The Herd with Colin CowherdThe Herd - Hour 2 - Where Colin was right and wrong
Where Colin was right and wrong
Fox Sports NFL analyst Greg Olsen joins the show to discuss some of the questionable end of game calls made by the Chargers, the Commanders and the Bears
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Here we go, it's our two. We're live in LA. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Greg Olsen's going to be joining us this hour. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong in a few minutes. So defensive coaches drove me crazy yesterday Matt eberflu Chicago, Ron Rivera with the Commanders and Brandon Staley. I know I've been on this also, Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh Kenny Pickett's regressing. I know you're tired of it. I know you think I'm wrong on this, but I'm telling you, I watch these young quarterbacks. Herbert's good enough to save everybody. Fields isn't yet? Sam? How isn't yet? And I'm watching. I'm watching time and time again, these defensive coaches don't speak the language, They have no sensibility, they can't understand it. Thank God, Justin Herbert is so damn talented. He overcomes these crazy, weird, analytic nonsense moves to go for it deep in your territory, leading a backup quarterback and they can't block Khalil Mack.
Here's the funniest part about the Herbert sneak on fourth down. Yeah, you know, he had something going on with his hand.
I don't know what that was. Oh no, he had broken Yeah, it.
Was like totally busted. He couldn't take snaps under center.
So Brandon Sale says, oh, it's fourth down, get under center and do the sneak the brotherly love which they're calling it now shove yes, yes, And you know Saley like had his quarterback with a busted finger.
Try to do that.
They don't sense it, they don't feel it, and they'll probably all see these videos eventually and everybody crushing them. It's not a coincidence when it's all the defensive coaches that can't figure out the offense and how to handle a young quarterback, because you know who can handle a young quarterback. Brock Purty, last guy picked looks like Montana. You think it's a coincident. Well, they have good personnel, by the way, Shane Steiken to Anthony Richardson, Oh what a shock. Why is Anthony Richardson so good, so quick despite the fact he never played in college offensive coach? It's there are exceptions to everything. I mean, like Pete Carroll deserves credit. They basically rebooted Gino Smith's career. They deserve credit for that. But it's not you got seven or eight examples. Defensive cultures can't help these young quarterbacks out.
C J.
Stroud may have I mean, Demiko Ryans, We'll get to it later. He is really I mean, he has basically upended all. Lamar struggled against him. Kenny Pickett was awful against him. This Tamiko Ryans guy in Houston, this coach. The Niners loved him in the Bay Area. They told everybody this. They were crushed when he left and they knew he was going to Houston. May have found themselves a gem as a defensive coach, which I'm not a fan of anymore. But that team is two and two with a rookie quarterback. Rookie play color rookies everywhere and a line injuries. Yeah, all right, time for Colin right, Colin wrong, I'm all ready to roll.
Here we go where Colin was right.
Blazing five had a great week four and one. We've won cve of our seven of our last ten. After a Rockies start, we took the Titans, Vikings, Jags, and Bills. The Jags nobody watched. I did. I was up at six thirty in the morning Pacific time watching that ugly thing. Atlanta's bad, like one of the worst quarterback situations in the league. So we were right down the board, and good god, were we wrong on the Patriots. We've won seven to ten. We're on a roll.
Where Colin was wrong.
I bailed on the Buffalo Bills too early. I think it's the whole defensive coach thing. But in the last three weeks, Josh Allen has has been incredible. Now I get Josh Allen not throwing picks. His accuracy has improved. Between Gabe Davis Defon Diggs, they got a couple of tight ends. I like they are less dependent. That was a great play bust von Biggs, wasn't it. They're less dependent on Josh Allen running the football. So to Buffalo's credit. They're listening to their critics, and it looks like they've solved some of their offensive stuff. Where Colin was right June twenty seventh, I said, Dame to Milwaukee, not Miami. Dame to Milwaukee is the better fit. Miami is seen as the place to go. May I suggest, after some homework this morning, Milwaukee, if you send Dame, a smaller aging player to the Bucks. Jannis is twenty eight, Dame is thirty three, and that fits the championship model. Milwaukee's not as slashy. Maybe it's because they had a very quick exit. Miami doesn't work as well as Milwaukee. A dominant big and a great shooter. Yep, it worked. They made the deal. I thought back in June twenty seventh, it was the better fit than Miami.
Colin was wrong.
I said, give Lincoln Riley another year. He'll get that defense fixed. It's worse. Outscored twenty seven to fourteen in the second half. Gave up thirty two yards to Colorado thirty two first downs. Colorado outgained Kayleb Williams in USC's deep offense. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. His units ranked one hundred and third, and they have absolutely upgraded defensive personnel, especially in the front seven. It's not a great It's not Georgia. I'm not saying it's Notre Dame or Michigan, but they're not the one hundred and third best defense. And usually defenses with a big lead can pin their ears back and kind of know what the offense is going to do. They did and still couldn't stop Colorado, by the way, a week ago, they couldn't move the ball against Oregon's defense, and Oregon's defensive head coach USC's defense, to me, looks the exact same. Can't tackle, can't hold leads. It's ugly.
Where Colin was right.
When Christian McCaffrey got traded to the Niners, about at least half the people said they gave up too much, and I said, no, no, no, no, you just gave the great artist Kyle Shanahan a blank canvas. Watch how great Christian McCaffrey is With Kyle Shanahan. He's got twenty touchdowns in seventeen games. He scored in thirteen straight games, several touchdowns yesterday. I love when you give great offensive, creative coaches more gifts and more presents. Christian McCaffrey, despite the critics and naysayers, has not only been worth it, it looks like a steal now as he has to be considered in the MVP race.
Where Colin was raw.
I called the Bengals before the season a Super Bowl contender, and they're officially a mess. Is at Zach Taylor. The head coach, Joe Burrow still getting pounded and too often. They upgraded their old line bill hasn't helped three basically three offensive touchdowns in four games. They don't look prepared well coached. Jamar Chase, the star receiver after wasn't shy about complaining.
In four games this season, do you feel like you've had less time to get opened and create space for yourself?
Now, I'm open, I'm always open.
Excuse me, I'm sorry.
Has nothing to be sorry for.
Where Colin was right.
Never a huge fan of Kenny Pickett, I said, listen, he's not going to go to Arrowhead or Buffalo and out dual star quarterbacks. Now, I don't blame him entirely. The protection so so and Matt Canada to me, is just not creative enough. But this is bad. He now has a seventy six passer rating. He bails very early in the pocket. I don't blame him. Young guys get hit, they get tired of it. But Kenny Pickett, now injured unfortunately, feels like he's gone back again. This goes into my defensive coach defensive culture. They just don't quite know how to elevate young quarterbacks and it's hard. I'm not saying it's easy, But Kenny Pickett I've never been a huge fan of. It looks like he's a problem now.
Where Colin was wrong, well, I.
Picked LSU to win the national title. They allowed seven hundred yards to Old Miss and lost for the second time. They're now zero to two against ranked opponents. It literally looked like a Mountain West game from the eighties. It was, and Lane Kiffin can score points. I've always been a fan of Brian Kelly. I think he doesn't get the credit he deserves. But I mean, are they can't stop anybody already two losses, can't stop the really good offenses from ranked teams. I was clearly wrong.
Where Colin was right.
Well, I said June eighth, I thought the Celtics needed to move off Marcus Smart and to get a better offensive, veteran point guard to work with Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, and that's exactly what they did with Drew Holiday. I think he's got a little bit more of a stable, predictable personality. That's important, and I think he's a better offensive player. Everybody on this show has loved Drew Holiday forever. He's just a He's a total pro. And this is I think putting Boston as the favorites in the East this morning, I think Drew Holiday is that good and this is what I felt they needed if Jalen Brown, there was so much pressure on Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum to carry the team, like who's your third score? Drew Holiday is a dependable third scorer. Poor Zinga is a four, can be dynamic at times. So I think this is what they needed. This is what the doctor ordered, and the Celtics, who have been very well run for most of my life, landed a huge offensive, defensive piece, a great two way player. In this morning, I feel like Boston is the best team in the East, Milwaukee right behind Miami. What do they have? They don't have enough, They don't have enough parts. They can't give up Butler and Bam. They don't have enough to give anybody. And the Celtics between draft picks Brogden Williams, Robert Williams, did Colin right? Colin Rome? All right? Greg Olsen is ready to go. Fourteen years. He's been a great analyst for us. We're so lucky to have him. So you had Cowboys and Patriots, and that thing was over by the second quarter. Greg What jumped out to me as a consumer, as a viewer is that Christian Gonzalez's injury is obviously a problem. But they were listless. And this is the third time this year where New England just gets their doors blown off in the first fifteen to eighteen plays. You tell me, aren't they Are they not scripting them? Is it an energy thing? What did you see from New England? This is the third time I've seen them get into these huge holes. You played in this league for a decade and a half. Who do I point at for that?
You know, I think it's a good question.
I think we said kind of at the start of the broadcast yesterday. If you're Dallas, you don't want to play New England style of ball rich, which is, you know, slow it down, ball control, trade punts. We saw New England was able to do that and beat the Jets, you know, in Week three.
But both teams came out.
Dallas came down, went immediately down the field again, had red zone issues, struggled, but then in New England's first offensive possession they hit a big play on a scramble by mac Jones.
They went right down, matched them field goal for field goals.
So their first drive, which really turned out to be their only good drive, they actually started out fairly aggressive, hit a play action pass to the tight end Henry. Then they had a scramble they got down there, couldn't punch it in KASICKI just missed it in the back of the end zone. From that point on, their offense was was really inept. And I think it's a combination of Dallas's defense is really good. We knew that going in, but if they don't start figuring out who are the weapons, who are the guys in the passing game that we can rely on. They lined up on third, you know, third and six and seven, they're in three tight end sets Colin. It's just in today's NFL that's very unheard of. But obviously it's what they feel is in their best interest, gets their best players on the field, but they have to develop some talent. They have to develop some wide receivers to support Mac Jones or else. Unfortunately, what we saw out of this offense so far through four weeks, there's really no indication that it'll change.
You know, it's interesting. You get to me a fascinating game next week. I cannot wait to watch the Eagles, a talented team not playing particularly well, and the Rams, I don't know how talented they are, but they're playing really well. I mean, they really outplayed Seattle on the road, outplayed the Colts, outplayed the Bengals for most of it. So it's it's and the Rams are at home in this game, although it may be maybe a fifty to fifty crowd split. But it is interesting watching Philadelphia in all your years. We say this all the time. We know head coaches matter, in quarterbacks matter. Sometimes we forget a Dan Quinn a coordinator or a Shane Stike and a coordinator, and Shane Steiken leaves Philadelphia and you'll start looking at film here. It's not that it's not productive, but there is something it's just not quite it. I don't know what you tell me. Is Philadelphia hangover? Super Bowl loser? Hangover?
Is it?
Coordinator? We know the old line's great. Do you see it? I mean they are, they are undefeated. What do you make of what you're seeing with Philadelphia?
You know, it's a good question, and I'm actually anxious to dive into it, you know, throughout the course of this week, as you said, they're getting ready to go out to LA and we're you know, we're I think that I agree, it's a sleepy, good game. I don't think before the season we had LA playing in many major matchups, especially after last year, and then we find out week one Cooper Cup's going to be out.
We'll see how long that lasts.
But yeah, I think LA has kind of, you know, overachieved and you know, surpassed expectations. But for Philly, you know, they're not the juggernaut offensively through four games. They're not going out there and just bludgeting people like we saw them do you know so often last year on their trip to the Super Bowl. But what I will say is what they've learned early in the season is, unlike a lot of teams in the league, they can win without playing their best and I don't think we've seen Phillis best yet. And I think for the rest of the league and especially the rest of the NFC, I think that's a scary thought. I think once they get familiar, there's some coaching changes. They lose both coordinators, you know, to be head coaches. I think there's always an adjustment. Even though it's the same system, it's still a different play caller, it's still a different you know, play designer. So I think as they continue to progress, if you know they got they got all the pieces right, there's no question for personnel for them to be four and oh not really play their best ball, not play even you know, really to the level that we saw you know, most often last year. For them to be undefeated and really not say we've played our best ball, I think it is a testament to just how good they have a chance to be. And they can win different styles. They can win with defense, they can win with run game, they can win with Jalen Hurts throwing it. They can win with them you know, running ten quarterback sneaks. It's it's a hard team to beat be because there's no one formula to beat them, and I think La is going to have their work cutout for him. But with a healthy Stafford and McVeigh and and and you know they can get cut back to go along with the rookie who's blown everybody away. It's it's a serviceable group and I think it's gonna be a better game that people think.
So, you know, you had a quarterback in Cam Newton that physically does a lot of the stuff Josh Allen does. And I think there were times when Buffalo was like everybody else didn't quite know when to say, hey, you don't have to put the Superman cape on every drive. And I think watching him this year, they're running it less with him, They're relying on other people, and Cam was part of that. Cam was so great. There's no comp you don't know quite what to do, pull the brakes. So I watched Buffalo and I think to myself, maybe I do feel like they listen to all the critics and they're like, we can't be as Josh reliant. I think you guys with Cam sometimes I felt like that It's like Cam was doing stuff nobody else could do. And you've been in those huddles. It's third and one, just do Cam and take me kind of through the struggle of when you have a historically transformational player and it is hard to sometimes coach him.
Yeah, and it's funny that the coordinator up in Buffalo is Ken Dorsey, who, for Cam's best years, was our quarterback coach in Carolina.
So there is a lot of crossover. There is a lot of familiarity.
There's times where I watch, you know, just watching this highlight here of Josh Allen running it in versus the Dolphins, Like, there's a lot of plays that I recognize from our time in Carolina all those years back when Dorsey was with us, you know, when we were in those tight end quarterback rooms, drawn up different plays and ways to get Cam the ball.
But I think you're right. I think the struggle you go through with a.
Cam Newton or Josh Allen or any of those style players is when it is third and one, Colin, it's hard to make an argument that he doesn't keep the ball right. It's hard to when the games. It's hard to make an argument when the game's on the line. Josh Allen's not gonna have the ball in his hand. Cam Newton's not gonna have the ball and sad you know, whoever it is. It's hard for coaches when when push comes to shove. Coaches are going to always put the game on the backs of the player they trust the most. And in Buffalo, there's no secret that team is based around Josh Allen and he's one of the top, you know, a couple of players in the league, regardless of position. So it's inevitable. But I think throughout the course of the last couple of weeks, especially since the opener when they struggled, losing to the Jets on opening night opening week, I think we have seen them say, Okay, you know, we have a lot of good players. You mentioned the two tight ends that Dalton Kim cave Hid the rookie, Yeah, he is. I think he has a chance to be special. I mean, he's just kind of finding his way there with Dawson, Knox and Sharon. But you know, obviously Diggs and they got a lot of pieces. I think they're saying, you know what, for the first three and a half quarters, we don't have to put everything on Josh Allen. He's gonna make his plays just because the play, you know, the offense runs through him. But when it's critical downs, when the game is on the line, when it when it comes to, you know, real moments in the game, it'll that formula will never change. You let your best players go out there and win the game, and sometimes it doesn't work out. But that's not it's not an indoctriment. It's not an indication that you know, Josh Allen's not the guy, because I think it's pretty clear that he is.
You know, it's I'm watching Justin Fields. They go for it on fourth and one. So this is my theory that sometimes defensive coaches can struggle with how to handle young quarterbacks. So a couple examples yesterday is I didn't like the Bears. It's twenty eight to twenty eight, kick a field goal. Fields is getting crushed on talk radio. He's getting crushed by everybody. Let him walk off that field with a thirty one to twenty eight win. If your defense can't hold them, the coaching staff can take a beating. Don't go for it. Your your on line struggles. This is not a creative play. By the way, if you're going to go for it, then let Justin Fields carry the ball and get the yard. Not a running back. So I didn't like this. You tell me the players always want to go for it, but I thought you had to protect Justin he played his best game as a pro. Get a lead, get off the you're a defensive coach, go make plays or Am I just talking out of my butt here? Do no know what I'm talking about?
No?
I think it's a I think it's a valid argument. I'm familiar with the play Denver had. No Denver had no timeouts.
They didn't, but they had about three They had time lots of they had but so okay.
But so they only could stop the clock once on the two minute, right. So I think the rationale is Russell Wilson just brought them back from down twenty one or whatever they were down, and their offense was rolling. The Bears offense had struggled. You know, he got hot in the second half, Russ and that, and that Denver looked like Sean Payton kind of got a feel for what they could do offensively. So the thought process by eber Flus there is, if we kick a field goal here, we give Russell Wilson, who we haven't stopped in the last two quarters. We haven't stopped their offense at all, we give them the ball and at the very least they get in the field goal range to extend the game going in overtime. It's a flip of a coin or at the you know, at the worst scenario, he leads him down two minute drive. We've seen Russell do that over the years a million times.
We lose.
The rationale here is Detroit can't stop the clock. If we can get one yard now, we can talk play design, we can talk getting in the gun and just running inside zone. We could talk about being a little more creative on how to gain a yard.
But the thought is, if they get that first.
Down, they can, an essence, take that clock down, not all the way to zero, but they can take it below the two minute warning. And now if you settle for a field goal or hopefully you pop on and score, now you're giving Russell Wilson the ball back with a minute, no timeouts, and it's just a different ballgame. So I actually, in theory it's your best chance to win.
Right.
It didn't work out, so it's very easy to criticize the decision, But you can gain one yard and an essence end the game with justin fields. Now you talked about Josh Allen. I'm putting the ball in his hand. I'm running Q power. I'm happy. I'm telling him to pull it. I'm getting I'm getting him on the move and give him a chance to maybe slip a guy in the flat on a zone red bootleg or I'm giving him options. I don't know about just inside zone run. But that's a separate conversation. So I actually don't hate to play from a strategy standpoint, because you can then you can just go ahead and almost end the game right there if you can get one yard.
Okay, So now I didn't like Ron Rivera's handling of of how so how comes down? You're on the road, you're a huge dog. You he makes a great throw, and now I would go for two. I don't want to go to overtime on the road, big dog Jalen hurts. They have a better roster, a better quarterback. They kick the pat go to overtime. Now again, I'm trying to not be a backsat driver, but to me, as a big dog, if you can go to Philly and steal a win that defense has been on the field, you'd go for two if you lose. How has his head high. I played my butt off against Philadelphia and we could have won the game. Would you have gone for two here or the safety pat Now, in this.
Case, you're one hundred percent right. And I love Ron right, Ron's my guy, but I have to be honest.
You know, the truth is the truth. You have to go for two there.
The narrative around ending the game with the two point conversion, I know, is a very you know, it's a very easy thing because everyone always says their decision after the fact, right. You always say, well, you shouldn't have gone for it after you failed, or you know, vice versa. But in this case, you're exactly right. When you're the underdog, you're on the road. With the way the regular season overtime rules go, you're a flip. You're a fifty to fifty coin flip from the ball going to Jalen Hurts and he takes the opening drive down and.
They score and it's over. Yep.
So with the way the rules are in the regular season, you might Now Washington did win the toss, and they had their chance in overtime and they didn't score. But the point is you just can't risk you have a chance.
To end that game. Now you've got to you know, your play caller's hot.
You've scored thirty one points, your quarterbacks made big throws, just came down. You got to have your best, Gotta have a play from two yards three yards out and get the two point conversion. If you fail, you tell your team in the locker room, hey man, we're going to be aggressive. We're going toe to toe with a team that was, you know, in essence right there, neck and neck to be the Super Bowl champs last year. This is a sign of how good we are. You string the game out against better teams, and over time, the better team is gonna win.
Okay, a third defensive coach. So they lead by a touchdown, the Chargers elect to go for it in their own territory, facing a rookie quarterback who's running for his life because Khalil Mack has six sacks. I think they least gave the ball to Justin Herbert, but I would have punted it. I'm gonna take my chances. I'm facing a backup. The Raiders can't protect him. Make it a long field. Would you have gone for it here?
Yeah?
So this is where the analytics of football kind of intersect with just situational context of the game. So in a lot of cases, I would say, go get the yard, continue getting my four minute offense, and end the game. But everything you said is where the analytics now have to be kind of reevaluated. They're on a backup quarterback. You've only given up seventeen points of game. Khalil Mack is sacking them five every time they drop back. Khalil back one sack when you punt it, one sack ends the game.
YEP.
So I think in that case, I'm with you. I'm punting considering the circumstances. Now, I'm playing Patrick Mahomes, and I got a chance to not give Mahomes back the ball, and my defense hasn't stopped them all game. I'm doing exactly what Staley did there, and I'm keeping the ball and saying we're going to run the clock out, and I'm not giving Mahomes the ball back with three minutes. So every game there's a little bit of context that what goes into these just black and white analytical decisions. But with the way it was described and everything going on with the Raiders and their offense, I think you say our defense you've dominated all day. Pin them back and if they go score touchdowns, so be it.
Okay? So to you agree, Chicago, you make the support of Matt Eberflus. You know what, if I could go two and one on my three picks every week, I'd be very happy with you. Greg. So he's got Eagles Rams this week, Giant Seahawks tonight. I'm I'm not sure what to make of it. Seattle, Pete Carroll, Brian Dable defensive offensive guys. Hey, it's great seeing you. I always appreciate you stopping by. You're doing great work. I wish you'd get a closer game. I hope you get a closer game next week. But I appreciate you coming on.
I appreciate I think we will. I think it's going to be a good one. I think the Rams. I think the Rams are I think they're ready to go out there and compete. I'm looking forward to it.
Thanks Greg, All, I appreciate it.
Thanks calling.
By the way, that rookie was he a fifth round pick for the Rams? Pukinnakua. Holy, I mean it's like one thing if CJ. Stroud's better than we thought to have a fifth round wide receiver from BYU. I watched him play at Washington and BUYU good player, nice player. He dominates this or like now nobody can cover him. It's unbelievable. He's got size, you know. Jonathan Wilma made a good point during the game. You can watch him manipulate corners like he's a nine year veteran, like he's Larry Fitzgerald above the shoulders. Physicality, great hands can catch it. I mean, I the draft is fascinating. Rock Perdy looks like a franchise guy. Last bit, Kuka Nukua is uncoverable. Nobody can stop him.
I think I saw stad He had like forty six catches last year at BYU the whole season, forty six and now he has like thirty nine in like a quarter of the NFL season.
He's a really a tremendous time.
He's just both you know, it's interesting to watch him though, the way he uses his body, uses angles. He's obviously got very good hands. So Cooper Cup comes back to practice. I'm not sure if he'll play, but it's it's remarkable to watch this kid. They just they cannot and some of it's Cooper Cup's gone, so they need him, but they are teams are struggling how to figure that kid out.
By the way, do you see Stafford get kind of dinged up there? He was limping a little bit. That offensive line is troublesome. I mean, well, then Eagles this week.
They have an interesting situation. So Stafford gets dinged up. About every other week, do you go get a quarterback? They did Stetson Bennet right, No, I think they've moved off. I think he's moving.
He's gone.
He's gone now. Yeah, wow, he's away from the team right now. He's dealing with some own personal stuff, so they don't. I mean, my takeaway is you're not gonna have a quarterback class. And by the way, with McVeigh, you're not going to be a top six to seven pick. So if you're middle of the first round, that's if your thirteenth pick, and they may end up being the sixteenth pick fit. But if you're a twelve thirteen pick, don't you have to take a quarterback?
Now?
You can go when Stafford leaves and do free agency. You could trade down and get extra picks and build the whole roster up for the next time. But Stafford gets dinged up now a lot.
I think it's got some time left on his deal, though, if you can get some protection from no upright, no lights out.
No, I mean he made Stafford made two throws yesterday that were like whoa whoa, Like there is no question. See, I think you can make the argument for the Rams. Your first pick, you go get a left tackle, get a pass rush or another one, and you just build the roster up. Trade down if you have like the twelfth pick, trade down to the bottom of the first and go get thirds, fours, fifths and stack your roster. So when Stafford leaves, pay him for the next two years. If you can protect him, dude, he throws as good a ball as everybody in this league. Stafford yesterday had some moments you're just like, and both times he had protection. God can he sling?
Where are you in the kid Hartman from Notre Dame. I I no no, no, no, no, no no.
No, not early, not early, but like as a mid round bit like a brock Purty type.
Okay, as a mid round pick. Yeah yeah, Hartman can play.
And remember some of these college offenses are like scaling. We don't want to make mistakes. Remember justin Herbert. I'll never forget you were on that. Herbert's like not doing much in college, not making throws, but you could see the talent is there.
You just need the right offense to at.
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All right.
You know we've been working together a while, and you don't like when I'm blamed the referee guy. So I'm not gonna blame the referee, but Colin, what happened last night was an outright in justice to the Jets on this holding Pi whatever the hell they call it, sauce gardener, that's jostling.
That stuff happens.
Come on, that was Mahomes' third pick of the game. I mean, it's just a travesty. How you gonna let it a game? A great game turned out to be a great games end like this on that garbage. We just keep showing it if you're watching at home. On this one, I come on, that's content. And look there's no flag, no flag, no flag. The ref bails out when the interception.
HAPs he pulls him out of his route.
So you're no, no, that is no that no, that was the rout Colin.
Look the referee, by the way, only pulls the flag when the interception is clear. He's like, oh, I can't let this slide. Listen, man, I was ticked off about it. Robert saw I got a fifteen yard.
Pedal saw that. You never see that.
He was tired up.
They needed that win, man, and they were close after being down seventeen nothing.
But here's Sauce Gardner.
After the game, receiver ran in to me. It was a collision, the same thing that was happening all game. I ain't throwing no flags. Uh. Pat through the ball outside of the receiver and she was there. He made the play. Then a reun through the flag. Like me personally, that's like when you play basketball and one on one and you go up to lay the ball up and you wait to see you miss and then say foul Like I can't believe that that was That was just crazy. Ooh quarter crunch hime Like, I mean, like that's I don't even know what to say.
Let the players play call. Come on, you gotta let the players decide the game. We don't want to see the reps get involved.
I'm not saying it was the best call of the weekend, but I am saying is Josh only you're not supposed touch a guy after five yards. You can't grab jerseys and come over the top.
It's clearly we're on the different different sides here.
Let's just let's give a quick shout out to the Jets defense for, despite falling behind early, they confused Mahomes.
He made some whack like what he missed.
Seven four of the late fourth quarter when he fifteen played it and went down and slid well after the Zach Wilson when you needed them to get the ball back, they didn't.
Well, I mean, how many flags were thrown on that drive? Like seven? Like, come on, it's just I get it. Chiefs are better. They want Jets covered the spread. How about that? Huh? Thank you Mahomes for going down. And by the way, all.
These people who are like oh Vegas called it a favorite to Mahomes. People must not have seen the NFL before yesterday, because if Mahomes goes in for the touchdown, the Jets then get the ball right, they could go down and score, and then on side kick without the ball they have no chance to win.
Mahomes made the right play.
Well, Mahomes is the best quarterback on the planet. And by the way, great quarterbacks have bad second quarters. He stuffed great early, great late, but.
Longer than longer than a scuff.
I mean he threw an interception of Mostley who dropped it on the Kelsey King over the middle. Jets defensive, they're the only ones who slow Josh Allen, come on, let me hear it.
They're very good. Still a lot of a lot of positives.
Let's go to a oof.
This was ghastly so I didn't even know Derek Carr was going to start yesterday.
This was a surprise to me. He had the ac joint injury.
All the signs where Jameis Winston is gonna start, and then Derek Carr comes out and they looked abysmal.
I was under saying didn't practice a ton.
Well, then why the hell's he starting?
Well that's a bad coaching decision.
But well listen all off season I hyped the Saints and you told me be careful. Dennis Athony, he is a train wreck of a head coach. Offensively, they had under two hundred yards. They did not score a touchdown. Alvin Kamara, are you ready for this stat? Thirteen catches for thirty three yards? Like, how is that possible? Derek Carr through fourteen passes behind the line of scrimmage.
Well that's because he didn't practice, probably, and so they had to do dump off stuff. That's just a bad decision by a head coach.
But the head coach also is like not aggressive things they can move at the defense.
Another defensive coach that can't handle the quarterback position. Right, what a shock.
So some random fullback named Prentice doesn't have any carries. They give it to him on like the two yard line right before the half. He fumbles give the Bucks a touchdown. I was so angry yesterday, but we'll move on because I could see here you don't like when I get really tipped off.
Final story, Bryce Young Colin, you love this guy.
That poor kid has got nobody.
Well, yeah, it's funny we keep defending him.
They didn't score a touchdown offensively, and the defensive touchdown two field goals, and Brice young Man Andydalton look good moving that offense.
Bryce young had two hundred fourteen yards. That's it.
Well, you got to allow to get through his rookie year. They don't have a number one or a number two receivers. They're the threes.
They're zer to four and their pick goes to the Bears in the first round.
I just think I want to thank you for getting me off them as a potential division winner. But right now Tampa is the only team that consistently gives me a performance.
We can't talk about Tampa on Carolina for a moment. Uh. We liked Frank Reich historically. What is happening you?
Well, they had to give up d J. Moore, which for a rookie quarterback.
CJ.
Stroud has a cup, Nico Collins has a couple of twishy guys he can get the ball to. Anthony Richardson creates his own offense, and Michael Pittman. They have no number one receiver, and I'd argue, I'm not sure they have a number two, and the on line is okay, So I think we have to contextualize this. That kid's got nothing to work with. No. C. J. Stroud maybe better. Anthony Richardson's clearly more dynamic, but Anthony's got a better on line. Pittman's a real player.
I thought Andy Dalton throw for almost four hundred yards and twenty seven foot.
Well, because the Seahawks pass defense struggle.
The Flakings are one of the worst defenses in the league. I'm just telling you right now. Bryce Young a processing. He looks a little I don't want to say scared, trepid.
Is that is that a word? I don't even know if that's a word. He looks tentative in the pocket, like, oh what am I doing here? He scrambles, he gets colin.
I'm just saying there, there's some warning signs for Bryce Young, Like Stroud, you've hiked.
Richardson has shown some things.
No, Anthony Richardson is a blast to watch. That dude's got a cannon. He's just raw. He is fun to watch. I think Indianapolis found a dude.
Give me one positive. You've seen from Bryce Young in three games so far.
This y's still healthy, getting out there and taking snaps. Jamack with the news, Well.
That's the news, and thanks for stopping by the herd line news.
I stand correct that he already missed a game. Well, he's mostly been healthy and available. How's that that game was crazy? By the way Minnesota drives down pick six and.
You're like, whoa.
It ended up being a real entertaining game. There were there were I think seven blowouts yesterday, So why And my take is because the gap between great quarterback and average quarterback is wider, and if the league is going to be completely quarterback centric, you're gonna see more of this. It's gonna look like Saturday football. We had seven blowouts yesterday. Thank god the Jets played their butt off and kept it close. But there's a lot of bad football now now. In one instance, Joe Burrow's obviously very good, Tannehills capable, and that was a blow up. But most of them were good quarterback against bad quarterback, Dack against Mac Jones. So as the sport becomes more quarterback reliant, you're gonna get more of these ugly games. And I some I Honestly, there's some exceptions to this, but if you have a young quarter I think Chicago made a big mistake going with a defensive coach who'll create a defensive culture with a young quarterback. Matt Naggy. Say what you want about Matt Naggy. He got Mitch Trubisky to the playoffs, and Justin Fields has more talent than Mitch Trubisky. You guys all ran Matt Naggi out of town. You were never satisfied offensive coach Andy Reid system Trubisky got to the playoffs. The Chicago thing now is just a mess and the defensive coach can't fix the defense back in a second live in La, It's the Hurt.
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By the way, the Bears Broncos was the best OH to three versus OH to three game in the history of football. It was wildly entertaining. Chicago early, Denver late. I don't think Denver. Listen. We have to be honest about this. Sean Payton got heat for blaming Nathaniel Hackett for the issues, but he was kind of right. If you look at Russell Wilson's numbers last year to Russell Wilson's numbers, here's a graph. This year, they've solved the Russell Wilson stuff mostly Now he's not blowing the league up, but his passer rating leads the NFL in the first half and it's one oh six. Last year it was in the low eighties. Completion percentage from sixty to almost sixty seven and a half. So they have solved most of the Russell Wilson stuff. He had a better second half this week, not as good as first half, although in the first half he was efficient, but he only had like seventy nine yards throwing. It was a lot of underneath stuff. So here's the truth is that Peyton is getting the most. It's taken four weeks, but I feel like they've solved to some degree the Hacket issue. The offensive coach has gotten the offense as right as it's probably gonna get. It's not gonna be a great offense, but it's certainly capable. They're six yards per play. Russell's got nine touchdown passes already. It took him until week fourteen to have that. He's paid to be a star. He has star power. They've figured out to the degree they'll figure it out. Taken four weeks. First it was good first half, Now it was good second half. No, it is the Bears defense. The defense has fallen off a cliff and it's mostly the same personnel. It could be schemes, that could be the coordinator. I don't know. As we said before, I think this was a remodel to begin with. And you know, they f the kitchen, they fixed the Russell Wilson part, and other roofs collapsed. The defense is awful. It's a win, but Sean Payton wasn't terribly happy.
There'll be some tough tape tomorrow and you know, and I don't I don't want to sugarcoat anything. There's some things. You know, we're gonna play a lot better teams in our schedule, and no disrespect to Chicago and Matt and what they're trying to do. And I'm sure the feeling is the same here. But but I think the win was important for the group.
You know. It's just it's one of those things where regardless of what you think of Russell Wilson, it takes time. Right starters aren't playing much in the preseason anymore. It's a longer season. Seventeen games. First, they got the first half right now, yesterday they got the second half rolling, So I feel like the offense is what it is. But Courtland, Sutton, Jerry Judy, Russell Wilson, a couple of backs I think are decent. On line's fine, Sean's a brilliant guy. Russell can still move. He proved that he's not washed. Russell Wilson can still move. The Hacket issue like getting plays in on time, being organized, being efficient, they solve that. That part clearly was an issue. They've solved it. No idea. What's happened to the defense again, This defensive coordinator doesn't have a huge track record. Maybe it's the personnel. I do think they have to attack it. But I think Sean understands the schedule. The easy part of the schedule is over. It gets much tougher, much better quarterbacks coming. And it just listen. I didn't have Denver making the playoffs. I thought they could win nine or ten. It may be six max territory, I know, ugly, but it may be hour three in a Monday starting next
