Hour 3 - Eagles vs. Packers Preview, Mark Sanchez

Summary

The Herd with Colin Cowherd: Hour 3 - Eagles vs. Packers Preview, Mark Sanchez
Release Date: January 7, 2025
Host/Authors: Colin Cowherd, Joy Taylor, and Mark Sanchez
Platform: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume

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1. Introduction

In this episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, host Colin Cowherd teams up with Joy Taylor and NFL analyst Mark Sanchez to delve into several pressing sports topics. The primary focus centers around the upcoming marquee game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers, with additional discussions on player movements, coaching changes, and quarterback performances across the league.

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2. Tyreek Hill's Potential Departure from Miami Dolphins

Timestamp: [02:35 - 04:42]

The conversation kicks off with Joy Taylor addressing Tyreek Hill's desire to leave the Miami Dolphins to advance his career. Colin offers a skeptical view on Hill's fit with potential suitors, emphasizing that speed alone doesn't guarantee Super Bowl success.

Notable Quote:
Colin Cowherd [03:07]: "Fastest doesn't win the Super Bowl. That's not what it's about."

Mark Sanchez adds depth by discussing Miami Dolphins' coach Mike McDaniel's firm stance on player accountability, highlighting a recent meeting with Hill where McDaniel emphasized that leaving a game is unacceptable.

Notable Quote:
Mark Sanchez [03:35]: "McDaniel told Tyreek it is unacceptable to leave a game and it won't be tolerated in the future."

The trio debates the value of high-speed wide receivers versus more robust, reliable players, citing examples from the Kansas City Chiefs’ approach to the receiver position.

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3. 49ers Quarterback Brock Purdy’s Contract and Team Strategy

Timestamp: [05:08 - 07:25]

The discussion shifts to the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Brock Purdy's contract negotiations. Joy Taylor points out the uncertainty surrounding Purdy's future compensation, while Mark Sanchez emphasizes the importance of quickly securing Purdy to maintain team momentum.

Notable Quote:
Mark Sanchez [06:23]: "If that's an opportunity to be able to get that done quick, that'd be great. Just so we can get back to phase one, get after it with the receivers and our team and, you know, just continue to grow together."

Colin Cowherd expresses interest in the 49ers' draft strategies, urging the team to focus more on the offensive and defensive lines rather than overloading on receivers.

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4. Patriots Coaching Vacancy and Potential Hires

Timestamp: [07:26 - 10:25]

With Jarod Mayo exiting after one season, the Patriots find themselves in need of a new head coach. Joy Taylor and Colin Cowherd discuss the possibility of Ben Johnson stepping into the role, exploring how his fresh perspective could benefit the team without disrupting the established culture.

Notable Quote:
Colin Cowherd [08:13]: "Ben Johnson is going to bring in the clever. And again, my rule is when the franchise is broken, you hire a culture changer. If the franchise isn't broken, it just needs fixing."

There is a consensus that the Patriots, under new leadership, require creativity on offense while maintaining their storied stability and ownership strength.

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5. Eagles vs. Packers Game Preview

Timestamp: [25:54 - 33:47]

The episode’s centerpiece is an in-depth preview of the upcoming game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers. Mark Sanchez analyzes the impact of Christian Watson's injury on the Packers, discussing how this affects their offensive dynamics and Jordan Love's performance.

Notable Quote:
Mark Sanchez [26:24]: "With Reed, Kraft, some of the other players, Dobbs, who they have, I think they're going to be fine, especially if they ride that run game like Jacobs can do."

The discussion highlights key matchups, such as A.J. Brown versus Green Bay's defensive strategies, and how the Packers might adjust their Cover 2 defenses to counter the Eagles' robust run game led by Saquon Barkley.

Notable Quote:
Colin Cowherd [28:11]: "This is a big play game."

Mark Sanchez emphasizes the importance of fundamental football, ball control, and adaptability in high-stakes games, suggesting that the Packers need to streamline their game plan to reduce turnovers and capitalize on their defensive strengths.

Notable Quote:
Mark Sanchez [22:14]: "Fundamentals, ball control, time of possession, you know, field position, all those things matter."

The trio also touches upon the psychological aspects of the game, including the pressure on quarterbacks and the significance of familiarity between opposing teams.

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6. Concluding Remarks

As the episode wraps up, Colin Cowherd reflects on the excitement of the football season’s progression into the playoffs, praising the analytical contributions of Mark Sanchez. The hosts reiterate the importance of strategic planning and foundational principles in securing victories during the high-pressure playoff environment.

Notable Quote:
Colin Cowherd [33:16]: "Football, by the way, for the first time ever, we're seeing this. It's not Michigan then bye weeks. It's like, game, game, game, game. It's stressful, it's emotional, it's physical. Can't wait."

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7. Final Thoughts

The Herd with Colin Cowherd delivers a comprehensive and engaging analysis of key NFL storylines, blending expert opinions with strategic insights. Whether discussing player movements, coaching changes, or game-specific tactics, the episode provides valuable perspectives for sports enthusiasts seeking a deeper understanding of the league's dynamics.

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Notable Quotes Summary:

• Colin Cowherd [03:07]: "Fastest doesn't win the Super Bowl. That's not what it's about."
• Mark Sanchez [03:35]: "McDaniel told Tyreek it is unacceptable to leave a game and it won't be tolerated in the future."
• Mark Sanchez [06:23]: "If that's an opportunity to be able to get that done quick, that'd be great..."
• Colin Cowherd [08:13]: "Ben Johnson is going to bring in the clever..."
• Mark Sanchez [22:14]: "Fundamentals, ball control, time of possession..."
• Colin Cowherd [28:11]: "This is a big play game."
• Mark Sanchez [26:24]: "With Reed, Kraft, some of the other players, Dobbs..."
• Colin Cowherd [33:16]: "Football... it's stressful, it's emotional, it's physical. Can't wait."

---

This summary captures the essence of the episode, providing listeners with a clear and detailed overview of the discussions without exposure to advertisements or non-content sections.

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 Wasn't that delicious? So good. Your bill, ladies. I got it. No, I got it. Seriously, I insist. I insisted first.

[Joy Taylor]

Don't be silly.

[Colin Cowherd]

Silly? You don't be silly. People with the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card prefer to pay because they earn unlimited 2% cash back on purchases. Okay. Rock paper scissors for it. Rock, paper scissors. Shoot. No, the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card@wells fargo.com ActiveCash terms apply.

[Katie Couric]

Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch, right in time for a new season of my podcast. Next Question. I'm bringing in some foks friends of Katie's to help me out, like Ezra Klein, Jen Psaki, Asted Herndon. But we're also going to have some fun thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee and Charlamagne the God. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks for listening to the Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports radio at 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. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. No, no, no.

[Mark Sanchez]

Turn on the news. This is the Herd Line news.

[Joy Taylor]

Let's start with Tyreek Hill in Miami. Boy, he said he wants out of Miami because he's got to do what's best for his career. Of course there'll be a couple teams interested. I don't think the market's as robust as you do. However, Micah Parsons tweeted his pitch to bring Tyreek to D saying we can be the fastest duo in the league. We also don't have state income taxes, which obviously is very attractive to Tyreek, who has a lot going on off.

[Colin Cowherd]

The field, by the way. Well, we have the fastest duo in the league. That's what the Dolphins had. How that worked out, I mean, who cares? That's. This is not, this is a. NBA is a tall guys league and the NFL is a big strong guys league. I mean that's the reality of it. Fastest doesn't win the Super Bowl. That's not what it's about. It's about having and I'll say it again, go look at the powers in the NFL. Green, Green Bay, Baltimore, Kansas City, Joe Burrow. Cincinnati isn't a power, but you start looking at all these really good teams. It's a lot of cold weather playing in January. It's a lot of outdoors cold weather.

[Joy Taylor]

Mike McDaniel added that he and Tyreek had a one hour meeting and McDaniel told Tyreek it is unacceptable to leave a game and it won't be tolerated in the future. McDaniel added that Tyrique embraced accountability and there's nothing to fix in their relationship.

[Colin Cowherd]

But Mike McDaniels came in as the, the ice cream for breakfast parent. Now he's got a toughen up, smart.

[Joy Taylor]

Young nerdy guy from Yale.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, he came in as very pro player and you know, I like him. I like him too. But I, you know, Tom Coughlin won a couple Super Bowls. He came in rough and softened up. Okay, Belichick softened up a little, coming in like everybody's friend and now all of a sudden accountability. Well, you've let st go.

[Joy Taylor]

You know, I coach my kids in basketball first practice of the season. Let's start with some suicides.

[Mark Sanchez]

What?

[Joy Taylor]

Yeah, this I mean business. We're not messing around.

[Colin Cowherd]

If your kids, if, if those young kids aren't coughing up maybe a little blood, you know, you don't know what you're doing as a coach.

[Joy Taylor]

Put me down by the way, for Tyreek and the Chargers is interesting. I still think that's that would be a really good fit. And Harbaugh is a disciplinarian. He's not gonna mess around.

[Colin Cowherd]

I will say they need a one and Herbert's got a huge arm and they play mostly in. I mean, they play home games indoors, but remember, they're in a division with Kansas City. They're in a division with Denver. I think Tyreek Hill would be great, but he is not the solution.

[Joy Taylor]

No.

[Colin Cowherd]

To me. What? What? If you're asking me what they need, you can find receivers. I'm not paying a fortune for a receiver.

[Joy Taylor]

I mean, Higgins is out there probably more attractive than Tyreek.

[Colin Cowherd]

To me, he's a bigger body.

[Joy Taylor]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm not in love with these fast wide receiver guys. I think they have value, but, I mean, Kansas City's been Hammond egging wide receiver for two years, and they're going to potentially win a third in a row without a dominant number one receiver. I don't think. I think dominant number one ego receivers are fool's gold. I think you can have a series of, like, Amaran St. Brown is your one, but he's, like, considered, like, he's not a burner. He's just a hardworking, committed, great student of the game. Good route. Puka Nukua, that's a very good one. But he's not a burner. He's not blowing past people. Like, I like guys, wide receivers already in ego position. I don't need you being called fastest guy in the world. Like, I don't need that.

[Joy Taylor]

All right, next up is we'll go to your favorite quarterback, Brock Purdy. His contract will be a huge talking point throughout the 49ers offseason. Purdy is coming off his third NFL season. There's been a lot of noise regarding whether or not they should pay him. Does he get 40? Does he get 50? Will he want 60? Purdy is just hoping to get things done quickly and quietly.

[Mark Sanchez]

The timing of, you know, getting something done, done and whatnot for me, I want to obviously get it done. If that's an opportunity to be able to get that done quick, that'd be great. Just so we can get back to phase one, get after it with the receivers and our team and, you know, just continue to grow because, man, we all got to grow together. I want to just be clean about it and respectable and. And never get something done and get back to work.

[Colin Cowherd]

Really interested to see their draft picks this year. You think they're going to pick another receiver? Can we finally pay attention to the O and D lines a little?

[Joy Taylor]

I'm fascinated by how many players they have to move off of on both sides of the football.

[Colin Cowherd]

Should have moved off them last year, but they wanted to give that championship another run.

[Joy Taylor]

Is there a Hail Mary scenario where they say, thank you for your service, we're going to take Kirk Cousins on the Russell Wilson deal?

[Colin Cowherd]

No, I think they're going to listen to all the stories I read is they want to pay Brock Purdy a lot of money. So go for it. I would start with a three or a four. They're going to probably start with a five or a six. And I wish you the very best of luck. But if it rains a little, good luck.

[Unknown]

Ouch.

[Joy Taylor]

Final story. The Patriots a dump. Jarod Mayo after one season. Not a surprise to me, but some people are shocked by this. Now there's an opening in Robert Kraft. Everybody thinks he's going to go to Mike Vrabel. However, according to Tom Pelissaro, NFL Network, Vrabel is now a shoe in for the job and that Ben Johnson has real interest in the Patriots with Drake May at quarterback. Pelissaro adds that Johnson intends to interview with New England. Now, that's a bit of a wrinkle, Colin. Ben Johnson wants the New England job.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, this again. This is not a tire fire. Stable ownership, good family. I've got my quarterback. Hell, I've got my backup quarterback with Joe Milton. They need creativity, which they haven't had for years on offense. I don't think this is a bad fit.

[Joy Taylor]

Ben Johnson.

[Colin Cowherd]

Don't confuse the jets and the Bears with the Patriots. Patriots have. The Patriots just lack juice. They lack speed. Well, go draft some speed. They don't lack good ownership. They don't lack stability. Listen, they replaced a legend in Brady. It's hard. It takes you a while to find the right guy. You're not going to go. Very rarely do you go from Peyton Manning to Andrew Locke. You know, it doesn't work that way, generally speaking. I mean, go look at the Niners. You went Jim Harbaugh, some failures, now Kyle Shanahan. It takes a while.

[Joy Taylor]

So the problem is the Patriots need a lot of players and I don't know what. Do you want to continue the Belichickian culture?

[Colin Cowherd]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Joy Taylor]

Well, Vrabel is a Belichick guy.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, no, no. I, I that. Well, he played for him forever. Yeah, no, I'm not denying that. That's why I think Ben Johnson's interesting. Ben's going to bring in the clever. And again, my rule is when the franchise is broken, you hire a culture changer. Harbaugh, Vrabel, Dan Campbell, it's culture. If the franchise isn't broken, it just needs fixing. You have stable ownership, you have the quarterback. Then you can go hire a scheme guy. Johnson to New England. That is a good fit.

[Joy Taylor]

So is New England broken or just need fixing?

[Colin Cowherd]

No, no, no. Not broken. They just can't get the coach right. They're not broken.

[Joy Taylor]

What about jets? Are they broken or fixed?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes, broken. Jets are broken. Bears are broken. I think the Titans need a quarterback. I don't think they're great, but I don't think they're broke. I think Callahan's the right coach. I think they have pieces on that defensive front. I like they've got some pieces offensively, like they're not broken. If you got them a good quarterback, they could win that wonky division. I don't think. By the way, I don't think the Colts are broken. I like Ballard, I like Steichen, I like the roster. They don't have a quarterback. Colts are not broken. They're missing. There's two things in this league that win. Quarterback and coach. I think the Colts have one of them. I think the Titans have one of them. I think the Patriots have one of them. Bears got. I think the Bears have one of them. But I'm not sure a coach could fix that.

[Joy Taylor]

Jets have nothing.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, JMac with the news.

[Mark Sanchez]

Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the Herd lie news.

[Colin Cowherd]

Let's bring him in. We always miss him, always love him. Mark Sanchez, Fox Sports analyst, had that commander's Cowboys last weekend as he is joining us here.

[Mark Sanchez]

Thanks, man.

[Colin Cowherd]

On a Tuesday, my friend.

[Mark Sanchez]

Happy Birad.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thank you. By the way, Mark gave me a pre birthday present. It was a his own brand of tequila.

[Mark Sanchez]

Mezcal. Yes, Mezcal Campante. He liked it. Oh, I didn't even try yet.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, no, that's not it. I am not by choice a tequila drinker. But I. I told my wife, I said I'm gonna change. I'm gonna give that a shot.

[Mark Sanchez]

New Year, new me.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thank you.

[Mark Sanchez]

There we go.

[Colin Cowherd]

There we go. New Year, new me. I love that. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. 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 capital1na member FDIC.

[Unknown]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Wasn't that delicious? So good. Your bill, ladies. I got it. No, I got it. Seriously, I insist. I insisted first.

[Joy Taylor]

Don't be silly.

[Colin Cowherd]

You don't be silly. People with the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card prefer to pay because they earn unlimited 2% cash back on purchases. Okay. Rock, paper, scissors for it. Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot, shoot. No. The Wells Fargo ActiveCash credit card. Visit Wells Fargo.comActiveCash terms apply. 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.

[Mark Sanchez]

Lately on the NPR Politics podcast, we're.

[Colin Cowherd]

Talking about a big question. How much can one guy change?

[Mark Sanchez]

They want change.

[Colin Cowherd]

What will change look like for energy?

[Mark Sanchez]

Drill baby Drill schools.

[Colin Cowherd]

Take the Department of Education.

[Mark Sanchez]

Close it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Health care better and less expensive.

[Mark Sanchez]

Follow coverage of A changing country.

[Colin Cowherd]

Promises made, promises kept. We're going to keep our promises on.

[Mark Sanchez]

The NPR Politics podcast, listen on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

So you had the commanders. I want you to. I want a Mark Sanchez story. So here's Jaden Daniels.

[Mark Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's the regular season. Yeah. There's no more Giants.

[Mark Sanchez]

Sure.

[Colin Cowherd]

Now it's Tampa, a team that Baker Mayfield and the Bucks are number one in the league in third down conversions. You may be sitting watching chunks of the game. It's on the road. Vitavia, that Bucs roster. Mark's got a lot of playoff experience. Yours doesn't have any. Take me back to the Mark Sanchez first playoff run.

[Mark Sanchez]

Yeah, I think most importantly, rookie quarterback on the road in the playoffs. I mean, that's, that's all I knew because a guy named Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were winning the division, so we had to go on the road quite a bit. And most importantly, when the stage and the atmosphere and everything gets bigger around you, your focus has to narrow. You hear Mike Tomlin talking about that, that hyper focus and a singular focus. That's where he has to get. And it's fundamentals that win these games. The turnover battle, you know, having a run game, having your defense really step up. Remember we had an excellent defense in New York, top five each year. One of them, I think they were top of the league. And so when you have that understanding what that gives you as a quarterback, you might steal a possession or two because your guys will get you the ball back. Yeah, right. Or they're going to be playing so well. Like, like it's okay to go three and out and punt. Just don't give the ball away. My issue with the commanders is that defense played 75 snaps last week. Like they were grinding in a game trying to beat the Cowboys on the road, which was essentially kind of meaningless because Atlanta ends up losing. Now, they don't know because the games are at the same time, but a defense has a lot to recover from. So I think that's a factor, I think for a young quarterback and Cliff Kingsbury, just like Brian Schottenheimer did for me, get them completions early, get them on a, on a hot start, get him to go 3 for 3, whether it's just easy stuff underneath to the halfbacks. Echler out of the backfield. Zachary, safe target for Jaden Daniels. We had Dustin Keller, Jericho, Khatri, we'd hand the ball off to Thomas Jones. Like those were safe, easy plays to start the Game and get hot. I think that's really important. And then the biggest matchup to me, if you're talking their offense, Jayden Daniels is the center. Biotish. Remember he was the fourth rounder from Dallas in 2020. They parted ways with him. He goes to the Commanders. Dallas would love to have him back. Okay. He was supposed to take over for Travis Frederick, a legend. Cowboys O line known for having all those great centers anchoring those old lines all the way back to Girard. I mean, you name it. So this team is going to have a guy who's been banged up the last couple weeks. Biotish with an ankle injury going against Vita Vea all game. I mean, Vita vea is listed at 350. That was probably his combine weight.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Mark Sanchez]

Okay, my man. Especially after the holidays. That's a load now. That's like a Winnebago parked in front of the center. That is hard to move.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Mark Sanchez]

So I think that's a big issue for them in the interior part of the pocket being able to run the ball. And then the next guy I'm looking at is Winfield. Winfield's 50, 50 on the Bucs defense, the safety love, Antoine Winfield Jr. He basically got him in the playoffs last year and won him the division on like a strip sack or whatever or on a strip fumbled near the goal line. So this guy is a big deal in the back end for Todd Bowles. But once again, rookie quarterback, great defensive coordinator on the road. That's, that's a tall order.

[Colin Cowherd]

I want you to go. So Sam Darnold had a brand and he was athletic, great kid, reckless, big moment. Shrink then he has this year. But the way our brains work. And then against Detroit, it's ugly and we all go, okay, this is what it is. And that's unfair, but that's what it is.

[Mark Sanchez]

Sure.

[Colin Cowherd]

Now we go to a Rams game, and I said this earlier, everybody can lose and it's fine. But if Sam struggles now, all of a sudden we're like, okay, the stakes are high and there's him. So again, maybe go back to you. I, I, he has been on a heater. Nobody denies Kevin O'Connell and the receiving corps don't get credit. But then all of a sudden, do you think Sam kind of going back, seeing some ghosts and not struggling? Is he struggling going against the Rams thinking, oh, I lost my fastball a little bit?

[Mark Sanchez]

Ah, I wouldn't say that. I think that's more of a fan natural reaction and recency bias because of this most recent game. But some of the biggest factors leading into this week for Sam are, you know, that last week felt like a playoff game on the road. That was the most chaotic environment he's probably seen all year. Maybe Seattle on the road, wet, loud, you know, just tough defense like there, that was a tough one. And he pulled it out on the road. Well, this one divisional opponent, familiar opponent. That was a hard one. He's been on the road, went toe to toe with the Rams earlier in the year. You know how Sofi can get until, you know, they're in the Super Bowl. I don't know if it's going to be packed with Rams fans.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[Mark Sanchez]

The Rams might be on a silent cadence at home.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Mark Sanchez]

Which is, you know, you might hear the school chant quite a bit. Yeah. With some people from Minnesota looking for nice weather right now. So I think that's a huge factor. I think he's coming home. He gets to be back in front of his family and friends. You always play great. It feels like when your family and friends are there, you got to step it up a little bit, find a way to. To. To figure out some of these throws and whatever. But you saw these are like the clutch plays he made on the road in the rain to Justin Jefferson against a good Seattle defense. He did it against the Packers. I mean, there's plenty of good tape. I think if we're talking about his inconsistency last week, I think he took a couple bad sacks early that really got him behind the chains. And then we're talking off by like 2 inches, 3 inches, on about four throws early in the game, first and second quarter, that really shaped the game. And then the Lions kind of ran away with it. Those four throws to Hawkinson on the sideline, Addison in the end zone.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's.

[Mark Sanchez]

It's. I mean, we're talking tiny, tiny margins here of a completion, a touchdown versus incompletion, punt, field goal, whatever it is. So I think familiar opponent. These guys know each other's system. One of the interesting matchups for me is the defense for the Rams. Chris Shula, he goes against the system very similar to this all the time and has to do it against Matthew Stafford and two premier receivers in Puka, Nakua and Cooper Cup. So that familiarity of those systems, what's going to be the counter? You know, what's. What's he going to show that you know, and you're going to jump the route, and then, boom, there he goes, right behind you. So I think this kind of chess match, this one's. So it's going to be fun. Remember the Vikings had a chance to win it on the last drive of the game.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yep.

[Mark Sanchez]

Last time they were here. Face mask, not called, whatever. Okay, fine. You know, that's going to be the kind of game I think it could potentially be a shootout. That'd be fun for Sammy, a guy.

[Colin Cowherd]

You don't cover a ton because it's afc. But I said this year that Buffalo and Baltimore seem like the best versions of that Josh and Lamar have had. Now Lamar's got Zay Flowers, a real go, you know, he's a get up the field guy. He has Mark Andrews. Now he's got Derrick Henry and Buffalo. Now finally, Josh has James Cook at receiver. Kincaid's a terrific tight end. I feel like it is the best version of it, but these teams just keep underachieving in spots. And I want you to talk about the pressure. The dare. I mean, you were in New York. Look, there's pressure and then there's playoff pressure. And you've been in buildings with, with, with this sort of stuff is how do, how does a Buffalo or Baltimore not think about the previous five years? How do you get that out?

[Mark Sanchez]

Once again, you put the phone down. You know, phone down, hunker down. In your building, trust the coaches, trust the players around you. Those are the only narratives that matter.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay.

[Mark Sanchez]

And there has to be that laser type focus when you get into those moments. Once again, fundamentals, ball control, time of possession, you know, field position, all those things matter.

[Colin Cowherd]

Simplicity.

[Mark Sanchez]

Yes. And. And as the stakes get bigger, you always have to go back to my fundamentals. The field is the same size. We're using the same kind of ball. It's the same rules. Okay. Other than overtime. So let's brush up on those. Yeah, of course. And brush up on those overtime rules, just in case. You know what I mean? That's important. Do you want the ball? Do you not want the ball? It matters. Are you going to touch the ball no matter what or not? I think that's huge. Might want to walk through that. I think the coaches will do that, you know, so we don't end up with a San Francisco situation.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[Mark Sanchez]

So listen, those kind of things matter. And you know, once again, on the outside, until you get over that hump, until you win that game against Mahomes or in the championship game and get to the super bowl, then it's. You have some doubt. But these players, I mean, come on, they, they're in their, this position because they don't doubt a thing. They trust themselves. They trust their coaches. They trust their preparation. And if you don't, you wouldn't be where they're at.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay. Mark's coming back. Eagles. Packers is. We got the Eagles quarterbacks in concussion protocol. I don't know what I'm getting Mark next with tape the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific 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. Ah, really? Thanks. Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply see capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC. Wasn't that delicious? So good. Your bill, ladies. I got it. No, I got it. Seriously, I insist. I insisted first.

[Joy Taylor]

Don't be silly.

[Colin Cowherd]

You don't be silly. People with The Wells Fargo ActiveCash credit.

[Mark Sanchez]

Card prefer to pay because they earn.

[Colin Cowherd]

Unlimited 2% cash back on purchases. Okay. Rock, paper, scissors for it.

[Joy Taylor]

Rock, paper, scissors. Shoot.

[Colin Cowherd]

No. The Wells Fargo ActiveCash credit card. Visit Wells Fargo.comActiveCash terms applied. 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 timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.

[Mark Sanchez]

Lately on the NPR Politics podcast, we're.

[Colin Cowherd]

Talking about a big question. How much can one guy change?

[Mark Sanchez]

They want change.

[Colin Cowherd]

What will change look like for energy?

[Mark Sanchez]

Drill baby Drill schools.

[Colin Cowherd]

Take the Department of Education.

[Mark Sanchez]

Close it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Health care better and less expensive.

[Mark Sanchez]

Follow coverage of a changing country.

[Colin Cowherd]

Promises made, promises kept. We're going to keep our promises on.

[Mark Sanchez]

The NPR Politics podcast. Listen on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Unknown]

All right.

[Colin Cowherd]

Eagles packers is one of the marquee games this weekend. Philadelphia to me is the most stacked roster. Green Bay is really good, but now they've lost their over the top receiver, Christian Watson in a game like this. A.J. brown Phillies got their over the top guy. Green Bay now doesn't have theirs. So Mark, you've got film. Let's talk about how Jordan Love's mentality could change a little bit. Knowing I don't have one of my. You know, I always say in the playoffs it's nice to get an occasional freebie. Not everything could be a 12 play drive. Sometimes it's like nice to go over the top.

[Mark Sanchez]

Yeah, you're exactly right. I think when you talk about the loss of Watson, I think it's a factor. I don't know if it's a major factor in that. You know, he was there, what, six in receptions, third in yards. So of course he was a big play guy. But I think with Reed, Kraft, some of the other players, Dobbs, who they have, I think they're going to be fine, especially if they ride that run game like Jacobs can do. Like he provides a lot of COVID for Jordan Love, who's nursing the. The injury. I'm looking at more than that is the groin injury to Jordan Love. I think that, you know, every time you throw, it just keeps aggravating, aggravating the injury. So it's a soft tissue thing and until you fully rest it, it's going to be a problem. So does that lead to anything? I don't know. We'll find out. I think really one of the key matchups is out on the edge. When you talk big, play receiver in A.J. brown and then defender Keyshawn Nixon. Remember, the packers lose Jair Alexander. He's been on ir and so without a premier corner like that, you got to get a little more exotic with your coverages. You got to mix some stuff up. So here's some clips of AJ Brown versus a cover 2 and 2 deep safeties, 5 underneath defenders, and he shreds it. But look at how aggressive Keyshawn Nixon plays in his cover, too. I mean, that guy's going to jump some routes, he's going to take some chances, and he's got some great football skills to get his hands on the ball then. Okay, well, let's play him in man to man. Well, holy smokes, you got to guard this big sucker in man to man all the way across the field and then look at him run after catch. But watch this guy play man to man. Keyshawn Nixon plays through the football. That's one of the hardest routes to cover. A shallow cross route all the way across the field. And then of course, AJ Brown in traffic, contested catch, makes the catch in traffic, contested catch. This guy plays through the ball. So that to me is going to be a monster matchup. I want to see a risk corner.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, and, and really one of the elite players in the league on the outside 100.

[Mark Sanchez]

And if you look at that Philly offense, the offense runs through Saquon Barkley. Okay? It's a. It's a run first team. That offensive line has established that mentality. They own the line of scrimmage. That's what they'd love to do 30 to 40 times a game. That'd be great. Well, if you got to throw it, it runs through A.J. brown. Is he doubled or is he singled? That tells me right there where I'm going with the football. If he's singled, you better watch out. He's going to be potentially my first progression and I'm going to have eyes on him. If he's doubled. Now, we got to make some moves. Some other guys are going to have to make some plays for me. So I think what you're going to see from Halfley, the defensive coordinator in Green Bay, is some exotic forms of COVID 2. So the reason you can't just line up and play Cover 2 against the Eagles, it's because they got a run game. It's really hard to stop the run with two high safeties. Cornerbacks actually have run responsibility and contain in Cover 2. It's not just pass responsibility. Right. So I'd rather have some bigger guys get down in there and play the run because you need hats on the football. When Saquon's running the ball, he rarely gets tackled by one guy. So how are you going to do that? Either take one of those guys out of the field or. What Halfley has done, he's done this invert cover two, and he get. He has these exotic ways to get there. So he brings the safeties down out of the middle of the field, field brings them on the edge, and they end up moving to the corner position and the corners fly out of there at the snap. They present you something and then they give you something else. Once you snap the ball, the corners go back and play half the field. So I have a really good clip of how they did it against San Francisco. Remember, run game, good receivers on the edge. This is how they played against the San Francisco 49ers earlier in the year. So watch this clip. First of all, he's going to show you what some of these great coordinators show you across the league. Seven guys on the line of scrimmage. Flat top. Look by the back end. Look at all the DBs. Look at the backers. They're mugged up in the A gap, but no, they're going to drop out. So they're going to present you something, a problem blitz wise, and then they're going to shift the coverage. So these four guys on top. That looks like zero to me, Colin. That looks like there's no help man to man across the board. And as soon as you snap this football, watch where everybody goes. You see those corners fly from their position and go back to the middle of the field and they're splitting the field in half. So now these are the half players when usually they're the flat defenders. So this is tough to see as a quarterback sometimes, unless you are really dialed in. Now you got your five defenders underneath. If you do decide to run the ball, those guys are going to have to make plays. Those safeties that came up on the line of scrimmage, they're going to have to make plays. And that's Saquon Barkley's area underneath in the past game, you got to rally and tackle that guy. So. So I think the confusion, especially if you're not going with Jalen Hurts, or if you are, he's got to be dialed into that, depending on his concussion or whatever, either Pickett or Tanner McKee, both, you know, younger players, not a ton of experience for both guys. That's going to be interesting to see how Halfley draws up a defensive plan for a guy like Barkley and a coordinator like Kellen Moore, who's incredible. He's. He's done a fantastic job this year.

[Colin Cowherd]

What's interesting, we got about a minute, two minutes left. Is what's interesting. If you go back to the first, first piece of video is Eric Mangini has told me this for years. You go into games, you don't have it all figured out. Some of this stuff is who wins the corner receiver battle. And your, your takeaway is you got a guy that's going to take risks.

[Mark Sanchez]

Oh, absolutely.

[Colin Cowherd]

And then you got a guy that's like, I'll punish you if you. So my take on this is you're going to see this is a big play game.

[Mark Sanchez]

Oh, absolutely. And if you're missing one of your big splash players, potentially, Watson, right. He's done for the year. Year. So who's going to have that explosive, you know, the rushing, attempts, completions, those things are going to factor in.

[Colin Cowherd]

You got a backs.

[Mark Sanchez]

That's right.

[Colin Cowherd]

Multiple top receivers. This is a splash game.

[Mark Sanchez]

Yeah, these, these are. This one in the Rams game, I'm pretty excited about, like off as an offensive guy and then wanted to see how these coordinators, you know, design something to throw them off. And then what's the counter in the third quarter? You know, that's really why we tune in. But this is like the best five days of football, I think. Right.

[Colin Cowherd]

You knew when you were quarterbacking there were defenses. You're like, oh, they're going to take risks. Was it easier for you then to digest during a game? I threw a pick. This is what they do.

[Mark Sanchez]

They're high risk, I think. Well, once we tightened down in the playoffs, the interceptions went way down.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Mark Sanchez]

And I think the game plan was so streamlined. We knew our identity, we knew what we wanted to get to. And our contingency plan was if they come after us, we have to have a plan versus cover zero. I need something. And that's not always a shot down the field. It could be a quick catch and run. And this is, this is. These are the moments where it's the extra strain, the extra receiver block to spring Jacobs for a long run, to spring Barkley for a long run with A.J. brown and Devonte Smith sticking their head in there and hitting one of those safeties trying to come up and play run. That's going to be the difference because margin for error in the league in general is pretty small. And the playoffs, it's, I mean, minuscule. So this is going to be. It's gonna be big.

[Colin Cowherd]

Great stuff today. Nick Wright, Mark Sanchez, as always, delivered for us. You've had a great year. This is, this is when it gets fun. And you talk to all these players and Mark's one of them. We've had Brady say this. I've talked to Peyton Manning before. It's like you think the regular season.

[Mark Sanchez]

Oh, it goes up, baby. It goes up a notch in college.

[Colin Cowherd]

Football, by the way, for the first time ever, we're seeing this. It's not Michigan then bye weeks. It's like, game, game, game, game. It's stressful, it's emotional, it's physical. Can't wait. Thanks again, buddy.

[Mark Sanchez]

Appreciate you.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, J. Mack. Only a couple nights to have a good time. That by Thursday. I need you home early.

[Mark Sanchez]

Ice cream and cigars.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, baby. All right, let's talk about Amazon Prime. It's not just one thing. It's a collection of services that help you get the most out of whatever you're into, whether it's a hobby, sport, or getting things done fast. Prime's got you cover, like my hobby for all things sports. You can order sports supplies, listen to content like this podcast on Amazon music or watch content. You can do it all with Prime. Everybody loves the fast free same day shipping, especially as we kick off the year. But what about all the content you can listen to on Amazon? Music music to podcast fast shipping. What is not to love about this membership? I'm in prime fuels your passions, makes everything easier. So whatever you're into, it's on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime now 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.

[Katie Couric]

FDIC hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch, right in time for a new season of my podcast Next Question. I'm bringing in some foks friends of Katie's to help me out like Ezra Klein, Jen Psaki, Asted Herndon. But we're also gonna have some fun thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee and Charlamagne the Goddess. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.