Cardinals-49ers prediction + BLAME Aaron Rodgers for Steelers’ loss? | THE HERD NFL w/ Colin Cowherd

Cardinals-49ers prediction + BLAME Aaron Rodgers for Steelers’ loss? | 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. Mark Sanchez is now joining us live. He got the Cardinals at the NerS this Sunday, which is fascinating because, you know, I was watching M. Jones and I mean obviously there’s certain coaches Shane Stiken made Daniel Jones 10 for 10 in his first 10 drives. like clearly where you land as a quarterback is incredibly valuable. Um, what is it about Shanahan? I joke that his playbook should be called quarterback for dummies. It’s virtually impossible not to work, but what is it about M. Jones looked that’s the best pro game I’ve ever seen M. Jones have on the road. They asked him to throw 40 times. What is it about the playbook of Shanahan? Here’s what I would equate it to. If you’re a coordinator, worth your salt. You’re like a GPS for quarterbacks. It doesn’t matter who’s driving. I’m gonna give you a road map and I’m going to provide you with turnbyturn directions. You just got to execute these plays for me and stay out of trouble. Just stay in the center lane, 55 miles an hour, and do what I tell you, right? Sometimes you’re going to have to go off script. Sometimes you’re going to have to go fill up for gas, whatever it is. But they’re going to give you the road map. So, the McVyy’s, I mean, remember Shawn McVey, he brought Baker Mayfield in for like less than 24 hours and beat the Raiders in a two-minute drive. Kevin Oonnell’s done it with different players, but Shanahan specifically with M. Jones and he started the game pretty shaky and when you read some of those articles about postgame and and Trent Williams going up to talk to him and getting him to relax a little bit and then he just looks so comfortable and um you can really appreciate uh when when a coach can handle that and and that truly tells me if this coordinator is any good. That’s like the ultimate way of determining if the coordinator is worth it. How many different quarterbacks have played for you? And what does it look like when your superstar is not playing for you? Andy Reid for example, uh you know, Donovan McNab, Jeff Garcia, Kevin Cobb, you name it. Patrick Mahomes, different styles, different attributes, but they’re all going to have some level of success. Jimmy Garopppolo, Brock Herie, now M. Jones. So, this is no different for Kyle Shanahan. thing that I’m almost more impressed with is how he’s doing it with the O line, the patchwork O line that they’re having to use right now because they are banged up and they still find a way to get the ball to the playmakers and get the quarterback to play at a high level. I know you’ve looked at Arizona, 10 teams in the league are two and 0, 10 or 0 and two. We know that doesn’t mean everything, but Arizona to me has a lot of good players. I don’t know if they have the depth, the consistent line play. They’re 2 and 0. Now they face the NerS. Do you buy Arizona’s 2 and 0 start? Because the Rams Rams started Denver started Baltimore last year started off slowly and made the playoffs. So 2 and 0 doesn’t guarantee anything. It doesn’t guarantee anything. However, stealing these wins early on does set you up for success later on in the year. You’re not chasing potentially another team and keeps you in pace for the divisional race. My my um the themes there really are I do think Jonathan Ganon’s brought a strong culture to uh their team and it’s a balanced offense with Drew Pig and uh basically Kyler Murray’s playing efficient football. He’s avoiding a lot of the negative plays. Uh it’s it’s making the timely throws and James Connor his ability to run downhill run downhill fuels the play action. That’s that’s what really gets his team going. And then Kyler picking and choosing his spots to run. I mean, I know people make the joke about, you know, he’s he the way he runs, he kind of looks like the toddler running around with the remote control and nobody can catch him. Like, he just can’t corral him. And so, when he does that the right way, gets down, doesn’t get hits, and then decides to make throws as he extends plays and completes them. I mean, it’s some of the best in the league. You can put them up there with Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson in those extended play scramble mode situations. My only concern is the mounting injuries. That’s really going to test the depth and sustainability of this defense. Remember Jonathan Ganon, he wants to confuse you with some of those looks in the back end. And they’re down a ton of players. Their their defensive backs are depleted. So, how exotic can you get with these coverages? how much when you get exotic with coverages, you better communicate. So, it’s going to be more of an emphasis on guys like Buddha Baker to stabilize that unit in the back end. So, um Nick Seriani always surprised me. I thought I did his first press conference. I’d called people in the league and they’re like, I don’t know if he’s quite ready to be a head coaching job, but he’s really done a good job and he works in that city with that culture. And I think, by the way, I think it’s also fair to say that people do get better at their jobs, not just quarterbacks, but coaches. Brian Shottenheimr, I was told by people I trust, he hadn’t interviewed for a head job forever. Um, he was kind of an old school offensive guy. Um, and then I’ve watched them the first two weeks. Dak looks great. Clock management’s good. Not a lot of penalties. They’re getting the ball. I mean, they’ve created run lanes. I mean, I I got to be honest, I’m surprised. I thought this team could be a bit of a mess. I think they’ve overachieved offensively. You’ve watched him. What’s You know, Shottenheimer, do you not? Yeah. Well, he he was my coordinator for my first three years in the NFL and the year before I got there, so 2008, he was the coordinator for Brett Favre. They acquired Brett Favre. Well, Shottenheimer was a disciple of the, you know, Zambzi system and u North Turner system. So, that was all numbers. You you basically use three numbers to tell the X, the Y, and the Z receivers where to go. And then you’ll add a tag for your slot receiver on what his route is. Well, Brett Favre, that didn’t jive with him. He was a words guy. He was an old school West Coast guy. And so there was a clash there. Well, Shotti adapted the whole system, came up with code words that Brett Favre used. So when I get there, he basically asked me, “All right, what do you want to do?” because the coaches, the other players on the team, we might know the system that we ran last year, but just cuz we can talk about it, if the quarterback can’t talk about it, we’re all getting fired anyway. So, what hits your brain? And I know for a fact the last few years working with McCarthy and Dak, keeping some of those core principles, inserting some of the stuff that he’s used throughout his storied and and um you know, long career in the NFL. He’s been a coach for over 20 years, just never a head coach. He’s got the pedigree because of his dad and all the success that Marty Shottenheimr had in Kansas City. So, he was primed, poised, and ready to go. And now he’s got history with Dak. They’re speaking the same language. And then the last point is Dak’s health. When he’s healthy, he’s recognizing stuff. He’s communicating with his coordinator. He’s executing at a high level. And it’s obvious. It’s palpable. I mean, look at the clip after the game of these guys in the locker room celebrating an absolute monster win in overtime against a divisional rival and he said, “On this team, we celebrate really cool stuff.” And so he calls out each guy’s accomplishments from the game. So and so scored a touchdown. Yes. And the team is like fired up. Those kind of moments, that’s why you do it, Colin. As a former player, that’s what you miss. the bus rides, the plane rides, the locker rooms after the game. You can tell they have something special going in Dallas. Now, it’s just avoiding all the outside noise that’s inherently a part of the Cowboys and continuing uh to build that culture that that he started. Yeah. And it also should be noted when you’re building a coach culture, it does you need buyin and they have looked really good. Correct. So, pro athletes need buyin. You can’t you can’t just keep pounding the table. And so, good for Brian Shotimer. Okay. you did the Seahawks Steelers game which was a fascinating game the second half I mean between the snafu on special teams and Seattle’s defense. So, um, I want to start with Pittsburgh cuz I had said coming into the season they haven’t been able to create cohesion in their run game for seven years and Aaron just came from the Jets who didn’t run well and now he’s going to the Steelers and I said it’s going to look like a better version of the Jets, a 41-year-old quarterback who doesn’t want to run around without a run game. That is a big ask. By the way, um let me before we wrap it up, Justin Herbert. Um a head coach of often in the NFL can help with personnel. Um offensive coaches tend to be better at developing run games and offensive lines. If you look the last six or seven years, the better offensive lines in the NFL at the end of the year are often offensive coaches. Harbaugh. I’m watching Justin Herbert’s first 19 games with Harbaugh and I go back to his last 20 games with Staley and I don’t know exactly what it is, but I mean stylistically he looks the same. He’s still big, smart, moves well, but he has cleaned up something. Harbaugh’s cleaned up something. He just doesn’t turn it over. And is that eliminating plays from a playbook? Um, I mean, because the receiving core still feels a guy short. How do you I mean, what is Harbaugh doing here in your opinion? It just feels like I’m getting just a a a cleaner, tighter Justin Herbert. Still big, still moves, still big arm, still accurate, but it’s different. What do you think it is? I think he’s starting to reach that point in his career where his structure, the um the protocols in place, the uh preparation and and understanding the reads are are really starting to fall in line. That rolodex of coverages that you’ve seen versus specific plays are just coming up to the forefront of his mind. and he’s also understanding this is where this is where quarterbacks really take uh the the next step in their maturation process. We’re not just running plays on the field ever. In practice, you’re running a bunch of plays, but you’re practicing specific situations. And when the call comes in the headset, do I know why the play caller gave me that play? What’s the play caller’s purpose? If you can answer that clearly and succinctly as soon as the play call comes in, you have an excellent chance to be successful on that play and you can tell it’s happening. The one thing I will say, you know, I understand the contrast to Staley versus Harbaugh, defensive guy to offensive guy, but don’t forget, I mean, they were up 28 nothing in a playoff game in Jacksonville and absolutely blew it. And that wasn’t all Justin Herbert, right? I mean, Joey Bosa got a penalty for slamming his helmet down. Like, you know, come on. So, I think things change there if you win that playoff game. Um, but I think part of this is just timing wise with Herbert. He still has the athleticism. He’s like the prime of your career to me. You still have the athleticism, but now you have the knowledge. Now you have the experience, and now you can get to the answer faster than a lot of other players because you’re an elite processor. And so it’s all coming together for Justin Herbert. Uh, you know, maybe it’s the new girlfriend, maybe it’s the new offensive system, I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s working and it’s awesome to see. Yeah, it really is. One of the really nice guys, Mark, that was great. Absolutely primo stuff today. And enjoy Cardinals at the NerS. That’s going to be a good that game is through the years. They’ve given the Niners a lot of trouble. Uh, they’ve matched up well, so that’s going to be a great watch on Fox as always. Mark Sanchez delivers.

Colin Cowherd is joined by Mark Sanchez to react to the latest in the NFL. They start by previewing the Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers. Next, are the Dallas Cowboys ready to be contenders under Brian Schottenheimer? Is Aaron Rodgers to blame for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks? Finally, is Jim Harbaugh the GOAT coach and how far can he take Justin Herbert’s Los Angeles Chargers?

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