The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR-2-Cowboys, Dodgers

Episode Date: October 8, 2020

The Cowboys only look good even though Dak Prescott puts up big numbersThe Dodgers can't win the World Series with their bullpenGuest: Ryen Russillo Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's 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. 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 from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Heard. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in.

This is The Hurt, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening to part of the show. Listen to the show. Thanks so much for making this part of your day. Sorry, the coffee hasn't fully gotten into the system yet. Doug Gottlieb, in for Colin. Colin off. He does not have, nor has anybody tested positive for COVID,

but there's rules and regulations. and legal mumbo jumbo over how many people you can have in the Fox TV studios at once. So my man's got a day off. It's not a bad life. Hey, listen, you're still going to get paid the same. You just don't have to come to work. Okay. Cool.

And it's not going to count as a day off. What do I sign up for that game? Ryan Rosillo is going to join us from the ringer. We'll talk some football. We'll talk some. There's actually a lot of interesting football discussions, including Bill O'Brien, and our knee-jerk reaction as to who's going to replace Bill O'Brien as head coach of the Texans. What actually kind of makes sense.

I definitely want to get to the NBA finals, which we got another day off today. Feels like everyone knows what's coming tomorrow. Isn't it? I wouldn't get that with Rucillo in 15 minutes. I have identified a problem, which I believe is the Dodgers have a Lamar Jackson problem. Get to that in a moment. Let me start with this. According to football outsiders, the Cowboys have the easiest remaining schedule.

Yeah, I didn't have to be a football outsider to look at their schedule and go, God, the NFC is, right? Like, it does not take, I am not a smart man, Gen 8, but I do. do know what an easy schedule looks like. But no, like football outsiders, they actually do the math and do the hard work. And the Cowboys, who are a half game behind the Philadelphia Eagles, have, again, based upon four games in the easiest schedule. Remaining games. The Giants.

The Cardinals at home. Okay? Cardinals can score. They're two and two. I'm not sure I bought the hype over them being a playoff team. I like their offense, but I don't love their defense. Then they go to Washington, who stinks. Philadelphia, who at this point really banged up, could be healthier by them.

We don't know. Pittsburgh, that's a good football team. By week, Minnesota, as of now, one win. Washington stinks. At Baltimore, that's not an easy game. At Cincinnati, he plays everybody close and just won a game. San Francisco, we don't know, like, this is a hard one. Jimmy G's going to come back.

We don't know about the rest, like the rest of their roster is in tatters. obviously they're not going to have Nick Bosa this year, but there's a lot of their other guys that could be back by then. Philly, again, don't know what their roster would look like by then, and then the Giants. Mostly they played the NFC East. Now, I haven't played an NFC East game yet, so you got two against the Giants and two against the Washington football team.

So that's four wins. Right, like you put us down for four. That's the thing that the Eagles screwed up most. It wasn't that the Eagles lost week one of the season when they had, they were that four starting offensive linemen. It's that you lost in division. A game you absolutely could not lose to a bad football team. But they did.

So we would all, I mean, is it okay? Am I okay saying the Cowboys defense is a joke? It's so bad? Whether they're confused by Mike Nolan's system, whether football is past Mike Nolan by, whether they have a bad fit for his three, four scheme, or whether they just don't like them, or they don't play hard because they're entitled by the contracts that they have,

whatever it is, the Cowboys defense is bad. And if I was fair, like, look, DAC has been great in these comebacks, but like last year it was they would score on the opening drive and then they couldn't score. Now it's they're not scoring on the opening drives. They're struggling some, sometimes they're scoring the opening drive, but they're struggling some offensively,

and then you get into a, you know, two, three deep zone, keep everything in front, and he starts hitting crossing patterns, and now a sudden they're offender. offense explodes. They're not running the football the way they used to. Some of that is because their offensive line isn't what it used to be or it hasn't been fully healthy. Number one in overall yardage, number one in passing yardage, most of that's because

they've been behind. They're terrible against the run. They're 31st in the league against the run. They've allowed the third most yards, 430 yards game. So, look, they're on defense a lot. And they're just getting smacked by teams that run the football. And I think it's a win-win in a lose-lose for Dak Prescott, lose-lose-lose for the Cowboys.

Like, do you remember draft night? Do you remember when they went and what they did with their first-round pick? Anybody? Like, oh, yeah, C.D. Lamb. Now, I like C.D. Lamb. I like Lam. It's very, very good. A little rosemary on top.

C.D. Lambs. Awesome. Amari Cooper, I don't believe, is the true superstar number one. But when you add Michael Gallup and C.D. Lamb, it covers up like, look, they're doing this without Blake Jarwin, without their starting tight end. Dalton Schultz is their tight end. What a great name. Dalton, that just sounds proper. Doesn't it? Right? Dalton Schultz. Anyway, I like, I have no qualms with C.D. Lamb, but when I look back to, the 2020 NFL draft, and I remember that they that they, they, they went, they stayed true to their board. Yeah, I'd be like, oh man, they stay true to their board.

They didn't reach for a need. Yeah, it kind of feels like you should have reached for a deed. You mean to tell me that you couldn't either have taken a defensive player, and there were several, plenty available, right? I mean, you look where C.D. Lamb went in the draft. He went 17th overall, right? and you look at other linebackers who were available. Granted, they thought they were really good at linebacker.

Obviously in the second round, they drafted a very good corner. But this team has issues at safety, and there were the top safeties available, or you could have traded down. Instead, they stayed true to their board, and they brought sand to the beach. The rich got richer. You already have one of the highest paid running backs in the game.

you have an incredibly highly paid offensive line. You end up paying Amari Cooper $100 million. You got Michael Gallup, who was the second round pick, I think, right? Third round pick? Okay. Like, did you need CD Lamb? But they did, you know what they did? Are you a Rims guy?

Now, I'm going to be honest with you. I love Rims. They add to a car. They make any car. One of my roommates in college is Desmond Mason. he had, and obviously he's 10 years in the NBA and he's a super talented artist now, so he's rich beyond all means. So he won't mind me selling him out that he had a 75 Nova in college, hoopty.

But he had some cool rims. And look, one of the things you don't realize when you buy rims on a car is you're like, well, it makes it look better. It does. You get some 20s or some 22s instead of the stock 19s or 18s. It just looks better. but the ride's a little stiffer and here's the thing about

low profile tires they wear down like twice as fast so instead of getting 25, 30,000 miles on a set of radials you get like 10,000 so they cost more and then you replace them more often

and the ride isn't smooth but what's every guy listening to the hurt Doug Gottlie calling him for Colin what's every guy thinking when yeah but they look cool and you're right they do they look cool and you know what the Dallas Cowboys look cool because they got C.D. Lamb.

They got Amari Cooper. They got Michael Gallup. They got Ezekieliot. They get down a couple scores. Boop, boop. Let's put up some yards. Let's have some fun, boys. But you know what it doesn't do? It doesn't win your football games.

And it's weird. We went from Dak Prescott. Didn't put up great numbers, but don't worry about numbers. He wins. He's a winner. He's got that winning thing. You know, you can't put it, you can't do the stat thing. What matters is winning.

Okay, well, last year he had better players and they go into Philadelphia and in a must-win game, they couldn't win. They didn't beat any of the teams with a winning record. Guess what they haven't done this year? Beat anybody with a winning record. Right? Again, is it all his fault? Like, no.

And they, they brought sand to the beach getting C.D. Lamb to go with an already talented. offensive group. So you can see the Dak Prescott walks in, you know, slaps down 5,000, 6,000 yards passing, 30 some odd touchdowns and is like, hey, wasn't my fault, pay me my money. Win, win. And you know what? They might be able to moonwalk their way to a

divisional title because Philadelphia is not good. Like Nick Mullins couldn't have been worse for San Francisco. when they played on Sunday night. Couldn't have been worse. And after a beautiful touchdown pass from Carson Wentz, they get a pick six and you're like, it's over. San Francisco still had a chance to win the game.

Like, Philadelphia is not a good football team. No one's arguing that. Don't give me, and then you got, then they got the Giants twice and the Washington football team twice. It's now starting Kyle Allen. At some point, they're going to give Alex Smith another shot. They just don't have any players. I mean, so that will probably win the division,

you know, with eight or nine wins. and a super easy, super soft schedule and throw for 70 million thousand yards. But they're still not beating good teams. They drafted to only add to his wizardry. Then you're going to pay Dak a bunch of money and you're not going to be able to afford to fix the defense. And the cycle continues. And everything you said about Dak, well, he's a winner. Went out the window.

He's like, well, it's not his fault. He's putting up numbers. So no, no, I'm really confused because we're in between two conflicting arguments. Either the numbers do reflect how well you're playing or they don't reflect how well you're playing. But Dak Prescott gets to have it both ways. Coming up next, Ryan Rusillo joins the show. Why does Sean Watson get a pass? Is it just because everybody doesn't like Bill O'Brien?

It's a question, right? And what are we going to say when LeBron James has like 35 tomorrow night and they win his fourth NBA title, the Lakers 17th NBA title? I'll ask Rosillo he joins me around the corner. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. 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. Clipper Taylor, the Follinger. forth. 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.

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this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we picket 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 for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

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RecTech, built by grillers for grillers. Go to recTech with a Q.com. That's R-E-C-T-E-Q.com. Doug Gottlieb in for Colin. Man, this is like getting the band back together. We got Ryan Rusillo from The Ringer, who joins us. I got a bunch of things to get to.

Let me start with Bill O'Brien getting fired. It is weird to me that no one seems to have said like, hey, Sean Watson needs to play a little bit better. Like, I'm not saying he stinks or like pull him, but he gets a huge contract. They rebuild the offensive line. Granted trade away DeAndre Hopkins. And, you know, the one thing we all, I think, agree is Bill O'Brien's pretty good with quarterback's pretty good with offense. Why do you think he's escaped any sort of critique for their own four start? because social media hates Bill O'Brien.

I mean, if you did a list of, like, most targeted guys over the last couple years. Oh, let's do the list. Yeah, let's do the list. What do you got? Yeah, I mean, Harbaugh is up there for college football. Sure. He's the number one guy everyone roots against. I don't think there's a lot of love for Tom Herman, just because, you know, hey,

I thought this guy was supposed to be the guy, you know. Look, I get it. It hasn't been a good at Texas as it's supposed to be. but NFL Sunday, like anytime there's a prime time Bill O'Brien game, it was just on. And I always, look, I'm not telling you he was great, but I actually think with some of the records that he had with some of the quarterbacks before Deshawn, I was like, isn't this a sign of like some kind of accomplishment? But then the whole thing derails the leadership from the top down.

Everybody would tell you it was kind of a mess. And I just think the Bill O'Brien thing, like it doesn't mean that Deshaun hasn't played as well as we expect of, but we know how the game works. The game becomes whatever the headline thing is, the shadow. cast beyond all the other possible storylines. Yeah, but we do this thing where, like, he makes, he has a great game or makes it, like last year he made that incredible play where he got a cleat in the eye, right, through a touchdown pass like the next play.

And we're like, well, he's great, okay, he's great, period. And that's it. Nobody can evolve. Guys that are just okay can't get better, right? Remember Kirk Cousins couldn't win a big game. Then he wins big game. You're like, well, that was just one. And nobody can devolve.

Guys can't or plateau. and it feels like we're a little bit datamint. It's even the JJ Watt thing. Like we still talk about J.J. Watt like he's a superstar. Like, JJ Watt's just a good football player now. He's not Captain America like he used to be. Yeah, but that's, I mean, it's just kind of the job. And I know that all of us, it's kind of funny how cyclical becomes because it happens.

And then the people that do our jobs say it. So then it's happening. And then the people that do our jobs are like, I can't believe everybody's saying this. And it just kind of goes round and round. The Rondo thing is one of the dumbest conversations I've heard in sports the last 10 years. I mean, he absolutely mailed in at the end of Boston, admitted he had stopped playing defense, goes to Dallas, gets in a huge battle with Rick Carlisle. They couldn't wait to get him out of there.

Boston couldn't wait to get him out of there. The Chicago didn't make any sense. He disappeared in Sacramento. He wasn't good in the regular season for the Pelicans, then had like a terrific playoff run. And Lakers fans couldn't believe Vogel was still giving a minute. And he has been huge, huge for this Lakers team. You know, it's just another part of it. It's like, hey, how come more people

didn't see this coming? Like, well, I didn't know that Rondo was going to turn into like a really valuable player all of a sudden. And yet, because he's been really good in the playoffs in spots, it's like, oh, you know, all you guys are doubting him. Like, well, of course, I was doubting him because I was watching him all something years too and he wasn't good. I want to get back to basketball in a second.

Let me go to tonight, Thursday night football. Bears, Tampa Buccaneers. Kind of hard to tell on the bucks, right? Like, they got down two scores. and the Chargers did what the Chargers do, which is open the door, bad fumble, you know, and they're without 10 of their guys. Like, is Tampa really good?

Are they getting, like, where are they now in your eyes as a playoff team's Super Bowl contender? So we knew the defense was a lot better statistically than it averaged out last year because Winston put them in maybe one of the worst positions a quarterback's ever put his defense in the history of the game. It was that bad. But I think that Brady,

who's just a workaholic was going to be immediately like day one on the same page of all his receivers. I just, you know, we expect unreal things from him even in 43 years old

and it's not what I saw in the beginning. But what I saw in that Chargers game was somebody that trusts his receivers and is completely like on the same page with him now. Like some of those throws that he made like the Mike Evans throw, he's making that because it's Mike Evans.

It's not the route. It's not the defense. It's like, okay, I trust you a little bit more. I know what I'm working with. I don't know if he thinks that Gronka's so small that all of a sudden, Gronk is Scotty Miller,

and he's throwing to him, thinking he's throwing to Gronk. But he hasn't targeted Gronk that much. But then I thought in the second half, you could just see some of those throws that he's really opening it up. It just felt like he was more comfortable and felt like there was a trust there that we didn't see at the beginning of the year. So at this point, I'd be surprised if Tampa ends up, you know, not in the playoffs, because I really do think that Brady, if he stays upright

and he just does a really good job staying healthy or healthy enough to play, I buy into him. Not that I was writing them off, but, you know, again, Even that first week against New Orleans, it was like, okay, you know, he threw a pick that we're not used to him seeing. But I love what he saw, what we saw against the Chargers team. And I know with missing pieces, but I actually really like that charges defense when they're all out there. I do too when they're all out there.

But that's a big one. Over under on Philly special references tonight with Foles starting. Thursday. It's Joe Buck. So he's going to, he'll have fun with it. He knows, but I don't think it won't be. Like it was ESPN and it was Levy. would be a lot more, I feel like, because they would make them run the tape several times.

Thursday, Fox game. Probably just one. Probably just one, because Foles isn't playing that well. I actually still think Trabisky gets a start, even if Foles is healthy, because I think Foles is a lot like a lot of these role players, if you have in basketball, where you go, oh, wait, like, Brian Hoyer, all we hear about how amazing he is in practice, understands a playbook, everything. It's like, oh, now he has to play. Oh, wait, this isn't going as well. And it's happening with Foles. Like, this Bears team is not, it's not. with a wreck. Like that holds the wreck you are where your record says you are. No, not always

because I don't think anybody watching this entire season of this Bears team thinks they're any good. No, he does have, you know, Nagy, DiFilippo, Laser, all those guys work with them before. So they trust him. They think they know what to call, what plays to call for him. I think that's a big part of it. Let me get to Dwayne Haskins. I hear, And I see a lot of people at other networks, maybe even at my network saying, didn't get a fair shake. I'm like, look, two different coaching staffs thought you didn't have a good enough grasp of the playbook. His college coach said he wasn't ready. He didn't look like he's ready.

And even Doug Williams last year said he didn't dive into the playbook enough. He doesn't have good feet and he has slow eyes. So I don't understand. Like I get that we think 11 games is enough. but it feels like it's enough to me where are you on whether or not he got a fair shake? Look, I don't actually think he got enough time for a first round pick. Like, I don't think you want to turn the page on that that quickly.

But a lot of times when coaches are fired and almost all of us are on the outside and you'll say, wait a minute, why did that coach get fired? You go, you know what, if people that are there day-to-day are going, hey, we're trying to move on from this guy and you get a little bit more information, like I defer to those people. So if they're in the room with every day,

and by the way, like anybody throwing out just raw quarterback stats now, it doesn't mean anything. Like it just doesn't, like guys are firing away at 300-yard games I think look terrible at times when like, oh, great, this guy had 500 yards again, or this guy has 300 yards again. He must be awesome. Like 300 yards doesn't mean anything anymore. It's like some of these NBA scores where you go, I think you've got to just cut it off

at 25% of what the actual production is because these are just chucking a million threes now. So I would like to see any franchise that put the first round resource into a quarterback, give him a little bit more time, and maybe it's a step. back to take a step forward thing. But some of the criticism of the criticism of Haskins just feels kind of, you know, specific. It becomes a race issue where I go, well, like, what's Josh Rosen's? Like, who does he get to complain to? You know?

Yeah. Like, I think that there are plenty of times. By the way, by the way, look, I thought I called the Rosen thing, right, because of the people I talk to. But in fairness to Josh Rosen, he starts with Arizona Cardinals who had the worst line in the sport. the worst line in the sport. They had a coach that last, and he's not mobile,

and they had a coach that lasted one year that everybody said was in way over his head. And, like, he was poof gone. But again, there's no, I'm with you. It's like... Yeah, maybe he's not good, right? Maybe he's not good. Yes.

No one cares about... Like, I just think when it comes to quarterbacks, at least for now, now, historically, I'm not going to take the other side of that argument. Right. Black quarterbacks are treated horribly, and it's kind of ridiculous that it took this long for people who'd be like,

hey, maybe that guy's going to be good on Sundays. But when it comes to, well, this guy's happened with Cam, like, oh, Cam has only criticized because, and I'm like, wait a minute, what? Like, does anybody want to talk to Romo? Does anybody want to talk to Jay Cutler? No, it's the position. Johnny Mansell, Baker Mayfield, right? Baker Mayfield has a good first year, bad second year, right?

A slow start. It's the nature of the position now. not, yes, we can't go, if we go back 30, 40 years, we could have that discussion. Now it's simply about how are you playing based upon the position. That position is the most critique position in all of sports. Yeah, I just think there's times where it's fair and most times it's obsessive. And I don't think that, and I really think it has more to do with being around the guy. And I'm not even talking specific to Haskins, you know.

I really think that it's weird to think like a coaching staff would just go like coaching shots get stuff wrong. None of us are arguing with these guys get it right all the time. Sure. But, you know, I don't know. I don't know the Haskins was awesome. You know, I don't know that he was, but it still seems quick. There's something weird, though, going on there because I don't know if you saw this,

he's not even the second string quarterback. He's the third string quarterback, and they didn't have him take snaps yesterday. And then there's video, and this is a little, this is kind of a little weird thing for me. All the other quarterbacks, all our three quarterbacks are wearing the maroon pants, except for Dwayne Haskins, he's wearing the white pants out of practice. And it's just one of those things where when you're in the coach's doghouse and you're doing kind of your own thing, you're on your own program, nothing ticks a coaching staff off more than you're doing your own thing.

You're running, oh, you're the white pants guy. Great, got it. You know, like you just got benched, buy in, get the play, you know, figure out the playbook and stay ready. That, to me, I saw something in that video, which I don't know if other people caught. Ryan Rusilla joining us. You can obviously hear him over at the ringer. Let me get to tomorrow night.

I feel like I know what's coming, right? You give him an extra day off. He hasn't had any offensive explosion in this. Again, this is what your raw statistics argument, right? Like statistically, LeBron's played really, really well, but he's been good, not completely and thoroughly dominant, not even necessarily the go-to. Turnovers are also a statistic that people seem to not pay attention to.

and it's the reason that Miami won one game and the reason they almost won the last game. But he has been great in these deciding games. Everybody I've talked to down there just wants to go home. He's going to close out, you know, win another NBA championship. How should we take this as somebody who studies and knows this sport? What, the accomplishment of him getting another title? Yes, in the bubble, against the heat.

How do you take it? Well, we know what's going to happen because, you know, in the beginning when this whole process was being introduced to us, it was, okay, well, no matter what, it would be an asterisk on this. You just go, okay, well, that doesn't seem fair. Like, whoever wins the title under these circumstances, that's what's going to happen. But then it swung

so hard the other way that it's like, this is going to be the toughest championship ever won. And, you know, like, I don't know, they're playing the heat. You know, like, can we include an opponent today? Playing the Warriors who won 73 games

with a three-to-one lead, and having to win game seven in Oakland, kind of with Steph Curry and Clay Thompson. It's not even close. It's not even close. Kind of feels harder. I don't know. Right.

I get that the bubble is inconvenient. And look, if you bought it to the bubble argument that this is the toughest of all time, then you're just going to hit me with isolation days and numbers of days in a hotel and a resort. And look, I've been busy a few times. I wouldn't want to be there for three months straight.

But the heat, especially in underman heat, I mean, this was a team that was still projected to win like 49 games if you went over an 82 game season. And the more I started thinking about it, because I was really impressed with the heroes, impressed with their depth, Bams, growth, Butler, taking on this alpha role hero and Duncan Robinson giving you buckets on certain nights. I kept thinking like, wait a minute, what are they going to do with Anthony Davis? And they try that zone, which is actually the dumbest thing you can do. It just proves how bad, I think, and I'm not going to say it's coaching, but how, how. uncomfortable players, young players are against the zone. Actually, like, once you figure it out, I think you would know this.

It's not that hard to score against it. But it just freaks teams out, even NBA teams. And when they try to do against the Lakers, you're like, oh, wait, you have 6-9 LeBron catching in the middle of all of this and making passing decisions to Anthony Davis who's running baseline against a 6-9 or an inverted front line or back line where they had their bids up front and they had their guards on the baseline and go, okay, this isn't going to work. So, you know, I think that there are circumstances that we know are unprecedented for this, but I can't sign off on the idea that this is the greatest or toughest championship to ever accomplish.

You know, what's interesting to me is I've heard people say, well, this is the beginning of another dynasty for the Lakers. Like, well, look, I think it's a great accomplishment. And I think his leadership and bouncing back from how bad the Juju was last year in that building is with the Lakers is big. but again, like, they didn't play the Clippers. Next year they probably won't be so fortunate. The Warriors took the season off. My guess would be the Nuggets feel like a team on the rise, right? The Mavericks are going to be the new rockets, right?

They won't actually win because they don't play defense, but they'll still win a bunch of games because they're super talented in offense. And then the other side, like, dude, the Nets are going to be good next year if Kyrie doesn't ruin them. Well. Okay, possibility. 50-50 shot. Let's just say talented. You would think the Celtics are going to be better as Jason Tatum and those young guys get better.

And Milwaukee's still a problem if they ever play them. I think the idea that this is the beginning of something when LeBron, this may be the last year he's able to dial it up as often as he's able to dial it up. It's just reasonable at 35 years old. I kind of think we should appreciate it while we got it. Yeah, look, I'm blown away by this guy, okay? So, you know, you're hesitant to ever say anything negative because then it turns you into like, oh, wait a minute. Like the other one that I hear is like, what does it mean for him winning a title of 13? This is ridiculous to believe guy.

There's no comp for this because that was the momentum behind Kauai. You know why this is happening? Because nobody ever did this. You think if Magic, well, Magic didn't have to go anywhere because his team made nine finals in 12 prime years that he had. But what if Bird looked around at 88 and said, eh, I'm out of here, you know? nobody has done this historically. So to say it's a greater accomplishment to jump from team to team and win all these titles, like it's not a negative, but I don't think it's not unprecedented because nobody else could pull it off.

It's unprecedented because nobody else did it. So I'm sitting here watching him. I actually think he's played better maybe than you did in the finals because he's just controlling things in a way that's subtle. Like he was, it was a really weird first half of game four where it felt like everybody was kind of just off or at least Miami. he had clogged the game up enough. But what LeBron does when he decides, okay, you can see these moments. You saw him in the fourth quarter against Houston.

You saw him in these moments where he's hitting shots against Denver. And you're seeing specific times where he's like, okay, now I'm going to start driving. And then it just kind of just destroys the will of the opponent. So it's not just the raw near triple double numbers from him. I think he's just having these moments of games where he takes over. It's unbelievable that this guy enters the league in 2003. He's still doing it.

No, no, no. And if I, if I led you to believe otherwise, I'm wrong in that that that's the true genius to him. It's a lot. There's a little bit like Brady there, right? That's how I started the show kind of comparing it, which is like you just, you kind of control everything, control everything. And then when you're feeling it and you find your spots, now of a sudden, you still have the talent to kind of take over. And, and like, look, there's a reason Contavius Caldwell Pope is open late in the fourth quarter to hit those shots. or that, you know, Rondo is able to get layoffs because you've got to pay attention to LeBron and to Anthony Davis.

But, you know, he's responsible for Anthony Davis is carrying the team at times, quarters one through three in most games. And then LeBron can take over when everybody else is tired. He has that kind of well of energy that he's saved up. He's unbelievable at controlling things and pacing himself and knowing. But just there is going to be a point in time where he's going to go to the well and there's nothing there. We're not there yet, but that day is coming at some point. Yeah, I don't know when. I mean, you're right.

It is coming. And I would even say there's moments. I remember there was a time during the Denver series because there was this other thing going around. Like, oh, he's getting incredibly tired. He's getting tired. And I would go through all of their fourth quarters. But a lot of these games are already decided. Or they let somebody back in late so the score becomes like a little misleading.

So I don't know that the fourth quarters matter as much as maybe you think. And then he had like a, I think, Tori, Greg was on a baseline spin, dunk over. And, granted, it doesn't mean like, oh, yeah, he just says that way because he wasn't 25 because he just dunked on somebody. That's not what I'm saying, but those bursts are still there. I also think the Rondo part of this is a huge part of the team success because I thought, again, I thought there were times I'm like, what is he doing out there?

Like, he looks unplayable. And I think LeBron having somebody else that he trusts just to bring the ball up. I know it can sound stupid. No, no. I can speak to this better than I can, but just trusting that, hey, that other guy will initiate something good. and I trust him as opposed to Kuzma Jack and a shot up, although Kuzma's actually played better than I thought he would.

You know, Pope, who's not really a creator on his own, Caruso, you probably don't want shooting a ton, although you probably, you know, like his toughness and all that stuff, just having somebody with Rondo's resume where you go, okay, you can get us into our action and I can kind of maybe cut off of this. I think that's a huge, huge, you know, just a relief for LeBron to not have to have that burden every possession of the court. Ryan Rusillo, check him out at the Ringer.

Follow him on social media as well. Ryan, great stuff, man. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Doug. Let's get to John Goulet with the news. Let's get you to John Goulet with the news. Let's get you to John GERD line news. Go, John. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the Hurdline News. There's a lot of buttons in here. There's a lot of buttons. Yeah. So yesterday we may have learned why Bill O'Brien was fired so early in the season by the Texans. The report came out that J.J. Watt and his former head coach had a verbal exchange at practice a couple of weeks ago

before they're lost to the Steelers. Sources confirmed to ESPN that this blowup happened and the incident was the moment Bill O'Brien lost the team. They asked Watt about it yesterday. He said, quote, I'm not going to talk about what happened to practice or what conversations were had or whatever it may be. The situation is what the situation is

and we right now have a fresh start. We had a good practice today and we're looking forward to Jacksonville. That is as close to confirming that story as you can without saying, yep, that totally happened, because he didn't say it didn't happen. If things had really gotten that bad, is it possible that Texans could actually have a bounce back? They had a tough schedule, and they hated their coach.

I mean, that seems like a prime candidate to me to roll off a few weeks. And they're not a bad team, and they have a big-time quarterback. And I know people are like, well, you just said their quarterback. No, I'm saying he hadn't played that well. That's a good reason why they're... Yeah, yeah. They're better than Jacksonville. They should win this weekend, and it should be a galvanizing moment.

Again, and Romeo Cunel has experience, he's been a head coach before. So they should play with great energy. Then we don't know what's going to happen next week with Tennessee. Then they get Green Bay, that probably won't go well. They got Jacksonville twice, the stuff of Detroit. They got Chicago. They do not have an easy schedule. It's one of the things that comes to win their division, not as hard as they had.

Could you see a bounce? Are they going to win games? Yes. Are they going to win nine or ten games? I don't think so, but I don't know. Yes, I think they're a prime candidate for a bounce back specifically against Jacksonville, and then we'll see what happens with the Tennessee game. I know Bill O'Brien is famous for yelling at Stars.

His biggest highlight in New England was yelling with Tom Brady, but man, I don't know that I'm picking, I'm going after JJ Watt. He's just so beloved by people. I don't know if that might be the one guy you don't go after. You can't. Well, you lose JJ Watt, you lose the locker room. And that's reportedly what happened. And finally, the Chiefs will visit the Raiders this weekend.

And because they're in the same division, we refer to that as a rivalry. Derek Carr, though, disagrees. He told the Las Vegas Review Journal, quote, If we're being honest to make it a rivalry, we have to win some games. Carr is 2 and 10 against the Chiefs in his career. And the last three times they've played, the combined score is Chiefs 103, Raiders, 22. The domination by the Chiefs in this division has,

just been crazy. And it's not even just Patrick Mahomes, but when he's there, they're just, they don't have any competition. They don't have a rival, do that? No. No, I mean... Even Baltimore can't be a rival to them. No, but that's, and that's in conference, not in division.

I think they've beaten the Chargers. I'm going to say something like 17 and last 18 times. You would know. And, yeah, and the last one, that was that crazy overtime win on like Thursday night or something a couple years ago when the Chargers were red hot. Yeah, I mean, like, definitely. Ever since Peyton Manning retired, they've been bad. Obviously, the Raiders been bad.

The Raiders has been bad for most 20 years. But that's part of it. That's one of the reasons that they've been so successful under Andy Reid is, a lot like Bill Belichick, they've dominated their division. That was the key to the Patriots dynasty. Sure. Some of that is the ineptitude of the Raiders, the ineptitude of the Chargers at times,

the ineptitude of the Broncos since Peyton is retired. And some of that is Andy Reid and the Chief's got it going on. And that's John Gulae with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. The Dodgers snuck out a win last night, but there's cause for concern in their pursuit of a World Series title.

I'll tell you what that cause is upcoming 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, 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 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 with a little Kim? 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're just so you. 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. So, oh. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for

black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fantine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing, and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth,

or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Seeing the check engine light turned on, can give anyone anxiety, but with coverage from CarShield, you won't dread unexpected repairs. Get coverage today and see why CarShield cars go further. Visit CarShield.com. Use the code heard. Save 10% and a deductible may apply. The Dodgers won last night. It was a really, really exciting baseball game. And I understand that Colin, like me, my show, follows this show on most Fox Sports Radio affiliates. as well as in your IHeart radio app, the Doug Gottlieb show. We don't talk a ton of baseball until you get to the very, very meat of the playoffs.

And maybe, love, you get, I mean, we could have a dream scenario. You already have the A's. Mike Fires plays for the A's. He was the former Astro who turned in the Astros. You have A's Astros and then potentially Yankees Astros, but the Yankees are down two games to one. And then either Yankees Dodgers in the World Series or Astros Dodgers in the World Series, any we would absolutely take.

Yankees, Dodgers, best ratings, best storylines, Yankees Astros. Dodgers Astros, excuse me. So the Dodgers technically won last night. And look, I'm just going to say it, they ain't win a World Series with that bullpen. And I don't know what changes you can make. Right?

If you haven't been paying attention, Kenley Jansen hasn't been the same since the World Series a couple years ago. Last night, he got, Last night, they threw a ton of pitches last night, right? I think he threw us 30, which I think is the most he'd thrown all year long. 31 was the most he'd thrown all year long.

But gave up three hits, two earn runs, only struck out one, but he just, the fastball is not the same. The cutter doesn't have, the cutter does not have the same life. And when your cutter doesn't have the same life, as was pointed out on TV, they're going to hit it and hit it hard. So they had to use Joe Kelly to try and get that one last out. And he did it and got the save, but walked two in the process.

And that just does not feel like, how are you going to win nine games without somebody coming and shutting the door? Anybody? It's like watching the Ravens. I like the Ravens and how they play. I love their defense when they get after it. They're running game. but if you can't come from behind in a regular season or a playoff game, how do you expect to win a Super Bowl?

Glamar Jackson has literally never won a football game as a starting quarterback in the NFL when his team has trailed at the half. Every time his team is led, he's won. Every time his team is trailed, he's lost. How do you expect to win a Super Bowl if you can't do that? How do you expect to win a World Series if your closer doesn't have juice and you're left with Joe Kelly, who instead of throwing high 90s

is throwing mid-90s, which I'm told leads to bad things happening. The Dodgers are limping their way to what could be another World Series appearance. I don't see them winning with that back end of the bullpen. You know, Tom Brady has six rings. LeBron's on his way to his fourth ring. There's something they have in common,

which I feel like should be given more respect. I'll share that with you next. I'm Doug Gottlieb, this is The Hurt. 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 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 excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifers Show. This is a place for raw,

unfilled 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 IHeard 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. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me.

I'm Sam Jay. 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. It 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.