January 10, 2019 • 39 mins
There is one thing that all of these new NFL coaching hires have in common and Colin explains what it is. He thinks the Chargers have a much better roster than the Patriots but it won't matter on Sunday. Plus, Greg Cosell of NFL Films explains why Dak Prescott's impressive 1st down run to beat the Seahawks actually shows how little the Cowboys trust him. Presented by Perky Jerky.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to
three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and FS one. Find your local station for the Herd
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every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching herde is
the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern on Fox
Sports Radio. It's a Thursday. Here we go. This is
(00:26):
the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may
be listening, We are live in Los Angela's iHeart Rudio,
Fox Sports Rudio on FS one. One hour from now
to get you ready if you play fantasy football, if
you bet the games, and you just want to see
who's gonna win this weekend. One hour from now, Greg
co Sell stops by. Joy Taylor's joining me in at Thursday. Joy,
(00:46):
how are you? Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning,
good morning. I'm so happy today. What a week for us?
What a week. This is the best time of the year.
Oh God, I got the poor in I mean, just
incredible games this weekend. I'm gonna have a blazing five tomorrow.
By the way, I am I'm gonna have a blazing
four tomorrow. Actually, maybe I'll pick a volleyball game or
(01:08):
something as the fifth. Let me start with this. So
Green Bay went out and hired Matt Lafleur. I don't know.
I don't know if he's gonna be a great coach.
I don't but I know this, If he gets the
Aaron Rodgers thing right, then it'll work. And yesterday the
Jets hired Adam Gase. Why because Adam Gase and Sam
Darnold had a better connection during the discussion than Sam
(01:29):
Darnold and Mike McCarthy. Who did Baker Mayfield want his
coach Freddie Kitchens? He got it? And why did Arizona
hire Cliff Kingsbury because they thought he and Josh Rosen
would get along. Four for four so far, the offensive
coaches hired were the choice of the quarterback because, due
to rule changes, the quarterback now is more important than
(01:51):
the coach, so you gotta get it right. It did
not used to be this way. Think I'm wrong. John
Elway and Mike Shanahan won Super Bowls together, some times
not a great relationship. Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll had
major issues won four Super Bowls. Phil Sims and Bill
Parcels were not best buddies. It was ugly and they won.
(02:13):
It used to be a head coach and quarterback league.
Due to rule changes, it is now a quarterback and
coaches league. By the way, look at the teams and
the quarterbacks and the relationships this weekend. So the Rams
are in the playoffs. You think it's a coincidence that
Goff and McVay are like dad and son, super tight.
(02:37):
The Cowboys will face the Rams. Here's what we know
about the Cowboys. Dak and Jason Garrett are all in together.
By the way. The MVP is Patrick Mahomes super tight
with Andy Reid. He'll face Andrew Luck and Frank Wright's
Apparently it's an incredible bond. Oh, there's also Nick Foles
and Doug Peterson tight facing Sean Payton and Drew Brees
(03:02):
tightest in the league. Are you seeing something here? If
you do not have a relationship where quarterback and coach
are symbiotic, it doesn't work. By the way, tell me
the two teams in the NFL this year that you
are shocked didn't make the playoffs. Pittsburgh Big Ben and
(03:23):
Tomlin not a great relationship, and Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers
and McCarthy imploded. Also teams that disappointed US Carolina cam
and Ron Rivera. My sources tell me they both frustrate
each other. By the way, Matt Ryan, Dan Quinn, it's okay,
(03:43):
Kirk Cousins Mike Zimmer do not see eye to eye.
Zimmer drives you know, Cousins drives Zimmer crazy sometimes. Okay.
Didn't used to be this way. You could have the demanding,
yelling coach Mike Ditka didn't like have to like Jim McMahon.
It didn't matter. Buddy Ryan didn't have to love his quarterbacks.
(04:04):
You could win Super Bowls, you could win your division
for years. Doesn't work that way anymore. The rule changes.
If the relationship is even a little off between coach
and quarterback, it doesn't work. Pittsburgh and Green Bay. By
the way, do you want to know why Mike McCarthy
and Aaron Rodgers did not get along this year? Okay,
I got this one sourced. They got along fine for
(04:27):
years because there was a middleman. There was always a middleman.
But Alex van Pelt got run off the middleman. So
this year Rogers and McCarthy had to deal with each
other constantly, and the minute it didn't work, the team
folded and the coach got fired. Okay, so yesterday all
these teams named. The only team, by the way, that
(04:50):
didn't hire an offensive coach Denver. Now why would Denver
not worry about that whole quarterback thing. They hired Big
Ban because Denver doesn't have a franchise quarterback that John
Elway thinks is going to be around in four years,
So they didn't give a rip. They didn't care. They
got Gary Kubiak, being the offensive coordinator, he will eventually
(05:12):
have to get along with a quarterback. But they don't
think much of case Keenom, so it didn't matter. They
went and got a defensive coach who, by the way,
Vic Fangio, is a good coach, not much of a personality,
not much of a talker, doesn't have real relationships with quarterbacks.
They didn't care. Even Tom Brady this year. Tom Brady
was always subservient to Belichick. We all know that, right.
(05:33):
For years and years it was Belichick's team, and Tom
did what he said. He got rid of Wes Welker,
he got rid of Randy Moss, Bill ran the show.
What happened this year? Brady said, you resigned Gronk on
my terms, and you get rid of Garoppolo or I'm out.
And Belichick said, as the greatest coach in football history.
(05:55):
All right, all right, all right, all right, all right.
Even in New England, for the first time the last
couple of years, Tom has flexed. No no, no, no, no, no,
no no, We're not getting rid of Gronk, resign him Belichick.
All right, all right, Belichick didn't do that for seventeen years.
Breddy is like, get Garoppolo out of town. I'm not
getting ground, all right, all right, all right, all right.
(06:19):
It is no longer a coach quarterback league. It is
a quarterback coach league. Four or four yesterday, Aaron signed
off on the floor. Darnold preferred gas. Baker wanted Freddie
and Cliff and Rosen connect. All right, let's ship to
this so um a dynasty could end this weekend. And
(06:42):
I just want to say this, Joy, and I have
said this multiple times. She's been in this business a
long time. I've been in it longer. Just because I'm older.
We both root for stories. We've said that you think
we root for teams no, no, no, noot for content.
We root for content. Content equals ratings, contract extensions. We
(07:03):
want fun, we want car wrecks, we want craziness. You
know what, the best thing that could happen to join
us this weekend, Dallas wins. That's good for us. Cowboy
Nation erupts. Cowboys are on Fox. That's our team. And
you know the other thing that would be great for us.
And you're not going to believe this, but I will
(07:25):
set a record Monday if this happens. The Patriots get
blown out and the dynasty dies. Because a lot of
people are connecting me to New England through the years.
I see the numbers, They'll tune in to see what
I have to say about the dynasty that got crushed.
Chargers win by forty They roll them, They beat them
forty seven to ten. It is awful. Brady stinks. That
(07:46):
is great for my business. But that's not going to
happen because New England's going to win. But the Chargers
have better players. I know they do. I'm not arguing.
So did Jacksonville last year, so does Pittsburgh every year.
So did Atlanta in the Super Bowl. Atlanta had better players.
Go look at the Pro Bowl list. Seattle had better
players in the Super Bowl. By the way, so did
(08:07):
the Saint Louis Ram seventeen years ago. They had better
players than New England. In fact, if you put down
the top ten players in my opinion between the Chargers
and the Patriots this weekend, Brady one, then Philip Rivers,
then the Patriots, Stephan Gilmore. Then it's a bunch of Chargers,
and then Devin mccordy. It's seven to three Chargers. Brady
(08:30):
Rivers to Fawn Gilmore, Desmond King, Derwin James, Joey Bosa,
Melvin Ingram, Devin mccordy, Melvin Gordon, Keenan Allen, And by
the way, eleven through twenty is a lot of Chargers.
Seattle had better players, Atlanta had better players. Pittsburgh Joe
has got better players. Chargers have better players Atlanta did.
Let me give you the advantages if I may. For
(08:50):
New England at home, Belichick rested weather experience significantly better kicker.
The Chargers are playing on back to back East Coast games.
There is not geographically, unless the NFL creates a very
quick franchise in Nova Scotia, there is not a further
(09:12):
trip the Chargers could make for the second straight weekend.
New England does have less talent, but this has become
their brand that outside of Brady, talent doesn't win games.
Being at home cold weather December and January one or
two trick plays very good. Ben don't break defense, I
(09:36):
will tell you without question, and Joy Taylor knows this,
and everybody in my business knows this. We do not
root for teams. We root for stories. I rooted for
Lebraun to become a Laker and Lebraun to become a
Miami Heat and when those stories get old, like Lebraun
(09:56):
in Miami, Lebroun in Cleveland, I'm rooting for another story.
That's what we root for. Dallas winning and New England
getting absolutely lit up this weekend is fantastic. But I
even think I know how this game is gonna go.
A rested team on two weeks is going to start
quickly New England. New England is ninety seven and eight
(10:20):
at home when they score first, and in fifteen playoff
games in Foxborough they are thirteen and two when they
score first, so they are ninety seven and eight overall,
winning ninety two percent of their games when they score first,
and the West Coast team traveling out east again will
be a little unsettled. Initially, New England gets on them,
(10:44):
jumps on them early, then holds them off. It's not
actually what I want. What I want is content and
the Charger's blowing them out and the cowboys hammering the rams.
Give me give me four days stories, but I think
New England is the bet this weekend. Be sure to
(11:05):
catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and Noon Easter
not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and
the iHeartRadio app. Most things I think I can explain
in life, you can find the answers for almost everything
today on Google. I mean, you can ask any question
in the world, they'll have an answer in Google. There
are some things, though, I would say three things in
(11:26):
the world I cannot explain. Number one is smoking. Why
people smoke, You die sooner. It's a painful death, it's
very expensive. Increasingly you are forced into tiny, isolated places.
You've gone to an airport, seen the smoking section. That's
a communal coffin, and it makes you smell get a patch.
It makes no sense. I can't explain it. The second
(11:47):
thing I can't explain is a states that allow you
to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. You do get
there is no such thing as a fender bender on
a motorcycle. You're upright or you're dead. That's the way
it goes. You either fly around or you're dead. And
some hippie in a prius checks out, downloads his fish album,
doesn't look and knocks you into the next county, and
(12:09):
you're a street pizza ski resorts force you to wear
a helmet. You're going twenty eight miles an hour New Hampshire,
you're going one hundred and eight. We're a headband. We're
all good. Here. I don't get it. Here's the third
thing I do not understand. Nick Foles is the best
passer in the NFL when blitzed. I do not understand this.
(12:34):
He does not have a great arm, he does not
have great escapability, smoking states that don't demand a helmet,
and Nick Foles being the best passer in the NFL
when blitzed, I do not understand this. Peter King yesterday
offered this. It maybe his personality, the fact that they
(12:56):
get Foles. Whose cool hand Nick is? He's told me,
I play with a quiet mind. The day of a game.
What does he do? Does he study film? Does he
do this? No? He journals about how to be a
better father. I mean, I'm just telling you this is
a different human being than a lot of the quarterbacks
that we've known. He tries to enter a game with
(13:20):
classical music playing in his head. Colin. That is Nick Foles.
It is remarkable. Even Las Vegas does not get Nick Foles.
Nick Foles and Doug Peterson are now four and oz
in the playoffs, and they've beaten good teams. They beat
the New England Patriots, and they beat the red hot
Minnesota Vikings, and they last week went into Chicago and
(13:43):
beat the Bears. And they're eight point dogs at New Orleans.
Vegas can't figure them out. Vegas doesn't like them, and
Vegas usually has it right. Vegas has them. Do you
know what an eight point favorite is in the NFL?
That's like when a dog goes to Foxboro. You get
over like six points in the NFL. You get the
average score in the NFL twenty six, twenty three, that's
(14:05):
like three times the average margin. We're down to the
final eight teams. Maybe it's his personality. I do believe
I've always had a little anxiety. I'm kind of hyper.
I think there are certain people that are born hyper
and born calm. I was not born calm. I tend
to be a little too intense, a little too anxious,
a little too hyper. I don't sleep particularly well. And
(14:28):
then there are people that are just natural DNA. They
just can walk into a burning building and their heart
rate doesn't go up. I've seen this with race car
drivers before, years and years ago. They did a test
on like the late great Dale Earnhart, and his pulse
didn't go up one iota going one hundred ninety miles
an hour around a turn. Some guys are just built
the race cars, and some guys are built to jump
out of planes. And I'm not either. But this is
(14:51):
fairly remarkable. Nick Fole's best quarterback. And by the way,
it's not like it's a flukey thing. The guys under
himber like you know, Breeze and Luck and Brady Momes
and most of the good guys. By the way, Dak's
way up there too. Be sure to catch live editions
of the Herd week dayson noon Easter not a empacific.
I have told you before, I've been kind of grading
the hirings. What I don't believe in is if you
(15:11):
have a young quarterback Jets have Sam Darno, he's trying
to figure out how to be an NFL quarterback. I
also don't want a young quarterback to have a coach
who's trying to figure out how to be an NFL
head coach. Freddie Kitchens has never been a high school
football coach. I don't love that move in Cleveland. So
as Baker's trying to learn how to do this thing,
He's got a coach who's trying to how to do
this thing. I don't like that. I do like I
(15:35):
don't like Arizona situation where Josh Rosen's trying to figure
out how to be an NFL quarterback and he's got
a college coach who's trying to become an NFL quarterback.
Adam Gaze to the Jets and Jet fans are clueless.
I mean, they're dopes, they don't know anything. This is
a really good hire. Adam Gaze is Kyle Shanahan. Before
Kyle Shanahan. Years ago, Nick Saban was a coach at LSU.
(15:57):
He had this, you know, nineteen year old, twenty year
old kid on his staff named Adam Gase, and he
gave him all this responsibility because Nick Saban's like, who's
the smart kid. This is a guy that had Peyton
Manning greatest year. Peyton Manning called the Jets that are
like smartest coordinator I've ever had. He won with Tim Tebow.
Tim Tebow went in a six game winning streak. It
was Adam Gase. By the way, he had a winning
(16:19):
record with Ryan Tannehill thirteen and eleven. He made the
playoffs the first year in Miami with Ryan Tannehill. The
previous two head coaches that Ryan Tannehill had had losing records.
Adam Gase had a winning record with him. He's a
really good coach. But what happened Tannehill got hurt. He
had to use Jay Cutler and Brock Osweidler. And by
the way, even this year with Osweidler, they had really
(16:40):
good Sundays followed off them by really bad Sundays, because
that's what happens when you have a backup quarterback playing
for you. But in the end, Gas is a great coach.
He gave the Patriots trouble. He went ten and six.
Rookie year he was a very successful coordinator. Now the
downside to him is he's Kyle Shanahan ish. He can
be condescending. He's really smart and he knows it. He's
(17:00):
very intense. He is in no passive aggressive to him
at all. He'll get right in your face. He's like
Kyle Shanahan who'll go to a press conference and chew
out reporters. He is really intense and he wears people out.
He had a winning record with Ryan Tannehill. No Miami
coach there's been three of them now have ever done that?
He made the playoffs the first year tebow Manning saban
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All call on his behalf. He's a super sharp guy.
Well he was fired. Who gives a rip? Belichick's been
fired in the NFL. Pete Carroll's been fired twice. Mike
Shanahan's got two super bowl has been fired. John Gruden
got fired next year, won a Super Bowl. Jim Harbaugh
got to a Super Bowl two years later, he got fired.
Andy Reid's been fired Now he's the one number one
seat in the Afcat guys. The NFL's for aggressive men
(17:46):
to coach. They're aggressive guys. Aggressive guys get fired all
the time. They get fired in radio, TV, they get
fired in his CEO jobs. He can't worry about getting fired.
If you're worried about getting fired, don't take any grown
up jobs. If you want to be comfortable, go coach
in college where you can dominate the athletic director, you
pick all the players. In the NFL, you got a
(18:06):
billionaire owner. You're in a big city, the media is rough,
and they fire you every fifteen minutes, and you're also
coaching millionaires. Yes, it's hard. NFL is a hard league
to coach in. But Adam Gaze, like Jet fans are like,
oh listen, Mike McCarthy, I think it's a great coach.
I would have loved to see him get the Jets job.
(18:27):
But I said, my second choice is Adam Gaze. And
I also said, and enjoy you were here so you
can verify this. About ten days ago and the NFL
was firing all these coaches and they call it like
Black Monday, and they're firing everybody. Who was the one
coach I said that got fired that I would hire again. Well,
McCarthy obviously, Gaze, yeah, I said that day. Of all
these guys who got fired that day, said Adam Gay
is gonna get a job, yes, because my sources all
(18:49):
says Kyle Shanahan before Kyle Shanahan. And by the way,
Shannon's never been fired yet. But he wears people out
and he calls out the media and he's gruff, and
he and Garoppolo, by the way, have had battles ready.
I you know, I think, being a Dolphins fan, my
opinion of Gays is probably a bit skewed because I
wanted to see him be successful there and he wasn't. Again,
I don't think your first stint as a head coach,
(19:10):
if it's not necessarily successful, is a reflection of who
you are as a head coach. Certain situations matter, but
Miami is not the most stable functional organizations, you know. No,
it's the work They fired Dave wants that years ago.
And if you look at his first three years in Miami,
he had more wins than Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh
(19:32):
kept Tomlin to this day. They fired Wanstat. Wanstat made
the playoffs and had a better record than Tomlin. That's
what the Miami Dolphins. I love the Dolphins all right,
I obviously will they have a great place in my heart,
but they don't get enough credit for all the bad
management decisions that they've made of it. By the way,
when you're a Dolphin fan, you hate the Patriots, but
the Jets are also a big rival. And Gas was
five and one against the Jets. So he's a good coach.
(19:53):
He's going to be very good in New York. This
is a great By the way, Sam Donald got to choose.
Sam Donald got an opinion. They put him on a time,
and he's like, I like Adam Gaze more than McCarthy.
That's the story today. All right, with that over thirty
five years, NFL films as smart a guy as we
bring on the show, Greg Kosel, Greg, how are you
doing on What's happened to my friend? Well, let's let's
just start with New England, who has favored against the Chargers.
(20:15):
I said, you know, I Jacksonville, everybody told me had
more talent than New England, and the Seahawks and the
Super Bowl did and Pittsburgh aala seems too and they
kind of figure out ways to win. It looks like
when I watch the Chargers play, they have a great
disparity talent edge on New England. Do you believe that
to be the case. I mean, I think you could
(20:35):
look positioned by position and feel that the Chargers are better.
But I think so much of these games come down
to specific tactics and the way the games play out schematically,
you know. I think when you look at New England,
they're a little bit different team offensively than they have
been in the past. I think they're a little more
foundationally based on the run game. I'm not sure they
(20:56):
can line up the way they might have in years
past and just give the ball to tom Bray the
way they have. I'm not sure he's quite at the
same level. He's certainly not been as good on third down,
and that's been a defining feature of their offense this
year that Tom Brady's not been as good on third
down and the offense has not been as good on
third down. I think Ronkowski is not quite the same guy.
(21:17):
I don't think he redirects quite the same way when
you wanted the tape. So again, I think that there
are certain things you look at and you see on tape.
You know, these teams played last year, and I think
you're going to see the Chargers kind of do what
they do on defense, the Chargers play with six defensive backs.
The seven defensive back thing was specific to Lamar Jackson,
but they play with six defensive backs as their foundational approach.
(21:40):
They'll do the same thing is the Chargers with Philip Rivers.
The receiving corps is deep Henry, the tight end is back,
the running backs. They've got all sorts of guys who
can make plays. Philip Rivers and the Chargers, though could
not get the ball in the end zone against Baltimore,
it was a lot of field goals. Does that concern
you well, I think the one area of their offense
(22:02):
that is concerning, and whether New England can exploit it
is a different question, is their offensive line. I think
that the Charger's offensive line by NFL standards would probably
be considered average at best. I think Philip Rivers is
the kind of quarterback that more often than not can
compensate for that and camouflage the flaws in his old line,
but there are games in which he can't do that.
(22:23):
I think Baltimore's defense is a really good defense, a
ton of looks, multiple looks upfront and pressure packages and
high percentage blitz that that's a defense that they can't
camouflage it against. So the question is can they camouflage
it against New England, who pretty much not a high
percentage blitz team and not a great pass rutch defense.
(22:46):
Let's shift to Kansas City, favored at home against Indianapolis.
Call's defense is playing really well. Ye, Kareem Hunt no
longer a Kansas City Chief, they don't feel quite as
stable offensively. They're still again, they still have Cheetah, think
Travis Kelsey, Andy Reid, the schematics. Patrick Mahome. I think
it's a solid old line. They have Sammy Watkins, who
(23:07):
I think is overpaid, but can you know he's still
a weapon. I don't feel they run the ball quite
as well. I mean, what are the Chiefs do offensively
that you think they'll have success against even this very
hot Colds defense. Well, I think there's two. There's really
three things when you play the Chiefs. In my view,
one is you must have a plan for stopping Tyreek
(23:28):
Hill when he lines up inside. They love to line
him up in the slot and in the inside slot
when there's three receivers to one side, you cannot let
him run down the seams and get on top of
your defense. Now the culture predominant zone defense. They'll be
very conscious of this. And then there's Kelsey. Travis Kelsey
is the other player that you really have to take
(23:49):
care of, and he works from a lot of different
places in the offense. That's one of the things that
makes Andy Reid's offense so good is the multiplicity of formations.
And the final thing that you have to deal with
is Patrick mahomes ability to make second reaction improvisational plays.
I went through all his third downs this week. Actually,
I went through them over the weekend last weekend, and
(24:10):
I was kind of astounded by how many came when
he moved around improvisationally. So he's such a good thrower
on the move, and he throws the ball down the
field on the move. He's not a checkdown guy. Yeah,
So you cannot let those big explosive plays happen off improvisation. Yeah,
I mean, and that's what I think the difference is.
I think Mahomes will make a plan, they'll win the game.
(24:31):
I will say this about Andrew Locke, it is nice
to see him have a wall in front of him.
I think Marlon Mack the running backs underrated. I think overall,
their offensive personnel's a tad underrated. T Y Hilton's a
real player. Ebron was always highly considered a little underwhelming.
Their offensive line is at least pass blocking looks to
be very efficient, and Luck's fantastic, and they've got depth
(24:53):
at running back and they need a number two receiver.
I don't love their tackles, but sure, But I mean
when I look at the Colts, this is a real team. Now,
this is not a mirage we I mean I could
see them winning with ball control. Yeah, well that I
was going to ask you what you thought. I'm struggling
in my own mind as to how they'll come out offensively. Clearly,
Luck is playing at a higher level, and I think
he's a great quarterback, as you do. But I'm curious
(25:15):
as to whether they believe that they need to on
some level run the ball and short in the game,
or whether they're going to feel like, hey, Andrew Luck
is hot, and not that we want to play a
fifty one forty eight game, but that hey, we know
this game is probably going to be in the high
twenties and early thirties, perhaps low thirties, so let's let's
(25:35):
come out and try to be aggressive. I think the
Colts want to take the crowd out of it, and
you do that with five yard games, and I think
they'll do a lot of past the running backs past
on the time. I think they'll have a very mundane,
boring five play at a time death by a thousand
cut offense. Well, I think one player to watch is
Nhem Hines as a receiver because the Chiefs play a
(25:57):
ton of man coverage and I think they can get
match ups with him Hines. All right, let's go to
Philadelphia is a big underdog. And you know, here's the thing.
I listen, everybody likes the Saints. Vegas likes the Saints.
I get it. I mean, the Saints will probably win
the game. But I will say this about Philadelphia. They've
got a lot of B players Golden Tate, al Sean Jeffrey,
(26:17):
and they've also got several A players, like I mean,
you know, Fletcher Cox personnel wise, and I don't know
why this is. I think Philadelphia is a really good
football team. They may not have a ton of stars
on the offensive side, but I gotta tell you something,
when I watch them play, they have guys who create separation.
They have big play players. They've got situationally. Golden Tate
was very good last weekend. I think Philadelphia matches up
(26:39):
with the Saints pretty well. Yeah, I think it's going
to be an intriguing game. I think look, obviously, I
don't think it's going to be like the game was
Week eleven. I think Philly did some interesting, interesting things
defensively in that game week O eleven. And I'm curious
what their defensive approach is because when they played Week eleven,
there were numerous plays in which they doubled Michael Thomas,
they doubled Alvin Kamara. Now gin is back and he
(27:00):
did not play Week eleven, and Ted Ginn is not
a volume receiver, but he's a vertical dimension. He can
get on top of your defense, and I think that
just presents a little bit different situation for the Eagles defense.
You know, there is one thing about Breeze and I
love Drew Brees, but what is I'm curious on this.
You know, they don't throw the ball vertically at hen
(27:22):
They're they're not. I mean, we think Breeze Hall of Fame,
but they can dink and dunk it a little bit. Greg. Yeah,
and I think one reason they didn't do that much
this year is because gin was out, not that they're not.
If he was there, they'd be a vertical team. But
they didn't really take shots very much this year, and
that's where I think Ted Ginn is a factor and
he needs to be addressed because the last thing a
(27:43):
defensive coordinator wants to do is give up a fifty
or sixty yard touchdown. I think offensively for the Eagles,
it's interesting because they're they're a very sort of sustaining
based offense with Nick Foles. Last week's game against a
good defense was very representative of what they do with
Nick Foles. Strong emphasis on the quick game, getting the
ball out of false hands, minimizing the pass rush, you know,
(28:07):
working in the middle of the field. If you play
press man, he'll throw it to Jeffrey on the outside.
And I think you'll see that this week. So they're
pretty defined with what they do offensively. Yeah, I'm just
watching some video here from Foles. He's got He's got
a decent arm, right, not a great arm, but a
DC He's not a power thrower, but he can he
can make the throws. Yeah, Philadelphia is just kind of
(28:28):
a mystery wrapped in a riddle. Let's go to the
final game Cowboys Rams. Okay, listen, I saw a stat
this week, and I'm not a guy that jumps on
too many stats. I do like to see what you
get yards per play. I think explosive offenses, big play
offenses can win games sometimes even when they're outplayed. But
Dak Prescott leads the NFL and come from behind wins
last three years in fourth quarter game winning drives last
(28:51):
three years. Rushing touchdowns by a quarterback last three years.
I will say this about Dak. Forget the arm I
don't love it. I don't think he's an all time
and I think he's eighteenth best quarterback in the league.
But it does appear, and I don't know what the
film says. He tends to be pretty good in crisis.
I always feel like last drive of the game, I
trust him more than I do first drive of the game. Right,
(29:12):
what does take say? Let's look macro for one quick sect.
The Cowboys have a defined profile. Their run game and
their defense are among the best in the league. I
think Zeke Elliot's the best back in the league, and
their defense is very very good. So the way they
play is they rely on those two things. They don't
ask Dak Prescott to do too much in the passing game,
(29:33):
but that profile keeps games close and therefore winnable in
the fourth quarter, and that's when Prescott's running by design,
his improvisational ability comes into play, and that's when he's good.
But it's really interesting watching their tape. You know how
limited their past game is. They don't really ask him
to do a lot, but he becomes a factor in
(29:55):
close games in the fourth quarter, and the running's a
part of that out question. And look, you could argue
that they need to do more of that with him,
particularly when you do get to the fourth quarter. That
is a clear weapon that he possesses. But you also
have to remember, Look, it was third and fourteen. They
called a draw play for the quarterback. Okay, they didn't
(30:15):
want him to throw the ball in that situation. They
wanted to kick a field goal. They didn't know he
was going to gain fifteen or sixteen yard. That's a
real good place. By the way, I sold my ramstock,
you know most of it about week ten. I thought
they were overvalued when Cooper Cup got hurt. I don't
think they're the same offense and Gurley doesn't feel one
hundred percent to me. I know we all love Sean McVay.
I know he's the Einstein of football, but the Rams
(30:38):
have not been the same team to me in the
last two two and a half months. I would agree
with that. You know, I think that that Goff has
been a little bit up and down with his ball placement.
I think he's a rhythm player. I think he's a
timing player. I think he's and this comes across negatively,
I don't mean it as such. I think he's a
very programmed player in a very world signed in well
(31:00):
schemed offense that presents the opportunities clearly, and when he's
been a little off, he's been missing people. Now I
think he's been a little better the last couple of weeks.
So we'll see after a week off where they stand.
But I think you'll also see some tweaks in their offense.
And by tweaks, I don't mean anything dramatic, but little
things that involve motion, you know, things of that nature,
(31:22):
to try to create some hesitation and indecisiveness in the defense.
This will be probably the most watched game. So let's
go to our big play of the week. It's a
Ram cowboy play. I'm told from last season. It's from
last season. It's actually it's a play that a lot
of people now know that. It's called all go seam.
A number of teams use it. Let's run it right
(31:43):
now and we'll just see the play. It was a
fifty three yard touchdown to Todd Gurley from a year ago,
a pass play and we've we've seen it throughout the league. Now.
As I said, it's all go halfback seam, that's what
it is. So when it starts with jet action, this
happens to be tape On Austin, who's with the Rams
a year ago. So he's going to go in jet motion.
(32:04):
Here's the all go part. Three receivers are going to
run vertical routes, okay, and then there's Todd Gurley. He's
the halfback. He's going to run a seam route. That's
the seam part of this. So it's all go eight
seam with the jet action being a part of it.
So what's going to happen here is you're going to
start this play with Tavon Austin working across the formation
(32:26):
in jet action. That's actually going to have an impact
on the defense and a critical impact on the defense.
There's Austin and you see that he came across on
jet motion. There's the two defenders for the Cowboys who
both reacted to the jet action across the formation, so
they're not conscious of Girly. And then you have the
wide receiver lifting the corner on the outside with a
(32:48):
vertical route. So what you end up with is Girly
running down the seam on the seam, the half back seam.
Beautifully designed play. As I said, it's been in the
league now a lot of teams run it. People may
remember Britt from Week one a year ago on Thursday
Night when Kareem Hunt scored a seventy eight yard touchdown
for the Chiefs. So it's it's a play that now
is throughout the NFL. Good stuff, Greg, love having you on.
(33:11):
Thank you so much. Thanks one more Herd. The Herd
streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week
within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or
on demand whenever you like. We do big Jay journalism
on the show. So this is one of my favorite
times of the year. For about three week period, I
was talking to driving into work talking for twenty minutes
(33:32):
this morning and a couple of NFL sources on the
East coast. Oh, I was on the phone the whole morning.
I literally had two calls call me in the morning.
Did on Adam Adam Gaze all this stuff? I also,
I said yesterday, I don't love when you have a
young quarterback in the NFL and he gets somebody who's
learning to be a coach. Adam Gaze has been an
NFL coach, He's been to the playoffs, he's been a coordinator.
(33:54):
So as Sam Darnold's trying to figure out how to
do this, Adam Gase has done it. I don't would
it be any good if I was in my first
year of radio and my boss was in his first
year of running a radio station. Generally, if the younger
the broadcaster, the more veteran experienced person he needs as
a broadcaster. I don't love the Cleveland thing because I
think Baker Mayfield's got some things to learn in terms
(34:14):
of maturity and running a franchise. And Freddie Kitchens had
never been hired by a team as a coordinator, so
he's trying to figure out how to be a head coach.
I don't love that. I will tell you this though,
that Cleveland. I was on the phone this morning with
somebody out east in the NFL Cleveland's final two. Do
you think it was strange? Mike McCarthy didn't get much
of a look there. Bruce Arians said he wanted it,
(34:35):
But yet they didn't talk to Bruce Arians didn't. It
didn't make any sense, did it. They didn't. They weren't
interested in Adam Gaze, who had been a coach. Why
did Cleveland have the two least experienced guys as their candidates.
They had a guy that never worked with anybody but
the Vikings, forty four year old guy, and they had
Freddie Kitchens who's been around the league but never been
hired as a full time coordinator. Why. I was told,
(34:59):
because John dor he's running everything. He didn't want Greg Williams,
because Greg Williams has been a coach and has a
strong point of view. And John Dorsey didn't want that
and didn't want Mike McCarthy, and he didn't want Bruce Arians.
He didn't want Adam Gaze. He wanted somebody to tell
him what to do. That's just I just do not
believe in that I just think that's a recipe for
it is that it's not the way I would vet
a job. But this is what I was told there.
(35:21):
It is not everybody said, remember this, Everybody told me
the Browns was the best job, and yet they didn't
didn't interview seriously any of the best candidates. Because John
Dorsey's running the show here. And by the way, Greg
Williams had a winning record. If you're gonna hire Freddie Kitchens,
why would you just give him job to Greg Williams
who has experience and had a winning record. Because Greg
Williams has an opinion and will push back, and McCarthy
(35:44):
will push back, and Adam Gase will push back, and
Bruce Arians will push back, and Dorsey's like, now I
want that, don't you want somebody who pushes back? Yeah,
that's kind of the whole what you want to do.
You want to hire people that challenge you in any job.
Of course. So, but what I was told is this
is this is not Baker's team. This is Jimmy Haslom
owns the team. John Dorsey's making all the calls, all
(36:07):
of them, and he'd have no interest getting pushed back.
And Freddie Kitchens owes him a debt of gratitude because
nobody was giving Freddie Kitchens a head coaching job in
this league. He maybe would have he maybe get an
interview for a coordinator job. So when you give somebody
a job they would never get without you, you owe him.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
(36:29):
FS one and the iHeartRadio app. There's only two coaching
positions remaining, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins. And
the Bengals and the Dolphins are one of five teams
not to win a playoff game this century. Detroit, Cleveland
and the Bills and Miami is obviously wildly dysfunctional, including
interim head coaches. The most coaches in this league since
(36:51):
twenty two thousand and four, that's fifteen years, so the
most coaches in the NFL for fifteen years. You think
Cleveland's dysfunctional, you know the Raiders as dysfunctional. The Dolphins
are tied for the lead with ten, so they're your team.
They're an absolute mess. And I mean here the coaches.
My friend Dave wantsa who actually won games. Todd Bowles,
(37:12):
Joe Philbin, Dan Campbell, Adam Adam Gates got him to
the playoffs, they got hit rid of him. It's amazing Sperano,
Cam Cameron, Nick Saban, Jim Bates. It's it's a mess.
So you can really make an argument. The Cleveland Browns,
they're understood. They've just been complete dysfunctional. I think Miami
is equally dysfunctional, but they don't get the reputation. Maybe
(37:35):
it's because of Dan Marino and their history with Don
Shula that they have this legacy years ago of success,
so we don't lump them in. I think they also
just have no expectations every year. But it's getting so
bad for the Dolphins. They actually called our show because
we have a very pro NFL. We talk a lot
of NFL on this show, right, and they wanted us
(37:56):
to run some ads for the Dolphin job. And I
watched them, and you know, so this is the first
one the Dolphins sent us, So please consider coaching there.
Afraid of getting stuck in the same job, Come coach
the Dolphins and we'll guarantee that you'll be out of
here in two years or less. The Miami Dolphins, we
(38:16):
are unstable, you know that that's not how I would
have pitched it. It's not inaccurate. It's not inaccurate. It's
not how I would have pitched the job. Though. Anyway,
here's the second commercial ad. They want us to run.
Want to see what a successful NFL franchise looks like.
Join the Dolphins and you'll get that chance when you
face the Patriots twice a year. The Miami Dolphins we're
(38:40):
waiting for realignment. Well now they do beat the Patriots
once a year, and doubt in Miami. They're very good.
They're the you know, I mean, listen, sometimes you have
to acknowledge your rival. I mean, that's that is an
absolute facts. The Dolphins are the Patriots regular season they've
had in the last fifteen years, they've had fifteen coaches.
It's funny with Adam Gays because Adam Gas got him
to the playoffs. Adam Gates had a winning record with
(39:02):
Ryan Tannehill. I mean, it's like, hello, you you keep
Adam Gates for another year. But this is what Miami does.
Here's here's the third add They were kind of reaching here.
What's better than appearing in a Super Bowl? Appearing in
ace mentora pet detective the Miami Dolphins. We've met Jim Carrey.
I don't think that'll
Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Be
sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to
three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
and FS one. Find your local station for the Herd
at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live
every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching herde is
the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern on Fox
Sports Radio. It's a Thursday. Here we go. This is
(00:26):
the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may
be listening, We are live in Los Angela's iHeart Rudio,
Fox Sports Rudio on FS one. One hour from now
to get you ready if you play fantasy football, if
you bet the games, and you just want to see
who's gonna win this weekend. One hour from now, Greg
co Sell stops by. Joy Taylor's joining me in at Thursday. Joy,
(00:46):
how are you? Good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning,
good morning. I'm so happy today. What a week for us?
What a week. This is the best time of the year.
Oh God, I got the poor in I mean, just
incredible games this weekend. I'm gonna have a blazing five tomorrow.
By the way, I am I'm gonna have a blazing
four tomorrow. Actually, maybe I'll pick a volleyball game or
(01:08):
something as the fifth. Let me start with this. So
Green Bay went out and hired Matt Lafleur. I don't know.
I don't know if he's gonna be a great coach.
I don't but I know this, If he gets the
Aaron Rodgers thing right, then it'll work. And yesterday the
Jets hired Adam Gase. Why because Adam Gase and Sam
Darnold had a better connection during the discussion than Sam
(01:29):
Darnold and Mike McCarthy. Who did Baker Mayfield want his
coach Freddie Kitchens? He got it? And why did Arizona
hire Cliff Kingsbury because they thought he and Josh Rosen
would get along. Four for four so far, the offensive
coaches hired were the choice of the quarterback because, due
to rule changes, the quarterback now is more important than
(01:51):
the coach, so you gotta get it right. It did
not used to be this way. Think I'm wrong. John
Elway and Mike Shanahan won Super Bowls together, some times
not a great relationship. Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll had
major issues won four Super Bowls. Phil Sims and Bill
Parcels were not best buddies. It was ugly and they won.
(02:13):
It used to be a head coach and quarterback league.
Due to rule changes, it is now a quarterback and
coaches league. By the way, look at the teams and
the quarterbacks and the relationships this weekend. So the Rams
are in the playoffs. You think it's a coincidence that
Goff and McVay are like dad and son, super tight.
(02:37):
The Cowboys will face the Rams. Here's what we know
about the Cowboys. Dak and Jason Garrett are all in together.
By the way. The MVP is Patrick Mahomes super tight
with Andy Reid. He'll face Andrew Luck and Frank Wright's
Apparently it's an incredible bond. Oh, there's also Nick Foles
and Doug Peterson tight facing Sean Payton and Drew Brees
(03:02):
tightest in the league. Are you seeing something here? If
you do not have a relationship where quarterback and coach
are symbiotic, it doesn't work. By the way, tell me
the two teams in the NFL this year that you
are shocked didn't make the playoffs. Pittsburgh Big Ben and
(03:23):
Tomlin not a great relationship, and Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers
and McCarthy imploded. Also teams that disappointed US Carolina cam
and Ron Rivera. My sources tell me they both frustrate
each other. By the way, Matt Ryan, Dan Quinn, it's okay,
(03:43):
Kirk Cousins Mike Zimmer do not see eye to eye.
Zimmer drives you know, Cousins drives Zimmer crazy sometimes. Okay.
Didn't used to be this way. You could have the demanding,
yelling coach Mike Ditka didn't like have to like Jim McMahon.
It didn't matter. Buddy Ryan didn't have to love his quarterbacks.
(04:04):
You could win Super Bowls, you could win your division
for years. Doesn't work that way anymore. The rule changes.
If the relationship is even a little off between coach
and quarterback, it doesn't work. Pittsburgh and Green Bay. By
the way, do you want to know why Mike McCarthy
and Aaron Rodgers did not get along this year? Okay,
I got this one sourced. They got along fine for
(04:27):
years because there was a middleman. There was always a middleman.
But Alex van Pelt got run off the middleman. So
this year Rogers and McCarthy had to deal with each
other constantly, and the minute it didn't work, the team
folded and the coach got fired. Okay, so yesterday all
these teams named. The only team, by the way, that
(04:50):
didn't hire an offensive coach Denver. Now why would Denver
not worry about that whole quarterback thing. They hired Big
Ban because Denver doesn't have a franchise quarterback that John
Elway thinks is going to be around in four years,
So they didn't give a rip. They didn't care. They
got Gary Kubiak, being the offensive coordinator, he will eventually
(05:12):
have to get along with a quarterback. But they don't
think much of case Keenom, so it didn't matter. They
went and got a defensive coach who, by the way,
Vic Fangio, is a good coach, not much of a personality,
not much of a talker, doesn't have real relationships with quarterbacks.
They didn't care. Even Tom Brady this year. Tom Brady
was always subservient to Belichick. We all know that, right.
(05:33):
For years and years it was Belichick's team, and Tom
did what he said. He got rid of Wes Welker,
he got rid of Randy Moss, Bill ran the show.
What happened this year? Brady said, you resigned Gronk on
my terms, and you get rid of Garoppolo or I'm out.
And Belichick said, as the greatest coach in football history.
(05:55):
All right, all right, all right, all right, all right.
Even in New England, for the first time the last
couple of years, Tom has flexed. No no, no, no, no, no,
no no, We're not getting rid of Gronk, resign him Belichick.
All right, all right, Belichick didn't do that for seventeen years.
Breddy is like, get Garoppolo out of town. I'm not
getting ground, all right, all right, all right, all right.
(06:19):
It is no longer a coach quarterback league. It is
a quarterback coach league. Four or four yesterday, Aaron signed
off on the floor. Darnold preferred gas. Baker wanted Freddie
and Cliff and Rosen connect. All right, let's ship to
this so um a dynasty could end this weekend. And
(06:42):
I just want to say this, Joy, and I have
said this multiple times. She's been in this business a
long time. I've been in it longer. Just because I'm older.
We both root for stories. We've said that you think
we root for teams no, no, no, noot for content.
We root for content. Content equals ratings, contract extensions. We
(07:03):
want fun, we want car wrecks, we want craziness. You
know what, the best thing that could happen to join
us this weekend, Dallas wins. That's good for us. Cowboy
Nation erupts. Cowboys are on Fox. That's our team. And
you know the other thing that would be great for us.
And you're not going to believe this, but I will
(07:25):
set a record Monday if this happens. The Patriots get
blown out and the dynasty dies. Because a lot of
people are connecting me to New England through the years.
I see the numbers, They'll tune in to see what
I have to say about the dynasty that got crushed.
Chargers win by forty They roll them, They beat them
forty seven to ten. It is awful. Brady stinks. That
(07:46):
is great for my business. But that's not going to
happen because New England's going to win. But the Chargers
have better players. I know they do. I'm not arguing.
So did Jacksonville last year, so does Pittsburgh every year.
So did Atlanta in the Super Bowl. Atlanta had better players.
Go look at the Pro Bowl list. Seattle had better
players in the Super Bowl. By the way, so did
(08:07):
the Saint Louis Ram seventeen years ago. They had better
players than New England. In fact, if you put down
the top ten players in my opinion between the Chargers
and the Patriots this weekend, Brady one, then Philip Rivers,
then the Patriots, Stephan Gilmore. Then it's a bunch of Chargers,
and then Devin mccordy. It's seven to three Chargers. Brady
(08:30):
Rivers to Fawn Gilmore, Desmond King, Derwin James, Joey Bosa,
Melvin Ingram, Devin mccordy, Melvin Gordon, Keenan Allen, And by
the way, eleven through twenty is a lot of Chargers.
Seattle had better players, Atlanta had better players. Pittsburgh Joe
has got better players. Chargers have better players Atlanta did.
Let me give you the advantages if I may. For
(08:50):
New England at home, Belichick rested weather experience significantly better kicker.
The Chargers are playing on back to back East Coast games.
There is not geographically, unless the NFL creates a very
quick franchise in Nova Scotia, there is not a further
(09:12):
trip the Chargers could make for the second straight weekend.
New England does have less talent, but this has become
their brand that outside of Brady, talent doesn't win games.
Being at home cold weather December and January one or
two trick plays very good. Ben don't break defense, I
(09:36):
will tell you without question, and Joy Taylor knows this,
and everybody in my business knows this. We do not
root for teams. We root for stories. I rooted for
Lebraun to become a Laker and Lebraun to become a
Miami Heat and when those stories get old, like Lebraun
(09:56):
in Miami, Lebroun in Cleveland, I'm rooting for another story.
That's what we root for. Dallas winning and New England
getting absolutely lit up this weekend is fantastic. But I
even think I know how this game is gonna go.
A rested team on two weeks is going to start
quickly New England. New England is ninety seven and eight
(10:20):
at home when they score first, and in fifteen playoff
games in Foxborough they are thirteen and two when they
score first, so they are ninety seven and eight overall,
winning ninety two percent of their games when they score first,
and the West Coast team traveling out east again will
be a little unsettled. Initially, New England gets on them,
(10:44):
jumps on them early, then holds them off. It's not
actually what I want. What I want is content and
the Charger's blowing them out and the cowboys hammering the rams.
Give me give me four days stories, but I think
New England is the bet this weekend. Be sure to
(11:05):
catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and Noon Easter
not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and
the iHeartRadio app. Most things I think I can explain
in life, you can find the answers for almost everything
today on Google. I mean, you can ask any question
in the world, they'll have an answer in Google. There
are some things, though, I would say three things in
(11:26):
the world I cannot explain. Number one is smoking. Why
people smoke, You die sooner. It's a painful death, it's
very expensive. Increasingly you are forced into tiny, isolated places.
You've gone to an airport, seen the smoking section. That's
a communal coffin, and it makes you smell get a patch.
It makes no sense. I can't explain it. The second
(11:47):
thing I can't explain is a states that allow you
to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. You do get
there is no such thing as a fender bender on
a motorcycle. You're upright or you're dead. That's the way
it goes. You either fly around or you're dead. And
some hippie in a prius checks out, downloads his fish album,
doesn't look and knocks you into the next county, and
(12:09):
you're a street pizza ski resorts force you to wear
a helmet. You're going twenty eight miles an hour New Hampshire,
you're going one hundred and eight. We're a headband. We're
all good. Here. I don't get it. Here's the third
thing I do not understand. Nick Foles is the best
passer in the NFL when blitzed. I do not understand this.
(12:34):
He does not have a great arm, he does not
have great escapability, smoking states that don't demand a helmet,
and Nick Foles being the best passer in the NFL
when blitzed, I do not understand this. Peter King yesterday
offered this. It maybe his personality, the fact that they
(12:56):
get Foles. Whose cool hand Nick is? He's told me,
I play with a quiet mind. The day of a game.
What does he do? Does he study film? Does he
do this? No? He journals about how to be a
better father. I mean, I'm just telling you this is
a different human being than a lot of the quarterbacks
that we've known. He tries to enter a game with
(13:20):
classical music playing in his head. Colin. That is Nick Foles.
It is remarkable. Even Las Vegas does not get Nick Foles.
Nick Foles and Doug Peterson are now four and oz
in the playoffs, and they've beaten good teams. They beat
the New England Patriots, and they beat the red hot
Minnesota Vikings, and they last week went into Chicago and
(13:43):
beat the Bears. And they're eight point dogs at New Orleans.
Vegas can't figure them out. Vegas doesn't like them, and
Vegas usually has it right. Vegas has them. Do you
know what an eight point favorite is in the NFL?
That's like when a dog goes to Foxboro. You get
over like six points in the NFL. You get the
average score in the NFL twenty six, twenty three, that's
(14:05):
like three times the average margin. We're down to the
final eight teams. Maybe it's his personality. I do believe
I've always had a little anxiety. I'm kind of hyper.
I think there are certain people that are born hyper
and born calm. I was not born calm. I tend
to be a little too intense, a little too anxious,
a little too hyper. I don't sleep particularly well. And
(14:28):
then there are people that are just natural DNA. They
just can walk into a burning building and their heart
rate doesn't go up. I've seen this with race car
drivers before, years and years ago. They did a test
on like the late great Dale Earnhart, and his pulse
didn't go up one iota going one hundred ninety miles
an hour around a turn. Some guys are just built
the race cars, and some guys are built to jump
out of planes. And I'm not either. But this is
(14:51):
fairly remarkable. Nick Fole's best quarterback. And by the way,
it's not like it's a flukey thing. The guys under
himber like you know, Breeze and Luck and Brady Momes
and most of the good guys. By the way, Dak's
way up there too. Be sure to catch live editions
of the Herd week dayson noon Easter not a empacific.
I have told you before, I've been kind of grading
the hirings. What I don't believe in is if you
(15:11):
have a young quarterback Jets have Sam Darno, he's trying
to figure out how to be an NFL quarterback. I
also don't want a young quarterback to have a coach
who's trying to figure out how to be an NFL
head coach. Freddie Kitchens has never been a high school
football coach. I don't love that move in Cleveland. So
as Baker's trying to learn how to do this thing,
He's got a coach who's trying to how to do
this thing. I don't like that. I do like I
(15:35):
don't like Arizona situation where Josh Rosen's trying to figure
out how to be an NFL quarterback and he's got
a college coach who's trying to become an NFL quarterback.
Adam Gaze to the Jets and Jet fans are clueless.
I mean, they're dopes, they don't know anything. This is
a really good hire. Adam Gaze is Kyle Shanahan. Before
Kyle Shanahan. Years ago, Nick Saban was a coach at LSU.
(15:57):
He had this, you know, nineteen year old, twenty year
old kid on his staff named Adam Gase, and he
gave him all this responsibility because Nick Saban's like, who's
the smart kid. This is a guy that had Peyton
Manning greatest year. Peyton Manning called the Jets that are
like smartest coordinator I've ever had. He won with Tim Tebow.
Tim Tebow went in a six game winning streak. It
was Adam Gase. By the way, he had a winning
(16:19):
record with Ryan Tannehill thirteen and eleven. He made the
playoffs the first year in Miami with Ryan Tannehill. The
previous two head coaches that Ryan Tannehill had had losing records.
Adam Gase had a winning record with him. He's a
really good coach. But what happened Tannehill got hurt. He
had to use Jay Cutler and Brock Osweidler. And by
the way, even this year with Osweidler, they had really
(16:40):
good Sundays followed off them by really bad Sundays, because
that's what happens when you have a backup quarterback playing
for you. But in the end, Gas is a great coach.
He gave the Patriots trouble. He went ten and six.
Rookie year he was a very successful coordinator. Now the
downside to him is he's Kyle Shanahan ish. He can
be condescending. He's really smart and he knows it. He's
(17:00):
very intense. He is in no passive aggressive to him
at all. He'll get right in your face. He's like
Kyle Shanahan who'll go to a press conference and chew
out reporters. He is really intense and he wears people out.
He had a winning record with Ryan Tannehill. No Miami
coach there's been three of them now have ever done that?
He made the playoffs the first year tebow Manning saban
(17:22):
All call on his behalf. He's a super sharp guy.
Well he was fired. Who gives a rip? Belichick's been
fired in the NFL. Pete Carroll's been fired twice. Mike
Shanahan's got two super bowl has been fired. John Gruden
got fired next year, won a Super Bowl. Jim Harbaugh
got to a Super Bowl two years later, he got fired.
Andy Reid's been fired Now he's the one number one
seat in the Afcat guys. The NFL's for aggressive men
(17:46):
to coach. They're aggressive guys. Aggressive guys get fired all
the time. They get fired in radio, TV, they get
fired in his CEO jobs. He can't worry about getting fired.
If you're worried about getting fired, don't take any grown
up jobs. If you want to be comfortable, go coach
in college where you can dominate the athletic director, you
pick all the players. In the NFL, you got a
(18:06):
billionaire owner. You're in a big city, the media is rough,
and they fire you every fifteen minutes, and you're also
coaching millionaires. Yes, it's hard. NFL is a hard league
to coach in. But Adam Gaze, like Jet fans are like,
oh listen, Mike McCarthy, I think it's a great coach.
I would have loved to see him get the Jets job.
(18:27):
But I said, my second choice is Adam Gaze. And
I also said, and enjoy you were here so you
can verify this. About ten days ago and the NFL
was firing all these coaches and they call it like
Black Monday, and they're firing everybody. Who was the one
coach I said that got fired that I would hire again. Well,
McCarthy obviously, Gaze, yeah, I said that day. Of all
these guys who got fired that day, said Adam Gay
is gonna get a job, yes, because my sources all
(18:49):
says Kyle Shanahan before Kyle Shanahan. And by the way,
Shannon's never been fired yet. But he wears people out
and he calls out the media and he's gruff, and
he and Garoppolo, by the way, have had battles ready.
I you know, I think, being a Dolphins fan, my
opinion of Gays is probably a bit skewed because I
wanted to see him be successful there and he wasn't. Again,
I don't think your first stint as a head coach,
(19:10):
if it's not necessarily successful, is a reflection of who
you are as a head coach. Certain situations matter, but
Miami is not the most stable functional organizations, you know. No,
it's the work They fired Dave wants that years ago.
And if you look at his first three years in Miami,
he had more wins than Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh
(19:32):
kept Tomlin to this day. They fired Wanstat. Wanstat made
the playoffs and had a better record than Tomlin. That's
what the Miami Dolphins. I love the Dolphins all right,
I obviously will they have a great place in my heart,
but they don't get enough credit for all the bad
management decisions that they've made of it. By the way,
when you're a Dolphin fan, you hate the Patriots, but
the Jets are also a big rival. And Gas was
five and one against the Jets. So he's a good coach.
(19:53):
He's going to be very good in New York. This
is a great By the way, Sam Donald got to choose.
Sam Donald got an opinion. They put him on a time,
and he's like, I like Adam Gaze more than McCarthy.
That's the story today. All right, with that over thirty
five years, NFL films as smart a guy as we
bring on the show, Greg Kosel, Greg, how are you
doing on What's happened to my friend? Well, let's let's
just start with New England, who has favored against the Chargers.
(20:15):
I said, you know, I Jacksonville, everybody told me had
more talent than New England, and the Seahawks and the
Super Bowl did and Pittsburgh aala seems too and they
kind of figure out ways to win. It looks like
when I watch the Chargers play, they have a great
disparity talent edge on New England. Do you believe that
to be the case. I mean, I think you could
(20:35):
look positioned by position and feel that the Chargers are better.
But I think so much of these games come down
to specific tactics and the way the games play out schematically,
you know. I think when you look at New England,
they're a little bit different team offensively than they have
been in the past. I think they're a little more
foundationally based on the run game. I'm not sure they
(20:56):
can line up the way they might have in years
past and just give the ball to tom Bray the
way they have. I'm not sure he's quite at the
same level. He's certainly not been as good on third down,
and that's been a defining feature of their offense this
year that Tom Brady's not been as good on third
down and the offense has not been as good on
third down. I think Ronkowski is not quite the same guy.
(21:17):
I don't think he redirects quite the same way when
you wanted the tape. So again, I think that there
are certain things you look at and you see on tape.
You know, these teams played last year, and I think
you're going to see the Chargers kind of do what
they do on defense, the Chargers play with six defensive backs.
The seven defensive back thing was specific to Lamar Jackson,
but they play with six defensive backs as their foundational approach.
(21:40):
They'll do the same thing is the Chargers with Philip Rivers.
The receiving corps is deep Henry, the tight end is back,
the running backs. They've got all sorts of guys who
can make plays. Philip Rivers and the Chargers, though could
not get the ball in the end zone against Baltimore,
it was a lot of field goals. Does that concern
you well, I think the one area of their offense
(22:02):
that is concerning, and whether New England can exploit it
is a different question, is their offensive line. I think
that the Charger's offensive line by NFL standards would probably
be considered average at best. I think Philip Rivers is
the kind of quarterback that more often than not can
compensate for that and camouflage the flaws in his old line,
but there are games in which he can't do that.
(22:23):
I think Baltimore's defense is a really good defense, a
ton of looks, multiple looks upfront and pressure packages and
high percentage blitz that that's a defense that they can't
camouflage it against. So the question is can they camouflage
it against New England, who pretty much not a high
percentage blitz team and not a great pass rutch defense.
(22:46):
Let's shift to Kansas City, favored at home against Indianapolis.
Call's defense is playing really well. Ye, Kareem Hunt no
longer a Kansas City Chief, they don't feel quite as
stable offensively. They're still again, they still have Cheetah, think
Travis Kelsey, Andy Reid, the schematics. Patrick Mahome. I think
it's a solid old line. They have Sammy Watkins, who
(23:07):
I think is overpaid, but can you know he's still
a weapon. I don't feel they run the ball quite
as well. I mean, what are the Chiefs do offensively
that you think they'll have success against even this very
hot Colds defense. Well, I think there's two. There's really
three things when you play the Chiefs. In my view,
one is you must have a plan for stopping Tyreek
(23:28):
Hill when he lines up inside. They love to line
him up in the slot and in the inside slot
when there's three receivers to one side, you cannot let
him run down the seams and get on top of
your defense. Now the culture predominant zone defense. They'll be
very conscious of this. And then there's Kelsey. Travis Kelsey
is the other player that you really have to take
(23:49):
care of, and he works from a lot of different
places in the offense. That's one of the things that
makes Andy Reid's offense so good is the multiplicity of formations.
And the final thing that you have to deal with
is Patrick mahomes ability to make second reaction improvisational plays.
I went through all his third downs this week. Actually,
I went through them over the weekend last weekend, and
(24:10):
I was kind of astounded by how many came when
he moved around improvisationally. So he's such a good thrower
on the move, and he throws the ball down the
field on the move. He's not a checkdown guy. Yeah,
So you cannot let those big explosive plays happen off improvisation. Yeah,
I mean, and that's what I think the difference is.
I think Mahomes will make a plan, they'll win the game.
(24:31):
I will say this about Andrew Locke, it is nice
to see him have a wall in front of him.
I think Marlon Mack the running backs underrated. I think overall,
their offensive personnel's a tad underrated. T Y Hilton's a
real player. Ebron was always highly considered a little underwhelming.
Their offensive line is at least pass blocking looks to
be very efficient, and Luck's fantastic, and they've got depth
(24:53):
at running back and they need a number two receiver.
I don't love their tackles, but sure, But I mean
when I look at the Colts, this is a real team. Now,
this is not a mirage we I mean I could
see them winning with ball control. Yeah, well that I
was going to ask you what you thought. I'm struggling
in my own mind as to how they'll come out offensively. Clearly,
Luck is playing at a higher level, and I think
he's a great quarterback, as you do. But I'm curious
(25:15):
as to whether they believe that they need to on
some level run the ball and short in the game,
or whether they're going to feel like, hey, Andrew Luck
is hot, and not that we want to play a
fifty one forty eight game, but that hey, we know
this game is probably going to be in the high
twenties and early thirties, perhaps low thirties, so let's let's
(25:35):
come out and try to be aggressive. I think the
Colts want to take the crowd out of it, and
you do that with five yard games, and I think
they'll do a lot of past the running backs past
on the time. I think they'll have a very mundane,
boring five play at a time death by a thousand
cut offense. Well, I think one player to watch is
Nhem Hines as a receiver because the Chiefs play a
(25:57):
ton of man coverage and I think they can get
match ups with him Hines. All right, let's go to
Philadelphia is a big underdog. And you know, here's the thing.
I listen, everybody likes the Saints. Vegas likes the Saints.
I get it. I mean, the Saints will probably win
the game. But I will say this about Philadelphia. They've
got a lot of B players Golden Tate, al Sean Jeffrey,
(26:17):
and they've also got several A players, like I mean,
you know, Fletcher Cox personnel wise, and I don't know
why this is. I think Philadelphia is a really good
football team. They may not have a ton of stars
on the offensive side, but I gotta tell you something,
when I watch them play, they have guys who create separation.
They have big play players. They've got situationally. Golden Tate
was very good last weekend. I think Philadelphia matches up
(26:39):
with the Saints pretty well. Yeah, I think it's going
to be an intriguing game. I think look, obviously, I
don't think it's going to be like the game was
Week eleven. I think Philly did some interesting, interesting things
defensively in that game week O eleven. And I'm curious
what their defensive approach is because when they played Week eleven,
there were numerous plays in which they doubled Michael Thomas,
they doubled Alvin Kamara. Now gin is back and he
(27:00):
did not play Week eleven, and Ted Ginn is not
a volume receiver, but he's a vertical dimension. He can
get on top of your defense, and I think that
just presents a little bit different situation for the Eagles defense.
You know, there is one thing about Breeze and I
love Drew Brees, but what is I'm curious on this.
You know, they don't throw the ball vertically at hen
(27:22):
They're they're not. I mean, we think Breeze Hall of Fame,
but they can dink and dunk it a little bit. Greg. Yeah,
and I think one reason they didn't do that much
this year is because gin was out, not that they're not.
If he was there, they'd be a vertical team. But
they didn't really take shots very much this year, and
that's where I think Ted Ginn is a factor and
he needs to be addressed because the last thing a
(27:43):
defensive coordinator wants to do is give up a fifty
or sixty yard touchdown. I think offensively for the Eagles,
it's interesting because they're they're a very sort of sustaining
based offense with Nick Foles. Last week's game against a
good defense was very representative of what they do with
Nick Foles. Strong emphasis on the quick game, getting the
ball out of false hands, minimizing the pass rush, you know,
(28:07):
working in the middle of the field. If you play
press man, he'll throw it to Jeffrey on the outside.
And I think you'll see that this week. So they're
pretty defined with what they do offensively. Yeah, I'm just
watching some video here from Foles. He's got He's got
a decent arm, right, not a great arm, but a
DC He's not a power thrower, but he can he
can make the throws. Yeah, Philadelphia is just kind of
(28:28):
a mystery wrapped in a riddle. Let's go to the
final game Cowboys Rams. Okay, listen, I saw a stat
this week, and I'm not a guy that jumps on
too many stats. I do like to see what you
get yards per play. I think explosive offenses, big play
offenses can win games sometimes even when they're outplayed. But
Dak Prescott leads the NFL and come from behind wins
last three years in fourth quarter game winning drives last
(28:51):
three years. Rushing touchdowns by a quarterback last three years.
I will say this about Dak. Forget the arm I
don't love it. I don't think he's an all time
and I think he's eighteenth best quarterback in the league.
But it does appear, and I don't know what the
film says. He tends to be pretty good in crisis.
I always feel like last drive of the game, I
trust him more than I do first drive of the game. Right,
(29:12):
what does take say? Let's look macro for one quick sect.
The Cowboys have a defined profile. Their run game and
their defense are among the best in the league. I
think Zeke Elliot's the best back in the league, and
their defense is very very good. So the way they
play is they rely on those two things. They don't
ask Dak Prescott to do too much in the passing game,
(29:33):
but that profile keeps games close and therefore winnable in
the fourth quarter, and that's when Prescott's running by design,
his improvisational ability comes into play, and that's when he's good.
But it's really interesting watching their tape. You know how
limited their past game is. They don't really ask him
to do a lot, but he becomes a factor in
(29:55):
close games in the fourth quarter, and the running's a
part of that out question. And look, you could argue
that they need to do more of that with him,
particularly when you do get to the fourth quarter. That
is a clear weapon that he possesses. But you also
have to remember, Look, it was third and fourteen. They
called a draw play for the quarterback. Okay, they didn't
(30:15):
want him to throw the ball in that situation. They
wanted to kick a field goal. They didn't know he
was going to gain fifteen or sixteen yard. That's a
real good place. By the way, I sold my ramstock,
you know most of it about week ten. I thought
they were overvalued when Cooper Cup got hurt. I don't
think they're the same offense and Gurley doesn't feel one
hundred percent to me. I know we all love Sean McVay.
I know he's the Einstein of football, but the Rams
(30:38):
have not been the same team to me in the
last two two and a half months. I would agree
with that. You know, I think that that Goff has
been a little bit up and down with his ball placement.
I think he's a rhythm player. I think he's a
timing player. I think he's and this comes across negatively,
I don't mean it as such. I think he's a
very programmed player in a very world signed in well
(31:00):
schemed offense that presents the opportunities clearly, and when he's
been a little off, he's been missing people. Now I
think he's been a little better the last couple of weeks.
So we'll see after a week off where they stand.
But I think you'll also see some tweaks in their offense.
And by tweaks, I don't mean anything dramatic, but little
things that involve motion, you know, things of that nature,
(31:22):
to try to create some hesitation and indecisiveness in the defense.
This will be probably the most watched game. So let's
go to our big play of the week. It's a
Ram cowboy play. I'm told from last season. It's from
last season. It's actually it's a play that a lot
of people now know that. It's called all go seam.
A number of teams use it. Let's run it right
(31:43):
now and we'll just see the play. It was a
fifty three yard touchdown to Todd Gurley from a year ago,
a pass play and we've we've seen it throughout the league. Now.
As I said, it's all go halfback seam, that's what
it is. So when it starts with jet action, this
happens to be tape On Austin, who's with the Rams
a year ago. So he's going to go in jet motion.
(32:04):
Here's the all go part. Three receivers are going to
run vertical routes, okay, and then there's Todd Gurley. He's
the halfback. He's going to run a seam route. That's
the seam part of this. So it's all go eight
seam with the jet action being a part of it.
So what's going to happen here is you're going to
start this play with Tavon Austin working across the formation
(32:26):
in jet action. That's actually going to have an impact
on the defense and a critical impact on the defense.
There's Austin and you see that he came across on
jet motion. There's the two defenders for the Cowboys who
both reacted to the jet action across the formation, so
they're not conscious of Girly. And then you have the
wide receiver lifting the corner on the outside with a
(32:48):
vertical route. So what you end up with is Girly
running down the seam on the seam, the half back seam.
Beautifully designed play. As I said, it's been in the
league now a lot of teams run it. People may
remember Britt from Week one a year ago on Thursday
Night when Kareem Hunt scored a seventy eight yard touchdown
for the Chiefs. So it's it's a play that now
is throughout the NFL. Good stuff, Greg, love having you on.
(33:11):
Thank you so much. Thanks one more Herd. The Herd
streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week
within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or
on demand whenever you like. We do big Jay journalism
on the show. So this is one of my favorite
times of the year. For about three week period, I
was talking to driving into work talking for twenty minutes
(33:32):
this morning and a couple of NFL sources on the
East coast. Oh, I was on the phone the whole morning.
I literally had two calls call me in the morning.
Did on Adam Adam Gaze all this stuff? I also,
I said yesterday, I don't love when you have a
young quarterback in the NFL and he gets somebody who's
learning to be a coach. Adam Gaze has been an
NFL coach, He's been to the playoffs, he's been a coordinator.
(33:54):
So as Sam Darnold's trying to figure out how to
do this, Adam Gase has done it. I don't would
it be any good if I was in my first
year of radio and my boss was in his first
year of running a radio station. Generally, if the younger
the broadcaster, the more veteran experienced person he needs as
a broadcaster. I don't love the Cleveland thing because I
think Baker Mayfield's got some things to learn in terms
(34:14):
of maturity and running a franchise. And Freddie Kitchens had
never been hired by a team as a coordinator, so
he's trying to figure out how to be a head coach.
I don't love that. I will tell you this though,
that Cleveland. I was on the phone this morning with
somebody out east in the NFL Cleveland's final two. Do
you think it was strange? Mike McCarthy didn't get much
of a look there. Bruce Arians said he wanted it,
(34:35):
But yet they didn't talk to Bruce Arians didn't. It
didn't make any sense, did it. They didn't. They weren't
interested in Adam Gaze, who had been a coach. Why
did Cleveland have the two least experienced guys as their candidates.
They had a guy that never worked with anybody but
the Vikings, forty four year old guy, and they had
Freddie Kitchens who's been around the league but never been
hired as a full time coordinator. Why. I was told,
(34:59):
because John dor he's running everything. He didn't want Greg Williams,
because Greg Williams has been a coach and has a
strong point of view. And John Dorsey didn't want that
and didn't want Mike McCarthy, and he didn't want Bruce Arians.
He didn't want Adam Gaze. He wanted somebody to tell
him what to do. That's just I just do not
believe in that I just think that's a recipe for
it is that it's not the way I would vet
a job. But this is what I was told there.
(35:21):
It is not everybody said, remember this, Everybody told me
the Browns was the best job, and yet they didn't
didn't interview seriously any of the best candidates. Because John
Dorsey's running the show here. And by the way, Greg
Williams had a winning record. If you're gonna hire Freddie Kitchens,
why would you just give him job to Greg Williams
who has experience and had a winning record. Because Greg
Williams has an opinion and will push back, and McCarthy
(35:44):
will push back, and Adam Gase will push back, and
Bruce Arians will push back, and Dorsey's like, now I
want that, don't you want somebody who pushes back? Yeah,
that's kind of the whole what you want to do.
You want to hire people that challenge you in any job.
Of course. So, but what I was told is this
is this is not Baker's team. This is Jimmy Haslom
owns the team. John Dorsey's making all the calls, all
(36:07):
of them, and he'd have no interest getting pushed back.
And Freddie Kitchens owes him a debt of gratitude because
nobody was giving Freddie Kitchens a head coaching job in
this league. He maybe would have he maybe get an
interview for a coordinator job. So when you give somebody
a job they would never get without you, you owe him.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
(36:29):
FS one and the iHeartRadio app. There's only two coaching
positions remaining, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins. And
the Bengals and the Dolphins are one of five teams
not to win a playoff game this century. Detroit, Cleveland
and the Bills and Miami is obviously wildly dysfunctional, including
interim head coaches. The most coaches in this league since
(36:51):
twenty two thousand and four, that's fifteen years, so the
most coaches in the NFL for fifteen years. You think
Cleveland's dysfunctional, you know the Raiders as dysfunctional. The Dolphins
are tied for the lead with ten, so they're your team.
They're an absolute mess. And I mean here the coaches.
My friend Dave wantsa who actually won games. Todd Bowles,
(37:12):
Joe Philbin, Dan Campbell, Adam Adam Gates got him to
the playoffs, they got hit rid of him. It's amazing Sperano,
Cam Cameron, Nick Saban, Jim Bates. It's it's a mess.
So you can really make an argument. The Cleveland Browns,
they're understood. They've just been complete dysfunctional. I think Miami
is equally dysfunctional, but they don't get the reputation. Maybe
(37:35):
it's because of Dan Marino and their history with Don
Shula that they have this legacy years ago of success,
so we don't lump them in. I think they also
just have no expectations every year. But it's getting so
bad for the Dolphins. They actually called our show because
we have a very pro NFL. We talk a lot
of NFL on this show, right, and they wanted us
(37:56):
to run some ads for the Dolphin job. And I
watched them, and you know, so this is the first
one the Dolphins sent us, So please consider coaching there.
Afraid of getting stuck in the same job, Come coach
the Dolphins and we'll guarantee that you'll be out of
here in two years or less. The Miami Dolphins, we
(38:16):
are unstable, you know that that's not how I would
have pitched it. It's not inaccurate. It's not inaccurate. It's
not how I would have pitched the job. Though. Anyway,
here's the second commercial ad. They want us to run.
Want to see what a successful NFL franchise looks like.
Join the Dolphins and you'll get that chance when you
face the Patriots twice a year. The Miami Dolphins we're
(38:40):
waiting for realignment. Well now they do beat the Patriots
once a year, and doubt in Miami. They're very good.
They're the you know, I mean, listen, sometimes you have
to acknowledge your rival. I mean, that's that is an
absolute facts. The Dolphins are the Patriots regular season they've
had in the last fifteen years, they've had fifteen coaches.
It's funny with Adam Gays because Adam Gas got him
to the playoffs. Adam Gates had a winning record with
(39:02):
Ryan Tannehill. I mean, it's like, hello, you you keep
Adam Gates for another year. But this is what Miami does.
Here's here's the third add They were kind of reaching here.
What's better than appearing in a Super Bowl? Appearing in
ace mentora pet detective the Miami Dolphins. We've met Jim Carrey.
I don't think that'll
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