Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowhern on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Friday, live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one one hour from now. I Love the Picks, Blazing five. Looking for a rebound week. We're above five hundred, feel very good. We have a couple of stories today, a piece of video on Draymond Green which j Mac will have in about twenty minutes, and we'll discussed that that's pretty violent, pretty ugly. But the Warriors are saying they're not suspending him. Why did it leak out? Will show that Jmax here. They say they're not suspending him for sucker punching a teammate. I mean, Colin, well, the teams control that, so you know, I'm a big fan of Russell Wilson probably the biggest supporter of from the Pacific Northwest, and listen, he's been very good for a long time. So this is a three pronged discussion on Russell Wilson. Let's start with number one. The Seahawks. Okay, don't tell me. Seattle playoffs eight of the ten years with Russell is better without him. They got blown out by the Niners this year. They got beat by Atlanta at home. They're a touchdown underdog to the Saints. They have a fourth place roster and Geno Smith at quarterback. By the way, the last five years, the Seahawks have had a declining, awful defense, battle lines mocked by the analytics community, and the defense has gotten worse. O line drafting. Last year is their first good draft, arguably in seven years. This has been a declining organization O line defense. Analytically, oh, I mean drafting everything. They literally pay a fortune. They traded two first round picks for a safety, Jamal Adams, who can't stay healthy. So spare me on the Seattle's way better without him. It's a five win team that couldn't beat Atlanta and won't beat the Saints. The second part of the discussion. Well, I mean, listen, if you had Aaron Rodgers even with Nathaniel Hackett. Okay, let's go to the last one and a half years with Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy in Green Bay. Aaron was eleven wins, sixteen losses in a tie. Aaron couldn't win with Mike McCarthy as that relationship eroded. I watched this Denver offense. They never roll Russell Wilson out. It's stationary, it's static in the pocket, there's no motion, there's no variation. Situationally, they're a disaster. Third downs a disaster. They're getting yards, but like red zone, worst team in the league, third down disastrous. That's where coaching comes in situational football. That's how you described the Patriots for twenty years. They didn't have the most talent, they were the best situational football team. Situationally, this team is bad. And I would say Russell Wilson was very good situationally for most of his career in Seattle. Now he's suddenly terrible. Seventy percent of coordinators who are hired bomb, not just fail bomb. Okay, so don't tell me Seattle's better. And and and don't tell me Nathaniel Hackett, even if he was bad, Russell should overcome him. Something else that needs to be said. Washed. I saw washed with big band member when Big Ben rolled out in Pittsburgh and fell down. I mean literally, Jaymaxis laughed. That's washed. Peyton mannings last year like you lose all velocity, Jay Cutler at the end, somethink Baker. Now, I've seen Russell Wilson seven eight times this year takeoff and run. He still moves very well. He's very reluctant to do it, but he moves very well. So of the third thing, spare me on. Seattle's got it all figured out. Spare me on. The coach knows what he's doing. But let's talk Russell Wilson. Let's really examine him. And I know you all think I'm a homer. So the last four years in Seattle, let's go look at what he was. Oh wait, his passer rating average one oh six four to one touchdown interception ratio with a defensive head coach, a fired offensive coordinator, in a bad line, and he completed sixty six percent of his throws. That ain't washed. That ain't washed, But but but but but and this is where the haters have a point. His deep ball, his velocity on it, and his accuracy is shot. From what I can tell, is he doing too many commercials that he put on weight. His number two pitch was always the deep ball. His number one pitch was always his mobility. But the second thing he did, and he did it as well as anybody, was that picturesque, elegant, beautiful, perfectly touched deep ball the rainbow. If Kershaw lost his curve, he's not Kershaw. If Russell Wilson is reluctant to run, he appears to be because he can still run. I've seen it, and he's lost his velocity, accuracy and touch on the deep ball. He's not the same player on throws over twenty yards. The data screams Seattle one hundred six, passer rating, Denver high seventies. Even the Jerry Judy play was underthrown. And I think what you're seeing with him, and I don't know if it's solvable. And that's a very fair criticism. He can run. I've seen it. I saw it last year, I've seen it this year. He just doesn't want to. That could be psychological. He's trying to prove a point, as Mark Slayer said yesterday, but on the stuff over twenty twenty five yards, it ain't happening, and that was his out pitch. He was a killer on that thing. I mean there, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman highlights for years him just beaten teams at the end with that. Is it gone because it's not good? I mean, it is bad, And I think what's happening. He's thinking too much and pressing too much, because statistically they had four hundred yards, two hundred and fifty yards passing, six yards of pass play, lots of time of possession, but once again oh and four in the red zone and two for fifteen on third down. That is the space where you get great coaching helps and instinctive greatness seals the deal. Lamar, Josh Allen, Mahalmes, Brady, the greats, they're not thinking about it, They're instinctively doing what they do. He is pressing, he is thinking, he's not anticipating, he's not ahead of the play, he's behind it. That I can't argue. In fact. Jeremy Fowler, excellent reporter ESPN. He went over for six last night in the red zone passing. He's two for eighteen red zone passing this year. So the criticisms on the washed, I don't see it. The last four years I gave you his numbers that ain't washed. That's not how big Ben ended or Peyton Manning or Jay Cutler or Baker. Right now I've seen washed. He may not be as quick as he was four years ago. It's not washed. Did he that broken finger? Did it? Never heald? He came back too fast? Did he reinjure it? You know, hey, I criticized Baker for this. Brussel Wilson's on thirty commercials? Is he not paying attention to business? These are young receivers. He's a veteran guy, tends to be really, really optimistic. Does he have no relationship with these receivers? Are the routes not good and you have a coach that can't coach him up? I don't know, but that criticism is totally absolutely fair. Anything over twenty yards he's late, it's off, it's underthrown. He lacks velocity, and maybe it's over now. He's obsessive about his body. I doubt it. I have stats and data that don't prove it. But let's go to the top. Don't tell me Seattle's got it figured out. Don't tell me Hackett's not out of the problem. And I don't want to hear he's washed. I've seen too much even in this awful stretch. Never forget Peyton Manning went to Denver first five games, two and three. Then he exploded Russell Wilson's two and three. And he's a highly committed, obsessed athlete. So I do think there is some light at the end of the tunnel. But right now, especially in the social media world, it becomes an avalanche. Everybody piles on it is ug lee and anything over the top. Man, if you can't burn people over the top, guess what. Defenses start pinning their ears back and coming downhill. And if you can't score situationally zone, you're a field goal team. You're a six seven win team in this league, Max, even with that defense. Here's Russ after It's very simple. I think, at the end of the day, I gotta be better. I gotta play better. This team. You know, this defense played their butts off tonight. We had some key good drives. We moved the ball, you know in the red zone. We just he didn't get to capitalize on some of them. You know, we were third and long again too too much. You know, that's always tough on offense, you know, and everything else when you're third and fifteen, third and seventeen, this and that and then the end of the day, you know, throwing two interceptions can't happen. Can't happen. Um, you know, I'll let the team down tonight and for the good thing is one thing I know about myself is I'm gonna respond. I don't know any other way, By the way, not just two interceptions. One was like as bad a pick as he's ever thrown. And the other one you can't make as a betterand receiver, like this throw right here. He's behind the play. He's simple, that's behind. It's not accurate, he's behind. There's too much thinking. He made some good throws. He had a touchdown to a tight end that got knocked away. But those deep balls, those were money. Those were magical. It's a mess and that is undeniable. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Russell Wilson pretty bad last night, especially a third down, especially red zone. You know, things can change quickly. If that tight end catches the ball in the end zone, we may see it differently. If he hits a hammler in the end zone late, we may see it differently. He didn't. He ends up with the yards, but bad situationally, So Sean Payton was on not it was it this week? Yeah, it was this week. Smart offensive guy. And I said, what would you do to solve this riddle in Denver right now? If you were the guy, I'd want to cut up of all Russells past plays of thirty or more yards from the field, and I'd want to see are there some schemes that he felt very comfortable with, Like I know that they did a great job in Seattle of bringing him off of a naked boot. Then I'd want to look at another film of his red zone touchdown passes inside the twenty. And so what I'm asking for from assistance is I'm asking for some of his greatest hits and to make sure that we have those song lyrics available and let's put him in all right, So Russell's not going anywhere five years, two hundred and forty seven million dollars. So let's take a deep breath. We live in a time where outrage avalanches, nobody has nuance, so let's admit the first month is way worse than we thought. It's a rookie head coach that could be over his head. It's a tough division, and Russell looks tight and on deep balls absolutely off. But number one, you still have a lot of pieces. That's why Russell was attracted to it. Legit pass rush, excellent corner, great young safety, some decent speed at wide receiver. There is talent on this roster, indisputably. Number two, you still have Russell Wilson, who's dedicated, obsessed, positive, lots of experience, but in big games, those are great. Never forget Matt Stafford. We all remember last year, don't We had a three game stretch. He was oh and three against playoff teams, mostly awful, a bevy of pick sixes, and his passer rating was in the mid seventies. He had a horrible month. Tom Brady year one through twelve game was seven and five through twelve games, forgot what down it was in Chicago, was barking at teammates, couldn't figure out Arians. He wanted short underneath an efficient, Arians wanted over the top. Eventually, Bruce got canned recently, but that was an ugly start. Peyton Manning two and three through his first five in Denver. Now that exploded and I don't expect that. But we're in social media. People jump on things. It gets very cringey in his commercials. I totally get it, but you know it's you know, there was a moment I want to play a Russell Wilson bite. By the way, this is classic social media. Ninety eight percent of this I love. And then he says something at the end. Everybody's like, WHOA, don't like it? Not good cringey, but but play the by This is what you want your quarterback saying taking the heat off of bad performance. Here it is. I'm looking forward to to turning it around. I'm looking forward to turn around because when we when we do, it's going to be a special story. I'm looking forward to the challenge of it all. I'm looking forward to the to the adversity of it all and to the negativity of it all and everything else, because um just use that for fuel and opportunity. And when we do. This is gonna be an exciting time because there's a lot of great guys in that locker room that worked their butts off every day and and just to have the opportunity to help leave them. Even though I didn't get to do it tonight the right way I wanted to in that way I know how to. Um. You know, I'm grateful for them battling for every moment, every play, and they kept believing to the last play. And yeah, belief is a powerful thing. And that's what I'm gonna keep believing in. Thank you guys, Thank you guys. Some Bronco's country, right, Okay said, Let's ride Broncos Country. Let's ride. Ninety nine percent of that is exactly what I want. Remember, the Internet loves cool. The Internet loved Cam love Johnny Manziel, loved Baker. They don't like Steph Curry as much, or Yannis sometimes or Russell. They're not cool. The Internet's obsessed with cool. It's a little corny. Let it ride. I'm okay with it. But nine percent of that is what I want. He's not snarky, he's not arrogant, he's not defeated, he's not desperate. Yes, sometimes. You know there's a Kirk Cousins quality. Tebow had this a self belief, eternal optimism. You know that didn't really cool in twenty twenty two. But I mean that's the Internet. The Internet's obsessed with being cool. Russell's not cool. He's got like seven different looks. But that's what I want my quarterback to say, own it, not be desperate, lean in, I love my guys, can't wait to prove the doubters wrong. It's exactly what I want from my quarterback. Sorry, it's not cool. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine a Empacific. You know, when Brady went from New England to Tampa, a lot of people said, oh, I like Tom's new personality because Tom was like letting it fly, Tom, let it rip, Tom Brudeley on as Tom, authentic Tom drinking too much at the Super Bowl party. Tom. It was a new Tom. I thought he was really honest. Yesterday people were asking him about the parody in the NFL. He could have given a very political answer. He could have been nice guy Tom when asked about the parody in the league, and instead Tom went here, I think there's a lot of bad football from what I watch. You know, I watch a lot of bad football out of it it. Yeah, poor quality of football, that's what I see. That's about as brutally honest as you can beat. Now, we do know this that there's one way to win in the NFL. Now, you got to score. Ten to twelve years ago, Seattle was running more than throwing and gotten back to back Super Bowls. But if you look at the standings today in the NFL, the bad teams, the one and three teams and the own four teams all have one thing in common. They're bad at quarterback. The quarterback plays not efficient. It's either the coachs the quarterback, but quarterback play is not good. There's about six or seven great quarterbacks in this league, you know who they are. Then there's probably seven or eight competent guys who were very good. Your dad, you'r Kirk Cousins, you're Garoppolo's very competent. After that, it's pretty slim pickings. And in the NBA, you have to be able to hit three pointers or you are not a title team. In baseball, six of the top seven baseball teams hit for power strikeouts don't matter anymore. You have to hit for power. In the NFL. You gotta be B to B plus at quarterback, and there are a lot of teams that aren't. And Tom Brady is seeing it, and I believe this is at the heart of the Gizelle Brady stuff. According to all the reports, he wants to play. She wants him out. And Tom is looking around this league and you heard his answer, it's a lot of bad football. And I'm still great and this roster is great. I think this is the heart of it. I've said before. If he was in the AFC on a bad team, a bad roster, like you know, you pick at Houston, he'd be gone. But Tom's looking around at this league and he realizes we're making a lot of coordinators, head coaches who aren't Denver. There's where quarterbacks get drafted. We rush him onto the field. They have to play now, justin fields they're probably not ready. There is a lot of shape key quarterback play. And Brady's looking at it, thinking retire from this. It's like I said yesterday, if somebody told step he had to retire, and he's like, we just want a championship. I'm averaging twenty seven a game. I'm still the best shooter and passer arguably in the game. So that was Brady could have taken a very very safe political answer, and I think he's telling you at his heart why there's some dysfunction in his life or some facures. It's a lot of bad football. We're playing really good football here. Hi, this is Jay Glazer. And you may know me for the world of football or fighting or even shows like HBO's Ballers. Well you don't know is for my entire life. I have lived in something I refer to as the Great Depression anxiety. So now I'm coming out with a new podcast, Unbreakable, a mental health podcast with Jay Glazer, where each week, well we talk about mental health. I hope to describe it, give it words. Listen to Unbreakable with Jay Glazer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Steve Berlin seventeen years in the NFL, a Pro Bowl as well. He's been around this game for a long time. Was on that Cowboy team in ninety two that won a championship. So let's talk Ross. I'm a RUSS fan. I do think quarterbacks that move and are mobile, tend to have shorter careers and new road more quickly. I don't think he's washed. Do you think Russell is? You know, I don't. I agree with you, Colin. I think that this situation will rectify itself here to some extent. You know, I really felt that Russell's play had fallen off the last couple of years, and that, as you said, the mobility part of it that does I agree with you, tend to shorten careers. But I still think he's got some gas in the tank and some juice left, and it will show itself. I do think he's pressing right now. I think that he and Nathaniel Hackett are going through some growing veins. He's missing opportunities to make play as we saw in that last play last night. You know. The bottom line, though, is that he knows and he understands he's got to play better. I think he will get better as a year goes along. And how good that'll be, I don't know, but I do think he'll get his level of play at a higher level as we go along here. By the way, Brady struggled early, but Brady brought Gronkin and the Bucks had a much better offensive line and he was still seven and five. We forget this. He and arians as you know, Steve, they really battled until they had a bye week. Now they had a Mike Evans, an established pro Chris Godwin, he brought Gronkin and their old line was better. But I think sometimes people forget that Brady thing was rocky. He forgot what down it was in Chicago. He was barking at his old lineman. Do you think one of the things that bothers me when I watched this offense they never moved the pocket? That bothers me? What do you see schematically? Is anything that you think they could do well? I think, first off, one of the things that you didn't touch on, and I think is going to be a huge challenge for them moving forward. The loss of Javontay Williams is going to be massive for them because I think rusts the play action and the first and second down passing in run situations, whether you're moving the pocket or just giving that hard stretch play play action where it forces those linebackers and safeties to stay could take a step up, and that gives the quarterback a chance to push the ball down the field a little bit. He's going to be missing that because they Melvin Gordon still can play, but he's not Javontay Williams. He doesn't scare a defense like Javontay Williams does, so that's going to be a factor. But I think you've got to get really, really creative with a quarterback like Russell Wilson, and it's a getting to know you process. Nathaniel Hackett, even though he studied Russell Wilson, I'm sure a lot over this offseason especially, they still have to figure out where he's most comfortable, where he's most effective and most efficient, and find those opportunities, create those opportunities for him. I do think guys like Courtland Sutton and Jerry Judy and Hambler, those are really good young receivers that will flourish as Russell Wilson gets more comfortable in this offense and Nathaniel Hackett learns how to use Russell in better ways. You know, I talked to Joe Burrow this week. We watched two of his hands fenced at freaked people out. It should We saw a player last night for the Colts or running back he wobbled. They should take him out for a week. I'm for that completely, maybe two weeks. Go back to your career, Burrow told me there's been second halfs where he didn't remember everything. Seventeen years, Steve, you got pop more than once. What was your level? Did you forget plays? Was it fuzzy? Did it? Did it you have lasting effects after seventeen years. Many times throughout the course of my career, for sure, and this is obviously back before the concussion protocol was anything close to what it is today. But there were several times where a coach the day after watching film would ask me what I was thinking on a certain play and I literally would say I don't remember that play, I don't remember that series, and that it ended up being something that they would laugh off and say, oh, yeah, you know that's right. You got your bill wrong the day before or the play before. So that makes sense. But one real quick example too, when lou Holtz first came to Notre Dame, I got absolutely drilled by Cornelius, been in on a bootleg and I came over the sidelines. They cleared me to play another series. I went out there, didn't go very well. I came to the sideline and Lou said, I'm gonna I'm gonna take you out. Son, You're done for the day. And I said, Coach, I'm fine, is let me get the cobwebs out and he said, well, Son, you may think you're okay, but you're calling plays from your high school playbook if we don't know those plays, so you're done for the day. Yeah. No, I do think Steve, you can't hit it, Ota, you can't tackle the helmets are there's no shot. There's objections. I do think the game is safer, but I also think athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, and more punitive. So I think it. Listen, the NFL is trying to make it safer. There is a level of regulated violence that exists, right Like you knew the risk, no doubt, and that's going to always be that way. There is going to be risk. It's part of the game. I think the awareness, though, continues to improve. The paranoia to a certain extent that now has been created, especially through this to a situation, will end up being long term more healthy for the players. And I think one of the other things that is really really key here, and I'm involved with one company that's kind of pushing forward with this is that the technology will continue to improve and the things that are going on really behind the scenes technologically will make a difference as well. And those are really key developments that have to continue. I said going into the year, Aaron was going to have to pivot to be a more patient Aaron Rodgers. He's got two rookie receivers. Alan Lazard's more of a three. This has to work or this is not a championship team. Now. Romeo Dobbs had a couple of drops last week, and Aaron did go back to him later. Take me to your career. The frustration sometimes, Steve that you would know the offense here comes some kids they don't, but you need him. Is that a tough relationship for a veteran quarterback. It really shouldn't be. And that's that's I think that's on Aaron Rodgers. And we all love Aaron Rodgers and what he can do with the football in his hand, but it really shouldn't be. There is going to be a curve, a growing curve. I can give you an example, Mussin Muhammad when he came in with the Carolina Panthers, he was a rookie. Uh you know, he had the same kind of issues. We knew that this kid was incredibly talented, was going to be a great player, but he had to fight through the growing pains and learn how to play at this level and learn how important every single play was that those drops, you can't just shake him off and move past him. You have to eliminate those, especially in the key situations. But you stay with him. And my mentality always was build these guys up, keep telling them you're gonna come back to him. I'm counting on you still. You're gonna come back and make a play for me later. I'm not going to go from my read. If my read takes me to you, I'm coming back to you because we have to make that play if we want to win the game. So that's some mentality I think Aaron Rodgers has to have as well. These are gonna be guys that are gonna win games for him down the stretch. He's got to keep going back to him and get him through this little early stage learning developmental period. Listen, there's one thing to be a backup in the league. There's another thing to be a backup for America's team. Your takeaway on what you've seen from Cooper Rush. I love what he's doing. It really reminds me of myself, and going back to a nineteen ninety one when Troy Aateman got hurt, I came in and I hadn't late in about a year and a half after my time with Al Davis and the Raiders in Los Angeles. But I got a chance to play and went five games in a row without losing, including a playoff game in Chicago, And there were guys like Skip Bayliss out there that we're trying to create a quarterback controversy in Dallas at that time, same exact situation as what is going on right now. But I think Cooper understands as I did at the time, that this really is another guy's team. My opportunity is going to come somewhere else. But for me, it was Troy Aikman. For Cooper, it's Dak Prescott. Cooper's doing a phenomenal job managing all this stuff, but he knows his job is just to do the best he can do right now, find a way to win games, and then turn it over to Dak when Dak's ready to go. How did Aikman handle it? He didn't like it. He did not like it at all, and it was really tough. I mean, Jimmy Johnson had some tough decisions to make, and it's documented in some of the books about that period where I really wanted to come back in, but Jimmy said basically, hey, Troy, you know we were six and five with you, We're four and old with this guy. We're going with this guy. So it ended up working out for both of us. I got a chance to go to Arizona as a free agent and Troy we will want a super Bowl the next year with Troy. Yeah. Great seeing you love your stories today, Steve, Steve Berlin, thank you so much. All right, Colin, take care, all right? 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'd like. Let's blaze it up, Fired Up, It's Collins Blazon five Lion said Patriots Patriots minus three and a half. I think they win and cover. Bailey Zappy first game ten for fifteen, passer rating of one oh seven on the road. Now he comes home against the Detroit team that is not only the worst defense in the NFL, it is the worst defense by a mile. They've all out nineteen touchdowns this year. Next closest is thirteen. Jared Goff has never won a road game with the Lions. They're missing their top running back and star receiver. They are the worst defensive team in the league by a mile in the last three years. Patriots control the clock, run the ball, cover the spread. New England twenty eight, twenty four Chargers. It I'm taking Cleveland at home plus two and a half to win outright. Listen, the Browns are top ten in rushing off a scoring offense and total offense this year, and they're not giving the ball up. Number two rushing team in the league. They've been fine offensively, they'd actually been pretty good, and the Chargers have the worst rushing offense in the league and one of the worst rushing defenses. They still miss their left tackle for the year, Keenan Allen. They're not healthy. Cleveland's going to control the clock. Jacobe Brissette by the way at home again. Marginal quarterbacks at home are different. Goff's great at home. Brissette at homes completing seventy one percent of bit strawers. Cleveland wins this game outright controls the game, controls the clock. Twenty eight twenty three Steelers and Bills. Steelers plus fourteen is the side Buffalo wins. But Mike Tomlin's one of the great underdog coaches. Ever. They still have ten sacks and eight takeaways this year. The Steelers offense under Trabisky was a pop gun offense, a water pistol, but pick it five drives two touchdowns the Bills over the story. Back to back tough physical road games at Miami at the Ravens. They're still banged up. They still give the ball away seven times this year. And and for the record, they're not healthy in the secondary. They're not healthy up front. Back to back road, tough physical games. Fourteen points to a Mike Tomlin team, way too much. I'm gonna go Steelers cover, Bills win. Twenty eight seventeen Cowboys and Rams Rams minus five and a half went back and forth. I'm taking LA. Here's why Sean McVay, like Belichick, is a great win after losing coach eighteen and seven after a loss by the way, Stafford's not great, but he's completing seventy one percent of his throws. The Cowboys have six offensive touchdowns all year. That's it. They're not scoring. Their offense this year is twenty seven, twenty six, thirtieth or last and everything that matters. And you can run on this Cowboy team. The Rams lost, they were embarrassed. They'll come back, they'll play well. They're at home. Cowboys don't have enough smoke to win this thing on the road. Rams win it and cover twenty eight twenty Bengals and Ravens well, the Ravens had led for almost the entire season. They've trailed for nine minutes all year. They have the most takeaways in the league. And the Bengals, as you know, can give it up. They have the number three scoring offense this season with Lamar Jackson. They've just lost a couple of close games late. The Bengals aren't able to run the so they won't be able to play keep away from Lamar Jackson. Burrows also been sacked sixteen times, second most in the league. I think Cincinnati's a good team, but Baltimore, I think has the chance to be a great team this year. And they've led for all but nine minutes and their losses are to. You know, Miami and Buffalo pretty good teams. I think the Ravens win, I think they cover. I think it's a fantastic game, probably the best game of the week, thirty twenty four Ravens. So there you go, my blazing five. I like some favorites this week. The Rams and the Ravens are favorites. I like them, but and the Patriots. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Easter nine Ampacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. I've said this ad nauseum, like everything on the internet's about being cool and right. The smartest people on the Internet are anonymous trolls. They're never wrong. It's just remarkable. And you know, everybody's cool on the internet. Johnny Manziel was beloved, but nobody likes Steph Curry because he were and nobody likes Russell Wilson. So I'm gonna play this bite again, and I just think it's interesting. Um, when you're winning, this doesn't bother people. And nine percent of this I love. But at the end, this bite has the Internet in an uproar. Go ahead, and I'm looking forward to to turning it around. I'm looking forward to turn around because when we when we do, UM, it's going to be a special story. I'm looking forward to the challenge of it all. I'm looking forward to the to the adversity of it all and to the negativity of it all and everything else because UM, just use that for fuel and opportunity. And when we do, this is gonna be an exciting time because there's a lot of great guys in that locker room that worked their butts off every day, UM and UH. And just to have the opportunity to help leave them. Even though I didn't get to do it tonight the right way I wanted to in that way I know how to. UM. You know, I'm grateful for them battling for every moment, every play, and they kept believing to the last play, and that belief is a powerful thing, and that's what I'm gonna keep believing him. Thank you, guys, Thank you guys. Franco's country. That last two seconds just crushes him, right. I will say this. It doesn't bother me at all, But you know, I'm not cool. I think being corny and cringey is way easier when you're winning and you don't set the culture. But they're losing. They've been losing for years. He's now part of the rebuild. I always said this about Kawhi Leonard. Now he's He and Russ are totally different guys. Kawhi Leonard is great to add to a culture. San Antonio had a good culture. They add him, get a bucket, get a stop guy. Title Toronto had a terrific culture. They add him, get a bucket, get a stop boom. But at the Clippers they wanted him to build the culture. He's nonverbal, he's odd. Kawhi is not to build your culture around guy. He's just a great player. Like Kevin Durant's a prime example. Kevin Grant's a great player, but they've built the warrior culture around Steph k d comes in Jannis. You build a culture around Lebron d Wade, Kobe, MJ. Magic, there are Doctor J, there are players. The personality is you build a culture around them. We see it in the NBA all the time. I don't I'm not saying you couldn't build it around Russ, but that like eternally optimistic stuff. When you're winning, it's defense. It's Pete in Seattle. He didn't build a culture, he jumped onto it. He was a He was a backseat passenger in the culture car. Now he's at the steering wheel and I got young receivers like kJ Hamdler's done nothing in the league at twenty three. He's calling him out. So that's telling you if he's calling him out, are other guys in the room bailing on him? I don't know the answer. Do you think him wearing the shoulder pads and the full on jersey and stuff. We don't see that a lot from athletes. Usually they shower decompressed, their dressed nicely. Do you think that adds to it? He's like wearing his jersey like he's some big guyant. It doesn't bother me. But when I see a twenty three year old who's done nothing calling him out, you know the hysterics. Yeah, he's not happy at all, But he don't see anybody doing that the Peyton manning. You don't see guys doing that for a lot of quarterbacks in this league. Some twenty three year old who's done nothing in the league in two years is throwing helmets and blast them after games. He must feel comfortable doing that. So that tells me he doesn't respect his coach or Russell. You wouldn't do that with Brady or Manning in their prime. Nobody's doing that. But with Peyton, nobody's doing that. With Herbert, Joey Burrow, Lamar, they're not doing that. That's like, dude, you're twenty three, You've done nothing in this league. That guy's won super Bowls or a super Bowl. I don't know. It just feels now you're driving the culture. What is the culture of the Denver Broncos like we do Pittsburgh Steelers like hard hat. Denver doesn't have one. He's building it. But in c Adley wasn't asked to build it. He was the backseat passenger to it. In the end, he took the reins on it. But now it's his car, and it's that's a you're that's a big asked for a guy who to a lot of players. We heard this in Seattle, Pete Carroll, Richard Sherman. There were eye rolls with him. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd week dayson noon Easter not a Empacific. You know, there's an old saying in professional sports, especially football, when you start talking retirement, You're already retired in your head. Probably is true. Aaron Rodgers this week, once again talking to the media about retirement. He's got a couple of young receivers. They're off to a good start, but he's been frustrated. He said, the way they're winning his words, not mine, unsustainable, though I do agree. Here's Aaron talking about his future. He brings up retirement a lot. Why here it is again there's going to be a lot of benefits to be reaped from those guys. So I'm sure long after I'm gone, those guys that have an opportunity to be here and play. Look, my decision, when it comes down to it, will be obviously the physical part, the mental part. Seeing where the team is at. There's some moving pieces, but you know that a factor for sure, if but seeing the development of those guys, you know, can't help but be a part of the decision. I don't think he's going to retire for a couple of reasons. One is he likes to flex, he likes power, and he has it. If he retired after this season, it would be a forty million dollar dead cap hit. Green Bay would be toast for a couple of years now he would give up some money, but he's made over three hundred million dollars, so I don't think it's that big of a deal. Plus he's not like he's spending a lot in his house in Green Bay. He's been good with his money. But the reason he keeps, in my opinion, keeps discussing retirement. I think he's a bit of an ethereal personality and the other thing he likes to flex. He's shown that on more than one occasion. He can be kind of fixated on power and leverage, and he has it here. But he's also smart. Chicago offensively right now, is lost. Detroit's got the worst offensive roster by a mile in the league. Minnesota has Kirk Cousins. Eventually, you have to win games in prime time if you're a threat to the Packers. And the bottom of the NFC is absolutely awful. Atlanta, Seattle, Carolinas, Saints, Giants, Washington. We may put Arizona in there. The roadblocks, even the roadblocks in the NFC to get to a Super Bowl are tenuous. Brady's old. How long does he stay to the Niners? Stickwood Garoppolo, can he stay healthy? Jalen Hurts has played one playoff game and he trailed at one point thirty one. Nothing. I like Stafford and McVeagh, but he's had armed troubles and right now they got roster issues. He is too smart to retire. He's a little petty. He likes his power, he likes bringing it up, and he likes to flex, and he has a ton of power. This is a completely one sided relationship. I could make the argument that he would stay for one more year, which would be the remainder of the Jordan Love contract, just to prove you guys. Never played him once in a big game where I was available. They played him against Kansas City. Aaron wasn't available. But I don't think he's retired. I think he's too smart. I think you retire when life gets harder. You don't retire when life is easier. And that's where it is right now.

Thanks for listening to the Best of Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowhern on Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Friday, live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one one hour from now. I Love the Picks, Blazing five. Looking for a rebound week. We're above five hundred, feel very good. We have a couple of stories today, a piece of video on Draymond Green which j Mac will have in about twenty minutes, and we'll discussed that that's pretty violent, pretty ugly. But the Warriors are saying they're not suspending him. Why did it leak out? Will show that Jmax here. They say they're not suspending him for sucker punching a teammate. I mean, Colin, well, the teams control that, so you know, I'm a big fan of Russell Wilson probably the biggest supporter of from the Pacific Northwest, and listen, he's been very good for a long time. So this is a three pronged discussion on Russell Wilson. Let's start with number one. The Seahawks. Okay, don't tell me. Seattle playoffs eight of the ten years with Russell is better without him. They got blown out by the Niners this year. They got beat by Atlanta at home. They're a touchdown underdog to the Saints. They have a fourth place roster and Geno Smith at quarterback. By the way, the last five years, the Seahawks have had a declining, awful defense, battle lines mocked by the analytics community, and the defense has gotten worse. O line drafting. Last year is their first good draft, arguably in seven years. This has been a declining organization O line defense. Analytically, oh, I mean drafting everything. They literally pay a fortune. They traded two first round picks for a safety, Jamal Adams, who can't stay healthy. So spare me on the Seattle's way better without him. It's a five win team that couldn't beat Atlanta and won't beat the Saints. The second part of the discussion. Well, I mean, listen, if you had Aaron Rodgers even with Nathaniel Hackett. Okay, let's go to the last one and a half years with Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy in Green Bay. Aaron was eleven wins, sixteen losses in a tie. Aaron couldn't win with Mike McCarthy as that relationship eroded. I watched this Denver offense. They never roll Russell Wilson out. It's stationary, it's static in the pocket, there's no motion, there's no variation. Situationally, they're a disaster. Third downs a disaster. They're getting yards, but like red zone, worst team in the league, third down disastrous. That's where coaching comes in situational football. That's how you described the Patriots for twenty years. They didn't have the most talent, they were the best situational football team. Situationally, this team is bad. And I would say Russell Wilson was very good situationally for most of his career in Seattle. Now he's suddenly terrible. Seventy percent of coordinators who are hired bomb, not just fail bomb. Okay, so don't tell me Seattle's better. And and and don't tell me Nathaniel Hackett, even if he was bad, Russell should overcome him. Something else that needs to be said. Washed. I saw washed with big band member when Big Ben rolled out in Pittsburgh and fell down. I mean literally, Jaymaxis laughed. That's washed. Peyton mannings last year like you lose all velocity, Jay Cutler at the end, somethink Baker. Now, I've seen Russell Wilson seven eight times this year takeoff and run. He still moves very well. He's very reluctant to do it, but he moves very well. So of the third thing, spare me on. Seattle's got it all figured out. Spare me on. The coach knows what he's doing. But let's talk Russell Wilson. Let's really examine him. And I know you all think I'm a homer. So the last four years in Seattle, let's go look at what he was. Oh wait, his passer rating average one oh six four to one touchdown interception ratio with a defensive head coach, a fired offensive coordinator, in a bad line, and he completed sixty six percent of his throws. That ain't washed. That ain't washed, But but but but but and this is where the haters have a point. His deep ball, his velocity on it, and his accuracy is shot. From what I can tell, is he doing too many commercials that he put on weight. His number two pitch was always the deep ball. His number one pitch was always his mobility. But the second thing he did, and he did it as well as anybody, was that picturesque, elegant, beautiful, perfectly touched deep ball the rainbow. If Kershaw lost his curve, he's not Kershaw. If Russell Wilson is reluctant to run, he appears to be because he can still run. I've seen it, and he's lost his velocity, accuracy and touch on the deep ball. He's not the same player on throws over twenty yards. The data screams Seattle one hundred six, passer rating, Denver high seventies. Even the Jerry Judy play was underthrown. And I think what you're seeing with him, and I don't know if it's solvable. And that's a very fair criticism. He can run. I've seen it. I saw it last year, I've seen it this year. He just doesn't want to. That could be psychological. He's trying to prove a point, as Mark Slayer said yesterday, but on the stuff over twenty twenty five yards, it ain't happening, and that was his out pitch. He was a killer on that thing. I mean there, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman highlights for years him just beaten teams at the end with that. Is it gone because it's not good? I mean, it is bad, And I think what's happening. He's thinking too much and pressing too much, because statistically they had four hundred yards, two hundred and fifty yards passing, six yards of pass play, lots of time of possession, but once again oh and four in the red zone and two for fifteen on third down. That is the space where you get great coaching helps and instinctive greatness seals the deal. Lamar, Josh Allen, Mahalmes, Brady, the greats, they're not thinking about it, They're instinctively doing what they do. He is pressing, he is thinking, he's not anticipating, he's not ahead of the play, he's behind it. That I can't argue. In fact. Jeremy Fowler, excellent reporter ESPN. He went over for six last night in the red zone passing. He's two for eighteen red zone passing this year. So the criticisms on the washed, I don't see it. The last four years I gave you his numbers that ain't washed. That's not how big Ben ended or Peyton Manning or Jay Cutler or Baker. Right now I've seen washed. He may not be as quick as he was four years ago. It's not washed. Did he that broken finger? Did it? Never heald? He came back too fast? Did he reinjure it? You know, hey, I criticized Baker for this. Brussel Wilson's on thirty commercials? Is he not paying attention to business? These are young receivers. He's a veteran guy, tends to be really, really optimistic. Does he have no relationship with these receivers? Are the routes not good and you have a coach that can't coach him up? I don't know, but that criticism is totally absolutely fair. Anything over twenty yards he's late, it's off, it's underthrown. He lacks velocity, and maybe it's over now. He's obsessive about his body. I doubt it. I have stats and data that don't prove it. But let's go to the top. Don't tell me Seattle's got it figured out. Don't tell me Hackett's not out of the problem. And I don't want to hear he's washed. I've seen too much even in this awful stretch. Never forget Peyton Manning went to Denver first five games, two and three. Then he exploded Russell Wilson's two and three. And he's a highly committed, obsessed athlete. So I do think there is some light at the end of the tunnel. But right now, especially in the social media world, it becomes an avalanche. Everybody piles on it is ug lee and anything over the top. Man, if you can't burn people over the top, guess what. Defenses start pinning their ears back and coming downhill. And if you can't score situationally zone, you're a field goal team. You're a six seven win team in this league, Max, even with that defense. Here's Russ after It's very simple. I think, at the end of the day, I gotta be better. I gotta play better. This team. You know, this defense played their butts off tonight. We had some key good drives. We moved the ball, you know in the red zone. We just he didn't get to capitalize on some of them. You know, we were third and long again too too much. You know, that's always tough on offense, you know, and everything else when you're third and fifteen, third and seventeen, this and that and then the end of the day, you know, throwing two interceptions can't happen. Can't happen. Um, you know, I'll let the team down tonight and for the good thing is one thing I know about myself is I'm gonna respond. I don't know any other way, By the way, not just two interceptions. One was like as bad a pick as he's ever thrown. And the other one you can't make as a betterand receiver, like this throw right here. He's behind the play. He's simple, that's behind. It's not accurate, he's behind. There's too much thinking. He made some good throws. He had a touchdown to a tight end that got knocked away. But those deep balls, those were money. Those were magical. It's a mess and that is undeniable. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Russell Wilson pretty bad last night, especially a third down, especially red zone. You know, things can change quickly. If that tight end catches the ball in the end zone, we may see it differently. If he hits a hammler in the end zone late, we may see it differently. He didn't. He ends up with the yards, but bad situationally, So Sean Payton was on not it was it this week? Yeah, it was this week. Smart offensive guy. And I said, what would you do to solve this riddle in Denver right now? If you were the guy, I'd want to cut up of all Russells past plays of thirty or more yards from the field, and I'd want to see are there some schemes that he felt very comfortable with, Like I know that they did a great job in Seattle of bringing him off of a naked boot. Then I'd want to look at another film of his red zone touchdown passes inside the twenty. And so what I'm asking for from assistance is I'm asking for some of his greatest hits and to make sure that we have those song lyrics available and let's put him in all right, So Russell's not going anywhere five years, two hundred and forty seven million dollars. So let's take a deep breath. We live in a time where outrage avalanches, nobody has nuance, so let's admit the first month is way worse than we thought. It's a rookie head coach that could be over his head. It's a tough division, and Russell looks tight and on deep balls absolutely off. But number one, you still have a lot of pieces. That's why Russell was attracted to it. Legit pass rush, excellent corner, great young safety, some decent speed at wide receiver. There is talent on this roster, indisputably. Number two, you still have Russell Wilson, who's dedicated, obsessed, positive, lots of experience, but in big games, those are great. Never forget Matt Stafford. We all remember last year, don't We had a three game stretch. He was oh and three against playoff teams, mostly awful, a bevy of pick sixes, and his passer rating was in the mid seventies. He had a horrible month. Tom Brady year one through twelve game was seven and five through twelve games, forgot what down it was in Chicago, was barking at teammates, couldn't figure out Arians. He wanted short underneath an efficient, Arians wanted over the top. Eventually, Bruce got canned recently, but that was an ugly start. Peyton Manning two and three through his first five in Denver. Now that exploded and I don't expect that. But we're in social media. People jump on things. It gets very cringey in his commercials. I totally get it, but you know it's you know, there was a moment I want to play a Russell Wilson bite. By the way, this is classic social media. Ninety eight percent of this I love. And then he says something at the end. Everybody's like, WHOA, don't like it? Not good cringey, but but play the by This is what you want your quarterback saying taking the heat off of bad performance. Here it is. I'm looking forward to to turning it around. I'm looking forward to turn around because when we when we do, it's going to be a special story. I'm looking forward to the challenge of it all. I'm looking forward to the to the adversity of it all and to the negativity of it all and everything else, because um just use that for fuel and opportunity. And when we do. This is gonna be an exciting time because there's a lot of great guys in that locker room that worked their butts off every day and and just to have the opportunity to help leave them. Even though I didn't get to do it tonight the right way I wanted to in that way I know how to. Um. You know, I'm grateful for them battling for every moment, every play, and they kept believing to the last play. And yeah, belief is a powerful thing. And that's what I'm gonna keep believing in. Thank you guys, Thank you guys. Some Bronco's country, right, Okay said, Let's ride Broncos Country. Let's ride. Ninety nine percent of that is exactly what I want. Remember, the Internet loves cool. The Internet loved Cam love Johnny Manziel, loved Baker. They don't like Steph Curry as much, or Yannis sometimes or Russell. They're not cool. The Internet's obsessed with cool. It's a little corny. Let it ride. I'm okay with it. But nine percent of that is what I want. He's not snarky, he's not arrogant, he's not defeated, he's not desperate. Yes, sometimes. You know there's a Kirk Cousins quality. Tebow had this a self belief, eternal optimism. You know that didn't really cool in twenty twenty two. But I mean that's the Internet. The Internet's obsessed with being cool. Russell's not cool. He's got like seven different looks. But that's what I want my quarterback to say, own it, not be desperate, lean in, I love my guys, can't wait to prove the doubters wrong. It's exactly what I want from my quarterback. Sorry, it's not cool. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine a Empacific. You know, when Brady went from New England to Tampa, a lot of people said, oh, I like Tom's new personality because Tom was like letting it fly, Tom, let it rip, Tom Brudeley on as Tom, authentic Tom drinking too much at the Super Bowl party. Tom. It was a new Tom. I thought he was really honest. Yesterday people were asking him about the parody in the NFL. He could have given a very political answer. He could have been nice guy Tom when asked about the parody in the league, and instead Tom went here, I think there's a lot of bad football from what I watch. You know, I watch a lot of bad football out of it it. Yeah, poor quality of football, that's what I see. That's about as brutally honest as you can beat. Now, we do know this that there's one way to win in the NFL. Now, you got to score. Ten to twelve years ago, Seattle was running more than throwing and gotten back to back Super Bowls. But if you look at the standings today in the NFL, the bad teams, the one and three teams and the own four teams all have one thing in common. They're bad at quarterback. The quarterback plays not efficient. It's either the coachs the quarterback, but quarterback play is not good. There's about six or seven great quarterbacks in this league, you know who they are. Then there's probably seven or eight competent guys who were very good. Your dad, you'r Kirk Cousins, you're Garoppolo's very competent. After that, it's pretty slim pickings. And in the NBA, you have to be able to hit three pointers or you are not a title team. In baseball, six of the top seven baseball teams hit for power strikeouts don't matter anymore. You have to hit for power. In the NFL. You gotta be B to B plus at quarterback, and there are a lot of teams that aren't. And Tom Brady is seeing it, and I believe this is at the heart of the Gizelle Brady stuff. According to all the reports, he wants to play. She wants him out. And Tom is looking around this league and you heard his answer, it's a lot of bad football. And I'm still great and this roster is great. I think this is the heart of it. I've said before. If he was in the AFC on a bad team, a bad roster, like you know, you pick at Houston, he'd be gone. But Tom's looking around at this league and he realizes we're making a lot of coordinators, head coaches who aren't Denver. There's where quarterbacks get drafted. We rush him onto the field. They have to play now, justin fields they're probably not ready. There is a lot of shape key quarterback play. And Brady's looking at it, thinking retire from this. It's like I said yesterday, if somebody told step he had to retire, and he's like, we just want a championship. I'm averaging twenty seven a game. I'm still the best shooter and passer arguably in the game. So that was Brady could have taken a very very safe political answer, and I think he's telling you at his heart why there's some dysfunction in his life or some facures. It's a lot of bad football. We're playing really good football here. Hi, this is Jay Glazer. And you may know me for the world of football or fighting or even shows like HBO's Ballers. Well you don't know is for my entire life. I have lived in something I refer to as the Great Depression anxiety. So now I'm coming out with a new podcast, Unbreakable, a mental health podcast with Jay Glazer, where each week, well we talk about mental health. I hope to describe it, give it words. Listen to Unbreakable with Jay Glazer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Steve Berlin seventeen years in the NFL, a Pro Bowl as well. He's been around this game for a long time. Was on that Cowboy team in ninety two that won a championship. So let's talk Ross. I'm a RUSS fan. I do think quarterbacks that move and are mobile, tend to have shorter careers and new road more quickly. I don't think he's washed. Do you think Russell is? You know, I don't. I agree with you, Colin. I think that this situation will rectify itself here to some extent. You know, I really felt that Russell's play had fallen off the last couple of years, and that, as you said, the mobility part of it that does I agree with you, tend to shorten careers. But I still think he's got some gas in the tank and some juice left, and it will show itself. I do think he's pressing right now. I think that he and Nathaniel Hackett are going through some growing veins. He's missing opportunities to make play as we saw in that last play last night. You know. The bottom line, though, is that he knows and he understands he's got to play better. I think he will get better as a year goes along. And how good that'll be, I don't know, but I do think he'll get his level of play at a higher level as we go along here. By the way, Brady struggled early, but Brady brought Gronkin and the Bucks had a much better offensive line and he was still seven and five. We forget this. He and arians as you know, Steve, they really battled until they had a bye week. Now they had a Mike Evans, an established pro Chris Godwin, he brought Gronkin and their old line was better. But I think sometimes people forget that Brady thing was rocky. He forgot what down it was in Chicago. He was barking at his old lineman. Do you think one of the things that bothers me when I watched this offense they never moved the pocket? That bothers me? What do you see schematically? Is anything that you think they could do well? I think, first off, one of the things that you didn't touch on, and I think is going to be a huge challenge for them moving forward. The loss of Javontay Williams is going to be massive for them because I think rusts the play action and the first and second down passing in run situations, whether you're moving the pocket or just giving that hard stretch play play action where it forces those linebackers and safeties to stay could take a step up, and that gives the quarterback a chance to push the ball down the field a little bit. He's going to be missing that because they Melvin Gordon still can play, but he's not Javontay Williams. He doesn't scare a defense like Javontay Williams does, so that's going to be a factor. But I think you've got to get really, really creative with a quarterback like Russell Wilson, and it's a getting to know you process. Nathaniel Hackett, even though he studied Russell Wilson, I'm sure a lot over this offseason especially, they still have to figure out where he's most comfortable, where he's most effective and most efficient, and find those opportunities, create those opportunities for him. I do think guys like Courtland Sutton and Jerry Judy and Hambler, those are really good young receivers that will flourish as Russell Wilson gets more comfortable in this offense and Nathaniel Hackett learns how to use Russell in better ways. You know, I talked to Joe Burrow this week. We watched two of his hands fenced at freaked people out. It should We saw a player last night for the Colts or running back he wobbled. They should take him out for a week. I'm for that completely, maybe two weeks. Go back to your career, Burrow told me there's been second halfs where he didn't remember everything. Seventeen years, Steve, you got pop more than once. What was your level? Did you forget plays? Was it fuzzy? Did it? Did it you have lasting effects after seventeen years. Many times throughout the course of my career, for sure, and this is obviously back before the concussion protocol was anything close to what it is today. But there were several times where a coach the day after watching film would ask me what I was thinking on a certain play and I literally would say I don't remember that play, I don't remember that series, and that it ended up being something that they would laugh off and say, oh, yeah, you know that's right. You got your bill wrong the day before or the play before. So that makes sense. But one real quick example too, when lou Holtz first came to Notre Dame, I got absolutely drilled by Cornelius, been in on a bootleg and I came over the sidelines. They cleared me to play another series. I went out there, didn't go very well. I came to the sideline and Lou said, I'm gonna I'm gonna take you out. Son, You're done for the day. And I said, Coach, I'm fine, is let me get the cobwebs out and he said, well, Son, you may think you're okay, but you're calling plays from your high school playbook if we don't know those plays, so you're done for the day. Yeah. No, I do think Steve, you can't hit it, Ota, you can't tackle the helmets are there's no shot. There's objections. I do think the game is safer, but I also think athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, and more punitive. So I think it. Listen, the NFL is trying to make it safer. There is a level of regulated violence that exists, right Like you knew the risk, no doubt, and that's going to always be that way. There is going to be risk. It's part of the game. I think the awareness, though, continues to improve. The paranoia to a certain extent that now has been created, especially through this to a situation, will end up being long term more healthy for the players. And I think one of the other things that is really really key here, and I'm involved with one company that's kind of pushing forward with this is that the technology will continue to improve and the things that are going on really behind the scenes technologically will make a difference as well. And those are really key developments that have to continue. I said going into the year, Aaron was going to have to pivot to be a more patient Aaron Rodgers. He's got two rookie receivers. Alan Lazard's more of a three. This has to work or this is not a championship team. Now. Romeo Dobbs had a couple of drops last week, and Aaron did go back to him later. Take me to your career. The frustration sometimes, Steve that you would know the offense here comes some kids they don't, but you need him. Is that a tough relationship for a veteran quarterback. It really shouldn't be. And that's that's I think that's on Aaron Rodgers. And we all love Aaron Rodgers and what he can do with the football in his hand, but it really shouldn't be. There is going to be a curve, a growing curve. I can give you an example, Mussin Muhammad when he came in with the Carolina Panthers, he was a rookie. Uh you know, he had the same kind of issues. We knew that this kid was incredibly talented, was going to be a great player, but he had to fight through the growing pains and learn how to play at this level and learn how important every single play was that those drops, you can't just shake him off and move past him. You have to eliminate those, especially in the key situations. But you stay with him. And my mentality always was build these guys up, keep telling them you're gonna come back to him. I'm counting on you still. You're gonna come back and make a play for me later. I'm not going to go from my read. If my read takes me to you, I'm coming back to you because we have to make that play if we want to win the game. So that's some mentality I think Aaron Rodgers has to have as well. These are gonna be guys that are gonna win games for him down the stretch. He's got to keep going back to him and get him through this little early stage learning developmental period. Listen, there's one thing to be a backup in the league. There's another thing to be a backup for America's team. Your takeaway on what you've seen from Cooper Rush. I love what he's doing. It really reminds me of myself, and going back to a nineteen ninety one when Troy Aateman got hurt, I came in and I hadn't late in about a year and a half after my time with Al Davis and the Raiders in Los Angeles. But I got a chance to play and went five games in a row without losing, including a playoff game in Chicago, And there were guys like Skip Bayliss out there that we're trying to create a quarterback controversy in Dallas at that time, same exact situation as what is going on right now. But I think Cooper understands as I did at the time, that this really is another guy's team. My opportunity is going to come somewhere else. But for me, it was Troy Aikman. For Cooper, it's Dak Prescott. Cooper's doing a phenomenal job managing all this stuff, but he knows his job is just to do the best he can do right now, find a way to win games, and then turn it over to Dak when Dak's ready to go. How did Aikman handle it? He didn't like it. He did not like it at all, and it was really tough. I mean, Jimmy Johnson had some tough decisions to make, and it's documented in some of the books about that period where I really wanted to come back in, but Jimmy said basically, hey, Troy, you know we were six and five with you, We're four and old with this guy. We're going with this guy. So it ended up working out for both of us. I got a chance to go to Arizona as a free agent and Troy we will want a super Bowl the next year with Troy. Yeah. Great seeing you love your stories today, Steve, Steve Berlin, thank you so much. All right, Colin, take care, all right? 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'd like. Let's blaze it up, Fired Up, It's Collins Blazon five Lion said Patriots Patriots minus three and a half. I think they win and cover. Bailey Zappy first game ten for fifteen, passer rating of one oh seven on the road. Now he comes home against the Detroit team that is not only the worst defense in the NFL, it is the worst defense by a mile. They've all out nineteen touchdowns this year. Next closest is thirteen. Jared Goff has never won a road game with the Lions. They're missing their top running back and star receiver. They are the worst defensive team in the league by a mile in the last three years. Patriots control the clock, run the ball, cover the spread. New England twenty eight, twenty four Chargers. It I'm taking Cleveland at home plus two and a half to win outright. Listen, the Browns are top ten in rushing off a scoring offense and total offense this year, and they're not giving the ball up. Number two rushing team in the league. They've been fine offensively, they'd actually been pretty good, and the Chargers have the worst rushing offense in the league and one of the worst rushing defenses. They still miss their left tackle for the year, Keenan Allen. They're not healthy. Cleveland's going to control the clock. Jacobe Brissette by the way at home again. Marginal quarterbacks at home are different. Goff's great at home. Brissette at homes completing seventy one percent of bit strawers. Cleveland wins this game outright controls the game, controls the clock. Twenty eight twenty three Steelers and Bills. Steelers plus fourteen is the side Buffalo wins. But Mike Tomlin's one of the great underdog coaches. Ever. They still have ten sacks and eight takeaways this year. The Steelers offense under Trabisky was a pop gun offense, a water pistol, but pick it five drives two touchdowns the Bills over the story. Back to back tough physical road games at Miami at the Ravens. They're still banged up. They still give the ball away seven times this year. And and for the record, they're not healthy in the secondary. They're not healthy up front. Back to back road, tough physical games. Fourteen points to a Mike Tomlin team, way too much. I'm gonna go Steelers cover, Bills win. Twenty eight seventeen Cowboys and Rams Rams minus five and a half went back and forth. I'm taking LA. Here's why Sean McVay, like Belichick, is a great win after losing coach eighteen and seven after a loss by the way, Stafford's not great, but he's completing seventy one percent of his throws. The Cowboys have six offensive touchdowns all year. That's it. They're not scoring. Their offense this year is twenty seven, twenty six, thirtieth or last and everything that matters. And you can run on this Cowboy team. The Rams lost, they were embarrassed. They'll come back, they'll play well. They're at home. Cowboys don't have enough smoke to win this thing on the road. Rams win it and cover twenty eight twenty Bengals and Ravens well, the Ravens had led for almost the entire season. They've trailed for nine minutes all year. They have the most takeaways in the league. And the Bengals, as you know, can give it up. They have the number three scoring offense this season with Lamar Jackson. They've just lost a couple of close games late. The Bengals aren't able to run the so they won't be able to play keep away from Lamar Jackson. Burrows also been sacked sixteen times, second most in the league. I think Cincinnati's a good team, but Baltimore, I think has the chance to be a great team this year. And they've led for all but nine minutes and their losses are to. You know, Miami and Buffalo pretty good teams. I think the Ravens win, I think they cover. I think it's a fantastic game, probably the best game of the week, thirty twenty four Ravens. So there you go, my blazing five. I like some favorites this week. The Rams and the Ravens are favorites. I like them, but and the Patriots. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Easter nine Ampacific on Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. I've said this ad nauseum, like everything on the internet's about being cool and right. The smartest people on the Internet are anonymous trolls. They're never wrong. It's just remarkable. And you know, everybody's cool on the internet. Johnny Manziel was beloved, but nobody likes Steph Curry because he were and nobody likes Russell Wilson. So I'm gonna play this bite again, and I just think it's interesting. Um, when you're winning, this doesn't bother people. And nine percent of this I love. But at the end, this bite has the Internet in an uproar. Go ahead, and I'm looking forward to to turning it around. I'm looking forward to turn around because when we when we do, UM, it's going to be a special story. I'm looking forward to the challenge of it all. I'm looking forward to the to the adversity of it all and to the negativity of it all and everything else because UM, just use that for fuel and opportunity. And when we do, this is gonna be an exciting time because there's a lot of great guys in that locker room that worked their butts off every day, UM and UH. And just to have the opportunity to help leave them. Even though I didn't get to do it tonight the right way I wanted to in that way I know how to. UM. You know, I'm grateful for them battling for every moment, every play, and they kept believing to the last play, and that belief is a powerful thing, and that's what I'm gonna keep believing him. Thank you, guys, Thank you guys. Franco's country. That last two seconds just crushes him, right. I will say this. It doesn't bother me at all, But you know, I'm not cool. I think being corny and cringey is way easier when you're winning and you don't set the culture. But they're losing. They've been losing for years. He's now part of the rebuild. I always said this about Kawhi Leonard. Now he's He and Russ are totally different guys. Kawhi Leonard is great to add to a culture. San Antonio had a good culture. They add him, get a bucket, get a stop guy. Title Toronto had a terrific culture. They add him, get a bucket, get a stop boom. But at the Clippers they wanted him to build the culture. He's nonverbal, he's odd. Kawhi is not to build your culture around guy. He's just a great player. Like Kevin Durant's a prime example. Kevin Grant's a great player, but they've built the warrior culture around Steph k d comes in Jannis. You build a culture around Lebron d Wade, Kobe, MJ. Magic, there are Doctor J, there are players. The personality is you build a culture around them. We see it in the NBA all the time. I don't I'm not saying you couldn't build it around Russ, but that like eternally optimistic stuff. When you're winning, it's defense. It's Pete in Seattle. He didn't build a culture, he jumped onto it. He was a He was a backseat passenger in the culture car. Now he's at the steering wheel and I got young receivers like kJ Hamdler's done nothing in the league at twenty three. He's calling him out. So that's telling you if he's calling him out, are other guys in the room bailing on him? I don't know the answer. Do you think him wearing the shoulder pads and the full on jersey and stuff. We don't see that a lot from athletes. Usually they shower decompressed, their dressed nicely. Do you think that adds to it? He's like wearing his jersey like he's some big guyant. It doesn't bother me. But when I see a twenty three year old who's done nothing calling him out, you know the hysterics. Yeah, he's not happy at all, But he don't see anybody doing that the Peyton manning. You don't see guys doing that for a lot of quarterbacks in this league. Some twenty three year old who's done nothing in the league in two years is throwing helmets and blast them after games. He must feel comfortable doing that. So that tells me he doesn't respect his coach or Russell. You wouldn't do that with Brady or Manning in their prime. Nobody's doing that. But with Peyton, nobody's doing that. With Herbert, Joey Burrow, Lamar, they're not doing that. That's like, dude, you're twenty three, You've done nothing in this league. That guy's won super Bowls or a super Bowl. I don't know. It just feels now you're driving the culture. What is the culture of the Denver Broncos like we do Pittsburgh Steelers like hard hat. Denver doesn't have one. He's building it. But in c Adley wasn't asked to build it. He was the backseat passenger to it. In the end, he took the reins on it. But now it's his car, and it's that's a you're that's a big asked for a guy who to a lot of players. We heard this in Seattle, Pete Carroll, Richard Sherman. There were eye rolls with him. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd week dayson noon Easter not a Empacific. You know, there's an old saying in professional sports, especially football, when you start talking retirement, You're already retired in your head. Probably is true. Aaron Rodgers this week, once again talking to the media about retirement. He's got a couple of young receivers. They're off to a good start, but he's been frustrated. He said, the way they're winning his words, not mine, unsustainable, though I do agree. Here's Aaron talking about his future. He brings up retirement a lot. Why here it is again there's going to be a lot of benefits to be reaped from those guys. So I'm sure long after I'm gone, those guys that have an opportunity to be here and play. Look, my decision, when it comes down to it, will be obviously the physical part, the mental part. Seeing where the team is at. There's some moving pieces, but you know that a factor for sure, if but seeing the development of those guys, you know, can't help but be a part of the decision. I don't think he's going to retire for a couple of reasons. One is he likes to flex, he likes power, and he has it. If he retired after this season, it would be a forty million dollar dead cap hit. Green Bay would be toast for a couple of years now he would give up some money, but he's made over three hundred million dollars, so I don't think it's that big of a deal. Plus he's not like he's spending a lot in his house in Green Bay. He's been good with his money. But the reason he keeps, in my opinion, keeps discussing retirement. I think he's a bit of an ethereal personality and the other thing he likes to flex. He's shown that on more than one occasion. He can be kind of fixated on power and leverage, and he has it here. But he's also smart. Chicago offensively right now, is lost. Detroit's got the worst offensive roster by a mile in the league. Minnesota has Kirk Cousins. Eventually, you have to win games in prime time if you're a threat to the Packers. And the bottom of the NFC is absolutely awful. Atlanta, Seattle, Carolinas, Saints, Giants, Washington. We may put Arizona in there. The roadblocks, even the roadblocks in the NFC to get to a Super Bowl are tenuous. Brady's old. How long does he stay to the Niners? Stickwood Garoppolo, can he stay healthy? Jalen Hurts has played one playoff game and he trailed at one point thirty one. Nothing. I like Stafford and McVeagh, but he's had armed troubles and right now they got roster issues. He is too smart to retire. He's a little petty. He likes his power, he likes bringing it up, and he likes to flex, and he has a ton of power. This is a completely one sided relationship. I could make the argument that he would stay for one more year, which would be the remainder of the Jordan Love contract, just to prove you guys. Never played him once in a big game where I was available. They played him against Kansas City. Aaron wasn't available. But I don't think he's retired. I think he's too smart. I think you retire when life gets harder. You don't retire when life is easier. And that's where it is right now.