The Herd with Colin CowherdGreg Cosell from NFL Films joins the show to preview the Divisional Round match ups of the NFL playoffs
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All right, here we go. It's hour two, Greg Cosel in ninety seconds, live in Los Angeles. It's The Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Lead story today is Edwarder reports that Dion Sanders would accept the job with the Dallas Cowboys if offered. Which I could get Colorado Football Dallas Cowboys. Big gap there. Jerry is increasingly enamored with it. The athletic I trust them reported yesterday Jerry was doing his own reconnaissance theory, was doing a little solo work on the phone. So it is you know a couple of people that like the spotlight. I don't know how it would work, I really don't, but I think if you look at the ascension of Dion Sanders, because he was a star player and then he was a star TV personality, and then you know, he wasn't one of the top analysts and TV. There were other people, and he did this thing. Then he got into coaching and he was back in the spotlight again. And Colorado has been thirteen and twelve and twenty five games and they're kind of okay in an okay conference. And this would again, this would elevate Dion, who's you know, he's called primetime. It would elevate him to primetime. And so I think he'd be interested and I totally understand that, and he'd get a big raise and he wouldn't have to do all this silly nil transfer portal stuff. So if I was Deon Sanders, i'd take the job too. Will it work that I have questions with. I don't think the Philadelphia Eagles this morning or the Washington Commanders are shaking in their boots. I think Mike Vrabel is somebody that you go oh, or Jim Harbaugh comes in your division, or Sean Payton that's an uh oh. We'll see with that. Let's go to Greg Cosel forty five years NFL films. So let's start with one of my favorite guys, and we had said after the Detroit debacle that if he didn't play well against the Rams that he was costing himself a lot of money. I still think he has a market. I think it's probably more of a Baker Mayfield thirty five million dollars a year market and not the big boy market. But let's just talk donald for a second. What happened specifically to Sam Darnold last couple of weeks.
Well, I think there are two different things based on each game. I think against the Lions, he clearly missed throws that he had made all season with poor ball location.
There were throws to be made that he missed.
His old line in that game was not particularly good either, but there were throws to be made that he missed.
The Rams game was a little different.
He missed a few, for sure, but that was a game in which his offensive line and I know I mentioned this to you last week that I thought that could well be a deciding factor in the game. It was the Rams four man pass rush versus the Vikings O Lion, which is not a very good pass protecting O Lione, was really the major factor in the game.
And then what started to happen, which.
Happens with a lot of quarterbacks, is the cumulative effect of pressure really got to Donald, and he started to play very fast. He started to be really uncomfortable. Now, keep in mind, one of the things during the season that made him really good was that he stayed in the pocket, he waited, He made a lot of what we call late in the down throws where there were people around him. So he had a lot of success doing that during the season. But over the course of the game against the Rams, just the effect of the pressure he succumbed to it and he just was a really uncomfortable player. You and I both know the narrative. People are saying, Hey, that's the real Sam Donald. I don't get into that, Colin, As you know, I can only tell you.
What the tape shows.
Teams have to decide what he is depending on who coaches him. We'll see about the Minnesota Vikings. Obviously they drafted a quarterback with the eleventh pick in the draft. You know, I don't know the owners. I don't know what they're going to do. My immediate response would be I'd probably be surprised if they signed him to a lot of money, because they probably say to Kevin O'Connell, Hey, you're a really good coach. You draft a quarterback with the eleventh pick, it's your job to make him a good quarterback.
Yep.
All right, let's get into rams at Philadelphia. We'll start with the Eagles. What did the tape say about the Philadelphia offense, which I thought was pretty bad on third down? The Philly offense against Green Bay, it just felt Philly felt out of sorts to me. What did the tape say?
Well, I think Philly colin has a just defined identity right now as to what they are and who they are, and if they don't have to step outside that identity, they don't. And the reason they more often than not don't have to is because of their defense. So they're a run first football team and that run game includes Jalen Hurts, which makes them a little more difficult than your average team to defend.
And it starts with Barkley. That's who they are now.
They started the game with a lot of quick rhythm timing throws by Jalen Hurts. He was six for six and then he got a little uncomfortable. He missed some things, didn't see some things, and I think they felt the way their defense was playing that they could win the game playing their way, so they didn't have to go beyond that. I think the question many have is if they get into a game and whether it's this week or if they advanced, whether it would be against the Lions. If they advanced, how would they have to play or how would they play if they had to have Jalen Hurts drop back forty or forty five times. The very odd thing about Jalen Hurts is he has succeeded doing this in the past, and he hasn't over much of this season and even going back to the last six to seven games last season, so it's really hard to understand why. I think they have some real advantages on the perimeter with Brown and Smith versus the sort of outside cornerback triumvit of the Rams, which is Witherspoon, It's Williams and Durant, and I would expect them to take some shots on the perimeter, and Jalen throws a really good deep ball outside the numbers, so I'm kind of waiting to see when they're going to do that. But because of their defense, they don't really have to step outside of how they really play well.
Okay, I think the Rams offense is going to struggle against Philadelphia. They played perfect last week. That won't happen again. It's a short week of preparation. Kyron Williams is banged up. They're very Puka Nakou eccentric. You could double him. The Eagles have good corners. How what does the tape say? You know, Listen, I saw the Rams offense against the Bills this year and against the Vikings, and if you only watch two games, you'd think it's the greatest show on turf. But they can be very inconsistent and very slow starting. And now Warm Weather team goes to Cold Weather against a really really talented secondary Rams offense Phillies defense. What do you think?
Well?
To me, it's not the secondary as much perhaps as the defensive front. I think the Rams all line can be very up and down in terms of pass protection.
I think there's some individuals who can be beaten one on one.
I think the Eagles can do that with Jalen Carter and a very overlooked player named Milton Williams who's had a phenomenal year at the other dtackle position.
When they're in their pass rush a group.
So you know, I think that the Rams are an interesting offense because it really does start with the run game.
I mean a lot of people might not be aware, and you are.
I know, Colin that Kyron Williams had three hundred and sixteen carries this year and missed the last game of the season, So I mean they're really a run first football team.
They're passing game, you know.
Stat The one thing about Stafford though, if he's hot, if he's comfortable, and that's the key thing. If he's comfortable, he can make great throws any time. But I just think that that Eagles D line could be a deciding factor in this game against against the Rams all line.
Okay, so let's get into Houston at Kansas City before we do. Justin Herbert, like Darnold, took a lot of heat. And my take's always been with Justin Herbert, is its steps right, like like bad coach, bad coach, great coach, You're not gonna win the Super Bowl. He didn't play particularly well. I pointed out that Brett fav once had six picks in a playoff game, Dan Fouts five, and Joe Montana got benched in a playoff game. What did the tape say on Herbert?
Yeah, you know those are narrative questions and which I don't. You know, really that doesn't mean a lot to me. I know everybody wants to discuss that, you know, I think you have to understand one thing. You have to put it in the context of who the Chargers are on offense. Another team that's run first, they basically play with a converted d end who's a full back. Now that's what they do, that's how they start their offense. They could not run the ball at all, so now they're stuck having to throw the ball with one quality wide receiver, no really strong receiving tight ends. And it was a game in which the interior of their old line got manhandled and even their two tackles, Slater who's very good, and the rookie alt they did not do well against Hunter and Anderson. So they were just kind of physically beaten up front, and they had to play, to use the cliche, they had to play kind of left handed because they don't really want to drop back and throw that often the way they had to in that game.
So, you know, did.
Herbert miss them throws? Sure he did, But you know, they got out of the way they were. They're comfortable playing, and you know sometimes that happens in playoff games with young teams with new coaches that have to go through a learning process.
All right, now, let's get into the Texans Chiefs. Texans offensive approach, the stuff that worked against the Chargers, good defense. How will it match up against Spags Chris Jones? You know, now he's getting healthier, right, what will they look like? CJ. Stroud and the offense and mixing against the Chiefs defense.
Yeah, they played the Chiefs week sixteen, Chris Jones, As I recall, they're not playing that game. You know, I think that in an ideal world, the way that Texans would like to play is they'd like to have the run game be a starting point, work the play action pass game off of it, have CJ. Stroud be very rhythmic and timing based, which he was last week and therefore he looked pretty comfortable for most of that game.
That's the way they would like to play.
Then they can work Collins on the outside and there are some really good matchups there because no corner in this league has played more press man than Trent mcduffey. Who's now pretty exclusively an outside corner, does not play in the slot hardly at all over the last number of weeks. So that's the way they'd like to play now. If their defense can keep the game together, they can continue to play that way. That's the way they played last week against the Chargers because Mixon did not have he only had six carries in the first half or fifteen yards, But because of their defense and because of the game flow, they were able to give him the ball in the second half, where I believe he had nineteen carries, and I think in the fourth quarter the eighteen of their twenty one plays were called runs.
So this is the way they would like to play, but that becomes a function of their defense.
Colin, and you know, it's always hard to assess Patrick Mahomes because he's such a great player, and when the playoffs come, we see him raise his game to an incredibly high level.
But all we have is this.
Season, and the Chiefs were not an explosive offense during the season, but they've also had a lot of time off and players are going to be refreshed and healthy.
Yeah, I mean, I've found this to be true off of by extra time. Andy Reid's the best coach in the NFL, and so I think they take a mediocre receiving cores and they make it better. All Right, let's go Baltimore Buffalo the marquee game of the weekend. Listen, you know the Baltimore defense. If you, as you noted two three weeks ago, and you have said this several times, Baltimore's defense was an issue pre Thanksgiving. It's gotten better post Thanksgiving. Yeah, when you look at I think Buffalo's really got nice pieces. I think this is by far and away their most complete offense with Josh Allen. Will they have to be Josh Allen reliant or do you think they can work on the margins here and move the ball without being Josh Allen centric against the Ravens.
Well, I think the big question is can they run the football? They clearly felt they could come out and grind away at the Denver Broncos defense because they lined up in the first half. They've liked to play with six offensive linemen, which they do quite a bit more than any team in the league this year. James Cook had thirteen carries in the first half, Nine of them came on first down.
Colin.
They clearly felt they could physically beat the Broncos. I'm not sure that that is going to be the case against this Ravens defensive front. They got a lot of big people at defensive tackle, a lot of guys whose weight begins with the number three, and those guys are hard to move. And they were one of the best run defense teams in the league. So the question, and we don't know the answer. That's the great thing about this weekend is there's so many unanswerables. The question is do the Bills game plan with the idea that hey, we can line up and run the ball, we can put big people out there and have success. Or is this going to be a tough go And this has to be a little more of a Josh Allen centric game. And by that I don't mean put on the Superman cape. I mean just have to throw the ball more on early downs as more of a foundation of their offense as opposed to the run game. And I think that that's a question you really don't know the answer to until we see the.
Game on Sunday evening. Well, by the way, it's supposed to be bitter, bitter called.
Which Lamar doesn't necessarily love that, but I do think the Buffalo Bills on multiple occasions this year, their defense has been susceptible to occasionally getting pushed around. So that's why the odds, that's why the wise guys, that's why Vegas guys like Baltimore this weekend. So you tell me Lamar and Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers is still not practicing, it didn't matter last week. How do they match up against Buffalo's defense?
Well, it's funny you say that they only played eight snaps last week with three wide receivers on the field, and I'm sure that was a function of Flowers being out. That's a really hard defense to defend, maybe the toughest, excuse me, the toughest offense, Maybe the toughest offense to defend in the league. With what Lamar adds to the run game, I mean, look, they came out against the Steelers and they pretty much said, not only do you have to stop Derick Henry, but you have to stop Lamar in the run game. So it wasn't just the threat of Lamar. They said We're going to run them and you have to stop them. So their run game is so multi dimensional and everything they do, and they've got big people up front, and then the way Lamar is throwing the ball this year, he's thrown it better than he ever has. His ball placement has been more precise than it ever has. This is a really difficult offense to defend. And you know, again I'm not predicting games, but I'm really curious. Again, it's an unanswerable to see how the Bills can handle it. I mean, Ed Oliver is a really good player, but he's two hundred and eighty pounds. So I'm curious to see how this all plays out. And I think we'll find out pretty early because I think I think you'll see the same kind of thing from Baltimore with Lamar being a factor in the run game early to see how the Bills tactically are going to defend that.
Okay, so now we get to commanders, big underdogs at Detroit. I said it this week. This game for the Lions is kind of instructive. Think about this for a second. So Jared Goff is a pocket guy, but if Detroit wins this game, they'll have to face a mobile Jalen Hurtz. And if they got to the Super Bowl, a mobile Lamar a mobile, Mahomes a mobile Josh Allen. So in a way, if Jaden Daniels is a bit of a gift to play because on their roster they don't practice against mobile quarterbacks. That's not what they do. And this is an opportunity to face a team that you're clearly better than. We don't know if they're better than Philly, Buffalo, Baltimore, Kansas City. So I like Detroit in this game, but I mean I watched Shaden Daniels. I don't remember maybe Andrew Locke, a rookie quarterback that was this good late in game Situationally, what does the film say?
Yeah, And I think he just has a really good feel for movement. You know, we've talked for years, and I'm not making a direct comparison, so I don't want people to think I am. But we always talk about Patrick Mahomes and just his spatial awareness, just the way he kind of feels things and sees things without actually having to look at them. Daniels has a little bit of that to his game, and it's the movement element that's so difficult. And it's not just the design runs, which they call design runs. Obviously for Daniels, but just when he moves out of the pocket and the impact it has on the defense. I remember having a conversation with a very well respected defensive coordinator a few years ago talking about mobile quarterbacks, and he said, the problem is is you literally have to practice two defenses all week long.
You have to practice a defense for the first two two.
And a half seconds of a play, which is within the structure of the play, and then you have to practice what you do defensively after two and a half seconds when the play becomes something totally different.
And he said, that's really really difficult to do.
And you know, that's the that's why mobile quarterbacks are becoming more and more a factor in the league.
And they're so difficult to defend.
So in many cases, those guys don't have to be pristine from the pocket because they can just make plays that break down defenses. And that's what that's what Daniels can do, and those kinds of plays Colin become more critical, more sort of high leverages the term people use in the fourth quarter of games.
Yeah, the let's go to the let's go to the big play of the week with Jaden Daniels. Because we know the Lions, we know what they do. They're gonna move the ball to some degree. The wild card is really in this game is can the Commanders keep up because we know Detroit's dropping twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight points.
Right, Yeah, And this play is a great example of just what I'm talking about. It was from the game week against the Bucks. And the Bucks as we go to the play, the Bucks did what a lot of teams are going to do against Jayden Daniels.
They're going to.
Try to do late coverage rotation to confuse him. That's what teams do with young quarterbacks. They show you one thing and then they give you something else. So what you're going to see here is you're going to see Jaden Daniels. Okay, this was actually a second and long play. So what is he looking at? Initially?
Right now, he's looking at a single high safety?
Okay, and what is he looking at from a front perspective, He's looking at a pressure front. They're six up front, So right now he might be thinking, hey, I'm going to get some pressure. There's a single high safety. I've got to be aware of that. Those are all alerts. But what's going to happen here is there's going to be a safety rotation. They're going to sink the safety to the boundary and expand the safety to the field, and they're eventually going to get to cover two because one of those linebackers that's on the ball is going to drop out as what we call the middle hole defender in cover two. So that's what you're going to get here. You're going to get a change late coverage rotation all designed to make Jade and Daniels have to think through the play once he takes the snap of the ball instead of feeling comfortable. So what's going to happen now is he's going to get really quick inside pressure, so he's going to have to move. There's no way here he can stay in the pocket. He's going to have to move, and he moves to his right. So this is where the second part of the play comes in. The flat defender and the hook defender in.
Cover two, what do they do?
They abandon their coverage areas of responsibility to react to Jade and Daniels because they see him running right at them. So what then happens? They abandon their responsibility. Diami Brown is going to run across or essentially right behind them.
They are now out of their coverage.
It becomes an easy pitch and catch throw for thirty yards.
This is just we were talking about the fact.
That there's a second part of the play that you now have to defend after you think you've done such a really good job with your late location, your attempt to try to confuse him. You know, everything works great until he leaves the pocket, and then everything becomes different and a play that you felt good about is now a thirty yard game for Jaydeen Daniel.
That's what you're dealing with.
Yeah, that's why they're in the playoffs. Greg Go said, great, seeing you forty five years NFL Films. Thank you very much.
Thanks Colin. I appreciate it again.
That was just a really good play, Like you have a defense and it's in its spot, and then you have to react to him, and then you do, and the kids so quick and intuitive. He's like, okay, I'll just drop it off. That was a difficult throw that became an easy throw in about half a second, and that kid's smart enough to figure it out and see it. We always talk about this in the NFL. I always said this was Zach Wilson and justin fields. They have the arm and the mobility. They don't appear to see the field well early Mahomes and Jaden Daniels. Jaden Daniels sees stuff. He just sees, you know what's said. This is about Gretzky. He saw the goal, He saw the pass before it existed. Jaden Daniels and Mahomes had this gift. He saw the open receiver before he was opened. He was a step half a second. He can see a play develop before it's fully developed. Anticipatory thrower and reactor. If you've been thinking about home security, now is the time to join Simply Safe stops break ins. Go to simplysafecolin dot com fifty percent off a new system with professional monitoring plan. There is no safe like simply Safe.
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So I saw this story Jordan Schultz next Hour that a report. I'm not reporting this that Russell Wilson and the Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith did not have a good working relationship. So whereas Tom Brady got along with almost everybody, Russell Wilson increasingly gets along with hardly anybody. Arthur Smith, his college coach, Tom O'Brien moved off him. Pete Carroll at the end, Sean Payton now Arthur Smith. Privately, I had a source tell me that Nat Hackett felt he was limited and it wasn't a great relationship. So Marshawn Lynch at one point said, I don't even have his phone number. I know him and I like him, but there are multiple instances of former teammates criticizing him, and it's just weird. You don't hear former teammates they usually I mean, when Drew Brees retired, you had offensive linemen going to the podium crying, and even guys like Peyton Manning, who could be hard on teammates, had dozens of friends, dozens of friends in his locker room. So there have been quarterbacks that don't get along with a lot of teammates, Jeff George and Jay Cutler, but they were kind of cocky and outspoken. Russ isn't It's more political and inauthentic and unapproachable at least that's what it sounds like. You know, you remember the fake in the high fives thing, or on the plane flight tour from London where he was doing exercises and driving his teammates crazy on the plane. Sometimes it feels like he's acting as a quarterback and not just playing quarterbacks. So the stuff doesn't bother me. But I do think there is something that is true, is that being a quarterback involves a lot of things, and it involves leadership and toughness, and there's some things. I think Russ is tough, and I think he works really hard, and I think he's smart, but he's not one of the guys. And I think there's just too many instances. Why is this story getting out? And why did the Peyton stuff get out? And the Pete Carroll stuff get out? Why and the Marshawn Lynch stuff, and so you know, Brady was legendary for being the best beer chugger in a locker room of beer chuggers like like that. Brady was one of the dudes. And again, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen have very much despite their wealth and talent and importance, kind of a one of the guys feel I don't think everybody has to be as good as Brady or Josh Allen or Lamar whose teammates love him. But you know, it's interesting. There was a quarterback named Roger Staubach when I was a kid growing up. So he was in the Naval Academy, ended up making being worth almost eight hundred million dollars. He was a brilliant guy who was in the military, very very Christian, not a guy that would play around. He didn't necessarily you would think connect, you know, or have a lot in common with some of his professional teammates. And yet he was revered in Dallas by the coach in the locker room. Have to put in the effort. It's a real thing. In the NFL. Tom Brady used to go and introduce himself to rookies. Hi, I'm Tom Brady. Everybody knew it was Tom Brady, but it and I think sometimes with Russ he doesn't quite have that connectability. The Steelers. I see this Arthur Smith story. The Steelers really right now don't know what they're gonna do at quarterback. According to Mike Tomlin, we.
Don't have a quarterback under contract, and so we got some major discussions there. It's also been I guess three times out of the last four years we've we've taken a quick exit from the tournament.
And so.
We're having all of those discussions and acknowledge that those similarities exist. And obviously that's gonna be a component of us in terms of our decision making this time around relative to the subject.
You know, the catch phrases, the fake high fives, whatever, people are quirky. That already bothered me. But it is another story leaking out about a trusted coacher teammate that doesn't connect with him. There's something there that's off putting to people. I remember we had zach Ertz on yesterday, yesterday of the day before, and he was talking about Jaden Daniels and I just wish more people would talk about Russ this way when they were teammates.
He has the ultimate quiet confidence. He is He has such strong belief in himself, but it comes off in a way that is so humble and guys, just I mean, I have I compared him to Andrew in the training camp. People called me crazy obviously playing with Andrew in college, but just his poise, how how composed he is.
Yeah, and I think I think there's some things that Russell has that are similar to that. But it's just when you hear people talk about Jaden Daniels, it's with affection and uh, and it feels like they really, really deeply care about him. And I don't know what it is. I'm not going to try to project her, guess, but I'm just getting story after story after story, and Brady played forever. I don't think I have one of those. I don't think I have one of them. I mean, Aaron Rodgers is prickly. He got a lot of guys defending him. He got a lot of teammates that like Aaron Rodgers and you know again, good looking Malibu house cover of magazines. You could argue, Aaron, how does Aaron connect with a lot of guys? He connects with enough of them. J mcklin News, No, No, this is the headline news.
All right.
Let's start with Jaden Daniels here. What an incredible rookie year. He's had points to take home offensive Rookie of the Year that I don't think there's anybody close.
Uh.
He was tremendous against the commanders in a high leverage down led to the game winning field goal.
Now.
They faced the Lions Saturday on Fox and Jared Goff was asked about how good the rookie's been.
Extremely impressive, very very impressive for anyone that young to do what he's doing and doesn't look like he is a repee. It doesn't look like he feels like a repeet. It feels like he understands the moment, is comfortable in it, and so our Joe one defense is trying to make him comfortable. And it's been a challenge for a lot of teams this year, but I'm excited see what they do.
I mean, you talk about a contrast in styles Jayden Daniels and golf, but they're both successful. There's more than one way to do it.
I'll say, if you're Washington, you are doing cartwheels. You got your guy, hopefully for the next fifteen years. That being said, this just came across my desk, Colent, what so, do you want to guess how many wins Washington has? It's basically the buzzer this season, like walk off wins, wins with like five seconds left in the game, five seven. I mean, seriously, I'm not making this up. The Tampa playoff game.
Field goal walk off Bears. The Bears Hail Mary.
They beat Dallas on a touchdown with three seconds left in the eighteen Atlanta in overtime walk off, they beat the Eagles with a touchdown with six seconds left.
The Saints tried.
To go for two to win the game with no time on Rock, and then the Giants in week two with a field goal at the buzzer. Seven wins with like six seconds are left in the game or less. Now, now that's unsustainable. Okay, that is just well, that's impossible.
It is unsustainable. But winning seventy five percent of those like Mahomes is sustainable. Okay, so it's going eight to o or seven and oh is not sustainable. But Mahomes beats everybody close. And you know, the one guy he didn't old, Tom Brady in New England, went to to zero against him in close games. So Brady spent a career winning seventy five percent of his close games. Mahomes couldn't beat him in close games. Now, nobody can beat Mahomes in close games.
That's that's a good point. I will also add I've seen some numbers. I think they hit eighty six percent on fourth down this season, which is about something the greatest fourth down season in NFL history.
Yeah, Now I don't think that's sustainable, but I'm going to argue that winning close games late in the last minute is sustainable.
Now, what's what's the argument?
Just to the argument is some people they I saw this on years and years ago. They were doing a test on NASCAR drivers and it may have been Jeff Gordon or somebody, and they were testing their heart rate as they went around the corner at Daytona and his heart rate did not go up. There are players, golfers. Tiger Woods was great in tight tournaments. Yeah, Like I think there are human beings that it's just an innate thing. Their heart rate doesn't rise. I think Mahomes is a classic example of he just flourishes in those big spots. Michael Jordan flourished Tiger Woods. There have been golfers that are very good in those moments and other golfers who can struggle. And I think I think Jayden Daniels and Mahomes, Yeah, I think it's just part of their personality. Unflappable, unflappable never never, i'n't get rattled.
Daniels just looks calm cool.
That scramble against Tampa with the defensive tackle grabbed his towel. That's how cloth he was to Daniels, and Daniel just calmly went around the end and then just dove and you got the first.
They're like, oh, that's game over. This kid is he's special. I just it as a Jets.
Fan, it just kills me that we twenty years, we can't fight one of those guys.
Ever.
I mean you had longer than twenty years.
I mean we thought we had something Sanchez, you know, our guy here, Mark Sanchez. But just it's just it's frustrating. And congrats to Washington.
You guys have it real good. Let's move on to the.
Bears, who are in the thick of their head coaching search.
Colin.
They had the in person interview with Mike McCarthy last night. I'm sure you're working your sources to find out where they were dining. Caleb Williams obviously will have some say in the decision, and an appearance on his former USC teammate A'mara Saint Brown's podcast, Caleb Williams revealed what he would like in his next head coach.
Strong minded, a leader of men.
Selfishly, I want an office of minding guy so I can build with him and you know, be with be with their coach for the next nineteen seventeen fifteen years, and so I can also learn and.
Grow and you know, things like that.
From him and what he's seen and what he you know, what he's gone through with you know, maybe other qbs.
I think all of that sounds reasonable. And that's why Mike muccarthy now reportedly.
Oh gosh, here we go. I wasn't going to read this. They put this in the notes. Go ahead, No you go ah, I don't you want to say it.
No, they went to dinner last night. Apparently the dinner was excellent. The laughs were flowing and somewhere's the beano.
That's not what was in the report.
Uh, this is say it all right.
I'll say the expectation was there going to be a five six hour meeting. Oh my gosh, they're gonna and it didn't come close to that. That's all we got the details coming. Wasn't a long meeting doesn't mean it wasn't a nice meal. I'm just curious, like, if you got Caleb Williams, how much input does he have in this process.
Do you you ask him his thoughts? Do you give names to him? Like I'm Joe curious about that?
Good question. I think he just gave you the input.
No, No, I'm talking to bears. Do they call him up? No, not your buddy on the podcast, No, Kevin Warren and Pole.
He just told the Bears what he wants. Sometimes you speak to people directly. Sometimes you speak to people through the press. Lebron has done that a few times. He spoke to the Caves through the press.
So let me Lebron had accomplished stuff. Let me flip it.
So, are are the Bears a little to Caleb here saying I'm on offensive mind a guy?
Well, no, I don't think he was adamant or demanding. I think he was asked what would you like? And the first thing he said is leader of men. Okay, you know, offensive coach I could grow with. That is Caleb making his case for I had a defensive coach. Our offensive line got horrible. So I think Caleb is telling you subtly and not whatever how you view it, Caleb is basically because leader of men is vague what does that mean? But offensive minded coach is Caleb's way of saying, I could have not put that out there. I'm all put that out there. I want to I want Ben Johnson, I want Mike McCarthy. I want an offensive coach like Lincoln Riley that I can grow with.
So again, I hope people listening don't take this the wrong way. I like Caleb Williams, I'm rooting for. Would a better answer have been, you know what, I got confidence in my front office.
They're gonna get us whatever.
How could he say that he'd be lying, Well.
Sometimes you gotta tell white lies. You do that sometimes, I know I do. You don't tell some white lives.
No.
In interviews, you're totally forthcoming about everything.
Mostly yeah, all right.
The final story is Ben Johnson, big name on the board. Now the Freem's gone to the Patriots. There has been a lot of momentum behind the Raiders being the team to land Ben Johnson, and the athletic report that Johnson is the leader in the clubhouse for the Raiders job.
Now.
This report goes on to claim that Ben Johnson will be paired with his choice commander's assistant, GM Lance Newmark. They were together for five seasons prior Ben Johnson originally planned to me with only the Bears, Jags, and Patriots before the Raiders stepped in.
This is curious.
Ben Johnson wants to go somewhere where they do not have a PA.
Well, you look in that division with Andy Reid, Sean Payton, and Harbaugh. I think the Raiders are saying, we got to keep up offensively because we have the worst quarterback. I think the Raiders are gonna My guess is the Raiders take Shaduur Sanders. That's what they're gonna do.
You think he's gonna be there six?
Well, I think they'll move up and maybe move a player, but I think Ben Johnson and Shaduer Sanders, with their defensive players and the effort, I think the Raiders will be I would have no problem if you told me Ben Johnson Shador Sanders in that coaching division because I think Andy Reid's got a few years left, not a ton. I don't have any problem with that at all. I would sign. I signed off on Brabil to the Patriots. Excellent. Ben Johnson to the Raiders. Now, I know it's a big, big lift, but my take is the Raiders are going to fire him in three years, and I mean literally, I mean they fire everybody. So my take is, though the Raiders at this point the division is so smartly coached from the offensive side, go get clever in this instance because you don't have a quarterback. Chicago's got the quarterback and a better roster than the Raiders. I want an adult say that the Raiders are mostly right now, quarterback, coaching staff, some elements. They're a bigger rebuild.
Let me ask you so, Joe the Brady was with Buffalo right and he prior was with LSU. He had Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. He's looked awesome as an offensive coordinator. Okay, we've basically only seen Ben Johnson with a stack deck in Detroit, an amazing offensive line, a really good quarterback with the number one overall pick.
I think golf was receiver running like they've had everything. He goes to the Raiders. He's got nothing coming. They don't have a quarterback.
The offensive line has is in one or two parts. The receiving room is below average, the running back served.
That's what I'm saying.
Nothing that this idea that Ben Johnson's gonna go in and be runner. He can try they don't have anything.
I don't know that he's going to be successful there, especially if you have to train up for sadure.
I'm not loving this.
Yeah, I think McCarthy can stabilize the Bears. I don't think the Raiders are stabilizable, right, right, right, I.
Think it's the word.
I think that McCarthy could stabilize a talented roster. I don't think that's that is that shouldn't even be a pursuit because I don't think the Raiders are a stable and there never will be with this ownership group, They'll never be stable. The mccaskeys are one hundred something. They could pass away the family breaks it up within three years. Yeah, Mark Davis is gonna own this thing until he passes. So you can't worry about stability. Just go get clever offensively, Just go the Bears. McCarthy would solve some of their most of their on field stuff. I don't think the Raiders are. They're not solvable.
Sounds like it's not happening.
But I would love to see Ben Johnson with Caleb Williams and the running room they got and wide receivers in the tight end they got some dudes.
Shamack with the news.
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by. The Herd Line.
News Jordan Schultz next hour, don't go anywhere. He's got all the latest on this stuff, the Raiders job, the Bear's job, the Jets job, the Saints job, Limon Lands The Herd.
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So I watched the Warriors fend off Milwaukee and beat them. They had a huge lead and held off the Tea Wolves in one, and I missed the old Warriors. This year's team. If Staff's great, they win. If he's not, they don't. It's pretty simple. He doesn't have much of a supporting CAFs not enough of one. Draymond Green, Yes, but they just don't have enough great players to compete with the okc's Cleveland's, Boston, Dallas. They just don't and I think dynasties are good for sports because it feels like you're watching an event, and increasingly Americans are watching Saturday, Sunday sports, Monday night Football, World Cup, UFC fights event. It's hard to get people to watch Monday through Friday games that don't feel special. So Warriors with Kevin Durant and without Kevin Durant and their prime felt special. NFL's popularity have surged in the last twenty five years, with two teams dominating New England in Kansas City. Major League Baseball had a huge rating surge this year Yankees and Dodgers. Is that equal does an equal more interesting? But Adam Silver yesterday he was on the show and he was great. He likes what he's seeing competitive balance.
At the end of the day, we sell competition.
To your point, if Kevin Durant couldn't have gone to Golden State from Oklahoma City when he did, the team he had gone to would have, almost by definition, if it weren't already a great team, would have become a great team. And for us, we think that's better league wide in terms of creating more competition. That's what we're selling. I mean, I think that's part of the reason for the enormous success of the NFL. Any given Sunday notion that nobody thinks twice if the Packers are in the super Bowl, there's no bemoaning that it's a small market.
But it should be duly noted that the Chiefs and Mahomes and the Patriots and Brady have overwhelmingly dominated the league for twenty five years during the growth. Now the NFL is also different because of scarcity. There's one game a week. It's just the way the world is working. We're on our phones all the time, one game of week scarcity. NFL games feel like an event. NBA games don't. So I think what does work in volume sports like the NBA and baseball is special. Major League Baseball when they play in a cornfield special, Mets Phillies in London, special home run Derby, special, World Series, special, Otani special, NBA, you know, Steph and Lebron on Christmas, special Conference Championships special. So I think, and I like the NBA Cup, which you know, the colored court makes, you know, purple court, great court, red court, whatever it is, it kind of feels special. So I don't necessarily agree that dynasties are bad for baseball or basketball, or for that matter, hockey. NFL doesn't need them, but they've surged while having them. Hour three next
