Colin Cowherd Podcast - INSTANT REACTION: Ravens Beat Chargers In “Harbaugh Bowl”

to apply at the perfect time. It's easy by answering only a few short questions about your lawn, Scott's experts half the program that's right for you in your yard. Visit Scotts dot com to learn more. It's really easy feed your lawn. Feed it all right. Instant reaction on Lamar Jackson and the Ravens coming to Los Angeles and beating the Chargers thirty to twenty three. You know, I could really be obnoxious. You guys have been banging on Lamar Jackson for so many years. I don't know what

Lamar Jackson is. After a loss. The last three seasons ten and one, sixteen touchdowns, four picks and there are just certain arguments you just got to give up on. He's really good. Does this count as a big win? This felt like a big game for me. Monday Night football John versus Jim Harbor. I felt like a kind of a big win. I lose track. I'm trying to keep track of all the big wins and not big wins for Lamar Jackson. I'll be honest with you, It's going to be a two cigar night. And I like

the Chargers. I got friends with the Chargers, but basically Baltimore is the adult Chargers. Remember a couple of years ago, and you're like, the Ravens need more dynamic playmakers. They draft z Flowers this offseason, they get Derek Henry. What are the Chargers need? Probably a more of a star

power running back, at least two more offensive playmakers. Quentin Johnson can't catch three drops tonight, So like they knew when they let go of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, they knew they were going to be perimeter light, so they wanted to get Quentin Johnson as good as he could possibly be. Nice deep threat but can't catch Lad McConkie, nice slot, average tight ends. They lost Gerald Everett, you know, to the Bears, so you kind of knew that the

Chargers had a schedule. I mean, last year they lost the bad teams. This year the Chargers are six to zero against losing records and they're one and four against teams with winning records. So that this is what the Chargers are right now. It's a really good football team that is perimeter light. They need two more playmakers and it kind of feels like they're Ravens. When it was very very Lamar Jackson Reliant, Mark Andrews was great, but

you were like, they need two more wide receivers. Then they draft eventually z A Flowers, Then they add Derek Henry, and you're like, okay, Lamar, it's a little bit like Josh Allen before they got James Cook the running back, drafted kid and Kaid first round out of Utah. They keep drafting wide receivers. Now you look at it and you're like, okay, Josh Allen's their best player, but they're not totally Josh Allen, Reliant, Tonight, Derreck Henry, big runs,

Say Flowers, big catches. Hey Flowers is great. You can give him a drag route for eight yards turns it into twenty eight. He can beat you over the top. So the Chargers are a little like Josh Allen pre all the weapons and Lamar Jackson pre the weapons. Those teams eventually meet a Kansas city. You just can't even if a quarterback's great Lamar and Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, you can't do it yourself. You can see the interior

protection tonight was not good for Justin Herbert. So in the second half, the guard center guard for the Chargers getting pushed back and not a lot of separation by the receivers. Lad mcconkey's a twitchy, quick players not a burner though, so you don't get a lot of separation. Makes Herbert play a more perfect game, whereas a Flowers you can dump him something in the flat, something underneath boom makes it into a big play. Can also be

guys over the top. So it's just like the Ravens are the grown up version of the Chargers, who are way ahead of schedule. By the way, the other thing that jumps out to me is that you know the Chargers were number one in total defense, top three and third down defense, so they're great situationally, and yet what did Lamar do tonight three for three on fourth down, fifty percent on third down, three hundred and seventy one

yard seven point one yards of play. It's a first quarterback all year that worked the Chargers, Lamar Jackson, And you know, it's just it's just like so many great golfers played during Tiger Wood's prime, Phil Mickelson's and Al Teimer take out Tiger. He's got six more majors probably,

and nine more tournament wins. So I just think, you know, the quarterbacks to me that jump out in this league, there's about six of them, and Lamar and Josh Allen have been sort of marginalized at times because they can't beat Mahomes good luck. But this felt like a game and Lamar was, you know, the centerpiece of it. The Oedther thing is. There was a couple of thoughts. Number one, aggressive works. This game really changed when the Ravens go for it in their own sixteen get it and leads

to a touchdown. Aggressive wins and you know, I've talked about that all the time in sports. If you have the if you have the pieces, go for it. They did turn the game around Secondly, there was a lot you heard the young media lamenting nobody cares about running backs. Running Backs aren't getting paid. You know, the top three rushers in the NFL right now, we're all free agents. Teams aggressively went out and got Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry,

Josh Jacobs. Teams eventually pursued top running backs. They're not going to get top of the market money. But analytics tells you you probably shouldn't sign running backs to a second big contract. That's just analytics. I mean, if you're one of these, you know, these ivy leaguers who loves the analytics. Part of the analytics is you shouldn't be paying running backs after like a fourth or fifth year

in the league. Okay, that's part of analytics. The other thing is, you know, I've said this about Lamar, don't really compare Lamar Jackson to anybody else. Lamar is an outlier. He's a unicorn. They are going to be a kind of a run first team in big spots as long as Lamar Jackson is their quarterback. It's it's you know, it's no different if you got a fastball pitcher that's

your outpitch. Don't throw breaking stuff in big at bats in the World Series, Lamar Jackson on big downs with Derrick Henry, run the ball when they move away from that identity last week or in the playoff game. That's what I worry about. Baltimore lean on Lamar and Derek Henry in that offensive line. So right now, running is cool. Again, look at the teams that lead the NFL and rushing

Philly Steelers, Lions, Packers, Ravens. What are they forty three and nineteen or after the night forty four and nineteen. And part of this is again defenses linebackers are smaller. Why because the game's more about space, Like the NBA game, it's more about space. Linebackers now are faster and smaller. Safeties are faster and smaller. What does that mean? Get powerful run games? So that's the beauty of sports. That's what I love about sports and football. It's very very cyclical.

Running backs were going nowhere. Running backs create the right tempo. Running backs. Detroit's a great example. Running backs value is often not the big play. It's you have a lead and they kill the clock. Detroit is going to lead ninety nine percent of the games they play including potentially the Super Bowl. What makes Detroit so lethal is that when they get a lead, they can play keep away.

They got two great backs and they'll just with that offensive line, they'll go on an eight minute drive, eleven play drives. So running backs aren't just about the home run. They're about playing with a lead. And I mean you start looking at these teams right now. That's why Detroit and Philadelphia could absolutely win the Super Bowl. Stacked rosters, but the ability to lead, yes, hit home runs out of the run game, but basically keep a Patrick Mahomes or a Josh Allen off the field. That's a big

component to it. So, you know, I just with Lamar Jackson, I think sometimes you know, there was no other Michael Jordan. I mean, Kobe Bryant was like Michael Light, but there was no other Michael. There was no other Charles Barkley, there was no other Kareem. Nobody else had the sky hook down. And I think Lamar Jackson, you just have to take him for what he is. He's the most

athletic quarterback I've ever seen. He's wildly entertaining. He is a significantly better passer the last three to four years than anybody gives him credit for. And once again he wins a big game in the AFC. If you're playing Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football and the late window on Fox or CBS, you know, it doesn't matter what network you're paying. Those standalone games could be Amazon. Those are big games. I mean, the idea isn't baseball.

You got seventeen of min eighteen weeks. They're big games, especially when you get to November and December and January. So I never bought into Lamar Jackson's not a big game player. Yes, in the playoffs, he has struggled against the Chiefs. So's Josh Allen. It's the Chiefs. Arguably, if they win three straight, nobody's done it in league history. A lot of people lost the Tiger Woods, right, A lot of people lost to Jordan that were great teams.

So Lamar tonight, I think these are final stats. Sixteen to twenty two, couple of touchdowns, one hundred and seventy seven total yards. And that's what they asked of him. They don't need him to throw thirty four times a game. That's not what Baltimore is. I worry about when Baltimore throws over twenty eight times a game. They get away from their identity. Tonight ran the ball. Lamar made as usual, big throws when he had to big throw over the top,

great on third down, perfect on fourth down. A couple other notes here to throw at you. People will look at the Chargers, you know, and you hear this, well, I mean, Justin Herbert can't win the big game. One of the things I would say is when you watch Justin Herbert, how often are his receivers truly open? He's having to throw them open, and when his pass protection is not great and in the second half it wasn't as good. I think they're pretty good at tackle, They're

not necessarily as good guard center guard. There's not a lot of separation. And I mean there was a lot for Lamar Jackson tonight. A lot of it was underneath. There were open guys. There were a lot of open guys and Lamar found up Now. He missed on a couple of sideline routes. He had an open receiver one time. I think it was in the I think it was first half, second quarter, maybe the third quarter. You know, because Lamar is often on the move when he throws,

he can miss people. But I don't know how anybody can watch Lamar Jackson and not think he is one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL. Just everybody's got different gifts. Everybody's got different gifts in life. I don't care if you're a broadcaster, you work in a hospital, or a quarterback. The great ones all have different styles. And I just can't quit Baltimore owner, front office, coach, quarterback. They've added playmakers last couple of years. Yeah, I said

this today on FS one. I think I feel like there's four teams that feel like they should be favorites to win the Super Bowl, Kansas City, Buffalo, Detroit and Philly. But I'm sorry Baltimore is It may be for a but it's when you watch Baltimore go on the road, dominate the second half, playmakers all over the place. Dereck Henry icing it. Man, it's hard not to like that organization. There's just this is not a bad night for the Chargers.

It's a night of growth for the Chargers. It shows you exactly what they need to beat the best teams. Got to get two more playmakers. And for the record, moving off, Keenan Allen was the right move for them. He's perfect for Caleb Williams. He was excellent yesterday against Minnesota, but he was beat up. But he was expensive, and they wanted to keep Khalil Mack and Bosa right. They wanted to keep their rush hands and so, and they're paying Herbert. I get it. You know, you're trying to

create a physical culture. So Harbaugh and the front office guys are like, let's move off their receivers. And that's their weakness. So step two next year, I can guarantee you Quentin Johnson, that's not it. They're going after. They're going to draft one, maybe two receivers, maybe get one. In free agency. They'll probably, you know, look to get a little younger at running back. You know, you worry about JK. Dobbins. He's had a couple of big injuries. I like him a lot, but he's had a couple

of big injuries. They'll probably go get another tight end. You can see the plan. And with Jim Harbaugh, you got about two more drafts where he's going to have an advantage on the league because coaching Michigan, they had looks like a very good draft this year. He's probably got two more of those maybe three where he's going to have recruited a majority of the guys he's drafting. It's just a big advantage. You know. It's Bill Belichick's

an all time great coach. Is He's spending Saturday watching college football for fourteen hours because Jim Harbaugh was spending three hundred days a year, three hundred and forty days a year recruiting all these kids. He's gonna draft last year in the next two to three years. So the Chargers are fine. They're just they're they're they're like the eighth grade version. Kansas City's a senior and then and Baltimore's like a junior. And it's like the Chargers are

in eighth grade. They haven't gotten into the high school hallway yet. They just this is step one. They've got moves to make. They'll make them. They're six to zero against losing teams, they're one and four against winning teams. They're Baltimore three years ago, two years ago. They just got to add some pieces offensively the volume. Let's talk about something really really important. If you're ever injured. Check out Morgan and Morgan's, America's largest injury law firm, and

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