The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Seahawks DOMINATE 49ers, Broncos BEAT Bills in OT, Nix breaks his ankle

Episode Date: January 18, 2026

Former NFL scout John Middlekauff reacts following Saturday nights playoff games that saw the Seahawks destroy the 49ers from the opening kickoff and talks about how this Seattle team looks like they can not only get to the Super Bowl but also win it. Later, John dives into the exciting AFC game that had the Bills exiting early from another playoff despite the Broncos losing Bo Nix with a broken ankle. Lastly, John talks about the Falcons hiring Kevin Stefanski. Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest.  All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet Use promo code “3ANDOUT20” on https://nicokick.com/zone for 20% off at checkout! Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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What is going on, everybody? How are we doing? I'm John Middlethoff. This is the Three and Out podcast, brought to you by my friends at Zone Pouch. Hopefully everyone's doing well. I'm doing pretty good. I've slept about five hours in the last couple nights, and I have a son now.

He's at home because we came home today. He must be my son because we got discharged well before kickoff of the Bill's Bronco game, which turned into an absolute banana's game. They went to overtime. It felt like it was going to go to a couple overtimes, and the bills lost in devastating fashion. the Broncos lost their quarterback to a broken ankle

or a broken bone in his ankle. Who knows? I mean, just, he's out. I mean, he's getting surgery Tuesday. Which was like, what? When did that happen? So the Broncos are hosting the AFC championship game with a backup quarterback.

The bills were in tears because it does feel like their coach might get fired. So we will discuss that after just some crazy shit happening in that game. They have a bunch of turnovers, still make it to overtime. have a late lead in the fourth quarter. Bananas. And then Seattle just absolutely destroys the 49ers,

who are going to host the NFC championship game. And honestly, it would be my pick to represent the NFC and the Super Bowl right now if their defense is going to look like that. They have absolutely destroyed the 49ers two weeks in a row. 49ers played a game in between. Seattle did not. They went 41 to 6 and 13 to 3, so that would be, well, the final score there would be 54.

to nine. That's a lot to a little, and it looked even worse. So, congrats to Seattle and Denver, kind of Denver. I mean, it sucks your backup quarterbacks now starting the AFC championship game. And I'm going to save some stuff for Sunday,

like John Harbaugh, signing for a lot of money to be the New York Giants head coach. I will mention Kevin Stefanski today because he got hired by the Atlanta Falcons. Don't really have crazy take on that one besides me. I mean, I get it. Matt Ryan.

One's an offensive guy. So let's just dive into what we just witnessed. I'm going to start tonight with the Bills and the Bronco game. I think the headline story today is the team that's hosting the AFC championship game. Their quarterback broke his ankle. And listen, you don't have a choice as a coach, but to try to uplift your squad. He announced we're all in with Jared Stidham.

He claimed at the podium. From what I saw, Sean Payton gave his press conference and then came back in the room to announce the information. His own team didn't know the information. Just a massive blow. Because clearly, Bronco's a weird team. Probably should have lost today. I mean, anytime you get multiple interceptions from Josh Allen,

three fumbles turned those into 13 points you score on every fumble and a touchdown and two field goals and still barely win the game and go into overtime. Not ideal. Bronco's a weird team.

Clearly though, you're 120 minutes from hoisting the Lombardi trophy and you lose Bo Nix. I don't really know what to say. Following on social media, the players found out on Twitter, just a crazy loss because the NFL even tweeted in Instagram the clip

of Bo Nicks walking off the field after the game and it wasn't even limping. He was not limping. So that was crazy to watch. Listen, he was going to get destroyed if they lost that game because in the second half, he was kind of all over the map. The Broncos offense stumbled, but you got to give the kid his credit. I don't know if he's a kid, he's like a 40-year-old second-year player.

Let him write that right down on a. to drive, which, you know, the Bronco or the bills ended up getting the ball back with 50 seconds and got in the field goal range. But they took the lead with, you know, under a minute to go because Bo Nix hit Sutton multiple times, made a big play with his legs, threw a beautiful touchdown pass. I mean, a gorgeous touchdown pass. It was big time stuff. And at the end of the day, as a quarterback, you know, you're judged in the biggest moments. It's why Caleb has gotten so much credit this year coming through in the club. and Bo Nix did in a huge way.

Even on the final drive, which you could argue they got, I thought some of the PIs were definitely the one that White freaked out and threw his helmet on was tiki tack for my liking. But he was slinging it. Now, I think Sean Payton's usage of him, which is kind of a moot point of right now

because he's not going to be playing in these next game or potentially two, which big picture for the league is a problem. Like, ideally, you don't want a team to have their backup quarterback in the AFC championship game and definitely the Super Bowl. Even my mother-in-law, who was with us helping us out, looked at me during the middle of the Niners game as actually a Seattle guy was on the ground, Charbonnet, and was like, were there this many injuries 20 years ago? And I'm like, I sure doesn't feel like it, not at the rate in which it's going.

and the Bo Nix one, I would say it felt, I mean, definitely not a soul would have noticed. To say it was innocuous feels like a overstatement. I mean, you didn't notice. It happened on the kneel down. The guy stepped on his ankle clearly when you watched the replay, but he didn't show any signs. He walked right off. It shows you the power of adrenaline. But there's no way around it.

It's just a devastating blow, right? You can nitpick them all you want, but they got this far for a reason. the guys made a lot of big plays. I mean, this Denver Bronco defense is no longer that good. They do not feel like a potent unit right now. I mean, the bills were destroying them in the run game. Even some of the plays that didn't count, like Josh Allen's hit big play after big play.

Late in the game, I mean, the one on Cooks down the sideline, he was out of bounds. They hit Cooks on the other one, which my take on that, I understand the outcome, because you're not claiming that he caught the ball. And obviously when you roll over on the player, the ball is never on the ground.

But if I catch the ball and I hit the ground, this is always my issue. Aren't I down? And that's always like, well, you didn't take two steps, you didn't complete the catch. And clearly the defender, when he rolls over him, if it's not completed, has the ball. Technically, it's in his possession.

I don't know. I kind of understand where Sean McDermott's coming from having an issue with that play. I also understand by the letter of the rule, it's technically not a catch. But this gets back to like, in the history of playing football, if I catch the ball and I hit the ground,

that's a catch, right? Then if you rip it from my hands as we're rolling over, you would never have got the interception. But now with this convoluted nature of the way we've attacked these seven point bullet points of what you have to do, and listen, I'm not trying to act. Like, I'm pissed off at that, or I think that's the end of the world on that call.

I understand it. But I also see the other side as well. And I thought the referees by the end of the game were getting very trigger happy with the yellow flag. But the Broncos came out victorious and now they don't have their quarterback. And I think you saw tonight definitely Seattle. Denver is a great home field advantage. I mean, you saw the two stadiums tonight are places that have a collegiate field to them. I think they said that's the first Denver home playoff win since Peyton Manning back the year they won the Super Bowl.

So it would have been, what, January of 2017, the 2016 regular season. That place was rocking. I had a cousin there today. He's like, it was so loud. The place was going nuts. You couldn't hear yourself think. Seattle, like Brady said that the moment Shahee took that thing to the crib, it felt like an earthquake. And that's one of the louder stadiums to begin.

with, but devastating blow. Because you get to the AFC championship, especially if you're hosting it, you're thinking we can win the Super Bowl. And I'm sorry, when your backup quarterback comes in at this point in the season, fair or not, maybe he'll be

better than, I think, but like I no longer think you can win the Super Bowl with your backup quarterback. And that's devastating blow for the Denver Broncos. No way around it. Really. No way around Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet.

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So now to me, the pressure on Sean Payton, and this goes back a long time ago to Dick Vermeal, when Trent Green got injured in that first game. And Dick Vermeal came out and said, Kurt Warner's our starter and we're going to win with Kurt Warner. And everyone thought he was insane. And obviously Kurt Warner went on to, I think, win the MVP. and they won the Super Bowl.

You don't have much time, man. I mean, you got eight days. Your team, this is why you make $15, $18, $20 million or whatever the hell the Denver Broncos paid him. This is going to be a really, really big challenge because Bo Nix can be a roller coaster ride. There is no disputing that. But he's their starting quarterback for a reason.

He's the best quarterback on the roster. And he's the guy that by far gives him the best chance to win. backups are in that spot also for a reason. They're not as good as the starter. And here's the other problem. It's January 17th. So what day does that game kick off? January 25th?

You haven't played all season long. You don't even take reps in practice. So now to get ready for the AFC championship game, we'll see who wins tomorrow between the Patriots in Houston. But if it's Houston, who has to be. as an elite defense who I'm putting my money on. I can't, that's, that's tough, man. That is a really tough transition.

So Sean Payton is truly going to have to work his magic, not just psychologically to keep guys kind of like dialed in and focused. Now, you could argue it's this late in the season. You have a chance to go to the Super Bowl. You're not given like Newt Rockney Raha-Raw speeches. And that's true. But still, there's an emotional come down after something. like that happens.

So I feel for you, Broncos fans, because you're in the AFC championship game, and it feels shitty. And that cannot be fun. And now to the Bills. Who just lose games in the most excruciating way of all time. I mean, there just aren't many franchises that have the heartache that they have. I mean, I was really young for the stretch they had when they were going to Super Bowls in losing them.

And obviously some Super Bowls were blowouts, some were lost on last second drives or miss field goal at the end of the game. But this Josh Allen stretch of the way they've lost games, I mean today, one, I don't feel that bad for them because Cook Fumbles, they score a touchdown. Josh Fumbles twice. One leads to a field goal that I think if you look. at the end of the regulation portion of the game, they would have been driving to win the game with a field goal. Instead, they were driving to tie the game with a field goal. So, like, that play by Josh, it's twofold.

You can't be that willy-nilly with the ball. And we can dive into his overall performance, obviously relative to his standard. It wasn't a good game. You throw multiple interceptions. One, I'm not putting the cook one on them. but the fumble at the end of the half was really, really bad. But I think it also goes to the head coach

who everyone's calling for his job and everyone's going to call for his job. And who knows? Over the next couple days, he might lose his job. But if I was going to be critical about one thing that entire game on Sean McDermott is in that spot, and listen, Tom Brady's clearly passed Tony Romo.

I know front office sports put out an article about CBS saying there's some growing narrative, which is like, guys, no one with a brain thinks Tony Romo is going to get fired. Not a soul, right? Like, that's, people aren't claiming like, fire Tony.

Obviously with his contract, he's not getting fired. But the one thing we can mostly agree upon in this country is we kind of all watch football. And Nance and Romo do games where like 25, 30, 40 million people watch as the season goes. I mean, they do some of the biggest games of the year. I'm talking regular season. Their playoff games are huge.

So it kind of stands out if Romo's not as good as he once was. And it's kind of a weird listen. And Tom Brady's become a pretty easy listen. He's pretty good now. He's solid. And I'm guilty. I was wrong. I thought he was terrible at first.

Which he was, but I didn't give the benefit of doubt. Long runway. Ten-year contract. Takes time. We all need reps. But like, Tom Brady's dramatically better than Tony Romo now. But the thing is you're watching that game. Romo made a good point. He's like, you got no timeouts. You're in this situation at the end of the

half. Just, just kneel it and get out of there. And instead, he cold, they don't have any, you know, they have nowhere to go. They don't have an explosive passing game, really, right? I mean, Brandon Cooks by far as their most explosive pass receiver down the field. And he just starts running it up the middle, carrying it like a loaf of bread, fumbles the ball, with a couple seconds left, and then they kick a field goal, and they just get a free 10 points. And to me, like, that's on the head coach that, yeah,

I get he's at the play caller, but you get on the headset and you go, Joe, just we're getting out of here. Let's go to halftime. That was atrocious. And to me, if you want to put that on Sean McDermott, I have no problem with it because instead of it being 17 to 10 at halftime, it's 20 to 10,

and they got a bunch of momentum off that play. So listen, Sean McDermott's in major trouble. And I've known Sean since my first year in Philly, he was our defensive coordinator. And I've said this forever. I'm biased on this one. He's always been really cool to me. I say the same thing about Todd Bowles. Like, I like these guys personally.

Like, I just enjoy both of them. Now, Todd obviously finished the season. It was a disaster. He kept his job. It was very much in question. Sean is in this position where you see these coaches of really good teams find themselves

these guys that can't get over the hump but it's clear like I think you should win a Super Bowl or I think your team is good enough to win a Super Bowl like today you're in overtime your quarterback had thrown an interception and you had three fumbles so going into overtime you had four turnovers and they only had one on a god awful interception

by Bo Nix that threw it right to a defensive tackle. But that shows like you should, it's like historic in football, you lose the turnover battle, you lose the game. And that's typically like a two to nothing ratio or a two to one ratio. You have four turnovers in regulation? Like you got no business even being in that spot. So it's a reflection of like, your team's not bad. Clearly have a really good past defense,

which Sean McGerman deserves credit for. He's a defensive guy. And you have this great quarterback who was having, for his standards, a very shitty game. Because you turn the ball over in the playoffs, like, that's a shitty game. You cannot turn the ball over.

Possession and, like, just giving the other team free possessions is a death blow. This is not baseball. This is not basketball. You don't get at other games. This is a one game, you know, situation with another team.

These aren't series. I think there's probably above a 50% chance he gets fired. And listen, there have been a lot of guys, you know, what was his name? Buck Showalter with the Yankees once upon a time got fired. Joe Tori came in, they started winning. I lived in the Bay Area when Mark Jackson got fired. Steve Kerr came in and they started winning. Now, these aren't all apples to apples.

If you watch the Elway documentary, it happened with Dan Reeves. He kept getting close and close. They were even making the Super Bowl. And then he got fired. They got Mike Shanahan. They ended up winning a couple. But on this one, you go this long, and this was finally the year where it's like, you're getting Bow Nix and you can't beat this team.

Let's face it, I don't think Denver's that good. Because part of what I thought Denver was going to be really good when I bet on them to make the Super Bowl at the beginning of the season, I thought they were going to have a Houston-like defense. Well, their defense no longer looks like that. It's fine. It's solid, but it's not some dominant unit. And offensively, it's just very hit or miss.

and when it's good, it's really good. But also, Sean calls plays with Bo Nix. Sometimes like he's Drew Brees. Like, to me, one of Bo Nicks' great qualities is his mobility. Get him out moving, get him, just let him be a playmaker. I say the same thing with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. But Sean Payton, a lot like Ben Johnson, they desire a pocket quarterback.

Their favorite plays are tiny. Routes. Those guys just want to freelance and make place because big arms, obviously Caleb has a huge arm, but big athletes throw on the run. It doesn't feel like Sean's that comfortable calling those plays. I mean, the day I would have ran like quarterback powers for Bowenegs. So you're watching John, they take the lead late. You're like, this is going to be a great win.

And then they go right down the field and they score. And obviously, overtime, it was bad. I mean, it just really was. I mean, there's no way around it. So if Sean McDermick goes, though, this could not be a New York giant situation where Joe Shane survives. This could not be a Cleveland Brown situation

where Andrew Barry survives. Or Arizona. I mean, hell, a lot of these GM survived and the coaches went. He's got to go. Like, did you watch Seattle tonight? How good that roster is? We all agree if the 49ers are healthy,

they have a fantastic team. They're just injured, maybe because of the substation, who knows? Only time we'll tell with that one. But I'm watching the bills and going, is their team that good? Now, ultimately, the coach always goes first. But to me, if Sean McDermott goes, the GM has to go. It's got to be a package deal. Because that team over the course of the last several years,

their margin for error if Josh is a little off is not great. they do not have some loaded roster. Their personnel is not great. Now, I understand they've had injuries, but think about the big plays, what they came down to tonight. Trudevius White and Brandon Cooks, that's what their season came down to.

So I think the bills could just use a higher-end general manager. I also think that Sean McDermott is not a bad coach. I actually think he's a pretty good coach. He does individual things in individual situations that clearly make you scratch your head. But on the aggregate,

like let's say he's fired on Monday. Everyone would go, Mike Tomlin should pass up going to television and take this job. Is Mike Tomlin that much different, Sean McDermott? You'd be like, well, yeah, when he had a really good quarterback, he was. Look how many playoff games.

he's won the last like 12 years. Even go back before 2016. I was watching something on like a highlight package on him. He had five playoff wins in like his two years. He had the ground so hot. Now it was a young Ben Rutherstberger. The team was loaded. And I'm pro by Tomlin.

But I think we'd be acting like you just went from Jim Tom Sula to Bill Walsh. I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think the bigger issue with this team is the personnel. Now, the coach, if the GM goes, the coach is going to go as well. But I think they got bigger picture problems. And obviously you've got a player of this caliber. You just have to surround them with a better team. Because simply put, their team just isn't that good.

And when their quarterback doesn't play great, and he did not play great tonight, even in the end of regulation, when they ended up hitting the game-tying field goal that took him to overtime, he had Kincaid open. And he missed him. it was a bad throw.

Now, Romo said he thought he would have scored. Sartan was probably tackles him, but what? It's a four-yard line, three-yard line, with 20 seconds left. Josh Allen hits that pass. Even if he doesn't score a touchdown, they probably win the game right there in regulation. So, like, I understand why Josh Allen was emotionally a wreck. In the post-game press conference,

I understand why the locker room was emotionally a wreck. Because they're going, we should have won that game. And the reality is, you should have won that game. You should beat the Denver Broncos. The bills 100% should have won that game. And I'm not talking because of the Cook's thing like McDermott. I'm just saying, on the whole, if you watch that game, I think the bill should win that game.

So that's why guys get fired. Is when you own a team, when the fans who have watched this team go, how do we lose this game? And to me the answer comes to obviously the coaching situation, the beginning of the end of the first half, inexcusable. Can't happen.

You can't just hand your opponent three points. But also your teams is not that good. What's up with this? You took Keon Coleman really high in the draft. And I know he had a touchdown tonight, but like that situation, why can't you rely on him? Like you can rely on Cook and Kincaid.

Cook's a really good player. It's an excellent draft pick. But where are some of the other impact guys? Like part of John Schneider's success is he's hit on not just first rounders, but subtle trades. Like, how do you think he got Leonard Williams? What do you think that guy? He just got Rahid Shahid for like a fourth and a fifth round pick.

Stuff on the margins is how you win when you're 12, 13, 14, 14, win team. It's decided by a play here or a play there. An impact play. by random guys, not just your star players. So the Buffalo Bills, that was devastating. And I think it's safe to say that it would not shock me at all if in the next couple of days they fire everybody.

Because that's usually the way this thing works. And they've had a lot of stability there. They've had a lot of success. But when they went into this playoffs and then beat the Jags who were the hottest team in the league, The Jags like a month ago beat the living piss out of the Denver Broncos. To win that game, to come into this game, even with it, the weird turnovers, to have the lead in the fourth quarter, that's bad, man.

I just don't think that's something that you overcome. I mean, they had the lead. They were up 27 to 23 with four minutes to go. 27 to 20. They were up four points with four minutes to go. And you lose the game. to Bo Nix, who kind of sliced and dice you on that final drive.

They really did. And some of it was like, you run in this zone coverage and Sutton's just wide open and obviously he made the great pass in the corner of the end zone. And then even they have to punt in overtime.

What's the chances? If I tell you in the second round or the AFC championship game or the Super Bowl, a team punts in overtime that they win the game. It feels like it was. would be really, really slim.

So that's one of those losses. There's a reason everyone was crying. There was a reason McDermott is saying I'm sticking up for Buffalo. These guys aren't dumb. They understand the reality here. And I think the reality is, is like this iteration, this 10 year of their operation, coaching GM, feel like it kind of officially closed tonight. And you just lost to a team who probably is going to lose next week.

because they don't have their starting quarterback, which is not really the team you played, but it is what it is. Let's hit on the night game, which was a massacre. The 49ers got shellacked. That was a beatdown. And it kind of was a beat down from the moment the game was kicked off. I mean, you looked up, and I mean, Eddie Panero tried to trip them. Don't really blame them.

I mean, the guy was so fast. I didn't think the trip even got close. but you could argue should you get kicked out for a trip like that? Because what if you injured the guy? Which I'm not opposed to. I'm kind of making fun of it, though it is you can't tolerate it and it shouldn't be tolerated. But no one was hurting.

It was kind of a funny play. My main takeaway from that game is Seattle is the heavy favorite to be represented in the NFC Super Bowl and clearly they can win this thing. When your defense is that good? I mean, at one point in time, I think they were up almost 30 points, and they had like 72 yards passing. Here's the thing, and I think we're going to see this with Houston

tomorrow afternoon. They don't need, and listen, one question mark coming to this game was Sam Darnold. What did he end with today? 12 of 17, how many yards do you throw for? They won 41 to 6. Their starting quarterback completed 12 passes for 120 yards. Think about that. The 49ers played in a game like that years ago against Green Bay in the NFC championship game.

I think Jimmy had maybe it was six completion, so it wasn't quite that. But they can just run the ball, and they can really play defense. I mean, tonight they had 175 yards. I mean, it wasn't even a fair fight. They sack Purdy multiple times. But it's not even just when they're sacking them. The amount they're hitting them, no one is open. their team speed, the violence.

I think they can win the Super Bowl. I really do. Because they don't need their quarterback that much. And obviously he didn't look not healthy tonight. You know, the oblique thing to me, when that story broke a couple days ago, I went, I've seen guys get this injury of quarterback and you can't throw because of the torque on your body

and then he wasn't at warm-ups and then he comes out his first pass was way off. I was like, I don't know. But then he made a couple and he was fine. He looked just like Sam Donald. And if he can just play under control, not turn the ball over, they have a Houston-like defense. But I would say the difference of them in Houston,

I feel like their offense is better. Partly because they're running games better, we'll have to see what happened to Sharbonne. I mean, he got injured in the game. Kenneth Walker's just owned the 49ers the last couple weeks. I mean, Jackson Smith is so. so good. Cooper Cup clearly has momentum. But the other thing, whoever they end up playing next week, the home field advantage that Seattle has is outrageous. I mean, that place is so

fucking loud. You feel it from just sitting on your couch. 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. Yeah, a pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy,

not quite. Unhumor me with Robert 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 Headwere writer Street or Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending,

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

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs.

And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chinchin win. I mean, she went down. three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now.

And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. We were just talking about the bills. Brandon Bean has done an awful job.

Right? You draft Josh Allen, great. But then it's incumbent on you to make moves and have a team that is capable to overpower people. Right? You can't just depend on your quarterback to overpower people. You need your team to overpower people. But the one thing, you know, Cam Newton or Oroisberger,

these just physical freaks who were built unlike any other player in the NFL, their team and GM in front office built teams around them that reflected their physicality. Like Cam Newton's defense in Carolina was incredible that they would knock your fucking head off. The teams in the prime of Rathusberger, how good they were on defense, you're watching the bill as you're like,

where's their physicality? You're watching John Schneider build the defense. It feels like every guy is one of the hardest hitters in the league. all their defensive linemen feel like they're trying to knock you into the blue tent. All their DBs hit. And John Schneider does not get enough credit for how good of a job he's done, rebuilding this team at this level. Because it's outrageous how physically gifted they are.

The speed and physicality of their team is, obviously the Niners just ran out of juice. I mean, they had injuries in the game, but they have been completely mauled in back-to-back games against Seattle. Like, there's no way around. They look, now granted, some of their guys are JV guys, but they look like a JV team against Seattle.

They just played the Eagles last week, who had one of the best defense in the league, have all this talent on both sides of the ball, and they look their equal physically. Like, it did not look like a physical overmatch. Yet tonight, it looks like you're worried, watching, you know, pick some top high school team, right? Where I'm from in California, be like Fulsom or Mauder Day. When they're playing, what are their random opponents? And you,

and you look, you know, on Max Prep, back in the day, I was going to say the newspaper, no one's reading the newspaper anymore. And you see the score, it's like 70 to 3. You're like, God damn. My high school, where I went to high school, Davis High School, we are in Fulsoms League, who is one of the top, probably 15 teams in the country. They are a powerhouse. Last year, my high school refused to play them. They just forfeited the game. They did not feel it was safe, which I had a buddy that coaches like the JV team.

He's like, it wouldn't have been. They got guys going to Ole Miss, BYU USC. They would have murdered them. That's what this kind of felt like. And then the guys that go into the game who were kind of injured, leave even more injured. It's just like, I mean, that was a massacre. There's no way around it.

even a fair fight. And John Snyder deserves a ton of credit. Mike McDaniel or Mike McDonald. I've been saying this for a long time. If he was a offensive head coach, we would speak about him like a goat. We'd talk about him the way we do about Kyle and McVeigh. And Andy Reed for years.

But he's a defensive guy. And nobody knows unless you're working football. and when I say working football, like on the defensive side of the ball, when Tony Romo's like, yeah, they were running the robber or this, it's like, no one even knows what you're talking about, bro. No one understands that. 95% of fans don't know what cover two is.

So, like, no one gets that. Defense is really, really confusing. Even the average football fan can understand basically a go route, a screen pass. Like, we have some concepts of offense. Most people don't understand defense. Because it's really, really complicated. Right?

And so Mike McDonald is running the more complicated side. And one thing is when you run defense, it's a reactionary side of the ball. Because you don't know what's coming. You're reacting to what they're doing. Yet it feels like when he's played Kyle twice in the last three weeks, he's dictating the terms with all his, whatever the hell he's doing.

which clearly Kyle Shanna has no clue because we just saw him like move the ball, trick play. They tried to run a trick play tonight. It was kind of like, I don't know, a cousin of what they ran last week. A couple different pitches. And it was a fucking nightmare. Purdy, I think, had to throw it back to DeMarcus Robinson.

It was like a screen. It got destroyed. It went for like one yard. They just eat you alive. So, listen, if Sam Darnold is just going to play in games where he's throwing under 20 pass attempts and he's obviously not that injured, they could win the Super Bowl.

And they're going to be favored next week, which whoever they play in this game, obviously they beat the Rams that final month of the season. They clearly are a more well-built team than the Bears in terms of their balance of their team. But I would pick them right now to win whichever one of those teams they play. Also, when you factor in,

that game Sunday, I mean, some of these clips coming out of Chicago of 10 degrees in the wind and the snow, it's like, that game's got a chance to be brutal. I mean, these guys are, whoever wins that game is going to be gimping into Tuesday and Wednesday preparing for Seattle. And that's not the type team that you limp and gimp to go play

because they got both chin straps buckled looking to knock your chint, or your mouthpiece on the ground. That happened tonight. I forget who it was. a mouthpiece went flying. Might have been the first, was that the first play of the game?

That was actually in the Bill's Bronco game, the first play of the game where I felt like both guys were going to get stretched off the field. But props to Seattle, props to John Schneider, props to Mike McDonald. Incredible turnaround, truly is.

And then me, the 49ers, like, they just got to answer one question moving forward is how do they fix his injury thing? How does this stop? And I don't pretend to like, I got a couple degrees that are meaningless and I don't remember one thing that was ever taught to me in class

past some basic math and writing and how to read. So I can't pretend to understand substations and power grids and shit like that. I don't know. But this story's gotten big enough where they're going to have to put out some sort of statement. Like this is not true. This has no impact.

Because this story's not going away. You have former players commenting on it. Players are on the team are going to have to start asking some questions. Like the amount of injuries they consistently get is not normal. And as we head door at free agency, you just think some people are going to have some questions. If I was a player on the team, my livelihood are my tendons and my muscles.

So, like, listen, I'm not asking every team to respond to every rumor out there. but this is something that like kind of out of left field that a lot of people are going like what? Is there something there? Because let's face it. You don't need to be a conspiracy theorist to go

kind of make some sense because what we've witnessed is not fucking normal. Even the day. Jake Tongis who at one point in time in the game he ended up leading the team in receiving comes limping off the field.

It's like how's this sustainable? And the answer is it's not. If it wasn't for your coaching staff, which is clearly pretty good, besides when you play Mike McDonald, you would have no chance. You put a random coach on this team. This team will win like four games.

So, like, part of the success of any team in the league is you got to have your best players around when it matters most. And they're all injured. So the injuries of this team, it's insane. And tonight, clearly, you're rolling out enough of these guys. You're not playing Kevin Patola, and the Eagles inept offense, you get beaten like a drum.

But I do think it gets this question with the substation is just going to be a story that's not going to go away. And I do think it's kind of incumbent on them at some point to almost come out and just say, hey, we've looked into this, we've paid for some dude from Stanford to run a study, or we've done our own study, studies, we don't believe this is true.

But I just think, saying Stylent, I just don't believe the story is just going to, a lot of things go away in 2025, or I guess it's 26, with the pace in which our society goes. I don't think this thing's going away. Because as long as their injuries keep happening, people are going to keep asking questions. And I just don't know what you do. Like firing some strength and conditioning coach, been there, done that, nothing changed. your coach is clearly good, right? And we'll see if Sala leaves or not,

which is obviously a big blow if he does because they'll need whatever. Their fourth defensive coordinator in four years. They had Domeco, then they had Wilkes, then they had Sorensen, now they had Sala, and it'd be their fifth defensive coordinator in five years. So it'd be a lot of turnover, but, and I think you just look,

I mean, he's a pretty good chance that he probably gets an offer somewhere, you'd think. Now, if that offer, versus the Arizona Cardinals. He'll probably turn it down. Would he take the Raider gig? Do the Raiders want him? I mean, I guess there's no guarantee he'll get a job,

but ideally for the 49ers, he doesn't, because he's clearly pretty good, and they'd like him back. But to be good on defense, look at Seattle. You've got to have your fucking best players out there. They can't be in the injury tent. They can't be on the sideline, you know, trying to come back.

They can't be at home with a torn ACL. And I just think the 49ers, to me, the story of their season, was the injuries. And even at the end of the season, tell, toward the end of the game, I have a lot of respect for football players,

right? They, the physicality of the game, you know, they don't take games off. This isn't basketball or baseball. There's no load managing. But,

like, Trent Williams was in there late in the game. I'm like, this is insane. Once they went up like 34 to 6, I would have taken them out of the game. Like, you can't afford.

to have him at 36, I guess he's 37, get injured. And I thought they waited too long to pull guys. They're just asking for it with the situation of their team and whatever the hell is going on. Because something's going on. No one quite knows what, but it's not normal. Even in a league where a lot of guys get injured, it is not normal. And it feels like this year kind of jumped the shark. Like there's like no ever looking at it the same.

And there's no trust that this is going to change at this point, which clearly also. Like, this is not one of those things, even back to the substation. Like, I don't blame anyone involved in football. Like Kyle, John Lynch, they have nothing to do with this. But they got to look into this. Like, someone has to say something of like,

what is going on? Because it can't be just simply, we do too many front squats on Tuesdays. We do this one drill with our strength. Bullshit. At this point in time, I don't believe it. And the rules, even if you say they practice a little more physical than other teams, the same 1978.

They're not wearing pads in practice like they used to. It's just not the same. So it's unlike anything I've ever seen. And it just got worse and worse and worse. It just never ended. That was the crazy part. It literally never ended. And they ran into this team

that was a terrible matchup for them and just beat the living shit out of them. Because that's what happened. If you get beat in a playoff game, 41 to 6, 41 to 6. Seattle had 280 yards. And that was a crazy part.

It's not like they even went for like 500 yards of offense. It was just a complete beat. down. Special teams play the defense. Prop to Seattle. Enjoy the NFC championship game and I'm rooting for my guy, John Schneider, who had on the podcast one time, called my guy, to make the Super Bowl. We'll get out of here on this. The big news, I personally believe that Roger Goodell

should make a rule. Remember when Alex Arteriguez, he announced he was retiring or coming back or suspended? Something happened in the middle of the World Series. It's like, What are we doing? I also think that you should not be allowed to hire someone in the middle of a second round playoff game. Wait for Monday. And listen, I'm biased.

That's a great story on like a Tuesday. But Kevin Stafansky is hired by the Atlanta Falcons. He called them an iconic franchise. Didn't know the Falcons were an iconic franchise. But I do imagine, and Pellasarro tweeted out that he had a long conversation with Matt Ryan. Kevin Zofansky has been involved with, one of the more bat-shit places in all of sports.

He has had a guy heavily involved with his team that is a baseball executive that helped run the personnel department for the Cleveland Browns who didn't even live in Cleveland, he lived in San Diego. Obviously, the Deshaun Watson situation, it's just been a debacle.

Now, this year, offensively, did Kevin Cofansky mail it in? Because I think they had, like, objectively, one of the worst offense in the history of the league. So, like, hell, we just saw the 49ers with a million injuries still figure things out. Like, if you're a great offensive guy,

you should figure something out. I also understand just being over a job. We've all had jobs where, like, this is going to end, I'm over it, I can't even focus. Maybe there was a little bit of that, which ideally is not a coach thing, but listen, he wouldn't be the first or last,

you know, successful coach who has quit on a team. Hell, Sean Payton a couple years ago. Now, not during the season. You know, during the season, a little bit different, but maybe he realized the writing was on the wall. They had no quarterback. People in the league really like him. I don't know.

I met him one time in the Combine. Seemed like a nice guy. Obviously, I think viewed as a pretty sharp, offensive guy. But I think sometimes you get a reputation as like this dominant coach or dominant offensive coach that, I don't know. I mean, could the Falcons have done better?

Probably not. Falcons were never going to get John Harbaugh, you know, the Mike Vrable, like people like that aren't signing up for their jobs. I mean, look at their last two hires. Rahim Morris, great guy, clearly not a good head coach, and Arthur Smith,

the first time head coach. Like, that's kind of what they started doing. And even you go back to like Dan Quinn, Mike Smith, that's kind of their thing. They wanted a guy with some experience. They clearly wanted an offensive guy. I think they're trying to have him keep Jeff Ulbrick. And if you're him,

you just feel much more comfortable. We have no clue if Matt Ryan's going to be good or bad at this job. But the one thing you would say about Matt Ryan is like, he's just a football guy. Like, he's just a football guy. And there has to be some sort of like, I don't even know what the right adjective is to describe it. But maybe a calmness over Kevin Stefansky of like, I can just deal with a football guy. I don't have to deal with this guy who lives in San Diego with all these fucking crazy ideas that clearly aren't working. I have a GM who is, let's face it, an analytically driven Ivy League type guy.

I have this owner who is just nuts in Jimmy Haslam. And like Arthur Blank, put himself in his own Hall of Fame, which, listen, would you do the same? Maybe. But I think by all accounts, pretty good owner. People really think highly of the guy. So I think the number one question for Kevin Stefansky is, who is your quarterback? That's my, who is your quarterback? because Michael Panix has a torn ACL

has shown nothing over the course of his playing career in college and now in the pros that he can stay healthy. The cousin situation, who Stefansky coached in Minnesota, maybe it puts it on the table. Kirk Cousins comes back at some sort of reduced number, which I would not look past that at all.

I saw Kirk Cousins was on the desk today at CBS. Maybe he goes, listen, I'll either play for $35 million or I'll just go work in television. I think Kirk Couss would be pretty good. on TV. But I think the Kevin Stefansky thing is you're kind of hoping it was more of the Browns than him. Because I know he won coach of the year a couple times. With Joe Flacco, you get a lot of credit for that. The 2020 year with Baker Mayfield, kind of a Fugazi season. But I don't know.

My question is, I think a lot of people are going to be like, great hire. Yeah, it could be. Who's his quarterback? Because if you got no quarterback, I just saw him in Cleveland. it did not go well. So you bring back Kirk Cousins, who's a little bit older, who's not very mobile. The Pennix thing, you definitely can't bank on this at this point, especially the people that drafted them are now gone. So is Matt Ryan going to believe in Pennix?

Did Stavansky even like Penix? I don't know who Stavansky likes a quarterback. Hell, he drafted Dylan Gabriel in the third round. A lot of people at Dylan Gabriel is like an undrafted free agent. Time will tell. But my reaction to it was like, eh, we'll see. I get it, but I think a lot of people

are going to be like, great hire. Maybe. I mean, I think media loves the guy. I kind of see the Falcons, just do what they've been doing. Adios. Have a great night. The volume. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin.

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

Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast for no nonsense of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris.

Gentry win. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennar Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubb's tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. I heart podcasts, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. It's for Vietnam. They're pouring patril all over here. Freedom for Vietnam! There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything.

Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.