The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Lions bounce back, Cowboys have a problem with George Pickens, why you don't want athletes trending

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

Colin Cowherd breaks down a pivotal Thursday Night Football match up as the Detroit Lions bounce back with a massive win over the Dallas Cowboys to stay alive in the NFC playoff race He gives his thoughts on Richard Sherman's comments on George Pickens poor performance Thursday night against the Lions Just because an athlete is "trending" doesn't mean it's a good thingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. 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 ice.

Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Turn someday into right now with Body 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 hardest hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit.

Don't quit. Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. I heart radio. 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. I'm Akela Hughes, and Rebel Spirit Season 2 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 black city, in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslave people. Listen to Rebel Spirit season two on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. To Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. Capping off the week with a Friday before a huge college football weekend.

The weirdest blazing five in the history of blazing fives in one hour from now. Detroit. Delivered. I mean, it was a wild shootout. 3730 with two minutes, 30 seconds left. The track meet by the Detroit line. So let's talk about that. I like Dallas last night. But it was a wild shootout. But it was. was pretty clear by the middle of the second quarter that Detroit found their rhythm. This felt like the Ben Johnson offensive coordinator for the Lions. Lion, 7.2 yards of play. They have crazy offensive talent.

They have two running backs I like, two wide receivers that are stars. They always get an offensive line push, and it's a well-constructed roster. David Montgomery, the bruiser, Jamir Gibbs, the home run hitter, honor on st. Brown, the volume receiver, James and Williams, acceleration guy, speed guy. They can be physical or finesse. They can score slowly and eat up the clock or they can score quickly. They had a three-play drive, 53-yard touchdown. That took up 90 seconds. They had a 10-play drive for a field goal. That took up six minutes. For about three years, they were the most talked about offense. They looked like the best constructed offense. Even before,

or Jemir Gibbs. It was pro bowlers and should be pro bowlers. That's never been the issue. We didn't even really question Dan Campbell. We didn't. We always thought Dan was a great culture guy. Since he's taken over the play calling, though, he's a little better scheme guy than we give him credit for. They're averaging 6.8 yards of play. And last night, their last seven drives, they had no punt. So I would say we've never criticized their front office. We love it. We think Dan Campbell has established himself as a franchise culture builder, kind of like a Vrabel, big guy physically, culture builder. We also like Jared Goff.

Don't listen to anybody. He's really good. But we kind of, this last night looked like the team with Ben Johnson. And by the way, we've seen glimpses of it this year. I went and looked up this morning. They've scored 38 against Baltimore. They scored 52 way back win against the Bears, 44 against Washington, 44 last night against Dallas. So we know it's there. But they also gave us pause because they scored nine against

Philly and 17 against the Chiefs. It's not about talent with Detroit. And we've seen this. The Niners defense is more depleted than last year, but it's better because they got the right coordinator, Robert Sala. And we've said when you lose Ben Johnson an all-time offensive coordinator, even if you replace him with a solid guy, a pretty good guy, it doesn't look quite as unique and quite as clever. So Dan Campbell stepped in and said, listen, our defense still isn't great. We're going to mostly win by track meets,

and since Dan Campbell's taking it over, you're seeing this. But remember, this is a team that also lost the J.J. McCarthy. But I thought it was a beautiful thing to watch by about the mid-second quarter, and you were looking at the Ben Johnson Lions. So ideally, a coach does not want to take over play-calling duties offensively or defensively from a coordinator.

But I also feel like it's time right now. Last night was a must win for them. They've signed a lot of their guys to big contracts in Detroit, a lot of them. And a couple of them have injuries. His players get older. They get banged up. And so these windows, we all know this, windows close very quickly in the NFL. So I'm watching it last night by the mid-second quarter.

And I'm like, oh, okay, these lions. I've seen these lions for about two, three years. years with Ben Johnson, it felt like every Sunday. This year, it's like every third Sunday. And it was last night on Thursday. It was a beautiful thing to watch. The roster construction's outstanding. You look at their schedule now at LA, Steelers at Minnesota, at Bears. They're an eight and five team. They're going to control most of their destiny. Here is Dan Campbell after. These guys do a great job of they take it for what it is man they don't get it don't get panicked they don't get panic they don't make something uh out of it that it's not i think by doing that and keeping it that way our guys

are able to always answer back you know they they do i think where you get in trouble is if you start just that you start panicking and you start you know i got i mentioned this last week you got to start doing more than you need to do just do your job the more often we get that Detroit and that offense and that explosion and speed, that feels like a playoff team because their ceiling is very high. Okay, let's talk cowboys. They lost a shootout. Two things are obvious and two things jumped out to us.

One, we kind of knew was the truth. One, we were hoping would never be the truth again. Let's start with the first. We told you we liked Dallas's O-line, but there are a much better run-blocking O-line than a past-blocking O-line. and last night they got exposed. Tyler Guyton, their left tackle was out. Yeah, that was bad because the right tackle is not good.

So, Dak Prescott was getting whacked. He got hit, sacked, knocked down 11 times. Do you realize this year, Dak Prescott is the third most pressured quarterback in the league? First is Herbert, second's Cam Ward. Third is Dak. So Aidan Hutchison had 10 pressures, seven in the fourth quarter. So when Dallas absolutely had to throw when time was running out, it got ugly. So Dallas has two first round picks.

It's a good offensive tackle draft. It's a good edge rusher draft. They need both. They can solve one massive concern, and getting an edge just gives their pass rush even more push. But last night it was very obvious. Jared Goff was the much more comfortable quarterback. This is not on deck.

I've defended Justin Herbert all year. I've defended Cam Ward. I'll defend Dak. when you're facing that kind of pass rush and you have to speed it up, you make more mistakes. I don't care if you're a typist, a pianist, or a quarterback. When you're playing faster than you're supposed to,

it gets ugly. So in decks six wins, he's been sacked seven times. In decked six losses, he's been sacked 14 times. So there's the answer to the test. The second thing, and I didn't think this was going to be a thing again, George Pickens

became the Steelers, George Pickens. Uninterested, inspired, immature, he still had five catches, but every cowboy fan, you saw, we saw, we all saw. Now, C.D. Lamb is so great, and they've got enough other receivers like Turpin, you know, where you don't have to keep George Pickens. But George Pickens has been so good this year. When Dak in the first 11 games was throwing to Pickens, he had 135 passer rating.

In the last two games, Dak thrown to George Pickens has a 12. 29-passer rating. And that's not on DAC. So remember, Dallas moved off Des Bryant. Dallas moved off Micah Parsons. Jerry Jones, if you are committed, you're an adult and you're productive. Jerry, he'll overpay you.

But if you're not, remember Jerry got tired of Zeke. He moved off Des. Micah had his world famous podcast. Jerry wants you committed. Jerry wants you grinding. Okay. Jerry has been all in on DAC. Dax mature, Dax committed, Dax's missed games,

Dax's been hurt, but he knows Dack is 100% about the team. George Pickens, this is what we all feared. Pickens Pouts on Prime is not the headline anybody wanted this morning, and Richard Sherman, good for him, called it out after. The big story here is George Pickens. George Pickens, especially late in the game, just looked uninterested, uninterested in playing football. And that's what you can't have.

If you're going to be a superstar, if you want to be the best receiver in the National Football League, you can never be disengaged. You can't just disappear in these games or else you're not going to have impact. You're the guy. You're the guy. CD Lamb is not in this game. He's out. It's unacceptable.

And if you're to Dallas Cowboys and you're looking at him and you're looking to pay him big-time receiver money, $40 million. You've got to look at this tape. and say, hey, is this a guy we can trust paying $40 million to show up regardless of circumstance? I don't know. Good for Richard Sherman. Regardless of circumstance. Regardless of circumstance.

George Pickens, when the going's good, but now, and I'm just going to guess here, his agents called Jerry looking for a big contract, and they've said, let's wait to the season's over. agent tells Pickens, Pickens starts pouting. Remember those words from Richard Sherman, regardless of circumstance. Because regardless of circumstance, Dak Prescott always delivers. Winning, losing, hurt. Dak is a leader on the worst of Sundays and the best of Thursdays. Okay. Just because the workplace environment is an ideal, don't do a Desk because Jerry moved off Des.

and a distracted in his mind and a replaceable mica. He got tired of Zeke. So Richard Sherman, circumstance superstars, circumstance superstars, they're not going to get the bag in Dallas. And I know everybody's going to go, he's been so great. Last couple games, you're getting the Pittsburgh guy. Hey, Des Bryant to the end in Dallas, got into the end zone a lot. I talked to Jason Garrett off the air once about that.

He's like, I love Des. He got into the end zone. It's hard to get into the end zone. So that's not a good look. And again, DAC was getting hammered, picking starts pouting. That is not on DAC last night.

And I'll say this about the Dallas defense. It's better, but I've seen Detroit do that this year to all sorts of teams, including the Ravens, who have a very good defense. It was banged up, but it's just one of those nights

where standalone games kind of feels like you quit late in the game. when C.D. Lamb left. And that's the thing. CD was out. You've taken off the field. Now it's your time to shine. And it looked like you just quit on a football.

You don't get the bag. You get the boot in Dallas. If you're a Circumstances superstar. Boot over the bag. So, Jay Mack, we have a blazing five today. It's reminiscent of one of yours because I'm

doing something that I am not prone to do, which is bet games I don't want to watch. It's a lot of bad teams, including one year close to, that I really, really like this weekend. Wait, did I talk you into the Falcons yesterday? I'm not even going to get into it. I'm going to tease it for the audience.

But as I was making my picks, the staff was like, did you steal JMAX picks? Because these are the games. Once you start going to AFC South, NFC, South games, you know I'm not on a heater. I'm looking for W. You got to bounce back. By the way, I did wear black for the people who aren't watching on TV.

This is a funeral day for the Cowboys season. It's over the picking stuff. You nailed it. Absolutely. You know, I'm sure Jerry said, hey, well, franchise tag them. Yeah, yeah. And Pickens don't want to hear that. You know how this goes.

I'm just telling you, that was a massive swing game, not only for this year for the Cowboys, Colin, but I think for next year. Because they probably looked at that defensive front. Hey, we got three defensive tackles. They couldn't stop the run. What are we doing? I think they got a lot of changes coming to Dallas next year. All right.

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 Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from the odd couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7 to 10 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show. That's right. You can now watch the odd couple. live on YouTube every day.

All you got to do, search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube. Again, YouTube. Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out on YouTube and subscribe. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas.

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

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, Jonas, and offered it up as a potential. title for the podcast.

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

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we're. we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything

he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball.

Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Iza, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Giamanka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad. But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spread. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out.

Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No. I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. 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.

This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is.

Getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes.

In Rebel Spirit, season two goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that?

They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit season two on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Lakers beat Toronto in Toronto last night. It was how they did it. LeBron James, by a mile, had the long streak of games, scoring in double figures. Second was Michael Jordan.

Third was Kareem. But LeBron's at 1,297 consecutive games going in it last night. And one of the things I've always defended about LeBron James, and I mean, from his second, third year into the league until today, he always makes the right basketball play. For years, he was bizarrely ripped by Kobe and Michael Jordan fanboys for not being aggressive enough, not being more selfish. He needs to take the bad shot. He's the man. Force it.

LeBron's always been more magic than Michael anyway. That's his game. And everybody plays better with LeBron. He's the brilliant basketball quarterback. He's a marvelous passer. Very clever. He's fourth all time and assists. So last night broke that 19-year

stretch because coming down the stretch, he found Rui in the corner and Rui hits the three. But LeBron has always been more than just basketball is a get a bucket. Carmelo Anthony was that. Carmelo Anthony in his career played in only three playoff series. LeBron's played in 41. They came out. Same draft. One is the Swiss Army knife, the tent, and the canteen.

that's LeBron James, who I have said both ends of the floor is the greatest all-around player I've ever seen play. Michael's the most aggressive score, and some would argue the greatest player. But this was classic LeBron James. And the other thing about LeBron, my favorite LeBron stat ever is not an NBA stat, and we know he didn't go to college to play basketball. It's a high school stat. LeBron averaged 28 a game.

28 points a game is a junior in high school. school. He must average 60 as senior year, right? No. LeBron averaged one point more as a senior. From 2080 game as a junior to 29 as a senior. Why? Because LeBron's always been about the team and leadership and making the right play and involving everybody. I'm not saying he's always the easiest to coach. He and Spolstra had battles. I'm not I'm not saying that, but all stars are difficult. Magic Johnson got rid of a coach too, right? Lou Al Cinder, Kareem, one of the all-time grades, not easy to coach. Could be stoic and moody. But LeBron in high school established who he was from 28 to 29 a game. You don't think

LeBron could average 70 the next year in the NBA if he wanted to he could average 30 points. He's always been about the right basketball play. and I've never been into the get-a-bucket guys. Like, LeBron's smarter than that. He's beyond that. Everybody that plays with LeBron tends to have the best years of their career. And what's interesting about LeBron this year is the Lakers, when he plays, it's not his scoring. They get more threes and hit more threes.

LeBron, in his last year, ultimate compliment, is realizing he's not going to be a consistent big-time score. That's Lucas' role and often Austin Reeves' role. LeBron has been really about playmaking, about giving other guys great shots. And if you look at the numbers, the Lakers are shooting a much better three-point percentage with LeBron on the floor in games LeBron has played. And here he was last night, snapping his own all-time record for consecutive double-digit scoring games. Now that the streak has ended for you, what feelings did you have if any of what about it is needed? None.

We won. And he's been about that from day one. I'm not saying he didn't like being the all-time leading score. Of course, I get it. We'd all do that. But that was classic LeBron. That, if you do 10 pieces of video, the 10 pieces of video to describe LeBron James' career, most will be in his prime.

That should be one that's on the real. That should be on the tape. That he broke his own streak to win a game in maybe his final year as a pro. Maybe, maybe not. But I think that defines him. When I think of LeBron, I don't think, you know, he's the all-time leading score. I think of him as the great Swiss Army knife plus the tent, plus the canteen. J-Mack with the news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, we start with one of your favorites. favorites Colin Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos 10 and 2 record this season 8 and 2 and 1 score games. Enjoy it while at last. Here's Bo Nix talking about handling the team's success. The worst thing you can do is let other people tear down a 10 and 2 record,

whether it's saying you don't play anybody or you're just relying on the defense or whatever negative somebody's going to put on a positive. It's always going to happen and we don't really worry about it. Winner. I see a winner. It's not negative or tearing down. It's providing context. You know, that's what smart people, smart shows do. They provide context to the Broncos gaudy 10 and 2 record. I mean, again, imagine if we didn't tell the audience last year, hey, the Chiefs,

I know they were 15 and 2, and they went like 11 and 0 in one score games. But the numbers don't say they were great. And then this year they stink. So we're trying to help you guys out. Bo, I'm not coming after the Broncos. Right. Just providing context, right? Yeah, and also, last year when the Chiefs went 11 and 0,

it was disturbing because Mahomes was a veteran. Bo Nix is still young. You give him a little bit of a pass, but I don't think there's any questions. And I like him. You know, I'm a devoted Sean Payton believer. And I love Bo Nix, but he's been really, really uneven. It's a lot of, I said this yesterday, and I think this is fair.

He and Caleb are talented, and they're very good late, but you don't quite know in the first three quarters what you're getting, whereas Drake may, I feel like first snap on. I get the same guy. So I think the criticisms for Bo Nix, I think he's gotten better over the last couple of weeks, but I think all the criticisms are totally absolutely and arguably fair. And I think Sean Payton and he have probably up conversations, and they're acknowledging he's uneven right now.

He's inconsistent. I mean, the reality is, Colin, he's a second year quarterback. If I told you when they drafted Bo Nix in year two, they'll be 10 and 2 through 12 games and the number one seat, you would take that in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat. Enjoy it. It's great. Live in the moment.

But I will... I will say, if they go to the playoffs and I'm just throwing a team out, and they played Houston with that pass rush, and you said there's going to be an upset in round one, right? You'd be like, oh, I don't feel good about this, because what's going to happen in the AFC is Denver could end up facing one of these teams that have the ability to be scary. Like, the team that I would not want to play in the AFC,

I've said, I wouldn't want to play the Seahawks in the... the NFC because they're going to, you know, they're not favored like the Rams or the Packers. Seattle's going to come in. They play great East Coast, West Coast. Houston, I mean, Kansas City this weekend, O-line injuries facing Houston. I mean, if Kansas City scored 10 points, would you be shocked? So I think Denver is one of those teams because they're uneven, that a lot of people will pick them to lose in the first round as a big dog. It's a big favorite, but they they have, you can see them struggling in the postseason. 100%.

Let's move on. Now, this I love, Colin. You've been blasting Penn State all week. Well, how about this report that emerged yesterday? Oh, my goodness. Penn State is talking to Matt Campbell, the fantastic coach from Iowa State. Yeah, yeah. And it looks like he's now the clubhouse leader for the job.

Colin, I cannot believe this would be a massive home run for Penn State. Campbell is awesome. When I saw that story this morning, I'm like, oh, this guy should have been in the running six weeks ago. Like he's a great, great, still very, very young coach, good recruiter. And he's been, you know, he's been viable in a program that's the second best program in Iowa. So I think he'd be a great, great selection.

Yeah, by the way, the Jets interviewed him years ago, the Lions interviewed him years. Like the NFL sees this guy. The Patriots tried to hire him when he was a young coach. So there is a lot to like about Campbell. He's a Midwest guy, right? Went to high school in Ohio. He's still in his 40s. He's young.

This would be a slam dunk. Penn State needs to close this. By the way, I looked this up. Last five seasons, Iowa State has two top 20 finishes. That's great. The 40 years before that, they had one top 25 finish. Campbell has taken this program and done awesome things. Brock Purdy in the NFL, by the way.

Penn State needs to lock this down ASAP. This would be a huge, huge hire. Huge kid. Final story, Colin, we've got to go to the Eagles. They play Monday night against the charges. interesting line movement here. Look at that. No longer three.

Obviously, Eagles have some injury issues, but a lot of this problems surrounding the team have to do with AJ Brown and Sequin. But what about Jalen Hertz, not running the ball like you used to? Through 12 games this season, Hertz has carried the ball 84 times for 329 yards and eight touchdowns. You know, it's pretty good, but these are his lowest rushing totals since he became the permanent starter with the Eagles. So we said,

Hertz isn't running the ball well. Sequon's not running the ball well. Is this an offensive line issue? Is this an O-C issue? Take it away. Yeah, I think it's a bowline injury. I think it's a reality with Jalen Hertz when you're not getting a running game and have to throw on third and seven. Jalen

Hertz throwing on third and one or going for a tush push on third and two. But Jalen hurts when everybody in the ballpark knows, because you have no run game, you have to throw. That's not his strength. Josh Allen's Fine can do that. Joe Burrell can do that. That's not Jalen Hurt.

Jalen Hertz is very good throwing when you're not sure he's throwing. And that Jemak describes half the quarterbacks in this league that we like. Baker's better than. Sam Darnold's better when he can throw on third and two, not third and eight. So I think it's a reality is the run game is essential to Jalen Hurts success. and it's sputtered. Yeah. Now there's some cutups going around on social media of Jalen Hertz simply not making the right read

to players who were open. Now last night we saw weirdness, right, with Dak Prescott. He seemed to be holding the ball in the pocket longer than normal. And it was like, is he confused? I don't, maybe Jalen Hertz is confused not seeing the feel well. Again, they went to the Super Bowl last year, so they got the targets on their backs. Maybe defenses are trying some exotic stuff and Hertz is not processing. I don't know, but I had liked the Eagles in the NFC, Colin.

I don't think they're the best team in the NFC. No, they're not right now. Green Bay in L.A. both feel superior. No question. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News.

So I saw this story this morning, and it's just kind of instructive. Google's number one trending athlete last year. Was it Shohei Otani? Was it Josh Allen? No, Google's number one trending athlete was Shadour Sanders, proving that trending is the dumbest trend of my life. Sometimes Patrick Mahomes trends, you know, when he's winning Super Bowls, or his brother Jackson is being, you know, a little goofy. For the record, the L.A. Dodgers were not a top 10 trending major league baseball team. trending and attention is not quality.

This morning, George Pickens is trending, not for a great catch he made last night. So, Shadour Sanders is interesting, and I'm in the interesting business. He will never be great because he doesn't have any great traits. His arm is not great. His athletic ability is not great. His athleticism, you know, it's not great. In the summer, when we're dying for topics, there were days in weeks. There were days and weeks he was the most interesting.

And I'll be honest, let's be totally upfront about this. I'm in the media. We don't report on safe landings. We report on airplanes that crash. That's what we report on. All trending means is stop and look. That's what trending is. And it's the auto accident of sports.

and I do think Shadur can be interesting. But the fact that he's the number one trending athlete, and this is instructive, is why he dropped to the fifth round. He just started starting. And he trends more than Otani.

Otani had a scandal at the beginning of this year. Look at all the great athletes. This is exactly and precisely why he dropped to the fifth round. Nobody wanted this auto accident on the I-5. Stopping, pruning, looking, slowing down. GMs don't

want that. I've always said if you're going to be a backup quarterback in the NFL, what GMs want is a guy that can put a baseball hat on in a mall, walk through it, and nobody notices him. That's what you want. That's why I said Belichick got rid of Cam Newton the minute he was going to start Mac Jones.

Tebow as a starter, I didn't buy. it, it doesn't work as a backup. Shadur is a backup, it's just too much noise. So, I mean, I want my quarterback to have followers, 52 in a locker room, or another 10 in a huddle. I don't care about your IG or your X account. I don't care. And so at this stage, Shadur is more of interesting trend than he is a franchise quarterback and he seems like a nice kid but you know going viral used to mean you witness two rainbows in the sky like like now it means you know you hooked up with a co-worker at a cold play concert like that's not what i'm looking for and by the way sophie cunningham should trend too she's amazing and people trend for different reasons beauty funny

pile up on the freeway. But when he dropped in the fifth round, and I contacted people in the league, this was kind of it. They don't want quarterbacks trending unless it's like winning playoff games. And that's just the reality of the position. Again, George Pickens

is trending this morning, and it's not because they made a great one-hand of catch. Right? Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news.

What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts 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. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was...

This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad,

Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get. your podcasts. What's up, fam?

It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, point game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs.

I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball.

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

To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store. I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of the war, of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes, and Rebel Spirit Season 2 goes deep on both of those things, the fights, the politics, the people who won, and my

personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see

what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Giamanka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No. I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. 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. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is not. now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man. On the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Colin, we got the Super Six. Which quarterback will have the most passing yards this week? Josh Allen versus the Bengals, Jordan Love, versus the Bears, Caleb versus the Packers,

or Joe Burrow, who just got T. Higgins back, versus the Bills. Joe Burrow against the Bills, baby. All right, play the Fox Super Six NFL Challenge. download the app and enter for a free shot to win your share of $10,000. All right, this weekend, for the first time and a long time, the bears are going to face the Packers, and I like both the offenses. This is the most one-sided great rivalry in sports. Think about this.

The last 20 times Duke and Carolina have met in basketball, it's 10-10. The last 10 times the Buckeyes and the Wolverines have met in football. It's 6-4 Ohio State. The last 10 times Texas-Oklahoma play in football, it's 6-4 sooners. The last 30 times the Bears and Packers have played, it's 26 to 4 Green Bay. If this was a fight, they'd have called it like two decades ago. Why? My belief isn't just that Green Bay drafts good quarterbacks.

The reason they do draft good quarterbacks and they draft the head, Green Bay gets out of dysfunction very quickly. And everybody in the NFL has dysfunction in injuries. Everybody. Green Bay, McCarthy and Aaron Rogers started getting prickly, moved off it. Farve started getting prickly, moved off it. Even this year, Green Bay's offense got, it was broken a month ago, and they fixed it. So they stay ahead of dysfunction.

And Chicago doesn't. and so much of life and so much of sports is not turning a bad day into a bad week, is not turning one bad loss into a four-game losing streak. I saw a story this week where Matt Stafford came out and he said, I'm really good at getting over bad games. And I was thinking about Tom Brady when he went to Tampa. He had back-to-back games before the buy where his passer rating was in the 70s and they were lost as a franchise.

And then they had a buy and Tom Brady, I think, went eight and oh and won of the Super Bowl from that point forward. Don't let a bad day become a bad week or month as a human being. And so in fact, in golf, they call it bounce back. What do you do after a bogey on the tour? The best guy is Scotty Sheffler. Scotty Sheffler, 36% of the time after a bogey, next hole has a birdie. You got to forget losses, bad series, bad plays, bad days at work.

Get over it. Just move on. You've got to be resilient. The Bears, until this season, we're still clinging to 1985. We're tough. We're physical. We're about defense. I like defense, too.

And I love physicality. But Ben Johnson said, yeah, we can be physical. It's called a run game. And that's what the Bears, that's where they figured it out. Chicago loves physicality. Pittsburgh, Chicago. They love defense. They love violent football.

Chicago is in their run game. It's a great run game. So the bears now that we're looking in the rearview mirror since 85, you know, feel very progressive. They've got a McVeigh feel. Everybody thinks McVeigh loves to throw. McVeigh loves to run. Kyle Shannon loves to run. Matt LaFleur loves to run.

We've discovered Ben Johnson. loves to run the football. Physicality is not just on defense. And so, I mean, if you look at the Bears' offensive improvement from last year to this year, they're averaging eight more a game, almost 100 yards more, the sacks are down by two and a half a game, and they're running for over 52 more yards a game. That's the biggest improvement in the NFL. So I feel like the Bears have just discovered Venmo this year.

They'd been paying people off in brown paper sacks since 1985 and they've like, they figured it out. Now, what makes it tough for the Bears is Green Bay's at home. And when Ben Johnson got hired, he probably regrets it now, but he kind of fired a shot at Matt LaFleur and the Bears rival. Remember this? I've got tremendous amount of respect for the coach. and the players in this league, haven't competed against them for the last six years. And to be quite frank with you,

I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFourt twice a year. Okay, I wouldn't have said that. But you know what happens? It's an opening press conference. Dan Campbell had a bad opening press conference. So did Nick Sariani. It's okay. But it's, it's, I feel like the bears have transitioned

from taxis to Uber. from paying people off in brown paper sacks to Venmo. And it's cool. It took them a while, but it's cool. Dave Wonstadt, former bear coach, going to be joining us, top of the hour, along with the blazing five picks. So last night, Detroit beats Dallas, and because of that, Detroit has a much greater shot to go to the playoffs, and the Cowboys are kind of toast. The AFC equivalent to that, the other conference is the Texans'

facing the Chiefs. If the Texans win and beat him this weekend, and I think it's a last second field goal game, I don't get three and a half as a line at all. Houston, 85% chance of making the playoffs. If the Chiefs lose this weekend and go six and seven, like Dallas last night, they're in big trouble. They're done.

But can I just say this? And I'm not saying this because Tom Brady works, for Fox. I've always believed this, but let's just say Kansas City loses, and Mahomes doesn't make the playoffs. When you look at the Brady

Mahomes, and I don't know if it's a rivalry, but I mean, until Tom went to Tampa, everybody was saying, there were a lot of people saying, well, you know, it's it's Belichick. System quarterback. And he went to Tampa won a Super Bowl, you're like,

eh, that's nonsense. And Belichick's Patriots circled the drain. But never forget in the whole Brady Mahomes rivalry. And they're both all-time greats, and I love both. Brady never got thoroughly blown out in a Super Bowl. Mahomes is already at two and counting. Brady beat Mahomes twice once with Tampa in a Super Bowl blowout. And then once in the AFC championship at Arrowhead.

That's in the books forever. Can't be argued. And number three, Brady in his peak, never missed the playoffs. you can give me 20 excuses two of those you can't turn around the Super Bowl blowouts Brady didn't have them and Brady beat him twice

Super Bowl and AFC Championship this would be the third thing you can't argue about because Tom and his prime didn't miss the playoffs now again I'm celebrating both it's like Jordan and LeBron two best basketball players along with magic I ever saw in Pride Cream

but and this is with Andy agree, and with Travis Kelsey. I do think some of the problems, and this is a well-run organization in Kansas City, are out of Patrick's control. They're not right now

dependable at offensive tackle. And the two times they got whacked in the Super Bowl, they weren't very good in the O line, specifically tackle. And they also haven't run the ball particularly well. Listen, they had to move off Joe Tunney. Joe Tunney's the best guard, arguably, in the sport. Their tackle situation's not good. So it's

just, it's really hard to win a Super Bowl, even get to one. When you're online, you don't trust them. Here's Mahomes on the must-win game against a gnarly defense in Houston this weekend. I don't know if we've been in this situation this early in the season. So I think just learning from it together, building together, and then using what we can use from prior seasons to hopefully make a run at this thing and try to get ourselves into the playoffs and see where we can go from there. So if you look at the playoff picture today in the AFC and the NFC,

in the AFC, New England, Denver, Jacksonville, Baltimore leading their division, wildcard, chargers, Colts, Buffalo. I'd be very wary of the Colts right now. In the Hunt, Houston, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City. When you take those in the hunt teams, Houston, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City, what's the best unit of all three teams? It's the Texans defense. My take is the Texans are going to be probably find themselves as a wildcard team. If you look at the NFC playoff picture right now, it is very much established. San Francisco is the seventh seed.

So Chicago's in, Rams, Philadelphia, Tampa, Seattle's Dangerous, Green Bay San Francisco. Keep your eye in Detroit. I think Carolina's defense will eventually be their issue. Dallas played themselves out of it last night. I think Detroit's got more good players than San Francisco does in terms of overall talent. I don't know if it's even that close. Most of Detroit's best players offensively are just entering their prime or in their prime. A lot of the great players for the Niners are old.

Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, Hall of Famers, but old. So the Texans, Kansas City is not as good as Green Bay Chicago in terms of game of the week. And it's hard to bet against Kansas City in these spots. I think it's a field goal game, a go-either-way game, but that's where we are. My blazing five picks are at the top of next hour. I just took one out. It has been reported that Jaden Daniels will play for Washington. And I had Minnesota at home in that game as one of my blazing five picks.

I have removed that because I am not betting against Jaden Daniels, whoever the quarterback is for the Minnesota Vikings. So I just took that one out. I put the Chargers Eagles in. It's not the season on the line for either team. But wow. Philadelphia loses on Monday night. It'll be a 65-35 Eagles crowd.

They're Philadelphia fans I've been told all over Los Angeles. Blazing Five, Dave Wonstadt around the corner. 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 our first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy,

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