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January 13, 2025 • 36 mins

Colin explains why he was not impressed with the Eagles following their win over the Packers and how this team constantly leaves you wanting more. He reacts to major BREAKING NEWS out of the NFL: the Cowboys are moving on from Mike McCarthy as their head coach. Plus, 3-time Pro Bowl QB Matt Hasselbeck joins the show to tell Colin if Mike McCarthy is the right fit for the Bears as their next head coach and breaking down each of the Wild Card games

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
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or FSR.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh, it is a Monday, Another epic Monday, starting to
clear the pieces all in place now in the AFC,
down to the final teams of last year, Kansas City, Buffalo,
Baltimore and Houston nfcmour questions live in Los Angeles. It's

(00:47):
the Herd one hour from now. Where Colin was right,
where Colin was wrong, Plus Matt Hasselbeck, who has been
money all year. Jmac it is. You know, there's those
A handful of times in a year we'll say it
was it's a good loss. You got something from a loss.
Over the course of the season, a young team goes
to Detroit or Philly in plays tough that felt like

(01:08):
an ugly win or a bad win for Philadelphia, considering
the Packers were missing five offensive starters. Wow. Okay, yeah,
that's a take. Okay. So, so Philadelphia won and I'm
not sure I feel good about it at all. How
can you have that offensive line, two excellent receivers Dallas
Goddard and Saquon Barkley be at home and be two

(01:30):
for eleven on third down and throw for one hundred
and twenty one yards. That wasn't good. Philadelphia, if they
win the Super Bowl, will do the unthinkable twice. They'll
win a Super Bowl with a coach we're not sure
of in a quarterback nobody really loves a Super Bowl
champion and a trivia answer. They leave so much on

(01:52):
the table. Saquon Goddard, aj Brown Hurts O line two
for eleven on third down. I mean, Jalen Hurts went
ninety minutes between completions. I watched that Wham documentary on
Netflix in between completions. I mean, and green Bay from
the opening kickoff was handing them the ball, handing them

(02:14):
the game. They were missing Christian Watson going into the game.
They lost two more receivers during the game. They lost
two offensive linemen. I mean, you could tell this, but
the second series of the game, green Bay was rattled
and by the way. Philadelphia is so talented, but they're
going to have to prove they can win the Super Bowl.
They have so many great players. But when you're plus
four in turnovers at home and you lead sixteen to

(02:37):
ten in the fourth quarter, I mean, just hand the
ball to Saquon Barkley and let them lean into the
old line. But details matter more, the bigger the games
and the better competition. I mean, the Patriots won six
Super Bowls and their most talented team with Randy Moss,
never hoisted a trophy. Kansas City last two years lost
Tyreek Hill. Are you less talented? It's not about talent.

(03:00):
Playoffs are about execution, They're about discipline, they're about red
zone trips, they're about being good on third down. And
it's not a lack of talent. I mean, Philadelphia is
pro bowlers and talent everywhere. And by the way, I
am all for scholastic achievement. I am all for scholastic achievement.

(03:20):
But reading a book on the sidelines, Nick Sirianni can't
control of the team. This just felt like the kind
of win that you go home, you dress, you shower,
you go home, and you're like, man, we left a
lot on the table. It almost reminds me of when
somebody eats poorly when they're young, but they have a

(03:43):
high metabolism, a fast metabolism. Eventually that metabolism slows down
and you put on weight. You just can't eat poorly
over the course of a life. And this team the coach,
I like Jalen Hurts, but when you watch Josh Allen,
or you watch Lamar Jackson, or if you watch like
a Matt Stafford tonight, there are certain guys in this league,
Jared Goff, you watch them play quarterback, and then you're

(04:04):
watching Jalen Hurts, you just don't feel the same. So
I know it's a win, but I mean, this is
the one game I went into the weekend and said, yeah,
Philadelphia is going to win the game. But when that
thing was sixteen to ten in the fourth quarter in
Green base miss and half their offense and Jordan Love
is reckless and just kind of out of sorts and

(04:24):
not playing well and driving Matt Lafleu were crazy. You
didn't think to yourself, shouldn't have been like twenty four
to seven or twenty four to three. I couldn't believe it.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Was that close.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
I'm like, how's this game close? Here's Nick Sirianni. After
no victory Monday for us. You know we could play
Saturday too, we don't know, But no victory Monday for us,
We're gonna go back to work because we do have
a lot of things to clean up. Yeah, a lot.
So I want to talk about Buffalo thirty one seven
over Denver. So it's this. This league takes a while.

(04:55):
You know, when Jim Harbaugh, even in college football, got
to Michigan five wins to ten the first year, but
it took him like six years to get the kind
of roster where he could beat in Ohio State or
he could beat play with a Georgia. It takes a while.
In this league. You only get seven draft picks. Everybody's
got a salary cap. It's taken them a while to
get Josh Allen the pieces. Buffalo's got him first of all.

(05:19):
James Cook smells the end zone. Two excellent tight ends,
excellent offensive coordinator Joe Brady, three very solid wide receivers.
You almost forget. Amari Cooper's on the team, a top
left tackle. I mean, they were amazing on third down.
And Denver's got a good defense. They were fantastic yards
per pass over nine total yards, almost five hundred, dominate

(05:42):
time of possession. Again, we all knew. Jay McK and
I talked about this Friday. It's gonna be a tough
place for bow Knicks to win. This is gonna be
a tough place to win, no question. But it's the
way they do it. This is the best version.

Speaker 3 (05:56):
I mean.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
And just remember this, Buffalo was not at their best.
Five red zone trips, one touchdown. This was like they
were missing their off speed stuff. This wasn't the best
version of Buffalo. And you know, you start watching Detroit
in Philadelphia's offense and we all look at that and
we all go, they don't have Superman at quarterback. This thing.

(06:21):
I mean, even as good as Kansas City's defense is
and as well coached as they are, you remember that
game in Week eleven, Buffalo Kansas City. They dropped a
thirty burger on Kansas City. And by the way, they
did something that's never been done. There's so much diversity
in their offense with Superman at quarterback, thirty two rushing touchdowns,

(06:41):
thirty passing touchdowns, the quarterback runs, I don't know what
the hole is in the offense. I don't know what
it is. I can't find it, but I mean, you know,
you notice something this weekend. I was talking to the
guys this morning as we were building the show, and
I said, you know what did Jayden Daniels, Lamar Jackson,
Josh One you know kind of have in common when

(07:02):
you start watching the winning quarterbacks over the weekend, Jalen Hurts,
movement really matters. Now, you can win if you're Brady
or Jared Goff and you got the greatest coach or
you got the greatest O line in run game, but
mobility matters. So you're talking about Buffalo's got three receivers.
I like two tight ends. I like a starback, top
three left tackle, excellent o C and maybe the first

(07:24):
or second best running quarterback in the league. And he's
also got maybe the best arm in the league. So
I just I mean, And by the way, both Kansas
City and Buffalo lost a star receiver and with it
a little drama and got better. I don't want to
hear about how valuable star receivers are. I'm watching this

(07:45):
league this weekend. You know it's valuable. Derek Henry, that's
Saquon Barkley, James Cook, Stefan Diggs and Tyreek Hill. And
by the way, we're super noisy, not demanding, but there
was a little bit of drama Buffalo and like the Chiefs,
they went, you know what, We're gonna try this without drama.

(08:07):
They're noticeably better. I've been saying this for years, For
years and years, I said, the quarterback, the rush, end
the run game, the O line is the cake, and
receivers are icing. And for a few years I didn't
believe that because the rule changes. And then j Mack
was like, you've heard of the housing bubble. This is
a wide receiver bubble. This weekend. You know what this

(08:28):
weekend was. Receivers are back to icing on the cake.
That's what I mean. Do you see what Houston did.
Didn't have Tankdale, didn't have Stefan Diggs, this running game
with Josh Allen. I mean again, you forget Amari Cooper's
on the team, He's a really good B plus wide receiver.
Here was Josh Allen after I don't think I think

(08:52):
there was one certain thing over another. We just wanted
to come out and nextque well. But at the end
of the day, we just wanted to come out and
play play our best foot and I feel like we
did that. I'll tell you what Buffalo is. They become
Kansas City without the trophies yet really solid ownership, really
solid ownership, excellent GM, better than average coach, star quarterback.

(09:18):
This team feels like they're gonna get a trophy. And
there is breaking news right now in the NFL. Put
that red bar. Now we have breaking news. Mike McCarthy
is out as the Dallas Cowboys head coach. The sides
could not agree on the length of the contract and

(09:41):
Mike McCarthy, and I think he's smart here, will pursue
other options. In my opinion, the winner here is Mike McCarthy.
This is not a talented roster. The one thing that
eliminates eliminates winning a Super Bowl is not a rookie

(10:02):
quarterback necessarily or a young quarterback. You don't even have
to be great at quarterback, Nick Foles. You cannot pay
a B quarterback a plus money or you are out.
And that's where Dallas is. And Mike McCarthy, for all
the criticism, he won with Farv, he won with Aaron,
He's won with Dak. He's one with Cooper Rush, Chicago Bears,

(10:27):
Mike McCarthy all go on record right now, that's who
I would hire. I know you love the whiz kid
in Detroit, but Mike McCarthy is win in twelve games
with the worst running back room in the league and
an offensive line that may not have more than one
player that could start for the Eagles or Lions Z line.

(10:47):
So Mike McCarthy out in Dallas. It doesn't sound like
money was the issue. It was length of the contract.
According to Ian Rappaport, Bears and the Saints are in
interested go to Chicago. Jay Mackett was funny during my rant,
I looked at Jay mack and his eyes he went.

(11:08):
He turned around at Ryan and went and I thought, well,
either Joe Burrow has demanded a trade or we've got
big NFL news. So for me, my money is Chicago
feels like to play. First of all, my bad for
that reaction. I was just kind of stunned. It's like,
heyday morning, NFL. You get one for that.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
Wow?

Speaker 1 (11:28):
Yeah, the years is interesting.

Speaker 4 (11:30):
My guess is McCarthy went into that meeting with Jerry
and was like, I got all the cards here, buddy,
what's the word. Well, and Jerry kind of didn't. We'll
secure off for two years or something.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
By the way, I'm surprised we haven't seen more of
this for years and years. Owners totally control coaches and gms,
and I don't love that at all. I love McCarthy
saying there's a lot of openings. You're not up to
my standard. I got a ring in the last ten years.
You can't get to the conference championship. So I think

(11:59):
Mike McCarthy and Chicago I do that job is too
big of a lift to give it to a coordinator.
And I think Aaron is great, Ben Johnson's capable, Liam
Cohen and Tampa. There are a lot of talented guys,
but you don't know if coordinators make it. Mike McCarthy
has won everywhere.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
I think I would agree with you. It is interesting
that Jerry wouldn't. He blocked him last week from talking
to the Bears.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
Remember he blocked him.

Speaker 4 (12:25):
And now, oh, we don't want to We don't want
to give you what you want in your contract.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
I think you're right.

Speaker 4 (12:29):
I think Chicago makes a ton of sense.

Speaker 1 (12:31):
Three playoff appearances in Dallas and a winning record, And
here's the other thing about him since Josh since I
think it's since Mike McCarthy arrived in Dallas. I could
be wrong on this. It could be when Josh Allen
arrived in Buffalo, but I think it's when Mike McCarthy
arrived in Dallas. They have the second best offense in
the league to Josh Allen. Okay, not Kansas City, not

(12:55):
Sean mcvanan Stafford, not Detroit. So again we've been saying
this now for three weeks. It is very easy. There's
two things. Mike McCarthy isn't young and hip and we
all love the mcveigh's or like old in Alpha Vrabel
he's not that. For years and years when he was
in Green Bay, I said, you know, he looks like
a retired Milwaukee comp. You know he's like, he's a

(13:18):
responsible guy. There's no flash to him. He's a bottom line,
goes to work every day, buses butt. But this guy
can coach everywhere he goes quarterbacks, he gets the best.
Go to his last year with FARV. Aaron had his
best years and go look at Aaron in New York.

Speaker 3 (13:36):
All ad.

Speaker 4 (13:36):
I got a Cowboys friend texting me, we gotta go
get Belichick. Hold on, Belichick is not leaving North Carolina
for the Cowboys job.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
I don't think the think is a Cowboys job that
good A one.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
No, no, don't time out a better job. I know
this is hard for people to figure out. A better
job was the Patriots stable owner who stays out of
the way, and you got a franchise quarterback that you're
not paying a nickel two for the next four years.
That's why I've rabeled the best job last year was Hardball,
and the best job this year was New England non

(14:07):
medaling owner quarterback for the future. I'll tell you right now,
I think New England is a viable playoff team next year.
I'm just gonna tell you I saw what Demico did Hardball.
These good coaches can turn around cultures and wins very quickly.

Speaker 4 (14:22):
I'm really curious where you think Dallas turns here, because,
like you said, like I don't see Ben Johnson. Oh,
I got to get to Dallas and get with this
old roster. Like that's such a downgrade from from where
the Lions are.

Speaker 1 (14:33):
You know again, people will push back on McCarthy. Just
go to the data. They are the number two offense
in the league since he got to Dallas behind Josh Allen.
Do you watch Josh Allen this weekend? He's talented. So
you're talking about a terrible run room Cooper Rush playing
games Dak hurt multiple times. Rebuild of the old line.

(14:55):
You know, the old line was great with Jason Garrett
and McCarthy. Got about a year and a half of that.
It's not great anymore. It's an old expensive Zach Martin
and a bunch of good question marks. Some of these bad.

Speaker 4 (15:05):
Teams rolled over and were getting blitzed and buried by
twenty thirty points this season.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
I didn't see Dallas get totally tracked. They were fighting
and in most of those games copy quarters about he
didn't have the horses to compete. We were talking about
Dallas soft tanking in week twelve. I was I was like,
oh that this looks like and he got them with
Cooper Rush. They were competitive, absolutely compact. They were winning games.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
I wonder could he fix Derek Carr in New Orleans.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
I wouldn't even I wouldn't get Okay, all right, Packers, Cowboys,
I'm not going to the Saints, Packers, Cowboys, I'm going
to the Bears. Yeah, This is not a party guy.
He didn't need He didn't need Bourbon Street. You know,
he needs to go to Chicago. Mike McCarthy looks like
a Chicago coach.

Speaker 4 (15:49):
Well, lot Raiders does do they make a move on him.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
I think he'd be a good coach. I think he's
a good hire. I mean they're already paying three other guys.
Why not pay Mike. Everybody's on the payroll. Yeah, Okay,
Matt hasselback. Colin right wrong? Is there anything better than
breaking news eight minutes? I literally I just finished my rant,
and Mike McCarthy and Jerry Jones said, let's give coward
a story to help him get through the first hour.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
All Right, we do it on Mondays. Colin was right,
Colin was wrong. Here we go where Colin was right.
I picked the Washington Commanders as my surprise playoff team
in the NFL. I didn't know if they'd win a game,
but they did. I love Dan Quinn, Cliff Kingsbury, Jaden Daniels.
I thought it worked and I thought their division had
a couple of teams in the Giants in Dallas with

(16:43):
the week rosters, I said Friday, I don't think they're
as good as Tampa. I don't think they'll win, but
if they do, it's because of, singularly Jaden Daniels. And
that's exactly what happened.

Speaker 2 (16:55):
Where Colin was wrong, I got a.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
Little too high on Jordan Love jmaxco me the entire season.
But you know what I thought after that Green Bay
Dallas performance, I thought this guy is gonna be great.
And it was a roller coaster year. Three picks against Philly.
I was told out of college by a GMI trust
that he thought he was a little loose and he
wasn't sure you could coach that out of him. But

(17:18):
if you count the playoff game in Philly, he ended
up with fourteen picks and the nineteenth highest passer rating
in the NFL. I think he needs an off season
with Matt Lafleur to clean it up. I still like
him a lot, but I was a little too high
on him.

Speaker 2 (17:32):
Where Colin was right.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
Mike Rabel to the Patriots, I said Friday, Rabel's the
best candidate Patriots. The best job. This is an easy one.
People always say you can't go home again, but this
is the only opening where you get two things that
are necessary, and they get both a stable owner with
championship pedigree and and a young quarterback on a rookie deal.

(17:54):
That shows great promise. Now, I mean, I guess you
could say Washington, but we didn't know much about the
new own own. We know Robert Kraft. This makes a
lot of sense. I think he's gonna win. In fact,
I think New England next year. You think I'm crazy.
I think they'll battle for a playoff spot, a wild
card playoff spot. You can always get better on the
perimeter faster than you can on the lines. You can

(18:16):
go get corners, you can go get wide receivers in
the draft. This is the best running back draft in
a decade, and there's tons of receivers. I think he's
a culture builder. I think it's.

Speaker 2 (18:25):
Perfect where Colin was wrong.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Justin Herbert Listen, you know I love him, but that
was a stinker. Now, former Charger Dan Foutz had his
worst game as a pro in the playoffs. But if
you take out one pass to lad McConkey, they didn't
do anything, and I love him, but he was off
in two playoffs starts. I've got to be honest. He
has a passer rating a sixty and has completed only
fifty two percent of his throws. I still think he's great,

(18:50):
but you know what, your legacy gets cemented and regresses
in the playoffs, and he needs a really great playoff performance.
Two trips, two ugly ones.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Where Colin was right.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
Ohio State. I picked them to be in the National
Championship before the year. I said they would lose at
Odson and beat Oregon the next time. And I also said,
even after they beat Michigan, I still think they're one
of the top two teams in the country. I think
they're gonna beat Notre Dame and I like Notre Dame
a lot. But Ryan Day and Chip Kelly that Michigan

(19:24):
loss was jet fuel. They are playing tremendous football. Will
Howard after a bad Michigan game is on it. I don't.
I mean, listen, Their O line isn't all time stuff,
and the Buckeyes usually have great old lines. But running
back receiver Will Howard coaching, there's there's nothing not to
like here, and it just proves rivalries are great, but

(19:47):
Nick Saban won a Natty one year after losing to Auburn.
It comes in Ohio State. You got to move past
the Michigan game sometimes this team. The Michigan loss actually
was a catalyst for the performance where Colin was raw. Listen,
I had the Longhorns winning the National championship and they

(20:07):
lost twice to Georgia, once to Ohio State, and they
should have lost Arizona State situationally, and I think Sarks
a very good coach, but boys, situationally, they made some calls.
I did not love running outside on that goal line.
Play was not didn't work for me. I think they
got the most out of Quinn viewers. I think he

(20:27):
is what he is. Arch Manning will start this point forward,
But watching that game, I never felt Texas was as
good as Ohio State. And maybe it just comes down
to personnel. But I had them winning the Natty and
I'm wrong where Colin was right. I've been saying this
now for several years. I like Mike Tomlin and he's

(20:48):
great as an underdog coach, but when they lose effort,
you're in trouble because offensively, he can't figure out offensive lines,
their offensive lines awful again seven straight year. They can't
establish a run game, and again they'll lead the NFL
in defensive spending. I think he's a good football coach,
but I think even good football coaches sometimes need a
fresh start. And again, I would hire Mike Tomlin. I mean,

(21:11):
if the Cowboys called now that McCarthy's leaving, I'd hire
Mike Tomlin. I think he's a good coach. I think
the Pittsburgh thing, I think they need to reboot, and
I think Mike Tomlin does too. Where Colin was right,
Lamar Jackson won his third playoff game. Listen, I know,
I know, but he can't beat Kansas City, and nobody

(21:33):
could beat Tiger Woods in his prime or Michael Jordan
when he got to the finals. Sometimes winning in the
playoffs against the greatest quarterback playing in the sport is
really hard. But I think Lamar once again one hundred
and thirty two passer rating, two tens, no picks without
Zay Flowers. I mean, they they knew everybody in the

(21:53):
ballpark knows. They don't have they don't have a receiver.
It's Mark Edwards, Dereck Henry, and Lamar. It didn't matter
poised great. We got to stop the Lamar Jackson stuff. Yeah,
he struggles against Kansas City, the world struggled against MJ.
Like Phil Mickelson's an old timer, couldn't be Tiger much.

(22:17):
I still think Lamar Jackson is really really special. Colin right,
Colin wrong?

Speaker 2 (22:22):
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Speaker 1 (23:28):
And with that eighteen years in the NFL, three Pro Bowls,
Super Bowls as well. Matt Hasselbeck, Let's first address, Mike McCarthy.
You know, generally in this sport, players occasionally have leverage.
You guys do occasionally. Coaches don't. Almost never GMS don't.
I kind of feel like Mike McCarthy after Vrabel signed,

(23:51):
he and his agent went, you know, Jerry, we want
five years guaranteed. It feels like I don't I think
Mike's a good coach. Matt, what do you make of it?
And what do you make a Mike?

Speaker 3 (24:02):
Yeah, there's no doubt. I think I think he's a
great coach.

Speaker 7 (24:05):
You know, this is kind of one of those things
in negotiating, it feels like Mike McCarthy's just kind of
betting on himself. You know, he looks out there, he
realizes what he is as a coach and what his
resume is, and then also, I think, probably most importantly,
his resume working with quarterbacks. His first ever quarterback coaching
job in the NFL was with the Kansas City Chiefs,
coaching Joe Montana, and it started with Joe Montana and

(24:27):
it runs right through look it up. It's pretty impressive
Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and so like I think, if
you think about the jobs that are out there and
the quarterback help that needs to happen, Micha McCarthy's the
perfect guy. And I think when it comes to these
negotiations as well, he's not just thinking about himself. He's
thinking about the job security of his entire staff. And

(24:47):
that's probably where he kind of bowed up for his
staff and said, hey, you know, we want more, We
want more commitment than you're offering for the rest of
the guys here. And I think the coaching staff appreciates
that as well, and I think you'll get a lot
of the coaches to come with him.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Yeah, that's really interesting. I said this last week, Matt,
and I made me off my rocker, but I said,
the public loves two kind of coaches, the hip young ones,
you know, Sean McVay, Mike McDaniel, the cool guys, and
they like the old alphas, they like Rabel and Dan Campbell.
And I'm like, he's not really either. He's just a
really good coach among players. How is he viewed like

(25:25):
like what's his little secret sauce? Because he wins with everybody,
including Cooper Rush.

Speaker 7 (25:31):
Yeah, listen, he was my quarterback coach early in Green
Bay when Ray Rhodes was the head coach, actually, and
it was kind of miserable to have him as a
position coach because he worked us so hard, you know,
so like I mean that, I guess it's a compliment,
like it was tough. But he was a great teacher,
and I think he was a great developer. Like he
developed the roster Brett farv was the starting quarterback, but

(25:52):
he was developing me, some kid off the practice squad
the year before. He was developing Aaron Brooks, a late
round pick that later came his starting quarterback. When he
was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, So
you know, teacher, developer, those are all things you're looking
for in a coach. And then I think at some
level you have to be able to, you know, push

(26:14):
a guy and inspire a team or the guys that
you're with to think bigger than they're actually thinking for themselves.
I know he did that for me personally, and so
just take that as a position coach, as a coordinator,
and just move it up to the head coach. That's
really what you are doing for the team when you
talk to the team. And then I think one of
the most underrated parts of being the head coach. Yes,

(26:35):
game management, that's important, everybody knows about that, but handling
the bullets at the podium at the press conference when
adversity strikes, when there's drama around your team, being the
guy that takes the blame, being the guy that deflects
the credit. He's got a lot of experience at the
podium that way. Some head coaches they can coach, but
they can't handle the podium. And for that reason, I

(26:56):
think you've got a proven commodity.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
And Mike McCarthy here, Okay, I know you your Eagles,
but they've got Jalen Hurt, Saquon Barkley, the best all line,
two good receivers, Dallas Goddard, and they were two for
eleven on third down. I watched them.

Speaker 3 (27:08):
Yeah that was bad. I mean bad.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
Well, when you watch it, is it fair to say
they're really led by Saquon Barkley, not the quarterback. That's
kind of what I feel like.

Speaker 7 (27:21):
You know, I just think they're a team, you know,
I really think they're a team. And I think the
unselfishness of Saquon Barkley is uh is like, you need
more guys to have that mindset.

Speaker 3 (27:30):
Listen, I've been on this team this entire year. I
like this team.

Speaker 7 (27:33):
I like the quarterback. The quarterback did not play well.
You could pretend like he played great.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
He didn't. But I would just say this, having.

Speaker 7 (27:40):
Been a quarterback who's come out of concussion protocol. It's
one thing to pass concussion protocol. It's a whole another
thing to feel like you are really absolutely one percent yourself.
And so, like I saw a guy that was maybe
a little tentative, maybe a little bit slower than normal,
maybe just didn't have that same like something just felt

(28:01):
off to me. So if I'm just speaking anecdotally for
myself or what it was like for.

Speaker 3 (28:07):
Me coming out of those situations.

Speaker 7 (28:09):
You know, that first game back usually wasn't my best,
and you know, maybe this next week he'll feel more
like himself, He'll look more like himself, and the Eagles
are gonna need him to be that way to get
the win because it's gonna take more than what they
had offensively in the passing game this week.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
I don't I said, if you look at the history
of the NFL and you talk all time stuff, and
I'm talking forar of Peyton Mahomes, I mean, like all
time stuff, you could argue there's been fifteen or sixteen
of those quarterbacks that are just different. I don't know
how Jayden Daniels as a rookie is this good laden games?
Is it cognitive? Is it intuitive? Is it just innate?

(28:49):
Matt he looks calmer. This is very Mahomes. Remember Mahomes
first couple of years, we were like, you could never
tell what the score was. He was as good trailing
as he was leading, and it was just like it
almost like he just kind of privately shifted a gear
and was more accurate in crisis. I don't even know
what to make of Jaden Daniels. I mean, what do
you see?

Speaker 7 (29:10):
Yeah, he's unfazed and and he's really unbelievable, Like in
the pressure moments, not only does his team believe in him,
does everyone at home believe like, yeah, he's.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
Gonna get it done.

Speaker 7 (29:19):
I really believe the opponent thinks like, ah, here we
go again. You know, we gave him too much time
the balls in his hands, and that's as a runner
or as a thrower. And you know, some of those
great quarterbacks you mentioned Mahomes, Like I'm as big a
Mahomes fan as you could possibly be. But like he's
got that emotional like roller coaster he gets, you know,
he gets into it with officials and he's yelling and
he's you know, I feel like Andy Reid's got to
put his hands on his shoulders sometimes and be like, hey,

(29:42):
I'm down, take a deep breath. Yeah, And you know,
like that's great, you can be that way. Jaden doesn't
seem that way, like up down, high low, game winner.

Speaker 3 (29:51):
He's just kind of like he's just cool.

Speaker 7 (29:53):
He's just medium, as they say, and and that's fine.
Like I just I think, to me, to me, I
talk about it like all the time, the quarterback position.
When you get that right, it could be you're you
now are amazing Marinara sauce over yesterday's pasta you cover
up for all bad play calls. Uh, medium talent, missed

(30:16):
block up front, wide receiver, didn't run a great route.

Speaker 3 (30:19):
It's all of a sudden, a perfect throw. Like he
is that guy. He is everything you're looking for at
a quarterback that way. So so look out.

Speaker 7 (30:27):
I mean, you want to talk about a guy that
can pull off an upset, Jayden Daniels is your guy.

Speaker 1 (30:31):
So I got to ask you. I know it's a
it's a week off, but Baltimore without Jay Flowers, Wow, Uh, Buffalo,
this is the most complete I would argue outside of
Detroit and Philly, and maybe along with them James Cook,
two tight ends, three receivers. You forget Amari Cooper's on
the team, a great left tackle, Josh Allen. I don't know,

(30:54):
I I I think Buffalo is the best team I've
seen in the AFC. What do you expect in that game?

Speaker 3 (31:00):
Listen?

Speaker 7 (31:01):
I like Buffalo. I love their quarterback, I love the coach.
I love a lot about what they're doing offensively. I
don't like this matchup. I mean, the only good thing
I can say really is that this time around, this
game is in Buffalo. But if you go back and
watch that game September twenty ninth, Buffalo goes to Baltimore,
I mean that was a beat down. I mean, it
wasn't even really competitive, and so like matchup wise, you know,

(31:24):
I just really think that they're gonna have their hands
full with the running game. You know, we're gonna talk
about Derek Henry, we talk about Lamar. I just think
Todd Munkin in Baltimore, they're rolling right now. A lot
of times you'll hear coaches say this, Hey, let's just
get into the tournament and let's play our best football
at the at the right time. I think that's what's
happening for Baltimore right now. So quite honestly, this might

(31:46):
be you know, the Super Bowl may happen a few
weeks whatever. This might be the best game though, This
might be the best game of the entire playoff.

Speaker 3 (31:54):
Two of the top quarterbacks.

Speaker 7 (31:56):
I just think that run game is going to be
a real problem for Buffalo. They have to have a
different game plan than they had the first time around.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yeah, Derek Henry is the opposite of most great backs.
He wasn't great early in his career, but he's better
as an old running back. Usually running backs have like
six years of great and then they tail off. I
don't know what he I mean, it's some vitamin program,
but it is well.

Speaker 3 (32:18):
It fits.

Speaker 7 (32:19):
It fits together because you have to. You have to
decide are we gonna honor the naked bootleg or are
we going to honor the zone read to the quarterback?
Or are we going to commit an extra guy to
Derrick Henry And if one guy misses, he's out the gate.
And Todd Munkin's done a great job of having naked
bootlegs and plays off of it, direct snap eye candy

(32:40):
smoking mirrors to the quarterback running a jet suite. I mean,
it all fits together right now, and it's just headaches.
You can't play your normal NFL style defense against this offense.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Wow. Finally, I look, I look it over the landscape,
and almost every quarterback outside of Jared Goff that is
winning in this league moves. They all move. Mahomes moves,
Hurts moves, Jaden moves. It's I look at this pocket

(33:14):
thing and I think, well, Brady want a bunch and
GoF does have a great old line. But I'm watching
Jaden last night and I'm thinking to myself, is the
pocket court? I know you gotta throw from the pocket,
but it felt like all weekend the mobility was a
huge factor on third down for these teams. Do you
feel like as a pocket you could move, but as

(33:35):
a pocket guy that the game's just changed and you
have to move to win the ring.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
I would agree with you.

Speaker 7 (33:44):
I think the movement, the quarterback movement was a major
factor this weekend. Big plays, third down, fourth down, especially
fourth down this week I thought that was a real factor.
I would just say this though, I've heard that conversation
for years and years and years, and I heard it
all throughout the playoffs, and you saw a lot of it.
And at the end of the year, it was a

(34:04):
guy like Tom Brady or Nick Foles or somebody else, you.

Speaker 3 (34:07):
Know, having the great year.

Speaker 7 (34:09):
Matt Ryan had an MVP year, And so I don't
think there's one way to skin a cat that way.
I think quarterback movement keeps defensive coordinators up at night.
You say, who would you rather defend? They don't want
to defend a guy that can move around. But at
the end of the day, it's the consistent top delivering
the ball on time on the proper shoulder to convert

(34:30):
third downs to win in the red area. I think
that's that's probably the thing that's been true over time.
But there's there's no doubt the creativity from the college
game with these quarterbacks that can move and then the
scramble drills. If you ask any decordinator, they want none
of that.

Speaker 1 (34:47):
Finally, Jimmy Johnson yesterday suggested McCarthy to Pittsburgh, Tomlin to Dallas.
What do you make of that? It sounds fun, It's genius.

Speaker 3 (34:58):
I mean, that'd be fun.

Speaker 7 (35:00):
There's nobody more at Pittsburgh that I've ever met than
Mike McCarthy. I mean that that dude loves Pittsburgh.

Speaker 3 (35:07):
But I just you know, I think Mike Tomlin's an
awesome coach.

Speaker 7 (35:10):
I think the talks of getting rid of Mike Tomlin
are kind of ridiculous. The only way I think that
that could work is if if Mike Tomlin wanted to
wanted to change the scenery for some reason. I think
he's a great coach. Changes need to need to happen, though,
like the effort in the pursuit that I saw defensively
from from Pittsburgh yesterday, at times it looked like a

(35:30):
Pro Bowl defense, like, you know, just tagging off, standing
around the pile.

Speaker 3 (35:35):
I just didn't recognize it.

Speaker 7 (35:36):
Having gone against that team for many, many years, their
defense was just always relentless, always tough, physical, flying around
to the ball. You know, Like I used this quote
before on defense, your love for your teammate and for
what we're doing can be measured by how close you
are to the ball when the whistle blows.

Speaker 3 (35:56):
And uh, you know so, I think that's got to
get fixed.

Speaker 7 (35:58):
I think if Mike Tomlin wants to stay, he's earned
the right to be the guy to fix it.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
Matt Hasselback eighteen years in the NFL. Love having you
on on a Monday. Thanks buddy, all right

Speaker 3 (36:09):
See you calling.
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