Colin Cowherd’s Week 8 Herd Hierarchy: Colts, Chiefs, Eagles, Rams, Bills, Packers | THE HERD NFL

Colin Cowherd’s Week 8 Herd Hierarchy: Colts, Chiefs, Eagles, Rams, Bills, Packers | THE HERD NFL

Welcome to the Herd’s 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. All right, here we go. The Herd hierarchy on a Tuesday. [Music] Herd hierarchy. Time is now. Let’s go. The top 10 NFL teams according to college number 10. Well, the Buffalo Bills are 5-0 when James Cook rush rushes for a thou a 100red yards. He rushed for 100 yards. Uh Josh Allen only had to throw the ball 19 times. I don’t think they’re very good against the run. Their pass defense is fine, but they’re a very good team. It’s a long season. Uh I like their O line, their run game, Josh Allen. They could probably use another receiving piece against the better defenses like Kansas City, but um they’re back in the top 10. Number 10. Number nine. New England beat them. I’ll put New England uh nine. You know, New England is the only team since the 50s. First eight games they haven’t allowed a running back 50 plus yards. So Vrabel made him tougher, better against the run. And let’s just be totally frank here. Drake May looks like a top 67 quarterback in the league. He may not be, but he’s completing 75% of his throws and his passer rating is 119. So the numbers say he is. Again, I think they need another weapon. I like the running back room. They’re good enough. Hunter Henry at tight end, but this is about coaching and an exploding young star at quarterback. Don’t think they’re a Super Bowl team, but I have them at nine. Number eight, Broncos are a little inconsistent for me. I do think Shawn Payeyton is coaching Bo Knicks. He wants him to throw the ball down the field more and sometimes it gets ugly. But here’s the numbers you have to think of. This team is allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL and is also has 10 more sacks than anybody in the NFL. That travels. Denver’s not going anywhere. It’s why I think they’re one of the few teams that matches up with Kansas City. You can’t get to Bo Knicks and they get to your quarterback. Denver at eight. Number seven. Bucks are all beat up. I put them at seven mostly because they have a veteran quarterback and Bo Nicks is a kid. They’re all beat up offensively, but they are still 20 plus yards down the field. Baker’s the best quarterback in the league. They have been outgainained in four straight games. So, there’s a little fool’s gold when they get into these winning streaks. They’re not pretty. They’re all banged up, but I think we all acknowledge at number seven feels about right. Number six, the Rams. They went and got a corner from Tennessee. I may have them a little low. Highest overall grade and highest graded offense in the NFL according to PFF. Now, they have the one of the last pocket quarterbacks. So, if you can get to Matt Stafford, that’s the key. And their O line is good. I don’t think it’s great. They lead the NFL in big pass plays. Even when Puka was gone, they brought in a fourth tight end, smart coach, great quarterback. They don’t move the pocket a ton. So sometimes Stafford if protection, pro pass protection regresses that he can feel a little bit like a sitting duck, but they’re allowing an NFL low 10 touchdowns through the season. So it’s just hard to get into the end zone against the Rams. I have them at six. Number five, the Lions. Again, a pocket quarterback. Golf can be a sitting duck at times. I think the Rams and the Lions have very, very good rosters. I think the Lions have better offensive personnel. The Rams have better defensive personnel. Four of their five wins have come by double digits. They are really special at home. They’re okay on the road. And by the way, their schedule is pretty weak going forward for the next month. So, they’ll keep posting W’s. Number four, Green Bay. Jordan Love. Folks, I don’t want to hear that he’s ascending. He’s a star. arm, mobility, talent, and their defense allowed the fewest big plays this season. They’re just really well coached and really wellrun everywhere. They’re still really young. They’re still figuring some things out. They still have really clunky halves of offensive football, but we got to get over the Jordan Love is rising and Jordan Love is ascending. No, not. He’s top 56, dude. Jordan Love’s great. Period. End of sentence. Number three, I don’t know what the heck to do with the Colts. Only lost to the Rams and they outplayed them at Sofi and they’ve gotten better since then, maybe by a touchdown. I mean, I think teams now are quitting against them. They are so physically dominant. It’s the best offensive line along with Detroit I’ve seen. They’re mashing people. They’re just dominating people. Pitman and Pierce and Warren and Jonathan Taylor, you have to sign Daniel Jones through an extension. I don’t know if they’re the third best team, but all the numbers tell you they’re squashing people. It’s like physically they’re just stepping on people. I’ll put them at three for now. Number two, Philadelphia’s got more big game experience. AJ Brown didn’t play. Shocker. Best performance of the year. I think Philadelphia gets a not over Indie because they’ve got more guys that have played in big games. And as we get closer to Thanksgiving, that stuff matters. So they’re 6 and0 when Saquon Barkley gets 15 plus touches. I have a recommendation. Give Saquon Barkley 15 plus touches. Philly 2. Number one, I don’t even think Kansas City played that great last night. I thought it was a B minus C plus performance and they still won by three touchdowns. Um I said this a few weeks ago, they haven’t had this kind of offensive talent. Rashid Rice clear number one. Worthy clever number two. Guju perfect three. Travis Kelce Gray excellent tight end production. O line still missing people. But again, one of the reasons I have Casey won in Philly too. Big game experience. That stuff matters on fourth down. That stuff matters in the red zone. I have Seattle at 11, the Chargers at 12. Again, I don’t know what in the world to do with the Colts. I don’t see them in the Super Bowl. You ever see that guy that pulls into the driveway after work? Maybe it’s the wife and they stay in the car for like 15 minutes. They’re not on their phone. They’re just sitting there. They don’t really want to go inside. Yeah. I feel like that Steeler fans, according to multiple stories I’ve read over the last day, Packers Steelers game felt like a neutral sight that many of the best seats were Packer fans. Those are season ticket holders for the Steelers bailing, taking the money. H Steeler fans have every every right to be frustrated as the league has pivoted to an offensive league. Seven straight seasons of a second to third tier offense and they just don’t take the quarterback position seriously. It’s a responsibility to go to a Steelers game, but do you really love it? Green Bay Packer fans had many of the best seats in this game. And fans want to feel optimistic not only about Sunday, but the future. The New York Giants aren’t very good, but between Scataboo and Jackson Dart, I mean, they’re going to renew their season tickets the minute they can. I mean, the Steelers, you can’t fool dieh hard fans, and you can’t fool Vegas. Right now, the Baltimore Ravens at two and five are favored to win the division and should be. So again, I’ve been saying this for years and years. You will show me what matters to you in life. Where are you actionable? Since Big Ben tore a ligament at 37 years old, their answer at quarterback has been Kenny Picket, who I was told by a general manager with multiple Super Bowl trophies was a bottom third round prospect. And their other answer was Aaron Rodgers. And I’m not blaming Aaron. He’s been about as good as you can be walking into a defensive culture that didn’t do anything right for the last seven years offensively. So on Sunday night, I said this yesterday, they got outclassed. The Packers, progressive, smart offensive coach, draft and develop, spend their money wisely. Pittsburgh once again, most expensive defense, and now they can’t tackle. So, here’s Mike Tomlin uh trying to fix again this year the offensive issues. You know, we all have to own it. Um certainly you start with the schematics, man, because you know, that’s the leadership component of it. And certainly we’ll be looking at everything that we’re doing, man, because some of these problems are somewhat repetitive and we’re not getting better fast enough. Said this, the Rams had a quarterback that got him to a Super Bowl and they upgraded. The Niners had Garopolo, got him to a Super Bowl, upgraded. The Chiefs had Alex Smith getting you to the playoffs, upgraded. Those quarterbacks were all good. And the offensive coaches are like, “Not good enough.” I mean, Russell Wilson, Denver, you could win games with Shawn Payeyton. Like, not good enough. Mike Tomlin, I mean, remember this off seasonason, we’re like, is is Aaron playing? Who who’s he playing for? there was just no urgency. That’s not how offensive coaches act. So, I feel like Steeler fans a little like the guy in the driveway that’s not coming into the house. It’s not special. There’s a responsibility to get in there eventually, help with the kids, but it’s it it doesn’t feel like love anymore. It feels like a responsibility and to give away great seats to the Packers because the Packers are optimistic because they draft their quarterback three years before he’s going to play. Packer fans are always optimistic. Here’s Jack with the news. No, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline news. All right, Con. Let’s start with the San Francisco 49ers. Uh, your guy M. Jones was not very good against Houston. Listen, we knew the wheels were going to come off. Enter Brock Perie. He missed his fourth straight game against Houston with that toe injury. But Kyle Shanahan met with the media yesterday and interestingly, he’s like tiptoeing around whether or not Pertie is going to play. I don’t get it. Let me know what you think about Kyle Shanahan, his chances on Pertie playing this week. It’s too early to to say. I I don’t think it’s a long shot, but um I know he’s doing better. Um and we’ll see how he’s doing Wednesday. Hopefully, if he’s doing good, he’ll get in some reps. Well, I think he’s got a really good backup. I thought M. Jones actually made some great throws. One for a touchdown, one down to about the one yard line. But the truth was that offensive line’s not very good. And Houston, Houston’s one of those teams that on any Sunday can outplay you and make your life miserable. I did not think I thought Houston was one of my picks. I thought Houston was in a really good spot. Um, so I I think listen, here’s the good news. M. Jones is probably the best backup quarterback in the league right now. He’s up there. He’s up there and so why risk why risk Perty? What’s the point? Get 100%. Well, it is interesting because the Giants have a good pass rush this week. That’s the opponent. Uh it hasn’t been as great as we thought it would be. Um that being said, you got to win this game if you’re the Niners, right? Seattle’s moving. They may not face Jaden Daniels this week. You can’t keep falling behind. The Rams are two touchdown favorites against the uh Saints. And by the way, oh, hold on. Niners next week, Colin, the rematch with the Rams. Remember that win on Thursday night? They play again next week. So maybe they save Pery for that. Um Jac, you always say that when I’m on a heater, I don’t give you any clues. I like the ners minus two and a half. I don’t know why. Why is it still two and a half? Why isn’t this three? This I think there’s going to be three and a half. Well, the Giants are bad. Scataboo’s done. If you looked at Shawn McDermott off a buy, why did the Buffalo Panthers line Why wasn’t it different? I mean, there’s sometimes you’re trying to get, you know, a sports book, they’re trying to get equal play on both sides. Everything told you the Bills would win, but the line was kind of relatively competitive. This is one of my picks so far. I like the Niners in this spot. Interesting. I I’m largely with you. Um I don’t know what the Giants are at this point. Like with Scataboo out, did you see how down Jackson Dart was after he left? He gave him his like headbutt. That’s his boy. Also, if you look at Jackson Dart’s completion percentage, he’s had great plays and great moments. He’s not consistent. I mean, we can all, you know, talk about the quarterbacks that are young, but Jackson is a rookie. And Robert Salah is one of the best defensive coordinators in football. This is not going to be a great week for Jackson Dart. Well, hold on. Time out. CJ Stout, I watch that closely because I was loaded up on the Texans. Straoud beat them with his legs. The Niners have trouble with these quarterbacks who could scramble. Baker Mayfield member in Tampa. I don’t know, man. I’m a little nervous. I’m with you on the Niners largely, but there are some uh some lingering issues for San Fran. Next up, Detroit Lions. They are coming out of their by-week at 5-2. They are big favorites against the Vikings this week. And um also Dan Campbell says they haven’t even played up to their potential. I really believe we hadn’t played our best ball yet collectively, you know, in all three phases. And that’s really uh what we’re, you know, what what we’re trying to get to here, man, is man, how can we sharpen ourselves? We know it’s going to take every phase, every game’s different, and one unit may have to pick up the slack, but man, we need to start playing complete ball across the board and uh and just keep improving. Yeah. Well, it takes time for everybody. They’re good. They’re a top 10 team. I mean, they’ve spent their money on the right spots, pass rushers, weapons. They’re good. I I think you know there was a fear and I was way into this that like there the window closed without Ben Johnson. Offense is fine. O line’s fine. Running game’s great. Goff is leading the league in a couple of categories. They’re fine. Are they? I mean Colin you again I get it. You look on the surface five and two. Oh my gosh. Lead in the division. They’re great. You start to drill down a little bit. Oh, let’s see the good teams they’ve played. So they get smashed in the opener by the Packers. Okay. They go to Kansas City and get worked by the Chiefs. Like I I just again this same deal with the Chiefs, man. You you were all excited. They haven’t punted in the first half, last three games. I mean, they’re playing bad teams. So like if you really want to drill down that win over Baltimore, remember at the time looked amazing. Yeah. Baltimore was beat up. I mean, like they started, you could start to see the weaknesses for the Ravens. I look at that. Oh, you beat um you know uh the Cleveland Browns and you beat Jake Browning. Uh I just even that win over Tampa before the by Tampa was exhausted, injured. That was a layup for us. Sounds like a lot of excuses. Detroit’s pretty good. If if you and I look at Detroit right now, take the Green Bay game out. It’s week one. Week one now is preseason. Nobody plays any starters. Go healthy though. Go week two on. It’s good. Okay. So, let me ask you, who are the best three teams in the NFC? Not Not I’m sorry, not best. Who would you trust the most to get to the Super Bowl in the NFC right now? Philadelphia. What are you Seattle? No. No. No. Seattle makes way too many mistakes. They’re too young and they’re not they’re just not buttoned up yet. I you know, it’s Philadelphia or Lions. Uh depends on where the games played. In Detroit, I’d take Detroit. Detroit could be three or four or five in the NFC. Well, that’s good enough. If you’re in the top three, you’re in a good space. So, they have the Vikings, by the way, this week. They’re going to smoke them. JJ McCarthy, smoke them. Is it Vikings season, by the way, three and four, they have Lamar on deck. So, it’s very interesting when you live in Chicago and everybody is so uptight about Caleb Williams. I saw another story today. Here’s the headline. Caleb Williams is fine. Everybody relax. Well, fine’s not the standard when a you hired the hottest offensive coach on the market. You upgraded your offensive line by $100 million, you’ve had the third easiest schedule in the NFL, and the Packers now are surging. Find is when you take your family out to dinner and the bill is like 48 bucks and dinner’s fine. It’s not fine if it’s the wedding anniversary and you spend $400 and the food is fine. That’s not good enough. Listen, the numbers are really interesting. Through seven games from last year to this year, one thing has improved dramatically. He is getting sacked half as much and that’s really important. Everything else is the same. I flu Ben Johnson. Maybe this is just what Caleb is. He holds the ball too long. Right now, longer than any quarterback in the league and outside of the scripted opening drive, he’s not very accurate. Maybe that’s what he is. Two staffs, multiple coaches, outside of the sacks coming down, which is important. He’s the same guy. So, if you take out the Dallas Cowboys game, which everybody scores on the Dallas Cowboys, got a 81 passer rating, five TDs, four picks, and you say, Colin, an 81 passer rating, that is fine. Uh, Will Levvice had an 81 passer rating last year. Okay, so that is not fine. So, again, he’s a number one overall pick. They hired the hottest, most coveted offensive coach. They spent a h 100red million plus to upgrade the interior O line, wide receiver, tight end, excellent talent. Running back, too. Schedule easy, only getting harder. So, the numbers are what they say they are. So, kind of middle of the pack. And by the way, I don’t think I’m being harsh. I tend to be a guy that’s data driven. Look at the numbers. So, if you go to seven games last year with a mess of a coaching staff and the first seven games this year, the numbers are all the same. He completes about 61% of his throws. I mean, it’s not 52%. And the opening drive has been very impressive, but I I’m I’m not the only one saying this. Carson Palmer, I came on yesterday and I said, I don’t think he is a timing and rhythm quarterback, and I think it’s a timing and rhythm offense and head coach. And here’s what Carson Palmer said. I just have yet to watch a game where I’ve seen him excel in the pocket and, you know, drop back, take, you know, go through his footwork, whether it’s five steps, one hitch, two hitch, three hitch, and then extend a play. You’re just seeing him get to the pocket, look around, look around, and then escape. Just don’t see the development there for the last couple years. And I don’t see a comfort level with Caleb’s game within the pocket. Um, so the quarterback class he came out of, Jaden Daniels, boom, day one star. Drake May, year two, start of the season star. Bo Nicks last year made the playoffs in the Mahomes Herbert division. I don’t think it takes that long and it’s just my opinion. I do think by Thanksgiving of the second year, you’re going to kind of see what people are. So, we we got a month to go, but if you look at the numbers last year and this year, my one of the things I’ve always said is that what was your primary liability in college? Consistent accuracy. If that becomes your primary issue in the NFL, consistent accuracy, then that’s what you are. Now, there are times Jordan Love was kind of reckless in college. He’s not reckless now. Why? He’s getting better coaching. Like sometimes you don’t get the college coaching. Sometimes you get much better coaching in the pros. So you can have an issue in college that disappears, right? Like Johnny Manzel looked small in college. I watched his first NFL game. He was even smaller in the pros. That’s a problem, right? Like so does your issue carry over? If it if it does, that’s who you are. So I do think you can win games. I do think he’s exciting. I’ve said the word horsepower a hundred times, but the numbers are the numbers. And um you know, timing and rhythm coach, not a timing and rhythm quarterback. Doesn’t mean you can’t win games, but remember the Lions and the Packers are in this division. The Lions have the best offensive line arguably in the sport, a Super Bowl quarterback, weapons everywhere, and the Packers are the youngest offense, and over the last three or four weeks, they’re getting better fast. So that to me is not fine and relaxed. Those are not the two words I would use. Fine and relax, right? Like if you spend, let’s say you spend $100,000 to upgrade your kitchen and you come in and you look at it, it shouldn’t be fine. If I spend $100,000 for my kitchen, I should be like, “Sweet. This is awesome.” So, I mean, the coach, the schedule, the O line upgrades, and I’ve been saying this, I think the Bears offensive talent’s good. DJ Moore’s good. You see that catch that 100 this weekend? uh Coloulston Lovelin, Cole KT, DeAndre Swift. Roman Dunce is a good player. I will say Caleb’s not getting sacked as much and he has developed a real relationship with Roma Dunay. Those are the two things I really like. He and Roma Dun are on the same page. That’s important. And he’s not getting sacked as much. Really important. There are some positives. And that opening drive on script is good, but you know, I’m not fine and relaxed is not what I want to hear. Heard hierarchy Nick Wright top of hour number two. Um, so I saw this quote this morning. Th this would terrify me if I’m a Dallas Cowboy fan. I’ve been very pro-Jerry pro Dak this year. Jerry Jones is not happy with the Cowboys record. He will consider trades to make the team better. Stephen Jones, Charlotte, step in. Get in front of Jerry. So, the Cowboys are actually in a really good spot. Four first round picks the next two years. Um, highly entertaining this season, but not good. So, one of those picks is going to be a top 10. And next year’s draft is loaded with what you need in the first round, great edge rushers and a few corners. So, the teams that should be really, really working on trade deadline deals, Rams, they did yesterday, went and got a corner from the Titans. Colts, New England, could they get another pass rusher? Um, Buffalo, I mean, Buffalo’s pass defense is pretty good. The offense is fine. Could they use another receiver? Could they use a defensive stopper on the interior? So, the trade deadline is for specific teams. It’s not for the New York Giants unless you want to move somebody. New York Giants are not gonna be a playoff team. Move somebody, get a pick. If somebody needs an interior defensive lineman, Dexter Lawrence had better days. Maybe that’s the guy. So, but somebody has to step in front of Jerry. I I’ve said this sometimes when you make a trade and you make a deal, you don’t look good for six months to a year. That’s Dallas moving off Micah. That’s the Lakers moving off Shaq. The Lakers knew first year and a half it’s not going to look good. We got to get Kobe a partner. They did. But you’re right now the Cowboys are the 10th best team in the NFC. So just don’t get in your way. It’s painful. It’s ugly. Couldn’t be going better. What you need in the first round, the draft has a lot of corners and edge rushers. You don’t need a quarterback. Seven teams do. They’ll move up. you can move down and turn two first round picks into additional three, four, and five round picks. So, it’s it’s really you’re not going to see it till April. Dallas is in a really good spot, just not today. And here’s Jerry, uhoh, on a potential deal before the trade deadline. If I saw a proposition for us to help this team, uh, no matter what this score was today, uh, then I would look at it on the merits of helping this team. And I’m not trying to be cute, but that’s why you’d go get him is that you’d think it could help your defense. Uh, one player, uh, we one player away on defense. I think we’re not. Uh, yeah, they’re not. But you could be a first round edge rusher and a firstround corner. And because you moved off Micah, maybe you can find another interior backer, slot corner, two or a safety. So Cowboys now have the quarterback and flexibility and draft picks. That’s a great place to be. The Rams yesterday went and got a corner. That’s what the Rams should do. The Rams don’t have a hole except corner. That’s what That’s what the trade deadline’s for. All right, game four. Derek Jeter will be joining us third hour. He was up late. Uh Nick Wright is joining us with her hierarchy top of next hour. I don’t think I don’t know if you can top last night. The team that wins game three of the World Series wins about 70% of the time. I think it’s the same thing in the NBA finals. Game three is kind of a deciding game. Game three or game five. Uh I don’t um Yeah, I just I think that’s a lot to overcome. Hey, real quick, Colin, you want a little breaking news in the NFL? Yeah. Tyler Shook has been named the starter for the Saints against the Rams this week, according to Ian Rapaort. And uh the line has gone up from 13 and a half to to 15 in some spots. Does that do anything for you? I’ll take the Rams. Like it. I don’t I don’t like big favorites. I will take the Rams. Like it. Nick Wright hierarchy next.

Colin Cowherd gives his top 10 NFL teams after Week 8. Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts are on the climb, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs stay on top, Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles are going nowhere, and Matt Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams stay contenders. Plus, are Drake Maye’s New England Patriots above Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills? Are Baker Mayfield’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers above Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos? Next Colin discusses Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears as well as Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys.

0:00 Herd Hierarchy
10:13 NFL News
16:13 Chicago Bears
22:14 Dallas Cowboys

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