November 17, 2025 • 39 mins
Colin Cowherd breaks down why the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty may finally be over after dropping to 5–5 in a stunning loss to the Denver Broncos. Colin explains what’s gone wrong for Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and a once-dominant AFC powerhouse.
Then, Colin talks to Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay to recap the Rams’ thrilling NFC showdown against the Seattle Seahawks. McVay shares what makes QB Matthew Stafford elite at this point in his career and the foundation of their stifling defense
Plus, don’t miss this week’s Colin Right, Colin Wrong—where Colin doubles down on being right about Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson, and owns where he whiffed on San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh, we got a Monday show. We got a Monday show.
We're live in Chicago. It's the Herd wherever you may be,
however you may be listening, whatever the platform is. Sean
McPath rams, Lincoln Riley of the Trojan stops by. They
(00:47):
got a big one with Oregon, Colin Wright, Colin wrong
one hour from now. Jmac, you have been down on
Kansas City all year, and it appears you were right.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You know this is to be the best, you gotta
beat the best.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
You may have to scrap them where Colin was wrong segment,
What are you gonna mention the blazing five big guy.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, we'll get that. We'll get to that later. So
let's start with this.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
That was the kind of game that we have been
watching for the last five years Denver and Kansas City,
and you had this sinking feeling Kansas City would figured
it out. Andy Reid was off a bye, they got
a couple of trick plays, They'll figure it out. But
it was actually Denver that I felt would win the game.
And Denver manipulated Kansas City in that final drive. Kansas
(01:37):
City's now lost with the Jags, the Eagles, the Bills, Denver,
the Chargers, all playoff teams today one to five against
playoff teams and they're wins, Raiders, Commanders, Giants, and whatever
the Lions are these days.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Listen, some of this is you pay.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
A quarterback big money, you have a limited roster, I
mean Sam Darnold, team friendly deal, Seattle's young look, got
that roster.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Pikes the track team.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Seven of the top eight cap hits in the NFL
right now at quarterback five hundred or worse. And the
Chiefs have done a really good job to kind of
manipulate it. So Mahomes isn't a huge cap pit. But
Travis Kelcey, he's on his last legs. Chris Jones is
like the sixty second ranked defensive lineman. Everybody at the
(02:25):
top of that salary chart there doesn't feel the same.
Mahomes doesn't feel the same. So Denver's offensive line clearly better,
Denver's run game better, Denver's pass rush not close better.
Denvers secondary pretty good. Denver's wide receiver group, I think
(02:45):
it's underrated. I like their wide receivers can be Franklin
Now and bo nicksconnect Mims, Courtland Sutton, the young kid
out of Illinois like they got they got dudes. I
watched that game, and you watch that game. It felt
like to me when Denver got the ball at the end,
they they with bow Knicks on that rookie deal and
(03:07):
all that length, a wide receiver and that dominant offensive
line in that pass rush, they had more options and
we all saw it coming. I didn't think it was
a controversial take when I said the dynasty's over for
Kansas City. I said that in August, and I said
Broncos are going to win the division. You watched it
last night. I watched it. Denver has better units, better groups.
(03:28):
I mean, Mahomes is going to be better than bow Knicks,
but I don't know. They were in eleven to one
score games last year. What does that mean? The Margins
are getting thinned. They just won all of them. This year,
they're losing all of them. But I mean Sean Payton,
the way he talked bow Knicks, the way he played
the pass rush. It wasn't disrespectful to Kansas City, but
(03:50):
I didn't see any fear. I think Denver. I think
Sean Payton, I think bow Knicks. I think Denver knows
they have more good players than Kansas City. I think
they know they have a better pass rush, they have
the corner, they have deeper wide receivers, they have the
better offensive line, and I think Denver knows it. I
mean Andy Reid off a bye, scored nineteen points with
Patrick Mahomes off a bye, so you know you pay
(04:13):
the quarterback big money, like in Buffalo.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I don't love the Bills roster.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I think Kansas City's done a good job to manipulate
the Mahomes salary. But I'm watching Denver and you're watching Denver.
Denver's got more good players, and I Chris Jones had
a sack yesterday, doesn't feel the same.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
He's an interior defensive lineman.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Those guys age quickly tight ends outside of George Kittle
age quickly, so that final drive to me felt very
Mahomes esque. Bo Nicks had pass protection, he did use
the run game. He was running, he was twitchy, he
was nimble, he had options, a lot of good wide
receiver choices.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I mean, it didn't look like a fluke to me.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
At Labrial, Denver and on Peyton officially the team to
beat in the AFC West, and yesterday they had the
Chiefs feel. They manipulated the clock, they controlled the outcome.
That's what Kansas City did the previous half decade. Here's
bo Nicks after.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
If you want to be the best, you got to
beat the best.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
And you know, if you're some say, if you're scared
to go to church, if you're gonna play this sport,
if you're gonna play this game for too long, you
can't really be intimidated, or there's really no sense in
going on there. If you don't believe you're gonna win
and eventually get to the top, then I feel like
you just waste so much time.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Okay, So the Chicago Bears are seven and three, and
here's what I saw yesterday. I heard this, Well, it's
not really sustainable, all right, let me look at something
real quick with you. They were better than the Vikings
on third down. They rushed for one hundred and forty yards,
(05:58):
they never turned it over, and they dominated time of possession.
That feels sustainable to me. Well, it's ugly. Well, Denver's
winning ugly, Philly's winning ugly. The Jags always win ugly.
Chicago's got the second best rushing attack in the league,
fourth and total offense top ten in yards per play.
(06:19):
Those are the numbers Vegas cares about. That feels legitimate
to me. Their number one issue is actually, and you
have this with young teams. You saw yesterday with Seattle,
You've seen it with Green Bay. The problem is too
many penalties. Well, you got a new coach, he's young,
got a new quarterback with this coach who's young.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
He's young. They make mistakes, but you can clean that up.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
You can't create a lousy run game and turn it
into a great run game by Thanksgiving. I can take
a team that has too many penalties and clean it
up by Thanksgiving. So I mean Chicago's won seven of eight.
It feels totally legit. Who's winning beautifully?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Buffalo? No, Denver, No.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I mean I see a young coach, I see a
young quarterback, they got a lot of I mean, they're
great in the fourth quarter. It feels very much like
Denver to me, does it not? Young quarterback, great play caller,
nice offensive weapons. I mean the Bears defense. They're getting
Jalen Johnson back is the cornerback. But even without him,
(07:22):
they take the ball away. So look at their division
for the Bears, who say, people say it's not sustainable.
The Vikings are lost offensively, Green Bay wins, but their
identity is funky. I'm not sure Matt Laflor wants to run,
but they can't, so they pass reluctantly.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
But it works in Detroit.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Again, Ben Johnson left that offense. Detroit's offense is not
the same they hired within the organization.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Not a fan of that. It doesn't look good.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So I mean Chicago and Caleb there's too many penalties,
they're flawed. But I mean, I here's what they do.
Tell me if this stuff is sustainable. They run the
ball as well as almost anybody in the league. They
don't turn it over yet they take it away from you.
And they're excellent playing from behind, which has always been
(08:16):
to have and have. Nott's line of demarcation can you
play leading, can you play trailing?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
So when you have a great run game.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
You can play with elite you can you can kill
the clock. The question is great run teams often this
was always the knock on Lamar Jackson. Do they play
well from behind those Chicago does? So I don't get
the is it sustainable? This league MUSHes everybody together. The
team that always wins close games is Philadelphia. Did you
(08:43):
think that was art last night? You thought that was
pretty Philadelphia only wins ugly, so I mean, I Ben Johnson.
The other thing they do they've eliminated the negative plays.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
We talked about that all off season.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Remember when Belichick talked about break what's the best part
about Brady? He had no negative plays with Tom? He
didn't say Tom's arm or size. Yeah, with Tom, we
had no negative plays. It was always second and four, second, three.
It was never second twenty two. So Chicago's eliminated the
worst thing they did last year, all the negative plays.
They don't do them. And I know this sounds very
(09:20):
remedial and simple. Here's what the Bears do really well.
They go forward. They moved the ball forward a lot,
and that's what Belichick said about Brady his favorite thing is, yeah,
we got rid of it quickly, but didn't take sacks,
we didn't have pre stat penalties. So Chicago's got some
things to clean up. But to me, when you say
(09:41):
it's not sustainable, they run it, they take it away,
they don't turn it over. A durable quarterback great in
the fourth quarter. What's not sustainable? Here's Caleb about another w.
Speaker 6 (09:51):
It doesn't matter when, it doesn't matter, how, it doesn't
matter who, it doesn't.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
We got the guys, we got the coaches.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
We live in the known, and so when our moment comes,
when their moment comes, whoever it is on the team
will make the play. And so, like I said, we
gotta we gotta get better throughout the game. But you know,
when it, when it comes down to it, we know
we're gonna make the plays at the right moment, at
the right time, and we're gonna, you know, we're gonna,
we're gonna, we're gonna go win the game.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I watched that game yesterday and my takeaway is Chicago
deserved to win. Chicago is better on third down, Chicago
dominated time of possession, Chicago's quarterback is more talented. Like
Minnesota doesn't know what they did, what they are. Had
they lost that game, you'd have felt like, man, they
gave one away.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Yesterday.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Chicago was the better team with the better identity, the
better quarterback, and right now a coach who I love
this about Ben Johnson. This is where he and Sean
McVay are similar. Everybody thinks McVeigh and Ben Johnson they're clever, Yeah,
but it fundamentally they're tough guys. They like to run
the ball and dominate time of possession and play clean football.
(10:59):
Ram don't make a lot of mistakes. Caleb doesn't throw
a lot of picks.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
That run game.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
First thing Ben Johnson did, guard center guard, not sexy
guard center guard.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Let's develop a run game. They did, they have and
it's sustainable. Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Seahawks Rams game was nuts, and mcvayzon it was just
absolutely nuts. The fact that Seattle was coming down to
win the game on a kick with four Sam Darnold
ugly picks, three of them really ugly, is remarkable. We'll
talk about that next.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app Hey.
Speaker 7 (11:44):
We're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day five
to seven pm Eastern.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
We never have enough time to get to everything we
want to get.
Speaker 8 (11:53):
To, and that's why we have a brand new podcast
called over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun
in our two hour show. Never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Yeah, you blubber lia me.
Speaker 7 (12:07):
Well, you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years.
Speaker 8 (12:11):
Well, it's a Cavino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
continue on our after show called over Promised.
Speaker 7 (12:25):
Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make
sure you check out over Promised and also Uncensored, by
the way, so maybe we'll go at it even.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
A little harder.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
It's gonna be the best after show podcast of all time.
Speaker 8 (12:35):
There you go, over promising, and remember you could see
it on YouTube, but definitely join us listen over promised
with Covino and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Well, I said Friday, I thought it was the game
of the year.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Two great coaches, really good rosters, all sorts of pass
rush and youth, the rams in one of the wild.
I want to give you a glimpse of Sean McVay
in the post game.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
It was.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
It was not an artistic masterpiece, but it was wildly entertaining.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Here's Sean after how about that.
Speaker 9 (13:17):
Never take for granted fighting away. Just being able to
be so resilient offensively. What a blessing offensively for us
to be able to learn from this and continue to grow.
But man, this group finding different ways to be able
to win. Can't say enough about it. Can't Kitchens get one?
Speaker 6 (13:36):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
He joins us live Sean McVay. I gotta tell you
I one of the things that jumped through the TV
screen was the energy. Mike and I said this last week.
I said this, John Snyder wanted to hire you. He
was looking for Sean McVay and he kind of found
you on defense. I do think your intensity, Actually it's
(13:58):
like a batond to your team. Your team plays with
your energy. I think Seattle plays with Mike's energy. What
jumped through the TV to me is the game had mistakes,
but you're on the sideline of that game. It didn't
feel like a lot of games I've seen this year.
It felt juiced, it felt energized. It to you, Yeah, well,
I'll tell you what. I love this group.
Speaker 10 (14:19):
They energized me, Colin, And I tell you, just the
way that these guys stay connected.
Speaker 11 (14:24):
It was a unique game.
Speaker 10 (14:25):
There wasn't a lot of possessions and plays that the
offense had, but our defense kept making them snap it
one more time, forcing turnovers, tightening up in the red area,
being good in crunch time situations, guys stepping up Ethan Evans,
you know.
Speaker 11 (14:39):
So we're finding different ways to win.
Speaker 10 (14:42):
We've had examples where we put it all together, and
then we've had examples where we have to be able
to play off of one another and ultimately come away
with more points than the other team.
Speaker 11 (14:49):
And that's a great football team.
Speaker 10 (14:51):
But I was fired up for our group, and I
just love the resolve of this team and the way
that they stay connected. Most importantly, and I was fired up.
My mom's gonna be yelling at me for the curse words.
I gotta be careful having a two year old around.
He repeats everything I say, so I gotta clean up
the language.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, those two year olds are like their parents. They
say everything you say. You're gonna hear it back later.
THEO no when you You guys have had success with
Darnold and Sam sometimes can play a little fast, a
little frenetic, and kach Schule has done that on your staff.
I thought a couple of times my interpretation was Sam
(15:27):
saw stuff late. He was just a beat late. Is
that scheme coverage? Pass rush? Why the success against Sam?
Because Sam had played mostly clean this year, but he
was late on stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
What do you credit that for?
Speaker 10 (15:42):
Yeah, well, I think Sam has done a great job,
and I totally agree how well he's played. I think
it's the epitome of Russian coverage playing together. And that's
why I always think stats are for losers because we
had zero sacks, but those four interceptions were such a
great combination of he gets sped up with Russian coverage,
you feel that pocket collapse. He has to deliver the
ball earlier than he wants. I mean, you look at
(16:04):
Punaford coming free that forces Darius Williams pick. We had
a bunch of examples on all four where it was
a combination of he's sped up or he's having to
accelerate his process of reading with his feet, and then
guys are in windows that maybe they shouldn't be because
he's not able to see it and play on the
time in rhythm that he wants. But it was a
great job by our group as a whole bringing it
(16:26):
to life. And I think you see on all four
of those interceptions, the consistent theme is there's a push
in the pocket, there's somebody flashing across his face, and
there's guys connected and in their spots on the back end.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, when you were in the second and third quarters,
you guys barely had the ball. When you would talk
to Stafford, was your sense, listen, let's just play clean,
Let's not give him any short fields here. They're athletic enough.
Or were you getting frustrated because I mean there was
a but an hour and a half period where you
didn't have the ball much. Is that cycle that period?
(17:00):
What what are you doing as a coach? Are you
like you're making defensive plays, I'm comfortable with it. Or
are you on the headset with matt and saying let's
try this, this, this. Are you staying on the game plan?
Speaker 10 (17:11):
Yeah, I'm with the defense during those things and then
we have dialogue. It was it was frustrating just when
you look at it from an offense advantage point, because
you know, you have the first four drives of the
game where you go right down, you end up, you know,
missing on a fourth and one, then we end up scoring,
you score again, and then our fourth drive represents a
three and out where we didn't do what we were
(17:31):
supposed to do.
Speaker 11 (17:32):
Then then the next time we touched that's with eight
minutes left in the second quarter.
Speaker 10 (17:36):
Then you come back midway through the third quarter and
you have a two play sequence where we turn it over.
So you've had five plays and what's probably real time
an hour and a half.
Speaker 11 (17:45):
Like you mentioned, it is frustrating.
Speaker 10 (17:47):
And it can get a little misleading when you go
back and you watch it. You know, the margin fair
slim against a great team like that. But our guy
stayed in the fight, and I thought Matthew did a
phenomenal job of being able to.
Speaker 11 (17:57):
Play the game. The way it needed to be played.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
He didn't.
Speaker 10 (18:00):
We weren't able to sustain drives and just you know,
the possession was how it was. He didn't have as
many opportunities, but he took care of the football, got
the ball where was supposed to go. They didn't take negatives.
We did some things pre staff that's uncharacteristic. But we'll
look forward to being able to clean this up. And
like I said in that locker room, it's a blessing
for us to be able to learn from it against
an excellent outfit like yesterday was.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Last seven games, twenty two touchdowns, no picks for Stafford.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Could I that's crazy? Could I argue?
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Could I argue facing your defense in practice, with its
mobility and flexibility and dexterity, that that actually benefits Matt
because he's not fasing a defense on the field that's
as good as practice. Does that help in your opinion?
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (18:46):
I think I think it helps him, you know, when
we do do the few plays a week. But I
think he's just playing really well. I think the guys
around him are playing well. I think he's really understanding
how to be able to play like this is where
you see the seventeen years of experience and understand and
you know, where are those spots that I can be
more aggressive? Where can I be smart with the football?
I think guys have played well around him, and you
(19:06):
know the best part is is he's so grateful to
be able to get the win.
Speaker 11 (19:10):
And I thought he did really what he could relative
to how the game unfolded.
Speaker 10 (19:14):
There was a couple bad plays that I had on
g on some second down and tense situations that I
didn't help us. But he's just doing a great job
of understanding the totality of how the game's supposed to
be played, you know, through the quarterback, but from a
coach's vantage point. And it's still as aggressive, but it's
not reckless.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
I want to ask you before we go. You're very progressive.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
You very much follow the analytics, but there are moments
in games where I I do I always call it
ma analytics, where I just I just want to see
men make plays. I'm not going by the book. I
trust my team. How I want you viewed as one
of the smarter guys in this sport. With analytics, are
there ever times that you literally get on the headside
(19:55):
of you talk to Matt, and you're like, yeah, I'm
just going.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
To do this.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
I just feel this. How do you weigh analytics one
hundred percent?
Speaker 10 (20:03):
I Well, here's the thing that I would say, I
have tremendous respect for taking all these things in for
the input, but in a lot of instances they got
all the answers and no accountability to the outcomes, you know.
And so I do think there's a feel for the
flow of the game. There's twenty two moving parts that
are unpredictable. And it's not just these decisions aren't made
in a box, but you're betting on people, You're betting
(20:24):
on different scenarios, situations. What are the matchups based on
what you're projecting stematically, you know, and so all those
things way into it. But I thought our fourth down
conversions offensively were key and critical that led to scoring drives,
whether it's our first touchdown from two yards out from Kiren,
whether it ended up being a fourth and one run
where he goes for thirty four and then we end
(20:44):
up hitting Devonte two plays later. So guys have done
a good job. But it's a part of it. It's
not the only part of it, uh, Because I just
think this game has so many moving parts with twenty
two variables every single snap.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Who's your leader on defense? It's young. Who's your leader?
Speaker 11 (21:00):
Well, we've got great leaders across the board.
Speaker 10 (21:02):
I think what's cool is we've got captains on all
three levels, where Kobe Turner, Nate.
Speaker 11 (21:06):
Landman, and then Quinton Lake. You know, they've done a
great job.
Speaker 10 (21:10):
I think in you know, innately, some of these guys
that are thrust into a leadership role with the communication.
Landman's such a great communicator, Quinton Lake's been outstanding. But
those three captains, but I could name some other guys
that stepped up in a big way. I think the
cool thing is we got a bunch of guys that
have leadership capacity. Those were the guys that were voted
all with captains, but there's a lot of guys. You know,
(21:30):
you don't have to be a captain to be a leader,
and I think you know, our team's got a.
Speaker 11 (21:34):
Lot of guys with those natural traits and characteristics.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
All right, eight and two, you're humming. You are humming.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
I would say, get some good rest, but that's not you.
It's the football season. Four hours of four hours a
day max. Probably it's great seeing.
Speaker 11 (21:48):
You, hey, goodness seeing to appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
We don't want to waste any time here. We do
it every Monday.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, and Leeds
strip it where Colin was right. Well, I picked Denver
to win the AFC West. I said Kansas City would
be good, but a wildcard team. And you know, I
love bon Knicks, and I thought yesterday, especially on that
last drive, boon Knicks looked like the veteran quarterback. I
(22:16):
just think Denver's got a better roster right now. I
didn't think that two years ago. But Chris Jones is
not playing at the level he was a couple of
years ago.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
So I was right on that. I didn't think it
was a.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Controversial take when I said Denver's going to win this
division and Kansas City will finish second.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
But I've been higher on the Chiefs than almost everybody
else at this network because Andy and Brett Veach and
Patrick Mahomes, the three teams they're battling for a wild
card spot have all beaten them, the Chargers, the Jags,
and the Bills, and they're all in five and one
score games. And I just don't think their defense feels
is intimidating, and I think Patrick Mahomes is still remarkable.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
That's not a very good pick.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
And I think in the last couple years it feels
like Josh Allen's more dynamic. So I've been a little
higher on Kansas City, maybe because I've seen them turn
it around and had sluggish two or three game spots,
But I don't think they're in.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
A good spot right now where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
I said week one, I said Ben Johnson's the right coach.
You can talk about Caleb, but what I see from
Ben Johnson, I see what I saw in Detroit. He's
going to clean it up. The Bears are five and
one in one score games. And I don't think what
I said as a revelation, but it became very crystal
clear by week two, three and four that the identity
(23:39):
of the team was not going to beat Caleb.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
It was going to be Ben.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Johnson, precision, a run game, and an interior old line
that they bought in the offseason. I've also always said
young quarterbacks are better with young offensive coaches. Once again,
Lafleur with Jordan Love helped McVay with a young golf
(24:03):
help Ben Johnson with Caleb has become.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Crucial where Colin was wrong. Maybe I'm a little tough
on brock party.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I thought he was great yesterday, having not played for
a couple of months. He and George Kittle are money
together when they connect. Kittle and brock Purty have a
one forty one career passer rating yesterday, three touchdowns accurate.
They're able to move the pocket, good in the red zone. Listen,
(24:33):
he adds mobility. I'm kind of tough on him, but
I thought yesterday he kind of blew me.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Away where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
The one quarterback in the twenty twenty four class I
was skeptical of with JJ McCarthy and I kept saying,
what's the wow trade, folks. He's got a sixty two
passer rating that's the worst of any starter in the league,
and Justin Jefferson is disappearing slowly and his body language
is telling you he's not taken it well. I just
think trust your eyes. Does a quarterback feel a little
(25:04):
overwhelmed his body language, his feet. I think he's got
a good enough arm. I think he moves well enough,
but his misses are confidence misses and I think that
tells you right now, he's not sure of JJ McCarthy,
and he was the one quarterback I just didn't get.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
And so far, I'm right where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I didn't think Brent Venables was the best pick in Oklahoma,
and I didn't think Oklahoma would be that great in
the SEC.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I was wrong on both counts.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
They have allowed the fewest points in the SEC. It's
the mess defense in the conference. Venables has created an identity.
He went and found a great quarterback. But I mean
they've beaten Bama back to back years and were the
better team and forced them into uncharacteristic mistakes.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
So you know what.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I thought Texas would be the better of the two
Big twelve teams going to the SEC. But I don't
know what Texas's identity is. I know what Oklahoma's is.
They are physical, they are tough. They got a little
bit of a Georgia field to him. And I was
wrong where Colin was right. I did not like Detroit
when Ben Johnson left, hiring somebody in the building. Make
(26:20):
it a global search. Well, the Lions defense. In three
of Detroit's losses, they've scored thirteen seventeen and nine points.
I'm sorry with that offensive line and those backs and
those receivers, that's not good enough. They're down in third
down percentage, rushing, passing yards per play. They're not even
good on fourth down right now. I think when you
(26:43):
lose an elite coach or a coordinator, don't just look
inside the building. You gotta go open your eyes up
to every candidate in the country.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
I think I was right on that with Detroit, where
Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
I had said multiple times this year I had heard
that Ryan Kelly just didn't want to grind anymore, and
he may have taken that LSU job for the money.
What do you know, Bruce Feldman reporting he cashed out,
spent more time golfing than around the building. I had
two people tell me in the last calendar year that
(27:17):
you know what it happens, You get into your sixties
and you kind of lose the drive, and he didn't
really have it. That was an opportunity to make some money.
He's been a great coach. I don't necessarily hold it
against him. I hope it doesn't happen to me. But
what I had heard from two people I trust turned
out to be true, and Bruce Feldman's reporting doubled down
(27:40):
on that Colin Wright, Colin Wrong.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern, not a Empacific.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
And with that, Matt Hasselbeck every Monday eighteen years in
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
So it's funny, look at you.
Speaker 12 (27:53):
You're in Chicago now, just cash and checks, not doing
the grind.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Cash and checks so I can buy another Winner coat,
is what I'm doing with my money.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
So end boots and boots. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
So Kansas City's five and five, and you can really
go two ways on it. But the one thing that
jumps out to me, Matt is when Chris Jones a
couple of years ago had an Aaron Donald field, where
like they just moved him around the line and you
couldn't block him. He's not that now, And I don't
think the defense fields as fast or as intimidating. I
wish I could be more positive, but I don't love
(28:30):
what I see.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
I felt at the end of that game. I'm like,
I thought.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Denver was controlling Kansas City, they were controlling the clock,
they had better weapons. That's what it felt like to me.
What say you, Well, it was a great game.
Speaker 12 (28:43):
The game could have gone either way, and I feel
like that was their season last year. They just won
all those close games last year. You know, that's really
what happened. Early in the year. They just said, oh,
they don't have their wide receivers and that's the problem.
But I think if you really look at it, I
think turnover margin is a thing. You mentioned Chris Jones
and what he used to be just wreaking havoc up
front that created turnovers for their defense.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
So turnover margins a thing.
Speaker 12 (29:05):
But I think if I were to point to one thing,
everyone else has just gotten better. Like the Denver Broncos
are way better. Bo Nix is better than what the
Chiefs used to have to go up against. And I
think that's the thing. No different this Weeklex Listen, do
you believe in the Chiefs come?
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Are they a playoff team? Yeah? Probably a playoff team.
Do you believe in them? Can they go on the road? Yeah?
Speaker 12 (29:24):
But like now they're going to They got the Colts
this week. They got the Colts this week. Colts are better,
Like everyone's better. So just doing what you've always done
isn't gonna work for Kansas City. They got to find
ways to win these close games against better competition.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Now, you know Caleb and bo Nicks. I said this
last week. They're durable, They're inconsistent, they're uneven, but both
feel pretty confident late. It's almost like Bo is hard
on himself and it's kind of tough on himself and
comes in a little anxious and lightens up as the
game goes.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
What did you make of his last drive? Was it
a play calling drive to you or a quarterback drive?
Speaker 4 (30:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 12 (30:00):
No, it was a quarterback drive, and it was a
quarterback play that won the game. I don't see those
two quarterbacks similarly. I think bo Nicks is more in
that Drake may category. I know people are hard on him.
I see things critiquing him. I don't see it. Bonnicks
is a baller, He's a sure thing. He is absolutely
their franchise quarterback now and for the future.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
No doubt.
Speaker 12 (30:19):
The corner route I think that you're showing there right
now that is not open. He is completely covered. It
was a what quarterbacks calling us or nobody throw. We
either catch it or nobody catches it. The ball's not
in harm's way, and that sealed the game. It was
kind of a Mahomes esque type play. You go above
the exes and o's it's a great call by spags
in the Kansas City Chiefs, it's great coverage by the defense.
(30:40):
It's a better throw in defensive backs. They'll say it
in their meeting rooms also, they'll say, you know what,
there's no defense, there's no coverage for a perfect throw.
We did what we could do. The quarterback just beat
us there. You got to tip your cap to them.
And that's what bo Knicks did, and like you mentioned,
it's in clutch, critical moments that he's doing it. I'm
a believer of Bonnicks, have been and continue to be.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
So Listen, Ram Seahawks Andrew Luck had a quality that
I loved. He could throw back to back terrible picks
and he didn't care. He had a short memory. Sam's
got a little bit of that where you're like, Sam
doesn't care. Sam's a playmaker and he's just gonna let
it rip. I thought yesterday he saw things late. When
I watched it, I'm like, oh, he's just not crisp.
(31:24):
Did you ever get into those games where you weren't
seeing it? You have a pick, but your team needs
you and talk about the psychology. You have a bad Sunday,
but yet that last drive, you can't pout the balls
at the one you got to drive and get a
field goal. Have you been in games like that?
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (31:43):
It was an interesting one.
Speaker 12 (31:44):
I just you know, he's a great player AND's had
a great year. He had a terrible game, and you know,
if he just throws three interceptions instead of four, they
probably win the game.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
But four interceptions cost them.
Speaker 12 (31:52):
The opportunity and the best pun I've ever.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Seen in my life by the Rams. That was another thing.
Speaker 12 (31:56):
But I think for me, what I see in him
that I have is that you're so spe sped up.
You know, Jared Vers and the pass rush, it was
pretty legit, and he was sped up, and then his
elbow was down low and then he's balls are getting
tipped that normally wouldn't get tipped, and he was just
a little bit rushed. It was quick to get to
his checkdown because one, two, three aren't open. I'm get
getting to number four, Well guess what was number four open?
(32:19):
Like that, you need to actually make that decision too,
But you're so sped up because the defense is doing
such a good job with their pass rush. And that,
and that's what I think happened. I also think that
that's a team. Seattle's a team that's going to learn
from this game. And you know a lot of times,
a lot of those negative negative Sam Darnold plays from
the game yesterday. We're on like third and three and
third and three. If you're going to say we're going
(32:41):
to be a running team, like in the defense, the
Rams are playing dime defense at times. You got to
be able to just run the ball on third and three.
That's the whole point of getting into third and manageables.
So the defense has to defend the pass and the
run and not like third and seven to ten stuff
like that.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
So they'll I think they'll learn from this.
Speaker 12 (32:57):
I would chalk this up as the first game of
probably three that the Seattle Seahawks and the Rams play
this year, and I think all the games will be
kind of like this one.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
So it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
I always look for a team to have an identity,
and I actually think Chicago's identity is Ben Johnson in
the run game. But we pay a lot of attention
to Caleb. But I think when they got Drew Dolman,
Joe Toney, Jonah Jackson, Ben tipped his hand.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
We want to run the ball. I want to make
it easier for my young quarterback.
Speaker 6 (33:26):
You know.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Again, Caleb had moments, had plays he does. I mean,
he throws that ball. He has one hundred mile an
hour fastball. But I kind of see their identity they make.
They're not a great defense, but it's a playmaking defense
and it's a run team.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
That's how I view them. How do you view the Bears.
Speaker 12 (33:44):
I think they're a team that's overachieving with a great
head coach. I mean they are seven and three right
now and like to think about who they were last
year and who they are this year. Ben Johnson, Ryan
Paul has done a great job building this thing. Caleb
is a young player learning on the fly. As he's learning,
they're winning. He's morphing into Ben Johnson's kind of quarterback.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Is he there?
Speaker 7 (34:05):
No?
Speaker 12 (34:05):
I don't think he is. He's really not. But they
seem to find ways to win. Whether it's a two
minute drive by Caleb doing a great job in two minute,
our special teams save in the day yesterday and given
that basically winning the game for them.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Other times it's been defense stepping up. So this is
Ben Johnson.
Speaker 12 (34:21):
I think the big fear with him was that he
was a great play caller, and he was cute and
fun with his trick plays, But was he going to
be a culture setter? Was he going to bring in
like a new DNA into that organization? And that's what
happens with DNA culture center type coaches. You set a
standard and an expectation for the details and the discipline
that are going to happen in your organization every single day.
(34:43):
And and like, quite honestly, you saw teams lose games
because they didn't have detail, they didn't have the discipline,
they were selfish. And I think the Bears have like
kicked that out the door with Ben Johnson. He's a
great leader, he's a great play caller, he's a great
developer of a young quarterback. I think they're ascending. Do
I think this is their year without After I say
all that, No, they haven't really beat anybody, but the
(35:05):
schedules getting tougher here we'll find out who they really are.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
So it's hard to me.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
I think one of the hardest things to do as
a coach is create an identity and then when you
have it, maintain it. You can lose it. You can
lose a star player free agency, injuries. I don't know
what Philadelphia's identity was last year. It was Saquon big plays,
everybody fearful, they don't run the ball, a lot of
receiver drama. I almost think the I almost think the
(35:36):
identity is their two defensive interior lignemen, where they just
any big fourth down play, they're unblockable. Can you win
super Bowls when offensively? I kind of feel like series
Ian Good God, they're like second most three and outs
in the league.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Is that a super Bowl level team to you?
Speaker 6 (35:56):
They are?
Speaker 12 (35:57):
They are a super Bowl level team if they start
playing their best football late in the year, you know,
after Thanksgiving they got to get hot.
Speaker 4 (36:04):
They have all the ingredients.
Speaker 12 (36:05):
And who else If it's not them, who is it?
You know, and they can compete with anybody because of
what you said, their defensive line and you know, the
havoc that they reak on a passing game, like I
was saying with Sam Darnold was sped up. Jared Goff
was way too sped up. And there's not much you
can do. I mean, he doesn't have the athleticism that
a Caleb Williams has so he has to throw kind
of on time, and there were guys open, but he
(36:27):
couldn't get the ball to them because of the pass protection.
And then if you short set defensive line, that's really good.
They know just to get their hands up and bat
balls and all that kind of stuff. So I think
the danger for Philly right now is that they did
an obvious job of trying to force it to AJ
Brown yesterday, and I think it was pretty good results.
But I just think you got to be careful, Like,
(36:49):
I know you lost your right tackle yesterday, but it's
about Saquon, it's about explosive runs, and it's about letting
the AJ Brown plays kind of come to you. I
thought they were about fifty to fifty there. Now fans
might push back on me and be like, hey, good
stuff happens when we throw it to AJ and I
probably would agree. You might even get some defensive pass
interference flags that aren't really you know, they're a little questionable.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
We'll leave it at that.
Speaker 12 (37:13):
So but I just think the identity of who they
are that needs to stay to the x's and o's
and not get like the distractions of front office conversations
and we're going to force it to AJ and like,
that's just that's not what great culture and great teams do.
And I do think they have been a team with
great culture and and a winning culture and like putting
(37:33):
the team first. So that would be just my fear
that they it's a slippery slope with them, and I
think they're they're doing just an okay job right now.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Listen, there's two old quarterbacks that are still on any
Sunday playing pretty high level football, Stafford and Aaron Rodgers.
Aaron now has a risk injury if you can avoid surgery,
go back to the end of your career when you know,
I always say young players heal faster older players.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
You know, it's like the NBA.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
If I wears two knee braces, attack him, he can't
defend anybody. Now you're eron and you're older, and you
ever risked injury. Does it change the way he plays?
Speaker 3 (38:09):
Do you think?
Speaker 12 (38:10):
Well, yeah, Listen, I dealt with his exact same thing.
And when you break a wrist or a hand, a
bone in your hand, you immediately go to a hand specialist.
It's kind of like it looks like it's just a
whole different world. In there, and so you know two scenarios.
I think either has to have surgery or he doesn't.
If he doesn't, then he's wearing a cast. And you
know my experience when Pete Carroll was in Seattle, I
(38:30):
was the quarterback.
Speaker 4 (38:31):
I broke my wrist.
Speaker 12 (38:32):
I wore a cast all week, never took a snap
in practice, and then for the games, we would cut
the cast off and I would wear a splint or
a brace.
Speaker 4 (38:39):
Can you do it? Yeah? Is it very painful? Yeah,
it's very painful.
Speaker 12 (38:42):
What you do is you hand the ball off with
your right hand for all handoffs to the right or
to the left. Marshaun Lynch was my running back, and
in fact, if I remember correctly, I think Marshaun said, hey,
my quarterback in college at Cal Aaron Rodgers, he did
something like this to his left hand and he handed
all the balls off to me with his right hand,
and you should do that too, And that's what we
(39:02):
did that season. I did exactly what I just said.
You know the beast Quake game. That was hand the
ball off righty and lefty. So if he avoids surgery,
I think he could still play. It's not necessarily a
ball security thing. It's more about protecting himself as he
goes to the ground, and then maybe taking snaps under
center might be difficult, depending but I think it's doable.
I've done it, and apparently, according to Marshawn Lynch, Aaron
(39:26):
Rodgers has already done it when he was a cow
So I think if you're a Steelers fan, you're hoping
that he doesn't need surgery and it's something that he
can just cast up and play through well.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Cowboys Raiders tonight, Matt Hassel because always delivers great Senior
Budden
Speaker 4 (39:40):
All right, Seekoll
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 (00:26):
Oh, we got a Monday show. We got a Monday show.
We're live in Chicago. It's the Herd wherever you may be,
however you may be listening, whatever the platform is. Sean
McPath rams, Lincoln Riley of the Trojan stops by. They
(00:47):
got a big one with Oregon, Colin Wright, Colin wrong
one hour from now. Jmac, you have been down on
Kansas City all year, and it appears you were right.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You know this is to be the best, you gotta
beat the best.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
You may have to scrap them where Colin was wrong segment,
What are you gonna mention the blazing five big guy.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, we'll get that. We'll get to that later. So
let's start with this.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
That was the kind of game that we have been
watching for the last five years Denver and Kansas City,
and you had this sinking feeling Kansas City would figured
it out. Andy Reid was off a bye, they got
a couple of trick plays, They'll figure it out. But
it was actually Denver that I felt would win the game.
And Denver manipulated Kansas City in that final drive. Kansas
(01:37):
City's now lost with the Jags, the Eagles, the Bills, Denver,
the Chargers, all playoff teams today one to five against
playoff teams and they're wins, Raiders, Commanders, Giants, and whatever
the Lions are these days.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Listen, some of this is you pay.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
A quarterback big money, you have a limited roster, I
mean Sam Darnold, team friendly deal, Seattle's young look, got
that roster.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Pikes the track team.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Seven of the top eight cap hits in the NFL
right now at quarterback five hundred or worse. And the
Chiefs have done a really good job to kind of
manipulate it. So Mahomes isn't a huge cap pit. But
Travis Kelcey, he's on his last legs. Chris Jones is
like the sixty second ranked defensive lineman. Everybody at the
(02:25):
top of that salary chart there doesn't feel the same.
Mahomes doesn't feel the same. So Denver's offensive line clearly better,
Denver's run game better, Denver's pass rush not close better.
Denvers secondary pretty good. Denver's wide receiver group, I think
(02:45):
it's underrated. I like their wide receivers can be Franklin
Now and bo nicksconnect Mims, Courtland Sutton, the young kid
out of Illinois like they got they got dudes. I
watched that game, and you watch that game. It felt
like to me when Denver got the ball at the end,
they they with bow Knicks on that rookie deal and
(03:07):
all that length, a wide receiver and that dominant offensive
line in that pass rush, they had more options and
we all saw it coming. I didn't think it was
a controversial take when I said the dynasty's over for
Kansas City. I said that in August, and I said
Broncos are going to win the division. You watched it
last night. I watched it. Denver has better units, better groups.
(03:28):
I mean, Mahomes is going to be better than bow Knicks,
but I don't know. They were in eleven to one
score games last year. What does that mean? The Margins
are getting thinned. They just won all of them. This year,
they're losing all of them. But I mean Sean Payton,
the way he talked bow Knicks, the way he played
the pass rush. It wasn't disrespectful to Kansas City, but
(03:50):
I didn't see any fear. I think Denver. I think
Sean Payton, I think bow Knicks. I think Denver knows
they have more good players than Kansas City. I think
they know they have a better pass rush, they have
the corner, they have deeper wide receivers, they have the
better offensive line, and I think Denver knows it. I
mean Andy Reid off a bye, scored nineteen points with
Patrick Mahomes off a bye, so you know you pay
(04:13):
the quarterback big money, like in Buffalo.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I don't love the Bills roster.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I think Kansas City's done a good job to manipulate
the Mahomes salary. But I'm watching Denver and you're watching Denver.
Denver's got more good players, and I Chris Jones had
a sack yesterday, doesn't feel the same.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
He's an interior defensive lineman.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Those guys age quickly tight ends outside of George Kittle
age quickly, so that final drive to me felt very
Mahomes esque. Bo Nicks had pass protection, he did use
the run game. He was running, he was twitchy, he
was nimble, he had options, a lot of good wide
receiver choices.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I mean, it didn't look like a fluke to me.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
At Labrial, Denver and on Peyton officially the team to
beat in the AFC West, and yesterday they had the
Chiefs feel. They manipulated the clock, they controlled the outcome.
That's what Kansas City did the previous half decade. Here's
bo Nicks after.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
If you want to be the best, you got to
beat the best.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
And you know, if you're some say, if you're scared
to go to church, if you're gonna play this sport,
if you're gonna play this game for too long, you
can't really be intimidated, or there's really no sense in
going on there. If you don't believe you're gonna win
and eventually get to the top, then I feel like
you just waste so much time.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Okay, So the Chicago Bears are seven and three, and
here's what I saw yesterday. I heard this, Well, it's
not really sustainable, all right, let me look at something
real quick with you. They were better than the Vikings
on third down. They rushed for one hundred and forty yards,
(05:58):
they never turned it over, and they dominated time of possession.
That feels sustainable to me. Well, it's ugly. Well, Denver's
winning ugly, Philly's winning ugly. The Jags always win ugly.
Chicago's got the second best rushing attack in the league,
fourth and total offense top ten in yards per play.
(06:19):
Those are the numbers Vegas cares about. That feels legitimate
to me. Their number one issue is actually, and you
have this with young teams. You saw yesterday with Seattle,
You've seen it with Green Bay. The problem is too
many penalties. Well, you got a new coach, he's young,
got a new quarterback with this coach who's young.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
He's young. They make mistakes, but you can clean that up.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
You can't create a lousy run game and turn it
into a great run game by Thanksgiving. I can take
a team that has too many penalties and clean it
up by Thanksgiving. So I mean Chicago's won seven of eight.
It feels totally legit. Who's winning beautifully?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Buffalo? No, Denver, No.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I mean I see a young coach, I see a
young quarterback, they got a lot of I mean, they're
great in the fourth quarter. It feels very much like
Denver to me, does it not? Young quarterback, great play caller,
nice offensive weapons. I mean the Bears defense. They're getting
Jalen Johnson back is the cornerback. But even without him,
(07:22):
they take the ball away. So look at their division
for the Bears, who say, people say it's not sustainable.
The Vikings are lost offensively, Green Bay wins, but their
identity is funky. I'm not sure Matt Laflor wants to run,
but they can't, so they pass reluctantly.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
But it works in Detroit.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Again, Ben Johnson left that offense. Detroit's offense is not
the same they hired within the organization.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Not a fan of that. It doesn't look good.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So I mean Chicago and Caleb there's too many penalties,
they're flawed. But I mean, I here's what they do.
Tell me if this stuff is sustainable. They run the
ball as well as almost anybody in the league. They
don't turn it over yet they take it away from you.
And they're excellent playing from behind, which has always been
(08:16):
to have and have. Nott's line of demarcation can you
play leading, can you play trailing?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
So when you have a great run game.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
You can play with elite you can you can kill
the clock. The question is great run teams often this
was always the knock on Lamar Jackson. Do they play
well from behind those Chicago does? So I don't get
the is it sustainable? This league MUSHes everybody together. The
team that always wins close games is Philadelphia. Did you
(08:43):
think that was art last night? You thought that was
pretty Philadelphia only wins ugly, so I mean, I Ben Johnson.
The other thing they do they've eliminated the negative plays.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
We talked about that all off season.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Remember when Belichick talked about break what's the best part
about Brady? He had no negative plays with Tom? He
didn't say Tom's arm or size. Yeah, with Tom, we
had no negative plays. It was always second and four, second, three.
It was never second twenty two. So Chicago's eliminated the
worst thing they did last year, all the negative plays.
They don't do them. And I know this sounds very
(09:20):
remedial and simple. Here's what the Bears do really well.
They go forward. They moved the ball forward a lot,
and that's what Belichick said about Brady his favorite thing is, yeah,
we got rid of it quickly, but didn't take sacks,
we didn't have pre stat penalties. So Chicago's got some
things to clean up. But to me, when you say
(09:41):
it's not sustainable, they run it, they take it away,
they don't turn it over. A durable quarterback great in
the fourth quarter. What's not sustainable? Here's Caleb about another w.
Speaker 6 (09:51):
It doesn't matter when, it doesn't matter, how, it doesn't
matter who, it doesn't.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
We got the guys, we got the coaches.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
We live in the known, and so when our moment comes,
when their moment comes, whoever it is on the team
will make the play. And so, like I said, we
gotta we gotta get better throughout the game. But you know,
when it, when it comes down to it, we know
we're gonna make the plays at the right moment, at
the right time, and we're gonna, you know, we're gonna,
we're gonna, we're gonna go win the game.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I watched that game yesterday and my takeaway is Chicago
deserved to win. Chicago is better on third down, Chicago
dominated time of possession, Chicago's quarterback is more talented. Like
Minnesota doesn't know what they did, what they are. Had
they lost that game, you'd have felt like, man, they
gave one away.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Yesterday.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Chicago was the better team with the better identity, the
better quarterback, and right now a coach who I love
this about Ben Johnson. This is where he and Sean
McVay are similar. Everybody thinks McVeigh and Ben Johnson they're clever, Yeah,
but it fundamentally they're tough guys. They like to run
the ball and dominate time of possession and play clean football.
(10:59):
Ram don't make a lot of mistakes. Caleb doesn't throw
a lot of picks.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
That run game.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
First thing Ben Johnson did, guard center guard, not sexy
guard center guard.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Let's develop a run game. They did, they have and
it's sustainable. Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Seahawks Rams game was nuts, and mcvayzon it was just
absolutely nuts. The fact that Seattle was coming down to
win the game on a kick with four Sam Darnold
ugly picks, three of them really ugly, is remarkable. We'll
talk about that next.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app Hey.
Speaker 7 (11:44):
We're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day five
to seven pm Eastern.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
We never have enough time to get to everything we
want to get.
Speaker 8 (11:53):
To, and that's why we have a brand new podcast
called over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun
in our two hour show. Never get to everything, honestly,
because this guy is over promising things we never have
time for.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
Yeah, you blubber lia me.
Speaker 7 (12:07):
Well, you know what it's called over promise. You should
be good at it because you've been over promising women
for years.
Speaker 8 (12:11):
Well, it's a Cavino and Rich after show, and we
want you to be a part of it. We're gonna
be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk
life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing
about something or we didn't have enough time, it will
continue on our after show called over Promised.
Speaker 7 (12:25):
Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make
sure you check out over Promised and also Uncensored, by
the way, so maybe we'll go at it even.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
A little harder.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
It's gonna be the best after show podcast of all time.
Speaker 8 (12:35):
There you go, over promising, and remember you could see
it on YouTube, but definitely join us listen over promised
with Covino and Rich on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Well, I said Friday, I thought it was the game
of the year.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Two great coaches, really good rosters, all sorts of pass
rush and youth, the rams in one of the wild.
I want to give you a glimpse of Sean McVay
in the post game.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
It was.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
It was not an artistic masterpiece, but it was wildly entertaining.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Here's Sean after how about that.
Speaker 9 (13:17):
Never take for granted fighting away. Just being able to
be so resilient offensively. What a blessing offensively for us
to be able to learn from this and continue to grow.
But man, this group finding different ways to be able
to win. Can't say enough about it. Can't Kitchens get one?
Speaker 6 (13:36):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
He joins us live Sean McVay. I gotta tell you
I one of the things that jumped through the TV
screen was the energy. Mike and I said this last week.
I said this, John Snyder wanted to hire you. He
was looking for Sean McVay and he kind of found
you on defense. I do think your intensity, Actually it's
(13:58):
like a batond to your team. Your team plays with
your energy. I think Seattle plays with Mike's energy. What
jumped through the TV to me is the game had mistakes,
but you're on the sideline of that game. It didn't
feel like a lot of games I've seen this year.
It felt juiced, it felt energized. It to you, Yeah, well,
I'll tell you what. I love this group.
Speaker 10 (14:19):
They energized me, Colin, And I tell you, just the
way that these guys stay connected.
Speaker 11 (14:24):
It was a unique game.
Speaker 10 (14:25):
There wasn't a lot of possessions and plays that the
offense had, but our defense kept making them snap it
one more time, forcing turnovers, tightening up in the red area,
being good in crunch time situations, guys stepping up Ethan Evans,
you know.
Speaker 11 (14:39):
So we're finding different ways to win.
Speaker 10 (14:42):
We've had examples where we put it all together, and
then we've had examples where we have to be able
to play off of one another and ultimately come away
with more points than the other team.
Speaker 11 (14:49):
And that's a great football team.
Speaker 10 (14:51):
But I was fired up for our group, and I
just love the resolve of this team and the way
that they stay connected. Most importantly, and I was fired up.
My mom's gonna be yelling at me for the curse words.
I gotta be careful having a two year old around.
He repeats everything I say, so I gotta clean up
the language.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, those two year olds are like their parents. They
say everything you say. You're gonna hear it back later.
THEO no when you You guys have had success with
Darnold and Sam sometimes can play a little fast, a
little frenetic, and kach Schule has done that on your staff.
I thought a couple of times my interpretation was Sam
(15:27):
saw stuff late. He was just a beat late. Is
that scheme coverage? Pass rush? Why the success against Sam?
Because Sam had played mostly clean this year, but he
was late on stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
What do you credit that for?
Speaker 10 (15:42):
Yeah, well, I think Sam has done a great job,
and I totally agree how well he's played. I think
it's the epitome of Russian coverage playing together. And that's
why I always think stats are for losers because we
had zero sacks, but those four interceptions were such a
great combination of he gets sped up with Russian coverage,
you feel that pocket collapse. He has to deliver the
ball earlier than he wants. I mean, you look at
(16:04):
Punaford coming free that forces Darius Williams pick. We had
a bunch of examples on all four where it was
a combination of he's sped up or he's having to
accelerate his process of reading with his feet, and then
guys are in windows that maybe they shouldn't be because
he's not able to see it and play on the
time in rhythm that he wants. But it was a
great job by our group as a whole bringing it
(16:26):
to life. And I think you see on all four
of those interceptions, the consistent theme is there's a push
in the pocket, there's somebody flashing across his face, and
there's guys connected and in their spots on the back end.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, when you were in the second and third quarters,
you guys barely had the ball. When you would talk
to Stafford, was your sense, listen, let's just play clean,
Let's not give him any short fields here. They're athletic enough.
Or were you getting frustrated because I mean there was
a but an hour and a half period where you
didn't have the ball much. Is that cycle that period?
(17:00):
What what are you doing as a coach? Are you
like you're making defensive plays, I'm comfortable with it. Or
are you on the headset with matt and saying let's
try this, this, this. Are you staying on the game plan?
Speaker 10 (17:11):
Yeah, I'm with the defense during those things and then
we have dialogue. It was it was frustrating just when
you look at it from an offense advantage point, because
you know, you have the first four drives of the
game where you go right down, you end up, you know,
missing on a fourth and one, then we end up scoring,
you score again, and then our fourth drive represents a
three and out where we didn't do what we were
(17:31):
supposed to do.
Speaker 11 (17:32):
Then then the next time we touched that's with eight
minutes left in the second quarter.
Speaker 10 (17:36):
Then you come back midway through the third quarter and
you have a two play sequence where we turn it over.
So you've had five plays and what's probably real time
an hour and a half.
Speaker 11 (17:45):
Like you mentioned, it is frustrating.
Speaker 10 (17:47):
And it can get a little misleading when you go
back and you watch it. You know, the margin fair
slim against a great team like that. But our guy
stayed in the fight, and I thought Matthew did a
phenomenal job of being able to.
Speaker 11 (17:57):
Play the game. The way it needed to be played.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
He didn't.
Speaker 10 (18:00):
We weren't able to sustain drives and just you know,
the possession was how it was. He didn't have as
many opportunities, but he took care of the football, got
the ball where was supposed to go. They didn't take negatives.
We did some things pre staff that's uncharacteristic. But we'll
look forward to being able to clean this up. And
like I said in that locker room, it's a blessing
for us to be able to learn from it against
an excellent outfit like yesterday was.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Last seven games, twenty two touchdowns, no picks for Stafford.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Could I that's crazy? Could I argue?
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Could I argue facing your defense in practice, with its
mobility and flexibility and dexterity, that that actually benefits Matt
because he's not fasing a defense on the field that's
as good as practice. Does that help in your opinion?
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 10 (18:46):
I think I think it helps him, you know, when
we do do the few plays a week. But I
think he's just playing really well. I think the guys
around him are playing well. I think he's really understanding
how to be able to play like this is where
you see the seventeen years of experience and understand and
you know, where are those spots that I can be
more aggressive? Where can I be smart with the football?
I think guys have played well around him, and you
(19:06):
know the best part is is he's so grateful to
be able to get the win.
Speaker 11 (19:10):
And I thought he did really what he could relative
to how the game unfolded.
Speaker 10 (19:14):
There was a couple bad plays that I had on
g on some second down and tense situations that I
didn't help us. But he's just doing a great job
of understanding the totality of how the game's supposed to
be played, you know, through the quarterback, but from a
coach's vantage point. And it's still as aggressive, but it's
not reckless.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
I want to ask you before we go. You're very progressive.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
You very much follow the analytics, but there are moments
in games where I I do I always call it
ma analytics, where I just I just want to see
men make plays. I'm not going by the book. I
trust my team. How I want you viewed as one
of the smarter guys in this sport. With analytics, are
there ever times that you literally get on the headside
(19:55):
of you talk to Matt, and you're like, yeah, I'm
just going.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
To do this.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
I just feel this. How do you weigh analytics one
hundred percent?
Speaker 10 (20:03):
I Well, here's the thing that I would say, I
have tremendous respect for taking all these things in for
the input, but in a lot of instances they got
all the answers and no accountability to the outcomes, you know.
And so I do think there's a feel for the
flow of the game. There's twenty two moving parts that
are unpredictable. And it's not just these decisions aren't made
in a box, but you're betting on people, You're betting
(20:24):
on different scenarios, situations. What are the matchups based on
what you're projecting stematically, you know, and so all those
things way into it. But I thought our fourth down
conversions offensively were key and critical that led to scoring drives,
whether it's our first touchdown from two yards out from Kiren,
whether it ended up being a fourth and one run
where he goes for thirty four and then we end
(20:44):
up hitting Devonte two plays later. So guys have done
a good job. But it's a part of it. It's
not the only part of it, uh, Because I just
think this game has so many moving parts with twenty
two variables every single snap.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Who's your leader on defense? It's young. Who's your leader?
Speaker 11 (21:00):
Well, we've got great leaders across the board.
Speaker 10 (21:02):
I think what's cool is we've got captains on all
three levels, where Kobe Turner, Nate.
Speaker 11 (21:06):
Landman, and then Quinton Lake. You know, they've done a
great job.
Speaker 10 (21:10):
I think in you know, innately, some of these guys
that are thrust into a leadership role with the communication.
Landman's such a great communicator, Quinton Lake's been outstanding. But
those three captains, but I could name some other guys
that stepped up in a big way. I think the
cool thing is we got a bunch of guys that
have leadership capacity. Those were the guys that were voted
all with captains, but there's a lot of guys. You know,
(21:30):
you don't have to be a captain to be a leader,
and I think you know, our team's got a.
Speaker 11 (21:34):
Lot of guys with those natural traits and characteristics.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
All right, eight and two, you're humming. You are humming.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
I would say, get some good rest, but that's not you.
It's the football season. Four hours of four hours a
day max. Probably it's great seeing.
Speaker 11 (21:48):
You, hey, goodness seeing to appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
We don't want to waste any time here. We do
it every Monday.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong, and Leeds
strip it where Colin was right. Well, I picked Denver
to win the AFC West. I said Kansas City would
be good, but a wildcard team. And you know, I
love bon Knicks, and I thought yesterday, especially on that
last drive, boon Knicks looked like the veteran quarterback. I
(22:16):
just think Denver's got a better roster right now. I
didn't think that two years ago. But Chris Jones is
not playing at the level he was a couple of
years ago.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
So I was right on that. I didn't think it
was a.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Controversial take when I said Denver's going to win this
division and Kansas City will finish second.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
But I've been higher on the Chiefs than almost everybody
else at this network because Andy and Brett Veach and
Patrick Mahomes, the three teams they're battling for a wild
card spot have all beaten them, the Chargers, the Jags,
and the Bills, and they're all in five and one
score games. And I just don't think their defense feels
is intimidating, and I think Patrick Mahomes is still remarkable.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
That's not a very good pick.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
And I think in the last couple years it feels
like Josh Allen's more dynamic. So I've been a little
higher on Kansas City, maybe because I've seen them turn
it around and had sluggish two or three game spots,
But I don't think they're in.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
A good spot right now where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
I said week one, I said Ben Johnson's the right coach.
You can talk about Caleb, but what I see from
Ben Johnson, I see what I saw in Detroit. He's
going to clean it up. The Bears are five and
one in one score games. And I don't think what
I said as a revelation, but it became very crystal
clear by week two, three and four that the identity
(23:39):
of the team was not going to beat Caleb.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
It was going to be Ben.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Johnson, precision, a run game, and an interior old line
that they bought in the offseason. I've also always said
young quarterbacks are better with young offensive coaches. Once again,
Lafleur with Jordan Love helped McVay with a young golf
(24:03):
help Ben Johnson with Caleb has become.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Crucial where Colin was wrong. Maybe I'm a little tough
on brock party.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I thought he was great yesterday, having not played for
a couple of months. He and George Kittle are money
together when they connect. Kittle and brock Purty have a
one forty one career passer rating yesterday, three touchdowns accurate.
They're able to move the pocket, good in the red zone. Listen,
(24:33):
he adds mobility. I'm kind of tough on him, but
I thought yesterday he kind of blew me.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Away where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
The one quarterback in the twenty twenty four class I
was skeptical of with JJ McCarthy and I kept saying,
what's the wow trade, folks. He's got a sixty two
passer rating that's the worst of any starter in the league,
and Justin Jefferson is disappearing slowly and his body language
is telling you he's not taken it well. I just
think trust your eyes. Does a quarterback feel a little
(25:04):
overwhelmed his body language, his feet. I think he's got
a good enough arm. I think he moves well enough,
but his misses are confidence misses and I think that
tells you right now, he's not sure of JJ McCarthy,
and he was the one quarterback I just didn't get.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
And so far, I'm right where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I didn't think Brent Venables was the best pick in Oklahoma,
and I didn't think Oklahoma would be that great in
the SEC.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I was wrong on both counts.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
They have allowed the fewest points in the SEC. It's
the mess defense in the conference. Venables has created an identity.
He went and found a great quarterback. But I mean
they've beaten Bama back to back years and were the
better team and forced them into uncharacteristic mistakes.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
So you know what.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I thought Texas would be the better of the two
Big twelve teams going to the SEC. But I don't
know what Texas's identity is. I know what Oklahoma's is.
They are physical, they are tough. They got a little
bit of a Georgia field to him. And I was
wrong where Colin was right. I did not like Detroit
when Ben Johnson left, hiring somebody in the building. Make
(26:20):
it a global search. Well, the Lions defense. In three
of Detroit's losses, they've scored thirteen seventeen and nine points.
I'm sorry with that offensive line and those backs and
those receivers, that's not good enough. They're down in third
down percentage, rushing, passing yards per play. They're not even
good on fourth down right now. I think when you
(26:43):
lose an elite coach or a coordinator, don't just look
inside the building. You gotta go open your eyes up
to every candidate in the country.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
I think I was right on that with Detroit, where
Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
I had said multiple times this year I had heard
that Ryan Kelly just didn't want to grind anymore, and
he may have taken that LSU job for the money.
What do you know, Bruce Feldman reporting he cashed out,
spent more time golfing than around the building. I had
two people tell me in the last calendar year that
(27:17):
you know what it happens, You get into your sixties
and you kind of lose the drive, and he didn't
really have it. That was an opportunity to make some money.
He's been a great coach. I don't necessarily hold it
against him. I hope it doesn't happen to me. But
what I had heard from two people I trust turned
out to be true, and Bruce Feldman's reporting doubled down
(27:40):
on that Colin Wright, Colin Wrong.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern, not a Empacific.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
And with that, Matt Hasselbeck every Monday eighteen years in
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
So it's funny, look at you.
Speaker 12 (27:53):
You're in Chicago now, just cash and checks, not doing
the grind.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Cash and checks so I can buy another Winner coat,
is what I'm doing with my money.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
So end boots and boots. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
So Kansas City's five and five, and you can really
go two ways on it. But the one thing that
jumps out to me, Matt is when Chris Jones a
couple of years ago had an Aaron Donald field, where
like they just moved him around the line and you
couldn't block him. He's not that now, And I don't
think the defense fields as fast or as intimidating. I
wish I could be more positive, but I don't love
(28:30):
what I see.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
I felt at the end of that game. I'm like,
I thought.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Denver was controlling Kansas City, they were controlling the clock,
they had better weapons. That's what it felt like to me.
What say you, Well, it was a great game.
Speaker 12 (28:43):
The game could have gone either way, and I feel
like that was their season last year. They just won
all those close games last year. You know, that's really
what happened. Early in the year. They just said, oh,
they don't have their wide receivers and that's the problem.
But I think if you really look at it, I
think turnover margin is a thing. You mentioned Chris Jones
and what he used to be just wreaking havoc up
front that created turnovers for their defense.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
So turnover margins a thing.
Speaker 12 (29:05):
But I think if I were to point to one thing,
everyone else has just gotten better. Like the Denver Broncos
are way better. Bo Nix is better than what the
Chiefs used to have to go up against. And I
think that's the thing. No different this Weeklex Listen, do
you believe in the Chiefs come?
Speaker 4 (29:19):
Are they a playoff team? Yeah? Probably a playoff team.
Do you believe in them? Can they go on the road? Yeah?
Speaker 12 (29:24):
But like now they're going to They got the Colts
this week. They got the Colts this week. Colts are better,
Like everyone's better. So just doing what you've always done
isn't gonna work for Kansas City. They got to find
ways to win these close games against better competition.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Now, you know Caleb and bo Nicks. I said this
last week. They're durable, They're inconsistent, they're uneven, but both
feel pretty confident late. It's almost like Bo is hard
on himself and it's kind of tough on himself and
comes in a little anxious and lightens up as the
game goes.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
What did you make of his last drive? Was it
a play calling drive to you or a quarterback drive?
Speaker 4 (30:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 12 (30:00):
No, it was a quarterback drive, and it was a
quarterback play that won the game. I don't see those
two quarterbacks similarly. I think bo Nicks is more in
that Drake may category. I know people are hard on him.
I see things critiquing him. I don't see it. Bonnicks
is a baller, He's a sure thing. He is absolutely
their franchise quarterback now and for the future.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
No doubt.
Speaker 12 (30:19):
The corner route I think that you're showing there right
now that is not open. He is completely covered. It
was a what quarterbacks calling us or nobody throw. We
either catch it or nobody catches it. The ball's not
in harm's way, and that sealed the game. It was
kind of a Mahomes esque type play. You go above
the exes and o's it's a great call by spags
in the Kansas City Chiefs, it's great coverage by the defense.
(30:40):
It's a better throw in defensive backs. They'll say it
in their meeting rooms also, they'll say, you know what,
there's no defense, there's no coverage for a perfect throw.
We did what we could do. The quarterback just beat
us there. You got to tip your cap to them.
And that's what bo Knicks did, and like you mentioned,
it's in clutch, critical moments that he's doing it. I'm
a believer of Bonnicks, have been and continue to be.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
So Listen, Ram Seahawks Andrew Luck had a quality that
I loved. He could throw back to back terrible picks
and he didn't care. He had a short memory. Sam's
got a little bit of that where you're like, Sam
doesn't care. Sam's a playmaker and he's just gonna let
it rip. I thought yesterday he saw things late. When
I watched it, I'm like, oh, he's just not crisp.
(31:24):
Did you ever get into those games where you weren't
seeing it? You have a pick, but your team needs
you and talk about the psychology. You have a bad Sunday,
but yet that last drive, you can't pout the balls
at the one you got to drive and get a
field goal. Have you been in games like that?
Speaker 5 (31:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (31:43):
It was an interesting one.
Speaker 12 (31:44):
I just you know, he's a great player AND's had
a great year. He had a terrible game, and you know,
if he just throws three interceptions instead of four, they
probably win the game.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
But four interceptions cost them.
Speaker 12 (31:52):
The opportunity and the best pun I've ever.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Seen in my life by the Rams. That was another thing.
Speaker 12 (31:56):
But I think for me, what I see in him
that I have is that you're so spe sped up.
You know, Jared Vers and the pass rush, it was
pretty legit, and he was sped up, and then his
elbow was down low and then he's balls are getting
tipped that normally wouldn't get tipped, and he was just
a little bit rushed. It was quick to get to
his checkdown because one, two, three aren't open. I'm get
getting to number four, Well guess what was number four open?
(32:19):
Like that, you need to actually make that decision too,
But you're so sped up because the defense is doing
such a good job with their pass rush. And that,
and that's what I think happened. I also think that
that's a team. Seattle's a team that's going to learn
from this game. And you know a lot of times,
a lot of those negative negative Sam Darnold plays from
the game yesterday. We're on like third and three and
third and three. If you're going to say we're going
(32:41):
to be a running team, like in the defense, the
Rams are playing dime defense at times. You got to
be able to just run the ball on third and three.
That's the whole point of getting into third and manageables.
So the defense has to defend the pass and the
run and not like third and seven to ten stuff
like that.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
So they'll I think they'll learn from this.
Speaker 12 (32:57):
I would chalk this up as the first game of
probably three that the Seattle Seahawks and the Rams play
this year, and I think all the games will be
kind of like this one.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
So it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
I always look for a team to have an identity,
and I actually think Chicago's identity is Ben Johnson in
the run game. But we pay a lot of attention
to Caleb. But I think when they got Drew Dolman,
Joe Toney, Jonah Jackson, Ben tipped his hand.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
We want to run the ball. I want to make
it easier for my young quarterback.
Speaker 6 (33:26):
You know.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Again, Caleb had moments, had plays he does. I mean,
he throws that ball. He has one hundred mile an
hour fastball. But I kind of see their identity they make.
They're not a great defense, but it's a playmaking defense
and it's a run team.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
That's how I view them. How do you view the Bears.
Speaker 12 (33:44):
I think they're a team that's overachieving with a great
head coach. I mean they are seven and three right
now and like to think about who they were last
year and who they are this year. Ben Johnson, Ryan
Paul has done a great job building this thing. Caleb
is a young player learning on the fly. As he's learning,
they're winning. He's morphing into Ben Johnson's kind of quarterback.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Is he there?
Speaker 7 (34:05):
No?
Speaker 12 (34:05):
I don't think he is. He's really not. But they
seem to find ways to win. Whether it's a two
minute drive by Caleb doing a great job in two minute,
our special teams save in the day yesterday and given
that basically winning the game for them.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
Other times it's been defense stepping up. So this is
Ben Johnson.
Speaker 12 (34:21):
I think the big fear with him was that he
was a great play caller, and he was cute and
fun with his trick plays, But was he going to
be a culture setter? Was he going to bring in
like a new DNA into that organization? And that's what
happens with DNA culture center type coaches. You set a
standard and an expectation for the details and the discipline
that are going to happen in your organization every single day.
(34:43):
And and like, quite honestly, you saw teams lose games
because they didn't have detail, they didn't have the discipline,
they were selfish. And I think the Bears have like
kicked that out the door with Ben Johnson. He's a
great leader, he's a great play caller, he's a great
developer of a young quarterback. I think they're ascending. Do
I think this is their year without After I say
all that, No, they haven't really beat anybody, but the
(35:05):
schedules getting tougher here we'll find out who they really are.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
So it's hard to me.
Speaker 1 (35:11):
I think one of the hardest things to do as
a coach is create an identity and then when you
have it, maintain it. You can lose it. You can
lose a star player free agency, injuries. I don't know
what Philadelphia's identity was last year. It was Saquon big plays,
everybody fearful, they don't run the ball, a lot of
receiver drama. I almost think the I almost think the
(35:36):
identity is their two defensive interior lignemen, where they just
any big fourth down play, they're unblockable. Can you win
super Bowls when offensively? I kind of feel like series
Ian Good God, they're like second most three and outs
in the league.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Is that a super Bowl level team to you?
Speaker 6 (35:56):
They are?
Speaker 12 (35:57):
They are a super Bowl level team if they start
playing their best football late in the year, you know,
after Thanksgiving they got to get hot.
Speaker 4 (36:04):
They have all the ingredients.
Speaker 12 (36:05):
And who else If it's not them, who is it?
You know, and they can compete with anybody because of
what you said, their defensive line and you know, the
havoc that they reak on a passing game, like I
was saying with Sam Darnold was sped up. Jared Goff
was way too sped up. And there's not much you
can do. I mean, he doesn't have the athleticism that
a Caleb Williams has so he has to throw kind
of on time, and there were guys open, but he
(36:27):
couldn't get the ball to them because of the pass protection.
And then if you short set defensive line, that's really good.
They know just to get their hands up and bat
balls and all that kind of stuff. So I think
the danger for Philly right now is that they did
an obvious job of trying to force it to AJ
Brown yesterday, and I think it was pretty good results.
But I just think you got to be careful, Like,
(36:49):
I know you lost your right tackle yesterday, but it's
about Saquon, it's about explosive runs, and it's about letting
the AJ Brown plays kind of come to you. I
thought they were about fifty to fifty there. Now fans
might push back on me and be like, hey, good
stuff happens when we throw it to AJ and I
probably would agree. You might even get some defensive pass
interference flags that aren't really you know, they're a little questionable.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
We'll leave it at that.
Speaker 12 (37:13):
So but I just think the identity of who they
are that needs to stay to the x's and o's
and not get like the distractions of front office conversations
and we're going to force it to AJ and like,
that's just that's not what great culture and great teams do.
And I do think they have been a team with
great culture and and a winning culture and like putting
(37:33):
the team first. So that would be just my fear
that they it's a slippery slope with them, and I
think they're they're doing just an okay job right now.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
Listen, there's two old quarterbacks that are still on any
Sunday playing pretty high level football, Stafford and Aaron Rodgers.
Aaron now has a risk injury if you can avoid surgery,
go back to the end of your career when you know,
I always say young players heal faster older players.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
You know, it's like the NBA.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
If I wears two knee braces, attack him, he can't
defend anybody. Now you're eron and you're older, and you
ever risked injury. Does it change the way he plays?
Speaker 3 (38:09):
Do you think?
Speaker 12 (38:10):
Well, yeah, Listen, I dealt with his exact same thing.
And when you break a wrist or a hand, a
bone in your hand, you immediately go to a hand specialist.
It's kind of like it looks like it's just a
whole different world. In there, and so you know two scenarios.
I think either has to have surgery or he doesn't.
If he doesn't, then he's wearing a cast. And you
know my experience when Pete Carroll was in Seattle, I
(38:30):
was the quarterback.
Speaker 4 (38:31):
I broke my wrist.
Speaker 12 (38:32):
I wore a cast all week, never took a snap
in practice, and then for the games, we would cut
the cast off and I would wear a splint or
a brace.
Speaker 4 (38:39):
Can you do it? Yeah? Is it very painful? Yeah,
it's very painful.
Speaker 12 (38:42):
What you do is you hand the ball off with
your right hand for all handoffs to the right or
to the left. Marshaun Lynch was my running back, and
in fact, if I remember correctly, I think Marshaun said, hey,
my quarterback in college at Cal Aaron Rodgers, he did
something like this to his left hand and he handed
all the balls off to me with his right hand,
and you should do that too, And that's what we
(39:02):
did that season. I did exactly what I just said.
You know the beast Quake game. That was hand the
ball off righty and lefty. So if he avoids surgery,
I think he could still play. It's not necessarily a
ball security thing. It's more about protecting himself as he
goes to the ground, and then maybe taking snaps under
center might be difficult, depending but I think it's doable.
I've done it, and apparently, according to Marshawn Lynch, Aaron
(39:26):
Rodgers has already done it when he was a cow
So I think if you're a Steelers fan, you're hoping
that he doesn't need surgery and it's something that he
can just cast up and play through well.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Cowboys Raiders tonight, Matt Hassel because always delivers great Senior
Budden
Speaker 4 (39:40):
All right, Seekoll
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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