The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Jayden Daniels Is OROY, Vikings MUST Keep Darnold, 49ers Dilemma, College Football Playoff Blowouts

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down all the NFL and College Football Playoff action! They start with Brock Purdy throwing another terrible interception late in the game against the Dolphins and why the 49ers would be crazy to offer him the bag (4:00). They contrast Purdy’s performance to another amazing game from Sam Darnold and agree the Vikings would be crazy to let him leave in free agency (10:00). Despite the loss to the Lions, they offer some optimism for Bears fans for the future of Caleb Williams… if the Bears find the right head coach (23:30), and they debate whether the Lions high-flying offense can power them through the amount of injuries their defense has suffered (29:00). They laud the Commanders and Jayden Daniels for making the turnaround from “laughing stock” to playoffs after their comeback win over the Eagles (31:00) and Michael Penix Jr. for looking pro-ready in his debut for the Falcons (38:45).  They debate whether the Rams are capable of winning a first round playoff game (45:45) and whether the Jets should consider Aaron Rodgers offer to take a pay cut to return next season (56:15). They credit Lamar Jackson for having one of the best games of his career in a huge divisional win over the Steelers and argue he should receive far more accolades than the criticism he currently receives (1:04:15). They pivot to the first round of the College Football Playoff and why it wasn’t surprising to see so many blowouts (1:15:00). They rip Indiana for their gutless game plan in which they were just trying to avoid being embarrassed rather than win (1:22:00), and Colin changes his prediction for who ultimately hoists the trophy (1:25:30). Finally, they look ahead to the quarterfinal round and predict the winners (1:30:00). Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume #Herd #3andOutSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart 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. 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. 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 crying.

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Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. Let's talk about something really, really important.

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So Miami beats the 49ers 29. 2917. I thought this was a perfect example of a game that San Francisco was a little bit healthier. Miami's a finesse team. Forty-niners have a lot to play for. And for the second game in a row, Brock Purdy with a really ugly pick. I'm telling you, now, this team makes more big mistakes like Ricky Piersall lining up wrong, negating. a big Debo play that would have given them the lead, so it's not all on Brock Purdy. And it was a good day for Kiddle and Debo, so he's getting the ball to the right people. But that last interception by Brock Purdy, how can you watch that and think, yeah, I'm going to give this guy 50 large?

I mean, that, I'm watching Sam Darnold here, literally looks like a poor man's Josh Allen, playmaking, athletic, tough, taking a beating. Doesn't have a great run game. Justin Jefferson looks like Randy Moss, we'll get to that. A lot of this on San Francisco is as the roster has been diminished and aged, they don't have anything special at quarterback. That's the world I see right now. Yeah, speechless on that last throw, Colin. I just don't know. We talked about this last week when he threw the pick to end the game against the Rams.

Kyle Shanahan defended it last week during, you know, leading up to this game. I'm sorry, I'm not throwing go routes to Juan Jennings with the game on the line. That's not his style. And there was nobody in the vicinity of that throw in the Miami game. So to throw that ball as he's getting destroyed, we talked about this last week. He's got to hang his head on being an elite decision maker. That's right. Right.

He does not have the physical tools of the high-end guys. And this year, in big spots, he has made poor decisions. Like you said, I mean, throughout the game, he's a solid game manager. They did a good job today of throwing the ball to Debo, getting the ball to Debo. Debo looked like the guy they gave $60 million to a couple years ago, Kittle. But some plays that aren't schemed up, they need him to rise above it and he just can't. And this is why you can't make a decision before you get all the information. And listen, I mean, Kyle's the boss.

And if he's dead set on paying Brock Purdy, if I'm Jed York and the guy's cutting the check, like we got to have a serious conversation about this before we, we just watch Tua, who they're in that situation. Do they want to be paying them $160, $170 million? of course not. He's not good enough either. And I just think the amount of money we're talking, right? It's not a $50 million contract or a $70 million contract. You're guaranteeing at minimum what they're talking about, $180, $190 million because his representation has an argument. Well, look at Trevor Lawrence. He got $200 million guaranteed. It's like, okay, that's true, but I can't do that.

Why just because someone else makes a poor decision? Am I going to make a poor decision? We've seen everyone argue that with Deshawn Watson. Just because Jimmy Haslam gave him $230 million fully guaranteed doesn't mean we're going to do it. So I get the markets to market, but I'm not, I don't want that market for that guy. And this notion of like, you don't have anyone else. Well, he's got another year under his contract. So let's just, this year's a disaster for the 49ers. It's one thing to miss the playoffs to lose this game in Miami.

I mean, they lost more guys today, but Kyle Shanahan, I mean, they're now destined to be under 500. The Rams headed to the playoffs surely again. And by the way, and the Rams with a very young defense, they're not paying anybody. And now that Puka's free for another two years, Kyran Williams, look how many Rams are productive and they're not paying anything to. Think about that. I mean, Puka, Kyron Williams, young, the two defensive verse. Stud. I mean, they're curl the safety is one of the guys that made.

makes money. There's nine Rams. Now, they pay Cup and Stafford. There's nine Rams. Don't make any money and they're productive. Anybody that's slightly productive for the Niners, I mean, they're opening up the wallet too. Like going forward, I look at the Rams future. And they're going to win the division this year. And I'm like, boy, I would love to have that roster. I think San Francisco, I said this six weeks ago. I think they're worse off than they think. I think they have a real issue. Well, part of the reason I think they felt obligated to Brandon Ayyuk was because of his connection with the quarterback, and he made him and Brock had such a good rapport, and then his leg got snapped. So that's a big picture problem. It wasn't just a broken leg. I mean, you're talking about an ACL,

an MCL, like, it was a devastating knee injury. And now you have the question with the quarterback. The other thing is the 49ers have been a great place to play quarterback because they had all these yard after the catch wide receivers, and their defense was awesome. Well, now it turns out Dre Greenlaw's Ray Lewis Jr., and when he's not on the field, they get shredded. I mean, they get destroyed in the run game. So they need a quarterback. Well, okay, we need a top six, seven quarterback to help carry us. And listen, I like the guy.

I've defended them. But this is a business. And once we start talking these crazy numbers, and I don't care about the average per year and all that bullshit, the amount of guaranteed money at minimum, once you start talking the Tua's and the Trevor Lawrence's, I just, I have to press pause.

And these last couple weeks were pretty glaring, Colin, pretty glaring. Because they're trying to win these games. We're not tanking here. They are desperately trying to win these last two games. And Debo was productive and Kittle was productive and Jennings is on the field. Like, don't give me this. We're all beat up. It's like you've got three of your best weapons.

And I'm not talking cluster injuries. This isn't like the Rams early on when Puka, Cooper Cup and three of the offensive limo are out. That's not what we have here. We're missing Christian McCaffrey. And again, when the protection breaks down with Brock Purdy, he is barely outrunning 300-pound guys. Like he is there, you know, somebody told. me once, when it comes to quarterbacks in the NFL, there's got to be wow, to be a franchise guy. Like, you can watch, and let's pivot now to the Vikings beating Seattle 2724. When you

watch Sam Darnold, you can see wow. And I remember, even when he was with the Jets, I would tell people, you can put a two and a half minute YouTube tape together of his Jets highlights. And there are shit on there. You're like, oh my God, flying left, throwing across his body. Andy, and his connection to Justin Jefferson, who had 10 catches, 145 yards and two touchdowns, I honestly, I don't know how you let Darnold go. How do you break this tandem up? Well, to me, you can't. And I've been hammering this home for a long time. And it's not just Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison. I mean, these two guys are going to combine probably for 25 touchdowns. So your best player and one of the best players in the league, and I don't know where

Jordan Addison ranks on their team, but he's closer to the top than the 10th player. So the only goal you have as a team is to find the right quarterback. Whether you draft that guy, whether you trade for that guy, whether he lands in your lap as a $10 million

bridge quarterback and you turn out to kind of strike oil. Who cares? The 49ers, Purdy was a good example of that a couple years ago when they were able to pivot. They made the trade for Trey Lance. It blew up in their face. Brock Pertie fell in their lap at Mr. Irrelevant. And they were able to make back-to-back conference championships in a Super Bowl.

So, yeah, it sucked losing those first-round picks. Who cares? If J.G. McCart, do they win that game with a rookie quarterback on the road in Seattle in that environment in the wet? No chance. And Gino, I thought, was playing pretty well. I mean, that drive before Sam Darnel led him, it's like Seattle, that was a kitchen sink game for them, right?

They ran the fake punt. They had to, I mean, this was, their season felt like it was on the line a little bit today. Yeah. And I just don't understand how you could even contemplate. letting this guy walk out of the building. And maybe they'll go, we'll have to see with the PLEFs. You were in a position.

The Detroit Lions are having the best season in the history of the franchise, and you can take them out, right? Listen, the end of their season, you know, I still got the Packers next week. That's going to be a really hard game. Obviously, Green Bay gets a short week, so a little advantage of Minnesota. But I can't.

I couldn't even imagine having the conversation, honestly, because, I would be much more inclined to have, if I got to give the Trevor Lawrence contract to that, I wouldn't want to do it. And I would love to give the Baker Mayfield contract. But I got to keep that guy in the bill. How could you look Justin Jefferson in the face? He'd be like, don't worry with this young guy.

I know he tore his knee and then needed another surgery, but we got you, man, right? When you're on the cuss of being, I mean, they're one of the best teams in the NFL right now, Colin. It's not even debatable. Yeah, and unlike Detroit, they're healthy. Unlike the Eagles, they have no drama. I mean, if you start looking at, like, unlike Kansas City, they got better protection. You start looking at this team. Like, I kept waiting earlier in the year, week five, six, seven.

I said this thing, it won't. It won't last. Sam, I love him. But he can get reckless. I'm going to redo a stat here. I think this was the sixth game this year that Sam had multiple touchdown passes. Yeah. The last six game, it's the seventh game this year for Donald with multiple touchdowns and no picks.

He only had four of those in his career. So now, again, neither one of us is denying that Kevin O'Connell is a big part of this. But it's more than that. When you watch Sam on that final drive, he got the, you know what kicked out of him. He's making plays. It's a deep ball to Jefferson. He ran for that first down. Like you were seeing the entire Sam Darnold package, his toughness, his playmaking, his legs, his vision, his playmaking, his deep ball arm.

Like you, that last drive, if you'd never seen him play and you watch the last drive, you'd be like, who's this tough kid? He's got, I've said this. I thought his comp coming out. I didn't think he was nearly as good as Andrew Luck, but I said there's some, Andrew Luck was a big, tough, thick kid who, by the way, threw a lot of picks. Andrew could get a little reckless. Now, he's better than Sam. I'm not denying that. But when you watch him, there's just an innate playmaking ability.

There's a courage to the way luck and darnold play. Like, they're going to take chances and throw the ball in windows because they have such trust in their arm strength. And that in his career has gotten him in trouble. But I'm watching that today. And I'm, you know, I'm writing some notes down on the Darnold late fourth quarter drive. and I just think it encapsulates what makes Sam Sam. Do you remember, I think it was the second game of the season, they played the 49ers, and he threw like a hundred-yard touchdown.

They were pinned, and he threw a bomb. And the momentum started so strong early for him. Most people went, there's no way he will be able to continue this. And we're basically at Christmas, and he is doing, I mean, what he just did on that final drive, because you just listed all those characteristics. The intangibles at quarterback are also, I say, are defining separate. operator and toughness is a quality we don't talk enough about quarterback. That is clearly not a question mark with him, obviously resonating with his teammates. But I just get back to how could you

look all the good players on your team in the eye and go, this guy doesn't give us the best chance? Just figure it out. That's all these players are going to care about. And by the way, this is not a great roster. Defensively, it's kind of okay. So they're getting in these games where Sam becomes really pivotal because they can't, I mean, he's had a lot of these fourth quarter drives, it's not a dominating defense. It's with Brian Flores, they'll take risks. They take the ball away. But he's in a lot of these close games. They have put him to the, this is not like Jared Goff early in the season where you could just turn and hand it off with a dominant O line. They lost their left tackle. Aaron Jones isn't washed, but there's not a ton left. So a lot of

this offense is very Sam reliant. These wins are Sam reliant. Well, because they have a explosive wide receivers and he's got a huge arm and he's willing to let it rip. The other thing is, like, the way they fell into this, they didn't mortgage everything on Sam and then draft JJ and they have a $100 million contract like the Falcons did and now we're going to eat a bunch of dead money. They did this and then JJ McCarthy fell to him and they got aggressive and they got them and it just worked out. And then it turns out like, just figure out who the best one was. You know, Atlanta's in this weird spot where they're going to have to eat a bunch of money, waste money on his contract. Like no one blamed.

Minnesota for drafting J.J. McCarthy. But once you find this, like, this guy was, Kirk Cousins was a third or fourth round pick, right? It was 37 years old. This guy was a third overall pick who obviously his career got derailed, but in terms of size, arm strength, and now production. I mean, he's going to throw, my guess, over under 37-ish touchdowns, and they, I mean, they easily could go into the last week of the season with a chance to be the number one seat. But one of the chances that J.J. McCarthy in the next couple years leads to the number

one seat. One, coming off injury and two, he was a project. He didn't even have to, he never had to play like that in Michigan. Part of the thing was, like, we got to expand him. You know, he's got to, he's got to learn to kind of carry us, you know, as time goes on, because that's not how he played in college. Like, Sam's been used to that day one with the Jets. And now that it's kind of come together mentally, but the play, I mean, that throw to win the game to Justin. Jesus. He's, they're best players, Justin Jefferson, and he's one of the best players in the league. He looks like Pete Randy Moss right now with that guy. Yeah. So how you break that out?

I just don't, I don't think you can't, I don't think you can look your team in the eye, and I don't think you can do that to your fans. Well, it's the most wonderful time of the year for getting in all the basketball, football, hockey action at Draft King's Sportsbook. It's the season of giving, so we're being gifted college football and basketball, pro football, basketball, pro hockey to almost 24-7. It's an absolutely great time of the year. So a lot of games every day, so many opportunities to place your first bet.

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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, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series

because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing.

That man, hell get to fly. He run up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, You figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad.

But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy. but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong on what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life?

That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Joe Donno. You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives,

helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff rant and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Cream of chicken suit.

Hey, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrite as part of the Mike Coutura Podcast Network available on the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, I want to talk, it wasn't one of the closer games, but I think it deserves discussion. Detroit beat Chicago 3417. So Caleb was pretty good, 26 to 40, 332 yards. since week eight he's got 10 touchdowns and no picks. I mean, he's lost his head coach, his play caller. It's been massive controversy. He's in the best division in football.

So, you know, first of all, my take is, listen, this is a mess. We've got like the third coach this season. Like, it's a mess. We can all say that. This is a mess. But Caleb is six rushes, 40 throws. He's not throwing picks. And if you go back to his first year at U.S. and go to Oklahoma. That was always one of the remarkable things. And that's a trait of Mahomes. Generally, high-risk quarterbacks, luck, you know, Elway, Josh Allen, you know, risk-reward quarterbacks. You get a lot of turnovers. This is as bad, if they hire, let's say, Vrable, this is the most chaos he'll ever be

involved in. He's not throwing picks since week eight does not have one. And again, trailing in all these games. They only win one way. Now they have to win by shootout. So everybody in the ballpark knows they're throwing the football. That's my first takeaway. The second takeaway was, did you notice Detroit with the like fake fumble? And Peter Schroger had something on his Twitter account.

He said, you think maybe Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, is showing off for the Chicago brass saying, guys, I'm available. because it was funny, they didn't need to use that. You could argue, just save that for a playoff game. What are you doing? Save for the Vikings game to win the division probably. But it is, when Schreger put that, I thought, that is kind of interesting, is it not? I think you have to judge Caleb right now as like a draft prospect, because every game, they're down 15, nothing, 20, nothing before you can blink. So a lot of his big passes, which you could see, his arm strength jumps off the TV screen.

but Detroit's defense with the injuries right now is pretty putrid, so you can throw on him. And it's just when he is making these great plays, the game's already out of hand. So you're just judging him like, can I mold that talent? Can we improve the team? And even Ben,

I saw Ben Johnson gave some quotes this week, just seeing him on cross tape. Obviously, his talent is, it's a tangible thing to watch. I do have a hard time, like, winning football. Like, they got a long way to go, the whole franchise. It is just, Just because he's talented.

We've seen a lot of talented quarterbacks in bad spots get to rail. I think best case scenario, if I'm a Bears fan, you look at this year like the Rams that first year with golf with Jeff Fisher and just keep your fingers crossed that you can land to McVeigh, whether that's Vrable, whether that's Ben Johnson into a complete turnaround. Because they are, I thought early in that game it had one, two, three, Cancun written all over it. Yeah. The team is in disarray.

I mean, they have some parallels to the Jets where they fired Iber Fluse and they got dramatically worse, you know, than more got put on the plate of the offensive coordinator. But, like, he's not playing, to me, it's hard to judge. Like, what does that look like when it's 17 to 17? You're playing a real scheme defense in the third quarter. Like, he's not in any of those environments. So you're just, you're going to have to base it on, can I mold that talent and can I improve the team?

Because right now, none of their plays really matter. Like you said, it's more positive. The negative is not like he's throwing three picks a game. But I have a hard time judging anything with the best. Bears besides just they are the ultimate dumpster fire right now. It's pretty sad because you watch some of these teams like the tight every time you look up the Titans or the Raiders or the Jags, they have a lot of bad players playing. You watch the Bears like they got really good players. Yeah. Like if they get the right coach, you could see them being a nine or 10 win team because

they have four high end starters, but they are just in such disarray early in this game in every game they play. I mean, they've been down 24 nothing to Niners, 16 nothing to the Lions. They're down again 20 to nothing before the even end of the first half today. And it's just like, what does this game even mean? And then all of a sudden, if you're the other team, you kind of, you're like, let's be careful here. Like you said, the first half. Pretty alarming that Ben did run that trick play in that spot. Like, why would he do that? It felt, when Schrager put that, I thought it's not a, it's pretty good take. Jamir Gibbs had 20 first half carries. So there's no Montgomery now. And my, my first take was, I went and looked. I'm like, Jesus, they're just giving this

guy the rock every play. And, you know, I love the run game, but you got to have two studs. Kiron Williams for the Rams, like Blake Corum, if they don't trust him, whatever it is, they just don't give him the ball much. I mean, Kyron Williams, 25 carries is what he does and he's a smaller back. I'm looking at Jemir Gibbs. He's more the lightning, right? He's, he is kind of the home run hitter. I look at this and I think if they got to the NFC championship, you go two more weeks, then you got two playoff games, boy, he better not get hurt because he's going to have to carry the ball. Because with this defense, let's be honest, John, you don't want, you don't want golf throwing 40 times. You want to close these games out. You don't want your

defense on the field. You want to keep that defense, that injury riddle lines defense on the field. Gibbs carrying it 20 times in the first half. My first takeaway is, how sustainable is that? I think getting the home field advantage for them is bigger than any team in the league, including the chiefs who feel more than likely they're going to get it now. They are desperate need of some guys going back on defense because this is not a seven-game series. And if your offense has an off-half against the Packers, against the Eagles, against one of these good teams against the Vikings in a playoff game, you would be in trouble because those teams can score.

So, like, I have a hard time watching that Lions defense. And who knows? I mean, they keep showing the IR list every single week, 19 guys, you know, on injured reserve. Their offense is pretty freaking good, though, even without Montgomery. I mean, Laporte is a stud. Jameson Williams, just one of the faster guys in the league. Obviously, St. Brown is just an incredible over the middle. And they have an offensive coordinator who's just a lead as job.

I mean, the cohesion they have. But I don't know if they can win the NFC with all these injuries. I just think it's really, really, we saw it in college football. if you get into a cold weather situation, they could easily be the five seat. I mean, we'll see how these next 15, 20 days play out, but you've got to go outdoor. It's not as high as scoring.

You've got to play defense. We know they can run the ball, but you've got to be able to play defense. And they would be able to play defense if everyone was healthy, but it's just not. And it would be pretty sad because of how great of a season they had, but it's an all-time. It's pretty remarkable that their record is their record,

given the injuries didn't start last week. I mean, they've been going for a month, Plus, and even back to Aden Hutchinson a long time ago. So I give Dan Campbell a lot of credit because a lot of teams would have just cracked a little bit. And they just found a way. I mean, they came out today. And listen, obviously the Bears stink. They came out today ready to kick ass and take names.

Our Week 16 reaction presented by Uber Eats, get game day deals all season long on Uber Eats. It's time to look at this weekend's tastiest matchup. And this week's Sunday night football brought to you by Uber Eats. Washington beats Philadelphia 3633. There's an asterisk because Jalen Hertz had a concussion. Kenny Pickett came in. Kenny Pickett was okay. Actually, his first pass was a home run down to A.J. Brown.

Smart kiddy knew where to go with the ball. But so this is the second year in a row where a tire fire of a franchise, last year it was Houston. This year it's Washington. A laughing stock for a decade plus. You bring in a new coach, a sharp offensive coordinator. a very good rookie quarterback who's taken second, and you're going to make the playoffs. And it's like, this is why the NFL is king.

And if you watch Jaden Daniels, who ended up with five touchdown passes against the number one defense, Philadelphia, there was that game winning drive, and there was some turnovers early. It was pretty choppy. But if you watch that game winning drive, you're like, yeah, that's what a franchise quarterback looks like. And I just go back to this.

It's one of the things, I mean, has this kid to throw the ball 39 times against a very good defense. And, you know, Philadelphia had a big lead. So that's a tough environment. Great defense. Well coached team. Good pass rush. I think if I'm, you know, when people said, the reason I picked the commanders to make the playoffs, I think it was my, every year I pick a dark horse team to make the playoffs. And the reason I pick Washington and I said, if you go back and look at how bad, the previous owner was and the previous GM and the previous coach. You had to clean out everybody.

I don't know if Washington can win a playoff game, but I thought today, and again, Jalen Hertz's concussion is out. I think they're like Tampa. I think there are a really live dog in the playoffs. Do you? Yeah, I mean, the quarterback's pretty remarkable. You know, for his great, obviously Lamar Jackson's become one of the best players we've ever seen. but this guy is better as a rookie than Lamar was as a rookie.

Now, in fairness, Lamar had only played a couple years in college. This guy was there for five plus years, but he is much more polished year one than Lamar. And his game is somewhat similar, right? I mean, his legs today, he made some huge plays with his legs. Huge. And, like, listen, Jalen went out, and that's huge. I mean, I'm not a big, can he pick a guy at all. But he's not playing Jalen Hurts.

He's playing Vic Fangio in that defense, which is, I mean, not just healthy, an awesome defensive line, and he was carving them up. I think he, he's blown me away. I always hesitate to think rookies are going to take the league by storm. It's why everyone, Caleb, I say, this league's so hard. To do that at this point in time in the season, their season wasn't on the line or whatever, but they easily could have lost this game. Everything was going to be okay, and he just wouldn't let them lose.

And they are, and he's throwing to guys, a couple guys, I don't even, I've, follow this stuff for a living. I'm like, who's that? You got to Google them, right? And it's, it's not Christian McCaffrey. He's his brother Luke McCaffrey. And Terry McClearn is a really good player. But he's not Justin Jefferson. And those guys, I mean, those two look like Montana and Rice when they're connected. Their cohesion year one is just out of this world. And like you said, it is amazing, you know, in football. So many people go, why doesn't Virginia McCaskey sell or why doesn't Mark Davis sell? It's like, guys, you would much rather have the six or seven billion dollar asset and live your life through the asset, which is going to be completely the same as

having all the cash and you have to give half the cash to the government and no one then cares about you and you're completely a relative. These people don't sell if they don't have to. You know, Dan Snyder basically had to. They got lucky that it all played out that way and they just got a real franchise again. But what really separates you, you know, Dan Quinn's clearly solid is when you get a special quarterback, it changes your franchise forever. I think Sean McDermott's good and their GM is good, but Josh Allen is the reason that the bills are the bills, right? And this guy is going to be the reason that this franchise. I mean, if you had to pick a quarterback for the next 10 years in that division, you wouldn't hesitate to pick Jaden over Jalen.

And Jalen's a good player. Yeah, I take Jaden Daniels. Yeah, Jaden's better already. I think I trust him more from the pocket. And I'm not even talking money. I'm saying if they all made the same amount of money, if they all things were equal. I know one guy is on a rookie contract. I'm saying even if that didn't exist, you would take him. I mean, his physical characteristics, you know, Jalen's a good runner. This guy's a

much more explosive runner. Jalen's more of a power runner. And like you said, he is, his accuracy, you know, that was one of the things coming from college. He was great deep ball thrower. Well, yeah, he had Malik neighbors and Brian Thomas. I mean, two guys that have a chance to be like all pro players in the NFL. You're like, how is this going to translate to the NFL? And it is because it's like third down plays, accuracy over the middle. Obviously, he can throw the go route, which he has done all season long. But like, it'll be third and seven. It'll keep a play alive and hit Erch or someone over the middle.

You're like, damn. And Kingsbury, what a great hire. And this gets back to ownership. What happened? The Raiders only offered him a two-year deal. They were kind of low-balling them. The new owner comes in, hey, we'll guarantee you three years, $10 million. Come here.

Come work with the number two overall quarterback. Cool, I'm there. So it's like, we don't talk a lot. We do that a lot with like free agency or you should have traded up for this player in the draft. But coaches, Mark Davis would only offer him a two-year deal. Why? Because Mark Davis knew that he might fire his coach. Well, if you're going to live in that world, you're going to lose out on a guy. Now, would that have changed much for the Raiders? Who knows? But Antonio Pierce wanted him. And then all of a sudden something changes,

and he's with Washington. And safe to say that that was a huge moment for the franchise landing in Kingsbury because him, I mean, he's so good with these running and mobile quarterbacks. I mean, that's rookie of the year. Is it even a question now? Or is him Bo Nicks? Because I thought Bo Nix had kind of surpassed him and it feels like Jaden after this win. Well, and it does matter that Washington's in that cowboy Philadelphia giant division. Those are big games.

You know, it's Bo's playing against Mahomes. But I think sometimes Jaden got off to a hot start and Jaden's getting, is closing it with dramatic win. So it probably now is back in Jaden Daniels court. But, you know, you can do so many things. right in this league. And if you don't have quarterback right, you're screwed. It just doesn't matter. No chance. You know, I mean, a great example is that is the Colts. I think they have a really good roster. But, you know, they won a game today with seven completions. Like Anthony Richardson, I was texting an executive in a league today. And I'm like, you just, you got to go after

Sam Darnold. You can't win in this league completing seven and eight passes. That's, you can tell by what a coach calls, what he thinks of his quarterback. And like, the Colts don't want to throw the ball. They just don't want to throw the ball. So when I look at Jaden Daniels, I think the thing that blew me away day one was, I remember early in the year, they were having him throw from the end zone. And Sean Payton has Bow Knicks throwing from the end zone. Like Kingsbury doesn't care. He'll have that kid at the four-yard line roll out in the end zone. You don't care. And like, what you're telling me is, is you, he's a veteran. That was this week's Sunday night football. Brought to you by Uber Eats, has the official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL.

Eat has the best game day deals all season long. Order now for game day. I saw Michael Pennix today. He looked like an eight-year event. He had he had a pick that wasn't his fault. Atlanta dropped some passes, but I watched Michael Pennix today, you know, and again, 34-7 over the Giants, but 18 to 27, a couple hundred yards. You could just see the poise and the accuracy. I mean, I thought Pennix looked pretty good. I thought even twice he threw the ball away, And I was like, oh, yeah, he even, he even had acumen and like, he was very quick, very quick. You know, he's got these mitts for hands so he can almost palm the ball. He's, you know, he can, he's a pocket quarterback, but I don't look at him like golf or two of because just the way he played in crappy outdoor weather, Indiana and Washington.

He's got huge mitts. I think his ball cuts through rain and wind. But I watched him today, and it was sort of like even when he was throwing the ball away, it was like, oh, he's totally under. control. You know, think about this quarterback class. They all, I know there's only his first start. And I, a lot of people are like, well, his penics, his box score wasn't great. Like, did you guys watch the game? If you watch the game, he looks light years better and more, his arms more lively and quicker than cousins. My question was, why didn't they make this move three weeks ago? You know, why did they wait so long? You know, you know, how they waited?

$90 million? They, Arthur Blank wrote a check. And he's like, guys, we got a lot of heat for this. we better squeeze every last ounce of juice out of that check. I think it's basically the owner. It's like, okay, now, they may have waited one game too long, but I think when you write that check, because I said I thought, I thought Cousins was good until Thanksgiving next year, and he made it true about Thanksgiving this year, and then he fell off a cliff. But I think that's the reason. I was listening to a podcast this week for a guy that used to work with Steve Cohen on his trading desk.

And Steve's big thing always was when you see a loser. you have to pivot or we're just going to lose more money. And I think if they end up missing the playoffs, they wrote that the money was already spent. You already did it. The mistake already happened. You made this draft choice who, I think Schrager or someone reported he hadn't been getting any reps.

You know, in practice, the backup doesn't get many reps. And when you have a veteran like cousins, he got no reps all season. I mean, with the scout team, but you're not running your own offense. So he's just thrown into the fire today when he's been over-servicing the defense. This is not like there's not a rotation.

going on in the NFL. So he's just thrown into the fire. And this was a thing with Pennix. He was a ready-made guy. This is a 24-year-old who's been planning college for 10 years. He wasn't a J.J. McCarthy or Drake May project. I think this, we see all the time over the last decade, these draft classes that have three or four guys to get drafted in the first round.

And usually half of them after the first year, we're like, oh, oh, all these guys. I mean, obviously Caleb's physical abilities jump out. Jaden has got to be one of the best rookie quarterbacks in recent memory. Drake May, I mean, he's dealing with a shit show there. And you watch that first drive today, he threw a beautiful touchdown against the bill. You're like, God, I understand why if mail is fired, a lot of people would be interested in this job. You watch Pennix. You're like, God, this kind of looks like Washington.

Like just his mannerisms. Bo Nix has gotten better and better and better and better. And that's the thing where it's like, you're just going to risk the percentages aren't on your side that, oh, yeah, JJ's also going to hit. And all six of these guys are going to be good. players. When you got Sam Darnold in your lap, I think back to the Darnold thing, at minimum, you got to franchise them. That's what I think. Let him hit the open market and get to a bidding ward. No, you just franchise them and then figure it out from there. Minimum. If you're not,

if you can't just extend them, which I would do. Yeah, I think when I watch Panics today, um, as Atlanta won 34 to 7, um, first thing is poise. Second is accuracy. Not afraid to throw the ball down the field. But it goes back to something. Herbert, first game. You could see it. Burrow, first second game, you could see it. C.J. Stroud, second game, you could see it. Mahomes, first game, year one, week 17, you could see it. Even Lamar, when he came in week 11 for Baltimore, you're like, holy shit, what is that? That doesn't look like anything. We try to talk our, I mean, I was talking to giant fans four years into Daniel Jones, and they're blaming. And I'm always like, if a guy is an if, like, if the old line's great. And if he's got, he's not. He's not.

a guy. And like, it's like anything else. If you have to talk yourself into stuff, then it's not really, it's not true. You watch Pennix today. I would absolutely stand behind. That guy's going to play for 10 years in this league. If injuries don't get in the way, that's a 10 year starter and a multiple pro bowler. I think if I'm Arthur Blank today, I go, are we not a nine or 10 win today if Pennix had just been our full-time starter? And we had that nine. $90, $100 million that we gave Kirk Cousins to allocate on other positions that we desperately needed. And then this offseason, because no one's going to trade for a $27.5 million, $37-year-old player that's declining, that we're going to have to cut and then have a $35 million dead cap in the

second year of our rookie quarterback. I mean, it's just, it's pretty bad business. And when you look at the last couple years of teams that needed some bridge quarterbacks, right, the bucks last year, they get Baker Mayfield for $4 or $5 million this year and they make the playoffs. This year, You get Sam Darnold for $10 million. Boom, you're competing for the number one seat. And we paid a guy coming off an Achilles who clearly that injury has affected his biomechanics of his arm strength, which is extremely weak. Isn't it interesting? Aaron was bad early.

He's better now. Kirk was good early. He fell off the cliff. So their bodies have reacted differently to it. Aaron actually in the last four weeks has been pretty damn good. Cousin's now. Farst to period. Rathlete.

Yeah. That's probably it. Yeah. Yeah, I think that has to be it. I mean, far superior, like a guy in a, if you're just ranking them, you know, if Lamar's a 10, you know, Aaron's like a 7. And Kirk, for NFL standards, what's Kirk? Three, two? I mean, it's pretty low.

And did you have that number that, remember, he threw a pick six, what was this, charger game? And it was the slowest pass of the year in the NFL or something. And I truly, listen, I'm no doctor or trainer, but clearly that's affecting him. Because I thought last year before he got hurt, his arm strength was much stronger. than it was early on in his career. And I think they kind of bet on that guy when in the history of sports. And I know we have gotten, I would say a little spoiled because of Tom's run at 45. Let's just put in LeBron, those guys are outliers.

Most guys, when they have an injury, fall off a cliff. And that's what happened to Cousins. And I truly believe that you had all these new people and then they fell in love with Pennix after the signing. And it was, I hated the move at the time because I thought Pennix, if you would have drafted Drake May or J.J. McCarthy, but like, okay, Pettix was not a sit behind a guy. Just start him immediately. And I, listen, maybe they wouldn't have been good enough, but I know just watching him.

He's way more talented this year and today than cousins. I don't even think it's close. Yeah. So, Rams beat the Jets 19 to 9. Another strange, ugly first half for Stafford and McVeigh, which, you know, your first half is your scripted half, a really rough first half, but they had a great fourth quarter. The Jets had a fourth quarter league and just evaporated. The Rams are now seven and four and one score games, and the Jets are three and seven and one score games. So the

Jets have been in games and they can't make plays late. And that was typical today. It was penalties. You know what? It's interesting. They got Tyler Higby, their top, tight end back. So that's another weapon. So the Rams for the first time all year are completely healthy on offense. They have all their starters back. This was the first game. But it's funny, they're healthy and they're hot. It was the third straight game with no sacks allowed. So I think we would both agree that when Stafford's upright and not pressured, he's a top four quarterback in the league. I mean, he is sensational.

But when I watch them and then I watch, you know, it's funny when you watch the Rams win, what I see is coaching excellence. Like they just don't make a lot of mistakes. Now, Kyron Williams got an unsportsman like Panalee today that killed a drive and they settled for a field goal. but it wasn't punitive. It didn't cause a loss. But do you, I watch the Rams and I'm like, they're five players away. I just, I think they're good enough to narrowly win a playoff game, but Minnesota's so good.

Detroit and Philly have much better rosters. I think Green Bay is just getting better, like on a weekly basis. Can the Rams win a playoff game? Because they're going to win their division. Well, more than likely they're going to be the three seed and Green Bay is going to be the six. That's a pretty tough first round. matchup. I would take Green Bay. And Green Bay is pretty well suited to play indoors and score a lot of points, right? I mean, that's some serious team speed. What did they do last year when they played

indoors against the Cowboys? They lit up that scoreboard. So if Love's on, that's a tough draw for the Rams back-to-back years, getting the Lions and the Packers more than likely, because I don't think McVeigh gets enough credit for this, right? We talk a lot about him being this great young, schematic guy with Kyle. I mean, Kyle's taking a hit. this year, but, you know, Andy way back in the day when he first got hired in Philly. Last year, they were three and six and went seven and one. I think their one loss was like to the Giants. This year, they were one and four.

Now, granted, that was a lot of injuries, but I don't give a shit if you have a lot of it. You're one and four. I mean, that's a pretty deep hole to dig out of. And now they're more than likely going to win 11 games, right? They got Arizona coming up who's just not very good. And Seattle might just be done by that point in time and that game might not even matter. is this guy kind of like the younger version of Tomlin in terms of leadership and holding guys together? And I think we got very lucky because clearly he came close.

I don't blame him. I mean, someone starts throwing $15, $18 million in front of you to go call one game a week on Thursday night, the Amazon thing. And he turned that down and he stayed. And we've really seen him rise to the occasion these last couple years. Because like you said, I like the Jets. I had money on the Jets today. Just because that West Coast team, they had just had a huge win that put him in position, even like they were they controlled their own destiny you're coming five hours morning kickoff in new york

new york the jets have actually been playing better i expected that game to be weird and it was for a long time but ultimately the cream rose and they separated like you said in in the fourth quarter but i think mcvay is like a young tomlin to just the adversity being able to just handle different guys now he's proven that he can handle sweet vets hall of fame guys like stafford or erin donald but all these young guys guys. He made, you know, I think it was hard for him to his best friend become the defensive coordinator. They've been freaking awesome on defense. I mean, this young guy, I text around the league and everything I hear, the violence from verse and Fisk, the two Florida State guys are just people love those two guys around the league. Just a violent, violent group. I mean, they need a

number one corner. They may take a corner in the first round and they need an offensive tackle and a boundary receiver, but if they get a number one corner, dude, that means they got two more years of hand nobody on this defense. This is the younger, you know how we've been saying the Packers is the best young offense in the NFL? The Rams have the cheapest, most economical best young defense that needs a lockdown corner. But I don't know if they can win a playoff game because I think the AFC is better at the top. I think the NFC is deeper. In fact, let me throw this out to you. The playoff picture today, I think this is right. Baltimore would open at Houston, Denver at Pittsburgh. would it be Minnesota or Green Bay at the Rams?

Let me bring up the playoffs. I think it's, yeah, technically Pittsburgh has the three-seeds. So it would be Houston, Baltimore. It'd be Pittsburgh Chargers and Broncos Bills. And the NFC would be Rams Packers, Minnesota Bucks, Eagles, Washington, which would be a tough game for the Eagles. Thursday night football is on. It's only on Prime Video. Best season yet. Pack with big rivalries and even bigger stars. Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreet, Kaley Hartung, every week. Games you can't miss.

Coverage begins at 7 Eastern with football's best party. TNF tonight, Thursday night football tonight. If you're not a prime member, no problem. Sign up. 30-day free trial. Cancel any time. Thursday night football. And it's on Prime Video Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com slash Amazon Prime for details. Hey, it's us, the 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. 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. 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 eye heart. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never

seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out.

real quick. Ah, yeah. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea?

It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate. that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets.

But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast. deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and

self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to and while doing the work to become whole.

This podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. They said today that Aaron Rogers would be willing the announcers to take a pay cut to stay. And I think Vrable's the best candidate for the Jets or the Bears.

I think if I was the Jets, I'd love the draft to quarterback, but they're in a tough spot because maybe Riley Leonard's in the fourth round. But there's, I've had two executives tell me that they think every quarterback taken this year is better than Shadur Sanders, everyone. And after you watch Panics today, I don't think there's any question, Jaden. You know, I mean, so it's like Green Bay, the Jeterres, they're in a weird spot. Like, there's, now Aaron's playing pretty well now. and he and Devante are cooking.

Yeah, I think you don't have a choice. I think he's moving better. I think you're stuck with Aaron. Yeah, I didn't hear what your thoughts were on the article that came out. But, you know, the Jets, they're such an easy target right now that any story you read is just 100% believable. There's nothing crazy enough that can come out. I do think people would be stunned how many of these owners. Now, some of these owners are older, so their children are like Jonathan Crave.

in their 50s or Stephen Jones, but those that have younger children, who can be the most honest with a billionaire? They're kids. I was watching Charlie Woods play with Tiger Woods today. Charlie can say things to Tiger that no one else can because everyone else that their owner talks to is on their payroll. So I think, you know, the story about the Madden rating,

it sounds really like, whoa, provocative and crazy. I think these owners get told crazy things by their children all the time. And that goes for Jonathan Kraft to Robert Kraft and Stephen Jones to Jerry. It might not be Madden ratings, but these people have ideas that are unfiltered. And I think the Jets aren't that much different than the majority of these teams with just these owners that are just kind of living in. Because forever as an NFL owner, you know, when I was a kid, people, when the 49ers were playing a candlestick, the DeBardalos had family money. But it's not like the 49ers. The league wasn't making as much.

They were very dependent. These guys have monopoly money now. Yeah. Even the poor owners are billionaires. So winning and losing used to have to win to generate money. Well, now, even if you lose, you're still getting the $500 million and your team's going to still make some other money in extra revenue streams. So you don't have to worry about winning to make money. So you're like, that's my theory on why some of these owners no longer in the 80s, 90s, 70s, you hire whatever coach you thought would make sure or give you the best chance to win even if he was a complete asshole.

Now it's like, you know, we're making money no matter what. I'd rather have a guy that, you know, might listen. So I wonder, like, everyone was turned off by Belichick because of that. You know, Vrable, and I don't blame Vrable. Like, listen, I know what I'm doing here. I played in the league for 15 years. I played in Ohio State. Like, my ideas are my ideas.

But I think you kind of have to be a politician a little bit now to even get hired because these owners, like, don't want to deal with it because I can't go broke, no matter what. Well, it's funny. When Harbaugh took the Chargers job, you know, some people saw it as a risk. but I know Dean Spanos and I know their history because we grew up with it on the West Coast. He was never a meddling guy. He had a reputation. I thought it was earned that he was cheap.

A lot of first round holdouts. But once he moved into SoFi and he pays a dollar rent a year and Stan Cronkey is foot in the bill, they're rolling in cash and he's not cheap and they're paying for players and they're paying Herbert and they paid Harbaugh. That job, I was thinking the other day, the three best job openings I could think of in the last 10 years. Lefleur to Green Bay was a great job, Aaron in his prime. I would say Mike McCarthy, you know, Dack was in his prime or close to it. It was a pretty good job. And then Harbaugh to Herbert and Roshan Slater of the left tackle is a pretty good job. Most of these jobs are awful.

I don't think because of Woody Johnson and because of a lot of reasons in Chicago, I think those are the two best jobs, one for personnel, the Jets, and the other, just because of the quarterback. But are you sure Vrable should take either one of these jobs? No, no, absolutely not. I mean, the Jets have proven to go to a place where coaches die. And because their owner does, I mean, his kids, that's real. Like, he's given up.

And part of that article, which I didn't, I just assumed he was going back overseas. Like, he's not going. Donald picks someone else. So Woody's staying. So every day when you go to the office, Woody's there. And Chicago, you have to answer to Kevin Warren. Like, that's not like a fact right now. Like, that's, I mean, that is what is happening.

I also think Jim, you know, the version of Jim that we saw was San Francisco, where I think most people describe him being the crazy, he's completely different now. When you watch some of these post games, you know, after wins and he's pointing to John Spanos, he feels much lighter, I feel like much. And I know he's driven and the chip on his shoulder. to win, but he feels less trying to take on the world than I think he was a decade ago. And who know, maybe that's with money, maybe that's with winning the national championship. I think that's being around. And maybe being around college kids and his dad, I think the last six, it's a little different atmosphere than the NFL, you know, really seeing guys, because most of his players aren't

going to the league, right? They're going to be citizens in society. And I bet that just, it just gives you a little life perspective. He feels like a different human being where, you know, Vrabel, I'd want Vrable as my coach, But I just wonder some of these owners like, I don't know if he's going to listen to me. Where these guys want, because money now is no longer, the Jets can win four games for the next 10 years and Woody's printing cash. And he's giving you his opinions. Like, let's face it, Woody's got some vibes of Dan Snyder in Washington.

It's a little different, but there are some similarities. Who would want to do that? Yeah. If I was Mike Brable's agent, I'm not. Because if you go and look one year from now, Joe Burrow could need a new coach. I mean, you think about it. Like, like,

DAC could need a new coach. There's, I mean, Jalen Hertz and Howie Roseman can need a new coach. Like, there, we're a year, and I keep saying in this,

John, Andy Reed's health. If Andy Reed won a third straight, I'm not sure, you know, I don't know. I think he's looking slim right now, Colin.

I saw a side shot. He looks good. I don't know. I think he's in the for a long. What if Sean McDermott gets bounced early? That job could, I think next year you have potentially three or four really interesting jobs. I'm just saying, if I'm Mike Vrable, I'm not sure I want these jobs. I don't necessarily subscribe to this line of thinking, but it does feel like a lot of people, you know, you get that one year window where you either pounce, right?

Mike McCarthy did that, like fired coaches in Green Bay. People would come over and he kind of got the buzz going. or you kind of go into the media and keep your name out there. Vrable's not a big pump his chest out on TV, he's working for the Browns. It's not really his style. But I think most people would say you start going a couple years away. You somewhat get lost in the shuffle if you're not front and center.

You know, because every year there's a couple new young offensive coaches. I don't necessarily think that way, but clearly some of these owners and people, you know, the agents around the league think that's kind of risky. You know, I think some coaches get worried about that. All of a sudden you get lost. out of the shuffle. And with him, he's always got the connection. If anything goes weird with Ryan Day, I'm sure he'd be their number one call. And luckily for college athletics, that pays $100 million. So he's always got that on the back burner. But I think you've got to be careful with that because all of a sudden you could look in a couple years and a couple cycles and maybe he's kind of out of the loop.

Yeah. I want to talk about one game yesterday and then we'll get to college. Raven is 34, Cedars 17. And I was thinking about Lamar Jackson. until Steph Curry was the MVP of the finals and did it without KD. So he won a championship pre-KD. But then when KD arrived and appeared to be kind of the big shot maker for the Warriors, it to some degree hurt the overall image of Steph, not the brand, but kind of the image. And then KD leaves. And, you know, being the MVP of a finals, you know, in the Celtics, I think like finally, you and I knew it. Everybody knew it. But it finally gave him credibility that was long overdue as the greatest shooter of our lifetime. And, you know, there were people. I remember NBA players. They had a poll several years ago. It was like four years ago. Half thought Westbrook was the better player than Steph Curry, which was remarkable to me. But I feel like Lamar Jackson become little Steph Curry. Like we're just nitpicking. And we just, you know, Steph Curry is not a great defender. He doesn't have a

major body. Take away the three-point shot. What is he? Lamar Jackson is winning 76% of his games, and I understand the postseason struggles. But there are great coaches who struggled in the postseason. Dan Marino struggled in the postseason. John Elway for a year struggled in the postseason before Terrell Davis, right? Like he was getting blown out in Super Bowls. He was losing playoff games. I just, Lamar had 115 pass rating against the Steelers yesterday. And I think we're getting to a point where we're not celebrating. I mean, Steph Curry is the best shooter and ball handler of my lifetime. Lamar Jackson is the most athletic quarterback of my lifetime.

And he made a couple of plays against Pittsburgh. And I'm just like, come on, man, this thing. And, you know, Zay Flowers isn't a huge target. Mark Andrews, he's got good targets now, not great. I don't know. I think I feel like I've been defending. Usually I don't have to defend great players. I feel like I'm constantly defending Lamar Jackson.

I've been critical just because in the big spots, he's let you down. Last year in the playoffs was Taylor Made for him, and he just got frenetic. I thought yesterday was one of the finest performances of his career. And he's thrown four or five touchdowns in 350, 400 yards. I don't care about the box score because, one, they took away his running ability and where he eviscerates the majority of these teams that he doesn't play that often. is he runs and throws on you. Well, yesterday he couldn't run because what do the Steelers take away from?

Because their edge is so fast and they're so used to playing him. It was like, we're going to let Derek Henry run, but you are not going to run wild. You've got a pass. And he was so much calmer than he was the last time he played him and the way he was against the Chiefs where he got really frenetic. And he eviscerated them. And I thought, like, if that version of Lamar plays a playoff game against the Bills or the Chiefs, like this team can win the AFC. like that version of a guy completely calm like okay i don't have to run for 80 yards today i'm not gonna

i'm gonna dominate because sometimes against them or he doesn't freak out against like the giants the previous week that was that was like a high school game for him and he plays like that against a lot of opponents and then the chiefs and then the steelers throughout his career have kind of been his kryptonite and you felt like early on and like god is and he just he just calmed down and it was like i'm going to dominate you and the steelers got a serious problem right they can't cover anybody that's back-to-to-back weeks and Lamar's like, I'm going to destroy you. And I'm going to make this look like I do against everyone else.

And he kind of threw his hat back in the ring of the MVP. I mean, he's having part of the reason he won the MVP last year because it was an awful group. Like the competition for the award wasn't great. He threw 24, 25 touchdown. This year, he's by far, I think having the best season. Brady mentioned on the broadcast. He's like, I think they're doing way more complex stuff in the passing game.

And obviously it helps when you got Derek Henry running wild. But I thought just his calmness. where last year in that Chiefs game, it's like he freaked out. And a guy on the Raven staff kind of described it to me. It was like, it's like he's playing Tiger Woods. He was down a couple shots. And then he just pressed. And you could feel it.

And so did the offensive coordinator last year, those two of them. And that game, it was like, we're good, we're good. And I'm better than that guy. And listen, is he better in Mahomes or not? He can play just as good as him as long as he stays calm. And he did yesterday. And if he plays like that, and their defense, The other thing, this is where the good teams, you know, bad teams freak out and they do chaotic stuff.

Like, I've got to fire this coordinator. Zach Orr, first time coordinator replacing one of the best defensive coordinators we've seen in recent memory, it was really bad early. Like, this is not sustainable. They've moved Kyle Hamilton back. Their defense has played a lot better. The organization is pretty stable. They're like, take a deep breath everybody. We believe in everybody.

Lamar, it's like, put more on my shoulders, put more. And now you see them, it's like, God, when they play like this. I mean, they are a real threat, right? And listen, what the chiefs are doing this year, I honestly don't know how they're doing it, but it's one of the great coaching jobs in the history of the league. But the Ravens and, you know, the Bills, I kind of give them a little bit of a pass today playing the Patriots. But it's going to be hard. And I think they're going to need Lamar to be exceptional because you're going to have to beat the bills.

You're going to have to beat Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. And more than likely for them on the road, right? That week two or the divisional round would be in by. Buffalo. Obviously, the AFC championship, more than likely, I mean, I think the Chiefs are going to beat the Steelers here in a couple of days in Arrowhead. And if he did that, it would kind of, I don't want to say wipe away everything. But we wouldn't talk about the past if he's able to take down Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes on the road. I mean, that was a defining moment for Patrick Mahomes last year, right? Going to Buffalo and then going to Baltimore. It was really, it felt like the icing on his cake. He's like 28 years old. It's like, how do you do that? And I think, Lamar has an opportunity because their offense when that thing's humming. I mean, the Steelers are struggling a little bit defensively, but they're still pretty good.

And they just, they toyed with them, it felt like, didn't it? Hey, it's us, the 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, how do we actually? 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 Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what.

He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves. I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nasree.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers,

why he got the ball like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad,

but secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets.

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Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, let's talk college football. So road teams, Tennessee Hammer, Indiana, gutless performance. Boy, is that. Kurt Signetti talks a big game and doesn't back it up. SMU hammered. Clemson did throw for 336 yards, but they were outmatched. I thought the best get bet of the weekend was Texas minus 12 and a half at home. And I thought Clemson played about as well as they could and they still got

beat by 14. But I want to say this. So this is a 12-team playoff that will become 14 pretty soon and maybe 16. The reason we have the playoff, it was negotiated. Like these aren't the 12- best teams in terms of NFL athletes. That's not what it is. The reason this is allowed is because there was a lot of negotiation, the Mountain West gets involved. Everything was negotiated. So it's not going to be seven SEC teams and five Big Ten teams. That's not what it's going to be. But the other thing is, most of my life, I remember arguing this. I'm not even sure if I was at Fox or ESPN, but I used to be against the playoff because my argument was always this. Have you ever thought in your life the sixth best team in college football by the end of the year could beat the number one team?

And my answer is no. I mean, when Nick Saban's 15-year run, most of his teams, there were only two to three teams in the country that could play with them, Clemson with Trevor Lawrence or DeShon, Ohio State, Georgia, maybe an LSU team that could play with them. So at the time you would get to like the fifth, sixth, seventh team, especially if the first round was in Tuscaloosa, they were going to kick the holy hell out of anybody they played. So the idea that Ohio State or Penn State or Notre Dame in a home game, now we go to neutral sites, we'll have an upset this weekend. But my take is we're overreacting a little bit. Now, again, I thought Tennessee and Indiana would play close because I thought weather would be such a factor. But it was just cold and clear. But we've got to be honest about this.

When Pete Carroll was rolling at USC or, you know, again, the Nick Saban or Kirby Smart for about a three-year run, there weren't five teams that could go toe to toe with them. The only thing, it maybe be the Natty game, a Michigan or an Ohio State. So I think this was not predictable, but I think we're overreacting because coming up now, John, now we've got neutral site games. I would bet almost anything. We're going to have an upset. One of the underdogs is going to win. I think we're overreacting a bit to a 12-team playoff that was negotiated. You're just going to get some Boise states in this thing and some ACC teams in.

Well, I think it's twofold. First, I can't expect it to be perfect year one. This isn't year six. This is year one. On the flip side, I see a lot of. pushback of everyone complaining, like you shouldn't complain, we should celebrate this. It's like, I don't know. I mean, this all exists because millions upon millions of people give their time to be entertained.

And I've been watching football my entire life. And I don't ever remember before this year watching Indiana. And Indiana didn't get the benefit of the doubt, right, in most people's eyes, because it's like, we don't know you, you don't have any NFL players. Who did you beat this year? In the NFL, if you make the playoffs, you, you. it's impossible to not beat some good teams. Plus, even the bad teams you're beating are full of pros.

I texted around some college scouting directors. I said, how many combined NFL players do SMU and Indiana have? And he said, I will have to see some All-Star Games stuff, but probably five total. I said South Carolina, Ole Miss Alabama. He'd say probably on average, low-end seven for a team. I mean, Bama, 8-9. So the talent, the physicality, like Tennessee got there asking, If you just watch Tennessee move around, the quarterback is a young frenetic player right now.

Their talent on the team is immense. And Indiana, we basically lumped in the Big Ten and the SEC as equals. And because Washington, who was in the Natty last year, lost their coach in all their players, wasn't any good. USC was supposed to be good, not any good. Michigan obviously lost 17 NFL guys and their coach fell off a cliff. So they had three SEC teams, Penn State, obviously Oregon, Ohio State, but the rest of the conference, it was really bad, right? So it turns out Indiana, like, I just think they're not very good relative to the SEC teams. I don't think they could beat any of them.

And I think, but they went 11 and 1 and some of these other teams went 9 and 3. This isn't the NFL. Records, like, it's like I said we're comparing apples to cheeseburgers. So trying to do these records because in theory it makes sense. Well, they're 11 and 1 because that's how it's always worked. And I just go, I don't know. So I think we look back at an Indiana and SMU. Two things can be true.

Indiana had a remarkable season. The best season in the history of the school by a mile. And they're probably not a top 20. Like, are they better in Colorado? I just looked at the top 25 yesterday. It's like, well, Colorado's got a top 10 quarterback. Michael won and the best player in the country. Indiana, I'm watching, I'm like, do they even have a pro?

They're a solid defense. SMU, I mean, that was like JV versus Farsity. Yeah. I mean, their quarterback was completely overwhelmed. And the ACC's terrible. So, of course, it's overwhelmed. They don't have the talent. Who did they beat?

So I think that moving forward, just because you have two more wins in a bad conference, this isn't the NCAA tournament where they're 64 teams, like, whatever. Just throw this team the seventh seed. We only had 12 spots, and I thought we got pretty let down for a lot of people that dedicate a lot of time. They don't even have a horse in the race. They just want to be entertained. You're like, this doesn't look right. Well, and also, it's going to get potentially worse because if you really look at Washington, they have an excellent young quarterback, and Jetfish had a great recruiting year.

So Washington's going to be interesting team next year. They'll be back. They'll be a top 20 team. Michigan just got the best quarterback. and again, they recruit at a very high level. Michigan will be viable. I just saw this weekend USC went and bought two SEC defensive linemen. And their schedule is pretty weak by Big Ten standards. So my takeaway is the Big Ten, to your point, was top heavy and very weak.

I don't think it'll be that next year. I think Ohio State will still be great. But I think Michigan, USC, Washington will be much better. And I think Oregon and Penn State are going to remain powers because Lannning and James Franklin are top ten recruiters easily in the country. So I think this year we got Indiana. Not that it's a one-off. I kind of felt like when I was watching Indiana play,

it's not that they lost. It's that if I told you it was 2717 and you didn't watch the game, you'd be like, okay, that was a game. Indiana was so gutless, punting down three scores, second half in plus territory. I think it really, it was the way Indiana lost. which was like, we just, we know we can't compete. We don't want to be humiliated.

So we're just going to try. I think that really piss people off. It was like, okay, if you're going to play like that, just put Ole Miss in the tournament. I thought of a rule that if you were on the fence of a couple teams, that you have to have minimum, more than two guys on each side of the ball that would start for your opponent. And did Indiana have four guys on their starting 22 that would start for Notre Dame? Do they have one, maybe? How many guys on SMUs, starting 11 on offensive defense, would start for Penn State?

Two, maybe. Where that's the argument for Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Alabama. Yeah, they might not have one. Probably wouldn't have. But I know the talent discrepancy, like, I don't have a big issue with Tennessee getting their ass kick. Because I don't think the talent discrepancy, obviously Ohio State's better. And, I mean, could win the national championship pretty easily. Tennessee, you could tell physically.

It's like their quarterback is throwing the ball over the map. They got NFL players all over the field. So I could live with that game. I can't live with the Indiana game where it's like, I've never watched this program. I've been watched college football for three decades. And I can do this for a living so I know, well, they don't have any talent. So it's like what's going on? And then Signetti, I think some of his comments to Sabin before the game, bragging about,

I looked at their schedule. They go to Penn State, to Oregon, to Iowa. And like you said, the Big Ten's going to be better. that game is going to be circled. The Big Ten coaches are going to want to beat the shit out of him. I will be stunned. Six and six. They are going to be a target next year.

I hope they enjoyed this year because it's not going to be like that moving forward. I'll promise you that. So before we get to the quarter final games, I do think we have a potential upset. Listen, Tennessee, Ohio State, Ryan Day, the critics can go back to their Reddit boards. But here's what I really took away. Clemson, they deserve credit. They fought to the very end. And they don't have, again, they don't have transfer portal guys. And they don't recruit. Even when DaBow was winning a Natty, they didn't recruit like Alabama and Georgia, LSU. They never have. They just don't.

And they don't use a transfer portal. So I think DaBow is a hell of a coach. But my takeaway on that is if Ohio states, if Will Howard is as good as he was against Tennessee, I don't know how Texas stops them. I mean, Clemson was throwing the ball all over the yard. They were throwing it up the sideline, out of the backfield, seam routes. I mean, when you think of Clemson, you don't think 350 yards passing. I know Texas won 3824, but that 24 points, I looked at that and I thought, Jesus, Texas plays Arizona State next, 13 and a half point favorite. Maybe that's not an issue. But if I'm Ohio State in my passing game, after this weekend, Ohio State's my favorite to win the national championship, not Texas. I was almost dismayed, not just that Clemson threw, but the variety of throws, the third down throws, the wide, open targets in the middle of the field, it was startling to me.

Well, their quarterback's really come along. I mean, he's the guy to keep, if he goes back to school, I mean, I think he'll be in consideration to have a chance to be a really high draft pick in 2006. And that kid's really got a lot better since that first game at Georgia. And last year was pretty bumpy. I like Cape Clubnik a lot. And they had one of the great, I think, freshman recruiting classes at wide receiver in recent memory, those couple five star kids. But to me, Sark has had to coach around Quinn Ewers a lot of the year. And you see that when we talk.

about coaching with some of these young rookie quarterbacks, what do you call on third and seven? Or are you willing to call something aggressive on second and ten? Are you just trying to throw in like a screen or a, you know, a draw play? I think he coaches around Quinn U.S. Because to me, he is a pretty big roller coaster. You don't know what you're getting series to series. And this is where, you know, the seating, when Ohio State's on, I mean, they showed up in that game, you went, holy hell. Oh, no, it was like, wow. They were hitting guys like they were, you know, Drey Greenlaw and Fred Warner. It's like the

defense, how good Jeremiah Smith is. Will Howard look like Peyton Manning? I mean, they had to be one of the better games of his life. And Ryan Day, listen, they'd had a long time to soak up that loss coming at home. I listen, I picked Tennessee. Five minutes into that game, you went, this could be 50 to nothing. This team is going to try to injure everyone in sight. Can they keep that up again? You know, Dan Lannning, this is where Oregon got screwed. They have to play that team in their opening game at the Rose Bowl 2, which is not a huge advantage because it's not like Ohio State fans aren't used to travel into that game, which is a cool game that the Rose Bowl gets Oregon, Ohio State.

That's pretty unfair. That may set a record. The ratings for that game may set a college football non-national championship record. I'm not joking. I think if you're Oregon, you just go, we had the best season. We're the only undefeated team and Penn State gets to play Boise and Texas gets to play Arizona State. And we got to play that the biggest payroll in the history of college football.

with NFL guys all over that we had to like knock down, drag out to beat at home, that's, that sucks for them. Yeah. You know, a team that's never won a national championship that if I told you right now, they were getting a good draw. You would like them a lot more, but you're like, damn, they'd have to go through three tough games, right? They'd have to beat Ohio State.

They'd have to beat Texas. And they'd probably have to beat Penn State or Georgia. I mean, that's a murderer's row. So, and they had to beat Penn State, you know, to, in the conference championship. So I, listen, if Oregon were to win the national championship, it would be really, really impressive. I can't take Texas because of the quarterback, but their talent on the team.

I mean, that goal line stopped that they had basically ended the game again. They can really rev it up. I mean, they got guys on defense. You're like, holy shit. And, you know, the skill, their two running backs are really good. Excellent.

Quarterback. If you told me Cade Clubnick, Clemson quarterback was Texas's quarterback, I'd be like, watch out for, they might be my pick. And I just, is Will Howard going to play like that? Every game, is he going to play like that against Dan? Landings defense is if he does, they'll probably win, right? If he's going to, if he's going to be

Peyton Manning Jr., then Ohio State's going to be a serious problem for anyone they're playing. Okay, let's wrap it up. Penn State minus 11 against Boise State. I actually think Gentie run. He ran for almost 200 yards against Oregon. I think these are neutral site games now. It's a whole different ball game in college football. Totally. Yeah, college football team. You know, the 70% of NFL games are one score, one possession games. That's not college football. Home teams win. I think Boise State, I think Boise State is going to be, you know, Penn State may be lulled

to sleep, opening with SMU at home, blowing them out. And now they look and see Boise State. Hard to get that locker room revved up. SMU is a bigger name to some of those Penn State players than Boise State. They couldn't, you know, they don't even know how hell. Most college players out east don't know much about Boise State. Can Boise State hang with them? I think they can.

I do think Penn State's lucky that they got this generational player on Boise State. It's an easy one for the defensive coordinator circle. I mean, this guy had like a Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State level season. So it's, to me, if they were much more of like the Kellyn Moore, more of a complete team than a one-man band, I think it would be a little different. You might look down upon them. But I think when you're playing a guy that would just sit next to Travis Hunter on that Saturday night at the Heisman trophy, it's easier to get up. I also think, and this is my argument, like, listen, I started my career in the whack, which basically turned in the Mountain West.

The difference of size and strength on the line of scrimmage, we saw it in Indiana and SMU against, you know, their two opponents at Notre Dame and Penn State just overwhelmed them at the line of scrimmage on defense. And I don't know if Boise State, their passing offense isn't good enough. So I'm putting 10 guys in the box. Be like, where are you going to throw on me? And I think it's a very, very tough matchup for Boise State. I also think Penn State, if this was the NFL and these games were out in the cold weather, I think Penn State and Notre Dame would be built for it. Play defense, run the ball down your throat.

Play like the 49ers did with Jimmy Garapola. We're just going to freezing cold weather, let's roll. I mean, you watch Notre Dame. They would love every game at 19 degrees. Yeah. And same with Penn State. freezing cold snow rain, that's how they would want to play.

That's where these neutral site games, you know, I think Notre Dame's a good example. Like I actually kind of like them against Georgia, but then you put them in a dome, but you put them in a dome, it does take away their strength.

If you told me that game was outside, in a cold weather spot, I'd be like, Georgia's in for it. In a dome, team speed, Georgia's going to be a little faster. But Notre Dame can definitely win that game. Listen, I love Boise State and rooting for them for a long time.

time, I think there's a really, really tough matchup for them. Same with Arizona State. Yeah. Listen, I think Penn State's going to win. I think your point on Notre Dame, Georgia's well taken. Texas should beat Arizona State. So I said before the year, I thought Oregon would beat Ohio State at Opson. I thought Ohio State would beat Oregon on the second matchup. I think I like Ohio State to win in cover against the Ducks. I think one big difference between Penn State, Georgia, and Notre Dame, than the other three top teams in Texas, Oregon, Ohio State. They are so explosive on the outside. Like they feel like an NFL team at wide receiver in the skill position.

Penn State and Notre Dame just don't. Penn State's tight end is going to be a top 20 player. Yeah. But they are not as explosive at the wide receiver position. So, I mean, like you said, I think, Oregon, Ohio State. I mean, that could feel like the national championship game. And I think Texas, if the quarterback can just play under control, which he's proven he can't really for four quarters,

they could be pretty, I just don't trust them. And Notre Dame Georgia, whoever wins that game might be, honestly, I kind of like the draw for Penn State. Penn State plays Boise, wins that game, and then plays Penn State and Texas are going to get, I mean, they're enormous favorites. in the second round are going to be playing two teams that are going to be coming out of a war zone. I mean, Ohio State and Oregon and Notre Dame and Georgia, bodies are going to be left on the field in that game. So I think that is a massive advantage if both those, if Texas and Penn State take care of business.

I mean, Ohio State pulled out their quarterback with nine minutes to go in the game. Yeah, I think what we're going to see in this playoff. And let's go back to the playoff as a whole is I think it's going to expand to 14 teams and possibly 16 on any given Saturday, you may get three really great games between good teams. There's a lot of blowouts in college football. It's just the way the sport works. It's of all the American sports, team sports, it's the most have and have not sport. Even baseball, obviously now, with the regional networks dying, it's getting more have and have not. There's like six teams that have money and like 26 or 24 that don't. But I think the neutral site games,

I think Oregon, Ohio State is going to feel like USC Texas. Remember that game with the stealth fighters flying over where you have like 18 pros. The first game was great. I think Ohio State, Oregon becomes the game of the year. I also think it is hard to play perfect football back-to-back weeks. Ohio State was nearly perfect. It's hard to duplicate that on back-to-back weeks. I also think that these guys have never played a season this long.

right? I mean, a lot of these teams played in conference championship games. Some of the teams that didn't just play this first round, I mean, you start looking ahead. They still got three more games. I mean, and you saw some just collateral damage as, you know, Notre Dame, a defensive line may get banged up. You're talking about by the time you get to the semifinals, can you stay healthy enough? Which honestly could just be a determining factor for whoever wins it, just a team with the most health. Because we've been hammering at home and these coaches have been, these teams, the depth is. near the same. You know, in the peak of the

Sabin era, so what, I lost a first rounder. I got a 19-year-old first-rounder behind him, right? Those days are done. I mean, there's a massive drop-up. Some of these teams are losing guys. Ohio State put a quarterback in the game when they yanked Will Howard. He's in the transfer portal.

And Ryan Day had to have a talk with this team like, hey, guys, are we cool with keeping them around? You know, because these guys are in weird spots, Penn State's backup quarterback is gone. And that's not, obviously, we talk a lot about the quarterbacks, but it could be, you know, a backup linebacker or a freshman kid that might have had to be thrust in if someone got injured. So we got a long way to go.

I mean, you see the NFL guys are dropping like flies in college. These guys aren't as big. They're not, especially some of these guys, 18, 19 years old that are playing. Their bodies aren't as developed, taking a lot of big hits. It's not like the violence in these games is that much different. I mean, how hard was Ohio State and Notre Dame and these teams hitting? The physicality. Honestly, I appreciate the one that. thing that jumped out to me about this weekend, which was obviously a pretty big letdown with the blowhouse. We talk about a lot about NIL and people not having, it feels like guys are mercenaries now. And maybe that's the case. But it does feel like the guys playing in the game are just all in and trying their 100% effort.

And you feel that, you know, the teams, it's not like none of these teams took their foot off the pedal. Like Clemson just came back because they got NFL guys. It wasn't like Texas stop trying. Right. John Middlecough, his podcast is three and out. Good job, buddy. Merry Christmas, Colin. Merry Christmas. 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. 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. 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 Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 harmed. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis keep coming 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. Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro. And these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of family secrets.

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