January 23, 2026 • 36 mins
Colin Cowherd discusses the NFC Championship game between the Rams and the Seahawks and why Matthew Stafford is on the verge of entering rarified air among the all-time great QBs in NFL history.
He ranks his top 10 players in the NFC Championship Game and defends Seahawks QB Sam Darnold as a top 5 player.
Plus, 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady joins the show to tell Colin what he sees in Patriots QB Drake Maye and previewing both the AFC & NFC Championship Games.
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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 Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Here we go. It is a fride day. What a
weekend plan? Patriots, Broncos, Rams, Seahawk redefining careers live in Chicago. Yeah,
it's a little frigid. It's the Herd wherever you may be,
however you may be watching or listening. Thanks for making
(00:50):
us part of your day. I don't know if everybody
quite realizes how big a weekend it is for Matt
staff Let me read you a stat real quick history
of the NFL history. One quarterback ever. This was in
Week sixteen against Seattle. Four hundred passing yards, three touchdown passes,
(01:13):
no picks against the team that finished with the NFL's
number one scoring defense. That was Stafford week sixteen. Never
been done. And I've said, if he wins another Super Bowl,
I will put him one spot ahead of Aaron Rodgers
all time, and that sounds kooky. I think Aaron Rodgers
eleventh or twelfth best quarterback ever. I would insert Stafford
(01:33):
one spot ahead. There are no great movies with choppy endings.
Go look at the last five years between the two.
Stafford has been on a heater seven to two in
the playoffs, multiple Pro Bowls, probably wins the MVP, more
touchdowns than Aaron, higher passer rating, easily the better quarterback.
(01:54):
But bigger than any stat is this. Aaron in his
prime in well run Green Bay only had one great
playoff run. One in his prime, he was one in
Feign Conference championships. Stafford late prime to out of his
prime in just five years, is on his second. There's
(02:17):
no other way to put it. Stafford was born into
a dysfunctional family in Detroit. The minute he was adopted
by the La Rams, he has been significantly the better quarterback.
All he needed was grown ups in the building. Add
this too, which feels very lway Brady and mahomes Matt Stafford.
(02:37):
Of his seven career playoff wins, five he's had game
winning drives in a very short period of time. How
many would he had if he had twelve good years.
Aaron in that huge window in Green Bay didn't even
have three, only had two game winning drives. What define
(03:01):
l Way and Mahomes not just the trophies and Stafford
this is another thing. His passer rating, his completion percentage,
his yards per game, his touchdown to interception ratio go
up in the playoffs, again, very Mahomes and Brady, Aaron's
(03:23):
actually go down. So Stafford in the biggest games against
the best competition, is actually better. Aaron is slightly worse.
That's something. This is what you got during the Lway
Marino debates. For a long time people said, oh Marino,
(03:48):
that release, because Marino, like Aaron, was prettier. The esthetic
was more jarring and amazing. But in the end, that
last three or four years for Lay separated the two.
You're getting that Aaron's always been the prettier quarterback. The
way he throws, connection to Hollywood kind of cool. Just
(04:11):
listen to how thinking of Aaron and Stafford. Just listen
to how McVeigh describes matt Stafford. This is instructive.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I think any great leader that I've ever been around,
and Matthew is a perfect illustration of that. There's extreme
ownership and there's accountability. That's what guys love about Matthew.
I mean, you'll never see a guy when you look
at the way Matthew handles himself that you know, isn't
an excuse maker. You know, I've heard it said before.
I think excuses are tools of the incompetant, and and
Matthew is the furthest thing from that. He's got great ownership.
(04:44):
And I think that's why people want to follow him
is because of the way that he handles, you know,
stays humble and the you know, the great moments which
he's here, has had a handful of those, and then
in the moments that we can be better, he owns
it and now we can move on. And he's a
freaking stud.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah, dozen point fingers takes ownership, always accountable. I'm gonna
put Stafford with a Super Bowl one slought ahead Air,
one slot ahead of Aeron, and I think Aaron's top twelve. Ever,
that's how big of a weekend it is for Matt Stafford.
All Right, Brian Daball, it's gonna interview with the Buffalo Bills.
(05:22):
Philip Rivers is also interviewing. He's not gonna get the job,
but it's kind of an interesting interview. I want to
go back because we don't we don't tend to talk
about who got hired last year in the coaching cycle.
So if you go back one year in the coaching cycle,
Vrabel was an automatic. We all knew he was going
(05:44):
to be great, faster maybe than you predicted, but we
knew it was a big hit. We also knew Ben
Johnson had been the smartest, most clever coordinator in the
NFL for several years, had several We thought that was
going to work too, and we knew kind of all
of us, even people in Dallas knew. Brian Schottenheimer. That's
(06:07):
a pretty weak swing. So three of seven and he
kind of felt like, you Vrabel and Ben Johnson are
going to work. Schottenheimer. But when you went to Liam Cohen,
Kellen Moore, Aaron Glenn, I don't know, Pete Carroll I
thought would stabilize the Raiders. That was a mess. But
in a lot of the young guys, he didn't really know.
And I think that is where Brian Dabele is. I
(06:31):
don't know the best part about him. It's an offensive League,
and he's an offensive coach, and he's worked with Josh Allen.
The worst part he was twenty forty and one with
the Giants and it ended ugly. So very few of
these coaches, all these interviews are blue chip stocks. That's
John Harbaugh that will work with the Giants. That's my prediction.
(06:52):
Vrabel A Harbaugh, Jim or John Sean Pate blue chip stocks.
The rest of them, including Brian Dable, who I like.
It's like venture capitalism. There's a lot of promise, there's
a lot of hope you need restructuring a new leadership.
But it should be noted all those smart people with
all that money venture capitalists, their hit rate is twenty percent,
(07:17):
and the hit rate on coaches not named Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Vrable,
the hit rate is closer to twenty percent than seventy
five percent. I don't know what he's going to be.
I know what he's inheriting, new stadium, stable ownership, better
revenue going forward, great left tackle, running back, superstar quarterback,
(07:41):
great tight ends, Decent defense, not special. Eric Mangini considers
Dable a friend, knows him well. Thoughts on Dable landing
with Josh Allen.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Brian is the ultimate Buffalo guy. He grew up in Buffalo.
He had literally work for the Buffalo Tourism Bureau because
he loves Buffalo so much. So from that perspective, yeah,
it's a great fits. He's got a really good relationship
with the most important player on the team and a
lot of respect from it, and in my mind, did
(08:13):
a significant amount to help develop him from our fairly
raw talent in college to a much more polished talent.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Yeah, Tom Brady, one hour from now, I do feel
strongly going into these weekends games, and I will have
one hour from now. We're gonna list we did yesterday
in the AFC the ten best players in the Seahawks Rams.
And I'm not kidding you. You get to like nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.
(08:43):
It's like guys who could make Pro Bowls. There is
so much talent in the Seattle Rams game. I think
the winner of the NFC wins the Super Bowl, regardless
of who they play. I do feel strongly this morning
that New England is the side, and I feel less
strong but with some conviction the Rams are the better bet.
(09:05):
So when I list those top ten players. It's interesting,
it's very evenly split where the players land. I think
it's going to be one. It's on Fox, it's going
to be one for the Ages, completely stacked defenses. I
said this earlier in the week. If you took the Seahawks,
Rams and made a Pro Bowl team just on the
Seahawks and Rams, it could compete with the rest of
(09:27):
the league. The offensive line would be the weakness. Defensively,
wide receivers, tight ends, backs, quarterbacks, coaches McVeigh, coaches, Mike
McDonald's the DC.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
I mean it is.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
You just do not get this level of talent going
up against each other very much. And j Mac, you
will have your picks coming up in the final hour
of the show. But I do think in the Rams Seahawks,
we would acknowledge now they're not a draft away. This
(10:02):
is as good maybe as the Rams will be because
it's Matt Stafford potential last year is as good as
the Rams are going to be potentially for the next
several years. They're probably not in a draft going to
find the next Matt Stafford. Maybe they do. I doubt
it's certainly not an older, experienced guy. And I think
Seattle's very very good. I think their window. I think
Seattle this year, next year, the next year. They have
drafted so well. I think the runway for Seattle to
(10:24):
be good. I think Darnold's only twenty eight. I think
Seattle's going to be very good for minimum three years,
could be longer. I think it feels like there's urgency
with the Rams because remember last year with Matt Stafford,
we didn't know if he was coming back, and then
he didn't really practice before the season because of a
bad back. So if you're asking me who does the
(10:46):
game mean more for, I would say this may be
the best Rams team for a long period. Interesting, there
is another Stafford on the market they can go buy.
Keep an eye on c. J. Stroud.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
I'll just plant that out there now with his Houston
situation and his agent specifically. But I will say Seattle
amazing team. They've been outstanding all season. Colin, you know,
things kind of broke their way. Michael Parsons gets injured
for the Packers. That's a huge swing. The forty nine
ers entire roster decimated. Some things did kind of break
their way for Seattle. I don't know you if you
(11:23):
think Sam Darnold's in the class of Perty and Love
and Jalen Hurts and all these guys then, and sure
they're going to be sticking around for a while.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
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Speaker 1 (11:39):
Hey is Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Now.
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Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yep, that's right.
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You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube
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Speaker 1 (12:08):
Coming away Seattle and the Rams about week seven eight
nine felt like they were just you know, Philadelphia was
good but couldn't get their offense together. You know, there
were good teams, green Bay was good, but you know,
people were complaining they're not they're running games not substantial
and then they make you know, and the Mica thing,
he gets hurt and you're like, Okay, that's not gonna work.
(12:30):
And San Francisco was good offensively, but defensively lose Fred Warner.
They don't have Bosa. So if you really go back
to like week seven, eight, nine, ten, it kind of
felt And then the Rams at the end of the
year didn't quite feel like they were buttoned up. And
then last weekend they go out, they don't have a
drop pass, a penalty or a turnover against Chicago and
(12:50):
literally had to play perfect to win. So you know,
over the course of a journey, what we have is
I think the two most consistent for the most weeks
during the regular season. See Rams with the best teams
in the NFC didn't have huge holes. Rams special teams
are dubious about every third game it costs them something.
Secondary is not great New England. I think their personnels
(13:12):
better than everybody else thinks. I think their secondary is fantastic.
Their coaching's fantastic. And Drake may May be that guy. Maybe,
you know, we start talking about quarterback play. If Drake
may gets to a Super Bowl and wins it, he's
a top five quarterback, is he not? I mean that's
what Mahomes does That's what the great ones do. They
get to the Super Bowls early and they win them early.
That's very very rare. So as I'm prone to do
(13:35):
when I get five or six times a year, you
get into these massive games, I get at the out
the yellow pad and I rank the top ten players,
and generally the team that has the most top ten
players feels like the team that wins the game. And
here we go with the NFC Championship. Number ten, number ten,
Pooniford Poona Ford Rams. He was a Charger and he
(13:56):
was a really good player. He's been sensational. In fact,
he's the Ram's highest gradded defensive player, right next to
Kobe Turner in that interior D line. Just an incredibly
impactful offseason move. And listen, it's hard to run on
the Rams, and one of the reasons is Poona Ford.
(14:16):
He's at ten, number nine. Kevin Dotson, second highest gridded
guard in the league, top ten run blocker. They stole
him from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was not reportedly going to start him.
He has been sensational for the Rams since he arrived.
So the Rams guards, to me, is the best guard
(14:38):
combination in the NFL and Kevin Dotson is outstanding. Number
eight Jared Verse. People think he's having a down year.
He leads the NFL and quarterback hits. He ranks top
five and pressures including the playoffs. The reality is he's disruptive,
and Sean mcvayh talked about that. In this league, you're
(15:00):
often judged simply on sacks, but pressures and hits. Jared
Verse is elite. He's number eight. Number seven Kyen Williams
had a fumbling issue well, fourteen straight games without one
fourth highest graded running back in the league. I think
they'd like to play Blake coram Moore. It's hard to
(15:21):
get him on the field. Top five in rush yards, scrimmage, touchdowns,
just really good. He's great at getting the extra yard
to yard and a half. He is just fantastic. You
stop him at three, he gets four. He's eliminated the
fumble issue. You can tell that McVeigh. Even with Stafford
and Puka and Davonte McVeigh, he gets into some zone.
(15:45):
Sometimes he can take over games with Kyron Williams. Number
six Kenneth Walker, highest graded running back in the league,
and they don't have the old line. The Rams do
one hundred and thirty plus scrimmage yards in three of
his last four games. I remember at Michigan State he
was very good after contact, really hard to bring down
(16:09):
on the opening shot. Clever can change directions. You get
some speed, you absolutely get some power. He has been
a great draft pick by the Seahawks Kenneth Walker at
number six, Number five. Sam Donald ranked fourth in the
league in big time throws. Only quarterback in league history
(16:29):
with fourteen plus wins and four thousand passing yards in
back to back years. And he did it with two
different teams. He did it with more experienced Minnesota and
very young Seattle. Listen he has he can be reckless.
You know, I loved Andrew luck Stafford can be two.
But man, Sam Donald wins a lot of games and
(16:54):
is super productive. He's in at number five, Number four.
Devin Witherspoon, cornerback Seattle, not allowed a touchdown in coverage
since Week four. The highest graded cornerback. I remember when
he came out of Illinois, and I remember reading a
(17:14):
draft preview and they're like, oh, like he's he's physical,
like a linebacker or a safety. You're getting a really physical,
aggressive corner. He was a first round pick a. He
is the best corner in this game. There's an argument
the best corner in this league. He just is great
and keeps getting better. Number three JSN Jackson Smith and
(17:39):
jigbuck led the NFL in receiving yards in his first
season as number one. Second highest gridded wide receiver. Remarkable hands, runs,
great routes unlike DK Metcalf the route tree does it all,
never drops passes, very elusive, very clever. Does he have
(18:00):
great speed?
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Now? I know?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Is he makes really good corners get crossed up. He
is just a sensational NFL player. Number two Matt Stafford,
highest guidded quarterback, can be a bit reckless on a
seven and two career playoff record with the Rams with
five come from behind playoff wins. He plays bigger and
big moments. Now he's got Davonte Adams and Pooka in
(18:25):
a good run game, but he led the NFL in
passing yards. He is my MVP. The no look passes.
You know he's not super mobile, and you'd prefer he
has more mobiley. I don't know if he had. I
don't think he had a rushing first down this year.
That's kind of the flaw and he could be a
bit reckless. He's at two number one PUKA, highest receiving
(18:49):
yards per game in league history, averages ninety five, highest
gridded player in the entire league this year, led the
NFL in targets this year and receiving yards six touchdowns
over his last five games. I think he has the
strongest hands I've ever seen on any receiver. He can
get dinged up from time to time, but I mean
(19:09):
when he has the ball, you're not getting it. Incredibly
strong player, almost no body fat like, just does everything well.
The routes yards after the catch, incredibly strong hands can
beat you deep lethal underneath. So the top two players
are Rams three through six. Of the Seahawks seven through
(19:33):
ten are the Rams. Number eleven. I have Kobe Turner
for the Rams, twelve, thirteen, fourteen to fifteen all Seahawks,
so pretty evenly split on the best players there there.
When I look at this, I could have gone fifteen easily,
and it would have been about eight seven Rams. That's
(19:53):
what it kind of fell. Eight seven Seahawks, eight seven Rams.
Kobe Turner was number eleven. I think I had Leonard
will You number twelve and a bunch of Seahawks, but
I think it's interesting. The one you all want to
push back on, of course, is Sam Darnold at number five.
Everybody abouts to push back on that. Greg Hosel talked
this week about Seattle's balanced attack.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
Walker's been much better.
Speaker 8 (20:18):
Walker has been attacking downhill much more so over the
last three four games, and that has allowed them to
stay on schedule. And it's also with their defense allowed
Donald not to have to throw that many balls. Now,
whether that happens in this game, that's hard to know.
You don't know how it's going to play out. But
in an ideal world, I don't think they want Sam
Donald dropping back thirty five times. I think they wanted
(20:40):
to be a very balanced offense and have their defense
in some ways control the paying tempo of the game.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah, Seattle's defense statistically better, Seattle's special teams better. You know,
the offense for the Rams was number one in the league.
I don't think that's a shot at Donald. There's very
few quarterback Tom Brady can throw forty times, Mahomes could
throw forty times. I mean, even last week with Josh
Allen having to carry the offense turnover prone, I don't
(21:07):
want my quarterbacks throwing a lot. I don't. I think
Mahomes Brady are very rare. Aaron Rodgers in his prime,
very very rare. That I'm you know, Aaron Mahomes Brady
didn't throw a lot of picks. You start asking guys
to throw forty forty two forty three times, that means
the run game's not very supportive. You're throwing a lot
of times on third and six and seven, not a
(21:28):
space I think is good for most quarterbacks. Slinging Sammy
d two and a half point favorite at home, third
time he's faced the Rams this year.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Tom Brady around the Corner. One more Herd. The Herd
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Speaker 1 (21:51):
You know, Scattle is one of those teams that they
smell blood, and you get this a lot of times
when you get a kind of a young athletic team.
Young teams tend to play with a lot of emotion
and they can get down on themselves. They can get
a little reckless at times when you're a young team,
but they also when a young team is feeling it.
Like last week the Seahawks Niners. You're about eight minutes in,
(22:15):
You're like, it's like twenty three year old Mike Tyson duck.
There's no winners and Seattle. You don't want to let
Seattle start playing like that because young teams play with
so much energy and emotion. Tom Brady, he'll be calling
Rams Seahawks. What a year for Tom. We only give
him the good games. He's got an all time classic
and I can't wait for this thing. So I've said
(22:37):
this about the Seahawks all year. If you turn the
sound down on your TV, they just look faster and
athletic and longer. And they're young, and young teams play
with a lot of energy, and it's do you agree
with that? And if you're the Rams, how do you
game plan against that youth and energy and speed?
Speaker 9 (22:57):
It is It is a lot to handle. And when
we're there last week and the Niners deferred and kicked
the ball to Shaheed and Shaheed goes ninety five yards,
that place absolutely exploded.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
And it's just hard to overcome that.
Speaker 9 (23:12):
If they play well on special teams, their defense, we
know they're going to play great.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
And if they can make some explosive pass plays.
Speaker 9 (23:19):
They are going to be very tough to be Now,
the one team that can do it, I think is
the Rams. They've already proven they could do it. They
almost did it in Seattle the last time. This game
is just incredible.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
For me to be at and I'm so excited.
Speaker 9 (23:35):
I talked to my boy Kevin Burkhart earlier and he's excited.
This is in our mind at the game of the
year for us, this is our super Bowl. We're gonna
We're gonna be fired up to be there.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
To call it.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
You know, I believe coaching has a greater impact than
calling plays. Your Patriot teams did not fumble and did
not commit pas last last week in awful weather. The
Rams had no drop passes. There's zero or one penalty
they I mean, no turnovers in horrible weather for an
LA team. And so my takeaway is some of that's
(24:09):
just in practice. Go back to your career. You guys
didn't fumble, your offense didn't have penalties. What's the secret
to that. You guys didn't drop many passes. What's the
secret to that.
Speaker 9 (24:22):
There's a there's an urgency in practice that the coaches
drive home every single day to do the right thing,
to make the right decisions with the ball, to you know,
work on catching drills pre practice, during practice, post practice,
in the offseason, when you would do like fumbling drills
is a great example for coach Belichick and kind of
(24:44):
his genius if first of all, if you fumbled, you
were out of the game. All the backs knew that.
So we did so many drills in practice that were
about covering up the ball, ball security, tackling drills.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Not always you would.
Speaker 9 (24:58):
Tack or bring some of the ground, but you're try
to punch the ball out.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Every day.
Speaker 9 (25:03):
For the last twenty years of my New England career,
we worked on those things in practice. So the reality
of what happens in practice is it shows up in
the game all the time.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Bill would actually.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
Take he called him grease balls literally, I know, some
silicone spray that he would spray on the ball and
when we would do running plays he would put it
in in practice, I would take this greased football, give
it to the back. He would have to tuck the ball,
secure it with both hands. The shoulder pads were withal
(25:37):
just so they didn't fumble. So that urgency and that
point of emphasis always showed up in the games because
in the games it was always harder in practice than
it was in the games. And I think you give
the Rams coaching staff so much credit for a performance
like that in Chicago last week. You're talking about a
team that probably had a seventy degree temperature difference from
(26:01):
leaving LA to landing in Chicago.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
I'm glad, by the way, the game's not on Chicago
this weekend.
Speaker 9 (26:05):
With what I just saw, the temperatures were going to
be coming this weekend. But for them to perform like that,
lack of penalties, obviously, no turnovers, and the drop passes,
that's just I'm very jealous of receivers that don't drop
balls too. By the way, that's a great stat for
any quarterback. But they're doing all the right things. This
is a surgical offense. They have so many weapons. Everybody
(26:28):
touches it. You've got to account for everybody.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
You've got to.
Speaker 9 (26:31):
Count for fifty three and a third of the field
in the width, you have to count for the entire
length of the field. They have an explosive passing game,
they have a precise passing game. They have a ball
control offense. There's a lot of ways the Rams can
win too, So this is going to be a tremendous
matchup between the top scoring offense and the top scoring
defense in Seattle on the road, sixty eight thousand fans.
(26:53):
The stadium is going to be on fire. I can't
wait for kickoff.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
You won a super Bowl first year in tam Stafford
won it first year in LA and for both of you,
there were choppy moments. I remember you it was seven
and five and there was a game in Chicago it
and Matt I think he led the league in interceptions
that year. So Darnold, first year with Seattle, what is
(27:18):
the hardest part about that year? One journey for a
quarterback with the new team.
Speaker 9 (27:23):
Well, there's a lot of newness to the year, and
there starts the obviously new location, new practice format, new receivers,
new offensive line, new line calls, new center, all the
things that you kind of take for granted when you
have continuity. When I went to Tampa, all those things
were totally different. So it's like, how do you chip
away at those variables kind of one day at a time.
(27:44):
You get familiar with the skill players, that's what I
did first. Then you get familiar with the center I
had Ryan Jensen. In that offseason, we spent thirty days
working on snaps and snap counts, and then when you
got to training camp, we worked on a different variety
of plays and so forth, and it's just chipping away.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
And it took us, you.
Speaker 9 (28:03):
Know, twelve games to feel like we were starting to get.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Familiar with the things we were really.
Speaker 9 (28:08):
Good at and also to put aside the things that
we weren't good at, so that the time that the
you know, December came in the end of the playoffs,
we started to play our best football. Ultimately culminated in
a home super Bowl against the Chiefs where we played
our best game of the season. And I think for Seattle,
they're going to need to play two games the best
(28:28):
they have all year, because to beat the Rams for
Seattle is going to be a tall task. This is
a game that's both teams are going to have to
play their best. You're talking about teams that are in
the same weight class. They've proven that the two meetings
this year, if you cumulatively, if you had up points
and yards, they've been separated by one point and one yard,
which is pretty phenomenal. That's as tight as it gets.
(28:49):
And to be there for round three, man, it doesn't
get any better than that.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
All right, let's go New England a franchise, you know
well against Denver. When I think back to your career,
the only place that sticks in my mind where you
struggled was at Denver. Now you face good teams. That's
Fairs for reminding me of that. I appreciate that. Sorry,
I'm sorry, Tom. It's just on the paper here. I
just you know, I just read it what they write.
But there is something about Denver, the altitude, Josh Allen
(29:16):
last week struggle turnovers. What is it about Denver.
Speaker 9 (29:20):
It's a unique playing environment. You're right, there's altitude. There's
nowhere else like that in the country. They have an
incredible fan base. They're so loud, it's a deafening stadium
and when they get their momentum going, you know, it's
it's a tough place to play. And the two times
we lost in twenty thirteen season twenty fifteen season, Denver
(29:41):
had a tremendous defense with Von Miller kind of leading
the charge. DeMarcus Ware was on that team. My boy
Keith to Leave was playing corner Chris Harris. They were
so good on defense, and that kind of stymys the
offensive rhythm. It's a hard place to play, and you know,
there's the reason why they're the number one seed. They
played great D defense all year. Sean Payton, I mean,
(30:02):
what kind of coaching job has he done in a
short period of time. He's just got one of the
most incredible skill sets as a coach in terms of
his leadership ability, his urgency. He sets the culture for
the organization, but he also runs the offense. It's a
really difficult thing to do. And he's been a tremendous
coach in the league for a long time. It's no
(30:23):
surprise to me that they're in a position and the
Patriots they're going to have to play their best game
of the year. This is not going to be, you know,
an easy task for them to go to Denver and
win in this environment.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Jared Stidham, he was your backup for a year. Give
me a scouting report.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
You know, I've always loved Stiti.
Speaker 9 (30:40):
He's a very natural pastor of the football, very competitive,
very smart. He's got sneaky good athleticism. He's performed well
out there when he's gotten opportunities, and I know the
Denver coaching staff from the things that I read this week,
everybody's got a tremendous amount of confidence in Stee what
he can do. And you know, it's tough losing both nicks.
(31:00):
That's a brutal injury, certainly at that stage of the game,
at this stage of the season. But at the same time,
you know Ctity's got a lot of ability. There's a
reason why he's been on this club, and there's a
reason why Sean Payton has a lot of confidence in him,
and I wouldn't sleep on him at all. He's proven
he can make NFL caliber throws, lead teams to victories
(31:21):
by playing good football, not turning the ball over, and
he's going to need that because New England's defense is
pretty absurd as well. So there's really four good defensive
football teams here late in the season playing in these
championship games, and it's not going to be easy out
there for anybody. This has got to be clean football,
no turnovers, no penalties, no kind of unforced airs. Whoever
(31:43):
wins the special teams battle field position will have an advantage,
and then it will come down to, in my view,
third down and situational football in the red zone. Who's
kicking field goals, who's scoring touchdowns? These games are going
to be very close, and they're playing for a lot.
This is the chance to go to win a world championship.
So no bigger weekend in football than this.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
I think the most underrated trait for great quarterbacks isn't arm, speed,
all that stuff. It's humility. You're the highest paid guy, Eventually,
you're the most talked about that you're going to lose,
and you're the only person beyond the coast that always
goes to the podium. I think humilities completely underrated. Cocky
(32:23):
does not work in this league. It turns teammates off.
And I've never heard a single teammate of yours in
New England, even when Randy Moss left early. He loved
Tom Brady. And I think that's your humility. I see
Drake May, I literally feel like I'm watching you when
you were young. That's had to have jumped out to
you too with Drake, has it not?
Speaker 5 (32:45):
Yeah, very much so.
Speaker 9 (32:46):
And you know Patrick Mahomes another great example of someone
who's always you know, humility through incredible success. If you're
not humble, this game will humble you. And every time
you take the practice field, there's an expectation perform at
a high level. And when you're one of the best
to be playing, you are the measuring stick for every
team and they're going to come out there and you're
(33:07):
usually going to play their best game against you. Now
that's a positive if you understand that, and then you
know it's the saying iron sharpens iron.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
You're getting someone's best.
Speaker 9 (33:17):
That means you've got to be at your best, which
over long term, that's a great way to continue to develop.
Speaker 5 (33:22):
But Drake May has that humility.
Speaker 9 (33:24):
Everything that comes out of his mouth is always about
the team. It's always about praising his defense, praising his
offensive line, and that's how you connect with people. That's
the reality. That's what great leaders do. Great leaders are
in service to other people. It's not what can you
do for me? It's what can I do for you?
How can I be the best to support your dreams,
(33:45):
your goals, your vision, whether that's supporting your coach or
supporting your offensive lineman, supporting your receivers. True leadership is
about humility, because true leadership is about service, and how
do I show up every day to be the best
I can be for my teammates. That really should be
the lesson for all quarterbacks in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Forty five seconds, because you've got to go. You got
a big I imagine a zoom meeting with McVeigh.
Speaker 9 (34:08):
You gotta pepper because you're you know everything, you know
my whole schedule.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
I got to ask you this, though, everybody in the
world saw you watching Fernando Mendez, who I absolutely love.
What's just your What did you see from him? What
did you see from the quarterback? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (34:22):
It was. It was also a great experience.
Speaker 9 (34:24):
Obviously, I live in Miami, so it was a thirty
minute drive to the game, and I and the fact
that they were playing in the game and all worked out.
My son wanted to go to the game. I brought him.
We sat up there in the suite and got to
be on the field in the pre game and have
just observed, and I haven't been to a college football
game and so long, I haven't been never been to
a national championship game, but just to see kind of
(34:44):
the environment, the atmosphere, you know, did it feel too
big for anybody? And he's played tremendous, you know, all
season sixteen and oh leading his team. And again he's
another guy that you know when you hear him speak.
You know I always kind of judge quarterbacks that go,
how would I have answered that? And he's just a
very mature young man and he's got a bright future.
(35:04):
And you know, everybody coming to the league, there's still
so much room for development. Nobody's a finished product. I
don't care whether you're won the Heisman or you're one
hundred and ninety ninth pick in the draft. It's what
do you do when you get there? How important is
this to you? Are you obsessed with your job? Are
you obsessed with being the best you can be? These
young men, whether it's Fernando or a lot of other
players that were on the field the other night, they
(35:26):
have a great opportunity to do something in their life,
to enhance their family's life, to go impact a community
in a positive way by playing great football and bringing
joy to the fan base. And that's a job you
take very seriously. So all these young prospects, I hope
they go to environments that embrace them completely, that can
help them develop into the best player they can be.
(35:48):
That's how I was, you know, kind of grew up
in the league. I found a great environment. It was
all about football, was about you know, like you mentioned earlier,
about how can you be the best teammate, how can
you work hard, how can you play smart? How can
you play tough? How can you play well under pressure?
How well can you play in tough conditions? And then
ultimately how well can you play in championship games? And
(36:09):
all those things remain to be seen.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, Tom, crush it. You got probably the best football
game of the year. Say how to KB and the staff.
You guys have done a remarkable job this year. And
Sean mcvay's around the corner on zoom, go go, get
it done.
Speaker 5 (36:23):
Come on it. Thanks to appreciate, good to see it,
Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Tom shows up has been for several weeks here in
a row. Yeah, man, that is Drake, May and Mendoza
have a lot in common, Like just like seem like
a really good come from good stock, good kids, grateful,
humble at the podium. That stuff matters.
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
noone 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 Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Here we go. It is a fride day. What a
weekend plan? Patriots, Broncos, Rams, Seahawk redefining careers live in Chicago. Yeah,
it's a little frigid. It's the Herd wherever you may be,
however you may be watching or listening. Thanks for making
(00:50):
us part of your day. I don't know if everybody
quite realizes how big a weekend it is for Matt
staff Let me read you a stat real quick history
of the NFL history. One quarterback ever. This was in
Week sixteen against Seattle. Four hundred passing yards, three touchdown passes,
(01:13):
no picks against the team that finished with the NFL's
number one scoring defense. That was Stafford week sixteen. Never
been done. And I've said, if he wins another Super Bowl,
I will put him one spot ahead of Aaron Rodgers
all time, and that sounds kooky. I think Aaron Rodgers
eleventh or twelfth best quarterback ever. I would insert Stafford
(01:33):
one spot ahead. There are no great movies with choppy endings.
Go look at the last five years between the two.
Stafford has been on a heater seven to two in
the playoffs, multiple Pro Bowls, probably wins the MVP, more
touchdowns than Aaron, higher passer rating, easily the better quarterback.
(01:54):
But bigger than any stat is this. Aaron in his
prime in well run Green Bay only had one great
playoff run. One in his prime, he was one in
Feign Conference championships. Stafford late prime to out of his
prime in just five years, is on his second. There's
(02:17):
no other way to put it. Stafford was born into
a dysfunctional family in Detroit. The minute he was adopted
by the La Rams, he has been significantly the better quarterback.
All he needed was grown ups in the building. Add
this too, which feels very lway Brady and mahomes Matt Stafford.
(02:37):
Of his seven career playoff wins, five he's had game
winning drives in a very short period of time. How
many would he had if he had twelve good years.
Aaron in that huge window in Green Bay didn't even
have three, only had two game winning drives. What define
(03:01):
l Way and Mahomes not just the trophies and Stafford
this is another thing. His passer rating, his completion percentage,
his yards per game, his touchdown to interception ratio go
up in the playoffs, again, very Mahomes and Brady, Aaron's
(03:23):
actually go down. So Stafford in the biggest games against
the best competition, is actually better. Aaron is slightly worse.
That's something. This is what you got during the Lway
Marino debates. For a long time people said, oh Marino,
(03:48):
that release, because Marino, like Aaron, was prettier. The esthetic
was more jarring and amazing. But in the end, that
last three or four years for Lay separated the two.
You're getting that Aaron's always been the prettier quarterback. The
way he throws, connection to Hollywood kind of cool. Just
(04:11):
listen to how thinking of Aaron and Stafford. Just listen
to how McVeigh describes matt Stafford. This is instructive.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I think any great leader that I've ever been around,
and Matthew is a perfect illustration of that. There's extreme
ownership and there's accountability. That's what guys love about Matthew.
I mean, you'll never see a guy when you look
at the way Matthew handles himself that you know, isn't
an excuse maker. You know, I've heard it said before.
I think excuses are tools of the incompetant, and and
Matthew is the furthest thing from that. He's got great ownership.
(04:44):
And I think that's why people want to follow him
is because of the way that he handles, you know,
stays humble and the you know, the great moments which
he's here, has had a handful of those, and then
in the moments that we can be better, he owns
it and now we can move on. And he's a
freaking stud.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah, dozen point fingers takes ownership, always accountable. I'm gonna
put Stafford with a Super Bowl one slought ahead Air,
one slot ahead of Aeron, and I think Aaron's top twelve. Ever,
that's how big of a weekend it is for Matt Stafford.
All Right, Brian Daball, it's gonna interview with the Buffalo Bills.
(05:22):
Philip Rivers is also interviewing. He's not gonna get the job,
but it's kind of an interesting interview. I want to
go back because we don't we don't tend to talk
about who got hired last year in the coaching cycle.
So if you go back one year in the coaching cycle,
Vrabel was an automatic. We all knew he was going
(05:44):
to be great, faster maybe than you predicted, but we
knew it was a big hit. We also knew Ben
Johnson had been the smartest, most clever coordinator in the
NFL for several years, had several We thought that was
going to work too, and we knew kind of all
of us, even people in Dallas knew. Brian Schottenheimer. That's
(06:07):
a pretty weak swing. So three of seven and he
kind of felt like, you Vrabel and Ben Johnson are
going to work. Schottenheimer. But when you went to Liam Cohen,
Kellen Moore, Aaron Glenn, I don't know, Pete Carroll I
thought would stabilize the Raiders. That was a mess. But
in a lot of the young guys, he didn't really know.
And I think that is where Brian Dabele is. I
(06:31):
don't know the best part about him. It's an offensive League,
and he's an offensive coach, and he's worked with Josh Allen.
The worst part he was twenty forty and one with
the Giants and it ended ugly. So very few of
these coaches, all these interviews are blue chip stocks. That's
John Harbaugh that will work with the Giants. That's my prediction.
(06:52):
Vrabel A Harbaugh, Jim or John Sean Pate blue chip stocks.
The rest of them, including Brian Dable, who I like.
It's like venture capitalism. There's a lot of promise, there's
a lot of hope you need restructuring a new leadership.
But it should be noted all those smart people with
all that money venture capitalists, their hit rate is twenty percent,
(07:17):
and the hit rate on coaches not named Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Vrable,
the hit rate is closer to twenty percent than seventy
five percent. I don't know what he's going to be.
I know what he's inheriting, new stadium, stable ownership, better
revenue going forward, great left tackle, running back, superstar quarterback,
(07:41):
great tight ends, Decent defense, not special. Eric Mangini considers
Dable a friend, knows him well. Thoughts on Dable landing
with Josh Allen.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Brian is the ultimate Buffalo guy. He grew up in Buffalo.
He had literally work for the Buffalo Tourism Bureau because
he loves Buffalo so much. So from that perspective, yeah,
it's a great fits. He's got a really good relationship
with the most important player on the team and a
lot of respect from it, and in my mind, did
(08:13):
a significant amount to help develop him from our fairly
raw talent in college to a much more polished talent.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Yeah, Tom Brady, one hour from now, I do feel
strongly going into these weekends games, and I will have
one hour from now. We're gonna list we did yesterday
in the AFC the ten best players in the Seahawks Rams.
And I'm not kidding you. You get to like nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.
(08:43):
It's like guys who could make Pro Bowls. There is
so much talent in the Seattle Rams game. I think
the winner of the NFC wins the Super Bowl, regardless
of who they play. I do feel strongly this morning
that New England is the side, and I feel less
strong but with some conviction the Rams are the better bet.
(09:05):
So when I list those top ten players. It's interesting,
it's very evenly split where the players land. I think
it's going to be one. It's on Fox, it's going
to be one for the Ages, completely stacked defenses. I
said this earlier in the week. If you took the Seahawks,
Rams and made a Pro Bowl team just on the
Seahawks and Rams, it could compete with the rest of
(09:27):
the league. The offensive line would be the weakness. Defensively,
wide receivers, tight ends, backs, quarterbacks, coaches McVeigh, coaches, Mike
McDonald's the DC.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
I mean it is.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
You just do not get this level of talent going
up against each other very much. And j Mac, you
will have your picks coming up in the final hour
of the show. But I do think in the Rams Seahawks,
we would acknowledge now they're not a draft away. This
(10:02):
is as good maybe as the Rams will be because
it's Matt Stafford potential last year is as good as
the Rams are going to be potentially for the next
several years. They're probably not in a draft going to
find the next Matt Stafford. Maybe they do. I doubt
it's certainly not an older, experienced guy. And I think
Seattle's very very good. I think their window. I think
Seattle this year, next year, the next year. They have
drafted so well. I think the runway for Seattle to
(10:24):
be good. I think Darnold's only twenty eight. I think
Seattle's going to be very good for minimum three years,
could be longer. I think it feels like there's urgency
with the Rams because remember last year with Matt Stafford,
we didn't know if he was coming back, and then
he didn't really practice before the season because of a
bad back. So if you're asking me who does the
(10:46):
game mean more for, I would say this may be
the best Rams team for a long period. Interesting, there
is another Stafford on the market they can go buy.
Keep an eye on c. J. Stroud.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
I'll just plant that out there now with his Houston
situation and his agent specifically. But I will say Seattle
amazing team. They've been outstanding all season. Colin, you know,
things kind of broke their way. Michael Parsons gets injured
for the Packers. That's a huge swing. The forty nine
ers entire roster decimated. Some things did kind of break
their way for Seattle. I don't know you if you
(11:23):
think Sam Darnold's in the class of Perty and Love
and Jalen Hurts and all these guys then, and sure
they're going to be sticking around for a while.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Yeah, be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
weekdays and neon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Hey is Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Now.
Speaker 7 (11:42):
In addition to hearing us live weekdays from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for
the show.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yep, that's right.
Speaker 7 (11:53):
You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube
every day.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
All you gotta do.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
Search Covino and Rich FSR on YouTube again, go to
YouTube search kob no Enrich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, Subscribe,
hit that thumbs up icon.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Coming away Seattle and the Rams about week seven eight
nine felt like they were just you know, Philadelphia was
good but couldn't get their offense together. You know, there
were good teams, green Bay was good, but you know,
people were complaining they're not they're running games not substantial
and then they make you know, and the Mica thing,
he gets hurt and you're like, Okay, that's not gonna work.
(12:30):
And San Francisco was good offensively, but defensively lose Fred Warner.
They don't have Bosa. So if you really go back
to like week seven, eight, nine, ten, it kind of
felt And then the Rams at the end of the
year didn't quite feel like they were buttoned up. And
then last weekend they go out, they don't have a
drop pass, a penalty or a turnover against Chicago and
(12:50):
literally had to play perfect to win. So you know,
over the course of a journey, what we have is
I think the two most consistent for the most weeks
during the regular season. See Rams with the best teams
in the NFC didn't have huge holes. Rams special teams
are dubious about every third game it costs them something.
Secondary is not great New England. I think their personnels
(13:12):
better than everybody else thinks. I think their secondary is fantastic.
Their coaching's fantastic. And Drake may May be that guy. Maybe,
you know, we start talking about quarterback play. If Drake
may gets to a Super Bowl and wins it, he's
a top five quarterback, is he not? I mean that's
what Mahomes does That's what the great ones do. They
get to the Super Bowls early and they win them early.
That's very very rare. So as I'm prone to do
(13:35):
when I get five or six times a year, you
get into these massive games, I get at the out
the yellow pad and I rank the top ten players,
and generally the team that has the most top ten
players feels like the team that wins the game. And
here we go with the NFC Championship. Number ten, number ten,
Pooniford Poona Ford Rams. He was a Charger and he
(13:56):
was a really good player. He's been sensational. In fact,
he's the Ram's highest gradded defensive player, right next to
Kobe Turner in that interior D line. Just an incredibly
impactful offseason move. And listen, it's hard to run on
the Rams, and one of the reasons is Poona Ford.
(14:16):
He's at ten, number nine. Kevin Dotson, second highest gridded
guard in the league, top ten run blocker. They stole
him from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh was not reportedly going to start him.
He has been sensational for the Rams since he arrived.
So the Rams guards, to me, is the best guard
(14:38):
combination in the NFL and Kevin Dotson is outstanding. Number
eight Jared Verse. People think he's having a down year.
He leads the NFL and quarterback hits. He ranks top
five and pressures including the playoffs. The reality is he's disruptive,
and Sean mcvayh talked about that. In this league, you're
(15:00):
often judged simply on sacks, but pressures and hits. Jared
Verse is elite. He's number eight. Number seven Kyen Williams
had a fumbling issue well, fourteen straight games without one
fourth highest graded running back in the league. I think
they'd like to play Blake coram Moore. It's hard to
(15:21):
get him on the field. Top five in rush yards, scrimmage, touchdowns,
just really good. He's great at getting the extra yard
to yard and a half. He is just fantastic. You
stop him at three, he gets four. He's eliminated the
fumble issue. You can tell that McVeigh. Even with Stafford
and Puka and Davonte McVeigh, he gets into some zone.
(15:45):
Sometimes he can take over games with Kyron Williams. Number
six Kenneth Walker, highest graded running back in the league,
and they don't have the old line. The Rams do
one hundred and thirty plus scrimmage yards in three of
his last four games. I remember at Michigan State he
was very good after contact, really hard to bring down
(16:09):
on the opening shot. Clever can change directions. You get
some speed, you absolutely get some power. He has been
a great draft pick by the Seahawks Kenneth Walker at
number six, Number five. Sam Donald ranked fourth in the
league in big time throws. Only quarterback in league history
(16:29):
with fourteen plus wins and four thousand passing yards in
back to back years. And he did it with two
different teams. He did it with more experienced Minnesota and
very young Seattle. Listen he has he can be reckless.
You know, I loved Andrew luck Stafford can be two.
But man, Sam Donald wins a lot of games and
(16:54):
is super productive. He's in at number five, Number four.
Devin Witherspoon, cornerback Seattle, not allowed a touchdown in coverage
since Week four. The highest graded cornerback. I remember when
he came out of Illinois, and I remember reading a
(17:14):
draft preview and they're like, oh, like he's he's physical,
like a linebacker or a safety. You're getting a really physical,
aggressive corner. He was a first round pick a. He
is the best corner in this game. There's an argument
the best corner in this league. He just is great
and keeps getting better. Number three JSN Jackson Smith and
(17:39):
jigbuck led the NFL in receiving yards in his first
season as number one. Second highest gridded wide receiver. Remarkable hands, runs,
great routes unlike DK Metcalf the route tree does it all,
never drops passes, very elusive, very clever. Does he have
(18:00):
great speed?
Speaker 5 (18:00):
Now? I know?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Is he makes really good corners get crossed up. He
is just a sensational NFL player. Number two Matt Stafford,
highest guidded quarterback, can be a bit reckless on a
seven and two career playoff record with the Rams with
five come from behind playoff wins. He plays bigger and
big moments. Now he's got Davonte Adams and Pooka in
(18:25):
a good run game, but he led the NFL in
passing yards. He is my MVP. The no look passes.
You know he's not super mobile, and you'd prefer he
has more mobiley. I don't know if he had. I
don't think he had a rushing first down this year.
That's kind of the flaw and he could be a
bit reckless. He's at two number one PUKA, highest receiving
(18:49):
yards per game in league history, averages ninety five, highest
gridded player in the entire league this year, led the
NFL in targets this year and receiving yards six touchdowns
over his last five games. I think he has the
strongest hands I've ever seen on any receiver. He can
get dinged up from time to time, but I mean
(19:09):
when he has the ball, you're not getting it. Incredibly
strong player, almost no body fat like, just does everything well.
The routes yards after the catch, incredibly strong hands can
beat you deep lethal underneath. So the top two players
are Rams three through six. Of the Seahawks seven through
(19:33):
ten are the Rams. Number eleven. I have Kobe Turner
for the Rams, twelve, thirteen, fourteen to fifteen all Seahawks,
so pretty evenly split on the best players there there.
When I look at this, I could have gone fifteen easily,
and it would have been about eight seven Rams. That's
(19:53):
what it kind of fell. Eight seven Seahawks, eight seven Rams.
Kobe Turner was number eleven. I think I had Leonard
will You number twelve and a bunch of Seahawks, but
I think it's interesting. The one you all want to
push back on, of course, is Sam Darnold at number five.
Everybody abouts to push back on that. Greg Hosel talked
this week about Seattle's balanced attack.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
Walker's been much better.
Speaker 8 (20:18):
Walker has been attacking downhill much more so over the
last three four games, and that has allowed them to
stay on schedule. And it's also with their defense allowed
Donald not to have to throw that many balls. Now,
whether that happens in this game, that's hard to know.
You don't know how it's going to play out. But
in an ideal world, I don't think they want Sam
Donald dropping back thirty five times. I think they wanted
(20:40):
to be a very balanced offense and have their defense
in some ways control the paying tempo of the game.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Yeah, Seattle's defense statistically better, Seattle's special teams better. You know,
the offense for the Rams was number one in the league.
I don't think that's a shot at Donald. There's very
few quarterback Tom Brady can throw forty times, Mahomes could
throw forty times. I mean, even last week with Josh
Allen having to carry the offense turnover prone, I don't
(21:07):
want my quarterbacks throwing a lot. I don't. I think
Mahomes Brady are very rare. Aaron Rodgers in his prime,
very very rare. That I'm you know, Aaron Mahomes Brady
didn't throw a lot of picks. You start asking guys
to throw forty forty two forty three times, that means
the run game's not very supportive. You're throwing a lot
of times on third and six and seven, not a
(21:28):
space I think is good for most quarterbacks. Slinging Sammy
d two and a half point favorite at home, third
time he's faced the Rams this year.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Tom Brady around the Corner. One more Herd. The Herd
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Speaker 1 (21:51):
You know, Scattle is one of those teams that they
smell blood, and you get this a lot of times
when you get a kind of a young athletic team.
Young teams tend to play with a lot of emotion
and they can get down on themselves. They can get
a little reckless at times when you're a young team,
but they also when a young team is feeling it.
Like last week the Seahawks Niners. You're about eight minutes in,
(22:15):
You're like, it's like twenty three year old Mike Tyson duck.
There's no winners and Seattle. You don't want to let
Seattle start playing like that because young teams play with
so much energy and emotion. Tom Brady, he'll be calling
Rams Seahawks. What a year for Tom. We only give
him the good games. He's got an all time classic
and I can't wait for this thing. So I've said
(22:37):
this about the Seahawks all year. If you turn the
sound down on your TV, they just look faster and
athletic and longer. And they're young, and young teams play
with a lot of energy, and it's do you agree
with that? And if you're the Rams, how do you
game plan against that youth and energy and speed?
Speaker 9 (22:57):
It is It is a lot to handle. And when
we're there last week and the Niners deferred and kicked
the ball to Shaheed and Shaheed goes ninety five yards,
that place absolutely exploded.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
And it's just hard to overcome that.
Speaker 9 (23:12):
If they play well on special teams, their defense, we
know they're going to play great.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
And if they can make some explosive pass plays.
Speaker 9 (23:19):
They are going to be very tough to be Now,
the one team that can do it, I think is
the Rams. They've already proven they could do it. They
almost did it in Seattle the last time. This game
is just incredible.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
For me to be at and I'm so excited.
Speaker 9 (23:35):
I talked to my boy Kevin Burkhart earlier and he's excited.
This is in our mind at the game of the
year for us, this is our super Bowl. We're gonna
We're gonna be fired up to be there.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
To call it.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
You know, I believe coaching has a greater impact than
calling plays. Your Patriot teams did not fumble and did
not commit pas last last week in awful weather. The
Rams had no drop passes. There's zero or one penalty
they I mean, no turnovers in horrible weather for an
LA team. And so my takeaway is some of that's
(24:09):
just in practice. Go back to your career. You guys
didn't fumble, your offense didn't have penalties. What's the secret
to that. You guys didn't drop many passes. What's the
secret to that.
Speaker 9 (24:22):
There's a there's an urgency in practice that the coaches
drive home every single day to do the right thing,
to make the right decisions with the ball, to you know,
work on catching drills pre practice, during practice, post practice,
in the offseason, when you would do like fumbling drills
is a great example for coach Belichick and kind of
(24:44):
his genius if first of all, if you fumbled, you
were out of the game. All the backs knew that.
So we did so many drills in practice that were
about covering up the ball, ball security, tackling drills.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
Not always you would.
Speaker 9 (24:58):
Tack or bring some of the ground, but you're try
to punch the ball out.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
Every day.
Speaker 9 (25:03):
For the last twenty years of my New England career,
we worked on those things in practice. So the reality
of what happens in practice is it shows up in
the game all the time.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Bill would actually.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
Take he called him grease balls literally, I know, some
silicone spray that he would spray on the ball and
when we would do running plays he would put it
in in practice, I would take this greased football, give
it to the back. He would have to tuck the ball,
secure it with both hands. The shoulder pads were withal
(25:37):
just so they didn't fumble. So that urgency and that
point of emphasis always showed up in the games because
in the games it was always harder in practice than
it was in the games. And I think you give
the Rams coaching staff so much credit for a performance
like that in Chicago last week. You're talking about a
team that probably had a seventy degree temperature difference from
(26:01):
leaving LA to landing in Chicago.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
I'm glad, by the way, the game's not on Chicago
this weekend.
Speaker 9 (26:05):
With what I just saw, the temperatures were going to
be coming this weekend. But for them to perform like that,
lack of penalties, obviously, no turnovers, and the drop passes,
that's just I'm very jealous of receivers that don't drop
balls too. By the way, that's a great stat for
any quarterback. But they're doing all the right things. This
is a surgical offense. They have so many weapons. Everybody
(26:28):
touches it. You've got to account for everybody.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
You've got to.
Speaker 9 (26:31):
Count for fifty three and a third of the field
in the width, you have to count for the entire
length of the field. They have an explosive passing game,
they have a precise passing game. They have a ball
control offense. There's a lot of ways the Rams can
win too, So this is going to be a tremendous
matchup between the top scoring offense and the top scoring
defense in Seattle on the road, sixty eight thousand fans.
(26:53):
The stadium is going to be on fire. I can't
wait for kickoff.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
You won a super Bowl first year in tam Stafford
won it first year in LA and for both of you,
there were choppy moments. I remember you it was seven
and five and there was a game in Chicago it
and Matt I think he led the league in interceptions
that year. So Darnold, first year with Seattle, what is
(27:18):
the hardest part about that year? One journey for a
quarterback with the new team.
Speaker 9 (27:23):
Well, there's a lot of newness to the year, and
there starts the obviously new location, new practice format, new receivers,
new offensive line, new line calls, new center, all the
things that you kind of take for granted when you
have continuity. When I went to Tampa, all those things
were totally different. So it's like, how do you chip
away at those variables kind of one day at a time.
(27:44):
You get familiar with the skill players, that's what I
did first. Then you get familiar with the center I
had Ryan Jensen. In that offseason, we spent thirty days
working on snaps and snap counts, and then when you
got to training camp, we worked on a different variety
of plays and so forth, and it's just chipping away.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
And it took us, you.
Speaker 9 (28:03):
Know, twelve games to feel like we were starting to get.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Familiar with the things we were really.
Speaker 9 (28:08):
Good at and also to put aside the things that
we weren't good at, so that the time that the
you know, December came in the end of the playoffs,
we started to play our best football. Ultimately culminated in
a home super Bowl against the Chiefs where we played
our best game of the season. And I think for Seattle,
they're going to need to play two games the best
(28:28):
they have all year, because to beat the Rams for
Seattle is going to be a tall task. This is
a game that's both teams are going to have to
play their best. You're talking about teams that are in
the same weight class. They've proven that the two meetings
this year, if you cumulatively, if you had up points
and yards, they've been separated by one point and one yard,
which is pretty phenomenal. That's as tight as it gets.
(28:49):
And to be there for round three, man, it doesn't
get any better than that.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
All right, let's go New England a franchise, you know
well against Denver. When I think back to your career,
the only place that sticks in my mind where you
struggled was at Denver. Now you face good teams. That's
Fairs for reminding me of that. I appreciate that. Sorry,
I'm sorry, Tom. It's just on the paper here. I
just you know, I just read it what they write.
But there is something about Denver, the altitude, Josh Allen
(29:16):
last week struggle turnovers. What is it about Denver.
Speaker 9 (29:20):
It's a unique playing environment. You're right, there's altitude. There's
nowhere else like that in the country. They have an
incredible fan base. They're so loud, it's a deafening stadium
and when they get their momentum going, you know, it's
it's a tough place to play. And the two times
we lost in twenty thirteen season twenty fifteen season, Denver
(29:41):
had a tremendous defense with Von Miller kind of leading
the charge. DeMarcus Ware was on that team. My boy
Keith to Leave was playing corner Chris Harris. They were
so good on defense, and that kind of stymys the
offensive rhythm. It's a hard place to play, and you know,
there's the reason why they're the number one seed. They
played great D defense all year. Sean Payton, I mean,
(30:02):
what kind of coaching job has he done in a
short period of time. He's just got one of the
most incredible skill sets as a coach in terms of
his leadership ability, his urgency. He sets the culture for
the organization, but he also runs the offense. It's a
really difficult thing to do. And he's been a tremendous
coach in the league for a long time. It's no
(30:23):
surprise to me that they're in a position and the
Patriots they're going to have to play their best game
of the year. This is not going to be, you know,
an easy task for them to go to Denver and
win in this environment.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Jared Stidham, he was your backup for a year. Give
me a scouting report.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
You know, I've always loved Stiti.
Speaker 9 (30:40):
He's a very natural pastor of the football, very competitive,
very smart. He's got sneaky good athleticism. He's performed well
out there when he's gotten opportunities, and I know the
Denver coaching staff from the things that I read this week,
everybody's got a tremendous amount of confidence in Stee what
he can do. And you know, it's tough losing both nicks.
(31:00):
That's a brutal injury, certainly at that stage of the game,
at this stage of the season. But at the same time,
you know Ctity's got a lot of ability. There's a
reason why he's been on this club, and there's a
reason why Sean Payton has a lot of confidence in him,
and I wouldn't sleep on him at all. He's proven
he can make NFL caliber throws, lead teams to victories
(31:21):
by playing good football, not turning the ball over, and
he's going to need that because New England's defense is
pretty absurd as well. So there's really four good defensive
football teams here late in the season playing in these
championship games, and it's not going to be easy out
there for anybody. This has got to be clean football,
no turnovers, no penalties, no kind of unforced airs. Whoever
(31:43):
wins the special teams battle field position will have an advantage,
and then it will come down to, in my view,
third down and situational football in the red zone. Who's
kicking field goals, who's scoring touchdowns? These games are going
to be very close, and they're playing for a lot.
This is the chance to go to win a world championship.
So no bigger weekend in football than this.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
I think the most underrated trait for great quarterbacks isn't arm, speed,
all that stuff. It's humility. You're the highest paid guy, Eventually,
you're the most talked about that you're going to lose,
and you're the only person beyond the coast that always
goes to the podium. I think humilities completely underrated. Cocky
(32:23):
does not work in this league. It turns teammates off.
And I've never heard a single teammate of yours in
New England, even when Randy Moss left early. He loved
Tom Brady. And I think that's your humility. I see
Drake May, I literally feel like I'm watching you when
you were young. That's had to have jumped out to
you too with Drake, has it not?
Speaker 5 (32:45):
Yeah, very much so.
Speaker 9 (32:46):
And you know Patrick Mahomes another great example of someone
who's always you know, humility through incredible success. If you're
not humble, this game will humble you. And every time
you take the practice field, there's an expectation perform at
a high level. And when you're one of the best
to be playing, you are the measuring stick for every
team and they're going to come out there and you're
(33:07):
usually going to play their best game against you. Now
that's a positive if you understand that, and then you
know it's the saying iron sharpens iron.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
You're getting someone's best.
Speaker 9 (33:17):
That means you've got to be at your best, which
over long term, that's a great way to continue to develop.
Speaker 5 (33:22):
But Drake May has that humility.
Speaker 9 (33:24):
Everything that comes out of his mouth is always about
the team. It's always about praising his defense, praising his
offensive line, and that's how you connect with people. That's
the reality. That's what great leaders do. Great leaders are
in service to other people. It's not what can you
do for me? It's what can I do for you?
How can I be the best to support your dreams,
(33:45):
your goals, your vision, whether that's supporting your coach or
supporting your offensive lineman, supporting your receivers. True leadership is
about humility, because true leadership is about service, and how
do I show up every day to be the best
I can be for my teammates. That really should be
the lesson for all quarterbacks in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Forty five seconds, because you've got to go. You got
a big I imagine a zoom meeting with McVeigh.
Speaker 9 (34:08):
You gotta pepper because you're you know everything, you know
my whole schedule.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
I got to ask you this, though, everybody in the
world saw you watching Fernando Mendez, who I absolutely love.
What's just your What did you see from him? What
did you see from the quarterback? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (34:22):
It was. It was also a great experience.
Speaker 9 (34:24):
Obviously, I live in Miami, so it was a thirty
minute drive to the game, and I and the fact
that they were playing in the game and all worked out.
My son wanted to go to the game. I brought him.
We sat up there in the suite and got to
be on the field in the pre game and have
just observed, and I haven't been to a college football
game and so long, I haven't been never been to
a national championship game, but just to see kind of
(34:44):
the environment, the atmosphere, you know, did it feel too
big for anybody? And he's played tremendous, you know, all
season sixteen and oh leading his team. And again he's
another guy that you know when you hear him speak.
You know I always kind of judge quarterbacks that go,
how would I have answered that? And he's just a
very mature young man and he's got a bright future.
(35:04):
And you know, everybody coming to the league, there's still
so much room for development. Nobody's a finished product. I
don't care whether you're won the Heisman or you're one
hundred and ninety ninth pick in the draft. It's what
do you do when you get there? How important is
this to you? Are you obsessed with your job? Are
you obsessed with being the best you can be? These
young men, whether it's Fernando or a lot of other
players that were on the field the other night, they
(35:26):
have a great opportunity to do something in their life,
to enhance their family's life, to go impact a community
in a positive way by playing great football and bringing
joy to the fan base. And that's a job you
take very seriously. So all these young prospects, I hope
they go to environments that embrace them completely, that can
help them develop into the best player they can be.
(35:48):
That's how I was, you know, kind of grew up
in the league. I found a great environment. It was
all about football, was about you know, like you mentioned earlier,
about how can you be the best teammate, how can
you work hard, how can you play smart? How can
you play tough? How can you play well under pressure?
How well can you play in tough conditions? And then
ultimately how well can you play in championship games? And
(36:09):
all those things remain to be seen.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, Tom, crush it. You got probably the best football
game of the year. Say how to KB and the staff.
You guys have done a remarkable job this year. And
Sean mcvay's around the corner on zoom, go go, get
it done.
Speaker 5 (36:23):
Come on it. Thanks to appreciate, good to see it,
Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Tom shows up has been for several weeks here in
a row. Yeah, man, that is Drake, May and Mendoza
have a lot in common, Like just like seem like
a really good come from good stock, good kids, grateful,
humble at the podium. That stuff matters.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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