Steelers-Bengals Reaction: Aaron Rodgers is NOT TO BLAME in Pittsburgh | HERD NFL w/ Colin Cowherd

Steelers-Bengals Reaction: Aaron Rodgers is NOT TO BLAME in Pittsburgh | 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. Mike Tomlin, Steelers coach, um was brutally honest, forthright, and furious when the Cleveland Browns traded Joe Flacco to the Bengals. And we’re like, why is he so upset? Now we know why. Yes, we Mike Tomlin after last night is 1 and7 straight up against Joe Flacco on short rest. So Tomlin’s great on Monday Night Football. These Thursday games, J-Mack and I talked about it yesterday. Tomlin less time to prepare and motivate. He’s not good. So we thought we’d have Bengals Steelers probably boring. No, it’s 3331. Flaco in two games with the Bengals. 555 yards, five touchdowns, no picks. But that game was not only about Flaco, it was about Pittsburgh’s defense. It’s the highest paid in the league. Once again, it’s atrocious. Chase Brown, who knew he was Jim Brown. The Bengals average 6.2 yards a rush. And Cincinnati has the 30th ranked offensive line in the league. I mean, I thought it was going to be a boring, ugly Steeler win. Not at all. It was a firework show. Don’t blame it on Aaron Rodgers. Aaron’s been terrific. four touchdown passes. He only got in trouble when he tried to go deep. That that the story of the game is that defense, Mike Tomlin’s defense, four straight years, highest paid, none have been in the top 10. It didn’t matter who the running back was. I mean, Chase Brown, Illinois kid, whatever. I mean, he looked great. So, six straight possessions. This is hard to do in the NFL against anybody. Against anybody. Forget the Steelers. The Bengals scored at one point on six straight possessions. So Joe Flacco, barely can move Joe Flacco. He can spin it. He doesn’t move much. He only got sacked twice. So this is a really bad loss for the Steelers cuz now the schedule gets brutal. Green Bay, Colts, Chargers, Buffalo, Detroit. Couple times Lamar Jackson’s now getting healthy. So watching the Bengals gash the Steelers for nearly 500 yards with the 30th offensive line and Joe Flacco I mean pitch and catch with Jamar Chase 16 catches. Cincinnati dominated time of possession. So the AFC North here we go. I mean you’ve heard of death by a million cuts. That was like death by a 100 slant patterns. They just did whatever they want. Gigantic holes, Jamar Chase, some T. Higgins, it didn’t even matter. I mean, Cincinnati didn’t have their best pass rusher. I’ll give them a bit of a pass. Aaron had plenty of time to throw, but uh Pittsburgh’s defense, you can’t kind of you can’t spend that kind of money, and that can’t be what I see. That was a really, really bad loss. Tomlin struggles on Thursday night football. Chase Brown averaged 9.8 yards a carry with that Bengal O line. Flaco, a guru, a wizard. Guys got what, five, six practices in for the Bengals. Here was Jamar Chase. Jamar said they did what we thought they would do. They did exactly what we was expecting and hoping they’d do. We know they was going to put Joey on tea and put Jayen on me and we we knew that. We was ready for it. We was going to take advantage of those opportunities. Just from a analysis perspective, I just thought um you know the first half we allowed them to run the ball too much. Um I think they had about 100 yards rushing at the half and so that just kind of set a negative trajectory and we’re fighting uphill the rest of the way. I certainly appreciate the fight. Um but man, we got to be cleaner. We got to be better. Yeah, I you know it it’s in this league it’s crazy. There have been so many games this year where we absolutely feel going into a game like Steelers, they’re going to be five and one, we were absolutely sure the Chargers were going to beat Jackson Dart and the Giants. You know, Bills will take care of Atlanta and young Drake May. You just never know in this league. So, um, so we know Mike Tomlin’s a defensive coach. They did take a 10- nothing lead last night, which is nice. But it was the 56th straight game. The Steelers have scored seven or fewer points in the first quarter. That’s the longest streak by any coach in NFL history. So, uh, 10 nothing was a nice start. Um, Aaron Rodgers is not the issue. Nobody sat around all summer saying Aaron’s got to lead the Steelers. Aaron in his prime in Green Bay. Yes. Aaron at 40 with Mike Tomlin. That’s not what we thought. He tried to go deep in the second quarter and he got burned. Um, I don’t think this is a deep ball offense. I think it’s a tight end offense. And DK Metaf, his mobility’s been excellent. He leads the NFL in touchdown passes. He’s more than mobile enough. Um, in his prime, we wanted more. I think he’s overd delivering right now. He’s been unbelievable. They just got to keep throwing to tight ends. When Aaron throws to tight ends, all four of his touchdowns last night were tight ends. when he throws to tight ends this year, 73% completion percentage, 118 passer rating. So, I think Aaron’s made the offense smarter, more reliable. They’ve got like an NBA front line of tight end and receiver size and he’s throwing underneath a lot when he went deep up the left sideline. I think second quarter he got burned. I don’t think that’s what the offense is. So, he’s spreading the ball around. Eight different guys made a catch. Yeah, this is the one up the left sideline. I in a double coverage. I just don’t think that’s what this offense is. That’s that’s not what it is. Um, this is tight end le. So, I think Aaron’s been great. He’s one of the few things working. The run defense was atrocious. The pass defense, the pass rush, I don’t know what I’m getting, but offensively with Aaron, the Steelers are on track to have their most yards per play since the last great Big Ben year. Remember that Big Ben year where he had like 35 touchdowns? The following year he had the elbow injury and the surgery. The last great Big Ben year. This is they were putting up these kind of numbers at quarterback. So that was 2018. So I don’t worry about Aaron at all. Aaron has held up his end of the bargain. I think he’s been really good. I think he’s identified the size advantage with their bigs. Darnell Washington, Frier, Muth, Hayward, even DK Metaf. Not a tight end, but he is playing to Pittsburgh’s offensive strength. size and physicality. Here he was after the loss. Listen, we want to win every game. Uh there there needs to be an expectation of winning, but uh this is a short week, division opponent. Anything can happen. Uh obviously Joe played really well for them. This is the NFL. You know, we had a chance to really open up some space, but we’re 4-2. Still first in the division. I’m not going to ride the roller coaster, and I know Mike isn’t. And hopefully you guys follow suit. It’s interesting. He goes to the Jets for a couple years and he can’t rely upstairs on the dysfunction and then he goes to Pittsburgh. Now he can’t rely on the defense. Maybe Aaron’s not the problem with New York and Pittsburgh because I think he’s played really really well. I know he’s not being graded particularly high because he’s not throwing the ball down the field. You watch last night, that’s not what this offense is. You got to do what you have. When Brady had Moss, it was a deep ball offense. When it was Edelman and Grank, it was underneath stuff all the time. I saw this this morning. The staff gave me this. Uh, the Bears are the only NFL team to score at least 21 points in each of their first five games. Um, interesting. I went back and looked at the 20 24 numbers offensively. 32nd, 31st, 29th, big plays, total offense, and I went and looked at them this year, and they’re very good on big plays per game, second, but they’re kind of middle of the pack total offense, passing yards. Here’s what’s not arguable. Ben Johnson was the right hire. We’ll see how the Caleb Ben Johnson thing works out, but they’ve gone from inept to capable. So, there’s two positions in the NFL. Quarterback one, head coach two. You got to be a at both, at least B+ if you want to be a consistent playoff team. So, Chicago’s now three and two, but last year they were four and two, but it didn’t look right. The play design’s better. The play calling’s better. Caleb’s playing within structure. Here’s a word we use once in a while. They look intentional. It’s not haphazard. It looks intentional. It’s the different, you know, last year they’re 4-2. This year they’re three and two. It’s the difference between a fake Louis bag and a real Louis bag. You know, from from 30 feet, you can’t tell. Got to get up close, put a microscope on it, touch it, you can tell the fake. Last year was fake. It was just Caleb Williams making plays. Oh, he didn’t throw a lot of interceptions. So, um, and don’t get paralyzed by records. I said when Kansas City was 500, I said, “Oh, this team is ready to explode.” Remember they beat Baltimore, blew them out, everybody said, “Ah, Ravens are injured.” I’m like, “No, no, that’s not what this is. That defense is locked in.” Eagles were 4-0. I said, “They got a coaching crisis. They’ve had the two worst offensive halves of any team, including the Titans, in the league. You can’t get paralyzed by a record. This 3 and2 feels real. The offense is smarter. It plays within structure. The play design’s better. The play calling’s better. It’s it it looks explosive legitimately. So, there’s only two positions in this league. If you have a great coach and a great quarterback, you get to the playoffs. It’s really hard. Last year, Bengals didn’t. Burl was great. We don’t know about Zack Taylor. We just don’t know. But Caleb Williams uh was compared this week. They were everybody the Troy Aman stuff got a lot of press. Troy Aman didn’t have a a love affair with him and people were defending Caleb Williams. He doesn’t need defending. Uh he’s not there yet. Here was Caleb on the Aman comments. People are going to say what they have to say. Uh we win, we lose. Uh people have stuff to say. Um it was lucky. It was not lucky. Uh people have stuff to say. Um you know um you know have a bad game, have a good game, you know, people have stuff to say. So it’s it’s it it doesn’t matter. Uh we’re only worried about what’s going on here uh within this building um and with these guys. So um that’s all all I can say about that. Yeah, it it’s not luck by the way. They’re not they’re not three and two because they’re lucky. It is an intentional offense and within structure Caleb’s getting much better. Accuracy a little bit hit and miss. But um listen, I always I always say this. If if if criticism from announcers is getting under your skin, you’re not it right. And I think the Aman Caleb comps Yeah. They’re silly. That’s a different generation. Today’s show brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. The pennants’s on the line, lights are brighter than ever. One swing can change everything and you can be part of every pitch at Hard Rock Bet. New customers can place a $5 bet and 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 postseason baseball parlay. There’s new promos every day. boost your same game parlay or same game parlay max so your bet pays extra winnings. If you want to see what everybody else is betting on tonight, right, top picks or parlays across any sport, the Hard Rock Bet app literally shows you. It’s another reason to download the app. Takes 90 seconds just for the info. Tap discover and you can see trending picks and parlays at any time. So download the Hard Rock Bet app, make your first deposit. One of the sillier things I saw uh um on the internet this week was when Troy Aman didn’t fall in love with Caleb’s performance. Uh people were like, “Well, Caleb’s better at his first 20 starts than Troy Aman.” Oh, boy. It’s a totally different these are not contemporaries. It’s a totally different generation. Um let’s do let’s let’s talk about that. So, I have defended Bo Knicks. Let’s let’s do a little blind resume with Bo Knicks and let’s use contemporaries, people, peers or people in his generation. That’s fair because I’ve said Bo Knicks does three things really well. He um doesn’t get sacked. A lot of it’s because he’s really athletic. He’s very good 15 yards and under. Like he’s very accurate and he ball placement’s great and he’s coachable and tough with a lot of college stars. He does not throw a great deep ball. But when I saw the Aman Caleb comps, it was such an eye roll. And if you want to do comps that matter, let’s do this. Let’s do blind resume. Let’s look at Bo Knicks in the current NFL. His first 23 starts. Okay, you guys want to do the blind resume? So, basically the same resume through 23 starts of the guy on the right. Who’s the guy on the right? first 23 starts. The guy on the right who everybody fell in love with, Dak Prescott. And Dak had Zeke and the number one offensive line in the league. Okay, so there you go. Let’s do it again. Well, well, I mean, maybe Colony, I mean, Dak’s not that talented. Okay, let’s do a blind resume where here Bo Knicks is much more accurate, fewer turnovers, much higher passer rating through 23 starts. Let’s see who this is. Oh, Josh Allen. I knew it. Josh Allen. Okay. Well, I mean, Colin, I mean, that was years ago. Let’s go with a more, you know, contemporary 23 starts. Well, here he lines up almost the exact same quarterback against somebody we don’t push back on. He’s absolutely big, strong, capable, accurate guy. Who’s this blind resume? Oh, CJ Strad. Again, I’m not doing Caleb and Aman. I mean, why not do ya tiddle and you know and CJ Stout? I mean, that’s just nonsense. Okay, let let’s do another one. Okay, I’ll go back a few years. It’s the same league, but it’s probably more of a passing league now than it was then, but it’s kind of close. Fairly similar. Bo Nick, this quarterback, boy, this guy struggled with accuracy. His passer rating was terrible. Who is that stiff? and your luck. Okay, that these comps are reasonable because the NFL rules during all those quarterbacks, including Luck and Bo Knicks, the rules are the same. They have limited what defenses can do. So, you know, in and I’ll say this about Bo Knicks, I have identified, you have identified, if you watch, Bronco fans know this, he doesn’t get sacked. He’s very athletic. In fact, I would argue run more. First two years you’re in the league as a quarterback. Run if you can until the the green the light comes on until the game slows down. He’s coachable. He’s gotten better last September to October, November. He gets better as the season goes on. Doesn’t take sacks. Super athletic. And he’s very good 15 yards and in. Now he he does not throw a great deep ball. Okay. Sorry, he’s not Momes. He’s not. But um I I you know there there Tony Gonzalez used to say you know ego has no amigo. He doesn’t have any of that. The other thing is can can Bo Knicks be can we look at Boon Knicks and go he’s a top 12 13 quarterback because until this season until this very season that’s how we looked at Baker Mayfield and that’s how we’ve looked at Dak Prescott his entire career and he’s probably better than that. So, uh, all the fandom for Dak and Baker, I mean, Baker before this year, you could argue, is he a top 12 quarterback? By the way, y’all love Brock Pury. You know, Brock Pury had a trouble winning games without Christian McCaffrey. Bo Nick’s doesn’t always have a healthy roster either. So, I think Bo Knicks has incredibly high expectations. Dad was a coach. I think he’s fine. I think he’s a franchise quarterback. I don’t think he’s as gifted as Jaden Daniels. Uh, right now I don’t know if he’s Drake May, but he’s a franchise quarterback. Here’s Bo. I’m definitely tough on myself. Uh, I think it’s just, you know, how I grew up, how I was, uh, you know, raised. My dad was my coach, so he was tough on me. And then, you know, just kind of, um, just kind of continued. It’s, it’s tough. Um, you know, I hate making mistakes. I hate, you know, not doing the correct thing. And, um, you know, it can be tough on myself, but at the same time, you know, I give myself some grace, too. and just, you know, move on and go to the next play and, you know, sure I’m going to make another mistake and, you know, I’ll fix that when it when it happens. Now, I will say this, Patrick Mahomes didn’t have these stumbles. Patrick got Andy Reid, got a sit for a year, had an incredible mentor. Bo Knicks went to a team with the worst dead cap situation in league history. Payton made the offensive line highly serviceable year one. Now, it’s good. So again, I like Bo a lot. Will he be a top 12, 13 quarterback? I think it’s absolutely f He’s probably at about 15 16 now. Athletic, accurate, smart, coachable. Again, in a division with Herbert Harbaugh, Mahomes Reed, he made the playoffs as a rookie. This league is about winning games. I know J-Mack, he’s not your guy, but I I I I see a franchise quarterback that doesn’t throw yet a very good deep ball and may never. Yeah. Listen, I like Bo Knicks. I know he’s your boy. He came into the studio, seemed like the most friendly quarterback who’s been one of the most friendly quarterbacks who’s been in here. That being said, this season the numbers have been awful. Colin, Pro Football Focus, I know it’s just one data point. We don’t like PFF. Who’s grading the guys? 39th according to Pro Football Focus. Then there’s this other stat that you know EPA expected points added. He’s 23rd among quarterbacks below Kyler Murray, Spencer Rattler, Jackson Dart. He just has not been great playtoplay. Now he has an elite defense backing him up. That’s who bailed him out against the Jets. I’m not saying he’s trash. I just think he’s a middling quarterback. We’ve got to see. I’ll remind you, Baker Mayfield with the Browns, made the playoffs, was the winning quarterback in a in a playoff game at Pittsburgh, remember? And then the next year he was injured, tried to play, was a disaster and they dumped him. Well, here here Sam Darnold and Baker are great examples of you look up seven, eight years into their career or whatever it is, six years, seven years into their career and you go, I didn’t know they were this good. Let’s talk Dak Prescott. So Iowa said Dak Prescott was Kirk Cousins with better mobility and a star in his helmet. But this year, Dak is doing something here in in what year is it for Dak Prescott now? He he’s been in the NFL a decade. This is the first year I can argue he has carried a bad roster. He has no CD Lamb. He didn’t have a number one receiver, number one tight end. He’s got a good back, rebuilt offensive line, atrocious defense. So sometimes it takes a while for the truth to come out. I always feel usually by the middle of chapter two of your book, I know who you are. You know, Dak, we’re in chapter 10 or 11 and it’s like, oh, he’s not Kirk Cousins. Kurt Cousins never took a defense this bad with no number one receiver or tight end and and made it the best offense in the league. This is a new Dak. So, let me ask you though, is it a new Dak or have the circumstances changed? Do they look at Dak and say, “Dack, you’re the highest paid quarterback in the league. We can’t afford a defense. Sorry, man. You’ve got to carry us.” Whereas early in his career, hey, you’re on the rookie deal. You hand off. We got Zeke. I We got uh Dez Bryant. We got a great defense. You don’t need to do too much. And they played it safe with him. Well, the circumstances have kind of changed. I think unless you’re a top five or six quarterback in this league, you have great stretches and bad stretches. I mean, Daniel Jones had a very, very good stretch. Will it continue? Bo Nicks last year had a 10ame stretch. Weeks 8 through 18, 106 passer rating, 70% completion percentage. So he was bad early, outstanding, choppy this season. That’s the difference between Steph Curry and every other guy that jacks threes. Nine out of 10 nights I know what I get from Steph Curry. That is literally the difference. Everybody in the NBA, almost everybody in the NBA, every guard in the NBA can drop 28 points on any given night. The difference is James Harden in his prime gave it to you every night. Jordan gave it to you every night. LeBron gave it to you every night. Everybody in the Rudy Gay had a lot of good nights. Rudy Gay is a good player. He had a lot of good nights in the NBA. The difference is the consistency takes a very good player to an iconic player. So Bo Nicks is in that he’s in that stretch where wow, he was good last year for eight weeks. CJ Strad, unbelievable rookie year. Steps back, doesn’t get the offensive line protection. His receivers get hurt. Momes, Allen, Lamar, Burrow, those guys are the exception. They’re superstar players. Most quarterbacks in this league are Bo Knicks. Most franchise quarterbacks where you can go, you can go eight. I mean, Jaylen Herz has had great stretches. Now, please don’t throw from the pocket. That’s most quarterbacks in the NFL. Or don’t like like Momes. You can’t tell if he’s leading or trailing. That’s a great quarterback. Baker Mayfield has developed into a quarterback. He’s as good trailing as leading. Early in his career, he was great with a lead in a run game. I didn’t want Baker trailing. He was too reckless. Now Baker or Sam Darnold. I don’t care what the score is. So So you you mentioned franchise quarterback earlier. This is tough because it’s early. Like do you think from what you’ve seen so far, Bo Nicks is going to get franchise quarterback money? Cuz that’s when the equation changes dramatically. Yes. Wow. But again, that’s three and a half years from now. He could be improved. Yeah. He could be an absolutely improved player. All I’m saying is with the exception of about four guys, one of them not available, maybe maybe two, Lamar and Burrow aren’t currently available with the exception like four or five guys in this league. Every franchise quarterback has bad stretches. If the O line’s hurt, you lose your top running game, all of it. You know what I mean? Or you get the wrong coach or coordinator. Almost the whole league goes through bad cycles. It’s just Dak his tangibles have caught up to his intangibles and he’s just a different quarterback right now. So Sam and so so is Baker placing five now. Well, he’s the last Bears head coach to win a road playoff game and the last Dolphins coach to win a playoff game period. 39 years coaching. Uh you see him on the Big 10 network all the time. He’s my friend Dave Wanat. He is joining us. Uh he lives in Chicago most of the year and then he goes down to the he goes down to the warm weather of Florida, the undisclosed location. So, um, you know, I I I’d said earlier last hour, I said the one thing that’s pretty clear to me is they got the right coach. If you look at the numbers, they’re a touchdown better. I think they’re more intentional. I feel like I’m watching a plan. Ga Caleb is playing within structure more often than last year. What do you see Caleb development year two? The some of the biggest things that you see if you go back and watch the tape close is in the past pressure eyes would start looking at the pressure and he’d be on the move. He did that his whole career at USC. Always on the move trying to find somebody deep. What’s happening now is he’s sitting in the pocket and he’s waiting more patiently for receivers to come open in the middle of the field. That’s that’s the one thing that’s jumping out at me. And uh I I’ll tell you what, I I think he’s doing everything that he can do to try to to master this offense. And there’s there’s a lot to it. I know last week Ben Ben cut down on things. I mean, he simplified things coming out of the buy, which everybody was surprised how he was going to handle the buy week, and he said he actually he cut down and they had some physical practices. I mean, Ben’s got a lot more old school in him than what you might think for a young coach. Yeah. And um so yeah, the thing that’s missing is is the big plays. You know, when Detroit, I mean, they when Ben was there, they were se I don’t know what they are this year, probably just the same, but they were second in the league a year ago in yards after the catch, right? That’s the thing that the Bears are missing right now for some reason. And I think it has to do with our running game. By the way, Lovelin’s a rookie. Luther Burton. So Ben Johnson’s a new coach where we have to be fair. Bo Nicks now he’s had 20 starts with Shawn Peyton. This is all new. Y and again you’re last year Bo Knicks in September it was turbulent. So the one thing I I look at it and I think to myself they’re averaging a touchdown more a game. That’s production. Yep. But it looks right. Right. Like I feel like when I go into games I see what they’re trying to do. Like when they ran the ball against Washington, you’re like, “Oh, that’s a that’s what the Bengals did last night. That’s a power offense.” So, I can see what they’re trying to do. Last year, I kind of felt it felt making it up as they go. Yeah. And and they and Ben has he had a 9 and a half minute drive against Vegas and they were in that drive, I think there were 11 plays or 12 plays. All of them except one were runs. I love that. and he’s getting Caleb under center and uh you know in at the end of the game against Washington they were they couldn’t run up inside they were having a tough time so Ben makes the adjustment and the last three or four runs that they had they were getting Andre Swift which he does best on the edge y you know so then in the game adjustment on what we got to do to be successful I think that’s something that’s showing up with Ben also I mean so it’s it’s all good that Right. So, you have great history. You’re from Pittsburgh. You coach Pit. Um, fourth year in a row, it’s the highest paid defense. And the fourth year in a row, it’s not in the top 10. I think what would be discouraging for me if I was the Steelers, the run defense last night was brutal. Yeah. Um, how do you clean it up? Is it a personnel thing or a scheme thing? Uh, you know, everybody thinks that when you got to high, you’re in the NFL, there’s no such thing as a trap game. Well, let me tell you something. I don’t care what level of football you’re on. If you to play great defense, defense is simple. Know what to do and give a fanatical effort. You know, the off the offenses are going to be uh influenced by rain and wind and weather and crowd, right? Not the defense. And I when I see a team play like Pittsburgh did last night on defense, you don’t see the passion. No. It tells me that emotionally they were not all in. Uh when I say allin, I mean like in a frenzy we say ready to play defense and get off of blocks and tackle and do all that stuff. No, I I didn’t see it. And and you see it every week in college. You see it in high. I mean, you got to be all in and you can’t start getting ready for that fight the night before. It has to build during the week. I don’t think they did that. Why is Tomlin so great on Monday Night Football? 22 and four with an extra day and so bad on Thursday. He also struggles against Flaco, but a lot of people have. Well, it like Thursday night games. I I made the argument yesterday that he doesn’t love Thursday night games. He gets less practice, less time on task, and some of these veteran coaches kind of resent Thursday night games. They don’t like them. Yeah, we we played and I coached in a lot of Thursday night games, you know, obviously being at Dallas and then when I was at the do Bears, Dolphins, I mean, going back to Thanksgiving Day games, which is a Thursday. Yeah. And uh we we always felt that a lot had to do with how you were going to play that Thursday on how you executed and played the week before because it carries over. That’s right. And u you know and the Steelers won. You know, the Steelers won. So you you would have thought that that would have carried over offensively. They played pretty well last night. Yeah. You know, not bad. Yeah. Not No, you’re right. I mean, Aaron uh Rogers and maybe that’s a little bit of a problem. Maybe now they’re to the point where Aaron’s playing good. uh you know he’ll he’ll pull us out in the fourth quarter, right? And you can fall into that trap too as a team. I’m not saying they did, but when I mean when you get no sacks, when you get no sacks, they struggle to get to Flaco, coach. Coach, they got no sacks and and Joe Flacco is not going to get out of your way, you know? I mean, you got to get to them. Pittsburgh comes up with no sacks. To me, wow. That that that’s a that light goes off right there. It’s just a matter of not getting it done really. Okay. So, I want to ask you about Philadelphia. So, in your career, and this happens, you hire a coordinator. If you hire a position coach that’s not very good, you can hide him. But if you hire a coordinator that doesn’t work, and you may not know till about week seven or eight. So, Philadelphia takes their passing game coordinator, makes him the offensive coordinator. He’d never been a play caller, and suddenly they can’t run the ball. What do you do as a head coach if you’re Nick Serioni? Yeah. And I’m not saying this guy is not it, but he’s been a coach that’s been very beholden to his coordinator. Like when he had Stiken, they were great. Brian Johnson didn’t work. Because Nick’s not a scheme guy. He’s a he’s more of a CEO type. Were you ever on a team anywhere, college or pro, where you made a decision on a coordinator and in the middle of a year you knew uh it’s not it’s not as good as I thought? Uh yes. Yes. But that’s the job of a head coach. I I mean I worked with Kevin Pollah. He’s a good coach. Now we were together at Buffalo and Stken he brought in from the outside. This is what’s so strange about that that I don’t buy into it that it’s Pollah call. I mean he’s calling the plays but they brought in stiken from the outside. They brought in Kell Moore from the outside but Kevin Pullah he they were together at Indianapolis I believe it was where Stiken and him were. I mean these guys have been together a long time. So Siri, I mean, you God, if there was a place that shouldn’t miss the beat, I was saying that in August. I mean, he’s hiring a He hired a guy, elevated a guy that knew the system, knew the players, knew what buttons to push. I don’t get it. I I uh I I’m I’m not putting this on the play caller. I definitely not I maybe the, you know, the variety of plays he’s gone, but it goes back to the head coach. There’s not a play that’s called. I I don’t like that when all of a sudden it’s the it’s the coordinators on either side of the ball or a guy runs a fake punt and they blame that’s comes through the head coach, you got the final say so it’s on you. So, uh I lived in Tampa briefly. You were there um in Tampa. I said before uh Cleveland because they’ve lost so much. The media is pretty bitter. Um the fans are harsh. The weather is harsh and you’re in a division with the Ravens and the Steelers and Joe Burrow. So, I think Baker in Cleveland was actually at times very good, but his personality didn’t it didn’t mesh necessarily with the Stfansky and and the new system. Tampa’s different, and I’ve tried to explain it to people that have never been there. It’s very laid-back. The Glazers are mostly hands-off. Uh, it’s kind of a chill city. The media’s You were there. It’s not It’s not a northeast or a cold weather tough, bitter, angry, loud media. I think sometimes for guys like Baker who have big personalities, fit matters. You know what though, Colin? I agree with you, but I would take it I would enlarge your your thought and say all of Florida’s that way. Coach, when I was at the Miami Dolphins, we win the division and we’re they put playoff tickets on sale and they put a picture of the first person that bought a playoff ticket. It was a lady from Detroit. I mean I mean that’s not happening in Pittsburgh or Chicago, you know, or Cleveland. And I So I think that Baker is it’s all of Florida is transplants. It’s all transplants from all over the country. So it’s not as Bakers are transplants. Yeah. And it’s not as parochial. No. No. So Baker fits right in. I mean, he’ll sit down and there’ll be guys from five different states at the bar, you know. So I mean, it’s um I mean, they go and support the team. Did you ever think he’d be this good? Uh, no. But I am so excited for him. I really He’s carrying that team. He is car. They’re all beat up. He has carried that football team with his desire to win at the end. I mean, I think the guy has been phenomenal. I think he’s in a hunt for MVP. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Don’t you I would I would vote him today. I would I would He would be MVP and then Mahomes would be runner up. He had a starting running back out. He had Evans out. He had Dodwins out. Ibuka got hurt last week and and they’re winning. Yeah. And they’re winning with style late in games. Okay, let’s go college. You do a lot for the Big 10 um in your coverage. So, my take on James Franklin firing is everybody said, “Well, they’re going to get Marcus Freeman. Good luck.” They’re going to get Kurt Signetti, just signed a new deal. Well, they’re going to get the guy at Vandy. Well, that guy’s got a worse record than James Franklin had at Vandy. Or they’re going to get Matt Rule where he can’t beat ranked teams either. So this idea that oh we’re just going to go get this this this. The truth is if you fire a coach, the Knicks did this with Tom Tibido, you better have a guy on speed dial, right? Because um these days you got venture capital firms can help you. I mean, what do you make? I wouldn’t have fired him. 13 wins the year before. He was losing close. I think the Oregon loss devastated the entire program. What did you make with the firing? Well, keep in mind now he at the end of last year he’s got the most Penn State has the most returning first team all Big 10 players in any team in the Big 10. So he convinces all these guys probably half of them have been d would have been drafted. Half of them to come back for another year. NIL that means money, right? He convinces the AD we need the defensive coordinator from Ohio State. Ohio State a year ago had the number one defense. He brings in Jim Nolles, three million bucks a year, highest paid coordinator. Uh they’re doing a big thing at the stadium, enlarging it and redoing the sections of the state. So they’re making all these commitments and tell you what and and I’m friends with James Franklin, but you know, you can lose games, but you don’t lose that locker room. And I’m watching that Northwestern game and Northwestern’s blocking them and Northwestern’s playing more physical and um I think the trap was this and James Franklin has always been a guy the next game. We’re only talking about this in August and and I was with I play I coached on two nights. He was talking about Oregon in August. Thank you. and and talking about getting over the top and this is the year when we won a national championship at Miami and the Super Bowl at Dallas, we didn’t mention Jimmy Jo. Nobody mentioned Super Bowl or national championship until the week of the game and you start talking that in August and then you lose a tough game and the team went just backwards. The team went backwards and now in today’s world, how many of these guys you think are talking to their agents every night? Yeah, the NFL draft’s coming up in two. I mean, it’s a mess. It’s a d It’s a darn shame. It really is. Okay, let’s wrap it up with this. Um, there’s some Marcus Freeman Penn State rumors. I think Notre Dame’s a very good job, and I think they’re committed to the NIL. I don’t think you’re going to get him. Um, the the Here’s what’s interesting. So, Notre Dame’s in the ACC, which may lose another one of their great programs to the SEC, and the ACC is not a very good conference. That’s why Notre Dame signed a deal with Clemson to guarantee that game for five years. Notre Dame needs USC. Yep. Not just this year because they lost to Miami. They need going forward. And my take is well USC now there will be years where they face Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Penn State, M. Now Indiana’s good. And if I’m USC, my take is okay, let’s sit down and renegotiate. I don’t think it’s unrealistic to say we’ll play you every other year, but it’s got to be early. We’re not going to do another cold weather game in November when I got Penn State and Michigan and Notre Dame fans are freaking out and USC. You can still play them. It’s not Auburn Alabama where you can throw a rock to the other school or or historically in the same conference. It’s not No, it’s not Ohio State Michigan. One’s an independent halfway and and one’s out west. I don’t think that’s unrealistic for USC. We’ll play every other year and we’ll play early. I t I coached at you, as you know, I coached at USC for three years and we played Notre Dame. If you Notre Dame back then was a big rivalry, but it was it was Notre Dame and UCLA and that was it. I totally agree with you. I mean, the chips are in USC’s hands. I mean, USC is I mean, Notre Dame can play Army, Navy, they can schedule who they want. USC is not getting away from Oregon or or Michigan, you know, I mean, or Ohio State or UCLA or just knocked off Penn State. You can say what you want now. Indiana’s good. You know, you know what? This game exactly right. I should have said Indiana first. You know where this game will help him? Uh Jaden Myava. Jaden Myava. My quarterback at USC. He’s having a phenomenal year. Okay. Phenomenal year. 13 passes, two interceptions. Uh if he plays big in this game on against Notre Dame on national TV, he’ll be in the Heisman race. This game will give certain players like that a big push from notoriety standpoint and recognition standpoint. But as far as wins and losses and rankings, I I don’t I don’t see it. You can get all you want in the Big 10. All you want. Yeah. And by the way, the SEC teams like Bama. So during Bama’s run with Sabin, go look at Sabin’s outofconference schedule, it was the weakest. He had to buy before Auburn. He cuz Nick knew Nick wouldn’t even go on the road for out of conference games. He’d go to Dallas and do neutral field. Nick Sabin’s like, “We’re not facing another elite team on the road. We’re in the SEC.” Well, now the Big 10 is arguably better than the SEC because they added the best of the pack 12, right? So now you’ve got Nick Sabin told you what he thinks about out of conference. We’re not doing it. Yeah. We’re going Citadel, Troy, Youngstown State, and then we’re going into the SEC. This idea that Oh, it means a lot. I got to go to Audson, Seattle, Columbus. But that’s that way with all rivalries. It’s almost more meaningful to the alumni. You know what I mean? I mean the USC band tonight they’re taking over Gibson’s which is a big restaurant here. Mark Carrier I was talking to Mark two the band will go down Michigan Avenue. Okay. Playing music. I mean it’s a they’ll have a caravan from downtown Chicago to South Ben following the buses tomorrow. They may be 50 cars. Are any of those tuba players playing defensive end? No. No. I’m just saying Nick Sabin told you what he thinks about out of conference and rivalries. It’s big for the alumni and the fans in football today in college football. Get to the playoffs. Exactly. That keeps the staff intact. It keeps the alumni happy. The tuba player will get over it. Yep. The bowl game. That’s that’s a thing of the past. Now it’s playoff. Good seeing you, coach. Yeah. Good saint here.

Colin Cowherd reacts to the latest in the NFL. First, he reacts to Joe Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals’ thrilling 33-31 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football. He explains why quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not the problem for the Steelers. Next, Colin looks at the Chicago Bears’ offensive statistics and praises head coach Ben Johnson for the job he has done in his first season. Then, Colin does a blind resume comparison to see how Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix stacks up with his contemporaries around the league. Finally, Colin is joined by Dave Wannstedt in studio. They discuss Bears head coach Ben Johnson and QB Caleb Williams, the Steelers’ defensive struggles, the USC-Notre Dame rivalry, and more.

0:00 Bengals beat Steelers
4:23 Aaron Rodgers
7:41 Chicago Bears
12:30 Bo Nix blind resume test
22:56 Dave Wannstedt in studio

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