THE HERD – HOUR 2 – Super Bowl Bubble: Chiefs IN, Ravens OUT

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0:25 Here we go, it's hour two. Phil Simms around the corner. What to make of J.J. McCarthy and the New York Giants in first place? What a story that is. A great, great night for Major League Baseball last night. The Rays and the Brewers, low payrolls, yet our first, second, or third, it feels like, in every big stat in baseball. Great to have you in. We're live in Los Angeles. Knocking down a Smashburger last night in MB. Living the big life, J-Mac.

0:53 So.

0:55 I do it about every three or four weeks. And there really does feel like in the NFL, the NFL is getting more and more. There's a business model that works, and it didn't feel like this 10 years ago. The NFL feels more like pre-NIL college football, where there was a clear have and have nots, a clear pecking order.

1:14 So if I did a Super Bowl bubble today, and it is Halloween week, so it's more of a Super Bowl cauldron, right in the best two teams, I think, are Seattle and San Francisco in my Super Bowl bubble. So the closer to the center, the better chance I think you have to win the Super Bowl. I know one's got a defensive coach. I'll get to that in a second. Then let's fill in some blanks. Teams that I think have what it takes. I think many of these will be considering a trade deadline move to patch up a hole. Bears, Bills, Patriots, Rams, Chiefs. I don't think they're Seattle and San Francisco. Uh, Now the team that's right on the edge, I've got them in barely, is Denver. I don't think you can play from behind

2:01 as regularly as Denver does. They're a bad first half offense. So I would put the Denver Broncos right on the edge of in and out of my Super Bowl playoff bubble. Again, I love the coach. I think the roster's good. I think they have a pass rush. I think you can't live playing from behind. But they're in, but close to being out. And then there's three teams that there's Bengals, Lions, and the Jags. Lions, defensively, am I ever going to trust them? Bengals, half to half, do they have an elite coach? I like Jacksonville a lot. I still can't believe they lost that Houston game, so they're close. And this is really what's interesting to me, is 10 years ago in the NFL, On any given Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

2:50 I'd be talking about Belichick, Patriots, Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin, and their football wisdom aged very fast as defensive guys. The only two defensive coaches in the league that I consider top of the market are Vrabel in New England and Mike McDonald. Now, you'll say D'Amico Ryans. I'll get to that in a second. So it's mostly there is a business formula now. Get a young offensive coach or just an offensive coach, and he'll identify the quarterback and elevate the quarterback. The two defensive guys who are the exceptions are Mike McDonald, but yet look at what he did yesterday. Shored up his offensive line. Who was the number one pick? A running back. Last year at the trade deadline, what did Mike McDonald do? Rasheed Saheed. Because

3:38 he knows, Mike McDonald knows, and John Snyder, as great as the Seahawks defense is, they beat the Rams last year 38-37 and 31-27. You can't stop anybody. So the defensive coach I think is the best in the league is Seattle's. Even he knows. First round, trade deadline, what do you do? You solve the offense. The other one is Mike Vrabel. Who did Mike Vrabel want? Wide receiver A.J. Brown.

4:05 What has Mike Vrabel pushed for the last two years in the first round and delivered? Offensive tackles. In fact, the last two drafts, three of their top four picks are offensive guys. So this is where I think McDonald and Vrabel separate from D'Amico Ryans. D'Amico Ryans can't solve the run game. Still can't get the offensive line right.

4:27 Still can't. So the two defensive coaches to me who are top of the market are guys. They may be defensive coaches, but they understand what's happened culturally. It's an offensive league. So that's and that's I saw this stat this morning. Staff did a great job since 2012. Twenty eight teams in the Super Bowl, right? Twenty eight different teams made the Super Bowl since 2012. Twenty seven and twenty eight above average offensively. Houston can't get there. So you can tell me the Minnesota Vikings, oh, they're 6-0.

4:59 They're 6-0. Minnesota, I love Brian Flores. Can't get to the Super Bowl. You can do regular seasons different. But you start looking at these teams. There is a clear, clear, how many defensive coaches do I have in this? Now, it's just me, but Seattle and New England, and both those guys have a very good feel for offense and how valuable offensive pieces are.

5:25 All right, so I decided to look up, you know, the eye test is one thing.

5:28 I looked up the odds to win the Super Bowl, and there's a little bit of a disconnect here. First of all, the Detroit Lions are plus 2,100, furthest odds of anyone on the screen.

5:39 Broncos and Patriots are plus 1,900.

5:41 There's a team not even on the screen ahead.

5:45 Of those three. Yeah, I know who it is.

5:46 Who?

5:47 The last place Ravens. No.

5:49 Minnesota Vikings, Colin!

5:51 They can't do it.

5:52 The bane of your existence, because they have defense and offense as.

5:54 A question mark. No, no, no. 27 of 28 teams, you've got to be above average offensively. So there is a clear pecking order in this league. There is a business model now. College football used to have a business model. Go to a high school talent-rich area, Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio. and get a very great recruiting coach, Saban, Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin. That was the business model. Your coach had to be a great recruiter. Is Signetti a great recruiter? Well, Indiana's got a good paycheck. They got a good checkbook.

6:31 So in college now, I don't know week to week what I'm getting. I have no idea. I mean, UCLA is better than Michigan? I mean, like overnight? How does that make any sense? They're better than Alabama? UCLA is better than Alabama? Like significantly. So I don't know what it is. The NFL's the opposite. The NFL's got a pecking order, haves-haves-nots. That's why I say you can hire a defensive coach, but he better understand that there is a ceiling on what you can do on that side of the ball, and Vrabel smartly Three of his first four picks have been offensive guys, A.J. Brown, and you see Mike McDonald here. He and John Snyder are like, let's make Donald better. That doesn't mean you can't let Kenneth Walker go. You don't have to re-sign everybody, but

7:18 I thought them getting Rashid Sahid and selecting him over Kenneth Walker is a little instructive.

7:23 And also, by the way, Vikings, Brian Flores is going to be one of the hot names around the league.

7:27 I know he has that small legal thing.

7:31 What did he fail at in Miami? He hated the quarterback, and the quarterback hated him.

7:35 By the way, Ravens are ahead of the Bears in Super Bowl odds. So if you're looking to buy low, Ravens right now.

7:42 Plus 1,300.

7:42 I don't know about everybody else, but I have this thing with quarterbacks. I've always said, hat on forward. I need you available. I don't want mystery. Put out fires. For all the criticisms I have of Jalen Hurts, he puts out fires in Philadelphia. Can't see over the line for down-the-seam throws. But when I look at Lamar Jackson, I can't unsee. I'm not saying he's Kawhi Leonard. But you're getting the same kind of thing where it's like a lot of mystery. He's been day to day for weeks.

8:13 The team doesn't know.

8:15 In the offseason, he wanted a new contract and did not get it. If he suffers a major injury here this year, what's his future? He doesn't have that contract and that security.

8:24 So I wonder if he's slow playing this to come back.

8:27 Like, sorry, guys, unless I'm 100 percent, I'm not coming back. I don't have a contract. Could he be worried about his potential.

8:34 Major injury, Colin? I think that's I mean, Daniel Jones, you know, some of these quarterbacks and he's a runner. I don't know. I mean, I'm rooting for Lamar. I have a lot of money tied into the Ravens futures that don't look like.

8:45 They're going to hit.

8:46 Most wins was one that I had.

8:49 He is practicing, though. He showed up at practice. I think it's like 10 minutes ago. He's taking snaps on the field. So it looks like he's a go.

8:54 OK. Phil Sims around the corner here on Halloween week.

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9:12 Welcome to Football Doesn't Lie.

9:14 Hi, I'm Bill Parcells.

9:16 And I'm Catherine Zazzora.

9:18 I have a lot of experience in the game of football, Catherine.

9:21 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.

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9:42 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.

9:51 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.

10:08 Because once you understand what's going on inside the mind of the coaches, you'll understand more about the whole game.

10:13 So all aspects can be discussed. The because I didn't have enough money. I don't own the team. I never owned a team.

10:22 Listen to Football Doesn't Lie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

10:32 15 years with the Giants, made multiple Pro Bowls, two-time Super Bowl champ, MVP of one of them, a first-round pick at a Moorhead State. You know, they haven't delivered a lot of quarterbacks after Phil. That was kind of an outlier there.

10:46 NFL.

10:48 College football, it's Phil Sims, our friend. Sims Complete is his podcast. You know, I was looking at the Giants. I think it's– you had a Barker as a head coach. I don't know if John Harbaugh is. You had Parcells. And most of the guys, Andy Reid barks, Saban barked. A lot of the coaches, they lead by volume. They lead– I don't look at John Harbaugh as a Barker. I really don't. Between him and Jim, if one of them you told me yelled, it wouldn't be John. What is he doing? I mean, he's on three different quarterbacks now. Phil, what are you hearing? What are you seeing? What is his magic potion for a team that really, if you're on a third quarterback, you have no business being in first place. People looked at this as a six-win team.

11:31 What's his magic sauce?

11:34 Well, you know, it's really hard to answer, but I would say this. He's absolutely different than what you think. He looks like the really friendly guy.

11:42 There he is.

11:43 We could be friends. But he commands respect on the field. And I'm sure the players all during training camp calling are going, you know, man, it was rough and he was tough on them. But he is sending the message out all the time.

11:56 And I'll just go to one real quick.

11:57 Kim Scadaboo, he's fumbling the football. Come over here and stand next to me, big guy, because that's where you're going to be if you're going to fumble the football. So he has really gained the respect of all the players on the team. You know, watching practice during training camp this year, it was everything but go to the ground.

12:17 They were thud.

12:18 He was in control of all that, everything that was going on. And he's been a big surprise. I guess a lot of us think, you know, John Harbaugh, but I've seen it in person and it's real.

12:30 What are the Giants doing to support J.J. McCarthy, who not only won the game, but I thought that was the most confident version by a wide margin that I had ever seen. I thought he looked great. I said on the air, did we have our next Sam Darnold? That was high-end playmaking. What are they doing to support him?

12:52 Well, I think the biggest thing is, you know, being sitting here on Sunday, waiting to see the game, I felt they'll be really careful. A lot of short passes. And it was just the opposite. They went into the strengths of J.J.

13:03 McCarthy. What are his strengths? One, he's mobile.

13:06 And the other one is he has a really strong arm and throwing it down the field. You know, I hear this all the time. I expected a short passing game to protect him.

13:16 But it makes sense. The Giants were aggressive in every way possible defensively.

13:21 Against the Houston Texans as you throw it down the field there's less traffic you see everything because there's not a lot of people back there and you can make good decisions and he made great throws all day long.

13:34 You know it this is a good problem to have but it was suggested over the last couple days as you put he and Jackson Dart up okay like what what happens I mean let's just throw this out there you got the Eagles on a backup the Cowboys can't stop you know anybody washington's got all sorts of issues on on honestly on roster coaching what what are the giants i said before the season i thought they were a playoff team what i'm watching right now is absolutely a playoff team and a and a tough out what do you do if jj mccarthy is throwing the ball around the yard and you're a playoff team that wins a game what does that do to next year's camp.

14:16 Well, you know, I'll just say this first.

14:17 What happened this past weekend surprised me and surprised, I think, a lot of people. And that's a good problem to have. And, you know, everywhere I've gone in the last day or two, before people can even.

14:32 I don't know.

14:33 They go, do you think they're going to trade Jackson to Hart? So I think the Giants, as they look at this, they go, this is a really good problem to have if he continues to play. I don't think he'd continue the rest of the season playing at such a almost like perfect, but you know, The offensive coordinator, Matt Nagy, has right away put an offense in that fits J.J. McCarthy to a tee. Get him away from the line. The offensive line of the Giants is blocking pretty well. It is. Get him back deep. It's easy to see down the field. And he's got that big arm, not afraid to throw it into tight spots. And the other thing is he's got receivers now with the Giants.

15:14 So a lot of the Giants— Oh, is the O-line good enough? Quarterback play?

15:19 Is Malik Nabors going to be who he wanted to be? No, he's not. He's better than you expected.

15:25 And it's really fun to watch it and to see the throws down the field, the wide receivers, just the way they're acting, the way they handled themselves in the game, too.

15:36 It's just everything was clicking for the Giants.

15:39 And me being a fan, I'm just disappointed this was a bye week for them.

15:43 You know, it's interesting. Sometimes in the NFL, like right now I think, and most people would agree, that Seattle has the deepest roster without a hole. Their special teams are good. They could probably use another receiver after JSA. Other than that, it is a... I mean, I like the Niners, but they're old and beat up. Seattle's young and doesn't get hurt. Their only old guy is Leonard Williams.

16:07 You know him, and he never gets hurt. So my take on them is... Kansas City got boat raced. But my takeaway was it's Seattle. They were in a bad mood. It was kind of urgent. You have to throw the tape away or and you can go to your career on this because it really made Kansas City look, oh, they got six problems. Or did you ever have a game in the NFL? You're like, guys, that's a great team.

16:32 They had to win. We didn't. Was there ever a throw the tape away game for you and just don't take anything from it?

16:41 Well, yes.

16:42 Unfortunately, I had quite a few of those play our games where we didn't throw it away. But, you know, probably for me in my career, it was the Philadelphia Eagles and this guy named Reggie White and the head coach over there, Buddy Ryan.

16:55 I mean, it was just an all out assault on you.

16:57 And if you just played mediocre, you thought, damn, that was a really good day for me. So, you know, so I kind of feel for the Kansas City Chiefs a little. When you look at Seattle, they might be one of the bigger teams. They are one of the bigger teams in the NFL, but they have size and speed. They are fast all over defensive linemen who can really run everything. So they're they're a tremendously tough matchup for any team out there. And it's you don't see that kind of domination too often in pro football.

17:30 But we saw it when they played the other night.

17:32 Yeah. I looked at the trade yesterday and this I've always said I call it my substitute teacher syndrome. When you fire when you fire a coach in the middle of the season, they put in the interim. The players love him because he's nicer on the players. You win two or three games and everybody said he's the head coach.

17:51 It's like, slow down. Everybody loves the substitute teacher. Let's not make the linebacker coach, the head coach going against Mike Vrabel twice a year or Sean Payton twice a year. Settle down. So the Colts fire their GM before the trade deadline because they lost to the Vikings, and they freak out. Well, they gave away Quentin Nelson yesterday for a third-round pick, but the bottom line is Seattle's so good, it'll be a bottom of the third-round pick, and they gave away DeForest Buckner twice. to the Niners for a fourth round pick. And that'll be at the bottom of the fourth round pick.

18:23 Right.

18:25 In your era, there weren't a lot of trades. Now the GMs are young. They're like baseball guys. They're trading left and right. Do you worry about adding a big money ticket guy to a team in week seven or eight?

18:41 Would I worry about it if I was on that team?

18:43 No, I'd be happy that the general manager went out there and got another player who can contribute to what we do. And during my career, which everybody that was in the same age as me or whatever, we didn't see much of this at all.

18:57 At all.

18:59 But just think of it this way.

19:00 You build your team, and when you get something good, you got him, and he's there.

19:05 I mean, I played with Lawrence Taylor for 13 years. We were teammates. That's pretty good. Carl Banks.

19:11 I mean, you name all the good players on the Giants. When I was there, there's a reason why we won game, because we had really good players who the organization, of course, wasn't going to let anybody go. And it was hard to say, oh, I'm a free agent to go out there and look for other a bigger paycheck. That wasn't going to happen either. So the only guy I can think of that we actually went out and got was.

19:34 and it really helped us, was O.J.

19:36 Anderson.

19:37 Yeah.

19:37 Because we had a lot of running backs, and I think they looked at it and go, you know, we were really into smashing. And so we needed a big running back, and Bill Parcells went out there and got OJ Anderson.

19:47 And it turned out to be a really good thing for our football team.

19:51 You know, um, I went and watched, I went and watched Caleb Williams and Drake May. I went to the game and I've, and I've done this fill on my career is when, when LeBron broke out to be a great player, I went to a few LeBron games. I wanted to watch him live.

20:05 Right.

20:05 And like, like, Oh, show. Hey, Otani Dodgers. I got to go see that live. And you can't believe how big he is in person. He makes all the other, even good players. He makes them look like triple-A baseball guys. He's just changed. And, and it's interesting. I went and watched Caleb and Drake may and Caleb Williams in person.

20:21 He's a TV. Doesn't do him justice. You played with some think the greatest player ever. Now I watched Lawrence Taylor on TV. He was unbelievable. You saw him at practice every day. You saw him intimidate pro bowl players, right? So I watched Caleb and I told friends this. I'm like, you have to go see him live. You don't even understand the arm strength. What do you first of all, what do you make of Caleb? And it was in your life. Were there players as an NFL guy that you watched and then you played against him and you're like, oh, my God, he's way better than you see him on CBS or NBC or Fox.

20:56 Oh, well, yeah. You know, where do I begin with Caleb?

20:59 I knew when you started that question and said, I went to the game live, I said, you were shocked to see him in person, wherever you were sitting, that the talent and everything and how it looks different. It even looks better in person than it does on TV. And the same with Drake May. You know, Drake May throws 40 and 50-yard balls in the air, and I'm like, God, I'd just be happy as an ex-quarterback if you just made it look a little harder because it's just nothing for these guys to be explosive down the field, throwing the football. And Caleb Williams, after his rookie year, you know, a lot of people talked about him. And I said, man, if they redraft, I'm still taking him number one without question.

21:39 I'm running to the commissioner. We want Caleb. And there's Ben Johnson.

21:44 Man, you're talking about a good combination between the two. They're perfect. And what he's really done, Ben Johnson, just watching and seeing Caleb play and how he acts and everything like that, you can tell they've connected. And all I can say to all the teams that got to play Chicago, look out. This is not going to die quickly, that's for sure.

22:03 You know, you had one of my favorite coaches ever is Bill Parcells. Oh, yeah. when I watch the old films with you guys, I think it's like, it's honestly, it's funny. I think you're self-deprecating. I think Parcells had the unique ability to be angry, but he had this touch where he was kicking you in the butt, but he was patting you on the shoulder sometimes, which is kind of an art. And I look around the NFL and a lot of the coaches that don't work, they're nice guys. But Rabel's intimidating and Shanahan's intimidating and Ben Johnson's intense. And there is an intensity to coaching and an intimidation thing that you lived. Did you know instantly in your career, even with assistant coaches, coordinators, position coaches,

22:53 Did you know instantly the guy's got it or he doesn't? Did you know Parcells day one had it? Because I watch these young coaches. Phil, we're firing guys left and right. Like, guys get nine games. Do you know as a player when you've got a star coach instantly? Do you know?

23:10 I would say this, just from personal experience, his first year with the Giants, he was trying to be friends with a lot of the older players and all that. And, you know, that doesn't work. You know, in the second year, I remember I was in the weight room one day and he walks up to me in the weight room.

23:26 And he goes, listen, Sims, because they were trying to fire him and get somebody else to take over the team, and nobody would take the job. He goes, if I survive this, by God, we're going to do it my way. And his way immediately came out. And you said a couple things that are so true. He was tough as hell on you. But you build up where you can take it. And also, he knew how to soften it every once in a while by saying something maybe nice about you or pat you on the shoulder and just walking by you and go, you know, son, I'm really proud of you. You're doing everything right. And he might walk away and you just go, man, I love you.

24:06 Coach said something nice about me. I must be really playing well. So I'll make the story quick. I probably told you this once. Walking to training camp, he's five yards in front of me. I got to get to the field because we got to do early work as quarterbacks.

24:20 So I said, well, what the hell? Here I go. I went around him. He goes, come here, Sims. And I go, yeah, I got to go to the field.

24:26 He goes.

24:28 I'm the coach, Sims, get over here. So he gets over, he says all these nice things about me. You're leading, you're this, you're practicing great. I'm really proud of who you are and all this stuff. And I said, oh man, thanks coach. I get ready to walk away. He goes, but I just want to tell you today, I'm going to absolutely destroy you on the field.

24:47 And I go, you know, and I got a little mad. I go, well, why?

24:50 He goes, because I got to send a message to the rest of these guys who are not practicing well, and they got to hear it. And the only way I can think to do it is to do it through you. So I'm practicing. Things are going great. And all of a sudden, I throw an incompletion. He takes his papers, throws them in the air.

25:06 Sims!

25:08 And there I am standing there going, this is all make-believe, but... It wasn't about me. It was about him reaching all the other players. And I say this all the time. He was tough.

25:21 That's the reason.

25:22 We practiced hard every day. Every day was the most important day of going to practice. And, you know, he was the adult in the room. And we learned that. We respected it, of course. And we knew we didn't have to guess what it was going to be like. He taught us it's going to be this way. And it was eight years for me under him that you know, there were a lot of tough moments, that's for sure.

25:46 So I want to, one question on Arch Manning, and when you have the Manning name, it puts pressure on everybody. It puts it on Arch, it puts it on Sark, it puts it on Texas, it puts it on everybody. That's just, that's American royalty. Your son, obviously, after your success in the biggest media market in the country, and you're winning Super Bowl MVP, and your son then goes to Texas, and the reality, and I've said this, there is, even Sark, like, you don't want to screw up a Super Bowl MVP's kid. There's a pressure to have Phil Simms' kid or the Mannings' kids. With NIL, a lot of times we look at a kid staying in college as a weakness. Oh, you don't want to compete. And my take is, Arch played in a very small high school

26:27 in Louisiana. I don't think he's ready. I don't think it... What would you tell. Maybe your son, if he did it again, or Arch Manning, when you do come from a dad, you've obviously got some genetic advantages. What would you tell Arch? What do you see with Arch? Where are you with Arch? And what do you tell him?

26:46 Well, there's a lot to that. You know, first and foremost, I was kind of the father to stay away. And I would tell anybody that's the father of a quarterback, that's the worst thing you can do. Be involved, kind of, you know, from the outside and try to help your son who's going through difficult moments or no matter what, it's going to be tough at the University of Texas. Now, a lot of people have said, I'm kind of going to go off on this thought. Oh, well, he'll probably transfer to another college and have a great year, then come into the pros.

27:15 And I said, wow, to me, that doesn't make sense.

27:20 He plays well, but then as the game gets going, he just tries to make too many plays. And, you know, just play a game where you say, I'm not going to turn it over. We might lose, but I'm not going to turn the football over. I did it in the pros, and it kind of settles you down where you can get back in the flow and play better.

27:39 But think about him if he goes to another college and plays. What's it going to be like? Constant attention. What's he doing now that he didn't do before and all that? Hey, look, I'm not talking for the Mannings or nothing. It's just the way I look at it. I would let him go on the draft. It might not go as high as he wants, but it doesn't matter.

27:57 He's going to be taught differently. It's a whole different game in the pros, and it will take a lot of scrutiny, I think, away from him if he does come out in the draft.

28:07 He's got a podcast on the Believe Network called Sims Complete. He's our friend Phil Sims, as always. It's absolutely great talking to you. The Giants are a legitimate team. That win in Houston, that's a big boy win. Houston needed to win that thing, and they controlled that game. Scataboo, I don't think he's going to last 20 years in this league. He's not going to last very long. I've never seen a guy, maybe Mike Allstott. I don't think I've ever seen a guy that runs like that.

28:33 No, he's special. He's got legs like Earl Campbell.

28:38 Can you imagine these secondary guys have to run in there full speed and hit that?

28:43 He's looking for you.

28:44 He's running.

28:45 Who can I hit?

28:48 But the Giants, I'll say this, they coached the game against Houston. I thought they, listen, really deep down, I said, I hope they just play well. But they came out firing on the offensive side right away with J.J. And now I just go, wow, of course, they did what's best for him. And on defense, they're not scared. They give you everything, Colin. They blitz you. They play it all.

29:09 And it's so much fun to watch. And I think my biggest disappointment is that they're not going to play this weekend.

29:17 Man, they were hot.

29:18 Yeah.

29:21 But, man, they are a fun watch. And John Harbaugh, whatever you think. If you think it's not about coaching, we just talked about it, Colin. It's about coaching in the NFL. And he's doing a terrific job.

29:33 Phil, it's always great seeing you.

29:34 Thank you. Thanks for having me on.

29:36 You bet. Yeah, no, we said that. was one of our lead stories out of the very rarely, you know, do I talk about a third string quarterback leads a show? But I watched the Giants game and I was like, wow, they got all the components. They can run it. They're physical. They got a pass rush. I mean, Fields is a third-round receiver from Notre Dame. He jumps off the teebeat.

29:57 Neighbors is a number one. Like, they got dudes. They got three running backs. They ran for 188 yards. You're like, oh, no, that works. They should win the division, shouldn't they? I mean, Cowboys don't play D. Tanner McKee's starting for Philadelphia. Washington's a bit of a mess.

30:14 You've been hyping offense. Offense, offense, offense. Well, who's got the edge? Offense, Giants, or Dallas? You've got to go Dallas.

30:22 Listen to Phil Simms. Coaching matters. John Harvin.

30:26 The most favorite thing in this whole industry that we do is we make predictions, and then you want them to be right.

30:31 So you are all in on the Giants. Six months ago, J.J.

30:35 McCarthy was out of his way out of the league.

30:37 And now you're like, hey, we've got a playoff team.

30:40 Could be Sam Darnold.

30:41 Could be the next Sam Darnold.

30:42 The Michigan Sam Darnold. Herdline news around the corner. Albert Breer today as well. Live in L.A., it's the Herd.

30:52 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. Walk off victory that saved their season.

31:04 The Rays will look to continue to battle back while the Brewers try again to capture their first World Series title in franchise history. Coverage of Game 5 begins tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern on Fox, all part of Foxtoberfest.

31:19 Well, 12 of the 13 hardest hit balls were by the Brewers, nine at people. So it's Milwaukee is we always talk about turn the sound down, like with the Seattle Seahawks. They look different. Turn the sound down. I think Milwaukee is going to wrap it up. I think the Rays deserve credit for grinding like crazy. But it's– I thought they had it one top of the 12th.

31:45 Milwaukee's really good. Milwaukee is really special. J-Mac with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

31:52 This is the Herdline News.

31:55 Let's go back to the association and talk about one of your favorite guys, Jason Tatum, delivered in the clutch last night, had a 40-burger, and then this shot at the buzzer to beat the Nets. Tatum, a spectacular game, Colin.

32:09 18-22 from the foul line.

32:11 Celtics have not lost since the opener when they blew that big lead.

32:15 Yeah, Tuesday night against Brooklyn, he's magic. Look at you.

32:20 I thought you were me, Mr. Positivity here.

32:22 Geez.

32:23 Oh, it's Brooklyn.

32:24 I never doubt his work ethic, his commitment, his smarts. I never doubt that. Or Tuesday against Brooklyn. Big games is when I care.

32:35 Yeah.

32:35 I mean, I don't have the time right now to call up all the big playoff games. He had a 40-piece against Milwaukee with the season.

32:41 On the line. Nets 0-4, and they had to go to overtime at home.

32:43 Nets stink, but they're going to fight hard. Look at that.

32:46 40 and no turnovers, Colin. Jason Tatum has five, as many as Luka, as many as Kobe.

32:52 Whatever happened to Jokic? We don't talk about him anymore.

32:54 Well, there's some stuff swirling around him.

32:58 I don't want to be marginalized as a Tatum hater. My take is, don't give me a Tuesday night against Brooklyn and say everything's solved. I want the big shots in the big game. That's the standard. Michael Jordan wasn't judged against the Raptors. He was judged against Utah and Barkley and the Pistons. The greatest compliment you can give any athlete... is I hold you to an incredibly high standard because I've seen your greatness. Yeah, I beat Brooklyn on a Tuesday.

33:26 Tatum's not even 30. I mean, the guy went to the conference finals every year.

33:30 Hey, Jason's over here saying, hey, he's up to 24% from three-point land.

33:37 Is that what he is, 24%? Okay, so it's four games. Thanks a lot for that. Look at the sandbaggers over here. 24. Okay, so he's not shooting great from three. It's early.

33:48 You're trying to make it, I don't like him. No, I think he's an all-star. You guys had him third best player in the league.

33:53 I had him like fifth.

33:55 He's up there.

33:56 Jalen Brown or Jason Tatum?

33:58 Tatum. I would take Tatum. I think he's a more fluid athlete. I think Brown gives me almost a. Brown views himself... as like a top five or six players but this is an analytic driven league and he's not a great analytic player tatum's a better analytic player he's more naturally fluid offensively i think he's easier to get along with he like everybody in the building likes everybody loves him.

34:29 But but what the celtics one of the smartest organizations in the nba kept him and moved to brown i think that's a big tell They probably have some info we don't.

34:39 Well, it's a little tell.

34:40 It's something. What does your buddy Bill Simmons say on Tatum?

34:44 I saw this story today, and you and Simmons, I thought, oh, God, I'm going to hear it. 40-burger against the 0-4 Nets, and you guys are like, oh, take a deep breath. I want to see him against the Detroit Pistons.

34:58 Well, the Pistons got to advance in the playoffs to face Tatum. I mean, there's a choke artist.

35:02 Give me a break. Come on.

35:03 All right, let's go to the Dallas Cowboys. Now, obviously, listen, you hit on something. They got to run the football. 155 yards on the ground against the Eagles. Dak only threw for 212 yards.

35:15 By the way, there was Javante Williams at 155. Dallas is a team 204.

35:20 Jerry was asked about the game plan and his gave a very clear vision for his Dallas offense.

35:27 We were talking about the plays, looking at the offensive line. At that point, when he was in there, I was telling him, I said, boy, our whole thing here is to establish a run. We've got to stick with this run. And, of course, we were at that time early in, and it was undecided. And sticking with the run was what we did.

35:45 No, it's very clear. They're 7-1-1 when Javante Williams gets 20-plus carries. It's not hard to figure out. Everybody thinks offensive coaches, all they want to do is throw. Shanahan's a run coach, but Liam Cohen likes to run. McVay likes to run. I mean, you watch Blake Corum. If you go look at McVay, he loves tight ends and running backs. He doesn't like to be reliant on Stafford throwing the ball 35 times. You get into trouble as an offensive play caller, and Shottie got into this. Remember the Green Bay game? Cowboys score on, you can see how they're trailing. Big deal. You can score points so fast in football now, especially when you have Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. They scored a rushing

36:26 touchdown against Green Bay. 37 of the next 38 play calls were passes. What in the hell are you doing? I don't care if you trail. I don't care.

36:35 It could have been the game script. It could have been what the Packers were doing defensively.

36:38 Let me ask you, if you're a reporter in Dallas, after you hear Jerry do this, are you running up to Pickens and Lamb and saying, Jerry wants to.

36:45 Run the ball more, fewer passes. What say you?

36:48 I'm not a blogger. I don't do that.

36:49 Well, if you were a journalist for the Dallas Morning News, I'm telling you, Pickens wants a contract.

36:54 I don't think journalists should do that. I don't think most do. I do think it's very clear. There's a number out in the NFL right now. It's not disputable. If you throw 40 or more times, you're four and 43. Stop asking even your good quarterbacks to do that. A couple of years ago, everybody was selling. Remember, you and I were pushing back. Everybody was like, running backs are done.

37:16 We're like, what are you talking about? mahomes needs a running game mahomes the previous two years was not as good as sam darnold why darnold had a better run game so cowboys were trailing by 10 four minutes left in the third when they threw it 37 out of 38 it wasn't the fourth quarter it was a little past the midway point in the third.

37:37 Yeah so cowboys cardinals this week.

37:41 Well, Dallas is going to win.

37:42 Are they?

37:43 Listen, there's some analytics out there weird on Arizona. They played a tough schedule and they scored a lot of points. They lose every game. I don't think this is the layup everybody thinks it.

37:53 Is.

37:54 I'm not buying Dallas yet, Colin. I have not seen it. What was their most impressive game? A win over Tanner McKee?

38:01 You have to go back to 2022 when the Cowboys had a very good staff. They had Mike McCarthy, B-plus coach, Dan Quinn. I think he's an A coordinator. And Kellen Moore, who's proved to be a really smart guy. That was a great, great staff. They were a playoff team. They had a winning record against playoff teams. If you're going to go cheap on coaching, you're not beating the Vrabels.

38:21 You're not beating the Ben Johnsons, McVeigh, Shanahan's.

38:23 McCarthy just walked away from a team that supposedly is good. That's a big sign.

38:28 That's a tell.

38:28 I mean, he knows Dak is a really good quarterback. He had lamb.

38:31 Mike McCarthy had no idea he was getting another head job. Remember, he was on the couch in Green Bay. We were shocked when the Cowboys hired him.

38:39 That'd be like me walking away from the set right now.

38:41 That would be a huge career blunder.

38:45 Let's go to the final story and another one of Cowherd's favorites, everybody. Bo Nix. He has been on the struggle bus.

38:52 There was a little chatter online in the Broncos community about maybe Stidham replacing him, but they got a nice win.

38:58 Nix had like a 62-yard touchdown.

39:00 No, they had four or five chunk plays this week.

39:02 They did have, yeah. I watched every snap.

39:05 They made some plays.

39:06 Now they play a real team, the Chiefs, this week, and Peyton is adamant there has been no wavering in Bo Nix.

39:13 The confidence inside the building relative to his abilities hadn't changed at all. And I appreciate some guys, sometimes you're answering questions about whether or not, and there's.

39:25 Not one time where we were, he's.

39:27 He's our guy and and it was good to see him play well and it was good to see his block well and and make some plays down the field.

39:35 Yeah i don't know that that fascinating the funny thing about denver so i was a big bonex guy i love sean payton And then last year, they trailed 15 times and won 14. Well, that never lasts.

39:50 Except it does.

39:51 So, and the thing about Denver now, now their schedule lightens up. Now, obviously, this is a tough one because the Chiefs got humiliated on national TV. So, Kansas City's the side here.

40:01 But the last time they met in week one, the Broncos got humiliated.

40:04 Yeah, this is a fascinating game.

40:05 I don't know what to do with this.

40:06 Denver literally, there are certain things in football that don't work. Like, heavy turnovers. You can win a Super Bowl. Well, Seattle was a huge turnover team last year, won the Super Bowl. Or you're playing from behind and you get to the conference championship. That was Denver last year. So like Seattle last year and Denver this year, there are things they're doing that historically are just non-starters. You can't play from behind. 90% of your games. And they do and they win.

40:35 So the model is already saying Kansas City is the side here.

40:40 64%. No, I think they're the side.

40:42 Now, here's the problem. We don't know what's up with Rasheed Rice. Is Patrick Sertain back for Denver?

40:47 He's expected back.

40:48 How about their left tackle situation?

40:50 Tackles is next. Second straight road game against a tough defense. I don't know, man. I just saw Kansas City get... really embarrassed i would throw that out.

41:00 Well again is the denver defense that far behind the.

41:02 Seattle seattle's got it.

41:04 All you don't think denver is going to be juiced up for this game they are remember also at home took over jacksonville in the second half took over the rams in the second.

41:12 Half i don't know man it's a great game And you know Peyton is going to be dialing up his best stuff.

41:19 I would expect trick plays here against Spags because they really bodied Bo Nix in that opener.

41:24 You go watch that. He looked flummoxed, just so I could use.

41:28 The word flummoxed. I always appreciate that on the show. Make our audience smarter. Smarter. All right, J-Mac with the news.

41:36 Well, that's the news.

41:37 And thanks for stopping by.

41:38 The Herdline News.

41:41 Albert Breer is going to be joining us in the last hour. It is Halloween.

41:44 I have.

41:46 You know, I'm going back to Chicago, so I'll be opening the door. It's Saturday night, right? Saturday's Halloween? Yep. All right.

41:53 It's supposed to rain out here in California.

41:55 Ugh.

41:56 This El Nino nonsense. Maybe the weather in Chicago is going to be great this winter.

42:01 It's been unbelievable this fall.

42:04 What is it, like 60 today? Yeah. Are you going to place Ann on the beach today, hanging out with friends?

42:08 I am. Today is lunch with a friend and interviewing Eli Manning. That's what my day is today.

42:15 You're talking to a Sims and a– what are you, a Giants fan now? What's going on?

42:18 No, I've been a Giants fan for six months.

42:20 Wait till we get Arch Manning and Jeremiah Smith in the draft.

42:25 Then you'll be a Jets fan. What are you laughing at? We got three top 11 picks right now.

42:30 All these Jet fans, fire the coach. Do not do that.

42:33 Not yet, not yet, not yet. Do not do that.

42:35 Let it play out. I've seen enough. You don't want an interim guy with a four-game winning streak and they hire the linebacker coach.