The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - BEST OF John Middlekauff - Broncos Incredible Turnaround, Packers Projections, Top 10 QBs, NFL Win Totals

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

Colin’s on vacation, so enjoy some of his best NFL takes along with “3 and Out” host John Middlekauff. Timeline: 3:45 Sean Payton’s incredible rebuild of the Denver Broncos 11:15 NFL win totals 26:45 Top 10 quarterbacks 35:00 “Culture builder” coaches 40:00 Disaster looming for the Dallas Cowboys? 57:45 Projections for the Packers (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.

Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me, or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with. laughs, tears, or tears of laughter.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Gianna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The volume. The rivalries, the marching bans, the upsets. All right, folks, college football's here. It's back. If you think you know the game, put your college football knowledge to the test. The Draft King Sportsbook. Big payouts. Live betting.

Rivalry week odds boosts. So much more. Draft King Sportsbook has everything you need. to stand on the action. Texas, Ohio State. That's interesting. So whether you're betting on your go-to team or making some mid-game momentum shifts,

Saturdays are yours to own at Draft King's Sportsbook. If you're a first-timer, bet five bucks. That's all you have to bet. You'll get $200 bucks in bonus bets immediately. So download the Draft King Sportsbook app. The code is Colin. That's me, C-O-L-I-N. $200 in your pocket.

If you bet just five bucks, in partnership with Draft King Sportsbook, The Crown is yours. Gambling Problem. Call 1-800-Gambler. In New York. Call 8-7-7-8-Hope-1. or text Hope and Y 467369. In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling.

Call 888-78-9-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas, 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Boyd in Ontario. Bonus beds expire seven days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.com slash audio.

Something popped in my head the other day. PFF had Sean Payton as the second best coach in the league. And I actually, and I'm not saying this because I get along with Sean, we really hit it off. But I'm also saying this. I don't think he's quite getting enough credit for what he's done in Denver. And some of that is Harbaugh soaks up so much of the glare because he's such a character. And then there's the reigning dynasty in the division. And now you got Pete Carolyn Chip Kelly.

So Denver sort of gets lost from a publicity standpoint. But John, think about this. So he goes into an organization. and the culture's broken, the quarterback's a mess, and there's impending new ownership. So he goes in the first year. I think they, one game, they win three more games. He makes Russ functional. He cleans up the offensive line from like 21st to like seventh.

It just got ranked second, by the way, PFF's grade starting the season. It's now second. last year with Herbert Mahomes Harbaugh Reed, he has a rookie quarterback. They end up leading the league in sacks. It is now a bona fide top offensive line with really one Cortland Sutton, one dependable weapon. And I just, I looked at them last year and I thought, I thought they'd be good with Bonix. I don't think we understand it. you start looking at that division. And in almost every other division

with the number two O line, Sean Payton, a very capable young quarterback, leader in Sacks, they get Greenlaw and Hufunga. I'm like, are we, I think what he's done there, the last year they make the playoffs with $89 million, I think it wasn't dead cap money. Are we undervaluing? Because of the glare with everybody else

what he's done in Denver. I've watched a couple of his press conferences during OTAs. He thinks his team's pretty good. he thinks his team's pretty good because defensively they got a chance to dominate. And if you have a dominant defense with an offensive coach who's proven like your floor is so high. I mean, your floor is immediately like 10 wins. And someone sent me this DM recently. They said, you know, everyone talks about Jaden.

And I understand why. But pull up the stats for Bo Nix and Jay. I think we talk about Bo Nicks like he threw 18 touchdowns. He threw 29 touchdowns. Now some of these are scheme touchdowns. but his numbers, you know, the accuracy is something that I think he has to work on. Now, the weapons, they have the running back in the draft. But I do think that, you know, is he a guy under Sean Payton?

If he just becomes like Sean Payton's version, even if he's not Drew Breeze or whatever, but just like a Jared Gough, a Brock Purdy, like a consistent starter for a while, they're going to be really good for a while. And I know last week you had the Chargers to, they could be to win the division. It's not inconceivable, right? Because he's a unique second-year player. How old is he? 25 years old? Like, he's played a lot of football.

And he, I think unless you watch him, he didn't move a lot at Oregon. Sean lets him move. And he can, I mean, he's an athlete. That, that dude is ripped. When I went to the Oregon, Utah game, I saw him play the Huskies, but I was up. So I bought really good seats for Oregon, Utah. I wanted to be behind Oregon's bench. And he's on the sideline, and he is cut.

and you just watch him in these NFL games. And I always kind of look at it when a quarterback runs, how's the outside linebacker? How's the outside linebacker stack up? He runs past him. I mean, when he gets ahead of steam going, he can move past guys. And I remember when Johnny Mansell broke into the league,

he went for a couple runs on the defensive end chased him down. And you're like, yeah, that's not going to work. That's just not going to work when that guy's chasing you down. But I, Sean is one of those no-nonsense guys. And he's a little gruff. I remember when he said something, and Aaron Rogers, you know, when he said something about Nat Hackett. And again, I don't think the media always gives Sean quite a fair shake because he's pretty rough and pretty direct. But that Huffunga pickup, you know, he's been banged up.

He's an elite safety. Well, to me, I mean, two years ago, he was all pro. In Greenlaw, I mean, a lot of question marks with his health. But if you, if one of those two guys is a full-time. player, let alone both of them, the violence of their defense will be, it'll be one of the, if not the hardest hitting defense in the league. I mean, they already were right up there last year. And, you know, we talk a lot about this when it comes to quarterbacks, especially young quarterbacks, is the intangibles, the maturity, the focus, the drive. You know,

Bo Nicks, and Jayden gets a lot of credit for that, rightfully so. Bo Nicks should be right there, too, in terms of, you know, the way they spoke about him in Oregon, his maturity. Also, what he's been through, a lot like Jaden. Like, and I would say unlike Jaden, it's easier to fail at Arizona State. No one really cares. Team hasn't made good. You struggle at Auburn when you're in his situation. Like that was a, that was like an NFL, the way they're covered, the amount of people that care.

The spotlight that was on him. Remember he was, I think his first start was against Justin Herbert. Remember that Oregon game a long long time ago? He won it. He made a big throw in the corner. He played a big throw as a freshman into the corner of the end zone to win it. and then his career just kind of unraveled as their program did. And then he went to Oregon.

You've seen him in two stable environments, Oregon and Denver, and he's thrived. So it's safe to say like, yeah, pretty impressive guy. I would bet on Bo Nix because Sean Payton clearly not going anywhere. I mean, they are a 12, 13 win season away from Sean Payton then getting a huge contract extension, right? He was given five years, 90 million. They have a good year and the trajectory of this franchise. And listen, I would have assumed when Sean got the job, that General Patton, the GM would have been fired.

And John, same. It feels like it's worked pretty seamlessly. They worked together. Maybe Sean's realized, like, got to pick my battles. Like, let's just get along. And it feels like they got a pretty stable, that's the thing with Pete Carroll and the Raiders. Like Jim Harbaugh's kind of matured.

Sean Payton's at a different stage in his life. Obviously, you know, Andy's the most human feature on the same. It's a really, really difficult division with these guys, like, that have really figured it out, that have cracked the code, of personality what it takes, the energy that it takes, what they're looking, they know exactly what they're looking for. It's pretty scary. Yeah, no, I think, I think actually, Patton's a pretty good GM. I thought, I didn't think the problem was, I thought the problem was hack it. And listen, it happens. I mean, Bob Kraft is a good owner. He hired Gerard Mayo,

and he just wasn't ready for it. Like, it happens. It's hard to hire coaches. I mean, they took a huge swing on Sean McVey in Los Angeles, they wouldn't let him out of the building. At was a, but, you know, at one point, Lane Kiffin was in the NFL and was a pretty good coach. The dysfunction of the Raiders ended that. And they hired Hackett, right, because they thought Rogers was going to come, which I would have done to at the time. I mean, that was. Yeah.

Listen, Josh McDaniels was a guest on my show, and we kept in touch. He's a really, really sharp guy. It just hasn't worked his head coach. He's a tremendous coordinator. So whatever the magic is, I don't know exactly what it is. Some guys work, some don't. I wanted to, so the overs and unders are coming out. So I want us to give the audience, have some fun here.

Two overs and two unders, and I'll start this. All the odds are provided by Draft King's sports book. So I'm going to give you an under, then you give me an under. And I'll give you another under. do two overs. So my first under is the chiefs at 11 and a half. Okay, Joe Tuny was by far and away the most, had the most dexterity of any of their offensive linemen. He's gone. They are now crossing their fingers on a backup left tackle from San Francisco. They were 11 and 0 in one possession games, right? And now the division is much better. The coaching and the quarterback

play Bo Nixon year two. Gino Smith, if they get a running back in the first round, Gino Smith has a 106 passer rating in Seattle on play action passing. Like, if you give him a run game, Gino's very good on third and two, right? He's very good with play action passing, second and five, third and two, third and three. So I don't think I would take the under. Now, maybe they just go 11 and 6, but I think the division is going to be improved. The quarterback play between Gino, second year, bow.

Again, I thought last year there were offensive line injuries with the chargers. My guess is they'll be healthier. Okay, what say you? Give me an under. Did you say 10.5 on that number? It's 11 and a half. Draft Kings has the chiefs at 11 and a half. I would bet the under.

Got you. They've won over 12 games, I think, every year in Mahon. has started beside one. But I hear you. It's, you can have a good year. I mean, they won a Super Bowl, win in 11. I would say,

an under, I like. I do think the 49ers who are, the Rams won that division and were really good. And honestly, I mean, a couple of plays away

from potentially beating the Eagles. Who knows, they might end up in the Super Bowl and win it. They wanted it at 10 and 7. Right. So, and they're a team going through a lot of transition. So the 49ers won six games, though they were in a lot of them. They kind of

melted at the end in a lot of them. So I actually think, I think a lot of people are going to think they're going to win like six or seven games. I think they're going to be better than people think. But once you start getting over 10, like 10 and a half, like you could win nine or 10 games, be that seven seed, hell, compete to win the division and have a good season. So I think the days, you know, definitely this season that's going to be very dependent on young, rookie players. Yeah, they have 12 draft picks. Yeah, I mean, we've seen the Rams the last couple years. I don't know exactly

and they've been a fantastic team at the end of the year. They're not winning 12 games. So I think the Niners probably more likely to win nine or ten games. I also think that division is just going to be the Cardinals are just a tough game every time you play them. Obviously the Rams are good in Seattle

going through a little bit of a transitional period, but their head coach, I think they're a pretty well-run operation. Yeah, listen. they're one of my unders too at 10 and a half. Seattle. Yeah. They tried to get Greenlaw back from Denver.

They did not want to lose Hufunga. Okay, those were two big defensive losses. And let's be honest, John, the Bosa's get hurt. When Bosa was off the field last year, they were not a very good defense. They were really inconsistent. So now Hufunga's gone, Greenlaw's gone, Bosa will miss a stretch, and it's not a great draft. So I don't think there's an impact player defensively. Maybe if they got like Will Johnson at Corner from Michigan, I think that would be a really, really, you'd have to be happy

with that. Yeah. But yeah, I think I have San Francisco as a under. So I have Kansas City. You have San Francisco. I have San Francisco. Give me another under. I would say, I think there's a chance Miami is like one of the worst teams in the NFL. Like it would not shock me if you tell me, And as you and I are sitting here doing a free draft a couple weeks, Miami's in the mix. Maybe they don't have the number one overall pick, but I could see them being like the Giants or the Patriots, drafted in three or four. It would not shock me to see them struggle to win four or five games. I think they're going to be terrible.

I thought that last year, and they just obviously, when two is on the field, they're more functional. It would not surprise me at all if this Tyreek situation doesn't go away. he ends up playing for another team this year. I don't know if that trade would happen during the draft. I know they pushed back against that, maybe at the end of training camp. But I just expect Miami to implode. I really do. I mean, I don't really like the Jets that much either.

But like even last year, the Jets do have a lot of good players. Oh, absolutely. I just don't think Miami has that many good players, and they are one concussion away from all of a sudden Zach Wilson's are starting quarterback. Yes. Okay, I'll give you an over. I think Brian Callahan's a good coach.

I think Will Levis is a really, really bad NFL quarterback. I don't think he was a great college quarterback. And so I look at the over under on Tennessee. And, you know, it's five and a half. Some have had it at six and a half. I think they clear that bar easily. First of all, Cam Ward's a playmaker. and nobody's got real film on him.

He didn't do a lot of straight pocket stuff in college. It was a lot of backyard stuff. And I think the league will take a while. And they did this with Jaden Daniels. It took a while to decode him. People were, Bo Nicks. You're not quite sure what he is. It's a weak division.

The Jags could be bad. The Colts would be bad. Houston should be pretty good, but not great. I think I'm going to take the Titans over. I think it's a pretty weak schedule. I think Cam Ward is one of the only players in the draft that can equal wins. I think people think Callahan's a pretty good coach. And Callahan didn't just lack trust in Will Levis.

If you listened to his post-game comments after losses, he lost them three games straight out. And you watched his body language, he almost resented that Will Levis was getting in the way of wins. And so Titans to me are an over. Yeah, I don't think people, you know, we talk a lot about the Browns because of because of Sean Watson's quarterback play. If I had the, a month in, no one was watching the Titans.

Their quarterback play was like historically poor. I mean, the turnovers, the sacks he was taking. It was their defense was actually pretty good. Yes. And like any team with a pretty good defense, when your offense is that crappy, by the time you get to like mid-November, they can't maintain that level of play because they're on the field so much. So if their offense is just solid, I'm with you.

I mean, he's got his dad there coaching offensive line. Massive upgrade just based on talent alone. I would say this. If you look at Vrable, like the linebacker version of Harbaugh, you know, wants to play defense, wants to run the ball, former players, just guys that just win. I think the Patriots were right up there with the Bears as one of the worst coach teams you will ever see last season. Why couldn't they go? nine and eight this year. If you go, the jets are going to be awful. I think the dolphins are going to be

worse. Listen, the bills, who cares, even if they sweep you. I could see the Patriots win in eight or nine games. Listen, they were seven and a half draft kings. They are now up to eight and a half. So the sharps, it looks like, were all over the Patriots. So New England was one of my overs. And I said the other day on the air, I said, I think Vrable from Gerard Mayo is worth three points. I think Drake May is worth another point based on sophomore season. And I think it's reasonable assume $190 million in free agency and eight to nine draft picks is worth one and a half to two points. So if they're just five and a half points to six points better. And again, you're talking about between the draft and free agency like eight to nine new starters.

For sure. And a couple of high end starters. You're talking about Drake May potentially with a Travis Hunter. you're talking about the worst coach team to probably one of the seven to eight to nine best coach teams. That's five and a half to six points. They were three and six in one possession games with a rookie quarterback. If that's just six and three, you don't have to go nine and oh. This is an eight to nine win team.

And again, the jets are a bit lost. I agree with you. Miami's a mess. So I think New England's in play. I would say the other team would be speaking of Harbaugh, the Chargers. You know, last year, I just didn't pull the trigger, and he did exactly what he, of course, the five seat. Well, this year it's nine and a half.

And everyone always gets off the scent with them during like free agency. Jim is not going to trade for DK Metcalfe and give him $150 million. Nope. He didn't do it last year. He's not going to do it this year. He won't do it next year. You know what he will do, though? In like the second round, all of a sudden, he will draft his starting tight end for the next seven years.

And in the third round, find a defensive tackle that everyone's going to like, this guy's not that sexy, who will just be a starter for him for a long time. Then you watch the season and you just go, God, their team is just physical and good. He has a really talented quarterback. Why couldn't they win 12 games? I mean, they're over under right now is nine and a half. I think they are a lock. I mean, Jim Harbaugh is now coached in the NFL five years and made the playoffs in four of them. So I don't know if they can overtake the chiefs, but it wouldn't shock me if it gets a little closer and don't let free agency fool you. He's never going to play and swim in that end. to the pool. They are never going to do that. But, you know, you've talked about this huge advantage

for Jim. All these kids coming in the draft, he's recruited them all, especially the good ones. So he's going to know these guys. It's going to be a huge point of difference for them. I would expect them to have a good draft. His GM, I think is pretty good. I mean, look at last year. It's like, how did they pass on Malik Dabors? I don't know. They just got their starting tackle for the next decade. So I think the Chargers, they fooled me is the wrong word. I just didn't have the Cajonis, just because I was like, I don't know if their roster is quite good enough. They're not going to have great rival receivers. He typically never does, and he always wins.

He won a national championship. He went to a Super Bowl. He's not exactly going to have Jerry Rice in his prime, and it's going to work out just fine. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? 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 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. 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, for 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 headwriter 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. 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 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. Jen she 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, Lena 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.

So I saw something. So ESB ended a survey of executives, coaches, scouts, and it came out their top 10 quarterbacks. And I was on the plane reading this today, and I thought, that's about as close is any top 10 quarterback list I've ever seen. It goes Mahomes, Allen Burrough, Lamar, Jaden, Stafford, Herbert Gough. I've always thought Gough, because he's not. not dynamic. He's not fun to root for. The guy was a number one pick out of Cal. He got to a Super Bowl. I've seen him out dual homes in big games. He's good. Then they go Hertz 9 and Baker 10. And I thought people, when I say this, that's about as good a list as I've seen. People would say, oh, what about Baker?

Well, I got Baker, if I did a list closer to 10 than 15 now. I think over the after last year, I think I kind of scratched down a list on the plane that I had him at like 12, but I'm not bothered at all that Baker. I think Baker and Darnold are both in that 10-11, 12 space. I'm totally comfortable with both. I'd say Baker now is two straight years and he has that second year in Cleveland and just looking at him on the golf course

and it's been talked about he's definitely lost Wade. He looks fantastic and there is an element. There's a far-viant element. If you remember when Dorsey took him number one overall, the intangible kind of the I would say this though for what makes Jalen kind of unique. And the arguments

over Jalen are such a waste of time. Like he one, literally won the Super Bowl, Super Bowl MVP, and I looked at his contract, by the end of like 2007, he will have accumulated $200 million playing football on the field, I'm sure he's making money. He won. Like, we can argue till we're blue in the face. Once he won the Super Bowl, like he's got an element that golf, I mean, hell, Lamar, Josh Allen, some of these guys are still chasing.

I think the top four, you know, Mahomes hasn't played as well in the regular season as those other three guys the last couple years. But we have full faith in him and the best. biggest moments to get it done and he has. The top four is just set. If you want to argue Burroughs second, Josh Allen second, I don't care. But like Mahomes is one. Then you can argue the ranking of the next three.

I think what makes Stafford unique, if all the teams were equal, like everyone had the same team. In a one game situation, in a month situation, he could outdo anyone and go to toe to toe to with anybody. Or Jared Gough, if I told you your offensive line had a lot of question marks, you would like a Jalen Hertz, even Baker more than golf. Yeah. I mean, he can't move.

Well, he's on the team with the best offensive line in the league. So it's, you know, he benefits from that. And that's where I think, you know, J. and Daniels, I would have had C.J. Stroud as like the fifth or six best quarterback last year. And if you look, I'm an honorable mention in that thing. Yeah.

So I thought I may have C.J. Stroud 10 and Baker 11-ish, that felt about right. I like Kyler. I still like Kyler Murray. So I'm in the minority here. I think he's elusive and I think he throws a great ball. But I think CJ's story kind of speaks to Jaden Daniels. I would say Jaden as a rookie, it's not apples to apples, but was better than C.J.

Just the eye test. You know, numbers, you we could argue, but just Jaden is about as good as it gets. But they did get to kind of fly under the radar most of the season until the playoffs. It's, you know, what makes Brady, Peyton, Tiger Woods, Aaron Judge, whoever, great players, is every single year, every single game, Aaron Donald for decade, everyone circled him all week long, and he still dominated. Reggie White, Lawrence Taylor. It's like, you know, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen have been keep a defensive coordinators up at night for a long time. And they still kick ass.

Same with Joe Burrell last year. Right. You know, Jane Daniels, this is going to, everyone's going to take them seriously. So I got a lot of respect for Dan Campbell and the Lions. Like early on, it's like, okay, the last couple years, like everyone has been approaching them. like one of the best teams in the league and they've answered the bell. Same with Jared. You know, we'll see Jaden Daniels like,

no one is sleeping on you this year. That's from the shittiest team to when you're playing the Packers, the Vikings. That's hard, you know? Well, even baseball figured it out with analytics is that they don't want a starter facing a batter for the third time, right? So you go through the order twice and then by the time you're going to face. So what they're telling you, even starting pitchers, even ACEs,

they want you out of there by the third time. Because a guy after a third groove on, on you gets a vibe because a lot of pictures get better, you know, Verlanderite and Wainwright in their prime. I thought Nolan Ryan was better fifth inning on. Can you imagine pulling Nolan out with a one hitter in the sixth? You do a Robin Ventura on you. But the reality is there is truth to what you're saying is it is very hard in the middle of the

marathon when you're on the treadmill to break down Jane Daniels over the course of two days on a couch in an office sleeping. And this is the solution. This is the kryptonite. When you give guys in off seats and these defensive coordinators, they find play. They go through all the analytics and find out he doesn't see to his right as well as his left. He's more accurate. So I do think he was miraculous.

But I'll also make this argument. If I told you you combine Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, that's what I thought Jaden Daniels was. I thought he was, I mean, Burrow to me is even better than Mahomes. If you told me a two-minute drill, a minute 50 left, no timeouts left. And protection is okay. I think Burroughs is good as anybody I've ever seen in the last 10 years. Now, Mahomes gets all the credit because Mahomes moves back. But you give him Chase and Higgins, Mahomes' numbers look a lot different, right?

You're right. That's fair. But I think Burroughs' ability on third down, third. and seven sitting upon little tiny weird windows. You're like, what in the hell? And I thought Jaden had that mixed with about 85% to 80% of Lamar Jackson. So I think, I thought Andrew Luck was the best rookie quarterback I've ever seen with bad teammates. I thought Jaden surpassed him. He didn't make the mistakes of luck. So my take is, even if he pulls back 15%, John, if you start looking at his third and fourth down numbers last year, fourth quarter numbers, they are Brady in his.

prime. I've been a lot of people, especially the Lamar defenders. If you just look at the number, you're like, how the hell do you have them fourth? But if you read the quotes, the executives and the coaches are very complimentary of Lamar. And I agree, his passing, the progress he's made from when he first won that MVP to the version, he's been in these last couple years in the rate. He's an elite player now. And he's a fantastic passer, at least in the regular season. And he wasn't that second half of that Bill's game. It just Mark Andrews had a couple drops. Jaden is already that immediately. like he's a dominant passer immediately. Now, if you tell me he, this year he throws 38 touchdowns and 10 picks,

I'd be like he's just on the crash course to be one of the great players of all time. I mean, if he just, because I thought that about CJ last year, it's like, God, he just games easy to him. And it gets hard. You know, offensive line wasn't quite as good. The offensive coordinator, that's the thing with Cliff. Seems like a great guy. And I know everyone in the league loves him, but I've seen his offense over the course of time get figured out a little bit. Now, I like Jaden more than I do, Kyler.

and it feels like, you know, that version of Kyler that he dealt with, the maturity was a major question mark, not a question mark with Jaden. But I do think it's difficult when everyone's gunning for you, like, you're an all pro immediately, you know, and it's just, that's not how they were treated last year on a weekly basis. And they are going to get the treatment. I think when you play the Washington commanders this year, you're not approaching the game that much different than when you're playing the Eagles.

Like this is a 12-13 win team. They plan on, they could win the Super Bowl, like fucking we are all in all. You know, Belichick used to go on these long, like diatribes when you play like a 1 and 11 Miami team. It's like Bill. Remember Julian got mad at me for this. It's like Julian. Not most people can't take these awful teams seriously, but Bill could. But everyone can.

And this is what Bill and Sabin was great at this too is that they really can kind of convince you. You don't need to convince when you're playing the 10 and one Baltimore Ravens or when you're playing the peak Alabama team in your Georgia, right? It's the team. You don't need a new Rockney speech. You're not going to need that when you're playing Washington. And for the last decade, if you're a seventh-year player on the Cowboys or the Eagles, like, you kind of cruise through the Washington game. That's no longer the case now.

Same thing with the Lions. And that's where I think Dan Campbell deserves a lot of credit with the way he's kind of, you know, he's a Harbaugh brother. I consider him the third Harbaugh brother, the way his intensity is and his focus. I know you were hard on him, but I do think he's proven to be pretty damn good, right? Yeah, no, I was wrong on Dan Campbell. I thought he was a bit of a meathead. And my take was, and I was just like, I don't know if he's smart enough.

The league's getting really smart, really clever offensively, and he's a little bit of a rah-rah guy. But you know what? It's so authentic. He is so passionate and it's so authentic. And I think the players can feel that authenticity and they buy into him. And I also think he has a great front office. And, I mean, it's just, that's a front office that doesn't go for Flash. I mean, prime example, a couple years ago, they get, you know, an inside lineback or a running back.

they're getting the best players available. This year they went heavy on interior offensive linemen. You know, it's got a Rams feel to it. And that's where he came from. Brad Holmes came from Los Angeles. That they just draft really good players. I mean, this year, you're like, do the Rams need another outside linebacker? They get a Michigan kid.

And they're like, he's great on tape. He's passionate. He plays hard. The Rams have, you know, no head cases. Detroit, similarly, like good guys. Like, all the Lions guys, like, Amaran St. Brown and Aidan Hutchison and Jared Gough and Pane Sewell. No A-holes. Like all really, really good guys. So there are people in this league. And I think Dan Campbell

has benefited from that, a really good GM, but he deserves credit. You know, I think in the NFL, you ask so much of players physically. This is why Mike Tomlin, his strength, Pete Carroll's strength. But Tomlin, Vrable, and Dan Campbell have a physicality. They look at like they could play right today. Yeah. Is that you, you ask so much of, I mean, if you have a bad thumb, you take a series off in baseball. It's understood.

If you have a bad calf, you take a road trip off in the NBA. It's understood. In the NFL, you play hurt. And the coach is going to ask you to play hurt. And so when you ask athletes or men, I don't care if you're a fire chief or a police chief, you're putting people in harm's way. there is a certain personality, an alpha personality that works. You know, you can't ask, the fire chief can't ask all those guys to run into buildings.

They got to believe those firemen have to believe that guy deeply cares about them as human beings beyond just coworkers. And I think Dan Campbell sells that. I think it's authentic. I think he loves his players. I think they feel it. I think McVeigh's got that quality too. And I think all the Harbaas do. They love their players.

And listen, I'm not selling Washington because I think Dan Quinn has characteristics of that as well. Yeah. Of being a tough guy who's defensive linemen in college, defensive coordinator, tough guy. But he's like a lovable tough guy. And that's very important. And I think he is, they're pretty lucky because I think it's going to be intense for them. But they have a coach who's been through the ringer, right? He's a guy that's been fired.

He had to reinvent his career. Obviously, I mean, what he did last year spoke for itself. You know, Dayball is a good example of like a couple years ago. I'm like, this is the best coaching job I've ever seen. He won nine games. I think they got like three total good players. But he's never been a head coach. And as time went on, it just kind of, you know, unraveled a little bit.

And you don't have as much to lean on. Dan Quinn, once you've been a head coach and you've been fired, you've kind of seen it all, especially when you've had success and you've worked for the best in the business. You know, you talk to anyone with the chiefs. There's no taking practices off. I mean, they're not winning these games late in the season and all these playoff games close because they have a bunch of guys that just chill Monday through or Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in October, November, and then start practice.

You are obligated to practice. I mean, it's a tough environment. No different with the Ravens, no different now with the chargers with the hardball. Like you said, it is hard. I mean, you practice way more than you play. And these coaches, they will push you to the limit of what they are allowed to use with the pads. You know, the CBA doesn't allow them to have that many physical practice like they used to.

but the Harbaugh brothers, obviously Andy, Mike Tomlin, Pete Carroll Shirley, will push it to the limit when it comes to that. So I just think the same teams are winning. We talk about this all the time or win it over and over. I mean, look at the top quarterbacks there on the list. They also benefit from playing. I mean, Burroughs somewhat of an outlier, but they all play with really well-run. I mean, Baker resurrected his career.

You know, if you would have put Baker in like Arizona the last couple years, probably doesn't look. But he goes to Tampa, best GM in the league, or one of them. of them, a bunch of good players, high-level guys, and boom, resurrects his career. He's matured, and same with Jared Gough. Jared Gough just talked about, you know, when he was traded, it really rattled them a couple years later, gets another big extension. And now he's, you know, I would say he's going to make five or six pro bowls in his time

in the NFC or, you know, or. Yeah, no, I. So they're not playing match to effort. Rams apparently dominated the Cowboys at that practice they had. and then they didn't play Matt Stafford and, you know, controlled the Cowboys when they played in the game. And I have said this. The Cowboys, I think, have one of the weaker staffs. I think the Micah and the Trayvon Diggs noise.

These guys don't, they want new deals. And, I mean, the Rams are playing Stetson Bennett. Like, they're not, they're, you know, who, by the way, I'm not, I mean, like, disappeared, came back. I'll throw this out. If I said to you, the two bottom teams in the NFL, I think the Giants are going to be won, mostly because of their quarterback situation and their center. I actually like some of their player.

Their schedule's brutal. Their schedule's absolutely brutal. They're going to go 0 and 4 against probably Washington and Philadelphia. At best, they split with Dallas. But I think we would both say, the Giants with the schedule and their quarterback situation, it's going to be pretty dire. we know Cleveland and the Saints could be really bad.

Dallas may not have playoff wins over the last 30 years, not many of them. Is it possible? They are a three-win team. Is it possible? I think it's very difficult that DAC plays a lot of games. If you tell me, DAC plays 15, 16 games, even really shitty, they're probably winning 15 or 60, or, I mean, five or six games. One thing Jerry's proven is they have had guys kind of come out of nowhere overshund.

draft pretty well. So they get some guys. Now, they nail their first round picks usually. Yeah, and they get some guys in the mid-rowns that are just saw some random guy on defense playing safety that you didn't. Who's just Doran Blan guy from Sack State, Fresno State transfer? They've been a pretty good drafting team, hard to overcome, you know, a coaching staff. If you're right, they don't have one of the good staff.

I mean, this guy was not, this guy would not have been a coordinator in the league. Now, some stuff, you know, it's perception. It's, you know, the buzz of, of your can. to see are you high or you low that matters in the NFL or college too and he was obviously not thought of like he once was but that's a fact he would not have been a coordinator in the league you know iber flus people think he's a good defensive coordinator well they just rehired him because they knew him you know because he was coaching on their staff several years ago kind of a classic jury thing micha parsons we have some i mean bosa was it two years ago sat out all camp and just

wasn't quite the same that season you know even if you're working on your own beside practice in the weight room with the training staff, it's not the same as getting the practice rep. So even if they sign them September 1st and he plays, or I guess they'd probably need to do a little before that because they're playing Thursday night football. But the expectation for them would have to be tempered a little bit. And they're depending on a ton of young guys on the offensive line. And that can be very hit or miss. Yeah, when it hits, it's awesome.

We saw the chiefs kind of doing that last year too. And it was like, whoa. You know, so it can flip on you quick. So it, three fields. I do think they have an infrastructure of guys that have won. Like even when Micah comes back, he's won a lot of games. Dak, C.D. Lamb, like they got some solid players. But I do think it could just be, they could be the last place team in the division.

If the coach is over his head and they're, I mean, they're pretty top-heavy. I mean, C.D. Lamb pulls a hamstring. What the hell are you going to do? Throw it at George Pickens? Yeah, I mean, I agree with you. And I was a little over the top. I, coaching's at least 30 to 40% of this league. It's a big part because, you know, the, you know, margins is, you know, the average game is decided by four to six points.

And, I mean, Mike McCarthy is a good coach and struggled in close games. I mean, they always had too many penalties with Mike McCarthy. They weren't good situationally. Some of that is, you know, Dak, Cooper Rush, Dak got banged up. Dak now, and he's never been a great thrower, Dak now is a pocket quarterback. So my take is the George Pickin acquisition could end up being, you know, we all looked at it and I went, oh, boy, ooh, immature.

It may have saved this team because you can't roll your coverage and run out of just C.D. Lamb, because George is such a hard physical matchup with his coaching, with his catching radius. My take is there's always an acquisition we look at. It was maybe Xavier McKinney for the Packers or somebody when they got him. Didn't they get him from the Giants? You look at it. You're like, God damn, he's a good football player. I think the George Pickens thing really ends up kind of at least making the Cowboys a good watch.

I mean, I'll watch the, I want to watch Pickens with Zach. I want to watch him with Brian Schottnibner. Is he listening to him? I mean, he wasn't listening to Mike Tomlin. He's going to listen to that guy. I think one, Gruden talked about this. Mike Lombardi talked about this, those latter years of Al Davis. And it was always probably like this.

But when it got really out of control, players knew that when the coordinator of the head coach got mad at him, they would just circumvent them and go right to the owner's office because they knew he was in charge if he wanted to of the plays of who got cut like he was he was very involved in football and he was making all the decisions that is not the case with all these teams right if you play for the chiefs you know who the boss is andy read you know you play for the good teams you know the boss the head coach and the GM you're not circumventing them to the owner right when that happens remember when chip Kelly got fired in

Philly and like some of the players were talking to Jeffrey Lurie. It was like, that's never a good sign. You know what? You don't hear that in Philadelphia. They know Howie and Siriani. Like, if you got an issue, you go to them, right? And I think these players, especially the last couple years, because Jerry, in the social media world we live in, he's so out front. He talks so much.

They knew Mike McCarthy, who had won a Super Bowl and won a ton of games. Like, ultimately, buddy, you're not the boss, right? We'll go to Jerry. if we have an issue. And then it'll just become a public thing. And it becomes a shit show. I think it's hard to overcome that. And I think they almost did because let's face it.

Like Mike kind of knows what he's doing. He has some limitations. And he's got to expose a couple times in the playoffs. But he's a pretty good coach. One 12 games, three years in a row with Jerry, which is not easy to do. Is Brian going to be able to handle that? Like what if Mike Parsons doesn't like what Iver Phelush is telling him once he's

finally signed? I mean, he's already been meat with Jerry. He just go up to Jerry's office. Hey, Jerry, we got, this is not. Can you talk to Eva, for us about running this coverage because that was a classic thing. Now, Al was more involved, like, truly with the scheme. But if I was a player and I had, if I thought the coach was an idiot and I had an owner like

Jerry, I'd go right up to his office or give him a call. Jerry, Stephen, this is not going to work for me. And that is immediate implosion. And that might be, if this team really goes down, that could be something that DAC and his leadership couldn't even overcome. That's where it could really be a problem. And I do think the gap between a Mike McCarthy and Brian Schottenheimer could be like at the forefront, be like, there's a gap between those two guys.

And remember last year, Mike, that got injured with the hamstring injury. And it was like, oh, they're fucked. And then as the season went on, you're like, you know, it's pretty respectable what they did. It's just like they're a well-run operation. There's a big gap. And we talked about this with Jim Harbaugh. They could be a disaster, but they still win eight or nine games, not two or three, right? like they did with that year with Brandon Staley when they imploded.

Well, the difference between eight and three or four can be a couple of players just quitting on you in October. And then all of a sudden, you kind of like start questioning yourself and it can implode. So maybe worst case scenario, you get weird stuff happening in an injury. Players quit on you and don't believe in you. It could be a problem. And that would be Jerry's fault. Jerry's created this, you know, culture gets thrown around a lot. But the culture in Dallas is just Jerry.

Yeah. You just kind of do what Jerry. he wants. Jerry's in control. Mike McCarthy plays out his last season. That was bizarre. The way he does these players. I mean, they're just kind of run right now. Really unlike all the respectable teams. And, you know, for three years with Mike McCarthy, I know they bombed out in the play. They were respectable 12 games every year, really good players. But all the other teams, the Packers, the Niners, all the teams they're losing to, they don't operate anything like that with their owner. But it's not going to stop as long as, you know,

It feels like it's getting worse, doesn't it? Yeah. No, I think going back to your initial comment, I think they're starting to feel like Al Davis, the last six or seven years. It's interesting what power does to men. I think women tend to age a little bit more gracefully. But wealthy guys, you know, could be Sumner Redstone. Is it Summer Redstone or Sumner Redstone? I forget. A lot of these old guys, they get a little crazy, and they lack self-awareness.

And most of them are not like Warren Buffett. It's like, hey, I could still do this for three or four more years, but it's time. And I think you see this. I mean, the NFL of all these sports ownership groups, it is a good old boys club. And they wouldn't, you know, they wouldn't even consider bringing in probably a market. Cuban like the NBA did. They wouldn't even consider it. And it's just, it's just a place where Jerry and Bob Kraft and Stan Cronky, there's a handful of owners who are highly influential. And Jerry knows it. And but the problem being is, you know, once, once you get close to the first number in your age being eight, it's different. I mean, I, Vin Scully was broadcasting, you know, in his 70s. You can, Al Michaels is 77.

There's a big gap. You start getting, you start getting 79, 80, 81. Your faculties aren't the same, you know, and it's like, and Jerry's lived hard. Jerry's lived a big life. Jerry parties. Jerry parties today. And Al lived a big life. And so it's not a shot.

It's just I think about this stuff all the time is that, yeah, I love to age gracefully and I probably won't. So I just, I think it's one of those things where it's become the Lakers a little bit. it's new ownership and it'll never happen would not be terrible like the bus family got you know Kobe's agent rob polinka is the GM and there's all sorts of friends and family cowboys just they're not the bears they're not totally dysfunctional in ownership with like 11 kids but they're not they're closer to the bears than they are to the Rams right now I agree they just have more money right yeah I think you bring up Robert Kraft obviously it ended really poorly

with Bill. But for those 20 years, Robert became a star, but Bill got to be the face, the, you know, the face of the team at the forefront of making the decisions. And he buried the responsibility good or bad. And he went out, right? Robert joined him when it was good. But if it was bad, Bill took the arrows. Al Davis, even in his prime, and Jerry in his prime, could not have gone 20 years with Bill Belichick getting all the credit of the good times. I mean, they proved that. I mean, Al would get rid of coaches in his prime when they were winning in Super Bowls. And obviously Jerry, I mean, had that early on.

It was like, Jimmy, you're out, you know? And again, that was when Jerry was sharp as attack. I mean, probably one of the more impressive business guys. And this is the mid-90s. So your personality does it only amplify and get more aggressive the more money you have? Like you said, now he's in his 80s. I just think it could get really, really weird. Because if the team's not good, he's still calling into that radio show every Tuesday

morning. He's still in the locker room, which doesn't happen anywhere else. I mean, it has, Dak and these guys are so numb to it because it's all they've ever seen. If you just put like, took some dude from like the Rams, you know, like just take like a Puka Nakua or just any other team and just put them on the Cowboys for like a week after the game in a locker room and the owner is over there. Like usually the press goes to the quarterback. They go to the guy that made that big play. When Jerry walks in that room and he's ready to hold court, they all go. Because his quote's going to make the headlines. And unlike those guys, that might not say anything, you know Jerry will.

Yeah. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, dude? 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. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, 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 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 headlines, 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 Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 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 went. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena 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. So you and I had a long discussion watching the Jets and the Packers last night over at Tito's. And we probably spent an hour just you and I before my crazy in-laws came over. And one of the things you talk me into is I've said all offseason. I don't know what the heck to do with the Packers. They won double-digit games last year, and Jordan Love was hurt early and didn't play great late.

Okay. But I was thinking about this when I woke up and you went to the airport, and I was thinking about this. I'm like, Detroit's coordinators, their replacements, really worry me. Chicago's offense and Caleb really worries me. J.J. McCarthy. I don't think there's any question. That Viking staff is just trying to build this confidence up. The whole camp is about his confidence.

I think I'm going to take the, even though the Packers got bolt raced by the Jets, I think I'm going to end up, before we get to J.J. McCarthy, I think I'm going to take the Packers. They've had a quiet offseason. And I think that stuff matters. I mean, you've got a Lions team that will not be as good because they lost two of the best coordinators. Whether Aaron, Glenn, and Ben Johnson hit his coaches, they were great, coordinators. You know, Aaron Glenn had a top 10 defense. They had like four starters out.

I mean, it's just, yeah, in an offensive division. And I just, I think you talked me into it is, and McIntyre's been on this too. Quiet, good coach, Jordan loves healthy, Green Bay is probably going to win that division. You wrote the Lions off after the Hall of Fame game. I'm out. I wouldn't go that far, though the theme of losing those two guys. I mean, the Hall of Fame game, I get it. I mean, they did look bad. But I do think losing those two guys, what Aaron Glenn brought to the table in terms of emotion, let alone the scheme. I mean, he was kind of the heartbeat of that team and then bend the brains.

It's just how do you replace that, right? I mean, it's like any industry, any business losing two employees at that high level. Even if you hit on one of the two, there's going to be a, you know, probably a dramatic drop off on one of them. And if it's the offense, that would be a big blow to Detroit, because offensively, that's really where they separated. You know, I do think Minnesota has a better roster, remove the quarterback. So do I. So do I. And you could argue, beside the Eagles and the NFC, no one's even on their level. You could argue minus the quarterback. They're right there with the Eagles. I mean, they got a pretty special roster. But I just think there's something

about the Packers. I mean, we're talking about it. I didn't even quite realize, you know, you live by the lake and then you kind of pull the map and you see the Green Bay's not really that far. And then I realize I get why the bears are so jealous of the Packers. You got the big, one of the great cities in the world. And you got this little town up the road. They've been kicking the bear's ass for 30 years. And now they're on their third quarterback. It's one thing.

It's like, okay, farm. I get it. We'll tip our hat to you. Then you get Rogers like, we're really going to take this for 15 years. And now you get Jordan Love who he had a couple throws yesterday. His talent is immense. Oh, no. Jacob's there.

Their offensive line's always good. They're high on this young quarterback. Their defense is now good. They're just that program. They're never going to be sexy like, you know, like their Ohio State football or, you know, what, what Andy Reid was early with Mahomes and the chief. We don't talk about them like that post-Rogers, but last year they won 11 games and they won one in the division, one, and their quarterback got hurt week one, which had to throw

them off a little bit, even though they won the next couple weeks with Malik Willis, which to me shows their coach is pretty good. You know, their coach is pretty, unlike Kevin O'Connell, like, he's won some playoff games. So I won the gambling values there. I mean, you're getting them at like two and a half to one to win the division. Google how many times they've won the division the last 30 years, a lot. I mean, they just do it a lot. I do think there's some internal pressure now that they got that Murphy guy, their president,

who kind of works as the owner is now Carmen policy son, Ed's in charge. So, I mean, this is a very, like, there's some of the line for Gutikins and LaFleur in a weird way, because they have a new boss. I just think they're flying under the radar. You know, and there's a lot of different ways to win. In Philadelphia, we don't think they have the best head coach, but they have the best roster. In Los Angeles, we don't think they have the best roster,

but we love the quarterback and the coach. You know, Green Bay, it's continuity. The division's got all sorts of turmoil, losing coordinators. Chicago can't get the quarterback right. Is J.J. McCarthy right? It's just continuity is, it's, I don't even know, the comp, IBM, like Microsoft. Microsoft's been great. It missed on the phone. There have been moments,

but you look up and you're like, yeah, AI, Microsoft's good. Green Bay has been really ahead of the curve on quarterbacks. They draft them early. They never draft offensive linemen in the first round. I couldn't tell you that are best offensive line. And you and I talked about this. There was a book written years ago called, maybe 30 years ago, called The Millionaire Next Door. And it was about how many people live next door to you. They pay off their home. They have a 401k. They live under their means and they're millionaires.

And they don't have huge salaries. And that really is the Packers. They're missing a bar stool leg, right? They don't have that free agent leg. Whereas a Philadelphia, a Miami, certain places, people want to go play in L.A. Devonte Adams didn't have to arm rustle him to get him to Sean McVey and Stafford and the Rams, right?

like Green Bay doesn't have that. So they have to draft and develop. Like the school teachers have to be smart with their money to become millionaires. In Green Bay, when you're forced, I don't think it's a coincidence that both New York teams are a bit of a mess. Why? Because they have great game day revenue. They got great local radio TV advertising revenue.

And they take big swings and they don't do their homework. Green Bay does their homework. And I just, I look at this organization and their continuity. their intelligence, their development. They almost develop like a really good college program. They really develop. In my comp, you know, a lot of times in college football, the underling goes and is a coach somewhere else, right?

Like, Sark's not at Alabama, right? Lane Kiffin's not at Alabama. Typically, these guys go off. I mean, honestly, when they tried to replace P. Carroll, it didn't go well. But in basketball, think about when Roy Williams replaced Dean Smith finally, because he just knew what worked in that program. Or John Shire now with Coach K. like there is a blueprint in that program that they know works.

Gutikins was taught from Ted Thompson, who was taught from Ron Wolf. Like there is a consistent theme in that organization that has never changed, which is pretty rare when you have turnover. Like the Eagles, Howie's been there for decades, right? So it's him. But when you look at like the Ravens, they went from Ozzy to DeCosta. So they have thought the, you know, on a very similar path. You'd even go from Kevin Colbert.

to Omar Khan now with the Steelers. Like he's, he was taught under that. It's pretty rare because a lot of times you fire someone, you bring in the best teams executive, right? That is not what is happening with the backers for decades. So there is connections. Like Goudicans can tell stories that Ron Wolfe told Ted Thompson about what they did in 1994 with Reggie White and Brett Farber,

trading for this guy or cutting this guy. And that is pretty rare. Like John Lynch can't tell stories of stuff that happened with Bill Walsh, like the personnel moves in 1989 or less need with Mike Martz and Dick Vermeal back in 1999. It's just, that's pretty rare. And I think that's the only reason that this little town, a couple hours above you sitting right now, dominates these big cities.

The volume. 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 out. 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. 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, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an acapella 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. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the Hipsons High School. Absolutely.

A redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drinks. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they hit a bogo. Well, then you got it.

Listen to soccer moms on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.