December 5, 2024 • 34 mins
Colin has some bleak news for the Lakers as they lost for the 6th time in their last 8 games and why things won't be improving anytime soon. He shares some interesting context about Caleb Williams in his rookie year and why he's much better than people realize. Plus, Greg Cosell from NFL Films joins the show to talk about Russell Wilson's success inside the Steelers offense.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Here we go. It's Thursday Lions Packers tonight. Greg co
selling one hour customary on Thursday live in Los Angeles.
It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you
may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Yes,
one hour from now, Greg Cosell, we'll talk about tonight's game,
Packers Lions. We'll get to that in a second. Jmac
(00:49):
we we witnessed something last night in Los Angeles. It
was actually in Miami for many people. The curtain is closing,
the end is nine. Here we go, all right, the
come on, So I want to start today. The Lakers
got shelled last night, lost by forty one points. First
(01:12):
it was Frank Vogel, Get him out of here, he's
no good. Then it was Darvin Ham, he's a bomber
now JJ Reddick through his first twenty two games. What
do you know, it's the same team as Darvin Ham's
first twenty two games last season. In fact, offensive guy
(01:33):
JJ Reddick is averaging a pointless Why because there's two
truths about this Laker franchise. The roster's not good and
Lebron's getting older, and they have no chance to win
a championship none. Here's how far the standard has been lowered.
And this is always how businesses die, the standard. I
(01:55):
was talking to Jimmy Johnson about this a couple of
weeks ago. I asked him to like coaching college or
pro better? He said, college is more fun. In pro football,
you have to constantly be on your assistant coaches because
they have players. Unlike college where players siphon through every
three or four years. In the pros, you can have
a linebacker for eight years, a tight end for nine years,
(02:17):
a quarterback for twelve years. You have to stay on
your assistance and coordinators don't be best friends, be bosses.
And that's the truth. The standard is so low for
the Lakers, they just keep letting it go lower that
their point of pride now is that in thirteen of
(02:40):
the last fourteen games against Denver, they've lost, but they've
kept it close. That's a real thing in la hey Man,
we lose to Denver and Jokich by this much. That's
the standard. It's crazy and how this is why the
Lakers and the Cowboys, they've lowered the standard. Twelve wins
(03:00):
a B plus guy, that's the standard down Dallas. So
the Lakers and the Cowboys too many family members have
a role in the organization. The star of the team,
Lebron and Deck is paid more than right now he delivers. Sorry,
it's true. You have very average rosters that are top heavy,
(03:20):
on top all brand, no braun. That's the Cowboys and
the Lakers, and it all comes down to a lowering
of standards. It's why Jimmy Johnson had to bark constantly.
I mean, Austin Reeves stop, he should be a fifth starter. Well,
Dalton connect after that one big night, he's averaged eleven
(03:42):
a game over the last two weeks. That's what he is.
He shoots some threes. It's a nice player, it's fun,
but he's probably a four to a five on a
really good basketball team. Derek White is better than both,
and he's a five or a four for the Celtics.
They are winning titles going forward last year and moving forward,
So it's just the lowering of standards. The Lakers are
(04:04):
full of average athletes. They can't defend the three, that's
what they are. Just got a bunch of average athletes.
Last night was a complete embarrassment. But this year for
the Cowboys has been a complete embarrassment. Too many family
members have important roles in the franchise. The standards have
been lowered. Like any regressing business, you just settle. You know,
(04:30):
I ain't on my belt. I have to I'll just
cut out another loop in my belt, you know, just yeah,
I mean, I know I'm now a forty two weights
not a thirty eight. But you know, east pants still,
you know, I can just unbutton the top button. They
mostly fit. So last night it was it was bad
and JJ Reddick, the offensive guy whose team is now
averaging less through twenty two games than Darvin Ham, the
(04:52):
defensive guys team did. Here's JJ after I'm embarrassed.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
We're all embarrassed.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
That's not It's not a game that I thought we
had the right fight. The right professionalism. You know, I'm
not sure what was lost in translation. There has to
(05:21):
be some ownership on the court, and I'll take all
the ownership.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
In the world.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
This is my team and I lead it, and I'm embarrassed.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, but what are you gonna do? Average roster aging
Lebron That's what it is. So I want to talk
about Caleb Williams, and I think Caleb's having a really
good season. But because the team is foreign, eight people
are freaking out and we do this, we get paralyzed
(05:51):
on records. It's all about the records. But if you
can textualize anything, and I'll do that later with Lincoln Riley,
but can textualize four wins? Take out the record for
a second. If I said to you going into this
season for the Chicago Bears, through twelve games with an
(06:14):
incompetent franchise, a coach so bad that, for the first
time ever, the Bears fired their head coach during the season,
if I said, you know what, through twelve games, uh,
kayleb Williams has as many passing touchdowns as Jalen Hurts.
He's passing for more yards per game than Justin Herbert
and Kyler Murray and as a higher completion percentage than
(06:35):
Trevor Lawrence. You'd be kind of impressed, right in the
toughest division in football if I said he has more
passer rating games over one hundred than Patrick Mahomes at
this point, and oh, by the way, just set a
rookie all time record for the most passes thrown without
an interception. It's two hundred and twelve in counting. How
(06:56):
would you look at him? Then? Oh, by the way,
he's on his second play caller. His coach just got fired.
The offensive line has gone downhill from a year ago.
He set a rookie record, more one hundred plus passer
rating games than Mahomes, more yards a game than Herbert
or Kyler Murray, as many passing touchdowns as Jalen Hurts
(07:19):
with this mess of a franchise hovering around him. Oh,
by the way, the last three losses Vikings, Lions, Packers
all going to be playoff teams by a total of
seven points. He didn't give up the hail Mary. And
by the way, he's getting better his last nine games,
twelve touchdowns, one pick. So again, I used to say
(07:43):
this all the time when Anne and I, you know,
the kids are young, they're like five and seven and eight.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Nine.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Kids are kids, right, and if we had, like, you know,
a bad day the kids, something went wrong. I always said,
would we have signed up for this? If you would
have told me our biggest problem in twenty seventeen is
one of our kids got caught doing blank? Would you
have said, that's our biggest problem, You'll sign up now.
(08:17):
Nobody thought this thing was going to be smooth. If
you get out of the record, you know, the best
division in football, they're losing close to Detroit, close to
Green Bay, close to Minnesota. And here's another thing I like,
I always say this when somebody leaves, don't just judge
Jim Harbaugh's record, what he did at Michigan. What happened
(08:38):
to the Niners when he left? They collapsed in the
last couple days Lincoln Riley's Trojan six and six. There's
a rumor that other schools are contacting him. USC the
de Nos died this year without Caleb. It's not just
where you go, it's what happened to the place you left.
(08:59):
And through all of it, Caleb Williams, He's got a
Dak Prescott quality of Justin Herbert quality. Even through dysfunction,
He'll go to the microphone and he always says the
right thing. This is after Shane Waldron. He has a
new play caller, Thomas Brown. After Shane Waldron was fired.
(09:20):
Ample opportunities to bury people, and once again he walks
up to the podium and says the right thing.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
They're not going to reinvent the will in a sense.
You know we're mid season and you know that's not
a decision for me. I have to I'm doing what
coach says I have to do with whatever decision he makes.
I'm gonna have to be fine with it. Well, I'll
be able to adapt, Yes, I will. We will be
(09:51):
able to adapt whatever coach makes decision he makes and
then you know from there we have to go out
there and executing one games.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, Thomas Brown's now the interim head coach. He won't
be the head coach. But again, whenever you go through
a bad day, it could be with your kids, it
could be at work. Just ask yourself, would you have
signed if that's your worst day? Would you have signed
up for it? I said before the season started, I said,
I think they're going to win seven games and finish
(10:18):
in fourth place. It's gonna be turbulent. I don't think
eber Flush is the guy long term, and the division
is the best in football. But I think if you're
truthful and honest, at the end of the year, you'll
look up and go, We've got our quarterback more one
hundred plus passer rating games than Mahomes, more passing yards
(10:38):
a game than Herbert Kider Murray, better completion percentage than
Trevor Lawrence, as many passing touchdowns as Jalen Hurts. With
those weapons in that offensive line, Yeah, I'd sign up
for that. He's a block kick here and a Hail
Mary there and bad coaching there from being eight and
four not four and eight be paralyzed by the record.
(11:02):
J Mac greg Cosel in fifteen minutes. A lot of
positivity today, you know that's the new me. I was
thinking about something we had Joel Klatt on the show yesterday,
and as we've talked about, you know, a game, you
know it's an upset when it's Thursday and we're still
talking about a Saturday college football game. But I want
to try to center this whole Ryan Day thing. Oh,
(11:25):
because there's a lot of talk. Good luck with that well,
if they lose in the first playoff game, there are
a lot of people in Columbus that think it's time
for a new coach, and so I just want to
offer something to think about next Greg Cosell in fifty minutes.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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Speaker 1 (11:51):
Ryan Day said he has no plans to leave Ohio
state the disaster. Now they may have plans to move off.
Ryan Day not saying that's right, But if they lose
first game of the playoff, it's going to get ugly.
I don't think he's gonna get fired, but it's gonna
get ugly. So let's just start with this premise that
five percent of any industry is elite. After that it's
very good, good, capable, below average, awful, but about five
(12:14):
percent is great. So, now that Mac Brown is leaving
North Carolina, there's only two coaches that have natties in
college football, Kirby Smart and Dabbo Sweeney. Now we've also
lost Chris Peterson, Harbaugh, Urban Meyer, Saban. Those to me
are elite, elite coaches they're all gone. So Kirby, Smart
(12:34):
and Dabble only coaches with Natty's. That's the first group.
We know they are great coaches. Then there's the second
group that I believe can win over the course of
time a national championship. Klin de Bor, Josh Heipel, Brian Kelly,
Lanekiff and Dan Lanning. Steve Sarkisian don't live in the moment.
Brian Kelly's a great coach. He won ten straight ten
(12:57):
plus games seven years in a row until this past year. Like,
get over it. Every coach, all coaches have bad seasons.
So if you take out Dabo and Kirby, you go
to the second group people I think can win. Then
there's the third group that maybe they can, but I'm
(13:18):
not sure in experience. Maybe let's go to the third group,
and this is the group I think Ryan Day is
in now. Mario Christobal better recruiter than coach James Franklin,
doesn't beat good teams. Ryan Day likewise, Marcus Freeman really young.
Lincoln Riley feels like some pop his team's lack of
(13:41):
toughness and a grit. So I had Ryan Day and
Lincoln Riley in group two until this year, I've got
new information. I'm not living in the moment, but Lincoln
Riley since Caleb left, somethings. The recruiting's not as good.
The staff needs work. So I had Ryan Dan the
(14:02):
second category, and then I watched Michigan Ohio State and that's,
as I said, as bad a loss as I've ever seen. Now,
Joel Klatt came on the show yesterday and defended Ryan Day.
Although Buckeye fans may not agree. Here was Joel's take.
(14:22):
Ryan is a very good coach.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
I think that there's a mental block with Michigan right now,
and this feels like something that when he gets over
the home it's it's gonna be big. I mean, harbad
didn't win over Urban Meyer and they.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Stuck with him.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
You look at the history of college football and what
you'll see is that most often, even the greatest coaches
in the history of our sport have taken a while
to win their championship. It took Osbourne quite a while,
it took Bowden quite a while. You know, it's very
rare that you get these guys that win it right away,
like Bob Stoopster, Larry Coker. It's generally the opposite guys
take a while. Urban Meyer took a while, Saban it
(14:59):
took a while. So here's where I would disagree.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Brian Kelly had an off season, but he's won everywhere.
He's proven every place he goes, he wins. Ryan Day
never had a previous job, and so all I know
is the information I have, which is he loses big games,
and he's lost four straight to Michigan, and he looks
like he gets out coached. I mean, they scored ten
points against Michigan, Arkansas State scored eighteen points against Michigan.
(15:29):
Michigan State, Arkansas State, whatever state scored more than ten
points against Michigan. So it's one of those things where
is Ohio State satisfied? They're not in Group one now, Natty,
I don't know if you can put Ryan Day in
Group two lane sark guys, I think Kaylan de bor
(15:50):
are good enough. Kaylen de Boor got Washington to a
national championship last year with maybe the tenth best roster
in college football eight ten, twelve, something like that, So
I think that's where you are if he beats a Tennessee.
So for Ryan Day, the playoff is inarguably huge because
let's say he goes and beats a Josh Hipel, who
(16:11):
I think is a great young coach. I think Josh
Hipel is good enough to win a Natty. He's a
Tennessee coach. If he can beat Josh Hipel and they
both have great players, and then he can beat let's
say an Alabama or whoever he plays after that, Kaylen
de Boor, then I think I'm good just going back
and putting Ryan Day in the second category and agreeing
(16:31):
with Joel Klatt. It's just Michigan's in his head thing,
and that's happened before for coaches. But if they get
one and done and Josh Hipel and Kaylin de Boor
and coaches I know can win a tie, I really
feel strongly, then the buck guys have to live with
a Category three coach.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
One more Heard The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
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Speaker 1 (16:59):
Co Thursdays, we love him. If you bet football, play
fantasy football, want to get smarter at football? Forty five
years NFL films, you know what, listen It's really interesting
about Christian McCaffrey. So when he came to the Niners,
he'd been banged up. This was a I compared it
yesterday to getting an aging pitcher. Listen, can we get
three big inning years out of him? We're not getting six.
(17:22):
So I always thought if McCaffrey could get him a
trophy three years, but he came to the Niners banged up.
What is remarkable though, is that Kyle Shanahan has a
losing record without him, and I think Shanahan's an excellent coach.
What it tells me is McCaffrey is a sensational all
time talent. Are you surprised a little that just taking
(17:47):
him out there were different franchise It feels like, Greg.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
I don't know if we have a large enough sample
sized Colin to say that for sure. I think what
the film shows regarding when mc scaffrey's not in is
that they're limited in what they can do as far
as the motions and the shifts and the formation variation.
Speaker 7 (18:09):
This is a very schemed up offense.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
When McCaffrey and Samuel are in the game together, they
do a lot of things in terms of movement pre snap,
in terms of formations, things that cause a lot of
questions for defense is how they want to handle it
and when he's not in. Even though Jordan Mason ran
well for the first part of the season and gain
yards maybe with second or third in the league in rushing,
(18:32):
they can't do the same things in terms of the
movement and the formation variation, simply because McCaffrey is so
good as a receiver and that's the other element to
his game, and it also allows Samuel to become a
much better player. Samuel is not the same player because
McCaffrey's not there, because Samuel is a pure receiver. Colin
and I think you would agree, you would not talk
(18:53):
about Samuel the way you talk about Justin.
Speaker 7 (18:55):
Jefferson or DeMar James. He's not that kind of player.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
No, he's a schemed up player, and they can't do
the scheming that allows them to be what they are.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I'm really interested on this next reply by you. So
in the last three games, we both like Bonnicks out
of college, and we both think Sean Payton's very smart.
But in the last three games they're averaging thirty six
a game. What is he giving him more to do?
I'll tell you what that seventh round Utah receiver. They
(19:25):
got that kid can play. Some of this is just
their receiving course, maybe a little tastier than people thought.
What is the Bonnicks Peyton relationship? What is the film
saying over the last month.
Speaker 6 (19:35):
Well, you know, it's funny you asked me that, because
I think that the way he calls a game in
certain situations, Sean Payton that is, tells you everything you
need to know about what he feels about bone Nicks.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
Think about what he.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Did with two third quarter plays from deep in their
own territory out of the end zone. Third and eleven
and he throws the seamball to Mims for a touchdown,
and then second and long. I think it might have
been the next possession he throws. I think that's what
we're looking at now. This boot pass to Sutton. That
tells you all you need to know, the confidence that
(20:12):
Peyton has in his ability not only to make the throws,
but to make the right decisions, because if you make
the wrong decision in your end zone, you've got a problem.
And by the way, both of those throws came against
the coverage we call Cover two invert where they're playing
cover two, but they get to it a different way.
But the thing that really stands out about Nicks is
he's driving the ball. And I don't think we thought
(20:34):
when he came out of Oregon that he'd necessarily be
that kind of power thrower. You're certainly not going to
say he's Matthew Stafford. But he's made drive throws with velocity.
He made a far hash sideline throw this week. He's
made these kinds of throws. A couple of weeks ago
we showed a play a window throw between the numbers,
between the hashes. He has really shown the ability to
(20:55):
drive the football at the intermediate and intermediate and deeper levels.
And I'm not sure we all thought that would be
the case.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
So Lamar against the NFC is unbeatable, and then all
of a sudden against Philadelphia he was very beatable. Is
it schemes? Is it personnel? But Philadelphia did And not
only does Lamar beat NFC teams, greg he often humiliates them.
It's like they've they've never seen anything like it. Blew
(21:25):
out the Lions last year. What did Philadelphia do?
Speaker 7 (21:31):
Well?
Speaker 6 (21:31):
You know, it's interesting because and I never questioned coaches
because they know way more than I do, and they
know their teams better than I do, obviously. I mean,
I sit in my office and watched tape, but I'm
not there all week during the process. So what really
struck me was sixty four percent of Derrick Henry's runs
prior to the Eagles game this year had come out
of either twenty one or twenty two personnel, meaning that
(21:52):
Patrick Riccard was on the field.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
Okay, and the Eagles they had really evolved.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
Into being a purely nickel defense about eighty percent of
their their defensive snaps since Cooper Dejine started playing. But
surprisingly to me, they did not play anywhere near as
much out of twenty one and twenty two personnel the Ravens,
that is, as they had prior to that game. So
when they lined up in twelve personnel with likely and Andrews,
(22:19):
the Eagles stayed in their nickel and therefore, to me,
they kind of played into the Eagles hands.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
I thought that they would make.
Speaker 6 (22:26):
The Eagles play in a way that they didn't really
want to, and they didn't really do that in my
opinion anyway. So I'm sure Todd Monkin would have a
different answer, but I just don't think they played in
a sense Ravens football, and they allowed the Eagles to
dictate the game on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
So I'm gonna throw You may be surprised by this,
but I've told everybody to take a deep breath and
get away from the record. With Caleb Williams, don't look
at four and eight because they've lost the Vikings, Lions,
and Packers. You flip those and all of a sudden,
they're seven and five and those are like last play
of the game and the Hail Mary. It's not his fault.
He has more one hundred plus passer rating games than Mahomes,
(23:06):
better completion percentage than Trevor Lawrence, averaging more yards passing
the game than Justin Herbert and Kyler Murray, and the
same number of touchdown passes as Jalen Hurts. And that's
with his second play caller, a dysfunctional head coach, and
an organization that can't develop quarterbacks. So my take is, folks,
get away from the record. Something's working here, Is that
(23:28):
what you see with Caleb.
Speaker 7 (23:30):
Yeah, he's played a lot better.
Speaker 6 (23:32):
You know, we talked earlier in the year that even
basic concepts he was struggling with he just didn't deliver
the football, and now he is, and I mean he's
really gifted.
Speaker 7 (23:42):
Colin.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
You know you're close to the USC. You've seen him
for the two years he was the starter of there.
And the ball comes out beautifully. He's clearly and this
is not a next and O point, but you can
just see body language.
Speaker 7 (23:55):
He's more decisive.
Speaker 6 (23:56):
The ball's coming out now it's a coach's job to
So there are a couple of things that the film
shows that he absolutely needs to work on to even
get better. He has a tendency to climb or step
up in the pocket when there's no pressure on him,
so he creates some of his own pressure by doing
that that he needs to work on. The other thing
that he's getting better at, and this is good, is
(24:19):
he used to leave the pocket by retreating backwards. You
can't do that in the NFL. Maybe only Lamar Jackson
can do that, but you can't do that. No one
would teach you to retreat backwards. Yeah, but he's throwing
beautiful balls now. And what I really like is the
innate mindset that he has to drive the ball into
tight windows in the middle of the field. I'm not
(24:40):
sure you can teach that, and he has shown the
innate ability to do that.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
So this next question. It's funny because for years and
years I would say, Greg, you are wrong. Russell Wilson
is amazing, and you were the only guy that would go.
You'd go I can't quite figure it out. It's almost
it's like their planned ad libs. I can't get my
arms around him right. But it's interesting if you take
(25:07):
out the Nat Hacket year, go to his last teive
in Seattle, go to this one in Pittsburgh, and the
Peyton year. His passer ratings around one hundred. He doesn't
turn the ball over a lot. I feel like, no,
in Pittsburgh, they didn't need a savior, they just needed
an adult. And have you changed your opinion? Do you
(25:31):
look at him now and go, actually, this fits perfectly.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
Well. I think he's playing really well.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
And I'm sure when you think back to since he
became a Starughter, there have not been many plays outside
of structure. He's playing from the pocket at a really
high level, and they're giving him a lot of no
huddle and he's making a lot of the right checks
and the right play calls. They play a lot out
of two tight ends and three tight ends, and that
really helps a quarterback pre snab because you know what,
(26:00):
the defense is going to give you more when they're
in their base defense than they are when they're in
their nickel or dime. And he's making really really good throws,
he's seeing things clearly, he's understanding what he's looking at,
and he's delivering the football. He's playing right now at
a really really high level.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
That's great. Yeah, And you know it's funny. I've always
thought that Savior tag is a bunch of nonsense. Stafford
didn't save the Rams, you know, they were already they
went to a Super Bowl, and Brady actually didn't save Tampa.
They were a five hundred team with thirty picks from Jambs.
They had all sorts of talent. I think when you
get into Savior air, ind of the Jets Russell to
(26:39):
the Broncos, when you get into Savior territory, that's trouble.
And Russell isn't that in Pittsburgh because it's a very
well run organization. Now, speaking of older quarterbacks, there was
a pick last week by Kirk Cousins, and I love Kirk,
but I thought Oh my god, it looked like a
major big Bacher baseball pitcher thrown at eighty three mile
(26:59):
an hour fat ball so olfers, zero touchdown, six picks
in his last three games. Is it possible? What does
the film say? Greg? Is it time for Michael Pennis?
Speaker 7 (27:11):
Yeah? You know, And I'm being totally honest, Colin. You know,
I don't make this stuff up. Obviously, I don't have
a great answer. I mean, he is.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
It's been so uncharacteristic of Kirk Cousins because say what
you want. I know there are a lot of people
that may not like him because he hasn't gotten to
a championship game or a Super Bowl. But over the
last five, six, seven years, he's been absolutely one of
the best pure pocket passers in the NFL.
Speaker 7 (27:37):
That's his game. And he is making uncharacteristic.
Speaker 6 (27:40):
Reads and throws and I don't know why, but they're
really not good some of these, And it's obviously been
very noticeable the last three games. Some of the throws
he made against the Chargers this past week. I mean,
I was just scratching my head. He never does that.
So I don't know what the answer is. Look, they're
still in it. I'd be surprised if they go to
(28:01):
Michael Pennix at this point. I think the belief would
be that Kirk Cousins and they've got a tough game
this week, by the way, but I think the belief
would be that Kirk Cousins can snap out of this
and come back to being Kirk Cousins and again not
being in the building and not knowing.
Speaker 7 (28:15):
What they do.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
I'm struggling to figure out why Kyle Pitts is not
a meaningful part of the pass games.
Speaker 7 (28:21):
Yeah, I see had two targets last week and no catches.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I don't get that either at all. Okay, before we
go to your play of the week, which I can't
wait for Packers Lions tonight. You know, Jordan Love's doing
what he did last year. He's rocky in September and
October and then he catches fire and so Jordan Love
like he was at the end of last year, He's
on a heater again and he's going to Detroit. All
(28:47):
of a sudden, Matt Lafleur and Jordan Love are clicking
on these young receivers. What interests you? What matchup tonight
are you interested in?
Speaker 6 (28:56):
Well, I think you know, we always talk about the
Lions offense. I think their defense really needs to be
talked about. Aaron Glenn is patching together a defense that's
lost really key players, and yet he stayed aggressive. They
blitz a lot, they play man coverage. I think you
could easily make the argument that they have the best
safety duo in the NFL. And Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph.
I mean, Joseph has seven picks. I'm not sure anybody's
(29:18):
aware of that. And Branch. He gives them tremendous flexibility, Colin,
because Branch can line up and play man to man
against wide receivers because he was a slot corner for
them last year as a rookie. So he gives them
tremendous flexibility and versatility in their coverage schemes. They can
stay with the personnel they want to stay with because
(29:38):
he can do that. So it's really their defense against
Love tonight that probably to me is a fascinating tactical matchup.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Okay, so I thought one of the really interesting games,
and Arizona's been in a lot of these because I
really like their offense at personnel. McBride Harrison's got seven touchdowns.
Say what Jawani's inconsistent. Kyle the running back Connor Minnesota
Arizona was fascinating because I thought Minnesota looked a little
(30:08):
cooked and then all of a sudden, here cam Sam
Darnold with a drive down the field. He again this
year we get a lot less reckless and a lot
more precision passing, especially in big spots. What did you
make of Donald's play against Arizona.
Speaker 6 (30:26):
Yeah, I mean at halftime, if you looked on social media,
you would have thought it was time for them to,
you know, to without Joe Cat, you know, after the
first half, and then of course the second half he
came out and made some really good throats. I mean,
this is, you know, in many ways, like the Lions,
like the Rams. It's such a well schemed passing game.
The spacing and the routes is really good. It really
presents clean, defined reads for him, so the throws are evident,
(30:51):
and it's just really a matter of time in any
game as long as he has time in the pocket.
But he's also shown as you know, he's a good athlete.
But it's not running out of the pocket that I'm
talking about, it's moving within the pocket. And I think
he's doing that this year better than he ever has.
And actually that's a part of the big play, because
the big play I want to show came from the
(31:11):
winning touchdown drive last week against the Cardinals, who, by
the way, are a difficult defense to play against, not
a lot of talent, but Jonathan Gannon does an unbelievable
job with sche Maddox in his defense.
Speaker 7 (31:22):
So let's go to this play.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
It was a play to Jordan Addison for twenty six
yards and as I said, it was on the final
drive and it was really set everything up. And I
think we want to start with the fact number one,
which you don't see a lot in that Sam Darnold
is under center and they play under center an awful
lot and run regular play action and it's a three
(31:44):
by one set. So now we're going to get to
the route concept, which is a very staple concept for them.
Speaker 7 (31:51):
It's what we call dagger.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
So you're going to get an inside vertical by Nailer
and Addison he's going to run the dig route underneath that.
Speaker 7 (31:59):
That's what dagger is.
Speaker 6 (32:00):
It's an inside vertical and a dig route underneath that vertical.
Speaker 7 (32:04):
Now, what the Cards.
Speaker 6 (32:05):
Are going to end up playing here, even though it
doesn't look like it now. And that's another part of
this play is they're going to end up playing cover three.
So what's cover three. It's three deep with four underneath defenders.
That's what cover three is. And this is kind of
base cover three. So as we focus on the two
receivers as we start the play, you're going to see
(32:26):
exactly how this plays out. You're going to see nail Or.
He's going to run the inside vertical route. What that
does is it attacks the safety who's got the deep
middle third. Okay, so that lifts the safety and then
you're gonna have Addison and he's going to run as
we said that inbreaking route underneath Nailer. Now, what Darnold
(32:46):
has to do here is he's got to beat that
underneath hook defender with his throw. And this has to
be a big time anticipation and timing throw, and there's
the void that he needs to hit. It's actually going
to be inside that underneath hook defen not outside of him.
And he throws the ball really early and sticks it
right on him.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
This is not an easy throw.
Speaker 6 (33:07):
Now we're gonna see this from a different angle because
I think it's really really important to see this second angle.
Speaker 7 (33:12):
So if we can take a look at that, it
would be really good. YEP. So right now we're going
to see this. There's Darnald.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
Now he's gonna get pressure here, and this is what
I was talking about, Colin.
Speaker 7 (33:20):
He's gonna get pressure.
Speaker 6 (33:22):
So he has to move, and he has to move
while he keeps his eyes downfield. He can't lose sight
of the coverage. So what he does is he climbs
the pocket. He moves very comfortably, resets his throwing platform.
He's now ready to deliver. There is that underneath the
fender that he has to beat.
Speaker 7 (33:38):
Looko when he.
Speaker 6 (33:39):
Delivers this ball. He delivers this ball when Addison is
literally on the numbers and he's gonna throw it between
the hashes. This is big time NFL quarterback and these
are the kinds of throws that you have to be
able to make in the NFL, particularly against defenses that
play a lot his own.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Great stuff, Greg co Sell forty five years L Films.
As always, Greg repreciate it
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 1 (00:26):
Here we go. It's Thursday Lions Packers tonight. Greg co
selling one hour customary on Thursday live in Los Angeles.
It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you
may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Yes,
one hour from now, Greg Cosell, we'll talk about tonight's game,
Packers Lions. We'll get to that in a second. Jmac
(00:49):
we we witnessed something last night in Los Angeles. It
was actually in Miami for many people. The curtain is closing,
the end is nine. Here we go, all right, the
come on, So I want to start today. The Lakers
got shelled last night, lost by forty one points. First
(01:12):
it was Frank Vogel, Get him out of here, he's
no good. Then it was Darvin Ham, he's a bomber
now JJ Reddick through his first twenty two games. What
do you know, it's the same team as Darvin Ham's
first twenty two games last season. In fact, offensive guy
(01:33):
JJ Reddick is averaging a pointless Why because there's two
truths about this Laker franchise. The roster's not good and
Lebron's getting older, and they have no chance to win
a championship none. Here's how far the standard has been lowered.
And this is always how businesses die, the standard. I
(01:55):
was talking to Jimmy Johnson about this a couple of
weeks ago. I asked him to like coaching college or
pro better? He said, college is more fun. In pro football,
you have to constantly be on your assistant coaches because
they have players. Unlike college where players siphon through every
three or four years. In the pros, you can have
a linebacker for eight years, a tight end for nine years,
(02:17):
a quarterback for twelve years. You have to stay on
your assistance and coordinators don't be best friends, be bosses.
And that's the truth. The standard is so low for
the Lakers, they just keep letting it go lower that
their point of pride now is that in thirteen of
(02:40):
the last fourteen games against Denver, they've lost, but they've
kept it close. That's a real thing in la hey Man,
we lose to Denver and Jokich by this much. That's
the standard. It's crazy and how this is why the
Lakers and the Cowboys, they've lowered the standard. Twelve wins
(03:00):
a B plus guy, that's the standard down Dallas. So
the Lakers and the Cowboys too many family members have
a role in the organization. The star of the team,
Lebron and Deck is paid more than right now he delivers. Sorry,
it's true. You have very average rosters that are top heavy,
(03:20):
on top all brand, no braun. That's the Cowboys and
the Lakers, and it all comes down to a lowering
of standards. It's why Jimmy Johnson had to bark constantly.
I mean, Austin Reeves stop, he should be a fifth starter. Well,
Dalton connect after that one big night, he's averaged eleven
(03:42):
a game over the last two weeks. That's what he is.
He shoots some threes. It's a nice player, it's fun,
but he's probably a four to a five on a
really good basketball team. Derek White is better than both,
and he's a five or a four for the Celtics.
They are winning titles going forward last year and moving forward,
So it's just the lowering of standards. The Lakers are
(04:04):
full of average athletes. They can't defend the three, that's
what they are. Just got a bunch of average athletes.
Last night was a complete embarrassment. But this year for
the Cowboys has been a complete embarrassment. Too many family
members have important roles in the franchise. The standards have
been lowered. Like any regressing business, you just settle. You know,
(04:30):
I ain't on my belt. I have to I'll just
cut out another loop in my belt, you know, just yeah,
I mean, I know I'm now a forty two weights
not a thirty eight. But you know, east pants still,
you know, I can just unbutton the top button. They
mostly fit. So last night it was it was bad
and JJ Reddick, the offensive guy whose team is now
averaging less through twenty two games than Darvin Ham, the
(04:52):
defensive guys team did. Here's JJ after I'm embarrassed.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
We're all embarrassed.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
That's not It's not a game that I thought we
had the right fight. The right professionalism. You know, I'm
not sure what was lost in translation. There has to
(05:21):
be some ownership on the court, and I'll take all
the ownership.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
In the world.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
This is my team and I lead it, and I'm embarrassed.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, but what are you gonna do? Average roster aging
Lebron That's what it is. So I want to talk
about Caleb Williams, and I think Caleb's having a really
good season. But because the team is foreign, eight people
are freaking out and we do this, we get paralyzed
(05:51):
on records. It's all about the records. But if you
can textualize anything, and I'll do that later with Lincoln Riley,
but can textualize four wins? Take out the record for
a second. If I said to you going into this
season for the Chicago Bears, through twelve games with an
(06:14):
incompetent franchise, a coach so bad that, for the first
time ever, the Bears fired their head coach during the season,
if I said, you know what, through twelve games, uh,
kayleb Williams has as many passing touchdowns as Jalen Hurts.
He's passing for more yards per game than Justin Herbert
and Kyler Murray and as a higher completion percentage than
(06:35):
Trevor Lawrence. You'd be kind of impressed, right in the
toughest division in football if I said he has more
passer rating games over one hundred than Patrick Mahomes at
this point, and oh, by the way, just set a
rookie all time record for the most passes thrown without
an interception. It's two hundred and twelve in counting. How
(06:56):
would you look at him? Then? Oh, by the way,
he's on his second play caller. His coach just got fired.
The offensive line has gone downhill from a year ago.
He set a rookie record, more one hundred plus passer
rating games than Mahomes, more yards a game than Herbert
or Kyler Murray, as many passing touchdowns as Jalen Hurts
(07:19):
with this mess of a franchise hovering around him. Oh,
by the way, the last three losses Vikings, Lions, Packers
all going to be playoff teams by a total of
seven points. He didn't give up the hail Mary. And
by the way, he's getting better his last nine games,
twelve touchdowns, one pick. So again, I used to say
(07:43):
this all the time when Anne and I, you know,
the kids are young, they're like five and seven and eight.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Nine.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Kids are kids, right, and if we had, like, you know,
a bad day the kids, something went wrong. I always said,
would we have signed up for this? If you would
have told me our biggest problem in twenty seventeen is
one of our kids got caught doing blank? Would you
have said, that's our biggest problem, You'll sign up now.
(08:17):
Nobody thought this thing was going to be smooth. If
you get out of the record, you know, the best
division in football, they're losing close to Detroit, close to
Green Bay, close to Minnesota. And here's another thing I like,
I always say this when somebody leaves, don't just judge
Jim Harbaugh's record, what he did at Michigan. What happened
(08:38):
to the Niners when he left? They collapsed in the
last couple days Lincoln Riley's Trojan six and six. There's
a rumor that other schools are contacting him. USC the
de Nos died this year without Caleb. It's not just
where you go, it's what happened to the place you left.
(08:59):
And through all of it, Caleb Williams, He's got a
Dak Prescott quality of Justin Herbert quality. Even through dysfunction,
He'll go to the microphone and he always says the
right thing. This is after Shane Waldron. He has a
new play caller, Thomas Brown. After Shane Waldron was fired.
(09:20):
Ample opportunities to bury people, and once again he walks
up to the podium and says the right thing.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
They're not going to reinvent the will in a sense.
You know we're mid season and you know that's not
a decision for me. I have to I'm doing what
coach says I have to do with whatever decision he makes.
I'm gonna have to be fine with it. Well, I'll
be able to adapt, Yes, I will. We will be
(09:51):
able to adapt whatever coach makes decision he makes and
then you know from there we have to go out
there and executing one games.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, Thomas Brown's now the interim head coach. He won't
be the head coach. But again, whenever you go through
a bad day, it could be with your kids, it
could be at work. Just ask yourself, would you have
signed if that's your worst day? Would you have signed
up for it? I said before the season started, I said,
I think they're going to win seven games and finish
(10:18):
in fourth place. It's gonna be turbulent. I don't think
eber Flush is the guy long term, and the division
is the best in football. But I think if you're
truthful and honest, at the end of the year, you'll
look up and go, We've got our quarterback more one
hundred plus passer rating games than Mahomes, more passing yards
(10:38):
a game than Herbert Kider Murray, better completion percentage than
Trevor Lawrence, as many passing touchdowns as Jalen Hurts. With
those weapons in that offensive line, Yeah, I'd sign up
for that. He's a block kick here and a Hail
Mary there and bad coaching there from being eight and
four not four and eight be paralyzed by the record.
(11:02):
J Mac greg Cosel in fifteen minutes. A lot of
positivity today, you know that's the new me. I was
thinking about something we had Joel Klatt on the show yesterday,
and as we've talked about, you know, a game, you
know it's an upset when it's Thursday and we're still
talking about a Saturday college football game. But I want
to try to center this whole Ryan Day thing. Oh,
(11:25):
because there's a lot of talk. Good luck with that well,
if they lose in the first playoff game, there are
a lot of people in Columbus that think it's time
for a new coach, and so I just want to
offer something to think about next Greg Cosell in fifty minutes.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Ryan Day said he has no plans to leave Ohio
state the disaster. Now they may have plans to move off.
Ryan Day not saying that's right, But if they lose
first game of the playoff, it's going to get ugly.
I don't think he's gonna get fired, but it's gonna
get ugly. So let's just start with this premise that
five percent of any industry is elite. After that it's
very good, good, capable, below average, awful, but about five
(12:14):
percent is great. So, now that Mac Brown is leaving
North Carolina, there's only two coaches that have natties in
college football, Kirby Smart and Dabbo Sweeney. Now we've also
lost Chris Peterson, Harbaugh, Urban Meyer, Saban. Those to me
are elite, elite coaches they're all gone. So Kirby, Smart
(12:34):
and Dabble only coaches with Natty's. That's the first group.
We know they are great coaches. Then there's the second
group that I believe can win over the course of
time a national championship. Klin de Bor, Josh Heipel, Brian Kelly,
Lanekiff and Dan Lanning. Steve Sarkisian don't live in the moment.
Brian Kelly's a great coach. He won ten straight ten
(12:57):
plus games seven years in a row until this past year. Like,
get over it. Every coach, all coaches have bad seasons.
So if you take out Dabo and Kirby, you go
to the second group people I think can win. Then
there's the third group that maybe they can, but I'm
(13:18):
not sure in experience. Maybe let's go to the third group,
and this is the group I think Ryan Day is
in now. Mario Christobal better recruiter than coach James Franklin,
doesn't beat good teams. Ryan Day likewise, Marcus Freeman really young.
Lincoln Riley feels like some pop his team's lack of
(13:41):
toughness and a grit. So I had Ryan Day and
Lincoln Riley in group two until this year, I've got
new information. I'm not living in the moment, but Lincoln
Riley since Caleb left, somethings. The recruiting's not as good.
The staff needs work. So I had Ryan Dan the
(14:02):
second category, and then I watched Michigan Ohio State and that's,
as I said, as bad a loss as I've ever seen. Now,
Joel Klatt came on the show yesterday and defended Ryan Day.
Although Buckeye fans may not agree. Here was Joel's take.
(14:22):
Ryan is a very good coach.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
I think that there's a mental block with Michigan right now,
and this feels like something that when he gets over
the home it's it's gonna be big. I mean, harbad
didn't win over Urban Meyer and they.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Stuck with him.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
You look at the history of college football and what
you'll see is that most often, even the greatest coaches
in the history of our sport have taken a while
to win their championship. It took Osbourne quite a while,
it took Bowden quite a while. You know, it's very
rare that you get these guys that win it right away,
like Bob Stoopster, Larry Coker. It's generally the opposite guys
take a while. Urban Meyer took a while, Saban it
(14:59):
took a while. So here's where I would disagree.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
Brian Kelly had an off season, but he's won everywhere.
He's proven every place he goes, he wins. Ryan Day
never had a previous job, and so all I know
is the information I have, which is he loses big games,
and he's lost four straight to Michigan, and he looks
like he gets out coached. I mean, they scored ten
points against Michigan, Arkansas State scored eighteen points against Michigan.
(15:29):
Michigan State, Arkansas State, whatever state scored more than ten
points against Michigan. So it's one of those things where
is Ohio State satisfied? They're not in Group one now, Natty,
I don't know if you can put Ryan Day in
Group two lane sark guys, I think Kaylan de bor
(15:50):
are good enough. Kaylen de Boor got Washington to a
national championship last year with maybe the tenth best roster
in college football eight ten, twelve, something like that, So
I think that's where you are if he beats a Tennessee.
So for Ryan Day, the playoff is inarguably huge because
let's say he goes and beats a Josh Hipel, who
(16:11):
I think is a great young coach. I think Josh
Hipel is good enough to win a Natty. He's a
Tennessee coach. If he can beat Josh Hipel and they
both have great players, and then he can beat let's
say an Alabama or whoever he plays after that, Kaylen
de Boor, then I think I'm good just going back
and putting Ryan Day in the second category and agreeing
(16:31):
with Joel Klatt. It's just Michigan's in his head thing,
and that's happened before for coaches. But if they get
one and done and Josh Hipel and Kaylin de Boor
and coaches I know can win a tie, I really
feel strongly, then the buck guys have to live with
a Category three coach.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
One more Heard The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search her
to listen live or on demand whenever you like Greg.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Co Thursdays, we love him. If you bet football, play
fantasy football, want to get smarter at football? Forty five
years NFL films, you know what, listen It's really interesting
about Christian McCaffrey. So when he came to the Niners,
he'd been banged up. This was a I compared it
yesterday to getting an aging pitcher. Listen, can we get
three big inning years out of him? We're not getting six.
(17:22):
So I always thought if McCaffrey could get him a
trophy three years, but he came to the Niners banged up.
What is remarkable though, is that Kyle Shanahan has a
losing record without him, and I think Shanahan's an excellent coach.
What it tells me is McCaffrey is a sensational all
time talent. Are you surprised a little that just taking
(17:47):
him out there were different franchise It feels like, Greg.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
I don't know if we have a large enough sample
sized Colin to say that for sure. I think what
the film shows regarding when mc scaffrey's not in is
that they're limited in what they can do as far
as the motions and the shifts and the formation variation.
Speaker 7 (18:09):
This is a very schemed up offense.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
When McCaffrey and Samuel are in the game together, they
do a lot of things in terms of movement pre snap,
in terms of formations, things that cause a lot of
questions for defense is how they want to handle it
and when he's not in. Even though Jordan Mason ran
well for the first part of the season and gain
yards maybe with second or third in the league in rushing,
(18:32):
they can't do the same things in terms of the
movement and the formation variation, simply because McCaffrey is so
good as a receiver and that's the other element to
his game, and it also allows Samuel to become a
much better player. Samuel is not the same player because
McCaffrey's not there, because Samuel is a pure receiver. Colin
and I think you would agree, you would not talk
(18:53):
about Samuel the way you talk about Justin.
Speaker 7 (18:55):
Jefferson or DeMar James. He's not that kind of player.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
No, he's a schemed up player, and they can't do
the scheming that allows them to be what they are.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I'm really interested on this next reply by you. So
in the last three games, we both like Bonnicks out
of college, and we both think Sean Payton's very smart.
But in the last three games they're averaging thirty six
a game. What is he giving him more to do?
I'll tell you what that seventh round Utah receiver. They
(19:25):
got that kid can play. Some of this is just
their receiving course, maybe a little tastier than people thought.
What is the Bonnicks Peyton relationship? What is the film
saying over the last month.
Speaker 6 (19:35):
Well, you know, it's funny you asked me that, because
I think that the way he calls a game in
certain situations, Sean Payton that is, tells you everything you
need to know about what he feels about bone Nicks.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
Think about what he.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Did with two third quarter plays from deep in their
own territory out of the end zone. Third and eleven
and he throws the seamball to Mims for a touchdown,
and then second and long. I think it might have
been the next possession he throws. I think that's what
we're looking at now. This boot pass to Sutton. That
tells you all you need to know, the confidence that
(20:12):
Peyton has in his ability not only to make the throws,
but to make the right decisions, because if you make
the wrong decision in your end zone, you've got a problem.
And by the way, both of those throws came against
the coverage we call Cover two invert where they're playing
cover two, but they get to it a different way.
But the thing that really stands out about Nicks is
he's driving the ball. And I don't think we thought
(20:34):
when he came out of Oregon that he'd necessarily be
that kind of power thrower. You're certainly not going to
say he's Matthew Stafford. But he's made drive throws with velocity.
He made a far hash sideline throw this week. He's
made these kinds of throws. A couple of weeks ago
we showed a play a window throw between the numbers,
between the hashes. He has really shown the ability to
(20:55):
drive the football at the intermediate and intermediate and deeper levels.
And I'm not sure we all thought that would be
the case.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
So Lamar against the NFC is unbeatable, and then all
of a sudden against Philadelphia he was very beatable. Is
it schemes? Is it personnel? But Philadelphia did And not
only does Lamar beat NFC teams, greg he often humiliates them.
It's like they've they've never seen anything like it. Blew
(21:25):
out the Lions last year. What did Philadelphia do?
Speaker 7 (21:31):
Well?
Speaker 6 (21:31):
You know, it's interesting because and I never questioned coaches
because they know way more than I do, and they
know their teams better than I do, obviously. I mean,
I sit in my office and watched tape, but I'm
not there all week during the process. So what really
struck me was sixty four percent of Derrick Henry's runs
prior to the Eagles game this year had come out
of either twenty one or twenty two personnel, meaning that
(21:52):
Patrick Riccard was on the field.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
Okay, and the Eagles they had really evolved.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
Into being a purely nickel defense about eighty percent of
their their defensive snaps since Cooper Dejine started playing. But
surprisingly to me, they did not play anywhere near as
much out of twenty one and twenty two personnel the Ravens,
that is, as they had prior to that game. So
when they lined up in twelve personnel with likely and Andrews,
(22:19):
the Eagles stayed in their nickel and therefore, to me,
they kind of played into the Eagles hands.
Speaker 7 (22:25):
I thought that they would make.
Speaker 6 (22:26):
The Eagles play in a way that they didn't really
want to, and they didn't really do that in my
opinion anyway. So I'm sure Todd Monkin would have a
different answer, but I just don't think they played in
a sense Ravens football, and they allowed the Eagles to
dictate the game on the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
So I'm gonna throw You may be surprised by this,
but I've told everybody to take a deep breath and
get away from the record. With Caleb Williams, don't look
at four and eight because they've lost the Vikings, Lions,
and Packers. You flip those and all of a sudden,
they're seven and five and those are like last play
of the game and the Hail Mary. It's not his fault.
He has more one hundred plus passer rating games than Mahomes,
(23:06):
better completion percentage than Trevor Lawrence, averaging more yards passing
the game than Justin Herbert and Kyler Murray, and the
same number of touchdown passes as Jalen Hurts. And that's
with his second play caller, a dysfunctional head coach, and
an organization that can't develop quarterbacks. So my take is, folks,
get away from the record. Something's working here, Is that
(23:28):
what you see with Caleb.
Speaker 7 (23:30):
Yeah, he's played a lot better.
Speaker 6 (23:32):
You know, we talked earlier in the year that even
basic concepts he was struggling with he just didn't deliver
the football, and now he is, and I mean he's
really gifted.
Speaker 7 (23:42):
Colin.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
You know you're close to the USC. You've seen him
for the two years he was the starter of there.
And the ball comes out beautifully. He's clearly and this
is not a next and O point, but you can
just see body language.
Speaker 7 (23:55):
He's more decisive.
Speaker 6 (23:56):
The ball's coming out now it's a coach's job to
So there are a couple of things that the film
shows that he absolutely needs to work on to even
get better. He has a tendency to climb or step
up in the pocket when there's no pressure on him,
so he creates some of his own pressure by doing
that that he needs to work on. The other thing
that he's getting better at, and this is good, is
(24:19):
he used to leave the pocket by retreating backwards. You
can't do that in the NFL. Maybe only Lamar Jackson
can do that, but you can't do that. No one
would teach you to retreat backwards. Yeah, but he's throwing
beautiful balls now. And what I really like is the
innate mindset that he has to drive the ball into
tight windows in the middle of the field. I'm not
(24:40):
sure you can teach that, and he has shown the
innate ability to do that.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
So this next question. It's funny because for years and
years I would say, Greg, you are wrong. Russell Wilson
is amazing, and you were the only guy that would go.
You'd go I can't quite figure it out. It's almost
it's like their planned ad libs. I can't get my
arms around him right. But it's interesting if you take
(25:07):
out the Nat Hacket year, go to his last teive
in Seattle, go to this one in Pittsburgh, and the
Peyton year. His passer ratings around one hundred. He doesn't
turn the ball over a lot. I feel like, no,
in Pittsburgh, they didn't need a savior, they just needed
an adult. And have you changed your opinion? Do you
(25:31):
look at him now and go, actually, this fits perfectly.
Speaker 7 (25:36):
Well. I think he's playing really well.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
And I'm sure when you think back to since he
became a Starughter, there have not been many plays outside
of structure. He's playing from the pocket at a really
high level, and they're giving him a lot of no
huddle and he's making a lot of the right checks
and the right play calls. They play a lot out
of two tight ends and three tight ends, and that
really helps a quarterback pre snab because you know what,
(26:00):
the defense is going to give you more when they're
in their base defense than they are when they're in
their nickel or dime. And he's making really really good throws,
he's seeing things clearly, he's understanding what he's looking at,
and he's delivering the football. He's playing right now at
a really really high level.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
That's great. Yeah, And you know it's funny. I've always
thought that Savior tag is a bunch of nonsense. Stafford
didn't save the Rams, you know, they were already they
went to a Super Bowl, and Brady actually didn't save Tampa.
They were a five hundred team with thirty picks from Jambs.
They had all sorts of talent. I think when you
get into Savior air, ind of the Jets Russell to
(26:39):
the Broncos, when you get into Savior territory, that's trouble.
And Russell isn't that in Pittsburgh because it's a very
well run organization. Now, speaking of older quarterbacks, there was
a pick last week by Kirk Cousins, and I love Kirk,
but I thought Oh my god, it looked like a
major big Bacher baseball pitcher thrown at eighty three mile
(26:59):
an hour fat ball so olfers, zero touchdown, six picks
in his last three games. Is it possible? What does
the film say? Greg? Is it time for Michael Pennis?
Speaker 7 (27:11):
Yeah? You know, And I'm being totally honest, Colin. You know,
I don't make this stuff up. Obviously, I don't have
a great answer. I mean, he is.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
It's been so uncharacteristic of Kirk Cousins because say what
you want. I know there are a lot of people
that may not like him because he hasn't gotten to
a championship game or a Super Bowl. But over the
last five, six, seven years, he's been absolutely one of
the best pure pocket passers in the NFL.
Speaker 7 (27:37):
That's his game. And he is making uncharacteristic.
Speaker 6 (27:40):
Reads and throws and I don't know why, but they're
really not good some of these, And it's obviously been
very noticeable the last three games. Some of the throws
he made against the Chargers this past week. I mean,
I was just scratching my head. He never does that.
So I don't know what the answer is. Look, they're
still in it. I'd be surprised if they go to
(28:01):
Michael Pennix at this point. I think the belief would
be that Kirk Cousins and they've got a tough game
this week, by the way, but I think the belief
would be that Kirk Cousins can snap out of this
and come back to being Kirk Cousins and again not
being in the building and not knowing.
Speaker 7 (28:15):
What they do.
Speaker 6 (28:17):
I'm struggling to figure out why Kyle Pitts is not
a meaningful part of the pass games.
Speaker 7 (28:21):
Yeah, I see had two targets last week and no catches.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
I don't get that either at all. Okay, before we
go to your play of the week, which I can't
wait for Packers Lions tonight. You know, Jordan Love's doing
what he did last year. He's rocky in September and
October and then he catches fire and so Jordan Love
like he was at the end of last year, He's
on a heater again and he's going to Detroit. All
(28:47):
of a sudden, Matt Lafleur and Jordan Love are clicking
on these young receivers. What interests you? What matchup tonight
are you interested in?
Speaker 6 (28:56):
Well, I think you know, we always talk about the
Lions offense. I think their defense really needs to be
talked about. Aaron Glenn is patching together a defense that's
lost really key players, and yet he stayed aggressive. They
blitz a lot, they play man coverage. I think you
could easily make the argument that they have the best
safety duo in the NFL. And Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph.
I mean, Joseph has seven picks. I'm not sure anybody's
(29:18):
aware of that. And Branch. He gives them tremendous flexibility, Colin,
because Branch can line up and play man to man
against wide receivers because he was a slot corner for
them last year as a rookie. So he gives them
tremendous flexibility and versatility in their coverage schemes. They can
stay with the personnel they want to stay with because
(29:38):
he can do that. So it's really their defense against
Love tonight that probably to me is a fascinating tactical matchup.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Okay, so I thought one of the really interesting games,
and Arizona's been in a lot of these because I
really like their offense at personnel. McBride Harrison's got seven touchdowns.
Say what Jawani's inconsistent. Kyle the running back Connor Minnesota
Arizona was fascinating because I thought Minnesota looked a little
(30:08):
cooked and then all of a sudden, here cam Sam
Darnold with a drive down the field. He again this
year we get a lot less reckless and a lot
more precision passing, especially in big spots. What did you
make of Donald's play against Arizona.
Speaker 6 (30:26):
Yeah, I mean at halftime, if you looked on social media,
you would have thought it was time for them to,
you know, to without Joe Cat, you know, after the
first half, and then of course the second half he
came out and made some really good throats. I mean,
this is, you know, in many ways, like the Lions,
like the Rams. It's such a well schemed passing game.
The spacing and the routes is really good. It really
presents clean, defined reads for him, so the throws are evident,
(30:51):
and it's just really a matter of time in any
game as long as he has time in the pocket.
But he's also shown as you know, he's a good athlete.
But it's not running out of the pocket that I'm
talking about, it's moving within the pocket. And I think
he's doing that this year better than he ever has.
And actually that's a part of the big play, because
the big play I want to show came from the
(31:11):
winning touchdown drive last week against the Cardinals, who, by
the way, are a difficult defense to play against, not
a lot of talent, but Jonathan Gannon does an unbelievable
job with sche Maddox in his defense.
Speaker 7 (31:22):
So let's go to this play.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
It was a play to Jordan Addison for twenty six
yards and as I said, it was on the final
drive and it was really set everything up. And I
think we want to start with the fact number one,
which you don't see a lot in that Sam Darnold
is under center and they play under center an awful
lot and run regular play action and it's a three
(31:44):
by one set. So now we're going to get to
the route concept, which is a very staple concept for them.
Speaker 7 (31:51):
It's what we call dagger.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
So you're going to get an inside vertical by Nailer
and Addison he's going to run the dig route underneath that.
Speaker 7 (31:59):
That's what dagger is.
Speaker 6 (32:00):
It's an inside vertical and a dig route underneath that vertical.
Speaker 7 (32:04):
Now, what the Cards.
Speaker 6 (32:05):
Are going to end up playing here, even though it
doesn't look like it now. And that's another part of
this play is they're going to end up playing cover three.
So what's cover three. It's three deep with four underneath defenders.
That's what cover three is. And this is kind of
base cover three. So as we focus on the two
receivers as we start the play, you're going to see
(32:26):
exactly how this plays out. You're going to see nail Or.
He's going to run the inside vertical route. What that
does is it attacks the safety who's got the deep
middle third. Okay, so that lifts the safety and then
you're gonna have Addison and he's going to run as
we said that inbreaking route underneath Nailer. Now, what Darnold
(32:46):
has to do here is he's got to beat that
underneath hook defender with his throw. And this has to
be a big time anticipation and timing throw, and there's
the void that he needs to hit. It's actually going
to be inside that underneath hook defen not outside of him.
And he throws the ball really early and sticks it
right on him.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
This is not an easy throw.
Speaker 6 (33:07):
Now we're gonna see this from a different angle because
I think it's really really important to see this second angle.
Speaker 7 (33:12):
So if we can take a look at that, it
would be really good. YEP. So right now we're going
to see this. There's Darnald.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
Now he's gonna get pressure here, and this is what
I was talking about, Colin.
Speaker 7 (33:20):
He's gonna get pressure.
Speaker 6 (33:22):
So he has to move, and he has to move
while he keeps his eyes downfield. He can't lose sight
of the coverage. So what he does is he climbs
the pocket. He moves very comfortably, resets his throwing platform.
He's now ready to deliver. There is that underneath the
fender that he has to beat.
Speaker 7 (33:38):
Looko when he.
Speaker 6 (33:39):
Delivers this ball. He delivers this ball when Addison is
literally on the numbers and he's gonna throw it between
the hashes. This is big time NFL quarterback and these
are the kinds of throws that you have to be
able to make in the NFL, particularly against defenses that
play a lot his own.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Great stuff, Greg co Sell forty five years L Films.
As always, Greg repreciate it
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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