The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd - Hour 3 - Thoughts after week 17

Episode Date: January 4, 2023

The Raiders are closer than you think What will the Seahawks do at QB next season? More on the Patriots and QB Mac Jones   Guest: Mark SanchezSee 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tauntons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule. of two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind 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. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. This weekend, don't miss your free

chance to win $100,000 of Terry Bradshaw's money playing Fox Bet Super 6. Scan the QR code, download the Super 6 app, and enter your six picks in the NFL Sunday challenge contest for your chance to win. By the way, with LinkedIn jobs, higher qualified candidates more efficiently, go to LinkedIn.com slash herd, post your job for free. J-Mac with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. Ron Rivera made a very questionable decision last week to move off Taylor Heineke in favor of Carson Wentz. People didn't like that. I still don't know what it was about. Wentz was a total train wreck against the Brown's three interceptions

and the season's over. Well, for week 18, the commanders are making another QB change. Despite earlier reports that signal Taylor Heineke was going to start, the commanders, they're going to start Sam Howell, the rookie out of North Carolina. They just announced it.

Good luck to the kid. starting this week against Dallas. Your first NFL action will be running away from Micah Parsons. Yeah, that's not a great start. I mean, listen, better than nothing, right? You're at least starting. He didn't play once all season. You've got to see what the rookies got. Just in case, you know, next season, who knows?

Who knows? Maybe he wins a job in the off season. He reminded me a little, a little of Baker-Mayfield in college. I think Baker throws a better ball. I think he had some ridiculous stats at UNC, I think, like 35 touchdowns. Yeah, he could fling it. No, he's good. I thought, athletically, I don't know his size, but when I watched him in college, I didn't ask anybody so I could be totally wrong.

I thought he had a little Baker. Baker's got a pretty good zip to his ball. Sam moves okay. Decent size. I don't think he's an NFL starter. Maybe I'm wrong. Yeah. All right.

Let's get to the NBA. Boy, Colin, this guy cannot stay healthy. Zion Williamson hamstring strain expected to miss at least the next three weeks. Zion has been utterly dominant. Just had the best month of his career, averaging 29 points per game. He had 43 last week a career high. I mean, three weeks Zion out probably means closer to a month. I know you think NFL injuries, if they say four weeks, it's probably two or three.

And the NBA, it's always longer, right? Well, you have a longer runway. You don't want to risk coming back. There's always been this urgency in the NFL to get out there and play. You know, there's this badge of honor to play kind of banged up. In the NBA or baseball, there's no reason to rush back the season so long. Yeah, and I will just point out, as a Lakers fan, Zion now out three weeks, Devin Booker's hurt, the Utah Jazz. Remember, they started all hot.

They were like 11 and 2. They're fading under 500. Steph Curry's still out. Steph Curry's still out. The door is ajar for the Lakers, Colin, to make a move. And add guys, not remove Anthony Davis, but add pieces. Have you seen the Warriors now playing some interesting basketball? I like that.

We don't have to worry about the world. I can't wait for the playoffs. Let's just get to Warrior Celtics 2. Oh, wait a minute. You don't want to see Zion versus Draymond Green in the playoffs? No, not really. I want to see the Warriors Celtics again. I think the Warriors beat him again.

But listen, I don't know why everybody dislikes. I think the Warriors are fascinating. I know they're players. I know Stepp and Clay and Draymond. I like Wiggins and Looney. Wait, wait, wait, you like Kevin Looney? Yeah, like his, I mean, he's become an elite rebounder. He's worked his butt off.

I liked him. Give me your top three watches in the NBA. Curry is obviously first. No, the Warriors are the best watch in the elite. Okay. Who's after that player or team? Memphis. Kind of with John Morant. It's kind of fun. You can start laughing now. It's not really Memphis, is it?

They're your second favorite watch in the NBA? When they're on, I like watching John Moran. Okay. All right. That's a major shock. Who's your second? I think I got to go Luca Donchich. I think he's the best player in the league. He makes everyone better. He's unstoppable. He doesn't look unstoppable, but he is.

Zion Williams is probably three. Yeah, I don't know. To me, Luke is going to end up top five score, but John Morant just better, he's more dynamic to watch. He's more Derek Rose, more vertical. Let's move on before I get myself in trouble with social media. All right, finally, after a year of meetings, the NCAA Transformation Committee, who are in place to reshape the NCAA's archaic policies has produced a 40-page report released Tuesday to select media members. The most notable is to expand the NCAA tournament, men's and women's, from 68 to 90. Why? Well, you just, what's the point? It's not an official change yet, but a further review is going to happen in June of this year.

Final recommendations will happen next year. Colin, 90 teams in the NCAA tournament? Come on. Why do you mess with something great? I know. What's the point? It makes the tournament less interesting to me. The first two games are gross.

Top seat. I know you're not watching college basketball. By the way, one in one on my bets last night in college hoops. I'm thinking about going to the UCLA game. When? Friday, I think. Who are they playing? Friday or, I don't know. Friends last night and they're going, I think I want to go. Can I get an invite to that? Well, we'll see. It's a very elite group. Exclusive crowd. I mean, goodness gracious. All right. Fair enough. All right. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. Be sure to catch live editions of the Heard. heard weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Cliverts Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics

from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of ton-tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, he called the best game of the weekend. He called the Raiders' Niners game, which was wildly entertaining and very surprising.

This week he has the Rams Seahawks game. So the Seahawks want to win, cross their fingers, Detroit upsets Green Bay. Mark Sanchez, now joining us on the set. Fox Sports analyst, 10 years in the NFL. Great senior, Mark. As always, you've done a terrific job this year. Best Jets quarterback ever.

That's right. Hey, so we've said, today was the, I've been following medical people on tomorrow, Hanlon. Sure. I'm going to get out of the opinions from the media. And there was some fairly positive news. So in your, obviously, watching the players, I think once they saw CP,

are, it, that's hard for a first responder to see. That's, that is hard to see. Have you ever seen anything in your career? Oh, man. Not even close. Nothing like that. Not like that. And you've seen broken bones.

You've seen injuries. You've hear guys yell and scream and like, ah, and you see kind of some messed up socks and stuff, maybe a bone or, you know, and you're just like, oh, man. Yeah. Like some, you know, when players like yell, when you see the players go like this, it's trouble. To the side, it's usually like, ooh, he got, he got banged up pretty good. never seen anything like that.

I thought Ryan Clark and Booger and the people on TV, I don't know what I would do in a situation like that. It's so hard. But I think they aired on the side of caution and just talked about the player and hoping he's okay. And that's most important. It's just it's really too bad because that's kind of the culture that's built.

And I thought Schlarith did an excellent job yesterday, saying like in the NFL, you're just conditioned in football in general, you're conditioned. move the drill, go to the next field, go to the other end zone, and finish the drill, finish the game. Like, that's what you think. Sure, sure. You know, that's naturally how you're wired.

But I think they did the right thing the other night and push everything aside. Yeah, there's always been sort of a badge of honor in the NFL to play hurt. Of course. Everybody. In baseball. Yeah. Listen, man, take the week off. Sure.

Yeah. It's just a different mentality. And, you know, you just feel for that guy. And you know, it's a tough one for him and his family. So explain because it was, um, I said on social media, I give up. I can't figure the league out. Jared Stidham goes up and down the field.

He went off. But he did have his coach from New England and knew this system. That's the biggest part. He's a fourth year guy making his first start. Niners don't know what they have. In a system that he knows, more or less, sitting behind Tom Brady for an entire year, watching him master all those situations, end of half, end of game. I said on air,

they're going to go down at half time. I wanted to say they were down 1410, I believe. And I said, you know, Stidham's got to be smart here. I said, you know, like the gambler, the song by Kenny Rogers. No one to hold him, no one to fold them. Nothing too crazy, dude. Get your team within a point at halftime. And then he goes off and drops a dime in the back corner at the end zone.

Are you kidding me? But it was exactly right. Like if you're going to take that shot, then take. take it with a conservative throw that's going out of bounds and you're going to go make Superman, go make a Superman type play. Right. And let Devante Adams make you right. And that's exactly what he did.

That was a harmless throw because it's going out of bounds and you're not, that ain't going to the defense. You're good. You're getting points no matter what. And I thought he played it perfectly. You know, the overtime, if he doesn't get hit, trying to throw that ball, it might be another one-on-one splash play and they could walk off with it. So it was too bad the way that it ended.

ended, but it was fun to watch. And I think, you know, the 49ers, that could be a good wake-up call for them, because that's one of the best rosters in the league. The only thing I thought is, like, when you get into a shootout like that, that was Purdy's like first real shootout. Yeah. Because he had had the lead, most of his, you know, three games leading up to that. In those shootouts at the right times, you're going to have to take shots over the top. Yeah. And when you do, you got to hit like one out of three. Even if you don't hit every one, you don't have to be perfect, but you got to hit one of them. All the deep balls were just a little bit underthrown, just a little bit underthrone. Just a little bit from one got picked but they just like you're going to need a little more juice down the stretch

if you're not at home it might be cold in one of these other places like you got to is there anything mark because when i look at the niners i think best roster in the league is there Kansas city in the fourth quarter and the raiders move the ball if i said to you you had to watch what you did the nineers and then tell a team here's the way to beat the niners is there a little i could take out of it as an offensive coordinator and say, well, there is a little weakness here. Well, I mean, they still scored. I mean, what was the final? Right, right. They scored. Yeah, they scored. You know, you're scoring on them. I thought, I thought Tomico Ryan's was doing his best. They actually didn't give up a ton of pressures, right? Neither team had a sack. So, like,

if you can hold Bosa, you know, and that's a tall task, you got to chip them, and it's got to be, you know, when they're going to get in those wide defensive ends like that, you got to to attack him up the middle at times, but now Armstead's back. So he starts to put a damper on that. So you're going to have to double team him, which means, all right, that's going to be a little late for Fred Warner at the backer position to now go diagnose the run and go hit that thing in the mouth. Like, it's a tough defense to beat.

I will say, you know, Josh McDaniels did an excellent job, is scheming that up, moving Devonte Adams around a little bit, putting them in bunches and stuff and just trying to get their best player operating. You see Waller shows up a little bit more, Renfro showed up a little bit more. So the Raiders have a decent roster. They had opportunities. They were in games, multiple games, and lost a ton of one-score games, right? If you win half of them, they're playing for a playoff spot this Sunday.

You know what I mean? If you win three of the seven, you're playing for a playoff spot this Sunday. So it is interesting. When you watch the Raiders, many of suggested Brady would go there. They have a lot of picks. If they could get a second or a third for Derek Carr, they're going to have multiple fifths, multiple six. They could have multiple thirds.

When you look at the Raiders, do you think? think to yourself, boy, if Tom is here, this is a special team. Or do you think when you watch that personnel at the game, do you think there's holes that are too much to overcome? No, I think they're close. They're really close. I think they're closer than a lot of teams. I mean, they've had plenty of injuries. And Waller and Renfro have been kind of in and out of the lineup all year long. Remember the year before, I mean, either the last two years or whatever it is, looking at Renfro stuff going into last week's game, like at one point he had 120 catches in a year. Like that dude, I mean, he just wasn't there this year. He was hurt. So if you're using him the right way, which you would think McDaniels can do with Welker, with Edelman, with Amandola, the guys that they've kind of created that position, right? That slot, short, quick, intelligent receiver that can go run around. You know, I think a quarterback who knows that system, obviously Tom, somebody like that, or you bring in a rookie and try and steal Brian Hoyer who's been in the system forever, somebody who can kind of help him.

develop, but I don't think they're as far off as people think. I don't think they're just like, you know, bottom of the league garbage. They're legit. They can play. They got pieces there that they can really run. So I made it comp the other day. So when Justin Herbert was at Oregon, I had talked to GMs about him, and they were very reluctant because they said, you know, there's not a lot of it. He's a big kid who throws well. And then Christobal gets to the Rose Bowl, Justin's last game, and just lets him go. Don't need the backup quarterback. And I had two executive friends who were at the game on the sideline,

one of GM that went Tom Telesco told me. He's like, you see him in person running around. You're like, yeah, that guy's great. So C.J. Stroud, similarly, didn't run around this year. They don't have a backup at Ohio State. Then they've played Georgia. Ryan Day obviously says, kid, only way we're going to beat this team is you got to be that. Yeah, I mean, he cut it loose.

That's for sure. That's a great way to put it. So it's interesting. When I, what, you have the Seahawks game this week. And Gino's been fine. They've got two firsts. As good as Gino's been, I watched C.J. Stroud and I thought, oh, Pete's going to get that. Yeah, I mean, Gino's been great.

Right. Especially with the way the season's gone, losing this, you know, pivotal player in Russell Wilson, who's meant so much to the franchise. Now you've got to take over for a guy like that. Like, that's pretty tough. I mean, that's like Steve Young, taking over for Joe Montana. Like, that's really, really hard. Right. The bars set so high. It's like, okay, well, what are you going to do? Um, but knowing coach Carol, I mean,

he's, he'll bring in somebody. I don't know if they, I don't know if what Gino did this year. Granted, it was incredible. I don't know if that's enough to say, okay, I'm going to pay you the going rate, which is 35 to 45 million dollars for a starter over three, four years. Like, did he play that well? I don't know. Now, if he played like Jalen Hertz or something, and he had them, you know, in a playoff position three weeks ago and they won. the division and all that? Maybe. Maybe you say, okay, that's our guy. We'll get somebody in the third, fourth round to be his backup. But now it's, you know, where else is Gino going to go? Where does he know the system best? What's best for Gino? And most likely it's to stay there,

unless another one of these teams is going to break them off major, right? Or he's the bridge guy and grooms a guy and understands his role. But he's also, there's a buy-in aspect to that. Now, does Gino want to do that? I don't know. It's a better for the team to have two guys, to have a Gino, who they know can play at the level he played at this year, and then have a guy with, you know, this incredible ceiling, and you hope that potential gets realized. So a lot of questions there. I'm curious.

Obviously, you know, I'm supposed to talk to coach this weekend. Yeah. But, I mean, he's not going to talk about any of that. He's like so tunnel vision. No, I get it. Which is the way you should be. Yeah, you talked about buying, and I think that's the right time. Yeah, that's going to be part of it.

Is it better? Like, will your career financially, going somewhere else, you're probably going to make more money. Somebody's going to spend on Gino Smith. And whether he has to compete there or not, whatever. But football-wise, winning games, you're realizing your potential as a player with this system, that's worth a certain amount in its own right. You know what I mean?

Compared to the millions of dollars you're going to make somewhere else. But Gino hasn't ever signed that monster contract. So it was almost like Teddy Bridgewater. Would he have been better off staying in New Orleans? probably career-wise, like football-wise, performance-wise, but he'd never sign like that monster deal, so it was time to go make money somewhere. And that's the decision he made,

and nobody's going to fault him for that. Mack Jones, Boomer Osceyeson said, don't love the body language. Trevor Lawrence was dealt a bad hand. You don't see bad body language. Two has been dealt a bad hand. I have defended Mack Jones. I like my quarterback to be in the moment and intense.

but there is now multiple people saying body language, Mac Jones, what do you make of it? I think it's kind of becoming something. Like, it comes off like he's whining or like Brady almost. But I don't know if I totally buy that. And a lot of the body language talk is like, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, you know, even Drew Brie. Maybe not Drew Brees. He was like a robot. You know, there's some other really good players in this league who absolutely lit up officials, lit up coaches.

Like, I've heard Tom just absolutely eviscerate a white hat before. And I was like, whoa, that was wild. But, you know, do the palms up, kind of throw their harm. Eli Manning. Like, guys, but if you're winning and you've won a Super Bowl and you're successful, like, everybody's like, oh, that's the fire I want. But if you're losing and you're not performing well, then it's now all of a sudden, you're a whiner. You can't play this position.

You're a baby. You're too emotional. Right. So I don't know if I totally buy that. Oh, that's good. Yeah. It's just kind of like a fair weather kind of throw away comment. My takeaway, Jay Cutler's was the worst I ever saw.

Well, he just seemed apathetic at times. Just kind of like, whatever, take it or leave it. But at the same time, like. That's because he was. But then he'd throw just an absolute seed through like four defenders. You're like, whoa. No, Jay had a great. He had a great arm.

All right, stick around. Mark Sanchez. other end. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's Ben. Host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor. It would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour?

I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mallor show, a cult hit overnight's on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports, and more every week. Explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. to the fifth hour with Ben Mather on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the eye. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the Ice Planet Hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Mark Sanchez joining us. So, you know, Sean Payton was on earlier this week, and he was really honest about it, about the Tuas situation. He said that Bill Parcells told him, top 15 picks tape prototypes. No small quarterbacks. that would mean no Bryce Young, no Tua, big, strong, 6, 3, 64 move around. Defensive ends, nobody was size issues. The only exception Bill Parcells would say is, if he, if he's a little short was, does he walk on water? Like is he, you know, if Dionne Sanders is an inch short and you're like, he walks on water.

So I look at Tua and his backup Teddy. And I say to myself, I'm looking around at Burrow in the A. F. And Herbert and Alan and Mahomes. And I say to myself, I can love the kid. But there's an availability question here. Derek Carr, Brady, go get a Kirk Cousins. Yeah.

I do wonder in that front office, everybody's job is tied to the quarterback in this league mark. Yeah. I think at some point you have to come to terms with maybe Tua, this, this sport is not great for him physically. Well, I think once the injury stuff kind of comes up, whether it's, Tim or Garoppolo or any of these players. It's just now you're like, okay, what am I going to get on like the return of my investment, right? Is this guy going to be available to our team?

And if he's not, we got to start asking some questions. And unfortunately, because of the way things have played out with Tua this year, you got to ask those questions. And it has nothing to do with really his performance. I thought he's played more or less really well. Like you finally put pieces around him. You get him in a system where he's comfortable. He's having fun playing the game.

he's learning how to manage the peaks and valleys as the starter in this league and he was really maturing into this you know legit player and now it's like okay well what do we do and what's best for him you know physically emotionally mentally and then what do we do as a team so um you you can almost guarantee they're having those conversations like okay is it Bridgewater do we go make a run at someone what what's our move and it's and it sucks and that's hard that's the physical part of the game that, you know, is unfortunate. And he's got a couple tough breaks. But, you know, the kid played his butt off this year after everybody wrote him off.

No, he's a great kid. You're just bummed for him. Yeah. So when you, all the teams, you've done a great job broadcasting this year. I've told people through the years the hardest single role in broadcasting is the NFL analyst. Because every 12 seconds, you have to say something smart. You better hurry up.

You've got eight seconds. I can extrapolate for hours here. My stories are all too long and boring. You've got eight seconds. Go. And then wrap it up, baby. See, I kind of like it. I like that kind of pressure of it.

And then what's, you know, and maybe I'm pulling back the curtain a little too far. But you also get to see the play like four times. When it happens, you watch it live. Then you roll back the tape. So you watch it in reverse. And you're still getting information. when you rewind it. Yeah.

Because I've watched tape forever, like my whole life. So as you rewind a play, you see what the play is, and then you confirm it kind of in reverse. Then I see it again. And then I see it from the high end zone, like the dissected cut. So part of my thinking is if I can't diagnose a play and explain it after I've seen it four times, like my ass shouldn't be in the booth. You know what I mean?

Like that's kind of just maybe that's a screwed up expectation. No, but that's just kind of where my brain wins. and going into it, I have to be completely honest, I was terrified to call games. And I felt like I was treading water last year, like halfway through the season, I was just like, oh my God, I'm going to ruin a name, I'm going to say the wrong guy. Like the other day, I said Nick Chubb instead of Bradley Chubb, like multiple times, you know? And stuff like that, like I was too scared of that.

And then I finally just cut it loose. I think after the London games this year and I was just like, dude, let's have fun with this. You love this game. You love ball. Like go cut it loose, man. Have fun. So you watch the game multiple times. Tell me the team.

You've mostly had NFC teams, but it could be an AFC team. Tell me that we see this every year. Cincinnati shocks us. Is there a team you've seen and you think, you know what? They are in person. They're better than people think. They're a playoff team. Yeah, I think honestly the Giants.

And it's been a while. Like everybody sees what the 49ers have done. They're just fun. That's probably my favorite team to watch, I think. The Niners? I think Seattle, when they started to really peak earlier in the year and like we're coming on and surprising people, that was fun to watch at the time because you go back and watch the tape and you're like, dang, dude, they're just sound. And here goes Kenneth Walker and he's about to explode. But the giants to me were the belief, watching them in warmups, talking to the coaches, talking to Daniel Jones, knowing his backs against the wall in that market and then wills this team to a playoff bird.

Are you kidding me? With, with, I mean, I hate it for him because I'm a quarterback, but like, who's my guy throwing to? Like, the tight end they had from San Diego State got hurt for a while, was in and out of the lineup. They lose Tony, who was one of their top picks a couple years ago. Like, they're trying to figure it out. Right. And it's hard to play like that without reps and throws to those players. And this kid's still getting it done.

On third down, he's got guys hanging all over him against Green Bay in London. We called that game. He's all bloodied and beat. up and he's still just standing in there taking shots and delivering accurate throws. It's incredible. Him and Saquan have done it all. Like that to me was wild. Mark, you know, Dayball did that with Josh. Oh, yeah. He's running Daniel Jones now. Oh, there's like six or seven. And he's bigger than you think. Oh, he's way bigger than he. That's a big, tough dude. He's got a lot of heat. I don't want to be the quarterback apologist up here, but at the same time, like, that dude's been through a lot in that market and to come out of it,

Come on, man. That's all the grit you need. You could see them go into like a Minnesota and winning or toe to toe to with Dallas. They're going to shock somebody. They're going to like totally derail somebody or take them down to the wire, right? Just because their defense is so multiple. One of these teams that hasn't played them much or only played them once and thinks they're getting one game playing gets another.

You know, the way that they've finished games, the way that defense is playing, I mean, the two studs in front, Dexter Lawrence. Yeah, Dexter Lawrence and Tibado. and my USC guy. Leonard. I mean, are you kidding me? Those guys will wreck a game. Those guys will ruin someone's playoff hopes, you know?

So they've invested some money in that front and some draft capital. And Wayne Martinale's got those guys playing. Great. I think their biggest issue is really a lot like the Jets the other day. Like the interior coverage of backs and tight ends. If you get into like pony personnel, I think that's been difficult with them for Tate Crowder and those guys to. Would you rest any starters or would you just play them? For the Giants?

Yeah. Like he said, J. Mack said, just don't play Barclay, everybody else. Because they're in no matter what, correct? And they have no, there's no seating issues with them. They're locked into six.

Yeah. So, I don't know if I want. There's three ways to do it, right? And I think we're running up against time. But three ways to do it. You either sit everybody. Right. You do the, you know, preseason type deal where you,

where you do like a quarter or a half or something like that, just to get them rolling. and moving around and feeling good. And then, or you just play everybody and fingers crossed, nobody goes down. I'm curious to see what Davel does. But, I mean, that guy, injecting life. Oh, he's my coach of the year. It's, wow.

And there's some good ones, too, right? I mean, O'Connell's been great. Shanahan's been great. Like, there's, that's, um, Zach Taylor, too. I mean, the Bengals were like, at the beginning of the year, too. Yeah. Yeah.

Hey, bud. Great, great. Great job this year. Appreciate you coming on the show. Thank you. And we'll be back for playoffs. Don't kick me off too soon. No.

Always welcome, buddy. Intelligence runs in the family. Innovation runs in the family. Extraordinary runs in the family. The 2023 Mercedes-Benz range of SUVs. Every member's waiting to impress. Learn more. Go to M-B-B-U-S-A-com.

M-B-U-S-A-D-com. For J-MAC, Ryan, Mark Sanchez. Channing Crowder was great. Albert Breer had all sorts of Derek Carr stuff that got us thinking for two, three hours. See you tomorrow. It's the herd. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. 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. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away,

such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.