The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Bills are a great job, Seahawks are the best team in the NFL

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

Colin reacts to a weekend of NFL playoff action. Sean McDermott is dismissed from the Buffalo Bills, but opportunity awaits for anyone who can take that job and fix things for quarterback Josh Allen. Colin also wants everyone to admit now that the Seahawks are the best team remaining in the NFL playoffs, and there's only one team with a chance to slow them down.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Sean McDermott, a very good football coach, has been dismissed. The Buffalo Bills 10th team, a third of the day. League. Tenth team looking for a head coach. And I think when you have Josh Allen, it's okay to demand greatness. Bill Walsh, Andy Reid, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Belichick. Josh Allen's the kind of quarterback that can win not one, not two, but three Super Bowls. McDermott, a good man and a good coach, but the bills kept finding ways to lose. The 13 second loss to Kansas City. Saturday there's five turnovers and Bo Nicks up and down the field, 300 plus yards. I mean, there was the tush push last year.

They couldn't get that right. The last three years, Buffalo has lost fourth quarter leads in all games. All of their losses, they lost fourth quarter leads. It was time, not quite buttoned up. The general manager, in my opinion, Brandon Bean, more of a cap guy than a personnel guy, hasn't done McDermed any favors. The wide receiver core is mostly anemic. There are no pro bowlers on the defensive side.

Even James Cook, Josh Allen's best teammate, leads all running backs in fumbles. But Saturday wasn't a loss. It was a reckoning. It felt different. The locker room was 55 broken men.

McDermott, man at the officiating, I get it. But when John Elway was in Denver, they moved off Dan Reeves. Ten Reeves had been to three Super Bowls. Dan Reeves was a great coach, but not great enough for John Elway's talent. And Sean McDermott, again, eight playoff wins.

That is the most ever in league history by any coach that hasn't appeared in a Super Bowl. He's a coach. He's a good coach. I'll be honest. I think he would go to the Raiders and get that act figured out really quickly. I'd hire him in one second in Las Vegas. But each loss hurt more. Each loss mounted.

13 second loss. Can't get the tush push right. Blowing fourth quarter leads. Saturday, Bo Nix, kind of did what he wanted. Five turnovers on offense. And it feels like Josh Allen so often is pressing to put on a cape, get in a phone booth, come out and make a play, to overcome his lack of receiving health.

or a defense that can be good at times, but isn't special, not as good as the Rams, not even as good as the injury-plaginininers, certainly not Seattle or Houston. So this is a great job. I'm sitting here this morning thinking John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefansky are probably checking their contracts to make sure the ink is dry. But over the last, starting in 2020, until today, they're second in the NFL and wins, first in points for game, first and point differential. A lot of it's Josh Allen, maybe most of it's Josh Allen. You can't go Mike McCarthy. His teams like McDermott feel like

they're not quite buttoned up. They shrink in the playoffs. Can't go McCarthy. More of the same. Jeff Halfley, Jesse Mentor, great defensive coordinators, but we want to go with a defensive coach. How about somebody that's proven? In my opinion, Brian Dayball, one-a playoff. game with Daniel Jones, former offensive coordinator that really took Josh Allen to the next level. So Sean McDermott's got eight playoff wins. You can do a lot worse than Sean McDermott. But for Buffalo, it's different. Josh Allen changes the calculus. Here was Josh broken down after the loss Saturday.

That's extremely difficult. I feel like I let my teammates down tonight. It's a long season. I hate outended. And that's going to stick with me for a long time. Can't win with five turnovers. I fumble twice through two picks.

When you shoot yourself in the foot like that, you don't deserve to win football games. The standard, changes when you get an Lway, when you get a Peyton Manning, you got to have a Belichick, a Walsh, and Andy Reed, a Jimmy Johnson. I don't know if Brian Daibald's that. But John Harbaugh's off the market. Jim Harbaugh's off the market.

Sean Payton's taken. So is Mike Vrable. To me, Brian Daible, who's been in that room, who's worked with Josh, is an offensive guy, will squeeze every ounce out of this star quarterback. And at this point, to me, that's the answer. Okay. Under Sean McVeigh, the Rams prove once again, regardless of weather,

this warm weather indoor football team goes to Chicago. They don't have a single penalty. They don't have a single turnover. Folks, they didn't have, we looked it up, a dropped pass. And that's why they beat the bear. In a windy snow game earlier in the day, there were eight turnovers. They didn't have a drop pass. Chicago was more spectacular.

Chicago had more yards. Chicago won time of possession. Caleb Williams, in my opinion, had the throw of the decade. Playoffs are regular season. But this L.A. team played more efficiently and played cleaner. I mean, again, I'm not saying Chicago is not more fun to watch. The Rams only had three drives all day, an opening drive, a fourth quarter drive, and an overtime drive. So much in football is about not losing games.

And the team that lost the turnover battles yesterday and this weekend, they went 0 for four. The Rams did not drop a pass in this weather. So I thought when all you needed to do was win the game in overtime, it was second and eight. I thought the Bears should have been trying to get a first down and not a touchdown. I thought Caleb Williams, who has grown so much as a player, he is so much better than he was eight, nine weeks ago. I thought he bit off a little too much in overtime. They just needed a field goal.

They just needed points. And he went uptown. And that's the very nature of Caleb Williams. the upside, the jet fuel, the horsepower. I mean, he is V8 plus, but he's not quite ready. He has improved so much from week three to now. I mean, again, this is, I think there's four quarterbacks in league history that can make this play. Four.

The Rams weren't perfect, beat on the back end. But you get all the upside, but I thought he took a little too big, of a Biden overtime, and Chicago's not going anywhere. They're young, they're athletic, they're inexpensive at quarterback, star tight end, running back, receiver, slot, perimeter. This is a really good Chicago team. Dennis Allen had a great Sunday night. They don't have nearly as much defensive talent, especially in the box as the Rams do.

And yet they were aggressive. They got to Matt Stafford multiple times. while their offensive line did not surrender a sack. There were so many things to like about the Bears, time of possession, big plays, more yards, more spectacular, whereas the Rams' defensive talent is young, explosive, and inexpensive. That's the Bears primarily on offense. So the Rams came down on the opening drive,

take a 7-0 lead, bears don't buckle. You got the Rams taking that lead late in the game, and the bears don't buckle. So they're good. They're not going anywhere. But the bears, to me, feel like they're almost there. And the Rams feel like they are there again. And here's Sean McVeigh after the overtime win in Chicago.

There were so many things that went on in that game that you could have said, oh, man, maybe tonight's not our night. I'm going to tell you this, though. for you guys to do what you did. Man, I can't say enough about what you guys did, snap in, snap out defensively. How about my mother, man, Camp Curl at safety? Listen, you look over the course of the weekend. There's two or three things that are absolute.

And the team that had the most turnovers, you know, whether it's a Buffalo or it's a Houston or it's a Chicago, The reality is when you get to the best coaches and the best rosters and the best game plans, weather becomes less of a factor and not letting a ball hit the ground. For the weather to be that bad, McVeigh looked freezing. They didn't have a drop pass. That's insane. I mean, Kyron Williams, what do you have, 20-some carries?

Bears were pulling on his arm and pulling on the ball for three and a half hours. And the ball never hit the ground. Pooka Nakuwa, hammered, pulling the ball up. Ball never hit the ground. No penalties, no turnovers. More impressive is no drop passes. That is the Rams, who now go on the road with an extra quarter played and one day less rest than the Seahawks.

They are and should be underdogs in the NFC championship. JMAQ, wow. I'll tell you what. We'll talk about the Seahawks next. I mean, it is good. My takeaway all night, it was funny. We were in the fourth quarter, and I'm watching the game with friends, and I'm like, I'm looking up drop passes, and I'm looking up penalties.

And I'm like, for a warm weather team that plays indoors, to go into that weather, you and I talked all week, you get to a point in games like that. You can't feel your hands. So I went outside last night at halftime. I want to do, I thought, I want to go out on a feel what it feels like. in just normal clothes, no jacket. I'm like, I don't know how people are doing that.

How long did you last? Oh, 90 seconds. The Rams, though, did you notice this? How many of their skill players did not wear sleeves? So a lot of it's psychological. Ram players went out there. We're not going to wear sleeves. We're just going to go out and play.

We're not going to worry about it. Stafford's face is like, you know, it's bright red. I thought that was a really impressive outing. The bears were more spectacular, but efficiency, playing clean, no drop passes, is a real thing in those kind of games. Did you feel like McVeigh called the game like he was freezing? Because Colin, at one point in the third quarter,

they had 34 passes and 11 runs. I did not understand. I love McVeigh. He's one of the best coaches in the league. I thought that was his worst effort of the season. He clearly changed it in the fourth quarter. Yes, absolutely. Listen, it's a weird flow into the game.

You know, you have things that are working. Nobody can cover Puka. You know, the tight ends were having success. So I think it's hard to do that. I think you get into the elements. There are certain things you've game planned for. You'll think will work. I think they should have run more.

But listen, this would have been an easy game after the Rams drove down the field and took a lead. You could say to yourself, well, I just, you know, we saw what happened to the Niners. It's like sometimes there's just, you know, when you get one of these explosive teams like the Rams or Seattle and they take a 7-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0. that Rams did not matter. Bears came right back down the field. They never buckled. You know, it just came down to in overtime, you know, Caleb gets picked. And it looked like DJ Moore. There was miscommunication. I don't want to say somebody quit, but it had an odd look to it. They'll probably look at the tape and figure that out. I didn't think the Rams guy was going to make the field goal because his first kick was a line drive that it felt like the wind. Yeah. Push it in. So I was like, no, I don't know. This thing's going to continue.

you, but was your big takeaway that Caleb Williams looks without a doubt like a top 10 quarterback in the league? He was unbelievable. I know the accuracy, you know, 50% or whatever wasn't there, but he can make so many plays. Colin, he's ascending at a pace. I don't think anybody anticipated this fast with Ben Johnson. He's a superstar. Yeah, it's, there's no question he's a top 10 quarterback. And for the record, everybody can beat up on him with the interceptions. One was on fourth down. Okay. Yeah. You can beat up on the interceptions. But the truth. is he doesn't really throw many interceptions. He's durable. He's mobile. He's got great strength.

He doesn't have a lot of multiple interception games. But again, this RAM defense is good. They're not great at corner, but they're really good everywhere else, and they're fast, and they close. And we've got a lot of good defenses left. New England's real defense. Seattle's incredible. Rams are very good. And Denver can get after it.

So football just keeps getting better. We're in Chicago. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, is Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio? Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show. Yep, that's right. You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube every day.

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Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers 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. 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 class. Jench who went. I mean, she went down in 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 I-Heart women's sports. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

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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,

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And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The Seattle Seahawks are indisputably the best team left. They had a stretch this year where they led a team 20 to nothing in the first quarter, another team 28 nothing at half, and another team 35 nothing at half. That's what Ohio State does to an FCS team.

Sam Donald got picked four times against the Rams, and they still almost won. Kyle Shanahan, 163 games as the San Francisco coach, four times he's been held under a touchdown. Twice in the last few weeks by Seattle. The roster has no holes. even the special teams are really good. They get a pass rush without blitzing. Huge up front. Active linebackers.

Outstanding elite corners. Playmaking safeties on offense. You get power and speed and efficiency. They are young. They're dynamic. And there is one team left that is built to beat them in Seattle. One team only. The Rams.

They might be able to do it because, they play such a clean, smart, efficient style of football. They don't make as many mistakes as the Seahawks do. They're not as penalized as Seattle. They're not going to make the turnovers that Seattle does. They're a cleaner version. Are they as good a version? Well, look at these numbers.

This is how crazy it is. The Rams and Seahawks have played twice. Each with a win. The Rams have scored 58 points. The Seahawks 57. The Rams have 830 total yards. The Searchs have 829. I mean, folks, we all knew this.

I mean, about week seven or eight, didn't you look at yourself and think, okay, Green Bay is falling apart physically and so are the Niners. And Philadelphia couldn't get their offensive act together. And Chicago was really good, but it felt like maybe the defense was a year away. And then there's the Panthers. Child, please. This Seattle team in Seattle, cold and wet. I mean, they have made Christian McKen,

Haffrey disappear twice in the last few weeks. Disappear. The Rams are the number one scoring offense. The Seahawks are the number one scoring defense. It will be best against best. And in my opinion, the two best young coaches in football at the helm. McVeigh is the best coach, arguably in the league, certainly the best young coach. Seattle said, you know what?

McVey and Shanahan are in this division. We're not going to hire the third best offensive guy. we're going to go get a defensive guy, Mike McDonald, and he is the defensive version of McVeigh. Handsome, tough, culture builder, respected, player-friendly, holds players accountable while being that. So I've said this all year with Seattle. Turn the sound down and watch them play.

Don't listen to the announcers or the crowd. Turn the sound down. They don't look like any other team. It's like you get the Texans defense with a more dynamic offense. Sam Darnold after another win over the 49ers. Our defense has been

amazing, you know, throughout the entire year. You know, they've had our back. You know, we've had their back in certain situations, our special teams. You know, I can't say enough great things about them, but yeah, it's really fun to play the defense like that behind, you know, as your back. For us as an offense, like, we understand

what we're capable of. You know, we've showed glimpses of it throughout the season. And I think these last few games, we've kind of proven our offensive line, our tight end, and stuff proving kind of what we can do running the football. So we're just going to continue to, you know, watch the take, get better, and see where we'd go from here. You know, there was a moment early in the game when Kyle Shanahan kind of admitted we can't play Seattle straight up. They had some trick plays. It was like a fourth and one.

They gave it to Kyle Ushack. And they tried to kind of do a little clever trick play to the outside. They knew. Yeah, we, on a fourth and one, we like our offensive line. You can't play Seattle straight up. They're just different. They remind me a lot.

It's so interesting in these playoffs. These Patriots remind me a lot of the Belichick Brady Patriots. Not sure if they're great anywhere except quarterback, but they're good everywhere. And this Seattle team reminds me a lot of the Legion of Boom, where you have a very athletic quarterback, above average run game, and they look different. They are faster.

younger. I mean, it's the opposite of the Steelers. You get a great defense. You don't have to pay for it. It's like 23rd most expensive defense. So, I mean, when they take the open and they've added at the trade deadline, they got this GM John Snyder, maybe the best personnel guy in the league. They add a speed demon at the trade deadline. You're watching them there. So now their special teams are a nightmare. There's one team left built to potentially beat them in Seattle. battle very big on potentially, and that's the Rams. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's go back to Saturday and the rough ending for Bo Nix. Colin's superhero quarterback, man, he was very good against Buffalo, but then suffered a terrifying injury to his ankle. Broken ankle, Colin. It appeared to happen on the third to last play of the game. he had like a design keeper landed awkwardly,

still was able to chuck it down the field to Mims and get that weak flag and then took a knee popped up and you see it on the screen. It was like, oh, what's going on here? Yeah. Seemed to walk off the field okay, but afterwards, Sean Payton met with the media.

They called the media back, and this is what Peyton told the media. Oh, we don't have the sound. Here's Peyton. Not good news on the second to last play of overtime. Bo fractured a bone in his right ankle. He's scheduled to have surgery Tuesday. That would be tomorrow.

So, Colin, it will be the Jarrett Stidham show this weekend in the AFC championship. Yeah, and he's not taking first team snaps. So this is going to be a rough one now. Now, Sean Payton, very good coach. Stidham's been around. Remember when Sean took the job in Denver? He went out and paid $12 million for Stidham as a backup. And we went, that is a lot for a backup.

So Stidham has been around. Stidham knows the system. Stidham is a good teammate. So this is about as good as you're going to do in a backup quarterback. situation. You're going to be at home. That helps. It's Sean Payton. I mean, again, certainly capable. I would lean with Vrable, Josh McDaniel, Drake May. And I don't know what the line is this morning. I would think New England's favored by a couple. That would be my guess. I know Seattle is favored by about a field goal. Well, it was five and a half. I'm seeing four

and a half now for the Patriots favorite on the road. It's interesting because this Bronco defense, You mentioned early in the show. Bronco defense is good. I didn't see good against Buffalo. Buffalo moved the ball up and down the field. Nearly had 500 yards of offense. Kind of did what they want. Josh Allen had a couple of...

Also, this Denver offense, Bo Nix, a lot of it is Bo Nix rolling, running. Okay, that component's gone with Stidim. Stidham's a pocket guy. So a lot of that offense this year has been about Bo Nix moving the pocket. This off now. Now, Breeze went 5'0 with Teddy Bridgewater

as a backup in New Orleans. If you got to have a backup, Jared Steadham, who's been in the system for years, and Sean Payton, I mean, they've got nice weapons, but you just have to go with a better quarterback, a very good coach, regardless of where the game is played. There's a reason New England's favorite and should be. Well, it's not totally the same as Nick Foles, but Carson Wence was a mobile quarterback in Philly, right? Nick Foles, more of a statue, like a jockey cement shoes, Foles in the pocket.

You know, there's a world where this game is a lot closer than everyone. everybody's saying right now I have not seen one person give Denver a chance of you it's universally oh Frank Mays about a quarterback I honestly I think it's going to be a close game I yeah I this playoffs like every game is freaking close yeah it's a coin flip every game so uh bummer for Bo Knicks I'll say this though Colin uh I don't know if you saw this throws on uh 20 or more yards down the field against the bills Bo Nicks four of six for 106 yards and two touchdown Jason he hit two deep ball home runs I mean say what you want because Bo Nix, the knock is throwing the ball down the field

has been the question with Bo Nix. We know 12 yards in, he moves well. He hit two bombs. And I mean, that to me was, again, Sean McDermott's defense has struggled against the run. They actually were okay against the run, but they got burned over the top twice. In a game like that,

when you're on the road, you can't get burned deep for touchdowns twice in a game. You know what happened, Colin? White went out with an injury. He had to miss a couple plays. Boenicks either identified it or Peyton did, and they picked on the backup both times. And it was just galling.

I mean, I had the under in this game and all the big plays. It was like, what the heck? That was a thriller, man. Saturday was crazy. All right, let's move on to a coaching opening, Colin. That's Pittsburgh Steelers. Listen, I'm surprised by this,

but Mike McCarthy is a name who's supposedly going to interview with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I mean, at this point. I don't see how this job is, attractive at all when you don't know the quarterback. Aaron Rogers apparently not going to be back. He's a Pittsburgh guy. So, you know what? Right now, you're going to have to pivot. Mike Arthy, right, and say, I don't know the Buffalo Bills. Can I get in there and talk to

Josh Allen? Sure. Like, this is a bizarre. Collin, we talked about this. This Pittsburgh team is old. First of all, the Steelers don't ever look for a new coach. Yeah. So the Giants do, they move on it. And Atlanta does, and they move on it. Yeah. And so the two, organizations identify Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski very quickly. I would say the Raiders hiring McDermott within 24 hours, do you get Mendoza? I think to me, sometimes you get lucky in life. I think the Raiders just got incredibly lucky. I would hire Sean McDermott in a second.

Well, McDermott's going to have options, Arizona, maybe Pittsburgh, like a lot of teams. Those don't come with Fernando Mendoza. That's fair. For four to five years, you're not paying Fernando Mendoza. Well, McDermott's been locked in on the playoffs. Maybe he'll watch the Natty tonight. You know, he's got some time on his hands, not game planning this week, and maybe he'll make a decision.

But let's go back to Steelers for a second. Remember how it ended for McCarthy and Rogers in Green Bay? Very ugly. So this is all, this is very surprising to me that McCarthy would be interested in this. But we'll see. Final story, Colin, we want to go back to Ben Johnson and the Bears. They were really fun in that one again. the Rams, but I want to go back to this two-point conversion. You can talk about this play for an hour.

The Caleb Williams dropped back fourth and four, and he chucks it 40 yards to Cole Commet. So when this hit, I was like, oh my gosh, are they going to go for two and beat the Rams? And then Ben Johnson kicked. And that kind of sort of shocked me, given his DNA. Colin, here's Johnson talking about that decision afterward. Thought about it. Yeah, thought about it. Probably what played a little bit of a factor was You know, our goal to go situations hadn't gone very clean. Our Inside the Five plan hadn't worked out quite like we had hoped. And so I just felt better about taking our chances there in overtime.

Yeah, that's where I agreed. My takeaway watching it was this is where analytics doesn't tell you the truth. Analytics hadn't watched the earlier fourth downs. They had struggled in their fourth and short packages all night long. And by the way, not only struggled, but gotten stuffed multiple times. times. So you just had the play of the decade. You're on 100% emotion. The chances of coming out after that and getting a two-point conversion against a very, very good defensive front, I think it's the right call. Again, you have to contextualize the game. They had struggled on fourth and

short. So let's not do a fourth and short to decide. Again, I'm at home. Caleb has been spectacular. Rams have only had a couple of drives. Remember, going into overtime, Rams had an opening drive and a fourth quarter drive. They didn't do anything. They didn't do anything for like two and a half hours. So I was okay with the decision. This is what separates Ben Johnson from a Dan Campbell for me, Colin. Because Dan Campbell, it was a famous game where they faced Dallas,

and he just kept going. And it was like, dude, what are you doing? It was like a guy doubling down in blackjack and keep just hemorrhaging money. And Ben Johnson realized, hey, man, it's not working for us inside the five. That's right. Let's just kick. And I think, listen, I was lower than I should have been on Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams, Colin. They go into next season with the right off season, right? Maybe you move off DJ more, you know, because he's expensive and you've got other receivers.

They're one of the only teams in the league. It's a very good edge rusher draft. They need an edge rusher. So they could take their first five picks go all defense. They don't need a tackle, a running back, a tight end, a receiver, a quarterback, an interior alignment. they're literally one of the most this draft works out so favorably for Chicago

they need a corner an edge rusher get more athleticism in the linebacking core all of them available in the first three rounds Chicago goes into the draft they could draft today I mean five defensive players there's a world where next year going in this off season the bears

are a top five team heading in the next year for me I mean I know people are going to sound thinking I'm crazy you look at the bears roster and say the Ravens or the Chiefs and the way Caleb is improving? Find me another team in the NFL that literally doesn't have a single need on offense. There isn't one.

They're the only team in the league. They've got two backs they want. By the way, they lose their left tackle for this game. They moved Joe Tuny over. He was phenomenal. I mean, obviously, you want offensive line depth, but like the bears are in amazing shape. They might be the favorites next year in the NSI,

regardless of what happens with Seattle. And once you get the quarterback and the coach, right. It just, it's so clear. Like a lot of times you can get Drake May, but last year you had Gerard Mayo. So it's like, okay, we got to get the coach. Or you'll get the coach and you won't have the quarterback. Ben's the right guy. Caleb's the right guy. Offensive line is excellent. Skill everywhere. You could argue you could move an offensive piece at receiver to get another draft pick, but their drafts should be all defensive players first five picks. Totally agree. Jay Mack with the news.

That's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. So, listen, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. Nothing drives me crazier that the NFL is rigged. So let me start with this. If the NFL was going to rig a Buffalo Bill Denver game, they would not rig it so Bo Nix and Denver win.

You would not say, I'll tell you what, league office just sent a memo. Let's get the beloved Buffalo Bills and superstar Josh Allen out of the playoffs. The country wants Bo Nicks. That's not what leagues do. So this play, the rule is actually really clear on this. You got to possess the ball through the process of a catch. And that includes hitting the ground. You can't bobble it if it bounces out.

It's not a catch. So the slow-mo replay usually clarifies stuff for all of us. in this case, slow-mo hurts the play. Because slow-mo makes you think Brandon Cook has possession more than he actually does. His reaction after this play, he knew it, he bottled it. So the rule is very clear, and usually replay is our friend. It clarifies. But slow-mo doesn't clarify.

It makes you think Cook has more control of the ball than he does. when I watched the real speed, real time, I know all you guys on Twitter, Twitter screenshot guy, I get it. And sometimes your angles are hard to argue. But this is not how football is played. It's played in real speed. It is fast in real time. And when I watched the one angle where there was clarity on it in real speed, then it's like, okay. Now, if you stop the frame on this multiple times, especially when Cook has his back.

to the Twitter shot of the TV freeze frame, you're like, this is inexplicable. How in the world did it happen? But Brandon Cook's reaction to it, you know, was one of dejection. You got to keep the ball through the process. And there's just one real speed. I had two people in the league, and they're not big Sean Payton guys,

both text me and say, guys, it's the right call. Don't go crazy. So I don't like it. I'd never seen it before. It felt so much to me like a catch, but the rule's pretty clear. It's not played in screenshots.

I thought replay actually diluted this. Usually it clarifies it, the slow most of it. It makes it look like more of a true catch than it is. And so, and again, do you really think the league office sent a memo? Let's get the beloved bills and Josh Allen out of here. You know, when you go on the road and you give up, two deep balls to Bo Knicks for touchdowns. When you turn it over five times, at this point, the cleaner team won every game this weekend, four for four. Sean McDermott, though,

devastated, now out of a job at the time, devastated. It's hard for me to, and I've had a chance to look at, it's hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled. And If it is ruled that way, then why wasn't it slowed down just to make sure that we have this right? So I'll just leave it at that. But I'm doing, I'm saying it because I'm standing up for Buffalo. Damn it. I'm standing up for us. Because what went on is not, that is not how it should go down in my estimation. Now, I will totally agree with Sean McDermott.

I felt it was unnecessarily rushed. There are those speculating that the Seahawk Niner game had already been pushed back. and they didn't want to go into 12 minutes of replay. That's not a good enough answer. I thought it was rushed. There is no hurry. None of us were going anywhere. Denver's not going anywhere.

Buffalo's not going anywhere. You and I are watching it. We're not going anywhere. The fans aren't going anywhere. And that speed, that impatience, that's what makes this play. That's where you think, okay, well, what's going on here? What's the big rush here?

That, again, and slow-mo just doesn't make it look good for the league. We've been arguing forever. Full-time officials. It's a zillion-dollar league. What is the league a year? 15, 18, $20 billion league? Get full-time officials. But I will agree with McDermott.

The whole thing felt rushed, and that just adds a dimension to an already rare play. Again, if you take out. out Buffalo. I mean, the fact that it's Buffalo that loses this way, that it's rushed, that it is rare, that I've never seen that before. You add all these things together and I get

rigged guy, but that's not the case. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented

did a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. A pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. 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. And... 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 this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say,

Hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Genshin win.

I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

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

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. 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 Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Seahawks favored at home over the Rams and the Patriots go on the road to face Jared,

Sted him a backup quarterback favorite over Denver and Sean Peyton. You know, with New England, you know, a lot of people are like, you can tell, well, they're not quite special enough. Well, is Mike Vrable a top five coach? Is Josh McDaniel, a top three coordinator? Is Drake May a top 10 quarterback? their defense is top five. I mean, I don't see what people aren't seeing.

They're absolutely good enough to win a Super Bowl. I don't think they should be favored. Their cornerbacks are outstanding. They get consistent pressure. They run the ball effectively. And, you know, Kishon Boutte made the catch of the year. So, I mean, Diggs was valuable. Drake May made three straight big throws on that one touchdown drive.

They remind me a lot of the Belichick Brady Patriots, where I'm not sure outside of quarterback, Drake May and Tom Brady, outside of quarterbacks, I don't know if they're great anywhere, but they're really good everywhere, and they're awful nowhere. And with NFL coaching, you just can't be bad anywhere. You can't have a massive hole. They don't. I mean, they struggle to block the rush ends for Houston.

Will Anderson, good luck. He's our Lawrence Taylor. Nobody's blocking him. So Drake May against the number two defense in bad weather, three touchdowns and a one-on-one. one passer rating and good movement. Seems pretty good to me. They're very much like the old Patriots. They give you about one to two big plays offensively,

and when you need them to execute at a high level, they do. So if you look at the Patriots this year, including the playoffs, they're number one in yardage differential. They're number five and points a game, number three in points allowed. So New England, I lived there for a decade. The New England region isn't a flashy region. There's a ton of wealth. Newport, Rhode Island, Nantucket, the Cape, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket,

but it's not ostentatious considering the wealth. And that's a little bit like the Patriots. The Patriots in Boston appreciate intelligence and toughness and resilience and resilience and efficiency and discipline. And I kind of feel like the Patriots have always been the region. they're not going to be flashy despite having talent. Yes, Seattle's more dynamic and the Rams are more experienced, and the Denver Broncos probably have a bit more of a star-studded roster, but I absolutely believe New England is good enough to win the Super Bowl.

Vrabble's elite, Josh McDaniel's elite, Drake May is elite. Their receiving core in the last year is significantly better, made huge plays. They can't put the ball on the carpet like they did against the Texans, but they're not lucky to be here. They outspent everybody in free agency. They nailed the draft. So they're four or five different rookies making big impacts. And again, their corners are like Seattle's.

They are sticky. They are all over the receivers. I like New England a lot. I don't, listen, everybody's got a flaw. I don't trust the Rams special teams. Seahawks sometimes can turn it over. I still think offensive line for the Patriots, is probably a draft away from being elite.

But this reminds me a lot of the old Patriots, same owner, same coordinator, a younger, more mobile quarterback, who's not quite Brady in terms of pre-snap and experience, obviously, and probably will never be quite that. But the only big difference is Vrable, and Vrable's like a more current Velichick. He's more player-friendly, more connected to the player as an ex-player. He's very, very current offensively. It feels like what I watched for years there. Here's Drake May after.

It was hard in this league to run it when they know you're going to run it. And those guys were huge. And four quarter, that's when crunch time is. It snow picked up a little bit. It was pretty sweet. Just the fans and the stadium, the atmosphere was pretty cool. We felt like we deserve to be here. We got times where we're going to be at our best in critical moments.

And it comes down to it's going to come down the end. It's going to come down to making plays when you have them. And I got to just keep on giving our tribes chance to make plays. And I like our chances with those guys in those locker room. I've said this. Sometimes the team becomes the city. Every great Laker team has been kind of flashy, right? Like every great Patriot team has been resilient, smart, and physically tough and efficient.

And that's what they pride themselves in. Like Mike Vrabel feels like a Patriot coach. Belichick felt like a Patriot coach. Maybe it's just Bill started that whole thing. But, I mean, Robert Kraft's a billionaire. He's still complaining about having to pay off Gerard Mayo. He felt terrible about that. This is just, you know, there's an old saying in New England,

fences make good neighbors. They're not looking for validation outside of the region. They know what they are. They're good enough to win a Super Bowl. They got a little bit of a break. I would probably favor Denver with Bow Nick starting. I'd probably make them a one, one and a half two-point favorite. But I don't think Jared Stidham, who's not been taking snaps all year, more of a scout team backup guy.

I think that's a huge ask. But, you know, one thing we know about these playoffs, expect the unexpected. The one team that nobody wants to talk about, I mean, everybody picked Houston. You know, everybody was like, well, Drake May can't win his first playoff game. And now what Drake May can't beat Houston, I don't know. I look at New England. I don't see the big flaw. They were good all regular season.

They're good now. they're going to be good next weekend. I don't see the hole. I think they're really, really good. Seattle Rams, Denver Patriots. Wow. I mean,

every weekend gets better. 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. First people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's. Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band

with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-HeartRadio 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 break of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments set to find Roland Garros. She's an outsider to win the French name. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Lennarabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcasts on the Iheart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know, that's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man.

They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise, the drama, the alliances, M&T, everybody's talking about. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app,

Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.