The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Bears season nears its ugly end, should Cowboys bring back McCarthy?

Episode Date: December 27, 2024

Colin discusses Thursday Night Football and the disaster of the Chicago Bears season, with focus on how quarterback Caleb Williams has performed. With an expiring contract, Mike McCarthy's future as the Dallas Cowboys head coach is in question.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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

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. You just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis'clock, 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. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move. And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off.

And that was the last time I saw him. Listen to Season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. 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. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com

or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Here we go on a Friday. Things are percolating. live in Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening.

Thanks for making us part of your day. Former Bears coach, Dave Wonstat, stops by, head down. We'll lift his spirits, blazing five in one hour. We got a college pick. J. Mack, I'm glad we have football on Thursday nights. It gives me something to do. But I'm not sure the Wham documentary on Netflix wouldn't have been more interesting than tuning into the Bears Seahawks.

but I did think there was a winner last night beyond the Seahawks. A winner last night beyond the Seahawks. Who would it be? I want you to think about that. Not the fans, that's for sure. No, it wasn't the fans. It wasn't the Bears. The winners beyond the Seahawks,

Detroit Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson. According to Adam Schaefter, he is now in play and wants the job. I mean, here's what it's been reduced to. I felt bad for Caleb Williams. I felt sorry for him. So job number one in Chicago is make Caleb Williams work, and you see the talent. I'm not sure if you knew this.

He has four 300-yard passing games. That's more than Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. But he's been sacked 67 times this year, seven times last night. To give you some perspective, Bo Nix has been sacked only 22 times. Rookie Drake May 29. He's over double that and he's got a game left. By the way, the last time a quarterback got sacked as much, it was 2005. David Carr, Derek's older brother.

Many people have speculated that it ruined his career. He was never the same quarterback. I hope it's not too late for this kid. PFF has the Bears Offensive Line ranked 29th. And, oh, by the way, it is the second least paid offensive line for a perpetually cheap franchise. It's a bad old line. I mean, we say that. Jim Harbaugh goes to the charge.

First thing he says is, we don't need receivers. Get me the best tackle in the draft to protect Justin Herbert. I'm telling you, they had a great touchdown pass last night. He really did. He had a great touchdown pass, but a backup offensive lineman got called for holding, and that negated the touchdown. Maybe a clever young offensive coordinator is the answer, but you've got to save this kid.

There's almost no motion in the offense at all. They don't throw the ball downfield. It's remedial coaching. And you know he likes to throw it down field because you watch them at USC. And it's possible to turn it around with the right offensive coach. Sam Darnold, did you ever think he would be in the MVP running? Bryce Young today looks better than C.J. Stroud. That would have seemed outrageous a year ago.

He got the right offensive coach. And by the way, Baker Mayfield's got an offensive coordinator that's going to get head coaching opportunities. You can turn this puppy around. You don't even need a head coach. If you get the right coordinator, you can see magic. But, I mean, you start looking at Donald, you look at Baker, you look at Bryce Young. I don't think you can allow a 10-game losing streak to define this kid. But this is something I reported, got a lot of pushback before he was drafted, that privately and quietly,

he didn't want to make a scene. But he and his camp had reservations about the Chicago. franchise and all of them are on display. He's on his second play caller. They won't pay their offensive line. I mean, you're watching it, I'm watching it. Seattle gave them multiple opportunities. It was dink and dunk down the field.

And that's not who he is. And he's not a loser as well. This game was there for the taking, but they just don't have the infrastructure. And again, I love that Darnold and Baker and Bryce Younger having a resurgence because it proves how valuable coaching is. In baseball, a lot of it's the payroll. And in the

NBA, a lot of it's just, do you have two stars? In the NFL, coaching matters a lot, but every time he goes out, he doesn't throw anybody under the bus. There's a quarterback in New York who does that often. That's not what he does. He always says the right thing

and he did again last night. I was frustrated. I'm still frustrated. I'm going to probably be frustrated until tomorrow, you know, after I get a good chance to watch it and things like that. So, yeah, I mean, I didn't play well enough. I didn't do, I didn't help put the team in a good position to win,

a better position to win. And, you know, that's what it is. He has yet to throw a teammate, a coach, the organization under the bus. Not one time. Could have. Ten game losing streak. Put of, so tip of the cap to Caleb and the Chicago fans who are bearing witness to an organization that is lost at sea. So there's a story I saw this morning.

And I've said through the years, I think Mike McCarthy's a good coach. Don't put him in Andy Reid's category or Sean McVay, but I think he's a good coach. But I do think sometimes people get a reputation, and it's unwarranted. And so there's a story this morning that Mike McCarthy has saved his job. And I know people freak out about that. But sometimes in life, I've been taught this, you have to flip the telescope. You have to look at a situation and just say, I'm going to look at it the opposite way. And so let's really look at what he's done in his career.

Because I think Mike is a top 10 coach, maybe closer to 10 than one, but he's a top 10 coach. So he takes over an old, rigid, stubborn Aaron. Brett Farrv. Old, rigid, stubborn, Brett Fav, 37, didn't want change his ways, got him in his last year in Green Bay, 13 and 3, an FC championship. Fav leaves. There's this raw, talented kid Aaron Rogers from California, who's been poking Fav in the ribs forever. We know now that Aaron, don't we, can be a little difficult, prickly. Sometimes it feels like he's almost working behind the scenes against you.

And he wins a Super Bowl with Aaron. And then he gets fired, and then he goes to Dallas. And with, I think it's fair to say, the most overpaid quarterback in the league, three straight 12-win seasons and makes him an MVP runner-up. Look at the quarterbacks in this league. You really think DAC should be an MVP runner-up? Two separate times, Dak gets hurt, and they go to Cooper Rush. Both times gets on a heater.

Yeah, Cooper Rush, I'll say this slowly because it's hard to come. comprehend is nine and four as a starter in the NFL in front of a rebuilding O-line with no run game. Since he took over in Dallas, I'm not sure you're aware of this, the only offense that is better is Josh Allen and the Bills. Since he took over Dallas, they've had 16 times. They have scored 40 or more points. Mahomes and Andy Reed have done it eight times in that time span.

think about that and remember what i had gregg co-sell on earlier this week and this is not a talented offense outside of cd lamb remember what he said about dallas coaching i think their coaching staffs doing a great job because what you see a lot with them is you see a ton of different personnel packages a ton of different formation looks a lot of shifts in motions they're giving a defense a lot to have to deal with rush was phenomenal on third down he was phenomenal on third down he was against their pressures, and the Bucks pressured a lot. Now, he's a guy that you need to get pressure on, and the pressure must be effective, which it was not by the Bucks,

because he tends to fall away from throws. But one thing about him, he's been very decisive the more he plays. Yeah, that sounds like good coaching. I watched Justin Herbert get flummoxed by the Tampa defense, and then I watch Cooper Rush excel against the Tampa defense. That sounds like good coaching. Fav, NFC championship. Rogers, Super Bowl.

DAC, 12 wins. Cooper Rush. Heater. But I think a lot of this goes back to that he has coached two of the highest profile franchises in America. The Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. And when you lose or get fired at one of those, it stamps you. it's a smell you can't get off you but don't we now realize and we probably didn't then that errand's difficult Aaron and Matt Lafleur were never that close feels like Jordan love and

lefleur are closer and Aaron and Robert Sala they were buddies too this is not a shot at Aaron but when you flip the telescope and you have perspective and you kind of look at Aaron how he's a and personal relationships, and Mike McCarthy, maybe you don't feel the same way about Mike McCarthy that you did like seven to eight years ago. So it's interesting when I read this story, I think, oh, they're bringing Mike McCarthy back. Greg Cole's like, yeah, it's a really well-coached team.

Cooper Rush is really decisive. He's great on third down. Do you think he's great on third down because he's great? Or maybe it's coaching? You know, you watched the Bears last night. You see what bad coaching looks like. Cooper Rush beats Tampa. That's what good coaching looks like.

So that's where we stand today. J-Mack, we got a lot of stuff today. You know, it's a Friday, and I'm thinking last night. Generally, in my life, I feel like I got the greatest job in the world because I get to watch sports. It doesn't feel like work. Last night felt like work. I probably would have been watching an Amazon or a Netflix documentary if, you know, if I had a choice. But I will say there's a lot that came out of that game and not just.

just for Chicago. Was it more than the rain? Was it Seattle just playing, hey, Geno Smith, we can't risk you throwing the ball. I mean, he had one red zone pass.

Did you see that early? It was right to a Bears player. And they'd just stop throwing the ball down the field. No, you could tell the Seattle staff is like, okay, you could tell Seattle's game plan was, we're a better team,

let's just get out of here with a win, once, Gino, almost threw a red zone pick. I mean, they just simplified, underneath dink and dunk. If you were watching Metcalf

and Jackson Smith Njigba, they were unhappy with the game plan. It's like, what is this? What are we doing? Okay, so smart people make mistakes. And I'm going to give you an example of that coming up. Blazing 5, top of the hour,

your pecks, you've been on a heater all year coming up today. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the iHeart Radio app. Hey, it's Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and, of course, the IHeart Radio app.

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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, 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, people could call in and say,

Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L'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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral, moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

SportsLice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations

with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough.

Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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 Levant this plant 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 podcasts. Gotta be careful to confuse a great story with a great player. There are a lot of great, great stories. Even Sam Darnold, I think it's a great story.

Is he a great player? Well, this is a perfect fit in Minnesota. I'd pay him $40 million. I couldn't pay him $55. You can't confuse the two. I think Pete Carroll's looking for work and he's a smart guy. I think John Snyder, the Seahawks General Manager, is a top five or six GM. All my guys in the league respect them and like him.

Smart, smart guy. This is a good roster. But two smart guys talk themselves into, hey, this is a great story and it's good enough. Gino Smith's not good enough. Seattle could have, and I preached it before the draft, moved up. They were 16th in the draft. They could have moved up to get Bo Nicks, Michael Pennix, and J.J. McCarthy. And they sat there satisfied.

Gino Smith's passer rating has gone down three years in a row as his weapons have gotten better. Last night, Chicago punted seven times. The weather wasn't a big factor. Seattle has the much deeper, better roster. They have excellent wide receiver talent, as Jay Mack alluded. to you can tell smith and jigba and d k matcalf are not happy campers after that red zone near disaster the team shut it down mike mcgton macdonald i don't know him that well you can tell does not have a ton of confidence in gno once again the passer rating is down the interceptions are up but it

was hard to watch and that's my number one concern on defensive coaches i remember uh ron Rivera was at Washington. Sam Howell's good enough. No, he's not. Go draft a quarterback. Gino Smith is good enough. No, he's not. Not in a division with McBey and Stafford and Kyle Shanahan, even Kyler Murray's talented. And here's the other troubling thing. When you get these opportunities in the NFL to go for it, you can't just sit back and hope it works out for you. San Francisco, big cap space next year. Rams, big cap space next year. Arizona. Big cap space plus 50 million all of them Seattle's got no cap space right now they should have a rookie quarterback struggling a bit they probably have the same record but don't tell me the roster's

not good Murphy is an excellent defensive tackle I would have passed on him to get the quarterback right I mean it's nice that they got him they've got a great cornerback and Witherspoon they've got pass rushers they got dudes everywhere it's a really good roster it reminds me a lot of the Indianapolis Colts they're just missing the quarterback If you put an elite quarterback in Seattle or the Colts, you got a 12-win team, in my opinion. And the division was there for the taking. San Francisco is right in the middle now. They're getting old, expensive, and brittle.

Christian McCaffrey hurt there for the taking. Rams were the walking wounded in September and October. Division was there for the taking. Arizona has imploded late. There for the taking. They should have moved off. Gino last year or the year before. But defensive coaches, and I like Pete Carroll, they talk themselves.

into that's good enough. No, it's not. You just watched, you just watched Lamar and Patrick Mahomes on Netflix on Christmas. That's the stuff that hoist trophies. And Seattle's standard, they've been to Super Bowls now. They got a trophy. Hasselbeck got to one, Matt, Russell got to a couple. It's a good organization. The Colts and the Seahawks, Anthony Richardson and Gino. Hey, they're parts of both I like. Gino's a great story. Seems like a great kid. is a crazy athlete. But these rosters age very fast in this league. And Seattle's got a ton of talent.

And I think they should have gone after. And I said this before. I thought Michael Pennix, they hired the Huskies coordinator. Just go get Pennix. Go get that kid. And they didn't. And this is what you see. And here's Gino after.

It's not always going to be sunshine and rainbows, man. Like, gutting out a 63 win, it feels just as good as, you know, winning the game 44. 41. You know, it's all about getting wins. It's not just about getting wins. And if it is just about getting wins, Seattle is not getting enough wins. The Rams leave the division. And if they beat and they're favored by a touchdown Arizona, they clinch it.

J-MAC with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, so Eagles Cowboys Sunday has taken on a lot of subplots. but still number one is Sequin Barclay chasing Eric Dickerson's rushing record. Everybody wants him to break it except for Eric Dickerson, who said, I don't think he'll break it.

Talking to the L.A. Times, but if he breaks it, he breaks it. Do I want him to break it? Absolutely not. I don't pull no punches on that, but I'm not whining about it. Hey, football is football. That's the way I look at it. If he's fortunate to get over 2,000 yards and get the record, it's a great record to have.

Now, developing here, the last couple days quietly, Galen Hertz still in concussion protocol. Yeah. So it looks like it's a Kenny Pickett game. He wasn't bad. He really, can he picket? Again, Kenny Pickett as a backup with really good players around him, you can win games. Well, getting tossed into a road game like the Washington one was tough.

But with ample time to prepare, you know, for a Cowboys defense that I don't think is great. Pickett could be okay and serviceable. Nick Siriani said that Hertz still has not cleared concussion protocol, Colin. If he's not out of it, like there's no point in putting him out there. Now, C.D. Lamb, it sounds like he's shut down as well for the Cowboys. So you're missing some stars. I think Sequin, he needs 268 yards to break the rushing record. Probably not doing it against the Cowboys, right? But it is indoors.

Yeah, I mean, I don't see it happening. I think this is a stayaway game. There's too many unknowns. For me, as somebody that likes betting the NFL, it's a stayaway game. Yeah, this week, I don't love this thing. I don't love that game. Now, the other angle is, listen, anything happens to Saquan? You just forget about the playoffs.

So I don't even know that I'd be rushing him a lot, right? The number one seed seems out of reach after the Washington loss. Yeah, it does. So I'd limit Seekwon's carries. Yeah, I'm the same way. Kind of gain well action. Yeah. All that fun stuff.

Next up is the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback situation. We were early on this. We were talking about this yesterday. And what would you look at what happened after we've talked about it? NFL insiders are now saying the Steelers want to retain Russell Wilson because there's a limited crop of quarterbacks. collect from, and Pittsburgh is not going to be drafting in the top 15 to grab a quarterback. Now, Russ was hot, okay? He's now six and four. The numbers are starting to return to Earth a little bit.

Were you on Russ returning to Pittsburgh? Well, again, I put him in that 30 million space for a couple years, maybe a third year team option. I think in a really robust draft class, I would draft a quarterback. I would take a big swing. That's not what we have here. So Russ and Justin Fields are not the answer in the AFC, especially in a division with Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson. Thank God Cleveland's entire fire. So I feel like Pittsburgh is a better version of what they were last year. There was a slightly better offensive version of what they were last year. And we said this before the season. You called it, I called it, the country called it. When you looked at Pittsburgh schedule, there were a lot of jets and jets.

Giants and Raiders early. It came down to a seven game stretch in the end that would define the season, and it has defined the season as a have-not. That's what they are now. So what if the Steelers said, you know, Russ, we're looking at the market. Nobody else is offering you 30. Why do we have to? I mean, seriously, who's breaking the bank for Russell Wilson at this point?

I'm going to throw this out there. Okay. There's three old quarterbacks that could be on the market. Russ, Kirk, and Aaron Rogers. Well, Russ, Kirk, Aaron, Aaron, okay. I would take Aaron. Who's your number one there?

Aaron. Who's your number two? Russ. Oh, come on. No, I'm seriously. Aaron's not a savior. This organization is not going to get pushed around by Aaron. Aaron would have a great defense and weapons.

I'm just saying Aaron Rogers in Pittsburgh. Here's what we need. know. There's three college quarterbacks that will go in the first round. I do think Chadour and Cam could play very early. They've had a lot of starts they could play early. I think Jalen Milro is more of a prospect. More than the Drake May.

It'll be a rough, but he could be good. Okay. We know Sam Darnold. I've been told this now by two executives in the league. Minnesota's not letting them hit the market. Okay, so now the market looks like Aaron, Russ, and Kirk.

Maybe Daniel Jones? I'm talking about the market. I don't trust Daniel Jones in a defensive culture. He'd have to have the right. He and Kevin O'Connell could work. But my point is, Aaron Rogers with Pittsburgh, I've watched Aaron the last week. Eight weeks, let's be fair.

It's looked pretty damn good. Oh, we should toss Gino Smith in their potential. I'm not interested in that. I'm not interested in Gino and Daniel Jones. I am slightly interested in Ross and Kirk, and I think the way Aaron's played the last eight weeks, I'd be very interested in that. So if you can upgrade to Aaron Rogers from Russ, where does that leave Russell Wilson?

Well, I don't know. Raiders for a year? Oh, my God. Well, the options are limited. He already in that division. No way. All right. I think you could get away with, hey, Russ.

You know, it's going to be interesting. You know, it's 20 mil. You know, the winner in this is you and I in March. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be an interesting March. Again, Russ has, he hasn't cratered, but honestly, has he been the last three weeks, Has he been that much better than Justin Fields was early in the season? Not really.

Okay. Good point. Not really. Sorry. Let's go to the NBA, Colin, because Oklahoma City, which, did you pick them to go to the final? Yep. Boston and OKC. And they were awesome last year.

And I think they had the highest win total in the West. The NBA did not schedule them a Christmas Day game. And they were very upset about that. And Shay Gilgist Alexander took out his frustrations last night. December 26 rolls around. And he drops 45 piece. On the Pacers, 45, 7 boards, 8 assists, SGA, everybody's favorite free throw merchant,

just went crazy from the mid-range. I know. Oh, I'm sure you were right. I love a good mid-range player. If Kauai Leonard was ever on the floor, I love Kauai Lennard. Who doesn't love a mid-range shot? A long two, a low-percentage shot. That's what you love.

No, I like the mid-range because the greatest players in my life, Kobe and MJ feasted on it. Excuse me? Who are the greatest players in your life? MJ number one and Kobe about five. Where's LeBron and Curry in there? Well, LeBron's probably 1A. I'm just saying

Steph should shoot threes. I like a mid-range game. I like a guy working the angles, using his butt, using his elbows, working the angles. I love that kind of basketball. That basketball is physical. Back to the basket. You can feel the defensive player. That's Kobe's fallaway game.

I love that game. That game is so much fun. Jordan and Kobe, working their butt, their body, their angle, their waist, their shoulders. I think that's such a great basketball. Okay, this is good. What's the equivalent of the NBA mid-range jumper in the NFL? Is it a half-back dive-in to the line?

No, no, you know what it is? It's rugged, just plowing. You know what it is? It's Gronk. It's Travis Kelsey. Slant. It's a tight end working his body. He's not separating from everybody.

It's working the body, middle of the field. it's gronk, it's Travis Kelsey, big catches in the playoffs. You can have your post pattern. I love the big tight end work in the middle of the field. I am a physical talk show host. Oh, come on, get out of here. I like the mid-range physicality, and I love tight ends. I've been saying this forever.

Tight ends are getting jipped in this league. They're getting ripped off. They should be paid like wide receivers. They actually block every play. That's a hot take. Tight ends should be paid like wide receivers. Yeah, time out. I'll give you an example.

I got into this argument yesterday with somebody. A random person or like a friend? No, it was a friend, but I said this. The number one bus position in the NFL last 20 years' first round is wide receiver. Okay. Okay. One of the reasons is you can be a great wide receiver, but there's not a single team in the league that is defined by a wide receiver.

The Eagles are close, but it's more of an O-line, D-line. What about Miami? They're wide receivers? They're not a good team. A good team's Baltimore. They are defined now by Derek Henry. The Eagles are a great team. O-Line, defined by Seekwon Barclay.

The Detroit Lions, O-Line, defined by the run game. We're the good quarterback. Find me the good team in this league that's defined by a receiver. They are once again, and you called this two years ago. You've heard of a housing bubble? We've got a wide receiver bubble. They matter, but they never define a team. A running back and an O-line and a quarterback do.

Hell, in Kansas City, it's Spags, it's Chris Jones, it's Andy's Clever and Mahomes. And by the way, they get Pacheco back, they become almost unbeatable. They've gone through a dozen different wide receiver combinations. It doesn't matter for Kansas. The best teams in the league in my life in the last 20 years have been the Patriots and the Chiefs. The only receiver in those two teams that really in Super Bowls and playoffs was crucial is Julian Edelman, the Kent State quarterback. That's it.

Tyreek Hill leaves, two rings. Randy Moss leaves, rings. Running backs define, they're the soul of a team. They're not as gifted as wide receivers. They're not as gifted. I'm not saying that. They're not as exciting. But I'm telling you, tight ends are kind of like running backs with size.

They can define a team based on physicality. and a most Travis Kelsey every big game January. It's funny how he gets 12 targets and 10 catches. He just rests for the big stuff. Listen, that's not your worst take.

I think there's something there. I don't know that the only problem to go back to OKC is like, sure, we can do the tight end stuff, aka mid-range. But look at the two teams that made the finals last year, Dallas and Boston. They shot the most three's in the league.

Because three is more than two. The tight end catch is still worth the same as a wide receiver screen, running back screen. I'm not denying that, that Luca and Kyrie, let's be honest, they got completely overwhelmed in the finals. The finals was about a Boston team that's the best defensive team in terms of wing defenders

and the deepest roster. So to say it's just about threes with Boston, they have a roster that can shoot them. But you got, but getting to the finals were the two most prolific three points. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I... In the NFL, I think three pointers, I was texting a famous guy last night who we were talking about that.

I'm not going to mention him because he didn't want me to mention him. We were going back and forth on the troubles of the NBA. And one of the things we said, there's an AAU component where the European guys come in much more matured and skilled or domestic products hurting. And the aesthetic is bad. But I'm going to defend the NBA today on something that Adam Silver, by the way, the NBA has reached out to this show. And Adam Silver's, we're going to schedule him for January on the show. Well, that's why I mentioned that yesterday. I was kind of aware of this, but I didn't want to.

like put it out there. I've said before. I've watched the NBA my whole life. Go back to the 76 Blazers and Sonics. I'm an NBA fan forever. But, and I dump baseball for a decade, but I'm back on baseball because they made changes in the games faster. The NBA's got tweaks it needs to make. But one of the NFL components I love is a run game because of physicality. I love the NBA when it's physical. Maybe that's because how I host a show. I throw elbows. You don't even wear a tank top. How could he be physical? If you're not going to be word of Take Top. Show me the guns, big guy. J-Mack with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. We got stuff on the Blazing Five, Nick Seriani. Now we got video on Nick Seriani. Video is not his friend. I'll tell you that. The iPhone is not his friend.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to 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.

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 guide, 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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? 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. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the

Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month. I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good. person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that that's two different levels of trust i want you to just really be a good person join me keer gains is we have real conversations about healing growth fatherhood pressure and purpose on my new podcast learn the hard way open your free iHeart radio app search

learn the hard way and listen now welcome in um yeah there's a story nick seriani is the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, when he got the job, he wasn't ready for it. He's kind of been, he wins a lot of games. But a lot of this is, I think, Philadelphia is a superstar general manager, Howie Roseman. Jalen Hertz is very good. They've drafted extraordinarily well. They've hit on a lot of great players, a lot of Georgia Bulldogs.

But there's another story now that last week after losing to Washington, former Eagle Zach Hertz, there's a little bit of video that, you know, he and Nick Syriani. It's in the background. You can't see much. There's a report here. It got a little bit heated. And I mean, listen, I feel this way about Philadelphia. There they are right there. It is if you know the name of a team security guard, it's probably a problem. And the Zach Ert's story, I mean, ask yourself, what do these things have in common? Nick Sariani trading insults with fans, road fans and Philadelphia fans. Nick Seriani had to held back by an assistant coach on his staff.

That is incredible. That's not even a coordinator. It's a position coach getting in his face. There's Nick Seriani at the Super Bowl was going to put his hand up and make some gesture. And Jalen Hertz had to manage his coach. I mean, what do these all have in common? Oh, wait, it's Nick Seriani.

And so at some point, this is a proud organization. And remember, Philadelphia is a highly emotional city to begin with. So, you know, having a highly emotional coach is not great. You know, Andy Reid, and I'm not saying coaches and players don't have their issues. I mean, Andy Reid got hip-checked by Travis Kelsey in the Super Bowl, but he totally diffused the situation. He got Travis Kelsey right. Travis went on to have a great game.

So that wasn't even part of the story. We don't even talk about it. Like, it was just a moment. It was diffused. And that's what a coach is for. And I can hear a lot of Philly fans. Hey, it's kind of funny. coaches aren't stand-up comedians.

Whenever I hear that, well, it's kind of funny. I don't want my quarterback to be funny. I don't want my head coach to be funny. It's okay. I have a wide receiver, you know, occasionally has a sense of humor and is funny. I don't want my coach to be that or my GM to be that. That Dave Chappelle is paid to be funny, and he is. You know, that's funny.

I don't want my coach to be. So here's my hottest take on this. This is my hot take. that if Philadelphia loses in the first round or the second round, Bill Belichick can get out of his contract in July, this July. That's my hot take. And Belichick already got his kid at Carolina to be the D.C. Why did Carolina allow Belichick to have that?

Because Belichick knows there's two jobs that are fascinating, Philly and Buffalo. If Sean McDermott gets bounced early, That job will be looking for a coach. If Nick Seriani gets bounced early, you think it's a hot take. Kevin Durant went from his rival to the Golden State Warriors. I thought the chances of that happened were zero. Stuff happens.

Now, Zach Erch, the former Eagle, is downplaying the Washington story and incident. Nick and I had a great relationship when I was there. We still have a great relationship. And I think it's definitely been blown away out of proportion. we spoke we're good there's no ill feelings on my part and then I don't think there's any ill feelings on his part it's just something in the heat of the moment

probably got blown out of proportion and may be misunderstanding but at the end of him and I are fine everyone knows how I feel about that place and that building but at the same time I love being here all right I'm just saying

Jeffrey Lurie Howie Roseman ownership general managers they've moved off Chip Kelly had a winning record. Doug Peterson won a Super Bowl. Andy Reid was a legend. They've moved off really good coaches. So, you know, anybody that's watching this show that runs a business, I have a small business. If you run a business, you know you're constantly, perpetually tweaking. And it's kind of the fun of business. And so when I see problems, remember the NFL

had a catch problem a few years ago? Like the catch rule was confusing. Watch a cat, what's a catch? And Roger Goodell came on their show. And Roger Goodell came on their show. And show and I said, and I said respectfully, sir, I can't tell what's a catch. And he acknowledged it's a problem. And they fixed it. I mean, it was like a decade-long issue. Is that a catch? Des Bryant Packers. That's a catch. No, it's not. It like changed outcomes. And so Major League Baseball had a 10-year, 15-year issue. Ratings going down in attendance. Rob Manfred made the Purist angry. Pitch clock. It worked. Ratings are up. The game's faster. I watch more baseball. The NBA ratings have been in decline and now they're bragging about look at our ratings

on Christmas. Listen, Steph and LeBron get ratings and the NFL games were in the afternoon, not the night. So they went unopposed. But when I look at tweaking, what does the NBA have that is really, really good? They got three or four things playing to their advantage. Number one, for the first time I can remember the three most iconic northeast basketball franchises. Knicks, Sixers, Celtics, all excellent. That's something. That's like having, you know, the Red Sox, Yankees, and Braves being great in the Eastern Time Zone. It matters. Those are iconic franchises. So the Sixers have stars. They're good. The Knicks are fun to watch. And the Celtics are great. And remember, 80% of this country's population is like,

Denver East. It matters. Those are big media markets. So that's got it's going for it. The other thing it's got going for it, Steph and LeBron are still remarkable players, highly productive. The other thing it's got going for it is these international players are unbelievable. Now, they don't want to be faces of the league, but the skill level in this league has never been greater. Wemby is 7 foot four. He's crossing guys up on the dribble and hitting threes. It's insane. Yokic is the best passer on the Nuggets. He's a seven-footer. So the skill level, the assets are fantastic. The players

don't get in trouble. I hate the load management crap, but they don't get in trouble. You know, NBA guys, they like to, you know, they like to score points. They like to hang out. They do their social media. They're not getting in trouble. Some of them are different personalities

like KD. But KD's still great. LeBron's still really good. Steph's good. The Sixers, the Knicks, and the Celtics are excellent. And the skill level is through the roof. I just think it has to. I think there's a couple of things here. A couple of things long-term may not be fixable. I don't like AAU basketball. I think the international European system is much better. The players come out with more skill. They come up more focused and mature, and they play fewer games. AAU basketball is a money grab. It's gross. Players come out. They've

been coddled. They play too many games. They don't care about competition. I think AAU basketball. Steve Kerr's talked about this. It's not good. Our system needs to be tweaked. I'm not sure if you can. But the things you can tweak, too many three-pointers, make it a deeper shot, have the three-pointer, go into the bench. I like three-pointers. It needs to be part of the game, not 90 a night. The other thing that we have to be honest about is David Stern, the late Commissioner, the late great David Stern, used to tell people this privately all the time. And Adam Silver would tell you privately, when you compete against football, college or pro, you're not going to get big ratings.

The NBA has always lived off. It's playoffs. You weren't watching, unless you lived in Chicago, you weren't watching Toronto play the Bulls in the regular season either. You weren't. The iconic moments are against the calves in the playoffs and the Knicks in the playoffs and the Utah Jazz and Charles Barkley and the Sonics. That's the iconic moment.

So regular season ratings, when you're going up against the beast as the NFL and the increasing popularity of the 12-team college football playoff, you know, not going to get ratings then. I mean, teams don't even have their defensive rotations and their roster set in December and early January. It's always been a trading deadline on league. Nobody's beaten the NFL. In fact, this is true. Netflix even realizes that they lose a big chunk of their viewers doing football season so they don't debut their best stuff in the football season. Ask yourself, when do you watch Netflix the most? When football season ends from about February 15th until Labor Day, that's when people are watching their Netflix.

So even the streaming services understand what football does, it craters everything else not called NFL football. That's just the reality. That's why the NBA had good Christmas ratings. A, LeBron Steff, B, Philly, New York, Boston are iconic markets on the Northeast. The quality was good. The games were close. And the NFL didn't play at night. Chiefs Ravens played in the day.

That helps. but I think some of the problems like baseball are very solvable, very quickly, the three-point shot. I also, I'm a big believer in this. I would bring back the hand check. I want physicality. I like physicality. I think physicality is at the core of hockey. I think physicality is at the core of football, college, and pro.

And I think the NBA, it's too easy. It's too finesse. I love intense playoff basketball. butt to the basket. Guys get physical. The more physical players are, the more intense they get. And there's kind of a passive, a passive, a passive finesse nature to three-point shots.

You're way out here, I shoot, I go down the other end of the floor. I want bodies colliding. I want physicality around the basket. That's why you get that in the playoffs. Sometimes you come down the floor, you need a basket. You don't need a three. You need a basket because the scores go down. Every basket circumstantially is more important.

So it's going to be fine. And I think there's things that's got going for. Stefan LeBron's still great. Sixers, Nick Celtics, outstanding. The skill level from Europe over is unbelievable. We got a domestic issue. We don't have a skill issue. Our domestic product, our domestic AU is just not good enough.

All right. Blazing Five, top of the hour. You know, generally Blazing Five, you said something a couple weeks ago, and it's stumb. I left the show. I was injured. And you said, you know, you pick a lot. lot of the big games, a lot of the TV games. And I thought about that going home. And I, there used to be a time in my life that I would bet the corner TV game. I would bet the ugly

game. And I've gotten away from it. Boy, do I love a stinker in Blazing Five. You're going back to your roots? Tennessee Jags this weekend? You firing on that? Hey, I got standards. That one I can't watch. But I've got a couple games that may be not the best television game. And I'm excited for it. Blazing Five, top of the hour, Eric Mangini, Former Bear coach Dave Wonstat live in Los Angeles on a Friday. It's The Hurd. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it.

We get to ask other people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert 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 hungry.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis keep coming to him. 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 I-Heart 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. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move.

And he went out the front door and he jumped in a car and drove off. And that was the last time I saw him. Listen to Season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place.

I'm Akila Hughes, and Rebel Spirit Season 2 is about both of those things. As I was watching these statues come down, I was thinking about what it meant that I grew up in a majority black city in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslave people. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.