Aaron Rodgers & Steelers WILL WIN division + Shedeur & Browns, Bears | THE HERD NFL w/ Colin Cowherd

Aaron Rodgers & Steelers WILL WIN division + Shedeur & Browns, Bears | THE HERD NFL w/ Colin Cowherd

Welcome to the Herds official YouTube channel. Make sure to like and subscribe. Don’t forget to check out the Colin Coward podcast, all of our NFL instant reactions, and more football content. So, uh, Aaron Rodgers, this is so it’s I’ll explain it, but Aaron Rogers now, according to PFF, is the lowest graded quarterback in the NFL. Lower than JJ McCarthy, lower than Russell Wilson and Flacco who have been benched, lower than 0 and4 Cam Ward, and lower than Gino Smith who just threw an interception last segment. He’s lower than all of them. He was 20 of 24 last weekend. He’s completing 69% of his throws. Has a 103 passer rating. Not to be obnoxious to PFF, but uh I’m going to go with no. He’s not the worst and he may win the division because currently in the AFC North the starters are Jake Browning, Dylan Gabriel, and Cooper Rush. He may win the division. Here’s where I’m going to defend Aaron Rodgers. He’s asked on this team. I said this two months ago, he’s Chris Paul. He’s not Steph Curry on this team. Aaron is he is Chris Paul. Occasionally go hit DK Metaf or a back shoulder throw. I don’t need you. I don’t need Steph Curry. I don’t need James Harden. That’s not what I need you to do. So, he is the lowest rated quarterback because in the PFF grading, um, he has the fewest air yards per attempt. He’s not taking big swings down the field. He only has three total big- time throws all season. That’s what they call down the field into a tight window. But my take is he’s new here. They’ve got a good enough defense to win. If you look at the quarterbacks he’s gone against, it’s Carson Wentz with three offensive line injuries. My take is Aaron in Dublin started looking at that offensive line with the Vikings. He started looking at Kevin Oonnell’s inability to adapt or change. He couldn’t because of personnel. He looked at the pressure on Carson Wentz. And Aaron’s a smart guy. He’s watching in real time what’s happening and he’s like, I don’t need to take any risks. I don’t need to throw the ball down the field. So, I think you have to be careful about PFF grade. I’ve watched Gino Smith every snap this year. Aaron’s been the better quarterback. And I also believe Aaron’s a very smart guy and he gets into in-game situations and sometimes you let the game breathe. Sometimes the team needs energy. Sometimes they need a big throw down the field. But in that game, from the very beginning, first drive, first eight minutes, you’re like, “Oh, and Minnesota can’t block them. Minnesota’s having a problem here.” Then a guy rolls over and he’s hurt. Aaron read the room. So I And if you look at the schedule for the next couple of weeks, Cleveland and Cincinnati, they’re going to win two more games. Now, it gets really tough after that. It’s a lot of Packers and Colts and Chargers and Buffalo and Baltimore and at Detroit. But I I will defend Aaron here. I do think and this happens all the time. You ever gone in for a big meeting, a sales meeting, and uh it kind of goes sideways fast, and you’re like, I got to read the room here. I just I just got to save the meeting. I’m I’m not We’ve all gone on a date. You go to a meeting. Aaron’s in a big football game, and you read the room during the game. I’m going to scale back. No big swings here. So, I when I watched that game with Aaron, the way they were running the football, I mean, they they actually ran the football like they looked like a 2025 offense. I think Aaron looked at it and thought, “Guys, I’m just not Aaron said, I’m not going to make any mistakes. We’re going to win this football game. I don’t need to throw the ball down the field.” So, I think, and that’s nothing against PFF, but I have watched every snap of Gino this year and I’ve seen Cam Ward and I watched Joe Flacco and Russell Wilson. Aaron knows what he has here. He’s play he’s playing backup quarterbacks with a turnovercreating defense and an offense that suddenly now is creating lanes offensively. Why throw the ball down the field and take big risks? I think he’s smart. And this is, by the way, the third straight nice thing I’ve said about Aaron on this show. I don’t know what’s happening. Um, all right. So, uh, this story has gone from compelling to a cautionary tale. Dylan Gabriel will now start for the Browns. They’re benching Joe Flacco. But it’s worse than that is that if Dylan Gabriel fails, they’ll go back to Flaco. Shadur is now third. Here’s Kevin Stfansky. Excited for Dylan. He’s done everything. He’s handled everything really well uh since he’s been on campus here. Um so we’re just going to have to support the young man. Um coaches, players, offense, defense, special teams. We need to coach better. We need to uh block better, catch better, run better. All the above. We need to be better. Um and I know the quarterback position gets quite a bit of scrutiny. I I understand that. But uh this is uh this is about our entire team playing better. They have two first round picks. They need a franchise quarterback. It’s all okay. It’s going according to plan. I think they’ve actually played better than you would have accepted expected. They beat Green Bay. I didn’t think that wasn’t on my bingo card. So, I thought the Shadur Sanders story was fascinating. He dropped like a rock in the draft. And then he went to like OTAAS and chopped it up and was really good. And I checked cuz I thought to myself, do I care about this more than the audience? So, in cable TV, I can go the next day and look at my ratings minute to minute to minute. And I looked at the Shadur Sanders topics for about a month and the audience, you were as interested as I was. Uh, this story to me is now what’s the moral of the story? Can we learn anything from this situation? And we can. If you’re a great talent, you can get away with more. If you’re marginal, you probably shouldn’t call yourself legendary. Bomb pre-draft interviews. Get two speeding tickets. Have your dad tell teams, “Don’t draft him.” Now, Shadur lacked some self-awareness, but young guys in their 20s, I mean, writer cup, you watch the crowd this weekend, people in their 20s can lack self-awareness. But here’s what I know about the NFL. They don’t care if you’re a popular influencer. Thank God. They don’t care. I mean, and they don’t care what you did in college. Will Howard and Stson Bennett won natties, can’t get on the field. Patrick Mahomes had a losing college record. I’m not going to just crush Shadur because he lacked some self-awareness. Most 23 year olds do, especially if they grew up with wealth, but he he right now he’s a marginally talented celebrity and the NFL just does not care. And I don’t think the story is that interesting. I I didn’t even know if I was going to talk about it today when they brought it to me. But I but I do think there is a lesson in here and that is know what you are and know what you’re not. I’ve said this before, sports is kind of unusually cruel to young people and the quarterback position. You know, most of us were goofballs at 23. I was most of us, you know, you make really guys brains develop more slowly than girls. For the record in college athletics, girls are often offer scholarships 8, nth grade, 10th grade. Why? Because they mature more fast, more quickly. You know what you’re going to get with a young woman emotionally and physically. Guys, they change. You can have you can have a guy that is uh I mean, go look at the story of Josh Allen and and I mean could not get a junior college offer. Boys explode like many of you. I grew seven inches junior to senior year in high school. Like just guys mature physically and emotionally different. And so, but in the NFL quarterback, it’s cruel. We need you to have the maturity of a 38-year-old guy at 24. Not at wide receiver, not at mike linebacker, not at corner, but at quarterback we do. Same in the NBA. Point guard. Chris Paul was not only gifted, Chris Paul was determined, obsessed, and mature at 24 years old. He played I remember talking to a NBA exec on this. He’s like he’s a he’s like a 35year-old 10-year veteran in the NBA. Breaks in ready to go. So, it’s very rare and it’s unfair, but at quarterback, you got to be a grown-up. That Johnny Mandel stuff is fine for a lot of positions and fine for a lot of industries, but you can’t be a goofball at quarterback or surgeon or pilot. Like, I need a grown-up. Can’t wear a tie-dye shirt and be wake and bake in the morning and jump on my Delta flight. Not going to work. I’m going for surgery. You You got to be prepared. You can’t have a hangover. I’m sorry. And I think I think there is a moral to the story on this is at that position, everything counts. Everything. Every single thing counts. Today’s show brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. The leaves are falling. The stakes are rising. Postseason baseball is here. Every swing absolutely can change the season. We got some great teams. How about Milwaukee? Dodgers have no bullpen. Milwaukee swept them this year. Keep your eye on the Mariners, Yankees. Do they have good enough starting pitching? Step up to the plate. Take a swing on Hard Rock Bet. New customers. All you have to do is bet five bucks. If it hits, you not only get your winnings, but also 150 bucks in extra bonus bets. Plus, every day this week on Hard Rock Bet, you get a profit boost for a playoff baseball parlay. There’s a new promo every day. Boost your same game parlay or SGP Max so your bet pays extra winnings. So, uh, you know, if you want to see what everybody else is betting, who’s going to homer, top picks, or parlays across any sport, the Hard Rock Bet app literally shows you. It’s another reason to download the app. It’s easy, 90 seconds. Just for the intro, tap discover and you can see trending picks and parlays at any time. Download the Hard Rock Bet app, make your first deposit. So, um, yesterday we talked about this at length. Last year in Philadelphia, there was a little AJ Brown drama, but it was different. They scored like 50ome points in the NFC Championship and they scored 40 or something in the Super Bowl. And everybody was on the Saquon Barkley train like, “Oh, he’s setting records. He was the new guy. Everybody loved it.” So AJ Brown’s like, “Okay, I’m not getting many balls thrown my way.” Whatever. Okay, winning cures everything. usually in the NFL. It’s not going to cure everything here. Last nine games for AJ Brown in Philadelphia, he’s averaging three catches a game and 38 yards. He’s arguably the second or third best receiver in the game. So, this different last year was different. Everybody was sharing in the joy of AJ uh of Saquon Barkley. Everybody was in on it. Everybody loved it. Everybody took a back seat. And also last year the defense was great. It number one total scoring defense. This year it’s 22nd. This year they’re not getting to the quarterback. So, they need AJ Brown. They really need AJ Brown. Saquon’s yards have been cut in half because everybody’s stacking the box. The words out on Jaylen Herz, stack the box, make him throw. So, you know, it’s it’s just interesting. Everybody says, “Oh, it’s okay. They’re winning. Winning cures everything.” There are exceptions to every rule. This the last nine games, including the playoffs, they can’t get the ball to AJ Brown. Now, the Rams are small at corner. In my opinion, during the trade deadline, the Rams should make a move. They’re tiny at corner. Maybe they got some 6-3 guy on the scout team, but they’re just too small. But last year was different. The defense was great. They were scoring a lot of points in big games. They were running the football. Everybody was sharing in that joy. That’s not what they are now. They need AJ Brown and they can’t consistently get him the ball in their last nine games. And here’s Brian Baldinger on his sort of mentality as a wide receiver. The thing about AJ is this. It’s he’s he’s different than other um wide receivers in that his mentality is like an offensive tackle. He wants to absolutely obliterate the opponent in front of him. He wants to take every corner the way Lane Johnson takes every defensive end or George Mada takes every defensive end and wants to drill him into the dirt into the dirt and have him meet grassy. That’s what AJ wants to do. But if he doesn’t ever get that chance, then that’s what frustrates him. You got to see the problems ahead of when they’ll eventually face the roadblock. The Eagles are 4-0. They have a worse point differential than Minnesota that just got housed in Dublin and they can’t figure out their quarterback position. They have a worse point differential than the Jaguars. So, this thing eventually you got to be able to see things before they’re real problems because you have a trade deadline opportunity here. And that’s that’s like the Rams need a corner unless they got somebody on the scout team that I’m not fully aware of. And the Eagles have a I mean, the only thing that blows up a great dominant roster is drama. What’s the most dramatic position in the NFL in our lives? Wide receiver. So again, I think AJ Brown last year was like, “Hey, it’s Saquon’s year. We’re winning.” Okay, now he’s got a trophy. Now Saquon’s yards are cut in half. Now the defense isn’t great and they need him and they still can’t get him the ball. You could talk yourself into being a good teammate last year. Hey, it’s Saquon’s year. Saquon’s not having the same year. Words out, box is stacked. Final story is your Bears narrowly escaping Vegas with a big win on that late field goal block. Chicago’s run game only had 2.7 yards per carry. Meanwhile, the Raiders rush for 240. Here’s Ben Johnson talking about being upset with the offensive run game. When you look at it as a whole, it was it was just a it was a mess, man. I I’m very um I I’m just not proud of what we put on tape. Um I think it’s a reflection of of myself. I always take it personally. Um, I I just I saw us getting better the first three weeks and in in a lot of ways on offense and then this this was just a little bit of a step back for us. Yeah. Bears on a buy. So, you’re tempering expectations. No, no, no, no. It’s it’s interesting now. Um, so I had a conversation two days ago on what is it? Wednesday. It was Monday with a Bears fan and I said, “Oh,” he goes, “You got to be fired up.” And I’m like, well, it was a mess. Exactly what I said. It was a mess. I said, you had three interceptions from Gino Smith. The Raiders are not a good team. Maybe it was three. Yeah, it was four turnovers, three picks, two to the safety. And I’m like, and you needed to block a field goal. Why? Why? Why shouldn’t I be happy with a win? I said, you can be whatever you want. I said, but dude, if you if you get four turnovers, three picks, you got a win going away. You should beat the Chiefs or the Bills if you get that. This is the Raiders. Yeah. Who can’t block. So, it’s like Ben Johnson watched what we all watched and is totally honest with it. If you’re the Bears, you’re Oh, we won. And I get it. Bears don’t win road games. But it was a There are losses where you come out of it totally concerned. By week four, the offense cannot have false starts on fourth and one. You just cannot do that. By week four, I said first couple weeks, I’ll give you a pass. I mean, week one, the Lions were a mess with new coordinators. But you get to week four and five, no false starts on fourth and one. Can’t have them. Sorry. Real quick, Colin, can we get the Bears schedule on the screen because we touched on this. So, bye-s coming out of the buy, but Washington has not looked great recently. Their defense got shredded by Michael Penn. Then you get the Saints. We’ll give that a win. We don’t know if Lamar will be back for week eight. We just don’t. There’s a chance they’re facing Cooper Rush. Jason, I said this before the season. This was one of the high hardest ranked schedules. And I said at the time with you, I said, “Tell me the show me the threeame stretch of great teams. This schedule is you get a buy. Next up, Jaden Daniels, we think plays the bad Saints. Lamar, who knows, the Joe Burless Bengals, the Giants at home that can’t score. Minnesota’s quarterback situation, not good. Pittsburgh at home, certainly winnable. And Philadelphia, which has had the two worst offensive halves in the league with their new offensive coordinator. This schedule was overvalued. It’s It’s a normal NFL schedule. It’s not a great schedule. It’s a normal one, but if you go by win totals, right? Washington had a high one. They were in the conference championship. Baltimore Super Bowl contender. Cincinnati Super Bowl. Vikings went to the playoffs. Like before the season, this looked tough, but so many things are breaking their way. I mean, who’s starting for the Browns in week 15? Maybe it’s Shadur. Well, here’s the other thing. Here’s the other thing I that I said. I said Lions don’t have a great defense. Cowboys without Micah won’t have it. Raiders don’t. Washington didn’t. Saints don’t. Bengals even with Burrow don’t. I mean, the best defense they play is the Giants. They get them at home and the Giants can’t score. So, this this I think we over like the Niners schedule was really easy. But my take it’s not that easy because nobody can stay healthy. So, that schedule was everybody said, “Oh, it’s” I’m like, “Hey guy, you guys, they’re not playing with a full deck. It’s an old brittle roster.” And the Bears schedule look daunting, but if you looked at it, it’s like, “Well, they don’t play a great defense.” Yeah. until New York in week 10. So that means Ben and Caleb can get rolling here. So I um yeah, I mean I I think it’s I still think they’re an eight- win team. You steal one. You still won in Vegas, right? And and everything changed now. By the way, I could be starting a receiver for the Niners in week 17. My agent’s putting in a call today. You know, I’ve been working on the ladder drills. Like I mean I don’t know what’s going left at that point. Well, he played 10 years in the NFL. has got a new digital and YouTube show called Rear View. Mark Sanchez is joining us live. Your guest was Josh Allen, who is uh I think honestly is the most talented quarterback, just physical trace I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s a small town kid. Tell tell the audience the story about he and his dad and their new business venture. Well, they actually have this partnership with Wonderful Pistachios. And Josh Allen is from Fireball, which is outside of Fresno, Central California, known for uh produce and farming and agriculture. So, he’s a small town farm kid. And him and his dad had their first yield of crops, pistachios, and it takes five years. The last time I talked to him about it was exactly five years ago. So, he’s fired up about this uh partnership and we got to break that down a little bit and his agricultural skills and also talk a little bit about this uh occupation he has playing quarterback in the NFL. So, it was fun. Yeah, it is remarkable how many of these great quarterbacks grew up as small town kids. It is unbelievable the numbers if you go back. So, um you know, I was saying this about uh Brock Pury. When Brock Purie was FBS, the four years he started at Iowa State, the reason he dropped in the draft is he led college football in interceptions. He was a little small and he threw a lot of picks. So, he goes to Kyle Shanahan’s system and you don’t see a lot of picks. He cleaned it up. But now he’s playing hurt and that people fans don’t understand. You’re you’re forcing things. You’re playing hurt. Maybe you don’t have quite the velocity. And now he’s making more and more mistakes. My take is some of this is just the injuries because I thought from college to pro Mark I thought he had kind of cleaned it up. I thought his judgment was very good. What where do you think the interceptions come from? He’s obviously not totally healthy. That’s is that part of it? Oh, that’s a huge part of it. And I think he went from a steady distributor type point guard to a guy who’s got to score a lot more and they’re leaning on him a lot more to make plays with, you know, a different type of roster than he came into the league with. Remember, he had guys like Brandon Iayuk, George KD, uh, Debo Samuel, and then halfway through the first year he started, they get Christian McCaffrey. So, three of those guys are all pros or pro bowlers, perennial all pros and pro bowlers, and they all knew the system. They’d been in the system for years. So, he just has to look at a wristband, spit out a call, and go do his job. Now, he’s working with different players, younger players, first year, second year players that he doesn’t have a ton of rapport with. And it puts you in a position where sometimes you get a little riskier with the football and sometimes you just kind of press a little bit. And I feel like that’s kind of where he’s at. He’s trying to overcompensate for injuries and lack of personnel around him. I do think if you get into the argument of him versus M. Jones starting, I still think even with the toe injury, he gives you a little more mobility, but yes, there’s some of those riskier decisions, you know, that kind of echo from his college days that seem to be cleaned up. Also, I would argue that the pocket is, you know, not as clean as he normally used to. So, he’s having to move around quite a bit. They’re showing a little age on the offensive line and then they’re starting some young guys. Connor Colby, the left guard is starting in place of uh of Banks and Berford and all the guards that they’ve gone through. So there’s um bottom line is I don’t care if you’re Steve Young, Joe Montana, you need guys around you. And even if those guys came back into play right now, the best ability would be Steve Young’s legs because you know it’s it’s tough finding completions right now for San Francisco. And they’re still three and one. Don’t forget, all this being said, they’re three in one, so they’re still in prime position. They got a big one tomorrow night. So, one of the things um you know, I I’ I’ve said this about presidents before a long time ago is they never get credit for the mistakes they avoid. Like, like you know, there’s decisions that could be made. We don’t know behind the scenes. The president goes, “We’re not going to do that.” You don’t get credit for stuff you don’t do, but this happens in life sometimes. You could be a husband. You could be a quarterback. you you I think Aaron Rodgers is the lowest rated PFF quarterback and I said time out. I said timeout. I’ve watched a lot of quarterback play this year. I think Aaron has figured out on the fly and I thought he did it in Dublin. Multiple O line injuries with Minnesota. Vikings right out of the gate got a great pass rush and Aaron said, “I’m not throwing the ball into trouble. I’m throwing this ball underneath. I’m getting completions. I’m gonna let our defense win. And and I’m just I’m I’m saying that’s what I saw, but his he’s got he’s he’s lowgraded by PFF and their takeaway is he doesn’t throw the ball down the field. And I’m like I’m watching Minnesota’s old line. Can’t protect Carson. He shouldn’t throw the ball down the field. And you’re laughing at this. Why? Well, I’m just Okay. 11:21 Pacific time. Colin Coward is defending Aaron Rogers. I am. I don’t know if I’ve heard that. Give me 20 second. This could be a fool. Colin, what’s going on? I know we flipped the script here. Listen, I totally agree with you. Uh I think, you know, he’s the veteran conductor of the orchestra. It’s not flashy, but he’s going to get the whole group in sync and hit every note. Um reminder, this division is theirs for the taking. uh with Joe Burrow down with Lamar Jackson down for who knows how long with the hamstring. I mean they’re playing Dylan Gabriel and Jake Browning next are their two starting quarterbacks that they’re going against. So they finally figured out how to use DK Metaf and that took some time. You know they don’t have a ton of time on task Aaron and DK and then Arthur Smith getting him involved and understanding that’s exactly what he does best. What we’re watching on this highlight he’s a catch and run guy. He’s a big body contested ball defend catcher like that. That’s exactly the way you want to utilize him. And when it’s available, you take it. When it’s not, you’re going to have to go dink and dunk and do some other stuff to get the ball down the field, get the run game going. But he’s got plenty of gas left in the tank. And he’s got plenty for deep balls and all those splashed plays. But they’re going to have to generate some of those splash plays on screens, uh, wide receiver screens, halfback screens, tight end screens. that’s where they’re going to get some of their stuff because they’re not just a launch it down the field type of team. But, uh, this post bye-week for them, they’re on bye-week right now. I mean, it’s set up pretty nice for them to potentially run the table in the AFC North. So, um, you have the Raiders at the Colts this weekend and I’m watching the Rams Colts game and I’m texting a friend and I think J-Mack may have been one of the people. I’m like, first of all, Indy’s old line, Indy’s team’s good. They got dudes. Indie Indy’s a good team. And I said, “Second.” Okay, he’s not Stafford, but Daniel Jones is making big boy throws. Daniel Jones is playing with a ton of confidence. His second interception, it’s late. You don’t have much time. I don’t even I don’t care. Um I I’ll say it. I never gave up on Sam Darnold. I gave up on Daniel Jones. I don’t even know what I’m watching. I mean, seriously, Mark, I’m watching him. I’m like, “Oh, that’s a starting quarterback in the NFL. Big moves, big arm. I Are you surprised a little? Well, just add them to the list of former New York players that leave and go have success. I don’t care whether you’re Giants or Jets. I mean, it’s uh it’s incredible to see Xavier McKini, Saquon Barkley, uh uh Leo Williams, um Daniel Jones, just add him to the list. So, what Shane Styen has done has assembled a roster, a strong offensive unit, a strong offensive line that can keep the pocket clean. They got a great run game. I love their running back and they have everything that Daniel Jones had in the year he went to the playoffs and won a game on the road in Minnesota with the New York Giants. I mean, it looks very similar. Remember, they had uh uh Saquon Barkley that year and you know, now they’re working with Jonathan Taylor. It’s like a very similar setup. The guy is surgical. He’s an intelligent player. He’s more athletic than people give him credit for. You see some of his scrambles. I mean, this guy can pick up 15 to 25 yards like that. And then, you know, they got this rookie tight end, uh, this Tai Warren kid, Tyler Warren out of Penn State. I mean, he’s a big body, all of 66, big catch radius, and he’s still a rookie. He’s still trying to figure it out, and he’s making this kind of contribution early. I mean, this is scary. They have plenty of talent in that division. I think it’s kind of them and Jacksonville right now, at least out of the gates this first month of the season, that can that can really make a run in that division. And uh that thing’s wide open for those two teams. By the way, Ashton Genty, breakout game. That’s not a great O line. You’re looking at film. He kind of, you know, I mean, it’s Boise State. It’s a big jump up. It’s not a great O line. What did you make of his performance? Well, I thought I thought they had an excellent performance last week. I think uh Austin Powers Jackson does a good job for them up front. He’s their right guard, has played center as well. Now they’re going with Meredith at center. But they also just lost Colton Miller, their left tackle that they really loved out of UCLA. So that’s going to be huge who’s going to step in. But I loved his ascension. And remember this division, the AFC West, it’s a street fight every week. All those teams want to run the ball. Whether you’re Shawn Peyton and the Broncos, um you know, Pete Carol and the Raiders, Chip Kelly, they want to run the football. Jim Harbaugh, uh they want to run the football with the guys they have. They want to control the clock, own time of possession, and and just wear you down and then knock you out at the end of games. So, this this division is right where they want it. It’s just do we have enough playmakers in the pass game for when people pack the box? Because that’s what teams are going to do, especially after this breakout game. They’re going to just load up the box and force Gino Smith to beat everybody with, you know, Trey Tucker, Jacobe Meyers, and, you know, uh, Brock Bowers, who’s wearing that knee brace because he got nicked up a little bit early in this season. So, that’s going to be where they have to take their next step. And they played poorly this past week, and they still had a chance to win it with a field goal. The Bears blocked the field goal, and that ended the game. But even with all those mistakes and guys that aren’t quite household names on their roster, they found a way to play some inspired football. And Coach Carol has this unit playing really well. So, they just dropped one um you know, kind of a tough loss uh at home, especially now they go on the road to Indie. So, we have that game this week. So, I’ve um uh two questions. Uh one of them would be tape, but here’s my last question before tape. So, I watched the Packers and I said, “They’re the youngest team in the league.” And there is something, remember when Seattle lost to San Francisco week one and I thought they outplayed them. There is something about young teams. Seattle’s young Green Bay young. There is sometimes with young teams, they don’t quite know how to seal games when they’re the better team. And it’s a thing. It’s a skill. There’s a reason Kansas City wins all these close games and Philadelphia. It’s a skill. And I think and I watch Green Bay and Dallas and I’m like they just don’t the clock they’re just quite not there. That was my interpretation. Jordan Loves great. He’s playing great football. You got a terrific coach. They’re going to be fine. But it’s the process of winning games against inferior opposition. And I think it’s harder than fans and media think that it’s a skill. Or am I just fishing here and you don’t buy it? No, that that’s 100% true. But these are learned traits and then soon it becomes part of who you are and how you the coaches teach it but until the players you know handle it and experience it then they go back to the well for more saying okay that worked I trust you let’s keep this going but the analogy for them really is like that that little league team that’s like the 10 year olds and they kind of stay together because they’ve been the youngest team in the league for like three years so they kind of stay together at 10 years old but they’re playing up a division against the 12 and 13 year olds. So by the time they get there and they’re 12 and 13, it’s like, hey, we’ve done this for a while. Now we just got to go prove it. We didn’t win all the tournaments before, but now we got a shot in the finals every time. Now it’s just doing it a couple times. And then it turns into riding a bike like teams you’re talking about like the Chiefs. They just know how to win at the end. And the first way to finish games is to stop beating yourselves. Turnovers and penalties. As soon as they eliminate those or even cut them in half, it’s a no-brainer. and they might start lapping teams. They might start winning by 14 points if they get their stuff together. So, I think most NFL games truly are lost and you don’t have to go steal them at the end. One team will just end up giving the game away. And so, they’re a young, deep, resilient group that can survive this war of attrition that is injuries. You know, it seems like they’ve been pretty healthy. So, they have a chance to run the table in their division. And I like where they’re headed. But you’re right, it’s all about finishing. Finally, uh I watch the NerS and the Jags. First of all, the Niners special teams have been lacking to be diplomatic for about three or four years and that was a part of the game. Um you know, Trevor Lawrence, I loved him in college and there have been moments in the NFL. Um you got a play you want to show. Where are you with Trevor Lawrence? Yeah, it’s it’s interesting because that was that was a huge part of our broadcast last week and um you know I I don’t want to be a quarterback apologist. You know that the numbers are the numbers. He’s got over 70 turnovers in his career and at this point in your career going into year five, that’s not okay. But you look at the surrounding ca the supporting cast and the environment he’s been in, four different head coaches, four or five different coordinators. Finally, he’s has a coordinator that comes from that Shanahan McVey kind of tree that gives him options at the line of scrimmage. This is one of the first times he’s really had to go through an entire uh you hear these quarterbacks say can can. Well, they’re going up to the line of scrimmage with multiple plays. And when they say can, they throw a play in the trash can and get to a new play or completely audible, which he did and won a game against Houston after playing poorly against an allout cover zero blitz. So he’s doing a lot of this stuff and going through this can criteria for each single run going run to run, run to pass, run to run to pass, pass to pass. I mean, he hasn’t had to do as much of that and that hasn’t been on his plate. His plate is completely full. He’s got a center, thank God, who’s been in the system before. I felt that with Mangold when I got to New York as a rookie. There’s a lot to handle in the run game. And so I think he’s finally getting a chance to get these guys in the right play, give them an advantageous shot at each down. And you know, he took care of the football last week. Looked really good.

Colin Cowherd reacts to the latest stories around the NFL. He starts with why Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will win the AFC North and beat out Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens. Next Colin reacts to the Cleveland Brown naming Dillon Gabriel as their starting quarterback over Joe Flacco and Shedeur Sanders. Finally Colin discusses A.J. Brown and the Philadelphia Eagles and Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. Colin is then joined by Mark Sanchez to make predictions for the upcoming NFL week.

All lines provided by @hardrockbet

0:00 Aaron Rodgers & Steelers
4:22 Shedeur & Browns
10:17 AJ Brown
13:50 Chicago Bears
18:23 Mark Sanchez

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