The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Allen Outduels Mahomes, Dodgers “Best Run” Team In Sports? Caleb Williams Showing Growth, Rams Best In NFC?

Episode Date: November 3, 2025

Colin’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down all the week 9 NFL  action. They start with the Bills beating the Chiefs and Colin credits the huge amount of pressure the Bills defense was able to apply to Patrick Mahomes and they debate whether Buffalo has the right strengths to beat the Chiefs in the postseason (3:30). They move to the Bears beating the Bengals in a wild shootout and Colin argues that he’s seeing growth in Caleb Williams and he’s learning to eliminate some of the bad plays (13:00). They give their reviews of JJ McCarthy after a huge Vikings win over the Lions and give credit to Brian Flores calling a great defense (25:00). They highlight the “feast or famine” nature of the Steelers defense that feasted on the Colts and Colin believes Aaron Rodgers looks comfortable and might return for another season (32:15). Colin explains that the Packers offense is suffering from an identity crisis after losing to the Panthers (40:15). They break down the 49ers win over the Giants and Colin argues the Giants have found their long-term quarterback in Jaxson Dart and they give props to Kyle Shanahan for keeping the Niners winning and in the mix with Mac Jones under center (51:00). Colin explains that the Rams might be the best team in the NFC and  yet still flying under the radar, and they debate where Matt Stafford lands on the all-time QB list if he wins a second Super Bowl (55:30). They recap an insane finish in Game 7 of the World Series and Colin argues that with their trio of Japanese stars, they’ve separated financially from other teams and that they may be the best run franchise in American sports (1:02:00).  Finally, the break down USC’s win over Nebraska (1:13:00).  All lines provided by hardrock.bet (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The story I've told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to Deeply Well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us.

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on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. All right, I'm a football fan for a long time since the 70s. I don't watch football without something to eat and drink. Trust me, it's a whole different ballgame when you're eating. Right now, I got two things today from Uber Eats. Right now, when you buy one large extra, most bestest pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars, like this one, you get another one, free.

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has his own podcast, three and out. Can't tell you how many people come up to me. In Chicago, GMs, they're like, oh, I love, I love Middlecoff so much. They never say that about me. They love you. Well, tell them, I don't know if Middlecough's going to the Hall of fame like you. So congratulations, by the way. That's pretty cool. I appreciate it. Buffalo 28, Kansas City, 21. I looked at this number today. To me, this was really the game, is that Mahomes was uncomfortable and Josh Allen was really comfortable. He was sack three times, hit 15 times. And when Mahomes, John, doesn't trust his offensive line, it changes the way he plays. He presses. He takes more risks. And I thought the game really came down to that is that I just

thought Josh was really comfortable and Patrick wasn't. I just know this. If the bills can find a way to play like they do against the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season, in the postseason, they will win the Super Bowl because they thoroughly outplayed him today. Out gained him by 100 yards. We're up double digits in the fourth quarter. I mean, it took a fourth and 17, which only Andy Reid would have a fourth and 17 play that would come wide open. But listen, that Bill's team that we just saw, that team can win the Super Bowl. Yeah. But we see them on a weekly basis not look as good on defense.

The pass rush isn't always there. Joey Bosa looked like, I don't know, his third year with the Chargers today. So I don't know where that version of the Bills is always, because they make a ton of plays when they have to against the Ravens. And in the regular season, I mean, Colin, this is now kind of a theme, obviously at home. And this is why I've said from the jump, getting home field for the bills is really big. And today was a bigger game for them because at the end of the day, like, Chiefs have already won Super Bowl.

So I think they will eventually win another one. But if they get bounced in the first or second round one year, whatever, this year for the bills, you just have to hold serve with the Patriots. They have an easier schedule than you. They keep taking care of business. If they would have lost today, they would have been out of one game deficit and they've already lost to them. So there was a lot of pressure.

And in fairness, I thought they answered the bell. beside a couple of plays in the second half. Right. They were really good, Gollum. Well, I mean, and the other thing that's, I mean, Bosa is healthy. He's 30. Greg Russo is 25. A.J. Eponiza is 27.

You know, these guys are in their athletic prime, and they've drafted pretty well in the back end. So Denver is now on a heater. Denver's 9 and 2, and now plays Kansas City next. And Kansas City is 5 and 4. And so now Joe Alt got banged up today, but the chargers are six and three. So you get into a really weird situation here where if Denver beats, I mean, it was the worst thing possible for Denver. I don't know what the line is. I'm taking Kansas City against Denver when Kansas City loses.

But I think the thing that jumped out to me today was, you know, we've talked a lot about the defense. Ed Oliver didn't play, but we talk a lot about Buffalo. defense all year. So much of defense is effort, right? Like I was, I got to, I was talking to somebody the other day about this, is that, you know, offensive players on a high school, they'll follow a coach. Offensive players want the coach. You know, defensive players, you know, high schoolers, they want to go to big schools, right? Most defensive coaches they see is the same thing. defensive players are about wrecking things. And I do think when you take that Buffalo defensive front and they play Mahomes,

they play differently. It's just a different, it's different than playing Michael Panics. And I've always felt offense is about choreography. But I felt like the defensive front today for Buffalo knew the red light was on. That's what it felt like to me. It felt like they played with way more energy. many of the same players played above what they've been playing at all year. I feel like defensive players can play at a different intensity level depending on the opponent.

Ten times they've played five and five, and I don't know, I thought that was the difference. I thought the defensive line for Buffalo was great. Well, can I piggyback off what you just said about the defense? I think, and I've said this now for a while, that when you look at the NFL and they've tried to clean up the game, right? So now when you watch, you know guys are much safer. They take a very conscious effort to officiate dirty calls. And I think most guys now, if you're 25, you have gone through college in the NFL being taught how to hit, right, and not use your helmet. But I do think if we miced up defensive coordinators, like if you got the defensive meeting room on Saturday night and before the team came out this week and probably all week, fans would be uncomfortable what's being said in there, especially from the Buffalo side.

You could go around the league. I bet if you got Brian Flores miced up this week on Wednesday night, on Saturday night, it would make a lot of people uncomfortable with what they're wanting. I enjoy that, and I know what I'm on. But I still think the way they talk and what they preach is still has similarities going back to the 80s and the 90s. Yeah. And, you know, Buffalo's front is really talented. They just lost that Oliver.

The first round draft pick from Kentucky, I mean, Patrick Bahams, listen, I'm with you. his offensive line was in tatters, you can't throw that interception late in the game because they never got the ball back, you know, essentially, right? So it's like that was killer. And they just need some more impact plays on defense. We'll talk about the Steelers. Well, what happened today? They're high price guys, especially up front, made huge plays. Huge. So when you're playing in playoff games, I'm sure we'll talk about the baseball game too. Sometimes you just need a random guy to make a big ass play, whether that's a tip ball for a pick, whether that's a fumble. and obviously are stars to make big plays. So, you know, Buffalo, and Coach Reed,

and all the Brett Veets, all those guys would tell you, Josh Allen is the best player they play. Yeah. And has been for now five years. I mean, he, because not only, he matches his play against the other randoms, against them. And he's one of the rare ones, if not the only guy, who has consistently done that now for four or five years.

Well, they were 60% on third down. They had 140 yards rushing. I thought, you know, and I thought it was going to be high scoring. And I said, I'll take Kansas City. But when these two teams play, you know, you never count Kansas City out. But I felt like today this was Buffalo's day because Buffalo had lost at home to New England. So again, I watched that game. The intensity felt different today.

It feels different in the stadium when Kansas City plays there. You get Nance, you get Romo. It just feels different. And, you know, Josh Allen, they said this during the game. 79 rushing touchdowns in eight years. Jesus, that's just insane. He is one of the things when I watch, and I feel this way, to a lesser degree with Lamar Jackson, but I do think there are certain things, I guess I would say this.

I feel generally Kansas City has slightly better personnel than Buffalo. But right now, does Buffalo have the right ingredients? Star running back, Mahomes doesn't. Better defensive front with more high-level guys. Chris Jones has not had a great year. So we know Buffalo and Kansas City have good GMs and great quarterbacks, and we know Andy's very clever in these games. But a lot of times, John, it's units.

You know, the two times Mahomes has been blown out in Super Bowls, he had a bad O line. The old lines are both fine, although Kansas City has got overwhelmed today. But that defensive front right now for Buffalo, it reminds me, it just, there's just a lot of guys. I feel like there's just a lot of guys that play. Throw Milano in there when he's healthy. I mean, Josh is only 29. He's going to have six more cracks at the Super Bowl minimum.

But I felt today watching him, I'm like, they've got it, they've had it before, but Cook playing at this level, Buffalo's got all the ingredients. I would say this too. If Kincaid is going to look like that, that's what they drafted him high, to look like a Leporta, to look like a Tucker Craft, a Kittle, a Kelsey. So if he's going to play like that, I mean, Cook, if you had to look at 2025, you would say Jonathan Taylor's had the best year at running back. McCaffrey is just week in, week out, bringing it. And you would put Cook, I mean, he's been one of the best running backs in the NFL this year. And you watch them on a weekly basis, not really debatable. So you get high level tight end play. You get high level running back play. You get high level running back play. I would say since Cook has become a high-end starter, it's really changed the bill's offense, and it's made Joe Brady look a lot better. The other thing is, if you have a good defensive line, the chiefs are missing their star rookie left tackle,

who's been gone now for several weeks. Today they had multiple injuries at right guard, at right or at left guard and at right tackle. Well, that means your backup left tackle is starting because Simmons is gone, so you actually are going to like a backup's backup. The domino effect, was pretty big, and you just saw him kind of under duress.

And the reality is, sometimes when he's under duress, he will make decisions like, you know, other run-of-the-mill quarterbacks and not one of the great players we've ever seen. And he did today. All right. Chicago Bears 47, Bengals 42. What a game. I mean, it shouldn't have come to this. I mean, Chicago had it wrapped.

I was thinking about this with the Bears. So they got that block field goal to beat the Raiders, the Jaden, Daniels. He'll fumble to beat Washington, the 58-yard touchdown to beat Cincinnati. You make your own breaks, mostly. But I thought really the thing that I've noticed about Caleb, and I said this Friday in the herd, is that against, I like the Bears today, against Cincinnati and Dallas, when he gets that extra beat and a better run game, he's very effective. He went today, while trailing, Caleb at a hundred, 24-passer rating, three, two,

touchdown is no picks. Now, it's the Bengals defense. But I think what we're seeing with this Bears team, they're winning these weird games. John, the Bears lose weird games. It's like what they do. They're winning all these weird games. When they lose, they're outclass by Baltimore, right? They couldn't run the ball. But they're winning the weird games. And I mean, Caleb today is 20 or 34. He's never thrown a lot of picks. He had five carries. 11 yards of carry. I do see growth. I absolutely do.

Operationally, there was another moment that I just drives me nuts. But there's something to be said for a losing organization. You saw the horsepower. He does not throw a lot of picks. I just think there is value in winning games you have lost for the last decade, you know, blocking a field goal. When they hit that big play to Loveland, I'm like, oh, my God, they just would not have done that in the last 10 years. So I'm going to give the Bears credit. By the way, with the Packers and Lions losing, NFC North is wide open today.

Massive day for the Vikings and JJ McCarthy and Caleb Williams. I wrote this down probably early in the third quarter. Can you win a shootout? Because we've seen them win some ugly games, right? Their defense was leading the league in turnovers. And I didn't know. And they did. And it shouldn't have been as close.

They were up double digits, right, when DJ Morris, they went to challenge it. It ended up being a touchdown, which was an explosive play. Ben Johnson's a stud. You know, part of the reason I like the Bengals in this game, because, like, oh, DeAndre Swift's out. Well, he's been one of the hottest players in the league. And then he turns this Rutgers seventh round pick. I think he ran for 170 yards, Colin. Yeah.

So he was fantastic. The Bears' defense morphed into the Bengals defense. Yeah. So it even put more pressure on Ben, Johnson and Caleb Williams, and they were awesome. The other thing is, there's kind of the elephant in the room with Tyler Warren looking like one of the best tight ends in the league. Like, hey, you guys drafted Loveland.

Huge day for him. I think Loveland got the game ball. Loveland and the running back. So you had two rookies come through. Good day for pace, right? Taking some heat with the Drake May emergence. And people are kind of looking at his draft. So Loveland, the rookie running back.

And overall, like, the thing that has stood out to me. me has been how good Ben Johnson is. And he's really kind of saying, to me, Caleb, when he scrambles around, it doesn't really work. He's got to learn to kind of calm down a little bit. But like you said, doesn't turn the ball over, hit explosive plays today. And Loveland and the running back were excellent. They had 580 yards. Jesus, that's a lot of yards. They average 7.6 yards of play, dominated time of possession. And, you know, they were much, you know, they were very good on third down. So again, they had a shootout with the Cowboys, blew him out, shoot out with the Bengals on the road, pick up a W. There's value in all this stuff. And I think, you know,

the other thing is, we've seen it with Bo Nix. He's tremendous in the fourth, but he has long gaps where he struggles. Drake May didn't have a great day today. He had some, he struggled a bit. Panix made some really good, nice throws today. I think all these young guys, the difference between a great quarterback like Alan and Drake May is, you know almost exactly what you get with Josh Allen. It's like Steph Curry. He may have every eighth game he just may be off and it's usually for a half. The great players are. Kobe and his prime was, you got the same damn guy every night. And I think with Caleb Williams, I think it's official. I can see growth. There's no question he is a better football player this year than last. Would you agree that you can see you can see growth?

Yeah, he's definitely better. He's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, solid. He has not been, it's his bad plays when he scrambles around. It feels like the offense is just so out of sync because it's like, could he just sit in the pocket for an extra second, even throw the ball away? And a lot of his scrambles don't turn into explosive plays. But today, when I can live with the bad if you're making explosive plays and throwing touchdowns. I'll say the same thing with J.J. McCarthy. I can live through growing pains if you're accounting for several touchdowns a game. Right? And I think you saw it today with both guys is there good our scoring plays. So if you're giving me touchdowns or big chunk plays in the passing game, I can live with a bad sack or a misplay on third and seven, right? It's when you're not getting either. You're not getting the layup stuff and you're not having, you know, scoring touchdown level explosive plays. So Caleb, they have explosive players on office.

Oh, there's no question. I like Chicago skill players. Like him a lot. I mean, to be able to go to a backup running back, and he's kind of a gingerbug. He's a smaller game. Might as be kind of the pitter-patter of his feet. He was running fast today.

Yeah, he was really moving. All right, today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. They're a great partner. On Hard Rock Bet, there's always something to bet on. If you haven't tried your first bet on Hard Rock Bet yet, there's still time for you to get $150 bucks in bond. bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet. That's it, five bucks. If it hits, you not only get

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Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was.

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Crimless, we're joined by our first ever guest. Sorry, our first ever human guest.

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podcasts. Before we get to J.J. McCarthy, got sacked five times, hit 11, 10 tackles for loss. Brian Flores was on his game today. They couldn't run the football at all. So it was Amor on St. Brown and Sam Leporta were excellent, but Detroit could not run the ball. And that's kind of the engine that makes everything slick and click there. J.J. McCarthy was, after the first couple of drives, he was about 50 percent, again. But I got two touchdowns, ran for another. okay on third down.

I thought he was very good in the scripted stuff early. Overall, he moves well. It's funny about size. He looks a little small to me. It's so funny. Mahomes is 6.1.5. He feels huge to me. Aaron Rogers is 6.1.5.

He feels 6.4. McCarthy, it sometimes feels like he gets engulfed. But overall, I thought he moved well and played pretty well. Did you have a strong take on him? I think your take on the weight. I think it's a girth thing. You know, the size and thickness. Because Russell Wilson never felt like he was small, right?

Even though he's 5'10. Because he's 220 pounds. Yeah. Caleb's a good example. Yeah. Shorter, but feels like he's 215. Caleb's six feet tall. I'm taller than Caleb by like an inch.

One thing we said about JJ last year during the injury, and I think Albert Brewer and he lost a bunch of weight and was like 185 pounds. So I think it's harder for Mahomes for my own price waist, 230 pounds. So I think that factors in. The number one thing with JJ today were the good plays. were touchdowns. So if you're going to count for three touchdowns, you could have 20 incompletions and have some terrible plays.

It's when you're not scoring and bringing none of that to the table. It's just a complete disaster. Flores, I thought, if you were going to give one game ball to a coach today, it'd probably have to go to him because you're on the road in Detroit. That was excellent. I mean, his guys were flying around. Goff's good against the Blitz. And early on, I think they had blitzed like five or six times.

It sacked them on two of them. Gough was all out of sync. Their offense was out of sync. And it felt like he gave the speech, we're going to have to win this thing. Yeah. Because in fairness, coming into that game, and they kept hitting on the broadcast of, I thought Tom did a good job. He said, there's no one disputing his arm strength. But, you know, Burkhart must have come in late from the baseball game last night, was there.

Talk about a guy grinding. And Brady's big thing was, clearly he knows Kevin pretty well. It's like sometimes you need to do a change up. Sometimes we need to get some off speed. Sometimes you need touch balls. Yes. Because you watch the arm strength is fine. But on some of these balls over the middle, on third and eight, and even at his interception was a little behind, his accuracy. Like Caleb, like some of these guys, is a work in progress. Yeah, JJ's interception was low and down and the Lions player came over it. Matt Stafford is the master of tempo. Like he can sling it sidearm. He can throw heat. And I think of it. It's just, it is a little bit like being a baseball pitcher. I, what I worry about what J.J. McCarthy is, and I felt like this with Brock Purdy.

You know, when the Niners, Christian McCaffrey is upright, I don't even care who the quarterback is. I mean, like, if Christian McCaffrey plays today at half their yards, it doesn't matter if it's Mac Jones or Brock Pretty. I do feel with Kevin O'Connell, Justin Jeff, Jefferson, good left tackle. I kind of feel like it's hard to evaluate JJ because the coach, the left tackle, and the receiver are so good. It's like San Francisco with Kyle and Chris McCaffrey. And then when Kittles is healthy and Jennings can be, you know, highly productive, how valuable is the quarterback?

So this isn't anti-J. McCarthy. I just think, I think again, I think I just need more of him. I just have to see more games. I thought Brian Flores was game ball, Brian Flores. That's why I think it's fair for J.J. McCarthy, the bar of how he's being judged should be higher than a lot of random young quarterbacks on bad teams. When you play for crappy franchises and you lose, I expect that. Like, whoever the Carolina Panthers draft, I don't expect it to look great. But when you get Justin Jefferson in his prime, Hawkinson, Jordan Addison, Kevin O'Connell, if we had a coaching draft, where would Kevin? He'd go in the top five.

Yes. So everything, and this was Trey Lance's thing, when you get drafted to a team whose expectations are, yeah, let's win 14 games and compete for the conference championship. You just get judged a lot differently. And I'll give JJ credit in the Bears game. He had huge moments in a big time. Today, at the end of the game, with the game on the line, his coach put in his hands and he delivered. And that's where I think a lot of his defenders go with the quote-unquote, he's a winner. there is some winning characteristics when you're comfortable in big moments. You go back to that moment against Alabama

where it looked like Harbaugh had this all-time great roster and he was going to lose in the playoffs to Nick Sabin. Probably I bet Nick would say one of his worst ever playoff teams. JJ made some great plays. You watched his first start against the Bears, big spot, made some great plays. And today on, I thought they were just going to run it and just, hey, lean it on floors.

They put it in his hands. Great throw, Colin. Not a good throw, a great throw. Yeah, well, when I watched him at Michigan, that was always my take. Moves well, gritty kid. Didn't make a ton of big throws, but he'd make one or two NFL Sunday throws. He can make the big throws. So I just don't have a ton. You know, I mean, like say what you want about Bo Nicks. I've got like a six-game winning streak. And he's got a one-19 passer rating, nine touchdowns, no pick in the fourth quarter. I've got a lot of samples of Bo Necks. He can have gaps, but late, he's really good.

So with JJ, I've never been a huge believer, but I thought, you know what, to go to Detroit, you got the deal. Well, you know, you win a lot of different ways. Not every Sunday for Brady was great. That Teddy Bruske crew, there were days that Tom didn't do a lot of heavy lifting. He was 20 at 28 with a lot of underneath stuff. So, yeah. If I was going to defend, you know, JJ hasn't been playing, Carson has. but definitely Caleb Williams.

I mean, Caleb's defense, sometimes you watch the Bears on defense, and they just look atrocious. In Minnesota till today, they had been pretty bad this season, Colin. I mean, today was, and even today, it's not like they gave up 10 points. I mean, and they had some drop balls.

I mean, there were plays to be made. Like, the defenses on those two teams. I mean, Bo Nicks, we might have just watched the two best defense of the league play each other today, right? The physicality of Denver and Houston and how good their defensive lines are. So anytime you have a defense that is that good, it does back you up when you're not making plays. But I'd say all three of these guys have one thing going for them, J.J. McCarthy now, obviously Caleb and Bo Nix.

Making plays in big spots. I think when you look at Caleb and Bo Nix, they've had a lot of snaps now in their career. Well, they also have Sean Payton. I mean, look at the coaches. Kevin O'Connell, Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson. Such an advantage. Such a huge advantage. Steelers 27 Colts 20. Pittsburgh's defense is completely feaster famine. In the two best wins for the Steelers, New England and Indy, 11 takeaways. And the other games, they can be the Bengals. They have huge holes.

So I'll say this. Aaron Rogers, I've defended them all year. Aaron, Brett Farv's first season with the Vikings. Remember that magical season Brett Farb had with the Vikings? Farrve had 33 touchdowns and completed 68% of his throws. Aaron is on pace to have 36 touchdowns and complete 68% of his throws. Both struggled with the Jets, which is Siberia, right? Nobody, Darnold, Fav, Rogers, nobody can win with the Jets.

But I, this was a great example. Daniel Jones did not have a consistent run game, you know, the Steelers defense. And again, we saw it with, I mean, it's amazing. We saw it with Minnesota today. Their defense is like, oh, we're in Detroit. J.J. McCarthy's starting. This is on us. We saw it with the Steelers today.

It's like, oh, here come the Colts. They're favored over us. This is the hottest team in the league. And that offensive line for Indy for the first time this year got pushed around a little bit. So, you know, Daniel Jones, 31. a 50. Again, I don't think Daniel Jones should be throwing 50 times. When you don't run the ball, that's what you have to do. But this was another example. We've talked about this all day to day. Buffalo's defense playing Mahomes. Defense is about like energy and juice. And I thought Pittsburgh

just feasted today. It looked like a different defense than they had most of the weeks this year. You bringing up that Minnesota team with Fav, I think it was 09. I just looked Jared Allen. who just went into the Hall of Fame, had 15 sacks that year. And I think the last couple weeks you've been watching, you just gave T.J. $100 million. Where has he been? And today, I thought their season was on the line this game. You know, this is a Tomlin spot as an underdog.

He was just in the same spot against the Packers and got killed. So if you would have played the results before the game kicked off and said, well, the Steelers lose. So I've seen him lose at home to Seattle, Green Bay, and Indy, three playoff teams. Like, you got Baltimore Roe. running you down written all over you. You need to win this game because all of a sudden you lose.

You have four wins. The Ravens have three and they are trending up and you are trending down. I thought this was a kitchen sink game and it was 7-0 and Indy had the ball and they were driving. I went, I feel like they score a touchdown here and go down 14-0. The Steelers seasons basically over around Halloween. Yeah. And T.J. Watton made the play. Forced the fumble.

They got the ball back. They scored. And then I think they scored like 10 more points. 17-7 at half. You're like, okay. And then they just started creating turnover, sacks, picks. It's like, well, if their defense plays like this, they can be a terror. They could be a 10-11 win team that could win a playoff game.

But the defense we've seen in the previous two weeks, Colin, they don't only have no shot in the playoffs. They weren't going to win the division. So it's just what T.J. Watt, who's kind of the heartbeat really of their team, which is classic Steelers, right, a pass rusher. But when he plays like that, the other guys feed off them, yeah, they could beat. they didn't just make Indy look bad. I mean, they were killing him. They made Daniel Jones, I wrote down, like, does this give you any pause?

Because if he plays a good defense, I don't want to say he just completely melted, but it was, because he's getting hit a lot. But, man, it did not look good, Colin. No, he didn't play, you know, the Rams game again. He wasn't as dominant. I think it's really interesting that, you know, Mike Tomlin, I don't think is terribly current in terms of online development and run game. And this is where I think Aaron deserves a lot of credit.

Aaron didn't play safe much in his career unless he uncorked a couple of bad interceptions. And then Aaron would like bring it down in a game like he was protecting a passer rating. And I noticed it. But I don't think this team, I think he's playing this team. I've said it 10 times. I think he's really playing the position the way a. Steeder quarterback should play the position.

This is a high completion percentage offense with big targets that you can get the ball. They can break a tackle. This kind of team. And I think Aaron has to lead the offense. Tomlin on his own over the last seven years has not shown an ability to get the old line of the run game right. But Pittsburgh's always been under Tomlin such a good dog. And also the Ravens won through. Thursday night. So that put more pressure on the Steelers as they watch the Ravens blow out the

dolphins. So it's like, oh, crap. So I think a lot of things, I mean, Daniel Jones had one touchdown and three picks today. And I thought it was fairly obvious that from the very get-go, there was a different attitude. When you back Tomlin into a corner, his teams have always played differently. That's why I thought they were, he was kind of at a fork in the road spot, because if he couldn't win this game, his time with the Steelers is over, because this is his spot. The other thing looking at, obviously, they couldn't. I mean, they had the lead all the second half. They ran for 38 yards, Colin.

They average under two yards of carry. Did you see Diana? She put out a bunch of like trade scuttle butt, I think, yesterday. And one of the things were Breece Hall with the Jets, who Aaron knows. Like, listen, you miss on Caleb Johnson. Maybe in a couple years he's fine, but right now he can't help you. You're all in on this season. If Aaron goes, listen, I like that guy a lot, I think he would help.

Shouldn't they be really interested in that? Because they feel like they need a running back desperately. Well, yeah. They're asking Jalen Warren to carry the load, and that's just not really his thing. I mean, they've done a great job through the years to draft edge rushers and wide receivers. They're hit and miss on quarterbacks. I could make an argument. It's go time.

I honestly think Aaron's going to play this year and next. Do you? I think he's going to, I think he's comfortable. I think. I don't know. I just, he's not getting hit a lot. I kind of feel like this is about, you know, I said before the season, I thought they went and or non-games.

It's gone better than I thought for Aaron. I really have. It's a little smoother. I totally agree. I thought he would look older. He's looked, he's been a little bit of a fountain of youth. Yes. You know, he's just moving around a little bit younger.

I expected it to get worse. I know people say second year off in Achilles, it's one thing when you're 28. It's another thing when you're 41. I do think when you look at Tomlin, because he's a good example what you're saying, why Aaron might return? I think a lot of people go, why wouldn't you want a fresh start? Because he's coaching the Steelers. It's kind of a sweet job. Just like I bet Aaron, who's been with the Packers, realizes this is pretty awesome.

Like playing for Ohio State or Alabama football doesn't suck. I think most guys that play basketball at Kansas or North Carolina, enjoy the experience. You know, being the coach or the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers kind of has its perks. So if you're Aaron, you feel pretty good, it's like, hey, we'll pay you another $15 million. The other thing is they have a lot of old guys on the team. Part of the reason, you know, Tom, I think that Tampa Bay experience went well. Because by a second year there, most of those guys, even the Tampa Bay guys are veteran players. You got to bring some other veterans.

A lot of like-minded people. Married kids, multiple kids, pick up lines at school. So I think Aaron looks around, T.J. Watts, over 30. Cam Hayward's 35, 36. Tomlin's like this player version of a coach. Yep. They just, it's pretty tailor-made for a veteran-type quarterback to go in and enjoy his time there, I would say. And now for our next segment, Whiskey Business.

Yes, Whiskey Business brought to you by Green River Whiskey, the official Whiskey of the Colin Coward podcast. Carolina Panthers beat Green Bay 16 to 13. I had said on FS1 Friday, I think I said it three times. I said, this has a weird trap game. vibe for Green Bay. It's really weird. Green Bay average six yards of play, had 400 yards and 13 points. They were good on third down. You know, when I and Packer fans are just can't, they're just beside themselves with Matt LaFleur. I was watching Green Bay today, and my take was Tucker Kraft, by the way, looks like he could be out for the year, torn ACL.

That's devastating. Brutal. He's a great player. They're not running the ball very well. I don't know why this is, but I feel with this wide receiver and tight end group, I feel they should give the offense the Jordan love. Now, you made a horrific throw that was dropped in the end zone by Carolina. Bryce Young, I mean, what's disappointing is Bryce Young didn't even play well. I mean, this was not yet a weather advantage. It was a little cool and windy. Bryce Young did not play particularly well. A RICO Dowell, by the way, is the most underrated player in the league. Carolina's running back. Former Cowboys great. But I feel like this is why I think the Rams are the best team in the NFC. Philadelphia and Green Bay have an identity crisis. Green Bay does not know what they are offensive. I watch the Rams today. And they know exactly what they are. They are fast and aggressive defensively.

Offensively, it's all about efficiency. They love to run the ball. It's highly efficient. I watch the Rams, and I feel like they just lean into what they are. They absolutely have complete utter confidence in what they are. I don't know if Green Bay knows yet, and I kind of feel like Matt is being conservative. That's my take, that you're picking up the yards. But they were just, it was weird today.

They had a fourth and like eight, it's a 13 or 14 yard line, and they went for it instead of kicking a field goal, which is, I wrote that down. I may have the yard. Yeah, it was 13 to 6. That was when he threw it across his body and the guy dropped the pick. Yeah. Just, so that was like, what are you doing? I just don't think they know what they are. They were the most disappointing team of the weekend by far.

I mean, coming off the momentum they had, they had such a great half last week against the Steelers. I mean, they flipped a switch. It's like, this is one of the best teams in the league. I would have said coming in today, we're doing this before Seattle. But Seattle, the Rams, it's hard to include the 9th. Niners with their injuries. So I'd go Seattle, Rams, Pittsburgh, or excuse me, Philadelphia, and then the two teams from the north. But you watch obviously the Lions, their quarterback can't really move in if you can hit them. And then whatever goes on with this Green Bay offense.

At one point in time, I looked down, they had like almost 250 yards of offense and six points, and they were 0 and 4 in the red zone. They were just atrocious in the red zone. I saw Matt LaFoursee after the game is like, hey, they're taking away our explosive play, so we're just dinking and Dunkin to death. But I don't know. I mean, I, obviously Carolina is a little better than we thought. I mean, they are five and four. And I think the dust is going to settle and they're going to win eight, nine games, be very competitive and have some upsets. But at home, that should be a huge advantage for Green Bay. Yeah, Bryce Young. They were atrocious. Yeah, he missed Team Mac was wide open, Xavier Leggett. Like, Bryce Young did not play particularly well. This should be, and you have 400,

yards and average six yards of play. This was not a game in which you couldn't move the ball. I will say I do think Carolina defensively is fast. Like Carolina's draft, you know, they've had a lot of high draft picks. And, you know, people always look at the first round pick, but you're drafting high in the second and the third and the fourth and the fifth and the six. So Carolina's got some guys. I mean, they can get really physical. They're quick. But I just, I think this is something that is really under-discussed in sports. What are you? I remember when we were, We started the volume. I would tell my guys, Barstool is something, you know, ringer is, we have to become, what are we?

Like, you have to identify what are you? And without doing a big branding campaign, you just have to become something. And I look at the best teams in this league. Buffalo, I think has a real sense of what they are right now. I don't think Green Bay knows. And it's weird because Matt's an offensive guy. He should have a greater sense of what they are. Offensive coaches generally, like Sean Payton, Andy Reed, McVeigh, I rarely doubt the identity of the offense.

I mean, Kyle Shanahan knows basically Christian McCaffrey is the offense. The quarterback's less relevant than the star running back. But I look at Green Bay right now, and I think they have to, that's a team that needs like a buy week or a come to Jesus meeting. That's what it feels like Matt LaFleur need to come to Jesus meeting with Jordan Love, give him the keys. they're not running the ball consistently and go for it. Well, I think in there, two losses against the Browns and obviously today, their offense really let them down because their defense is not allowing points. I mean, I think the Browns game, they lost 13 to 10,

and this one they lost 16 to 13. So that is squarely on your head coach's side of the ball. And ultimately, your quarterback who you're paying a lot of money, who we just saw last week, I mean, I understand the Steelers defense was a little off, but how good did Jordan Love look last week? Is there a more, you know, Jekyll and Hyde player right now in the league that on any given game he can look like the MVP of the league?

And then today, you go, what the hell was that? And part of it, I think it's very fair to combine him with the coach. I do think at the end of the day, LaFleur is proven he's more like Kyle. He wants to run the ball. Yes. Than he is an Andy or McVeigh. And Josh Jacobs is a very good player. He's a top 10, 12 running back.

He's a very, very good player. If Kraft is injured, that's devastating. It is. It's not that Green Bay can't run the ball, but they don't, to me, when I watch them, I don't feel like that's their identity. To be honest with you, I think Kraft and love sometimes, like, that's who I trust. No, I'm with you. When you want to enjoy life's simpler pleasures, reach for Green River. whiskey, whether it's rye whiskey or single barrel bourbon. You're getting over a century of craftsmanship

packed into every bottle. Hop on over to greenriverwiskey.com and discover a legend in a bottle today. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas, we invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little. Notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Crimless, we're joined by our first ever guest.

Sorry, our first ever human guest. I don't think I could be in the same room with Shamrock the parrot. I'd be too nervous. That's right. The very funny Will Ferrell joins Rory Scoble and me, Josh Dean, for an episode dedicated to the many crimes committed by people also named Will Ferrell. We called to his fellow officer for the nippers. What are the nippers?

Very good question. No, I was thinking, would that be a good name for like a salad dressing? Simple assault. And it's a play on word, salt? Maybe not. I say we invest and we see. There's only one way to know. This did not amuse the cops.

By the way, normally the cops are amused. But this did not abuse the cops. Will even comes clean about some of his own crimes. I didn't get caught. You know why? If you don't want to be suspected of anything, you whistle as you walk. Listen to crime lists on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is. Getting a racist statue removed.

And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is. Getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race, in America. There's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store. I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes. In Rebel Spirit, Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something

to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies we contain. essence, we contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. 49ers 34, New York Giants 24, Christian McCaffrey had 28 carries. He led San Francisco in catches, rushing, rushing touchdowns, 50% of totally yards. He's so good.

They dominate time of possession. I will say this, Jackson Dart, again, it was I talked to Jason McIntyre today, and he's a Jets fan. So he's like, I don't know what he is. He moves really well. He plays, you can see his confidence. He hits seven different receivers. I mean, to me, I feel like they found their guy. That's what I mean.

No neighbors, no scatiboo. I watched him today. I don't think personnel-wise, This is a great 49ers defense. But I don't know. My take is I just see the confidence, kind of the thickness, the arm, he moves well. If I'm the New York Giants, honestly, I don't care if I win games. I want another great draft pick.

I think they found their guy. Yeah, I think the big picture question, Mark, with them is, does Dave will get another year? Because this was his guy. Or do you just blow it up and you get him on the cycle of all these young quarterbacks over the last three or four years that derails their career? And to me, he's shown enough that you can make the argument. Either way. I think that scataboo injury from just from an energetic, just,

there was some oomph that he brought to the team that is, you can't replace once you lose that to go hand in hand with Dart. And they've already lost neighbor. So he's thrown, I mean, look at the guys he's throwing to here. Darius Sladen, Wondale Robinson. Now, you can say the same thing for the Niners, but the Niners still have more healthy players. and Kyle's a better coach than table.

So you saw Kyle Shanahanan, rolling with Mac Jones, and control the game. Yes. The other thing is, you know, Mac Jones is a good example that after that first year in New England, when Josh was there, they won 10 games. Over the next two years when he was the starter, and he got banged up a little bit during that time, he won a total of eight games over his last two seasons in New England. He's won five this year for Kyle Shanahan. And I think Kyle mentioned after the game with Purdy's Turf Toe, like, it's all year.

If he is able to come back, he's just going to re-injury. it's not one of those things to go away. There's a decent chance that Mack Jones just starts the rest of the season. And they win 10 games. Yeah. Some years, Sean's had a couple of these the last couple years when you're not going to win the Super Bowl or even get there. But it's kind of a, you know, a little bit of a pelt on the wall. This is a big year for Kyle kind of muscle flex, winning all these games with Mack Jones.

Yes. Because you watch all these teams get to their backup quarterback and they just crumble. And he should beat the Giants. But to just go in and handle a team on the road with your backup quarterback like that is, It's really been pretty. This is a team that ceiling is limited now because of the injuries, but they look like they're barreling toward 10 and 7. They might have just lost their first round pick today to an ACL, the kid from Georgia.

Yeah. You know, I'll die on this hill. I think Mack throws a prettier ball than Brock Purdy. I think he's a little less reckless, and I think he throws a prettier ball. I think he throws a first round draft pick ball. I think Purdy moves better. I think Purdy sees the field really, really exceptionally well. but when I watch Mack Jones and he's got time to throw, I think he throws a really good ball.

Yeah, I would say neither of them, where I would disagree is neither of them have first round ball out of their hand. But I think Mack is probably more natural because he's a little taller throwing from within the pocket. Yeah. And Purdy's just a dynamic thrower on the run and pretty accurate down the field. But Mac over the middle of the field, I mean, they just signed Kendrick Bourne off the, literally, he was just in the airport, didn't have a job. They signed him. He just every single game makes place. But like you said, McCaffrey, it's pretty crazy.

I mean, they play the Rams this week at home, which they probably shouldn't win with their injuries. But they're even in this position, if Kyle does win a game like that and sweeps the Rams and just has them more than 10 wins, it's, I'm probably not going to win coach of the year, but he should be in the mix because what he's doing with the team he's rolling out. The difference of his team and the Giants team injuries is not much. all the guys he's lost. He's probably lost more. I don't think any team in the league has lost more guys in the night. Maybe the Chargers now. You know what's remarkable to me.

And maybe it's, I was thinking about this today. So the Rams beat the Saints 34 to 10. Time of possession was 43 minutes to 17. I mean, it was, it almost felt like a practice. Is that whereas Philadelphia and Green Bay kind of struggle to figure out what they are, because the Dodgers are taking so much glare. in Los Angeles away from football and should. The Rams are really good.

I mean, we forget they went in London and they blow out Jacksonville like 35 to 7. Rams right now, John, are really, really good. Puka came back today. Corum played okay. They have a two-headed run game now. They have four healthy tight ends. Jordan Winningham, that six-round draft pick. They have a sixth and a seventh round wide receiver that can play a little bit.

The defense is excellent up front. I think quietly, I mean, if you took, and I really believe this, I think the Rams are the most consistent, best, coached, right now, healthiest team. I don't think the O-line is great. I think it's very good. I think they have a great guard tandem. But I, you know, and I had this was a lower right-hand corner game as I was watching Kansas City and Buffalo. But Jesus.

I mean, it was, I mean, we've seen a lot of upsets this year and a lot of weird shit. That thing today was a practice. It was just, it was just easy, peasy. And, I mean, Stafford at one point, I don't know what he finished. He had four touchdowns, no picks. Jesus. They were getting seven yards of carry. Rams are really good.

He was 34-32 for 280 yards and four touchdowns. 34-42? Yeah. The other, no, 24-32 for 280. So he had eight incompletions. I'd say the scary thing these last couple games is Devante has five touchdowns. So when you figure out that report to go along with Puka. Now Pooka at any moment, you know, you take some vicious hits.

He runs guys over. You know, can this guy stay healthy? but those two guys are on the field right now, they're as good of a one-two combos, like in terms of production and what they bring to the tables, like Chase and Higgots. They're kind of unstoppable.

And the one thing with Devante, he's very comfortable with the high-end veteran quarterback in his prime with Aaron. It's kind of starting to feel like that. Those guys' cohesion, especially in the red zone. Has Matt Stafford kind of quietly? Because, you know, today I don't think a lot of people

are dialed into the Saints game. Right. But four touchdowns, five touchdowns against the Jack. I think he threw three in the last against the Niners. He's got to be directly in the mix. So I have said this before. This sounds crazy. So he was better than Aaron Rogers in high school, and he was better than Aaron in college. And he was better than Aaron for the first four years of his NFL career. He's been better than Aaron for the last four years of his NFL career. Aaron had a 10, 11-year stretch at Green Bay where Matt Stafford was, you know, he was with a losing organization and Aaron had the well-run outfit. What if Matt Stafford wins another Super Bowl?

Now, think about that. He's got a better playoff record. He was better early, better late. If Matt Stafford win, well, he's already a Hall of Fame or now, right? Matt Stafford's a Hall of Fame right now. I'd put him in, yeah. Yeah. What if Matt Stafford wins a second?

Super Bowl. He's always been considered one of the best armed talents of our generation. That's indisputable. You could ask anybody, the Brady's, ask Aaron, ask Favre, they all go, yeah, Stafford's it. Where do you put him all time? Serious question. Matt Stafford wins a second Super Bowl. I'm telling you, there's not a lot of guys I'd put above him. I mean, he doesn't have, he didn't have quite the gravitas of your Brady, Montana, Manning, and Elway. But Marino's got no Super Bowls, he's got two. I don't know. Stafford is watching him this season. Shit, man, he is dialed in. He's comfortable. I don't know. What do you do with him all time if he wins a second? Well, to me, it's hard. I mean, you could make the argument Aaron's a top five guy.

You know, with Manning, Montana, Brady, Elway, pretty short list. To me, I don't think most people would include Stafford in the top 10 of quarterbacks. Now, granted, he played for for the Lions, not the Dan Campbell Lions. Would you have put him if he has a second Super Bowl? He's a better armed talent than Drew Brees. Matt, yeah. To me, there is not, if I could get, here's the argument. If you could get 23-year-old Matt Stafford or and start listing out quarterbacks,

he would go ahead of a lot of guys. Because he's showing now, what if Matt Stafford had been drafted by a Harbaugh brother, an Andy Reed, a Sean Payton when he was 23, instead of going to the Lions, who always drafted high, right? And their two best players beside him quit at 30 years old. I mean, it's a pretty, the Lions that if you're a 12-year-old kid right now, you can't even comprehend this conversation. But I do think that the time with the Lions,

he has had years where he's thrown a lot of picks. He can be a little reckless. The way he's playing right now, though, like his ceiling, the one thing I will say about this, his ceiling is as high as any player, ever. Like, he can go toe to toe when he's, on. I used say this about Cam. Camp can have individual games where he can outplay any guy in the league. And that was Prime Brady, Prime Manning. Now, Stafford's a better player than Camp, but in that same

vein of like, if you get Stafford in the right day or the right month, he can just be the best player in the league. Now, I do think this second kind of iteration of his career with Sean is going to be a really powerful moment for his career. And he'll have like the Kurt Warner type, the individual seasons. I just think it's hard to shake that that lion stretch because while winning and losing isn't a quarterback statistic, most good quarterbacks win a lot, not all his fault, but I do think he probably developed some bad habits there because he had to. Yeah. Let's talk some World Series. So that's about as good a World Series, especially game six and seven as I've ever seen in my life. So I, you know, I thought it was really interesting. You know, Dave Roberts pulled all these levers. Uh,

You know, like he just pulled all these levers and to win a world series where, you know, he puts in Rojas and then the out, the defensive outfielder in the ninth. And he goes with Yoshi again. Everything worked. But I think, you know, as I was talking to a friend about this, is that Otani, Roki, and Yoshi. And right now, Yoshi is arguably the best pitcher and Otani's the best player. Rokey's been moved to the pen. But these Japanese stars, and Japanese baseball is like really high, high AAA. It's not quite the bigs, but there's great players. And it's a, the Dodgers have so separated financially from everybody else on, I mean, on the West Coast that, I mean, they always had money. But the gap now between the Dodgers and the giants and everybody else, the angels and the Mariners, is that these Japanese stars between weather and proximity and how well run the organization is and the Dodgers are smart. So they said, listen, the only downside the taxes just defer the payment.

So you can get paid when you've retired and live somewhere else. Is that a friend of mine in New York was saying, God, our teams are bad. But I said New York is cold. It's intense, a much harsher media, the city tax. L.A. is spread out. You can hide. I mean, I never see, I was in LA nine years. I'm here right now. You never see pro athletes in L.A. You can just, you never see celebrities in L.A. And they're everywhere. There's writers, directors, I mean, look how many pro teams were in L.A. You never see athletes ever. It's just so spread out. There's somebody gated communities, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Malibu, you know, everybody's got these

enclaves, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Windy Road. You can hide Thousand Oaks. And I think, I think the Dodgers right now, Steve Cohen's got money with the Mets, the Yankees have money. They just feel like with these Japanese stars, and you know the other thing, John, those guys don't listen to our media. It's like international NBA players. They come here, they play, and then they go home. They don't get caught up. They play so, I mean, Yoshi plays so loose in these big spots. He's so unaffected by the intensity. and the chaos of the World Series. I don't know. I just look at the Dodgers,

and I'm not sure there's another organization in North America that's run like they are. One of my best friends played college baseball, and one of his teammates, you know, was like a fringe, big leaguer, AAA guy and signed a deal with the Japanese team when Otani right before he came over when he was alleged over there.

And they went over and visited it and went to the games. And they were at the highest level. And they said that it felt like an S&S. CC football game. The intensity in the environment in Japan, the way these Yamamoto and Otani grew up playing, I mean, they make it, right? When they're 16, 17, 18 years old start playing in that league. And they just said the intensity of the crowd would be like going to Alabama, Auburn. How much these people know about baseball and how much they care. So these guys, the bright lights completely unfaced. When Otani was like one of 25 through the first whatever of the playoffs, it wasn't because he was overwhelmed. He couldn't see the baseball. Right. But the difference I would say if baseball, like the Warriors can't win unless Steph is incredible during the playoffs. Right. In the NFL, you can have a random guy make a big play in a Super Bowl or an NFC championship. But your stars, your star quarterback, you start past rush, have to come through or you were loose. In baseball, that's not really how it works. I mean, I was a Giants fan.

Cody Ross in 2010 hit home runs off Roy Halliday that no one saw coming in Philadelphia. The Dodgers won the World Series last night. You could argue because they rolled out four guys. and combined $1.5 billion to. Or because their ninth hitter in the ninth inning, hits a game-tying home run where they were going to lose the World Series. And then that same guy almost falls, throws home, and then their backup center fielder who had been benched. I'm watching with my wife, she falls out of her chair.

She's like, what just happened? That had to be one of the crazier plays in World Series, because it looked like he was going to basket catch it. And this random center fielder, tackles him like he's Ed Reed across the middle and saves the game. But that's baseball. It's not, it wasn't no Tony hitting the walkoff. It was Will Smith, Will Smith.

Rojas and that big guy in center field. Yeah. It's, um, and I think. That's what makes baseball pretty unique in the playoffs. It's not just your stars. Yeah, and I think, and again, even when, if you go back and look at the great Yankee teams with Jeter and Bernie and Posada, you know, it was Scott Brocious from McMinville, Oregon coming up big.

So, like, nobody had a problem when the Yankees were buying the best players because people understood that Fasada and Jeter. That was part of the Yankee farm system. Well, go look at the Dodgers. They haven't missed. I mean, they draft. I mean, Max Muncie was released from Oakland. I think they traded for Blake Snell. I mean, these guys were available on the market.

The Steinbrenners could have afforded to buy Yoshi. They spent $300 million. the Dodgers had 335. They don't win the series without him. So they identify who they want. They're aggressive. I think where the Dodgers, where I see their money being an advantage, because Mookie Betts did not, outside of September, just didn't hit this year.

Played a very good short stuff. Didn't hit. Freddie Freeman's more offensive, the defensive player, and Otani had real struggles at the plate throughout the playoffs. Where the Dodgers have an advantage, A, the Asian stars, obviously. But to get a glass now or a snell, who may not give you a ton of starts during the regular season, most teams cannot afford to pay a guy if he's not giving you 25. I mean, Yoshi's the only guy that never misses a start. Like he's a true bona fide ace, like Verlander in his prime.

You're getting 30 starts. They can go get a snell in a glass now, remarkably talented guys and get 10, 12 starts in the regular season and just push him off to September. That's the advantage they have. But you can also, lots of teams could defer payments, and they don't. The Dodgers do. So, yes, money is clearly an ex... But I think, to your point, Yoshi was great. But there were a lot of guys slumping.

I mean, if you go back to this World Series, the Blue Jays out hit the Dodgers. I mean, the Dodgers in game six won, I think they had four hits. I mean, they struggled the whole series to hit. I actually think baseball is much closer to football in terms of... Didn't the Dodgers was it two years ago? I mean, almost got beat by the Padres in the play. Baseball, I don't care how good your team is. In basketball, when I got the Kevin Durant Warriors, I'm going to need Achilles tears and ACL tears to loose. Other than that, I'm a lock to win. Shaq Kobe Laker, some of these teams, it's going to be 90% chance I win.

The Dodgers roster can't get much better, and it was really difficult for them to win. Honestly, they probably should have lost. You know, that's baseball, though. They won a World Series last year with really average, starting pitching and they won a World Series this year with a really average bullpen, which is virtually impossible to do if you're leaking in the back end. I mean, Yoshi basically is why they won the World Series. But I will say, having spent nine years full time in Los Angeles, they just don't make a lot of mistakes.

They don't, I mean, they let Zach Grinky go. They could have made a big bid for him. He went to Arizona. They let Mani Machado go. They don't make a lot of mistakes. And they've also let Cody Bellinger go. They've let good players, you know, leave. So money's obviously apart.

But, you know, I mean, the truth is in the NBA during the David Stern years, money was apart. But the New York Knicks weren't winning. Some people don't spend the money as wisely. I mean, we know game day revenue. The Giants and the Jets have much greater game day revenue than Green Bay. Green Bay spends their money more wisely. When I was working in radio, I got to go to a lot of the A's were really good then, kind of in Billy Beans Prime and the Giants were winning a bunch of World Series. And I think sometimes in baseball, especially probably over the last decade, it gets overlooked because we spend so much time talking about these kind of the quote unquote nerds running the sport.

Right. I do think the best kind of nerds understand character and cohesion. And one thing you watch with the Dodgers, it feels like all these guys like each other. And they got a good, I would say with the Blue Jays, it jumped off the screen. It was like, this team looks like a college team all playing together. The San Francisco Giants, you always had that. Billy Bean always did a really good job of finding the right mix of guys. Baseball is about more, and you watch the Yankees, it seems like missing a little something.

That's the knock. Like, at the end of the day, in baseball, you still got to have some fast guys that can run. And you watch the Dodgers, definitely the Blue Jays. They got to, their best players are athletes. The Yankees are a good example. Their best players all look like, you know, move like defensive tackles. It's like you guys need a little speed here. Well, the Yankees strike out too.

much. They don't play small ball. The Dodgers have the ability to, I mean, listen, Toronto hit the ball more consistently. The Dodgers had the better starting pitching. I mean, if you go back to the last year's World Series, the only time the Yankees competed with the Dodgers is when Garrett Cole pitched. The Yankees didn't look athletic enough, didn't run the bases. Well, they're not a very good defensive team. The Yankees strike out too much. And they have tons of money. So, you know, I mean, You think that's one of the most thrilling endings to a World Series you've ever seen? Oh, I think game six and game seven, the final innings are the greatest, most drama-filled. You'd have to go back to the 75.

I think it was 75 World Series. It was Reds against the Red Sox. It's that Carlton Fiscomber at Fenway where he's, you know, waving at it. And I remember watching that as a kid. That's the first baseball memory I have is like the 74, 75, 76 Cincinnati Reds because I was in Seattle. didn't have the Mariners yet. And that's when I, I fell in love with football over baseball, but mid-70s, the big red machine, I fell in love with it. And that had, I mean, I can go back to that series and throw names at you guys you've never heard. But I thought the magnitude,

it was just so, I mean, you had, Dave Roberts had to pull so many damn levers, you know, going with Rojas, like old guy. I'm not even sure when his last home run was. Dave Roberts said after his wife kept telling. Rojas, the whole series, you're going to hit a home run in the series. You are, and he's like, I'm not playing. I'm not getting up. She's like, you're going to hit a home run tonight. So I just thought it was, it was just everything, the announcing, the imagery, Fox, the Blue Jays.

I mean, Blue Jays over under was like 78 and a half. Talk about a team that just mashed and overachieved. Good for them. Before you get out of here, though, we do have to mention, you know, last night was a pretty big win for the Trojans, where, not going to lie, at halftime, 14 to 6, it felt pretty bleak. Is Lincoln about to be the skinny Brian Kelly here? Because he can't win a road game. Listen, so USC beats Nebraska.

I thought it was an uncreative, uninspiring effort. I mean, they completed nine passes. Nebraska's corners are pretty good. It was a tough environment to play, don't you? It was. And they had a walk-on right guard and a walk-on running back. So they were off a by. They're still beat up at running back.

They found this kid out of Calabasas high, this walk-on. He is as good a walk-on. I mean, it's just amazing how good this running back is. I mean, it's, is it Miller King? Yeah, King Miller, King Miller. I'm sorry, King Miller. You know, USC when they're humming, they get random guys like, was Clay Matthews a walk-on? So they should get, their walk-on should be a little better than some.

But I think watching USC, last night. This was my big takeaway, is that they're always offensively clever. Lincoln runs the football, way more than people give him credit for. He loves to run the football. He's very much Sean McVey. You think of smart guy, high energy, uptempo. Sean McVey loves to run the football. Lincoln Riley loves to run the football. And he deserves a ton of credit. Jaden Maiava, I watched him at UNLV. I never even thought he was close to a pro player. Last year, at U.S. at U. He didn't start the year starting. I thought he was sloppy and reckless.

I didn't trust him. He has been coached way up. He'll get drafted probably second or third round, maybe third round. He has been coached up dramatically. But I come down to this with USC. We're four years in. You can't just be good at home. You can't just be good when everything at 72 degrees.

And I watched them in that first half get pushed around. they couldn't throw the ball. I don't know what they are beyond clever offensively. And I just, I feel like they're an uneven program. Now, the recruiting class in 2026, now it's high schoolers, so a lot of guys won't make impacts. But I think when I watch USC, John, my takeaway is this roster is a direct result of poor Southern California recruiting prior to next year's recruiting class. They just, Lemon is a very good player. The other kid that jumps out is Eliapage.

They flipped him from Notre Dame. But they just don't have a lot of great Southern California, L.A. kids on that roster. Hell, the walk-on running back pops. Camari Ramsey, the safety, well, he's from UCLA. They got him over. They just don't have a lot of great L.A. kids. And that was the pride and joy of Pete. They've done a much better job in the last 12 months in that regard.

but they feel like they just don't have a ton of juice athletically. That's my take. Well, obviously Ohio State's the cream of the crop, and I always get forwarded to these games, these big games down in Southern California. It's like, well, this guy's going to Ohio State. This guy's also going to Ohio State. It's like, well, if you're ever going to go from barely be able to beat Nebraska

with their backup quarterback who felt a little overwhelmed, right? So once Dylan Riola was out, and I give a kid a lot of credit, he looked like he wanted to come back in. He broke his leg or foot. So it's like he was. was clearly in a lot of pain. Tough kid. And isn't the backup quarterback for Nebraska's from Southern California?

So I was like, hey, if this guy looks good, this is going to come on, Lincoln. Now, luckily, he looked a little overwhelmed. I thought whoever, that was a massive game for whoever was going to win it for either one of those guys. You know, Matt Rula, okay, we keep you from going to Penn State. Here's 30, 40 more million. Let's win a big game. And hey, Lincoln, we'll give you a little bit of a break, not being able to beat Oregon, Ohio State. But can you at least beat the Minnesota's and Nebraska's on the road?

And it felt like I didn't have much faith for you, Colin. I thought now once he missed that field goal and they drove right down and they scored that touchdown and got that too, you could see. You don't, Lincoln is not like Mr. Emotional Kirby Smart. He got so fired up when he missed that field goal. I went, whoa, he knows this is this getting everyone off his ass a little bit. He needs this game. No, I kept thinking during the game, man, that flight home is going to be dark.

That is going to be a. I thought. it's a big win too for your conference realignment. That game on TV's kind of pops. That works. It's a good TV product. It was. No, it was really fun to watch.

I mean, I had two screened it. I was, you know, the Dodger game. Like, I don't like, like, like, I do a lot of Twitter stuff during the day at night. I don't do a lot. You know, I'll pour a cocktail. I watch a game. I put the phone away. I want to watch the game.

But I thought there was a time there. Saturday, early Saturday night, about 8 o'clock, I thought, boy, this is going to be bleak. Jen Cohen is going to have to sit down with him, the AD, because they're going to get beat at Oregon. They may win out beyond that. They'll be UCLA probably. But when I watch USC, my take is four years in. I just don't see enough great elite L.A. kids. I don't. I think Big Ten is probably a little disappointed. They're not a little better because they're probably just going to get Ohio State, Indiana, and Oregon. into the dance. And if USC had a little more umph, you know, they would be a four-bid, forbid league. All right. Last week, I took a big favorite Kansas City and covered for hard rock

bet on Monday night football. I'm going to take the Cowboys at home to cover against Arizona. Kyler Murray is healthy. They're not starting him. They're going with Jacoby Brissette. Here's the thing about Dallas, and this has been true for years. Dak is really, really good at home. His splits are dramatic. And I'll give credit to Brian Schottenheimer. They have used George Pickens excellently. Because of Pickens and C.D. Lamb, safeties can't cheat. The run game is substantial.

I think Arizona is a franchise that's trying to find an identity. Cowboys have one, especially at home. I'm going to take Dallas to win by about a touchdown and cover that spread. I'm going to take the other side, Colin. Jacoby Brissette almost took down the Indianapolis Colts. so when he's played their offense, I think Kyler got benched for a reason. Jacoby might be better, plus three against that defense.

I don't mind taking the Cowboys to win, but I think the Cardinals cover. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers, I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick, and guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired of. a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick.

Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an

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