September 5, 2024 • 41 mins
Colin shares his updated Super Bowl bubble before the NFL season kicks off and previews the match up between Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson before the season kicks off tonight
He tells you why Jim Harbaugh is the best culture creator in football right now and why he's set up to succeed with the Chargers
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Here we go. NFL season starts ton Iye, Chiefs Ravens
live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may
be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making
us part of your morning, your afternoon. One hour from now.
My final NFL predictions going into the season. Couple of alterations.
(00:46):
That's it. Feel very strongly, kind of like the Chiefs tonight.
Not in love with it. Be very careful about this
opening week Jmac. Also, we'll do our Big ten Bets,
a new thing we introduce on Thursdays. At the end
of the second hour, we line up go against each
other for the year. Big bets. Big ten Bets Texas Michigan.
This weekend is unbelievable. So here we are. I'm so
(01:08):
glad I'm in sports and not politics. It's all joy
and happy and finality and standings. We're lucky what we
do for a living, right.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Very fortunate. Hashtag bust.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
All right, here we go, let's just start here. I
always do Super Bowl bubbles about once a month. Once
every five weeks, I'll do you a Super Bowl bubble.
Here's my super Bowl bubble to start the season for
the radio audience. I think there's, to be honest, seven
eight teams should be favorites in the NFC Detroit, Green Bay,
(01:38):
San Francisco. I'm high on the Rams. In the AFC,
the Texans, the Bills, yeah, Josh Allen Mahomes, Kansas City,
and the Ravens. I think four teams are just on
the outside. I've got a question I need to see resolved. Philadelphia.
Love the roster, love the quarterback, love almost everything, ownership GM.
(02:00):
I'm a little worried about the coach and the quarterback
relationship and the coach overall, Cincinnati, Joe Burrow's health. I
wish I had the Jets defense and Miami's offense as
one team, but they're so good at one thing. Jets defense,
Miami offense. I'll keep them on the periphery. But there's
hope here. So there you go eight in the bubble
(02:23):
and four on the outside. As may change, we always
have a surprise team. But that feels right. I really
think the Texans have a legitimate chance to get to
a conference championship. They have turned that franchise around with
the right coach, the right GM, and the right quarterback.
All these teams, all these teams have one thing in common.
They have a good quarterback. I know, I know Brock Perdy,
(02:44):
but he has one hundred and eleven passer rating. He's
a good quarterback. I don't think he's a star, but
he's a good quarterback. But they don't all have an established,
proven coach. We don't know what Robert Soli really is.
But tonight what you're seeing, frankly, is what the model
of the league is. Chiefs Ravens the two winning his
(03:05):
teams in this sport since the Patrick Mahomes era started. Ownership,
front office, coach, quarterback, roster drafting development. This is how
you do it. And yet Baltimore, one of the two
model franchises in the league, always leaves us unsatisfied, proving
(03:28):
how difficult it is to win in this sport, mostly
because of two people. In the last decade. Two people
have had a stranglehold on this league. One has retired
Tom Brady, one is moving into his prime. Been there
probably a couple of years. Patrick Mahomes. Five of the
last six Trophies have been hoisted by Brady or Mahomes,
(03:49):
and eight of the last ten Super Bowls Brady or
Mahomes have appeared in it. So you and I for
the next six months can talk about speedy wide receivers
and tough tight ends and lever running backs and smart
coordinators and brilliant young offensive coaches Brady and Mahomes, and
even the quarterbacks capable capable of beating Mahomes in a
(04:12):
January game. Joe Burrow can't stay healthy. Lamar Jackson kind
of freezes in the headlights. Josh Allen won too many mistakes.
It illustrates once again just how damn hard it is
to win. And it's why I support Josh Allen and
Lamar Jackson. It's really hard to beat legends. Go ask
(04:35):
Peyton Manning and Big Ben with Brady, and go ask
Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. It's just
incredibly hard. Kansas City's got everything right owner front office president, GM, quarterback, weapon,
pass rusher, draft develop they had everything right and Baltimore's
(04:59):
got all almost everything right. And that's this sport inches
not feet. And Tom Brady earlier this week on this
show talked about the challenges tonight for Baltimore and the
opening game of the season.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
When you lose in the playoffs, you want to think
about our how are we going to get over the
hump next year?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
What do we need to do?
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Where are deficiencies, where can we get a little better,
How can we improve our team a little bit so
when we get in these big games, we're more prepared
than the other team, got more margin of there, and look,
to win a super Bowl is absolutely incredibly difficult.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
There's only one team that does it.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Baltimore wants what the Chiefs got and that's why you
lead the season off the way they have it.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Ravens Chiefs. For the record, Brady's best offense never won
a Super Bowl. He had a ten year gap. The
best player that's ever played, the most dominant productive player.
Tom Brady went a decade no super bowls, and those
were his best offenses. Randy Moss teams blew people out.
(06:03):
That's how hard it is. That's the challenge for Baltimore.
But Barkley was great and couldn't beat MJ. Phil was great,
couldn't get past Tiger enough. It's just really hard to
beat legends. Speaking of legends, right now, the most consistent
culture creator in American football, college or pro is Jim Harbaugh.
(06:29):
It's not say when he's retired. It's not Parcels he's
gone Belichick. Nope, Urban Meyer. In college doing TV, it's
Jim Harbaugh. Pre Harbaugh. Do you remember how bad Stanford
was one and eleven? Oh, they were good at the
academic thing, they were horrible at football. His first year
(06:53):
at Stanford, they flew down to Los Angeles as a
forty point underdog and beat the Trojans, who were number
two in the country. In Los Angeles. The San Francisco
forty nine ers pre Harball had not made the playoffs
in eight years. The roster was a mess. They had
no culture. Year one with Harbaugh thirteen and three NFC
(07:17):
Championship with a quarterback that was viewed as a bust.
Alex Smith Michigan was a tire fire pre Harball five
and seven one first round pick, a left tacker tackle
Taylor Lalan one first rounder in four years pre Harbaugh
(07:38):
first year, ten and three and oh, by the way,
this last year, what do they have thirteen fourteen guys drafted?
Stanford was a disaster, Niners were a disaster, Michigan was
a disaster. And now here comes Sudini pre Harba. The
Chargers last year had a virtual mutiny with their players.
(08:00):
Five and twelve, worst locker room in the league, worst
big play defense in the league with a defensive coordinator.
And Jim walks into the building, by the way, a
brand new building in El Segundo, California. It's gorgeous. And
here's the guy that does this better than anybody currently
coaching football. He is the greatest repetitive culture creator. But
(08:23):
this time it's not a total rebuild. Khalil Mack bos
off the edge his first draft pick, Joe Wall best
tackle in the draft, to go along with Rashawn Slater,
edge rushers tackles above average. Oh, Justin Herbert. Nothing against
Alex Smith or his first quarterback at Michigan, but Justin
(08:47):
Herbert's really good. Jim Harbaugh this week, who was a
quarterback in the NFL. I think he's got a little twinkle.
He's been very optimistic. He's almost been funny this entire offseason.
Why because this isn't the Stanford rebuild, this isn't the
Niner rebuild, this isn't the Michigan rebuild. He's got Justin
(09:09):
Herbert and here's Harbaugh on him.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
He's like a human computer chip, you know, for a brain.
It's just the way he the way he thinks, the
way he can. He can, you know, go through information.
You don't get to the you know, disorb it, retain it,
remember it, disseminate it. I mean, it's it's really impressive.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
He's always reminded me Jim Harbaugh a little of the
late Steve Jobs. Jobs wasn't the best engineer right there.
We're smarter people in the building, but he understood, unlike
Microsoft at the time, the artistry of it. He was
selling image imagery, and he knew what he Wasn't Harbaugh
(09:54):
is not the best scheme guy in the NFL. Could
be Kyle Shanahan. Not the best scheme guy. But the
ability to change cultures college and pro is a real thing,
and nobody in the world is better at it. And
I got into this discussion a couple of months ago
and somebody said, God, Harbaugh's really lightened up. He's like
funny and likable, and I'm like, because Jim sees what
(10:17):
he's never seen before, which is a top five quarterback
in a rebuild. He usually had to go trade for one,
find one, recruit one. Now he's got one, and that's
why he's so happy, happier than ever as he embarks
on a weekend one against the Raiders. J Mac, who's
(10:40):
got it better than us? Who has got nobody has
got it better than us?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Yeah, I'll agree.
Speaker 6 (10:46):
I'll go ahead and agree with you there, except the
only problem is I don't know what to do with
the Chiefs. Ravens caid tonight you might be right. Yesterday
you were like, just watch it, it's gonna be great.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, I might take is Kansas City Steve Spagnola, who
is in a short list of the best defensive coordinators
in the league with a very good defense, almost all
of them returning, has had a little bit of wizardry.
He's had Lamar's number in the matchups. That's an advantage,
that's a coordinator advantage. They've had a lot of time
(11:16):
to prepare for a quarterback they've had success with. Also,
Kansas City lost this game last year to Detroit, so
they're not overlooking anybody. They got nipped last year. Remember
they weren't quite ready to go. They've also, I think
upgraded their receiving core. Rae Shi Rice established himself. You
got worthy of the ket out of Texas. They like
a lot. They brought in Juju Smith Schuster, that knows
(11:37):
their offense. I would go Kansas City here. I think
it's close, maybe a little low scoring. It's a feeling
out process in the first quarter. But this is what
the NFL does better than any league, and the NBA
is pretty good at it too. They understand they're a
TV product. This is the game you'd want for Week one.
(11:57):
This is the game.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
The problem is all we've talked about the Chiefs all
summer is Super.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Bowl three peat.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Can they do it? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
This gamemate circled on the calendar.
Speaker 6 (12:05):
But Baltimore, you know, is locked in after getting destroyed
and kind of embarrassed in the AF you're at home.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It was a clunker, terrible.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Game plan, you know, the offensive coordinator, even Harbaugh, by
the way, I saw Harball twelve and four against the
spread in week one games in his career, like he's
gonna be dialed in, They're gonna be ready. I don't
know if there's urgency for the Chiefs in week one
to show up and we got to win this game,
you know fair enough.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in neon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
You're now entering the No Bull Zone sponsored by Credible
Great Rates. None of the bowls, So all distractions in
the NFL are not equal. And the Kansas City Chiefs
open the season at home against Baltimore tonight, and there's
this sense that it's been a very noisy off season
for Kansas City, and I would argue again, not all
(12:59):
to distractions are equal. Take Kansas City and the Jets.
The Jets issues could be disruptive. They need a pass
rusher and he's held out. They thought they had him
and then they didn't, and then he held out and
he's still not starting. And they have an offensive coordinator
that they strongly considered hiring another coach to call plays
(13:22):
for him. The quarterback took a shot at the coach.
Coach took a shot at the quarterback, rebuilding the old line.
Those are disruptions that could affect a locker room or
an outcome. Kansas City's issues, to me, aren't disruptive. Rashid Rice.
In the offseason, a young kid did something stupid. It's
(13:43):
called your twenties. The players had his back and so
did the team. Harrison Butker politics. Most of the players
agree with him. It's politics. Nobody cares in that locker room.
What about Travis Swift, Travis Kelsey, Well, it could be
you know, Travis Kelcey, the Swifties. What are we gonna
(14:05):
Nobody cares. This is just Hollywood and fun and music.
Nobody cares. The Jets have realuption disruptions, the Chiefs. You know,
it's a difference between on your couch, scrolling on your
phone and in your car and traffic Scrolling on your phone.
One has consequences. One's just wasting time and screwing off.
(14:26):
So h Taylor Swift, Travis Kelcey means nothing. Harrison Butker
means nothing. Rashid Rice doesn't mean nothing. But young players
in the league make mistakes, even big ones. You'll find
overwhelmingly that Kansas City from the first moment on had
his back, scold him, have his back. Those are not
(14:47):
outcome changers. Those are not locker room dividers. The media
thinks Harrison Butker is a locker room divider. I'm here
to tell you zero zero influence, So in can't. The
city is also built for this owner A plus, GM
president quarterback coach experienced a plus plus. They're built to
(15:11):
overcome any little fissure in the chemistry, any little speed
bump driving to the stadium. They have stars at GM
coach quarterback. The Jets owners are the disruptors, are the
chaos creators. Big difference. They don't have proven leadership. Aaron
(15:36):
makes a situation that's noisy, noisier, he responds to everything.
He's got Rabbit ears. Sala responds to everything. Woodie Johnson
and Saala apparently had some shouting match last year. That's
not what Kansas City is going through. So Kansas City
is the model of leadership in this league, top down,
and that means you're built to handle Rashi, Rice Harrison Butker,
(16:01):
Travis Kelcey, I mean, Andy Reid's appearing in commercials. Everybody's
all in New England had some stuff in the offseason.
But they had such great leadership with Craft early days,
Poli and Belichick and Brady A that stuff got in
the way of winning. That's the great advantage Baltimore's had issues.
(16:23):
It never gets in the way of winning. Little tiny
fissures with the Jets implode because they don't handle it.
They don't have leadership in the locker room. They don't
have it at quarterback coach owner over the last twenty
five years. So not all distractions are equal. I'm reading
Diana Russini as a column today talking about the offseason
(16:44):
for the Chiefs, and there's been a lot of turbulence
in movement. But it's the world's most well, it's America's
most popular sport. And Andie reads the best coach, and
Mahomes is the biggest star, and Travis Kelsey's hanging out
with Taylor Swift. It's gonna be turbulence. This is douc
be a cross country flight without an air pocket. You
gotta bounce around, although he go spell coffee. But Kansas
(17:06):
City's built to withstand anything, just like New England was
for twenty years. And you can go back to the flight.
Gayton Spy Gayton. They had all sorts of stuff never
got in the way of wins. I watched the documentary
on New England they won a Super Bowl and the
player said, it was the hardest season we ever had.
It wasn't any fun. They hoisted a trophy. Remember last
(17:26):
year at the end of the year for Kansas City,
players said this was the hard one. This was exactly.
I mean, you got Travis Kelcey and Andy reading the
Super Bowl, banging heads, banging head sets, and they hoisted
a trophy. Greatness is not just playing catching footballs throwing football.
It's leadership and the teams like the Baltimore's and San
Francisco Kansas City, they're built for the bumps. Jmck with
(17:50):
the news, No, no, no, turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
This is the Herdline news.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
We haven't dug much into Rams Lion Sunday idea. Why
sway really really good game. This is Matthew Stafford returning
to Detroit, where he was a folk hero for many years.
Last season, of course, he took the Rams into Detroit.
They lost a tight wildcard matchup. Very good game, fans,
(18:17):
Let Safford hear about it. Here's what he had to say.
About facing that hostile Detroit crowd again.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I feelly crowd a hundred percent motivating factor. Love it.
I want to hear all of it. I want to
smell it.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
I want to feel like it's football, and.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
That's part of football, especially going to an away games.
So that stuff, you know, just motivates me. You know,
you and I have said this before. I can really
like a team but not love them. In Week one,
I really like the Rams. They're not going seventeen to no.
I would take Detroit in this game. I mean, I
really really like Bo Nixon. Denver overachieved this year. I
(18:52):
don't like him at Seattle in Week one against a young,
smart defensive coordinator. You and I both love Houston. You
think they're gonna losing Week one of the Colds. So
you know, I can think two things at one time.
I love the Rams. I love the schedule, but they've
had some preseason offensive line issues, so it's a little
makeshift on the offensive line center to guard tackles moving around.
(19:16):
Haven'stey not healthy. So in Week one, I think the
Rams this is a tough spot for them. It's also
a standalone game. Detroit's got a super Bowl field Detroit's
got a better O line right now. Hutcheson had a
great camp. He could be the best pass rusher with
Max Crosby on the edge in the league. So I
think this is Detroit's game in the opener. I think
(19:38):
they are appropriately favored by overra a field goals.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
I've been waiting for the right time to spring this
on you. So last year, I know I was down
on the Rams and you were high, and they ended
up high. Do you remember how they started last season? Yes,
three and six, Colin, And then you look at that
November nineteenth game against Seattle. They were three and six,
hurtling towards disaster.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yeah, they say it's got.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
To be right, and they come back to beat Seattle
at so far and then down the stretch here's who
They beat Arizona, which had massive quarterback issues.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
They were terrible.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
The Browns again quarterback issues, Watson backup, blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Lost that game to the Ravens.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
Beat the Commanders who stunk, beat the Saints who were awful,
beat the Giants who were atire fire, and then beat
the Niners in Week eighteen. Were like, they didn't play anybody,
So let's just chill out with the Rams exceeded expectations
last year.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
You remember when the Ravens last year were blowing out
the Niners and blowing out the Dolphins and blowing out
the Lions, and La flew cross country and outplayed them
and had them beat. That was one of those games.
I'm not just impressed when you win. There are times.
There are times I watched a team that loses and think, oh,
(20:48):
that's a moment. And by the way, that Rams Baltimore game,
you can all you said was true. Baltimore was rolling people.
They humiliated Detroit. He's humiliated Detroit in two years. It
was a woodshed game. It was like white flag, it's over,
and the Rams outplayed them, went to overtime. So it's
like that to me was the okay, And they beat
(21:10):
San Francisco. San Francisco playing backups. I mean, they have
nine Pro Bowlers, then they win a playoff game, then
they'll play from the NFC Championship. And they had by
the way, they were the youngest team outside of Green
Bay in the league, and they had a great draft.
Watch out. I just think this game is built for Detroit.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Buil Yeah at home, I'm kind of with you. I
like the Lions a little bit. Let's go to the
next story, and that's the Niners.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
Brandon Ayuk done deal, Trent Williams in the building.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Everybody's excited.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Next in line, though, Colin rock Purty, the third year quarterback,
will be eligible for an extension at the end of
the season, and Trent Williams wants to be a key
factor in getting him a raise.
Speaker 7 (21:52):
I went on my teammates, he get pay I wanted
to get every riscent? Did they deserve every riscent that
they can? So brock is obviously outplayed mistery relevant contract.
So I mean I would be thrilled, absolutely thrilled to
not only seebit, to watch his life change, you know,
(22:13):
after something like that, because he deserves it. Super super
proud of him.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Now.
Speaker 7 (22:18):
I love the kid to death. He deserves every dollar
coming his way, and yeah, I want to be a
part to help him get to what exactly he deserves.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
So he's got one hundred and eleven passer ratings so
far in his career. He makes good decisions, moves well enough,
not a huge arm, good enough, He's a lot of
good enough with a great coach, a great supporting cast
and I will say this, he makes the right throw.
And that's what Shanahan loves with him. That's what Sam
Darnold admitted being his backup. This guy upstairs, he's moving fast,
(22:49):
he makes the right throw. He rarely lets go with
the ball and you go uh oh. And that's a
big part of Kyle Shannon. That's why Kyle Shanahan like
Kirk Cousins, Kirk makes the right throw. Kirk doesn't move
that great, doesn't have a big arm. Kirk throws it
to where he's supposed to throw it. And for the record,
even Garoppolo mostly knew what he was and wasn't. Garoppolo
didn't throw it the sideline. He knew he didn't have
(23:10):
the arm strength. Garoppolo was great between the hash marks.
That's what Kyle wanted. So Kyle and Brock, so much
of life is fit. It's really a good fit. You
don't have a guy running out of plays. He didn't
have a prickly attitude rolling his eyes. The play comes in,
Brock runs it and throws to the right spot with
just enough mobility to occasionally and this is a big deal.
(23:34):
They couldn't do this with a Garoppolo just enough mobility
to move the pocket just enough.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
It's weird because I think of the Purty story and
where he's come, where he's been. Yeah, I don't know
how there's a better quarterback story in the league than Brock.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
That was great.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
It's amazing. If he would have won that Super Bowl color.
Speaker 6 (23:52):
If they would have had a touchdown instead of a
field goal in overtime, Like, what's a better story than that?
Speaker 3 (23:57):
You were the dead last pick in the draft.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
Remember at Iowa first couple of years he was projected, Oh,
this maybe an NFL guy, and then he just wasn't.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Very good, right, and then all of a sudden he's
like lights out in the NFL, Like this is just
that's yeah, this is really.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
The WNBA has a little bit of this now because
their players stay in college for so long. What makes
the NFL draft grade and the WNBA draft increasingly interesting
is you get grown ups and they're ready to play.
I mean, Brock Purty's got three four years starting, he's
ready to play. He's had to carry an Iowa State
roster and against Texas Oklahoma. So and what's great about
the NFL half the rosters are undrafted, so it's It's
(24:36):
just that this league is built on hope and optimism
and overcoming and challenging. It's not all glitzy and stars
and international. It is dudes from Iowa State getting last
drafted and ending up on the best roster in the
league and delivery. That's why of the many things that
are great about that you can go from Houston, the
laughingstock of the league, to a playoff team, and on
(24:58):
an individual basis, you can be brought pretty. There's so
much hope and optimism for the players for the franchise
of the season, the season.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Speaking of hope and optimism, Caleb Williams makes his debut
Sunday against the Titans in the early window. Very excited,
although Tennessee money kind of starting to show the last
couple of days. Uh. Anyway, the first overall pick, Caleb
Williams has never lacked confidence, and Keenan Allen says, it
only continues to climb with confidence.
Speaker 8 (25:27):
You know, he's been he's always been the guy, you know,
and uh, when we first had Herbert, he wasn't really
the starter going into week one, So that's that's the difference.
And you know, he's always, like I said, he's always
been the guy, so he's always had the expectation of
playing at that at that level that we play at.
So you know, I think he's ready for I think
except for the task. You know, like I said, confidence
that you know, no matter who the quarterback is, you
(25:49):
want to win. And you know, I wouldn't rather be
with another guy right now than Caleb. You know, I
think he showed great.
Speaker 7 (25:58):
I don't know, uh what is it called.
Speaker 8 (25:59):
He gotten better ever since we've started, and you know,
I think the confidence is through the roof.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
By the way, I'm a little nervous here. If you
go look at rookie quarterbacks starting their first game in
week one, it's like three and twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
It's not good.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
And this some of these lines Tennessee plus four. If
it goes to Tennessee plus four, would you take the Titans.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
No, No, this is stay away from me.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Stay away from me too.
Speaker 6 (26:26):
But interesting point on that rookie quarterbacks. Remember you go
number one overall, you're going.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
To a crap team.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
But that's not the case exactly.
Speaker 6 (26:33):
They won seven games and they got Carolina's pick at one,
so they're not awful.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
They're actually I think they got a.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
Lot of guys on this team.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
No, this they're they're offensively. If you look at DeAndre Swift,
Cole Commette, Gerald Everett, DJ Moore, Roma Dunze, Keenan Allen,
that is a top half. That's a top six skill
group in I mean, I mean, seriously, take out Ceedee Lamb.
No other cowboy plays what offense? Well, who's playing offensive league.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
For ferguson the tight ends?
Speaker 6 (27:04):
All right, he's solid, he's top top above league average.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
How's that? I'm two tight ends, three receivers, good back.
And I also think I like both their tackles. I
mean I think they're GM A former offensive tackle Ryan Poles,
I think he's hit on some of these offensive linemen.
This is not your typical number one team. This is
not a bad roster. This is a really as the
league pivots to offense, they got dudes, they got speed,
(27:28):
they got over the top guys underneath guys.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
So if you're ranking the one PM games, this has
to be well, actually, no, no, this is number one.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
No, this is the number one game. I'm listen, it's
better if Caleb wins in Chicago wins because let's let's
let's the NFL maneuvers their schedule. This is a good
opener for them. Tennessee's got a quarterback that nobody likes.
They got a brand new staff, they're on the road.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
There's a lot of They got at least like nine
new starters. When you combine offense.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Their quarterback can play.
Speaker 6 (28:03):
Most say, no, well, we know their offensive coordinator, the
guy who was in Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Now the head goes, he's good.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yeah, you know, I know, I expect them to.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Dial up some offense and maybe Levis looks really good.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Now, let's just.
Speaker 6 (28:16):
Let's just hypothetically say Bears lose thirty to twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Good game, but a.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Loss, it changes everything for the Bears.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
It kind of does, right.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I just Will Levis is not winning a shootout. Now
Will Levis can win, He's not winning a shootout.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
I let's just let's see a game first.
Speaker 6 (28:36):
You know, the more you talk about, like, hey, easing
into week one, I understand there's a lot of newness,
so many can new coordinators around.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
The league hits. I still have not made a final
decision on Blazing five. Well, you're gonna no.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
No.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I suggested that I would consider it. You went over
the top, like I gave you an ice cream for
breakfast when I just bought ice cream, put it in
the fridge until you're getting it for breakfast.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
But you at least have three or fours that you
really like it.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
I have two plays that I like and three I
can tolerate. Sort of how your Herd Line news goes
a couple. I like, if you I tolerate Jmack for
the news, Well.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
That's the news. And thanks for stopping by the herd Line.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Note. All right, top of the hour. My final picks
before we get into the season. Coming up next. Albert Breer,
by the way, releases this before the season. Every year
he goes to GM's coaches, assistant GMS, personnel directors, execs,
O coordinators, quarterback coaches. He says, give me your top
five quarterbacks. The results are out and there's one that's
(29:38):
very interesting. Next, I just discovered JLab headphones. I'm hooked.
JLab the best audio products in the game at great prices.
Take care of you this football season. Find the Blue
Box at an airport, Walmart, Target, best Buy, or visit
JLab dot com.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
He's Mike Carmen. I'm Dan Bayern.
Speaker 9 (30:02):
We have a fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
That's right Dan.
Speaker 10 (30:07):
Every week we're gonna scour the waiver wire to find
the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup, sit starts,
fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate
the competition.
Speaker 9 (30:18):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmon and
meet Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast and
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
Big Noon Saturday, third ranked Texas clash with tenth Frank
Michigan in the Big House. Big Noon Kickoff gets it
started at nine am when the appearances by Derek Jeter,
Matthew McConaughey, Captain bay garls Woodson, and Chris Webber Ok
BOYD plus performances by money Bag Yo, then Cats Texas, Michigan.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
And none on Fox. By the way, I just watched
the Netflix special a couple of days ago on Connor Stallions.
I'd hire that guy in one second. I would hire
Connor Stallions in one second. You know what you found
out and I appreciate eight. I think it was Dan
Wetzel the Reporter and Netflix being honest about it, is
that there's a subculture of sign stealing. It's legal, everybody's
(31:11):
doing it. And when when Harbaugh got to Michigan, they
were so far behind Ohio State and everybody else in
the country doing it that they had to figure out
a guy to get and they went and got this
kid from the Naval Academy, Connor Stallions. I think, I
don't think anything less of Michigan Harbaugh. I'd hire Connor
Stallions tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Wait, what is this on again?
Speaker 1 (31:29):
This is the Connors. It's on Netflix. It's the Connor Stallions.
I love the kid. He was just he was just
smarter than everybody else stealing signs. That's all he was.
Series or no, it was like a ninety minute, I thought,
and I appreciated Netflix and Wetzel being honest about it.
There's a subculture out there. This is what I kept
talking about on the show. I kept saying, guys, all
my coaching buddies are like Colin, We're all doing it
(31:51):
non stop. It's like it's like it's everybody's doing it.
It's like it's like speeding on the freeway. So I'm
not going to get outraiged you. Now, if you're doing
one hundred and fifty miles an hour in a school zone,
you deserve a slap on the wrist. But if you're speeding,
everybody's speeding. Man. I sped here this morning, got on
the off ramp as they were pursuing me, just got
(32:12):
back to work, just saying I loved it. Okay, So
Albert Breer, he'll be on last hour Greg Cosell. Next
hour starts. We're ready to roll with Greg Cosell. My
final NFL predictions in fifteen minutes. So Albert Breer does this.
He goes to GMS quarterback coaches, assistant GMS execs, head coaches,
(32:34):
personnel directors. He goes to all these guys and he
asks them give me your top five quarterbacks quarterback list.
So I think this is really interesting and instructive. So,
I mean, I don't disagree with any of it. I
think these guys are all smart. Mahomes won for the
radio audience that can't see this. Burrow two, Allen three,
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson four, CJ. Stroud. I don't disagree.
(32:57):
I'd probably put Stafford ahead of him. But the kid
can play staff at six, Aaron Rodgers seven, Justin Herbert eight,
Jordan Love nine. I don't have a problem with any
of it. Here's where it's interesting. Brought Purty ten, Dak
Prescott eleven. And I'm gonna make the argument and you're
gonna be uncomfortable with this. They're the same guy, and
(33:18):
gms in the NFL see it. Both Brought Perty and
Dak Prescott mid to late rounds. Neither has a huge arm.
Both are high character guys with a lot of starts
in college. Both you trust at the podium. You both
trust the young men to run your offense. They're not
world class ad livers. They don't have elite arm talent.
(33:43):
There's no proof either one can carry an average roster,
and this will be Dak's most average offensive roster. But
there is proof that if you stack the roster like
Dak early when he had the O line and Zeke
and Aamari Cooper, they can win double digit games. Brought
Perty's done the same. They are the same guy. One
has a star in the helmet and is rich. One
(34:05):
is with the iconic forty nine ers and is not.
But they were guys that had a lot of reps
in college overlooked by people. Mid to late round picks
go do an offensive coach and a really really stacked
offensive roster and are productive and play for nothing for
years and make the owners a lot of money. And
then eventually Dak gets paid. You have to move off
(34:28):
some teammates and he's just sort of not gonna win
the big games. And eventually my concern with Purdy here,
in a year or two, you're gonna have to pay him.
They'll move off three or four of the top players,
and he won't win as many big games. But Perty
and Dak Prescott, the GMS are telling you it's the
same guy. One's ten to one eleven and no gap.
(34:48):
It is the same guy. And it doesn't sound right.
And I know I've been tough on Brock Purty, but
Brock Purtty's going one hundred and eleven passer rating. And
if you go to Dak's rookie year when he had
that O line and Zeke, Dak was just putting up numbers.
So I this like makes everybody uncomfortable. But Dak, since
(35:09):
they've paid in the big money, he doesn't work with
as many elite players and they can win regular season games.
But they just got boat raced at home by the
youngest playoff team since nineteen seventy Green Bay. And that's
really what they are. And I think if you ever
paid brock Purty, that's what you'd see. He wouldn't have
a kittle and probably a debo And can you keep
all these elements? You have to hit on more draft
(35:31):
picks and you end up with a good roster, not
an amazing roster, and that's what Dallas is. So I
think that's kind of interesting. I mean, I'm eight years
into Dak. I know what I have. I'm not that
many years into brock Purty. But the NFL GM to
Albert Brewer are telling you what you have. So yesterday
we had, by the way, Dak's first twenty five starts,
(35:51):
he had a passer rating over one hundred. Why because
he had a great online in, a great run game
and great weapons, And brock Purty's got one hundred and eleven.
He's got it even better assortment of weapons with the
Niners that Dak did early with the Cowboys, and a
better play caller. So there you go. So sometimes when
you have a business change, there's unintended consequences or sometimes
(36:17):
when there's a big change in any business, you have
unintended benefits. So for years and years I have complained
about something in college football, and you know, I love it.
There's not enough great games. Yeah, one or two over
the course of the weekend. But why is everybody ducking opponents?
(36:38):
But I'm watching USC play LSU. USC wins, but LSU
over the next four weeks is going to clobber people.
They don't play Georgia, they host Alabama. LSU can absolutely
make the playoff. If Michigan loses to Texas this weekend,
which is what I believe will happen. Texas has completely
stacked Texas as Michigan last year. If Michigan runs the table,
(37:02):
even loses to Ohio State at the end, which I
predict they will maybe soundly, they can still make the playoff.
Sark was talking about that yesterday on the show, about
playing Michigan early in the season. Could it help you
down the line.
Speaker 11 (37:18):
I do think there's a rhyme and reason to everything
that we're trying to accomplish and what we're trying to
do and developing our team in our program.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
But in the end, I.
Speaker 11 (37:28):
Do think it allots you to play in games like
this and not feel like, man, if we don't win
this game, we have to be perfect the rest of
the way. I do think it allots you to expose
your team to some tough environments, to play against quality opponents,
to get yourself ready for conference play, and then not
have to feel the repercussions if you don't come out
on top.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
And I think that's always been the biggest advantage NFL
to college is the NFL's got six big games every weekend,
and there'll be two weekends every college football season, sometimes three,
but this maybe one game. And that's for one hundred
and thirty Division one programs. NFL's got thirty two and
I get six seven big games every weekend, And so
(38:09):
I think the unintended benefit of the twelve team playoff
will be you can play more games like this. LSU's fine.
They could lose to Alabama and USC and still make
the playoff. They don't play Georgia, and by the way,
Michigan can lose to Texas and Ohio State. They probably
(38:29):
would have to beat USC hard to lose back to
back games. You'll really follow the top fifteen, Top twenty,
but I mean if USC would have lost, they have
a game against Penn State and Michigan and Notre Dame.
You win those games, you're in. So that's what's so
nice to me about the twelve team playoff is so
many of these top programs you were basically scheduling not
(38:51):
to lose. I mean, how many times did Nick Saban
take his team west? How many times did Nick Saban,
after about his first three or four years at Bama,
plan out a conference game against a great team and
he was on the road. Well, the SCC schedule, it's
not that much greater. I watched the Big ten go
(39:11):
seventeen and one this weekend. You got to stop on that.
So I like the idea that a Georgia will just
say I'm going on the road, or a Tennessee like
we're heading north, we're heading west. I appreciate the fact
that USC opened with LSU and closes with Notre Dame,
both games out of conference. What's the benefit. Wouldn't you
(39:32):
rather just they don't play Oregon in Ohio State? If
they could beat Michigan, I mean, they only had like
one game where they may not have as good as
personnel Penn State, but instead USC LSU, early Notre Dame,
late Penn State, Michigan in the middle. Like that's we
all win on that, we all benefit on more big games.
(39:52):
I mean, it's funny. Years and years ago, Nick Saban
was complaining about Alabama's attendance. It's like, what do you
expect You're playing Citadel. What do college kids have stuff
to do? It's called frats and sororities and parties, get
in the car and have some fun. So you know,
you start complaining about, well, we don't have kids at
the game. I guarantee you Texas Michigan. I watched that
LSU USC game in Vegas. That's crazy. It may have
(40:15):
been a sixty forty LSU splay. That's crazy environment. The
sc people, they may have flown in the day of
the game. LSU was there for four days. But that's
what college football needs. More of these gigantic games that
pop on television and now you can lose them. It's okay.
I believe there will be a three loss team that
makes the playoffs. I really believe that. I don't think
(40:37):
they'll be multiple. I think it will most I don't
think anybody's going undefeated, even even Georgia I think everybody's
losing the game. It's gonna be one and two loss teams.
And you watch in that fourteen that eleven spot, because
twelve will go to Boise State or Liberty or something
like that, Utah. You watch in that ten to eleven spot,
you're gonna get a really good team that lost two
games in overtime. You'll get like a Tennessee that like
(40:59):
beats some big dogs, but you know, loses a great
game or two in overtime on the road. And we
talk ourselves into we got to put Tennessee in this thing.
I got too many NFL bodies. We all win and
that's good, all right. Top of next hour, My final
NFL predictions before the season kicks off tonight. Ravens Chiefs
in Kansas City. Greg Cosell stopping by. Can't wait for
(41:23):
that Harba. This weekend opens up with the Chargers. Oh
my lord, it's Goosebumps, man, it is Goosebumps. Hour two
on a Thursday, Live in La.
Speaker 11 (41:38):
Next
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Here we go. NFL season starts ton Iye, Chiefs Ravens
live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may
be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making
us part of your morning, your afternoon. One hour from now.
My final NFL predictions going into the season. Couple of alterations.
(00:46):
That's it. Feel very strongly, kind of like the Chiefs tonight.
Not in love with it. Be very careful about this
opening week Jmac. Also, we'll do our Big ten Bets,
a new thing we introduce on Thursdays. At the end
of the second hour, we line up go against each
other for the year. Big bets. Big ten Bets Texas Michigan.
This weekend is unbelievable. So here we are. I'm so
(01:08):
glad I'm in sports and not politics. It's all joy
and happy and finality and standings. We're lucky what we
do for a living, right.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Very fortunate. Hashtag bust.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
All right, here we go, let's just start here. I
always do Super Bowl bubbles about once a month. Once
every five weeks, I'll do you a Super Bowl bubble.
Here's my super Bowl bubble to start the season for
the radio audience. I think there's, to be honest, seven
eight teams should be favorites in the NFC Detroit, Green Bay,
(01:38):
San Francisco. I'm high on the Rams. In the AFC,
the Texans, the Bills, yeah, Josh Allen Mahomes, Kansas City,
and the Ravens. I think four teams are just on
the outside. I've got a question I need to see resolved. Philadelphia.
Love the roster, love the quarterback, love almost everything, ownership GM.
(02:00):
I'm a little worried about the coach and the quarterback
relationship and the coach overall, Cincinnati, Joe Burrow's health. I
wish I had the Jets defense and Miami's offense as
one team, but they're so good at one thing. Jets defense,
Miami offense. I'll keep them on the periphery. But there's
hope here. So there you go eight in the bubble
(02:23):
and four on the outside. As may change, we always
have a surprise team. But that feels right. I really
think the Texans have a legitimate chance to get to
a conference championship. They have turned that franchise around with
the right coach, the right GM, and the right quarterback.
All these teams, all these teams have one thing in common.
They have a good quarterback. I know, I know Brock Perdy,
(02:44):
but he has one hundred and eleven passer rating. He's
a good quarterback. I don't think he's a star, but
he's a good quarterback. But they don't all have an established,
proven coach. We don't know what Robert Soli really is.
But tonight what you're seeing, frankly, is what the model
of the league is. Chiefs Ravens the two winning his
(03:05):
teams in this sport since the Patrick Mahomes era started. Ownership,
front office, coach, quarterback, roster drafting development. This is how
you do it. And yet Baltimore, one of the two
model franchises in the league, always leaves us unsatisfied, proving
(03:28):
how difficult it is to win in this sport, mostly
because of two people. In the last decade. Two people
have had a stranglehold on this league. One has retired
Tom Brady, one is moving into his prime. Been there
probably a couple of years. Patrick Mahomes. Five of the
last six Trophies have been hoisted by Brady or Mahomes,
(03:49):
and eight of the last ten Super Bowls Brady or
Mahomes have appeared in it. So you and I for
the next six months can talk about speedy wide receivers
and tough tight ends and lever running backs and smart
coordinators and brilliant young offensive coaches Brady and Mahomes, and
even the quarterbacks capable capable of beating Mahomes in a
(04:12):
January game. Joe Burrow can't stay healthy. Lamar Jackson kind
of freezes in the headlights. Josh Allen won too many mistakes.
It illustrates once again just how damn hard it is
to win. And it's why I support Josh Allen and
Lamar Jackson. It's really hard to beat legends. Go ask
(04:35):
Peyton Manning and Big Ben with Brady, and go ask
Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. It's just
incredibly hard. Kansas City's got everything right owner front office president, GM, quarterback, weapon,
pass rusher, draft develop they had everything right and Baltimore's
(04:59):
got all almost everything right. And that's this sport inches
not feet. And Tom Brady earlier this week on this
show talked about the challenges tonight for Baltimore and the
opening game of the season.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
When you lose in the playoffs, you want to think
about our how are we going to get over the
hump next year?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
What do we need to do?
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Where are deficiencies, where can we get a little better,
How can we improve our team a little bit so
when we get in these big games, we're more prepared
than the other team, got more margin of there, and look,
to win a super Bowl is absolutely incredibly difficult.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
There's only one team that does it.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Baltimore wants what the Chiefs got and that's why you
lead the season off the way they have it.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Ravens Chiefs. For the record, Brady's best offense never won
a Super Bowl. He had a ten year gap. The
best player that's ever played, the most dominant productive player.
Tom Brady went a decade no super bowls, and those
were his best offenses. Randy Moss teams blew people out.
(06:03):
That's how hard it is. That's the challenge for Baltimore.
But Barkley was great and couldn't beat MJ. Phil was great,
couldn't get past Tiger enough. It's just really hard to
beat legends. Speaking of legends, right now, the most consistent
culture creator in American football, college or pro is Jim Harbaugh.
(06:29):
It's not say when he's retired. It's not Parcels he's
gone Belichick. Nope, Urban Meyer. In college doing TV, it's
Jim Harbaugh. Pre Harbaugh. Do you remember how bad Stanford
was one and eleven? Oh, they were good at the
academic thing, they were horrible at football. His first year
(06:53):
at Stanford, they flew down to Los Angeles as a
forty point underdog and beat the Trojans, who were number
two in the country. In Los Angeles. The San Francisco
forty nine ers pre Harball had not made the playoffs
in eight years. The roster was a mess. They had
no culture. Year one with Harbaugh thirteen and three NFC
(07:17):
Championship with a quarterback that was viewed as a bust.
Alex Smith Michigan was a tire fire pre Harball five
and seven one first round pick, a left tacker tackle
Taylor Lalan one first rounder in four years pre Harbaugh
(07:38):
first year, ten and three and oh, by the way,
this last year, what do they have thirteen fourteen guys drafted?
Stanford was a disaster, Niners were a disaster, Michigan was
a disaster. And now here comes Sudini pre Harba. The
Chargers last year had a virtual mutiny with their players.
(08:00):
Five and twelve, worst locker room in the league, worst
big play defense in the league with a defensive coordinator.
And Jim walks into the building, by the way, a
brand new building in El Segundo, California. It's gorgeous. And
here's the guy that does this better than anybody currently
coaching football. He is the greatest repetitive culture creator. But
(08:23):
this time it's not a total rebuild. Khalil Mack bos
off the edge his first draft pick, Joe Wall best
tackle in the draft, to go along with Rashawn Slater,
edge rushers tackles above average. Oh, Justin Herbert. Nothing against
Alex Smith or his first quarterback at Michigan, but Justin
(08:47):
Herbert's really good. Jim Harbaugh this week, who was a
quarterback in the NFL. I think he's got a little twinkle.
He's been very optimistic. He's almost been funny this entire offseason.
Why because this isn't the Stanford rebuild, this isn't the
Niner rebuild, this isn't the Michigan rebuild. He's got Justin
(09:09):
Herbert and here's Harbaugh on him.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
He's like a human computer chip, you know, for a brain.
It's just the way he the way he thinks, the
way he can. He can, you know, go through information.
You don't get to the you know, disorb it, retain it,
remember it, disseminate it. I mean, it's it's really impressive.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
He's always reminded me Jim Harbaugh a little of the
late Steve Jobs. Jobs wasn't the best engineer right there.
We're smarter people in the building, but he understood, unlike
Microsoft at the time, the artistry of it. He was
selling image imagery, and he knew what he Wasn't Harbaugh
(09:54):
is not the best scheme guy in the NFL. Could
be Kyle Shanahan. Not the best scheme guy. But the
ability to change cultures college and pro is a real thing,
and nobody in the world is better at it. And
I got into this discussion a couple of months ago
and somebody said, God, Harbaugh's really lightened up. He's like
funny and likable, and I'm like, because Jim sees what
(10:17):
he's never seen before, which is a top five quarterback
in a rebuild. He usually had to go trade for one,
find one, recruit one. Now he's got one, and that's
why he's so happy, happier than ever as he embarks
on a weekend one against the Raiders. J Mac, who's
(10:40):
got it better than us? Who has got nobody has
got it better than us?
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Yeah, I'll agree.
Speaker 6 (10:46):
I'll go ahead and agree with you there, except the
only problem is I don't know what to do with
the Chiefs. Ravens caid tonight you might be right. Yesterday
you were like, just watch it, it's gonna be great.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, I might take is Kansas City Steve Spagnola, who
is in a short list of the best defensive coordinators
in the league with a very good defense, almost all
of them returning, has had a little bit of wizardry.
He's had Lamar's number in the matchups. That's an advantage,
that's a coordinator advantage. They've had a lot of time
(11:16):
to prepare for a quarterback they've had success with. Also,
Kansas City lost this game last year to Detroit, so
they're not overlooking anybody. They got nipped last year. Remember
they weren't quite ready to go. They've also, I think
upgraded their receiving core. Rae Shi Rice established himself. You
got worthy of the ket out of Texas. They like
a lot. They brought in Juju Smith Schuster, that knows
(11:37):
their offense. I would go Kansas City here. I think
it's close, maybe a little low scoring. It's a feeling
out process in the first quarter. But this is what
the NFL does better than any league, and the NBA
is pretty good at it too. They understand they're a
TV product. This is the game you'd want for Week one.
(11:57):
This is the game.
Speaker 6 (11:58):
The problem is all we've talked about the Chiefs all
summer is Super.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Bowl three peat.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Can they do it? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
This gamemate circled on the calendar.
Speaker 6 (12:05):
But Baltimore, you know, is locked in after getting destroyed
and kind of embarrassed in the AF you're at home.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
It was a clunker, terrible.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Game plan, you know, the offensive coordinator, even Harbaugh, by
the way, I saw Harball twelve and four against the
spread in week one games in his career, like he's
gonna be dialed in, They're gonna be ready. I don't
know if there's urgency for the Chiefs in week one
to show up and we got to win this game,
you know fair enough.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in neon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
You're now entering the No Bull Zone sponsored by Credible
Great Rates. None of the bowls, So all distractions in
the NFL are not equal. And the Kansas City Chiefs
open the season at home against Baltimore tonight, and there's
this sense that it's been a very noisy off season
for Kansas City, and I would argue again, not all
(12:59):
to distractions are equal. Take Kansas City and the Jets.
The Jets issues could be disruptive. They need a pass
rusher and he's held out. They thought they had him
and then they didn't, and then he held out and
he's still not starting. And they have an offensive coordinator
that they strongly considered hiring another coach to call plays
(13:22):
for him. The quarterback took a shot at the coach.
Coach took a shot at the quarterback, rebuilding the old line.
Those are disruptions that could affect a locker room or
an outcome. Kansas City's issues, to me, aren't disruptive. Rashid Rice.
In the offseason, a young kid did something stupid. It's
(13:43):
called your twenties. The players had his back and so
did the team. Harrison Butker politics. Most of the players
agree with him. It's politics. Nobody cares in that locker room.
What about Travis Swift, Travis Kelsey, Well, it could be
you know, Travis Kelcey, the Swifties. What are we gonna
(14:05):
Nobody cares. This is just Hollywood and fun and music.
Nobody cares. The Jets have realuption disruptions, the Chiefs. You know,
it's a difference between on your couch, scrolling on your
phone and in your car and traffic Scrolling on your phone.
One has consequences. One's just wasting time and screwing off.
(14:26):
So h Taylor Swift, Travis Kelcey means nothing. Harrison Butker
means nothing. Rashid Rice doesn't mean nothing. But young players
in the league make mistakes, even big ones. You'll find
overwhelmingly that Kansas City from the first moment on had
his back, scold him, have his back. Those are not
(14:47):
outcome changers. Those are not locker room dividers. The media
thinks Harrison Butker is a locker room divider. I'm here
to tell you zero zero influence, So in can't. The
city is also built for this owner A plus, GM
president quarterback coach experienced a plus plus. They're built to
(15:11):
overcome any little fissure in the chemistry, any little speed
bump driving to the stadium. They have stars at GM
coach quarterback. The Jets owners are the disruptors, are the
chaos creators. Big difference. They don't have proven leadership. Aaron
(15:36):
makes a situation that's noisy, noisier, he responds to everything.
He's got Rabbit ears. Sala responds to everything. Woodie Johnson
and Saala apparently had some shouting match last year. That's
not what Kansas City is going through. So Kansas City
is the model of leadership in this league, top down,
and that means you're built to handle Rashi, Rice Harrison Butker,
(16:01):
Travis Kelcey, I mean, Andy Reid's appearing in commercials. Everybody's
all in New England had some stuff in the offseason.
But they had such great leadership with Craft early days,
Poli and Belichick and Brady A that stuff got in
the way of winning. That's the great advantage Baltimore's had issues.
(16:23):
It never gets in the way of winning. Little tiny
fissures with the Jets implode because they don't handle it.
They don't have leadership in the locker room. They don't
have it at quarterback coach owner over the last twenty
five years. So not all distractions are equal. I'm reading
Diana Russini as a column today talking about the offseason
(16:44):
for the Chiefs, and there's been a lot of turbulence
in movement. But it's the world's most well, it's America's
most popular sport. And Andie reads the best coach, and
Mahomes is the biggest star, and Travis Kelsey's hanging out
with Taylor Swift. It's gonna be turbulence. This is douc
be a cross country flight without an air pocket. You
gotta bounce around, although he go spell coffee. But Kansas
(17:06):
City's built to withstand anything, just like New England was
for twenty years. And you can go back to the flight.
Gayton Spy Gayton. They had all sorts of stuff never
got in the way of wins. I watched the documentary
on New England they won a Super Bowl and the
player said, it was the hardest season we ever had.
It wasn't any fun. They hoisted a trophy. Remember last
(17:26):
year at the end of the year for Kansas City,
players said this was the hard one. This was exactly.
I mean, you got Travis Kelcey and Andy reading the
Super Bowl, banging heads, banging head sets, and they hoisted
a trophy. Greatness is not just playing catching footballs throwing football.
It's leadership and the teams like the Baltimore's and San
Francisco Kansas City, they're built for the bumps. Jmck with
(17:50):
the news, No, no, no, turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
This is the Herdline news.
Speaker 6 (17:57):
We haven't dug much into Rams Lion Sunday idea. Why
sway really really good game. This is Matthew Stafford returning
to Detroit, where he was a folk hero for many years.
Last season, of course, he took the Rams into Detroit.
They lost a tight wildcard matchup. Very good game, fans,
(18:17):
Let Safford hear about it. Here's what he had to say.
About facing that hostile Detroit crowd again.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I feelly crowd a hundred percent motivating factor. Love it.
I want to hear all of it. I want to
smell it.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
I want to feel like it's football, and.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
That's part of football, especially going to an away games.
So that stuff, you know, just motivates me. You know,
you and I have said this before. I can really
like a team but not love them. In Week one,
I really like the Rams. They're not going seventeen to no.
I would take Detroit in this game. I mean, I
really really like Bo Nixon. Denver overachieved this year. I
(18:52):
don't like him at Seattle in Week one against a young,
smart defensive coordinator. You and I both love Houston. You
think they're gonna losing Week one of the Colds. So
you know, I can think two things at one time.
I love the Rams. I love the schedule, but they've
had some preseason offensive line issues, so it's a little
makeshift on the offensive line center to guard tackles moving around.
(19:16):
Haven'stey not healthy. So in Week one, I think the
Rams this is a tough spot for them. It's also
a standalone game. Detroit's got a super Bowl field Detroit's
got a better O line right now. Hutcheson had a
great camp. He could be the best pass rusher with
Max Crosby on the edge in the league. So I
think this is Detroit's game in the opener. I think
(19:38):
they are appropriately favored by overra a field goals.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
I've been waiting for the right time to spring this
on you. So last year, I know I was down
on the Rams and you were high, and they ended
up high. Do you remember how they started last season? Yes,
three and six, Colin, And then you look at that
November nineteenth game against Seattle. They were three and six,
hurtling towards disaster.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Yeah, they say it's got.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
To be right, and they come back to beat Seattle
at so far and then down the stretch here's who
They beat Arizona, which had massive quarterback issues.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
They were terrible.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
The Browns again quarterback issues, Watson backup, blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Lost that game to the Ravens.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
Beat the Commanders who stunk, beat the Saints who were awful,
beat the Giants who were atire fire, and then beat
the Niners in Week eighteen. Were like, they didn't play anybody,
So let's just chill out with the Rams exceeded expectations
last year.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
You remember when the Ravens last year were blowing out
the Niners and blowing out the Dolphins and blowing out
the Lions, and La flew cross country and outplayed them
and had them beat. That was one of those games.
I'm not just impressed when you win. There are times.
There are times I watched a team that loses and think, oh,
(20:48):
that's a moment. And by the way, that Rams Baltimore game,
you can all you said was true. Baltimore was rolling people.
They humiliated Detroit. He's humiliated Detroit in two years. It
was a woodshed game. It was like white flag, it's over,
and the Rams outplayed them, went to overtime. So it's
like that to me was the okay, And they beat
(21:10):
San Francisco. San Francisco playing backups. I mean, they have
nine Pro Bowlers, then they win a playoff game, then
they'll play from the NFC Championship. And they had by
the way, they were the youngest team outside of Green
Bay in the league, and they had a great draft.
Watch out. I just think this game is built for Detroit.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Buil Yeah at home, I'm kind of with you. I
like the Lions a little bit. Let's go to the
next story, and that's the Niners.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
Brandon Ayuk done deal, Trent Williams in the building.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Everybody's excited.
Speaker 6 (21:41):
Next in line, though, Colin rock Purty, the third year quarterback,
will be eligible for an extension at the end of
the season, and Trent Williams wants to be a key
factor in getting him a raise.
Speaker 7 (21:52):
I went on my teammates, he get pay I wanted
to get every riscent? Did they deserve every riscent that
they can? So brock is obviously outplayed mistery relevant contract.
So I mean I would be thrilled, absolutely thrilled to
not only seebit, to watch his life change, you know,
(22:13):
after something like that, because he deserves it. Super super
proud of him.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Now.
Speaker 7 (22:18):
I love the kid to death. He deserves every dollar
coming his way, and yeah, I want to be a
part to help him get to what exactly he deserves.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
So he's got one hundred and eleven passer ratings so
far in his career. He makes good decisions, moves well enough,
not a huge arm, good enough, He's a lot of
good enough with a great coach, a great supporting cast
and I will say this, he makes the right throw.
And that's what Shanahan loves with him. That's what Sam
Darnold admitted being his backup. This guy upstairs, he's moving fast,
(22:49):
he makes the right throw. He rarely lets go with
the ball and you go uh oh. And that's a
big part of Kyle Shannon. That's why Kyle Shanahan like
Kirk Cousins, Kirk makes the right throw. Kirk doesn't move
that great, doesn't have a big arm. Kirk throws it
to where he's supposed to throw it. And for the record,
even Garoppolo mostly knew what he was and wasn't. Garoppolo
didn't throw it the sideline. He knew he didn't have
(23:10):
the arm strength. Garoppolo was great between the hash marks.
That's what Kyle wanted. So Kyle and Brock, so much
of life is fit. It's really a good fit. You
don't have a guy running out of plays. He didn't
have a prickly attitude rolling his eyes. The play comes in,
Brock runs it and throws to the right spot with
just enough mobility to occasionally and this is a big deal.
(23:34):
They couldn't do this with a Garoppolo just enough mobility
to move the pocket just enough.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
It's weird because I think of the Purty story and
where he's come, where he's been. Yeah, I don't know
how there's a better quarterback story in the league than Brock.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
That was great.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
It's amazing. If he would have won that Super Bowl color.
Speaker 6 (23:52):
If they would have had a touchdown instead of a
field goal in overtime, Like, what's a better story than that?
Speaker 3 (23:57):
You were the dead last pick in the draft.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
Remember at Iowa first couple of years he was projected, Oh,
this maybe an NFL guy, and then he just wasn't.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Very good, right, and then all of a sudden he's
like lights out in the NFL, Like this is just
that's yeah, this is really.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
The WNBA has a little bit of this now because
their players stay in college for so long. What makes
the NFL draft grade and the WNBA draft increasingly interesting
is you get grown ups and they're ready to play.
I mean, Brock Purty's got three four years starting, he's
ready to play. He's had to carry an Iowa State
roster and against Texas Oklahoma. So and what's great about
the NFL half the rosters are undrafted, so it's It's
(24:36):
just that this league is built on hope and optimism
and overcoming and challenging. It's not all glitzy and stars
and international. It is dudes from Iowa State getting last
drafted and ending up on the best roster in the
league and delivery. That's why of the many things that
are great about that you can go from Houston, the
laughingstock of the league, to a playoff team, and on
(24:58):
an individual basis, you can be brought pretty. There's so
much hope and optimism for the players for the franchise
of the season, the season.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Speaking of hope and optimism, Caleb Williams makes his debut
Sunday against the Titans in the early window. Very excited,
although Tennessee money kind of starting to show the last
couple of days. Uh. Anyway, the first overall pick, Caleb
Williams has never lacked confidence, and Keenan Allen says, it
only continues to climb with confidence.
Speaker 8 (25:27):
You know, he's been he's always been the guy, you know,
and uh, when we first had Herbert, he wasn't really
the starter going into week one, So that's that's the difference.
And you know, he's always, like I said, he's always
been the guy, so he's always had the expectation of
playing at that at that level that we play at.
So you know, I think he's ready for I think
except for the task. You know, like I said, confidence
that you know, no matter who the quarterback is, you
(25:49):
want to win. And you know, I wouldn't rather be
with another guy right now than Caleb. You know, I
think he showed great.
Speaker 7 (25:58):
I don't know, uh what is it called.
Speaker 8 (25:59):
He gotten better ever since we've started, and you know,
I think the confidence is through the roof.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
By the way, I'm a little nervous here. If you
go look at rookie quarterbacks starting their first game in
week one, it's like three and twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
It's not good.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
And this some of these lines Tennessee plus four. If
it goes to Tennessee plus four, would you take the Titans.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
No, No, this is stay away from me.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Stay away from me too.
Speaker 6 (26:26):
But interesting point on that rookie quarterbacks. Remember you go
number one overall, you're going.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
To a crap team.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
But that's not the case exactly.
Speaker 6 (26:33):
They won seven games and they got Carolina's pick at one,
so they're not awful.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
They're actually I think they got a.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
Lot of guys on this team.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
No, this they're they're offensively. If you look at DeAndre Swift,
Cole Commette, Gerald Everett, DJ Moore, Roma Dunze, Keenan Allen,
that is a top half. That's a top six skill
group in I mean, I mean, seriously, take out Ceedee Lamb.
No other cowboy plays what offense? Well, who's playing offensive league.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
For ferguson the tight ends?
Speaker 6 (27:04):
All right, he's solid, he's top top above league average.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
How's that? I'm two tight ends, three receivers, good back.
And I also think I like both their tackles. I
mean I think they're GM A former offensive tackle Ryan Poles,
I think he's hit on some of these offensive linemen.
This is not your typical number one team. This is
not a bad roster. This is a really as the
league pivots to offense, they got dudes, they got speed,
(27:28):
they got over the top guys underneath guys.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
So if you're ranking the one PM games, this has
to be well, actually, no, no, this is number one.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
No, this is the number one game. I'm listen, it's
better if Caleb wins in Chicago wins because let's let's
let's the NFL maneuvers their schedule. This is a good
opener for them. Tennessee's got a quarterback that nobody likes.
They got a brand new staff, they're on the road.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
There's a lot of They got at least like nine
new starters. When you combine offense.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Their quarterback can play.
Speaker 6 (28:03):
Most say, no, well, we know their offensive coordinator, the
guy who was in Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Now the head goes, he's good.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yeah, you know, I know, I expect them to.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Dial up some offense and maybe Levis looks really good.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Now, let's just.
Speaker 6 (28:16):
Let's just hypothetically say Bears lose thirty to twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Good game, but a.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Loss, it changes everything for the Bears.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
It kind of does, right.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I just Will Levis is not winning a shootout. Now
Will Levis can win, He's not winning a shootout.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
I let's just let's see a game first.
Speaker 6 (28:36):
You know, the more you talk about, like, hey, easing
into week one, I understand there's a lot of newness,
so many can new coordinators around.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
The league hits. I still have not made a final
decision on Blazing five. Well, you're gonna no.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
No.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I suggested that I would consider it. You went over
the top, like I gave you an ice cream for
breakfast when I just bought ice cream, put it in
the fridge until you're getting it for breakfast.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
But you at least have three or fours that you
really like it.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
I have two plays that I like and three I
can tolerate. Sort of how your Herd Line news goes
a couple. I like, if you I tolerate Jmack for
the news, Well.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
That's the news. And thanks for stopping by the herd Line.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Note. All right, top of the hour. My final picks
before we get into the season. Coming up next. Albert Breer,
by the way, releases this before the season. Every year
he goes to GM's coaches, assistant GMS, personnel directors, execs,
O coordinators, quarterback coaches. He says, give me your top
five quarterbacks. The results are out and there's one that's
(29:38):
very interesting. Next, I just discovered JLab headphones. I'm hooked.
JLab the best audio products in the game at great prices.
Take care of you this football season. Find the Blue
Box at an airport, Walmart, Target, best Buy, or visit
JLab dot com.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
He's Mike Carmen. I'm Dan Bayern.
Speaker 9 (30:02):
We have a fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
That's right Dan.
Speaker 10 (30:07):
Every week we're gonna scour the waiver wire to find
the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup, sit starts,
fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate
the competition.
Speaker 9 (30:18):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmon and
meet Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast and
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
Big Noon Saturday, third ranked Texas clash with tenth Frank
Michigan in the Big House. Big Noon Kickoff gets it
started at nine am when the appearances by Derek Jeter,
Matthew McConaughey, Captain bay garls Woodson, and Chris Webber Ok
BOYD plus performances by money Bag Yo, then Cats Texas, Michigan.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
And none on Fox. By the way, I just watched
the Netflix special a couple of days ago on Connor Stallions.
I'd hire that guy in one second. I would hire
Connor Stallions in one second. You know what you found
out and I appreciate eight. I think it was Dan
Wetzel the Reporter and Netflix being honest about it, is
that there's a subculture of sign stealing. It's legal, everybody's
(31:11):
doing it. And when when Harbaugh got to Michigan, they
were so far behind Ohio State and everybody else in
the country doing it that they had to figure out
a guy to get and they went and got this
kid from the Naval Academy, Connor Stallions. I think, I
don't think anything less of Michigan Harbaugh. I'd hire Connor
Stallions tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Wait, what is this on again?
Speaker 1 (31:29):
This is the Connors. It's on Netflix. It's the Connor Stallions.
I love the kid. He was just he was just
smarter than everybody else stealing signs. That's all he was.
Series or no, it was like a ninety minute, I thought,
and I appreciated Netflix and Wetzel being honest about it.
There's a subculture out there. This is what I kept
talking about on the show. I kept saying, guys, all
my coaching buddies are like Colin, We're all doing it
(31:51):
non stop. It's like it's like it's everybody's doing it.
It's like it's like speeding on the freeway. So I'm
not going to get outraiged you. Now, if you're doing
one hundred and fifty miles an hour in a school zone,
you deserve a slap on the wrist. But if you're speeding,
everybody's speeding. Man. I sped here this morning, got on
the off ramp as they were pursuing me, just got
(32:12):
back to work, just saying I loved it. Okay, So
Albert Breer, he'll be on last hour Greg Cosell. Next
hour starts. We're ready to roll with Greg Cosell. My
final NFL predictions in fifteen minutes. So Albert Breer does this.
He goes to GMS quarterback coaches, assistant GMS execs, head coaches,
(32:34):
personnel directors. He goes to all these guys and he
asks them give me your top five quarterbacks quarterback list.
So I think this is really interesting and instructive. So,
I mean, I don't disagree with any of it. I
think these guys are all smart. Mahomes won for the
radio audience that can't see this. Burrow two, Allen three,
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson four, CJ. Stroud. I don't disagree.
(32:57):
I'd probably put Stafford ahead of him. But the kid
can play staff at six, Aaron Rodgers seven, Justin Herbert eight,
Jordan Love nine. I don't have a problem with any
of it. Here's where it's interesting. Brought Purty ten, Dak
Prescott eleven. And I'm gonna make the argument and you're
gonna be uncomfortable with this. They're the same guy, and
(33:18):
gms in the NFL see it. Both Brought Perty and
Dak Prescott mid to late rounds. Neither has a huge arm.
Both are high character guys with a lot of starts
in college. Both you trust at the podium. You both
trust the young men to run your offense. They're not
world class ad livers. They don't have elite arm talent.
(33:43):
There's no proof either one can carry an average roster,
and this will be Dak's most average offensive roster. But
there is proof that if you stack the roster like
Dak early when he had the O line and Zeke
and Aamari Cooper, they can win double digit games. Brought
Perty's done the same. They are the same guy. One
has a star in the helmet and is rich. One
(34:05):
is with the iconic forty nine ers and is not.
But they were guys that had a lot of reps
in college overlooked by people. Mid to late round picks
go do an offensive coach and a really really stacked
offensive roster and are productive and play for nothing for
years and make the owners a lot of money. And
then eventually Dak gets paid. You have to move off
(34:28):
some teammates and he's just sort of not gonna win
the big games. And eventually my concern with Purdy here,
in a year or two, you're gonna have to pay him.
They'll move off three or four of the top players,
and he won't win as many big games. But Perty
and Dak Prescott, the GMS are telling you it's the
same guy. One's ten to one eleven and no gap.
(34:48):
It is the same guy. And it doesn't sound right.
And I know I've been tough on Brock Purty, but
Brock Purtty's going one hundred and eleven passer rating. And
if you go to Dak's rookie year when he had
that O line and Zeke, Dak was just putting up numbers.
So I this like makes everybody uncomfortable. But Dak, since
(35:09):
they've paid in the big money, he doesn't work with
as many elite players and they can win regular season games.
But they just got boat raced at home by the
youngest playoff team since nineteen seventy Green Bay. And that's
really what they are. And I think if you ever
paid brock Purty, that's what you'd see. He wouldn't have
a kittle and probably a debo And can you keep
all these elements? You have to hit on more draft
(35:31):
picks and you end up with a good roster, not
an amazing roster, and that's what Dallas is. So I
think that's kind of interesting. I mean, I'm eight years
into Dak. I know what I have. I'm not that
many years into brock Purty. But the NFL GM to
Albert Brewer are telling you what you have. So yesterday
we had, by the way, Dak's first twenty five starts,
(35:51):
he had a passer rating over one hundred. Why because
he had a great online in, a great run game
and great weapons, And brock Purty's got one hundred and eleven.
He's got it even better assortment of weapons with the
Niners that Dak did early with the Cowboys, and a
better play caller. So there you go. So sometimes when
you have a business change, there's unintended consequences or sometimes
(36:17):
when there's a big change in any business, you have
unintended benefits. So for years and years I have complained
about something in college football, and you know, I love it.
There's not enough great games. Yeah, one or two over
the course of the weekend. But why is everybody ducking opponents?
(36:38):
But I'm watching USC play LSU. USC wins, but LSU
over the next four weeks is going to clobber people.
They don't play Georgia, they host Alabama. LSU can absolutely
make the playoff. If Michigan loses to Texas this weekend,
which is what I believe will happen. Texas has completely
stacked Texas as Michigan last year. If Michigan runs the table,
(37:02):
even loses to Ohio State at the end, which I
predict they will maybe soundly, they can still make the playoff.
Sark was talking about that yesterday on the show, about
playing Michigan early in the season. Could it help you
down the line.
Speaker 11 (37:18):
I do think there's a rhyme and reason to everything
that we're trying to accomplish and what we're trying to
do and developing our team in our program.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
But in the end, I.
Speaker 11 (37:28):
Do think it allots you to play in games like
this and not feel like, man, if we don't win
this game, we have to be perfect the rest of
the way. I do think it allots you to expose
your team to some tough environments, to play against quality opponents,
to get yourself ready for conference play, and then not
have to feel the repercussions if you don't come out
on top.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
And I think that's always been the biggest advantage NFL
to college is the NFL's got six big games every weekend,
and there'll be two weekends every college football season, sometimes three,
but this maybe one game. And that's for one hundred
and thirty Division one programs. NFL's got thirty two and
I get six seven big games every weekend, And so
(38:09):
I think the unintended benefit of the twelve team playoff
will be you can play more games like this. LSU's fine.
They could lose to Alabama and USC and still make
the playoff. They don't play Georgia, and by the way,
Michigan can lose to Texas and Ohio State. They probably
(38:29):
would have to beat USC hard to lose back to
back games. You'll really follow the top fifteen, Top twenty,
but I mean if USC would have lost, they have
a game against Penn State and Michigan and Notre Dame.
You win those games, you're in. So that's what's so
nice to me about the twelve team playoff is so
many of these top programs you were basically scheduling not
(38:51):
to lose. I mean, how many times did Nick Saban
take his team west? How many times did Nick Saban,
after about his first three or four years at Bama,
plan out a conference game against a great team and
he was on the road. Well, the SCC schedule, it's
not that much greater. I watched the Big ten go
(39:11):
seventeen and one this weekend. You got to stop on that.
So I like the idea that a Georgia will just
say I'm going on the road, or a Tennessee like
we're heading north, we're heading west. I appreciate the fact
that USC opened with LSU and closes with Notre Dame,
both games out of conference. What's the benefit. Wouldn't you
(39:32):
rather just they don't play Oregon in Ohio State? If
they could beat Michigan, I mean, they only had like
one game where they may not have as good as
personnel Penn State, but instead USC LSU, early Notre Dame,
late Penn State, Michigan in the middle. Like that's we
all win on that, we all benefit on more big games.
(39:52):
I mean, it's funny. Years and years ago, Nick Saban
was complaining about Alabama's attendance. It's like, what do you
expect You're playing Citadel. What do college kids have stuff
to do? It's called frats and sororities and parties, get
in the car and have some fun. So you know,
you start complaining about, well, we don't have kids at
the game. I guarantee you Texas Michigan. I watched that
LSU USC game in Vegas. That's crazy. It may have
(40:15):
been a sixty forty LSU splay. That's crazy environment. The
sc people, they may have flown in the day of
the game. LSU was there for four days. But that's
what college football needs. More of these gigantic games that
pop on television and now you can lose them. It's okay.
I believe there will be a three loss team that
makes the playoffs. I really believe that. I don't think
(40:37):
they'll be multiple. I think it will most I don't
think anybody's going undefeated, even even Georgia I think everybody's
losing the game. It's gonna be one and two loss teams.
And you watch in that fourteen that eleven spot, because
twelve will go to Boise State or Liberty or something
like that, Utah. You watch in that ten to eleven spot,
you're gonna get a really good team that lost two
games in overtime. You'll get like a Tennessee that like
(40:59):
beats some big dogs, but you know, loses a great
game or two in overtime on the road. And we
talk ourselves into we got to put Tennessee in this thing.
I got too many NFL bodies. We all win and
that's good, all right. Top of next hour, My final
NFL predictions before the season kicks off tonight. Ravens Chiefs
in Kansas City. Greg Cosell stopping by. Can't wait for
(41:23):
that Harba. This weekend opens up with the Chargers. Oh
my lord, it's Goosebumps, man, it is Goosebumps. Hour two
on a Thursday, Live in La.
Speaker 11 (41:38):
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