October 21, 2024 • 33 mins
Colin credits the Chiefs for always finding a way to win games despite their sluggish offensive output so far this season. He tells you why he was right about Brock Purdy and wrong about Georgia vs Texas. Plus, 3-time Pro Bowler Matt Hasselbeck joins the show to explain why the Steelers were able to pull off a win over the Jets in Russell Wilson's first start with Pittsburgh
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Here we go on a Monday. We are stacked.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Live in Los Angeles, Dodgers in the World Series facing
the New York Yankees.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
It's the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Jamack. It was a moment in time, a moment.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Brog party to go toe to toe with Patrick Mahomes.
It did not, It did not transpire the way you
are hoping for. So thank you for making me laugh
to start the show.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
Because there's gonna be a lot of.
Speaker 6 (01:00):
Tea is in.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It is official. Kyle Shanahan now ozer to five against
Andy Reid.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
It's official. Number one.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Kansas City is the best team in the league, maybe
by a lot. Number two. They're easily the most resourceful
team in the league. Everybody has injuries doesn't affect them
at all. And number three Andy Reid is separated from
even the other good coaches. Kyle Shanahan's special teams annual embarrassment.
Kyle Shanahan's red zone offense totally dependent appears on Christian McCaffrey.
(01:34):
Shanahan's a very good coach, but in high leverage situations,
he doesn't have the adaptability the ingenuity of Andy Reid.
Kyle Shanahan has a very good system that's excellent with
Christian McCaffrey. You take out that player a running back,
and even when their backup running back is good, it's
(01:57):
not the same team Andy Reid. Let's put Carson Wentz
in the backfield with Mahomes. That'll get them again. Both
teams were missing the star running back. Both teams were
missing collection of receivers. Neither quarterback played their best game ever.
Offensive lines for both Kansas City and forty nine Ers okay,
(02:17):
but in every single high leverage situation, Mahomes in Kansas
City up here, pretty Shanahan down there. Now, you could
say to yourself, Colin that come on, don't be naive.
This is all Mahomes. Okay, let's say it is. That's
even worse news for San Francisco. You're gonna give the
(02:38):
bag to brock Purty. Brock Purty, let's please contectual. Good quarterback,
but when he's missing pieces the red zone offense man,
you know, his two big completions both underthrown. Thankfully Tom
Brady called it out. This is what I've consistently said
about brock Purty. He's a good quarterback with nice mobill,
(03:00):
but he was just eight for eighteen missing deebo a
Uk may be gone now eight for eighteen on throws
just five yards downfield with three picks. That's what he was. Yes,
he was missing. Debo An Mahomes has been missing. Rashi
Rice Well, I mean I Yuk yes Ayuk dropped a
ball and then left later. Look at what Kansas City's
(03:23):
been doing for three years at wide receiver ham and
egging it, just trying to find anybody Juju Smith, have him,
lose him, bring him back.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Gets hurt.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
That's the story of the Chiefs for three years, just
trying to make it work. Bondo band aids, whatever works.
So I think brock Purty is overwhelmingly although I think
he's got some talent. He has been the beneficiary of
a good coach with a great system and a collection
of Hall of Fame level George Kittle, Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey.
(03:52):
Take those out and there's almost no extraordinary to brock
Purty size arm movement. Eh Yet, in all those situations,
when you remove all of those, pretty and Mahomes are
asked to do two different things. Perty Is asked in
San Francisco, don't screw up. Here's the keys to the Mercedes.
(04:13):
Don't screw up. That's what he's asked to do. Perty
is six and eight in games in which he's just
had one one turnover. Mahomes is asked to carry a franchise,
get rid of Tyreek Hill, move off great players, average
offensive tackles. Can you be magical when we don't have
(04:35):
all the resources we had to start the year, start
the dynasty, or start the game. These are two different asks.
One is the best quarterback on the planet, regardless of
who's around him. One does a good job when everything's
in place. And that's what I've said about this. Just contextualize.
(04:56):
You give most quarterbacks in this league time to throw oh,
number one receiver, excellent offensive line, They're gonna look good.
What Mahomes did yesterday on a game in which he
didn't play that well, he just in the highest moments.
I mean, yesterday was a referendum on head coaching at
the highest level, quarterbacking at the highest level. Mahomes and Purty.
(05:19):
I mean you may not want to hear this, but
I mean, even on that bruising touchdown run, it's just
Mahomes off script on script. It doesn't matter. He always
makes the play.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I actually was not trying to like lower my shoulder.
I was trying to like absorb the hit. I know
I was gonna be right in the right there in
the end zone, and that Dad bond Man just had
enough weight on me where he went down, So it
wasn't like I was necessarily trying to like seek out contact.
I was trying to absorb it and getting the end
zone and just ended up looking good for me.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I've just watched this matchup too many times and I
keep seeing the same exact thing every time. Mahomes is
magical in crisis. Party needs everything to be in place.
Shanahan has a really good system. Their special teams are
annually cringey and Kansas City's more resourceful. Both these teams
(06:17):
were missing all sorts of players. One kind of capsized,
the other elevated. And that's what I've watched now five
straight times. All Right, let's talk about the second best
team in the league, and I think it's pretty substantial
and clear. It's Detroit. That was not an easy game
at Minnesota. Minnesota has engulf good teams, and the Lions
(06:41):
may never get their defense right. They've been trying for years.
The minute they get it right, that horrible injury to
Aiden Hutchison, right, but quarterback o line, run game, clever,
offensive coordinator, power, finesse culture, there are no weaknesses to
that offense. I mean, Jared Goff essentially looks like he's
(07:04):
playing catch with his friends. In his last three games,
Jared Goff's completing eighty five percent of his throws with
one hundred and fifty three passer rating. It is a
video game. And remember, Minnesota's defense, especially at home with
that crowd noise, is ferocious, is outstanding. He had three
incompletions against them.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
CJ.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Stroud, Brock Purdy, I've never seen anything like this defense.
I was seeing Ghosts, Jared Goff's playing catch. It almost
feels like as we head into Week eight Chiefs Lions
Super Bowl, it's kind of starting to feel inevitable. You
don't have to reach for the narrative or grasp for
a story. I mean, Detroit's offense in an offensive league.
(07:49):
Here's what I also love is that there's this collective
chip on the shoulder with Detroit. I mean, Goff was
cast off in LA Get out of Here, and then
Dan Campbell has been mocked and the city of Detroit
for years has been a punchline. And Detroit has taken
that and built this muscle car from different parts. It's
(08:11):
got mad maxfield to it. And they are head coach
GM offensive line tackles everything. They are a knee cap
biting monster. They are just the team. And Minnesota's really good.
Minnesota's got a brilliant defensive coordinator. Jared Goff had three incompletions. So,
(08:31):
I mean, and what I loved about this game for Detroit,
Detroit trailed on the road, and then Detroit led, and
then they trailed again, and then they came back, and
then they had to hold off a more than capable
Sam Darnold Viking offense. It's the kind of game you
see in January and February. All these routes are fun.
(08:55):
But what you watch with Detroit and Minnesota that feels
like the NFC Chamchampionship. And you're on the road and
you trail early and the crowd is humming and you
can't hear, and you just start running the football and
you take a lead, then you fall behind, and then
you rally and take the lead again and hold on.
That looked like a playoff game. I feel like with Detroit,
(09:18):
I'm watching this sort of adolescent boy and every couple
months his voice gets deeper, he's got more confidence, few pimples,
you know. But then he walks out when morning and
Mom looks up and he's six five, two forty five
and has a D one scholarship offer to Ohio State
or Michigan. It just they just look the part. Power, finesse,
(09:41):
run game, effortless completions, win, leading, comeback when trailing. I
don't see anything about Detroit.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
I don't like.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
I just seen it for years from Kansas City. I've
never seen it before from Detroit. This year was going
to be an interesting year for the Lions. Instead of hunting.
They were the hunted. They're fine, They're fine being the hunted.
Here's Dan Campbell after.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
You guys didn't bout an eye.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
I love this freaking team.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
I love the coaches, I love the players, I.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
Love everything about it.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Man.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
We are so freaking hardened even when doesn't go the
way we want it to. Man, you find a way
that as an outstanding we are one to zero in
the division.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
That was something else that that was Sometimes you get
these in the regular season.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
You'll see it in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
You get that handful of games you're like, oh, that's
a playoff game, that's a conference final. That felt like
an NFC conference championship game. And Detroit goes into Minnesota
with the defensive coordinator Brian Floric Flores who had flummixed everybody,
and they just rattling off drive after drive, clever, smart,
physical power. That was something.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in neonon Eastern non am, Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one, and the iHeartRadio app where Colin.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Was right, that's a I think brock pretty is a
good quarterback, but you're going to be judged ultimately on
how do you play against the best teams in high
leverage situations and when not everything is available to you? Yeah,
guess who was also missing receivers in a running back
Patrick Mahomes. He now doesn't have a stacked deck. Brock
pretty doesn't. He's twenty second in completion percentage. Got lectured
(11:19):
during the game by Kyle Shanahan, and listen, that's why
we said contextualized quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Who was their coordinator?
Speaker 1 (11:26):
It's a lot different getting you know, the keys to
a nice car was Shanahan and Trent Williams and Deebo
and Christian McCaffrey. But eventually, if you had to pay
Rock pretty, you don't get all those toys where Colin
was raw woy. Georgia thump Texas, didn't they? I mean,
Georgia re established itself. It looked like Texas was too
(11:47):
busy feeling good about Texas. Georgia had seven sacks, felt
like they could have had seven more. Longhorns could not
run the ball. They felt like they kind of panicked
at quarterback. They were atroci on third down. You know, listen,
with a college football playoff, these two could probably meet
down the road in eight weeks or whatever it is.
But in the end, this was a program built on
(12:10):
defense against the high glamour program that wanted to tell
you they were ready, they were ready for the moment,
and Texas was not ready for the moment at all.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Where Colin was right, my.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Guy, boringly elite Jared Goff twenty two to twenty five
against a very good Minnesota team, four games in a row,
passer rating at least one thirteen.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
And the thing I love about him, there is no sizzle.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
It is all stake and I know his TikTok videos
aren't as cool, but in the last four games it
looks like pitch and catch.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
He is just in a zone.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
In fact, in his last four games, Detroit has more
touchdowns eighteen than Goff has incompletions sixteen. Where Colin was raw,
I have defended Lincoln Riley at every turn and he's
not going to get fire. But increasingly you were wondering
if he's the right fit. They lead in the fourth quarter,
in the second half in all these games, but they
(13:07):
lack the physicality and the toughness to put it away. Now,
some of this is they're very very young on offense,
but you know what, he took over Bob Stoops in
a very good program with inertia and momentum, and he
had to rebuild this thing. And after a flashy first
year where they were probably better than they should have been,
it's all been downhill. Maryland, Minnesota. I'll give you a
(13:28):
loss to Penn State. That's a terrific program, but I'll.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Go back to this.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
They have one running back they trust in the program,
it's usc and two tackles that can play. After three years,
that's not good enough.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Lincoln where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
I'm a Jordan Love fan, and I know he makes
mistakes and he's more far than Aaron Rodgers. But the
joy he plays, with the support he gets from his
coaches even after big mistakes. Matt Lafleur doesn't care. Look
at how they coach Love. I mean, this offense is
read and Watson and Dobbs their kids.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Jordan Love.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
But he's tied for passing touchdown lead in the NFL
at fifteen and he's missed two starts, and there's great
quarterbacks all over this sport. He's in a tough division,
but this this is what great looks like. I mean,
he may not be Mahomes great. Yet we don't have
to classify every player, but he is special.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
When the Giants let Saquon Barkley go to the Eagles,
we said, the worst part about this is Saquon's gonna
humiliate you twice a year and once at home and
in front of your bosses. It is a bad Monday
in the Giants facility had more yards than the Giants
did in total. And you know, yes he got booed,
(14:49):
but I mean, you got to be careful. There's there's
a reason there's the old term never never trade in division. Well,
you don't want to trade your best player to your
arch rival and division. And I guess guarantee you it
is walking on eggshells in the Giants facility today, here's
saque after.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
I probably talked a little more today and I usually do.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
You know, I didn't help myself when I said earlier week,
I didn't think I was gonna get booed.
Speaker 5 (15:13):
But you know they're going for a reason. It's a
complement at the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
That's how I took is a great player getting his congratulations.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
You know, a couple of weeks ago, I called Colorado
the fake id of college football. They have apparently turned
twenty one. They have a run game, defenses playing well.
Crushed the decent Arizona team thirty four to seven. Listen,
Shador Sanders, I think is the best quarterback in college football,
especially after watching Texas and Georgia. They're one win from
(15:45):
Bowl eligible and they've you know, it felt like a
lot of hype the first couple of years, but they're
one in the football. They're playing defense, they have a
pass rush, and they have the best quarterback in college football.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
So shame on me.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Colorado looks real where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
My number one pick this year on my over under
bets was Denver. Vegas had him at five and a
half wins. I said, Sean Payton is just gonna get
him to seven to eight. They beat the Saints Thursday.
Same defense as last year, I mean, same players, But
I think Peyton is squeezing every ounce of talent out
of this roster. He comes from the Bill Parcells tree,
(16:20):
and that's what Bill did. He had a good eye
for personnel and the ability to get the most and
motivate players. Denver's not a great team. And it's kind
of an okay roster, but they've got winning streaks, and
they win the games they should, and they beat the
Jets in New York with a rookie quarterback.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
We were right on that one where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
The Clippers announced that Kawhi Leonard would not only miss
the opener into it Dome, he may miss big chunks
of the season. Steve Ballmer's obviously smarter than me. I
do not get doubling down on this. The face of
a franchise, if nothing else has to be reliable and
the winning has to be sustainable, I never know what
he's gonna play. I just don't understand this. Death taxes
(17:02):
and Kawhi not being available are the three things here
I'm pretty used to. And they double down on it.
So over the next three years he's got a fifty
million dollar cap hit each of those seasons. I didn't
get it. Then I didn't get doubling down. He's not
really a leader in the locker room.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I don't get it.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And Steve Ballmer's a brilliant guy, but I just don't
get this Kawhi thing. It's not who I would build around.
I would not let Paul George go who may get
injured from time to time, But I know what I
get with Paul George, Like he's gonna play if he's healthy.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Colin right, Colin wrong.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Now. Matt Hasselbeck eighteen years in the NFL, three Pro Bowls,
a Super Bowl. You know, and I've said this before,
when you're a sportscaster and a quarterback comes in, he
looks good. The two things I look at is how
does he play when he's trailing everybody? You know, when
it's when you lead twenty seven to six in the
third quarter, The game's different for a quarterback. How do
(18:05):
you look when you're trailing? And how do you look
when you're missing a left tackle? You're number one receiver,
you're on a backup quarterback. And I watched Mahomes in
Purty and neither had a full set. I mean it
was just players everywhere, and in those high leverage moments.
Matt Mahomes is just crazy. I mean Brady said it.
(18:26):
It's like he's doing stuff you shouldn't do throw backwards,
you know, you know, taunting. I mean, what do you
make of Mahomes? Yesterday was a day I don't know.
People say he didn't play well, but in the big
moments he did so I thought, you know, everybody has
likely picks.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
I thought he played kind of well, didn't he.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Listen, Patrick Mahomes does some stuff you're not going to
find in the statue, you know. You know, even the
play that Brady said, you shouldn't throw back across your back,
across your body, like.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
That's a design play for that team.
Speaker 6 (18:56):
Like that's how guys like Tom and guys like me
and guys that can't do what he you know, like
that physical stuff, that's how they get coach Mahomes.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
That's part of their offense. That's just normal for them.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
I just think he's one of these guys that has
those things that you call in tangibles where the opponent
is intimidated without really him really having to do anything.
He saw where he ran over the guy in the
end zone. The defender was so afraid of getting a
flag because it's the Patrick Mahomes and so like, whether
it's throwing it left handed, underhand behind his back. Patrick
Mahomes almost has mind control over people the way.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
That he plays.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
And listen, I say all that he has not played
his best football. I think he'd be honest and say
that as well, he really has not played his best football.
That offense hasn't looked their best, and yet they are
the probably the number one or number two in all
of football right now.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
First of all, San francisc goes good. They're gonna win
a bunch of games. Let's not overreact. But in this
space against this team, it does. We're getting to a
point now where I like, yeah, I've seen this barbecue, Like,
I know what this looks like. Do teams get another
team's heads or was this just better team? One to
(20:05):
you for San Francisco.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
Listen, Yeah, Colin, I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
I think there's matchups that we don't talk about enough.
It's play caller to play caller. It's Kyle Shanahan versus
Steve Spagnolo. Like those two guys have gone up head
to head so many times to shoot. Spags has gone
up against Mike Shanahan, never mind Kyle Shannahan, and so like,
there's definitely an element like I'm watching the I'm rewatching
that game today this morning, and I'm saying, like, wow,
(20:33):
that was such a good defensive.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
Call, you know.
Speaker 6 (20:36):
I mean, the Niners are an offense that has so
much respect around the league that people copy them, they
study them, they know them. And I just thought Spags's
game plan was so exceptional, Like he knew where the
hot was going to be. He knew what they not
necessarily what they were going to do, but he knew
what they were not gonna do, so like on their
naked bootleg type stuff based on formations, based on splits,
(20:59):
he knew they weren't taking a shot. He knew it
was a completion mindset. And those safeties were playing deep
but downhill. I mean they were. It was almost like
they were told in the meetings, you have our permission
in this formation with this action to play downhill and
go for an interception. A lot of times defenders are told, hey,
you're safety, you're deeper than the deepest. They did not
(21:21):
say that in this game yesterday. They were telling those
guys to fire their gun as soon as you see it,
pull the trigger and make a play. And that's exactly
what they did.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
I had said everybody in Pittsburgh big band is like,
you can't play Russell Wilson. And to Mike Tomlin's credit,
Mike's like, this is why I get paid. And I
know what I'm seeing, and it was I gotta tell you, man,
it was pretty choppy in the first quarter. There were
some bad misses and I'm thinking, boy, I look smart.
In that second half, I'm like, I saw a quarterback
(21:55):
who was not panicking, good feet, the cadence was good.
He got Pickens in vol and I was like, well,
the defense is good. Mike's won a Super Bowl to
power run game in Russell's like in his prime, not
making a ton of mistakes. I will say this, I
think Russell's always been pretty darn good.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
In the red zone.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
When you can get him from out of the pocket
and move it and he gets a defined look at stuff.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
I think he's pretty good in the red zone.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
I don't know I was surprised by Russell or should
I have not been? Is this kind of what he
was in Denver last year?
Speaker 6 (22:26):
Well, what I'm not surprised by is Mike Tomlin a
very confident coach. There's a saying in football be who
you can afford to be. Mike Tomlin can afford to
make a risky decision like this.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
He can afford to like, Hey, you know what, I'll
play the other guy.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
It's just the Jets, you know, the meat of my
schedules coming up in about.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
A month, maybe a few weeks. Like, let's just try
it out. I trust him.
Speaker 6 (22:48):
Russell Wilson started out shaky, maybe rusty. I thought Pickens
played great for him. I think playing with the lead helped.
I thought it was good. Listen, I think you're gonna
see both quarterbacks this year, though. I don't think it's
just one guy. I think there's stuff that Russell Wilson
brings to the table. But like what you're talking about
in that low red zone, I don't think he has
that anymore. I don't think he's the scrambler and the
(23:10):
runner that he once was. I mean, even on the
quarterback sneats yesterday, it wasn't like he's just showing his
age a little bit. And so like I think you
take how special Justin Fields can be as a runner
in that low red zone low red zone meaning ten
yard line in Yeah, defensive coaches absolutely hate to go
up against the guy from the ten yard line in
(23:31):
that can run.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
And you've seen justin field score I.
Speaker 6 (23:34):
Don't know, probably five touchdowns this year with his feet,
whether it was a designed run or just hey, they
covered it perfectly and I'm gonna go run. So I
think you'll see both guys going forward. And it's a
total thing that like Pittsburgh can do.
Speaker 5 (23:49):
They've done it in the past. I think they could
do it again.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
So you see this in the NBA, and we saw
it with the Phoenix Suns, where you put a bunch
of good players together and there's this sense that, well
they're smart guy KD and Bradley Beal and Booker and
they'll figure it out. Let's well, that's not really how
it works. Like there's different dynamics and it takes a while.
And I was reading the New York Rich Jimini covers
the New York Jets, and he had said in a
(24:12):
post last night, he goes, this is just an accumulation
of talented guys. It's not really a team. Now we're
on an interim coach. It's old old lineman, rookie old lineman.
You know, it's just it's a button. Now we're on
a second offensive coordinator. And I watched the Steelers and
I knew what they were regardless of limitations. I knew
what I was watching. And I watched the Jets and
(24:35):
I'm like, their offense is kind of let's dump it
off the breeze hall, let's try a go route. Is
it fair to say you played on one two five teams?
Were you ever on a team that was talented but
you couldn't there was no cohesion. You felt like, we
can't pull it together. I kind of feel like that
watching the Jets.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Well, I'll say this, you know, I think there's something
really special about the Pittsburgh Steelers that is missing from
the New York Jets right now. And I think what
I would say is most special about the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And I think anybody who played or coach in the
NFL would agree with me. The Steelers are one of
those organizations that they are bigger than any one player,
like they just are.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
We're the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 6 (25:19):
We are bigger and more important than any one player,
and we are a team.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
It's almost like the fans are part of that.
Speaker 6 (25:26):
Ownership's a part of that, and nothing gets in front
of like the Steelers, and I just don't think the
Jets have had that. I think the Jets have been
sort of the opposite of that. And so there's something
really special there. You mentioned basketball, but I mean this
is eleven on eleven and it's really thirty three. You know,
you got the offense, defense, and then you get the
(25:46):
fourth down army there. So I just, you know, I
think there's something unique. There's teams out there that are
like that. The Baltimore Ravens are like that in terms
of like it's you know, you're bigger than any one
superstar player and that.
Speaker 5 (25:59):
Gets hard and harder these days. But I think the
Steelers have that, and I do think that's that's worth something.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
So I'm watching the Vikings Lions yesterday and Peyton Manning said,
once he goes listen, there's preseason speed, regular season speed,
divisional rival speed, playoff speed, and super Bowl speed he goes,
everything feels a little more intense. And I'm watching Vikings
Lions and I'm like, Okay, that's playoff speed in the
(26:26):
regular season. Those are excellent football teams. And I mean
for Detroit to go in there, I mean, I'm just
watching playmakers everywhere. I'm like, how many Hall of Fame
level players do we have in this game? This is
an insane spectacle. I think you're going to look back
at that game to win, to trail early, come back,
trail again, come back. That's like to me, I knew
(26:51):
this year Detroit was hunted, not the Hunter. That was
a defining win for me. For me as I watched them.
Speaker 6 (26:58):
No doubt, Colin, Listen, like, I could talk about this
game for an hour. I mean, they're down ten points,
but go back to the Dallas game. I think it
was Dallas game last week, where you know, Ben Johnson's
like calling all these plays to offensive lineman, doing all
this craziness. Everyone's just like, oh, he's just having fun.
He's just punching the bully in the mouth all that stuff. No,
(27:21):
it's not. It wasn't just that he was thinking ahead.
This is like a guy playing chess. Okay, he's thinking
ahead to I'm playing Brian Flores coming up. I need
to give him so much crap to think about and
to study for, and to like chill him out with
all of his exotic cover zero blitzes and bluffs and
(27:41):
all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
He was thinking ahead in that game.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
And so what he did is he got exotic against
kind of a simple defense in Dallas, and then he
got simple against an exotic defense in Minnesota. They went
pretty basic and then they got creative in the sense
that they were gonna.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Block you your.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
Defensive ends with a wide receiver plus a running back
and take a shot. I just thought it was an
excellent game plan. And I would say it started started
last week. It started last week where they said, you
know what, we're thinking ahead about a division game, and
you can tell that this team is hyper focused on
winning that division, like every game is an important one, right,
the biggest game is the next game.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.
Speaker 6 (28:22):
But you can tell in that locker room, Dan Campbell
has a mindset for the coaches and the players this
division is going to be ours. We are done given
this division up to other people. It's going to be
ours and it's a great division.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
So we'll see. But they're off to a great start.
Speaker 6 (28:36):
Want to zero in the division, and I really think
it's because of how smart they played. I mean, everyone
wants to talk about how tough they are. They played
really smart.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
You know, I want to talk about this. I always
say that the two things generally create a dynasty is
you got about seven of your best players in their prime.
I think the Niners are getting a little creaky. Detroit's
got Pro Bowl players. They're in their prime or going
into their prime. The second thing is the ability to
(29:05):
be gifted and yet have a chip on your shoulder.
Belichick did this for years. Do your job. We're not
the most talented team. Kansas City's got that where they're like,
Read is just constantly innovative, never get stale. Detroit mauls
you on the offensive line. But what I like about
goth La bailed on him. The city of Detroit. We've
(29:27):
rolled our eyes at Dan Campbell knee biting and your
Seahawk teams. When you have great players, but in the building,
there's a feeling like nobody respects us, nobody likes us.
It maybe make believe, but I kind of feel that
with Detroit. So many people it's almost they're in the
perfect city. Detroit, did you ever have a team where
(29:50):
you were like, we have better players than everybody, but
in the building a lot of players thought they were disrespected.
Speaker 6 (29:57):
Yeah, listen, I think I think the city of Seattle
felt that you know, I remember Jimmy Johnson going on
you know, the Fox pregame show, and he was like, yeah,
they're up in South Alaska. It was almost like this
chip on our shoulder, and I think our fans felt it.
No one wanted to come up and cover our team.
It was almost like being in the witness Protection program
if you played in Seattle. And so I think I
(30:19):
think the Twelves became a thing like they you know,
when when the national media came to do a game
when it was a primetime game, they said.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
You know what, we were going to be a part
of this game.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
We are going to make the New York Giants jump
off sides eleven times.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
We are going to send a message.
Speaker 6 (30:33):
To the league, like like for sure, I think our
team felt that. And I think Dan Campbell's the perfect
fit for this, right, Like he's a guy that was
mentioned for head coaching jobs for years and years. He
was an interim head coach and just kind of passed over,
passed over. You mentioned bite off the kneecaps. That whole
thing kind of made fun of the Detroit Lions. Like
when I was playing, they were the team that went
(30:54):
Owen sixteen. You know, they're an afterthought. You know, even
on Thanksgiving when Detroit plays in Dallas plays, it's always
about Dallas.
Speaker 5 (31:02):
It's really never about Detroit.
Speaker 6 (31:04):
So I just I think absolutely and then and then
they drafted well, and then they take on the identity
of their team and of their head coach, the whole
team does, and then they're really tough. But like you
could point, I could point to one play in that game.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
It was a touchdown pass to Khalif Raymond.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
Yeah, and two different guys, Okay, a tight end and
maybe a receiver have a chance to absolutely declete someone
on a blind side block. And when you always sell
like we're tougher than them, we're tougher than them like that,
those are usually the people that.
Speaker 5 (31:32):
Get the fifteen yard flag. And it just I just thought,
like they played so smart. Neither one of the guys
took a cheap shot.
Speaker 6 (31:38):
It ended up being a touchdown, It ended up being
very critical to the win. And so like, if you
can balance that chip on your shoulder, that toughness, that
mental toughness, physical toughness, plus just intelligent football.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Like x'es and o's and all of it, I just think.
Speaker 6 (31:55):
You're you're cooking with with what you want to be
cooking with, and they got it going on right now.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
By the way, I love that you still remember what
Jimmy Johnson said, there's still embedding you.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
It's funny. Listen.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
I mean all the you know, Tom Brady knows that
he was picked one ninety nine.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
He's the greatest football player of all time.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
Like whatever it is, like you said, whether it's real
or not real, you can take those things and people
talking about it is like bulletin board material, but it
can push a button with people. And I think Jared
Goff getting kicked to the curb, getting unceremoniously sort of
just shipped out of LA I think it was good
for him and I think it was probably in the
long run, something that endears him to his teammates into
(32:40):
that city. Ye. And oh, by the way, he got
graduate course work from Sean McVay in the process. And
I think he's one of the game's best quarterbacks, probably
probably because of it.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Oh god, this is fifteen twenty minutes a week. We
all get smarter. It's great seeing you. He's in a
different room this week, big construction. Hassel Beck could have
bailed on us like, just move into the closet. I'll
be fine.
Speaker 5 (33:02):
Pretty much. I'm basically in a bathroom calling you know.
We'll get it better, we'll get it right.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Great seeing you, my man.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day
on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Here we go on a Monday. We are stacked.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Live in Los Angeles, Dodgers in the World Series facing
the New York Yankees.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
It's the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Jamack. It was a moment in time, a moment.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Brog party to go toe to toe with Patrick Mahomes.
It did not, It did not transpire the way you
are hoping for. So thank you for making me laugh
to start the show.
Speaker 5 (00:59):
Because there's gonna be a lot of.
Speaker 6 (01:00):
Tea is in.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It is official. Kyle Shanahan now ozer to five against
Andy Reid.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
It's official. Number one.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Kansas City is the best team in the league, maybe
by a lot. Number two. They're easily the most resourceful
team in the league. Everybody has injuries doesn't affect them
at all. And number three Andy Reid is separated from
even the other good coaches. Kyle Shanahan's special teams annual embarrassment.
Kyle Shanahan's red zone offense totally dependent appears on Christian McCaffrey.
(01:34):
Shanahan's a very good coach, but in high leverage situations,
he doesn't have the adaptability the ingenuity of Andy Reid.
Kyle Shanahan has a very good system that's excellent with
Christian McCaffrey. You take out that player a running back,
and even when their backup running back is good, it's
(01:57):
not the same team Andy Reid. Let's put Carson Wentz
in the backfield with Mahomes. That'll get them again. Both
teams were missing the star running back. Both teams were
missing collection of receivers. Neither quarterback played their best game ever.
Offensive lines for both Kansas City and forty nine Ers okay,
(02:17):
but in every single high leverage situation, Mahomes in Kansas
City up here, pretty Shanahan down there. Now, you could
say to yourself, Colin that come on, don't be naive.
This is all Mahomes. Okay, let's say it is. That's
even worse news for San Francisco. You're gonna give the
(02:38):
bag to brock Purty. Brock Purty, let's please contectual. Good quarterback,
but when he's missing pieces the red zone offense man,
you know, his two big completions both underthrown. Thankfully Tom
Brady called it out. This is what I've consistently said
about brock Purty. He's a good quarterback with nice mobill,
(03:00):
but he was just eight for eighteen missing deebo a
Uk may be gone now eight for eighteen on throws
just five yards downfield with three picks. That's what he was. Yes,
he was missing. Debo An Mahomes has been missing. Rashi
Rice Well, I mean I Yuk yes Ayuk dropped a
ball and then left later. Look at what Kansas City's
(03:23):
been doing for three years at wide receiver ham and
egging it, just trying to find anybody Juju Smith, have him,
lose him, bring him back.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Gets hurt.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
That's the story of the Chiefs for three years, just
trying to make it work. Bondo band aids, whatever works.
So I think brock Purty is overwhelmingly although I think
he's got some talent. He has been the beneficiary of
a good coach with a great system and a collection
of Hall of Fame level George Kittle, Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey.
(03:52):
Take those out and there's almost no extraordinary to brock
Purty size arm movement. Eh Yet, in all those situations,
when you remove all of those, pretty and Mahomes are
asked to do two different things. Perty Is asked in
San Francisco, don't screw up. Here's the keys to the Mercedes.
(04:13):
Don't screw up. That's what he's asked to do. Perty
is six and eight in games in which he's just
had one one turnover. Mahomes is asked to carry a franchise,
get rid of Tyreek Hill, move off great players, average
offensive tackles. Can you be magical when we don't have
(04:35):
all the resources we had to start the year, start
the dynasty, or start the game. These are two different asks.
One is the best quarterback on the planet, regardless of
who's around him. One does a good job when everything's
in place. And that's what I've said about this. Just contextualize.
(04:56):
You give most quarterbacks in this league time to throw oh,
number one receiver, excellent offensive line, They're gonna look good.
What Mahomes did yesterday on a game in which he
didn't play that well, he just in the highest moments.
I mean, yesterday was a referendum on head coaching at
the highest level, quarterbacking at the highest level. Mahomes and Purty.
(05:19):
I mean you may not want to hear this, but
I mean, even on that bruising touchdown run, it's just
Mahomes off script on script. It doesn't matter. He always
makes the play.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
I actually was not trying to like lower my shoulder.
I was trying to like absorb the hit. I know
I was gonna be right in the right there in
the end zone, and that Dad bond Man just had
enough weight on me where he went down, So it
wasn't like I was necessarily trying to like seek out contact.
I was trying to absorb it and getting the end
zone and just ended up looking good for me.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I've just watched this matchup too many times and I
keep seeing the same exact thing every time. Mahomes is
magical in crisis. Party needs everything to be in place.
Shanahan has a really good system. Their special teams are
annually cringey and Kansas City's more resourceful. Both these teams
(06:17):
were missing all sorts of players. One kind of capsized,
the other elevated. And that's what I've watched now five
straight times. All Right, let's talk about the second best
team in the league, and I think it's pretty substantial
and clear. It's Detroit. That was not an easy game
at Minnesota. Minnesota has engulf good teams, and the Lions
(06:41):
may never get their defense right. They've been trying for years.
The minute they get it right, that horrible injury to
Aiden Hutchison, right, but quarterback o line, run game, clever,
offensive coordinator, power, finesse culture, there are no weaknesses to
that offense. I mean, Jared Goff essentially looks like he's
(07:04):
playing catch with his friends. In his last three games,
Jared Goff's completing eighty five percent of his throws with
one hundred and fifty three passer rating. It is a
video game. And remember, Minnesota's defense, especially at home with
that crowd noise, is ferocious, is outstanding. He had three
incompletions against them.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
CJ.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Stroud, Brock Purdy, I've never seen anything like this defense.
I was seeing Ghosts, Jared Goff's playing catch. It almost
feels like as we head into Week eight Chiefs Lions
Super Bowl, it's kind of starting to feel inevitable. You
don't have to reach for the narrative or grasp for
a story. I mean, Detroit's offense in an offensive league.
(07:49):
Here's what I also love is that there's this collective
chip on the shoulder with Detroit. I mean, Goff was
cast off in LA Get out of Here, and then
Dan Campbell has been mocked and the city of Detroit
for years has been a punchline. And Detroit has taken
that and built this muscle car from different parts. It's
(08:11):
got mad maxfield to it. And they are head coach
GM offensive line tackles everything. They are a knee cap
biting monster. They are just the team. And Minnesota's really good.
Minnesota's got a brilliant defensive coordinator. Jared Goff had three incompletions. So,
(08:31):
I mean, and what I loved about this game for Detroit,
Detroit trailed on the road, and then Detroit led, and
then they trailed again, and then they came back, and
then they had to hold off a more than capable
Sam Darnold Viking offense. It's the kind of game you
see in January and February. All these routes are fun.
(08:55):
But what you watch with Detroit and Minnesota that feels
like the NFC Chamchampionship. And you're on the road and
you trail early and the crowd is humming and you
can't hear, and you just start running the football and
you take a lead, then you fall behind, and then
you rally and take the lead again and hold on.
That looked like a playoff game. I feel like with Detroit,
(09:18):
I'm watching this sort of adolescent boy and every couple
months his voice gets deeper, he's got more confidence, few pimples,
you know. But then he walks out when morning and
Mom looks up and he's six five, two forty five
and has a D one scholarship offer to Ohio State
or Michigan. It just they just look the part. Power, finesse,
(09:41):
run game, effortless completions, win, leading, comeback when trailing. I
don't see anything about Detroit.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
I don't like.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
I just seen it for years from Kansas City. I've
never seen it before from Detroit. This year was going
to be an interesting year for the Lions. Instead of hunting.
They were the hunted. They're fine, They're fine being the hunted.
Here's Dan Campbell after.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
You guys didn't bout an eye.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
I love this freaking team.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
I love the coaches, I love the players, I.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
Love everything about it.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Man.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
We are so freaking hardened even when doesn't go the
way we want it to. Man, you find a way
that as an outstanding we are one to zero in
the division.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
That was something else that that was Sometimes you get
these in the regular season.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
You'll see it in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
You get that handful of games you're like, oh, that's
a playoff game, that's a conference final. That felt like
an NFC conference championship game. And Detroit goes into Minnesota
with the defensive coordinator Brian Floric Flores who had flummixed everybody,
and they just rattling off drive after drive, clever, smart,
physical power. That was something.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in neonon Eastern non am, Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one, and the iHeartRadio app where Colin.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Was right, that's a I think brock pretty is a
good quarterback, but you're going to be judged ultimately on
how do you play against the best teams in high
leverage situations and when not everything is available to you? Yeah,
guess who was also missing receivers in a running back
Patrick Mahomes. He now doesn't have a stacked deck. Brock
pretty doesn't. He's twenty second in completion percentage. Got lectured
(11:19):
during the game by Kyle Shanahan, and listen, that's why
we said contextualized quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Who was their coordinator?
Speaker 1 (11:26):
It's a lot different getting you know, the keys to
a nice car was Shanahan and Trent Williams and Deebo
and Christian McCaffrey. But eventually, if you had to pay
Rock pretty, you don't get all those toys where Colin
was raw woy. Georgia thump Texas, didn't they? I mean,
Georgia re established itself. It looked like Texas was too
(11:47):
busy feeling good about Texas. Georgia had seven sacks, felt
like they could have had seven more. Longhorns could not
run the ball. They felt like they kind of panicked
at quarterback. They were atroci on third down. You know, listen,
with a college football playoff, these two could probably meet
down the road in eight weeks or whatever it is.
But in the end, this was a program built on
(12:10):
defense against the high glamour program that wanted to tell
you they were ready, they were ready for the moment,
and Texas was not ready for the moment at all.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Where Colin was right, my.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Guy, boringly elite Jared Goff twenty two to twenty five
against a very good Minnesota team, four games in a row,
passer rating at least one thirteen.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
And the thing I love about him, there is no sizzle.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
It is all stake and I know his TikTok videos
aren't as cool, but in the last four games it
looks like pitch and catch.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
He is just in a zone.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
In fact, in his last four games, Detroit has more
touchdowns eighteen than Goff has incompletions sixteen. Where Colin was raw,
I have defended Lincoln Riley at every turn and he's
not going to get fire. But increasingly you were wondering
if he's the right fit. They lead in the fourth quarter,
in the second half in all these games, but they
(13:07):
lack the physicality and the toughness to put it away. Now,
some of this is they're very very young on offense,
but you know what, he took over Bob Stoops in
a very good program with inertia and momentum, and he
had to rebuild this thing. And after a flashy first
year where they were probably better than they should have been,
it's all been downhill. Maryland, Minnesota. I'll give you a
(13:28):
loss to Penn State. That's a terrific program, but I'll.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Go back to this.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
They have one running back they trust in the program,
it's usc and two tackles that can play. After three years,
that's not good enough.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Lincoln where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
I'm a Jordan Love fan, and I know he makes
mistakes and he's more far than Aaron Rodgers. But the
joy he plays, with the support he gets from his
coaches even after big mistakes. Matt Lafleur doesn't care. Look
at how they coach Love. I mean, this offense is
read and Watson and Dobbs their kids.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Jordan Love.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
But he's tied for passing touchdown lead in the NFL
at fifteen and he's missed two starts, and there's great
quarterbacks all over this sport. He's in a tough division,
but this this is what great looks like. I mean,
he may not be Mahomes great. Yet we don't have
to classify every player, but he is special.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
When the Giants let Saquon Barkley go to the Eagles,
we said, the worst part about this is Saquon's gonna
humiliate you twice a year and once at home and
in front of your bosses. It is a bad Monday
in the Giants facility had more yards than the Giants
did in total. And you know, yes he got booed,
(14:49):
but I mean, you got to be careful. There's there's
a reason there's the old term never never trade in division. Well,
you don't want to trade your best player to your
arch rival and division. And I guess guarantee you it
is walking on eggshells in the Giants facility today, here's
saque after.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
I probably talked a little more today and I usually do.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
You know, I didn't help myself when I said earlier week,
I didn't think I was gonna get booed.
Speaker 5 (15:13):
But you know they're going for a reason. It's a
complement at the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
That's how I took is a great player getting his congratulations.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
You know, a couple of weeks ago, I called Colorado
the fake id of college football. They have apparently turned
twenty one. They have a run game, defenses playing well.
Crushed the decent Arizona team thirty four to seven. Listen,
Shador Sanders, I think is the best quarterback in college football,
especially after watching Texas and Georgia. They're one win from
(15:45):
Bowl eligible and they've you know, it felt like a
lot of hype the first couple of years, but they're
one in the football. They're playing defense, they have a
pass rush, and they have the best quarterback in college football.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
So shame on me.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Colorado looks real where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
My number one pick this year on my over under
bets was Denver. Vegas had him at five and a
half wins. I said, Sean Payton is just gonna get
him to seven to eight. They beat the Saints Thursday.
Same defense as last year, I mean, same players, But
I think Peyton is squeezing every ounce of talent out
of this roster. He comes from the Bill Parcells tree,
(16:20):
and that's what Bill did. He had a good eye
for personnel and the ability to get the most and
motivate players. Denver's not a great team. And it's kind
of an okay roster, but they've got winning streaks, and
they win the games they should, and they beat the
Jets in New York with a rookie quarterback.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
We were right on that one where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
The Clippers announced that Kawhi Leonard would not only miss
the opener into it Dome, he may miss big chunks
of the season. Steve Ballmer's obviously smarter than me. I
do not get doubling down on this. The face of
a franchise, if nothing else has to be reliable and
the winning has to be sustainable, I never know what
he's gonna play. I just don't understand this. Death taxes
(17:02):
and Kawhi not being available are the three things here
I'm pretty used to. And they double down on it.
So over the next three years he's got a fifty
million dollar cap hit each of those seasons. I didn't
get it. Then I didn't get doubling down. He's not
really a leader in the locker room.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I don't get it.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And Steve Ballmer's a brilliant guy, but I just don't
get this Kawhi thing. It's not who I would build around.
I would not let Paul George go who may get
injured from time to time, But I know what I
get with Paul George, Like he's gonna play if he's healthy.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
Colin right, Colin wrong.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Now. Matt Hasselbeck eighteen years in the NFL, three Pro Bowls,
a Super Bowl. You know, and I've said this before,
when you're a sportscaster and a quarterback comes in, he
looks good. The two things I look at is how
does he play when he's trailing everybody? You know, when
it's when you lead twenty seven to six in the
third quarter, The game's different for a quarterback. How do
(18:05):
you look when you're trailing? And how do you look
when you're missing a left tackle? You're number one receiver,
you're on a backup quarterback. And I watched Mahomes in
Purty and neither had a full set. I mean it
was just players everywhere, and in those high leverage moments.
Matt Mahomes is just crazy. I mean Brady said it.
(18:26):
It's like he's doing stuff you shouldn't do throw backwards,
you know, you know, taunting. I mean, what do you
make of Mahomes? Yesterday was a day I don't know.
People say he didn't play well, but in the big
moments he did so I thought, you know, everybody has
likely picks.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
I thought he played kind of well, didn't he.
Speaker 6 (18:44):
Listen, Patrick Mahomes does some stuff you're not going to
find in the statue, you know. You know, even the
play that Brady said, you shouldn't throw back across your back,
across your body, like.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
That's a design play for that team.
Speaker 6 (18:56):
Like that's how guys like Tom and guys like me
and guys that can't do what he you know, like
that physical stuff, that's how they get coach Mahomes.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
That's part of their offense. That's just normal for them.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
I just think he's one of these guys that has
those things that you call in tangibles where the opponent
is intimidated without really him really having to do anything.
He saw where he ran over the guy in the
end zone. The defender was so afraid of getting a
flag because it's the Patrick Mahomes and so like, whether
it's throwing it left handed, underhand behind his back. Patrick
Mahomes almost has mind control over people the way.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
That he plays.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
And listen, I say all that he has not played
his best football. I think he'd be honest and say
that as well, he really has not played his best football.
That offense hasn't looked their best, and yet they are
the probably the number one or number two in all
of football right now.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
First of all, San francisc goes good. They're gonna win
a bunch of games. Let's not overreact. But in this
space against this team, it does. We're getting to a
point now where I like, yeah, I've seen this barbecue, Like,
I know what this looks like. Do teams get another
team's heads or was this just better team? One to
(20:05):
you for San Francisco.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
Listen, Yeah, Colin, I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
I think there's matchups that we don't talk about enough.
It's play caller to play caller. It's Kyle Shanahan versus
Steve Spagnolo. Like those two guys have gone up head
to head so many times to shoot. Spags has gone
up against Mike Shanahan, never mind Kyle Shannahan, and so like,
there's definitely an element like I'm watching the I'm rewatching
that game today this morning, and I'm saying, like, wow,
(20:33):
that was such a good defensive.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
Call, you know.
Speaker 6 (20:36):
I mean, the Niners are an offense that has so
much respect around the league that people copy them, they
study them, they know them. And I just thought Spags's
game plan was so exceptional, Like he knew where the
hot was going to be. He knew what they not
necessarily what they were going to do, but he knew
what they were not gonna do, so like on their
naked bootleg type stuff based on formations, based on splits,
(20:59):
he knew they weren't taking a shot. He knew it
was a completion mindset. And those safeties were playing deep
but downhill. I mean they were. It was almost like
they were told in the meetings, you have our permission
in this formation with this action to play downhill and
go for an interception. A lot of times defenders are told, hey,
you're safety, you're deeper than the deepest. They did not
(21:21):
say that in this game yesterday. They were telling those
guys to fire their gun as soon as you see it,
pull the trigger and make a play. And that's exactly
what they did.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
I had said everybody in Pittsburgh big band is like,
you can't play Russell Wilson. And to Mike Tomlin's credit,
Mike's like, this is why I get paid. And I
know what I'm seeing, and it was I gotta tell you, man,
it was pretty choppy in the first quarter. There were
some bad misses and I'm thinking, boy, I look smart.
In that second half, I'm like, I saw a quarterback
(21:55):
who was not panicking, good feet, the cadence was good.
He got Pickens in vol and I was like, well,
the defense is good. Mike's won a Super Bowl to
power run game in Russell's like in his prime, not
making a ton of mistakes. I will say this, I
think Russell's always been pretty darn good.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
In the red zone.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
When you can get him from out of the pocket
and move it and he gets a defined look at stuff.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
I think he's pretty good in the red zone.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
I don't know I was surprised by Russell or should
I have not been? Is this kind of what he
was in Denver last year?
Speaker 6 (22:26):
Well, what I'm not surprised by is Mike Tomlin a
very confident coach. There's a saying in football be who
you can afford to be. Mike Tomlin can afford to
make a risky decision like this.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
He can afford to like, Hey, you know what, I'll
play the other guy.
Speaker 6 (22:40):
It's just the Jets, you know, the meat of my
schedules coming up in about.
Speaker 5 (22:43):
A month, maybe a few weeks. Like, let's just try
it out. I trust him.
Speaker 6 (22:48):
Russell Wilson started out shaky, maybe rusty. I thought Pickens
played great for him. I think playing with the lead helped.
I thought it was good. Listen, I think you're gonna
see both quarterbacks this year, though. I don't think it's
just one guy. I think there's stuff that Russell Wilson
brings to the table. But like what you're talking about
in that low red zone, I don't think he has
that anymore. I don't think he's the scrambler and the
(23:10):
runner that he once was. I mean, even on the
quarterback sneats yesterday, it wasn't like he's just showing his
age a little bit. And so like I think you
take how special Justin Fields can be as a runner
in that low red zone low red zone meaning ten
yard line in Yeah, defensive coaches absolutely hate to go
up against the guy from the ten yard line in
(23:31):
that can run.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
And you've seen justin field score I.
Speaker 6 (23:34):
Don't know, probably five touchdowns this year with his feet,
whether it was a designed run or just hey, they
covered it perfectly and I'm gonna go run. So I
think you'll see both guys going forward. And it's a
total thing that like Pittsburgh can do.
Speaker 5 (23:49):
They've done it in the past. I think they could
do it again.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
So you see this in the NBA, and we saw
it with the Phoenix Suns, where you put a bunch
of good players together and there's this sense that, well
they're smart guy KD and Bradley Beal and Booker and
they'll figure it out. Let's well, that's not really how
it works. Like there's different dynamics and it takes a while.
And I was reading the New York Rich Jimini covers
the New York Jets, and he had said in a
(24:12):
post last night, he goes, this is just an accumulation
of talented guys. It's not really a team. Now we're
on an interim coach. It's old old lineman, rookie old lineman.
You know, it's just it's a button. Now we're on
a second offensive coordinator. And I watched the Steelers and
I knew what they were regardless of limitations. I knew
what I was watching. And I watched the Jets and
(24:35):
I'm like, their offense is kind of let's dump it
off the breeze hall, let's try a go route. Is
it fair to say you played on one two five teams?
Were you ever on a team that was talented but
you couldn't there was no cohesion. You felt like, we
can't pull it together. I kind of feel like that
watching the Jets.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Well, I'll say this, you know, I think there's something
really special about the Pittsburgh Steelers that is missing from
the New York Jets right now. And I think what
I would say is most special about the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And I think anybody who played or coach in the
NFL would agree with me. The Steelers are one of
those organizations that they are bigger than any one player,
like they just are.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
We're the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 6 (25:19):
We are bigger and more important than any one player,
and we are a team.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
It's almost like the fans are part of that.
Speaker 6 (25:26):
Ownership's a part of that, and nothing gets in front
of like the Steelers, and I just don't think the
Jets have had that. I think the Jets have been
sort of the opposite of that. And so there's something
really special there. You mentioned basketball, but I mean this
is eleven on eleven and it's really thirty three. You know,
you got the offense, defense, and then you get the
(25:46):
fourth down army there. So I just, you know, I
think there's something unique. There's teams out there that are
like that. The Baltimore Ravens are like that in terms
of like it's you know, you're bigger than any one
superstar player and that.
Speaker 5 (25:59):
Gets hard and harder these days. But I think the
Steelers have that, and I do think that's that's worth something.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
So I'm watching the Vikings Lions yesterday and Peyton Manning said,
once he goes listen, there's preseason speed, regular season speed,
divisional rival speed, playoff speed, and super Bowl speed he goes,
everything feels a little more intense. And I'm watching Vikings
Lions and I'm like, Okay, that's playoff speed in the
(26:26):
regular season. Those are excellent football teams. And I mean
for Detroit to go in there, I mean, I'm just
watching playmakers everywhere. I'm like, how many Hall of Fame
level players do we have in this game? This is
an insane spectacle. I think you're going to look back
at that game to win, to trail early, come back,
trail again, come back. That's like to me, I knew
(26:51):
this year Detroit was hunted, not the Hunter. That was
a defining win for me. For me as I watched them.
Speaker 6 (26:58):
No doubt, Colin, Listen, like, I could talk about this
game for an hour. I mean, they're down ten points,
but go back to the Dallas game. I think it
was Dallas game last week, where you know, Ben Johnson's
like calling all these plays to offensive lineman, doing all
this craziness. Everyone's just like, oh, he's just having fun.
He's just punching the bully in the mouth all that stuff. No,
(27:21):
it's not. It wasn't just that he was thinking ahead.
This is like a guy playing chess. Okay, he's thinking
ahead to I'm playing Brian Flores coming up. I need
to give him so much crap to think about and
to study for, and to like chill him out with
all of his exotic cover zero blitzes and bluffs and
(27:41):
all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
He was thinking ahead in that game.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
And so what he did is he got exotic against
kind of a simple defense in Dallas, and then he
got simple against an exotic defense in Minnesota. They went
pretty basic and then they got creative in the sense
that they were gonna.
Speaker 5 (27:58):
Block you your.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
Defensive ends with a wide receiver plus a running back
and take a shot. I just thought it was an
excellent game plan. And I would say it started started
last week. It started last week where they said, you
know what, we're thinking ahead about a division game, and
you can tell that this team is hyper focused on
winning that division, like every game is an important one, right,
the biggest game is the next game.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.
Speaker 6 (28:22):
But you can tell in that locker room, Dan Campbell
has a mindset for the coaches and the players this
division is going to be ours. We are done given
this division up to other people. It's going to be
ours and it's a great division.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
So we'll see. But they're off to a great start.
Speaker 6 (28:36):
Want to zero in the division, and I really think
it's because of how smart they played. I mean, everyone
wants to talk about how tough they are. They played
really smart.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
You know, I want to talk about this. I always
say that the two things generally create a dynasty is
you got about seven of your best players in their prime.
I think the Niners are getting a little creaky. Detroit's
got Pro Bowl players. They're in their prime or going
into their prime. The second thing is the ability to
(29:05):
be gifted and yet have a chip on your shoulder.
Belichick did this for years. Do your job. We're not
the most talented team. Kansas City's got that where they're like,
Read is just constantly innovative, never get stale. Detroit mauls
you on the offensive line. But what I like about
goth La bailed on him. The city of Detroit. We've
(29:27):
rolled our eyes at Dan Campbell knee biting and your
Seahawk teams. When you have great players, but in the building,
there's a feeling like nobody respects us, nobody likes us.
It maybe make believe, but I kind of feel that
with Detroit. So many people it's almost they're in the
perfect city. Detroit, did you ever have a team where
(29:50):
you were like, we have better players than everybody, but
in the building a lot of players thought they were disrespected.
Speaker 6 (29:57):
Yeah, listen, I think I think the city of Seattle
felt that you know, I remember Jimmy Johnson going on
you know, the Fox pregame show, and he was like, yeah,
they're up in South Alaska. It was almost like this
chip on our shoulder, and I think our fans felt it.
No one wanted to come up and cover our team.
It was almost like being in the witness Protection program
if you played in Seattle. And so I think I
(30:19):
think the Twelves became a thing like they you know,
when when the national media came to do a game
when it was a primetime game, they said.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
You know what, we were going to be a part
of this game.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
We are going to make the New York Giants jump
off sides eleven times.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
We are going to send a message.
Speaker 6 (30:33):
To the league, like like for sure, I think our
team felt that. And I think Dan Campbell's the perfect
fit for this, right, Like he's a guy that was
mentioned for head coaching jobs for years and years. He
was an interim head coach and just kind of passed over,
passed over. You mentioned bite off the kneecaps. That whole
thing kind of made fun of the Detroit Lions. Like
when I was playing, they were the team that went
(30:54):
Owen sixteen. You know, they're an afterthought. You know, even
on Thanksgiving when Detroit plays in Dallas plays, it's always
about Dallas.
Speaker 5 (31:02):
It's really never about Detroit.
Speaker 6 (31:04):
So I just I think absolutely and then and then
they drafted well, and then they take on the identity
of their team and of their head coach, the whole
team does, and then they're really tough. But like you
could point, I could point to one play in that game.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
It was a touchdown pass to Khalif Raymond.
Speaker 6 (31:16):
Yeah, and two different guys, Okay, a tight end and
maybe a receiver have a chance to absolutely declete someone
on a blind side block. And when you always sell
like we're tougher than them, we're tougher than them like that,
those are usually the people that.
Speaker 5 (31:32):
Get the fifteen yard flag. And it just I just thought,
like they played so smart. Neither one of the guys
took a cheap shot.
Speaker 6 (31:38):
It ended up being a touchdown, It ended up being
very critical to the win. And so like, if you
can balance that chip on your shoulder, that toughness, that
mental toughness, physical toughness, plus just intelligent football.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Like x'es and o's and all of it, I just think.
Speaker 6 (31:55):
You're you're cooking with with what you want to be
cooking with, and they got it going on right now.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
By the way, I love that you still remember what
Jimmy Johnson said, there's still embedding you.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
It's funny. Listen.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
I mean all the you know, Tom Brady knows that
he was picked one ninety nine.
Speaker 5 (32:13):
He's the greatest football player of all time.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
Like whatever it is, like you said, whether it's real
or not real, you can take those things and people
talking about it is like bulletin board material, but it
can push a button with people. And I think Jared
Goff getting kicked to the curb, getting unceremoniously sort of
just shipped out of LA I think it was good
for him and I think it was probably in the
long run, something that endears him to his teammates into
(32:40):
that city. Ye. And oh, by the way, he got
graduate course work from Sean McVay in the process. And
I think he's one of the game's best quarterbacks, probably
probably because of it.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Oh god, this is fifteen twenty minutes a week. We
all get smarter. It's great seeing you. He's in a
different room this week, big construction. Hassel Beck could have
bailed on us like, just move into the closet. I'll
be fine.
Speaker 5 (33:02):
Pretty much. I'm basically in a bathroom calling you know.
We'll get it better, we'll get it right.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Great seeing you, my man.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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