THE HERD – HOUR 1 – Chiefs Exposed

Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started.

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Oh, it is a Monday. It's Halloween week Monday live in Los Angeles for the week. Wherever you may be, however, you may be watching or listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Colin Wright, Colin wrong. A lot of both in one hour from now. Well, isn't it amazing? The quarterback that had the better run game last night, Sam Darnold, shocking, was significantly better than the great Patrick Mahomes.

Can we stop selling stock on the Drake Mays and the C.J. Strouds and the Sam Darnolds when they have a bad week or two? The answer is almost always in the they didn't have any help. And last night, the Chiefs did not generate enough one explosive run all night. That's the first time that's happened all season. And what do you know? They got bulldozed by Seattle. It wasn't as close as 20-3. Kenneth Walker, and by the way, the former Seahawk, they had their eyes on him, saw a wall of blue for three hours. And the other thing is Seattle's corner, Devin Witherspoon, best tackling, best corner in the game against the run. Nicola Manwari, Seattle safety, hyper-physical.

So Seattle was in nickel defense. That's an extra DB or two, nickel or dime, for 100% of the snaps. Kansas City is usually great with that because Walker will run past or run over a corner or a secondary guy. But it doesn't work that way with Seattle because Seattle's corner, Witherspoon, is the best tackling corner in the league. The safety, they use him now. Is he a linebacker or a safety?

They don't care. They put him everywhere. So Seattle's secondary, more than any secondary in the NFL, is a punishing secondary. They can throw extra DBs on the field. And generally, Kenneth Walker eats and last night didn't have one explosive run. And so here's Mahomes last night. The great Patrick Mahomes.

No run game. Throwing on second and third and long. the field and it looked a lot like be honest Chiefs fans it looked a lot like last year's Mahomes where this wide receiver core you don't know who's available week to week it's a lot of get the ball to old Travis Kelsey no run game and now Kansas City this offensive line they got issues they're not telling us what's going on but it's a problem they don't know who's playing left tackle so they became very dependent on Kenneth Walker and we also have to be honest If you look at early in the season, they beat the Raiders and the Dolphins and they beat the Colts in overtime and the Chargers. And that week one win over Denver, Denver put in a new play caller. And

all of a sudden last night, you look, oh, oh, this is true serum. Seattle looked a lot younger. Faster, more athletic, more of everything. That was a mismatch. Kansas City had 11 first downs, four and a half yards per pass. This was not, when you put those teams up next to each other, juxtapose them next to each other, Seattle looked like a different level of team. So in fact, last night for Kansas City's offense, this really jumps out to you. Points, total yards, First downs and red zone drives, the fewest in the Mahomes era. So that easy schedule covered up the flaws and masqueraded as strength. You watched it and I watched it. That wasn't particularly close. It would have been worse if Darnold didn't throw a pick

in the end zone. Mahomes also had an ugly pick. You know I'm going to defend quarterbacks who take swings, who take risks, and Darnold's the anti-Bownicks. Almost aggressive to a fault, but that felt like there's still a gap between Kansas City and and the best roster in the league. And right now the best roster is Seattle, and here's Mahomes after.

We have to help him. I think that's the biggest thing is when they put so many eggs in that basket of stopping the run game, we have to have the play-action game and the movement game to be able to throw the ball. And if we're not proving that, they're going to continue to put those guys up at the line of scrimmage, and that's hard for the run game.

Obviously it sucks right now, but we'll be full steam ahead, trying to do our best to find a way to win this next week.

Okay, San Francisco's falling apart physically. Stop me if you've heard it before. In September every year, they are cinematic. Oscar worthy. But remember, we said it. This is why I didn't pick San Francisco to win this division. Christian McCaffrey had 413 touches last year. And over the last 15 seasons in the NFL, any time a player's had 400 plus touches, it's happened four times. The following season, the player gets hurt. or has a catastrophic drop-off in productivity.

So he got dinged up again, and here we are. So their starting receivers were Jordan Watkins and Brandon Cook. So it is what it is. Mike Evans didn't play. Debo didn't play. So Brock Purdy, what do you know, has two picks. Brock Purdy looks pretty average. So San Francisco is not just the oldest team in the NFL.

It's the oldest offense, and by a wide margin. Okay. It is by a wide margin. So Seattle yesterday, when you watch them, looks young and spry and athletic. And San Francisco yesterday, barely able to field a roster, looked like the San Francisco team that got hammered by Seattle at the end of the year last year twice. And the Niners' defense is also an issue because Pennix had 33 drops. I don't know where Bosa went. I have no idea. 33 drops for Pennix, zero quarterback hits. So it's not just an offensive mission. We've told you this.

And I understand it. Shanahan likes smart, veteran, physical, experienced players. It's not the substation. It's good to joke about that. But if you wonder why they have the injuries, because he loves physical players. They have physical practices. He likes older players. And, you know... And so they're going to be fine. They have a bye, and God, do they need it. But they come back and face the Raiders and the Cowboys. So the Niners are going to be 8-1.

But the standard for the San Francisco 49ers, it's a Yankee standard. It's a Dodgers standard. The standard is getting to the Super Bowl and winning it. And when you watch Chicago on Thursday, super young. Or even New England, the losing team on Thursday, super young, 23 first or second year starters. If you watch Seattle yesterday, you see all that youth and talent. You don't see those teams limping around the field. So Shanahan is a brilliant coach.

No coach in the NFL navigates an injury-plagued roster like him. Guy won 12 games last year in a playoff game in Philly, and they had no business winning. They had no business winning a playoff game and winning 12 games last year. So, I mean, I just yesterday, 15 guys on the injured list before the game, Shanahan said after they didn't know, like, could they get 48 players? They didn't know if they could feel the team. So they need to buy. They'll be okay. But the standard's different.

And again, this is a very reminiscent trend and theme. They're a bit like the muscle car. They look great, right? But boy, they're in the shop a lot. And you're less attractive, less cool cars on the freeway driving to work. And so here's San Francisco. Very good. But if you're a Niner fan and you look at Christian McCaffrey, not to say we told you so, because I think he's the third best running back I've ever seen after Walter Payton and Barry Sanders. I really do. But you're giving him 400 touches. That's insane. I mean, that's just... And again, this is a guy with a long career. He feeds off the physicality. He doesn't run away from hits. So here's McCaffrey talking about that leg after the game.

I have no idea.

It sucks.

I feel like I was going on a run there.

And.

My leg just died on me.

I was trying to get it going.

For the whole rest of the game, but it just sucks trying to play like that. I know I'll be all right, but it's just really frustrating.

That leg just died on me. I don't know what happened. Well, I do. 413 touches last year. So, again, San Francisco is a playoff team. I like them a lot. I mean, the Rams won and, you know, looked a little bit. My friend of mine texted me. He goes, the Rams and the Seahawks looked like last year. And, by the way, the Niners looked like last year. Not the loss part, the falling apart part. So, they are the muscle car of the season. of the NFL. That muscle car's in the shop probably more than you'd like, but I think that's where we stand. Matt Hasselbeck, Colin Wright, wrong an hour from now. I thought there were, it wasn't a great Sunday, and I thought Thursday's game was spectacular. But I will say, there is something going on with the

New York Giants. Here's how good of a coach Sean Harbaugh is. They lost Jackson Dart. They're on their third quarterback and they're in first place.

It's a good call by you.

The New York Giants. I said all offseason. Don't first of all, don't compare them to the Jets. They have better ownership. They have a better roster, and they've got some older complementary players. The Jets are very talented, but very young, and they don't have the coach. But we've seen this before. Anybody notice John Harbaugh leaves Baltimore? Baltimore's in last place. John Harbaugh goes to the Giants, who you thought had a terrible roster, and the Giants are in first place. And I will say, there was a moment this week with the New York Giants Great coaching and great parenting have one thing in common. I'm going to talk about that next. We're live in L.A. It's The Herd.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the iHeartRadio app.

Welcome to Football Doesn't Lie.

Hi, I'm Bill Parcells.

And I'm Catherine Zazzora.

I have a lot of experience in the game of football, Catherine.

And I'm learning the game with Bill's help. Every week, we're going to talk about the NFL slate through the lens of Bill's expertise as he coaches me from novice fan to football expert over the course of the season.

You know, I'm looking forward to this show, Catherine, and hopefully we can give our audience a little in-depth look into the inner sanctum of pro football that they can't get anywhere else.

Tune in every Thursday for unfiltered stories from Coach Parcells, analysis on the state of the modern game, and education on how football really works.

Continuity is very important. But what happens when you get good coaches on your staff and people begin to recognize them, then they want to hire them. And then you can't stop a guy from trying to improve himself, but you have to replace them.

Because once you understand what's going on inside the mind of the coaches, you'll understand more about the whole game.

So all aspects can be discussed. The only thing I haven't done... because I didn't have enough money. I don't own the team. I never owned a team.

Listen to Football Doesn't Lie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Well, great coaching is a little like great parenting. You have to occasionally send really harsh messages. But as a parent and a coach, you can't hold grudges. Got to get over yourself can send a strong message, you can't hold grudges. So Cam Scadaboo fumbled against Washington. They should have won that game. And John Harbaugh benched him. But now we're playing Houston. He's been benched. The message has been sent. He is necessary. And he is needed. And yesterday, 7.2 yards a carry. The Texans are a very good tackling defense and he forced eight missed tackles. And more importantly, it allowed J.J. McCarthy to throw on play action. So J.J.

McCarthy wasn't forced to throw 58 times. He threw 28 times. Scadaboo and all three running backs for the Giants had touchdowns. They rushed for 188 yards. It allowed Malik neighbors on second and short and third and short and J.J. McCarthy to connect. Scadaboo is reckless. He's a little different. I don't think this is a sustainable style of play for 10 to 12 years. But his power, you know what it reminds me of? Mike Tyson at 23. It's just different.

Mike Tyson's punch was just different than even the great fighters in his peers. And Scataboo, Arizona State, Sacramento State, New York Giants. Nobody plays like that. Nobody's that much of a hammer. I mean, he almost knocked the guy out for the Houston Texans. I mean, it is just different. And since being drafted, to show you the value of Scataboo, since being drafted, when he runs for just 60 yards, the Giants are undefeated. So he is the first state...

farm spokesperson that actually needs a policy. I don't know how long it's going to last, but I said it in the off season, they're going to make the playoffs. Their talent is underrated. If neighbors can stay healthy and Andrew Thomas at left tackle. I mean, think about this. Think how, think how good their personnel is, is that they lost Jackson dart. They go to Jameis Winston. They make a trade for JJ McCarthy. Not only did JJ McCarthy win. It's the first time you've watched JJ McCarthy be honest and went off Is he Sam Darnold? Are we looking at the Sam Darnold experiment where he goes to a team and he gets injured and it's just not right and it's uneven? Now, the Vikings and Kevin O'Connell are better than anything the Jets have had in

recent decades. But there is part of that. Remember, just like at Michigan, great run game, excellent defense and a hardball coaching him. Not a bad recipe for J.J. McCarthy. And with Scataboo, because he was benched, ticked off, and running angry, that's a real football team. That is a playoff-looking football team.

Why?

Physicality travels. Tough travels. Run games travel. That's a team that can play in snow. This isn't some soft USC, good at home, can't play on the road. That is a playoff team. The question becomes, can Scataboo stay upright? But we told you in the offseason, the Harbaugh's picked their spots. Baltimore's in last place. The Giants are in first.

And you all thought the Ravens had great talent and the Giants needed two more drafts. That Giants team, if healthy, is going to be a handful. And again, you can bench a player. Don't hold a grudge. Don't be a dope. Don't be the parent that holds a grudge. Hey, we all got to send messages, right? Coaching is parenting to some degree. You're the old one in the house. You're responsible for more than just, you know, having dinner. You're responsible.

So I thought that was such a big win, such a message. I mean, J.J. McCarthy, that's the first time I, I mean, now he's 5-0 in his last five starts. The numbers don't blow you away. But he found his confidence. In Minnesota, beyond the injuries, he looked like he didn't believe in himself. He made one throw last week and two throws yesterday where you had to look at J.J. McCarthy, and I've been critical, but you've got to be fair.

I've got to be fair. He made a couple throws in the last couple weeks where you're like, are we looking at the next Sam Darnold? Where it was just the environment wasn't right, and environment matters a lot more for young people in any career, and here was Harbaugh after. That's the point.

It tells you who they are. You might have thought before the game, we're going to find out about our guys. We're going to find out.

About who they are, and we did.

And you saw it.

They did.

They took the bull by the horns, and they got the job done. It set the direction for the rest of the season, really. But we're going to be in this thing to the end now. I mean, this was a pivotal game. This was a really high-pressure game for our team. We didn't talk about that, but they all knew how important this game was, and they responded accordingly.

I mean, just think about this. This was the game this week. Like in these survivor pools, people were taking Houston. Houston was a nine point favorite. Oh, JJ McCarthy, right? I mean, don't blame CJ Stroud. He's not the problem. He's fine. and we like the coach at Houston, but Scataboo making you miss eight tackles, neighbors, and J.J. McCarthy.

I got to tell you, I sat and watched that game, and I'm like, this is one of those games you go in January, and you say, remember that game in Houston? Like, did they just find their next Jackson Dart? Because Jackson Dart was way better than we thought. And I've been as critical on JJ McCarthy as anybody, but that was an eye-opening game. That was the game that the marks and the survivor pool people like, oh, Monday, take Houston.

There was clearly a better team yesterday, and it was wearing blue. And here's J-Mac with the news.

All right let's start with the game in paris the pittsburgh steelers colin get the win over the saints 16 10 really an unimpressive performance from pittsburgh but who cares rogers threw for 212 yards and uh afterward he said he knows the offense can produce more i.

Just felt like i could move and extend it and i wasn't thinking i was gonna run until you know i have kind of cleared the first level and peaked and realized, Oh, I only have to get five yards here. I could probably do that. You know, might have to abort the, the slide possibility, but yeah, that was good.

Good play, but there are a lot of good plays today. We, we still got a little better on the, on offense, help our defense out.

Okay.

Big run there.

Let me, let me defend Aaron Rogers. He has nothing to work with. DK Metcalf is worth about one big reception a game. Their second and third best receivers were running backs. Jalen Warren is spectacular. He was the best player on the field. That's about it. So that great GM left. They gave somebody in half. We always talk coaches.

They gave the GM job to a guy that was in the building forever. Where are the Steeler receivers? like he Aaron's got nothing to work with now Jalen Warren it's just crazy how good you have to be to watch an NFL game and you're easily the best player remember a couple years ago we were like running backs don't matter they don't get paid i'm telling you right now in the league they are valuable chiefs couldn't run last night got bulldozed you take out jalen warren we'd be crushing aaron rogers for him to keep winning with basically a one-man offense fryer mooth dropped a pass dk metcalf i mean he got seattle moved off him at the right time he's he is not a one He's closer to a three than a one.

I mean, I think the big takeaway from this is the Steelers are five and two, right?

Oh, they got to be. Congratulations.

But they beat a lot of bad teams and backup quarterbacks. I know you can only be who's on your schedule. They are a high floor, low ceiling team. Like what Pittsburgh's doing right now, it does not translate to playoff football. I don't even think they're going to be a playoff team when you look.

At the back end of the schedule, Colin. But you got to give them credit.

Yes.

Because this is not a coach or a quarterback issue. Offensively, they don't. I mean, Washington's a blocking tight end. He's a small forward in the NBA. I mean, they just don't have enough. They don't have enough dynamic skill players.

Well, they picked up Pittman in the offseason. He can't stay healthy, but it doesn't really matter. Again, Rodgers is cobbling together enough with McCarthy. The defense makes just and you can do that when you're facing guys like Daniel.

Jones, who can't do anything.

Backup quarterback in Tampa, Tyler Shuck, who's a Jekyll and Hyde guy.

But there is an art to winning close games. And winning ugly games. And Cleveland's doing it. And the Steelers are doing it.

What's your big takeaway from the Steelers? So they're 5-2. They're probably going to win next week in a rematch against the Browns.

My takeaway is that this is what the Steelers have mostly been for the last eight years. They're not a Super Bowl threat. But they've got a high floor, a lower ceiling. You know, Tomlin and McCarthy are guys that squeeze a lot of juice. Mike squeezes a lot of it out of his defensive players. Mike Tomlin, McCarthy does that of his offensive players. I think this is a team that is lacking dynamic sideline playmakers, and Aaron is squeezing every ounce of juice. Again, for a 42-year-old quarterback, he's doing a really good job here.

And I know they liked his run there to seal the game, celebrating on the play, and yeah, well, great.

Are they winning the division?

No.

Are they getting to the playoffs? It's a very even division.

So that's why, like, I mean, I know Steelers fans, they're killing me online. Hey, you said they would stink. I liked them in the first half of the season. That second half, Colin, and you know Rodgers, old man. Is he going to hold up in the second half of the season?

I think Cleveland has done a better job drafting because I think Cleveland's GM, Andrew Barry. Well, they're drafting at the top, though. of the time well but he's great yeah and i mean they don't miss on anybody finno's good at right tackle judgekins a star fannin was great yesterday concepcion and boston are dogs linebacker from uh ucla they don't miss andrew berry first couple rounds does not miss yeah so i think if you're asking me most talent in the division everybody thinks it's baltimore Now, Cleveland's is young. I think the Browns talent. Deshaun's OK. They're on the right track. Oh, they are. They got and they're not paying any of these guys.

All right. Let's move to the Rams.

They picked up a huge, much needed win over the Raiders in Vegas. Listen, this is this was a McVay special, Colin. Everybody, everybody picked the Raiders in this game. getting the points the line kept coming down and all mcveigh did was throw short passes i looked this up zero completions over 15 yards yeah everything was in a box bubble screens uh here's stafford who had a pretty solid game 23 to 29 talking about the win over the raiders it's.

Nice feeling a little bit more comfortable in the fourth quarter and and that's just a testament to how the guys played great team effort i thought our coaches did a great job of giving us a plan that we Felt great about coming in.

Here to execute.

We owned it. We worked on it all week, obviously, like we do every week, but just proud of the way we worked throughout the week. And I think that showed, you know, today. And I'm going to have to keep doing that and do.

It at a high level. That game, so Kyron Williams was getting a little noisy. And then he fumbled. I know. But he got almost 100 yards.

He did.

A lot of tight end usage. A lot of underneath interceptions. Let Puka after the catch. That looked like the Rams last year, where it was third and short or third and shorter. A lot of tight end usage, multiple packages. No, I mean that. And I also think teams like the Raiders in Arizona, who are a draft or two away from being a Super Bowl threat. You get to week six, seven and eight, J-Mac, and you get injuries everywhere. The Niners do, and they can compete. The Raiders and Arizona look like they're running out of players. The Raiders are thin, so if you lose one or two of your better players or you lose that off-ball linebacker, you've got kind of an average guy backing up. The Raiders, we said

it all year, they'll be tougher. I like the coach. I like the GM. But there are seven more players left. You know, seven more draft picks on the field from being a team that doesn't deteriorate by week six or seven. Four straight losses.

There's calls for Mendoza. I don't know why they're wasting time with Cousins.

Other thing.

So Devontae Adams out for six to ten weeks, right? What does McVay do in the red zone? I'm going to look for Davis Allen, the backup tight end who catches two touchdowns. McVay is great. But I also saw this. So Seattle was desperate for a win.

Right.

Against the Chiefs. They get it. Rams desperate for a win. They get it.

I'm not writing off these two teams in the NFC.

No. By any stretch.

I think Rams, Bears, Seahawks remain the elite. Would you agree in the NFC? I'm sorry, Niners.

Seahawks, Bears are really young. When I watch Seattle and Chicago play, there is so much juiced. The Rams are older. It's hard to make a judgment. I have to see Miles Garrett on the field.

Be nice.

So that could be the closer, you know, because they've been in games, but they've lost close games late. And I would argue they don't have a bullpen. They don't have Miles Garrett. So do they win those games with that big sack? So it's hard to be judgy on them because the coach quarterback and the skill players are so good. But I do know yesterday looked like last year's Rams.

For sure.

Final story is the Cincinnati Bengals, who scared the daylights out of me in the first half against the Ravens. Down 13-0, couldn't do a damn thing, and they go off in the second half. 35 points, TDs on five straight drives, and the impetus, Colin, appears to be a Jamar Chase halftime speech.

I don't know if he was throwing.

Chairs around or what, but he went off in the locker room, and here he is talking about it.

I didn't like how we played, you know what I'm two or three possessions, and it didn't go our way at all. We had opportunities to get the ball out of our hands. Joe was getting too much pressure, and I came in here screaming, saying, somebody's got to make a play for us. Somebody's got to make a play, and I told our offense, we can't look at our defense the whole time. We've got to step the * * * * up and make something work.

That's leadership. I will tell you, there were a lot of teams yesterday. Cleveland had a great late game. Cincinnati's second half. Atlanta's second half. The Dolphins... It is you get to this point in the season. Everybody's dealing with injuries. It really comes down to second half execution. I thought Burrow and the Bengals offense in the second half. So now this is the 17th time the Ravens have had a 10 point lead and lost since like 2020. And we all love Jesse Minter. He was a go to guy. But, you know, I like offensive coaches. They hire a defensive coach.

And what is happening to Cincinnati? It's a backup. I understand it. That's another issue with Lamar. When is he available? But I've watched Cincinnati now in multiple games get a lead and just kind of evaporate in the second half or fourth quarter. Yeah, we'll see.

Colin, this Ravens team, plus 65 in the first half. So the script, awesome.

On script is excellent.

Second half, minus 70. That is a massive disparity. Now, some of that is Snoop Huntley can't play in the second half, right? He was good in the first half against the Browns.

They were up 10-0. He's good on script. He's a coachable kid on script. But when you ask him to do stuff off script, he's not Lamar.

Yeah, and the defense, I mean, this is two weeks in a row. They blanked in the second half, Browns and Bengals. So I'm not super concerned about the Ravens. But what I am concerned about, you asked about Lamar.

I looked this up.

When he left that game with the ankle, they were like, well, he could have come back in if we needed him. And now he hasn't practiced barely in three weeks. I mean, is he going to play this week, Colin? They're starting to get up against it the way everyone else in the division is good. If Lamar can't go this week against Josh Allen in.

What's supposed to be the best 1 p.m.

Game.

That's a tough spot.

If he's not playing, they're getting smoked.

I mean, it's really fascinating. Cleveland's in first place. The New York Giants are in first place. This is what college football is this year. You don't know Sunday to Sunday. I had a good week, 3-1-1, but I thought Kansas City would come in forceful. That game wasn't even close. You know how you watch a game, like last night, and you're about six or seven minutes in, and you can just feel it? Like it was just blue all over my TV screen. I'm like, Kansas City's in big trouble.

Mahomes couldn't get away from the secondary.

Oh, my God. J-Mac with the news.

Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by.

The Herdline News.

So.

Listen, the Lions beat the Packers. The officiating, as Tom Brady alerted you all to, was not ideal. But the reason I do not like spending a lot of time on officiating, it's why I can't watch games with even friends or fans. It's always the officials. So Green Bay's upset. The officiating wasn't good. Detroit got five first downs on Green Bay penalties. But I'm going to show you a minute and a half of video, and this is why Green Bay lost, self-inflicted. I mean, they missed two field goals, one from 26 and one from 35, and it's indoors!

They lead the NFL in drops by a wide margin. Matthew Golden had more. Evan Williams dropped an interception. They commit that two minutes left. They hand the Lions a first down because they're jumping off sides. So it's like, folks, you want the officials to be perfect. You demand that the officials be perfect. And, Colin, I mean, these penalties, I didn't like the officiating either. But when you're dropping interceptions, when you're dropping big plays, when you're missing chip shot field goals, the Brewers don't. The Brewers are highly efficient.

This Green Bay team, Matthew Golden, this is a problem. Like Romeo Dobbs had a drop problem. He goes to New England. He solved it. And the Lions weren't perfect. They went for it from their own 21, failed. And Green Bay not only couldn't score, they couldn't get a first down. So I look at Goff, and I'm like, well, he went 22 with 32, 300 yards, two passing touchdowns, no picks, 120 passer rating. Should two balls have been intercepted? Absolutely.

But they weren't. And Jared Goff has 14 TDs, no picks, leads the NFL in passer rating, should have had two picks. They didn't make them. So Detroit's the better team. They got some officiating breaks. But when you can't run the ball, Green Bay couldn't. You can't catch the ball, Green Bay couldn't. And you're missing chip shots. I got no sympathy. You demand the officiating's perfect. You made eight game-altering mistakes, drops, missed chip shots. And here's Dan Campbell after.

The guys aren't going to give in or, you know, go in the tank or whatever. They are able to overcome, but it takes all three units. I mean, between, you know, everybody hand-in-hand. It wasn't perfect, but, man, that's what it's about, you know. Defense had done enough to where now it's time for offense to finish this game out. It's not fair to ask them to go back out there again the way they've been playing their toes off, and our offense stepped up in a big way and finished the game.

Listen, pretty has never mattered in this league. Perfect. has only happened once in this league with the Miami Dolphins. So that's a great example of, you know, you go on the road and the officiating's not there for you. And generally, I think officiating at the NFL level is very strong. It was not great. But I don't want to hear it. I mean, you had so many opportunities yesterday.

And on the road in the divisional game, you just got to make more plays. Lincoln Riley, what to do with the head football coach for now at USC? Colin Wright, Colin Wrong, Matt Hasselbeck, top of our number two.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

Tonight, the fall classic shifts to Tampa Bay.

For game three of the World.

Series on Fox, after back-to-back wins in Milwaukee, the Brewers look to take a commanding series lead while the Rays try to fight their way back. Tonight at 7 Eastern on Fox, all part of Foxtoberfest.

By the way, this World Series is turning out like we thought. Base runners, efficiency, Milwaukee's the slightly better team. So Tampa's going to win some games in Tampa, but Milwaukee's not just a team in the world series, there there's a chance here. We're going to look up and we're going to look back at some of the numbers with the Milwaukee. And we're going to be like, that's the best baseball team in a decade. Like they are, they do a lot, right? Milwaukee does a lot, right?

So listen, I thought Steve Sarkeesian was going to work at USC. I thought Lane Kiffin was going to work at USC. I thought Lincoln Riley was going to work at USC. None have. Losing to Wisconsin, a solid, not spectacular team, and scoring seven points is bad. There's a story today that Baylor just fired their coach. They're interested in Lincoln Riley. I do think he would go to the Big 12 and score a bunch of points, and we have a 24-team playoff, and Lincoln would end up in it. And Baylor's a one-horse town. All they care about is Baylor football and Baylor basketball. But Lincoln, his primary issue, it's not complicated. Soft doesn't travel. And this team has scored 42 points since Lincoln arrived when they

play at home. It is warm and comfortable. There's a cool L.A. vibe at home. They've been pretty damn good. But on the road, soft doesn't travel, and Wisconsin was another example. When they get in crisis, they get bullied. They get pushed around. I feel like sometimes watching Lincoln Riley's offense, it's like watching somebody that has a really nice convertible, and it's 28 degrees out. It just doesn't work.

I think Sarks had a lot of success post-USC. Lane Kiffin's had a lot of riches post-USC. But I don't think this works here. And they regularly disintegrate on the road. And he's been a little snippy and defensive with the media. He can be a little aloof with boosters, I've been told. He didn't quite have the pelts on the wall not close to it to be able to do that. So, you know, I miss on all USC coaches, apparently. I even for a year thought Clay Hilton would work. So in the last 40 games, he has coached at USC.

None of them, USC's been a top 10 team. And listen, I'm not saying taking programs and turning them around is easy, but it's not calculus. UCLA is 7-0. Hired James Madison's coach. UCLA, physicality, run the ball, 7-0. UCLA is a basketball school, 7-0. Signetti, Indiana, basketball school, wins a natty, gets to the playoff first year, wins a natty second. It just, it's the same issues over and over and over again. And I do think going to the Big Ten, which is a cold weather conference this point forward, is not a good fit. It's just, it looks so much harder than it needs to be.

And don't get me wrong. This is not the first time I've thought a USC coach, an offensive coach, would work. Maybe it's time to go to a defensive guy. But if you look at the AP top players, 15 right now. A lot of those top five coaches, Cignetti, you know, the Freeman at Notre Dame, Kirby Smart. It's a tough, physical, and they don't just sell it to the players. They live it. They believe in it. It's bottom line. A lot of people sell things, but it's not authentic. The thing that Lincoln sells to his players, and they believe it, is his offense, his play sheet, because that's generally game after game in very, very high end. Number one passing offense in college football since he arrived. But they're just

not a tough, physical team that does well on the road, that does well in cold weather. And it can be Sark. It can be Kiffin. It can be Clay. It can be Lincoln. Maybe there's flaws inside the program. There's an arrogance inside the program. Whatever it is. But it feels like it doesn't work. It's not getting better. And I do think it gets amplified when the guy at UCLA, who, by the way, looks like he should be in movies in Hollywood, comes in, tough team, run the ball, real physical, with some limitations offensively. USC's got a number one class.

You can't go to Wisconsin and say, well, we can't run on Wisconsin. That's not acceptable. That's not the answer ever. So here's Lincoln on a... The loss that you just can't unsee. Flat out.

Didn't play good enough on any of the three sides of the ball. Didn't coach good enough. Made critical errors on the road against a good football team that you can't make. We did the things that you can't do on the road. We lost turnover battle. Lost rushing battle. We had some big penalties at times that obviously were really hindered on all sides of the ball.

So just not good enough.

I take responsibility for it.

He has to. Since USC. was last ranked in the top 10. 36 different college teams have been ranked in the top 10. And USC, historically, Heisman winners, players in the NFL, I mean, they're like a top five program. So you can try to sell players on toughness and physicality, but you can't fool players. And they don't respond to it.

Whatever he's selling them on that toughness, physicality, players aren't buying it. They come out for the first series maybe, but over the course of time. They buy it at Georgia. They buy it with Mario Cristobal in Miami. They buy it with Freeman in Notre Dame. They buy it with Ryan Day at Ohio State. You look at the top five right now. They buy it with Cignetti. It's tough, physical football. And USC, it's a snazzy convertible in cold weather.

It just doesn't work. You know, I've said this. I said this two weeks ago. Sam Darnold's the only quarterback in this league that we treat like a kindergartner, that we give weekly progress reports to. The guy just won a Super Bowl, and it's like... Sammy was good in school today. He didn't throw his food. He was bad last week. He had two interceptions. Sam Darnold last night on third down against Steve Spagnola had a passer rating of 138. He's good. It's a one receiver offense. By the way, on third and nine plus, Seattle was five of six with Darnold. That's the best of any NFL team since 2008. Sam Darnold, JSN, is the only quarterback wide receiver combo in the NFL that the receiver gets 100%

of the credit. I mean, even with Jamar Chase, we're like, yeah, Burrell's pretty good. Burrell doesn't have a Super Bowl. Sam played three flawless games turnover free to get to a Super Bowl. So he made, you know, he's a little like I said, he's the anti Bo Nix. He will throw downfield sometimes to a fault. But since 2024, he's got the most wins, the most more passing touchdowns than Mahomes and Josh Allen. But yet in the JSN Sam Donald relationship, it's. Anybody can do it with JSN. Well, couldn't anybody do it with Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson?

I mean, I'm watching Malik Neighbors yesterday. I could give him all the credit. But J.J. McCarthy made a couple of great throws. So, yes, he had an ugly interception. He is hyper, hyper aggressive. So did Mahomes. But when you give him a run game and they don't have their top two running backs, he's crazy athletic. He throws as tight a spiral as the league has. It's largely a one receiver offense with solid, not great tight end play.

Did not have a number one back last night or a number two back. And they and he made Mahomes look very average. So since Darnold arrived. Seattle is 15-3. Again, there's an argument. It's one of the toughest divisions in football, 15-3 when he was a 100-yard rusher. And you don't get those every week. But it's just this idea that you need these constant weekly update reports. Drake May deals with this a little bit in New England. Darnold's got a number one. Drake May does not. Darnold's got better players than Drake May. They're both excellent. Drake May is probably the higher prospect, higher ceiling, but the Seattle team loves him. The GM loves him. The coach loves him.

JSN loves him. Here he is after.

What a great, great game Sam played.

He came out here.

He led us, you know, to this win, you know, being able to use his feet, you know, when there's nothing there and create plays and lead us. You know, it was big time to see him step up like that. And that's just the player and person he is, you know. That's why we love him.

This week's Darnold Report. He was very good at school and gets an A. Colin Wright-Wrong next.

THE HERD – HOUR 1 – Chiefs Exposed | 49ers Injury Issues

Kapitelklicken springt direkt hin

Shownotes

Transkriptvom Podcast bereitgestellt · Zeitmarken springen hin