← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 2 - Thoughts on the Super Bowl favorite, possible friction between Bo Nix and Sean Payton
00:41:44
Loading summary
Transcript95 lines
- [00:00]
Greg Cosell
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
Colin Coward
Guaranteed Human I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. In the latest season, hosts Austin Hanquitz and Jenise Torres are talking to self starters about the ins and outs of entrepreneurship and how QuickBooks helps you to get more done in less time. You don't want to miss it. Listen to Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories on the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 FS.
- [01:00]
Greg Cosell
Now let's get this party started.
- [01:02]
Colin Coward
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What's so funny? Here we go. It's hour two, Greg Cosell around the corner. You know, yesterday we spent a lot of time talking about Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft. This sounds crazy to say, but I absolutely firmly believe what I'm about to say. Tom Brady's underrated. I said it. Think about this. This is not to discredit Belichick, who you all believe, and I think I probably do, is the best coach in the history of the NFL. So Jimmy Johnson won a bunch of Super Bowls with Troy Aikman. But even when Jimmy went to Miami without Troy Aikman, who was in his prime with Jimmy, even with an old Dan Marino, Jimmy won 56% of his games in Miami and Marino's knees were shot.
- [01:58]
Greg Cosell
He couldn't move.
- [02:00]
Colin Coward
It was old grumpy Dan Marino. In fact, Jimmy had a higher winning percentage. Believe it or not, in Miami without Aikman. Joe Gibbs won a Super bowl. Three different quarterbacks. Bill Parcells won a Super bowl with Phil Sims and Jeff Hostetler. Andy Reid wins with every quarterback got to a Super bowl with Donovan McNabb. When you just pull Brady out of Belichick, he got fired a lot and won 45% of his games. And I think that speaks to how much Tom Brady takes off the table. Belichick didn't have to worry about negative plays and pre snap penalties and dumb interceptions. Brady is underrated. All these other hall of Fame quarterback hall of Fame coaches won with they didn't have to win Super Bowls, but they won. Kyle Shanahan got to a Super bowl with Garoppolo. He gets, he can get to a Super bowl or get to a conference championship with Brock Purdy. I mean, it's just incredible. I mean, John Harbaugh's winning with Lamar, he's winning with Joe Flacco. Andy Reid wins with everybody. Belichick, who we view as the greatest coach ever, you just pull Tom out, you can pull all these great receivers he had out, you can pull Gronk out, you can put. You pull Tom out, it all unfolds, it just unravels and the house comes down. And I think that speaks again. Winning percentage with Brady. Brady Without Belichick won 65% of his games. Brady wins everywhere. Bill without Tom, 45%. And this is not to discredit Bill, but a lot of these coaches, they still had decent records. I mean, Mike Tomlin without Big Ben, he still got a winning record. I mean, Sean McDermott got to the playoffs, you know, with Tyrod Taylor considered like a high end backup.
- [03:59]
JMac
So.
- [04:00]
Colin Coward
And again, this is not a discredit. But I, I think there are these occasional superstars that, you know, you look at it and you're like, man, it's. Are we giving them full credit for that? I don't know. Greg Cosell, we always give him credit. 46 years. NFL Films is joining us on Thursday. So, like when, whenever you have these coaching cycles, there's one or two that feel like they'll work. John Harbaugh with the Giants, you know, they've got Jackson dart, keep him out of the blue tent. They got some cap space, they have some nice pieces. It feels like he's a nice cultural fit in New York. And then there are some coaches I don't know. Joe Brady knows the system. Josh Allen's comfortable with Joe Brady. What, what does Joe Brady do to the Buffalo offense? That feels like sort of his signature, Greg.
- [04:52]
Greg Cosell
Well, it's funny, Colin, because do you ever really know with a new coach? I mean, we all talk about it, but I don't think you ever know because unlike someone like Harbaugh, and he'd probably be the exception in today's world, but I think coaches now get hired because they're really good game planning and calling plays on one side of the ball. That's the reason coaches tend to get hired. And I think, you know, obviously in Buffalo, they've averaged a lot of points per game. They have Josh Allen. It's funny, I watch their tape and I feel like that they need a more expansive pass game. Now, I understand that they don't have great receivers and maybe that factors in. But you could also take the argument that if you don't have great receivers, then you've really got to scheme it up even more. So look, they've done well. You can't argue that they haven't done well. That's the bottom line. They've certainly developed a great run game. I guess we haven't heard more about it, but it seems as if Aaron Cromer has retired. If he has, then obviously there's a change with your offensive line because Cromer, I'm sure one of the best O line coaches in the last 25 years. I'm sure he was mostly responsible for the run game success. So we'll assume if that continues at the same level. But you know, to me they're kind of an interesting and odd offense to watch because they don't really attack in the pass game the way you would think with Josh Allen. So I'm curious to see how this goes forward.
- [06:21]
Colin Coward
What do we make of the Broncos and Rams 4th down attempts? I don't mind going for it, especially if Bo Nix would have been starting. I'd feel more comfortable than a backup going forward. But the old line for Denver's good. You were at home, whereas Stafford was in the end zone in Seattle against the Seahawks defense and it was fourth and four, not fourth and one. What did you make of Peyton going for it and McVeigh?
- [06:46]
Greg Cosell
I can only give you my opinion and you know, you know that there's opinions about this and people have different points of view and you can argue there's no right or wrong. Maybe I'm old school in this. Look, that's the way I feel. But my opinion is in tight playoff games, Colin, I think when there are points to be taken, you've got to take them. That's just my sense. I sort of believe the whole Bill Parcells approach that you keep your team in the game as long as you can. I mean, look at the Rams situation and this is no knock on McVay. The guy's obviously brilliant. That's not my point at all. This is not a knock on coaches. I'm really just giving you my point of view. But I think that if they had kicked a field goal there with five minutes to go and it a one point game, I think that probably changes the play calling by Kubiak a little bit because now he knows that if the Rams get to the 40 yard line, the 35 yard line, they can win the game with a field goal instead of having to go an extra 40, 35 yards to get a touchdown. And I think that just changes the feel of a game. So that's just my point of view. I'm sure analytics people would tell me I'm wrong, and that's okay. You know, this is not something I argue with people about because it's just my point of view.
- [07:55]
Colin Coward
Yeah. I want to talk about New England before we get to Seattle and the Rams and that game and the Super Bowl. How much is Drake May, the Patriots quarterback, how much of his rushing ability, his mobility, factors into the offense and play calling, in your opinion?
- [08:13]
Greg Cosell
I don't. Look, there's no coach that tells a quarterback on third and seven, drop back and run, so I think that that just happens. And he's very good at it.
- [08:22]
Colin Coward
And.
- [08:22]
Greg Cosell
And clearly the play we're looking at now is a design run in the low red zone, which obviously, if you have a mobile quarterback, you can do. Now we're looking at some scrambles, and, you know, I think it factors in, in a number of ways. Number one, you can save bad plays. In other words, if the defense wins tactically, a quarterback can save the play because of his mobility. And then number two, then it impacts how a defense has to play those critical high leverage downs. Third and seven, third and eight, how do they play it? Do they spy? Which of course, takes player out of the rush and out of coverage. How do they go about it? The Broncos did not spy. The Seahawks have not shown that they're a spy team. And, you know, we'll talk more about that next week when we do a preview. But I think it impacts the game in multiple ways, and he's done that very, very well this season. And it's clearly something that we probably didn't think he would do as well as he's done it in his second year in the league.
- [09:19]
Colin Coward
All right, so Seattle's roster feels like it is more complete than New England's. That's why they're a favorite in the Super Bowl. And most people feel if it was going to go sideways for one team, Seattle's just got a lot of volume and length and speed and youth and. But yet Matt Stafford, the last couple times he played him, picked him apart.
- [09:41]
Greg Cosell
Yeah.
- [09:42]
Colin Coward
What is that? Just Stafford? Is that. Can you duplicate that if you're New England, or is that just Stafford being Stafford?
- [09:49]
Greg Cosell
Well, I think Stafford's pretty good, and I think we'd both agree with that. You know, it's funny just to pick up on something you just said about the roster. I really think that New England's defense is way better than people are giving it credit for. I think they have a lot of players, Colin, and again, I'm sure if you haven't, you'll do your top 10, you know, with your players on each team. But I think that New England on defense has better individual players than people think. They're just, they're just not household names.
- [10:19]
Colin Coward
Right.
- [10:20]
Greg Cosell
Milton Williams is a really good player. Barmore is a really good player. You know, I think a Robert Spillane, you know, we're certainly not going to say he's Fred Warner and I'm not suggesting he's on his way to the hall of Fame, but he's a very, very good player who for years has been a three down player. He was that way in Pittsburgh. At the end of his career he was that way with the Raiders. These are good players and they're very good schematically, and that's a big deal on defense. So again, I'm not going to sit here and go, we're not going to go through the entire roster of each. But I just think that New England on defense is better than people give them credit for.
- [10:57]
Colin Coward
Listen, all year I didn't like the Rams special teams, but I also thought Carolina almost beat the Rams twice because of their, their secondary. So when I watched Darnold literally play a perfect game against the Rams. Yeah. And I, I think the Patriots secondary is long and twitchy. Gonzalez, it's athletic. I don't think Darnold's going to have a perfect Sunday against New England. Is part of Darnold Sunday. Just listen. It was a good matchup for Seattle. The Rams corners are kind of bottom.
- [11:28]
Greg Cosell
Third of the league and I think that's fair. And it's funny you mention about New England because, you know, I mentioned their players. Their two safeties are totally unknown to people. Hawkins and the rookie, Craig Woodson. They are really good players and they're very interchangeable in the way they're deployed. But yes, we've talked all year. You know, one thing I've learned over the years watching tape, I'm never surprised when a team's weakness or lack of strength comes back to haunt them in a big game. Gets exposed in a big game. So you know, people can say, oh wow, look what happened. But you know, you're right about the Rams. I think that from a coverage standpoint they're not great in the secondary, particularly at corner and I think it showed up a couple of times this year. Now, there are times when Matthew Stafford and the offense can compensate for that because they're really, really good. But. And it wasn't as if Stafford and his offense didn't do well. They put up 27. I think it was 27 against a really good defense. So it was a very close game. And Stafford also played at a very high level. But you're right, Darnold played a really, really good game. I thought that they had some really good concepts. Tactically, they did a really good job. We know that they had Smith and Jigba caught the touchdown where he was in the backfield, which I thought was a beautiful design. You know, it's funny. Just to show you how crazy I am, Colin, when I saw the Smith and Jigba touchdown, the first thing that popped into my head was in 2016, Kyle Shanahan was the OC for the Atlanta Falcons. Okay. And the first thing that popped into my head is they played a playoff game against Seattle and they ran the exact same play in 2016. I think we're looking at it right now. And it was a touchdown to Tevin Coleman. So, I mean, you know, none of these plays are brand new, but it was just a great design, great call, and I think they did a really good job of that. And Darnold executed. You know what I loved about Darnold in this game, too? Just pocket toughness. He had a number of throws under duress and he stood and delivered without flinching.
- [13:30]
Colin Coward
You know, it's interesting. Many are suggesting now that the two best receivers in the league may be Puka and jsn. And I'm not in any way comparing JSN to Jerry Rice, but I remember when Jerry Rice played, one of the things that always jumped out to me, he had good speed, but he never slowed down into breaks. During breaks, after breaks, it was like the same speed. He just never paused when he caught the ball. And when I watch jsn, I see the same smoothness. I don't know if he's a 44 guy. 4, 3, 8. I don't know, but I know this. He is so smooth that he doesn't have to accelerate. His whole route is acceleration. How is he so effective? Is it. Did they scheme him open? What is it?
- [14:12]
Greg Cosell
Well, it's always a combination. I mean, obviously you scheme players, you get them in positions where they can win. And when I say win, it's not always just one on one. Like the deep pass he caught at the end of the first half. And here we're looking at the touchdown, obviously when he was in the backfield. But the deep pass at the end of the first half was a beautifully designed play where they ended up getting cover two. And he beat Kurl. He beat his safety on a corner post. You'll take a wide receiver on a safety no matter who the wide receiver is. But there's. There's obviously a smoothness to JSN. He's obviously very quick. I think he's deceptively fast. I don't think he's a 44 guy. The way we think of, you know, the burners and, you know, a lot of that too, is a function of the quarterback. You know, you mentioned Jerry Rice. How many times did we see Joe Montana just put it right where the ball is basically one yard right out in front of him and he never had to slow down. That run after catch tends to be more a function of quarterbacks than receivers. It's where receiver. It's where quarterbacks place the football. But J. JSN Is obviously really good. Look, the receiver debate could go on forever. I mean, you know, different receivers have different skill sets just because these guys weren't in the playoffs and maybe didn't have their best years. Overall, you know, Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase are pretty good. And I think most people would probably say that they're right there at the top of the discussion, but JSN Is really, really good.
- [15:37]
Colin Coward
All right, let's. Let's give me. Let's give us our play of the week. It includes Darnold and that big over the top throw.
- [15:43]
Greg Cosell
Yeah. Now, this was the first third down of the game, and that's why I wanted to show it because this was a play that really set the tone. So we can take a look at it right now. This was the 51 yarder to Shahid and it was third and five. I believe it was the first third down of the game on the first possession. And, you know, again, you never know if they anticipate a particular coverage, but they ended up getting a coverage that allowed Shahid to work one on one without help. So what you're going to see is Darnold's going to be in the gun. And what was interesting here, number one, they had Cam Akers in the game in the backfield, but you have Akers as one of the offset players and cup is in the backfield here. So now you're going to see JSN Reduced to the left side of the formation. By reduced. He's close to the formation. And then you've got Shahid in a plus split outside the numbers. Now, what is Darnold initially looking at? He's initially looking at a two high structure. Okay. And then you've got press on Shahid. Now, if you're going to press Shahid again, you can debate whether you should do this if you don't have help over the top because ultimately what you're going to get here is you're looking to see if you're Donald, does the safety, does he play over the top? And he's not going to play over the top. So what you're going to get is a vertical route by Shahid, who's got great speed. And as this starts and plays, you're going to see the safety that we're talking about with his body presence and his eyes and it's all inside. So now what does Darnold know? He knows he's got one of the fastest players in the league with terrifying speed against, I believe it was Darius Williams and he's just going to run by him. And so it turned out that they got the perfect coverage and it's third and five. And again, like I said, people are probably debating why did the Rams do this? You can debate that forever. But the point is that was a great throw. And you can see it from here. You see the exact same thing. You're going to see the one on one on the outside, the safety inside. Beautiful ball. An absolutely beautiful. If you can hit this on your first series, Colin, you're feeling pretty good about the way the game's going to go because those are. I mean, that's not just a routine. I don't want to say it's. It's a hard throw, but it's not a routine throw.
- [17:50]
Colin Coward
Greg COsell NFL Films 46 years have yourself a great weekend, Greg. Thanks.
- [17:55]
Greg Cosell
Thanks, Colin. Appreciate it.
- [17:57]
Colin Coward
You bet. Yeah, he said it. New England's players are better than you think. I just think what happens is, is that because New England was bad last year, there is a sense that, well, how, how good are their players? But they went and got, you know, Williams, the defensive tackle, very expensive guy. Barmore was getting better already. He was the Alabama D lineman. He's getting better. They got a couple years ago, they got the corner out of Oregon. When he's healthy, they don't lose. And they spent 250 million. They upgraded the coach. Drake May has a real offensive coordinator that works. I think we look at New England, we think you can't be bad one year and great. You can in the NFL, you can't in the NBA. You only draft a couple of guys and even if you get a star with a top six or seven pick, they're not changing outcomes. Wemby is still 40 games under.500 since he joined the Spurs. He's good, but he had minute restrictions. He was younger. I mean I always say this about NBA rookies and second year guys. They can't even drink in the hotel bar. They're like 19, 20 years old. You're getting a fully developed body at 23 years old, sometimes 24 out of college. So five or six of their rookies are contributing. They're good players. They had have developed. Drake may now has a great offensive coordinator and they spent, you know, a quarter billion dollars on free agency or whatever it was. They got a good roster. There's no way you look at new. The only place in the on the on the Patriot roster I look at and think it's kind of average is the O line. And they're not terrible, they're just kind of average one more herd the herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search her to listen live or on.
- [19:44]
JMac
Demand whenever you'd like.
- [19:46]
Greg Cosell
Hey, it's Ben, host of the Fifth.
- [19:48]
Colin Coward
Hour with Be Maller. Would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey. You're asking, what in God's name is the fifth Hour? I'll tell you. It's a spin off of the Ben.
- [19:58]
Greg Cosell
Ma Show, a cult hit overnights on fsr.
- [20:01]
Colin Coward
Why should you listen?
- [20:02]
Greg Cosell
Picture, if you will, a world where we chat with captains of industry in media, sports and more every week. Explore some amazing facts about human nature and more.
- [20:11]
Colin Coward
Listen to the fifth hour with Ben.
- [20:12]
Greg Cosell
Mah on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast.
- [20:14]
Colin Coward
Or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Colin Coward from the Herd. Whether you're a seasoned small business owner or thinking about getting started, you'll definitely want to check out season four of Mind the Business. Small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Inuit QuickBooks. Mind the Business is part entertainment, part instruction manual, part inspiration. Each episode features practical tips and success stories that will resonate with entrepreneurs in any industry. In their latest season, hosts Austin Henkowitz and Janice Torres are covering topics on the forefront of running a small business. They're talking to self starters about everything from how AI helps them work smarter to weathering market uncertainties and enjoying the benefits of being your own boss and using Inuit QuickBooks to help you get more done in less time. You won't want to miss it. Listen to Mind the business. Small business success stories on the Iheart app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, two truths and a lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwaine. I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars, and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T mobilebility or local Verizon store today, get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics. Best overall Mobile Network Performance US Second Half 2025 all rights reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply usually in every business. You can look at recent history. 10, 15 years, 20 years. What works and what doesn't work. Everybody, I think, gets that. Could be tech, could be the NFL. Except the Cleveland Browns. So they're, They're. I mean it literally. They had Mike McDaniel. Reportedly, they were interested in interviewing Mike McDaniel, the former Dolphins coach. He said, no, thanks. I'll take the offensive coordinator job with Justin Herbert, Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers. Not interested in interviewing. Remember the owner, Jimmy Haslam? This was after firing Kevin Stefanski. Let me say this, and some of you said, this is a dysfunctional building. I take huge exception to that. Is there tension in the building? Of course. I mean, there's. This is a hard business and there's lots of stuff going on. If anybody says this is dysfunctional or those two of them did not work, well, that's dead wrong. Oh, really? Then they proceed in their coaching search, reportedly asking applicants to write an essay and take a personality test. I love Chick Fil A, but if they asked me to do that and I was applying for a job, I'd withdraw. I mean, you got to be kidding me. So. But it comes down to this. So there's two things that don't work very well when hiring a coach. Number one is do not promote an assistant in your organization up the food chain to head coach. We gave you a list Yesterday, Brian Schottenheimer, Gerard Mayo, Antonio Pierce, Dennis Allen, Doug Marone, Levy Smith, Freddy Kitchens, Dirk Cutter, Ben McAdoo. Don't just go down the hallway and promote the popular assistant. It doesn't work. Todd Bowles has worked a little. It mostly doesn't work. Don't do that. So not promoting Jim Schwartz. Okay, I'm okay with that because it doesn't work. The other thing that doesn't work, except for Bruce Arians, is hiring a guy in his late 50s who's never been a head coach before. Bruce Arians, the historic outlier. Right. Especially in the last 20 years where coaches have gotten younger. So they hired Todd Monkin, who's 59. So you can go to Vic Fangio or David Cully or Bud Carson or, you know, there, there's, I mean, I got five or six names here. It just doesn't work historically. And, and why doesn't it work with the old guys? Because generally it could be comedy, it could be Hollywood writing, it could be tech. Generally you can see elite very early. Most comedians, it could be Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Dave Chappelle. You saw stuff in their late 20s. They were, they were really good by 30 something. So. Mike Frable, head coach at 42 years old. Sean McVeigh, head coach at 30. Mike McDonald, Seattle head coach at 36. Kyle Shanahan, head coach at 37. Demico Ryan's, head coach by 38. If you're 58, 59 years old, and it's your first gig, it generally doesn't work. Or if you get promoted inside the building. So Jim Schwartz, historically that probably wouldn't be a great hire. So I'll defend him on that because the data says that doesn't generally work. But then to go get the older guy who'd never been a head coach before, that doesn't work either. So whenever I get this from fans, well, the NFL is rigged. No, you got bozos in the building. The NFL's not rigged. Cleveland's dysfunctional. Despite what Jimmy Haslam says, they're the most dysfunctional search. And then, and then the jets are dysfunctional. You all want to say stuff is rigged. That's just how to validate mediocrity. It's like people use the word luck. My sister's lucky, my brother in law is lucky. It has nothing to do with luck. You're trying to validate poor choices and mediocrity. I mean, the New York Giants have Super Bowls. They went and got the number one coach in the cycle, the Atlanta Falcons. Have been to Super Bowls. They probably got the number two coach in the cycle. Jets. Have you seen what's happening with the Jets? Fire. They're getting rid of people. I mean, it's. And this Cleveland thing. I'm sorry, it was dysfunctional. I don't know what you want me to say. I think that's a totally reasonable word to use. J. Mac with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.
- [26:48]
JMac
This is the Herd line news. There's your daily dig at the jets, courtesy of Colin Coward. There's one a day. I like it. I feel like it's a nod to me, which I respect. All right, let's start with Ben Roethlisberger. And the pitch. Pittsburgh Steelers. Obviously, Mike McCarthy is the new head coach, but they apparently have no intent on rebuilding.
- [27:07]
Colin Coward
Right.
- [27:08]
JMac
Well, former Steelers quarterback Big Ben went on first things first yesterday, and I don't. I don't know what he's saying here, but this is a little crazy on rebuilding in Pittsburgh.
- [27:19]
Colin Coward
Rebuild is like this big word of Pittsburgh. You don't. You don't.
- [27:22]
Greg Cosell
You don't use that word, rebuild. Well, then let's use a different word. Let's just call.
- [27:26]
Colin Coward
Let's start building teams.
- [27:28]
Greg Cosell
I think nowadays they want to get a quarterback and then they want to.
- [27:31]
Colin Coward
Build around that quarterback.
- [27:32]
Greg Cosell
I think it should be the other way around. I think you should build a team.
- [27:36]
Colin Coward
To plug a quarterback into.
- [27:38]
Greg Cosell
Let's build this team up with a. Again. I know Will Howard. Six round people are like, oh, what do you get in the sixth round? Well, you get Tom Brady, you get Brock Purdy.
- [27:46]
Colin Coward
You can get some players, why not.
- [27:49]
Greg Cosell
Give them a shot?
- [27:50]
Colin Coward
Yeah, Big Ben, I love that he was on that show. Big Ben makes a really interesting point, though. They don't like the word rebuild in Pittsburgh. They like the word build. And that is some of it. Where a lot of organizations kind of look at themselves and they don't raise their hand, they don't shout it out. But a lot of corporations, you know, rebuild. Guys, we're going to use some capital to rebuild certain parts of our infrastructure for whatever psychological reasons there are or business reasons. Pittsburgh is. You know what's ironic about this before Chuck, you know how the Pittsburgh Steelers got Terry Bradshaw in the draft Years ago, like 19, whatever it was, 69, seven. They were bad the year before. And by the way, how did they get Big Ben? They didn't have a very good year. Like, if you want to get Bradshaw or you want to get Big Ben, you can't be worried about. You know, winning one game over.500. I mean, to get. People always say drafting quarterbacks is happenstance and luck. No, it's not. Tom Brady, again, is an outlier. Dax, a bit of an outlier. By and large, if you want a great quarterback, it's usually in the top 25 picks of the first round. That's just the reality of it.
- [29:05]
JMac
Yeah, it feels very safe space to me. Like, hey, we don't use the word rebuild. That's going to trigger some people. Like, it's just really goofy. Nice fish tank, though, Big Ben. I really. I love a good fish tank in the background.
- [29:18]
Colin Coward
I love that.
- [29:19]
JMac
Let's be real. I did say Will Howard's name on this show.
- [29:22]
Colin Coward
Remember, earlier this week? Yes, you did.
- [29:23]
JMac
I had Steelers fans in my mentions. Oh, come on. No way. We're gonna go get Kyler. We're gonna do this. That you watch. Will Howard is more than likely going to be their starting quarterback next season. And this is what's called a soft tank. Colin, let's be real. Hey, let's see what we've got. Let's let some of these guys age out. We've got an old roster.
- [29:41]
Colin Coward
Well, here's the thing. The Steelers have offensive talent. Friar Moose, an excellent tight end. D.J. metcalf, Jalen Warren, the O line. They put a lot of draft capital. If Will. No, I'm just saying, don't have an opinion before. If Will Howard is your guy, then you need to give him 17 starts to figure out if he's your guy. But I don't want to hear if he struggles. We don't have any players. No, they do. They've got an odd. They've got an excellent interior line. They've got a star number one. They need the number two receiver. They have a good back. They have a top tight end. They have two tight ends. Pittsburgh's offensive personnel with McCarthy is good enough. So if. So. So if Will Howard is the guy. Well, you got to find that out before next year's draft because it's packed with quarterbacks. Will Howard is the guy. My guess is no. But what. What if I'm. If you look at Pittsburgh's now their defensive talents, old and expensive, there's a lot of offensively, I think their talents better than people think. Offense, it's not great. It's not the Rams, but there's some players there, so.
- [30:48]
JMac
Okay, we need context because this is interesting. You like Friarmouth and Warren?
- [30:52]
Colin Coward
Yes.
- [30:53]
JMac
You're calling D.J.
- [30:54]
Colin Coward
One Center's excellent.
- [30:55]
JMac
I mean, I'll give you the offensive line. I don't know a lot of number one wide receivers who go into the stands and get in a fracas with fans, but we've seen, like, that's buffoonery. He's not a 1 DK Metcalf. I don't know. I remember Aaron Rodgers was chirping about the wide receiver room. Guys don't know their routes, and he's getting guys benched and they're, they're bringing in guys. I don't, I think this is a firm C on the skill position. Players average. Would you go higher than a C?
- [31:20]
Colin Coward
Yeah, I think Friarmouth is dependable. Washington's a great blocker. Jalen Warren's more than capable. I think they have two guys on their interior line who I think have elite capabilities. They're not awful at tackle. I mean, Aaron Rodgers, if you go look at Aaron Rodgers this year, go look at his numbers. I mean, the, the Steelers offense was, again, it's not high powered. They don't have a number two receiver. When Metcalf got tossed for two games. They don't have anybody to throw to. They absolutely have to draft a receiver in the first three or four round. They need a number two. But, but, I mean, the reality with Pittsburgh right now, I need to know if Will Howard can play. Yeah, you're not getting that sitting behind Aaron. I, I, if Aaron comes back, I'm good with it. But I could see McCarthy going, Guys, let's figure out if this kid can play. Give me, I mean, this guy had a winning record with Cooper Rush, Mike McCarthy. I mean, go look at Malik Willis with Matt LaFleur. Capable. Mike McCarthy, Cooper Rush, capable. I mean, McVay got Baker Mayfield without a practice or one practice. So I, I think Pittsburgh, I don't love the hire, but Mike McCarthy is not every coaching hire is McVeigh. He's more than capable.
- [32:38]
JMac
Yeah, no, I largely agree with that. Let's move on to the Dallas Cowboys. Colin Boy, a lot of personnel decisions coming up this offseason on both sides of the ball. But on offense, specifically, George Pickens and Javante Williams are soaking up a lot of the bandwidth online. Here's Steven Jones talking about the team's desire to keep both guys long term.
- [33:01]
Colin Coward
Obviously, there's guys that we want to keep from last year, whether it's George Pickens, whether it's Javante. Those are all guys that play into, you know, the free agency picture. At the same time, obviously, we, you know, we've got work to do on the defensive side of the Ball.
- [33:17]
Greg Cosell
So between free agency, between the draft.
- [33:21]
Colin Coward
You know, there's a lot of resources there that we can use to make our defense better. Yeah. Those two first round picks, defense, both of them. Corner pass rusher, spend them on defense.
- [33:33]
JMac
Yeah. The Pickett's long term phrase kind of gives me a little pause. Colin.
- [33:38]
Colin Coward
I think I actually, I, he was.
- [33:41]
JMac
Playing, let's be real, he was playing for a contract this year. He was a model citizen, put up huge stats.
- [33:45]
Colin Coward
I don't look at Dallas's receivers as a weakness. I think, I think they have a true number one. Was it Fortnoy? I thought Flournoy. Flournoy. My bad. More than capable. Their tight end is fine. They've got, I think, I don't think wide receiver is a huge need. I think they're going to draft one. But I don't look at Dallas and say man, CD Lamb is an absolute number one. Dax, a franchise quarterback. Their old line actually run blocks pretty well. It's young pass block, pro pass pros.
- [34:16]
Greg Cosell
Eh.
- [34:16]
Colin Coward
But I, I, they have to get the defense better.
- [34:19]
Greg Cosell
So.
- [34:19]
JMac
So you would give Pickens a long term deal?
- [34:22]
Colin Coward
I wouldn't, I don't, I don't get it. Yeah, I mean I think, I think when you give me. He came in with red flags into the NFL. Mike Tomlin, who's incredibly player friendly, moved off him and he pouted last year in Dallas. Like people will show you who they are. Believe them. He's talented. And wide receivers, the one position that college football furnishes the NFL with 15 guys a year that can play. We see it every year. I mean Puka naku is a 5th rounder, walks into the league and you're like stud. We didn't even think JSN was the best receiver at Ohio State. Walks into the league year two you're like, is he the best player in the league? There's receivers are everywhere. Yeah.
- [35:03]
JMac
Final story, Colin. Let's go back to the hall of Fame but focus on Eli Manning. He is a big talking point. Because Colin, all signs point to him not getting in the hall of Fame for the second straight year. This should be no surprise to anybody. I mean listen, anybody who wants to go to battle over Eli Manning, there is a lot of ammunition that he is not a Hall of Famer. I think you and I agree he is. I'm just going to point this out. Career MVP votes for Eli Manning, 0. He was never once an all pro quarterback in the league. I don't want to hear pro bowls. Shador is a pro Bowler, that is irrelevant. Are you ready for this? Eli Manning led the league in interception three times and his career NFL record with the blue blood giants, 117 wins, 117 losses.
- [35:51]
Colin Coward
Yeah, okay. Words matter. Is it called the hall of Stats, hall of All Pro hall of Pro Bowl. It's called hall of Fame Fame. Part of Eli Manning's greatness. He beat. He didn't win two Super Bowls. He beat Brady twice. He beat the greatest coach twice. And he had two. One to Mario Manningham. One today. But Tyree, I would say two of the top six passes. I mean was it, was it Bradshaw to Lynn Swans, one of the great passes, Big Bendis, Antonio Holmes, I think back of the end zones, Montana to.
- [36:27]
JMac
Dwight Clark or something.
- [36:28]
Colin Coward
I mean there's the Brady, the Edelman catches it in the crowd in Atlanta. There's been about seven catches in super bowl history that are memorable. Eli had two. And again, it's not that he won two Super Bowls. He beat Brady and Belichick with the two great late game throws, arguably ever. He is a Hall of Famer. It is called hall of Fame. You can't tell the story without him. There's a lot of. I said this yesterday. There's a lot of different athleticisms. I grew up with Johnny Bench. He was the best catcher in baseball for. It felt like 15 years. When you watch Johnny Bass try to get. Johnny Bench hit a double at Riverfront Stadium at the time and try to get the second base. He didn't look like a great athlete, but you have to be a great athlete to be in that gear in astroturf for 15 years and be the best catcher in baseball. And a power hitting, run driving and catcher. He's a hell of an athlete. But there are different. There are power athletes, there are twitchy athletes. There's guys in the NBA that have length and hand eye coordination but don't have great hops. It. My take is Eli Manning, two minute drill, road games, big moments, toughness, never miss starts, iq, EQ through the roof, pre snap, great.
- [37:44]
JMac
So interesting note. So yes, he had two incredible iconic throws. The guy played a hundred. Sorry, 16 seasons. Eli Manning played 16 seasons in the NFL and had two good postseason runs. And we basically are like, hey, he had that amazing throw to David Tyree. Remember that?
- [38:01]
Colin Coward
And.
- [38:01]
JMac
And there's like the guy had a forgettable career. He just. Let's be real, he was not a very good quarterback except for two postseason runs. No, it's one of the trickier handicaps.
- [38:10]
Colin Coward
I thought he was Iowa's Loved him. I thought he was a great up tempo quarterback. Always healthy. Ask yourself this. When you leave a company and the company goes into the tank, does that not speak well of you? How's Michigan football since Jim Harbaugh left? How are the New York Giants since Eli left? Hazmat spill. How are the Giants since Eli left? Unwatchable. I mean, we can talk Brady leaving New England even with Belichick, I mean, the minute he walked out of that building, you're like the maturity of the organization, the intelligence of the organization. Never the same. And that's my. I, I don't know. I watched a lot of Eli. I was, I was living out east. I saw everything.
- [38:55]
JMac
I mean again, I, I think we, we agree he'll probably get in, but this idea that he's like a slam dunk is a little crazy.
- [39:02]
Colin Coward
No, no, no. He's not a, he's not a first ballot. But again, would you rather have Philip Rivers career, which was much better in the regular season but postseason success escapes him or Eli? And to me it's not even close. I would take Eli.
- [39:14]
JMac
Okay. Russell Wilson or Eli Eli. Kurt Warner or Eli.
- [39:20]
Colin Coward
Closer? Kurt Warner was pretty good. Yeah, Kurt Warner is really good. Kurt Warner was pretty good. Yeah. Jmac with the news.
- [39:31]
JMac
Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by.
- [39:34]
Colin Coward
The Herd lie news live in Chicago. It's the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
- [39:48]
JMac
The great American race returns with back to back champion William Byron looking for a historic three peat. It doesn't get any bigger than this. The 68th running of the Daytona 500, February 15th, only on Fox.
- [40:04]
Colin Coward
Earlier in the show I had said coaches should probably not talk about players like Sean Payton and Bo Nix's surgeries. First of all, players probably are sensitive to that. NFL careers, even for quarterbacks are usually kind of short, longer for quarterbacks. But Bo Nick's got, you know, a little testy that Peyton Manning had talked about, you know, his injury. Bo Nick said it's fine. And I said, I think players get far more surgeries than most of us know. A prime example is video today in Buffalo. Oh, there's Josh Allen on crutches. So this is an eight to ten week process. He'll be back, he'll be fine. He showed up on crutches. He had a broken foot. So there's Josh Allen today. I think these guys, I mean if you've ever stood on the sidelines of an NFL game. It's remarkable. Guys aren't getting a surgery every six weeks. The hits that these guys go through, I mean, I'm not kidding you people think pro wrestling, that, that is somewhat kind of sort of, you know, we all know that pro wrestling, they bounce off the mat and those guys are a wreck after 10 years of doing that. Try getting tackled by NFL guys. Joe Brady, the new coach, the current offensive coordinator, now the top guy, had oppressor. He is the leader of this organization and the weight that he has on his shoulders is something that I can't even imagine. Everything I think about is trying to find ways to put, put him in a position to have success because that's all I care about with him. Josh Allen is the best player in the NFL and I have to grow, right? And part of me growing is that that's going to allow him to be a better version of himself and I can't. I'm so excited to be able to continue this journey with him. I have so much love for that man right there. And all I want is him to get everything that he deserves. And that's what, that's all I do for now. The record is when you, we showed you the list earlier. There's two things that can get you in trouble when you hire a head coach. One of them is just elevating the guy in the organization that's considered the top assistant. The history is not great on that. But now is there advantages. Buffalo has stability, new stadium, new revenue, they have Josh Allen, they've got their left tackle, they've got excellent tight ends, are very good slot receipt. I mean they've got some nice offensive pieces. So I, I think they'll be fine. I think this is a situation where what's Josh Allen comfortable with? I think it's mostly a well run organization. You know, their GMs got a couple times been a tad thin skinned, whatever, but I, you know, I think it's well run but you know, usually elevating the hot assistant. We've talked about this. It doesn't work. You know, the, the greater the coach that leaves and McDermott was pretty darn good, the wider the search usually needs to be. Second thing is be careful about doing what Cleveland did. Todd Monken, a guy in his late 50s who's never been a head coach. Now it worked in Arizona. Steve Keim, my buddy, hired Bruce Arians, highly respected. They got him. I think they got him. Carson Palmer not long after that and things worked out pretty well. That's an outlier. Tom Brady getting drafted in round six, that's an outlier. Most great quarterbacks, I mean, Darnold's a first rounder. Drake May is a first rounder. People always say, oh, you never know where you get quarterbacks. Yeah, you do. Top 20 picks where you get them first round, yeah. Drew Brees top of the second round. Yeah. Jalen Hurt, second round. Brock Purdy's an outlier. But Josh Allen said today if I was playing next week I'd find a way to play. I swear to you. So they'll be fine. All right. Ian o' Connor's coming up. He had that article in the Athletic about Spygate was the reason why a handful of sports writers said Bill's got a way. Lombardi had the weight. Bill Walsh had the weight. Joe Gibbs had the weight, Parcells had the weight. Couple of Spygate dings. Belichick has to wait hour three.
- [44:09]
Greg Cosell
This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.