The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR-2-Right & wrong, Panthers, Packers

Episode Date: September 14, 2020

Where Colin was right and WrongPanthers deserved to lose to the RaidersAaron Rodgers has enough weapons to competeGuest: Trent Dilfer Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.

From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor.

It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that doesn't. not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The HARD 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 Hurt at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHart Radio app by searching Hurd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go. It's our two on a month. Monday. These shows are so easy now. It's like a layup drill for Joy and I. This is the herd in Los Angeles, wherever you may be in, however you may be listening. Fox Sports Radio and right here, FS1. It was so fun yesterday. Sunday NFL kickoff. It's the show I do in the Sundays. And we've been doing it same crowd, Carissa, Michael, Tony, Schreger, Dave Wanstatt. We have an incredible production crew. It was just so fun to be back. Now, it was different. There's, you know, we're all distance. And the set is like an aircraft carrier. I mean, we're miles from each other. But it felt so good to see Jimmy and Howie and Terry and Tony and all and Carissa and all the crew was like, oh my God, this is great.

I actually, for the first time, it just felt in six months, football felt a little normalcy in my life. We always tried to say we're getting back to normal, but there's just America's not the same today. Even today when I drove to work, the traffic was bad. It was like, oh, finally, I got good traffic. I mean, I miss traffic so much. I remember really early on, maybe like two weeks into the shutdown. I was just walking around.

And it was empty. It was like that scene in vanilla sky. Like there's no people. In Los Angeles, that is a very hallowing thing to see. And I was like, man, I miss traffic. Every time everyone was like, oh, this traffic thing is no great. I'm like, no, please. I can't wait until there's, I'd love to sit in traffic right now.

Because that means things are starting to get back to normal. It's a new normal. Yeah. I will say, though, the fans, Maybe it's because we've been watching so much NBA without fans. It didn't bother me. It didn't bother me. No, same thing.

I thought it was going to be a real issue. It doesn't bother me. For the players, it probably is. But the Cowboys game last night, Solfye looked great. You know, the crowd, they juice the crowd up. Some of those crowd fake operators are a little better than others. But by and large, I thought it was pretty good.

So we do this every Monday. Colin right, Colin wrong, during the football season. It's just my favorite segment of the week. Here we go on a Monday. Where Colin was right. Finally, Pete Carroll gave the office. offense to Russell Wilson. And did you see what happened? It was unbelievable. Tip of the cat, Pete Carroll, finally, first quarter, nine for nine, 86 yards and two TDs.

This has been my knock on Pete. Give, let Russ Cook, give him the offense. And they finally did nine straight Seahawk receivers. And you know what it felt like? First of all, it was sensational. But when you go on the road and you're aggressive, there's something about the spirit and the of Seattle. They went on the road to win the game. First series. They came out hyper-aggressive, more aggressive than Atlanta. They finally gave the offense to Russell Wilson. 31 to 35. He was sensational. Where Colin was raw. Blazing five, two and three. We had the Rams right over Dallas. That was our pick of the week. And we also thought the Ravens would blow out the Browns. But I'll never bet Atlanta again. They break my heart. I don't even know why at this point, I'm stupid. I'm tired.

I'm over it. I am so disciplined in my life. My diet, my exercise, I cannot stop betting Atlanta. I knew I had something to yell at you about this morning. I saw you on Instagram. What do you do it? I have no idea.

I won't allow you to do it again. Nope. I will be the gatekeeper of that. I take on that responsibility. God, it's ridiculous. All right. Where Colin was right. The Bengals are Joe Burroughs's biggest obstacle.

This is why I worry about him. They lose a game, even though I thought late they outplayed the Chargers. getting offensive pass interference in the end zone, dropped a couple of key passes, then the kicker pulls a hammy trying to kick a potential game winning field goal. The offensive line, in fairness, they need another draft to sew up the offensive line.

But Joe Burrow was excellent. This is why I said he's going to win very few games this year, not just on Joe Burrell. Young quarterbacks need stronger support systems, especially when you ask him to start game one in a brutally talented division. that is exactly what I thought I would see. Brough played fairly well, and his organization just did what they do.

Where Colin was wrong. Adam Gase and the Jets were the worst-looking team. I don't care if you lose. You can't look disorganized. The Jets' first half was embarrassing. Does he get along with anybody? Does he have any allies? Does he communicate with anybody?

Sam Darnold wasn't good either, but Darnold's got a new offensive line. This is a mess. This is just a hot mess. they had nine penalties, two or three of them were at the inexact times. Nobody's getting better. That's what I worry about. Tell me the young players for the jets that are getting better.

Because I think I see in San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan, young players getting better. That is coaching. It's not just drafting guys and drawn up plays. That's not what they do in New England. They develop players. I'm not an overreactor on coaches being fired, but I'm not, I don't, if you see that three or four more weeks, Gaze doesn't get past Thanksgiving. Where Colin was right.

I fell in love with Kyler Murray, second game in Arizona. This kid is just a handful. I contend he throws the prettiest ball in the lead. Secondly, like Andrew Luck, they've just given him the playbook. They're not protecting him. Jared Goff is still being protected. Garoppolo's being protected. This kid threw 40 times against that defensive front.

This is Andrew Luck. Kid, here's the playbook. Go make stuff happen. I thought he was fantastic. DeAndre Hopkins had 14 catches, 150 yards, his best game as a pro. And this is their first game together. This kid is special.

Coaches tell you what they think of their quarterback. Kirk Cousins threw five balls in the first half. They have unloaded the playbook on this kid. To have a guy, he also ran for 90 yards. I just, I know you guys don't watch Arizona games. Watch him. This kid is a potential superstar. Where Colin was wrong.

Cam and Belichick never felt right to me. I didn't get it. It's weird. Rigidity and personality, don't mix. I thought it was really efficient yesterday. Now, it was Miami, but I thought that's how you do it. You know, Tom Brady used short passes. That's how he controlled the clock.

And then you let the defense win. Cam just ran the ball. And it was really efficient and really effective. I just always thought this thing is weird. The biggest personality in the league and the organization that's almost anti-personality, but it works. Belichick complimented him yesterday. And you know what?

I thought Cam was accurate. I thought he made really good decisions. They played to his strengths. It surprised me. I thought Miami had a shot to win this game. And from the first series on, you're like, no, Cam's got it under control. Where Colin was right? We said the teams with new head coaches and quarterbacks.

We said eight of nine are going to lose. well, they're two and six, and they'll be two and seven because the Steelers will beat the Giants tonight. Now, Washington pulled off a stunner, but by and large, we said there, with no preseason, the bad's going to still be really bad, and if you have new coaches and you have new quarterback, this is almost too easy, you were going to struggle.

Yeah, I mean, Belichick won. I should have known better on that. Where Colin was wrong. Gardner Minshew, dude, play. He can play. You know what he is? He's Baker Mayfield without the mistakes. They look like each other. They play like each other. They got about the same arm strength. The kid is accurate. He's got a bad offensive line in Jacksonville. They have a rookie undrafted wide receiver. He throws an accurate football. He plays with a ton of confidence. You know, in 2020, the NFL

quarterbacks look different. Some are tall, some are small. Some run. Some run. Some pocket. I got to come to terms with it. There is no prototype anymore. Gardner Minchu wears a bandana and denim jeans and it looks like it used to be in a Paul Newman movie and you know what man, the dude can play. He can play.

And then he got nothing around him. But confidence is really big in this league for quarterbacks and he looked big in big spots. I was really impressed by him. Where Colin was right? Houston Rockets. I didn't buy in small ball. I don't buy in James Hardin as a

championship player. Westbrook and Hardin had their moments, but I didn't buy into it. They quit. Listen, I've said with Hardin, he's a scorer. There's nothing wrong with that. I would vote him in first ballot. He may be the best score in the league, but a leader, an MVP, elevates franchises. He's a scorer. But how many times do I have to watch Hardin or one of his teams quit in the postseason? It's not that they lost. They had no spirit. They didn't want to play in the bubble anymore. They wanted out. They just didn't know. The coach wants out. The team wanted out. A lot of why you're seeing the Lakers play so well is the leadership of LeBron James. He's like, fellas, two more weeks, three more weeks.

This is where leadership is crucial. That's why Philadelphia unraveled. It's why Miami was supposed to have been great. It's why LeBron's playing well. Leadership, not talent, is now the key in this bubble. Because we're talking about two months, people have been away from their families. And Houston looked to harden for leadership, and it's just not who he is. Where Colin was right?

I don't get Matt Patricia in Detroit. If I had to listen to another guy, tell me, keep your eye on the lines this year. Yeah, I'm watching what I can tolerate. They're 923 and 1 with Matt Patricia. They let go their best player, Darius Slay. I don't want to hear a guy dropped a ball in the end zone. Mitch Trubisky looked like the early leader for the MVP.

Late fourth quarter Mitch was unbelievable. You either rise to the occasion in cruxie. moments or you lose. And this team figures out ways to lose. They're now 1 15 and 1 in fourth quarter opportunities to win, meaning they're trailing, they trail by a score. They have the ball. They have a possession.

They're 1 15 and 1. I don't get Matt Patricia. I don't buy the team buys into him. I don't think he has a great eye for personnel. Matt Stafford's talented, but a lot of guys are talented in this league now. There's a Matt Stafford every Sunday. Everybody's talented at quarterback it feels like in the NFL. Colin Wright, Colin wrong, good stuff.

Trent Dilfer's around the corner. Jimmy Johnson, one hour from now, one of the great football coaches of all time. So we got us Sunday. What sticks? What doesn't? What matters? What doesn't? Trent Dilfer, we'll go through all of it coming up next.

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHard 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 I'm saying.

Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

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

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search Learn the Hard Way and listen now. Tonight on FS1, it's a battle in the AL West as Matt Olson and the A's take on the Mariners. The action begins at 8 Eastern on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. All sorts of stuff.

What a great weekend. Amazing. Loved it so much. You and I watched the NBA, but it's like I didn't see the Clippers. Like now it's, I'm just NFL. Like my brain just went to football. Well, I just didn't have enough eyeballs. I had the four games up.

plus red zone on my computer, plus my phone following on Twitter. And then I had to, like, double screen on my computer so I could pull up another tab to watch the fourth quarter at the Clippers game. I'm like, this is like a lesson in focusing right now. Trenddilfer playing the NFL for a decade and a half. Got a pro bowl and a Super Bowl. He's one of my buddies now coaches football, high school football in Tennessee at Lipscomb Academy, made the playoffs in his first year. And he's joining me now via the Coward Global Satellite Network.

So, okay, I'm going to sound like a dummy here, but I'm going to lay it out and you give me the. answer. So when I watch the Rams, they have four or five sets, but they run a lot off it. And they give you a lot of looks and a lot of misdirection. And let's just say that we agree that both teams have nice weapons. Both teams have very nice weapons. But when I watch the Cowboys last night, it doesn't feel what you would say is multiple. I kind of feel like it's a little generic at times, which feels like it puts more in the quarterback to be special. And I don't particularly think deck is like, you know, upper tier special. When I watched, I just thought, this is what I've grown accustomed to when I

watched Dallas in big spots. They're good. They're competent. But this is what I see. And are they, are they multiple enough? Are they creative and versatile enough as a coach? What do you see? I don't disagree.

No, I think that's a really good observation. I was talking to our friend Ryan Rusillo earlier this morning about. Dak and I was talking about how he does everything well. So the, the danger when your quarterback does everything well is to call system plays and forget that there's things he does best and call quarterback plays. And I think what I saw last night is, you know, DAC is great at action. Dak is a threat as a runner. Back is great with misdirection when there's more of the Saturday flare with jet motions, misdirections, movements, creative screens. And there wasn't a lot of of that. There was a lot of just traditional

drop back pass, which he's good at, not knocking him, but he's not great at it yet. I think one thing you see in the Rams and the when you're watching the two differences between the two offenses, the Rams are super creative with screens, movement,

changing the launch point. Very rarely do they just catch, drop back and throw. They do what Jared does best as much as possible. And I think as these coaching staffs and Mike McCarthy's new to cowboys. He's got to learn what DAC does best and maybe insert his voice into that and say, listen, yeah, Dak does this well. And we can drop back and throw the ball in third down. And there's

times we're going to drop back and throw it. But what he does best is this. So let's make sure we're emphasizing the stuff he does best. And again, the movement, the action, the creativity, that Saturday offense and using him as a runner. I think it's foolish when you don't use these quarterbacks as runners because it puts such pressure on the defenses to give you defined looks. You know, I thought Tom was better than all the narratives this morning. I thought he threw the ball very well deep. He had a miscommunication error. But I said, God, when the schedule came out three months ago, we all put this down as an L.

I mean, no preseason, no OTAs. I thought Tommy looked pretty good. I just think they're going to look different against Carolina's defense. They're going to look different in October. I mean, I don't see any panic, right? No panic. But listen, even with preseason, I always thought the first four games, the regular seasons were a glorified preseason because the limited OTAs, the limited opportunities, they have them off season now. Now you put COVID on top of that.

They had no spring ball. They had no summer ball. Now, no training camp. And you're talking about Tom Brady, who is a, you know, brain surgeon quarterback meeting Bruce Ariens who has a different philosophy. it's going to take time for these two to gel. It's going to take time for the skill position guys to catch up to Tom and to think the same thoughts as him. It's going to take time for the offensive line to learn how Tom communicates

the line of scrimmage to pick up exotics on different blitzes. This thing, this might be tough sledding here for three to five weeks, but I do think that give them, if they can just stay alive in it, if they can be a 500 football team till the halfway mark, then I think you're really going to see Tom Brady's fingerprint on this offense, and you're going to see a little gasoline poured on it, the back stretch of the season. You know, it's interesting. I always wonder how it plays.

You can fool me. You can't fool players. And yesterday, like Arizona's like, Kyler, go, 40 throws. Kirk Cousins, five throws at half. Like, I was saying this about Minnesota. I'm done hearing about, you know, they'll have a four or five game winning streak. Mike Zimmer's a good coach. But there's such a message to me when I watch Kyler Murray that's so encouraging if I was a teammate,

kid, go for it. And then I watch Kirk Cousins and the messaging to teammates is we're protecting him. Like I just can't get past that with Minnesota. I can't get past it with a – you tell me what is the messaging in a locker room when you're protecting a quarterback, not arming him, not encouraging him. Yeah, I think with Kirk in particular, it's a delicate balance. Zimmer being a take of the air of the ball guy, a defensive-centric guy, he's not ever going to want to be a high-volume thrower. The problem is that Kirk Cousins plays his best as a high-volume thrower.

So they have to find that delicate balance. I think they just need to seek balance. It doesn't have to be run first, doesn't have to be pass first. It's, hey, at the end of the game, we're going to have six. 35 plays, let's have 33 passes and 32 runs or 33 runs and 32 passes. If they seek balance, you're going to get the most at a Kirk Cousins. He's another guy. He is fantastic as an action passer.

You put his back to the line of scrimmage, put the ball in the belly, he cut the field in half. He is a dynamic second level thrower. He's a guy that's going to get you a lot of big plays. They have good skill position, guys. That is set up off running the football. So if you're, if you're kind of a nice. mid-90s football team with the Minnesota Vikings,

you're going to be a successful football team where you're a lot of dot-back runs, a lot of opportunities, let your offensive line go forward, and then let Kurt take advantage of those opportunities and push the ball down the field. But when you sequester a guy and only let him throw five times in the first half, that's a volume thrower.

You're not going to get the most out of him come the second half. It's not like you can just turn the key and say, okay, Kurt, now go throw it 30 times the second half because we're behind and be you. These guys need rhythm. Troy Aikman was a great example of this. Troy Aikman was a guy that would always need to throw the ball in the first half more than run it.

And they had Emmett Smith. And if you notice a lot of Troy's Super Bowl years, they would throw it 16 to 20 times in the first half, get a lead and then take the error of the ball in the second half. Troy wasn't as great. He was always great, but he wasn't as great if it was six passes in the first half and now go through it 25 in the second. He was a guy that had to get going, had to be a legend in his own mind. like he was running in the show. And in the second half with the 10-point lead, hey, give it to Emmett, let him roll. Yeah. By the way, Joe Burrell's debut, what'd you make of it? Good,

bad, ugly, what'd you make? I like his presence. What I love about Joe Burroughs' presence. He doesn't flinch. Nothing's going to rattle him. He made enough plays where you saw kind of his splash value, you know, the draw play you saw his athleticism, made some really nice throws. I thought he made a great throw on the touchdown. It was called back. It was a good call, but I was a great throw to the pylon, high in away to AJ Green. But his poise, his presence, his toughness, those are the things that are going to allow him to play for 10, 15 years. There's a lot of talented guys.

Joe's no, not more overly talented than the next guy. But he does have that intangible makeup that can make him special, and that's what showed yesterday. You know, I'm too critical of Baker Mayfield, but fourth coach, same mistakes. Is accurate? I just, I don't see it. I don't get it.

You keep giving him weapons. And I get the same guy, right? Like what am I missing on him? I just think he's a limited player. That's what I see. I mean, I feel like I, you know, I said this. I think week one last year. I said a week six last year and week nine last year,

week 13 last year. Dan Rolowski said this morning on Get Up on ESPN, everybody's starting to realize it. He has an identity crisis as a quarterback. He doesn't know who he is. He doesn't know what his DNA is. He tries to play the game like Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray. when he needs to play it like Drew Breeze.

Garner Minshu is a better quarterback because he plays the position the way he knows he has to play it. Baker has to play it the same way. He'll still make a splash play here or there. He is a good enough athlete to extend plays every once in a while. But he's got to trust his feet.

His feet and his eyes have to be talking to each other. This is a craft position. This is not a wingman in the NBA where you dribble, drive, dunk. Okay, this is a craftsmanship position. He plays with no craft. As soon as he learns to be a craftsman, he'll be a very, very good NFL quarterback,

but he hasn't figured it out yet. And his coaches haven't figured out because if they had, they should be drilling this into him every single second of every single day. You can't be bouncing back there. You can't be trying to be an athlete all the time. Play the position the way it was designed to be played.

Played as a craftsman or you're not going to be successful. By the way, Lamar Jackson, yesterday, and I said this, is the difference between winning playoff games and a Super Bowl is can you play from behind? The difference between being great and a legend is can you play from behind? Russell Wilson, Mahomes have shown that. They trail, they look like the same guy. So that to me, now yesterday, it's hard to, you know, they were leading. I think Lamar plays very well downhill. But I got to tell you, when I watched him yesterday, he looked better than even last year. All I know is that kid works in the offseason, Trent, because, you know, there's a lot of of critics of him. I'm done with that. Like, he looked better yesterday than the end of last year, right? Yeah, in a very short amount of time, Lamar's now put himself in that category.

We're really the only time we'll criticize him is if he doesn't win a Super Bowl. I mean, he's in rare air. It's going to come down to the AFC championship game. It's going to come down to the Super Bowl. Like, that's how we're going to judge Lamar Jackson. He's going to light the league on fire. It's going to be him and Mahomes and

Aaron and Deshawn Watson and Kyler Murray, lighting up every single week, being called, you know, being on these lists of of the best in the NFL. But really, he's already put himself in that brutal position of you're going to be divined by championships. He's got a 12-year NFL head coach, one of the best in the business. They've built an incredible developmental program where they're just churning out guys. You haven't heard their names.

Then they become stars. They've done great in the draft. They, their players fit. Like, talk about system fit guys. Like, everybody just kind of fits. it's what they do. I mean, they're dialed in to be one of the best teams of NFL. Now really it comes down to can you go win the big one?

Can you carry your team on your shoulders come February and win the big boy? I liked Russell Wilson early. I think he is surpassed because yesterday it felt like Pete finally said. All right. We're just going to throw the ball early. I'm going to kind of let Russ cook. I'm going to let him go. I think Russell Wilson is better than I thought he would be.

He's incredible. I mean, he's a Hall of Famer. He's, again, if we're doing lists, he's in the top four. He's, he makes the incredibly difficult look so routine and so easy. His command, his presence, his juice, his critical moment plays. I can just go on and on, on, you can do all the analytics, and he checks every box there. But there's just something, he's almost, there's a couple of guys that just have kind of magic to him. And he just got that magic feel to him. Like you never feel as if there's a play he can't make.

They've surrounded him with really complimentary pieces. I think you're going to see this could be a Seattle Seahawks offense that is unlike any Pete Carroll's ever coached. Yeah. Now, I don't think they're going to be air raid Seattle Seahawks, but if there's games, they need to throw it 45 times, I think you're going to see Russell Wilson thrive in those moments as much as he thrives in the game where he only throws at 18. But, you know, 16 of those are down the field. So he really can do it all. I think the easiest way to put to explain Russell Wilson is that he does super,

superhuman type things and makes him look really easy. Finally, we know that Shanahan and Garoppolo have trust issues. You can see it with some of the play calling. We know Andy Reed and Mahomes don't. And, you know, you can kind of tell Zimmer and Kirk Cousins, there's a protection thing going on. But I was talking to a friend last night. I want to circle back to the Rams Cowboys.

And we were talking about McVeigh, and we were talking about Jared Gough. And I said, I still feel like McVeigh's just kind of got the bumper cars on with Jared Gough. And my friend argued, he's like, no, I mean, he gets into these shootouts. Do you think McVeigh trusts Gough? I think he trusts him with 75% of what they're trying to do. And that's a big number. They want to be a run, run action screen team. They don't want to be a drop back pass team.

Jared is very, very good at those elements. Where they got into trouble last years when they became a five, six man protection drop back team. People say offensive line, but that's the quarterback management. The quarterback has to know how to manage those games. I don't think that's there yet. But I don't think it should be either. I don't think Tom Brady, Belichick trusted Tom Brady with the true. true drop back game, probably five, six years into his career. It is a much harder way of playing

football. You have you have protections. You have to manage. You get way more complex schemes in the back end. Pass rushers, you know, kind of get after a little bit more in those situations. It's a harder way to play. I think most good play callers right now in the NFL are leaning more on the run, run action, screen movement stuff on early downs and minimize. how much true dropback, no bells and whistles it goes with it, football you play. Jared, like many young quarterbacks, needs to grow in the dropback game, but he is very, very good in the action game. Trent, Bill, for great seeing you.

He's got the Viking beard going on right there. He looks very manly, very alpha. Am I not a little more scruffy? It's great seeing you, buddy. Awesome, buddy. Talk to you next week. Yeah. I do think what we're seeing in his Trent talks about that.

quarterback play now is giving us so many different looks. Gardner Minchew and is different than Gardner looks a little like Baker. Josh Allen's a little like early Big Ben. Kiders a little like Russell Wilson. But I mean, it just, it wasn't this way even 15 years ago. You kind of knew what a quarterback

was, right? Is he tall? Can he? I think football is so much better to watch now. There's so many different ways to run your offense. You know, a lot of the country, because Brady got a lot of the eyeballs, yesterday in the afternoon.

Not a lot of the country saw Garapolo against Kyler Murray. It was interesting because I'm not, you know, Shanahan and Garapolo, they're sleeping in separate bedrooms right now. Like that relationship is, there's a little tension. Kyler and Cliff, they're having so much fun. You can just, Arizona is just like, here's the playbook, take it over. Shanahan and Garoppolo is going to be, it's like a way more functional Gase Darnold. You can sense there's a little tension there.

But you can see Shanahan. Didn't Shanahan after the game was critical at Garoppel? Like, it's just not right yet. Just not quite there yet. Joy with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news.

Well, Cam Newton looked good in his Patriots debut. Certainly did. 230 total yards and two rushing touchdowns. He did get into a little bit of a confrontation with dolphins, the dolphins players. I didn't understand. What was that? They grabbed his necklace. So he was playing with a chain on.

He was. he was. Yeah. And so following the 21-11 win, he spoke about how some Dolphins players tried to take the chain up of his neck. They was reaching for my chain. And I think that kind of got up on my skin. But yeah, through it all, man. Listen, I do not want the, I don't want nothing to be taken away from a great team game that we did have.

You know, I was just teasing with coaches letting them look like that college park almost came out. So, you know, yeah, through it all, man. It was just all funny game. By the way. So after the game, I saw him being very emotional. I was like, I don't know if somebody said something to him. I didn't see this little mix up until later on social media. So I didn't know what happened that had gotten Cam so emotional and like upset.

But listen, you have to do something. Like if someone grabs you like that, you've got to react. You're not just going to walk away from a situation like that. I don't blame Cam at all. No, no. If you watch this video right here, it's not here. What? Not here.

It's a little shove there. It's this one right here. Yeah. No, no, no. The next one. Yes. Yeah, when he grabs his chain. Okay, that's violent.

If you're grabbing me and pulling me to you, you have a right to defend yourself. Well, he also broke his chain. So then you got to do something at that point. I think don't a lot of guys, baseball players do it. Like, some guys just like their stuff. Guys play with the jewelry all the time. This is not like, I know people were like, oh, why is he playing with a chain? First of all, like, first of all.

I think baseball guys do. So he lasted the entire game. Baseball players would play with chains all the time. So do football. Nose rings, earrings, all kinds of stuff. But the one thing that I took away from that whole situation and really the whole game yesterday is that the patients are really letting Cam be Cam. Yes, they are.

Like, Cam is the exact same guy that he was in Carolina, the hats, the fashion, the chain, the excitement on the field, the celebrations, and also his style of play. Like the Patriots have changed the way that they play offense to cater to Cam. And I think that's a testament to Bill Belichick. Great coaches are not rigid at the end. Like they find ways to adapt the way the games play and the players that they have. I think they're more rigid than they should be. I would argue that Belichick is not doing what a lot of coaches do because a lot of legends,

I can go to college and pro. A lot of legends, this is my, like, Pulpovich. He's adapting. You know, Belichick's like, you know, I also think it sends them. I think two people are sending messages here. Cam is sending a message that, oh, you don't think I can be in a, system with a great coach. Right.

And Belichick's like, you can have a personality here. It's okay. I think they both need each other and the messaging for both, they both need the message. Cam's got to be like, Cam, can you be coached? Oh, you can. And Belichick, could you lighten up? Oh, you can. When people need each other, it generally works.

It's absolutely working. I mean, you saw how you mentioned. I talked to coach and said, you know, that Clark almost came out of me. Like, that's not, you would expect Bill Belichick to be angry that. that happened. But it's, it's totally working. Look, again, I don't want to be overreact to week one. It was my dolphins. Let's not get crazy. But you can't be anything but happy with everything you saw. It was a very classic Fitzpatrick meltdown. I too might get out there earlier than you thought. So Joe Burrell also had a strong NFL debut for the Bengals, 239 total yards and a rushing

touchdown. But he was most impressive on the final drive of the game, three minutes remaining, no timeouts, led the Bengals down in the field to set up a field goal that would have tied the game and sent it to overtime, but kicker Randy Bullock cramped up during the attempt. And it was real. That's how the Chargers like 16-th-10-10-10-10-old. It is. It was very Chargers-like win and very bangles-like loss. You get there to the ends.

I can't ask for more from your rookie quarterback in his debut, no OTAs, no pre-season. I mean, that's the drive. That's what you want to see, that he has that in him. The Chargers are not a bad team. No, God, no. the defensive front. The charges. I didn't like what I saw from their offense yesterday.

No, you know what? Tua and Justin Herbert. You know, somebody else said this yesterday. It's a good point. Tua and Justin Herbert were multiple year starters in big TV games. They're not undrafted guys that played it like, you know, Panera Bread State. It may be just time here in a couple weeks. Let Tua go.

Let Tua go. Burrow showed. And Burroughs got less talent around him than I think Tua and Herbert would. But if the Chargers offense doesn't have more life, it's just Justin Herbert was a starter for three years, played in Rose Bowls, played against Auburn. He's been on national TV. He's not going to get nervous.

The game's not too fast for him. Yeah, I think a couple more weeks like that for the Dolphins and Chargers. You've got to go. And again, don't overreact to week one, but that was not great from either of those offenses. Not that you should expect much from the Dolphins offense at this point, but that was bad. You can't do that.

Finally, the rocket season ended yesterday when the Lakers. Saturday when the Lakers Alstoned them in the Western Conference semifinals. And head coach Mike Danton informed the organization. He will not be returned to the team next season. I love a coach

finally telling a team, I'm over you. I love a coach finally doing that. Well, this is sort of mutual. I mean, this was his, he was coaching on his final year. Maybe they gave him, maybe they allowed him to do that

so he could get into her job. Probably. I mean, this was like he was coaching for either this job. Like, they either have success this year they were going to go separate ways. He did lead Houston to the playoffs

in each of his four seasons there, including one trip to the Western Conference finals, and the Rockets also had the highest winning percentage in the West over the last four years. He is considered a candidate for the 76ers job. I don't know. I think the Rockets are a very fun,

regular season team. Yeah, great. And that's fun it. How about tip of the cap to Denver? Instead of belly aching about the clippers, how about a tip of the cap to Miami and Denver as great bubble stories with a bunch of kids who are in the conference finals?

Sometimes, you know, let's not just say Milwaukee stinks. Miami played great. The clippers don't stink. Denver's playing their arse off. Like some of this in the NBA, the bubble is psychology. It looks like Houston, Joy, melted down. But they always melt down. I know.

So that's kind of my issue with it. Yes, I think the bubble has a lot of psychological challenges that people are disregarding. It's hard to be away from your family. It's hard to be in a bubble for months at a time with really no escape other than, you know, it's only how many times you can go fishing and golfing before it's like, hey, you know,

I'd like to go sleep in my own bed. Right. This Houston team vastly underachieved again, and some major changes have to be made. Good stuff, Joy, with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. All right, coming up next,

Aaron Rogers was great. But can I just say this? about the Packers. Of course I can. That's coming up next. When it comes to reaching my health goals, it's about changing mindset and habits. It's all about Noem. N-O-O-O-M.com slash herd. Get started today with a free trial. Go to Noom.com slash herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Heard weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast, Superhuman, documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits. the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me

or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. 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 all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct. 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 podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapy.

Careers, 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 Fontaine, 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? 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 Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

MDrivefermen.com. Boost and burns. It's very good. Check out MDrive for Men.com. Don't let age beat you. All right, so this drove me. This was the play yesterday that drove me crazy. And it was actually two very average teams, but wildly entertaining Raiders played Carolina. And so Carolina gets the ball back and they trail and Bridgewater played well. And, you know, it was just a really fun NFL game. We've said this about the NFL. Teams don't have to be great for the game to be great.

And the game was really fun if you're a Raider fan. They've got a bunch of good offensive weapons. Defense is not very good. And Carolina, the defense got confused. It's not very good. It's young. But their offense is pretty good. So my theory on football is real simple.

When you get into key moments in a football game, just give it to your best players. That's always been my rule. They got you here. They got you here. So now we know with Carolina, their best football players, Christian McCaffrey, they've got good receivers. And I think Teddy Bridgewater is more than capable. And they get into this situation where they get to. into a fourth and like, you know, a foot and a half or whatever, fourth and a half a yard

or whatever. And instead of McCaffrey, who just makes guys miss. I mean, McCaffrey never, feels like he never loses yardage. He just makes guys miss. He's one of the great players, top five player, top ten player in the NFL. So Matt rules the rookie coach and they're going to steal a game. They were supposed to lose and the Raiders should win this because they're in year three with Gruden and this should be the game.

And this is the play they run, this nonsense. It is a full-back dive. What the hell is that? You jam up in them. You gave the Raiders who are not very good on the outside. They're not very good. So get the ball. Do something.

That's it. A quick, oh, you got it. Just let Teddy Bridgewater do a quarterback dive. He's better. You have Christian McCaffrey. Do you need to be reintroduced to the best player in your franchise? What are you doing? Yeah, I lost some money on it, but beyond that.

God, like it, he's an MVP. He, you, it's, this is not a great defense. You do not give it to a fullback. How many, I mean, I just, I watched that game and I'm like, if I'm a player and that play comes in, that's where I defend like a quarterback rolling his eyes going, I got the best running back in the league back here. It's the most predictable thing.

Just let's just shrink our, offense down to that. Ugh. So you deserve to lose. Congrats to the Raiders. Here's my second thing. I always hear this. It is a quarterback's job

to elevate the pieces you have. You're not always going to get the best offensive coach. You're not always going to get a great offensive line. I keep hearing this. I've watched Russ Wilson, Russell Wilson and Seattle with battle lines and rookie receivers and undrafted tight ends

and seventh round running backs. God, he just elevate. They're all good. If I got to hear that Aaron Rogers doesn't have enough weapons again, I don't want to hear it. I watched them yesterday. You're good enough to drop 44 in the Vikings. Your weapons are fine.

Devante Adams is a top three receiver in the NFL. He's a beast. You can't cover him. Devante Adams is a superstar-wide receiver. You have a top four offensive line according to pro football focus. Aaron Jones is a top five or six running back. You have multiple receivers who can play. Valdez Scantling is one of the fastest guys in the league.

He drops him occasionally, but he's super fast. Alan Lazzard is more than good enough as a number three wide receiver. In the NFL, if you have a top 5-0 line, a superstar receiver, a star back, that's enough. Now, they do a lot of 11 personnel. They do one tight end. They do not throw to the tight end much. They didn't throw to Jimmy Graham much. So that's just their offense.

Aaron doesn't throw to the tight end a lot. That's just how Aaron is. But like if you can drop 44, like I'm overhearing about how Green Bay doesn't have enough weapons. You start looking at where Russell Wilson's weapons come from. They're not good. They're undrafted tight ends. They're gadget guys in college. Doug Baldwin was undraft.

D.K. Metcalf dropped in the draft. He's great with Russell. It's a quarterback's job to elevate the weapons. occasionally in your career. I mean, Tom Brady played 20 years in New England. He had two years where he had everything. He had Welker. He had a slot guy. Then he had Randy Moss. Then he had Dante Stallworth.

And then he started getting good tight ends, Gronk and Hernandez. Tom, in 20 years, had about a two or three year window where he really had everything. Protection, a deep threat, a slot guy, solid backs. That's not the way it works. Like, I got news for you. Patrick Mahomes, in 20 years, is going to have years without a functional tight end and his top two receivers are hurt. It's your job as a quarterback.

I don't want to hear Green Bay and have weapons. They're not Kansas City. They're good enough. You give me a top 5-0 on a star receiver, starback. Now it's up to me to elevate the guys who are B&C players. Hour 3, the great Jimmy Johnson head coach, joining us next. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is 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. 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. Hey, what's good, y'all?

You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kier Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

Thank you.