Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern, nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it is our number two on a Monday, We're live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one. When I was a kid, I thought I was going to be a weather person. I used to watch the news I was. I'm still kind of fascinated with weather, so I have this a lot of websites I go to and I'm always in I know on tweeter. So we are having They used to call it like the Pineapple Express or something elm Lenin or something a weather El Nino. My first two years in LA we had a couple of those. My wife was like, I thought it ever rained in Los Angeles. So we've had this drought we're battling now. So we're having some rain, like a ten twelve days stretch of rain and the snowpack out West is insane. So congratulations to people who run these ski resorts because we've needed it. Was a terrible ski season last year. It's been unbelievable. It doesn't matter if it's the Cascades, it's Mountain Bachelor in Oregon, it's Mammoth. Here in California, it's Tahoe, it's Park City, it's Colorado. Big rain, big snow, a lot of snowpack, fun, wild, crazy skied with my kids, so much fun, wild times out West. As a guy who is now a new dog owner for about ten months, I've got to ask, what's the secret to walking your dog when it rains? Because we've got a big dog, Golden retreat by about ninety five pounds. Yeah, if he gets wet and brings it in the house, I'm not letting him on the furniture or anything. So how do you keep the dog drive? Do you not walk him? What do you do? Of course you walk him with an umbrella. I don't even own an umbrella. Get home and get big towel, big beach towel to do fifteen minute dry off. He's a big boy. Of course, he's an awesome. By the way, being a dog owner, he's really fun. That is to say, it's awesome. Best, Yeah, the absolute best. All right, Colin right, Colin wrong? A lot of wrongs this week. I was wrong a lot this week, and here we go where Colin was right. Well, I did say I thought brock Purty as a four year starter in college, three or four year starter, I thought he'd be fine. This team does not ask the quarterback to do a lot. I worried that he wouldn't be able to go like to Philadelphia and win a playoff game. But in the five games he started four or five games, his passer ratings over one oh six. He's completing sixty seven percent of his throws. He's got McCaffrey and Jennings, George Kittle, he got a lot of weapons. He's got a brilliant play designer. So brock Purty, everybody freaked out. He's more accurate than Trey Lance. He's a better athlete than Jimmy Garoppolo and Kurt Warner and Tony Romo were not drafted. They can get to the super Bowl. In my opinion, with brock Purty, that's yesterday came from behind that's the result so far. Where Colin was the blazing five. The good news is we're fifty four percent on the year. We need the Bengals to win tonight or we embarrassed ourselves this week. The Jets laid an egg. I can't explain why the Raiders were so good, and Kirk Cousins I think I'd trade him. But we are forty one, thirty five and three fifty four percent for the year. Let's get to fifty five. Win tonight, a couple of playoff games. That's where we're at right and wrong. Where Colin was right. We thought underdog Ohio State would account for themselves very well. They were told for a month they didn't have a chance. Ohio State to top three or four recruiting juggernaut in America. They got athletes everywhere, they got NFL stars everywhere. Right now, they have as many good wide receivers as any program in the country, and they had the better quarterback in this game by a lot. So there was no reason this team couldn't form a good game plan talent wise. My question with Ohio State has been their identity and their defense. But I wasn't shocked. Now was CJ. Stroud better than I thought. Absolutely, three hundred forty eight yards four tds and he ran. But we thought Ohio State would be very competitive in that game. Where Colin was wrong. I've been very critical of Matt Lafleur. He's just a play caller. He doesn't have an identity. But the last two to three weeks I'm wrong. This is exactly what the Packers should be, at least fifty to fifty five percent a run team. You know Aaron Rodgers only completed fifteen throws yesterday. That is a good thing because as they run the ball, they own time of possession. Their defense is not on the field, and if you look at the Packers stats during the four game winning streak, they have a top three second half defense. Run the ball. This is not a track team. Outside of Christian Watson, nobody's gonna beat you deep. They need another tight end. They should draft another receiver or two or go pay for him in the offseason. But I've been critical of Matt Lafleur. Finally found an identity. This team, I think beats Detroit and gets in where Colin was raw. I don't know how, but Daniel Jones made the playoffs. A lot of it's the coach. He is fairly athletic, he can be accurate with time. Here's the thing. A lot of it's Brian Dable, but let's be fair, Daniel has to make those throws. With Brian day Ball, he's gone from sixty four percent completion percent, it's the sixty seven that's a real number, and eighty four in the passer rating the ninety two. So and we know he's big and can move. That's never been the issue. Also, he's got seven rushing touchdowns. So what day Ball has done is what he did with Josh Allen. He unleashes him, uses his size and his speed and he lets him run. That's the best version of Daniel Jones. I never thought he would be a playoff quarterback. I am completely wrong on that. I think a lot of it's Brian Dable. But quarterbacks have to make the plays, and Daniel Jones has where Colin was right Doug Peterson when he was on the beach and didn't have a job, I said, usc hire him, Jacksonville, hire him. Folks. The Jags roll the Texans thirty one to three. I don't know if you're paying attention but they look good and they're playing downhill and Trevor Lawrence Sin's Week nine fourteen TDS two picks and one hundred and six passer rating. Right now, Trevor Lawrence Thanksgiving on, is a top five quarterback in this league, which is what most of the scouts thought when he got drafted. I was a huge advocate of Doug Peterson. I thought it's one of the few times in a playoff game or a Super Bowl that Belichick absolutely got out coached. You can count it on one hand. I think Peterson was that guy. He's the right hire where Colin was right. I love Jim Harbaugh, but I thought he outthought himself and the Bowl win loss. Excuse me, all the gimmicks and the Philly special, off a time out, and you know, I just thought they got too clever, try to be too deceptive. This is a team that had ten routes in a Big ten. You're a power team. Play with power. Stop throwing the ball up the sideline, Go play with power, leaning your tight ends. Although I know one of them was all beat up. I hated that Philly special call a trick, playoff a time out. The element of surprise is why every trick play works. You don't do a trick play out on a time out, or I can prepare for it. I love hard Bob, but I hated that call where Colin was row. Carson Wentz my bad Carson Wentz. I've never been a Taylor Heineke guy. I mean, he's a gamer. I think Wentz is the better talent. He's awful. His passerating yesterday was thirty one. He was bad the minute he got in. There is something about Carson Wentz's personality. Guys just don't dig him. That team plays better with Taylor Heineke. He's one of the dudes. I mean, some guys have that sort of beer drinking quality. You just want to hang out with him, go to Vegas with him. And some guys are talented, but it's not working with Carson Wentz. I think his career is over and I wouldn't be surprised. Daniel Snyder can be very impulsive, inappropriate. I wouldn't be surprised if they just started over because I didn't like to move. I may like Carson Wentz, but that was bad where Colin was raw. I defended Matt Eberflus. I don't love defensive head coaches with rookie or young quarterbacks, but they're a mess now. They've lost nine straight. That's the longest losing streak in one hundred and three years of the Bears football operation. And Justin fields Sack seven times had seven completions against Detroit's defense. So I am not a Fan'll say it again, of hiring a defensive coach with a young quarterback, I don't love it, and I didn't love to hire, but I defended him, and I thought early in the year I liked their game plans and what they were doing. I have no trust whatsoever in the Bears organization. To get the offense right, fields has to be superman the old line. I think they drafted four old lineman last year, three or four bad receivers, bad couple of decent running backs. That offense is broken personnel wives nine straight losses. That's I've seen the Houston Texans be wildly competitive against superior teams. Nine straight losses in the NFC. Mostly in the NFC. How's this They've lost twelve or thirteen, with the one win being over the Patriots. Remember that game. I think it was a Monday night football game. They crushed the Patriots to go back to Carson Wentz for sec funny comment. One of the reporters afterwards goes, cars you talk to us about the interception, and Carson Wentz goes which one. I couldn't help a laugh in three picks in a season deciding game. Yeah, I mean there is something to be said. The guys like Brock Purty, now there's limitations and ceilings. But some guy, you know, Jay Cutler, was really talented, not very likable in the room like a lot of the Bears players. A lot of the Denver play just didn't like him. You don't have to be really likable. If you're great, you can get away with it. But Josh Allen Burrow really come across as sort of this. You know, regular guy ethos work hard, head down, share in the glory. Eli Manning is one of the smartest guys ever in this league. When he won, he always deflected praise. When he lost, he always met the press his entire career. So there is something about whence just doesn't connect with players like Taylor heineck does. You're not gonna build around Taylor Heinecky, but there is value in relatability at that position. Russell Wilson has struggled with this where guys don't feel like he's one of us. He's got his own parking space and office doesn't bother me. I think a quarterback would. I'm surprised more don't. That's where we stand. Sean Payton, always fascinating in studio. Next live in La, It's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine a Empacific on Fox Sports Radios one and the iHeartRadio app Sunday, it's the NFL season finale, and we'll have a Week eighteen double header for you featuring games with the playoff implications on Fox and the Fox Sports appen It's with the Saints. Six times they had the number one offense in the league, and multiple other times they were in the top two or three. Sean Payton, Fox Sports Analysts, fifteen years Super Bowl Champ. Good to see him again. He had a little personal crisis in his family, so we're so glad to have you back. Things getting wrapped up to some degree, So thank you very Yeah, listen, it's great to be back on here. And you know, we're all kind of creatures of habit and routine, and certainly you guys, especially with the amount of time you're on air, and I always like coming here on Mondays. I feel like that we can put a bow tie on some things. Yes, in our league, well my lead today, this is good for you. I said a lot of time. There's a difference between call and plays and having an identity. Kyle Shanahan's offenses, there's an identity you and Breeze. I knew what you were trying to do. Couldn't stop it, Andy Reid. A lot of times I see defensive coaches they're calm plays, but the sensibility and I've been very critical of Matt Lafleur, and in the last three weeks it's like, Okay, they found it. Yeah, this is a run team. They don't have the weaponry to get into track meets. I really like And by the way, Sean As their run game is improved, the defense isn't on the field. So their second half defense now is fantastic. Yeah, they tie so much together. And you know, there's terms complimentary football, but we're seeing it in San Francisco and even when Kansas City's going with the weapons they have, there's still something that they can attack versus the cover twos of the world, the cover fours of the world, the six, the light boxes and the heavy coverage looks Yeah, and especially when we get down the stretch and we're here. I said this yesterday. I feel like, you know, occasionally you go somewhere nice and there's a telescope in your hotel room and you don't know how to use it. You're kind of like this and then all of a sudden bump, it gets clear and you're like, oh, I got it. I were like one turn away then from knowing everything. That's great this weekend, yes, but it got a lot clear yesterday. Yeah, Green Bay feels like this is what we are. I think there are most teams in the league have to play a certain way to win. Maybe Kansas City doesn't. I want to talk about San Francisco. So my question was every quarterback looks a lot better with a lead in the great defense. Yesterday, the Niners defense wasn't good. Robbie Gould missed an easy one and it was Brock had to make some plays. Now. Yeah, and I my takeaway was all those years starting in college, I saw it with Kenny Pickett. He's capable. Yeah that was that ended up being a real good game. And you know, we laugh and try to figure things out in the green room on the weekend. And sometimes the more you try to figure him out, the the more confused you can get. Um. We saw New Orleans play Philadelphia yesterday and in that case, the the absence of Jalen Hurts and what he does for their running game. And then all of a sudden, Gardner Minshew's got to play more of a conventional role. And I know New Orleans knows how to defend him. We played it, played him in Jacksonville. They were going to keep him in the pocket and force him to make place from the pocket. But here's here's pretty yesterday, you know, in a spot where there's some adversity. Yes, defense just didn't play well. Yeah, and and credit credit the Raiders and credit um shoot him drawn a blank on the quarterback's name? Did him? Who was Auburn transferred from Baylor and drafted by New England. We've played sixty five we've started Our league has started sixty five different quarterbacks this seasons. It's a record that's that's more than two per team, and so like if you're if you're a father that's looking at the schedule saying I'm gonna, I'm gonna take my son to see Arizona versus Atlanta. You have no idea, you know, at the start of the season, and then all of a sudden, you can't pick the names out of a lineup. You know, one team's on their fourth quarterback, the other on their second um. But both those guys played well. And I think, and I said this for the last month, and I don't think you know, there's that hesitation. Can Purtady do this? I think San Francisco is the team to beat in this tournament, in the whole tournament, the whole thing. And I do I do because look, they a moment defensively yesterday, They'll they'll they'll bounce back off of that. But if you use the the analytics of defense, scoring, run game, and you factored in some of these things, and I think, look, Deebo has been kind of quiet, and I just feel like they're a team that's one what nine in a row. Now you know we're going to see a good game tonight. That's really going to tell us a little bit more about the AFC, so I want to talk about that. So it's bingals bills tonight go either way. It's like a you know, one and a half point. I like, I think Cincinnati at home a little more comfortable. I've said this, I feel like I love boxing. I like, you know, like that stuff. I feel. I've always said Buffalo's Tyson doesn't always have a great jab. Uh. You know, I don't love their old line. They bail on the run game. Uh. They're too dependent on the home run, Josh Allen Tyson, too dependent on the left. Whereas I feel with Cincinnati, I get the jab, I get some power, I get the movement. They're more complete Situationally, you don't know what they're gonna do. They can run, they can pass, they tight ends, they Joe can move. When you look at this, what are you concerned at all? Because I find myself with Buffalo pushing back on myself, Colin. Don't fall in love with their home runs. Don't look at that old line the run game, they bail or you're in this game forever. Would you just rather have the home runs to deal with? It's it's it's a great question. That's why tonight it's a great game, and honestly, we could flip coins here and try to figure out who's gonna win this game. Um, they're two different type teams playing. That's the one thing. Yes, and so yeah, do you do you do you want to feel like you know a little bit more what you're getting or I mean, certainly you don't want the boxer who's biting someone's ear off and then all of a sudden you're you're you're leaving in the first round. Right. Um, I like Buffalo tonight, Buffalo. I think the X factors there, their quarterback and I think Diggs and I just think I just think they're a little too much in a big spot this season, and it was a big spot when they played the Rams. Obviously it doesn't look that way now Thursday night they have a big win in another big spot against the Chiefs. This is kind of I think their third big spot when you look. I mean, they've won some they've won a lot of games, but the chief game was a big one. The opening game of the season on the road against the Rams, that was a big win. They stubbed their towel when you don't expect it. Yeah, I feel like Sean will have his guys ready. McDermott and I give the edge to him. I think he's done a great job. They're going to be right there. In the end. This team will be playing in the AFC Championship game. Cincinnati may very well be as well. I kind of see Kansas City there, but but certainly this is one of those games that'll be interesting to watch. So there's so many different stories today. Sean Payton for our radio audience. I never thought i'd see Daniel Jones in the playoffs, but it's interesting what day Ball's done with him. And nobody thinks he's Josh Allen, but day Ball has done a little bit of the same. Yeah, I'm gonna get you out of the turnover business and I'm gonna let you run more. Yeah, there's some design plays as touchdown yesterday was designed that. Listen, they stole it from us. We ran that against Buffalo or against the Jets with Taysom Hill. I'm kidding when I say that. But if you want to find quarterback runs and you don't want to look at college tape, there's four or five teams that we're gonna pull the tape out and look for ideas we're gonna look at Baltimore, We're gonna look at Buffalo, We're gonna look at New Orleans. Their package with We're gonna find teams Chicago now. So as soon as teams invest in that business, there's access to get new ideas and tape. And I think Ryan's done a great job there. I mean, it's funny yesterday I said this, we say, the seasons of Marathon, we've seen a handful of teams just kind of hang in there with their stride right may not be the fast stride, and we're not necessarily picking them to win place or show. But then we've seen a handful of those teams that all of a sudden, we thought we'd see you back here. And what happened to the Jets and what happened to the Dolphins, a few of these teams that just faded down the stretch. Um, it's a long year, and it's it's interesting, and here here in New England is you know in a position you know it's it's it's amazing the length of the season. You break it into quarters, and if you're not paying attention or if you're not careful as a team, you can lose four games like that, like that, Yeah, that's why getting your finding your identity, figuring out what you're not. Are you Obviously health plays a big part of this, but are you? Are you ascending to some degree? Are you getting better? And then are you midstream adjusting? And that gets to like, hey, this is we wanted to do this in training camp, but we're better at this. Let's let's this is what we need to do now. So I want to talk about health. A team that I it took me a while to wrap my arms around him, but I'm going to defend them, and I think they're going to get in is Miami. They were missing I think seven starters yesterday, and they're in an interesting spot. Football is largely breeze an exception, a big man's game. Yeah, big man's game. Most of your top twenty quarterbacks ever six three and up most or they're thick, they're big men. Yep. Two is not Teddy's not yep, and both get hurt. And this system in Miami, like the Niners, is a distribution system. Kirk Cousins would be effective, Brady would be effective. Car It's not a playmaking offense. That's not Kyle isn't want you out there. Well, let's do this. Let's not draft small players in the first fifteen picks of the draft anymore in the first round. Let's not. Let's not get away from prototype. And I talked with Bill Parcels about this, ron Wolf and those early picks have to be prototype players big six four prototype the way we designed it for each position, whatever the position requirement is. Now, let's say we're looking at a corner and our requirement for prototype at that position is five to eleven, and we're going to take this player in the first six or seven picks. And he's off of that, you'd say, oh, how much he's five ten or he's five nine. There's a point at which he turned and say all right, and Bill would say this, does he walk on water? Told yeah, yeah, And if the answer is yes, then we're going to look at Aaron Glen Somemore because the drafted Aaron Glenn. Yeah. But when that topic comes up and you just see the mistakes really recently, and we go all the way back to Cleveland, and you know, they have the movie Draft Day, and I've said this before, and right at the very end, Costner makes the right decision in the movie, but in real life, not Hollywood. They drafted Johnny Manziel the same team. Yeah, and I think you have to pay attention to typing in when you're looking at the health of players and you're looking at the size of players. And two is just one example. We're going to see it again. I think this upcoming year there's another quarterback coming out of Alabama that's not going to be prototype. Yeah. So does he walk on water? Well he did this weekend. Yeah, so I want to I want to pivot then to Sean and this is where you're so valuable. So I tend to with a quarterback. Now, now, Pickett didn't go top ten, it was later first round. I tend to look for something that's unique. Herbert size six six and moves Josh Allen size Mahomes aren't. And then I look at Kenny Pickett. I'm like, I'm not sure what's unique. But then I've watched him in these games and he's just chops Wood. He stays in the game and then he makes a player too late. Yeah, there's something there. What do you see with him? Well, I see football intelligence. I see someone who processes quickly. Okay, he certainly has it. You know, when we try to find those intangibles with his teammates, you can tell you can watch a quarter of a game and tell his teammates think you can see that, Yeah, you can see that. You can see Mike Tomlin when he came off that after that play, just like Kenny and all right and and so and then lastly, when you share a building which is unique, right, the Steelers in the University of Pittsburgh, and you're you have that much access to personality, skill set, you know, all the other intangibles, that's that's invaluable. But yeah, I think look, there was a reason he dropped some and then the cost of doing business changes a little bit. But they weren't forced to start him or play him this year. They arrived at him. Where we see so many of these teams that take someone so early that they feel have to plan absolutely, Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco, Yeah, are they the same team if if Tray still there as the starter? Yeah, I don't. I don't know that they are because I see Jimmy a little bit closer to Purdy, right, and I think that's that's complimented what they do so it's a hard position to evaluate. I mean, it's difficult when you start counting the misses and and then I would also say matches, because if the better ones are getting taken early, the problematic teams are drafting early. And so how many have gone to problematic teams that we've not really heard from again or they don't come back till later on That that happens too, you know, Sean, I've thought about this just from an accuracy standpoint through the years, if you really want to be accurate with quarterbacks guessing. I thought about this because I made a lot of mistakes through the years, had some hits, had some missures. Is that outside the question becomes are they good enough to overcome nonsense? I always thought Andrew luck was, and Trevor Lawrence those of the now Elway probably was. But in the last ten years there have been two guys that I looked at and I said, I don't care where they land too. Now it's easy to say mahomes now, but I didn't know that. Yeah, but I but I look at these guys. I look at C. J. Stroud and Bryce Young and Will Levis, and I don't think they are so so much becomes location coach sensibility. And I think Kenny Pickett's got a big advantage is they're not going to pay him for four years, so they get the defense is already good. There's stability. He's gonna succeed because and they draft and developed players. Well. The guy he's following was a great example. Ben sat in the draft room, threw his cell phone down at the table. He felt he fell a little bit, and he went to Pittsburgh and he doesn't even realize what's happening. But he could have been to these other spots and Aaron Rodgers same thing. He's a great example of it. I mean, he's a perfect example. Not how he wanted it to unfold, but how would have the bigger picture unfolded had he got what he wanted early on. You know, he ends up in Houston or ends up and no disrespect to some of these other other places, but they've earned no spots when they're drafting that early every year. I want to talk about it was a surprising thud Jets Seahawks. I mean, and maybe I should have known the veteran pete at home against the kids Sala, you know what I mean? Like that's that's really that's a tough win to go up to the Northwest. Pete Carroll, Kenneth Walker was healthy. When he's healthy, they lean on him. Gino can throw thirty two times, very effective. But I do think sometimes to get the right answer in life, it's often a loss or pain. Yeah, and I did think Mike White in this biggest moment, shrinking there was some clarity here is that they need to left tackle and they needed to grown up at quarterback. It's a nice roster, and I know it's painful, but I'm thinking him, I'm flying back and I'm Robert Saul. I'm thinking we gained some clarity today. Yeah. Yeah, we're not here yet. I look, we were talking about this game and Traeger Peter had made the comment that they feel like they've had their best week of practice yet. When I hear that, I run and I'm like, well what that means? It just means it's I'd like to think honestly, when Friday comes and we finished the week of practice, I feel like, man, we're ready. I can't recall a time where I thought, God, I want to redo this week. You know, there's a there's a process to your game planning, and there's a process to your installation and regardless of your health, obviously your adversity. We've had a game where the night before we traveled to Carolina, all five running backs were out with Covid and the running back coach, and we had a Saturday morning meeting and it was quickly all right, how are we going to handle who's going to be a running back? And ty Montgomery, who was playing receiver, who played running back, and said, Tye, you're going to be a running back. Yeah, So Ti moved to running back. We had an extended walk through Saturday to extra periods, We got on a plane, we Loue to Caroline, and we won by twenty five points. All right, So I wouldn't have told Peter we had our best week then, But generally speaking, all right, you feel like by the end of the week they were ready to go, because that's that's how we're conditioned and trained. That was unique, But um, yeah, so I think I do think I have a better feel for that team. I'm sure Sala has a better feel for that team, as as do the personnel people. And now there's some good news and bad news in that and the bad news is you know, our top five quarterback we selected, we know more about and it's not the stuff we wanted to know. It's not the information we were hoping to know at this time. Um, that'll be interesting to see how they handle that. Okay, I want to m We haven't talked about this game, but you had so many playoff experiences. It's interesting. So here the goals. When the Niners were all beat up early, now they're healthy. Yeah, the Eagles were healthy forever. Now they're falling apart. And key guys, Lane Johnson's a Hall of Fame right town. I mean they win when he doesn't play. Jalen Hurts is banged up. Now they lost sweat a defensive lineman. And I look at them and take me to your experience, and I think it's weird. Sometimes I think it team's fallen apart and they show up in the playoffs and it's a totally different sensibility. Would you be or how concerned would you be that you're kind of key guys? Is it circle the Wagon's time? Are you a little concerned with Philadelphia? Well? Yeah, I mean, look, I think it starts with the QB. So I'm under the assumption he's getting healthier and he's going to be available for the playoffs. Relative to what you just said, though, we've got to find a way to get this one seat because it used to be there were two teams, but one and the two would have a week away rest your players were you know whatever it is that and we're starting to see the trends the power of that one seed. It'll be an exception here there, but especially when your team is nicked up like Philly is, to get that additional week without a game, so here they are playing the Giants, and the irony of this when you think about this, I know, all right, this wasn't too long ago where I can't recall who the head coach was. I think it was Judge, who's counting on the Eagles to win a game? And if the Eagles win this game last week of the season, the Giants are going to be I think in the postseason, didn't he rest people? He took Hurts out and he put in he put in the kid from Indiana, the six five quarterbacking on his name, Come on right, yeah, he still might be there, and then rested a bunch of other players, and it was the first time our league. We've talked about this before, it's happened before. It was the first time on a national stage. Our league saw that and thought wow, and at impacted seating, and I think, how do you handle this if you're Brian day Ball this week? Well, only the head coach knows at his play there's a lot of theories. Some Parcels would say, we're always playing to win. He'd say, you know, I'd have a mutiny if I told Lawrence Taylor that we're gonna sit guys, you know, and I understand that, But Philly needs this game, yea, I think, and they need this game, and that'll help them kind of just stop the leak in a little bit. And we entered the postseason in oh nine with a tough loss. We were thirteen and old. We lost to the Cowboys on a Saturday night game. Tough game. We lost. The following week, Tampa Bay beats US in overtime. We miss a field goal to beat the Buccaneers. We had at seventeen point lead and we lose to Tampa Bay. And then the last week of the season, we go to Carolina. We get the one seat before that game, we rest our starters, and quite honestly, there's a lot of criticism. There's no team that's ever lost their last three regular season games and gone on to have success in the playoffs. But I felt like we needed to and so we lost three in a row and then entered the postseason. But we knew we had the one seed locked up. Philly doesn't have it locked up, and I think it's an important game for them. How New York candles this game will be important. Finally, your son goes to TCU. You were at Harbaugh's loss. I thought they got way too gimmicky and tried they outfought themselves. When you have a month to prepare for a game and they're running the Philly Special out of a time out, I'm like, no, no, no, what was your interpretation of it? Yeah, it was first off as a great game. YEA. To be there and watch it the first play of the game is what my biggest fear was. I told Connor, we have to be able to Michigan is bigger and they're going to be stronger warm ups. There's one hundred and twenty Michigan players on the left hand side of the field. Yeah, I felt like there were eighty seven TCU players that just looked smaller. You know, they didn't dress all their starters. All right, that's Sonny's He's done a great job. Both coaches have had fantastic years. I think if you were a fan in attendance, um, everyone leaving that stadium felt like like they just were exhausted. It's a great otastic set of two games. I thought Michigan struggled with their red zone offense and inside the fifteen opportunities came up, and there was one fumble, there was the Philly special um, and I really thought he was going to kick a field goal that early in the game. You know, Jim is and this is a compliment. He is a clone to Bow. You know, he understands the importance of a good rushing attack and what it does for the defense and what it does for the quarterback points. And well, in the first quarter, before we've eaten a hot dog, We've just sat down and I said, on the time out, I turned to Connor, I said, he's going to kick a field goal here. I think I would too, And then they came out of the break with the with the other play. Both teams, it's look, it's gonna it's gonna be almost impossible to ever win a game if you throw two interceptions that are returned for a touchdown. All right, it's gonna be impossible to win a game that when that happens. But um, and then the second game, it was. It was fantastic. I spent seven and a half hours on a couch. Yeah, I read your tweet and last fun I've had in a long time. I m Connor. My son's a student assistant and all he does for their football team he watches a lot of portal tape, sure, and he's part of the evaluation process. We're watching the second game, but we have to fly home because I'm in I'm in studio yesterday and we watched Georgia's score a touchdown and kick the extra point to go up one, and the phones are on in the plane and when you're in that borrowed time space, yeah, where you just know it's any second now, Ohio State receives the kick, so we never see the final drive in the missfield goal. We land and we get the results. Yeah, I felt so bad. Well, that was just thirty minutes of great from Sean Payton, Fox NFL analyst what a pleasure it's been. Happy holidays, Happy New Year, Happy New Year, and happy holidays to you guys. I love coming on here. Um honestly, it's it's it's the best thing going. And uh and I feel like there's there's there's so much a head to discuss. I look forward to doing that today with the college games. You know, we're two lane USC. We thought David and Goliath was was was TCU? Watch? What's going on? Is there any score? USC? Lead seven? Nothing? I can't push the audience over there, stay in our show. But it's a good game, all right, Good Sean Payton. We take a break back in a second to heard. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd week Days and New Niece. They're ninety and Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller, with mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name is the Fifth Hour? I'll tell you it's a spin off of that Ben Mather show, Colt hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture if you will? A world will we chat with captains of industry in media sports and more. Every week Explorer, some amazing facts about a human nature and more. Let'sten to the fifth hour with Ben Maller on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Sean Payne's got nowhere to be, So this is the best place to be when you got nowhere to be three and a half minutes less. Okay, I'm gonna throw the game out. That's fascinating because you've been in this situation five hundred ish Buccaneers big win hosting a Dallas in the playoffs. Dallas had a great season, Dallas to be favored by a touchdown. You took a Saints team to seven and nine Seattle. Yeah, we were discussing this at the break. Every four years our league sees a division like the NFC South, and the whole season we just we trash them and we talk about how none of the teams because their records aren't good, and yet there's gonna be a winner and they're gonna host a playoff game. And then that same season, in the owners meetings or competition committee meetings will discuss, hey, do we want to change how we seed teams? I think the way we seed teams right now is perfect. You win the division, you have a home playoff game. And by the way, since nineteen seventy there have been six division winners that are at five hundred and eight and eight or worse. All Right, that's happened six times. In other words, we've had six bad divisions in the lifetime of these playoffs. And we saw it with this year with the South. Those teams though in the postseason when they opened, those six teams, their record the first round four and two, and you were one of the you were one of the teams that lost New Orleans eleven and five wild card team. Yep, we're going to seven and nine Seattle twenty ten, and that's when the skittles fell from the sky and the beast quake. You know, we had a thirteen point lead in that game. So I say that because that's a dangerous opponent. Yes, they're playing with house money. They got into the postseason. Tampa Bay is going to be that opponent. Tampa Bay right now, they have a chance to be nine and eight. I think they're eight and eight, yeah, or eight and nine, but they're gonna be You know, you can't have a five hundred you know for the most part right now. So but here's Tampa Bay and they're gonna host somebody. They're gonna host somebody. And if you're looking at it now, it says Dallas goes to Tampa. Yeah, it's a weapon. That's a that's a tough game for Dallas. Even if you play well, your Dallas, you play well, because then all of a sudden, Tommy's gonna face a little prevent getting a role because Tampa's offense has been a nimick. But they've been good in the fourth when they go hurry up, they've been really Yeah, and we saw some explosives yesterday for the first time, and all of a sudden, every one of us And this is the first year I've ever played Fantasy, and so I'm the worst. Like my son says, Dad, update your lineup. You had such and such was inactive and you just didn't make a change. I have too many things on my to do list. But there's a lot of us that tore up. Mike Evans, sure, right, and yesterday you know here it was that connection came to fruition. But I think Jacksonville's another one of those teams that I think has a chance of winning their division. Tennessee, that's gonna be at what are those records going to be? How about Trevor Lawrence? Yeah, and so there's gonna be a good team traveling to the AFC South and facing a dangerous opponent. Jacksonville is gonna be a lot more dangerous than Tennessee. And I don't see Jacksonville losing to Tennessee this weekend. I yeah, Yeah, Tennessee's kind of packed it in a lot of hurt, a lot of injuries. They're just every year there's a team or two that falls apart physically. Most of them, like the Chargers and Niners get healthy, Philadelphia healthy early. Tennessee has been hurt all year. They just can't get people well. And now they've got another quarterback. They feel pretty good about it, and and you're like, what happened to the league? We're talking about Dobbs. He's a pretty interesting player. Yeah, four point major in college chemical engineering, right and quarterbacked? We gotta go and quarterbacked in college? Yeah, four point chemical engineering Tennessee, Alvin Kamara, that's what I remember. They were teammates, all right, we gotta go. Sean Payton hour three with a Pleasure, good Stuff Hour three, Next Herd one More Heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Within the iHeart Radio app, search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like

Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from twelve to three eastern, nine to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS one. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Ah, it is our number two on a Monday, We're live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may be, however you may be listening iHeartRadio, Fox Sports Radio FS one. When I was a kid, I thought I was going to be a weather person. I used to watch the news I was. I'm still kind of fascinated with weather, so I have this a lot of websites I go to and I'm always in I know on tweeter. So we are having They used to call it like the Pineapple Express or something elm Lenin or something a weather El Nino. My first two years in LA we had a couple of those. My wife was like, I thought it ever rained in Los Angeles. So we've had this drought we're battling now. So we're having some rain, like a ten twelve days stretch of rain and the snowpack out West is insane. So congratulations to people who run these ski resorts because we've needed it. Was a terrible ski season last year. It's been unbelievable. It doesn't matter if it's the Cascades, it's Mountain Bachelor in Oregon, it's Mammoth. Here in California, it's Tahoe, it's Park City, it's Colorado. Big rain, big snow, a lot of snowpack, fun, wild, crazy skied with my kids, so much fun, wild times out West. As a guy who is now a new dog owner for about ten months, I've got to ask, what's the secret to walking your dog when it rains? Because we've got a big dog, Golden retreat by about ninety five pounds. Yeah, if he gets wet and brings it in the house, I'm not letting him on the furniture or anything. So how do you keep the dog drive? Do you not walk him? What do you do? Of course you walk him with an umbrella. I don't even own an umbrella. Get home and get big towel, big beach towel to do fifteen minute dry off. He's a big boy. Of course, he's an awesome. By the way, being a dog owner, he's really fun. That is to say, it's awesome. Best, Yeah, the absolute best. All right, Colin right, Colin wrong? A lot of wrongs this week. I was wrong a lot this week, and here we go where Colin was right. Well, I did say I thought brock Purty as a four year starter in college, three or four year starter, I thought he'd be fine. This team does not ask the quarterback to do a lot. I worried that he wouldn't be able to go like to Philadelphia and win a playoff game. But in the five games he started four or five games, his passer ratings over one oh six. He's completing sixty seven percent of his throws. He's got McCaffrey and Jennings, George Kittle, he got a lot of weapons. He's got a brilliant play designer. So brock Purty, everybody freaked out. He's more accurate than Trey Lance. He's a better athlete than Jimmy Garoppolo and Kurt Warner and Tony Romo were not drafted. They can get to the super Bowl. In my opinion, with brock Purty, that's yesterday came from behind that's the result so far. Where Colin was the blazing five. The good news is we're fifty four percent on the year. We need the Bengals to win tonight or we embarrassed ourselves this week. The Jets laid an egg. I can't explain why the Raiders were so good, and Kirk Cousins I think I'd trade him. But we are forty one, thirty five and three fifty four percent for the year. Let's get to fifty five. Win tonight, a couple of playoff games. That's where we're at right and wrong. Where Colin was right. We thought underdog Ohio State would account for themselves very well. They were told for a month they didn't have a chance. Ohio State to top three or four recruiting juggernaut in America. They got athletes everywhere, they got NFL stars everywhere. Right now, they have as many good wide receivers as any program in the country, and they had the better quarterback in this game by a lot. So there was no reason this team couldn't form a good game plan talent wise. My question with Ohio State has been their identity and their defense. But I wasn't shocked. Now was CJ. Stroud better than I thought. Absolutely, three hundred forty eight yards four tds and he ran. But we thought Ohio State would be very competitive in that game. Where Colin was wrong. I've been very critical of Matt Lafleur. He's just a play caller. He doesn't have an identity. But the last two to three weeks I'm wrong. This is exactly what the Packers should be, at least fifty to fifty five percent a run team. You know Aaron Rodgers only completed fifteen throws yesterday. That is a good thing because as they run the ball, they own time of possession. Their defense is not on the field, and if you look at the Packers stats during the four game winning streak, they have a top three second half defense. Run the ball. This is not a track team. Outside of Christian Watson, nobody's gonna beat you deep. They need another tight end. They should draft another receiver or two or go pay for him in the offseason. But I've been critical of Matt Lafleur. Finally found an identity. This team, I think beats Detroit and gets in where Colin was raw. I don't know how, but Daniel Jones made the playoffs. A lot of it's the coach. He is fairly athletic, he can be accurate with time. Here's the thing. A lot of it's Brian Dable, but let's be fair, Daniel has to make those throws. With Brian day Ball, he's gone from sixty four percent completion percent, it's the sixty seven that's a real number, and eighty four in the passer rating the ninety two. So and we know he's big and can move. That's never been the issue. Also, he's got seven rushing touchdowns. So what day Ball has done is what he did with Josh Allen. He unleashes him, uses his size and his speed and he lets him run. That's the best version of Daniel Jones. I never thought he would be a playoff quarterback. I am completely wrong on that. I think a lot of it's Brian Dable. But quarterbacks have to make the plays, and Daniel Jones has where Colin was right Doug Peterson when he was on the beach and didn't have a job, I said, usc hire him, Jacksonville, hire him. Folks. The Jags roll the Texans thirty one to three. I don't know if you're paying attention but they look good and they're playing downhill and Trevor Lawrence Sin's Week nine fourteen TDS two picks and one hundred and six passer rating. Right now, Trevor Lawrence Thanksgiving on, is a top five quarterback in this league, which is what most of the scouts thought when he got drafted. I was a huge advocate of Doug Peterson. I thought it's one of the few times in a playoff game or a Super Bowl that Belichick absolutely got out coached. You can count it on one hand. I think Peterson was that guy. He's the right hire where Colin was right. I love Jim Harbaugh, but I thought he outthought himself and the Bowl win loss. Excuse me, all the gimmicks and the Philly special, off a time out, and you know, I just thought they got too clever, try to be too deceptive. This is a team that had ten routes in a Big ten. You're a power team. Play with power. Stop throwing the ball up the sideline, Go play with power, leaning your tight ends. Although I know one of them was all beat up. I hated that Philly special call a trick, playoff a time out. The element of surprise is why every trick play works. You don't do a trick play out on a time out, or I can prepare for it. I love hard Bob, but I hated that call where Colin was row. Carson Wentz my bad Carson Wentz. I've never been a Taylor Heineke guy. I mean, he's a gamer. I think Wentz is the better talent. He's awful. His passerating yesterday was thirty one. He was bad the minute he got in. There is something about Carson Wentz's personality. Guys just don't dig him. That team plays better with Taylor Heineke. He's one of the dudes. I mean, some guys have that sort of beer drinking quality. You just want to hang out with him, go to Vegas with him. And some guys are talented, but it's not working with Carson Wentz. I think his career is over and I wouldn't be surprised. Daniel Snyder can be very impulsive, inappropriate. I wouldn't be surprised if they just started over because I didn't like to move. I may like Carson Wentz, but that was bad where Colin was raw. I defended Matt Eberflus. I don't love defensive head coaches with rookie or young quarterbacks, but they're a mess now. They've lost nine straight. That's the longest losing streak in one hundred and three years of the Bears football operation. And Justin fields Sack seven times had seven completions against Detroit's defense. So I am not a Fan'll say it again, of hiring a defensive coach with a young quarterback, I don't love it, and I didn't love to hire, but I defended him, and I thought early in the year I liked their game plans and what they were doing. I have no trust whatsoever in the Bears organization. To get the offense right, fields has to be superman the old line. I think they drafted four old lineman last year, three or four bad receivers, bad couple of decent running backs. That offense is broken personnel wives nine straight losses. That's I've seen the Houston Texans be wildly competitive against superior teams. Nine straight losses in the NFC. Mostly in the NFC. How's this They've lost twelve or thirteen, with the one win being over the Patriots. Remember that game. I think it was a Monday night football game. They crushed the Patriots to go back to Carson Wentz for sec funny comment. One of the reporters afterwards goes, cars you talk to us about the interception, and Carson Wentz goes which one. I couldn't help a laugh in three picks in a season deciding game. Yeah, I mean there is something to be said. The guys like Brock Purty, now there's limitations and ceilings. But some guy, you know, Jay Cutler, was really talented, not very likable in the room like a lot of the Bears players. A lot of the Denver play just didn't like him. You don't have to be really likable. If you're great, you can get away with it. But Josh Allen Burrow really come across as sort of this. You know, regular guy ethos work hard, head down, share in the glory. Eli Manning is one of the smartest guys ever in this league. When he won, he always deflected praise. When he lost, he always met the press his entire career. So there is something about whence just doesn't connect with players like Taylor heineck does. You're not gonna build around Taylor Heinecky, but there is value in relatability at that position. Russell Wilson has struggled with this where guys don't feel like he's one of us. He's got his own parking space and office doesn't bother me. I think a quarterback would. I'm surprised more don't. That's where we stand. Sean Payton, always fascinating in studio. Next live in La, It's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays and noon Easter nine a Empacific on Fox Sports Radios one and the iHeartRadio app Sunday, it's the NFL season finale, and we'll have a Week eighteen double header for you featuring games with the playoff implications on Fox and the Fox Sports appen It's with the Saints. Six times they had the number one offense in the league, and multiple other times they were in the top two or three. Sean Payton, Fox Sports Analysts, fifteen years Super Bowl Champ. Good to see him again. He had a little personal crisis in his family, so we're so glad to have you back. Things getting wrapped up to some degree, So thank you very Yeah, listen, it's great to be back on here. And you know, we're all kind of creatures of habit and routine, and certainly you guys, especially with the amount of time you're on air, and I always like coming here on Mondays. I feel like that we can put a bow tie on some things. Yes, in our league, well my lead today, this is good for you. I said a lot of time. There's a difference between call and plays and having an identity. Kyle Shanahan's offenses, there's an identity you and Breeze. I knew what you were trying to do. Couldn't stop it, Andy Reid. A lot of times I see defensive coaches they're calm plays, but the sensibility and I've been very critical of Matt Lafleur, and in the last three weeks it's like, Okay, they found it. Yeah, this is a run team. They don't have the weaponry to get into track meets. I really like And by the way, Sean As their run game is improved, the defense isn't on the field. So their second half defense now is fantastic. Yeah, they tie so much together. And you know, there's terms complimentary football, but we're seeing it in San Francisco and even when Kansas City's going with the weapons they have, there's still something that they can attack versus the cover twos of the world, the cover fours of the world, the six, the light boxes and the heavy coverage looks Yeah, and especially when we get down the stretch and we're here. I said this yesterday. I feel like, you know, occasionally you go somewhere nice and there's a telescope in your hotel room and you don't know how to use it. You're kind of like this and then all of a sudden bump, it gets clear and you're like, oh, I got it. I were like one turn away then from knowing everything. That's great this weekend, yes, but it got a lot clear yesterday. Yeah, Green Bay feels like this is what we are. I think there are most teams in the league have to play a certain way to win. Maybe Kansas City doesn't. I want to talk about San Francisco. So my question was every quarterback looks a lot better with a lead in the great defense. Yesterday, the Niners defense wasn't good. Robbie Gould missed an easy one and it was Brock had to make some plays. Now. Yeah, and I my takeaway was all those years starting in college, I saw it with Kenny Pickett. He's capable. Yeah that was that ended up being a real good game. And you know, we laugh and try to figure things out in the green room on the weekend. And sometimes the more you try to figure him out, the the more confused you can get. Um. We saw New Orleans play Philadelphia yesterday and in that case, the the absence of Jalen Hurts and what he does for their running game. And then all of a sudden, Gardner Minshew's got to play more of a conventional role. And I know New Orleans knows how to defend him. We played it, played him in Jacksonville. They were going to keep him in the pocket and force him to make place from the pocket. But here's here's pretty yesterday, you know, in a spot where there's some adversity. Yes, defense just didn't play well. Yeah, and and credit credit the Raiders and credit um shoot him drawn a blank on the quarterback's name? Did him? Who was Auburn transferred from Baylor and drafted by New England. We've played sixty five we've started Our league has started sixty five different quarterbacks this seasons. It's a record that's that's more than two per team, and so like if you're if you're a father that's looking at the schedule saying I'm gonna, I'm gonna take my son to see Arizona versus Atlanta. You have no idea, you know, at the start of the season, and then all of a sudden, you can't pick the names out of a lineup. You know, one team's on their fourth quarterback, the other on their second um. But both those guys played well. And I think, and I said this for the last month, and I don't think you know, there's that hesitation. Can Purtady do this? I think San Francisco is the team to beat in this tournament, in the whole tournament, the whole thing. And I do I do because look, they a moment defensively yesterday, They'll they'll they'll bounce back off of that. But if you use the the analytics of defense, scoring, run game, and you factored in some of these things, and I think, look, Deebo has been kind of quiet, and I just feel like they're a team that's one what nine in a row. Now you know we're going to see a good game tonight. That's really going to tell us a little bit more about the AFC, so I want to talk about that. So it's bingals bills tonight go either way. It's like a you know, one and a half point. I like, I think Cincinnati at home a little more comfortable. I've said this, I feel like I love boxing. I like, you know, like that stuff. I feel. I've always said Buffalo's Tyson doesn't always have a great jab. Uh. You know, I don't love their old line. They bail on the run game. Uh. They're too dependent on the home run, Josh Allen Tyson, too dependent on the left. Whereas I feel with Cincinnati, I get the jab, I get some power, I get the movement. They're more complete Situationally, you don't know what they're gonna do. They can run, they can pass, they tight ends, they Joe can move. When you look at this, what are you concerned at all? Because I find myself with Buffalo pushing back on myself, Colin. Don't fall in love with their home runs. Don't look at that old line the run game, they bail or you're in this game forever. Would you just rather have the home runs to deal with? It's it's it's a great question. That's why tonight it's a great game, and honestly, we could flip coins here and try to figure out who's gonna win this game. Um, they're two different type teams playing. That's the one thing. Yes, and so yeah, do you do you do you want to feel like you know a little bit more what you're getting or I mean, certainly you don't want the boxer who's biting someone's ear off and then all of a sudden you're you're you're leaving in the first round. Right. Um, I like Buffalo tonight, Buffalo. I think the X factors there, their quarterback and I think Diggs and I just think I just think they're a little too much in a big spot this season, and it was a big spot when they played the Rams. Obviously it doesn't look that way now Thursday night they have a big win in another big spot against the Chiefs. This is kind of I think their third big spot when you look. I mean, they've won some they've won a lot of games, but the chief game was a big one. The opening game of the season on the road against the Rams, that was a big win. They stubbed their towel when you don't expect it. Yeah, I feel like Sean will have his guys ready. McDermott and I give the edge to him. I think he's done a great job. They're going to be right there. In the end. This team will be playing in the AFC Championship game. Cincinnati may very well be as well. I kind of see Kansas City there, but but certainly this is one of those games that'll be interesting to watch. So there's so many different stories today. Sean Payton for our radio audience. I never thought i'd see Daniel Jones in the playoffs, but it's interesting what day Ball's done with him. And nobody thinks he's Josh Allen, but day Ball has done a little bit of the same. Yeah, I'm gonna get you out of the turnover business and I'm gonna let you run more. Yeah, there's some design plays as touchdown yesterday was designed that. Listen, they stole it from us. We ran that against Buffalo or against the Jets with Taysom Hill. I'm kidding when I say that. But if you want to find quarterback runs and you don't want to look at college tape, there's four or five teams that we're gonna pull the tape out and look for ideas we're gonna look at Baltimore, We're gonna look at Buffalo, We're gonna look at New Orleans. Their package with We're gonna find teams Chicago now. So as soon as teams invest in that business, there's access to get new ideas and tape. And I think Ryan's done a great job there. I mean, it's funny yesterday I said this, we say, the seasons of Marathon, we've seen a handful of teams just kind of hang in there with their stride right may not be the fast stride, and we're not necessarily picking them to win place or show. But then we've seen a handful of those teams that all of a sudden, we thought we'd see you back here. And what happened to the Jets and what happened to the Dolphins, a few of these teams that just faded down the stretch. Um, it's a long year, and it's it's interesting, and here here in New England is you know in a position you know it's it's it's amazing the length of the season. You break it into quarters, and if you're not paying attention or if you're not careful as a team, you can lose four games like that, like that, Yeah, that's why getting your finding your identity, figuring out what you're not. Are you Obviously health plays a big part of this, but are you? Are you ascending to some degree? Are you getting better? And then are you midstream adjusting? And that gets to like, hey, this is we wanted to do this in training camp, but we're better at this. Let's let's this is what we need to do now. So I want to talk about health. A team that I it took me a while to wrap my arms around him, but I'm going to defend them, and I think they're going to get in is Miami. They were missing I think seven starters yesterday, and they're in an interesting spot. Football is largely breeze an exception, a big man's game. Yeah, big man's game. Most of your top twenty quarterbacks ever six three and up most or they're thick, they're big men. Yep. Two is not Teddy's not yep, and both get hurt. And this system in Miami, like the Niners, is a distribution system. Kirk Cousins would be effective, Brady would be effective. Car It's not a playmaking offense. That's not Kyle isn't want you out there. Well, let's do this. Let's not draft small players in the first fifteen picks of the draft anymore in the first round. Let's not. Let's not get away from prototype. And I talked with Bill Parcels about this, ron Wolf and those early picks have to be prototype players big six four prototype the way we designed it for each position, whatever the position requirement is. Now, let's say we're looking at a corner and our requirement for prototype at that position is five to eleven, and we're going to take this player in the first six or seven picks. And he's off of that, you'd say, oh, how much he's five ten or he's five nine. There's a point at which he turned and say all right, and Bill would say this, does he walk on water? Told yeah, yeah, And if the answer is yes, then we're going to look at Aaron Glen Somemore because the drafted Aaron Glenn. Yeah. But when that topic comes up and you just see the mistakes really recently, and we go all the way back to Cleveland, and you know, they have the movie Draft Day, and I've said this before, and right at the very end, Costner makes the right decision in the movie, but in real life, not Hollywood. They drafted Johnny Manziel the same team. Yeah, and I think you have to pay attention to typing in when you're looking at the health of players and you're looking at the size of players. And two is just one example. We're going to see it again. I think this upcoming year there's another quarterback coming out of Alabama that's not going to be prototype. Yeah. So does he walk on water? Well he did this weekend. Yeah, so I want to I want to pivot then to Sean and this is where you're so valuable. So I tend to with a quarterback. Now, now, Pickett didn't go top ten, it was later first round. I tend to look for something that's unique. Herbert size six six and moves Josh Allen size Mahomes aren't. And then I look at Kenny Pickett. I'm like, I'm not sure what's unique. But then I've watched him in these games and he's just chops Wood. He stays in the game and then he makes a player too late. Yeah, there's something there. What do you see with him? Well, I see football intelligence. I see someone who processes quickly. Okay, he certainly has it. You know, when we try to find those intangibles with his teammates, you can tell you can watch a quarter of a game and tell his teammates think you can see that, Yeah, you can see that. You can see Mike Tomlin when he came off that after that play, just like Kenny and all right and and so and then lastly, when you share a building which is unique, right, the Steelers in the University of Pittsburgh, and you're you have that much access to personality, skill set, you know, all the other intangibles, that's that's invaluable. But yeah, I think look, there was a reason he dropped some and then the cost of doing business changes a little bit. But they weren't forced to start him or play him this year. They arrived at him. Where we see so many of these teams that take someone so early that they feel have to plan absolutely, Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco, Yeah, are they the same team if if Tray still there as the starter? Yeah, I don't. I don't know that they are because I see Jimmy a little bit closer to Purdy, right, and I think that's that's complimented what they do so it's a hard position to evaluate. I mean, it's difficult when you start counting the misses and and then I would also say matches, because if the better ones are getting taken early, the problematic teams are drafting early. And so how many have gone to problematic teams that we've not really heard from again or they don't come back till later on That that happens too, you know, Sean, I've thought about this just from an accuracy standpoint through the years, if you really want to be accurate with quarterbacks guessing. I thought about this because I made a lot of mistakes through the years, had some hits, had some missures. Is that outside the question becomes are they good enough to overcome nonsense? I always thought Andrew luck was, and Trevor Lawrence those of the now Elway probably was. But in the last ten years there have been two guys that I looked at and I said, I don't care where they land too. Now it's easy to say mahomes now, but I didn't know that. Yeah, but I but I look at these guys. I look at C. J. Stroud and Bryce Young and Will Levis, and I don't think they are so so much becomes location coach sensibility. And I think Kenny Pickett's got a big advantage is they're not going to pay him for four years, so they get the defense is already good. There's stability. He's gonna succeed because and they draft and developed players. Well. The guy he's following was a great example. Ben sat in the draft room, threw his cell phone down at the table. He felt he fell a little bit, and he went to Pittsburgh and he doesn't even realize what's happening. But he could have been to these other spots and Aaron Rodgers same thing. He's a great example of it. I mean, he's a perfect example. Not how he wanted it to unfold, but how would have the bigger picture unfolded had he got what he wanted early on. You know, he ends up in Houston or ends up and no disrespect to some of these other other places, but they've earned no spots when they're drafting that early every year. I want to talk about it was a surprising thud Jets Seahawks. I mean, and maybe I should have known the veteran pete at home against the kids Sala, you know what I mean? Like that's that's really that's a tough win to go up to the Northwest. Pete Carroll, Kenneth Walker was healthy. When he's healthy, they lean on him. Gino can throw thirty two times, very effective. But I do think sometimes to get the right answer in life, it's often a loss or pain. Yeah, and I did think Mike White in this biggest moment, shrinking there was some clarity here is that they need to left tackle and they needed to grown up at quarterback. It's a nice roster, and I know it's painful, but I'm thinking him, I'm flying back and I'm Robert Saul. I'm thinking we gained some clarity today. Yeah. Yeah, we're not here yet. I look, we were talking about this game and Traeger Peter had made the comment that they feel like they've had their best week of practice yet. When I hear that, I run and I'm like, well what that means? It just means it's I'd like to think honestly, when Friday comes and we finished the week of practice, I feel like, man, we're ready. I can't recall a time where I thought, God, I want to redo this week. You know, there's a there's a process to your game planning, and there's a process to your installation and regardless of your health, obviously your adversity. We've had a game where the night before we traveled to Carolina, all five running backs were out with Covid and the running back coach, and we had a Saturday morning meeting and it was quickly all right, how are we going to handle who's going to be a running back? And ty Montgomery, who was playing receiver, who played running back, and said, Tye, you're going to be a running back. Yeah, So Ti moved to running back. We had an extended walk through Saturday to extra periods, We got on a plane, we Loue to Caroline, and we won by twenty five points. All right, So I wouldn't have told Peter we had our best week then, But generally speaking, all right, you feel like by the end of the week they were ready to go, because that's that's how we're conditioned and trained. That was unique, But um, yeah, so I think I do think I have a better feel for that team. I'm sure Sala has a better feel for that team, as as do the personnel people. And now there's some good news and bad news in that and the bad news is you know, our top five quarterback we selected, we know more about and it's not the stuff we wanted to know. It's not the information we were hoping to know at this time. Um, that'll be interesting to see how they handle that. Okay, I want to m We haven't talked about this game, but you had so many playoff experiences. It's interesting. So here the goals. When the Niners were all beat up early, now they're healthy. Yeah, the Eagles were healthy forever. Now they're falling apart. And key guys, Lane Johnson's a Hall of Fame right town. I mean they win when he doesn't play. Jalen Hurts is banged up. Now they lost sweat a defensive lineman. And I look at them and take me to your experience, and I think it's weird. Sometimes I think it team's fallen apart and they show up in the playoffs and it's a totally different sensibility. Would you be or how concerned would you be that you're kind of key guys? Is it circle the Wagon's time? Are you a little concerned with Philadelphia? Well? Yeah, I mean, look, I think it starts with the QB. So I'm under the assumption he's getting healthier and he's going to be available for the playoffs. Relative to what you just said, though, we've got to find a way to get this one seat because it used to be there were two teams, but one and the two would have a week away rest your players were you know whatever it is that and we're starting to see the trends the power of that one seed. It'll be an exception here there, but especially when your team is nicked up like Philly is, to get that additional week without a game, so here they are playing the Giants, and the irony of this when you think about this, I know, all right, this wasn't too long ago where I can't recall who the head coach was. I think it was Judge, who's counting on the Eagles to win a game? And if the Eagles win this game last week of the season, the Giants are going to be I think in the postseason, didn't he rest people? He took Hurts out and he put in he put in the kid from Indiana, the six five quarterbacking on his name, Come on right, yeah, he still might be there, and then rested a bunch of other players, and it was the first time our league. We've talked about this before, it's happened before. It was the first time on a national stage. Our league saw that and thought wow, and at impacted seating, and I think, how do you handle this if you're Brian day Ball this week? Well, only the head coach knows at his play there's a lot of theories. Some Parcels would say, we're always playing to win. He'd say, you know, I'd have a mutiny if I told Lawrence Taylor that we're gonna sit guys, you know, and I understand that, But Philly needs this game, yea, I think, and they need this game, and that'll help them kind of just stop the leak in a little bit. And we entered the postseason in oh nine with a tough loss. We were thirteen and old. We lost to the Cowboys on a Saturday night game. Tough game. We lost. The following week, Tampa Bay beats US in overtime. We miss a field goal to beat the Buccaneers. We had at seventeen point lead and we lose to Tampa Bay. And then the last week of the season, we go to Carolina. We get the one seat before that game, we rest our starters, and quite honestly, there's a lot of criticism. There's no team that's ever lost their last three regular season games and gone on to have success in the playoffs. But I felt like we needed to and so we lost three in a row and then entered the postseason. But we knew we had the one seed locked up. Philly doesn't have it locked up, and I think it's an important game for them. How New York candles this game will be important. Finally, your son goes to TCU. You were at Harbaugh's loss. I thought they got way too gimmicky and tried they outfought themselves. When you have a month to prepare for a game and they're running the Philly Special out of a time out, I'm like, no, no, no, what was your interpretation of it? Yeah, it was first off as a great game. YEA. To be there and watch it the first play of the game is what my biggest fear was. I told Connor, we have to be able to Michigan is bigger and they're going to be stronger warm ups. There's one hundred and twenty Michigan players on the left hand side of the field. Yeah, I felt like there were eighty seven TCU players that just looked smaller. You know, they didn't dress all their starters. All right, that's Sonny's He's done a great job. Both coaches have had fantastic years. I think if you were a fan in attendance, um, everyone leaving that stadium felt like like they just were exhausted. It's a great otastic set of two games. I thought Michigan struggled with their red zone offense and inside the fifteen opportunities came up, and there was one fumble, there was the Philly special um, and I really thought he was going to kick a field goal that early in the game. You know, Jim is and this is a compliment. He is a clone to Bow. You know, he understands the importance of a good rushing attack and what it does for the defense and what it does for the quarterback points. And well, in the first quarter, before we've eaten a hot dog, We've just sat down and I said, on the time out, I turned to Connor, I said, he's going to kick a field goal here. I think I would too, And then they came out of the break with the with the other play. Both teams, it's look, it's gonna it's gonna be almost impossible to ever win a game if you throw two interceptions that are returned for a touchdown. All right, it's gonna be impossible to win a game that when that happens. But um, and then the second game, it was. It was fantastic. I spent seven and a half hours on a couch. Yeah, I read your tweet and last fun I've had in a long time. I m Connor. My son's a student assistant and all he does for their football team he watches a lot of portal tape, sure, and he's part of the evaluation process. We're watching the second game, but we have to fly home because I'm in I'm in studio yesterday and we watched Georgia's score a touchdown and kick the extra point to go up one, and the phones are on in the plane and when you're in that borrowed time space, yeah, where you just know it's any second now, Ohio State receives the kick, so we never see the final drive in the missfield goal. We land and we get the results. Yeah, I felt so bad. Well, that was just thirty minutes of great from Sean Payton, Fox NFL analyst what a pleasure it's been. Happy holidays, Happy New Year, Happy New Year, and happy holidays to you guys. I love coming on here. Um honestly, it's it's it's the best thing going. And uh and I feel like there's there's there's so much a head to discuss. I look forward to doing that today with the college games. You know, we're two lane USC. We thought David and Goliath was was was TCU? Watch? What's going on? Is there any score? USC? Lead seven? Nothing? I can't push the audience over there, stay in our show. But it's a good game, all right, Good Sean Payton. We take a break back in a second to heard. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd week Days and New Niece. They're ninety and Pacific. Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller, with mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name is the Fifth Hour? I'll tell you it's a spin off of that Ben Mather show, Colt hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture if you will? A world will we chat with captains of industry in media sports and more. Every week Explorer, some amazing facts about a human nature and more. Let'sten to the fifth hour with Ben Maller on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Sean Payne's got nowhere to be, So this is the best place to be when you got nowhere to be three and a half minutes less. Okay, I'm gonna throw the game out. That's fascinating because you've been in this situation five hundred ish Buccaneers big win hosting a Dallas in the playoffs. Dallas had a great season, Dallas to be favored by a touchdown. You took a Saints team to seven and nine Seattle. Yeah, we were discussing this at the break. Every four years our league sees a division like the NFC South, and the whole season we just we trash them and we talk about how none of the teams because their records aren't good, and yet there's gonna be a winner and they're gonna host a playoff game. And then that same season, in the owners meetings or competition committee meetings will discuss, hey, do we want to change how we seed teams? I think the way we seed teams right now is perfect. You win the division, you have a home playoff game. And by the way, since nineteen seventy there have been six division winners that are at five hundred and eight and eight or worse. All Right, that's happened six times. In other words, we've had six bad divisions in the lifetime of these playoffs. And we saw it with this year with the South. Those teams though in the postseason when they opened, those six teams, their record the first round four and two, and you were one of the you were one of the teams that lost New Orleans eleven and five wild card team. Yep, we're going to seven and nine Seattle twenty ten, and that's when the skittles fell from the sky and the beast quake. You know, we had a thirteen point lead in that game. So I say that because that's a dangerous opponent. Yes, they're playing with house money. They got into the postseason. Tampa Bay is going to be that opponent. Tampa Bay right now, they have a chance to be nine and eight. I think they're eight and eight, yeah, or eight and nine, but they're gonna be You know, you can't have a five hundred you know for the most part right now. So but here's Tampa Bay and they're gonna host somebody. They're gonna host somebody. And if you're looking at it now, it says Dallas goes to Tampa. Yeah, it's a weapon. That's a that's a tough game for Dallas. Even if you play well, your Dallas, you play well, because then all of a sudden, Tommy's gonna face a little prevent getting a role because Tampa's offense has been a nimick. But they've been good in the fourth when they go hurry up, they've been really Yeah, and we saw some explosives yesterday for the first time, and all of a sudden, every one of us And this is the first year I've ever played Fantasy, and so I'm the worst. Like my son says, Dad, update your lineup. You had such and such was inactive and you just didn't make a change. I have too many things on my to do list. But there's a lot of us that tore up. Mike Evans, sure, right, and yesterday you know here it was that connection came to fruition. But I think Jacksonville's another one of those teams that I think has a chance of winning their division. Tennessee, that's gonna be at what are those records going to be? How about Trevor Lawrence? Yeah, and so there's gonna be a good team traveling to the AFC South and facing a dangerous opponent. Jacksonville is gonna be a lot more dangerous than Tennessee. And I don't see Jacksonville losing to Tennessee this weekend. I yeah, Yeah, Tennessee's kind of packed it in a lot of hurt, a lot of injuries. They're just every year there's a team or two that falls apart physically. Most of them, like the Chargers and Niners get healthy, Philadelphia healthy early. Tennessee has been hurt all year. They just can't get people well. And now they've got another quarterback. They feel pretty good about it, and and you're like, what happened to the league? We're talking about Dobbs. He's a pretty interesting player. Yeah, four point major in college chemical engineering, right and quarterbacked? We gotta go and quarterbacked in college? Yeah, four point chemical engineering Tennessee, Alvin Kamara, that's what I remember. They were teammates, all right, we gotta go. Sean Payton hour three with a Pleasure, good Stuff Hour three, Next Herd one More Heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Within the iHeart Radio app, search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you like