May 13, 2021 • 40 mins
The NFL teams that have the toughest schedule this season
More proof Packers QB Jordan Love isn't ready
There's a good chance QB Aaron Rodgers is staying in Green Bay
Despite being favored in every game, the Bucs will not go undefeated this season
Guest: Michael Vick
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:23):
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve
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gets his Party. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah,
(00:44):
here we go on a Thursday, live in Los Angeles.
This is the Herd. Wherever you may be and however
you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio and f
AS one. We got everybody from Bob Stops on the
(01:05):
show today. Michael Vick will break down the schedules. You know, Joy,
twenty years ago, twenty five years ago, when I started
in this business, I was way more into the draft
than everybody else was. I was just obsessed about it,
to the point where I've had people come up to
me years later and I liked the draft because you
(01:25):
were so into it. Not that I've led people to
the draft, but I was told I would talk about
it February and March and April twenty years ago. And
I also loved the schedule. And I was mocked for
years from making a big deal out of the schedule,
and now networks give the whole night to the schedule.
It absolutely matters who you play when you play them.
(01:48):
It absolutely Coaches will tell you they look and where's
the bye our offensive lines, young, where the worst pass rushes.
So I last night I sat there. It was candy.
It was so much fun for me. Well, you know
you are You're America's truthteller. Yeah, you're an innovator, honesty broker, Yeah,
honest broker. You're ahead of your time a little bit. Yeah.
(02:09):
So the schedule matters, Let's get past that. It of
course matters. It absolutely can change everything. And every year
everybody's like, this is the hardest schedule, this is the
easiest schedule. And I never understand that based on last
year's winning percentage, teams aren't the same they get new coaches,
they get new coordinators, they get they get new players
(02:31):
during the draft and free agency. I never understand taking
last year's winning percentages and then going, Okay, that's the
Steelers had the toughest schedule. I looked at the Steedler schedule.
It's not the toughest schedule. Not even think it's top five.
I'll give you two examples of what I consider easy schedules.
And these are both really talented teams. These are easy schedules,
(02:52):
and I both these teams have an over under nine
and a half wins. Let's take New England. So what
does Bill Belichick feast on young quarterbacks? Bill Belichick in
his career in New England eighty percent wins against quarterbacks
in their first or second year. Go look at their schedule.
They face six quarterbacks in their first or second year.
(03:16):
Twa and the opener, then Zach Wilson a few weeks later,
Zach Wilson, justin Herbert end of the year, Trevor Lawrence Tua.
You could put down six and oho or five and one.
There also six other quarterbacks. Belichick's been running the same
defensive system forever. He's got it down in Stone. Six
other quarterbacks who have either a new coach or a
(03:39):
new system, the Saints, Houston, Carolina, Atlanta, Tennessee, and the
Colts with wins. So those guys aren't new quarterbacks, although
Belichick has owned a few of them. What they are though,
they got a brand new system. So twelve of the
seventeen games edge Belichick. Here's another thing, Belichick's best coach ever.
(04:00):
Six games this year against first time head coaches. Huge
edge Belichick. Those are games coaching can win. He's looking
at that young quarterbacks, first time head coaches. Folks, that
is a favorable schedule for New England nine and a half.
(04:24):
I'll take the over. What was the other schedule. I
was really interested in Cleveland. I thought Cleveland got a
scheduling break. Now Cleveland has to face Kansas City in
Arrowhead Week one. No, that's the worst team to play
in the NFL. Week one Andy read off a bye
Andy read in September. They're gonna lose that. But if
you look at the way, because Cleveland has New England
(04:45):
on the schedule, green Band the schedule a tough division.
Kansas City on the schedule, so it could have been
brutal it's not. It works in Cleveland's favor. So take
the Kansas City game out oh and one. I said
they need to get They have eight new defensive starters
or nine, right, they need a soft open to get
those guys ready. Well, after Kansas City, dysfunctional, Houston and
(05:07):
Chicago and Andy Dalton, then Minnesota rebuilding, then a rookie
head coach Brandon Staley. Then they get Arizona, Denver at home,
and Pittsburgh at home. So after Kansas City, five of
their next seven are at home. They don't have to travel,
don't have to lose any time there, and a lot
of these are dysfunctional offenses. At the end of the year,
(05:28):
we said, they play back to back Ravens, but they
get a break there. They get at Baltimore by Baltimore,
but Baltimore doesn't get a bye in the second game.
They face the Steelers. Before that second Browns game, big
edge Cleveland also the Raiders. We said the Raiders are
(05:49):
much tougher to face in September and early October. They've
been a giant killer. They beat the Saint last year,
they beat the Chain, but they have died because they
don't have the depth they've died post Thanksgiving. They get
the Raiders later in the year. So I look at
that and I think to myself, Yeah, Kansas City is
just everybody. Kansas City would beat everybody, including Tampa Bay
in a rematch to the super Bowl with that rebuilt
(06:12):
old line. Kansas City week one and Narrowhead. You don't
want any part of that. After that, it's home games,
young coaches. End of the year. They get a break
and a bye with Baltimore. They get the Raiders later
than early. And by the way, they also get Big
Ben week seventeen. Big Ben's and older quarterback. They're not
as good late as they are early, especially for a
(06:35):
guy who's never, you know, manicured his body like Tom Brady.
So I thought New England and Cleveland are nine and
a half win over under Bets. I like the over
on both. I thought they both got a scheduling break.
That's how I rate schedules. All right, So here's the
other story yesterday that made news. And I think we're
kind of you know, sometimes everybody talks about hot takes.
(06:58):
I always say I'm a wet blanket. I'm used the
I always feel like I'm always like settled down. So
let me do a settle down here. Green Bay signs
a one year deal with Blake Bortles. Settle down. That's
an indictment of Jordan Love. That's all that is. That's
telling you Aaron's older, he's thirty seven, he's been hurt
more than once. They're just telling you Jordan loves not ready.
(07:20):
That's not telling you Aaron Rodgers is leaving. The Packers
only carry two quarterbacks right now, they need a third.
Aaron's older, he gets hurt. That doesn't tell you Aaron
Rodgers is leaving. It's tell you Jordan Love. We don't
think right now is as good as Blake Bortles. That's
the issue. By the way, yesterday John Coon, former fullback
for the Packers, came out and reiterated, Aaron Rodgers Green
(07:46):
Bay is fixable. Why is that noteworthy? Because John and
Aaron are boys, and that is the third close friend
slash ally of Aaron Rodgers. James Jones, John Coon, aj
Hawk on this show have all used the word fixaball
(08:09):
you think it's a coincidence they're talking to Aaron. Also,
the Packers schedule came out five primetime games and six
afternoon games equals eleven total national TV games, more than
Dallas leagues. Oways know what's up. Remember when James Harden
and the Rockets weren't scheduled for Christmas? The league knew
(08:30):
he's getting traded for Tita talks to Silver. He's getting traded.
The league knows something here. They got They got a
sense that Aaron's not going anywhere. Listen, Aaron is trapped,
and I'm more of a ripped the band aid off guy.
If somebody didn't want to be with me, girl quarterback,
I'm out. I got There's a sea of people, but
Aaron's trapped. Green Bays owns his rights for three years.
(08:54):
Where's he gonna go. I'm gonna retire, I'm might go
to Jeopardy. You gotta stay out for three years. Also,
trading Aaron Rodgers would be a wildly splashy move. If
I say to you, what's the opposite of splashy in
the NFL? You would say Packers. There's no incentive to
trade him because you can't get anything in return. What's
Denver gonna give you? Teddy Bridgewater. So the green Bay
(09:16):
roster is a collection of some veteran players who are
very expensive. It's not a rebuild. It's that you got contracts, guys,
you gotta pay. It is not a rebuild. There's no
incentive to trade him. You have his rights. You've been
to back to back NFC championships. Three of Aaron's friends
are all using the exact word fixable. It's not a coincidence.
(09:41):
Here's what happened. Two weeks ago, the story leagues he's
out of here. Humor got two weeks later, all his friends,
it's fixable. You know what this is. It's human. Aaron
was humiliated on draft night a year ago, humiliated they
drafted Jordan Love. Aaron was pissed, so he waited one year.
(10:07):
He fired back and he said, I'm gonna hurt you
like you hurt me, and got real hot, and everybody
talked about it. Two weeks later, Aaron's coming back. It's human.
You humiliate me. I'm I'll gonna forget. I'm gonna humiliate you.
What do they always say, I'll forgive. I'm not gonna
(10:29):
forget Aaron. Even his friends have acknowledged he can be
a little petty, a little bit of a grudge holder.
That's okay. A lot of people are. It's okay, no
reason not to like him. But the NFL knows something.
They got all these eleven games, National TV games, His
buddies are all used in the same word. The Blake
Bortles thing. Come on, that doesn't mean anything. That's if anything.
(10:53):
That's that's telling you they don't trust Jordan's Love. Right now,
if Aaron got hurt, so I wouldn't make I think
everybody up to the conclusion he's gone, and I think no, no, no, folks,
where's he gonna go? I mean you, let's say you
run the Green Bay Packers. All of us think we're
armchair gms. You run the Packers. Would you trade him
(11:13):
to Denver? Yeah, I would too if Jordan Love could play.
But the Packers said two days ago, quote he's a
long way off unquote the Packers just acquired Blake Bortles
telling you he's a long way off unquote. Aaron's not
(11:34):
going anywhere, all right, Tampa's not going seventeen to no.
Let's slow down on that. Nobody's going seventeen to no.
But I will tell you there are two Super Bowl rosters.
Because we always talk about this, how many rosters like
Super Bowl rosters. There's always like four or five like
Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Kansas City, San Francisco. You know, Seattle's close.
(11:58):
There are two Super Bowl rosters though I thought got
a break with the schedule, and one Super Bowl roster
that did not get a break. And there's only about
five of those Super Bowl rosters in the NFL. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in
noun Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app. Navvy and Tankless water hitters
(12:20):
say big on your water bill on space their high
efficiency go to Tankless made Simple dot com. Tanklessmade Simple
dot com so seventeen for seventeen. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers
are favored in every single game, a lot of them.
Eight and a half, nine and a half, six, seven
(12:42):
and a half, ten, six, five and a half, four
and a half seven, They're they're favored in every game.
They will not go undefeated. First of all, there's some
big trap games here. If you look at Tampa schedule
Week three, they're at the Rams, by the way, that's
a minus one. That's the least they're favored in any game.
So it's a coin flip game. They also face the
(13:02):
Patriots at New England the next week, so they travel
all the way to La go back all the way
to Boston's, and then they come back and play Miami,
which feels a little bit. Miami's used to that lousy
humidity in September. That feels a little trappy to me.
So you've got the Rams on the West coast, then
it's Belichick, which you could overlook the Rams, and then
(13:24):
after the Rams and the Patriots, you don't think there
could be a little let down for Miami. Absolutely in Miami,
let's be honest. Defensively and special teams, you don't blow
them out. They're in against everybody. Later in the year,
they get the Colts on the road on a short week,
they play the Giants Monday night football, come back home,
travel short week, get the Colts on the road, that's
(13:46):
no day at the beach. Then they get Buffalo at home.
But in December, again that's a coin flip game. I
think Buffalo is one of the few teams that can
match up toe to toe with Tampa Bay. So the
other thing to remain member is load management. With seventeen games,
Bruce Arian tends to be very player friendly. You know
(14:07):
he's he's not Tom Thibodeaux. Okay, he's not gonna press
you every practice. It's very likely that Bruce arians gives
they have receiver depth and defensive line depth. They're gonna
give tight end depth, linebacker depth. They're gonna give some
guys off weeks. You're not going to have a full
strength Buccaneers team. Now, they're good enough to do that
(14:28):
and still win, but they're gonna give some people time off. Also,
Brady's old, not just quarterback old, he's old. He just
had knee surgery. So you know, Tom is there's no
you know Tom talks. I want to go seventeen and old.
There's a lot of things people say. I can tell
you this. You get old fast in life and in sports.
(14:50):
Peyton Manning got old fast. Like Peyton Manning went from
Super Bowl to oh hell, brock Osweiler is now starting
in Peyton on the bench. Lebroun this year has aged
very quickly, not just getting injured, coming back, getting injured again.
How many days is he gonna tell us he's gonna
play with a high ankle sprain, So you age very quickly.
(15:14):
Brady just had knee surgery, Brady gets dinged. There's enough
good pass rushes on this defense. You got you got
some Khalil Max. The Giants, Washington, Philadelphia, Aaron Donald Colts
now have a very good pass rush. The Saints. There's
a lot of pass rushes here. By the way, the
Jets defensive lines of strength of their team Miami. So
(15:35):
I just I don't buy seventeen to oh. I think
that Rams Patriots Dolphins three game stretch. Nobody's going three
and oh on that. I just thought, I don't see
anybody going three and oh. And remember a lot of
what Tampa was last year. They were trying to find
their way until they got lucky at the end of
the year and played Atlanta a couple times. In Detroit,
(15:56):
they got their mojo going, and then green Bay made
a really bad coaching air. Green Bay had them on
the ropes in Lambeau, and then they got another break
because Eric Fisher got hurt and the Chief's offensive line
was missing both tackles. I'm not saying this is not
the best team in football, but they're not the seventy
five Steelers. This is not the seventy This is not
the ninety five Nebraska Cornhuskers. Literally, their backups were better
(16:20):
than everybody. This has an old, old quarterback coach who
would be more than willing to give some guys some
Sundays off for Monday's off. I think this is going
to be a nice thirteen fourteen win team. I think
I'll be honest with the team. I look at and
look at seventeen to know is Buffalo. I thought they
got a massive scheduling break. We'll talk about that later.
(16:41):
Joy with the news. No, no, this is the herd
Line news. Well, the Jaguars made some big additions this offseason, obviously,
hired Urban Meyer and drafted Trevor Lawrence number one overall.
I'm not talking about Tim Tebow. But apparently this was
not enough to put them in the TV spotlight. The
(17:02):
Jags are only given one primetime game Thursday, September thirtieth
at the Bengals. It's been thirteen years since Jacksonville had
a Sunday night game, So that's NFL network. That's not
even a Fox schedule, I don't think. And the last
time the Jags played Sunday night football was in two
thousand and eight. The last Monday night football game was
twenty eleven. Both are the longest streaks in the NFL.
They open with the Texans. Well, they have no national footprint.
(17:27):
The networks are basically saying, can we watch this for
a year, Yeah, and then then we'll put you on television.
So I don't think if I run a network, I
wouldn't put I'm a diehard junkie football guy, so I'm
interested in them. But I also think Carolina is fascinating.
But they're about seven eight teams that you can put
on TV. You know, three of them from the NFC, well,
you could put Kyler Murray. All four from the NFC
(17:48):
West that you know are interesting and captivating. But Jacksonville's
kind of a let's wait and see for a year.
Is this going to be a master world? Like Green
Bay isn't a big market, but it's green Bay yet history, Yes,
so if you're going to be a small market, I
mean they have done everything obviously that they can to
be relevant, but you have to earn some you know,
some national credibility, and so it's not it's not terribly surprising.
(18:11):
I do think that fans, NFL fans around the country
want to see what urban Meyer and certainly what Trevor
Lawrence to do? Oh yeah, But overall as a team,
there's not a whole lot else to be excited about totally,
So this isn't this isn't terribly surprising. Now next year
it could be a different situation if they make some noise.
But you always kind of feel like Jacksonville is. It's
(18:32):
like it's always like not all the way there, even
when they went to the AFC Championship games, like nobody
really like believes this was My biggest fear was like,
are we gonna have to watch a Jacksonville Super Bowl?
Was the same way, like that's that's that was else
and that wasn't even an interesting Jacksonville team. The Mark
Brunel teams were kind of fun, but the Blake Bortles
(18:53):
team was all defense. So it was a bad watch,
but a good team. So the Bears trade up in
the draft to get Ohio State quarterback us in Fields
with the eleventh pick. Head coach Matt Naggie says he
recognized that special attention needs to be paid to how
they insert him into the starting role. We know we
have sitting in front of us with him, and we
(19:13):
got to make sure that he has a successful entry plan,
and we don't know how that's gonna look. But at
the same point in time, we have Andy Dalton on
our roster, and you know, Andy's coming in here and
done a really good job in these Zoom meetings. And
he's really excited too to be a big part of
this and see what he can do with us. And
so it is unique. It's going to be different. So
their first game is at the Rams, then they have
(19:35):
the Bengals at home, then they're at the Browns Lines
at home, at the Raiders Packers at home. You know
their schedule, and they also have a stretch. The bye
week isn't until week ten. Yeah, they also have a
stretch where it's like they face I think after Green
Bay they have to face like Tampa Bay. I thought
their schedule there wasn't There was a break in the
schedule about week ten where they had a buy and
(19:58):
then got to host Baltimore or Joy. Yeah, so they're
by his week ten and then they face Baltimore I
think at home, and then Detroit after that. That to
me was the softest landing for Justin Fields. But there
was a point in there it was like Aaron Rodgers
Tom Brady forty nine ers. They have the Steelers and
the bye, and then they have the Ravens, Lions, Cardinals, Packers, Vikings, Seahawks, Giants. Yes,
(20:27):
the by So it's Baltimore out of the bye. If
I remember with Chicago, that to me felt like two weeks.
Baltimore's pass rushed, a little hit and miss. But again,
you think they can run with Andy Dalon until week ten,
and that's the whole thing. You're probably right. So I
was talking to my buddy John Middlcoff the Scout, last night,
and he said, listen, Chicago loves their football. They're not waiting.
(20:47):
They're not waiting ten weeks with Andy. No. I think
if their by was week six. Let me see their
schedule again early. Let's see, so they lose. Let's say
they lose to the Rams. So this is this is
up through week six. Okay, so they beat the Bengals,
lose at Cleveland, they're one and two. I say they
beat Detroit, they're two and two at the Raiders. How
(21:08):
about this. The Raiders is the deciding game. If you
beat the Raiders, you're three and two. If you lose
two and three, and he's done. Justin's in against Green
Bay at least it's green Bay at home. I mean,
I know, but that's you're right though, the way that
their schedule plays out, there's really not a soft landing
place to put him in the buys to week ten.
I don't see them running with Andy Dolton until week ten.
(21:29):
I don't know. I don't have the apprehension that most
people have about getting rookie quarterbacks out there. Like I
think you learned to play football by playing football. I
know there's some value to you know, being eased in
and you know, not having to learn everything at once,
NFL speed and how to be a professional, Like I
get it. But rookie quarterbacks have been starting for a
long time, and you know they're usually not great, and
(21:52):
that's fine. Listen to about a year or two to develop.
If you go to La and lose, and you lose
the following week and a shootout with Joe Burrow, Justin
Field is probably starting against Cleveland week three. Chicago's too
loud and too big of a city. You just can't
go oh and too. I mean they're excited about him,
of course. I mean you saw the reaction to you know,
Andy Dalton QB one, you trade it up and got
(22:14):
just in Field that I don't you know, I think
you have to appease them. So the Packers Aaron Rodgers
saga is continuing. There was some belief that Rogers was
under the impression that the Packers had agreed to trade
him at some point during the off season. According to
a team source, the Packers regard the notion that Rogers
was told he'd be traded as unequivocally false. So again
(22:37):
communication issues. So Packers weren't even aware that Rodgers believed
to be traded before reporting on this emerged. So yes,
it's once again communication issues. I think that when I
look at the whole scope of this situation and only
does it come down to communication, it's it's really just
ego to me, Like, I didn't see any deterioration in
(22:59):
Aaron Rodgers. He was in an NFC championship game their
thirteen and three the year before. He was still Aaron Rodgers.
He's still in his prime. You just paid him, obviously,
So what is the value of trading up and getting
a quarterback in the first rounds? Well, you obviously feel
like you're smarter than everybody else. Like there and to
Nick Right, I think Nick Right made the most sense
on this that if the rift is between Aaron Rodgers
(23:21):
and the GM, I mean, what are you, what are
you choosing and the advocating for people to lose their jobs.
But he took a big swing with Jordan Love. That
was a big, massive swing. I've not seen anyone say
that that was the right, the right move to do,
and certainly it offended Aaron Rodgers as it should have.
So what are the consequences of that? Jordan Love isn't
ready to play. You just brought in Blake Bortles. There's
communication issues everywhere, like the what is the interior issue here?
(23:44):
There's there's so many leagues. Well, to me, this story
is telling you so by the packers coming out and
addressing this rumor, it's unequivocally false. It tells so I
got three different guys have said it's fixable. Aaron's friends
are all saying it's fixable. Green Bay now releases we
did not say that. That is unequivalent. So you're seeing
(24:05):
now they're coming together. So Green Bay is saying this
is this is communication. We would never trade him. So
because that was Aaron's thing, he was ticked off about
because so what you're seeing folks now is Aaron saying
it's fixable, the packers denying they even considered trading him.
Aaron was ticked. He went, it feels like to me,
(24:28):
are starting to prevail. Yeah, it's cooler heads now. Two
weeks ago it was over. Everything is softened in the
last two weeks. It's probably a waste of breath to
say that this could be a lesson for everyone moving forward.
That communication is very important, vital in all relationship. But
I don't know that that's gonna resonate. Not to play
a therapist here, but Joy and I are into that
(24:48):
talking thing. Joy with the news, Well that's the news.
The herd line new Michael Vick thirteen years, four Pro Bowls.
Try to get a on yesterday. Happy to have him
on today? Is joining us live box, you buy Mercedes,
Ben's the best or nothing. So it's you know, it's
(25:09):
funny about the schedule. I think, listen, good teams win
and bad teams don't. But there are times that like,
for instance, Cleveland faces Baltimore by Baltimore, but the second
time they faced Baltimore, Cleveland gets a buy Baltimore has
to face Cleveland, then Pittsburgh, then Cleveland again, and I'm like, oh,
that's a scheduling break for Cleveland. When you were playing,
(25:31):
did you ever look at like, for instance, in Atlanta,
did you think, oh, we got to go up to
the cold in December? You know, did you ever look
at that stuff? Yeah? I was always looking for Philadelphia
on the schedule. West Philadelphia wears Brian Dawkins, and then
of course the Carolina Panthers because they were the division
(25:52):
rivals and we had to beat them in order to
move forward in the postseason. So I was always worried
about Julius was in where he was going to be
in just the placement and that whole schedule, like everything
was about time. And I felt like, and you know,
of course, you you look at the schedule, but then
instantly you start thinking, well, when we get to this team,
(26:13):
maybe this guy might be out, this guy might not
be planning. You kind of hang your hat on that
call real. You know, it's funny, Mike that you mentioned
Brian Dawkins and the first thing Michael looked at is
who's the best dB in the best pass Russia. That's funny.
So I said with Tampa, I said, I don't think
they'll go seventeen and O. And there was a stretch
where they go at the Rams and then it's at
(26:35):
the Patriots and then it's the Dolphins. And I thought,
you come off those big two road national TV games,
you come home against Miami, you think you got it made.
You got a couple of guys banged up on the road.
That is a trap game, total trap game. But it
is funny and Mike, I thought about this in a
seventeen game schedule. I can see Bruce Arians, he's got
(26:56):
his Super Bowl now right. I can see him doing
a little load man management with some older players, Michael,
and giving guys weeks off. Does that seem you know,
strange to you, not at all. I mean when you
look at Bruce Arians and he's all about protecting his players.
And you can ask a lot of those veteran players,
and I talked to a couple of them. You know,
(27:17):
they were so pleased at the way that they went
through the season in terms of taking care of their
body and how Bruce gave them some days off and
gave him some time to just decompress and you know,
get their bodies right, which is super important. So I
don't think the record going seventeen in old or sixteen
and one is going to be an issue for Bruce arians.
(27:39):
I think it's about getting to the playoffs and getting
their healthy. So, you know, the Tebow thing is interesting.
Everybody likes Tim. I get it. But it's funny, Mike,
because it's one thing to be out of the league
for eight years. It's another to be out and then
be asked to play another position. Now. I don't think
Tim is the classic tight end. He's more an h back.
(28:00):
But now, but we did see a story yesterday where
some of the Jags, even coaches, were like, oh no,
when you're rebuilding a culture, a culture, do you worry
a little bit Michael that it it's it feels a
little collegiate. It doesn't feel it feels like urban going
back to college a little bit. That was that was
(28:22):
my initial thought, you know, urban kind of recollecting and
you know, saying to himself what works, you know, and
going back in time, but then snapping back into reality
knowing it this is the NFL, this is not college.
And you know, I like Tebow for a couple of
different reasons. I like the fact that he has some
(28:43):
experienced playing h back. He got familiar doing that in
the Belichick system. Um, so he knows how to play
the position. But in terms of just toughness and and
you know, I would love to walk into a huddle
and see Tim Tebow in my huddle at tight end
because I'm gonna feel protective. I know he's a guy
is gonna give one hundred percent effort and he's gonna
give it everything he got. Now, the tight end position
(29:05):
to me is very delicate because I made a living
with the tight ends, you know, throughout my career, you know,
stop with algae prumplus. So he's not a guy that
you can just plug into any position. You gotta be
real meticulous about what you place him. You know, as
as we were through free agency, we're through the coaching hires,
we're through the draft. You can sign up Blake Bortles now.
(29:29):
But it's funny about Aaron Rodgers. People freaked out yesterday
when the Packers signed Blake Bortles, and my takeaway was,
that's more about Jordan Love than it is about Aaron Rodgers.
That's that's telling you that's a competition. Yeah, It's like,
we don't know if Jordan's ready to play. It is interesting, Mike,
three of Aaron's friends have used the same words publicly
(29:50):
in a week. Fixable. How possible is it? Aaron was
ticked off he wanted to humiliate the Packers a little
on draft night. Now he steps back and goes, well, hell,
they own my rights. Where where am I going to go? Anyway?
This is the best team I can be. Do you
think maybe? Like because when I say all his buddies
are saying fixable, that feels like a You know, we
(30:11):
all have a temper, right we all doing. We all
tend to go off the deep end sometime, and of
course we want our ego stroke than Aaron Rodgers. He
certainly deserves that for the work he's put in the
last two years, going to the NFC Championship game and
just falling short. But this is a situation. I think
it's salvageable. Um. You know, I woke up this morning
(30:34):
saying to myself, I didn't think it was fixable because
you know, when when the NFL quarterback says he wants out,
most of the time, he wants out for various reasons
other than what could be taking place upstairs. It could
be a bunch of different things. But you know, I think,
like you just said, Aaron's looking around the league saying
to him, so, okay, where am I going to go?
You know, and find a DeVante Adams? Where am I
(30:56):
gonna go to find an offense? That took me two
years to kid get comfortable? Now I got to start
all over. You know, that might not equate the success.
So you start to look at yourself and amura and
think about the things that's most important. And when you
look at the team aspect of it, Aaron Rodgers is
the missing piece. Jodan Love is not ready, especially with
(31:17):
that schedule. They need Aaron Rodgers back so they don't
look bad this year. Yeah. That that It's a really
interesting point by Michael. Is you if you go somewhere
even the smart veteran quarterbacks like Matt Ryan took two
years to figure out Kyle Shannon's offense, Aaron took. I mean,
these are these are guys that understand the game. I
mean smart guys. Yeah, I mean Bruce arians Brady. First
(31:38):
nine weeks they were it didn't click. So do you
want to give up a year of learning a system
and not winning a super Bowl. It's a good point,
by the way. You know, it's funny I see that
Matt Stafford now has ten national TV games. When you're
a player, do you know when it's a national TV game?
Can you feel it? Do you sense it? Most definitely?
(31:59):
I mean it's what you're looking for. You always look
at the schedule and seeing what games a prime time,
you know what games are on Fox, what games are
on Monday Night, because you know, those are the games
that you really have to show out for. And it's
no excuses because you got the whole world watching is
not local, you know, so you know, as you know,
to the fire as more pressure, but you know at
(32:21):
the quarterback position is what you want. You got to
be a show off. Great stuff, Mike, have a great weekend,
great Friday and through the weekend. Buddy, thanks for coming
on the show. Thanks for having you beat Yeah, I
really do listen Russell Wilson. It wasn't as ugly as
Aaron Rodgers, but Russell a couple of times now as
squawk squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk. I'm gonna list teams, and
(32:43):
they solved it. They solved it. I you know, I
tend to be. You know, I'm like, if you don't
want to be with me, I'm out. I'm good. But
that's probably why I don't have the temperament to run
a big company or something right, because I'm like, you
don't like m out, that's good. You know. I don't
want to. I don't want to babysit you, but I
(33:03):
think you have to babysit a little sometimes in sports,
Aaron may have to step back and go listen, this
is small town USA. You know. I'm doing Jeopardy at
Aaron I think has to go. All right, let me
take a deep breath here, denver Man, maybe that's not
a great space for me. If I don't win. Peyton
won Elway one. Well, if I don't win, he's appreciated.
(33:25):
I'll say this about green Bay. This is the one
thing I've said this about Brady and Aaron. Rodgers, the
Patriots and the green Bay Packers better than anybody in
the NFL the last fifteen years, develop offensive lineman better
than any team. Green Bay. Whatever's in the sauce in
Wisconsin they draft got they don't draft first round old
(33:48):
lineman third fifth six. Did you watch Corey Linsley play
in college. I mean, he was a fifth round pick,
became the best setter in football. So don't over you know,
you can go to a town that's got more flash,
got more stars. Not a lot of Davante Adams out there,
not a lot of old lines like Green Bay. By
the way, people don't bother you in Green Bay. It's
(34:10):
small town America. You pay nothing for a house, allows
you to go buy a Malibu house, you know what
I mean. There's a lot of value in playing at
lambeau Field. It's not hip. It's not cool. Grown men
wear cheese hats. I get it. But I think Aaron also,
I think Aaron's smart enough to look at it. We
all have a right to blow up and go man.
(34:31):
I don't get hip much here, and there's not a
lot of Davante Adams on the mark. I mean, we
don't know if Jerry Judia Denver's any good. We think
he'll be good, we don't know coming up next. I
hate MVP talk, but I'll throw off the dark horse
MVP thoughts. I am. The NFL knows it's a story.
(34:52):
They're putting them on TV. Early the most fascinating player
in the NFL. This year. That's next. Be sure to
catch live editions I The Heard weekdays and noon Easter
nini Empacific. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every
weekday morning on my podcast Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
This isn't your typical sportspod pushing the same tired narratives
(35:15):
down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest
opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to
help you win big at the sports book, and all
the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to
Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, one
(35:36):
of the things I always try to appreciate is I've
been very lucky in my career. I've had mostly really
good bosses and I've gotten really good support, and that's
really really important. You know, like all of us, you know,
we get some breaks in life, and I've had mostly
good breaks with the companies, the management. I've had a
lot of stability. I've had I had one brief two
(35:58):
year time in Tampa with an organization that was very
chaotic newsroom nobody's fault. They had changed ownerships. It was
just it was a tire fire. And and by the way,
that that was the two years where I struggled. And
I even said with Odell Beckham, who I like when
Odell didn't have chaos in his life. Odell Beckham has
been great, but he goes to Cleveland and of New
(36:19):
York without Coughlin at LSU didn't have problems, and I'm problems,
and I'm problems with Coughlin early, and I want the problem.
He's somebody that he doesn't like chaos and I and
so I always try to say, listen, dude, you've been lucky.
I've been lucky about that stuff. And I mean, here's
a prime example, Dak Prescott, and I like Dak. He
inherited the best offensive line in football, Zeke, the biggest
(36:43):
brand and an offensive coach Jason Garrett who'd quarterback in
the NFL. Matt Stafford. Matt Stafford inherits the worst franchise
not named the Cleveland Browns. The Lions got Jim Schwartz,
a defensive coach with a terrible offensive line and no
running game. I think Matt Stafford's more talented than Dak Prescott.
(37:05):
So does every GM, even Stephen Jones knows it. I
don't resent what Dack's done, but he made one hundred
and seven million dollars last year. Dack did He didn't
even play Munch the Cowboys, the old line, Zeke Jerry,
Middle of the Country, America's brand. That's a break. He
got a good break. Matt Stafford, super talented, could not
(37:27):
have gotten no worse situation. So Matt Stafford has been
invisible for twelve years in Detroit except Thanksgiving. I mean
literally invisible. What's fascinating is Matt Stafford. Now look at
this RAM schedule Bears NBC National TV. Two weeks later, Buccaneers.
(37:48):
My guess is it's on Fox, America's Game of the Week.
Two weeks later, Arizona Fox, Amazon five twenty Game of
the Week. Start looking at this NBC Monday Night football, Niners,
Green Bay Packers, Fox at Arizona that's an ESPM Moneay
Night football Seahawks Fox. That'll be that'll end up being
America's Game of the Week. I would imagine at Baltimore,
(38:10):
San Francisco. Those are ten national TV games from at Stafford.
This is very Kevin Garnett. Kevin Garnett was great. We
didn't talk about him for ten years in Minnesota. He
goes to Boston. He was the most discussed big in
the game for five years. Every playoff game, we were
all glued on that. Doc rivers Kevin Garnett Reyal. Kevin
(38:31):
had always been great, but he ended up in Minnesota.
And that's where I feel for pro athletes. I know,
I know, I know they're all rich, blah blah blah,
but God, some guys get breakes. I mean, Dak I
love him, but he inherited three Hall of famers on
the offensive line in their prime in Zeke and a
coach who had been a quarterback, and by the way,
an owner who loves offensive players. Jerry loves offense. I'll
(38:55):
get it more weapons. Matt Stafford goes to Detroit and
they can't mean nothing works defensive coach, battle line, no
running game. Listen, Mike Trout is great, but he's invisible
with the Angels. What if Mike Trout was with the
Yankees and had a Hall of Famer hitting behind him,
(39:16):
you couldn't throw him off speed. And by the way,
when Mike Trout comes up in for the second, third,
fourth time, there's runners on basse because the Yankees have
bought all stars. I mean, if you ever think about
Mike Trout's numbers, if he was in New York and
he had Hall of Famers behind him, more guys on bass.
I mean, Mike Trout is as he's I don't think
he's won a playoff series. I mean, so again, Mike
(39:40):
Trout's great, How great could he be? Matt Stafford's talented,
but good god, he gets a culture upgrade, a coach upgrade,
an OH line upgrade, or receiver upgrade. Cam akers are
running back upgrade. Now the division's tougher, But you'd take that.
I mean it's it's I'm not an MVP guy. I
hate talking about that. But not only will Matt be good,
(40:01):
the story's good. Like the Kevin Garnett to the Celtics,
that was a great story. It's like this dude deserves
Ray Allen, doc Rivers, Paul Pierce. He has earned that.
I'm not a big believer in you deserve stuff, you
gotta earn it. Kevin Garnett had earned the right to
be on a notable franchise. Matt Stafford's earned the right
(40:22):
he got a nothing sandwich, and I think he's gonna
have a terrific year. Still running your business on quick books.
Talk about quick sam. The bigger it gets, the faster
you sink. Go to NetSuite offering one of a kind
financing programs. NetSuite dot com. Slash heard, H E R D,
Peter Schreger, Bob Stoops all coming up.
Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern
nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one.
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 herd gets Party. You're listening
to Fox Sports Radio. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast.
(00:23):
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve
to three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The
Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
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gets his Party. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah,
(00:44):
here we go on a Thursday, live in Los Angeles.
This is the Herd. Wherever you may be and however
you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio and f
AS one. We got everybody from Bob Stops on the
(01:05):
show today. Michael Vick will break down the schedules. You know, Joy,
twenty years ago, twenty five years ago, when I started
in this business, I was way more into the draft
than everybody else was. I was just obsessed about it,
to the point where I've had people come up to
me years later and I liked the draft because you
(01:25):
were so into it. Not that I've led people to
the draft, but I was told I would talk about
it February and March and April twenty years ago. And
I also loved the schedule. And I was mocked for
years from making a big deal out of the schedule,
and now networks give the whole night to the schedule.
It absolutely matters who you play when you play them.
(01:48):
It absolutely Coaches will tell you they look and where's
the bye our offensive lines, young, where the worst pass rushes.
So I last night I sat there. It was candy.
It was so much fun for me. Well, you know
you are You're America's truthteller. Yeah, you're an innovator, honesty broker, Yeah,
honest broker. You're ahead of your time a little bit. Yeah.
(02:09):
So the schedule matters, Let's get past that. It of
course matters. It absolutely can change everything. And every year
everybody's like, this is the hardest schedule, this is the
easiest schedule. And I never understand that based on last
year's winning percentage, teams aren't the same they get new coaches,
they get new coordinators, they get they get new players
(02:31):
during the draft and free agency. I never understand taking
last year's winning percentages and then going, Okay, that's the
Steelers had the toughest schedule. I looked at the Steedler schedule.
It's not the toughest schedule. Not even think it's top five.
I'll give you two examples of what I consider easy schedules.
And these are both really talented teams. These are easy schedules,
(02:52):
and I both these teams have an over under nine
and a half wins. Let's take New England. So what
does Bill Belichick feast on young quarterbacks? Bill Belichick in
his career in New England eighty percent wins against quarterbacks
in their first or second year. Go look at their schedule.
They face six quarterbacks in their first or second year.
(03:16):
Twa and the opener, then Zach Wilson a few weeks later,
Zach Wilson, justin Herbert end of the year, Trevor Lawrence Tua.
You could put down six and oho or five and one.
There also six other quarterbacks. Belichick's been running the same
defensive system forever. He's got it down in Stone. Six
other quarterbacks who have either a new coach or a
(03:39):
new system, the Saints, Houston, Carolina, Atlanta, Tennessee, and the
Colts with wins. So those guys aren't new quarterbacks, although
Belichick has owned a few of them. What they are though,
they got a brand new system. So twelve of the
seventeen games edge Belichick. Here's another thing, Belichick's best coach ever.
(04:00):
Six games this year against first time head coaches. Huge
edge Belichick. Those are games coaching can win. He's looking
at that young quarterbacks, first time head coaches. Folks, that
is a favorable schedule for New England nine and a half.
(04:24):
I'll take the over. What was the other schedule. I
was really interested in Cleveland. I thought Cleveland got a
scheduling break. Now Cleveland has to face Kansas City in
Arrowhead Week one. No, that's the worst team to play
in the NFL. Week one Andy read off a bye
Andy read in September. They're gonna lose that. But if
you look at the way, because Cleveland has New England
(04:45):
on the schedule, green Band the schedule a tough division.
Kansas City on the schedule, so it could have been
brutal it's not. It works in Cleveland's favor. So take
the Kansas City game out oh and one. I said
they need to get They have eight new defensive starters
or nine, right, they need a soft open to get
those guys ready. Well, after Kansas City, dysfunctional, Houston and
(05:07):
Chicago and Andy Dalton, then Minnesota rebuilding, then a rookie
head coach Brandon Staley. Then they get Arizona, Denver at home,
and Pittsburgh at home. So after Kansas City, five of
their next seven are at home. They don't have to travel,
don't have to lose any time there, and a lot
of these are dysfunctional offenses. At the end of the year,
(05:28):
we said, they play back to back Ravens, but they
get a break there. They get at Baltimore by Baltimore,
but Baltimore doesn't get a bye in the second game.
They face the Steelers. Before that second Browns game, big
edge Cleveland also the Raiders. We said the Raiders are
(05:49):
much tougher to face in September and early October. They've
been a giant killer. They beat the Saint last year,
they beat the Chain, but they have died because they
don't have the depth they've died post Thanksgiving. They get
the Raiders later in the year. So I look at
that and I think to myself, Yeah, Kansas City is
just everybody. Kansas City would beat everybody, including Tampa Bay
in a rematch to the super Bowl with that rebuilt
(06:12):
old line. Kansas City week one and Narrowhead. You don't
want any part of that. After that, it's home games,
young coaches. End of the year. They get a break
and a bye with Baltimore. They get the Raiders later
than early. And by the way, they also get Big
Ben week seventeen. Big Ben's and older quarterback. They're not
as good late as they are early, especially for a
(06:35):
guy who's never, you know, manicured his body like Tom Brady.
So I thought New England and Cleveland are nine and
a half win over under Bets. I like the over
on both. I thought they both got a scheduling break.
That's how I rate schedules. All right, So here's the
other story yesterday that made news. And I think we're
kind of you know, sometimes everybody talks about hot takes.
(06:58):
I always say I'm a wet blanket. I'm used the
I always feel like I'm always like settled down. So
let me do a settle down here. Green Bay signs
a one year deal with Blake Bortles. Settle down. That's
an indictment of Jordan Love. That's all that is. That's
telling you Aaron's older, he's thirty seven, he's been hurt
more than once. They're just telling you Jordan loves not ready.
(07:20):
That's not telling you Aaron Rodgers is leaving. The Packers
only carry two quarterbacks right now, they need a third.
Aaron's older, he gets hurt. That doesn't tell you Aaron
Rodgers is leaving. It's tell you Jordan Love. We don't
think right now is as good as Blake Bortles. That's
the issue. By the way, yesterday John Coon, former fullback
for the Packers, came out and reiterated, Aaron Rodgers Green
(07:46):
Bay is fixable. Why is that noteworthy? Because John and
Aaron are boys, and that is the third close friend
slash ally of Aaron Rodgers. James Jones, John Coon, aj
Hawk on this show have all used the word fixaball
(08:09):
you think it's a coincidence they're talking to Aaron. Also,
the Packers schedule came out five primetime games and six
afternoon games equals eleven total national TV games, more than
Dallas leagues. Oways know what's up. Remember when James Harden
and the Rockets weren't scheduled for Christmas? The league knew
(08:30):
he's getting traded for Tita talks to Silver. He's getting traded.
The league knows something here. They got They got a
sense that Aaron's not going anywhere. Listen, Aaron is trapped,
and I'm more of a ripped the band aid off guy.
If somebody didn't want to be with me, girl quarterback,
I'm out. I got There's a sea of people, but
Aaron's trapped. Green Bays owns his rights for three years.
(08:54):
Where's he gonna go. I'm gonna retire, I'm might go
to Jeopardy. You gotta stay out for three years. Also,
trading Aaron Rodgers would be a wildly splashy move. If
I say to you, what's the opposite of splashy in
the NFL? You would say Packers. There's no incentive to
trade him because you can't get anything in return. What's
Denver gonna give you? Teddy Bridgewater. So the green Bay
(09:16):
roster is a collection of some veteran players who are
very expensive. It's not a rebuild. It's that you got contracts, guys,
you gotta pay. It is not a rebuild. There's no
incentive to trade him. You have his rights. You've been
to back to back NFC championships. Three of Aaron's friends
are all using the exact word fixable. It's not a coincidence.
(09:41):
Here's what happened. Two weeks ago, the story leagues he's
out of here. Humor got two weeks later, all his friends,
it's fixable. You know what this is. It's human. Aaron
was humiliated on draft night a year ago, humiliated they
drafted Jordan Love. Aaron was pissed, so he waited one year.
(10:07):
He fired back and he said, I'm gonna hurt you
like you hurt me, and got real hot, and everybody
talked about it. Two weeks later, Aaron's coming back. It's human.
You humiliate me. I'm I'll gonna forget. I'm gonna humiliate you.
What do they always say, I'll forgive. I'm not gonna
(10:29):
forget Aaron. Even his friends have acknowledged he can be
a little petty, a little bit of a grudge holder.
That's okay. A lot of people are. It's okay, no
reason not to like him. But the NFL knows something.
They got all these eleven games, National TV games, His
buddies are all used in the same word. The Blake
Bortles thing. Come on, that doesn't mean anything. That's if anything.
(10:53):
That's that's telling you they don't trust Jordan's Love. Right now,
if Aaron got hurt, so I wouldn't make I think
everybody up to the conclusion he's gone, and I think no, no, no, folks,
where's he gonna go? I mean you, let's say you
run the Green Bay Packers. All of us think we're
armchair gms. You run the Packers. Would you trade him
(11:13):
to Denver? Yeah, I would too if Jordan Love could play.
But the Packers said two days ago, quote he's a
long way off unquote the Packers just acquired Blake Bortles
telling you he's a long way off unquote. Aaron's not
(11:34):
going anywhere, all right, Tampa's not going seventeen to no.
Let's slow down on that. Nobody's going seventeen to no.
But I will tell you there are two Super Bowl rosters.
Because we always talk about this, how many rosters like
Super Bowl rosters. There's always like four or five like
Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Kansas City, San Francisco. You know, Seattle's close.
(11:58):
There are two Super Bowl rosters though I thought got
a break with the schedule, and one Super Bowl roster
that did not get a break. And there's only about
five of those Super Bowl rosters in the NFL. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in
noun Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeartRadio app. Navvy and Tankless water hitters
(12:20):
say big on your water bill on space their high
efficiency go to Tankless made Simple dot com. Tanklessmade Simple
dot com so seventeen for seventeen. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers
are favored in every single game, a lot of them.
Eight and a half, nine and a half, six, seven
(12:42):
and a half, ten, six, five and a half, four
and a half seven, They're they're favored in every game.
They will not go undefeated. First of all, there's some
big trap games here. If you look at Tampa schedule
Week three, they're at the Rams, by the way, that's
a minus one. That's the least they're favored in any game.
So it's a coin flip game. They also face the
(13:02):
Patriots at New England the next week, so they travel
all the way to La go back all the way
to Boston's, and then they come back and play Miami,
which feels a little bit. Miami's used to that lousy
humidity in September. That feels a little trappy to me.
So you've got the Rams on the West coast, then
it's Belichick, which you could overlook the Rams, and then
(13:24):
after the Rams and the Patriots, you don't think there
could be a little let down for Miami. Absolutely in Miami,
let's be honest. Defensively and special teams, you don't blow
them out. They're in against everybody. Later in the year,
they get the Colts on the road on a short week,
they play the Giants Monday night football, come back home,
travel short week, get the Colts on the road, that's
(13:46):
no day at the beach. Then they get Buffalo at home.
But in December, again that's a coin flip game. I
think Buffalo is one of the few teams that can
match up toe to toe with Tampa Bay. So the
other thing to remain member is load management. With seventeen games,
Bruce Arian tends to be very player friendly. You know
(14:07):
he's he's not Tom Thibodeaux. Okay, he's not gonna press
you every practice. It's very likely that Bruce arians gives
they have receiver depth and defensive line depth. They're gonna
give tight end depth, linebacker depth. They're gonna give some
guys off weeks. You're not going to have a full
strength Buccaneers team. Now, they're good enough to do that
(14:28):
and still win, but they're gonna give some people time off. Also,
Brady's old, not just quarterback old, he's old. He just
had knee surgery. So you know, Tom is there's no
you know Tom talks. I want to go seventeen and old.
There's a lot of things people say. I can tell
you this. You get old fast in life and in sports.
(14:50):
Peyton Manning got old fast. Like Peyton Manning went from
Super Bowl to oh hell, brock Osweiler is now starting
in Peyton on the bench. Lebroun this year has aged
very quickly, not just getting injured, coming back, getting injured again.
How many days is he gonna tell us he's gonna
play with a high ankle sprain, So you age very quickly.
(15:14):
Brady just had knee surgery, Brady gets dinged. There's enough
good pass rushes on this defense. You got you got
some Khalil Max. The Giants, Washington, Philadelphia, Aaron Donald Colts
now have a very good pass rush. The Saints. There's
a lot of pass rushes here. By the way, the
Jets defensive lines of strength of their team Miami. So
(15:35):
I just I don't buy seventeen to oh. I think
that Rams Patriots Dolphins three game stretch. Nobody's going three
and oh on that. I just thought, I don't see
anybody going three and oh. And remember a lot of
what Tampa was last year. They were trying to find
their way until they got lucky at the end of
the year and played Atlanta a couple times. In Detroit,
(15:56):
they got their mojo going, and then green Bay made
a really bad coaching air. Green Bay had them on
the ropes in Lambeau, and then they got another break
because Eric Fisher got hurt and the Chief's offensive line
was missing both tackles. I'm not saying this is not
the best team in football, but they're not the seventy
five Steelers. This is not the seventy This is not
the ninety five Nebraska Cornhuskers. Literally, their backups were better
(16:20):
than everybody. This has an old, old quarterback coach who
would be more than willing to give some guys some
Sundays off for Monday's off. I think this is going
to be a nice thirteen fourteen win team. I think
I'll be honest with the team. I look at and
look at seventeen to know is Buffalo. I thought they
got a massive scheduling break. We'll talk about that later.
(16:41):
Joy with the news. No, no, this is the herd
Line news. Well, the Jaguars made some big additions this offseason, obviously,
hired Urban Meyer and drafted Trevor Lawrence number one overall.
I'm not talking about Tim Tebow. But apparently this was
not enough to put them in the TV spotlight. The
(17:02):
Jags are only given one primetime game Thursday, September thirtieth
at the Bengals. It's been thirteen years since Jacksonville had
a Sunday night game, So that's NFL network. That's not
even a Fox schedule, I don't think. And the last
time the Jags played Sunday night football was in two
thousand and eight. The last Monday night football game was
twenty eleven. Both are the longest streaks in the NFL.
They open with the Texans. Well, they have no national footprint.
(17:27):
The networks are basically saying, can we watch this for
a year, Yeah, and then then we'll put you on television.
So I don't think if I run a network, I
wouldn't put I'm a diehard junkie football guy, so I'm
interested in them. But I also think Carolina is fascinating.
But they're about seven eight teams that you can put
on TV. You know, three of them from the NFC, well,
you could put Kyler Murray. All four from the NFC
(17:48):
West that you know are interesting and captivating. But Jacksonville's
kind of a let's wait and see for a year.
Is this going to be a master world? Like Green
Bay isn't a big market, but it's green Bay yet history, Yes,
so if you're going to be a small market, I
mean they have done everything obviously that they can to
be relevant, but you have to earn some you know,
some national credibility, and so it's not it's not terribly surprising.
(18:11):
I do think that fans, NFL fans around the country
want to see what urban Meyer and certainly what Trevor
Lawrence to do? Oh yeah, But overall as a team,
there's not a whole lot else to be excited about totally,
So this isn't this isn't terribly surprising. Now next year
it could be a different situation if they make some noise.
But you always kind of feel like Jacksonville is. It's
(18:32):
like it's always like not all the way there, even
when they went to the AFC Championship games, like nobody
really like believes this was My biggest fear was like,
are we gonna have to watch a Jacksonville Super Bowl?
Was the same way, like that's that's that was else
and that wasn't even an interesting Jacksonville team. The Mark
Brunel teams were kind of fun, but the Blake Bortles
(18:53):
team was all defense. So it was a bad watch,
but a good team. So the Bears trade up in
the draft to get Ohio State quarterback us in Fields
with the eleventh pick. Head coach Matt Naggie says he
recognized that special attention needs to be paid to how
they insert him into the starting role. We know we
have sitting in front of us with him, and we
(19:13):
got to make sure that he has a successful entry plan,
and we don't know how that's gonna look. But at
the same point in time, we have Andy Dalton on
our roster, and you know, Andy's coming in here and
done a really good job in these Zoom meetings. And
he's really excited too to be a big part of
this and see what he can do with us. And
so it is unique. It's going to be different. So
their first game is at the Rams, then they have
(19:35):
the Bengals at home, then they're at the Browns Lines
at home, at the Raiders Packers at home. You know
their schedule, and they also have a stretch. The bye
week isn't until week ten. Yeah, they also have a
stretch where it's like they face I think after Green
Bay they have to face like Tampa Bay. I thought
their schedule there wasn't There was a break in the
schedule about week ten where they had a buy and
(19:58):
then got to host Baltimore or Joy. Yeah, so they're
by his week ten and then they face Baltimore I
think at home, and then Detroit after that. That to
me was the softest landing for Justin Fields. But there
was a point in there it was like Aaron Rodgers
Tom Brady forty nine ers. They have the Steelers and
the bye, and then they have the Ravens, Lions, Cardinals, Packers, Vikings, Seahawks, Giants. Yes,
(20:27):
the by So it's Baltimore out of the bye. If
I remember with Chicago, that to me felt like two weeks.
Baltimore's pass rushed, a little hit and miss. But again,
you think they can run with Andy Dalon until week ten,
and that's the whole thing. You're probably right. So I
was talking to my buddy John Middlcoff the Scout, last night,
and he said, listen, Chicago loves their football. They're not waiting.
(20:47):
They're not waiting ten weeks with Andy. No. I think
if their by was week six. Let me see their
schedule again early. Let's see, so they lose. Let's say
they lose to the Rams. So this is this is
up through week six. Okay, so they beat the Bengals,
lose at Cleveland, they're one and two. I say they
beat Detroit, they're two and two at the Raiders. How
(21:08):
about this. The Raiders is the deciding game. If you
beat the Raiders, you're three and two. If you lose
two and three, and he's done. Justin's in against Green
Bay at least it's green Bay at home. I mean,
I know, but that's you're right though, the way that
their schedule plays out, there's really not a soft landing
place to put him in the buys to week ten.
I don't see them running with Andy Dolton until week ten.
(21:29):
I don't know. I don't have the apprehension that most
people have about getting rookie quarterbacks out there. Like I
think you learned to play football by playing football. I
know there's some value to you know, being eased in
and you know, not having to learn everything at once,
NFL speed and how to be a professional, Like I
get it. But rookie quarterbacks have been starting for a
long time, and you know they're usually not great, and
(21:52):
that's fine. Listen to about a year or two to develop.
If you go to La and lose, and you lose
the following week and a shootout with Joe Burrow, Justin
Field is probably starting against Cleveland week three. Chicago's too
loud and too big of a city. You just can't
go oh and too. I mean they're excited about him,
of course. I mean you saw the reaction to you know,
Andy Dalton QB one, you trade it up and got
(22:14):
just in Field that I don't you know, I think
you have to appease them. So the Packers Aaron Rodgers
saga is continuing. There was some belief that Rogers was
under the impression that the Packers had agreed to trade
him at some point during the off season. According to
a team source, the Packers regard the notion that Rogers
was told he'd be traded as unequivocally false. So again
(22:37):
communication issues. So Packers weren't even aware that Rodgers believed
to be traded before reporting on this emerged. So yes,
it's once again communication issues. I think that when I
look at the whole scope of this situation and only
does it come down to communication, it's it's really just
ego to me, Like, I didn't see any deterioration in
(22:59):
Aaron Rodgers. He was in an NFC championship game their
thirteen and three the year before. He was still Aaron Rodgers.
He's still in his prime. You just paid him, obviously,
So what is the value of trading up and getting
a quarterback in the first rounds? Well, you obviously feel
like you're smarter than everybody else. Like there and to
Nick Right, I think Nick Right made the most sense
on this that if the rift is between Aaron Rodgers
(23:21):
and the GM, I mean, what are you, what are
you choosing and the advocating for people to lose their jobs.
But he took a big swing with Jordan Love. That
was a big, massive swing. I've not seen anyone say
that that was the right, the right move to do,
and certainly it offended Aaron Rodgers as it should have.
So what are the consequences of that? Jordan Love isn't
ready to play. You just brought in Blake Bortles. There's
communication issues everywhere, like the what is the interior issue here?
(23:44):
There's there's so many leagues. Well, to me, this story
is telling you so by the packers coming out and
addressing this rumor, it's unequivocally false. It tells so I
got three different guys have said it's fixable. Aaron's friends
are all saying it's fixable. Green Bay now releases we
did not say that. That is unequivalent. So you're seeing
(24:05):
now they're coming together. So Green Bay is saying this
is this is communication. We would never trade him. So
because that was Aaron's thing, he was ticked off about
because so what you're seeing folks now is Aaron saying
it's fixable, the packers denying they even considered trading him.
Aaron was ticked. He went, it feels like to me,
(24:28):
are starting to prevail. Yeah, it's cooler heads now. Two
weeks ago it was over. Everything is softened in the
last two weeks. It's probably a waste of breath to
say that this could be a lesson for everyone moving forward.
That communication is very important, vital in all relationship. But
I don't know that that's gonna resonate. Not to play
a therapist here, but Joy and I are into that
(24:48):
talking thing. Joy with the news, Well that's the news.
The herd line new Michael Vick thirteen years, four Pro Bowls.
Try to get a on yesterday. Happy to have him
on today? Is joining us live box, you buy Mercedes,
Ben's the best or nothing. So it's you know, it's
(25:09):
funny about the schedule. I think, listen, good teams win
and bad teams don't. But there are times that like,
for instance, Cleveland faces Baltimore by Baltimore, but the second
time they faced Baltimore, Cleveland gets a buy Baltimore has
to face Cleveland, then Pittsburgh, then Cleveland again, and I'm like, oh,
that's a scheduling break for Cleveland. When you were playing,
(25:31):
did you ever look at like, for instance, in Atlanta,
did you think, oh, we got to go up to
the cold in December? You know, did you ever look
at that stuff? Yeah? I was always looking for Philadelphia
on the schedule. West Philadelphia wears Brian Dawkins, and then
of course the Carolina Panthers because they were the division
(25:52):
rivals and we had to beat them in order to
move forward in the postseason. So I was always worried
about Julius was in where he was going to be
in just the placement and that whole schedule, like everything
was about time. And I felt like, and you know,
of course, you you look at the schedule, but then
instantly you start thinking, well, when we get to this team,
(26:13):
maybe this guy might be out, this guy might not
be planning. You kind of hang your hat on that
call real. You know, it's funny, Mike that you mentioned
Brian Dawkins and the first thing Michael looked at is
who's the best dB in the best pass Russia. That's funny.
So I said with Tampa, I said, I don't think
they'll go seventeen and O. And there was a stretch
where they go at the Rams and then it's at
(26:35):
the Patriots and then it's the Dolphins. And I thought,
you come off those big two road national TV games,
you come home against Miami, you think you got it made.
You got a couple of guys banged up on the road.
That is a trap game, total trap game. But it
is funny and Mike, I thought about this in a
seventeen game schedule. I can see Bruce Arians, he's got
(26:56):
his Super Bowl now right. I can see him doing
a little load man management with some older players, Michael,
and giving guys weeks off. Does that seem you know,
strange to you, not at all. I mean when you
look at Bruce Arians and he's all about protecting his players.
And you can ask a lot of those veteran players,
and I talked to a couple of them. You know,
(27:17):
they were so pleased at the way that they went
through the season in terms of taking care of their
body and how Bruce gave them some days off and
gave him some time to just decompress and you know,
get their bodies right, which is super important. So I
don't think the record going seventeen in old or sixteen
and one is going to be an issue for Bruce arians.
(27:39):
I think it's about getting to the playoffs and getting
their healthy. So, you know, the Tebow thing is interesting.
Everybody likes Tim. I get it. But it's funny, Mike,
because it's one thing to be out of the league
for eight years. It's another to be out and then
be asked to play another position. Now. I don't think
Tim is the classic tight end. He's more an h back.
(28:00):
But now, but we did see a story yesterday where
some of the Jags, even coaches, were like, oh no,
when you're rebuilding a culture, a culture, do you worry
a little bit Michael that it it's it feels a
little collegiate. It doesn't feel it feels like urban going
back to college a little bit. That was that was
(28:22):
my initial thought, you know, urban kind of recollecting and
you know, saying to himself what works, you know, and
going back in time, but then snapping back into reality
knowing it this is the NFL, this is not college.
And you know, I like Tebow for a couple of
different reasons. I like the fact that he has some
(28:43):
experienced playing h back. He got familiar doing that in
the Belichick system. Um, so he knows how to play
the position. But in terms of just toughness and and
you know, I would love to walk into a huddle
and see Tim Tebow in my huddle at tight end
because I'm gonna feel protective. I know he's a guy
is gonna give one hundred percent effort and he's gonna
give it everything he got. Now, the tight end position
(29:05):
to me is very delicate because I made a living
with the tight ends, you know, throughout my career, you know,
stop with algae prumplus. So he's not a guy that
you can just plug into any position. You gotta be
real meticulous about what you place him. You know, as
as we were through free agency, we're through the coaching hires,
we're through the draft. You can sign up Blake Bortles now.
(29:29):
But it's funny about Aaron Rodgers. People freaked out yesterday
when the Packers signed Blake Bortles, and my takeaway was,
that's more about Jordan Love than it is about Aaron Rodgers.
That's that's telling you that's a competition. Yeah, It's like,
we don't know if Jordan's ready to play. It is interesting, Mike,
three of Aaron's friends have used the same words publicly
(29:50):
in a week. Fixable. How possible is it? Aaron was
ticked off he wanted to humiliate the Packers a little
on draft night. Now he steps back and goes, well, hell,
they own my rights. Where where am I going to go? Anyway?
This is the best team I can be. Do you
think maybe? Like because when I say all his buddies
are saying fixable, that feels like a You know, we
(30:11):
all have a temper, right we all doing. We all
tend to go off the deep end sometime, and of
course we want our ego stroke than Aaron Rodgers. He
certainly deserves that for the work he's put in the
last two years, going to the NFC Championship game and
just falling short. But this is a situation. I think
it's salvageable. Um. You know, I woke up this morning
(30:34):
saying to myself, I didn't think it was fixable because
you know, when when the NFL quarterback says he wants out,
most of the time, he wants out for various reasons
other than what could be taking place upstairs. It could
be a bunch of different things. But you know, I think,
like you just said, Aaron's looking around the league saying
to him, so, okay, where am I going to go?
You know, and find a DeVante Adams? Where am I
(30:56):
gonna go to find an offense? That took me two
years to kid get comfortable? Now I got to start
all over. You know, that might not equate the success.
So you start to look at yourself and amura and
think about the things that's most important. And when you
look at the team aspect of it, Aaron Rodgers is
the missing piece. Jodan Love is not ready, especially with
(31:17):
that schedule. They need Aaron Rodgers back so they don't
look bad this year. Yeah. That that It's a really
interesting point by Michael. Is you if you go somewhere
even the smart veteran quarterbacks like Matt Ryan took two
years to figure out Kyle Shannon's offense, Aaron took. I mean,
these are these are guys that understand the game. I
mean smart guys. Yeah, I mean Bruce arians Brady. First
(31:38):
nine weeks they were it didn't click. So do you
want to give up a year of learning a system
and not winning a super Bowl. It's a good point,
by the way. You know, it's funny I see that
Matt Stafford now has ten national TV games. When you're
a player, do you know when it's a national TV game?
Can you feel it? Do you sense it? Most definitely?
(31:59):
I mean it's what you're looking for. You always look
at the schedule and seeing what games a prime time,
you know what games are on Fox, what games are
on Monday Night, because you know, those are the games
that you really have to show out for. And it's
no excuses because you got the whole world watching is
not local, you know, so you know, as you know,
to the fire as more pressure, but you know at
(32:21):
the quarterback position is what you want. You got to
be a show off. Great stuff, Mike, have a great weekend,
great Friday and through the weekend. Buddy, thanks for coming
on the show. Thanks for having you beat Yeah, I
really do listen Russell Wilson. It wasn't as ugly as
Aaron Rodgers, but Russell a couple of times now as
squawk squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk. I'm gonna list teams, and
(32:43):
they solved it. They solved it. I you know, I
tend to be. You know, I'm like, if you don't
want to be with me, I'm out. I'm good. But
that's probably why I don't have the temperament to run
a big company or something right, because I'm like, you
don't like m out, that's good. You know. I don't
want to. I don't want to babysit you, but I
(33:03):
think you have to babysit a little sometimes in sports,
Aaron may have to step back and go listen, this
is small town USA. You know. I'm doing Jeopardy at
Aaron I think has to go. All right, let me
take a deep breath here, denver Man, maybe that's not
a great space for me. If I don't win. Peyton
won Elway one. Well, if I don't win, he's appreciated.
(33:25):
I'll say this about green Bay. This is the one
thing I've said this about Brady and Aaron. Rodgers, the
Patriots and the green Bay Packers better than anybody in
the NFL the last fifteen years, develop offensive lineman better
than any team. Green Bay. Whatever's in the sauce in
Wisconsin they draft got they don't draft first round old
(33:48):
lineman third fifth six. Did you watch Corey Linsley play
in college. I mean, he was a fifth round pick,
became the best setter in football. So don't over you know,
you can go to a town that's got more flash,
got more stars. Not a lot of Davante Adams out there,
not a lot of old lines like Green Bay. By
the way, people don't bother you in Green Bay. It's
(34:10):
small town America. You pay nothing for a house, allows
you to go buy a Malibu house, you know what
I mean. There's a lot of value in playing at
lambeau Field. It's not hip. It's not cool. Grown men
wear cheese hats. I get it. But I think Aaron also,
I think Aaron's smart enough to look at it. We
all have a right to blow up and go man.
(34:31):
I don't get hip much here, and there's not a
lot of Davante Adams on the mark. I mean, we
don't know if Jerry Judia Denver's any good. We think
he'll be good, we don't know coming up next. I
hate MVP talk, but I'll throw off the dark horse
MVP thoughts. I am. The NFL knows it's a story.
(34:52):
They're putting them on TV. Early the most fascinating player
in the NFL. This year. That's next. Be sure to
catch live editions I The Heard weekdays and noon Easter
nini Empacific. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every
weekday morning on my podcast Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
This isn't your typical sportspod pushing the same tired narratives
(35:15):
down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest
opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to
help you win big at the sports book, and all
the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to
Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, one
(35:36):
of the things I always try to appreciate is I've
been very lucky in my career. I've had mostly really
good bosses and I've gotten really good support, and that's
really really important. You know, like all of us, you know,
we get some breaks in life, and I've had mostly
good breaks with the companies, the management. I've had a
lot of stability. I've had I had one brief two
(35:58):
year time in Tampa with an organization that was very
chaotic newsroom nobody's fault. They had changed ownerships. It was
just it was a tire fire. And and by the way,
that that was the two years where I struggled. And
I even said with Odell Beckham, who I like when
Odell didn't have chaos in his life. Odell Beckham has
been great, but he goes to Cleveland and of New
(36:19):
York without Coughlin at LSU didn't have problems, and I'm problems,
and I'm problems with Coughlin early, and I want the problem.
He's somebody that he doesn't like chaos and I and
so I always try to say, listen, dude, you've been lucky.
I've been lucky about that stuff. And I mean, here's
a prime example, Dak Prescott, and I like Dak. He
inherited the best offensive line in football, Zeke, the biggest
(36:43):
brand and an offensive coach Jason Garrett who'd quarterback in
the NFL. Matt Stafford. Matt Stafford inherits the worst franchise
not named the Cleveland Browns. The Lions got Jim Schwartz,
a defensive coach with a terrible offensive line and no
running game. I think Matt Stafford's more talented than Dak Prescott.
(37:05):
So does every GM, even Stephen Jones knows it. I
don't resent what Dack's done, but he made one hundred
and seven million dollars last year. Dack did He didn't
even play Munch the Cowboys, the old line, Zeke Jerry,
Middle of the Country, America's brand. That's a break. He
got a good break. Matt Stafford, super talented, could not
(37:27):
have gotten no worse situation. So Matt Stafford has been
invisible for twelve years in Detroit except Thanksgiving. I mean
literally invisible. What's fascinating is Matt Stafford. Now look at
this RAM schedule Bears NBC National TV. Two weeks later, Buccaneers.
(37:48):
My guess is it's on Fox, America's Game of the Week.
Two weeks later, Arizona Fox, Amazon five twenty Game of
the Week. Start looking at this NBC Monday Night football, Niners,
Green Bay Packers, Fox at Arizona that's an ESPM Moneay
Night football Seahawks Fox. That'll be that'll end up being
America's Game of the Week. I would imagine at Baltimore,
(38:10):
San Francisco. Those are ten national TV games from at Stafford.
This is very Kevin Garnett. Kevin Garnett was great. We
didn't talk about him for ten years in Minnesota. He
goes to Boston. He was the most discussed big in
the game for five years. Every playoff game, we were
all glued on that. Doc rivers Kevin Garnett Reyal. Kevin
(38:31):
had always been great, but he ended up in Minnesota.
And that's where I feel for pro athletes. I know,
I know, I know they're all rich, blah blah blah,
but God, some guys get breakes. I mean, Dak I
love him, but he inherited three Hall of famers on
the offensive line in their prime in Zeke and a
coach who had been a quarterback, and by the way,
an owner who loves offensive players. Jerry loves offense. I'll
(38:55):
get it more weapons. Matt Stafford goes to Detroit and
they can't mean nothing works defensive coach, battle line, no
running game. Listen, Mike Trout is great, but he's invisible
with the Angels. What if Mike Trout was with the
Yankees and had a Hall of Famer hitting behind him,
(39:16):
you couldn't throw him off speed. And by the way,
when Mike Trout comes up in for the second, third,
fourth time, there's runners on basse because the Yankees have
bought all stars. I mean, if you ever think about
Mike Trout's numbers, if he was in New York and
he had Hall of Famers behind him, more guys on bass.
I mean, Mike Trout is as he's I don't think
he's won a playoff series. I mean, so again, Mike
(39:40):
Trout's great, How great could he be? Matt Stafford's talented,
but good god, he gets a culture upgrade, a coach upgrade,
an OH line upgrade, or receiver upgrade. Cam akers are
running back upgrade. Now the division's tougher, But you'd take that.
I mean it's it's I'm not an MVP guy. I
hate talking about that. But not only will Matt be good,
(40:01):
the story's good. Like the Kevin Garnett to the Celtics,
that was a great story. It's like this dude deserves
Ray Allen, doc Rivers, Paul Pierce. He has earned that.
I'm not a big believer in you deserve stuff, you
gotta earn it. Kevin Garnett had earned the right to
be on a notable franchise. Matt Stafford's earned the right
(40:22):
he got a nothing sandwich, and I think he's gonna
have a terrific year. Still running your business on quick books.
Talk about quick sam. The bigger it gets, the faster
you sink. Go to NetSuite offering one of a kind
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