The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Broncos Proving Doubters Wrong, Lions Fall Apart

Episode Date: December 26, 2025

Colin Cowherd sees that the Denver Broncos are right on schedule under coach Sean Payton and quarterback Bo Nix after a Christmas Day win over the fading Kansas City Chiefs. Also, Colin examines how and why the Detroit Lions unraveled this season. Plus, Lakers head coach JJ Redick is fed up with the lack of effort from his team after a blowout home loss to the Houston Rockets. Finally, Colin sizes up former Utah Utes head football coach Kyle Whittingham, who is expected to be hired as Michigan's next coach. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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And on a bit of a run this year, one hour from now. We're live at Chicago. It's warming up. I may get on the board shorts today. It's the herd, wherever you may be. However, you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. J-Mack, I hope you had a great Christmas with a fan.

I certainly did. Snoop Dogg was the most consistent top performer yesterday in the NFL, sorry to say. Way to go Snoop Dog and crew. That was awesome. But I think it's interesting. And there's, you know, at this point in the year, we know what all these teams are. And you can keep telling me, Denver's not good, but this is not figure skating. It's football.

I don't need style points. They were great on third down. They dominate time of possession. You know, R.J. Harvey delivers. So is Bo Nix. basically Kansas City said we're not giving you anything over the top we're going to make it long, slow, boring drives

and that's what they did. Sean Payton knows what he's doing. A lot of guys, a lot of GMs. GMs didn't like Bo Nix. Sean Payton loved him. He's now 23 and 10 as a pro. Playoffs both years. First quarterback ever, ever, league history ever.

10 plus wins, 30 plus total touchdowns, first two years in the league. And he leads the NFL and pass attempts the last two years, So they're putting everything on him. No babysitting like early Big Ben. And then there's R.J. Harvey last year, everybody said, that's a reach. Hey, he shouldn't be a high draft pick, R.J. Harvey.

The dude's got only four fewer touchdowns than Christian McCaffrey and 200 fewer touches. He's a tremendous receiver, tremendous young player who gets into the end zone. I think he has like 11 touchdowns. Again, don't worry about the style points. This is at Arrowhead. It is a division rival, and you won by a touchdown. You do understand a touchdown is a big spread. Seattle is a touchdown favored over Carolina.

If they win by a touchdown, are you unimpressed? You go on the road, division rival, you win. You take it. Kansas City said we're not giving you anything over the top. They didn't. And for the record, in the first game between these two, Bo Nix made a huge third and a 15 conversion game-winning drive. Last night, third and 10, huge conversion, game-winning drive.

So you take the touchdown. And here's the other thing is, I don't know if Denver is going to fly through. I mean, it just got whacked by Jacksonville. Maybe Jacksonville is the best team in the AFC, certainly possible. But the last two years in the fourth quarter, the most important quarter in football, Josh Allen leads the NFL in fourth quarter touchdowns. Bo Nix is second. Yeah, I'm going to say it was a good draft pick.

I'm going to say R.J. Harvey was also a good draft pick. I mean, Sean Payton, they had six pro bowlers this week. Four of them were there when Sean got there. He's just squeezing more juice out of the roster. As far as the Chiefs, maybe it's Travis Kelsey's last home game. That's what it sounded like on the broadcast. They've been a bit of a sad trombone all year. as we've told you, dynasties do not fall off a cliff.

Generally, the old guys look old, the old guys get hurt, the young guys can't bring the energy and juice. Kansas City's one in eight and one score games. This is kind of how dynasties end. They're not explosive anymore. But all I hear is, well, I mean, it was, that game was close. Yeah, that's the way it works. I mean, would you rather be Detroit? Jared Gough faced a backup.

and they lost? If you win in this league, Denver's now 13 and 3 and will play the Chargers next week. You know, division on the line. Sean Payton's going to have his fifth season, 13 or more wins.

I know he drives people nuts. I know he puts his chin out there. But a lot of people, most people, did not think Bo Nix was a first round quarterback, or RJ Harvey Harvey was worth the pick. And here are the Denver Broncos. goes. 13 and 3. You know, 13 and 3. I don't know. Works for me. Here is Bo Nix on facing the Chargers

next week. At the end of the day, none of it really matters because we have to play the final game and we have to take care of it and, you know, they're going to be a good football team. Now, some other team can help us along the way. But at the end of the day, It's going to come down to us versus them, and we're excited to have them at home. It's going to be a really good environment. It's going to be a great atmosphere. And honestly, it's playoff time. It's playoff atmosphere.

All right. So before the season started, okay, we're going to pat ourselves in the back. Jay Mack and I said every year there's one really exceptional team in the NFL, and the following year, it goes away. It's like season two of True Detective. Right? You're like, ah, I love this show. And maybe not so much.

I don't know. So we both said it would be the Detroit Lions. They lost two great coordinators. Offensive guy was brilliant. And I'm listening to Lions fans yesterday. Well, it's our offensive line is all beat up. Yeah. Well, so is the Chargers and the Texans.

Their old lines are worse, and they've been worse all season. And they're combined 21 and 9. Now, I think Sam Leporta, the minute he left with the O-line injuries, makes it much harder. But in any business and football's a business, to turn around a sinking ship, you have to self-audit. You have to look in the mirror. This team, Detroit's been lousy on third down all year, even when the O-line was healthy. With Ben Johnson, they were sharp, innovative, and creative. They've tried to create that movie.

Maybe they picked the wrong director. doesn't feel sharp and creative. Yes, the offensive line injuries, especially with Sam Laporte of the tight end out too. It hurts. Yeah, Sam LaPorte is great. But Dan Campbell in week 10 took the play calling duties away

from his offensive coordinator. And just a heads up, guys, if your boss ever comes to you and goes, you know, Bob, you're doing a great job, but I'm going to take over your sales accounts. Start looking for work. it's not just the offensive line. Detroit was a crisp operation, more creative and innovative.

Dan Campbell had to take over the OC duties. He didn't want to do that. He is not a scheme guy. He's a great culture builder, and he lost a brilliant scheme guy, Ben Johnson. This is very reminiscent of Kyle Shanahan getting the Niners as the OC to the Super Bowl and Matt Ryan an MVP. Kyle Shanahan left. You want to know what the Atlanta Falcons record is since Kyle Shanahan left?

63 and 84. It's not the Falcons O-line injuries. Okay, you can make all the excuses. Find me an offensive line in this league in the entire league. Find me an offensive line that is healthy for 17-18 weeks. I mean, it's man overboard with the chargers. Texans O' line's been a mess for two years. They're humming.

One's doing it with defense. One's doing it with coaching and quarterback play. You just got to find a way when your all lines beat up. Again, I think Sam Leporta is a big loss. But if you look at Dan Campbell, put it on the screen with offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. He's 36 and 15. 36 and 15. If you look at Dan Campbell without Ben Johnson, 11, 21 and 1, a touchdown less.

So I would argue the Lions peaked in week two when they beat very good Chicago, but Chicago is much better today than they were in week two. They beat on bad teams. The Lions have beat up on bad teams. They haven't really beaten good teams. Sometimes like the Rams, they get close, but it's just, they're just not as crisp. They're just not as innovative. I mean, and again, I'm not blaming anybody.

I'm saying when you lose Kyle Shanahan as OC, Matt Ryan didn't look the same. When you lose Ben Johnson, you don't look the same. Here's Dan Campbell. They're out of the playoffs officially after the loss. I'm looking at a lot of things because I do not like being home for the playoffs. And I know our guys don't either. So, you know, and there again, whenever you lose, man, it takes a village, man. everybody's involved, including myself, you know.

So I'm always going to look at myself first, you know. I'm always going to wish I would have given golf more, given those players more. Good news, very good front office, draft well. You get that great safety back, LaPorta back. I mean, it's not all doom and gloom. I mean, you've really got an infrastructure, a culture creator, but when you have the culture creators, they are very and much more reliant on offensive coordinators.

Vrable is a great culture builder. First thing he did, get Josh McDaniels, get the great OC, the scheme guy. And it works. So, yeah, the O-line stuff, it's not perfect. Leport is a huge loss, but there's bad O-lines all over this league. I mean, the Chargers is the worst. 32nd for most of the year. Texans is bad.

They're going to make the playoffs again. All right, Jay Mack, it was interesting because yesterday was, it used to be the NBA's day. And then the NFL's like, no, we're going to change that. And now the NBA may want to move to Christmas Eve. That's been suggest, whatever. It's a good day. It's a day you sit around and eat with family and open presents and watch sports. But I do think the Lakers played the Rockets.

Now, it wasn't competitive. but when the Lakers, the bus family sold to the Dodgers group, I said, now things are going to change. This is not an organization that's going to be worried about ticket sales and merch sales and keeping LeBron happy. There appears to be some real honest conversations that need to be had that the Lakers net rating is worse when LeBron plays. Defensively, they're already bad.

they're worse when LeBron plays. And yesterday, I know it's Christmas, maybe the guys don't want to be there. But that game spoke volumes of the next couple of months. We'll talk about that update on the Cowboys as well. 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. Paulie Fusco here with Donie Fusco.

Yo, as everybody knows, we're the host of the award-winning Polly and Tony Fusco show. Yeah. But instead of us telling you how great we are, here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on our show. Quick, knowledgeable, and funny, opinionated. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?

You're interrupting our promo. Yeah. He wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally out of context. Oh, yeah. Well, after this promo, I'm going to take you out and beat you. Let me put this into context. Shut up.

Yeah, anyway, just listen to the Pauley and Tony Fusco show on IHart Radio, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Yeah. 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 it. 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 do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And, well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast.

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

friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

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

I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerabakina 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. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness.

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somebody coming after me. Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Baker's got their doors blown off. Three straight losses, three straight awful blowouts. I mean, if you watch that game, the effort was subpar. A lot of people don't like that JJ Reddick is so harsh.

The NBA panders way to. much to its stars. I love that JJ Reddick won't, but they were dumb and gave up almost 70 points in the paint to Houston. Just a complete blowout, 11996. So here's the thing about the NBA, it's changing. It's no longer a center big man league. How do I know that? Yokic, Janus, and M. B'd, two rings, 34 total years. Okay, you're not winning that way. It is a wing league. You have to have three and D guys, switchable guys, versatile guys. guys, hyper-athleticism everywhere. That's what the league is.

And the Laker GM Rob Polinka has built a roster that doesn't have any of it. It's lobsided. All the best players are offensive guys. Their three best players are all initiators who, if they don't have the ball, tend to stand around, sometimes just act like they're in a bad mood, their energies low. You've got ball-centric guys. And, you know, it's just not a versatile switch.

three and D lineup. And because of that, they are atrocious defensively. They don't rebound well. They are the worst team in the league defending the three. I've been on this for two years. They're just not athletic enough. The world's changed. Now, Rob Polinka, to his defense, he did make the Luca deal,

and the bus family was a mom-and-pop operation. It was a friends and family front office. Rob Polink has done some really good things. I like Rui. You know, the AD comes in. They get rid of AD at the right time. The Luca deal. But there are time for some hard conversations now,

because the other thing that's really clear, LeBron has dropped significantly. When LeBron is on the floor, the Lakers are worse defensively. When LeBron is on the floor, they have a worst net rating. Okay, so he is getting in the way. I think they're slightly better offensively

because LeBron can score and he's always been a great passer. But the Lakers, they got to have these hard conversations now. Because this roster is like bygone era basketball. It's not athletic at all. Go watch Denver and OKC. Go watch those. Like, I understand the warrior still holding on to Draymond and Steph. I kind of get it because Steph is still elite.

But LeBron right now is not a top 10, 12 player in the league. And defensively, and that's the first thing to go. last couple years and not much of an effort. So J.J. Reddick, and if you listen to him here, he is calling out the big dogs, the stars on his roster after last night. We don't care enough right now. That's the part that bothers you a lot. We don't care enough to do the things that are necessary.

We don't care enough to be a professional. Saturday's practice, I told the guys, it's going to be uncomfortable. The meeting is going to be uncomfortable. I'm not doing another 53 games like this. It's a matter of making the choice. And too often we have guys that don't want to make that choice. And it's pretty consistent who those guys are. So the thing about the NBA is nobody plays great defense now.

Like what did Yokic have? Like 18 in overtime? I mean, nobody plays great defense now. And I don't expect the Lakers to be an elite defensive team, even if they gave you effort. Lucas is well below average. Austin Reeves can get worked, although he tries, and LeBron doesn't care about defense anymore. He can be a team defender. He's not good on ball.

So you just have to be totally honest about what this team is. And Rob Polankis is not going to get fired. The new guys gave him more responsibility. You know, they like him, and he pulled off the Luca deal, so they're not moving off him. But let's judge him now going forward on the moves they make to solve the multiple issues. Can't defend the rim. Poor rebounding team. not athletic.

I mean, to me, you've got to have that LeBron conversation. The only two people that are not movable, J.J. Reddick and Luca, everything else to me is up for a phone call. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, Colin, let's start with some Christmas football.

The only game that was decent, the Cowboys and Dack Prescott got a solid win over Washington, 30 to 23. Dack was, you know, pretty good. I don't know. Washington was terrible, so I can't really take much into it. The game was streaming, and afterward, a lot of people were asking Dack about if he's going to stop playing. Here's what Dack had to say. Obviously, I understand being approached about it, but what I was telling, you know, Klanz and the rest of the group was the conversations we've already had about it or for me to play. Like, I want to play. In the season, me being healthy, I've never had a, in all of my life career, right,

a season under 500. So that tie is going to come in to play really well. So it's a huge difference. It's just one of those things that, I mean, yeah, it's just pride. It's pride, honestly. I hope everybody noticed this. Turpin, big play, Florinoys, had a good second half. C.D. Lamb, excellent.

do not be burdened by George Pickens. Their young receivers are really good, and they're getting better. So my takeaway in this game was Dallas has three receivers that are absolutely should be on the field. Is Pickens better than two of them? Yep. But if you're going to pay Quinn and Williams and Dak and C.D. Lamb, that is not a need. When I watch Dallas, right tackle, edge. rusher. They've got to get another corner or three. But the Cowboys were at the Giants this week.

I think that offense is fine. And the whole Pickens thing is, you know, he did this in Pittsburgh where he sort of disappears. They got good young receivers. Yeah. Regarding Dak, Colin, so I had to look on the depth chart to see who the backup quarterback was. It's Joe Milton. So if I'm the Dallas Cowboys, I know what I've got in Dak. Okay? I'm putting Joe Milton in as the starter just to see what I've got in Joe Milton. Should, you know, Joe Milton pop and shows well, maybe I flip him for more picks. Or at least I have confidence in my backup quarterback.

I just don't see this idea of, oh, oh, let's keep playing DAC. Let's keep padding our stats. Like, I mean, again, sure, go for it. But worst case scenario with Joe Milton, he's terrible. You lose. Guess what? Your draft pick is a little bit better. First of all, Joe Milton is a, he,

This is what he was in college. This is what he is in the NFL. I've been very tongue-in-cheek, my entire career with Joe Milton. There will be halves. He looks like Joe Montana with movement. And there will be halves that he disappears. That's what he was in college. So everybody knows what Joe Milton is.

You're not going to get a, you may get a six or a seventh round pick for Joe Milton. In the end, if you want to protect DAC, that's fine. But I do think what we're seeing in the NFL, and you're seeing it with more than a few teams with Mendoza out there, I wouldn't use the word tank, but liberal use of backup quarterbacks and backup players. Yeah. The third string starters, by the way, Lamar, I don't know if we'll talk about it later. It looks like he's not going to play.

It's just backup quarterbacks all over the league. A lot of teams packing it in, Colin. Let's go to Chicago. And Ben Johnson, can't stop talking about Ben Johnson, man. Wow. He has been transformative for the Bears. And he's helped Caleb Williams a lot. He said that everyone talks about Caleb's arm,

but he's been blown away by Caleb's competitive drive. He loves football. He wants to be great. It is a far cry, of course, from all the off-the-field nonsense we heard about at USC with the fingernails and blah, blah, blah. Caleb's been a model citizen. You know, he's done a good job.

Seems like face of the franchise potential in Chicago. Yeah, positive stuff from Ben Johnson. Yeah, I mean, there's two or three things. I've watched every snap in college and pro. I think I missed maybe one or two USC games. doesn't throw a lot of picks, good at the microphone, durable, huge arm, unbelievable movement. I remember talking to an NFL GM halfway through his last year at USC, and he says he's really erratic. He can make great throws and miss the easy ones.

Well, that's kind of what he is. But I do think we're getting to a time in the NFL where, especially on your rookie contract when you can stack rosters, 59, 60%. It's fine. You can win a lot of games. You can have a lot of bad drives in this league. Bo Necks does, and he's going to be a number one seed. So I don't think there's anything about Caleb Williams other than, wow, he's talented. Just keep polishing, just keep refining.

It's year two of these guys will even be better. Yeah. And finally, the final story, Colin, the biggest story in sports yesterday was the San Antonio Spurs dominating, dominating the unbelievable OKC Thunder. All I've been here in Colin is OKC is their dynasty. They're going to run this league for years. They've now been swept. 0-1-3 in the three meetings this year

against the Spurs who are a young, awesome, fun-to-watch team. Wemben Yama is talking trash. By the way, this was not a Wemben-Yama dominate game. He didn't drop 40 and 20. No.

Wem-Yama's like on a minute's restriction still. That's how good the Spurs are. Here's Wembe talking about going 3-0 against the Thunder so far this season. This is like a playoff series. We've played them three times in, I don't know, I don't know if it'll be like 10 days, maybe. So we learned a lot on the tactical side.

But I think I don't want to say too much about it. I want to keep something for us. Well, Stefan Castle, who was a beast at Connecticut, is an unbelievable NBA player. He's one of those guys that the people that know basketball and watch basketball would put in an all-star team, and the casuals don't watch him. Stefan Castle physically intimidated people in college.

He's doing the exact same thing in the NBA. He is one of those guys. Very rarely do you have a guy in the NBA. I mean, outside of superstars. Clay Thompson was this. Clay in his prime, defended, catch, and shoot. Didn't need the ball. Clay would have worked on every roster in the league.

Stefan Castle works on every single roster. Tough, physical. And any time Stefan Castle's guarding you, in fact, we looked it up, he held players to three for 13 shooting yesterday. He is a, I mean, like, I would say glue guy, but he's a great player. He is so fundamental to what they're trying to do. If you just said the two best players, the next five years in San Antonio are Stefan Castle and Wembe, that's good enough to win a title.

Those guys are high-end dudes. Castle is an utterly dominant force. I mean, you know I like NBA jerseys. I have made it note. Castle's going to be my next jersey. And I don't like the Spurs, Colin. This kid is unbelievable at both ends. But I love what I saw.

Remember all the Deeran Fox? Is he going to be able to play with Harper? They're on the floor together, cooking SGA and company. And Colin, I know the Wembenyama Chet stuff is fun, but we have audio here. They miced up Wembeyanma on Christmas Day. Chet Holmgren missed a free throw. Listen to Wembeen Yama at the foul line.

Yeah, you and I know, these two have a lot of history going back to the day's teenager. He's cheering on. Oh, my God. He's cheering on Chet Holmgren, miss free throws. That's how passionate Wembe is. Colin, I'm going to be real with you.

The Spurs are the best team in the NBA right now. I don't think you can even argue. Well, right now, absolutely. Right now they are. No, no, I think, listen, the West is ridiculous. OK.C. Spurs, Denver. Dallas is playing better. Rockets are really, really good. Minnesota? Minnesota.

No, I mean, there's an argument that six best teams in the league are all West. Well, the Knicks are there. They're in that. They're in that. They would be fifth or sixth in, I would say, in the West. By the way, I know you watch Nick's Cavs, the ending. I'm going to start pitching Tyler Colick stories. He's the new Jeremy Lynn in New York, the kid out of Marquette.

Tyler Coleck is money. People love it. They're going crazy for Tyler Cole. Jay Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd Lie News. So we talked about this.

I think we talked about this the day before Christmas. Yeah, our Christmas Eve show, that there was a story that came out from a respected Baltimore Ravens reporter that said there's some fissures between Lamar Jackson and the organization. Now, the organization's going to defend Lamar. You know how this works. You've been around long enough. I'm not going to try to convince you, LeBron. Lamar's a bad guy or a perfect guy. But some of the stuff, you would not print that if you were a longtime beat reporter unless you heard it. and John Harbaugh yesterday defended him. But I did say at any one time in the NFL, there's about six quarterbacks. If you're the GM, you don't even pick up the phone.

There's another six that you don't call people, but you would take a phone call. Maybe your guy has an injury history, can be a little temperamental, hasn't been good in big spots. And then there's 15 GMs that are on the phone trying to get better quarterbacks. And I think Lamar's gone from group one to group two, which is still very, very good. And I said the Miami Dolphins should look at him. He's from Miami wants to play there. Remember, people say, well, we're already paying Tua. You could get the Ravens to pay a lot of Lamar's contract

if they wanted to move off him. But the obvious team that should go look at him is the New York Jets. They have two first round picks. They can't develop quarterbacks. Look how good Sam Donald is now. They have no history of doing that. Well, we're going to go get a quarterback. Oh, it's a bad quarterback class.

Good luck. You think Aaron Glenn's going to develop your quarterback? Okay, good luck. I mean, my takeaway is the Jets are currently picking four. Two teams higher than them, Raiders Cleveland may take quarterbacks. So the day one, Lamar Jackson, if he signed with the Jets, day one, your playoff viable. I mean, you saw what New England did in six months. You don't think the Jets could do that with Lamar Jackson.

Jets have some players. So it's been a decade straight of the Jets being atrocious offensively. They show no ability. I mean, we don't know if Aaron Glenn's a head coach, but they've shown no ability with multiple head coaches to develop quarterbacks. They don't have that kind of ecosystem. They're the opposite of the Packers. They just can't do it.

So to me, they've had a head coach quarterback issue for years. They have two first round picks. It's not a good quarterback draft. Aaron Glenn wants to win now. You're not winning with this roster. I mean, you had Aaron Rogers past his prime. Look how much better he is now. So, I mean, to me, I'm the Jets, G.

am, do I explore this? Absolutely. Absolutely, I do. I mean, if I'm Aaron Glenn, I'm not even quiet about it. You're going to go to Ty Simpson at Alabama on a reach. Go ahead, reach for Cade Klubnick. Tye Simpson, whoever's available, I think he's falling out. Go ahead. Now, if Dante Moore comes out, maybe then you move up for him. But if he doesn't, if Dante Moore doesn't come out, I mean, the Giants, I've argued the giant should consider Mendoza and move off dart. So you look at, I mean, Lamar Jackson versus the Jets quarterbacks, the staff did this. Lamar Jackson NFL career 76 and 30. Jets quarterback's 39 and 92. I don't know. Seems like he would solve some issues. Does it not? I mean,

and that's worst in the league. The completion percentage for Lamar Jackson known more as a runner, although he's good in the pocket, 65% completion percentage. Jets quarterback since 2018 are last in the league at 59%. So they've shown no ability. Now they have a defensive coach, no ability to develop quarterbacks. You got a couple of picks. You wouldn't consider this? I mean, you've been drafting high in the first round forever.

You've been bad forever. It's not working. Again, it's not like, again, if Dante Moore comes out, that could solve it. Somebody takes Mendoza, you move up a slot. Cleveland may stay with Shadour Sanders. I don't know. Maybe they should. Raiders are drafted in a quarterback.

So I just saying, sometimes it's just worthy of a discussion. I think it, now, now, John Harbaugh, he's saying those reports on Lamar. I don't know where this stuff is coming from. I don't know where that's coming from. I've never seen, I've never seen that, ever. you know that that's that's not something that i've ever witnessed and i'm in every meeting our relationship is uh is a plus so i love him always have always will and uh i know he's fighting like crazy to get back believe me if he can go out there and do it this guy's one of the ultimate

competitors that you're ever going to see i don't think there's any question about that but um i i've said this for the giants you don't have a right to be arrogant you have to consider drafting Mendoza. Doesn't mean you have to draft him. You have to sit down and talk about it. The Jets have to sit down and talk about Lamar Jackson. You can't just say, we develop quarterbacks here. Now that's Greenback. That's not what you do. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the iHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We've created our own

podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys?

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

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

Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. Morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, We break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down. on everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Genshin won.

I mean, she went down at 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 Eyeheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levin this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life.

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Here we go. There are reports, Dan Wetzel saying, Kyle Whittingham, going to be the new coach for the Michigan Wolverines. That's a good get. He's 66, mind and body, looks mid-50s. Both the Harbaas are in the 60s. Some guys are just, they play younger, they are younger. Wittingham workout guy, ski guy. He is, he is. is in shape. And I love the hire, actually, very, very solid hire. Two reasons. He's an ethical guy. There's no BS. Whatever Kyle tells you is the truth. There's just no BS with him. Straight shooter. The second thing is he's a culture builder. I like that a lot. He's going to make them tough. Utah was always the one school in the Pac-12 that played like a big 10 team.

Tight ends, O-line, tough linebackers, but you didn't always love their quarterback play. So he's been making three-star guys, five-star guys and four-star guys for years. He's finally going to get some five-star guys. And he's just a really loyal guy. One of those guys, he said last week, he's like, you know, I'd rather leave before I get pushed out. And I think he's a really good hire. I don't think you can do better. I mean, Kalin DeBoer was my first choice.

But if you're telling me, Kyle Winningham is the second choice, that's a good choice. Matt Campbell went to Penn State. I'm like, if he had a fired Franklin and hired him the next day, I would have said good hire. If you would have, the Sharon Moore stuff, if he would have left and Whittingham was your first call, I would have had no problem with that. So that doesn't mean he's going to succeed, but he builds cultures. He knows how to develop players. His teams have never, they've always been good with special teams, good with line play, really tough, very, very big 10 football. A lot of people criticize.

USC because they're pretty and finesse, but it's not Big Ten football, a fair criticism. Kyle Whittingham's Utah teams, they bullied you. They make tight ends block. I mean, they put a lot of NFL guys out there considering they get three-star recruits. So they had the number one ranked defense in the Pac-12, the Kyle Whittingham era. I got news for you. They didn't have the number one recruiting classes. They had the number one defense in the conference. So I've, you know, used to spend a lot of time in Utah. and watched a lot of Utah football games,

that's a well-coached team. And they had a long-time assistant, Whittingham leaves, so Utah will be fine. They got the guys running the program. They're an excellent program. I've said before, if you really took the four best fits to go from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten,

it would have been Oregon, Washington, USC, and Utah. Utah kind of got a hose, but it's a smaller Salt Lake City, a smaller market than UCLA. But this is a real program. UCLA, it kind of feels like, They're ham and egg in it. They don't really have the budget. Utah's a good program.

They got money behind it. That Salt Lake economy has been on fire for a decade. So there's a lot of money in Utah, good economy, good coach, way to go Michigan. That's a good get. So the most, I mean, I'll be honest, the most interesting team in the playoffs, and I've said this all year, I want to see the Buffalo Bills make the Super Bowl. And I love Harbaugh and Herbert. but I'm just saying macro for the NFL, wouldn't it be great?

I mean, they're not the Chicago Cubs because the Cubs were just poorly run and awful for years. The bills have often been smartly owned, smartly run, good coaches, good gyps. They're not the Cubs. But they've had, you know, they've run into buzz saws and Mahomes, and they've run into dynasties and the Cowboys when they had Jim Kelly. So what's interesting is, am I unrealistic to say? going into the playoffs, they have got to get to the

AFC championship or you've got to change coaches. I'm not saying you have to win the Super Bowl. In fact, if you lost in overtime to Jacksonville and Trevor Lawrence, 27, 26, I'd give you that. But you've got to get their minimum.

No Mahomes, no Burrell, no Lamar Jackson, Herbert's got a broken hand that a pitiful offensive line, C.J. Stroud has no offense. And Drake May and Bo Nick kids. If you look at the current AFC playoff quarterbacks right now, there's a 42-year-old guy,

a couple of 23 and 25-year-old guys, it is kids. And that doesn't mean McDermott is not a good coach. I'll give you an example. Doug Collins, Michael Jordan loved Doug Collins. Doug Collins, three straight playoffs with a Chicago Bulls.

Won 57% of his games. They needed a change. Mark Jackson was winning games in Golden State. Steve Kerr comes in, they needed a change. They needed somebody that was better for Steph Curry. Dan Reeves was not a bad coach. Dan Reeves was an excellent coach. But John Elway needed his kingmaker.

And it was Mike Shanahan. Tony Dungey, excellent coach. But they felt like they needed more fire, John Gruden. So I think Sean McDermott is a very, very capable coach. very, very capable coach. But last year, when you're watching them situationally on those fourth and ones, and it feels like they kind of make it up on the sidelines,

I'm like, I don't know. But this year, you got young kids, the superstars are out, Patriots, I'd argue, still in a rebuild. I mean, Denver's still paying cap hits with Russell Wilson, so their roster could be better, and probably will be better next year. And then Drake, Man, Bo, Nix now. Now we're in year three.

So those guys become like year three, light goes on. Liam Colin, this is year one. Jacksonville could be better next year. Denver, New England, quarterbacks, better next year. Pittsburgh, if Aaron retires, falls back, maybe. Chargers should be better next year because they'll have both of their tackles back in another Harbaugh recruiting class.

So I'm showing this to the TV audience. this and again Justin Herbert if he didn't have a broken hand and had both of his starting tackles I'd let you lose to them too but here's Josh Allen on the bills making the playoffs again the way that I put it in terms is

to win the lottery you got to buy a ticket to win a Super Bowl you got to make the playoffs you know getting into the playoffs is our ticket now what we do with that is up to us and going out there and execute each and every week and obviously you want to go into

the playoffs playing as well as you can and obviously there's still a chance for us to win the division and obviously we need help doing that we want to come out and take it one game at a time and still have that backs against the wall mentality and you know try to play our best football going into it yeah kind of feel like you got to get to the a fc championship i'll give you a loss i'll give you a loss on the road to jacksonville if it's a wild shootout i feel you play well your coach well probably could give you a path on that but man you can't stub your toe early. You can't be losing to Bo Nix and Drake May and this one sets

up for you. Because remember, Russell Wilson cap hits gone. Denver's better next year. Bone Knicks another year. Drake May, they're going to get their O-line fortified through free agency or the draft. Patriots are better. Herbert's going to have his tackles back.

So those three teams are all better and you know Kansas City and Baltimore probably or playoff teams the following year. You get these little tiny windows. You got to get it right. That's what it feels like to me.

By the way, J-Mack, I have a blazing five top of the hour. I went all dogs. I haven't done this all year. Wait, what? Four dogs and an over. And I've been all year, I've had a very good year. When did you submit these? Because three dogs covered yesterday,

depending on what number you got. Is this influenced by what you saw yesterday? No, no, no. but the weather is crappy. You have teams that can clinch a playoff or win in a bit. There's some teams out there that I like a lot. And I also think it is hard for favorites this time of the year. You are looking to the postseason.

You don't think some of these teams are like Philadelphia. I feel like they're kind. I mean, now I like Philadelphia because I think they'll run the ball and the bills. But it's a weird time of the year where some teams are tanking, soft tanking. Other teams will rest starters. Underdogs, all this stuff's on film. Some of these viable underdogs are looking to clinch stuff. I have not done this.

Now, I may go 0 for five. I went 4-0-1 last week. I was almost perfect last week. I have not done four dogs all year long. I adjust all the numbers to me. You like dogs as well. Well, I like one. I think we both agree on.

We'll see after the break. Yeah. Very excited, J-Max. Stick around. Maybe I'll get you some lettuce. Pay for those Christmas presents. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

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

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 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.

Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Someday into right now with Buddy by Jake Radio, nonstop workout music and expert tips 24-7. Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your heart is hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit.

Don't quit. by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. I heart radio. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. I'm Akela Hughes, and Rebel Spirit, season two, is about both of those things.

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