September 12, 2025 • 42 mins
Colin reacts to another dominant win by the Packers and why this result validates Green Bay as the best team in the NFL to start the season. He shares his best bets for week 2 of the NFL season including a bounce back game for Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Plus, former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt joins the show to tell Colin why the Bears and quarterback Caleb Williams will be just fine even after week 1’s collapse against the Vikings.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to
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for listening to the Herd podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Here we go.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
It is a fride day and we are loaded blazing
five off a winning week one. The Green Bay Packers
once again little sloppy, but put on a show last night, Jamak.
I had them number one in the Herd hierarchy. I
said it was the best team I saw in Week one,
and they have now totally shut down last season's number
(00:48):
one and number two most efficient offenses.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
So I mean they it jumps off of TV, does
it not? This team is good essentially the first two
games they gave up nothing, the first three quarters nothing.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
The defense is that good. Michael Parsons is unfreaking believable.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, and he's only playing sixty eight percent of the
snap so that'll go up to seventy eight and eighty eight.
So this I am absolutely sure of. As I start
my show on a Friday. Green Bay is the fastest
team in the NFL. They're tight ends run, they're defensive
ends run well, they're wide receivers, their quarterback can run,
and the spacing and speed is on display. Last night
(01:29):
was the youngest team in the league against the oldest,
and it looked like it. I have not seen a
defense in Green Bay that's aggressive. And there is not
another wide receiver tight end group in the NFL that
has this much speed and this much talent.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And they're not paying any of it.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Terry mcclaurin of Washington alone, alone makes ten million more
than the entire wide receiver and tight end group for
the Packers. And this is also the power of patience
that Green Bay is allowed to have. They can draft
Jordan Love and sit in for three years because they
don't have an owner, an impulsive guy at the top
(02:09):
pulling strings. They don't have a harsh and relentless local media,
and they have loyal fans and reasonable fans. So when
they dip their toe in free agency, like Micah, it's
worth it. The other thing I thought last night is,
you know, people freak out green Bay gave up two
first round picks. You tell me what do they need?
They got their quarterback, they got their skill. I mean,
(02:32):
they've got their tackles, They've got their pass rusher, I
got their linebackers. That's when you can give up first
round picks.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
What do they need?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I mean's And for the record, Matthew Golden, the kid
out of Texas again, it's going to take him until
week six, seven, eight nine. He's going to be another
track star. And here's the thing. Not only did they
blow out Detroit and I mean that game last night,
I couldn't believe it was a one score game. In
the fourth quarter, they were totally dominating it. The Packers
(03:05):
rolled and they were sloppy. I mean they got to
clean a lot of stuff up. They had ten penalties,
they were starting two backups on the offensive line. Micah
Parsons only took sixty eight snaps. And they have rolled
two very good rosters. And last year we like Green
Bay a lot, but they struggled against the best teams.
They were zero and six against Philadelphia, Detroit, and Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah that's over.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So the only time that Detroit and Washington felt like
they could compete was in the fourth quarter, in its
garbage time. So I mean this is they have four
different wide receivers. Green Bay does that according to next
Gen stabs run nineteen miles per hour or faster. Washington
has one Deebo lookd twitchy, and they'll get their offense
(03:50):
in Washington. You know, McLaurin showed up late. But I
mean sometimes you just have to watch and just be
honest about it. No team in the league. How often
did Green Bay players pull away from Washington players? It
could be reverses, bubble screens. I mean, it's a track
(04:10):
team that tackles well. So Jordan Loves how nine straight
games regular season games? Think about this, and Jordan Love
is a risk taker. He has more far than Aaron Rodgers.
He's got he's got a big arm, and he'll throw
it and he'll throw it on the move. He's an
aggressive quarterback. And Matt Lafleur is a pretty aggressive coach.
And yet Jordan Love has got nine straight regular season
(04:33):
games without a turnover. And you know why he's doing
that because he figured it out. Just get the ball
to this speed group and they'll do the rest. So
I mean this is to me, this is hands down
the most impressive team I've seen in the NFL, and
they're not paying anybody outside of Jordan Love. You know,
(04:54):
they're they're they're paying Mica, They're paying Jordan Love. They're
not paying a lot of people. So the future is
in incredibly bright. A lot of teams have to buy
free agents. You know, players are getting old and brittle.
Young players get hurt, but they return to action sooner.
So this team has so much depth at so many spots,
and again, young players, young athletes recover quicker. I don't
(05:19):
see any liability here holding this team back from getting
to a super Bowl. To me, I don't see a flaw.
Just they got to clean some stuff up. They're sloppy,
starters don't play in the preseason. It's week two that
you know. I don't take anything from the mistakes. They're
all easy to clean up. And here's Jordan Love on
(05:41):
the skill and speed that surrounds him.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
It's one of those things where you know, we had
a goal coming to the season to start the season
off fast and build on the things we've done last year.
And obviously I think we got a really good offense
and we've been talking about, you know, the sky's the
limit home. We got so many playmakers We're really deep
on offense, and I just got to find ways to
go out there and you know, executing against good defenses
(06:05):
like them.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So I think it's ironic that the Miami Dolphins, previously
the previous three years, the fastest team in the NFL,
had a player's only meeting yesterday. And this is really
the difference between Green Bay. When I think of Green Bay,
I think of stability and patience. When I think of
the Miami Dolphins, I think of shortcuts and flash And
(06:29):
I've said this for years. I do think teams tend
to embody the culture of the city. Like when I
was a young kid in the seventies, Pittsburgh was known
as like that's where you made steel, and the Steelers
were tough. Of course they were tough. Pittsburgh's were tough.
People in Pittsburgh were tough. They made steel for the
rest of the country. Miami's always been a flashy town
(06:50):
and Dan Marino big arm, it been flashy. Miami's flashy.
You know, the last time they want a playoff game.
Dave Wanstat was a coach, great defense, great run game.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
May want to get back to that.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
But it's interesting watching and juxtaposing green Bay the fastest
team in the league where it jumps off the television
how fast they are, And it did for Miami for
three years, but they did it through a trade and
had to pay a fortune for it. Green Bay is
not paying any of their fast guys. So this is
the difference between you know, structure and stability and shortcuts.
(07:24):
And they always say there's an old saying speed kills
you know, you know, it really kills bad GMing, bad coaching,
lack of culture. It makes even the fastest guys slower.
And the fact they had a player's only meeting after
the first week is a danger sign football the basic
ethos of football, and it will always be true again
(07:44):
the last playoff win in Miami with a defensive coach,
a run game and a defense and time of possession.
That football is built on details and drafting and development
and physicality and Miami's just not good at that. Now,
if you can play at elite speed on top of that,
that's green Bay.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
But you know, I'm.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Watching the Packers last night and I'm thinking, as I'm
watching the game last night, this is what Miami thought
it would look like. We were just gonna get the
ball to the distributors run around. Yeah, but you didn't
have the coaching and the culture and the patience.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You know, that's the difference. And I'm not picking on Miami.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Because when they got Tyreek Hill and Jaden Waddle, You're like.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Oh, this is gonna be crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
But it should be noted not only is Wan Stat
a defensive guy who loved the run game, the last
guy to win a playoff game there. When I think
of the Miami Heat in that flashy city, you know
what I think of d Wade's defense, Haslam's defense, Lebron's defense,
Jimmy Butler's defense, pat Riley defense, Eric Spolstra defense.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
When they were.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Winning, like you know, back to back Eastern Conference Championship series.
When they're getting into those games, they had a top
three or four defense.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
In the league. So Miami may live in.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
That crazy, flashy speedboat town, but the core of Miami
has always been long practices, tough in physicality, and then
Tyler hero can go hit a three. But I you know,
I just looked at Green Bay and I thought this
is what Miami thought they would be. And they don't
have the stability, and they don't have the patients and
(09:19):
they're having a player's only meeting after week one. Yikes,
here's two on the meeting.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
A lot of it has to do with communication, what
you want out of the guys, what the guys should
expect from you coming into a game like this week,
prior to the game that happened, from the performance that
I put out there, obviously it starts with me, but
with those guys, you know, just communicating to them what
our expectation is going into this week and being able
(09:48):
to move forward from that. You know, seventeen, we got
seventeen games that were you know, guaranteed that was one
of them.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
It's a long season a half that, it certainly is.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Tom Brady was on the show yesterday and Tom Brady
had a lot to say and a very brutally honest
takedown of some bad coaching and bad quarterback play in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And we will talk about that coming up next.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (10:24):
Hey what's up, everybody, It's me three time Pro bowler
LeVar Arrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce
a podcast called up on Game.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
What is up on Game?
Speaker 7 (10:33):
You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler TJ. Hutschman
Zada and Super Bowl champion Yup. That's right, Plexico Birds.
You can only name a show with that type of
talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be
sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen
to Up on Game with me LeVar Arrington, TJ. Hutchman Zada,
(10:55):
and Plexico Burrs on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
From here we go our number two hour one flies by.
This is the Herd urban Meyer last hour. Dave Wanstat's
gonna sit next to me that we got some great stories.
You know green Bay's defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley, Dave Wanstat
(11:23):
gave him his first job. Dave Wonstatt gave first job.
So I sort of got about a third of the league.
And he's going to join us on the Bears. He's
gonna join us on the Packers and the Miami Dolphins
and the Dallas Cowboys and a lot of different topics. Today,
I will say this about green Bay. You know it
was really strange when a defensive when a head coach
in college quit and became a coordinator in the NFL,
(11:49):
that doesn't happen a lot. But that's what the green
Bay Packers did.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
The Lions.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
No, no, no, they they got very insuler, very provincial.
We're gonna just we're just gonna hire guys in the
building to replace these two coordinators. Green Bay is like,
now we're gonna try something that nobody really does. We're
gonna go hire a college head coach who's a very
good coach making a great living. We're gonna make him
an efensive coordinator. And you can't run on green Bay.
And Micah Parsons is still between the first two games,
(12:15):
playing about fifty sixty percent.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Of the snaps.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
So you can tell when a fighter has confidence because
they're aggressive. You know Mike Tyson's early days. Look at
the aggressiveness green Bay's defense plays with. It is an
attack style defense. Why they have so much confidence in
their ability and their speed to make up if they
get beat. So when you watch, when you watch a
(12:39):
defense that is hyper aggressive, that is a confident boxer.
That's somebody that leaves their chin open because they have
so much confidence in their ability to knock you out.
They're not worried about protecting themselves. When I'm watching Green
Bay on both sides, they are taking big swings down
the field. And here's the thing about Jordan Love. You know,
for years I said this about justin Fields. He's tall,
(13:02):
he's a good kid, his teammates like him, he's got
a great arm, he's athletic. Why doesn't it work? Jordan
Love is all those things, but it's just better from
the pocket and getting better coaching. So Jordan Love in
terms of traits, that's what NFL people call it. Traits, size, arm, mobility, athleticism, toughness.
(13:22):
His traits are unbelievable. And you know, we just don't
naturally put him into the top ten. But I mean,
Craft is going to be a multiple time pro bowler.
You just wait, wait till Matthew Golden gets a few
games under his belt from Texas and reads healthy. And
Romeo Dobbs can be hit and miss on you know, dependability.
(13:42):
But why I'm watching Green Bay the last two weeks.
That is the best team in the league, and they're young,
and they're inexpensive at most positions. Mike and Jordan Lover
making money. They got a guard making some money, not
paying a lot of guys big money. So I mean,
here's the thing. They let go of Kenny Clark. Green
Bay let go of Kenny Clark, who's an elite interior lineman,
(14:04):
and their defense looks better. So that tells you how
well they've drafted and developed. They let go of an elite.
But I mean, you s saw Kenny Clark in Week
one against Philadelphia make an imprint. Kenny Clark's a really
good player. He's thirty thirty one years old, so he's
probably at the end of his peak. He's a good player.
Green Bay gave him up. They're not even playing. Mic
has seventy percent of the snaps, and they're a dominating
(14:27):
defense against the two most efficient offenses in the league.
Last year, Detroit and Washington totally shut him down, totally
discombobulated Jayden Daniels and the Detroit Lions. So this is
not a mirage. All right, Here we go. It is
time off a winning week. I think it's my first
winning week on Blazing five and week one in like forever.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Here we go, let's blaze it up up. It's Collins
blazing five. Rams at Titans.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
I like the Titans and five and a half points.
This is the second lowest total on the board, so
it's got a you know, twenty three to twenty field
to it. I'm gonna take the five and a half points.
The Titans mistakes in Week one are easy to clean up.
They had a lot of drop passes and penalties, but
they got a real rush on bo Nicks. They forced
(15:16):
Inver into four turnovers, and the Rams offensive line two
of their top three offensive linemen are banged up. Rams
scored on their final drive of the first half in
their first drive of the second half, otherwise didn't score,
so I think this is low scoring. I think the
Titans mistakes against an aggressive, very good defense were understandable
(15:37):
for cam Ward's first game. I think I'm gonna take
the Titans. I think it's a twenty three to twenty game.
I'll take the Rams to win, but I'm absolutely taking
the five and a half points. With Tennessee Seahawks at Steelers,
take the under forty and a half. Pittsburgh's got too
much pride and too much talent to look like they
(15:59):
look in Week one. Defensively, they're gonna play with their
hair on fire. Defensively, Mike Tomlin had to be humiliated
by that. They have too many good players. And Seattle's offense,
it's not gonna be a high powered offense. It's a
run first offense. They don't have a number one receiver,
and under Mike McDonald, you know, eight of the eighteen games,
(16:19):
twenty points are fewer. So last week Seattle game. That's
what Seattle's gonna look like. They're gonna keep teams in
the twenty three to twenty range and they're not gonna
score a ton of points. That's not what they are.
They don't have the perimeter weapons. So I think Sam
Donald struggled in his last couple of games.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Come back down to Earth.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Take the under forty and a half points. This feels
very twenty seventeen, twenty one seventeen. I like Seattle to win,
but take the under forty and a half points.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Broncos said Cols.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I like Denver minus two and a half, so listen
eight and two against team that missed the playoffs last year.
And bow Nicks has been strangely good on the road.
His last four road starts, his passer ratings one oh seven.
So I think Daniel Jones, let's not kid ourselves his
last seventeen starts. He's four and thirteen. They've played a
(17:15):
Miami team that defensively quit. Don't overreact to Week one.
It was home Jim Mersey was being celebrated the late
great owner.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
It was a very emotional place.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Denver's defense is going to get Daniel Jones off the
field very quickly. I like the Broncos to win and
cover twenty seven to twenty.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Eagles at Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I think it's close and low scoring, but I'm going
to take Philadelphia to win and cover. Listen, they led
thirty four to nothing in the third quarter against Kansas City.
They got more good players. They've won seventeen of eighteen games,
including the playoffs, and if Jalen Hurts starts and finishes
a game, they've won fifteen straight. They're excellent on third down,
and they're excellent in the red zone, and they're excellent
(18:02):
on fourth down, and that matters on the road in
a close game, They're gonna pick up those third and
fourth downs. They're gonna make plays in the red zone.
I think Kansas City comes out with incredible pride plays
over themselves and makes it close. But the Chiefs are
two and three in their last five games. Xavi are worthy.
If he doesn't play, they don't have a one receiver,
(18:26):
they don't have a number two receiver, and Travis Kelsey
they'll probably box him in. I think it's really low scoring.
I think it's close, but I'm gonna take Eagles with
a late touchdown to win twenty eight to twenty. Gay
and said Cowboys, I'm taking a prop bet. Take CD
Lamb over six and a half reception. Okay, he had
(18:49):
a miserable Week one, three drops. I believe Brian Schottenheimer
to build trust with his young receiver, gonna have a
steady dose of Ceedee Lamb. Shottenheimer and Dak are gonna
say listen, we need you, brother. We're gonna throw to
you fifteen times. By the way he has eaten against
(19:12):
the Giants, he averaged seven point four receptions of game
since twenty twenty three. That's highest in the league. And again,
this is still not a great running back room. It's
still a pretty average tight end room. And George Pickens
does not separate like Ceedee Lamb. So I think to
prove that they trust Ceedee Lamb. Ceedee Lamb is not
(19:33):
gonna have three drops. He's played well against the Giants.
I'm gonna take the over on catches six.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And a half.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I think Ceedee Lamb is going to be a primary
Dallas target. So take the Titans and the points, the
Broncos and Eagles to cover the under on the Seahawks, Steelers,
and Ceedee Lamb to have a very very big game.
You know, I saw a quote this morning from Detroit's
(20:03):
new offensive coordinator John Morton.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
He said, they play the Bears.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Lions is a very very interesting early window game, and
he's John Morton says, we are not in panic mode. John,
have you seen who you're playing next week?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
You're at Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Baltimore's not in a good mood, having lost to Buffalo,
having controlled the game. You can deny you're going to
be in panic mode, But you got Baltimore next week,
and then you've got at Joe Burrow, at Mahomes and
Baker Mayfield, Oh, then Kevin O'Connell and then Jaden Daniels
on the road and at Philadelphia. Detroit needs to win.
(20:46):
Chicago would like to win, but Chicago's got the Cowboys
coming up, the Raiders coming up, and then a bye week.
And I also think Detroit's about winning games at this
stage in their development. Chicago's about getting Caleb Williams right.
So you can deny it's not panic mode. But I'm
going to stay away from this game. But if I
(21:07):
had to take a side, I do think urgency matters,
and I think Detroit is the side here. I think
Detroit you can tell your players we're not in panic mode.
Everybody has a schedule in that locker room at Baltimore.
Just put a big L on your little pocket schedule.
Put a big L on that one. I think Detroit's
(21:28):
gonna come out and it's going to feel like it
is a absolute must win game. Teams can say it's
must win Chicago, it is for Detroit, or this thing's
going to derail fast. You just watch the Packers. You're
gonna be two games back. You want to be two
games back by four o'clock. You know, you know Sunday
(21:48):
eight her to three seasons done. You're not making the playoffs.
So Dave wantstat joining us next.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
It just so happens. All the stories. I'm fascinated about.
Dave Wanstat thirty nine years coaching NFL in college is
so connected to all of them. And I want to
start with Green Bay. They went and got a college
football coach and said, we're going to bring you in
to coach our defense. And that's not what happens much.
(22:29):
You know, Jeff Hafley, Are you surprised that in a
eighteen nineteen games since he arrived, the defense is just
noticeably better.
Speaker 8 (22:37):
No, I'm not, because he's got a great background. Proud
to say that I was part of that, but I'm
not kidding. But it's kind of a funny story. He
was coaching at University of Albany, and when I was
a head coach of pitt, I was one where if
a young coach wanted to combine and watch practice or
sit in the meetings. I was never one of those
guys we're secretive. No, I wanted to These guys want
(23:00):
to learn and come in here and learn, right.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
That's how we all grew up.
Speaker 8 (23:04):
That's how the Marvel Levy's and the Marty schottenheimers how
they treated me when we wanted to go round and visit.
And so Halfley the defense square. I says, this guy's
coming in, Jeff Hafley watch practice from all great? So
he said practice, you know, hey.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
How you doing?
Speaker 8 (23:19):
I meet him like the next day, I'm getting coffee
and he's standing at the coffee machine. I said, how
you doing it? Oh yeah, how would practice you learn anything?
Oh yeah, coach, thanks, it's great, said well, okay, let
me Like a week later, I go to coffee or
walk by and it's Jeff Hafley again.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
So I says, a true story.
Speaker 8 (23:41):
So, don't you know, two weeks in the spring practice,
one of my young coaches leaves. So I go to
the defensive coordinator, says, what's.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
With this Halfley guy?
Speaker 8 (23:52):
I said, he's here every day. I says, we did
somebody offer him a job?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
We might as well hire him.
Speaker 8 (23:58):
Wait, and he says, well, we got an opening right now.
Guy just left. So I said, well, tell happy to
come down my office.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
So he came in.
Speaker 8 (24:06):
I said, listen, you're here every damn edy. Anyway, we
got a staff meeting in thirty minutes. You're the secondary coach. Okay,
that's all he gets. So then when I leave Pitt,
Greg Chianu calls me.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Greg's at Rutgers.
Speaker 8 (24:19):
Greg calls me and says, who's two of your best coaches?
And I said, Jeff Hafley and another guy. So Greg
hires him at Rutgers. And then Greg gets a Tampa
Bay job, and he goes to the Bucks and gets
in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
No, I mean he's done a great job. What jumped
out to me. I guess the only thing I'd worry
about Green Bay is this, Are they too young to
win a Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (24:39):
No? Absolutely not.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
No.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
You know why, because the younger.
Speaker 8 (24:43):
You are, the less you think about the Super Bowl.
I don't think when we won our first Super Bowl,
we were the youngest team in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Dallas was Dallas, and I don't think Jimmy I know not.
Speaker 8 (24:54):
I don't think I know Jimmy never mentioned the word
super Bowl until we were owned to the Super Bowl.
I mean, it was all about just another game, getting better,
getting better, and let's keep practicing and see if we
can we can improve and beat this next team. So
sometimes these young players, not naive isn't the word, but
(25:15):
their focus is on. I'm trying to establish myself in
the NFL and I want, you know, I want some notoriety.
They're not thinking super Bowl as much as the guy says,
I got three years left. I mean, it's the ring
or nothing. So I think it's a good thing to
be quite ont with you.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah, the speed is obvious. So I want to talk.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
You know, you know Chicago well, and I had set
up during the summer. I said, I almost wonder if
you have to make Caleb Williams work. They have failed
so many times at quarterback that you're just going to
have to give him.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Three years and you're not going to win every game.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
You may not make the playoffs, but you got to
get this right and eventually he'll get some things down.
Or are you a believer that if it looks like
it looks through so even or eight games where he's
missing layups and he's running more than he should, I mean,
what happens if he's not good this year?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
What do you do in Chicago? Yeah, I think I'm
not going to go down that road.
Speaker 8 (26:11):
I live here, okay, So I'm gonna say that I
think it's gonna work because of the style of offense
and the head coach Ben said. Ben Johnson said afterwards,
who I'm a fan of? He said afterwards, I should
have run the ball more. They had thirty five passes
and only twenty runs.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Okay, you know, so.
Speaker 8 (26:29):
How do you help a young quarterback.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Everybody knows that.
Speaker 8 (26:33):
You you take some pressure off him by running the
ball and then those play action passes. I mean, if
you're playing Detroit. You know, Ben was at Detroit. When
he was there, they were second in the NFL with
yards after the catch with our receivers. That was the
biggest thing that everybody was excited about. Here We're going
(26:55):
to have a good play action game and hit these receivers.
You see sing broughn on these guys catching on the run.
That's because they run first. Thank you exactly. You're right, coach.
I mean that's what they do. They run first. And
we came out the very first play of the game
and we lined up under center.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
I loved it.
Speaker 8 (27:15):
The quarter running back was dotted and we went to
play action pass and everybody just dropped in the coverage,
you know, because we hadn't run the ball.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
And then he threw the checkdown. Everybody was saying why
didn't he throw it deep?
Speaker 8 (27:27):
Well, I mean the checkdown was open. But my point
is what you just said, and Ben said it, we
got to run the football.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
You've talked about this before you coached in Miami. You're
the last coach in Miami. I were saying this earlier.
Is that Green Bay today, with their speed, is what
Miami wanted to be three years ago with their speed.
The difference is one of them has patients, one of
them plays defense. Is that I don't think you and
I have ever kind of believed in McDaniel building a culture.
(27:58):
We think he's a smart guy. But they had a
players only meeting after week one. What does that tell you?
Speaker 8 (28:05):
Well, that that tells you that they're frustrated. That tells
you that somebody in their minds is not carrying their
endo the load. You know, it's not there's something missing.
You got to pick it up.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
That's what you know. You didn't those player meetings.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
That's what usually happens, is when you did Jimmy ever
have a player's only meeting in Dallas?
Speaker 8 (28:25):
No, I don't remember if the if the players did,
you know, I can't remember one. I can't remember one anywhere.
I coach Chicle. I mean, they have them, but usually
what happens is, hey, come on, we got to.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Pick it up. And they're really saying, Colin.
Speaker 8 (28:39):
You got to you gotta play better defense, or you
got to play better offense. It's never them, Okay, was
never the guy talking or calling the meeting. It's always
somebody else need to do.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
A better job. And uh, I don't know.
Speaker 8 (28:51):
You know, when Miami, we say they were fast and
they were explosive, but it still comes down to throw
the ball. The score points, run the ball to win games.
That's what got the Bears on Sunday. They could not
run the ball. Minnesota had at the end when everybody said, okay,
we got an even game here, and they knew they
(29:12):
were going to run it, and you knew you had
to run it.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
It didn't happen. It didn't happen, you.
Speaker 8 (29:17):
Know, but Minnesota did. I go back to the Dolphins
game three years ago. They're playing Buffalo in the playoffs.
Oh I remember this, I remember, and a third teen
quarterback is in there.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Skyler Thompson, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 8 (29:29):
Skyler Thompson's in there. Who's the third team And they
lose the game to Buffalo, and I look at the
stats and it was thirty five passes and twenty runs
with the and I'm thinking of my and.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
It was cold.
Speaker 8 (29:43):
It was in Buffalo, third string quarterback, third string quarterback.
So I mean the some.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Guys called me after that, you kind of you you
was done with that? Was it? I saw everything?
Speaker 8 (29:52):
I mean you you know, these these guys got to
steal believe in running the ball. And I think Ben
Johnson back to you. I think he he does because
he'd proven, you know three years is call him plays
in Detroit that he ran the football, and so I
think it'll happen. I think it'll be good for Caleb,
I really do.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
I might move him around a little.
Speaker 8 (30:11):
Bit more, not you know, just a little half sprint
and let him get the ball out.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Everybody gives you that crap, Oh we're gonna cut the
field and half.
Speaker 8 (30:19):
So what if your it's a run pass option for
the quarterback and if you complete some balls and give
him some confidence.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
I don't see a problem with that.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
I thought Dallas. I wouldn't say shocked me, but I
if ceedee, Lamb doesn't drop that deep ball. And CD's
a good player, so he'll he'll they're gonna go to
him again. I had my reservations about Brian Schottenheimer, who
hadn't interviewed for a head coaching job in fourteen years.
He's considered sort of an old school offensive guy compared
(30:48):
to the new guys.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
What did you mean?
Speaker 1 (30:54):
I guess my take was this is that they were
buttoned up. There weren't a lot of penalties. Yep, the
clock management was good. Is that Brian Schottenheimer allowing his
coaches to coach because Eberflus can coach defense. But when
I watched them, the thing that that kind of took
me by surprise was I liked Mike McCarthy, but there
was a lot of penalties. I didn't like clock management Schottenheimer.
(31:18):
I thought that Dallas looked buttoned up to me.
Speaker 8 (31:21):
They did, and they were. You know, he's got a
lot of experience. You know, his dad was an outstanding
coach in the NFL Marty you know, for years, so
he is He's been around good people. And you mentioned
Matt Eberflus. Matt Eberflus is an ex head coach. So
you got a guy that your coordinator that you know,
(31:41):
can call defense.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
He knows what a head coach needs.
Speaker 8 (31:43):
He knows what a head coach needs, something, somebody to
bounce some things off of. So and I think Jerry
deep Down really really wants this to be successful and
wants this to work. And I think that the players
feel right now they've got a young enough team. They've
turned it over. They've got pretty good guys. They've got
(32:04):
young guys. Anybody that was a potential rough, you know,
rough the Feathers type of guy, I think is gone.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
So they got a good young team.
Speaker 8 (32:14):
And if Dak stays healthy and plays good, you're going
to see him win some of those games that they
had a chance to win against Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
So one of the teams that really was just did
not look very good was New England, and I defended them.
I said, first of all, they spent three hundred million
in free agency, so there's a lot of new starters.
You didn't play those guys in the preseason, right, They're
a young roster, so they're going to play more draft
picks than your good teams. So my takeaway was they
(32:45):
didn't look good because I could argue there's no team
in the league that has more new starters and new players,
which years ago, and in Week three the preseason, you
play them half the game, right, nobody plays starters. So
week one of the NFL season for a team with
new players, it's going to get ugly. I mean there
were some. I mean like, it's just the way it looks.
(33:07):
Go back to your Jimmy days with you and Jimmy
in Dallas or any place you've been in year one
when it's new players, and especially college where you don't
have a preseason. Do you think New England eventually the
chess pieces work. Were you ever at a place where
you knew you were better than the result in Week
one or week two? You just knew you had new schemes,
(33:29):
you had new playbook, you had new coordinators.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Is that a real thing? Absolutely?
Speaker 8 (33:33):
And I think the worst thing very Well could do
is win too many too soon. Because he's got a
good young team, you know what I mean. So I
would not be concerned if I was a Patriots fan,
one bet. I mean, you've got the quarterback, the running back,
you got pieces in place, got a good head coach. No,
(33:53):
I would not worry about that whatsoever. You know, you
didn't play as well if you wanted to and didn't
win the game.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
I get that, but.
Speaker 8 (34:02):
I got no reserv that'd be the last team. I mean,
they've got to beat Miami this week. I mean that's
who they got. I think the Dolphins played the Patriots, right,
that's down in Miami, and that you talk about a
musk game for the Dolphins, a musk game in Miami
and what is it?
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Half a point or a point and a half? Yeah,
I was. You know, that makes me nervous if you're
a Dolphins fan.
Speaker 8 (34:25):
It truly does, because from New England turns it on
which they're going to at some point and starts getting
it together. We have some they they got players, they
got players.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
I want to go back to the Chicago Bears because
I live here now and I'm here a lot. I'm
in LA about seven eight weeks a year. But it
is fascinating to listen to talk radio in this town.
Cubs and Bears. That's the topics.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
That's it. That's it. It's Cubs and Bears.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
And you know, you coached in Miami, which was a
more transient town, and then you coached in Dallas where
talk radio and the newspaper guys were aggressive. And one
of the things I think about one of the advantages
to being in Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
It's not a big media.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
The fans are loyal, you don't have a crazy, impulsive owner.
There's an advantage to be green Bay. You can draft
and develop. You can sit Jordan Love for three years, right, Like,
that's an advantage in an era where all these owners
are billionaires now and they just think forty five million
dollars to fire a coach is.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
A rounding air. They don't care.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
So Green Bay, in this world we live in now,
it's an advantage. They don't have a lot of crazy
around the organization. But as I drive around Chicago and
listen to sports talk radio, it's harsh, it's urgent, and
I know owners listen, and I know people in football listen.
When you were coaching the Bears, was it different than
coaching the Dolphins. The city it's northern, it's not as transient.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Yep, oh, big difference. I mean, did you Pittsburgh.
Speaker 8 (35:52):
I've coached in Pittsburgh, I've coached in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
I mean, you know, there is loud, loud.
Speaker 8 (35:59):
They study this football. They live it's important on a weekend.
I mean, they lived their lives through their teams. You know,
and Miami my second year at the first year and
would in the division at Dolphins second year go to playoffs.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
We didn't sell out our.
Speaker 8 (36:16):
Stadium for playoffs. And the first person that bought a
ticket with some lady from Detroit, you know, that was
down her visiting. I mean, I remember they headed in
the paper and I said, you think, guess whatever happened
in Chicago or Pittsburgh. No, it's just it is a
different mentality.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
And I noticed it here and I've lived here six months,
five months. It is intense. The coverage is intense here.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (36:37):
And you try getting a ticket to a Blackhawks game too,
for hockey. You'll see that when you're here in the winter.
I mean it's it's it's a tough sports time, and uh.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
It is what it is.
Speaker 8 (36:48):
I think it's just that blue coway mentality.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
You know, they're tough.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
Finally, I want to ask Oregon question. Oregon plays Northwestern. Yep,
that's a you know, a big new kickoff game for
the Fox Sports. I was lucky enough I covered Oregon
as they were exploding as a program. I covered the
Joe Harrington team. I was a sportscaster at KGW in Portland,
so I was very lucky that I can remember being
(37:13):
on the field, you know, and looking at Phil Knight.
He's got tears in his eyes, you know, and they
were they won the Civil War and they were going
to go to the Rose Bowl. And I always thought
one of the advantages to Oregon that Penn State and
USC and Michigan and Notre Dame don't have is Oregon
had no tradition. So Notre Oregon could say we're gonna
(37:35):
have twenty helmets, we're gonna have fifty uniforms, We're going
to hire a guy from New Hampshire and Chip Kelly
that doesn't believe in huddles.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Penn State put names on the back of uniforms a
few years ago.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
They took him off two years later, right right Notre Dame.
Lincoln Riley suggested that USC drop the Notre Dame game.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
There was outrage.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Yes, Oregon is so fascinating to me coach, because they
didn't have tradition and so they created their own. It's
like a study in great business. When you as a
guy who's you coached at SC and the Miami Hurricanes,
how do you view Oregon football as they play Northwestern
this week?
Speaker 8 (38:12):
Well, you know, if you really think about it, and
Dan Lenning's done an unbelieva They only got one retiring
starg on offense from last fifteen.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Think about that.
Speaker 8 (38:20):
They in the last three years they've been in the
top five in recruiting high school and portal.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Now think about that.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
There's three Division one football players in Oregon on an
annual basis the state of Oregon.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
So they have to leave the state to convince you
to go there National National.
Speaker 8 (38:36):
You look at their roster and the thing that's happened
when they first came, when all these packed and I've
been doing Big ten football here for years, you know that. Yeah,
And when all of these packed twelve teams, the Oregons,
the USC's came to the Big Ten, everybody was talking
about it. They're going to be physical enough. You're talking
(38:57):
about Big ten football as compared to the fast game,
the basketball fast of the West Coast. Well, Oregon last
year wins the Big Ten. Okay, and they proved that
they could be as physical as anybody.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Well, now they might be.
Speaker 8 (39:16):
If you look at every team around the country, they're
about as fast and maturing.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Team as anybody. I mean, they're a lot better than
anybody thought.
Speaker 8 (39:25):
And talent wise, they have talent on all levels a
lot more than anybody thought. He convinced their quarterback, Daunte
Moore to sit a year, so he was on the
roster last year he transferred from U. Yes, right, he's
sitting on the roster, not playing, just watching Don Gabriel.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
It was a five star, like number one quarterback country
counting player.
Speaker 8 (39:50):
They convinced him to sit and watch and learn and
he did that behind Gabriel, and he's the guy he's
completing seventy seven percent of his passes. I mean, so
they have a culture. They got great support. We know that,
and Dan Lenning does a great job of getting players
(40:10):
and coaching these guys.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
And I'll tell you what.
Speaker 8 (40:13):
Oregon and you know, we got Ohio State and you
got Penn State and I did it.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
But I think right now today I was saying this,
if you told me top five programs in the country,
I'd probably put Oregon four or fives. At the low coach,
I might put them higher than that Ohio State, Bama, Georgia, Oregon.
Speaker 8 (40:32):
I'm putting them ahead of I won't buck Ohio State,
but I would definitely put them ahead of Alabama or anybody.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Right now, right now, it's an incredible story right now.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
I mean, it's just funny that when I was part
of you know, not part of it, but when I
covered them, they had such a freedom because they had
no history, so they could just do whatever they wanted.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
They were totally outside of the box.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
And you look up fifteen years later and you're like,
they are a top five program.
Speaker 8 (41:00):
And you know, when we first went to the NFL,
I remember Al Davis, we would always work against the Raiders.
First year we went out here to California for training
camp where the Cowboys used to go, and Al Davis
used to talk about we have to get At that time,
the old San Diego Chargers with Dan Fouts and Joiner
of those guys, they were speed speed. How are we
(41:22):
going to beat the Chargers. We've got to match their speed.
So the Raiders started transforming a little bit to the
fast wide receivers. The matchup wouldn't be able to do
what the Chargers did. Okay, Oregon comes in here and
they say this is power football. Well, now, all of
a sudden, after last year, the Big ten's looking around saying,
(41:43):
you know what we gotta be as if we're gonna
beat these guys and win, we gotta be fastest.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
We're gonna be as fast as oregan.
Speaker 8 (41:49):
So that you talk about tradition and a little bit
of transformation, there's.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
That going on a little bit. Yeah, if you look
close in the big ten. Yeah, Dave won Stadt, good
seeing you too. You're gonna take me out to dinner
next week and one of your haunts, I'm gonna go.
Speaker 8 (42:03):
I'm gonna prep a place for us tonight.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
It'll be warm. Your seat, it will be warm. That's
not scouting, it's the herd.
Thanks for listening to 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. Thanks
for listening to the Herd podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Here we go.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
It is a fride day and we are loaded blazing
five off a winning week one. The Green Bay Packers
once again little sloppy, but put on a show last night, Jamak.
I had them number one in the Herd hierarchy. I
said it was the best team I saw in Week one,
and they have now totally shut down last season's number
(00:48):
one and number two most efficient offenses.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
So I mean they it jumps off of TV, does
it not? This team is good essentially the first two
games they gave up nothing, the first three quarters nothing.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
The defense is that good. Michael Parsons is unfreaking believable.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, and he's only playing sixty eight percent of the
snap so that'll go up to seventy eight and eighty eight.
So this I am absolutely sure of. As I start
my show on a Friday. Green Bay is the fastest
team in the NFL. They're tight ends run, they're defensive
ends run well, they're wide receivers, their quarterback can run,
and the spacing and speed is on display. Last night
(01:29):
was the youngest team in the league against the oldest,
and it looked like it. I have not seen a
defense in Green Bay that's aggressive. And there is not
another wide receiver tight end group in the NFL that
has this much speed and this much talent.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And they're not paying any of it.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Terry mcclaurin of Washington alone, alone makes ten million more
than the entire wide receiver and tight end group for
the Packers. And this is also the power of patience
that Green Bay is allowed to have. They can draft
Jordan Love and sit in for three years because they
don't have an owner, an impulsive guy at the top
(02:09):
pulling strings. They don't have a harsh and relentless local media,
and they have loyal fans and reasonable fans. So when
they dip their toe in free agency, like Micah, it's
worth it. The other thing I thought last night is,
you know, people freak out green Bay gave up two
first round picks. You tell me what do they need?
They got their quarterback, they got their skill. I mean,
(02:32):
they've got their tackles, They've got their pass rusher, I
got their linebackers. That's when you can give up first
round picks.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
What do they need?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I mean's And for the record, Matthew Golden, the kid
out of Texas again, it's going to take him until
week six, seven, eight nine. He's going to be another
track star. And here's the thing. Not only did they
blow out Detroit and I mean that game last night,
I couldn't believe it was a one score game. In
the fourth quarter, they were totally dominating it. The Packers
(03:05):
rolled and they were sloppy. I mean they got to
clean a lot of stuff up. They had ten penalties,
they were starting two backups on the offensive line. Micah
Parsons only took sixty eight snaps. And they have rolled
two very good rosters. And last year we like Green
Bay a lot, but they struggled against the best teams.
They were zero and six against Philadelphia, Detroit, and Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah that's over.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So the only time that Detroit and Washington felt like
they could compete was in the fourth quarter, in its
garbage time. So I mean this is they have four
different wide receivers. Green Bay does that according to next
Gen stabs run nineteen miles per hour or faster. Washington
has one Deebo lookd twitchy, and they'll get their offense
(03:50):
in Washington. You know, McLaurin showed up late. But I
mean sometimes you just have to watch and just be
honest about it. No team in the league. How often
did Green Bay players pull away from Washington players? It
could be reverses, bubble screens. I mean, it's a track
(04:10):
team that tackles well. So Jordan Loves how nine straight
games regular season games? Think about this, and Jordan Love
is a risk taker. He has more far than Aaron Rodgers.
He's got he's got a big arm, and he'll throw
it and he'll throw it on the move. He's an
aggressive quarterback. And Matt Lafleur is a pretty aggressive coach.
And yet Jordan Love has got nine straight regular season
(04:33):
games without a turnover. And you know why he's doing
that because he figured it out. Just get the ball
to this speed group and they'll do the rest. So
I mean this is to me, this is hands down
the most impressive team I've seen in the NFL, and
they're not paying anybody outside of Jordan Love. You know,
(04:54):
they're they're they're paying Mica, They're paying Jordan Love. They're
not paying a lot of people. So the future is
in incredibly bright. A lot of teams have to buy
free agents. You know, players are getting old and brittle.
Young players get hurt, but they return to action sooner.
So this team has so much depth at so many spots,
and again, young players, young athletes recover quicker. I don't
(05:19):
see any liability here holding this team back from getting
to a super Bowl. To me, I don't see a flaw.
Just they got to clean some stuff up. They're sloppy,
starters don't play in the preseason. It's week two that
you know. I don't take anything from the mistakes. They're
all easy to clean up. And here's Jordan Love on
(05:41):
the skill and speed that surrounds him.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
It's one of those things where you know, we had
a goal coming to the season to start the season
off fast and build on the things we've done last year.
And obviously I think we got a really good offense
and we've been talking about, you know, the sky's the
limit home. We got so many playmakers We're really deep
on offense, and I just got to find ways to
go out there and you know, executing against good defenses
(06:05):
like them.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So I think it's ironic that the Miami Dolphins, previously
the previous three years, the fastest team in the NFL,
had a player's only meeting yesterday. And this is really
the difference between Green Bay. When I think of Green Bay,
I think of stability and patience. When I think of
the Miami Dolphins, I think of shortcuts and flash And
(06:29):
I've said this for years. I do think teams tend
to embody the culture of the city. Like when I
was a young kid in the seventies, Pittsburgh was known
as like that's where you made steel, and the Steelers
were tough. Of course they were tough. Pittsburgh's were tough.
People in Pittsburgh were tough. They made steel for the
rest of the country. Miami's always been a flashy town
(06:50):
and Dan Marino big arm, it been flashy. Miami's flashy.
You know, the last time they want a playoff game.
Dave Wanstat was a coach, great defense, great run game.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
May want to get back to that.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
But it's interesting watching and juxtaposing green Bay the fastest
team in the league where it jumps off the television
how fast they are, And it did for Miami for
three years, but they did it through a trade and
had to pay a fortune for it. Green Bay is
not paying any of their fast guys. So this is
the difference between you know, structure and stability and shortcuts.
(07:24):
And they always say there's an old saying speed kills
you know, you know, it really kills bad GMing, bad coaching,
lack of culture. It makes even the fastest guys slower.
And the fact they had a player's only meeting after
the first week is a danger sign football the basic
ethos of football, and it will always be true again
(07:44):
the last playoff win in Miami with a defensive coach,
a run game and a defense and time of possession.
That football is built on details and drafting and development
and physicality and Miami's just not good at that. Now,
if you can play at elite speed on top of that,
that's green Bay.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
But you know, I'm.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Watching the Packers last night and I'm thinking, as I'm
watching the game last night, this is what Miami thought
it would look like. We were just gonna get the
ball to the distributors run around. Yeah, but you didn't
have the coaching and the culture and the patience.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You know, that's the difference. And I'm not picking on Miami.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Because when they got Tyreek Hill and Jaden Waddle, You're like.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Oh, this is gonna be crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
But it should be noted not only is Wan Stat
a defensive guy who loved the run game, the last
guy to win a playoff game there. When I think
of the Miami Heat in that flashy city, you know
what I think of d Wade's defense, Haslam's defense, Lebron's defense,
Jimmy Butler's defense, pat Riley defense, Eric Spolstra defense.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
When they were.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Winning, like you know, back to back Eastern Conference Championship series.
When they're getting into those games, they had a top
three or four defense.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
In the league. So Miami may live in.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
That crazy, flashy speedboat town, but the core of Miami
has always been long practices, tough in physicality, and then
Tyler hero can go hit a three. But I you know,
I just looked at Green Bay and I thought this
is what Miami thought they would be. And they don't
have the stability, and they don't have the patients and
(09:19):
they're having a player's only meeting after week one. Yikes,
here's two on the meeting.
Speaker 5 (09:27):
A lot of it has to do with communication, what
you want out of the guys, what the guys should
expect from you coming into a game like this week,
prior to the game that happened, from the performance that
I put out there, obviously it starts with me, but
with those guys, you know, just communicating to them what
our expectation is going into this week and being able
(09:48):
to move forward from that. You know, seventeen, we got
seventeen games that were you know, guaranteed that was one
of them.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
It's a long season a half that, it certainly is.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Tom Brady was on the show yesterday and Tom Brady
had a lot to say and a very brutally honest
takedown of some bad coaching and bad quarterback play in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
And we will talk about that coming up next.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (10:24):
Hey what's up, everybody, It's me three time Pro bowler
LeVar Arrington, and I couldn't be more excited to announce
a podcast called up on Game.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
What is up on Game?
Speaker 7 (10:33):
You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler TJ. Hutschman
Zada and Super Bowl champion Yup. That's right, Plexico Birds.
You can only name a show with that type of
talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be
sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen
to Up on Game with me LeVar Arrington, TJ. Hutchman Zada,
(10:55):
and Plexico Burrs on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
From here we go our number two hour one flies by.
This is the Herd urban Meyer last hour. Dave Wanstat's
gonna sit next to me that we got some great stories.
You know green Bay's defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley, Dave Wanstat
(11:23):
gave him his first job. Dave Wonstatt gave first job.
So I sort of got about a third of the league.
And he's going to join us on the Bears. He's
gonna join us on the Packers and the Miami Dolphins
and the Dallas Cowboys and a lot of different topics. Today,
I will say this about green Bay. You know it
was really strange when a defensive when a head coach
in college quit and became a coordinator in the NFL,
(11:49):
that doesn't happen a lot. But that's what the green
Bay Packers did.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
The Lions.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
No, no, no, they they got very insuler, very provincial.
We're gonna just we're just gonna hire guys in the
building to replace these two coordinators. Green Bay is like,
now we're gonna try something that nobody really does. We're
gonna go hire a college head coach who's a very
good coach making a great living. We're gonna make him
an efensive coordinator. And you can't run on green Bay.
And Micah Parsons is still between the first two games,
(12:15):
playing about fifty sixty percent.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Of the snaps.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
So you can tell when a fighter has confidence because
they're aggressive. You know Mike Tyson's early days. Look at
the aggressiveness green Bay's defense plays with. It is an
attack style defense. Why they have so much confidence in
their ability and their speed to make up if they
get beat. So when you watch, when you watch a
(12:39):
defense that is hyper aggressive, that is a confident boxer.
That's somebody that leaves their chin open because they have
so much confidence in their ability to knock you out.
They're not worried about protecting themselves. When I'm watching Green
Bay on both sides, they are taking big swings down
the field. And here's the thing about Jordan Love. You know,
for years I said this about justin Fields. He's tall,
(13:02):
he's a good kid, his teammates like him, he's got
a great arm, he's athletic. Why doesn't it work? Jordan
Love is all those things, but it's just better from
the pocket and getting better coaching. So Jordan Love in
terms of traits, that's what NFL people call it. Traits, size, arm, mobility, athleticism, toughness.
(13:22):
His traits are unbelievable. And you know, we just don't
naturally put him into the top ten. But I mean,
Craft is going to be a multiple time pro bowler.
You just wait, wait till Matthew Golden gets a few
games under his belt from Texas and reads healthy. And
Romeo Dobbs can be hit and miss on you know, dependability.
(13:42):
But why I'm watching Green Bay the last two weeks.
That is the best team in the league, and they're young,
and they're inexpensive at most positions. Mike and Jordan Lover
making money. They got a guard making some money, not
paying a lot of guys big money. So I mean,
here's the thing. They let go of Kenny Clark. Green
Bay let go of Kenny Clark, who's an elite interior lineman,
(14:04):
and their defense looks better. So that tells you how
well they've drafted and developed. They let go of an elite.
But I mean, you s saw Kenny Clark in Week
one against Philadelphia make an imprint. Kenny Clark's a really
good player. He's thirty thirty one years old, so he's
probably at the end of his peak. He's a good player.
Green Bay gave him up. They're not even playing. Mic
has seventy percent of the snaps, and they're a dominating
(14:27):
defense against the two most efficient offenses in the league.
Last year, Detroit and Washington totally shut him down, totally
discombobulated Jayden Daniels and the Detroit Lions. So this is
not a mirage. All right, Here we go. It is
time off a winning week. I think it's my first
winning week on Blazing five and week one in like forever.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Here we go, let's blaze it up up. It's Collins
blazing five. Rams at Titans.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
I like the Titans and five and a half points.
This is the second lowest total on the board, so
it's got a you know, twenty three to twenty field
to it. I'm gonna take the five and a half points.
The Titans mistakes in Week one are easy to clean up.
They had a lot of drop passes and penalties, but
they got a real rush on bo Nicks. They forced
(15:16):
Inver into four turnovers, and the Rams offensive line two
of their top three offensive linemen are banged up. Rams
scored on their final drive of the first half in
their first drive of the second half, otherwise didn't score,
so I think this is low scoring. I think the
Titans mistakes against an aggressive, very good defense were understandable
(15:37):
for cam Ward's first game. I think I'm gonna take
the Titans. I think it's a twenty three to twenty game.
I'll take the Rams to win, but I'm absolutely taking
the five and a half points. With Tennessee Seahawks at Steelers,
take the under forty and a half. Pittsburgh's got too
much pride and too much talent to look like they
(15:59):
look in Week one. Defensively, they're gonna play with their
hair on fire. Defensively, Mike Tomlin had to be humiliated
by that. They have too many good players. And Seattle's offense,
it's not gonna be a high powered offense. It's a
run first offense. They don't have a number one receiver,
and under Mike McDonald, you know, eight of the eighteen games,
(16:19):
twenty points are fewer. So last week Seattle game. That's
what Seattle's gonna look like. They're gonna keep teams in
the twenty three to twenty range and they're not gonna
score a ton of points. That's not what they are.
They don't have the perimeter weapons. So I think Sam
Donald struggled in his last couple of games.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Come back down to Earth.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Take the under forty and a half points. This feels
very twenty seventeen, twenty one seventeen. I like Seattle to win,
but take the under forty and a half points.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Broncos said Cols.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I like Denver minus two and a half, so listen
eight and two against team that missed the playoffs last year.
And bow Nicks has been strangely good on the road.
His last four road starts, his passer ratings one oh seven.
So I think Daniel Jones, let's not kid ourselves his
last seventeen starts. He's four and thirteen. They've played a
(17:15):
Miami team that defensively quit. Don't overreact to Week one.
It was home Jim Mersey was being celebrated the late
great owner.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
It was a very emotional place.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Denver's defense is going to get Daniel Jones off the
field very quickly. I like the Broncos to win and
cover twenty seven to twenty.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Eagles at Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I think it's close and low scoring, but I'm going
to take Philadelphia to win and cover. Listen, they led
thirty four to nothing in the third quarter against Kansas City.
They got more good players. They've won seventeen of eighteen games,
including the playoffs, and if Jalen Hurts starts and finishes
a game, they've won fifteen straight. They're excellent on third down,
and they're excellent in the red zone, and they're excellent
(18:02):
on fourth down, and that matters on the road in
a close game, They're gonna pick up those third and
fourth downs. They're gonna make plays in the red zone.
I think Kansas City comes out with incredible pride plays
over themselves and makes it close. But the Chiefs are
two and three in their last five games. Xavi are worthy.
If he doesn't play, they don't have a one receiver,
(18:26):
they don't have a number two receiver, and Travis Kelsey
they'll probably box him in. I think it's really low scoring.
I think it's close, but I'm gonna take Eagles with
a late touchdown to win twenty eight to twenty. Gay
and said Cowboys, I'm taking a prop bet. Take CD
Lamb over six and a half reception. Okay, he had
(18:49):
a miserable Week one, three drops. I believe Brian Schottenheimer
to build trust with his young receiver, gonna have a
steady dose of Ceedee Lamb. Shottenheimer and Dak are gonna
say listen, we need you, brother. We're gonna throw to
you fifteen times. By the way he has eaten against
(19:12):
the Giants, he averaged seven point four receptions of game
since twenty twenty three. That's highest in the league. And again,
this is still not a great running back room. It's
still a pretty average tight end room. And George Pickens
does not separate like Ceedee Lamb. So I think to
prove that they trust Ceedee Lamb. Ceedee Lamb is not
(19:33):
gonna have three drops. He's played well against the Giants.
I'm gonna take the over on catches six.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
And a half.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I think Ceedee Lamb is going to be a primary
Dallas target. So take the Titans and the points, the
Broncos and Eagles to cover the under on the Seahawks, Steelers,
and Ceedee Lamb to have a very very big game.
You know, I saw a quote this morning from Detroit's
(20:03):
new offensive coordinator John Morton.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
He said, they play the Bears.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Lions is a very very interesting early window game, and
he's John Morton says, we are not in panic mode. John,
have you seen who you're playing next week?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
You're at Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Baltimore's not in a good mood, having lost to Buffalo,
having controlled the game. You can deny you're going to
be in panic mode, But you got Baltimore next week,
and then you've got at Joe Burrow, at Mahomes and
Baker Mayfield, Oh, then Kevin O'Connell and then Jaden Daniels
on the road and at Philadelphia. Detroit needs to win.
(20:46):
Chicago would like to win, but Chicago's got the Cowboys
coming up, the Raiders coming up, and then a bye week.
And I also think Detroit's about winning games at this
stage in their development. Chicago's about getting Caleb Williams right.
So you can deny it's not panic mode. But I'm
going to stay away from this game. But if I
(21:07):
had to take a side, I do think urgency matters,
and I think Detroit is the side here. I think
Detroit you can tell your players we're not in panic mode.
Everybody has a schedule in that locker room at Baltimore.
Just put a big L on your little pocket schedule.
Put a big L on that one. I think Detroit's
(21:28):
gonna come out and it's going to feel like it
is a absolute must win game. Teams can say it's
must win Chicago, it is for Detroit, or this thing's
going to derail fast. You just watch the Packers. You're
gonna be two games back. You want to be two
games back by four o'clock. You know, you know Sunday
(21:48):
eight her to three seasons done. You're not making the playoffs.
So Dave wantstat joining us next.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
It just so happens. All the stories. I'm fascinated about.
Dave Wanstat thirty nine years coaching NFL in college is
so connected to all of them. And I want to
start with Green Bay. They went and got a college
football coach and said, we're going to bring you in
to coach our defense. And that's not what happens much.
(22:29):
You know, Jeff Hafley, Are you surprised that in a
eighteen nineteen games since he arrived, the defense is just
noticeably better.
Speaker 8 (22:37):
No, I'm not, because he's got a great background. Proud
to say that I was part of that, but I'm
not kidding. But it's kind of a funny story. He
was coaching at University of Albany, and when I was
a head coach of pitt, I was one where if
a young coach wanted to combine and watch practice or
sit in the meetings. I was never one of those
guys we're secretive. No, I wanted to These guys want
(23:00):
to learn and come in here and learn, right.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
That's how we all grew up.
Speaker 8 (23:04):
That's how the Marvel Levy's and the Marty schottenheimers how
they treated me when we wanted to go round and visit.
And so Halfley the defense square. I says, this guy's
coming in, Jeff Hafley watch practice from all great? So
he said practice, you know, hey.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
How you doing?
Speaker 8 (23:19):
I meet him like the next day, I'm getting coffee
and he's standing at the coffee machine. I said, how
you doing it? Oh yeah, how would practice you learn anything?
Oh yeah, coach, thanks, it's great, said well, okay, let
me Like a week later, I go to coffee or
walk by and it's Jeff Hafley again.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
So I says, a true story.
Speaker 8 (23:41):
So, don't you know, two weeks in the spring practice,
one of my young coaches leaves. So I go to
the defensive coordinator, says, what's.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
With this Halfley guy?
Speaker 8 (23:52):
I said, he's here every day. I says, we did
somebody offer him a job?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
We might as well hire him.
Speaker 8 (23:58):
Wait, and he says, well, we got an opening right now.
Guy just left. So I said, well, tell happy to
come down my office.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
So he came in.
Speaker 8 (24:06):
I said, listen, you're here every damn edy. Anyway, we
got a staff meeting in thirty minutes. You're the secondary coach. Okay,
that's all he gets. So then when I leave Pitt,
Greg Chianu calls me.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Greg's at Rutgers.
Speaker 8 (24:19):
Greg calls me and says, who's two of your best coaches?
And I said, Jeff Hafley and another guy. So Greg
hires him at Rutgers. And then Greg gets a Tampa
Bay job, and he goes to the Bucks and gets
in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
No, I mean he's done a great job. What jumped
out to me. I guess the only thing I'd worry
about Green Bay is this, Are they too young to
win a Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (24:39):
No? Absolutely not.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
No.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
You know why, because the younger.
Speaker 8 (24:43):
You are, the less you think about the Super Bowl.
I don't think when we won our first Super Bowl,
we were the youngest team in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Dallas was Dallas, and I don't think Jimmy I know not.
Speaker 8 (24:54):
I don't think I know Jimmy never mentioned the word
super Bowl until we were owned to the Super Bowl.
I mean, it was all about just another game, getting better,
getting better, and let's keep practicing and see if we
can we can improve and beat this next team. So
sometimes these young players, not naive isn't the word, but
(25:15):
their focus is on. I'm trying to establish myself in
the NFL and I want, you know, I want some notoriety.
They're not thinking super Bowl as much as the guy says,
I got three years left. I mean, it's the ring
or nothing. So I think it's a good thing to
be quite ont with you.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah, the speed is obvious. So I want to talk.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
You know, you know Chicago well, and I had set
up during the summer. I said, I almost wonder if
you have to make Caleb Williams work. They have failed
so many times at quarterback that you're just going to
have to give him.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Three years and you're not going to win every game.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
You may not make the playoffs, but you got to
get this right and eventually he'll get some things down.
Or are you a believer that if it looks like
it looks through so even or eight games where he's
missing layups and he's running more than he should, I mean,
what happens if he's not good this year?
Speaker 2 (26:07):
What do you do in Chicago? Yeah, I think I'm
not going to go down that road.
Speaker 8 (26:11):
I live here, okay, So I'm gonna say that I
think it's gonna work because of the style of offense
and the head coach Ben said. Ben Johnson said afterwards,
who I'm a fan of? He said afterwards, I should
have run the ball more. They had thirty five passes
and only twenty runs.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Okay, you know, so.
Speaker 8 (26:29):
How do you help a young quarterback.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Everybody knows that.
Speaker 8 (26:33):
You you take some pressure off him by running the
ball and then those play action passes. I mean, if
you're playing Detroit. You know, Ben was at Detroit. When
he was there, they were second in the NFL with
yards after the catch with our receivers. That was the
biggest thing that everybody was excited about. Here We're going
(26:55):
to have a good play action game and hit these receivers.
You see sing broughn on these guys catching on the run.
That's because they run first. Thank you exactly. You're right, coach.
I mean that's what they do. They run first. And
we came out the very first play of the game
and we lined up under center.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
I loved it.
Speaker 8 (27:15):
The quarter running back was dotted and we went to
play action pass and everybody just dropped in the coverage,
you know, because we hadn't run the ball.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
And then he threw the checkdown. Everybody was saying why
didn't he throw it deep?
Speaker 8 (27:27):
Well, I mean the checkdown was open. But my point
is what you just said, and Ben said it, we
got to run the football.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
You've talked about this before you coached in Miami. You're
the last coach in Miami. I were saying this earlier.
Is that Green Bay today, with their speed, is what
Miami wanted to be three years ago with their speed.
The difference is one of them has patients, one of
them plays defense. Is that I don't think you and
I have ever kind of believed in McDaniel building a culture.
(27:58):
We think he's a smart guy. But they had a
players only meeting after week one. What does that tell you?
Speaker 8 (28:05):
Well, that that tells you that they're frustrated. That tells
you that somebody in their minds is not carrying their
endo the load. You know, it's not there's something missing.
You got to pick it up.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
That's what you know. You didn't those player meetings.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
That's what usually happens, is when you did Jimmy ever
have a player's only meeting in Dallas?
Speaker 8 (28:25):
No, I don't remember if the if the players did,
you know, I can't remember one. I can't remember one anywhere.
I coach Chicle. I mean, they have them, but usually
what happens is, hey, come on, we got to.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Pick it up. And they're really saying, Colin.
Speaker 8 (28:39):
You got to you gotta play better defense, or you
got to play better offense. It's never them, Okay, was
never the guy talking or calling the meeting. It's always
somebody else need to do.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
A better job. And uh, I don't know.
Speaker 8 (28:51):
You know, when Miami, we say they were fast and
they were explosive, but it still comes down to throw
the ball. The score points, run the ball to win games.
That's what got the Bears on Sunday. They could not
run the ball. Minnesota had at the end when everybody said, okay,
we got an even game here, and they knew they
(29:12):
were going to run it, and you knew you had
to run it.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
It didn't happen. It didn't happen, you.
Speaker 8 (29:17):
Know, but Minnesota did. I go back to the Dolphins
game three years ago. They're playing Buffalo in the playoffs.
Oh I remember this, I remember, and a third teen
quarterback is in there.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Skyler Thompson, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 8 (29:29):
Skyler Thompson's in there. Who's the third team And they
lose the game to Buffalo, and I look at the
stats and it was thirty five passes and twenty runs
with the and I'm thinking of my and.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
It was cold.
Speaker 8 (29:43):
It was in Buffalo, third string quarterback, third string quarterback.
So I mean the some.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Guys called me after that, you kind of you you
was done with that? Was it? I saw everything?
Speaker 8 (29:52):
I mean you you know, these these guys got to
steal believe in running the ball. And I think Ben
Johnson back to you. I think he he does because
he'd proven, you know three years is call him plays
in Detroit that he ran the football, and so I
think it'll happen. I think it'll be good for Caleb,
I really do.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
I might move him around a little.
Speaker 8 (30:11):
Bit more, not you know, just a little half sprint
and let him get the ball out.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Everybody gives you that crap, Oh we're gonna cut the
field and half.
Speaker 8 (30:19):
So what if your it's a run pass option for
the quarterback and if you complete some balls and give
him some confidence.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
I don't see a problem with that.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
I thought Dallas. I wouldn't say shocked me, but I
if ceedee, Lamb doesn't drop that deep ball. And CD's
a good player, so he'll he'll they're gonna go to
him again. I had my reservations about Brian Schottenheimer, who
hadn't interviewed for a head coaching job in fourteen years.
He's considered sort of an old school offensive guy compared
(30:48):
to the new guys.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
What did you mean?
Speaker 1 (30:54):
I guess my take was this is that they were
buttoned up. There weren't a lot of penalties. Yep, the
clock management was good. Is that Brian Schottenheimer allowing his
coaches to coach because Eberflus can coach defense. But when
I watched them, the thing that that kind of took
me by surprise was I liked Mike McCarthy, but there
was a lot of penalties. I didn't like clock management Schottenheimer.
(31:18):
I thought that Dallas looked buttoned up to me.
Speaker 8 (31:21):
They did, and they were. You know, he's got a
lot of experience. You know, his dad was an outstanding
coach in the NFL Marty you know, for years, so
he is He's been around good people. And you mentioned
Matt Eberflus. Matt Eberflus is an ex head coach. So
you got a guy that your coordinator that you know,
(31:41):
can call defense.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
He knows what a head coach needs.
Speaker 8 (31:43):
He knows what a head coach needs, something, somebody to
bounce some things off of. So and I think Jerry
deep Down really really wants this to be successful and
wants this to work. And I think that the players
feel right now they've got a young enough team. They've
turned it over. They've got pretty good guys. They've got
(32:04):
young guys. Anybody that was a potential rough, you know,
rough the Feathers type of guy, I think is gone.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
So they got a good young team.
Speaker 8 (32:14):
And if Dak stays healthy and plays good, you're going
to see him win some of those games that they
had a chance to win against Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
So one of the teams that really was just did
not look very good was New England, and I defended them.
I said, first of all, they spent three hundred million
in free agency, so there's a lot of new starters.
You didn't play those guys in the preseason, right, They're
a young roster, so they're going to play more draft
picks than your good teams. So my takeaway was they
(32:45):
didn't look good because I could argue there's no team
in the league that has more new starters and new players,
which years ago, and in Week three the preseason, you
play them half the game, right, nobody plays starters. So
week one of the NFL season for a team with
new players, it's going to get ugly. I mean there
were some. I mean like, it's just the way it looks.
(33:07):
Go back to your Jimmy days with you and Jimmy
in Dallas or any place you've been in year one
when it's new players, and especially college where you don't
have a preseason. Do you think New England eventually the
chess pieces work. Were you ever at a place where
you knew you were better than the result in Week
one or week two? You just knew you had new schemes,
(33:29):
you had new playbook, you had new coordinators.
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Is that a real thing? Absolutely?
Speaker 8 (33:33):
And I think the worst thing very Well could do
is win too many too soon. Because he's got a
good young team, you know what I mean. So I
would not be concerned if I was a Patriots fan,
one bet. I mean, you've got the quarterback, the running back,
you got pieces in place, got a good head coach. No,
(33:53):
I would not worry about that whatsoever. You know, you
didn't play as well if you wanted to and didn't
win the game.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
I get that, but.
Speaker 8 (34:02):
I got no reserv that'd be the last team. I mean,
they've got to beat Miami this week. I mean that's
who they got. I think the Dolphins played the Patriots, right,
that's down in Miami, and that you talk about a
musk game for the Dolphins, a musk game in Miami
and what is it?
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Half a point or a point and a half? Yeah,
I was. You know, that makes me nervous if you're
a Dolphins fan.
Speaker 8 (34:25):
It truly does, because from New England turns it on
which they're going to at some point and starts getting
it together. We have some they they got players, they
got players.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
I want to go back to the Chicago Bears because
I live here now and I'm here a lot. I'm
in LA about seven eight weeks a year. But it
is fascinating to listen to talk radio in this town.
Cubs and Bears. That's the topics.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
That's it. That's it. It's Cubs and Bears.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
And you know, you coached in Miami, which was a
more transient town, and then you coached in Dallas where
talk radio and the newspaper guys were aggressive. And one
of the things I think about one of the advantages
to being in Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
It's not a big media.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
The fans are loyal, you don't have a crazy, impulsive owner.
There's an advantage to be green Bay. You can draft
and develop. You can sit Jordan Love for three years, right, Like,
that's an advantage in an era where all these owners
are billionaires now and they just think forty five million
dollars to fire a coach is.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
A rounding air. They don't care.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
So Green Bay, in this world we live in now,
it's an advantage. They don't have a lot of crazy
around the organization. But as I drive around Chicago and
listen to sports talk radio, it's harsh, it's urgent, and
I know owners listen, and I know people in football listen.
When you were coaching the Bears, was it different than
coaching the Dolphins. The city it's northern, it's not as transient.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Yep, oh, big difference. I mean, did you Pittsburgh.
Speaker 8 (35:52):
I've coached in Pittsburgh, I've coached in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
I mean, you know, there is loud, loud.
Speaker 8 (35:59):
They study this football. They live it's important on a weekend.
I mean, they lived their lives through their teams. You know,
and Miami my second year at the first year and
would in the division at Dolphins second year go to playoffs.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
We didn't sell out our.
Speaker 8 (36:16):
Stadium for playoffs. And the first person that bought a
ticket with some lady from Detroit, you know, that was
down her visiting. I mean, I remember they headed in
the paper and I said, you think, guess whatever happened
in Chicago or Pittsburgh. No, it's just it is a
different mentality.
Speaker 1 (36:29):
And I noticed it here and I've lived here six months,
five months. It is intense. The coverage is intense here.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (36:37):
And you try getting a ticket to a Blackhawks game too,
for hockey. You'll see that when you're here in the winter.
I mean it's it's it's a tough sports time, and uh.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
It is what it is.
Speaker 8 (36:48):
I think it's just that blue coway mentality.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
You know, they're tough.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
Finally, I want to ask Oregon question. Oregon plays Northwestern. Yep,
that's a you know, a big new kickoff game for
the Fox Sports. I was lucky enough I covered Oregon
as they were exploding as a program. I covered the
Joe Harrington team. I was a sportscaster at KGW in Portland,
so I was very lucky that I can remember being
(37:13):
on the field, you know, and looking at Phil Knight.
He's got tears in his eyes, you know, and they
were they won the Civil War and they were going
to go to the Rose Bowl. And I always thought
one of the advantages to Oregon that Penn State and
USC and Michigan and Notre Dame don't have is Oregon
had no tradition. So Notre Oregon could say we're gonna
(37:35):
have twenty helmets, we're gonna have fifty uniforms, We're going
to hire a guy from New Hampshire and Chip Kelly
that doesn't believe in huddles.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Penn State put names on the back of uniforms a
few years ago.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
They took him off two years later, right right Notre Dame.
Lincoln Riley suggested that USC drop the Notre Dame game.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
There was outrage.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
Yes, Oregon is so fascinating to me coach, because they
didn't have tradition and so they created their own. It's
like a study in great business. When you as a
guy who's you coached at SC and the Miami Hurricanes,
how do you view Oregon football as they play Northwestern
this week?
Speaker 8 (38:12):
Well, you know, if you really think about it, and
Dan Lenning's done an unbelieva They only got one retiring
starg on offense from last fifteen.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Think about that.
Speaker 8 (38:20):
They in the last three years they've been in the
top five in recruiting high school and portal.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Now think about that.
Speaker 1 (38:27):
There's three Division one football players in Oregon on an
annual basis the state of Oregon.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
So they have to leave the state to convince you
to go there National National.
Speaker 8 (38:36):
You look at their roster and the thing that's happened
when they first came, when all these packed and I've
been doing Big ten football here for years, you know that. Yeah,
And when all of these packed twelve teams, the Oregons,
the USC's came to the Big Ten, everybody was talking
about it. They're going to be physical enough. You're talking
(38:57):
about Big ten football as compared to the fast game,
the basketball fast of the West Coast. Well, Oregon last
year wins the Big Ten. Okay, and they proved that
they could be as physical as anybody.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Well, now they might be.
Speaker 8 (39:16):
If you look at every team around the country, they're
about as fast and maturing.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Team as anybody. I mean, they're a lot better than
anybody thought.
Speaker 8 (39:25):
And talent wise, they have talent on all levels a
lot more than anybody thought. He convinced their quarterback, Daunte
Moore to sit a year, so he was on the
roster last year he transferred from U. Yes, right, he's
sitting on the roster, not playing, just watching Don Gabriel.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
It was a five star, like number one quarterback country
counting player.
Speaker 8 (39:50):
They convinced him to sit and watch and learn and
he did that behind Gabriel, and he's the guy he's
completing seventy seven percent of his passes. I mean, so
they have a culture. They got great support. We know that,
and Dan Lenning does a great job of getting players
(40:10):
and coaching these guys.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
And I'll tell you what.
Speaker 8 (40:13):
Oregon and you know, we got Ohio State and you
got Penn State and I did it.
Speaker 1 (40:18):
But I think right now today I was saying this,
if you told me top five programs in the country,
I'd probably put Oregon four or fives. At the low coach,
I might put them higher than that Ohio State, Bama, Georgia, Oregon.
Speaker 8 (40:32):
I'm putting them ahead of I won't buck Ohio State,
but I would definitely put them ahead of Alabama or anybody.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
Right now, right now, it's an incredible story right now.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
I mean, it's just funny that when I was part
of you know, not part of it, but when I
covered them, they had such a freedom because they had
no history, so they could just do whatever they wanted.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
They were totally outside of the box.
Speaker 1 (40:56):
And you look up fifteen years later and you're like,
they are a top five program.
Speaker 8 (41:00):
And you know, when we first went to the NFL,
I remember Al Davis, we would always work against the Raiders.
First year we went out here to California for training
camp where the Cowboys used to go, and Al Davis
used to talk about we have to get At that time,
the old San Diego Chargers with Dan Fouts and Joiner
of those guys, they were speed speed. How are we
(41:22):
going to beat the Chargers. We've got to match their speed.
So the Raiders started transforming a little bit to the
fast wide receivers. The matchup wouldn't be able to do
what the Chargers did. Okay, Oregon comes in here and
they say this is power football. Well, now, all of
a sudden, after last year, the Big ten's looking around saying,
(41:43):
you know what we gotta be as if we're gonna
beat these guys and win, we gotta be fastest.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
We're gonna be as fast as oregan.
Speaker 8 (41:49):
So that you talk about tradition and a little bit
of transformation, there's.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
That going on a little bit. Yeah, if you look
close in the big ten. Yeah, Dave won Stadt, good
seeing you too. You're gonna take me out to dinner
next week and one of your haunts, I'm gonna go.
Speaker 8 (42:03):
I'm gonna prep a place for us tonight.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
It'll be warm. Your seat, it will be warm. That's
not scouting, it's the herd.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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