Matt LaFleur. Oh, it's play. Well, Aaron Jones isn't healthy. Christian Watson's not there. David Bocdiari is not healthy. And it's Jordan Love.

Three years ago, when I criticized Matt LaFleurr, I got nothing but pushback. When I'm like, how do we know he's a great coach? And he just doesn't have a great left tackle and a great quarterback. Yeah, I keep watching him lose to old Brady and mad staff. How do I know he's a great coach? And you push back. Now, Matt LaFleur is a dummy.

I'm going to say he's not. So this league now, there is one way to win. NFL my entire life, you could win with a run game and defense. I mean, the Baltimore Ravens, Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson won Super Bowls, hoisted a trophy. They were like B-minus C quarterbacks. Hoisted a trophy. Box defense. You can't win that way anymore.

Well, what if San Francisco? What if they haven't? As good as Shanahan is, as good as that defense was, Garoppolo didn't hoist the trophy. So there's just, there's one way to win in the league now. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing. It's a more, it's a more safe league. You can't grab quarterbacks, pound them into the turf. You can't knock concussions, banging on players upstairs.

I think it's a better league. It's a more fun league to watch. The ratings are up across the board. I love football. But there is now one way to win. There's just one way to win. You got to have a top quarterback. That's who's going to win the Super Bowl.

So it is what it is. Blazing 5, top of next hour. Very excited for that. Also, I'll just throw this out there. This is the downside to playing the Niners. You lose Tony Pollard among 13 Cowboys on the injury report. Do you know, let me throw this out there. Folks, do you know the last 20 times a team has played the Niners?

20. That's a big sample. The following week, those teams are 1 and 19. The Niners don't beat you. They beat you up and they demoralize you. Tony Pollard among 13 Cowboys on the injury report. That is nuts. Now, some of those guys are probably going to play, but they're banged up.

They're not practicing all week. So we talked about earlier this week, the Niners roster is the best roster I've seen since those Seahawk teams that had Earl Thomas, Cam Chancellor, Richard Sherman. I mean, they had Russell on a rookie contract. They went and just bought Percy Harvin. Never played. He had headache issues. Went and bought Cliff Averill. I mean, you could just, I mean, when you got that rookie in that rookie contract, the Chargers, let's just go buy Khalil Mack. Well, you've already got a Bosa. So what? Let's go by Khalil Mack. Such an advantage when your young quarterback is special.

you can go buy Khalil Mack when you have a bosa. 90% of the league can't do that? Can I ask you something else? I don't know if I asked this earlier in the week. I did talk about it on my podcast, but why did Dallas play in San Francisco then fly back to Dallas and now going back to the West Coast? Usually the smart teams, the Niners, will travel east,

stay east for two weeks, get together as like a unit. Okay. But San Francisco's 3,000 miles from the east. Fair. San Francisco to Dallas is a three-hour flight. Now, if it was Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, and maybe Atlanta, you stay. But I think in Dallas I would fly home. So you come home and now you turn on the radio on the way to the facility and what do you hear?

Oh my gosh, the Cowboys stink, blah, blah, blah. There's a lot of noise when you get just the team on the West Coast. No family, no friends, no hangar honors. Like, the smart teams do this. I think this is a big miss by McCarthy. That's an interesting point. You stay out of the belly. You stay out of the anger and the venom in town.

Your family, friends, stay in California. That's a really good point. Blazing five next. Malcolm Jenkins, too. Eric Mangini, the herd. 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 headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand, new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far far away, such as the biology of taun-tons and wampas on the ice

planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Boar Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.