Last night showed why Steelers HC Mike Tomlin wasn't happy about Joe Flacco being traded to the Bengals, Colin also dives into why Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh defense is a huge issue this season
Thoughts on the Dodgers being 1 game away from going back to the World Series
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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 (00:27):
Welcome in to a loaded Friday, so so much to
talk about live. We're in Chicago. It's The Herd wherever
you may be and however you may be watching or listening.
Thank you so much for being part of our show.
Off a winning week of four and one winning week
(00:47):
blazing five returns in a one hour from now. It's
actually a really interesting slate of games, you know, j Mac.
Mike Tomlin, Steelers coach, was brutally honest, fourth right and
furious when the Cleveland Browns traded Joe Flacco to the Bengals.
(01:08):
And we're like, why is he so upset? Now we
know why, Mike Tomlin after last night is one and
seven straight up against Joe Flacco on short rest. So
Tomlin's great on Monday night football. These Thursday games, Jay
Mack and I talked about it yesterday. Tomlin less time
to prepare and motivate. He's not good. So we thought
(01:30):
we'd have Bengals Steelers probably boring NUS thirty three thirty one.
Flaco in two games with the Bengals five hundred and
fifty five yards, five touchdowns, no picks. But that game
was not only about Flaco. It was about Pittsburgh's defense.
It's the highest paid in the league. Once again, it's
atrocious Chase Brown, who knew he was Jim Brown. The
(01:52):
Bengals averaged six point two yards a rush and Cincinnati
has the thirtieth ranked offensive line in the league. I mean,
I thought it was going to be a boring, ugly
Steeler win. Not at all. It was a firework show.
Don't blame it on Aaron Rodgers. Aaron's been terrific, four
touchdown passes. He only got in trouble when he tried
(02:13):
to go deep that The story of the game is
that defense. Mike Tomlin's defense, four straight years, highest paid,
none have been in the top ten. It didn't matter
who the running back was. I mean, Chase Brown, Illinois kid, whatever,
I mean, he looked great. So six straight possession This
(02:33):
is hard to do in the NFL against anybody, and anybody,
forget the Steelers. The Bengals scored at one point on
six straight possessions. So Joe Flacco old barely can move.
Joe Flacco, he can spin it, he doesn't move much.
He only got sacked twice. So this is a really
bad loss for the Steelers because now the schedule gets brutal,
(02:55):
Green Bay, Coles, Chargers, Buffalo, Detroit a couple of times.
Lamar Jackson now getting healthy. So watching the Bengals dash
the Steelers for nearly five hundred yards with the thirtieth
offensive line and Joe Flacco, I mean, pitch and catch
with Jamar Chase sixteen catches, Cincinnati dominated time of possession.
(03:17):
So the AFC North here we go. I mean, you've
heard of death by a million cuts. That was like
death by one hundred slant patterns. They just did whatever
they want, gigantic holes, Jamar Chase, some T Higgins. It
didn't even matter. I mean, Cincinnati didn't have their best
pass rusher. I'll give them a bit of a pass.
Aaron had plenty of time to throw, but Pittsburgh's defense,
(03:40):
you can't spend that kind of money and that can't
be what I see. That was a really really bad loss.
Tomlin struggles on Thursday Night football, Chase Brown average nine
point eight yards a carry with that Bengal all line.
Flaco a guru wizard. Guys got what five six practices
(04:03):
in for the Bengals. Here was Jamar Chase. Jamar said,
they did what we thought they would do.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
They did exactly what he was expecting and hoping they do.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
You know, they was gonna put Joey on tea and
put Jalen on me, and we knew that he was
ready for it.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
We was gonna take advantage of those opportunities.
Speaker 5 (04:21):
Just from an analysis perspective, I just thought, you know,
the first half were allowed to run the ball too much.
I think they have about one hundred yards rushing into
half and so that just kind of set a negative
trajectory and will fight uphill the rest of the way.
I certainly appreciate the fight, but man, we got to
be cleaner, we got to be better.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, you know, it's in this league. It's crazy. There
have been so many games this year where we absolutely
feel going into a game like Steelers they're gonna be
five and one. We were absolutely sure. The Chargers. We're
gonna beat Jackson Dart and the you know Bills will
take care of Atlanta and young Drake May. You'd just
(05:06):
never known this league. So the Dodgers are now leading
three to zero on the Brewers, one game away from
the World Series, and it's official. They have no flaw.
We thought it was the bullpen. We thought it was
Otawni struggling in the postseason. Yeah, Tyler Glasnow was excellent
last night, eight strikeouts, but he only went five and
(05:28):
two thirds innings, so the Dodgers had to rely on
their bullpen and it was great for the record. The
Brewers have nine hits through three games of a playoff series.
That's tied for the fewest in league history. And this
is a team that scored a lot of runs, again,
a lot of hits. The Brewers first time being held
a one run or fewer in three straight games on
(05:50):
the season, and Glassnow was excellent, but this was the series.
This was the year to beat the Dodgers, right, Otwi struggling,
Mookie Betts got off to a bad start, shaky bullpen,
glass Now and Snell you know, had health issues all
year long. They don't really have a natural closer. Last No.
Five and two thirds fantastic eight strikeouts. I mean, if
(06:16):
if the Dodgers can win playoff games with five hits,
it's over, Blue Jays, Mariners, Brewers, it will not matter.
And once again proving their depth. Much like a cheesecake
factory menu, turn the page, limitless combinations. Mookie Betts had
a great defensive play. Max Munsey had a great defensive play.
Mookie Betts opened the scoring. You know, Tommy edmund hobbled.
(06:39):
Tommy edmund ankle injury, not at one hundred percent, so
everybody just talks about it's a lot of money. No,
Mookie Bets is unbelievable, insane talent. Stole him from Boston.
Tommy Edmunds again was a Saint Louis Cardinal, hitting two
sixty five. Max Munsey, who can be hot and cold
and defense, had a great play last night. Months he
(07:02):
got released by the Oakland A's. So many combinations and
last time again it wasn't necessarily O Taani or Freddie Freeman,
it was the bullpen. It was Tommy Edmond And afterwards,
I mean, nobody in the world could have predicted Milwaukee
could not hit of all the predictions in this series.
One of them was, listen, Dodgers going to go to
(07:24):
the bullpen. Dodgers are going to need O Tawny to hit.
You're going to get the runs in this series. And
Milwaukee's got nine hits and the Dodgers are getting better,
Reds Phillies, Brewers more confidence. Here's Dave Roberts after.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
I think the thing about our guys is they're battle
tested and they know that I've never lost faith in him,
they never lost confidence in each other, and so, you know,
so to see what they're doing right now, I'm not surprised.
And we knew all along that we're going to need
these guys, and these guys are delivering, which is huge.
(08:01):
And you know, we're doing a great job of preventing
runs and the bullpen deserves a lot of credit.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
You know. It's really interesting, and you've seen this. This
kind of starts to feel the last couple of years
with the Dodgers, like that Alabama run where they were
just better, or the Kevin Durant Warriors like not all dynasties.
When the Patriots were winning Super Bowls, they were winning
them all by three points, even the losses to the
Giants last second games. They weren't overpowering people. The years
(08:29):
New England was overpowering people were the Randy Moss years.
They didn't win a Super Bowl. This has got a
little bit of a Warriors feel to it with KD,
like the Warriors won before Katie and after, but those
finals felt different than the KD finals or the dominant
Alabama run for about eight years where they would play
big time teams and they would just outside of maybe
Clemson and Trevor Lawrence or something, they just look better
(08:49):
than everybody. I mean, if the bullpen's not an issue,
they worked all year to try to solve this thing.
They do not have a natural closer. So it almost
feels Listen, money does matter, but the Mets and Yankees
have a lot of it. This feels almost unfair because
if Milwaukee can't get hits, forget driving in runs, home runs,
(09:12):
they can't get hits, they can't get singles and doubles,
the series is probably over. Jmack that game last night,
I gotta tell you, I had such low expectations of
that game. It had twenty three seventeen. All you had
to do is look at the analytics. You're like, the
Bengals have a bad old line, your two forty year
old quarterbacks. It's a short week, it's you know, Tomlin
(09:35):
has not been great, so the Steelers will probably win,
but they won't be that explosive. Aaron was terrific, Flacco
was amazing the run game, and we've got a really
interesting weekend. Can Philadelphia bounce out of their issues? Can
the Chargers getting healthier now beat the Colts' that's an
underrated good game this weekend. What did you make of
last night?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Yeah, one of the big takeaways.
Speaker 7 (09:56):
So one of our guys on staff, you know, we
got a lot of guys interested in gambling, said, hey,
j Mack, did you see that Joe Flacco's passing yards total.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Was like two hundred and fifty? And I was like, no.
Speaker 7 (10:06):
Way, how's he throw it for two fifty? He just
got to this team. And then I was like, oh boy,
he's going to be offensive fireworks and lo and behold
Flacco's unstoppable. Bengals just score it will. Did you say
they scored on six street possessions against the most expensive
defense in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Well, it's just I think one of the things that
was obvious last night, how easily they ran the ball.
There were huge, huge holes inside the box. So I mean,
Jamar Chase is always going to get his Last night
was crazy, and again Joe Flacco knows what he knows.
If you watched the Bengals last week with Joe Flacco,
remember that game, he just the final like drive. It
(10:43):
was like, I'm just gonna throw to Jamar Chase over
and over and over they did. Jamar Chase said, we
knew what they were going to do defensively, and they
did it.
Speaker 7 (10:51):
You know, it's embarrassing, Colin, if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers
fans and you were all excited about that four and
one start, and then you look at the upcoming schedule, brutal.
They're probably going to lose their three and all of
a sudden gonna be four and five. And then let's
see how Aaron Rodgers and Arthur Smith are doing on
the sideline and what's going on with Tomlin. I think
there's some trouble ahead for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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Speaker 8 (11:21):
I'm the producer of the Paula and Tony Fusco Show.
Usually in these promos they asked you to listen to
the show. I'm here to ask you please don't listen
to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who
have the dumbest takes on sports, imagicable. Don't listen to
the show so it can get camp.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
What the hell are you doing our studio?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Get him, Paulee, Ignore that fool.
Speaker 8 (11:42):
Listen to the Pauline Tony Fusco Show on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
He's still moving, so we know.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Mike Tomlin's a defensive coach. They did take a ten
hing lead last night, which is nice, but it was
the fifty sixth straight game the Steelers have scored seven
or fewer points in the first quarter. That's the longest
streak by any coach in NFL history, So ten to
nothing was a nice start. Aaron Rodgers is not the issue.
(12:12):
Nobody sat around all summer saying Aaron's got to lead
the Steelers. Aaron in his prime in Green Bay. Yes,
Aaron at forty with Mike Tomlin that's not what we thought.
He tried to go deep in the second quarter and
he got burned. I don't think this is a deep
ball offense. I think it's a tight end offense in
DK Metcalf. His mobility has been excellent. He leads the
(12:33):
NFL in touchdown passes. He's more than mobile enough in
his prime, we wanted more. I think he's over delivering
right now. He's been unbelievable. They just got to keep
towing the tight ends. When Aaron throws the tight ends.
All four of his touchdowns last night were tight ends.
When he throws the tight ends this year, seventy three
percent completion percentage, one hundred and eighteen passer rating. So
(12:55):
I think Aaron's made the offense smarter, more reliable. They've
got like an end be a front line of tight
end and receiver size, and he's throwing underneath a lot.
When he went deep up the left sideline, I think
second quarter he got burned. I don't think that's what
the offense is. So he's spreading the ball around eight
different guys made a catch. Yeah, this is the one
(13:16):
up the left sideline in a double coverage. I just
don't think that's what this offense is. That's not what
it is. This is tight end led. So I think
Aaron's been great. He's one of the few things working.
The run defense was atrocious, the pass defense, the pass rush,
I don't know what I'm getting. But offensively, with Aaron,
the Steelers are on track to have their most yards
(13:38):
per play since the last Great Big Ben year. Remember
that Big Ben year, we had like thirty five touchdowns.
The following year he had the elbow injury and the surgery.
The last Great Big Ben year, this is they were
putting up these kind of numbers at quarterback. So that
was twenty eighteen. So I don't worry about Aaron at all.
Aaron has held up his to the bargain. I think
(14:01):
he's been really good. I think he's identified the size
advantage with their bigs Darnell Washington, Friarmouth Hayward, even DK
Metcalf not a tight end, but he is playing to
Pittsburgh's offensive strength, size and physicality. Here he was after
the loss.
Speaker 9 (14:17):
Listen, we want to win every game. There needs to
be an expectation of winning. But this is a short
week division opponent. Anything can happen, Obviously, Joe played really
well for them. For this is the NFL. You know,
we had a chance to really open up some space,
but Reform two still first in the division. I'm not
going to ride the roller coaster, and I know Mike isn't,
(14:38):
and hopefully you guys follow suit.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
It's interesting he goes to the Jets for a couple
of years and he can't rely upstairs on the dysfunction,
and then he goes to Pittsburgh now he can't rely
on the defense. Maybe Aaron's not the problem with New
York and Pittsburgh because I think he's played really, really well.
I know he's not being graded particularly high because he's
not thrown the ball down the field. You watched last
night's out. What this offense is? You gotta do what
(15:02):
you have. When Brady had Moss, it was a deep
ball offense. When it was Edlman and Gronk, it was
underneath stuff all the time. J Mack with the news.
Turn on the news.
Speaker 7 (15:14):
This is the herdline news, all right, Colin, Let's start
with Jayden Daniels and a Washington Commanders a tough loss
to the Bears on Monday night, but the young quarterback
talked to the media about how he and the team
can get back on the winning track.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
They need fast starts.
Speaker 10 (15:30):
Colling, we got the the chance to, you know, take
this into another level. Obviously the stats are the status,
but it just says just we could, you know, we
could score with the best of them, and we could,
we could put up points, but we just got to
be better, uh, with the details and execution. So you know,
(15:51):
we don't have slow starts or anything like that. So
that's something that we're just honing in and focus on
a more.
Speaker 7 (15:57):
Yet down ten nothing to the Chargers right out of
the game, should have lost that game, and then down
thirteen nothing to the Bears, and now I'm getting word
right now it's official. Scary Terry McLaurin will not play.
Dan Quinn has ruled him out this weekend against Dallas. Listen,
I don't want to make too much of this, but
Washington is in that dicey area right now.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Slow starts.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
You know, maybe there's a bit of a sophomore slump
for Jayden Daniels.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Well, here's the good news. McLaurin will play next week,
and Dallas is the kind of defense you want to
play when you don't have Terry McLaurin. I think this
is a I think it's a wild game. I mean,
last night the Bengals was wild game. I think you
have Dak and with this defense, I think this is
going to be one of the more entertaining games of
the way this used to be. When I was a
kid growing up in the seventhies, this was the best
(16:41):
rivalry in the NFL. I think it has a chance
to be very high end rivalry over the next several years.
Because of the quarterback play. I think this is a
go either way game. I don't have a strong conviction
on the winner, but I think it's going to be
incredibly Seattle Tampa entertaining.
Speaker 7 (16:55):
I mean, listen, this is not a hot take, but
right now, Dallas has the better quarterback, Dak Prescott performing
better than Jayden this season small sample size. Dallas has
a more dynamic number one receiver. I don't know who's
got the better running back. Washington's rookie keeps fucking Withee
lamb is back. Cee Lands back like I think Dallas.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I'm not.
Speaker 7 (17:13):
I got no money on this game, but I think
Dallas is probably the side here. Washington needs a win.
Colin they just haven't looked buttoned up. To borrow your
phrase to start the season.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
All right, let's go to the next one. And that
is a little drama.
Speaker 7 (17:24):
Maybe in Miami, Jalen Waddle, the great young receiver.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Out Let me not call him great. He's good.
Speaker 7 (17:31):
He wasn't posted on Instagram just like a catch up.
You know, a bunch of photos and wouldn't you know it,
but one of them was him in Buffalo Bills Stadium.
Now there is some speculation Buffalo needs a receiver. They're
targeting Wattle as the ship be sinking in Miami.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Here's a photo he posted.
Speaker 7 (17:46):
I mean, listen, Jalen wattles playing a lot of stadiums
this season.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Now there's a rumor of Jaylen Waddle to the Giants,
which makes no sense because it's not now. He's a
very expensive guy, calf hit over the next couple of years.
I think for Buffalo you can make the argument because
you have a superstar quarterback. You're in the super Bowl
window with a superstar quarterback. The Giants Jayal and Wattle
rumors are dumb. You've got Elik neighbors, he'll get healthy.
You got Scataboo. Make the offense, Dart Scataboo in the
(18:13):
defensive front, the Giants should not inherit that cap hit.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Yeah, I also think this Buffalo stuff like you already
have Shakir.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
I don't know that Wattles like the kind of guy
you need.
Speaker 7 (18:26):
You know, obviously everybody could use in Aj Brown, but
they need a big, strong receiver Buffalo for these tough
winner games in January. They're gonna be in Casey, or
they're gonna be in Buffalo, maybe they're in Denver. They
need a big, physical receiver. I don't think Keon Coleman's
the guy. You don't seem as down on Buffalo as
I am offensively right now?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Where are you on the bill out there? I think
they'll eventually be fine, good enough. I don't think they're
as creative as i'd like, But I think defensively, if
you cannot when you have a great quarterback, there's one
thing you can't be bad against the run. Like last night,
Aaron Rodgers gets dominated in time of possession because Cincinnati
is running and Flackkoll had the ball. It felt like
(19:04):
Cincinnati had the ball for long, long stretches. How do
you beat Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers keep Aaron on
the sidelines. He's the one thing working for Pittsburgh right now.
You can have a bad run deep, you can have
a bad pass defense. You can give up points on
the back end. Right, you don't want to have it.
But if you had to choose, I want mahomes Lamar Herbert.
I want those guys on the field. You can have
(19:25):
a bad pass defense and give up quick touchdowns. You
don't want to be giving up nine minute drives and
your offense is sitting on the sidelines not getting opportunities.
Speaker 7 (19:34):
But even with Buffalo, like third and six, like, you
can't just rely on Josh to win every single third down.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
But you know what third and.
Speaker 7 (19:42):
Six last night, Jamar Chase was getting open. I mean
literally every possession. I got some concerns about Buffalo. Final
story Colin is Major League Baseball, and some consternation in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
The Blue Jays were old eight to two.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
Fun moment here Max Scherzer, forty one years old, old
man crabbiness. They tried to take him out of the game.
He said, uh uh, not happening. He talked about it
after the game.
Speaker 11 (20:07):
All of a sudden, I see Schnein's coming out and
it kind of caught me off guard. And you know,
that's just where one of those moments where I know
I won the ball. I knew this situation of the game.
I wanted the ball, and I basically told him that
in a little bit different language.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
It was awesome, and I thought he was gonna kill me.
It was great.
Speaker 11 (20:24):
You know, he locked eyes with me, you know, both
colors as I as I walked out.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
I love this column. This is that was awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Yeah, and it was Listen, Sures has been around a
long time. We had last night. We had shureser Flaco
and Aaron Rodgers and it was one of those things
where he was pitching, well, they had a lead. I
think he needed one more out to get a w potentially.
So yeah, I thought, you know, these old athletes, we
want to give up on them, but it's amazing how
(20:54):
often they may not have thirty great starts, but in
big moments Flacco and Aaron and Surs can deliver. And
that was a high leverage moment and he got out
of it.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
They're hanging on for dear life.
Speaker 7 (21:05):
And then these old guys are too, you know, I
mean Blue Jays needed that they get the win.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Are you nervous but for your mariners at this point?
But what are we doing?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Very very Yeah, Sometimes you have momentum and sees it.
Sometimes you don't. They had it lost. That was all
last night, last couple of games. They can't get him out.
Seattle's pitching was great in the first two games up
in Canada. They can't get him out by the way
they travel, and they got the yeah, and they got
the last night felt like Toronto's night. They jumped on
an early sure's are pitching? Well, last night was Toronto's night.
(21:33):
You could feel it.
Speaker 7 (21:34):
I'm sure the Dodgers would rather play Seattle in the
World Series than have to travel to and from Toronto.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Man, that is a hike.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Yeah, tied it to Jmack with the news.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line news.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
So what is it one more in Seattle than two
then you go east northeast to Toronto. So gotta get
their bearings right. They're struggling to get the Blue Jays out.
So I saw this this morning. The staff gave me this.
The Bears are the only NFL team to score at
least twenty one points in each of their first five games. Interesting,
(22:14):
I went back and looked at the twenty twenty four
numbers offensively thirty, second, thirty first, twenty ninth, big plays,
total offense, and I went and looked at them this year,
and they're very good on big plays per game second,
but they're kind of middle of the pack total offense
passing yards. Here's what's not arguable. Ben Johnson was the
right higher. We'll see how the Caleb ben Johnson thing
(22:34):
works out. But they've gone from inept to capable. So
there's two positions in the NFL, quarterback, one head coach too.
You gotta be a at both, at least B plus
if you want to be a consistent playoff team. So
Chicago's now three and two, but last year they were
four and two. But it didn't look right. The play
(22:56):
design's better, the play callings better. Caleb's playing with instruction.
Here's a word we use once in a while. They
look intentional. It's not haphazard. It looks intentional. It's the difference.
You know, last year they're four and two, this year
they're three and two. It's the difference between a fake
Louis bag and a real Louis bag. You know, from
thirty feet you can't tell. Got to get up close,
(23:18):
put a microscope on it, touch it, you can tell.
The fake. Last year was fake. It was just Caleb
Williams making plays. Oh, he didn't throw a lot of interceptions. So,
and don't get paralyzed by records. I said when Kansas
City was five hundred, I said, this team is ready
to explode. Remember they beat Baltimore, blew them out. Everybody said, ah,
Ravens are injured. I'm like, no, no, that's not what
(23:40):
this is. That defense is locked in. Eagles were four
and oh. I said they got a coaching crisis. They've
had the two worst offensive halves of any team, including
the Titans, in the league. You can't get paralyzed by
a record. This three and two feels real. The offense
is smarter, It plays with instructure, the play designs better,
to play callings better. It's it looks explosive legitimately. So
(24:04):
there's only two positions in this league. If you have
a great coach and a great quarterback, you get to
the playoffs. It's really hard. Last year Bengals didn't Burrow
was great. We don't know about Zach Taylor. We just
don't know. But Caleb Williams was compared this week. They
were everybody. The Troy Aikman stuff got a lot of press.
Troy Aikman didn't have a love affair with him, and
(24:26):
people were defending Caleb Williams. He didn't need defending. He's
not there yet. Here was Caleb on the Akman comments.
Speaker 12 (24:35):
People are gonna say what they have to say. We win,
we lose. People have stuff to say. It was lucky,
It was not lucky. People have stuff to say, you know,
you know, have a bad game, have a good game.
People have stuff to say. So it's it's it doesn't matter.
We're only worried about what's going on here within this
(24:55):
building and with these guys. So that's all all I
can say about that.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Yeah, it's not luck, by the way, they're not. They're
not three and two because they're lucky. It is an
intentional offense. And within structure, Caleb's getting much better accuracy,
a little bit hit and miss, But listen, I always
I always say this, if if criticism from announcers is
getting under your skin, you're not it right, And I
(25:20):
think the apeman Caleb comms Yeah, they're silly. That's a
different generation.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
I want to throw this out. I want to throw
this this story out. I saw this one. So when
James Franklin got fired at Penn State, James, everybody's celebrated.
Get that bum out of here. He can't beat good teams.
He's no good, even though he finished fifth in the
country and won thirteen games the year before. Just get
(25:46):
him out of here. We'll go get Kurt Signetti at Indiana. Oh,
he just signed a new ninety two million dollar contract.
He's off the market. And when Marcus Freeman, the other
coach rumored to replace James, Well, Notre Dame's gonna beat
USC tomorrow and they're gonna beat him soundly. It's a
bad matchup for the Trojans. The weather's gonna be Midwest cruddy,
(26:08):
and I don't think they can stop their run game.
So Kurt Signetty and Marcus Freeman excellent candidates. After this weekend,
they're gonna be both off the board. Well what about
Clark Lee at Vandy? What about him? He's twenty one
and thirty four. His first three years at Vandy had
a losing record. Last year he was seven and six
James Franklin was at Vandy. He won by the second year.
(26:32):
Nothing against clark Lee. James Franklin won there by the
second year, at least clark Lee Vandy. Maybe you know
James Franklin had won some there. I think he was
like seven and six the second year. So is that
the answer, Matt rule, Matt rule, Matt Rule's the answer. Well, yeah,
(26:55):
Matt Rule. Have you seen him in close games against
ranked teams? Everybody wanted James Franklin out. He's bad against
ranked teams. He won a lot of game bad against
ranked teams. Matt Rule is two and twenty two against
ranked teams as coach Nebraska and his previous stops. I
guess so you know you wanted Kurt Signetti locked in,
(27:16):
Marcus Freeman locked in soon the guy at Vandy. Actually,
James Franklin was better at Vandy. Matt ruhle, he can't
beat ranked teams. It's like the New York Knicks. If
you're gonna fire Tibbs, who are hiring not everybody looks
at your job opening with the same affection you do.
It's like I've always I've always said this about young kids.
(27:37):
I love mine. I tolerate yours. I mean they're beautiful. Hey,
I love mine. Everybody else keep them at home, all right.
That's Penn State looks at their job opening and they're like,
we'll just go grab Freeman. Notre Dame is a better job.
We'll get Signetti. Bloomington's a great place. Eddy is creating
(28:00):
his own empire. Well, we'll get the guy at vandy Well.
James Franklin was actually better at vandy Well. Matt Ruhle
can't beat ranked teams either. I'm just saying, you got
Lane Kiffin. He's not going there either. Maybe you have
to go to the Division two. Maybe maybe Dan Lanning's
not leaving Oregon. I wouldn't leave Oregon for Penn State.
(28:21):
I think Penn State's a good job. But it's not
a top six or seven job. It's not Bama, it's
not Texas. I don't think it's Oregon. It's not Michigan,
it's not Notre Dame, it's not Ohio State. I don't
think it's USC. I think it's closer to I think
it is closer to Ole Miss than it is to Georgia.
(28:43):
And Ole Miss is a solid job, solid plus. But
you know, it's like the Knicks, we're gonna fire TIBs. Well,
who's on the market? You got something lined up? Doesn't
look like they did Signetty, that was the one they had, right,
Who wouldn't want to come here? Not everybody looks at
your own opening.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
Like you do.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a im pacific.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
I've never understood this, Like, well you said nine years.
Speaker 7 (29:10):
The Blue Jays battle back to ty the Alcs at
two games apiece. Now, though, square off with Cal Rawley
and the Mariners in a pivotal game five. Coverage begins
at five pm Eastern two pm Pacific today on FS
one little.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Earlier game in Seattle. Very very excited for that. My
some friends from high school were sending me picks last
night watching the Mariners game. They got to get it,
They got to get back on track. So I thought.
One of the sillier things I saw on the internet
this week was when Troy Aikman didn't fall in love
(29:47):
with Caleb's performance. People were like, well, Caleb's better at
his first twenty starts than Troy Aikman. Oh boy, it's
a totally different these are not contemporaries. It's a totally
different generation. Let's do let's let's talk about that. So
I have defended bon Nicks. Let's let's do a little
(30:07):
blind resume with bow Knicks, and let's use contemporaries, people peers,
or people in his generation. That's fair because I've said
bo Nicks does three things really well. He doesn't get
sacked a lot of it's because he's already athletic. He's
very good fifteen yards and under like, he's very accurate,
and he ball placements great, and he's coachable and tough.
(30:29):
With a lot of college stars. He does not throw
a great deep ball. But when I saw the Aikman
Caleb comps, it was such an eye roll. And if
you want to do comps that matter, let's do this.
Let's do blind resume. Let's get bow Knicks in the
current NFL his first twenty three stars. Okay, guys want
(30:50):
to do the blind resume. So basically the same resume
through twenty three starts of the guy in the right,
who's the guy in the right. First twenty three starts
the guy in the right who everybody fell in love with,
Dak Prescott and Dak had Zeke and the number one
offensive line in the league. Okay, so there you go.
(31:13):
Let's do it again. Well, well, I mean maybe Coliny,
I mean Dak's not that talented. Okay, Let's do a
blind resume where here bo Nix is much more accurate,
fewer turnovers, much higher passer rating through twenty three starts.
Let's see who this is. Josh Allen, I knew it,
Josh Allen. Okay, well, I mean Colin, I mean that
(31:34):
was years ago. Let's go with a more you know,
contemporary twenty three starts. Well, here he lines up almost
the exact same quarterback. Again, somebody we don't push back on.
He's absolutely big, strong, capable, accurate guy. Who's this blind resume? Oh? CJ.
Stroud Again, I'm not doing Caleb and Aikman. I mean,
(31:54):
why not do y a tittle and you know? And CJ.
Stroud I mean, just nonsense. Okay, let's do another one. Okay,
I'll go back a few years. It's the same league,
but it's probably more of a passing league now than
it was then. But it's kind of close, fairly similar.
Bo Nick. This quarterback boy, this guy struggled with accuracy.
(32:15):
Who is passer rating was terrible? Who is that stiff? Okay,
that these comps are reasonable because the NFL rules during
all those quarterbacks, including Luck and bow Nicks, the rules
are the same. They have limited what defenses can do.
(32:36):
So you know, and I'll say this about bo Nicks,
I have identified, you have identified if you watch Bronco
fans know this. He doesn't get sacked. He's very athletic.
In fact, I would argue run more first two years
or in the league as a quarterback. Run if you
can until the green, the light comes on, until the
game slows down. He's coachable. He's gotten better last septemb
(33:00):
to October November. He gets better as the season goes on.
Doesn't take sacks, super athletic, and he's very good fifteen
yards an in now. He does not throw a great
deep ball. Okay, sorry, he's not Mahomes. He's not. But
I you know, Tony Gonzalez used to say, you know,
(33:22):
Ego has no amigo. He doesn't have any of that.
The other thing is, can can bone Nicks be? Can
we look at bon Nicks and go he's a top
twelve thirteen quarterback because until this season until this very season.
That's how we looked at Baker Mayfield, and that's how
we looked at Dak Prescott his entire career, and he's
probably better than that. So all the fandom for Dak
(33:46):
and Baker, I mean Baker before this year, you could argue,
is he a top twelve quarterback? By the way, y'all
love Brock Purty, you know, Brock Purdy had a trouble
winning games without Christian mccaffreynis doesn't always have a healthy
roster either. So I think bo Nicks has incredibly high expectations.
Dad was a coach. I think he's fine. I think
(34:07):
he's a franchise quarterback. I don't think he's a gifted
as Jaden Daniels. Uh right now, I don't know if
he's Drake may but he's a franchise quarterback. Here's bo.
I'm definitely tough for myself.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
I think it's just you know, how I grew up,
how it was, uh, you know, raised, My dad was
my coach, so he was tough on me, and then
you know, it just kind of just kind of continued.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
It's it's tough, you know. I hate making mistakes.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
I hate you know, not doing the correct thing, and
you know it can be tough on myself, but at
the same time, you know, I give myself some grace too,
and just you know, move on and go to the
next play. And I'm sure I'm gonna make another mistake,
and you know I'll fix that when it when it happens.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Now, I will say this, Patrick Mahomes didn't have these stumbles.
Patrick got Andy Reid got a set for a year,
had an incredible mentor. Bo Nicks went to a team
with the worst dead cap situation in league history. Peyton
made the offensive line highly serviceable year one. Now it's good.
(35:10):
So again, I like bow a lot. Will he be
a top twelve thirteen quarterback? I think it's absolutely fair.
He's probably about fifteen sixteen now, athletic, accurate, smart, coachable
again in a division with Herbert Harbaugh. Mahomes reed he
made the playoffs as a rookie. This league is about
(35:30):
winning games. I know Jay Macki's not your guy, but
I see a franchise quarterback that doesn't throw yet a
very good deep ball.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
And may never Yeah, listen, I like Bo Nicks. I
know he's your boy.
Speaker 7 (35:44):
He came into the studio, it seemed like the most
friendly quarterback who's been one of the most friendly quarterbacks
has been in here. That being said, this season, the
numbers have been awful calling Pro Football Focus, I know,
is just one data point we don't like PFF. Who's
grading the guys thirty ninth according to Pro footall fall.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
Because then there's this other stat that you know.
Speaker 7 (36:01):
EPA expected points at it he's twenty third among quarterbacks,
below Kyler Murray, Spencer Rattler, Jackson Dart. He just has
not been great play to play now, he hasn't a
lead defense backing him up. That's who bailed him out
against the Jets. I'm not saying he's tressed. I just
think he's a middling quarterback. We've got to see. I'll
remind you Baker Mayfield with the Browns made the playoffs,
(36:24):
was the winning quarterback in a playoff game at Pittsburgh. Remember,
and then the next year he was injured. Track to
play was a disaster and they dumped him.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Well, So like here, Sam Darnold and Baker are great
examples of you look up seven eight years into their
career or whatever it is, six years, seven years into
their career, and you go, I didn't know there was
this good Let's talk Dak Prescott. So I always said
Dak Prescott was Kirk Cousins with better mobility and a
star in his helmet. But this year Dak is doing
(36:55):
something here in what year is it for Dak Prescott.
Now he's been in the NFL a decade, this is
the first year I can argue he has carried a
bad roster. He has no ceedee Lamb, he didn't have
a number one receiver, number one tight end. He's got
a good back, rebuilt offensive line of Tooci's defense. So
sometimes it takes a while for the truth to come out.
(37:18):
I always feel, usually by the middle of chapter two
of your book, I know who you are. You know Dak.
We're in chapter ten or eleven, and it's like, oh,
he's not Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins never took a defense
this bad with no number one receiver or tight end
and made it the best offense in the league. This
is a new Dak.
Speaker 7 (37:35):
So let me ask you, though, is it a new
deck or have the circumstances changed.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
Do they look at Dak and say, Dak, you're.
Speaker 7 (37:41):
The highest paid quarterback in the league. We can't afford
a defense. Sorry, man, you've got to carry us. Whereas
early in his career, Hey, you're on the rookie deal,
you hand off. We got Zeke, we got Dez Bryant,
we got a great defense. You don't need to do
too much. And they played it safe with him. Well,
I think the circumstances have kind of changed.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
I think unless you're a time five or six quarterback
in this league, you have great stretches and bad stretches.
I mean, Daniel Jones had a very very good stretch.
Will it continue? Bow Knicks last year had a ten
game stretch weeks eight through eighteen, one zero six passer rating,
seventy percent completion percentage, So he was batterly outstanding choppy
(38:21):
this season. That's the difference between Steph Curry and every
other guy that jacks threes nine out of ten nights.
I know what I get from Steph three. That is
literally the different everybody in the NBA. Almost everybody in
the NBA, every guard in the NBA can drop twenty
eight points on any given night. The difference is James
Harden in his prime gave it to you every night.
(38:42):
Jordan gave it to you every night. Lebron gave it
to you every night. Everybody in the Rudy Gay had
a lot of good knights. Rudy Gay's a good player.
He had a lot of good nights in the NBA.
The difference is the consistency. Takes a very good player
to an iconic player. So bow Nicks is in that
he's in that stretch where, Wow, he was good last
year for eight weeks. C J. Stroud unbelievable rookie year
(39:06):
steps back, doesn't get the offensive line protection as receivers
get hurt. Mahomes, Allen Lamar Burrow, those guys are the exception.
They're superstar players. Most quarterbacks in this league are bow Knicks.
Most franchise quarterbacks where you can go, you can go eight.
I mean Jalen Hurts has had great stretches. Now please
(39:30):
don't throw from the pocket. That's most quarterbacks in the NFL.
Or don't like Mahomes. You can't tell if he's leading
or trailing. That's a great quarterback. Baker Mayfield has developed
into a quarterback. He's as good trailing as leading. Early
in his career he was great with a lead in
the run game. I didn't want Baker trailing. He was
too reckless. Now Baker or Sam Darnold, I don't care
(39:51):
what the score is. So you mentioned franchise quarterback earlier.
This is tough because it's early.
Speaker 7 (39:56):
Like, do you think from what you've seen so far,
bo Nicks is going to get Fransist quarterback money because
that's when the equation changes dramatically.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Yes. Wow, But again that's three and a half years
from that.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
He could be improved.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, he could be an absolutely improved player. All I'm
saying is, with the exception of about four guys, one
of them not available, maybe maybe two. Lamar and Burrow
aren't currently available. With the exception like four or five
guys in this league, every franchise quarterback has bad stretches.
If the O line's hurt, you lose your top running game,
all of it, you know what I mean, Or you
(40:29):
get the wrong coach or coordinator. Almost a whole league
goes through bad cycles. It's just Dak His tangibles have
caught up to his intangibles and he's just a different
quarterback right now. So Sam and so's Baker lacing five
minutes
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 Foxsports 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 (00:27):
Welcome in to a loaded Friday, so so much to
talk about live. We're in Chicago. It's The Herd wherever
you may be and however you may be watching or listening.
Thank you so much for being part of our show.
Off a winning week of four and one winning week
(00:47):
blazing five returns in a one hour from now. It's
actually a really interesting slate of games, you know, j Mac.
Mike Tomlin, Steelers coach, was brutally honest, fourth right and
furious when the Cleveland Browns traded Joe Flacco to the Bengals.
(01:08):
And we're like, why is he so upset? Now we
know why, Mike Tomlin after last night is one and
seven straight up against Joe Flacco on short rest. So
Tomlin's great on Monday night football. These Thursday games, Jay
Mack and I talked about it yesterday. Tomlin less time
to prepare and motivate. He's not good. So we thought
(01:30):
we'd have Bengals Steelers probably boring NUS thirty three thirty one.
Flaco in two games with the Bengals five hundred and
fifty five yards, five touchdowns, no picks. But that game
was not only about Flaco. It was about Pittsburgh's defense.
It's the highest paid in the league. Once again, it's
atrocious Chase Brown, who knew he was Jim Brown. The
(01:52):
Bengals averaged six point two yards a rush and Cincinnati
has the thirtieth ranked offensive line in the league. I mean,
I thought it was going to be a boring, ugly
Steeler win. Not at all. It was a firework show.
Don't blame it on Aaron Rodgers. Aaron's been terrific, four
touchdown passes. He only got in trouble when he tried
(02:13):
to go deep that The story of the game is
that defense. Mike Tomlin's defense, four straight years, highest paid,
none have been in the top ten. It didn't matter
who the running back was. I mean, Chase Brown, Illinois kid, whatever,
I mean, he looked great. So six straight possession This
(02:33):
is hard to do in the NFL against anybody, and anybody,
forget the Steelers. The Bengals scored at one point on
six straight possessions. So Joe Flacco old barely can move.
Joe Flacco, he can spin it, he doesn't move much.
He only got sacked twice. So this is a really
bad loss for the Steelers because now the schedule gets brutal,
(02:55):
Green Bay, Coles, Chargers, Buffalo, Detroit a couple of times.
Lamar Jackson now getting healthy. So watching the Bengals dash
the Steelers for nearly five hundred yards with the thirtieth
offensive line and Joe Flacco, I mean, pitch and catch
with Jamar Chase sixteen catches, Cincinnati dominated time of possession.
(03:17):
So the AFC North here we go. I mean, you've
heard of death by a million cuts. That was like
death by one hundred slant patterns. They just did whatever
they want, gigantic holes, Jamar Chase, some T Higgins. It
didn't even matter. I mean, Cincinnati didn't have their best
pass rusher. I'll give them a bit of a pass.
Aaron had plenty of time to throw, but Pittsburgh's defense,
(03:40):
you can't spend that kind of money and that can't
be what I see. That was a really really bad loss.
Tomlin struggles on Thursday Night football, Chase Brown average nine
point eight yards a carry with that Bengal all line.
Flaco a guru wizard. Guys got what five six practices
(04:03):
in for the Bengals. Here was Jamar Chase. Jamar said,
they did what we thought they would do.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
They did exactly what he was expecting and hoping they do.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
You know, they was gonna put Joey on tea and
put Jalen on me, and we knew that he was
ready for it.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
We was gonna take advantage of those opportunities.
Speaker 5 (04:21):
Just from an analysis perspective, I just thought, you know,
the first half were allowed to run the ball too much.
I think they have about one hundred yards rushing into
half and so that just kind of set a negative
trajectory and will fight uphill the rest of the way.
I certainly appreciate the fight, but man, we got to
be cleaner, we got to be better.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yeah, you know, it's in this league. It's crazy. There
have been so many games this year where we absolutely
feel going into a game like Steelers they're gonna be
five and one. We were absolutely sure. The Chargers. We're
gonna beat Jackson Dart and the you know Bills will
take care of Atlanta and young Drake May. You'd just
(05:06):
never known this league. So the Dodgers are now leading
three to zero on the Brewers, one game away from
the World Series, and it's official. They have no flaw.
We thought it was the bullpen. We thought it was
Otawni struggling in the postseason. Yeah, Tyler Glasnow was excellent
last night, eight strikeouts, but he only went five and
(05:28):
two thirds innings, so the Dodgers had to rely on
their bullpen and it was great for the record. The
Brewers have nine hits through three games of a playoff series.
That's tied for the fewest in league history. And this
is a team that scored a lot of runs, again,
a lot of hits. The Brewers first time being held
a one run or fewer in three straight games on
(05:50):
the season, and Glassnow was excellent, but this was the series.
This was the year to beat the Dodgers, right, Otwi struggling,
Mookie Betts got off to a bad start, shaky bullpen,
glass Now and Snell you know, had health issues all
year long. They don't really have a natural closer. Last No.
Five and two thirds fantastic eight strikeouts. I mean, if
(06:16):
if the Dodgers can win playoff games with five hits,
it's over, Blue Jays, Mariners, Brewers, it will not matter.
And once again proving their depth. Much like a cheesecake
factory menu, turn the page, limitless combinations. Mookie Betts had
a great defensive play. Max Munsey had a great defensive play.
Mookie Betts opened the scoring. You know, Tommy edmund hobbled.
(06:39):
Tommy edmund ankle injury, not at one hundred percent, so
everybody just talks about it's a lot of money. No,
Mookie Bets is unbelievable, insane talent. Stole him from Boston.
Tommy Edmunds again was a Saint Louis Cardinal, hitting two
sixty five. Max Munsey, who can be hot and cold
and defense, had a great play last night. Months he
(07:02):
got released by the Oakland A's. So many combinations and
last time again it wasn't necessarily O Taani or Freddie Freeman,
it was the bullpen. It was Tommy Edmond And afterwards,
I mean, nobody in the world could have predicted Milwaukee
could not hit of all the predictions in this series.
One of them was, listen, Dodgers going to go to
(07:24):
the bullpen. Dodgers are going to need O Tawny to hit.
You're going to get the runs in this series. And
Milwaukee's got nine hits and the Dodgers are getting better,
Reds Phillies, Brewers more confidence. Here's Dave Roberts after.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
I think the thing about our guys is they're battle
tested and they know that I've never lost faith in him,
they never lost confidence in each other, and so, you know,
so to see what they're doing right now, I'm not surprised.
And we knew all along that we're going to need
these guys, and these guys are delivering, which is huge.
(08:01):
And you know, we're doing a great job of preventing
runs and the bullpen deserves a lot of credit.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
You know. It's really interesting, and you've seen this. This
kind of starts to feel the last couple of years
with the Dodgers, like that Alabama run where they were
just better, or the Kevin Durant Warriors like not all dynasties.
When the Patriots were winning Super Bowls, they were winning
them all by three points, even the losses to the
Giants last second games. They weren't overpowering people. The years
(08:29):
New England was overpowering people were the Randy Moss years.
They didn't win a Super Bowl. This has got a
little bit of a Warriors feel to it with KD,
like the Warriors won before Katie and after, but those
finals felt different than the KD finals or the dominant
Alabama run for about eight years where they would play
big time teams and they would just outside of maybe
Clemson and Trevor Lawrence or something, they just look better
(08:49):
than everybody. I mean, if the bullpen's not an issue,
they worked all year to try to solve this thing.
They do not have a natural closer. So it almost
feels Listen, money does matter, but the Mets and Yankees
have a lot of it. This feels almost unfair because
if Milwaukee can't get hits, forget driving in runs, home runs,
(09:12):
they can't get hits, they can't get singles and doubles,
the series is probably over. Jmack that game last night,
I gotta tell you, I had such low expectations of
that game. It had twenty three seventeen. All you had
to do is look at the analytics. You're like, the
Bengals have a bad old line, your two forty year
old quarterbacks. It's a short week, it's you know, Tomlin
(09:35):
has not been great, so the Steelers will probably win,
but they won't be that explosive. Aaron was terrific, Flacco
was amazing the run game, and we've got a really
interesting weekend. Can Philadelphia bounce out of their issues? Can
the Chargers getting healthier now beat the Colts' that's an
underrated good game this weekend. What did you make of
last night?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Yeah, one of the big takeaways.
Speaker 7 (09:56):
So one of our guys on staff, you know, we
got a lot of guys interested in gambling, said, hey,
j Mack, did you see that Joe Flacco's passing yards total.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Was like two hundred and fifty? And I was like, no.
Speaker 7 (10:06):
Way, how's he throw it for two fifty? He just
got to this team. And then I was like, oh boy,
he's going to be offensive fireworks and lo and behold
Flacco's unstoppable. Bengals just score it will. Did you say
they scored on six street possessions against the most expensive
defense in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Well, it's just I think one of the things that
was obvious last night, how easily they ran the ball.
There were huge, huge holes inside the box. So I mean,
Jamar Chase is always going to get his Last night
was crazy, and again Joe Flacco knows what he knows.
If you watched the Bengals last week with Joe Flacco,
remember that game, he just the final like drive. It
(10:43):
was like, I'm just gonna throw to Jamar Chase over
and over and over they did. Jamar Chase said, we
knew what they were going to do defensively, and they
did it.
Speaker 7 (10:51):
You know, it's embarrassing, Colin, if you're the Pittsburgh Steelers
fans and you were all excited about that four and
one start, and then you look at the upcoming schedule, brutal.
They're probably going to lose their three and all of
a sudden gonna be four and five. And then let's
see how Aaron Rodgers and Arthur Smith are doing on
the sideline and what's going on with Tomlin. I think
there's some trouble ahead for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in neon Eastern n AM Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hi, this is Jay.
Speaker 8 (11:21):
I'm the producer of the Paula and Tony Fusco Show.
Usually in these promos they asked you to listen to
the show. I'm here to ask you please don't listen
to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who
have the dumbest takes on sports, imagicable. Don't listen to
the show so it can get camp.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
What the hell are you doing our studio?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Get him, Paulee, Ignore that fool.
Speaker 8 (11:42):
Listen to the Pauline Tony Fusco Show on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
He's still moving, so we know.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Mike Tomlin's a defensive coach. They did take a ten
hing lead last night, which is nice, but it was
the fifty sixth straight game the Steelers have scored seven
or fewer points in the first quarter. That's the longest
streak by any coach in NFL history, So ten to
nothing was a nice start. Aaron Rodgers is not the issue.
(12:12):
Nobody sat around all summer saying Aaron's got to lead
the Steelers. Aaron in his prime in Green Bay. Yes,
Aaron at forty with Mike Tomlin that's not what we thought.
He tried to go deep in the second quarter and
he got burned. I don't think this is a deep
ball offense. I think it's a tight end offense in
DK Metcalf. His mobility has been excellent. He leads the
(12:33):
NFL in touchdown passes. He's more than mobile enough in
his prime, we wanted more. I think he's over delivering
right now. He's been unbelievable. They just got to keep
towing the tight ends. When Aaron throws the tight ends.
All four of his touchdowns last night were tight ends.
When he throws the tight ends this year, seventy three
percent completion percentage, one hundred and eighteen passer rating. So
(12:55):
I think Aaron's made the offense smarter, more reliable. They've
got like an end be a front line of tight
end and receiver size, and he's throwing underneath a lot.
When he went deep up the left sideline, I think
second quarter he got burned. I don't think that's what
the offense is. So he's spreading the ball around eight
different guys made a catch. Yeah, this is the one
(13:16):
up the left sideline in a double coverage. I just
don't think that's what this offense is. That's not what
it is. This is tight end led. So I think
Aaron's been great. He's one of the few things working.
The run defense was atrocious, the pass defense, the pass rush,
I don't know what I'm getting. But offensively, with Aaron,
the Steelers are on track to have their most yards
(13:38):
per play since the last Great Big Ben year. Remember
that Big Ben year, we had like thirty five touchdowns.
The following year he had the elbow injury and the surgery.
The last Great Big Ben year, this is they were
putting up these kind of numbers at quarterback. So that
was twenty eighteen. So I don't worry about Aaron at all.
Aaron has held up his to the bargain. I think
(14:01):
he's been really good. I think he's identified the size
advantage with their bigs Darnell Washington, Friarmouth Hayward, even DK
Metcalf not a tight end, but he is playing to
Pittsburgh's offensive strength, size and physicality. Here he was after
the loss.
Speaker 9 (14:17):
Listen, we want to win every game. There needs to
be an expectation of winning. But this is a short
week division opponent. Anything can happen, Obviously, Joe played really
well for them. For this is the NFL. You know,
we had a chance to really open up some space,
but Reform two still first in the division. I'm not
going to ride the roller coaster, and I know Mike isn't,
(14:38):
and hopefully you guys follow suit.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
It's interesting he goes to the Jets for a couple
of years and he can't rely upstairs on the dysfunction,
and then he goes to Pittsburgh now he can't rely
on the defense. Maybe Aaron's not the problem with New
York and Pittsburgh because I think he's played really, really well.
I know he's not being graded particularly high because he's
not thrown the ball down the field. You watched last
night's out. What this offense is? You gotta do what
(15:02):
you have. When Brady had Moss, it was a deep
ball offense. When it was Edlman and Gronk, it was
underneath stuff all the time. J Mack with the news.
Turn on the news.
Speaker 7 (15:14):
This is the herdline news, all right, Colin, Let's start
with Jayden Daniels and a Washington Commanders a tough loss
to the Bears on Monday night, but the young quarterback
talked to the media about how he and the team
can get back on the winning track.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
They need fast starts.
Speaker 10 (15:30):
Colling, we got the the chance to, you know, take
this into another level. Obviously the stats are the status,
but it just says just we could, you know, we
could score with the best of them, and we could,
we could put up points, but we just got to
be better, uh, with the details and execution. So you know,
(15:51):
we don't have slow starts or anything like that. So
that's something that we're just honing in and focus on
a more.
Speaker 7 (15:57):
Yet down ten nothing to the Chargers right out of
the game, should have lost that game, and then down
thirteen nothing to the Bears, and now I'm getting word
right now it's official. Scary Terry McLaurin will not play.
Dan Quinn has ruled him out this weekend against Dallas. Listen,
I don't want to make too much of this, but
Washington is in that dicey area right now.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Slow starts.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
You know, maybe there's a bit of a sophomore slump
for Jayden Daniels.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Well, here's the good news. McLaurin will play next week,
and Dallas is the kind of defense you want to
play when you don't have Terry McLaurin. I think this
is a I think it's a wild game. I mean,
last night the Bengals was wild game. I think you
have Dak and with this defense, I think this is
going to be one of the more entertaining games of
the way this used to be. When I was a
kid growing up in the seventhies, this was the best
(16:41):
rivalry in the NFL. I think it has a chance
to be very high end rivalry over the next several years.
Because of the quarterback play. I think this is a
go either way game. I don't have a strong conviction
on the winner, but I think it's going to be
incredibly Seattle Tampa entertaining.
Speaker 7 (16:55):
I mean, listen, this is not a hot take, but
right now, Dallas has the better quarterback, Dak Prescott performing
better than Jayden this season small sample size. Dallas has
a more dynamic number one receiver. I don't know who's
got the better running back. Washington's rookie keeps fucking Withee
lamb is back. Cee Lands back like I think Dallas.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I'm not.
Speaker 7 (17:13):
I got no money on this game, but I think
Dallas is probably the side here. Washington needs a win.
Colin they just haven't looked buttoned up. To borrow your
phrase to start the season.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
All right, let's go to the next one. And that
is a little drama.
Speaker 7 (17:24):
Maybe in Miami, Jalen Waddle, the great young receiver.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Out Let me not call him great. He's good.
Speaker 7 (17:31):
He wasn't posted on Instagram just like a catch up.
You know, a bunch of photos and wouldn't you know it,
but one of them was him in Buffalo Bills Stadium.
Now there is some speculation Buffalo needs a receiver. They're
targeting Wattle as the ship be sinking in Miami.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Here's a photo he posted.
Speaker 7 (17:46):
I mean, listen, Jalen wattles playing a lot of stadiums
this season.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Now there's a rumor of Jaylen Waddle to the Giants,
which makes no sense because it's not now. He's a
very expensive guy, calf hit over the next couple of years.
I think for Buffalo you can make the argument because
you have a superstar quarterback. You're in the super Bowl
window with a superstar quarterback. The Giants Jayal and Wattle
rumors are dumb. You've got Elik neighbors, he'll get healthy.
You got Scataboo. Make the offense, Dart Scataboo in the
(18:13):
defensive front, the Giants should not inherit that cap hit.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Yeah, I also think this Buffalo stuff like you already
have Shakir.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
I don't know that Wattles like the kind of guy
you need.
Speaker 7 (18:26):
You know, obviously everybody could use in Aj Brown, but
they need a big, strong receiver Buffalo for these tough
winner games in January. They're gonna be in Casey, or
they're gonna be in Buffalo, maybe they're in Denver. They
need a big, physical receiver. I don't think Keon Coleman's
the guy. You don't seem as down on Buffalo as
I am offensively right now?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Where are you on the bill out there? I think
they'll eventually be fine, good enough. I don't think they're
as creative as i'd like, But I think defensively, if
you cannot when you have a great quarterback, there's one
thing you can't be bad against the run. Like last night,
Aaron Rodgers gets dominated in time of possession because Cincinnati
is running and Flackkoll had the ball. It felt like
(19:04):
Cincinnati had the ball for long, long stretches. How do
you beat Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers keep Aaron on
the sidelines. He's the one thing working for Pittsburgh right now.
You can have a bad run deep, you can have
a bad pass defense. You can give up points on
the back end. Right, you don't want to have it.
But if you had to choose, I want mahomes Lamar Herbert.
I want those guys on the field. You can have
(19:25):
a bad pass defense and give up quick touchdowns. You
don't want to be giving up nine minute drives and
your offense is sitting on the sidelines not getting opportunities.
Speaker 7 (19:34):
But even with Buffalo, like third and six, like, you
can't just rely on Josh to win every single third down.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
But you know what third and.
Speaker 7 (19:42):
Six last night, Jamar Chase was getting open. I mean
literally every possession. I got some concerns about Buffalo. Final
story Colin is Major League Baseball, and some consternation in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
The Blue Jays were old eight to two.
Speaker 7 (19:56):
Fun moment here Max Scherzer, forty one years old, old
man crabbiness. They tried to take him out of the game.
He said, uh uh, not happening. He talked about it
after the game.
Speaker 11 (20:07):
All of a sudden, I see Schnein's coming out and
it kind of caught me off guard. And you know,
that's just where one of those moments where I know
I won the ball. I knew this situation of the game.
I wanted the ball, and I basically told him that
in a little bit different language.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
It was awesome, and I thought he was gonna kill me.
It was great.
Speaker 11 (20:24):
You know, he locked eyes with me, you know, both
colors as I as I walked out.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
I love this column. This is that was awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Yeah, and it was Listen, Sures has been around a
long time. We had last night. We had shureser Flaco
and Aaron Rodgers and it was one of those things
where he was pitching, well, they had a lead. I
think he needed one more out to get a w potentially.
So yeah, I thought, you know, these old athletes, we
want to give up on them, but it's amazing how
(20:54):
often they may not have thirty great starts, but in
big moments Flacco and Aaron and Surs can deliver. And
that was a high leverage moment and he got out
of it.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
They're hanging on for dear life.
Speaker 7 (21:05):
And then these old guys are too, you know, I
mean Blue Jays needed that they get the win.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Are you nervous but for your mariners at this point?
But what are we doing?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Very very Yeah, Sometimes you have momentum and sees it.
Sometimes you don't. They had it lost. That was all
last night, last couple of games. They can't get him out.
Seattle's pitching was great in the first two games up
in Canada. They can't get him out by the way
they travel, and they got the yeah, and they got
the last night felt like Toronto's night. They jumped on
an early sure's are pitching? Well, last night was Toronto's night.
(21:33):
You could feel it.
Speaker 7 (21:34):
I'm sure the Dodgers would rather play Seattle in the
World Series than have to travel to and from Toronto.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Man, that is a hike.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Yeah, tied it to Jmack with the news.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line news.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
So what is it one more in Seattle than two
then you go east northeast to Toronto. So gotta get
their bearings right. They're struggling to get the Blue Jays out.
So I saw this this morning. The staff gave me this.
The Bears are the only NFL team to score at
least twenty one points in each of their first five games. Interesting,
(22:14):
I went back and looked at the twenty twenty four
numbers offensively thirty, second, thirty first, twenty ninth, big plays,
total offense, and I went and looked at them this year,
and they're very good on big plays per game second,
but they're kind of middle of the pack total offense
passing yards. Here's what's not arguable. Ben Johnson was the
right higher. We'll see how the Caleb ben Johnson thing
(22:34):
works out. But they've gone from inept to capable. So
there's two positions in the NFL, quarterback, one head coach too.
You gotta be a at both, at least B plus
if you want to be a consistent playoff team. So
Chicago's now three and two, but last year they were
four and two. But it didn't look right. The play
(22:56):
design's better, the play callings better. Caleb's playing with instruction.
Here's a word we use once in a while. They
look intentional. It's not haphazard. It looks intentional. It's the difference.
You know, last year they're four and two, this year
they're three and two. It's the difference between a fake
Louis bag and a real Louis bag. You know, from
thirty feet you can't tell. Got to get up close,
(23:18):
put a microscope on it, touch it, you can tell.
The fake. Last year was fake. It was just Caleb
Williams making plays. Oh, he didn't throw a lot of interceptions. So,
and don't get paralyzed by records. I said when Kansas
City was five hundred, I said, this team is ready
to explode. Remember they beat Baltimore, blew them out. Everybody said, ah,
Ravens are injured. I'm like, no, no, that's not what
(23:40):
this is. That defense is locked in. Eagles were four
and oh. I said they got a coaching crisis. They've
had the two worst offensive halves of any team, including
the Titans, in the league. You can't get paralyzed by
a record. This three and two feels real. The offense
is smarter, It plays with instructure, the play designs better,
to play callings better. It's it looks explosive legitimately. So
(24:04):
there's only two positions in this league. If you have
a great coach and a great quarterback, you get to
the playoffs. It's really hard. Last year Bengals didn't Burrow
was great. We don't know about Zach Taylor. We just
don't know. But Caleb Williams was compared this week. They
were everybody. The Troy Aikman stuff got a lot of press.
Troy Aikman didn't have a love affair with him, and
(24:26):
people were defending Caleb Williams. He didn't need defending. He's
not there yet. Here was Caleb on the Akman comments.
Speaker 12 (24:35):
People are gonna say what they have to say. We win,
we lose. People have stuff to say. It was lucky,
It was not lucky. People have stuff to say, you know,
you know, have a bad game, have a good game.
People have stuff to say. So it's it's it doesn't matter.
We're only worried about what's going on here within this
(24:55):
building and with these guys. So that's all all I
can say about that.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Yeah, it's not luck, by the way, they're not. They're
not three and two because they're lucky. It is an
intentional offense. And within structure, Caleb's getting much better accuracy,
a little bit hit and miss, But listen, I always
I always say this, if if criticism from announcers is
getting under your skin, you're not it right, And I
(25:20):
think the apeman Caleb comms Yeah, they're silly. That's a
different generation.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
I want to throw this out. I want to throw
this this story out. I saw this one. So when
James Franklin got fired at Penn State, James, everybody's celebrated.
Get that bum out of here. He can't beat good teams.
He's no good, even though he finished fifth in the
country and won thirteen games the year before. Just get
(25:46):
him out of here. We'll go get Kurt Signetti at Indiana. Oh,
he just signed a new ninety two million dollar contract.
He's off the market. And when Marcus Freeman, the other
coach rumored to replace James, Well, Notre Dame's gonna beat
USC tomorrow and they're gonna beat him soundly. It's a
bad matchup for the Trojans. The weather's gonna be Midwest cruddy,
(26:08):
and I don't think they can stop their run game.
So Kurt Signetty and Marcus Freeman excellent candidates. After this weekend,
they're gonna be both off the board. Well what about
Clark Lee at Vandy? What about him? He's twenty one
and thirty four. His first three years at Vandy had
a losing record. Last year he was seven and six
James Franklin was at Vandy. He won by the second year.
(26:32):
Nothing against clark Lee. James Franklin won there by the
second year, at least clark Lee Vandy. Maybe you know
James Franklin had won some there. I think he was
like seven and six the second year. So is that
the answer, Matt rule, Matt rule, Matt Rule's the answer. Well, yeah,
(26:55):
Matt Rule. Have you seen him in close games against
ranked teams? Everybody wanted James Franklin out. He's bad against
ranked teams. He won a lot of game bad against
ranked teams. Matt Rule is two and twenty two against
ranked teams as coach Nebraska and his previous stops. I
guess so you know you wanted Kurt Signetti locked in,
(27:16):
Marcus Freeman locked in soon the guy at Vandy. Actually,
James Franklin was better at Vandy. Matt ruhle, he can't
beat ranked teams. It's like the New York Knicks. If
you're gonna fire Tibbs, who are hiring not everybody looks
at your job opening with the same affection you do.
It's like I've always I've always said this about young kids.
(27:37):
I love mine. I tolerate yours. I mean they're beautiful. Hey,
I love mine. Everybody else keep them at home, all right.
That's Penn State looks at their job opening and they're like,
we'll just go grab Freeman. Notre Dame is a better job.
We'll get Signetti. Bloomington's a great place. Eddy is creating
(28:00):
his own empire. Well, we'll get the guy at vandy Well.
James Franklin was actually better at vandy Well. Matt Ruhle
can't beat ranked teams either. I'm just saying, you got
Lane Kiffin. He's not going there either. Maybe you have
to go to the Division two. Maybe maybe Dan Lanning's
not leaving Oregon. I wouldn't leave Oregon for Penn State.
(28:21):
I think Penn State's a good job. But it's not
a top six or seven job. It's not Bama, it's
not Texas. I don't think it's Oregon. It's not Michigan,
it's not Notre Dame, it's not Ohio State. I don't
think it's USC. I think it's closer to I think
it is closer to Ole Miss than it is to Georgia.
(28:43):
And Ole Miss is a solid job, solid plus. But
you know, it's like the Knicks, we're gonna fire TIBs. Well,
who's on the market? You got something lined up? Doesn't
look like they did Signetty, that was the one they had, right,
Who wouldn't want to come here? Not everybody looks at
your own opening.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
Like you do.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a im pacific.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
I've never understood this, Like, well you said nine years.
Speaker 7 (29:10):
The Blue Jays battle back to ty the Alcs at
two games apiece. Now, though, square off with Cal Rawley
and the Mariners in a pivotal game five. Coverage begins
at five pm Eastern two pm Pacific today on FS
one little.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Earlier game in Seattle. Very very excited for that. My
some friends from high school were sending me picks last
night watching the Mariners game. They got to get it,
They got to get back on track. So I thought.
One of the sillier things I saw on the internet
this week was when Troy Aikman didn't fall in love
(29:47):
with Caleb's performance. People were like, well, Caleb's better at
his first twenty starts than Troy Aikman. Oh boy, it's
a totally different these are not contemporaries. It's a totally
different generation. Let's do let's let's talk about that. So
I have defended bon Nicks. Let's let's do a little
(30:07):
blind resume with bow Knicks, and let's use contemporaries, people peers,
or people in his generation. That's fair because I've said
bo Nicks does three things really well. He doesn't get
sacked a lot of it's because he's already athletic. He's
very good fifteen yards and under like, he's very accurate,
and he ball placements great, and he's coachable and tough.
(30:29):
With a lot of college stars. He does not throw
a great deep ball. But when I saw the Aikman
Caleb comps, it was such an eye roll. And if
you want to do comps that matter, let's do this.
Let's do blind resume. Let's get bow Knicks in the
current NFL his first twenty three stars. Okay, guys want
(30:50):
to do the blind resume. So basically the same resume
through twenty three starts of the guy in the right,
who's the guy in the right. First twenty three starts
the guy in the right who everybody fell in love with,
Dak Prescott and Dak had Zeke and the number one
offensive line in the league. Okay, so there you go.
(31:13):
Let's do it again. Well, well, I mean maybe Coliny,
I mean Dak's not that talented. Okay, Let's do a
blind resume where here bo Nix is much more accurate,
fewer turnovers, much higher passer rating through twenty three starts.
Let's see who this is. Josh Allen, I knew it,
Josh Allen. Okay, well, I mean Colin, I mean that
(31:34):
was years ago. Let's go with a more you know,
contemporary twenty three starts. Well, here he lines up almost
the exact same quarterback. Again, somebody we don't push back on.
He's absolutely big, strong, capable, accurate guy. Who's this blind resume? Oh? CJ.
Stroud Again, I'm not doing Caleb and Aikman. I mean,
(31:54):
why not do y a tittle and you know? And CJ.
Stroud I mean, just nonsense. Okay, let's do another one. Okay,
I'll go back a few years. It's the same league,
but it's probably more of a passing league now than
it was then. But it's kind of close, fairly similar.
Bo Nick. This quarterback boy, this guy struggled with accuracy.
(32:15):
Who is passer rating was terrible? Who is that stiff? Okay,
that these comps are reasonable because the NFL rules during
all those quarterbacks, including Luck and bow Nicks, the rules
are the same. They have limited what defenses can do.
(32:36):
So you know, and I'll say this about bo Nicks,
I have identified, you have identified if you watch Bronco
fans know this. He doesn't get sacked. He's very athletic.
In fact, I would argue run more first two years
or in the league as a quarterback. Run if you
can until the green, the light comes on, until the
game slows down. He's coachable. He's gotten better last septemb
(33:00):
to October November. He gets better as the season goes on.
Doesn't take sacks, super athletic, and he's very good fifteen
yards an in now. He does not throw a great
deep ball. Okay, sorry, he's not Mahomes. He's not. But
I you know, Tony Gonzalez used to say, you know,
(33:22):
Ego has no amigo. He doesn't have any of that.
The other thing is, can can bone Nicks be? Can
we look at bon Nicks and go he's a top
twelve thirteen quarterback because until this season until this very season.
That's how we looked at Baker Mayfield, and that's how
we looked at Dak Prescott his entire career, and he's
probably better than that. So all the fandom for Dak
(33:46):
and Baker, I mean Baker before this year, you could argue,
is he a top twelve quarterback? By the way, y'all
love Brock Purty, you know, Brock Purdy had a trouble
winning games without Christian mccaffreynis doesn't always have a healthy
roster either. So I think bo Nicks has incredibly high expectations.
Dad was a coach. I think he's fine. I think
(34:07):
he's a franchise quarterback. I don't think he's a gifted
as Jaden Daniels. Uh right now, I don't know if
he's Drake may but he's a franchise quarterback. Here's bo.
I'm definitely tough for myself.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
I think it's just you know, how I grew up,
how it was, uh, you know, raised, My dad was
my coach, so he was tough on me, and then
you know, it just kind of just kind of continued.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
It's it's tough, you know. I hate making mistakes.
Speaker 4 (34:33):
I hate you know, not doing the correct thing, and
you know it can be tough on myself, but at
the same time, you know, I give myself some grace too,
and just you know, move on and go to the
next play. And I'm sure I'm gonna make another mistake,
and you know I'll fix that when it when it happens.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Now, I will say this, Patrick Mahomes didn't have these stumbles.
Patrick got Andy Reid got a set for a year,
had an incredible mentor. Bo Nicks went to a team
with the worst dead cap situation in league history. Peyton
made the offensive line highly serviceable year one. Now it's good.
(35:10):
So again, I like bow a lot. Will he be
a top twelve thirteen quarterback? I think it's absolutely fair.
He's probably about fifteen sixteen now, athletic, accurate, smart, coachable
again in a division with Herbert Harbaugh. Mahomes reed he
made the playoffs as a rookie. This league is about
(35:30):
winning games. I know Jay Macki's not your guy, but
I see a franchise quarterback that doesn't throw yet a
very good deep ball.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
And may never Yeah, listen, I like Bo Nicks. I
know he's your boy.
Speaker 7 (35:44):
He came into the studio, it seemed like the most
friendly quarterback who's been one of the most friendly quarterbacks
has been in here. That being said, this season, the
numbers have been awful calling Pro Football Focus, I know,
is just one data point we don't like PFF. Who's
grading the guys thirty ninth according to Pro footall fall.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
Because then there's this other stat that you know.
Speaker 7 (36:01):
EPA expected points at it he's twenty third among quarterbacks,
below Kyler Murray, Spencer Rattler, Jackson Dart. He just has
not been great play to play now, he hasn't a
lead defense backing him up. That's who bailed him out
against the Jets. I'm not saying he's tressed. I just
think he's a middling quarterback. We've got to see. I'll
remind you Baker Mayfield with the Browns made the playoffs,
(36:24):
was the winning quarterback in a playoff game at Pittsburgh. Remember,
and then the next year he was injured. Track to
play was a disaster and they dumped him.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
Well, So like here, Sam Darnold and Baker are great
examples of you look up seven eight years into their
career or whatever it is, six years, seven years into
their career, and you go, I didn't know there was
this good Let's talk Dak Prescott. So I always said
Dak Prescott was Kirk Cousins with better mobility and a
star in his helmet. But this year Dak is doing
(36:55):
something here in what year is it for Dak Prescott.
Now he's been in the NFL a decade, this is
the first year I can argue he has carried a
bad roster. He has no ceedee Lamb, he didn't have
a number one receiver, number one tight end. He's got
a good back, rebuilt offensive line of Tooci's defense. So
sometimes it takes a while for the truth to come out.
(37:18):
I always feel, usually by the middle of chapter two
of your book, I know who you are. You know Dak.
We're in chapter ten or eleven, and it's like, oh,
he's not Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins never took a defense
this bad with no number one receiver or tight end
and made it the best offense in the league. This
is a new Dak.
Speaker 7 (37:35):
So let me ask you, though, is it a new
deck or have the circumstances changed.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
Do they look at Dak and say, Dak, you're.
Speaker 7 (37:41):
The highest paid quarterback in the league. We can't afford
a defense. Sorry, man, you've got to carry us. Whereas
early in his career, Hey, you're on the rookie deal,
you hand off. We got Zeke, we got Dez Bryant,
we got a great defense. You don't need to do
too much. And they played it safe with him. Well,
I think the circumstances have kind of changed.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
I think unless you're a time five or six quarterback
in this league, you have great stretches and bad stretches.
I mean, Daniel Jones had a very very good stretch.
Will it continue? Bow Knicks last year had a ten
game stretch weeks eight through eighteen, one zero six passer rating,
seventy percent completion percentage, So he was batterly outstanding choppy
(38:21):
this season. That's the difference between Steph Curry and every
other guy that jacks threes nine out of ten nights.
I know what I get from Steph three. That is
literally the different everybody in the NBA. Almost everybody in
the NBA, every guard in the NBA can drop twenty
eight points on any given night. The difference is James
Harden in his prime gave it to you every night.
(38:42):
Jordan gave it to you every night. Lebron gave it
to you every night. Everybody in the Rudy Gay had
a lot of good knights. Rudy Gay's a good player.
He had a lot of good nights in the NBA.
The difference is the consistency. Takes a very good player
to an iconic player. So bow Nicks is in that
he's in that stretch where, Wow, he was good last
year for eight weeks. C J. Stroud unbelievable rookie year
(39:06):
steps back, doesn't get the offensive line protection as receivers
get hurt. Mahomes, Allen Lamar Burrow, those guys are the exception.
They're superstar players. Most quarterbacks in this league are bow Knicks.
Most franchise quarterbacks where you can go, you can go eight.
I mean Jalen Hurts has had great stretches. Now please
(39:30):
don't throw from the pocket. That's most quarterbacks in the NFL.
Or don't like Mahomes. You can't tell if he's leading
or trailing. That's a great quarterback. Baker Mayfield has developed
into a quarterback. He's as good trailing as leading. Early
in his career he was great with a lead in
the run game. I didn't want Baker trailing. He was
too reckless. Now Baker or Sam Darnold, I don't care
(39:51):
what the score is. So you mentioned franchise quarterback earlier.
This is tough because it's early.
Speaker 7 (39:56):
Like, do you think from what you've seen so far,
bo Nicks is going to get Fransist quarterback money because
that's when the equation changes dramatically.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
Yes. Wow, But again that's three and a half years
from that.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
He could be improved.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, he could be an absolutely improved player. All I'm
saying is, with the exception of about four guys, one
of them not available, maybe maybe two. Lamar and Burrow
aren't currently available. With the exception like four or five
guys in this league, every franchise quarterback has bad stretches.
If the O line's hurt, you lose your top running game,
all of it, you know what I mean, Or you
(40:29):
get the wrong coach or coordinator. Almost a whole league
goes through bad cycles. It's just Dak His tangibles have
caught up to his intangibles and he's just a different
quarterback right now. So Sam and so's Baker lacing five
minutes
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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