Thanks for listening to The 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. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah. It is a Friday heading into a wild and crucial NFL weekend. It's the Herd wherever you may be, However you may be listening or watching iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio f S one. One hour from now. My blazing five picks off a undefeated week, four wins, no losses in a push, got some momentum. Loved my picks. It's a very difficult night last night for my partner, Jason mckin tire, who is a it's clinical. He is a Jets fan beyond any reasonable measure. So how are you feeling this morning? Feel great? Christmas weekend is here, very excited, a lot of football over the weekend. Putting last night behind me, Colin, putting it behind me. We move on. We're fans, but you know we got a life to live in Christmas to enjoy Yeah, well, put well, I have to talk about it. So, Zach Wilson year one completed fifty five percent of his throws, that was last of all the quarterbacks who qualified, and Zach Wilson in year two has completed fifty four percent, that is last among all the quarterbacks who would qualify. Zach Wilson is not a franchise quarterback. He's not a starter in this league. He could be a backup. I have my doubts. Generally, backups are older, mature guys, very good in the room, teachers, mentors. You know, Colt McCoy's dad with a was a coach. Colt McCoy can come in and win the occasional game. Good in the room, good with film, good with young quarterbacks. That's not really Zach's thing. He's the second most popular quarterback on the team, and yet he's the starter. The good news is, and there is good news, the roster's really good. Some good young receivers. It was a standalone game. Everybody saw it, nobody can deny it. And you had a star young quarterback as a comp next to him, playing on the road against the better defense, and he looked really, really, really good. Like a starting franchise quarterback would. Zach Wilson had seven drives seventy eight yards. A former CFL backup quarterback Chris Streveler had one drive for eighty three. The backup was noticeably really bigger, noticeably stronger, more mobile, more confident, more athletic, and more successful. It's no longer a debate go big or go bigger? Just ask yourself. Mike White twenty seven years old, has to play Patrick Mahomes twenty seven years old, Super Bowl MVP. Does it feel like a fair fight? Josh Allen twice a year? Mike White? That the answer? Tua, Mike McDaniel, Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle versus Mike White? Is that the answer? Where you could draft one another rookie quarterback against Bill Belichick, who you know owns rookie quarterbacks and will eventually get a real offensive coordinator, Is that the answer? It's New York. Go big. You know these teams that try to save money or convince themselves they didn't get it wrong. You're just it's like a shovel, You're just you continue to dig. Look around, look at your division. Josh Allen, Belichick the answer isn't another young quarterback. This roster is actually pretty good. It's not like the Giants, a generic roster in a generic stadium. The Jets have an elite corner and they're not paying him anything. Some really nice, good young receivers and they're not paying him anything. They're not tied to an ugly quarterback contract. They need a left tackle and a veteran quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo, for the record, played in this system. The coach from San Francisco, the coordinator for the Jets. He knows the system been banged up a little, but it was an ankle injury, not shoulder, not throwing arm. A Derek Carr again. Derek Carr in utter chaos in a tough division, willed the Raiders to the playoffs last year. But the good news is the roster's fine. You're not tied to any bad contracts. But Zach Wilson's not it. And there's total clarity today, Total absolute clarity. That's what's great. You get these games buried in the one o'clock window and somebody sees stats. Nope, we all saw it. Cold Windy just added elements. He looks small, he looks lost. It's okay. About half the guys you're take in the first round, just do not work. Don't convince yourself it does. We all saw it. We know what's bad. Here's the head coach after We haven't seen the last of them, but for right now, we just he just got to focus on finding ways to get better. We gotta find ways to help him. We gotta find ways to protect better. We gotta find ways to run better. We've got better, find better, ways to call the game better. We've got to We've we've got to do a lot. It's not just it's not just him, it's it's collective all. We've all got to find ways to get better. No, it's mostly him, and that's okay. It's mostly him. So the bigger game tomorrow is the cow Boys and they're taken on the Eagles. But the Eagles are now traveling a little beat up and they're gonna use a backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, who's not terrible, kind of fun to watch. Good backup. Rob Ninkovich formern NFL player was on the other network, ESPN was talking about the pressure is now absolutely no not on Dak, the pressures on Mike McCarthy. He said, and this is what we discussed yesterday. Da goes thirteen and three, got all the credit. Zeke got suspended for six games, his passer rating plummeted. It wasn't a reality check on Dak. It was criticism that Zeke wasn't mature. Then Jason Garrett's fault and the contract negotiation of fault. Now Jerry Jones. Sometimes it's his fault. Now it's Mike McCarthy's fault. This is what I talked about yesterday. The articles are already being written. If Mike McCarthy does not win, Folks, Mike McCarthy as a Super Bowl and went four and one with Cooper Rush. Mike McCarthy's fine. He's not Belichick. He's not John Harbaugh, he's not Andy Reid. Nobody's saying he is. He's not Kyle Shanahanner McVay. There's five or six guys top of the food chain. He's not. But he's in the mix with the other fifteen guys who have jobs and have steady employment. What's interesting, though about Dak is his predecessor, Tony Romo. I remember defending Romo for years. He got crushed and it's interesting what we do with quarterbacks. Peyton Manning for over a decade, his label was Peyton Manning can't win the big game. Before that, I grew up with John Elway, who was crucified for getting blown out in Super Bowls. Not a bad place to get blown out. Aaron Rodgers gets a lot of heat for not winning the big game. Josh Allen now starting to hear it. When are you gonna get to the big One? And Tony Romo, the predecessor to DAK, took a lot of heat. If you go look at their regular season numbers, and DAK has had, on average, a significantly better offensive line. Not necessarily closed for our radio audience, they're the same same quarterback. Dak slightly better you go to the playoffs, Romo is better. You go to the fourth quarter, which really matters for quarterbacks, and Tony Romo's absolutely better than DAK. But that's what's interesting. Tony was better in the playoffs. Tony is better in the fourth quarter. Yet Tony Romo got crucified. So you say to yourself, well, I mean DAK is the underdog story. Fourth round, Tony Romo was undrafted. Tony Romo didn't get paid for years and years in this league. Tony Romo had bad offensive lines. Tony Romo had Jason Garrett, who took all the heat for DAK. It's not that I don't like that. I do. He's a good B plus quarterback. He's Kirk Cousins with a better brand. But it is remarkable how we always blame the quarterback for years, even great ones Elway Forever and Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford. When he came to the Rams, a lot of people are like, he can't win the big game. He won the Super Bowl first year. Tony Romo's small school guy got Claubert Dak. It's not about Mike McCarthy this weekend. Got a Super Bowl four in one with Cooper Rush, went thirteen and three with five got a ring with Aaron Rodgers, winning record with a backup. Mike McCarthy has led DAK to one hundred plus passer ratings since they've been together. This is on DAK at home. Eagles beat up Gardner Minshew, DA's gotta win this game. DA's gotta win this game. If Joe Burrow can win without his top running back in Jamaar, Chase, go on the road and win. Gott to win this game. Everything lines up for you. It's not on Mike McCarthy this weekend, all right, Blazing five, Top of Next Hour on a little bit of a heater. Trevor Lawrence impressive last night. Aaron Rodgers doing more talking about his off season. It's fascinating Belichick. I've got a strong take on the Patriots, which I think is contrarian take, but I really feel strongly about it. I've got that around the corner too. 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. I didn't think it was the easiest environment for anybody to quarterback last night, but considering he faced a better defense, a defensive head coach on the road, Trevor Lawrence is pretty good. Seven for sixteen, one third down, three hundred and seventy yards excellent, twenty for thirty one seven yards a pass, no penalties. There's only five NFL quarterbacks. I would not pick up the phone. Four I have him. I'm not picking up the phone. Don't bother calling me. Mahomes Alan Burrow, Herbert, Trevor Lawrence. That's it. Everybody else, including Aaron Rodgers, Brady Stafford. I'd take a call high school college in pro. I saw Trevor Lawrence playing high school at a tournament in San Diego. Kid picks it up very quickly. There was a moment at the Super Bowl this past year when I met Trevor Lawrence. It was at a dinner party thing event, and he's only twenty three years old. I was completely struck by his presence and his maturity and his confidence. It looked like, it felt like it sounded like I was talking to somebody in their mid thirties. Last night was a perfect example of why he is going to be great. He fumbled on the first drive right deep own territory, really ugly. Jets get it, kick a field goal. He's trailing bad start. They just beat the Cowboys. He's on the road. He just fumbled. You're not focused. A young team in New York on Primetime, Classic let down spot, Classic implosion spot. He takes a deep breath, gets the following kickoff drive sixty some yards, gets a field goal. They force a punt, gets the next drive ninety six yards, touchdown, game over, Thanks for flying United. That was the game. I preached this with young quarterbacks all the time. Keep your emotion mostly to yourself at the podium, keep your thoughts mostly to yourself. Bland is best. Yeah. I know Brady when he finally got the Tampa after all those trophies, showed more emotion. He earned it. But most of the young talented quarterbacks that unravel Baker may Fields one of them. They can't control themselves. They can't control themselves at a podium. There's too much emotion, there's too much cowboy. This kid's a grown up. And if you look at Mahomes, Alan, Herbert Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, the one thing they all have in common, they've got some emotional discipline. They can be sometimes kind of bland in terms of podium it can be kind of cliche. Exactly. Last night was the classic letdown spot just beat the Cowboys, young team. People talk in playoffs, go to the bright lights, Amazon, here we go. Fumble first possession, Nope, head down, keep it bland, execute, composure, discipline not cool words in twenty twenty two. I know, here's Doug Peterson after For the most part, I thought he did a nice job of controlling and managing what we asked him to do, you know. And the weather was obviously a challenge with the wind in the rain, but you know, I thought he did played tough again, played physical, and that was really really good to see out out of our quarterback. I'm happy for Doug Peterson. When he was on the beach for a year, I implored USC to take a look at NFL guys. We thought he would be a really good fit with Trevor Lawrence. Every quarterback he works with, he does a really good job to simplify the complicated Nick Foles. We saw it with Carson Wentz before he got hurt. We are now seeing it with Trevor Lawrence. Part of the genius of Andy Reid. He takes the complex, he makes it simple. Doug Peterson and Andy Reid disciple has done the exact same. Good news for Jacksonville. They have some holes, not at quarterback. The Jets don't have a lot of holes, but a big one at quarterback. I'd rather be the Jags. This morning, j Mack with the news. No no, this is the herd Line news. No Jet screen for me today. Got to wear a fun exciting shirt. I'm not going to get down about the loss. Let's just say I had I had a general manager text meet. I was in a little text thing last night. He said, Man, I feel bad for the Jets. Finding the right coach and finding the right quarterback in this league he is really hard. If you're a GM and do it for thirty years and can get one star quarterback and one star coach, that is better than average. And just remember this coach and GM signed off on Zach Wilson at the draft. I know, Justin Fields was on. Everybody makes mistakes. It happens. I mean I rarely make them. You make occasionally mistakes. Let's go here with the Tom Brady and the Bucks. Frustrating season all around, but they still lead the division at six and eight. Despite the ups and downs, Bruce arians is keeping things positive and remaining confident in the team. Here's what he had to say. This is going to be one of those seasons where fans say, I hate you, I hate you. Oh my god, I love you. I love you. Todd Bolls will win the division. Whatever happens after that. I hope we get rings. Who cares if our record is eight and nine regardless of whether you're seventeen and ten, seventeen nothing or four and thirteen. You win the division and you get to have a division banner and then you try for your goal next year to get to the Super Bowl. Colin, it's been since the preseason. For the record, it's been choppy. The old line fell apart in the preseason. So, I mean, this has been a year where it doesn't feel buttoned up to me. But it just felt off in August. Well, the big thing it was what arians is gone? Todd Bowles is in control. I mean, I don't mean the Hammer Bowls, but that's the biggest change on this team. There were some offensive line issues, right, and I just looked at the injury report Colin during the commercial break. You know they're going Arizona. They're big favorites. They should cruise over a beat up Arizona team that's done for the season. Vita Vea, Donovan Smith on the offensive line. They're hurting having practiced, Antoine Winfield in the secondary, Jamal Deane, Mike Evans All on the injury report, Like, what's going on with this team? Man? I don't know what to make a Tampa out. All this season. It is interesting when when you're a go either way player and you really love the locker room and you love the momentum, do you fight your way to play? Or if you're a go either way guy and you're just not into it, do you not fight your way to play. I'm not saying anybody's dogging it, but I'm saying is a lot of these injuries are game time decisions, and it's it's this whole year has felt like a downer for this team. A lot of chaos. And the weird thing is I keep coming back to this gulling they're gonna host a playoff game if they win the division, and it might be Dallas, and knowing Tom Brady's history and McCarthy's last year playoff game and Dak Prescott, can Tampa get to the second round of the playoffs and then who knows what happens? I mean, any thoughts on Tampa in a playoff run one and done. Definitely given at home, you know, home field advantage in the playoffs. Tennessee buy home lost, Green Bay buy home lost. I think Tampa lost at home last year to Stafford and the Rams. Right, where did Stafford make that awesome play in the fourth quarter. It was like twenty seven home field in the player. I mean, I'll be honest with you, I don't think Kansas City home in a way. I just don't think it's that big of a deal. I think Mahomes and Andy Reid, I think they travel well. Cincinnati by the way, Buffalo. I never feel like Buffalo got out played by Miami at home. Josh Allen made great plays, but I didn't feel like, Yeah, I know the crowds matter for the ambiance of a stadium, but you know, everybody's got the helmet stuff on now. I just I don't feel like I don't Seattle by the way at home. This year's lost to like Carolina and Atlanta at home at home, and that's supposed to be the loudest stadium in the league. So I don't know how much it mattered. Quick reminder, Read and Mahomes have lost two AFC championship games at home Cincinnati, and of course Brady and Belichick all right. Next up, Russell Wilson sat out last week's matchup with the brutal concussion he suffered against Casey Brett Rippon came in and did the job got the dub. It sounds like Russ is ready to return to action this week. Here's what he had to say. I feel great, super aware. The medical team here did a great job, you know, and we just uh, you know, I think that uh to be able to heal quickly, and just to be able to get back on the field, to be able to practice Wednesday, and you know on Thursday and Friday, I've been blessed. I think a lot of twenty four seven treatment, you know, pretty much, you know, just having great people around you. And then also too just it's a lifestyle, you know, it's a lifestyle. You know. This game is a physical game. And uh, you know, I didn't sign up for so this before, but I didn't sign up for Tennessee and I signed up to play a physical game. I think you and I are in the camp of just let's reboot it. Get the writing coach. They do have to solve the offensive line, so they're not getting rid of ross that. I think their receivers are good, not great, but good. The tight ends have talent. The defense is unbelievable. They are a little bit like the Jets. The differences the Jet so you can argue you have the right coach this operation right now. I just don't think has I think Nathaniel Hackett I should have thought of this what had happened and I didn't. Is that between Aaron Rodgers and Matt Lafleur, how much impact did Nathaniel Hackett really have with that offense? Because it looks like he has an offense and no second gear. This is what he knows. So Matt Lafleur with Mike Vrabel had one offense, goes to Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers can run a different style offense because he got a different quality quarterback. But you start looking at Lafleur and Aaron Rodgers kind of do what they do. The truth is, and he reportedly interviewed, well, he may just have one offense, that's it. He thought he was getting Aaron to Denver. Somebody told me this about six months ago. He thought he was getting Aaron. So if Aaron goes to Denver, it doesn't look like this. But Russell can't run the Aaron offense and he has no second gear. You want a glass half fold Denver Broncos outlook, I do so look at the last three week Collin. They go to Baltimore in a game, big underdogs. They cover the spread, lose by one. Following week they're playing Kansas City, they're down twenty seven nothing, they fight back, close loss right Russell Wilson gets knocked out, and then last week, you know, the backup comes in and they win the game against Arizona. I know Arizona stincts, but that's three straight kind of decent performances, three covers. If you're from a gambling perspective, maybe they finished strong here and there's some optimism. I don't think Hackett comes back, but they obviously have a defense, like you said, like Sir Tan and that defense, you can absolutely trade one or two defensive pieces, get some draft capital back and just rebuild the old line new coach o line. Because Tennessee has proven in a stronger you know in the AFCA, they're both in the FC. Tennessee has proven run game defense. Smart coach wins a lot of games. Even if you're just okay at quarterback, if Russell is just now okay, they get the old line running. They have that young running back, and running back he's out for the season, Vante william Go, get another running back, solve the old line. By the way, Tim Patrick good receiver, Missy. I think he's like a two three missed the whole season. Jerry Judy, handlers, Sutton like they've got weapons. They protect ross this team and I don't want to get too excited about it next year, but they got something. And finally, speaking of Denver, the Dolphins made a big splash at the deadline. Remember they picked up Bradley Chubb from Denver. In six games with Miami, Chubb two point five sacks, twenty one pressures. He knows he can do a lot more. I want to be more dominant enemy. I want to be more taking over games. And that's kind of the reason they brought me here is to do that, to help this defense take it to the next level. And I feel like, yeah, we took it up a notch, but it's a whole. It's a whole. Noother level we could take it too, and I want to be the catalyst for that. I am very very pro Miami. Yeah, we're on opposite sides here. It's a good one. This is the hat wager. Everybody knows. Everybody's been. I know Friday's a big show, but coward will wear a hat backwards for the second hour, Dolphins hat if the Pack get the victory, I don't even know. Did I sign a contract for this? Well, you're on, It's got to happen, coward. Come on, I did the gritty here. You know you got to wear a hat backwards for an hour. Come on, Aaron Jones and Aaron Rodgers. You know, by the way, Aaron Rodgers a big fan of your work. Obviously, Yeah, you know he wants to get the victory, not only to beat the Dolphins, tame in the playoff. Yes, yeah. J Mack with the news, Well that's the news. So you know, there's there's the saying that you eat with your eyes first, all right, so you go to a nice restaurant, they want to make it look appealing, you eat with your eyes first. So uh, generally you watch something, Generally you trust your eyes on things. Right, looks dangerous, stay away, looks overcooked, stay away. I think one of the issues was Zach Wilson with the Jets. It just doesn't look right. He looks small and he looks lost. Um, he can't see the blitz is coming. He doesn't see the field particularly well, like like if Justin Fields doesn't work out in Chicago. He's big, there's a lot of wow moments. He's physical, he's fast. You can get fooled by some of these guys Jamis Winston, Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota. They're big, they're mobile. There's wow moments. They run over players, they jump over players, they make big throws. This is hard again. I'm I'm texting general manager last night and he's like, man, finding the right coach. There's five great ones right now in the world. Find the right quarterback. There's five great ones in the world. It's hard to get him simultaneously. You're Kansas City, you know you're Sean Payton, Drew Brees. Like at any one time, there's two all time coaches, quarterbacks, Bill Walsh, Montana. It's just hard. But it doesn't even look right. Even next to Mike White, his backup, Zach looks like his little brother. Next to coaches, he looks small. And it's funny, is it because he plays small? Patrick Mahomes I looked it up. He's six two on the Chiefs website. Aaron Rodgers is six two, Deshaun Watson is six two, Dak is six two. Zach Wilson's listed at six two. He looks small, and maybe it's because he plays like he's completely, utterly overwhelmed. The game is hard for him. It BYU mostly a week schedule. His biggest year was a COVID year, the weakest of the BYU schedules. He rarely got hit. You know, I said this yesterday. Is that asking a kid like like Justin Fields Ohio State to the NFL. Well, it's a big ask. But Ohio State's a massive program with a grown up media and high speculation. You're in big games, you're in TV games. So you go to Chicago, big big city Chicago. It's a it's a lead, but it's a reasonable leap emotionally, it's a reasonable leap right to go from a rich kid BYU kind of protected small town media, I mean really small media to New York City, ferocious, aggressive media, defensive coach, a often chronicled, documented viewed division. This is not the NFC South before Brady got there, when Sean Payton left, We don't pay much attention to it. This is it is a big ass cross country New York from pro bow kid grew up a little bit. Johnny Manzell money, probably a different life, not a lot of you know, struggle some like every kid. But you know, he's a great looking kid. And my takeaway is that's a big ask. I mean justin fields to the Bears, that's an ask. But I mean, Ohio State football feels like it's twenty five percent pro football. It's a factory. It's a huge game, it's a huge program, big schedule. Michigan's on the schedule. You'll play in Alabama, Georgia, Clemson. You know, it's a whole different ball game. You play at these like Alabamas or LSUS in Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, you know your Notre Dame. Those are TV programs. You're facing NFL rosters every weekend. His best year was in a COVID year when the by U schedule was isn't the most daunting to begin with, It was a little light and it just feels like it was too much. And it's remarkable to me. He looks so small, but yet you look at the numbers and he's no smaller than a lot of the other guys. But he's it's just you eat with your eyes, what does it look like? It just doesn't look close. He look doesn't look close to working. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays and noun Easter Ninny Empacific. Hey, I'm Doug gottlie The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talked to coaches, we talked to players, We tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it. I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gotlieb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or ever you get your podcast. All right, Blazing five of a nearly unblemished week, top and neck plus I have my upset of the year. I can't wait. Albert Breer Monday Morning Quarterback. You know, I was just saying this is that, you know, nobody wants to talk about bad quarterback play, but it's one thing to have quarterback struggle. I have a theory now that over the last five or six years, I'm gonna give you Thanksgiving of year two, these quarterbacks now seven on seven camps, they come in much more sophisticated, much more sophisticated college offense is it's a much more seamless transition. Thanksgiving year two, I've got to see something. I almost think zas regressed. I just think it's does Jimmy Garoppolo make sense to you because he knows this system? Yeah? I mean, I think that's sort of where the Jets are right now, and I think that's part of why they had to force him back into the lineup, even though the locker room might not fully believe in him. And I think some of the leadership questions that came out of his reaction to that New England lost last month, you know, certainly creep up again. But you know, this is really about where the Jets are at right now and where Joe Douglas and Robert Sala are and putting that team together. It's a team that's ready to win right now, Colin. And you look like what they're going to be bringing back next year. I mean, the two injured guys coming back and Ali Very Tucker and Breece Hall on top of Garrett Wilson and Quinnon Williams and Sauce Gardner. It's a team that's got a very functional running game. It's a team that's got a really good defense. I think the fair thing to the locker room is to give him a quarterback they can win with. They can't take another developmental year at the most important position on the field, and so they got to get a clean read over the next three weeks on what Zach Wilson's going to be in twenty twenty three, or they got to turn to a quarterback that they know very very well. And of course you and I both know where all those coaches came from. They came from San Francisco, and so I think the availability of Jimmy Garoppolo definitely complicates this for Zach Wilson. Yeah, and Jimmy's injury, it should be noted, was not you know, in his throwing shoulder, it's you know, below the knee. He would be potentially back if they got to an NFC championship. He's potentially back. Debo's back sooner. So I think Garoppolo is going to have a fairly small market, but he's not super expensive. By the way, the Jets aren't paying their their interesting young receivers. They're not paying Breeze Hall, they're not paying Sauce Gardner, so they got a little a little bit of money to spend, so you know, let's talk. You know New England very well. I think they're going to play very well this weekend. The nasty wins in Foxboro gonna help out slowdown Cincinnati's vertical passing game a little bit. But you were making a point to me during the break, is we look at that final play and we're like, huh, yeah, that's embarrassing. But it it wasn't the only one, Like it's you tell me. I said it before the season. It was viewed maybe as a hot take. Robert Kraft is now sending messages through the media like could this be it for Belichick? It's well, I mean, like, let's look at that play then, right, Like in that play wasn't an isolated incident in that game. It was a symptom of something bigger going on. And you know, you watch and you see there's the block punt where they were all discombobulated and out of sorts. There was the goal line situation where Bill calls the time out that negates a touchdown. There was a false start that wound up negating another touchdown. I mean, these sorts of things were happening in game and you know, quite frankly, Colin, They've been happening all year. And I think that this is this goes back to the offensive coaching staff, you know, and you know the Bill. Bill has always owned ball in a way where it's like you own the margins, you own the little things. That's where the pages have always been better than everybody else, right, And I think this is a situation where when you don't have the big things taken care of, it's very hard to worry about the little things if you're a player. And so I think, you know, from a big picture standpoint, when you look at this, if you're Robert Kraft, I think you have to look at it and say, where's the direction of the offense, where's our young quarterback going? Where are we investing our money? And right now? I think those are some questions that Bill's gonna have to answer. And if Bill doesn't make a change on his own when it comes to those offensive coaches, does Craft deliver an ultimatum? I don't think Kraft's gonna fire Bill, But if Kraft does deliver an ultimatum, how does Bill receive that? Now? I was in Dallas in two thousand and seven, it was Wade till it was first year there and when Bill Parcels walked away Before that year, everybody's talking about like the relationship between he and Jerry and Stephen Jones. It wasn't because he hated Stephen and Jerry Jones. It's because he came in on his own terms, did the job on his own terms, and then when he couldn't do the job on his own terms anymore, it was time for him to leave. And that's who That's who Belichick learned from, you know. So I just think there's a lot of things that are gonna need to be sorted out whenever this season ends for New England, and I think how the owner approaches it and how a Bill approaches it are going to be key to where this relationship is going forward. Again, I don't think Bill is getting fired, but I certainly see where things can be pretty strained after the year. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's it's gonna be interesting. The garoppolo to the Jets makes sense. I can see Josh McDaniels moving off Derek Carr and getting his own guy. I can see Tennis Cee looking at Burrel Mahomes, Alan Herbert and saying, let's go get Aaron Rodgers. I can honestly see them moving off Derek Henry. He's now got a lot of carries. They're gonna have to pay him a fortune, and running back centric teams aren't winning. I'll just throw it out there, Derek Carr gut feeling Raiders keep him or not, because there are a lot of teams, Jets, Giants, Titans. I mean that Jets roster and that Titans roster. Those are rosters ready to win right now. Absolutely, I could argue they're better than the Raiders roster. Where do you think Derek Carr ends up. Well, there's a key, you know, decision point in his contract there. I think you and I have talked about it before. Three days after the Super Bowl. There's forty million dollars in there. The vests as fully guaranteed, so the Raiders come. You know, whatever the decision is, the Raiders are going to have to make it by mid February, three days after the Super Bowl. And I think very much, you know, his job is on the line over the next few weeks. How he plays over the next few weeks could determine the way that Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziggler go with this, and I think complicating that decision the same way the Jets decision is complicated by the availability of Jimmy Garoppolo, is the fact that for Ziggler and for McDaniels, there are going to be two quarterbacks out there potentially available that they have background with in Garoppolo and Tom Brady. And so you know, when they decided to do the contract with Derek Carr, really the idea was he's gonna be like Alex Smith in Kansas City. For us, We're gonna be able to build around him, We're gonna be able to build the roster up, and he's gonna buy his time to find whoever the next guy is. Is Garoppolo better suited for that role in Vegas than Derek Carr is? Do they think they're close enough to win with Tom Brady? Do they think that's worth it to go all in on a forty six year old quarterback? Those are the questions that I think are gonna be asked whenever the Raiders season ends. And I do think that the way that Derek Carr finishes his first year in Vegas over the next few weeks could wind up coloring that decision making. So if Gardner Minshew goes into Dallas on the road backup quarterback, they can't run the same offense and beat the Cowboys Monday. Who do you believe will get the heat, McCarthy or Dak I mean, I think it's probably McCarthy. Now. I think Mike's done enough this year where it would really have to look bad for him to be out right, Like, you look at some of the things they've gone through. They won with Cooper Rush over a five game stretch. They withstood the loss of a Hall of Fame tackle and Tyron Smith to replace that Hall of Fame tackle. They got a guard ready to play and playing at a high level now as a first rounder, but he was playing guard through the spring and summer. So you look at the little pieces here, even like going back to the hire of Dan Quinn and what it's meant for them defensively. And Mike McCarthy actually over the last year or so, you know, ever since we were talking about his job security, ever since you know, that debacle at the end against San Francisco in the playoffs, like we've seen Mike McCarthy actually build up some equity here, and so I think for the first time, maybe more than ever, people are going to start to look at Dak. He's on a big contract now, the dynamics changed a little bit. There are a lot of things that are right around him. They fixed the offensive line. You know. I think you sort of look at this and it's easy to look at some of the things that Mike McCarthy's done over the last year now and say, you know what, he's starting to build some credibility in Dallas the way he did in Green Bay. Yeah, and then you know, you look at Dak and how he's played, and like when he doesn't play well, when he throws a crucial pick like he did last week against Jacksonville, you start to look at it. You say, there aren't a lot of places to point the finger anymore than write at number four. So I do think you're probably going to see more playing on DAC if this doesn't work out, than you have in the past. Albert Breer, Monday Morning, Quarterback. Good seeing your bud, all right, thanks calling. Merry Christmas to everybody. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas to you. So he played Brady and lost. He played Aaron Rodgers and lost. He played Trevor Lawrence and lost, so arguably the three most talented quarterbacks dacked faced. He didn't play particularly well, and in those games he completed sixty percent of his throws, so you know, and his passer rating was in like the high seventies. You know, it's interesting about McCarthy. So if you look at at the six quarterbacks that Mike McCarthy has had the most games with, he doesn't make them significantly better or worse. So Aaron Rodgers in his prime was the best. He had a winning playoff record. Matt LAFLORI doesn't with him, and he won a Super Bowl. So if it doesn't look like to me, Aaron Rodgers was significantly better with Matt Lafleur, I would say this. The division was better for most of Mike McCarthy's reign than it was the last couple of years with La Fleur. So La Fleur got an easier division. Doesn't look like so go to old Brett Farve. He got two years of Brett Farve. His last year with Brett Farve he was thirteen and three. I don't know, it doesn't I mean, the passer ratings are close touchdown interception. It doesn't look like he screwed up Brett Farve, who a few years later was out of the league. If you look at Dak, if you look at Dak's numbers with McCarthy without McCarthy, he's actually better with him. The offensive line's been worse, and Dak is better with McCarthy than he was with Jason and Garrett, So he's not screwing that up. How about old Andy Dalton? And Andy Dalton was old, so old Andy Dalton wasn't very good in New Orleans and he's about five hundred. And then there's young Cooper Rush. He's gone five and one with him. Can't bang him for that? How many people go five and one with their backup? But if you look at the three best quarterbacks that Mike McCarthy has had, Aaron Rodgers isn't significantly better without him, He's winning more in division games, Old Farve with and without him, same and Dak slightly better with him. So we can keep blaming Mike McCarthy. He's clearly not ruining the three best quarterbacks he's had. Has a winning record with Cooper Rush. He lost with Brett Hunley, who's not really an NFL quarterback, and old Andy Dalton wasn't very good in New Orleans, he wasn't very good in Dallas. Because right now, old Andy Dalton's not very good. But the only problem with that McCarthy Dak argument is forty nine million. That's Deak's cap hire. But that's Mike McCarthy's fault is that I know. But ultimately who you can't get rid of a forty nine million cap hit? So who takes the hit? It's gonna be the coach. So I know it's not fair. Life's not fair often, but McCarthy loses this game, that's gonna be bad. And if they get bounced in the first round by Tampa or Carolina or wherever they go, it's gonna be really bad. I can see him getting fired. I know it's not popular and it's not fair. They're not getting rid of Dack. He's not going anywhere. I know. Bad Hour two coming up, Blazing five next

Thanks for listening to The 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. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah. It is a Friday heading into a wild and crucial NFL weekend. It's the Herd wherever you may be, However you may be listening or watching iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio f S one. One hour from now. My blazing five picks off a undefeated week, four wins, no losses in a push, got some momentum. Loved my picks. It's a very difficult night last night for my partner, Jason mckin tire, who is a it's clinical. He is a Jets fan beyond any reasonable measure. So how are you feeling this morning? Feel great? Christmas weekend is here, very excited, a lot of football over the weekend. Putting last night behind me, Colin, putting it behind me. We move on. We're fans, but you know we got a life to live in Christmas to enjoy Yeah, well, put well, I have to talk about it. So, Zach Wilson year one completed fifty five percent of his throws, that was last of all the quarterbacks who qualified, and Zach Wilson in year two has completed fifty four percent, that is last among all the quarterbacks who would qualify. Zach Wilson is not a franchise quarterback. He's not a starter in this league. He could be a backup. I have my doubts. Generally, backups are older, mature guys, very good in the room, teachers, mentors. You know, Colt McCoy's dad with a was a coach. Colt McCoy can come in and win the occasional game. Good in the room, good with film, good with young quarterbacks. That's not really Zach's thing. He's the second most popular quarterback on the team, and yet he's the starter. The good news is, and there is good news, the roster's really good. Some good young receivers. It was a standalone game. Everybody saw it, nobody can deny it. And you had a star young quarterback as a comp next to him, playing on the road against the better defense, and he looked really, really, really good. Like a starting franchise quarterback would. Zach Wilson had seven drives seventy eight yards. A former CFL backup quarterback Chris Streveler had one drive for eighty three. The backup was noticeably really bigger, noticeably stronger, more mobile, more confident, more athletic, and more successful. It's no longer a debate go big or go bigger? Just ask yourself. Mike White twenty seven years old, has to play Patrick Mahomes twenty seven years old, Super Bowl MVP. Does it feel like a fair fight? Josh Allen twice a year? Mike White? That the answer? Tua, Mike McDaniel, Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle versus Mike White? Is that the answer? Where you could draft one another rookie quarterback against Bill Belichick, who you know owns rookie quarterbacks and will eventually get a real offensive coordinator, Is that the answer? It's New York. Go big. You know these teams that try to save money or convince themselves they didn't get it wrong. You're just it's like a shovel, You're just you continue to dig. Look around, look at your division. Josh Allen, Belichick the answer isn't another young quarterback. This roster is actually pretty good. It's not like the Giants, a generic roster in a generic stadium. The Jets have an elite corner and they're not paying him anything. Some really nice, good young receivers and they're not paying him anything. They're not tied to an ugly quarterback contract. They need a left tackle and a veteran quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo, for the record, played in this system. The coach from San Francisco, the coordinator for the Jets. He knows the system been banged up a little, but it was an ankle injury, not shoulder, not throwing arm. A Derek Carr again. Derek Carr in utter chaos in a tough division, willed the Raiders to the playoffs last year. But the good news is the roster's fine. You're not tied to any bad contracts. But Zach Wilson's not it. And there's total clarity today, Total absolute clarity. That's what's great. You get these games buried in the one o'clock window and somebody sees stats. Nope, we all saw it. Cold Windy just added elements. He looks small, he looks lost. It's okay. About half the guys you're take in the first round, just do not work. Don't convince yourself it does. We all saw it. We know what's bad. Here's the head coach after We haven't seen the last of them, but for right now, we just he just got to focus on finding ways to get better. We gotta find ways to help him. We gotta find ways to protect better. We gotta find ways to run better. We've got better, find better, ways to call the game better. We've got to We've we've got to do a lot. It's not just it's not just him, it's it's collective all. We've all got to find ways to get better. No, it's mostly him, and that's okay. It's mostly him. So the bigger game tomorrow is the cow Boys and they're taken on the Eagles. But the Eagles are now traveling a little beat up and they're gonna use a backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, who's not terrible, kind of fun to watch. Good backup. Rob Ninkovich formern NFL player was on the other network, ESPN was talking about the pressure is now absolutely no not on Dak, the pressures on Mike McCarthy. He said, and this is what we discussed yesterday. Da goes thirteen and three, got all the credit. Zeke got suspended for six games, his passer rating plummeted. It wasn't a reality check on Dak. It was criticism that Zeke wasn't mature. Then Jason Garrett's fault and the contract negotiation of fault. Now Jerry Jones. Sometimes it's his fault. Now it's Mike McCarthy's fault. This is what I talked about yesterday. The articles are already being written. If Mike McCarthy does not win, Folks, Mike McCarthy as a Super Bowl and went four and one with Cooper Rush. Mike McCarthy's fine. He's not Belichick. He's not John Harbaugh, he's not Andy Reid. Nobody's saying he is. He's not Kyle Shanahanner McVay. There's five or six guys top of the food chain. He's not. But he's in the mix with the other fifteen guys who have jobs and have steady employment. What's interesting, though about Dak is his predecessor, Tony Romo. I remember defending Romo for years. He got crushed and it's interesting what we do with quarterbacks. Peyton Manning for over a decade, his label was Peyton Manning can't win the big game. Before that, I grew up with John Elway, who was crucified for getting blown out in Super Bowls. Not a bad place to get blown out. Aaron Rodgers gets a lot of heat for not winning the big game. Josh Allen now starting to hear it. When are you gonna get to the big One? And Tony Romo, the predecessor to DAK, took a lot of heat. If you go look at their regular season numbers, and DAK has had, on average, a significantly better offensive line. Not necessarily closed for our radio audience, they're the same same quarterback. Dak slightly better you go to the playoffs, Romo is better. You go to the fourth quarter, which really matters for quarterbacks, and Tony Romo's absolutely better than DAK. But that's what's interesting. Tony was better in the playoffs. Tony is better in the fourth quarter. Yet Tony Romo got crucified. So you say to yourself, well, I mean DAK is the underdog story. Fourth round, Tony Romo was undrafted. Tony Romo didn't get paid for years and years in this league. Tony Romo had bad offensive lines. Tony Romo had Jason Garrett, who took all the heat for DAK. It's not that I don't like that. I do. He's a good B plus quarterback. He's Kirk Cousins with a better brand. But it is remarkable how we always blame the quarterback for years, even great ones Elway Forever and Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford. When he came to the Rams, a lot of people are like, he can't win the big game. He won the Super Bowl first year. Tony Romo's small school guy got Claubert Dak. It's not about Mike McCarthy this weekend. Got a Super Bowl four in one with Cooper Rush, went thirteen and three with five got a ring with Aaron Rodgers, winning record with a backup. Mike McCarthy has led DAK to one hundred plus passer ratings since they've been together. This is on DAK at home. Eagles beat up Gardner Minshew, DA's gotta win this game. DA's gotta win this game. If Joe Burrow can win without his top running back in Jamaar, Chase, go on the road and win. Gott to win this game. Everything lines up for you. It's not on Mike McCarthy this weekend, all right, Blazing five, Top of Next Hour on a little bit of a heater. Trevor Lawrence impressive last night. Aaron Rodgers doing more talking about his off season. It's fascinating Belichick. I've got a strong take on the Patriots, which I think is contrarian take, but I really feel strongly about it. I've got that around the corner too. 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. I didn't think it was the easiest environment for anybody to quarterback last night, but considering he faced a better defense, a defensive head coach on the road, Trevor Lawrence is pretty good. Seven for sixteen, one third down, three hundred and seventy yards excellent, twenty for thirty one seven yards a pass, no penalties. There's only five NFL quarterbacks. I would not pick up the phone. Four I have him. I'm not picking up the phone. Don't bother calling me. Mahomes Alan Burrow, Herbert, Trevor Lawrence. That's it. Everybody else, including Aaron Rodgers, Brady Stafford. I'd take a call high school college in pro. I saw Trevor Lawrence playing high school at a tournament in San Diego. Kid picks it up very quickly. There was a moment at the Super Bowl this past year when I met Trevor Lawrence. It was at a dinner party thing event, and he's only twenty three years old. I was completely struck by his presence and his maturity and his confidence. It looked like, it felt like it sounded like I was talking to somebody in their mid thirties. Last night was a perfect example of why he is going to be great. He fumbled on the first drive right deep own territory, really ugly. Jets get it, kick a field goal. He's trailing bad start. They just beat the Cowboys. He's on the road. He just fumbled. You're not focused. A young team in New York on Primetime, Classic let down spot, Classic implosion spot. He takes a deep breath, gets the following kickoff drive sixty some yards, gets a field goal. They force a punt, gets the next drive ninety six yards, touchdown, game over, Thanks for flying United. That was the game. I preached this with young quarterbacks all the time. Keep your emotion mostly to yourself at the podium, keep your thoughts mostly to yourself. Bland is best. Yeah. I know Brady when he finally got the Tampa after all those trophies, showed more emotion. He earned it. But most of the young talented quarterbacks that unravel Baker may Fields one of them. They can't control themselves. They can't control themselves at a podium. There's too much emotion, there's too much cowboy. This kid's a grown up. And if you look at Mahomes, Alan, Herbert Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, the one thing they all have in common, they've got some emotional discipline. They can be sometimes kind of bland in terms of podium it can be kind of cliche. Exactly. Last night was the classic letdown spot just beat the Cowboys, young team. People talk in playoffs, go to the bright lights, Amazon, here we go. Fumble first possession, Nope, head down, keep it bland, execute, composure, discipline not cool words in twenty twenty two. I know, here's Doug Peterson after For the most part, I thought he did a nice job of controlling and managing what we asked him to do, you know. And the weather was obviously a challenge with the wind in the rain, but you know, I thought he did played tough again, played physical, and that was really really good to see out out of our quarterback. I'm happy for Doug Peterson. When he was on the beach for a year, I implored USC to take a look at NFL guys. We thought he would be a really good fit with Trevor Lawrence. Every quarterback he works with, he does a really good job to simplify the complicated Nick Foles. We saw it with Carson Wentz before he got hurt. We are now seeing it with Trevor Lawrence. Part of the genius of Andy Reid. He takes the complex, he makes it simple. Doug Peterson and Andy Reid disciple has done the exact same. Good news for Jacksonville. They have some holes, not at quarterback. The Jets don't have a lot of holes, but a big one at quarterback. I'd rather be the Jags. This morning, j Mack with the news. No no, this is the herd Line news. No Jet screen for me today. Got to wear a fun exciting shirt. I'm not going to get down about the loss. Let's just say I had I had a general manager text meet. I was in a little text thing last night. He said, Man, I feel bad for the Jets. Finding the right coach and finding the right quarterback in this league he is really hard. If you're a GM and do it for thirty years and can get one star quarterback and one star coach, that is better than average. And just remember this coach and GM signed off on Zach Wilson at the draft. I know, Justin Fields was on. Everybody makes mistakes. It happens. I mean I rarely make them. You make occasionally mistakes. Let's go here with the Tom Brady and the Bucks. Frustrating season all around, but they still lead the division at six and eight. Despite the ups and downs, Bruce arians is keeping things positive and remaining confident in the team. Here's what he had to say. This is going to be one of those seasons where fans say, I hate you, I hate you. Oh my god, I love you. I love you. Todd Bolls will win the division. Whatever happens after that. I hope we get rings. Who cares if our record is eight and nine regardless of whether you're seventeen and ten, seventeen nothing or four and thirteen. You win the division and you get to have a division banner and then you try for your goal next year to get to the Super Bowl. Colin, it's been since the preseason. For the record, it's been choppy. The old line fell apart in the preseason. So, I mean, this has been a year where it doesn't feel buttoned up to me. But it just felt off in August. Well, the big thing it was what arians is gone? Todd Bowles is in control. I mean, I don't mean the Hammer Bowls, but that's the biggest change on this team. There were some offensive line issues, right, and I just looked at the injury report Colin during the commercial break. You know they're going Arizona. They're big favorites. They should cruise over a beat up Arizona team that's done for the season. Vita Vea, Donovan Smith on the offensive line. They're hurting having practiced, Antoine Winfield in the secondary, Jamal Deane, Mike Evans All on the injury report, Like, what's going on with this team? Man? I don't know what to make a Tampa out. All this season. It is interesting when when you're a go either way player and you really love the locker room and you love the momentum, do you fight your way to play? Or if you're a go either way guy and you're just not into it, do you not fight your way to play. I'm not saying anybody's dogging it, but I'm saying is a lot of these injuries are game time decisions, and it's it's this whole year has felt like a downer for this team. A lot of chaos. And the weird thing is I keep coming back to this gulling they're gonna host a playoff game if they win the division, and it might be Dallas, and knowing Tom Brady's history and McCarthy's last year playoff game and Dak Prescott, can Tampa get to the second round of the playoffs and then who knows what happens? I mean, any thoughts on Tampa in a playoff run one and done. Definitely given at home, you know, home field advantage in the playoffs. Tennessee buy home lost, Green Bay buy home lost. I think Tampa lost at home last year to Stafford and the Rams. Right, where did Stafford make that awesome play in the fourth quarter. It was like twenty seven home field in the player. I mean, I'll be honest with you, I don't think Kansas City home in a way. I just don't think it's that big of a deal. I think Mahomes and Andy Reid, I think they travel well. Cincinnati by the way, Buffalo. I never feel like Buffalo got out played by Miami at home. Josh Allen made great plays, but I didn't feel like, Yeah, I know the crowds matter for the ambiance of a stadium, but you know, everybody's got the helmet stuff on now. I just I don't feel like I don't Seattle by the way at home. This year's lost to like Carolina and Atlanta at home at home, and that's supposed to be the loudest stadium in the league. So I don't know how much it mattered. Quick reminder, Read and Mahomes have lost two AFC championship games at home Cincinnati, and of course Brady and Belichick all right. Next up, Russell Wilson sat out last week's matchup with the brutal concussion he suffered against Casey Brett Rippon came in and did the job got the dub. It sounds like Russ is ready to return to action this week. Here's what he had to say. I feel great, super aware. The medical team here did a great job, you know, and we just uh, you know, I think that uh to be able to heal quickly, and just to be able to get back on the field, to be able to practice Wednesday, and you know on Thursday and Friday, I've been blessed. I think a lot of twenty four seven treatment, you know, pretty much, you know, just having great people around you. And then also too just it's a lifestyle, you know, it's a lifestyle. You know. This game is a physical game. And uh, you know, I didn't sign up for so this before, but I didn't sign up for Tennessee and I signed up to play a physical game. I think you and I are in the camp of just let's reboot it. Get the writing coach. They do have to solve the offensive line, so they're not getting rid of ross that. I think their receivers are good, not great, but good. The tight ends have talent. The defense is unbelievable. They are a little bit like the Jets. The differences the Jet so you can argue you have the right coach this operation right now. I just don't think has I think Nathaniel Hackett I should have thought of this what had happened and I didn't. Is that between Aaron Rodgers and Matt Lafleur, how much impact did Nathaniel Hackett really have with that offense? Because it looks like he has an offense and no second gear. This is what he knows. So Matt Lafleur with Mike Vrabel had one offense, goes to Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers can run a different style offense because he got a different quality quarterback. But you start looking at Lafleur and Aaron Rodgers kind of do what they do. The truth is, and he reportedly interviewed, well, he may just have one offense, that's it. He thought he was getting Aaron to Denver. Somebody told me this about six months ago. He thought he was getting Aaron. So if Aaron goes to Denver, it doesn't look like this. But Russell can't run the Aaron offense and he has no second gear. You want a glass half fold Denver Broncos outlook, I do so look at the last three week Collin. They go to Baltimore in a game, big underdogs. They cover the spread, lose by one. Following week they're playing Kansas City, they're down twenty seven nothing, they fight back, close loss right Russell Wilson gets knocked out, and then last week, you know, the backup comes in and they win the game against Arizona. I know Arizona stincts, but that's three straight kind of decent performances, three covers. If you're from a gambling perspective, maybe they finished strong here and there's some optimism. I don't think Hackett comes back, but they obviously have a defense, like you said, like Sir Tan and that defense, you can absolutely trade one or two defensive pieces, get some draft capital back and just rebuild the old line new coach o line. Because Tennessee has proven in a stronger you know in the AFCA, they're both in the FC. Tennessee has proven run game defense. Smart coach wins a lot of games. Even if you're just okay at quarterback, if Russell is just now okay, they get the old line running. They have that young running back, and running back he's out for the season, Vante william Go, get another running back, solve the old line. By the way, Tim Patrick good receiver, Missy. I think he's like a two three missed the whole season. Jerry Judy, handlers, Sutton like they've got weapons. They protect ross this team and I don't want to get too excited about it next year, but they got something. And finally, speaking of Denver, the Dolphins made a big splash at the deadline. Remember they picked up Bradley Chubb from Denver. In six games with Miami, Chubb two point five sacks, twenty one pressures. He knows he can do a lot more. I want to be more dominant enemy. I want to be more taking over games. And that's kind of the reason they brought me here is to do that, to help this defense take it to the next level. And I feel like, yeah, we took it up a notch, but it's a whole. It's a whole. Noother level we could take it too, and I want to be the catalyst for that. I am very very pro Miami. Yeah, we're on opposite sides here. It's a good one. This is the hat wager. Everybody knows. Everybody's been. I know Friday's a big show, but coward will wear a hat backwards for the second hour, Dolphins hat if the Pack get the victory, I don't even know. Did I sign a contract for this? Well, you're on, It's got to happen, coward. Come on, I did the gritty here. You know you got to wear a hat backwards for an hour. Come on, Aaron Jones and Aaron Rodgers. You know, by the way, Aaron Rodgers a big fan of your work. Obviously, Yeah, you know he wants to get the victory, not only to beat the Dolphins, tame in the playoff. Yes, yeah. J Mack with the news, Well that's the news. So you know, there's there's the saying that you eat with your eyes first, all right, so you go to a nice restaurant, they want to make it look appealing, you eat with your eyes first. So uh, generally you watch something, Generally you trust your eyes on things. Right, looks dangerous, stay away, looks overcooked, stay away. I think one of the issues was Zach Wilson with the Jets. It just doesn't look right. He looks small and he looks lost. Um, he can't see the blitz is coming. He doesn't see the field particularly well, like like if Justin Fields doesn't work out in Chicago. He's big, there's a lot of wow moments. He's physical, he's fast. You can get fooled by some of these guys Jamis Winston, Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota. They're big, they're mobile. There's wow moments. They run over players, they jump over players, they make big throws. This is hard again. I'm I'm texting general manager last night and he's like, man, finding the right coach. There's five great ones right now in the world. Find the right quarterback. There's five great ones in the world. It's hard to get him simultaneously. You're Kansas City, you know you're Sean Payton, Drew Brees. Like at any one time, there's two all time coaches, quarterbacks, Bill Walsh, Montana. It's just hard. But it doesn't even look right. Even next to Mike White, his backup, Zach looks like his little brother. Next to coaches, he looks small. And it's funny, is it because he plays small? Patrick Mahomes I looked it up. He's six two on the Chiefs website. Aaron Rodgers is six two, Deshaun Watson is six two, Dak is six two. Zach Wilson's listed at six two. He looks small, and maybe it's because he plays like he's completely, utterly overwhelmed. The game is hard for him. It BYU mostly a week schedule. His biggest year was a COVID year, the weakest of the BYU schedules. He rarely got hit. You know, I said this yesterday. Is that asking a kid like like Justin Fields Ohio State to the NFL. Well, it's a big ask. But Ohio State's a massive program with a grown up media and high speculation. You're in big games, you're in TV games. So you go to Chicago, big big city Chicago. It's a it's a lead, but it's a reasonable leap emotionally, it's a reasonable leap right to go from a rich kid BYU kind of protected small town media, I mean really small media to New York City, ferocious, aggressive media, defensive coach, a often chronicled, documented viewed division. This is not the NFC South before Brady got there, when Sean Payton left, We don't pay much attention to it. This is it is a big ass cross country New York from pro bow kid grew up a little bit. Johnny Manzell money, probably a different life, not a lot of you know, struggle some like every kid. But you know, he's a great looking kid. And my takeaway is that's a big ask. I mean justin fields to the Bears, that's an ask. But I mean, Ohio State football feels like it's twenty five percent pro football. It's a factory. It's a huge game, it's a huge program, big schedule. Michigan's on the schedule. You'll play in Alabama, Georgia, Clemson. You know, it's a whole different ball game. You play at these like Alabamas or LSUS in Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, you know your Notre Dame. Those are TV programs. You're facing NFL rosters every weekend. His best year was in a COVID year when the by U schedule was isn't the most daunting to begin with, It was a little light and it just feels like it was too much. And it's remarkable to me. He looks so small, but yet you look at the numbers and he's no smaller than a lot of the other guys. But he's it's just you eat with your eyes, what does it look like? It just doesn't look close. He look doesn't look close to working. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays and noun Easter Ninny Empacific. Hey, I'm Doug gottlie The podcast is called All Ball. We usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more about the stories about what made these people love their sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We talked to coaches, we talked to players, We tell you stories. You download it, you listen to it. I think you like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gotlieb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or ever you get your podcast. All right, Blazing five of a nearly unblemished week, top and neck plus I have my upset of the year. I can't wait. Albert Breer Monday Morning Quarterback. You know, I was just saying this is that, you know, nobody wants to talk about bad quarterback play, but it's one thing to have quarterback struggle. I have a theory now that over the last five or six years, I'm gonna give you Thanksgiving of year two, these quarterbacks now seven on seven camps, they come in much more sophisticated, much more sophisticated college offense is it's a much more seamless transition. Thanksgiving year two, I've got to see something. I almost think zas regressed. I just think it's does Jimmy Garoppolo make sense to you because he knows this system? Yeah? I mean, I think that's sort of where the Jets are right now, and I think that's part of why they had to force him back into the lineup, even though the locker room might not fully believe in him. And I think some of the leadership questions that came out of his reaction to that New England lost last month, you know, certainly creep up again. But you know, this is really about where the Jets are at right now and where Joe Douglas and Robert Sala are and putting that team together. It's a team that's ready to win right now, Colin. And you look like what they're going to be bringing back next year. I mean, the two injured guys coming back and Ali Very Tucker and Breece Hall on top of Garrett Wilson and Quinnon Williams and Sauce Gardner. It's a team that's got a very functional running game. It's a team that's got a really good defense. I think the fair thing to the locker room is to give him a quarterback they can win with. They can't take another developmental year at the most important position on the field, and so they got to get a clean read over the next three weeks on what Zach Wilson's going to be in twenty twenty three, or they got to turn to a quarterback that they know very very well. And of course you and I both know where all those coaches came from. They came from San Francisco, and so I think the availability of Jimmy Garoppolo definitely complicates this for Zach Wilson. Yeah, and Jimmy's injury, it should be noted, was not you know, in his throwing shoulder, it's you know, below the knee. He would be potentially back if they got to an NFC championship. He's potentially back. Debo's back sooner. So I think Garoppolo is going to have a fairly small market, but he's not super expensive. By the way, the Jets aren't paying their their interesting young receivers. They're not paying Breeze Hall, they're not paying Sauce Gardner, so they got a little a little bit of money to spend, so you know, let's talk. You know New England very well. I think they're going to play very well this weekend. The nasty wins in Foxboro gonna help out slowdown Cincinnati's vertical passing game a little bit. But you were making a point to me during the break, is we look at that final play and we're like, huh, yeah, that's embarrassing. But it it wasn't the only one, Like it's you tell me. I said it before the season. It was viewed maybe as a hot take. Robert Kraft is now sending messages through the media like could this be it for Belichick? It's well, I mean, like, let's look at that play then, right, Like in that play wasn't an isolated incident in that game. It was a symptom of something bigger going on. And you know, you watch and you see there's the block punt where they were all discombobulated and out of sorts. There was the goal line situation where Bill calls the time out that negates a touchdown. There was a false start that wound up negating another touchdown. I mean, these sorts of things were happening in game and you know, quite frankly, Colin, They've been happening all year. And I think that this is this goes back to the offensive coaching staff, you know, and you know the Bill. Bill has always owned ball in a way where it's like you own the margins, you own the little things. That's where the pages have always been better than everybody else, right, And I think this is a situation where when you don't have the big things taken care of, it's very hard to worry about the little things if you're a player. And so I think, you know, from a big picture standpoint, when you look at this, if you're Robert Kraft, I think you have to look at it and say, where's the direction of the offense, where's our young quarterback going? Where are we investing our money? And right now? I think those are some questions that Bill's gonna have to answer. And if Bill doesn't make a change on his own when it comes to those offensive coaches, does Craft deliver an ultimatum? I don't think Kraft's gonna fire Bill, But if Kraft does deliver an ultimatum, how does Bill receive that? Now? I was in Dallas in two thousand and seven, it was Wade till it was first year there and when Bill Parcels walked away Before that year, everybody's talking about like the relationship between he and Jerry and Stephen Jones. It wasn't because he hated Stephen and Jerry Jones. It's because he came in on his own terms, did the job on his own terms, and then when he couldn't do the job on his own terms anymore, it was time for him to leave. And that's who That's who Belichick learned from, you know. So I just think there's a lot of things that are gonna need to be sorted out whenever this season ends for New England, and I think how the owner approaches it and how a Bill approaches it are going to be key to where this relationship is going forward. Again, I don't think Bill is getting fired, but I certainly see where things can be pretty strained after the year. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's it's gonna be interesting. The garoppolo to the Jets makes sense. I can see Josh McDaniels moving off Derek Carr and getting his own guy. I can see Tennis Cee looking at Burrel Mahomes, Alan Herbert and saying, let's go get Aaron Rodgers. I can honestly see them moving off Derek Henry. He's now got a lot of carries. They're gonna have to pay him a fortune, and running back centric teams aren't winning. I'll just throw it out there, Derek Carr gut feeling Raiders keep him or not, because there are a lot of teams, Jets, Giants, Titans. I mean that Jets roster and that Titans roster. Those are rosters ready to win right now. Absolutely, I could argue they're better than the Raiders roster. Where do you think Derek Carr ends up. Well, there's a key, you know, decision point in his contract there. I think you and I have talked about it before. Three days after the Super Bowl. There's forty million dollars in there. The vests as fully guaranteed, so the Raiders come. You know, whatever the decision is, the Raiders are going to have to make it by mid February, three days after the Super Bowl. And I think very much, you know, his job is on the line over the next few weeks. How he plays over the next few weeks could determine the way that Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziggler go with this, and I think complicating that decision the same way the Jets decision is complicated by the availability of Jimmy Garoppolo, is the fact that for Ziggler and for McDaniels, there are going to be two quarterbacks out there potentially available that they have background with in Garoppolo and Tom Brady. And so you know, when they decided to do the contract with Derek Carr, really the idea was he's gonna be like Alex Smith in Kansas City. For us, We're gonna be able to build around him, We're gonna be able to build the roster up, and he's gonna buy his time to find whoever the next guy is. Is Garoppolo better suited for that role in Vegas than Derek Carr is? Do they think they're close enough to win with Tom Brady? Do they think that's worth it to go all in on a forty six year old quarterback? Those are the questions that I think are gonna be asked whenever the Raiders season ends. And I do think that the way that Derek Carr finishes his first year in Vegas over the next few weeks could wind up coloring that decision making. So if Gardner Minshew goes into Dallas on the road backup quarterback, they can't run the same offense and beat the Cowboys Monday. Who do you believe will get the heat, McCarthy or Dak I mean, I think it's probably McCarthy. Now. I think Mike's done enough this year where it would really have to look bad for him to be out right, Like, you look at some of the things they've gone through. They won with Cooper Rush over a five game stretch. They withstood the loss of a Hall of Fame tackle and Tyron Smith to replace that Hall of Fame tackle. They got a guard ready to play and playing at a high level now as a first rounder, but he was playing guard through the spring and summer. So you look at the little pieces here, even like going back to the hire of Dan Quinn and what it's meant for them defensively. And Mike McCarthy actually over the last year or so, you know, ever since we were talking about his job security, ever since you know, that debacle at the end against San Francisco in the playoffs, like we've seen Mike McCarthy actually build up some equity here, and so I think for the first time, maybe more than ever, people are going to start to look at Dak. He's on a big contract now, the dynamics changed a little bit. There are a lot of things that are right around him. They fixed the offensive line. You know. I think you sort of look at this and it's easy to look at some of the things that Mike McCarthy's done over the last year now and say, you know what, he's starting to build some credibility in Dallas the way he did in Green Bay. Yeah, and then you know, you look at Dak and how he's played, and like when he doesn't play well, when he throws a crucial pick like he did last week against Jacksonville, you start to look at it. You say, there aren't a lot of places to point the finger anymore than write at number four. So I do think you're probably going to see more playing on DAC if this doesn't work out, than you have in the past. Albert Breer, Monday Morning, Quarterback. Good seeing your bud, all right, thanks calling. Merry Christmas to everybody. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas to you. So he played Brady and lost. He played Aaron Rodgers and lost. He played Trevor Lawrence and lost, so arguably the three most talented quarterbacks dacked faced. He didn't play particularly well, and in those games he completed sixty percent of his throws, so you know, and his passer rating was in like the high seventies. You know, it's interesting about McCarthy. So if you look at at the six quarterbacks that Mike McCarthy has had the most games with, he doesn't make them significantly better or worse. So Aaron Rodgers in his prime was the best. He had a winning playoff record. Matt LAFLORI doesn't with him, and he won a Super Bowl. So if it doesn't look like to me, Aaron Rodgers was significantly better with Matt Lafleur, I would say this. The division was better for most of Mike McCarthy's reign than it was the last couple of years with La Fleur. So La Fleur got an easier division. Doesn't look like so go to old Brett Farve. He got two years of Brett Farve. His last year with Brett Farve he was thirteen and three. I don't know, it doesn't I mean, the passer ratings are close touchdown interception. It doesn't look like he screwed up Brett Farve, who a few years later was out of the league. If you look at Dak, if you look at Dak's numbers with McCarthy without McCarthy, he's actually better with him. The offensive line's been worse, and Dak is better with McCarthy than he was with Jason and Garrett, So he's not screwing that up. How about old Andy Dalton? And Andy Dalton was old, so old Andy Dalton wasn't very good in New Orleans and he's about five hundred. And then there's young Cooper Rush. He's gone five and one with him. Can't bang him for that? How many people go five and one with their backup? But if you look at the three best quarterbacks that Mike McCarthy has had, Aaron Rodgers isn't significantly better without him, He's winning more in division games, Old Farve with and without him, same and Dak slightly better with him. So we can keep blaming Mike McCarthy. He's clearly not ruining the three best quarterbacks he's had. Has a winning record with Cooper Rush. He lost with Brett Hunley, who's not really an NFL quarterback, and old Andy Dalton wasn't very good in New Orleans, he wasn't very good in Dallas. Because right now, old Andy Dalton's not very good. But the only problem with that McCarthy Dak argument is forty nine million. That's Deak's cap hire. But that's Mike McCarthy's fault is that I know. But ultimately who you can't get rid of a forty nine million cap hit? So who takes the hit? It's gonna be the coach. So I know it's not fair. Life's not fair often, but McCarthy loses this game, that's gonna be bad. And if they get bounced in the first round by Tampa or Carolina or wherever they go, it's gonna be really bad. I can see him getting fired. I know it's not popular and it's not fair. They're not getting rid of Dack. He's not going anywhere. I know. Bad Hour two coming up, Blazing five next