The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Reaction to Rams-Bears, Texans-Patriots, Bills-Broncos & 49ers-Seahawks

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

Colin Cowherd and '3 & Out' host John Middlekauff react to the NFL Divisional Playoffs. They start off with the insane game between the Los Angeles Rams & Chicago Bears. They give their take on Caleb Williams incredible 4th down play to force overtime, Matthew Stafford finding Davante Adams to set up game winning Field Goal. Who do they like in the NFC Championship game between the the Rams & Seahawks. Next they react to New England Patriots beating the Houston Texans. They give their takes on Drake Maye, Mike Vrabel and what Houston should do with CJ Stroud. Josh Allen loses another heartbreaker, this time to Sean Payton & Denver Broncos. How will Denver fare with Jarrett Stidham with Bo Nix being out the rest of the postseason. The Seattle Seahawks dominated the San Francisco 49ers from start to finish. They discuss Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold & Mike Macdonald. Lastly they hit the new head coach hirings: John Harbaugh to New York Giants & Kevin Stefanski to the Atlanta Falcons. Timeline: 02:30 Rams-Bears 25:30 Texans-Patriots 35:30 Bills-Broncos 53:00 49ers-Seahawks 1:01:00 John Harbaugh to the Giants (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Between Caleb's throw to the back of the end zone to send it in overtime and Stafford's throw to Devante Adams, I honestly believe, John, those are the two best throws I've seen in the playoffs. I don't have the memory if to know all season. I mean, that lost in all of this, I wrote this down during the game. One penalty for the Rams, no turnovers. I didn't, I don't have a dropped pass by the Rams. We've talked about it this year. Seattle, I think, has more talent, I think. Eagles may have a better roster.

Man, you've got to beat the Rams. I mean, just don't make any mistakes. It's the worst weather they could play in as an indoor team. They go on the road. And I think in the end, they just, you know, great first drive, great last drive. Then they get the huge pick. I mean, Seattle Rams kind of feels fitting, doesn't it? Yeah, I mean, I thought the Bears, they were pretty good.

I mean, their defense was really playing well. The second half of last game in the night. I mean, physically they were hitting. They were covering pretty well. They felt for the first time not this great Cinderella team and a real like Super Bowl contender. I thought if they win this game, obviously you're in the final four, but just the way their defensive played for second half into this game, obviously, you know, the weather benefits them. I also think that for the Rams, what an organizational win. There is no way to prep when you practice in Los Angeles.

Sean McVeigh was asked. I don't control the weather here. I can't press a button and have us practice outside and drop the, you know, at 75 degrees. It was seven degrees on the field. I mean, that is, but the way Lesneed, like Less Need has his hands in that. The land man, the verse, the type guy, Durant tonight made huge plays. Oh, he was great. The physicality, the mindset, the Kieran Williams, how hard there.

Blake Quorum, who comes from that culture in Harbaugh in Michigan. You know, Stafford's been doing this for us. right? Devante Adams been doing this forever. Puka, guy they've had now for how many years three who just belongs in moments like that. You know, the bears, you develop calluses, you practice and live in that weather, you become a little more comfortable in it. Caleb, the difference of Caleb at Stafford is, I mean, his legs are, I mean, he could take off and look like Mar Jackson. I, we can get into Ben Johnson. I think he doesn't utilize his legs enough. And, you know, I thought tonight the toughness and the physicality of the ramps, how about the hit,

they ended up turning it over on downs, and then they got the ball back because McVeigh ended up punting. I think it was like third and two or third in goal, and they tackled, I think it was DeAndre Swift, and he got elevated, about three guys hit him. Even my wife's like, holy moly. I mean, it was just these, the one thing you would say now about the last 15 years of the good Rams teams, Seattle, the good 49ers teams, they build their teams to play in environments like this because of the value on toughness, physicality, serious guys.

I didn't know much about Landman, honestly, and I text someone, I was he that good in the pack? I wasn't watching Colorado football when they were going one in 11. Most people weren't. And they're like, yeah, he's one of the best players in the conferences. No one really paid attention.

You watch him. How many plays does that guy make? Yeah, I mean, you know, it's really interesting tonight. So, you know, Caleb's got the picks. And so you would look at the night and go, oh, what a bad night for Caleb. But beyond that one throw we made, descended in overtime, which, you know, outside of Josh Allen, I can't think of any current player that could make that throw. I mean, backpedaling.

How many guys in history of the league? Farv? I mean, Elway, Farv, Allen. I mean, but Brady and Manning aren't making that throw. And they're all time great. Rogers when he was younger, maybe? Maybe. But it's really, it's funny.

I think Caleb is so much better than three months ago. Like, like, they didn't run him a lot. He's much more comfortable in the pocket. I think some of it is, John. He just doesn't want to run. He likes delivering in the pocket. I thought his receivers had multiple drops tonight. I thought DJ Moore, Collinsworth pointed this out. felt like he didn't know the route or didn't know it was coming or it was kind of a soft route on Kobe Durant's interception. You could tell Caleb was bothered by it. I know everybody's going to look at this as a bad Caleb Knight, but I just I think he's improved so much. I think you take, I mean, listen, here's the good news for the Bears. Dennis Allen had a great last six quarters of defensive coordinator scheming. They do not have, John, they don't have the Rams defensive personnel. Now, they're healthier in the back end, so Chicago secondary does have some talent.

Byers been good for a long time. But that front seven, Rams is much better than the Bears, much more talented. And I thought Stafford was uncomfortable for big portions of this game. I thought they tackled well. I thought they were physical. I just think the Rams played a cleaner football game. Penalties, didn't have the turnovers. And, you know, they had like three really good drives.

One in the first quarter, one in the fourth quarter, and then one in overtime. I mean, that's just basically they, I mean, they were very limited on what they could do. I actually think in a weird way they underutilized, Caleb. You know, his strength, he had a run earlier in the game. that when he hit the Jets, it went, I don't know how many guys in the league are faster than him. I mean, it's probably like Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray and who even knows at this point time, both guys are banged up. And Ben Johnson, I think, really struggles because he's such a, I mean, he runs more of an old

school timing offense that he doesn't have quarterback run plays in him. And when do the bears usually thrive, when they let Caleb just kind of cook and use his legs? And I don't even talking always to run, sometimes to run and throw, to scramble and throw. to scramble and throw, but clearly Ben's offense, he's not calling those plays. You see the short yardage plays tonight, which failed, going right up against Landman and Verse. Why not run a quarterback power for Caleb? Or at least get him on the move.

He's the best ad libber right now in the league. He's what Lamar was a couple years ago. Get him and crazy things happen. But that's not really how he wants to call plays. And I think there's some give and take. And when do they really thrive? When they don't have a choice, right? 17, 10, two minutes to go.

Caleb save our season, you know, against the 49, against whoever, drive us the field to win us the game. And then Ben's play calls, like, Caleb can kind of throw him out the window after a split second if he doesn't see it. And he takes off and he either makes plays run. How many first downs the guy run for this year? My guess would be like close to 30, you know, and that's not, I think there's got to be some give and take there. And I think Ben would say, for Caleb to be an elite player, the accuracy does need to improve a little bit on some of just the lay of throws. like Stafford, when he has time, is hitting layups with his eyes closed, right? Because the big plays, he's proven to do it immediately at an all-time-grade level. Roma-Dunze has not been impactful in the second half of the season.

I mean, obviously Loveland's been huge. Luther Burden tonight didn't do a ton. I mean, listen, so you look at the Bears average 5.1 yards of play, better than the Rams. The Bears, 9 for 19 on third down, better than the Rams. They had seven minutes more time of possession. Again, they had three picks. But the bears only had three penalties. They had more total plays.

The bears didn't allow a sack while they had four. The Rams were forced to punt eight times, bears only three. I'm looking at total yards, bears, passing yards, bears, rushing yards, bears, first down bears. Like, it's interesting. You look at Caleb and everybody's going to point to the interceptions, but I thought, I mean, I had some drops tonight, but I, the Rams played a cleaner game. And that they'd done all year.

They've been the least penalized team the last two years. They just don't get penalized. It's not, it's, listen, when people get into this rig stuff, I always laugh because the Devante, I was sitting there watching on the couch. I'm like, you can't take that catch away from him. That's just an insane play. But people are going to look and say the Bears didn't play well. I thought Dennis Allen had a great defensive game.

I thought offensively they made mistakes, but they did a lot. They ran the ball at various times. You know, it's time of possession of, you know, again, Chicago wins. I think people will probably dump on them. They were two for three in the red zone like the Rams were. You know, you can't make three. I know the Bears, they're two most impressive games, Colin. Obviously, they've had some great wins.

I mean, last week it wasn't credible, but they've had these magical comebacks. but in two of their losses against the Packers the first time in Lambo and tonight, you came away going, God, I got a lot of respect for what they're doing. I mean, they played winning football. And one of his interceptions came on fourth down. So it's like, what are you supposed to do? I'd argue I would have a rule if I owned a team. You are not allowed to go for it in short yard a situation when you can kick a field goal,

when the score is zero, zero. You know, you have no clue how these games are going to play out. I get you come from Dan Campbell, but when you were with, Dan, the majority of your games were indoors. It's frigid conditions. Even with this Rams scoring offense, when it's 7 degrees and you got a quarterback who's 38 years old with six kids, who's battling injuries, you think they're going to score 30 points in that weather?

I mean, McVeigh looked like he was a lumberjack in Alaska tonight. When have you ever seen him? I mean, they are, the advantage you have with the weather, the game is not going to be some 35 to 30. It never plays out that way in these games. You know, I'll tell you who really deserves credit. Puka Nakua and Kairn Williams, those guys have strong hands. The bears are great at stripping the ball. The Rams didn't have a fumble. Kiron Williams had multiple guys clinging and trying to strip the ball. Never fumbled. I mean, we watched New England, Houston today. I mean, that thing was a fumble fest, eight turnovers at one point. The Rams, Puka, multiple times Puka had guys on him trying to strip it. Same with Kairn Williams. No fumble. So, I mean, again, this is a, this Rams team is really well-schooled. I would imagine on an extra overtime, Seahawks an extra day, plus the Seahawks are at home.

Seattle's probably going to be favored by what about a few, two points in that game maybe, Seattle. Yeah, my guess the number might be like three, three and a half. I mean, I don't know. The Rams have looked pretty shaky over the course of the second half of the season. And Seahawks, big special team's advantage. when that kicker for the Rams was getting ready for that kick, it was coin flip to me. I'm like, I don't know. I don't have any.

I could have a block touchdown the other way. I thought that was a hundred table. Absolutely. Even Collins were said when they punted, you know, I thought McVeigh, and I get it, you're in a tough spots, easy to judge from the couch. But they're getting a timeout because of the two minute warning. It was third and eight, and he chose to run it. I thought you could have passed it there.

I mean, you're two best, two of the best players in the league are Puka, Nakuwa and Devante. You got the MVP playing quarterback. You're a great play caller. I thought he could have got aggressive there, and he didn't. And then he punts and Collinsworth like they were clearly rattled from last week because all 10 guys, they didn't even run anyone down there to cover. So you start dictating the way you call some of your plays on special teams based on you're scared that, listen, I think it's easy to bag on a special teams coach.

Typically, those are your backups. Clearly, they're not as deep as some of these other teams. their starters are good. But yeah, man, I thought McVeigh was clearly pretty rattled on that special team's moment. That's why I would have played to avoid the punt and go for the first. I was a little, Sean McVeigh loves to pass. I was surprised that he ran it there. And, I mean, the Bears got the ball at the 50-yard line.

Yeah. Let's, when I look at the Bears season, one of the things that really jumps out to me is how much everything improved. Even when they were winning, they were beating bad teams barely. If you go look at the last six weeks, I mean, John, they had, you know, they were in this game. I mean, if you didn't know the records, you didn't know anything and just watch this game, your takeaway would be Chicago's every bit as good as the Rams. But, you know, the Rams come in as a four and a half point favorite. Don't cover but win.

And, you know, your takeaway is the Rams were more efficient. They're a cleaner team with an older quarterback, made fewer mistakes. They just don't fumble. that dealt through interceptions that don't get penalized. Again, I don't remember a drop pass. They may have, I don't remember a drop pass. Bears had three or four or five. But, and for the record, that's why the Rams beat the Seahawks in one of their meetings.

They played a cleaner game than Seattle. So I think one of the big developments over the course of the weekend, no Bo Knicks, you know, that's, you start looking at Seattle right now and it's like, could be, could I make this argument? This is the last team with a chance to beat Seattle. Seattle. Drake May, neutral sight, that Seahawk defense if he got past him.

Because I think New England, you know, is going to be favored over Denver. L.A. is special teams worrying me, but, you know, again, I think you're looking at the winner of the NFC championship game is a favor in the Super Bowl, don't you think? Absolutely. And they should be. Absolutely should be. Man, that would it.

Their games were, their games were theater this year. I was on my podcast text chain, I said, I think I've watched more Bears football this year than I have in the last 15 years total. I mean, I feel of how many games they play, 17 and then a couple playoff games. So you're talking 19 games. I feel like I watch 16 plus start to finish. John. Their games have been riveting. I mean, the last stretch of the season, that's as entertaining, which is cool.

Like as a lover of this sport, someone that does this for a living, like see a big. city get revitalized see this brand matter uh i was someone that questioned caleb obviously his physical attributes never were a question just how he would mix his playmaking is just even people that loved him the most would not imagine i mean he's he's looking like farver elway down the stretch of these games in the freezing cold right i mean the guy played in sc in in oklahoma and i i know he's played in dc in in high school but this is a little different animal here. Yeah, I mean, the good news for the bears, this draft, you know, John, they don't need a single offensive player. They have their tackles, their interior line, they have two backs, they have

two tight ends, they have three receivers. I mean, they could take every draft pick. You see this from time to time and just go, hey, defensive end, let's get a younger safety, corner, edge rusher. I mean, this is a big edge draft. They need an edge rusher. So you can tell what Chicago's going to do in this draft. He'll listen, Ben Johnson came in, solidified the interior O line, goes out and get Luther Burden, Colston Loveland, like, we're going to have a powerhouse offense. I'm going to get my side of the ball. The Bears next year are going to draft five defensive players, a lot of them to me in the box.

They're going nowhere. And the other thing we've said, Caleb doesn't throw a lot of picks. He had him tonight. Again, it should be noted. Roma Dunzee dropped a touchdown ball. on that Bears first drive. So, I mean, they're, you know, this, this was not a game in way. I didn't think the Bears' receivers had as good a game as, you know, a Devante, Apuka.

The tight ends for the Rams are so good. They use all of them. They're really, really good. But, I mean, Gardner Johnson knocked that ball away from Terrence Ferguson that forced the field goal. That's another great play by the Bears defensive backs tonight. Great game. I don't remember playoffs like this. Their DBS were really good.

than I mean. Excellent. Healthy too. Healthier. Yeah, they were just making plays on the ball. They were tackling well in the open field. I actually think they could, obviously, Loveland and Burden were two of his first two draft picks. So those guys are going nowhere. I think you could pick between Roma Dunzee, who was just a top 10 pick a couple years ago, DJ Moore, who kind of had a weird year, but he has a long

resume of being a really good player. And Cole Komet and take one of those players and use it to get either draft capital, maybe use it and your first round pick to trade up in the draft. Because they kind of have, you don't need them all. And they're definitely, as this goes on, they're going to feature Loveland and Luther Burden more. So to me, it's almost between DJ Moore and Rome, which one do you want to keep? You know, Rome's technically cheaper, but Rome might have more value to some teams that

just had them rated really high. Cole Commette is a really solid tight end. You might just, why would you not just keep him around? He's a versatile player. I think you could take one of those two wide receivers. and utilize that to help get defensive help because they probably have an abundance of riches, but they're not, like you said,

Puka and Devante are just better than those guys. I mean, Devonte is a Hall of Famer, and Puka is on a track to go there. I mean, they're just a little higher-level version of kind of their group. Yeah, and, you know, let's say this. This is Ben Johnson's first year and Caleb's second year and Stafford's been around forever and Sean McVeigh is a veteran.

And to go on the road in the opposite, of the weather you're comfortable in and play that clean a football game, that's really impressive. I mean, it really is. No drops, no penalties, not turning the ball over. I know I've said that multiple times. That's really hard to do. Go back and look at the box score on the Texans Patriots. And those are, again, well-coached teams. It was a mesh. You can't feel your hands. At halftime, I stepped outside. I just wanted to see how cold it was at halftime, because I hadn't been outside for several hours. I just went outside for two minutes. And I'm like, oh my God, it was windy. I'm like, this is brutal. I mean, it's, it's, we watch the classic, classic game.

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And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, 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. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen she went. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted.

She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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 Acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starting. for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. Amishel Fee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion-dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive?

The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, we've talked about Bears and Rams. Let's get to New England 28, Houston 16, New England forcing five turnovers in the win. You know, I pick New England to be my double your win total team and as a wildcard team. I picked Seattle to be my surprise.

playoff team. So I thought Seattle had a chance to be special, not maybe this good, but New England I did pick as a playoff team a double your win total. And my takeaway was, I don't think people understand. When you go from a coach who's really not a coach to Mike Frable and Josh McDaniel, my take is that's three wins. Well, they also had a great draft. They also are very good at player development. I mean, if you look at a play like a Kashan Boudet, who just has become a better player under this staff, So you get a really great draft, the development of like Boudet and Drake May, and you spent 250 mil plus, plus you have the best coordinator in the league, Josh McDaniels, and a head coach. You know, I picked him to win 10 games. And my takeaway, everybody was like, well, I looked at their roster today.

It reminds me of the old Belichick rosters, except the quarterbacks mobile. You just have the same owner. Vrabels, a more current, more player-friendly version of Belichick, high IQ. same coordinator and may as Tom, but more move. He moves more. He moves more. I had 27 first downs running this year. And but when I look at their team, there's no real whole. I don't know where New England's great.

I think their receivers are undervalued. I think they're a little better at receiver than people think. They have two capable running backs. Hunter Henry's good, solid. But my take on New England is, in Seattle has a little bit of this, John. There's no hole. Where do you, what? Now, Will Anderson.

eats Will Campbell for lunch. Okay, he's a rookie left tackle. I'm not sure he's 100%. That was a mismatch. Will Anderson is getting to a point now. Maybe he's not Miles Garrett, but he is the second best edge rusher in the last seven, eight years. I mean, it's like, he looks pretty good at him.

He's just a blockable, long, instinctive. But I just think New England's talent is better than people understand. They spend a lot of money in free agency, not a lot of flashy stuff. Gonzalez is an elite corner. They get really solid pressure, ball hawking corners. I think the Patriots talent's better than people think. Remember, I think Belichick's last year, defensively, they weren't terrible. They were actually pretty good.

And remember Belichick took some shots at Gerard Mayo when he was in the media going, like, our defense was not, their offense was horrendous. The Patricia, the Jacoby, Mac Jones situation, Zappy. Defensively, they've had pieces even when Belichick handed the thing to Gerard and now to to Brable. One note I wrote down is there's a grit and toughness that reminded me of the Patriot teams of the 20-year dynasty, just the way it looked, unfazed by anything that happened. I mean, they fumble, unfaced, a crazy play by Willie Anderson, an offensive line again, smoked unfazed. A touchdown that they score, a big unfaced. It's a very kind of old-school mentality

they have. And to me, Vrable has clearly instilled. I mean, I was texting with someone that played for Belchick with Brady in the 2000s. And he said, it is so hard in those games to feel your hands, how cold it is. And I think that directly impacts DJ Stroud. I know he played at Ohio State, but they don't play in December and January in college. You could tell John, you could tell both quarterbacks with the fumble issues. They couldn't feel their hands. Same with the running backs.

It was, I mean, there was at one point, early in third quarter, there were eight turnovers. I text a couple people, is this a good? good game or a bad game because I'm entertained, but I don't know. But I think there's an element of the cold and just how difficult is to play. Honestly, I'm watching this game like, incredible how good Tom was in these elements for all those years. I mean, the accuracy, the control of the ball. It's their whole team. I mean, Belichick had that thing mastered to dominate in those environments. Well, Vrabel's an Ohio guy. Played for a decade there. Kind of like Vrable to me feels much more cold sleet that he does

Nashville on Broadway. That's right. And Josh McDaniels, they're very, very lucky. A lot of teams, look at Robert Salas probably going to get a job.

Kyle Shanahan would give him a 10-year, $50 million contract right now to be his defensive coordinator. Josh McDaniels is not going to get a head coaching job because of how bad is second tier. So there's going to have this

offensive coordinator who's elite at his job, who I mentioned this, I need to do the study. I mean, it's really just a math equation. How many games is Josh Daniels coach as an offensive coordinator as the in playoff games. 50? I mean, think how many big games he's game planned for, practice for, adjusted for in the middle of the game. He's been in that exact role for decades. And I mean, he was the offensive coordinator when Mack Jones made the

playoffs. Like this guy is, he has to be one of the more senior or in terms of experience coordinator in the history of the NFL. And he hasn't had to switch. He got middle age Tom, old Tom, young Mac Jones, young Drake May. all kind of the same prototype. You know, obviously Drake's the best athlete in terms of mobility, but all pocket guys, all pocket guys who just like, who don't like stuff at their feet, who like a little protection, who think pretty quick, get rid of the ball accurately, Brady, Mac.

So it's a, he has a, he has an offense, he has an ecosystem, the way he does it, and they've all kind of, I mean, he doesn't have to change rapidly. You know, I mean, if you're not giving him hyper-athletic guy, because Drake may runs for first downs, but you can see, he wants, to sit in the pocket. And, you know, the other thing that jumped out to me in this game, New England beating Houston, is Will Anderson's up for an extension. He's getting it. You pay him whatever you have to pay him. He is right now next to Miles Garrett. Max Crosby's up there.

C.J. Stroud is going to be very interesting because we've seen over the last couple of weeks, boy, he has regressed. Now, is it coaching? You and I both feel strongly about this when it comes to quarterbacks. And CJ's still kind of in that Herbert younger quarterback. Coaching matters a lot. Like, and by the way, it mattered for, for, I mean, Aaron Rogers, much better this year with Arthur Smith than he was with a mess in, in New York. So C.J. Strauss, he'll get an extension, right? I mean, it's not, I could not this offseason, give him an extension. Okay. So you wait to the other season. Okay. To me, Will Anderson, you treat him like Micah Parsons, you know, Aiden Hutchinson, what do you want, big guy?

Here's the number. It's huge. You're going to be CJ Str. I mean, part of winning in that conference, I know he played his year at Ohio State, but he's from Southern California, and now he plays in a dome. And that field today, and again, texting this guy that had played there is like, he's like, you can't feel your hands. So he's a touch passer. You know a lot of people Compton coming out of college? To Jared Gough. Yes, he was. He struggled in cold weather, majority of his career. He's clearly gotten a little bit better as he's gotten a little bit better as he's gotten old. or maybe just a little more comfortable.

Now he plays in the NFC North, playing in more cold weather places. Like, he's a touch passer. Even on the touchdown he threw to Kirk, Kirk had to make a great play and box the guy out. His touch is a, it doesn't really work. And then, you know, these last couple weeks in the cold weather struggled touching the, you've got to play cold weather teams in the AFC. It's unavoidable, unless you're the number one seed every year.

And to me, they're clearly there's a little, I mean, they didn't even win their own division this year. So they're a well-run team. I think Casario's a stud. They have the commander second-round pick. So they have their own first-round pick, and they got two-toes. Offensive line, offensive line, offensive line. But we've seen, you just talked about quarterback thing.

We have seen some bad quarterback contracts that you didn't need to pay Kyler Murray. You didn't need to pay to it. Just take another year. CJ, hey, you were the number two overall pick. You're making millions of dollars. You're not Brock Purdy pay scale here. but you just had, I mean, how many turnovers got in the last two weeks?

20? I mean, it was, today it was outrageous. And I just, you can't pay, because the going rate, the minimum, like Sam Dardle's the minimum, and that starts at 100, and guys like C.J. Stroud hang up on that. So they start at like 150, 160,

you can't. I think he's playing out next year. And that doesn't mean, I like him. I'm a fan. High character guy, works hard, loves football, but he's a touch passer that if I got to go on the road, Kansas City, Denver, New England, you know, Baltimore ain't going to be down long. So it's, I got to have a Kansas City.

I mean, they'll be back. You got to play well November, December, outside in the cold weather. And today, because I talked to someone last week that said his bad plays were atrocious, but he made some good plays in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh's just not that good of a team. Right. They're just, they're not. New England was a different level and it felt he would.

I mean, how often do you see former players? they go to Jason Kelsey's like I think you got to bench him at half. Yeah, Ryan Clark said that. You and I, I have no problem saying that, but it's pretty rare for a guy like Kelsey. And they weren't wrong. And Damiko, former player probably thought like, hey, he's going to be my starting quarterback next year. I can't create a controversy going the offseason, which I don't disagree. I understand where he's coming from.

But you could have justified benching him because this isn't the NBA. He can't demand a trade and get trade. That's not the way it works. So I'm sure they had a conversation, right? Him and the O.C. like Davis Mills ready because this this is not going to work and if you're thinking about benching a guy at half you can't then give him a hundred fifty million dollars I mean Colin you you would do it potentially like a month I mean this is a lot of guys get extension late February early March so

that's a note for me and it's not because I don't like him but he signed a five-year contract right pick up his fifth year option and then go from there all right let's go to Denver and overtime 33 to 30 over Buffalo you know what John like everybody in America I I have watched every replay. And I will say, I think in most instances, when fans, you know, it's rigged, if you're going to rig this thing, you'd rig it for Josh Allen and the bills. Bow Nix and the Super Bowl is not moving a number. But I will say, I talked to a GM today and I looked at several.

Let me put it this way. Slow motion usually creates clarity. I would argue this is one of the rare instances, slow motion created confusion. Because slow motion makes it look like it's more of a catch by Brandon Cooks than it is. That in fast motion, when I watched it about 30 times after talking to a GM, the GM who is no, by the way, fan of Denver, I'll just leave it at that said, in the end, if you look at it at real speed, the ball's bouncing when he hits the ground. And that's not an official cash to.

Then it's whoever wins the wrestling. match and Denver won the wrestling match. So I thought slow-mo as I'm watching it in slow-mo, it actually, in hindsight, did it a disservice because it makes it look like Cook's is more in possession. That was my take anyway. They got it right, but I've never seen anything like that. So I didn't know for about a day how to compute it. Yeah, I mean, I think the catch has become such a convoluted situation in the NFL. Why do we have to make this so confusing? And by the letter of the law, they got it right. I think you could argue, was it he officially touched and then he ran out of bounds and dropped the ball. Some people are saying it should

have been a safety bills win. But I'm with you. I mean, I just think that we've got to this point with instant replay, which does benefit us, right? Because we can get things right. But also, like, I do feel for Sean McDermann, if you watched his long kind of, you know, he went on this, I wouldn't even call it a rant because he was very under control. And he said, listen, if I take a step back objectively, can't we just try to get it right? And it felt very, rushed. Now, I think, you know, being in that spot in the first place, all the turnovers, right, obviously the way the half ended for Buffalo, there's a lot to even get to that point that was avoidable. And I also think it's a reflection of when the season's on

the line, he's throwing a jump ball to a very old, I mean, for NFL standards, an older player who is not a jump ball player. I mean, he's made some big place for him. And he honestly He made a great catch that went out of bounds, but kind of a reflection of their personnel isn't that you and I talk about a lot. Yeah, Brandon Cooks has always been like a number two or three. He's a speed guy. You run him up. You run him deep.

Yeah, I mean, this has been my knock is that they have three elite players all on offense. You know, and he, by the way, Josh Allen's best teammate James Cook led running backs and fumbles. That's his best teammate. They have a slot receiver, a good left tackle, Josh Allen, and a fumble prone running back who's got jets. that's not great. You know, so my takeaway is it's really not a good enough roster.

So you are left to, I mean, they had three active guys. You're left to throwing up a jump ball to a speed guy, not a big receiver. Brandon Cooks is a smaller, smaller speed guy without a huge catching radius. So, you know, I mean, my question, if you're going to run McDermott out of the building, and I think he's a B, B plus coach, I feel like it's always something. Last year, they couldn't get the push right. This year it's multiple turnovers. The year before, you know, three years ago or whatever it was, it was the 13 second loss.

You know, years and years and years ago, it was wide right. It's always something for Buffalo, but I do feel like there are certain teams. We watch the Indiana Hoosiers. Wow, they're tight. The Belichick dynasty, really tight. I just feel, and it usually comes on the offensive side, John, Buffalo's a little loose. They've missed on a lot of picks. They have too many turnovers.

I thought Josh was very reckless. Can't you coach some of that out of him? By the way, another defensive coach, D'Meco Ryan, who I think fondly of, C.J. Stroud, way too loose. You know, sometimes I look at these defensive coaches, and they're so good on the defensive side, elevating and developing, that the offense just doesn't feel like it's buttoned up, and that's Buffalo again. I do think when it comes to Josh and the reckless nature,

I mean, that's probably the worst playoff game he's ever had. I mean, statistically, right? you know, I think there's a far-rean quality. I don't think you coach that out. I mean, he had Mike Holmgren, Andy Reid, John Gruden, Steve Marriucci, you know, in the prime of his career and he drove him all nuts. Sean McDermott on an individual play basis, like the end of half, he's not the offensive coordinator, but that's a you come on the headset.

We're kneeling it. Tony Romo, you know, best point of the day was like, you could not. It's not worth the wrist there when you don't have any timeouts. And then Josh, you know, carries the ball like Shady McCoy and the ball hits the ground. but like on the the aggregate of his career, they've been really successful, right? Up until yesterday, they were 8-0 to non-Mahomahom's Joe Burrow teams.

So they had won a lot of playoff games. Look at how many playoff games he's won relative to like Harbaugh and Tomlin. I mean, Harbaugh just got $100 million. If Tomlin chose to coach, he'd probably get $100 million right now. And Sean McDermott, I think, would say, well, we're all defensive CEO types. I actually think the GM,

and you look around the league, all these GM survived. Joe Shane, the guy in Arizona, the guy in Cleveland, I think the GM relative to having this court, Howie Roseman, would rather get thrown off the Walt Whitman than be to not be aggressive when he had Josh Allen

as his quarterback. And I think if you look at him, a little Farvian, Ted Thompson, or not Rogers, I mean, remember, it was like, God, Ted, be aggressive here. You got this guy in the peak of it, and they weren't smaller market. Now, they have an owner, but he doesn't feel that aggressive,

least from sitting here 3,000 miles away, like some of these owners. I think the GM has been dramatically worse than Sean McDermott. Now, we feel Sean McDermott more on game day than we do the GM just because on an individual play basis. But I think the GM relative to having this all-time great quarterback has been really bad. I mean, Keon Coleman, he had a touchdown yesterday, but was inactive most of the season. So it's like, how many impact? One thing, how did the 49ers keep it going all these years?

They hit on a lot of mid-round guys to become, like, where are those guys in Buffalo? You know, Shakir's been on the team a long time now. It's like, you know, Cook was a second round pick. Where are your big impact guys? And they, where are your aggressive moves? Like, why, when Howie's making these trades, when Les Neen, when John Schneider, why aren't you hand in hand with them? Like, hey, I need to outbid this guy.

When the 49ers traded for McCaffrey, they had an added extra pick because the Rams were going to get them. And people are like, God, the Rams and the Niners are crazy here. But they lean aggressiveness. When I look at Buffalo, it's like, yeah, they're just not that aggressive of a front office. And I think it's bit them on the margins when they've had. Now, finally, their quarterback played a bad game. But, man, that's tough. So to me, Sean McDermott, by the time people are listening this Monday, he might be done.

But the GM, to me, cannot be one of those that survives and the coach goes. That would be insanity to me. Now, in credit to Denver, they will not have Boe Nix. Jared Stidham, because he's been in the program a couple of years, should be a fairly competent backup. And they also have between Mims, Cortland Sutton, Harvey. They run the ball pretty effectively. At times, they did not against Buffalo. Credit to McDermott and the defense, they didn't run the ball well.

But Stidham should be a capable backup. He won't run like Bo Nix. He's not that athlete. But in the end, could I not argue, the Broncos have the better coach, the better roster, the more efficient quarterback for this game, and frankly, huge edge on deep balls at wide receiver. Lost in all of this is that Bo Nix, two for two on two big deep ball home run touchdown throws. He did a lot of stuff under eight yards, a lot of stuff behind the line of scrimmage. The two times he went big, he hit on both of them.

So lost in all of this was their corners got beat twice on big plays and Bo Nix was more efficient. Well, think about this. One area that he got a lot of credit this year, so did Caleb throughout the regular season. When it mattered most, they turned into a high level player. I mean, both of them played like top five guys on the last. couple drives throughout the season when their backs were against the wall, they led them to both winning a bunch of games, right, and becoming, you know, high seeds. His final drive was fantastic. Fantastic.

Multiple big shots in zone coverage, a big run for a first down. And obviously the game winning touch or game, I guess, they took the lead and then Buffalo tied it. But it was just a gorgeous pass. And what was an area that we hammered him on this season? It was like, oh, the deep ball's a little. It's not great. And I think one thing, if you wanted to be critical of Sean with Boe, like I think Ben

Johnson's a lot like this too. Their favorite plays are timing pass rounds. That's what Ben Johnson thrived with Jared Gough and him with Sean Payton. These guys are playmaking athletes. You kind of got to let them, and it's hard. You know, Steve Kerr, and I'm not comparing Steph Curry to either one of these guys, but like, sometimes he's got to let him be him. And most coaches struggle with that. And I think you got, like, this game's probably not as close. If Sean just let him kind of scramble around and make plays, but sometimes in the pocket, that's not worth. bow, when he gets out of rhythm, it can look a little off, right? But as he just kind of like, hey, make some plays, we need a touchdown, run around, let it loose. That's when he's at his best,

which, do you ever remember a game ending and then all of a sudden, the guy broke his ankle and no one saw it? I mean, it's, it feels like an unprecedented, uh, an injury. When you factor in, no one knew, even clearly the coach didn't know till he was told. I mean, he walked, the NFL tweeted out a video of him walking off the field, high-fiving people. Yeah. Um, I mean, I just, think it's a bummer that Jared Stidimus playing because I do think Denver, although I don't know if they would win the Super Bowl, I do think they're on a short list of teams that can compete with it. I think they have an excellent roster. And I'll give you, I was thinking about this today, John, Denver and Seattle pivoted off Russell Wilson. Denver really paid both number one seats.

And the message to the NFL, if you make a mistake, move off it quickly. think about this. Gerard Mayo, New England. Big mistake. Moved off it there in the AFC championship. Seattle. You know, we got Russell Wilson. We're moving off it. Didn't take long. Gino, Gino Smith, Darnold, boom, number one seat hit on draft picks. Denver. Still paying cap room for this year. Bo, Nicks draft him. Playoffs, second year number one seed, now AFC championship. Bad weekend for Russell Wilson, not to bury him. But the point being between New England and Denver, The message is, guys, don't get out of the rigidity. If you make a mistake with a coach or a quarterback, the rebuilds are a year in the NFL.

You get about a crappy year. I mean, Denver and their rebuild year with Bo Nix made the playoffs. New England, I believe a rebuild year is going to make the AFC championship. So I kept thinking about it this weekend. When I looked at Denver, the overarching message is you get the coach right, you get the quarterback, mostly right, Bo Nix has hit and miss. You can not only make the playoffs, you can end up a number one seed.

Our number one seeds are Bo Nix and Sam Darnold. So we were getting into a weird space, John, where it felt like Mahomes, Alan, Lamar. Like you were getting into a space where it felt like you had to have a superstar quarterback to get in. The takeaway now is, no, get a young talented quarterback, Caleb Williams.

I mean, Stafford's now the only expensive guy left, right going into this podcast. I also think that a lot of, like the Texans are a good example. If C.J. Stroud would have taken the approach like, hey, on this team, I'm just going to be Brad Johnson or Trent Dilfer. Call me a game manager. They could have won the Super Bowl. But he tried to play like on this number two overall quarterback, watch me make plays. He's like, bro, do you do not need to do that.

So I think there's this fine line of can you get a guy to play within your system, understand what he is? it's hard. These quarterbacks now are rock stars. They make a ton of money on and off the field. And some guys just can't kind of find their lane. And then you're very predicated on the play calling. Also, when you pay a lot of money for these quarterbacks, it does limit. I mean, Buffalo and Kansas City just have less wiggle room to make moves. Look at Denver. That's right. I want Hufunga and I want Greenlaw, boom, buy it. Bott McGlinchie a year ago. You just can be a little more aggressive once you pivot off and kind of manipulate the cap. Also, it speaks to these owners, what is Denver doing? A lot like the Eagles did. They funny money

contracts. They pay you more cash up front, push it all down the line. And it's become not only a smart guy, aggressive league, but is your owner willing, because they all have money. Like the Browns want to spend money. They can. They just choose not to in Cincinnati. They be cheap. If your owner wants to double down, I mean, that's been the knock on Jerry. It's like, yeah, just I'll pay a couple guys, but like I'm going to be a little cheap on the margins. And I think Denver clearly, this is only going to solidify. They might get beat by 20 points in the AFC championship just because this guy doesn't take any reps, right? So we're in late January.

I mean, he's probably gone four months without really taking, assuming Beau takes them all during practice. He's with a scout team. That's a lot to ask. So even worst case scenario, but big picture now, Sean's kind of validated what I tell you, when I want something to listen to me. Yeah. These owners, I mean, who has more money than Walmart? You know, Steve Ballmer? I mean, it's a very short list.

So it's like, hey, let's pay this guy. Give them a $80 million signing bonus. We'll do a 10-year contract and we'll manipulate the books. And that's why they were able to kind of maneuver the Russell Wilson disaster. Think about Trey Lance, Niners pivoted in a blink of an eye. Boom, didn't even think twice. You know, Carson Wentz years ago with the Eagles, it's like if you're willing to be like, hey, we've traded first rounders, we paid a bunch of money. Who cares?

You're all making so much money You won't even Remember it in six months Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers And guess what? We have some big news What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast

Called Hey Jonas We invented a podcast Well, we didn't invent it We just contributed to our 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. 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. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself.

I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Genschen win. I mean, she went down in three to Rovachina, but I'm delighted. Yeah, she's an outside. to win the French for me. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends,

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on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two, two kids,

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41 to 6. I thought it was going to be really close. Somewhere in the third quarter, Seattle pulls away. Instead, they take the opening kickoff and from that point the floodgates open. I'll say this. Kyle Shanahan has coached 163 games with the Niners. Only four times he's been held

under seven points. Two of those are against the Seahawks in January. Listen, one with George Kittle, one without. Listen, I don't know if it's the Legion of Boom. but I will tell you, these corners for Seattle, the linebackers, Ernest Jones, their pass rush is unbelievable. You can't run on them.

I mean, and what this really benefits Seattle is that they don't have to take major risks with Sam Darnold. He plays a very conservative game. They run the ball with Walker. I mean, I look at this Seattle defense, and they don't need to take a lot of risks. I mean, you know, Darnold's throwing 18, 20 times a game. with that run game, with that defense, also the difference between the Seahawks and the Rams and Niners in division. Seattle's got great special teams, outstanding special teams. I don't see a hole in Seattle, do you?

You know, they remind me a lot of the 2019 49ers who were the number one seed and had a 10-point lead with five minutes to go against the Kansas Chiefs in the Super Bowl. And if you remember in that NFC championship game, I think Jimmy Garapolo threw eight pass attempts. And they blew out Aaron Rogers because their defense was unsubes. stopable. And what did they have? Kyle and Sala back then. Well, what does this team have? McDonald and Kubiak, who I've been saying forever, the Kubiaks are basically just the cousins of the Shanahan's, right? I mean, the offense was invented with the two of them. So when I see a team that they won a game yesterday, 41 to 6, and their quarterback completed 12 passes for 120 yards. So this was the Jimmy Garoppola 49ers. As long as you don't turn the ball over, they're going to

win the Super Bowl if their defense's going to play like that. They're going to win the the Super Bowl. The only way they will not win the Super Bowl is if he has a game where he has a fumble and an interception. If he just plays controlled, who cares? Look at C.J. Stroud today. Punt is not a bad thing. They're not going to move the ball. At most, they're going to score a couple touchdowns. Who cares? We cannot fumble the ball. We do not throw interceptions. If Sam Darnold, which, let's face it, he led the league in turnovers during the season so you were nervous. And then the oblique injury to me scared me because a lot of quarter, I remember specifically, I think Derek Carr had this and he just couldn't throw.

Right? So you just think, how's this going to work? And then you watched that first throw of the game. It was kind of like hit the ground. You went, well, this might be something. Shanahan said after the game, he's like, well, once the tortural really hits in, he ain't going to feel it. So, and then as the game went on, he looked just completely normal and they didn't even need them. But if your defense, from a scheme standpoint, they're the best scheme defense. And the way I've been described by nineer people, typically Kyle, he kills you because he's such a good game planer of like, He knows exactly what you're going to do. So he can put his guy in a place that he knows you're not going to be.

The problem for McDonald is he's basically a wizard. You think he's going to do something. And then he does the complete opposite when the ball snapped. No one really plays like that. Belichick used to do this forever, right? Spagnola kind of does this with his blitzes. It's a short list of guys that can really manipulate the defense, like offensive coaches manipulate the offense.

This guy's, I mean, elite. There's no way around it. And then the personnel standpoint, we talk about Bean with Buffalo. They have the opposite with Schneider. I mean, he's going to the Hall of Fame. I mean, that's just, that's the case. So he's going right to the Hall of Fame as a GM. My people that I trust think Snyder's the best personnel guy in the league.

Howie Roseman is more aggressive and maybe the great manipulator of trades and draft picks. John's the best personnel guy, just looking at overall personnel. And by the way, in this division, Seattle said, listen. McVeigh and Shanahan are in this division. We're not going to have the third best offensive coach. They didn't try to top the Rams and the Niners. Like, okay, we got a McVeigh. We got Shanahan.

We're not beating that. We're going to go get the McVeigh of the defensive side. So we're going to build this thing on defense. Because you and I, John, know this in the history of football, even now's football. In most of the time, if your offense is competent and not turnover prone, a dominating defense, the Seahawks humiliated Peyton Manning in a Super Bowl. The Seahawks should have beaten Tom Brady in the Super Bowl, if not for Malcolm Butler. A great defense with a competent offense.

Holmes has been blown out twice in Super Bowls. He can't get past pro. He can't be protected. So I just, they're the opposite of the Steelers. They're the opposite of the Steelers is that the Seahawks have built a defense that is young and cheap. It's the 23rd most expensive defense. You know, with the Steelers, they spent all this money four years in a row, the most expensive defense. It's old, creaky, a lot of injuries and expensive. Seattle's the opposite.

They hit on their draft picks. It's young, cheap, flexible, and allows them to, you know, go out and get Rashid Saheed. And, you know, who by the way, they already had solid special teams. Now they're probably the best special teams left in the playoffs. I think what he did a really good job of, and a lot of people complain go, we're never bad enough to bottom out. Well, Seattle never bottomed out, right? They got the Russell Wilson trade in the one year it netted them, I think, the fifth pick and they got Witherspoon, he was a high-end player. But a lot of their guys, the guards from North Dakota State, Zabel, Byron Murphy, those were teams that went like 9 and 8 or 10 and 7. So he was picking in the teens and he hit home runs. So a lot of GMs, you know him, I know them, and personnel people will bitch, like, you know, it's hard to find a guy at 16.

I didn't see John Schneider complaining. He just got Impact Pro Bowl guys with those couple picks. obviously the Sam Darnold thing, even he admitted, we tried to pay Gino, we kind of low-balled them relative. I mean, they were offering him $35 million. He thought he was with 40s, like, fine, we're not. We're going to have a number. See you later.

We'll go to Sam for basically a cheaper price. Yeah. And it's not like Sam, you know, he was better last year, right? 35 touchdowns this year, a little up and down with the turnovers. But he's much more seasoned. Like you saw him last night, it felt like a guy under control, he's injured, he understands the circumstance, just play under control, play like Jimmy Garoppolo 2019, which back to C.J. Stroud can be hard for guys who are star guys, drafted high. You just view yourself. And that's why when

people make the transition, Rich Gannon's talked about this. You know, it used to happen a lot. Like, even before I was bored, Jim Plunkett, guys that have been really humbled and then kind of know their role. I think it is very difficult for these guys to be like, hey, J.J. McCarthy, we're a top 10 pick, but we need you to play a little different now. And, the version they got out of Sam Donald last night, that will win them in the Super Bowl if he can just,

if they can play in games where they're not even throwing it 20 times a game, they might blow out the next two teams they play. Maybe not 41 to 6, but would it shock you if they won the next two games by double digits? If Sam Donald is attempting less than 20 balls, they can run the ball in their defense.

Houston could do that if they just had a normal offense. When you have that level of defense, Houston's defense, Seattle's defense, even Denver. I keep hearing out, their defense is not as good. as it was last year. It's not bad. No. But it's not dominant by any, I mean, they got shredded on the ground. You can't do anything

on Seattle. Yeah. And by the way, the Niners overachieved all season. They had no business beating Philly and Philly. Philly fell apart offensively in coaching. So, I mean, to me, Trent Williams said it after. Once you beat Philly and Philly with this roster, you're going up to Seattle. You got no George Kittle. I've always said this. If you speed Brock Purti up, he becomes pretty normal. I mean, Christian McCaffrey in two games against the Seahawks, couldn't do anything. So, you know, McCaffrey's got Christians not helping. He's averaged in three yards of carry. There's no kiddle. I'm sorry, the secondary for Seattle in the pass rush. This was a roster mismatch. And I do think San Francisco hitting a couple of young players, but I felt it was a

roster mismatch. All right, John Harbaugh, to the New York Giants, let's finish with this. Stefanski, by the way, gets the Atlanta job, a lot of offensive skill people, not sure what the Steelers are doing. They're going to get the third choice because the Ravens, they're coming in. they're probably, I think you would choose the Ravens over the Steelers. So, excuse me, the Steelers will get the fourth choice at best. You know, and this is a Rooney's not super aggressive in the free agent market, the trade deadline, and the coaching market. They're not good at this.

So Giants get their guy. Atlanta gets their guy. Baltimore's probably next. Top of the food chain with Steve Bashati, Lamar Jackson, good roster. Steelers at best get fourth. Watch out Pittsburgh. John Harbaugh to New York. So I text the GM today.

I said, Joe Shane, I mean, John Harbaugh is making $20 million a year. Joe Shane has no leverage. And that's what he said. This is John is going to go straight tomorrow. I have picked four years in a row. My double-year win total team, Giants went four and 13. I actually think they're going to be a 10 or 11 win team next year. I think Washington's a bit of a mess.

Dallas, we don't know what they're doing with the coaching position. I think they're bringing the, you know, they're bringing Brian Schottenheimer back. they still have some real holes defensively. You know, you get to watch Jackson Dart. John Harbock can watch Jackson Dart for a year and say, let's see. I'm going to start him and see if I like him because they're going to be going into a great quarterback draft at a college. I think it sets up really well.

I think between Andrew Thomas, if they get a right tackle like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did with Brady, go get a right tackle. There's three good ones in the first round. I think offensively, they're going to be interesting. They've got Abdul Carter. They got Brian Burns probably needs. some secondary help. I strongly believe that this is a, they don't need a schematic guy, John. They don't need a play caller. They need a culture changer. There's no Shanahan's on the market.

That's rare. You get the CEO and the play caller, play designer. Harbott of me is what they needed. Successful, culture builder, good staff builder. I like, I'll be honest, if they get the right tackle and a corner and a tight end in the draft, John, I like their roster. Yeah, to me, and it's a great fit for him. Yeah, when he got fired, and then the next day they fired Mike McDaniel, and it was like, they're going to go after him. I was like, John Harbaugh in Miami, that feels like a weird fit. That feels like where a guy goes to kind of retire in his shoes. To me, he feels New York Giants.

You know, since 1998, he got hired with Philadelphia. I think that was the year before Andy Reid even got there. Andy kept him. And then, so basically from 98 until a couple weeks. ago, he's been in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Right. He belongs in that area. He's comfortable.

He feels like that area. Yes. So it was draable. Yeah. 100%. I don't really remember the Walsh-Niner era, but there was one team that could handle him, and it was Bill Parcells. And then the one team that could take down Brady and Belichick, it was Tom Coughlin.

And I would say that when Bill Parcells and Tom Coughlin, I remember meeting Tom Coughlin one time at the Combine, he's not the biggest, most intimidating human. It's not like a Vrabel or a Jim Harbaugh. But when you met him, you felt like this guy's the boss, you know, just like stand up straight. And to me, that's what the Harbaas bring to the table. So the Giants now, you could argue this about New York. Think about the successful coaches even remove football. Pat Riley, right?

Joe Torrey. They've kind of been like, yeah, this guy's the boss. And the last decade since they got rid of Coughlin, which wasn't the wrong move, it was time. Right. They got a bunch of guys that like, this guy's a number two. This guy's the number three. This guy is nobody in this market too. You can pull it off in some of these smaller market spots.

You have no chance in New York. You get eaten alive. The Jets make that mistake a lot, right? And John Harbaugh will come in. I mean, look at, they are very, very lucky that this played out the way it did. Oh, yes. Because it gives them a chance to change the franchise. Also, John, when you do the first hire, you get the best staff.

So this is why I worry about Pittsburgh. So Atlanta immediately goes and gets Stefanski because they want to get the best. Stephansky wants to get that defensive staff in, because Stephansky's going to get a good offensive staff. He's a bright guy. He wants to get special teams and defense taken care of. So, I mean, to me, I think Atlanta is very attractive in terms of offensive skill, pretty good offensive line.

I think there's stability in Arthur Blank. I think people respect Arthur Blank. I think Stavansky's really bright. It's a weaker division. You're playing indoors. To me, Stavansky would fit there. But the minute the Giants went Harbaugh, I think Atlanta looks at that and goes, all right, let's get our guy.

That's where I worry about Pittsburgh, because they don't do this. At least Atlanta and the Giants have, they have a history of hiring coaches and the process. My only issue with the Giants thing is the Giants had to do whatever it took to get this guy. They gave him $100 million. I mean, great time to be a coach. I mean, how much money is John Harbaugh going to make over the course?

By 2030, he'll be worth like hundreds of millions of dollars. These guys are crushing it. But I do think you've got to be very careful. and Andy's like his mentor, a guy that he looks up to, I think that helped he talked to a bunch. When Andy went to Kansas City, he said, listen, I do not want to pick the players. Now, I'm not saying John is saying that, but when you put yourself away from the GM, you have all the juice. To me, the Giants, what they should do is listen. We are going to put you at the top of the food chain, but we want you, like your brother with Ortiz,

get someone you really respect, so you can lean on him. Like, you know what D'Amico doesn't have to worry about? picking players, Casario does it all, right? You know what Mike McDonald doesn't have to worry about? Picking players, John does it all. Focus on coaching, focus on the culture. Obviously, you impact who we draft and sign, but right now John's kind of, it's kind of grewd and like.

And Mark Davis said, I want you to work with Reggie McKenzie for a year. You know why? Because I think a lot of these owners, they spend way more time with the gym. They end up liking the guy. I'm sure they like Joe Shane a lot. This is never going to. Joe Shane, I would be stunned. Now, I said that about Sean Payton with the guy, he's still there, the GM, you know, kind of fall.

So it's ever guaranteed, you know, he's got a year to sell himself. I think George Patent, Patton, Patton, right? Yeah. He's still Sean's GM. He's respected, though. I mean, he's pretty good personnel guy. Well, it had turned down GM interviews for like seven years before he got the Denver job. He was kind of like, you know, Chris Ballard, Adam Peters. There are these rare personnel guys that like Casario was like that, have a run where they kind of pick their specific job. this doesn't feel like that with Joe Shane and it almost feels inevitable that he's just going to have a Raven type guy in that spot.

Why not do it right now? Why not just start fresh? So John, because sometimes coaches, they think a lot different than personnel guys. Yeah, personnel guys can be a little less emotional, can think bigger picture stuff.

They understand the marketplace of the draft a little bit better. And I just be, now, the Giants don't really have a crazy, it's not like there's a Kaleel Mack for him to trade or something crazy for him. But in a year,

he could do something that maybe he would regret in two years, that he didn't have to do that in Baltimore because he had Ozzie and Eric Dacosta. And by many consider it the best, one of the best staffs in the league. Now he's going, he's, you know, Vrable when he went to New England brought one of his guys to Tennessee to work with Elliot Wolf. I have a lot of friends that think you watch, John will bring, you know, a Baltimore guy with him. But then that's, what's the point of?

You know, I'd be very careful about that. totally pro the higher, think it's a no-brainer. But the coach having too much juice sometimes, they can... I think he told Ian O'Connor, we plan on making the playoffs next year. I mean, this guy's not coming there to rebuild. Yeah, and I think it's hard enough to be a GM. I think you have to be very careful about wanting that power. Sean Payton has had some power, but again, has a really strong guy.

Joe Shane, I don't think is going to rise to a top 5 GM. The Sequin Barkley move because it was so punt. public and on TV. But, I mean, let's be honest. Abdul Carter was Scataboo, Jackson Dart, Malik neighbors when he's healthy. I mean, there are some players on this roster that he's done a pretty good job. Joe Shane hasn't, he hasn't whiffed.

I mean, Brandon Bean with the Buffalo Bills has, I mean, there's some big whiffs here. So Joe Shane's done, been more than competent for a lot of his draft picks. The Sequin Barthie thing is going to hang over him forever. That's why that's another reason why you don't want to do one of these HBO hard shows. But I, my argument is that division between Dallas's dysfunction. You know, Dan Quinn, keep your eyes on that. Adam Peters, basically, Cliff Kingsbury felt he was bullied. Now you don't have an offensive coordinator. Jaden Daniels, you cross your fingers. Siriani's going to maintain his job. So my take it, this is not one of the stronger coach divisions. This is not McVeigh,

Shanahan, and Mike McDonald. Okay, this division is a Harbaugh. The minute you hired Vrable, best coach in the division. The minute you hire John Harbaugh, best coach in the division. That usually works out well. Well, I think what you can see with Washington come from a mile away is Mike Tomlin, because pretty sure Mike Tomlin's from that general area. Yeah. And he's going to go on TV. His stock is only going to skyrocket. And who's their owner?

An NBA guy. Who is he hired? Doc Rivers. Nick Nurse won an NBA championship in MB, get Paul George. The NBA is a splashier league, and he's kind of used to that. And he goes, well, we haven't even won, but we've always been a topic of conversation. We can win and be a topic of conversation. To me, you can see it coming from a mile away, the Tomlin thing.

Who's his right-hand man now, Bob Myers, NBA guy. Bushati's an NFL guy. Thinks Big Picture can take a deep breath, doesn't live, you know, on Twitter, like doesn't even care, right? Most of these NFL owners, they're making so much money. They realize that they've been making the money before. for social media because they realize how irrelevant is. The NBA is a little bit more day-to-day internet, all that flashy headlines.

And Josh Harris, like, to me, Dan Quinn's a year away. You don't make the playoffs next year, which the Eagles, obviously, they're coach, but they're going to be good. You know, they got good players. Dallas is going to be feisty. Ben Johnson turned down Washington. His takeaway was the Washington guys, the NBA Washington guys thought they knew a little more about football than they really did. Those are NBA guys. Yeah, I think the Tomlin thing, I think you're right about it. Tomlin's not a college or a West Coast guy. He wants to stay east. That's his heritage. That's his

history. That's what he feels comfortable doing. Again, some of these guys, Belichick, Vrable, Tomlin, Harbaugh. It just feel like they're at home. They feel comfort. Where you live dictates a lot of your happiness and comfort and confidence. And I think you're right. I give Mike a lot of credit if truly, and who knows exactly, the behind the scenes detail. But if he truly looked in the mirror and he probably would have known this before the day that he announced,

like this thing's over, right? They're going to be better off. I need to move. Sean Payton did the same thing. Like guys, this thing's done. We need both pivot. 19, 18, 18 years. You know, John Harbaugh,

it's hard. I mean, they reports Mike Toml was making $25 million. Most human beings to know, walk away from that. But he saw this team, a lot like the Saints, it's going to get uglier before it gets better. What was the Rooney's quote?

We don't plan on rebuilding. Well, bro, you might need to. This is 2006. Check your roster. You got problems. So I think Mike Tomlin, if Dan Quinn, is Dan Quinn, you know, he's a great guy. People love him. Is he missed, I always had a good little run there with McCarthy.

They had some really good players there for a couple years. Yeah. Like, I don't know, you know. I don't know. I think he's mid. I think that's fair. I think he's a nice guy. I think he's pretty mid.

I think coaching is getting better and smarter. And I just, even defensive coaches, I don't put him in like a Mike McDonald class or a Robert Sala class or a Dimeco Ryan's class. Agreed. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe.

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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 get your podcast. Just listen.

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