Colin Cowherd discusses the NFC Championship game between the Rams and the Seahawks and why Matthew Stafford is on the verge of entering rarified air among the all-time great QBs in NFL history
He doubts the Cowboys made a good choice in making Christian Parker their new Defensive Coordinator
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Here we go. It is a fride day. What a
weekend plan? Patriots, Broncos, Rams, Seahawk redefining careers live in Chicago. Yeah,
it's a little frigid. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be,
however you may be watching or listening. Thanks for making
(00:49):
us part of your day. I don't know if everybody
quite realizes how big a weekend it is for Matt Stafford.
Let me read you a stat real quick history of
the NFL history one quarterback ever. This was in Week
sixteen against Seattle. Four hundred passing yards, three touchdown passes,
(01:12):
no picks against the team that finished with the NFL's
number one scoring defense. That was Stafford Week sixteen. Never
been done. And I've said, if he wins another Super Bowl,
I will put him one spot ahead of Aaron Rodgers.
All time, and that sounds kooky. I think Aaron Rodgers
eleventh or twelfth best quarterback ever. I would insert Stafford
(01:32):
one spot ahead. There are no great movies with choppy endings.
Go look at the last five years between the two.
Stafford has been on a heater seven to two in
the playoffs, multiple Pro Bowls, probably wins the MVP, more
touchdowns than Aaron, higher passer rating, easily the better quarterback.
(01:52):
But bigger than any stat is this Aaron in his
prime in well run Green Bay only had one great
playoff run. One in his prime, he was one in
foreign conference championships. Stafford late prime to out of his
prime in just five years is on his second. There's
(02:16):
no other way to put it. Stafford was born into
a dysfunctional family in Detroit. The minute he was adopted
by the La Rams, he has been significantly the better quarterback.
All he needed was grown ups in the building. Add
this too, which feels very lway Brady and mahomes Matt Stafford.
(02:36):
Of his seven career playoff wins, five he's had game
winning drives in a very short period of time. How
many would he had if he had twelve good years
Aaron in that huge window in Green Bay, didn't even
have three, only had two game winning drives. Or what
(02:59):
define Lay and Mahomes not just the trophies and Stafford.
This is another thing. His passer rating, his completion percentage,
his yards per game, his touchdown to interception ratio go
up in the playoffs again, very Mahomes and Brady, Aaron's
(03:22):
actually go down. So Stafford in the biggest games against
the best competition, is actually better. Aaron is slightly worse.
That's something. This is what you got during the Lway
Marino debates. For a long time people said, oh Marino,
(03:47):
that release because Marino, like Aaron, was prettier. The esthetic
was more jarring and amazing. But in the end that
last three or four years for Lway separate rated the two.
You're getting that Aaron's always been the prettier quarterback. The
way he throws, connection to Hollywood kind of cool. Just
(04:10):
listen to how thinking of Aaron and Stafford. Just listen
to how McVeigh describes matt Stafford. This is instructive.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
I think any great leader that I've ever been around,
and Matthew is a is a perfect illustration of that.
There's extreme ownership and there's accountability. That's what guys love
about Matthew. I mean, you'll never see a guy when
you look at the way Matthew handles himself that you know,
isn't an excuse maker. You know, I've heard it said before.
I think excuses are tools, are the incompetant, and and
Matthew is the furthest thing from that. He's got great ownership.
(04:43):
And I think that's why people want to follow him,
is because of the way that he handles, you know,
stays humble and the you know, the great moments which
he's here has had a handful of those, and then
in the moments that we can be better, he owns
it and now we can move on. And he's a
freaking stud.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yeah, dozen points fingers takes ownership, always accountable. I'm gonna
put Stafford with a Super Bowl one slought ahead Air,
one slot ahead of Aeron, and I think Aaron's top twelve. Ever,
that's how big of a weekend it is for Matt Stafford.
All right, Brian Daball, he's going to interview with the
(05:20):
Buffalo Bills. Philip Rivers is also interviewing. He's not going
to get the job. But it's kind of an interesting interview.
I want to go back because we don't we don't
tend to talk about who got hired last year in
the coaching cycle. So if you go back one year
in the coaching cycle, Vrabel was an automatic. We all
(05:42):
knew he was going to be great, faster maybe than
you predicted, but we knew it was a big hit.
We also knew Ben Johnson had been the smartest, most
clever coordinator in the NFL for several years, had several offers.
We thought that was going to work too, and we
(06:02):
knew kind of all of us, even people in Dallas knew.
Brian Schottenheimer. That's a pretty weak swing. So three of
seven and he kind of felt like, yeah, Vrabel and
Ben Johnson are going to work. Schottenheimer. But when you
went to Liam Cohen, Kellen Moore, Aaron Glenn, I don't know,
Pete Carroll I thought would stabilize the Raiders. That was
a mess. But in a lot of the young guys,
(06:24):
he didn't really know. And I think that is where
Brian Dabele is. I don't know the best part about him.
It's an offensive league and he's an offensive coach. And
he's worked with Josh Allen. The worst part he was
twenty forty and one with the Giants and it ended ugly.
So very few of these coaches, all these interviews are
(06:44):
blue chip stocks. That's John Harbaugh that will work with
the Giants, that's my prediction. Vrabel A Harbaugh, Jim or
John Sean Pate blue chip stocks. The rest of them,
including Brian Dable, who I like. It's like venture capitalism.
There's a lot of promise, there's a lot of hope.
You need restructuring a new leadership. But it should be
(07:07):
noted all those smart people with all that money venture capitalists,
their hit rate is twenty percent, and the hit rate
on coach is not named Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Vrable, the
hit rate is closer to twenty percent than seventy five percent.
(07:28):
I don't know what he's going to be. I know
what he's inheriting, new stadium, stable ownership, better revenue going forward,
great left tackle, running back, superstar quarterback, great tight ends,
Decent defense, not special. Eric Mangini considers Dable a friend,
knows him well. Thoughts on Dable landing with Josh Allen,
(07:52):
Brian is.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
The ultimate Buffalo guy. He grew up in Buffalo. He
could literally work for the Buffalo Tourism Bureau because he
loves Buffalo so much. So from that perspective, yeah, it's
a great fit. He's got a really good relationship with
the most important player on the team and a lot
of respect from me, and in my mind, did a
significant amount to help develop him from our fairly raw
(08:16):
talent in college to a much more polished talent.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, Tom Brady, one hour from now, I do feel
strongly going into these weekends games, and I will have
one hour from now. We're gonna list, we did yesterday
in the AFC the ten best players in the Seahawks Rams.
And I'm not kidding you. You get to like nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.
(08:42):
It's like guys who could make Pro Bowls. There is
so much talent in the Seattle Rams game. I think
the winner of the NFC wins the Super Bowl, regardless
of who they play. I do feel strongly this morning
that New England is the side, and I feel less strongly,
but with some conviction the Rams are the better bet.
(09:04):
So when I list those top ten players, it's interesting,
it's very evenly split where the players land. I think
it's going to be one. It's on Fox. It's going
to be one for the ages, completely stacked defenses. I
said this earlier in the week. If you took the Seahawks,
Rams and made a Pro Bowl team just on the
Seahawks and Rams, it can compete with the rest of
(09:26):
the league. The offensive line would be the weakness. Defensively,
wide receivers, tight ends, backs, quarterbacks, coaches, McVeigh, coaches, Mike
McDonald's the DC. I mean it is. You just do
not get this level of talent going up against each
other very much. And j Mac, you will have your
(09:49):
picks coming up in the final hour of the show.
But I do think in the Rams Seahawks, we would
acknowledge now they're not a draft wig. This is as
good maybe as the Rams will be because it's Matt
Stafford potential last year is as good as the Rams
are going to be potentially for the next several years.
They're probably not in a draft going to find the
next Matt Stafford. Maybe they do. I doubt it's certainly
(10:11):
not an older, experienced guy. And I think Seattle's very
very good. I think their window I think Seattle this year,
next year, the next year. They have drafted so well.
I think the runway for Seattle to be good. I
think Darnold's only twenty eight. I think Seattle's going to
be very good for minimum three years, could be longer.
(10:32):
I think it feels like there's urgency with the Rams
because remember last year with Matt Stafford, we didn't know
if he was coming back, and then he didn't really
practice before the season because of a bad back. So
if you're asking me who does the game mean more for,
I would say this may be the best Rams team
in for a long period. Interesting, there is another Stafford
(10:56):
on the market they can go by.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
I would keep an eye on seed j Stroud. I'll
just plant that out there now with his Houston situation
and his agent specifically. But I will say Seattle amazing team.
They've been outstanding all season. Colin, you know, things kind
of broke their way. Michael Parsons gets injured for the Packers.
That's a huge swing. The forty nine ers entire roster decimated,
So things did kind of break their.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
Way for Seattle.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
I don't know you if you think Sam Darnold's in
the class of Party and Love and Jalen Hurts and
all these guys.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Then then sure they're going to be sticking around for
a while.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
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Speaker 7 (11:38):
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Speaker 1 (12:11):
The Dallas Cowboys are hiring a new defensive coordinator, thirty
four year old Christian Parker, Philadelphia's passing game coordinator and
defensive back coach. If you had told the Cowboy fans, hey, tomorrow,
we're gonna announce they're hiring their defensive coordinator from the Eagles,
(12:31):
you'd be like, damn Vic Fangio and No. He was
a passing game coordinator and a DV coach. If you
look at the last several great coordinator hires, you could
see it coming. Josh McDaniels, New England stacking trophies, been
great forever as a coordinator. It was gonna work. Vic
(12:55):
Fangio and Philadelphia last ten years. Probably been arguable top
defensive cord both years in Philly, top five defenses. Robert
Sala to San Francisco, great defensive coach. The minute he
left the Jets, say what you want about it. They
would circle to drain. He was going to be a
great defensive coach. He was this year. Cliff Kingsbury may
(13:15):
not be a head coach, but Kingsbury was a really
smart hire. Everybody knew going to Washington that Jaden Daniels
he got a really good first oc. Also, Jesse Minter
when he went Baltimore Michigan to the Chargers. He'd been
great in Baltimore, great at Michigan. That was a home run.
Everybody knew it was going to work. So you know,
(13:37):
it's funny about Jerry. He says one thing and does another,
and so you could say, well, Colin Matt Eberflus. He
was a defensive coach. He went. He was twenty eighth
in defense. Were the Bears when Eberflus was there he left?
They got better. Chicago is better, especially in the playoffs, defensively.
So I don't know if it's to maintain power because
(13:58):
Parcels and Jimmy Johnson pushed. But he keeps hiring coordinators
and coaches that need him. I mean, there was no
real market for Mike McCarthy. I'm not sure there is now.
You know, Matt Eberflus kind of a disaster in Chicago.
This kid. How many other teams are looking at him
(14:18):
as a coordinator. Jerry keeps hiring people that need him,
And there's an argument that he's never really respected coaching.
So and Dallas really needs coaching because they're thirty million
over the cap next year as of right now. Okay,
that means they can't do in New England and spend
two hundred and fifty million in free agency to solve
their defense. They're over the cap.
Speaker 6 (14:39):
Now.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
They have two first round picks. I'd be shocked at
they didn't use both for defense. But you're not going
to solve a defense with two rookies in the first round,
one may not even hit. That's the rate about fifty
to sixty percent of first round or has become really
really good players. So they can't do a Patriots, They
can't spend their way to a better defense. That just
that's not available. But Jerry Yeats saying it's all about
(15:03):
getting to a trophy.
Speaker 8 (15:06):
My goal in life is to retire as the owner
that won the most Super Bowls. That's my goal. To
be retired in the NFL as the owner that won
the most super Bowls.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
We've got three.
Speaker 8 (15:24):
How many more would I have to go as a
single owner? Bob's got how many six? So I've got
I've got work to do, got work to do. I
got work to do. But at least I'm up to
the second rung in the latter.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
There isn't a way to do it. It's called Sean Payton,
Mike Vrabel, somebody with the last name Harball. Yeah, it's
always been odd to me, is that he's saying. It's
about the titles. Folks, we all know the keyness sport
is quarterback number two is not left tackle number two's coach.
(15:58):
You go, chief On Schottenheimer Mike McCarthy didn't have a
big market. Maybe this young guy's unbelievable. Say one thing,
doing another, and again this defense was last than everything.
The first round picks will help, but they won't solve
the issues. You don't have any free agent money. It
almost feels like Dallas is out of money, and it
(16:18):
alwayst feels like Philadelphia has got more money, and so
of the Rams. I don't know how it works. Somebody's
using a Swiss bang. Somebody's not Jmack with the news.
Speaker 8 (16:28):
No, no, no, this is the headline news.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
So the Baltimore Ravens made a move yesterday signing Jesse
Minter as their new head coach. Mint comes, of course
from the Chargers, where he was excellent with Jim Harbaugh.
Prior to that, he was with Jim at Michigan, and
prior to that, Mintor's first NFL job came with John
Harball in Baltimore.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Where he was a defensive assistant for a few years.
Speaker 5 (16:55):
This guy's really sharp those defense excellent work with the mediocre.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
Talent in the Chargers.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
It's not like they had an excellent secondary or linebackers,
and he really cooked up some good stuff here.
Speaker 6 (17:06):
His numbers big higher for the Ravens. I applauded, but
Colin Fabian real, I don't.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
This is wonderful, but I need to see who they
get is OC because Lamar Jackson is the bigger question,
especially his contract.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
This feels a little bit like Ben Johnson, except on defense,
where he's been the hot coordinator in this cycle. People
have been talking about Jesse Manner everywhere he goes the
I mean literally, he took the Chargers defense was dead last.
He took him to like number two or number one,
So I mean he usually the hot coordinator on the
market ends up succeeding either side of the ball. I mean,
(17:40):
Demiko Ryans was the defensive guy. Everybody's like super sharp
and he crushed, and you know, we know the offensive guy,
Ben Johnson crushed. So when you're the generally the two
things we know that work are that you're an established
Rabel Peyton Harbaugh or you are like you are the
hot cour Mike McDonald by the way, coming out of Baltimore,
(18:02):
it was like, guys, this is the defense of McVeigh.
So my take is it's a pretty strong hire known
in the building and good personnel. Star quarterback they'll redo
his contract. I think he'll be a good higher My
guess is a good hire. I feel the same way
I did kind of with Ben Johnson, which is, I
think it's gonna work to the level it works, how
fast it works, I don't have any idea.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Yeah, the front four was mediocre at best. They had
a poor pass rush all season. Yeah, Kyle Hamilton is
very good in the secondary. But Marlin Humphrey, it's over.
He's kind of washed.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
I think the.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
Personnel is a little more average than some others. I
don't think this is a top tier team in the
if we're doing tiers. I don't know who started this
tiers thing, but I would go to the Ravens as
like a third tier team despite.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
Having an elite quarterback. I don't think this team's.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I like their talent. I didn't think they had a
great pass rush. I like their talent.
Speaker 6 (18:53):
I guess the team is also terrible as we know.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, yeah, all right, let's.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
Move on to Sean Payton, the Denver Broncos coach, getting
ready to cook up some good stuff for Jarrett Stidham
in the AFC Championship game. But interestingly, he had a
message and it turned into some bulletin board material. Wide
receiver kay Shawn Booty responded, listen to the war of words.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
You've had a message to fans every single week about nooys.
Do you have you have a message for them this week?
Speaker 7 (19:20):
With being the final game?
Speaker 10 (19:21):
Well, they're gonna have plenty of rest after this one.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Two weeks, Not that you guys think any extra motivation,
but did you see the Shaun King quote insinuating that
Denver fans will have some extra rest.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
For the Super BOWLS nine?
Speaker 6 (19:32):
And I was two weeks for the rest of Lucia
and I seen that. Man, if you guys will the
rest and can't go on.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
So the media is so funny. Do you hear what
Sean said? Do you hear what Sean said? What is
your reaction to what Sean said? It's like tattling when
you were kids, Bob said. Jimmy said, It's like, guys,
it's just it doesn't matter. After the first play, nobody cares.
You know, this is.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
Media working overtime to make this game interesting.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
But instead, I mean, I think with bow knicks it
still wouldn't be as good as the Seahawks rams. I
think the story of the Weekend.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
No, no, WHOA, Yes, I would agree, but bo Nicks.
I mean, like he is a telligenic guy. We know
his college story. People know he's a known quantity like
Jarrett Stidham.
Speaker 6 (20:17):
I mean, Colin. I don't know which network.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Has the Super Bowl, but you know they're praying for
Drake mayn the Patriots.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Like I actually think Drake may and the Patriots in
vraible in the turnaround against either of the NFC teams
is a really good supers.
Speaker 8 (20:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:29):
No, that's compelling for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
I think they Afford is again, just from a TV standpoint,
Stafford literally climbing in the all time rankings is really
a cool story. I'm dead Seriously, I don't think people
realize a Super Bowl win for staff even in appearance,
takes him to another level. A super Bowl win for
the one player in all these games who can literally
(20:53):
change his legacy is Matt Stafford. I mean, it's really
he's the one. I Drake May Obviously it'll be the
it'll be like, wow, this kid is the next Blank,
But I mean change your legacy from man, that guy's
gonna get some Hall of Fame votes. He may get
into Oh my god, he's a top twelve quarterback. Ever,
I think it's Matt Stafford's it.
Speaker 6 (21:16):
Yeah, it's certainly interesting.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
All right, Let's go to the final story, and that's
the Los Angeles Lakers tough one last night against the
paper Clips. They storm back from down like twenty one.
They cut it to two, ended up losing. After the game,
JJ Reddick said the team didn't trust each other on
the offensive end of the floor. Lebron was then asked,
hey man, what about this big story at ESPN about
(21:38):
Jennie Buss not being happy that you weren't kissing the
ring and.
Speaker 6 (21:42):
All that nonsense. Here's Lebron.
Speaker 10 (21:46):
I thought it was good, But you know, Mike, I
see it in another way. So it's always it's always
two sides.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
Of the coin.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So we never talked.
Speaker 10 (21:55):
I don't understand, Like, it's not like me and Jeanie
be on the phone. Guys, I never heard of report
about Dad on an don't make something out of it
that is not As a pug, you know, it's always
been mutual. It has always been respect, has always been
a great partnership. But it's not like I call a
genie on the phone. It's not like I called Mickeyerrison
(22:16):
on the phone, or Dan Gilbert on the phone.
Speaker 8 (22:20):
Come on, guys, don't don't.
Speaker 10 (22:21):
Don't make this morning what it is.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I don't care. I think this is a I think
this is a great answer by Lebron. I think And
if anybody else noticed this, I'm sure you have. But
Lebron's gotten to a point that he's not He doesn't
get defensive about this stuff. He's got nothing to prove.
His legacy has set, his networth has doubled since he's
been in LA that's a great answer, Like, guys, I don't,
(22:45):
I don't. I'm not on the phone with the owner.
That people can write what they write. There's a story
about me every day. He's in a very good spot.
I don't think Lebron's nine years ago answers like that.
It feels like to me, Lebron is coming to the
realization that his career is ending. Lebron has too much pride.
(23:06):
And by the way, you can say pride is vanity,
whatever it is. Everybody that's a successful man or woman,
you know they have pride in their work. It sounds
like to me, Lebron he doesn't really care. Is that
it's over and that's not saying he's retiring. I would
guess at seventy five twenty five, does he want to
limp to the finish line be humiliated in a trade
(23:28):
that his answers are he's had so many opportunities over
the last six months that he could take shots here.
He doesn't. If you noticed his answers, they're all like, grateful,
been it's been wonderful. We've had a great relationship. He
has pulled the plane onto the tarmac. He's ready for
(23:50):
takeoff into another business career very soon.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
Yeah, Lebron, I think he's at twenty two, six and
five and he could walk away averaging that should be impressive.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
I want to remind you, so I was.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
In the DC area when Michael Jordan came back to
the Wizards. Colin it was open season on Michael Jordan.
The Wizards were a dumpster fire. The media crucified him,
The Washington Post him, the players didn't like him. The
Washington Post had a writer specifically following him around, and.
Speaker 6 (24:17):
It was brutal the way he treated Quame Brown.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
I'm just telling you, at the end of these guys careers,
if you're not on top, the media is coming for you,
because as you you've been in this long enough, you
know the ink stain wretches love to build you up
and then tear you down. And I'm telling you, but
the vibes in this story, that Lebron stuff had nothing
to do with.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
The Genie Bus family story.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
It was just wedged in like four paragraphs in like
a ten thousand word piece, and all the headlines are
about Genie Bus versus Lebron. I'm telling you, Lebron, They're
coming for you. I don't like it personally, but I've
seen this game before. It's it's not a fun one.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I agree J Mack with the news.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line News.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
I saw this headline this morning. Indiana's Fernando Mendoza likely
number one pick entering the NFL Draft. It's not likely
he will be. We are ninety days, three months out
from the draft as of today, he's going to be
the number one pick and people are going to pick
him apart they believe it or not. Did it with
(25:21):
Andrew Lucke, they did it with Caleb Williams. I don't
like his fingernail polish. He's too emotional. Here's what we
know doesn't work long term in the NFL. Small quarterbacks,
they age very quickly. Cocky quarterbacks Johnny manziel inexperienced guys
(25:42):
that just don't get a lot of college starts. Anthony
Richards and Trey Lance. Here's three things that almost olways work. Humble,
grateful personalities, a lot of Brady and Manning. Big body
that can take hits, that can move a little. He's
six five to twenty five and really really accurate, especially
(26:06):
in big games and in big spots. In the playoff
this year he was three to zero, completed seventy five
percent of his throws, nine touchdowns, no picks. Go to
the Penn State, second half, go to the Ohio State,
go to Miami. He's great in the biggest spots. So
he is the definition of a franchise quarterback. Big, accurate, clutch, humble,
(26:27):
four for four and not just four for four, all
of them A pluses. That does not guarantee Super bowls,
It does not guarantee multiple conference championship appearances. It does
guarantee if you get a competent coach, not even a
great one, you're gonna win a bunch of games. Fernando
(26:48):
Mendoza has none of the roadblocks. He's not small, he
doesn't lack experience, and he is not hockey. Those are
the three killers. And he's got the three and four things. Big, accurate, tough, humble, grateful.
(27:11):
Those worked everywhere in every business. So he's gonna win
a bunch of games. If he doesn't even need a
great coach. He needs a good competent coach. If you're
good and competent, I mean dan Quinn mostly good. He's competent,
not great, not all time stuff don't need and you
reid if he gets if he gets an elite, top
(27:31):
four or five coach, I think that that's when you're
gonna see conference championships and a Super Bowl appearance. No
guarantee wins them. I mean again, Stafford and McVeigh have won.
It's hard, but here was this week. Here he was
Mendo's on Good Morning America talking about, you know, the
potential to be the number one pick.
Speaker 11 (27:52):
I'd be so grateful and I could only do this
with the glory of God, and it just it would
be a dream come true from a two star crew.
I was the reason I had this whole entire LinkedIn
persona was, Hey, I'm probably not gonna make the NFL,
so let me double down on my networking, on my connections,
and let me get a little head in the corporate lifestyle.
So when I graduate college, I have a foot up.
Speaker 8 (28:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
By the way, I'm gonna have Tom Brady on in
about thirty minutes from now, forty minutes from now. He
was at that game, and I'm gonna ask him, you know,
his interpretation of what he saw with Fernando Mendoza. Joel
Klatt earlier this week on Mendoza winning the title.
Speaker 12 (28:31):
There are two types of quarterbacks, and there are quarterbacks
that rise to the occasion when their best is needed,
and there are guys that shrink. And Mendoza rose to
the occasion when his best was needed.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
He was at his best.
Speaker 12 (28:46):
That's why he won the Heisman, and that's why he's
a national champ.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Totally agree, He's gonna win a lot of games if
he just gets good to competent head coach. All right,
J Mack around the corner, I have a theory on something.
The ratings have been great in the NFL this year,
despite no Ma Holmes, no Omar Jackson, no Joe Burrow,
Josh Allen's out and the ratings have been stupendous. Allan,
(29:11):
of course just out Seattle Rams is gonna get a
big boy number. And why with so many unbelievable stars
in the NBA, it doesn't feel the same. There is
a difference between the sport and you're seeing it now.
I've got that thought and the ten best players in
(29:31):
Seattle Rams and we could have gone sixteen to seventeen
and had borderline pro bowlers.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Hey is Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 8 (29:45):
Now.
Speaker 9 (29:45):
In addition to hearing us live weekdays from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for
the show.
Speaker 7 (29:55):
Yep, that's right. You can now watch Covino and Rich
live on YouTube every day. All you gotta do search
Coveno and Rich FSR on YouTube again, go to YouTube
search Coveno ed Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe,
hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.
Speaker 5 (30:14):
Seattle will be electric on Sunday with a trip to
the Super Bowl on the line, Matthew Stafford and the
Rams take on Sam Darnold and the Seahawks the NFC
Championship presented by Intuit turbotechs Sunday at sixty cern three
Pacific on Fox, and the man who's calling the game,
the legendary Tom Brady, stops My Next Hour to break
(30:35):
down the matchup.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Forbes magazine, I'm sure you've heard of it, kind of
did a study on successful people, men and women, and
the three things that they said. The three traits that
successful people had. Number One, they do not care what
other people think of them. Criticism is irrelevant. They have
their own journey. They know what they want to do.
(30:57):
They just don't care about criticism. They just don't care. Second,
and I boy, this one is my mantra in life.
They're not obsessed with being right. They're obsessed with getting
it right. The Internet is losers everywhere telling you how
much they know about geopolitics. They want to prove how
right they are. Successful people don't worry about that. They
want to get it right about being right on the Internet.
(31:20):
And the third thing is pleasing everybody because it's impossible.
There are the Pope has critics like you can't please everybody.
And when I spent a year hanging out with Sean
Payton and he would come by the studio at Fox,
he embodied all three of these and it rubs a
lot of people the wrong way. Sean Peyton does not
(31:41):
care what you think. Sean Peyton wants to get it right.
We talked about that all the time, and he's not
a people pleaser. It just doesn't matter, and I think
it rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But
I mean, the guy is just unbelievable. And I remember
when he was at Fox. I was like, he's not
doing TV thing. He's got too much going on. You
(32:03):
go to dinner once with Sean, have a couple of
coffees with him, a fifteen minute conversation. He needs a coach.
Mike Vrabel clearly has respect, kind of tells you as
he faces him this weekend what he's all about.
Speaker 13 (32:19):
Very successful football coach, tough to defend for, you know,
tough to defend against. I think he does a great
job with his personnel and his scheme. I think he's
had his core concepts as he's had for a lot
of years, and then he's just continued to add onto that,
(32:41):
you know, as some of the game has changed and
some of the ideas and the schemes have evolved, and
so I think that that's.
Speaker 10 (32:49):
Pretty unique.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Yeah, I listen, if you can get to a super
Bowl and beat because his defense wasn't very good against
Buffalo and the defense the Denver defense is in. It
gets a lot of sacks. I don't think it's in
the class of the Seahawks or Houston, but it gets
a lot of sacks. Nick Benito, Zach Allen, That's a
big part of that. But I don't think it's a
(33:11):
great defense. So if you can get to a Super
Bowl without what I consider a great defense, Houston's got
a great defense, Seattle a great defense, Rams defense creates turnovers.
I don't think Denver's in that class. I think if
you take out Nick Benito, it doesn't even feel the
same as it is now and you can get to
a super Bowl with Jared Stidham. Now, I will say this,
(33:36):
I do think they're high end players are very very good.
Yesterday I gave the top ten players in this matchup.
I think Denver's top end players, Patrick Sartain, Nick Benito
are just unbelievable Quinn Miners on the offensive line, Garrett Bowls.
Denver's got the better on line, no question. But I
(33:59):
think there are there are some holes to Denver right now,
quarterbacks one of them. New England's a team I don't
think their high ends is good outside of Drake May,
but I don't think. I don't think they have any holes.
I like New England in this spot. I think they'll
come in. Denver will come in and Stidham will be
like a backup quarterback playing in a massive game and
he'll be limited. That'll give Drake May better field position
(34:21):
and more possessions. And I think over the course of
a game, I think it's very very close. Over the
course of a game, I suspect Vrabel, Drake May, Stefan Diggs.
I don't love their O line. I've said before, I
still contend of the final four teams. New England's still
in a semi rebuild. They got to get the offensive
line right. There's a couple of spots they need to upgrade.
(34:45):
But I'll say this about Sean Payton the year people
forget this. The year before he went to the Saints,
they were wearing bags on their head. They were the
running joke in the league. They were the running joke.
They were three and thirteen the following year and six
year four that won the Super Bowl. So you're talking
about Peyton and Vrabel. This is a These are all
(35:07):
time coaches. These guys are really sharp, really sharp. So
I was thinking about this. Let me throw this out
at you. I fell in love with the NBA when
I was a kid, Doctor J. And I didn't like
the NFL. Back when I was a kid, I loved
baseball and I loved the NBA. And one of the
reasons I liked the NBA was Spencer Haywood and Doctor J.
Because I was kind of a feisty kid. It had
(35:29):
its own personality. You could wear your own shoes, your
own everything. It didn't feel corporate. It felt like individual
stars and downtown. Freddie Brown didn't play like Spencer Haywood,
and Spencer Haywood's like, I'm not going to get treated
like this. I'm not gonna play And that was its strength.
And remember that. I'll get back to that in a second.
So the ratings are up in the NFL, I'm reading
(35:52):
Noma homes in the playoffs, Nola mar Jackson, No Joe Burrow,
Aaron Rogers long gone. Ratings are one thing the NFL
does really well. The NBA stinks at introducing their next star.
You know who the most popular player in the NBA
is right now, Steph Curry, You're seventeen still, I'm sorry. Sga, Wemby,
(36:15):
Yo Kitch are remarkable players personalities. So three of the
top four teams left have quarterbacks that just won their
first playoff game. The ratings shouldn't be through the roof.
But I think the reason is because the football in
America college en pro, but let's talk pro football is
(36:38):
reliant on the quality of their game. That's why they're
constantly changing rules. They want to keep the game number one.
So you can insert any quarterback, any pass rusher into
any team. He'll be popular. Because they worry about the
quality of their game and the franchise over the player.
Yet the star player still makes a fortune. The NBA
(37:02):
is about the player more than the franchise. And if
the player doesn't have a personality, Jokic, isn't that fascinating,
you get major dips in popularity. But there's something else
that's happening between the NFL and basketball that I'm not
sure this has been said. I feel strongly about this.
I always felt the one advantage the NBA had over
(37:26):
the NFL. It wasn't as corporate.
Speaker 8 (37:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
It was like a music club and everybody had their
own thing. It was cool. The NBA was cool that.
You know, Doctor J played one way, the other guy
played the other way. It was a lot of one
on one. It could be iso. I mean, Magic didn't
play like Steph, and Steph doesn't play like Doctor J.
And it was kind of independent and artsy and a
(37:50):
cool aesthetic. And then football was kind of corporate. Here's
the playbook, don't get crazy. Corporation runs the shield. There's
a way to play the game. And Tom Brady please
take Payton's it's actually flipped. The NFL now has all
these guys like Josh Allen and Caleb Williams. They're like, bro, dude,
(38:10):
you do you, you do you. The game has more
great offensive coaches. It's more creative than it's ever been.
There's still a big corporate shield hovering over the NFL,
but a lot of the great young quarterbacks they're just
doing their own thing. Lamar played like nobody else. Caleb
plays like nobody else. Josh plays like nobody else, and
(38:30):
you kind of lean into it. And conversely, the NBA
has become the NFL. They're one advantage. It was art,
it was unique, and now everybody plays the same game.
Shoot a bunch of threes. I saw celt the game
a couple of weeks ago. I had to turn it off.
Everybody's doing the same thing. Wemby just shoot threes, and
(38:53):
Edwards should look like doctor and Edwards should play like MJ.
I watch him play shooting eleventh. So the one advantage
the NBA really had was the individual, and yet they've
smushed them with analytics into playing the exact same way.
You can watch an NBA game. They're sixty threes, sixty everybody, big,
(39:17):
small guard, forward, center, get to the corner, get to
an angle, shoot a three. It's okay if your steph
because that's his game. Doctor Jay's game was acrobatic and
dunking wasn't. Shooting jumpers you were allowed. And so what
happens to the NBA? They when have they succeeded when
their stars have big personalities in Flair, Magic, Kobe, MJ. Shack,
(39:42):
they've smushed it all together and now it's very NFL
where it's very corporate. Everybody shoots the same way. It's
a math equation threes and more threes. And the NFL,
to me, is now more willing to kind of say
this quarterback is unique, bro. I mean, you know, we
we'd prefer them to get up to sixty five percent
completion percentage. But if you're the high fifties and got
(40:05):
horsepower of VA, kind of we're gon, We're gone. I mean,
Ben Johnson has an offense. He lets Caleb do a
lot of Caleb stuff. So when I see these ratings
are up with all these young quarterbacks, when you're not
dependent on anything other than the quality of the game
and the franchise, you don't have these dips. The NBA's
(40:26):
one advantage was personality. Now it's a three point shooting contest,
just repetitive. Even the players I like, I don't see dunks.
I see threes. Tom Brady next hour,
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Here we go. It is a fride day. What a
weekend plan? Patriots, Broncos, Rams, Seahawk redefining careers live in Chicago. Yeah,
it's a little frigid. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be,
however you may be watching or listening. Thanks for making
(00:49):
us part of your day. I don't know if everybody
quite realizes how big a weekend it is for Matt Stafford.
Let me read you a stat real quick history of
the NFL history one quarterback ever. This was in Week
sixteen against Seattle. Four hundred passing yards, three touchdown passes,
(01:12):
no picks against the team that finished with the NFL's
number one scoring defense. That was Stafford Week sixteen. Never
been done. And I've said, if he wins another Super Bowl,
I will put him one spot ahead of Aaron Rodgers.
All time, and that sounds kooky. I think Aaron Rodgers
eleventh or twelfth best quarterback ever. I would insert Stafford
(01:32):
one spot ahead. There are no great movies with choppy endings.
Go look at the last five years between the two.
Stafford has been on a heater seven to two in
the playoffs, multiple Pro Bowls, probably wins the MVP, more
touchdowns than Aaron, higher passer rating, easily the better quarterback.
(01:52):
But bigger than any stat is this Aaron in his
prime in well run Green Bay only had one great
playoff run. One in his prime, he was one in
foreign conference championships. Stafford late prime to out of his
prime in just five years is on his second. There's
(02:16):
no other way to put it. Stafford was born into
a dysfunctional family in Detroit. The minute he was adopted
by the La Rams, he has been significantly the better quarterback.
All he needed was grown ups in the building. Add
this too, which feels very lway Brady and mahomes Matt Stafford.
(02:36):
Of his seven career playoff wins, five he's had game
winning drives in a very short period of time. How
many would he had if he had twelve good years
Aaron in that huge window in Green Bay, didn't even
have three, only had two game winning drives. Or what
(02:59):
define Lay and Mahomes not just the trophies and Stafford.
This is another thing. His passer rating, his completion percentage,
his yards per game, his touchdown to interception ratio go
up in the playoffs again, very Mahomes and Brady, Aaron's
(03:22):
actually go down. So Stafford in the biggest games against
the best competition, is actually better. Aaron is slightly worse.
That's something. This is what you got during the Lway
Marino debates. For a long time people said, oh Marino,
(03:47):
that release because Marino, like Aaron, was prettier. The esthetic
was more jarring and amazing. But in the end that
last three or four years for Lway separate rated the two.
You're getting that Aaron's always been the prettier quarterback. The
way he throws, connection to Hollywood kind of cool. Just
(04:10):
listen to how thinking of Aaron and Stafford. Just listen
to how McVeigh describes matt Stafford. This is instructive.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
I think any great leader that I've ever been around,
and Matthew is a is a perfect illustration of that.
There's extreme ownership and there's accountability. That's what guys love
about Matthew. I mean, you'll never see a guy when
you look at the way Matthew handles himself that you know,
isn't an excuse maker. You know, I've heard it said before.
I think excuses are tools, are the incompetant, and and
Matthew is the furthest thing from that. He's got great ownership.
(04:43):
And I think that's why people want to follow him,
is because of the way that he handles, you know,
stays humble and the you know, the great moments which
he's here has had a handful of those, and then
in the moments that we can be better, he owns
it and now we can move on. And he's a
freaking stud.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yeah, dozen points fingers takes ownership, always accountable. I'm gonna
put Stafford with a Super Bowl one slought ahead Air,
one slot ahead of Aeron, and I think Aaron's top twelve. Ever,
that's how big of a weekend it is for Matt Stafford.
All right, Brian Daball, he's going to interview with the
(05:20):
Buffalo Bills. Philip Rivers is also interviewing. He's not going
to get the job. But it's kind of an interesting interview.
I want to go back because we don't we don't
tend to talk about who got hired last year in
the coaching cycle. So if you go back one year
in the coaching cycle, Vrabel was an automatic. We all
(05:42):
knew he was going to be great, faster maybe than
you predicted, but we knew it was a big hit.
We also knew Ben Johnson had been the smartest, most
clever coordinator in the NFL for several years, had several offers.
We thought that was going to work too, and we
(06:02):
knew kind of all of us, even people in Dallas knew.
Brian Schottenheimer. That's a pretty weak swing. So three of
seven and he kind of felt like, yeah, Vrabel and
Ben Johnson are going to work. Schottenheimer. But when you
went to Liam Cohen, Kellen Moore, Aaron Glenn, I don't know,
Pete Carroll I thought would stabilize the Raiders. That was
a mess. But in a lot of the young guys,
(06:24):
he didn't really know. And I think that is where
Brian Dabele is. I don't know the best part about him.
It's an offensive league and he's an offensive coach. And
he's worked with Josh Allen. The worst part he was
twenty forty and one with the Giants and it ended ugly.
So very few of these coaches, all these interviews are
(06:44):
blue chip stocks. That's John Harbaugh that will work with
the Giants, that's my prediction. Vrabel A Harbaugh, Jim or
John Sean Pate blue chip stocks. The rest of them,
including Brian Dable, who I like. It's like venture capitalism.
There's a lot of promise, there's a lot of hope.
You need restructuring a new leadership. But it should be
(07:07):
noted all those smart people with all that money venture capitalists,
their hit rate is twenty percent, and the hit rate
on coach is not named Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Vrable, the
hit rate is closer to twenty percent than seventy five percent.
(07:28):
I don't know what he's going to be. I know
what he's inheriting, new stadium, stable ownership, better revenue going forward,
great left tackle, running back, superstar quarterback, great tight ends,
Decent defense, not special. Eric Mangini considers Dable a friend,
knows him well. Thoughts on Dable landing with Josh Allen,
(07:52):
Brian is.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
The ultimate Buffalo guy. He grew up in Buffalo. He
could literally work for the Buffalo Tourism Bureau because he
loves Buffalo so much. So from that perspective, yeah, it's
a great fit. He's got a really good relationship with
the most important player on the team and a lot
of respect from me, and in my mind, did a
significant amount to help develop him from our fairly raw
(08:16):
talent in college to a much more polished talent.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, Tom Brady, one hour from now, I do feel
strongly going into these weekends games, and I will have
one hour from now. We're gonna list, we did yesterday
in the AFC the ten best players in the Seahawks Rams.
And I'm not kidding you. You get to like nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.
(08:42):
It's like guys who could make Pro Bowls. There is
so much talent in the Seattle Rams game. I think
the winner of the NFC wins the Super Bowl, regardless
of who they play. I do feel strongly this morning
that New England is the side, and I feel less strongly,
but with some conviction the Rams are the better bet.
(09:04):
So when I list those top ten players, it's interesting,
it's very evenly split where the players land. I think
it's going to be one. It's on Fox. It's going
to be one for the ages, completely stacked defenses. I
said this earlier in the week. If you took the Seahawks,
Rams and made a Pro Bowl team just on the
Seahawks and Rams, it can compete with the rest of
(09:26):
the league. The offensive line would be the weakness. Defensively,
wide receivers, tight ends, backs, quarterbacks, coaches, McVeigh, coaches, Mike
McDonald's the DC. I mean it is. You just do
not get this level of talent going up against each
other very much. And j Mac, you will have your
(09:49):
picks coming up in the final hour of the show.
But I do think in the Rams Seahawks, we would
acknowledge now they're not a draft wig. This is as
good maybe as the Rams will be because it's Matt
Stafford potential last year is as good as the Rams
are going to be potentially for the next several years.
They're probably not in a draft going to find the
next Matt Stafford. Maybe they do. I doubt it's certainly
(10:11):
not an older, experienced guy. And I think Seattle's very
very good. I think their window I think Seattle this year,
next year, the next year. They have drafted so well.
I think the runway for Seattle to be good. I
think Darnold's only twenty eight. I think Seattle's going to
be very good for minimum three years, could be longer.
(10:32):
I think it feels like there's urgency with the Rams
because remember last year with Matt Stafford, we didn't know
if he was coming back, and then he didn't really
practice before the season because of a bad back. So
if you're asking me who does the game mean more for,
I would say this may be the best Rams team
in for a long period. Interesting, there is another Stafford
(10:56):
on the market they can go by.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
I would keep an eye on seed j Stroud. I'll
just plant that out there now with his Houston situation
and his agent specifically. But I will say Seattle amazing team.
They've been outstanding all season. Colin, you know, things kind
of broke their way. Michael Parsons gets injured for the Packers.
That's a huge swing. The forty nine ers entire roster decimated,
So things did kind of break their.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
Way for Seattle.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
I don't know you if you think Sam Darnold's in
the class of Party and Love and Jalen Hurts and
all these guys.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Then then sure they're going to be sticking around for
a while.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
weekdays and neon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (11:38):
Hey is Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 8 (11:41):
Now.
Speaker 9 (11:41):
In addition to hearing us live weekdays from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for
the show.
Speaker 7 (11:51):
Yep, that's right. You can now watch Covino and Rich
live on YouTube every day.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
All you gotta do.
Speaker 9 (11:56):
Search Covino and Rich FSR on YouTube again, go to
you to search Covino Edrich FSR.
Speaker 7 (12:03):
Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that thumbs up
icon coming away.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
The Dallas Cowboys are hiring a new defensive coordinator, thirty
four year old Christian Parker, Philadelphia's passing game coordinator and
defensive back coach. If you had told the Cowboy fans, hey, tomorrow,
we're gonna announce they're hiring their defensive coordinator from the Eagles,
(12:31):
you'd be like, damn Vic Fangio and No. He was
a passing game coordinator and a DV coach. If you
look at the last several great coordinator hires, you could
see it coming. Josh McDaniels, New England stacking trophies, been
great forever as a coordinator. It was gonna work. Vic
(12:55):
Fangio and Philadelphia last ten years. Probably been arguable top
defensive cord both years in Philly, top five defenses. Robert
Sala to San Francisco, great defensive coach. The minute he
left the Jets, say what you want about it. They
would circle to drain. He was going to be a
great defensive coach. He was this year. Cliff Kingsbury may
(13:15):
not be a head coach, but Kingsbury was a really
smart hire. Everybody knew going to Washington that Jaden Daniels
he got a really good first oc. Also, Jesse Minter
when he went Baltimore Michigan to the Chargers. He'd been
great in Baltimore, great at Michigan. That was a home run.
Everybody knew it was going to work. So you know,
(13:37):
it's funny about Jerry. He says one thing and does another,
and so you could say, well, Colin Matt Eberflus. He
was a defensive coach. He went. He was twenty eighth
in defense. Were the Bears when Eberflus was there he left?
They got better. Chicago is better, especially in the playoffs, defensively.
So I don't know if it's to maintain power because
(13:58):
Parcels and Jimmy Johnson pushed. But he keeps hiring coordinators
and coaches that need him. I mean, there was no
real market for Mike McCarthy. I'm not sure there is now.
You know, Matt Eberflus kind of a disaster in Chicago.
This kid. How many other teams are looking at him
(14:18):
as a coordinator. Jerry keeps hiring people that need him,
And there's an argument that he's never really respected coaching.
So and Dallas really needs coaching because they're thirty million
over the cap next year as of right now. Okay,
that means they can't do in New England and spend
two hundred and fifty million in free agency to solve
their defense. They're over the cap.
Speaker 6 (14:39):
Now.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
They have two first round picks. I'd be shocked at
they didn't use both for defense. But you're not going
to solve a defense with two rookies in the first round,
one may not even hit. That's the rate about fifty
to sixty percent of first round or has become really
really good players. So they can't do a Patriots, They
can't spend their way to a better defense. That just
that's not available. But Jerry Yeats saying it's all about
(15:03):
getting to a trophy.
Speaker 8 (15:06):
My goal in life is to retire as the owner
that won the most Super Bowls. That's my goal. To
be retired in the NFL as the owner that won
the most super Bowls.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
We've got three.
Speaker 8 (15:24):
How many more would I have to go as a
single owner? Bob's got how many six? So I've got
I've got work to do, got work to do. I
got work to do. But at least I'm up to
the second rung in the latter.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
There isn't a way to do it. It's called Sean Payton,
Mike Vrabel, somebody with the last name Harball. Yeah, it's
always been odd to me, is that he's saying. It's
about the titles. Folks, we all know the keyness sport
is quarterback number two is not left tackle number two's coach.
(15:58):
You go, chief On Schottenheimer Mike McCarthy didn't have a
big market. Maybe this young guy's unbelievable. Say one thing,
doing another, and again this defense was last than everything.
The first round picks will help, but they won't solve
the issues. You don't have any free agent money. It
almost feels like Dallas is out of money, and it
(16:18):
alwayst feels like Philadelphia has got more money, and so
of the Rams. I don't know how it works. Somebody's
using a Swiss bang. Somebody's not Jmack with the news.
Speaker 8 (16:28):
No, no, no, this is the headline news.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
So the Baltimore Ravens made a move yesterday signing Jesse
Minter as their new head coach. Mint comes, of course
from the Chargers, where he was excellent with Jim Harbaugh.
Prior to that, he was with Jim at Michigan, and
prior to that, Mintor's first NFL job came with John
Harball in Baltimore.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Where he was a defensive assistant for a few years.
Speaker 5 (16:55):
This guy's really sharp those defense excellent work with the mediocre.
Speaker 6 (17:00):
Talent in the Chargers.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
It's not like they had an excellent secondary or linebackers,
and he really cooked up some good stuff here.
Speaker 6 (17:06):
His numbers big higher for the Ravens. I applauded, but
Colin Fabian real, I don't.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
This is wonderful, but I need to see who they
get is OC because Lamar Jackson is the bigger question,
especially his contract.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
This feels a little bit like Ben Johnson, except on defense,
where he's been the hot coordinator in this cycle. People
have been talking about Jesse Manner everywhere he goes the
I mean literally, he took the Chargers defense was dead last.
He took him to like number two or number one,
So I mean he usually the hot coordinator on the
market ends up succeeding either side of the ball. I mean,
(17:40):
Demiko Ryans was the defensive guy. Everybody's like super sharp
and he crushed, and you know, we know the offensive guy,
Ben Johnson crushed. So when you're the generally the two
things we know that work are that you're an established
Rabel Peyton Harbaugh or you are like you are the
hot cour Mike McDonald by the way, coming out of Baltimore,
(18:02):
it was like, guys, this is the defense of McVeigh.
So my take is it's a pretty strong hire known
in the building and good personnel. Star quarterback they'll redo
his contract. I think he'll be a good higher My
guess is a good hire. I feel the same way
I did kind of with Ben Johnson, which is, I
think it's gonna work to the level it works, how
fast it works, I don't have any idea.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Yeah, the front four was mediocre at best. They had
a poor pass rush all season. Yeah, Kyle Hamilton is
very good in the secondary. But Marlin Humphrey, it's over.
He's kind of washed.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
I think the.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
Personnel is a little more average than some others. I
don't think this is a top tier team in the
if we're doing tiers. I don't know who started this
tiers thing, but I would go to the Ravens as
like a third tier team despite.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
Having an elite quarterback. I don't think this team's.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I like their talent. I didn't think they had a
great pass rush. I like their talent.
Speaker 6 (18:53):
I guess the team is also terrible as we know.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, yeah, all right, let's.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
Move on to Sean Payton, the Denver Broncos coach, getting
ready to cook up some good stuff for Jarrett Stidham
in the AFC Championship game. But interestingly, he had a
message and it turned into some bulletin board material. Wide
receiver kay Shawn Booty responded, listen to the war of words.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
You've had a message to fans every single week about nooys.
Do you have you have a message for them this week?
Speaker 7 (19:20):
With being the final game?
Speaker 10 (19:21):
Well, they're gonna have plenty of rest after this one.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Two weeks, Not that you guys think any extra motivation,
but did you see the Shaun King quote insinuating that
Denver fans will have some extra rest.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
For the Super BOWLS nine?
Speaker 6 (19:32):
And I was two weeks for the rest of Lucia
and I seen that. Man, if you guys will the
rest and can't go on.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
So the media is so funny. Do you hear what
Sean said? Do you hear what Sean said? What is
your reaction to what Sean said? It's like tattling when
you were kids, Bob said. Jimmy said, It's like, guys,
it's just it doesn't matter. After the first play, nobody cares.
You know, this is.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
Media working overtime to make this game interesting.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
But instead, I mean, I think with bow knicks it
still wouldn't be as good as the Seahawks rams. I
think the story of the Weekend.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
No, no, WHOA, Yes, I would agree, but bo Nicks.
I mean, like he is a telligenic guy. We know
his college story. People know he's a known quantity like
Jarrett Stidham.
Speaker 6 (20:17):
I mean, Colin. I don't know which network.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Has the Super Bowl, but you know they're praying for
Drake mayn the Patriots.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
Like I actually think Drake may and the Patriots in
vraible in the turnaround against either of the NFC teams
is a really good supers.
Speaker 8 (20:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:29):
No, that's compelling for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
I think they Afford is again, just from a TV standpoint,
Stafford literally climbing in the all time rankings is really
a cool story. I'm dead Seriously, I don't think people
realize a Super Bowl win for staff even in appearance,
takes him to another level. A super Bowl win for
the one player in all these games who can literally
(20:53):
change his legacy is Matt Stafford. I mean, it's really
he's the one. I Drake May Obviously it'll be the
it'll be like, wow, this kid is the next Blank,
But I mean change your legacy from man, that guy's
gonna get some Hall of Fame votes. He may get
into Oh my god, he's a top twelve quarterback. Ever,
I think it's Matt Stafford's it.
Speaker 6 (21:16):
Yeah, it's certainly interesting.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
All right, Let's go to the final story, and that's
the Los Angeles Lakers tough one last night against the
paper Clips. They storm back from down like twenty one.
They cut it to two, ended up losing. After the game,
JJ Reddick said the team didn't trust each other on
the offensive end of the floor. Lebron was then asked,
hey man, what about this big story at ESPN about
(21:38):
Jennie Buss not being happy that you weren't kissing the
ring and.
Speaker 6 (21:42):
All that nonsense. Here's Lebron.
Speaker 10 (21:46):
I thought it was good, But you know, Mike, I
see it in another way. So it's always it's always
two sides.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
Of the coin.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
So we never talked.
Speaker 10 (21:55):
I don't understand, Like, it's not like me and Jeanie
be on the phone. Guys, I never heard of report
about Dad on an don't make something out of it
that is not As a pug, you know, it's always
been mutual. It has always been respect, has always been
a great partnership. But it's not like I call a
genie on the phone. It's not like I called Mickeyerrison
(22:16):
on the phone, or Dan Gilbert on the phone.
Speaker 8 (22:20):
Come on, guys, don't don't.
Speaker 10 (22:21):
Don't make this morning what it is.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I don't care. I think this is a I think
this is a great answer by Lebron. I think And
if anybody else noticed this, I'm sure you have. But
Lebron's gotten to a point that he's not He doesn't
get defensive about this stuff. He's got nothing to prove.
His legacy has set, his networth has doubled since he's
been in LA that's a great answer, Like, guys, I don't,
(22:45):
I don't. I'm not on the phone with the owner.
That people can write what they write. There's a story
about me every day. He's in a very good spot.
I don't think Lebron's nine years ago answers like that.
It feels like to me, Lebron is coming to the
realization that his career is ending. Lebron has too much pride.
(23:06):
And by the way, you can say pride is vanity,
whatever it is. Everybody that's a successful man or woman,
you know they have pride in their work. It sounds
like to me, Lebron he doesn't really care. Is that
it's over and that's not saying he's retiring. I would
guess at seventy five twenty five, does he want to
limp to the finish line be humiliated in a trade
(23:28):
that his answers are he's had so many opportunities over
the last six months that he could take shots here.
He doesn't. If you noticed his answers, they're all like, grateful,
been it's been wonderful. We've had a great relationship. He
has pulled the plane onto the tarmac. He's ready for
(23:50):
takeoff into another business career very soon.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
Yeah, Lebron, I think he's at twenty two, six and
five and he could walk away averaging that should be impressive.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
I want to remind you, so I was.
Speaker 5 (24:02):
In the DC area when Michael Jordan came back to
the Wizards. Colin it was open season on Michael Jordan.
The Wizards were a dumpster fire. The media crucified him,
The Washington Post him, the players didn't like him. The
Washington Post had a writer specifically following him around, and.
Speaker 6 (24:17):
It was brutal the way he treated Quame Brown.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
I'm just telling you, at the end of these guys careers,
if you're not on top, the media is coming for you,
because as you you've been in this long enough, you
know the ink stain wretches love to build you up
and then tear you down. And I'm telling you, but
the vibes in this story, that Lebron stuff had nothing
to do with.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
The Genie Bus family story.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
It was just wedged in like four paragraphs in like
a ten thousand word piece, and all the headlines are
about Genie Bus versus Lebron. I'm telling you, Lebron, They're
coming for you. I don't like it personally, but I've
seen this game before. It's it's not a fun one.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I agree J Mack with the news.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line News.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
I saw this headline this morning. Indiana's Fernando Mendoza likely
number one pick entering the NFL Draft. It's not likely
he will be. We are ninety days, three months out
from the draft as of today, he's going to be
the number one pick and people are going to pick
him apart they believe it or not. Did it with
(25:21):
Andrew Lucke, they did it with Caleb Williams. I don't
like his fingernail polish. He's too emotional. Here's what we
know doesn't work long term in the NFL. Small quarterbacks,
they age very quickly. Cocky quarterbacks Johnny manziel inexperienced guys
(25:42):
that just don't get a lot of college starts. Anthony
Richards and Trey Lance. Here's three things that almost olways work. Humble,
grateful personalities, a lot of Brady and Manning. Big body
that can take hits, that can move a little. He's
six five to twenty five and really really accurate, especially
(26:06):
in big games and in big spots. In the playoff
this year he was three to zero, completed seventy five
percent of his throws, nine touchdowns, no picks. Go to
the Penn State, second half, go to the Ohio State,
go to Miami. He's great in the biggest spots. So
he is the definition of a franchise quarterback. Big, accurate, clutch, humble,
(26:27):
four for four and not just four for four, all
of them A pluses. That does not guarantee Super bowls,
It does not guarantee multiple conference championship appearances. It does
guarantee if you get a competent coach, not even a
great one, you're gonna win a bunch of games. Fernando
(26:48):
Mendoza has none of the roadblocks. He's not small, he
doesn't lack experience, and he is not hockey. Those are
the three killers. And he's got the three and four things. Big, accurate, tough, humble, grateful.
(27:11):
Those worked everywhere in every business. So he's gonna win
a bunch of games. If he doesn't even need a
great coach. He needs a good competent coach. If you're
good and competent, I mean dan Quinn mostly good. He's competent,
not great, not all time stuff don't need and you
reid if he gets if he gets an elite, top
(27:31):
four or five coach, I think that that's when you're
gonna see conference championships and a Super Bowl appearance. No
guarantee wins them. I mean again, Stafford and McVeigh have won.
It's hard, but here was this week. Here he was
Mendo's on Good Morning America talking about, you know, the
potential to be the number one pick.
Speaker 11 (27:52):
I'd be so grateful and I could only do this
with the glory of God, and it just it would
be a dream come true from a two star crew.
I was the reason I had this whole entire LinkedIn
persona was, Hey, I'm probably not gonna make the NFL,
so let me double down on my networking, on my connections,
and let me get a little head in the corporate lifestyle.
So when I graduate college, I have a foot up.
Speaker 8 (28:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
By the way, I'm gonna have Tom Brady on in
about thirty minutes from now, forty minutes from now. He
was at that game, and I'm gonna ask him, you know,
his interpretation of what he saw with Fernando Mendoza. Joel
Klatt earlier this week on Mendoza winning the title.
Speaker 12 (28:31):
There are two types of quarterbacks, and there are quarterbacks
that rise to the occasion when their best is needed,
and there are guys that shrink. And Mendoza rose to
the occasion when his best was needed.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
He was at his best.
Speaker 12 (28:46):
That's why he won the Heisman, and that's why he's
a national champ.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Totally agree, He's gonna win a lot of games if
he just gets good to competent head coach. All right,
J Mack around the corner, I have a theory on something.
The ratings have been great in the NFL this year,
despite no Ma Holmes, no Omar Jackson, no Joe Burrow,
Josh Allen's out and the ratings have been stupendous. Allan,
(29:11):
of course just out Seattle Rams is gonna get a
big boy number. And why with so many unbelievable stars
in the NBA, it doesn't feel the same. There is
a difference between the sport and you're seeing it now.
I've got that thought and the ten best players in
(29:31):
Seattle Rams and we could have gone sixteen to seventeen
and had borderline pro bowlers.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern non am Pacific.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Hey is Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 8 (29:45):
Now.
Speaker 9 (29:45):
In addition to hearing us live weekdays from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for
the show.
Speaker 7 (29:55):
Yep, that's right. You can now watch Covino and Rich
live on YouTube every day. All you gotta do search
Coveno and Rich FSR on YouTube again, go to YouTube
search Coveno ed Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe,
hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.
Speaker 5 (30:14):
Seattle will be electric on Sunday with a trip to
the Super Bowl on the line, Matthew Stafford and the
Rams take on Sam Darnold and the Seahawks the NFC
Championship presented by Intuit turbotechs Sunday at sixty cern three
Pacific on Fox, and the man who's calling the game,
the legendary Tom Brady, stops My Next Hour to break
(30:35):
down the matchup.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Forbes magazine, I'm sure you've heard of it, kind of
did a study on successful people, men and women, and
the three things that they said. The three traits that
successful people had. Number One, they do not care what
other people think of them. Criticism is irrelevant. They have
their own journey. They know what they want to do.
(30:57):
They just don't care about criticism. They just don't care. Second,
and I boy, this one is my mantra in life.
They're not obsessed with being right. They're obsessed with getting
it right. The Internet is losers everywhere telling you how
much they know about geopolitics. They want to prove how
right they are. Successful people don't worry about that. They
want to get it right about being right on the Internet.
(31:20):
And the third thing is pleasing everybody because it's impossible.
There are the Pope has critics like you can't please everybody.
And when I spent a year hanging out with Sean
Payton and he would come by the studio at Fox,
he embodied all three of these and it rubs a
lot of people the wrong way. Sean Peyton does not
(31:41):
care what you think. Sean Peyton wants to get it right.
We talked about that all the time, and he's not
a people pleaser. It just doesn't matter, and I think
it rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But
I mean, the guy is just unbelievable. And I remember
when he was at Fox. I was like, he's not
doing TV thing. He's got too much going on. You
(32:03):
go to dinner once with Sean, have a couple of
coffees with him, a fifteen minute conversation. He needs a coach.
Mike Vrabel clearly has respect, kind of tells you as
he faces him this weekend what he's all about.
Speaker 13 (32:19):
Very successful football coach, tough to defend for, you know,
tough to defend against. I think he does a great
job with his personnel and his scheme. I think he's
had his core concepts as he's had for a lot
of years, and then he's just continued to add onto that,
(32:41):
you know, as some of the game has changed and
some of the ideas and the schemes have evolved, and
so I think that that's.
Speaker 10 (32:49):
Pretty unique.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Yeah, I listen, if you can get to a super
Bowl and beat because his defense wasn't very good against
Buffalo and the defense the Denver defense is in. It
gets a lot of sacks. I don't think it's in
the class of the Seahawks or Houston, but it gets
a lot of sacks. Nick Benito, Zach Allen, That's a
big part of that. But I don't think it's a
(33:11):
great defense. So if you can get to a Super
Bowl without what I consider a great defense, Houston's got
a great defense, Seattle a great defense, Rams defense creates turnovers.
I don't think Denver's in that class. I think if
you take out Nick Benito, it doesn't even feel the
same as it is now and you can get to
a super Bowl with Jared Stidham. Now, I will say this,
(33:36):
I do think they're high end players are very very good.
Yesterday I gave the top ten players in this matchup.
I think Denver's top end players, Patrick Sartain, Nick Benito
are just unbelievable Quinn Miners on the offensive line, Garrett Bowls.
Denver's got the better on line, no question. But I
(33:59):
think there are there are some holes to Denver right now,
quarterbacks one of them. New England's a team I don't
think their high ends is good outside of Drake May,
but I don't think. I don't think they have any holes.
I like New England in this spot. I think they'll
come in. Denver will come in and Stidham will be
like a backup quarterback playing in a massive game and
he'll be limited. That'll give Drake May better field position
(34:21):
and more possessions. And I think over the course of
a game, I think it's very very close. Over the
course of a game, I suspect Vrabel, Drake May, Stefan Diggs.
I don't love their O line. I've said before, I
still contend of the final four teams. New England's still
in a semi rebuild. They got to get the offensive
line right. There's a couple of spots they need to upgrade.
(34:45):
But I'll say this about Sean Payton the year people
forget this. The year before he went to the Saints,
they were wearing bags on their head. They were the
running joke in the league. They were the running joke.
They were three and thirteen the following year and six
year four that won the Super Bowl. So you're talking
about Peyton and Vrabel. This is a These are all
(35:07):
time coaches. These guys are really sharp, really sharp. So
I was thinking about this. Let me throw this out
at you. I fell in love with the NBA when
I was a kid, Doctor J. And I didn't like
the NFL. Back when I was a kid, I loved
baseball and I loved the NBA. And one of the
reasons I liked the NBA was Spencer Haywood and Doctor J.
Because I was kind of a feisty kid. It had
(35:29):
its own personality. You could wear your own shoes, your
own everything. It didn't feel corporate. It felt like individual
stars and downtown. Freddie Brown didn't play like Spencer Haywood,
and Spencer Haywood's like, I'm not going to get treated
like this. I'm not gonna play And that was its strength.
And remember that. I'll get back to that in a second.
So the ratings are up in the NFL, I'm reading
(35:52):
Noma homes in the playoffs, Nola mar Jackson, No Joe Burrow,
Aaron Rogers long gone. Ratings are one thing the NFL
does really well. The NBA stinks at introducing their next star.
You know who the most popular player in the NBA
is right now, Steph Curry, You're seventeen still, I'm sorry. Sga, Wemby,
(36:15):
Yo Kitch are remarkable players personalities. So three of the
top four teams left have quarterbacks that just won their
first playoff game. The ratings shouldn't be through the roof.
But I think the reason is because the football in
America college en pro, but let's talk pro football is
(36:38):
reliant on the quality of their game. That's why they're
constantly changing rules. They want to keep the game number one.
So you can insert any quarterback, any pass rusher into
any team. He'll be popular. Because they worry about the
quality of their game and the franchise over the player.
Yet the star player still makes a fortune. The NBA
(37:02):
is about the player more than the franchise. And if
the player doesn't have a personality, Jokic, isn't that fascinating,
you get major dips in popularity. But there's something else
that's happening between the NFL and basketball that I'm not
sure this has been said. I feel strongly about this.
I always felt the one advantage the NBA had over
(37:26):
the NFL. It wasn't as corporate.
Speaker 8 (37:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
It was like a music club and everybody had their
own thing. It was cool. The NBA was cool that.
You know, Doctor J played one way, the other guy
played the other way. It was a lot of one
on one. It could be iso. I mean, Magic didn't
play like Steph, and Steph doesn't play like Doctor J.
And it was kind of independent and artsy and a
(37:50):
cool aesthetic. And then football was kind of corporate. Here's
the playbook, don't get crazy. Corporation runs the shield. There's
a way to play the game. And Tom Brady please
take Payton's it's actually flipped. The NFL now has all
these guys like Josh Allen and Caleb Williams. They're like, bro, dude,
(38:10):
you do you, you do you. The game has more
great offensive coaches. It's more creative than it's ever been.
There's still a big corporate shield hovering over the NFL,
but a lot of the great young quarterbacks they're just
doing their own thing. Lamar played like nobody else. Caleb
plays like nobody else. Josh plays like nobody else, and
(38:30):
you kind of lean into it. And conversely, the NBA
has become the NFL. They're one advantage. It was art,
it was unique, and now everybody plays the same game.
Shoot a bunch of threes. I saw celt the game
a couple of weeks ago. I had to turn it off.
Everybody's doing the same thing. Wemby just shoot threes, and
(38:53):
Edwards should look like doctor and Edwards should play like MJ.
I watch him play shooting eleventh. So the one advantage
the NBA really had was the individual, and yet they've
smushed them with analytics into playing the exact same way.
You can watch an NBA game. They're sixty threes, sixty everybody, big,
(39:17):
small guard, forward, center, get to the corner, get to
an angle, shoot a three. It's okay if your steph
because that's his game. Doctor Jay's game was acrobatic and
dunking wasn't. Shooting jumpers you were allowed. And so what
happens to the NBA? They when have they succeeded when
their stars have big personalities in Flair, Magic, Kobe, MJ. Shack,
(39:42):
they've smushed it all together and now it's very NFL
where it's very corporate. Everybody shoots the same way. It's
a math equation threes and more threes. And the NFL,
to me, is now more willing to kind of say
this quarterback is unique, bro. I mean, you know, we
we'd prefer them to get up to sixty five percent
completion percentage. But if you're the high fifties and got
(40:05):
horsepower of VA, kind of we're gon, We're gone. I mean,
Ben Johnson has an offense. He lets Caleb do a
lot of Caleb stuff. So when I see these ratings
are up with all these young quarterbacks, when you're not
dependent on anything other than the quality of the game
and the franchise, you don't have these dips. The NBA's
(40:26):
one advantage was personality. Now it's a three point shooting contest,
just repetitive. Even the players I like, I don't see dunks.
I see threes. Tom Brady next hour,
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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