December 26, 2024 • 49 mins
Colin discusses the journey of the Chiefs this season as they locked up the #1 seed in the AFC and why they are in prime position to win a 3rd straight Super Bowl. He reacts to LeBron James and the Lakers getting a narrow win over Steph Curry and the Warriors and the reality of the NBA getting carried by these 2 aging superstars. Plus, Greg Cosell from NFL Films joins the show to break down Sam Darnold's resurgent season with the Vikings.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
It is the day after Christmas. We are live in
Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and
however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part
of your day. Jmak we gotta treat. The NFL games
were blowouts, the NBA games were great. What a treat
yesterday sitting around eating food, Maybe maybe snuck in one
small cocktail, soft friends, family.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Yeah, I barely made the show today. Rough night, last night,
great day, tremendous day.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Book, you had a great Christmas? Well, I know your house.
I hope you had a great day with you and
your fami. I know your house didn't have cigars and.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
No cigars, no, but we had everything else.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Good for you. So, Kansas City twenty nine and Pittsburgh ten,
two different directions, two different stories. Let's start with Kansas City.
The last two years in the NFL, Baltimore and the
Buffalo Bills have blown us away spectacular quarterback play. And
then the playoffs arrive and Kansas City figures some stuff
(01:17):
out and Travis Kelsey explodes and Spags has the defense
right and the offensive line, which isn't great in the
regular season, now is protecting Mahomes. And you look up
and Kansas City wins all the close games and beats
in the super Bowl. An NFC roster that's arguably better.
That's what they do. And I watch Kansas City dismantle
the Steelers. Travis Kelsey had eight catches. They found another weapon.
(01:41):
They do this every year now it's Xavier Worthy, Hollywood
Brown is back. Every year they find another weapon. Late
the pass rush without Chris Jones without him was substantial
by the way. Last four games, points and yards have
increased every game and six straight game without a turnover.
(02:02):
This is what they do. They just figure out ways,
little edges advantage there, get rid of the you know,
the debits, let's turn them into credits. And this Kansas
City team, to me, is a better offensive version and
a more mature version of last year. Get ready NFC.
(02:24):
This is probably who you're gonna face. And I've been
hearing this, well team, it's just I mean, the refs,
this thing is oh talk about lucky. They played three
games in eleven days, two on the road and outscored
their opponents to go undefeated seventy two to thirty six. Yeah,
(02:44):
it's nothing about it. They here's what they do, the
stuff that matters to a lot of people, blowout wins, MVPs.
It doesn't matter to them. They got twenty three days
now until the playoffs. They gotta buy, got a regular
seat in game, they can stay arrested and twenty one
in one in their last twenty two games. And again,
(03:07):
they care about what's important. Finding over the course of
a season, another weapon, another tackle, a little edge, improving
young players. They care about the crap that makes you
a Super Bowl champ. You got other teams in this
league worrying about Hey, Twitter, Eh, who's the MVP that
(03:28):
is below Kansas City at this point, you know, the
Yankees don't care about MVPs. The Yankees are trying to
get trophies. The Mets go crazy for MVPs, Like right now,
everybody in Pittsburgh Gay no losing season. Well, that's the
ceiling or is that the floor? I'm confused. This is
what Kansasity does. The protection was better without Chris Jones.
(03:52):
All the young pass rushers, Spag's got them working. Now
they've got Worthy. Here's Hollywood Brown. Everybody, every ar oh,
I hear?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Is this?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
This happened to Gronk? Oh? Where's Gronk? Every time the
playoffs started January, February, Gronk. Here's Travis Kelcey, Christmas On
not as much, Noah Gray. Here comes, here comes Travis Kelcey.
So last nine games for Patrick Mahomes as this team
is a bit more mature, deeper at wide receiver, getting
(04:24):
healthy at the right time, pass rush with or without
Chris Jones. Last nine games for Mahomes nineteen touchdowns, two picks.
And here's what's amazing, flying under the radar, Baltimore MVP talk,
Buffalo man, this is the year Kansas City does two
(04:45):
things well, gets better by December and January. And here
they are the dynasty in the league. It's a lot
like New England Belichick and Brady and they're flying under
the radar. Everybody's talking about this is the year and
we're gonna win this award. And Kansas City's just winning.
And now they're winning by more in the last four games,
more points, more yards. It's a better version of last
(05:05):
year's team. Now Hollywood Brown, now Worthy, now Kelsey, now Watson.
They'll probably grab a running back in the graft Draft.
No in Kansas City, that Boise State kit will fall
to them at like thirty two. But I found New
England's dynasty fascinating their efficiency. I never felt in New England,
(05:25):
outside of the Randy Moss years, what was the best team?
They just when I didn't think they had the best roster.
I don't know if Kansas City has the best roster,
but they've figured out the best formula to get good
at Christmas and beyond. Here's Mahomes after it showed.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
The toughness of the team. I think we got better
as though obviously the games were on and so the
guys are there mentally tough and they're they're physically tough,
and we played some really good football teams, some hard
fought battles, and the guys came away with three wins.
So I'll give that number one seeds important. It's I
win the playoff game, and so I was happy to
get that done.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
All right.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Actually it was a great NBA day. Three games, all
close NFL games were blowouts. We'll get to Baltimore Houston
Steelers later, but listen, the one NBA thing that always
works is Lebron versus Steph on Christmas. Didn't matter if
he's a cav and he's a warrior, he's a Laker,
he's a warrior. Great fun, great finish. Both teams could
(06:22):
use Jimmy Butler. Get to that in a second. But
whether they play together in the Olympics, or they meet
four times in the finals, or they play on Christmas,
it's always a good watch. Lebron's going to be forty
on Monday, Steph is thirty six. They're great headliners. It
would be nice if the NBA had a really tasty undercard.
I feel like the NBA is clinging to Lebron and
Steph like Hollywood's clinging to Tom Cruise and the Mission
(06:44):
Impossible series. And that's okay because it's great, and you know,
I love me some Lebron Stephan Mission Impossible. I do
wish these two are at a championship level. This is
where it gets interesting. The Lakers don't have the bench,
they're not athletic enough, and they don't have enough shooters. Meanwhile,
Golden State's got all the shooters they need. They could
probably move one, but they don't have the size. But
(07:06):
the Lakers do have the size. So if you consolidated
do these two teams, you'd have a hell of a team.
The Lakers play Denver pretty well. Now, they don't beat
them a lot, but they play them well because they
have size in Denver's big The Warriors have shooters, so
they can match up with a Boston or an OKC
or a Dallas and shoot their way to wins. So
the Jimmy Butler trade talk is really interesting. So Jimmy
(07:28):
Butler said over the last couple of days, I want
out and Golden State especially is very tasty. So anything
the Warriors do has to be on Steph and Draymond
Green's timeline. Okay, they they want to squeeze one more
championship out of this, and Jimmy Butler as a primary
as a number one leaves you feeling a little disappointed,
(07:51):
but as a two to Staph that works. Also he's
on Steph Andre's timeline. Also, what's he known as a
great playoff performer. He's a playmaker, he is tough, he
is physical. He'd get along with Draymond and Steph. He's
a leader. He has often yelled at younger teammates not
ready to play. So Butler, Steph and Draymond Green is
(08:14):
a real thing. Now, you'd have to give up kaminga
who by the way, you keep waiting and waiting and
waiting and it never lands. And then you'd have to
give up Wiggins, who is having a pretty good year,
but he's hot and cold. He had a good series
against the Celtics in the final, but don't you feel
like that was the peak? I think if I'm Golden State,
is I'm watching Steph because I think Steph's absolutely still
(08:36):
good enough to get to an NBA final. Would they
have the depth to beat like Boston? Would they have
the firepower to beat maybe a Knicks or a Philadelphia.
I don't know, but I do feel Denver's not the
same team. Okase is still young, chet Holmgren is he available.
I don't think Minnesota is quite as good. I think
the Warriors with Jimmy Butler Steph, Jimmy Butler is a
(08:59):
second offensive option. Draymond Green got Buddy Heeled out there
to hit some threes. You got Podge to hit threes.
That team could get hot. Cross your fingers on health.
And when you watch Steph Sizzle yesterday, my take is
I'm hoping the Warrior brass watches this and realizes the
truth that guy's good enough to get to the finals.
(09:20):
You just got to find a second scoring option and
stop for the Wiggins. Wiggins is a classic example. You're
a championship team. If he's your fourth best player, you're
a really good team. If he's your third best player,
But if he's your number one player, you don't make
the playoffs. And if he's your number two scoring option,
you're going nowhere. And their Warriors right now are going nowhere,
(09:40):
but they could be going somewhere. Absolutely with Jimmy Butler.
So depth is nice, and they got a lot of depth,
but that's neat. Depth is wonderful. The Celtics have depth,
but their top seven players are excellent. That's what matters. Lebron. Meanwhile,
Nice turning forty Monday says this meant more than just
(10:04):
a win.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
I love the NFL.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I love NFL Christmas is our day, and it was
a good day for the league. Now, did they shoot
too many threes? Yes, I mean it's half the shots
in the league now. And Adam Silver has you know,
he has addressed that. But the Jimmy Butler stuff is percolating.
Stuff gets out because somebody wants it out. So Miami
wants it out. Jimmy Butler wants it out. And I
(10:27):
think the Warriors work. There's a lot of teams in
this league. People are talking Dallas. Dallas has their two scores.
Luca and Kyrie don't play defense. I think that would
drive Jimmy Butler mad. Steph's done a great defender, but
he's willing, and Draymond's an excellent defender. It would give
them the toughness and the playmaking they would need. So
I'd keep your eye on that now. And then maybe
(10:48):
this is just me root and for it to happen
because I love Steph and I won't love watching the
Warriors play. But if you give me Steph and Butler
and Draymond and Pods and Healed and Jackson, that team
can make the finals. This team can't, couldn't even beat
the Lakers. Jay Mackett was a fun day. Greg co
Sell is going to be joining us in forty five minutes.
If you bet NFL, you play fantasy football, you want
(11:10):
to get smarter with NFL. Greg co Sell NFL Films
forty five years Absolute Monday. I thought the NBA had
a really good day yesterday. Knicks were fun to watch,
Wemby going off, and the Lakers Warriors was excellent.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, that Austin Reeves finished was just incredible.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I did not play as my guy Austin Reeves.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
I know you were like, oh.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
J mackey, he nailed that.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Austin Reeves big time clutch Curry in the shot making. Also,
you didn't mention Beyonce's halftime performance. That was pretty spectacular
Texans game. That's better than anything the Texans offense did
all day.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, that the Texans now have become sort of an enigma,
Like I thought Bobby Slowak was a genius and c J.
Stroud was the next superstar. Talk about trending down.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Listen, when do we crowned CJ Stroud after one year?
He does not look like even a top fifteen quarterback.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
So I had this conversation yesterday at one of the parties.
I was at with a bunch of football fans.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
One of the.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I was at two. I was party hopping, all right,
So I said this to both parties, is Bryce Young
now look better than C J. Stroud? And the answer
over the last five or six weeks is absolutely. Bryce
looks like the number one pick. Stroud looks like the
number two. So that offense is when you need to
tackle in the end zone to get points on the board.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
And it can't because they lost Tank Dell last week. Okay,
tank Dell, by the way, was great against the Chiefs
till the injury. But sometimes you can't move the football.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Can't move it watching and they got players.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
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Speaker 6 (12:44):
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We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
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(13:05):
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Speaker 2 (13:14):
I mean that says something.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Right, So check us out.
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Speaker 2 (13:24):
Most interactive show on planetar.
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Be sure to check out Cavino and Rich live on
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Speaker 1 (13:42):
So the Ravens crush the Houston Texans thirty one to two,
and no NFL team over the last couple of years
more routinely and consistently humiliates other teams in the regular
season like the Ravens last couple of years, fifteen double
digit wins, last eleven days, three wins, all by seventeen
(14:03):
plus points. But this has been a great movie with
a sour ending for six years in a row. I
would love to see Lamar Jackson get to a super Bowl.
I think he's exhilarating. I think he's a great kid.
I think he's passionate. It's a really, really good organization,
you know what I'm hoping the Ravens do. And I
think it's happening in front of our eyes. I want
(14:24):
you to think about this. What NBA team dominated the
regular season and left us wondering if their star player
was as good as everybody claimed he was. The Celtics.
Like the Celtics, the Ravens, the talents there. It's a
well run organization, but you were always a little little
(14:45):
disappointed that the number one wasn't quite up to it.
And they were two Jason Tatum reliant. So suddenly their
number two, Jalen Brown last year sometimes was their one.
And that's what slowly happening to the the Ravens. Lamar
only completed ten passes yesterday, yet Derrick Henry had twenty
(15:07):
seven carries. Lamar's gonna win the trophies in the MVP.
He's more exhilarating, it's more dynamic, but quietly Lamar Jackson
is only fifteenth in the league in passing attempts and
probably ends up lower than that. It's not that Baltimore
doesn't love Lamar, but after something doesn't work, like last
(15:31):
year six run attempts in the playoffs, Lamar got tight.
So was the play calling. So that Celtics team, like
Baltimore well run Smart had a very good number one,
not as good as j Matt Cape kept imploring on
this show. But I kept saying, I like Jason Tatum
and I like Lamar Jackson. But when the team stopped
(15:54):
trying to funnel everything through Jason Tatum and said, let's
bring into poorzingis, Let's get Jalen Brown, Moore touches, Let's
move Marcus Smart who takes too many shots late, and
upgrade with Drew Holiday. Tatum was still great, But they
weren't Jason Tatum reliant. They were just a great team.
(16:16):
This is what the Ravens are doing. Oh, they had
Mark Andrews and Lamar Jackson, but last year they get
him Zave Flowers. Now they get him Dereck Henry. Now
they bring in a passing game coordinator that's a little
more friendly, perhaps to the past than the run. But
it feels like to me, that's what Boston did. It's
not that they didn't like Tatum, but they kept losing
(16:38):
when they became Tatum reliant in big spots, and he
would lose to you know, a Steph in the finals
in a big game, three at home. And so this
team Dereck Henry now twenty seven, carries Lamar Jackson ten
point fifteen exhilarating, nonetheless, and Lamar was happy after the.
Speaker 7 (17:01):
W I believe how seasons has gone. In the regular season,
he just explains how the NFL is. You know, it
really really don't matter how you start off. It is
how you finish. And I believe you finishing pretty well
right now.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
You just having fun. Yeah, it's not easy.
Speaker 7 (17:16):
NFL is not easy. I don't care what nobody say.
NFL not easy, look easy.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
But yes, this is what Baltimore does. This is what
the Celtics did. They dominate the regular season and we're
all absolutely sure this team this is the year. And
they end up against the Warriors and the old veterans
who know how to turn it on at the right
time win and I and I once they moved off
the Tatum and became less obsessed with getting him all
(17:41):
the late game touches and just let him play. And
I think yesterday I'm watching Lamar ten of fifteen, just
letting him play. It ran through Derrick Henry. It's a
better Ravens team. Thirty one to two. Christmas on the road.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
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Speaker 3 (18:01):
Sure you play this week's focked Super Six sponsors by
Draft Kings. Where would the Fox Sports up and enter
for a three chance to win cash prizes? Do you?
Speaker 1 (18:10):
I think it's a pretty good late week of lines.
I think we saw something yesterday in the NFL where
the good teams are separating.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Now.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
I like the Rams as a favorite. I like the
Bills as a favorite. This weekend, those favorites look like
they kind of separate and getting things right.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
It's a weird year in the NFL. I was talking
with somebody smart yesterday and it feels like maybe the
kickoffs change things more. Possibly because you're getting better starting
field position, the offenses are. The good teams are moving
the football with these and they're taking the field goals,
they're scoring, and it just feels like the bad teams
just if you can't move the football this year.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Well, think about this. We have ten teams now, last
year it was only five. We have ten teams with
five wins or less. That's the NBA. That's a massive
bottom of the league. That's not that's not formidable.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yeah, what do you do with the Steelers?
Speaker 3 (19:02):
By the way, they crush everybody and then they play
three good teams in the last like four weeks and they.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Get and they get destroyed. Yeah, they're they're they're right
in the middle. So they're not going to get a
great draft pick. Are you playing Russell Wilson?
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Are you sure? I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
We talked about a good season, Colin. He's placed faced
a few good last few weeks.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
That's why I'll just say this before we go into
my next topic. Let me just say this, you guys,
and I've been critical of Aaron Rodgers. You guys, Aaron's
last eight games, Russell Wilson's last eight games, Kirk Cousins
last eight games. It's not close. Who's the best quarterback.
It's Aaron Rodgers by a mile, give you that by
a mile. And Aaron, if you look at Aaron's success.
(19:42):
It is directly connected to Devonte Adams. I have a
four part plan for the Jets next season. And by
the way, I didn't like Zach Wilson. I love Darnold,
I like Saul. I told you fire and Saul was
a disaster. I've been right a lot with the Jets.
This team, there's four moves to make, and they're all there.
They're right in front of you. Their easy ones to make.
(20:05):
Just wet my beak.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Are we moving off of Garrett Wilson because there's a
lot of Garrett Wilson wants out stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I'm just you're going to love the top of this
next week.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
He sees what you're seeing that DeVante Adams is Aaron's guy,
and Davante's numbers are up and Wilson's numbers are way down.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
By the way, can we stop with this? Garrett Wilson
isn't getting looks. Look at his target. He has more
targets this year than Justin Jefferson. Can you give me
a break on that?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Well, half the season he didn't have an Adams well,
not half, but a little you know, like.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
If you have more targets than Justin Jefferson, zip it.
I don't want to hear about you're not getting looks. Okay, Okay,
give me a break. So I have a four this
may be. I mean the City of New York. Tell
your friends, top of the hour. I'm bringing the heat.
And I've been mister negative jet guy. But I've been
right negative jet guy. There's a four way plan to
do it, and all of them are right in front
(20:52):
of you and doable in three weeks. Okay, so this
is an interesting one, as I've aged gracefully. I might add,
maybe I'm just defending more mature men. But let me
as this. This story came out about Pete Carroll to
the Bears, and everybody's like, he's seventy three. Trump's seventy
(21:13):
eight is going to be our president. Bob Eiger runs
Disney at seventy three, sharp as attack, Martin Scorsese's eighty two,
Sharp as attack, Spielberg seventy eight, Warren Buffett's ninety four.
One of America's great financial gurus, Lebron last night's getting
double teamed on the last possession. He's going to be
forty Monday. If you can play at forty, you can
coach at seventy three. Nick Saban was coaching to the
(21:36):
end in his seventies and what's fantastic. Pete Carroll is
not a bad choice. Is he the best choice? He's
up there. Okay, this is not an easy job. There's
a lot of bureaucracy with the Bears. He is highly organized.
I know that from players who had played with him
and coaches that have coached with him. He is an
elite organized coach. He can build a culture. We've seen
that at USC, we have seen that with the Seahawks.
(21:59):
And with the Seahawks he took a young quarterback like
a Caleb Williams name Russell Wilson, and he built a
run game and a defense around him, so they weren't
completely reliant on Russ. In fact, when Russ wanted to cook,
it's when I went sideways. My concern with Pete is
not age. It really isn't. I think he has tremendous energy.
(22:20):
He can be, in my opinion, too loyal to mediocre
coordinators and assistant coaches. He was way too loyal to
Ken Norton for years, and the Seahawks O lines the
last three years in Seattle stunk twenty fifth twenty seventh,
twenty eight and he stayed with the offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
So Pete also he likes a little say in personnel,
(22:42):
but so does Mike Vrabel, my first choice. A lot
of these coaches, they want to say in personnel. Like
Jim Harbaugh right now, he wants to say in personnel.
McVeigh in Los Angeles with the Rams Sean likes to
say in personnel. So I'm not gonna immediately considered a negative.
Some of these guys, guys, younger guys like McVeigh, or
(23:02):
guys that have coached college and done recruiting like Pete,
Carolyn Harbaugh and by the way, Vrabel Ohio State. Like
these guys known personnel and they want to stay with gms.
So but the idea that Pete's too old, No he's not.
I'm gonna tell you something, This job is not for
some whiz kid. And I'll give you an example. A
year ago today, you were all telling me Bobby Slowik
(23:23):
in Houston, he's like a Zuckerberg with a with a
play sheet. They can't score points, can't score pool. Cliff Kingsbury,
love him, didn't work as a head coach. You guys
are all tough. Mike McDaniel, Oh boy. The media love
Mike McDaniel because you know, he's kind of nerd. He
liked sports writers. They all loved him. I'm watching Miami
(23:45):
not a lot of They're there a lot of motion,
and I can't beat good teams. I like him. Media
loved him. I mean, honestly, media loved him. I mean
I was just told this guy was It was. I mean,
he was a combination of Einstein and Kyle Shanahan. It
was like, oh my god, he's gonna equals mc squared
on two. It was, oh my god, this guy Miami's
(24:08):
just a team that has too much motion. So you know,
I and I'm not anti defensive coach. I'm not I
think a defensive coach if if he's not rigid. I mean,
Pete would like to win the old fashioned way, run
game and defense. You can win a lot of games
this way. But the idea that oh he's seventy three.
(24:31):
Watch Pete Carroll on the sidelines. He is wearing out
that spearmint. Gum, he is wearing that thing out. He's
going one hundred miles an hour. And I got movie
directors and presidents and NBA players, and Brady was playing
to forty five. You can coach at seventy three. Now,
this all may be because as my hairs turned gray,
maybe I'm supporting the more mature wisdom approves that Jmax
(24:56):
rolling his eyes at my suggestion. But this is not
this idea that, hey, this guy over here is a
whiz kid. Never forget Silicon Valley. You guys all think
it's all these twenty year olds. No it's not. Go
see the age of Larry Ellison at Oracle and Zuckerberg
and the Google guys. It's forties fifties, so we think
(25:19):
of tech as youngsters and hipsters. No, it's not not
the ones that are crushing. No, it's not. So I'll
just say this. Spielberg comes out with a movie I'm In.
Scorsese comes out with a movie I'm in. Old Jamack
over here wants the hipster doing something on TikTok, not
on gole Colin, give me a little gray hair with
(25:39):
my coaching higher.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
So, first of all, do I know you are.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Close to the USC program.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
You think Pete Carroll would jump at the Bears this year,
or he would wait to see what happens with Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Lincoln Riley has nine years and a ninety million love
next year, they're not buying Lincoln.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Out even if he flops next year.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Well, the sketch is almost unfloppable. They don't play Ohio
State again. The schedule. I mean, I'll say this for USC.
They got the easiest Big ten schedule known to man.
If I give you a Big ten schedule Ohio State, no,
don't play him. Okay, that's a workable schedule. So they
get they get the tough games at home next year.
(26:19):
I don't know. They don't know LSU. They play a
bunch of directional schools, so there's no LSU to start.
It's three layup out of conference games. So you're buying
this Pete Carroll thing.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
So there was a squabble between reporters in the NFL
on this yesterday.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
I'm sure he was well schefter versus Florio. Yeah, I
don't know.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
They were going at it over this. And you like
to bring up division like Tom Brady went to the
Bucks because that's an easy division to win. So seventy
something year old Pete Carroll is going to coach against
Lafleur and O'Connell, two of the sharpest young minds in
this game.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
What if he has the most talented quarterback and this
is not a bad roster.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Hold a Caleb Williams or Who's.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
I think Caleb has more natural talent. I think Jordan
Love's much better, but I think Caleb is a is
What's happened with Caleb and this happens a little bit
to Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen is Hey, this guy
is Superman every play. It's Kansas City that has been
able to create a team around mahomes where they're not
(27:25):
reliant on mahomes except for big spots in the fourth quarter.
They got spags. They got the defense. I mean they
basically their defense is young, hungry, athletic, fast and healthy.
So I think Caleb Williams throwing twenty four a game
is the answer. That's what Pete did with Russ. I'm
not saying he's the guy i'd he but I'm telling
(27:46):
you I would sit him down. I want to see
his vision, I want to see his plan. I want
to hear him.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
App bringing Greg Cosell NFL films forty five years, always
on Thursday. So you know, you watch Kansas City and
this is what they do. They end up in January,
December and January. They solve an offensive line issue. Now
they've got Xavier Worthy and here's Hollywood Brown. They do
a very good job. What's important to me in the
(28:20):
media is big stories. What's important to them are the
details and solving little riddles throughout the course of the season.
And let's talk about Mahomes and his efficiency over the
last couple of months. What's the film say.
Speaker 8 (28:34):
Yeah, And I think Colin quite frankly, there's been a
little misconception about the Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
This is a Mahomes driven offense.
Speaker 8 (28:41):
He has the most dropbacks of any quarterback in the
NFL going back nine weeks, but in his last six
games he has not thrown an interception and again, most
dropbacks in the league, So it's a pass first offense.
There was a lot of talk early in the season
about the running game that's kind of disappeared.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
It's all driven by Mahome. Homes.
Speaker 8 (29:00):
They lead the NFL in third down conversions. He's phenomenon
on third down. They control the ball their second in
time of possession, and that becomes really important because when
you control the pace and tempo of the game, your
defense plays fewer snaps, and that is absolutely critical. I
remember a coach telling me years ago that in an
ideal world, you don't want your defense playing any more
(29:23):
than sixty to sixty four snaps a game. And we
know how good Steve Spagnolo is anyway, So now you
have a complete team. But make no mistake, this is
driven by Patrick Mahomes. He's playing really well. What we're
not seeing and I think where people think, oh, Mahomes
isn't what it used to be is we just don't
see a lot of sixty our touchdown passes. But he's
(29:43):
controlling the game with incredible efficiency.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
So you and I both like Sam Darnold. Rough start.
We always saw the playmaking. We always saw the playmaking,
We always saw the big arm, but he could be reckless.
Is there something the film says, though, and this is
why I love bringing you on? Is there something the
film says about Donald but he doesn't necessarily get a
ton of credit for.
Speaker 8 (30:09):
I think there's two things and you know, Colin, because
I send him my evaluations of college quarterbacks, you know I'm.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
A traits guy.
Speaker 8 (30:16):
Yes, So there's two traits that I think have really
stood out with Donald that we didn't see much of
early in his career. It might be his natural development,
it might be the coaching. We don't know that, but
there's two traits. One is pocket movement. He's much more
efficient and much more effective when he moves within the pocket.
I'm not talking about running out of the pocket. I'm
(30:37):
talking about moving within the pocket, as we see on
this touchdown last week that won the game to Jefferson.
The other thing is sort of a corollary point to that.
That's his ability to stay in the pocket and make
late in the down throws when the pocket is squeezed
and there's bodies around him. That was something he did
not do well early in his career. He made a
(30:58):
lot of bad reads, bad throws when he tried to
do that. He's gotten so much better at that. So
there are two areas of pocket play that are absolutely
critical to being a higher level pocket quarterback that he's
improved significantly at.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Yeah, he's willing to take a hit, play a little
linebacker in high school. He's a tough kid and he'll
sit in there to the very end and get smoked,
and I think you nailed it. So I think what's
fascinating with Philadelphia. Everybody acknowledges it's a Barkley offense and
Jalen throws less. But if you look at Green Bay,
I'm actually seeing the same thing where it's a Josh
(31:32):
Jacobs Lafleor offense and Jordan Love, who they like, who
has excellent weapons, is throwing less. And I find it
fascinating because when Laflour was in Tennessee, he had Derrick
Henry and his reputation. I remember making calls people said,
I don't know about creating a culture, but he likes
to pound the ball, and it feels like we're finally
(31:54):
seeing his offense.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Well, it's the air of the running back.
Speaker 8 (31:58):
We're gonna have probably five or six backs with over
three hundred carries. We had none last year, and Josh
Jacobs will be one of those backs barring an injury.
And they start with the run game, and they're very
multiple with their run game.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
That's the thing.
Speaker 8 (32:12):
You're seeing a lot more multiplicity with teams that run
the ball, and the Packers are a great example all
the use of different backfield actions. They play with two
running backs, what we call the pony package. A lot
of teams are doing this. The Packers are one of
the teams doing it quite a bit. And they're so
multiple with their run game concepts, the way they use
Jaden Reid in the backfield with different motions. So it
(32:35):
all starts with the run game. But it's not old
school run game Colin, where you just line up and
give it to the back and say let's bang it
up in there. They're very, very multiple, a lot of
different formation, looks, a lot of different personnel, a lot
of different motions.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
You know, it's funny about Derek Henry. First couple of years,
wasn't a superstar in the league. Then he develops into one,
and then he goes to Baltimore and it's easy to say, well,
you know, it's the of course he can run it.
But they replaced three starters on the O line. It
seems to me that it's it's not just that Derrick
Henry's talented. It seems to me that the way they
(33:13):
use him, it's he's getting yards before contact. A lot
this year. That's what it looks like to me. He's
always been good plus post contact. But what are they
doing specifically to Derrick Henry, who's given it is given
him kind of a rebirth in the league.
Speaker 8 (33:29):
Well, there's no question that the Lamar factor plays into that,
because you have to account for Lamar in the run game.
So there's no question that the way defenses have to
align has to have an accounting for Lamar Jackson and
that impacts run support. So it's not just as he
was in Tennessee where they were just lining up and
give him the ball.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
But I think Henry as a whole. You know, It's funny.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
I remember talking to a coach who was at Alabama
at the time and he's now in the NFL, and
I wasn't sure after two years if this was if say,
Derrick Henry.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Could be what he's become.
Speaker 8 (34:02):
And I'll be the first to admit I was wrong,
because obviously Derrek Henry's on his way to being a
Hall of Fame back. But the thing about Henry, because
in a sense, he's not a power runner and that
he runs over people Colin, but he's a power runner
in this sense when it's blocked for three, you look
up and he just got seven, and you go, how
do he get seven? It didn't look like he got seven,
but he just got seven. And then you add that
(34:24):
to the fact that he can take it to the
house for his size on any given play, and that
combination is really hard to beat. But there's no question
that the Lamar Jackson factor figures into how defenses have
to align and therefore that really dictates run support issues
for defenses.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
So I want to talk about a kid because I
picked Atlanta to win their division and they've beaten the
Bucks twice, and you know, we were going back and
forth on the show, why won't they play him? As
Kirk Cousins was regressing? In My take was they wrote
a big check to Kirk Cousins, and Arthur Blank probably
wanted to get every start out of Kirk Cousins before
they sent him to the bench. Does once you played Panicks,
you're not going to go back to Cousins. What of
(35:04):
the debut? The debut? What about it did you like?
Speaker 8 (35:08):
Well, You've always talked about this with quarterbacks Colin about coaching,
and I thought this was a great example the kids
making his first start, You and I both love his talent.
We know we can throw the ball, we know we
can sit on his back foot and drive it with velocity.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
We know what his traits are.
Speaker 8 (35:23):
But what they did exceptionally well, you're almost seeing it
on this play right here that we're looking at. Is
there an outside zone foundation run team with Vjon Robinson
another back by the way, he might get three hundred carries.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
So what they did is.
Speaker 8 (35:35):
They countered off that beautifully with the play action and
the play action.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Boot pass game.
Speaker 8 (35:40):
So they use their outside Zone run foundation to really
help Penix get comfortable in the game and define the
reds and the throws and the thing that he does
really well, and there's not a lot of quarterbacks who
do this. He throws outside the numbers really well, and
there's a lot of juice on those throws. And obviously
he can throw between the numbers, I mean, those are
(36:01):
easier throws relatively speaking, But to drive the ball outside
the numbers, he can do that, and he can just
sit on his back foot and do that. Yeah, he
does not necessarily need to stride into those throws.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Yeah, no, he's got an arm. So this past week
on Monday, Matt Hasselbeck said something interesting. He said, you know,
Caleb's not an anticipatory thrower, and he goes, I think
you have to be in this league and some guys
can develop into it. But you have been higher on
Caleb even during his losing streak. There's a lot to like.
(36:34):
Let's address that anticipatory thing, because I thought Hasselbeck was
willing to say it, and I think it's true. I
now watch him when he plays and that some guys
you got to be opener. I won't let it rip.
What do you make of that criticism?
Speaker 8 (36:49):
Right, I think it's fair. And don't forget he's got
a big arm. He throws a really tight spiral. The
ball comes out so at times he can compensate for that.
But the film shows is when he sees it and
the primary is clean.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Man, does he look good.
Speaker 8 (37:05):
He made two throws at the end of the first
half last week, a dig ball to more for about
twenty five yards, and then he threw the touchdown to
Keenan Allen, and those throws were defined, They were clean.
They were the primary reads on those throws. When he
sees it that way, he looks really good. But I
think one reason he doesn't throw a lot of interceptions.
Colin hasn't thrown one in a long time. Is if
(37:27):
he doesn't see it, he's not gonna throw it because
he just doesn't feel it that way. Now, I don't
know how Matt Hasselbeck feels.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
I think that coaches would say, you can improve that
to some degree.
Speaker 8 (37:39):
But you're not going to take a guy who's not
an innate anticipation thrower and make him Joe Burrow. That's
not gonna happen. So you know, you sort of have
to work around that. But he's got really high level
throwing traits, and obviously we know he's got some movement ability.
The other thing he needs to work on is he
needs to work on moving within the pocket. And that's
a totally different trade than running out of the pocket,
(38:02):
which he can be pretty good at. He's got a
feel when he moves out of the pocket, pretty good
spatial awareness because the sacks have to come down.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
There's too many sacks. Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
A team that's getting red hot is the Rams. It's interesting.
Stafford's older and they have struggled in the first half.
And I've said, you know, I was telling a friend
a couple of nights ago, I'm like, is it a
Stafford's not warmed up thing? Does he need to get
to the fifth inning? But they usually he's not getting sacked,
they're not turning it over. Finally, now with Tyler Higbee back,
(38:32):
everybody's ready to go on offense. But yet it's the
defense with a lot of first, second, and third round
draft picks that have all hit, all hit. Yeh, so
to talk about because I don't know if this defense
it's really really young, but when I watch it, I mean,
this week they play Arizona and both Arizona's offensive tackles
are out, so it could be a feast. What do
(38:54):
you make of the Rams defense?
Speaker 2 (38:57):
I really like what they've done. They've eight of their
last ten.
Speaker 8 (39:01):
Okay, in those last ten games, no team in the
NFL has played more with six defensive backs what we
call dime than the Rams. That has really been their foundation.
They play a ton out of dime. They play with
Jalen McCullough, who's a rookie safety. They play with Kitchens,
the rookie from the University of Miami. They even play
what we call big nickel with three safeties a lot.
(39:23):
I mean, this is a safety driven defense with a
front four that's young and improving. And I have to
tell you when you watch Jared Verse play and we're
seeing him here, his speed to power for a young
player may be as good as any in the league.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
So this is a.
Speaker 8 (39:38):
Continually evolving defense that plays a ton of dime.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
That's sort of their foundation.
Speaker 8 (39:45):
They're getting better and better, and offensively, they're really another
team that's really built on the run. You and I
both love Stafford, but Kyron Williams another back with over
three hundred carries. That's where they start their offense with
the zone run game.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Yeah, it's funny. We always think these McVeigh, Lafleura, Shanahan guys,
offensive wizards or pass guys, they all love to run.
The truth is all of them. I mean, Kyraen Williams,
a small guy, is carrying it twenty four times a game.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Yeah, and you know what, motion is so critical.
Speaker 8 (40:15):
We think of motion in the past game as you
you know, you were talking about the pass game, and
you're right, we think of motion being a big deal
in the in.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
The past game.
Speaker 8 (40:23):
It's really a bigger deal in the run game. You
can almost go back to Joe Gibbs with the Washington
Redskins and the use of motion to really mess up
teams run support problems and how they handle the run.
So it's motion is a critical factor in the run game.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
So, Greg, I don't know if I've ever told you
this before. I have something I have a belief in
quarterbacksy is all pay a quarterback fifty large if he's
not an IF guy. But if brock perty's your classic
IF guy. If the weather's good, it's not raining, if
he gets protection, if he has an above average o' line,
if he has an offensive coach, if Christian McCaffrey is healthy,
(41:02):
it's very much a qualifying scenario if he gets that.
And to me, I'm not paying guys forty to fifty
million if if they're the IF quarterback. I like Party,
But when I watch the Niners, I see offensive line
issues and then I see a very average player. What
does the film sound Party?
Speaker 8 (41:23):
Well, I guess I'd almost ask you a question. How
many quarterbacks are not IF guys. How many quarterbacks can
be really great and carry a team without a lot
of things working for them. There's probably very few college
true if you really think about Okay, So, So ninety
percent of the quarterbacks in the league would be if
guys based on your definition.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
So you have to separate the money.
Speaker 8 (41:46):
You have to separate the money from the conversation, because, look,
everybody knows what brock Purty is. Rock Purty is not
a big guy. He doesn't have a great arm. So
what has to happen for brock Purty to be a
really good player. He has to have a good old line, which,
by the way, has not been good this year. The
depth of the pocket, which is controlled by the interior
(42:07):
of the all line, has not been very good. So
he's been squeezed a lot. And because he doesn't have
a big arm, he needs space to throw the ball.
They've almost had no run game this year. Maybe early
in the year they did when Mason was pretty good early,
but they've almost had no run game, and they've got
no speed right now at receiver. I think Pearceol is
going to be a good player, but he's a rookie
(42:27):
who basically had no practice because of the unfortunate, tragic situation.
So really, this is an offense that's lacking in so
many areas. But you could say that about a lot
of quarterbacks. I mean, we can talk about the Mahomes,
the Allens, the Burrows, the Jacksons. Maybe there's one or
two more on missing, but almost all quarterbacks in the
league are if quarterbacks, it depends what they have around them,
(42:50):
and right now Purty does not have much around him,
so his game is going to look like it lacks
consistency at times on a.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
Week to week basis. You know.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
Interesting the Cowboys, obviously Dak Prescott's the starter, but we
brought stats out last week with Cooper Rush, and if
it was a blind test, it's the same guy. Is
there anything? I mean, where is Cooper Rush clearly not Dak?
And where is he very similar to Dak?
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Well?
Speaker 8 (43:20):
I think their coaching staff's doing a great job because
what you see a lot with them, as you see
a ton of different personnel packages, a ton of different
formation looks, a lot of shifts in motions. They're giving
a defense a lot to have to deal with. That
was really evident in the game against Tampa on Sunday
night last week, where you just saw that Tampa they
(43:43):
really struggled a bit to figure all this out, and
therefore he was phenomenal against their blitz because Todd Bowles
will blitz rush was phenomenal on third down. He was
phenomenal against their pressures, and the Bucks pressured a lot.
Now he's a guy that you need to get pressure on,
and the pressure must be a fact of which it
was not by the Bucks because he tends to fall
away from throws.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
But one thing about him, he's been.
Speaker 8 (44:06):
Very decisive the more he plays, and I'm sure that's
being drilled into him that hey, just get rid of
the football, do not hold it. They're not going to
tell him this, but the bottom line is he's not
good enough to sit in the pocket and drive the football,
so the ball needs to come out.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
And he's been doing well.
Speaker 8 (44:23):
And prior to last week where they didn't run well,
but in the previous four weeks prior to the Bucks game,
Dowdell was the second leading rusher in the league behind
Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Yeah. Interesting, all right, We're we're gonna end it here
over the next two minutes. On Jaden Daniels, I thought
it was impressive that he struggled early, was trying to
give that puppy away, and then in the end he
was great in the fourth quarter, and I like his
ability Andrew Luck had this an ability a short memory.
It's about the win. Don't get caught up into your emotions.
(44:56):
You're gonna make mistakes. It's the NFL. Guys can sometimes
make great pla. I love it's an Andrew Luck quality.
Herbert's got this too as well. It just get the ball.
That drive's done, move to the next drive. Have you
noticed that?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Yeah? And I like Daniels.
Speaker 8 (45:15):
I liked him coming out a lot because I thought
he was far better in the pocket than a lot
of people gave him credit for. And he's made some
outstanding pocket throws this year. I mean he made one
against the Eagles, had touchdown to McLaurin for thirty two
yards where he had a free hitter right in his.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Face and he threw the ball to the pylon. It
was a spot throw. He threw the ball to.
Speaker 8 (45:34):
The pylon at the edge of the end zone and
McLaurin was twenty at the twenty five yard line.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
It was an unbelievable throw. But you know, obviously he
led the game winning drive.
Speaker 8 (45:43):
And I loved the final touchdown drive to Crowder, which
is our play of the week Colin.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
So we can take a look at it.
Speaker 8 (45:49):
Because this is an example of great execution but also
great coaching because they knew exactly what they were going
to get from the Eagles on this red zone play.
It was a teams tend to know that in the
red zone. So you're going to see that there's an
empty set here. Daniels is in an empty set. There's
nobody on either side of him. So that's an empty set.
(46:10):
Now what he's looking at, and this is what they anticipated.
He's looking at a two shell coverage structure. There's two safeties.
But the other really important player here is going to
be Zach Bourne, the linebacker because very often when teams
play this two shell in the red zone, they have
the linebacker who kind of works the middle of the
field as a middle hole player. Now, these are the
(46:31):
three receivers here, because don't forget it's empty that are
key to this whole play.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Okay, so what they want to do.
Speaker 8 (46:37):
We're going to see the route concept which is all
designed to high low Zach Bond. That's the whole premise
of this route concept. So you're going to have Crowder
who runs a route behind him and Art's in front
of him, and then you have Robinson.
Speaker 2 (46:53):
This is critical.
Speaker 8 (46:54):
You must control the backside safety. That's absolutely essential on
this play. So Robinson the back of course it's an
empty set. He's going to do that with his route.
So now what you're going to get as we see
this go in motion is Crowder.
Speaker 2 (47:09):
He's going to run the bender.
Speaker 8 (47:11):
As we saw, He's going to bend inside away from
the playside safety. And the playside safety can't chase him
because at this point he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (47:20):
Know what ERT's is going to do. But Ertz is
going to run the bender inside.
Speaker 8 (47:24):
And as I said, Bonn is the player here that
they're really high lowing and you're going to see, and
Daniels sees this because he knows what the concept is.
You're going to see Bonn's body position. Quarterbacks are taught this,
look at body position. Right now, Bond cannot flip his
hips to be in position to react to the bender
by Crowder. So this is a spot throw. Daniels is
(47:48):
going to throw this to a spot now basically the
end in Commanders, and he's going to hit him right there.
And this was just beautifully designed, beautifully executed. They knew
exactly what they were going to get.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
In the red zone. Hey, Colin, this is the stuff
I love.
Speaker 8 (48:03):
You know that this is football, this is x's and o's,
and it's execution about as beautifully as you can do it.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
Greg co sells Merry Christmas to you the staff forty
five years NFL Films. It's always a pleasure to have you.
We get smarter every time. And thank you Greg, Thanks Colin.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
Great holiday, and I'll see you next week. Yep.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
Absolutely, I always love that segment. Just feel like I
just get just it's the meat in the sandwich on
this show on Thursday. You just three really good Saturday
games tonight, Seahawks and Bears. Gotta be honest, I'm on
a two game Draft Kings streak. I like Seattle tonight.
In that game, I think Seattle is a side.
Speaker 3 (48:41):
J Mac largely agree. I saw there's some Bears injuries.
Looks like they're left tackles done. Yep, Seattle still technically alive.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Absolutely, yeah, no so. And by the way, with the
NFC North going to get three playoff teams here, it's
not a lot of not a lot of wild card
positions available.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
You watch the Bears the last few weeks since they
canned ebrafluse, and they keep falling into big holes early
in games like this, This guy who took over for
him as the head coach with Brown is it.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
Yeah, but he didn't even start the years of coordinate.
Speaker 3 (49:11):
Yeah, it's dear, And they seem ill prepared for some
of these games.
Speaker 2 (49:15):
Yeah,
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks
for listening to the Herd podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Here we go.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
It is the day after Christmas. We are live in
Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and
however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part
of your day. Jmak we gotta treat. The NFL games
were blowouts, the NBA games were great. What a treat
yesterday sitting around eating food, Maybe maybe snuck in one
small cocktail, soft friends, family.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Yeah, I barely made the show today. Rough night, last night,
great day, tremendous day.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Book, you had a great Christmas? Well, I know your house.
I hope you had a great day with you and
your fami. I know your house didn't have cigars and.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
No cigars, no, but we had everything else.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Good for you. So, Kansas City twenty nine and Pittsburgh ten,
two different directions, two different stories. Let's start with Kansas City.
The last two years in the NFL, Baltimore and the
Buffalo Bills have blown us away spectacular quarterback play. And
then the playoffs arrive and Kansas City figures some stuff
(01:17):
out and Travis Kelsey explodes and Spags has the defense
right and the offensive line, which isn't great in the
regular season, now is protecting Mahomes. And you look up
and Kansas City wins all the close games and beats
in the super Bowl. An NFC roster that's arguably better.
That's what they do. And I watch Kansas City dismantle
the Steelers. Travis Kelsey had eight catches. They found another weapon.
(01:41):
They do this every year now it's Xavier Worthy, Hollywood
Brown is back. Every year they find another weapon. Late
the pass rush without Chris Jones without him was substantial
by the way. Last four games, points and yards have
increased every game and six straight game without a turnover.
(02:02):
This is what they do. They just figure out ways,
little edges advantage there, get rid of the you know,
the debits, let's turn them into credits. And this Kansas
City team, to me, is a better offensive version and
a more mature version of last year. Get ready NFC.
(02:24):
This is probably who you're gonna face. And I've been
hearing this, well team, it's just I mean, the refs,
this thing is oh talk about lucky. They played three
games in eleven days, two on the road and outscored
their opponents to go undefeated seventy two to thirty six. Yeah,
(02:44):
it's nothing about it. They here's what they do, the
stuff that matters to a lot of people, blowout wins, MVPs.
It doesn't matter to them. They got twenty three days
now until the playoffs. They gotta buy, got a regular
seat in game, they can stay arrested and twenty one
in one in their last twenty two games. And again,
(03:07):
they care about what's important. Finding over the course of
a season, another weapon, another tackle, a little edge, improving
young players. They care about the crap that makes you
a Super Bowl champ. You got other teams in this
league worrying about Hey, Twitter, Eh, who's the MVP that
(03:28):
is below Kansas City at this point, you know, the
Yankees don't care about MVPs. The Yankees are trying to
get trophies. The Mets go crazy for MVPs, Like right now,
everybody in Pittsburgh Gay no losing season. Well, that's the
ceiling or is that the floor? I'm confused. This is
what Kansasity does. The protection was better without Chris Jones.
(03:52):
All the young pass rushers, Spag's got them working. Now
they've got Worthy. Here's Hollywood Brown. Everybody, every ar oh,
I hear?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Is this?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
This happened to Gronk? Oh? Where's Gronk? Every time the
playoffs started January, February, Gronk. Here's Travis Kelcey, Christmas On
not as much, Noah Gray. Here comes, here comes Travis Kelcey.
So last nine games for Patrick Mahomes as this team
is a bit more mature, deeper at wide receiver, getting
(04:24):
healthy at the right time, pass rush with or without
Chris Jones. Last nine games for Mahomes nineteen touchdowns, two picks.
And here's what's amazing, flying under the radar, Baltimore MVP talk,
Buffalo man, this is the year Kansas City does two
(04:45):
things well, gets better by December and January. And here
they are the dynasty in the league. It's a lot
like New England Belichick and Brady and they're flying under
the radar. Everybody's talking about this is the year and
we're gonna win this award. And Kansas City's just winning.
And now they're winning by more in the last four games,
more points, more yards. It's a better version of last
(05:05):
year's team. Now Hollywood Brown, now Worthy, now Kelsey, now Watson.
They'll probably grab a running back in the graft Draft.
No in Kansas City, that Boise State kit will fall
to them at like thirty two. But I found New
England's dynasty fascinating their efficiency. I never felt in New England,
(05:25):
outside of the Randy Moss years, what was the best team?
They just when I didn't think they had the best roster.
I don't know if Kansas City has the best roster,
but they've figured out the best formula to get good
at Christmas and beyond. Here's Mahomes after it showed.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
The toughness of the team. I think we got better
as though obviously the games were on and so the
guys are there mentally tough and they're they're physically tough,
and we played some really good football teams, some hard
fought battles, and the guys came away with three wins.
So I'll give that number one seeds important. It's I
win the playoff game, and so I was happy to
get that done.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
All right.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Actually it was a great NBA day. Three games, all
close NFL games were blowouts. We'll get to Baltimore Houston
Steelers later, but listen, the one NBA thing that always
works is Lebron versus Steph on Christmas. Didn't matter if
he's a cav and he's a warrior, he's a Laker,
he's a warrior. Great fun, great finish. Both teams could
(06:22):
use Jimmy Butler. Get to that in a second. But
whether they play together in the Olympics, or they meet
four times in the finals, or they play on Christmas,
it's always a good watch. Lebron's going to be forty
on Monday, Steph is thirty six. They're great headliners. It
would be nice if the NBA had a really tasty undercard.
I feel like the NBA is clinging to Lebron and
Steph like Hollywood's clinging to Tom Cruise and the Mission
(06:44):
Impossible series. And that's okay because it's great, and you know,
I love me some Lebron Stephan Mission Impossible. I do
wish these two are at a championship level. This is
where it gets interesting. The Lakers don't have the bench,
they're not athletic enough, and they don't have enough shooters. Meanwhile,
Golden State's got all the shooters they need. They could
probably move one, but they don't have the size. But
(07:06):
the Lakers do have the size. So if you consolidated
do these two teams, you'd have a hell of a team.
The Lakers play Denver pretty well. Now, they don't beat
them a lot, but they play them well because they
have size in Denver's big The Warriors have shooters, so
they can match up with a Boston or an OKC
or a Dallas and shoot their way to wins. So
the Jimmy Butler trade talk is really interesting. So Jimmy
(07:28):
Butler said over the last couple of days, I want
out and Golden State especially is very tasty. So anything
the Warriors do has to be on Steph and Draymond
Green's timeline. Okay, they they want to squeeze one more
championship out of this, and Jimmy Butler as a primary
as a number one leaves you feeling a little disappointed,
(07:51):
but as a two to Staph that works. Also he's
on Steph Andre's timeline. Also, what's he known as a
great playoff performer. He's a playmaker, he is tough, he
is physical. He'd get along with Draymond and Steph. He's
a leader. He has often yelled at younger teammates not
ready to play. So Butler, Steph and Draymond Green is
(08:14):
a real thing. Now, you'd have to give up kaminga
who by the way, you keep waiting and waiting and
waiting and it never lands. And then you'd have to
give up Wiggins, who is having a pretty good year,
but he's hot and cold. He had a good series
against the Celtics in the final, but don't you feel
like that was the peak? I think if I'm Golden State,
is I'm watching Steph because I think Steph's absolutely still
(08:36):
good enough to get to an NBA final. Would they
have the depth to beat like Boston? Would they have
the firepower to beat maybe a Knicks or a Philadelphia.
I don't know, but I do feel Denver's not the
same team. Okase is still young, chet Holmgren is he available.
I don't think Minnesota is quite as good. I think
the Warriors with Jimmy Butler Steph, Jimmy Butler is a
(08:59):
second offensive option. Draymond Green got Buddy Heeled out there
to hit some threes. You got Podge to hit threes.
That team could get hot. Cross your fingers on health.
And when you watch Steph Sizzle yesterday, my take is
I'm hoping the Warrior brass watches this and realizes the
truth that guy's good enough to get to the finals.
(09:20):
You just got to find a second scoring option and
stop for the Wiggins. Wiggins is a classic example. You're
a championship team. If he's your fourth best player, you're
a really good team. If he's your third best player,
But if he's your number one player, you don't make
the playoffs. And if he's your number two scoring option,
you're going nowhere. And their Warriors right now are going nowhere,
(09:40):
but they could be going somewhere. Absolutely with Jimmy Butler.
So depth is nice, and they got a lot of depth,
but that's neat. Depth is wonderful. The Celtics have depth,
but their top seven players are excellent. That's what matters. Lebron. Meanwhile,
Nice turning forty Monday says this meant more than just
(10:04):
a win.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
I love the NFL.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I love NFL Christmas is our day, and it was
a good day for the league. Now, did they shoot
too many threes? Yes, I mean it's half the shots
in the league now. And Adam Silver has you know,
he has addressed that. But the Jimmy Butler stuff is percolating.
Stuff gets out because somebody wants it out. So Miami
wants it out. Jimmy Butler wants it out. And I
(10:27):
think the Warriors work. There's a lot of teams in
this league. People are talking Dallas. Dallas has their two scores.
Luca and Kyrie don't play defense. I think that would
drive Jimmy Butler mad. Steph's done a great defender, but
he's willing, and Draymond's an excellent defender. It would give
them the toughness and the playmaking they would need. So
I'd keep your eye on that now. And then maybe
(10:48):
this is just me root and for it to happen
because I love Steph and I won't love watching the
Warriors play. But if you give me Steph and Butler
and Draymond and Pods and Healed and Jackson, that team
can make the finals. This team can't, couldn't even beat
the Lakers. Jay Mackett was a fun day. Greg co
Sell is going to be joining us in forty five minutes.
If you bet NFL, you play fantasy football, you want
(11:10):
to get smarter with NFL. Greg co Sell NFL Films
forty five years Absolute Monday. I thought the NBA had
a really good day yesterday. Knicks were fun to watch,
Wemby going off, and the Lakers Warriors was excellent.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, that Austin Reeves finished was just incredible.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I did not play as my guy Austin Reeves.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
I know you were like, oh.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
J mackey, he nailed that.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Austin Reeves big time clutch Curry in the shot making. Also,
you didn't mention Beyonce's halftime performance. That was pretty spectacular
Texans game. That's better than anything the Texans offense did
all day.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Yeah, that the Texans now have become sort of an enigma,
Like I thought Bobby Slowak was a genius and c J.
Stroud was the next superstar. Talk about trending down.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Listen, when do we crowned CJ Stroud after one year?
He does not look like even a top fifteen quarterback.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
So I had this conversation yesterday at one of the parties.
I was at with a bunch of football fans.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
One of the.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I was at two. I was party hopping, all right,
So I said this to both parties, is Bryce Young
now look better than C J. Stroud? And the answer
over the last five or six weeks is absolutely. Bryce
looks like the number one pick. Stroud looks like the
number two. So that offense is when you need to
tackle in the end zone to get points on the board.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
And it can't because they lost Tank Dell last week. Okay,
tank Dell, by the way, was great against the Chiefs
till the injury. But sometimes you can't move the football.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Can't move it watching and they got players.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (12:44):
Hey Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world, We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
(13:05):
sports and pop culture, stories that well, other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
I mean that says something.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Right, So check us out.
Speaker 6 (13:16):
We like to get you involved too, Take your phone calls,
chop it up. As they say, I'd say, the most
interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 6 (13:26):
Be sure to check out Cavino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covin on
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media that's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
So the Ravens crush the Houston Texans thirty one to two,
and no NFL team over the last couple of years
more routinely and consistently humiliates other teams in the regular
season like the Ravens last couple of years, fifteen double
digit wins, last eleven days, three wins, all by seventeen
(14:03):
plus points. But this has been a great movie with
a sour ending for six years in a row. I
would love to see Lamar Jackson get to a super Bowl.
I think he's exhilarating. I think he's a great kid.
I think he's passionate. It's a really, really good organization,
you know what I'm hoping the Ravens do. And I
think it's happening in front of our eyes. I want
(14:24):
you to think about this. What NBA team dominated the
regular season and left us wondering if their star player
was as good as everybody claimed he was. The Celtics.
Like the Celtics, the Ravens, the talents there. It's a
well run organization, but you were always a little little
(14:45):
disappointed that the number one wasn't quite up to it.
And they were two Jason Tatum reliant. So suddenly their
number two, Jalen Brown last year sometimes was their one.
And that's what slowly happening to the the Ravens. Lamar
only completed ten passes yesterday, yet Derrick Henry had twenty
(15:07):
seven carries. Lamar's gonna win the trophies in the MVP.
He's more exhilarating, it's more dynamic, but quietly Lamar Jackson
is only fifteenth in the league in passing attempts and
probably ends up lower than that. It's not that Baltimore
doesn't love Lamar, but after something doesn't work, like last
(15:31):
year six run attempts in the playoffs, Lamar got tight.
So was the play calling. So that Celtics team, like
Baltimore well run Smart had a very good number one,
not as good as j Matt Cape kept imploring on
this show. But I kept saying, I like Jason Tatum
and I like Lamar Jackson. But when the team stopped
(15:54):
trying to funnel everything through Jason Tatum and said, let's
bring into poorzingis, Let's get Jalen Brown, Moore touches, Let's
move Marcus Smart who takes too many shots late, and
upgrade with Drew Holiday. Tatum was still great, But they
weren't Jason Tatum reliant. They were just a great team.
(16:16):
This is what the Ravens are doing. Oh, they had
Mark Andrews and Lamar Jackson, but last year they get
him Zave Flowers. Now they get him Dereck Henry. Now
they bring in a passing game coordinator that's a little
more friendly, perhaps to the past than the run. But
it feels like to me, that's what Boston did. It's
not that they didn't like Tatum, but they kept losing
(16:38):
when they became Tatum reliant in big spots, and he
would lose to you know, a Steph in the finals
in a big game, three at home. And so this
team Dereck Henry now twenty seven, carries Lamar Jackson ten
point fifteen exhilarating, nonetheless, and Lamar was happy after the.
Speaker 7 (17:01):
W I believe how seasons has gone. In the regular season,
he just explains how the NFL is. You know, it
really really don't matter how you start off. It is
how you finish. And I believe you finishing pretty well
right now.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
You just having fun. Yeah, it's not easy.
Speaker 7 (17:16):
NFL is not easy. I don't care what nobody say.
NFL not easy, look easy.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
But yes, this is what Baltimore does. This is what
the Celtics did. They dominate the regular season and we're
all absolutely sure this team this is the year. And
they end up against the Warriors and the old veterans
who know how to turn it on at the right
time win and I and I once they moved off
the Tatum and became less obsessed with getting him all
(17:41):
the late game touches and just let him play. And
I think yesterday I'm watching Lamar ten of fifteen, just
letting him play. It ran through Derrick Henry. It's a
better Ravens team. Thirty one to two. Christmas on the road.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Neon Easter not a emphasive.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Sure you play this week's focked Super Six sponsors by
Draft Kings. Where would the Fox Sports up and enter
for a three chance to win cash prizes? Do you?
Speaker 1 (18:10):
I think it's a pretty good late week of lines.
I think we saw something yesterday in the NFL where
the good teams are separating.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Now.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
I like the Rams as a favorite. I like the
Bills as a favorite. This weekend, those favorites look like
they kind of separate and getting things right.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
It's a weird year in the NFL. I was talking
with somebody smart yesterday and it feels like maybe the
kickoffs change things more. Possibly because you're getting better starting
field position, the offenses are. The good teams are moving
the football with these and they're taking the field goals,
they're scoring, and it just feels like the bad teams
just if you can't move the football this year.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Well, think about this. We have ten teams now, last
year it was only five. We have ten teams with
five wins or less. That's the NBA. That's a massive
bottom of the league. That's not that's not formidable.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yeah, what do you do with the Steelers?
Speaker 3 (19:02):
By the way, they crush everybody and then they play
three good teams in the last like four weeks and they.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Get and they get destroyed. Yeah, they're they're they're right
in the middle. So they're not going to get a
great draft pick. Are you playing Russell Wilson?
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Are you sure? I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
We talked about a good season, Colin. He's placed faced
a few good last few weeks.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
That's why I'll just say this before we go into
my next topic. Let me just say this, you guys,
and I've been critical of Aaron Rodgers. You guys, Aaron's
last eight games, Russell Wilson's last eight games, Kirk Cousins
last eight games. It's not close. Who's the best quarterback.
It's Aaron Rodgers by a mile, give you that by
a mile. And Aaron, if you look at Aaron's success.
(19:42):
It is directly connected to Devonte Adams. I have a
four part plan for the Jets next season. And by
the way, I didn't like Zach Wilson. I love Darnold,
I like Saul. I told you fire and Saul was
a disaster. I've been right a lot with the Jets.
This team, there's four moves to make, and they're all there.
They're right in front of you. Their easy ones to make.
(20:05):
Just wet my beak.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Are we moving off of Garrett Wilson because there's a
lot of Garrett Wilson wants out stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
I'm just you're going to love the top of this
next week.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
He sees what you're seeing that DeVante Adams is Aaron's guy,
and Davante's numbers are up and Wilson's numbers are way down.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
By the way, can we stop with this? Garrett Wilson
isn't getting looks. Look at his target. He has more
targets this year than Justin Jefferson. Can you give me
a break on that?
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Well, half the season he didn't have an Adams well,
not half, but a little you know, like.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
If you have more targets than Justin Jefferson, zip it.
I don't want to hear about you're not getting looks. Okay, Okay,
give me a break. So I have a four this
may be. I mean the City of New York. Tell
your friends, top of the hour. I'm bringing the heat.
And I've been mister negative jet guy. But I've been
right negative jet guy. There's a four way plan to
do it, and all of them are right in front
(20:52):
of you and doable in three weeks. Okay, so this
is an interesting one, as I've aged gracefully. I might add,
maybe I'm just defending more mature men. But let me
as this. This story came out about Pete Carroll to
the Bears, and everybody's like, he's seventy three. Trump's seventy
(21:13):
eight is going to be our president. Bob Eiger runs
Disney at seventy three, sharp as attack, Martin Scorsese's eighty two,
Sharp as attack, Spielberg seventy eight, Warren Buffett's ninety four.
One of America's great financial gurus, Lebron last night's getting
double teamed on the last possession. He's going to be
forty Monday. If you can play at forty, you can
coach at seventy three. Nick Saban was coaching to the
(21:36):
end in his seventies and what's fantastic. Pete Carroll is
not a bad choice. Is he the best choice? He's
up there. Okay, this is not an easy job. There's
a lot of bureaucracy with the Bears. He is highly organized.
I know that from players who had played with him
and coaches that have coached with him. He is an
elite organized coach. He can build a culture. We've seen
that at USC, we have seen that with the Seahawks.
(21:59):
And with the Seahawks he took a young quarterback like
a Caleb Williams name Russell Wilson, and he built a
run game and a defense around him, so they weren't
completely reliant on Russ. In fact, when Russ wanted to cook,
it's when I went sideways. My concern with Pete is
not age. It really isn't. I think he has tremendous energy.
(22:20):
He can be, in my opinion, too loyal to mediocre
coordinators and assistant coaches. He was way too loyal to
Ken Norton for years, and the Seahawks O lines the
last three years in Seattle stunk twenty fifth twenty seventh,
twenty eight and he stayed with the offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
So Pete also he likes a little say in personnel,
(22:42):
but so does Mike Vrabel, my first choice. A lot
of these coaches, they want to say in personnel. Like
Jim Harbaugh right now, he wants to say in personnel.
McVeigh in Los Angeles with the Rams Sean likes to
say in personnel. So I'm not gonna immediately considered a negative.
Some of these guys, guys, younger guys like McVeigh, or
(23:02):
guys that have coached college and done recruiting like Pete,
Carolyn Harbaugh and by the way, Vrabel Ohio State. Like
these guys known personnel and they want to stay with gms.
So but the idea that Pete's too old, No he's not.
I'm gonna tell you something, This job is not for
some whiz kid. And I'll give you an example. A
year ago today, you were all telling me Bobby Slowik
(23:23):
in Houston, he's like a Zuckerberg with a with a
play sheet. They can't score points, can't score pool. Cliff Kingsbury,
love him, didn't work as a head coach. You guys
are all tough. Mike McDaniel, Oh boy. The media love
Mike McDaniel because you know, he's kind of nerd. He
liked sports writers. They all loved him. I'm watching Miami
(23:45):
not a lot of They're there a lot of motion,
and I can't beat good teams. I like him. Media
loved him. I mean, honestly, media loved him. I mean
I was just told this guy was It was. I mean,
he was a combination of Einstein and Kyle Shanahan. It
was like, oh my god, he's gonna equals mc squared
on two. It was, oh my god, this guy Miami's
(24:08):
just a team that has too much motion. So you know,
I and I'm not anti defensive coach. I'm not I
think a defensive coach if if he's not rigid. I mean,
Pete would like to win the old fashioned way, run
game and defense. You can win a lot of games
this way. But the idea that oh he's seventy three.
(24:31):
Watch Pete Carroll on the sidelines. He is wearing out
that spearmint. Gum, he is wearing that thing out. He's
going one hundred miles an hour. And I got movie
directors and presidents and NBA players, and Brady was playing
to forty five. You can coach at seventy three. Now,
this all may be because as my hairs turned gray,
maybe I'm supporting the more mature wisdom approves that Jmax
(24:56):
rolling his eyes at my suggestion. But this is not
this idea that, hey, this guy over here is a
whiz kid. Never forget Silicon Valley. You guys all think
it's all these twenty year olds. No it's not. Go
see the age of Larry Ellison at Oracle and Zuckerberg
and the Google guys. It's forties fifties, so we think
(25:19):
of tech as youngsters and hipsters. No, it's not not
the ones that are crushing. No, it's not. So I'll
just say this. Spielberg comes out with a movie I'm In.
Scorsese comes out with a movie I'm in. Old Jamack
over here wants the hipster doing something on TikTok, not
on gole Colin, give me a little gray hair with
(25:39):
my coaching higher.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
So, first of all, do I know you are.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Close to the USC program.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
You think Pete Carroll would jump at the Bears this year,
or he would wait to see what happens with Lincoln Riley.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Lincoln Riley has nine years and a ninety million love
next year, they're not buying Lincoln.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Out even if he flops next year.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Well, the sketch is almost unfloppable. They don't play Ohio
State again. The schedule. I mean, I'll say this for USC.
They got the easiest Big ten schedule known to man.
If I give you a Big ten schedule Ohio State, no,
don't play him. Okay, that's a workable schedule. So they
get they get the tough games at home next year.
(26:19):
I don't know. They don't know LSU. They play a
bunch of directional schools, so there's no LSU to start.
It's three layup out of conference games. So you're buying
this Pete Carroll thing.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
So there was a squabble between reporters in the NFL
on this yesterday.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
I'm sure he was well schefter versus Florio. Yeah, I
don't know.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
They were going at it over this. And you like
to bring up division like Tom Brady went to the
Bucks because that's an easy division to win. So seventy
something year old Pete Carroll is going to coach against
Lafleur and O'Connell, two of the sharpest young minds in
this game.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
What if he has the most talented quarterback and this
is not a bad roster.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Hold a Caleb Williams or Who's.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
I think Caleb has more natural talent. I think Jordan
Love's much better, but I think Caleb is a is
What's happened with Caleb and this happens a little bit
to Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen is Hey, this guy
is Superman every play. It's Kansas City that has been
able to create a team around mahomes where they're not
(27:25):
reliant on mahomes except for big spots in the fourth quarter.
They got spags. They got the defense. I mean they
basically their defense is young, hungry, athletic, fast and healthy.
So I think Caleb Williams throwing twenty four a game
is the answer. That's what Pete did with Russ. I'm
not saying he's the guy i'd he but I'm telling
(27:46):
you I would sit him down. I want to see
his vision, I want to see his plan. I want
to hear him.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
App bringing Greg Cosell NFL films forty five years, always
on Thursday. So you know, you watch Kansas City and
this is what they do. They end up in January,
December and January. They solve an offensive line issue. Now
they've got Xavier Worthy and here's Hollywood Brown. They do
a very good job. What's important to me in the
(28:20):
media is big stories. What's important to them are the
details and solving little riddles throughout the course of the season.
And let's talk about Mahomes and his efficiency over the
last couple of months. What's the film say.
Speaker 8 (28:34):
Yeah, And I think Colin quite frankly, there's been a
little misconception about the Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
This is a Mahomes driven offense.
Speaker 8 (28:41):
He has the most dropbacks of any quarterback in the
NFL going back nine weeks, but in his last six
games he has not thrown an interception and again, most
dropbacks in the league, So it's a pass first offense.
There was a lot of talk early in the season
about the running game that's kind of disappeared.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
It's all driven by Mahome. Homes.
Speaker 8 (29:00):
They lead the NFL in third down conversions. He's phenomenon
on third down. They control the ball their second in
time of possession, and that becomes really important because when
you control the pace and tempo of the game, your
defense plays fewer snaps, and that is absolutely critical. I
remember a coach telling me years ago that in an
ideal world, you don't want your defense playing any more
(29:23):
than sixty to sixty four snaps a game. And we
know how good Steve Spagnolo is anyway, So now you
have a complete team. But make no mistake, this is
driven by Patrick Mahomes. He's playing really well. What we're
not seeing and I think where people think, oh, Mahomes
isn't what it used to be is we just don't
see a lot of sixty our touchdown passes. But he's
(29:43):
controlling the game with incredible efficiency.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
So you and I both like Sam Darnold. Rough start.
We always saw the playmaking. We always saw the playmaking,
We always saw the big arm, but he could be reckless.
Is there something the film says, though, and this is
why I love bringing you on? Is there something the
film says about Donald but he doesn't necessarily get a
ton of credit for.
Speaker 8 (30:09):
I think there's two things and you know, Colin, because
I send him my evaluations of college quarterbacks, you know I'm.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
A traits guy.
Speaker 8 (30:16):
Yes, So there's two traits that I think have really
stood out with Donald that we didn't see much of
early in his career. It might be his natural development,
it might be the coaching. We don't know that, but
there's two traits. One is pocket movement. He's much more
efficient and much more effective when he moves within the pocket.
I'm not talking about running out of the pocket. I'm
(30:37):
talking about moving within the pocket, as we see on
this touchdown last week that won the game to Jefferson.
The other thing is sort of a corollary point to that.
That's his ability to stay in the pocket and make
late in the down throws when the pocket is squeezed
and there's bodies around him. That was something he did
not do well early in his career. He made a
(30:58):
lot of bad reads, bad throws when he tried to
do that. He's gotten so much better at that. So
there are two areas of pocket play that are absolutely
critical to being a higher level pocket quarterback that he's
improved significantly at.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Yeah, he's willing to take a hit, play a little
linebacker in high school. He's a tough kid and he'll
sit in there to the very end and get smoked,
and I think you nailed it. So I think what's
fascinating with Philadelphia. Everybody acknowledges it's a Barkley offense and
Jalen throws less. But if you look at Green Bay,
I'm actually seeing the same thing where it's a Josh
(31:32):
Jacobs Lafleor offense and Jordan Love, who they like, who
has excellent weapons, is throwing less. And I find it
fascinating because when Laflour was in Tennessee, he had Derrick
Henry and his reputation. I remember making calls people said,
I don't know about creating a culture, but he likes
to pound the ball, and it feels like we're finally
(31:54):
seeing his offense.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Well, it's the air of the running back.
Speaker 8 (31:58):
We're gonna have probably five or six backs with over
three hundred carries. We had none last year, and Josh
Jacobs will be one of those backs barring an injury.
And they start with the run game, and they're very
multiple with their run game.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
That's the thing.
Speaker 8 (32:12):
You're seeing a lot more multiplicity with teams that run
the ball, and the Packers are a great example all
the use of different backfield actions. They play with two
running backs, what we call the pony package. A lot
of teams are doing this. The Packers are one of
the teams doing it quite a bit. And they're so
multiple with their run game concepts, the way they use
Jaden Reid in the backfield with different motions. So it
(32:35):
all starts with the run game. But it's not old
school run game Colin, where you just line up and
give it to the back and say let's bang it
up in there. They're very, very multiple, a lot of
different formation, looks, a lot of different personnel, a lot
of different motions.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
You know, it's funny about Derek Henry. First couple of years,
wasn't a superstar in the league. Then he develops into one,
and then he goes to Baltimore and it's easy to say, well,
you know, it's the of course he can run it.
But they replaced three starters on the O line. It
seems to me that it's it's not just that Derrick
Henry's talented. It seems to me that the way they
(33:13):
use him, it's he's getting yards before contact. A lot
this year. That's what it looks like to me. He's
always been good plus post contact. But what are they
doing specifically to Derrick Henry, who's given it is given
him kind of a rebirth in the league.
Speaker 8 (33:29):
Well, there's no question that the Lamar factor plays into that,
because you have to account for Lamar in the run game.
So there's no question that the way defenses have to
align has to have an accounting for Lamar Jackson and
that impacts run support. So it's not just as he
was in Tennessee where they were just lining up and
give him the ball.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
But I think Henry as a whole. You know, It's funny.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
I remember talking to a coach who was at Alabama
at the time and he's now in the NFL, and
I wasn't sure after two years if this was if say,
Derrick Henry.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Could be what he's become.
Speaker 8 (34:02):
And I'll be the first to admit I was wrong,
because obviously Derrek Henry's on his way to being a
Hall of Fame back. But the thing about Henry, because
in a sense, he's not a power runner and that
he runs over people Colin, but he's a power runner
in this sense when it's blocked for three, you look
up and he just got seven, and you go, how
do he get seven? It didn't look like he got seven,
but he just got seven. And then you add that
(34:24):
to the fact that he can take it to the
house for his size on any given play, and that
combination is really hard to beat. But there's no question
that the Lamar Jackson factor figures into how defenses have
to align and therefore that really dictates run support issues
for defenses.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
So I want to talk about a kid because I
picked Atlanta to win their division and they've beaten the
Bucks twice, and you know, we were going back and
forth on the show, why won't they play him? As
Kirk Cousins was regressing? In My take was they wrote
a big check to Kirk Cousins, and Arthur Blank probably
wanted to get every start out of Kirk Cousins before
they sent him to the bench. Does once you played Panicks,
you're not going to go back to Cousins. What of
(35:04):
the debut? The debut? What about it did you like?
Speaker 8 (35:08):
Well, You've always talked about this with quarterbacks Colin about coaching,
and I thought this was a great example the kids
making his first start, You and I both love his talent.
We know we can throw the ball, we know we
can sit on his back foot and drive it with velocity.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
We know what his traits are.
Speaker 8 (35:23):
But what they did exceptionally well, you're almost seeing it
on this play right here that we're looking at. Is
there an outside zone foundation run team with Vjon Robinson
another back by the way, he might get three hundred carries.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
So what they did is.
Speaker 8 (35:35):
They countered off that beautifully with the play action and
the play action.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Boot pass game.
Speaker 8 (35:40):
So they use their outside Zone run foundation to really
help Penix get comfortable in the game and define the
reds and the throws and the thing that he does
really well, and there's not a lot of quarterbacks who
do this. He throws outside the numbers really well, and
there's a lot of juice on those throws. And obviously
he can throw between the numbers, I mean, those are
(36:01):
easier throws relatively speaking, But to drive the ball outside
the numbers, he can do that, and he can just
sit on his back foot and do that. Yeah, he
does not necessarily need to stride into those throws.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Yeah, no, he's got an arm. So this past week
on Monday, Matt Hasselbeck said something interesting. He said, you know,
Caleb's not an anticipatory thrower, and he goes, I think
you have to be in this league and some guys
can develop into it. But you have been higher on
Caleb even during his losing streak. There's a lot to like.
(36:34):
Let's address that anticipatory thing, because I thought Hasselbeck was
willing to say it, and I think it's true. I
now watch him when he plays and that some guys
you got to be opener. I won't let it rip.
What do you make of that criticism?
Speaker 8 (36:49):
Right, I think it's fair. And don't forget he's got
a big arm. He throws a really tight spiral. The
ball comes out so at times he can compensate for that.
But the film shows is when he sees it and
the primary is clean.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Man, does he look good.
Speaker 8 (37:05):
He made two throws at the end of the first
half last week, a dig ball to more for about
twenty five yards, and then he threw the touchdown to
Keenan Allen, and those throws were defined, They were clean.
They were the primary reads on those throws. When he
sees it that way, he looks really good. But I
think one reason he doesn't throw a lot of interceptions.
Colin hasn't thrown one in a long time. Is if
(37:27):
he doesn't see it, he's not gonna throw it because
he just doesn't feel it that way. Now, I don't
know how Matt Hasselbeck feels.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
I think that coaches would say, you can improve that
to some degree.
Speaker 8 (37:39):
But you're not going to take a guy who's not
an innate anticipation thrower and make him Joe Burrow. That's
not gonna happen. So you know, you sort of have
to work around that. But he's got really high level
throwing traits, and obviously we know he's got some movement ability.
The other thing he needs to work on is he
needs to work on moving within the pocket. And that's
a totally different trade than running out of the pocket,
(38:02):
which he can be pretty good at. He's got a
feel when he moves out of the pocket, pretty good
spatial awareness because the sacks have to come down.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
There's too many sacks. Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
A team that's getting red hot is the Rams. It's interesting.
Stafford's older and they have struggled in the first half.
And I've said, you know, I was telling a friend
a couple of nights ago, I'm like, is it a
Stafford's not warmed up thing? Does he need to get
to the fifth inning? But they usually he's not getting sacked,
they're not turning it over. Finally, now with Tyler Higbee back,
(38:32):
everybody's ready to go on offense. But yet it's the
defense with a lot of first, second, and third round
draft picks that have all hit, all hit. Yeh, so
to talk about because I don't know if this defense
it's really really young, but when I watch it, I mean,
this week they play Arizona and both Arizona's offensive tackles
are out, so it could be a feast. What do
(38:54):
you make of the Rams defense?
Speaker 2 (38:57):
I really like what they've done. They've eight of their
last ten.
Speaker 8 (39:01):
Okay, in those last ten games, no team in the
NFL has played more with six defensive backs what we
call dime than the Rams. That has really been their foundation.
They play a ton out of dime. They play with
Jalen McCullough, who's a rookie safety. They play with Kitchens,
the rookie from the University of Miami. They even play
what we call big nickel with three safeties a lot.
(39:23):
I mean, this is a safety driven defense with a
front four that's young and improving. And I have to
tell you when you watch Jared Verse play and we're
seeing him here, his speed to power for a young
player may be as good as any in the league.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
So this is a.
Speaker 8 (39:38):
Continually evolving defense that plays a ton of dime.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
That's sort of their foundation.
Speaker 8 (39:45):
They're getting better and better, and offensively, they're really another
team that's really built on the run. You and I
both love Stafford, but Kyron Williams another back with over
three hundred carries. That's where they start their offense with
the zone run game.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Yeah, it's funny. We always think these McVeigh, Lafleura, Shanahan guys,
offensive wizards or pass guys, they all love to run.
The truth is all of them. I mean, Kyraen Williams,
a small guy, is carrying it twenty four times a game.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
Yeah, and you know what, motion is so critical.
Speaker 8 (40:15):
We think of motion in the past game as you
you know, you were talking about the pass game, and
you're right, we think of motion being a big deal
in the in.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
The past game.
Speaker 8 (40:23):
It's really a bigger deal in the run game. You
can almost go back to Joe Gibbs with the Washington
Redskins and the use of motion to really mess up
teams run support problems and how they handle the run.
So it's motion is a critical factor in the run game.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
So, Greg, I don't know if I've ever told you
this before. I have something I have a belief in
quarterbacksy is all pay a quarterback fifty large if he's
not an IF guy. But if brock perty's your classic
IF guy. If the weather's good, it's not raining, if
he gets protection, if he has an above average o' line,
if he has an offensive coach, if Christian McCaffrey is healthy,
(41:02):
it's very much a qualifying scenario if he gets that.
And to me, I'm not paying guys forty to fifty
million if if they're the IF quarterback. I like Party,
But when I watch the Niners, I see offensive line
issues and then I see a very average player. What
does the film sound Party?
Speaker 8 (41:23):
Well, I guess I'd almost ask you a question. How
many quarterbacks are not IF guys. How many quarterbacks can
be really great and carry a team without a lot
of things working for them. There's probably very few college
true if you really think about Okay, So, So ninety
percent of the quarterbacks in the league would be if
guys based on your definition.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
So you have to separate the money.
Speaker 8 (41:46):
You have to separate the money from the conversation, because, look,
everybody knows what brock Purty is. Rock Purty is not
a big guy. He doesn't have a great arm. So
what has to happen for brock Purty to be a
really good player. He has to have a good old line, which,
by the way, has not been good this year. The
depth of the pocket, which is controlled by the interior
(42:07):
of the all line, has not been very good. So
he's been squeezed a lot. And because he doesn't have
a big arm, he needs space to throw the ball.
They've almost had no run game this year. Maybe early
in the year they did when Mason was pretty good early,
but they've almost had no run game, and they've got
no speed right now at receiver. I think Pearceol is
going to be a good player, but he's a rookie
(42:27):
who basically had no practice because of the unfortunate, tragic situation.
So really, this is an offense that's lacking in so
many areas. But you could say that about a lot
of quarterbacks. I mean, we can talk about the Mahomes,
the Allens, the Burrows, the Jacksons. Maybe there's one or
two more on missing, but almost all quarterbacks in the
league are if quarterbacks, it depends what they have around them,
(42:50):
and right now Purty does not have much around him,
so his game is going to look like it lacks
consistency at times on a.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
Week to week basis. You know.
Speaker 1 (42:59):
Interesting the Cowboys, obviously Dak Prescott's the starter, but we
brought stats out last week with Cooper Rush, and if
it was a blind test, it's the same guy. Is
there anything? I mean, where is Cooper Rush clearly not Dak?
And where is he very similar to Dak?
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Well?
Speaker 8 (43:20):
I think their coaching staff's doing a great job because
what you see a lot with them, as you see
a ton of different personnel packages, a ton of different
formation looks, a lot of shifts in motions. They're giving
a defense a lot to have to deal with. That
was really evident in the game against Tampa on Sunday
night last week, where you just saw that Tampa they
(43:43):
really struggled a bit to figure all this out, and
therefore he was phenomenal against their blitz because Todd Bowles
will blitz rush was phenomenal on third down. He was
phenomenal against their pressures, and the Bucks pressured a lot.
Now he's a guy that you need to get pressure on,
and the pressure must be a fact of which it
was not by the Bucks because he tends to fall
away from throws.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
But one thing about him, he's been.
Speaker 8 (44:06):
Very decisive the more he plays, and I'm sure that's
being drilled into him that hey, just get rid of
the football, do not hold it. They're not going to
tell him this, but the bottom line is he's not
good enough to sit in the pocket and drive the football,
so the ball needs to come out.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
And he's been doing well.
Speaker 8 (44:23):
And prior to last week where they didn't run well,
but in the previous four weeks prior to the Bucks game,
Dowdell was the second leading rusher in the league behind
Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Yeah. Interesting, all right, We're we're gonna end it here
over the next two minutes. On Jaden Daniels, I thought
it was impressive that he struggled early, was trying to
give that puppy away, and then in the end he
was great in the fourth quarter, and I like his
ability Andrew Luck had this an ability a short memory.
It's about the win. Don't get caught up into your emotions.
(44:56):
You're gonna make mistakes. It's the NFL. Guys can sometimes
make great pla. I love it's an Andrew Luck quality.
Herbert's got this too as well. It just get the ball.
That drive's done, move to the next drive. Have you
noticed that?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Yeah? And I like Daniels.
Speaker 8 (45:15):
I liked him coming out a lot because I thought
he was far better in the pocket than a lot
of people gave him credit for. And he's made some
outstanding pocket throws this year. I mean he made one
against the Eagles, had touchdown to McLaurin for thirty two
yards where he had a free hitter right in his.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Face and he threw the ball to the pylon. It
was a spot throw. He threw the ball to.
Speaker 8 (45:34):
The pylon at the edge of the end zone and
McLaurin was twenty at the twenty five yard line.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
It was an unbelievable throw. But you know, obviously he
led the game winning drive.
Speaker 8 (45:43):
And I loved the final touchdown drive to Crowder, which
is our play of the week Colin.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
So we can take a look at it.
Speaker 8 (45:49):
Because this is an example of great execution but also
great coaching because they knew exactly what they were going
to get from the Eagles on this red zone play.
It was a teams tend to know that in the
red zone. So you're going to see that there's an
empty set here. Daniels is in an empty set. There's
nobody on either side of him. So that's an empty set.
(46:10):
Now what he's looking at, and this is what they anticipated.
He's looking at a two shell coverage structure. There's two safeties.
But the other really important player here is going to
be Zach Bourne, the linebacker because very often when teams
play this two shell in the red zone, they have
the linebacker who kind of works the middle of the
field as a middle hole player. Now, these are the
(46:31):
three receivers here, because don't forget it's empty that are
key to this whole play.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Okay, so what they want to do.
Speaker 8 (46:37):
We're going to see the route concept which is all
designed to high low Zach Bond. That's the whole premise
of this route concept. So you're going to have Crowder
who runs a route behind him and Art's in front
of him, and then you have Robinson.
Speaker 2 (46:53):
This is critical.
Speaker 8 (46:54):
You must control the backside safety. That's absolutely essential on
this play. So Robinson the back of course it's an
empty set. He's going to do that with his route.
So now what you're going to get as we see
this go in motion is Crowder.
Speaker 2 (47:09):
He's going to run the bender.
Speaker 8 (47:11):
As we saw, He's going to bend inside away from
the playside safety. And the playside safety can't chase him
because at this point he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (47:20):
Know what ERT's is going to do. But Ertz is
going to run the bender inside.
Speaker 8 (47:24):
And as I said, Bonn is the player here that
they're really high lowing and you're going to see, and
Daniels sees this because he knows what the concept is.
You're going to see Bonn's body position. Quarterbacks are taught this,
look at body position. Right now, Bond cannot flip his
hips to be in position to react to the bender
by Crowder. So this is a spot throw. Daniels is
(47:48):
going to throw this to a spot now basically the
end in Commanders, and he's going to hit him right there.
And this was just beautifully designed, beautifully executed. They knew
exactly what they were going to get.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
In the red zone. Hey, Colin, this is the stuff
I love.
Speaker 8 (48:03):
You know that this is football, this is x's and o's,
and it's execution about as beautifully as you can do it.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
Greg co sells Merry Christmas to you the staff forty
five years NFL Films. It's always a pleasure to have you.
We get smarter every time. And thank you Greg, Thanks Colin.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
Great holiday, and I'll see you next week. Yep.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
Absolutely, I always love that segment. Just feel like I
just get just it's the meat in the sandwich on
this show on Thursday. You just three really good Saturday
games tonight, Seahawks and Bears. Gotta be honest, I'm on
a two game Draft Kings streak. I like Seattle tonight.
In that game, I think Seattle is a side.
Speaker 3 (48:41):
J Mac largely agree. I saw there's some Bears injuries.
Looks like they're left tackles done. Yep, Seattle still technically alive.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Absolutely, yeah, no so. And by the way, with the
NFC North going to get three playoff teams here, it's
not a lot of not a lot of wild card
positions available.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
You watch the Bears the last few weeks since they
canned ebrafluse, and they keep falling into big holes early
in games like this, This guy who took over for
him as the head coach with Brown is it.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
Yeah, but he didn't even start the years of coordinate.
Speaker 3 (49:11):
Yeah, it's dear, And they seem ill prepared for some
of these games.
Speaker 2 (49:15):
Yeah,
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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