Bears overperforming, Sam Darnold, Best Week 10 Predictions, LaFleur good coach? | Colin Cowherd NFL

Bears overperforming, Sam Darnold, Best Week 10 Predictions, LaFleur good coach? | Colin Cowherd NFL

Welcome to the official YouTube channel for the Colin Coward podcast. Go on, hit that subscribe button if you’re new so you don’t miss any of our great football content this season. All right, it’s Danny Parkkins joining me. We just talk about a bunch of stuff. I don’t even know where I’m going, but I I did think about this. They got the coach and the quarterback. The defense stinks. We still don’t like the owner. The front office, I doubt. I love the coach. The quarterback’s super talented. There’s a lot they’re not doing right, but like a political party, the Bears now lead the NFL in big plays. That’s good for me. And it isn’t it they’re a flawed team from ownership down, but they got the two things it appears right. Absolutely. There’s no question. I mean, the the one I always say because it’s a fun turn of phrase is like the Bengals were the Bengals until they got Joe Burrow. you know, the the the Chiefs didn’t win a single game with a quarterback they drafted since Todd Blacklage and then it was Patrick Mahomes, you know, so like it it it can change on a dime. And I find it to be amazing that the Bears are fourth in rushing, fourth in yards, sixth in scoring, crazy in explosive plays, and everyone’s like, “Is Caleb good?” Right. I’m like, and listen, I And by the way, to be fair, to be fair, as someone who’s watched every snap of every game, closer than any team in the NFL, like they they got some of those numbers got fat against Dallas and Cincinnati. Objectively true. And some of the explosive play stuff is running game based. And they’ve been much better running out of the buy Washington, New Orleans, uh, Baltimore, and then the game last week. But so it’s not all because of Caleb. Caleb’s not playing as well as Drake May. Caleb’s not playing as well as Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes. But if you told me 25 games into his career on his third play caller and second head coach that they would have by the numbers a top 10 offense and a winning record in year two, 100% of Bears fans would have signed up for it. That that’s what I always tell whenever my wife’s, you know, getting a little um concerned about our kids. I’m like, if id have told you 20 years ago when we met, none of them would be in jail, none would have a drug problem, we’d have a vacation home and a nice house and our kids would still call us, would you have signed up for it? Yes. Then don’t worry about tomorrow. It’s all good. Think about this. So, my take is every NFL offense has a hole. Let me give you an example. I’m going to give you the best offenses in the NFL two weeks ago. What you thought Green Bay today, they have no offensive identity. These are the better offenses. The Rams, Pukazo was hurt and Stafford has no mobility. Philadelphia depends on the game and the half. Denver, terrible offense for three quarters, every single game. San Francisco, bad O line, totally Christian McCaffrey dependent. Indianapolis, does anybody like Daniel Jones? I just named the good offenses in the NFL. Right. Right. So, the truth is we pay so much attention to offense, Danny, that and I’m guilty of this. We nitpick the Bears. Big plays run the ball well coached. Take it. I No doubt. No doubt. and and and I have I came into the year with optimism but with 0% like they’re a contender or they’re going to win the Super Bowl. So to me, this season has been it’s been a little bit of like heart attack inducing. I might say some things during these Bear games that if like anyone other than like Nick Wright was next to me, I’d be like that might get me cancelled. Uh like you know what I mean? Like it’s a stressful watch. But I have no illusions that this is a great team. Like the the defense is flawed. The quarterback is young. It’s a new system. The they’ve got they’ve had serious left tackle questions. Their two best cornerbacks are hurt. We don’t know if Jaylen Johnson is coming back like this year. He’ll come back eventually, obviously. Like they’re not going to win the Super Bowl. They probably won’t make the playoffs, though they might. We’ll see because weird things happen in the NFL. But again, like do you have the coach and quarterback? I can work with that. Yeah, because because they also it’s not just like the they got a lot of talent. I hear you talk about this all the time. Like Odun is talented. Loveland is talented. Their right tackle Darnell Wright looks like a stud for years. Deandre Swift is an excellent top 12 back. Yeah, Manungai who is been has been great the last, you know, game and a half since Swift has been hurt, looks looks good. that like they they have pieces, they have talent, and they are clearly on the up and up. And Caleb, he gives them a ceiling that feels kind of limitless because of how crazy the physical talent is. Like, if Ben Johnson can actually get him to be 90% of what his talent suggests that he should be, the Bears are going to be good for the next decade. Yeah. You know, I was um I I said years ago I was on this. I think one of my favorite things in sports is trying to find a trend before it gets discussed nationally. Yeah, I love doing that. Sometimes I hit, sometimes I miss. I don’t care. It’s not about being right. It’s about just kind of trying to see around a corner and go, I think this is a problem. So, I started this about 5 years ago. I said the downside to building a league to protect the quarterbacks and being totally quarterback ccentric and I started this 5 years ago is if you don’t have a quarterback you’re unwatchable and right now seven of the teams in the NFL seven of 32 you’re getting into what is that 21 22% you’re mathier than me Jets Saints Browns Titans Raiders Washington now that Jaden Daniels is hurt Giants are no day at the each if they get beat this weekend by the Bears. Seven of 32 teams. It’s becoming the NBA where your bottom six to seven are not only bad, they’re bad to watch. And I never So I think my downside to the NFL, cuz I do think it’s by far and away the most embraceable, watchable, bettable, viewable league is as the league becomes so quarterback dependent. If you don’t have one, and even if you do, and he’s not protected by a good O line, you’re in big trouble. There is a lot of bad football in that 1:00 window and we are increasingly seeing bad football in the Sunday night game and the Monday night game. Yeah. Well, um you never know when you’re going to get a good slate and you never know when you’re going to get a bad slate. Like everyone in the world was down on Caleb and they were playing Joe Flacco and it was the game of the week. Like like you you me like the teams that you said that had the bad quarterbacks like one of them was Washington and yeah it’s because Jaden Daniels is hurt but no Washington fan is like we don’t have our quarterback. Like we might have some questions cuz he’s already had four injuries in his career but he was in the NFC Championship game as a rookie. Like it’s not like Commanders fans can’t have reason to like buy the jersey of their quarterback. I can tell you that Giants fans are buying the hype on Jackson Dart. what the NFL does because it’s a there are 32 teams and there are not 32 Patrick Mahomes is so it’s so quarterback dependent like there are not enough great ones for the job. That’s true. But the NFL has done such an unbelievable job of selling hope and parody and worst to first and it’s such an obsessed draft culture more than any other league combined by far multiplied by a million that like two days ago was what a top five day for a Jets fan in the last decade cuz you’ve just convinced yourself okay we’ve got five first round picks in the next two years we’ll find our quarterback now the odds say they’ll find their next Zach Wilson, but like it is still an exciting thing for a Jets fan. So like on a week-toeek basis, like sure is can you get a bad Monday night game? Hell, we’re going to get the Cowboys in a prime time window. I think it’s like five of the next seven weeks with Thanksgiving and Sunday Night Football and they might end up being awful. We’ll see. Um, but in general, I just think NFL fans are so conditioned to like believe in hype and believe in hope that I don’t think anyone really tunes out their team. So, I thought it was um I thought one of the real interesting things and this has been uh pretty well chronicled um that the best players in the NBA are now international and international players though gracious and gifted uh more skilled than any we’ve ever had often uh don’t move them the needle that you know a Jokic or a Wemi or an SGA maybe remarkable players but I don’t know we like our domestic guys we like our MJs and our Kobes and our and are uh LeBron’s. We like personalities. Magico was smiled. Kareem didn’t. Kareem was stoic. People didn’t really like him. Magic was all smiles. People loved him. Uh Bird was feisty and bluecollar. Resonated. Dr. J was cool. Resonated. International guys don’t. Yet in baseball, a World Series got 27 million viewers in the United States with one city. Yeah. Toronto’s ratings don’t count. And the two best players were Japanese. And I thought about this. Um, how do you reconcile that? So, international players. I thought they didn’t really move the needle. Um, one American team was not one city only was involved in the ratings. NBA had two and baseball virtually doubled it or or got a significantly higher number. Now, some would argue that Manfred speeding up the game has helped the sport. Clearly, I think on the margins, 8 to 10%, not 40 to 50%, but it it’s made it much more consumable. You could argue the Dodgers are just the most interesting team since the Yankees with Jeter. I noticed that two years ago when the Dodgers went to Yankee Stadium for a series, the one Oscar Hernandez crushed, there were Dodger hats everywhere. It was unbelievable. How do you explain two best players are international, doesn’t work in the NBA, works in baseball, or are we looking at a Warriors like Dynasty that is just fascinating to everybody in the country? Yeah, I think there’s a few things. Uh Dodgers are a huge brand. Like it doesn’t surprise me that Dodgers hats in New York like they they used to be here, you know? So, so ser I mean seriously like it’s it’s an old man’s game and the Brooklyn Dodgers like that’s a thing that’s passed down. So I I think that that the Dodgers, you know, Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, those are like the brands that seemingly everybody cares about that kind of transcend the sport. Then you add in Otani and this Babe Ruth thing. You add in that live sports are crushing, right? Everything else is struggling. Everything like everything is struggling. Live sports are crushing. Um and it was like I do think there is something too that was just awesome sports. Yeah. Like that series was great like the the 18 ining game crossed over, you know, like that. I think I think that that really helped the series. It was like wait what happened? There was a game that went 18 innings and all of the highlights and like that that was that felt like a football level event like a water cooler event that I don’t know if people have water coolers at their place of business anymore but like you know what I mean like it was it was the type of thing that people were my wife could not care less about baseball. She the next day was like did you what time did you come to bed? like like cuz like it like it like came into her orbit, you know what I mean? And so I I think that that game early in the series all of a sudden made people feel like I can’t miss anything else in this series because I missed I missed that alltime thing and then it and then game six was awesome and so it set up for game seven to be this like much mustwatch thing. So, I think it was a a perfect storm of events. And I mean, listen, last year was Yankee Yankees Dodgers and this one beat it. Yes, that’s a that’s a great story for baseball to be able to No New York market. No other you domestic market. I also think game six and seven were late inning fantastic. Correct. They were just I mean, it’s I love the fact that Dave Roberts pulled every weird lever and they all worked. Yeah. All of them. It was man it baseball the the tension of baseball is so listen playoff hockey the tension rises game seven in any sport NCAA tournament single elimination right and when when elimination’s on the line the tension is high I used to say like I love sports so much that like I’ll watch anything if it’s the highest stakes world series of darts bowling right like if it’s the highest stakes and the best of the best but it’s but it’s baseball. It’s America’s pastime. And you’re like, “This, you’re going to give me great baseball in a game six and a game seven with a little David and Goliath feel.” Not that the the Blue Jays like looked like underdogs in the series. They arguably outplayed the Dodgers, but just it was like the big bad Dodgers, the Dynasty, and then this team that was just mashing. It was I couldn’t look away. It was compelling sports theater. Like I know they they would never have it go up against the NFL, but like I would have chosen game seven of that World Series over an NFL game if confronted with the choice. And I I’m a 10 times bigger NFL fan than I am baseball fan. Today’s show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. This is that golden time of the year when it’s not just pro football. NBA college football, college hoops, hockey all share the stage. There’s always something to bet on. 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I I watched multiple playoff games in October over football games, and I’m a football guy. There’s no question. And I, you know, and I’ I’ve just certain things that are like college basketball that opening weekend is magical, but it’s really hard to get me in November, you know, or you know, o the Maui Invitational isn’t moving me to a TV set. It’s the same in baseball. Regular season, it’s a bit tedious, but baseball’s one of those things for about 6 weeks. It’s fascinating and I and I do think there’s a there’s a chess component. I like architecture. You’re very good with math and betting. There’s like an architecture and the build and of the drama. You know, it’s almost like the two-minute drill in football happens in baseball for nine innings. You’re getting these constant stakes on every batter. Yeah. I think I my my thing with my thing with baseball, Boog Shami, great playby-play guy, buddy of mine, does the you know because the World Series for ESPN radio, but is now locally for the Cubs. So, I gotten to know him over the past few years. He said this thing and uh he likes to think about the game and rules and tinker with it. He’s smart guy, thoughtful guy. He said, you know, if we created baseball tomorrow, we wouldn’t make it 162 games. Like, it’s just it’s an outdated thing. That’s right. And and so what’s the math of it is that one of 162 is statistically meaningless, right? But then when you take that sport and then you inject it into like game seven or best of five and it’s like, oh my god, now it’s fascinating. Now a baseball game feels like the NFC like like a divisional round game feels like the NFC Championship game, you know? And so I think that juxtaposition of it goes from like meaningless to the most meaningful is why it’s great. I want to ask you though about the your what you said about the international guys in the NBA. What do you think will happen like say LeBron retires at the end of the year? Yeah. And then you have Luca on the Lakers. Yeah. Because you have you SGAA, Oklahoma City, Giannis, Milwaukee, Jokic, Denver. If you take international player, international superstar, yeah, with global brand, right, do you think he will be less impactful than an American star on the Lakers or will the Lakers brand plus his brilliance kind of overrule be an exception to your international question? Uh, it’s a good question. I think the Lakers brand with Luca will be fascinating. Um, I think NBA may become a little bit more regional and local and that was baseball’s problem until the Yankees and the Dodgers and the Cubs, the Cubs, a national team kind of brought everybody back into the tent and then Rob Manfred quick uh, you know, making rule changes to speed the game up, more base runners, defensive shift out that brought more people back into the game. It’s gone in stages, right? This dynasty just started two years ago. The rule changes, a lot of them started three and four years ago. So everything was percolating, percolating. Here come the Dodgers to dominate. Bang, the numbers gigantic. So the baseball right now today, Danny, feels more national than it has in forever. The NBA has gone the other way without the dynasties. It’s gone baseball’s direction where it feels a little bit more local. Um, Luca and the Lakers could make that feel more national or a Knicks championship. Um, but it’s interesting Boston, and this is why I say that this is not a criticism of the NBA. It’s gotten very local and and the example I would give is the Celtics championship. That’s the second biggest brand. It got a terrible number. The Celtics did with with MVP level Jason Tatum from Duke. So, the biggest college brand, the second biggest NBA brand, got a crap number. So, what’s happened to me is NBA’s gotten more local and regional with the dismantling of the dynasties. Baseball in three or four years has gotten more national. They’ve switched spots and the ultimate payout for that is in the championship where the NBA numbers dip and the baseball numbers surge. Does that make sense? I I think I I think it’s a I think it’s a totally reasonable theory. I think that because because you’re judging it based on like NBA Finals ratings and World Series ratings. Yes, that’s right. Yeah. And and listen, that that that the math right now on that is undeniable. I also think that like any sport that plays that many games, it’s in the buildup to it is going to be more local and regional because again, I’ll just use like my team as the example. Like if I’m a diehard Cubs fan and the game now is, you know, 2 hours and 40 minutes, used to be 3 hours and 15 minutes, whatever. It’s a large chunk of time. When I’m done watching the Cubs game, I’m not going to turn on Diamondbacks Mariners, right? It’s because one of 162 of that I can’t. Whereas football, because every game means so much and gambling and fantasy and it’s like one day a week and all that. Like I can feel like I watch the whole league. You can’t do that in basketball. It’s I mean the games are all on but it’s it’s impossible. Like if I want to be a Bulls fan and be a diehard NBA fan, I mean, you’re just it’s you don’t have enough hours in the day to to consume all of it unless you’re like a single guy and you’re 25 years old and you don’t you know what I mean? Like it’s just there’s too there’s too there’s too much inventory to be a fan of everything all the time. And so I feel like a lot of us like play catchup when the playoffs come around because oh the games are bigger, they matter more and that’s when it is like you know Webby Luca last night I paid attention to obviously I watched we talk about on the show today but a random regular NBA game in football season like I’ll I’ll talk I’ll talk to you in February. Have you ever um Yeah. Have you ever thought like I’ve said before I’d love to be a general manager probably NFL over NBA. Yeah. But have you ever thought and I don’t um I’m not um delusional or misguided in my understanding that I haven’t put the time in it to be good. I think there’s probably five or six things in my life I could have succeeded at had I given the time I gave to media. Um, you know, I would never have been a concert pianist or a shortstop for the, you know, um, Orioles, but I could have done a lot of things, transferable skills, stock broker, teacher, you know, sports cer, that kind of stuff. But occasionally there’ll be something and I feel like I’ve been saying something for years and everybody’s disagreed with me in the NBA and I’m right and I’ll throw it to you. I never bought into Joel Embiid. So, I always had a belief that if you’re hurt early, you’re hurt often. I thought he was too socially engaged on social media. Um, I thought he was a weird fit whenever I would watch the Sixers, even on the Olympic team, he’d have the ball too often in the perimeter, getting into the way of wing and guard play. And now the Sixers have basically abandoned Joel Embiid in in exchange for letting Tyrese Maxi who I said three years ago was going to be an absolute A. And then they get VJ Edgecom from Baylor. It’s a backcourt team and they’re fun to watch. They’re wildly quick, very dynamic. And my take is this MBI thing was fool’s gold four to five years ago and even smart Daryl my bought into it. And I think to myself, did everybody kind of know it? Was I on to something? So that just the Joel LMB deterioration and some of it’s physical. I feel like I can’t believe everybody else didn’t see this. Well, he did win MVP. Kind of a guilt trip. It was kind of a guilt. Oh, okay. Fine. And then he should have been second like you know like like so Joel and B like uh so I was working in Kansas City and Kansas City is a fascinating market because highest local ratings for a playoff team for baseball I still think is the Royals in 2014. Like they love sports. It’s the only pro sport market. It’s the only market in the country that’s top 20 for college football, top five for college baseball. They’re top five for World Cup. They’re top five for Olympics. Like they just watch sports. It’s all they do. And so we would cover Kansas basketball because it was like the third pro team. It was like Chiefs, Royals, KU basketball. Lawrence was 40 minutes away from Kansas City. Big-time sports single, go to a college town, watch a basketball game, go out to the bars. It was great. So that Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid team, I covered. And I remember seeing him at like practices and shootarounds and I was like, “This kid was so raw but so crazy gifted.” I mean, he had been basically a volleyball player two years before and he just started picking up a basketball. So like where Joel Embiid got to MVP of the NBA from picking up a basketball for the first time when he was like 16 years old is a remarkable success story. Like it, you know, like it’s just it’s a crazy thing. He’s a wildly talented dude. But I think your point on the injury is the thing that they all overlooked. Big guys, if they’re hurt early, they stay hurt. big guys are more likely to be like I I think that he was a big personality. A lot of guys are big personalities. Caleb is on social media. LeBron is on social media. Like I I don’t think that was a part of it, though I could understand why it turned you off at the time. But I I wish that like, and this is stupid to say, but like injuries are just cruel because it we don’t we it robs us of what it could have been. It robs us of Derrick Rose. It robbed us of Grant Hill. It robbed us of Brandon Roy. And I really do think it robbed us of Joel Embiid because when he was good, he was unbelievable. But the questionable, you know, every once in a while something new comes along that just sort of makes sense. McDonald’s has rolled out the new Buffalo Ranch sauce. Yeah, it’s good. Perfect mix of uh controlled chaos, tangy zang of buffalo. Little kick edge, that fire, smooth, creamy, cool ranch. Mild, wild same time. Like that balance. Perfect. That’s Patrick Mahomes in a sauce. Confident. A little flashy, but never out of control. I am a crispy guy. That’s my go-to. Uh some people like the snack wrap. Some go Mcrispy strips. That’s fine. We’re all different players on the same team here, right? So when you dunk one of those in the Buffalo Ranch, game changer. Are you mild or wild? Because this sauce let you be both. There’s a new sauce in town, folks. Tangy, Creamy Buffalo Ranch. available for a limited time at participating McDonald’s while supplies last. Order now. The question isn’t his talent. It’s fitting in to the construct of a team. So when they put him on the Olympic team, it’s like everybody worked except Embiid. And in the East when LeBron left the East, it was awful. He could not win, generally speaking, a second playoff series. I always said this about John Wall. I don’t doubt his talent. At one point he was the fastest player in the NBA. I don’t think he played winning basketball, but I thought he played um consumable basketball. Wasn’t necessarily great for the Remember when he got hurt one year left? They went on like a 10-ame winning streak. It’s like right I saw him I saw him in college and I was like I’ve never seen anyone that fast with the ball in his hands. It was It didn’t look like any other player. It was crazy. But I always said with Embiid is when I watched him, his teammates didn’t like playing with him. like you he he like some players like Jordan may have pissed people off but you could sense that his teammates loved when he dunked on people. I almost thought Embiid and Tobias Harris or a Paul George or a Simmons or a Harden didn’t necessarily they weren’t happy when he scored. And I I just I I I guess my whole point on this is there are times like I know a lot of people that thought Sam Darnold was good and he would rebound from the Jets mess. I didn’t know if he’d be this good, but I said he’s a poor man’s Andrew Luck. I got killed for that for seven, six years. Got killed for it. And I kept saying he is a poor man’s Andrew Luck. Now he looks like Andrew Luck. He’s not even That’s a That’s you. Maybe you should be a general manager in football and basketball. Yeah, that that one is like listen to me now, believe me later on allstar for Colin Coward. What a I I should also mention that I thought Yao Ming would be a bust and Juan Dixon out of Maryland I thought would be a top 10 player ever. So we we all we all have them. Uh John Baldwin the receiver out of pit I was like I mean like I was like Calvin Johnson and Julio Jones like I don’t know like which one is a better comp for this guy. Like it was unbel I think I maybe slightly overrated him beating Syracuse. Maybe maybe just a smidge. It is it is funny about personnel though. I mean, Darnold’s an amazing story. We were talking about this in the show today. I said, you see all the time where a great actor, Tom Hanks, takes a bad movie, The Terminal, and you’re like, “Oh, Marlon Brando did that.” You’d have, you know, on the waterfront and he had six bombs. You see great restaurants lose a chef. They go from Michelin star to just a really good restaurant. You never see terrible hot dog and a stick become zagot rated. Like, that’s not the way it works. There is no terrible to great from actors. You’re either like straight to video. Lindsay Lohan doesn’t become Merryill Street. It doesn’t work that way. Except Sam Darnold. It’s not that he was terrible, then he became pretty good because Baker won a playoff game and in that year had a 96 passer rating. He was never terrible, right? I mean, Daniel Jones got a second contract. Daniel Daniel Jones won a playoff game. Sam Sam Darnold was terrible, but he also like what did he have 40 starts? 30 35 38 starts like like he it wasn’t like that large of a body of work. He came into the league at 21. He was so young. Think about that. He came into the league. Yeah. Four years into the league he was younger than guys that were getting drafted, right? Yeah. That and that’s I mean that’s like like I think Trevor Lawrence and Michael Pennock are the same age like like right right now like which just like a weird it’s like a weird thing to h to to deal with. And so yeah, like to me the most interesting part of this is I mean obviously the Darnold story is incredible and I think sea Seattle’s the only team in the NFL right now top five in offense and top five in defense. Like we have to treat them as real. I did not believe in that Vikings team last year. I’m just not going to I I do believe in this Seahawks team. But I want to know what teams are going to do. Like are the Colts not going to give up on Anthony Richardson? Like obviously Daniel Jones is working. They just traded for Sauce Gardner. They’re all in. They’ll probably franchise tag Daniel Jones, I would imagine. But like, is the lesson that these teams are going to take from Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield and Daniel Jones being like, we can’t give up on guys. Like, we don’t have to play them, but we cannot give up on talent. Like if we truly believe that there is a franchise quarterback in here, it would be it would haunt me if I’m a Browns fan to see Baker Mayfield doing this or if I’m a Panther fan to see Baker Mayfield and Sam and Sam Darnold doing this. I I don’t know how you how you go to sleep go to sleep at night. Okay, so what what do Baker and Sam have in common? Baker went to Cleveland and then Carolina poorly run teams and then McVey said I like him. Okay. Okay. Sam Jets Carolina. Then Kyle Shanahan’s like I like him. Is that it could be in venture capitalism. It could be on Wall Street. It can be in sports. The smart take from the less skilled and the less smart is that the smartest people in the NFL. Daniel Jones goes from the shipwreck known as the New York Giants and Kevin Oonnell in season vulture circles I’ll take him and then from there Shane Styen goes no I’ll take him is that there’s a handful of super smart offensive guys and they look at all these bad the smart people figure out who can play and who can’t by the way Kyle Shanahan looked at M Jones shocker Bellich didn’t get him Jacksonville Ville stumbled. Oh, what a shock. Shanahan’s like actually throws a really good ball. I think we’ll take him. There’s about eight guys in this league now. Maybe 10, but eight. And they’re really smart. They’re with winning organizations. And this happens in every walk of life. They go to the bad organizations with worse GMs, bad scouts, lousy coaches, lousy coordinators, scouting directors that are suboptimal, and they just raid them. Almost all of these reclamation projects started with bad franchises and get picked up by the smartest GMs in the league. Yeah, but the bad franchises don’t believe that they’re bad. Like, you know, they it’s delusional. Like, but I So, you’re right. But Shawn McVey can’t sign everybody. Kyle Shanahan can’t sign everybody. Like, at some I I just I don’t know what I I think Anthony Richardson’s a decent example. And listen, Shane Stiken might just be an awesome coach. like won eight games and nine games with Gardenner Mchu and Anthony Richardson and has a shot at the one seed with Daniel Jones, right? Like Shane Styen might just be the next name that we need to include with Andy Reid and McVey and Shannon. He is right. It’s it’s that is that is certainly on the board. Um but then my guess is two years from now Anthony Richardson is still a cult. They’ll just be like why give up on him? Like we’ll we’ll just we’ll keep him. We’ll keep developing him. We’re gonna We drafted him fourth overall. He can run like Lamar Jackson, but he’s built like Cam Newton. Like, he’s got an arm like Herbert. Like, we’re gonna just see if we can develop in between the years and slow the game down for him. So, it’ll just be interesting to me to see if teams like instead of like cutting guys loose, be like, “We’ll just we’ll sit you for a little like we’re we’re not going to we’re not going to let the Baker Mayfield story happen to us because that’s just a painful thing for an organization to go through to like to see you you drafted the right guy so it’s not and then he’s awesome elsewhere so like the only it’s on you. It’s just got to be such a shameful feeling for those organizations. Do you have a bet of the weekend that you really like? I’ll just throw it out there. Uh I do think I’ll pull up my tab right now. Go ahead. Yeah, I I I like Baltimore um at Minnesota. First of all, Lamar Jackson is wicked uh verse the NFC. Second, I don’t really buy into the JJ McCarthy stuff after the first scripted drives. Third, uh Baltimore is one of those teams that literally pre-Thanksgiving, several weeks before Thanksgiving, is in an absolutely must-win every game mode. And you can’t sell urgency to every locker room. players know. Baltimore players know they can’t lose for a month. I I like Baltimore minus the points on the road. A road favorite. Four is a number that I’ve always bet. That means Vegas doesn’t want to have a four-point favorite. They like to be three or a seven. If they have to give somebody four to four and a half points, it generally tells you that’s the better team. Yeah, I I think that Baltimore should roll in that game. I thought the I thought the Vikings Lions game last week was weird. Um the you know there’s a blocked kick. Uh they they they kept they did a good job keeping the Lions offense on on the uh on the sideline. Lions were a huge favorite in that game. JJ McCarthy had like 150 yards but four touchdowns. Like I I thought that was just like a very weird game. If you play that game 10 times, there’s no way you get another one outcome like that. So I don’t think the Vikings uh are great. And Lamar when he starts and finishes the game, they’re third. They’re they’re top three in everything. They’re top three in yards, they’re top three in points, they’re top three in explo. Like Lamar Lamar has been like the outlier is if he has a bad game. Like he was awesome basically every game last year and he was awesome basically every game the year before. So like look, the questions with Baltimore this year have been injuries. That is it. It is it has been their injuries and their defense is getting healthier and Lamar is healthy and it was interesting. It’s like what what’s Lamar gonna look like uh with Rust because he had been injured before but it was at the end of the year. We had never seen him be injured in season and then come back. He he like short armed like one throw on the first drive and by the second half he was just like manipulating the pocket and looking off the safety and rolling right on two. I was like, my god, like he he was rusty for like 30 minutes. Uh, so I I I like the Baltimore pick. Uh, I like New England’s getting points against Tampa, but I’ll tell you my favorite bet is a total if I can if I could sell you on. Sure, please. I have a couple I have a couple totals that I I think are Go ahead because I have a a total I like. All right. Un under 50 and a half in Washington Detroit. No Jaden Daniels for Washington. multiple offensive line injuries in Detroit. Like the explosiveness of what the Lions are trying to do just hasn’t looked as consistent in a postben Johnson world, like it it flashes and it has its moments. But if you’re telling me that their best offensive linemen are hurt, questionable, not practicing, a couple guys might miss and they’ve been inconsistent and I just the Lions defense has actually like they made it they made it tough on Lamar for a stretch of time. Like they they they’ve had moments where they’ve actually looked better with Hutcherson being healthy and they’ve not nearly as injured as last year. I like the under in that game quite a bit. Finally, I also like that you bet totals now in your Blazing Five. By the way, Nick and I don’t do it on the show, but betting totals is is a lot of fun. It’s underrated. I like to make my total bets on Sunday night for the following week to see if I can like get some like line value at close of like that’s going to be a high-scoring game. It’s going to be a It’s like if I if I if I close better to the number on my totals, I’m like I’m seeing the NFL clearly, but sometimes I miss it by four points and it’s embarrassing. Well, I I’ve thought about doing props, but I thought this year I would add an overunder every week. I like it just because the public’s doing that. And then I think next year and I also I think it’s a weird year like I my play was always bet good quarterbacks getting points. I I was always an underdog. Always an underdog guy. Yeah. Fade the public, right? Fade Fade the public is like a pretty classic like first lesson of gambling once you start to take it seriously. bet on fade the public all that sort of stuff. Yeah, I’m struggling to find under a single underdog this week. I thought Steelers with both tackles out for the Chargers and the Steelers, it will be a home Steeler crowd. It’ll be a 6535 Steeler crowd. Yeah, the Chargers are used to that though. But yeah, and and my take was well TJ Watt Steeler pass rush. They don’t have their tackles. One of the backup tackles is hurt. I’m like I I think I’ll probably just take the points there, but I looked I I mean, you start to talk about underdogs. I like Arizona getting six and a half at Seattle just because it’s a division rivalry. Seattle looked almost perfect against Washington and then I think well Arizona played over their skis against Dallas. I don’t I mean I looked I now I again ner plus three and a half at home. It would help a lot if they could elicit any pressure on Stafford. They don’t. So, I mean, I I look Miami plus nine and a half off a great Buffalo performance actually look like the best dog on the board. Today’s episode brought to you by a scent that’s made a legendary comeback. Degree original Cool Rush. The OG is back and better than ever. Cool Rush isn’t just a scent. It’s a movement, a fan favorite. The kind of fragrance, guys, remember, ask for by name and rave about online. It’s bold, it’s fresh, all day sweat protection, cool, crisp vibe that made it legendary. So whether you’re heading to the gym, the office, or just trying to stay fresh all day long, Cool Rush has your back. It’s the go-to for millions and for good reason. So if you haven’t tried it yet, or you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it. Head to your local Walmart, Target, grab Degree Cool Rush, the fan favorite scent from the world’s number one anti-persperent brand. I So last year was like one of the all-time great favorites years, and I had a real like crisis of confidence because it was also the greatest year I ever had picking games. I was like, am I just like a public square? Like who went? But like I but I really do feel like like I would put three picks out on TV that were all favorites. Gambling Twitter would come at me. Oh, what a public. What a what a square. And then they would cover. And I was like, last year was a real have and have not year. Like there were a lot of really bad teams and a few great teams. And those Denny, this is this is what I’ve said. The bottom now is not competitive. Correct. And so I think that there’s because you don’t see too big of NFL spreads, but just like if you’re telling me f find you an underdog that you want me to sell you on, I know there’s a mystique to Lambo at night, but Philly is coming off of the buy. Yes. The game before their buy, best their offensive lines looked all year. Saquon had, you know, he looked like last year. He was fantastic and their offensive line was dominant. Game before that was Jaylen Herz’s best game of the year. Green Bay, there’s something identity and the and the Tucker Craft injury I think is significant cuz he’s like their intermediate guy. And Jordan Love, listen, he’s only got three interceptions this year, but he feels to me like he should have six or seven. And he almost blew the end of that game where they got the last playoff with one second and he like he just I don’t fully trust him. I don’t and his interceptions are bad. Like his interception against Cleveland lost him a game terrible. The interception against the Panthers where he threw it into triple coverage into the wind indefensible. The play on fourth down where they’re like, well do stepped out of the back of the end zone. He still rolled all the way left, threw it all the way back across the field. The guy dropped it. That should have been a 105 yardd pick six the other way. just happened to drop it. So, I don’t fully trust Jordan Love. The running game isn’t working. Philly’s coming off a buy. I do like Philly in that spot quite a bit. Yeah. Um I think when teams struggle to find an identity, um I worry about them. Like I I’ve said this, San Francisco is flawed and completely beat up, but offensively it is Christian McCaffrey 39 time. They know exactly what works and they figure out ways to get on the ball. I have no idea what Green Bay’s offense is. I know what the Rams like to do. They like to run with Kairen Williams. On play action, it’s puker Devonte Adams. So, I I think Green Bay is a you know, it’s it’s one of those things with Matt Laflur is that uh Oh, that’s the comp. I was just telling a friend this today. Matt Laflur reminds me of Lincoln Riley at USC. I know they’re they’re both smart. They actually more than the public thinks prefer running the ball. They get very prickly very quickly. They get very defensive very quickly. I know they’re good play designers and play callers. I don’t know if they build the best culture. I question a little bit their ability to get men to rise and follow them over the hill, but I know they’re smart. I know they’re good at their jobs. And I look at Lincoln Riley and I’m like, “Yeah, he’s he’s a really good coach. I always feel like I want more.” You know what I mean? And I feel like with Matt, I’m like, “Yeah, he’s smart. He’s a really good coach.” But it doesn’t feel like Andy Reed or Shawn Peyton or Harbar or Mike Vrabel. You know what I’m saying? like it feels like there’s there’s there’s a I don’t know what it is. It’s a testosterone. It’s a anger. It there’s something visceral missing for me. It sounds like you’re putting him in like the Mike McDaniel category cuz No, no, he’s better than that. Okay. He’s more functional and more mainline than that. He’s more main street. Yeah. Because like Yeah. Well, Laflur’s got a lot of pelts on the wall. like like Aaron Ro they drafted Jordan Love because they thought Aaron Rodgers was done and then he got two more MVPs out of Aaron Rodgers, you know, they were in the NFC Championship game. They played that weird NFC championship game. Yeah, that’s the coaching part. I like that part. I like that’s the biggest part though. Okay, that’s the biggest part. Like I we all love Dan Campbell. Dan C we Mike Mike Tomlin. They’re great quotes. They’re great leaders of men. To to your thing earlier, you could have done five or six different things. Like Dan Campbell probably could like lead a a business and lead 40 employees to like hit their earnings numbers or whatever the case may be. Mike Tomlin, no doubt the same thing. But the guy who can execute the game plan Sunday night through Saturday to get you ready for that Sunday game at 1:00, like to me that is still the most valuable piece of it. And I know people will say, “No, you’ve got to just be a CEO type and a leader.” I’ll take the guy who’s smarter than everybody else and a great because like to me that leaves me with the Shawn McVeys and the Kyle Shanahans and you can have the Dan Campbell and the Mike Tomlins and I guess I’ll see you in the Super Bowl. Well, yeah. I I don’t think he’s Mike McDaniel, but I don’t think he’s Shawn Peyton. He’s clearly closer to Payton than Mike McDaniel, but I do feel there’s a gap between Andy Reid bumping Travis Kelce on the sideline and Shawn Payeyton calling out Russell Wilson. Yeah. And Matt Laflur. I think that that’s true. And I think that that’s probably developed over time. And uh I don’t know like Lafleur is probably he Jordan Jordan Love is so good that I think Matt Laflur like and I I again I just said that I have some questions about Jordan Love but Jordan Love is way better than he is supposed to be and I think that that is a large part due to Matt Laflur. So if you can get the best out of late Aaron Rogers and convince that old old dog new tricks and you can have Jordan Love be a top 10 top 12 guy okay you’re you’re a good coach. Okay. So, this is my Lincoln Riley thing. Jaden Mayava played at UNLV. I was watching television on a Friday night once and Jaden Mayava played for UNLV. I think they played Boise State and I’m like, “God, that kid’s talented, but he’s a reckless mess, but God, he’s good.” And then he goes to USC and I’m like, “Yeah, he’s still really, really reckless.” I’m not sure because he didn’t start the year as the starter. Miller Moss, I think, was there, transferred, then he got it. This off season, I watched Jaden Mava. Like is he a is he a second round pick? I so like Laflur his ability to to I mean what Lincoln Riley’s done to Jaden Mayov over two years is unbelievable that he’s he’s he was just this wild UNLV quarterback. I didn’t even understand what he saw in him. I’m like what? He doesn’t even look big enough. Didn’t have a big arm. So like Laflur Lincoln Riley. I think this is the thing. This is something I’ve talked to executives about in the NFL and they’re like, “We tend to fall in love with play designers and play callers.” Yeah. But you have to be careful because really what they are is CEOs. And I think sometimes Lincoln and Matt, I don’t feel like I get quite as much CEO as I want, but I get a tremendous play caller. And my wife always says this. She always says, “You just give smart people the benefit of the doubt. There’s more to life than smart.” And I’m like, “Yeah, you’re right. There is.” But I do tend to heir on the side of that guy’s really bright. I trust him. And I think with Lincoln and Matt, I’m always left arguing with myself. I mean, literally, when you’re describing what he did with Jordan Love, I’m like, “That’s what I saw with Jaden Myaba.” With Lincoln Riley, it’s the same thing. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, and and I mean, Andy Reid in Philly, people hated him because he didn’t run the ball enough. Now, everybody passes first. And then in Kansas City, he’s got he’s a dynasty because he’s got Mahomes. And it’s like, yeah, he should be a little bit more aggressive on uh fourth down. And then and then this year, he has been like like Andy Reid is as aggre he’s more aggressive on fourth down this year than any year of his career. He’s in his mid60s. Like these guys keep getting better. They keep adding to something. Like Andy Reid’s resume, we’ve talked about this a little bit before in terms of like does he have a shot at Bellich and greatest of all time and all that stuff, but like if you look through his history and it’s like Donovan McNab, best season of his life is with Andy Reid. Alex Smith, best season of his life is with Andy Reid. Jeff Garcia, best season of his life, Andy Reid. Kevin Cobb, best season of his life, Andy Reed. Oh yeah. Patrick Mahomes, Alex Smith, don’t remember if I mentioned him. Like it’s like six Mike Vic. It’s legitimately like six or seven different NFL quarterbacks who have the best season of their career. Yes. With that guy as their coach. Like that to me is like, okay, then you’re awesome. And that’s what Kyle Shanahan is building that resume. That’s what McVey is building that resume. And while Laflur doesn’t have the number of guys yet, he’s just much younger. Like if you’re two for two and and this is small sample, I will fully admit this, man. That that guy won games last year with Malik Willis. Yeah. When when Jordan Love got hurt and Malik Willis went in, they won. Now Malik Willis did not look like Joe Montana, but they won football games. Like I’ve seen Mike McDaniels offense without Tua. It’s literally unwatchable, you know? And so I I just I do hold Lafleur in pretty high esteem. And I’m not saying he’s a top four coach, but he’s like very comfortably in my top 10. Football season’s here, and if you want to go to an NFL or college football game, Game Time is the place for you. The Game Time app just gives you the advantage back to you, the fans. It’s a hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in a few taps. I love it. Easy to use. The Game Time guarantee means you can trust you’ll get a 100% authentic tickets on time and at the best price. 100%. So they even let you preview your seat on the app. That’s special. Plus fees roll is included. So what you see is what you pay every time. Take the guesswork out of buying professional football tickets with Game Time. Just download the Game Time app. Create an account. If you use the code Colin CIN, 20 bucks off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem code Lin, 20 bucks off. Swipe, tap, ticket. Go download the Game Time app today. Uh I I mentioned this on the air today is that um I always trust the American public and and I don’t trust political pundits. I don’t trust sports pundits. I trust the American public when they when they they have a good gauge on what’s inauthentic, what’s authentic. And when Zohan Mandami won in New York, the capitalism center of North America, he won for two reasons. one, the previous politicians weren’t providing something they promised. That always opens the door for the other side. And the second thing, he had a very energized, focused kind of um uh a little bit of a disruptor. If he was a business, he was a little bit of a disruptor. And there’s a lot of young people who are unsatisfied with the rent and the cost of living and like all of us are whether you do well or not well. But I my take was on this is that the media wants you to believe and maybe the left can be a bit more anxietyfilled and neurotic that it’s it’s the Trumpism it’s it’s neverending. How are we going to find the candidates? And my take is the pendulum just swings back and forth and Trump always had a high unfavorable rating. Most presidents do. His is higher than people who win. And that it was bound to be eventually a good night for the blue. And I don’t know if I agree with Zohan’s uh policies. Most I don’t. As more of a moderate, I don’t. But my take is the political media engages in a lot of grievance and a lot of fear-mongering. And the truth is the public is what I trust. If they feel one side’s too authoritarian, they get uncomfortable and they go even far enough left where Democrats are uncomfortable with the mayor of New York. So that’s my opening take. Your thoughts? Yeah, I think uh you know it’s been interesting to be in New York uh for this whole process. Now I’m in Westchester County. You know I’m in suburban New York but commute into the city 5 days a week. And um I’ll just give you my kind of opening thoughts on it. I guess I’m I’m really glad this election is over because those political ads were some of the nastiest I’ve ever seen. Um, it was wild. It was It was so cra because I’m I listen I probably am I’m definitely left of you. I have some skepticism of whether or not some of these policies are going to work or have any chance of actually being enacted. I think that the I think local New York politics tends to get overstated and overcovered nationally because it’s the capital of the world and it’s the capital of media, right? All the media corporations are based out here. So I think that it takes on outsized importance. I think Mam Donnie was a very impressive politician like he Yes. you um you could not get him off message like you are you going to take a call from Trump if he wants to talk about affordability for New York? Uh where’s the place to get a pastrami sandwich? Well, I know my favorite spot, but the best one is the one that’s affordable for New Yorkers. Like he just like, you know, it was just it was it was relentless. Like he it was just I’m going to match the corporate tax rate in New Jersey. I’m going to tax millionaires another 2%. I’m going to freeze the rent. I’m going to give you free buses. I’m going to make New York affordable. Like those were the five things and that’s all he engaged with. But the the I know politics are nasty and I know media is meant to divide us, but Colin, there were literally multiple different ads that showed the Twin Towers exploding and then just being like, Mandani is going to be okay with this or do you want him in charge of it? And it was just like over pronunciation of a Muslim name, showing the Twin Towers burning and trying to equate the two. Like it was so nasty that I honestly stopped even caring about the policies and I was just like I want him to win. like I just like I want him to win because it just got it got it was so beyond the pale the people that were against him that I just thought it was so out of bounds. Um, and like frankly uncomfortable watching like you’d watch football games here and then it would just be like Andrew Cuomo ads with the Twin Towers and like 9/11 imagery basically like saying some version of this guy wouldn’t be equipped to handle it to he was happy that it happened. Like it was just so out of bounds that I’m like just like really glad this election cycle is over because I thought it was particularly nasty. Yeah. And and I and I go back to my initial point is that I trust the public’s decision. Everybody young is tends to be idealistic. We all get a bit more moderate or conservative as we age. So it’s not surprising that young New Yorkers went left. Listen, Bernie Sanders, I don’t know if he classifies as a socialist. I don’t think he does. He is a left of left Democrat, but he’s one of the more popular people. I I can argue had the Democrats not railroaded him, he would have been the candidate going up against Trump. I think I think that I think that’s kind of fact at this point. Uh yeah, I I I think that 2016 Bernie probably should have been the candidate. Uh you know, and the the establishment took him over. And and listen, the you know, we’ve talked about this on air and off a little bit, like um the Democrats are trying to figure out who the inspiring people are. And the people that have the clearest messaging, Yeah. are within the Democratic party are like the Bernie AOC wing of the party. Yep. And is that the most electable thing? No. Is it the most general thing? No. But I but it at least they have a clear message. Yeah. Like I I know like Bernie believes that it’s embarrassing that healthcare isn’t a universal right for everybody. Like and he just that’s his message. That’s his message. And that’s a pretty popular stance with me. You know what I mean? So I I tell my liberals good at messaging like the progressive wing of the Democratic party is better at messaging what matters to them than the establishment wing of the Democratic party. Yeah. I always said Jay Bilis was better at messaging anti-Nca stuff than the NCAA was at messaging pro NCAA stuff. So Jay would pick on them with strong strident messaging. And he always won. He Bis would always take shots at them because his messaging as an attorney was very clear, was easy to put your arms around. And the NCAA was just bad as a big bureaucracy at figuring out how, you know, I I met with athletic directors. How do we sell the NCAA? And I’m like, however you’re doing it now, do the opposite. It’s not it’s not working. I’ve said this before, though. um that one thing I think the political media could steal from the sports media is that I think political parties are always in a state of broken until there’s a great candidate. Um I’ll give you an example. It’s like the NFL, the Buffalo Bills. They’re just kind of swimming in mediocrity. Josh Allen arrives and they have missed on draft picks. They they can’t find a receiver long term for him. They’ve dealt with injuries. We don’t like the head coach. And the Buffalo Bills keep winning 75% of their games. I’ve always felt that. If you go look at the Democratic party, pre-Clinton, swimming in mediocrity, off message, had nobody. The conservatives before Trump, it was soft in their view. Mitt Romney, they they didn’t really have any clarity. Your political party is always almost broken. Your football team is really broken until you find a franchise quarterback. Danny Parkkins. I these these hours fly by, Colin. It’s a highlight of my week. And mine too, buddy. Thanks, man. See you soon.

Colin Cowherd is joined by ‘First Things First’ co-host Danny Parkins to react to the latest in the NFL. They start off talking about if the Chicago Bears are over-performing and exceeding expectations this season. Is Caleb Williams a franchise QB? Are Dodgers the next dynasty in sports? Will they be likable like the Warriors? They move to the NBA to hit the impact of international stars and if 76ers regret drafting Joel Embiid. They discuss the growth in Sam Darnold and why he is a legit QB now. They give their favorite bets for Week 10 and talk about if Matt LaFleur is a good coach. Lastly they give their takes on Zohran Mamdani winning the NYC mayoral election.

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TIMELINE
0:00:00 Chicago Bears & Caleb Williams
0:08:36 Dodgers likeable dynasty
0:21:22 76ers regret drafting Joel Embiid?
0:27:43 Sam Darnold
0:34:18 NFL Week 10 Bets
0:43:37 Packers & Matt LaFleur
0:51:32 Zohran Mamdani & NYC

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