January 16, 2025 • 39 mins

Colin addresses a report that Deion Sanders is seriously considering the Cowboys head coach opening and why this lines up perfectly with what we know about Jerry Jones. He breaks down what makes the Chiefs so successful and why teams need to follow the Kansas City model more often. Plus, Greg Cosell from NFL Films joins the show to preview the Divisional Round match ups of the NFL playoffs

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.

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

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Oh, it just became a very very interesting Thursday in
the Herd. We love breaking news on this show. Greg
Cosel One Hour from Now talk about the NFL playoffs,
but jmack as story and I guess you and I

(00:50):
aren't surprised. I have some questions how it would turn out.
But you know, Jerry Jones was on that show land Man,
and everybody was marveling at what a showman he was,
and who's the ultimate showman as a football coach?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Not bad?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
You know, I'm only on episode six, so no spoilers
for land Man. I don't want to know what happens yet.
But this news, I don't know what to do with it.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Let's not keep people waiting and holding their breath. Edwarder
Respected journalists says. Regarding Dion Sanders, Edward says, I'm being
told he would certainly accept that if Jerry Jones offered
the next cowboy coaching head coaching gig to him, and
that those around Jerry are encouraging him to pursue it,

(01:40):
and that Jones is enamored with the idea. Well, it
would be interesting and splashy. And they're two showmen, and
I think Jerry and Dion have a lot in common.
They're performers. They'll take risks, and if you criticize him,
don't come on your show and talk about it. They
don't shy away from risk. They welcome the spotlight. But

(02:00):
Dallas is also two things today, not very good and boring.
So this falls in line with Jerry Jones' personality, which
is he likes to be seen as the man who
discovered something. He loved getting Tony Romo at a discount
he was undrafted. He loved getting Dak Prescott at a discount,

(02:21):
right fourth rounder, and Deon Sanders, who we don't think
of as the best coaching candidate. You'd probably there's a
little bit of discovery here, and I think Jerry loves that.
Jerry's DNA was an oil catter. Let's dig and see
what we got down there. And Jerry in the NFL

(02:42):
is a little bit like that. Let's see what we've
got here with undrafted Tony Romo and Deon Sanders as
the head coach, and Dak Prescott is a fourth rounder.
So I'm I don't know if Deon Sanders prime time
would be a great coach. Let's just be honest about
his college football experience. He went thirteen and twelve in

(03:02):
two years with arguably the best college quarterback and without
an argument, the Heisman Trophy winner who played both sides
of the ball, and in a bad conference, the Big Twelve.
He went in the SEC, he wasn't. He wasn't even
in the Big ten of the ACC. Is it a

(03:22):
big twelve? Went thirteen and twelve and he up blown
out a lot. And I will sell this say this
Primetime can sell Primetime and by proxy he'll sell Dallas.
But salesmanship is huge in college football. That's seventy five
percent of the game. Nick Saban was old, but he
was young in the recruiting trail. He had energy and

(03:44):
juice and swag. And Dion's got a lot of that,
but the Cowboys have no camp room and they're not
going to trade Dak, So how does he make him better?
And my rule has always been, whenever you make a
coaching move, what do your rivals say? What do you

(04:04):
think the Philadelphia Eagles are saying this morning about this story.
They're saying, well, Jerry likes the spotlight, so he'll get
the spotlight. They're not saying, oh damn, Vrabel's going to
change that culture or last year, Oh boy, Jim Harbaugh
wins everywhere and really fast, and he's coming from Michigan.

(04:26):
He knows all those college players. There's no fear in
the Philadelphia Eagles executive suite or locker room today with
Dion Sanders. He's a showman who was a five hundred
coach and a bad conference in college. Now he took
over a bad job. He was good for the sport.
I was rooting for him. I think he's fun. But
is Jerry going to win the spotlight sacrificing perhaps winning games?

(04:52):
So Joel Klatt was on the show yesterday who played
at Colorado. Who hopes he stays primetime at Colorado? And
he doesn't think necessarily the NFL it's a great fit.

Speaker 5 (05:02):
I don't believe that Dallas is somehow a better destination.
In fact, I view it opposite, and I view this
by this is not a Colorado and Dallas thing. This
is also just an NFL versus college football. If you
find the right fit in college football, where you're comfortable
and you can win, even in the Big twelve, you're

(05:23):
gonna make a lot more money in the long run
and have a lot more power in the long run
than going to the NFL, because even if the NFL
can pay you more, maybe maybe per year, that's going
to be a short runway and you have very little
to no power.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
I don't think Dallas's issue was a coaching problem. I
think it's a roster problem. It's really top heavy with
a wildly overpaid quarterback and one great playmaker, and the
Cowboys ended up, believe it or not being too good
to get a great draft pick in a really really
okay draft. It's not a bad draft, but is about

(06:00):
seven to eight special players and Dallas actually McCarthy coached
them up too well, and they don't have one of
those top picks, and it's not a draft and in
my opinion, unless you could get the receiver T Mac
from Arizona, or a Mason Graham or Carter the edge
rusher from Penn State. I'm not moving up for anybody else.

(06:23):
I don't even I don't even think I'm moving up
for these quarterbacks. And you know Jerry's not getting rid
of his quarterback. So what do you think the Eagles
are saying today? Because I got news for you. Once
Jim Harball was coming to the Chargers. I can guarantee
that people in Kansas City were like, damn, Herbert finally
got a coach. And I can guarantee you in Buffalo

(06:46):
with Mike Vrabel going to New England, you know they're
saying in Buffalo, oh, he'll get that puppy turned around
real fast. We got ourselves, We got ourselves. Of all coach,
I think Philly's saying, oh, Jerry likes the spotlight. He's
on land Man and he's got Dion, so he'll get that.
Not saying he's going to fail. But there's some guarantees

(07:08):
in the job search. I thought Vrabel was one of
them this year, and Harball was won last year. I
don't know what you get here, Okay, So it's interesting
you would think as the Kansas City Chiefs try to
do something nobody's done in the NFL, three straight Super
Bowl wins, they would be kind of intimidating, kind of daunting.

(07:30):
But Sean Payton just said yesterday that when they went
into the playoffs, they were actually more concerned about Buffalo
and that if they could get past Buffalo, they liked
their chances against the Chiefs.

Speaker 6 (07:45):
We're not looking backwards, we're looking ahead, and it starts
with the division, you know, and there's a lot of
confidence in this team. If we could get past that game,
the next game we had to play, we felt real
good about.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
And that next game was going to be Kansas City.
So I think actually Kansas City proves two things, and
it's actually instructive for other teams. It's instructive, and they
prove two things. One, you don't have to be great
at everything to win back to back Super Bowls. Kansas
City's receiving corps the last two years a lot of
ham and eggers. It's just a lot of guys now

(08:23):
now read and mahomes take a D plus group and
make it a C plus group. So it's not terrible,
but you don't have to be great at everything. The
one but if you're terrible at anything, Joe Burrows o lines,
you're not winning super Bowls. The one time Mahomes didn't
have his starting offensive tackles in the super Bowl super

(08:45):
Bowl fifty five, he got rolled. He had humiliated. The
coaching is too good in the NFL. You do not
have to be great at everything. You can't be terrible
at anything. I mean, there were years Brady didn't have
a great run game, but James White was one of
the best pass catching running backs in the league. So
they may not have had a superstar running back, but

(09:05):
their backs could catch and block and protect. And so
that's the first thing. You do not have to be
great at everything to win super Bowls. Can't be terrible
at anything. And the second thing is you really only
have to be elite at about four or five things.
Head coach, quarterback. You gotta have a dominant defensive person

(09:28):
up front somewhere edge Chris Jones, Aaron Donald, gotta have
a dominant defensive lineman. You have to have an above
average offensive line and some reliable playmaker. It can be
Saquon Barkley, it can be Gronk and Julian Edelman, it
could be a tight end, a slot receiver. You have
to have a third down go to guy for the quarterback.

(09:48):
They're not all going to be as good as Jamar Chase,
but Puka Nikua, Saquon Barkley, you know Travis Kelsey. You
gotta have one of those. So the Colts and the Seahawks,
by the way, I think you have excellent rosters, but
they're not great at key positions. And so Kansas City

(10:11):
fools you into thinking this is not a great team.
They're great where you need to be in the NFL.
So they're very instructive. They don't intimidate you. But if
you go back and look at New England, they are
Kansas City. Great coach, great quarterback, always above average offensive lines,

(10:32):
always had somebody that could get after the quarterback. They
often led the NFL in hurries, and there was one
reliable playmaker. Often too, it was James White at a
receiver spot out of the backfield. It was Gronk for
a couple of years, it was Randy Moss. It was
often Welker or Edelman. There was always one guy Tom
knew he had on third down, and that is Travis Kelcey.

(10:53):
So you know, it's like the restaurant menu. Not everything
has to be great. Get stuff off that that's terrible,
and you've got to be good at two or three
things in and out. Don't like their fries, burgers and shakes,
they crush. So I think a lot of people look
at Kansas City and doubt them, but they're a very
instructive team taking that baton from New England. So Dion

(11:18):
Sanders to the Dallas Cowboys, Jmack your initial reaction Primetime
wants it if it's offered. Jerry is enamored with it
and may offer it. You think it comes to fruition.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
I mean you got to respect ed Werder. He's been
doing this, covering the team for a long time. I
just have a hard time seeing Dion doing this.

Speaker 7 (11:38):
Is it you've talked about it? Is it a good job?

Speaker 1 (11:40):
Is the Dallas Well, if you look at the Jackson
State the Colorado Dallas Cowboys, that's a very noteworthy ascension.

Speaker 8 (11:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yeah, so it is a great job now if you're coaching,
if you're Sark or Ryan Day, if Ryan Day won
the Natty, I look at the Dallas Cowboys and think
I'm gonna wait until I get a rookie quarterback on
a rookie deal, or I get a Justin Herbert or
a C. J. Stroud. So again, what is your job
if you go from Jackson's stak. I mean, Dion was
just broadcasting and speaking and he was great at it.

(12:13):
It was great broadcaster and a good public speaker and
all that stuff. Jackson State, Colorado, Dallas Cowboys. You take
that job. I mean, if I was in I would
take that job.

Speaker 7 (12:24):
I'll be honest here.

Speaker 3 (12:25):
You know Michael Lervan, we talked to him during the
break when he's on the show, and he's just like
upset that we're saying this is not a.

Speaker 7 (12:31):
Good job, straight up honesty.

Speaker 9 (12:33):
Colin.

Speaker 3 (12:33):
Jacksonville calls you and says, we want you to be
our head coach. We got Trevor Lawrence your show, Colin.
Jerry Jones calls you and says, hey, come on down, Colin,
we want you as to coach.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
No, no, no, because.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
From a football perspective, you can win with Jacksonville much
sooner than Dallas.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
But I think Dion Sanders, now because he's had some
modicum of success at Colorado, views this as more than
just a football job. It is brand enabling. By the way,
Let's say he goes there and he's okay, he could
walk into another great TV gig. He could maybe say,

(13:08):
you know what, I want to be a part owner somewhere.
I want to do a little upstairs stuff. I mean,
it would give him more options. We always felt this
with Colorado. There's a pretty low ceiling and a pretty
low floor, like Colorado could be really bad and rarely great.
I mean, I couldn't tell you the last time they
were great. He put him back on the map.

Speaker 7 (13:29):
Basically, he put.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Him on the map, but he didn't put him on
the best part of the map.

Speaker 7 (13:33):
But maybe that's not what he wants.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
Maybe he wants the branding. I don't know what Dion wants.
Does he want the branding or does he want to
win Super Bowls?

Speaker 1 (13:42):
What are the Eagles think today? Are they terrifying? I
don't think they're the least bit worried. And that's always
been my rule on it. What do your rivals think
when you hire somebody. The Kansas City Chiefs are a dynasty,
and they looked at Harbor Herbert and thought, oh boy,
wash would have taken that Jacksonville job. Because Harball wins
immediately everywhere, and even this year, Chargers matched up with

(14:06):
Kansas City pretty pretty well.

Speaker 3 (14:08):
If you're Washington, I don't even think you're quaking in
your boots.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
You got Dadan Daniels, you like if you're If you're Washington,
you didn't want Rabel going to Dallas. You didn't want that.
You didn't want Harball going to Dallas. You didn't necessarily
want Belichick going to Dallas. You can live with prime
time yeh. And again we're not saying you can't coach,
but we're saying it's unproven and what his strength is.

(14:34):
Showmanship doesn't matter in the NFL. In college, players select you.
In the NFL, you select them. It doesn't matter. I mean,
Belichick's grumpy who it didn't matter. It has no did.
I mean many of the great coaches have been rough
around the edges, have not been showman, have been gruff.
Tom Coughlin, he won in college, but he was okay

(14:55):
in college. Tom Cofflin was a great. He's a Hall
of Fame coach in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
He sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (15:08):
You're now entering the No Bull Zone sponsored by Credible
Great Rates. None of the Bowl, Greg Cosell forty minutes
from now. If you like fantasy football, betting football, getting
smarter at football. We've been using him for ten years
on the show Greg co Sell, top of Next Hour
on a Thursday to breakdown all the NFL games. So
big Ben Roethlisberger. He has a podcast, and if you're
a Steeler fan, it's great. He's got a little studio somewhere.

(15:29):
It looks like in his basement of his house. He's
very good, and so there's discussions right now. The Steelers
have acknowledged they don't know if they have the right
quarterback in their organization right now. Might take his old
Russell and young Justin That's not it. How many quarterbacks
in the history of the NFL have scrapped for five
years and then become stars. Justin Fields has talent, He's
not going to be a star quarterback. Struggle to see

(15:49):
the field, got hurt picks inaccuracy. He's a talented kid,
but he's probably a great backup or a spot starter occasionally.
So there's a rumor now and Aaron Rodgers may not
be the solution long term. I would argue as a
real argument, outside of Sam Donald, he'd be the best

(16:11):
fit in Pittsburgh. Big Ben doesn't think of the work.

Speaker 8 (16:15):
Is Aaron going to play anymore?

Speaker 4 (16:17):
I mean as a roomors that him coming to Pittsburgh,
which I don't think is a good move for the Steelers.
I don't think that's what you want. Only you want
a guy for one, like a one year band aid
for the just because it's it's Do you think if
you think that you are just a quarterback away, then
you go try and find a quarterback that you think

(16:37):
can take you over the top.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, and I think fairly j Mac I. People i've
talked to see Aaron as middle of the pack in
the NFL right now, at best thirteenth or twelfth thirteenth, best,
at worst sixteen seventeenth. I would take Baker Mayfield today
over and Sam Donald over Aaron. But Aaron had a good,
mostly good last seven eight weeks, and I do think

(17:00):
for Pittsburgh it would be a decent fit. He's grown up,
he could learn the playbook quickly. But the Steelers have
been you know, putting band aids on for six years.
I think they have to rip it off. I would
trade TJ. Watt George Pickens two first round picks if
your scouting department said Shaduor Sanders is the guy, because
I think cam Ward's going to go number one. I

(17:20):
think Shud Sanders you could get at number five, six
or seven. But the Steelers, what's interesting is they're in
the same predicament they were in twenty twenty two, where
they need a quarterback and it's a lousy quarterback draft,
and they settled for Kenny Pickett. And I said at
the time, I reported at the time I had talked
to an NFL general manager with Super Bowl rings who

(17:41):
said he's a third rounder. I talked to another general
manager who had been to a Super Bowl, had not
won one, and he said he's a mid to late
third rounder. But they had to reach. So, you know,
the most proactive franchise in the NFL for quarterbacks is
indisputably Green Bay. They draft them and sit them for years.

(18:04):
You know these guys. Pittsburgh has not drafted an elite
quarterback since Big Ben and that was twenty one years ago.
So and there's a reason the Packers have not had
a quarterback shortage for three decades. They draft, hold, develop,
and then star. So the truth is, I don't know
if Aaron's the answer, but he may be the solution

(18:25):
for a year. But I think the Steelers they treat
quarterback a little like a New Year's resolution. They're all
gung ho about it, you know, but by like late February,
you're no longer going to the gym, and by late November,
the Steelers aren't really a viable team. It sounds good,
there's a lot of hope and optimism, but you're not
going to the gym. By late February. You don't even

(18:48):
drive by it anymore. I would trade TJ. Watt, George
Pickens two first rounders, and go get Shador Sanders if
you think he's a starting quarterback. Nobody that I talked
to in the league dot Kenny Pickett was a starter
back up, you know, homegrown kid. But proactive is the
way to do it. I mean, remember, Kansas City moved up,

(19:10):
gave away picks. They had a Pro Bowl quarterback in
Alex Smith, and you know Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco made
a lot of money and won a lot of games
in Baltimore, and they went and got Lamar Jackson. So
I think you got to take a big swing on
this thing if you want to go find the next
Big Ben. And Big Ben was a very good prospect
that of Miami ob Ohio. People knew Big Ben could
play big strong mobile, and he delivered, got him to

(19:33):
Super Bowls. But now, I don't you say whatever you
want about Aaron to me, there's two teams in this league,
primarily the Steelers that are a quarterback away, well three
the Colts, the Seahawks and the Steelers, if you got
the right quarterback. Pretty interesting teams, but there is no
recent history to make me believe Pittsburgh would get aggressive.

(19:54):
Seattle Colts kind of think they would Pittsburgh.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
I don't one more heard. The Herd streams twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app.
Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like.

Speaker 10 (20:08):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David, and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.

Speaker 10 (20:23):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
Going on in the world.

Speaker 10 (20:27):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture,
stories that well other shows don't seem to have the
time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends
for the last twenty years and still work together, I
mean that says something, right.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
So check us out.

Speaker 10 (20:41):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up. As they say, I'd say, the most
interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
The most interactive show on planetar.

Speaker 10 (20:50):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covie O
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
That's Cavino and Rich. With that, let's go to Greg
Cosel forty five years NFL Films. So let's start with
one of my favorite guys. And we had said after
the Detroit debacle that if he didn't play well against
the Rams, that he was costing himself a lot of money.
I still think he has a market. I think it's
probably more of a Baker Mayfield thirty five million dollars

(21:25):
a year market and not the big boy market. But
let's just talk Donald for a second. What happened specifically
to Sam Donald last couple of weeks.

Speaker 9 (21:36):
Well, I think there are two different things based on
each game. I think against the Lions, he clearly missed
throws that he had made all season with poor ball location.
There were throws to be made that he missed. His
old line in that game was not particularly good either,
but there were throws to be made that he missed.

Speaker 8 (21:55):
The Rams game was a little different.

Speaker 9 (21:57):
He missed a few, for sure, but that was game
in which his offensive line, and I know I mentioned
this to you last week that I thought that could
well be a deciding factor in the game. It was
the Rams four man pass rush versus the Vikings O line,
which is not a very good pass protecting O line,
was really the major factor in the game. And then
what started to happen, which happens with a lot of quarterbacks,

(22:20):
is the cumulative effective pressure really got to Donald and
he started to play very fast. He started to be
really uncomfortable. Now, keep in mind, one of the things
during the season that made him really good was that
he stayed in the pocket, he waited, He made a
lot of what we call late in the down throws
where there were people around him. So he had a

(22:41):
lot of success doing that during the season. But over
the course of the game against the Rams, just the
effect of the pressure. He succumbed to it and he
just was a really uncomfortable player. You and I both
know the narrative. People are saying, Hey, that's the real
Sam Donald. I don't get into that, Colin, As you know,
I can only tell what the tape shows. Now, teams

(23:01):
have to decide what he is depending on who coaches him.

Speaker 8 (23:06):
We'll see about the Minnesota Vikings.

Speaker 9 (23:08):
Obviously they drafted a quarterback with the eleventh pick in
the draft. You know, I don't know the owners. I
don't know what they're going to do. My immediate response.

Speaker 8 (23:16):
Would be I'd probably be surprised if.

Speaker 9 (23:18):
They signed him to a lot of money, because they
probably say to Kevin O'Connell, hey, you're a really good coach.

Speaker 8 (23:23):
You draft a.

Speaker 9 (23:24):
Quarterback with the eleventh pick, it's your job to make
him a good quarterback.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
Yep, all right, let's get into Rams at Philadelphia. We'll
start with the Eagles. What did the tape say about
the Philadelphia offense which I thought was pretty bad on
third down? The Philly offense against Green Bay, it just
felt Philly felt out of sorts to me, What did
the tape say?

Speaker 9 (23:47):
Well, I think Philly colin has a just defined identity
right now as to what they are and who they are,
and if they don't have to step outside that identity,
they don't. And the reason they more often than not
don't have to is because of their defense. So they're
a run first football team and that run game includes
Jalen Hurts, which makes them a little more difficult than

(24:08):
your average team to defend.

Speaker 8 (24:10):
And it starts with Barkley. That's who they are now.

Speaker 9 (24:13):
They started the game with a lot of quick rhythm
timing throws by Jalen Hurts. He was six for six
and then he got a little uncomfortable. He missed some things,
didn't see some things, and I think they felt the
way their defense was playing that they could win the
game playing their way, so.

Speaker 8 (24:28):
They didn't have to go beyond that.

Speaker 9 (24:30):
I think the question many have is if they get
into a game, and whether it's this week or if
they advanced, whether it would be against the Lions.

Speaker 8 (24:37):
If they advanced, how would they.

Speaker 9 (24:39):
Have to play or how would they play if they
had to have Jalen Hurts drop back forty or forty
five times. The very odd thing about Jalen Hurts is
he has succeeded doing this in the past, and he
hasn't over much of this season and even going back
to the last six to seven games last season, so
it's really hard to understand why. I think they have

(25:00):
some real advantages on the perimeter with Brown and Smith
versus the sort of outside cornerback triumvit of the Rams,
which is Witherspoon, It's Williams and Durant, and I would
expect them to take some shots on the perimeter, and
Jalen throws a really good deep ball outside the numbers,
so I'm kind of waiting to see when they're going
to do that.

Speaker 8 (25:20):
But because of their defense, they don't.

Speaker 9 (25:22):
Really have to step outside of how they really play.

Speaker 8 (25:25):
Well.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
Okay, I think the Rams offense is going to struggle
against Philadelphia. They played perfect last week. That won't happen again.
It's a short week of preparation. Kyron Williams is banged up.
They're very Puka Nakou eccentric. You could double him. The
Eagles have good corners. What does the tape say? You know, Listen,
I saw the Rams offense against the Bills this year
and against the Vikings, and if you only watch two games,

(25:47):
you'd think it's the greatest show on turf. But they
can be very inconsistent and very slow starting. And now
warm Weather team goes to Cold Weather against a really
really talented secondary Rams offense Phillies defense. What do you think?

Speaker 9 (26:01):
Well, to me, it's not the secondary as much perhaps
as the defensive front. I think the Rams all line
can be very up and down in terms of pass protection.
I think there's some individuals who can be beaten one
on one. I think the Eagles can do that with
Jalen Carter and a very overlooked player named Milton Williams
who's had a phenomenal year at the other dtackle position.

Speaker 8 (26:21):
When they're in their pass rush a group.

Speaker 9 (26:24):
So you know, I think that the Rams are an
interesting offense because it really does start with the run game.

Speaker 8 (26:31):
I mean a lot of people might not be aware
and you are.

Speaker 9 (26:33):
I know Colin that Kyraen Williams had three hundred and
sixteen carries this year and missed the last game of
the season. So I mean they're really a run first
football team. They're passing game, you know. Staff The one
thing about Stafford though, if he's hot, if he's comfortable,
and that's the key thing. If he's comfortable, he can
make great throws any time. But I just think that
that Eagles D line could be a deciding factor in

(26:56):
this game against against the Rams all line.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
Okay, so let's get into Houston at Kansas City before
we do. Justin Herbert, like Darnold, took a lot of heat.
And my take's always been with Justin Herbert, is its
steps right, like like bad coach, bad coach, great coach,
You're not gonna win the Super Bowl. He didn't play
particularly well. I pointed out that Brett farb once had

(27:19):
six picks in a playoff game, Dan Fouts five, and
Joe Montana got benched in a playoff game. What did
the tape say on Herbert?

Speaker 9 (27:27):
Yeah, you know those are narrative questions and which I
don't you know, really that doesn't mean a lot to me.

Speaker 8 (27:33):
I know everybody wants.

Speaker 9 (27:35):
To discuss that, you know, I think you have to
understand one thing. You have to put it in the
context of who the Chargers are on offense. Another team
that's run first, they basically they play with a converted
d end who's a full back. Now that's what they do,
that's how they start their offense. They could not run
the ball at all, so now they're stuck having to
throw the ball with one quality wide receiver, no really

(27:58):
strong receiving tight ends. And it was a game in
which the interior of their old line got manhandled and
even their two tackles, Slater who's very good, and the
rookie alt they did not do well against Hunter and Anderson.
So they were just kind of physically beaten up front,
and they had to play, to use a cliche, they
had to play kind of left handed because they don't

(28:18):
really want to drop back and throw that often the
way they had to in that game. So, you know,
did Herbert miss them throws? Sure he did, But you
know they got out of the way. They were they're
comfortable playing, and you know sometimes that happens in playoff
games with young teams with new coaches.

Speaker 8 (28:35):
That have to go through a learning process.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
All right, Now, let's get into the Texans Chiefs. Texans
offensive approach, the stuff that worked against the Chargers, good defense,
how will it match up against Spags Chris Jones? You
know now he's getting healthier, right, what will they look like? CJ.
Stroud and the offense and mixing against the Chiefs defense.

Speaker 9 (28:57):
Yeah, they played the Chiefs week sixteen, Chris Jones, As
I recall, they're not play in that game.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
You know.

Speaker 9 (29:02):
I think that in an ideal world the way the
Texans would like to play is they'd like to have
the run game be a starting point, work the play
action pass game off of it.

Speaker 8 (29:11):
Have CJ.

Speaker 9 (29:12):
Stroud be very rhythmic and timing based, which he was
last week and therefore he looked pretty comfortable for most
of that game. That's the way they would like to play.
Then they can work Collins on the outside and there
are some really good matchups there because no corner in
this league has played more pressed man than Trent mcduffey,
who's now pretty exclusively an outside corner. Does not play

(29:33):
in the slot hardly at all over the last number
of weeks.

Speaker 8 (29:36):
So that's the way they'd like to play.

Speaker 9 (29:38):
Now, if their defense can keep the game together, they
can continue to play that way. That's the way they
played last week against the Chargers because Mixon did not
have he only had six carries in the first half
or fifteen yards, But because of their defense and because
of the game flow, they were able to give him
the ball in the second half, where I believe he
had nineteen carries, and I think in the fourth quarter

(29:58):
the eighteen of their toy do you Want plays were
called runs. So this is the way they would like
to play, but that becomes a function of their defense. Colin,
and you know, it's always hard to assess Patrick Mahomes
because he's such a great player, and when the playoffs come,
we see him raise his game to an incredibly high level.
But all we have is this season, and the Chiefs

(30:19):
were not an explosive offense during the season, but they've
also had a lot of time off and players are
going to be refreshed and healthy.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
Yeah, I mean, I've found this to be true off
of by extra time. Andy Reid's the best coach in
the NFL, and so I think they take a mediocre
receiving core and they make it better. All right, let's
go Baltimore Buffalo the marquee game of the weekend. Listen,
you know the Baltimore defense if you, as you noted
two three weeks ago, and you have said this several times,

(30:46):
Baltimore's defense was an issue pre Thanksgiving. It's gotten better
post Thanksgiving. Yeah, when you look at I think Buffalo's
really got nice pieces. I think this is by far
and away their most complete offense with Josh Allen. Will
they have to be Josh reliant or do you think
they can work on the margins here and move the
ball without being Josh Allen centric against the Ravens.

Speaker 9 (31:08):
Well, I think the big question is can they run
the football. They clearly felt they could come out and
grind away at the Denver Broncos defense because they lined
up in the first half. They've liked to play with
six offensive linemen, which they do quite a bit more
than any team in the league this year. James Cook
had thirteen carries in the first half. Nine of them

(31:29):
came on first down Colin. They clearly felt they could
physically beat the Broncos. I'm not sure that that is
going to be the case against this Ravens defensive front.
They got a lot of big people at defensive tackle,
a lot of guys whose weight begins with the number three,
and those guys are hard to move. And they were

(31:49):
one of the best run defense teams in the league.
So the question, and we don't know the answer. That's
the great thing about this weekend is there's so many unanswerables.
The question is do the Bills game play with the
idea that hey, we can line up and run the ball,
we can put big people out there and have success,
or is this going to be a tough go and
this has to be a little more of a Josh

(32:10):
Allen centric game. And by that I don't mean put
on the Superman came I mean just have to throw
the ball more on early downs as more of a
foundation of their offense as opposed to the run game.
And I think that that's a question you really don't
know the answer to until we see the game on
Sunday evening. And by the way, it's supposed to be bitter,
bitter called.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Which Lamar doesn't necessarily love that, But I do think
the Buffalo Bills, on multiple occasions this year, their defense
has been susceptible to occasionally getting pushed around. So that's
why the odds, that's why the wise guys, that's why
Vegas guys like Baltimore this weekend. So you tell me
Lamar and Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers is still not practicing,

(32:52):
it didn't matter last week. How do they match up
against Buffalo's defense?

Speaker 9 (32:57):
Well, it's funny you say that they only played eight
snaps last week with three wide receivers on the field,
and I'm sure that was a function of Flowers being out.
That's a really hard defense to defend, maybe the toughest,
excuse me, the toughest offense, maybe the toughest offense.

Speaker 8 (33:11):
To defend in the league.

Speaker 9 (33:13):
With what Lamar adds to the run game, I mean, look,
they came out against the Steelers and they pretty much said,
not only do you have to stop Dereck Henry, but
you have to stop Lamar in the run game. So
it wasn't just the threat of Lamar. They said, we're
going to run them and you have to stop them.
So their run game is so multi dimensional and everything
they do, and they've got big people up front, and
then the way Lamar is throwing the ball this year,

(33:35):
he's thrown it better than he ever has. His ball
placement has been more precise than it ever has. This
is a really difficult offense to defend. And you know,
again I'm not predicting games, but I'm really curious. Again,
it's an unanswerable to see how the Bills can handle it.
I mean, Ed Oliver is a really good player, but
he's two hundred and eighty pounds. So I'm curious to

(33:56):
see how this all plays out. And I think we'll
find out pretty early because I think I think you'll
see the same kind of thing from Baltimore with Lamar
being a factor in the run game early to see
how the Bills tactically are going to defend that.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
Okay, so now we get to commanders, big underdogs at Detroit.
I said it this week. This game for the Lions
is kind of instructive. Think about this for a second.
So Jared Goff is a pocket guy, but if Detroit
wins this game, they'll have to face a mobile Jalen Hurtz,
and if they got to the Super Bowl, a mobile Lamar,

(34:31):
a mobile mahomes a mobile Josh Allen. So in a way,
if Jayden Daniels is a bit of a gift to
play because on their roster they don't practice against mobile quarterbacks.
That's not what they do. And this is an opportunity
to face a team that you're clearly better than. We
don't know if they're better than Philly, Buffalo, Baltimore, Kansas City.

(34:53):
So I like Detroit in this game. But I mean
I watched Shaden Daniels. I don't remember maybe Andrew Locke,
a rookie quarterback that was this good late in game Situationally,
what does the film say?

Speaker 9 (35:10):
Yeah, And I think he just has a really good
feel for movement. You know, we've talked for years, and
I'm not making a direct comparison, so I don't want
people to think I am. But we always talk about
Patrick Mahomes and just his spatial awareness, just the way
he kind of feels things and sees things without actually
having to.

Speaker 8 (35:26):
Look at them.

Speaker 9 (35:27):
Daniels has a little bit of that to his game,
and it's the movement element that's so difficult. And it's
not just the design runs, which they call design runs
obviously for Daniels, but just when he moves out of
the pocket and the impact it has on the defense.

Speaker 8 (35:41):
I remember having.

Speaker 9 (35:42):
A conversation with a very well respected defensive coordinator a
few years ago talking about mobile quarterbacks, and he said,
the problem is is you literally have to practice two
defenses all week long. You have to practice a defense
for the first two two and a half seconds of
a play, which is within the structure of the play,
and then you have to practice what you do defensively

(36:04):
after two and a half seconds when the play becomes
something totally different.

Speaker 8 (36:08):
And he said, that's really really difficult to do.

Speaker 9 (36:11):
And you know, that's that's why mobile quarterbacks are becoming
more and more a factor in the league.

Speaker 8 (36:17):
And they're so difficult to defend.

Speaker 9 (36:19):
So in many cases, those guys don't have to be
pristine from the pocket because they can just make plays
that break down defenses. And that's what that's what Daniels
can do, and those kinds of plays Colin become more critical,
more sort of high leverages the term people use in
the fourth quarter of games.

Speaker 1 (36:37):
Yeah, the let's go to the let's go to the
big play of the week with Jaden Daniels, because we
know the Lions, we know what they do. They're gonna
move the ball to some degree. The wild card is
really in this game is can the commanders keep up
because we know Detroit's dropping twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven,
twenty eight points.

Speaker 8 (36:56):
Right.

Speaker 9 (36:57):
Yeah, And this play is a great example of just
what I'm talking about. It was from the game last
week against the Bucks. And the Bucks as we go
to the play, the Bucks did what a lot of
teams are going to do against Jayden Daniels. They're going
to try to do late coverage rotation to confuse. And
that's what teams do with young quarterbacks. They show you

(37:18):
one thing and then they give you something else. So
what you're going to see here is you're going to
see Jadon Daniels. Okay, this was actually a second and
long play. So what is he looking at? Initially? Right now,
he's looking at a single high safety? Okay, and what
is he looking at from a front perspective, He's looking
at a pressure front. They're six up front, So right

(37:39):
now he might be thinking, hey, I'm going to get
some pressure. There's a single high safety. I've got to
be aware of that. Those are all alerts. But what's
going to happen here is there's going to be a
safety rotation. They're going to sink the safety to the
boundary and expand the safety to the field, and they're
eventually going to get to cover two because one of
those linebackers that's on the ball is going to drop

(38:01):
out as what we call the middle hole defender in
cover two.

Speaker 8 (38:05):
So that's what you're going to get here.

Speaker 9 (38:07):
You're going to get a change late coverage rotation all
designed to make Jade and Daniels have to think through
the play once he takes the snap of the ball
instead of feeling comfortable. So what's going to happen now
is he's going to get really quick inside pressure, so
he's going to have to move.

Speaker 8 (38:25):
There's no way here he can stay in the pocket.

Speaker 9 (38:27):
He's going to have to move, and he moves to
his right. So this is where the second part of
the play comes in. The flat defender and the hook
defender in cover two, what do they do? They abandon
their coverage areas of responsibility to react to Jade and
Daniels because they see him running right at them. So
what then happens? They abandon their responsibility. Diami Brown is

(38:51):
going to run across or essentially right behind them.

Speaker 8 (38:55):
They are now out of their coverage.

Speaker 9 (38:56):
It becomes an easy pitch and catch throw for thirty yards.
This is just what we were talking about, the fact
that there's a second part of the play that you
now have to defend after you think you've done such
a really good job with your late location, your attempt
to try to confuse him. You know, everything works great
until he leaves the pocket, and then everything becomes different

(39:19):
and a play that you felt good about is now
a thirty yard games with Jayden Daniel.

Speaker 8 (39:23):
That's what you're dealing with.

Speaker 1 (39:24):
Yeah, that's why they're in the playoffs. Greg Go said,
great seeing you forty five years NFL Films, Thank you
very much.

Hosts And Creators

Colin Cowherd

Colin Cowherd

Jason McIntyre

Jason McIntyre

Popular Podcasts

Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club

Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club

Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com