December 31, 2025 • 36 mins
Colin Cowherd looks at the latest Laker loss and the comments from head coach JJ Redick to explain why despite having LeBron James and Luka Doncic, LA is not near contender status in the NBA. He breaks down the College Football Playoff with the 8 remaining teams and why this is the best college postseason we’ve ever had. Plus, Greg Cosell from NFL Films joins the show to tell Colin why Josh Allen and the Bills have struggled on offense and why he’s been so impressed with Caleb Williams and the Bears.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Oh here we go New Year's Eve.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I don't know about to rest you party time tonight, buck, guys,
chains we are live.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
It is Wednesday in Chicago. It's the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Wherever you may be and however you may be watching
or listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
Greg Calsell one hour from now. You know you learn
something as a dad when you have kids. You know
you can only threaten them and their video games so
many times you have to find different things to use.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
His levers.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So the Lakers get house last night, they get crushed
by Detroit and JJ Reddick's banging on the officials. Well
it's not the officials. The Lakers actually shot more free
throws than Detroit. Detroit shot sixty three percent from the field.
It was the second worst defensive performance by any NBA
team all year. Players guarded by Luca and Lebron shot
(01:30):
sixty eight percent. But JJ Reddick is discovering what dads know.
You can't keep ripping the kids, and you can't keep
ripping the team or they'll tune you out. And so
after the game, of course, JJ, well, I've already used
ripped the team. Lever what JJ Reddick is finding out.
He's the seventh coach the Lakers have had since Phil,
(01:54):
none of them lasts more than three seasons, and JJ
Reddick is now thirty one games in, trapped with a
completely utterly flawed roster built by Rob Polinka. You don't
have a multitude of three point shooters, no rim protection,
you're not athletic on the wing the last seven NBA champs.
(02:15):
There are things that you have to have. You have
to be at least solid defensively. That's what Denver was
with Jokic. Multiple three point shooters, athletic wings. They don't
check any of the boxes, and he's trying to pull
every lever.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
But this is what Laker coach is.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
They're not a viable team in the West, and he's
already ripped the team and threatened them with hard practices.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
So you know, I look at.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
This and.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Time and time again. When Phil was here.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
The Lakers' biggest issue was you had the late Jerry West,
you had Phil over the course of twenty and thirty years.
It's the buses, it's pat Riley. You had all these
smart people, and could you keep them in the same
building to get the long and the answer. You know,
Riley goes to Miami. Now you have coaches. I think
Frank Vogel's pretty smart. Coach Mike Brown, he's now doing
(03:09):
a good job with the Knicks. And JJ Reddick's schemes
are great. You know, the Lakers are ten and oh
and clutch games this year ten and oh. But JJ
Reddick can't get him into clutch games because they get
blown out because they can't guard anybody. They also need
to be younger, and it's the second third oldest roster.
The West is all about youth and multiple three point
(03:32):
shooters and athletic wings and rim protection, and the Lakers
don't check any of the boxes. So here is JJ Reddick.
He's like, yeah, he's officials. It's like, I mean, the
Pistons are not a good three point shooting team. Last night,
I'm looking at their three point shots forty six percent.
(03:52):
I mean it was layup line, it was it was
practice shots. So I just feel like it's groundhog Day.
I've seen this before. It's always blamed the coach in LA. Well,
JJ Reddick's a scheme guy. If you ask coaches in
the NBA, he's very good with schemes. So he's ten
and zero clutch games with an old Lebron and a
(04:13):
star in Luca that can't guard me. But the reality
is they can't get into those close games. Good teams
like Detroit blow their doors off. Do you know how
ridiculous it is to shoot sixty three percent in an
NBA game? So last night he rips the officials. Well
(04:33):
that I've used every other lever. I've seen other Laker
coaches do this. They blame the roster, they blame they
never go you know, could somebody just say this out loud,
this roster's not a viable championship roster over the last
seven to eight years. You start looking at it, it's
not when they had Lebron closer to his prime, Anthony
Davis rim protection KCP.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
That was that was even though even though.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Lebron was getting older, like oh rim protect dual scores
little more athletic on the wing. Three point shooter KCP
from the corner. That's what a championship roster looks like.
This isn't close. Here's Reddick after frustrated with the refs.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
I think there's probably a level of frustration when you're
turning the ball over and you're feeling like you're getting fouled.
There's frustration there for sure. But I mean again, I
said it in here, we said it this morning. They're
going to foul every possession. It's just you get to
play through it.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Okay, So tonight there you look at it. And for
the record Lakers in December, I'm putting this up for
the TV audience. It's getting worse, so the question, and
I think JJ Reddick can feel this is the team
tuning him out. It was bad, now it's getting worse.
I mean, the longer a good coach has a team,
the better you get. The Lakers are getting worse. They're
(05:54):
old and they're tired of getting ripped. And I think
JJ Reddick, no, that okay, we got to pull another lever.
The Zebras were terrible last night. Now Lakers shot more
free throws. That wasn't it Okay? So tonight Miami. I
like the points close game twenty seven to twenty. Ohio
State Miami maybe lower scoring. And Wall Street Journal did
(06:20):
a story recently. More people watched at least, you know,
ten minutes of college football this year than any other time.
People are watching college football, and I'm one of those
people that I don't care how we get there in life,
as long as we get there. And for the first
time in my life, the best eight teams are left,
(06:44):
without question. That's what I care about. You guys keep
telling me March Madness is great. Twenty teams are unwatchable.
The first round average margin of victory in March Madness
is seventeen points. But you get one or two upsets
and you're like, oh, it's Magico. It's awful blowouts in
(07:04):
a lot of empty afternoon arenas. I get West Coast Oregon,
flashy Miami, the blue bloods like Bama, Georgia, Ohio State.
I get newcomers like Indiana and Texas Tech. I get everything.
I get Mendoza, the consensus number one quarterback, Ty Simpson,
the underrated Southern quarterback Julian saying Dante Moore could be
(07:29):
one in two and next year's draft at quarterback. I
don't want to hear about the labor. Show me the baby.
I don't care how you got there. When I'm going
on a nine day vacation, I may get a middle seat.
The flight's delayed. They run into pretzels. When my feet
hit the water in Turks and Caicos, I'm good. Show
(07:52):
me the baby. I don't care about the labor. Everybody
spends so much time catastrophizing the how and why AI robots,
we're all doomed. Or maybe, like the Internet, the economy
expands and the smart people figure it out. I look
(08:13):
at college football. I get everything. I get my West
Coast power, I get my blue bloods. I get the
new guys, I get the best quarterbacks. Tonight, I get
the former national champion. Doesn't feel like the Margins are
quite as big this year. Miami could upset them. Don't
think they will, but they could. We have all this
mythology about how great the basketball tournament is and there
(08:36):
are blowouts everywhere. Seventeen points first round. Who cares about
James Madison and Tulane. These playoffs in college feel more
like the NFL playoffs. And you know why that's good
because nobody ever complains about the NFL playoffs. The numbers
show it. The audience, the consumer likes it. They like
(08:58):
the structure, the dependability, and the quality. And that's what
I like tonight. I'm getting West Coast blue blood new guys,
old guys, best quarterbacks, some young, Some'm ready to play
in the pros. I think tonight is close. But regardless,
Notre Dame was not one of the eight best teams.
They're not here. Texas was not one of the eight
(09:21):
best teams. They're not here, and I'm comfortable with both.
Here's Joel Klatt on what he expects tonight.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
I think that Miami had the benefit of playing against
a team that was overmatched, had an incredibly easy SEC
schedule in Texas, A and m and a quarterback that
really played poorly and they and they won barely. This
Ohio State team is different. You know, They've got absolute
dudes on the outside. On the offensive side, They're going
to have a whole month to prepare. We saw what
(09:50):
they did in the playoffs a year ago. They've got
a quarterback that throws it accurately in a defense that's
the best defense since the twenty eleven Alabama team.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
What I'm really fascinated about, what if you look at
the bracket, you can put it up again.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
We had Michigan win a Nanty. We had a Ohio
State win a Natty.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I've got a feeling we're gonna end up with Ohio
State in Indiana playing again for the Natty. Big Ten,
Big ten, Big ten versus Big Ten. Now I don't
watch bowl games anymore, not even the USC's, but it
does feel like if you're one of the people that does,
(10:33):
I've seen highlights. We've got a little changing of the
guard in college football. Jmac, Jmack, you came in this
morning with a little chip on your shoulder with the trojans.
I decided, after looking at the two deeps an hour
and a half before the game and I couldn't recognize
half the offensive players that I was going to watch
a documentary on some streaming service.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
How the game turn out.
Speaker 6 (10:54):
I only watch the ending because, you know, just an
action play for fun.
Speaker 7 (10:57):
It's what was last night Tuesday.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
Let me take usc TCU's quarterback was ruled out you know,
transfer portals action and USC like up ten in the
fourth and then not tackling in overtime.
Speaker 7 (11:08):
Colin it was third and twenty.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Just wrap up.
Speaker 7 (11:11):
TCU ties it on a field goal.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
We go to double overtime, and three guys totally with
I mean, the announcers, I forget who they were, were
just stunned.
Speaker 7 (11:20):
I mean, I think everybody was.
Speaker 6 (11:21):
The referee kept saying it's not over, the game's not
over because they.
Speaker 7 (11:25):
Thought, oh, he had to go out of bounds. He didn't.
TCU with the win.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Well and Lincoln Riley, hey, he was taking some heat
from some prominent media folks last night online. Your boy
going into next year a big season at USC.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
It's hard for me to take these ball games seriously.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Like I I mean, Notre Dame got invited to one.
They're like, no thanks, Yeah, I was told USC A
lot of these coaches, from what I'm being told, their
only reason they want to go to the bowl games
is the extra practices for their young players that don't play.
So all right, we got good stuff, very interest. A
prominent NFL media member suggests a landing spot for Lamar
(12:05):
Jackson of the Ravens that would be really, really interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (12:21):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 6 (12:22):
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing
the same tired narratives down your.
Speaker 7 (12:32):
Throat every day. Straight Fire gives.
Speaker 6 (12:34):
You honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate
stats to.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
Help you win big at the sportsbook, and all the
best guests.
Speaker 6 (12:41):
Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with
Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Greg co sl forty minutes from now, you know, New
Year's Eve, you start sort of looking yourself in the
mirrors we come into the new year. Last year, I
pulled way back on conniments, way back, really pulled back.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
This year.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
You know, I was thinking maybe I'm just too cold,
too transactional. I should fall in love more. And I
was thinking about these rumors about Lamar Jackson. A prominent
NFL agent said, keep your eye on the Minnesota Vikings.
The Baltimore Sun had reported that he wanted to play
Lamar Miami Dolphins because he went to high school down there,
(13:40):
and so I'd be okay with it. Like not every
divorce has to be Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Since
he joined the Ravens, third best winning percentage in the league,
number one point differential in the league, number two in
total points in the league, eight years, potentially seven playoff appearances,
(14:04):
four division titles, two MVPs. Manny Ramirez didn't need to
end his career in Boston for it to be an
amazing career in Boston. Lamar Jackson can't beat Josh Allen
and Patrick Mahomes. Not a lot of people can the
last decade of the NFL, is it not? Basically the
headline could be Josh Allen can't beat Mahomes and Lamar
(14:28):
can't beat Josh Allen or Mahomes. A lot of people
could not get through Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. I
got news for you. It's hard to win a lot
of majors. Even Rory just finally won his first Master
seventeenth eighteenth try. So maybe I'm just too cold and
transactional but if somebody gives me eight amazing years in
(14:50):
life in any industry, it could be a personal relationship.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Why does the divorce have to be ugly?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Baltimore and Lamar have been excited and dynamic, second third
best winning percentage, more blowout wins than anybody else. If
I could get out from under Lamar's seventy four million
dollar potential cap hit next year, I would strongly consider it.
(15:19):
Why would it have to be ugly? Who's beaten Mahomes
the last eight years? Josh Allen in the regular season,
not in January. So and I like Lamar. I've I'm
a Lamar finn. When he came out of college, I'm like,
I'm not sure if that's going to work. I didn't
think he was going to be a wide receiver, but
he ran a lot and I thought may work against Clemson.
I'm not sure that's going to work in the NFL.
(15:40):
And then after about his fifth start, I'm like, Yeah,
that's going to work big time in the NFL, and
I'd love.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Watching him play.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
But in the last year, let's be honest, he and
Harbaugh felt a little weird. The report from the Baltimore Sun,
longtime beat writer, a little weird. I always use this line.
I've talked to a management about this throughout my career.
Weird doesn't age well. And when you have a relationship
(16:05):
that's quirky and kind of odd and and it's always
felt a little you know, it's not quite mahomes Reid right,
Like it's it's you know, well the stories.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Why is he not practicing?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Maybe it's time. But Ravens Harbaugh Lamar potentially they win
this weekend. You got you got eight years and seven
playoff appearances. I mean, Joe Burrow back to back years.
Can't get into the can't get into the dams. Here's
(16:38):
Matt hassel Back on how he views the Baltimore situation.
Speaker 8 (16:42):
For whatever reason, Lamar Jackson just doesn't look like Lamar
Jackson this year. You know, I don't know if it's
on the field, off the field, it's not the same
Tyler Huntley, you know, for for whatever reason, when he's
in the game, they lean more on Derrick Henry. They
use the flowers in the run game, like they get
a little bit more of what I think about Baltimore
ven football, Like we're going to be the hammer, not
to nail.
Speaker 7 (17:01):
We're not going to get too cute.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
You know, I use this a lot of times in
my personal life. If you think you have trauma or
a bad situation with one of your kids or your business,
and you go, okay, let's look back the last ten years.
Would you have signed up for the current situation? If
I would have told you with Lamar Jackson eight years,
seven playoffs, two MVPs, two hundred and nineteen total touchdowns,
(17:28):
several top ten offenses, would you sign up for it?
Speaker 3 (17:32):
There were people that weren't sure he was going to
be a quarterback. Signed up for it?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
You'd have signed up on the spot for massive eight
year cap hits. So if it breaks up, it was
a great run. Not every divorce has to be ugly.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern not am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Greg Cosel forty six years NFL film stops by. You know,
I had Mike Vrabel on yesterday and I said, you know,
obviously we thought he was good. I didn't think it
would be this good, this quick. How how do the Patriots?
But you saw him at Carolina, You saw him last year. Greg,
(18:17):
when you look at film, how do the Patriots play
to his straints?
Speaker 9 (18:24):
Well, I think you always look at what your quarterback is.
Speaker 10 (18:27):
You play to your quarterback.
Speaker 9 (18:29):
And I think one of the things that has really
stood out to me about Drake May has just been
his toughness in the pocket. I mean, we know he
can move, we know he's athletic, we know we can
throw on the run, but he is not a guy
that is affected by bodies around him. He is really
firm and tough in the pocket and he stays there
(18:49):
and that allows plays to play out and develop. Colin
and you know, there's so many quarterbacks now that are
great athletes, and I'm sure as a coach you don't
want to tell a quarter who's a great athlete never
to move. But the result often of quarterbacks that move
is that they move too soon. They break down the
timing and structure of the play, and they leave plays
(19:12):
on the field. Now, they may run for twenty yards
of times, and you're obviously good to say, hey, good play,
but at the end of the day, you really want
the plays to be run the way they're practiced. This
is what coaches do during the week and it's not
just the quarterback. It's the O line, it's the receivers,
it's the running backs, it's everybody works together in a structure,
(19:33):
and may allows that structure to play out to its fullest.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
So we watched the Rams get beat by Atlanta and
we went back and looked at a number that they're
strangely like. We've seen Seattle win when Sam didn't play well.
We've seen the Niners win with Mac Jones. We've seen
the Bears win do their run game. But if you
look at the Rams, if Stafford struggles, they lose. And
(19:58):
he had a lot of time to and it was
almost as if, I mean he airmailed a couple throws
and you're like, Matt, you are as good to arm
talent as the league shows. When you watch Stafford and
he gets a little unhinged and unravels, is it tempo
is at his feet?
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Because I thought Monday.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Early it just there were open receivers, or maybe it
was just the there weren't. Maybe the film said they
had him schemed, right, What did you see?
Speaker 9 (20:27):
I mean, look, I think that he just had a
game where he was inaccurate on certain throws. I remember
working with Ron Jaworski for one hundred years, and Joe's
would tell me there's two games a year where you
just didn't throw it great, and you know, you never
know what those two games are going to be, and
when those games happen, you hope that the rest of
the team picks you up.
Speaker 10 (20:46):
And I think Stafford just did not have a good game.
Speaker 9 (20:48):
But I would not use this game as a statement
as to what Matthew Stafford is. And by the way,
their run game has been very good for the most part.
It's just they don't have an explosive back, so you
don't think of it the way you think of And
by the way, b Jon Robinson to me is the
best back in the league. But their run game is
just not explosive. It's much more of a sustaining, grinding
(21:11):
run game.
Speaker 10 (21:12):
But it's been very good.
Speaker 9 (21:13):
I mean, you have one back that's got about eleven
hundred yards and another back that's probably close to eight
hundred yards. It's been a very strong run game. And
so I don't look at this game and say there's
something wrong with Matthew Stafford. Now there's no question, even
though he's not a true statue, that he's a pocket quarterback,
and if you can get consistent pressure on him, you
(21:34):
will speed him up a little. There's no question about that.
That's true of any quarterback.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
So Buffalo is fascinating. They're twenty third. They do a
lot of their scoring in the second half and in
the first half. They have been trailing in seven of
the last eight games in the second half, which is remarkable.
And I said this week, it's remarkable they have the
number one run game because they trail in the second
half in all these games. Why are they the first
(22:00):
to have is more of the scripted half usually? Why
are they so bad and inconsistent in the first half
in Buffalo?
Speaker 9 (22:07):
Well, I think, first of all, they are a running
football team, and I think that that's evident, and I
think that that's.
Speaker 10 (22:15):
The way they stabilize their offense.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
That's the way they create create sustainability with their offense
by running the football. They're very limited to some degree
in the past game Colin, because the one thing that
they don't have And if you listen to any really
smart you know the Tom Brady so I know you
talk to the Troy Aikman's.
Speaker 10 (22:34):
If you listen to those guys at some point.
Speaker 9 (22:36):
In this league, you need receivers on the outside who
can win one on one. They do not have that,
so there's a limitation to what they can do in
the past game. So the past game therefore has to
be highly schemed, and you know, sometimes that works and
sometimes it doesn't. You know, I saw a play last
week where they ran one of their staple plays, really
(22:57):
beautiful play that's worked many times for them, where they
send James Cook on a rail route through the line
of scrimmage. They've hit big plays on that many many
times over the last couple of years. And Zach Bond
saw it immediately and he just ran right with Cook
and it was incomplete. So it's a highly schemed pass
game by necessity because they just can't win one on
(23:18):
one on the outside. So that puts a tremendous limitation
on their pass game. And the reality is, we know
Josh Allen is a great player, that's not the point,
but you know, those kinds of superman plays that can't
be the foundation of how you go about winning every week.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
So let's talk Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
It's so interesting you were critical of them about a
month ago on this show. You said, you know, their
offense is kind of you know, it's kind of simple,
and then suddenly suddenly the next three weeks you're like,
well maybe it's not so simple. So if you were
an Eagles fan, they're going to rest some starters here
week eighteen. Do you do you like their momentum going
(24:01):
into the playoffs?
Speaker 9 (24:03):
Well, I didn't think they did a very good job
on tape in the past game.
Speaker 10 (24:06):
This week, I thought, although I thought Jalen.
Speaker 9 (24:08):
Hurts played very well in the first half, yes, and
in the second. In the second half, you know, they
had those five drives and they had seventeen plays for
seventeen yards, and he didn't complete a pass. So it's
very odd and it's not his I'm not blaming him.
I'm just saying it's very odd. But you know, their
run game has just not been what we've expected it
(24:29):
to be all the year, with the exception of a
few moments, you know, they're all line quite frankly, if
you'll look at tape, has not been very good. I
think Cam Jurgens has had a really difficult season at center.
I think the the sort of chemistry between Jurgens and
the left guard Dickerson, hasn't been what it was a
year ago. So I think at their core, Colin, they're
(24:53):
a running football team. They are a great defensive team,
which they are now. Their defense has led the league
in points allowed over the last eight weeks, and they
have a quarterback who, when he's at his best, is
really good at understanding his role within the structure of
their entire team, doesn't turn the ball over, executes in
big moments. But they're not a true passing team, So
(25:16):
you know, I'd like to see them do more in
the pass game. I think they're capable of it, but
they just don't.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
So we know this to be true.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
There are offensive coaches in this sport that are just
really good with young quarterbacks, Sean Pam bow Nicks, Ben
Johnson with kle I thought Caleb played now. The Niners
don't generate much of a pass rush unless Sala has
blitz packages. But in the last few weeks he's not
taken sacks. Caleb's never thrown a bunch of interceptions. He's
not a big interception guy, wasn't it usc But when
(25:49):
you look at Caleb today, if I gave you last
week's tape and eight weeks ago, it must look different.
Because the results feel different to me.
Speaker 10 (25:58):
Well, I gotta tell you, Colin, that's safe.
Speaker 9 (26:00):
I watched both sides of the ball in that game
really carefully because it was a really fun watch. And
I said to the guys in my matchup room after
I watched Caleb, or as I was watching him, I said,
you know what, this guy's going to be a great quarterback.
I just felt like I was watching a really good player. Now, granted,
he wasn't under a lot of pressure, and I know
the forty nine ers defense doesn't necessarily present a lot
(26:21):
of pressure, but still, I'm just isolating the play of
the quarterback. We just saw him throw that touchdown to Burden.
I don't think people realize how difficult a throw that
was and how easy he made it look. You know,
I think he'll get better at some of the scattershot throws.
I would assume he would. I don't think he's a
naturally inaccurate pass or by any means. You know, he's
(26:43):
just going to have to get a little better with
his accuracy on some throws that are you know, layups
by NFL standards. But I mean he's just so physically gifted,
and I mean he's such an easy natural thrower to
the football.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Okay, now let's talk about two offenses that are the
opposite of that, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The w's gonna go
to the playoffs. I have defended Aaron Rodgers all year
on this show. I've said, guys, DK Metcalf's not exactly
running every route in the tree. He's now out. They're
very tight end centric. I don't know how they move
(27:21):
the ball against Baltimore. I again, it's a Pittsburgh. Tomlin
is an underdog, has always been effective. Yeah, I look
at Aaron this year and my take is the reason
he's struggling is once again, they can't run the ball.
He doesn't really have a number two receiver. I don't
blame Aaron or Tomlin. I don't is there offensive personality good.
Speaker 10 (27:44):
That's not great.
Speaker 9 (27:45):
And Rogers is a guy that likes to work one
on ones on the outside, and they don't have those guys.
Speaker 10 (27:49):
So a lot of times.
Speaker 9 (27:50):
There's routes that look like they're available. And again we
don't know how he's taught or what the reds are.
So it's always easy to criticize if you see a
three by one set and the trip side looks like
the routes there, and he works to the one on ones.
He's always worked to the one on ones. And when
you have good receivers, I mean, I remember speaking to
coaches so many times over the years, Colin, and if
(28:11):
it's a three by one set, meaning three receivers to
one side and a single receiver usually to the boundary
side the short side, and if that guy's one on one,
pretty much every coach will tell you, hey, you throw
to the one on one.
Speaker 10 (28:22):
It's matchup football. It's the NFL. Now.
Speaker 9 (28:25):
The issue is they don't necessarily have those guys, so
you know, it's it comes across as Rogers not quote
unquote running the offense, but we don't know, you know,
how they teach it and what they want him to do,
but they just don't have those guys. So it's been
very very difficult. In fact, the last time they played
Baltimore and Metcalf played, and he's not playing in this game.
(28:47):
They've worked the one on ones beautifully, but it was Metcalf.
Speaker 10 (28:50):
So we'll see what they do this week.
Speaker 9 (28:52):
On the flip side, it's going to be Derrick Henry,
I mean, And the most amazing thing about this is
the use of record the fallback. Derrick Henry a very
high percentage of his runs this year have been with
Recard on the field, and last week in the game
against Green Bay eighteen for one p forty with Recard
on the field as an I formation fallback.
Speaker 10 (29:14):
So that's the way they're going to go, no matter
who plays quarterback.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Okay, so before we get to the Niners and I
have to eat some cow on purty before we get
to that. The staff is almost rooting against me because
they know my affection for Sam Darnold. I do think
Seattle is more of a defensive story than an offensive story.
But I will say Sam worked very well last year
with Justin Jefferson. I think he and JSN have exceptional
(29:41):
timing this year. Two different coaches, two different offenses, two
different styles. I think that's hard to do and be
a pro bowler in both. But I will say, when
I watch them, if you can bracket JSN, I'm not
necessarily sure what I trust. Offensively, I think they're at
deef defensive story to me, what's the film say they are?
Speaker 9 (30:04):
And I think you would agree that their past game
over the last month has been uneven that's true, you know.
I mean the first part of the season they really
pushed the ball down the field and had great success.
The last month it's been uneven. Look, their run game worked.
Last week we saw Charbonneau get one to ten. I
doubt that happens every week, you know. I don't think
that would happen against the Niners, but who knows. But
(30:26):
their run game, they have not had a run game
this year, Colin to really fall back on when the
pass game has been somewhat uneven, which it has been,
so you're right, it's really been JSN and not much
else in the past game, and that's been a little
bit of a concern. So you know, I almost look
at this game the other side of the ball because
(30:47):
if the Niners can score a lot, and I don't
know that they will, this is a really good defense
and they're at the forefront of the big nickel in
the NFL, which has become a trend with three safeties
instead of three linebackers. Nickim Min Warrior is such a
key to what Seattle does on defense, and their d
line has been absolutely phenomenal. I mean, I'm not sure
a lot of people are talking about Byron Murphy, but
(31:10):
he's you know, there's two defensive tackles this year that
have played so well, and one's on a really bad team,
Jeffrey Simmons, who I think has been the best de
tackle in the league.
Speaker 10 (31:19):
But Byron Murphy has played really, really.
Speaker 9 (31:21):
Well, and in the context of that Seattle defense, no
one's talking about him.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Okay, listen, I've said I like rockfordy, but the last
month he has been sensational. And in fact, before this
past week, he'd never won a game when Kittle didn't play.
I think it was if you go back to his career,
he struggles without Kittle. So I thought this week and
it would be choppy. No, he was sensational. You tell
(31:48):
me what makes him? Yeah, And I mean Garoppolo and
Mac Jones, Matt Schaub, everybody feels I mean, they worked
to some degree with Shanahan, but it feels like of
all the quarterbacks he's had, this kid, shann just loves
him for a lot of reasons. What's the film say? Why?
Speaker 10 (32:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (32:08):
I mean, I know you talk to Brady pretty much
every week, and I'd love to get his take on
this whole concept of pure progression, because pure progression is
what the forty nine ers are based on. And I
think the pure progression, in his purest form is that
the quarterback doesn't really need to know much about defense.
But I think in the NFL that's it can't quite
be like that.
Speaker 10 (32:29):
Now.
Speaker 9 (32:29):
It's not the same as old school offensive football, where
you know, you pick a side, a man's side, his
own side. It's not like that, but it's but I
think you have to have some sense of defense to
some degree. But I think Purdy, and particularly in this
year of NFL football Colin, where defenses change, they change
the picture pre snap to post snap, you can't be
(32:50):
oblivious to the defense. And I think Purdy just has
such an innate feel of seeing it right away. Whatever
it is, he sees it right away. It was hard
to know coming out of college because the college game
is so different, you know, with the hashmark spread further apart,
there's more open space. And I just think that you know,
(33:11):
two things that he does so well that we're tough
to know in college, timing and anticipation and just innately
seeing it right away. And I think the play we're
going to show is a great example. I mean, I'm
sure it was pure progression, and I'm sure the Jennings
touchdown was the read and we can go to that
play right now. I'm sure the Jennings touchdown was the
(33:31):
primary read because they throw those inbreakers all the.
Speaker 10 (33:34):
Time and they got the right coverage for it.
Speaker 9 (33:37):
So I mean, ultimately, you know that's what happened here,
and we'll break it down because I thought this was
absolutely beautiful, but it just, you know, it's fascinating to me.
It's a real wonderful philosophical discussion. So perty's in the
gun here and they're in a two by two set,
and the two key players here are going to be
used Check and Jennings.
Speaker 10 (33:58):
They're on the left side of the formation.
Speaker 9 (34:00):
Now you're going to use Check go in shortened motion here,
and that's important because what that is going to do
is it's going to expand the corner and it's going
to give Jennings free access into his route because you
don't want his timing disrupted. That's so critical in these
pure progression schemes. Now, look what you get from a
coverage standpoint. You're going to get cover two here, and
(34:22):
then the mic linebacker Edwards, he's going to open to
the wide side of the field.
Speaker 10 (34:27):
That's what you normally do in cover two.
Speaker 9 (34:29):
So now what we get back to is we get
Jennings dig route and like I said, that's the primary read.
That's the sequencing, the number one in the sequence. Now
tongue is the tight end. He's going to run right
at Edwards and he holds him down and it works
perfectly on this play because what you get here is
a big void. And so now, as I said, I'm
(34:51):
almost positive this is the primary read. But now he's
going to make this throw into the void and he
hits Jennings in stride with run after attached, and it
becomes a touchdown. And we're going to show this play
from behind Perdy Colin, because I want people to see
the timing and anticipation that's involved here. And I think
I'm not sure you can teach this right now, Look
(35:13):
where Jennings is. Purdy has just started to separate his
hands to throw the ball. So, you know, you talk
about an innate sense and feel for timing and anticipation,
which by the way, is essential in a Mike Shanahan offense.
I've heard Steve Young talk about that, you know, with
Bill Walls about how you have to make the throw before.
Speaker 10 (35:33):
The guy is where he is.
Speaker 9 (35:35):
You know, you've got to trust it, and Purdy does
that exceptionally well.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Yep, Greg Cosel forty six years NFL films as ohs, Greg,
great stuff.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 10 (35:46):
Thanks Colin, Happy New year. Talk to you next week.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Yeah, college football and pro football feel more aligned. But
it was four or five six years ago. I remember
when Mahomes came out, and he came out, what's seven
eight years ago? When Mahomes came out, I was one
of them. I'm like, none of these big twelve quarterbacks
work in the NFL. It's a it's all like flag football.
It's a pillow fight if this stuff gonna work. And
you know, I mean if why, I mean I watched
(36:08):
Mahomes play like once or twice in college football. My
take is this is not it's like a run and
shoot football from the seventies. It's college college flag football.
Nobody tackles. It's fifty two to forty six, and a
bunch of these big twelve quarterbacks just didn't work. So
now you look at it and you think, well, now
the NFL and college are more closer aligned. In fact,
I was talking to an NFL coach probably three weeks ago,
(36:32):
a really good NFL coach, and he said, Fernanda Mendoza
is an easy guy to scout because so much of
what Indiana does has NFL guys and NFL schemes. So
you can watch him and see what he can do,
and see what he can and he's not an A
plus prospect. He's a very good prospect, he said, but
it'll be an easy watch. They're doing stuff that we
(36:52):
do on Sunday, and that's not always been the case
with college football.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Oh here we go New Year's Eve.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I don't know about to rest you party time tonight, buck, guys,
chains we are live.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
It is Wednesday in Chicago. It's the Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Wherever you may be and however you may be watching
or listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
Greg Calsell one hour from now. You know you learn
something as a dad when you have kids. You know
you can only threaten them and their video games so
many times you have to find different things to use.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
His levers.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So the Lakers get house last night, they get crushed
by Detroit and JJ Reddick's banging on the officials. Well
it's not the officials. The Lakers actually shot more free
throws than Detroit. Detroit shot sixty three percent from the field.
It was the second worst defensive performance by any NBA
team all year. Players guarded by Luca and Lebron shot
(01:30):
sixty eight percent. But JJ Reddick is discovering what dads know.
You can't keep ripping the kids, and you can't keep
ripping the team or they'll tune you out. And so
after the game, of course, JJ, well, I've already used
ripped the team. Lever what JJ Reddick is finding out.
He's the seventh coach the Lakers have had since Phil,
(01:54):
none of them lasts more than three seasons, and JJ
Reddick is now thirty one games in, trapped with a
completely utterly flawed roster built by Rob Polinka. You don't
have a multitude of three point shooters, no rim protection,
you're not athletic on the wing the last seven NBA champs.
(02:15):
There are things that you have to have. You have
to be at least solid defensively. That's what Denver was
with Jokic. Multiple three point shooters, athletic wings. They don't
check any of the boxes, and he's trying to pull
every lever.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
But this is what Laker coach is.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
They're not a viable team in the West, and he's
already ripped the team and threatened them with hard practices.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
So you know, I look at.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
This and.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Time and time again. When Phil was here.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
The Lakers' biggest issue was you had the late Jerry West,
you had Phil over the course of twenty and thirty years.
It's the buses, it's pat Riley. You had all these
smart people, and could you keep them in the same
building to get the long and the answer. You know,
Riley goes to Miami. Now you have coaches. I think
Frank Vogel's pretty smart. Coach Mike Brown, he's now doing
(03:09):
a good job with the Knicks. And JJ Reddick's schemes
are great. You know, the Lakers are ten and oh
and clutch games this year ten and oh. But JJ
Reddick can't get him into clutch games because they get
blown out because they can't guard anybody. They also need
to be younger, and it's the second third oldest roster.
The West is all about youth and multiple three point
(03:32):
shooters and athletic wings and rim protection, and the Lakers
don't check any of the boxes. So here is JJ Reddick.
He's like, yeah, he's officials. It's like, I mean, the
Pistons are not a good three point shooting team. Last night,
I'm looking at their three point shots forty six percent.
(03:52):
I mean it was layup line, it was it was
practice shots. So I just feel like it's groundhog Day.
I've seen this before. It's always blamed the coach in LA. Well,
JJ Reddick's a scheme guy. If you ask coaches in
the NBA, he's very good with schemes. So he's ten
and zero clutch games with an old Lebron and a
(04:13):
star in Luca that can't guard me. But the reality
is they can't get into those close games. Good teams
like Detroit blow their doors off. Do you know how
ridiculous it is to shoot sixty three percent in an
NBA game? So last night he rips the officials. Well
(04:33):
that I've used every other lever. I've seen other Laker
coaches do this. They blame the roster, they blame they
never go you know, could somebody just say this out loud,
this roster's not a viable championship roster over the last
seven to eight years. You start looking at it, it's
not when they had Lebron closer to his prime, Anthony
Davis rim protection KCP.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
That was that was even though even though.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Lebron was getting older, like oh rim protect dual scores
little more athletic on the wing. Three point shooter KCP
from the corner. That's what a championship roster looks like.
This isn't close. Here's Reddick after frustrated with the refs.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
I think there's probably a level of frustration when you're
turning the ball over and you're feeling like you're getting fouled.
There's frustration there for sure. But I mean again, I
said it in here, we said it this morning. They're
going to foul every possession. It's just you get to
play through it.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Okay, So tonight there you look at it. And for
the record Lakers in December, I'm putting this up for
the TV audience. It's getting worse, so the question, and
I think JJ Reddick can feel this is the team
tuning him out. It was bad, now it's getting worse.
I mean, the longer a good coach has a team,
the better you get. The Lakers are getting worse. They're
(05:54):
old and they're tired of getting ripped. And I think
JJ Reddick, no, that okay, we got to pull another lever.
The Zebras were terrible last night. Now Lakers shot more
free throws. That wasn't it Okay? So tonight Miami. I
like the points close game twenty seven to twenty. Ohio
State Miami maybe lower scoring. And Wall Street Journal did
(06:20):
a story recently. More people watched at least, you know,
ten minutes of college football this year than any other time.
People are watching college football, and I'm one of those
people that I don't care how we get there in life,
as long as we get there. And for the first
time in my life, the best eight teams are left,
(06:44):
without question. That's what I care about. You guys keep
telling me March Madness is great. Twenty teams are unwatchable.
The first round average margin of victory in March Madness
is seventeen points. But you get one or two upsets
and you're like, oh, it's Magico. It's awful blowouts in
(07:04):
a lot of empty afternoon arenas. I get West Coast Oregon,
flashy Miami, the blue bloods like Bama, Georgia, Ohio State.
I get newcomers like Indiana and Texas Tech. I get everything.
I get Mendoza, the consensus number one quarterback, Ty Simpson,
the underrated Southern quarterback Julian saying Dante Moore could be
(07:29):
one in two and next year's draft at quarterback. I
don't want to hear about the labor. Show me the baby.
I don't care how you got there. When I'm going
on a nine day vacation, I may get a middle seat.
The flight's delayed. They run into pretzels. When my feet
hit the water in Turks and Caicos, I'm good. Show
(07:52):
me the baby. I don't care about the labor. Everybody
spends so much time catastrophizing the how and why AI robots,
we're all doomed. Or maybe, like the Internet, the economy
expands and the smart people figure it out. I look
(08:13):
at college football. I get everything. I get my West
Coast power, I get my blue bloods. I get the
new guys, I get the best quarterbacks. Tonight, I get
the former national champion. Doesn't feel like the Margins are
quite as big this year. Miami could upset them. Don't
think they will, but they could. We have all this
mythology about how great the basketball tournament is and there
(08:36):
are blowouts everywhere. Seventeen points first round. Who cares about
James Madison and Tulane. These playoffs in college feel more
like the NFL playoffs. And you know why that's good
because nobody ever complains about the NFL playoffs. The numbers
show it. The audience, the consumer likes it. They like
(08:58):
the structure, the dependability, and the quality. And that's what
I like tonight. I'm getting West Coast blue blood new guys,
old guys, best quarterbacks, some young, Some'm ready to play
in the pros. I think tonight is close. But regardless,
Notre Dame was not one of the eight best teams.
They're not here. Texas was not one of the eight
(09:21):
best teams. They're not here, and I'm comfortable with both.
Here's Joel Klatt on what he expects tonight.
Speaker 5 (09:29):
I think that Miami had the benefit of playing against
a team that was overmatched, had an incredibly easy SEC
schedule in Texas, A and m and a quarterback that
really played poorly and they and they won barely. This
Ohio State team is different. You know, They've got absolute
dudes on the outside. On the offensive side, They're going
to have a whole month to prepare. We saw what
(09:50):
they did in the playoffs a year ago. They've got
a quarterback that throws it accurately in a defense that's
the best defense since the twenty eleven Alabama team.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
What I'm really fascinated about, what if you look at
the bracket, you can put it up again.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
We had Michigan win a Nanty. We had a Ohio
State win a Natty.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I've got a feeling we're gonna end up with Ohio
State in Indiana playing again for the Natty. Big Ten,
Big ten, Big ten versus Big Ten. Now I don't
watch bowl games anymore, not even the USC's, but it
does feel like if you're one of the people that does,
(10:33):
I've seen highlights. We've got a little changing of the
guard in college football. Jmac, Jmack, you came in this
morning with a little chip on your shoulder with the trojans.
I decided, after looking at the two deeps an hour
and a half before the game and I couldn't recognize
half the offensive players that I was going to watch
a documentary on some streaming service.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
How the game turn out.
Speaker 6 (10:54):
I only watch the ending because, you know, just an
action play for fun.
Speaker 7 (10:57):
It's what was last night Tuesday.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
Let me take usc TCU's quarterback was ruled out you know,
transfer portals action and USC like up ten in the
fourth and then not tackling in overtime.
Speaker 7 (11:08):
Colin it was third and twenty.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Just wrap up.
Speaker 7 (11:11):
TCU ties it on a field goal.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
We go to double overtime, and three guys totally with
I mean, the announcers, I forget who they were, were
just stunned.
Speaker 7 (11:20):
I mean, I think everybody was.
Speaker 6 (11:21):
The referee kept saying it's not over, the game's not
over because they.
Speaker 7 (11:25):
Thought, oh, he had to go out of bounds. He didn't.
TCU with the win.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Well and Lincoln Riley, hey, he was taking some heat
from some prominent media folks last night online. Your boy
going into next year a big season at USC.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
It's hard for me to take these ball games seriously.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Like I I mean, Notre Dame got invited to one.
They're like, no thanks, Yeah, I was told USC A
lot of these coaches, from what I'm being told, their
only reason they want to go to the bowl games
is the extra practices for their young players that don't play.
So all right, we got good stuff, very interest. A
prominent NFL media member suggests a landing spot for Lamar
(12:05):
Jackson of the Ravens that would be really, really interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (12:21):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 6 (12:22):
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing
the same tired narratives down your.
Speaker 7 (12:32):
Throat every day. Straight Fire gives.
Speaker 6 (12:34):
You honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate
stats to.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
Help you win big at the sportsbook, and all the
best guests.
Speaker 6 (12:41):
Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with
Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Greg co sl forty minutes from now, you know, New
Year's Eve, you start sort of looking yourself in the
mirrors we come into the new year. Last year, I
pulled way back on conniments, way back, really pulled back.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
This year.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
You know, I was thinking maybe I'm just too cold,
too transactional. I should fall in love more. And I
was thinking about these rumors about Lamar Jackson. A prominent
NFL agent said, keep your eye on the Minnesota Vikings.
The Baltimore Sun had reported that he wanted to play
Lamar Miami Dolphins because he went to high school down there,
(13:40):
and so I'd be okay with it. Like not every
divorce has to be Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Since
he joined the Ravens, third best winning percentage in the league,
number one point differential in the league, number two in
total points in the league, eight years, potentially seven playoff appearances,
(14:04):
four division titles, two MVPs. Manny Ramirez didn't need to
end his career in Boston for it to be an
amazing career in Boston. Lamar Jackson can't beat Josh Allen
and Patrick Mahomes. Not a lot of people can the
last decade of the NFL, is it not? Basically the
headline could be Josh Allen can't beat Mahomes and Lamar
(14:28):
can't beat Josh Allen or Mahomes. A lot of people
could not get through Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. I
got news for you. It's hard to win a lot
of majors. Even Rory just finally won his first Master
seventeenth eighteenth try. So maybe I'm just too cold and
transactional but if somebody gives me eight amazing years in
(14:50):
life in any industry, it could be a personal relationship.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Why does the divorce have to be ugly?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Baltimore and Lamar have been excited and dynamic, second third
best winning percentage, more blowout wins than anybody else. If
I could get out from under Lamar's seventy four million
dollar potential cap hit next year, I would strongly consider it.
(15:19):
Why would it have to be ugly? Who's beaten Mahomes
the last eight years? Josh Allen in the regular season,
not in January. So and I like Lamar. I've I'm
a Lamar finn. When he came out of college, I'm like,
I'm not sure if that's going to work. I didn't
think he was going to be a wide receiver, but
he ran a lot and I thought may work against Clemson.
I'm not sure that's going to work in the NFL.
(15:40):
And then after about his fifth start, I'm like, Yeah,
that's going to work big time in the NFL, and
I'd love.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Watching him play.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
But in the last year, let's be honest, he and
Harbaugh felt a little weird. The report from the Baltimore Sun,
longtime beat writer, a little weird. I always use this line.
I've talked to a management about this throughout my career.
Weird doesn't age well. And when you have a relationship
(16:05):
that's quirky and kind of odd and and it's always
felt a little you know, it's not quite mahomes Reid right,
Like it's it's you know, well the stories.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Why is he not practicing?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Maybe it's time. But Ravens Harbaugh Lamar potentially they win
this weekend. You got you got eight years and seven
playoff appearances. I mean, Joe Burrow back to back years.
Can't get into the can't get into the dams. Here's
(16:38):
Matt hassel Back on how he views the Baltimore situation.
Speaker 8 (16:42):
For whatever reason, Lamar Jackson just doesn't look like Lamar
Jackson this year. You know, I don't know if it's
on the field, off the field, it's not the same
Tyler Huntley, you know, for for whatever reason, when he's
in the game, they lean more on Derrick Henry. They
use the flowers in the run game, like they get
a little bit more of what I think about Baltimore
ven football, Like we're going to be the hammer, not
to nail.
Speaker 7 (17:01):
We're not going to get too cute.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
You know, I use this a lot of times in
my personal life. If you think you have trauma or
a bad situation with one of your kids or your business,
and you go, okay, let's look back the last ten years.
Would you have signed up for the current situation? If
I would have told you with Lamar Jackson eight years,
seven playoffs, two MVPs, two hundred and nineteen total touchdowns,
(17:28):
several top ten offenses, would you sign up for it?
Speaker 3 (17:32):
There were people that weren't sure he was going to
be a quarterback. Signed up for it?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
You'd have signed up on the spot for massive eight
year cap hits. So if it breaks up, it was
a great run. Not every divorce has to be ugly.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
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Speaker 1 (17:55):
Greg Cosel forty six years NFL film stops by. You know,
I had Mike Vrabel on yesterday and I said, you know,
obviously we thought he was good. I didn't think it
would be this good, this quick. How how do the Patriots?
But you saw him at Carolina, You saw him last year. Greg,
(18:17):
when you look at film, how do the Patriots play
to his straints?
Speaker 9 (18:24):
Well, I think you always look at what your quarterback is.
Speaker 10 (18:27):
You play to your quarterback.
Speaker 9 (18:29):
And I think one of the things that has really
stood out to me about Drake May has just been
his toughness in the pocket. I mean, we know he
can move, we know he's athletic, we know we can
throw on the run, but he is not a guy
that is affected by bodies around him. He is really
firm and tough in the pocket and he stays there
(18:49):
and that allows plays to play out and develop. Colin
and you know, there's so many quarterbacks now that are
great athletes, and I'm sure as a coach you don't
want to tell a quarter who's a great athlete never
to move. But the result often of quarterbacks that move
is that they move too soon. They break down the
timing and structure of the play, and they leave plays
(19:12):
on the field. Now, they may run for twenty yards
of times, and you're obviously good to say, hey, good play,
but at the end of the day, you really want
the plays to be run the way they're practiced. This
is what coaches do during the week and it's not
just the quarterback. It's the O line, it's the receivers,
it's the running backs, it's everybody works together in a structure,
(19:33):
and may allows that structure to play out to its fullest.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
So we watched the Rams get beat by Atlanta and
we went back and looked at a number that they're
strangely like. We've seen Seattle win when Sam didn't play well.
We've seen the Niners win with Mac Jones. We've seen
the Bears win do their run game. But if you
look at the Rams, if Stafford struggles, they lose. And
(19:58):
he had a lot of time to and it was
almost as if, I mean he airmailed a couple throws
and you're like, Matt, you are as good to arm
talent as the league shows. When you watch Stafford and
he gets a little unhinged and unravels, is it tempo
is at his feet?
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Because I thought Monday.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Early it just there were open receivers, or maybe it
was just the there weren't. Maybe the film said they
had him schemed, right, What did you see?
Speaker 9 (20:27):
I mean, look, I think that he just had a
game where he was inaccurate on certain throws. I remember
working with Ron Jaworski for one hundred years, and Joe's
would tell me there's two games a year where you
just didn't throw it great, and you know, you never
know what those two games are going to be, and
when those games happen, you hope that the rest of
the team picks you up.
Speaker 10 (20:46):
And I think Stafford just did not have a good game.
Speaker 9 (20:48):
But I would not use this game as a statement
as to what Matthew Stafford is. And by the way,
their run game has been very good for the most part.
It's just they don't have an explosive back, so you
don't think of it the way you think of And
by the way, b Jon Robinson to me is the
best back in the league. But their run game is
just not explosive. It's much more of a sustaining, grinding
(21:11):
run game.
Speaker 10 (21:12):
But it's been very good.
Speaker 9 (21:13):
I mean, you have one back that's got about eleven
hundred yards and another back that's probably close to eight
hundred yards. It's been a very strong run game. And
so I don't look at this game and say there's
something wrong with Matthew Stafford. Now there's no question, even
though he's not a true statue, that he's a pocket quarterback,
and if you can get consistent pressure on him, you
(21:34):
will speed him up a little. There's no question about that.
That's true of any quarterback.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
So Buffalo is fascinating. They're twenty third. They do a
lot of their scoring in the second half and in
the first half. They have been trailing in seven of
the last eight games in the second half, which is remarkable.
And I said this week, it's remarkable they have the
number one run game because they trail in the second
half in all these games. Why are they the first
(22:00):
to have is more of the scripted half usually? Why
are they so bad and inconsistent in the first half
in Buffalo?
Speaker 9 (22:07):
Well, I think, first of all, they are a running
football team, and I think that that's evident, and I
think that that's.
Speaker 10 (22:15):
The way they stabilize their offense.
Speaker 9 (22:17):
That's the way they create create sustainability with their offense
by running the football. They're very limited to some degree
in the past game Colin, because the one thing that
they don't have And if you listen to any really
smart you know the Tom Brady so I know you
talk to the Troy Aikman's.
Speaker 10 (22:34):
If you listen to those guys at some point.
Speaker 9 (22:36):
In this league, you need receivers on the outside who
can win one on one. They do not have that,
so there's a limitation to what they can do in
the past game. So the past game therefore has to
be highly schemed, and you know, sometimes that works and
sometimes it doesn't. You know, I saw a play last
week where they ran one of their staple plays, really
(22:57):
beautiful play that's worked many times for them, where they
send James Cook on a rail route through the line
of scrimmage. They've hit big plays on that many many
times over the last couple of years. And Zach Bond
saw it immediately and he just ran right with Cook
and it was incomplete. So it's a highly schemed pass
game by necessity because they just can't win one on
(23:18):
one on the outside. So that puts a tremendous limitation
on their pass game. And the reality is, we know
Josh Allen is a great player, that's not the point,
but you know, those kinds of superman plays that can't
be the foundation of how you go about winning every week.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
So let's talk Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
It's so interesting you were critical of them about a
month ago on this show. You said, you know, their
offense is kind of you know, it's kind of simple,
and then suddenly suddenly the next three weeks you're like,
well maybe it's not so simple. So if you were
an Eagles fan, they're going to rest some starters here
week eighteen. Do you do you like their momentum going
(24:01):
into the playoffs?
Speaker 9 (24:03):
Well, I didn't think they did a very good job
on tape in the past game.
Speaker 10 (24:06):
This week, I thought, although I thought Jalen.
Speaker 9 (24:08):
Hurts played very well in the first half, yes, and
in the second. In the second half, you know, they
had those five drives and they had seventeen plays for
seventeen yards, and he didn't complete a pass. So it's
very odd and it's not his I'm not blaming him.
I'm just saying it's very odd. But you know, their
run game has just not been what we've expected it
(24:29):
to be all the year, with the exception of a
few moments, you know, they're all line quite frankly, if
you'll look at tape, has not been very good. I
think Cam Jurgens has had a really difficult season at center.
I think the the sort of chemistry between Jurgens and
the left guard Dickerson, hasn't been what it was a
year ago. So I think at their core, Colin, they're
(24:53):
a running football team. They are a great defensive team,
which they are now. Their defense has led the league
in points allowed over the last eight weeks, and they
have a quarterback who, when he's at his best, is
really good at understanding his role within the structure of
their entire team, doesn't turn the ball over, executes in
big moments. But they're not a true passing team, So
(25:16):
you know, I'd like to see them do more in
the pass game. I think they're capable of it, but
they just don't.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
So we know this to be true.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
There are offensive coaches in this sport that are just
really good with young quarterbacks, Sean Pam bow Nicks, Ben
Johnson with kle I thought Caleb played now. The Niners
don't generate much of a pass rush unless Sala has
blitz packages. But in the last few weeks he's not
taken sacks. Caleb's never thrown a bunch of interceptions. He's
not a big interception guy, wasn't it usc But when
(25:49):
you look at Caleb today, if I gave you last
week's tape and eight weeks ago, it must look different.
Because the results feel different to me.
Speaker 10 (25:58):
Well, I gotta tell you, Colin, that's safe.
Speaker 9 (26:00):
I watched both sides of the ball in that game
really carefully because it was a really fun watch. And
I said to the guys in my matchup room after
I watched Caleb, or as I was watching him, I said,
you know what, this guy's going to be a great quarterback.
I just felt like I was watching a really good player. Now, granted,
he wasn't under a lot of pressure, and I know
the forty nine ers defense doesn't necessarily present a lot
(26:21):
of pressure, but still, I'm just isolating the play of
the quarterback. We just saw him throw that touchdown to Burden.
I don't think people realize how difficult a throw that
was and how easy he made it look. You know,
I think he'll get better at some of the scattershot throws.
I would assume he would. I don't think he's a
naturally inaccurate pass or by any means. You know, he's
(26:43):
just going to have to get a little better with
his accuracy on some throws that are you know, layups
by NFL standards. But I mean he's just so physically gifted,
and I mean he's such an easy natural thrower to
the football.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Okay, now let's talk about two offenses that are the
opposite of that, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The w's gonna go
to the playoffs. I have defended Aaron Rodgers all year
on this show. I've said, guys, DK Metcalf's not exactly
running every route in the tree. He's now out. They're
very tight end centric. I don't know how they move
(27:21):
the ball against Baltimore. I again, it's a Pittsburgh. Tomlin
is an underdog, has always been effective. Yeah, I look
at Aaron this year and my take is the reason
he's struggling is once again, they can't run the ball.
He doesn't really have a number two receiver. I don't
blame Aaron or Tomlin. I don't is there offensive personality good.
Speaker 10 (27:44):
That's not great.
Speaker 9 (27:45):
And Rogers is a guy that likes to work one
on ones on the outside, and they don't have those guys.
Speaker 10 (27:49):
So a lot of times.
Speaker 9 (27:50):
There's routes that look like they're available. And again we
don't know how he's taught or what the reds are.
So it's always easy to criticize if you see a
three by one set and the trip side looks like
the routes there, and he works to the one on ones.
He's always worked to the one on ones. And when
you have good receivers, I mean, I remember speaking to
coaches so many times over the years, Colin, and if
(28:11):
it's a three by one set, meaning three receivers to
one side and a single receiver usually to the boundary
side the short side, and if that guy's one on one,
pretty much every coach will tell you, hey, you throw
to the one on one.
Speaker 10 (28:22):
It's matchup football. It's the NFL. Now.
Speaker 9 (28:25):
The issue is they don't necessarily have those guys, so
you know, it's it comes across as Rogers not quote
unquote running the offense, but we don't know, you know,
how they teach it and what they want him to do,
but they just don't have those guys. So it's been
very very difficult. In fact, the last time they played
Baltimore and Metcalf played, and he's not playing in this game.
(28:47):
They've worked the one on ones beautifully, but it was Metcalf.
Speaker 10 (28:50):
So we'll see what they do this week.
Speaker 9 (28:52):
On the flip side, it's going to be Derrick Henry,
I mean, And the most amazing thing about this is
the use of record the fallback. Derrick Henry a very
high percentage of his runs this year have been with
Recard on the field, and last week in the game
against Green Bay eighteen for one p forty with Recard
on the field as an I formation fallback.
Speaker 10 (29:14):
So that's the way they're going to go, no matter
who plays quarterback.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Okay, so before we get to the Niners and I
have to eat some cow on purty before we get
to that. The staff is almost rooting against me because
they know my affection for Sam Darnold. I do think
Seattle is more of a defensive story than an offensive story.
But I will say Sam worked very well last year
with Justin Jefferson. I think he and JSN have exceptional
(29:41):
timing this year. Two different coaches, two different offenses, two
different styles. I think that's hard to do and be
a pro bowler in both. But I will say, when
I watch them, if you can bracket JSN, I'm not
necessarily sure what I trust. Offensively, I think they're at
deef defensive story to me, what's the film say they are?
Speaker 9 (30:04):
And I think you would agree that their past game
over the last month has been uneven that's true, you know.
I mean the first part of the season they really
pushed the ball down the field and had great success.
The last month it's been uneven. Look, their run game worked.
Last week we saw Charbonneau get one to ten. I
doubt that happens every week, you know. I don't think
that would happen against the Niners, but who knows. But
(30:26):
their run game, they have not had a run game
this year, Colin to really fall back on when the
pass game has been somewhat uneven, which it has been,
so you're right, it's really been JSN and not much
else in the past game, and that's been a little
bit of a concern. So you know, I almost look
at this game the other side of the ball because
(30:47):
if the Niners can score a lot, and I don't
know that they will, this is a really good defense
and they're at the forefront of the big nickel in
the NFL, which has become a trend with three safeties
instead of three linebackers. Nickim Min Warrior is such a
key to what Seattle does on defense, and their d
line has been absolutely phenomenal. I mean, I'm not sure
a lot of people are talking about Byron Murphy, but
(31:10):
he's you know, there's two defensive tackles this year that
have played so well, and one's on a really bad team,
Jeffrey Simmons, who I think has been the best de
tackle in the league.
Speaker 10 (31:19):
But Byron Murphy has played really, really.
Speaker 9 (31:21):
Well, and in the context of that Seattle defense, no
one's talking about him.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Okay, listen, I've said I like rockfordy, but the last
month he has been sensational. And in fact, before this
past week, he'd never won a game when Kittle didn't play.
I think it was if you go back to his career,
he struggles without Kittle. So I thought this week and
it would be choppy. No, he was sensational. You tell
(31:48):
me what makes him? Yeah, And I mean Garoppolo and
Mac Jones, Matt Schaub, everybody feels I mean, they worked
to some degree with Shanahan, but it feels like of
all the quarterbacks he's had, this kid, shann just loves
him for a lot of reasons. What's the film say? Why?
Speaker 10 (32:07):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (32:08):
I mean, I know you talk to Brady pretty much
every week, and I'd love to get his take on
this whole concept of pure progression, because pure progression is
what the forty nine ers are based on. And I
think the pure progression, in his purest form is that
the quarterback doesn't really need to know much about defense.
But I think in the NFL that's it can't quite
be like that.
Speaker 10 (32:29):
Now.
Speaker 9 (32:29):
It's not the same as old school offensive football, where
you know, you pick a side, a man's side, his
own side. It's not like that, but it's but I
think you have to have some sense of defense to
some degree. But I think Purdy, and particularly in this
year of NFL football Colin, where defenses change, they change
the picture pre snap to post snap, you can't be
(32:50):
oblivious to the defense. And I think Purdy just has
such an innate feel of seeing it right away. Whatever
it is, he sees it right away. It was hard
to know coming out of college because the college game
is so different, you know, with the hashmark spread further apart,
there's more open space. And I just think that you know,
(33:11):
two things that he does so well that we're tough
to know in college, timing and anticipation and just innately
seeing it right away. And I think the play we're
going to show is a great example. I mean, I'm
sure it was pure progression, and I'm sure the Jennings
touchdown was the read and we can go to that
play right now. I'm sure the Jennings touchdown was the
(33:31):
primary read because they throw those inbreakers all the.
Speaker 10 (33:34):
Time and they got the right coverage for it.
Speaker 9 (33:37):
So I mean, ultimately, you know that's what happened here,
and we'll break it down because I thought this was
absolutely beautiful, but it just, you know, it's fascinating to me.
It's a real wonderful philosophical discussion. So perty's in the
gun here and they're in a two by two set,
and the two key players here are going to be
used Check and Jennings.
Speaker 10 (33:58):
They're on the left side of the formation.
Speaker 9 (34:00):
Now you're going to use Check go in shortened motion here,
and that's important because what that is going to do
is it's going to expand the corner and it's going
to give Jennings free access into his route because you
don't want his timing disrupted. That's so critical in these
pure progression schemes. Now, look what you get from a
coverage standpoint. You're going to get cover two here, and
(34:22):
then the mic linebacker Edwards, he's going to open to
the wide side of the field.
Speaker 10 (34:27):
That's what you normally do in cover two.
Speaker 9 (34:29):
So now what we get back to is we get
Jennings dig route and like I said, that's the primary read.
That's the sequencing, the number one in the sequence. Now
tongue is the tight end. He's going to run right
at Edwards and he holds him down and it works
perfectly on this play because what you get here is
a big void. And so now, as I said, I'm
(34:51):
almost positive this is the primary read. But now he's
going to make this throw into the void and he
hits Jennings in stride with run after attached, and it
becomes a touchdown. And we're going to show this play
from behind Perdy Colin, because I want people to see
the timing and anticipation that's involved here. And I think
I'm not sure you can teach this right now, Look
(35:13):
where Jennings is. Purdy has just started to separate his
hands to throw the ball. So, you know, you talk
about an innate sense and feel for timing and anticipation,
which by the way, is essential in a Mike Shanahan offense.
I've heard Steve Young talk about that, you know, with
Bill Walls about how you have to make the throw before.
Speaker 10 (35:33):
The guy is where he is.
Speaker 9 (35:35):
You know, you've got to trust it, and Purdy does
that exceptionally well.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Yep, Greg Cosel forty six years NFL films as ohs, Greg,
great stuff.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 10 (35:46):
Thanks Colin, Happy New year. Talk to you next week.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Yeah, college football and pro football feel more aligned. But
it was four or five six years ago. I remember
when Mahomes came out, and he came out, what's seven
eight years ago? When Mahomes came out, I was one
of them. I'm like, none of these big twelve quarterbacks
work in the NFL. It's a it's all like flag football.
It's a pillow fight if this stuff gonna work. And
you know, I mean if why, I mean I watched
(36:08):
Mahomes play like once or twice in college football. My
take is this is not it's like a run and
shoot football from the seventies. It's college college flag football.
Nobody tackles. It's fifty two to forty six, and a
bunch of these big twelve quarterbacks just didn't work. So
now you look at it and you think, well, now
the NFL and college are more closer aligned. In fact,
I was talking to an NFL coach probably three weeks ago,
(36:32):
a really good NFL coach, and he said, Fernanda Mendoza
is an easy guy to scout because so much of
what Indiana does has NFL guys and NFL schemes. So
you can watch him and see what he can do,
and see what he can and he's not an A
plus prospect. He's a very good prospect, he said, but
it'll be an easy watch. They're doing stuff that we
(36:52):
do on Sunday, and that's not always been the case
with college football.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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