Best of the Week on The Herd

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Best of the Week on The Herd" – The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Release Date: February 15, 2025

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1. Super Bowl Aftermath and Philadelphia Eagles' Dominance

Colin Cowherd opens the discussion on the day following the Super Bowl, expressing mixed sentiments about the game’s memorability. He acknowledges that while the game might not stand out unless one is an Eagles fan, the performance of the Philadelphia Eagles was nothing short of extraordinary.

"By any standards, this was not one of the more memorable Super Bowls unless your favorite color is green. Unless you're the Philadelphia Eagles."
— Colin Cowherd [03:00]

The Eagles showcased a multifaceted approach, with contributions from their general manager Howie Roseman, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, quarterback Jalen Hurts, and the entire defensive line. Their comprehensive strategy led to a dominant victory, leaving a lasting impact on other NFL teams.

"Philadelphia's GM has and uses all the levers drafting, trading, free agency. And it's a relentless pursuit of excellence. Very good is not good enough."
— Colin Cowherd [05:30]

2. Comparative Analysis: Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowls

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around comparing the legendary Tom Brady and current star Patrick Mahomes based on their Super Bowl performances.

Colin Cowherd critically analyzes Mahomes' recent Super Bowl performances, highlighting a trend of losses and questioning his ability to manipulate game dynamics effectively.

"Patrick Mahomes has lost two and the point differential is minus 40. And he has trailed in all five Super Bowls."
— Colin Cowherd [07:30]

In contrast, Brady's resilience and strategic manipulation of defenses, even with less-than-stacked rosters, are lauded as superior.

"Tom Brady always found ways, even when he had the second best roster in a Super Bowl. He found ways at the line of scrimmage to manipulate a defense, move the chains, at least be viable in field position."
— Colin Cowherd [10:15]

Nick Wright counters Colin's assessment, defending Mahomes' prowess and cautioning against writing him off prematurely.

"They still go into next season the overwhelming favorites in the AFC west, and they go into next season better positioned than any other team in the AFC."
— Nick Wright [50:03]

3. Impact on Future Teams and NFL Strategies

The Eagles' remarkable performance is discussed as a potential blueprint affecting draft strategies and team compositions across the league. The assistant explores how other teams like the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams might adapt to counter such dominance.

"This Philadelphia roster is the best since that Seahawk roster. And man, did we say it on display."
— Colin Cowherd [06:00]

Furthermore, the Chiefs' future is scrutinized, focusing on their need for strategic adjustments despite their strong roster.

"They need to get a left tackle, they need a running back. You know, they just, they have to hit some draft picks."
— Colin Cowherd [55:02]

4. NBA Insights: LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers

Shifting gears to basketball, Colin Cowherd delves into the performance of LeBron James and Luka Doncic with the Lakers. He praises their chemistry and strategic play, emphasizing the blend of experience and youthful energy.

"LeBron and Luka are engaged, they're smart, they have huge brands. So they're very, very secure in who they are."
— Nick Wright [57:50]

Nick Wright highlights LeBron's enduring athleticism and intelligence on the court, attributing the Lakers' success to their high-IQ duo.

"LeBron is right now 75% of the athlete he was 10 years ago... That, combined with his improved shooting, makes him a formidable force."
— Nick Wright [58:25]

5. Team Chemistry and Player Performance

The discussion underscores the importance of team chemistry and individual player performance in achieving championship success. The Lakers are commended for their ability to integrate new players seamlessly, while the Chiefs are critiqued for lacking leadership and adaptability in crucial moments.

"It's about constantly bluffing and manipulating and trying to marginalize their best and elevate yours."
— Colin Cowherd [11:00]

Freddy Rodriguez questions the Chiefs' leadership during critical phases of the Super Bowl, suggesting a lack of motivation and direction.

"Where's the leadership on the sideline when they were getting their butts kicked?"
— Freddy Rodriguez [42:08]

6. The Role of General Managers and Front Office Strategies

The podcast emphasizes the often underappreciated role of general managers in shaping successful rosters. Howie Roseman's strategic moves with the Eagles are highlighted as a key factor in their Super Bowl victory.

"What the Seahawks did for that brief time on Russell Wilson's rookie contract, you're like, this is insane."
— Colin Cowherd [06:30]

7. Future Projections and Team Developments

Both hosts speculate on the future trajectories of the Chiefs and Lakers. Colin anticipates significant adjustments in the Chiefs' strategy to avoid repetitive Super Bowl losses, while Nick remains optimistic about their championship prospects.

"They will make a major adjustment. I don't know what it will be, but it's not going to be quiet this offseason in Kansas City."
— Nick Wright [54:13]

8. Listener Engagement and Interactive Segments

Throughout the episode, Colin Cowherd encourages listener participation and interaction, fostering a community feel and ensuring the podcast remains engaging and dynamic.

"You can catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific."
— Colin Cowherd [02:52]

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This summary encapsulates the key discussions from the episode, focusing on the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl victory, the comparative analysis of NFL quarterbacks, impacts on future team strategies, and insights into NBA team dynamics. Notable quotes with speaker attribution and timestamps have been included to highlight pivotal moments in the conversation.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Acquired card has no cash access and expires in six months. Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Oh really? Thanks Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com Bank Capital One NA Member FDIC Last week was our first playoff game and my plaque psoriasis was so itchy under all my gear, sometimes just thinking about scratching could take me out of the moment. And then my doctor told me I could get clearer skin with a pill called Otla.

[Dallas Goddard]

Otezla Epremilast is a prescription medicine used to treat adult patients with plaque psoriasis for whom phototherapy or systemic therapy is appropriate. Otzla can help you get clearer skin after just four months.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay, ready for the next game? Talking to my doctor about a pill was a total game changer.

[Dallas Goddard]

Don't use Otezla if you're allergic to it. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or arms, severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss can happen. Tell your doctor if any of these occur and if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts. Live in a moment. Ask your doctor About Otezla, call 1-844-4-OTESLA or visit otezla.com for pres. Info, info about cost and more.

[Colin Cowherd]

Whether you're ordering wings for the game, whipping up a seven layer dip, or ordering pizza, there's something about football that makes me want to eat. And this football season, Uber Eats has the best deals for me on game day. Food no matter what I'm craving from two for one Pizza to buy one, get one Wings Uber Eats we'll be dropping new deals each week all season long. I'm in Uber Eats, the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now for game day. Terms and conditions apply. See app for details. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

[J. Mac]

Now, let's get this party started.

[Colin Cowherd]

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Monday, the day after the super bowl. Live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. J. Mac. By any standards, this was not one of the more memorable Super Bowls unless your favorite color is green. Unless you're the Philadelphia Eagles. I know you love the Eagles. That is totally understand. Let's go, baby. Woo. Yeah, Eagles. Well, there. There are a lot of angles on this. I will say it's the only Super Bowl I've ever watched where there were four MVPs minimum. Howie Roseman, the general manager, Vic Fangio, the defensive coordinator, Jalen Hurts, the quarterback who won it for the Eagles and the entire defensive line. It was so dominating. It has to have a ripple effect on the Dallas Cowboys and the Niners and the Rams and the packers and how they draft does it not? Like, how do you block that? I mean, it was really, really good during the regular season. What was that? I mean, we talk quarterbacks all the time on this show. Yet Philly humiliated Patrick Mahomes. They could not block the Eagles. I mean, Saquon Barkley was almost irrelevant. The Tush push was his most activity. The D line, the total defense. It makes Nick Ceriani this morning look like Belichick. Philadelphia's GM has and uses all the levers drafting, trading, free agency. And it's a relentless pursuit of excellence. Very good is not good enough. Look at their two picks. One is a rookie, another one is a transformed special teams player. That is so Howie Roseman. Look at the touchdown passes. One's a Heisman winner. 1 AJ Brown comes via a massive trade. The only roster I've seen like this in the last 15 to 20 years was that Seahawk roster when they had a similar quarterback, the elusive Russell Wilson, on the rookie contract. And remember, we've seen this before. That Seahawk defense harassed and humiliated another legend, Peyton Manning. That's what we watched yesterday. That was the lowest point for Peyton Manning in his career. Yesterday. Mahomes was awful. I mean, there's no shame losing to a great team but if you look at the box score, that's the most deceiving box score outside of the turnovers I've ever seen for a quarterback. It says Patrick Mahomes, 21 of 32 and a passer rating of 95. That is junk points, junk yards and junk completions. He had one first down in the first half on the first play. And what was most disappointing is they never seemed to sort of manipulate the game. But let's just talk about Philadelphia here. They had more penalty yards than Kansas City than actual yards in the first half. Think about that. The Eagles had more points in the first half than Kansas City actually had yards. It was Peyton Manning facing that Seahawk defense. And we last week we said, I think this Philadelphia roster is the best since that Seahawk roster. And man, did we say it on display. Now maybe, maybe it was inverse where Seattle, you know, remember, remember that Seahawk team, the big win, they're gonna do two, then they. And I don't know in what order Philadelphia is going to go, but I just watched a flurry, a defensive line, rookie, corners, a game plan, and Mahomes was completely out of sorts. I mean, Philadelphia, this is what we thought they could be at their best. But throughout the course of the season, I can remember in week eight, nine, 10, 11, we're like, there are quarters, they're amazing. But remember early in the year, they couldn't score in the first quarter. Remember, early in the year, we're like, man, they have drives. How do they ever punt? But you'd get like two drives a game. They put it all together last night. The gm, the dc, the quarterback, the O line, the D line. They didn't even need Saquon Barkley. And here was the young head coach after. This is the ultimate team game. You can't be great without the greatness of others. And we. Great performance by everybody. Offense, defense, special teams, how we getting.

[Nick Wright]

Us, the guys, our coaching staff, these great players.

[Colin Cowherd]

We didn't really ever care what anyone thought about how we won or their opinions. All we want to do is win. So let's talk Patrick Mahomes. For the record, he's now just three and two in Super Bowls. And Tom Brady lost three of them by a total combined 15 points. Patrick Mahomes has lost two and the point differential is minus 40. And he has trailed in all five Super Bowls. And what really disappointed me, he never manipulated the game. He got rattled and frustrated, taken out of his game, and had no second pitch. Tom Brady always found ways, even when he had the second best roster in a Super Bowl. He found ways at the line of scrimmage to manipulate a defense, move the chains, at least be viable in field position. Anybody can win, let's be honest, with a full house or pocket aces, can you win when you got a pair of sevens? And I felt multiple times in AFC championships or Super Bowls that Brady actually had the second best roster and had to massage it, manipulated and move the chains with his pre snap excellence with Mahomes, two weeks to prepare with Andy Reid, it feels like they had no second pitch in. His special secret power has always been his legs. And once Philadelphia took that away, there was nothing else there. I don't remember Tom ever trailing 34 to nothing in any game. And in the one Super bowl where Brady was getting rolled 28 to 3, he came back to win again. Brady had bad plays, bad quarters, a bad half, bad moments. This was just awful. In fact, Brady's biggest Super bowl loss was that one possession game to the Eagles in which they never punted. So before we get into that silly goat conversation, know that Brady's superpower was the ability. When he had the second best roster and we never thought, I mean, New England, constantly do your job. It's about the team. They moved off really good players. They didn't have a stacked roster. The Randy Moss team felt a little stacked offensively and they never won a ring. But the early Brady in the late Brady in the Tampa Brady was about manipulation, line of scrimmage, moving the chains. Often when you had an offensive line that was struggling or under duress or was being overwhelmed. Two weeks with Andy Reid, I didn't even feel like I got a second pitch. You don't always get a full house. Brady has never been that bad in a big game. And at least when he struggled and he had picked sixes and Super Bowls, you felt there was a sense he was getting the most out of his roster. If you look at the clear stats now of Mahomes and Brady in Super Bowls, let's be totally honest about this, Brady is elite. Patrick's passer rating is mid-80s. That's what it is. 86.9, 10 touchdowns, seven picks. That's with two weeks to prepare and that's with Andy Reid. And again, nobody's denying Philadelphia is stacked. Go ask Peyton Manning about that Seattle defense. But what's interesting is Brady faced that Seattle defense too. And he just kept manipulating and manipulating and manipulating and he trailed and he was behind and it looked like trouble. But Brady found a way to just get first downs, eat the clock. Find your little weaknesses, the tiny little crevices. Against the Seahawks, all Brady had was a pair of seven against him. That's all he had. And he just put his team in a position to win. Yes, yes, yes. He had to rely on Malcolm Butler, but he put his team in position to win. Mahomes couldn't put his team in position to be competitive. I mean, I felt like I was watching the same play over and over and over. 34 nothing. And I never felt like that with Brady. Here's Mahomes after. That's the beauty of football, is that you never can be satisfied with just going out there and playing and thinking you're gonna have success. Year in and year out, these defenses are going to continue to get better and better. And so I have to get better. And so I take a lot of ownership in that and I want to hopefully come back and play better football. You know, it's interesting because I had Tom Brady on my show Friday in New Orleans and we broached this very subject. And it's interesting because, you know, we all know this is. There are very few great rosters in the NFL now because of salary cap. You can't do the Pittsburgh steelers in the mid-70s. Like, you just can't do that. It's hard to do the Joe Montana, Bill Walsh 49ers where you're like, I don't think they have any weaknesses. That's why what the Seahawks did for that brief time on Russell Wilson's rookie contract, you're like, this is insane. Or like when Brock Purdy's first year, when San Francisco didn't have to pay him because he was a seventh round quarterback. And you're like, this isn't fair. Yes, Philadelphia's roster is great and had they won this, I get it. But there is the art of quarterback. It's not all legs and arms. And Brady talked about this. Tom Brady talked about this Friday on the show.

[Tom Brady]

My last year in my last Super Bowl, I was a part of. I was two weeks of watching film. Friday night, I was just going through the film more. I knew Kansas City's defense better than they knew themselves. I had the answers to the test. That's where I was great. That's where my magic superpower was. It wasn't how fast I could run, it was how fast I could diagnose what they were doing. What's the special quality? What's the Internet speed of me as a quarterback? Fast as.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes, he was Starlink before Starlink. And that's what disappointed me. It's not losing. There is no shame in losing to Philadelphia. J. Mac kept telling me all week that defensive line's trouble. And I kept thinking, joe Tooney, Green Humphreys, they'll be fine. It's Mahomes. It's Andy Alpha Bi. But, you know, and this is not to just dump on Mahomes, but he's gotten a lot of praise for years. But watching that game made me realize how great Brady was. Peyton Manning was completely undone by the Seahawks. Brady beat him. Mahomes was completely undone by the Eagles defense. No, Brady found ways to beat a Seahawk team. Manning, great. Mahomes, great. That's. That's Brady. A lot of you guys play poker. You can't just win when you have the best hand. It is about constantly bluffing and manipulating and trying to marginalize their best and elevate yours. And I. I came out of that game thinking, did we ever get how good Tom was? And I'm not saying, listen, I'm not saying that because he works for the company, but, boy, when you watch that game, I felt like Kansas City had the same play. And they run it 28 times. It is what you do before the ball is snapped. It can't just be. Let's see if our left tackle can block him this time. The answer is no for three and a half hours. J. Mac, good stuff. Congratulations. You kept, you know, over the course of a season, we go about 50, 50. I'm yelling at you and you're yelling at me, but I could acknowledge yesterday by about the second drive.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

That early.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, you know, it's funny. There were parts of that game and I forget if it was like 17 nothing, and I'm like, it feels like it's 38 nothing. And then all of a sudden, the damn breaks. Like, I thought Kansas City's defense did all it could, considering they were. It was three out. Three and out. Three and out. And Kansas City's defense is essentially really, for a half. Maybe. Maybe half and half a quarter. Like, they were really doing as good as they could do. But Philadelphia felt like their stuff was mostly working, and when it didn't, the next play did. Yeah, they just, they. There is something to be said. I know it's not just talent, but there is something to be said that if I have overwhelming talent and I'm smartly coached and smartly quarterback, it's hard to beat it.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

I saw a joke that, you know, Serena Williams participated in the half year. She did some dance.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

And I saw a stat that she had more yards the Chiefs had in the first half during the halftime show. I mean, Colin, I know we joke about seeing ghosts in the pocket, you know, a member of the Sam Darnold with the jets. It felt like Mahomes did not know what was going on. He was anticipating pressure on a blitz and the Eagles never blitzed all night, didn't blitz once they were getting home before, and he looked totally rattled. I've never seen him that bad. The super bowl against the Bucs, he was under pressure, running for his life, that was.

[Colin Cowherd]

He lost a left tackle late in the season and I almost gave him a pass on that one. This is two weeks Philadelphia. By the way, this Philadelphia team lost to Kirk Cousins early in the year. I mean, if you go back to this Philadelphia team, what's interesting and this is why football's so great and baseball has this too. Be very careful about September and October judging this Philadelphia team could not score in the first quarter for like it felt like the first until Thanksgiving and we couldn't figure it out. We're like, how? But it takes time to figure out what you can do. And a lot of this goes to Jalen Hurts. And I want to talk about that. Coming up live in Los Angeles, it's the Hurts. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and.

[J. Mac]

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[Colin Cowherd]

You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com Keep and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption Required card has no cash access and expires in six months. Last week was our first playoff game and my plaque psoriasis was so itchy under all my gear. Sometimes just thinking about scratching could take me out of the moment. And then my doctor told me I could get clearer skin with a pill called Otezla.

[Dallas Goddard]

Otzla Epremolast is a prescription medicine used to treat adult patients with plaque psoriasis for whom phototherapy or systemic therapy is appropriate. Otzla can help you get clearer skin after just four months.

[Colin Cowherd]

Ready for the next game? Talking to my doctor about a pill was a total game changer.

[Dallas Goddard]

Don't use OTTLA if you're allergic to it. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or arms, severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss can happen. Tell your doctor if any of these occur and if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts. Live in the moment. Ask your doctor about Otezla. Call 1-844-4-OTESLA or visit otesla.com for prescribing info, info about cost and more.

[Colin Cowherd]

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Visit Omaha steaks.com for 50% off site wide during their President's Day sale and for an extra $20 off use the promo code Herd H E R D at checkout. That's great. 50% off@omaha steaks.com and an extra $20 off with the promo code heard at checkout. Where Colin was right? Well I I spent a lot of time talking about general managers in the NFL and how undervalued they are. Howie Roseman been on that train for years. I think the executive suite is the difference with the Lions roster and the difference between Kansas City and Buffalo and the difference with Philadelphia. The bottom line, the gap in this league is not just coaches and quarter, it's upstairs. Some teams don't know what they're doing. The Eagles always do take big swings, are very willing to roll the dice and it has paid off clearly. Where Collin was raw. Although I love his temperament, I think he's a great kid. I've never really put Jalen Hurts in the top six or seven quarterbacks because I don't think he's a great pocket thrower. But maybe it's time to reevaluate processing univire toughness, tush push. What he does continually is play really, really good football in the biggest moments. A lot of guys shrink. He elevates. I was wrong on Jalen Hurts where Colin was right. I didn't put Travis Kelce in my top 10 players for the Super Bowl. It does feel like it's time. He had two catchable balls, didn't produce. He did have his turn back the clock game against Houston. Didn't do anything in the last two. Even the suit he wore. I don't know, just felt a little midlife crisis, whatever, I don't know. But it does feel like we're seeing, we're seeing a tank that doesn't have a lot left in it. Where Collin was wrong. You know, I thought the rookie cornerbacks for the Eagles could be a liability, but boy, did they deliver. Who knew that Toledo and Iowa is where great cornerbacks live. Fast, sticky, smart, physical Cooper, De Jean Quinion Mitchell. Just outstanding. And what was really interesting if you watch the highlights is how often they could stay with Kansas City's receivers all the way down the field. This wasn't just about pressure. Mahomes did on occasion roll out and look and buy time and nobody was still open where Colin was right. Aaron Rodgers dumped by the packers and now dumped by the Jets. Am I surprised they did it? Yes. But I have said for years people close to Aaron who are played with him, he can be moody. You're never quite sure what you get in the building day to day. And right now he's probably 13th, 14th, 15th best quarterback in the league and he's a little expensive for that. And he is not, despite what a handful of friends say, he's not a great unifier. He flew to New York, according to Jay Glazer Thinking he was going to be the quarterback. And the second NFL franchise said, we're gonna move on where Colin was, right? Debo Samuel. Everybody laments the future of running backs. I believe a quarterback's best friend is an O line in a run game, not a needy wide receiver. I like Deebo. He's a good player, but it's kind of become a cliche now. The receiver that needs touches and attention. In the end, running backs don't. Their careers are shorter. It's almost like they're more appreciative. Deebo Samuel, once they drafted Ricky Pearsall, felt like he was no longer part of the San Francisco 49ers future. Where Colin was wrong. Yeah, is way wrong. On Nick Sariani never loved his methodology and yelling at fans and confrontations on the bench. But you know what? Two Super Bowls in three years. He feels, you know, what can I say? The team likes him, the city likes him, the coaches like him. You know, he's a little bit emotional. Well, so was Bill Parcells. I made a mistake of thinking that everybody coaches the same, and they don't. You know, there's creative guys like Andy Reid. There's more rigid guys like Bill Belichick. There's more emotional guys like Dan Campbell and Nick Sirianni, and then there's more stoic guys throughout the league. So everybody coach is different. And I have learned my lesson where Colin was right. Oh, Joel Embiid might need another knee surgery. I've never understood Embiid. He didn't play his first two years in the league because of injuries. They had injury concerns coming out of Kansas. Why is everybody denying the truth? When bigs are hurt early, they're hurt often. And he's a tremendous player. But as we saw in the Olympics, he does at times have real problems playing well with others. Yes, he's talented. Yes, there's some components that make him look a little like Shaq. But in the end, they've always, like, denied the injury stuff. And once again, he no longer plays in back to backs. Injury issues surface where Collin was right. I said I thought Jimmy Butler to the warriors would happen and should happen. He makes him more interesting. But I also think there's a physical component to his game. He was part of a Warriors blowout win over Chicago. Steph Curry talked about his importance, and now Steph said, he's almost the opposite of me, so it's a good fit. I think the idea that he's like the exact opposite player of me, which is kind of funny, like, I'm shooting 16 threes. He shot one, got to the free throw line a lot. He's dominating the paint. I'm dominating outside in the perimeter. Guys working around this has a potential to be really, really fun. The warriors needed some juice. Jimmy Butler is absolutely that. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. Hey, it's Steve Covino and I'm Rich Davis and together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. And of course, the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything. Life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved too. Take your phone calls, chop it up as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcast. And of course on social media. That's Covino and Rich.

[J. Mac]

Some might say homes.com is the best home shopping site, but why is it their sleek ad free user interface? Enjoy search experience without distraction. Maybe it's their unmatched school insight featuring district detail and reviews from expert sources like niche, Every parent's dream. Or is it their super comprehensive agent directory? Or how they always connect you directly to the listing agent on every listing? Homes.com even offers a comprehensive search experience with 22 data visualization layers, 7 environmental layers and an option to search by commute and architectural style, homes.com is bringing you all the in depth info you need. Homes.com We've done your homework.

[Colin Cowherd]

You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile, keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Required card has no cash access and expires in six months. Colin Coward here with pro tight end Dallas Goddard to share his journey with plaque psoriasis and how he tackles his symptoms with otesla. Aprimolast yeah, being a football player with plaque psoriasis can be challenging. My skin gets flaky and itchy, so my doctor told me about a pill o Tesla. It works from the inside out.

[Wilmer Valderrama]

OTESLA is a prescription medicine used to treat adult patients with plaque psoriasis for whom phototherapy or systemic therapy is appropriate. OTESLA can help you get clearer skin after just four months. Dallas is an OTESLA patient that has compensated for his time. Don't use OTESLA if you're allergic to it. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or arms, severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss can happen. Tell your doctor if any of these occur and if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts.

[Colin Cowherd]

Talking to my doctor about a pill was a total game changer. If you're struggling with plaque psoriasis, talk to your doctor about Otesla. Visit Otesla.com for more information or call 1-844-4-OTEZLA for prescribing info. Info who's scoring big this NBA season? You are with all the new ways to get in on the action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. From slams to dishing the rock to cleaning the glass, get behind your favorite players and prop bets you can make on DraftKings, the home of NBA player props. Are you ready to place your first bet? Make it simple, like how many points your favorite player will have. Go to DraftKings sportsbooks app. Make your pick if it's the first time, here's something special just for you. New customers bet of $5. That's it. Five bucks to get 150 in bonus bets instantly. So take it to the rack with DraftKings Sportsbook. Every point counts. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. The code is herdherd for new customers to get $150 in bonus bets. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours.

[Wilmer Valderrama]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

[J. Mac]

Now let's get this party started.

[Colin Cowherd]

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. All right, here we go on a Tuesday. Football season's over for a while. We Got some Luka, LeBron, baby. Lakers rolling live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. I don't want to hear the Jazz are no good. Keep your eye on the Jazz bright future J. Mack. Lakers won 12 of 14th. Now Luka's playing with new guys. You know, Luka got hurt. He's been out since Christmas. So there's. I'm not. I was watching last night, I'm thinking, what am I doing with Luke? He's not dropping 40 tonight. He needs time to get back into shape. But boy, they that first half of the lakers, Austin Reaves, LeBron and Luka.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

Austin Reeves. Now you like him, huh? He's your guy.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

72 and a half for the Lakers. Oh, they're going to the finals.

[Colin Cowherd]

Cowherd. Well, let's just start with this. That's a little hot. That's a little hot this morning. But when I hear this. Yeah, I don't know if LeBron and Luka are going to work together. Go back to Miami. D. Wade and LeBron, that wasn't a good fit. Both need the ball to excel. Neither are great shooters. They were just two great athletes and they ended up getting to four straight finals. Stephen, Katie and Klay Thompson. One ball, three guys that need it last night. LeBron and the Lakers. Second highest plus minus for LeBron this season. And the Lakers had their second highest point title between the warriors, the Heatles and LeBron and Luka. What do all three have in common in basketball? Smart guys. Figure it out. A lot of stars can't. They lack self awareness, right? The egos, the lack of self awareness. I mean the OKC Westbrook mellow thing, it just didn't work. Katie, Steph Clay worked, the heels worked. LeBron and Luke, Austin, Reeves, it's going to work. I mean, last night before the game, LeBron's like, don't worry about fitting in. We'll work around you. Just go score. And I think that's. Chemistry is an issue when you have selfish guys and insecure guys and guys with no self awareness. You know, Harden and Kyrie playing with Katie in Brooklyn. KD was great. The other two guys were a pain. They hurt chemistry. So LeBron and Luka are engaged, they're smart, they have huge brands. So they're very, very secure in who they are. Both excellent passers. The only weird part for me is how the hell is LeBron still this good? What's in that wine he's drinking? I swear he looks like he's in year 12 or 13. LeBron's amazing. But if you go back to the Heatles in Miami, they didn't have any size. Joel Anthony, remember him? Joel Anthony was a six, nine and a half center. They had no true point guard, but it was one of the smartest teams I've ever seen. Shane Battier, Ray Allen, LeBron Haslam, I mean, it just everybody, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, they just made it work. Draymond, Steph Clay, you know, kd, smart guys just make it work. So it now Luke is rusty. Okay, never played with these guys. I don't care about practice. Never played game speed with these guys. Hasn't played in a long time. And the Lakers do have an issue, and it's a real issue. They have no rim protection. Jackson Hayes is a fun guy on alley oops and you saw a lot of alley oops last night, but they don't have any rim protection. So when the Mark Williams deal from Carolina did not go through the Charlotte deal, that's kind of a bummer. Now, like Robert Williams, who the Celtics had for years, he wasn't available very much, but when he was available, he changed the temperature in the room. So they're going to have to address that on, on the market and see if they can find somebody. But I'll say this about the Lakers. Last night when I watched them, especially in the first half because they put the game away in the first half, it felt young, it felt fun, it felt fresh. I looked it up this morning. 10 more threes. They took 10 more threes than average. There were more alley oops. You know what? Three pointers everywhere again. Austin Reaves, LeBron and Luka, yes, they all need the ball. But you know what smart guys figured out. And Staples was roaring all the Luka jerseys. I think this thing is going to be excellent and I'll get to in a second. Why I think they can win the west. But here was Luke and J.J. redick after. I was a little nervous before. I remember when was the last time I was nervous before the game so. But once I step on the court it was, it was fun and just being out there again felt amazing. It's a new team, new everything. But like the way they helped me, teammates, Rob, Jenny, Ginny, it was, it's just a lot of support for me. You can see when I come into arena. I saw the LUCA jerseys. It was just surreal feeling. Sometimes you can have agendas in a game. I felt like this for our group was just a no agenda game beyond.

[Tom Brady]

Winning a basketball game and playing the.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right way with our three guys who are going to be our primary creators.

[Tom Brady]

Like they, they all did it really well.

[Wilmer Valderrama]

And I think our guys will get.

[Colin Cowherd]

Accustomed to the LUCA passes for sure. Listen, the Lakers felt like they went from analog to digital. And if you look at the Western Conference standings, why can't they get there? Memphis is number two. I don't trust them. They play very fast, great pacing. I'm not sure if that transfers to the playoffs. Denver is horrific defensively now. Jamal Murray's healthy again and playing well. They're a bad defensive team. The Rockets can't shoot super young. I think they're a regular season team. I think they'll be a one and done in the playoffs. Clippers, do you really trust them? So I look at the west. The best team I've seen in the NBA by a long shot is the Celtics. I watch them hammer the Knicks again. Boston's the best team in the league. OKC is very good. That I won't deny. And I'm not sure if the Lakers can beat him. Although it feels like to me they've matched up with them pretty well the last couple of years with AD and LeBron. So my takeaway is I watched last night. It was a lot of threes, a lot of alley oops. It's only going to get better. I mean, Luke hasn't played in forever. First game with the guys. I think if they could figure out, I said before if the Mark Williams thing would have gone through, I would have had no problem saying Lakers in the final. I don't know if they can beat Boston. Probably not, but I think they could get there I don't know if they can win the west, but I'm watching all the. Listen, it's an offensive sport, right? I mean, defense matters, but people get frustrated when Jayson Tatum doesn't take the game over offensively, not defensively. So I'm reading this story about the super bowl ratings and 126 million viewers for the Super Bowl. 59, first of all, it's more than that. But it's hard to track how many people actually watch the Nielsen ratings. They do count out of home viewers, but you don't really have an exact count on that. You're kind of guessing at some point. I think it probably was closer to 136 million. The second thing is this wasn't, let's be totally honest about this, it wasn't a good game. The peak of the rating was in the second quarter. What if it had been an overtime game? Could you get to 130, 35 million? But there's a lot of reasons why I think the NFL keeps extending their season and adding games because there's an insatiable appetite for it. We never get tired of it. And the other thing is there's a reason they keep playing games now in Australia and they're going to go to Brazil again and they're going to go. They won the US Market. If you dominate America, spread your wings. So when people complain about games overseas, why not? They own the country. And I think there's a lot of reasons why the NFL is king. It's a once a week sport, but that's always been true. But we didn't have the iPhone and tick tock in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. We are a very, very distracted nation. It is harder to get people's attention Monday through Friday and the NFL is a once a week game. The second thing is it's a really good television product. Not just because I work at Fox. NBC, cbs, ABC are great too. But the production of the television product is outstanding. The other thing, it's relatable football players, there is no load management. They play in the snow, they play in the wind, they play in the rain like the rest of us. They just go to work when they're not 100%. It's totally relatable. The other thing is they make big changes regularly. They bailed on Oakland, they upgraded to Vegas. They bailed on San Diego. I know it hurts. They upgraded in LA, they bailed on St. Louis, they, they'll, they'd bail on Jacksonville tomorrow if they could. They're not going to be burdened by tradition. They're, they're not going to worry about what the hardcore traditionalist and the romantics think. They're going to take swings and evolve. And I think they constantly pivot on rule changes. Baseball struggles with that. Basketball makes changes. Sometimes though, they feel a little bit like they're out of desperation. Last week they're talking about shorter quarters. Who's ever worried about how long a quarter is? We worry that you got too many games or load management. And so I think there's a lot of reason for the changes. I just think more than anything, it's a very well run league by adults. Agents run. Baseball players run the NBA. Economically, it is two times the size of the NBA, yet feels like it's nimble like a sailboat. It can turn quickly during a Super Bowl. Rule changes, always willing to change. And somebody told me this years ago that, that in any time there's a change, basketball thinks of it first. Baseball makes the most money out of it and football gets it right. And I think the NFL more than any league just consistently gets it right. When changes are needed, they don't pander agents and the players don't run the league. They're like every good company I've ever worked for. And none of the companies I've ever worked for that are very well run are run by the employees. They value the employees, they pay the employees, they treat the employees well. It's not run by the employees. I should not be running Fox. I should not be running it. I, I'm treated well. I shouldn't be running it. And so there you go. The number is huge. I think it's probably bigger than that. And it was not a very competitive game. We got a lot of things. Nick Wright joins us in 50 minutes. It's been a very rough 48 hours for Nick. You know, he was due for a bad weekend. J Mac, he was due.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

Can I give you a peek behind the curtain? One of our smart producers hit me up this morning, was like, hey, can you bring in a violin to play during the Nick Wright segment? And I tried to fight a violin this morning. No dice. But I, yeah, we feel bad for him. You know, it's just, yeah, it's tough for those Chiefs.

[Colin Cowherd]

I barely slept last night.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

I tried to tell them they weren't a good team all season, record be damned.

[Colin Cowherd]

You were right, they looked awful. Listen, if you go back to that Houston game, that was choppy, very, very.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

Friendly whistle there, shall we say? I'll ask though, Colin, like where Was the leadership on the sideline when they were getting their butts kicked? 24, nothing. You know, there's a lot of video out there of Tom Brady in that Atlanta Super Bowl.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, yeah. Firing up the troops.

[Nick Wright]

Let's go.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

Come on, guys. We're not done. And I saw none of that. You know, the Chiefs just look shell shocked, like, wait, we're not winning. We're not winning.

[Colin Cowherd]

We're not coming close to winning.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

It was kind of embarrassing. Where's the leadership? Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes? I didn't see it. Did you?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I don't look to my coaches for that. They got a headset on or they're trying to maneuver. I think, I think players have to inspire players. I think generationally it means more coming from another player. If a great player's on the sideline at 28 years old, barking at a 25 year old, I think that has incredible impact. I don't think coach barking at a player be. Coaches bark at players. It's called practice. And so when you get into a game, I do think it's up to players to help motivate players. There's a lot of tape of Troy Aikman. He's on his players, Peyton Manning on his players. And I, I think there's value. I mean, I've seen Lamar Jackson on the sideline talking to his own line, getting guys fired up. That stuff matters.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

Something for Mahomes to work on in the off season.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, couple things. Gotta get a left tackle, baby. Be sure to catch. Live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Nick Wright's gonna be joining us. He's a trooper. He's gonna be joining us here in a couple of minutes and I thought I would start. J. Mac, you'll. You'll get a kick out of this. Connor Orr, Sports Illustrated. Excellent young journalist. Only deals in facts. Acknowledges he believes that The Chiefs in 2025 will miss the Super bowl each of the next two seasons. And he talks about how the Patriots had several gaps in Super Bowls. He said it's not anti Andy Reid or Patrick Mahomes. Great players get old fast and role players are hard to keep around. And the draft, even by the best GMs is like a 60, 40, 50, 50 proposition. After the first couple of rounds, you're rolling the dice on draft picks. And so again, this is an excellent journalist that only deals in facts. Connor. Or saying that. So I. There are things that I think you have to be honest about. Let's not do like recency bias, but Mahomes number one weapon the last three years have been Travis Kelsey kind of looks cooked. He's 36 years old in the last couple of games, not. Not really yet. So, you know, the classic sports muscle car can't be your primary car. Like, it's time. Number two is in a very mediocre draft. They're going to get. They need a tackle and they'll probably get the fifth to sixth best tackle because that position's so valuable. And unless they compromise and sacrifice draft picks, they're not getting one of the better left tackles. They also need a tight end and the two best ones will be taken. The other thing is the division, we got to be honest now, Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh. We saw what Harbaugh did in one year. We saw Bo Nix as a rookie, Sean Payton. I'm sorry, it matters. That's. That's the best coaching division in football. That's not even arguable. That is the best coaching division in football. The other thing is we saw Jim Harbaugh do this at San Francisco, at Michigan and with the Chargers. In one year, he turned him around. This year they have 65 million in cap space. The Chargers got to the playoffs with a rookie slot receiver as a really elite weapon. That was it. So they got a lot of cap space. And what the Chargers need is a defensive tackle and running backs. And the two positions in the draft that are absolutely stacked are defensive tackle and running back. And because of their draft position, they'll get the first or second best tight end in the draft, which they need. And here's the other thing, and we got to be honest about this. Mahomes next year is going to be a 24% cap hit. 24 of Kansas City's cap is going to be Mahomes. He's going to be making 66 large. Tom Brady was never over 14. It matters. It matters. I know the cap's going up, but it matters. Tom Brady on average was a 10 to 12% cap hit. That's why those Patriot teams never had units that were bad. They were never terrible anywhere. In the two blowout losses to Kansas City in the super bowl, they're bad at left tackle. They're just bad. The Patriots were never awful anywhere. Didn't matter. Kicker, punter, quarterback, left tackle, all the key positions, they were at least B plus, and a lot of that was Brady sacrifice. Tom talked about this last week. It is damn hard to win these Super Bowls.

[Tom Brady]

What I realized early in my career about Super Bowls was, man, we won my first year. Like, what's the big deal? It's like, I went to college, we played Norris Bowl, I won. We went to the Citrus bowl, we won. Okay, now I'm in the Super Bowl. We won. All right, what's the big we. We didn't have a great seed in 2002, we won in 2003. What's the big deal? We won in 2004. What's the big deal? Right? Then you go to 2007 and you lose, and then you go to 2011 and you get to the super bowl after having a great team in 2010, we. And we lose. And it was just like, wow, this is way harder. We went 10 years between winning.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, it's really hard. Very, very difficult. They were in good health. And then the ticker went. Not to mention, how long is Andy Reid gonna coach? I know this is somber, solemn. Nick Wright is now joining us live.

[Nick Wright]

That's probably your best comedy bit in years. And you know, you know what is a staple of the best of the best comedians?

[Colin Cowherd]

What?

[Nick Wright]

They incorporate some of their old classics into their new material. So you had a lot of new stuff there, but then you went back to one of the classic cowherdisms, which is next year is the year Justin Herbert breaks through. I mean that, I mean, set your watch to it. And by the way, I do think you had the Chiefs because they're drafting 32 or 31, pardon me, unable to draft anyone of need. And I think you had the Chargers because they're drafting 21, getting the best running back, D tackle and tight end in the draft. It's unbelievable. The Chargers, to their credit, who, you know, did have to go through the season with a rookie wide receiver as their number one option. Can you imagine making the super bowl in back to back years with a rookie wide receiver being your number one option? I can't. It'd probably never be done. No, I mean, listen, listen, it is. The Chiefs and me deserve a lot of criticism for the performance on Sunday. Spinning that forward into this team being cooked is, I think, a bridge too far even for you. Like, I don't you maybe you've been hanging out with J. Mac too often off the air and he's been spitting that poison in your ear. But they still go into next season the overwhelming favorites in the AFC west, and they go into next season better positioned than any other team in the afc. Now it's hard to get to a Super bowl every Single year. I get that. But I think you're writing the obituary a tad too soon, my friend.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay. The one thing I did. I did say is that. And I mean, you've never denied that Brady's great. That's. That's one of the great things you've always said. The guy's ridiculous. I mean, it's literally the second part of his career. He was arguably better than Elway's entire career. Right. But the one thing I'll say about Tom and having lived in Connecticut during his reign is that I. We used to always talk about this. If he had the second best poker hand, he could still win the hand. He didn't have to have pocket aces. And now. Now, in fairness, last year I didn't. I think the last couple years, the Chiefs didn't have a loaded roster. But I would say that in the super bowl losses. Let's just talk about this one. I didn't feel. I felt like I was watching the same play over and over, and I didn't feel Mahomes adjusted a lot. Maybe that's Andy Reid, but it did. I watched it and I thought, God, Tom would have just moved the chains short. He kept sitting in the pocket the same play. I thought Patrick really played terribly.

[Nick Wright]

Oh, I listen, I think it was one of the worst games of Patrick's career. But we're not. This, again, is where I just have to be the arbiter of fairness.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay.

[Nick Wright]

If one wants to argue that. And again, again, Brady is the most accomplished player ever, the goat, at this position and of the sport. And because of this loss, it's going to take Patrick an immense amount of time to have a chance to catch him, because this was the opportunity to do something Tom never did. That is all true. Here is what is also true. We are now revisionist historing how Tom Brady's playoff defeat, when going for a three peat, went. It was not in the super bowl with the decisive play being a pick six. It was in the divisional round to Jake Plummer with the decisive play being a pick six. And I know that the. The Michael Jordan propaganda machine has convinced people that losing in round one or round two is actually better. Better than winning those rounds and then losing in the championship round. But that, of course, is ludicrous. And so you're right that Tom never had this poor of a performance in a Super bowl that is unquestioned. But Tom had, as every quarterback ever had, brutal performances that prevented his team from getting to Super Bowls. Patrick's never had that. And so we can go tit for tat on these things. And I had to listen Yesterday to Joe Montana. 4, 0 in Super Bowls. And that is true. It is also true that in the dead middle of his prime. 85, 86, 87 those three years, Joe Montana in three consecutive playoff games, had three consecutive round one or first game defeats and had zero touchdowns over a three year span. Cumulatively in the playoffs, three straight blowouts, including a 49, three. But because they happened in round one, they don't count. I don't buy into that. I never have. Patrick played very poorly yesterday. He now joins the list of every single quarterback in NFL history of which he wasn't previously on. Where he played his worst game of the year in the biggest spot of the year. But I think we are writing the obituary as you literally are a tad too soon.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, well, I think they're. I do have Kansas City being a wild card team next year, so I think they're still.

[Nick Wright]

That's what you had them this year. I think that's what you had them last year. This year you have them in the wild card every year. Every year is going to be the Chargers year. And did you say Pete Carroll? I like Pete Carroll too. Does that team have a quarterback yet? I'm just like literally on the roster. Do they have a quarterback? Is it Aiden O'Connell? I don't think that. I don't think Pete Carroll is going to move the chains with Aiden O'Connell. That's just me.

[Colin Cowherd]

It is. I said this yesterday about the Eagles, though. If Saquon Barkley got hurt next year, cross your fingers and they lose two free agents and it's more of a Jalen hurts offense, they wouldn't look the same. Listen, this is a sport with regulated level of violence. I think the Chiefs will rebuild. They'll be fine. They need a left tackle, they need a running back. You know, they just, they have to hit some draft picks. They're prone to do that. I do think the Andy Reid thing is real, is that I could see Andy with two more great runs and just say, listen man, I got four or five of these things, I'm out. And then, as you know, even the great organizations miss on head coaches 50% of the time. Is there part of you that wonders the Andy thing is what worries you more than players?

[Nick Wright]

Oh, listen. I mean, and I 1000%. And Patrick, leading up to the game, when he was asked, you know, basically, how long can this keep up? His answer was, as long as Andy's still here. The Whole team, you know what I mean, gives him the respect and credit he deserves. Here is my, the reason I am not incredibly concerned about that. First of all, in the short term, we know he's coming back at least next year. And I would imagine, as you're saying he's coming back for two or three more years.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

He is just about to start a five year, hundred million dollar contract. So even if he doesn't finish that, you have this time. The other reason that I am less concerned is if he were to signal that he was going into what would be the last year of his career, this immediately becomes the most coveted coaching job in modern NFL history. Like, would it be the most coveted job since the Bucs? I'm sorry, the Colts fired Jim Mora. The answer to that is probably right. But even in that moment, Peyton obviously had not accomplished 10% of what Patrick already has. And so I do think they will be fine. I also would not act as if losing the guy who I believe to be one of the three greatest coaches in the history of the sport and the greatest offensive mind in the history of the sport, you know, wouldn't be a significant, significant loss. But that is much further down the road than, you know, this or next season at least I believe.

[Colin Cowherd]

Lost a little bit lost in Luca going to the Lakers is how insane LeBron has played this year. It looks like year 13.

[Nick Wright]

It's unbelievable.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's incredible. And it very, it very much is Brady in Tampa, where you're like, is he still a top four quarterback when he was 44? Like, I mean he left and the next year you're like, like, I think he's still top four or five. What do you make? We know I'll get to Luke in a second. How do you explain LeBron? He's better than last year. What is it?

[Nick Wright]

So, I mean, listen, I think there is a natural benefit to truly. And I think this is being proven out in real time, literally being the greatest athlete. And I'm not. I just mean raw athleticism. Maybe in world history, like you can say, oh, you found a way to be hyperbolic. Like, I don't know who he's competing with on that.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

As far as height, weight, speed, longevity, durability, all of it over a 25 year stretch. Like, I honestly don't know. Who was the corner? Gosh darn it, I shouldn't ask him. There was a corner that he played for Washington. He played for like Darryl Green, like Darrell Green. I was like, I don't know. Like, is he on that same list, I don't know. But regardless. So the reason I bring that up is LeBron is right now 75% of the athlete he was 10 years ago.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

But 75% of prime LeBron is still more athletic than 95% of the rest of the league. So because of that, he's been able to stave off the aging curve a bit. You then add to it, he's a better shooter these last two years than any point of his career.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yep.

[Nick Wright]

The IQ is still, you know, obviously not going anywhere. And what I think we've seen the last couple weeks is the power of hope and the power of belief.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

You saw in the Olympics, Colin lebron was like, all right, these might be the last really consequential games of my basketball life. And you saw him on the global stage be the best player in the entire tournament, night in, night out.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's a good point.

[Nick Wright]

And then you saw this year when it's like, wait a minute, we're actually a little bit better than I expected. JJ's doing a great job. If I'm able to carry us when Anthony Davis is out, maybe that gets the team to make one of these around the fringes deadline moves we want them to make, and maybe we can steal a finals appearance. And then instead of that, they trade for a top three player in the world. And now I think LeBron is like, oh, my God, I can win a championship like me. And if Luka can take Kyrie and role players to the championship, can take their championship round, can take a young Jalen Brunson and role players to the conference finals, what if I all of a sudden can actually hand the offense off to someone else? Actually not see the team go to die when I go to the bench, actually be rested going into the playoffs? And the Lakers are going to have problems defensively and the lack of the. You know, they traded for Mark Williams for a reason. It got rescinded. But you have the highest IQ duo in league history now on the. On a team. We've never had two players with this passing ability plus IQ playing together so offensively. It's going to be a top three team. And I think LeBron knows what that means for him.

[Colin Cowherd]

For the record, does Jimmy Butler do anything for the Warriors? I mean, I think it makes them much more interesting.

[Nick Wright]

I thought the NBA miss the plan.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I think the NBA had a great week. The Luka thing, the Butler thing, dear. And Fox to Wemby. I thought the league had a great week. Does Butler do Anything for that team still playing team to you?

[Nick Wright]

I mean. Well, I mean I, I think that without him they were going to risk. At risk of missing the play in.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[Nick Wright]

And the warriors have been in the play in and lost previously. I think without him they were going to be at certainly not only at risk, but probably a favorite to miss the actual 18 postseason. Yeah, now I fully expect them to be in the playoffs. I don't know that I think, I think their ceiling is round is a round one victory. I do think that I just, I think that staff Steph is still really good but night to night now Steph also by the way has been playing his best basketball as of late. May be invigorated by the trade as well. The only chance they have of making any real noise is if the way Steph has played the last couple weeks, if he can keep that up. I also think that Jimmy, you know, Jimmy is not night tonight that reliable when it comes to an injury risk. So they are a very old injury concerned team. But I am a fervent believer that if you happen to have one of the 10 to 12 greatest players in the history of the league still playing at a high level, you have an obligation to go all in every year. It is irresponsible to worry about the future. Your only obligation is to right now. So I, I think the warriors did right by Steph here even if it's not a real needle mover when it comes to winning a championship.

[Colin Cowherd]

So maybe we were a little premature on the headstone. I will say however is if they don't hit on some of these draft picks drafting 31st, it's a little scary.

[Nick Wright]

Drafting 31st, that's the best position we've been in in three years. Usually stuck in the 32 hole. Think about and by the way, keep in mind the Chiefs also have they have the 31st pick, the 63rd pick and then like the 66th pick because they got that from Tennessee and Tennessee finished with one of the worst records in football. So we're loaded to bear headed into the draft. Tell you that right now. Maybe we trade for Micah Parsons. Who knows? Colin, I'll leave you on this. The Chiefs, we all know since Patrick's been there seven years, they have a two game one or two game season that starts in the conference championship round. Two years they've gone 01. Both years they made massive changes. One year after going 01, they fired the D coordinator, brought in Spags. One year after going 01, they traded Tyreek Hill. Three years they've gone 2 and 0. We know what you do after that. You hold a parade. They've now twice gone one and one. The first time they did it, they remade the offensive line. I'm very curious what they do the second time, because 1 and 1 doesn't cut it in Kansas City. It's at 500 season. It's really embarrassing. So, like, I don't, I don't blame you for poking fun, but they will make a major adjustment. I don't know what it will be, but it's not going to be quiet this offseason in Kansas City. I promise you that.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right, Nick Wright. First things first. He's bruised and a bit battered, but still shows up.

[Nick Wright]

You know what the Sports gods I must have been a great person in a previous life because the fact that the day after my lowest moment of my adult life as a football fan, I get to watch my large adult Slovenian son, Luka Doncic, team up with LeBron James. I know it's not in a fever dream. I mean, I'm right back, baby. I am so and it was fun.

[Colin Cowherd]

To watch last night at the Staples. Good seeing you, Nick Wright Whether you're.

[J. Mac]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Don't miss real life amigos Wilmer Valderrama and Freddy Rodriguez in their new podcast Dos Amigos, where they have candid conversations.

[Nick Wright]

With special guests about anything and everything. Join them in Wilmer's speakeasy for genuine moments, laughter and a toast to good times.

[Colin Cowherd]

Remember here in this community commercial, are you between the ages of 14 and 16 years old do you think you got to take to be a TV personality? And commercials and, you know, Saturday morning shows? Listen to those amigos on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King iii, and together.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

With my wife, Andrea Waters King, and.

[Colin Cowherd]

Our dear friends Mark and Craig Kilburger.

[Freddy Rodriguez]

We explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives.

[J. Mac]

Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyelo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter.

[Colin Cowherd]

Listen to My legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is My Legacy.