Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern, nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Thursday. I know it don't sound very good, head cold, I'm fine, feel good. Live in LA. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Starting tonight, Giants play the Patriots. So starting tonight until you know February, we're gonna usually have three to four nights a week of football games. It usually starts with a whim for a little bit. They're not going to play a lot of starters. Tonight ends with a bang the Super Bowl, but a joyous time for this show and this network. It's going to be an incredible We're gonna have the World Series, We're gonna have the World Cup, We're gonna have big ten footballs. We're gonna have the best NFL package, super Bowl and the Super Bowl. Yeah, what an unbelievable fall. That's the voice of Alex Curry, the face of Alex Curry for our TV audience. So it's it feels like a little bit like, you know, we're moving into it starting tonight with regular games. The Hall of Fame game's done. Kind of huge audience, by the way, this is what the audience wants, and they're gonna get it and we're gonna have. You know, in my history of doing this whole thing and bouncing around a local and regional and national networks, I think it's the most anticipated five months average. There's never been a network that's had the World Series, the Super Bowl, the World Cup, and massive college football which will probably be first or second highest read to college football in the country. So it kind of starts tonight. It feels like it's the beginning of things. It's like we're at a Michelin restaurant getting like a five course dinner, and this is our appetizer. That's right, this is our very first course. The most incredible fall, as you mentioned, so I have defended Derek Carr for a long time of the Raiders, I saw a story this morning where Derek Carr has not thrown an interception, not one in camp. And what really makes it remarkable is that he's got a new play caller, a new system, a new coach, a new coordinator, and a new star receiver. Is a bunch of moving parts, not a single interception. And I think what has always hurt Derek Carr among fans because I think he's top ten quarterback in the league. Most people don't have him anywhere near that, is that what is his it? Mahomes crazy, arm, talent, Josh Allen's size, athletic ability, Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson, escapability, dynamic speed for Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrows, cool, Tom Brady pre snap, Aaron Rodgers play is sort of with a style and a glamor in his release. What is his it? And it's funny because in twenty twenty two, it's a really weird world we live in, and I think social media and it is part of the problem. A big part of it is that you used to be able to give people like video proof or data or stats and you would win the argument. But it doesn't work that way anymore. I mean, we have video of glaciers melting. We have a global warming issue and people are like, that's politics. No, it's environmental. I don't care about the politics of it. We have glaciers melting. Here's proof, here's data. Nobody wants to listen to it, so it's you can give people proof. I'll give you three data points on Derek Carr. He's indisputably an elite quarterback and by the end of this rant you still won't believe it. In the last four years, he has the highest completion percentage in the league of anybody's still playing. Drew Brees was slightly higher. That's it. He's the most accurate thrower in the league. Okay, on the field today. In the last eight years, he is the most reliable quarterback coming from behind in the fourth quarter. Leads the NFL on that. He has also faced the most crisis at head coach for a top quarterback. This will be his sixth and nine years. So he's the most accurate, the best playing from behind late and he's done it in chaos. They literally have different coaches. And my takeaway is his it because you got to give fans an it. And I've said this about alex English playing in the NBA. He led the eighties in scoring. But alex English didn't have an it. He wasn't vertical, he wasn't flashy, he was soft spoken. He just hit midrange jumpers. He did not make the NBA's top seventy five list. He led the entire league in scoring in the eighties, didn't make the list. What was his it? He had class and didn't mish sixteen foot But I think the it for Derek Carr is he overcomes things better than anybody in the league. Overcomes coaching chaos, overcomes a teammate killing a citizen in Las Vegas driving one hundred and ten miles an hour under the influence. He overcomes weak drafts, a battle line, fourth quarter deficits, and constant fluctuation in the organization, and now the toughest division ever in the history of the NFL. There's never been a division, which is why the Raiders are the hardest team for me to protect in the NFL this year. Is I like so much about him, But there's never been a division in the history of the NFL that has Patrick Mahomes, Derek Carr, Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson, and I don't think they have the defense to compete with the other three. But if you're looking for his it it is nobody overcomes things like Derek Carr and that is an absolute talent. And I'll underscore it again. He has not thrown an interception with a new system, a new play caller, a new star receiver, a new coach, not thrown an interception all camp. It's unbelievable. Okay, the second story today, So there's been a lot. I mean, Kevin Durant is one of the best get a basket guys in the NBA ever, and so this is why I keep talking about this Kevin Durant thing, even though the NBA season done until October. Is the rumors now or Kevin Durant wants to play for the Celtics. Okay, so you can look at it two ways. Boston says, no thanks, We're gonna bring the band back. But Milwaukee's gonna be better next year because Chris Middleton's back and Joe Ingalls Sixers I think are going to be better. Tyrese Maxie is emerging as a massive star in this league. Miami always well running, well coached, certainly could be better, right, But you could bring it all back you didn't get to the finals and roll the die. Or you could bring in Kevin Durant. He's gonna hurt your chemistry a little bit. He can be a little high maintenance. You're gonna have to give up some of your bench and some of your future to do it. But I don't think it's a terrible idea. The coach of the Celtics has coach KD. Kadi always gives you a great effort on the defensive end. He's not Kyrie Irving to the Celtics who didn't want to participate defensively, or James Harden who doesn't participate defensively. Kadi always plays defense at a very high level. And he's also we saw Jason Tatum was not a reliable finisher in big games, so you get a great historic finisher. I think it makes sense to bring in Kadi for a Jalen Brown, a top bench player, and two draft picks. But I think we have to come to terms, and I've seen this in Hollywood recently. We got to come to terms with what KD is. We thought we saw him as a lead actor. He's a great supporting actor. He worked in Golden State, and I believe he would work in Boston because the culture has already been created. There are certain people like He'll give you an example, Tom Cruise. You can, if you're a movie studio, commit to ten movies with Tom Cruise. He's totally into it, totally committed. He'll deliver box office. He can manage people. Tom Cruise's life is movies. Marlon Brando was talented. There's no way you could give Marlon Brando that responsibility. There's absolutely no way. He's just really talented. And I think Kad's more Brando than Cruise. I think Lebron Wade, Kobe Jannis. There are players I will build around. They are committed, they're unwavering, they don't wander, they elevate others. They just have the right personality for it. And I think Kad is closer to Kauai or Kyrie or James Harden. You view them is the movie star and what they are as great supporting actors, they can't, you can't build the foundation around them. They're either quirky, odd, non verbal, high maintenance. It's a lot of things. Now. Of all those players, Kadi is easily the most gifted offensively, and I've said before I think he's the only guy in league history that would beat Michael Jordan in a game of one on one if they had a tournament. I think he's a great player, but he is different. He is more Brando than Cruz, he is more Kawai than Lebron, and we just got to come to terms with it. That's why I think Boston works just like the Warriors worked. The Warriors. If you go back to Kawai's career, San Antonio had the culture built, they added him championship. Toronto had a terrific culture built, they added him championship. The Clippers needed Kawai to be the foundational piece. It's not what he is. He's not verbal, doesn't already communicate. That's not what he is. So they're trying to build the franchise around him. You're gonna have to build a on Taylu's brain and the front office's ability to get versatile defenders, the very versatile roster. You can't build it around him. And it's the same thing in Hollywood. There's just certain people you can build a franchise around, and then they're just really talented actors, and there's very few of these, and it's not really a knock on KD. I mean, it's very easy top of my head to just name the guys I'd build my franchise around, you know, m J. Duncan, Magic Bird, Yannis. I mean, it's a short list of about ten guys. D Wade like, it's a tiny list, and then there's a bunch of talented guys, and I think we just have to. That's why I think Katie to Boston actually works. They got it, they got the coach, they got the culture, they've got the intensity, they got the brains upstairs. Dude, come on in and deliver big buckets. And I think mostly that's what Katie wants to do. And Katy, it looks like, understands that. He understands that he'd be joining a great culture. I think Katie looks at it and thinks it makes sense for my Northeast business. It worked with the Warriors, where I could just join something that was already rolling, And to Katie's credit, he gets that. But and I think we have to. I think we've always thought for years and years, there's what is this. Katie's better than Lebron, And I was always like, Lebron is so much more than a basketball player. Lebron is leadership and stability and elevation of others and a team builder and confronts the media and not really that prickly and deals with crisis well. And Lebron is so much more than get a hoop guy. You know, he's Jordan, He's magic, he's well beyond. And it's not really a criticism. Not everybody is built like Tom Cruise to build the franchise around. Not everybody's built for that. Milwaukee's got one. The Lakers have had a few through the years, it's a small number. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd Weekdays and neun Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. You know, we all would admit, and we all know this to be true, that there are there's a big gap in the NFL between elite quarterbacks and everybody else. There's a huge gap between like a Sean McVay and about twenty coaches in this league. Right Like, we know there's a gap. We know there's you know, really really good offensive lines, and then there's like the Carolina Panther's offensive line, like, we we all know that, but we don't see front offices and we don't see owners. And in my career, ownership has been like the front office, the people you don't see on air. The owners and the executives have so much control, and there's also a massive gap in that. And the Cleveland Browns are a poorly owned NFL franchise, and they've really put themselves on an island with this Deshaun Watson thing. So you know, Cleveland announced yesterday we we're gonna start Deshaun Watson tomorrow against the Jags. Okay, so the NFL Commissioner came out two days ago and said, we have seen the evidence. It's predatory behavior. And Cleveland's owners like, yeah, we saw it, Let's start him against the Jags. And I think Dan Snyder of Washington, cal McNair, Houston and the Haslums are bad owners, repetitively poor choices, coaches, quarterbacks, some skivy stuff in their background, not learning from their mistakes. And I just think now I think Detroit and Chicago are not brilliantly owned either. I don't think they're morally corrupt, but I think fans sometimes don't understand that the gap has just not coaches and quarterbacks and wide receiver units in this league, it is owners. And Cleveland has decided to just like go on an island and take on the NFL and they don't care. I think that puts Kevin's to FANSK in a brutal position. Remember I read a quote I went and got it this morning, and I don't know when this interview was, but Alex Smith was on a Rich Eyes and show and his quote about playing in Washington was, you got to try to eliminate the noise there. There's just a lot of distractions, said Alex Smith. That entire organization, everything surrounding it. Obviously deservedly, it's been flawed the last twenty years. There's just a lot of stuff going on there, a lot of distractions. It makes it difficult to focus in on football. Just think about that, Brady had Belichick, Dante Scarnecki at Josh McDaniels, Bob Kraft, sold out stadiums, or you can be a quarterback for Washington. What a mess? I mean? I tell people this all the time, is that at the company I currently work for, I never see management I come in, the staff comes in, we do a show, and we go home at noon three eastern noon Pacific. We never see management unless we walk by him in the commis. Are you know where you eat around here? And it's like it's just very easy. It's very easy here to do a show. I just can't screw it up. Like, can you imagine if I came I had people breathing down my neck. They moved our time slot constantly, they changed our personnel constantly. They told us right before the show, we don't like your lead. I mean, Alex Smith is basically saying, it's really hard to focus on, you know, playing football in Washington, and I think Cleveland, Washington and Houston. I think there's a lot of talented players and talented quarterbacks and talented coaches, and those ownership groups make it really hard on everybody in the building, whether they get it or not. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Easter not a Empacific. My dad owned four cars his entire life. They were just a utility. They were transportation. We didn't romanticize them. I'm not good with cars. I don't have any feel in a girls I just have no sense for cars. Some kids, dads love cars, they collect cars. I've known people who just you get them around a car, they know everything. They're just I got no feel for it. My wife grew up, her dad was a restaurant tour She is amazing in a kitchen. She knows every spice. Every we'll go to restaurants, she'll try a soup. It doesn't matter if it's an Asian restaurant, at tie restaurant, she'll know the ingredients, go home, make it and it'll be as good or better than the restaurant. I wouldn't know where to start outside of Broth. I wouldn't know where to start right Like some people. Alex's mom is a chef. Some people just because of their upbringing or whatever, they just have a feel for something. And then I'm not sure what mine is. But it's it's not cars, and it's not culinary. And the Patriots and the Giants play at tonight in New England. Is not going to play Mac Jones. And I don't think there's a ton that you can get out a preseason. But God, if there's a team that needs it, it's this team because they have a defensive coordinator as their play caller. They could probably use some live bullets here, some live play calling. But you do get to a point is we know that Belichick without Brady isn't the same coach. But it's not just losing Brady, it's losing Josh McDaniel and Dante Scarneckia. New England had for years guys that had a feel for it. SCARNECKI, I've gone to YouTube and watch these Dante Scarneckia YouTube videos when he talks to other coaches. He's just got a feel for offensive line, hands, leverage hips. Josh McDaniels a brilliant offensive mine again, Josh Derek Carr hasn't thrown an intersection in camp. Josh McDaniels has a feel for it. And Brady obviously pre snap is as good as anybody in the history of the league. Before the ball is snap moving pieces around. You start looking at New England now they have no feel they're becoming the Steeler. The difference is the Steelers at least draft the offense well they're great at They have drafted through the year's tight ends, receivers, backs. New England can't draft it. I don't know if they can develop it, and they can't even buy it. Nick Wright was on our show yesterday talking about this. Is they open up the checkbook spent a record amount and when that happens, teams usually get better. If you buy a side of the ball is Nick Ryn had pointed out, New England can't even buy offense. No other team in the league is spending twenty million on their tight ends. The Patriots are spending thirty million on theirs. No, there's one other team in football spending fifty million on their receivers and tight ends combined. The Patriots is spending seventy million on theirs. The Jaguars overpaid their guys, but Christian kurt Zay Jones and Marvin Jones all have one thing in common. All of them would be the patriots number one receiving threat by a mile. I think the Jacksonville Jaguars will win as many or more games than New England Patriots this year. And you can say, well, I mean the colin I think the four things that matter in offense do you draft it, do you develop it, do you coach it? Or can you buy it? Now that McDaniels, Dante, Scarneckia Brady are gone. Are the Patriots last in the league at all four. They don't draft it well, there's no proof they develop it brilliantly. They can't buy it well. And now they have their two top coaches gone. They have their OC and their line coach gone. So you can say, what about the Jags, Well, they drafted Alan Robinson. They've drafted some nice offensive people. What about the Giants, Oh, they drafted Ob j and Sequon Barkley before we got hurt. The Giants have drafted some really great offensive talent. And there's just teams in this league. Kansas City, San Francisco, the Vikings draft and develop offensive talent. The Bengals now, like some teams, the Niners, the Rams, they've got a feel for offense. I don't think. I think New England has none. I think all the all Brady McDaniel, Scarnekia left the building. They have no feel for it. And that's where the league is going. Albert Brier talked about New England's offensive struggles yesterday on the show. I've heard that he's frustrated, you know, and I don't like the logic here. You know, a big part of the logic for Bill my understanding and not bringing Bill O'Brien back from Alabama was that he was afraid he was gonna lose him after the year. And you see Bill, and you know now he's in his seventies, and is this just because he doesn't want to go through a lot of change over the next few years. That piece of it's really hard for me because it like, if that's why you're making decisions with something so critical as the development of your second year quarterback on the line, I'd have an issue with it. So if it wasn't Bill Belichick doing this, I think a lot of people would be very, very critical of what's going on there. Hey, I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talked to coaches, we talked to players, We tell you stories. You download it. He listened to it. I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gotlieb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or ever you get your podcast. Mike Tomlin has officially named Mitch Trubisky the starter for their preseason game Saturday. This sort of goes without saying I don't love Pittsburgh this year. I think Trubisky's a really good bridge quarterback. I don't think he's a franchise quarterback. I think he's more productive and more talented than your average backup. He's like a more talented Colt McCoy to me, and Colton McCoy, I think's a real cabable backup. So I think he's a bridge quarterback. Kenny Pickett doesn't isn't really dynamic, Mitch isn't terribly dynamic. Mason Rudolph's not dynamic. I don't think this is where you want to be in a division with Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson, and Lamar Jackson. Pittsburgh absolutely has the fourth best quarterback. That is real trouble. Steeler fans have to come to terms with it. So that's where they're at now. They have the fourth most talented quarterback in their division. And if the Cleveland Browns thought let's go get Jimmy Garoppolo, they would have the fifth most talented quarterback in their division. So I made my predictions. I make my predictions in July and then I get two addendums to my NFL predictions. Easily, the hardest division to assess easily to me is the AFC North. So in the AFC, I rather like my predictions so far. I thought. I think the Bills are the class of the AFC East. The Dolphins have had a remarkable camp. The Patriots finished third because simply of Belichick, but they've had a bad camp. Jets fourth. AFC North to me is I don't know what to do with it today. I would choose the Ravens. I'm gonna make this an addendum. I'm not doing it today. I don't know what to do with Cleveland. I'm gonna put the Ravens ahead of the Steelers. They've played twenty times, fifteen to the last twenty have been very competitive games, one score games. But Baltimore is won a super Bowl in the last decade. They've given me an MVP. I think they're an ascending offense with a unique coaching style and a unique offensive philosophy. I don't think the Steelers really know what they're doing offensively. I don't like their O line, I don't like their OC and I don't like their quarterback. Situation, so I will move the Ravens ahead of the Steelers and I'll try to figure out what to do with Cleveland based on the suspension. In the NAFC West, I think there's four really good teams. I'm putting the Raiders fourth because I don't like their defense. Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders. I'll stick with that AFC South. The Cults have had a very good camp. Matt Ryan's been shockingly good according to sources. I still believe the Titans have pulled back. Jags will be better than people think. Texans are poorly owned and mostly poorly run. We'll see. I kind of like their draft. Let's go to the NFC. I stick by everything I've predicted. I think Philadelphia had a great offseason. Dallas had a poor one, and that to me, is the different in an average division Eagles, Cowboys, Commanders, Giants NFC North. I think the Vikings will easily be the most improved team in the league. Reportedly, they've had a great camp. The Packers don't have a number one receiver, and I don't trust Aaron Rodgers with rookie wide receivers. Lions, to me feel like a seven game team, but very competitive. Bears are a mess NFC West. So far, Camp leads me to believe this is how it'll work out. The Rams or the class Arizona has been noisy but talented. Niners quarterback Trey Lands is struggling with accuracy, and the Seahawks are tanking. NFC South. I said when I made this the Bucks won't win it, but I don't feel this will be nearly as dynamic as last year's Bucks team or the first year's Super Bowl winning Bucks team. They'll simply win a terrible division. And that's where we are right now. I feel good with all of them, but again, I think I don't know exactly what to do with the AFC North. Historically, if you lose the Super Bowl Cincinnati, you're not good the next year. That's kind of been you know, there's a Super Bowl losing hangover. I think Cincinnati is different. I think they have a young coach, they've got good weapons, they're pivoting to the right direction. I think they went and spent exactly where they should have spent their money on the interior of their whole line. And I think Cincinnati is gonna be really good, and I just trust Baltimore owner, GM coach quarterback. I trust Baltimore Pittsburgh fans. I've said this before. They want you to respect them like it's the seventies and eighties, and I just can't they they I think we did this a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if they've beaten the starting quarterback in the playoffs. Didn't we do something about this a few weeks ago, or if you a month ago, they haven't beaten a starting quarterback in the playoffs, and like a decade other than Alex Smith that was if I recall that game was a bunch of field goals eighteen sixteen. It was a bunch of field goals. One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like. Derek Carr has not thrown an interception in camp, and there is there's a real skill out there, and the skill is can you deal with crap? My mom was good at it. She had a good personality for that. She could deal with crap. My dad was high maintenance. Sometimes I was a schorely kid. My mom could deal with crap pretty well. And so one of the things I think Derek Carr is really good at is dealing with nonsense. Coaching changes, teammates, making terrible decision, the franchise move, the defense has been bad, the draft picks they have whipped on more first round draft picks, And I think Derek Carr has an ability to deal with crap. And I think a lot of it is very close with his brother, very close with his family. And I've always said this strong parenting. You know, media always gets weird about this. Strong parenting matters. Strong dads matter, strong moms matter. Derek Carr, all this chaos around him, deals with crap really well. And I think a lot of it is He's got this strong religious foundation, in this strong family foundation that he always leans on it when everything goes sideways. I think it works. And I saw a stat today and this is Brady. Also, Brady's now taking some time off for a family health matters. People are suggesting Brady's got an unbelievable family structure. And I saw a stat this morning. I went and told my staff, I said, go get let's take four different style quarterbacks. Let's get Matt Stafford, Russell, Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Brady. Give me their records in multi interception games. So games in which the wheels come off you have two or more interceptions. These are gay games. And by the way, Aaron, Tom, Stafford, and Russell don't have a ton of them, but the wheels come off. Brady's record. Here are their records. Again, like Derek Carr, Brady is good when the fit hits the shan when when it's a bad Sunday. Tom Brady's record in the playoffs in two plus interception games seven and four. So Stafford, Wilson, and Rogers are mostly abysmal when it melts down. I'm not saying anything about their families. What I'm saying is there are it's a skill when like things go sideways. Brady is seven and four and that's against elite coaches, elite defenses, elite teams. Seven and four a winning record with two plus interceptions in playoff games, and so that's something I think we understand. He Brady talked about this with Howard Stern a cup years ago the Atlanta game. They were down twenty eight to three Super Bowl fifty one, and Brady said here's the sound of it. It really, it really is. It's a mindset thing. Derek Carr's very good at this. Look at all the junk Derek carrs dealt with. He just one of his skills, foundational strength. He overcomes junk. And here was Brady talking to Howard Stern about that Atlanta game. When I mean the game was literally a blowout for Atlanta. We were down twenty eighth three and against the Atlanta in super Bowl fifty one. And you could look at that situation and basically quit and say we can't, we have no shot of winning, or you can say this is going to be an amazing comeback. When we come back from this, this is going to be the defining moment in our life or a defining moment in a professional career. And I think when you shift your mind to think that way, it becomes very empowering as opposed to very discouraging. So anytime we're down in a game, I think, Man, if we come back and win this game, we're the hero rather than oh, you know, you know, we're screwed, we got no shot. Yeah. I think it's a real skill set and we all know Brady's good at it, and we all know John Elway was great at it. John Elway was a great fourth quarter, come from behind quarterback. Good foundation at home, you know, really foundationally strong, a lot of confidence for Brady's good at boy, Derek Carr's good at it. He's really it's a real skill set. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays in noon Easter not a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeart Radio app. And tonight the Field of Dreams game Cubs Reds. John Smoltz, the Hall of Famer twenty two years joins us. Yeah, I think it's been a wildly, wildly entertaining first half. So let's first of all, let's start with this Dyersville, Iowa. Now, of course all I remember of John Smoltz's Major league baseball, but I think it got a huge rating last year. In fact, it got the biggest regular season baseball ratings since like the nineties. And it was awesome to see the Yankees in a Cordon field. It's just crazy, and it reminded me of a minor league game. I worked in the minor leagues for years. I was surprised how the players took to it so much last year they were really into it and what was I mean, you were there, what was your interpretation to last year and how it landed? Yeah, that's exactly right. Look, we're creatures of habits. When I played baseball, I looked at the schedule and I went, Okay, we gotta go here, we gotta go there. And when there's an interruption to the schedule, you right away get a little ornery. And I guarantee you these both teams they looked at this, we were going what And then when they got there, I promise you, I hope TV did it justice. I know it did from the captured moments of the visual and the technology. But these players, when they ride down the bus of the dirt road, you can't believe the stadium, you can't believe your eyes, the setting. Now that players are a little bit too young to really appreciate the movie and the meaning of the movie and a connection. Obviously Joey Vato is a little bit older in that connection. In the way that he tweeted it's top moment for me as a broadcaster. We take for granted the stadiums, the cathedrals and all the things that we Doe. Naturally, we just oh, it's another stadium. This is so different. You can't imagine there's a stadium in a cornfield. And then you realize, maybe this should have been here the whole time. That's the way it feels. One hundred and sixty acres at corn Dyersville, Iowa. Capacity of eight thousand. Last year's game was fantastic. There was a walk off Tim andersonto the White Sox, so tonight's Cubs taken on Joey Vado and the Reds and the Cubs. First of all, it's it does feel a little top heavy in baseball, but who cares. In the end, there's about five teams I think can really play it. I've said this about the Mets. I've watched the Mets in two or three series this year. I watched him. You know, they really beat up on bad teams. It's it's the old Mike Tyson quality. If you if you gave him a bad fighter, he'd knock him out in a minute. He could, right he you know, you could. You could get him flustered against better fighters. The Mets have that quality. They really beat up on average teams, and they're okay against good teams, but I've watched them over and over and I got to tell you, John, I look at Scherzer. If I get Matt Scherzer max three two times in a seven game series, I like him. I feel the Mets. I don't know if they're the best team, John, I think that's they're my favorite team in the playoffs because of their aces. Your takeaway on what you've seen with them, it's the best team they've ever had since I've been there as a player and now as a broadcaster. It's the deepest team they have. They have all the right pieces and the makeup, and they've really done a good job, you know, acquiring people that under the radar have really been the glue of this ball club. Now you mentioned they've done it without the gram and we know what the grom can do when healthy. I thought there for a moment that they were vulnerable, that the Braids could catch them. But I think now they're in a position not only to secure one of the best two records in the league, but prized and poised to possibly go all the way. They've been trying this for a long time. Their injuries caught up with them over years, and now I think their injuries because of the depth give them a leg up on the rest of the competition. And I'm telling you that city has always been Yankees, Yankees, Yankees, and it's now they're no longer feeling like they're the little brothers. I think they're standing competent. They could beat anybody. Yeah, they've got a colorful team. Scherzer's big passion, Buck Showalter's, you know, kind of a tough guy. They've got a lot of components. Now the Yankees are different. They lost a key component to their bullpen. Garrett Cole's good. But it's interesting about Garrett Coles, so he was viewed as an ace and then you know, there's it's weird, like he's obviously great, but sometimes he feels like he doesn't feel like sures are in a big spot. To me, he feels more like a two than a one, which you know baseball more than I do. I just look at the Yankees and I just see holes. There are parts of them I see. You tell me when you look at them, is there a way to beat them? Are there wholes deficiencies you can spot? Yeah, there's a way to beat every team. But what the Yankees have done is they've improved their offense so that elite pitchers don't carve them up all the time, and that's where they were losing. They were losing in the playoffs two elite pitchers. I don't think that's the case now. I think their lineup has a lot more contact to it, and of course they've got to keep their guys healthy and get some of their guys back. You're right about the component in the bullpen that was a heavy part of a hot arm that was really dominating, and I think they got to find guys to pick up the slack there. But I think they're a better team than they've ever been heading into the postseason. It's impossible to go at the rate they were going, and you talk about beating up teams, that's what they were doing. They've hit the lull a little bit lately, but they're going to be in a position to win two of the best records to get the buy and put them in a stronger position. Look, they feel like they've got to go through Houston. Whether or not that actually comes to acturation comes to happen. They've got they've got to beat elite pitchers. They know that, and their offense is good enough to do it, and their pitching has a little bit of weakness because of some injuries, but they're more complete than they've ever been when they get to this time of the year. So the Padres gonna get Wan Soto. He's mashing it. I think he's hitting about three sixty in the games he's played for them. But they can't meet the Dodgers. I think they've lost seventeen to nineteen. I watched the series last weekend. They couldn't. They just could not create rallies. And that's without Clayton Kershaw and Walker Bueller's not there for the Dodgers, who I don't know if he's going to come back, but there are You've probably had these The Dodgers simply have the Podres number. They have had it for no question, John, for years, and you've you know, you've probably had a team, your brave teams dominated a lot. But when you watched the Podres Dodgers, I don't think that the talent discrepancy is that large, but the outcome discrepancy is. Yeah, that's something that you know, over time usually works itself out. But here's the big deal. You have to prove to yourself as a team that you can beat the other team that you haven't been able to do. I did a game about a little over a month ago. They were one and a half game difference between the Padres and the Dodgers. Now look, and that's how quickly they made it happen last year. All the hype last year with the new age kind of energy that the Dodgers are that the Padres were bringing out taught the Dodgers something indirectly, and then the Dodgers ran away by twenty some games. You have to prove it, even though you've got a roster similar until you go out and beat that team, until you feel like you can compete on a daily basis. That is a hurdle that most teams have a hard time overcoming. And then once they do, they feel like they can beat anybody. So it's gonna be fun down the stretch. But no doubt, the Padres need Tattiss in the lineup. And it's taken a long time to this point. Six million people watch the Field of Dreams game. Last year It's Reds and Cubs to Night in Dyersville, Iowa, eight thousand people. By the way, the tickets now are going for seven eight hundred bucks. The players will look at that come out of the Cornfield. Kevin Costner there last year. It is amazing. I know sometimes the Midwest things, you know, it's just fly over country. Sometimes we land that plane. Sometimes we play games there. John, have fun tonight, be great times. Thanks man, my pleasure. Thanks for having me. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine a Empacific. Ben Vollan was on earlier. He's got a really interesting article. Now. Tom Brady's taken about ten days off. It's for personal stuff. That's a totally separate matter. Tom, I think has there's some health issues in his family. So respectfully, I'm not going to guess here, but Tom's taken some time off personal matters. Ben Voland's articles a separate article about you know, Brady sort of wandering and talking to the Dolphins when he was with the Patriots and he came down to Tampa and he tried to go to the Dolphins. And I have said, I think it's really really hard to you make a decision at some point in your life to retire or change jobs. I've done it like four times. In my life where I have made a decision while I work for one company that I'm going to work for another company. Though that following six to eight to ten weeks is brutal. You're just not there, You're already planning the next talk show on the next network. It's hard. And you know, I'm nothing analogous to Tom, But I think Tom retired and then had to come back because of the Brian Flores lawsuit, and now he's gonna play again, and Gronk's not there, A B's not there now he's got a defensive coach. The offensive line, due to injuries, retirement and free agency, will not be the same. This will not be in the lead offensive line, not to the level of the last two years. And I think it's hard. And ben Voland points out in this article, is that also the Buccaneers have fallen apart physically at camp. Mike Evans, Hammy, Chris Godwin not back from the acl Russell gage. Yesterday we were watching it live as we prepared for the show, limped off the field, so they lost their starting center. So ben voland I I do think Brady's going through it's a difficult year. And I've said, I think Tampa's gonna win a really bad division. But I watched them play the Rams last year twice and in the seven out of the eight quarters, the Rams absolutely dominated the Buccaneers. If it was not for two cam Akers fumbles, they blow Brady and the Rams out. A second time Brady and the Bucks out, they blow them out. So I just I think this is a weird year for Tom and now he's got a personal situation health and his family. It's gonna be a tough year. I think they're gonna win a bad division. But the ben Voland article is kind of fascinating. He talks about Brady in New England and talking to Miami, and then he's in Tampa talking to Miami and uh and they've had a really, really really rough camp. So you know, then you had Now you have a defensive coach, the offensive lines down, your receivers are all hurt. And I think with Brady has had so much excellence in his life. Dot in New England it was the owner was great, the old line coach was the best, Belichick was the best. He had Gronk the best tight end, he had, the best offensive coordinare then he goes to Tampa, and he has Gronk and the best receiving corps and maybe the best defensive front, and I kind of feel like that stuff doesn't last in the NFL. You need breaks, injuries, free agency, retirement, and I think it's it's gonna kind of sputter a little bit here at the end for him in Tampa. They won't be bad. It's a terrible division. But read the article. Ben Vullan's really really interesting stuff. So this story just came down from somebody we trust and I've talked to multiple times. Mary kay Cabot is very good on Cleveland. It's official the Browns will consider acquiring Jimmy Garoppolo if Deshaun Watson's six games suspension increases. So initially I didn't think this was the play, But if six games becomes twelve in a division with Burrow and Lamar Jackson, I think you have to consider it. And this is why it makes sense Cleveland. Remember, if you look at Kevin Stefanskian where he learned his offense from, there's some connections to kind of the Shanahan offense Gary Kubiak. So the Cleveland offense has a lot of similarity to the Niners offense, excellent run game, very good old line, productive tight end. Not a deep receiving corps, but a star Deebo Samuel a star, Amari Cooper a star. But you're looking for that second dependable receiver in Cleveland they were until Brandon Aiyuk. They're looking for the second dependable receiver. So this makes some sense. This would be a very easy transition for Jimmy Garoppolo. It's a lot of the same offense. Run not run first, but run driven. You're gonna have a lot of the same schemes, a lot of the same offense. And again, if this is a six game suspension, I think Jacoby Brissette can go three and three. But with average quarterbacks or backup quarterbacks. The longer you play, the good coaches figure out the weaknesses. You can get by playing Coulton McCoy for two weeks and win one. If you ask Coulton McCoy to play nine weeks, you're gonna win two to three. And so I think Jacoby Brissette can win you six games. You can get you a couple wins, but if you get him up there for twelve games, you're gonna be five and seven and Burrow and Lamar are gonna be crushing it. So I think it makes a lot of sense, and I think this is a really easy transition for Garoppolo. The offense, the way they run it, even the personnel is similar. The Niners weakness last year was after debot, who did you trust on the perimeter? Brandon new Ayuk was talented, but inconsistent. That's Cleveland's issue. That's when they went and got Amari Cooper's who's your two? Who do you trust? Otherwise it's a very very good offense, and I think you also, I know a lot of you are down on Garoppolo. He's won a lot of big games. He also comes from a very tough division, goes in Cleveland to a very tough division, So he's big game, Jimmy. He's been up against Russell Wilson on national TV. He's been up against Kyler Murray on national TV. Okay, now he's gonna go up against Lamar on national TV. You go up against Joey Burrow on national TV. So these are big games. Garoppolo, for all his faults and as low as his ceiling is, he's been big game, Jimmy. Last year, Week ten on, he completed seventy one percent of his throw. So I said to you, is I see it's funny all the time. You always know how good you are by if you go on the market. What's the market's reaction that tells you how good you are? Right, you can think you're good, you can tell everybody you're good. Now you're available to the market, and everybody's like, nobody wants Jimmy. Well he's not cheap. Hey, he's not cheap, but a very good roster with a very good young coach. They're gonna go after Garoppolo. And I said this the New York Giants now, right, Remember this coach is an offensive coach. So what is this offensive coach in Cleveland doing? He gets the urgency of this position, Washington kind of Pittsburgh wasn't quite the urgency last year for Washington, this year for Pittsburgh. So I like, the New York Giants to me, are making a mistake here. The New York Giants are in a winnable division and they're making a mistake here. And you can tell me, Daniel Jones, six weeks in, you're gonna be one in five and you're gonna be leaning on Tyrod Taylor, who you can't tell me you remember him ever having won a big game. I'm not saying he couldn't, but they don't stand out. So I think an offensive coach Kevin Stefanski gets the moment, understands the urgency. And here's the other thing. For the teams that have like no quarterback, like like Seattle's a prime example, or the Giants, if you don't have the guy, if you bring in Garoppolo, he's not only better than anybody you have today, he'll also be better than your rookie quarterback next year. Now, by year two of the rookie quarterback, if he's talented, that kid's going to be better. But Garoppolo for bad teams that don't have the franchise guide, he will be better for two years minimum than your other options. You're willing to not be as good at the most vital position for two years. I mean, because let's say the Giants are bad, we think they will be. They go you know five in twelve, they draft sixth, they'll probably get the second best quarterback. Fifty percent don't work. Garoppolo works. So that's the other thing you bring in Garoppolo if you're the Giants or Seattle, and then he starts and you draft a quarterback the second or third best, he because he's gonna win you more games than you win without him. So Cleveland makes total sense. What they're saying is we're not gonna punt on the season. You know NBA team's punt on the season. Cleveland's telling you we're not going to punt on the season. We want to win games. Our roster's too good. There's the argument to be made, Cleveland's got a roster. Due to injuries and free agency retirements, rosters are not the same year to year. It's very rare. So Cleveland's saying we're gonna take in the moment, We're gonna go for it. But for these teams that don't have a quarterback, I just don't get it. Jimmy will be better for two years. You're gonna tell me Pete Carroll at seventy years old, is gonna go three and fourteen this year. Draft a quarterback in that division is going to be completely overwhelmed for a year, and then Pete's the following you're gonna go six and eleven at seventy I do not get it. I don't get the lack of a market at all for Jimmy Garoppolo. So you know, I don't think Cleveland's very smartly owned, but I get it. That's the report. Mary Kay Cabot, I trust her.