Colin Cowherd (3:38)
Let's start with that. So I saw a headline this morning, up and coming, Jordan Love stars as the packers beat the Steelers. Jordan Love second half on the road, standalone game against maybe a Hall of Fame coach and a veteran defense. That's as good a second half in that spot as Farvin Rogers had. He is elite. Arm size, mobility, accuracy. Combine that with Matt LaFleur's play design and the Green Bay smart front office, this is going to be a Super bowl capable winning team for the next five years minimum. And last night was very instructive for NFL fans. I watched a game between the packers and the Steelers and I saw smart and progressive and offensively nimble from one franchise. And then I also watched the Steelers. I mean, these are two franchises going in the opposite direction with the opposite ideology. Aaron Rodgers has done a good job to put some makeup on this organization, but need a facelift. Two iconic franchises, one of them has embraced offense. One is an old quarterback, one as a young star. One is loaded with young talent at wide receiver and tight end. The other spends a fortune on defense. It's revolutionary against the rust belt as Steelers spend all that money on defense. Why do they tackle so poorly? And for the record, Las Vegas sees it. You know who's favored to win the AFC north this morning? The 2 and 5 Baltimore Ravens. You can't fool Vegas and you can see it in the Steelers mentality. First half, fourth and three. Let's kick a field goal. That's not it, man. That's not it. The second half by Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur. All time stuff. 16 and 19 outscore the Steelers 28. 9. Passer rating at 148. And the Steelers meanwhile, dead last in fourth down attempts. It's punts and field goals. Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh stuck in the wrong era. And it was so instructive to watch Green Bay, little small market Green Bay draft and develop and pay. I mean, there you look at what Green Bay is paying star quarterback Micah Parsons, it's all the right stuff, right? There's an offensive lineman making a lot of money. There's a coach and a quarterback making money. There's a pass rusher making money. Pittsburgh, it's old, it's defense. Aaron's doing the best job you can to put a little makeup on the blemishes, but they need a lot more than that. This was about Jordan Love. This what, this is what Green Bay does. Pittsburgh doesn't show the urgency at quarterback, so they end up with a 41 year old quarterback. Green Bay drafts quarterbacks three years before they need them, lets them develop. And Jordan Love is no longer up and coming. Stop it. He's the top six, seven guy in the league. He has officially arrived as a star quarterback in this league. And Here is Matt LeFleur after. It's great for Jordan. Jordan's worked his off to get here. You know, he, he was patient throughout the process, throughout the journey and he just, he took advantage of the opportunity. He's a great teammate. He encourages the other guys. He's a hell of a leader and he's really grown as a football player. Yeah, there's no up and coming about it. That second half in that space, that defense, that coach, that was something else. And I said this last year and I've said it a half a dozen times this year, that tight end, Kraft, that is a 10 year Pro Bowler. That guy is unbelievable. There's your Travis Kelsey. I mean that kid is unbelievable. It's amazing where you get these tight ends. Small schools, Fourth round, George Kittle, fifth round. That kid is an all time talent. Way to go Packers. Well, well, well, what do you know? As the packers are surging the rival Bears at the most important position and offense look a little lost. That was a bad loss to Baltimore. Lamar Jackson can't play and the Ravens still control the game. Third straight week, or is it second straight week, Caleb Williams didn't have a touchdown. So first, Tyler Huntley deserves a lot of credit. The backup quarterback for the Ravens. Total pro, totally coachable, very efficient, that kid. 77% completion percentage and no turnovers never got the Ravens in trouble. Let's, let's be honest. He was tremendous. He's exactly what a backup quarterback should be. Let's give that kid credit. Tyler Huntley, you are a pro. You are exactly what I want from a backup. I mean, he made. Every time they asked him to make a big throw, he did it. So let's just not blast Caleb. That is what a backup quarterback is. I may need you twice a year. Lamar was there high fiving him. Probably gets the playoff in time. Made three or four big throws, knew when to get down, knew when to throw it away. That's one of the best backup performances you're going to see. Now let's talk Caleb, because that's what the game was about. Ben Johnson is a timing and rhythm head coach for the Bears, folks. Caleb is not a timing and rhythm quarterback. It's a weird marriage. Maybe it lasts, but they're going to be in therapy for 25 years. This thing is going to be a weird marriage. Caleb. Here's what's worrisome if you look at Caleb, he's very good right in the. On script in the first quarter. But in the second through fourth quarters, he's completing 58% of his throws. And it gets worse. On the opening drive of the game, Caleb Williams this year completes 81% of his throws with 111 passer rating. The rest of the game, he completes 59% with an 87 passer rating. You take away that opening drive with Ben Johnson and I've said you got the right coach and it gets ugly. I mean, the Bears offense, it's like that kid when the parents are home, he's fine, they leave, go to the grocery store, they come back and the house is burnt down. You can't script the entire game. You gotta be good beyond the first or second series. You gotta be able to do stuff on your own. And he's dynamic. I think he's a nice guy. He's got a big arm. He's obviously on script, very coachable. But top tier quarterbacks hit the layups. Even the layups look hard. And that interception by Caleb is a prime example. Caleb saw it one way. That interception, he saw it one way. Ben Johnson sees this interception an entirely different way. Listen to this. He undercut the route and I, you know, I could have let him farther out in front of me instead of trying to give him a shot right here. And you know, that's, that's, you know, he did it. He made a great break, break on the play. Just unfortunate where we were on the field in the situation. Yeah. I have to check it out on film just one more time. Just in my mind, there might have been another option that we could have gotten, gotten to. Not good. If I would have told you before the game, one of these quarterbacks would complete 77% of his throws and have a 117 passer rating. You probably wouldn't have guessed the undrafted career backup. Not good. Again, some marriages need a lot of therapy and I think the Bears have to play it out for the rest of the year and probably next year. And there is a big arm that throw to DJ Moore. It could be exciting. It is fun. There are moments. He's talented. I'm not saying that. But the top tier quarterbacks in this league all have something in common. 12 yards and under. The layups, Drake May. It's. It's easy. I mean, it's just really easy. Looking some of this stuff is. It shouldn't be this hard. It shouldn't be this difficult. We've seen him to open the season. We've seen them with extra time. It just looks hard all the time. And again, first drive he's one quarterback, rest of game he's another. So he's coachable, he listens. But you can't hold the hand. You can't babysit in this league. At some point you're going to have 14 possessions. 12 are kind of on you. So it's. I've said before, your eyes don't lie. This is, this is not ideal. I mean, and for the record, Sean McVeigh chose Jared Goff and he moved off him. Ben Johnson didn't choose Caleb. I'm not saying there's resentment, but this is a timing, rhythm coach. It's not a timing and rhythm quarterback. You can win with timing and rhythm. You can win. Cam Newton got to a Super bowl. You can win the other way. I think for consistency sake, you gotta be more timing and rhythm than just do it yourself. For the record, Jordan Love can do the timing and rhythm, but Jordan Love also sees the field. He does a lot of stuff on his own. So does Mahomes. I mean, the more I watch Jordan Love, you know who I see? Patrick Mahomes. That's what I see. I'm not saying he's Patrick Mahomes, but when I looked at Andrew luck, I said five years ago, I'm like, Sam Darnold is like 80% of Andrew Luck. He's not as good as Andrew Luck. But when I watched Darnold come out, I said it, it, it's like Andrew Luck. Not as good. When I watch Jordan Love, size, movement, arm can follow. Coaching can be good. Off script. I see some Mahomes, some Mahomes with Caleb. I don't know exactly what I see. I don't quite know the timing and rhythm stuff. I've said before, it's hard to quarterback efficiently in the NFL. But it can't look too hard. Like marriage isn't easy, but if you're in therapy twice a week, it probably isn't going to work. Right. So that's where we are today. J. Mac, once again, here come the packers surging. Headed to a Super bowl in Chicago's trying to figure out offense.
