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Oh here we go. It

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is a Tuesday, and we are ready

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It's the Herd. Wherever you may be

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and however you may be watching or listening.

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Thanks for making us part of your day. Loaded

0:41

show Herd Hierarchy

0:44

in one hour. Nick Wright stops

0:46

by in one hour. You know, we've had the

0:48

last two Mondays,

0:52

We've had a total of eight

0:54

quarterbacks. Plot all have been

0:57

seemingly rusty. Quarterbacks

0:59

are creatures, have it you get

1:01

them off their work schedule. Maybe

1:03

it's a coincidence, but Thursday and Monday

1:05

nights everybody feels

1:08

a little off. I don't love two Monday games. The

1:10

consumers, I think do, But

1:12

it was it was like the the the less

1:14

of the Ugly one last night. I don't know, you sure

1:17

the consumers?

1:17

Do you sure to stack them? I don't

1:19

know.

1:20

And now we go.

1:20

London game coming up this week.

1:22

So you and I out here got to wake up at what's six six

1:24

am on Sunday. Well, nobody's got any sympathy

1:27

for us, but Jaggs Falcons. Here we

1:29

go. The story of the game is Joe Burrow,

1:31

and he's ready the story of the Bengals. He was off

1:33

early, he kind of got it going,

1:36

sort of got it going. But his calf

1:38

is the franchise, Cincinnati

1:41

ownership, suboptimal

1:44

head coach, we don't really

1:46

know o line still not

1:48

great. Burrow is the

1:50

Bengals like Mahomes is great,

1:53

but Andy Reid'll be a Hall of Famer, Razor

1:56

Sharp, GM Brettviach Hunt

1:59

Family Hall of Fame caliber, Steve

2:01

Spagnola, great veteran

2:03

defensive coordinator. They made

2:05

the playoffs three or four years

2:08

pre Mahomes. He's the

2:10

icing, the best icing in the world. But

2:13

the cake was pretty good. The Bengals

2:15

pre Burrow were a wreck. Six

2:18

wins seven six ' two And

2:20

does it feel a little bit like a pullback

2:23

season? It does. Whereas Mahomes

2:25

can get the dysfunctional Chargers.

2:28

Garoppolo's now got a concussion for

2:30

the Raiders, and Denver's a mess. Ravens,

2:33

Steelers, Browns. Those

2:36

are real defenses. Cleveland may

2:38

have the best or second best defense in the league.

2:40

Baltimore went healthy is dangerous. And

2:43

for the record, Burrow has

2:45

struggled with all those teams at times. Right,

2:48

so I feel like this is a pullback season.

2:51

I've criticized Buffalo right

2:53

they can't get their own line, run game right, but

2:55

they don't feel like they're the

2:58

only element to the Bills GM

3:01

respected coach, respected ownership,

3:03

strong defense, good. Buffalo's

3:06

got a lot of elements. They even made

3:08

the playoffs right before Josh Allen

3:10

got there. Again, the Bengals were a wreck. They

3:13

are completely utterly dependent.

3:15

They don't have strong ownership, they don't have a legendary

3:18

front office. They don't take big gambles

3:20

in the draft. They can't get the O line right.

3:23

They've never been big spenders. It's

3:25

Burrow winning IQ attitude,

3:28

aptitude. The Bengals hadn't

3:30

won a playoff game in thirty one

3:32

seasons pre Burrow,

3:35

so Burrow is very much like Luka Dantych

3:38

of the MAVs. The minute Luca

3:40

arrived in Dallas. It's all about

3:43

keeping him healthy and finding

3:45

people who can play with him. Luca is the

3:47

Mavericks. They've got a well known

3:50

owner, but most people can't

3:52

outside of Dallas, or unless their NBA

3:54

diehards can't name three players in the Mavericks.

3:57

Jalen Brunson left, zis

4:00

left. I mean, it's it's

4:02

Luca and these guys

4:04

are Burrow, and they got to get the calf

4:07

right because the early schedule

4:09

Tennessee, Arizona coming up, hosting

4:12

Seattle, very winnable games.

4:14

Then you get a buye in week seven.

4:17

After that it gets difficult.

4:20

Niners on the road, Buffalo at

4:22

Baltimore, Pittsburgh at Jacksonville

4:24

at Pittsburgh, at Kansas City, Cleveland.

4:27

So they got to get it right. Joe

4:30

Burrow, as he often does, gutted it

4:32

out, didn't play particularly well,

4:34

wasn't one hundred percent, but they pick up

4:37

an ugly win and good quarterbacks

4:39

do that. Here's Joe Burrow.

4:42

We feel good.

4:44

We didn't have any any setbacks today,

4:47

but still still day to day there is risk

4:49

to go out there and potentially

4:51

reinjure it. But there's also a risk to go out there

4:53

and be oning three. So I

4:55

wanted to be out there for my guys, and you

4:58

know, I was confident that I would be able to do

5:00

it. I needed to to get the win.

5:02

All right, let's talk Philadelphia Eagles.

5:04

There's five teams maybe

5:07

Dallas, I'm not sure, but five teams

5:09

to me already that feel different

5:12

than everybody else in the NFL, and Philadelphia

5:14

is one of them. Whereas you

5:16

could say Kansas City and Buffalo have

5:19

transformative star quarterbacks, and Miami's

5:22

got a wizard as a head coach, San

5:24

Francisco and Philly they got more good players

5:27

than you do. Every time I watch the Eagles,

5:29

except against San Francisco, here's my takeaway.

5:32

They're just gonna push you around. They

5:34

even invented a play to get a yard. They

5:36

just gonna push you around. They're gonna win the tuggo war

5:38

against everybody except maybe

5:41

San Francisco. And whereas you feel

5:43

like brock Perty's playing well, you

5:45

feel like, hey, Josh Allen and Mahomes,

5:48

they got it right. Philadelphia

5:50

is three and zero and Jalen Hurts hasn't

5:52

played particularly well. He made a couple of big throws.

5:55

I mean, Jalen does that. But there's

5:57

a lot of quarterback stories in the NFL and head

5:59

coach do I feel like the Eagles are

6:01

a GM story. Howie Roseman. I

6:04

feel like they get more value than anybody.

6:06

They get it in trades with AJ Brown with the

6:08

Titans or DeAndre Swift,

6:10

good player, Detroit tired of him. Fourth

6:12

rounder. That's it. Jalen Carter

6:15

was the steal of the draft. Nolan Smith could

6:17

be even Nick Foles

6:19

won a Super Bowl. Jalen hurt second

6:21

round. Philadelphia

6:23

is very comfortable taking risks,

6:26

pivoting and rebooting and taking chances.

6:28

And one of the reasons is nobody

6:30

in the league has more great fixtures

6:33

on the offensive and defensive line. They

6:35

win the tug awar every week, so that allows

6:38

them to roll the dice on the perimeter, take

6:40

a chance with a quarterback, slowly

6:42

develop somebody. Why Because

6:45

Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Jason

6:48

Kelsey, Lane Johnson. You got Hall

6:50

of famers, and it feels like they've been

6:52

there a long long time. And

6:55

I thought Kelsey was going to retire, Lane

6:57

Johnson maybe two. They're both back.

6:59

Lane Johnson, I'm told is gonna play for years.

7:02

So a lot of stories in the NFL tend

7:04

to revolve around the brilliant coach Miami

7:07

San Francisco or the amazing quarterback

7:10

the Chargers, the Bills in Kansas

7:12

City. I always feel like with Philadelphia

7:15

it's a bit of a GM story. They are

7:17

loaded O line, D

7:19

line. They win that every week.

7:22

So Jalen Hurts doesn't have to play great,

7:24

and they can be in three and oh, they can

7:26

lose coordinators and kind of scuff

7:29

and wobble and not quite

7:31

get it right and be three and oh. And it's

7:33

not like they've played an easy schedule. Couple

7:35

of road games. Tampa was hot. New

7:38

England's always tough on the road. Miami

7:40

got a little scare from the Patriots up

7:42

in Foxborough. But Philadelphia

7:45

not playing well. Couple of roadies,

7:48

three and oh, you gotta feel

7:50

great. Here's the coach.

7:52

We're not a final product yet.

7:55

No one let me phrase that. Everybody

7:58

wants us to be a final product now. But

8:00

it's a growth. You want to grow every day,

8:02

and so we're not going to be playing

8:04

our best football until we get going

8:06

into the season. We still got things to work

8:08

on, We still got growth to do if

8:11

you're truly in the mindset of getting better

8:13

every day, right, if you're truly in that mindset

8:15

of getting better every day, which I know, I

8:18

know that we are on

8:20

this team, you're going to continue to rise

8:22

and you're not and you're going to

8:24

keep getting better.

8:26

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd

8:28

weekdays and noon eastern non am Pacific

8:30

on Fox Sports Radio FS one

8:33

and the iHeartRadio app.

8:35

NFL executive told

8:37

Mike Sando, very good reporter

8:40

at the Athletic I believe Russell

8:42

Wilson will have to play phenomenally

8:44

well to avoid getting benched. Is

8:47

that a big leap? He is better than

8:49

he was last year, and that's something. Here's

8:53

Sean Payton on the film

8:55

what it says and the Miami loss.

8:59

It was a and probably

9:01

won't be fun anytime soon until

9:03

we start winning some games. One of the things

9:05

that we preach all the time about finding smart,

9:07

tough players is not just for the three

9:09

hours on game day. Number one, the

9:12

attention to detail of what we're doing it

9:14

that practice has to improve. This is

9:16

one of those weeks where you know, you take

9:18

a butt whooping like that where

9:21

you find out a lot about everyone.

9:23

So a lot of the Denver

9:26

media is pushing back

9:28

at my narrative and others that this is on

9:30

Russell. It's the defense. They say,

9:33

yes, the defense for the Broncos has regressed,

9:36

but they are fifth is Denver in

9:39

offensive spending, and they

9:41

hire Sean Payton and Russell

9:43

Wilson's the star and the number one cap hit.

9:46

In fact, three of their top four cap hits

9:48

on offense. You hire

9:50

Sean Payton, your franchise will

9:53

be about offense. There's

9:55

one way to win.

9:56

Now.

9:57

They're going to scale back on spending on

9:59

defense. Right now they have

10:01

more talent and more money on offense.

10:04

Kansas City spends a majority

10:06

of their money on offense. That's

10:08

who gets the heat. The Rams spend

10:11

a majority of their money on offense.

10:13

That last night is who gets the

10:15

heat. Stafford and McVeigh.

10:18

Apple has come out with a new iPhone.

10:20

Apparently all the

10:22

other products can struggle. If

10:27

that new phone is great, the

10:29

stock price is great, that's

10:31

who's responsible because that's where they spent their money.

10:34

The focus going forward is Russell Wilson.

10:37

He's a monster cap pit and Sean

10:39

Payton, he's a brilliant offensive coach,

10:42

and Denver's offense right now is meh

10:45

fifteenth in scoring, fifteenth

10:47

in total offense, twenty fourth and

10:49

third downs, twenty sixth in the red zone.

10:52

I don't want to hear about the defense going

10:55

forward. I don't want to hear about the defense. That's

10:57

not what it's about. Russell's

10:59

your that's where you're spending the money.

11:02

That's who's gonna get the heat. And

11:04

that's the downside to being a star and getting

11:06

the commercials and being the guy. And

11:08

he is better than last year. But

11:11

they've got players. Jerry Judy can play Mims,

11:13

the rookie can play Courtland Sutton can play.

11:16

The left. Tackle's good, right tackles capable.

11:18

One of their guards is good. They have nice running

11:20

backs, they have a brilliant offensive coach. I'm

11:23

not anti Russell. For years everybody said I was too

11:25

pro Russell. But you can defend

11:28

Russell and say it's the defense going

11:31

forward, it's about the offense. If

11:33

they were top five in

11:35

red zone scoring, top six on

11:38

third down, maybe you'd

11:40

have an argument somewhat. But

11:43

this whole thing here, this whole organization going

11:45

forward, is on the quarterback and

11:48

the coach and if they lose, Sean

11:50

Payton's gonna get ripped. Not a defensive end.

11:54

If Russell Wilson loses, he's

11:56

gonna get ripped. Not Patrick's Artan, not

11:58

a safety. That's the way goes. Kansas

12:01

City rams right,

12:04

Philadelphia Now, Jalen Hurts got

12:06

it. Justin Herbert a week ago,

12:08

this is all I heard. Well, you can blame

12:10

Brandon Staley, but Justin

12:13

Herbert's been virtually flawless. But

12:16

he's going to take the heat if they lose. You

12:20

know what you said. I was like, the

12:22

kid's unbelievable, and you're like, well,

12:24

he got the ball late and didn't score.

12:27

The defense is like bottom

12:29

three in the league. The coach, we think

12:31

he's over his head. It's just the way it

12:33

works in the NFL. The quarterback, even when

12:35

he's great, Andrew Luck, for years, you

12:38

crushed him battle line,

12:40

GM got fired, so did the coach. Eleven

12:43

and five, eleven and five, eleven and five, and it

12:45

always came down. There were radio calls

12:47

in Indianapolis. There's another interception

12:50

by Andrew Luck. It's quarterback

12:52

league. He's going to take the hit, especially once

12:54

he gets paid.

12:55

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd

12:57

weekdays and noone Easter not a emphasis.

13:00

So I always say this the Raiders

13:04

in the rearview mirror, a

13:07

bicycle recuasol was right behind you in

13:09

the rearview mirror. Always chaos,

13:11

the bumpy, turbulent flight, it's there. So

13:15

Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had

13:17

a concussion Sunday night. They'll

13:19

probably be out for a while. And then Devonte

13:22

Adams sent a message yesterday

13:24

in the locker room.

13:26

I don't got time to wait around, you know. And that's

13:28

not a personal thing. I mean, it is a personal thing,

13:30

but it ain't just about me. But I mean it's

13:33

not my mentality to sit here in each other take

13:35

all season to figure it out. You used these early games

13:37

like this to establish the identity, and

13:39

we are We're not doing things

13:41

the right way to establish a winning culture

13:44

early in the season. So we got to do something to turn that

13:46

around.

13:47

He went from Green

13:49

Bay, a well run operation, to the Raiders.

13:52

He's been outspoken multiple times so

13:54

Mark Davis don't know him, but he moved

13:57

the team to Las Vegas and the two big

13:59

ideas. Number One, let's

14:02

bring John Gruden out of retirement,

14:04

been out of coaching forever, and

14:07

that didn't work. Let's give him all the power

14:09

didn't work. A lot of hope

14:11

optimism didn't work. Number

14:13

two is, let's join the long

14:15

list of franchises trying to recreate

14:18

the Patriots dynasty in our hometown.

14:21

Yet's not working. A lot

14:23

of rear view mirror stuff. And by the way,

14:27

you NFL owners, can you stop trying

14:29

to recreate the New England thing? Giants

14:33

did it with Joe Judge, Disaster Detroit

14:35

did it with Matt Patricia, Disaster Houston

14:37

did it Disaster Las Vegas

14:39

not working. How

14:42

about I don't know, forge

14:44

your own identity Kansas

14:47

City Rams, San

14:49

Francisco, Philadelphia, Buffalo.

14:52

They're not copying anybody now, they

14:55

forge their own identity. Copying

14:57

New England is batting about one six.

15:01

I guess Tennessee sort of works. And

15:03

Vrabel was just a player, not a coach in New England.

15:06

What is the Raiders' identity today?

15:08

Chaos? Copying

15:11

New England and looking up at the Chiefs.

15:15

By the way, I

15:17

understand people wanting to

15:20

copy success. It happens in every industry.

15:23

But there's two franchises that decided

15:26

after leaning into the Patriots to go the

15:28

opposite way. Let's give

15:30

credit to the Miami Dolphins who hired

15:33

Brian Flores. We're going

15:35

to be try to get Brady New

15:37

England south, and

15:40

then they not only moved

15:42

off it, they went in the opposite

15:44

direction with Mike McDaniel,

15:47

creativity, spending

15:49

of fortune on wide receivers, big

15:52

swing, big risk. The Miami

15:54

Dolphins had

15:56

moved into copying New England,

16:00

it wasn't until they forged their

16:02

own identity. We're you gonna

16:04

do anti New England. Spend

16:06

a fortune, wide receivers, go

16:09

all out offense, risk

16:13

taking, clever, creative,

16:15

wild, best team in the league

16:17

arguably. Kansas City

16:20

tried to do a little New England Romeo

16:23

Cronell Scott Poli, and

16:25

then they went to Andy Reid and went the

16:28

opposite. Outside of Chris Jones,

16:30

they don't spend any money on defense, big

16:34

money o line, big money quarterback,

16:36

big money tight end all offense.

16:39

So Miami and Kansas City dabbled

16:42

with trying to copy New England and

16:44

then went the opposite direction, and

16:47

you can argue they're the two best

16:49

offenses and best teams in the league. Here's

16:52

something I think is really hard to

16:54

recreate Tom

16:56

Brady and Bill Belichick trying

17:02

raiders forge your own identity.

17:05

There's one Apple, right,

17:08

there's one Microsoft, A

17:11

million copiers of Netflix. They're

17:14

profitable. The other streaming services

17:16

aren't. I understand it, like

17:19

I understand culture's change.

17:21

But like you look at the teams right now in this

17:23

league that are special, they all

17:26

have unique identities. Nobody's

17:29

copying a dynasty that

17:31

was forged by two brilliant

17:34

performers Belichick and Brady.

17:37

You don't have either, so stop trying.

17:42

By the way, for Adam Schefter, I

17:45

love to hear this. The Jets are signing

17:47

a quarterback, Trevor Simeon.

17:51

That is what I like to see,

17:54

relying on Zach Wilson, doubling

17:57

down on Zach Wilson. That is the kind

17:59

of move organizationally, I

18:01

prefer so Trevor Simeon,

18:04

according to Adam Adam Schefter. Now

18:06

now now Robert

18:09

Sala once again takes

18:11

to the podium and defends

18:15

Zach Wilson.

18:16

He's our on question. Quarterback guys like as

18:19

long as he continues to show

18:21

the way he's his preparation, uh,

18:24

the way he's been practicing and even

18:26

in these games, guys like, he's not

18:28

the reason why we lost last Yeah, yesterday,

18:30

it's always a team effort. And as

18:33

long as he continues to show improvement, and I know it's

18:35

not from a box sports standpoint, it's

18:37

not showing anything. It's not showing he's

18:40

gonna be our quarterback.

18:43

Hey, all the analytic nerds say winning's

18:45

not a quarterback stat can't blame Zach Wilson.

18:51

Joe Namath on

18:53

the Yes Network. My friend Michael Kahos that

18:55

show. Joe Namath, however, is

18:58

blaming the quarterback.

19:00

No.

19:01

I didn't take anything positive out of it.

19:03

Yesterday.

19:03

It was awful, Aaron. He got

19:06

hurt.

19:06

Okay, well, what do you think

19:08

you have backups there for?

19:10

They're ready to go. They're supposed to be ready

19:12

to go.

19:12

We're looking at an offense that just

19:15

doesn't play well.

19:16

I wouldn't keep you know, I've

19:18

seen enough of Zach Wilson. All

19:21

right, I've seen enough.

19:25

I would like to mention this. Jason

19:27

McIntyre as my witness.

19:30

Green Bay moved off. Aaron. Rodgers

19:33

is feeling pretty good about itself

19:36

right now. Green

19:38

Bay's offensive line

19:40

head coach Young tight ends and

19:42

receivers. Jordan Love is

19:44

confident, competent, low

19:47

cap hit healthy, seems

19:49

to be getting better. I'm not sure. Green

19:52

Bay moved off Aaron with

19:54

the youngest roster in the league, and

19:57

they've handed the controls to a young

19:59

quarterback. If

20:01

it doesn't work, and you'll probably know

20:03

about Thanksgiving. There's seven

20:05

first round quarterbacks to get. They don't

20:08

have any other huge needs. They really

20:10

don't. Shaun Gary d line

20:13

bok Tiari Jenkins own line, young

20:15

receivers, excellent tight ends, keep your

20:17

eyes out. Aaron Jones a beast in the

20:19

running room, corner

20:22

Jay Alexander. Green

20:25

Bay moved off Aaron Rodgers and

20:27

frankly feeling pretty good about

20:29

themselves. And even if Jordan Love

20:31

doesn't work, it's not a big cat

20:33

pit after this year,

20:35

one more year left. Great

20:38

quarterback class, not desperate,

20:40

have the right coach? Divisions a little

20:43

wonky? How

20:45

is New York feeling? Praying

20:47

that Aaron Rodgers at forty soon

20:51

can recover quickly from an achilles

20:53

surgery, which is really tough

20:55

on an older player, So shocker.

20:58

The well run organization green

21:00

Bay has smoothly,

21:03

smartly pivoted moved

21:06

on and even if Jordan

21:08

Love doesn't work, They're

21:11

okay, you run it

21:13

for a year. He's young, moves

21:15

well, athletic, optimistic,

21:18

great fourth quarter comeback. Even if he's

21:20

not great. Go draft, somebody

21:22

in the go draft.

21:23

Somebody in the hamm.

21:24

Set for three years like Aaron did and Jordan

21:26

did. They don't have five

21:28

needs in the draft. By the way,

21:31

on Zach Wilson, one

21:33

of the great busts of all time

21:36

is JaMarcus Russell.

21:39

Zach Wilson and JaMarcus Russell

21:41

career numbers, and it's an easier

21:43

league to throw in now rules more

21:45

in your favor than JaMarcus Russell's

21:48

career. Look at those numbers.

21:51

Same dude, Same

21:53

dude. So Zach

21:55

didn't work, Aaron's heaven surgery.

21:58

Trevor Simeons now in the room, and

22:01

they have a first round pick,

22:03

but they have to take a tackle. There's

22:06

three to four great tackles. They can't take a

22:08

quarterback. They've got to take a tackle. What are you

22:10

gonna do? Take a quarterback and threaten Aaron Rodgers. They're

22:12

already walking on eggshells. So

22:14

I'll just say we say it all the time on this show.

22:17

Football Teams They're all businesses.

22:20

Not a shock that the team that moved

22:22

off Aaron is actually

22:25

in a really really good

22:27

space. Got their draft picks, low caphit,

22:29

young roster, tight end receivers,

22:32

plentiful New York.

22:35

Not a well run franchise, the Woody

22:37

Johnson Group. Really not

22:40

a shock. These are all, when

22:42

it gets down to it, businesses. The well run ones,

22:44

Green Bay, Kansas City, last

22:47

seven eight years, Buffalo's gotten their act together,

22:50

not a shock. May stumble early,

22:53

find their footing very quickly. Bills Jets

22:57

have a little success early week one,

23:00

and here they are again. I know that seems

23:02

negative. I do not like to be negative,

23:04

but that's how I feel today.

23:06

Poulli Fosco here with Tony

23:08

Fusco. Yo.

23:09

Of course you know us as the host of the number

23:12

one rated show and all the sports docs, the Paully

23:14

and Tony Fusco Show.

23:15

Ye.

23:16

Now, the suits at Fox Sports Radio

23:18

gave us this ad time because they wanted us.

23:20

To tell you how great our show is.

23:23

Why. Yeah, instead of us doing

23:25

that, let's just let our millions of fans

23:27

do the talkin ye ain't play the tape.

23:29

You don't know crap About four am.

23:32

I even owner, that's

23:34

the wrong tape.

23:35

Wrong tape, just

23:37

forget that.

23:37

Look.

23:38

Listen to the pauly.

23:38

TONI Fusco Show on the iHeartRadio

23:41

app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you

23:43

get your podcasts.

23:47

Heard Hierarchy time is now. Let's

23:49

go the top ten NFL teams

23:51

according to College number

23:54

ten.

23:54

Detroit's defense is better dead

23:57

last in the NFL. It's now eleventh.

23:59

They're ten one and three since Week nine last

24:01

year, a capable quarterback that's

24:03

been to a Super Bowl, seven

24:05

sacks against the Falcons. They needed

24:08

to get better on defense, and they did.

24:10

I don't think they're a super Bowl team, but

24:13

I like the front office, the last

24:15

three drafts, free agent acquisitions.

24:17

They just keep getting better

24:21

step by step. Detroit at

24:23

ten, number nine, the Steelers.

24:25

There's one way to win defense, but TJ. Watt's

24:27

unblockable. They remain, I

24:30

mean, just a sparkler

24:32

of a fireworks show. Four point eight yards

24:35

of play, no threat outside

24:37

of pickings on the outside to beat you. They

24:39

leave the NFL shocker in sacks,

24:41

defensive touchdowns, and again TJ. Watt,

24:44

Minka Fitzpatrick. They've got stars, but

24:46

this is such a low wattage

24:48

offense. I think they're limited. Steelers at

24:50

nine, number eight, Seattle is

24:52

sneaky. Good bat opening performance

24:55

against bad opening performance

24:57

against the Rams, but they're averaging

24:59

twenty game. They've

25:01

given the ball up once, fewest

25:04

in the NFL. Gino Smith

25:06

has time to throw, completing sixty

25:08

nine percent of his throws. Now, their defense,

25:11

they're not generating a consistent

25:13

pass rush, so you can throw the ball on

25:16

them, and that's what Stafford did in Week one.

25:18

They mix it up and caught him off balance. But

25:20

I get a good coach. Geno Smith

25:23

is doing what he does. Another

25:25

good draft class, A young team

25:27

getting better. Seattle at eight, number

25:30

seven, Cleveland. Maybe I have them low,

25:32

but the defense is insane. You know, they've only allowed

25:34

four hundred and ninety yards through three games.

25:36

That's the lowest since nineteen seventy.

25:39

Deshaun Watson's not the same, but

25:42

he can make plays. They lead

25:44

the NFL in yardage differential,

25:46

which is something gamblers look at.

25:49

They've got to get it right offensively, and

25:51

they will miss Nick Chubb, but this

25:54

defense they're gonna be in every single

25:56

game they play. They're like Pittsburgh.

25:58

They'll just hang around and Steel

26:00

wins even when the offense is bad.

26:03

Cleveland at seven, number six, Dallas

26:05

at six. I think the Trayvon dig situation's

26:08

real. They can't defend the same way. By

26:10

the way, thirteen penalties against

26:12

the Cardinals. Isn't that the bugaboo

26:15

with Mike McCarthy. Teams heavily

26:17

penalized. Oh, by the way, dak seven

26:20

and sixteen in his career when

26:22

he's got to throw forty plus pass attempts.

26:25

So if you're not running the ball or they trail,

26:27

there are limitations to this team. And

26:30

I think Micah and Trayvon Diggs

26:32

are difference makers,

26:34

and one is gone for the season. Number

26:36

five, let's just forget the first game

26:39

happened. Buffalo looks good again. Defense

26:41

getting a pass rush, nine

26:43

takeaways, overwhelmed

26:46

Washington. And I will say this, Josh

26:49

Allen, they're listening only averaging

26:51

four rush attempts this year. That

26:55

is a good sign. Sean

26:57

McDermott, the franchise listening.

26:59

They're becoming less Josh Allen,

27:01

run reliant. Only NFL

27:03

team to be top three in scoring offense

27:06

and scoring defense. Number two this season.

27:08

Buffalo five, number four.

27:10

I don't think Philadelphia's got their offense

27:13

right, but their on line in D line depth

27:15

and talent is so significant. I put him at

27:17

four. Number two rushing offense, and again

27:20

Jalen Hurts was sick. They didn't look very

27:22

good early, but it's the eleventh game

27:24

with two hundred plus rushing yards

27:26

since the start of last year. They are a machine

27:29

and they can give teams like Kansas City trouble

27:31

because they can keep Mahomes on the bench

27:34

for long periods of time. DeAndre Swift,

27:36

what a shock. The Eagles stole another

27:38

player, very good player from Detroit,

27:41

only had to give up a middle round pick number

27:44

three. San Francisco brock

27:46

Purty has not thrown an interception in seven

27:48

straight games, including the playoffs. He doesn't

27:50

make mistakes. He's not great, and

27:52

that's the concern. But they're the only

27:55

team to score thirty plus points in

27:57

three games this year. They've won thirteen

27:59

straight regular

28:02

season games, and they've given

28:04

up almost no big plays. Now again,

28:08

let's just wait and see. They'll

28:10

just kind of wait and see on the

28:12

big plays over the course of a season. But

28:14

they have Hall of famers in about four to

28:16

five different units on this team. San Francisco

28:19

at three, number two Kansas City

28:21

two, mostly because their defense

28:24

has been great. The offense, they still

28:26

have to figure out the wide receiver spot,

28:28

so they feel like they're a flawed

28:30

team. But my gut is they'll

28:33

figure it out. They're very Mahomes

28:35

and Kelsey right now. I don't love

28:37

their wide receiving unit. I think

28:39

at the trade deadline that could make a move, but

28:41

Mahomes has been sacked only once.

28:44

This is absolutely the fastest

28:46

defense of the Mahomes zero. I'm not sure

28:48

it's the best. It looks like it could be, but

28:51

they make up ground fast.

28:53

Kansas City two number one. Miami's

28:56

beating teams by twenty points a game

28:59

the mostre I feel like, are

29:01

they peaking? Will they play this well

29:03

in November? Andy Reid's teams

29:05

will get better. This young receiving court will

29:08

to get better. My only concern with Miami

29:10

is will they stay healthy. Jalen Wattle was already

29:12

hurt. Their defense is only

29:14

twenty third. It's well coached. I think Jalen

29:16

Ramsey could help, but right

29:19

now, their creativity, they

29:21

lead the NFL in all major

29:23

offensive categories. It's a firework

29:26

show. Get a ticket pay for it.

29:28

Absolutely fun to watch, But if

29:30

you look at this, I do believe there's

29:32

a separation in this league. Miami,

29:35

Kansas City, San Francisco, Philadelphia

29:37

and Buffalo feel different

29:39

to me. Dallas is

29:42

close, but penalties

29:44

have always been a Mike McCarthy issue,

29:47

and I don't think this quarterback plays

29:49

well when you force him to throw thirty

29:52

five plus forty plus times a game

29:54

in dak Prescott.

29:55

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd

29:57

weekdays and nooneas they're not a empassive

30:00

on Fox Sports Radio FS one

30:02

and the iHeartRadio app.

30:04

And with that, Nick Wright joins me live

30:07

from New York. First things, first year,

30:10

all right, First of all, any disagreements or

30:12

thoughts on the Herd hierarchy, well.

30:16

I mean, aside from the fact that

30:18

you have the best team in the league's second this

30:20

is your best heard hierarchy in a very

30:22

very long time. That is the unquestionably

30:25

correct top six. I would

30:28

have Buffalo behind Dallas,

30:30

but I understand it. I get the

30:32

concerns with Dallas, but I think Buffalo

30:34

that Buffalo's apex is so great,

30:37

But we can't forget of all the very

30:39

very good teams. They have the head

30:41

scratcher game a little more often. I know Dallas

30:43

has had theirs. I think the Browns are an

30:45

interesting one. That Browns defense

30:48

is clearly the you know, one

30:50

of the five best in football, and that might

30:52

be undershooting it. And I like that You're

30:54

giving respect to the Seahawks and Steelers

30:57

too. They win very different

30:59

ways, but both well coached, and I think

31:01

they both have a lot of talent.

31:02

I like this hurd hierarchy. I don't know, maybe it's.

31:04

The hour and twenty minutes you've spent talking football

31:06

with me last night on the podcast, but this

31:09

is the best heard hierarchy you've had, maybe

31:11

in years.

31:12

Oh thank you. So I watched Joe Burrow

31:14

last night and he's off and I said

31:16

this, Ye, the Chiefs won.

31:18

They got to a playoff three or four years pre Mahomes,

31:21

and the Bills got to the playoffs with Tyrod Taylor

31:24

pre Allen. So those guys

31:26

are the best icing in the league. But the cake was

31:28

getting made. Cake was good. Cincinnati's

31:31

all Burrow. They were a wreck before

31:33

he arrived. We still don't know if their coach can coach

31:36

the O line. The owner and I

31:38

looked at them last night and I'm like, the whole

31:40

season for them comes down to Burrow's calf.

31:43

That's it to me. The whole franchise

31:46

is on a calf. Do you think they turn

31:48

it around?

31:50

No, because I think that they are being

31:53

as my old now past grandfather would

31:55

say, penny wise and pound foolish.

31:57

They the only chance

31:59

they have of reaching their goals,

32:01

which is to be back to the super Bowl, is

32:04

to have Joe Burrow healthy come the

32:06

postseason. The only chance Joe

32:08

Burrow has to get healthy is to.

32:10

Sit him down.

32:11

Now, I think they could have won last night

32:14

with a backup quarterback. They didn't win yesterday

32:16

because the offense was explosive.

32:18

They won because the Rams couldn't block them,

32:21

and because they Jamar Chase

32:23

had a monster game that I think he

32:25

could have had with with Jake Browning

32:27

throwing him the same type of dump offfs Joe Burrow

32:30

was throwing to him. Instead, Joe Burrow dropped

32:32

back to past fifty three times.

32:34

And I understand everyone

32:36

has made the point that, hey, you know,

32:38

a calf injury can lead to

32:41

an achilles, But let's just

32:43

say, let's just take that out of the realm of

32:45

possibility. You know what I was worried

32:47

about last night, that a calf injury

32:50

was going to lead to a broken collarbone

32:52

or a separated shoulder.

32:54

Yeah, because in the.

32:55

NFL, if you can't escape,

32:58

if you can't use your mobility,

33:01

you are more likely to have a guy like Aaron

33:03

Donald fall on you and injure

33:05

you. So I thought, this

33:07

is not who Joe Burrow is. He

33:09

is He finally, for the first time all year,

33:11

completed a couple passes more than fifteen

33:14

yards. Yea, But he's clearly not right.

33:16

And I don't know why anyone would

33:18

think if he doesn't take real time

33:21

off, he's going to get right before

33:23

the end of the year. So I think I

33:25

think they're just kind of delaying the inevitable in

33:27

Cincinnati, which is really unfortunate because

33:30

they had an argument that they should be the Super

33:32

Bowl co favorites going into this season.

33:34

So I said, this Philadelphia. There's a lot of

33:36

quarterback stories and coach stories. There's very

33:39

few. They're good because the GM story.

33:41

But Philadelphia gets value in the draft,

33:43

value in trades, Nick Foles

33:45

wins a Super Bowl, Jalen hurts second round.

33:48

They're so good on the O line

33:50

and D line for years that they

33:52

can roll the dice, pivot, try new stuff on

33:54

the perimeter, and they're still really good.

33:56

But that offense without Shane Steichen, it

33:59

does look the same like and I

34:01

Steichen has already made Anthony Richardson

34:04

productive, right, we saw

34:06

what he did with herb Hurts

34:08

Anthony Richardson week one.

34:11

Is this maybe what Philadelphia is going

34:13

forward?

34:15

I think it's concerning because here was the

34:17

thing.

34:18

The reason Philadelphia maybe

34:20

had more reason for optimism after

34:23

losing a Super Bowl than any of the

34:25

contemporary Super Bowl losers

34:27

was because in that loss

34:30

they saw I believe their

34:32

quarterback play the single best game he's

34:34

ever played. Their

34:37

quarterback was elite with

34:39

his arm in the Super Bowl in a way

34:42

I think people really had questions if

34:44

he could be. But now three games

34:46

into this year, we've seen nothing, nothing

34:49

similar to that, and it does seem like

34:51

it's more of a slog through the first

34:53

few games on offense. And I

34:56

also believe, while Baker wasn't able

34:58

to do it yesterday, that if a

35:00

team is able to sustain their

35:02

pass rush, that secondary

35:04

in Philadelphia is very susceptible

35:07

to getting the thrown on. We saw Kirk

35:09

Cousins move the ball. They lost because they had

35:11

four fumbles. We saw Mac Jones,

35:13

who can't move the ball on anyone, move

35:16

the football. They lost because they just don't have enough

35:18

talent. So I think I don't think Philadelphia

35:21

is a juggernaut the way their records

35:24

said they were last year. I'm not even certain

35:27

that they're better than Dallas. What I will say

35:29

is one of the underrated stories

35:31

of this NFL season is if

35:34

to add insult to injury, I guess

35:36

to what's going on in Chicago. Chicago

35:39

obviously had the number one pick, didn't draft

35:41

a quarterback because they wanted to invest

35:43

in justin fields.

35:44

They got a bounty for it.

35:46

The pick they got back for at one of

35:48

them was the pick that became

35:50

Jalen Carter. And then on draft

35:53

Day they traded with Philadelphia

35:55

back one spot, so the Bears

35:57

could have traded away the number one pick

36:00

and then still gotten the number one player in the draft.

36:03

Instead, he falls to him.

36:04

They trade back in Philadelphia a

36:07

la the Lakers in the eighties with

36:09

James Worthy. Like you're the one

36:12

of the three best teams and you have

36:14

the best player in a draft seems almost unfair.

36:17

So you know, Denver media is pushing

36:20

back blame the defense. And my takeaway

36:22

is when the Cowboys lost this weekend, it was McCarthy

36:25

in Dack that got the heat. The defense didn't play well.

36:28

Justin Herbert. Come on, he had a

36:30

final drive he couldn't win. The defense

36:32

is horrible. Is that Russell gets the money

36:35

they gave up draft capital and Sean Payton

36:37

was hired to save him, essentially to save

36:39

him. I don't want to hear about the defense. Russell's

36:42

the cap hit, Russell's the star, and their middle

36:44

of the pack to below average third

36:46

down conversion, red zone total

36:48

offense. Is that we can talk about the

36:50

defense. Sean Payton was hired

36:52

to save Russell Wilson,

36:55

and to this point, I

36:57

don't know that I think he

37:00

has I just don't know if there's anything beyond

37:02

that. But what do you make of the don't

37:04

blame Russell, it's the Broncos

37:06

defense.

37:07

Well, listen, well, I mean the Broncos

37:10

defense obviously was terrible

37:12

on Sunday, but that defense was awesome

37:15

last year. And to be and

37:17

listen, and I appreciate

37:19

you, you know, saying what I think a lot of people were thinking,

37:22

which is Sean Payton is the head

37:24

coach of the entire team and as great

37:26

of as an offensive mastermind as Sean Payton

37:28

is. His issue in New Orleans

37:31

for many years, until he brought in Dennis

37:33

Allen was hiring the wrong defensive

37:35

coordinator. They went seven to nine three straight years

37:37

with Rob Ryan as their defensive coordinator.

37:40

Well, e j evro leaves. You bring

37:42

in Van Show there's Rob Ryan. I don't even know that

37:44

was gonna happen. That's amazing. You bring in Van

37:46

Joseph, and all of a sudden,

37:49

everyone can move the ball on you.

37:52

Also, yes, Russell Wilson

37:54

has a pulse the likes of which he didn't

37:56

have last year. But they still

37:59

are already talking about pre snap

38:01

penalties like last season, having

38:03

second half meltdowns like last season.

38:06

And I don't know about you, Colin, I

38:08

thought it was really odd, and Xavian Howard,

38:11

a Miami Dolphins player, pointed this out.

38:13

I thought it was telling.

38:15

That Sean left Russell

38:17

in that football game when

38:19

it was seventy to twenty late

38:22

in the fourth quarter. Xavian Howard

38:24

said he thought it was disrespectful to a player to

38:26

accomplished as much. I feel like Sean

38:28

has been sending a lot of messages to

38:30

Russell Wilson, whether it's telling the whole

38:32

media we need to hurry up the process. Jerry

38:34

Judy's open on the two point conversion. We'll

38:37

put a wristband on it, all of it.

38:39

And so yeah, I think Denver right now

38:42

is in dire, dire straits.

38:45

And this is where you remind everyone

38:48

that five year contract extension they

38:50

signed Russell to has not

38:53

started yet.

38:54

It starts next season.

38:56

So even if Sean wants to bene in, which I

38:58

think he will, that is a nearly

39:01

impossible contract to get off of.

39:03

I think they're stuck.

39:04

Colin. So you are very

39:08

pro Aaron Rodgers, by the way,

39:10

I'm more positive erin than negative,

39:12

but I was one of the few that went after him a few

39:14

years ago, seven eight years ago, so I'm viewed as negative

39:17

erin. If you count all the times I've talked

39:19

about him, it's sixty five thirty five seventy

39:21

thirty pro. But that said, you

39:23

kind of came around to the body language,

39:26

the prickliness, you know, the

39:28

little you know, smarter than everybody

39:30

in the room, whatever, he is smart, blah blah blah,

39:33

but it is interesting that the Packers

39:35

moved off him. And even

39:37

if Jordan Love doesn't hit cap

39:40

space good college quarterback, draft

39:43

receivers, tight ends, offensive coach,

39:46

Aaron goes to the Jets. They're

39:48

all walking on eggshells. They're

39:50

a disaster today. What

39:52

do you make of it?

39:53

Disaster?

39:54

Well, so this was one of the reasons. And

39:57

I know j Mack thought I was maybe

39:59

trolling, but I picked the Packers to win

40:01

their division and I picked the Jets

40:03

to finish last in THEIRS. And I understand,

40:05

Oh, well, we didn't know Aaron was gonna

40:07

get hurt. Well, we didn't know he was gonna pop his achilles.

40:10

But a thirty nine year old coming off an injury

40:12

behind the worst offensive line he would have ever played

40:15

behind in a division with the Bills

40:17

pass rush and the Patriots pass rush, him

40:20

missing some time was not, you

40:22

know, unfathomable. It was, I

40:24

would argue, more likely than not. And

40:26

so on the Packers' side of things, it

40:28

was underrated and Jordan didn't even

40:31

play that great this weekend. But

40:33

a Saints team that has not allowed

40:35

more than twenty points in eleven

40:38

consecutive games, is up

40:40

seventeen to nothing heading into.

40:42

The fourth quarter.

40:43

The Packers are without their best

40:45

their Aaron Jones, Christian Watson

40:48

and offensive a key offensive lineman or two,

40:50

and they come back in stirring

40:53

fashion. By the way, Anne Matt Lafleur

40:55

does the down fourteen go for

40:57

two gambit that if it doesn't work, all the

40:59

folks killing him. But because it does work,

41:02

everyone pretend it didn't happen. It's a great

41:04

win, and that team has great

41:07

vibes and energy, almost feeling

41:09

like a weight'spin lifted on the flip

41:11

side in New York. Yes, the Rogers

41:13

thing was incredibly

41:16

unfortunate, but the reason you

41:18

can't come back for from it is because

41:21

every part of your offseason was

41:23

about signing Aaron Rodgers

41:26

and then.

41:26

Signing his friends and family.

41:28

Who should run our offense Aaron Rodgers buddy

41:30

not Hackett, who should be our pass catchers?

41:32

Aaron Rodgers Buddy's lizard and Cobb?

41:35

Who should be our third string quarterback? Aaron

41:37

Rodgers buddy Tim Boyle who has

41:39

no business. You cannot put

41:41

him into the games, which is why they've now signed

41:43

Druver Simeon. There was an

41:45

element of you know what, this

41:48

is either gonna work beautifully or it's

41:50

just gonna be such a disaster everyone gets

41:52

fired that I didn't think it had to be like

41:55

the Packers choosing to

41:57

not have an actual backup quarter

42:00

was baffling to me. Yes, if Rogers

42:02

blows his achilles, you're probably screwed either

42:04

way. But what if Roger's injury had been the

42:07

Joe Burrow injury, where it's just like, oh, okay,

42:09

he's gonna miss a month, can

42:11

you hold down the fort? You would have seen

42:13

their lack of planning laid to

42:15

bear this entire time. And so it's

42:18

puzzling to me that they did not

42:20

add a quarterback the moment he got hurt. Now

42:23

they have finally done it with Simeon, who instantly

42:25

becomes the best quarterback on the team, but

42:27

he can't play this weekend against the Chiefs, and

42:29

by the time he does play, the season's probably

42:32

over.

42:33

Finally. I'm not usually

42:35

into this stuff, and my gut feeling

42:37

is they're trolling all of us. But

42:39

the Travis Kelsey Taylor Swift relationship

42:43

is potentially fantastic.

42:46

I don't I have a feeling the

42:49

Kelsey's are very good with social

42:51

media. His brand is exploding.

42:53

He's on like six commercials. Now, you

42:56

have a theory that they may not even be dating.

42:59

Well, I don't know if they're dating or not. I

43:03

think that they're clearly friendly.

43:05

I'm not sure how many times they

43:07

had actually been, you know, in the same

43:09

room prior to this football game. But

43:11

I'm not really that interested in

43:14

Travis Kelsey's personal life because I'm

43:16

not I don't know that much about Taylor Swift. It's not

43:18

really my area of expertise. Here's what I

43:20

am interested in, Colin, And here's the most

43:22

unique take you're gonna hear.

43:24

On this entire situation.

43:25

Here's why I'm thrilled

43:27

this is happening. I

43:30

actually think in a galaxy

43:32

brain way, this helps

43:35

the Chief's ability to

43:38

re sign Chris Jones this

43:40

offseason.

43:41

Hear me out. Here's the argument.

43:43

The Chiefs go on win the Super Bowls.

43:45

We all know they will.

43:46

Chris Jones wants to be the highest paid guy on the team

43:48

or in the league. Mahome's not the highest paid

43:51

quarterback. Kelsey's not the highs paid tight end. Travis

43:53

Kelsey can now go to Chris Jones. He desperately

43:56

want to back and be like, listen, buddy, there's

43:58

pros and cons of playing for the chief. Con

44:01

You're not gonna make as much money as you should make.

44:03

I've never made as much money as I should make.

44:05

Pro I say on a podcast,

44:08

I wanted to date Taylor Swift, and

44:10

two weeks later she's in my mom's

44:12

suite. There are cool things

44:15

about being part of this dynasty.

44:18

There are what we call soft exterior

44:20

benefits that aren't paid out in

44:22

cap dollars.

44:23

So Chris, come back, Maybe.

44:25

Take a little less than what you're asking for,

44:28

and then shoot for the stars on your hopes

44:30

and dreams because they're all accessible

44:32

as.

44:32

Long as we're in this Mahomes orbit.

44:34

Yeah, that's what I would argue, and that's why

44:36

I'm happy about it.

44:37

And I think that's I know you're laughing. No, I think

44:39

that's a real thing.

44:40

Like Travis Kelton, I'm telling you right now,

44:42

Mark Andrews cannot

44:45

be like I wanted to give Taylor

44:47

Swift a friendship bracelet and she ghosted

44:50

me and then she's at a Ravens game. It's

44:52

because they're with Mahomes and the Chiefs

44:54

and this little dynastic rung.

44:57

That's the way.

44:57

I don't think it's crazy.

45:00

Los Angeles has always sold Hollywood

45:02

and sunshine. There's no question

45:05

that you come to Los Angeles, you're gonna pay more

45:07

taxes. Uh, you know, the

45:09

traffic's worse. They don't always

45:11

have the great team. Lebron came here because

45:14

of the brand. The entertainment

45:17

teams sell what they sell. Yankees

45:19

have to overpay you. But the Lakers have

45:21

sold sunshine and potential revenue

45:24

outside of basketball. And I

45:26

think there's no question Travis Kelcey

45:28

a tight end, is on

45:31

seven commercials. He's got

45:33

a vaccine commercials.

45:35

He's on all the commercials.

45:37

I mean, it's not that dissimilar when

45:39

you know, seven years ago, it feels like a lifetime

45:41

ago. When FS one was

45:43

trying to hire me, they were like, listen, we know another

45:45

network want you and they're offering you more money. Right,

45:48

but if you sign with us, Colin Coward

45:50

will invite you over his house twice a year.

45:52

And that was it. That was enough. I

45:54

was like, I'm in, And I mean, you know it's

45:56

all worked out.

45:57

Well, it's all the Halo story's true story.

45:59

Yeah, alright, Nick, Right, First

46:01

Things First, fastest sellowing show on cable.

46:03

Good seeing you, buddy,