There are hot takes, then there are five-alarm takes.
Doug Gottlieb unloaded a five-alarm take Wednesday afternoon.
Each week on FOX Sports 1’s “The Herd,” host Colin Cowherd does his “Herd Hierarchy,” which essentially is his weekly NFL power rankings of the top 10 teams. On Wednesday, Gottlieb filled in for Cowherd but kept the “Herd Hierarchy” alive.
Maybe it would’ve been for the best if he punted on them this week.
Gottlieb, who is considered to be a basketball analyst, uncorked a pretty wild list.
1. Saints
2. Rams
3. Chargers
4. Seahawks
5. Cowboys@GottliebShow ranks his Top 10 NFL teams heading into Week 17 pic.twitter.com/o9qfaDkhta— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 26, 2018
The Dallas Cowboys at No. 5? Yikes!
Let’s unpack a couple things here.
First, “The division they play in is not great” is a heck of a line referring to the Indianapolis Colts, who haven’t clinched a postseason spot yet and play in a division with the 10-5 Houston Texans and 9-6 Tennessee Titans. Five years ago the AFC South was a dump, but they could have had three postseason teams this year.
Speaking of, his list omits the Texans, the AFC South leader who won 10 of their last 12 games.
You maybe could make a legitimate case that the New England Patriots are the 10th-best team in the NFL, but that’s tough to do considering some of the teams he has ahead of them.
The Baltimore Ravens are another team that his infatuation with is a bit perplexing. They still could miss the playoffs, and while you can’t deny the strength of the defense, the Jacksonville Jaguars have a pretty good defense too. They’re 5-10.
Overall, what makes the list laughable in multiple respects is the lack of continuity. Most of these teams do, in fact, belong in the top 10, but he has no routine standards in which he defines what makes a team good (i.e. using the division as a drawback for the Colts but later noting the Cowboys may win the NFC East), so the rankings end up being all over the place.
Good thing they don’t play the games on paper.
