February 6, 2019 • 40 mins
Colin discusses the turmoil going on for the Los Angeles Lakers after their 42 point loss last night, why he is sticking up for Los Angeles Rams HC Sean McVay on a certain issue, which of the curtain dynasties will last the longest, and his thoughts on Golden State Warriors F Kevin Durant possibly going to the New York Knicks. Also, NFL Analyst Greg Cosell stops by to give his thoughts on the Patriots victory over the Rams. 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
at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live
every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This
is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern on
Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go, so Wednesday, this
(00:28):
is the Herd. Wherever you may be, however you may
be listening. We are live in Los Angeles on iHeartRadio,
Fox Sports Radio and FS one. A crazy, crazy post
Super Bowl, NBA Trade Day schedule. Joy Taylor is joining me.
How are you, Joy? I'm great, How are you well.
I'm watching the Lakers last night lose by forty two,
(00:51):
which is the worst loss in a game Lebron James
has ever played in. It was the ugliest game and
it was very obvious by the middle of the second quarter.
The Lakers were uninspired, flat Pacers are missing their best player.
Pacers are not a great team without Victor Oladipo, and
they ran them off the floor and the gap and talent,
frankly was not forty two points. But this, of course
(01:14):
happened because for the last nine days, these Anthony Davis
and Laker rumors have been demoralizing to the team. If
you were told, as Kyle kuz Milonzo Ball, Josh Hart
brandon Ingram your whole life aau high school college, you
were really good, and you got to the NBA and
(01:34):
people said you have a chance to be really special,
and then you found out in the paper and on
blogs and on the internet you're basically an end table
in the world of furniture. You're a throw pillow. You
don't matter, You're a pon, You're irrelevant. Yeah, I'm guessing
you wouldn't be motivated to play either. This has been embarrassing.
It's embarrassing for the Lakers, who were obviously leaking stuff
(01:58):
to protect their brand, to prove to their fans. We're trying,
we're trying. We're trying to prove to Lebron. We're trying,
we're trying, we're trying to get your star. And obviously
Clutch Sports, Lebron's camp is leaking stuff because they want
to make sure their guy knows and everybody knows. They're
trying to get this they're putting pressure on the Lakers.
I gotta get this puppy done. I want to get
(02:19):
Anthony Davis out of New Orleans. I mean, some ugliness
is inevitable if you want to get Anthony Davis out
of New Orleans. I mean, it was bound to get
a little ugly. But this is Titanic level stuff. It's awful. Welcome,
I guest to the new Lebron business. There's literally competing
factions within the Lakers now. There are pictures on the
(02:39):
internet people at the game last night taking a picture
of the Laker bench, Lebron to the corner, other players
over here. Rondo apparently his daughter was in town. He's
sitting with the fans. It is a mess. And all
by the way, the Clippers traded a very good player
last night, Tobias Harris to the Sixers. He's a very
nice But you know what's interesting about that. You didn't
(03:03):
hear a word about it. And you didn't hear a
word when Star Chris Paul went to the Rockets either,
and you didn't hear a word when Blake Griffin went
to the Pistons either. Because Jerry West is a professional,
Jerry West is quiet Jerry West is a pro's pro.
You didn't hear a peep when Chris Paul a star
(03:26):
got traded. Blake Griffin, a star got traded last night.
Tobias Harris, HiT's a game winning shot last night for
the Clippers. Wakes up, he's been traded. It's like a
bank robbery. You wake up, you go to the bank.
Where's the buddy? I mean, because the Clippers now are
the well run organization that's not leaking stuff. I mean,
Magic Johnson, Stay off, Jimmy Kimmel. Last night's forty two
(03:51):
point loss is a direct result of the mayhem and
the chaos and the dysfunction. Right now, stay off late
night shows. Stop calling up blogs and NBA guys to
protect your brand. For the record, when the New England
Patriots acquired Randy Moss, nobody knew it the second until
(04:13):
it happened. When the New England Patriots traded Jimmy Garoppolo,
we were all shocked. There was no tip off to
the media. Okay, The reality is, it doesn't matter if
it's the White House or an NBA team. If there's leaks,
it's not well run and it's not a very good
sign of course, Lebron afterwards, this is the Lebron sleight
(04:40):
of hand, Lebron saying, Hey, I know it's tough on
a lot of our guys, especially our young guys. They're
hearing it every single day. You know, you gotta stay
off social media. You know, young guys love social media,
so I you know, I definitely they gotta stay off
social media. Lebron acting as if yes, I mean, I
have no part of this, so I'm just watching this unfold.
(05:02):
I have nothing to do with this. Of course it's
and like Lebron's not on social media all day as well.
Keep your business private, don't go on late night talk shows,
don't leak stuff, don't try to protect your brand. You
know what your brand is Lakers really ugly the last
several years and really bad. If you don't land Anthony
(05:26):
Davis and for the next three months, you're gonna have
Luke Walton trying to coach a team where every single
player believes that Lebron, James and his guys see them
as just pawns. Luke Walton's done. If this thing doesn't
get made, Lebron's gonna be unhappy. Young players are going
to be disengaged. Now the Lakers are completely trapped. I mean,
(05:51):
this is not how anybody does their business. I'm not
saying Anthony Davis to the Lakers or trading a big
star from a small market LA is going to be perfect.
I get it, you know, I get it. This. This
had the potential because Anthony Davis is going to have
to come out and say I gotta leave. Yeah, I
want to go. I'm not saying it was gonna be
(06:12):
perfect harmony, but this thing's a mess. The Clippers Chris Paul, Blake, Griffin,
Tobias Harris, Jerry West running the show. Not a peep.
Previous White House to the one now, not a peep.
I can tell a well run business by what gets out.
Everything on this trade has gotten out. Let me shift
(06:35):
gears to this. I've been very tough on Sean mcvaycoach
to the Rams. I said during the season, I like him,
but let's wait to coronate him, you know, Vince Lombardi,
let's wait to coronate him. Bill Belichick, Let's just he
was in the playoffs last year. He lost. Let's slow
down on the Sean McVay. I think he's really talented kid,
in my business, I see talent in thirty year olds
(06:56):
all the time. Let's not turn him into you know,
Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, Rush Limball. Let's slow down a
little bit here and then. When Sean McVay lost this
past weekend, I said, I thought he got out coached,
and I think he has a certain system. He doesn't
adapt necessarily well, he will over time. He's a smart guy.
He's a good listener's he's a he's a good coach.
(07:17):
But there's a piece of film out this morning that
people are just dissecting and making way too much of.
So let me defend him. Here's the piece of film,
and people think Sean McVay is just too fawning before
the game to Bill Belichick, much respect for you. Life
was best A great job. Yeah, so okay, you always
do though and doing it you know, you're the best man.
(07:39):
The way that you guys are able to shift your
identity and really still be able to figure it out.
I mean, weekend and week out, it is unbelievable, man, Really,
so much respect for you and the way you do it. Man,
You're what's right about coaching. Thank you, appreciate your coach.
I was twelve seconds, What did you want him to do?
Trash talk Belichick? Not talk to Belichick. By the way,
That's how a young announcer treats Vin Scully when he
(07:59):
meets him. That's how young NBA players treat Kobe Bryant
for twelve seconds when they meet him. That's how many
young quarterbacks when they are on the field for the
first time and they see Tom they go over like, hey, man,
I've been watching you forever. You're awesome, dude, totally respect
your game. That's what I've done going up to a
young Bob Costas years ago, thirty years ago. What did
(08:20):
you want him to do? Trash talk him? Bill Belichick's
the greatest football coach of our lives. One of the
reasons Sean McVay is an amazing young football coach is
because he's watched he's watched Belichick, and he's watched Bill Walsh,
and he's watched Jimmy Johnson, and he's taken stuff from him.
So when he sees him before the big of his
game of his career and walks up to him for
(08:42):
ten to twelve seconds, what do you want him to do?
I mean, in the World Series. Don't tell me, don't
tell me this is you don't want to do this
before big games. I see in the World Series guys
around the batting cage, laughing and joking, and fifteen minutes later,
you know that picture's facing that batter. In the NBA,
I see guys all have the same agents over here
(09:04):
at UCLA. Westbrook works out with Kadi, he works out
with Lebron, works at all off season. I see this
stuff all the time. I see all the time in
sports people going up and saying, hey, man, you don't
think young quarterbacks before they face Peyton Manning and they
on the football field didn't walk up. Its amen. So
much respect for you. You're the best there's ever been, man,
(09:25):
I love you. You think that decided the football game?
Sean McVan bill Belichick looked at tape and I'm guessing
here for thirty five to forty five hours, but you
think that twelve seconds determined the game? That's all Ray
Lewis love him. But here's what he said on Showtime
last night. Games aren't loss, Games aren't lost. I mean,
(09:47):
hold on, guys, like this is not this is not preseason, right,
You're get into a championship game. Your mentality of your
leader dictates what your troops do. I'm not sharing it
right there, right even if I'm going to let him,
because I gotta let my guys. No human hit stop
ray stop. Football games are not decided by twelve seconds
(10:13):
before the game. Ram players didn't even know about that.
Now raise a defensive player. Defensive players are very emotional.
Their job and a football game is to blow stuff up,
knock people over. So defensive players are very much about
high emotion your arrival. I'm knocking you out, I'm making
you hurt, I'm making you wins, I'm blowing up your plays.
(10:36):
That's ray Lewis. That's how defensive players see games. Offensive
players don't. Offensive coaches steal stuff from one another. Offense
is about unity, choreography, being unified, being under control, taking
the emotion out of it. Tom Brady doesn't want to
(10:58):
be too jacked up, so he's sailing throws. Ray Lewis
wants to run through a wall. Defense and offensive guys
have a different mentality. I've heard this from GMS for years.
Defensive guys, it's almost like you like them having a
little screw loose, like Lawrence Taylor. Sometimes you're like, is
that guy all there? You want your quarterback to have
(11:20):
it all there. This is not why the Rams lost.
This is how people who are young and talented and
driven and who have had posters on walls and they've
had these huge dreams. And then they face Kobe and
then they face mummad Ali, and then they face Tony LaRussa,
(11:42):
and they face Bill Belichick, and they meet Vin Scully
or Al Michaels or Jim Nance and they come up
and they're like, hey, man, this is this is weird. Man,
I've been watching. You're the very best at what you do.
Do you want him to trash talk him? Ignore him? Yo? Sup.
Sean McVay did what i'd do, you'd do, and players
(12:06):
and coaches and executives have been doing forever. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Herd weekdayson Nowneaster not
a Empacific. I'm a really big believer in this. Well
run businesses, from the White House to NBA teams, to
NFL teams to Silicon Valley companies, Well run businesses don't leak. Okay,
(12:29):
when Boogie Cousins ended up with the Warriors, nobody knew
about it. Garoppolo to the Niners, nobody knew about it.
Randy Moss to the Patriots, nobody knew about it. Chris Paul,
Blake Griffin, Chris Paul went to Houston. Darryl Moorey didn't
leak it, Jerry West didn't leak it. Nobody knew it.
(12:52):
Not a lot of leaks in well run companies. And
you know, I will say this now, I think the
Lakers are trapped. Rob Parker came on our show yesterday
and said something. I thought it was his best point. Yesterday.
He was kind of getting hysterical about how Tom Brady's awful,
but he made this point, and I thought it was
a good point. What happens to the teammates that he's
(13:15):
already put out there that he doesn't want. Lebron came in.
Magic has no choice. Magic has no choice. He's stuck
with Lebron. And now, how do you welcome those guys
back to finish out this season? You know, just just
ask yourself in your job, in my job today, if
there were rumors the last seven days, I was trying
(13:37):
to move everybody here. Not to compare myself to Lebron,
but I was trying to move everybody. Don't you think
that everybody would be like talking Moham a back going.
He don't like us anymore. I think this is bad
for everybody if the Lakers don't make the move. Think
about this. It's bad for the NBA because Lebron and
Anthony Davis are more interesting. So it's bad for the NBA.
(13:58):
It's a disaster for Luke wall It's an impossible team
to coach. I mean, you're gonna have massive tension in
the building. So Luke Walton's done. If this deal doesn't
get done, it feels like it's a lost year for
Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Lebron's kind of going through
the motions with young guys he's not eventually gonna be
with and Anthony Davis, you know, he's got this franchise
that's mad at him. So two great players and it's
(14:19):
a wasted year. I don't think it's great for clutch sports.
It looks like, oh, you guys couldn't pull off the deal.
I think the season as a hole's a mess. I
don't think I think the Lakers are trapped. I think
if you don't make this deal, you might as well
just you might as well just start riding up your
Luke Walton's done. You can't coach this team. You just
(14:42):
can't coach this team. And I mean again, every player.
I don't blame Lonzo Ball. And this is also going
to open up the door for LaVar Ball to start talking,
because LeVar if this deal doesn't get done, LaVar is
gonna say I told you this organization doesn't know what
they're doing, and he's gonna look like he's right. He
already took a shot at Luke Walton. If this deal
(15:02):
doesn't get done, then LaVar Ball gets empowered. He can
literally go on shows like this or other shows and go,
I told you they don't know what they're doing, and
we're all sitting there going Noah, he's got a point.
Don't know exactly what they're doing. So this situation now
one of the reasons I don't like to make guarantees.
(15:22):
Like the only guarantee that's ever worked and helped business
was Dominoes years ago, guaranteeing they gave the pea there
in thirty minutes or less. That worked, That was good
for their business, but even they eventually moved off it.
They eventually said we got to stop guaranteeing stuff because
now you know, we show it one minute late, we
look like jerks. And if we show up two minute early,
everybody's like, well, so what you already guaranteed it. I
(15:44):
don't like guarantees and I don't like leaking stuff, okay,
And one of the reasons is it puts pressure on you.
With the Lakers leaking all this stuff, it's now put
incredible pressure on them to get it done. And now
if you don't get it, that's like Rex Ryan, we're
gonna win in the super Bowl. Well, now you don't
your schmuck. When you guarantee something, it not only puts
pressure on you, but whatever you accomplish, you don't get
(16:06):
as much credit for. Well, you guaranteed it, so you
must have known. So I think the Lakers are in
a bad situation. If I was Luke Walton, I mean
I would be praying this gets done because Luke Walton
can save his job if he gets Anthony Davis. Even
if they don't win the championship, it's fun. People are optimistic.
The place is sold out, the games are energized, the
(16:28):
young players are out of the building. Now he's got
to be a psychologist. He's got to be half doctor Phil,
half Oprah, half basketball coach, half agent, I mean, half parent,
and it's going to be just This is the most
unenviable coaching job in the world. One more Herd. The
Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a
(16:50):
week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live
or on demand whenever you like. The Rams appear to
be unraveling of it as they lose the Super Bowl.
There's a little bit of negativity circling the franchise and
it should be duly noted. This is what happens. I'm
going to give you the last five Super Bowl losers.
(17:14):
The Seahawks five years ago didn't give the ball to
Marshawn Lynch. That was the tipping point. They were never
the same franchise. Panthers lost Cam Newton, following year, imploded
losing record. Falcons acknowledged that losing and choking away a
(17:36):
giant lead affected them. The following year. The Patriots, the
best run franchise perhaps in American professional sports, swam in
controversy for five months, and the Rams now are getting
heat for not explaining Todd Gurley for not adapting, for
not looking prepared. The Super Bowl is so far and
(17:57):
away the biggest sporting event in our count The only
thing I can compare it to globally is the World
Cup for Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Germany. When you lose it,
it is an automatic dissension and dysfunction. Creator The Super Bowl, now,
(18:17):
with the amplification of social media and the media in general,
is just bigger and louder, in coming from more directions
than ever. You lose the Super Bowl, you take a
beating and you better have a damn strong locker room
to overcome it. And I think the Rams have it,
and like the Patriots, they will be fine, And it
looks like the Seahawks now will be fine. I don't
(18:40):
think Caroline has ever been the same, nor do I
think that with Atlanta yet. The big knock is that
they didn't run the football. It should be noted the
first five drives the Rams had, they ran the ball
on first down in five straight drives, and they pun
it in five straight Donald rives. They tried to run it. Now,
(19:04):
I would have preferred more than eighteen carries. I would
have preferred twenty five to twenty eight. But it became
very clear very early, and Sean McVay talked about this.
It was not a lot of room. Todd gets into
a little bit of a rhythm, or it seemed like
when we'd have a good, positive run, then something would
inevitably occur to set us back, and then when you're
(19:25):
not efficient on third downs, we just didn't get a
lot of attempts off. I think when you go five
yard run. We were having efficient runs, but then you
have a couple of penalties that set yourself back where
now you're at second and ten and you're not converting
on some third down in shorts. So we didn't get
the amount of plays off and didn't really have any
drive continuity where we're punting more than we did. And
that's a big result of why, you know, those opportunities
(19:46):
were limited for him. You'll lose a World Cup if
you're a soccer country, and you'll lose the Super Bowl.
You have to understand you are now in the managing
crisis business. The Seahawk are a well run franchise. They've
been able to reboot. Took him about a year, two
years the Patriot to the best run franchise. It took
(20:09):
him about six months. I think the Rams are very
well run. Owner GM Less need head coach Sean McVan
goff's the right kind of quarterback. But this is part
and parcel. This is now what you deal with losing
this game. This is it. It's we put the microscope
on you, we crush you. I did not think it
(20:29):
was a great game for Sean McVay, but he's thirty three.
I thought Anthony Lynn had a terrible afternoon for the Chargers.
He's older. I did not think it was a great
day for Bob Sutton, the sixty year old defensive coordinator,
or Andy Reid. They're fifty sixty year old guys. So
this is just the reality of the situation losing Super Bowls.
(20:50):
You're gonna get club. You're gonna get club by every
talk show, every newspaper, every blog, and it's how you
handle it. And I think the Rams are really smart
and they'll handle it fine. It is interesting. I was
Steve Kerr had a funny bite. We have three dynasties
going on here. It's crazy. The Warriors dynasty, the Alabama dynasty,
in the New England dynasty, and it usually it doesn't
(21:11):
work that way. But we have in the three most
popular sports arguably in America, NFL, NBA and college football,
we have three dynasties. And Steve Kerr joked about it
the other day. It just gets old watching the same team,
you know, when the whole thing year after Sorry, that
was really arrogant. It's kind of fun to say that day,
(21:36):
you know. I actually think of the three dynasties, I
think most people think the Patriots will be the first
because of Brady's age to evaporate. I think the opposite.
I think the Alabama dynasty is already fraying because of
three factors. Number One, Clemson has emerged as every bit
as good or better than Alabama. Secondly, the SEC football
(21:59):
power hours like Florida, Texas A and m Georgia now
have really really good coaches, so they're gonna lose more
conference games. And I think Golden State, after they win
this year again and win easily, egoes and recklessness. They
(22:19):
just happened. They happen to Kobe Shack, Michael Jordan retired.
This is just the way the NBA works. I think
New England's here to last. Belichick's still the best coach
Brady was just the best quarterback in the Super Bowl,
and they have twelve draft picks. I think New England's
is gonna last for at least three more years. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at
(22:40):
noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeart Radio app. You know, it's really interesting.
Lakers got blown out by forty last night. It was
Lebron's worst loss forty two. And you know, Lebron is
acknowledging the trade rumors, but he is sort of distancing
himself from the trade rumors. He's this after the loss
(23:01):
last night. We have a lot of guys that's been
in trade talks the last couple of weeks that that's
never been in that position before. I know, it has
to be tough on a lot of our guys, especially
for young guys, you know right now, they've just never
been a part of it, and you know, they're here
every single day. And I noted the worst thing that
you can do right now has been on social media.
(23:22):
And I know all young guys love social media, so
you know that definitely can't help. Lebron is distancing himself
from it, which I understand he has to do, but
nobody really buys that what I have noticed here, and
I'm just gonna be as honest as i can. This
will probably offend the Lebron camp and they watch the show. Okay,
(23:46):
there's two fractions working. There's the Laker fraction where they
release a press release about Lebron's health, and then Rich Paul,
part of Clutch Sports, and Lebron's group come out in
this sterics. Nobody's gonna tell us nothing about him, just
totally overreacted. And similarly, in this situation, we got the
(24:09):
Clutch Sports leak and stuff to build their brand. You
got the Lakers leak and stuff to protect their brand.
I feel like there's been two Lebrons, and by the way,
everybody grows and involves as human beings, we all grow,
and hopefully I'm much different than I was in my twenties.
But I always feel like there's two Lebrons, and I'm
just going to lay this out. The first Lebron was
(24:32):
the Lebron in Cleveland, and the first three years in Miami,
Lebron was all in on his team, all in. He
was all in on Cleveland. He left, but he loved
that city and he loved that team, and it was
not an easy decision. And then he went to Miami
and he had to get some championships, and for three
(24:53):
years he was all into that roster. Mario Chalmers drove
him crazy, but he was all in on Riley, in
on Mickey, all in. And then there's the second Lebron,
the final year in Miami, all the years back in
Cleveland and this year for the Lakers that there's the
(25:13):
team and then there's sort of Lebron and his guys
and they're never glued. Lebron's got his mission, his legacy,
his ideas, his worldview, and then there's the team. And
I feel like that's the Lebron. And again people adapt,
(25:34):
but I really feel like the first Lebron, the seven
years in Cleveland and the three years in Miami, I
kind of feel like Lebron was all in as a unit.
The last year in Miami, I kind of felt Lebron.
And then in Cleveland, n LA, it's like there's the
team and Lebron's part of the team, and Lebron can
(25:56):
say nice stuff and high five, but he's got like
a separate Britton mission and a separate business and a
separate empire and a separate group. And right now I
don't think the Lakers are one. Lebron doesn't feel like
he's totally committed to the franchise. I heard early that
Lebron would refuse to sign basketballs. You know, they'd passed
(26:18):
the basketball around the locker room and Kyle KU's MAlonzo ball,
And initially Lebronzo was like, whoaa, whoa. It's like, dude,
Tom Brady's a legend. He still signs the football's. Peyton
Manning was a legend in Indianapolis. He still signed the
locker room footballs. Like, at some point, Lebron, are you in?
(26:38):
Kobe Bryant was a Laker, Magic was a Laker. I
never felt Shack was all Laker. Shack was loved the
Lakers because it's in LA. But if the Lakers were
in Boise, Cleveland and would like him as much, he
(26:59):
moved to LA. He had a movie, and he was popular,
and he had side businesses and even today he's got
a hundred commercials. Is that at some point, no matter
how big you get in life, you're part of a
team or you're not. You're either part of a unit
or you're not and and somebody's got to hold your
(27:23):
feet to the ground. I don't feel like Lebron's all
in on the Lakers. I know he signed for four years,
papers one thing, emotions are different. I mean, I feel
like the last year in Miami, the last several in Cleveland,
and this year with the Lakers, he's part of a team,
he's not of the team. You know, there's an old
(27:44):
saying about Austin, Texas. It's in Texas, it's not of Texas.
Park City, Utah. Oh they party there. It's in Utah,
it's not of Utah. Lebron Jay is a Laker, but
he's not really really all in of the Lakers. Got
(28:10):
to make a decision. God, make a choice, Gotta commit.
Can't be about your empire, can't be about clutch sports,
can't be about your guys. It always felt that way,
though it needn't to me. It didn't in Cleveland to start, No, no, no,
I'm saying that the move to Los Angeles. It always
felt that way, but it was kind of just continuing
that narrative. And it's at some point you gotta be
(28:32):
one of the guys. Tom Brady goes out of his
way to learn new music and new technology to be
one of the guys. He goes down, puts his arms
around all. What do all the young guys say? What's
amazing about Brady is that he goes out of his
way to connect every day with teammates. He's not worried
(28:55):
about his empire. He's not. He loves his family, but
when he leaves his family, he is Tom Brady is
of the Patriots. Well, this is going to be the
great struggle for the Lakers because the Lakers are storied
franchise with years and years of success in many many
championships and superstars, and Lebron is the type of star
(29:16):
that needs control. Okay, let me shift to this. Kevin
Durant plans to leave the Warriors this season. Here is
a story. Is this from the Athletic It says here
it's about carving out his own legacy. This is Kevin Durant.
Steph Curry is of the Warriors, Clays of the Warriors,
Draymonds of the Warriors, Steve Kerrs all in. Kevin Durant
(29:39):
is about He's a Warrior. But if he's considering leaving
this city and this coach and this roster for the
New York Knicks, and I got nothing against New York.
Then he's not really part of the Warriors. I'm for mobility. Listen,
I like ice cream, not for breakfast. I like wine,
not for breakfast. I'm for a lot of things, but
(30:01):
I'm not reckless. Kevin Durant leaving the Warriors is dumb.
It's reckless. It's insecurity, it's ego. It's worried about stuff
that shouldn't matter. That you don't leave the cool coach,
cool city, tech center, great teammates. You don't have to
be the tough guy. You don't have to be the
best defender, you don't have to be the leader. You
(30:22):
don't just go score and win final MVPs. I mean
that's reckless mobility. And I'm i am pro mobility. I've
been pro Lebron, pro KD. I'm pro moving around. I've
done it. I'm always for NBA players. But again, are
you committed to a team, not just because you have
a contract. Are you emotionally committed Kevin Durant to the Warriors, Lebron,
(30:46):
are you emotionally connected? You got five hundred million dollars,
don't worry about money. Both you guys have nothing but money.
Not about Tom Brady's not worried about money. He takes
pay cuts every year, don't. I don't worry about your empires. Fine,
you know it's gonna hurt your empire if the if
this locker room doesn't like you Lebron and Kevin Durant
and you teeter off to a bad team or you
(31:09):
don't get to the playoffs, Lebron, that hurts your empire.
Stop worrying about every dollar bill, Stop worrying about legacy.
Are you part of a family or you're not. I mean,
it's got to be more. I mean, I love the
NBA and I'm pro player, but it can't you can't
be consumed with legacy, win games, win titles. I mean,
you leave the Warriors. Is there any organization, any organization
(31:32):
in any sport in America that is more pro player
and pro star player than the Warriors? You're gonna leave
to go to the Knicks. A that's a dumpster fire.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and noon Easter Note a Empacific NFL film some thirty
five years A guy I lean on to give me
(31:53):
the truth about football, and now the NFL season is over.
He's our friend Greg Kosell and he's joining us. So well,
you know, there is there's this kind of you know,
criticism Greg of McVeagh. They never ran the football only
seventeen eighteen times. Then there's the argument, he said, which is,
you know, first five series, we ran it. On first down,
(32:14):
there was a nothing there when you looked at it.
Should they have pounded the ball more? Was there anything open?
What do you make of the rams lack of running game.
I think you have to look at it from the
other side of the ball, Colin, because to me watching
the tape, this was about the Patriots defense and what
they did and what they did on early downs. They
had two distinct approaches. They had an early down a
(32:35):
normal down and distance approach, and they had a long
yardage and third down approach. And on early downs first
and ten normal down and distance, they played essentially a
six one front. They had six across the line of
scrimmage with one stacked backer. The point of that was
to take away the rams foundational staple outside zone run game.
(32:56):
Very hard to run outside zone against a six man front.
So they did that and then in the secondary. They
played what we call Cover four or quarters, and they
did that because it gets the safeties involved in the
run game if need be. But they're also obviously pass
defenders in perfect position to take away the play action
(33:16):
pass game and all the inbreaking routes that are another
staple of the first down play action pass game of
the RAMS. So what Belichick did was absolutely brilliant in
terms of taking away the two staples of the RAMS
early down, first down big play concepts, which is the
outside zone run game and the play action pass game
(33:38):
within breaking routes. You know, it's I never thought Jared
goff was quite as comfortable without Cooper Cup. Then you
alleviate Todd Gurley, and he's a young quarterback that didn't
have enough weapons. He looked like his ball he just
wasn't quite tight when you looked at the films. Was
goff awful? What is he? Okay? How do you what
do you make of him? Well? I think Jared Goffin
(33:59):
We've talked about a number of times over the last
seven eight nine weeks. He's a very programmed quarterback. The
reads and the throws need to be presented for him.
That worked exceptionally well in twenty seventeen. It worked very
well through much of this season. One could argue that
Cup was losing. Cup was a major factor in things changing,
(34:19):
but over the last part of the season, even through
the playoffs, it was not presented as clearly to him.
Defense has probably started to get a better read on
mcvay's offense and at this point his career, and it
will be a learning curve for gov. He needs to
become better as a late in the down pocket player
where he can go through reads and progressions when that
(34:40):
the primary is not defined clearly. I thought one of
the things that Rams did a good job of. A
real staple for New England is throwing to running backs,
and James White was a non factor. They made it
very difficult. Now, conversely, Edelman was not only open, he
was often wide open. Why did Edelman have so much
s says It appeared Greg he was uncoverable, I mean
(35:04):
opened by three, four or five yards often. Well, they didn't.
They just played man and zone, and against zone you
can be open because you can find voids against man.
He ran some great, great routes both from the outside
and from inside, and he has such tremendous body control.
I mean, I don't think anybody is as good at
(35:26):
going in motion. What they do with him is so
so good. They bring him a very often in what
we call tight motion. It gives him a free release,
and then he uses his vertical stem exceptionally well to
win at the top of his route and create separation.
And he's just a master at that. Yeah, now we're
(35:47):
you know, we're watching some highlights here. I wasn't as
big a coaching mismatch as everybody said. It looked like
one team adapted late, one team did not. Did it
feel like to you? If I would not have told
you who was in the game and who the coaches were,
would you have said, Yeah, the team were in white
really adapted well. Him appeared well coach, and the team
in the blue did not well. I mean, I think
(36:10):
that what Belichick did was absolutely brilliant. He certainly doesn't
need me saying that, but I thought what he did
was brilliant. Although yet you can look at individual plays
that if they were made, we might be looking at
a different conversation. I mean, that play where Goff was
very late to Cook's wide open in the end zone
was actually a really interesting play because that was very
(36:34):
sort of representative of what happened in the game because
the Patriots disguised their coverage. They started out in what
was Cover three and there was play action and Goff
turned his back and then they rotated to Cover four
or quarters and Goff was late to recognize the change
and what his read was, and therefore he was late
throwing the ball to Cooks because the Patriots actually busted
(36:55):
the coverage. And the other thing that struck me on
that throw and it was something I spoke because that
when he came out of cow is that's what that
ball hung. Football lost a lot of energy on the
back end, and he was clean in the pocket. Jason
mccordy obviously made a great play, but he should never
have been a factor in the play. I want to
go to your big play. This is Brady to Gronk
and lay it out for our audience. Well, this was
(37:18):
that touchdown drive. And what they did really really well
on that drive was they went with what we call
twenty two personnel, something they had not done very much
in the game. Two backs, two tight ends, and they
went empty and they did that on three consecutive plays,
and the Gronkowski play was the third of the three plays,
so we're going to start with that play. Everybody remembers this.
(37:39):
It was arguably the biggest play in the game, getting
them down in scoring position and Frady hits Gronkowski on
the seam route down inside the five yard line. This
play started with Edelman in motion across the formation, something
they do a lot a lot of motion with Edelman,
but they ran basically the same play concept three consecutive plays.
(38:01):
This was the third one, and what they did is
they took Edelman from inside and he ran kind of
a juke route or a jerk route, so he was
the inside route here. Then they took Burkhead and he
ran a hitch route on the outside, and then they
took Gronkowski just inside of Burkhead and he ran a
steam route. So they did this three plays in a row,
(38:22):
and actually Brady hit Edelman on the first play, Burkhead
on the second play, and now gronk But here the
Rams got a little confused. Littleton was late to get
to his assignment of Gronkowski and Brady was able to
make a great throw. But this was an adjustment they
clearly made in the fourth quarter for this drive where
they went to twenty two personnel, two backs, two tight
(38:44):
ends at empty, and they went three consecutive plays with
the same route concept. By the way, most people thought
the game was boring when you looked at film, were
you fascinated by elements of it? Fascinated by the defense
on both sides. I thought Wade Phillips did an outstanding
job with his coverage as well. Brady was not really pressured,
(39:05):
but Brady struggled at times to quickly decipher what he
was seeing and that got him stuck in the pocket.
So I thought Wade Phillips did an outstanding job as
well for someone like me, Colin watching the tape of
this game, and I spent about eight hours yesterday watching
both sides of the ball. I thought this was fascinating. Yeah,
I see Greg cole sal and I liked the game.
(39:27):
I thought it was really enjoyable. You and I both did. Greg.
It's great talking to you again, Colin. I appreciate it.
Thank you. What are the wise guys Where I get
asked that from time to time. The answer is the
new gear from the herd now dot com merchandise store.
We are now officially open for business. We have all
the apparel. Diehard heard fans need to represent the show.
(39:48):
Go to the herdnow dot com. If you don't, that's
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The herd now dot com store is is open for
business today
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 Herd. This
is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowhern on
Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go, so Wednesday, this
(00:28):
is the Herd. Wherever you may be, however you may
be listening. We are live in Los Angeles on iHeartRadio,
Fox Sports Radio and FS one. A crazy, crazy post
Super Bowl, NBA Trade Day schedule. Joy Taylor is joining me.
How are you, Joy? I'm great, How are you well.
I'm watching the Lakers last night lose by forty two,
(00:51):
which is the worst loss in a game Lebron James
has ever played in. It was the ugliest game and
it was very obvious by the middle of the second quarter.
The Lakers were uninspired, flat Pacers are missing their best player.
Pacers are not a great team without Victor Oladipo, and
they ran them off the floor and the gap and talent,
frankly was not forty two points. But this, of course
(01:14):
happened because for the last nine days, these Anthony Davis
and Laker rumors have been demoralizing to the team. If
you were told, as Kyle kuz Milonzo Ball, Josh Hart
brandon Ingram your whole life aau high school college, you
were really good, and you got to the NBA and
(01:34):
people said you have a chance to be really special,
and then you found out in the paper and on
blogs and on the internet you're basically an end table
in the world of furniture. You're a throw pillow. You
don't matter, You're a pon, You're irrelevant. Yeah, I'm guessing
you wouldn't be motivated to play either. This has been embarrassing.
It's embarrassing for the Lakers, who were obviously leaking stuff
(01:58):
to protect their brand, to prove to their fans. We're trying,
we're trying. We're trying to prove to Lebron. We're trying,
we're trying, we're trying to get your star. And obviously
Clutch Sports, Lebron's camp is leaking stuff because they want
to make sure their guy knows and everybody knows. They're
trying to get this they're putting pressure on the Lakers.
I gotta get this puppy done. I want to get
(02:19):
Anthony Davis out of New Orleans. I mean, some ugliness
is inevitable if you want to get Anthony Davis out
of New Orleans. I mean, it was bound to get
a little ugly. But this is Titanic level stuff. It's awful. Welcome,
I guest to the new Lebron business. There's literally competing
factions within the Lakers now. There are pictures on the
(02:39):
internet people at the game last night taking a picture
of the Laker bench, Lebron to the corner, other players
over here. Rondo apparently his daughter was in town. He's
sitting with the fans. It is a mess. And all
by the way, the Clippers traded a very good player
last night, Tobias Harris to the Sixers. He's a very
nice But you know what's interesting about that. You didn't
(03:03):
hear a word about it. And you didn't hear a
word when Star Chris Paul went to the Rockets either,
and you didn't hear a word when Blake Griffin went
to the Pistons either. Because Jerry West is a professional,
Jerry West is quiet Jerry West is a pro's pro.
You didn't hear a peep when Chris Paul a star
(03:26):
got traded. Blake Griffin, a star got traded last night.
Tobias Harris, HiT's a game winning shot last night for
the Clippers. Wakes up, he's been traded. It's like a
bank robbery. You wake up, you go to the bank.
Where's the buddy? I mean, because the Clippers now are
the well run organization that's not leaking stuff. I mean,
Magic Johnson, Stay off, Jimmy Kimmel. Last night's forty two
(03:51):
point loss is a direct result of the mayhem and
the chaos and the dysfunction. Right now, stay off late
night shows. Stop calling up blogs and NBA guys to
protect your brand. For the record, when the New England
Patriots acquired Randy Moss, nobody knew it the second until
(04:13):
it happened. When the New England Patriots traded Jimmy Garoppolo,
we were all shocked. There was no tip off to
the media. Okay, The reality is, it doesn't matter if
it's the White House or an NBA team. If there's leaks,
it's not well run and it's not a very good
sign of course, Lebron afterwards, this is the Lebron sleight
(04:40):
of hand, Lebron saying, Hey, I know it's tough on
a lot of our guys, especially our young guys. They're
hearing it every single day. You know, you gotta stay
off social media. You know, young guys love social media,
so I you know, I definitely they gotta stay off
social media. Lebron acting as if yes, I mean, I
have no part of this, so I'm just watching this unfold.
(05:02):
I have nothing to do with this. Of course it's
and like Lebron's not on social media all day as well.
Keep your business private, don't go on late night talk shows,
don't leak stuff, don't try to protect your brand. You
know what your brand is Lakers really ugly the last
several years and really bad. If you don't land Anthony
(05:26):
Davis and for the next three months, you're gonna have
Luke Walton trying to coach a team where every single
player believes that Lebron, James and his guys see them
as just pawns. Luke Walton's done. If this thing doesn't
get made, Lebron's gonna be unhappy. Young players are going
to be disengaged. Now the Lakers are completely trapped. I mean,
(05:51):
this is not how anybody does their business. I'm not
saying Anthony Davis to the Lakers or trading a big
star from a small market LA is going to be perfect.
I get it, you know, I get it. This. This
had the potential because Anthony Davis is going to have
to come out and say I gotta leave. Yeah, I
want to go. I'm not saying it was gonna be
(06:12):
perfect harmony, but this thing's a mess. The Clippers Chris Paul, Blake, Griffin,
Tobias Harris, Jerry West running the show. Not a peep.
Previous White House to the one now, not a peep.
I can tell a well run business by what gets out.
Everything on this trade has gotten out. Let me shift
(06:35):
gears to this. I've been very tough on Sean mcvaycoach
to the Rams. I said during the season, I like him,
but let's wait to coronate him, you know, Vince Lombardi,
let's wait to coronate him. Bill Belichick, Let's just he
was in the playoffs last year. He lost. Let's slow
down on the Sean McVay. I think he's really talented kid,
in my business, I see talent in thirty year olds
(06:56):
all the time. Let's not turn him into you know,
Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, Rush Limball. Let's slow down a
little bit here and then. When Sean McVay lost this
past weekend, I said, I thought he got out coached,
and I think he has a certain system. He doesn't
adapt necessarily well, he will over time. He's a smart guy.
He's a good listener's he's a he's a good coach.
(07:17):
But there's a piece of film out this morning that
people are just dissecting and making way too much of.
So let me defend him. Here's the piece of film,
and people think Sean McVay is just too fawning before
the game to Bill Belichick, much respect for you. Life
was best A great job. Yeah, so okay, you always
do though and doing it you know, you're the best man.
(07:39):
The way that you guys are able to shift your
identity and really still be able to figure it out.
I mean, weekend and week out, it is unbelievable, man, Really,
so much respect for you and the way you do it. Man,
You're what's right about coaching. Thank you, appreciate your coach.
I was twelve seconds, What did you want him to do?
Trash talk Belichick? Not talk to Belichick. By the way,
That's how a young announcer treats Vin Scully when he
(07:59):
meets him. That's how young NBA players treat Kobe Bryant
for twelve seconds when they meet him. That's how many
young quarterbacks when they are on the field for the
first time and they see Tom they go over like, hey, man,
I've been watching you forever. You're awesome, dude, totally respect
your game. That's what I've done going up to a
young Bob Costas years ago, thirty years ago. What did
(08:20):
you want him to do? Trash talk him? Bill Belichick's
the greatest football coach of our lives. One of the
reasons Sean McVay is an amazing young football coach is
because he's watched he's watched Belichick, and he's watched Bill Walsh,
and he's watched Jimmy Johnson, and he's taken stuff from him.
So when he sees him before the big of his
game of his career and walks up to him for
(08:42):
ten to twelve seconds, what do you want him to do?
I mean, in the World Series. Don't tell me, don't
tell me this is you don't want to do this
before big games. I see in the World Series guys
around the batting cage, laughing and joking, and fifteen minutes later,
you know that picture's facing that batter. In the NBA,
I see guys all have the same agents over here
(09:04):
at UCLA. Westbrook works out with Kadi, he works out
with Lebron, works at all off season. I see this
stuff all the time. I see all the time in
sports people going up and saying, hey, man, you don't
think young quarterbacks before they face Peyton Manning and they
on the football field didn't walk up. Its amen. So
much respect for you. You're the best there's ever been, man,
(09:25):
I love you. You think that decided the football game?
Sean McVan bill Belichick looked at tape and I'm guessing
here for thirty five to forty five hours, but you
think that twelve seconds determined the game? That's all Ray
Lewis love him. But here's what he said on Showtime
last night. Games aren't loss, Games aren't lost. I mean,
(09:47):
hold on, guys, like this is not this is not preseason, right,
You're get into a championship game. Your mentality of your
leader dictates what your troops do. I'm not sharing it
right there, right even if I'm going to let him,
because I gotta let my guys. No human hit stop
ray stop. Football games are not decided by twelve seconds
(10:13):
before the game. Ram players didn't even know about that.
Now raise a defensive player. Defensive players are very emotional.
Their job and a football game is to blow stuff up,
knock people over. So defensive players are very much about
high emotion your arrival. I'm knocking you out, I'm making
you hurt, I'm making you wins, I'm blowing up your plays.
(10:36):
That's ray Lewis. That's how defensive players see games. Offensive
players don't. Offensive coaches steal stuff from one another. Offense
is about unity, choreography, being unified, being under control, taking
the emotion out of it. Tom Brady doesn't want to
(10:58):
be too jacked up, so he's sailing throws. Ray Lewis
wants to run through a wall. Defense and offensive guys
have a different mentality. I've heard this from GMS for years.
Defensive guys, it's almost like you like them having a
little screw loose, like Lawrence Taylor. Sometimes you're like, is
that guy all there? You want your quarterback to have
(11:20):
it all there. This is not why the Rams lost.
This is how people who are young and talented and
driven and who have had posters on walls and they've
had these huge dreams. And then they face Kobe and
then they face mummad Ali, and then they face Tony LaRussa,
(11:42):
and they face Bill Belichick, and they meet Vin Scully
or Al Michaels or Jim Nance and they come up
and they're like, hey, man, this is this is weird. Man,
I've been watching. You're the very best at what you do.
Do you want him to trash talk him? Ignore him? Yo? Sup.
Sean McVay did what i'd do, you'd do, and players
(12:06):
and coaches and executives have been doing forever. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Herd weekdayson Nowneaster not
a Empacific. I'm a really big believer in this. Well
run businesses, from the White House to NBA teams, to
NFL teams to Silicon Valley companies, Well run businesses don't leak. Okay,
(12:29):
when Boogie Cousins ended up with the Warriors, nobody knew
about it. Garoppolo to the Niners, nobody knew about it.
Randy Moss to the Patriots, nobody knew about it. Chris Paul,
Blake Griffin, Chris Paul went to Houston. Darryl Moorey didn't
leak it, Jerry West didn't leak it. Nobody knew it.
(12:52):
Not a lot of leaks in well run companies. And
you know, I will say this now, I think the
Lakers are trapped. Rob Parker came on our show yesterday
and said something. I thought it was his best point. Yesterday.
He was kind of getting hysterical about how Tom Brady's awful,
but he made this point, and I thought it was
a good point. What happens to the teammates that he's
(13:15):
already put out there that he doesn't want. Lebron came in.
Magic has no choice. Magic has no choice. He's stuck
with Lebron. And now, how do you welcome those guys
back to finish out this season? You know, just just
ask yourself in your job, in my job today, if
there were rumors the last seven days, I was trying
(13:37):
to move everybody here. Not to compare myself to Lebron,
but I was trying to move everybody. Don't you think
that everybody would be like talking Moham a back going.
He don't like us anymore. I think this is bad
for everybody if the Lakers don't make the move. Think
about this. It's bad for the NBA because Lebron and
Anthony Davis are more interesting. So it's bad for the NBA.
(13:58):
It's a disaster for Luke wall It's an impossible team
to coach. I mean, you're gonna have massive tension in
the building. So Luke Walton's done. If this deal doesn't
get done, it feels like it's a lost year for
Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Lebron's kind of going through
the motions with young guys he's not eventually gonna be
with and Anthony Davis, you know, he's got this franchise
that's mad at him. So two great players and it's
(14:19):
a wasted year. I don't think it's great for clutch sports.
It looks like, oh, you guys couldn't pull off the deal.
I think the season as a hole's a mess. I
don't think I think the Lakers are trapped. I think
if you don't make this deal, you might as well
just you might as well just start riding up your
Luke Walton's done. You can't coach this team. You just
(14:42):
can't coach this team. And I mean again, every player.
I don't blame Lonzo Ball. And this is also going
to open up the door for LaVar Ball to start talking,
because LeVar if this deal doesn't get done, LaVar is
gonna say I told you this organization doesn't know what
they're doing, and he's gonna look like he's right. He
already took a shot at Luke Walton. If this deal
(15:02):
doesn't get done, then LaVar Ball gets empowered. He can
literally go on shows like this or other shows and go,
I told you they don't know what they're doing, and
we're all sitting there going Noah, he's got a point.
Don't know exactly what they're doing. So this situation now
one of the reasons I don't like to make guarantees.
(15:22):
Like the only guarantee that's ever worked and helped business
was Dominoes years ago, guaranteeing they gave the pea there
in thirty minutes or less. That worked, That was good
for their business, but even they eventually moved off it.
They eventually said we got to stop guaranteeing stuff because
now you know, we show it one minute late, we
look like jerks. And if we show up two minute early,
everybody's like, well, so what you already guaranteed it. I
(15:44):
don't like guarantees and I don't like leaking stuff, okay,
And one of the reasons is it puts pressure on you.
With the Lakers leaking all this stuff, it's now put
incredible pressure on them to get it done. And now
if you don't get it, that's like Rex Ryan, we're
gonna win in the super Bowl. Well, now you don't
your schmuck. When you guarantee something, it not only puts
pressure on you, but whatever you accomplish, you don't get
(16:06):
as much credit for. Well, you guaranteed it, so you
must have known. So I think the Lakers are in
a bad situation. If I was Luke Walton, I mean
I would be praying this gets done because Luke Walton
can save his job if he gets Anthony Davis. Even
if they don't win the championship, it's fun. People are optimistic.
The place is sold out, the games are energized, the
(16:28):
young players are out of the building. Now he's got
to be a psychologist. He's got to be half doctor Phil,
half Oprah, half basketball coach, half agent, I mean, half parent,
and it's going to be just This is the most
unenviable coaching job in the world. One more Herd. The
Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a
(16:50):
week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live
or on demand whenever you like. The Rams appear to
be unraveling of it as they lose the Super Bowl.
There's a little bit of negativity circling the franchise and
it should be duly noted. This is what happens. I'm
going to give you the last five Super Bowl losers.
(17:14):
The Seahawks five years ago didn't give the ball to
Marshawn Lynch. That was the tipping point. They were never
the same franchise. Panthers lost Cam Newton, following year, imploded
losing record. Falcons acknowledged that losing and choking away a
(17:36):
giant lead affected them. The following year. The Patriots, the
best run franchise perhaps in American professional sports, swam in
controversy for five months, and the Rams now are getting
heat for not explaining Todd Gurley for not adapting, for
not looking prepared. The Super Bowl is so far and
(17:57):
away the biggest sporting event in our count The only
thing I can compare it to globally is the World
Cup for Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Germany. When you lose it,
it is an automatic dissension and dysfunction. Creator The Super Bowl, now,
(18:17):
with the amplification of social media and the media in general,
is just bigger and louder, in coming from more directions
than ever. You lose the Super Bowl, you take a
beating and you better have a damn strong locker room
to overcome it. And I think the Rams have it,
and like the Patriots, they will be fine, And it
looks like the Seahawks now will be fine. I don't
(18:40):
think Caroline has ever been the same, nor do I
think that with Atlanta yet. The big knock is that
they didn't run the football. It should be noted the
first five drives the Rams had, they ran the ball
on first down in five straight drives, and they pun
it in five straight Donald rives. They tried to run it. Now,
(19:04):
I would have preferred more than eighteen carries. I would
have preferred twenty five to twenty eight. But it became
very clear very early, and Sean McVay talked about this.
It was not a lot of room. Todd gets into
a little bit of a rhythm, or it seemed like
when we'd have a good, positive run, then something would
inevitably occur to set us back, and then when you're
(19:25):
not efficient on third downs, we just didn't get a
lot of attempts off. I think when you go five
yard run. We were having efficient runs, but then you
have a couple of penalties that set yourself back where
now you're at second and ten and you're not converting
on some third down in shorts. So we didn't get
the amount of plays off and didn't really have any
drive continuity where we're punting more than we did. And
that's a big result of why, you know, those opportunities
(19:46):
were limited for him. You'll lose a World Cup if
you're a soccer country, and you'll lose the Super Bowl.
You have to understand you are now in the managing
crisis business. The Seahawk are a well run franchise. They've
been able to reboot. Took him about a year, two
years the Patriot to the best run franchise. It took
(20:09):
him about six months. I think the Rams are very
well run. Owner GM Less need head coach Sean McVan
goff's the right kind of quarterback. But this is part
and parcel. This is now what you deal with losing
this game. This is it. It's we put the microscope
on you, we crush you. I did not think it
(20:29):
was a great game for Sean McVay, but he's thirty three.
I thought Anthony Lynn had a terrible afternoon for the Chargers.
He's older. I did not think it was a great
day for Bob Sutton, the sixty year old defensive coordinator,
or Andy Reid. They're fifty sixty year old guys. So
this is just the reality of the situation losing Super Bowls.
(20:50):
You're gonna get club. You're gonna get club by every
talk show, every newspaper, every blog, and it's how you
handle it. And I think the Rams are really smart
and they'll handle it fine. It is interesting. I was
Steve Kerr had a funny bite. We have three dynasties
going on here. It's crazy. The Warriors dynasty, the Alabama dynasty,
in the New England dynasty, and it usually it doesn't
(21:11):
work that way. But we have in the three most
popular sports arguably in America, NFL, NBA and college football,
we have three dynasties. And Steve Kerr joked about it
the other day. It just gets old watching the same team,
you know, when the whole thing year after Sorry, that
was really arrogant. It's kind of fun to say that day,
(21:36):
you know. I actually think of the three dynasties, I
think most people think the Patriots will be the first
because of Brady's age to evaporate. I think the opposite.
I think the Alabama dynasty is already fraying because of
three factors. Number One, Clemson has emerged as every bit
as good or better than Alabama. Secondly, the SEC football
(21:59):
power hours like Florida, Texas A and m Georgia now
have really really good coaches, so they're gonna lose more
conference games. And I think Golden State, after they win
this year again and win easily, egoes and recklessness. They
(22:19):
just happened. They happen to Kobe Shack, Michael Jordan retired.
This is just the way the NBA works. I think
New England's here to last. Belichick's still the best coach
Brady was just the best quarterback in the Super Bowl,
and they have twelve draft picks. I think New England's
is gonna last for at least three more years. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at
(22:40):
noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeart Radio app. You know, it's really interesting.
Lakers got blown out by forty last night. It was
Lebron's worst loss forty two. And you know, Lebron is
acknowledging the trade rumors, but he is sort of distancing
himself from the trade rumors. He's this after the loss
(23:01):
last night. We have a lot of guys that's been
in trade talks the last couple of weeks that that's
never been in that position before. I know, it has
to be tough on a lot of our guys, especially
for young guys, you know right now, they've just never
been a part of it, and you know, they're here
every single day. And I noted the worst thing that
you can do right now has been on social media.
(23:22):
And I know all young guys love social media, so
you know that definitely can't help. Lebron is distancing himself
from it, which I understand he has to do, but
nobody really buys that what I have noticed here, and
I'm just gonna be as honest as i can. This
will probably offend the Lebron camp and they watch the show. Okay,
(23:46):
there's two fractions working. There's the Laker fraction where they
release a press release about Lebron's health, and then Rich Paul,
part of Clutch Sports, and Lebron's group come out in
this sterics. Nobody's gonna tell us nothing about him, just
totally overreacted. And similarly, in this situation, we got the
(24:09):
Clutch Sports leak and stuff to build their brand. You
got the Lakers leak and stuff to protect their brand.
I feel like there's been two Lebrons, and by the way,
everybody grows and involves as human beings, we all grow,
and hopefully I'm much different than I was in my twenties.
But I always feel like there's two Lebrons, and I'm
just going to lay this out. The first Lebron was
(24:32):
the Lebron in Cleveland, and the first three years in Miami,
Lebron was all in on his team, all in. He
was all in on Cleveland. He left, but he loved
that city and he loved that team, and it was
not an easy decision. And then he went to Miami
and he had to get some championships, and for three
(24:53):
years he was all into that roster. Mario Chalmers drove
him crazy, but he was all in on Riley, in
on Mickey, all in. And then there's the second Lebron,
the final year in Miami, all the years back in
Cleveland and this year for the Lakers that there's the
(25:13):
team and then there's sort of Lebron and his guys
and they're never glued. Lebron's got his mission, his legacy,
his ideas, his worldview, and then there's the team. And
I feel like that's the Lebron. And again people adapt,
(25:34):
but I really feel like the first Lebron, the seven
years in Cleveland and the three years in Miami, I
kind of feel like Lebron was all in as a unit.
The last year in Miami, I kind of felt Lebron.
And then in Cleveland, n LA, it's like there's the
team and Lebron's part of the team, and Lebron can
(25:56):
say nice stuff and high five, but he's got like
a separate Britton mission and a separate business and a
separate empire and a separate group. And right now I
don't think the Lakers are one. Lebron doesn't feel like
he's totally committed to the franchise. I heard early that
Lebron would refuse to sign basketballs. You know, they'd passed
(26:18):
the basketball around the locker room and Kyle KU's MAlonzo ball,
And initially Lebronzo was like, whoaa, whoa. It's like, dude,
Tom Brady's a legend. He still signs the football's. Peyton
Manning was a legend in Indianapolis. He still signed the
locker room footballs. Like, at some point, Lebron, are you in?
(26:38):
Kobe Bryant was a Laker, Magic was a Laker. I
never felt Shack was all Laker. Shack was loved the
Lakers because it's in LA. But if the Lakers were
in Boise, Cleveland and would like him as much, he
(26:59):
moved to LA. He had a movie, and he was popular,
and he had side businesses and even today he's got
a hundred commercials. Is that at some point, no matter
how big you get in life, you're part of a
team or you're not. You're either part of a unit
or you're not and and somebody's got to hold your
(27:23):
feet to the ground. I don't feel like Lebron's all
in on the Lakers. I know he signed for four years,
papers one thing, emotions are different. I mean, I feel
like the last year in Miami, the last several in Cleveland,
and this year with the Lakers, he's part of a team,
he's not of the team. You know, there's an old
(27:44):
saying about Austin, Texas. It's in Texas, it's not of Texas.
Park City, Utah. Oh they party there. It's in Utah,
it's not of Utah. Lebron Jay is a Laker, but
he's not really really all in of the Lakers. Got
(28:10):
to make a decision. God, make a choice, Gotta commit.
Can't be about your empire, can't be about clutch sports,
can't be about your guys. It always felt that way,
though it needn't to me. It didn't in Cleveland to start, No, no, no,
I'm saying that the move to Los Angeles. It always
felt that way, but it was kind of just continuing
that narrative. And it's at some point you gotta be
(28:32):
one of the guys. Tom Brady goes out of his
way to learn new music and new technology to be
one of the guys. He goes down, puts his arms
around all. What do all the young guys say? What's
amazing about Brady is that he goes out of his
way to connect every day with teammates. He's not worried
(28:55):
about his empire. He's not. He loves his family, but
when he leaves his family, he is Tom Brady is
of the Patriots. Well, this is going to be the
great struggle for the Lakers because the Lakers are storied
franchise with years and years of success in many many
championships and superstars, and Lebron is the type of star
(29:16):
that needs control. Okay, let me shift to this. Kevin
Durant plans to leave the Warriors this season. Here is
a story. Is this from the Athletic It says here
it's about carving out his own legacy. This is Kevin Durant.
Steph Curry is of the Warriors, Clays of the Warriors,
Draymonds of the Warriors, Steve Kerrs all in. Kevin Durant
(29:39):
is about He's a Warrior. But if he's considering leaving
this city and this coach and this roster for the
New York Knicks, and I got nothing against New York.
Then he's not really part of the Warriors. I'm for mobility. Listen,
I like ice cream, not for breakfast. I like wine,
not for breakfast. I'm for a lot of things, but
(30:01):
I'm not reckless. Kevin Durant leaving the Warriors is dumb.
It's reckless. It's insecurity, it's ego. It's worried about stuff
that shouldn't matter. That you don't leave the cool coach,
cool city, tech center, great teammates. You don't have to
be the tough guy. You don't have to be the
best defender, you don't have to be the leader. You
(30:22):
don't just go score and win final MVPs. I mean
that's reckless mobility. And I'm i am pro mobility. I've
been pro Lebron, pro KD. I'm pro moving around. I've
done it. I'm always for NBA players. But again, are
you committed to a team, not just because you have
a contract. Are you emotionally committed Kevin Durant to the Warriors, Lebron,
(30:46):
are you emotionally connected? You got five hundred million dollars,
don't worry about money. Both you guys have nothing but money.
Not about Tom Brady's not worried about money. He takes
pay cuts every year, don't. I don't worry about your empires. Fine,
you know it's gonna hurt your empire if the if
this locker room doesn't like you Lebron and Kevin Durant
and you teeter off to a bad team or you
(31:09):
don't get to the playoffs, Lebron, that hurts your empire.
Stop worrying about every dollar bill, Stop worrying about legacy.
Are you part of a family or you're not. I mean,
it's got to be more. I mean, I love the
NBA and I'm pro player, but it can't you can't
be consumed with legacy, win games, win titles. I mean,
you leave the Warriors. Is there any organization, any organization
(31:32):
in any sport in America that is more pro player
and pro star player than the Warriors? You're gonna leave
to go to the Knicks. A that's a dumpster fire.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and noon Easter Note a Empacific NFL film some thirty
five years A guy I lean on to give me
(31:53):
the truth about football, and now the NFL season is over.
He's our friend Greg Kosell and he's joining us. So well,
you know, there is there's this kind of you know,
criticism Greg of McVeagh. They never ran the football only
seventeen eighteen times. Then there's the argument, he said, which is,
you know, first five series, we ran it. On first down,
(32:14):
there was a nothing there when you looked at it.
Should they have pounded the ball more? Was there anything open?
What do you make of the rams lack of running game.
I think you have to look at it from the
other side of the ball, Colin, because to me watching
the tape, this was about the Patriots defense and what
they did and what they did on early downs. They
had two distinct approaches. They had an early down a
(32:35):
normal down and distance approach, and they had a long
yardage and third down approach. And on early downs first
and ten normal down and distance, they played essentially a
six one front. They had six across the line of
scrimmage with one stacked backer. The point of that was
to take away the rams foundational staple outside zone run game.
(32:56):
Very hard to run outside zone against a six man front.
So they did that and then in the secondary. They
played what we call Cover four or quarters, and they
did that because it gets the safeties involved in the
run game if need be. But they're also obviously pass
defenders in perfect position to take away the play action
(33:16):
pass game and all the inbreaking routes that are another
staple of the first down play action pass game of
the RAMS. So what Belichick did was absolutely brilliant in
terms of taking away the two staples of the RAMS
early down, first down big play concepts, which is the
outside zone run game and the play action pass game
(33:38):
within breaking routes. You know, it's I never thought Jared
goff was quite as comfortable without Cooper Cup. Then you
alleviate Todd Gurley, and he's a young quarterback that didn't
have enough weapons. He looked like his ball he just
wasn't quite tight when you looked at the films. Was
goff awful? What is he? Okay? How do you what
do you make of him? Well? I think Jared Goffin
(33:59):
We've talked about a number of times over the last
seven eight nine weeks. He's a very programmed quarterback. The
reads and the throws need to be presented for him.
That worked exceptionally well in twenty seventeen. It worked very
well through much of this season. One could argue that
Cup was losing. Cup was a major factor in things changing,
(34:19):
but over the last part of the season, even through
the playoffs, it was not presented as clearly to him.
Defense has probably started to get a better read on
mcvay's offense and at this point his career, and it
will be a learning curve for gov. He needs to
become better as a late in the down pocket player
where he can go through reads and progressions when that
(34:40):
the primary is not defined clearly. I thought one of
the things that Rams did a good job of. A
real staple for New England is throwing to running backs,
and James White was a non factor. They made it
very difficult. Now, conversely, Edelman was not only open, he
was often wide open. Why did Edelman have so much
s says It appeared Greg he was uncoverable, I mean
(35:04):
opened by three, four or five yards often. Well, they didn't.
They just played man and zone, and against zone you
can be open because you can find voids against man.
He ran some great, great routes both from the outside
and from inside, and he has such tremendous body control.
I mean, I don't think anybody is as good at
(35:26):
going in motion. What they do with him is so
so good. They bring him a very often in what
we call tight motion. It gives him a free release,
and then he uses his vertical stem exceptionally well to
win at the top of his route and create separation.
And he's just a master at that. Yeah, now we're
(35:47):
you know, we're watching some highlights here. I wasn't as
big a coaching mismatch as everybody said. It looked like
one team adapted late, one team did not. Did it
feel like to you? If I would not have told
you who was in the game and who the coaches were,
would you have said, Yeah, the team were in white
really adapted well. Him appeared well coach, and the team
in the blue did not well. I mean, I think
(36:10):
that what Belichick did was absolutely brilliant. He certainly doesn't
need me saying that, but I thought what he did
was brilliant. Although yet you can look at individual plays
that if they were made, we might be looking at
a different conversation. I mean, that play where Goff was
very late to Cook's wide open in the end zone
was actually a really interesting play because that was very
(36:34):
sort of representative of what happened in the game because
the Patriots disguised their coverage. They started out in what
was Cover three and there was play action and Goff
turned his back and then they rotated to Cover four
or quarters and Goff was late to recognize the change
and what his read was, and therefore he was late
throwing the ball to Cooks because the Patriots actually busted
(36:55):
the coverage. And the other thing that struck me on
that throw and it was something I spoke because that
when he came out of cow is that's what that
ball hung. Football lost a lot of energy on the
back end, and he was clean in the pocket. Jason
mccordy obviously made a great play, but he should never
have been a factor in the play. I want to
go to your big play. This is Brady to Gronk
and lay it out for our audience. Well, this was
(37:18):
that touchdown drive. And what they did really really well
on that drive was they went with what we call
twenty two personnel, something they had not done very much
in the game. Two backs, two tight ends, and they
went empty and they did that on three consecutive plays,
and the Gronkowski play was the third of the three plays,
so we're going to start with that play. Everybody remembers this.
(37:39):
It was arguably the biggest play in the game, getting
them down in scoring position and Frady hits Gronkowski on
the seam route down inside the five yard line. This
play started with Edelman in motion across the formation, something
they do a lot a lot of motion with Edelman,
but they ran basically the same play concept three consecutive plays.
(38:01):
This was the third one, and what they did is
they took Edelman from inside and he ran kind of
a juke route or a jerk route, so he was
the inside route here. Then they took Burkhead and he
ran a hitch route on the outside, and then they
took Gronkowski just inside of Burkhead and he ran a
steam route. So they did this three plays in a row,
(38:22):
and actually Brady hit Edelman on the first play, Burkhead
on the second play, and now gronk But here the
Rams got a little confused. Littleton was late to get
to his assignment of Gronkowski and Brady was able to
make a great throw. But this was an adjustment they
clearly made in the fourth quarter for this drive where
they went to twenty two personnel, two backs, two tight
(38:44):
ends at empty, and they went three consecutive plays with
the same route concept. By the way, most people thought
the game was boring when you looked at film, were
you fascinated by elements of it? Fascinated by the defense
on both sides. I thought Wade Phillips did an outstanding
job with his coverage as well. Brady was not really pressured,
(39:05):
but Brady struggled at times to quickly decipher what he
was seeing and that got him stuck in the pocket.
So I thought Wade Phillips did an outstanding job as
well for someone like me, Colin watching the tape of
this game, and I spent about eight hours yesterday watching
both sides of the ball. I thought this was fascinating. Yeah,
I see Greg cole sal and I liked the game.
(39:27):
I thought it was really enjoyable. You and I both did. Greg.
It's great talking to you again, Colin. I appreciate it.
Thank you. What are the wise guys Where I get
asked that from time to time. The answer is the
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We are now officially open for business. We have all
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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