January 9, 2025 • 35 mins
Colin gives 49ers GM John Lynch advice on how to approach the negotiations with QB Brock Purdy and how to avoid making a major mistake. He still can't believe Bill Belichick is a college coach and explains why he still thinks the 6-time Super Bowl champion will return to the NFL. Plus, he talks to Greg Cosell from NFL Films about what we can expect from Lamar Jackson as he tries to overcome his playoff struggles
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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 1 (00:27):
All Right, here we go. It's Thursday, final foreign college
football on the precipice of a huge first NFL playoff weekend,
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. You know, it's an interesting
time right now in professional football, and so you have
(00:53):
the haves and the have nots are both being discussed
at the same time. So as we look forward to
the weekend of the half, it's the Chargers, it's the Eagles,
you know, it's Buffalo, it's Baltimore, it's everybody except Kansas
City and Detroit. They get buys. And then it's also
fascinating to see what the other teams that did not
make the playoffs, what are they going to do in Chicago?
(01:15):
What are they gonna do with the Raiders? So Jay
Mackett's so interesting week. And then you have a team
that's been a have forever and suddenly was a have
not San Francisco forty nine ers. So they have been
usually the team either waiting for a playoff game one
week or two, a buy or not a buye. A
lot of these bad teams are bad forever, like a
(01:38):
lot of these bad Raiders have been bad forever. Bears
have been ridiculous forever. And then there's the Niners, and
they want to be and are usually in the haves,
and now they're a have not and they've got a
big decision to make, because what you don't want to
do is make the wrong decision at quarterback, or you
will stay a have not forever you make the bad
(01:58):
decision there, or you become Dallas when you win when
it doesn't matter, and you're never around in January and
February to play. And so John Lynch, he is telling
you now we are signing Brock pretty to a big deal.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
What we know about Brock is that he's our guy.
We've got, you know, we have interest in Brock being
around here for a long long time, and he's done
so much for our organization. He's won big games and
you know, had a little tougher task as we all
did this year with some of the things that happened
throughout the course of the year. We just never could
(02:34):
string games where we were all together. And through that
he continued to lead, he continued to play at a
high level. So we have every interest in him being around.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Okay, So it's really interesting. The Niners used to be
a have and now it looks like, oh, this year
they're a have not. So what we know is the
eight teams that won their division all had the best
quarterback first time I can remember. Do you think brock
Purdy is the kind of guy that will be a
(03:05):
best quarterback in a division?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I do not.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
You have to reframe the discussion on brock Purty. It
has to go from Ooh, look what he's done to
what can he do? Because once he gobbles up a
big chunk of the salary, he plays with less talented players.
Remember Jared Goff before he got paid in LA Sean
(03:30):
McVay loved him and then he paid him and he
didn't love him.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
So much.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
If you ever wonder if you should pay a quarterback,
ask yourself one question, what does our rival think? Because
Buffalo loved it when Miami paid to a big boy money,
Buffalo loved it. He's one and eight against the Bills,
and he can't play when it's cold. Buffalo loved to
(03:59):
a signing along term deal. By the way, the Eagles
loved Daniel Jones signing up for more money with the
New York Giants. What do you think Sean McVay thinks
with Matt Stafford ooh, scary Brock Purtty. Nope, Sean McVay
this year, next, probably the following year will have the
(04:22):
best quarterback.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
So ask yourself.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
It's not about what he's done, it's about what can
he do once you take people away from him. Scheme
in stats, this is where Tua and Purty are very similar.
The scheme and the stats make you go ooh, I
test h ham Anegger, little small weather affected, need certain weapons,
(04:51):
lose weapons not as good. And what's interesting with the
Niners is you already have the answer. How many games
do you win this year without Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, Hurt,
Brandon ayuk Hurt. You got the answer, would you win six, seven,
eight games? He got the answer in front of you.
(05:11):
So if you're the Niners, you have to reframe the question.
And here's something else, because you want to be playing
this weekend the Haves. There's fourteen halves and that means
there's what you got. Eighteen have knots, and the Niners
are in the havenots. And one thing we know. If
you have a great quarterback and Purty's not that, in
my opinion, you're not gonna be winning your division going forward.
(05:33):
I mean, good God. Kyle Shanahan, boy genius, has a
losing record in San Francisco Without Christian McCaffrey. Sean McVay
doesn't have losing seasons often Shanny's had him. So one
of the disturbing trends is that Stafford needs McVeigh, but
(05:54):
is he totally reliant on McVay, Because the stats this
year for Brock are disturbing. In the first and second
quarter the schemed quarter, his passer rating is excellent. In
the third and fourth quarters, the non schemed quarters, he
(06:15):
has a He has a passer rating that should pay
you about sixteen million dollars a year, not fifty eight.
And so it is an interesting time for the San
Francisco forty nine ers. They used to be in one group,
now they're in the other. And the only thing that
guarantees no Super Bowls is paying a b quarterback a money.
(06:38):
You'll win a bunch of games, so does Dallas, but
nobody will take you serious come January, big decisions. The
idea of paying him early has never made any sense.
I would let it play out. Oh, by the way,
he got hurt again this year. So I saw this
(06:59):
story yesterday. Belichick. Bill Belichick made sure as he's on
the recruiting trail, he made sure to get a hold
of a couple of sources or as people did, to say, hey,
I am not going back to the NFL because it's
hurt in recruiting. And here's the thing, Bill Belichick did
such a great job. And you've had this before in
your life. Somebody does such a great job doing something,
(07:21):
it's the only way I can see them. It's like
the Rock. The Rock is an action star. He could
do a rom com. But if you're trying to convince
me he's going to give up action films for rom comms. Uh,
huh uh huh. His personality is an action film his
(07:42):
experience with wrestling, he's action. His physique is an action
film star. The Rock does action films. I don't want
him crying a lot on screen. I don't want Rock
being too tender and huggable. That's not who he is,
and that's not what he is, and that's not what
he's built to be. Bill check is a pro coach.
He is much more rotc than nil. He is rigid,
(08:07):
he doesn't pander. He doesn't have time for small talk.
And that's what college football is high volleyball coach, Hey recruit,
Nice to meet you, mister Donor. I've always thought it's easier.
Although the coaching is much better in pro football than college,
it's much easier to go psychologically college to pro, just
(08:28):
more football.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
And less nonsense.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
It's very difficult to be a great pro coach and
have to go backwards to college. A lot of handshakes,
a lot of pandering, a lot of small talk. I mean,
Bill hates mistakes. What a eighteen and nineteen and twenty
year old boys do make a lot of mistakes in
football and out of it. There's a reason Belichick is
an NFL historian. He loves great players, and great players
(08:56):
play at Georgia, and they play at Notre Dame, and
they play at Ohio State, and they play at Alabama
and LSU, and a lot of great players don't play
at Carolina. Now, Bill has the advantage of being a
big brand, and some kids may want to play for him,
especially defensive players. But but Bill was so great at
the NFL. I just can't buy into. I don't care
(09:18):
what sources say about, you know, Bill, because I saw
the stories this morning. Bill's got no interest going back
to the NFL. Yeah, and the Rock would have no
interest going back to action films if somebody offered him
thirty large for one. I'm sorry. That's who Bill is,
that's his experience, that's his personality, that's who he is.
And so I would love to see Bill because because
(09:42):
you know, some of these offensive coaches they age well.
Sean payton age as well, Drew Brees old as yesterday,
Andy Reid is aging well. You see these old offensive
goal old defensive coaches don't generally age as well because
they don't necessarily you know, they're they're they're they're not
necessarily always the best to and college football. NIL portal
(10:04):
is all about adapting. So it just it's almost like
Belichick's staying in college. Just like you know New Year's resolutions.
You can tell me you're gonna go to the gym
every day. You can tell me you're gonna keep your
New Year's resolution and you're.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Gonna eat better.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You know, bout three weeks in you start to kind
of fade off that. Nine weeks in you drive by
the gym and think you should go, and twelve weeks
in you just don't. You take a different way to work,
like like, so you're getting me to buy into Belichick's
gonna love this college football thing. I can't. I just
can't do it. He was so great at one thing,
(10:43):
I don't buy the other thing. That's where I stand
on it. And I still contend Philadelphia or Buffalo get
bounced early in the playoffs, and I don't think they will.
I think Philadelphia is gonna beat Green Bay. I think
Buffalo is gonna win at home against Denver.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
I do.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
But if they got bounced, you are having absolute phone
calls to Belichick. My belief is he would pick up
the phone for both. All right, J Mack, we got
so many things this weekend. I'm starting to really feel
good about my picks this weekend. The one game I'm
(11:21):
gonna stay away from and you feel strongest about it
is Rams Vikings. You love Los Angeles. I like Minnesota,
but I am concerned you have been so good this year.
I may just want to stay away. It's the Jmack factor.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
Well, he said at in college. But I don't have
a strong feeling starting tonight with Notre Dame. I think
we both we're gonna go watch that together. I think
we both know what it's gonna look like. Very physical,
lot of devents, low scoring by the way, two NFL quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
One I like a lot, one you don't. But it's
you have two very talented quarterbacks, two very young, energetic recruiters,
two huge brands. I don't see a ton of offense tonight.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
It's a field goal game, a turnover game, a penalty game.
Like it's gonna be fewest mistakes wins.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Yeah, this is like an appetizer for the five days
of football we get, you know, shrimp cocktail kind of games.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Yeah, yeah, decent.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I like it. I like Notre Dame. Yeah, uh, And
I mean twenty three twenty like Notre Dame. What say
you how the seventeen sixteen Irish Okay, and we both
had Notre Dame over Georgia. I do like Ohio State
over Texas as well. Tomorrow. That's gonna get that pulling
out all the stops.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah, be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
weekdays and neon Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
So you know, the Chicago Bears have been critical of
a lot of the executive sweet stuff to me is
political and it doesn't feel centered. But Ryan Pohl's a
young GM did say something because I pushed back on
this whole Hey, hire Ben Johnson, He'll fix Caleb Williams.
All right, that's part of it. Here's Ryan Poles.
Speaker 6 (13:11):
Obviously there's ideal fit. But at the end of the day,
you got to look at all the characteristics of what
you're looking for in the head coach, and then you
got to see what's the best bundle of those to
bring in the building. Obviously we're talking about leadership, accountability,
some of those important things that carry over.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
To ignore those.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
Just to go to the other side I think is
a bad deal too.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, so I agree with this. The Chicago Bears hire
can't just be about Caleb Williams. Again, it's like getting
in being healthier and losing weight. Can't just be about
the gym. You got to eat better and sleep better.
It's got to be holistic. Maybe a little less alcohol,
you know, and then you got the gym. It's got
(13:56):
to be holistic. And when it comes to the Bears,
I mean they got to go all the way down
to the gut health. They need cases of kombucha. This
is not just a hey, let's hire a whiz kid.
It'll solve everything. Now, bro, the gym won't solve everything.
Can't go taco bell four times a week. Gotta do
better than that. That's why I've said Mike Vrabel and
Pete Carroll I think they'd be good hires. They're defensive
(14:18):
guys because they're culture creators. They've created run games, good defenses.
So the quarterback is important, but not the only thing.
Maximizing Caleb Williams and maximizing a quarterback has its perils. Buffalo,
in my opinion, and the Bengals are two quarterback reliant.
(14:40):
Kansas City was able to win this year when Mahomes
wasn't playing great football. Yes, believe it or not, sometimes
great quarterbacks have bad stretches. Mahomes has had a few
through the years. But Kansas City is more than just Mahomes.
It's Steve Spagnola and that defense and when Pacheco's healthy,
a run game and a great tight end and physicality
(15:01):
and intelligence. So the Philadelphia staff has said, you know
what we want, Jalen Hurt throwing less, and they've won more.
Lamar Jackson won the MVP. Baltimore said, let's get him.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Dereck Henry.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
They didn't say more Lamar. He won a game this
year completing I think ten passes. So this whole thing
about just maximize Caleb. What Gay Caleb Williams needs is protection.
O line stunk this year. You know my rule in football,
find the quarterback, protect the quarterback. Draft guys who make
the other quarterbacks life uncomfortable, the three step plan. You
(15:38):
worry about wide receivers, running backs, later quarterback and protect them.
Chicago has the quarterback. They couldn't protect him, so they
gotta solve the old line. He needs protection and guidance.
He doesn't need to be shot out of a cannon
every week. That's not what wins in this league. For years,
and I mean it took Buffalo years to figure this out.
They finally went and got kid k at the tight
(15:59):
end and James cooked the unning back. It was basically
you were asking Josh Allen to be Superman every week.
Think how great Joe Burrow is on any Sunday. The
best quarterback in the league did not make the playoffs.
They're too reliant on him. So to me, the Ben Johnson,
let's just hire a whiz kid. Can he change the culture?
Can he hire a good staff. It's not just about
(16:19):
the gym. You got to eat better. It's not just
about Caleb. And I mean I was looking at a
stat this morning on Jalen Hurts seven and a half
fewer pass attempts per game this year, and I think
there have been moments it's been the best Jalen Hurts.
Matt Lafleur has asked Jordan Love to throw less. They
(16:41):
acquired Josh Jacobs run more. So, I don't need a
quarterback shut out of a cannon. I don't want to
be quarterback reliant. If you told me Caleb Williams they
get a coach, whoever it is, and Caleb throws twenty
eight times a game in rush is five.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
You can go look at Dak career. When he throws
over thirty eight times game, he has a losing record.
I remember when Kobe Bryant was in his prime, if
he scored over forty, the Lakers were less successful. I mean,
Michael Jordan's a great example. Speaking of Chicago, Michael loved
Doug Collins. Doug Collins put the ball in his hands,
score however many you want. Phil Jackson came in and said,
(17:22):
you want to be a scorer, you want to hoist trophies,
you gotta trust your teammates, right, You got to trust Kerr,
and you got to trust Luke Longley and Scottie Pippen
and others, and Packson to hit jumpers. So Chicago's got
a history of it. It wasn't just about Jordan. It
was it was Ron Harper and Rodman and Pippen and
(17:43):
the length and the perimeter shooters. That's when Jordan won trophies.
This is not just a Caleb thing, a slightly different
variation of the same team every year. It has been
going on for over a decade.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
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Speaker 7 (18:00):
Hey Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
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Speaker 8 (18:06):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
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Speaker 7 (18:13):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 8 (18:15):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
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Speaker 7 (18:19):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
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Speaker 8 (18:27):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
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Speaker 7 (18:32):
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(18:52):
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Speaker 9 (18:58):
Ah.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Here we go live in Los Angeles, hour two and
a Thursday, Notre Dame, Penn State Tonight. It's the Herd.
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. In three minutes,
Greg Cosell is gonna stop by and excited for that,
we're gonna talk about all the playoff games in the matchups.
It's interesting. I look this morning, Jmac. We got fourteen
(19:20):
teams in the playoffs. The best eight quarterbacks won their division.
So it's more and more it's becoming a quarterback centric league.
But I think coaching matters more, experience matters more. Home
field can matter, weather can matter more based on like
some quarterbacks, I don't trust going into cold weather, Josh Allen,
I do, Mahomes, I do big strong quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
I do.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
So here's the NFL wild Card weekend schedule. I put
these teams in three tiers so you can follow along
if you're on TV or radio. Here the first tier
is it's kind of the trophy class. They can hoist
a Trophy. I think five teams can win the Super Bowl.
I think it's Philadelphia, in Detroit, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Buffalo.
(20:02):
They can hoist a trophy. Now, the next class are
teams that I think can win a playoff game or two.
They can win game or games in the playoffs. I
think Green Bay, Minnesota, Rams, Chargers, Bucks could win a
couple of games. I think Tampa is the weakest of
that group, but I think they could win two games.
And then there's those who have been invited and they
certainly earned it more of a participation trophy. Pittsburgh, Houston,
(20:26):
Denver and Washington. I would be surprised if they won
a game. So the trophy class certainly capable of making
life uncomfortable. That's not to say the teams in the
second tier couldn't beat a team in the first tier.
And it's not saying Washington can't beat Tampa or the
Broncos can't beat the Buffalo Bills. But I kind of
(20:48):
feel like there's three tiers. And with that we go
to Greg Cosell joining us Live forty five years NFL films.
So just from the outside, I look at the Chargers,
Texans and I think coach, quarterback and consistency on defense
bolts bolts bolts. Chargers are across the board, but it's
(21:08):
the playoffs. CJ. Stroud can be streaky, you know, Chargers
in big games, even with hardball. I don't know yet.
What does the film say, What are you expecting in
that matchup?
Speaker 9 (21:21):
Yeah, I'm kind of looking at the Chargers O Texans
d Believe it or not. You and I have spent
a lot of time talking about Stroud this year. We'll
put that aside for the moment. But I think that
the Texans are a really interesting defense because over the
last many years, in sort of the NFL history, so
to speak, what are the two positions that everybody says
(21:43):
that are premium positions on defense? Edge, pass rusher and corner,
And those are two positions that the Texans have really
quality players. They've got Hunter and Anderson on the edge.
They've got Stingley, who's the top three corner in this league.
Now he does doesn't necessarily match up. He almost always
plays left corner.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
And the rookie.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
Lassiters had a terrific season. Where they're hurting is they've
lost their two slot corners. So now they're sort of,
you know, working with someone. They picked up Brian who
got cut by New England, and he's been playing slot corner.
And the reason I mentioned that is that's predominantly where
McCaffrey McConkie lines up. Alad McConkie, and McConkie's had an
(22:25):
outstanding year and I'm just curious how that's going to
play out because the Texans do like to play man coverage.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, all right, let's talk Denver going into Buffalo. Buffalo
is a big favorite for a reason. What I want
to concentrate on is Bonnicks because rookie quarterbacks don't do
all in the playoffs. First game, especially on the road.
Bon Nicks against Buffalo's defense, Could he succeed? Could he
move the chains?
Speaker 4 (22:51):
Yeah? You know, that's really interesting about the Bills defense.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
That's my concern in the playoffs for Buffalo, to be
honest with you, because they don't really have a dominant rush.
Von Miller's had some good snaps in recent games, but
he's not going to play forty or forty five snaps
in the game. Their secondary, I think has some questions.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Now.
Speaker 9 (23:10):
They do get their two starting safeties back in hamlet
and rap, but it's not a great secondary. So I'm
just very curious to see how this plays out because
I think that Denver can have some success throwing the football. Now,
the issue for them is they've not been able to
run the ball with consistency. But I will say this,
colin the other side of the ball is not being
(23:32):
talked about a lot. We know that Josh Allen can
be special. We know that their offense in any given
game can put up thirty that's what they averaged. But
this Denver defense is very, very good, and they've got
a lot of really good players. They're very good up front,
and they've got a really good corner in Certan and
a really good safety combination that a lot of people
(23:54):
don't know about in Lock and Brandon Jones. So this game,
I think this could be I mean, I could be wrong.
Buffalo could win thirty five to ten and no one
would be surprised.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
I understand that.
Speaker 9 (24:05):
But there's a part of this game that really intrigues
me that thinks it could be a close game.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
So I think Philadelphia's got the best roster in the NFL,
and I think one of the ways to beat them
is to keep that dominating O line Saquon Barkley off
the field, You're not gonna beat I mean, you got
to move the chains against Philadelphia because if you give
Saquon and aj Brown and Hurts and that old line
can just suffocate you. It's a little bit like playing Detroit.
(24:33):
The best way to beat them is don't let that
old line control the clock, the game, and the tempo.
How does Green Bay's offense match up against the Eagles defense?
Speaker 9 (24:43):
And this is where you go into the weeds a
little bit, because what will green Bay do in terms
of personnel? Because keep this in mind, the Eagles defense
has been really, really good and that's one reason the
Eagles can play offense the way they have all season long,
because they've not really won a lot of games big
and they've not been ahead big in all lot of
games going into the fourth quarter. So defensively, what have
(25:03):
they become? They've become a nickel defense since Week five.
I believe it was when Cooper Dejene became the slot corner.
They play about eighty five percent of their defensive snaps
in nickel.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
That's who they are.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
So the question is will green Bay, now that they
have two really good tight ends. Craft has been really good,
and Musgrave is back, and Musgrave.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Was considered a better prospect than Craft.
Speaker 9 (25:26):
Will the Packers play a lot at a two tight ends,
Colin and see how the Eagles play.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
Will the Eagles play with.
Speaker 9 (25:33):
Their nickel where they want to play, or will they
go with their base defense and take Degene off the field,
which is not how they really want to play. I
think that's something to look at early in this game
because that will dictate, based on what you said, if
they can control the ball with their run game, which
I think they need to do.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Both teams are run based.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Yeah, So I like Campa to beat Washington, And one
of the reasons is I think Washington will have trouble
running the ball, and I think they'll have trouble stopping
the run. So to take a rookie quarterback on the
road without much of a run game, and I think
Baker Mayfield. I just I look at Tampa's run game
(26:13):
and I think not Baker, not Jayden. I think the
Bucks run game is the story of this game.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
What say you? Yeah?
Speaker 9 (26:22):
And I think that's fair. See, the Bucks have become
a really interesting offense. They run a lot of plays
because Baker Mayfield has the third most dropbacks in the
NFL of any quarterback. Yet they run the ball really,
really well. Irving has been kind of a revelation. I mean,
I really liked him coming out of Oregon, but he's
five nine and a half one ninety two and I'm
not sure anybody.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
I certainly didn't think he could carry the ball over.
Speaker 9 (26:45):
Two hundred times as a rookie, and he's done that,
and he's been really really good, and he's dynamic and explosive.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Their run game is really good. Now.
Speaker 9 (26:53):
The Commanders do have a very good defensive front, so
that's a definite matchup in this game. But the other
that really strikes me about this game Todd Bowles. Since
about week twelve, we know he blitzes, but Colin, since
week twelve, he's blitzing like crazy. Now Jayden Daniels has
been very good against the blitz, but that doesn't deter
Todd Bowles. He doesn't care who he's playing against. So
(27:16):
I think that's a real critical matchup in this game.
How the Commanders handle the Bucks blitz concepts.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
So the game the Monday Night Game. Jamack loves the
Rams and I will admit darnld struggling against Detroit gives
me some pause. I guess here's my feeling on Minnesota.
I love the coach, I love the quarterback, I love
the receivers. I don't necessarily love the O line. I
(27:45):
think they're well coached, but I don't think they're personnel's great.
The Rams are at home, I think they've got a
more stable, talented team unit to unit, whereas I think
there's some in Minnesota but a few holes. I'm kind
of interested. Ram's young defensive front is healthy, yeah, switchy,
(28:10):
and I kind of think they match up well with
the vikings O line. What do you think?
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I agree? I agree one thousand percent.
Speaker 9 (28:18):
And the tape shows that the Vikings O line has
struggled throughout this season in past protection and Darnold one
of the reasons he's become really good this year is
he's willing to stay in the pocket and deliver the
ball late in the down with bodies around him.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
But this Rams d line.
Speaker 9 (28:34):
Particularly their sub front, where they have Turner and Fisk
inside Young and Verse outside, I think that's going to
cause problems for this Vikings O line.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
And you could make the argument.
Speaker 9 (28:46):
That right now as a rookie that Jared Verse is
the best speed to power rusher in the NFL. Wow,
He's going to give problems to this O line. So
that to me is it'll be an overlooked element of
this game. Everybody, of course, focuses on the quarterback and
the skill players, but I think that that could be
where this game is won and lost.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You know, one of the things we were talking about
the Chicago Bears earlier and I said, listen, you got
to you got to maximize as much as you can
Caleb Williams. But it can't just be about Caleb Williams.
Joe Burrow didn't make the playoffs because they're two quarterback
centric and they're bad other spots. And I look at
Baltimore and Lamar wins the MVP, and what do they do.
They go get him, Dereck Henry. They don't say, Lamar,
(29:29):
we want more of you. They're like, you know what,
we want this to last a long time. We want
to be a little less Lamar reliant. That's why I
respect the Ravens so much. So I want to talk
about Derreck Henry, not just Lamar here against the Steelers
because I love an organization that has a superstar and
doesn't make him put the Superman cape on every week.
(29:50):
I think bald. I think Lamar completed ten passes once
this year and they won a game.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Let's talk Dereck Henry Ravens against the Steelers.
Speaker 9 (30:00):
Which is a lot like the Eagles too, and that
Jalen Hurts hasn't thrown a lot of balls in a
lot of games. So you talk about Derrick Henry. You know,
they lost once to the Steelers and they just didn't
give the ball to Henry very much. The second time
when they won, they did. You know, I think if
you talk to Todd Monk and he'll tell you that
Henry is the key to what they do. Now we
know how great Lamar is. That's no knock on Lamar Jackson.
(30:21):
He's had his best year and he's an unbelievable player,
and he dictates many things defensively. But you could argue
that Dereck Henry is really the starting point and when
they give him the football, everything works off that and
their run game is extremely multiple. So Henry has been terrific.
I mean, in any other year. The fact that he
gained over nineteen hundred yards. No one's even talking about
(30:44):
that because of Saquon, deservedly so. But nineteen hundred yards
isn't bad either, So it does start with him. But
I think Lamar has in many ways improved this year
as a passer. And when I say that, you know,
you can look at the numbers. We know the numbers,
they're great, But I think there's things I look for
when I watch tape that tell me whether a quarterback
is playing at a high level. And there's examples of that,
(31:07):
and actually we've seen it throughout the year. We can
go to the play right now if you like, because
that's a there's a great example of it, and it
was from last week. I mean, this is a touchdown
he threw to Andrews and it just you know, you
see it now. It looks a good throw, pretty routine,
but this was not in the least spit routine as
a throw. And what you're gonna see here is you're
gonna see Jackson. He's in the gun. They're in twenty
(31:29):
one personnel, which means they have recard on the field. Okay,
and there he is. So they have two backs because
he's essentially a back, and they've got Andrews here, and
he's he's split the single receiver split to one side
of the field, and he's going to run a corner route. Okay,
and they run this a lot with him in the
red zone. Now what they're going to do is take Mitchell,
(31:50):
who's a very fastback. He's going to run into the flat.
So it's really a two receiver route to that side
of the field. Now, look at Lamar sees. He sees
a post safety. He knows that that safety will not
be a factor at all on Andrews's corner route.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
He's not going to get there.
Speaker 9 (32:07):
So he knows now that he's got the matchup that
he likes, Andrews versus Delpit, the safety for the Browns.
Now Delpit's a very good player, but you know he'll
take Andrews one on one against any safety in the league,
certainly in the red zone.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
So as this play develops, we stop it right here.
Speaker 9 (32:23):
This is where Lamar has made the decision to throw
the football. Okay, now he sees this, He's not going
to throw it right there. He's going to throw it
to his spot. But he's made the decision to throw
the football. So this is about timing. This is anticipation
and now it requires really precise ball location. And this
(32:44):
is really what you look because look at the Delpit
now where he is in relation to Andrews. He's outside
of Andrews. But Lamar knows with Delpit's body turned that way, Colin,
he cannot play this throw, so he throws this ball.
This is the kind of thing you look for when
you study quarterbacks, these kinds of throws, and the ball
location is absolutely precise, it's perfect, and you get a
(33:07):
really good look at that from this angle. So these
are the things you look for. You know, most quarterbacks
can throw to guys who are open. Throws like this
really dictate how a quarterback's playing. Olamar has made more
of those kinds of throws this year than ever before
in his career.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah, my staff just wrote down that Zay Flowers has
been ruled out, which I don't love because I do
think I'm a surprise. Yeah, he can be a little
hit and miss. There's some drops, but he has added
he has added an explosiveness, which I think is an element.
Baltimore is no fun to play. The quarterback's the fastest
guy in the field. Deren Henries there's just no fun
(33:44):
to play.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
And that's why. By the way, I want to ask.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
You one big broad question, and I want to go
back to hardball and the Chargers again, and we can
show some video talk about this. But defensively, it's the
same darn team. You know, they added Alt and lad mcconkin,
and they got a couple of fifth round corners out
of college.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
How in the world.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Has Jesse Minter taken the same personnel and they've gone
from thirty second to first. What does the film say
on the Chargers revelation On defense?
Speaker 4 (34:16):
He does a lot of different things.
Speaker 9 (34:18):
For instance, they're a big team playing what we call
big nickel with three safeties, So they take Derwin James
and they basically have made him a multi dimensional, dimensional,
movable chess piece, and he is a dynamic player who
can pretty much do anything on the football field, and
he's become foundationally a very important piece.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Then one player who was there last year, Colin and
you know him from USC twoy Polo two.
Speaker 9 (34:42):
He is a really really good football player not talked
about enough. Another player that can line up inside, can
line up outside.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
You can stand him up in the middle of your defense.
Speaker 9 (34:52):
He's a really, really good player who doesn't get talked
about enough because Bosa mac James. But you know, they
just have some players who are multi dimensional, multi positional
and can really affect games.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Yeah, Greg Cosel, forty five years at NFL Films never
gets old.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Great seeing you again, Thanks, Colin, appreciate it. You bet.
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
noone Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio 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 (00:27):
All Right, here we go. It's Thursday, final foreign college
football on the precipice of a huge first NFL playoff weekend,
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. You know, it's an interesting
time right now in professional football, and so you have
(00:53):
the haves and the have nots are both being discussed
at the same time. So as we look forward to
the weekend of the half, it's the Chargers, it's the Eagles,
you know, it's Buffalo, it's Baltimore, it's everybody except Kansas
City and Detroit. They get buys. And then it's also
fascinating to see what the other teams that did not
make the playoffs, what are they going to do in Chicago?
(01:15):
What are they gonna do with the Raiders? So Jay
Mackett's so interesting week. And then you have a team
that's been a have forever and suddenly was a have
not San Francisco forty nine ers. So they have been
usually the team either waiting for a playoff game one
week or two, a buy or not a buye. A
lot of these bad teams are bad forever, like a
(01:38):
lot of these bad Raiders have been bad forever. Bears
have been ridiculous forever. And then there's the Niners, and
they want to be and are usually in the haves,
and now they're a have not and they've got a
big decision to make, because what you don't want to
do is make the wrong decision at quarterback, or you
will stay a have not forever you make the bad
(01:58):
decision there, or you become Dallas when you win when
it doesn't matter, and you're never around in January and
February to play. And so John Lynch, he is telling
you now we are signing Brock pretty to a big deal.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
What we know about Brock is that he's our guy.
We've got, you know, we have interest in Brock being
around here for a long long time, and he's done
so much for our organization. He's won big games and
you know, had a little tougher task as we all
did this year with some of the things that happened
throughout the course of the year. We just never could
(02:34):
string games where we were all together. And through that
he continued to lead, he continued to play at a
high level. So we have every interest in him being around.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Okay, So it's really interesting. The Niners used to be
a have and now it looks like, oh, this year
they're a have not. So what we know is the
eight teams that won their division all had the best
quarterback first time I can remember. Do you think brock
Purdy is the kind of guy that will be a
(03:05):
best quarterback in a division?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I do not.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
You have to reframe the discussion on brock Purty. It
has to go from Ooh, look what he's done to
what can he do? Because once he gobbles up a
big chunk of the salary, he plays with less talented players.
Remember Jared Goff before he got paid in LA Sean
(03:30):
McVay loved him and then he paid him and he
didn't love him.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
So much.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
If you ever wonder if you should pay a quarterback,
ask yourself one question, what does our rival think? Because
Buffalo loved it when Miami paid to a big boy money,
Buffalo loved it. He's one and eight against the Bills,
and he can't play when it's cold. Buffalo loved to
(03:59):
a signing along term deal. By the way, the Eagles
loved Daniel Jones signing up for more money with the
New York Giants. What do you think Sean McVay thinks
with Matt Stafford ooh, scary Brock Purtty. Nope, Sean McVay
this year, next, probably the following year will have the
(04:22):
best quarterback.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
So ask yourself.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
It's not about what he's done, it's about what can
he do once you take people away from him. Scheme
in stats, this is where Tua and Purty are very similar.
The scheme and the stats make you go ooh, I
test h ham Anegger, little small weather affected, need certain weapons,
(04:51):
lose weapons not as good. And what's interesting with the
Niners is you already have the answer. How many games
do you win this year without Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, Hurt,
Brandon ayuk Hurt. You got the answer, would you win six, seven,
eight games? He got the answer in front of you.
(05:11):
So if you're the Niners, you have to reframe the question.
And here's something else, because you want to be playing
this weekend the Haves. There's fourteen halves and that means
there's what you got. Eighteen have knots, and the Niners
are in the havenots. And one thing we know. If
you have a great quarterback and Purty's not that, in
my opinion, you're not gonna be winning your division going forward.
(05:33):
I mean, good God. Kyle Shanahan, boy genius, has a
losing record in San Francisco Without Christian McCaffrey. Sean McVay
doesn't have losing seasons often Shanny's had him. So one
of the disturbing trends is that Stafford needs McVeigh, but
(05:54):
is he totally reliant on McVay, Because the stats this
year for Brock are disturbing. In the first and second
quarter the schemed quarter, his passer rating is excellent. In
the third and fourth quarters, the non schemed quarters, he
(06:15):
has a He has a passer rating that should pay
you about sixteen million dollars a year, not fifty eight.
And so it is an interesting time for the San
Francisco forty nine ers. They used to be in one group,
now they're in the other. And the only thing that
guarantees no Super Bowls is paying a b quarterback a money.
(06:38):
You'll win a bunch of games, so does Dallas, but
nobody will take you serious come January, big decisions. The
idea of paying him early has never made any sense.
I would let it play out. Oh, by the way,
he got hurt again this year. So I saw this
(06:59):
story yesterday. Belichick. Bill Belichick made sure as he's on
the recruiting trail, he made sure to get a hold
of a couple of sources or as people did, to say, hey,
I am not going back to the NFL because it's
hurt in recruiting. And here's the thing, Bill Belichick did
such a great job. And you've had this before in
your life. Somebody does such a great job doing something,
(07:21):
it's the only way I can see them. It's like
the Rock. The Rock is an action star. He could
do a rom com. But if you're trying to convince
me he's going to give up action films for rom comms. Uh,
huh uh huh. His personality is an action film his
(07:42):
experience with wrestling, he's action. His physique is an action
film star. The Rock does action films. I don't want
him crying a lot on screen. I don't want Rock
being too tender and huggable. That's not who he is,
and that's not what he is, and that's not what
he's built to be. Bill check is a pro coach.
He is much more rotc than nil. He is rigid,
(08:07):
he doesn't pander. He doesn't have time for small talk.
And that's what college football is high volleyball coach, Hey recruit,
Nice to meet you, mister Donor. I've always thought it's easier.
Although the coaching is much better in pro football than college,
it's much easier to go psychologically college to pro, just
(08:28):
more football.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
And less nonsense.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
It's very difficult to be a great pro coach and
have to go backwards to college. A lot of handshakes,
a lot of pandering, a lot of small talk. I mean,
Bill hates mistakes. What a eighteen and nineteen and twenty
year old boys do make a lot of mistakes in
football and out of it. There's a reason Belichick is
an NFL historian. He loves great players, and great players
(08:56):
play at Georgia, and they play at Notre Dame, and
they play at Ohio State, and they play at Alabama
and LSU, and a lot of great players don't play
at Carolina. Now, Bill has the advantage of being a
big brand, and some kids may want to play for him,
especially defensive players. But but Bill was so great at
the NFL. I just can't buy into. I don't care
(09:18):
what sources say about, you know, Bill, because I saw
the stories this morning. Bill's got no interest going back
to the NFL. Yeah, and the Rock would have no
interest going back to action films if somebody offered him
thirty large for one. I'm sorry. That's who Bill is,
that's his experience, that's his personality, that's who he is.
And so I would love to see Bill because because
(09:42):
you know, some of these offensive coaches they age well.
Sean payton age as well, Drew Brees old as yesterday,
Andy Reid is aging well. You see these old offensive
goal old defensive coaches don't generally age as well because
they don't necessarily you know, they're they're they're they're not
necessarily always the best to and college football. NIL portal
(10:04):
is all about adapting. So it just it's almost like
Belichick's staying in college. Just like you know New Year's resolutions.
You can tell me you're gonna go to the gym
every day. You can tell me you're gonna keep your
New Year's resolution and you're.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Gonna eat better.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You know, bout three weeks in you start to kind
of fade off that. Nine weeks in you drive by
the gym and think you should go, and twelve weeks
in you just don't. You take a different way to work,
like like, so you're getting me to buy into Belichick's
gonna love this college football thing. I can't. I just
can't do it. He was so great at one thing,
(10:43):
I don't buy the other thing. That's where I stand
on it. And I still contend Philadelphia or Buffalo get
bounced early in the playoffs, and I don't think they will.
I think Philadelphia is gonna beat Green Bay. I think
Buffalo is gonna win at home against Denver.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
I do.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
But if they got bounced, you are having absolute phone
calls to Belichick. My belief is he would pick up
the phone for both. All right, J Mack, we got
so many things this weekend. I'm starting to really feel
good about my picks this weekend. The one game I'm
(11:21):
gonna stay away from and you feel strongest about it
is Rams Vikings. You love Los Angeles. I like Minnesota,
but I am concerned you have been so good this year.
I may just want to stay away. It's the Jmack factor.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
Well, he said at in college. But I don't have
a strong feeling starting tonight with Notre Dame. I think
we both we're gonna go watch that together. I think
we both know what it's gonna look like. Very physical,
lot of devents, low scoring by the way, two NFL quarterbacks.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
One I like a lot, one you don't. But it's
you have two very talented quarterbacks, two very young, energetic recruiters,
two huge brands. I don't see a ton of offense tonight.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
It's a field goal game, a turnover game, a penalty game.
Like it's gonna be fewest mistakes wins.
Speaker 5 (12:12):
Yeah, this is like an appetizer for the five days
of football we get, you know, shrimp cocktail kind of games.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
Yeah, yeah, decent.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I like it. I like Notre Dame. Yeah, uh, And
I mean twenty three twenty like Notre Dame. What say
you how the seventeen sixteen Irish Okay, and we both
had Notre Dame over Georgia. I do like Ohio State
over Texas as well. Tomorrow. That's gonna get that pulling
out all the stops.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah, be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
weekdays and neon Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
So you know, the Chicago Bears have been critical of
a lot of the executive sweet stuff to me is
political and it doesn't feel centered. But Ryan Pohl's a
young GM did say something because I pushed back on
this whole Hey, hire Ben Johnson, He'll fix Caleb Williams.
All right, that's part of it. Here's Ryan Poles.
Speaker 6 (13:11):
Obviously there's ideal fit. But at the end of the day,
you got to look at all the characteristics of what
you're looking for in the head coach, and then you
got to see what's the best bundle of those to
bring in the building. Obviously we're talking about leadership, accountability,
some of those important things that carry over.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
To ignore those.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
Just to go to the other side I think is
a bad deal too.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, so I agree with this. The Chicago Bears hire
can't just be about Caleb Williams. Again, it's like getting
in being healthier and losing weight. Can't just be about
the gym. You got to eat better and sleep better.
It's got to be holistic. Maybe a little less alcohol,
you know, and then you got the gym. It's got
(13:56):
to be holistic. And when it comes to the Bears,
I mean they got to go all the way down
to the gut health. They need cases of kombucha. This
is not just a hey, let's hire a whiz kid.
It'll solve everything. Now, bro, the gym won't solve everything.
Can't go taco bell four times a week. Gotta do
better than that. That's why I've said Mike Vrabel and
Pete Carroll I think they'd be good hires. They're defensive
(14:18):
guys because they're culture creators. They've created run games, good defenses.
So the quarterback is important, but not the only thing.
Maximizing Caleb Williams and maximizing a quarterback has its perils. Buffalo,
in my opinion, and the Bengals are two quarterback reliant.
(14:40):
Kansas City was able to win this year when Mahomes
wasn't playing great football. Yes, believe it or not, sometimes
great quarterbacks have bad stretches. Mahomes has had a few
through the years. But Kansas City is more than just Mahomes.
It's Steve Spagnola and that defense and when Pacheco's healthy,
a run game and a great tight end and physicality
(15:01):
and intelligence. So the Philadelphia staff has said, you know
what we want, Jalen Hurt throwing less, and they've won more.
Lamar Jackson won the MVP. Baltimore said, let's get him.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Dereck Henry.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
They didn't say more Lamar. He won a game this
year completing I think ten passes. So this whole thing
about just maximize Caleb. What Gay Caleb Williams needs is protection.
O line stunk this year. You know my rule in football,
find the quarterback, protect the quarterback. Draft guys who make
the other quarterbacks life uncomfortable, the three step plan. You
(15:38):
worry about wide receivers, running backs, later quarterback and protect them.
Chicago has the quarterback. They couldn't protect him, so they
gotta solve the old line. He needs protection and guidance.
He doesn't need to be shot out of a cannon
every week. That's not what wins in this league. For years,
and I mean it took Buffalo years to figure this out.
They finally went and got kid k at the tight
(15:59):
end and James cooked the unning back. It was basically
you were asking Josh Allen to be Superman every week.
Think how great Joe Burrow is on any Sunday. The
best quarterback in the league did not make the playoffs.
They're too reliant on him. So to me, the Ben Johnson,
let's just hire a whiz kid. Can he change the culture?
Can he hire a good staff. It's not just about
(16:19):
the gym. You got to eat better. It's not just
about Caleb. And I mean I was looking at a
stat this morning on Jalen Hurts seven and a half
fewer pass attempts per game this year, and I think
there have been moments it's been the best Jalen Hurts.
Matt Lafleur has asked Jordan Love to throw less. They
(16:41):
acquired Josh Jacobs run more. So, I don't need a
quarterback shut out of a cannon. I don't want to
be quarterback reliant. If you told me Caleb Williams they
get a coach, whoever it is, and Caleb throws twenty
eight times a game in rush is five.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
You can go look at Dak career. When he throws
over thirty eight times game, he has a losing record.
I remember when Kobe Bryant was in his prime, if
he scored over forty, the Lakers were less successful. I mean,
Michael Jordan's a great example. Speaking of Chicago, Michael loved
Doug Collins. Doug Collins put the ball in his hands,
score however many you want. Phil Jackson came in and said,
(17:22):
you want to be a scorer, you want to hoist trophies,
you gotta trust your teammates, right, You got to trust Kerr,
and you got to trust Luke Longley and Scottie Pippen
and others, and Packson to hit jumpers. So Chicago's got
a history of it. It wasn't just about Jordan. It
was it was Ron Harper and Rodman and Pippen and
(17:43):
the length and the perimeter shooters. That's when Jordan won trophies.
This is not just a Caleb thing, a slightly different
variation of the same team every year. It has been
going on for over a decade.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine Am.
Speaker 7 (18:00):
Hey Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together We're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 8 (18:06):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
of course the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (18:13):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 8 (18:15):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture,
stories that well other shows don't seem to have the
time to discuss.
Speaker 8 (18:27):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right.
Speaker 7 (18:32):
So check us out. We like to get you involved too,
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure
to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports
Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you miss any
of the live show, just search Covino and Rich wherever
(18:52):
you get your podcasts, and of course on social media,
that's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 9 (18:58):
Ah.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Here we go live in Los Angeles, hour two and
a Thursday, Notre Dame, Penn State Tonight. It's the Herd.
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. In three minutes,
Greg Cosell is gonna stop by and excited for that,
we're gonna talk about all the playoff games in the matchups.
It's interesting. I look this morning, Jmac. We got fourteen
(19:20):
teams in the playoffs. The best eight quarterbacks won their division.
So it's more and more it's becoming a quarterback centric league.
But I think coaching matters more, experience matters more. Home
field can matter, weather can matter more based on like
some quarterbacks, I don't trust going into cold weather, Josh Allen,
I do, Mahomes, I do big strong quarterbacks.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
I do.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
So here's the NFL wild Card weekend schedule. I put
these teams in three tiers so you can follow along
if you're on TV or radio. Here the first tier
is it's kind of the trophy class. They can hoist
a Trophy. I think five teams can win the Super Bowl.
I think it's Philadelphia, in Detroit, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Buffalo.
(20:02):
They can hoist a trophy. Now, the next class are
teams that I think can win a playoff game or two.
They can win game or games in the playoffs. I
think Green Bay, Minnesota, Rams, Chargers, Bucks could win a
couple of games. I think Tampa is the weakest of
that group, but I think they could win two games.
And then there's those who have been invited and they
certainly earned it more of a participation trophy. Pittsburgh, Houston,
(20:26):
Denver and Washington. I would be surprised if they won
a game. So the trophy class certainly capable of making
life uncomfortable. That's not to say the teams in the
second tier couldn't beat a team in the first tier.
And it's not saying Washington can't beat Tampa or the
Broncos can't beat the Buffalo Bills. But I kind of
(20:48):
feel like there's three tiers. And with that we go
to Greg Cosell joining us Live forty five years NFL films.
So just from the outside, I look at the Chargers,
Texans and I think coach, quarterback and consistency on defense
bolts bolts bolts. Chargers are across the board, but it's
(21:08):
the playoffs. CJ. Stroud can be streaky, you know, Chargers
in big games, even with hardball. I don't know yet.
What does the film say, What are you expecting in
that matchup?
Speaker 9 (21:21):
Yeah, I'm kind of looking at the Chargers O Texans
d Believe it or not. You and I have spent
a lot of time talking about Stroud this year. We'll
put that aside for the moment. But I think that
the Texans are a really interesting defense because over the
last many years, in sort of the NFL history, so
to speak, what are the two positions that everybody says
(21:43):
that are premium positions on defense? Edge, pass rusher and corner,
And those are two positions that the Texans have really
quality players. They've got Hunter and Anderson on the edge.
They've got Stingley, who's the top three corner in this league.
Now he does doesn't necessarily match up. He almost always
plays left corner.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
And the rookie.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
Lassiters had a terrific season. Where they're hurting is they've
lost their two slot corners. So now they're sort of,
you know, working with someone. They picked up Brian who
got cut by New England, and he's been playing slot corner.
And the reason I mentioned that is that's predominantly where
McCaffrey McConkie lines up. Alad McConkie, and McConkie's had an
(22:25):
outstanding year and I'm just curious how that's going to
play out because the Texans do like to play man coverage.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, all right, let's talk Denver going into Buffalo. Buffalo
is a big favorite for a reason. What I want
to concentrate on is Bonnicks because rookie quarterbacks don't do
all in the playoffs. First game, especially on the road.
Bon Nicks against Buffalo's defense, Could he succeed? Could he
move the chains?
Speaker 4 (22:51):
Yeah? You know, that's really interesting about the Bills defense.
Speaker 9 (22:54):
That's my concern in the playoffs for Buffalo, to be
honest with you, because they don't really have a dominant rush.
Von Miller's had some good snaps in recent games, but
he's not going to play forty or forty five snaps
in the game. Their secondary, I think has some questions.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Now.
Speaker 9 (23:10):
They do get their two starting safeties back in hamlet
and rap, but it's not a great secondary. So I'm
just very curious to see how this plays out because
I think that Denver can have some success throwing the football. Now,
the issue for them is they've not been able to
run the ball with consistency. But I will say this,
colin the other side of the ball is not being
(23:32):
talked about a lot. We know that Josh Allen can
be special. We know that their offense in any given
game can put up thirty that's what they averaged. But
this Denver defense is very, very good, and they've got
a lot of really good players. They're very good up front,
and they've got a really good corner in Certan and
a really good safety combination that a lot of people
(23:54):
don't know about in Lock and Brandon Jones. So this game,
I think this could be I mean, I could be wrong.
Buffalo could win thirty five to ten and no one
would be surprised.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
I understand that.
Speaker 9 (24:05):
But there's a part of this game that really intrigues
me that thinks it could be a close game.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
So I think Philadelphia's got the best roster in the NFL,
and I think one of the ways to beat them
is to keep that dominating O line Saquon Barkley off
the field, You're not gonna beat I mean, you got
to move the chains against Philadelphia because if you give
Saquon and aj Brown and Hurts and that old line
can just suffocate you. It's a little bit like playing Detroit.
(24:33):
The best way to beat them is don't let that
old line control the clock, the game, and the tempo.
How does Green Bay's offense match up against the Eagles defense?
Speaker 9 (24:43):
And this is where you go into the weeds a
little bit, because what will green Bay do in terms
of personnel? Because keep this in mind, the Eagles defense
has been really, really good and that's one reason the
Eagles can play offense the way they have all season long,
because they've not really won a lot of games big
and they've not been ahead big in all lot of
games going into the fourth quarter. So defensively, what have
(25:03):
they become? They've become a nickel defense since Week five.
I believe it was when Cooper Dejene became the slot corner.
They play about eighty five percent of their defensive snaps
in nickel.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
That's who they are.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
So the question is will green Bay, now that they
have two really good tight ends. Craft has been really good,
and Musgrave is back, and Musgrave.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Was considered a better prospect than Craft.
Speaker 9 (25:26):
Will the Packers play a lot at a two tight ends,
Colin and see how the Eagles play.
Speaker 4 (25:32):
Will the Eagles play with.
Speaker 9 (25:33):
Their nickel where they want to play, or will they
go with their base defense and take Degene off the field,
which is not how they really want to play. I
think that's something to look at early in this game
because that will dictate, based on what you said, if
they can control the ball with their run game, which
I think they need to do.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Both teams are run based.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Yeah, So I like Campa to beat Washington, And one
of the reasons is I think Washington will have trouble
running the ball, and I think they'll have trouble stopping
the run. So to take a rookie quarterback on the
road without much of a run game, and I think
Baker Mayfield. I just I look at Tampa's run game
(26:13):
and I think not Baker, not Jayden. I think the
Bucks run game is the story of this game.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
What say you? Yeah?
Speaker 9 (26:22):
And I think that's fair. See, the Bucks have become
a really interesting offense. They run a lot of plays
because Baker Mayfield has the third most dropbacks in the
NFL of any quarterback. Yet they run the ball really,
really well. Irving has been kind of a revelation. I mean,
I really liked him coming out of Oregon, but he's
five nine and a half one ninety two and I'm
not sure anybody.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
I certainly didn't think he could carry the ball over.
Speaker 9 (26:45):
Two hundred times as a rookie, and he's done that,
and he's been really really good, and he's dynamic and explosive.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
Their run game is really good. Now.
Speaker 9 (26:53):
The Commanders do have a very good defensive front, so
that's a definite matchup in this game. But the other
that really strikes me about this game Todd Bowles. Since
about week twelve, we know he blitzes, but Colin, since
week twelve, he's blitzing like crazy. Now Jayden Daniels has
been very good against the blitz, but that doesn't deter
Todd Bowles. He doesn't care who he's playing against. So
(27:16):
I think that's a real critical matchup in this game.
How the Commanders handle the Bucks blitz concepts.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
So the game the Monday Night Game. Jamack loves the
Rams and I will admit darnld struggling against Detroit gives
me some pause. I guess here's my feeling on Minnesota.
I love the coach, I love the quarterback, I love
the receivers. I don't necessarily love the O line. I
(27:45):
think they're well coached, but I don't think they're personnel's great.
The Rams are at home, I think they've got a
more stable, talented team unit to unit, whereas I think
there's some in Minnesota but a few holes. I'm kind
of interested. Ram's young defensive front is healthy, yeah, switchy,
(28:10):
and I kind of think they match up well with
the vikings O line. What do you think?
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I agree? I agree one thousand percent.
Speaker 9 (28:18):
And the tape shows that the Vikings O line has
struggled throughout this season in past protection and Darnold one
of the reasons he's become really good this year is
he's willing to stay in the pocket and deliver the
ball late in the down with bodies around him.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
But this Rams d line.
Speaker 9 (28:34):
Particularly their sub front, where they have Turner and Fisk
inside Young and Verse outside, I think that's going to
cause problems for this Vikings O line.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
And you could make the argument.
Speaker 9 (28:46):
That right now as a rookie that Jared Verse is
the best speed to power rusher in the NFL. Wow,
He's going to give problems to this O line. So
that to me is it'll be an overlooked element of
this game. Everybody, of course, focuses on the quarterback and
the skill players, but I think that that could be
where this game is won and lost.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You know, one of the things we were talking about
the Chicago Bears earlier and I said, listen, you got
to you got to maximize as much as you can
Caleb Williams. But it can't just be about Caleb Williams.
Joe Burrow didn't make the playoffs because they're two quarterback
centric and they're bad other spots. And I look at
Baltimore and Lamar wins the MVP, and what do they do.
They go get him, Dereck Henry. They don't say, Lamar,
(29:29):
we want more of you. They're like, you know what,
we want this to last a long time. We want
to be a little less Lamar reliant. That's why I
respect the Ravens so much. So I want to talk
about Derreck Henry, not just Lamar here against the Steelers
because I love an organization that has a superstar and
doesn't make him put the Superman cape on every week.
(29:50):
I think bald. I think Lamar completed ten passes once
this year and they won a game.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Let's talk Dereck Henry Ravens against the Steelers.
Speaker 9 (30:00):
Which is a lot like the Eagles too, and that
Jalen Hurts hasn't thrown a lot of balls in a
lot of games. So you talk about Derrick Henry. You know,
they lost once to the Steelers and they just didn't
give the ball to Henry very much. The second time
when they won, they did. You know, I think if
you talk to Todd Monk and he'll tell you that
Henry is the key to what they do. Now we
know how great Lamar is. That's no knock on Lamar Jackson.
(30:21):
He's had his best year and he's an unbelievable player,
and he dictates many things defensively. But you could argue
that Dereck Henry is really the starting point and when
they give him the football, everything works off that and
their run game is extremely multiple. So Henry has been terrific.
I mean, in any other year. The fact that he
gained over nineteen hundred yards. No one's even talking about
(30:44):
that because of Saquon, deservedly so. But nineteen hundred yards
isn't bad either, So it does start with him. But
I think Lamar has in many ways improved this year
as a passer. And when I say that, you know,
you can look at the numbers. We know the numbers,
they're great, But I think there's things I look for
when I watch tape that tell me whether a quarterback
is playing at a high level. And there's examples of that,
(31:07):
and actually we've seen it throughout the year. We can
go to the play right now if you like, because
that's a there's a great example of it, and it
was from last week. I mean, this is a touchdown
he threw to Andrews and it just you know, you
see it now. It looks a good throw, pretty routine,
but this was not in the least spit routine as
a throw. And what you're gonna see here is you're
gonna see Jackson. He's in the gun. They're in twenty
(31:29):
one personnel, which means they have recard on the field. Okay,
and there he is. So they have two backs because
he's essentially a back, and they've got Andrews here, and
he's he's split the single receiver split to one side
of the field, and he's going to run a corner route. Okay,
and they run this a lot with him in the
red zone. Now what they're going to do is take Mitchell,
(31:50):
who's a very fastback. He's going to run into the flat.
So it's really a two receiver route to that side
of the field. Now, look at Lamar sees. He sees
a post safety. He knows that that safety will not
be a factor at all on Andrews's corner route.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
He's not going to get there.
Speaker 9 (32:07):
So he knows now that he's got the matchup that
he likes, Andrews versus Delpit, the safety for the Browns.
Now Delpit's a very good player, but you know he'll
take Andrews one on one against any safety in the league,
certainly in the red zone.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
So as this play develops, we stop it right here.
Speaker 9 (32:23):
This is where Lamar has made the decision to throw
the football. Okay, now he sees this, He's not going
to throw it right there. He's going to throw it
to his spot. But he's made the decision to throw
the football. So this is about timing. This is anticipation
and now it requires really precise ball location. And this
(32:44):
is really what you look because look at the Delpit
now where he is in relation to Andrews. He's outside
of Andrews. But Lamar knows with Delpit's body turned that way, Colin,
he cannot play this throw, so he throws this ball.
This is the kind of thing you look for when
you study quarterbacks, these kinds of throws, and the ball
location is absolutely precise, it's perfect, and you get a
(33:07):
really good look at that from this angle. So these
are the things you look for. You know, most quarterbacks
can throw to guys who are open. Throws like this
really dictate how a quarterback's playing. Olamar has made more
of those kinds of throws this year than ever before
in his career.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah, my staff just wrote down that Zay Flowers has
been ruled out, which I don't love because I do
think I'm a surprise. Yeah, he can be a little
hit and miss. There's some drops, but he has added
he has added an explosiveness, which I think is an element.
Baltimore is no fun to play. The quarterback's the fastest
guy in the field. Deren Henries there's just no fun
(33:44):
to play.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
And that's why. By the way, I want to ask.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
You one big broad question, and I want to go
back to hardball and the Chargers again, and we can
show some video talk about this. But defensively, it's the
same darn team. You know, they added Alt and lad mcconkin,
and they got a couple of fifth round corners out
of college.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
How in the world.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Has Jesse Minter taken the same personnel and they've gone
from thirty second to first. What does the film say
on the Chargers revelation On defense?
Speaker 4 (34:16):
He does a lot of different things.
Speaker 9 (34:18):
For instance, they're a big team playing what we call
big nickel with three safeties, So they take Derwin James
and they basically have made him a multi dimensional, dimensional,
movable chess piece, and he is a dynamic player who
can pretty much do anything on the football field, and
he's become foundationally a very important piece.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
Then one player who was there last year, Colin and
you know him from USC twoy Polo two.
Speaker 9 (34:42):
He is a really really good football player not talked
about enough. Another player that can line up inside, can
line up outside.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
You can stand him up in the middle of your defense.
Speaker 9 (34:52):
He's a really, really good player who doesn't get talked
about enough because Bosa mac James. But you know, they
just have some players who are multi dimensional, multi positional
and can really affect games.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
Yeah, Greg Cosel, forty five years at NFL Films never
gets old.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Great seeing you again, Thanks, Colin, appreciate it. You bet.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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