December 22, 2025 • 41 mins
Colin reacts to a big weekend of NFL action. The Steelers take down the Lions in Detroit and Colin is impressed with how Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers have been able to put together what looks like a playoff team. The Chicago Bears and quarterback Caleb Williams just needed a spark, and it looks like by spending for Ben Johnson the Bears have gotten that.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Here we go. It is a Monday, man.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Do we have a lot to talk about one hour
from now? Where Colin was right? Where Colin was wrong?
There's always plenty of both. Urban Meyer stops by Matt Hasselbeck.
We're live in Chicago, Holiday greetings. I mean it was
(00:51):
so Pittsburgh Steeler. I've been saying all year. I've been
saying before the year, this offense in Pittsburgh it's like
Quicksand what's Rogers doing going to this offense? And my
larger point and belief stands they don't have a long
term quarterback. They spend way too much money on defense.
(01:12):
I do think Aaron's duct tape for at least this year,
in another year, but Mike Tomlin, Aaron Rodgers, and the
Steelers deserve credit. In a weekend AFC no Mahomes Borough right,
they may pick up their first playoff.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Win in nine seasons.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
I mean, they had almost five yards of offense, an
unbelievable run game, and it's getting better. In the last
three weeks they're averaging over six yards of play. That is,
those are big boy numbers, So it's getting better. Aaron
Rodgers said, you know, get me my guys, mvs. Adam
Feelin and you know it's typical Steeler fashion, a wide receiver,
(01:53):
high maintenance drama.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
You know, you got to always deal with that.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
And despite the fact that at two hundred and third
to fifteen rush advantage, they had to hold on for
dear life.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
It was Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
But I will say this about Aaron, He's just a
lot of quarterback play is just getting you out of trouble.
He's made the offense slicker and smarter. You know, he
just he takes what's available, not a lot of negative plays.
Right now, Aaron Rodgers leads the entire NFL in fastest release.
He's getting rid of the ball faster than any other quarterback.
(02:27):
He's forty two. He doesn't want to get hit and
he doesn't want that Steeler O line to get into trouble.
Because they really don't have the kind of receiving core
or consistent run game that had yesterday that can get
them out of trouble. So Aaron's like, give me the ball,
let's get it out, stay ahead of the chains. I
feel like Aaron has become like the oil the lubrication
(02:48):
for an offensive machine, where the gears for the last
seven years have been getting stuck, and he just comes in,
get rid of the ball, audible, into the right play
what's available, don't get greedy.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
It's really smart.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
And by the way, this is the most impressed I've
been with Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
In a long time.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Well, what about Green Bay? Everybody wins in Green Bay.
Help Malik Willis looked great last Saturday, Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love,
Brett Farff, everybody looks good in Green Bay. A quarterbacks,
backups come in. Malik Willis their dynamic. This offense Pittsburgh
for seven years, they can't run the ball, the old
line doesn't work. They you know, turnstyle offensive coordinator. Aaron
(03:30):
gets the credit for this. He gets the credit the
longer this goes on this season, last three weeks, brings
his friends in at wide receiver. It's just it works.
Jalen Warren two forty five yard runs dominate the Lions.
Lions have their own problems, but you know here's you got.
Lamar Jackson can't stay healthy. You got Joe Burrow can't
(03:52):
stay healthy. And Aaron's forty two, and he's like, I'm
staying healthy. I'm gonna be available for my team. So
he's just done all the little thing. It's amazing what
coaching can do, or really smart veteran quarterback play. It's
not always what they do, it's what they don't do.
They don't throw picks, they don't take bad sacks. You know,
(04:12):
they audible in and out of trouble and into advantages.
So Mike Tomlin, you know, you say what you want.
And I've had my grievances with Mike Tomlin. Here they
are again looking at a potential division championship.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Thankful of the fight and to win. And we'll keep
pushing because that's what you got to do this time
of year. Win or lose, you got to keep pushing,
and we will. We're coming in to Marrow to watch
the tape. We ain't got time for victory Monday's and
that's what I told the.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Team Okay, now, let's go to the team that lost
Detroit one. Coach one has really changed the direction of
two franchises in the same division. Ben Johnson used to
be at Detroit and wow, were they dynamic. The craziest
third and fourth down team in the league. Look at
(05:05):
him now. He left and went to Chicago, and the
Bears are eleven and four and the best fourth quarter
team in the NFL for the record of the Cowboys
weren't interested in Ben Johnson. Congratulations, But the Bears who
have poor ownership, I mean, like literally the poorest ownership
and years of dysfunction upstairs, and you watch them. Yeah,
(05:27):
it's been a work in progress. But I've heard this
before from athletes, the great athletes, and Caleb Williams is
a generational talent.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
He is special.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
They want Caleb Williams wanted to be coached hard. He said,
there's nobody to watch film with me. He wanted to
be coached hard. He wanted somebody to get on him
and enter Ben Johnson. I mean, Patrick Mahomes didn't become
Patrick Mahomes because Andy Reid pandered. They disagree. The volume
goes up, so and Caleb's got an ability to make
(05:58):
the hard look easy. Easy looks a little difficult. But
the entire Bears organization. You know, again, once you get
the coach right Vrabel in New England, Sean Payton and Denver,
Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers Ben Johnson, he doesn't take long. Literally,
it takes like six to eight weeks. You build the staff,
(06:19):
you get the planning, and then slowly but surely you
get into week six, week nine, week twelve, week fifteen,
you look up, this is a really good team. They
do all the things that winning teams do. They win
the turnover battle, they run the football. They've been lucky
a little bit with health, mostly a very healthy team.
They don't have negative plays. So you're seeing the same
(06:41):
thing in New England with Rabel, Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh.
I mean, last year the Bears just a simple thing.
Last year, do you remember this, The Bears were the
worst fourth quarter team in the league. They couldn't even
script plays appropriately. Now third best, So they start smartly,
they finish strongly, and again they've just gotten out of
(07:06):
the stuff that loses games. No turnovers, no negative plays.
The operation, the basic fundamentals looks organized and then of
course you have Caleb Williams, who really is a unique talent.
Here's the walkoff touchdown?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Are the fake Williams looking downfield?
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Orson downfield?
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Good God?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Djamo and great coaches are like great movie directors. You
gotta let the star kind of do his thing, however,
with a clear identity of what the movie is and
what the game plan is. And people are going to say, well,
I mean the Bears got a little bit lucky. They
(08:03):
recovered the on side kick no time out. They also
had two game winning drives, and they also in overtime
stop the Packers.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
So it's not just well.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Teams block punts all the time, teams recover on sidekicks.
What do you do with the opportunities presented and well coached?
Last night New England could have lost that puppy. New
England maybe gets a big interception or a fumble recovery, Well,
what do they do with it? Well coached teams take
(08:38):
advantage of those little breaks that every team in the
league gets. Yep, the onside kick. Gotta be honest, that
kind of surprised me. But it's what they did with it.
And here's Caleb after.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
I got the best coach in the world. Let's put it.
Let's put it that way. And we have the best
coaching staff in the world. And so you put the
talent with the coaches and the people that care. You
can strive for anything, you can reach anything, you can
go after any goal. And when you go out there
in the football field, your belief is at all time
(09:13):
high between players, between coaches, and you know you have
outcomes like this.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Yeah, it is uh.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Ryan was at the game, and the environment for anybody,
we all had different environments. One of our guys was
in a Chicago bar, one was at the game. I'm
at home. It's like you could hear neighbors streaming. Chicago
has been waiting so long, not to just win games,
but to have a team like this that's offensively electric,
(09:42):
that's offensively dynamic. That's just not what Chicago does. Like
in La every great Lakers team, they're always fun and
offensive minded and they've got show time. Chicago's always won
one way, win one way. They went with defense, they
went with toughness. To have it a electric offense is
really unique and the city is feeling it this morning.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
J Mack.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
I know there's some quarterbacks banged up that won't make
the playoffs. But we have a lot of young quarterbacks
your Bo Nicks, you'r Drake May, You're Caleb that.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Are gonna be in CJ. Stroud.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Then we have older quarterbacks that Herbert that's had to
overcome an offensive line, Jordan Love uh when if they
get in, he's had to overcome an injury.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And you know they lose.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Christian Watson and some of their star defensive players.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
So it's.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I kind of feel like it's gonna be an interesting mix.
No Mahomes, no Burrough, Proino, Lamar, but it'll be an
interesting mix of young and dynamic and old and Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
We're gonna have a wild January.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
I'm one hundred percent with you. It feels like a
new era, Colin. All these young quarterbacks ushered in out
with the old. Sorry guys, Lamar, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I don't know when.
Speaker 6 (10:56):
They're gonna get back to the playoffs. I mean, you
talked about it last week. The Chiefs had a major rebuild.
Colin Ravens. You watched it roster last Nay, they don't
have anybody at all. The roster's terrible Lamar's lost this step.
It feels like the new era of quarterbacks is here.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 7 (11:17):
App Pauly Fools Go Here with Tony Foosco.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (11:20):
As everybody knows, we're the hosts of the award winning
Polly and Tony Foodsco Show.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (11:24):
But instead of us telling you how great we are,
here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on
our show.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
What are you doing?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Were interrupting our promo?
Speaker 7 (11:35):
Yeah, he wasn't talking about you. You took those clips
totally of context.
Speaker 8 (11:40):
Oh yeah, Well after this promo, I'm gonna take you
out and beat you.
Speaker 7 (11:44):
Let me put this into context.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Shut up.
Speaker 8 (11:47):
Yeah, anyway, just listen to the Paully and Tony Fusco
Show on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yee.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
You know, we talk about this all the time. A
lot of guys are great college quarterbacks, and they're very comfortable.
They play at big programs like Alabama. They don't face
a lot of pressure NFL quarterback to thrive, you have
to thrive in discomfort. And if you watch Drake May
in the final quarter, he was pressured on almost half
(12:18):
his throws and yet was money Like, that's a star
quarterback trailing getting hit, drive him down the field. The
East Coast version of the Chargers, a team with a
great coach and a great quarterback that should not be
this good, is the Patriots. They're still in a rebuild,
their offensive line missing, their left tackle, needs depth. Drake
(12:41):
May's only twenty three years old. He was the rows
of all the quarterbacks in his class. Yet now he's
a top eight, nine to ten quarterback. What's amazing about
Drake May is that you see these guys Bo Nixon,
Caleb in the fourth quarter, Drake May leads the NFL
and completion percentage and you're like, well, dink and dunk,
so leads in yards per attempt and he's doing it
(13:03):
with a receiving corps. Remember last year PFF had him
dead last well, Stefan Diggs, Kyle Williams, Matt Collins, Kayshawn Boody, Hunter, Henry.
Now they're fourth. That's nothing against those players. I'm gonna
say Josh McDaniels and Drake May are a big part
(13:25):
of that. If you watched the second half of that
game last night, specifically the fourth quarter, they were on
a third string right tackle. They're left tackles not starting.
At one point, the announcing teams like, I really, I
don't know what they're gonna do at right tackle. Let's
look at the depth chart, musical chairs. Massive leakage in
(13:46):
the offensive front does not matter. And the reason I
took the Patriots in this game, I said, they're just
going to complete passes, They're gonna move the chains. They're
an incredibly sound football team. And again, it's amazing to
me that Jerry Jones, he keeps going cheap on coaching,
Vrabel Harbaugh, Peyton, Ben Johnson, spend the money. It's a
(14:07):
lot of the same guys. For them to be this good,
for the Chargers to be this good with all the injuries,
and for the Patriots to be this good with all
their youth and all their new players is unbelievable. Neither
of these teams should be that good. So I'm just
watching Drake May and then they you know, you know
(14:27):
how good you have to be in the NFL as
a quarterback when you're dealing with a third string tackle.
So the Chargers missing both their tackles eleven and four
Patriots last night in the crucial part of the game.
They're on third string tackles, they're on the road, they're
trailing Baltimore knows they have to throw.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Last year, New England was.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Dead last and explosive plays. This season, remarkably they are
number two and that was a really impressive road win
for Drake May Here he is after.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
It's top down.
Speaker 9 (15:04):
I think it's coach Brable coming in here.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
It's the coach of staff he hired.
Speaker 9 (15:10):
It's the guys, you know, buying in and believing in
what we do. And that's, you know, the biggest thing
that is a locker room. It's believing in what the
coach is saying, believing in our identity, carrying it, traveling
with us. He always says, pack our identity and just
another big win on the road. And it starts top
down and the.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Guys you just love, you know a lot of guys
in that locker room.
Speaker 10 (15:29):
Man.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Every year, college football gives us one or two franchise quarterbacks,
and then about every five years it gives us a
Drake May and what he did on the road last
night is that is that is all time stuff. This
kid is really good. And again they're in a rebuild.
They're they're much better personnel wise than last year. They
(15:51):
bought spent two hundred and eighty million or something like
that in free agency and they drafted well. Elliott Wolf's
a very sharp guy. But they're not complete that offensip
line needs more players, more talent. Here's j Mack with
the news.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
This is the herd Line News.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
All right, Colin, We're gonna bust right into it with
a surprise team. We rarely talk about these guys, the
Jacksonville Jaguars. What a story, Colin. They've peeled off six
wins in a row. It just went to Denver and smashed,
and I mean smashed the Broncos, the overrated Broncos. Trevor
Lawrence was phenomenal, best quarterback on the field, two hundred
ninety nine total yards. Four tuddies, had a really nice
(16:34):
quarterback keeper in the red zone for a touchdown.
Speaker 7 (16:37):
Colin.
Speaker 6 (16:38):
Liam Cohen is talking some trash. Listen closely to what
he said about the win.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Great team effort.
Speaker 11 (16:47):
Just thankful that you know, a small market team like
US can come into a place like Mile High and
get it done.
Speaker 7 (16:52):
You know, we really don't care about the narrative.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
You know, it's I'm sorry to say that, but it's
only helping us.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
So I I want the narrative to keep coming.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah, listen, they've been bad forever, so they've drafted a
lot of elite players. Travis Hunter's not even playing. But
I think what it really is and it takes a while.
We saw this with Sam Darnold. Trevor Lawrence finally has
his kingpin. He's finally got his north star guy. And
by the way, it was not great six games into
the season. I mean, go back to the first six
(17:24):
to seven games. They were still finding their way, like
any relationship the longer. Liam Cohen and Trevor together the
last six seven games. In the last seven eight games,
he's seven to one in the passer rating over one hundred.
So when you watch them play, there's all sorts of
talent here. Talent's not been the Jags issue. It's been
like who's the guiding light.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Who's the north star? Who leads them?
Speaker 1 (17:48):
They are a handful man. They got dudes.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
I mean, Liam Cohen has done such a good job.
So when they lose Travis Hunter, everybody was desponding, Oh
my gosh, we lost this star. They went out and
got to.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Kobe my stole to.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
Kobe Myers, and he is already Trevor Lawrence is like
a safety blanket.
Speaker 7 (18:05):
He loves him.
Speaker 6 (18:05):
There's a kid named Parker Washington on Jacksonville. Colin, he
is unbelievable. He's like a third number three receiver. Yeah,
but he plays like a two and has the aura
of a one.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
He's a return guy.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
He is so good. I'm just telling you this team
is dangerous. And Liam Cohen he's an intense guy. Remember
there were some moments.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
Earlier this season where Trevor had some bad.
Speaker 6 (18:24):
Interceptions and they were like, oh this this relationship is rocky.
But I think with what's working here, Colin is Cohen
is so intense and Trevor Lawrence is so laid back
in chill that they're able to meet in the middle.
And this is a dangerous team. By the way, four
for five in the red zone. They just shredded this
allegedly good Denver defense. Colin, I know you like Phone
(18:45):
Nixon company. When this team steps up in class. By
the way, they're just three and three when they face
teams better five hundred or better.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
The Jags are six and three against those teams.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Well, I think we all started to take notice when
the Chargers went to Jacksonville and got completely annihilated and
we were like, well, Hardball came out after and he's like,
we got out coached, we got out hit, we got
out physical, we got out smarted. Like it was like wow,
because that's usually what the Chargers do. So they're absolutely
for real.
Speaker 7 (19:16):
Now it's gonna be interesting.
Speaker 6 (19:17):
If you look at the playoff lineup as of now,
it would be Buffalo at Jacksonville.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I would take Jacksonville.
Speaker 6 (19:23):
Well, it's interesting because last week you and I were like, Buffalo,
you got to pick Josh Allen.
Speaker 7 (19:26):
I like Josh Allen.
Speaker 6 (19:28):
I'm just telling you, like, Jacksonville has more guys than
Buffalo does.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Oh, there's something that's not even the roster's better. There's
no question Jacksonville's roster is better, no question.
Speaker 6 (19:37):
Maybe maybe we're sleeping on Jacksonville.
Speaker 7 (19:40):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (19:40):
All right, Next up, Colin, let's go to an incident
that happened in the Pittsburgh Detroit game. Okay, So DK
Metcalf for reasons that make no sense at all, just
is over at this fan. You see it out here
on FS one. He grabs him by the lapel and
then kind of shoves him. Initially it looked like a punch.
It's clearly not a punch. It's obviously not great. Now,
(20:04):
Apparently DK Metcalf and this fan have a history. According
to NFL media that was reported this morning, this guy
DK got him kicked out of a game before. No listen,
I don't we know the rule don't touch fans. Okay,
I don't know how, Colin. How does DK Metcalf wonder
from the bench to the stands with no other players
(20:25):
or coaches.
Speaker 7 (20:26):
Or staff around him. I don't get that. Don't put
your hands on fans.
Speaker 6 (20:29):
That being said, that doesn't give this clown the right
to say whatever.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Fans, very very few, less than half of one percent
of fans are just obnoxious and they want to get noticed.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
And that's one of these fans.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
You know, it's not as bad when you see it
from the side, but he'll get suspad. You know, I
would throw I would suspend him for a game. And
it's just you don't want a precedent. You don't want
this to be tolerated. You have to send a message sometimes,
like being a parent. Sometimes you just have to be
stern and send a message so everybody understands, Yeah, what
just happened in the house is not permitted. So I
don't think it's the end of the world. I think
(21:03):
it's poor judgment. It's not as bad when you see
that view. But you can't set a precedent. You got
to suspend him for at least a game.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Now, we've had DK Metcalf in the studio.
Speaker 7 (21:12):
He's a large individual. He is jacked.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
I mean he's six four like, he looks like the
built like a tank. I mean, the fact that people
are saying stuff to him is a bit of a
surprise to me. But that being said, I agree with you. Yeah,
I think you probably suspend him a game. Don't put
your hands on people, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Right, You don't see it much. I've seen it in
the NBA more.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
You don't see it much because the proximity players are
wearing helmets, stadiums are loud, you don't have great access.
I mean, he's a huge guy and had to reach up.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
You don't see it.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
A lot in pro football when players come and leave
the field, there's always idiots, you know, kind of being vulgar,
like you just roll your eyes, moved through. But it's
it's I mean, I also I look at athletes and
I'm like, are athletes in this country? It's bad in
Europe too, Like it's people are over the top. They
all have courage, you know, when they're thirty feet way
(22:00):
and protected. You know, I get players, especially if you
have mentioned somebody's parents or family, like I get players
getting ticked off, Like I get it right now.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
It's a he said, he said, And you know it'll
play out whatever final story.
Speaker 7 (22:13):
Con let's go to that.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Eagles win over the Commanders on Saturday. Fairly easy light work,
as the kids say, for Saquon Jalen Hurts and company.
Eagles win the division. But interestingly, late in the game,
Philly was up seventeen and they decided they were going
to go for a two point conversion. Well, wouldn't you
know it, Washington got unhappy with that one. Are you
(22:37):
going for two? Why are you pouring it on? I mean,
it's a two point conversion, guys, it's one point. Led
to a little fracas on the field and then Nick
Sirianni and dan Quinn talked about it. Listen closely to
what dan Quinn had to say.
Speaker 12 (22:51):
I didn't, you know, again, we did that in the
best what we thought was Ben's interest or to get
up one more point has in my mind's not running
up the score. We're doing that because we're doing that
because they went right down and scored. So we're doing
that to give ourselves the best chance to win.
Speaker 7 (23:06):
I can only answer for you know my side, what
I would do. But amen, like that's how they want
to get down and like all good. We play them
again in two weeks.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, I will say my takeaway in this game, though
I know it's the Commanders, their defense is egregiously bad.
That was the best game Saquon Barkley's had all year.
Jalen Hurts looked like Jalen Hurts two years ago. Aj
Brown DeVante Smith ran like, I thought that again, you
gotta be careful because between the Cowboys defense and the
(23:41):
Commander's defense, they make everybody look great. But that looked
like to a large degree, that looked like Philly a
couple of years ago. Hurts running offensive line, getting big
holes that's why everybody think. I kept thinking, Okay, don't
don't take too much.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Out of this.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
It is what it is. But I will save for Philadelphia.
If you're an Eagles fan, you watched that. Okay, can
we get back? That's what we were two years ago.
Speaker 6 (24:05):
So it looked like they decided to go in and
fast feed aj Brown Collin. He had the biggest half
of his NFL career. I think he had nine catches
in the first half. Didn't do much at all in
a second. Interesting note, I thought Tank Bigsby the backup
to Saque.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
Did you see he had some juice? Yeah, I think
he's got some. I think we're gonna see a lot
of running.
Speaker 6 (24:24):
If they get the members, they'll get Lane Johnson back,
and now Philly having locked it up the division, they
can sort of start a rest guys. I think that
could be pivotal.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I keep saying two years ago, this is what Philly was.
Last year my bad twenty twenty four. No, I mean,
if you look at Philadelphia, I mean the playoffs are weird.
Like I don't think anybody fears Carolina. I think everybody
fears playing the Niners. And and you know, I mean
so you don't want to see the Rams' fifth seed ever,
(24:57):
So it's and now Jordan Loves health to cross your
f My guess is he's back in a couple of weeks.
But you know what you and I called it? Detroit,
did they have lost offensively? They are not the same team.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (25:10):
Now here's the weird thing.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
I know.
Speaker 6 (25:13):
I was writing off the Ravens and Chiefs and Bengals.
I don't think the lines are that far off because
they have a lot of guys. They just got to
get up fix the offensive line.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Colin.
Speaker 6 (25:22):
They were down to their third string center against Pittsburgh
yesterday and Jared Gott's getting blitzed up the middle, left.
Speaker 7 (25:27):
And right the offensive line. Who was the guy who
retired before the season. They're centric now, Yeah, they could just.
Speaker 6 (25:32):
Never replace him, and it was it was a tough blow.
Speaker 7 (25:35):
I don't think they get in the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
But that Jordan Love hit that you mentioned Saturday, Oh
my gosh, he ain't coming back this week.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Nope, short week.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
Yeah, he's not client Saturday.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
J Mickle the.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
News, Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by
the herd line.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Miss.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
People can be critical of the Dallas Cowboys. I appreciate
their consistency. They will not make the NFC Championship for
the thirtieth straight year. I appreciate that kind of commitment
and consistency from the Dallas Cowboys. What's interesting about the
Cowboys is they spend money on certain things, but when
(26:12):
it comes to coaches, they shop at the dollar store.
And once again, eber flues Schottenheimer. You know, it's like
the guy who spends money on good wine and flashy
clothes and won't spend good money on transportation or a
good mattress. You look around the NFL, the Sean Payton's,
the Rabels, the hardbaws. I mean, the Chargers win this
(26:33):
game convincingly. Here's what's amazing about the Chargers. Backups to
backups on the offensive line, third string running back. At
one point during the season, quarterback breaks his hand. Yet
the Chargers are top three and third down and lead
the NFL in time of possession. How how is that possible?
They if the worst hole line in football. They just
(26:56):
got Hampton back Nagee Harris has been a non factor.
How in the world are they good on third down?
It's called coaching, and so that's what Harbond Herbert can do.
You know the other thing we said, it's about New England.
So we went into this season and we all kind
of thought the same thing. Jaymck and I were like, man,
they're going to be really really light at wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
They need more weapons. And then all of a sudden,
you look at.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Their weapons and you're like, oh, oh wait, Lad McConkie's great.
Quinton Johnston is not a bust. Trey Harris not huge production,
but the coaches love him. Will Disley. You start looking,
You're like, Keenan Allen's unbelievable. He's still a go to
third down receiver. Now you look at them and you're like, yeah,
(27:40):
the wide receiver spot, it's fine.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
They're actually better than average.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
That's like New England. It's amazing what a good draft
pick and good coaching can do. And again with backups everywhere,
the Cowboys had no sacks on Justin Herbert. But it
is remarkable to me that Dallas will spend money on
so many things except coaching.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Look at the NFL standings right now.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Let me name some of the first place coaches AFC
Mike Vrable, Mike Tomlin, Liam Cohen, Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh,
go to the NFC, Ben Johnson, Matt Lafleur, Dave Canalis
has done wonders with Bryce Young, Mike McDonald, Sean McVeigh,
Kyle shanahan. The Chargers should not be eleven and four,
(28:29):
yet with the worst O line in the league, they
are six and one in one score games. They are
top ten against the run, red zone defense is unbelievable,
excellent offense defense on third down. Like a lot of
their numbers don't make sense considering what they've overcome. They
(28:52):
really don't. And you watch the second half of this game.
They do all the little stuff right. And the great
coaches can take units like wide receiver or tight end
New England and the Chargers they can take these units.
They're viewed as a weakness of vulnerability. And now I
look at the Patriots, Patriots passing game and their deep game,
(29:14):
and I watched the Chargers with Trey Harris and Quinton Johnson,
Ladd McConachy, I'm like, is that a strength? You think
you're doing that with an average coach. It's it's crazy
how well coached, how smart the Chargers are. And here
is horrible after the win over the Cowboys and our
(29:35):
team is it's.
Speaker 11 (29:36):
Really it's player led. It's player driven. I mean these
are player led wins. You know, coaching is good, you
know there's uh it's a coaching matters, but the players
are the ones leading this team. And all started with
Justin and Justin Herbert and Derwin James and it has
(29:59):
been infectious the leadership.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Yeah. I mean the fact they lead the NFL in
time of possession, with the soul line and their top
three and third down.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
It just makes it.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I'm telling you, the Patriots and the Chargers, that's what
great coaching does. You look at elements of both teams
last year, you looked at their receiving corps as among
the worst in the league, and now there's playmakers everywhere.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
You're not doing that with average coaching.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Congrats on the fancy closed, the sports car and the
good wine. You may want to spend some money on
like getting to work and sleeping, right, You may want
to spend some money on the stuff that really matters,
and Dallas won't. And you can see it. The longer
this season goes, the more mediocrity you see. Don't forget Colin, right,
(30:47):
Colin wrong top of the hour and let me defend
the college football playoff.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Next the Herd.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a Empacific.
Speaker 6 (31:00):
The Colts try to keep their playoff hopes alive against
the division leading Jaguars or other regional action. Then in
America's Game of the Week, it's a potential Super Bowl
preview as Jalen Hurts and the Eagles take on Josh
Allen and the Bills. Check local listings for the games
in your area Sunday on box.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
You know a lot of things, and our memories do
this to us. Your childhood memories are always greater than reality.
And I always feel like there's mythology in sports, especially
with like March Madness. There's always been a sense that, oh,
the opening weekend, man, it's like thirty buzzer beaters.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
No, it's not the opening weekend.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Is not that.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
This past March the NCAA Tournament the opening round, the
average margin of victory was seventeen points. Of the thirty
two first round games in the College March Madness college
basketball trun thirty two, twenty of thirty two two were blowouts.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Twenty.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
If thirty two were blowouts, get over it. Anytime you
have a large college sports playoff, the college sports basketball
and football are not meant to be. Even if you win,
you have a better recruiting class in the NFL. The
Rams win the Super Bowl, they're drafting thirty two. Okay,
(32:24):
they're drafting thirty two. Yeah, Oregon hammer James Madison second half.
James Madison put some points up. Yes, it was like
the opening weekend of March Madness. You had a powerhouse
taking on a Bucknell.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
That's what happens. Here's all I know.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
The next seven games and the four this weekend are great.
The College Football Committee got the eight best teams in Oregon, Texas, Tech, Bama, Indiana,
Old Miss, Georgia, Miami, all of Ohio. That doesn't mean
they got the twelve best teams in. Now, that's not
what it means. They didn't get the twelve best teams in.
(33:06):
They got the eight best. And then there's some you know, qualifiers.
March Madness is not the sixty eight best teams.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
No, it's not. There's a lot of automatic qualifiers.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
You could take another team from the SEC or Big
twelve that are better than.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Teams that got in.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Okay, so don't tell me March madness gets all the
best teams in. There's a lot of babysitting in college sports.
You gotta make sure everybody's happy, and it's collegiate even
though the players get paid now. So we don't let
in any large playoff system in college, which has always
been a top heavy business, we don't let the best in.
(33:46):
All I know is this, Miami proved they should have
been in. Everybody complained about that. Miami proved with that
defense they should have been in. Notre Dame gave up
forty one to Texas A and M they gave up three.
Miami gave up three to Texas A and M. That
defense needed to be in the playoffs, and Alabama winning
(34:07):
at Norman they needed to be in the playoff too.
A lot of people think they're going to be Indiana.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
I don't. A lot of people do.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
So here's the bottom line. You and I for years,
the people that said we don't need a playoff, and
you probably had a point, used to always say, I've
never thought the fifth best team in the country has
a chance to be national champions.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
So what do you lose in sleep?
Speaker 1 (34:31):
If we don't get the twelve best teams in, we
get the eight best teams in, and then we can
argue about nine through twelve. But March madness, it's all mythology.
Twenty of the thirty two games last year were ballouts.
And then you get to Sunday of that first weekend,
You're like, Wow, now you got a Villanovo play at
(34:53):
a you know, a gone Zaga or a really big
time programs. So I I you know it would be
one if you got the twelve best teams in. I
like Texas, I like Notre Dame. They're not winning a Natty.
Miami's defense is as good as anybody's in this entire playoff.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
They needed to be in.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
And say what you want about Alabama, Kayleen de Moor
is fantastic in the history of college football. Losing somebody
as good as Saban and then nailing your next coach
and remember, not the same Alabama. You can't stack your
rosters now. You don't have the depth. Georgia didn't have
the depth. LSU didn't have the depth. I didn't have
(35:35):
a problem with it. I think the next four games
and the final seven in this tournament are gonna be great.
The other story JJ McCarthy, and we're all kind of
waiting to see what they're gonna do. In Minnesota, he
got hurt again, and so he's gotten better at the
quarterback thing, and the kid deserves he deserves respect for that.
(35:56):
They're built to win now, they got good players. I
just have a hard time believing this guy for the
next twelve years is starting seventeen games since being drafted.
There are thirty two games he could have played in.
He's missed twenty three. And again there's been knee injuries, ankle, concussion, hand,
And now you could say, well you Colin Joe Burrow
(36:16):
gets hurt, and Lamar Jackson gets hurt, and Colin Jaden
Daniels got hurt. Yeah, but when those guys are healthy,
there is no denying their greatness. I still don't know
if JJ McCarthy, forget the injuries, I don't know what
he is. So we're two years into this experiment and
he was the one quarterback in this class. I'm like,
(36:38):
I don't see what you guys are seeing. You and
I are going to agree to disagree on this. He
has gotten better at the quarterback thing, but when he
is healthy it doesn't look like Burrow or Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
It doesn't look like that.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
So one of the reasons I like Caleb Williams and
Vo Nicks and Drake May is durability. We all know
that it matters a lot. So Patrick Mahomes at one
point made seven straight AFC championships. That means after the beating,
he took all year and he had some bad old lines,
he was there. I'm waiting for seven straight games with
JJ McCarthy and so I'm kind of two years through it.
(37:12):
I don't know what to make of it. This team
is built to win now. I know that because I
watched him last year with Sam Darnold, and here's Kevin
O'Connell after the win.
Speaker 10 (37:21):
This game, and he's a competitor, and you know, I
think it's I think it's something where he's gonna go
out there and lay it on the line every single week.
It is unfortunate just thinking about what these last three
weeks and really two and a half weeks or so,
outside of you know, outside of that last play of
the half there. I mean, he's looked like he's really
found a place of decisiveness, ownership of the offense. I
(37:44):
mean the discussion and the dialogue about things he's seeing.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
So yeah, it's it's a bummer.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Yeah, Like he's gotten better at the quarterback thing. You
can't deny that. We've got to be fair playing with
much more confidence. They got a little bit of a break.
A giant lined up off sides and would have been
the second defensive touchdown by the New York Giants against
JJ McCarthy's offense, and he got called back. So they
got a bit of a break there by just a
(38:11):
you know, a rush and lining up off sides. But
I so much of this sport, and it was funny
because if you go to a Bears game and you're
close to Caleb Williams, dude is big. You guys make
fun of me when I say trunky. You sit next
to Sam Darnold, You're like, Sam doesn't look like your
(38:32):
buddy in your fantasy football league. Sam looks like a
pro athlete. Sam's head is big, his butt is big,
his shoulders are big. You're next to Caleb Williams, he
doesn't look like your fantasy football league. Guys either like that,
dude is big. So I think the questions about Jayden Daniels,
although remarkable as a rookie, I think they're legit. Like
(38:52):
Jayden Daniels is thin and it matters, stand healthy matters,
So I don't know what they're gonna do with him.
I know I watched team last year with Darnold and
I thought they had super Bowl potential.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Uh, there's gonna be seven eight nine quarterbacks drafted. I'd
roll the dice and probably drafted another one somewhere, didn't
have to be in the first round. But yeah, he's
just thirty two potential starts since becoming a Viking. He's
missed twenty three of them. That's I don't know what
you do with it. And it's been different stuff hand neat, concussion.
You know, some of it's scary. So I don't know
(39:27):
where you go. J Mackett was a really interesting weekend
if you count you know, Saturday as well Friday of
the playoff. You start looking at these NFL matchups in
a Round one because we're getting close now. The Detroit
loss gave you some clarity. You look at the NFC.
(39:47):
If Detroit would have won, we would have had potentially
a team like as good as San Francisco missing but
potentially getting close to like missing the Earth. I mean,
Carolina is eight seven, massive improvement, no guarantee. Green Bay
right now, no guarantee. So I mean now San Francisco's
in now, but there somebody is going to miss the playoffs,
(40:11):
Green Bay and it may just come down to injuries.
May just miss the playoffs. You if Detroit would have won,
I was sitting there yesterday, I wrote down the teams
and I'm like, God, somebody, somebody had they gotten that
Jared Goff from the lateral in and it counted?
Speaker 3 (40:30):
It didn't.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
The call was right, pass interference armor on Saint Brown.
The NFC is so much better to me than the
AFC this year.
Speaker 7 (40:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (40:40):
The only problem is even if Detroit had to go
to Chicago or Philly in the cold, they're not winning
in January, right. I think we would agree with that,
especially with that offensive line. That being said, if Green
Bay can get their health in order, back end of
the defense, Jordan Love, obviously, they could be a spicy team,
like you don't want to have Round three against the Bears.
I don't know who I'd pick in that game. I mean,
(41:01):
it felt like a listen it was. It was a
I mean the Bears were down ten at home with
two minutes less. Okay, they were about to get swept.
I know you don't like the word lucky. They got
lucky as hell.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
Well they got lucky, they got well.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
I mean again, Romeo Dobbs has it, loses it and
you and all of a sudden you saw a swarm
of Bear jerseys and then they have a great drive,
and then in overtime they make big stops. So you
gotta everybody gets breaks in life. I always think luck
is evenly equally distributed. It's what you do with the
luck that presents itself in life. Chicago got a little
(41:35):
bit of a break, and they took advantage of an
offense and defense, and hour two in a Monday Colin
right wrong,
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon 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 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Here we go. It is a Monday, man.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Do we have a lot to talk about one hour
from now? Where Colin was right? Where Colin was wrong?
There's always plenty of both. Urban Meyer stops by Matt Hasselbeck.
We're live in Chicago, Holiday greetings. I mean it was
(00:51):
so Pittsburgh Steeler. I've been saying all year. I've been
saying before the year, this offense in Pittsburgh it's like
Quicksand what's Rogers doing going to this offense? And my
larger point and belief stands they don't have a long
term quarterback. They spend way too much money on defense.
(01:12):
I do think Aaron's duct tape for at least this year,
in another year, but Mike Tomlin, Aaron Rodgers, and the
Steelers deserve credit. In a weekend AFC no Mahomes Borough right,
they may pick up their first playoff.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Win in nine seasons.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
I mean, they had almost five yards of offense, an
unbelievable run game, and it's getting better. In the last
three weeks they're averaging over six yards of play. That is,
those are big boy numbers, So it's getting better. Aaron
Rodgers said, you know, get me my guys, mvs. Adam
Feelin and you know it's typical Steeler fashion, a wide receiver,
(01:53):
high maintenance drama.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
You know, you got to always deal with that.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
And despite the fact that at two hundred and third
to fifteen rush advantage, they had to hold on for
dear life.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
It was Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
But I will say this about Aaron, He's just a
lot of quarterback play is just getting you out of trouble.
He's made the offense slicker and smarter. You know, he
just he takes what's available, not a lot of negative plays.
Right now, Aaron Rodgers leads the entire NFL in fastest release.
He's getting rid of the ball faster than any other quarterback.
(02:27):
He's forty two. He doesn't want to get hit and
he doesn't want that Steeler O line to get into trouble.
Because they really don't have the kind of receiving core
or consistent run game that had yesterday that can get
them out of trouble. So Aaron's like, give me the ball,
let's get it out, stay ahead of the chains. I
feel like Aaron has become like the oil the lubrication
(02:48):
for an offensive machine, where the gears for the last
seven years have been getting stuck, and he just comes in,
get rid of the ball, audible, into the right play
what's available, don't get greedy.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
It's really smart.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
And by the way, this is the most impressed I've
been with Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
In a long time.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Well, what about Green Bay? Everybody wins in Green Bay.
Help Malik Willis looked great last Saturday, Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love,
Brett Farff, everybody looks good in Green Bay. A quarterbacks,
backups come in. Malik Willis their dynamic. This offense Pittsburgh
for seven years, they can't run the ball, the old
line doesn't work. They you know, turnstyle offensive coordinator. Aaron
(03:30):
gets the credit for this. He gets the credit the
longer this goes on this season, last three weeks, brings
his friends in at wide receiver. It's just it works.
Jalen Warren two forty five yard runs dominate the Lions.
Lions have their own problems, but you know here's you got.
Lamar Jackson can't stay healthy. You got Joe Burrow can't
(03:52):
stay healthy. And Aaron's forty two, and he's like, I'm
staying healthy. I'm gonna be available for my team. So
he's just done all the little thing. It's amazing what
coaching can do, or really smart veteran quarterback play. It's
not always what they do, it's what they don't do.
They don't throw picks, they don't take bad sacks. You know,
(04:12):
they audible in and out of trouble and into advantages.
So Mike Tomlin, you know, you say what you want.
And I've had my grievances with Mike Tomlin. Here they
are again looking at a potential division championship.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Thankful of the fight and to win. And we'll keep
pushing because that's what you got to do this time
of year. Win or lose, you got to keep pushing,
and we will. We're coming in to Marrow to watch
the tape. We ain't got time for victory Monday's and
that's what I told the.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Team Okay, now, let's go to the team that lost
Detroit one. Coach one has really changed the direction of
two franchises in the same division. Ben Johnson used to
be at Detroit and wow, were they dynamic. The craziest
third and fourth down team in the league. Look at
(05:05):
him now. He left and went to Chicago, and the
Bears are eleven and four and the best fourth quarter
team in the NFL for the record of the Cowboys
weren't interested in Ben Johnson. Congratulations, But the Bears who
have poor ownership, I mean, like literally the poorest ownership
and years of dysfunction upstairs, and you watch them. Yeah,
(05:27):
it's been a work in progress. But I've heard this
before from athletes, the great athletes, and Caleb Williams is
a generational talent.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
He is special.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
They want Caleb Williams wanted to be coached hard. He said,
there's nobody to watch film with me. He wanted to
be coached hard. He wanted somebody to get on him
and enter Ben Johnson. I mean, Patrick Mahomes didn't become
Patrick Mahomes because Andy Reid pandered. They disagree. The volume
goes up, so and Caleb's got an ability to make
(05:58):
the hard look easy. Easy looks a little difficult. But
the entire Bears organization. You know, again, once you get
the coach right Vrabel in New England, Sean Payton and Denver,
Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers Ben Johnson, he doesn't take long. Literally,
it takes like six to eight weeks. You build the staff,
(06:19):
you get the planning, and then slowly but surely you
get into week six, week nine, week twelve, week fifteen,
you look up, this is a really good team. They
do all the things that winning teams do. They win
the turnover battle, they run the football. They've been lucky
a little bit with health, mostly a very healthy team.
They don't have negative plays. So you're seeing the same
(06:41):
thing in New England with Rabel, Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh.
I mean, last year the Bears just a simple thing.
Last year, do you remember this, The Bears were the
worst fourth quarter team in the league. They couldn't even
script plays appropriately. Now third best, So they start smartly,
they finish strongly, and again they've just gotten out of
(07:06):
the stuff that loses games. No turnovers, no negative plays.
The operation, the basic fundamentals looks organized and then of
course you have Caleb Williams, who really is a unique talent.
Here's the walkoff touchdown?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Are the fake Williams looking downfield?
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Orson downfield?
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Good God?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Djamo and great coaches are like great movie directors. You
gotta let the star kind of do his thing, however,
with a clear identity of what the movie is and
what the game plan is. And people are going to say, well,
I mean the Bears got a little bit lucky. They
(08:03):
recovered the on side kick no time out. They also
had two game winning drives, and they also in overtime
stop the Packers.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
So it's not just well.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Teams block punts all the time, teams recover on sidekicks.
What do you do with the opportunities presented and well coached?
Last night New England could have lost that puppy. New
England maybe gets a big interception or a fumble recovery, Well,
what do they do with it? Well coached teams take
(08:38):
advantage of those little breaks that every team in the
league gets. Yep, the onside kick. Gotta be honest, that
kind of surprised me. But it's what they did with it.
And here's Caleb after.
Speaker 5 (08:51):
I got the best coach in the world. Let's put it.
Let's put it that way. And we have the best
coaching staff in the world. And so you put the
talent with the coaches and the people that care. You
can strive for anything, you can reach anything, you can
go after any goal. And when you go out there
in the football field, your belief is at all time
(09:13):
high between players, between coaches, and you know you have
outcomes like this.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Yeah, it is uh.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Ryan was at the game, and the environment for anybody,
we all had different environments. One of our guys was
in a Chicago bar, one was at the game. I'm
at home. It's like you could hear neighbors streaming. Chicago
has been waiting so long, not to just win games,
but to have a team like this that's offensively electric,
(09:42):
that's offensively dynamic. That's just not what Chicago does. Like
in La every great Lakers team, they're always fun and
offensive minded and they've got show time. Chicago's always won
one way, win one way. They went with defense, they
went with toughness. To have it a electric offense is
really unique and the city is feeling it this morning.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
J Mack.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
I know there's some quarterbacks banged up that won't make
the playoffs. But we have a lot of young quarterbacks
your Bo Nicks, you'r Drake May, You're Caleb that.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Are gonna be in CJ. Stroud.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Then we have older quarterbacks that Herbert that's had to
overcome an offensive line, Jordan Love uh when if they
get in, he's had to overcome an injury.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And you know they lose.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Christian Watson and some of their star defensive players.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
So it's.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I kind of feel like it's gonna be an interesting mix.
No Mahomes, no Burrough, Proino, Lamar, but it'll be an
interesting mix of young and dynamic and old and Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
We're gonna have a wild January.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
I'm one hundred percent with you. It feels like a
new era, Colin. All these young quarterbacks ushered in out
with the old. Sorry guys, Lamar, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I don't know when.
Speaker 6 (10:56):
They're gonna get back to the playoffs. I mean, you
talked about it last week. The Chiefs had a major rebuild.
Colin Ravens. You watched it roster last Nay, they don't
have anybody at all. The roster's terrible Lamar's lost this step.
It feels like the new era of quarterbacks is here.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 7 (11:17):
App Pauly Fools Go Here with Tony Foosco.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (11:20):
As everybody knows, we're the hosts of the award winning
Polly and Tony Foodsco Show.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (11:24):
But instead of us telling you how great we are,
here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on
our show.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
What are you doing?
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Were interrupting our promo?
Speaker 7 (11:35):
Yeah, he wasn't talking about you. You took those clips
totally of context.
Speaker 8 (11:40):
Oh yeah, Well after this promo, I'm gonna take you
out and beat you.
Speaker 7 (11:44):
Let me put this into context.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Shut up.
Speaker 8 (11:47):
Yeah, anyway, just listen to the Paully and Tony Fusco
Show on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yee.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
You know, we talk about this all the time. A
lot of guys are great college quarterbacks, and they're very comfortable.
They play at big programs like Alabama. They don't face
a lot of pressure NFL quarterback to thrive, you have
to thrive in discomfort. And if you watch Drake May
in the final quarter, he was pressured on almost half
(12:18):
his throws and yet was money Like, that's a star
quarterback trailing getting hit, drive him down the field. The
East Coast version of the Chargers, a team with a
great coach and a great quarterback that should not be
this good, is the Patriots. They're still in a rebuild,
their offensive line missing, their left tackle, needs depth. Drake
(12:41):
May's only twenty three years old. He was the rows
of all the quarterbacks in his class. Yet now he's
a top eight, nine to ten quarterback. What's amazing about
Drake May is that you see these guys Bo Nixon,
Caleb in the fourth quarter, Drake May leads the NFL
and completion percentage and you're like, well, dink and dunk,
so leads in yards per attempt and he's doing it
(13:03):
with a receiving corps. Remember last year PFF had him
dead last well, Stefan Diggs, Kyle Williams, Matt Collins, Kayshawn Boody, Hunter, Henry.
Now they're fourth. That's nothing against those players. I'm gonna
say Josh McDaniels and Drake May are a big part
(13:25):
of that. If you watched the second half of that
game last night, specifically the fourth quarter, they were on
a third string right tackle. They're left tackles not starting.
At one point, the announcing teams like, I really, I
don't know what they're gonna do at right tackle. Let's
look at the depth chart, musical chairs. Massive leakage in
(13:46):
the offensive front does not matter. And the reason I
took the Patriots in this game, I said, they're just
going to complete passes, They're gonna move the chains. They're
an incredibly sound football team. And again, it's amazing to
me that Jerry Jones, he keeps going cheap on coaching,
Vrabel Harbaugh, Peyton, Ben Johnson, spend the money. It's a
(14:07):
lot of the same guys. For them to be this good,
for the Chargers to be this good with all the injuries,
and for the Patriots to be this good with all
their youth and all their new players is unbelievable. Neither
of these teams should be that good. So I'm just
watching Drake May and then they you know, you know
(14:27):
how good you have to be in the NFL as
a quarterback when you're dealing with a third string tackle.
So the Chargers missing both their tackles eleven and four
Patriots last night in the crucial part of the game.
They're on third string tackles, they're on the road, they're
trailing Baltimore knows they have to throw.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Last year, New England was.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Dead last and explosive plays. This season, remarkably they are
number two and that was a really impressive road win
for Drake May Here he is after.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
It's top down.
Speaker 9 (15:04):
I think it's coach Brable coming in here.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
It's the coach of staff he hired.
Speaker 9 (15:10):
It's the guys, you know, buying in and believing in
what we do. And that's, you know, the biggest thing
that is a locker room. It's believing in what the
coach is saying, believing in our identity, carrying it, traveling
with us. He always says, pack our identity and just
another big win on the road. And it starts top
down and the.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Guys you just love, you know a lot of guys
in that locker room.
Speaker 10 (15:29):
Man.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Every year, college football gives us one or two franchise quarterbacks,
and then about every five years it gives us a
Drake May and what he did on the road last
night is that is that is all time stuff. This
kid is really good. And again they're in a rebuild.
They're they're much better personnel wise than last year. They
(15:51):
bought spent two hundred and eighty million or something like
that in free agency and they drafted well. Elliott Wolf's
a very sharp guy. But they're not complete that offensip
line needs more players, more talent. Here's j Mack with
the news.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
This is the herd Line News.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
All right, Colin, We're gonna bust right into it with
a surprise team. We rarely talk about these guys, the
Jacksonville Jaguars. What a story, Colin. They've peeled off six
wins in a row. It just went to Denver and smashed,
and I mean smashed the Broncos, the overrated Broncos. Trevor
Lawrence was phenomenal, best quarterback on the field, two hundred
ninety nine total yards. Four tuddies, had a really nice
(16:34):
quarterback keeper in the red zone for a touchdown.
Speaker 7 (16:37):
Colin.
Speaker 6 (16:38):
Liam Cohen is talking some trash. Listen closely to what
he said about the win.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Great team effort.
Speaker 11 (16:47):
Just thankful that you know, a small market team like
US can come into a place like Mile High and
get it done.
Speaker 7 (16:52):
You know, we really don't care about the narrative.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
You know, it's I'm sorry to say that, but it's
only helping us.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
So I I want the narrative to keep coming.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah, listen, they've been bad forever, so they've drafted a
lot of elite players. Travis Hunter's not even playing. But
I think what it really is and it takes a while.
We saw this with Sam Darnold. Trevor Lawrence finally has
his kingpin. He's finally got his north star guy. And
by the way, it was not great six games into
the season. I mean, go back to the first six
(17:24):
to seven games. They were still finding their way, like
any relationship the longer. Liam Cohen and Trevor together the
last six seven games. In the last seven eight games,
he's seven to one in the passer rating over one hundred.
So when you watch them play, there's all sorts of
talent here. Talent's not been the Jags issue. It's been
like who's the guiding light.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Who's the north star? Who leads them?
Speaker 1 (17:48):
They are a handful man. They got dudes.
Speaker 6 (17:51):
I mean, Liam Cohen has done such a good job.
So when they lose Travis Hunter, everybody was desponding, Oh
my gosh, we lost this star. They went out and
got to.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Kobe my stole to.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
Kobe Myers, and he is already Trevor Lawrence is like
a safety blanket.
Speaker 7 (18:05):
He loves him.
Speaker 6 (18:05):
There's a kid named Parker Washington on Jacksonville. Colin, he
is unbelievable. He's like a third number three receiver. Yeah,
but he plays like a two and has the aura
of a one.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
He's a return guy.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
He is so good. I'm just telling you this team
is dangerous. And Liam Cohen he's an intense guy. Remember
there were some moments.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
Earlier this season where Trevor had some bad.
Speaker 6 (18:24):
Interceptions and they were like, oh this this relationship is rocky.
But I think with what's working here, Colin is Cohen
is so intense and Trevor Lawrence is so laid back
in chill that they're able to meet in the middle.
And this is a dangerous team. By the way, four
for five in the red zone. They just shredded this
allegedly good Denver defense. Colin, I know you like Phone
(18:45):
Nixon company. When this team steps up in class. By
the way, they're just three and three when they face
teams better five hundred or better.
Speaker 7 (18:52):
The Jags are six and three against those teams.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Well, I think we all started to take notice when
the Chargers went to Jacksonville and got completely annihilated and
we were like, well, Hardball came out after and he's like,
we got out coached, we got out hit, we got
out physical, we got out smarted. Like it was like wow,
because that's usually what the Chargers do. So they're absolutely
for real.
Speaker 7 (19:16):
Now it's gonna be interesting.
Speaker 6 (19:17):
If you look at the playoff lineup as of now,
it would be Buffalo at Jacksonville.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I would take Jacksonville.
Speaker 6 (19:23):
Well, it's interesting because last week you and I were like, Buffalo,
you got to pick Josh Allen.
Speaker 7 (19:26):
I like Josh Allen.
Speaker 6 (19:28):
I'm just telling you, like, Jacksonville has more guys than
Buffalo does.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Oh, there's something that's not even the roster's better. There's
no question Jacksonville's roster is better, no question.
Speaker 6 (19:37):
Maybe maybe we're sleeping on Jacksonville.
Speaker 7 (19:40):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (19:40):
All right, Next up, Colin, let's go to an incident
that happened in the Pittsburgh Detroit game. Okay, So DK
Metcalf for reasons that make no sense at all, just
is over at this fan. You see it out here
on FS one. He grabs him by the lapel and
then kind of shoves him. Initially it looked like a punch.
It's clearly not a punch. It's obviously not great. Now,
(20:04):
Apparently DK Metcalf and this fan have a history. According
to NFL media that was reported this morning, this guy
DK got him kicked out of a game before. No listen,
I don't we know the rule don't touch fans. Okay,
I don't know how, Colin. How does DK Metcalf wonder
from the bench to the stands with no other players
(20:25):
or coaches.
Speaker 7 (20:26):
Or staff around him. I don't get that. Don't put
your hands on fans.
Speaker 6 (20:29):
That being said, that doesn't give this clown the right
to say whatever.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Fans, very very few, less than half of one percent
of fans are just obnoxious and they want to get noticed.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
And that's one of these fans.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
You know, it's not as bad when you see it
from the side, but he'll get suspad. You know, I
would throw I would suspend him for a game. And
it's just you don't want a precedent. You don't want
this to be tolerated. You have to send a message sometimes,
like being a parent. Sometimes you just have to be
stern and send a message so everybody understands, Yeah, what
just happened in the house is not permitted. So I
don't think it's the end of the world. I think
(21:03):
it's poor judgment. It's not as bad when you see
that view. But you can't set a precedent. You got
to suspend him for at least a game.
Speaker 6 (21:10):
Now, we've had DK Metcalf in the studio.
Speaker 7 (21:12):
He's a large individual. He is jacked.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
I mean he's six four like, he looks like the
built like a tank. I mean, the fact that people
are saying stuff to him is a bit of a
surprise to me. But that being said, I agree with you. Yeah,
I think you probably suspend him a game. Don't put
your hands on people, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Right, You don't see it much. I've seen it in
the NBA more.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
You don't see it much because the proximity players are
wearing helmets, stadiums are loud, you don't have great access.
I mean, he's a huge guy and had to reach up.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
You don't see it.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
A lot in pro football when players come and leave
the field, there's always idiots, you know, kind of being vulgar,
like you just roll your eyes, moved through. But it's
it's I mean, I also I look at athletes and
I'm like, are athletes in this country? It's bad in
Europe too, Like it's people are over the top. They
all have courage, you know, when they're thirty feet way
(22:00):
and protected. You know, I get players, especially if you
have mentioned somebody's parents or family, like I get players
getting ticked off, Like I get it right now.
Speaker 6 (22:10):
It's a he said, he said, And you know it'll
play out whatever final story.
Speaker 7 (22:13):
Con let's go to that.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
Eagles win over the Commanders on Saturday. Fairly easy light work,
as the kids say, for Saquon Jalen Hurts and company.
Eagles win the division. But interestingly, late in the game,
Philly was up seventeen and they decided they were going
to go for a two point conversion. Well, wouldn't you
know it, Washington got unhappy with that one. Are you
(22:37):
going for two? Why are you pouring it on? I mean,
it's a two point conversion, guys, it's one point. Led
to a little fracas on the field and then Nick
Sirianni and dan Quinn talked about it. Listen closely to
what dan Quinn had to say.
Speaker 12 (22:51):
I didn't, you know, again, we did that in the
best what we thought was Ben's interest or to get
up one more point has in my mind's not running
up the score. We're doing that because we're doing that
because they went right down and scored. So we're doing
that to give ourselves the best chance to win.
Speaker 7 (23:06):
I can only answer for you know my side, what
I would do. But amen, like that's how they want
to get down and like all good. We play them
again in two weeks.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Yeah, I will say my takeaway in this game, though
I know it's the Commanders, their defense is egregiously bad.
That was the best game Saquon Barkley's had all year.
Jalen Hurts looked like Jalen Hurts two years ago. Aj
Brown DeVante Smith ran like, I thought that again, you
gotta be careful because between the Cowboys defense and the
(23:41):
Commander's defense, they make everybody look great. But that looked
like to a large degree, that looked like Philly a
couple of years ago. Hurts running offensive line, getting big
holes that's why everybody think. I kept thinking, Okay, don't
don't take too much.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Out of this.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
It is what it is. But I will save for Philadelphia.
If you're an Eagles fan, you watched that. Okay, can
we get back? That's what we were two years ago.
Speaker 6 (24:05):
So it looked like they decided to go in and
fast feed aj Brown Collin. He had the biggest half
of his NFL career. I think he had nine catches
in the first half. Didn't do much at all in
a second. Interesting note, I thought Tank Bigsby the backup
to Saque.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
Did you see he had some juice? Yeah, I think
he's got some. I think we're gonna see a lot
of running.
Speaker 6 (24:24):
If they get the members, they'll get Lane Johnson back,
and now Philly having locked it up the division, they
can sort of start a rest guys. I think that
could be pivotal.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I keep saying two years ago, this is what Philly was.
Last year my bad twenty twenty four. No, I mean,
if you look at Philadelphia, I mean the playoffs are weird.
Like I don't think anybody fears Carolina. I think everybody
fears playing the Niners. And and you know, I mean
so you don't want to see the Rams' fifth seed ever,
(24:57):
So it's and now Jordan Loves health to cross your
f My guess is he's back in a couple of weeks.
But you know what you and I called it? Detroit,
did they have lost offensively? They are not the same team.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (25:10):
Now here's the weird thing.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
I know.
Speaker 6 (25:13):
I was writing off the Ravens and Chiefs and Bengals.
I don't think the lines are that far off because
they have a lot of guys. They just got to
get up fix the offensive line.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Colin.
Speaker 6 (25:22):
They were down to their third string center against Pittsburgh
yesterday and Jared Gott's getting blitzed up the middle, left.
Speaker 7 (25:27):
And right the offensive line. Who was the guy who
retired before the season. They're centric now, Yeah, they could just.
Speaker 6 (25:32):
Never replace him, and it was it was a tough blow.
Speaker 7 (25:35):
I don't think they get in the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
But that Jordan Love hit that you mentioned Saturday, Oh
my gosh, he ain't coming back this week.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Nope, short week.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
Yeah, he's not client Saturday.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
J Mickle the.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
News, Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by
the herd line.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Miss.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
People can be critical of the Dallas Cowboys. I appreciate
their consistency. They will not make the NFC Championship for
the thirtieth straight year. I appreciate that kind of commitment
and consistency from the Dallas Cowboys. What's interesting about the
Cowboys is they spend money on certain things, but when
(26:12):
it comes to coaches, they shop at the dollar store.
And once again, eber flues Schottenheimer. You know, it's like
the guy who spends money on good wine and flashy
clothes and won't spend good money on transportation or a
good mattress. You look around the NFL, the Sean Payton's,
the Rabels, the hardbaws. I mean, the Chargers win this
(26:33):
game convincingly. Here's what's amazing about the Chargers. Backups to
backups on the offensive line, third string running back. At
one point during the season, quarterback breaks his hand. Yet
the Chargers are top three and third down and lead
the NFL in time of possession. How how is that possible?
They if the worst hole line in football. They just
(26:56):
got Hampton back Nagee Harris has been a non factor.
How in the world are they good on third down?
It's called coaching, and so that's what Harbond Herbert can do.
You know the other thing we said, it's about New England.
So we went into this season and we all kind
of thought the same thing. Jaymck and I were like, man,
they're going to be really really light at wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
They need more weapons. And then all of a sudden,
you look at.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Their weapons and you're like, oh, oh wait, Lad McConkie's great.
Quinton Johnston is not a bust. Trey Harris not huge production,
but the coaches love him. Will Disley. You start looking,
You're like, Keenan Allen's unbelievable. He's still a go to
third down receiver. Now you look at them and you're like, yeah,
(27:40):
the wide receiver spot, it's fine.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
They're actually better than average.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
That's like New England. It's amazing what a good draft
pick and good coaching can do. And again with backups everywhere,
the Cowboys had no sacks on Justin Herbert. But it
is remarkable to me that Dallas will spend money on
so many things except coaching.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Look at the NFL standings right now.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Let me name some of the first place coaches AFC
Mike Vrable, Mike Tomlin, Liam Cohen, Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh,
go to the NFC, Ben Johnson, Matt Lafleur, Dave Canalis
has done wonders with Bryce Young, Mike McDonald, Sean McVeigh,
Kyle shanahan. The Chargers should not be eleven and four,
(28:29):
yet with the worst O line in the league, they
are six and one in one score games. They are
top ten against the run, red zone defense is unbelievable,
excellent offense defense on third down. Like a lot of
their numbers don't make sense considering what they've overcome. They
(28:52):
really don't. And you watch the second half of this game.
They do all the little stuff right. And the great
coaches can take units like wide receiver or tight end
New England and the Chargers they can take these units.
They're viewed as a weakness of vulnerability. And now I
look at the Patriots, Patriots passing game and their deep game,
(29:14):
and I watched the Chargers with Trey Harris and Quinton Johnson,
Ladd McConachy, I'm like, is that a strength? You think
you're doing that with an average coach. It's it's crazy
how well coached, how smart the Chargers are. And here
is horrible after the win over the Cowboys and our
(29:35):
team is it's.
Speaker 11 (29:36):
Really it's player led. It's player driven. I mean these
are player led wins. You know, coaching is good, you
know there's uh it's a coaching matters, but the players
are the ones leading this team. And all started with
Justin and Justin Herbert and Derwin James and it has
(29:59):
been infectious the leadership.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Yeah. I mean the fact they lead the NFL in
time of possession, with the soul line and their top
three and third down.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
It just makes it.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I'm telling you, the Patriots and the Chargers, that's what
great coaching does. You look at elements of both teams
last year, you looked at their receiving corps as among
the worst in the league, and now there's playmakers everywhere.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
You're not doing that with average coaching.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Congrats on the fancy closed, the sports car and the
good wine. You may want to spend some money on
like getting to work and sleeping, right, You may want
to spend some money on the stuff that really matters,
and Dallas won't. And you can see it. The longer
this season goes, the more mediocrity you see. Don't forget Colin, right,
(30:47):
Colin wrong top of the hour and let me defend
the college football playoff.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Next the Herd.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter not a Empacific.
Speaker 6 (31:00):
The Colts try to keep their playoff hopes alive against
the division leading Jaguars or other regional action. Then in
America's Game of the Week, it's a potential Super Bowl
preview as Jalen Hurts and the Eagles take on Josh
Allen and the Bills. Check local listings for the games
in your area Sunday on box.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
You know a lot of things, and our memories do
this to us. Your childhood memories are always greater than reality.
And I always feel like there's mythology in sports, especially
with like March Madness. There's always been a sense that, oh,
the opening weekend, man, it's like thirty buzzer beaters.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
No, it's not the opening weekend.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Is not that.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
This past March the NCAA Tournament the opening round, the
average margin of victory was seventeen points. Of the thirty
two first round games in the College March Madness college
basketball trun thirty two, twenty of thirty two two were blowouts.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Twenty.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
If thirty two were blowouts, get over it. Anytime you
have a large college sports playoff, the college sports basketball
and football are not meant to be. Even if you win,
you have a better recruiting class in the NFL. The
Rams win the Super Bowl, they're drafting thirty two. Okay,
(32:24):
they're drafting thirty two. Yeah, Oregon hammer James Madison second half.
James Madison put some points up. Yes, it was like
the opening weekend of March Madness. You had a powerhouse
taking on a Bucknell.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
That's what happens. Here's all I know.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
The next seven games and the four this weekend are great.
The College Football Committee got the eight best teams in Oregon, Texas, Tech, Bama, Indiana,
Old Miss, Georgia, Miami, all of Ohio. That doesn't mean
they got the twelve best teams in. Now, that's not
what it means. They didn't get the twelve best teams in.
(33:06):
They got the eight best. And then there's some you know, qualifiers.
March Madness is not the sixty eight best teams.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
No, it's not. There's a lot of automatic qualifiers.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
You could take another team from the SEC or Big
twelve that are better than.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Teams that got in.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Okay, so don't tell me March madness gets all the
best teams in. There's a lot of babysitting in college sports.
You gotta make sure everybody's happy, and it's collegiate even
though the players get paid now. So we don't let
in any large playoff system in college, which has always
been a top heavy business, we don't let the best in.
(33:46):
All I know is this, Miami proved they should have
been in. Everybody complained about that. Miami proved with that
defense they should have been in. Notre Dame gave up
forty one to Texas A and M they gave up three.
Miami gave up three to Texas A and M. That
defense needed to be in the playoffs, and Alabama winning
(34:07):
at Norman they needed to be in the playoff too.
A lot of people think they're going to be Indiana.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
I don't. A lot of people do.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
So here's the bottom line. You and I for years,
the people that said we don't need a playoff, and
you probably had a point, used to always say, I've
never thought the fifth best team in the country has
a chance to be national champions.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
So what do you lose in sleep?
Speaker 1 (34:31):
If we don't get the twelve best teams in, we
get the eight best teams in, and then we can
argue about nine through twelve. But March madness, it's all mythology.
Twenty of the thirty two games last year were ballouts.
And then you get to Sunday of that first weekend,
You're like, Wow, now you got a Villanovo play at
(34:53):
a you know, a gone Zaga or a really big
time programs. So I I you know it would be
one if you got the twelve best teams in. I
like Texas, I like Notre Dame. They're not winning a Natty.
Miami's defense is as good as anybody's in this entire playoff.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
They needed to be in.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
And say what you want about Alabama, Kayleen de Moor
is fantastic in the history of college football. Losing somebody
as good as Saban and then nailing your next coach
and remember, not the same Alabama. You can't stack your
rosters now. You don't have the depth. Georgia didn't have
the depth. LSU didn't have the depth. I didn't have
(35:35):
a problem with it. I think the next four games
and the final seven in this tournament are gonna be great.
The other story JJ McCarthy, and we're all kind of
waiting to see what they're gonna do. In Minnesota, he
got hurt again, and so he's gotten better at the
quarterback thing, and the kid deserves he deserves respect for that.
(35:56):
They're built to win now, they got good players. I
just have a hard time believing this guy for the
next twelve years is starting seventeen games since being drafted.
There are thirty two games he could have played in.
He's missed twenty three. And again there's been knee injuries, ankle, concussion, hand,
And now you could say, well you Colin Joe Burrow
(36:16):
gets hurt, and Lamar Jackson gets hurt, and Colin Jaden
Daniels got hurt. Yeah, but when those guys are healthy,
there is no denying their greatness. I still don't know
if JJ McCarthy, forget the injuries, I don't know what
he is. So we're two years into this experiment and
he was the one quarterback in this class. I'm like,
(36:38):
I don't see what you guys are seeing. You and
I are going to agree to disagree on this. He
has gotten better at the quarterback thing, but when he
is healthy it doesn't look like Burrow or Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
It doesn't look like that.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
So one of the reasons I like Caleb Williams and
Vo Nicks and Drake May is durability. We all know
that it matters a lot. So Patrick Mahomes at one
point made seven straight AFC championships. That means after the beating,
he took all year and he had some bad old lines,
he was there. I'm waiting for seven straight games with
JJ McCarthy and so I'm kind of two years through it.
(37:12):
I don't know what to make of it. This team
is built to win now. I know that because I
watched him last year with Sam Darnold, and here's Kevin
O'Connell after the win.
Speaker 10 (37:21):
This game, and he's a competitor, and you know, I
think it's I think it's something where he's gonna go
out there and lay it on the line every single week.
It is unfortunate just thinking about what these last three
weeks and really two and a half weeks or so,
outside of you know, outside of that last play of
the half there. I mean, he's looked like he's really
found a place of decisiveness, ownership of the offense. I
(37:44):
mean the discussion and the dialogue about things he's seeing.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
So yeah, it's it's a bummer.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Yeah, Like he's gotten better at the quarterback thing. You
can't deny that. We've got to be fair playing with
much more confidence. They got a little bit of a break.
A giant lined up off sides and would have been
the second defensive touchdown by the New York Giants against
JJ McCarthy's offense, and he got called back. So they
got a bit of a break there by just a
(38:11):
you know, a rush and lining up off sides. But
I so much of this sport, and it was funny
because if you go to a Bears game and you're
close to Caleb Williams, dude is big. You guys make
fun of me when I say trunky. You sit next
to Sam Darnold, You're like, Sam doesn't look like your
(38:32):
buddy in your fantasy football league. Sam looks like a
pro athlete. Sam's head is big, his butt is big,
his shoulders are big. You're next to Caleb Williams, he
doesn't look like your fantasy football league. Guys either like that,
dude is big. So I think the questions about Jayden Daniels,
although remarkable as a rookie, I think they're legit. Like
(38:52):
Jayden Daniels is thin and it matters, stand healthy matters,
So I don't know what they're gonna do with him.
I know I watched team last year with Darnold and
I thought they had super Bowl potential.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
So we'll see.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Uh, there's gonna be seven eight nine quarterbacks drafted. I'd
roll the dice and probably drafted another one somewhere, didn't
have to be in the first round. But yeah, he's
just thirty two potential starts since becoming a Viking. He's
missed twenty three of them. That's I don't know what
you do with it. And it's been different stuff hand neat, concussion.
You know, some of it's scary. So I don't know
(39:27):
where you go. J Mackett was a really interesting weekend
if you count you know, Saturday as well Friday of
the playoff. You start looking at these NFL matchups in
a Round one because we're getting close now. The Detroit
loss gave you some clarity. You look at the NFC.
(39:47):
If Detroit would have won, we would have had potentially
a team like as good as San Francisco missing but
potentially getting close to like missing the Earth. I mean,
Carolina is eight seven, massive improvement, no guarantee. Green Bay
right now, no guarantee. So I mean now San Francisco's
in now, but there somebody is going to miss the playoffs,
(40:11):
Green Bay and it may just come down to injuries.
May just miss the playoffs. You if Detroit would have won,
I was sitting there yesterday, I wrote down the teams
and I'm like, God, somebody, somebody had they gotten that
Jared Goff from the lateral in and it counted?
Speaker 3 (40:30):
It didn't.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
The call was right, pass interference armor on Saint Brown.
The NFC is so much better to me than the
AFC this year.
Speaker 7 (40:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (40:40):
The only problem is even if Detroit had to go
to Chicago or Philly in the cold, they're not winning
in January, right. I think we would agree with that,
especially with that offensive line. That being said, if Green
Bay can get their health in order, back end of
the defense, Jordan Love, obviously, they could be a spicy team,
like you don't want to have Round three against the Bears.
I don't know who I'd pick in that game. I mean,
(41:01):
it felt like a listen it was. It was a
I mean the Bears were down ten at home with
two minutes less. Okay, they were about to get swept.
I know you don't like the word lucky. They got
lucky as hell.
Speaker 3 (41:12):
Well they got lucky, they got well.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
I mean again, Romeo Dobbs has it, loses it and
you and all of a sudden you saw a swarm
of Bear jerseys and then they have a great drive,
and then in overtime they make big stops. So you
gotta everybody gets breaks in life. I always think luck
is evenly equally distributed. It's what you do with the
luck that presents itself in life. Chicago got a little
(41:35):
bit of a break, and they took advantage of an
offense and defense, and hour two in a Monday Colin
right wrong,
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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