← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 2 - Ranking the top players in the AFC Title game, Patriots have the edge, Greg Cosell
00:41:45
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- [00:00]
Greg Cosell
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human New Year.
- [00:06]
Colin Cowherd
Same extra value meals at McDonald's.
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Greg Cosell
So now get two snack wraps plus fries and a medium soft drink for.
- [00:13]
Colin Cowherd
Just $8 for a limited time only. Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska and California. And for delivery. 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 herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
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Greg Cosell
Now let's get this party started.
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Fox Sports Radio Announcer
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
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Colin Cowherd
Hour 2. It's a Thursday. Tom Brady tomorrow live in Chicago. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be watching, listening, whatever the platform, grab a yellow notepad. Whenever we get the big games, super bowl Conference championship, one or two regular season games, NBA Finals say, who are the 10 best players? And so we decided today, AFC tomorrow, NFC RAM, Seahawks. Before we get to Greg Coel in a couple of minutes, who are the 10 best players between the Patriots and Broncos in our opinion, or at least mine heading into the AFC championship. And here we go. Number 10, Mike on when you interior lineman, New England allowed two sacks on 722 pass blocking snaps. One of the top four to five best guards in the NFL. Again, it's not a great O lineman. It's not a great O line. He is a great interior O lineman. Number nine, Cortland Sutton. I think he's the most underrated number one receiver in the league. Led Denver in catches, yards, touchdowns. I mean he catches touchdowns. There's only five guys in the league. You start looking around one of five guys, thousand yards, seven plus touchdowns last two years and boy, do they depend on him in big drives or what? I mean, they locked Bo Nicks, locks in on him whenever they need a big Play. Cortland Sutton 9. Number 8, Christian Gonzalez. Patriots are 13 and 1 and allow 18 points a game when he plays this season. Opposing quarterbacks mostly avoid him. Opposing quarterbacks have a 61 passer rating when they go after Christian Gonzalez. Long, fast, strong, good hands, strong hands. He's an ace. Christian Gonzalez, number seven, Zach Allen. One of the better defensive linemen that doesn't get credit. He led the NFL in quarterback hits and pressures this season, including the playoffs. He's a beast. Then they get him from Arizona. Nobody was talking about him. Great acquisition, unheralded, big inside for Denver.
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Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Number six.
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Colin Cowherd
Garrett Bowles probably plays a more important position. Left tackle. Highest graded overall pass blocker in the entire National Football League. Higher than Trent Williams. He is a great pass blocker. Fourth rated OT overall. Garrett Bowles. Number five, Stefan Diggs. Here's what's amazing and rare. He is graded As a top 10 receiver not only when he lines up next to the sideline, but also as a slot. You can move him all over the offense and I don't think they would have nearly the success. He's the one guy sometimes you have to put. You have to bracket put a couple people on. Stefan Diggs. Number four, Quinn Minors. Best guard arguably in football. Highest graded guard this season. First team all Pro. It's another guy. There's another guy. They just don't allow. They don't allow a lot of sacks. Bo Nix doesn't get sacked. Some of it is Bulls and minors. Some of it's Bo Nicks. Dad's a coach, doesn't take sacks. Quinn Miner's a great player.
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Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Number three.
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Colin Cowherd
And he's not even in his prime. Drake May he'll get better. First player NFL history. 70%, 70% completion percentage, 4,000 passing yards and rush for over 450 yards. And again, I don't even think he's in his prime. I don't even think so far he's been great in the playoffs. Drake May three. Number two, Nick Bonito. Outside of Miles Garrett, he's the only player with 13 plus sacks the last two years and he'll probably get one this weekend. I remember at college out of Oklahoma I was like good player and he's kind of thin. Cap's wrong on that. It just, it feels like he's getting better every year of his career. And he is a dog in big moments. He is a he. Not Miles Garrett maybe, but has a chance to be a Hall of Famer. He is just a. He's a dog in big spots. Number one, Patrick Certain I think is you can make the argument he's the best corner. Reigning defensive player of the year. Four time Pro Bowler last four years voted the number 10 player in the league by other players. Six Broncos, four Patriots. But new England at the most important position has a sizable advantage. Drake May over Jarrett Stidham and I think that's the difference in the game. Like J. Mac, I think it's really close and I think I said this about Buffalo. I think Denver's high end talent is outstanding. Bulls and Zach Allen and Quinn. Miners and Bonito and Certificate. I, I don't think, I don't think there's many teams in the league, maybe Philadelphia, maybe, maybe the Rams who have better high end talent. Now if you went 11 through 15, I think you'd have a few more Patriots, but six four Denver. And with that, you know, Greg Cosell may think I'm out of my mind. Let's go to Greg Cosell, 46 years NFL Films I have, I have a, a soft spot for interior offensive linemen because we never talk about him, but they're. Quinn Minor is a great example of a guy that, you know, nobody ever talks about, but he and Bowles, that offensive line for Denver is a real thing. Your thoughts, Greg?
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Greg Cosell
I'm just wondering where the long snappers are on your list, Colin. I figured they'd be in the top 10. You know, the player that really stood out to me and I'm glad you had him very high and I think it speaks to a significant matchup in this game is Nick Benito because as I'm sure you've noticed and I've studied the tape, obviously Will Campbell has been having significant problems in one on one pass protection over the last two, three weeks against really good rushers, of which Benito is. I mean, Campbell has struggled with Mack and away from the Chargers, he struggled big time with Hunter and Anderson from the Texans. And now he's going exclusively Benito because Benito lines up pretty much on the right side of the defense 97, 98% of the time. And the thing is is the Patriots are well aware of this. So what they've started to do is help him. Either helping him with chips, which they do a lot, or even with a primary pass protector. And that has an impact through your entire pass game because now there's fewer receivers you can send out as primary receivers. So you, you lose the numbers game even before the play starts because you can't out five eligibles. So I think that matchup, Campbell versus Benito and how the Patriots want to deal with that is a pretty significant part of this game.
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Colin Cowherd
All right, let's talk about two stories before we get to the matchups between New England, Denver and Seattle Rams. Caleb Williams. What did the film say about Caleb and the loss to the Rams?
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Greg Cosell
Uneven. And I think he's been like that. He's just spectacular on the good plays. So I think. And he'll get better and better. You know, I've talked to a lot of coaches over the years. I'm sure you have as well. And most coaches will tell you that it takes two to three years for a quarterback to really get a sense of mastery within a specific offensive system. And we know that Ben Johnson's system has a lot of detail, a lot of complexity, a lot of nuance, and that's going to take some time. There's no question this guy is a really kind of elite talent, just the way he throws a ball. But he's going to have to work on his lower body mechanics because he throws a lot of balls off balance, because his arm talent, just as an arm is so good. But that's one reason why he's his ball placement at times becomes inconsistent and erratic. But I would expect the future to be very bright. I mean, he's really gifted. He clearly got better as the year progressed. So, I mean, I think it's a positive. There's nothing really negative to say. The guy's only in his second year. Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
Mike McDaniel, Chargers what will he potentially bring to Justin Herbert that maybe he hasn't had in his career?
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Greg Cosell
Yeah, I don't know if you know Mike McDaniel at all. I've been around him and he's an incredibly intelligent guy just overall and incredibly intelligent in football as well. And, you know, a lot of people immediately thought, well, what's he going to do? You know, you can't run the two offense with Justin Herbert. Mike McDaniel knows that. I'm sure that was discussed, and he's not going to do that. There might be elements of that because there's always elements of quick game and rhythm throws in any offense. But he's going to look at Justin Herbert, which I'm sure he has already, in great detail. He probably did that before he interviewed with them, and he's going to see exactly what Justin Herbert's traits are, and he will tailor what he does in the pass game to what Justin Herbert is, because you always tailor your pass game to your quarterback strengths and you try to minimize what you believe his limitations are. The one area that I think will improve dramatically will be their run game. I mean, obviously they had a lot of injuries on the O line. You assume that Slater and Auld will be back. I would expect Omarion Hampton to have a really good season this year in a Mike McDaniel run game, but I think it's a really good signing because Mike McDaniel is incredibly intelligent, very expansive, very thoughtful.
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Colin Cowherd
Okay, let's talk New England and Denver. Do the Patriots offense or the Patriots defense match up better against the Broncos?
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Greg Cosell
Well, the Patriots defense over the last number of weeks has really been good, and they've Increased their blitz frequency and their blitz quotients quite a bit. They play a ton of man coverage and it'll be interesting to see how Sean Payton deals with Jared Stidham. Now Jared Stidham's been in that offense for three years. He's been with Sean Payton. So this isn't new to him. But obviously it's new playing and it's obviously a big game. But my sense is Sean Payton to me is not the kind of guy that's going to try to hide the quarterback. I think he's going to play his offense now. Again, that doesn't mean he'll do exactly the same thing he would if Bo Nix is playing. But I think it's about concepts and he's going to try to be aggressive, I would think on early downs where the predictability of the defense is more than it is on, let's say pure pass situations or third and long. So. But I do not believe he will try to hide his quarterback in this game at all. But this has become a very difficult defense to play against with a lot of really good players that a lot of people might not be aware of, like Milton Williams, like Barmore. They're really good inside.
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Colin Cowherd
Let me ask you, Jared Stidham out of college, do you recall how you sized him up? What did you think of him?
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Greg Cosell
I thought Stidham was the kind of guy that in the right situation with development and cultivation could be one of those mid level type starters, you know, that he would need other things. You know, he need a run game, he'd need a good defense because he wasn't the kind of guy you'd want dropping back 35 or 40 times that he could end up being that kind of guy, you know, and it hasn't worked out and there's many, many reasons why that does work out and doesn't work out. But I thought that he was good enough to be one of those mid level starters if the situation was absolutely correct.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, kind of a Kirk Cousins maybe where you could win a division with him. You may not win Super Bowls, but you can win a lot of games.
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Greg Cosell
Stylistically, yes, I think he's that and he was a little more mobile than Kirk Cousins. But yeah, he's, you know, again, we don't know what he's going to do in this game. There's no way of knowing. There's no way of predicting. I guess I'd be surprised if he's bad. But you know, again he's probably, they're not going to ask him to carry them unless the game turns into that kind of game where he has to drop back 40 times.
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Colin Cowherd
Now we know Denver gets a pass rush. Is the, is the Bronco defense built to stop or slow down Drake May and this offense, it's not Houston, but it is aggressive and get sacks.
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Greg Cosell
Well, the crazy thing was, Colin, the Bronco defense was not very good last week. And from what everything I've heard, they were playing against the quarterback who apparently is one of the worst in football. That's what I seem to have been hearing all week on social media. But they could not stop the Bills. The bills put up 30 points against them and that does not happen at Mile High or whatever they call it now. I guess that doesn't happen very often at all. They really didn't get to Josh Allen very much. The Bills pretty much went up and down the field, so I would assume they'll play better. You know, the Patriots offense is. It's obviously a very good offense. May has not been quite as good in the playoffs. Clearly last week they, they played a really good defense and that defense really dominated the Patriots offense last week. The Texans defense did. I would expect the, the pass rush to be a bigger factor this week. We talked about Will Campbell. So you know, it is a very, very good defense and they're good at all three levels. Now the one area where I think you can attack with the Broncos defense is I think you can attack their linebackers in the pass game.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah. All right. Rams, Seahawks, L.A. in two games has averaged 30 points and 415 yards. That's saying something against Seattle's defense. Why have the Rams offensively been so effective against Seattle's defense?
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Greg Cosell
Well, and everybody wants to talk Stafford and in the second game, Stafford was phenomenal. But they have been able to run the ball, Colin, against that defense and very few people have been able to do that. I think they've run for 120 plus in both games. The style of running with their duo concept where you have double teams on both defensive tackles has allowed them to be somewhat effective because most teams cannot get Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams blocked their two defensive tackles on Seattle, most teams can't get those guys blocked. The 49ers in two games could not get those guys blocked. They've both been unbelievably good. It's a really good defense. They're a nickel defense. Eminwari is a, you know, plays lines up in different spots depending on what the offensive formation is. And he's basically a 43 SAM linebacker they're just very good at all three levels and they're a team that plays mostly out of a too deep shell. So it's very hard to get big plays over the top of them.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, the Rams defense has flummoxed, has confused Sam Darnold. Belichick had success with this. What do the Rams do to, I mean, Sam Darnold? A lot of wins and a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns the last two years. Rams have given him fits. Why?
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Greg Cosell
Yeah, I think one of the things you try to do with any quarterback but with Darnold, who's always at times had this issue, is changing the picture pre snap to post snap. Some might remember in the second game there was interception by Wallace, who doesn't play now because Lake's back, but there was an interception by Wallace where they showed man to man pre snap and it turned out to be zone and Sam read it as man and threw a pass that was picked off. So I think with Sam Darnold, you try to do a lot of that. You try to change the picture pre snap to post snap. Now, one area where the Seahawks have been much better over the last month is running the football. Now, obviously Charbonnet's out in this game, but Walker's been much better. Walker has been attacking downhill much more. So over the last three, four games, he's often been much more of. I always just thought of him as kind of a Jaz musician, you know, sort of improvising and looking for things. Whereas the last three, four weeks, he's been a little more attacking downhill and getting the hard yards. And that has allowed them to stay on schedule. And it's also, with their defense, allowed Darnold not to have to throw that many balls. Now, whether that happens in this game, that's hard to know. You don't know how it's going to play out. But in an ideal world, I don't think they want Sam Darnold dropping back 35 times. I think they want it to be a very balanced offense and have their defense in some ways control the pace and tempo of the game.
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Colin Cowherd
Is the defense for Seattle scheme centric coaching, or is it just. Listen, they're long, fast. I mean, I'll say this, to get DeMarcus Lawrence at 33, I mean, I watch him this year, I'm like, has he gotten leaner? Who gets better at 33 on the defensive side?
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Greg Cosell
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
Do they just put him in better schemes? I mean, Nick and Maury, the safety out of South Carolina has been fantastic. What is it for Seattle?
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Greg Cosell
It's been fantastic. You know, I would never want to say that there's not major scheme elements to a defense because you have to know all the individual things they do when we're not in the meetings. But by NFL standards, when I watch their tape, Colin, I would say that they're more static than they are doing 100 different things, like some defenses. But everything they do for the most part is out of a two shell. Look, even their pressures, there's two shell behind it. So they really don't give up much over the top. I would say their pressures are where they're. They're not a high percentage blitz team. Okay. They rush four. They rush four and they stunt really, really well. But when they do pressure, it's really well done. And Mike McDonald has such a great understanding of protections by the opponent and how to break them down because that's ultimately what you're trying to do with pressure. You're trying to break down protections.
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Colin Cowherd
Finally, Sam Darnold give me a play you like from Darnold this week.
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Greg Cosell
Yeah, yeah, I thought Darnold, there was a great play. The touchdown he threw to Smith and Jake, but he only threw, I think, 17 balls this week. But let's look at the touchdown he threw to Smith and Jig because this was just a really, really good play. And the kind of play that you know is just one of those, you go, wow, that's, that's just really good. And so this play, obviously low red zone, you're going to see Darnold, he's under Center. It's 12 personnel. You're going to have the back and two tight ends. You're going to see the two receivers here, cup and Smith and Jigba. Now they have reduced splits. And reason they have reduced splits is because they're going to run mirrored crossers. So when you run crossers very often you want your receivers closer to the ball because you want to get them across the field. So now what happens here is you're going to see Press Mann on the outside receivers, cup and Smith and Jigba by the 49ers. And you're going to see Barner, he'll motion across the formation. Now that's just a mechanic of the play, his motion across the formation. Obviously it's an important part, but he's going to do it. So now what you're going to get is you're going to get play action. And Sam Darnold will boot to his left. He'll boot into the boundary so there's not a lot of space. So ultimately what he's looking for here is Smith and Jigba on the crosser into the boundary. But that's very muddied, Colin. That's a very muddied look. You're just uncertain as to where to throw the football. So Sam has to keep rolling. He has to keep rolling out. And as he gets further out, he sees there's another safety sitting right there. This play right now looks like it is absolutely dead, but he just keeps rol and makes an unbelievable throw to Smith and Jigba. And you can see from this angle just how hard and difficult a throw this is. And that's just a big time throw. And the key thing, as we all know with any quarterback people like to focus with Darnold about it is turnovers and if he doesn't turn it over, their team is really, really good in pretty much every area.
- [20:39]
Colin Cowherd
Greg Cosell, 46 years NFL Films we always get smarter. Great seeing you, Greg.
- [20:44]
Greg Cosell
Thanks, Colin. Appreciate it.
- [20:47]
Colin Cowherd
Boy, that is going to be something else. These games are going to be really. I'm bummed out. I want to see Bo next, but I remember Jarrett Stidham in college. I mean, Sean Payton got to Denver. Remember when he paid him 12 million to be a backup? He was with the Raiders. I think they paid him 12 million. I remember being on the air that day. Man, he must like him. So you know, I always say, who likes the quarterback? Shanahan loved Darnold. Kevin o' Connell really liked Arnold. Yeah, then I had, I kept buying into Darnold. McVeigh really liked Baker Mayfield. Well, I know Baker Mayfield's pretty good. Stefanski for a while really like Baker Mayfield. Liam Cohen really liked Baker Mayfield. That tells me Baker Mayfield's pretty good.
- [21:29]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.
- [21:38]
Colin Cowherd
Hey, it's Cavino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio.
- [21:41]
Rich
Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show.
- [21:51]
Colin Cowherd
Yup, that's right. You can now watch Covino ENRICH Live on YouTube every day.
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Rich
All you gotta do, search COVINO and RICH FSR on YouTube again. Go to YouTube. Search COVINOENRICH FSR.
- [22:04]
Colin Cowherd
Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe. Hit that thumbs up icon and comment away. Those jobs are filling up. Steelers got a guy yet Pittsburgh. Sailors got a guy yet? Old school Pittsburgh. Just checking J. Mac with the news.
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Greg Cosell
No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.
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Fox Sports Radio Announcer
This is the Herdline news.
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Covino
Tried to tell people, Colin. Steelers job ain't a good one. That franchise is sinking while the Rams and Seahawks, they're soaring. Oh, you like that? Seahawks soaring. We got the big NFC Championship game Sunday on Fox. Now listen to this closely. McVay was breaking down the challenge of facing Sam Darnold for a third time. Listen closely. Is this a shot at your boy?
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Sean McVay
You want to be careful not to chase ghosts. You know, it is about, you know, good execution, good fundamentals. You know, they're. They're a great team, and they're great in all three phases. We'd like to think when we're humming and we're at our best, we're pretty good, too. And so you are aware of those things, but you don't want to do it at the detriment of allowing guys to be able to go execute and play the way that they're capable of.
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Covino
Chasing ghosts.
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Colin Cowherd
Jab. I don't think it is.
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Covino
It's not really in his DNA, but it's an interesting turn of phrase. No.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I just. I don't. That's not really how McVeigh. McVay is very respectful, at least publicly. You know, he's very respectful guy. Very respectful of the league and the Shield and the organization. Very humble and grateful. I don't think he would do that. I Especially two days, three days out from the game. I don't. I don't think you want to rattle the Seahawks. Seattle Cage. Yeah.
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Covino
I'm assuming what he meant was, hey, hey, we won the first meeting, we shredded in the second meeting. You know, let's not look at that. We gotta come up with some new stuff. Right. I am curious, though, what the Rams did in that week 16 game. That was just six weeks ago. The teams have not changed that much from them.
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Colin Cowherd
That's right.
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Covino
Except the Rams are now adding Devonte Adams and arguably their best offensive lineman, who were not there that day. And the Seahawks are down. Charbonnet, by the way, Charbonnet was integral in both games. He had 13 touches in each of them.
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Colin Cowherd
He was.
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Covino
He's a much better blocking back as well.
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Colin Cowherd
Yeah, no, it's. These are really even teams. One superior offensively. I mean, McVay's an offensive coach. That gives you an edge, but McDonald defensively is really sharp. I think the bet is LA plus points. That's my take on this, because they've we know Stafford's good in these big games. We don't know yet. I mean, Darnold, it wasn't a big lift last week. I think, you know, I've said this. They're both can be a little reckless.
- [24:44]
Greg Cosell
Yeah.
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Colin Cowherd
I mean, Matt Stafford missed on four or five throws that he usually makes last week. The weather was bad. He also had been before last week on a seven game seven pick streak. The difference is his resume is better and he's won these big games. But you know, you put pressure on Stafford, he lets it go. He's an aggressive downfield thrower. Darnold's an aggressive downfield thrower. I think it feels like to me that at the positions that are really, really important, like head coach and quarterback, the Rams have an experience advantage in this spot. Seattle's the second youngest team in the league. That leads me to believe if it was in la, I'd really like the Rams in Seattle. I like the points, but when I have a head coach, a quarterback advantage in a big spot. Also Devonte Adams, tight ends, Kyron Williams been around now several big games. Like I. There's a, there's some key places here. Rams defense is mostly young, but Cam Curl's been around that safety for a while. They got from Baltimore. Landman, you know, was in the league before the Rams had him. I just think they have experience at really good spots.
- [25:54]
Greg Cosell
Yeah.
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Covino
You want to guess how many games, games the Rams lost by more than three points this season just looking at their schedule here?
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Colin Cowherd
1.
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Covino
Yeah, that Eagles game, the blocked field goal at the buzzer that they didn't even need. Every other game is close. The Rams are in every single game. Now I will add as I'm looking here at the schedule, third straight road game for the Rams. On the road in Carolina, on the road last week in Chicago, now to Seattle, you know, for whatever that's worth. All right, let's move on to the Buffalo Bills. They are this week's flaming dumpster fire in the NFL. The Terry Pula press conference, the Brandon beach stuff, Sean McDermott. I'm sure McDermott's side is going to come out here soon, but Brandon Bean took questions from the media talking about his relationship with McDermott.
- [26:42]
Greg Cosell
There's certain things that fall in his, his area, whether it's managing a game, how we've, how we scheme the game, whatever it is that are his and then there's certain decisions that personnel related. Somebody's got to make the final call. What was the saying about Can I.
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Colin Cowherd
Can I help him A little. Can I help you about the power play part of that. I'm the kind of guy, if I sent you around a power play, you're out.
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Covino
I don't like the owner stepping in, Colin. I don't know about you. Well, let Brandon be and fight his own fight.
- [27:17]
Colin Cowherd
I think the owners, you know, it's their franchise. Jerry Jones talks twice a week. Why can't Terry Pula talk once in a while? How's that?
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Covino
Jerry Jones, things working out? How many NFC championship visits? Oh, that's good. Thank you for that. Meatball over the middle. But just a quick thing on the bean McDermott, Colin. Like they had a good run together. And I can't help but think about the Bill Walsh quote. There's a Bill Walsh quote from a book circulating about how, you know what coaches are watching film, they're grinding, they're in meetings. What's the GM doing? He's hanging out with the owner. How do you think that's going? Well, it can't possibly be my fault. We got this amazing roster. We gave him Josh Allen, we gave him everything. And they're not winning.
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Colin Cowherd
Right.
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Covino
That's why GMs are so protected. And man, I'm just telling you, Buffalo Bills fans, they're not happy with this at all. I don't know how they fix this other than Dable. Like, what other name besides Joe Brady or Dable is going to make them happy?
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Colin Cowherd
Coaches make two to three times, four times what GMs do. So you don't make as many moves with the GMs because coaches are more important. It's a quarterback coach league, not a quarterback GM league. So, you know, GMs don't get fired as much, but they don't make nearly as much money. So I, I don't know, I think it's. Now let's attack Brandon Bean, that he's a bum.
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Covino
I, I, I, I, that's a little strong.
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Colin Cowherd
But yeah, I mean, I, I just, you know, I, I think Brandon Bean, Terry Pula is a very smart guy. I, I don't think he'd be manipulated. You know, I'm reading all these stories. Well, this guy, Brandon Bean, he is really, I've heard, I, this is what I've been told, real sharp, very good with a cat, very good with business. Maybe not a top three personnel guy, but he's not the, the offense has all sorts of good players. Dawson, Knox and Dalton Kincaid and go look at their offensive line. James Cook and the slot kid out of Boise State. And Josh Allen. Let's not pretend like they don't have any player. And by the way, their defensive front, Oliver was his draft pick. They got the kid out of Iowa. They have some decent guys up front. I don't think they're a great defense.
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Covino
Well, but that's the thing. People are drilling down on all these picks that you're like decent good and they're not all pros and they're barely making Pro Bowls. And I don't even like Pro Bowl.
- [29:28]
Colin Cowherd
Let me ask you this, what's the worst place in the first round of draft? I mean every GM I've ever talked to Fair. But once you get Mahomes, you in Buffalo, Baltimore, you start drafting 26th down that those are second round players, right? So like, like the Chiefs got Xavier Worthy. Xavier Worthy's a gadget receiver. It was a weak draft. He was the, it was the best guy available. You don't think Xavier Worthy is a first round player. When you draft at the end of the first round, you, they end up getting guys that are really second round players. So let me just defend the, the NFL, it's hard to win in this league. But when you get great. I mean right now the thing about this, the Rams have been good since McVay got there. They have one first round pick in nine years. They nailed it. Jared versus one. Why? Because the Rams and this year they've got a really high end, you know, closer to the middle. But high end first round pick, they never have that. So it's like that's, that's why the Rams don't be shocked if they don't go get Ty Simpson with their first pick and reach because they're going to be at the bottom of the first round for the next 10 years.
- [30:35]
Covino
That's a good question. So how do we, how are we supposed to grade GMs? That's the tough one. Is it free agency? Is it the draft left?
- [30:42]
Colin Cowherd
Is it the cap?
- [30:43]
Covino
I mean it's, it's not easy.
- [30:45]
Colin Cowherd
Let me say this. There are two or three things if, if you ask my wife or I asked yours that they're gonna judge us on one or two or three things. You can screw up taking the garbage out if you're a gm. I do that and you get the superstar quarterback right in the draft. You can make a lot of mistakes. You can make a lot of mistakes. All I know is this. Ryan polls with the bears. He got D.J. moore, he got Caleb Williams, he made tour now he's had some moves I don't love. But Ben Johnson Caleb Williams, right. Like you can say what you want and pick these guys apart if you get the quarterback right. Brandon Being got the quarterback right. Brett Veach got the quarterback right. McVeigh rolled the dice, had to pay Goff and Stafford.
- [31:30]
Covino
He got the quarterback right, which isn't easy. Let's be real. Getting the quarterback right is not easy. Ask my jets, ask the Browns, ask. I mean the Panthers with Bryce. Like a lot of people make that quarterback.
- [31:40]
Colin Cowherd
Denver had to eventually go get Peyton Manning to replace Elway. All those years they had smart GMs, they couldn't get the quarterback. Jake Plummer was good, but it's hard. So like if you get the quarterback right, the left tackle, the star, you know, this, that, this is, it's a much harder job than people. You're drafting 22 year old kids. You go draft a receiver from Florida, one of the warmest states. He now goes to Buffalo in a sophisticated offense and it's like, well, how come you're not any good? Well, he's just young. He's trying to, you know, this stuff is way harder than everybody thinks.
- [32:15]
Covino
Get us in that Eagles war room for Howie Roseman. All right, let's go to the final story. Colin. That's the Kansas City Chiefs. And after the Eric B. Enemy news that he's their new oc, Travis Kelce was on his New Heights podcast. And boy Chiefs fans, desperate for anything positive, are taking some breadcrumbs that this might mean. Kelsey is considering returning.
- [32:38]
Travis Kelce
EB and who he is as a, as a coach, you can see kind of his personality, what he brings to this table in that Chicago team. I can't wait to see him back in the building. Man, he's one of, he's one of my favorite coaches of all time. One of my favorite people of all time. I've had so many unbelievable, you know, growing moments under him as a, as a player, as a person. And I just love the guy.
- [33:02]
Colin Cowherd
And that was interesting. I can't wait to see him in the building. What does that mean?
- [33:11]
Covino
I don't, I don't. I gotta be careful here. Listen, I'm sure a lot of people like Eric Bien. I know a lot of Chiefs fans watch the show. I'm just gonna tell you what he did since leaving kc. So he went to the Washington Commanders, assistant head coach, O.C. didn't quite work out.
- [33:25]
Greg Cosell
Okay.
- [33:26]
Covino
Then he goes to UCLA, same deal. Chicago Bears running backs coach this season. Oh, well, maybe he could parlay that into something. Now he's back with the Chiefs. I don't know if he's going to be calling plays. I don't see what Kelsey's so excited about. Unless this is a getting the band back together deal.
- [33:42]
Colin Cowherd
The bigger story is Kelsey sounds like he's coming back kind of thing.
- [33:44]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Wow.
- [33:45]
Greg Cosell
Come on.
- [33:45]
Covino
He's got to say something. He's got to leave some breadcrumbs out there. So you listen to his podcast, right? You got to say something. He can't be like, oh, I'm planning a wedding. Planning a wedding of the year. Do I invite Cowherd and McIntyre. Cow Coward lives right near near the wedding.
- [33:58]
Colin Cowherd
I am very pro Travis Kelce. I hope I get an invite. Yeah.
- [34:02]
Covino
By the way, I know someone on staff who will be going. I don't know if my wife will let me go.
- [34:07]
Colin Cowherd
I'm honored to go to Taylor Swift and Travis.
- [34:10]
Covino
Same. Same's the yeah.
- [34:12]
Colin Cowherd
J. Mac with a note.
- [34:13]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the Herd lie news.
- [34:18]
Colin Cowherd
Ben Johnson said something yesterday. The Bears knew coach and he actually was wrong. And he rarely is. Next the Herd.
- [34:29]
Fox Sports Radio Announcer
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
- [34:43]
Covino
College hoops tips off on Fox at noon Eastern as Villanova takes on Alex Caribbean and second ranked UConn. Then at three, Keaton Wagler and Illinois battle Braden Smith and fourth ranked Purdue. It all begins Saturday only on Fox.
- [34:59]
Colin Cowherd
So we talk a lot about culture on this show. Is that when you're hiring a coach, we've discussed this many times. It's, it's your, you're trying to get a CEO. Basically, if he, if he's great, schematically that's a bonus. But that's not really what you're hiring the leader of man culture. What does culture mean? I don't know what it means. I, I do know from parenting to being parented, mostly culture in a house, in a business starts with accountability. Don't be a victim. Head down. It's not perfect. You got to be accountable. And so Ben Johnson said this yesterday or the day before. And I actually, he's not wrong very much, but he was being too humble. He talked about, you know, the stepping stone of having a great year. What Ben Johnson came out to say is we're starting from ground zero, that nothing matters, that we did last year. It's ground zero. None of it matters. And that's raised wrong because what's already been established is accountability. And so, you know, there was a moment you know, he disputes whether he yanked him off the field, but there were a couple of moments during day one of training camp he did tell the number one offense, get off the field. We're not. You got to get the pre snap, post snap stuff. This can't be this difficult. And that's accountability. Ben Johnson's mantra has always been good, better, best, and he just sets high standards. To me, culture starts with accountability and standards. You know, Mike Frable in New England apparently walked in and like the locker room, there were like towels everywhere, towels in the shower. And he's like, ring them out, don't wash them, make the players, put them in the right spot. Just accountability. And I remember during the year there was a moment where it was late in the year and The Bears were 9 and 3 in December. And at the podium, Ben Johnson said, we're winning in spite of our offense, nine and three. And throughout my course of being in Chicago here for seven, eight months, I will get people that will come up to me during the season. Why are you so hard on the Bears? And I'm like, have you heard the coach? The coach is hard on the Bears. And that's what I really appreciate. He's not pandering. I've said the NBA is all about taking care of the star. They get offended by tweets like, the NFL is like, it's a grown up league. Like, handle the criticism. You're on a winning streak. So what? The Bears had won nine of 10, five straight. They're nine and three in December. And Ben Johnson's like, we're winning in spite of our offense. And that was always Belichick. It's like, you know, we don't hand out bouquets and flowers. It's not a world of rainbows. Like we're not. And, and, and I will say this, Greg Cosell talked about this earlier, is that he still the mechanics, his footwork aren't great. And a lot of it's because he's so gifted waist up. He's got such a strong arm. That was always a Cam thing. I, I Cam's mechanics. Stafford, when he was in Detroit, I always thought had hit and miss Mechanics. Now in LA, his mechanics are great because McVay demands them. That Cam Newton's mechanic McVeigh was so strong, Big Ben had a little bit of this, you know what I mean? Like when you have that home run jet fuel V8 arm, your mechanics can get sloppy because you can get away with so much stuff. And that's one of the things that Ben Johnson like corrected and will work on. So one of the things Greg Cosell talked about, his mechanics are okay. That's why he's completing 40 or 54%, 58% and not 62%. So I just, I, I appreciate it that when, I mean, it's a one year anniversary, I think yesterday of Ben Johnson's hiring and it was, they were arguably, they had the worst culture in the division a year ago. I would argue it's the best culture because of standards. The Lions in division settled for an offensive coordinator when Ben left, who they were comfortable with. Didn't have much play calling experience. That's not the standard. That's not the standard Ben set for the offense. Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore leaves. I got it. Nick Sirianni's buddy, who he's comfortable with, that's not the standard. So, you know, as grumpy as Kurt Signetti is or as Belichick was, I mean, you don't see Ben Johnson laughing a lot. Like, it's hard to force millionaires to be accountable every day at practice. The little stuff matters. So when we talk about culture, what is it? I don't know. I just know this. Don't be a victim, be accountable. Don't pander. Even when it's always easier to criticize players. When you're winning, when a player's losing, you're on a losing streak. Everybody's a little defensive and a little prickly. When you're on a five game winning streak, it is so easy to put your arm on somebody's shoulder. At the same time you're kicking them in the butt, saying, you know what? Just the mechanics aren't good enough. You're better than this. So I, I just appreciate, I remember when Ben Johnson, first day at camp, he even got prickly with the Chicago media. I didn't kick him out of camp, but he acknowledged they weren't very good. We took him off the field. I like it.
- [40:19]
Ben Johnson
I know some people enjoyed me throwing the first team out of practice. Not the case. We got to end up executing, getting in and out of the huddle a certain way and it wasn't that way. And we're learning, we're growing. You know, there's some things from the springtime expected to carry over that that was probably one we just don't have any tolerance for anymore. We got, we got too far to go.
- [40:45]
Colin Cowherd
I said this yesterday. When Tiki Barber came to the New York Giants, he had a fumble problem. And then Tom Coughlin arrived and he had no fumble problem. Kurt Signetti's teams don't fumble. Belichick's teams don't fumble. The Rams, in lousy weather for an LA team, went to Chicago. No penalties, no drop passes. That's incredible. That's accountability. That's coaching during the week and not letting it happen. I always remember when I was young, I. I don't remember John Wooden coaching. You know, I just. There wasn't a lot of college basketball on TV when I was, you know, young, and I don't remember John Wooden. I read about John Wooden, the Pyramid of Success. But one of the things I always remember about Wooden, whenever I saw him as he was never yelling during games, he was just sitting there with his program. And I'm like, because he was accountable during practice, you don't have to do as much coaching, right? Mike Krzyzewski barks at the officials all the time. He barks at his players during practice. During games, he's more barking at the officials. All right, hour three coming up. I can't wait for this weekend. Did the Mets sign somebody else? I gotta ask. Are we outraged? Enraged on the Mets? It's so interesting to me.
- [42:04]
Greg Cosell
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.