September 6, 2024 • 41 mins
Colin can't believe the Chiefs managed to get better after winning back-to-back Super Bowls following their thrilling win over the Ravens to start the season
We shouldn't be criticizing Lamar Jackson for losing to Patrick Mahomes
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right. It is our first Football Friday live in
Los Angeles. It's The Herd. Wherever you may be, however
you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of
your day. I decided, I caved. I'm gonna do a
blazing five in one hour, and I've already I've already
wrote down on a ledger at home, oh and five.
I know I'm not gonna win any of these, but
(00:47):
I will say I love my picks. I just caved.
I finally said, you know what, it's football season. Who cares.
I mean a lot of good teams. I mean the
Ravens were good team. They lost their opener. It's okay,
you can survive. I'm gonna be okay. I do appreciate that.
(01:08):
Go Eagles, Yeah, Packers. Eagles play the night in Brazil,
which is kind of a weird place for the NFL's
second game of the year. But let's start with this.
Kansas City twenty seven Baltimore twenty I said this last
year and I've said it this year. Last year's Chiefs
team that may have been the team to beat because
(01:28):
they had a water pistol offense. I mean, they couldn't
move the ball, they had no deep threat. It was
it was dnk and dunk as much as Mahomes can
do that, and he had a chance to beat him,
and the league couldn't because that's not what they are anymore. Now,
Noah Grant, they got another tight end, and Noah Gray
(01:48):
and Travis Kelcey got two tight ends. Now you got
Xavier Worthy, a little bit of a gadget guy, but speed,
merchant over the top. They had lacked that for several years.
Rashid Rice looks like a number one, an absolute number one.
Hollywood Brown, who's dangerous, will return, and Juju Smith Schuster,
(02:09):
who they just reacquired, is gonna take him a while
to get up to speed, but he knows the offense.
He'll be like your number three or your number four
outside of right tackle, and they weren't good at right tackle.
Last year. This is a better team than last year,
much much faster offensively, much deeper at wide receiver, a
much more functional at wide receiver. And here's the thing.
(02:30):
Great companies in any business give you these little brief
moments to make up ground. And last year was the
year to make up ground because they couldn't score. They
were so vulnerable. They had to go on the road
in the playoffs to Baltimore. They had to go on
the road to Buffalo, and they still won. Last year
was the year to get him, and nobody got him.
(02:52):
They're not perfect. Mahomes had a terrible pick last night,
almost two. They were dominated in time of possession, and
their defense looked abs solute ly gassed at the end
of the football game. They're not perfect, but they're so
good in these close games. Number two in the NFL
last year in close games. They are so confident in
these games with the best coach and the best quarterback.
(03:13):
You got to wrap him up early in Baltimore, didn't now.
Xavier Worthy's fascinating. I said when he got drafted. He's
one hundred and sixty five pound track guy. Is not
gonna He's not gonna dominate the league. He's a gadget guy.
He's not gonna be a nine to ten to twelve
target guy. That's gonna be Rashi Rice. There are a lot
of guys in the league like that. Devonte Adams is
that guy. Jamar Chase when he get back, he's that guy.
(03:33):
Puka Nikool for the Rams, gonna be that guy. But
they needed a gadget guy. They kneeded it over to
the top guy. And yes he's small, and yes he's
he's I don't know how durable he is. He was
hurt a lot in college. But nobody in the NFL
is gonna draw plays better for Xavier Worthy than one
Andy Reid, and nobody will deliver the ball on those
drawn up plays better than Patrick Mahomes. So he really
(03:56):
is something they need. And last night Mahomes averaged ten
yards per attempt. That was more than any game last year.
And that was a lot of that's xavieror Worthy. He's
allowing other stuff to flourish. And so I watched him
last night and I'm thinking, man, you guys all had
a chance in this league. Got you got him on
(04:16):
the road in the playoffs last year and got Kansas
that he had to go on the road. Last year,
they could they didn't have any over the top element.
Last year they were you know, they were okay. In
the offensive line, they were insanely thin. I mean, Rashie
Rice was their best receiver last year and he looked
like a three. Well now he looks like a one.
And so my take is this is a much more
explosive version of the team that won the last two
(04:39):
Super Bowls. And here's Mahomes after.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Just having him out there and just opens up stuff.
And you saw when he's out there, they're playing shell coverages,
get his getting guys like trav and it's getting guys
like Rashee open underneath. And that's what's so great about
this offense is we're able to do all of that
and that's when that's when we're at our best. And so,
like I said, we'll get Hollywood out there too. It's
gonna be tough for defense to decide who they want
to cover.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
So, you know, Lamar Jackson is somebody I've spent the
last a better part of the last five years defending.
Last night twenty five first downs, more than Kansas City,
rushing first downs three times as many as Kansas City
third down efficiency much better than Kansas City. Interceptions none.
Kansas City had one time of possession. They dominated. Even
against a great, young, twitchy defense. The top defensive coordinator
(05:25):
arguably in the NFL, Steve Spagnola, was at wits end.
What do you do against this guy? Now? Lamar doesn't
throw the ball downfield? In my opinion, well enough, he
didn't throw it downfield like a josh A Stafford and
Aaron Rodgers of Mahomes. First half, he averaged one point
one air yards per attempt. Got better in the second half,
(05:45):
But he doesn't do that like the top four or
five guys in the league. And there's no way he
can play like he played last night. The rest of
the season. He took a beating sixteen carries. He was
like a running back, and he's lost weight, so he's thinner.
He cannot play that way. But I kind of understand
why last night he played that way because it's it's
Kansas City, it's his nemesis, it's his arch rival, it's
(06:07):
the team he's trying to get over. It's the Tiger
for Mickelson, it's the MJ for Barkley. I get it,
and so that effort is not a sustainable effort. Your
quarterback cannot take that beating. And I don't think he will.
I think he'll slide, he'll run out of bounds. He'll
have seven carries, not sixteen. He was so fired up
last night. He talked John Harball, one of the better
(06:30):
situational coaches in football, to go forward at midfield, and
you know the Chiefs carved it up, sniffed it out.
So I do think it was a unique night where
Lamar just said I want to do it. But I'll
tell you this, he is on a short list of
quarterbacks in this league, and it may be one or
two max that can get the ball at the noisiest
NFL stadium against the great defense, the league's best defensive coordinator.
(06:52):
There's one time out in a minute fifty left, and
he gets them to within an inch the end of
a cleat from potentially tying or winning the game. The
dude is one of one. He is so unique and
so great. People say, well, he didn't play that great.
Mahomes had a terrible pick and almost two. But Mahomes
is a legend. I talked about this the other day.
We spend so much time on shows like this, not
(07:14):
just mine. Others criticizing great players who can't beat legends.
You know what, who's beating Mahomes? And I thought Lamar
last night on that last drive, I compared it last
night on my podcast. I said, He's like if you
watched the high school football game and there was only
one Division IE player and it was a quarterback and
he was just running around making people miss. I mean,
(07:35):
Lamar makes other great players for Kansas City defensively totally flummixed,
and they're just kind of hoping he tires out. So
the only thing I saw between these two teams that
I think is trouble, especially for Baltimore, is offensive line play.
These are not great offensive lines. These are not the
Lions offensive lines. Baltimore's I think will get better. I
(07:56):
think Kansas City's is what it is. It's not going
to be great at right tackle. But I gotta tell
you I'm gonna defend Lamar Jackson forever. Minute fifty one
time out spags Kansas City arrowhead gets down to the
thirteen yard line. The kid is just absolutely unreal. Only Mahomes.
That's the last hurdle he can't get over. Just Mahomes
(08:18):
and nobody else can either here was Lamar after you'd
call Kansas City or Kryptonite in the past.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Is this is not my kryptman knite.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
What's that?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
It's not my krytmain knit. I would leave our offense
got a lot of got no additions, and we just
getting a trusted you know, I don't want to say
preseason is the reason, because it wasn't. Because we battle.
You know, you can see it with four points on
the board and you gotta do We gotta do it
in one of those games.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Simple listen, Kansas City's offense average seven point one yards
of play. Baltimore's offense average six point one yards of play.
In that yard is because of a broken coverage that
let Xavier Worth, you get a touchdown, You take that
broken coverage out. They both average about six yards of play.
That's a heavyweight fight. I grew up as a kid.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
It was all e.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Fraser fought three times, Alli won two Fraser one to one,
and I'm just waiting for that one big win for
Lamar and the Ravens. But that was great football, great teams,
great coaching, grant franchises. Lamar's getting past everybody. Just not
that guy and that last drive. I'm sitting there on
my couch thinking, who can do this? You find me
(09:25):
the court. I don't think there is anybody. I mean,
you find me a quarterback in this league, spags that defense,
Chris Jones, that pass rush Arrowhead Stadium, one time out,
minute fifty. You tell me who can do that drive?
I don't know. I don't see a lot of guys.
That's something else. And there's where we are after our
first game tonight. Thank you, James Jones. Tonight it's Green
(09:48):
Bay in Philadelphia. I like green Bay. You like Philadelphia.
That's a stayaway game for me. I'm gonna do the
Blazing five. That's not one of my picks that you know,
I say sometimes I just want to watch the game.
I want to watch the game. I don't know what
to make of it. I like Green Bay, but Brazil
throws everything off, So I don't feel like a game
in Mexico City or You're even the London games or
(10:09):
the European games had been a little quirky, you know,
like you go over there and you're like, it's just
a different feel. Brazil's other side of the earth. So
I don't know what I'm getting. But I thought last
night was spectacular.
Speaker 6 (10:20):
I would largely agree with spectacular night, but I totally
disagree with your Lamar Jackson take. I mean, you're like,
how many guys can do that? What did he do?
Miss receivers open in the end zone?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Well, that was that was a He did miss one.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
Receiver one for five on deep ball vase. I mean
that was he was off all right.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
But it should be noted the Mahomes had maybe one
of his worst picks at midfield and almost had a
second Lamar didn't. Lamar missed somebody in the end zone.
Speaker 6 (10:46):
Forgot the Lamar fumble, you know, But I mean, what's
taking all these hits?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Colin?
Speaker 6 (10:50):
Who does he think he is?
Speaker 1 (10:51):
I was done.
Speaker 6 (10:52):
That's not sustainable.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
It's not. But you have to remember sometimes certain opponents
are different, right, Like there are certain opponents in your life.
They're your rival games. I think Mahomes, I think Josh
Allen is gonna he's gonna take more hits against Mahomes.
I think if Josh Allen is playing Miami in Tua,
he's gonna step out of bounds. You're not gonna take
(11:15):
the hit. But I think I think if you go
to Manning or Big Ben and Brady in those games,
you're just you're gonna, you're gonna put yourself out there more.
And I think I think both Mahomes I mean, look
at look at Mahomes and Super Bowls. He's been hobbling
on the field in the fourth quarters of games.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Super Bowl versus Game one.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
But I mean, this is not a difficult one. This
isn't a big lift. There are moments in sports when
you're playing arrival Duke in Carolina, Michigan, Ohio State, you're
just gonna put your body at risk that you probably
wouldn't other times. I mean, John Harbaugh's going forward at midfield,
there are other situations he wouldn't go for. It's not
smart to do at Arrowhead Stadium with Patrick Mahomes on
(11:53):
the other side. But you kind of look at you,
you kind of look at Lamar and you're thinking, this
kid has earned this moment. Yeah. So you just I
think when you face rivals, it's like you don't play
the Masters, like like you play the Buick Open, Like
there are moments where you've got to be dialed in,
you've got to be rested, you've got to have the
best Caddie. There are certain clubs you're not gonna use
(12:16):
like it's just last night is as good as the
NFL gets, and Lamar's like, hey, I'm I'm leaving it
all out here tonight. I don't think he's gonna have
sixteen carries against the Steelers in Week nine when they're
maybe three and six.
Speaker 6 (12:29):
I would hope not. But I just wonder does Lamar
have that sense? Hey man, we lost the AFC Championship
game because I didn't get to be me. I'm gonna
do me this season, and I'm gonna carry us on
our back. He's just not built for them. He's too
too slight. Colin, those hits he was taking long. He
wasn't even getting out of bounce.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
No, no, no, no.
Speaker 6 (12:46):
I don't think he slid once in the entire game.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
What are you doing well? I think I think we've
seen this in college where C. J. Stroud did not run,
remember the entire year, and then they faced Georgia and
it's like, Okay, this is different. Justin Herbert rose Bold
did run all year. They played Wisconsin last game, this
is different. This is obviously the first game, not the
last game. But I think Kansas City, Baltimore. I think
(13:09):
for Baltimore, this game is different. You're just gonna do stuff.
Guys are gonna play hurt, Guys are gonna play longer.
Got NFL. If you know said, I could say it
a thousand times. This league, this product is there's a
reason it's lapping the field. This product is so good.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
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 (13:39):
All right, everybody's excited. We're excited. Sunday Early Window Caleb
Williams Bears hosting the Tennessee Titans, and it is possible,
believe it or not, despite what the interweb says, two
things can be simultaneously true. Number One, I think Caleb
Williams is gonna be fun and exciting and productive, and
I think he's the franchise quarterback that Bears haven't had forever.
Number Two, the hype is way over the top. He
(14:02):
completed fifty percent of his throws in the preseason and
he had a seventy nine passer rating. Even in college,
his accuracy was erratic. And I say that as somebody
that thinks he's a very unique all time talent. But
three games for USC last year in the Pac twelve,
he completed under fifty eight percent of his throws. He
(14:23):
went in the preseason he was ten for twenty in
a passer rating under eighty. This is gonna be bumpy.
The Titans for the last six months have heard how
great Caleb Williams is. I mean, they're an anonymous franchise.
If you ask fifty NFL fans who the coach of
the Titans is, six would have an answer. If you
didn't count in Nashville, maybe it's three. Like nobody knows.
(14:46):
All they've heard for six months is, oh, this guy's unbelievable.
You should be verre. You're gonna get blown out. You
do get the margins. This is not college football, it's
pro football. I mean, one of the upset bets of
the week. Frankly, if you asked the sharps of the
wise guys is Tennessee, and Tennessee has no pressure, no expectations.
(15:06):
They've got a mayonnaise out of a jar. Eaton quarterback,
who a lot of people think is a bust already,
that guy's got something to prove. They got a new coach.
They've got all new weapons, an offensive, clever, creative guy
that's for years now been leading Joe Burrow like, we
don't know what we don't know what Tennessee's gonna look like,
but it could be really interesting. So this whole thing
(15:27):
about Caleb Williams, I like him. I think he I've
predicted for the Bears. Let's just put it out there.
Third place. I've predicted they'll win seven or eight games.
I've predicted Caleb is the quarterback of the future, and
have also predicted and I'll do it again today. It's
gonna be bumpy. They're not nearly as good roster wise
as Detroit or Green Bay Green Bays. I know you
(15:50):
don't think Green Bay Green Bays organization top to bottom
is here and the Bears are fifty thousand, you know,
feet below the sea. It's not close, and that matters
in this league. Number one quarterback picks. The number one
picket quarterback in Week one all time is four to
(16:10):
fifteen and one four fifteen and one. The last number
one picket quarterback to win Week one David Carr twenty
two years ago. So the last three years there has
been a big, big, major upset Week one in the NFL.
You ask all the wise guys, they think it's here.
(16:32):
Nine straight winless, number one pick quarterbacks in week one,
nine straight winless. So it's like this is gonna be
bumpy defensive coach in the hot seat. Tennessee's been told
for five months, you're gonna get blown out. This kid's amazing.
I think Will Levis is gonna be focused. You think
this Tennessee team's gonna be focused. Everybody, everybody, all the
(16:56):
fans are bet in Chicago, everybody's in on the hype.
And he's better than justin fields. But he can be
in a erratic throw over the football. That's the knock
all my GM but he say on this they all
say the same thing. I love him, but he has
got to be he's got to refine that he's got
a sand paper his accuracy. Go look at USC last year.
Three games in college under fifty eight percent completion percentage.
(17:17):
That's not great. He's great, but that's not great stuff
to work on. And here's Tom Brady earlier this week,
stopped by our show talking about when he knows, what
does he see when he knows young quarterbacks are going
to be successful for.
Speaker 7 (17:32):
Me, I think the sustainable part about quarterbacking is really
what's up here is what's in the brain. Are you
snapping the ball and running good plays consistently against the
defenses that you're out there watching as you're reading the defenses.
So so much of it to me is ore is
the coach giving the quarterback because he's going to see.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
It every day in practice.
Speaker 7 (17:52):
The coach and the players, are they giving the quarterback
the freedom to make the plays and the decisions that
he needs to make to get the team to win.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Yeah, it's not gonna be defeat. It's gonna be upstairs
that's gonna win games. See the defense, read the defense letter,
rip and delivered accurately. I think Caleb can do the
first three easily. The last one's gonna take work. He
is not on an in consistent basis a hyper accurate quarterback.
Bo Nicks is Bo Knicks can't run like him. Bo
Neck's not as big as him, right, But but Bo
(18:23):
Nix can do that. So just a lot of turbulence
on this flight. It's gonna be a bomb by flight.
Jmack with a news turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
This is the herd Line News all right.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
The Jets, finally, Colin have Aaron Rodgers back Monday for
their prime time matchup against the Niners. Rogers has faced
many questions about whether he can return to playing at
a high level. He was asked if there's a chip
on his shoulder heading into Week one.
Speaker 8 (18:53):
Heyah, I mean I've always kind of played with some
on my shoulder. You gotta, you know, manufacture things from
time to time. But yeah, I mean it kind of
goes back to the prove it whould I need to
prove to just myself at this point.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
So, but I have a lot of pride.
Speaker 8 (19:08):
In my performance. So when I take the field, I
expect greatness. Yeah, because I've done it before and so
that's kind of standard to hold myself too.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
This is one of the best opening Monday night football
games of all time. I cannot wait for this. I
think the Jets, I think it's going to be a
very close game, very close game. Cross your fingers, Jets
O line, let's cross our fingers. They've got absolutely upgraded
talent on the old line. That's not disputable, can it mesh?
Because in this preseason now, nobody plays old guys in
(19:37):
the preseason, So how long before that old line can mesh.
But in terms of quality of players, they attack their
number one liability, the old line.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Well, it's funny, you say, oh line, last night, you
see how bad the Ravens offensive line was. Well, the
Jet stole two of their guys, and Ravens offensive line
is collapsing. You have to assume the Jets offensive line
with three new dudes is going to be pretty good
against the Stiners.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Well, is it gonna be good Week one on the roads?
That's the question that's not really a concern of mine.
Oh okay, I mean, listen, you don't have any concern.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
Well, I think the big one, you know, we'll talk
about it next hour is McCaffrey injury situation. It's calf
slash Achilles. Now it's Trent Williams. I'm gonna reserve judgment
until Monday. But listen, Monday, Monday show is going to
be hyped, obviously, and then Tuesday, you know, if the
Jets pull off the dubo basically, you know this show
is going to be connected to the Jets all season.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Let's know they go one and four, this will become
a giant shows.
Speaker 6 (20:36):
No shot of that. Oh my god, I don't think
we're talking about the Giants at all this season. They're
gonna be so bad. Let's move to the Buffalo Bills.
Also in the AFC Easter, your pick to win the division. Well,
they lost Stefan Diggs and gave Davis obviously in the offseason,
but they picked up Keon Coleman, MOUNTI kid out of
f SU, very talented. Alan spoke to the impact he
expects Coleman to have.
Speaker 9 (20:57):
What's fair to expect is he's going to be an
exciting player for us, and I think he's gonna help
us win football games. He's got a different skill set
than maybe what I'm used to. I don't know if
I've had the type of skill set. If he brings
the table as a as an option before. It's not
gonna be perfect right away. We're gonna have bumps and bruises,
but we're gonna keep working. And he loves football, which
(21:20):
makes me love them even even more.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
Yeah, you get Mitchell Coleman starting on the outside. You
got this kid mac Hollins on the opposite side, and
then Shakir in the slot. Those are your receivers.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Well, it's more of a tight end offense.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
Now is that the weakest receiver group. I mean, that's
got to be. It's like Patriots Bills.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Well, so it's a very interesting year for Josh Allen
because Patrick Mahomes had a dreadfully weak receiving cor and
won a Super Bowl. So this is not a great
receiving core for Josh Allen. Now he's got Cook, who's
the best back he's had. He's got two really good
tight ends. But we saw Mahomes without a great receiving
core hoisted trophy. I don't want to hear about Stefan
Diggs left, the great quarterback, Randy Moss left, and Brady
(22:04):
Stack trophies. I don't want to hear about it.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
Oh wait a minute, hold him hold on. The Tier
one quarterbacks are Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Burrow according to
the Athletic, So Alan still in that tier? Are you
considering bumping him down if they're No?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
No, No, I'm saying is if I don't want to
hear any excuses, two things can be true. He's great.
I don't want to hear excuses because I just watched
Mahomes the last two years. Last year we had nothing
to work with. I mean literally Rashi Rice and a
pidarious Tony's you know the teams guy, Uh yeah, I
meant you.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
Were buried on the depth chart and Hollywood Brown hasn't
even showed up.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
No, k Kansas City gave you, gave everybody in the
league a year to catch up to him, and they couldn't.
I don't want to hear that. Stefan Diggs is the difference.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Chief's going seventeen to know, is that happening or no?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
They're going to go thirteen twelve, thirteen and four something
like that. You know that's not great.
Speaker 6 (22:54):
If they got home field evantage in the playoffs, they're
going to the super Bowl. Only one guy taking him down,
well two guys, one guy left in the league, Burrow
and Brady. Those are the only guys to beat him
in arrowhead in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I know, CJ. Stroud, keep your eye on him.
Speaker 6 (23:07):
Aaron Rodgers, keep your eye out.
Speaker 10 (23:09):
And no.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
Final story is oh, let's stay with Stefan Diggs, who's
excited for his debut with c. J. Stroud and the
Texans against Indy this weekend. Dig seems to have already
built a great relationship with his new quarterback.
Speaker 10 (23:23):
You know, I look at him as family and not
just my quarterback. You know, I'm rocking with him through
thinking thing. I always say, I'm with you when you're right,
and I'm always with you when you're wrong. So like
as a quarterback, he makes it real easy on him.
How only is he a hell of a quarterback? You know,
obviously you send that practice. He can throw any ball.
But as far as like the mental part of that,
he said in the day, you know what I'm saying,
do what you gotta do. I want to see you
get open.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
But you were you supposed to be at the right time.
Speaker 10 (23:44):
You know, I got you.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Kind of a shot at Josh Allen. Is that how
you perceived that? Well?
Speaker 5 (23:52):
C J.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Stroud's family, he's known him forty five minutes. You hung
out for years with Josh Allen. It's like, no, this
guy's family. You're just a passer by him my life.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
I'm real curious how teams defend the Texans. You put
your number one corner on digs right.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Well, I think you play zone. I think you zone
the Texans, cross your fingers, get a pass. Russian zone.
Ninety percent of the coverages in the NFL now ur
zone anyway, So That's why this speedy wide receiver has value.
But everybody's playing zone. That's just the way to lead
get That's why Pooka Nakou is not a speedster can
walk in and have so many catches. He's great at
beating the zone.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
I just I just wonder how digs is gonna handle
it if in the opener, you know, it's like four targets,
three catches, twenty five yards, Like, is he gonna be thrilled?
Because they got some dudes on that in that offense,
a lot of mouths to feed in Houston.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
No, and they got a Joe Mixon, so they're gonna
run the football. The power run game will improve.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
No, Deel's back, Dalton Schultz, Nico Collins, Nico Collins is
getting Also.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Now you're gonna call me crazy on this, but there
is something about you go to Buffalo. The weather stinks,
there's nothing really to do. It's a small market. And
I kind of felt like Stefan Diggs felt like, Okay,
I go from Minnesota to Buffalo. I'm here and I'm
gonna elevate you guys. And then once he didn't elevate
and he got very frustrated. I think Stefan Diggs looks
at Houston as his final spot.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
Well, he elevated Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
No he did. They were great with him, Well they were.
They were winning games too without him. They were winning
games without him.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
They did the AC Championship with Digs. I still remember
him sticking on the field after watching the celebration.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Ticked off him, and they weren't losing games. Everyone in
twelve or I mean, they were a good team without him.
When you go to Buffalo, you want the payoff because
you've sacrificed the weather and things to do as a
pro athlete, like like Green Bay and nothing to do here.
The weather's not great, not much of a social life.
You gotta win and you want a trophy. That's why
you'll go there. Free Agents have all these choices. You
(25:41):
ever notice free agents when they have the opportunities, go
to certain cities and certain weathers. So it's like, I
think he just got frustrated with the whole Buffalo thing.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
So you were a free agent back in the day
and came out here. How was the weather, how was liked?
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Whether I was tired of Connecticut winners? Absolutely everything matters
when you're when you're moving to a new place every
Some people worry about taxes. I'm not as much worried
about that. I'm more worried about what's the weather, what's
the opportunity at the time? Was it good for my
kids in schools? But when you're an athlete, you're a
pro athlete, and you're twenty seven and you're single, Okay,
(26:14):
where are the ladies? Well, I mean, what's the life like?
Can my family and friends come and see me? Do
I have my guys I can hang out with? Is
the team good? Am I gonna get paid? And I
think Buffalo, for Stefano, has felt like I'm not gonna
end my life here. Can I win a trophy here?
And I think Houston feels like, Hey, I'm gonna stay
here for five years and my career here. That's what
it feels like to me. Nothing wrong with Buffalo. I'm
(26:36):
not attacking them. I just I kind of felt like
that Houston is an interesting one.
Speaker 6 (26:41):
They come out here, blow out the Colts in week one.
Anything's in play.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
I don't you know, but the history tells you division
underdogs in week one two three bet them and division
home dogs. Yeah, division home underdog. The call I should
have made it one of my picks. I didn't because
I love Houston. But one of the smartest plays of
the weekend probably is the Cult Division home dogs, even
(27:05):
if they're not good, and we think Indy is is
the beat.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
I was gonna save it for headlines seventeen and four
in the last decade in week one home divisional Dogs.
There's three of them this weekend, two at home. One
is not Raiders are not at home. You'll be firing
a lot this weekend, aren't you excited? Yeah, just spraying
the board.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Just very exciting, very exciting. Jmack with the news, Well
that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the herd
Line News. I was thinking about this because the Packers
and the Eagles play tonight in Brazil. It's the rare,
super rare Friday NFL early season game, right like, I
don't even know if we've ever had one. So I
(27:46):
was thinking about Philadelphia because Nick Sirianni, the head coaches
on the hot seat. The Eagles do something that mostly
only bad franchises do in the NFL. They fire really
talented people all the time. That's what bad organizations do.
I mean, Chip Kelly three years wins ten games his
(28:10):
first two years with average quarterbacks. They fire him. I mean,
Carson Wentz a huge deal year later, Get out of here.
Doug Peterson out duels Belichick in a super Bowl, one
of the most cleverly coached Super Bowls ever. Get out
of here. I mean, it's like they invented the phrase,
what have you done for me lately? But it works
for them. They were right on Chip Kelly, He's a
(28:32):
better college coach. They were right on Carson Wentz. They
saw it before it happened. He just didn't connect with players.
He got hurt too often. They Philadelphia's got this super
progressive owner and a top aggressive GM. They always hire
offensive coaches and they always feel very current. If the
league's move it in a direction, Philadelphia will move off
(28:55):
talented people to get into that direction. And there is
a difference, and a lot of men struggle with this.
There's a difference between confidence and arrogance. Tom Brady's confident.
He wasn't arrogant. Peyton Manning was confident. He's not arrogant.
I know both. They're not arrogant, they're confident. There's a
big difference. Okay, Aaron Rodgers sometimes crosses that threshold. And
(29:19):
there is a difference between impulsive and decisive. Jim Ersay
is impulsive. David Tepper and Carolina is impulsive. Jeffrey Lurie
is decisive. He sees something, he reacts quickly to something.
I mean they saw very quickly. Mobile quarterbacks. Hurts gets
(29:41):
along with people. Everybody loves him. Carson Wentz gets hurt.
Carson Wentz is doesn't connect in the locker room, and
they just moved off him. So they were right on
Wentz and right on Chip Kelly, and you know, probably
right on Doug Peterson. So I think Nick Sariani needs
to win, and he needs to now because we've seen
moments where he's immature their stories. This year, he couldn't
(30:04):
get along with Jalen Hurts. Here's Jason Kelcey on the
New Heights podcast this week on Jalen Hurts taking over
the leadership reigns this year.
Speaker 11 (30:14):
I think him taking on this as a responsibility is
going to accelerate his game across the board, and I
think he's ready for it one from a knowledge base. Two,
I think he's ready for it just by being a
more experienced player, and he's going to be more of
a leader. He needs to be more of a leader
and have more of this responsibility on him. So I'm
excited to see how this goes for him this year.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Okay, now, don't overreact to the Ravens losing to the
Chiefs in Week one, but not all Week one losses
are the same. Coming up next. Three things to watch
for in Week one three losses, Three situations that could
be noteworthy. No one overreact, but you also get signs
(30:59):
very quickly on trouble. That's next Live in La, It's
the Hurt.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
He's Mike Carmen, I'm Dan Bayern.
Speaker 11 (31:09):
We have a fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
That's right Dan.
Speaker 12 (31:14):
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 1 (31:25):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmon and
meet Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and
wherever you bet your podcasts.
Speaker 6 (31:33):
Big Get noon Saturday as third rank Michigan dicks On
tenth sorry, third ranked Texas ticks On tenth grank Michigan.
Then at three point thirty, Baylor battles Utah at ten
It's Texas Tech Washington State. It's a huge day at
college football tomorrow on Fox.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
All right, do not overreact to the Ravens lunch. The
Ravens have a great coach, a great quarterback, a great
team that in it's Kansas City. It was in Kansas City,
they came within an inch of winning. Don't overreact to that.
So that's the one thing to don't overreact and don't overreact,
and everybody will in the media because that's what they do.
They'll overreact to rookie quarterbacks struggling in week one. Bo
(32:14):
Nicks is gonna struggle, Jaden Daniels may struggle, Caleb's gonna struggle. Like,
take a deep breath. Rookie quarterbacks in week one are nervous.
They're not gonna play well. Okay, none of them are
gonna play perfect. They're gonna throw bad picks and be
lost and be anxious and nervous. So don't overreact to
last night, and don't overreact to rookie quarterbacks first game.
There are three things I would keep my eye on,
(32:35):
because just because you don't have to overreact, that doesn't
mean you don't see signs of trouble. Number one, Russell
Wilson with the Steelers. Russell Wilson's thirty five. He got
injured during a conditioning test for the Pittsburgh Steelers and
he hasn't been healthy since. So he was hyper athletic
at his best. He's not that he's banged up. You
(32:58):
got Justin Field's very popular in that locker room. This
is a bad old line missing a starter who's out
for a while. There's a way Pittsburgh could lose and
it would be fine. But if they can't move the chains,
that thing could get ugly really fast. The second thing
to watch out for the Jets offensive line, Aaron Rodgers
(33:18):
does not want pressure near his knees or his feet.
If you go to Aaron's last year in Green Bay,
when he was under pressure, he was awful. He had
a passer rating of fifty two. Old quarterbacks Eli Brady Manning.
They don't want to get hit. They got two hundred
and fifty or more million in the bank. They want
(33:40):
to win, but they'll live for another day. So if
Aaron is letting that puppy go early, he is not patient.
He's not sitting in the pocket. Aaron Rodgers under pressure
his last year in Green Bay. He wasn't there for it.
He want gonna handle it. He gotta throw it away
and start over. Keep your eye on that. The Jets
O line has improved, moved, the personnel is improved, but
(34:02):
it's all new and cohesion on the O lines is
a rough sled. In twenty twenty four, they don't play
in the preseason number three. If Dak is sitting back there,
the Browns rollover coverage and Ceedee Lamb is doubled and
there's just nothing else there. I know y'all love Jake Ferguson,
(34:24):
but he is not Shannon Sharp. He is not Tony Gonzalez.
Let's slow down here. If you look at Dak's numbers,
when he targets Ceedee Lamb, he has one hundred and
twenty passer rating. When he doesn't, he's eighty eight passer rating.
So there is a way to play back double seed Lamb,
(34:45):
make him go somewhere else. And if Cleveland does that effectively,
you are giving a road map to everybody that Dallas plays.
So Dallas loses, ceedee, Lamb gets frustrated. You're just showing
every team this is the way to beat him, because
they got a nice tight end, not a great one,
a week running back room and no real dominant number
(35:05):
two receiver. So keep your eye on Russell and the Steelers. Okay,
keep your eye on Aaron Rodgers' feet. He gets happy
feet and starts throwing it away. That's telling you he
didn't trust that online at all, and he's going to
get real frustrated, real quick with Natt Hackett and Robert Salad.
He not going to take the heat you got, point fingers.
Here's the other thing. I got so many things going
(35:28):
on right now. In fact, you know I'm gonna save
that one. Hold on, I almost save that note. I
want to talk about this, so I want Dion Sanders
to succeed because I think big personalities are good for
college football, and I love college football. But this weekend
they face Nebraska, and very rarely am I focused on
(35:51):
a college football game with two unranked teams that have
no chance to play for a national championship. But this
game fascinates me. I like Nebraska in this one. There's
some things here that we should now start to admit.
Deon Sanders last six games against like power conference teams,
he's owing six the transfer portal once again. They signed
(36:14):
the largest transfer portal class over forty players in the country.
It's starting to feel a little bit at Colorado like
a time share presentation. Lots of bells and whistles, shampain
to anybody that signs, and then two years later you're
hiring an attorney and trying to get out of it.
(36:36):
I'm sorry, but Nebraska is the opposite of Colorado. They
play real defense, they recruit high school kids, They're very
good at the details. They just had to get better
at quarterback. Actually, Colorado's great at quarterback. They'll have the
two best players in this game. But special teams details
O line, D line. Let's be honest with Colorado. It
(36:58):
is a time pitch. They've got an immaculate website. The
ig is humming very little substance with Colorado. You remember that,
remember that when he got there, Remember that Dion was
talking about he brought in that new handbag, and Nebraska's
a duffel bag on one program feels like a Gucci
(37:21):
bag one feels like a Duffel bag. But I gotta
be honest. You can get more into the Duffel bag.
It travels well. Here was Dion this week on facing Nebraska.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
I have a.
Speaker 5 (37:33):
Ton of respect for Matt Ruhle. He was a professional,
did a phenomenal job. Maybe not job that he spared
to do, but he has a ton of experience and
I love what he's accomplished in his college coaching career.
So I looked for them to be physically tough and posing,
trying to run football, to have a freshman quarterback that
had a pretty good day last week.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
But we got to do what we do.
Speaker 5 (37:57):
We got to go in there and do what we're
capable of doing.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Remember when Dion got to Colorado, he said, when all
the guys started hitting the portal, I'm bringing my own bag.
It's a Louis. I know, I know, it's cool. Colorado's
cooler than Nebraska. Their flash year the Nebraska. They got
a better quarterback than Nebraska, probably the two best players
in the game. But this is a really a meeting
of opposites. One team strength is defense. One team's weaknesses defense.
(38:24):
One team wants to run the ball. One team will
pass the ball. One team's inexperienced a quarterback, one team's
credit quarterback. One coach is all about flash. Matt Ruhle
has a history in college football is that he comes
into a program, first thing he does is close the gap.
And last year Nebraska lost a lot of close games.
They lost a lot of games by three and four points.
The second year, this year, Nebraska is going to win
(38:46):
those games close, and then next year they'll win him
by larger gaps. A three step program. Matt rules history.
Don't blame him for Carolina David Tepper, that's a circus.
So it's a fascinating game. Different personalities. One team's very transportal.
One team's very high school recruiting. Nebraska just had their
best high school recruiting class in the history of the program,
that includes Tom Osborne. So they now now everybody's going
(39:10):
to get quarterbacks in the transfer portal. So I don't
even count that's that's a whole different ball game. But
this game is really fascinating. I hope Dion succeeds. I
think he's good for college football. I'm into the personality
I said when he got hired. I remember thinking this
is an odd fit. Now that's going to work. Colorado
needs attention, he brings it. But now we also can
(39:32):
take a step back here after a couple of years ago. Well,
I'm not is this just one of those timeshare pitches.
You know they ring the bell, they give you the champagne.
If you buy a couple of years later, it's like
you're hiring an attorney. You're putting it in the classified
ads in the newspaper, kind of want it, trying to
sell your time share. So we'll see. I like Nebraska,
(39:52):
you don't. I like Nebraska to win this game. I
think they're going to ugly it up, run the football,
keep it out of shadouver Sanders' hands. But for two
unranked teams, this is a really interesting matchup.
Speaker 6 (40:03):
He's probably the third most interesting game of the weekend.
Texas Michigan's won, right and then Iowai with States always
you know it's like a battle. But yeah, this is
Colorado team.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
This is a personality clash game, two different programs, two
different personalities.
Speaker 6 (40:19):
So how much do you think Dion's upset that his
son isn't being talked about as the number one pick?
And it's all Carson Beck.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Carson Beck, Well, it just depends.
Speaker 6 (40:26):
I Thineah, well, that's what I think prompted this nonsense
from him. Oh, guys aren't discussed enough.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
What well, Schadeur Sanders is really talented. He is a
more accurate in my opinion, he's a more accurate thrower
than Caleb Williams. I think Caleb's more talented. But in
terms of he can throw moving left, he can throw
moving right, he throws moving forward, shadures are really His
ball placement moving pocket is very good. He's very, very talented,
(40:52):
and his mobility's great. You know, he's in the nil generation.
He gets into his fields whatever, but he's good. There's
no disputing it. The kid can play. But it's it's
I'd like to see Colorado talk a little less. I'm
all for talking. You gotta start winning an occasional game
against the power Conference. Just one over your last six.
I like shots fired right there, one in five. I'd
(41:14):
give you a little chatter like go in six? Yeah,
say less? Well, I mean again, he's part of the
Colorado experiment. Is getting attention. I get that too. Blaze
and five or is it the Blase five
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):
All right. It is our first Football Friday live in
Los Angeles. It's The Herd. Wherever you may be, however
you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of
your day. I decided, I caved. I'm gonna do a
blazing five in one hour, and I've already I've already
wrote down on a ledger at home, oh and five.
I know I'm not gonna win any of these, but
(00:47):
I will say I love my picks. I just caved.
I finally said, you know what, it's football season. Who cares.
I mean a lot of good teams. I mean the
Ravens were good team. They lost their opener. It's okay,
you can survive. I'm gonna be okay. I do appreciate that.
(01:08):
Go Eagles, Yeah, Packers. Eagles play the night in Brazil,
which is kind of a weird place for the NFL's
second game of the year. But let's start with this.
Kansas City twenty seven Baltimore twenty I said this last
year and I've said it this year. Last year's Chiefs
team that may have been the team to beat because
(01:28):
they had a water pistol offense. I mean, they couldn't
move the ball, they had no deep threat. It was
it was dnk and dunk as much as Mahomes can
do that, and he had a chance to beat him,
and the league couldn't because that's not what they are anymore. Now,
Noah Grant, they got another tight end, and Noah Gray
(01:48):
and Travis Kelcey got two tight ends. Now you got
Xavier Worthy, a little bit of a gadget guy, but speed,
merchant over the top. They had lacked that for several years.
Rashid Rice looks like a number one, an absolute number one.
Hollywood Brown, who's dangerous, will return, and Juju Smith Schuster,
(02:09):
who they just reacquired, is gonna take him a while
to get up to speed, but he knows the offense.
He'll be like your number three or your number four
outside of right tackle, and they weren't good at right tackle.
Last year. This is a better team than last year,
much much faster offensively, much deeper at wide receiver, a
much more functional at wide receiver. And here's the thing.
(02:30):
Great companies in any business give you these little brief
moments to make up ground. And last year was the
year to make up ground because they couldn't score. They
were so vulnerable. They had to go on the road
in the playoffs to Baltimore. They had to go on
the road to Buffalo, and they still won. Last year
was the year to get him, and nobody got him.
(02:52):
They're not perfect. Mahomes had a terrible pick last night,
almost two. They were dominated in time of possession, and
their defense looked abs solute ly gassed at the end
of the football game. They're not perfect, but they're so
good in these close games. Number two in the NFL
last year in close games. They are so confident in
these games with the best coach and the best quarterback.
(03:13):
You got to wrap him up early in Baltimore, didn't now.
Xavier Worthy's fascinating. I said when he got drafted. He's
one hundred and sixty five pound track guy. Is not
gonna He's not gonna dominate the league. He's a gadget guy.
He's not gonna be a nine to ten to twelve
target guy. That's gonna be Rashi Rice. There are a lot
of guys in the league like that. Devonte Adams is
that guy. Jamar Chase when he get back, he's that guy.
(03:33):
Puka Nikool for the Rams, gonna be that guy. But
they needed a gadget guy. They kneeded it over to
the top guy. And yes he's small, and yes he's
he's I don't know how durable he is. He was
hurt a lot in college. But nobody in the NFL
is gonna draw plays better for Xavier Worthy than one
Andy Reid, and nobody will deliver the ball on those
drawn up plays better than Patrick Mahomes. So he really
(03:56):
is something they need. And last night Mahomes averaged ten
yards per attempt. That was more than any game last year.
And that was a lot of that's xavieror Worthy. He's
allowing other stuff to flourish. And so I watched him
last night and I'm thinking, man, you guys all had
a chance in this league. Got you got him on
(04:16):
the road in the playoffs last year and got Kansas
that he had to go on the road. Last year,
they could they didn't have any over the top element.
Last year they were you know, they were okay. In
the offensive line, they were insanely thin. I mean, Rashie
Rice was their best receiver last year and he looked
like a three. Well now he looks like a one.
And so my take is this is a much more
explosive version of the team that won the last two
(04:39):
Super Bowls. And here's Mahomes after.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Just having him out there and just opens up stuff.
And you saw when he's out there, they're playing shell coverages,
get his getting guys like trav and it's getting guys
like Rashee open underneath. And that's what's so great about
this offense is we're able to do all of that
and that's when that's when we're at our best. And so,
like I said, we'll get Hollywood out there too. It's
gonna be tough for defense to decide who they want
to cover.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
So, you know, Lamar Jackson is somebody I've spent the
last a better part of the last five years defending.
Last night twenty five first downs, more than Kansas City,
rushing first downs three times as many as Kansas City
third down efficiency much better than Kansas City. Interceptions none.
Kansas City had one time of possession. They dominated. Even
against a great, young, twitchy defense. The top defensive coordinator
(05:25):
arguably in the NFL, Steve Spagnola, was at wits end.
What do you do against this guy? Now? Lamar doesn't
throw the ball downfield? In my opinion, well enough, he
didn't throw it downfield like a josh A Stafford and
Aaron Rodgers of Mahomes. First half, he averaged one point
one air yards per attempt. Got better in the second half,
(05:45):
But he doesn't do that like the top four or
five guys in the league. And there's no way he
can play like he played last night. The rest of
the season. He took a beating sixteen carries. He was
like a running back, and he's lost weight, so he's thinner.
He cannot play that way. But I kind of understand
why last night he played that way because it's it's
Kansas City, it's his nemesis, it's his arch rival, it's
(06:07):
the team he's trying to get over. It's the Tiger
for Mickelson, it's the MJ for Barkley. I get it,
and so that effort is not a sustainable effort. Your
quarterback cannot take that beating. And I don't think he will.
I think he'll slide, he'll run out of bounds. He'll
have seven carries, not sixteen. He was so fired up
last night. He talked John Harball, one of the better
(06:30):
situational coaches in football, to go forward at midfield, and
you know the Chiefs carved it up, sniffed it out.
So I do think it was a unique night where
Lamar just said I want to do it. But I'll
tell you this, he is on a short list of
quarterbacks in this league, and it may be one or
two max that can get the ball at the noisiest
NFL stadium against the great defense, the league's best defensive coordinator.
(06:52):
There's one time out in a minute fifty left, and
he gets them to within an inch the end of
a cleat from potentially tying or winning the game. The
dude is one of one. He is so unique and
so great. People say, well, he didn't play that great.
Mahomes had a terrible pick and almost two. But Mahomes
is a legend. I talked about this the other day.
We spend so much time on shows like this, not
(07:14):
just mine. Others criticizing great players who can't beat legends.
You know what, who's beating Mahomes? And I thought Lamar
last night on that last drive, I compared it last
night on my podcast. I said, He's like if you
watched the high school football game and there was only
one Division IE player and it was a quarterback and
he was just running around making people miss. I mean,
(07:35):
Lamar makes other great players for Kansas City defensively totally flummixed,
and they're just kind of hoping he tires out. So
the only thing I saw between these two teams that
I think is trouble, especially for Baltimore, is offensive line play.
These are not great offensive lines. These are not the
Lions offensive lines. Baltimore's I think will get better. I
(07:56):
think Kansas City's is what it is. It's not going
to be great at right tackle. But I gotta tell
you I'm gonna defend Lamar Jackson forever. Minute fifty one
time out spags Kansas City arrowhead gets down to the
thirteen yard line. The kid is just absolutely unreal. Only Mahomes.
That's the last hurdle he can't get over. Just Mahomes
(08:18):
and nobody else can either here was Lamar after you'd
call Kansas City or Kryptonite in the past.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Is this is not my kryptman knite.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
What's that?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
It's not my krytmain knit. I would leave our offense
got a lot of got no additions, and we just
getting a trusted you know, I don't want to say
preseason is the reason, because it wasn't. Because we battle.
You know, you can see it with four points on
the board and you gotta do We gotta do it
in one of those games.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Simple listen, Kansas City's offense average seven point one yards
of play. Baltimore's offense average six point one yards of play.
In that yard is because of a broken coverage that
let Xavier Worth, you get a touchdown, You take that
broken coverage out. They both average about six yards of play.
That's a heavyweight fight. I grew up as a kid.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
It was all e.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Fraser fought three times, Alli won two Fraser one to one,
and I'm just waiting for that one big win for
Lamar and the Ravens. But that was great football, great teams,
great coaching, grant franchises. Lamar's getting past everybody. Just not
that guy and that last drive. I'm sitting there on
my couch thinking, who can do this? You find me
(09:25):
the court. I don't think there is anybody. I mean,
you find me a quarterback in this league, spags that defense,
Chris Jones, that pass rush Arrowhead Stadium, one time out,
minute fifty. You tell me who can do that drive?
I don't know. I don't see a lot of guys.
That's something else. And there's where we are after our
first game tonight. Thank you, James Jones. Tonight it's Green
(09:48):
Bay in Philadelphia. I like green Bay. You like Philadelphia.
That's a stayaway game for me. I'm gonna do the
Blazing five. That's not one of my picks that you know,
I say sometimes I just want to watch the game.
I want to watch the game. I don't know what
to make of it. I like Green Bay, but Brazil
throws everything off, So I don't feel like a game
in Mexico City or You're even the London games or
(10:09):
the European games had been a little quirky, you know,
like you go over there and you're like, it's just
a different feel. Brazil's other side of the earth. So
I don't know what I'm getting. But I thought last
night was spectacular.
Speaker 6 (10:20):
I would largely agree with spectacular night, but I totally
disagree with your Lamar Jackson take. I mean, you're like,
how many guys can do that? What did he do?
Miss receivers open in the end zone?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Well, that was that was a He did miss one.
Speaker 6 (10:32):
Receiver one for five on deep ball vase. I mean
that was he was off all right.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
But it should be noted the Mahomes had maybe one
of his worst picks at midfield and almost had a
second Lamar didn't. Lamar missed somebody in the end zone.
Speaker 6 (10:46):
Forgot the Lamar fumble, you know, But I mean, what's
taking all these hits?
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Colin?
Speaker 6 (10:50):
Who does he think he is?
Speaker 1 (10:51):
I was done.
Speaker 6 (10:52):
That's not sustainable.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
It's not. But you have to remember sometimes certain opponents
are different, right, Like there are certain opponents in your life.
They're your rival games. I think Mahomes, I think Josh
Allen is gonna he's gonna take more hits against Mahomes.
I think if Josh Allen is playing Miami in Tua,
he's gonna step out of bounds. You're not gonna take
(11:15):
the hit. But I think I think if you go
to Manning or Big Ben and Brady in those games,
you're just you're gonna, you're gonna put yourself out there more.
And I think I think both Mahomes I mean, look
at look at Mahomes and Super Bowls. He's been hobbling
on the field in the fourth quarters of games.
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Super Bowl versus Game one.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
But I mean, this is not a difficult one. This
isn't a big lift. There are moments in sports when
you're playing arrival Duke in Carolina, Michigan, Ohio State, you're
just gonna put your body at risk that you probably
wouldn't other times. I mean, John Harbaugh's going forward at midfield,
there are other situations he wouldn't go for. It's not
smart to do at Arrowhead Stadium with Patrick Mahomes on
(11:53):
the other side. But you kind of look at you,
you kind of look at Lamar and you're thinking, this
kid has earned this moment. Yeah. So you just I
think when you face rivals, it's like you don't play
the Masters, like like you play the Buick Open, Like
there are moments where you've got to be dialed in,
you've got to be rested, you've got to have the
best Caddie. There are certain clubs you're not gonna use
(12:16):
like it's just last night is as good as the
NFL gets, and Lamar's like, hey, I'm I'm leaving it
all out here tonight. I don't think he's gonna have
sixteen carries against the Steelers in Week nine when they're
maybe three and six.
Speaker 6 (12:29):
I would hope not. But I just wonder does Lamar
have that sense? Hey man, we lost the AFC Championship
game because I didn't get to be me. I'm gonna
do me this season, and I'm gonna carry us on
our back. He's just not built for them. He's too
too slight. Colin, those hits he was taking long. He
wasn't even getting out of bounce.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
No, no, no, no.
Speaker 6 (12:46):
I don't think he slid once in the entire game.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
What are you doing well? I think I think we've
seen this in college where C. J. Stroud did not run,
remember the entire year, and then they faced Georgia and
it's like, Okay, this is different. Justin Herbert rose Bold
did run all year. They played Wisconsin last game, this
is different. This is obviously the first game, not the
last game. But I think Kansas City, Baltimore. I think
(13:09):
for Baltimore, this game is different. You're just gonna do stuff.
Guys are gonna play hurt, Guys are gonna play longer.
Got NFL. If you know said, I could say it
a thousand times. This league, this product is there's a
reason it's lapping the field. This product is so good.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
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 (13:39):
All right, everybody's excited. We're excited. Sunday Early Window Caleb
Williams Bears hosting the Tennessee Titans, and it is possible,
believe it or not, despite what the interweb says, two
things can be simultaneously true. Number One, I think Caleb
Williams is gonna be fun and exciting and productive, and
I think he's the franchise quarterback that Bears haven't had forever.
Number Two, the hype is way over the top. He
(14:02):
completed fifty percent of his throws in the preseason and
he had a seventy nine passer rating. Even in college,
his accuracy was erratic. And I say that as somebody
that thinks he's a very unique all time talent. But
three games for USC last year in the Pac twelve,
he completed under fifty eight percent of his throws. He
(14:23):
went in the preseason he was ten for twenty in
a passer rating under eighty. This is gonna be bumpy.
The Titans for the last six months have heard how
great Caleb Williams is. I mean, they're an anonymous franchise.
If you ask fifty NFL fans who the coach of
the Titans is, six would have an answer. If you
didn't count in Nashville, maybe it's three. Like nobody knows.
(14:46):
All they've heard for six months is, oh, this guy's unbelievable.
You should be verre. You're gonna get blown out. You
do get the margins. This is not college football, it's
pro football. I mean, one of the upset bets of
the week. Frankly, if you asked the sharps of the
wise guys is Tennessee, and Tennessee has no pressure, no expectations.
(15:06):
They've got a mayonnaise out of a jar. Eaton quarterback,
who a lot of people think is a bust already,
that guy's got something to prove. They got a new coach.
They've got all new weapons, an offensive, clever, creative guy
that's for years now been leading Joe Burrow like, we
don't know what we don't know what Tennessee's gonna look like,
but it could be really interesting. So this whole thing
(15:27):
about Caleb Williams, I like him. I think he I've
predicted for the Bears. Let's just put it out there.
Third place. I've predicted they'll win seven or eight games.
I've predicted Caleb is the quarterback of the future, and
have also predicted and I'll do it again today. It's
gonna be bumpy. They're not nearly as good roster wise
as Detroit or Green Bay Green Bays. I know you
(15:50):
don't think Green Bay Green Bays organization top to bottom
is here and the Bears are fifty thousand, you know,
feet below the sea. It's not close, and that matters
in this league. Number one quarterback picks. The number one
picket quarterback in Week one all time is four to
(16:10):
fifteen and one four fifteen and one. The last number
one picket quarterback to win Week one David Carr twenty
two years ago. So the last three years there has
been a big, big, major upset Week one in the NFL.
You ask all the wise guys, they think it's here.
(16:32):
Nine straight winless, number one pick quarterbacks in week one,
nine straight winless. So it's like this is gonna be
bumpy defensive coach in the hot seat. Tennessee's been told
for five months, you're gonna get blown out. This kid's amazing.
I think Will Levis is gonna be focused. You think
this Tennessee team's gonna be focused. Everybody, everybody, all the
(16:56):
fans are bet in Chicago, everybody's in on the hype.
And he's better than justin fields. But he can be
in a erratic throw over the football. That's the knock
all my GM but he say on this they all
say the same thing. I love him, but he has
got to be he's got to refine that he's got
a sand paper his accuracy. Go look at USC last year.
Three games in college under fifty eight percent completion percentage.
(17:17):
That's not great. He's great, but that's not great stuff
to work on. And here's Tom Brady earlier this week,
stopped by our show talking about when he knows, what
does he see when he knows young quarterbacks are going
to be successful for.
Speaker 7 (17:32):
Me, I think the sustainable part about quarterbacking is really
what's up here is what's in the brain. Are you
snapping the ball and running good plays consistently against the
defenses that you're out there watching as you're reading the defenses.
So so much of it to me is ore is
the coach giving the quarterback because he's going to see.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
It every day in practice.
Speaker 7 (17:52):
The coach and the players, are they giving the quarterback
the freedom to make the plays and the decisions that
he needs to make to get the team to win.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Yeah, it's not gonna be defeat. It's gonna be upstairs
that's gonna win games. See the defense, read the defense letter,
rip and delivered accurately. I think Caleb can do the
first three easily. The last one's gonna take work. He
is not on an in consistent basis a hyper accurate quarterback.
Bo Nicks is Bo Knicks can't run like him. Bo
Neck's not as big as him, right, But but Bo
(18:23):
Nix can do that. So just a lot of turbulence
on this flight. It's gonna be a bomb by flight.
Jmack with a news turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
This is the herd Line News all right.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
The Jets, finally, Colin have Aaron Rodgers back Monday for
their prime time matchup against the Niners. Rogers has faced
many questions about whether he can return to playing at
a high level. He was asked if there's a chip
on his shoulder heading into Week one.
Speaker 8 (18:53):
Heyah, I mean I've always kind of played with some
on my shoulder. You gotta, you know, manufacture things from
time to time. But yeah, I mean it kind of
goes back to the prove it whould I need to
prove to just myself at this point.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
So, but I have a lot of pride.
Speaker 8 (19:08):
In my performance. So when I take the field, I
expect greatness. Yeah, because I've done it before and so
that's kind of standard to hold myself too.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
This is one of the best opening Monday night football
games of all time. I cannot wait for this. I
think the Jets, I think it's going to be a
very close game, very close game. Cross your fingers, Jets
O line, let's cross our fingers. They've got absolutely upgraded
talent on the old line. That's not disputable, can it mesh?
Because in this preseason now, nobody plays old guys in
(19:37):
the preseason, So how long before that old line can mesh.
But in terms of quality of players, they attack their
number one liability, the old line.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Well, it's funny, you say, oh line, last night, you
see how bad the Ravens offensive line was. Well, the
Jet stole two of their guys, and Ravens offensive line
is collapsing. You have to assume the Jets offensive line
with three new dudes is going to be pretty good
against the Stiners.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Well, is it gonna be good Week one on the roads?
That's the question that's not really a concern of mine.
Oh okay, I mean, listen, you don't have any concern.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
Well, I think the big one, you know, we'll talk
about it next hour is McCaffrey injury situation. It's calf
slash Achilles. Now it's Trent Williams. I'm gonna reserve judgment
until Monday. But listen, Monday, Monday show is going to
be hyped, obviously, and then Tuesday, you know, if the
Jets pull off the dubo basically, you know this show
is going to be connected to the Jets all season.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Let's know they go one and four, this will become
a giant shows.
Speaker 6 (20:36):
No shot of that. Oh my god, I don't think
we're talking about the Giants at all this season. They're
gonna be so bad. Let's move to the Buffalo Bills.
Also in the AFC Easter, your pick to win the division. Well,
they lost Stefan Diggs and gave Davis obviously in the offseason,
but they picked up Keon Coleman, MOUNTI kid out of
f SU, very talented. Alan spoke to the impact he
expects Coleman to have.
Speaker 9 (20:57):
What's fair to expect is he's going to be an
exciting player for us, and I think he's gonna help
us win football games. He's got a different skill set
than maybe what I'm used to. I don't know if
I've had the type of skill set. If he brings
the table as a as an option before. It's not
gonna be perfect right away. We're gonna have bumps and bruises,
but we're gonna keep working. And he loves football, which
(21:20):
makes me love them even even more.
Speaker 6 (21:24):
Yeah, you get Mitchell Coleman starting on the outside. You
got this kid mac Hollins on the opposite side, and
then Shakir in the slot. Those are your receivers.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Well, it's more of a tight end offense.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
Now is that the weakest receiver group. I mean, that's
got to be. It's like Patriots Bills.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Well, so it's a very interesting year for Josh Allen
because Patrick Mahomes had a dreadfully weak receiving cor and
won a Super Bowl. So this is not a great
receiving core for Josh Allen. Now he's got Cook, who's
the best back he's had. He's got two really good
tight ends. But we saw Mahomes without a great receiving
core hoisted trophy. I don't want to hear about Stefan
Diggs left, the great quarterback, Randy Moss left, and Brady
(22:04):
Stack trophies. I don't want to hear about it.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
Oh wait a minute, hold him hold on. The Tier
one quarterbacks are Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Burrow according to
the Athletic, So Alan still in that tier? Are you
considering bumping him down if they're No?
Speaker 1 (22:17):
No, No, I'm saying is if I don't want to
hear any excuses, two things can be true. He's great.
I don't want to hear excuses because I just watched
Mahomes the last two years. Last year we had nothing
to work with. I mean literally Rashi Rice and a
pidarious Tony's you know the teams guy, Uh yeah, I
meant you.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
Were buried on the depth chart and Hollywood Brown hasn't
even showed up.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
No, k Kansas City gave you, gave everybody in the
league a year to catch up to him, and they couldn't.
I don't want to hear that. Stefan Diggs is the difference.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
Chief's going seventeen to know, is that happening or no?
Speaker 1 (22:48):
They're going to go thirteen twelve, thirteen and four something
like that. You know that's not great.
Speaker 6 (22:54):
If they got home field evantage in the playoffs, they're
going to the super Bowl. Only one guy taking him down,
well two guys, one guy left in the league, Burrow
and Brady. Those are the only guys to beat him
in arrowhead in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
I know, CJ. Stroud, keep your eye on him.
Speaker 6 (23:07):
Aaron Rodgers, keep your eye out.
Speaker 10 (23:09):
And no.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
Final story is oh, let's stay with Stefan Diggs, who's
excited for his debut with c. J. Stroud and the
Texans against Indy this weekend. Dig seems to have already
built a great relationship with his new quarterback.
Speaker 10 (23:23):
You know, I look at him as family and not
just my quarterback. You know, I'm rocking with him through
thinking thing. I always say, I'm with you when you're right,
and I'm always with you when you're wrong. So like
as a quarterback, he makes it real easy on him.
How only is he a hell of a quarterback? You know,
obviously you send that practice. He can throw any ball.
But as far as like the mental part of that,
he said in the day, you know what I'm saying,
do what you gotta do. I want to see you
get open.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
But you were you supposed to be at the right time.
Speaker 10 (23:44):
You know, I got you.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Kind of a shot at Josh Allen. Is that how
you perceived that? Well?
Speaker 5 (23:52):
C J.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Stroud's family, he's known him forty five minutes. You hung
out for years with Josh Allen. It's like, no, this
guy's family. You're just a passer by him my life.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
I'm real curious how teams defend the Texans. You put
your number one corner on digs right.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Well, I think you play zone. I think you zone
the Texans, cross your fingers, get a pass. Russian zone.
Ninety percent of the coverages in the NFL now ur
zone anyway, So That's why this speedy wide receiver has value.
But everybody's playing zone. That's just the way to lead
get That's why Pooka Nakou is not a speedster can
walk in and have so many catches. He's great at
beating the zone.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
I just I just wonder how digs is gonna handle
it if in the opener, you know, it's like four targets,
three catches, twenty five yards, Like, is he gonna be thrilled?
Because they got some dudes on that in that offense,
a lot of mouths to feed in Houston.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
No, and they got a Joe Mixon, so they're gonna
run the football. The power run game will improve.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
No, Deel's back, Dalton Schultz, Nico Collins, Nico Collins is
getting Also.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Now you're gonna call me crazy on this, but there
is something about you go to Buffalo. The weather stinks,
there's nothing really to do. It's a small market. And
I kind of felt like Stefan Diggs felt like, Okay,
I go from Minnesota to Buffalo. I'm here and I'm
gonna elevate you guys. And then once he didn't elevate
and he got very frustrated. I think Stefan Diggs looks
at Houston as his final spot.
Speaker 6 (25:07):
Well, he elevated Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
No he did. They were great with him, Well they were.
They were winning games too without him. They were winning
games without him.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
They did the AC Championship with Digs. I still remember
him sticking on the field after watching the celebration.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Ticked off him, and they weren't losing games. Everyone in
twelve or I mean, they were a good team without him.
When you go to Buffalo, you want the payoff because
you've sacrificed the weather and things to do as a
pro athlete, like like Green Bay and nothing to do here.
The weather's not great, not much of a social life.
You gotta win and you want a trophy. That's why
you'll go there. Free Agents have all these choices. You
(25:41):
ever notice free agents when they have the opportunities, go
to certain cities and certain weathers. So it's like, I
think he just got frustrated with the whole Buffalo thing.
Speaker 6 (25:49):
So you were a free agent back in the day
and came out here. How was the weather, how was liked?
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Whether I was tired of Connecticut winners? Absolutely everything matters
when you're when you're moving to a new place every
Some people worry about taxes. I'm not as much worried
about that. I'm more worried about what's the weather, what's
the opportunity at the time? Was it good for my
kids in schools? But when you're an athlete, you're a
pro athlete, and you're twenty seven and you're single, Okay,
(26:14):
where are the ladies? Well, I mean, what's the life like?
Can my family and friends come and see me? Do
I have my guys I can hang out with? Is
the team good? Am I gonna get paid? And I
think Buffalo, for Stefano, has felt like I'm not gonna
end my life here. Can I win a trophy here?
And I think Houston feels like, Hey, I'm gonna stay
here for five years and my career here. That's what
it feels like to me. Nothing wrong with Buffalo. I'm
(26:36):
not attacking them. I just I kind of felt like
that Houston is an interesting one.
Speaker 6 (26:41):
They come out here, blow out the Colts in week one.
Anything's in play.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
I don't you know, but the history tells you division
underdogs in week one two three bet them and division
home dogs. Yeah, division home underdog. The call I should
have made it one of my picks. I didn't because
I love Houston. But one of the smartest plays of
the weekend probably is the Cult Division home dogs, even
(27:05):
if they're not good, and we think Indy is is
the beat.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
I was gonna save it for headlines seventeen and four
in the last decade in week one home divisional Dogs.
There's three of them this weekend, two at home. One
is not Raiders are not at home. You'll be firing
a lot this weekend, aren't you excited? Yeah, just spraying
the board.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Just very exciting, very exciting. Jmack with the news, Well
that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the herd
Line News. I was thinking about this because the Packers
and the Eagles play tonight in Brazil. It's the rare,
super rare Friday NFL early season game, right like, I
don't even know if we've ever had one. So I
(27:46):
was thinking about Philadelphia because Nick Sirianni, the head coaches
on the hot seat. The Eagles do something that mostly
only bad franchises do in the NFL. They fire really
talented people all the time. That's what bad organizations do.
I mean, Chip Kelly three years wins ten games his
(28:10):
first two years with average quarterbacks. They fire him. I mean,
Carson Wentz a huge deal year later, Get out of here.
Doug Peterson out duels Belichick in a super Bowl, one
of the most cleverly coached Super Bowls ever. Get out
of here. I mean, it's like they invented the phrase,
what have you done for me lately? But it works
for them. They were right on Chip Kelly, He's a
(28:32):
better college coach. They were right on Carson Wentz. They
saw it before it happened. He just didn't connect with players.
He got hurt too often. They Philadelphia's got this super
progressive owner and a top aggressive GM. They always hire
offensive coaches and they always feel very current. If the
league's move it in a direction, Philadelphia will move off
(28:55):
talented people to get into that direction. And there is
a difference, and a lot of men struggle with this.
There's a difference between confidence and arrogance. Tom Brady's confident.
He wasn't arrogant. Peyton Manning was confident. He's not arrogant.
I know both. They're not arrogant, they're confident. There's a
big difference. Okay, Aaron Rodgers sometimes crosses that threshold. And
(29:19):
there is a difference between impulsive and decisive. Jim Ersay
is impulsive. David Tepper and Carolina is impulsive. Jeffrey Lurie
is decisive. He sees something, he reacts quickly to something.
I mean they saw very quickly. Mobile quarterbacks. Hurts gets
(29:41):
along with people. Everybody loves him. Carson Wentz gets hurt.
Carson Wentz is doesn't connect in the locker room, and
they just moved off him. So they were right on
Wentz and right on Chip Kelly, and you know, probably
right on Doug Peterson. So I think Nick Sariani needs
to win, and he needs to now because we've seen
moments where he's immature their stories. This year, he couldn't
(30:04):
get along with Jalen Hurts. Here's Jason Kelcey on the
New Heights podcast this week on Jalen Hurts taking over
the leadership reigns this year.
Speaker 11 (30:14):
I think him taking on this as a responsibility is
going to accelerate his game across the board, and I
think he's ready for it one from a knowledge base. Two,
I think he's ready for it just by being a
more experienced player, and he's going to be more of
a leader. He needs to be more of a leader
and have more of this responsibility on him. So I'm
excited to see how this goes for him this year.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Okay, now, don't overreact to the Ravens losing to the
Chiefs in Week one, but not all Week one losses
are the same. Coming up next. Three things to watch
for in Week one three losses, Three situations that could
be noteworthy. No one overreact, but you also get signs
(30:59):
very quickly on trouble. That's next Live in La, It's
the Hurt.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
He's Mike Carmen, I'm Dan Bayern.
Speaker 11 (31:09):
We have a fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
That's right Dan.
Speaker 12 (31:14):
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 1 (31:25):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carmon and
meet Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and
wherever you bet your podcasts.
Speaker 6 (31:33):
Big Get noon Saturday as third rank Michigan dicks On
tenth sorry, third ranked Texas ticks On tenth grank Michigan.
Then at three point thirty, Baylor battles Utah at ten
It's Texas Tech Washington State. It's a huge day at
college football tomorrow on Fox.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
All right, do not overreact to the Ravens lunch. The
Ravens have a great coach, a great quarterback, a great
team that in it's Kansas City. It was in Kansas City,
they came within an inch of winning. Don't overreact to that.
So that's the one thing to don't overreact and don't overreact,
and everybody will in the media because that's what they do.
They'll overreact to rookie quarterbacks struggling in week one. Bo
(32:14):
Nicks is gonna struggle, Jaden Daniels may struggle, Caleb's gonna struggle. Like,
take a deep breath. Rookie quarterbacks in week one are nervous.
They're not gonna play well. Okay, none of them are
gonna play perfect. They're gonna throw bad picks and be
lost and be anxious and nervous. So don't overreact to
last night, and don't overreact to rookie quarterbacks first game.
There are three things I would keep my eye on,
(32:35):
because just because you don't have to overreact, that doesn't
mean you don't see signs of trouble. Number one, Russell
Wilson with the Steelers. Russell Wilson's thirty five. He got
injured during a conditioning test for the Pittsburgh Steelers and
he hasn't been healthy since. So he was hyper athletic
at his best. He's not that he's banged up. You
(32:58):
got Justin Field's very popular in that locker room. This
is a bad old line missing a starter who's out
for a while. There's a way Pittsburgh could lose and
it would be fine. But if they can't move the chains,
that thing could get ugly really fast. The second thing
to watch out for the Jets offensive line, Aaron Rodgers
(33:18):
does not want pressure near his knees or his feet.
If you go to Aaron's last year in Green Bay,
when he was under pressure, he was awful. He had
a passer rating of fifty two. Old quarterbacks Eli Brady Manning.
They don't want to get hit. They got two hundred
and fifty or more million in the bank. They want
(33:40):
to win, but they'll live for another day. So if
Aaron is letting that puppy go early, he is not patient.
He's not sitting in the pocket. Aaron Rodgers under pressure
his last year in Green Bay. He wasn't there for it.
He want gonna handle it. He gotta throw it away
and start over. Keep your eye on that. The Jets
O line has improved, moved, the personnel is improved, but
(34:02):
it's all new and cohesion on the O lines is
a rough sled. In twenty twenty four, they don't play
in the preseason number three. If Dak is sitting back there,
the Browns rollover coverage and Ceedee Lamb is doubled and
there's just nothing else there. I know y'all love Jake Ferguson,
(34:24):
but he is not Shannon Sharp. He is not Tony Gonzalez.
Let's slow down here. If you look at Dak's numbers,
when he targets Ceedee Lamb, he has one hundred and
twenty passer rating. When he doesn't, he's eighty eight passer rating.
So there is a way to play back double seed Lamb,
(34:45):
make him go somewhere else. And if Cleveland does that effectively,
you are giving a road map to everybody that Dallas plays.
So Dallas loses, ceedee, Lamb gets frustrated. You're just showing
every team this is the way to beat him, because
they got a nice tight end, not a great one,
a week running back room and no real dominant number
(35:05):
two receiver. So keep your eye on Russell and the Steelers. Okay,
keep your eye on Aaron Rodgers' feet. He gets happy
feet and starts throwing it away. That's telling you he
didn't trust that online at all, and he's going to
get real frustrated, real quick with Natt Hackett and Robert Salad.
He not going to take the heat you got, point fingers.
Here's the other thing. I got so many things going
(35:28):
on right now. In fact, you know I'm gonna save
that one. Hold on, I almost save that note. I
want to talk about this, so I want Dion Sanders
to succeed because I think big personalities are good for
college football, and I love college football. But this weekend
they face Nebraska, and very rarely am I focused on
(35:51):
a college football game with two unranked teams that have
no chance to play for a national championship. But this
game fascinates me. I like Nebraska in this one. There's
some things here that we should now start to admit.
Deon Sanders last six games against like power conference teams,
he's owing six the transfer portal once again. They signed
(36:14):
the largest transfer portal class over forty players in the country.
It's starting to feel a little bit at Colorado like
a time share presentation. Lots of bells and whistles, shampain
to anybody that signs, and then two years later you're
hiring an attorney and trying to get out of it.
(36:36):
I'm sorry, but Nebraska is the opposite of Colorado. They
play real defense, they recruit high school kids, They're very
good at the details. They just had to get better
at quarterback. Actually, Colorado's great at quarterback. They'll have the
two best players in this game. But special teams details
O line, D line. Let's be honest with Colorado. It
(36:58):
is a time pitch. They've got an immaculate website. The
ig is humming very little substance with Colorado. You remember that,
remember that when he got there, Remember that Dion was
talking about he brought in that new handbag, and Nebraska's
a duffel bag on one program feels like a Gucci
(37:21):
bag one feels like a Duffel bag. But I gotta
be honest. You can get more into the Duffel bag.
It travels well. Here was Dion this week on facing Nebraska.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
I have a.
Speaker 5 (37:33):
Ton of respect for Matt Ruhle. He was a professional,
did a phenomenal job. Maybe not job that he spared
to do, but he has a ton of experience and
I love what he's accomplished in his college coaching career.
So I looked for them to be physically tough and posing,
trying to run football, to have a freshman quarterback that
had a pretty good day last week.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
But we got to do what we do.
Speaker 5 (37:57):
We got to go in there and do what we're
capable of doing.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Remember when Dion got to Colorado, he said, when all
the guys started hitting the portal, I'm bringing my own bag.
It's a Louis. I know, I know, it's cool. Colorado's
cooler than Nebraska. Their flash year the Nebraska. They got
a better quarterback than Nebraska, probably the two best players
in the game. But this is a really a meeting
of opposites. One team strength is defense. One team's weaknesses defense.
(38:24):
One team wants to run the ball. One team will
pass the ball. One team's inexperienced a quarterback, one team's
credit quarterback. One coach is all about flash. Matt Ruhle
has a history in college football is that he comes
into a program, first thing he does is close the gap.
And last year Nebraska lost a lot of close games.
They lost a lot of games by three and four points.
The second year, this year, Nebraska is going to win
(38:46):
those games close, and then next year they'll win him
by larger gaps. A three step program. Matt rules history.
Don't blame him for Carolina David Tepper, that's a circus.
So it's a fascinating game. Different personalities. One team's very transportal.
One team's very high school recruiting. Nebraska just had their
best high school recruiting class in the history of the program,
that includes Tom Osborne. So they now now everybody's going
(39:10):
to get quarterbacks in the transfer portal. So I don't
even count that's that's a whole different ball game. But
this game is really fascinating. I hope Dion succeeds. I
think he's good for college football. I'm into the personality
I said when he got hired. I remember thinking this
is an odd fit. Now that's going to work. Colorado
needs attention, he brings it. But now we also can
(39:32):
take a step back here after a couple of years ago. Well,
I'm not is this just one of those timeshare pitches.
You know they ring the bell, they give you the champagne.
If you buy a couple of years later, it's like
you're hiring an attorney. You're putting it in the classified
ads in the newspaper, kind of want it, trying to
sell your time share. So we'll see. I like Nebraska,
(39:52):
you don't. I like Nebraska to win this game. I
think they're going to ugly it up, run the football,
keep it out of shadouver Sanders' hands. But for two
unranked teams, this is a really interesting matchup.
Speaker 6 (40:03):
He's probably the third most interesting game of the weekend.
Texas Michigan's won, right and then Iowai with States always
you know it's like a battle. But yeah, this is
Colorado team.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
This is a personality clash game, two different programs, two
different personalities.
Speaker 6 (40:19):
So how much do you think Dion's upset that his
son isn't being talked about as the number one pick?
And it's all Carson Beck.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
Carson Beck, Well, it just depends.
Speaker 6 (40:26):
I Thineah, well, that's what I think prompted this nonsense
from him. Oh, guys aren't discussed enough.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
What well, Schadeur Sanders is really talented. He is a
more accurate in my opinion, he's a more accurate thrower
than Caleb Williams. I think Caleb's more talented. But in
terms of he can throw moving left, he can throw
moving right, he throws moving forward, shadures are really His
ball placement moving pocket is very good. He's very, very talented,
(40:52):
and his mobility's great. You know, he's in the nil generation.
He gets into his fields whatever, but he's good. There's
no disputing it. The kid can play. But it's it's
I'd like to see Colorado talk a little less. I'm
all for talking. You gotta start winning an occasional game
against the power Conference. Just one over your last six.
I like shots fired right there, one in five. I'd
(41:14):
give you a little chatter like go in six? Yeah,
say less? Well, I mean again, he's part of the
Colorado experiment. Is getting attention. I get that too. Blaze
and five or is it the Blase five
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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