Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Are you 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 Cowhern on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Monday, starting to get some clarity in the NFL, the really good teams and the posers, really great quarterbacks and the posers. It's the Herd wherever you may be, how whoever you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one, one hour from now. Where Colin was right, Where Colin was wrong? Howie Long's on the show next hour. Sean Payton's on for thirty minutes in our final hour. What a pleasure, A lot of choices. Woke up, raining raining completions from Justin Herbert and Los Angeles and pouring rain. We like both. J Mack of course joining us. Who by the way, later in this show, You've got to give yourself props on the Grana story, which you broke last week. On this show. You continue to have great sourcing. I don't know who they are, but you're doing a great job with that. So there had been this debate. J Mack Herbert too, I know how I feel it was ever a debate. The headline this morning, Justin Herbert sets passing mark for three seasons into the league, which is amazing. He's had two coaches. One got fired and we don't like this one. His offensive line was the worst in the league when he took over and now it's injury riddled. Wasn't good last night in the right side. His receivers are never healthy until last night, and you saw what he did. So it's very interesting. The legit stars and the posers we saw separate. Geno Smith without a run game pretty average. Isn't he to under pressure last couple of weeks? He's bad? Isn't he? Please judge quarterbacks when life isn't perfect, when they're old, lines banged up, when they're under pressure, when they're trailing late in games two. Is small and brittle and not very athletic. Has he ever thrown a deep ball to Tyreek Hill that wasn't underthrown? But he has a clever, smart smart head coach and unbelievable wide receivers. So he has fooled a lot of people. I had three friends at the game last night, and two of them were texting me driving home and they're like, Oh, it's actually worse in person. There's guys wide open for the Dolphins, he just can't get the ball to him. The Chargers not much open, and Herbert's gonna still have the night of his life. Justin Herbert was under constant durest. He's never had a coach we like, and he's breaking Andrew Luck's records. Herbert deniers to me our election deniers can't reason with him, Just nod and walk away from the conversation and barry that invitation of the holiday party, even if you're related to him. There are four absolutely great quarterback talents in this league, and they're all in their prime. Mahomes, Borrow, Josh Allen, and Justin Herbert. Some have a great coach, some don't. Some have great weapons, Some like Herbert's, are never healthy. Aaron Rodgers was there, he's declining. Jalen Hurts may get there, he's ascending, not there yet. But those four are simply different. What I worry about though, with Justin Herbert is the Chargers, will he become the Nolan Ryan of the NFL, an iconic and beloved, awe inspiring flamethrower, and then after all those years will be slightly above five hundred with some really cool records. That's what I worry about with Tuah. I wonder if he can stay healthy. With Herbert, I wonder will his franchise screw him over. That's the kind of talent he is. It's a once in a lifetime thing. Brains A plus. He was a four two biology major who became a tutor. Arm a plus, size, a plus, temperament a plus. Listen, I got nothing against Tuah. There's a reason the Dolphins tried to trade him for to Shaun Watson, sat him behind Ryan Fitzpatrick and wanted to get rid of him for forty four year old Tom Brady. Coaching can really elevate a player Tuah or disintegrate a quarterback, and we've seen that with Andrew Luck. I find myself with her doing Herbert doing this, crossing my fingers God, Chargers, get him a legit head coach, Get him an offensive head coach. Get him a great daff somebody please draft or right tackle. That's all I worry about Brandon Staley after the impressive win. Justin was fantastic tonight. He he definitely led the way for our team. I thought he played with great energy tonight that really affected his teammates in a positive way. Just made a lot of winning plays, really good decisions throughout the game. And you know, when you have all your weapons, you know we're gonna get DP back next week. So I'm not gonna say all of them, but you know, when you get Mike back in this movie, it just it looks different, it feels different. You know, there's just more available to you. I don't know what to make of Brandon Staley. I thought they had a very good game plan last night. Miami was beat up on the back end. I don't think he's an awful coach, but I do think when you get a Justin Herbert or a Patrick Mahomes or a Joe Burrow or a Josh Allen, a pretty good coach is probably not where you want to land. You want to get him an Andy Reid. You want to get him a Sean Payton, You want to get him somebody that's on the right side of the ball and next level because justin Herbert, that is a once in a franchise player. All Right, the Cowboys won and didn't look very good. And so the way this industry works is Cowboys win, their great Cowboys lose, their terrible Cowboys win barely. There no Dak Prescott. His record when he's asked to throw thirty five times or more is sixteen and twenty four. When Patrick Mahomes is asked to throw thirty five times or more, he's forty three and fifteen. They're playing the same position. They're not the same kind of player for Dak, for Kirk Cousins, for Tua, you can't ask him to throw thirty nine times. That's just not what they are. That's why I won't bury the Cowboys today for their performance against Houston, and why I didn't buy into the Avalanche last week. What the Cowboys didn't get yesterday was a great Micah Parsons day. They didn't have a sack, they didn't get a phenomenal Seedee Lamb game, and so they needed more from Dak. And that's not who Dak is. He's a B plus quarterback. I mean, Houston's the worst team in the league. They were down two corners, had a rookie safety, and the other guys playing were backups. Dak had two picks. Dak takes it to another level. When somebody is great. Mike is great, Zeke is great, Pollard's great, Ceedee Lamb is great, and then he can ride that wave to a victory. It's all circumstantial. Similar with Kirk Cousins. He won in Buffalo. Remember that game he won in Buffalo a few weeks ago, who was great? Justin Jefferson may have had the game of the year for a wide receiver. It doesn't work that way for Joe Burrow. Jamar Chase was hurt. He won. Oh, Joe Mixon's hurt, starback, he won. Oh, they're both out. He won again. His old line's terrible. He got to a super Bowl. I don't go high and low on the Cowboys. They're an Adam Sandler film. You know, I kind of know what I'm getting. He's not gonna win an Oscar. Some are better than others. Sometimes you're like uncut gems, that's pretty good. And there are times you watch and you're like, yeah, eight minutes in, they don't have a storyline, but a movie theater ceo like Sandler Green lidit and they can't make any money. I don't get high, I don't get low if you're asking Dak to throw thirty nine times and he doesn't get a great game from the defense and a lot of sacks, And is what it looks like. This is exactly what it looks like. Here's Dak after I've got to find a way to take better care of the ball. But yeah, damn, damn right, it's it's frustrating. It's not something that I've ever ever been okay with and never will be okay with. So but I'm not gonna not be a great a damn. Sure've got to be smarter and just weigh the risk verses reward and a split second. And that just part of my preparation is something I promise i'll clean up. We said this. There's two seasons in the NFL. There is pre Thanksgiving. A lot of quarterbacks look great, not a lot of film on them, they've got a new coach like Tuah, the weather is warm, a lot of home games, bad opponent. Then there's post Thanksgiving. Gets Little Cole gets Little Windy gets little chili. Everybody's got film. And for those quarterbacks, oh, you're left tackles missing, and you're right tackles missing, and you're tight ends missing. This is the separation of posers and players. Now, guys are hurt. Now the team needs you to throw thirty nine times dak now tua. Not everybody's healthy on the back end, and you may get into a shootout. This weekend was the great example. Ryan Tannehill exposed Trevor Lawrence through the roof. The real talents are winning this weekend. Mahomes one, Josh Allen one, Herbert one, Burrow one. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Post Thanksgiving, you really figure out what quarterbacks can play is because everybody's all beat up, and so you don't have all your players. Like September and October. You're missing a left tackle, you're missing a center, you're missing a guard, you're missing a second tight end, and so you know two and now is in a shootout, doesn't have all his pieces. He's really average. Geno Smith doesn't never run game. They're all beat up. He's really average. You could argue he got outplayed by Sam Darnold yesterday, so a lot of people in this league look great in September. Bill Belichick's the best football coach. Ever. His worst month has always been September. Okay, The great quarterbacks, the great players, are overcomers, and for most of Brady's life he made the most of average running backs outside of you know, Gronk and Aaron Hernandez, average tight ends and very average wide receivers. He can't do that anymore. He is no longer able to overcome an average offensive line and an average defensive head coach. He can't. It's why the San Francisco forty nine ers who bludgeoned him yesterday are so darn appealing. It'd be an easy lift. Burrow, Alan Mahomes overcome injuries, overcome deficits, overcome no run game. Josh Allen just makes stuff happen. Aaron Rodgers and Brady, more Tom than Aaron, no longer can just overcome, and in fact, they often look really really bad if they don't have everything in place or a lot of support. Brady never had great weapons in New England. It's a myth. The Moss years were quick, but he elevated everybody. Those days are over. He misses throws in the end zone that are easy touchdowns. He can't elevate people if he faces pressure. Have you noticed Brady is best now late in games often when they go into a prevent defense. Yeah, Tim Tebow crushed it. Then Andy Dalton can roll. Then everybody in the league can complete passes. This is not a shot at Baker Mayfield. He looked great on the last drive of the game. People are in prevent, they're trying to not give up a big play. It's a little bit easier. So from this point forward, Tom needs to rely on others, which feels a little unbecoming for a goat. He's moving into the go down to Florida. When you become a senior's phase, you know, little easier life. That's what Tom's becoming a goat to a snowbird. He needs to move somewhere where it's a little easier lift. He can still put in the hours, but the escapability what he had is down. It's just not there anymore. He's no longer an overcomer. That doesn't mean, by the way, you know, smart players all these sports. Steph Curry figured it out when he was still at the end of his prime. I'm gonna bring Katie in. I don't have to drop thirty eight a night. Steph Curry's figured it out. Jordan Poole, take your shots, young man, score twenty. I don't want to do all the heavy lifting. A lot of athletes they want to be the star. I think Tom gets it. This is maybe a bridge or a transition year where he's lost his fastball clearly and doesn't have support. Next year he could look much better, but he has moved out of the overcoming stage. Aaron Rodgers has as well, but he's got a little bit more in the tank. Here's Tom after Everyone's got to play better. But you know, we're just not playing. We just have not played consistently well very often. We haven't played it for four quarters. If we've played it a little bit at times, not today at all. I love Tom, but there are stages for all athletes, and he's moved into a different one. That's why the Niners again are so appealing to him going forward. Be sure to catch editions of The Herd Weekdays and Nun Easter ninety em Pacific. I was watching that Niners game, and you know, Fox cut away from it. It was so but Hollo, how often do you cut away from a Brady game? But usually when you go to your backup quarterback, like Mahomes to Chad Henny, you take plays out of the playbook. Herbert to Chase Daniel, you take plays out of the playbook. Garoppolo gets hurt, brock Purdy comes in and take anything out of the playbook. It's the same playbook with more mobility. It was sixteen to twenty one hundred and eighty yards. Pet's Garoppolo's line, a couple of touchdowns, no picks. He's Garoppolo with better mobility. Even the play calling was the same stuff. In fact, there were two throws up the sideline. I don't think they've asked Jimmy to make those. So San Francisco did not change gears here, It's the same gear. The fifth tire in the trunk wasn't a spare. It was the same size tire. And maybe San Francisco has known this all along. This is not a spare tire. They had a full size fifth tire in the trunk. When I watched the Niners I see no change at all from Kyle Shanahan to the play calling. So after a couple of games, one start and a couple of games, the numbers to me, we look at him this morning, look a lot like Jimmy Garoppolo. And you know, I also think there's this is that Kyle Shanahan, this is crazy, is on his third quarterback because they wanted to start Trey Lance, right, That's why they gave up picks, That's why they wouldn't give Jimmy Garoppolo a playbook in the off season. They wanted to start Trey Lance gets hurt. Remember he started the season. Okay, it's Jimmy Garoppolo gets hurt. And I do wonder that if Kyle Shanahan's sitting there thinking, listen, I'm gonna let it go a little bit. I'm down to my third quarterback. It's all. It's all. We're playing with house money. I'm going a third quarterback. Because when they we're leading twenty one nothing before half with Garoppolo, you would just sit down, run it and get to the locker room. And then Brock Purty throws a pick. He gets a little bit of an officiating break, they get it back and they still throw it down the field. The Brandon aiyuk and it's like, I don't know, that's more aggressive than they would have been with Jimmy Garoppolo. So Christian McCaffrey after the game, and the kids loved in the locker room. You're hearing Trent Williams, you're hearing Fred Warner, you're hearing Kittle. They're all like, we love him. He's barking at guys. Here's Christian McCaffrey after the game. Yeah, he's an impressive guy. It's fun to be around. You know, he's I think to play quarterback in this league you have to be very intelligent. And for a rookie to come in and process this offense and do everything by the book but then add his own flare to it is very impressive. So I'm excited for him, excited to keep playing with him, and you know, I love that guy. Now, obviously, the Deebo Samuel injury is gutting. It's an ankle, could be a high ankle, we don't know. And McCaffrey's had injury issues and Debo's hurt again, and George kittlehs this is a very very physical team. But I was talking to a Niner fan yesterday and he said, you know, I watched him in the preseason. He goes. My takeaway was, it's kind of a gamer. And by the way, nobody thought garl I love garrop I'm a Garoppolo fan, but I don't. I mean, they don't even throw the ball up the sideline with him. I mean they throw the ball in the middle of the field. He's a distributor. He's way Chris Paul over Steph Curry. You don't get thirty five point nights from Chris Paul much anymore. But I watched brock Purty, and I don't. I always feel that you can tell what a coach thinks about a quarterback by the plays he's willing to call. And in two games, I said this last week, he's completing seventy one percent of his throws, one hundred and five passer rating. He started. And here's the thing I like about brock Purty. He started in a Power five conference, but did not have elite players mostly around him. If you look at the history of the NFL. I wrote about this years and years ago in my first book, is that if you look at the quarterbacks that make it in this league. It's not USC guys. It's not Texas guys. Until recently, it's not Alabama guys. It's not Ohio State guys. There was a time in this league when there was three quarterbacks from cal and three from North Carolina State. It is quarterbacks who in college have to overcome they don't play with pro wide receivers. They get very used to throwing into smaller windows. I mean, if you're a Matt Liner at USC, everybody was open. Everybody was in the box trying to get Reggie Bush and Lendy O. White. So your receivers get single converage. That's not a real world Big Ben didn't go to Ohio State. He went to Miami of Ohio. Aaron Rodgers didn't go to USC. He went to a junior college, then cal Russell Wilson, North Carolina State, Wisconsin. Wisconsin's not exactly LSU when it comes to you know, wide receivers. And so Brock Purty went to Iowa State. He had Bruce Hall, but they didn't have Texas athletes. They didn't have Oklahoma athletes. I'd argue they don't even have TCU athletes. Most of the time, so he had to overcome throwing smaller windows. Offensive linemen weren't first round NFL draft picks. He really is now he's not. You'd like him to be a little bigger and a little bigger arm. But if you look at the in the last twenty twenty five years, is outside of Peyton Manning, who was a number one high school quarterback, number one college quarterback, taken number one most of the time you're drafted Montana in the third round, Brady in the six. You'd played a non traditional power and there's this kid's got some sauce. Have you seen enough from mister Purdy that Jimmy Garoppolo now becomes expendable? Hey, we've got absolutely by by bay by Way. After the injury, I kind of felt we knew now that you got to move off Jimmy because it's another injury. It's like I say, with Anthony Davis, Lakers are clinging to him if he got hurt, agains like it's over right, Like Kawhi Leonard had another major injury. You can like somebody and like it's just time. And so I what I have seen from Purdy is there's no reason now you got to go into next year with Brock Purdy and Trey Lance. I would. I don't think i'd bring Tom in at this point, I don't think I would. He's gonna be forty six, and both those quarterbacks are on rookie deals, which is huge. You said, save a lot of salary there a ton I would go. And I'll tell you right now. Brock Purdy the one thing he's got two major things over Trey Lance. He's an excellent accurate thrower. He's also got four years of college starts. Yeah, and now he's got niner starts. So the kid's got a lot of reps and there's nothing you can do. Like I say, I don't love Kenny Pickett, but he started four years in college. Kenny Pickett's just taken a lot of big boy snaps in that stadium. So put on the spot Jimmy Garoppolo. Now if we're moving off of him, and say, everybody, have you given much thought to what happens with him on the market. If I was the Jets or Giants, especially the Jets, I'd keep Mike White, I'd move off Zach Wilson, I'd bring in Garoppolo, And I think I can win with both with that defense. So yes, people are saying brock Purty cost Garoppolo money. I don't necessarily think so. No, there's not gonna be a bidding war on the market for Garoppolo like New York Giants and desperate Now let's go bidding war. Yeah, the New York Giants have Daniel Jones and Brian Dabole as their head coach. Daniel Jones is not the guy there. I wouldn't call it a bidding war for girl. I think Garoppolo is gonna get paid twenty five millions. Slow down, whoa, I've been to a Super Bowl? How many wins does the guy have? Oh? He does his win the lock of wo he crossed him. He crossed the injury threshold, like you know, like there's injury riddled guys like Anthony Davis right now, everybody loves him one more and his You could trade Anthony Davis right now and get something a package right, one more injury. No GM is bringing him in for that price tag. Mike Rabel tell us his new GM man, you see my team, you at Jimmy Garoppolo to this we make the jump to lights b Tanna Hill Garoppolo as a wash. That's why I tell you Aaron Rodgers is going to Nashville. I think that one's great. I mean, look at Channa. Look at Mike Rabel sitting there, the best coach in his division and getting his brains beat out. You think he's happy with he's moving off Tannehill. There's no Dad tap hit. He's He's not gonna go from Tannahill to Garoppolo. He wants to go uptown. He wants to go. He wants to go and get a you know what he's saying. Can I finally have an elite quarterback? I've been doing this now for years. It Ron Rivera in Washington. Jimmy Garoppolo, Oh, I wouldn't know. If I was Garoppolo and go there, I'd go to an offense, toxic franchise, I'd go. I would go like Brian Dabele's an offensive coach, He'll get the most. Jimmy Garopolo do a lot of commercials in New York City. The ladies love him. You know whatever, Hey, what's up everybody? It's me? Three time Pro Bowl and Levarrington and I couldn't be more excited to announce a podcast called Up on Game? What is up on Game? You asked, along with my fellow pro bowler t J. Hudshmansatta and Super Bowl champion. Yep, that's right, Plexico Burrs. You can only name a show with that type of talent on it. Up on Game We're going to be sharing our real life experiences loaded with teachable moments. Listen to Up on Game with me LeVar Arrington, TJ. Huschmansatta, and Plexico Birds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from. I want to talk NFC and AFC playoff picture. So today it is remarkable how the posers sort of now dovetailing and the players rising up the ranks. Let's look at the NFC playoff picture. If the playoffs started today, now there's gonna be movement, especially at the bottom end. So Philadelphia is gonna win their division, Minnesota should win their division. Niners, because of the dysfunction in THEIRS, will win their division. I'm crossing my fingers that the Bucks do. But Carolina, I'll say this for Carolina. They're a really interesting bad team and with Sam Darnold now running around and making plays, Say what you want. I think Tampa wins the division. But Carolina, You've said this a month ago. They've got some players, the defense is pretty good, the run game is solid. They're not asking Darnald to do two have a couple of targets. I saw Darnald through for like twenty one yards in the second half. They were just like, let's just hand off. That's all we're doing. So then you're then you're and right now you're wild card teams. The NFL added a wild card team last year, Dallas, very good wild card team, Commanders Giants. One of those probably gets in. Neither's great ill My vote would be Detroit. So in the hunt it's Seattle, Detroit, Green Bay, Carolina, Atlanta. They all have qualities. I like, just from a fans perspective, I think Detroit's an unbelievable story. They've got their players on the right side of the ball, and Detroit's got a real advantage here over green Bay. They have nothing to lose here, so they're coming from the back up. So if they get in, it's just this last month ascension. The second thing is you could watch their play calling yesterday. They are hyper aggressive house money. They're a year ahead of where they thought they'd be. Detroit's a fascinating team. I will say this, Detroit in Seattle feel worthy of the last guy in Green Bay sputtering around. Can I pour some cold water on Detroit real quick? Okay and listen. They're fun and Ben Johnson THEOC has been great. I just look at this, this guy at the schedule. Okay, they have three outdoor cold weather games. Okay, gimme them at the Jets this week. I already look, no precipitation expected, but thirties. Then they have at Carolina, go win it. Okay, uh, and then finally at Green Bay in Lampin on January eight. They're gonna sit there. I think they're gonna go. They're gonna sit there. In for that, They're gonna let the market see. They're gonna gonna let Detroit try to sneak in the playoffs in their division while they don't go. I think everyone would want to play spoiler and be like, guys, I've been beating you for over a decade. Sit down. That being said, Dan, you're not gonna get one game of Jordan Love. What's the what's the point of moving up in the draft. I don't totally disagree with that, but I don't think Aaron Rodgers will let them sit him for Jordan Love. Let me ask you this, if Detroit sneaks in at seven, what's the line against Minnesota, the number two seeds, Well, Minnesota would come back probably at Minnesota be favored by two and a half. That's my guess, and that would be the approach, and I would take Minnesota in that game. If you've looked at both their regular season matchups, Detroit has largely outplayed the Vikings in both meetings, and the Vikings I believe have been out gained the negative point differential college. Come on, they maybe they haven't been out game, okay, but they've been out scored, yes, negative point differential three. But they also went to Buffalo and one, So we gotta get Minnesota credit. What the damn due? They got lucky as heck in that game. Come on, they did get the dub justin that was as big, That was as impressive a four months non playoff I've ever seen Kurt Cousins, but I don't even who do you want to face the most New York, Washington, New York, Seattle or Detroit. I don't want to face Detroit. I would agree, I don't. You don't want to see that. Listen because New York, because a Detroit knows your personnel. Yeah, and they can win a shootout. Seattle's not winning to shootout. Defense is not winning to shootout. You know what you don't want to do in the playoffs is get a team that's got skilled players, and all of a sudden you find yourself in a track meet. I know you're out on Taylor Heinke. Washington has some dudes. Daryl McLaurin is gonna eat Curtis Samuel is pretty good, got some guy. I would not rule out washing Chase Young coming back defense is very good against a run. All right, let's go to the af Okay, Oh boy, Jason's gonna lose it. I'm not. I'm gonna lose it out. Okay, let's go to the AFC playoff pictures. So the Bills are gonna get in. So are the Chiefs. Uh, Ravens, Titans, keep your eye in the Jags hold on. Ravens may start a third string quarterback this week on short rest against the Brown. Well, they just did one and pitch an that was a rinking guy. You trusted him, don't. They won? He didn't throw the ball at all. I can't. I can't watch Drabisky. I'm over, I'll turn my TV set off, I'll bet against I'll watch soap operas on a Sunday. I can't watch him. Okay, So right now it's Bill's Chiefs, Ravens. Titans are falling apart physically, Bengals are on fire. Dolphins, Chargers to me personally feel like playoff teams because in twenty twenty two it's such an offensive league and they've got star offensive players. Listen, you see the Chargers and Dolphins last night. Mike Williams, Keenan, Allen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. Those are four of the top fifteen receivers in the league. So now, Jets Patriots play tonight. I don't like him tonight. I say keep your eye in the Jaguars and the Jets. So what is New York schedule going forward? Well, okay, we'll start with the Jets. This week they host Detroit, winnable, but I don't think they will winnable. Then they are hosting Jacksonville. Jacksonville's got two tough games. Next, Cowboys and Jets. So Titans probably win that division. Let's close out at Seattle at Miami, that's not feeling great. Not feeling great. That being said, so New England's got a win a night big. New England has much of a chance. But let's look at Miami. Two off two straight bad games, he goes to Buffalo. Oh is it next? All three straight road games? Remember what the Bills just did to the Jets offensive line. Okay, this one could get ugly. I think Buffalo probably really hammers Miami. After that, Miami hosts Green Bay Aaron Rodgers Florida. That's not an easy one because, by the way, when you play Buffalo, you know what happens next week, you're missing starters. Yeah, you beat up, so you're gonna go from I thought the Chargers last night were really physical. Were they really down six defensive starters? Yeah, and they were super physical, so give me what. So anyways, Miami has at Buffalo versus Green Bay. That's not easy though. You could be give them the Green Okay, give him the Green Bay one. Then they go at New England. Outdoors TWA has done well against the Dolph against New England, but it's going to be freezing on January first, and then they host the Jets. Mike White to be the spoiler. We'll see. I don't think Miami gets in, Colin. I think Chargers are looking good and who else New England not the faint. I do not want to see, though. I feel with the Jags like I do with the Lions. I would love to see the Lions and the Jags get in because I love their offense. Trevor Lawrence Jags. Yesterday everything went right, Yeah, like everything clicked. Do that, dude, Trevor Lawrence has arrived. It took a little while, but he's here. I mean second year. Loved him coming out of closet. It's a second year Thanksgiving. Second year is the is the kind of the cut off line Thanksgiving second year? I can tell? Can your play or not? Dude? Can play? One more? Heard? 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. Where Colin was right? Okay, tuah, I got nothing again the kid, But I said, let's just let him see if he plays from behind he plays on the road. Later in this season. His last two games passer rating low seventies, completing forty five percent. There's a lot of things I like about him. I think he's a leader, he's accurate, he plays, he plays well at the podium. But you know this, you watch him next to Herbert and it's not really close. And I also think he's losing some confidence. And I think you saw it last night where Colin was raw. I do not know what has happened to Russell Wilson. I've never been more wrong on a prediction. I don't know what happened. He's completing thirty three percent on his deep throws over twenty yards. I would have said he was a top five deep ball thrower over the last five years. He's just not good. I know a lot of it's Hackett. I know a lot of it's the offensive line, but I can't explain it, and it is mystifying to me. But right now he's bad. Where Colin was right, I saw Trevor Lawrence play in high school. I saw Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, and I said, he's going to separate from this young quarterback class of twenty twenty one. He has last five games ten touchdowns, no picks, one hundred and eleven passer rating, and he's completing over seventy percent of his throws. And this is still a rebuilding team. Don't kid yourself. They're not loaded with talent, but he is separated. I said Andrew Luck and Trevor Lawrence to me, and Caleb Williams may become This are guys that are just going to figure out ways to win and put up huge numbers despite what they may be surrounded by. Where Colin was right, and I thought Tommy and the Bucks, We're going to be a double digit team and roll with this division. They're just Todd Bowles feels outdated, tom feels a little bit frustrated and disengage their twenty eighth and scoring Now. The offensive line is banged up, but Justin Herberts has banged up and he's putting up massive, record setting numbers. So I thought this was going to be a boring eleven win team that kind of coasted the playoffs. And I'm with Jamac this morning, I think Carolina is a better team as of right now. This morning, I think Carolinas playing with more momentum. Where Colin was right, Taylor Williams won the Heisman. I applaud the college football voters for not being regional. This was really his about a month ago. USC has one NFL player on defense. They had to win shootouts in almost all of their games. You know, they had Jordan Addison. But if you know I tend to watch USC games, this kid is a one of one. I talked to an NFLGM who said, it's the only thing I've seen in the league that I can actually say without being embarrassed, that could be Mahomes. He's that kind of talent. He is spectacular, and he's also looks like he's a grown up. He can handle the adulation. You can tell by the number of people who have wished him well and are happy for him winning the Heisman, where he brought his offensive line all the way to New York. He's the USC fans. You may never get a player like this ever, and that's a big brand. You may never get another player like this ever. He's got his head on straight. Great kid. Where Colin was right, I said, this brock purty kid. I think he's Garoppolo with better mobility. Watch the play calling. They they don't ease up. In fact, at the end of the half, up twenty one nothing, they went to Brandon Auk. I don't know if they would have done that with Garoppolo through two games. He is what I told you he would be accurate Kyle Shanahan. That's why they're struggling with Trey Lance. He's talented, but he's not accurate. Brock Purty accurate, Matt Ryan when he had him accurate, Matt shab accurate. Remember he wanted Mac Jones. What is Mac Jones accurate? Brock Purty is built for this team. I don't know if he can go to Philadelphia and win, but he can win a playoff game or two where Colin was raw. I do not get the San Diego Padres. They are a small market team. They offered Aaron Judge four hundred million dollars. They bought Xander Bogart's from the Red Sox. They got Manny Macha, outbid the Dodgers Josh Hayter. They traded for Juan Soto. I always thought the Padres were a small market team. I don't know. I obviously their owners didn't put any money in NFTs in bitcoin because they have more money than ever had. They're outbidding the Dodgers. They're outbidding the Red Sox. Padre fans. Congratulations, you've got a great roster. Where Colin was right, I said the Seahawks are probably a better story than they are a team, and you're starting to see now with some injuries, without a run game, Gino Smith is regressing a little bit. I picked Carolina to beat the Seahawks this week in my Blazing five. I think Gino Smith is a great story. There's no precedent for being a bust and then having the second best passer rating in the league. But this is a very young team. These rookies go from college football to getting ready for the draft to the NFL camp. I think some of these guys have hit a wall. They're a little beat up, and they're coming back down to earth. Where Colin was right. Listen, Daniel Jones now in his career is nineteen thirty and one. You gotta be able to win shootouts. You can't have everything go your way. I've got nothing against Daniel Jones, but at this point in that division, he is not close to Jalen Hurts. He's not nearly as good as Dak Prescott and I'd argue there's an intangible thing with Taylor Heineke. I'm not sure he has that. I'm not sure he does. Daniel Jones, I think he gotta get on the phone and called Derek Carr. I'm dead serious, sir. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noun Eastern a Empacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Sean Payton got a Super Bowl fifteen years Saints coach. Nine of those years he got into the playoffs. He's joining us on a Monday. So you know, I was saying earlier Sean that once Thanksgiving hits forward, none of these quarterbacks have all their pieces. They're missing a left tackle, they're missing a slot receiver. You know, it's kind of the difference between the guys who have talent but maybe have flourished on a perfectly healthy team. And then you look at Burrow and Herbert and it's like, Sean, when I watched Football the Real Stars, I watched Herbert last night running for his life, and I'm like, there aren't five guys in the world with that pressure. I mean, what was your takeaway when on Herbert last night? Yeah, I agree with you. I felt in watching him the same way, it would have been hard pressed for me to have seen more than maybe three other quarterbacks in our league have the same success he had last night. I thought, and look, the announcers did a good job. I thought the Chargers defense played well, of course, and I still would like to see that him. I'm talking about the Chargers. I'd like to see them run the ball better. Yeah, then take a little bit of that pressure, yes, off off of the queue. But look, he was. He was outstanding in a game they need to win. Yeah. By the way, Kelly's emerging out of UCLA Austin Eckler, so they have some running backs. They drafted another one ISAs Spiller out of Texas A and M. So they've got some kids who could help. And I agree with you. They too often he's got to put a Superman cape on and I just feel like it's shit. You're asking too much, now, you know I say this is I like to uh, there's limitations here. I mean, Miami's tried to move off him. We know that now going forward, he plays Buffalo this week. I think he Jmax said, what do you do in the offseason? If you if Sean, if you just feel like we like the kid, but you look at the AFC Sean Burrow, Herbert, these guys are big men. What do you do with that position? Well, you said it very clearly, and I believe the word you used was like, Um, there are a handful of guys and teams that are in a similar position where they kind of like the quarterback they have, and yet um, they're still looking to possibly upgrade. And so look, we're quick to judge every Monday, right and this season, I think we're at fifty four different quarterbacks have started games. We're almost we're almost at a point we're on average each team has started two different quarterbacks. We're not quite at that number sixty four, But it's it's it's vital to your success and you either have the guy and if you don't, that's that's that's fine. Then you have to be that much better around them. History has told us we can still win the Ultimate Prize and teams have done that, but then we have to be dominant on defense. We have to have an outstanding ground game. Um. I thought one thing in the game last night that was apparent and I heard Collins were they talked about it briefly, that robber or thief coverage. Yeah, the charge did a great job of just dropping someone in the middle of the defense where all of those deep ends are caught, yea, and really taking that route away where ultimately the throws are gonna have to happen outside the number. And so what is outside the numbers mean though, Colin, those are further away, those are longer throws, right, And that'll be That'll be copied for the next few weeks until you know, until the Yeah, they'll have an answer for that. Well, you know what's really interesting, Sean is too, as Camp was Drew Brees. Now. I always said I thought that was unfair because Drew's the most accurate thrower of the football I'd ever seen. Um, He's a guy who could sit twenty yards from a tire and spin it through that thing. But but well, people can say Breeze and two are the same. My takeaway was always Drew was a much better athlete than people gave him credit for. He just didn't. You didn't because if you're a clever play calling. But I thought it was I think Breeze in his prime was really a good athlete. I bet he was a golfer a tennis player. I mean, I bet he was. So I don't think two is. I don't think he's his athletic. That's my take. You tell me, yeah, I would agree. I think this Drew Drew was a phenomenal foot athlete. You know, he was size thirteen feet, huge hands, he could vertically go up and dunk, a basketball, runner underneath the basket. Um. He beat Andy Rodick at youth tennis when he was thirteen. So I think sometimes we have this this gauge for athleticism and an equates to height, weight, size, speed, And in Drew's case, he was a fantastic athlete. And I can't I haven't had a chance to watch two a closely do some of the things. I've seen the season he started off and he's begun and it's great to see the progress he's made. UM. I think McDaniel there, those guys have done a great job. I don't know that that's my comp for two of UM. I don't think two is as big as Drew. And the concern with two of coming out really from everyone was just you know, help and can he stay injury free? And look, that's valid, but he is someone that has fit into that system very quickly. It's hard to in one of these RPO systems where at the snap of the ball you're having to decide am I not only who I'm throwing it too, but am I handing it off to the runner or throwing it? I mean, that's a decision. We didn't ask Breeze to make that decision a lot, right, So a different type of offense, you know, I thought I thought the key last night though, was the Chargers on defense. Yeah, so the brock Purty thing. It's interesting. So when you were in New Orleans and Drew got hurt, I always thought this you and you and Mickey Lumos were smart on this is that your backup played a lot like Breeze, so you didn't have to, you know, make it. And then you had Taysom Hill who could give you a total curveball. But your starter in your backup had similarities. And so when I watched Garoppolo and I watched brock Purty, they're both accurate distributors, both can spin it. Neither's big. But when I watched Kyle's game plan yesterday, it looked like Jimmy's it didn't change anything. I was like, that's the same game plan. So that's telling me that Kyle doesn't see Brock as significantly less talented. That's my interpretation. I mean that that the heat that Kyle likes Brock Purty. I think if you walked into Kyle's office and you shut the door and he said, hey, listen, off the record. Here you got Brock Purdy now with this team, Um, he would turn and smile at you and say, let's go. You know. In other words, they're the competitive nature of the coach who believes in his system, who believes they're gonna run the ball well. Now, so obviously Purdy can get him in and out of the right checks. You see them at the line of scrimmage, a lot alert a work cam cam. You're getting to so Purty, you know, he's he confunction in this system. That's important. But behind closed doors, that challenge it kind of can create a little sense of urgency for the team too. Yeah, and so we saw it earlier in the year with Dallas. I spoke about it a few years back when we put in Teddy Bridgewater that everyone else on the team now has to raise their level of playing it's not going to be about rock party. It's going to be hey, can the defense be that dominant? Can the running game be that dominant? And so that type of miniature crisis if you will, conserve the team pretty well. And I felt strongly about that game in picking it yesterday. We've done these studies before, and we've spent so much time. You've heard me say this, I hate that ninety eight percent of our analytics discussion is on two point players or fourth down. All right, that's like ninety eight percent of our discussion is on five percent of what we use, and literally, I mean so many other things. Right, But we beat Washington in a game a few years ago. We were down fourteen points with two minutes left in the game. It was a score kickoff. We hold them to three and out we score again. It was one of those crazy games where when when the game ended, you felt like, man, we just stole a game. And and the numbers suggest the following week the team that does that is an O one nineteen loser. And I remember we were playing the Rams the next week in Los Angeles, and I didn't know whether to talk to the team about this, bring it up, not bring it up. I think I brought it up in a walk through the day before the game. Well, Tampa Bay had a similar win last week. You know, Monday night football. They're down thirteen, a few minutes left, they score, they get to stop, they score again, Brady in the two minute, and sure enough, now it's twenty one string. You know. In other words, so periodically there are those games that take place and no one in the building that no one's even aware of it, right, but you know you still won the following week. It's tougher to win. Well, I don't know if the Eagles are as good as they're playing. Maybe they are. Sean Payton is now joining US. Sean I said, sometimes you'll see this in March Madness where a team, maybe a Kentucky, they're just they're blowing through people. And then they get into the first round and they're a big favorite and they have a bad half and it gets really tight because they haven't been you know, maybe they've walked through their conference. And I look at Philadelphia in that division and I think, well, outside of Dallas, nobody really matches up. Would you be concerned at all if you were coaching them about we're not playing close games here at all, or just maybe they are that good. Yeah, I'll be honest, Skip, I kind of want that problem. Um. I think this The thing that has impressed me with Philadelphia is when they needed to do it on the ground, they've been able to. When they've needed to do it in the air, you've seen You've seen the huge improvement from the quarterback and then the skill outside with Brown and Smith. So when they needed to do it either running the ball, passing the ball, they've they've shown that they're able to do that. Defensively, they're getting their takeaways, yeah are they They're gonna face some couper opponents when they get in the postseason. But each week as you watch this team play, you're seeing a more confident and confident group and that's gonna that's gonna carry over into the postseason. Ultimately, it's gonna take a team, and I'm not even looking at Philadelphia's defense per se, but somebody that can slow them down of forty nine ers for instance, on defense, maybe Dallas on defense. It's not going to be the team that scores more the other side of the ball. It's going to be a team that can frustrate what they do offensively, and we haven't seen it yet, and I think it's been pretty impressive to watch. Sean Payton I said, Detroit's got holes, but the organization deserves credit. They have drafted the offensive side of the ball very well, and they're young. But they're playing with house money yesterday, they're faking punch, they're throwing the tackles. I think teams like that are scary to play because they got nothing to lose and they're hyper aggressive. Have you ever did you ever face a team like that? Do you buy into that lion team we're seeing? Yeah, I do buy into that because it's true. First off, there's no other team in our league that's experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of blows in the last two years. I mean, they've lost to sixty some yard field goals that have played it on the golf bar and bounced over. I mean, how many times have we seen one of those gut wrenching defeats and yet they've still bounced back And it's it's a credit to I know Dan, you know, I coached him when I was at the Giants and he was part of my staff at the Saints. And it's a credit to he and the resilience. You feel like you're gonna be You're gonna be playing someone that's gonna be a tough out. I mean, they've been through it all ye in Italy, though Colin all the numbers would suggest this. They made a change in the off season with their offensive coordinator. They put in new leadership. They've completely revamped how they're running their offense, and they are one of the top three offenses in the NFL. And you say that to yourself, wait him at the Lions. Yes, I know that. That's one of the tapes that most of the NFL is watching each week. Now. They're doing things creatively in the running game, They're getting explosives in the passing game. Jared Goff's having a fantastic season. So despite some of the shortfalls we saw earlier in the year from their defense, they are a dangerous team offensively. And then when you take their offense at home, they're the third I think they ranked third and scoring offense when they're playing in Detroit. So they've improved a lot. And I see that team I'm getting past this season in the next year as a team that's gonna They're gonna challenge Minnesota in Green Bay in that division. Three minutes left, final question. The Niners have a stack roster and it's older and expensive. I would stick with Purdy and Trey Lance. Most people, if Brady was available, would go for it. But there's a lot of mouse to feed financially and I don't and some of my best players Trent Debo, McCaffrey, Kettle get injured. I want a deep roster. I don't want to spend a fortune on a quarterback. I don't, am I nuts? If Brady was available, I think I'd stick with the kids. Am I nuts? No? I don't think you're nuts up? But I would say this, who's to say that Tom's gonna require that high end price tag. You know, he's shown us historically in the past that he wants an opportunity to win somewhere. So if in fact he's looking to sign with another club, and the story of him going back to San Francisco where he grew up, all those other things, I wouldn't expect his asking price to be astronomical. A lot will have to do Colin with these next four weeks and then into the postseason. How's brock Purty play as we wind down this year, do they feel like when the season ends, do they feel like he can help be a part of the solution or is he part of the problem. He's a fascinating story right now. I said, I expect to see Brock Purdy's name in lights in Nashville like in a country boy. That's funny. Hey, By the way, I got to ask you this, do you miss coaching? You're so good at what you do. Now do you miss it? Do you get up Sunday miss it? Yeah? You miss? You miss the winds? You miss. So there's a grind element. We talk about the lack of sleep and during the week and the hours, but there's nothing like finding something on a Wednesday or Thursday that you see in a game that you that you think is going to apply on the weekend and then sure enough it comes to fruition and it scores a touchdown, and it's the difference in winning and losing a game. And you know until you begin the process the following Monday, that feeling of six sess in the competition. Those are the things that are that are hard to replace. Um, you can have your perfect day in the in the studio, you know, talk about a few things that come up and maybe hit on all your topics. But you get in your car, you drive home. Uh, it's it's not quite the same. Now that being said, I get my football fixing the studio, though, And when you're around guys like Howie and straighthand Jimmy and Terry and Charles, there's this element that it fills you like I can't wait for work on Sundays. Well, you've been great, Sean Payton. He's under the weather, delivered for us. He's he likes that five o'clock Pacific coas start for the Patriots Arizona. He'll be in bed by eight clock crash tonight. I will be I like New England in this game. You like New England? Yeah? I think Inn't this the week where we saw Belichick rush Tyler a certain way. We see a little cage rock. He's going to force him to stay in the pocket. I just think he's done well with these unique quarterbacks, and I think he will tonight. Good seeing your coach, Thanks so much, Sean, Thank you guys.