The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - Sean Payton is turning it around

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

Colin gives Sean Payton credit for officially turning around the Broncos by getting them back into the AFC playoff race following a win over the Vikings He has bad news for the Steelers as their offense fails to perform once again in their loss to the BrownsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh, here we go on a Monday. Wow, is there a lot to talk about live in Los Angeles? It's the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for Meganas, part of your day. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, one hour from now. Thanksgiving week, time to be with families, waiting in long lines at airports,

frustrated with everything jammed on the freeways. But what a great weekend of football. looking ahead the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, an amazing week of football, one of my favorite weeks of the year, J-MAC. Even last night, it was a good day yesterday. There was a lot of stuff going on yesterday. Just a tremendous weekend, life, sports, everything, Colin. I'm on Cloud 9 here on a Monday, and wonderful, have any new, breaking news during the show.

We shall see. We shall see. Well, life moves fast, my friends, three months ago. Pete Carroll's a genius. Thank God he moved off Russell Wilson. Gino Smith is the future. Three weeks later. Russell Wilson looks like Russell Wilson.

Sean Payton course corrected the Broncos. Seattle, a regressing mess. Gino's Gino. Go look this season at Russell Wilson and Gino Smith's numbers. I won't lay them all out for the radio audience, but Russell leads the NFL and TD to Interception ratio 19 to 4. and Gino is banged up, 26 touchdown to interception ratio,

and in the red zone, I don't even know what Seattle is offensively in the red zone. Gino's not great enough to make plays. And Russell Wilson, last few weeks, beat KC, beat Buffalo, beat Minnesota, they were red hot, he's back, playmaking, no mistakes, no picks, accurate. The play of the game last week.

Remember that corner of the end zone? last night corner of the end zone I said last week I think Russell Wilson is 80% back I watched that last drive I watched that fourth quarter and I thought it was 90% back it just never made sense that Russell Wilson was going to be from Seattle to Denver and completely washed I understand not as twitchy little older mid 30s I get it but completely washed that never made sense and it was hard to explain that Gino Smith who was an abject bust in New York was suddenly something some Pro Bowl quarterback.

Everything regresses to the mean. Sean Payton deserves credit, but so does Russ. So does Russ. He works hard. One of the things I love about him during games, no smiles, all business, looks ahead, totally focused, not a lot of nonsense, not a lot of this, a lot of that. Russell is all in on winning football games. The Internet, and I said this last week, the Internet doesn't allow you to fix things.

You know, like in real life, over a month or two. And in the NFL, it's always been understood. If you take over a shipwreck, you need until Thanksgiving. The Internet doesn't allow that. And they were humiliated against the Miami Dolphins. Who can humiliate you, especially in the warm September, October weather of South Florida. But they were losing very close in other games, and they were making tiny strides. If you remember early, we're like, Russell's better.

The defense still stinks. We're not quite sure. Week and week and week and week. another week, another week, and you let stuff bake, like in real life if you're remodeling a home, or fixing a car, or fixing a football team, or redoing and cleaning up a business. Grownups all realize it's not easy. Yes, Brady and Stafford, they won Super Bowls in year one. Yeah, but that's because Brady went to a team that wasn't completely lost and had really good weapons

and just needed a right tackle and a quarterback. And Stafford went to Sean McVeigh and a rich owner, Cooper Cup and Andrew Whitworth. Denver was an absolute mess because they rolled the dice thinking they were going to get Aaron Rogers and they hired Nathaniel Hackett. And it was man overboard. They couldn't do anything right. The culture was a mess.

The offense was a mess. They were getting plays in late both sides. They had to hire a clock manager because the coach couldn't figure out the clock. So if Sean Payton would have taken over this job last year, it's not like Vic Fangio was a dynamic offensive play caller. But it wasn't the mess that Sean Payton had to clean up. And we see it every Sunday. We see it every Monday.

We'll see it tonight. We'll see it every Thursday. We saw it with Lamar. The best quarterbacks win in this league. Go look at all the quarterbacks that won. Josh Dobbs, great story. Cool kid. Great story.

Gino Smith. Redemption, great story. They're not great quarterbacks, but Russell Wilson was a great quarterback in Seattle. And it looks like about 85% of Russ is back. He moves well. The ladder of. the quick flips, smart decision-making, you get none of the turnovers.

Very few quarterbacks in league history give you the upside without the downside. Russ is one of those. Mahomes was one of those. Aaron Rogers in his prime was one of those. Russ doesn't make the big mistakes. So Sean Payton had to fix virtually everything with this franchise, the locker room, the culture, most notably Russell Wilson. And he did, and you're watching it, and it's not perfect and they're not a great team. but life moves fast.

It never made sense that Gino Smith was better than Russell Wilson. Where? He wasn't in high school. He wasn't in college. He wasn't in his first team in the NFL. And now suddenly Gino's good and Russell's terrible. It never made any sense. Russell just needed a legitimate coach to get him back in the fairway. But Russell deserves a lot of credit for this too.

It's not like Russell was great in Seattle because of the coaching. And I don't think he's great in Denver because of the coaching. But Pete knows what he's doing, and Russell Wilson has Sean Peyton, who knows what he's doing, and this is a fair representation of what Denver is going forward with Russell Wilson, capable of beating Mahomes, capable of beating Josh Allen, capable of beating a red-hot NFC team. Not saying they will, but they're capable of it. And they never, and Russ never had a shot with Nathaniel Hackett, who's now with the Jets, how's that going? Here's Sean Payton after.

Four wins in a row. Yeah, I think we got some momentum going. I don't know if I'm ready to groove yet. The key is, like, this isn't the team. This isn't it. This team has still got to improve. And that's how we got to coach, and that's how we got to practice. And I think we'll do that.

By the way, remember how bad this defense was week three? You watch how good it was last night, especially down the stretch playmaking. That is called coach. So I want to talk about two teams that didn't play, had separate games. Green Bay beat the Chargers, Jordan Lumpur looked pretty good, and the Steelers lost to Cleveland. Kenny Pickett looked bad. But the Steelers and the Packers were in the similar situation. Iconic franchises, lots of trophies.

Both had moved off legendary quarterbacks. Aaron Rogers goes to the Jets, Big Ben retires. And both of them draft a first round quarterback. Not a great prospect. Kenny Pickett, I was told I've never been a fan, was more of a top of the third round prospect, but he was from Pittsburgh Steelers. They drafted him.

And Jordan Love was wild. People I talked to in the league saw him as a second round pick, top of the third, wild. Neither a great prospect. Both Jordan Love and Kenny Pickett can drive a coach crazy, miss wide open receivers, and at times look lost. But Green Bay has an offensive coach and an offensive culture. They've always been great at drafting and developing.

tight ends, tackles, linemen, offensive culture. From Lombardy, Homegren, say what you want about McCarthy, Matt LaFleur, a lot of really good development, offensive culture. And you can see Jordan Love growing. Slowly, it is Brandon Staley's defense that it allowed him to have his best game. But you can see he's more aggressive, he's more confident, he's making nice throws, made a couple last week, made more yesterday. offensive coach, offensive culture. Let's talk Pittsburgh, defensive coach, defensive culture. Kenny Pickett's getting worse.

They both have excellent young receivers, both have decent, not great offensive lines, but Kenny Pickett is regressing. And by the way, Zach Wilson regressing defensive coach, defensive culture. Mack Jones regressing, defensive coach, defensive culture. Justin Fields, Sam Howell, Kenny Pickett, defensive coach, defensive culture. You see? Think about this year. Kevin O'Connell took Josh Dobbs without a practice, and he looked good.

Brock Purdy, seventh rounder with Shanahan, looks at times great. Tua with Mike McDaniel, from bust to dynamic offense. last year McVay took Baker Mayfield with a practice and you're like damn that's that's pretty good with a practice Jordan Love isn't great but weeks one to five compared to weeks six to now you can see growth you can see clear improvement you can see coaching you can see what Green Bay has done through the years they've also done it with wide receivers they've also done it with office offensive linemen. They've done it with tight ends. It's what Green Bay does.

An offensive room, an offensive culture. So Jordan Love, who's not a great prospect, but has talent, is starting to look at times. A little bit of a gamer. Again, don't love him, but I see growth. And Kenny Pickett, it's getting worse. I've been on this sea change for years. I know you're tired of it. I don't love Zach Wilson or Mac Jones. But I think they'd be better with McVey and Shanahan. I think they'd be better with Mike McDaniels. Green Bay doesn't feel like a playoff team, and Jordan Love's never going to feel like Mahalms or Joe Burrell.

Okay. But when you're a young quarterback and you get drafted, Drake May, Bow Nicks, Mike Panics, Caleb Williams, I'm here to tell you, cross your fingers. Because it is a steeper hill to climb with a defensive coach. And Matt LaFleur wasn't happy early, was critical of Jordan Love, but Matt's seeing what all of us are seeing slowly but surely he's figuring it out the lights are going on the game is slowing down a little it's pretty cool here's the coach really proud of Jordan to just the poise that he showed the leadership he showed he made some big-time plays I thought we left a few opportunities out there where we should be coming away with points but I do think I think we can also

see the improvement and we got a great test in front of us. This is a really good defense we're about to play in Detroit, but I am happy with the progress. For the record, Matt Lafleur was authentic. He was very upset early with Jordan Love. And Matt Lafleur went to the microphone and said it. I thought he coddled him in the preseason, coddled him early, but then was authentically upset with how Jordan was playing. Now he comes out and says, hey, I'm seeing some growth. meanwhile in pittsburg the defensive coach once again somehow can't be honest and i love tomlin but at some point it's kenny picket not everybody else is kenny missing some confidence right now no what do you see with kenny it just doesn't seem to be you know i think the cleveland browns

had a lot to do with that i'd be i'd be you know disingenuine man if i didn't compliment them on on their players, their schematics, how they played today, the venue component of it, from an offensive perspective, there's a lot of things that were challenging today. And Kenny Pickett's regressing, and wasn't a great prospect, and everybody watching it,

not Mike Tomlin, appears to see. Folks, I've said it before. When you're blaming the O-line, drop passes and play-calling, it's the quarterback. It's the quarterback. Well, the play-cour. calling.

What is C.J. Stroud's play calling brilliant? Or is C.J. Stroud just making the throws? The idea that Tom Brady just had 20 great years of play calling is absolute nonsense. You got to make throws. You got to make plays. You got to see the field. I don't think Justin Fields has a perfect situation, nor can he pick it. But C.J. Stroud, Texans, Texans a year ago were the biggest mess in the league. C.J. Stroud sees the field. Makes it happen. Very accurate. it makes good throws yesterday made mistakes didn't care head forward don't care make throws make

plays you're going to blame everybody you want if you want to blame play calling you go ahead as if cj stroud yesterday just got great play calling i don't know or he made great plays even on a turbulent afternoon all right all sorts of stuff calling right calling wrong 45 minutes from now uh the jet's debacle i love this week i i i love this week i i This week is so fun. Wait, what's with that sinister laugh about the Jets? Well, I mean, it's, first of all, New York sports is just been a mess for a couple years, like a long stretch.

It's like, and I think a lot of it is reaching and trying to satisfy and swinging big and not really having a game plan. So I want to talk about that and the Jets where they're at and why they're at it. And we'll talk about this going forward. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's

superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care 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 Clivert 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-tapped 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 Jek. 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 was big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence.

Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for Blank. 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. All right, welcome back. So the Jets have the lowest third down conversion rate in the NFL in like 30 years. It's brutal. So you can only win defense. You can only win with defense so long in this league. So the Jets now are falling apart

and the Steelers' locker room's imploding because everybody's complaining. So early in the season, I heard this about the New York Jets. Look at our amazing defense. We can vie with the AFC contenders to the end of the year. And I said,

factually, defensive players get hurt more than offensive players. You're not going to be healthy. Secondly, is defenses wear down. Right? You're having to shed 330 pound offensive linemen. Defense is wear down. Ultimately, the best quarterbacks win in this league.

Defense has limitations. Think about who won in the last week in the NFL. On Thursday, Lamar Jackson, maybe the MVP. Yesterday, Jared Goff, Matt Stafford, Tua Dack, Russell Wilson, Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen, and C.J. Stroud. Very good. Narrowly beat out Kyler Murray. Very good.

That's the league. And increasingly, more so than ever. The Jets were always fools gold was Zach Wilson. They were always fools gold. And the New York media and the New York fans bought into this team and now they're outraged and want everybody fire.

That's what happens in life when you have unrealistic expectations. And it doesn't go as your ridiculous hype contends it would. You want everybody fired. This is not a fire everybody situation. This is a very good general manager. Joe Douglas, whiffed on a first-round left tackle and a first-round quarterback,

and this is what you're left with. You have to reach, go overpay for an old quarterback, and then bringing his buddy the offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett, who's not great, and buy Alan Lazard, although no market for him really existed, and you bring over his buddies, and this is what you're left with, okay? But if you miss on a first-round left tackle and you miss on a first-round quarterback, and I like Joe Douglas, those are arguably the two positions in the first round, You can't miss on.

You can miss on a corner. You can miss in a receiver. You can miss in a running back. You can miss in a tight end. You can't miss on those two. It's really hard to overcome because the draft only gives you one great quarterback a year and maybe two great offensive tackles. Gives you a dozen wide receivers, tight ends, running backs.

So this fire everybody's situation is all based on unrealistic expectations. If you start a business, don't be surprised if it's got turbulence in the first two or three years. If you think it's going to be linear and trees grow to the sky, then you're going to want the CEO and the boss is fired, and that's unrealistic. The Jets were fools gold. You cannot win in this league with a bad quarterback, a below-average OC, and a weak-o line. I don't care how good your defense is. It wears down. You can only ask them, when a team can't pick up first downs and move the chains, you can only ask a defense to be on the field so many weeks in a row of 38 minutes. This wear down. They get tired of

of it. They're complaining in the Steelers locker room. And they're complaining and it's divided in the Jets locker room and everybody wants everybody fired. I will say it again. I'd bring back Sala. I'd bring back the GM. This is a circus organization, a revolving door of GMs

and coaches and that sends a message throughout the league. Don't bring your family there. New York is expensive enough. New York, the media is tough enough. The last thing you need if you go to New York is an owner that is impulsive and fires people. We've already got a deal with New York taxes, New York weather, New York media, New York

intensity, New York pressure, New York microscope. What you need, that's why everybody's always banging on the Yankees. They've had one bad season. But Brian Cashman's been there forever. They stay with Aaron Boone. You know, I mean, they've been doing this for years and years and years and staying with people, right? And what does it mean? It means the Mets are a circus.

The Yankees aren't. The Yankees just had a bad year. But the Yankees aren't a circus. They may not win the championships. But this idea just blow everybody out. That's all based on unrealistic expectation. Find me the team, bad coach, below-average coordinator, terrible low line that wins in this league.

You can win in September doing a lot of nonsense. The Wildcat offense years ago won a few games in September. It's not the NFL. Here's the coach after. Who's the quarterback before? We're going to watch the tape and we'll make a decision tomorrow. How we do a test that for the polls? I don't think anyone did anything today.

Players, coaches, schemes. It was obviously not good enough. By the way, I'm not into the beard. Better look. But again, take a deep breath. You start looking around who wins these divisions every year. There's a reason we, me, was able to predict most of these divisions. Find the best quarterback.

If you have a confident coach, somebody that's competent, you're going to be a playoff team in this league. Overwhelmingly going to be a playoff team. Now, Joe Burrough should be, but he was hurt in September, and he's hurt again. He's done. So that's different. But by and large, if you got a Lamar, by and large, if you got a Josh Allen, if you've got a Trevor Lawrence, if you got a Jared Gough, if you got a Jalen Hurts, if you got a DAC, you know, you got a Mahomes, a pretty good chance you're going to make the playoffs. If you got Zach Wilson and he's not surrounded by much, come on, man.

And it was always fools gold. And now everybody in New York wants to fire the bums. how about temper your expectations would, you know, even with Aaron Rogers, I didn't have this team getting to the playoffs. I did not have the Jets getting to the playoffs with Aaron Rogers. He gets hurt first game, and everybody in New York's got the Jets making it with Zach Wilson? What are we talking about here? He's arguably the least effective starting quarterback any of us have seen in a decade.

J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line. news. Let's start with a good quarterback, shall we? Brock Purdy. How about that? My guy, Brock Purdy. Finally, the internet banging on Cowherty. They want you on the Brock Purdy train. He was tremendous yesterday. Yes, he was against Tampa. He was great.

Oh, here we go. Against Tampa. Listen, Purdy, 33 yards. Oh, look at that. A perfect passer rating. Just dropping dimes left and right. He does. He does make good. Yeah, that's why I say, don't tell me it's all system in the coach. he makes about three to four throws a game that you're like, oh, those are big time throws. Yeah, yeah. First 49ers quarterback since Joe Montana in 89. That includes Steve Young.

That includes Colin Kaepernick. It includes a slew of really good quarterbacks. Here's Purdy on matching Montana. Yeah, I wouldn't honor, but, you know, at the same time, I feel like, you know, there's still some plays and stuff that, you know, I wish I had back, so I'm not completely content with just that. But I thought it was a great game with, you know, the guys around me. the coaching and the play calling, all of it.

So that's a testament to the team, really. Sure looks like a top 10 quarterback to me. Are you on that? You believe that? Do you believe that? I said on my podcast this morning, Colin, I believe he looks like an early career Tom Brady. And that's not hyperbole. Brady was a game manager for like the first five years. Okay. Brock Purdy is game managing the Niners out of this world. Doesn't make mistakes. Purdy does not make mistakes.

But Brady was drafted by a major league baseball team, was six, five. went to Michigan. He's a sixth round pick. 50 million teams passed on him in the draft. Even when he took over for Bledsoe, it's like, oh, he'll hold it down, he'll keep the seat warm for Bledsoe. And he just didn't make mistakes.

I'm telling you, man, just if you watch pretty closely, confident, makes the throws, plays clean. And, oh, by the way, you know, he has a pretty decent coach there in Kyle Shanahan, scheming guys open, got all the weapons. I'm just telling you, man.

If you ask me, who's my MVP? I don't see how Brock Purdy's not firmly in the discussion with how awesome he's playing this season. Well, in fairness, if they could hit field goals, he would have had a brief two-game losing streak, and that was it. I mean, that's really, they had two great makeable field goals and missed them. So I did think the losing streak was overstated. We said they'll be fine, take a deep breath. I think he's good. You've moved him into the Lamar Jackson territory.

I don't think he's quite there yet, but he is a good player. Well, you love playoff wins. Okay? Brock Purdy. You won two playoff games last year. How many does Lamar have in his career since you mentioned Lamar? I mean, we can do this all day. Brock Purdy has an avalanche of evidence backing how good of a quarterback he is.

The full year numbers are in. And he was dealing yesterday. They got the cover for me. I don't want you. You're painting me into I don't like Brockport. I like him. He's good. But I think you have to contextualize what we're watching.

A brilliant coach. Insane talent lost their safety, though. That's a bummer. Looks like they could have a lot. I hope it's not serious. I don't know, but it looked kind of bad. The backup had a nice interception. No, he did, but that was a really good player.

I see you were watching that closely. You have money on the Niners? No, I didn't have money. How about that cover? Unless you got it late. I love football and I love America. That's why I watched the game. I just say, again, I don't want this to be love, Bert, Purtier, hate it.

Can we just not do the Internet here? I like Brock Purdy. I think he has so many great weapons. I mean, again, I like him more than Kenny Pickett. Absolutely. I like him more than Jordan Love. Absolutely. I'm not putting him top 10. Okay. So again,

the stigma because he was... Oh, Shanahan just confirmed Hufunga torn ACL. Oh, no. He's a great play. I just confirmed here, according to the... That is devastating. Yeah, he's a great young player. Listen, and that secondary has not been amazing this season.

Well, Philly's secondary is not great. Detroit secondary is not great. San Francisco second. So all three teams at the top, that's their... That's the weakness of all three teams. Grate-old, well, Niners on the Grado line. Weapons galore. Offensive cultures.

Very productive quarterbacks. Bad secondaries. Philly Detroit. And the Niners. Bad's hard. That's the liability of those teams. Listen, that's devastating for the Niners, man. It hurts a lot.

He's really good. And the play he lost it on, the kid White, the Tampa guy, he just kind of broke his ankles on a move. Oh, my goodness. That's a bummer. All right, let's move on. Damn it. Let's go to the Bills because I'll let you bag on the Jets for a few more minutes.

Joe Brady called the Bill's offensive plays for the first time this season after Ken Dorsey was fired. And, you know, the text here says the offense was much improved. I'm not willing to go there. I thought they were good. Josh Allen, three touchdowns, Buffalo scored on six of eight possessions. Fumbled on the opening. Yeah. I mean, it was one of those games, and this happens in the NFL.

We saw it with Jacksonville, San Francisco. You can watch an NFL game, and within five minutes, you're like, Oh, the Jets just aren't going to compete today. You could see it last week. Jacksonville's not ready to play. And so I had said on Friday, had a good week in the Blazing 5, 3 and 1. I got Philly tonight in the points, but I had said, embarrassed. Bills were embarrassed.

12 men on the field, coughed it up, vomited on the field. It was, and lost to the Jets earlier. I'm not a big revenge guy. This was a bad spot for the Jets and a great spot for Buffalo. Well, they were in no mood to screw around. You know how it was, even I think the Jets internally knew? Because did you see what news leaked out Sunday morning ahead of the games? No.

Just magically. The Jets are going to pursue Devonte Adams in the offseason. That was like a big storyline. And Aaron Rogers expected back Christmas weekend. Like, what are doing? They were trying to sell their fans' optimism because they knew they were going to get tagged by the bills. 100%. And I know that people are going to say, no, they didn't know that.

The front office knows what's up. The offensive line has started 14 different players this season. They have like five different starting lines. Like, they had no chance in this game. I'm not giving the bills any credit. Their next three games, Colin. Let me see Joe Brady do it against the Eagles, the Chiefs, and the Cowboys. Then I'll give the bills some credit.

Those are real games coming up next. Well, if Philly wins tonight, there tends to be a Chief's hangover and a Niners hangover. Teams that play the Niners don't play well the next week. If the Eagles beat Kansas City tonight, I think they will. short week. They play Buffalo, extra day of rest. Keep your eye on Buffalo. These are long seasons. We see teams start great in fate. Seattle. What are the Seahawks now? You see teams do this all the time where they

go off a cliff and they regress. Minnesota has been reborn. So I think Buffalo's still got a puncher's chance. Well, we talk about injuries to the Niners. Did you see Jackson and Johnson, friendly fire on the bills, collided. Both went down. It looks like they're both in concussion protocol. Historically, that means they're probably out this week. So that's two starters in the secondary. Like, I don't know. I'm not willing to buy the Eagles again. Final story. Last week, Jim Harbaugh accepted the Big Ten's three-game suspension for the alleged sign stealing

scheme. But according to Fox Sports, Bruce Feldman, are you ready for this? Harbaugh could still be subject to additional discipline, including all of the 2024 season or the bulk of it. Here's Bruce Feldman. Well, going forward, it's going to be interesting because he still has an NCA investigation from recruiting violations from the COVID dead period that the NCAA is still after him about. Now you have this Connor Stallion's signal stealing story that they're dealing with. It would not be surprising if Jim Harbaugh, if he is still the coach in Michigan, could be suspended for the bulk of the 2024 season, I'm told. So if he can constitute, like if he can run practice and he's part of the program and he's not on the sidelines,

so what? It's a two-team conference the last 10 years. Now, Washington, Oregon, USC, UCLA come in, but UCLA is not in Michigan's class. USC's a bit of a tire fire. Washington graduates a lot of their offensive skill people, so the Huskies will pull back a little. Oregon will still be excellent, but lose Bo Nix.

So if you look at the schedule for Michigan next year, I would take Harbaugh suspended for a year to the bank. I don't want vacated natty, vacated scholarships. That's what would scare me. But if Harbaugh's not in the sidelines, They're winning nine games anyway. I don't know. My guess is he'll be coaching the Washington commanders.

I've got to be honestly, I've thought a lot about this. Harbaugh has succeeded everywhere. There'll always be time to go to the NFL. He is incredibly dynamic. He's not an old guy. If I was Harbaugh, I've thought about this. And let's say you're suspended for a year. I'd stay at Michigan.

And I'd say, it's my legacy. This is my school. I'm staying at Michigan, and I'm not going to. And I can leave in three years. But I'm going to stand through this thing. Michigan's recruiting is excellent. Their staff is excellent. They're very lucky here.

USC doesn't come on fire. Well, yeah, the program's on fire. It's a mess. UCLA is good, not great. Washington loses a ton. This is their team. Oregon will be very good, but Bo Nix is a special player. You're talking about the football.

What about the off-field stuff? Like walking around in the facility and not knowing which coach allegedly ratted me out or is against me. And then knowing every team in the division is against me, when I could pick my team and quarterback in the NFL. Harbaugh. has moved through all sorts of coordinators. He's never been afraid to get new guys in the building. He's not one of these Joe Paterno where I got the same guys for 100 years.

Harbaugh's in and out of coordinators and assistants every day of the week. He's built a great program. I today, and I said before, as I think this whole thing's overstated, but if you find some connection coach to stallions, all right, slap them on the wrist, do whatever you got to do. Just don't vacate natties or scholarships. If it's gym out, can't be in the stadium game day, I would take that today. Michigan is so well built. They're so well built.

They're going to win 9 to 10. Now, you probably won't go to Columbus and beat Ohio State. Probably not going to do that if hardball is not on the sidelines. And you're losing like 20 guys to the NFL. It's a little bit of a step back here anyway. But I thought about this. If you're a Michigan man and it really matters, you say, you know what? I'm sticking this out for the next two years.

if you win the title. Absolutely. Wow. By the way, tell me all the great NFL jobs. There's one. Justin Herbert. Spanos's won't pay for Harbaugh. Wait a minute.

What other great job is there? Washington, they don't have a quarterback. You get to pick your quarterback in the top of 10. Well, again, it's a rookie. You don't know. What if you get control over the roster? What about the Chicago Bears with the number one overall picking? Harba loves Drake May or Caleb.

Do I, do I get to be in charge of personnel? You trust their front office? You trust their old ownership? If I don't. Chicago and I'm desperate as hell to be relevant and win games to get to the playoffs? Of course I get horrible. You cannot win in the NFL without a star quarterback. And Chicago and Washington aren't going to have one.

I think Caleb Williams a great prospect. But don't trust the ownership. Don't trust the front office. You know what I trust? Staying at Michigan, dealing with some turbulence for the first time in my career. Sticking it out for two years. Seeing us through this mess. And if you want to leave in three years, do it.

Okay. DeMico Ryan's people probably told him, well, you're not going to want. win in Houston and who quarterback is there. And now C.J. Stroud has them battling for first place instantly. And let's be real. You and I both have said, Drake May and Caleb Williams are better prospects than C.J. Trout was coming into the league. Yeah, Drake May's not been great.

Drake May is, there are a lot of people now that are moving off the Drake May, J.J. McCarthy stuff. People, okay. People were off the C.J. Stroud. And some people were off Bryce Young. And Bryce Young looks like a total disaster. Well, let's take a deep breath. There's no way around it. He's been atrocious as a round.

rookie. But don't take C.J. Stroud and say that's the rule. C.J. Stroud is an outlet. He's strangely great, and the kid deserves all the credit. But again, let's not say the NFL, one time a year, college football gives the NFL, on

average, over the last 20 years. One big time quarterback a year. A nice franchise guy. One, Houston got theirs. Indies guy is hurt. Carolina's guy's guys going through an ugly rebuild. So, like you could say, Caleb Williams is it. But what Bo Nix drops to nine, goes to a better team, and Bo Nix gets the better coach.

Bo Nix has, his numbers are on. 35 touchdowns, two picks? He makes, I've seen him twice live. He makes no mistakes. 78% completion. No, I mean, again, a lot of it's schemed up by the coaching staff at Oregon, which is very good, but the kid makes no mistakes. And keep your eye on Penix. I watched that Saturday night rainstorm game.

I don't care what anybody said it. That was that, I did not watch that. Penix is, that was a, that had upset written all over it. A mess. Just a... Did Washington cover? Washington won. It was a monsoon, and Pennix made a big boy throw to seal it in a rainstorm up the sideline.

I like Pennix a lot. I really do. J. Mack with the News. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Line News. Washington keeps going on the road and beating ranked teams and facing ranked teams. I'm going to tell you something.

That was an impressive win that not many people saw in the rain, in Corvallis. That had loss written all over it. And Pennix made a handful. of big time throws. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, what's up, everybody? It's me, three-time Pro Bowl of LaVar Arrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce a new podcast called Up on Game. What is Up on Game, you ask? Along with my fellow Pro Bowler, T.J. Hushman Zada and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right,

Plexico Burris. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game. We're going to be sharing our real-life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up On Game with me, LaVar Arrington, T.J. Hushmanzada, and Plexico Burris on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the 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 which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball. basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music.

The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-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 kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It Podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks. I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. 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. Thanksgiving Day on Fox. An NFL tradition continues as Jared Goff and the division-leading lions look to tighten their hold on the NFC North against Jordan Love and the Packers. What's the line on that, baby?

Pre-game coverage begins at 10.30 a.m. Eastern Thanksgiving Day. I'm not doing a blazing five this week, but give me the Lions line this morning. That is, that scream. So, Lions didn't play well but won against a divisional foe that they're better than. Why don't you try to guess it? Detroit is at home. I would say it's minus four and a half Detroit. Way off. Minus seven and a half.

No, Detroit's going to hammer Green Bay. So Green Bay won a game. They could have easily lost, so they're overvalued. Detroit lay the lumber. Possibly. Revenge spot for the Packers. They got smacked around earlier this year. That's because Detroit's way better.

So the line's seven and a half. Seven and a half. So if it gets bet down to seven, it's a play. So are you going to do a blazing anything? Listen, I had a great week. Why mess around? You and I both know Thanksgiving's the worst week to bet because teams are on short weeks, highly emotional, away from families.

You're spending time with your family, not locked into the lines and the injuries and all that stuff. It's the worst week. It's always been like, take it off, bet individual games. It's hard. I fear no line. Okay, good for you. So, you know, the whole Russell Wilson thing, I think we sometimes forget. We all live in this immediacy, right?

Like, whatever happens now is the only thing that's ever happened. So you look at Russell Wilson and you're like, I don't know. So let's go look at Russell Wilson's first 10 starts with Sean Payton and compared to Tom Brady's first 10 starts with the Bucks and Bruce Ariens, and Matt Stafford's first 10 starts with the Rams and Sean McVeigh. Oh, what do you know? Russell Wilson's the most accurate of all of them and has the best touchdown interception ratio of all of them. Middle of the pack compared to these two, not quite Matthew Stafford's passer rating,

but higher than Brady. And here's the thing. Russell Wilson plays in the tougher AFC. Stafford and Brady did it. Brady did it in a horrible division. So you forget the bucks were seven and five in a bad

division, in a weaker conference. Brady and Bruce Ariens were not clicking through 10 weeks, and Brady's yelling at people. Yelling at his offensive linemen. Stafford got blown out a couple of times. They were a mess. They had a three-game losing streak in the first 10 games.

You could remember some of those games. Stafford was reckless and undependable. But Brady and Stafford didn't inherit shipwrecks. Stafford went to a team with McVeigh, Andrew Whitworth left tackle, Cooper Cup. They'd been to the playoffs.

And Brady went to a team. If you remember it, they were scoring all sorts of points. James Winston just kept throwing pick sixes. They were seven and nine. They needed another tackle. Tristan Wirth, they drafted him. But they were scoring points. There's a reason Tom Brady chose Tampa.

Everybody in the league was like Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, good interior line, excellent pass rushers, good young secondary. People liked Tampa's talent. They had to get right tackle short up, and then they needed gronk and some maturity in a winning quarterback.

But Tampa wasn't a mess. They were very talented and capable of scoring a lot of points, and the Rams were 10 and 6. With golf, they were a playoff team. Russell Wilson and Sean Payton had to fix everything, the culture, the locker room. Peyton had to fix Russell Wilson. Russell had to fix Russell Wilson. So it's just a much steeper mountain to climb. And I think we forget, it was

bumpy for Brady. Even despite that bad division, old Drew Breeze was his primary rival. Tom struggled with New Orleans his entire time in Tampa. He couldn't beat the Saints. Always struggled with the Saints. And you forget how ugly Stafford was. He was just reckless and out of control. with Sean McVeigh and good players capable of winning the Super Bowl. So it's like it's just a steeper hill to climb. If I was a Denver Bronco fan today, I'm watching that game last night, Jay Mack. I'm watching it and I'm saying to myself,

this is, we all know quarterback matters in this league, more than coaching. But boy, this is an example of coaching matters in the NFL. Sean take out the Dolphin game. So Sean Payton comes. in, they're losing close, the Dolphins games, a disaster.

Remember Brady had that Chicago loss? Remember Brady had the Chicago loss on Thursday night football, screaming at people. Disaster. Stafford, if I can recall, had a game against the Titans in SoFi. Disaster. They all had a disaster. But then they start losing close,

and then winning close, and then winning comfortably. And I don't know, when I watched the Broncos last night, all their players, Simmons, their left tackle, they're running. Running back we like, Judy Cortland Sutton. Say this for Denver. Sean Payton's got all their best players playing well. It's still not a great team.

Colin, two for 12 on third down? No, they weren't great. Not even 300 yards of offense? 13 first downs? Vikings were very hot. Vikings had won five straight. Yeah. One for five in the red zone.

Colin Wright, Colin wrong next. Be optimistic America. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel. friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the 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.