BEST OF THE HERD – Seahawks Major Flaw | Final NFL Predictions | Watch Out For Steelers & Cowboys

0:00This 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. With the Discover Cash Back Card, it's payback time when you earn cash back on everyday purchases. Activate and earn 5% cash back at different categories each quarter

1:02on up to $1,500 in purchases. That's 5% cash back at different places each quarter, like grocery stores, on gas and at restaurants. It pays to discover. Terms apply. See Discover.com slash five for details. Hi, this is Kylie Breikman. Angel Jaretana. Jeremy Colhane Cash McDonald. And we're the hosts of the artists on artists on artists on artists podcast. The Improvized Character Comedy Podcast where each week a new panel of artists discuss their craft. Join us for a panel of Eurovision participants. And we do a little Halloween sometimes. Does the Pope dress up? He winks on Halloween. It's right up next to the microphone. You get up. I hear you get almost here. The eyelashes hit each other. You never seen it least so quiet. As when the Pope gets up to wink on Halloween. Listen to artists on artists on artists on artists every Thursday on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert Lam. And this is Joe McCormick. And we're the hosts of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. This week on the show, it's Star Trek.

2:04So we're going to be talking about the Borg all week long. Are you ready to get some probes put in your flesh? That's right. tune in resistance is futile. We're going to talk science, the culture of the Borg, various interpretations. And we're going to talk about Star Trek first contact on Weird House Cinema on Friday. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the I Heart Radio app. Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to the Best of the Horde 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 FoxBorchtredio.com or stream us live every day on the I Heart Radio app by searching FoxBorcht Radio or FSR. This is the Best of the Horde with Colin Cowherr on Fox Sports Radio. NFL season starts tonight. Seahawks hosting the Patriots in the Pacific Northwest. Kicking off the NFL season. Welcome in. It's the herd. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening.

3:08Thanks for making us part of your day. I had an epiphany last night. I had a revelation. It woke me up at about two thirty in the morning. I could not get back to sleep because I've been very high on the Seahawks as a super bowl team that's being disrespected because they don't really have a brand. They don't have a marsh on linch or a Richard Sherman or a Pete Carroll or they got Sam Darnell with her spoon and is there one thing Colin that could derail the Seahawks? Yet came to me last night. Their offensive coordinator has never been an offensive coordinator. Brian Flurry and he's forty seven. Why does the age matter? Because generally this is the same in music as it is comedy and it is with offensive coaches. Greatness is identified very early. Sean McVeigh head coach at thirty. Shanahan offensive coordinator at twenty eight.

4:10Sean Payton late twenty's. Look around Clint Koubiak mid thirty. Shane Stuyke in mid thirties. Ben Johnson mid thirties. Josh McDaniel's Bill Bellachek gave Josh McDaniel's the rain of the offense. He was thirty. It's the same in comedy outside of Rodney Dangerfield who became a star late. Shepelle Seinfeld Eddie Murphy at night teen was on Saturday night live. The John Stewart's the Richard Pryor's brilliance pops early. Now Moesart wrote his first symphony at eight. I'm not asking for that and Tiger Woods was on the mic Douglas show when he was three. I'm not asking for that. But there are industries. There are industries where greatness is identified very very early and it should be noted. The Seahawks if you go to the last several years when a great offensive coordinator is left and he's been replaced by kind of a guy it's gone south fast.

5:14Brian Flurry is forty seven and for fifteen years of his coaching career coach defense and he's sort of a chill dude. Ben Johnson Sean Peyton Kyle Shanahan McVey intense Clint Koubiak intense. Shane Stuyke in pretty intent. This feels like a vibe higher. He's a nice guy. He's smart. He's a cool dude and John Snyder the GM who's very much a vibe guy. He's kind of a let's grab a beer after work T shirt to work. He's great GM kind of a vibe guy and he met his big Lebowski. He met the dude and this guy is kind of forty seven years old coach defense for fifteen years kind of chill and he kind of met his guy and he's like it's kind of a vibe higher. I'm going to go with a vibe higher because recent history shows. Think about this Lions were 15 and two with Ben Johnson. They hire a guy that's competent but not Ben Johnson. Ninety eight Eagles won a Super Bowl with young Kellan Moore leaves knocked out wild card

6:16round with a stacked roster. Falkins Kyle Shanahan Super Bowl number one offense in the league. He leaves 15th best offense in the NFL. Liam Cohen Baker Mayfield looks like one of the top ten quarterbacks. Number three offense in the league Liam Cohen takes the Jags job. They dropped to twenty first with all the same guys. So it is now now the coach is great. The defense is great. The run game will be good. The special teams are excellent. Home field advantage is great but Mike McDonald's a defensive coach. So Brian Flurry is getting the offense. This is not an offensive coordinator under Shanahan. Under McVeigh it's his offense. And I've said this before offensive coaches head coaches have a sensibility about quarterbacks. They just feel them. So I've got a little bit of a revelation. I think this is a vibe higher. I think Seattle is so well run.

7:16They're going to be really good. I think they can still make the Super Bowl. I think they'll be able to course correct because they're so gifted and so athletic and so deep and so talented. But I've been saying this entire offseason. Hey, they're getting no respect. I don't like the Rams being a dominant favorite. I like the Seahawks winning the division. And I had 230 in the morning. I didn't even have a tasty cocktail last night. I had total clarity. I see only diet coax. I'm like what derails greatness in this league right now. You get the wrong offensive coordinator and this guy may work. But 47 kind of chill defensive guy for 15 years feels a little bit like a vibe higher. Could work. But recent history show a lot. It's music. It's comedy. It's brilliant offensive coaches. Everybody in the leagues talking about him when they're 28 years old.

8:19Doesn't mean they'll be a head coach like McVeigh at 30. I mean, Lane Kiffin's a great example. People were talking about Lane Kiffin. Monty Kiffin's kid when he was in his, I mean, didn't he get the Raider job at 32 defensive coaches. They don't get those great jobs usually as early as the offensive guy because the offensive guy is a whiz kid. He's drawn up plays. Everybody loves the next great offensive coach guys like Domingo Ryan's. Mike McDonald never get the attention of an offensive guy like Shanahan or a Sean McVeigh or a young Sean Payton. We love our offense. We fantasy footballs about scoring. So Brian Flurry may work, but 47 coach defense for 15 years, a little laid back. It woke me up in the middle of the night. Here he is on calling plays for the first time ever. I'm really looking forward to it. I've had more fun out here practice these last two days than probably any of the last seven years. So I'm excited to continue this journey and get out there for the first time on Thursday.

9:22It's such a great group of guys and they have so much experience together. They all have great ownership of the offense and so being able to talk about things and how I see it and how they see it and make sure that it's all synchronized together has been really fun. Who would fanny one Brad, if you sought for advice on just hope experience? Unfortunately, the people I would see could advice from aren't really interested in seeing us do well. So not not many. By the way, the game's on it's tonight. It's on Wednesday. It's not Thursday. I know I'm nitpicking. I just I just I look at history. I look at data 47 defensive guy for 15 years. Kind of a laid back guy. Slow worried. Not saying they can't win the Super Bowl. Not saying I was wrong all off season. I think I'm over thinking it a little bit on the Rams finishing second in the division. Well, that's all I'm saying. So it's a little bit of a myth that if you lose the Super Bowl, then you're bad the next year. I looked it up this morning.

10:23They call it the Super Bowl losers hangover. 40 of the 59 Super Bowl losers made the playoffs the next year. Several won the Super Bowl. So I think New England's going to be pretty good. And they're off season because they got to the Super Bowls. They have a shorter off season but Vrayble didn't play starters in the preseason. But you know what the Patriots were last year. They were the good, not great real estate agent who had a great year because the interest rates were low and the market was on fire. And all of a sudden that real estate agent, whoo, record year. And that was the Patriots. The Jetson dolphins were off to the division. They had the easiest schedule in 30 years. Burle Mahomes on the March. Jackson all get hurt. And they faced Jared Stidum in the AFC championship. Let's just say the interest rates were really low last year in the market. It was on fire pivot to tonight in this year.

11:28Interest rates are now at 6%. Look at this schedule. First four games all playoff teams and three of the toughest places to play in the NFL. At Seattle at Jacksonville in the Florida heat in September and at Buffalo. Get the Steelers at home but they should be a better offense now with Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rogers. Oh, by the way, late October on at Chicago, Green Bay Detroit at the Chargers Buffalo at Kansas City, Denver. It doesn't even resemble last year. So and let's be honest, you know this and I know this. Most real estate agents, most real estate agents aren't great. They have a great year occasionally because of circumstances. They're good to component. I mean, last year, the Patriots played only four playoff teams. They went two and two and one of those wins was over eight and nine Carolina.

12:30Now head coaches in a offensive coordinators in a the quarterback is in a the defense is a B2B plus. They're going to be fine. I think they will be a better team, especially at wide receiver than last year with a worse record. I do see them as a wild card team. But just remember, last year, they faced these quarterbacks. Brady Cook, Dylan Gabriel, Quenure, Spencer Ratler, Justin Fields, two a Joe Flacco and Jared Stittum. Barring major injuries. Look at the quarterbacks they face this year. It is a whole different ball game. So I don't have them as a top 10 team in my hierarchy and Julian Edelman yesterday disagree. This team, I understand they had a soft schedule last year, but they addressed everything they needed to address in the off season to get to be better.

13:32And they went to the Super Bowl last year. So them not being on the list is crazy. We'll see. We'll see. I'd like to say my revelation on the Seahawks does not mean because young teams and they're really young get hurt less and heal quicker. The Rams have a couple of older players like their quarterback who has a history getting dinged up during a season. He gets dinged up once in a while. So I think Seattle's going to be very, very good. Could be special. But a 47 year old OC, we have a recent history. Lions, Eagle, stacked rosters. The Atlanta Falcons, Baker and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Liam Cohen leaves. That team gets good. Tampa doesn't look the same. This is an offensive league. And the Seahawks coach is a defensive coach. So that offense is all Brian Flores here. Coach, it's yours. He's never called plays. That's the only thing barring a major injury. That is the only thing that I think could derail the

14:35Seahawks schedule. Man, they're a great road team. Head coach is great. O line is set. Grey's Able was a home run draft. Beck best arguably second best corner in the league behind stingley. Like there's a lot of pluses. I even think that Notre Dame running back first round late price will actually be highly productive. I love Kenneth Walker. Struggle to stay healthy. I think they're really, really good. But we've seen it in this league, man. Coordinators on the offensive side, bail, go become great head coaches. And they leave some dust behind. So Jamie, as a guy from the Pacific Northwest, this was very hard to announce on the show. This is I'm not, I don't love saying this, but it just something that got into my head last night. I love how you call it an epiphany at 2 30 in the morning. You could just call it a nightmare. You woke up in a cold sweat. I'm in flurry. Who the hell is that? What's he doing? I mean, listen, I'm 100% with you. We will see. You know, I'm on Patriots tonight. I might take them on the money line after this revelation that Colin Coward had overnight. Just because I said it,

15:36doesn't mean I'm rooting for it. I'm just saying it's something I thought about. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in New N Eastern, 90 and Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHard Radio app. Hey, it's Kovino and Rift from Fox Sports Radio. Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays for 5 to 7 PM Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show. Yep, that's right. You can now watch Kovino Enrich live on YouTube every day. All you gotta do, search Kovino Enrich FSR on YouTube. Again, go to YouTube, search Kovino Enrich 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

16:37by 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. Yo, I was scrolling through the Sprite Living Track last time the day and immediately started arguing with myself. Arguing with yourself? I'm serious. It was wild because records like California love still not a player. Back then those are just songs. No, those are moments. Memories, snapshots of where hip hop was and where's going? Exactly. And that's what Sprite gets. They spent over 40 years celebrating all this really defined the culture. And now they flipping letting the fans be part of the conversation, which is where it gets interesting because the real debate is why? Like, why did that song matter? Why did that line hit? Why did it change hip hop forever? I can't promise you we got the answers, but you're definitely going to have a good time figuring it out.

17:42Go check out full Sprite Living Track list and break down the stories behind your favorite bars at livingtraclist.genius.com. This is the Sprite Living Track list. Obey your thirst. With the Discover Cash Back Card, it's payback time when you earn cash back on everyday purchases. Activate and earn 5% cash back at different categories each quarter on up to $1,500 in purchases. That's 5% cash back at different places each quarter, like grocery stores, on gas, and at restaurants. It pays to discover. Terms apply. See Discover.com slash 5 for details. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. You just remember this low taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything.

18:45Every week, I'm with survivors who lived through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. Their story is about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Early in the Seat and Michigan's O-Line is better than they represented themselves in week one. Be very careful bailing on Michigan. Okay, it's Wednesday. It's the start of the NFL season. Tonight, wherever you're 830 Eastern, 730 Central, whatever time that is in Albuquerque, it's the NFL season starts the night. Here are my divisional, my final going into the season, divisional predictions.

19:49Okay, the easiest one is the AFC East. I'm going bills, Patriots, Jets, dolphins. I have the bills getting to the Super Bowl. I think New England having a number one receiver for Drake May is really exciting. Maybe that gets flipped. But I like DJ Moore, Joe Brady. Yes, there are questions, but they're still the most heavily favored team to win a division. The Jets have talent, but it's a coach quarterback league. I have doubts in both those spots. The dolphins have the least talent on their roster in the league. They're spending more money on guys, not on the team than on the team, which is weird. Hasn't happened since like 2011. There's my AFC East Buffalo, New England, Jets, dolphins. Listen, the Ravens and the Bengals are both going to make the playoffs. It's a coin flip. If Cincinnati won and Baltimore finished second, I wouldn't be shocked. I do like the Ravens, but it's a new coach in Jesse Menter. They went and got, and let's be honest, they struggled with sacks last year,

20:51and they went and got Tre Hendrixen, but they lost. Isaiah likely to the New York Giants and Tyler Lindorbaum, their great center to the Raiders. Don't love that. Here's what I like about Cincinnati. They almost looked well run. They bought a defense, and they didn't change any of their coaches. Continuity and they spent money. What do you know? It's a new day. Pittsburgh has a very high floor and a lower ceiling. Their third Cleveland's got talent. It's just quarterback Todd Munkin. Finally, get to head coaching job at age 60 plus. The last couple of times that happened with David Cully and Vic Fangio, it was a disaster. Feel pretty strongly about Cleveland last and Pittsburgh third here. AFC South, this is a tough one. I'm not sure. I know the Texans defense will be the best in the league. Outside of that, it's a coin flip. I love the Texans. I think CJ Stroud bounces back. Listen, the Colts last year were eight and two, and a number one seed going into the buy. Every time Daniel Jones was upright, they averaged 29 points a game.

21:53I like their roster a lot. What about Jacksonville? They lost Travis ATN who I thought I think Travis ATN is one of those guys that doesn't get talked about because he plays in Jacksonville. He's a really, really high-end NFL player. If they beat the Colts for the wild card, would not be shocked. Tennessee is without talent like the coaching staff. Still waiting for a verdict on a cam ward. Again, that's a tough division for me. No great teams, but one unbelievable unit in the Texans defense. I love the Mico Ryan's. He and Mike McDonald, two best defensive coaches in the sport. AFC West, I made a change. Denver's second Kansas City third, I flipped them on the news that left tackle Josh Simmons will not start. He is hurt again. The Chargers, I think Mike, uh, McDaniel is a perfect fit. Listen, last year, they were five and one against the AFC West and a playoff team with the worst offensive line in the sport. They gave, they had more interceptions than they gave up touchdown passes.

22:55Now, they lost Jesse Minter. Probably won't be quite as good, but I think it's a pretty magical year for the Chargers. Denver adds Jalen Waddle. They lose some of their defensive oomph, but they bring back their offense. I think Waddle gives them a vertical component to the offense. Cortland Sutton will be one of the best number two receivers in the league. I like Bownex. Most of your still got cold feet on that. I, I just, I slept on it and I'm going to put Kansas City third because as much as I like Kenneth Walker, he's not giving you 17 games. And now they're left tackle Josh Simmons. And that has always been Mahomes, Kryptonite, left tackle. If they're bad there, they're less efficient. The Raiders will be a very fun fourth place team. Even more fun when, uh, Fernando Men, Dosa starts. So my playoff picture, Bill's Ravens, Texan Chargers, Patriots, Bengals, Broncos, the Ravens and the Bengals are new playoff teams. All right. Now let's go to the NFC.

23:56I have five new playoff teams total. The average over the last 30 years is six. All right. NFC East. Listen, Philadelphia is roster. I'm going to take him. I think they've upgraded an offensive coordinator and Jalen hurt since he was drafted as the winning its quarterback in the league. It's not always pretty. But he's a grown up. He's an adult. He moves the chains. I love their GM. Cereoni works. Mystifies me sometimes. But I'll take them to win it. I'm very high in the Giants. One in seven in one score games. That's not going to happen. And they, I thought they had a great draft. Arville Reese, Francis Mauiaga. And I think Malachi feels a wide receiver could be the best third round pick. I love him as a red zone target. I also think the Russians are elite. And John Harboye did it in Baltimore. One year turnaround. Please, please Jackson Dart. If you see a blue tent, look the other way. Cowboys will be much better defensively. But we've pumped a brakes here. Once again, they're the most penalized team in the NFL last year.

24:57And they were lousy against playoff teams. One five and one. Oh, let's slow and pump the brakes. I know the offense will be good. They weren't, they weren't very buttoned up last year. Washington, old, lost their left tackle. I just don't feel good about the direction of that franchise right now. They'll finish fourth. All right, NFC North, best division and football. I'm going to take Detroit. Easiest schedule in the league. Yes, that matters. And I think they're, listen, they're going to just, they can win by track meet every week or almost every week. Sam LaPorta, Jameer Gibbs, Omar on St. Brown. They figured out their tackle situation. They get Blake Miller over to the right, Penaisel to the left. Listen, I wish Jared Goff had more mobility. I like, they got stars everywhere. This is a very, very good football team. Chicago probably won't be as great in the fourth quarter with two minutes left. But I think Colston loves them. The best young tight end arguably in the sport.

25:58Luther Burton exploded. He's fantastic. Roma Dunze is healthy. I love their skill players. O lines good. Will it be as good as last year? Not sure. Take the bear's second. I don't know what to do with Green Bay and Minnesota. If Minnesota got in the playoffs, I would not be shocked. Minnesota's coach, coordinator, star receiver, Kyler Murray left tackle. I like Minnesota. I don't know what to do in this division. I think Green Bay and Minnesota, we could have third place decided in the last couple of weeks of the year. I worry about no Mike in September. Jordan Love has not been a great quarterback in September. And let's be honest, Josh Jacob's suspension possibly. So there's a lot of things going on with Green Bay in September. And I don't know the outcomes on any of them. But I'll still take their playoff momentum. Their third Vikings fourth. NFC South. Saints Panthers, Bucks, Falcons. Not a very good division. I think Carolina, to their credit. Same DC, same OC, same head coach, same quarterback.

26:58I like their continuity. Really bright coach and GM. The Saints. Second easiest schedule. Tider Shock was pretty good. I worry about Jordan Tyson, the rookie receiver getting hurt. But I'm going to go listen to this division's wonky. I'll take the Saints to win it. And in the NFC West, I flipped it. I went Seattle Second Rams first. I mean, they're both great teams. I do worry about Brian Flurry, a first time offensive coordinator who spent 15 years on defense. Getting his first play calling it 47. I think it could be a little turbulent. Does it mean the planes crashing could be turbulent? I think the Rams of the most talented team in football. Niners lost another player. Yesterday to injury, I think they're two old and key spots. And Arizona is in an absolute rebuild. Potentially drafting number one next year. So the playoff teams in the NFC look like this. Eagles, Lyon, Saints, and Rams when the division. Seahawks, Bears are great wildcard teams.

28:02The Giants are a good wildcard team. I think they're undervalued on the market. They'll double plus their win total. And there you go. Four excuse me, five new playoff teams. Giants are new playoff team. Obviously, Saints are a new playoff team. And Lions are a new playoff team. I can't quibble much with the AFC. I think Patriots could be in some trouble, Broncos. I think the NFC did a bad job. Giants, Saints, come on. They got no shot. Those are whiffs by you early. That's okay. Yeah, nobody's perfect. Nobody's going to go 14 for 14 picking playoff teams. And I'll remind people last year at this time, zero people had a Seahawks Patriot Super Bowl. One person still loves Sam Darnel, though. Worked out pretty well for Dinox Dilfer. I don't know. Be sure to catch live additions of the herd weekdays in new Easter 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the I Hard

29:07Radio app. Matt Hasselbeck 18 years, 10 of them in Seattle, tough place to play for visitors. They host a Patriots tonight. Matt is going to join us now live. It's an exciting time. Season Openers. Now season openers are a little different today. The season's longer, but you used to play in the preseason. Starters don't really play. Vrabble didn't play his guys because they had a shorter off season. Take me to your openers. I would imagine I would be nervous. I mean, I mean, you were nervous, right? The season opener for the Packers or Seahawks, you'd be nervous. Yeah, I don't know if nervous is the right word, anxious. Yeah, it's like a blind date, Colin, especially for the teams that are I always felt like this about myself. I was a preparer. Like I worked really hard at game plans and scouting reports. And the teams, the coaches and the players that rely on that, I think it's hardest for them because everything that you've seen so far in the preseason is a setup.

30:07It's a Trojan horse. We're running out of this personal group in this formation. This is the play we like. BS, no, it's not that you're setting up your week one opponent. That's why I think you see so many upsets. Week one, I mean, just last year, I mean, the two playoff, the two Super Bowl teams, the Patriots and the Seahawks, both lost at home, the Patriots lost to the Raiders, the Seahawks lost to the Niners. Week one makes me nervous. Made me nervous as a player. It makes me nervous now. You don't know what you're going to get. Favours the offense. Okay, and I said this in music, in comedy and with offensive coaches, generally the great ones, you spot it pretty early. Shanahan McVey, Sean Payton, Ben Johnson, early 30s. You're the talk of the league because we like innovation with our football and offensive side is the innovative side, the choreography, the creativity. Brian Flurry is 47. He's never called plays. He coached defense for 15 years.

31:08Most great offensive coaches are intense. You hear you see him young. He's an old guy. He's kind of chill and I'm like, that kind of worries me a little, right? He doesn't. The data says that's not what the next great Ben Johnson Axe or looks like. What's your take? Yeah, I disagree with your take. I mean, you make a really strong point, I guess, but I lost to Super Bowl to Bruce Arian's. When was Bruce Arian's a coordinator for the first time? Like when he was in his late 40s and I don't know. In my career, I can just think of the guys that I enjoyed going up against. I didn't mind going up against the younger guys. I didn't like going up against the Mike Zimmer's and the Steve Spagnolo's. Those guys, to my knowledge, got their start. In their 40s or late 40s as coordinators in the NFL. That doesn't bother me. I think the big thing that worried me was, I think Clint Coopiac, those are big shoes to fill. They really are.

32:08But everything that I've seen, I've talked to Brian Flurry this off season. Bennett practice. I've seen how he's interacted with Mike McDonald. This is Mike McDonald's team on the offensive and the defensive side of the ball. So you're going to see Mike McDonald's personality even on offense. And I think that's why he hired Brian Flurry. He wants to be all about the run game. He wants to be all about shifts in motions. There's shifts and then there's motions. And I think this team, they want to be on every play before the ball is snapped. They want to shift and emotion more than they've done in the past. So New England's interesting because AJ Brown not only is great, but he wants the ball. And I always think quarterbacks are at their best. When they can kind of see the entire field, they don't feel breaking the huddle, a pressure to get it to one guy. In fact, in Philadelphia, when AJ Brown was targeted seven or fewer times, they're like 13 and 0. Eight or more, they were slightly better than 500.

33:09You always told me you like to go to your star receiver early. You want to get guys going. What do you think New England's offense will look like now with a true dominant sideline one? Well, no, I agree with you. Absolutely, and I know it's more dangerous for an offensive. You are spreading the ball around. If you're a great receiver, the ball will find you. You don't have to script for success to get you the ball. So I think Josh McDaniel is Mike Vrable. They understand this. And so I do think I know that AJ Brown is going to be a weapon for them, but he doesn't always have to get the ball to be a weapon. And this, I think when you look at the New England Patriots of the wide receiver group, that's a big group. Mac Hollins doesn't get talked about enough. Kyle Williams was one of their bigger receivers last year. Now he's one of their shorter receivers based on who they're going to play. They got Romeo Dobbs there now. They're going to be a problem for people match up wise in the passing game. But they're not going to do what Philly did and try to like make someone happy in the wide

34:11receiver room. They do not care about that. That's not the Patriot way. The Patriot way is all about winning games. And I think they did a nice job. You saw what they did with Stefan Diggs last year. Like it wasn't about Stefan Diggs's production. It was about getting wins. I think it'll be more of the same. I think Mike Vrable and AJ Brown have that kind of relationship, whether it be good like that. Well, you know this in both Green Bay and Seattle. When you get to a Super Bowl or win a Super Bowl, all of a sudden the networks, they're going to change your schedule. Last year, Kansas City played like on every day except Tuesday. Seattle's opening on Wednesday. You know, they got them on Sunday and Monday for somebody that played on really good franchises that the networks more than ever, they're going to flex your schedule all over the place. Did you like because you're such a planner in a detail guy? I know I heard Peyton Manning hated it. Did you like the TV games where the breaks are longer, the half times longer, the game that you're playing it on a different day? Seattle now is in that space. That's the new Seahawks.

35:11Did you like it? No, I don't think any player likes it really unless you're just dying to get your face on TV. No one really likes it, but that's where I think that really I know the coaching staff, that's where they kind of make their bread and butt. Like if you're special as a head coach and you can a, adjust the schedule in a way that's not disruptive and then b, message to your team, we do not care. Like we do not care with this games at night. If it's in the morning, if it's on a Wednesday, it's on a Sunday, if it's on grass, if it's on field turf, if it's in the parking lot, we do not care. That's the mindset that we're going to have going in. I think that's where in my career, I've really felt like coaches nailed that. And then I've also felt like coaches made it a distraction. They were whining about it. They were letting their hair down and letting us know how they really felt. But the messaging in that, I think is really important. And I believe in this case, Mike McDonald, he's proven that he's a guy that does not care. Seattle's at home tonight, but this is fascinating.

36:12They are 15 and two on the road the last two years. And that's way up in the Northwest. So they have long flights. That's better than the Rams. That's better than the Niners. That's better than anybody. Is there a trick to it? Or are they just a good team that went to a bunch of games and they happened to win them on the road? It seems to me that is a crazy road record for even in college. That's great. It's really incredible. And when I played for the Siop, I mentioned I played there 10 years. We struggled. We were sort of the opposite that. We'd win all of our games at home and then we looked like a completely different team at that 10 AM Pacific time game. We couldn't win it. Couldn't win against anybody. We'd get spanked against bad teams. And then we'd be a playoff team. It was a very bizarre. Now the Siop's love late have been opposite of that. They've been a great road team. And I think it goes to that mindset of we don't care. Now for whatever reason, they got to translate that to how they play at home. And I think they're turning the corner there.

37:13But the hard part is learning to win on the road, not winning at home. Okay. I want to talk about the Rams and the Niners and the disparity on how they're traveling. So the Niners, it's like a wedding. They've been planning this thing for six months. They're there a week early. They've got the photographers. It's like, and the Rams are like very flying land, wind, attack, go, flight home. Which would you prefer? Which do you believe is the right way? Well, if I was the father of the bride, it'd rather be the Rams. It sounds much less expensive. That's usually how those long engagements go as well. No, listen, my first game in the NFL was a preseason game. Playing for the Packers, we're playing against the Kansas City Chiefs in Tokyo. We fly over there. I mean, obviously it's a ridiculously long flight. You don't even know what day it is, never mind what time it is. The best I felt was the first practice when we were there. So I don't know the science of it. But I can just tell you anecdotally, the best we felt was in that first joint practice against the

38:16chiefs. That's the best we felt. Now, by the time we get to the game, I think we were just like, when, man, which way is up? So maybe there is some science to it. And I do believe that it takes an organization ahead coach with enough confidence to try something different than it's ever been done. And so then the other piece of it is, is that, yes, you got a game tomorrow night. Or tomorrow, but like, you got a game after that. And so you're getting ready for this game. You want to win this game, but also your week two opponent. What's my recovery look like for that opponent? And so, I'm not throwing stones at it. I'm actually not really that surprised by what the Rams are doing. Yeah, I kind of talk myself into this. Both what the Niners are doing and the Rams are doing is fine. Either show up playing leave or come a week early. What you don't want to do is come like two and a half days early and try to cheat it. Like if you're going to come early, make it a week and really get ready.

39:16And if you're not, just fly in play, get out. So I'd argue that the only thing that doesn't work is kind of cheating it and go, okay, we'll show up two days early. And like you said, nobody knows what day it is. I think that, so I think it won't affect necessarily either team. So, I don't have Kansas City in the playoffs. And I said this earlier, Justin Herbert has proven twice in his career. His offensive line can be in shambles. He'll get you to the playoffs. Mahomes is different. When Patrick doesn't have good left tackle play, Greg Kosell says this. He adlibs, he's out of structure, he gets impatient, he's not as effective. That does not mean Herbert's better than Mahomes. But it does mean that Herbert is less effective, less affected by, maybe it's because he's more tunnel vision and Mahomes is more the artist. And when the artist gets in his head, he's less effective in erratic.

40:18But I look at them without Josh Simmons at left tackle and I'm like, okay, that kid's been hurt for three years. College pro, I think there is something about Patrick not trusting his backside. Now off an injury. I mean, you tell me he does not look the same the last two years. Well, I also, you got also think about the scheme of it. If the chargers don't have their left tackle, what are they going to do? They're going to run the ball more. They're not going to say, hey, Justin Herbert, go play play ground ball. That's not what they're going to say. Now, it might just kind of happen at times. But then the chiefs, what are they going to do? Are they a run first, hardball mentality team? No, they're fun and creative and throw it all over the field. An A-patcher go do this and Kelsey go do that. Speed kills. It's just sort of like the mindset. I mean, I know Andy Reed was a guard at BYU and you think he was all about the run game, but he's kind of a throw it all over the field kind of guy. Yeah. So I think that probably plays into this quite a bit. The, I'm going to throw my NFL predictions.

41:21Can we put those on the board, my NFL, I don't want you to pick them apart. Now, I have five new playoff teams. That's about the average over the last 30 years. I do think they're, I told everybody, really, if you look at my predictions, I mostly went with really good quarterbacks. I don't know about Tyler Schuck, but I thought he was surprisingly good late. And I don't think that's a great division. So I said, easy schedule, Saints, I'm going to roll the dice on them. Mostly I went with good quarterbacks. Mahomes, the great one that's not in there. Is there anything that jumps out to you, any division, any playoff team, Bengals by the way, that schedule is pretty workable and they bought a defense. So that's interesting. Who do you not like? Well, just look at your division winners right there. I like the Steelers. I like the Steelers a lot this year. I know there's a lot of shade being thrown their way about their age and some things like that. I do think this Mike McCarthy, Aaron Rogers marriage is going to work. I think that's pretty strong.

42:22I also probably get ridiculed for this, but I like the Dallas Cowboys. I think the Dallas Cowboys on offense were incredible. Their defense was the opposite of that. I think that can get fixed. And then you get some close ones. The chargers there, I would disagree with you as well. I think the Denver Broncos are getting slept on. I think the Denver Broncos should have been in the Super Bowl last year and they weren't. And I think they're a much better team than you think. But no, this is some interesting thing. The thing that shocks me the most about your picks is that you picked the Detroit lines. That's probably my surprise as I look at this and not because I don't believe in the lines, but I just didn't see you picking against your bears. So that's what stands out immediately. You know, a lot of people call me America's honesty broker, Hasselbeck. I don't let where I live dictate. Mostly. Why do you? Well, I mean, for me, I might even put the Packers there. Just so you know, like I think the Packers could research. Okay, I don't know why this is, but Jordan love has struggled in September.

43:24No, Micah in September and they open up against Minnesota. By the way, let me ask you about the biking. I said this earlier, that division's so hard. You've played in it. I'm like, have Minnesota won the division. I would not be shocked. I love the coach. I love the defensive coordinator. I think Kyler Murray's actually good. I don't know. Nobody likes him. I think he's unpopular. I think I think he's got one of the high. Didn't they have one of the high? His passer rating is equal to Matt Stafford. And he's never had even a decent offensive line. J.T. McCarty, that distraction's gone. Where are you on the Vikings and the Kyler Murray story? Well, I'll just say this about the Vikings. You, you can quietly talk, they meant I'd say this publicly, but if you quietly talk to the quarterbacks in the NFL, they do not want to play Brian Flores. It's such a headache. It's such a headache. Everything looks the same. The blitzes, the bluff blitzes. He doesn't care. You know, when you're playing a defensive coordinator that's like, man, I don't care. I'm not nervous about anything. Like if we get you, we get you, we probably score. But if you beat us, like, yeah, you beat us,

44:25like I'd rather go down swinging. That his mindset is, and you don't want to play it. So that's a dangerous place to be as a decordator. So that defense doesn't really almost matter how much talent they have. They could be really successful this year. And they could beat up on people. Yeah, I know I picked them forth. So if they if they win, I'll get crushed. But that could be the best fourth place team in Lee history. If they won the division, I would not be shocked. I think, you know, it's funny. We tend to like athletes we can relate to. And I think Kyler's, you know, he's kind of sullen. He's kind of quiet. There was the video game stuff. You know, I get why fans are not into him. But I will say, dude, he's got some Russell Wilson in his prime stuff where he's moving around. The deep balls pretty. I mean, it's Arizona. The coaching, the ownership, the division. It's like, yeah, I'm not sure how many. I mean, Matt Stafford didn't want to play off game in Detroit. Like everybody's always banging on the quarterback. It's hard to win an Arizona.

45:26Well, you know, you mentioned like you can go certain places in the coaching matters at the quarterback position between Kevin and Josh McCowne and all the guys that they have there. The missing piece for Kyler Murray hasn't been talent. He's ridiculous. He's a great thrower of the ball. He's so dangerous with his legs. Probably as dangerous as anybody minus Lamar. He's ridiculous that way. So if he can put that final piece together of, I don't know what it is. It's an intangible. It's somewhat a little bit of leadership. It's a little bit of the energy that you give off. Yeah. Like, you walk into a restaurant. You walk into a bar. There's a vibe. Like you can tell kind of very soon, like, do I want to stay here? Is this my spot? Or is this not my spot? I think he can change the vibe that people have had on him early in his career. And he could put it all together and be special. That's absolutely in front of him if he wants it. By the way, have you ever walked into a restaurant with your wife and literally circled it and left because of the vibe? Often.

46:26I just talked to it. Usually if there's a white tablecloth, I'm out. Usually, I'm out. That's a deal breaker. I literally did it last week. My wife's like, this is Dullsville. Dullsville. And I want to have a good time tonight. We walked right out. There you go. I hear you. I'm with you. Good seeing you, buddy. All right. Big one tonight, Colin. See you, bud. All right. You know, Kevin Wildes on the show after us used to have a great theory. Well, he still does have the theory. His whole theory was if he owned a bar in New York, I always thought this was the greatest bar theory that he would have a curtain. And if there was only eight people in there, he would bring the curtain in and make it look crowded. So in New York, when you're on the sidewalk and you're walking by bars, you kind of look in and go, you want to be in there. Well, if there's eight people in a big space, you're not going to go in. If there's nine people in a small space, you're like, oh, and so you just move this like, not canopy, but this kind of curtain. And you would shrink the bar.

47:27And everybody would be like, oh, and then you could expand it as people poured into the bar. I don't know. That is, what's that John Tapper guy? He's always talking about do this. That's how you clean your bar up. Bringing a giant curtain is moving back and forth. This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.