Skip to content
TrackPodcasts
sportsSep 11, 202641:34

BEST OF THE HERD – 49ers SMASH Rams | Blazing 5: Bills vs Texans, Bears vs Panthers | Sean Payton on Bo Nix & Jaylen Waddle

About this episode

The Herd with Colin Cowherd is made possible by:


Colin Cowherd is shocked by the dominating win the 49ers put together against the Rams in Australia. Colin points out why the 49ers are a great early season team and why everyone shouldn’t bail on the Rams just yet.

Colin shares his Blazing 5 NFL picks for week 1 of the season including: Bills vs Texans and Bears vs Panthers.

Plus, Broncos head coach Sean Payton joins the show to explain why QB Bo Nix deserves more respect, what makes Patrick Mahomes hard to defend and why he likes the 49ers approach to international games vs the Rams approach.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get every episode summarized

Each time The Herd with Colin Cowherd publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.

Email me new episodes

Free for 3 shows. No card needed.

Hosts & guests

Transcript ready

1,036 searchable segments. Every word is indexed and playable.

BEST OF THE HERD – 49ers SMASH Rams | Blazing 5: Bills vs Texans, Bears vs Panthers | Sean Payton on Bo Nix & Jaylen Waddle

The Herd with Colin Cowherd

0:00
41:34

Full transcript

The Herd with Colin CowherdBEST OF THE HERD – 49ers SMASH Rams | Blazing 5: Bills vs Texans, Bears vs Panthers | Sean Payton on Bo Nix & Jaylen Waddle. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.

This is an I Heart podcast guaranteed human. Everyone loves the good goat debate in sports. It's players and teams and hip hop. It's songs and verses. Nobody ever agrees. That's what makes the conversation so much fun. Now, Sprite is bringing the debate back to life with the Sprite living track list. Sprite turned legendary hip hop into a limited edition collectible cans. The challenge is finding all 26 can pick up a 12 pack and you never know which iconic lyric you'll get next. It's like building an ultimate roster, one legendary bar at a time. Your mission is to build your own physical playlist. Go out and hunt down all 26 limited edition cans of Sprite and Sprite zero should. This is Sprite living track list. Obey your thirst. Here's the reality. Everybody has access to information. Now that's not the advantage anymore. The advantage is execution.

Chat GPT work can connect to the tools where work happens. Understand your goals and help turn them into finished work. You can review. You stay in control, setting direction, reviewing the output, approving what moves forward. Bottom line more finished work. Get started at chat GPT.com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plans. Workplace chaos. We've all been there. Deadlines are slipping. Projects are piling up and suddenly you realize the missing piece is the right person. That's when you say this is a job for sponsored jobs. With indeed sponsored jobs, your job posts get to boost so you can connect with quality candidates faster. In fact, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed or 95% more likely to report a higher than a non-sponsored job. Spend less time searching, more time interviewing candidates to check all your boxes. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com slash podcast.

Need a hiring hero? This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. Here's something I've thought about more as I've gotten older. Keeping my family safe, not living in fear, just being prepared. That's why I use Berna. They make self-defense tools that actually work. And they're built right here in America, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hand assembled, Berna is trusted by the pros. Over 500 government agencies, police departments, and private security firms use Berna. Berna.com slash herd. B-Y-R-N-A.com slash herd. Berna, be ready. Thanks for listening to the best of the herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to three Eastern 9 AM to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at FoxBorgeReadyo.com or stream us live every day in the I Heart Radio app by searching FoxBorgeReadyo or FSR. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherr on FoxBorge Radio.

Ah, it is our first Friday of the football season. J-Mac is bouncing off the walls after Lala. Lala. Pretty. Welcome in. It's the herd wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Here's something I bet you don't know. Including the playoffs where the Rams got to the NFC championship. What is the Rams record in their last 10 games? It's five and five with a losing road record. Five and five with losses to Atlanta and the Panthers. Listen, the Rams have a great coach. The Rams had the MVP at quarterback. The Rams are really good, but they have stinkers. And last night they were awful. Here's what my eyes saw. The Niners played with a chip on their shoulder. They were more intentional. They had great energy. They were incredibly physical. And all they heard, all off season was Rams.

Super Bowl favorites. Super team. And they're like, hey guys, we won 12 games last year too. And when the Niners are healthy, when Green Loss healthy and Warner's healthy and Christian McCaffrey's healthy and Trent Williams is and Bosa is and Fred Warner is, they're really, really good. Let's be honest. The season, I don't know because of their health. Last night was not the season. Last night was one game. And they were unbelievably dominant. Listen, Mike Evans is great, but he only played eight games last year. He's 33. Christian McCaffrey's a Hall of Famer. Second best running back I've ever seen. Maybe third, he had 413 touches last year. Every time he has a big touch here, the next year he's injured. The question isn't whether Shanahan's great, Bosa's great, Warner's great. These guys are all Hall of Famers. Titles great, Trent Williams best left tackle, arguably in the last decade. It's not a question if the Niners are good.

And September, I don't know if you know this, September since 2020, San Francisco, that's their best month. They're 14 and seven. That's their best point differential month. Do you know what their worst month is? January, why? Because they're all beat up. That's why they're always hurt, practice games. Kyle Shanahan has built a physical culture that take, I mean, they will go into Philadelphia and punch the Eagles physically in the mouth. They punched the Rams in the mouth. One of the reasons they're always hurt is because Shanahan and Shanahan's dad, and John Lynch was one of the toughest, most physical safeties. They have built a culture on smacking you right in the forehead. Their run game is physical. Their wide receivers are physical. Debo Samuel is a truck. He'll run you over. That's why they're so great when they're healthy in September and so average later in the season. Last year, they beat the Seahawks in week one.

Then they played the Seahawks twice in January and lost by a combined 54 to nine. They couldn't score a touchdown because nobody was, nobody was healthy. And the Seahawks were young and healthy. So it's not, was I shocked that they beat the Rams? No, wasn't it shocked? Was I surprised? It was 27 to 7 and wasn't remotely competitive? Listen, I like the idea of flying in, winning, getting out. But the truth is this morning, it looks like the Niners, they embraced Australia, the Aussies embraced the Niners, that's awesome. They took the chefs over, they took the cooks over, they took the doctors over, they took families over, they embraced it and the Aussies embraced them. The stadium was all Niner fans and it looked like they had the answers to the test. They played with a total chip on their shoulder. And I marched that game last night. First of all, doesn't football look great in the morning sun? It was like 10, 30 over there. It looks so beautiful. And I woke up this morning wanting to book flights to Australia.

You know, with all those inua commercial shots and out of a commercial shots in the pregame show, I'm like, I know Australia is beautiful, but I was literally on Google Maps last night looking at all the cliffs and all the ocean shots, what an unbelievable country. But we know San Francisco's good. Kills gonna make the Hall of Fame. Warner is, Boses, Trent is, McCaffrey is, Debow won't, but there are Sundays that he plays like a Hall of Famer. And I'll get to Brock Perty in a second, but it's not that San Francisco's not great, but Seattle and the Rams in division are younger and deeper and young guys don't get hurt as much. So the Niners have always had a game of Thrones feel to them. And what do I mean by that? Great early, very, very good in the middle, disappointing late, and some of your favorite characters won't make it at the end. That's what they are. So am I surprised they won? A little 27 to seven? Rams weren't even, even at halftime when the score was low. You're like, Rams had one big play to Puka.

They had no offense, they had no rhythm. Here was Kyle Shanahan on the Uber impressive, physical nature of that win. It was a great week, took us a couple of days to kind of get our mind right, but our hotel, the city, just the whole organization would bring in everything, the cooks, everything. It felt like home once we got here. I'm glad the guys went on and played like that too. I always knew what day it was. I was trying to show how confusing it was comparing it to people at home, but I learned the days when we got here. We're one ahead. Now I'm ready to go back, back into the future. Okay, Sean McVeigh in the Rams. Let's talk that. McVeigh in my opinion is arguably the best coach in the league with Andy Reid. Sean Payton, Shanahan, Jimmy Goldroyans, Mike McDonald. But Shanahan has given McVeigh fits. McVeigh is seven and 12 against Shanahan. So McVeigh is the culture builder,

very high floor high ceiling. Shanahan is the mad scientist staring at the play sheet. He is the better play designer. He in my opinion is the better play collar. One of my criticisms of Shanahan, sometimes when he's trailing late in games he won't get off the play sheet. Shanahan will blow everything up at half time if he has to. But McVeigh has had problems with Shanahan. And last night there was no rhythm. It wasn't very intentional that there was no juice at all. And maybe all the critics of flying in game, flying out were right, probably were. But the Rams between their coaching and their D line and their quarterback play and their weapons, they're built for the long haul. And they're young so they'll mostly be healthy. But last night, Shanahan McVeigh got worked and Shanahan McVeigh knows he got worked. But again, it's week one. Last year, the Siox and Patriots who ended up in the Super Bowl, not only lost week one, they lost at home in week one and ended up in the Super Bowl. So nobody's playing starters.

McVeigh started this like seven, eight, nine years ago. He won't play any starters in the preseason. And when you have an old quarterback, maybe you should because pretty look fantastic. But they lay the neck. They had no juice. They had no energy. I'll be honest with you, they weren't very physical. The defensive line for the Rams was irrelevant. The linebackers and safeties for the Niners, it jumped through the television. They were so physical. And when you build a culture like McVeigh does, he builds a great culture. Very, very high floor. Nine years, eight winning seasons. Shanahan's had four losing seasons because he demands so much from his team physically that a lot of times by the end of the year, Shanahan's teams just fall apart. They just can't take the pounding in the way they play. So he's had up and down season. With McVeigh, you kind of get a good team every year. So but I thought last night, the critics, I was wrong and the people that said fly in, do it fly out. Wrong.

I mean, now it's weird because last year in the middle of a season, the Rams played maybe their most perfect football game against the Jaguars in London, a 10 and a half hour flight. And they again, flew in, played, got in a flight, flew black to LA. It was perfect. And I think that's a big reason why they did that in Melbourne. They're like, we've done this in London. It's 70% of the flight and we played our best game of the year. But I mean, who knows? I know this. The Rams looked tired. The Rams didn't have any energy. The Niners did. I'm not selling my Rams stock, but this is why the NFL is king. Nobody plays starters in the preseason. Most of the good teams don't, especially your older players. You don't know what you're going to get in week one. I don't think anybody, I mean, the line was three points. I don't, I don't think anybody is shocked by the outcome. But 27 to seven, that was a butt kicking. And, and I'll get the Brock party in a second, but I mean, it, it, it, it was funny.

As I'm watching the game last night in the first half, you just forget how many Hall of Famers the Niners have. I mean, the Rams have a bunch of good players. Miles Garrett will be a Hall of Famer. Matt Stafford, I would guess will be a Hall of Famer. Oh, all right. You look at the Niners, they got like seven of them. I mean, Warner's a Hall of Famer. If, I mean, it's, you just forget watching them. How good San Francisco's roster is. The only question is how much of it will be around by Christmas. So here's McVeigh and the loss. This is a humbling day for us. And this will define us only if we allow it to. And today was one of those days. And, you know, I always look inside out. I didn't do good enough job getting us ready to go. There were some opportunities where maybe the game could have flipped, but they deserve the win. They were ready to go and make no excuses. And, you know, whether you want to say it's about travel, whatever. We just weren't good enough in that window. I didn't coach good enough and, and we'll look at it and we'll move forward.

And that's where we're at right now. Yeah. This team lost to Atlanta and the Panthers last year and co-loss to Carolina twice. They are even one healthy, a little bit of an enigma sometimes, especially on the road. You don't get the same team and then they can be brilliant. But Jay Mac, I think the one thing that really was clear, two things were obvious. That crowd was all red and they were rooting for the Niners and they loved the fact. I thought about this. Should Roger Gidell, if we're going to play overseas, there should be a rule that you ingratiate yourself to the country you're playing in. It's not really that cool to just fly in, play like a business trip. San Francisco made so many fans over in Australia. I mean, listen, when Manchester United comes over to the United States, you know, fans want to watch the game and meet the stars. So I think I was sitting watch the game thinking, look at what San Francisco has done, not only for themselves, but for the league. Maybe there's a rule like, hey guys, if we're going to, if we're going to send you overseas,

you got to go for a few days. Can I thought that was one of the obvious things that it really paid off for the league and the Niners. The second thing that jumped out, and I think you saw this is they were so physical. I mean, the Niners, they're running backs, Debo, they're linebacker. The Rams defensive front. I mean, there was a couple of pressures, but Purdy, he kind of controlled it. I mean, he kind of controlled the game. He did. I mean, I will say Colin, this was 17, seven Rams at the one yard line. Yes. And it could have been a, you know, a few goal game heading into the fourth quarter. So people are crushing the Rams. I think it's a little closer. I didn't love the fourth and one play call from it. They, what was that? Stafford on a QB sneak. They instantly had the stats. He was like, oh for two last year. Why are you doing that at the goal line? Well, I think this is a really interesting thought because when they did that, my take was, because they were literally at the half yard line. And I thought Stafford six, two, they'll do it. They have a good old line.

My question is, did they trust the run meal Blake Korum and Kyron Williams. Blake's a smaller running back. Yeah. And the way they were, their front seven was so dominant and physical last night. Is I thought McVeigh was probably thinking to himself, let's just make it quick. I don't, the last thing I want to do is give that defensive front a chance to knock us backwards. I mean, again, those Stafford's got back problems. Why don't you just put, you got five tight ends on the roster, right? So put one of the tight ends in there, Tush push. You can get a half yard. I thought that was a curious play call by McVeigh to put your 38 year old quarterback. No, I think back issues like. No, very weird. Yeah, but by the way, here's Miles Garrett, who was invisible last night. Here was Miles Garrett on his performance. This was the worst version of myself that I've put out there. Now, I've got to be better. I got to find a way to recover and get back to the player. I know I can't be and I've shown that I've been before. When I was out there, I was a little bit more focused on myself and trying to stay healthy

than know what they were doing and that showed I wasn't who I needed to be. No, for my team. Okay, we got Sean Payton, Urban Meyer, Eric Mangini, a summer saying he wasn't 100% whatever he was. He did not play well. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in New Nester, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the I Heart Radio app. Hey, it's Covino and Rift from Fox Sports Radio. Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays for 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show. Yup, that's right. You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube every day. All you got to do, search Covino and Rich FSR on YouTube. Again, go to YouTube, search Covino and Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon and comment away. Here's the reality. Everybody has access to information. Now, that's not the advantage anymore. The advantage is execution. Chat GPT work can connect to the tools where work happens.

Understand your goals and help turn them into finished work. You can review. You stay in control by setting direction and reviewing the output. Bottom line, more finished work. Put chat GPT to work on your ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at chat GPT dot com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plans. If you're somebody who remembers the immaculate reception, the catch or the fog bowl, then be sure to remember this too. Your immune system weakens as you age, even if you feel healthy, putting you at a higher risk for flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV and COVID. Ask your doctor about getting your recommended vaccines and how they can help protect you from getting really sick. You can check your eligibility and book at Vax Assist dot com. Fizer out do yesterday. Here's something I've thought about more as I've gotten older, keeping my family safe, not living in fear, just being prepared. That's why I use Berna. They make self defense tools that actually work that anybody can use, even if you've never

picked one up before. And here's what got me. It's legal in all 50 states. No permit, no background check. Ships right to your door. Place up to 60 feet way more distance than pepper spray. And the rounds will stop a threat and give you the time and space to get your family somewhere safe. What I like is the distance and how easy it is to use. You don't have to let a problem get close to you. You've got options. And they're built right here in America, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hand assembled. Berna is trusted by the pros over 500 government agencies, police departments and private security firms use Berna. Berna. Berna. When you run a growing home service business, you roll with the punches, more trucks, more techs, more jobs, and suddenly your team is drowning in spreadsheets, manual work and software that can't keep up. There's a better way. Service Titan is the all in one operating system designed to help you scale the right way.

There's a reason service Titan customers increased their revenue by an average of 15% every single year. Get the software you can't outgrow. Go to service tighten dot com to learn more. Here we go. Man or show just starting to get going. Eric Mangini Urban Meyer Sean Payton blazing five. That was a butt kicking. Week one again, the Patriots and Seahawks both lost last year in week one at home. One of them, the Patriots lost to the Raiders. It's week one. Nobody plays in the preseason, right? Not surprise San Francisco one. McBay has struggled with Shanahan. Surprise that it was an absolute butt kicking. But you know that physical nature, that physical style of San Francisco, if you are not ready for it, you know, they can push you around. And the physicality employed last night by the 49ers who were there for a week, as I said, I don't like week long road trips. I never have. If you're in management, you're used to it.

I hate week long road trips unless they're for vacation. I like to fly in, assignment, get out. But the people like me who believed that was fine looked wrong because the Rams were in a total fog. So it's week one, a blazing five. Listen, it's the worst week. It's off. I don't know what I'm doing here. Okay. So I like the Seahawks in a low scoring game over the Patriots. I was right there and maybe a little lucky. I thought the Rams would win maybe a high scoring game last night and the Rams couldn't get out of their own way offensively. Stafford was awful. So here we go. Let's just have some fun. I'm not overly optimistic, but here's my opening blazing five. Let's blaze it up. Prior to its Collins blazing five. Bill said Texas. I don't understand this line. How are the Texans a home dog? I'll take the Texans plus one and a half. They won 10 of their last 11 games, including the playoffs. And that was with CJ Stroud playing poorly. Stroud is always been a much better home quarterback.

He's 172% of his starts and the bills have a new coach to new coordinators. They've lost six straight overall at Houston and they've got some of their attention on next week week two in that brand new stadium that everybody is talking about. Josh Allen on the road against the Texans has been incredibly ordinary. I think Texan should be favored. I'm taking the points. I think they're going to win. I think CJ Stroud bounces back 24, 23. Take the points Houston. Bears at Panthers. Oh, this is trouble for Chicago. I like Carolina plus three home underdogs last year in week one. Four and two Panthers have major size at wide receiver. Team Max Xavier LaGuette and Jalen Coker. All six three and up. In fact, team act is six, six and I don't trust the Bears corners. Not named Jalen Johnson. Most improved defense in the league last year.

Not a love Bryce. Young buddy moves around. He can be irritating. Go ask the Rams defensive front last year. The Bears 65% of the people are betting them. They're very popular this week with a public that scares me. Caleb Williams in 17 rose starts. He's been okay. 82 pass already. He's been a better home quarterback. Most young quarterbacks are the defense allowed six yards of play. I've got a feeling Carolina keeps the ball away from Caleb. William Chicago's offense is a little inconsistent. The Bears defense. You can gash him. You can pound him for five and six yards of pop. I'm going to take the Panthers in a very, very thrilling game. And the points upsetting the Bears 27-26. Brown said Jaguars. Okay, from dogs to favorites, I like Jacksonville minus eight and a half. They returned 18 starters from last year's 13 win team. Forget the playoff game.

Okay, they were a great regular season team last year. Eight straight to close the season. Number one scoring offense down the stretch. I don't like that they lost Travis ATN. At Liam Cohn and Trevor Lawrence in year two at home against the Cleveland team with a first time head coach, a first time offensive coordinator, a first time defensive coordinator and average less than 20 when DeShawn Watson started and heated and even get all the snaps in camp. Jacksonville is a hot regular season team. I think the momentum carries and I think they win it 31 to 17 and cover. Shane said Lions. I have the Lions potentially getting to the Super Bowl. They've won 21 of their last 28 home games by an average of 12 points. You put them at home in a fast turf. Watch out. Honor on St. Brown and Jameson Williams combined for the most receiving yards of any tandem last year and a lot of people don't understand that they have incredibly explosive, tight-end

wide receiver and running back talent. They upgraded their all-line Panaysu moves left. Mike Miller's had a good camp. He's now at right and the Saints were a team last year. Three and six on the road. They're a young team weren't great on the road. Tyler Schuck was pretty good at the end but did not beat a team with a winning record and they held a lead last year. The Saints did only 13% of the season. They won some games but they had to come from behind. I don't think Detroit is a place you want to come from behind. The Lions will jump on you quickly. Just a couple of years at home Detroit is lethal when they get rolling. I like Detroit here to win and cover 34 to 20. Commanders at Eagles. And I'm going to take three favorites because I like Philadelphia. They're five and oh and season openers with Nick Sarionny. Say what you want offensive coats they start strong. Sequan Barkley has been unbelievable against the commanders. He's healthy.

He's the 150 scrimmage yards and the Bonte Smith is underrated. I know y'all like AJ Brown. You know the Bonte Smith led the NFL and receiving yards on third down last year. He's a very, very clutch third down receiver. Jaden Daniels was bad last year. That allows he can't the offensive lines amest. Laramie Tunzels out. They have not been good in season openers with Dan Quinn. Dan Quinn in his career is three and five. They lost their team leader and sax von Miller. They lost Bobby Wagner who kind of is the soul and the kind of the brains of that defense. He's gone. So they lose like experience veterans. Bonner played pretty well last year. I like the Eagles to win and cover 33 to 23. So I got two dogs. The Texans in the Carolina Panthers and three favorites. It's week one. I mean, honestly. The Niners 27 Ram 7 other than Brock Perties valet.

J Mac. Nobody saw that coming. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in New N Eastern. Not a Pacific. He's one of my absolute favorite people that's ever worked at Fox. And when he was at Fox, I knew he couldn't stay forever. Even though he loved it, I'm like, your mind's going too fast. You got to get out there and coach. And he did not take over the easiest situation. Denver. It was a, you know, they had some problems. I'll just leave it at that. And he fixed that old line very quickly. And he was one of the few people in the NFL that said, Bo Nex is a first round quarterback and Bo Nex is going to work. And he was right. And the other day he sent me a text because I don't know what to do with Denver. The first six games are brutal. Bo had Bo had a second, like ankle surgery. The division now, even the Raiders are dangerous. So let's bring on Sean Payton for fear with the Broncos head coach. It's flown by. They've improved every year. So you text me and you said, why are you doubting Bo Nex?

And I'm like, you're schedule the division. What was the, I mean, you watched a lot of film on Bo and I knew you liked him. What's the one thing he's better at that you didn't know before you had him in Denver? I think his ability when the pocket gets murky, which it's going to for all of these guys. He's tough to sack. We knew that, but his playmaking ability outside the pocket is easily. Throwing off the run to the right to the left. That's a super power of his. And a few others in our league as well. And look, it's tougher with some of the pressure packages you get with defenses, but he does a really good job of that. You know Sean, it's interesting. You say offensive coaches, defensive coaches don't always do this. Ben Johnson did this. You did this offensive coaches always go offensive line first.

They solve the offensive line. And I've criticized defensive coaches. I'm like, guys, there are no great teams with battle lines. What is your theory? You told me off air. Your theory, because you saw that offensive line. It was bad. And then it was top eight by the end of your first show. Give me your theory on that. I think this, it's the one position group that permeates the building. In what I'm saying is, if that group isn't really good, you really don't know how good your defensive line is then because on a daily basis, they're not getting taxed if you will or tested. And all the other things you want to do, you want to run the ball. You want to be more efficient throwing the ball, play action pass, boot snake, whatever it is you want to do, all of it is difficult if that group is subpar. And all of it is possible. Now, it's not like it's definitely going to be, but if your offensive line is good,

then you get proper evaluations in the other areas. It's harder to evaluate or running back, a quarterback, all the skilled people, if that position group is not right. And the two best allies for good quarterback play, and this will never change, is good defense and a good running game. Your quarterback's not on the high dive in a game as much. They're going to have to climb up there, but they're not up there as much. And so I think the front and drafting, because it's hard to find, we signed a couple guys in free agency. We've drafted to that position group, but drafting the big people, both on the offensive defense of line, I think is really important. I mean, it's from my experience, it's what really helped us in New Orleans. We didn't know it, and yet very quickly that offensive line became very good. And in the same thing exists here.

Here's the reality, everybody has access to information now, that's not the advantage anymore. The advantage is execution. Chat GPT work can connect to the tools where work happens. You stand your goals and help turn them into finished work. You can review. You stand control by setting direction and reviewing the output. Bottom line, more finished work. Put chat GPT to work on your ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode available on plus and pro plans. If you're somebody who remembers the immaculate reception, the catch or the fog bowl, then be sure to remember this too. Your immune system weakens as you age, even if you feel healthy, putting you at a higher risk for flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV and COVID. Ask your doctor about getting your recommended vaccines and how they can help protect you from getting really sick. You can check your eligibility and book at Vax Assist.com, Pfizer, Outdo yesterday.

Here's something I've thought about more as I've gotten older, keeping my family safe, not living in fear, just being prepared. It's why I use Berna. They make self-defense tools that actually work, that anybody can use. Even if you've never picked one up before. And here's what got me. It's legal in all 50 states. No permit, no background check. Ships right to your door. Shoots up to 60 feet, way more distance than pepper spray. And the rounds will stop a threat and give you the time and space to get your family somewhere safe. What I like is the distance and how easy it is to use. You don't have to let a problem get close to you. You've got options and they're built right here in America, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hand assembled. Berna is trusted by the pros over 500 government agencies, police departments and private security firms use Berna Berna dot com slash herd. B-Y-R-N-A dot com slash herd Berna, be ready. If you're a commercial contractor, you know the game, service work, projects, crew tracking,

cash flow, margins and more. Here's the problem. You're running your business with disjointed systems that aren't cutting it. If that's the case, I need to tell you about service tighten. The only end to end platform built specifically for service and construction work from prospecting and bidding to install maintenance retrofits everything in between. Service tighten gives you the tools you need to thrive. Learn more at service tighten dot com. You know, I'm a big fan of Cortland Sutton. You got Mems, you got Franklin and I, when you got Jalen Waddle, I knew he'd be great, but my take was, ooh boy, now you got to share the ball. Now there's more mouse defeat. And how's that going to play in the wide receiver room? Because Cortland Sutton, I always thought you could argue he's a one. He doesn't have Waddle speed. But when you bring in a star receiver, did you worry at all about, okay, we got to share the ball. I'm trying to get these young guys to feel good about themselves. Now Waddles, you're one. How did that play? I think it's a great question. It starts with what's the vision for the player? I think he's someone that plays exceptionally well in the slot and then can go outside

to Z. And I think you take the approach. It was more about like this guy's football makeup is fantastic. He's extremely, extremely good on the field relative to his communication skills. He's great with his position, you know, with his peers. He endears himself to his teammates and his work ethic. So then you get to the question, like, we'll worry about these touches when the time comes. Right. But we're finding a different type player, right? This is a guy that runs exceptionally fast and then he stops fast. So there's two ways you separate in our league. You run faster than somebody or you stop faster. And it's not often you get a guy that does both. Pat Bryant said a tremendous camp. Right. And so I think when we game plan and we're in the middle of it and you put up a play, you're discussing where these pieces are, where you think primary is going to be secondary

or and does it fit, you know, their skill set. And the same thing exists a little bit at running back when we drafted Jonah Coleman. You know, happens is healthy. RJ Harvey. It's hard to feed three in a game. But you're putting together the best roster you can with the right makeup and where we were picking in this year's draft in the first round at the way back end of it, we didn't feel like there was a player like Waddle at that pick. And so then it was all about the study of him. You could see it on tape, but it was all about what kind of fit is he going to be in and man is training camp has been something. I don't know how much you watched the Rams Niners or Seahawks Patriots. I'm sure you heard the Niners kind of pushed them around. Week one is weird. Nobody plays starters in the preseason. It's joint practices, older players.

You know, you don't want to get them banged up. If you didn't watch, it's okay. If you did watch a little, what do you take from week one? I mean, San Francisco pushes the Rams all over the field and everybody loved the Rams. Really had take from week one or what you've seen so far. Well, so we were game planning and it was on one of the back screens with no volume. So you're just turning over your shoulder. Obviously, the time of possession, I thought the kickoff returned to start the second half. From San Francisco's first return in the second half, they came out to the 50. That was significant. Certainly, you felt the run game more in the second half. We do these studies in week one. And you know, I don't want to use the term. It's very easy to lose a game in week one. And so I think it's important to dial your list down a little and make sure there's not

too much in the plan. We're going to be in this sprint. You brought it up, but you go through training camp. There might be a joint practice, three preseason games. And then there's this five week race. It's the first time everyone's blinders are off. There's 32 horses at the gate. And you don't really know to your right or left what's going on during the spring. And you really don't know in training camp. And so this weekend, you kind of hear that bell and the horses all get out and you're seeing kind of like right away where teams are at. Week one can be a little deceiving. We traditionally, when I say our three years here, we haven't been real good in the first quarter of the season. You know, two and two at best. But we've gotten off to one and two starts lost a tough game a year ago. And so it's not the bill end all. And yet you really want to see how we're measured. In this case, we're playing a divisional opponent, a very good opponent on the road.

So we're all excited just as Kansas City is. And you're really anxious to see what you got a little bit if that makes any sense. And then quickly, and I'm sure Sean and Kyle and the Seahawks, no different than the Patriots, very quickly, it's all right. Next week's got to be better in these areas. We're in this race here. The first month of the season, I think, is that teaching race to improve that I think is so important for these teams. Okay. So I got to ask you this. I'm going to wrap with this Davis Web. You give him the play calling and listen, I know you. You're intense. You're you get to the point. You don't beat around the bush. And you're on that headset. And Davis Web calls a draw and you're like, I don't like that. I like how are you going to be like, you know, I gave the young man a little bit of young man an opportunity. How in the world are you going to just say, zip it? No biggie. Let's see how it plays out.

You know, we've been done it for so long. I had a great three years in an experience with Bill Parcells. Now Bill, you had commentary almost after each call. There would be a deep breath like, or and then if something went well, he would say, I don't boy, I don't boy. But it was and it became white noise it had to, right? And so I tried to take the approach, look in the preseason, Davis a year ago called plays, this preseason. And it might be between series or maybe there's a clock stoppage or there's something and I'll just it might, I might be been say, be thinking about this. It's important that he understands if I'm thinking this is a four down situation. In other words, he's calling it like, third down. But if we're approaching the third down at the 38 yard line, I might say to him, hey, I'm thinking four downs here and that can change his third down call. So that has to, that has to exist.

But I think it's more during the week, you know, like last night in our meetings, you know, ultimately what we put on that sheet, he's got to feel good about. And so, you know, I'll go through some plays, some thoughts that I think look good. Here's why. And I said, the worst last night, I said, the worst thing we can do is take down and install plays that you know in your heart of heart on Sunday. You're not going to be interested in calling. So let's not do that. In other words, because we want to practice and be efficient. But look, I think I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think it was going to help us win games. And I also think that, look, there'll be a time where I might say, Dave, think about keeping it on the ground here a little bit. Like we're supposed to have a lot of win Monday night. I think 20 to 30 mile an hour win gusts. And so that can impact, you know, how you play in the first quarter or the second quarter.

And so it's those type of things that just from an experience standpoint that I think, but I'm certainly going to be mindful of that line. And I already am with anyone else. Like, let's, you know, let him focus on the calls and then, you know, during the breaks or during the stoppages. Now, we cross the 50. There's communication. But I think that part of it will go well. I think, look, the challenge is the opponent each week. And so, you know, we can't, we can't create our own obstacles. We got to worry about the opponent. And so I think he's someone that, look, he's played the position and he's been a part of some really good offenses and he's been here a while. And I think all of that has helped him. By the way, your first six games are ridiculous. It's just insane what a gauntlet it is. I said this a week ago. I said, you come out of there three and three. I'd take that today. Of course, you wouldn't take that today. Now, you open up at Kansas City. You've played Maholmes multiple times.

Is there a cheat code with Patrick? Are you? Is it just like put pressure on him and cross your fingers? I think, look, a question. I, one of the things he does so well is from huddle break to ball snapped. He multitask with the motions, the pressures, what he sees. You hear, whenever you hear, get a chance to get him miced up and you actually hear him. That happens twice a year. But when you actually hear him miced up from huddle to line and scrimmage. And let's say there's 70 snaps in a game. These are 70 different huddles that come to line and scrimmage with different information. Him pointing to a receiver, looking at the running. This one of his superpowers is identifying what you're doing. He's extremely smart that way. And then the release, the off schedule throws, they do a great job systematically to his

strengths. He's a handful. And I think when this game appeared on the schedule release, I think the feeling was certainly Nick's was going to be healthy and my homes was going to be healthy. And they're two entirely different injuries. But I think from a fan standpoint, you're going to see two quarterbacks that have worked hard in their off season approach, the rehab, and to put themselves in this position. Hey, by the way, I don't, if you ever go plan Melbourne, Sean, I want you to go a week early. Well, see, I'm, I'm of that. And this is just my opinion. I'm always of that, like, let's get out of town, meaning it helps your team. Like so the three times we played in London, you know, we would go over Sunday after the game, spend the week there. And then in New Orleans, there were three different times where we had a hurricane that forced us to leave. And then we would, the first one in 07 go to Indianapolis for a week.

We practice at their stadium and then fly back for the game. But my last, I think my last season in New Orleans, I would always ask Mickey, you know, there's a hurricane in the Gulf. When it got a name, I would go see Mickey and say, Mickey, it's got a name now. Can we leave? And he knew I'd like to take in the team somewhere because today's team, you know, they're on their cell phones, they're in their locker room. But when you take them somewhere, Australia, for instance, well, the unique thing was that's the first game of the season. So you could actually go two weeks in advance if you want to. And truly get acclimated. Yeah. But if it was week two or week four, your choices are simply Sunday night or, right, you know, Thursday. And I don't think anyone's choosing Thursday now. You know, in other words, from a, from a sleep standpoint, but I always looked at it in a different light relative to the, any team that I've taken somewhere, we've ended up

having pretty good seasons. You know, in 17 or 18, we go to London, play the dolphins. This past year, you know, Cincinnati Monday night football, we go on the road to Philly. We get a good, tough comeback when it Philly, then go to London for a week, play the Jets when they're in, and it's always been a good experience because they're around each other more than they would be if you're at home. Yeah. That's right. And I get the beds are good at home. And I'm going to find a way to make the beds better. You know, we've used these eight sleeps and these mattresses and the French sheets like I'm going to make the beds better than the ones you have at home. And so, but it's, it's always interesting. It's certainly in the game last night provided a big storyline because two teams handled it completely differently. And Sean even said prior, whoever comes out of this game, because it's Australia, we didn't go to Mexico City. We just went to Australia and that certainly was something that it was discussed a lot.

I would have liked to have gone like in August. I'd say I looked, I said this more, I woke up and I was looking at travel sites to Australia. That country is so beautiful. In and out of commercials, I was like, my God, this place is unbelievable. Maybe you want to, their state parks look like museums. I mean, the holes, cliffs and water. I was like, the Aussies have a good time living. I'll say that. Hey, it's great seeing you. You gave us what I coaches never give me 20 minutes. This was unbelievable. Good luck to you. They thank you. I appreciate it and I miss our Mondays. So do I. I love them. Sean Payton, the great Sean Payton, thank you so much. The, yeah, it's a, you know, his way is, oh, you kid your on their phones all the time and get these guys away from their comfort zone. That's a totally different way. I didn't think of that's why I'm of the 37 reasons I'm not a coach. That's one of them. All right, tomorrow's headlines today is around the corner of J Mac, J Mac's been a better week one picker than I have.

Now eventually he wobbles a little and I am able to catch him. By the way, we didn't get to go over your picks. Can I just see him on the screen real quick? Sure. Because I think I agree with three of the five, maybe four from your best bits. It was one that I did not like. It might have been, did you take Carolina? I did. So here's the thing, Colin, everybody's taking Carolina. Everybody loves Chicago's overvalued. They're going to pull back. And I see a lot of love for the Panthers. We're talking about Ben Johnson here. He's a genius. I know. Well, on Macvase, a genius, how that looked last night. Well, that's a different, well, okay, that's in Australia, but okay, fair point. Interesting. Well, I guess getting three's not bad for the Panthers. Everybody's last memory of Carolina is, hey, hey, they almost beat the Rams. Yeah. So automatically, yet nobody's picking the Panthers to win the division. They aren't favored odds wise. Nobody loves the Panthers, but the last time you saw them, they were, they were spicy.

Meanwhile, price young was not great last season for much of it. He's done a couple big games. I'm not disagreeing with anything. Bears don't have a consistent pass rush. So I think at home, he'll be fine. Actually, let's see one. Yeah, we have three similar, damn it. That's, I mean, that's usually a really good sign. I'm going to go take out a second line credit on my house and back it up. Back up the rings. Before we go, let me ask y'all something. What's a hip hop lyric that changed the way you saw music? It's that's really what the Sprite Living Tracklist is about. It's not about crowning winners. It's about starting conversations. 50 tracks, generations of artists and list of bakes. Sprite then just go lyrics on cans either. Now they went deeper, bringing in hip hop experts and taste makers to totally break down the stories and impact behind every track. Check out the full Sprite Living Tracklist at livingtractlist.gengis.com.

This is the Sprite Living Tracklist. Obey your thirds. Workplace chaos. We've all been there. Deadlines are slipping. Projects are piling up and suddenly you realize the missing piece is the right person. That's when you say this is a job for sponsored jobs. With indeed sponsored jobs, your job posts get to boost so you can connect with quality candidates faster. In fact, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed or 95% more likely to report a higher than a non-sponsored job. Spend less time searching, more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com slash podcast. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. If you're somebody who remembers the immaculate reception, the catch or the fog bowl, then be sure to remember this too. Your immune system weakens as you age, even if you feel healthy.

Putting you at a higher risk for flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, and COVID. Ask your doctor about getting your recommended vaccines and how they can help protect you from getting really sick. You can check your eligibility and book at VaxAssist.com. Pfizer outdo yesterday. You need credit to buy. Well, pretty much anything. So how do you get started? Easy. The One-Pay Builder Card. It's simple and smart. One pay is the banking app trusted by millions of Americans and the One-Pay Builder Card is an easy way to build credit. Just use it to make everyday purchases. Build your credit history. And then you can work up to the big milestones, like buying a new car or even a new house. Listen, if you've been a renter your entire life, it changes everything once you buy your first home. Total life game changer. Those moments start with small, consistent steps with the One-Pay Builder Card. Download the One-Pay app or visit OnePay.com.

That's OnePay.com for banking that gives you more for what matters. One pay is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking service is provided by Coastal Community Bank or Lead Bank members FDIC. Builder Card available with a One-Pay deposit account. Builder Card activity is reported to credit bureaus unless you opt out. Results may vary in our guaranteed debit card transactions are not reported. One Progress Services LLC NMLS ID2460509. See OnePay.com forward slash licenses. This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

More episodes

More from The Herd with Colin Cowherd

View all episodes →