November 28, 2023 • 32 mins
Thoughts on the NFL after week 12
The Texans are handling CJ Stroud the right way and it shows
The Nuggets should still be favored to win the NBA title this season
Guest: Albert Breer, Ric Bucher
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:22):
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Speaker 1 (00:24):
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Albert Breer is joining us lead content dude for m MQB. Okay, So,
I mean it's pretty clear, and I think inside the
(00:45):
building you gotta win games in this league. You'll watch
a CJ. Stroud come in in kind of a mess
of a franchise immediately succeed. I don't think that's done
Justin Fields any favors Jordan Love now looks like he's tracking.
He's better. It's it's done now for Justin Fields in Chicago, right,
They're gonna move him.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It doesn't look great and part of the problem he has,
like if you look at like Kyler Murray in Arizona,
for example, Like he's gonna have a chance to play
the Cardinals out of the top five of the draft,
right like, so if he plays well enough, in other words,
he can make it so they won't have great quarterback
options outside of just keeping him for twenty twenty four.
That's not the case with Fields. The Bears can play
(01:28):
well down the stretch, they still have the Panthers first pick,
which will likely be the first overall pick, and so
you know, in all likelihood we're gonna get to the
end of the year and it's not gonna be as
Justin Field's played well enough to legitimately warrant a fourth year.
I think we've seen some promise in some steps where
you would want to take another look at him in
twenty twenty four. The problem that he has now is
(01:50):
that he's gonna be held up against Caleb Williams and
Drake May, and not just Caleb Williams or Drake May,
but one of those guys on a rookie contract where
you can reset that want. So it's certainly looks right
now like this is trending that way where it's gonna
be tough for Justin Fields. To beat the other option
out there out that that that that should be out
there for the Bears, which you know will be a
(02:12):
highly drafted quarterback on a on a on a controlled contract.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, Raiders have already moved off their coach. They fired
Josh McDaniels.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The Carolina Panthers just got rid of Frank Reich. I
wouldn't have done it too quick, gets chaotic. There is
there is there a third or a fourth coach on
the hot seat? Is in your opinion?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I mean, Washington is the one that I think we
all have to keep an eye on, you know, I
think we all assume that's going to be done at
the end of the year. And in fact, I would say,
like the in season firing of Jack del Rio probably
makes it more difficult to fire Ron Rivera while you're
in season, right, And the reason why is obvious because
now he's running your defense, and if you've already lost
(02:52):
your coordinator, it's gonna be hard to function the rest
of the year with those players. If you know you,
you know you don't have Revene or del Rio on
the staff. But Washington would be the one that I
would really keep an eye on. You know over the
next five or six weeks where if things really go
the wrong way, there could be a change there. I'm
just trying to think of someone else, Colin, and there's
(03:13):
so many teams that are bunched up in the middle
of the league right now. I mean, I guess the
one obvious one might be the Chargers. Yeah, where you
would look at that one and say, Okay, maybe they
want to take Kellen Moore out for a test drive
if it gets the point where they've decided they're going
to move on from Brandon Staley and they are going
to eventually bring in somebody to work with Justin Herbert,
maybe you want to look at Kellen Moore within the
(03:34):
context of, you know, what he would look like as
your head coach over the end of the year, like
the Cowboys once did with Jason Garrett, like the Vikings
once did with Leslie Frasier. Those two would be the
other two that I would look at and say, and
you know, it looks like those are going to be
over by the end of the year, so maybe teams
will pull a plug week.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Okay. Sean McDermott's been very successful, but you can see
even his press conference after the Philly loss, it was
much more humble. You know, it's it's not good Josh
Allen's oh for six and overtime games, ten penalties first half.
I doubt they fire him. But do you think he
has any heat there in Buffalo?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yeah, I mean, I think there's certainly questions about the window,
and it's not the window for the franchise. Let's be
clear about that. As long as Josh Allener a quarterback,
the championship window is open. We saw that on Sunday,
like he was the best player on the field and
it wasn't his fault that they lost that game. But
you know, for this group of players, and I'm talking
about like Matt Malano and Tredevius White coming back off
(04:34):
of injury at all of our Dion Dock and Stefan Diggs,
a lot of those guys are either in their late
twenties are already on the wrong side of thirty. Von
Miller obviously another one, and so do you kind of
get to that point where it's like we need to
do something to create a spark so we can get
one last great run out of this group of players.
That's the question that that that the ownership there that
(04:58):
Terry Pagula and his family are going to have to
answer because you know, I think you look at where
they are and again, like for this particular group of players,
that window maybe has a year or two left in it.
And oh, by the way, if you do make a change,
now we're talking about who's going to shepherd the reset
and do you feel comfortable with Sean McDermott captaining the
reset for you? So McDermott's obviously done a lot of
(05:20):
great things here over the last seven years and resurrecting
the Buffalo franchise, and now the question becomes for Pagoula
and his group. Is he the man to put them
over the top with the group that you have right now?
And then is he the man to lead the reset
whenever the time comes for that.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So early in this season, we've seen three stages of
Jordan love this year. The coddling in the preseason, remember
they tempered it, don't expect too much. Yeah, Then the
heavy criticism in the first seven eight weeks Matt Lafleur
highly critical. And now we see growth. Now it's the
Chargers and Lion secondary. But in the building, is there
(05:57):
a feeling those young receivers are really really talented. Is
there a feeling like, Okay, this year and next year
we're going with Jordan and in this wobbly division, he's
the guy.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
You know what's interesting about this Colin is like I think,
if you've got Matt Lafluor in an honest moment, he
would tell you that every quarterback should be developed this way,
that every quarterback should sit for a few years, that
every quarterback should be developed with patients, that every team
should exhibit this. Now that's unrealistic, right, Like, there are
very few teams that have to set up the Packers
did that Jordan Love walked into that have coaches and
(06:32):
gms with the job security to pull something like this off.
But they really do feel like they're doing things the
right way. And a big part of it for Jordan
Love was just being able to see more things, being
able to go out there and make his mistakes and
fall in his face and pick himself back up. And
you know, having talked to Lafleur about it last week,
you know, one of the most encouraging things is how
he's handled all of it. Yeah, and how steady he's
(06:53):
been and how he's been able to absorb failures along
the way. That's a big part of quarterbacking. So they're
encouraged by what they they've seen and they are a
little subtle hints of growth there too, Like there was
a touchdown pass to Tucker Craft in that Detroit game
where it was just a little swing pass into the
flat but heavy pressure coming at him, and Jordan Love
not only handled the pressure and was able to get
(07:15):
away from the pressure, he also put the ball where
it needed to be. There was the right number, there's
the right amount of air under the ball, and put
Tucker Craft in position to walk into the end zone.
So they're seeing little signs that they think he's got
the right temperament. He's loved within the building and they're
giving him a chance to grow up with a bunch
of guys who are right around his age. And again
like Tucker Craft and Luke Musgrave and the receivers Christian
(07:38):
Watson and Romeo Dobbs and Jayden Reid. There's so many
guys that have come into the league the last couple
of years that are in that skill position group. It
really is Jordan's group. And you know, again, I think
the Packers feel like the right thing to do to
get a full evaluation on Jordan Love is to let
him grow with all of those players over the next
couple of years.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
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Speaker 1 (08:03):
The good news for the Texans they found their guy
in CJ. Stroud. The bad news for all the young
struggling quarterbacks is it creates clarity and everybody goes this
kid walks into a.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Dis why can't my guy be like this? Right?
Speaker 1 (08:17):
And so CJ clearly processes a million miles an hour
and sees the field. I said, out of Ohio State,
I'm like, I don't see the juice. But his comp
was Jared Goff, and I've always thought Jared Goff's really good.
Do you think people at Ohio State, where you're connected
to people with the Texans, all your sources, are all
(08:38):
of them a little surprised how good he is as
a rookie.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, you know, I know, like one thing, having talked
to the Ohio State coaches over the years about him,
they always felt like his superpower was his vision in
his field. Right, like that he's great at ball placement,
not only because he's an accurate thrower, but because he
sees things and he's able to throw with anticipation and
he has great feel for the game, so like that
he would have highlight throws. I don't think that surprises anybody.
(09:07):
I think how quickly he's grown and how consistent he's
got And I think that's where the surprise is, right,
like that he's been able to handle all of the
knocks as well as he has and and continue to
pick himself back up. I think, you know, the maturity
and how quickly it's come. Like, that's where it's like, wow,
like that happened, maybe a little faster than we thought
it would. Yeah, and you know it's interesting, Colin, because
(09:30):
you know, I know you obviously watched the Georgia game
last year. Yeah, they felt like something really clicked for
him in that Georgia game and it's almost like he
took that and he never turned back, and that's really
rare that you see a hard turning point like that.
But I know that they felt like they saw a
different version of c. J. Stroud after the way the
Michigan game went for him and coming out of that
(09:51):
Michigan game and then the way he wound up playing
at at against Georgia, Like that's continued into the pros.
And here's the great thing about it, right the Texans,
And I think the Texans deserve a lot of credit
for this. They got after him when they had their
meeting with him pre draft, when they brought him down
to Houston, and they were tough on him, and you know,
it was a little uncomfortable. And one of the things
(10:13):
they did in the aftermath of that is they continue
to research him and they continue to talk to the
coaches at Ohio State, and they figured out, like, there's
a way to get through the kid, and there's a
way to work with the kid, and there's the right
way to do this. And I think Damiko Ryans and
his staff deserve a lot of credit for that because
it wasn't just like an our way or the highway thing.
It was, Okay, if we draft this kid, how do
(10:34):
we develop him, how do we coach him, how do
we work with him? And then they apply to all
of that when he got in the building. And I
think that's part of the reason why it's come together
so quickly for him there.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Great stuff. Albert Brerezola is good.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Senior Buden, all right, thanks Gong.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
It is really remarkable in the NFL, and c J.
Stroud and Russell Wilson are examples of this. You thought,
I thought coming into the season, needs a lot of players,
and you watch in the last five weeks. Once the
quarterback plays well, they got a great safety, a great corner,
(11:08):
could probably use a pass rusher, but good interior defensive lineman, Mims,
Judy Cortland, Sutton, two backs. I like, Oh, line's pretty good.
It's amazing. Houston a year ago, laughingstock. Now you're like, oh,
Tank Dell, these running backs aren't bad. Old lines underrated.
It's amazing when the quarterback is right. Like everybody in
(11:30):
New York now with the Giants, we're terrible. What if
you had c J. Stroud, Like you have a great
left tackle, great running back, c J. Stroud, You'd need
a receiver, but tight end make some plays. It's amazing.
You'll thibade interior line, you have a corner you like,
it's amazing. You get the quarterback right and it just
(11:53):
cinches it all together. Coming into this seat September, you
looked at you looked at Denver and thought, rebuild, rebuild.
They push Cleveland all over the field this week, and
Cleveland is one of the more physical teams in the league.
You look at Houston right now, I'm like, I mean,
what do they really need. They got an hedge rusher,
they got a star quarterback, they got receivers. I like,
(12:14):
they got a coach. I like, probably could use a
great corner. The whole world outside of the Jets could,
But to get the quarterback right man overnight, Caleb Williams
with a Ben Johnson, it'd be amazing. You'd be like,
you know, Cole comment is DJ Moore as I really
like our left tackle Montees Sweat. I love that deal,
(12:35):
the young corner. Everybody loves it. Jalen Johnson is a
free agent. But Chicago's got pieces, they just don't have
anybody that brings it together, tightens it up. I don't
think they're that far off. Jmack with a.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
News this is the herd.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
N't tell.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I watched Denver this weekend and they're not a great team,
and they may lose this weekend, but they got dudes.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
On both everybody's got dudes.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
No, But I mean they were. That game was physical,
and it was physical players, their backs, their safeties, everything.
For Denver. You watch them and you're like, they've got
a they need an edge rusher. Outside of that, Denver's
got all the pieces.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
Easy to look good against a backup quarterback.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
And a third round boy, very negative.
Speaker 6 (13:24):
Let's start with forty nine Ers Eagles Cowherd. Listen, I
confess I've already cleared off the schedule. I've told the
family lead me alone during like, lose my number for
a couple hours. Yeah, I'm so locked in on this game.
Rematch of last year's the NFC title game. I don't
know I was doing the show at that point, wasn't I?
Speaker 5 (13:39):
It was January? Yeah, I was. I had the forty
nine ers in that game and then Perdy goes down.
I just looked it up. Do you know who the
backup quarterback was? It was Johnson? Josh Johnson.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yes, you know where he is now? No?
Speaker 5 (13:52):
I thought I saw him working at Chili's near me,
but he's not.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
He is the emergency slash practice squad quarterback for the Ravens.
So let's let's put that game in some context. Okay,
that's who the quarterback was.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Here's the thing. Are you willing? Because I think the
Niners were the side when they were getting points. Now
it's like San Francisco, you know, minus two and a half.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I don't love it. If against the three, I'll take Philly.
Speaker 6 (14:14):
Starting to hit three market. Why can you miss the
best number we told you yesterday?
Speaker 1 (14:18):
No, no, minus three. I'll take Philly. But the early number,
the early number was I got the Niners in points.
That was the best bat of the week.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I thought.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
So here's the interesting There's there's some online trash talk
AJ Brown, Deebo, Samuel or Friendly. However, Eagles edg rusher
Hassan Reddick says he's tired about hearing excuses from the
brock Perdy injury talk is cheap.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
You know, they get to come back in the length.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
It was a lot of boohool's last year, a lot
of crime, a lot of what if, a lot of this,
a lot of that.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
They get a chance to come back in here line
that improve it again.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
I can't wait, like I I want the cameras for Fox.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Let our guys know, I want the video of the
forty nine ers coming out of the tunnel. They've started
to do this thing where Trent Williams just comes out.
He looks like a mountain, like a boulder, and they're
all like dancing and they just look intimidating. Man, this team,
Deebo Samuel, I really like them. They're my pick down
for the Super Bowl. Like, I don't know how you
can't pick them.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Well, they're eight and one with Trent Williams. So Sam
Francisco when they get the protection for party, they're really
really good.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
They got really good dudes and said that on the
defense looks awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I just think this is gonna be the game of
the year. It's on Fox. At Fox, we only broadcast
the biggest gamers.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
A couple notes, couple things, so we know the Niners
have had this circles on the calendar for close to
ten months out okay, number two.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
Last four games, not only.
Speaker 6 (15:39):
Have the Eagles been out gained by their own by
over one hundred yards in each game.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I know that's why fewer than one hundred.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
Yards offense at halftime against Buffalo Lane Johnson. We shall
see if he plays or not. I'm just telling you
would not surprise me.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Well, the Eagle nine ers the Chiefs in the Super
Bowl rematch. I think it's realistic to think the Niners
beat the Eagle in the NFC rematch. That stuff matters.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
I mean, I'm not calling it, but I would not
surprise me if this was like thirty to thirteen San
France and they put it on Pilly Philly's exhausted man
ninety two plays after the Monday night game. Like I
it's a tough spot. Next up Miami Dolphins. Tough loss
for them. Jalen Phillips, the great ed rusher, and he
is great. That really hurts, goes down with achilles.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
This is that injury.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
That's big. He's very good.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Oh, he's a terrific player.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
So they're making a move on veteran pass rusher Jason
Pierre AKK sorry ak JPP.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
As you said, listen, I just don't know how much
how does he have left in the tank?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Well, probably not. I mean listen, if you lose Phillips,
that's pay. That's not the same defense.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:45):
Fangio's unit, however, we have numbers. Since week five, they
have been showing out. Like listen, Jaylen Ramsey has returned,
but look, Fangio's unit, they needed some time to gel
and get together now, because I am the kind of
guy who's gonna spend the time on them.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
I looked at the quarterbacks they face. Are you ready?
Speaker 6 (17:02):
Okay, so the numbers they see, the numbers are stacked,
yards per game allowed, per play allowed, blah blah blah.
The Daniel Jones they faced, Bryce Young, Jalen Hurts, loss,
Eagles moved up.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
And down the field against him, Mac Jones.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Decide here, if you're asking, he is the Commanders. When
you get humiliated on national TV and have a capable quarterback,
take the team. Commanders plus nine and a half is
the side.
Speaker 6 (17:27):
Well, I don't know where to Sam Howell fall. Is
he closer to Daniel Jones, Bryce Young, Mac Jones, Sam Hurts.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
And howls better than all those guys, Absolutely better. Sam
Howell is better than all that, better.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Than Tim Boyle.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
Come on, we'll see Dolphins final story. Bill Belichick again.
I know he hit him in the first hour of college.
His future has been a hot topic. A recent report
said that Belichick already has a deal in place to
coach a new team next year.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
I don't know about that. Here he is addressing those rumors.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, that's ridiculous stunder the best job I can right now.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Obviously need to do better.
Speaker 7 (18:02):
I don't worry about what everybody else is saying.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
I've very good, ever been.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
I don't really care.
Speaker 6 (18:10):
A tough year for Bill off the field, you know,
he went through a personal thing and now on the field, they.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
Are just I mean, their garbage.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
We can say, do you think he you think he's
the kind of guy who would just walk away and
just be content or do you not want to walk
away when you're down at the bottom like this.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
I think if they can draft a quarterback and he
can get another run with a potentially good talented kid,
that I'd go for it. I think he'd give it
a shot. I mean, he likes to coach. He is
a coach. This is what he does for a living.
He's not gonna sit and play golf all day.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
He's a seventy whatever he is. Or I'm going to
do a rebuild with a.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Rookiequnick Saban has to rebuild every year, seventy four assistant
coaches to handle all the heavy Well, he's got some
assistance too. These guys are coaches. What do you want?
What's Pete Carroll O'Bryan surf in Hawaii. Pete Carroll wants
to coach. Belichick wants to coach.
Speaker 6 (18:56):
Yeah, Pete's got you know, Smith, a veteran coaching a
young guy's hard man to start practically over.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Not if the young guys committed and good, it's not
that hard to coach. CJ. Stroud, he looks like you
for craft.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
How do you move on from a legend like this? Delicately?
Speaker 1 (19:10):
It's really difficult, you know what. You build a statue.
Build a statue. You've been compensated. Well, we love you.
Build a statue.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
You talk me through that.
Speaker 6 (19:17):
I'm Belichick, your craft, Bill.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Bill, all good things in you're leading with that. Well,
I'm not a bush guy. You know I'm not a
beat around the bush guy. You know I love you, you
know I respect you. But I think we need a
new energy. I think offensively we're a mile away. I
don't think we're close, and I want to go in
a different direction. Wow, I don't.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
Belichick probably storms out of that room and picks up
his phone and is like, where do I want to go?
And he starts calling around. You could say this, your
work needs a bedside man. Are there you know well,
I would say.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Bill, I'm gonna make a move. I'm going to give
you seventy two hours get on the phone. If you
get a job first. It looks better for you.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
On for them.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I'm not here to fire you. I would prefer you
move on from.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Me now that this is why you're the pro. That
was excellent right there. You should have opened with that.
I would I like that though. That would be good.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
Like I don't know where Belichick would go though he
would probably explore options, be like.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
I don't want to go there. Do I want to
move back?
Speaker 1 (20:19):
I've said, and you'll probably if he doesn't have personnel power.
I think he says excellent, excellent defensive coachingle very good
leader of.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
The Belichick, the most winning coach in the history of
the sport, now has to answer to a GM.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Yeah, that's a tough sell for Belichick.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Okay, well that or you're fired publicly in ten minutes.
What are your options? And let me tell you something,
talk show hosts and coaches, it doesn't end well. So
you got to come to terms. When you walk into
the owner's office. It ain't gonna go well. And you
have to you know, you have to own your ego
and suppress it. It doesn't end well, statue fired, or
(20:58):
you find a place to go. Right now, I think
you you know Washington would give him personnel power. That's desperate. Yeah,
but I wouldn't. And I think he's a great coach.
I think he's the best defensive coach ever and a
great head coach. He is not a personnel guy, and
he's completely tone deaf and out of sync with offense.
You think he could do in Denver? You think he
(21:18):
could get Russell Wilson this good, this fast in Denver. Ell, No,
no way that he could turn around Russell Wilson, like
Sean Pateon.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
Is somebody had dinner with Sean Payton last night saying
really nice thing about the game.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Yeah, it is up for Coach of the year if
he wins two more in a row.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
I'm aware.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Jmack with the news.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
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Speaker 2 (21:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd Weekdays
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who can't stay off sleeper in KTC, and trust me,
(22:47):
you won't regret making the choice to follow their dynasty advice.
Listen to Michael Smith presents The Dynasty Exchange on the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcat.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
You know they always say NBA season starts at Christmas,
but there are some early trends that you can look.
Teams that are a little overvalued teams that get old fast,
young players getting better quicker than we predicted, Rick Buker,
Fox Sports NBA analysts. So I gotta start. I always
start with you. I like to start with the Warriors
(23:22):
because you know them. They are the reigning dynasty, that
Celtic championship that may have been the end of it.
They look very Steph reliant, They've got depth. Saritch gives
them size. Draymond's coming back to me, it looks very
Steph dependent. Wiggins looks like he's done your take. Are
(23:42):
they a viable even Western Conference Finals team? Because they
don't look like it right now.
Speaker 8 (23:51):
I would say that they are, but they're one of
maybe five or six teams that are in that mix,
and they need every piece working at maximum level in
order to get there.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
There are a lot like the Lakers. I could make
a case where the Lakers are.
Speaker 8 (24:05):
Making it to the Western Conference Finals, but I don't
see anybody getting past the Nuggets. I could make a
case for the Warriors, but they do have some issues,
and it is a matter of the old guard getting
old and the new pieces just not being good enough
to carry them.
Speaker 7 (24:23):
Andrew Wiggins being at the head of that list.
Speaker 8 (24:25):
He was supposed to be and when they won the championship,
their last championship, he was arguably their second best player,
maybe their best defensive player.
Speaker 7 (24:33):
He hasn't been anywhere close to that. And I gave
him the out last.
Speaker 8 (24:36):
Year because of issues health issues with his dad that
were a distraction. But we're past that now and there
hasn't been an appreciable change, and he's one of those guys,
one of those young pieces that they were counting on
to be able to carry a greater load going forward
as Clay dray.
Speaker 7 (24:56):
And Steph age out.
Speaker 8 (24:59):
The dirty secret with this team, and I've probably said
it before, is we've always thought of them as this
offensive juggernaut and this amazing shooting team. They're not that anymore.
That's where they are definitely Steff dependent. Whether it's Wiggins,
it's Klay Thompson, it's Draymond Green, It'skevon Looney, it's Chris Paul,
you go down the list. I can't count on any
(25:20):
of those guys to knock down and open three, and
so there's been a real sea change, and I think
that they've lost their identity and Steve Kerr is kind
of hinted at it. They're trying to develop a new
one on the fly.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So Jason Tatum was critical of the Celtics, and they
look like the best or second best team to me
right now. Denver's beat up. So I'd make Boston one,
Denver two. I'll get to the Denver went over the
Clippers last night without their top three players, which is
just embarrassing for the Clippers. But Jason Tatum, who having
a great year, has been very critical of the N
season Tournament. For casual fans, you don't know much about
(25:55):
it except for the courts look different, how is it
being played out? Don't like it? What the players think
of it?
Speaker 8 (26:03):
So one of the big one of the tiebreakers is
scoring differential, and as a result, the Celtics lost to
the Magic.
Speaker 7 (26:11):
In an ND season tournament game.
Speaker 8 (26:13):
And the Magic, I think was Franz Wagner at the
end of the game with about nine seconds left, scored
on a layup. Now, I was really curious about why
Jason was so worked up about this, because one, yes,
the Celtics subbed out all of their all of their
starters like a couple seconds before that, but they played.
(26:34):
Tatum played eleven and a half minutes of that fourth
quarter and the subs came in and were playing the
same way. It wasn't like they olayed Franz Wagner and
he went and scored a layup.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
The other part of it is that the.
Speaker 8 (26:46):
Boston Celtics came into this game with a sizeable scoring
differential advantage and where the Magic are right now, they
needed to flip that. So Jason just looks like he
doesn't understand how this works or doesn't realize that.
Speaker 7 (27:05):
For the Orlando Magic, as young as they are, this is.
Speaker 8 (27:08):
Where the in season tournament is really valuable, because yes
they're twelve and five, Yes they've won seven games in
a row for the first time since twenty ten twenty eleven.
Speaker 7 (27:18):
I'm still not.
Speaker 8 (27:19):
One hundred percent sure that Orlando Magic are going to
be in the playoffs this year, but they get the
opportunity to see all of these young players in a
one and done type situation in the inn season tournament,
so it's really important to them that they advance.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
If the Magic.
Speaker 8 (27:37):
Lose to the they've lost to the Brooklyn Nets, So
if Brooklyn beats Toronto tonight, then they win their pool
and Orlando is fighting for one of two wild card spots,
which could very well come down to scoring differentials. So well,
this might not mean a whole lot to Jason Tatum
(27:58):
and the Boston Celtics, it means a whole lot to
the Orlando Magic and in the big picture, I just
have an issue with anybody at this point that is
complaining about teams playing to the final buzzer.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Right.
Speaker 8 (28:12):
That's why we have the nd seasoned tournament, because we're
trying to make these games meaningful and important at this
time of year. So yeah, I'm just I'm not feeling
Jason Tatum's complaints at all.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Jokich, Murray Gordon all out. They still dominate the Clippers
in the fourth quarter. I can't believe. Yeah, I mean,
somebody in the building with the Clippers had to say
Harden with Westbrook Kawhip, this doesn't work. I don't believe
it was a universal belief that this thing was gonna work.
It hasn't. Was there any pushback in the Clippers executive
(28:44):
space on the Harden move because it doesn't look like
it works.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
I have not heard that there was a a debate
in the front office when it came to making this move.
It's but I would say it's not as if everybody
was convinced that it was going to work. It was
one of those let's throw it against the wall and
see if it sticks situation, because as is, we don't
think we're good enough to get there. Let's take a
(29:11):
one year stab at it and see if potentially it
can work. But James Harden, as we heard, is not
a system player.
Speaker 7 (29:20):
He is the system.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
And now that the Clippers have said, well, you're not
going to be our system, it is clear that he's
become pouty mcpowerson. They might as well either bench him
or just let him go, because I think there would
be addition by subtraction. They've got four guys who are,
I believe, all times seventy five, all top seventy five
(29:44):
great players, and yet they don't have a leader among them.
The closest thing they have is Russell Westbrook, who agreed
to go to the bench in hopes that that would
make things better. I just don't see how this is
going to work, and I hope that the Clippers that
see Balmer has the gravitas to say, you know what.
Speaker 7 (30:04):
We're not gonna keep kicking this can down the road.
We're gonna blow it up.
Speaker 8 (30:07):
I know I'm going into a new building, but it
is really that that was as embarrassing a loss as
I can imagine. They lost to Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan.
That's who they lost to. Down the stretch and game
on the line. You got Paul George Kawhi, Leonard Russell
Westbrook and James Harden and you are getting beat in
a possession by possession game in the last four minutes.
Speaker 7 (30:29):
It's unconscionable.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Yeah, and they were at home as well. Yeah, and
at home all right. We gotta thanks you for pointing
that out.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
You know what, your questions were almost better than Jay
Max during during the break off air. I don't know
if you knew that that's what you were up against,
but you were Jay Mack brought it.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Yeah, he died too, and I brought it a little
better as usual, Rick Buker, good see anybody? All right?
So today on the show established the Clippers loss was
worse than the Lakers. It was and the Justin Fields
has a massive market. You've got ten teams, keenly interested.
I have two. I think the Giants, the New York
(31:08):
Giants is very, very interesting. In Atlanta, two offensive coaches
who see the talent and could refine kind of sandpaper
the edges on Justin Fields bring down the turnovers. I
think the Giants in Atlanta very interesting.
Speaker 5 (31:24):
I mean again, Pittsburgh, Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
You know Pittsburgh, what would they're gonna Kenny Pickket's gonna
be playing there twenty thirty eight.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
Oh, stop it, They're not at Tomlins will not stand
for that. Tennessee is gonna be in the mix. I
mean we did barely mention Tampa Bay Baker Mayfield a
free agent. What if he leaves Justin Fields or Kyle Trask.
Come on, there's so many quarterback situations unsettled around the league.
And I'll be honest. Cincinnati Bengals say, hey, Joe Burrows
our guy, but I'm j Max called him glass joke
because he's always hurt. We can't try it out, Jake Browning.
(31:55):
We need a backup. Let's just give up a third
round pick.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Well, I think Justin Fields are back. Think Justin wants
to be a starter.
Speaker 6 (32:01):
OKAYO, go to Vegas, enjoy being a starter, win five games,
enjoy the seller.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
And you'll be back on the on the market.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
In a year or two. He'd be interesting with the Raiders.
It's an interesting team. That's what I do, man, Interesting, Yeah,
you sure do.
Speaker 5 (32:15):
What'd you say under your breath?
Speaker 2 (32:17):
There?
Speaker 3 (32:17):
I said.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
I gotta go, Nick, right, Albert Berrick Buker, good stuff today.
Joel Klatt stops by tomorrow we'll talk about America's team,
the Michigan Wolverines. It's the Herd.
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 noone Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
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Speaker 2 (00:22):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Mercedes Benz Holiday Love Celebrations here until January second. Incredible
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the EQB. Go to mbusa dot com slash special offers.
Albert Breer is joining us lead content dude for m MQB. Okay, So,
I mean it's pretty clear, and I think inside the
(00:45):
building you gotta win games in this league. You'll watch
a CJ. Stroud come in in kind of a mess
of a franchise immediately succeed. I don't think that's done
Justin Fields any favors Jordan Love now looks like he's tracking.
He's better. It's it's done now for Justin Fields in Chicago, right,
They're gonna move him.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It doesn't look great and part of the problem he has,
like if you look at like Kyler Murray in Arizona,
for example, Like he's gonna have a chance to play
the Cardinals out of the top five of the draft,
right like, so if he plays well enough, in other words,
he can make it so they won't have great quarterback
options outside of just keeping him for twenty twenty four.
That's not the case with Fields. The Bears can play
(01:28):
well down the stretch, they still have the Panthers first pick,
which will likely be the first overall pick, and so
you know, in all likelihood we're gonna get to the
end of the year and it's not gonna be as
Justin Field's played well enough to legitimately warrant a fourth year.
I think we've seen some promise in some steps where
you would want to take another look at him in
twenty twenty four. The problem that he has now is
(01:50):
that he's gonna be held up against Caleb Williams and
Drake May, and not just Caleb Williams or Drake May,
but one of those guys on a rookie contract where
you can reset that want. So it's certainly looks right
now like this is trending that way where it's gonna
be tough for Justin Fields. To beat the other option
out there out that that that that should be out
there for the Bears, which you know will be a
(02:12):
highly drafted quarterback on a on a on a controlled contract.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, Raiders have already moved off their coach. They fired
Josh McDaniels.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The Carolina Panthers just got rid of Frank Reich. I
wouldn't have done it too quick, gets chaotic. There is
there is there a third or a fourth coach on
the hot seat? Is in your opinion?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
I mean, Washington is the one that I think we
all have to keep an eye on, you know, I
think we all assume that's going to be done at
the end of the year. And in fact, I would say,
like the in season firing of Jack del Rio probably
makes it more difficult to fire Ron Rivera while you're
in season, right, And the reason why is obvious because
now he's running your defense, and if you've already lost
(02:52):
your coordinator, it's gonna be hard to function the rest
of the year with those players. If you know you,
you know you don't have Revene or del Rio on
the staff. But Washington would be the one that I
would really keep an eye on. You know over the
next five or six weeks where if things really go
the wrong way, there could be a change there. I'm
just trying to think of someone else, Colin, and there's
(03:13):
so many teams that are bunched up in the middle
of the league right now. I mean, I guess the
one obvious one might be the Chargers. Yeah, where you
would look at that one and say, Okay, maybe they
want to take Kellen Moore out for a test drive
if it gets the point where they've decided they're going
to move on from Brandon Staley and they are going
to eventually bring in somebody to work with Justin Herbert,
maybe you want to look at Kellen Moore within the
(03:34):
context of, you know, what he would look like as
your head coach over the end of the year, like
the Cowboys once did with Jason Garrett, like the Vikings
once did with Leslie Frasier. Those two would be the
other two that I would look at and say, and
you know, it looks like those are going to be
over by the end of the year, so maybe teams
will pull a plug week.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Okay. Sean McDermott's been very successful, but you can see
even his press conference after the Philly loss, it was
much more humble. You know, it's it's not good Josh
Allen's oh for six and overtime games, ten penalties first half.
I doubt they fire him. But do you think he
has any heat there in Buffalo?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yeah, I mean, I think there's certainly questions about the window,
and it's not the window for the franchise. Let's be
clear about that. As long as Josh Allener a quarterback,
the championship window is open. We saw that on Sunday,
like he was the best player on the field and
it wasn't his fault that they lost that game. But
you know, for this group of players, and I'm talking
about like Matt Malano and Tredevius White coming back off
(04:34):
of injury at all of our Dion Dock and Stefan Diggs,
a lot of those guys are either in their late
twenties are already on the wrong side of thirty. Von
Miller obviously another one, and so do you kind of
get to that point where it's like we need to
do something to create a spark so we can get
one last great run out of this group of players.
That's the question that that that the ownership there that
(04:58):
Terry Pagula and his family are going to have to
answer because you know, I think you look at where
they are and again, like for this particular group of players,
that window maybe has a year or two left in it.
And oh, by the way, if you do make a change,
now we're talking about who's going to shepherd the reset
and do you feel comfortable with Sean McDermott captaining the
reset for you? So McDermott's obviously done a lot of
(05:20):
great things here over the last seven years and resurrecting
the Buffalo franchise, and now the question becomes for Pagoula
and his group. Is he the man to put them
over the top with the group that you have right now?
And then is he the man to lead the reset
whenever the time comes for that.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So early in this season, we've seen three stages of
Jordan love this year. The coddling in the preseason, remember
they tempered it, don't expect too much. Yeah, Then the
heavy criticism in the first seven eight weeks Matt Lafleur
highly critical. And now we see growth. Now it's the
Chargers and Lion secondary. But in the building, is there
(05:57):
a feeling those young receivers are really really talented. Is
there a feeling like, Okay, this year and next year
we're going with Jordan and in this wobbly division, he's
the guy.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
You know what's interesting about this Colin is like I think,
if you've got Matt Lafluor in an honest moment, he
would tell you that every quarterback should be developed this way,
that every quarterback should sit for a few years, that
every quarterback should be developed with patients, that every team
should exhibit this. Now that's unrealistic, right, Like, there are
very few teams that have to set up the Packers
did that Jordan Love walked into that have coaches and
(06:32):
gms with the job security to pull something like this off.
But they really do feel like they're doing things the
right way. And a big part of it for Jordan
Love was just being able to see more things, being
able to go out there and make his mistakes and
fall in his face and pick himself back up. And
you know, having talked to Lafleur about it last week,
you know, one of the most encouraging things is how
he's handled all of it. Yeah, and how steady he's
(06:53):
been and how he's been able to absorb failures along
the way. That's a big part of quarterbacking. So they're
encouraged by what they they've seen and they are a
little subtle hints of growth there too, Like there was
a touchdown pass to Tucker Craft in that Detroit game
where it was just a little swing pass into the
flat but heavy pressure coming at him, and Jordan Love
not only handled the pressure and was able to get
(07:15):
away from the pressure, he also put the ball where
it needed to be. There was the right number, there's
the right amount of air under the ball, and put
Tucker Craft in position to walk into the end zone.
So they're seeing little signs that they think he's got
the right temperament. He's loved within the building and they're
giving him a chance to grow up with a bunch
of guys who are right around his age. And again
like Tucker Craft and Luke Musgrave and the receivers Christian
(07:38):
Watson and Romeo Dobbs and Jayden Reid. There's so many
guys that have come into the league the last couple
of years that are in that skill position group. It
really is Jordan's group. And you know, again, I think
the Packers feel like the right thing to do to
get a full evaluation on Jordan Love is to let
him grow with all of those players over the next
couple of years.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
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Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
The good news for the Texans they found their guy
in CJ. Stroud. The bad news for all the young
struggling quarterbacks is it creates clarity and everybody goes this
kid walks into a.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Dis why can't my guy be like this? Right?
Speaker 1 (08:17):
And so CJ clearly processes a million miles an hour
and sees the field. I said, out of Ohio State,
I'm like, I don't see the juice. But his comp
was Jared Goff, and I've always thought Jared Goff's really good.
Do you think people at Ohio State, where you're connected
to people with the Texans, all your sources, are all
(08:38):
of them a little surprised how good he is as
a rookie.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, you know, I know, like one thing, having talked
to the Ohio State coaches over the years about him,
they always felt like his superpower was his vision in
his field. Right, like that he's great at ball placement,
not only because he's an accurate thrower, but because he
sees things and he's able to throw with anticipation and
he has great feel for the game, so like that
he would have highlight throws. I don't think that surprises anybody.
(09:07):
I think how quickly he's grown and how consistent he's
got And I think that's where the surprise is, right,
like that he's been able to handle all of the
knocks as well as he has and and continue to
pick himself back up. I think, you know, the maturity
and how quickly it's come. Like, that's where it's like, wow,
like that happened, maybe a little faster than we thought
it would. Yeah, and you know it's interesting, Colin, because
(09:30):
you know, I know you obviously watched the Georgia game
last year. Yeah, they felt like something really clicked for
him in that Georgia game and it's almost like he
took that and he never turned back, and that's really
rare that you see a hard turning point like that.
But I know that they felt like they saw a
different version of c. J. Stroud after the way the
Michigan game went for him and coming out of that
(09:51):
Michigan game and then the way he wound up playing
at at against Georgia, Like that's continued into the pros.
And here's the great thing about it, right the Texans,
And I think the Texans deserve a lot of credit
for this. They got after him when they had their
meeting with him pre draft, when they brought him down
to Houston, and they were tough on him, and you know,
it was a little uncomfortable. And one of the things
(10:13):
they did in the aftermath of that is they continue
to research him and they continue to talk to the
coaches at Ohio State, and they figured out, like, there's
a way to get through the kid, and there's a
way to work with the kid, and there's the right
way to do this. And I think Damiko Ryans and
his staff deserve a lot of credit for that because
it wasn't just like an our way or the highway thing.
It was, Okay, if we draft this kid, how do
(10:34):
we develop him, how do we coach him, how do
we work with him? And then they apply to all
of that when he got in the building. And I
think that's part of the reason why it's come together
so quickly for him there.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Great stuff. Albert Brerezola is good.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Senior Buden, all right, thanks Gong.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
It is really remarkable in the NFL, and c J.
Stroud and Russell Wilson are examples of this. You thought,
I thought coming into the season, needs a lot of players,
and you watch in the last five weeks. Once the
quarterback plays well, they got a great safety, a great corner,
(11:08):
could probably use a pass rusher, but good interior defensive lineman, Mims,
Judy Cortland, Sutton, two backs. I like, Oh, line's pretty good.
It's amazing. Houston a year ago, laughingstock. Now you're like, oh,
Tank Dell, these running backs aren't bad. Old lines underrated.
It's amazing when the quarterback is right. Like everybody in
(11:30):
New York now with the Giants, we're terrible. What if
you had c J. Stroud, Like you have a great
left tackle, great running back, c J. Stroud, You'd need
a receiver, but tight end make some plays. It's amazing.
You'll thibade interior line, you have a corner you like,
it's amazing. You get the quarterback right and it just
(11:53):
cinches it all together. Coming into this seat September, you
looked at you looked at Denver and thought, rebuild, rebuild.
They push Cleveland all over the field this week, and
Cleveland is one of the more physical teams in the league.
You look at Houston right now, I'm like, I mean,
what do they really need. They got an hedge rusher,
they got a star quarterback, they got receivers. I like,
(12:14):
they got a coach. I like, probably could use a
great corner. The whole world outside of the Jets could,
But to get the quarterback right man overnight, Caleb Williams
with a Ben Johnson, it'd be amazing. You'd be like,
you know, Cole comment is DJ Moore as I really
like our left tackle Montees Sweat. I love that deal,
(12:35):
the young corner. Everybody loves it. Jalen Johnson is a
free agent. But Chicago's got pieces, they just don't have
anybody that brings it together, tightens it up. I don't
think they're that far off. Jmack with a.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
News this is the herd.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
N't tell.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I watched Denver this weekend and they're not a great team,
and they may lose this weekend, but they got dudes.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
On both everybody's got dudes.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
No, But I mean they were. That game was physical,
and it was physical players, their backs, their safeties, everything.
For Denver. You watch them and you're like, they've got
a they need an edge rusher. Outside of that, Denver's
got all the pieces.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
Easy to look good against a backup quarterback.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
And a third round boy, very negative.
Speaker 6 (13:24):
Let's start with forty nine Ers Eagles Cowherd. Listen, I
confess I've already cleared off the schedule. I've told the
family lead me alone during like, lose my number for
a couple hours. Yeah, I'm so locked in on this game.
Rematch of last year's the NFC title game. I don't
know I was doing the show at that point, wasn't I?
Speaker 5 (13:39):
It was January? Yeah, I was. I had the forty
nine ers in that game and then Perdy goes down.
I just looked it up. Do you know who the
backup quarterback was? It was Johnson? Josh Johnson.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Yes, you know where he is now? No?
Speaker 5 (13:52):
I thought I saw him working at Chili's near me,
but he's not.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
He is the emergency slash practice squad quarterback for the Ravens.
So let's let's put that game in some context. Okay,
that's who the quarterback was.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Here's the thing. Are you willing? Because I think the
Niners were the side when they were getting points. Now
it's like San Francisco, you know, minus two and a half.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I don't love it. If against the three, I'll take Philly.
Speaker 6 (14:14):
Starting to hit three market. Why can you miss the
best number we told you yesterday?
Speaker 1 (14:18):
No, no, minus three. I'll take Philly. But the early number,
the early number was I got the Niners in points.
That was the best bat of the week.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I thought.
Speaker 6 (14:27):
So here's the interesting There's there's some online trash talk
AJ Brown, Deebo, Samuel or Friendly. However, Eagles edg rusher
Hassan Reddick says he's tired about hearing excuses from the
brock Perdy injury talk is cheap.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
You know, they get to come back in the length.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
It was a lot of boohool's last year, a lot
of crime, a lot of what if, a lot of this,
a lot of that.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
They get a chance to come back in here line
that improve it again.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
I can't wait, like I I want the cameras for Fox.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
Let our guys know, I want the video of the
forty nine ers coming out of the tunnel. They've started
to do this thing where Trent Williams just comes out.
He looks like a mountain, like a boulder, and they're
all like dancing and they just look intimidating. Man, this team,
Deebo Samuel, I really like them. They're my pick down
for the Super Bowl. Like, I don't know how you
can't pick them.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Well, they're eight and one with Trent Williams. So Sam
Francisco when they get the protection for party, they're really
really good.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
They got really good dudes and said that on the
defense looks awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I just think this is gonna be the game of
the year. It's on Fox. At Fox, we only broadcast
the biggest gamers.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
A couple notes, couple things, so we know the Niners
have had this circles on the calendar for close to
ten months out okay, number two.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
Last four games, not only.
Speaker 6 (15:39):
Have the Eagles been out gained by their own by
over one hundred yards in each game.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I know that's why fewer than one hundred.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
Yards offense at halftime against Buffalo Lane Johnson. We shall
see if he plays or not. I'm just telling you
would not surprise me.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Well, the Eagle nine ers the Chiefs in the Super
Bowl rematch. I think it's realistic to think the Niners
beat the Eagle in the NFC rematch. That stuff matters.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
I mean, I'm not calling it, but I would not
surprise me if this was like thirty to thirteen San
France and they put it on Pilly Philly's exhausted man
ninety two plays after the Monday night game. Like I
it's a tough spot. Next up Miami Dolphins. Tough loss
for them. Jalen Phillips, the great ed rusher, and he
is great. That really hurts, goes down with achilles.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
This is that injury.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
That's big. He's very good.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Oh, he's a terrific player.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
So they're making a move on veteran pass rusher Jason
Pierre AKK sorry ak JPP.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
As you said, listen, I just don't know how much
how does he have left in the tank?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Well, probably not. I mean listen, if you lose Phillips,
that's pay. That's not the same defense.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:45):
Fangio's unit, however, we have numbers. Since week five, they
have been showing out. Like listen, Jaylen Ramsey has returned,
but look, Fangio's unit, they needed some time to gel
and get together now, because I am the kind of
guy who's gonna spend the time on them.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
I looked at the quarterbacks they face. Are you ready?
Speaker 6 (17:02):
Okay, so the numbers they see, the numbers are stacked,
yards per game allowed, per play allowed, blah blah blah.
The Daniel Jones they faced, Bryce Young, Jalen Hurts, loss,
Eagles moved up.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
And down the field against him, Mac Jones.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Decide here, if you're asking, he is the Commanders. When
you get humiliated on national TV and have a capable quarterback,
take the team. Commanders plus nine and a half is
the side.
Speaker 6 (17:27):
Well, I don't know where to Sam Howell fall. Is
he closer to Daniel Jones, Bryce Young, Mac Jones, Sam Hurts.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
And howls better than all those guys, Absolutely better. Sam
Howell is better than all that, better.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Than Tim Boyle.
Speaker 6 (17:40):
Come on, we'll see Dolphins final story. Bill Belichick again.
I know he hit him in the first hour of college.
His future has been a hot topic. A recent report
said that Belichick already has a deal in place to
coach a new team next year.
Speaker 5 (17:52):
I don't know about that. Here he is addressing those rumors.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, that's ridiculous stunder the best job I can right now.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Obviously need to do better.
Speaker 7 (18:02):
I don't worry about what everybody else is saying.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
I've very good, ever been.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
I don't really care.
Speaker 6 (18:10):
A tough year for Bill off the field, you know,
he went through a personal thing and now on the field, they.
Speaker 5 (18:15):
Are just I mean, their garbage.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
We can say, do you think he you think he's
the kind of guy who would just walk away and
just be content or do you not want to walk
away when you're down at the bottom like this.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
I think if they can draft a quarterback and he
can get another run with a potentially good talented kid,
that I'd go for it. I think he'd give it
a shot. I mean, he likes to coach. He is
a coach. This is what he does for a living.
He's not gonna sit and play golf all day.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
He's a seventy whatever he is. Or I'm going to
do a rebuild with a.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Rookiequnick Saban has to rebuild every year, seventy four assistant
coaches to handle all the heavy Well, he's got some
assistance too. These guys are coaches. What do you want?
What's Pete Carroll O'Bryan surf in Hawaii. Pete Carroll wants
to coach. Belichick wants to coach.
Speaker 6 (18:56):
Yeah, Pete's got you know, Smith, a veteran coaching a
young guy's hard man to start practically over.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Not if the young guys committed and good, it's not
that hard to coach. CJ. Stroud, he looks like you
for craft.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
How do you move on from a legend like this? Delicately?
Speaker 1 (19:10):
It's really difficult, you know what. You build a statue.
Build a statue. You've been compensated. Well, we love you.
Build a statue.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
You talk me through that.
Speaker 6 (19:17):
I'm Belichick, your craft, Bill.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Bill, all good things in you're leading with that. Well,
I'm not a bush guy. You know I'm not a
beat around the bush guy. You know I love you, you
know I respect you. But I think we need a
new energy. I think offensively we're a mile away. I
don't think we're close, and I want to go in
a different direction. Wow, I don't.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
Belichick probably storms out of that room and picks up
his phone and is like, where do I want to go?
And he starts calling around. You could say this, your
work needs a bedside man. Are there you know well,
I would say.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Bill, I'm gonna make a move. I'm going to give
you seventy two hours get on the phone. If you
get a job first. It looks better for you.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
On for them.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
I'm not here to fire you. I would prefer you
move on from.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Me now that this is why you're the pro. That
was excellent right there. You should have opened with that.
I would I like that though. That would be good.
Speaker 6 (20:12):
Like I don't know where Belichick would go though he
would probably explore options, be like.
Speaker 5 (20:17):
I don't want to go there. Do I want to
move back?
Speaker 1 (20:19):
I've said, and you'll probably if he doesn't have personnel power.
I think he says excellent, excellent defensive coachingle very good
leader of.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
The Belichick, the most winning coach in the history of
the sport, now has to answer to a GM.
Speaker 5 (20:33):
Yeah, that's a tough sell for Belichick.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Okay, well that or you're fired publicly in ten minutes.
What are your options? And let me tell you something,
talk show hosts and coaches, it doesn't end well. So
you got to come to terms. When you walk into
the owner's office. It ain't gonna go well. And you
have to you know, you have to own your ego
and suppress it. It doesn't end well, statue fired, or
(20:58):
you find a place to go. Right now, I think
you you know Washington would give him personnel power. That's desperate. Yeah,
but I wouldn't. And I think he's a great coach.
I think he's the best defensive coach ever and a
great head coach. He is not a personnel guy, and
he's completely tone deaf and out of sync with offense.
You think he could do in Denver? You think he
(21:18):
could get Russell Wilson this good, this fast in Denver. Ell, No,
no way that he could turn around Russell Wilson, like
Sean Pateon.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
Is somebody had dinner with Sean Payton last night saying
really nice thing about the game.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Yeah, it is up for Coach of the year if
he wins two more in a row.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
I'm aware.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Jmack with the news.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
herd Line.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
This show sponsored by Better Help Online Therapy ten percent
off if you start today can bring out a whole
new U. Go to b E T T E r
h E LP Online Therapy, Betterhelp dot Com slash Hurt.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd Weekdays
and Noone Easter not a Empacific Dynasty.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
What's good? Jolli Jamin Man, Michael Smith, esteemed NFL analyst
and certified fantasy football legend, allow me to present to
you your new favorite fantasy football podcast, The Dynasty Exchange,
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Speaker 1 (23:00):
You know they always say NBA season starts at Christmas,
but there are some early trends that you can look.
Teams that are a little overvalued teams that get old fast,
young players getting better quicker than we predicted, Rick Buker,
Fox Sports NBA analysts. So I gotta start. I always
start with you. I like to start with the Warriors
(23:22):
because you know them. They are the reigning dynasty, that
Celtic championship that may have been the end of it.
They look very Steph reliant, They've got depth. Saritch gives
them size. Draymond's coming back to me, it looks very
Steph dependent. Wiggins looks like he's done your take. Are
(23:42):
they a viable even Western Conference Finals team? Because they
don't look like it right now.
Speaker 8 (23:51):
I would say that they are, but they're one of
maybe five or six teams that are in that mix,
and they need every piece working at maximum level in
order to get there.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
There are a lot like the Lakers. I could make
a case where the Lakers are.
Speaker 8 (24:05):
Making it to the Western Conference Finals, but I don't
see anybody getting past the Nuggets. I could make a
case for the Warriors, but they do have some issues,
and it is a matter of the old guard getting
old and the new pieces just not being good enough
to carry them.
Speaker 7 (24:23):
Andrew Wiggins being at the head of that list.
Speaker 8 (24:25):
He was supposed to be and when they won the championship,
their last championship, he was arguably their second best player,
maybe their best defensive player.
Speaker 7 (24:33):
He hasn't been anywhere close to that. And I gave
him the out last.
Speaker 8 (24:36):
Year because of issues health issues with his dad that
were a distraction. But we're past that now and there
hasn't been an appreciable change, and he's one of those guys,
one of those young pieces that they were counting on
to be able to carry a greater load going forward
as Clay dray.
Speaker 7 (24:56):
And Steph age out.
Speaker 8 (24:59):
The dirty secret with this team, and I've probably said
it before, is we've always thought of them as this
offensive juggernaut and this amazing shooting team. They're not that anymore.
That's where they are definitely Steff dependent. Whether it's Wiggins,
it's Klay Thompson, it's Draymond Green, It'skevon Looney, it's Chris Paul,
you go down the list. I can't count on any
(25:20):
of those guys to knock down and open three, and
so there's been a real sea change, and I think
that they've lost their identity and Steve Kerr is kind
of hinted at it. They're trying to develop a new
one on the fly.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So Jason Tatum was critical of the Celtics, and they
look like the best or second best team to me
right now. Denver's beat up. So I'd make Boston one,
Denver two. I'll get to the Denver went over the
Clippers last night without their top three players, which is
just embarrassing for the Clippers. But Jason Tatum, who having
a great year, has been very critical of the N
season Tournament. For casual fans, you don't know much about
(25:55):
it except for the courts look different, how is it
being played out? Don't like it? What the players think
of it?
Speaker 8 (26:03):
So one of the big one of the tiebreakers is
scoring differential, and as a result, the Celtics lost to
the Magic.
Speaker 7 (26:11):
In an ND season tournament game.
Speaker 8 (26:13):
And the Magic, I think was Franz Wagner at the
end of the game with about nine seconds left, scored
on a layup. Now, I was really curious about why
Jason was so worked up about this, because one, yes,
the Celtics subbed out all of their all of their
starters like a couple seconds before that, but they played.
(26:34):
Tatum played eleven and a half minutes of that fourth
quarter and the subs came in and were playing the
same way. It wasn't like they olayed Franz Wagner and
he went and scored a layup.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
The other part of it is that the.
Speaker 8 (26:46):
Boston Celtics came into this game with a sizeable scoring
differential advantage and where the Magic are right now, they
needed to flip that. So Jason just looks like he
doesn't understand how this works or doesn't realize that.
Speaker 7 (27:05):
For the Orlando Magic, as young as they are, this is.
Speaker 8 (27:08):
Where the in season tournament is really valuable, because yes
they're twelve and five, Yes they've won seven games in
a row for the first time since twenty ten twenty eleven.
Speaker 7 (27:18):
I'm still not.
Speaker 8 (27:19):
One hundred percent sure that Orlando Magic are going to
be in the playoffs this year, but they get the
opportunity to see all of these young players in a
one and done type situation in the inn season tournament,
so it's really important to them that they advance.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
If the Magic.
Speaker 8 (27:37):
Lose to the they've lost to the Brooklyn Nets, So
if Brooklyn beats Toronto tonight, then they win their pool
and Orlando is fighting for one of two wild card spots,
which could very well come down to scoring differentials. So well,
this might not mean a whole lot to Jason Tatum
(27:58):
and the Boston Celtics, it means a whole lot to
the Orlando Magic and in the big picture, I just
have an issue with anybody at this point that is
complaining about teams playing to the final buzzer.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Right.
Speaker 8 (28:12):
That's why we have the nd seasoned tournament, because we're
trying to make these games meaningful and important at this
time of year. So yeah, I'm just I'm not feeling
Jason Tatum's complaints at all.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Jokich, Murray Gordon all out. They still dominate the Clippers
in the fourth quarter. I can't believe. Yeah, I mean,
somebody in the building with the Clippers had to say
Harden with Westbrook Kawhip, this doesn't work. I don't believe
it was a universal belief that this thing was gonna work.
It hasn't. Was there any pushback in the Clippers executive
(28:44):
space on the Harden move because it doesn't look like
it works.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
I have not heard that there was a a debate
in the front office when it came to making this move.
It's but I would say it's not as if everybody
was convinced that it was going to work. It was
one of those let's throw it against the wall and
see if it sticks situation, because as is, we don't
think we're good enough to get there. Let's take a
(29:11):
one year stab at it and see if potentially it
can work. But James Harden, as we heard, is not
a system player.
Speaker 7 (29:20):
He is the system.
Speaker 8 (29:21):
And now that the Clippers have said, well, you're not
going to be our system, it is clear that he's
become pouty mcpowerson. They might as well either bench him
or just let him go, because I think there would
be addition by subtraction. They've got four guys who are,
I believe, all times seventy five, all top seventy five
(29:44):
great players, and yet they don't have a leader among them.
The closest thing they have is Russell Westbrook, who agreed
to go to the bench in hopes that that would
make things better. I just don't see how this is
going to work, and I hope that the Clippers that
see Balmer has the gravitas to say, you know what.
Speaker 7 (30:04):
We're not gonna keep kicking this can down the road.
We're gonna blow it up.
Speaker 8 (30:07):
I know I'm going into a new building, but it
is really that that was as embarrassing a loss as
I can imagine. They lost to Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan.
That's who they lost to. Down the stretch and game
on the line. You got Paul George Kawhi, Leonard Russell
Westbrook and James Harden and you are getting beat in
a possession by possession game in the last four minutes.
Speaker 7 (30:29):
It's unconscionable.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Yeah, and they were at home as well. Yeah, and
at home all right. We gotta thanks you for pointing
that out.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
You know what, your questions were almost better than Jay
Max during during the break off air. I don't know
if you knew that that's what you were up against,
but you were Jay Mack brought it.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Yeah, he died too, and I brought it a little
better as usual, Rick Buker, good see anybody? All right?
So today on the show established the Clippers loss was
worse than the Lakers. It was and the Justin Fields
has a massive market. You've got ten teams, keenly interested.
I have two. I think the Giants, the New York
(31:08):
Giants is very, very interesting. In Atlanta, two offensive coaches
who see the talent and could refine kind of sandpaper
the edges on Justin Fields bring down the turnovers. I
think the Giants in Atlanta very interesting.
Speaker 5 (31:24):
I mean again, Pittsburgh, Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
You know Pittsburgh, what would they're gonna Kenny Pickket's gonna
be playing there twenty thirty eight.
Speaker 6 (31:32):
Oh, stop it, They're not at Tomlins will not stand
for that. Tennessee is gonna be in the mix. I
mean we did barely mention Tampa Bay Baker Mayfield a
free agent. What if he leaves Justin Fields or Kyle Trask.
Come on, there's so many quarterback situations unsettled around the league.
And I'll be honest. Cincinnati Bengals say, hey, Joe Burrows
our guy, but I'm j Max called him glass joke
because he's always hurt. We can't try it out, Jake Browning.
(31:55):
We need a backup. Let's just give up a third
round pick.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Well, I think Justin Fields are back. Think Justin wants
to be a starter.
Speaker 6 (32:01):
OKAYO, go to Vegas, enjoy being a starter, win five games,
enjoy the seller.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
And you'll be back on the on the market.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
In a year or two. He'd be interesting with the Raiders.
It's an interesting team. That's what I do, man, Interesting, Yeah,
you sure do.
Speaker 5 (32:15):
What'd you say under your breath?
Speaker 2 (32:17):
There?
Speaker 3 (32:17):
I said.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
I gotta go, Nick, right, Albert Berrick Buker, good stuff today.
Joel Klatt stops by tomorrow we'll talk about America's team,
the Michigan Wolverines. It's the Herd.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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