September 5, 2025 • 33 mins
Colin reacts to the start of the NFL season and explains why the Cowboys were impressive despite coming up short against the Eagles. He shares his best bets for week 1 of the NFL season including Steelers v Jets and Lions v Packers. Plus, 3-time Pro Bowler Matt Hasselbeck joins the show to tell Colin why Dak Prescott is playing like an MVP coming off another major injury
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Episode Transcript
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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 Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Here we go. It is our first Friday of the
football season. We are live. We are in Los Angeles.
It is the Herd Blazing five and one hour from now.
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening,
Thanks for making us part of your day. I will say,
Jay mckam sitting there watching that game last night, and
(00:49):
you know it's an old cliche, but there are bad wins.
You know, you win a game and you lose two
star players, and there are great losses where you learn
a lot about your team. I watched that game last
night for Dallas, and maybe it's because I had such
low expectations, but I thought that was about as encouraging
(01:10):
a loss. Philadelphia boat raced the Cowboys twice last year,
and Dallas had that game.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Can I ask you if which game the one before
the lightning delay or after, because they were totally different
game they were. So let's just start with this.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Listen if CD Lamb catches that deep ball and it
was a perfect throw, another one by Dak. I think
Dallas wins the game. They had more first downs, they
were slightly better on third down, they had fewer penalties,
they had more total offense, and I thought their clock management,
always an issue in Dallas with McCarthy, was very strong
(01:46):
at the end of the first half. Yes, Jalen Carter's
absence due to spitting is a big break. He is
just a complete, absolute difference maker. And for the first
half the Eagles defense was trying to sort things out
and figure out how to play without Jalen Carter. But
Dak played well. Don't blame it on Dak. He had
people in his face in the second half and made
(02:08):
great throws. And here's the thing about Dak. He's thirty two,
he's off his second surgery. They had new screws were
needed to reattach his hamstring. Yet he moved well, he
threw with confidence, he didn't get sacked. And again in
the second half, Vic Fangio dialed it up. He was
(02:28):
under duress. Also for Dallas, I thought the offensive line again,
no Jalen Carter, Yeah, we know it helped, But I
thought the offensive line held up well. I thought they
found running lanes. I thought Ceedee Lamb and George Pickens
against an excellent secondary that is an excellent, young, talented
secondary and linebacking corps, both George Pickens and Ceedee Lamb
(02:53):
created space, beat their coverage. And also, oh what are
we going to look like without Micah Parsons. Michael Parsons
is a great player, he's not the soul of his team.
Last year with Michael Parsons, the Eagles averaged thirty seven
and a half points against Dallas. Last night was twenty
four and would have been a win if Ceedee Lamb
didn't become Ceedee lame and dropped three passes. The O
(03:17):
line look good. Keep your eye on James Houston, who
was great as a rookie. He's been beat up, he
struggles to stay healthy, but I thought he looked really good.
And listen, I have been highly critical of Brian Schottenneimer,
but you could not watch the Cowboys last night on
the road. Rain delay and not think they're buttoned up.
(03:40):
They're good on third down, they're emotionally in check. Very
few penalties, So I listen, you could have bad wins
in this league if you lose a star quarterback, but win.
You could have good losses in certain places. A young
Dallas team, I think they're gonna score some points. I
was really in couraged by the offensive line. It again
(04:03):
at halftime adjustments, but Dak wasn't getting sacked, he was
moving around. I think you have to be happy as
a cowboy fan. I throughout the game, I'm thinking Dallas,
don't screw it up, get a top ten lottery pick.
But they still got what three years to pay Dak,
maybe after this year, so they're invested in Dak. But overall,
here's Brian. I thought it was pretty impressive.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
We got the right type of guys.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
We got good players.
Speaker 6 (04:29):
Again, Like I said, you know, you saw what we're
capable of in the first half offensively. You saw what
we're capable of in the second half defensively. We just
got to put the game together in a more complimentary fashion.
We had chances out there, and there's no moral victories
for us. We had a chance to win that game,
and we weren't able to do it, and it'll stink.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I mean that I thought Dallas, honestly, I thought it
was a B plus plus performance. Obviously the rain delay
didn't help them, but you're on the road, Philadelphia's got
the better team. It really came down to see and
Lamb making one big catch, but very impressive by Dallas,
shockingly so for me. Okay, let's talk Eagles. What did
(05:11):
I spend ten minutes on yesterday with the Eagles? I said,
they do a lot of things lousy franchises do, and
they did it again last night. Jalen Carter couldn't get
a snap in before he got tossed. They had more
penalty yards in the first half than any team in
the NFL last season had in the first half the
(05:32):
Eagles last night. I mean they went the entire game
and barely even glanced today J Brown. They had multiple
personal fouls. They were emotionally out of control. They had
a dumb taunting penalty when you know the league's been
warning all the teams taunting were not standing for it.
I mean I saw Big Dom more than I saw
AJ Brown, and Philly's got a lot of new faces
(05:55):
on defense, so they needed Jalen Carter. That was a
big loss. Well once again, and we talked about this yesterday.
You know what, I've always loved Jalen Hurts, not as
much as anybody else, but boy, did you see it
last night? Stoic intelligent leadership. Do you realize in his
last fifteen stars that he's played the entire game. He's
(06:15):
fifteen to zero and last night was classic Philly drama
everywhere taunting, fendalies, personal fouls, Jalen Carter and here's stoic
Jalen Hurtz grown up. I mean, now, Vic Fangio deserves credit.
He couldn't figure out in the first half what to
do without Jalen Carter. They go in at halftime, Fangio's like,
(06:37):
all right, we're gonna switch some things up. He did
Vix great, So it took them a half to figure
out what to do defensively. But I thought Jalen Hurts
faced more pressure overall consistently than Dac did. I thought
Dallas's front got pressure, but he is so mentally dialed in.
This guy is such an impressive human being. I almost
(07:00):
I think Jalen Hurts is an impressive human being. The
quarterback is second. But this was a classic game for
Philadelphia where they kind of melted down in the first half. Carter, taunting, penalties,
personal fouls. They were kind of a wreck. But what
pulled it through Jalen Hurts picking up first downs. He
(07:20):
just you know, It's like in Philadelphia is a big
noisy family. And I learned this with my dad, you know,
passed away, like who's the executor of the will? And
they gave it to my sister, right like like all right,
Collins distracted, give it to my sister. And I feel
like this is a big, loud family. If you ever
had to give the executor of the will to anybody
for the Philadelphia Eagles, I wouldn't give it to Nick
(07:42):
Sirianni the executor. It would be Jalen Hurts because there's
so last night's first half there was nothing but drama
in Philadelphia and there's a big story something's going on
with aj Brown. We'll get to that in a second,
but here's Nick Sariani on the Jalen Carter incident.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
We want to have right, like I said, energy, tenacity,
all those different things, but we got to do it
within the rules of the game, and you know, we'll
we'll we'll address that, we'll go through that, but we
got to get better in that in that scenario because
we need we need that guy on the field.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
He's a really good player. The other thing to think about,
and I'm going to get into this after the break,
but there is one thing because Philadelphia I Jalen Hurts
is playing the entire game. Philadelphia wins. Okay, there is
one thing Jason and Jason was on this couple of
years ago. I got to give him credit. That blows
up a dynasty or a great team wide receiver drama
(08:36):
and the AJ Brown situation last year. You start looking
at the data, he is not the guy you think
he is. I always said this Warriors won pre KD
and post KD. The soul of the team was Draymond
and Staff. It was not Katie. Katie was the most talented,
and I could argue AJ Brown's as talented as everybody
on Philadelphia. But I'm gonna give you some numbers after
(08:58):
the break to show you, you know what it felt
like last night to me, we didn't work together at
this time. Randy Moss goes to the Patriots and he's unbelievable,
and you're kind of waiting for the next shoe to drop.
And then I forget what year it was, but there's
a Monday night football game, New England goes to Miami.
(09:20):
I think it was in Miami, but it was the
Patriots Dolphins, and they target Randy Moss once. And I
remember I worked at ESPN. I went on the air
that Tuesday morning and I said, he's out of here,
and everybody back then I would take emails or calls
to the show and everybody's like, no, you're overreacting. I'm like,
the most talented receiver in the game on a team
that doesn't draft receivers. You target against a rival team Miami,
(09:43):
you target him one time. It's not like you targeted
him eight times and the coverage was good. AJ Brown
was targeted what once? Last night? Okay, so that tells
you Jalen Hurst and A J. Brown Because Dallas Goddard
was eating last night, Saquon was eating dots and god,
looks Devonte Smith got looks a Day's more talented arguably
(10:04):
than all of them except Saquon Barkley and got one
look that is not coincidental, not great at all.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
And it was not just one target. It was one
target with like five minutes left to the game. Colin,
that offense did not look good at all. You can't
rely on Jalen Hurts to bail you out of every
third down. They had one pass completion over ten yards
one the bomb to Dotson.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Everything else was short. I know it's a new offensive
coordinator for Hurts, which is the case almost every year.
But Colin, I'm with you. To take away is Dallas
looked better than advertised and Philly did not look particularly sharp.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
No, but I will say the rain delay helped Philly.
You know, it's hard enough to go on the road,
like it's hard to go on the road, the crowds
against you, and then you prepare and Dallas had a
very good game plan and then all of a sudden
you got a rain delay for halftime and you're like, okay,
it's hard. And I felt for I'm like, oh, this
(11:01):
is like Philadelphia the football gods. Remember the Super Bowl
with the lights went out. It's like sometimes a team
that when the lights go out you come back on
or there's a delay, some players don't react as well.
It's always felt like it's an advantage being the home
team if there's some malfunction or delay. And I just
felt like after that, I thought Philly was a little
more dialed in. But you cannot come out of that
(11:24):
game and not say to yourself with Dallas, because my
thing was Schottenheimer, he hadn't been offered or interviewed for
a head coaching job before Dallas, like for fourteen years,
and offensive coaches all get interviewed, so like he was
not the party of the you know, the bell of
the ball by owners or gms as an offensive coach.
(11:45):
But maybe he's a walk around guy and his stoicism
and chill approach works with Jerry.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
It could be let me just push back and I'll
offer this. If Jalen Carter's not tossed, you could just
take away all those a gap runs where Javonte and
just running there. By the way, Javonte Adams total for
rushing guards was like thirty seven and a half. He
had like fifty eight yards rushing. Okay, so it's not
totally fair. And then all of a sudden, Dak gets
pressure up the middle. Javonte Williams, Sorry, I just I
(12:13):
don't really know what to make of either team.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
But here's my take. Though you're right, but the truth
about availability it's on you. So that's I am not
gonna say. Well, Dallas with Jalen Carter, I don't know,
but you know what, you're not mature. You had red
flags coming out of Georgia. This won't be the last
time you get in trouble, so you know what. Dak
could have easily spit back and didn't. But the mature Dacks,
(12:37):
like now bra Jalen carssol, I Philadelphia's drama is self inflicted. Okay,
I don't you know. So you're right. I do think
Dallas found some running lanes that they wouldn't have found.
But I will say the past protection pretty good.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
Nolan Smith was the only I get into him.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I am curious if MICHAEH.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Parsons is there for Dallas on that is he setting
the edge containing Jalen Hurts. It felt like they missed
Michael Parsons. I didn't hear a lot of that discussion
on the broadcast.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Well, I thought Houston was really good.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
He was solid, But imagine if he was opposite Michael Parsons,
then it's like, well, Jalen's not running wild.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I mean, Jalen was just clowned out right. Carter's gone
one for Philly, Mike has gone for Dallas, and so
you could say, well, it's kind of a wash. It
just looked like if you didn't know anything about Philly
or Dallas and you were dropped spaceship in front of
a TV and you watched the game, your takeaway would be, yeah,
I mean they're pretty close even Yeah. I watched them
(13:33):
play twice last year lobsided. It was Bam in the
Dynasty against Kentucky. It was like, Oh, these teams shouldn't
be on the same field both games last year. Last
night I was like, no, they match up, the Lions
match up.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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Speaker 7 (13:54):
Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben
Maller with me and a lock to have you joined
us on our weekly audit journey. You're asking, what in
God's name is the Fifth Hour? I'll tell you it's
a spin off of it Ben Mathershow, a cult hit
overnights on FSR. Why should you listen picture if you
will a world will. We chat with captains of industry
in media, sports, and more every week explore some amazing
(14:16):
facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth
Hour with Ben Mather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
You know a lot of people would not do a
Blazing five to start the year because well, I'm terrible
in week one, but it's too much fun. Let's have uh,
let's have a good five minutes here with my picks.
I feel good, as I always do. I felt good
every week last year that didn't mean anything. And here
we go with our opening blazing five.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Let's blaze it up right up, It's Collins Blazon Fox,
Giants had Commanders.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
I like the Giants plus six and a half. At
least one underdog of six plus points is one outright
in Week one. I think the Giants could be the play.
They played nine ones score games last year and both
games against the Commanders were close. Brian Burns, Dexter, Lawrence
Abdul Carter. This is a top two or three defensive line,
and I mean, let's be honest, it's week one. We
(15:12):
saw what d lines can do last night Malik Neighbors
matchup problem. Even with dan Quinn back into the defense.
Last year for Washington was a bit of a mess.
The Commanders great year, but they played twelve one score
games and their defense again was bad with a defensive coach.
So I think the debo Terry McLaurin thing is fascinating,
(15:35):
but I think it won't be perfect until later in
the season. This is a go either way game. I'll
take Washington to win, but six and a half. I'm
taking it with the Giants twenty seven to twenty three.
Commanders close, Steelers and Chets. I like the Jets plus
a field goal. This is the lowest over and under.
(15:56):
I'm gonna take the home dog plus the three points.
They held fourth quarter leads in six of their twelve losses.
Last year, the Jets were in games, and that's with
an old quarterback that couldn't extend plays. Now they have
a young quarterback that can. The Steelers had a lot
of turnover left tackle gone, quarterback gone, best receiver gone,
best running back gone. With a defensive culture, you think
(16:17):
they're gonna look good in Week one. I mean my
takeaway is is the wrong team getting points here. I
think the Jets rosters good, and I've got a young
quarterback who played in Pittsburgh and knows their personnel. And
by the way, Aaron Rodgers with all these new parts
week one, last three times Week one he started, he's
(16:39):
lost all of them and has not played well. And
he's not the most committed guy in the offseason. I
like the Jets here to win straight out twenty four
to twenty money line baby.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Forty nine ers at Seahawks.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I like the Seahawks. You know, since lumin Field opened
up in two thousand and two, Seattle's got the best
home win percentage nine and one record at home week
one and by the way, six of their final eight
games last year after the bye they won. They needed
a buy for this new coaching staff, and they've upgraded
at coordinator. They're gonna run the ball, They're gonna speed
(17:15):
the game up. Gray's Abel, the draft pick, watched them
run the ball. Sam Darnold's an athletic upgrade at quarterback,
and the Niners McCaffrey's banged up, Brandon Aiyuk's out, Greenlaw's gone,
who Fungus gone. By the way, Niners were not great
against their Division. Last year they were one in five
in division and two and six on the road. Last
(17:35):
year they were not a great road team or division team.
And the red zone defense, that's why they brought SLA in,
was a bit of a mess. That was thirty first.
I liked the Seahawks and the points to win straight
out twenty four to twenty three Lions at Packers. I
really like green Bay BT of the weekend, young team
entering their prime, added Micah Parsons. I like green Bay
(17:59):
here only team in the league top five offense and
total defense. And by the way we think to ourselves,
you know, Jordan Love wasn't great last year. I went
and looked it up this morning. Final seven games last year,
nine touchdowns, no picks. He's fine. Lions lost both coordinators.
If they do replace them deftly, it'll probably be later
(18:19):
in the season. And Dan Campbell's not been a good
underdog coach twelve and twenty one in one as an
underdog head coach. When they got better players, they win.
When they're at home with better players, they win on
the road. Do they have better players than Green Bay?
I'm not sure. Jared Goff without McVeagh and Ben Johnson
never been quite as good. I like Green Bay to
(18:40):
win outright. Twenty eight to twenty four. Texans and Rams
take the under forty three and a half. Nineteenth ranks
scoring offense Texans against the twentiest scoring offense. Here's the
truth about the Rams. Last year didn't have a great
point differential even with Stafford. Both teams come into the
season with o line issues. Stafford's back's an issue, left
(19:03):
tackle Eleric Jackson blood Clotts didn't practice a ton, and
the Texans beat up on their division. They were five
and one against the AFC South. They weren't great out
of their division. They've got a first time play colored
offensive coordinator and a lot of new faces on the
offensive line. And I am here to tell you the
Rams defensive front is filthy and getting better. I think
(19:25):
it is a very low scoring game. The over unders
forty three and a half. It feels like twenty seventeen
or twenty one seventeen Rams to me, probably at home,
I give them the edge, but I'm taking the under.
Here take the under forty three and a half. J
McKinney thoughts on that, Love love, love the Jets pick.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
That's my favorite of your five outside of the Packers,
which I also have, but that forty nine Ers one.
You didn't really mention the Christian McCaffrey missed practice yesterday.
Then the forty nine ers did not make him available
to the media. I have him in multiple fantasy leagues
and I'm sweating.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Oh, I feel so terrible for you. Thanks, friend. You
need to go into every weekend with a.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Little humidity, rock Purty taking over that game and winning
on the road, beating your guy, he would deserve credit.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
That's a tough And if mccaffery's even Kahim told me
a week ago, I said, where did you hate going
when you were the GM Arizona? He goes Seattle. He
goes that is a rough place to play. He goes,
that crowd lubricates, they're ready to roll.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
And with that, Matt Hasselbeck is now joining us live
eighteen years in the NFL. So, Matt, I watched Dak
Prescott last night and I've been a critic. I thought
he was really good. I thought Dak was I was
just like man. Listen see d he's dropping it. He's
not getting worked up, he's not mad. He was stoic.
(21:00):
You got, Brian Schottenheimer. I don't know your takeaway on DAK.
I was really impressed.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
I'm glad you brought it up.
Speaker 8 (21:07):
I completely agree with a lot of hate going to
Dak for years and years. I thought last night he
looked great coming off of the injury.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
I thought he looked fit. I thought he looked quick.
You know, he said he felt slow. He didn't look slow.
Speaker 8 (21:20):
He looked like a guy that was in command, in control,
and honestly, like with the loss of Micah Parsons on defense,
like leaders got to step up, Like you really step up.
You're not just the leader because you make all the
money or you're the quarterback.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
You're a leader by the.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
Things that you do with like no one really watches
or no one really notices, like the camera multiple times
last night he's going up and down the sidelines, dapping
up each one of his teammates, like the whole night
like reminded me of like what Bill Russell was like
when he was on the Celtics. He was very captain
like of him at all times, keeping us engaged, like
he was he came for the fight, and I don't
(21:55):
think we've seen that at.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
A dak this way, not quite this way. I was impressed.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, you know, I think it's something. I don't want
to be hyperbolic here, but I remember years ago Randy
Moss Brady go to play the Dolphins on Monday night
and they targeted Randy Moss one time. And I sat
on the air I worked at another company. I said, okay,
if you're only targeted Randy Moss once, he not long
for New England. He got traded. A few days later.
Aj Brown was invisible. Now Dallas Goddard's good. Barkley. I
(22:25):
don't know. I got to be honest about that, Matt.
That doesn't smell right to me. Your thoughts, Yeah.
Speaker 8 (22:31):
I think last year they had a slow you know,
they started out slow figuring out how.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
To use Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 8 (22:37):
They've got a new coordinator, and sometimes you can kind
of get lost in the forest on your call sheet.
You know, they get that big giant call sheet and
you're thinking, like, okay, Eberflutes, he's in zone ninety percent
of the time, he's in too high. Like you just
kind of get lost with it and you're really focused
on winning the game, and sometimes what can happen is
you can forget that a star receiver is not getting
the ball. Like I remember Mike Congrin on his call sheet,
(22:58):
you would have like a whole section. And I see
it on Andy Reid's he's his you know, just as big,
the whole whole section for like get this guy touches.
And you saw that they tried to do it kind
of late, but I think it's important. You know, I
was teammates with Jerry Rice at the end of his career.
I mean he's forty years old. He's Jerry Rice, though,
you know, and he would come to me like during
TV timeouts stuff like that, and he'd like grab my
(23:19):
arm and be like, hey man, like I would love
to feel a part of this game. I would love
to feel part of this game. And as a quarterback
and as a play caller.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
I do think that that's an important thing.
Speaker 8 (23:29):
When you have a star receiver outside, you got to
you got to include him. And I thought aj Brown
was included in other ways, blocking and all that kind
of stuff, but you got to be more intentional about
making it happen.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
I think they get it. Fixed, but clearly that was
a miss last night.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
By the way, the rain delay was weird. I thought
it benefited Philadelphia. I feel I said, like, you're the
road team. It's already a pain in the butt to
play on the road, it's a big rivalry game. Then
you have a rain delay after halftime. I did think
Philadelphia post delay felt a little different, did you.
Speaker 8 (24:02):
Yeah, one hundred percent. I mean a team that's been there,
you know. I think on the broadcast they did a
good job. It'll probably feel like a really really long
halftime at a super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
Obviously, the Eagles are just coming off of a super Bowl.
Speaker 8 (24:14):
Dallas hasn't been you know, so like I you know,
I remember my Super Bowl the Rolling Stones played and
we were told, hey, they're going it's gonna be longer
than normal. Well they played even longer than they were
supposed to play, And like there is.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Something too, just like you know, so what now? What?
You know, that's the mindset? So what now?
Speaker 1 (24:30):
What?
Speaker 8 (24:30):
I think, like a Nick Sirianni, been there, done, eight team,
been together as a you know, as a group, Hey
so what now what Yeah, okay, lightning delay? So what
like here we go and I think, uh, yeah, I
think the advantage if you're gonna give one go to Philly.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
So generally I like offensive coaches and good quarterbacks in September,
I think most coaches are obsessed to begin with. Offensive
guys are designing stuff and McVeigh or Andy Reid or
you know, any of these offensive guys. They're gonna have
some tricks Sean Payton that you haven't seen. So I
(25:05):
would think Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor would be good early,
and they have struggled. I'm looking the last three regular
seasons Weeks one and two, Burrow's oh and six, Week
three on they win seventy percent of their games. Can
you just decipher it? Decode it? Why do you think
Burrow and Zach struggle early?
Speaker 8 (25:26):
Well, you know, I'm not sure how much work Burrow
had been getting in the preseason and even training camp
in like the last three years, but it's been different
this year. You can tell that this is a point
of emphasis emphasis for them. He's playing more, you know,
when teams are resting their starters, he and Jamar Chas
are out there, you know, lighting the league up in
the preseason. But you know, to me, I think it's
(25:46):
more than just a quarterback situation. How you do training
camp is important. You know, sometimes week one the quarterbacks
are the coaches that are so good at game planning
and studying, you they struggle week one because it's more
of a blind day.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
You know, I would put Zach Taylor.
Speaker 8 (26:01):
I don't know if he gets the reputation or not,
but he's very much like Sean McVay to me, like
where he knows the scheme, he knows how to get
the one on one and.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
So that's the thing. But the other thing to me.
Speaker 8 (26:11):
Week one is like, what kind of training camp did
you have who's really good at tackling defensively? And I
think that's just one of the new things here with
the offseason being how it is, the amount of preseason games.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
That have been taken away.
Speaker 8 (26:24):
You know, we got guys that haven't had to tackle
live and really been tested, haven't been exposed, and you know,
sometimes those guys get exposed week one. And you know,
Cincinnati doesn't stick out to me as a great tackling
team in the last few years. So you know, I
think there's a lot of factors that might.
Speaker 5 (26:41):
Go into it. But I'm a believer in Joe Burrow
all the way.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Yeah, that's a really good point about the tackling. So
I'm not a big fan of games in Brazil, London, Germany,
Mexico City. I think it's a big ass for players.
This game is so hard on players. I mean Brazil
feels like, you know, what is the flight fifteen hours?
I don't like it. You tell me your thoughts on
it as a player? Is it discomforting?
Speaker 8 (27:06):
Like?
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Where do you land on that game? Chargers Chiefs tonight?
Speaker 8 (27:09):
Well, my first NFL game I was with the Packers.
We played against the Chiefs in Tokyo in the Tokyo Dome.
I got blown up right around second base and sprained
my tailbone. So I got a bad memory from that game.
But you know, playing surfaces I think a big thing.
I've been down to Mexico City seeing ironically, I think
it was the Chiefs and Raiders play a game down there.
It was a very slick surface. I think it's hard
(27:29):
on the players. I think it's hard harder on everybody,
you know. I was just in Kansas City and talking
to their equipment equipment manager, Alan Wright.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
You know, they had to ship everything out a week before.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
So there's almost like two sets of equipment minus things
like your helmet. So it's a grind. But for the
teams that have done it and have like a veteran
group doing it, I think it gives them a little
bit of an edge. It is a little bit of
a circus and a little bit of a show. But
I think the Chiefs, again, they're just used to it.
Like everything they do is breaking news, whether it's in
the sports world or outside the sports world. They seem
(28:03):
to kind of like water up for ducks back, you know,
like they're just like, yeah, here we go. And I
will say this, I think a lot of people, including you, Colin,
are sleeping on this Chiefs team. I think this is
the most talented team they've had in a long time.
And I think that you're going to see a Travis
Kelce and a you know, a group around Travis Kelce
like really finished strong. They realize how special this year
(28:25):
could be if it is in fact his last year.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
So I'm a believer in the Chiefs this year.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
So when you get a new player like Micah Parsons
and you've got a very strong culture in Green Bay,
which you know, like Dallas's defense was fine without him,
I think we all think he's gonna go and get
six sacks again. You know, oh, Mike is going to
change it. But this is a well coached team. What
kind of impact do you think he could have against
(28:52):
Detroit week one? Or does it when you get new
players late? I mean, just happened. What do you expect
from Micah?
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Yeah, it's real.
Speaker 8 (29:01):
Well, listen, they're gonna have a small package for him
on third down.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
Jeff Affley does a really good job on third.
Speaker 8 (29:06):
Down designing scheme, like, you know, singling him up, and
I promise you it's a pain in the butt for
the opponent to wonder where he's gonna be.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
How many snaps is he gonna play?
Speaker 8 (29:17):
Are we dedicating two linemen or alignment and a tight
end alignment and a running back? Are we dedicating those
resources to him? And then he's not even on the field,
Like it's you'd almost rather know without a shadow of
a doubt, like a Max Crosby, like, yeah, he's gonna
be there.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
At least we know what we're up against.
Speaker 8 (29:35):
This is a little bit unsettling because hey, are they
going to use him mostly on first and second down?
Are they gonna use him only on third down or
they gonna use them in special situations. How much of
the defense can he grasp? I think you can guess
at it, but it's a lot tougher. And so I
do think like as a as.
Speaker 5 (29:51):
A pass rusher type guy.
Speaker 8 (29:53):
Even if he played fifteen snaps and it came away
with two pressures in a sack and a half, like,
that's a win Week one.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Finally, you know Seattle, well, I like them against the Niners.
And one of the reasons I like him is if
you go to this coaching staff after the bye, I'm
a big believer. When Brady goes to Tampa. They were
seven and five at the bye, and now I can
sit down with Bruce arians and say, listen, I need
to shorten up some routes. The NFL season, you're on
a treadmill. The bye gives new people a chance. It's
(30:26):
like almost it's like really to work on stuff. So
when I look at McDonald and the Seahawks last year
after the bye, it was like, Okay, they really needed that.
They were a different team. I think they're going to
surprise people. Where are you on Seattle? Final question going
into the weekend where they're very good at home against
the Niners.
Speaker 8 (30:47):
Well, brock Party doesn't seem phase to go into Seattle.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
That's one thing that's very unique.
Speaker 8 (30:52):
You know, you had mentioned when I first jumped on,
people don't like to go Seattle.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
Brock Perty doesn't seem to care.
Speaker 8 (30:57):
Mike McDonald, though, I think he's been pretty great. Like
I think he's been underrated. Ten win team last year,
you know, top ten defense, and think about how they
started out last year. I think they had like an
interception in two safeties to like start the first half
or something crazy last year. So that's not the identity
that he's looking for. He's looking for an offense that's
going to be run the ball, play action centric, basically,
(31:21):
don't screw it up for my defense. I am so
confident in what I'm going to be on defense. You know,
think Baltimore Ravens a little bit like controlled back in
the day, control the ball, played great defense. I think
that's the image that he has. And now with this
injury news about Christian McCaffrey not coming out, I think
the Seahawks win this division. This was the game that
I thought, you know, this might be the toughest game
(31:41):
on their season, just because it's a new collection of people,
Sam Darnold, all the receivers are going, you know, all
that stuff. But now I'm buying Seattle this year. I like,
I'm a lot in this division, and you know that
home field advantage, you know, they it's an important thing
to have.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
You know, sometimes a lot.
Speaker 8 (31:58):
Of red shows up in Seattle, and it'd be nice
if Sex fans didn't let that happen.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
All right, great seeing you, Matt hassel Back putting them
on a Friday. Appreciate it, bout as alas. Okay, see,
all right, big one tonight, I'm staying away Chargers and
the Chiefs. Well, if you forced to, who would you
take Chiefs?
Speaker 3 (32:18):
I mean, I'm not going against Andy Reid and Patrick
Mahomes to start the season. And by the way, some
people have dug into the Chargers numbers last year.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Listen, I know it's like Herbert twenty three touchdowns. I
think we four interceptions.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
If you look at who he did it against, it
was a lot of bad teams.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
And I know it's hey, you gotta you can only
play who's in front.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Of you find but I can also ding you that's
gonna come back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We talked
about who they faced last year. They faced like almost
the most backup quarterbacks in the league. Yeah, they got
fat and happy off bad teams. So I'm a little
down on the Chargers compared to where I was in
like July.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Remember they lost Slater on the offensive line.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
That's not uneasy.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
The way Beckton they've got issue was there. He's all
he may not apply to is he off? Is he out?
He's He's going either way.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
So they got Magnolo is one of the best in
the business dialing uplits is.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
It's a tall order for the Chargers. He's got an illness, okay,
oh boy,
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 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 Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Here we go. It is our first Friday of the
football season. We are live. We are in Los Angeles.
It is the Herd Blazing five and one hour from now.
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening,
Thanks for making us part of your day. I will say,
Jay mckam sitting there watching that game last night, and
(00:49):
you know it's an old cliche, but there are bad wins.
You know, you win a game and you lose two
star players, and there are great losses where you learn
a lot about your team. I watched that game last
night for Dallas, and maybe it's because I had such
low expectations, but I thought that was about as encouraging
(01:10):
a loss. Philadelphia boat raced the Cowboys twice last year,
and Dallas had that game.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Can I ask you if which game the one before
the lightning delay or after, because they were totally different
game they were. So let's just start with this.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Listen if CD Lamb catches that deep ball and it
was a perfect throw, another one by Dak. I think
Dallas wins the game. They had more first downs, they
were slightly better on third down, they had fewer penalties,
they had more total offense, and I thought their clock management,
always an issue in Dallas with McCarthy, was very strong
(01:46):
at the end of the first half. Yes, Jalen Carter's
absence due to spitting is a big break. He is
just a complete, absolute difference maker. And for the first
half the Eagles defense was trying to sort things out
and figure out how to play without Jalen Carter. But
Dak played well. Don't blame it on Dak. He had
people in his face in the second half and made
(02:08):
great throws. And here's the thing about Dak. He's thirty two,
he's off his second surgery. They had new screws were
needed to reattach his hamstring. Yet he moved well, he
threw with confidence, he didn't get sacked. And again in
the second half, Vic Fangio dialed it up. He was
(02:28):
under duress. Also for Dallas, I thought the offensive line again,
no Jalen Carter, Yeah, we know it helped, But I
thought the offensive line held up well. I thought they
found running lanes. I thought Ceedee Lamb and George Pickens
against an excellent secondary that is an excellent, young, talented
secondary and linebacking corps, both George Pickens and Ceedee Lamb
(02:53):
created space, beat their coverage. And also, oh what are
we going to look like without Micah Parsons. Michael Parsons
is a great player, he's not the soul of his team.
Last year with Michael Parsons, the Eagles averaged thirty seven
and a half points against Dallas. Last night was twenty
four and would have been a win if Ceedee Lamb
didn't become Ceedee lame and dropped three passes. The O
(03:17):
line look good. Keep your eye on James Houston, who
was great as a rookie. He's been beat up, he
struggles to stay healthy, but I thought he looked really good.
And listen, I have been highly critical of Brian Schottenneimer,
but you could not watch the Cowboys last night on
the road. Rain delay and not think they're buttoned up.
(03:40):
They're good on third down, they're emotionally in check. Very
few penalties, So I listen, you could have bad wins
in this league if you lose a star quarterback, but win.
You could have good losses in certain places. A young
Dallas team, I think they're gonna score some points. I
was really in couraged by the offensive line. It again
(04:03):
at halftime adjustments, but Dak wasn't getting sacked, he was
moving around. I think you have to be happy as
a cowboy fan. I throughout the game, I'm thinking Dallas,
don't screw it up, get a top ten lottery pick.
But they still got what three years to pay Dak,
maybe after this year, so they're invested in Dak. But overall,
here's Brian. I thought it was pretty impressive.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
We got the right type of guys.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
We got good players.
Speaker 6 (04:29):
Again, Like I said, you know, you saw what we're
capable of in the first half offensively. You saw what
we're capable of in the second half defensively. We just
got to put the game together in a more complimentary fashion.
We had chances out there, and there's no moral victories
for us. We had a chance to win that game,
and we weren't able to do it, and it'll stink.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I mean that I thought Dallas, honestly, I thought it
was a B plus plus performance. Obviously the rain delay
didn't help them, but you're on the road, Philadelphia's got
the better team. It really came down to see and
Lamb making one big catch, but very impressive by Dallas,
shockingly so for me. Okay, let's talk Eagles. What did
(05:11):
I spend ten minutes on yesterday with the Eagles? I said,
they do a lot of things lousy franchises do, and
they did it again last night. Jalen Carter couldn't get
a snap in before he got tossed. They had more
penalty yards in the first half than any team in
the NFL last season had in the first half the
(05:32):
Eagles last night. I mean they went the entire game
and barely even glanced today J Brown. They had multiple
personal fouls. They were emotionally out of control. They had
a dumb taunting penalty when you know the league's been
warning all the teams taunting were not standing for it.
I mean I saw Big Dom more than I saw
AJ Brown, and Philly's got a lot of new faces
(05:55):
on defense, so they needed Jalen Carter. That was a
big loss. Well once again, and we talked about this yesterday.
You know what, I've always loved Jalen Hurts, not as
much as anybody else, but boy, did you see it
last night? Stoic intelligent leadership. Do you realize in his
last fifteen stars that he's played the entire game. He's
(06:15):
fifteen to zero and last night was classic Philly drama
everywhere taunting, fendalies, personal fouls, Jalen Carter and here's stoic
Jalen Hurtz grown up. I mean, now, Vic Fangio deserves credit.
He couldn't figure out in the first half what to
do without Jalen Carter. They go in at halftime, Fangio's like,
(06:37):
all right, we're gonna switch some things up. He did
Vix great, So it took them a half to figure
out what to do defensively. But I thought Jalen Hurts
faced more pressure overall consistently than Dac did. I thought
Dallas's front got pressure, but he is so mentally dialed in.
This guy is such an impressive human being. I almost
(07:00):
I think Jalen Hurts is an impressive human being. The
quarterback is second. But this was a classic game for
Philadelphia where they kind of melted down in the first half. Carter, taunting, penalties,
personal fouls. They were kind of a wreck. But what
pulled it through Jalen Hurts picking up first downs. He
(07:20):
just you know, It's like in Philadelphia is a big
noisy family. And I learned this with my dad, you know,
passed away, like who's the executor of the will? And
they gave it to my sister, right like like all right,
Collins distracted, give it to my sister. And I feel
like this is a big, loud family. If you ever
had to give the executor of the will to anybody
for the Philadelphia Eagles, I wouldn't give it to Nick
(07:42):
Sirianni the executor. It would be Jalen Hurts because there's
so last night's first half there was nothing but drama
in Philadelphia and there's a big story something's going on
with aj Brown. We'll get to that in a second,
but here's Nick Sariani on the Jalen Carter incident.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
We want to have right, like I said, energy, tenacity,
all those different things, but we got to do it
within the rules of the game, and you know, we'll
we'll we'll address that, we'll go through that, but we
got to get better in that in that scenario because
we need we need that guy on the field.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
He's a really good player. The other thing to think about,
and I'm going to get into this after the break,
but there is one thing because Philadelphia I Jalen Hurts
is playing the entire game. Philadelphia wins. Okay, there is
one thing Jason and Jason was on this couple of
years ago. I got to give him credit. That blows
up a dynasty or a great team wide receiver drama
(08:36):
and the AJ Brown situation last year. You start looking
at the data, he is not the guy you think
he is. I always said this Warriors won pre KD
and post KD. The soul of the team was Draymond
and Staff. It was not Katie. Katie was the most talented,
and I could argue AJ Brown's as talented as everybody
on Philadelphia. But I'm gonna give you some numbers after
(08:58):
the break to show you, you know what it felt
like last night to me, we didn't work together at
this time. Randy Moss goes to the Patriots and he's unbelievable,
and you're kind of waiting for the next shoe to drop.
And then I forget what year it was, but there's
a Monday night football game, New England goes to Miami.
(09:20):
I think it was in Miami, but it was the
Patriots Dolphins, and they target Randy Moss once. And I
remember I worked at ESPN. I went on the air
that Tuesday morning and I said, he's out of here,
and everybody back then I would take emails or calls
to the show and everybody's like, no, you're overreacting. I'm like,
the most talented receiver in the game on a team
that doesn't draft receivers. You target against a rival team Miami,
(09:43):
you target him one time. It's not like you targeted
him eight times and the coverage was good. AJ Brown
was targeted what once? Last night? Okay, so that tells
you Jalen Hurst and A J. Brown Because Dallas Goddard
was eating last night, Saquon was eating dots and god,
looks Devonte Smith got looks a Day's more talented arguably
(10:04):
than all of them except Saquon Barkley and got one
look that is not coincidental, not great at all.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
And it was not just one target. It was one
target with like five minutes left to the game. Colin,
that offense did not look good at all. You can't
rely on Jalen Hurts to bail you out of every
third down. They had one pass completion over ten yards
one the bomb to Dotson.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
Everything else was short. I know it's a new offensive
coordinator for Hurts, which is the case almost every year.
But Colin, I'm with you. To take away is Dallas
looked better than advertised and Philly did not look particularly sharp.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
No, but I will say the rain delay helped Philly.
You know, it's hard enough to go on the road,
like it's hard to go on the road, the crowds
against you, and then you prepare and Dallas had a
very good game plan and then all of a sudden
you got a rain delay for halftime and you're like, okay,
it's hard. And I felt for I'm like, oh, this
(11:01):
is like Philadelphia the football gods. Remember the Super Bowl
with the lights went out. It's like sometimes a team
that when the lights go out you come back on
or there's a delay, some players don't react as well.
It's always felt like it's an advantage being the home
team if there's some malfunction or delay. And I just
felt like after that, I thought Philly was a little
more dialed in. But you cannot come out of that
(11:24):
game and not say to yourself with Dallas, because my
thing was Schottenheimer, he hadn't been offered or interviewed for
a head coaching job before Dallas, like for fourteen years,
and offensive coaches all get interviewed, so like he was
not the party of the you know, the bell of
the ball by owners or gms as an offensive coach.
(11:45):
But maybe he's a walk around guy and his stoicism
and chill approach works with Jerry.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
It could be let me just push back and I'll
offer this. If Jalen Carter's not tossed, you could just
take away all those a gap runs where Javonte and
just running there. By the way, Javonte Adams total for
rushing guards was like thirty seven and a half. He
had like fifty eight yards rushing. Okay, so it's not
totally fair. And then all of a sudden, Dak gets
pressure up the middle. Javonte Williams, Sorry, I just I
(12:13):
don't really know what to make of either team.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
But here's my take. Though you're right, but the truth
about availability it's on you. So that's I am not
gonna say. Well, Dallas with Jalen Carter, I don't know,
but you know what, you're not mature. You had red
flags coming out of Georgia. This won't be the last
time you get in trouble, so you know what. Dak
could have easily spit back and didn't. But the mature Dacks,
(12:37):
like now bra Jalen carssol, I Philadelphia's drama is self inflicted. Okay,
I don't you know. So you're right. I do think
Dallas found some running lanes that they wouldn't have found.
But I will say the past protection pretty good.
Speaker 5 (12:53):
Nolan Smith was the only I get into him.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I am curious if MICHAEH.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Parsons is there for Dallas on that is he setting
the edge containing Jalen Hurts. It felt like they missed
Michael Parsons. I didn't hear a lot of that discussion
on the broadcast.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Well, I thought Houston was really good.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
He was solid, But imagine if he was opposite Michael Parsons,
then it's like, well, Jalen's not running wild.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I mean, Jalen was just clowned out right. Carter's gone
one for Philly, Mike has gone for Dallas, and so
you could say, well, it's kind of a wash. It
just looked like if you didn't know anything about Philly
or Dallas and you were dropped spaceship in front of
a TV and you watched the game, your takeaway would be, yeah,
I mean they're pretty close even Yeah. I watched them
(13:33):
play twice last year lobsided. It was Bam in the
Dynasty against Kentucky. It was like, Oh, these teams shouldn't
be on the same field both games last year. Last
night I was like, no, they match up, the Lions
match up.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (13:54):
Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben
Maller with me and a lock to have you joined
us on our weekly audit journey. You're asking, what in
God's name is the Fifth Hour? I'll tell you it's
a spin off of it Ben Mathershow, a cult hit
overnights on FSR. Why should you listen picture if you
will a world will. We chat with captains of industry
in media, sports, and more every week explore some amazing
(14:16):
facts about human nature and more. Listen to the fifth
Hour with Ben Mather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
You know a lot of people would not do a
Blazing five to start the year because well, I'm terrible
in week one, but it's too much fun. Let's have uh,
let's have a good five minutes here with my picks.
I feel good, as I always do. I felt good
every week last year that didn't mean anything. And here
we go with our opening blazing five.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Let's blaze it up right up, It's Collins Blazon Fox,
Giants had Commanders.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
I like the Giants plus six and a half. At
least one underdog of six plus points is one outright
in Week one. I think the Giants could be the play.
They played nine ones score games last year and both
games against the Commanders were close. Brian Burns, Dexter, Lawrence
Abdul Carter. This is a top two or three defensive line,
and I mean, let's be honest, it's week one. We
(15:12):
saw what d lines can do last night Malik Neighbors
matchup problem. Even with dan Quinn back into the defense.
Last year for Washington was a bit of a mess.
The Commanders great year, but they played twelve one score
games and their defense again was bad with a defensive coach.
So I think the debo Terry McLaurin thing is fascinating,
(15:35):
but I think it won't be perfect until later in
the season. This is a go either way game. I'll
take Washington to win, but six and a half. I'm
taking it with the Giants twenty seven to twenty three.
Commanders close, Steelers and Chets. I like the Jets plus
a field goal. This is the lowest over and under.
(15:56):
I'm gonna take the home dog plus the three points.
They held fourth quarter leads in six of their twelve losses.
Last year, the Jets were in games, and that's with
an old quarterback that couldn't extend plays. Now they have
a young quarterback that can. The Steelers had a lot
of turnover left tackle gone, quarterback gone, best receiver gone,
best running back gone. With a defensive culture, you think
(16:17):
they're gonna look good in Week one. I mean my
takeaway is is the wrong team getting points here. I
think the Jets rosters good, and I've got a young
quarterback who played in Pittsburgh and knows their personnel. And
by the way, Aaron Rodgers with all these new parts
week one, last three times Week one he started, he's
(16:39):
lost all of them and has not played well. And
he's not the most committed guy in the offseason. I
like the Jets here to win straight out twenty four
to twenty money line baby.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Forty nine ers at Seahawks.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
I like the Seahawks. You know, since lumin Field opened
up in two thousand and two, Seattle's got the best
home win percentage nine and one record at home week
one and by the way, six of their final eight
games last year after the bye they won. They needed
a buy for this new coaching staff, and they've upgraded
at coordinator. They're gonna run the ball, They're gonna speed
(17:15):
the game up. Gray's Abel, the draft pick, watched them
run the ball. Sam Darnold's an athletic upgrade at quarterback,
and the Niners McCaffrey's banged up, Brandon Aiyuk's out, Greenlaw's gone,
who Fungus gone. By the way, Niners were not great
against their Division. Last year they were one in five
in division and two and six on the road. Last
(17:35):
year they were not a great road team or division team.
And the red zone defense, that's why they brought SLA in,
was a bit of a mess. That was thirty first.
I liked the Seahawks and the points to win straight
out twenty four to twenty three Lions at Packers. I
really like green Bay BT of the weekend, young team
entering their prime, added Micah Parsons. I like green Bay
(17:59):
here only team in the league top five offense and
total defense. And by the way we think to ourselves,
you know, Jordan Love wasn't great last year. I went
and looked it up this morning. Final seven games last year,
nine touchdowns, no picks. He's fine. Lions lost both coordinators.
If they do replace them deftly, it'll probably be later
(18:19):
in the season. And Dan Campbell's not been a good
underdog coach twelve and twenty one in one as an
underdog head coach. When they got better players, they win.
When they're at home with better players, they win on
the road. Do they have better players than Green Bay?
I'm not sure. Jared Goff without McVeagh and Ben Johnson
never been quite as good. I like Green Bay to
(18:40):
win outright. Twenty eight to twenty four. Texans and Rams
take the under forty three and a half. Nineteenth ranks
scoring offense Texans against the twentiest scoring offense. Here's the
truth about the Rams. Last year didn't have a great
point differential even with Stafford. Both teams come into the
season with o line issues. Stafford's back's an issue, left
(19:03):
tackle Eleric Jackson blood Clotts didn't practice a ton, and
the Texans beat up on their division. They were five
and one against the AFC South. They weren't great out
of their division. They've got a first time play colored
offensive coordinator and a lot of new faces on the
offensive line. And I am here to tell you the
Rams defensive front is filthy and getting better. I think
(19:25):
it is a very low scoring game. The over unders
forty three and a half. It feels like twenty seventeen
or twenty one seventeen Rams to me, probably at home,
I give them the edge, but I'm taking the under.
Here take the under forty three and a half. J
McKinney thoughts on that, Love love, love the Jets pick.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
That's my favorite of your five outside of the Packers,
which I also have, but that forty nine Ers one.
You didn't really mention the Christian McCaffrey missed practice yesterday.
Then the forty nine ers did not make him available
to the media. I have him in multiple fantasy leagues
and I'm sweating.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Oh, I feel so terrible for you. Thanks, friend. You
need to go into every weekend with a.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Little humidity, rock Purty taking over that game and winning
on the road, beating your guy, he would deserve credit.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
That's a tough And if mccaffery's even Kahim told me
a week ago, I said, where did you hate going
when you were the GM Arizona? He goes Seattle. He
goes that is a rough place to play. He goes,
that crowd lubricates, they're ready to roll.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
And with that, Matt Hasselbeck is now joining us live
eighteen years in the NFL. So, Matt, I watched Dak
Prescott last night and I've been a critic. I thought
he was really good. I thought Dak was I was
just like man. Listen see d he's dropping it. He's
not getting worked up, he's not mad. He was stoic.
(21:00):
You got, Brian Schottenheimer. I don't know your takeaway on DAK.
I was really impressed.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
I'm glad you brought it up.
Speaker 8 (21:07):
I completely agree with a lot of hate going to
Dak for years and years. I thought last night he
looked great coming off of the injury.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
I thought he looked fit. I thought he looked quick.
You know, he said he felt slow. He didn't look slow.
Speaker 8 (21:20):
He looked like a guy that was in command, in control,
and honestly, like with the loss of Micah Parsons on defense,
like leaders got to step up, Like you really step up.
You're not just the leader because you make all the
money or you're the quarterback.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
You're a leader by the.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
Things that you do with like no one really watches
or no one really notices, like the camera multiple times
last night he's going up and down the sidelines, dapping
up each one of his teammates, like the whole night
like reminded me of like what Bill Russell was like
when he was on the Celtics. He was very captain
like of him at all times, keeping us engaged, like
he was he came for the fight, and I don't
(21:55):
think we've seen that at.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
A dak this way, not quite this way. I was impressed.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, you know, I think it's something. I don't want
to be hyperbolic here, but I remember years ago Randy
Moss Brady go to play the Dolphins on Monday night
and they targeted Randy Moss one time. And I sat
on the air I worked at another company. I said, okay,
if you're only targeted Randy Moss once, he not long
for New England. He got traded. A few days later.
Aj Brown was invisible. Now Dallas Goddard's good. Barkley. I
(22:25):
don't know. I got to be honest about that, Matt.
That doesn't smell right to me. Your thoughts, Yeah.
Speaker 8 (22:31):
I think last year they had a slow you know,
they started out slow figuring out how.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
To use Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 8 (22:37):
They've got a new coordinator, and sometimes you can kind
of get lost in the forest on your call sheet.
You know, they get that big giant call sheet and
you're thinking, like, okay, Eberflutes, he's in zone ninety percent
of the time, he's in too high. Like you just
kind of get lost with it and you're really focused
on winning the game, and sometimes what can happen is
you can forget that a star receiver is not getting
the ball. Like I remember Mike Congrin on his call sheet,
(22:58):
you would have like a whole section. And I see
it on Andy Reid's he's his you know, just as big,
the whole whole section for like get this guy touches.
And you saw that they tried to do it kind
of late, but I think it's important. You know, I
was teammates with Jerry Rice at the end of his career.
I mean he's forty years old. He's Jerry Rice, though,
you know, and he would come to me like during
TV timeouts stuff like that, and he'd like grab my
(23:19):
arm and be like, hey man, like I would love
to feel a part of this game. I would love
to feel part of this game. And as a quarterback
and as a play caller.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
I do think that that's an important thing.
Speaker 8 (23:29):
When you have a star receiver outside, you got to
you got to include him. And I thought aj Brown
was included in other ways, blocking and all that kind
of stuff, but you got to be more intentional about
making it happen.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
I think they get it. Fixed, but clearly that was
a miss last night.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
By the way, the rain delay was weird. I thought
it benefited Philadelphia. I feel I said, like, you're the
road team. It's already a pain in the butt to
play on the road, it's a big rivalry game. Then
you have a rain delay after halftime. I did think
Philadelphia post delay felt a little different, did you.
Speaker 8 (24:02):
Yeah, one hundred percent. I mean a team that's been there,
you know. I think on the broadcast they did a
good job. It'll probably feel like a really really long
halftime at a super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
Obviously, the Eagles are just coming off of a super Bowl.
Speaker 8 (24:14):
Dallas hasn't been you know, so like I you know,
I remember my Super Bowl the Rolling Stones played and
we were told, hey, they're going it's gonna be longer
than normal. Well they played even longer than they were
supposed to play, And like there is.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Something too, just like you know, so what now? What?
You know, that's the mindset? So what now?
Speaker 1 (24:30):
What?
Speaker 8 (24:30):
I think, like a Nick Sirianni, been there, done, eight team,
been together as a you know, as a group, Hey
so what now what Yeah, okay, lightning delay? So what
like here we go and I think, uh, yeah, I
think the advantage if you're gonna give one go to Philly.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
So generally I like offensive coaches and good quarterbacks in September,
I think most coaches are obsessed to begin with. Offensive
guys are designing stuff and McVeigh or Andy Reid or
you know, any of these offensive guys. They're gonna have
some tricks Sean Payton that you haven't seen. So I
(25:05):
would think Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor would be good early,
and they have struggled. I'm looking the last three regular
seasons Weeks one and two, Burrow's oh and six, Week
three on they win seventy percent of their games. Can
you just decipher it? Decode it? Why do you think
Burrow and Zach struggle early?
Speaker 8 (25:26):
Well, you know, I'm not sure how much work Burrow
had been getting in the preseason and even training camp
in like the last three years, but it's been different
this year. You can tell that this is a point
of emphasis emphasis for them. He's playing more, you know,
when teams are resting their starters, he and Jamar Chas
are out there, you know, lighting the league up in
the preseason. But you know, to me, I think it's
(25:46):
more than just a quarterback situation. How you do training
camp is important. You know, sometimes week one the quarterbacks
are the coaches that are so good at game planning
and studying, you they struggle week one because it's more
of a blind day.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
You know, I would put Zach Taylor.
Speaker 8 (26:01):
I don't know if he gets the reputation or not,
but he's very much like Sean McVay to me, like
where he knows the scheme, he knows how to get
the one on one and.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
So that's the thing. But the other thing to me.
Speaker 8 (26:11):
Week one is like, what kind of training camp did
you have who's really good at tackling defensively? And I
think that's just one of the new things here with
the offseason being how it is, the amount of preseason games.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
That have been taken away.
Speaker 8 (26:24):
You know, we got guys that haven't had to tackle
live and really been tested, haven't been exposed, and you know,
sometimes those guys get exposed week one. And you know,
Cincinnati doesn't stick out to me as a great tackling
team in the last few years. So you know, I
think there's a lot of factors that might.
Speaker 5 (26:41):
Go into it. But I'm a believer in Joe Burrow
all the way.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Yeah, that's a really good point about the tackling. So
I'm not a big fan of games in Brazil, London, Germany,
Mexico City. I think it's a big ass for players.
This game is so hard on players. I mean Brazil
feels like, you know, what is the flight fifteen hours?
I don't like it. You tell me your thoughts on
it as a player? Is it discomforting?
Speaker 8 (27:06):
Like?
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Where do you land on that game? Chargers Chiefs tonight?
Speaker 8 (27:09):
Well, my first NFL game I was with the Packers.
We played against the Chiefs in Tokyo in the Tokyo Dome.
I got blown up right around second base and sprained
my tailbone. So I got a bad memory from that game.
But you know, playing surfaces I think a big thing.
I've been down to Mexico City seeing ironically, I think
it was the Chiefs and Raiders play a game down there.
It was a very slick surface. I think it's hard
(27:29):
on the players. I think it's hard harder on everybody,
you know. I was just in Kansas City and talking
to their equipment equipment manager, Alan Wright.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
You know, they had to ship everything out a week before.
Speaker 8 (27:40):
So there's almost like two sets of equipment minus things
like your helmet. So it's a grind. But for the
teams that have done it and have like a veteran
group doing it, I think it gives them a little
bit of an edge. It is a little bit of
a circus and a little bit of a show. But
I think the Chiefs, again, they're just used to it.
Like everything they do is breaking news, whether it's in
the sports world or outside the sports world. They seem
(28:03):
to kind of like water up for ducks back, you know,
like they're just like, yeah, here we go. And I
will say this, I think a lot of people, including you, Colin,
are sleeping on this Chiefs team. I think this is
the most talented team they've had in a long time.
And I think that you're going to see a Travis
Kelce and a you know, a group around Travis Kelce
like really finished strong. They realize how special this year
(28:25):
could be if it is in fact his last year.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
So I'm a believer in the Chiefs this year.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
So when you get a new player like Micah Parsons
and you've got a very strong culture in Green Bay,
which you know, like Dallas's defense was fine without him,
I think we all think he's gonna go and get
six sacks again. You know, oh, Mike is going to
change it. But this is a well coached team. What
kind of impact do you think he could have against
(28:52):
Detroit week one? Or does it when you get new
players late? I mean, just happened. What do you expect
from Micah?
Speaker 5 (29:00):
Yeah, it's real.
Speaker 8 (29:01):
Well, listen, they're gonna have a small package for him
on third down.
Speaker 5 (29:04):
Jeff Affley does a really good job on third.
Speaker 8 (29:06):
Down designing scheme, like, you know, singling him up, and
I promise you it's a pain in the butt for
the opponent to wonder where he's gonna be.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
How many snaps is he gonna play?
Speaker 8 (29:17):
Are we dedicating two linemen or alignment and a tight
end alignment and a running back? Are we dedicating those
resources to him? And then he's not even on the field,
Like it's you'd almost rather know without a shadow of
a doubt, like a Max Crosby, like, yeah, he's gonna
be there.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
At least we know what we're up against.
Speaker 8 (29:35):
This is a little bit unsettling because hey, are they
going to use him mostly on first and second down?
Are they gonna use him only on third down or
they gonna use them in special situations. How much of
the defense can he grasp? I think you can guess
at it, but it's a lot tougher. And so I
do think like as a as.
Speaker 5 (29:51):
A pass rusher type guy.
Speaker 8 (29:53):
Even if he played fifteen snaps and it came away
with two pressures in a sack and a half, like,
that's a win Week one.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Finally, you know Seattle, well, I like them against the Niners.
And one of the reasons I like him is if
you go to this coaching staff after the bye, I'm
a big believer. When Brady goes to Tampa. They were
seven and five at the bye, and now I can
sit down with Bruce arians and say, listen, I need
to shorten up some routes. The NFL season, you're on
a treadmill. The bye gives new people a chance. It's
(30:26):
like almost it's like really to work on stuff. So
when I look at McDonald and the Seahawks last year
after the bye, it was like, Okay, they really needed that.
They were a different team. I think they're going to
surprise people. Where are you on Seattle? Final question going
into the weekend where they're very good at home against
the Niners.
Speaker 8 (30:47):
Well, brock Party doesn't seem phase to go into Seattle.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
That's one thing that's very unique.
Speaker 8 (30:52):
You know, you had mentioned when I first jumped on,
people don't like to go Seattle.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
Brock Perty doesn't seem to care.
Speaker 8 (30:57):
Mike McDonald, though, I think he's been pretty great. Like
I think he's been underrated. Ten win team last year,
you know, top ten defense, and think about how they
started out last year. I think they had like an
interception in two safeties to like start the first half
or something crazy last year. So that's not the identity
that he's looking for. He's looking for an offense that's
going to be run the ball, play action centric, basically,
(31:21):
don't screw it up for my defense. I am so
confident in what I'm going to be on defense. You know,
think Baltimore Ravens a little bit like controlled back in
the day, control the ball, played great defense. I think
that's the image that he has. And now with this
injury news about Christian McCaffrey not coming out, I think
the Seahawks win this division. This was the game that
I thought, you know, this might be the toughest game
(31:41):
on their season, just because it's a new collection of people,
Sam Darnold, all the receivers are going, you know, all
that stuff. But now I'm buying Seattle this year. I like,
I'm a lot in this division, and you know that
home field advantage, you know, they it's an important thing
to have.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
You know, sometimes a lot.
Speaker 8 (31:58):
Of red shows up in Seattle, and it'd be nice
if Sex fans didn't let that happen.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
All right, great seeing you, Matt hassel Back putting them
on a Friday. Appreciate it, bout as alas. Okay, see,
all right, big one tonight, I'm staying away Chargers and
the Chiefs. Well, if you forced to, who would you
take Chiefs?
Speaker 3 (32:18):
I mean, I'm not going against Andy Reid and Patrick
Mahomes to start the season. And by the way, some
people have dug into the Chargers numbers last year.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Listen, I know it's like Herbert twenty three touchdowns. I
think we four interceptions.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
If you look at who he did it against, it
was a lot of bad teams.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
And I know it's hey, you gotta you can only
play who's in front.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Of you find but I can also ding you that's
gonna come back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We talked
about who they faced last year. They faced like almost
the most backup quarterbacks in the league. Yeah, they got
fat and happy off bad teams. So I'm a little
down on the Chargers compared to where I was in
like July.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Remember they lost Slater on the offensive line.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
That's not uneasy.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
The way Beckton they've got issue was there. He's all
he may not apply to is he off? Is he out?
He's He's going either way.
Speaker 3 (33:05):
So they got Magnolo is one of the best in
the business dialing uplits is.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
It's a tall order for the Chargers. He's got an illness, okay,
oh boy,
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