The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Baker Wins EPIC Shootout Over Darnold, Eagles FLOP In 2nd Half, Lose To Broncos, Dak In MVP Contention? Colts A Contender

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

Colin’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down the week 5 NFL Sunday slate. They start with the epic shootout between Baker Mayfield & the Bucs beating Sam Darnold and the Seahawks. They laud both quarterbacks and give props to both Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Emeka Egbuka and Colin argues the Seahawks have found their quarterback for the future in Darnold (3:15).  They move to the Broncos come from behind win over the Eagles in a tale of two halves. Colin argues the Eagles aren’t capable of playing a full game of competent offense and it was obvious the Eagles and Jalen Hurts tensed up in the second half (16:00).  They blast the hapless Jets after their loss to the Cowboys and argue there’s nothing they do well, while heaping praise on Dak Prescott and arguing that he’s in MVP contention (33:00). They recap the Colts beatdown of the Raiders and Colin believes the Colts have one of the best rosters in the league and could be a real threat in the AFC (41:45).  They move to the Saints win over Jaxson Dart and the Giants and Colin believes that Spencer Rattler may be the Saints long-term answer at quarterback(58:00), then pivot to college football and recap UCLA’s massive upset win over Penn State and argue the cross-country travel for Big Ten teams is proving to be detrimental to their performance (1:02:00).  They break down Florida’s upset win over Texas and another rough outing from Arch Manning and wonder if Manning won’t get a second year as the starting quarterback for the Longhorns (1:10:00). Finally, they preview Monday Night Football between the Jaguars and Chiefs and make their picks for the game (1:15:00).  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.

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But some of the games today were fantastic. Tampa Bay 38. Walk-off field goal to win it over Seattle 35. It looked like young Brady and Peyton Manning. I don't remember a game like that. Darnold always been a little more athletic than Baker, had a couple of all-timers. Baker just kept, they couldn't stop him. You know, Seattle's defense has really shut down a lot of good offenses

in the last couple years, especially at the end of last year, Baker had no problem with it. Ibuka had no problem with it. I guess my takeaway from this game was, if these two met in the NFC championship, I wouldn't be shocked. I mean, it's an offensive league. I would not be shocked.

I don't think tonight was a mirage. I think those are really good quarterbacks and really good teams full of excellent young players. And by the way, John, John Midlakov, two of the best GMs. These rosters have dudes everywhere. Yeah, totally agree. I mean, at one point in time, Colin, it was 21-21. They were 39 of 45 for 450 yards and three touchdowns.

But it just kept going on. I mean, they made play after play outside the construct of the play, right? Both of them scrambling around. We know Darnold. I mean, Baker now is a mobile, you know, behind the line of scrimmage. They were fantastic. That was as entertaining of a game watching these two guys that have clearly resurrected their career now for a couple years. That was awesome.

I mean, those guys, I know Sam, you know, the lasting image will be him throwing the interception, but that was on Todd Bowles, called an incredible blitz. You saw in the slow motion replay, it wasn't a bad path. He got hit and the ball went in the wrong direction. Both those guys couldn't miss. They felt like, you know, Steph Curry. When every time he shot, you just think the ball is going to hit nothing but net with both quarterbacks. Abuka, I mean, that draft pick, one thing I was Todd a long time ago is at the time they drafted him.

you're like, well, they got Mike Evans and Chris Godwin's coming back. They got Otten. They got multiple running backs. Why do they need a weapon? Because a position of strength can become a position of weakness with an injury or two. Look at the Chargers. Best offensive line in the league. Now you're looking like, who are these guys playing tackle for him?

Injuries happen. I mean, this guy, I don't want to say saving their season, but, you know, Godwin's been out and then he comes back and then Evans gets hurt. And this guy, find me a better rookie right now in the NFL than a mecca. He's been fantastic. Remember a couple years ago, of course, you do Atlanta drafted Robinson, Bejohn Robinson, the running back. And I had a GM say, he's Ladanian Tomlinson, there's no flaw. Good teammate, good blocker, everything. Ibuka, because he wasn't like a four, three guy, doesn't go in the top, you know, seven or eight.

But I had an executive in the league say, he's a flawless receiver. Routes, teammate, toughness, catch, hands. He's like, there's just no flaw. but he'll drop because he's not huge and he's not, you know, he doesn't have a unicorn body type, and he's not a complete burner. He is just a great football player. I mean, he is open, he doesn't drop it, he runs great. He runs 10-year veteran routes, and Seattle's secondary is good. Seattle's defense is good, and they torched it today.

I would say the same thing about JSN also happened to be an Ohio State guy. I mean, I looking at the numbers right now, they combine for 15 catches, almost 300 yards, and multiple touchdowns, but both those guys are good examples, right? Neither of them would go in the top 10 because they're not quite big enough. They're more slot receivers. Like, no, they can do everything. They can play inside. They can play outside.

You know what they do? They get open every single play. Elite players, elite character guys, like you said, elite teammates. And sometimes at wide receiver, right? And you've been on this for decades. The little diva-ish, these guys are rare breeds. I mean, these guys are wired like quarterbacks or safeties or middle linebackers. I think a lot of it, John.

is because when you are as big as D.K. Matt Caff, he was that big in the seventh grade. He was the biggest, strongest kid, and everybody was in all of them. Whereas Jackson Smith and Jigba, Mika, Abuka, they weren't the biggest kids. They weren't the fastest kids. They got there because they had a lot of talent, and they worked their ass off to become great receivers. And I think Mike Evans is the rare, big, strong guy, but super humble, hardworking, Keenan Allen. But Keenan's not a burner either. A lot of times the Antonio Browns, the D.K. Metcalfe, the guys that just are, have been gifted, the fastest kid in every class, Tyreek Hill, probably the fastest kid in the fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade.

And, you know, things come easy for you. So a lot of these great receivers, like Larry Fitzgerald, you can just see the work ethic. You know, like Puka Nakua, fifth round guy, Amaran St. Brown. Look at the best receivers right now in the league. Puka. Amaron, St. These two rookies. It's a lot of guys that are talented, but you'd view them as classic overachievers.

None of them are burners. None of them outside Mike Evans. You know, don't walk into a room and inspire awe. They're just dudes who got some genetic gifts, work super hard. And it's just, you know, it's just like you go find a great attorney. He had smart parents. You know, he didn't have dummies his parents. But the truth is, he put the effort in because there's a miller.

attorneys, right? You've got to fight through it. So I just watch JSN and Abuka, and I just look at, to me, you really have to be careful when drafting wide receivers. I mean, I saw another running back drop the ball at the goal line today, Arizona, Tennessee. Like, you watch Arizona, Tennessee today, there's talent on the field, but just not just airs and fumbles. And Kyler Murray at one point left the game. I'm not even sure he got hit. Like moods. And I just watch Tampa and I watch Seattle and I see great GMs and a lot of good character guys and a lot of tough guys and a lot of redemption stories. That was so much fun. I also think it's a, if you're a defensive coach out there, like an assistant or a coordinator, it shows you,

obviously these offensive coordinators have taken over the league and rightfully so. The quarterback's really important. But Todd Bowles is an old school, like a safety from the 80s, right, who has become, you know, he was Bruce Ariens' right-hand man for a long time. He got some experience with the Jets. Like, he's a really good coach. And he's an excellent defensive coordinator. I've been saying for years, Mike McDonald is basically Kyle or Sean.

He just happens to call defense. If he was an offensive coordinator, we would speak about him no differently than we do Kevin O'Connell. But he's a defensive guy, and you saw today, those guys have empowered their quarterback. I mean, Todd's probably one of the great blitz callers in league. history. You know, Spags has turned into one, Jim Johnson forever. It's a skill. And that call won them the game because that was a game. And even for a split second, when they had tied the game,

I went, Todd's going to allow them to go for two. And it turned out it was just Baker holding it up, hoping they would give, I think Todd's gold, you know, the field goal kicker on. But that's another thing. I mean, in a day and age when these field goals are kind of getting blocked, their field goal kicker in Tampa, I don't know if the guy's missed. I mean, he's a game winner. after game winner, pretty nails. Also, when the guy hit the ground on essentially the game winning run, probably could have got a couple more yards, but you talk about coaching.

Clearly told him in the huddle, if you break this, it's an outbreaking run. If you get near the sideline, whether it's a first down or not, get to the ground, right? We have seen in college and the pro sometimes guys, like they have a brain fart, they go out of balance, they save the team a timeout.

So it's just a high-level operation. I'm with you. That game, I think Seattle's going nowhere. I mean, the 49ers are 4-1, but half their teens on injured reserve. Tampa, I mean, is Tampa 49er game next week? You know, Tampa now has to fly. I mean, what time are they going to get out of their 7 o'clock Pacific standard time? They won't get home until the middle of the night. The 49ers have this long break. They're missing a ton of players. That's a huge win for them, though. I mean, that's a massive go on the road to Seattle and 4-1. Man. Todd Bull struggled with the jets. Darnold, disaster with the Jets, Devante Adams, disaster with the Jets, Aaron Rogers, much better version of Aaron Rogers. It's a cesspool, and we'll get into the Jets loss today, which may have been like rich, co-tight level bad. Think about people aren't only leaving the Jets and winning. They're flourishing.

They lead their division, their MVP candidates. That is a bad organization. I remember when Todd Bowles was with the Jets, you know, people would always rip him. He was a little like Carl Dorell, UCLA the first year. He didn't even know. He didn't have much of a persona on the sideline. He got lost within the sideline. You couldn't find him.

But Todd was always so smart and so thoughtful. And he was just one of those guys. He didn't want, you know, he was the opposite of Rex Ryan. Like, he didn't want any attention. But over the course of your life, if you do good work and you just keep your head down, a lot of people get fired. It doesn't mean anything. You'll be rewarded.

Todd Bowles was too good not to succeed in this. League. Same with Sam. And look at, you know, I think you brought up the two GMs. You know, Mike's going to have a long career, came from the Ravens. But Todd, imagine if he would have got a second opportunity with the Carolina Panthers or some of these franchises. But he got Jason Light, who anyone in the league will tell you is easily one of the best

GMs, just a high-level, humble guy who's seen it all, worked for everyone that mattered in the league over the last 20 years. And their team, like, they have had so many injuries. And you watch them play. I mean, offensively, they're missing their starting running back and their Hall of Fame wide receiver. And how many points do they just? I mean, they scored 38 points? I mean, that's on the road against Seattle.

In Seattle. Wow. What a game. Seattle is a Sam Darnold fumble and a Sam Darnal pick. And both times, he like either bumped into a teammate or had somebody bump into him or Seattle could be an undefeated team. So this game is Seattle's a really good team. They're the second youngest offense in the league. So if you're a Seahawk fan, you go.

some good years ahead. You know, it's also, I don't know, I mean, I wouldn't worry about drafting a quarterback if I'm Seattle. I think they found, I mean, Donald's still young. He's still, totally. When he was drafted by the Jets, he was 21. I think he's 27 or 28. Now you've got four more, five more peak years. Yeah, to me, I mean, I'm sure we'll talk about college. You look around the landscape of college football. It doesn't look like a lot of Joe Burroughs coming into the league here. I would say this, though, sometimes there's a win-win, fit matters. I'm way better off as a podcaster than I was local radio when we had ties to the team. It's not.

Kubiak, they hire Kubiak and they get rid of Ryan Grub. Well, Ty Simpson and Alabama are rolling, right? And Ryan Grub's much better fit for college. And they get Kubiak, who's more of a run heavy, great for Sam. And it's just worked out for both parties, right? Kubiak last year fired as well. Sometimes in football, you just get with the right person. Sam now, look at Sam now.

We talk about the Jets for three. three straight years. Kyle, Kyle embraces him, Purdy embraces him, changes the way we talk about him. Then he gets his opportunity with Kevin. Now he's in Seattle. I mean, just flourishing. Same thing with Baker Mayfield. He goes to Tampa, gets around Jason Light, gets around Mike Evans, and just a more low-key environment. I've been there. I've never lived there like you, but it's just an easier place to just kind of ease into things. Yeah, and Baker, the media in Tampa's more supportive. Baker's one of those guys that sometimes if he feels like he has to overcome the GM and the coach, that he tries too hard. He's very composed now. He's got a support system.

He's happily married. Baker has nothing to prove. Everybody knows he's good. He's playing with a very controlled chip on his shoulder. But it's a good chip on his shoulder. I agree. It's like he doesn't have to prove anything. Everybody loves him in Tampa. And in Cleveland, he and Hugh Jackson battled and then Freddie Kitchens and then the GM and then the media was on his ass because the Cleveland media is, you know, it's, it's bitter. It's, and I don't blame them. Tampa's got trophies. They don't. So I think it's, and I, in a people, I know they find this hard to believe, but I root for young people do succeed. One of my favorite part of the volume is watching young people at my age, you're young. I think it's great for Baker. It makes me very happy that he's

kicking butt. That was this week's Sunday night foodball brought to you by Uber Eats. When football makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber Eats. I do every week. The official on demand delivery partner of the NFL, order now. I just did. Okay, another game. So I had picked the Broncos on my Blazing Five. I think it went two and three today. By the way, I had the over on Arizona, Tennessee. It should have gone over in the second quarter. Those teams are horrific. I took the Broncos to beat Philadelphia. They did 2117. It was like two games.

For the record, all Philadelphia games are two games. Just pick your half. So Philadelphia led 17 to 3. Bo Nix was stymied by Vic Fangio. But again, these are long games. And, you know, Philadelphia runs into these walls where they're just a punt factory. And they, you know, they're very dependent on a big play. play over the top. Sequin's numbers have been reduced significantly. So you'll get your chance to

beat Philadelphia because they'll go into a punt, punt situation. Sure enough, we get to the fourth quarter playing from behind and Sean Payton's play calling, Bo Nicks hit on a couple of big throws. They have some crevices in the run game and they come back to win a game. So let's start with Philadelphia. I mean, John, they are incapable of playing a full, solid game of offense. They're either really impressive or awful. There's no in between. To me, it's got to be a coordinator. It's not personnel.

The O line is regressed badly. These guys are all in their prime, except Lane Johnson, who's older. They're all in their prime. To me, there's a coordinator issue. Well, I thought Romo and Nance, especially Tony, mentioned it a couple times. like, Sireani's not the one under heat around here. It's this Kevin Petula, it's his buddy for about 15 years. But they finally, through the first, what, 60, 70% of this game,

they were feeding Devante Smith. They hit A.J. Brown. They had an opportunity for a nail in the coffin moment in this game. It was 17 to 3. They clearly had schemed up this play to A.J. Brown, and he's wide open. And Jalen had hit a couple deep bombs throughout the game. So when he let it rip, you went, well, this thing. because he's a good, when his deep ball's working, it looks great.

Ball game. And it flew right over his head. And then they had to punt. And then it kind of flipped from there. Because 24, three, the game is over. Because like you said, Bo Nix was horrendous. I mean, I asked someone that I bet on the Broncos to win the division, had high hopes for them.

Like a lot of people, I bought into everything Sean Payton was saying. And you're watching him, he's missing these deep balls. They have big play schemes and he missed them. And then I don't know if maybe he just kind of took a deep breath, but then he hit a couple plays to Sutton, hit some back shoulder throws. And obviously, you know, the game winning drive, he hit Sutton over the middle on a big third down. He used his feet a couple times. And Tony kept saying it's almost like, you know, if you're missing jump shots, get to the line, get fouled. You're a really good athlete.

And I think Fangio had said during the week, like, kind of reminds me of Baker Mayfield. And Tony's like, he's a way better athletes than Baker Mayfield. Like, he can really run. And it's like just run a little bit. But I think he wants to prove that he can throw. But his arm in terms of accuracy has just kind of bent off. And then he just got to a rhythm. And obviously, then Philly just hit the skids.

And you could tell, you could feel it on television. I've watched a lot of games there live. It got tight and the whole building kind of went silent because they've seen this song and dance. And like you said, they can go through a quarter where they're clearly one of the most talented teams in the league where they look horrendous. And you're just, you know, in Fangio's defense, you can't. You know, in this day and age, with the rules, it's hard to have just 60 minutes of playing like the 85 bears. It doesn't work that way. No, and they weren't very good.

Again, when you get them into a third and four or a third and five, and they can't do the tush push, they weren't very good on third down. Did we even see the tush push today? I don't know if we did. They were definitely down the stretch. Third down, 45 yards rushing, huge time of possession. I mean, it felt like in the fourth quarter, Denver had the ball the entire fourth quarter. And I wrote that down 30 to 22 minute time disadvantage. But in the fourth quarter, Bonix had two drives for touchdowns, 15 points in five and a half minutes.

Oh, that was a big sideline throw to Cortland Sutton. Then there was that Zach Bond late hit. That kind of sealed it. I mean, at some point, Philadelphia, that last drive, John, they were reduced to begging for PI calls on the Hail Mary and the ball down to the two-yard line. So you can kind of tell from their body language. They know they're struggling. They're...

And, you know, it's just like anything else in life. I don't care if it's a relationship or a football game or an offense. It gets into your head. And then you start doubting your play calling. And then you start forcing the ball to certain players. But I go back to... Suryani's not a scheme guy. He's more in the Dan Campbell.

Culture builder, Alpha Male. And so he's very dependent on who his OC is. Remember when he first got to Philly, as you know, he called plays. It was a disaster. Hands it off to Stuyken, heater. Stuyken leaves. Brian Johnson, disaster. Then he brings in Kellynne Moore.

They write the ship. Kellynne exits. Now you got the new guy. So he's very dependent. Andy Reid's not. Shanahan's not. Although Shanahan's defense has been very dependent on the right coordinator. Salah now is dealing with kids and Fred Warner.

It's outstanding. So I just look at Philly and to me, it's one thing you could argue that Sequin Barclay's got fatigue from all the carries. But when an offensive line regresses like it has, to me, that's coordinator. Yeah, I mean, they've had injury too. I mean, Dickerson got hurt today. I just think, you know, Jalen is, I think clearly established himself as a pretty tricky player.

Right. He just happened to have two of the great games in Super Bowls. One of them he won. He could easily be two and O against Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, and he's played fantastic in him. But like through the course of a season, he's just a very,

you don't know what you're getting series to series. You don't. And that's where it's like, is there a huge drop-off between Kellynne Moore and this guy? Hard to tell. But like, Kellyn had been an offensive coordinator for a long time.

I mean, coach from Dak to Herbert. Like, it just had way more experience. This guy never called plays in the NFL. He'd been a lifetime position coach. Even if he'd been around the Eagles the whole time and been on the staff, there's a big difference than giving suggestions and making the decisions. Right? I mean, that's why do the Eagles feel pretty good about their defense?

I don't know. They have a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator who's been, who's 65 years old and been doing it for decades. So I also think they got an elephant in the room. Last year, Brandon Graham kind of let the cat out of the back. And he tried to walk it back, but how often do you, see a guy, he's 35 years old, Brandon Graham's got multiple kids. Like, this guy isn't just an immature young guy saying something stupid. He knew what he was saying because it was the truth.

They tried to walk it back. This year's gotten weird. They clearly tried to force feed him the ball, which I'd force feed him the ball too. But like, it's not in the, like, you watch the Vikings with Justin Jefferson. He's just their best player, and they just give him the ball a lot because he's a great player. J. Marr Chase. The A.J. Brown thing kind of feel, it's weird. Because they got all these other options, but they know that he can be, obviously, a little fickle with his emotions.

And it's hard for him to hold them in because at this point in time, he's on like his fourth contract. So he's made an ungodly amount of money. He's a Super Bowl champ. He's an all pro. He's checked all the rest. Now it's just like, he just wants the ball. He's just an emotional receiver. Now, what did Brandon?

I remember Brandon Graham came out. But they don't like each other, essentially. Their relationship is fractured. Jalen and AJ Brown. Because part of it, part of when they traded for them was like, these guys are really good buddies, they've known each other. And then something happened. And it was like, well, it's life. You get, as you grow up, maybe your relationships aren't as tight.

And you just deal with it and they win the Super Bowl, whatever. But then this year, it feels like immediately it gets a little weird. And AJ brings it back to the surface. Can't even hide it. And, you know, part of it is Jalen, which is a good quality. He's like unemotional. Even today, like with the no time left on that final drive, it's just, this guy's, I mean, sometimes I wish I had like his emotional stability. I mean, I get angry just

podcasting. He's just, he's just a flatliner. And I wonder sometimes in football, like, some of our best quarterbacks can be a little emotional and Jaylon just has none. Yeah. No, I mean, I was told this by somebody who would know that's very connected to that locker room. And they said, Jaylon's not the most popular eagle. Players love emotional guys. I mean, I remember years ago, half the league thought Westbrook was better than Steph Curry. Steph Curry's married. He's quiet. He's not cool.

You know, his shoe looks like something a pharmacist would wear. Westbrook's cool. He's athletic. He's got the music. He's got the game. And Jaylon's one of those guys. He's got an all-female like management team. He's not, you know, he's not going to hire one of your buddies.

He's not one of the guys. It's like the old Joe DiMaggio with a Yankee. It was like Joe DiMaggio just wasn't one of the guys. He was brilliant. Not everybody wants to go out and hit it and be wild every night. Like they just, Jalen's very reserved, very mature, very focused, and he has a life beyond football. And I love guys like that. But, and AJ, you know, I get it.

When you got a trophy and you got the bag, you're looking for legacy. He wants to be a Hall of Famer. So I kind of defend him that way, you know. And part of being an all-time great quarterback, because Jaylen has the opportunity. He's already been to a couple of Super Bowls. He's won one. Like he's going to be a starter for a long time.

Is like by the end of Peyton and especially Tom, how could they relate to anybody? Yet, you never have met anyone that has been in a locker room with Tom over the course of like the last decade of his career. It wasn't like, yeah, he was the easiest guy to deal with. He was great. Anything I needed. He was always, he could bow.

He wasn't going out and drinking beers with him anymore, hanging. But he knew exactly how to be a great. And I've heard the same thing about Peyton Manning. or Philip Rivers is a good example. Had like seven kids with three years to go in his career. I know multiple people that played with him that said I would have run through a wall for his family, let alone the guy.

There is a skill to be able to. And listen, when you get topped by Sabin, that doesn't really matter. You just kind of do what he says. Then you get to the NFL. And maybe it's just an attribute that Jalen's really going to have to focus on just moving forward because it's clearly not his personality, which, listen, our personalities is our personality. but at that position, especially if you're not going to be like Patrick Mahomes, how does Patrick Mahomes relate to an undrafted free agent rookie?

He can't anymore. He's worth $500 million. But ask anyone with the Chiefs, he does, right? And Josh Allen now at this point, married to some holly. You have to do that. Lamar Jackson, I've known people that have coached here that just said, people love this guy in the locker room. He's not hanging out with them all. So the onus is on the player at that position.

You've said this forever. Not about any other positions. You can act like however you want as a corner wide receiver, not a quarterback. So sometimes you've got to go above and beyond and just kind of almost fake it, you know, to be friends with a guy. Yeah, and Jalen's pretty stoic. You know, that's his personality. Today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. They're a great partner.

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We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. 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 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 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 Headwere writer Street or 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris.

Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chinch and win. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina. But I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface.

Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I'm reticent to talk about the Jets, but Dallas. Plus beats the Jets, 37 to 22. I always judge...

I don't think it was that close either when I turned the game off. It felt like 47 to 3. It was awful. I mean, it was 23 to 3 at half, and it wasn't that close. No. So the best drive of the day for the Jets, I think, was the first one where they settled for a field goal. It was like 11 plays.

You know, my takeaway has always been when a coach is hired. what's his side of the ball like? Their defense is bad, and it's gotten worse every week, it feels like. I mean, the second half was a seven-on-seven drill. It looked like one of those seven-on-seven college drills where you take a really good quarterback, you know, in high school or college,

and he just boom, boom, boom. Dak was terrific. Dak's having his best year as a pro because he's having to carry a team. And this isn't the Zeke Top-O line in the league, Amari Cooper. That's not what this is. without CD Lamb, John, I'm not sure they have a definitive number two.

Their tight ends probably a two to a three on most teams. The running backs are absolutely twos. The O line's still in a semi-rebuild. Tyler Smith's great. But this is not an elite head coach. It's not an elite O line. It's not an elite roster. I've been blown away by DAC.

I've never thought this highly of DAC. I think, again, like Jalen Hertz, mature, head down, not highly emotional, an adult. Do I want to pay him when I'm paying him? You know what, right now, Dax's worth his contract. He's worth it. Yeah. Could be the MVP.

You know, I think what really puts the Jets in the perspective is probably no one had a bigger question mark next to their name as a coach than Brian Schadenheimer. And you just said how you're defined as a coach, especially on a team that's not great. What does your side of the ball look like? Well, he's the offensive play caller and they've been awesome. all year long. And now they've lost one of the highest paid and best wide receivers in the league for several games. And like you said, George Pickens is a two. And, you know, Ferguson's solid.

I mean, this isn't Michael Irvin and Emmett Smith walking through the door. And the offensive line is definitely a question mark. And the offense, like, it's, listen, Brian Schadenheimer's kind of throwing it back to back in the day when he was declining head coaching interviews. Like, pretty good offensive coordinator. I kind of know what I'm doing. And I've been blown away. I mean, their team, they got very, you know, the Packers got very lucky a week ago that that ball didn't bounce in the air instead of hit the ground or the Cowboys would be what, three and one right now? Or, I mean, I guess they were two and two.

They would be three and two. Like, they would be just good. Like, there would be no disputing. Like, they were just a solid. Like, could they win nine games? And also, the weather in the Northeast and the North is beautiful. I was in Chicago over the week. Chicago was like 80 degrees.

So it's a good time to have. have a good quarterback in this league because you're not dealing, you know, we're about four or five weeks out from getting ugly. Dallas is built for good weather. They're built for domes. They don't have a number one receiver without CD, but they've got enough guys. You know, it's funny I was watching Justin Fields. He's never seen the field particularly well, and they don't, this coaching staff hasn't figured out that, listen, just use his legs, just run him. Seven step drops don't work with him. I mean, multiple, and the Jets pass pro is awful. They can't pass protect at all. it's gotten worse. Again, the Jets are getting worse every week. I was reading a couple of the Jets beat reporters and they're like, okay, I've covered 300 games. This is Rich Cotite. I mean, this is how bad this team is. And we're at week five. I mean, it's not like they're, you know, everybody's beat up. But Justin Fields has had three defensive head coaches and he's just not good enough. You know, if you give him McVeigh, maybe he would have gotten a second decent contract. But he's just, you know, he's the classic athlete.

not a quarterback. But the fact that he was with Pittsburgh who couldn't run the ball, struggled with their offensive line. But last year, I think he was, was he four and two? He had a pretty good record early, and you looked at Justin, and you're like, oh, he could get in her contract. Pittsburgh got rid of him. Pittsburgh went with old Aaron Rogers.

Because if you go back and if you remember Justin's numbers in Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin replaced him with Russell Wilson. We were all like, Justin's actually extrapolate those numbers. numbers out. He'd be like a, you know, nine, ten win quarterback. Well, Pittsburgh move off, that moves off him. It shows you the difference between a Steeler team last year that struggled offensively and how bad the coaching and the infrastructure is with the Jets because Fields looks completely over his skis. Yeah, I mean, I get that maybe they were bidding against some of, I thought giving him two years and $40 million and $30 guaranteed based on his history was pretty

insane. Like to me, he felt like a one-year-seven-million-dollar quarterback just to kind of get you through your year-one as a coach. I do believe, though, they came in. Like, I understood extending Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson is a starter in any team. You know, we've seen good wide receivers on shitty teams. It's hard to play when no one gets you the quarterback, or get you, quarterback gets you the ball. Soss Gardner, if you just ask people around the league or just watch football, to me is living off a reputation from several years ago. And as a wise man told me in the league said, you know what changed? last year, John, why he had such a bad season? They started not allowing him to just commit pass interference every play. He is not Dion Sanders or Revis in terms of a foot athlete. He is

a long corner like Richard Sherman. Well, Richard Sherman is a physical player like a linebacker, one of the great hitting and tackling corners in league history. Sauce doesn't want to tackle. And has elite ball skills. Sauce does not either. They gave him $100 million, Colin. They had never even coached them. So they came in, they had some sexy names, and now you're kind of stuck with a guy like that, not making any place, does nothing for your team. It's not like he's a winning player. And there's no court, like there's not a savior coming in this draft, it looks like. You're an unwatchable team. Like that's when the Saints, they've been bad. I've watched the Saints three or four times. They're actually kind of entertaining. Spencer Rattler is kind of getting there.

Kellan Moore can call some plays. You're like, okay, listen, we're not that talented. At least our head coach brings them to the table. Aaron Glenn, I have a lot of respect for what he did last year with the Lions. I would say this about the Jets and I'd even throw the Raiders in there with my guy, SpyTech and Pete Carroll. There are a couple franchises that are just hard to overcome that they've been taking down everyone for a long time now. And maybe these guys, you know, Brady and kind of that crew in Vegas, it is not an overnight fix.

And there is an ethos and just like a culture that is permeated through the building in the walls. And the Jets and the Raiders, it's hard to. shake because guys leave you, they excel, you bring guys in, they get worse, you bring incredible coaches or young energy, it still looks the same. And I'm watching the Jets and the Raiders and I just go, God, these teams are just, they're terrible. I mean, they feel like they have no hope. The rosters are bad. Yeah, I just, the Cowboys, I mean, when Dak Prescott's looking like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning in his prime against you with OCD Lamb, I mean, that's, this is a pretty

low point. I mean, and the Giants now feels like they're not very good again. You know, Dark gave them a little hope. It's like, God, the New York teams and the Yankees are getting killed. You better hope Mike Brown coach up the Knicks, you know. It's interesting. The one franchise in New York that isn't impatient, that doesn't blow it up is the Yankees. It's also easily the most successful franchise, and all they get is heat from their fans. And, you know, Cashman's been there 30 years, I think eight years for Aaron Boone. But their take is, you know, the upstairs sets the lineup, it's analytics. The Yankees don't make moves.

They're patient to a fault. The truth is, if Garrett Cole was healthy, they'd have a chance to get, you know, to the American League Championship Series. They just, I'm not sure they have the pitching. They've gotten boxed and back-to-back games by Toronto. James killed. Yeah. So, you know, New York is its own animal.

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. I want to talk about the Colts beat the Raiders. This was my favorite pick of the week. Got this one. 40 to 6 Colts beat the Raiders. I will die on this hill.

I think the Colts have a top six roster in the league. I love their offensive line. I think they have stars. I don't care if it's Pittman, Warren. Jonathan Taylor's outstanding. He just doesn't, he's not a, you know, Sequin Barclay is, you know, you get these running backs who,

stylistically, they pop. And Jonathan Taylor was always just a speed guy out of college. He wasn't shifty. He was like, uh-oh, like track guy, just, uh-oh. Behind that offensive line, I swear to God, John, like it's just, he, three yards before he gets touched. I don't know what Pete Carroll's fascination.

That's nine picks and six games for Gino in his last six games. I think it's something like that. Six touchdowns and nine picks this year. Six touchdowns, nine picks for Gino. That is the Gino comeback story's over. It's the opposite of what Pete Carroll likes. He is so much about clean football, run the game, run the ball. I think the Raiders are just a big work in progress when Colton Miller gets hurt. O-line. It's just one of the worst five in the league. But you look at the Colts. I mean, the Chiefs will probably beat the Jags tomorrow. I don't know. I look at the Colts like I look at Tampa. Now, Baker's better than Daniel Jones. But coaches who some people started doubting, you know, like Stuyken with Anthony Richardson, oh, Stuyken's lost his magic, but that Tampa roster went healthy, that Colts roster, I know they're a middle of the country, flyover country. I think the Colts are good. I really do. DJ had a pass, a touchdown where he rolled out and everyone's going to be. It's the Raiders.

It's not about the opponent where he was just on the move, guy in the back of the end zone, he split it through a defender. You know, I've always compared him to Alex Smith. He's got a better arm than Alex Smith. No question. His arm actually is better than I thought. And sometimes it just takes you with a credible offense to really get to see that arm talent. It's pretty, you watch Baker and Sam, you're like, these guys can sling it. You're watching Daniel Jones in 2025.

I would have said forever he's got an average to below average arm. like his arm is more than strong enough. He's not Josh Allen, but it's he's heaving that thing in there. He's a big guy. To me, the Warren pick looks fantastic. He has been easily one of the best rookies in the league. I mean, obviously the Raiders are bad, but I would say the Colts, I think the Colts can win a playoff game.

I mean, I think the Colts can be a factor in the AFC, especially now it's definitely opening more up, right? They are the most efficient offense in the league. they went eight for 10 on third down. So they've become an incredibly efficient offense. John, they had the ball only 26 minutes. They scored 40 points. No offense in this league is more efficient.

I know going into the Rams game, Daniel Jones is 20 to 29. So it's like we look at Baker and Sam. I mean, it's really the story this year is the story of redemption. I mean, Baker leads his division. Sam's great. Daniel Jones. It's, I do wonder if you got Shane Steichen over Cockney. Tales and Ballard, if they knew, like when they truly, was it a week into training camp?

This isn't even a close competition. Did they know before training camp just based on ITAs? I think they did. I think they did. I had, listen, I was talking to Steve Kime about a year ago, and we were out. And I said, what do you make of Anthony Richardson? And Steve, Steve said, man, Colin, he said, you got to be able to hit those layups in the flat. And he said, you know, I looked at some of the fifth.

film. And he's like, you know, if anybody can do it, Shane Steichen can fix it. But Kime and I were talking about it. And he just said, you know, if you have to work on that stuff, if you're spending a lot of practice time on that stuff, it's really hard. And because, you know, generally with Baker, you're dealing with high-end stuff. Baker solved all that stuff. With Baker, it's, it can be concepts and defense. You're not worried about the layup stuff. So, and then I talked to somebody else, a GM, an active GM in the league. And he echoed what Steve Khyman told me. It's just like, gosh, if you're struggling with the underneath stuff, you know,

you're spending a lot of time on that. You have to spend so much time on that to get that right. Well, then you're not really, that's elementary stuff in the league. You're not dealing with a second and third and fourth level stuff. You also can't call a game that you want to call in the NFL. I remember I got off the phone with this GM in the league. And my take was, well, God, if I don't trust a guy to throw a downfield, I can't call the same game. I just eliminated 35% of the playbook.

So I think with Daniel Jones, you can use the whole playbook. That's the difference. Isn't it crazy, you know, the redemption season? Even watching Carson Wentz with Kevin O'Connell, it's like, he actually doesn't look that terrible. You know? I mean, it's like, the power of some of these offensive coordinators, that also, because what are usually offensive coordinators their head coaches have, pretty good skill guys around them, right? Kevin O'Connell, they got a pretty loaded roster.

You know, Shane Stike, and they've invested some picks and some of the ones. money into the offensive skill guys, right? You play for Shanahan, you play for McVeigh, you play for LaFleur. Like, they emphasize that side of the ball in terms of people, you know, the wide receivers, the running backs, the tight ends. These guys look a lot better than some of the franchise that failed them. I mean, you go back to the Giants. I mean, Daniel Jones was horrendous. I get asked a lot, like, is this going to, if Daniel Jones, I mean, is in the MVP conversation, this team wins 13 or 14 games. Clearly the Giants aren't, what were they going to win five games? And listen, it was time for a,

breakup. I didn't blame them. It was not working. But this is one of those things. Like, oh, ultimately, Sequin Barclay is much better with the great offensive line. But if I'm, you know, the Giants ownership, I pay my head coach who's the play caller. I know he's kind of bounced around being the play caller, but he's an offensive guy to fix that position. And this guy, we had this guy. Hell, we paid this guy.

And then he goes to another offensive coordinator as the head coach. And it looks like Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield. How's that possible? You know, how can that happen? This guy is going to get, I mean, Shane Psychen and Chris Ballard are going to get contract extensions, I would imagine, before the playoffs start. It's going that well.

The other thing is, and we have, you know, it's the elephant in the room. There's been multiple reports that have surfaced the last couple of years. Chris Ballard in the front office, Jim Mersey had relapsed into some really problematic behavior. And this stuff, you know, I think Chris Ballard will never, will never, ever say it. Maybe to his wife. There was, I think it was exhausting and energy sapping for the entire organization to deal with an owner who was beloved in the community, but was going through some really tumultuous personal times. And so, and I said this at the time when he passed away, two things. can be true. You can love somebody and be brokenhearted, but you also think to yourself,

it'll be a less chaotic organization upstairs. And I think Ballard's really good. I think Stuyken's really good. I mean, the last several years, go look at the last two or three drafts. They've had great players in the first round fall to them. Like, remember the draft where everybody, I think Ballard got the first defensive player taken in the draft, the UCLA Edge, who was the best pass rusher in the league, fell to him at like 15th. And he was laughing about it. They had a camera on him. He's I was like, we just got the best pass rush. We didn't even move up. And then Warren, you know, is available.

So I think my take is problems are always upstairs. Number one, the athletic, the subscription service about two weeks ago, I talked about it on my show. They had the best 10 front offices in the league based on GMs and coaches. And it might as well have been the top 10 teams in the league. Yeah. Is college football, this is why Belichick struggling, college football. is about talent, recruiting. If you can recruit, you can hide a lot of problems. The NFL is about upstairs and a great scheming coach. Sol is a very good schemer. Suddenly, Fred Warner and a bunch of

dudes look great. And so I think if you have Ballard upstairs and Shane Stein Steichen scheming and the coach and the quarterback is capable, you're going to win the AFC South. It's not a very good division. Yeah, I also think, you know, everyone in the NFL goes through adversity, you get an injury, you know, something happens, how coaches I saw get, you know, get sick, get cancer. Who knows? All sorts of crazy stuff happens. I would say Andrew Luck randomly retiring when no one saw coming is one of the most traumatic events.

Just like in life, there are certain things that are easier to come back from. That event had ripple effects on the franchise for a long, long time. And most teams could not have overcome that. And they've tried. They actually kind of, they have not been embarrassing. but they finally found, like they've been band-dating it, Philip Rivers to Matt Ryan, and they finally found a younger player. You know, the thing with Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan, like, it was over for those guys, right?

And then they took this swing on Anthony Richardson, who's just not a good player, right? Yeah. So they got Daniel Jones, who I think we're honestly on one of the great runs. I remember being around the Raiders a lot, and they talked about Jim Plunkett. I mean, one of the craziest redemption stories of all time, right? High pick, Heisman's Roe v. and then wins the Super Bowl. But that for a long period of time

didn't really happen in the NFL. It was a lot of paid Mannings and Eli Mannings and Rathesburgers like Philip Rivers. You were drafted high, Carson Palmer, and you were good. And if you stunk, you were just bad. And now we got these guys who were just really bad, went through who were just thriving. And we got these mid-round,

the late-round picks, kicking ass and taking names. I mean, look at Mack Jones, who just kind of all of a sudden, this guy's terrible to just had one of the, great Thursday night performances in league history. So it's just, it's a time, it's a great time to be a quarterback with some talent because you're going to get an opportunity. 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 to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news.

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. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. 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. And 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, 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 on Humor 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get. your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to

hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral, moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself.

I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jenchian won. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now,

and I actually can win on any surface, because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. By the way, the Saints beat the Giants 2614, Jackson Dart, 2640, a couple hundred yards. Giants' first two drives were really good. And then, and I don't think I've ever seen this, they had five straight possessions with turnovers. and the Saints went on a 23, unanswered point run.

I wrote a couple things now. Malik Navors wasn't there. Tyrone Tracy, they're running back for the Giants. So they're not great to begin with. They didn't have a lot of their juice. And next week, the Giants now play Thursday against the Eagles off a loss. So, you know, one in four is one in five. But, you know, I watched Spencer Rattler.

And I've been doing this this year. I've been watching because it's supposed to be a strong quarterback draft. We'll get into that. It's not as strong as we thought. But Rattler was good on third down, 20 a 30. He's always had a nice arm. That's never been a question. I don't know if it's a power arm, but it's a, I would say he's kind of an easy

thrower. But I watched Spencer Rattler today, and I'm not sure the Saints draft a quarterback. I'm not sure they do. What do you make of it? Yeah, I mean, they just drafted the guy that's like 40 years old, the rookie, and Spencer Rattler beat him out pretty easy. I would imagine. Easily.

Listen, I've been really impressed with the Saints on offense. They are good on offense. It's defensively they don't have much talent. And most weeks, they have no chance to stop anybody. Like you said, I mean, they cause five turnovers. Some of them are, like, punched out of Scataboo's hands. Like, that's not happening most weeks. But their offense has not been the problem.

I don't think, listen, I watched a lot of football on Saturday most weeks like you do. I do not see a lot of saviors coming into the league next year. So who knows? I mean, this draft is pretty open. It doesn't feel even like that potent of a draft. So I think a lot of these quarterbacks that are on bad teams are going to continue to get to play. And if you need an answer at that spot, you're in some trouble because you know, you better hope to hit, you know, strike oil in the third or fourth round with one of these random guys. But for every Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy, most guys are like Tyler Shuck.

They get drafted in the second, third round. You never see anything of them. The history of the league is not a bunch of third rounders thriving in the NFL. No, no, it's people always, I've heard this before, oh, it's such a coin flip. Your best offensive tackles, your best defensive tackles, your best quarterbacks are all overwhelmingly first round guys. I mean, Jalen Hertz, Drew Breeze. They're occasional guys that dropped to the, you know, top of the second. But, I mean, there's a reason we all know what round Tom Brady was drafted him.

You know, there's a reason we know that DAC won in the fourth round. Like, there's a reason because it didn't happen very often. You know, there's a couple of college things I wanted to talk about with you. Because, again, I didn't think one of the downsides to the NFL being quarterback reliant, if you don't have a quarterback, you're out of it by week five. I mean, the Jets and the Giants are out of it. It's over. They're just, they can't compete.

The other thing is when you have so many games, like I think these dual Monday night football games are ridiculous. Nobody likes it. Well, it also takes another game out of the Sunday rotation. So, you know, again, if you'd have put Rams Niners today in the late window, along with the Seahawks Buccaneers, you'd have had one of the great late windows in recent memory, right? What's the business sense behind the double header? Because they're clearly doing it. Are they just trying to cook the books and get more people to watch? Amazon just paid a billion dollars for very few games.

So I get that. I understand Amazon you want to get a streamer in, but it takes a really, they usually put a pretty good game up. So Amazon gives you that money. Amazon's like, we'll do it, but we want winning teams. Remember when they first started Thursdays, and the Thursday games, oh, mostly sucked. Yeah. And then kind of quietly Fox did it for about a year. Remember that?

Fox did it for a very brief time. Got outbid eventually by Amazon, but Fox did it for about a year. And the games got better. And, you know, the reason I think it got better under Fox, this is my guess, is I watched the Fox schedule for about a year. I forget how long Fox had it. It wasn't very long, but you started seeing division matchups, which are easier because the teams don't have to travel as far, and they're built-in rivalries. So Ravens Steelers or Buck's Falcons, it's not as disruptive. Rams-Niners.

Right. So then the NFL looked at it and thought, you know, this whole thing we did on Fox, it kind of makes sense. Like don't have multiple time zone differences on these short week games, which is how it started. And then Amazon's like, okay, we like the way you're doing it now. and we want more good games. So they're putting pretty interesting games. If you go to these Thursday games, there's always at least one-star quarterback.

So you take Matt Stafford out of Sunday. Well, okay, Matt Stafford's great. And then you do a dual Monday. Okay, well, you take really good quarterbacks out of Sunday. So, I mean, today, I mean, there were three or four games I wanted to watch. And, I mean, like, and there was half of the lineup, I mean, Minnesota, Cleveland, you know, Cincinnati, Detroit. Arizona, Tennessee, either it was a mismatch or it's lobsided. So I don't like it at all.

I thought Saturday was once again fascinating. So there was always this kind of feeling the SEC would always say, hey, man, the reason this is such a great conference, anybody can beat anybody. Well, UCLA beat Penn State, 4237. So I don't hear SEC fans saying, you know, they look at the big tennis weakness. Well, you used to always pat yourself in the back because the eighth seed would beat the number two seed. And my takeaway was, I've always been a James Franklin supporter, but this is one of the things that makes the Big Ten tough. In the SEC, everybody's in the same time zone. You're asking

Oregon to go all the way cross-country. And now you're asking Penn State to go all the way cross-country. I watched Washington play Maryland. Washington was asleep in the first half, didn't wake up until the late third quarter, and then the offense looked great. But they just beat up by Ohio State, had to travel 3,000 miles. And then I'm watching UCLA and Penn State. Penn State didn't wake up until midway through the third. You're asking these college kids, you're traveling cross-country. You don't travel nearly as well as the NFL does.

You don't stay in the kind of hotels. You don't bring in 26 trainers. I mean, the NFL now travels, John, as you know. I mean, it's like staying at the Ritz Carlton going to a spa six hours a day. So I think what makes the Big Ten the problem for these coastal teams is, you're going to get some of these games in the middle of the season off a huge Oregon game. Penn State cross-country was just no juice. That was my take on it. Yeah, well, I think it's twofold. One, I think Penn State had treated that Oregon game like the Super Bowl.

That was going to be a season-defining game because if we beat this team, we finally get that, you know, kind of monkey off our back, we beat a top team, who's not as good as they had been, in theory, because they're a bunch of, younger. We should win this game. It's at night. And then they lose. So the way they had built the schedule leading into that game was a joke, right? They were playing FIU, Nevada. And then they lose that game in dramatic fashion almost felt like they had checked out. So you show up long cross country against my guy, Tim Skipper, Fresno State guy that takes over for DeShon Foster. Yeah. Who's Tim Skipper's brother is the running back coach for the bills. His dad's a longtime NFL coach. Just going to bring them juice.

Jerry New Heisel, who's been at UCLA as a player and a coach forever, they just kind of had a fuck-it mentality. And they unleashed Nico as a runner. And Penn State's just coming off this game that was their Super Bowl, lost it. And let's face it, no chance they had a great week of practice. I don't believe that for a second, which I understand. Because when you build something up, anything in life. With a young kid with 22-year-olds. Yeah.

So then all of a sudden they were down. If that game was six quarters, Penn State would have came back and won the game. Right? But they were down. And then all of a sudden, their quarterback's pretty overrated. Right. I mean, that's, I mean, it wasn't his fault. They lost the game. The defense was atrocious. But you know what, John, when I watch Drew Aller, there's not a lot of juice to it. There's no. He doesn't have a lot of, he doesn't have great instincts. He's not inspiring. He doesn't have tons of energy. He's just a big, strong kid. But when I, that was a game where you sort of needed your quarterback. say fellas, get on my back. Nico was doing that. Nico was doing that. Running guys over. It was just a fan of football.

And I grew up actually a pretty big UCLA fan. My cousin was a walk on there in the late 90s and early 2000s. That had to be the coolest UCLA moment in football in 10, 15 years. Well, remember when they came back and beat A&M? Yep. Remember, they came back at halftime. Similarly, not a lot of fans in the stands. And they beat Texas A&M.

It was like 44-41. It was just wild football game. But I don't know. I like James Franklin, but I think he's a great energy guy and a great recruiter. I think it's over after that moment. I mean, it's one thing to lose to Oregon, which it sucks because he's lost that game a lot. But, you know, they lose in overtime. They're clearly right there.

They were just in the final four. But you can't lose to UCLA as a 25. That is, you know, I think USC losing to Harbonne-Stanford was more out of left field. Right, that was in the peak of the Harbaugh of the dynasty. Stanford was an embarrassment. I think they had just been one and 11. Tevita Pritchard, they were 40-point underdogs. This might even be crazier, though,

because of the hype that was around this team, even though they just lost Oregon, I mean, I didn't think maybe they would cover because it was 25 points, but if you said, what would you guess the score, 45 to 25 or something? Yeah. Colin, Penn State, Jim Knowles, the guy that they took from Ohio State

is the highest paid defensive coordinator in the country. That's what Penn State just paid the defensive coordinator to come. UCLA had scored 57 points to start the season. They just scored 42. They scored 57 points. Nico had become kind of a running joke. He left all this money at Tennessee to come to this bad program. And you talk about inspiring, like how many runs he's just running over guys.

He looked like Cam Newton meets Lamar Jackson. He was, if he had played like that over the course early on with UCC, They clearly would have been in more games. I mean, it was just, to me, there was the human element, too. I mean, I love Tim Skipper. I've known him forever. But seeing Rick Neuheisel who had coached at UCLA, watching his son, who had played there. And now, you know, as an assistant coach, calling plays.

Jerry Newheisel found out he was calling plays like Tuesday night. You know, it's been very chaotic. They've two practices. Yeah. It's been very chaotic in that program. just, I mean, their coaching staff probably includes like seven total coaches right now. What a, I mean, the Rose Bowl, it feels like they've sold signage all over the place because they know people won't show up.

The whole thing's boarded off. Remember those old Raider games and like 20 years ago that used to be blacked out? Mount Davis was all tarped off. That's what the Rose Bowl feels like. If buyouts did not exist, I would say, if you told me James Franklin was fired this morning, I would have believed you but obviously the buyouts, the $50 million it does feel like it's at the point in time

I saw someone comparing it to Calipari. You know, Calipari eventually just kind of leaves. You know, James Franklin, it's kind of like John Harbaugh. Like if this, John Hart, no one thinks John Harbaugh or when people say it was a time for Mike Tomlin, these guys are bad coaches. You put James Franklin

at one, Florida, he'd be fine, he'd win. Is he Sabin or Kirby? No. But like maybe it's just run its course. He's been there 12, years and the resume speaks for itself. Last year was his opportunity and Alar throws that ball across his body and they lose Notre Dame or else they're in the national championship. Yep. Yeah, and I think the Calipari comp is spot on is that, you know, John could still coach, but when you're a when you're a dominating recruiter, the expectations ramp up because that stuff's now so transparent.

There's so many sites and fans get so worked up, the expectations ramp. up. You know, Mark Fuo always told me that he says, the great thing about Gonzaga, he goes, I can get three-star recruits. He goes, if I went to UCLA and I recruited the exact same class I did at Gonzaga, I'd get heat. And he goes, yeah, but that's our system. It works for our system and our players, and we keep getting to, you know, the tournament and winning games. You go to these big schools. Fans pay attention to that recruiting, and they go crazy when you get it. And then you got to win all these games. Chris Peterson's a great example, right? The team he had at Boise, if he had at UCLA or he had at Washington, they would have loved it.

But they would have hated the, they would have loved the team, but they would have hated the classes as the kids were coming in. That's right. They'd be like, Kellynne Moore, we don't want this guy as our quarterback. We want Arch Manning. One more college topic. Florida beat Texas. Billy Napier, every time you think he's done, he pulls one out.

They beat Texas and Arch Manning, 29 to 21. So listen, they have four new offensive linemen at Texas. the past protection is not great. But I got to tell you, I sat there and watched Arch Manning. He holds on the ball way too long, and he doesn't have a great instinctive feel. When I watched him this weekend, there were a couple moments, John, where I thought the game was in his head. Like he, like, double pumped on stuff, or he looked almost mechanical. He was afraid to take a big shot down the field.

And, you know, it's, I don't want to be too harsh. I'm not sure Archmanning, you know, there were some when he came out that said he went to a small school. He dominated average competition. But I've not really seen, I mean, he's got a great, he moves well, he's got the body, he's got the name. But there is something to be said about. He's still young about there's an it. You know, some guys just, you get him the ball and there's a confidence and there's an it. This Texas team, you know, Sark, for all the criticism, you know, he wins a lot of games. They're not a good football team now. Well, I think if you go back 15, 20 years ago, a guy like Arch gets several seasons, I think in the day and age where you're paying so much money

to individual players, I think his spots in major jeopardy in 2006. You just pay too much for the roster or two leave it in the chance of, seems like a good guy. obviously his uncles are legends. This isn't Peyton or Eli's son. This is Cooper's.

And if you removed, he threw a beautiful, like, deep bomb for a touchdown. You removed that play? I thought he was mostly atrocious yesterday. Yes. And this is, they played Florida. You know, they didn't just play, you know, Georgia or Obama. So A&M looks excellent. And, you know, Elko is known now with Sabin retiring right there with Kirby.

It's like the best defensive coordinator in the country. So this could get even weirder. And it's like, well, they're kind of a transition year. There are no transition years anymore at the top programs with the money. Ask Oregon. We're in a transition year. We bought it and we're moving. And we plan on winning and that.

They had to replace 11 offensive starters, Oregon. And they're great. So to me, I would say, I would say Arches positions in major jeopardy in 2026 because their mentality wouldn't you agree with the amount of money you're paying for a roster and a coaching staff, and the transfer portal now is to compete for national championships every single year. And you don't get like a three-year runway. Like out, the Drew Aller experience that this is his third year, pretty rare. But by a second year, you know, they were in the basically the final four. I don't know that Arches get in the second year.

You know, and I bet there would be some people that said, well, what if we had transitioned last year? I mean, there are people in Penn State saying we shouldn't have let the backup go to Missouri. We should have gone with that guy over Drew Aller. But these are the type question. you ask when you're at the top programs, you have access to all the sweet players. So if they go 8 and 4 and he continues to look like this, I just don't see him as a quarterback in 2026. I really don't. And that's just how this thing works. It's because you basically can cut a guy slash move on from a guy, force him out. Remember a couple years ago at Ohio State when they basically blamed it all on Kyle McCord? It's different because McCord.

's last name is not Manning. But again, like this pretty cutthroat now. I mean, you hear these Lane Kiffin, this become very transactional. You either get it done or you're done. And they're like, Kyle McCord, they blamed everything on Kyle McCord for losing to Michigan. Ironically, they lost to Michigan again. Now, granted, they won the National Championship of Will Howard.

But they just kind of forced you out. It's not like Arch's other people would want him, I'm sure. But he, his arm talents, there was a throw that Lagway made a deep bomb down the middle. just went, the physical attributes on this kid are just eye-opening. And then you watch Arch, you know, you said he was a good runner. They ran a couple like quarterback powers for him. He's okay. I mean, he's not Cam Newton or Lamar Jackson.

So with athleticism, he can't just take over that way. He's like, Drew Aller. He can move a little bit and he can bust off some runs, but I wouldn't call him a runner. And then watching the arm, he misses a lot of layups too. That's part of the problem. So the layups and Sarks getting guys open. Yeah, Sarks always. gotten guys open and he not only misses

layups, when you watch him sometimes, you're not quite sure he's got the right arm angle or the mechanics. Like, some of it looks bad. It just doesn't look right. It's, you know, again, Dante Moore can spin it. He can miss

and you're like, you know, like, Sam Darnold could throw a pick and you still like the delivery, you like the velocity. Like, I don't know, I just if his name was Arch Middilcoff and he was just a five-star normal quarterback, not famous last name. Is he benched right now? Yeah. All of our odds are presented by hard rock bet, a new and great partner at the volume. Let's talk Monday Night Football.

Kansas City minus three and a half at Jacksonville. So Jacksonville's probably the weakest home field advantage in the league. I don't trust them in big spots. And Trevor Lawrence is always good for a bad pick. I think I think I would take Kansas City in this. You know, it's one thing to say Kansas City just came off this impressive win over Baltimore, but we watched Baltimore get housed today at home by Houston. So I don't think it was a big win for Kansas City. I think by the third quarter, you know, they were on cruise control. But my takeaway is adding Xavier Worthy opens up the underneath routes for them.

I think I'd probably take Kansas City to cover, but because they don't have a run game, if they do lead, it is hard for Kansas City to eat the clock up and kind of just squeeze you to death, which gives Jacksonville a chance for a backdoor cover. But their home field's, not much of a home field. I'll take the Chiefs by a touchdown, what say you. Yeah, I'm in complete agreement here. I think Kansas City's got a little. I mean, when you have the success, they do almost like the Kevin Durant warriors. Like, they need extra motivation sometimes. It's not just the slow start kind of woke them up.

But now the chargers have all these injuries. They're not going to look the same missing their tackles. Yeah, charters are a mess. The Broncos are clearly still figuring it out. You've got the Ravens now imploding. You think Kansas City is losing sleep over Aaron Rogers. So the AFC, the bills, they've played them a million times. They beat them every time that mattered in the playoffs.

They're not intimidated to go to Buffalo. I think Kansas City now looks at the AFC goes, God, we just win a couple games. We're right back in it. This is still our conference. I think the Denver win helps the chief side. They watch that game and they're all in their hotel room tonight in Jacksonville going, guys, forget the chargers and the Raiders. We got to keep up with Denver.

So here's the thing. Jacksonville's defense is clearly pretty good. That unit is solid. The Trevor Lawrence thing I don't see. I wanted to believe a couple years ago, I'm completely out. You got Brian Thomas is having a weird year he's banged up. Travis Hunter's been just like MIA. It's just not really working out for what they give him.

I love Spags in this spot against Trevor Lawrence. Liam Cullen's good offensive coordinator. Trevor Lawrence, even last week against Robert Sala, wasn't that good. To me, this got like a 20 to 10 type feel. Kind of ugly. That's how the Chiefs like to play. The volume. Hey guys, it's us.

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