The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 1 - What's next for the Cardinals?

Episode Date: December 13, 2022

Colin changes his tune about Patriots QB Mac Jones Why the Cardinals shouldn't fire HC Kliff Kingsbury Tom Brady seems to have more control than we thought The Warriors are proving they are in Jayson Tatum's head   Guest: Albert BreerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Now let's get this party start. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Tuesday live in Los Angeles. It's the herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1, one hour from now. Very, very tight bunch. Heard hierarchy are top 10 teams in the NFL. Very interesting when you get down to 7, 8, and 9.

We have a lot of really good football teams in this league. right now all bunched together at the top. Jason McIntyre is joining me today. I had a revelation last night. Yeah, yeah, I'll limit myself to one or two a week. You and I are both people. I think I'll speak for you here that if we get new information, we'll change our opinion. You have to.

I would think, yes, right? So I'm watching, I want to start with this. I'm watching Mack Jones, young kid, right, early 20s, barking last couple of weeks, yelling. And I think to myself, yeah, I can't blame him. If this company gave me a salesperson, who's a great salesperson, and said, produce Colin's show, I'd be pissed too. They've given him a defensive coordinator to call his plays. At one point during the game, half of the throws were behind the line of scrimmage. His protection's okay, but he doesn't have anything resembling an elite-wide receiver.

Hunter Henry, cast off by another team, is his go-to guy. I don't think Matt Jones is a top-10 talent. Maybe I'm wrong. But he's a lot better than what he's allowed to be. Listen, New England does defense. Here's an amazing stat.

They don't have a ton of great defensive players. Judon's having a great year. But they lead the NFL. They've scored 92 points off turnovers. This is what they do. Like Philadelphia and Dallas are scoring points on turnovers. They have elite, elite defensive players. New England has a great culture, a great defense, a brilliant head coach.

Their offensive coordinator is a defensive guy. That's what they do. But I think we're forgetting. Mack Jones started one year of college. He comes into the NFL. They don't have any weapons. Do you remember how good his numbers were last year? I think you'd be surprised, go back.

67% completion percentage. 3800 yards. All these numbers blow Trevor Lawrence out of the water. Blow him out of the water. Blow Justin Fields out of the water. Trailands isn't playing. Those were his rookie numbers. I have sympathy for Mack Jones.

I was very lucky. When you're starting out in your career, and he's obviously a very driven kid, right? You get one chance to be the guy in this league. Drew Breeze is an outlier. You get one shot. I was lucky. I had great bosses and great support. I was very lucky, but I would be bitter at 24 years old if my companies were pulling me backwards.

Colt McCoy had DeAndre Hopkins, Robbie Anderson, Hollywood Brown. Mac Jones had Hunter Henry on the road, a defensive coordinator calling the plays and was just as productive. And Colt McCoy, don't kid yourself, the top 10 backup in this league. You watch Mitch Trubeskey. He's awful. Colt McCoy for backup quarterback standards, not bad. Mack Jones's regression is not a reflection on Mac Jones. It is a reality check on where the Patriots are as a franchise. All their talent, all their brainpower is on the defensive side of the ball.

Again, half their throws at one point during the game were behind the line of scrimmage. Arizona's defensive coordinator this week, and it wasn't a jab said they coach offense like a defense. guys calling it. They're really safe. Yes, I'd be barking too. It's his career. You get one chance. Go back to those rookie numbers with nothing to work with. They're shockingly good. And after the game, once again, Mac Jones falls on the sword for the team.

Today, I thought we all did a good job with trying to play the next play, play the next series, and Maddie P did a great job. We knew that's what we had to do to win, and he called a great game and stayed calm. Matty P. is a very calm person, very stoic, and we're just going to continue to grow together and do what we can to win games. He was yelling, he was barking, he couldn't make eye contact, he was very upset. But he goes to the podium. That's what a franchise quarterback does. He falls on the sword.

Hey, we get along great. Folks, go back. You know, some people aren't into their careers. That's fine. That's great. But if you're really into your career and you're listening to me now, you could be in music, you could be in art, you could be in sales, you could be anything. And you're 24 years old in a very competitive field where you get one or two chances ever to be the person.

And you had a boss after a sparkling first year, give you somebody out of a different department to run your stuff. And you get the heat for it. I get it. I'd be better. I've been lucky. I've had great support. But I would be better. I would not be happy.

This kid was a lot better than we give him credit for. You look at all these quarterbacks in this league first couple of years. They struggle. He didn't. And he had nobody to throw to. And he didn't struggle. He was pretty good. The numbers this morning, I looked him up.

I told the guys, I said, let's go look at his numbers. I think they were pretty good. They're like, wow, they were good. Blew Trevor Lawrence out of the water. So I have flipped. I think he's a franchise quarterback. Again, I don't see him as a top 10 guy because the ceilings. There's some limitations.

but man, they're not doing him any favors. All right, let's talk Arizona for a second. So this morning, listen, everybody wants to just blow it up. I get it, right? In the NFL, that's always the answer. But, you know, fire Cliff Kingsbury. But I went back since February 28th, these things have all happened. Tyler Murray's agent released a statement that he won't play without a new contract.

DeAndre Hopkins suspended first game, six games of the year. Kyler Murray gets a massive deal. There's a homework clause removed from his contract. Obviously, the owner wanted that out. It got released to the press. Mark East Brown fractures his foot. Six game of the year. Misses over a month.

Kyler Murray gets hurt, misses two games. Zach Ertz out for the season, great tied end. And then Kyler Murray gets carted off. Who could win with that? I mean, I don't think Cliff Kingsbury as Sean Payton or Andy Reid either. But Kyler Murray's trajectory, and I was a huge supporter. I've said, I think he throws the, it's the baseball thing, his slide, he throws the prettiest

ball in the league. But things have changed. New information. His trajectory has gone from dynamic, ascending, and electric to, he gets hurt a lot. He doesn't love watching film. he's small and doesn't like to get hit. He's sort of aloof and he's not getting better. You can blame Cliff Kingsbury, but Cliff recruited him out of high school.

Cliff went to the franchise and said, draft him, move off Josh Rosen. He is being his biggest supporter. So you can knock Cliff Kingsbury to the street. You're not getting Sean Payton for this job. you're not getting Jim Harbaugh for this job. You're not getting Lincoln Riley for this job. Not interested. This now with Kyler Murray's current trajectory is not a great gig.

And Cliff Kingsbury, listen, he had a losing record in college. But you know, Lovie Smith had a losing record in Illinois. He got a job. Sometimes that happens. But it is easy in this league. The answer is always blow it up. But this organization gave Kyler Murray $230 million, And that contract hasn't started yet.

And he increasingly does not want to get hit. And he is small. I said this on the air three years ago. I had a player, a pro bowler in the NFC, tell me off the air. He didn't like to get hit. He said, this person had sacked Russell Wilson multiple times. He said, Russ doesn't mind it. Kiler didn't like it at all.

And in this division now, if you think you're going to blow Cliff out and get a great coach, Matt Rule was a great college coach. How did that work? Carolina's gotten better since he left. I got nothing against Matt Rule. They're better today than they were a month six weeks ago, whatever he got knocked out. So this division now has Seattle,

loads of young talent and draft picks. It's got McVeigh and the Rams. They're not going to be bad long. Okay, I'm going to go with Sean McVe, Stafford's back. They'll get it right. San Francisco, best roster in the league. You think that's a great job now? it felt like a great job two years ago, but things change.

I mean, I love Lamar Jackson. He's had a bad year. He's banged up. No, do I franchise tag him? Do I give him five years? Stuff changes. Ezekiel Elliott got that contract for the Cowboys years ago. We're like, yeah.

Like two years later, we're like, oh, no, he doesn't have the burst. This is not a great job now. And there's candidates out there. There's two potential great candidates out there. Peyton's obviously a home run. If you think Sean Payton is going to choose between Kyler Murray and Justin Herbert, I can tell you right now who he choose. I can tell you right now who every GM in the NFL would choose.

Every coach who has an opening would choose. So I don't know. I think the easy answer this morning, blow it up, fire this guy, fire that guy. You go look at the teams that keep firing coaches. Yeah, not a lot of home runs out there. The college ranks, I mean, Jim, Harbaugh, Stanford to the NFL.

Like that was rare, right? Like, oh, home run. But I can give you a five who bomb. And in the NFL, Sean Payton's a, he's an A plus candidate. I mean, you're not taking that job. So you're going to have to give it to a first timer. What if that person doesn't get along with Kyler Murray? What if that person didn't recruit him in high school, doesn't know him, hasn't

befriended him? I mean, Cliff Kingsbury is not like a hard guy to get along with. You can make three or four phone calls in our business. People like Cliff Kingsbury. It's an easy guy can get along with. And Kyle and he, I'm not saying they don't get along, but I've seen stuff on television, just on TV as a consumer. It's bumpy.

All right. So very, okay, it's sometimes we have to be honest here. Sometimes the simplest answer is the right answer. And I think in Green Bay, Jordan Love, according to a story, would like to play or be traded. And I think we're overthinking it here. And I think the Packers are overthinking it. We'll address that next.

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 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, Clever Taylor the 4th.

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

and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little 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 y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. Heard hierarchy top of next hour. J-MAC joining me here. So there's a story this morning, Jason Wilde. a reporter that he had talked to Jordan Love, the backup quarterback for the Packers.

And Jordan Love wants to play. Of course he does. He's a young athlete. He's getting old sitting on the bench. He wants to play. And if he's not going to be part of the future plans to start, he wants to get traded. I've said before, if I was Seattle, I would strongly consider getting a late second, third, whatever it takes to get Jordan Love.

He's ready to play at this point. How good he is, I don't know. Again, that I don't know. But in this article, there is a line here that says the Packers find themselves in a nearly impossible situation to navigate. Folks, this is not trigonometry. It's not that difficult. So let's start with this. Jordan Love three years in Green Bay.

The Packers have 250 filmed practices on file. Five preseason games he's played in and seven regular season games he's made at least a throw. There's a lot of tape on him. The Packers have a general manager. 21 people in their player personnel department. 15 plus coaches and a director of scouting. Do your job. Can he play or not?

You're not taking a guy like Trey Lance who played a small college. That's hard. This isn't hard. You have 21 people in your player personnel department. Do your job. You got 250 practices on film. You got seven regular season games, five preseason games. If he can play and you think he's a starter and a pretty good starter, then you move Aaron and free up all that space to go buy a bunch of good players.

That's what you do when you're not paying your quarterback. If you don't think he's a really good starter, then you keep Aaron, you got to hit on some draft picks when you're paying a quarterback as much as Aaron. but the Packers generally draft pretty good. You've got to hit on some draft picks. You cross your fingers a little bit on that. Some of that's just luck. But this isn't that hard, folks. The stars, Herbert, Burrow, Mahalms, you see them almost instantly.

The dogs, you know, and I'm not going to mention a bunch of kids who are now out of the league, but, you know, I could mention two or three off the top of my head. You know five games in. They just busts. My guess on Jordan Love, and it's a pretty strong guess is he's not going to be Burrow. and he's not going to be a total bust. He's somewhere in between. But this is what people do for a living.

You watch film. It's really hard, I think, to guess what a college guy is going to do in the pros. It wasn't hard for me to say, Trevor Lawrence is going to be good or Andrew Luck. John Elway, those are easy ones. And there's also guys that you look at and go, I would have never guessed Russell Wilson would be that good for 10 years.

His college coach at North Carolina State bailed on him. But once a guy's in the league and you got three, years of film, there's a reason they moved off Fav in Green Bay because they saw Aaron Rogers in preseason games and in practice. Hell, you talk to NFL players, not even personnel people. Every time I bring a player on before the draft, you know, if you've listened to me for years, I often ask this question. How long does it tell before a rookie can play? How often does that guy go to practices? Those are players. They're not personnel experts.

They don't sit in rooms with film and tape all day. So I don't think this is that hard. And the other thing is you can't be paralyzed that Aaron Rogers, if he leaves, he's going to win. You get a divorce. He or she may upgrade. Get over it. Aaron's going to be, I think, 39 years old next year. Peyton Manning left Indy.

He won a Super Bowl. Tom Brady left New England. You know, on his free will, he won. Matt Stafford. When good quarterbacks, two great quarterbacks, leave, it usually doesn't end up like Russell Wilson and Denver. They usually win a lot. Far of one in Minnesota.

But you have to make a decision as a staff and say, hey, listen, Aaron's going to go win. I got news for you. Aaron did the Packers a lot of good. So what if Aaron wins? What are you rooting against him? I mean, just don't trade him in division. Try not to trade him to the Niners where you guarantee he wins. But if you trade him to Tennessee and he gets to a Super Bowl, good for Aaron.

Aaron made a lot of people rich in Green Bay. You don't want to live a life like that where you're rooting against people. Just, you know, you don't want to trade. I would say this, don't trade him to the Niners because he's going to be hoisting trophies. You know, you don't want to give him the best possible situation. But trade him to Tennessee. Wish him luck. I mean, the Colts, when the Mariners got rid of Ken Griffey in Seattle,

do you know how much joy he brought to those fans? You can't root against him when he goes from the Mariners to Cincinnati. That's not a, who, you don't want to live like that. You know, Brett Farrv kicked people off. But what really hurt is he came back in division. Like, I get where that one stings when you have to play them twice a year. And they come right back in your neighborhood. I get that.

But, you know, Aaron's going to have some success. He's not going to play forever. He talks about retirement all the time now and he's 38. And that happens when he's 39 or 40. J-MAC with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

Interesting listening to that little ramble there, Colin. You know a lot of executives love to do the easy thing. What's the easy thing in Jordan Love, Aaron Rogers? If you don't trade Jordan Love, we don't know if he's going to be a star. If you just ride Aaron Rogers, you're not getting fired. If you trade Aaron Rogers and he goes and wins a lot, and you start Jordan Love and he stinks, you're gone. Coach and GM, they're dusted. So isn't the easy move?

I'm just going to stick with Rodgers. Well, the easy thing is not winning at the level they should be winning. So to me, at some point, are you doing this to protect your job, or as a gym or a coach, are you doing this to take big swings? Less need of the Rams and McVeigh took a huge swing, and they rewarded the people of Los Angeles. Now, you go back and you get the, you know what, kicked out of you the following year because they're in a little bit of a, you know, rebuild draft capital. But again, if you're just trying to protect your job, you are not, you shouldn't be the steward of the Green Bay Packers. That's not what that job is. That job is to win and evaluate,

and you've got 250 practices and 12 games. Do your job. It's easy to do nothing and let Aaron Rogers to run the show and try to win games. If Aaron Rogers doesn't win, well, we lost with one of the greatest quarterbacks ever. I don't want to ride Jordan Love. I don't know if he's good.

You say 250 practices. Wouldn't he be starting when they have moved off for Rogers? Well, yes, if he was Burrow or Herbert, Aaron's gone. There's no question. You wouldn't want to pay somebody 50 million. So, as I said, he's not that, nor is he, you know, at the bottom guys that we know two years in can't play it all. He could be Zach Wilson for all we know.

He's throwing 80 passes in three seasons. Well, no, but Zach Wilson came from BYU to the NFL. That's a much harder evaluation. This kid's been in the league now, has played in 12 games. I just watched them this year. He has absolutely grown in the last year. Now, I'm not saying you have to be perfect. If he's not greater, terrible, he's somewhere.

in the middle. You're paid six figures off in seven as a GM to make those evaluations. This can't be, this is an easier evaluation. He's big enough and mobile enough. You can check those boxes right now. Those are easy ones. So you know he's big. You know he can learn because we've watched him grow. So there's a lot of stuff we know. There's a ton we didn't know about Zach Wilson. He was slight. He was small. He played a weaker schedule. I know a lot about Jordan Love now. This isn't a kid that's walking into the lobby at the I've got all sorts of film. You know if he gets along with players.

You know if he's likable. You know if he's coachable. You know he's big enough. 80% of the stuff you know in him. What you don't know is live bullets, pressure or being the guy, can he handle it? Okay. I'm not saying you have to be 100 for 100 here, but you know a lot about him. Is he a good guy?

Is he coachable? Does he work his arse off? It appears that he's a worker because he's way better today than he was three years ago. Yeah, yeah. Fun off-season topic. All right, let's move on to the team that beat the Packers in the play. playoffs last year. The 49ers, they got some good news on injured wide receiver slash running back Debo Samuel. So it's an MCL sprain and an ankle sprain suffered here on this just brutal hit where

he got bent back. But the good news is no broken bones. And San Francisco, believe it or not, expects him to return during the regular season. That seems a little crazy to me, given the injury. But I don't know, Colin, this is a team, San Francisco, no Debo Samuel on the road in Seattle. win, you win this, you got the division locked up. Well, I mean, they play such an aggressive style of football that Debo and Kittle and Christian McCaffrey, they're going to be dinged up. So, you know, when you see this, you're just, oh, I think the way they use Debo, you have to kind of bake in as a staff is he's going to miss some games during the course of a season. You're asking him to do things that not every

wide receiver is asked to do. You saw Jerry Jones, Jerry Rice complaining on social media. Stop running Debo up the middle, you know? It's like people aren't. happy with that. But quick word, I was just looking, you know, when you go 5 and O in the gambling contest last week as I did, I'm digging into every game already. San Francisco, did you know this? Their last road game was October 30th. So they basically haven't, I mean, they went to Mexico for the neutral site game with Arizona. There's a true road game, Brock Purdy on the road in Seattle. Seattle can be noisy. I don't know if it's difficult. Marcus Mariotta won there. Sam Darnel just won there. Which team is desperate? Seattle is desperate. The Kenneth Walker injury is the big one to watch.

this matchup, right? If he plays, they'll have a chance. If not, like, their backups are nothing special. All right, let's go to your guy, Tom Brady and the Bucks. Huge game coming up as they host the Bengals and Joe Burrough Sunday. Boy, two big Colin Cowherd guys, Brady versus Burrow. Brady gave a lot of praise to his opponents ahead of the matchup, but he did not sound as enthusiastic as one part of Cincinnati's team. Great team, great young quarterback, fairly tough defense, good skill players. They do a lot of things well. So, you know, we're going to have to put everything we got into it. Like everything we got. Well, their defense doesn't have a ton of pro bowlers, but I think it's really, really stout.

I'm looking at the numbers here. They are 10th in defensive efficiency this season here. Here's some more numbers. Listen, I don't think this is a slight. This is not a great defense. No, it had. He just faced the Niners. It had been a very, very strong second half defense, meaning you probably have a really good staff. But now their edge rushers all dinged up. And their corners are pretty weak. They don't have great corners. So, you know, I mean, I don't think we look at it and think San Francisco or Buffalo or I don't think anybody looks at it like that.

This is one of those games where I don't think anybody's betting Tampa at this point, right? They just got clobbered. Monday night, they looked awful against the Saints. Is this a spot to bet Tampa Bay and Tom Brady? I'm done going against Burrow. I mean, I did it last week with the Browns. He just delivers, you know? Yeah, your guy, Joey B.

All right, we'll wrap up here with the New York Jets and Mike White. Colin, this remains one of the most brutal, like, quarterback hit games we've seen. That one was bad, but this one's even worse where he gets literally folded over. That looks like an MMA-type shot. Obviously, Mike White left the game twice, but he was cleared to return and said, listen, this is the tough guy talking. There's no way he wasn't going back in that game. At first, when I was on the ground, it was just I couldn't catch my breath,

and that was the hardest part. And once I did, I was able to get up and walk off. And we got X-rays to make sure everything was good, and the X-rays were cool. And I knew if everything was fine, I was going in. Like, there wasn't, you would have to peel me off that field. And so, yeah, it was never in my mind that, yeah, I'm not finishing this game. I just like looking at him, I'm like, that's the Jets quarterback right there. You know, the hairs is kind of askew.

I like him. He's got on like a random t-shirt or whatever that was. Probably not a build-around guy, but there's something there. I don't know what is. This is the fun part of being like an NFL fan. You get to find out what do the Jets have at quarterback with Mike White? We're going to find out here in the next last four weeks. He's a tough guy.

I like that. Very tough. I'll tell you this. This Jared Goff game is interesting. Jared Goff versus Mike White. Everybody's buying Jared Goff now. Lions are taking money this week. Lions are going to the playoffs.

Is it Jets time? Is it Jets time? I mean, hell, are the lions making the herd hierarchy today? I got to ask. Very close. Oh, my. The Jets could never make it in the Detroit Lions. I didn't say they're in.

I said it was under great. It was under review. The staff, the team, it's under review. Yeah. I better not see the Patriots in there. Well, they don't know, a pretty good team. They beat Colt McCoy. Come on.

Ah, J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. I don't really get into the NBA until post Christmas. but I saw last night the Boston Celtics got rolled by the Clippers. So the Celtics were the hottest team in the league. They're very good.

They had a disruption with their coach. He was canned. They now have a new coach. They're playing very well. We know they play defense and they were hottest team in the league and then they came out west. And they dusted off Phoenix and I watched that game, half of it, and they looked very good. And then they played Golden State and had a dreadful second half and lost. And then they played the Clippers last night and didn't play well and got him.

hammered and just my belief is the Warriors are in Jason Tatum's head and the Warriors are in the Celtics head. They are. This team was on fire and they had a bad second half against the Warriors and they came out last night 48 hours later and were worse. How? Why? Well, there's two reasons here. The Warriors and the Clippers can take Jason Tatum down notches. They have multiple wing defenders. That is how you beat the Celtics.

That's how you beat them. Throw everything you can on the wing. This is why the Lakers don't match up with them. They don't have versatile wing defenders. The clippers have multiple. The Warriors have multiple. And you throw them at Jason Tatum. And then you make this team offensively play left-handed.

Where their only go-to score is Jalen Brown. Who's very good. I think he's having his best years of pro. But this is the difference between the Warriors, why the Warriors would again beat the Celtics. Steph Curry can have an off night. He's got Clay, he's got Wiggins, his Jordan Poole. If Jason Tatum has an off night, this team has one dependable score. I don't want to hear about Malcolm Brogden.

Good player, hurt a lot, can't depend on him. Like him, don't love him. But if you look at the numbers on Jason Tatum, in this 20 Celtic wins, he scores 32 and shoots almost 50%. In their seven losses, he's off, scores 23, and they have to play without their guy. They are really Jason Tatum dependent. And that's why the Warriors paid Jordan Poole. Because Steph does every six game, have a bad half, have a bad night. Here comes Clay, here comes Wiggins, here comes Pool. This team is, this will be the worst matchup. I'm not sure anybody, in the East matches up like this, but the Clippers roster and the Warriors' rosters are built

to beat the Celtics. Just throw bodies, pressure, fouls, play physical against Jason Tatum, he shoots a lower percentage, he's off. Remember, two of the best Celtic players are Robert Williams and Marcus Smart. They're defensive players. Offense is a bonus. So the story of this team is they play great defense and have multiple elite defenders. They don't have multiple guys who can give you 26 if Jason Tatum's not on. So again, in their 20 wins and there are seven losses, there is a clear, definitive line to follow. Slow down Jason Tatum and two rosters in this league are perfectly built to do it.

Is this you buying into the Clippers hype and Kauai Leonard may play every five games? No, this is not a clipper rant. This is a, there is a way to defend. This is the blueprint and two teams have the roster to do it. This is why the Lakers just fundamentally there's nothing they could do to beat Boston. They don't match up with Jason. If he plays well, they win. Celtics are number one in the NBA in offensive efficiency by a little bit over Denver.

Where are you on Jalen Brown? Is he a legit two or is he more of a two and a half? Well, I think he's a, I think he plays defense. I think he's athletic. I think he's an excellent two. He's like 25 a night. Yeah. I don't think it's funny.

When he came into the league, I don't think he's a natural score. I think he works at it and can score. It's like, I just think he's a very good two. You can win a championship if he's a two. But then you've got to have a great dependable three. Because Tatum, again, there's, you throw wing defenders at him. When LeBron was in his prime, it didn't matter who you threw at him. It doesn't matter.

Kobe, MJ, Bird, it just doesn't matter, magic. Tatum's not that. He's just a little below that where you can defend him. You can make it a tough night for him. And those two rosters have it. You can't make it a tough night for Lucas Donchich. You can't make it a tough night for Steph Curry. Those guys are unguardable.

Yeah. So if they're just shooting poorly, they're shooting poorly. So after Jalen Brown, you've got to have a great third. Yeah. Because you do a piecemeal thing, like Grant Williams one night. Malcolm Brogdon was a good get. Yeah. But he gets banged up a lot.

That was the knock when you got him. So if you play a seven-game series, he may not be available one or two games. And then, you know, they may roll through the east. They will roll up until the box. But in the West, there are two teams that. match up with them. And I think the Warriors are still a little bit in their head. Just a little. 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 LaVarrington, 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 Podcast, 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'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, Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little camp? 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 a here, unpack what went down,

and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you're not. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Now you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Saw a story yesterday I thought was interesting where Brae.

and the Bucks, Brady before the games, meets just with the players, not Byron Leftwich, not Todd Bowles, and tweaks the game plan. Doesn't tell the coaches that. And I think to myself, I watched Tom versus Time. He and Josh McDaniel, they were joined at the hip in the offseason. He's on the phone with him watching film before the games now. He doesn't even communicate with Leftwich and Bulls on changes he makes. And to me, it's like, okay, all right. That tells you that something he needs. isn't there in Tampa. And my guess is, respect for elite coaching, San Francisco's got it, and the weapons. Albert Breer now joining us live.

Monday morning quarterback. I saw that story and I thought, not that it was disrespectful, but it's something, right? It's telling. It's telling a disorder, right? Right. I mean, you know what else is telling,

Colin is how, like on that Monday night game, they look like crap for 55 minutes, and then they get in a two-minute situation. and Tom's calling the offense from the line and what happens. They go right down the field twice against the Saints and win that game. And we see how critical that win is now after they lose to San Francisco. It's the only reason they're still all alone in first place in the NFC South. And so I certainly think these little things have come up over the last three years.

And he knew it wasn't going to be perfect. But I think there are certain things he appreciates more now about the New England experience, whether it's the discipline of the program, it's how tight everything was wound, how the game was called, the offensive coaching. he had. And it sort of takes me back to, you know, when Josh McDaniels left New England the first time, I went to Denver, and Billy O'Brien got promoted in 2009, got promoted to become the offensive play caller. And almost right away, Bill O'Brien got a text from Tom Brady with four words. I want to be coached. That's five words, right? Not four, five, five words. I want to be coached.

And I think, you know, Tom always had that in New England where, like, those guys took it on as a challenge. It's going to be hard for me to be more thoroughly prepared than Tom Brady is. It's going to be hard for me to give Tom Brady something he hasn't already seen. That was a challenge for them. And so, you know, I think if he's going to continue playing after this year, you're right to think that that could be a factor. And the two most obvious places where I think, you know, he'd have places he could, he'd have coaches he could really respect on that side of the ball would be San Francisco and Vegas.

And if those teams have openings for a quarterback, if the Niners decide, it'd be better for us to redshirt, Trey Lance for enough. year, or if the Raiders make that decision in the middle of February when they got to make the decision on Derek Carr's contract that they want to move on. I think both of those places would be places where he could wind up landing in 2020, 23, if he decides not to retire. So Trent Williams is on a short list of the most talented left tackles in the history of the sport. And you talked to him recently. I said this when Brock Purdy came out. I'd watched him in a preseason game, and I thought, for the last guy drafted, he's pretty, he's like to me, he's a more

talented Taylor Heineke. That's what he is to me. He's a little bit more disciplined, talented Taylor Heineke, and Taylor Heineke's reeling off wins at Washington. Trent Williams, if I recall, told you he liked him. And he liked him in camp. You know what I mean? It's not like he just liked him the last couple of weeks.

He liked him in camp. You know, I got texts from people in the Niners building last week coming out of that game. Like, you know, I'm communicating with people and saying, hey, sorry. You know, like I, that sucks that you have such a talent in roster. and now he's lost two quarterbacks. And almost uniformly of coming back, it was like, don't sleep on Brock Purdy. So they see a little something there. And it's not just what he's done in the last two weeks.

It's what he was doing in training camp. And you sort of wonder, what does Kyle Shanahan want in a quarterback, right? Well, you know, you look over the years, the quarterback he maybe liked most of all the quarterback he's ever worked with was Matt Schaub in Houston. And why? Because Matt Schaub ran the offense the way Kyle wanted it to be ran. He believes there are answers in the offense for any quarterback. The quarterback just needs to be able to get to him.

And that's why it was so interesting talking to Trent over the weekend. He mentioned Iowa State scheme. And he said, you know, like all these different quarterbacks come out of college. And they've been playing in the spread offense and throwing for 5,000 yards in a season and all of this different stuff. And it looks great when you're watching the highlights. But I think that actually winds up stunning their growth a little bit. They come into the NFL and they have more work to do to get to where. where they need to be. Brock Purdy had background in a pro style offense. So you take the intangibles,

the fact that he brought Iowa State to heights that had never been to before, the intelligence of the kid, and then his experience in a pro style offense. And you can really see where it matches up with what Kyle wants and the quarterback, what he had with Matt Chob and Houston, what he had with Kirk Cousins in Washington. I think there's a lot of that in Brock Purdy. Okay, I got five minutes. I want to ask you two questions. First, I don't believe in blown it up in Arizona because they've been a mess and noisy. I don't think this job now. I don't think Sean Payton wants it. Harbaugh, the Lincoln Riley kind of level coaches. I don't think they want it. You got five more, six more years with Kyler Murray, who is now not an ascending player.

I think you have to kind of stick with some of this stuff and get healthier. That's my takeaway is that we always want to blow everything up. What do you do in Arizona? I mean, you're so over leveraged on Kyler Murray right now. You know what I mean? There's no getting out of that contract for the next couple of years. So, I mean, you can stroke checks if you want to get rid of Steve Kime and Cliff Kingsbury. They have five years left on their deals, right?

They're both signed up through 2027. So it'd hurt if you were going to fire those guys, but you could do it. Like getting rid of the quarterback is a different deal. And this is sort of similar to Denver that way, where with the quarterback, because of the structure of the contract, what you're talking about is legitimately having to go through a full rebuild if you wind up getting rid of the quarterback, because now you're changing who you are offensively and you're taking a ton of dead money onto your salary cap for the next couple of years, which means you legitimately have to blow the things. thing up and rebuild from the ground up and do you want to do that? Or is it worth it to kind of

stay the course and look at this and say this was a little bit of an outlier season? We had a bunch of players on our roster that got old all at once. And if you look at Cliff's first three years, they actually were ascending, you know? I mean, say what you will about the way last season ended with that ugly loss of the Rams at the end. But year one to year two, they improved. Year two to year three, they improved. And so I understand the desire out there for everybody to fire everybody, right? But if you look at where Arizona is and how they're sort of stuck with Kyler Murray because of the contract and they really can't get out of that, and then you look at like the coach that they have for Kyler Murray and the GM who drafted

Kyleor Murray, I can see where you can get to a place where it makes more sense just to ride it out with those guys. All right. Minute left. Baker Mayfield. Does he have a market now? Yeah, I think like his next step is becoming somebody's bridge quarterback. You know, and I look at like Gino Smith in Seattle. Yeah. And I remember talking to Pete Carroll about Gino Smith. And he said to me, he's like, you know, these stories exist. If you want to go back in football history and look at it, like, there are stories like this.

Like there's Rich Gannon. There's Steve Young. There's Jim Plunkett. Like there are stories of guys who are high draft picks who wound up, you know, falling on their face at the end in their original homes and rebuilt their career somewhere else. And I think Baker's, you know, got a chance to do that now if he plays well over the next month. Now, is somebody going to give him the keys to the kingdom? No, no one's going to sign him to a contract that's going to scream franchise quarterback. But if he plays well over the next month, you know what?

Someone's going to say, maybe I don't like this year's draft class. And I just need somebody to get me through the next year or two. And then you've got a guy who's got, what, 40, 50 starts under his belt was the number one overall pick. He's been in the playoffs. And now Baker's got his opportunity. So I don't think anybody's going to bring him in to be their franchise quarterback in 2020. That's not happening. But he can create some opportunity for himself over the next year.

month. All right, Albert Brewer, money morning quarterback. Good seeing you. As always. Appreciate it. All right. Thanks, going. Yeah. Would you, I think, I think that's perfect. He's a bridge quarterback. Two years in Houston. You draft Caleb Williams, two years in Houston. That's what I think Baker's moved himself into. I mean, listen, look at some of these bridge quarterbacks. Jacoby Brissette. Mitch Trubiskey. He's better than those guys. I would, I would come back with that, Baker. I don't want to go to Houston. Thanks. I'd rather back up Matt Stafford with the Rams. Yeah. Well, it depends. I mean, you know, Baker's made so much money in commercials. Yeah.

But Houston's home. Houston's closer to home. Houston's a disaster of an organization. Going nowhere. No talent anywhere. Look at the receivers you're throwing to. I'd rather back up Matt Stafford who got injured a lot this season. Yeah, but there's no money there.

Like you're talking about the difference between a couple million a year and 20. Marcus Marriota was a backup for like three years before he got the backup in Atlanta. Baker's still, what, 26? Well, Baker's better than Marcus Moriota, isn't he? Yeah, I would rather sit with the Rams, make a run at a Super Bowl as a backup. Rans will be back in the mix next year, right? They're going to be a contender. Yeah, they're not going to be bad for long.

Yeah. Then go be on a four-win team where you know you're getting pushed out for Caleb Williams the following year. Yeah, no, Baker's made a lot of money. And he's going to make a lot of money when he retires because he's going to be a great college football announcer. On some level, don't you value winning over money? Oh, God, I've said that forever. Losing stinks. These guys that take big money contracts in baseball,

go to teams and they lose like 90 games. What a miserable road trip that is every fourth day. All right. Herd hierarchy around the corner on a Tuesday, live in L.A. It's 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, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter-Sides. 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that experience. excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of 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.