September 14, 2026 • 41 mins
Colin Cowherd reacts to a wild week 1 of the NFL season! He starts by discussing the Bears recording breaking offense scoring 59 points against the Panthers and how head coach Ben Johnson is getting the most out of QB Caleb Williams. He talks about Jaxson Dart lighting up the Cowboys defense in the Giants win over the Cowboys. He believes new head coach John Harbaugh is establishing a structure for Dart to flourish while maintaining his playmaking ability.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and
noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for the Herd at foxsportsradio.com or stream
us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching
Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening to the
Herd Podcast. Here we go. It is NFL week one,
(00:27):
nearly in the books. I'm live. I'm in LA. It's
the herd wherever you may be. And however, you may
be watching or listening. Thanks for making us part of
your day on a Monday. Well, the Chicago bears five
seconds before Ben Johnson took over, took over this franchise.
(00:47):
The day before he took over the franchise, the bears
had the worst offense in the league. 20 games later,
59 points. Utter brilliance. And what's remarkable, Colston Loveland didn't
have a catch. They didn't need him. Luther Burden, Roma
Dunzey didn't have a touchdown. They didn't need it. They
(01:08):
didn't need a defensive touchdown. Every few years, there is
a brilliant quarterback or a brilliant offensive head coach that
enters the league. And this time, they landed together. It
is unbelievable. Year one, Ben Johnson came in and said,
we got to clean up the sacks. There were a
lot of messes to clean up. Year one was, we
(01:30):
can't get you hit like this. They cleaned him up.
Year two was, you're really good, but you missed too
many laps. Let's get the efficiency and completion percentage up.
Mission accomplished. Remember after last year's 0-2 start, Ben Johnson
came out and he said, we do not have the
practice habits of a championship level football team. talent's not
(01:51):
the issue so there were a lot of things to
clean up practice was bad the schemes were bad they
had to get you know they had to go to
the draft board and get more high-end players yesterday they
didn't need them and like a McVay and like a
Shanahan these young offensive coaches almost all of them actually
(02:12):
love to build offensive lines and run game Right? Here's
what's remarkable. Yesterday was the third time the Bears have
rushed for 280 yards or more. Do you know how
hard that is in the NFL to rush for 280
yards third time? Yesterday scored 59 points. They had more
(02:34):
rushing attempts than passing attempts. They had more rushing yards
than passing yards. It was eight offensive touchdowns, eight plays
of 20 yards. The Bears haven't run the ball like
this since the late, great Walter Payton was a Bear
and Walter Mondale was in office. And they're young. They're
(02:56):
like the Seahawks. They're ascending. They're young on the offensive line.
They're young at tight end. They're young at quarterback. They're
young at wide receiver. They're young in the secondary. They're
an ascending team. So Ben Johnson had to break a
lot of bad habits in the organization. And then year two,
(03:16):
what you're seeing is, okay, we're going to have a
standard of excellence even at practice. That was a big
thing with Ben Johnson last year. We have talent. We
don't even practice good enough. So it's just a gift
to to the league that you get the brilliant head
coach and the brilliant young quarterback. And we're going to
(03:37):
put them together in a blue blood franchise. It is
a total gift of the league. And it's not just
being a good head coach. It's being the right coach.
Phil Jackson was the right coach for Michael Jordan. Okay.
Doug Collins won a lot of games with Michael Jordan
and Michael Jordan liked him, but Phil Jackson didn't. Phil
(03:57):
Jackson created a new Michael where he would trust teammates.
He would elevate others. So Michael Jordan won the scoring
title seven times with Phil Jackson. Phil did not take
away the scoring. What he created was trust with teammates,
elevating others in big moments, knowing you don't have to
(04:20):
carry all of it. And that's what I see. Phil
Jackson created the triangle. He created structure without getting in
the way of Michael Jordan's greatness. He didn't get in
the way of it. Andy Reid with Mahomes. I'm going
to create structure. Last couple years, Greg Cosell comes on
the show and he goes, you know, Mahomes is not
playing within structure. His efficiency numbers go down. Joe Brady
(04:45):
yesterday with Allen. Structure. Structure gets a bad. Artists may
not like structure. They need it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Right?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Like, that's what I watched yesterday. The practice habits are better.
And I told you I went to a Bears practice,
and I said, Caleb is thinner and he's faster. Well,
there have been 13 plays since the start of last
year in which a quarterback ran 20 miles an hour.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
13.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
He's got over half of them. So, for Ben and
Caleb in blue blood Chicago with the Bears to be joined...
I mean, it's just, they're young. It's getting better. They
run the ball. They're dynamic. It is everything. And here's
(05:30):
Ben Johnson. And I'm not saying Carolina's great, but 59
and Colston Loveland didn't have a catch? Usually if it's 59,
it's like, okay, three block punts, two pick sixes. No,
we just ran the ball. We didn't even throw to
our number one target. Our top three targets, none of
them had a touchdown. No DJ Moore. We traded him
to Buffalo. Wow. Here's Ben Johnson after.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
That'll always be the goal is we want to be
the highest scoring. We want to have the most wins.
We want to win Super Bowls. We want to like,
that's what, that's what we do. We didn't get into
this profession trying to be, trying to be mediocre average
and that's every NFL team. So that is what it is.
You know, we make decisions over the course of a week.
(06:14):
What's best for our football team to win the game.
That's the most important thing. And that's, that goes into
everything that we do.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Week one against the Panthers, they had the most points
in the league in a very high-scoring week one. They
had the most points, the most yards, the most rush yards,
the most offensive TDs, the most 20-plus-yard plays. Led the
league in all of those categories. And I said this Friday,
road game against a team that can move the ball.
Bryce Young was not bad. Dave Canales, good offensive coach.
(06:41):
They got good weapons. Carolina's got players. Chicago needed those points. Okay. Well, well, well,
my prediction this year was the New York Giants would
be the most improved team in the NFL. And in
any business, getting good does not take that long. Now,
(07:03):
getting elite, getting great, that's a different story. I don't
think the Giants this year are going to be top
of the league, but they're going to be good to
very good. And they have talent. Brian Burns, Malik Neighbors,
Jackson Dart, Andrew Thomas, Abdul Carter, Arvel Reese, Scataboo. I
don't worry about talent. But what you saw last night,
(07:25):
and this has always been true, you can coach talented
people to have good habits. You can't take people with
just good habits to have way more talent. So what
you saw is talent, talent. with better habits and more
decisive Jackson dark can really play. Now it helped that
the Cowboys blew three different assignments. Some of those throws
(07:46):
were pretty easy, but he's athletic. He's confident, clearly good looking.
The teammates, you know, they gravitate around him. He is
a leader of men. He walks into a room and
he's a good looking kid and he's got a swagger
and you know, Page six in New York. But I
will say this. Last night, what I saw was decisive.
(08:07):
John Harbaugh's coaching was decisive. We are going to control
the line of scrimmage. It wasn't a lot of home runs.
It was a lot of singles and doubles. It was
a decisive game plan. So there was a play in
the first quarter when he was running for a first down.
And last year, he would have taken a shoulder. Instead,
he goes out of bounds. And that play ends up
(08:28):
you know, maturity like that play last year would have
been blue tent stuff. And instead his teammates rally around him.
So John Harbaugh could have chosen a lot of jobs.
A lot of people wanted him. He understood this team's history.
He understood the fit. He understood Jackson dart. He understood
there's talent on this roster. I've been arguing this all
(08:52):
off season. It's not a talent issue. It's a structure issue.
It is an organizational issue. They need another really, really
good draft. Then next year at this time with four
more good draft picks, another free agent because they're still
not paying Jackson Dart anything. But, I mean, Harbaugh taking
(09:13):
over a Blue Blood is like Scorsese directing a mob movie.
It just feels right. That offense, it's unbelievable. They take
that ball in the fourth quarter and the second half,
their last three drives, eight minutes touchdown, eight minutes touchdown,
five minutes bleed the clock out. I mean, that is
(09:34):
the best, most impressive offensive performance for me in that
second half since Eli Manning. It's not just about touchdowns.
It's dominating people up front. Eight-minute touchdown, eight-minute touchdown, five-minute
game over. That was impressive. Here's Jackson Dart on playing
(09:56):
under John Harbaugh.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
I just think that we have so much respect. for
coach Harbs and this team will, we'll do whatever he says. Cause,
cause we have all the faith in him that he's
going to put us in the best situation to win. So,
you know, he's the identity of a team starts at
the top and it starts with, with how he's conducted
himself with how he's, you know, created a tough team.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Jim did this at Michigan. Jim did it with the Chargers.
He did it in San Francisco. John did it with
the Ravens. And now John has done it with the
New York Giants. It doesn't take long to get good
if you have talent. I mean, like the Miami Dolphins,
they can't win games. And they know it. They're paying
(10:41):
more money for guys not playing than guys playing. I'm
not making that up. I've said this before. Jets have talent.
Cleveland's got talent. The Giants have talent and the coach
and the quarterback. It's hard to judge Jackson dark because
the Cowboys kept blowing assignments. So some of those throws
were pitch and catch. I'm not knocking him, but like
Dallas made it a little easier than it needed to be.
(11:05):
But this is what I said in the off season.
This was my, I said, listen, they won four games.
They had big leads. They didn't have the right structure.
Dart was a rookie. They had a great draft class.
This is a real team. This is a playoff team.
What you watched last night was taking a great Dallas
offense and playing keep away. It felt like Dallas never
(11:26):
had the ball. that's a playoff-looking team. Now, injuries, you know,
now the schedule's tougher. The Rams are in a lousy mood.
I think they'll be... I think they match up very
well with the L.A. Rams. So, J-Mac, I know it's hard,
but you should be in.
Speaker 6 (11:44):
A good mood.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Your Jets.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
Jets did get the win. I will say this for
the Giants. I bashed them all preseason. Jackson Dart, number
one in EPA per play, number one.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
In success rate. He was really good. That's a good
win for the Giants.
Speaker 6 (11:57):
They look.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Like they're going to be competitive against the Rams this weekend.
It's so fun. That will not be a walkover, even
though the spread is seven and a half, I believe.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah, it's too much. So underdogs did pretty well in
week one, starting with the Niners. And by the way, the, the,
the Patriots were an underdog and we're driving for the win. So,
I mean, I, to me in this league, if you
have a really good coach check, a clearly capable quarterback
check one really elite weapon check a great left tackle
giants check and you have a consistent rush somewhere on
(12:27):
the d-line between abdul carter and brian burns those are
those are that's big boy athleticism on the edge i
don't love that.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
You're probably right about the giants it's only week one
remember last year week one what seahawks lost and patriots
lost that's right wound up in the super bowl let's
not overreact did you notice.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
This though I know the audience, I'm not sure if
everybody noticed. So there was three offenses where you went, wow.
Josh Allen's offense, Lamar's offense, and Caleb's offense. You went, wow,
why is that? Because offensive linemen don't play in the preseason,
the good ones. So offensive line play was awful. Teams
(13:05):
that rely on great offensive line play, Philadelphia's offense, Rams offense,
because they have an immobile quarterback. Lions offense.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Lions were bad.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Why? Offensive line play in the league is sketchy in September.
So the three offenses that blew us away have the
three most athletic quarterbacks. Caleb, Lamar, and Josh.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
And Trevor Lawrence also was pretty incredible. Athletic, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
So it's like the reality is athleticism at quarterback is important.
But in early weeks in the NFL season... It's like huge.
It's really, really a big deal.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (13:53):
Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7
to 10 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are
excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You can now watch The Odd Couple live on YouTube
every day.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
All you got to do, search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube. Again, YouTube.
Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out on YouTube
and subscribe.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
All right, Josh Allen, you watched it in the Bulls
beat the Texans. They always say opposites attract, but it's
not ideal. You'd like to have commonality with people that
become like your life partners, right? Like I know opposites attract.
You have something in common, right? And yesterday, I like
(14:44):
Sean McDermott, but it wasn't ideal. A defensive coach can work.
in modern football with an offensive guy, Brady Belichick, right?
But the first possession of the game, you got Buffalo
going for it in a fourth down, and it's like, yeah,
that's what Sean McDermott would not have done on the
first possession against the best defense in the NFL on
(15:06):
the road in a huge game. And again, I can
like a defensive coach, but look at all the teams
in week one that crushed it. San Francisco, Jag, Chicago, Buffalo,
Vikings scored 39 points with a backup quarterback, all have
offensive coaches. That doesn't mean you can't win a Super Bowl.
Last year, a defensive coach did. It's not what I'm saying.
(15:27):
But offensive coaches and quarterbacks speak the same language. And
there's a freedom and there's a creativity with an offensive coach.
Did you notice this yesterday? Buffalo led the NFL in
13 personnel, eight and a half times higher than last season.
New stuff, new looks, creative, way more 13 personnel. Oh,
(15:48):
that's what McVay and the offensive coaches do. So I
just felt like we watched the McDermott thing. It hit
a ceiling. Let's give... let's give Josh Allen an offensive coach.
And I think because defensive coaches, and I love to
meet go Ryans and Mike McDonald, Jesse mentor look good,
but it is their nature to get a lead and
(16:08):
then play conservative. And the reality with guys like Josh
Allen is yes, they can be reckless. I mean, if, if,
if Kamari Lassiter holds onto that ball, we have a
different outcome, but the ideal meeting is read my homes and,
It's McVay-Stafford. That's like Caleb and Ben. That is ideal.
(16:29):
You can win a lot of different ways. Josh Allen
and Mahomes are going to win with anybody. And yes,
Josh Allen can be reckless, but just using 13 personnel.
By the way, one of the things offensive coaches do,
Sean Payton did this in Denver. Ben Johnson did it
in Chicago. They clean up the pass protection against the
(16:49):
Texans with a great pass rush. How many times did
Josh Allen get sacked? Twice. They cleaned it up last
year with McDermott. Sacked eight times. And I've said this.
I don't know what it is, but Mike Tomlin's a
great broadcaster and a good coach. He could never in
the last seven, eight years get the O-line right. Sean
Payton took over a disaster in Denver, cleaned it up
(17:11):
within six months. Ben Johnson cleaned it up within a year.
So it just it was time. There is a sensibility.
There is a feel, you know, it's almost like some
actors can be good directors. They have a different feel
than just a straight director. I don't know what it is,
but watching them yesterday, I thought that there was more freedom.
(17:33):
There was it was more aggressive. There was more 13 personnel.
It had a different feel. And here's Josh Allen on
Joe Brady's coaching debut. Not an easy one, but a
huge one.
Speaker 9 (17:44):
Feels good.
Speaker 10 (17:45):
Feels good to start the season off right. Obviously, Coach
Joe getting his first win as an NFL head coach
takes a lot of time, a lot of effort to
get into a position to be able to do that.
Really happy for him. Called a heck of a game.
Looking down at these stats, man, our guys made some
great plays. Coach talks about it all offseason. We want
to be in that position. We want our defense to
(18:07):
want to be in that position. We want to thrive
in those positions.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
They had a 25% explosive play rate. On the road
against the Texans, best defense. And Demico Ryan's maybe the
best defensive coach in the league. A 25% explosion play rate.
Highest of the weekend. Again, McDermott was fine. Josh Allen
(18:31):
deserves better than fine. Give me great quarterbacks. I mean,
Dan Fouts. You know, he got Don Correale, and Montana
got Walsh. That is ideal. You can win the other way,
and you can win a lot. But that was a
new look, a fresh look, and a great look. Here's
Jay Mack with the news. No, no, no, no.
Speaker 6 (18:54):
Turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
All right, let's start with the best football game.
Speaker 7 (19:00):
Apologies to the NFL of the weekend. And that was
Texas-Ohio State, Colin. What an unbelievable game Saturday night. The
Buckeyes leaped to a 20-3 halftime lead.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Sark's getting crushed. You know, Texas not.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Built for the moment.
Speaker 7 (19:13):
Ohio State's going to win the title. And Arch Manning
took over in the second half.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It was unbelievable. Three long drives, 21-0.
Speaker 7 (19:22):
Texans, Texas Longhorns score an unbelievable streak and win 24-23.
Here's Sark on Arch in the comeback.
Speaker 11 (19:32):
I thought he navigated that well, knowing it in the
back of his head.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
I remind him, hey, we're in four down territory this
drive until I tell you we're not.
Speaker 10 (19:39):
Does it ever cross your mind, like, to want to
punt just so it doesn't get any worse?
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Did you think about that?
Speaker 12 (19:46):
No, that's how losers think.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
Winners win, baby.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
You got to go for it. Sark, you know, a
year ago.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
They didn't hire me to keep it close.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
They hired me to win.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Well, I'll say this. In the first half, Ohio State's
coaching and play was excellent, but they got a little
bit of a break. They got a quirky interception and
Wingo dropped the touchdown.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Fumble on the first play.
Speaker 12 (20:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So, yeah. And I mean, Ohio State deserves credit for that.
But the drop touchdown in the end zone, the weird interception.
So Ohio State really played well. But the score at half.
wasn't really indicative of what it could have been. Like,
there were several breaks. And Ohio State outplayed them in
the first half, but there were several breaks that went
Ohio State's way. In the second half, Texas bullied them.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
Well, also, I think Ryan Day needs some criticism for
basically coaching, hey, we got a huge lead, let's just
sit on it.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Yeah, they were conservative. That was bad.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
And I wonder if that Texas heat got to Ohio State, Colin.
Speaker 7 (20:45):
The defense just melted. They gave up these long, sustained drives.
You know, Arch, I know first half it wasn't his fault, but...
He wasn't the best player on the field because Jeremiah
Smith was incredible. He only had two catches second half.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
I thought arts.
Speaker 7 (20:57):
Looked like a number one pick the poise down the stretch.
Now he wasn't home, but look at those numbers in
the second half.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
He was unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah. And I, and I think first of all, I
don't think any less of Ohio state when they lost it.
Otts Ottson stadium a couple of years ago. I remember
saying after that, I'm like, they're going to play them
again later and win. Like, it's just hard to go
on the road. and play four great quarters against a well-coached,
highly competitive team. Now, again, Texas got some weird breaks
(21:26):
in the first half. Drop passes, two turnovers. Ohio State's fine.
Texas is number one for now. Here's what I know.
Look at who Miami's played and look at the scores.
Look at Notre Dame scores. I'll take this. I'm not
going to punish a team for losing a game like this.
That game came down to a half of a yard.
Speaker 7 (21:47):
I mean, Notre Dame will look at something like this
and be like, hey, remember that when it's time to
pick the playoff. We got job last year. But the
other thing I want to ask on Oregon suffered a
bad loss. I don't think we're going to talk about that.
That was a brutal loss. I don't know how good
the Big Ten is when. Oregon struggles in the opener
against Boise.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Oregon's not good. Indiana's carrying a huge load right now
for the Big Ten. And Ohio, again, Ohio State's going
to be fine. Ohio State was willing to schedule this game.
I'm not criticizing. Now, the SEC had a good weekend
and deserves all the love. But Michigan beat Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Michigan's offense is unwatchable. I'm sorry.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
I know we got a lot of Michigan fans here
on the staff. Their offense is terrible. Bryce Underwood is
not a good quarterback. I don't know how good Michigan is.
You think there's a third best team in the Big Ten?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
I don't know about that.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
I would say Indiana, Ohio State are the best two teams.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
And USC and UCLA.
Speaker 11 (22:39):
By the way.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
I think there's a drop-off after Indiana, Ohio State. I
think the drop-off. I didn't think. I thought Oregon was
in that class. They hired a new DC. Oregon's got
a new OC and a DC and the DC is
not working.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
It's not at all. All right, let's, let's move on
to the NFL. Let's go to the Detroit lions.
Speaker 7 (22:56):
I thought one of the biggest letdowns of Sunday, the
offensive line was not good. They needed overtime against the
saints and they survived this missed two point conversion to
win 31 30.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Colin, they led 21, nothing in the third quarter.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Well, my takeaway is Detroit will be the better team,
but I had picked new Orleans to win their division.
I think they found their quarterback. I think Tyler shuck
accounted for himself in the second half. Kenny Albert was
so funny. He was like, he was terrible in the
first half. He was like, thank you for saying that.
A lot of times play by play guys don't want
(23:29):
to be too brutal. It was like, thank you. It
was on tenable in the first half. And remember, he
didn't have some of his offensive pieces. Chris Olave is
always hurt.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Well he's really good.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
So good uh travis atn's a nice piece i think
the saints found their quarterback yeah i just like when
franchises find their guy and i think new york uh
i i think new orleans rosters their defensive front gave
the lions a little bit of.
Speaker 7 (23:55):
Trouble we'll get to that in a second i want
to ask you about the.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Two-point conversion would you have just kicked to tie it
was like 90 seconds.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
So that's interesting my theory is this when you go
in as a touchdown dog you're on the road And
you can steal it. You go for it. If you're
a home favorite, maybe you say, let's go to overtime.
We're a favorite because we got better players. But if
you're on the road, you can get out of that stadium.
It's a 17-week season. The other thing is I thought
(24:22):
because of the drive, I thought the Lions were a
little gassed, a little tired. Don't take your foot off. Again,
you've got to be aggressive in these spots.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
So here's Kellen Moore explaining why he went for two.
Speaker 12 (24:35):
There's 134 left. That's a really talented offense. You have
a chance to go win the football game. We just
got to execute and give ourself a better look. And
I got to look at the plan and make sure
we're just finding a way to move the football better.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
No problem.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Small, small thing.
Speaker 7 (24:49):
So the lions are tinkering with golf under center more
to disguise the play action. He was under center for
47 snaps tied for the most in his career.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
It wasn't working.
Speaker 7 (24:58):
So they had to go back to the shotgun, and
then he was able to chuck and duck. Colin, the
other thing is Gibbs had 29 carries.
Speaker 6 (25:04):
He was awesome.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
But I'm just telling you, he ain't going to hold up.
His body is not going to hold up.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
He runs hard.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
He takes some hits.
Speaker 7 (25:11):
29 carries and five catches. 34 touches. I mean, you
extrapolate that over like eight games, and he's like.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Think about this. The two quarterbacks in this league, the
two or three quarterbacks in this league that are not
really mobile anymore, Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff, and Stafford, look
at all three of their offenses. Offensive lines don't get
cooking until October. The Steelers were ugly. I mean, that
second half, I'm like, Detroit, get it going. They couldn't
(25:40):
get the push. Detroit's guy, I mean, Detroit's guys up
front did not. Now, Gibbs pops plays because he's remarkable.
But I think Detroit will look better. But that under
center stats fascinating because and Goff, you know, when you've
been playing, it's one thing to make Caleb go under
center more. He is so dynamic. He gets back so quickly.
(26:02):
And then if he gets back and it's not going
his way, he can go off script. Goff is on
script and not terribly fast from center to seven-step drop.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
It wasn't working.
Speaker 7 (26:12):
Final story, the New York Jets making the first hour
of the show because they crushed the Tennessee Titans. A
beatdown of epic proportions, 23-10. Listen, man, the Jets' rookies
look good. Geno Smith did not screw it up.
Speaker 6 (26:24):
Sadik.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Brees Hall over 100 yards.
Speaker 7 (26:27):
The Tennessee Titans had 55 yards at halftime, finished with
a buck 95.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Can Cam Ward play?
Speaker 7 (26:33):
You know, we're going to give him a little more
time under day bowl, but it was not pretty. And
some people tried to warn me. Did you see Cam
Ward in the preseason?
Speaker 1 (26:41):
It was atrocious.
Speaker 7 (26:42):
They didn't complete a pass over 10 yards. Like I
was like, eh, let's just, and they, they look bad.
Now the jets looked good enough that I do think
this week against the Packers is interesting. That Packers offensive line,
Brian Flores saw they couldn't block. He blitzed on 82%
of snaps. The jets pass rush is good. I think
the Jets, listen, I'm nervous to go 2-0 because we're
(27:02):
not going to win anything.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, no, but the difference is when you watch the
Jets in Arizona this weekend, you're like, oh, I see.
I see player. I mean, I'll argue this all day.
Arizona and the Jets offensively have dudes.
Speaker 11 (27:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
I mean, the Jets have both their tackles. Now they
have an elite tight end. They got a good wide receiver.
The Jets and the Cardinals have McBride, Harrison.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Michael Wilson's good.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Love will eventually. Arizona and the Jets have talent. They're
not very good, but they have talent. You're watching... You're
watching some of these teams.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
I mean, the Browns. I don't know if we're going
to talk about the Browns today.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Hopefully not.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
That's a bad team. But congrats to the Jets. Shout out.
Speaker 7 (27:41):
I know I was blasting them online. We don't want
to win too many games. The Jets fans are angry.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
We'll take the win, I guess.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
J-Mac with the news.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Well, that's the news.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
And thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
The Herdline News.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
I think this is the Packers' first six-game losing streak
in 35 years. And the problem with Matt LaFleur is
everybody knows why. It's not a bunch of finger pointing.
It's not everybody's got a different reason. We all know why.
Smart teams take leads. Physical, tough teams seal the game.
(28:20):
They can't seal. They lose. If you go back in
this losing streak, the first three quarters, they're plus 10 points.
In the fourth quarter, they're minus 75. They can't seal wins.
And by the way, the two guys that sort of
initiate their toughness, Josh Jacobs and Micah Parsons, are not available.
And Jacobs may not be for the year, and Micah
(28:41):
won't be until October. So they're And the Packers front
office this year, they went heavy drafting SEC guys. The
Packers front office knows we do not close well. We
are not a physical team. And Lincoln Riley found this
out at USC. When you join the Big Ten in
a northern conference, a northern division, to seal wins, you
(29:05):
got to pound the ball. Do what the New York
Giants did. You got to have a five and a half,
six minute drive and end any doubt. So Green Bay...
Kyler Murray doesn't play. And Carson Wentz reels off 22
points in the fourth quarter. So everybody rolls their eyes
when I use the term manalytics, which are embracing analytics
(29:29):
plus alpha. And Green Bay is a soft team. I'm sorry,
but they are. Football is played by tough men. It
is a gladiator sport and even though the nfl has
changed their rules to help the offense nobody questions that
at all and it's still more of a cage fight
(29:51):
than a beauty pageant. This is the NFL. And I've
said this, Lincoln, Riley, and Matt LaFleur, I don't doubt
their ability. I don't doubt their intelligence. I don't doubt
their knowledge. But both struggle to close out games they
should win. And if you look at this six-game losing streak,
they are an awful fourth-quarter team. Well, their players don't
(30:11):
get awful. And I think the Green Bay front office,
if you went and looked at their draft, they know
it's an issue. So pretty and flashy is fun. OK,
you can create toughness on offense. The Rams are tough
with McVay. Shanahan's Niners are physical. They run physical. They
(30:34):
they force their receivers to be elite blockers. But I
look at Green Bay and like this is a systemic issue.
You can't give up. 39 points to the Vikings playing
with a backup quarterback, Carson Wentz, who's got talent, but
he's a bit all over the map with consistency. And
(30:55):
here's LeFleur after.
Speaker 9 (30:58):
Ultimately, I think coaching, playing, it's all of us. We've
got to do a better job of trying to put
our players in position. And then when we are in position,
we've got to execute and we've got to play cleaner football.
Far too many penalties tonight. It's going to be a
topic of conversation for all you guys. Until we do it.
That's the bottom line.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
The penalties thing, again, the Seattle Seahawks have a lot
of penalties. Penalties, I don't, like last night, the Giants,
I think the Giants had nine or 10 penalties. And
I looked at the Giants performance and I was like,
that was impressive. That was great. They had nine or
10 penalties. It's penalties a lot of times mean you're
really aggressive. I'm okay with it. I've said that about interceptions.
(31:43):
If Josh Allen throws a pick a game, I can
live with it. What I don't want is conservative play calling.
So first thing the floor is worried about is, oh,
we can't have penalties. That's not it. You're a soft
late game football team. You're not a good fourth. It's
not a penalty issue. Seahawks get Seahawks last year got penalized.
(32:07):
a ton against the Texans and won the game. They
had turnovers. They got penalized. They were bad on third down,
but they punch in the mouth and nobody's afraid of
the Packers. They just, they're, they're pretty. All right. The Cowboys.
I said, I thought they'd be better, but I didn't
have them as a playoff team. And something jumped out
(32:29):
last night. In L.A., it's the Herd.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
So I said everybody liked the Eagles to win the division,
as did I. I said I'll take the New York
Giants over the Cowboys. I said both will be better,
but about 30% of this league or 40% of this
league is coaching. That was a dud by Dallas last night.
(32:58):
The Bengals spent money on defense. Did you watch the Bengals?
You could see the money. They were big, physical, forcing turnovers.
The Cowboys spent money on defense. They forced one punt. Like,
I'm sorry, but they had three straight possessions for the Giants.
Dallas had missed coverages. That's why it's hard to judge
(33:18):
Jackson Dart. That's pitch and catch. That's like a no-pad
practice stuff. There's guys wide open. And this is why
I didn't buy into Dallas. I didn't trust the coach. So,
I mean, George Pickens, irrelevant, 28 yards. rushing 69 yards
they didn't really do anything particularly well they didn't have
a lot of juice they weren't decisive so the Cowboys
(33:41):
defense since 2024 gives up 28 a game last night
they gave up 28 since 2024 they give you 367
yards a game last night Giants had 394 it was
no better they spent the money why if you spend
the money would you not be better it's the coach
(34:03):
That's why I took the Giants over the Cowboys. It's
the coach. Brian shot numbers. Fine. Fine does not win
divisions and fine struggles to even get you in the
wild card. I mean, C.D. Pickens and C.D. Lamb and
George Pickens combined had fewer yards than Isaiah Likely.
Speaker 9 (34:23):
Why?
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Because the Giants came in with a game plan decisively
to get the ball to Isaiah Likely. I didn't think
the Cowboys did anything that you looked at and went, oh,
that's what they're trying to do. And how many coverages
can you just make a blow? That's three straight possessions.
(34:46):
You're like, okay, I know it's week one. I totally
get it. Here's the other thing that worries me about
coaches who are not elite. You know, you're seeing this
in college with Dabo Sweeney. He won't put his arms
around NIL in the transfer portal. Don't get stubborn. The
entire league is now running more under center for the quarterback,
not the Cowboys. The entire league is running more 13 personnel,
(35:11):
not the Cowboys. They're dragging their feet on this stuff.
Reminds me of the Laker teams with Byron Scott that
wouldn't buy into analytics. I'm not saying you have to
live and breathe and die by them. Dallas, more under center. Dallas,
more 13 personnel. This is what the best coach offenses
in the league are doing. Here's Shottie after the loss.
Speaker 8 (35:34):
Give Coach Harbaugh and his team a bunch of credit.
They were the more physical team tonight. That's certainly not
our standard. That's certainly not how we see our identity. Situationally,
they were outstanding players. Um, did a really good job of, of,
you know, keeping the ball away from us in the
second half. You know, I think they had the ball
for 36 minutes, 40 seconds. So, um, you know, this
(35:56):
is a humbling business and we got humbled tonight.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
It's more than that. It's dragging your feet on stuff
like 13 personnel and quarterback under center.
Speaker 6 (36:08):
Good luck.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
You got to be ahead of stuff. You can't be
behind the league on stuff. So there was a baseball pitcher,
and when I grew up, he was the one guy
throwing 100 miles an hour for decades, Nolan Ryan. He
threw a no-hitter at 44. At 42, he was an
all-star with six complete games and almost 300 yards pitching.
He never aged. I mean, Nolan Ryan today is probably
(36:32):
somewhere as a cattle rancher, like throwing no hitters in
his mid-40s. To the very end, intimidating, tough, throw it
to you, would not care, given Robin Ventura Noogies. Like,
to the very end, tough. That is Derrick Henry. He's
had 2,700 NFL carries. I mean, most running backs don't
(36:57):
get to 1,500. 2,700, he's not aging. He still outruns
safeties and linebackers. I mean, he and Zeke Elliott entered
the league at the same time. Zeke has not only
been out of the league for several years, Zeke hasn't
had a double-digit touchdown season for four years. Okay, so
(37:19):
like Zeke was washed four years ago. Derrick Henry isn't aging.
It's very much Nolan Ryan. It's like he's still throwing 100.
He's still throwing no hitters. Everybody's still behind the fastball.
And then you have Lamar Jackson. Lamar's interesting. Lamar is
one of the great quarterbacks in league history in week one,
(37:41):
because in week one, he's healthy. So if you look
at Lamar Jackson's week one career passer rating, it's 125,
16 touchdowns, two picks. So you put the twitchiness of
Lamar and the power of Derek Henry. Then you throw
in Zay Flowers, who had 150 yards playing one half
(38:02):
of football. And we've got, here's something that nobody can deny.
The Chargers defense, number one in the league last year,
was awful yesterday. They lost Jesse Minter, their DC. The
Ravens got Jesse Minter. And I've said this before, offensive
coordinators and defensive coordinators, I never know if they're going
(38:23):
to succeed. It's about a 50% hit rate. But generally,
the best coordinator on either side Shanahan, Ben Johnson were
the talk of the league. You're like, yeah, that works.
You know, a Jesse Minter, a Mike McDonald, a D'Amico Ryan.
Usually the coordinator that works is the one guy everybody
(38:45):
in the league for years is talking about. That was
Jesse Minter. The Chargers got bullied yesterday. They got pushed around.
Felt like they never had the ball. Jesse Minter left.
And the Ravens, a lot of energy, a lot of juice. So...
I'm wrong on this. I said coming into the season,
I picked the Ravens to win their division. I said
(39:07):
the owner, the organization, it's just really well run. But
11 and a half over under 12, 13 wins. Well,
because Lamar Jackson really didn't have his fastball last year.
And Derrick Henry, I keep saying he's going to slow down.
He had 32 rushing touchdowns last two years. He hasn't
(39:27):
slowed down.
Speaker 9 (39:28):
At all.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
He's going to throw a couple of no hitters this year.
He's just not slowing down over six yards of carry.
He broke numerous tackles, three touchdowns, totally intimidating. And they're a,
they're also one of these teams. They're putting Lamar under
center a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (39:47):
It worked.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Didn't work in Detroit with Goff. It worked with Lamar Jackson.
And here is Derek Henry on the Ravens offense.
Speaker 11 (39:56):
Yeah, it was definitely a great start. We knew what
we were capable of. We just had to go out
there and do it. I mean, it wasn't perfect for sure,
but definitely a great game to build off of and
carry that momentum into next week. Credit to everybody on
the offense of locking in and kept moving the ball,
making plays. Great job of everybody and his coaching staff
(40:16):
as well. Happy for Coach Jesse and the whole staff.
Get his first win and, you know, win in the
fashion that we did.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
He has sort of a LeBron James work ethic in
terms of how he takes care of his body. And
I don't, you know, we've all seen somebody that you
meet and they're 75 years old and you're like, God,
they look great. I guarantee you they haven't been smoking
a camel filters all day. Like they're intentional. Like LeBron's
incredibly intentional with his diet and his workout. So as
(40:49):
Derrick Henry, it was just, it's just between the twitchiness
of Lamar is a flowers, explosiveness, the power of Derrick Henry.
It is, it is something else. And that schedule, look
at that. Brown's Atlanta Titans, Dallas, Maybe that's what Vegas saw.
(41:09):
Last undefeated team, Baltimore Ravens? What's that?
Speaker 7 (41:14):
Last undefeated team, Baltimore Ravens? I mean, they're going to
be favored in all those games, probably up until Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
Well, there's some teams that just don't have any chance
to beat them.
Speaker 7 (41:22):
By the way, Declan Doyle and Ben Johnson were together
last year in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
Their offenses did okay.
Speaker 9 (41:27):
In week one.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Calling right, calling wrong, Max.
Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and
noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for the Herd at foxsportsradio.com or stream
us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching
Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening to the
Herd Podcast. Here we go. It is NFL week one,
(00:27):
nearly in the books. I'm live. I'm in LA. It's
the herd wherever you may be. And however, you may
be watching or listening. Thanks for making us part of
your day on a Monday. Well, the Chicago bears five
seconds before Ben Johnson took over, took over this franchise.
(00:47):
The day before he took over the franchise, the bears
had the worst offense in the league. 20 games later,
59 points. Utter brilliance. And what's remarkable, Colston Loveland didn't
have a catch. They didn't need him. Luther Burden, Roma
Dunzey didn't have a touchdown. They didn't need it. They
(01:08):
didn't need a defensive touchdown. Every few years, there is
a brilliant quarterback or a brilliant offensive head coach that
enters the league. And this time, they landed together. It
is unbelievable. Year one, Ben Johnson came in and said,
we got to clean up the sacks. There were a
lot of messes to clean up. Year one was, we
(01:30):
can't get you hit like this. They cleaned him up.
Year two was, you're really good, but you missed too
many laps. Let's get the efficiency and completion percentage up.
Mission accomplished. Remember after last year's 0-2 start, Ben Johnson
came out and he said, we do not have the
practice habits of a championship level football team. talent's not
(01:51):
the issue so there were a lot of things to
clean up practice was bad the schemes were bad they
had to get you know they had to go to
the draft board and get more high-end players yesterday they
didn't need them and like a McVay and like a
Shanahan these young offensive coaches almost all of them actually
(02:12):
love to build offensive lines and run game Right? Here's
what's remarkable. Yesterday was the third time the Bears have
rushed for 280 yards or more. Do you know how
hard that is in the NFL to rush for 280
yards third time? Yesterday scored 59 points. They had more
(02:34):
rushing attempts than passing attempts. They had more rushing yards
than passing yards. It was eight offensive touchdowns, eight plays
of 20 yards. The Bears haven't run the ball like
this since the late, great Walter Payton was a Bear
and Walter Mondale was in office. And they're young. They're
(02:56):
like the Seahawks. They're ascending. They're young on the offensive line.
They're young at tight end. They're young at quarterback. They're
young at wide receiver. They're young in the secondary. They're
an ascending team. So Ben Johnson had to break a
lot of bad habits in the organization. And then year two,
(03:16):
what you're seeing is, okay, we're going to have a
standard of excellence even at practice. That was a big
thing with Ben Johnson last year. We have talent. We
don't even practice good enough. So it's just a gift
to to the league that you get the brilliant head
coach and the brilliant young quarterback. And we're going to
(03:37):
put them together in a blue blood franchise. It is
a total gift of the league. And it's not just
being a good head coach. It's being the right coach.
Phil Jackson was the right coach for Michael Jordan. Okay.
Doug Collins won a lot of games with Michael Jordan
and Michael Jordan liked him, but Phil Jackson didn't. Phil
(03:57):
Jackson created a new Michael where he would trust teammates.
He would elevate others. So Michael Jordan won the scoring
title seven times with Phil Jackson. Phil did not take
away the scoring. What he created was trust with teammates,
elevating others in big moments, knowing you don't have to
(04:20):
carry all of it. And that's what I see. Phil
Jackson created the triangle. He created structure without getting in
the way of Michael Jordan's greatness. He didn't get in
the way of it. Andy Reid with Mahomes. I'm going
to create structure. Last couple years, Greg Cosell comes on
the show and he goes, you know, Mahomes is not
playing within structure. His efficiency numbers go down. Joe Brady
(04:45):
yesterday with Allen. Structure. Structure gets a bad. Artists may
not like structure. They need it.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Right?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Like, that's what I watched yesterday. The practice habits are better.
And I told you I went to a Bears practice,
and I said, Caleb is thinner and he's faster. Well,
there have been 13 plays since the start of last
year in which a quarterback ran 20 miles an hour.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
13.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
He's got over half of them. So, for Ben and
Caleb in blue blood Chicago with the Bears to be joined...
I mean, it's just, they're young. It's getting better. They
run the ball. They're dynamic. It is everything. And here's
(05:30):
Ben Johnson. And I'm not saying Carolina's great, but 59
and Colston Loveland didn't have a catch? Usually if it's 59,
it's like, okay, three block punts, two pick sixes. No,
we just ran the ball. We didn't even throw to
our number one target. Our top three targets, none of
them had a touchdown. No DJ Moore. We traded him
to Buffalo. Wow. Here's Ben Johnson after.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
That'll always be the goal is we want to be
the highest scoring. We want to have the most wins.
We want to win Super Bowls. We want to like,
that's what, that's what we do. We didn't get into
this profession trying to be, trying to be mediocre average
and that's every NFL team. So that is what it is.
You know, we make decisions over the course of a week.
(06:14):
What's best for our football team to win the game.
That's the most important thing. And that's, that goes into
everything that we do.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Week one against the Panthers, they had the most points
in the league in a very high-scoring week one. They
had the most points, the most yards, the most rush yards,
the most offensive TDs, the most 20-plus-yard plays. Led the
league in all of those categories. And I said this Friday,
road game against a team that can move the ball.
Bryce Young was not bad. Dave Canales, good offensive coach.
(06:41):
They got good weapons. Carolina's got players. Chicago needed those points. Okay. Well, well, well,
my prediction this year was the New York Giants would
be the most improved team in the NFL. And in
any business, getting good does not take that long. Now,
(07:03):
getting elite, getting great, that's a different story. I don't
think the Giants this year are going to be top
of the league, but they're going to be good to
very good. And they have talent. Brian Burns, Malik Neighbors,
Jackson Dart, Andrew Thomas, Abdul Carter, Arvel Reese, Scataboo. I
don't worry about talent. But what you saw last night,
(07:25):
and this has always been true, you can coach talented
people to have good habits. You can't take people with
just good habits to have way more talent. So what
you saw is talent, talent. with better habits and more
decisive Jackson dark can really play. Now it helped that
the Cowboys blew three different assignments. Some of those throws
(07:46):
were pretty easy, but he's athletic. He's confident, clearly good looking.
The teammates, you know, they gravitate around him. He is
a leader of men. He walks into a room and
he's a good looking kid and he's got a swagger
and you know, Page six in New York. But I
will say this. Last night, what I saw was decisive.
(08:07):
John Harbaugh's coaching was decisive. We are going to control
the line of scrimmage. It wasn't a lot of home runs.
It was a lot of singles and doubles. It was
a decisive game plan. So there was a play in
the first quarter when he was running for a first down.
And last year, he would have taken a shoulder. Instead,
he goes out of bounds. And that play ends up
(08:28):
you know, maturity like that play last year would have
been blue tent stuff. And instead his teammates rally around him.
So John Harbaugh could have chosen a lot of jobs.
A lot of people wanted him. He understood this team's history.
He understood the fit. He understood Jackson dart. He understood
there's talent on this roster. I've been arguing this all
(08:52):
off season. It's not a talent issue. It's a structure issue.
It is an organizational issue. They need another really, really
good draft. Then next year at this time with four
more good draft picks, another free agent because they're still
not paying Jackson Dart anything. But, I mean, Harbaugh taking
(09:13):
over a Blue Blood is like Scorsese directing a mob movie.
It just feels right. That offense, it's unbelievable. They take
that ball in the fourth quarter and the second half,
their last three drives, eight minutes touchdown, eight minutes touchdown,
five minutes bleed the clock out. I mean, that is
(09:34):
the best, most impressive offensive performance for me in that
second half since Eli Manning. It's not just about touchdowns.
It's dominating people up front. Eight-minute touchdown, eight-minute touchdown, five-minute
game over. That was impressive. Here's Jackson Dart on playing
(09:56):
under John Harbaugh.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
I just think that we have so much respect. for
coach Harbs and this team will, we'll do whatever he says. Cause,
cause we have all the faith in him that he's
going to put us in the best situation to win. So,
you know, he's the identity of a team starts at
the top and it starts with, with how he's conducted
himself with how he's, you know, created a tough team.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Jim did this at Michigan. Jim did it with the Chargers.
He did it in San Francisco. John did it with
the Ravens. And now John has done it with the
New York Giants. It doesn't take long to get good
if you have talent. I mean, like the Miami Dolphins,
they can't win games. And they know it. They're paying
(10:41):
more money for guys not playing than guys playing. I'm
not making that up. I've said this before. Jets have talent.
Cleveland's got talent. The Giants have talent and the coach
and the quarterback. It's hard to judge Jackson dark because
the Cowboys kept blowing assignments. So some of those throws
were pitch and catch. I'm not knocking him, but like
Dallas made it a little easier than it needed to be.
(11:05):
But this is what I said in the off season.
This was my, I said, listen, they won four games.
They had big leads. They didn't have the right structure.
Dart was a rookie. They had a great draft class.
This is a real team. This is a playoff team.
What you watched last night was taking a great Dallas
offense and playing keep away. It felt like Dallas never
(11:26):
had the ball. that's a playoff-looking team. Now, injuries, you know,
now the schedule's tougher. The Rams are in a lousy mood.
I think they'll be... I think they match up very
well with the L.A. Rams. So, J-Mac, I know it's hard,
but you should be in.
Speaker 6 (11:44):
A good mood.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Your Jets.
Speaker 7 (11:46):
Jets did get the win. I will say this for
the Giants. I bashed them all preseason. Jackson Dart, number
one in EPA per play, number one.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
In success rate. He was really good. That's a good
win for the Giants.
Speaker 6 (11:57):
They look.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Like they're going to be competitive against the Rams this weekend.
It's so fun. That will not be a walkover, even
though the spread is seven and a half, I believe.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah, it's too much. So underdogs did pretty well in
week one, starting with the Niners. And by the way, the, the,
the Patriots were an underdog and we're driving for the win. So,
I mean, I, to me in this league, if you
have a really good coach check, a clearly capable quarterback
check one really elite weapon check a great left tackle
giants check and you have a consistent rush somewhere on
(12:27):
the d-line between abdul carter and brian burns those are
those are that's big boy athleticism on the edge i
don't love that.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
You're probably right about the giants it's only week one
remember last year week one what seahawks lost and patriots
lost that's right wound up in the super bowl let's
not overreact did you notice.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
This though I know the audience, I'm not sure if
everybody noticed. So there was three offenses where you went, wow.
Josh Allen's offense, Lamar's offense, and Caleb's offense. You went, wow,
why is that? Because offensive linemen don't play in the preseason,
the good ones. So offensive line play was awful. Teams
(13:05):
that rely on great offensive line play, Philadelphia's offense, Rams offense,
because they have an immobile quarterback. Lions offense.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Lions were bad.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Why? Offensive line play in the league is sketchy in September.
So the three offenses that blew us away have the
three most athletic quarterbacks. Caleb, Lamar, and Josh.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
And Trevor Lawrence also was pretty incredible. Athletic, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
So it's like the reality is athleticism at quarterback is important.
But in early weeks in the NFL season... It's like huge.
It's really, really a big deal.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (13:53):
Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7
to 10 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are
excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You can now watch The Odd Couple live on YouTube
every day.
Speaker 6 (14:12):
All you got to do, search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube. Again, YouTube.
Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out on YouTube
and subscribe.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
All right, Josh Allen, you watched it in the Bulls
beat the Texans. They always say opposites attract, but it's
not ideal. You'd like to have commonality with people that
become like your life partners, right? Like I know opposites attract.
You have something in common, right? And yesterday, I like
(14:44):
Sean McDermott, but it wasn't ideal. A defensive coach can work.
in modern football with an offensive guy, Brady Belichick, right?
But the first possession of the game, you got Buffalo
going for it in a fourth down, and it's like, yeah,
that's what Sean McDermott would not have done on the
first possession against the best defense in the NFL on
(15:06):
the road in a huge game. And again, I can
like a defensive coach, but look at all the teams
in week one that crushed it. San Francisco, Jag, Chicago, Buffalo,
Vikings scored 39 points with a backup quarterback, all have
offensive coaches. That doesn't mean you can't win a Super Bowl.
Last year, a defensive coach did. It's not what I'm saying.
(15:27):
But offensive coaches and quarterbacks speak the same language. And
there's a freedom and there's a creativity with an offensive coach.
Did you notice this yesterday? Buffalo led the NFL in
13 personnel, eight and a half times higher than last season.
New stuff, new looks, creative, way more 13 personnel. Oh,
(15:48):
that's what McVay and the offensive coaches do. So I
just felt like we watched the McDermott thing. It hit
a ceiling. Let's give... let's give Josh Allen an offensive coach.
And I think because defensive coaches, and I love to
meet go Ryans and Mike McDonald, Jesse mentor look good,
but it is their nature to get a lead and
(16:08):
then play conservative. And the reality with guys like Josh
Allen is yes, they can be reckless. I mean, if, if,
if Kamari Lassiter holds onto that ball, we have a
different outcome, but the ideal meeting is read my homes and,
It's McVay-Stafford. That's like Caleb and Ben. That is ideal.
(16:29):
You can win a lot of different ways. Josh Allen
and Mahomes are going to win with anybody. And yes,
Josh Allen can be reckless, but just using 13 personnel.
By the way, one of the things offensive coaches do,
Sean Payton did this in Denver. Ben Johnson did it
in Chicago. They clean up the pass protection against the
(16:49):
Texans with a great pass rush. How many times did
Josh Allen get sacked? Twice. They cleaned it up last
year with McDermott. Sacked eight times. And I've said this.
I don't know what it is, but Mike Tomlin's a
great broadcaster and a good coach. He could never in
the last seven, eight years get the O-line right. Sean
Payton took over a disaster in Denver, cleaned it up
(17:11):
within six months. Ben Johnson cleaned it up within a year.
So it just it was time. There is a sensibility.
There is a feel, you know, it's almost like some
actors can be good directors. They have a different feel
than just a straight director. I don't know what it is,
but watching them yesterday, I thought that there was more freedom.
(17:33):
There was it was more aggressive. There was more 13 personnel.
It had a different feel. And here's Josh Allen on
Joe Brady's coaching debut. Not an easy one, but a
huge one.
Speaker 9 (17:44):
Feels good.
Speaker 10 (17:45):
Feels good to start the season off right. Obviously, Coach
Joe getting his first win as an NFL head coach
takes a lot of time, a lot of effort to
get into a position to be able to do that.
Really happy for him. Called a heck of a game.
Looking down at these stats, man, our guys made some
great plays. Coach talks about it all offseason. We want
to be in that position. We want our defense to
(18:07):
want to be in that position. We want to thrive
in those positions.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
They had a 25% explosive play rate. On the road
against the Texans, best defense. And Demico Ryan's maybe the
best defensive coach in the league. A 25% explosion play rate.
Highest of the weekend. Again, McDermott was fine. Josh Allen
(18:31):
deserves better than fine. Give me great quarterbacks. I mean,
Dan Fouts. You know, he got Don Correale, and Montana
got Walsh. That is ideal. You can win the other way,
and you can win a lot. But that was a
new look, a fresh look, and a great look. Here's
Jay Mack with the news. No, no, no, no.
Speaker 6 (18:54):
Turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
All right, let's start with the best football game.
Speaker 7 (19:00):
Apologies to the NFL of the weekend. And that was
Texas-Ohio State, Colin. What an unbelievable game Saturday night. The
Buckeyes leaped to a 20-3 halftime lead.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Sark's getting crushed. You know, Texas not.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Built for the moment.
Speaker 7 (19:13):
Ohio State's going to win the title. And Arch Manning
took over in the second half.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It was unbelievable. Three long drives, 21-0.
Speaker 7 (19:22):
Texans, Texas Longhorns score an unbelievable streak and win 24-23.
Here's Sark on Arch in the comeback.
Speaker 11 (19:32):
I thought he navigated that well, knowing it in the
back of his head.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
I remind him, hey, we're in four down territory this
drive until I tell you we're not.
Speaker 10 (19:39):
Does it ever cross your mind, like, to want to
punt just so it doesn't get any worse?
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Did you think about that?
Speaker 12 (19:46):
No, that's how losers think.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
Winners win, baby.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
You got to go for it. Sark, you know, a
year ago.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
They didn't hire me to keep it close.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
They hired me to win.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Well, I'll say this. In the first half, Ohio State's
coaching and play was excellent, but they got a little
bit of a break. They got a quirky interception and
Wingo dropped the touchdown.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Fumble on the first play.
Speaker 12 (20:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
So, yeah. And I mean, Ohio State deserves credit for that.
But the drop touchdown in the end zone, the weird interception.
So Ohio State really played well. But the score at half.
wasn't really indicative of what it could have been. Like,
there were several breaks. And Ohio State outplayed them in
the first half, but there were several breaks that went
Ohio State's way. In the second half, Texas bullied them.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
Well, also, I think Ryan Day needs some criticism for
basically coaching, hey, we got a huge lead, let's just
sit on it.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Yeah, they were conservative. That was bad.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
And I wonder if that Texas heat got to Ohio State, Colin.
Speaker 7 (20:45):
The defense just melted. They gave up these long, sustained drives.
You know, Arch, I know first half it wasn't his fault, but...
He wasn't the best player on the field because Jeremiah
Smith was incredible. He only had two catches second half.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
I thought arts.
Speaker 7 (20:57):
Looked like a number one pick the poise down the stretch.
Now he wasn't home, but look at those numbers in
the second half.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
He was unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah. And I, and I think first of all, I
don't think any less of Ohio state when they lost it.
Otts Ottson stadium a couple of years ago. I remember
saying after that, I'm like, they're going to play them
again later and win. Like, it's just hard to go
on the road. and play four great quarters against a well-coached,
highly competitive team. Now, again, Texas got some weird breaks
(21:26):
in the first half. Drop passes, two turnovers. Ohio State's fine.
Texas is number one for now. Here's what I know.
Look at who Miami's played and look at the scores.
Look at Notre Dame scores. I'll take this. I'm not
going to punish a team for losing a game like this.
That game came down to a half of a yard.
Speaker 7 (21:47):
I mean, Notre Dame will look at something like this
and be like, hey, remember that when it's time to
pick the playoff. We got job last year. But the
other thing I want to ask on Oregon suffered a
bad loss. I don't think we're going to talk about that.
That was a brutal loss. I don't know how good
the Big Ten is when. Oregon struggles in the opener
against Boise.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Oregon's not good. Indiana's carrying a huge load right now
for the Big Ten. And Ohio, again, Ohio State's going
to be fine. Ohio State was willing to schedule this game.
I'm not criticizing. Now, the SEC had a good weekend
and deserves all the love. But Michigan beat Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Michigan's offense is unwatchable. I'm sorry.
Speaker 7 (22:24):
I know we got a lot of Michigan fans here
on the staff. Their offense is terrible. Bryce Underwood is
not a good quarterback. I don't know how good Michigan is.
You think there's a third best team in the Big Ten?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
I don't know about that.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
I would say Indiana, Ohio State are the best two teams.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
And USC and UCLA.
Speaker 11 (22:39):
By the way.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
I think there's a drop-off after Indiana, Ohio State. I
think the drop-off. I didn't think. I thought Oregon was
in that class. They hired a new DC. Oregon's got
a new OC and a DC and the DC is
not working.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
It's not at all. All right, let's, let's move on
to the NFL. Let's go to the Detroit lions.
Speaker 7 (22:56):
I thought one of the biggest letdowns of Sunday, the
offensive line was not good. They needed overtime against the
saints and they survived this missed two point conversion to
win 31 30.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Colin, they led 21, nothing in the third quarter.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Well, my takeaway is Detroit will be the better team,
but I had picked new Orleans to win their division.
I think they found their quarterback. I think Tyler shuck
accounted for himself in the second half. Kenny Albert was
so funny. He was like, he was terrible in the
first half. He was like, thank you for saying that.
A lot of times play by play guys don't want
(23:29):
to be too brutal. It was like, thank you. It
was on tenable in the first half. And remember, he
didn't have some of his offensive pieces. Chris Olave is
always hurt.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Well he's really good.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
So good uh travis atn's a nice piece i think
the saints found their quarterback yeah i just like when
franchises find their guy and i think new york uh
i i think new orleans rosters their defensive front gave
the lions a little bit of.
Speaker 7 (23:55):
Trouble we'll get to that in a second i want
to ask you about the.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Two-point conversion would you have just kicked to tie it
was like 90 seconds.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
So that's interesting my theory is this when you go
in as a touchdown dog you're on the road And
you can steal it. You go for it. If you're
a home favorite, maybe you say, let's go to overtime.
We're a favorite because we got better players. But if
you're on the road, you can get out of that stadium.
It's a 17-week season. The other thing is I thought
(24:22):
because of the drive, I thought the Lions were a
little gassed, a little tired. Don't take your foot off. Again,
you've got to be aggressive in these spots.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
So here's Kellen Moore explaining why he went for two.
Speaker 12 (24:35):
There's 134 left. That's a really talented offense. You have
a chance to go win the football game. We just
got to execute and give ourself a better look. And
I got to look at the plan and make sure
we're just finding a way to move the football better.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
No problem.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Small, small thing.
Speaker 7 (24:49):
So the lions are tinkering with golf under center more
to disguise the play action. He was under center for
47 snaps tied for the most in his career.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
It wasn't working.
Speaker 7 (24:58):
So they had to go back to the shotgun, and
then he was able to chuck and duck. Colin, the
other thing is Gibbs had 29 carries.
Speaker 6 (25:04):
He was awesome.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
But I'm just telling you, he ain't going to hold up.
His body is not going to hold up.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
He runs hard.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
He takes some hits.
Speaker 7 (25:11):
29 carries and five catches. 34 touches. I mean, you
extrapolate that over like eight games, and he's like.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Think about this. The two quarterbacks in this league, the
two or three quarterbacks in this league that are not
really mobile anymore, Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff, and Stafford, look
at all three of their offenses. Offensive lines don't get
cooking until October. The Steelers were ugly. I mean, that
second half, I'm like, Detroit, get it going. They couldn't
(25:40):
get the push. Detroit's guy, I mean, Detroit's guys up
front did not. Now, Gibbs pops plays because he's remarkable.
But I think Detroit will look better. But that under
center stats fascinating because and Goff, you know, when you've
been playing, it's one thing to make Caleb go under
center more. He is so dynamic. He gets back so quickly.
(26:02):
And then if he gets back and it's not going
his way, he can go off script. Goff is on
script and not terribly fast from center to seven-step drop.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
It wasn't working.
Speaker 7 (26:12):
Final story, the New York Jets making the first hour
of the show because they crushed the Tennessee Titans. A
beatdown of epic proportions, 23-10. Listen, man, the Jets' rookies
look good. Geno Smith did not screw it up.
Speaker 6 (26:24):
Sadik.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Brees Hall over 100 yards.
Speaker 7 (26:27):
The Tennessee Titans had 55 yards at halftime, finished with
a buck 95.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Can Cam Ward play?
Speaker 7 (26:33):
You know, we're going to give him a little more
time under day bowl, but it was not pretty. And
some people tried to warn me. Did you see Cam
Ward in the preseason?
Speaker 1 (26:41):
It was atrocious.
Speaker 7 (26:42):
They didn't complete a pass over 10 yards. Like I
was like, eh, let's just, and they, they look bad.
Now the jets looked good enough that I do think
this week against the Packers is interesting. That Packers offensive line,
Brian Flores saw they couldn't block. He blitzed on 82%
of snaps. The jets pass rush is good. I think
the Jets, listen, I'm nervous to go 2-0 because we're
(27:02):
not going to win anything.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, no, but the difference is when you watch the
Jets in Arizona this weekend, you're like, oh, I see.
I see player. I mean, I'll argue this all day.
Arizona and the Jets offensively have dudes.
Speaker 11 (27:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
I mean, the Jets have both their tackles. Now they
have an elite tight end. They got a good wide receiver.
The Jets and the Cardinals have McBride, Harrison.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Michael Wilson's good.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Love will eventually. Arizona and the Jets have talent. They're
not very good, but they have talent. You're watching... You're
watching some of these teams.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
I mean, the Browns. I don't know if we're going
to talk about the Browns today.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Hopefully not.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
That's a bad team. But congrats to the Jets. Shout out.
Speaker 7 (27:41):
I know I was blasting them online. We don't want
to win too many games. The Jets fans are angry.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
We'll take the win, I guess.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
J-Mac with the news.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Well, that's the news.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
And thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
The Herdline News.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
I think this is the Packers' first six-game losing streak
in 35 years. And the problem with Matt LaFleur is
everybody knows why. It's not a bunch of finger pointing.
It's not everybody's got a different reason. We all know why.
Smart teams take leads. Physical, tough teams seal the game.
(28:20):
They can't seal. They lose. If you go back in
this losing streak, the first three quarters, they're plus 10 points.
In the fourth quarter, they're minus 75. They can't seal wins.
And by the way, the two guys that sort of
initiate their toughness, Josh Jacobs and Micah Parsons, are not available.
And Jacobs may not be for the year, and Micah
(28:41):
won't be until October. So they're And the Packers front
office this year, they went heavy drafting SEC guys. The
Packers front office knows we do not close well. We
are not a physical team. And Lincoln Riley found this
out at USC. When you join the Big Ten in
a northern conference, a northern division, to seal wins, you
(29:05):
got to pound the ball. Do what the New York
Giants did. You got to have a five and a half,
six minute drive and end any doubt. So Green Bay...
Kyler Murray doesn't play. And Carson Wentz reels off 22
points in the fourth quarter. So everybody rolls their eyes
when I use the term manalytics, which are embracing analytics
(29:29):
plus alpha. And Green Bay is a soft team. I'm sorry,
but they are. Football is played by tough men. It
is a gladiator sport and even though the nfl has
changed their rules to help the offense nobody questions that
at all and it's still more of a cage fight
(29:51):
than a beauty pageant. This is the NFL. And I've
said this, Lincoln, Riley, and Matt LaFleur, I don't doubt
their ability. I don't doubt their intelligence. I don't doubt
their knowledge. But both struggle to close out games they
should win. And if you look at this six-game losing streak,
they are an awful fourth-quarter team. Well, their players don't
(30:11):
get awful. And I think the Green Bay front office,
if you went and looked at their draft, they know
it's an issue. So pretty and flashy is fun. OK,
you can create toughness on offense. The Rams are tough
with McVay. Shanahan's Niners are physical. They run physical. They
(30:34):
they force their receivers to be elite blockers. But I
look at Green Bay and like this is a systemic issue.
You can't give up. 39 points to the Vikings playing
with a backup quarterback, Carson Wentz, who's got talent, but
he's a bit all over the map with consistency. And
(30:55):
here's LeFleur after.
Speaker 9 (30:58):
Ultimately, I think coaching, playing, it's all of us. We've
got to do a better job of trying to put
our players in position. And then when we are in position,
we've got to execute and we've got to play cleaner football.
Far too many penalties tonight. It's going to be a
topic of conversation for all you guys. Until we do it.
That's the bottom line.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
The penalties thing, again, the Seattle Seahawks have a lot
of penalties. Penalties, I don't, like last night, the Giants,
I think the Giants had nine or 10 penalties. And
I looked at the Giants performance and I was like,
that was impressive. That was great. They had nine or
10 penalties. It's penalties a lot of times mean you're
really aggressive. I'm okay with it. I've said that about interceptions.
(31:43):
If Josh Allen throws a pick a game, I can
live with it. What I don't want is conservative play calling.
So first thing the floor is worried about is, oh,
we can't have penalties. That's not it. You're a soft
late game football team. You're not a good fourth. It's
not a penalty issue. Seahawks get Seahawks last year got penalized.
(32:07):
a ton against the Texans and won the game. They
had turnovers. They got penalized. They were bad on third down,
but they punch in the mouth and nobody's afraid of
the Packers. They just, they're, they're pretty. All right. The Cowboys.
I said, I thought they'd be better, but I didn't
have them as a playoff team. And something jumped out
(32:29):
last night. In L.A., it's the Herd.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
So I said everybody liked the Eagles to win the division,
as did I. I said I'll take the New York
Giants over the Cowboys. I said both will be better,
but about 30% of this league or 40% of this
league is coaching. That was a dud by Dallas last night.
(32:58):
The Bengals spent money on defense. Did you watch the Bengals?
You could see the money. They were big, physical, forcing turnovers.
The Cowboys spent money on defense. They forced one punt. Like,
I'm sorry, but they had three straight possessions for the Giants.
Dallas had missed coverages. That's why it's hard to judge
(33:18):
Jackson Dart. That's pitch and catch. That's like a no-pad
practice stuff. There's guys wide open. And this is why
I didn't buy into Dallas. I didn't trust the coach. So,
I mean, George Pickens, irrelevant, 28 yards. rushing 69 yards
they didn't really do anything particularly well they didn't have
a lot of juice they weren't decisive so the Cowboys
(33:41):
defense since 2024 gives up 28 a game last night
they gave up 28 since 2024 they give you 367
yards a game last night Giants had 394 it was
no better they spent the money why if you spend
the money would you not be better it's the coach
(34:03):
That's why I took the Giants over the Cowboys. It's
the coach. Brian shot numbers. Fine. Fine does not win
divisions and fine struggles to even get you in the
wild card. I mean, C.D. Pickens and C.D. Lamb and
George Pickens combined had fewer yards than Isaiah Likely.
Speaker 9 (34:23):
Why?
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Because the Giants came in with a game plan decisively
to get the ball to Isaiah Likely. I didn't think
the Cowboys did anything that you looked at and went, oh,
that's what they're trying to do. And how many coverages
can you just make a blow? That's three straight possessions.
(34:46):
You're like, okay, I know it's week one. I totally
get it. Here's the other thing that worries me about
coaches who are not elite. You know, you're seeing this
in college with Dabo Sweeney. He won't put his arms
around NIL in the transfer portal. Don't get stubborn. The
entire league is now running more under center for the quarterback,
not the Cowboys. The entire league is running more 13 personnel,
(35:11):
not the Cowboys. They're dragging their feet on this stuff.
Reminds me of the Laker teams with Byron Scott that
wouldn't buy into analytics. I'm not saying you have to
live and breathe and die by them. Dallas, more under center. Dallas,
more 13 personnel. This is what the best coach offenses
in the league are doing. Here's Shottie after the loss.
Speaker 8 (35:34):
Give Coach Harbaugh and his team a bunch of credit.
They were the more physical team tonight. That's certainly not
our standard. That's certainly not how we see our identity. Situationally,
they were outstanding players. Um, did a really good job of, of,
you know, keeping the ball away from us in the
second half. You know, I think they had the ball
for 36 minutes, 40 seconds. So, um, you know, this
(35:56):
is a humbling business and we got humbled tonight.
Speaker 7 (36:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
It's more than that. It's dragging your feet on stuff
like 13 personnel and quarterback under center.
Speaker 6 (36:08):
Good luck.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
You got to be ahead of stuff. You can't be
behind the league on stuff. So there was a baseball pitcher,
and when I grew up, he was the one guy
throwing 100 miles an hour for decades, Nolan Ryan. He
threw a no-hitter at 44. At 42, he was an
all-star with six complete games and almost 300 yards pitching.
He never aged. I mean, Nolan Ryan today is probably
(36:32):
somewhere as a cattle rancher, like throwing no hitters in
his mid-40s. To the very end, intimidating, tough, throw it
to you, would not care, given Robin Ventura Noogies. Like,
to the very end, tough. That is Derrick Henry. He's
had 2,700 NFL carries. I mean, most running backs don't
(36:57):
get to 1,500. 2,700, he's not aging. He still outruns
safeties and linebackers. I mean, he and Zeke Elliott entered
the league at the same time. Zeke has not only
been out of the league for several years, Zeke hasn't
had a double-digit touchdown season for four years. Okay, so
(37:19):
like Zeke was washed four years ago. Derrick Henry isn't aging.
It's very much Nolan Ryan. It's like he's still throwing 100.
He's still throwing no hitters. Everybody's still behind the fastball.
And then you have Lamar Jackson. Lamar's interesting. Lamar is
one of the great quarterbacks in league history in week one,
(37:41):
because in week one, he's healthy. So if you look
at Lamar Jackson's week one career passer rating, it's 125,
16 touchdowns, two picks. So you put the twitchiness of
Lamar and the power of Derek Henry. Then you throw
in Zay Flowers, who had 150 yards playing one half
(38:02):
of football. And we've got, here's something that nobody can deny.
The Chargers defense, number one in the league last year,
was awful yesterday. They lost Jesse Minter, their DC. The
Ravens got Jesse Minter. And I've said this before, offensive
coordinators and defensive coordinators, I never know if they're going
(38:23):
to succeed. It's about a 50% hit rate. But generally,
the best coordinator on either side Shanahan, Ben Johnson were
the talk of the league. You're like, yeah, that works.
You know, a Jesse Minter, a Mike McDonald, a D'Amico Ryan.
Usually the coordinator that works is the one guy everybody
(38:45):
in the league for years is talking about. That was
Jesse Minter. The Chargers got bullied yesterday. They got pushed around.
Felt like they never had the ball. Jesse Minter left.
And the Ravens, a lot of energy, a lot of juice. So...
I'm wrong on this. I said coming into the season,
I picked the Ravens to win their division. I said
(39:07):
the owner, the organization, it's just really well run. But
11 and a half over under 12, 13 wins. Well,
because Lamar Jackson really didn't have his fastball last year.
And Derrick Henry, I keep saying he's going to slow down.
He had 32 rushing touchdowns last two years. He hasn't
(39:27):
slowed down.
Speaker 9 (39:28):
At all.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
He's going to throw a couple of no hitters this year.
He's just not slowing down over six yards of carry.
He broke numerous tackles, three touchdowns, totally intimidating. And they're a,
they're also one of these teams. They're putting Lamar under
center a little bit more.
Speaker 3 (39:47):
It worked.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Didn't work in Detroit with Goff. It worked with Lamar Jackson.
And here is Derek Henry on the Ravens offense.
Speaker 11 (39:56):
Yeah, it was definitely a great start. We knew what
we were capable of. We just had to go out
there and do it. I mean, it wasn't perfect for sure,
but definitely a great game to build off of and
carry that momentum into next week. Credit to everybody on
the offense of locking in and kept moving the ball,
making plays. Great job of everybody and his coaching staff
(40:16):
as well. Happy for Coach Jesse and the whole staff.
Get his first win and, you know, win in the
fashion that we did.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
He has sort of a LeBron James work ethic in
terms of how he takes care of his body. And
I don't, you know, we've all seen somebody that you
meet and they're 75 years old and you're like, God,
they look great. I guarantee you they haven't been smoking
a camel filters all day. Like they're intentional. Like LeBron's
incredibly intentional with his diet and his workout. So as
(40:49):
Derrick Henry, it was just, it's just between the twitchiness
of Lamar is a flowers, explosiveness, the power of Derrick Henry.
It is, it is something else. And that schedule, look
at that. Brown's Atlanta Titans, Dallas, Maybe that's what Vegas saw.
(41:09):
Last undefeated team, Baltimore Ravens? What's that?
Speaker 7 (41:14):
Last undefeated team, Baltimore Ravens? I mean, they're going to
be favored in all those games, probably up until Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
Well, there's some teams that just don't have any chance
to beat them.
Speaker 7 (41:22):
By the way, Declan Doyle and Ben Johnson were together
last year in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
Their offenses did okay.
Speaker 9 (41:27):
In week one.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Calling right, calling wrong, Max.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!