The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 2 - The major players going forward

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Colin outlines the top 10 players in each of the NFC and AFC Championship Games which has an interesting omission Thoughts on the Jets hiring Aaron Glenn as their new head coach   Guest: Howard CosellSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome in. Here we go. Hour number two, Greg CoSell in five minutes, 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.

J. Mack got some tantalizing little bits in herd line news this hour next. One that I strongly concur with. Okay. Well, no, I think that other one's final hour. but yeah by the way are we eventually going to talk Oscars on the show because movies I know you're a big movie guy not really now but they did the Oscar stuff this morning

and I'm just what is happening in this country? I don't watch any of the movies last three years that have been nominated except Oppenheimer that's the other thing I don't know any of these movies that's right if you want to know there's a disconnect with Hollywood in America last four years I don't even go to a theater

Oppenheimer and Tom Cruise that's it so I do this four huge games every year or a huge series. I do the 10 best players, which gives me some sense of who's going to win. So let's go Washington and Buffalo or Washington in Philadelphia on Fox. The 10 best players, and again, this is my opinion, but it's based on a lot of data and a lot of stats. Who are the 10 best players in the Commanders' Eagles game on Fox, the NFC Championship?

So I think the number one player is Seekwon Barkley, who's on a short list of the greatest running backs I've ever seen. He is so good. This team is built around the old line and the running back, not the quarterback. Most rushing yards through the first two games in NFL playoff history, all class, speed moves power, Saquan Barkley. Number two, Jordan Maylott is the highest grid at offensive tackle in the NFL. Offensive tackles matter a lot, more than interior lineman. Highest grid. One sack allowed. Four hundred and sixty-four pass blocking attempts to this year for the Eagles. Number three is Jalen Carter. I think he's the best defensive tackle right now in the NFL. I know it's only year two. Highest graded defender at any position

this playoff among these final four teams, Georgia Bulldog Jalen Carter. Number four, I don't think it's hyper. I think Jaden Daniels is magic, folks. I think we're looking at a kid. Highest passer rating by any of the four quarterbacks, and that's with an average O line and one weapon. tied for the most wins by a rookie quarterback in the season, including the playoffs. His fourth quarter numbers don't even make sense. They don't even make sense. Number five, Zach Bond. Now, he's a linebacker, even though he's a finalist for defensive player of the year.

He is a linebacker. He's unbelievable. A highest-quetted linebacker in the NFL this year, former special teams guy. But again, linebacker has limitations. We've seen great teams move off really good linebackers because of the position. Number six, AJ Brown. 14 and 1 when A.J. Brown, the wide receiver, the book reading wide receiver, played for Philadelphia, and they averaged 29 and a half points when he played. He is special. Number 7, Terry McLaurin,

maybe not the burner or quite the impact, but talk about consistent. With all sorts of quarterbacks, five straight years of 1,000 yards, great hands, open often, and again, this has been a franchise that can't find the quarterback until this year. Lane Johnson's number eight, right tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles. has not allowed a sack since last year, week 14. So he is considered the best right tackle. Tristan Wirffs and him. Now, Worf's has moved over to the left side,

but highest-graded right tackle in the NFL this season, and it feels like this has been his position. He and Tristan works for years. Number nine, Landon Dickerson, who is the best guard and the highest-graded guard in the playoffs, according to PFF. I mean, this whole line for Philadelphia, it goes back to the Tyron Smith.

You know, Zach Martin, Cowboy O-Line, where it's like everybody's great. And number 10, I'd give Bobby Wagner at Washington the edge here. Only player in the NFL, he's a tackle machine with 140 plus tackles and 3 plus fumble recoveries. Smart. Still got some movement. Tackle machine, tough physically. And there you go.

I'm going to do the Bills, Kansas City, after Greg Kosel. So I want your reaction, first of all. Now, there's a bunch of really good players at 11, 12, 13, 14. Philadelphia is so stacked, I don't even know what to do with about three of their guys. I need you to flash it on the screen one more time. Jalen Hertz did not make it. No, no. Jalen Hertz is not one of the 10 best players in the NFC championship?

A hurt Jalen Hurts? No. You think that's outrageous? Who am I going to replace them? No comment. Jalen Hertz, Colin. That's how I see it. Oh, my God. Seven to three, Edge, Philadelphia.

Wait until Greg Cocell hears this. Greg Cocell, 45 years NFL films. Greg's like, I want no part of that, coward. I don't want any part of that. You know, it's funny because I like Jalen Hertz. But again, this is a pocket league, and why we love Jaden Daniels. Yes, we like the mobility. But what we really like about Jaden is the way he sits in the pocket

and goes to a third read in the fourth quarter, right? I mean, when you watch Jaden, I like his mobility. mobility. I'm blown away by what he does in the pocket, aren't you? Yeah, I mean, he's a better pocket player than Jalen Hertz, for sure. I don't think anybody would question that. Okay, so we're good there. So, I want to get to this. I want to take a look back at Lamar Jackson, because I can argue, I can argue, Mark Andrews dropped a two-point conversion, I can argue Bateman quit running on his interception. and I can argue that on his snap that he fumbled, it was bad, he tried to be Superman and never got his footing. I thought by and large, he played pretty good against Buffalo.

What did the film say? I would agree. The interception was bad, regardless of where Bateman would have or should have run, and we don't know that for a fact. Okay. That was just a poor read and a poor throw. He basically threw a trajectory pass. to a safety that was on that side of the field. So that was a poor throw regardless of where Bateman would have gone. You talk about the fumble. We've seen him be Superman on plays like that many,

many times, and when he does that, we get all excited and how special it is. So again, we weren't on the field. We don't know what it was like trying to hold the ball. But yeah, that play was a fluky play. And then there were many other plays in the game, you know, the Andrews fumble, the Andrews dropping the two-point conversion. We don't know how the game would have played out. Certainly the bills were struggling to stop the Ravens in the second half of that game. So no, Lamar played well. The problem is, and I know everybody spent all this week trying to discuss, you know, who's at fault. You know me, Colin. I don't get into those conversations, and I don't really understand them. I just don't understand what the point is. Like, for instance,

everybody's saying, oh, this week's a referendum on Josh Allen. So if the bill's happened to lose, which by the way, the Chiefs are pretty good and the bills could easily lose. So what are they saying? Are we then saying, well, Josh Allen should be replaced as the quarterback of the bills? What are we saying when we have those conversations? I just don't get the context of those kinds of discussions. Now let's go back one more time. I like Jared Goff. He needs a good old line, but I like him. He melted down against the commanders. What did they do? What happened? Yeah, I don't, I don't. I don't. think he melted down. I thought that it's funny you say that because the interception that was returned

for a touchdown was a great piece of coaching by the commander's defense because basically what they played was covered two, okay, but they played it a little bit differently. Where do they throw the ball exceptionally well between the numbers? Goff is as good as anybody at those intermediate throws between the numbers, those timing anticipation throws, and they played cover two, but they rushed three and they dropped the delinement out so that what we call the underneath hook defender could get more depth in his drop. And what happened there is then Goph had to lift his throw so he ended up throwing it too high. So that was just really, really good defense. And then the interception by Sainer Still was a ridiculously good play. You can't play that any better. That was

not a bad read or a bad throw. He actually placed it perfectly. It was just one of of the best plays you'll see by a corner given what the coverage was. They scored 31 points. I don't think Goff melted down at all. Did he play his best game of the season? Of course not. But I don't think when I watched the tape of that game, I came away thinking, oh my God, Jared Goff, he was bad. He was not bad. Okay. Now let's go Eagles commanders. So let's first start with this. Yep. They should have beaten him twice, but Jalen Hertz got hurt. Can he picket came in, so they split. How does the Eagles defense? I think it kind of matches up pretty well with Jaden Daniels

because I got some good movers at linebacker, but you tell me, what's the film say, Eagles defense against Jaden Daniels? Yeah, that'll be interesting because the Eagles have not really been this particular year. I can't remember all of Big Fanjoe. He's been in the league a long time. The Eagles don't really spy Jaden Daniels.

So it'll be interesting to see how they handle his movement. Because in that last game, the Week 16 game that the commanders won, there was a really big fourth and 11 play late in the third quarter where Jane Daniels ran for 29 yards because he saw a lane right in front of him and he just took off. The Eagles defense has obviously been really, really good, and a lot of it to me is the little details in how they play their coverages and what they do with their fronts. But certain players have really incrementally and in some cases really significantly improved over the course of the season. Colin, you know they had a ton of unknown.

going into this season, and no one could have predicted they'd all turn out to be positive. Zach Bond had never played stackbacker. Here's Quinnian Mitchell. You didn't know. He's a first round pick out of Toledo. You didn't know. Cooper DeGine, he had been hurt. He didn't play till week six, I believe.

All these things, Nikovie Dean had been hurt. All these things turned out not just to be positives, but extreme positives. So this is a defense with good players, a really good scheme that they execute at a really, really high level. Okay, now, is Philly, it feels like to me that Philly came to terms with this. Fewer throws for Jalen Hertz and were a better team. Does the film prove that it's more of a Sequan team and they're better off throwing less? Oh, well, it's certainly, Sequin and the O line are really the defining features of their offense.

The defense is a big factor because they never give up a lot of points, so they don't have to change their offensive identity. But I'll tell you one thing that I think is overlooked, and pretty much all four remaining teams are like this, and it's going to be interesting to see if the league moves in this direction overall. When these teams and the Eagles are a prime, prime example, when they get to the plus side of the field, meaning the 50 in, they are four down teams, Colin. So anytime it's fourth down with four or less yards to go, the Eagles will go for it, as will the bills, as will the Chiefs, as will the commanders. And you know what that does? It changes the way defenses have to play. Because how many times do we see defenses if it's third and nine and they give up a seven-yard game, they get all excited that they stopped them on third down.

Well, that doesn't matter against the Eagles. They're going to go for it and they convert. So that totally changes the defensive dynamic of how you have to game plan in situational football. And it makes it far more difficult. And to me, that's a huge, huge factor in the way the Eagles play. Okay, so let's go to Buffalo, Kansas City. Yep. I thought Buffalo came in so dialed in and focused,

and their feeling was early after a Baltimore turnover is, guys, play within ourselves. Buffalo's given us field position. Baltimore's given us field position. They're making mistakes. They're pressing. Let's not. I thought it was focused, smart, principled.

They mixed it up. I thought it was Sean McDermott's one of his better game plans in days. I felt they kind of adjusted. It was really not reliant on anybody. They rarely threw the ball down the field. So now you got Spag's defense against this pretty diverse Buffalo offense. What are you expecting? To be honest with you, I was fascinated and somewhat surprised by the bill's offense.

They basically played the game without Josh Allen being a big factor. as a passer. And to me, I didn't think they could win the game playing that way, but they did. They came out just like the week before against Denver, but they were playing the best run defense in the league. And really, they came out and they ran the ball again. I think in the first half, they had 21 called runs and eight called passes. I mean, they lined up with their six offensive linemen personnel,

which they have done more than any team in the league. I think they did it 10 times just in the first half alone. They played with the fullback, Reggie Gilliam. They believe they can run the ball clearly against anybody. Now, I don't know if they'll feel that way against the Chiefs. It seems as if that's their MO right now, but there will be long-yarded situations. There are in every game.

And you know as well as I do, Colin, that there is no better situational blitzer in this league than Steve Spagnolo. He knows exactly one to dial it up, and he uses his defensive backs as blitzers better than any defensive coach in the league. And no matter how well the bill's offense might run the ball, there will be long-yarded situation. So Mahomes has eight touchdowns, no picks against the bills in the playoffs. What makes Patrick, is it a personnel advantage? I mean, obviously Mahomes is great, but he's had real circumstantial, situational success against this team in big

spots. Yeah, and I think one of the things that makes Mahomes so special is the fact that, And I hate to use phrases like the it factor, because I never knew exactly what that meant, but he is so good in given situations, very much like Steve Spagnolo is, because this year they have not been, and you know this, a downfield passing team. Do you know that on passes of 20 yards or more in the air from the line of scrimmage, Mahomes has far and away the worst completion percentage in the league, 26%. By contrast, Sam Darnold was 56%. Wow.

So they do not throw the ball. down the field. They are a schemed passing game right now. They do a great job with their personnel, their formations, their motions. Everything is schemed. They are not an aggressive vertical passing team. That's not the way they play. Yet they throw it a lot because Mahomes had the second or third most pass attempts in the league during the regular season. But they've become kind of an efficient, sustaining pass game. And then in those moments, Mahomes makes those special, special plays, which of course we know he's capable of. So it's been kind of an odd offense to watch this year

because you don't really see the big plays we've been used to seeing going back two, three, four years. But you do have a big play here against Houston with Mahomes and Travis Kelsey show it to us. Yeah, I mean this play, if we go to the play, it was interesting because people always, I'm sure you get the same thing about Travis Kelsey, well, how could you let him be open? And this play is actually a very good example of how that happens.

So we're going to walk through it here. This was the 49-yard completion. I guess it was Kelsey's longest completion of the season because he did not have a lot of big plays this year. So you're going to see Mahomes in the gun. And what they're going to be in, which they're in very often, is what we call a three-by-one set. And you're going to see Gray and Kelsey here.

Gray is the number three receiver to trips. Kelsey is the number two receiver. So now what the Texans played here was man-to-man. And you're going to see the matchups. You're going to have a linebacker on Gray and the slot corner on Kelsey. Man to man, no problem at all. But the issue arises, and Kelsey's going to run basically a little sit route right in the middle of the field, and Gray off a chip is going to release into the flat. So what essentially happens is Kelsey, who's number two, becomes number three by his route, and Gray, who's number three, becomes number two by his route. So what happens is, is it causes confusion and coverage. You can see that Alcea ear, the linebacker, he stays with Gray.

He thinks it's his man. It is his man. They're playing man to man. But the slot corner, Bryant, what he does is he then plays releases. He sees Gray become number two now, and his eyes go right to him. So what do they do, Colin? They leave Kelsey alone. So Kelsey now runs his route, his sit route, right in the middle of the field, and he's totally

turned loose because one player on defense played pure man and the other player played the release of the receiver gray. So Kelsey's wide open. So it's not as if they allowed Kelsey to be wide open. They had a man-to-man defense and they made a mistake. And you can actually clearly see that when you see it from a different angle. You can almost see the two defenders how they both react to gray and there's Kelsey wide open. So again, it's not as if they, gee, had a bad defense called. They just didn't play it properly. And you know what?

I've seen that a lot. The chiefs do a really good job with their formations and their route concepts to sometimes create that kind of confusion. Good stuff. Greg CoSell, NFL Films, preview of Washington and Philadelphia and the Buffalo Bills in Kansas City. Thanks, Greg. Thanks, Colin. Appreciate it.

By the way, I started this segment giving you the 10 best players in the Washington Philadelphia game, 7 to 3 Philadelphia, and I probably would have given them the 11 and 12 players as well. They're favored by 6. They should be.

Buffalo, Kansas City, to me, is even more interesting and much less lobsided. So the number one player would be Patrick Mahomes. Nobody would dispute that. 16 and 3 playoff record, arguably outside of Brady,

the best playoff quarterback of all time. So Patrick Mahomes. Again, no argument that Josh Allen, Buffalo would be number two. It's a flip-flop. I'll give it to Mahomes because he's been more successful. Now it gets tougher. Gets tough.

Now, quarterbacks are both great. They're one and two. Now, what's the most important position after quarterback? Well, left tackle, defensive tackle. Now, I would put Chris Jones number three. He's going to be a Hall of Famer. When Aaron Donald retired, the most disruptive playoff interior linemen in football, he's the highest graded defender for the Chiefs all season long.

and they've had the best situational defense. Now, number four is interesting. This could be a lot of players. Creed Humphrey's the best center in football, and it's not necessarily close. Highest-gritted player on the Chiefs this season. On the entire roster of a two-time champ and favored to be a third-time champ.

He doesn't have the flexibility of Joe Tunney, but when Kelsey retired, Jason Kelsey retired, this is easily Oklahoma via Oklahoma Sooners, the best center in the game. Number five, It's Travis Kelsey. He is grok in the playoffs. He is wide open.

He was 70% of their offense last week. And he is not necessarily a regular season phenom. Either was Gronk at the end. But I would put Travis Kelsey 5. I would go to Deion Dawkins' left tackle. I think left tackle is the second most important position in football. And he has been a multiple-time pro bowler, four straight, has not allowed a single sack since week nine against the best pass rushers in the A.

see. I would put Trent McDuffie, the highest-graded corner in the NFL at number seven. Now, you could argue he should be higher, but it's hard for cornerbacks. I mean, Sauce Gardner's great. What does it matter for wins? I think you can move people around. You can jam them. You can get into situations where you can minimize the effectiveness on a corner. Number eight, Gregory Russo at Buffalo, Listen, he's their elite pass rusher. He's on the field more generally than Von Miller. Highest-grated defender for the Buffalo Bills this year

when he's healthy and playing there very good. Number nine, a guy that's banged up from time to time, but boy, does he matter. Matt Milano is a playmaker when he plays their 5-1. Eight tackles, a sack, four quarterback hits. He feels like kind of the soul of this defense, in my opinion, though he has been banged up from time to time. I would put James Cook to running back at number 10.

19 touchdowns and 18 games, and he is also, you could argue he should be higher, he has really alleviated some pressure in the red zone. He can smell that end zone. So now it's 5 to 5. But I think what's interesting when you look at the top 10 is the quality of great players, if you take out Josh Allen, Mahomes the best quarterback, Chris Jones the best defensive tackle, Humphrey, the best center, Travis Kelsey, the best big game tight end,

Trent McDuffie the best corner and Buffalo's corners by the way are banged up in this game they're supposed to play but they're banged up so now this is five to five but the elite players in key positions tend to be Kansas City that's why they're probably

favored by a point and a half your reaction to this you didn't like my first one your reaction to this well the Jaylen Hurts omission is just I mean it's going to be a wedge in our friendship as for this one you know I don't totally disagree It reminds me, in the Super Bowl, when you did Niners' Chiefs, it was flip-flop. The Niners had the top-end talent, remember?

And they were slightly favorites in the Super Bowl. And I feel like the same situation here. Yes, Chris Jones, highly rated by PFF. Creed Humphrey, sure. I would quibble with Allen v. Mahomes. Alan's been better this year. That's undeniable. He's going to be the MVP.

Should be the MVP. I think a lot of people will be upset with Milano because he was hurt and his grades had not been great this year. I'm just talking. I'm talking the best players now in the AFC championship. If Milano is not playing, I would take Kansas City. Well, you know who I would put over Milano is Dalton Kincaid. If you're just looking at best, he is awesome. And by the way, I just looked up who the inactives were and missed the earlier Chiefs' Bills games.

The bills were without Keon Coleman. Yes. Spencer Brown, the right tackle and Dalton Kincaid. Yes. And the offense still put 30 on the Chiefs. No, I'm picking Buffalo in a high-scoring game. I think both teams score. I'm curious who guards Kincaid on the Chiefs.

Like, who's going to defend him? He's a really tough matchup. I had Tuny 11, Kincaid 12. And Tunis more flexible. We'll see if he's going to match up with Rousseau, Von Miller. It's exciting. Go bills. My wife doesn't follow sports.

And I'm like, this is the biggest football game of the year. And likely it will be the best game we see. It'll be better than the Super Bowl. Maybe. Because I think the winner of this has a chance to roll in the Super Bowl. Possibly. Is Nick upset with you that you're picking the bills here? I didn't ask for an okay.

No, I thought you guys would text about it and you'd get on your case or something. I always know who he's picking. Well, obviously. But he doesn't like it when you put the bills at the top. And he thinks the Chief should be up top all the time. That's your guy. I am still his mentor at this point. If you've been thinking about home security,

now's the time to join millions of Americans who trust Simply Safe. They help stop break-ins, visit SimplySafe. safe colin.com. You get 50% off. How's that? No safe like simply safe. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand

whenever you'd like. 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 a... We're the first people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. 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. 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 name. Notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart 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 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. 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 Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Julian Edelman-Loy joining us last hour. I get all worked up. You know, I am surprised you took such a negative tact yesterday

on Aaron Glenn to the Jets. I was trying to be positive, but New York media was, New York media basically had your opinion, which, oh, another first time head coach on the defensive side, which I totally get. But I did argue that if you're going to love Ben Johnson, then you have to love Aaron Glenn,

because I could argue Aaron Glenn did more with less in Detroit. So if you love Ben, and I understand offense over defense, but I think you have to be careful about not doing something because a previous GM did something. It's like not drafting a quarterback in the first round because the last GM who did it failed. Well, if you like the quarterback, get the quarterback. If I interview Aaron Glenn and he's great,

I'm not thinking about Todd Bowles and Robert Sala. I'm like, I interviewed eight guys and he blew me away. I'm higher in Aaron Glenn. Yeah, I just have to be careful about, well, this failed before. Well, that doesn't mean it's going to fail again. I love your did more with less. Can you quantify that? What exactly did the Lions

defense do this season? Well, considering they at one point had seven starters out, they were a pretty viable unit. Their sacks did not go down noticeably without Aidan Hutchison, who's easily one of the top three to four edge rushers in the league. So they were viable. They gave up 45 points to a

rookie quarterback in a playoff game at home. Well, some of that was a pick six, but you know, it wasn't. Okay, no, that's fair. Fine. They give up a touchdown on almost every drive. You know, I don't know. I just... Hey, by the way. I'm getting positive. By the way, Belichick got cooked by Nick Foles in a Super Bowl.

One game. He won't a million others. I will be positive on the Jets. Now it's hired. It's official. Let's get a good GM. Let's get some good coordinators. Let's rock and roll. Let's get back to the top of the... We haven't been there for a while. Get back to the top. All right. Good luck. Good luck. The 70s greatest hits. All right, J. Mack, with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Get your death jokes out now. Let's get back to a game that actually matters, and that would be Kansas City and Buffalo. And, oh, by the way, they're still talking about the refs. Yes, listen, I've been on this all postseason.

We know it's a thing. Chiefs are getting all the calls. We know it. There's no rig thing here. However, after Marlon Humphrey tweeted out, we can't let them keep getting away with this. Patrick Mahomes was asked about it, and he does not agree.

with the narrative. I don't feel that way. I mean, I just try to play football at the end of the day. The referees are doing their best to call the game as as fair and as proper as they possibly can. And all you can do is go out there and play the game that you love as hard as you can and live with the results. Oh, look at that on the screen there. I wonder if that'll go viral.

Look at the playoff penalty since 2021. 30 more flags on the opponents of the Chiefs. Look at that, Colin. Yeah, less discipline coaching. Oh, yeah, discipline. It's got to be the discipline. That's my favorite. Yes, they are a disciplined team, no doubt.

30 more flags, discipline? And by the way, Kobe and Shaq generated more fouls than inferior players on the other teams. When you have to guard Kelsey, you can only hold it. Mahomes, by the way, admitted he probably should not have flopped against the Texans on the sideline. I'm just fascinated. Now we're at the stage, Colin, where, you know, guys on our staff are sending me, hey, here's the referee for this weekend. And here's his history with the Bills and the Chiefs.

That's not good for the league. You know that. We don't need to be talking about refs for a Sunday game on Tuesday. It should not be a thing. And I'm just hopeful that the referees do not get involved here. I'd say let them play, but then the Chiefs' Offensive Line will just hold all game long to protect Mahomes. On that play, we're showing the TV audience. There was no flag.

I understand, but it's the perception. Perception is reality. Mahomes is a flopper, and he's trying his best to get flasked. Okay. Yeah. You don't like it, huh? A little hot under these lights, Cowherd. Next up is C.J. Stroud.

How about his rookie season? It was incredible two years ago. Led the Texans to the playoffs after being one of the worst teams in the league. Well, Jaden Daniels has done a similar feat this year, and he's got the commanders on the cusp of the Super Bowl. With Daniels' performance this year, C.J. Stroud spoke about how good of a season it has been. in my opinion he's had the best rookie year

of all time and you know that's what records are men they're meant to break I'm so happy for that to do and it's not only just from him like the motivation he's given to like back home where we come from like dude you have no idea

I don't root for many other teams but I'm ruling for my boy I'm rooting for the commanders we're very lucky CJ Stroud in the AFC getting all these young guys Jaden Daniels and Ben Johnson could get Caleb Williams right

did you see the story where Caleb Williams screamed in his driveway when he heard Ben got the job. He was all fired up. It's exciting, man. This is so much better of a job when we get great quarterbacks. Oh, definitely. Sunday sitting on a couch is so much better watching star quarterbacks.

Yeah. Here's some members on Jaden Daniels. I mean, historically, almost unsurpassed stuff here, Colin. This is their fourth straight road game. Like, this has been just an amazing... Yeah, none of it makes sense. It doesn't. It doesn't.

And that's why betting on this. This game can be a little dicey. You have any cheddar on this one? Yes, and I'm going to tell it, Blazing 2 tomorrow. We'll get a couple prop bets. Come on. There's one I like. I would just say Washington's hard to get your arms around,

but in this series this year, this will be the third time they've met. There is one thing you can get your arms around, and we'll talk about it tomorrow. It's not Jaden Daniels. Oh, you like what I did there? Final story, Colin. How about this one? Oh, boy, here we go. The Lake Show, your boy.

LeBron and the Lakers fifth in the West. Charles Barkley must be impressed. They're up to fifth. But there is still some internal issues. LeBron and AD, according to Shams, are growing concerned about their Lakers' ability to make significant additions ahead of the trade deadline. What do they have for assets to make? What are they supposed to do?

So this comes, however, on the heels of the athletics report that the sense around the NBA is the Lakers are more likely to stand pat than make a move at the deadline. Well, what can they get, considering what they have? But here's the question. So last year, Dallas at the deadline, remember, they were like a middling team, 5, 6, 7, 8, and they get PJ Washington and the big guy, Gafford. Yes. Those are huge moves.

Those were great moves. Daniel Gafford, you don't expect you picking him up, and it matters, and they get to the NBA finals. And it's like, oh, those moves worked. Can the Lakers find a middle-tier player or two and jumpstart the team? Well, there is the Lamello ball story two days ago. Zero chance of that happening. But here's my thing, like, why are LeBron and... This is coming from Clutch, we know, right?

It's LeBron and AD you're concerned. Come on. Like, why are we doing this when you're 5th in the West? Like, that's just, it feels like it's a negative bent. I mean, if you're Rob Polinkasian this, you've got to be like, guys, what the hell are you doing with? Well, they're not wrong. This team can't compete with OKC, Cleveland, New York, Boston? You think LeBron's afraid of SGA?

I don't care what he's afraid of. He's not beating him? You sure about that? This team's not going to beat Cleveland, young athletic. You don't think they could get by OKC in the play? No. They may get swept. No.

They're not beating. Blue Dort. Oh, no. Wallace, Chet Holmgren, who weighs as much as you do. Come on. You don't think the Lakers have any chance against it. Against OKC in a seven-game series. None.

OKC. was also amazing last year. They have no chance against Boston, Cleveland. I think they could play around with New York. But that's obviously Eastern Conference. the top three in the West? OKC, Houston and Memphis. Houston is... I like Houston.

They are super athletic. They're not stolen. I don't like the way they shoot. Houston can... If you watch Houston on some nights, they can't hit anything from the outside. They're hitting and miss. I smell a contender in the Lakers.

You smell that? No. No, I smell delusion in your take. Are you done? I think you are. I think I'm good. I'm done with it. J-MAC with the news

Well, that's the news And thanks for stopping by The Heard Lye News Have you been to the Intuit Dome yet? Kids are talking about it It is, it is You should use your superpowers and get us tickets No, I was going to go to the UFC fight

But I had got offered a great UFC fight Ticket into it I wanted to go, I wanted to go watch Because I go watch UFC in the summer I'll go to four or five fights And I wanted to go to this one But it was the football game And I couldn't go

I was bummed out Aaron Rogers will probably be there Well, good for him. You guys could go hang out. That probably wouldn't, that's not. Joe Rogan, Aaron Rogers. I like Joe Rogan. Colin Coward.

Yeah, I like Joe. I've seen Theo Vaughn. He's very funny. My brother thinks he's like the funniest guy. I've seen him at five. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He's good. He's a great guy.

Cookey. He's a great guy. Julian Edelman next hour alive in L.A. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in 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. Why should you listen to Kavino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world? We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together,

I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on Planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio on the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific.

And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcast and, and of course, on social media. That's Cabino and Rich. 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 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. 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 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 podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Sunday on Fox, historic rivals collide with a trip to Super Bowl 59 on the line. That's rookie sensation, Jaden Daniels. Leads Washington against Sigmund Barkley, Jalen Hertz, and the Eagles. Pre-game coverage starts at 1 p.m. Eastern with kickoff at 3.

Only not 5. Don't outthink the room. I saw a story this week. Jay Mack and I were just talking about it. Why were the national championship ratings down for Ohio State and Notre Dame? Because of the inauguration. And Trump did very well with men. Men like Trump.

Lots of men like Trump. Men watch football. Especially young men. very much into Trump. And a young man love sports. And a lot of them probably switched over when Ohio State got into a massive lead, whatever it was, 24-7 or 3-1-7. A lot of guys probably switched over.

Don't outthink the room. People love college football. Last year, you got Washington from the West Coast. So you had a lot of Denver West people watching the Huskies. And then you had this Midwestern power. Whereas Notre Dame and Ohio State, you know, you're not really including the West Coast. or the South. So my guess there's a little regionalism there that probably heard it 5%.

And I do think the inauguration was the biggest part of it is that don't get many of those, one every four years. Okay, so Ben Johnson showed up, the new Chicago bear coach from Detroit. And listen, the whole, in the NFL, to me, there's three things you have to do. Get a quarterback, protect the quarterback, and then draft players who attack or sack or hurry or hit their quarterback. And so I think the partnership with Caleb Williams is interesting because northern tiered teams, almost as a rule,

are better when they've got a strong run game and the quarterback can throw on play action pass. Philadelphia this year, Baltimore this year, Buffalo this year, a Green Bay this year. The running game came back in the NFL. In fact, you tell me the wide receivers who have had any impact in the NFL playoffs. A.J. Brown's done nothing.

Terry McClurent's probably the most vital receiver in the playoffs. So when I look at that, you know, you start looking at the teams, Christian McCaffrey in San Francisco, Marciaun Lynch in Seattle, Lamar and Derek Henry. The run games are January-February football, and that's what I'm excited about because Ben Johnson comes from Detroit. He understands the value of O-line play. and the value of the run game. He talked about his new partnership with Caleb Williams.

He's got an abundance of talent. I can't wait to get to work with him, but obviously he is a different player and has a different skill set than Jared did, and I'll be excited to see what direction we go. It's going to morph. It's not going to look the same as what it did in Detroit. At the end of the day,

Caleb's going to really dictate the direction that this offense go, and what we end up looking like. To me, Chicago, what I envision Chicago as is a stronger run team leaning into Caleb Williams' athletic ability. It will look a lot like Josh Allen, not his first year, not maybe a second, kind of his third, fourth. Now, they are more, less Josh running, more James Cook running,

but you have to acquire those players. So to me, the way Chicago has to win going forward is, the way the Packers are doing. I mean, think what the Packers did. They had Aaron Jones, good player. They went and spent money on Josh Jacobs. And I think that's the way to do it as a cold weather team. Buffalo's the best they've been. Why? James Cook. That's why. Derek Henry. Derek Henry could have worked in a lot of places. He really works late in the season with Baltimore. So I think that's the way to do it. I think this is the second best roster. Of all the coaching vacancies, I thought the Jets had the best roster. And I thought,

the Bears had the second best roster. Here's Ben Johnson last hour on why he chose Chicago. This place is special. I felt that on the interview. I felt that with the people on there. I felt really confident in their vision and their direction for the franchise going forward. It was something I wanted to be a part of.

I've spent time in Chicago. I know what a great sports town this is. I want desperately to be successful here in football so that they can thrive. and they have a team that they're proud of going to the games too. I love this division. There's so many good teams and good coaches and good players in this division. Honestly, as a competitor, I did not want to leave it.

Yeah, I totally get it. So he also knows, he knows the defensive personnel and defensive coaching in his division. So he like, you know, you see this lot in the SEC where coaches, they want to stay in the south, they know the recruiting connections, they know the other coaches, they know the culture of it. They want to stay in the SEC. So I remember Pack 10 was always different. Coaches went to pro. They moved all over the place.

But I think the NFC North feels different. I think the AFC North Steelers, Ravens has always sort of felt different. Baltimore, Pittsburgh. And the other story, we'll talk about top of next hours. The Cowboys are leaning on Brian Schottenheimer, which

is crazy to me. And yeah, it just is nuts. I will say this, though, a little behind the certain. Here at Fox, we have the NFC. But it used to be that we just had the NFC, but now the way the NFL works, sometimes we end up with AFC games and CBS will get the occasional NFC game and it gets moved around the chess pieces. But I will say there are certain NFC big market franchises. So the NFC's always had the big cities. The AFC's got, you know, Baltimore and Buffalo and Cincinnati and Kansas City and Nashville, smaller cities. It's always been, you know, the NFC has got like Dallas and Atlanta and Philadelphia and New York and Chicago and San Francisco is NFC so we've always had the bigger markets I feel like you can't trust the New York teams I feel like if Chicago could pop the NFL being a pretty cool space where you'd have Chicago big Philadelphia big star quarterbacks it just

always feels like the NFL does the best job to have small markets be viable, the Packers, the Saints, Baltimore, Kansas City. I feel like the New York teams are in the tank. The Rams are brand new to Los Angeles. Chicago, I think San Francisco and Dallas are regressing a bit. Atlanta is Atlanta. I feel like this could be the Midwest version of the Eagles. Big market, loud market, big media.

Philadelphia is always viable. It feels like we're waiting for Chicago to hit. And I just think it's good for Fox. It's good for the NFL. Chicago is such a great sport city. But their teams are all terrible now. I mean, the White Sox were atrocious. Cubs kind of feel like a rebuild.

Bulls are complete rebuild. Bears have too much talent to rebuild, but they can't get the quarterback right. So my friends in Chicago are fired up for it. And J. Mack, I have a feeling, yeah, we'll be going to Chicago more. I think the Bears' dominance over the next 10 years will probably be visiting Chicago more. We? Well, we'll see. Or one of us.

We'll see how it goes. By the way, I am, I'm curious, who's the most famous athlete in Chicago right now? It's got to be our guy, Zach Levine, correct? Correct. No, Caleb Williams is the most famous athlete. Yeah, Caleb Williams. No. Gotta be Zach Levine.

He's been around for much longer. He's so good. And you're a fan. 1A. Nice guy. I'll say that. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

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

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multimillion dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the Aihar 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. and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, in every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports

and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.