The Herd with Colin CowherdColin explains why after 1 game he believes LeBron James and Luka Doncic will work well together for a very obvious reason. He has bad news for Chiefs fans and why they have an uphill battle to remain contenders after another devastating Super Bowl loss. Plus, he talks to Nick Wright from First Things First about Patrick Mahomes playing poorly for the 2nd time in the Super Bowl
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This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher on Fox Sports Radio.
All right, here we go on at Tuesday. Football season's over for a while. We got some Luca Lebron baby Lakers rolland 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. I don't want to hear the jazz are no good. Keep your eye on the jazz, bright future, Jmac. Laker's won twelve or fourteen. Now, lucas playing with new guys. You know, Luca got hurt. He's been out since Christmas. So there's I'm not I was watching the last night. I'm taking what am I doing with Luke? He's not dropping forty tonight. He needs time to get back into shape. But boy, that first half of the Lakers Austin Reeves, Lebron and Luca Austin Reeves.
Now you like him? Huh, he's your guy, all right?
Seventy two and a half for the Lakers.
Oh, they're going to the finals, coward.
Well, let's just start with this. That's a little hot. That's a little hot this morning. But when I hear this, yeah, I don't know if Lebron and Luca are gonna work together. Go back to Miami. D Wade and Lebron. That wasn't a good fit. Both need the ball to excel. Neither are great shooters. They were just two great athletes and they ended up getting a four straight finals. Stephan, Katie and Klay Thompson one ball. Three guys that need it. Last night Lebron and the Lakers second highest plus minus for Lebron this season and the Lakers had their second highest point title Between the Warriors, the Heatles, and Lebron and Luca. What a all three have in common in basketball? Smart guys figure it out. A lot of stars, can't. They lack self awareness? Right, the egos, the lack of self awareness. I mean, the OKC Westbrook metal thing, it just didn't work. Katie, Steph Clay worked, the Heatles worked Lebron and Luke Austin reeves it's gonna work. I mean last night before the game, Lebron's like, don't worry about fitting in, We'll work around you.
Just go score.
And I think that's chemistry is an issue when you have selfish guys and insecure guys and guys with no self awareness. You know, Harden and Kyrie playing with Katie and Brooklyn. Katie was great, the other two guys were a pained. They hurt chemistry. So Lebron and Luca are engaged. They're smart, they have huge brands, so they're very, very secure in who they are, both excellent passers. The only weird part for me is how the hell is Lebron still this good? What's in that whiney's drinking? I swear he looks like he's in year twelve or thirteen. Lebron's amazing. But if you go back to the Heatles in Miami, they didn't have any size Joel Anthony, remember him, Joel Anthony was a six nine and a half center. They had no true point guard. But it was one of the smartest teams I've ever seen. Shane Battier, Ray Allen, Lebron Haslam. I mean it just everybody, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade. They just made it work. Draymond, Steph Clay, you know k D. Smart guys, just make it work. So now Lucas rusty Okay, never played with these guys, I don't care about practice, never played game speed with these guys. Hasn't played in a long time. And the Lakers do have an issue, and it's a real issue. They have no rim protection. Jackson Hayes is a fun guy on alley oops, and you saw a lot of alley oops.
Last night, but they don't have any rim protection.
So when the Mark Williams deal from Carolina did not go through, the Charlotte deal, that's kind of a bummer. Now, like Robert Williams, who the Celtics had for years, he didn't he wasn't available very much, but when he was available, he changed the temperature in the room. So they're gonna have to address that on on the market and see if they can find somebody. But I'll say this about the Lakers last night when I watched them, especially in the first half, because they put the game away in the first half. It felt young, It felt fun, it felt fresh.
I looked it up this morning.
Ten more threes. They took ten more threes than average. There were more alley oops, you know what, three pointers everywhere again, Austin Reeves, Lebron and Luca. Yes they all need the ball, but you know what, smart guys figured out. And Staples was roaring all the Luca jerseys. I think this thing is gonna be excellent. And I'll get to it a second why I think they can win the West. But here was Luca and JJ Reddick after.
It was a little nervous before. I remember when was the last time it was nerves before the game. So, but once a step on the Cory was it was fun and just being on there again felt amazing. It's new team, knew everything, but like the way they helped me. Teammates Rob Jenny, just a lot of support for me. You can see why I'm coming to Arena. I saw the Luca jerseys. It was just surreal feeling.
Sometimes you can have agendas in a game. I felt like this for our group was just a no agenda game beyond winning a basketball game and play the right way with our three guys who are going to be our primary creators. Like they all did it really well, and I think our guys will get accustomed to the Luka passes for sure.
Listen, the Lakers felt like they went from analog to digital, and if you look at the Western Conference standings, why can't they get there? Memphis is number two. I don't trust them. They play very fast, great pacing. I'm not sure if that transfers to the playoffs. Denver is horrific defensively. Now Jamal Murray's healthy, a get and playing well, They're a bad defensive team. The Rockets can't shoot super young. I think they're a regular season team. I think there'll be a one and done in the playoffs. Clippers, do you really trust them? So I look at the West. The best team I've seen in the NBA by a long shot is the Celtics. I watch them hammer the Knicks again. Boston's the best team in the league. OKC is very good that I won't deny, and I'm not sure if the Lakers can beat them, although it feels like to me they've matched up with him pretty well the last couple of years with Ad and Lebron. So my takeaway is I watched last night. It was a lot of threes, a lot of alley ups. It's only going to get better. I mean, Luke hasn't played in forever. First game with the guys. I think if they can figure out I said that before. If the Mark Williams thing would have gone through, I would have had no problem saying Lakers in the final. I don't know if they can beat Boston, probably not, but I think they could get there. I don't know if they can win the West, but I'm watching all the listen. It's an offensive sport, right, I mean, defense matters, but people get frustrated when Jason Tatum doesn't take the game over offensively, not defensively. So I'm reading this story about the Super Bowl ratings and one hundred and twenty six million viewers for the Super Bowl fifty nine. First of all, it's more than that, but it's hard to track how many people actually watch. The Nielsen ratings. They do count out of home viewers, but you don't really have an exact count on that. You're kind of guessing at some point, I think it probably was closer to one hundred and thirty six million. And the second thing is this wasn't Let's be totally honest about this, it wasn't a good game. The peak of the rating was in the second quarter. What if it had been an overtime game, could you get to one hundred and thirty to thirty five million. But there's a lot of reasons why I think the NFL keeps extending their season and adding games because there's an insatiable appetite for it. We never get tired of it. And the other thing is there's a reason they keep playing games now in Australia and they're going to go to Brazil again, and they're going to go they won the US market. If you dominate America, spread your wings. So when people complain about games overseas, why not they own the country. And I think there's a lot of reasons why the NFL is king. It's a once a week sport. But that's always been true. But we didn't have the iPhone and TikTok in the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties. We are a very very distracted nation. It is harder to get people's attention Monday through Friday, and the NFL is a once a week game. The second thing is it's a really good television product, not just because I work at Fox. NBCCBS ABC are great too, but the production of the television product is outstanding. The other thing, it's relatable football players. There is no load management. They plan the snow, they plan the wind, they plan the rain. Like the rest of us. They just go to work when they're not one hundred percent. It's totally relatable. The other thing is they make big changes regularly. They bailed on Oakland, they upgraded to Vegas. They bailed on San Diego.
I know it hurts.
They upgraded in LA, they bailed on Saint Louis. They'd bail on Jacksonville tomorrow if they could. They're not going to be burdened by tradition. They're not gonna worry about what the hardcore traditionalist and the romantics think. They're gonna take swings in the ball, and I think they constantly pivot on rule changes. Baseball struggles with that. Basketball makes changes sometimes though they feel a little bit like they're out of desperation. Last week they're talking about shorter quarters. Who's ever worried about how long a quarter is? We worry that you got too many games, or load management and so I think there's a lot of reason for the changes. I just think, more than anything, it's a very well run league by adults. Agents run baseball, players run the NBA. Economically, it is two times the size of the NBA, yet feels like it's nimble like a sailboat. It can turn quickly during a Super Bowl. Rule changes, always willing to change, and somebody told me this years ago that anytime there's a change, basketball thinks of it first. Baseball makes the most money out of it, and football gets it right. And I think the NFL, more than any he just consistently gets it right when changes are needed. They don't pander. Agents and the players don't run the league. They're like every good company I've ever worked for, And none of the companies I've ever worked for that are very well run are run.
By the employees.
They value the employees, they pay the employees, they treat the employees well. It's not run by the employees. I should not be running Fox. I should not be running it. I'm treated well. I shouldn't be running it. And so there you go. The number is huge. I think it's probably bigger than that. And it was not a very competitive game. We got a lot of things. Nick Wright joins us in fifty minutes. It's been a very rough forty eight hours for Nick. You know, he was due for a bad weekend, j Mac, he was due.
Can I give you a peek behind the curtain.
One of our smart producers hit me up this morning, was like, hey, can you bring in a violin to play during the Nick Wright segment?
And I tried to find a violin this morning, No dice, but I yeah, we feel bad for him. You know, it's just for this chief.
I barely slept last year.
I tried to tell them they weren't a good team all season record, be damn you you were right, and they looked awful.
And then if you go back to that Houston game, I was choppy, very friendly.
Whistle there shall we say?
I'll ask, though, Colin, like, where was the leadership on the sideline when they were getting their butts kicked twenty four to nothing. You know, there's a lot of video out there of Tom Brady in that Atlanta Super Bowl?
Yeah, fired up the truth, Let's go, come on, guys, we're not done. And I saw none of that. You know, the Chief just looks shell shock.
Like, wait, we're not winning, We're not winning, we're not coming close to winning.
It was kind of embarrassing.
Where's the leadership, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, I didn't see it.
Did you?
Well?
I don't look to my coaches for that. They got a headset on or they're trying to maneuver. I think I think players have to inspire players. I think generationally it means more coming from another player. If a great players on the sideline at twenty eight years old, marketing at a twenty five year old, I think that has incredible impact. I don't think coach marketed a player. Coaches market players. It's called practice, and so when you get into a GA. I do think it's up to players to help motivate players. There's a lot of tape of Troy Aikman. He's on his players, Peyton Manning on his players, and I think there's value. I mean, I've seen Lamar Jackson on the sideline talking to his own line, getting guys fired up.
That stuff matters.
Something for Mahomes to work on in the offseason.
Yeah, a couple things.
Gotta get a left tackle baby, be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays and neon Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio.
App Welcome Back.
The So last night Lebron and Luca in Los Angeles first half was great and Utah is not very good. Now Lebron and Luca go to Salt Lake City. I think, is it tomorrow night they play him. So it's one of those you see that a lot feels like on the West Coast. You get those back to back games. So listen, I think Utah's got a bunch of draft picks. They're like a younger version of Oklahoma City, like they have landed their stars. But they've got Kessler, the big guy that got Lori Market, and they got they got some dudes.
They're just not there yet. Very young team.
But I was thinking about Lebron and Luca last night, and listen, I've always said I think Austin Reeves is a number four and a championship team.
Maybe a three. He's playing a really good basketball.
But I was thinking about the best tandems in basketball right now, and it's not just scoring. I think there's a lot of components that go into it. I think the Lakers are not very good around the basket. Defensively, Jackson Hayes is more of an offensive guy and ali up guy kind of Finn not a defensive guy. But I was thinking to myself one of the best best ten tandems because I'm watching Lebron and Luca last night. They looked great and Luca is not close. I mean he didn't shoot the ball particularly well. He didn't have his legs under him. It's the first game of the new guy. I mean, he could drop thirty against Utah in Salt Lake City and you wouldn't be surprised. So these are my top ten current duos in the NBA. I actually think Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler worked because one's the ball handler shooter and one's the defender and the.
Aggressive guy that can score.
They're two and zero since they put him together, and I think Steph just needed a really good number two when Jimmy's a number one.
I don't think you're a championship team.
If Jimmy's a two and you've got a good three in Draymond Green that I think he would win a playoff series or two. Steph Steve Kerr run the show. Draymond Jimmy Butler, aggressive defense.
I like him.
I'd put him at ten. I would put Sga and Jalen Williams at number nine. Now SGA's a bucket. He's just impossible to stop. Jalen Williams is only I looked it up this morning, twenty three years old.
Lord.
Now a lot of people think it's Sga and Chet Holmgren, but Homegren to me, is just not healthy enough to consider him an elite duo. At number eight, Jannison Dame Jannis is banged up a little bit. Dame's playing very, very well. Like last year, they were struggling to figure out the chemistry and Dame was coming off injuries.
I think he's playing really good right now.
And I also think they do fit because Giannis covers up some of Dame's weaknesses defensively. When they had to move Drew Holliday to bring in Dame, he got better on offense, worse on defense. I still think I think Kyle Kuzma was a nice get for them because I thought Chris Middleton had peaked and was going down. I think Kuzma helps. I don't know how much it helps, but it helps. I think number seven I think these guys are underrated. Kyrie and Ad. Now Ad is banged up a d. Don't listen to j Mack. This guy has been a top six or seven player in the NBA the last two years.
He got hurt, he hadn't been hurt much.
He's a tremendous player, and again not a lot of ego. Great defensive player can give you twenty five a night, and you know Kyrie can be some maintenance. But he got along well with Luca and he is a tremendous score. So I would put them at seven. I think Wemby and Darren Fox is really good. They're probably a year away. I don't think people realize how good of a score Yaron Fox is. He's twenty five a night. And you got Chris Paul on this team. He got the Yukon guard who's just getting better with time. San Antonio is a year away from potentially winning the West. I think this is a great move for them. I really like their scouting and drafting. I just think they're too young. But I'd put Wemby and the Aaron Fox at the six best NBA duo. I would put Jalen Brunson in cat. They really feed off each other. By the way, Jalen Brunson's assists almost eight a game career high. Why Cat and Cat by the way, is shooting forty three percent from three? Why because a lot of it he's getting open looks. Because Jalen Brunson draws so much attention. I don't think this is a championship team. I've watched them play the Celtics twice and just get bull dozed.
But I like this duo.
Carl Anthony Towns can drive you crazy, but there is no doubt he is a very, very gifted offensive player. Number four a Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. They're young, but at least Mobley is. They're They're both averaging twenty a game plus and five assists. They have the number one offense in the NBA. I know we stopped watching him when Lebron left. They're fun to watch, young, aggressive.
You know.
Mobley's a guy that came out of USC and he was a fast riser in the draft. He just keeps getting better. So I'd put them at number four. I'll do Jokic and Murray at number three. Now Murray is healthy again. Jokic is absolutely great. He's averaging a thirty point triple double this season almost so I think Jokic remains the best player in the league right now, unstoppable player. They don't play a lick of defense, so I don't think they're a championship team. Murray is on pace to average twenty one and a half points in seven and a half rebounds he assists during this five or six game streak when he got healthy again. I always like Jamal Murray, not as much as Jay Mack, who has beating that drum for years. They're a bad defensive team, but I would put them at number three. I would put number two Tatum and Brown. They're not the highest scoring duo, but they're versatility, smart guys, both ends. They're just excellent and by the way they've been playing together so long now, they take turns closing out in games. They're excellent, and they're different personalities. I think Jalen Brown's more aggressive, but they're both in their prime, they're both signed long term, they're both coachable, they don't need to score to affect games. I'd put them at two, and I think Lebron and Luke are number one. Luca's not close to where he's going to be after give this thing ten games, Luca's going to be back to thirty two a night. I can't even figure Lebron out. I can't figure out how he's this good. It makes no sense. Lebron is playing like it's year thirteen. So I think they're the number one now. Now they are a more lethal scoring duo than Brown and Tatum, but Brown and Tatum are both in their prime. So Jmac, first of all your reactions, I'm sure you were overjoyed with this, oh dear.
So make sure Wes, when he posts this on social media, mentions No, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
I can't really because.
I don't know.
I mean, I had one BN Yama and Fox of mine, but like Combine, they have zero playoff series wins.
Well, they're kid, they're first of all, there's an argument San Antonio in the second half of the regular season now will be a significantly.
Better than the first time.
I mean, dearon Fox, you're just throwing a bunch of kids together. I told this during the morning meeting this morning. The one team in the NBA to watch out for is the San Antonio Spurs. They're gonna get into the playoffs and they're gonna knock somebody off because that team they just threw Dearon Fox into this thing, and they got that kid from Yukon.
That guard Castle. He's awesome.
He is awesome. So san Antonio is the team that is. We saw this with Dallas last year. A team starts rising, they make moves at the trade deadline and you look up and you're like, nobody wanted to play Dallas. San Antonio is not quite that good, but the Spurs are dangerous the next three months.
Booker kd is one omission.
You could make a case uh DeMar Derozen and Sibonas and no, I'm just kidding.
What are the Kings fans on staff put me up to that? But the legit one that I got to asked about, and I.
Know you're not a fan is John Morant and Jaron Jackson in Memphis. They are playing out of their minds. John Moran's got his act together. Jackson's having the best season of his career.
He might be all NBA.
Had been eleven.
Damn he just nipped that right now.
Spurs just added Daron Fox and there are only three wins behind the Suns.
Yeah, they're twelfth in the West coming.
That's not a knock on Booker and Kevin Durant. But when I say that, do you think dynamic? I think there are things Booker does very well score there are other things also interesting.
I see one, two, three, four of these.
Duos just got together last week.
That's pretty wild.
Huh a great.
It was a monster week for the NBA people.
Oh, it's the best week of the NBA in years years.
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That's Covino and Rich. Welcome in to our number two. Great to have you here 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. Nick Wright's going to be joining us. He's a trooper. He's going to be joining us here in a couple of minutes. And I thought I would start j Mac. You'll you'll get a kick out of this. Connor or Sports Illustrate excellent. Young a journalist only deals in facts acknowledges. He believes that the Chiefs in twenty twenty five will miss the Super Bowl each of the next two seasons, and he talks about how the Patriots had several gaps in Super Bowls. He said, it's not anti Andy Reider, Patrick Mahomes. Great players get old fast, and role players are hard to keep around. And the draft, even by the best GMS, is like a sixty to forty fifty to fifty proposition. After the first couple of rounds, you're rolling the dice on draft picks. And so again, this is an excellent journalist that only deals in facts. Connor Or saying that, so I there are things that I think you have to be honest about. Let's not do like recency bias. But mahomes number one weapon the last three years have been Travis Kelcey kind of looks cooked. He's thirty six years old in the last couple of games, not really yet. So you know, the classic sports muscle car can't be your primary car.
Like it's time.
Number two is in a very mediocre draft, they're gonna get they need a tackle, and they'll probably get the fifth to sixth best tackle because that positions so valuable, and unless they compromise and sacrifice draft picks, they're not getting one of the better left tackles. They also need to tight end and the two best ones will be taken. The other thing is the division. We gotta be honest, now, Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh. We saw what Harbaugh did in one year. We saw Bo Nicks as a rookie. Sean Payton, I'm sorry, it matters. That's the best coaching division in football. That's not even arguable. That is the best coaching division in football. The other thing is we saw Jim harbaughd do this at San Francisco, at Michigan and with the Chargers. In one year he turned him around. This year, they have sixty five million in cap space. The Chargers got to the playoffs with a rookie slot receiver as a really elite weapon.
That was it.
So they got a lot of cap space. And what the Chargers need is a defensive tackle and running backs. And the two positions in the draft that are absolutely stacked are defensive tackle and running back. And because of their draft position, they'll get the first or second best tight end in the draft, which they need. And here's the other thing, and we got to be honest about this. Mahomes next year is going to be a twenty four percent cap hit. Twenty four percent of Kansas City's cap is going to be Mahomes. He's going to be making sixty six large. Tom Brady was never over fourteen. It matters. It matters. I know the CAP's going up, but it matters. Tom Brady on average was a ten to twelve percent cap hit. That's why those Patriot teams never had units that were bad. They were never terrible anywhere. In the two blowout losses to Kansas City and the Super Bowl, they're bad at left tackle, They're just bad. The Patriots were never awful anywhere, didn't matter kicker, punter, quarterback, left tack, all the key positions, they were at least B plus and a lot of that was Brady sacrificed. Tom talked about this last week. It is damn hard to win these Super Bowls.
What I realized early in my career about Super Bowls was, man, we won my first year. Like, what's the big deal is? It's like I went to college, we played Norge Bowl, I won, We went to the Citrus Bowl, we won.
Okay, now I'm in the Super Bowl.
We won, all right, what's the big We didn't have a great seat in two thousand and two. We won in two thousand and three. What's the big deal? We won in two thousand and four, what's the big deal? Right, then you go to two thousand and seven and you lose, and then you go to twenty eleven and you get to the super Bowl. They're having a great team in twenty ten and we lose, and it was just like, wow, this is way harder.
We went ten years between winning.
Yeah, it's really hard, very very difficult. They were in good health, and then the ticker went not to mention how long is Andy Reid gonna coach? I know this is somber solemn. Nick Wright is now joining US lives.
That's probably your best comedy bit in years. And you know what is a staple of the best of the best comedians what they incorporate some of their old classics into their new material. So you had a lot of new stuff there, but then you went back to one of the classic which is next year is the year Justin Herbert breaks through. I mean that, I mean set your watch to it. And by the way, I do think you had the chiefs because they're drafting thirty two or thirty one. Pardon me, unable to draft anyone of need, and I think you had the Chargers because they're drafting twenty one getting the best running back, d tackle, and tight end in the draft.
It is unbelievable. The Chargers, to.
Their credit, who you know, did, have to go through the season with a rookie wide receiver as their number one option.
Can you imagine.
Making the Super Bowl in back to back years with a rookie wide receiver being your number one option? I can't probably never be done. No, I mean, listen, listen.
It is.
The Chiefs and me deserve a lot of criticism for the performance on Sunday.
Spinning that forward into.
This team being cooked is I think a bridge too far even for you, like I don't. Maybe you've been hanging out with j Mac too off and off the air and he's been spitting that poison in your ear. But they still go into next season the overwhelming favorites in the AFC West, and they go in the next season better positioned than any other team in the AFC. Now, it's hard to get to a super Bowl every single year. I get that, But I think you're writing the obituary a tad too soon, my friend.
Okay, the one thing I did I did say is that, and I mean, you've never denied that Brady's great. That's one of the great things You've always said. The guy's ridiculous. I mean, it's literally the second part of his career. He was arguably better than Elway's entire career. Right. But the one thing I'll say about Tom, and having lived in Connecticut during his reign, is that we used to always talk about this, if he had the second best poker hand, he could still in the hand. He didn't have to have pocket aces. And now now, in fairness, last year I didn't. I think the last couple of years the Chiefs didn't have a loaded roster. But I would say that in the Super Bowl losses, let's just talk about this one.
I didn't feel. I felt like I was.
Watching the same play over and over, and I didn't feel Mahomes adjusted a lot. Maybe that's Andy Reid, but it did. I watched it and I thought, God, Tom would have just moved the chains short that he kept sitting in the pocket the same play.
I thought Patrick really played terribly.
I listen, I think it was one of the worst games of Patrick's career.
But we're not.
This again is where I just have to be the arbiter of fairness, okay, or if one wants to argue that. And again, Brady is the most accomplished player ever, the goat at this position and of the sport. And because of this loss, it's going to take Patrick an immense amount of time to have a chance to catch him, because this was the opportunity to do something Tom never did.
That is all true. Here's what is also true.
We are now revisionist historing how Tom Brady's playoff defeat when going for a three peat went. It was not in the super Bowl, with the decisive play being a pick six. It was in the divisional round to Jake Plumber, with the decisive play being a pick six. And I know that the Michael Jordan propaganda machine has convinced people that losing in round one or round two is actually better than winning those rounds and then losing in the championship round. But that, of course is ludicrous, and so the idea. You're right that Tom never had this pore of a performance in a super Bowl.
That is unquestioned.
But Tom had, as every quarterback ever had brutal performances that prevented his team from getting too super bowls. Patrick's never had that, and so we can go tit for tad on these things. And I had to listen yesterday to Joe Montana four and zero in super Bowls, and that is true. It is also true that in the dead middle of his prime eighty five, eighty six, eighty seven, those three years, Joe Montana in three consecutive playoff games, had three consecutive Round one or first game defeats, and had zero touchdowns over.
A three year span.
Cumulatively in the playoffs three straight blowofs, including a forty nine to three, but because they happened in round one, they don't count.
I don't buy into that. I never have. Patrick played very poorly.
Yesterday he now joins the list of every single quarterback in NFL history, of which he wasn't previously on where he played his worst game of the year in the biggest spot of the year. But I think we are writing the obituary as you literally are a tad too soon.
Yeah, well, I think there.
I do have Kansas City being a wild card team next year, so I think they're still.
What you had him this year. I think that's what you had him last year. This year you have him in the wild card. Every year. Every year is going to be the Chargers year. And did you say Pete Carroll? I like Pete Carroll too. Does that team have a quarterback yet? I'm just kidding, like literally on the roster. Do they have a quarterback? Is it aid and O'Connell.
I don't think that.
I don't think Pete Carroll's gonna move the chains with Aidan O'Connell.
That's just me, it is.
I said this yesterday about the Eagles.
Though. If Saquon Barkley got hurt next year, cross your fingers and they lose two free agents and it's more of a Jalen Hurts offense, they wouldn't look the same there. I mean, listen, this is a sport with regulated level of violence. I think the Chiefs will rebuild. They'll be fine. They need to left tackle that need a running back. You know, they just have to hit some draft picks. They're prone to do that. I do think the Andy Reid thing is real, is that I could see Andy with two more great runs and just say, listen, man, I got four or five of these things, I'm out And then as you know, even the great organizations miss on head coaches fifty percent.
Of the time.
Is there part of you that wonders? The Andy thing is what worries you more than players?
Oh listen, I mean and I one thousand percent. And Patrick leading up to the game, when he was asked, you know, basically, how long can this keep up? His answer was, as long as Andy's still here the whole team.
You know what I mean. It gives him the respect and credit he deserves. Here is.
The reason I am not incredibly concerned about that. First of all, in the short term, we know he's coming back at least next year, and I would imagine, as you're saying he's coming back for two or three more years, he is just about to start a five year, one hundred million dollar contract. So even if he doesn't finish that, you have this time. The other reason that I am less concerned is if he were to signal that he was going into what would be the last year of his career, this immediately becomes the most coveted coaching.
Job in modern NFL.
History, Like it would, it be the most coveted job since the Bucks. I'm sorry, the Colts fired Jim Mora the answer, that's probably right. But even in that moment, Peyton obviously had not accomplished ten percent of what Patrick already has, and so I do think they will be fine. I also would not act as if losing the guy who I believe to be one of the three greatest coaches in the history of the sport and the greatest offensive mine in the history of the sport, you know what, wouldn't be a significant, significant loss, But that is much further down the road than you know this or next season.
At least I believe lost a little bit lost in Luca going to the Lakers. Is how insane Lebron has played this year. It looks like you're thirteen.
It's unbelievedble, It's incredible, and it very much is Brady in Tampa where you're like, is he still a top four quarterback when he was forty four?
Like? Right, I mean he left and the next year you're like, I think he's still top four or five?
What do you make we know I'll get to Luke in a second.
How do you explain Lebron he's better than last year?
What is it?
So?
I mean, listen, I think there is a natural benefit to truly, and I think this is being proven out in real time literally being the greatest athlete, and I just mean raw athleticism maybe in world history. Like you can say, oh, you found a way to be hyperbolic, Like I don't know who he's competing with on that as far as height, weight, speed, longevity, durability, all of it over a twenty five year stretch. Like I honestly don't know who was the corner. Gosh darn it, I shouldn't ask it. There was a corner that he played for Washington, he played for like Daryl.
Green Green like Daryl Green.
I was like, I don't know, like as he was on that same list. I don't know, but regardless. So the reason I bring that up is Lebron is right now seventy five percent of the athlete he was ten years ago, but seventy five percent of prime Lebron is still more then ninety five percent of the rest of the league. So because of that, he's been able to stave off the aging curve a bit. You then add to it, he's a better shooter. Yeah, these last two years than any point of his career. The IQ is still you know, obviously not going anywhere. And what I think we've seen the last couple of weeks is the power of hope and the power of belief. You saw in the Olympics, Colin Lebron was like, all right, these might be the last really consequential games of my basketball life. And you saw him on the global stage be the best player in the entire tournament.
Night in night outs, good point.
And then you saw this year when it's like, wait a minute, we're actually a little bit better than I expected. JJ's doing a great job. If I'm able to carry us when Anthony Davis is out, maybe that gets the team to make one of these around the Fringes deadline moves we want them to make, and maybe we can steal a finals appearance. And then instead of that, they trade for a top three player in the world. And now I think Lebron is like, oh my god, I can win a championship like me.
And if Luca can.
Take Kyrie and role Players to the championship, can take their championship, Round, can take a young Jalen Brunson in role Players to the conference finals. What if I, all of a sudden can actually hand the offense off to someone else actually not see the team go to die when I go to the bench, actually be rested going into the playoffs, and the Lakers are going to have problems defensively and the lack of the you know, they traded for Mark Williams for a reason they got rescinded. But you have the highest IQ duo in league history now on the on a team We've never had two players with this passing ability plus IQ playing together so offensively, it's going to be a top three team, and I think Lebron knows what that means for him.
For the record, Does Jimmy Butler do anything for the Warriors? I mean, I think it makes it much more interesting.
I thought the NBA missed the play in.
Yeah, I think the NBA had a great week. The Luca thing, the Butler thing, dearon Fox to winby I thought the league had a great week. Does Butler do anything for that team still playing team to use?
I mean, well, I mean I think that without him they were going to risk at risk of missing the play in, right, and the Warriors have been in the play in and lost previously. I think without him they were going to be at certainly not only at risk, but probably a favorite to miss the actual eight team postseason. Now I fully expect them to be in the playoffs. I don't know that I think I think their ceiling is round is a Round one victory. I do think that. I just I think that Steph is still really good.
But night Tonight now.
Steph also, by the way, has been playing his best basketball as of late, maybe invigorated by.
The trade as well.
They the only chance they have of making any real noise is if the way Steph has played the last couple weeks, if he can keep that up. I also think that Jimmy, you know, Jimmy is not night Tonight that reliable when it comes to an injury risk. So they are an very old injury concerned team. But I am a fervent believer that if you happen to have one of the ten to twelve greatest players in the history of the league still playing at a high level, you have an obligation to go all in every year. It is irresponsible to worry about the future you are your only obligation is to right now. So I think the Warriors did right by Steph here, even if it's not a real needle mover.
When it comes to winning a championship.
So maybe we were a little premature on the headstone. I will say, however, is if they don't hit on some of these draft picks. Drafting thirty first, it's a little scary.
Drafting thirty first, that's the best position we've been in three years. You're usually stuck in the thirty two hole. Think about it. And by the way, keep in mind they all the Chiefs also have They have the thirty first pick, the sixty third pick, and then like the sixty sixth pick because they got that from Tennessee and Tennessee finished with one of the worst rugs in football. So we're loaded to bear headed into the draft. Tell you that right now, maybe we trade for Micah Parsons. Who knows, I Colin, I'll leave you on this. The Chiefs, we all know, since Patrick's been there seven years, they have a two games one or two game season. It starts in the conference championship round. Two years they've gone oh to one. Both years they made massive changes. One year after going oh to one, they fired the de coordinator, brought in Spags. One year after going on on one, they traded Tyreek Hill. Three years they've gone to and oh, we know what you do after that, You hold a parade. They've now twice gone one and one. The first time they did it, they remade the offensive line. I'm very curious what they do the second time, because one and one doesn't cut it in Kansas City.
It's a five hundred season. It's really embarrassing.
So like I don't I don't blame you for poking fun, but they will make a major adjustment. I don't know what it'll be, but it's not gonna be quiet this offseason in Kansas City, I promise you.
That, right, Nick Wright, First things first, he's bruised, a bit battered, but still shows up.
You know what, look if the sports gods, I must have been a great person in a previous life. Because the fact that the day after my lowest moment of my adult life as a football fan, I get to watch my large adult Slovenian son, Luka Ancic team up with Lebron James.
It's not in a fever dream. I mean, I'm right back, baby, I am.
So back, and it was fun to watch last night at the Stafles. Good seeing you, Nick Wright. Rachel Nichols will stop by on the Lakers stuff. It was fun Crypto Arena, My bad Crypto.
I'm sorry. I'm not a Bitcoin bro. I don't keep up.
Yeah, he Nick seems to be doing well.
Feel a little delusion still there about how quickly they can remake the offensive line. Sounds like they're gonna lose a guard and they need to replace two other positions in the line.
I don't think that's a one off season job.
I am closer to Connor or I think and again, I think Buffalo gave him a hell of a fight in Arrowheadyay.
If you're Buffalo, don't you go all in Miles Garrett. Now, whoever we can get, just go all in.
You're There's two teams in the league that have to go all in on Miles Garrett, Buffalo and Green Bay. Buffalo can't stop Kansas City. I've watched four times they've met in the playoffs. Kansas City gives you thirty five plus. That's with Sean McDermott. Go get Miles Garrett. It's not players. Generally, you got to overpay a little bit to go to Buffalo Green Bay right, not hot free agent markets.
Go buy Miles Garrett.
We've now seen the blueprint to take down the Chiefs.
Just get your pass rush to get after Mahomes and wear him down and rattle in and cover.
So it's been on the back. There's a lot of good offensive tackles in this class. There's no great ones. Joe Alt the Chargers is a higher graded tackle than anybody in this class. And Alt struggled at times this year. Later in the year, he struggled in protection against Houston. Remember that game against Houston.
Well, it's a good defensive lineman draft as well. So there's a world where Ravens Bills just take a couple of bites at the apple and go after Miles Garrett.
No anything play.
If I'm Buffalo, I signed Miles Garrett and I draft their offense is fine, Go get fix the defense, trade for Miles Garrett, and then draft more defensive. It's a great running back and defensive tackle draft. And I mean Matt Miller's a guy that covers the draft.
He's excellent.
Uh, Daniel Jeremiah does the same. Those those guys. I mean people are saying there's like twenty some draftable defensive tackles, like like, I mean, I forget the number. But it's like it's something. So there's there's a way winter. Boy, have you seen have you seen some of the winter?
I heard it's gonna rain here in La this weekend.
No, Wednesday and Thursday stinks it. And now it's gonna be.
Done by Friday, early in the morning. But Wednesday and Thursday it is a It is a monolu whatever it's called Pineapple Express or I don't know whatever that's I'm not an epidemiologist or a meteorologist.
