Episode Transcript
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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):
Welcome in. Here we go our number two, Greg Cosell
in five minutes, 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 day. Jmac got
some tantalizing little bits and herdline news this hour and
next one that I strongly concur with.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Okay, well now I think that other one's final hour,
but yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Utterly, Uh are you eventually gonna talk Oscars on the show,
because movies?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I know you're a big movie guy.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Not really now, but no, they did the Oscar stuff
this morning, and I'm what is happens in this country?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I don't watch any of the movies last three years
that have been nominated except Oppenheimer.
Speaker 5 (01:07):
That's the other day.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I don't know any of these movies.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
That's right, if you want to know, there's a disconnect
with Hollywood in America last four years. I don't even
go to a theater Oppenheimer and Tom Cruise. That's it.
So I do this before huge games every year or
a huge series. I do the ten best players, which
gives me some sense to who's gonna win. So let's
go Washington and Buffalo or Washington in Philadelphia on Fox
(01:31):
the ten best players. And again this is my opinion,
but it's facing a lot of data and a lot
of stats. Who are the ten best players in the
Commander's Eagles game on Fox the NFC Championship. So I
think the number one player is Sakuan Barkley, Who's on
a short list of the greatest running backs I've ever seen.
He is so good. This team is built around the
(01:53):
old line in the running back, not the quarterback. Most
rushing yards through the first two games in NFL player
off history, all class, speed, moves, power, Sakwan Barkley. Number two.
Jordan may Lott is the highest gridted offensive tackle in
the NFL. Offensive tackles matter a lot more than interior lineman.
Highest grid one sack allowed, four hundred and sixty four
(02:17):
pass blocking attempts this year for the Eagles. Number three
is Jalen Carter. I think he's the best defensive tackle
right now in the NFL, and I know it's only
year two. Highest graded defender at any position this playoff
among these final four teams, Georgia Bulldog Jalen Carter number four.
I don't think it's hyper. I think Jayden Daniels is magic, folks.
(02:40):
I think we're looking at a kid, highest passer rating
by any of the four quarterbacks, and that's with an
average Joe line and one weapon. Tied for the most
wins by a rookie quarterback in the season, including the playoffs.
His fourth quarter numbers don't even make sense. They don't
even make sense. Number five Zach Vahd Now he's a linebacker.
Even though he's a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year,
(03:01):
he is a linebacker. He's unbelievable, a highest credit linebacker
in the NFL this year. Former special teams guy. But again,
linebacker has limitations. We've seen great teams move off really
good linebackers because of the position. Number six, Aj Brown.
They went fourteen to one when Aj Brown, the wide receiver,
the book reading wide receiver played for Philadelphia, and the
(03:22):
average twenty nine and a half points when he played.
He is special. Number seven Terry McLaurin. Maybe not the
burner or quite the impact, but talk about consistent with
all sorts of quarterbacks. Five straight years of one thousand yards,
great hands open often and again this has been a
franchise that can't find the quarterback until this year. Lane
(03:43):
Johnson's number eight right tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles, has
not allowed a sack since last year Week fourteen, so
he is considered the best right tackle Tristan Wurfs and him. Now.
Worfs has moved over to the left side, but highest
graded right tackle in the NFL this season, and it
feels like this has been his position he interested in
(04:04):
words for years. Number nine Landon Dickerson, who is the
best guard in the highest graded guard in the playoffs
according to PFF. I mean this old line for Philadelphia
goes back from the Tyron Smith, you know, Zach Martin
Cowboy o line where it's like everybody's great. And number ten,
I'd give Bobby Wagner at Washington the edge here only
(04:26):
player in the NFL. He's a tackle machine with one
hundred and forty plus tackles and three plus fumble recoveries.
Smart still got some movement, tackle machine, tough physically, and
there you go. I'm gonna do the bills Kansas City
after Greg Coosel. So I want your reaction. First of all,
now there's a bunch of really good players at eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen.
(04:50):
Philadelphia is so stacked. I don't even know what to
do with about three of their guys.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I need you to flash it on the screen one
more time.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Jalen Hurts did not make it.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
No, No, Jalen Hurts is not one of the ten
best players in the NFC Championship.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
A hurt Jalen Hurts. No, you think that's outrageous? Who
am I going to replace him?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
No comment, Jalen Hurts Colin.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
And so I see it. Oh my god, seven to
three edged Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Wait till, wait till Greg co Sell.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Here's this Greg Cosell forty five years NFL films. Greg's like,
I want no part of that cowherd. I don't want
any part of that. You know, it's funny because I
like Jalen Hurts, But again, this is a pocket league,
and why we love Jayden Daniels. Yes, we like the mobility,
but what we really like about Jayden is the way
(05:41):
he sits in the pocket and goes to a third
read in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
I mean, when you watch Jayden, I like his mobility.
I'm blown away by what he does in the pocket,
aren't you.
Speaker 7 (05:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (05:51):
I mean he's a better pocket player than Jalen Hurts
for sure.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
I don't think anybody would question that.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Okay, so we're good there. So I want to get
to this. I want to take a look back at
Lamar Jackson because I can argue. I can argue Mark
Andrews dropped a two point conversion. I can argue Bateman
quit running on his interception, and I can argue that
on his snap that he fumbled, it was bad. He
(06:18):
tried to be Superman and never got his footing. I thought,
by and large, he played pretty good against Buffalo. What
did the film say?
Speaker 8 (06:29):
I would agree the interception was bad regardless of where
Bateman would have or should have run, And we don't
know that for a fact. That was just a poor
read and a poor throw he threw. He basically threw
a trajectory pass to a safety that was on that
side of the field, so that was a poor throw
regardless of where Bateman would have gone.
Speaker 6 (06:51):
You talk about the fumble.
Speaker 8 (06:53):
We've seen him be Superman on plays like that many
many times, and when he does that.
Speaker 6 (06:58):
We get all excited at that's special. It is.
Speaker 8 (07:01):
So again, we weren't on the field. We don't know
what it was like trying to hold the ball. But yeah,
that play was a flukey play. And then there were
many other plays in the game, you know, the Andrews fumble,
the Andrews.
Speaker 6 (07:12):
Dropping the two point conversion. We don't know how the
game would have played out.
Speaker 8 (07:16):
Certainly the Bills were struggling to stop the Ravens in
the second half of that game, so no Lamar played.
Speaker 6 (07:22):
Well.
Speaker 8 (07:23):
The problem is, and I know everybody spent all this
week trying to discuss you know, who's at fault. You
know me, con I don't get into those conversations, and
I don't really understand them, you know what, I.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
Just don't understand what the point is.
Speaker 8 (07:37):
Like, For instance, everybody's saying, oh, this week's a referendum
on Josh Allen. So so if the Bills happened to lose,
which by the way, the Chiefs are pretty good and
the Bills could easily lose.
Speaker 6 (07:46):
So what are they saying.
Speaker 8 (07:48):
Are we then saying, well, Josh Allen should be replaced
as the quarterback of the Bills. What are we saying
when we have those conversations. I just don't get the
context of those kinds of discussions.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Now let's go back one more time. I like Jared Goff.
He needs a good online but I like him. He
melted down against the Commanders. What did they do well?
What happened?
Speaker 6 (08:11):
Yeah, I don't think he melted down.
Speaker 8 (08:14):
I thought that it's funny you say that because the
interception that was returned for a touchdown was a great
piece of coaching by the Commander's defense. Because basically what
they played was Cover two, okay, but they played it
a little bit differently. Where do they throw the ball
exceptionally well between the numbers. GoF is as good as
anybody at those intermediate throws between the numbers, those timing
(08:37):
anticipation throws.
Speaker 6 (08:39):
And they played Cover two, but they rushed three and
they dropped a.
Speaker 8 (08:43):
D lineman out so that what we call the underneath
hook defender could get more depth in his drop.
Speaker 6 (08:50):
And what happened there is is then.
Speaker 8 (08:52):
GoF had to lift his throw, so he ended up
throwing it too high.
Speaker 6 (08:56):
So that was just really really good defense.
Speaker 8 (08:59):
And then the interception by seinerstill was a ridiculously good play.
You can't play that any better. That was not a
bad read or a bad throw. He actually placed it perfectly.
It was just one of the best plays you'll see
by a corner. Given what the coverage was. They scored
thirty one points. I don't think Golf melted down at all.
(09:19):
Did he play his best game of the season, of
course not, But I don't think when I watched the
tape of that game, I came away thinking.
Speaker 6 (09:25):
Oh my god, Jared Goff, he was bad. He was
not bad.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Okay, now let's go Eagles commanders. So let's first start
with this. Yep, they should have eaten him twice, but
Jalen Hurts got hurt, Kenny Pickett came in, so they split.
How does the Eagles defense. I think it kind of
matches up pretty well with Jayden Daniels because I got
some good movers at linebacker. But you tell me, what's
the film say, Eagles defense against Jayden Daniels.
Speaker 8 (09:51):
Yeah, that'll be interesting because the Eagles have not really
been this particular year. I can't remember all of vic
Fanjo He's been in the league a long time.
Speaker 6 (09:58):
The Eagles don't.
Speaker 8 (09:59):
Really spot Jayden Daniels, so it'll be interesting to see
how they handle his movement. Because in that last game,
the Week sixteen game that the Commanders won, there was
a really big fourth and eleven play late in the
third quarter where Jayde Daniels ran for twenty nine yards
because he saw a lane right in front of him
and he just took off. The Eagles defense has obviously
(10:20):
been really, really good, and a lot of it, to
me is the little details in how they play their
coverages and what they do with their fronts. But certain
players have really incrementally in some cases, really significantly improved
over the course of the season. Colin, you know, they
had a ton of unknowns going into the season, and
no one could have predicted they'd all turn out to
(10:41):
be positive. Zachbourn had never played Stack Becker. Here's Quinnon Mitchell.
You didn't know he's a first round pick out of Toledo.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
You didn't know.
Speaker 8 (10:49):
Cooper Degen he had been hurt. He didn't play till
Week six. I believe all these things. The Kobe Dean
had been hurt. All these things turned out not just
to be positives, butt positives. So this is a defense
with good players, a really good scheme that they execute
at a really really high level.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Okay, now is Philly. It feels like to me that
Philly came to terms with this, fewer throws for Jalen
Hurts and we're a better team. Does the film prove
that it's more of a Saquon team and they're better
off throwing less?
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Oh well, it's certainly.
Speaker 8 (11:26):
Saquon and the o Lion are really the defining features
of their offense. The defense is a big factor because
they're never they never give up a lot of points,
so they don't have to change their offensive identity. But
I'll tell you one thing that I think is overlooked,
and pretty much all four remaining teams are like this,
and it's going to be interesting to see if the
league moves in this direction overall.
Speaker 6 (11:46):
When these teams and the Eagles.
Speaker 8 (11:49):
Are a prime prime example, when they get to the
plus side of the field, meaning the fifty inn they
are four down teams. Colin, So anytime it's fourth down
with four or less yards to go. The Eagles will
go for it, as will the Bills, as will the Chiefs, as.
Speaker 6 (12:05):
Will the Commanders. And you know what that does.
Speaker 8 (12:07):
It changes the way defenses have to play because how
many times do we see defenses if it's third and
nine and they give up a seven yard game, they
get all excited that they stopped a month third down. Well,
that doesn't matter against the Eagles. They're going to go
for it and they convert. So that totally changes the
defensive dynamic of how you have to game plan in
(12:27):
situational football, and it makes it far more difficult, and
to me, that's a huge, huge factor in the way
the Eagles play.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Okay, so let's go to Buffalo, Kansas City.
Speaker 6 (12:39):
YEP.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
I thought Buffalo came in so dialed in and focused
and their feeling was early after a Baltimore turnover, is
guys play within ourselves. Buffalo's Buffalo's given US field position,
Baltimore's given US field position. They're making mistakes, they're pressing,
let's not. I thought it was focused, smart, principled. They
(13:02):
mixed it up. I thought it was Sean McDermott's one
of his better game plans and days I felt they
kind of adjusted. It was really not reliant on anybody.
They rarely threw the ball down the field. So now
you got Spags defense against this pretty diverse Buffalo offense.
Speaker 8 (13:21):
What are you expecting, To be honest with you, I
was fascinated and somewhat surprised by the Bills offense. They
basically played the game without Josh Allen being a big
factor as a passer, and to me, I didn't think
they could win the game playing that way, but they did.
They came out just like the week before against Denver,
(13:42):
but they were playing the best run defense in the league.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
And really they came out and they ran the ball again.
Speaker 8 (13:47):
I think in the first half they had twenty one
called runs and eight called passes. I mean they lined
up with their six offensive linemen personnel, which they have
done more than any team in the league. I think
they did a ten times just in the first half alone.
They played with the full back Riggie Gilliam. They believe
they can run the ball clearly against anybody.
Speaker 6 (14:09):
Now.
Speaker 8 (14:09):
I don't know if they'll feel that way against the Chiefs.
It seems as if that's their mo right now, but
there will be long yarded situations there are in every game,
and you know as well as I do, Colin, that
there is no better situational blitzer in this league than
Steve Spagnolo.
Speaker 6 (14:26):
He knows exactly when to dial it up, and.
Speaker 8 (14:28):
He uses his defensive backs as blitzer is better than
any defensive coach in the league. And no matter how
well the Bills offense might run the ball, there will
be long yarded situation.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
So Mahomes has eight touchdowns no picks against the Bills
in the playoffs. What makes Patrick is it a personnel advantage?
I mean, obviously Mahomes is great, but he's had real,
circumstantial situational success against this team in big spots. Yeah.
Speaker 8 (14:55):
And I think one of the things that makes Mahomes
so special is the fact that and I hate to
use phrases like the in fact, Aretie, because I never
knew exactly what that meant, But he is so good
in given situations, very much like Steve Spagnolo is. Because
this year they have not been and you know this
a downfield passing team. Do you know that on passes
(15:15):
of twenty yards or more in the air from the
line of scrimmage, Mahomes has far and away the worst
completion percentage in the league twenty six percent. By contrast
Sam Darnold, who was fifty six percent. So they do
not throw the ball down the field. They are a
schemed passing game right now. They do a great job
with their personnel, their formations, their motions, everything is schemed.
(15:38):
They are not an aggressive vertical passing team. That's not
the way they play. Yet they throw it a lot,
because Mahomes had the second or third most pass attempts
in the league during the regular season, but they've become
kind of an efficient, sustaining pass game and then in
those moments, Mahomes makes those special special plays, which of
course we know he's capable of.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
So it's been kind of an odd offense to watch
this year because.
Speaker 8 (16:03):
You don't really see the big plays we've been used
to seeing going back two, three, four years.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So, but you do have a big play here against
Houston with Mahomes and Travis Kelsey. Show it to us.
Speaker 8 (16:14):
Yeah, I mean this play, if we go to the
play was interesting because you know people always I'm sure
you get the same thing about Travis Kelcey, Well, how
could you let him be open? And this play is
actually a very good example of how that happens.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
So we're gonna walk through it here. This was the
forty nine yard completion.
Speaker 8 (16:30):
I guess it was Kelsey's longest completion of the season
because he did not have a lot of big plays
this year. So you're going to see mahomes in the gun,
and what they're going to be in, which they're in
very often, is what we call a three by one set,
and you're going to see Gray and Kelsey here. Gray
is the number three receiver to trips. Kelsey is the
(16:50):
number two receiver. So now what the Texans played here
was man to man, and you're going to see the matchups.
You're gonna have a linebacker on Gray and the slot
corner on Kelsey. Man to man, no problem at all,
but the issue arises and Kelsey's going to run basically
a little sit route right in the middle of the field,
and Gray, off a chip.
Speaker 6 (17:12):
Is going to release into the flat.
Speaker 8 (17:14):
So what essentially happens is Kelsey, who's number two, becomes
number three by his route, and Gray, who's number three,
becomes number.
Speaker 6 (17:21):
Two by his route.
Speaker 8 (17:23):
So what happens is is it causes confusion and coverage.
You can see that Alcie Ear the linebacker. He stays
with Gray. He thinks it's his man. It is his man.
They're playing man to man. But the slot corner Briant,
what he does is he then plays releases. He sees
Gray become number two now and his eyes go right
(17:43):
to him.
Speaker 6 (17:44):
So what do they do, Colin? They leave Kelsey alone.
Speaker 8 (17:47):
So Kelsey now runs his route, his sit route, right
in the middle of the field, and he's totally turned
loose because one player on defense played pure man and
the other player played the release of of the receiver Gray,
So Kelsey's wide open. So it's not as if they
allowed Kelsey to be wide open. They had a man
to man defense and they made a mistake. And you
(18:11):
can actually clearly see that when you see it from
a different angle, if you can almost see the two
defenders they both react to Gray and there's Kelsey wide open.
So again, it's not as if they g had a
bad defense called they just didn't play it properly. And
you know what, I've seen that a lot the Chiefs
do a really good job with their formations and their
(18:33):
route concepts to sometimes create that kind of confusion.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Good stuff. Greg Cosell NFL Film's preview of Washington and
Philadelphia and the Buffalo Bills in Kansas City.
Speaker 6 (18:43):
Thanks Greg, Thanks con appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
By the way, I started this segment giving you the
ten best players in the Washington Philadelphia game seven to three. Philadelphia,
and I probably would have given them the eleven and
twelve players as well. Favored by six, they should be Buffalo.
Kansas City to me is even more interesting and much
(19:07):
less lobsided. So the number one player would be Patrick Mahomes.
Nobody would dispute that sixteen and three playoff record, arguably,
outside of Brady, the best playoff quarterback of all time.
So Patrick Mahomes again, no argument that Josh Allen Buffalo
would be number two. It's a flip flop. I'll give
it to Mahomes because he's been more successful. Now it
(19:28):
gets tougher, gets tough now. Quarterbacks are both great. They're
one and two. Now, what's the most important position after quarterback? Well,
left tackle, defensive tackle. Now I would put Chris Jones
number three. He's going to be a Hall of Famer
when Aaron Donald retired, the most disruptive playoff interior lineman
and football. He's the highest graded defender for the Chiefs
(19:51):
all season long, and they've had the best situational defense now.
Number four is interesting. This could be a lot of players.
Crean Humphrey's the best center and four ball and it's
not necessarily close. Highest gridded player on the Chiefs this
season on the entire roster of a two time champ
and favor to be a third time champ. He doesn't
(20:12):
have the flexibility of Joe Tooney, but when Kelsey retired,
Jason Kelsey retired. This is easily Oklahoma via Oklahoma sooners
the best center in the game. Number five, it's Travis Kelce.
He is gronk in the playoffs, he is wide open,
he was seventy percent of their offense last week, and
he is not necessarily a regular season phenom. Either was
(20:33):
Gronk at the end, but I would put Travis Kelsey five.
I would go to Dion Dawkins left tackle. I think
left tackle is the second most important position in football,
and he has been a multiple time Pro Bowler four straight,
has not allowed a single sack since Week nine against
the best pass rushers in the AFC. I would put
(20:54):
Trent McDuffie the highest gradded corner in the NFL at
number seven. Now, you could argue he should be higher,
but it's hard for cornerbacks. I mean, Sauce Gardner's great.
What does it matter for wins? I think you can
you can move people around, you can jam him, you
can get into situations where you can minimize the effectiveness
(21:15):
on a corner. Number eight Gregory Russo at Buffalo. Listen,
he's their elite pass rusher. He's on the field more
generally than Von Miller. Highest gradded defender for the Buffalo
Bills this year. When he's healthy and playing, they're very good.
Number nine a guy that's banged up from time to time,
but boy does he matter. Matt Mulana is a playmaker.
When he plays there, five and one, eight tackles, a sack,
(21:38):
four quarterback hits. He feels like kind of the soul
of this defense in my opinion, though he has been
banged up from time to time. I would put James
Cook the running back at number ten. Nineteen touchdowns in
eighteen games, and he is also you could argue he
should be higher. He has really alleviated some pressure in
the red zone. He can smell that end zone sow
(22:00):
five to five. But I think what's interesting when you
look at the top ten is the quality of great players.
If you take out Josh Allen Mahomes the best quarterback,
Chris Jones, the best defensive tackle, Humphrey the best center,
Travis Kelcey the best big game tight end, Trent McDuffie
the best corner, and Buffalo's corners, by the way, are
(22:21):
banged up in this game. They're supposed to play, but
they're banged up. So now this is five to five.
But the elite players in key positions tend to be
Kansas City. That's why they're probably favored by a point
and a half. Your reaction to this, you didn't like
my first one. Your reaction to this, well, the.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
Jalen hurts a mission. It's just I mean, it's gonna
be a wedge in our friendship. As for this one,
you know, I don't totally disagree. It reminds me in
the Super Bowl when you did Niners Chiefs, it was
flip flop. The Niners had the top end talent, remember,
and they were slightly favorites in the Super Bowl, And
I feel like the same situation here. Yes, Chris Jones
(22:58):
highly rated by PFF Creed humph. Sure, I would quibble
with Alan versus Mahomes. Allen's been better this year. That's undeniable.
He's gonna be the MVP, should be the MVP. I
think a lot of people will be upset with Milano
because he was hurt and his grades.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Had not been great this year.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
I'm just talking. I'm talking the best players now in
the AFC Championship. If Mlano is not playing, I would
take Kansas.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
So you know who I think he was put over
Milano is Dalton Kid kate If you just look at best,
he is awesome.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
And by the way, I just.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Looked up who the inactives were and missed the earlier
Chiefs Bills games.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
The Bills were.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
Without Kean Coleman, Yes, Spencer Brown the right tackle and
Dalton Kin kate Y and the offense still put thirty.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
On the Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
No, I'm picking Buffalo in this. In a high scoring game,
I think both teams score.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
I'm curious who guards Kinkaid on the Chiefs, Like, who's
going to defend him.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
He's a really tough matchup.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
I had twenty eleven Kinkaid twelve. Andy's more flexible, he
gives me.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
We'll see if was he gonna match up with Russo
von Miller.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
It's exciting the Bills. My wife doesn't follow sports, and
I'm like, this is this biggest football game of the year,
and likely it will be the best game we see.
It'll be better than the super Bowl because I think
the winner of this has a chance to roll in
the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
Possibly, is Nick upset with you that you're picking the
bills here?
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I didn't ask for an okay.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
I thought you guys would text about it and you
get on your case or something. I always know who
he's picking well, obviously.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
But he doesn't like it when you put the bills
at the top, and he thinks the chief should be
up top all the time.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
I am sure guy. I am still his mentor at
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Speaker 2 (24:47):
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Speaker 1 (24:56):
Julian edlmantally joining us last hour, I get all work,
you know, I you know, I am surprised you took
such a negative tact yesterday on Aaron Glenn to the Jets.
I was trying to be positive, but New York Media
was New York Media basically had your opinion, which, oh,
another first time head coach on the defensive side, which
I totally get. But I did argue that if you're
(25:17):
gonna love Ben Johnson, then you have to love Aaron
Glenn because I could argue Aaron Glenn did more with
less in Detroit. So if you love Ben, and I
understand offense over defense, but I think you have to
be careful about not doing something because you know a
previous GM did something, or it's like not drafting a
quarterback in the first round because the last GM who
did it failed. Well, if you liked the quarterback, get
(25:38):
the quarterback. If I interview Aaron Glenn and he's great,
I'm not thinking about Todd Bowles and Robert Salah. I'm like,
I interviewed eight guys and he blew me away. I'm
hiring Aaron Glenn. Yeah, I just have to be careful
about Well this failed before, Well that doesn't mean it's
gonna fail again.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
I love your did more with less? Can you quantify that?
What exactly did the Lions defense do this season?
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Well, considering Bay at one point had seven starters out, okay,
they were a pretty viable unit. Their sacks did not
go down noticeably without Aiden Hutchinson, who's easily one of
the top three to four edge rushers in the league.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
So they were viable.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
They give a forty five points to a rookie quarterback
in a playoff game at home.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Well, some of that was a pick six, but you know, okay.
Speaker 6 (26:18):
No, that's that's fair. Fine.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
They give up a touchdown on almost every drive. You know,
I don't know. I just hey, By the way, I'm
getting positive.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
By the way, BELLI check got cooked by Nick Foles
in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
One game, he won a million others. I will be
positive on the Jets. Now it's hired, it's official.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Let's get a good.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
GM, let's get some good coordinators.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Let's rock and roll. Let's get back to the top
of the We haven't been there to get.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Back to the top. All right, good luck, good luck
the seventies grandest hits. All right, J Mack with the news.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Get to jet jokes out.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
Now, let's get back to a game that actually matters,
and that would be Kansas City and Buffalo. And oh,
by the way, they're still talking about the reps.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Yes, listen, I've been on this all postseason.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
We know it's a thing. Chiefs are getting all the calls,
we know it. There's no rig thing here. However, after
Marlon Humphrey tweeted out, we can't let them keep getting
away with this.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Patrick Mahomes was asked about it and he does not agree.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
With the narrative.
Speaker 9 (27:21):
I don't feel that way. I mean, I just try
to play football.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 9 (27:25):
The referees are doing their best to call the game
is as fair and as proper as they possibly can.
And all you can do is go out there and
play the game that you love as hard as you
can and live with the results.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Oh look at that on the screen there. Wonder if
that'll go viral. Look at the playoff penalty. Since twenty twenty.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
One, thirty more flags on the opponents of the Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
Look at that Colin.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Yeah, less discipline coaching.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Yeah, discipline, it's got to be the discipline that's my favorite.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Yes, they are a disciplined team, no doubt. Thirty more
flags discipline.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
And by the way, Kobe and Shaq generated more fouls
than your players on the other teams. When you have
to guard Kelsey, you can only hold it.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Mahomes, by the way, admitted he probably should not have
flopped against the Texans on the sideline.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
I'm just fascinated.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Now we're at the stage column where you know, good
guys on our staff are sending me, Hey, here's the
referee for this weekend.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Here's his history with the Bills and the Chiefs. That's
not good for the league.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
You know that we don't need to be talking about
refs for a Sunday game on Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
That's not It should not be a thing.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
And I'm just hopeful that the referees do not get
involved here. I'd say let them play, but then the
Chiefs offensive line will just hold all game long.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
By the way, on that play, we're showing the TV
audience there was no time.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
I understand.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
But if the perception perception is reality, Mahomes is a
flopper and he's trying his best to get to get flags.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Okay, yeah, you know I like it.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Huh a hot under these lights Cowherd. Next up is
c J.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Stroud.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
How about his rookie season.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
It was incredible two years ago, led the Texan to
the playoffs after being one of.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
The worst teams in the league.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Well, Jayden Daniels has done a similar feat this year,
and he's got the Commanders on the cusp with the
Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
With Daniel's performance this year, c J.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Stroud spoke about how good of a season it has been.
Speaker 10 (29:15):
In my opinion, like he's had the best rook the
year of all time. And you know that's that's what
rerecords are. Men, I meant be, meant to break. I'm
so happy for that to do. And it's not only
just from him, like the motivation he's given to like
back home where we come from. Like, dude, yeah, no idea,
I don't. I don't root for many other teams, but
I'm rooted for my boy. I'm root for the Commanders.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
We're very lucky c J. Stroud in the AFC getting
all these young guys Jade and Daniels, Ben Johnson could
get Kayleb Williams right did you see the story where
Kayleb Williams screamed in his driveway when he heard Ben
got the job. He was all fired up. It's exciting, man. Wait,
this is so much better of a job when we
get great quarterbacks. Oh, Sundays sitting on a couch is
(29:56):
so much better watching star quarterback.
Speaker 6 (29:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Here's some members on Jayden Daniels. I mean historically.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
Almost unsurpassed stuff here, Colin, this is their fourth straight
road game like.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
This has been just an amazing None of it makes sense.
Speaker 4 (30:12):
It doesn't, and that's why betting on this game can
be a little nicy.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
You have any cheddar on this one?
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Yes, and I'm gonna tell it blazing two tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Look at a couple of prop bets.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Come on, Oh, there's one I like. I would just
say Washington's hard to get your arms around. But in
this series this year, this will be the third time
that met. There is one thing you can get your
arms around, and we'll talk about it tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
It's not Jayden Daniels. Oh you like what I did there?
Final story, Colin? How about this one?
Speaker 4 (30:42):
Oh boy, here we go the Lake show, your boy
Lebron and the Lakers fifth in the West. Charles Barkley
must be impressed they're up to fifth, but there is
still some internal issues. Lebron and ad according to Shams,
are growing concerned about the Lakers' ability to make significant
additions the trade deadline.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
What do they have for assets to make mone what
are they supposed to do?
Speaker 4 (31:06):
So this comes, however, on the heels of the Athletics
report that the sense around the NBA is the Lakers
are more likely to stand pat than.
Speaker 3 (31:13):
Make a move at the deadline.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Well, what can they get considering what they have?
Speaker 3 (31:18):
But here's the question.
Speaker 4 (31:19):
So last year Dallas at the deadline, remember they were
like a middling team five, six, seven, eight, and they
get PJ. Washington and the big guy Gafford.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Yes, okay, those are huge moves. Those are a great Gafford.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
You don't expect picking him up and it matters, and
they get to the NBA Finals and it's like, oh,
those moves worked. Can the Lakers find him a middle
to your player or two and jump start to do so?
Speaker 1 (31:41):
There's the Lamello ball story two days ago.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Zero chance of that happening.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
But here here's my thing, Like, why are Lebron and
this is coming from clutch.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
We know, right, it's Lebron and eighty are concerned.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
Come on, like, why are we doing this when you're
fifth in the West, Like that's just it feels like
it's a negative bent. I mean, if you're Rob Polinkas
in this, you gotta be like, guys, what the hell
are you doing?
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Well, they're not wrong. This team can't compete with ok C, Cleveland,
New York, Boston.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
You think Lebron's afraid of SGA, I don't.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Care what he's afraid of. He's not beating them. This
team's not gonna beat Cleveland, young athletic, young athletic.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
They could get by Okay in the bow, they.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
May get swept.
Speaker 5 (32:25):
They're not beating dort Oh No Wallace, hit Holgrid, who
weighs as much as you do. Come on, you don't
take the Lakers have any chance against them against Okay
in a seven game series.
Speaker 6 (32:36):
None.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
Okay see was also amazing last year.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Cleveland they could I think they could play around with
New York, but that's obviously.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Eastern at the top three in the West, Okay C,
Houston and Memphis.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Houston is I like Houston. They are super athletic, they're not.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
They're not Stone.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
I don't like the way they shoot. Houston can night
to If you watch Houston on some nights, they can't
hit anything from the outside. They're hitt and miss.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
I smell a contender in the Lakers smell that.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
No, I smelled delusion in your take? Is Are you done?
I think you are.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
I think I'm good.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
I'm done with it. J Mack with the news.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Well, that's the.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
News, and thanks for stopping by the.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Herd Line News.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Have you been to the into it?
Speaker 6 (33:23):
Don't yet?
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Kids are talking about it. It is?
Speaker 6 (33:26):
It is.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
You should use your superpowers and get us ticket.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
No, it's I was going to go to the UFC fight,
but I had I got offered a great UFC fight
ticket into it. I wanted to go. I want to
go watch because I go watch UFC in the summer.
I'll go to four or five fights, and I wanted
to go to this one, but it was the football
game and I couldn't go. I was bummed out.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Aaron Rodgers will probably be there, good for him, go
hang out.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
That's probably wouldn't That's not a Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
I like Joe Rogan, Colin Coward.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Yeah, I like Joe. I've seen the Vaughan. He's very funny.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
My brother thinks he's like the funniest guy.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
I've seen him at five. He's one of the nicest
guys I've ever met. He's he's a great guy. Uh KOOKI,
he's a great guy. Julian Edelman next to We're Live
in La It's The Herd.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 11 (34:15):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio App.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 11 (34:29):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
I mean that says something.
Speaker 11 (34:46):
Right, So check us out. We like to get you
involved too. Take your phone calls, chop it up. As
they say, I'd say the most interactive show on Fox
Sports Radio, maybe the.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 11 (34:57):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the Heartradio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific. And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Kobe non
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media that's Cavino and Rich.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
Sunday off Fox Historic Rivals Kali is a trick to
Super Bowl.
Speaker 7 (35:17):
Fifty nine on the line as a rookie, said Station
Jigden Daniels Leeds Washington against SIK one, Markley, Shalen Hurt
send the Eagles. Pregame coverage starts at one pm Eastern
with kickoff at three only off five.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Don't outthink the room. I saw a story this week.
Jay McK and I were just talking about it. Why
were the National Championship ratings down for Ohio State and
Notre Dame because of the inauguration? And Trump did very
well with men. Men like Trump. Lots of men like
Trump men watch football especially young men very much into
Trump and young men love sports, and a lot of
(35:52):
them probably switched over when Ohio State got into a
massive lead, whatever it was twenty four to seven or
thirty one seven, a lot of guys probably switched over.
I don't you don't outthink the room. People love college football.
Last year you got Washington from the West coast, so
you had a lot of Denver West people watching the Huskies.
And then you had this Midwestern power, whereas Notre Dame
(36:14):
and Ohio State. You know, you're not really including the
West coast or the south. So my guess there's a
little regionalism there. That probably heard it five percent. And
I do think the inauguration was the biggest part of
it is that that don't get many of those one
every four years. Okay, so Ben Johnson showed up the
new Chicago Bear coach from Detroit and listen the whole
(36:38):
In the NFL, to me, there's three things you have
to do. Get a quarterback, protect the quarterback, and then
draft players who attack or sack or hurry or hit
their quarterback. And so I think the partnership with Caleb
Williams is interesting because Northern tier teams almost as a rule,
(36:59):
are better when they've got a strong run game and
the quarterback can throw on play action pass. Philadelphia this year,
Baltimore this year, Buffalo this year, a Green Bay this year.
The running game came back in the NFL. In fact,
you tell me the wide receivers who have had any
impact in the NFL playoffs. AJ Brown's done nothing. Terry
(37:20):
mclaurin's probably the most vital receiver in the playoffs. So
when I look at that, you know, you start looking
at the teams Christian McCaffrey in San Francisco, Marshawn Lynch
in Seattle, Lamar and Derrick Henry. The run games are
January February football. And that's what I'm excited about. Because
(37:41):
Ben Johnson comes from Detroit, he understands the value of
o line play and the value of the run game.
He talked about his new partnership with Caleb Williams.
Speaker 12 (37:54):
He's got an abundance of talent. I can't wait to
get to work with him. But obviously he is a
and has a different skill set than Jared did. And uh,
I'll be I'll be excited to see what direction we go.
It's gonna morph. It's not gonna look the same as
what it did in Detroit. At the end of the day,
Caleb's gonna really dictate the direction that this offense goes
(38:16):
and what we end up looking like.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
To me, Chicago, what I envisioned Chicago as is a
stronger run team, leaning into Caleb Williams athletic ability. It
will look a lot like Josh Allen uh not his
first year, not maybe a second, kind of his third fourth.
Now they are more less Josh running, more James Cook running.
(38:41):
But you have to acquire those players. So to me,
the way Chicago has to win going forward is the
way the Packers are doing. I mean, think what the
Packers did that Aaron Jones good player. They went and
spent money on Josh Jacobs there, and I think that's
the way to do it. As a cold weather team.
Buffalo's the best they've been. Why James Cook, that's Derrick Henry.
(39:01):
Derreck Henry could have worked in a lot of places.
He really works late in the season with Baltimore. So
I think that's the way to do it. I think
this is the second best roster of all the coaching vacancies.
I thought the Jets had the best roster, and I
thought the Bears had the second best roster. Here's Ben
Johnson last hour on why he chose Chicago.
Speaker 12 (39:23):
This place is special. I felt that on the interview.
I felt that with the people on there, I felt
really confident in their vision and their direction for the
franchise going forward is something I wanted to be a
part of. I've spent time in Chicago. I know what
a great sports town this is. I want desperately to
(39:43):
be successful here in football so that they can thrive
and they have a team that they're proud of going
to the games too. I love this division. There's so
many good teams and good coaches and good players in
this division. Honestly, as a competitor, I did not want
to leave it.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Yeah, I totally get it. So he also knows he
knows the defensive personnel and defensive coaching in his division.
So he like, you know, you see this lot in
the SEC were coaches they want to stay in the South.
They know the recruiting connections, they know the other coaches,
they know the culture of it. They want to stay
in the SEC. So I remember Pac ten was always
(40:21):
different coaches going Pro they moved all over the place.
But I think the NFC North feels different. I think
the AFC North Steelers Ravens has always sort of felt different. Baltimore, Pittsburgh,
so and the other story we'll talk about top of
next hour. As the Cowboys are leaning on Brian Schottenheimer,
which is crazy to me, and yeah, it just is nuts.
(40:45):
I will say this though a little behind the curtain.
Here at Fox. We have the NFC, but it used
to be that we just had the NFC. But now,
the way the NFL works, sometimes we end up with
AFC games and CBS will get the occasional NFC game
and it gets moved around the chest pieces. But I
will say there are certain NFC big market franchises. So
(41:06):
the NFC has always had the big cities. The AFC's got,
you know, Baltimore and Buffalo and Cincinnati and Kansas City
and Nashville, smaller cities, it's always been, you know, the
the NFC has got, like Dallas and Atlanta and Philadelphia
and New York and Chicago and San Francisco is NFC,
so we've always had the bigger markets. I feel like
(41:29):
you can't trust the New York teams. I feel like
if Chicago could pop, the NFL be in a pretty
cool space where you'd have Chicago, big Philadelphia, big star quarterbacks.
Just always feels like the NFL does the best job
to have small markets be viable. The Packers, the Saints, Baltimore,
(41:52):
Kansas City. I feel like like like the New York
teams are in the tank. The Rams are brand new
to Los Angeles, Chicago. I think San Francisco and Dallas
are regressing a bit. Atlanta's Atlanta. I feel like this
could be the Midwest version of the Eagles, big market,
loud market, big media. Philadelphia's oh is viable. Feels like
(42:14):
we're waiting for Chicago to hit, and I just think
it's good for Fox, it's good for the NFL. Chicago
is such a great sports city, but their teams are
all terrible now. I mean, the White Sox were atrocious.
Cubs kind of feel like a rebuild. Bulls are complete rebuild.
Bears have too much talent to rebuild, but they can't
get the quarterback right. So my friends in Chicago are
(42:34):
fired up for it, and j maak I have a feeling,
uh yeah, we'll be going to Chicago more I think
the Bears dominance over the next ten years will probably
be visiting Chicago more. We well, we'll see or well
one of us. We'll see how it goes.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
But by the way, I am I'm curious. Who's the
most famous athlete in Chicago right now? It's got to
be our guy, Zach Lavine.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Correct, core No, Caleb Williams is the most famous athlete. Yeah,
Caitlin Williams.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Gotta be Zaclovine. He's a big he's been around for
much longer.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
He's so good and you're a fan one a. He's
a nice guy. I'll say that.