The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Bengals upset the Steelers, Mike Tomlin's defense is an issue, Dodgers are close to going back to the World Series

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

Last night showed why Steelers HC Mike Tomlin wasn't happy about Joe Flacco being traded to the Bengals, Colin also dives into why Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh defense is a huge issue this season Thoughts on the Dodgers being 1 game away from going back to the World SeriesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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So, so much to talk about live. We're in Chicago. It's the herd wherever you may be. And however, you may be watching or listening, thank you so much for being part of our show. Off a winning week of four-and-one winning week, Blazing five returns in one hour from now. It's actually a really,

interesting slate of games. You know, Jay Mack, Mike Tomlin Steelers coach was brutally honest, forthright, and furious when the Cleveland Browns traded Joe Flacco to the Bengals. And we're like, why is he so

upset? Now we know why. Mike Tomlin after last night is one and seven straight up against Joe Flacco on short rest. So Tomlin's great on Monday night football. These Thursday games, Jay Mack and I talked about it yesterday, Tomlin, less time to

prepare and motivate, he's not good. So we thought we'd have Bengals, Steelers, probably be boring. Now it's 33, 31. Flacco, in two games with the Bengals, 555 yards, five touchdowns, no picks. But that game was not only about Flacco, it was about Pittsburgh's defense. It's the highest paid in the league once again. It's atrocious. Chase Brown, who knew he was Jim Brown?

Brown. The Bengals average 6.2 yards a rush. And Cincinnati has the 30th ranked offensive line in the league. I mean, I thought it was going to be a boring, ugly stealer win. Not at all. It was a firework show. Don't blame it on Aaron Rogers. Aaron's been terrific. Four touchdown passes. He only got in trouble when he tried to go deep. The story of the game is that defense. Mike Tomlin's defense, four straight years, highest paid. None have been in the top 10. It didn't matter who the running back was. I mean, Chase Brown, Illinois kid, whatever.

I mean, he looked great. So six straight possession. This is hard to do in the NFL. Against anybody. Against anybody. Forget the Steelers. The Bengals scored at one point on six straight possessions. So Joe Flacco, old barely can move, Joe Flacco.

He can spin it. He doesn't move much. He only got sacked twice. So this is a really bad loss for the Steelers because now the schedule gets brutal. Green Bay, Colts, Chargers, Buffalo, Detroit, a couple times. Lamar Jackson's now getting healthy. So watching the Bengals gash the Steelers for nearly 500 yards with the 30th offensive line. And Joe Flacco, I mean, pitch and catch with Jamar Chase, 16 catches.

Cincinnati, dominated time of possession. So the AFC North, here we go. I mean, you've heard of death by a million cuts. That was like death by a hundred slant patterns. They just did whatever they want. Gigantic holes, Jamar Chase, some T. Higgins. It didn't even matter. I mean, Cincinnati didn't have their best pass rusher.

I'll give them a bit of a pass. Aaron had plenty of time to throw. But Pittsburgh's defense, you can't spend that kind of money, and that can't be what I see. That was a really, really bad loss. Tomlin struggles on Thursday night football. Chase Brown average 9.8 yards. A carry with that Bengal O line.

Flacco. A guru, a wizard. Guys got what, five, six practices in for the Bengals? Here was Jamar Chase. Jamar said they did what we thought they would do. They did exactly what we was expecting and hoping they'd do. We know they was going to put Joey on tea and put Jalen on me. We knew that.

We was ready for it. we was going to take advantage of those opportunities. Just from an analysis perspective, I just thought, you know, the first half, we allowed them to run the ball too much. I think they had about 100 yards rushing into half. And so that just kind of set a negative trajectory. We're fighting uphill the rest of the way. I certainly appreciate the fight. But, man, we've got to be cleaner.

We've got to be better. Yeah, you know, in this league, it's crazy. There have been so many games this year where we absolutely feel going into a game. Like Steelers, they're going to be five and one. We were absolutely sure the Chargers. We're going to beat Jackson, Dart, and the Giants. You know, bills will take care of Atlanta and young Drake May.

You just never know in this league. So the Dodgers are now leading 3-0 on the Brewers, one game away from the World Series, and it's official. they have no flaw. We thought it was the bullpen. We thought it was Otani struggling in the postseason. Yeah, Tyler Glassnow was excellent last night, eight strikeouts, but he only went five and two-thirds innings.

So the Dodgers had to rely on their bullpen, and it was great. For the record, the Brewers have nine hits through three games of a playoff series. That's tied for the fewest in league history. And this is a team that scored a lot of runs and got a lot of hits. the Brewers first time being held a one run or fewer in three straight games on the season. And Glass Now was excellent. But this was the series. This was the year to beat the Dodgers, right?

Otani's struggling. Mookie Betts got off to a bad start. Shaky bullpen, Glasnow and Snell. You know, had health issues all year long. They don't really have a natural closer. Glasnow, five and two-thirds. Fantastic eight strikeouts. I mean, if the Dodgers can win playoff games with five hits, it's over.

Blue Jays, Mariners, Brewers, it will not matter. And once again, proving their depth, much like a cheesecake factory menu, turn the page, limitless combinations, Mookie Betts had a great defensive play, Max Muncie had a great defensive play, Mookie Betts opened the scoring, you know, Tommy Edmund, hobbled Tommy Edmund, ankle injury, not at 100, percent. So this is, everybody just talks about, ah, it's a lot of money. No, Mookie Betts is unbelievable, an insane talent, stole him from Boston. Tommy Edmonds, again, was a St. Louis Cardinal hitting 265.

Max Muncie, who can be hot and cold in defense, had a great play last night. Muncie got released by the Oakland days. So many combinations. And last time, again, it wasn't necessarily Otani or Freddie Freeman. It was the bullpen. It was Tommy Edmund. and afterwards, I mean, nobody in the world could have predicted Milwaukee could not hit. Of all the predictions in this series, one of them was, listen, Dodgers are going to go to the bullpen.

Dodgers are going to need Otani to hit. You're going to get some runs in the series. Milwaukee's got nine hits, and the Dodgers are getting better. Reds, Phillies, Brewers, more confidence. Here's Dave Roberts after. I think the thing about our guys is they're battle tested and they know that I've never lost faith in them. They never lost confidence in each other. And so, you know, so for what to see what they're doing right now, I'm not surprised.

And we knew all the long that we're going to need these guys and these guys are delivering, which is huge. And, you know, we're doing a great job of preventing runs and the bullpen deserves a lot of credit. You know, it's really interesting. and you've seen this. This kind of starts to feel the last couple of years with the Dodgers, like that Alabama run, where they were just better, or the Kevin Durant Warriors, like not all dynasties.

When the Patriots were winning Super Bowls, they were winning them all by three points. Even the losses to the Giants last second games. They weren't overpowering people. The years New England was overpowering people were the Rannie Moss years. They didn't win a Super Bowl. This has got a little bit of a Warriors feel to it with KD. Like the Warriors won before KD and after,

but those finals felt different than the KD finals. Or the dominant Alabama run for about eight years where they would play big-time teams and they would just outside of maybe Clemson and Trevor Lawrence or something, they just look better than everybody. I mean, if the bullpen's not an issue, they worked all year to try to solve this thing.

They do not have a natural closer. So it almost feels, listen, money does matter, but the Mets and Yankees have a lot of it. This feels almost unfair because if Milwaukee can't get hits, forget driving and runs, home runs, they can't get hits. They can't get singles and doubles.

The series is probably over. J. Mack, that game last night, I got to tell you, I had such low expectations of that game. It had 2317. All you had to do is look at the analytics. You're like the Bengals have a bad old line. These are two 40-year-old quarterbacks.

It's a short week. It's, you know, Tomlin has not, been great. So the Steelers will probably win, but they won't be that explosive. Aaron was terrific. Flacco was amazing. The run game. And we've got a really interesting weekend. Can Philadelphia bounce out of their issues? Can the Chargers getting healthier now? Beat the Colts. That's an underrated good game this weekend. What did you make a last night? Yeah, one of the big takeaway. So one of our guys on staff, you know, we got a lot of guys interested in gambling, said, hey, Jay Mack, did you see that Joe Flacco's passing yards total was like 250? And I was like,

No way. How's he throwing for $2.50? He just got to this team. And then I was like, oh, boy, there's going to be offensive fireworks. And lo and behold, Flacco's unstoppable. Bengals just score at will. Did you say they scored on six straight possessions against the most expensive defense in the NFL? Well, it's just, I think one of the things that was obvious last night, how easily they ran the ball. There were huge, huge holes inside the box. So, I mean, Jamar Chase is always going to get his last night was crazy. And again, Joe Flacco knows what he knows. If you watched the Bengals last week with Joe Flacco, remember that game?

The final, like, drive, it was like, I'm just going to throw to Jamar Chase over and over and over. They did. Jamar Chase said, we knew what they were going to do defensively, and they did it. You know, it's embarrassing, Colin? If you're the Pittsburgh Steelers fans and you were all excited about that four-and-one start, and then you look at the upcoming schedule. Brutal. They're probably going to lose their next three, and all of a sudden going to be four and five.

And then let's see how Aaron Rogers and are three. or Smith are doing on the sideline and what's going on with Tomlin. I think there's some trouble ahead for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeard Radio app. Hi, this is Jay. I'm the producer of the Pauli and Tony Fusco show. Usually in these promos, they ask you to listen to the show.

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He's still moving. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we... 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 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,

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you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

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

on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flanks. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that,

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

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

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That's the longest streak by any coach in NFL history. So 10-0 was a nice start. Aaron Rogers is not the issue. Nobody sat around all summer saying, Aaron's got to lead the Steelers. Aaron in his prime in Green Bay, yes. Aaron at 40 with Mike Tomlin. That's not what we thought.

He tried to go deep in the second quarter and he got burned. I don't think this is a deep ball offense. gets a tight end offense and D.K. Metcalf, his mobility's been excellent. He leads the NFL and touchdown passes. He's more than mobile enough. In his prime, we wanted more. I think he's over delivering right now. He's been unbelievable. They just got to keep throwing to tight ends. When Aaron throws the tight ends, all four of his touchdowns last night were tight ends. When he throws the tight ends this year, 73% completion percentage, 118 passer rating. So I think Aaron's made the offense smarter, more reliable.

They've got like an NBA front line of tight end and receiver size, and he's throwing underneath a lot when he went deep up the left sideline. I think second quarter he got burned. I don't think that's what the offense is. So he's spreading the ball around. Eight different guys made a catch. Yeah, this is the one up the left sideline. In a double coverage, I just don't think that's what this offense is.

That's not what it is. This is tight end led. So I think Aaron's been great. He's one of the few things working. The run defense was atrocious, the past defense, the pass rush. I don't know what I'm getting. But offensively, with Aaron, the Steelers are on track to have their most yards per play since the last great Big Ben year.

Remember that Big Ben year where he had like 35 touchdowns the following year. He had the elbow injury and the surgery. The last great Big Ben year, they were putting up these kind of numbers at quarterback. So that was 2018. So I don't worry about Aaron at all. Aaron has held up his end of the bargain. I think he's been really good. I think he's identified the size advantage with their big.

Starnell Washington, Fryermouth, Hayward, even D.K. Metcalfe, not a tight end. But he is playing to Pittsburgh's offensive strength. Size and physicality. Here he was after the loss. Listen, we want to win every game. There needs to be an expectation of winning, but this is a short week, division opponent anything that happened obviously Joe played really well for them

this is the NFL you know we had a chance to really open up some space but we're four and two still first in division I'm not going to ride the roller coaster and I know Mike isn't and hopefully guys follow suit it's interesting he goes to the jets for a couple years and he can't rely upstairs

on the dysfunction and then he goes to Pittsburgh now he can't rely on the defense maybe Aaron's not the problem with New York and Pittsburgh because I think he's played really, really well. I know he's not being graded particularly high because he's not throwing the ball down the field. You watch last night. That's not what this offense is.

You got to do what you have. When Brady had Moss, it was a deep ball offense. When it was Edelman and Gronk, it was underneath stuff all the time. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin, let's start with Jaden Daniels

and the Washington Commanders. tough loss to the Bears on Monday night. But the young quarterback talked to the media about how he and the team can get back on the winning track. They need fast starts, Colin. We got the chance to, you know, take this into another level. Obviously, the stats are the stats. But it just says just we could, you know, we can score with the best of them. And we could put up points, but we just got to be better with the details and execution.

so, you know, we don't have slow starts or anything like that. So that's something that we're just honing in and focus on all more. Yeah, down 10-0 to the Chargers right out of the gate. Should have lost that game. And then down 13-0-0 to the Bears. And now I'm getting word right now. It's official. Scary Terry McClearn will not play.

Dan Quinn has ruled him out this weekend against Dallas. Listen, I don't want to make too much of this, but Washington is in that dicey area right now. Slow starts. You know, maybe there's a bit of a sophomore slump for Jayden Daniels. Well, here's the good news. McLaurin will play next week, and Dallas is the kind of defense you want to play when you don't have Terry McLaren.

I think this is a, I think it's a wild game. I mean, last night the Bengals was wild game. I think you have DAC and with this defense, I think this is going to be one of the more entertaining games of the week. This used to be when I was a kid growing up in the 70s, this was the best rivalry in the NFL. I think it has a chance to be very high-end rivalry over the next several years because of the quarterback play. I think this is a go-either-way game. I don't have a strong conviction on the

winner, but I think it's going to be incredibly Seattle, Tampa entertaining. I mean, listen, this is not a hot take, but right now Dallas has the better quarterback. Jack Prescott's performing better than Jaden this season, small sample size. Dallas has a more dynamic number one receiver. I don't know who's got the better running back. Washington's rookie keeps fumbling. CD Lamb is back. That's big. CD-Land's back. I think Dallas, I'm not, I got no money on this game, but I think Dallas is probably the side here. Washington needs a win, Colin. They just haven't looked buttoned up to borrow your phrase to start the season. All right, let's go to the next one.

And that is a little drama maybe in Miami. Jalen Waddle, the great young receiver. Wow, let me not call him great. He's good. He went and posted on Instagram, just like a catch-up, you know, a bunch of photos. And wouldn't you know it? But one of them was him in Buffalo Bills Stadium. Now, there is some speculation.

Buffalo needs a receiver. They're targeting Waddle as the ship be sinking in Miami. Here's a photo he posted. I mean, listen, Jaylen Waddle is playing a lot of stadiums this season. Now, there's a rumor of Jalen Waddle to the Giants, which makes no sense because it's not. Now, he's a very expensive guy, cap hit over the next couple years. I think for Buffalo, you can make the argument because you have a superstar quarterback. You're in the Super Bowl window with a superstar quarterback.

The Giants, Jalen Wadle, rumors are dumb. You've got Malik neighbors. He'll get healthy. You got Scataboo. Make the offense, darts, scataboo, and the defensive front. The Giants should not inherit that cap hit. Yeah. I also think this Buffalo stuff, like, you already have Shakir.

I don't know that Waddle's like the kind of guy you need. You know, obviously everybody could use an A.J. Brown, but they need a big, strong receiver, Buffalo for these tough winter games in January. They're going to be in KC. Or they're going to be in Buffalo. Maybe they're in Denver. They need a big physical receiver. I don't think Keon Coleman's the guy. You don't seem as down on Buffalo as I am offensively right now.

Where are you on the bill? I think they'll eventually be fine, good enough. I don't think they're as creative as I'd like, but I think defensively, if you cannot, when you have a great quarterback, there's one thing you can't be bad against the run. Like last night, Aaron Rogers gets dominated in time of possession, because Cincinnati is running and Flacco had the ball. It felt like Cincinnati had the ball for long, long stretches. How do you beat Aaron Rogers and the Steelers?

Keep Aaron on the sidelines. He's the one thing working for Pittsburgh right now. You can't have a bad run defense. You can have a bad pass defense. You can give up points on the back end, right? If you don't want to have it, but if you had to choose, I want Mahalms, Lamar, Herbert. I want those guys on the field. You can have a bad past defense and give up quick touchdowns.

You don't want to be giving up nine-minute drives in your offense is sitting on the sidelines, not getting opportunities. But even with Buffalo, like third and six, like you can't just rely on Josh to win every single third down. But you know what? third and six last night. Jamar Chase was getting open. I mean, literally every possession. I got some concerns about Buffalo.

Final story, Colin is Major League Baseball and some consternation in Seattle. The Blue Jays rolled 8 to 2. A fun moment here. Max Scherzer, 41 years old. Old man crabbiness? They tried to take him out of the game. He said, uh-uh, not happening.

He talked about it after the game. All of the side I see Schneide's coming out. It kind of caught me off guard. and you know that's just where one of those moments where I know I wanted the ball I knew the situation of the game I wanted the ball and I basically told him that in a little bit different language yeah it was awesome I thought he was going to kill me it was great you know he locked eyes with me you know both colors as I as I walked out I love this column this is that was awesome yeah and it was listen Scherzer's been around a long time we had last night we had Scherzer Flacco and Aaron

Rogers. And it was one of those things where he was pitching well. They had a lead. I think he needed one more out to get a W potentially. So, yeah, I thought, you know, these old athletes, we want to give up on them. But it's amazing how often, they may not have 30 great starts, but in big moments, Flacco and Aaron and Scher can deliver. And that was a high leverage moment, and he got out of it. They're hanging on for dear life. And these old guys are too. You know, I mean, Blue Jays needed that, they get the win. Are you nervous for your Mariners at this point? What are we doing? Very. Very.

Yeah. Sometimes you have momentum and seize it. Sometimes you don't. They had it, lost. That was all last night, last couple of games, they can't get them out. Seattle's pitching was great in the first two games up in Canada. They can't get them out. By the way, the travel? And they got that, yeah, and they got the, last night felt like Toronto's night. They jumped on early. Scherzer pitching well. Last night was Toronto's night. You could feel it. I'm sure the Dodgers would rather play Seattle.

in the World Series, then have to travel to and from Toronto. Man, that is a hike. Yeah, tied it to, J-Mac with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd-Lie News. So what is it? One more in Seattle, then two.

Then you go east, northeast to Toronto. So got to get their bearings right. They're struggling to get the Blue Jays out. So I saw this this morning. The staff gave me this. The Bears are the only NFL team to score at least 21 points in each of their first five games. Interesting. I went back and looked at the 20-24 numbers offensively, 32nd, 31st, 29, big plays, total offense.

And I went and looked at them this year, and they're very good on big plays per game second. But they're kind of middle of the pack total offense passing yards. Here's what's not arguable. Ben Johnson was the right hire. We'll see how the Caleb Ben Johnson thing works out. but they've gone from inept to capable. So there's two positions in the NFL, quarterback one, head coach two. You've got to be A at both, at least B plus if you want to be a consistent playoff team.

So Chicago's now three and two, but last year they were four and two, but it didn't look right. The play design's better, the play calling's better, Caleb's playing with Instructure. Here's a word we use once in a while. They look intentional. It's not haphazard. It looks intentional. It's the different, you know, last year they're four and two. This year, they're three and two. It's the difference between a fake Louis bag and a real Louis bag. You know, from 30 feet, you can't tell.

Got to get up close, put a microscope on it, touch it. You can tell the fake. Last year was fake. It was just Caleb Williams making plays. Oh, he didn't throw a lot of interceptions. And don't get paralyzed by records. I said when Kansas City was 500, I said, oh, this team is really. ready to explode. Remember they beat Baltimore, blew them out, everybody said, oh, Ravens are injured.

I'm like, no, no, that's not what this is. That defense is locked in. Eagles were four and oh, I said, they got a coaching crisis. They've had the two worst offensive halves of any team, including the Titans in the league. You can't get paralyzed by a record. This three and two feels real. The offense is smarter. It plays with Instructure. The play design's better. The play calling's better. It looks explosive, legitimately. So there's only two positions in this league. If you have a great coach and a great quarterback, you get to the playoffs. It's really hard. Last year, Bingles didn't. Burl was great. We don't know about Zach Taylor. We just don't know. But Caleb Williams was compared this week. They were everybody, the Troy Ackman stuff got a lot of

press. Troy Ackman didn't have a love affair with him and people were defending Caleb Williams. he doesn't need defending. He's not there yet. Here was Caleb on the Aikman comments. People are going to say what they have to say. We win, we lose, people have stuff to say. It was lucky, it was not lucky. People have stuff to say.

You know, have a bad game, have a good game. People have stuff to say. So it doesn't matter. We're only worried about what's going on here within this building and with these guys. So that's all I can say. about that. Yeah, it's not luck, by the way. They're not three and two because they're lucky. It is an intentional offense. And within structure, Caleb's getting much better. Accuracy,

a little bit hit and miss. But listen, I always say this. If criticism from announcers is getting under your skin, you're not it. Right? And I think the Aikman, Caleb, comps, yeah, they're silly. That's a different generation. Oh, I want to throw this out. I want to throw this story out. I saw this one. So when James Franklin got fired at Penn State, James, everybody celebrated. Get that bum out of here. He can't beat good teams.

He's no good, even though he finished fifth in the country and won 13 games the year before. Just get him out of here. We'll go get Kurt Signetti at Indiana. Oh, he just signed a new $92 million contract. He's off the market. And when Marcus Freeman, the other coach, Rumored to replace James Franklin. Well, Notre Dame's going to beat USC tomorrow.

And they're going to beat them soundly. It's a bad matchup for the Trojans. The weather's going to be Midwest cruddy, and I don't think they can stop their run game. So Kurt Signetti and Marcus Freeman, excellent candidates. After this weekend, they're going to be both off the board. Well, what about Clark Lee at Vandy? What about him? He's 21 and 34.

His first three years at Vandy had a losing record last year. He was 7 and 6. James Franklin was at Vandy. He won by the second year. Nothing against Clark Lee. James Franklin won there by the second year. At least Clark Lee, Vandy maybe, you know, James Franklin had won some there. I think he was like seven and six his second year.

So is that the answer? Matt Rule. Matt Rule. Matt Rule is the answer. Well, you have Matt Rule? Have you seen him in close games against him? ranked teams. Everybody wanted James Franklin out. He's bad against ranked teams. He won a lot of game. Bad against ranked teams. Matt Rule is two and 22 against ranked teams as coached in Nebraska.

And his previous stops, I guess. So, you know, you wanted Kurt Signetti locked in. Marcus Freeman locked in soon. The guy at Vandy, actually James Franklin was better at Vandy. Matt Ruhl, he can't beat ranked teams. It's like the New York Knicks. If you're going to fire Tibbs, who are you hiring? Not everybody looks at your job opening with the same affection you do. It's like I've always said this about young kids. I love mine. I tolerate yours. I mean, they're beautiful.

I love mine. Everybody else keep them at home, all right? That's Penn State looks at their job opening and they're like, we'll just go grab Freeman. Notre Dame is a better job. We'll get Signetti. Bloomington's a great place. Signetti is creating his own empire.

Well, we'll get the guy at Vandy. Well, James Franklin was actually better at Vandy. Well, Matt Ruhl can't beat rank teams either. I'm just saying, Lane Kiffin, he's not going there either. Maybe you have to go to the division two. Maybe. Oh, Dan Lannning.

It's not leaving Oregon. I wouldn't leave Oregon for Penn State. I think Penn State's a good job, but it's not a top six or seven job. It's not Bama. It's not Texas. I don't think it's Oregon. It's not Michigan. It's not Notre Dame.

It's not Ohio State. I don't think it's USC. I think it's closer to... I think it is closer to O'Miss than it is to Georgia. And Ole Miss is a solid job, solid plus. But, you know, it's like the next. We're going to fire Tibbs.

Well, who's on the market? You got something lined up? Doesn't look like they did. Signetti. That was the one they had, right? wouldn't want to come here. Not everybody looks at your opening like you do. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

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

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with? the 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, people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends

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

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

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

why he got the ball like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is. Getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a popular. politics of remembering the Civil War.

To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes, and Rebel Spirit season two goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence.

We contain Spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I've never understood this like, well, you said nine years. The Blue Jays battle back to tie the ALCS at two games apiece.

Now they'll square off with Cal Raleigh and the Mariners in a pivotal game five. Coverage begins at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific today on FS1. Little earlier game in Seattle. Very, very excited for that. Some friends from high school were sending me picks last night watching the Mariners game. They got to get back on track. So I thought one of the sillier things I saw on the Internet this week was when Troy Aikman didn't fall in love with Caleb's performance,

people were like, well, Caleb's better at his first 20 starts than Troy Aikman. Oh, boy, it's a totally different. These are not contemporaries. It's a totally different generation. Let's talk about that. So I have defended Bo Nex. Let's do a little blind resume with Bo Nex. And let's use contemporaries, people, peers, or people in his generation.

That's fair. Because I've said, Bo Nex does three things really well. he doesn't get sacked. A lot of it's because he's already athletic. He's very good 15 yards and under. Like he's very accurate and ball placement's great and he's coachable and tough with a lot of college stars. He does not throw a great deep ball.

But when I saw the Aikman Caleb comps, it was such an eye roll. And if you want to do comps that matter, let's do this. Let's do blind resume. Let's look at Bo Nix in the current NFL, his first 23 starts. Okay, guys want to do the blind resume?

So basically the same resume through 23 starts of the guy in the right. Who's the guy in the right? First 23 starts. The guy in the right who everybody fell in love with, Dak Prescott. And Dak had Zeke and the number one offensive line in the league. Okay, so there you go. Let's do it again. Well, well, I mean, maybe Colony.

I mean, Dax not that talented. Okay, let's do a blind resume where here, Bo Nix is much more accurate, fewer turnovers, much higher passer rating through 23 starts. Let's see who this is. Oh, Josh Allen. I knew it. Josh Allen. Okay, well, I mean, Colin, I mean, that was years ago.

Let's go with a more, you know, contemporary 23 starts. Well, here he lines up almost the exact same quarterback against somebody we don't push back on. He's absolutely big, strong, capable accurate. guy, who's this blind resume? Oh, C.J. Stroud. Again, I'm not doing Caleb and Aikman. I mean, why not do Y.A. Tittle and, you know, and C.J. Stroud. I mean, that's just nonsense.

Okay, let's do another one. Okay, I'll go back a few years. It's the same league, but it's probably more of a passing league now than it was then. But it's kind of close, fairly similar. Bo, Nick, this quarterback, boy, this guy struggled with accuracy. His passer rating was terrible. Who is that stiff? Okay.

These comps are reasonable because the NFL rules during all those quarterbacks, including luck and Bo Necks, the rules are the same. They have limited what defenses can do. So, you know, and I'll say this about Bo Nex, I have identified,

you have identified if you watch Bronco fan, know this. He doesn't get sacked. He's very athletic. In fact, I would argue run more. First two years you're in the league as a quarterback. Run if you can until the light comes on, until the game slows down. He's coachable. He's gotten better last September to October, November. He gets better as the season goes on. Doesn't take sacks, super athletic, and he's very good, 15 yards and in. Now, he does not throw a great deep ball. Okay, sorry, he's not Mahomes. he's not

but I you know Tony Gonzalez used to say you know ego has no amigo he doesn't have any of that the other thing is can Bo Nix be

can we look at Bo Nix and go he's a top 12-13 quarterback because until this season until this very season that's how we looked at Baker Mayfield and that's how we looked at Dak Prescott his entire career and he's probably better than that

So all the fandom for Dak and Baker, I mean, Baker before this year, you could argue, is he a top 12 quarterback? By the way, y'all love Brock Purdy. You know, Brock Purdy had trouble winning games without Christian McCaffrey. Bo Nix doesn't always have a healthy roster either. So I think Bo Nix has incredibly high expectations. Dad was a coach. I think he's fine.

I think he's a franchise quarterback. I don't think he's as gifted as Jaden Daniels. Uh, yeah, right now, I don't know if he's Drake May, but he's a franchise quarterback. Here's both. I'm definitely tough on myself. I think it's just, you know, how I grew up, how it was, you know, raised my dad was my coach, so he was tough on me. And then, you know, just kind of, um, just kind of continued. It's tough.

Um, you know, I hate making mistakes. I hate, you know, not doing the correct thing. And, you know, it can be tough on myself. But at the same time, you know, I give myself some grace, too. and just move on and go to the next play. I'm sure I'm going to make another mistake, and I'll fix that when it happens. Now, I will say this.

Patrick Mahomes didn't have the stumbles. Patrick got Andy Reid, got a sit for a year, had an incredible mentor. Bowenix went to a team with the worst dead cap situation in league history. Peyton made the offensive line highly serviceable year one. Now it's good. So, again, I like Bo a lot.

Will he be a top 12, 13 quarterback? I think it's absolutely fair. He's probably at about 15, 16 now. Athletic, accurate, smart, coachable. Again, in a division with Herbert Harbaugh, Mahomes Reed, he made the playoffs as a rookie. This league is about winning games. I know Jay Mack, he's not your guy.

But I see a franchise quarterback that doesn't throw yet a very good deep ball and may never yeah listen i like bo nix i know he's your boy he came into the studio seemed like the most friendly quarterback who's been one of the most friendly quarterbacks who's been in you that being said this season the numbers have been awful colin pro football focus i know it's just one data point we don't like pff who's grading the guys 39th according to pro football focus then there's this other stat that you know EPA expected points added he's 23rd among quarterbacks below Kyler, Spencer Rattler, Jackson Dart. He just has not been great play to play. Now, he has an elite defense backing him up. That's who bailed him out against the Jets.

I'm not saying he's trash. I just think he's a middling quarterback. We've got to see. I'll remind you, Baker Mayfield with the Browns made the playoffs was the winning quarterback in a in a playoff game at Pittsburgh, remember? And then the next year he was injured, tried to play was a disaster. And they dumped him. Well, so like, here, here, Sam Darnold and Baker are great examples of you look up seven, eight years into their career, or whatever it is, six years, seven years into their career, and you go, I didn't know there was this good. Let's talk Dak Prescott.

So I always said Dak Prescott was Kirk Cousins with better mobility and a star in his helmet. But this year, Dak is doing something. In what year is it for Dak Prescott now? He's been in the NFL decade. This is the first year, I can argue, he has carried a bad roster. He has no CD Lamb. He didn't have a number one receiver, number one tight end. He's got a good back, rebuilt offensive line at Tosius defense.

So sometimes it takes a while for the truth to come out. I always feel usually by the middle of chapter two of your book, I know who you are. You know, Dak, we're in chapter 10 or 11, and it's like, oh, he's not Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins never took a defense this bad with no number one receiver tied end and made it the best offense in the league. This is a new DAC. So let me ask you, though, is it a new DAC or have the circumstances changed? Do they look at DAC and say,

Dak, you're the highest paid quarterback in the league? We can't afford a defense. Sorry, man, you've got to carry us. Whereas early in his career, hey, you're on the rookie deal. You hand off, we got Zeke. We got Des Bryant. We got a great defense. You don't need to do too much, and they played it safe with him.

I think the circumstances have kind of changed. I think unless you're a top five or six quarterback in this league, you have great stretches and bad stretches. I mean, Daniel Jones had a very, very good stretch. Will it continue? Bo Nix last year had a 10-game stretch. Weeks 8 through 18, 106-passer rating, 70% completion percentage. So he was bad early, outstanding, choppy this season.

That's the difference between Steph Curry and every other guy that jacks threes. Nine out of 10 nights, I know what I get from Steph Curry. That is literally the difference. Everybody in the NBA, almost everybody, in the NBA. Every guard in the NBA can drop 28 points on any given night. The difference is James Harden in his prime gave it to you every night. Jordan gave it to you every night. LeBron gave it to you every night. Everybody in that, Rudy Gay had a lot of good nights. Rudy Gay is a good player. He had a lot of good nights in the NBA. The difference is the consistency takes a very good player

to an iconic player. So Bo Nix is in that, he's in that stretch where wow, he was good last year for eight weeks. C.J. Stroud, unbelievable rookie year. Steps back, doesn't get the offensive line protection as receivers get hurt. Mahomes, Allen, Lamar, Burrell, those guys are the exception. They're superstar players. Most quarterbacks in this league are Bo Nicks. Most franchise quarterbacks where you can go, you can go eight. I mean, Jalen hurts. It's had great stretches. Now, please don't throw it from the pocket. That's most quarterbacks in the NFL or don't. Like Mahomes, you can't tell if he's leading or trailing.

That's a great quarterback. Baker Mayfield has developed into a quarterback. He's as good trailing as leading. Early in his career, he was great with a lead in a run game. I didn't want Baker trailing. He was too reckless. Now Baker or Sam Darnold. I don't care what the score is.

So you mentioned franchise quarterback earlier. This is tough because it's early. Like, do you think from what you've seen so far, Bo Nix is going to get franchise quarterback money? because that's when the equation changes dramatically. Yes. Wow. But again, that's three and a half years from that.

He could be improved. He could be an absolutely improved player. All I'm saying is, with the exception of about four guys, one of them not available, maybe two, Lamar and Burrow aren't currently available. With the exception, like four or five guys in this league, every franchise quarterback has bad stretches. If the O lines hurt, you lose your top running game, all of it. You know what I mean?

Or you get the wrong coach or coach. coordinator, almost the whole league goes through bad cycles. It's just Dak, his tangibles have caught up to his intangibles, and he's just a different quarterback right now. So Sam and so's Baker, blazing five men. 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 Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam?

It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hiring you. You just understood. That's how personal it got.

Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to her, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva. And on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be?

I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered Conversations from Night Sweats to Phupas to Scheduling Sacks, Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.

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