Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Are
you sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve
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This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio. Ah, here we go on a Friday,
(00:27):
our first Friday of the football season, live in Los Angeles.
This is the Herd, wherever you may be and however
you may be listening. Thanks so much for joining us
Fox Sports Radio and right here on FS one. One
hour from now, the Blazing five five NFL Picks debuts
(00:50):
Love My Picks, Love some Underdogs this week. Very interesting.
Joy Taylor is joining me. So oh we got then
it looked like sounded like mostly a regular football game. Right. Well,
I wasn't prepared for all the fans, right, so I
was mentally preparing myself for completely empty stadiums, which we
(01:12):
still have to do because there are going to be
some stadiums that are empty. But the Chiefs fans were amazing.
They were there. Yeah, but it was a great night. Yeah.
I mean to me, outside of Andy Reid's foggy shield,
it kind of looked and sounded like an NFL game
or an NFL game with you know, fewer fans. I
liked it. I thought the NFL did a good job.
(01:33):
Congrats to the Chiefs and the Texans both for you know,
getting through camp and here we go. I want to
remind everybody DeShawn Watson was a better high school quarterback
than Patrick Mahlomes. Deshaun Watson was a better college quarterback
than Patrick Mahomes, and one year into the league, officially,
Deshaun Watson was better than Patrick Mahomes. Remember news setting
(01:56):
records Deshawn's first year, He's like just going crazy. A
couple of years later, look at him. One guy runs
the league, the other is bailing water. Deshaun Watson looked overwhelmed.
We say this all the time, even for great quarterbacks.
I watched that game last night. You know what I
thought of Joe Burrow. I feel sorry for him. Patrick
(02:19):
Mahomes is the Big three, super talented, super support system,
and super coachable. Deshaun is two of those, but he
doesn't have the support system and Deshaun Watson has been
putting a lot of makeup on those pimples for years,
and there's just limitations. The acne's too bad with the Texans.
(02:44):
There's too many pimples making bad trades moving off DeAndre Hopkins,
you know, and it funny too. Once you get the
quarterback and coach right, it just everything else works. You
draft a rookie running back from LSU, I mean I
like him. Is that good first game? Would he be
that good anywhere else? Sammy Watkins, you know they kind
(03:07):
of overpaid for him. Now Mahomes and Andy Reid make
it worked, Honey, Badgers? Do you have anything left in
the tank that worked too? Once you get the quarterback
and the head coach right, everything works. I mean, Sam
Darnold was way better than Josh Allen all through high
school in college. Josh Allen played high school football California,
had to go to Wyoming to play. But when you
watch him now, who wins. You can be coachable, you
(03:30):
can work hard and be talented. What's your support system?
Anytime Patrick Mahomes makes a mistake, he's got this incredible
safety net of coaching management executives. This is why I
owe us support professional athletes, mobility, moving to a better team,
(03:51):
joining star players, going to better coaching, going to bigger venues,
demanding trades. Eli Manning is going to be a Hall
of Famer because before he was drafted, he uttered this sentence,
I want to play for the New York Giants, not
the San Diego Chargers. And that is why he's a
Hall of Famer, and that's probably why no shot at
(04:13):
the Chargers Philip Rivers will not be. Patrick Mahomes comes
into this league as wildly talented but didn't win a
lot in college. Then he gets Brett Veachs the GM
Andy Reid and they're building the old line in the offense.
And then he was a little bit of a gun slinger.
Last year he was only eleventh in completion percentage and
(04:34):
a little bit wild. And then last night, oh wait,
he took another step in the evolution. Last night he
was mister efficient. He was a tesla. He was no
longer a flamethrower. He was a surgeon. A lot of
guys come into this league. They got cannons, and that's it.
I always use Jeff George. They never get better. That's
what they don't have. The coaching, they don't have the
(04:54):
support system. But last night we got another level. We've
seen this with Lamar, another level of Patrick Mahomes, audibling reading, defenses, efficiency.
It's not just talent and coachability. You need the support system.
That's why I'm always four players moving because they have
(05:15):
short careers. Here's Andy Reid afterwards. What you see is
a maturity where he's not forcing things downfield. So as
a play caller, EB and I sit there and we
go listen. We can call deep throws, but yet he'll
he's willing to check this thing down. So that's we
appreciate that. By the way, last night was not a
(05:38):
referendum against Deshaun Watson or a referendum for Patrick Mahomes.
But it is a referendum and you can't do it alone.
And how valuable coaching support, executives, offensive line stability, and
the lack of chaos are a lot of football today.
(05:59):
Blaze five in one hour, So unique is overrated. I
said it right there, It's overrated. Starbucks did not invent coffee.
McDonald's did not invent the burger. Amazon was not the
first person who was really good at retail. Netflix was
not the first channel you had to pay for HBO
(06:21):
did it thirty years ago or more. But they're all
really good at it and all really efficient at it.
I think unique is overrated. Unique is like nobody's tried
this before, and usually there's a reason for it. There's
a lot of smart people in America have been since
nineteen fifty on. If something's unique, there's a reason. Usually
(06:43):
somebody thought of it and it didn't work. The Houston
Rockets came up was small ball. No, that's adorable in
the sport in America with the tallest athletes. Let's be
the shortest team in league history. Do you watch the
box score last night? Lakers had fifth two rebounds, the
Rockets had twenty six. There were thirteen offensive rebounds in
(07:04):
that game. Lakers had twelve of them. Anthony Davis tall guy,
was great. I grew up in The first great player
I saw was Wilt. The leading scorer in league history
is Kareem They're big. The first great point guide I
saw was Magic Johnson. He was six nine and a half.
My favorite rookie was Zion. The best player in the
(07:24):
league is Lebron size. I'm not saying it's a league
for centers. But the last Finals MVP that was a
small guy is six six Kobe Bryant. Houston looked small,
They look exhausted, they looked tired, sort of like smaller
Damian Lillard did at the end of that series. I
(07:45):
don't believe you build around centers. But small ball it's
like the wildcat in the NFL. Remember the Miami Dolphins
did that, We're gonna hike the ball to running backs
and it was kind of effective for about a month,
and then everybody went, there's a reason you hike the
ball to the quarterback. Unique can and often does catch
(08:08):
people off guard, Lebron said after Game one of this series.
Lebron's like, you know, you can't really duplicate what they do.
It's jarring, but you can figure out unique. What is
hard to beat is efficiency. Does Starbucks have the best coffee?
Up for debate? Not my favorite, but their efficiency is
(08:29):
a remarkable Is Amazon the best retailer? They're really efficient.
All I know is I click, I want it, and
it's on my step. Ten minutes later a drone just
dropped it in my backyard. The reality was small ball.
There's a reason the professional league in America with the
tallest best athletes. Never really thought of it. It doesn't work.
(08:52):
They look tired, they look small. They couldn't keep Anthony
Davis off the glass. They can't get rebounds in second
chance points. They had an offensive remount all night. That
was Russell Westbrook, another small guy. Again, I don't think
it's a center league anymore. You don't need a back
to the basket center. But Luca it's hard to stop.
Why he's big for his position. Lebron big and fast,
(09:14):
Zion big and fast. The reality is the Rockets. This
is mostly nonsense. And for the record, the reaction, why
did they have no spirit? Why do they look tired?
Why would the season on the line? Didn't you get
much of an effort? Here is James Harden, James in
(09:35):
the game with so much at stake. Why did you
guys seem so flat through three quarters? Good question? Remember
the Titans, remember that movie. There's a great line reflection,
Attitude reflects leadership. No, no, no small ball, no center.
(09:58):
I'm nothing against Houston, but man, they struggle to beat Okay,
see they're not competitive against the Lakers. Unique Sorry, sorry,
garage bands. It's overrated. It's not about inventing stuff. It's
about becoming really efficient at stuff that has worked for decades.
The Lakers are be sure to catch live editions of
(10:20):
The Herd weekdays and nun Easter nine am Pacific. So
there are a new head coach or a new quarterback
on your roster who is starting for nine NFL teams
this weekend? I have eight losing. I think Carolina with
Teddy Bridgewater will beat the Raiders. Other than that, I
(10:42):
have them all losing. I have Tom Brady losing. My
one big NFL prediction this year. Same quarterback and head
coach with no OTAs in no camp is a big advantage.
I also think there's a weird fit for Tom Brady
in Tampa. This wide receiver corps, this tight end corp
is built to throw the ball down the field. Translation,
(11:05):
the offensive line is going to be really important. Tom
doesn't like to get hit. Old quarterbacks do not like
to get hit. They like their knees protected. They want
to go to their kids high school football games and
not limp around the field. Young quarterbacks are a tad
more daring until they get hit for a few years,
and then they don't want to get hit. Tom Brady's
got a wider receiving corps, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, really
(11:27):
really good tight ends. They're gonna throw the ball down
the field. And that's who the head coach is and
Breeze and Brady. In the last four or five years
Avs they've aged are winning games at the line of scrimmage,
checking down, being smart, getting out audibling out of blitzes
into efficiency slot receivers, rarely throwing deep. This is a
(11:47):
roster that should throw the ball deep. What does that mean?
The offensive line is going to tell me. If you
told me right now the grade of the Tampa Bay
offensive line at Thanksgiving, I would tell you what their
record would be. To me, I know this is a
rock star roster with Gronk and Brady and Shack Barrett
and oh there's all sort I want you to pay
(12:09):
attention to somebody you have never seen play. His name
is Tristan Worfs. He's from Iowa. He's a right tackle.
He's gonna go up against Cameron Jordan, who is the
best four three defensive end in football. He's on our
show all the time. You will know by the end
of the first quarter if Tom Brady is running for
(12:30):
his life. Tampa Bay's in trouble. That's what this game
is gonna come down to. Can the rookie from Iowa, who,
unlike other rookies at right tackle, had no OTAs and
had no exhibition games. These will be his first live
NFL snaps against Cameron Jordan, who's unbelievably talented. And oh,
(12:54):
by the way, if you were a young person in
your twenties and you go to the NFL and your
first assignment is to protect the greatest living quarterback at
the greatest player in lead history, couple butterflies, Maybe a
little that the pressure is on Tristan Worths, who has
(13:18):
a legendary calorie intake. Love the kid, but you talk
about a rough opening assignment. Best four or three d
in the NFL. You've got to protect Tom Brady, new pieces,
new system. You didn't want to slide Gronk over next
to the rookie from Iowa to help out. That to
me is the game. This offense is built to throw
(13:40):
the ball down the field. And that's not who Tommy's
been the last four or five years. It's not who
Drew Breeze has been last four or five years. And
Aaron Rodgers, by the way he's been leading the NFL
and throwaways. He doesn't want to get hit either, and
he's really athletic. That to me is the game. I
think Tommy and the Brady the Buccaneers lose, and I
think eight of the nine new coach, new system, or
(14:02):
new quarterback on the roster who was starting it. Don't
count the Chargers because Tyrod Taylor was there. I have
eight of nine losing. One more Herd. The Herd streams
twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within
the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or on
demand whenever you like. We bring in one of my faves,
Kevin Clark, writer NFL for The Ringer, formerly at the
Wall Street Journal, and he is joining us now, brought
(14:25):
to you by Mercedes. Ben's the best or nothing, very
smart guy, great reporter and all right, Kevin Clark on
a Friday for the record. I have a beard, You
have a mustache. Twenty twenty is a lot of different stuff.
Can we start with that? It started with laziness for me,
and now it's a fashion statement and I don't know
if it's gonna go away when life returns to normal.
(14:47):
I think the facial hair stays. I don't know. I mean,
I think you have great facial hair right now. But
I just feel like this is a long term plan
for me that started out as a short term plan. Yeah, agree, totally.
All right. So I watched last night and my take
I was, oh, wait, now, Patrick Mahomes is efficient too.
He went from gun slinger to surgeon. I thought, and
(15:08):
this will never make his highlight real games, but I
was kind of blown away by his efficiency last night.
You So, when I talk to people around the league,
but what this season's going to look like, everybody said
that it's going to be the obvious stuff. You know,
Lamar Jackson's gonna be hard to tackle. Patrick Mahomes is
gonna be a great passer because defenses to stren't going
to be ready for I mean, it's what people say
about curb your enthusiasm, right, they're just Larry David is
(15:30):
playing a heightened version of himself, right, That's what all
the great players are going to be doing this year.
And Patrick Mahomes is going to be a better version
of Patrick Mahomes because defenses will be more simplified coverages
and they'll be able to take the next step. Dominance
is the key this year, and Patrick Mahomes will be
able to take the next step. And I think that
it's really interesting to see how good he can get
because listen, he's gonna make five hundred three million dollars
(15:52):
over the next decade. He is the best quarterback in football.
And you wonder where the ceiling is, and right now,
I don't know if there is one. I don't know
if there is one, because this is also this is
a season about cohesion, about being on the same page.
Who's more on the same page than Andy Reid, Eric
bade me, Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek killed Travis Kelsey And now
kind words, Hilaire, I mean this is I don't see
(16:13):
much competition outside of Baltimore in the AFC, NFL rider
the ringer, Kevin Clark, our friend bring him on often.
So I say, everybody likes, you know, Tampa Bay to
some degree. And my theory is defense will carry him early.
Todd Bowles is underrated. Front seven's very good, and then
I think the offense will catch up. But if I
said to you, Kevin, it doesn't go well, it doesn't
(16:36):
go well. And I say, Kevin predict it doesn't go. Well,
what's the problem? Where where is the potential pothole landmine
for this team? I would say, kind of what the
opposite of the Mahomes thing, the cohesion thing. No one
cares about throwing passes to the inch like Tom Brady
and all of a sudden instead of twenty years of
(16:58):
institutional memory in New England and knowing exactly where everyone's
going to be, not a way on the field, but
in the building, he's coming in and trying to replicate
that very quickly in Tampa Bay. You cannot get those
sort of OTA type reps on high school fields in
Tampa you just can't. And so I think there might
be a slow September or October with Tom Brady. I
think it's going to happen for him, but I think
(17:20):
that maybe there might be some communication issues or timing
issues or verbiage issues in the offense. You're just learning
all new things in a year where that's really hard
to do. I'm never going to bet against Tom Brady.
I think the Bucks are gonna make the playoffs, but
I think that we're going to see a better Bucks
in November and December than we are in September October.
Just because of the mechanics of this season, there are
(17:42):
nine teams that either have a new head coach, slash system,
or a new quarterback on the roster that they're starting.
I think eight lows. I do think Carolina at home
beats the Raiders who don't travel well or play munch defense.
So let's talk a little bit about Baker and Stefanski.
Now Stefanski um in fact coach case Keenum. I think
(18:04):
he's gonna make it more run centric. I think I
think Baker is going to be a component to it,
not the driver of it. That's my guess. What are
you hearing? What's your thoughts about what we see from Cleveland, who,
by the way, as a brutal opener at Baltimore. Yeah,
I think that the Baltimore thing, you kind of throw
that out. Okay. Their season starts in week two on Thursday,
(18:24):
nay r So, I talked to Andrew Berry the Browns
GM this week. Actually we talked a bit about how
he's just he's building around the quarterback. But when I
hear building around the quarterback, I think a lot of
people here getting Onell Beckham are getting you know, some
of the things they've done the last couple years where
it's weapons, but I think that a lot of it
is just the basics, and that's you traded Kevin Zeisler
(18:47):
for Olivia Vernon. Everybody got excited and I hyped them up.
But it turns out you need a guard, and it
turns out that signing Jack Conklin to play tackle is
a great move, and we skipped so many of the
basics last year that mistake remain. And I think that
now they've seen a year of not only Baker's bad habits,
but also just the holes that they had in that
hyped up roster, and they were able to plug them
(19:09):
very quietly without hype. I really like Kevin Stefanski, I
really like the things that they're going to do, and
I just I have a lot of optimism because this
is a post hype team that's able to see where
mistakes remain. A lot of that was Freddie Kitchens. I
put way more blame on Freddie Kitchens for Baker's twenty
nineteen than you do. But I think there's a huge
(19:29):
addition by subtraction thing in Cleveland right now. Now, by
the way, we said yesterday, all the issues in Cleveland.
You cannot totally unfair to blame Baker. He's a kid.
He's had too much instability here. He was fine in
Oklahoma when you have a very stable program. So this
is an interesting one. The other day I was reading
a story and Aaron Rodgers said, I think we're a
little under the radar. I don't. I think we all
(19:51):
kind of know what Green Bay is. Last year they
were talented, but a little bit of a finesse team
that got pushed around by the Chargers, pushed around by Philadelphia,
pushed around by San Francisco. So they go to the
draft and they get a blocking tight end and a
physical running back, an interior offensive lineman. But here's the question,
is the last three years Aaron Rodgers completion percentage down,
his passer rating down. Two years ago, I was told
(20:14):
it was click bait if I said, I don't buy
the Aaron Rodgers Tom Brady goat conversation. One is and
one's just super talented. Have we seen, in your opinion,
Kevin the best eron And it's just from this point
forward it is just a little bit less every year.
(20:35):
I don't want to get into the goat conversation but
I'm gonna make him a comparison's going to confuse you
in that sense. Aaron reminds me at this stage a
little bit of Tiger Woods, And what I mean by
that is that there's still the capability on every time
he drops back to see the best thing you've ever
seen in the sport. I mean, he might roll out,
and he might go back to the sort of proto
(20:57):
Mahomes thing he was doing a decade ago, and there's
always that possibility, and he still has that. It's just
becoming less and less likely every time. I still think
he's one of the most talented pastors we've ever seen.
I still think he's capable. We saw, you know, he
was one game away from the super Bowl last year,
but that kind of gets dismissed because of how how
large that gap was between Green Bay and the forty
(21:18):
nine ers. I like what they did. Could they have
added a receiver in the first round, Absolutely, I think
that's a separate thing. But it's as far as trying
to get a little more physical, trying to play San
Francisco style of ball. I'm fine with that, and I
think that he still has the capability to be a
top ten quarterback, and I still feel like he has
he has a lot of the things he had when
(21:40):
he was in league quarterback. I just think time comes
for us all and I just don't think he has
the capability to be the best quarterback in football anymore.
And that wasn't true two years ago. I think he
still he still had that. So this is just natural
aging curve. I mean, I think there's a lot of guys,
Drew Brees, Tom Brady, all those guys. I mean there's
an age gap there, but at some point after age
(22:00):
thirty five, thirty six, you're just not going to be
Mahomes or Lamar Jackson anymore. So last year, once or
twice on camera we heard Tom Brady yelling at his
receivers get open, separate. Cam Newton has the misfortune of
inheriting those possession receivers. What are realistic expectations for what
(22:24):
I believe is the least dynamic wide receiving tight end
core in the league. What's realistic for him? I think
there's a very interesting thing going on in New England
right now, which is they are They've been claiming to
be the underdog for twenty years. Colin, you know this
every time there will be eight and one to lose
(22:44):
one game and they'll say nobody believed in us, So
what are you talking about? Okay, So I think that
the expectations are quite low. I think realistically they could
be a nine or ten win team just because they
still have talent to find. Gilmore and J. C. Jackson
are two lockdown cornerbacks. Saw that stiff we last year.
I think those opt outs really really hurt their ability.
And you know, no one is a better judge at
(23:07):
one through fifty three on the roster than Bill Belichick
and getting those mid tier veterans. I mean, that's that's
been their bread and butter the last decade. It's the
guys who make seven, eight, nine, ten million dollars and
just having a deeper roster than everybody. Well, if six
of us guys opt out, well that's a problem. And
so I worry about New England a little bit in
that regard. Well, from an offensive standpoint, I think Cam's
gonna be able to get a lot of free yardage.
(23:27):
No one, no one in the NFL is better at
figuring out how to get free yardage over there, whether
that's some special teams, deep defense, offense whatever it is,
the Bill Belichick in all three phases of the game,
and so I think you're gonna see a lot of
easy first downs for Cam Newton. But I agree with you.
I think overall, he's not gonna have a lot of
open guys. And listen, you look at Cam's twenty fifteen
(23:49):
receiving corps with Carolina when he won the MVP. It
wasn't that good. Okay, you know, Greg Olson was a
good safety valve and all that stuff, But I just
I don't think that he's really had an incredib of
infrastructure here, and so I think I think they're nine
ten win team. I think with the opt outs, it's
a different conversation. But I like Buffalo in the FFC East.
Good stuff. Kevin Clark got a mustache, fits him well.
(24:12):
The Ringer does great work. It is a pleasure to
see you. Last night was fun. I cannot wait for
the weekend. And thank you so much, thank for having McCollum.
What's up everybody? John Middlecoff three and Out podcast. Go
subscribe right now wherever you listen to your podcast. Coming
up this weekend, we dive into the homes Watson struggles
(24:32):
dive into Sunday's games. Belichick and Cam tom Brady new
team Rams Cowboys, we talk about it. All football is
back and I have you covered three and out. Go
subscribe right now. I think sometimes you just get bad matchups.
You know, it'd be like you come into work at
a lousy night's sleep and you have a huge meeting.
(24:52):
That's a bad matchup. You just you just didn't sleep well,
got a lot of responsibility, and a bad day gets worse.
Dallas at the Rams is not a good matchup. And
here's why Sean McVay is a really creative coach. Creative
coaches have off season to draw up plays. Andy Reid
(25:13):
is great in September, Doug Peterson is four and Owen openers.
Sean McVay is three and Owen openers. Now, Matt Naggie's creative,
but he has Mitch Drubisky. But if you have a
good quarterback Carson Wentz, Jared Goff, you know, Alex Smither, Mahomes,
and you get an offseason to draw up some plays.
And he read about a month ago, sent me some
(25:35):
of his plays he's got for his opener against the Texans.
That's what creative guys, do Sean McVay average is over
thirty one points a game and season openers, he'll be
taking on Mike McCarthy, conservative, little old gonna probably play
it safe to start new system Dak. I don't think
(25:56):
this is a good spot for Dallas. I think I
get a better coach in Sean McVay. And by the way,
Mike McCarthy was nine and four and openers with Brett
Favan Aaron Rodgers, and that was against Leslie Frazier and
Jim Caldwell and John Fox and Lovey Smith and Jim Schwartz.
Very conservative coaches, many of them defensive coaches. In fact,
(26:18):
all of those defensive coaches except I think Caldwell, But
I say McVay. I think clever, I think daring, I
think exotic, and I think McCarthy. I think kind of
stayed and conservative and safe. And I think this is
a good spot for the Rams, who I think have
the second or third best wide receiving corps in the NFL.
(26:41):
The Rams bring back the same coach, the same left tackle,
the same quarterback, the same tight end, the same system,
the same two top receivers. Peter Schreger talked about Dallas
this year and Mike McCarthy. I am fascinated the ow
this Mike McCarthy thing goes Colin because look, let's call
like it was Steve Wilkes and the Arizona Cardinals led
(27:01):
by Josh Rosen, beat Mike McCarthy and the Packers. They
fired Mike McCarthy and midway through that season, and he
was out of work all last year. So we're supposed
to believe that all of a sudden, Mike McCarthy is
going to suddenly become this rejuvenated Coach of the Year
type guy. Let's see if Mike McCarthy is the magic
elixir that gets Dak Prescott over the hump. You know,
(27:23):
this is just kind of your classic. There's nine teams
with a new coaching system and a new quarterback, and
I don't like any of them this weekend except Carolina
because I really think Teddy Bridgewaters underrated. And I don't
trust the Raiders, who were a awful team last year
and didn't have OTAs or a preseason to work out
their issues. But I you know, it's funny about this.
(27:43):
You think to yourself, like I'm watching last night and
this is what's scary about Kansas City. This was the
time to beat Kansas City. Think about this. So when
you tell people you got to go to Kansas City
to play the Chiefs, first thing you think about, that's
one of the loudest places. There weren't many fans last night.
(28:04):
What's the weather? By November, it's like hailing sideway. But
the weather was perfect. Well, mahomes, mahomes and read are
coming off the Super Bowl. You would totally get them
being flat in the opener. The weather was perfect, which
it never is in Kansas City. There was no crowd
to speak of, no crowd, noise, and Kansas City rolled.
(28:24):
It's like, okay, that was your opportunity if you if
you ever want to beat a Super Bowl check I
mean even Belichick they make the Super Bowl. You know,
when you go to the Super Bowl, you also play
longer and longer and longer. And as a keep Sleep
said yesterday in the show, you go back to your hometown.
A lot of these football players are from small hometowns.
They go to big universities and NFL teams, and you
(28:45):
go back to Allen, Texas and you're the big star
and you're in the parade and everybody loves you, and
you just get off to a late start. You're not
as good as shape when you go to OTA's or camp.
That was the moment to beat Kansas City and it
wasn't really even competitive. Now, one of the things we
always say about Friday's Friday's all about hope, Monday's all
(29:07):
about overreaction. So these Thursday games, everybody Houston's gonna win
games because they have Deshaun Watson and Bill O'Brien. Historically,
it's pretty good at engineering an offense. But so don't overreact.
I think we have to as we watch football all Sunday,
We've got to really be honest about this. With no preseason,
(29:29):
every nobody really knows. Tampa doesn't know what they're gonna
look like. Tom Brady doesn't know what this is gonna
look like. He doesn't. You can't. You can't replicate full
speed practice against buddies in the locker next to you
and full speed game. I think there's gonna be a
lot of surprises. There'll be a little sloppiness. I do
(29:49):
think defenses are gonna play fairly vanilla schemes don't get
too complicated, which could mean a big offensive weekend. We
saw the NBA bubble was all offense. Games were every
other night. You didn't have time to adjust defensively, so
it was great for offense. I think we're gonna see
a lot of offense Sunday, kind of generic defenses, great offenses.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
(30:12):
in noon Easter nine Ampacific on Fox Sports Radio FS
one and the iHeart Radio app. T J Hushmnzata played
in the NFL for over a decade, a pro bowler,
all full of wisdom. He is joining us here now
on a Friday as we get ready for a great
NFL weekend via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So let's
start with this. You watch the game last night. I
(30:33):
thought it looked and sounded like football. The empty seats
didn't didn't bother me if you were playing. Is it
harder to play without fans many fans in the stands.
It seems like it would be in training camp, for instance,
in training camp, you practice in training camp and the
day you scrimmage and fans are allowed in, you just
(30:56):
have a better practice. You're exciting, you just feel better
about Hey, I'm tired of going to get the same guys,
but there's fans here to watch us, so I got
I have to give them all. So I'm sure for
the guys that's been in the league and used to
big crowds, it was a big difference for him. But
you're just ready to play football. At the end of
the day, it's a different jersey. You're ready to play football.
(31:19):
Your former team, the Bengals, has Joe Burrow. I don't
think it's entirely fair to say save the franchise day
one with no preseason, but that's what we have. What
are realistic expectations TJ Like, let's say they have a
bad record four and twelve, five and eleven, But what
will you look at because the records, we can't judge
him on the record, that's not him. But what will
(31:40):
you look at from a rookie quarterback having played in
this league for over a decade and go I like that,
I like that, I like that. What are you looking
for from Burrow? Is he getting rid of the ball
on time? Is he skittish in the pocket? He showed
at LSU last year that he had really good pocket presence.
He was able to move around when need be. But
he threw the ball on time he put the ball.
(32:02):
The biggest thing was he was very accurate. If he
can throw the ball with accuracy, and the good thing
he has weapons at the skilled position. With the Bengals,
you got Aj Green, if he can stay healthy, Tyler
Boyd T Higgins, John Ross Joke mixing good collection at
tight ends. If that offensive line can protect him, I
believe the Bengals should have win between five and seven games.
(32:23):
But I just want to see him get rid of
the ball on time and throw with accuracy, and if
he's protected, he should do both of those things well.
So Dak's got a new coach and a new system.
How long did it take you to learn a new
coach and a new system? Offensively, when you're the quarterback
and you have to know protections, the run game checks,
(32:45):
and there's a lot to go into it. Now, it's
being reported supposedly that they're keeping the same system and
it's gonna be Mike McCarthy learning what they do. But
I doubt that's going to be the case. I thought
it's gonna be. It's probably gonna be a little bit
of both, but it's gonna take some time. With no
preseason games, and you can practice it and practice it
and do very well, but when you get out there,
(33:06):
you really have to execute when it matters. It's gonna
take four three to four weeks for them to feel
good about what works, what does it work. I really
like this play in practice, but it's just not showing
up in a game that I like it the way
I thought I did. And so it's it's gonna take
three to four weeks for them to feel some cohesiveness
and get an idea of what works and what doesn't. Yeah,
(33:27):
that's really interesting some stuff. Boy, it works great in practice,
it doesn't work in the games. So one of the
things Jamis Winston is talented, but he could be wild.
Brady is super accurate, and I think that does matter
when you're a wide receiver, and Jamis probably has as
much arm talent as Brady or more at this point.
(33:49):
But Tom's really accurate. How would it affect you when
you work with different quarterbacks and the balls in the
right spot and the timing is perfect. Does it change
how you think breaking the huddle, how you run routes,
how confident you are because these Tampa wide receivers, Tom
will put it on a spot. How does it change
you as a receiver. It just lets you know you
(34:11):
got a lot of catching run opportunity. As far as
coming out the huddle, you're not too much worried about that.
I don't know how their offense works, but a lot
of offenses is predicated on one high two high reads.
If it's a two high safety, the quarterback is going
to work with a certain side of the field. If
it's a one high safety, he's gonna work a certain
side of the field. So if you're a smart receiver,
you line up, you read the defense, You have an
idea of where the ball should go, and so you
(34:33):
start to look at man. If he hits the ball
right here, I got a nice catching run situation. You
know a lot of guys nowadays, they catch the ball
and they fall down. And so if that could probably
be the only thing that they'll say, oh, reading the
defense or this ball's probably gonna come to me. If
it's here, I can really catch a knife and get
up the field and try to get some of right
after the catch. But with Brady, they've seen in practice
(34:53):
and again intensity when you go against each other in practice,
it's not going to be the same intensity that the
defenders you play against and the game is gonna bring
in so they'll get a field for that. But where
Brady's accuracy they've seen, we're going to have a lot
of catching round opportunities. You know. It's interesting with Lamar
Jackson and the Ravens. So he actually played really well
(35:14):
down the stretch. The playoff game excluded, but you know,
he played very, very well, and I just think he's
a kid. One of the things he's really good at
is he listens to the critics, and he has said
he's come out back to back off seasons and said, yeah,
I listen to people. They're right, I have to do
this better, and the most pro athletes, if they do that,
they wouldn't tell you. I expect him to just take
(35:36):
it up another level. But it does appear at this
point in his career he plays better with the lead
than he does behind most quarterbacks. That should be noted.
Do where do you think the growth will be from
Lamar Jackson, who we know is athletic, we know he's coachable,
we know he puts the time in, But do you
think there's another level and if so, what would it
(35:58):
look like? It's what you said is we won't see
this until the playoffs start. Like we're talking Lamar jack
He led the league in touchdown passes last year. Like
Lamar Jackson had more touchdown passes in any quarterback in
the league. He's the reigning league MVP, and so his
only knock on him, and it's a big knock, is
(36:19):
he has not won a playoff game. And so that growth,
that next step will have to come in the playoffs
because if he leaves the league in touchdown passes, again,
what are we Oh, he laid it last year, and
so it's gonna be can you do it in the
playoffs when your team needs it the most? And we'll
see that in January. Yeah, I'm excited for I think
(36:41):
Baltimore is the best team in the league. And I
think you know, when you bring back the coach in
the quarterback, you know, it's funny about Week one. Hardball
is a great Week one coach. So the last four
years they've held opponents to ten or fewer points. McVeigh,
Doug Peterson, offensive guys Andy Reid are great opening week
coaches because they come out with new wrinkles offensively and
(37:02):
catch people off guard. Go back to your career, did
you ever have a coach who was really very very
good in week one or two, just kind of a
creative thinker. Did you have one of those? Well, in
Cincinnati we had played in the same offense every year,
and then going to Seattle in Baltimore, it's I will
(37:24):
say this, I feel like every team going into the
first couple of weeks of the season always have wrinkles.
You always put in new things in training, kevinis what
I what I talked about earlier. Man, when you're in practice,
you're like, oh my god, I cannot wait today till
we run this play. It looks so good in practice,
in every coverage and against every front and then you
(37:47):
get in the game and you're like, uh, it couldn't
work the way I thought it did, And so things
that look good might not work. But every team has wrinkles,
and it really boils down to calling a right play
at the right time, expecting a certain defense. And that's
why that's why a guy like Andy Reid is so successful,
(38:08):
because he just has a knack for calling the right
play at the right time. Yeah. T J hush Banjalda
joining us so last three years Aaron Rodgers. Passer ratings
come down, completion percentage has come down, and you can
make an argument it's the old line, it's wide receivers.
When you look at a quarterback, what do you look
(38:30):
at and say, he's not quite what he was? What's
the first thing you see from a quarterback? And you
can tell, having played in this league for over a decade,
not quite what he was? What a quarterbacks lose first?
I mean you would initially if you talk physical, you
will say, oh, the ball doesn't have the zip on it,
(38:52):
he doesn't have the arm strength that he used to have.
But a lot of it is if a quarterback is
protected and the pocket is clean, they're gonna be fine.
And so if they have a clean pocket, they're not
being touched up often. And the key is not to
get touched up early in the game. If you can
keep the quarterback pocket it's fairly clean early in the game,
(39:14):
then they'll go throughout that game even if they start
to get a little pressure later on in the game.
If you give them that confidence in that comfort level early,
they should be fine. But like guys like Aaron Rodgers,
man he's so so talented that once he lost Donald Driver,
Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson. I mean he was used to
having great receivers year in and year out, and so
(39:38):
now he's looking at it like I go from having
three studs to just devine, give me more help and
I can do what I was doing. Then Now all right,
I'm gonna give you a couple of games, and you
tell me who do you like and why Seattle at Atlanta?
Who do you like? And why I like the Seahawks?
I like I just like Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson is
(40:00):
one of the best players in the league. I like
the fact that Seattle added Jamal Adam to the back
end of that defense, Bobby Wagner in the middle of
that defense. Seattle is gonna be They're gonna be tough
to deal with. If if Russell Wilson, if they let
let him play early, don't don't go out to the
club and come in at one o'clock in the morning,
(40:22):
everybody hungry and say, hey, Russell, go cut to some
food meeting. They're gonna be losing. Hey, Russell, come save
the game. Let Russell play early and display the type
of player he is early instead of playing catch up.
At the end of the game, you can just run
the ball to kill the game. And so if they
do that early, I like Seattle, no problem Miami at
Cam in New England, who do you like in one?
(40:44):
Oh Man? That's a tough one. I don't know what
to expect God in New England, I don't know what
to expect out of Cam. You can be excited and
you can bring super Cam out, but once the whistle
blows super Cam nobody cares about that. It's probably the
worst first collection in This is no disrespect, no disrespect
of skill players that he's played with in his career. Yeah,
(41:06):
when he was in Carolina, And so they're gonna bring
it defensively. The Patriot's going to be in the game defensively.
But you look at it, I would have to go
with Miami. They beat them. They in essence not the
Patriots from a home field player or a playoff by
last year, the last game of the season, and so
you would think they're improved. Yeah, new offense didn't get
signed till super late. Does he really know it. They're
(41:27):
gonna probably run his own read often and try to
capitalize on his athleticism. But I like Miami Dallas at
the Rams. Who do you like and why? Man? I
think Dallas has one of the better teams in the league,
but for some reason, new head coach, no offseason, dak,
(41:48):
no contract, and then Sean McVay being who he is. Yeah,
and if the Rams can stay healthy, and you would
you would assume they are. But you talked about earlier,
these new rinkles. That's what Sean McBey is gonna get
a Cowboys on Sunday. New rinkles that they haven't seen,
(42:08):
plays that they've worked on in practice, that they really
are anxious to see how they play out in the game.
That's what mcbeg is gonna do. And so new stadium.
I'm sure it's nice. I like the Rams in this one.
Good seeing your buddy. It look great. I'm gonna move
into a new home eventually, man. Yeah, t J. Hushpin's Auto.
(42:29):
Thanks buddy, appreciate it, Kylen, Take care, man,