THE HERD – HOUR 2 – Herd Hierarchy: Chiefs, Bears & Bills

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.

Here we go.

Hour two and a Tuesday. Nick Wright around the corner. Pat Murphy, Brewers manager, was great. Football guy at heart. Milwaukee's favorite in that. National League is so much better than the American League. Does not mean Tampa couldn't win it, for sure. But the home field advantage for Milwaukee and pitching.

All right.

This week, I had the worst week.

In terms of NFL predictions, it turned everything upside down. It was a very, very strange week. What do we know? Well, I know the 10 best teams in the league. We call it herd hierarchy. It's every Tuesday in the football season.

Here we go.

These are not standings. The Packers, three straight wins. They're a rush offense. They're supposed to get Josh Jacobs back because they have no rush offense. We've said it for years. Jordan loves a real talent. He's got two deep threats. Their defense has held opponents to 17 points or fewer in all three games during the streak, and that's missing three starters. loves one of two quarterbacks with multiple touchdowns in every game passing and rushing josh allen is the other listen they were mired in a funk they are out of it i like their weapons i think their defense will get better green bay at 10 number nine Listen, Denver keeps coming from behind to win.

I like their roster.

Bo Nix leads the NFL with four game winning drives, but he shouldn't have to come from behind every week. It's a testament to Sean Payton and their general manager. They're 15 and two and one score games. That's not supposed to remain. It's like fumbles. You don't recover all your own fumbles. For now, I can only put them at 9. It's an incredibly high floor because of their overall talent, and their two losses have come against the Niners and the Chiefs, who are 11-0, so.

I put them at 9.

The Texans, I don't care that they're 2-4. 7-1 over their last eight against division. I thought they played great against Jacksonville.

C.J.

Stroud, you have to unsee the end of last year. He's played very, very well. Will Anderson leads the NFL in sacks with 7.5, so they have an elite pass rusher. Again, teams get stuck. The Patriots got stuck. The Texans got stuck. The Chargers may be stuck for the entire season. I buy into this coach. I buy into this quarterback. I buy into their... I think Marvin Harrison's going to work there at least much better than Arizona. I just like their talent. I don't care they're 2-4. I have them at 8, and I might have them under-ranked.

Number 7.

Listen, Jared Goff so far, 12 passing touchdowns, no picks.

Once again.

No defense, scintillating offense. Stop me if you've heard this before. Can you imagine if Buffalo and the Lions got to the Super Bowl? It would be 54-53. Last serve wins. You know, they get to the quarterback, which is hard to do to be a bad defense, and yet you get to the quarterback, but that's the Lions. I have them at seven. Well, for the third straight week, I have the Buffalo Bills at six. They're good on the road.

They're good in one-score games. I like this coach better than his predecessor. I don't know if you can get to a Super Bowl with this kind of secondary. They got to make a move at the trade deadline. Josh Allen's won 16 of his 21 starts in September and October.

So I've seen them be very, very good early in the season.

Same with the Niners. But I just don't trust the back end of this. They're allowing 28 and a half points a game. Only one team has ever allowed that and made the playoffs. I think they've got to solve it. I think they have to make a move at the trade deadline.

Bills at six.

Number five.

Most underrated team is New England. They're not flashy, but they're a top. I mean, Drake May is playing really well. The head coach and the O.C.

Are elite. Top seven in offense, top seven in defense. I mean, A.J.

Brown will eventually be able to catch a football if you throw it to him. Three straight games. They're out of the mess. I have them at five.

Number four.

The Bears.

They lead the NFL. Caleb Williams leads the NFL in completion percentage. Last year, it was the number one question. I mean, this kid is so coachable. Number one rushing offense. I mean, they've got a coach. I mean, after Shanahan, is there a coach, maybe Andy Reid, that you like in a big spot offensively on a big drive? I couldn't believe how good they were early against Atlanta. And keep your eye on Kyler Gordon. He's a cornerback that's been hurt for years. He is a dude. He had three sacks as a corner. We went and looked it up.

We asked Claude. Who's the last guy that did that? Claude went, no idea. Claude, AI was like, we really don't know. We'll ask the newest AI machine when it comes out.

I have the Bears at four.

Number three.

The Seahawks. They don't have a run game right now.

I love their coach, their defense. You know I love Darnold. But when he doesn't have a run game, he makes mistakes. And Sam right now, Price, Charbonnet are out. Now, Charbonnet is coming back, so I think Seattle will rebound. They'll be a better football team. Number one total defense. Again, they do a lot right. But it's amazing. Kenneth Walker leaves.

Darnold throws picks. Kenneth Walker goes to the Chiefs. And suddenly the dynasty is reborn. Seattle at three.

Number two.

I don't know how good their defense is yet. I think it's good. But they're going to get tested here over the next couple of weeks.

But I know this.

Andy Reid is pivoted. I mean, this is the first time they've had a run game. This is the first time play action for Kansas City is a lethal weapon. It's helped Travis Kelsey. It's helped time of possession. It's the best overall coaching staff between Andy Reid and Spaggs. There's not a lot I don't like. Lead the NFL in yards per drive and yards per carry. Those are the kind of numbers that Vegas loves. I think they're for real. The only thing I know is that Kansas City is the second best team in the league and the number one team is the number one team. Listen, last night, 23-3 lead, foot off the gas. 21 of their 22 offensive touchdowns have been scored by guys 30-plus.

That's my concern. They're old, expensive, and a little brittle. Third oldest team to start 6-0 in 40 years. So all I worry about, get me to Thanksgiving and let me look at the health. Right now they've got cluster injuries at wide receiver. Mike Evans should be back, but he's going to be hobbled all year. Christian Kirk may come back. Robinson may come back. I think it's very even right now. Jacksonville's my 11. But there's the herd hierarchy, and let's bring in... I feel really good about this one.

It's like the Texans. Well, they're two and four. These aren't standings.

It's not what they are.

Nick Wright, first things first, joining us live. He usually chews this up and spits it out. What do you make of it? Well.

I mean, I know it's not the standings, but the Jags being unranked and the Patriots being fifth when the Jags played the Patriots and won 35-6 feels a little unfair to the great people of Duval County and Trevor Lawrence. I also do fear that while you got to be, over the last couple years, the rightest man in America when it came to Sam Darnold... your affinity for him might be coloring your Seahawks opinion a bit. Because you said when he doesn't have a run game, they're not going to have a run game. Like, listen, Zach Charbonnet should come back off Pup List sometime soon.

That should help a little bit.

But the Seattle Seahawks prioritizing bringing back Rashid Shaheed, who is a nice player but a gadget player, over Kenneth Walker might have decided.

Both conferences, Colin.

It might have taken them from a team that lost three games all of last year to a team that's lost three games already, and given the Chiefs the biggest acquisition of the summer, and now we get to see two play three in Seattle this Sunday night. Now, that is a very tough spot for Kansas City. I actually lean Seattle in that game, but the Chiefs obviously can win the game. I'm just a little worried about your guy Sam Darnold And I think Bo Nix playing so terribly Thursday night overshadowed a couple really bad Darnold mistakes that do concern me a little bit.

So I was saying this. You can't fire a quarterback. So Dan Quinn's in trouble. Back-to-back clock mismanagement. They even burned a timeout off a clock stoppage late.

It was egregious.

But it is something. We talked about this last week. jaylen jayden daniels plays with a casualness i can't buy like you can make mistakes but like i'll defend a quarterback all day that makes mistakes because they're aggressive they care when brock purdy sam darnold i mean elway through mistakes marina i'll always defend that guy andrew luck there's a casualness that's like guys this isn't thanksgiving with the cousins i it's very difficult i mean again i'm not letting dan quinn off the hook but this feels almost like a personality trait does it not.

The This is the second straight week where you and I are totally aligned on something. I understand Dan Quinn seemingly forgetting the down and thinking they can kick a field goal, and the lip reader's there. That's not a good look for him. But it is relatively... Teams move off coaches all the time. I'm actually a little surprised given the fact that they have a bye this week.

I thought Quinn would have been fired already. The fact that he hasn't maybe means because the division is so bad, they're going to give him time. But Jaden now, in consecutive weeks, has made such egregious game management mistakes, it's hard for me to get past. Throwing the ball into the first row on fourth down just can never, ever happen under any circumstances. The intentional grounding, they could have stolen that game. They never got to take a pass into the end zone on their final possession in part because the intentional grounding. And I thought the Niners, lost in the mix of it was, I thought the Niners let Jaden and Dan Quinn.

Off the hook on what could have been.

An unbelievable finish to the game because after the intentional grounding, the referee said, and the clock is going to wind on my whistle. And I was sitting there watching with six seconds left before the Niners took timeout. I'm like, man, I don't know if anyone on the Commanders knows what that means. Like they might stand there calling audible and the game just ends on him again. Like I was ready for that. And that really does concern me about Jaden.

He's obviously, you know, in an injury risk. And then there's this Colin since week one of last year, post week one of last year. The Commanders have won one game that Jaden Daniels has started.

Yep.

One.

Yep. I mean, that's not.

Good for a guy who was so promising as a rookie.

I said, you can't go cheap on coaches. It does not work.

Right?

It just doesn't work.

Uh shoddy was a a cheap hire chargers pre-harbaugh for years wouldn't spend money you got to spend some money on the head coach patriots did on ravel bears that on bed johnson andy reed didn't come cheap like it just it matters yeah um nick seriani's opening press conference is without question the worst i've ever seen it's never got over it oh my god i called two people uh before the press conference i said who's nick seriani they're like He's not a great play caller.

I don't think he's ready.

So, by the way, like a lot of things in life, I said, any pilot can fly in 75 degrees and sunny. Fighter pilots, that's what the NFL is. It's a crisis league. And this is the classic, we all knew it would end. It was just a matter of time. But what would his legacy be? Because he's got a championship.

I mean.

I mean, it's very weird. In 20 years, you're going to be like, who's Nick Ceriani? I mean, he's probably in big trouble. What do you make of him?

I mean, the resume is the resume. His winning percentage is that of an all-time great. He's been to two Super Bowls. They make the playoffs every year. And yet, if you hooked me up to a polygraph machine and asked me, do you think Nick Sirianni is an above-average NFL head coach, my answer would be no. Yeah.

I don't... And.

I think it's a larger discussion. I think it is very clear Jalen Hurts and his camp, his agent, his people around him, were not on the same page as the Philadelphia Eagles when it came to how this blood clot was dealt with, handled, reported on, all of it. And if I'm Jalen Hurts, I'm livid. I also think because this season's going to go to hell for the Eagles, sadly, that we've likely seen Jalen Hurts' final game with Nick Sirianni as the head coach. I think Hurts is going to be back next year. I would be surprised if Sirianni is. And people can say, oh, that's unfair if he loses his job and the quarterback got hurt. Andy Reid had had a winning record In 10 of 11 years with Philadelphia, been to five conference championship games, they

won four games, they.

Got rid of him.

They brought in Chip Kelly, who had back-to-back 10-win seasons, then won seven games, they got rid of him. They brought in Doug Peterson, won a Super Bowl, then won a playoff game with Nick Foles again, then won the division the next year, they had a four-win season.

They got rid of him.

In Philadelphia with Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman, they do not give you, ah, one bad.

Season, what are you going to do?

Reed had a four-win season and got clipped. Chip Kelly got fired after his first losing season. Doug Peterson got fired, three years removed from a Super Bowl after a four-win season. Last year was disappointing for Philadelphia. If Sirianni can't with still an excellent defense, and a hand-picked offensive coordinator, find a way to win some games, I gotta think Sirianni would be out. And let me add something briefly to that little prediction. I'm going to go ahead and guess a guy I think you like. Shane Steichen is the next head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. He worked well with Jalen. He's been there. They just fired Ballard. I can't imagine Steichen survives into next year, and I think that's.

Who the Eagles would hire.

By the way, that is a great call because they loved him. The Chargers loved him when he left, but they couldn't keep him. The Eagles loved him. Okay, I want to end with this. As a proud Sixer season ticket holder... Yeah, that's right.

It's hard to repeat in this league.

Mitchell Robinson's gone for the Knicks, so if a cat got in foul trouble, maybe, you know, are they the right team in the front court?

What do you are real... Because talent-wise, I mean.

Philadelphia has got a lot of youth and a lot of alpha. What is a realistic LeBron James Sixer one-year experiment? Because I think it'll go to, let's say it's what? What's realistic?

Yeah, I mean, I just think.

It'll go like every place he's been to goes, which is in year one, they'll make the finals and lose. And in year two, they'll win the championship and it'll ride off into the sunset sunset 25 year career.

Yeah, that's what I think is going to happen. He goes to Miami.

They haven't won a playoff series since they won the title. Year one, they're in the finals. Year two, they win the championship. He goes back to Cleveland. They've had the number one pick of the draft. Three of the four years he's been gone. Year one, they're in the finals. Year two, they win the championship. He goes to the Lakers.

They're off the worst six-year stretch in the history of their franchise.

Prior to LeBron getting there, they had missed.

The playoffs ten times ever, five times in 70 years, and the five years before he got there, Year one, he got hurt at Christmas. Year two, they win the championship. So I would imagine he'll go to Philadelphia.

It is hard to repeat.

They'll find themselves in the finals, probably come up short to Oklahoma City or San Antonio. And then next year, they'll just win the championship. and it'll be 25 years, five championships, four different franchises he led to a title, and it'll be a quarter century in the league, and the final piece of the puzzle that makes historians from the future look back and be like, wait, they used to argue about who the best player of all time was?

That was a debate?

Was that before or after they were debating whether or not the world is flat or round? That's the category of debate.

It will be in.

Like, did you know people used to believe? Like, oh no, they believed it. Some people made a whole career off simply saying the earth is round. Essentially, I'm saying, thanks to LeBron, I get to be Copernicus. I get to be the guy that just says the obvious truth about the universe. And my name will echo through history because it will be so clear from that point forward.

Yeah.

So that's what I think.

And I got to go there Thursday. You know, I'm doing something. You might judge me for this. I know we have to go, but I'm going to take your time. So the home opener, they obviously play in New York tonight. But, you know, I do well, but I don't have Colin Coward money, so I can't afford tickets to that. Better off buying season tickets in Philly than tickets to one game at the Garden banner night. So Thursday is the Sixers' home opener.

Yes.

That game is a 7 o'clock tip. My TV show ends at 5, and then we do overtime.

That's 5.20.

The last Acela to Philly that would get me there in time for tip-off is 5 p.m.

Sharp.

So if the audience is wondering, am I pulling half a shift on Thursday and leaving mid-show to make the Sixers game?

I am.

I think it's what's good for the show. I think having me on the ground at the game, I think that's what's best for the show, for the network. I think the game's on a competing network. Maybe we get a little FaceTime of me and LeBron chopping it up before the game, a little free promo.

Who knows?

But I'll be in my seats, my season tickets Thursday night, fresh off the train after doing half a shift of First Things First. And that may or may not have been how I'm alerting the bosses that that's my plan.

But the tickets are purchased.

I've got to do it.

So hopefully they're watching your show and they're okay with it because that's what's happening.

Deep background cultivating sources. This is something I believe in strongly as America's journalist. I'm America's honesty broker. You're America's feet on the ground journalist.

Yeah, absolutely.

The more I think about it, Fox probably should have paid for the tickets. I'm out here explaining to my wife what this tens of thousands of dollars recurring charge is from the Philadelphia 76ers. I'm like, we bought season tickets, honey. We talked about this over drinks. Fox probably should have picked that bill up.

Yeah. Maybe next year.

I'm on your side on that one.

I'm rooting for you on that one because I've got a few things I'd like picked up as well.

You bet.

Yeah, you got a box of the Bulls or something with your name on it.

I already know. See you, Colin. All right, Nick Wright. No, the Sixers are going to be a blast to watch. I don't know. I mean, I think I've said this before.

Is I think if you had just brought Jaden Daniels over with Vijay Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey, you had a very good team, but you had like, okay, who's going to kind of run the show? LeBron's not doing it for money, and he's not doing it for anything other than winning.

He's not doing it for stats.

Like LeBron, actually a guy that needs shots, having another guy that needs the ball, actually it's.

The rare circumstance.

It's contrarian to like what you'd think would be true, which is another guy that needs the ball. But he's the right guy with this group of alpha males who need shots. They all need shots. Jalen's going to want 15. Edgecombe's going to want 12. Tyrese wants 20. And LeBron's going to get 10. So they need shots. And Embiid, you know, in the 38 games he plays, is going to need shots.

Want more H.E.R.D.? The H.E.R.D. streams 24 hours a day, 7 days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search H.E.R.D. to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube. And you can be a part of it. Just go to YouTube and search Fox Sports Radio. Hit that subscribe button. And smash that notification bell. And catch all the videos from your favorite shows.

Two pros and a cup of jump. Dan Patrick.

Colin Cowherd.

Stu Godson Company.

Live.

Covino and Rich. The Odd Couple with Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington.

The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon.

And the Ben Maller Show. Fox Sports Radio.

On YouTube. Subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon, and comment away.

So there was a moment when the Rays beat the Guardians last night. Junior Caminero for the Rays. He's got a big personality. He takes his time after hitting a home run. He went all in last night hitting this home run. And as he went around the bases, and I know this just drives old baseball people absolutely insane.

We can show the home run and the trot. So it's the second slow. It took 38 seconds to get around the bases. 38 seconds. That's the second slowest. The only slower trot around the bases was Junior Caminero on the 15th of, I think it was August. So, listen, I am for celebrating. I think baseball sometimes needs to lighten up. That is way over the top, rounding first. Okay. Okay. Uh, and again, baseball for years was like, there's a way to play the game and everybody else had a different idea on the way to play the game. But, uh, it, it, right before he got home home plate, he stopped. I thought, oh, this is obnoxious. So there is a, again, two things can be true. I'm all for flexing. Uh, that was

obnoxious again. It's, uh, it's his style. He's a bit over the top. It felt obnoxious to me. J-Mac with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the Herdline News.

Some rare good news for the Packers, who were a perplexing choice for your herd hierarchy. Josh Jacobs apparently is returning to practice tomorrow. He missed the first six games being on the commissioner's exempt list.

Yeah.

But they're saying he has a shot to play this weekend against Detroit. Now, if you go back to the criminal case against Jacobs.

It doesn't look good.

There's allegedly a tape surfacing that Jacobs is trying to bury.

Collins, is it a risky move bringing him back?

And then the tape surfaces in two weeks and it's like, oh my God, a potential black eye for the league and the Packers.

So obviously this is.

Good for football. I don't know how this is going to play out for Jacobs in the league. I don't think he's going to help that much. This offensive line still is rotten.

Well, he'll help them because he's by far and away the best talent they have at the position.

But in my.

Recent life last 10 years everything gets out if there's a piece of video that's why i always say to all the ufo people like show me the alien like it would get out i'm sorry there's a million whistleblowers with a million stories if there was an alien we'd see video right i'm not saying there's not you know uh some stuff out there but i just if if you think you can suppress really bad videotape I think that's a gamble I would not be willing to take.

I think stuff can only be suppressed so long. It doesn't matter what it is. Football, non-football, criminal case, civil case. I just feel like stuff. I mean, I've seen now when you take people's phones and they come out and they have like private text.

Messages now get out and stuff.

It's like. If you don't want something to get out, like then calling a burner phone or something like the tech messages will get out, you know, wherever you get burner phones.

I don't know.

But I feel like if you're rolling the dice on this, man, it just feels like if there is this really bad video and that's being, you know, alleged.

I don't know if I'd roll the dice.

From a football point of view, getting back Josh Jacobs and then Micah Parsons, allegedly.

Oh, those are star players.

That's going to be good. That's going to be good for the Packers. Detroit off a bye. This is a big spot, as we see in the NFC. So the NFC East is a one-playoff division, right? The NFC South is a one-playoff division. That leaves five from the West and the North.

Oh, I think Chicago, Detroit, and Green Bay and Minnesota are all viable. I mean, the fact that Minnesota's 5-0... Well.

They're going to be 6-0 this week. They're winning this week.

Sorry, guys.

They are.

And then you've got the Rams. That's why I talked about the Rams. You can't lose this week if you're the Rams.

That's right.

You can't fall further behind.

That's right.

Now, Seattle could lose to KC, which helps their case. And I know we disagree a little. I just don't think Seattle's a very good football team right now. Maybe McDonald can turn that around. But this game right here, Packers-Lions, is a big one on Fox. there's playoff ramifications. I know the 24 team college football playoff crowd thinks, Oh, this game's meaningless.

No guys, sorry. You've got to win your games. You don't want to fall behind.

That's right. They just don't get it.

All right, let's go to the Broncos and Sean Payton. Uh, this, I feel like this story every single week, Sean Payton, what's.

Going on at quarterback.

Well, the latest is people are calling for Bo Nix to maybe sit and go with Sean. Uh, it was Jared Stidham, which I think is insane. Um, Peyton says he's not even considering a move.

Take a listen.

To answer your question, no. He's going to become the byproduct of all the finer things that get improved.

The improved play from our offensive line.

The more efficient we are relative to.

Balance running the football.

And that's our job as coaches here.

We talked after the game about we're excited to get that win in here at the same time.

Find that improvement we need.

In all areas.

Yeah, I don't think you bench him.

I mean, they're winning, and he's got enough anxiety, it looks like, and self-doubt.

I think you play him. It's not pretty.

Now, there's a big difference between extending him, give him a huge contract, but I don't think benching a guy that keeps winning is the answer, especially a guy that I feel like he's struggling a little bit with confidence.

So I wouldn't bench him.

I mean, are they winning with him or in spite of him?

Oh, in spite of him, yeah. I mean, I don't think there's any question. The defense is great. The coaching's excellent. Their personnel's very strong. I think their roster's exceptional. I really like it.

If you're looking for a spot for them to open up on offense, this is it. Cardinals off a massive win. You could look up teams as a double-digit dog winning outright on the road and how they do the next week. There is a return to earth for the Cardinals. So the Broncos, you see this number, that's a big number on the road. For a Denver that doesn't have any offense.

So this seems to be a spot where Knicks could go for, you know, maybe they get to 300 yards of offense.

I don't know.

Final story, Colin, we're going to go to baseball in that video. They just want to show it again. What are they calling it? 38 seconds around the bases.

Right.

For junior caminero yeah first home run of the postseason do you think it's over the top no not at all i enjoy this i mean this right here maybe is a bit much because it's only the seventh inning but ultimately i listen man colin you know me i play in men's basketball leagues i hit threes in the fourth quarter and i'm going crazy okay this is 50 000 people you know.

To go to this right here look at right here i gotta no.

Problem with that. Like you're celebrating. Enjoy the moment.

I think a lot of these, you know, desk jockeys who are on the internet in, in Dubuque, Kansas, getting all upset. Well, I think they've never had 50,000 people screaming.

Well, I think, I think baseball people don't like it.

The, interwebs got all sorts of major league players that are saying this is the grossest thing they've ever seen.

Oh, come on.

Now, I'm sure some of the guests who we have on this show are like, this is disgusting. I would hit the guy next time he comes up to bat.

But I'm sorry.

I think. I think this is over the top. I wouldn't have minded just that. Take out the home plate and the first base thing. I don't mind that. I don't mind that or putting your finger in the air, but stopping before home plate.

Stopping and pointing at a guy and doing his celebration.

Feels very tacky to me.

Again, though, they're going to the World Series.

This is only the seventh inning. 5-1 probably felt like a death sentence to the Guardians, but... When 50,000 people are going crazy, you hit your first home run of the postseason, you're juiced up.

Celebrate.

I mean, maybe it was a little over the top, but.

The purists who say you can't celebrate at all, just, sorry, guys, I can't rock with that.

All right, J-Mac with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herdline.

A lot of people are wondering, Chris Ballard let go yesterday as GM of the Colts. I made two calls today on Peyton Manning, and I was told, nah, he's not going to be interested. Maybe if he could get ownership stock and be GM, he'd be maybe that.

But there's two things that I know are true.

A-Rod is too rich to be a baseball manager, and Peyton Manning's too rich to be an NFL general manager.

Right?

Like, those are grind jobs. You're working 365 days a year. And you're dealing with an owner. They can be impulsive and demanding and meddling and not anybody in particular. It's just like you lose. Peyton likes to have his own time. Peyton likes to travel on his time. Peyton likes some, you know... semblance of control. I actually share an office with his company, Omaha in Los Angeles. I don't see Peyton.

I know Eli better, but I know this Peyton's going to do what Peyton wants to do.

It could be golf. It could be hangout. It could be family.

The idea that the two bad jobs, they call them the worst great jobs in sports, NBA head coach and NFL general manager. is that it's just you have, I mean, I could give you a dozen stories from executives I've talked to for the league. I mean, you end up being a therapist to the owner. You got, you know, the owner's kids are in the building. Your power's being usurped regularly. It's, I just don't, I mean, I made two calls. It reminds, like John Elway brings in Peyton Manning.

He's the hero to Denver. And then Peyton Manning retires and Elway is just fighting for his job. And if you don't have a quarterback in this league, I don't think there are any good GM jobs.

They're all bad. Live in Chicago, 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.

So there was a play in the Bills-Raiders game that captured our attention. If you did not see it, and most of you have, only Josh could pull it off.

Here it is. Allen in the shotgun. Here's the snap. Back to pass. Four-man rush. Pressure coming.

Has to step up.

Now still avoiding pressure.

Shovels it to the end zone, and it's caught by Keion Coleman for a 13-yard touchdown.

Are you kidding me?

Allen goes into his improvisational bag and pulls out a magic trick. So he's got a little Brett Favre and a little Cam Newton and a little Big Ben and a.

Lot of Josh Allen.

Those quarterbacks I mentioned have six Super Bowl appearances, and I do think he is the answer to the survey question. If you could pick a quarterback to win the Super Bowl that's not your team's quarterback, who would it be? And it would be Josh Allen. I think if Buffalo met Detroit, it would be the highest-rated Super Bowl of all time. And I do think he has captured a void, which is very unique to the NFL, where you have a small market, tribal fan base, and he is really creative.

I think Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre were part of that.

The NFL is very unique.

If you really look at the most popular quarterbacks, Favre was, Breeze was, Mahomes is, I think Josh Allen is now. Now, you could say Tom Brady. Peyton Manning was in Indianapolis. But remember, the New England vibe, I don't think Brady was that popular. I think he was productive. But the whole New England vibe was cold and aloof and calculated and covert.

You know, do your job, no days off.

It wasn't a warm and fuzzy feeling where I do think, you know, that entire operation in New England, and I loved it, but it wasn't like conducive to being beloved, feared, but not beloved. I think Josh is, I mean, I've said this, There's a little Cam, a little Favre, a lot of Elway. And what's always remarkable to me, right now, the two quarterbacks playing the best.

Think about this.

One did not get a Division I offer, Josh Allen. Dad had to send tapes out.

Went to Wyoming.

And the other one is Brock Purdy, who was the last guy picked in the draft.

Isn't that remarkable? For all the film, for all the footage....

All the film, all the scouting, all the depth. There's no secrets. Everybody's got an iPhone. You could tape somebody at a game. Michigan did. Um, anyway, uh, the point being Brock Purdy and Josh Allen, two very different quarterbacks are right now playing the best football in the world. Here's Joe Brady on that. Uh, Josh Allen shovel pass.

It's who he is.

I thought he was outstanding today. And, um, like that was, that was, uh, I give their coaching staff a lot of credit. There was nowhere, anything like the defense we prepared for. And the calm, Josh being able to handle that and be able to, hey, make adjustments and us figure out, hey, how are they handling it? What are they doing? And us be able to kind of respond to all of our guys and Josh not get, I mean, it's kind of who he is, but not get flustered and be like, all right, cool, I got it. Let's see, what are we going to do now? It kind of speaks to who he is, and I thought he was outstanding today.

Yeah, it's– I mean, you go look at that quarterback draft class that had Caleb. So Caleb's a star. Jaden Daniels, there are just things missing, including availability. Drake May's a star. Bo Nix, Pennix, J.J. McCarthy, no. It is really– hard to find quarterbacks. Now, most in the history of the league, a majority of quarterbacks have come in the first round.

Now they come from different schools, but Josh Allen is a first rounder. Brock Purdy is a outlier. Tony Romo was not drafted. Mark Brunel went very, very late. Brady went very, very late. Joe Montana went, I think, third round out of Notre Dame. Most great quarterbacks do come in the first round or top of the second. But it is crazy. I was texting with a general manager last night watching Purdy. And with all the film and all the scouting, Josh Allen at Wyoming, who did not have a winning record. Patrick Mahomes didn't have a winning record in college. People think it's all... That's why when people talk about Arch Manning.

It's not that he's losing games. Patrick Mahomes lost a lot of games. So did Josh Allen. So did Brock Purdy. I've never talked to an executive that cares about your college win-loss record. Not one in all my years. They do not care. They are drafting you on ascension, traits, coachability. Are you mature enough? It's not about winning and losing.

Almost everybody transfers now. I mean, everybody's transferring somewhere with a portal. But it's just it's with all the film and what it also proves. Now, I think Josh Allen would have succeeded at some level, regardless of where he landed. But like I saw, everybody's talking about these mock drafts and all these quarterbacks next year or this this draft in April, next April. And I don't think a single one of them could succeed with.

A bad landing. It really all it really is all about where you land.

I will say this, though. There is a preponderance of offensive coaches in the league. There's just not that many defensive coaches anymore. And the ones that are good. The reality is there is a much greater likelihood percentage wise that you as a college quarterback will end up with an offensive coach. Like going forward, if you look like six guys are going to get fired this year, Dan Quinn is going to get probably let go. He's a defensive coach. Sirianni's in trouble, by the way, doesn't really call her design plays. Schottenheimer, again, we all kind of feel like that was never going to work. And there'll be some defensive guys get in trouble here. But I will say the good news for all these college quarterbacks, increasingly,

you're going to get an offensive coach. And I think Josh this year is better than Josh last year because of the comfort level with Joe Brady. In terms of Sirianni, I think he's handled it. There just came a story that came across just to me a couple minutes ago. The NFL ruled that the Eagles medical staff was appropriate in their handling of Jalen Hurts. I thought Sirianni discussed it yesterday in front of a very aggressive Philadelphia media.

I thought he handled it about as well as a coach could handle it. But my knock on Sirianni has always been anybody can fly the plane, sunny skies, and no wind, right?

That's not the NFL.

It's the only professional sports league in America where 100% of your players will get injured. Nobody after week six is feeling great. You're watching the Niners. Mike Evans banged up again. They literally can't find a healthy wide receiver. So I think my problem, that doesn't mean you have to be a great coach to win a Super Bowl.

If everything is right, you have a stacked roster, Doug Peterson, Nick Ceriani, you can win a Super Bowl with a great GM, a great owner, and a capable quarterback. But largely in this league, especially once you pay the quarterback, that's the decision Denver and Sean Payton have to make. We have a stacked roster in Denver, so we're going to win these close late games because I can have Waddle and Sutton and Mims, and I can have all this talent and expensive offensive line. The question is, once you've got to pay a Jalen Hurts and you've got to pay a Bo Nix or a Jaden Daniels, and it's like, well, he's not always available, and now he doesn't have that number two receiver and our right tackle's

below average, that's the reality of it. You better have a great GM to hit in a lot of draft picks. So my take with Sirianni is he's one of those guys that when the skies are perfect, he can land the plane.

But that's not the reality of the NFL.

I mean, right now, you look at Buffalo and you're like, why is that secondary so egregiously bad? Well, look what they're paying the quarterback and the left tackle and the star receiver and one of their tight ends. Like, you start paying the quarterback. Kansas City. Oh, I like Kansas City.

Well.

They've had to let go of a lot of good players. That wide receiver grouping in Kansas City, to me, is incredibly mid.

That's the reality of it.

So I think Dan Quinn, Sirianni, and Brian Schottenheimer are in trouble.

That's fairly obvious.

Mid-season firing, I could see Philly doing it and Washington doing it.

Maybe not Dallas.

THE HERD – HOUR 2 – Herd Hierarchy: Chiefs, Bears & Bills | Nick Wright on LeBron & 76ers

Kapitelklicken springt direkt hin

Shownotes

Transkriptvom Podcast bereitgestellt · Zeitmarken springen hin