The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Rams vs Seahawks is going to be amazing, Matthew Stafford is close to becoming an all-time great

Episode Date: January 23, 2026

Colin Cowherd discusses the NFC Championship game between the Rams and the Seahawks and why Matthew Stafford is on the verge of entering rarified air among the all-time great QBs in NFL history He doubts the Cowboys made a good choice in making Christian Parker their new Defensive CoordinatorSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Here we go. is a Friday. What a weekend plan. Patriots, Broncos, Ram, Seahawks, redefining careers. Live in Chicago. Yeah, it's a little frigid. It's the herd, wherever you may be.

However, you may be watching or listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. I don't know if everybody quite realizes how big a weekend it is for Matt Stafford. Let me read you a stat real quick. History of the NFL. History. One quarterback ever. This was in week 16 against Seattle.

400 passing yards, three touchdown passes, no picks against the team that finished with the NFL's number one scoring defense. That was Stafford, Week 16, never been done. And I've said if he wins another Super Bowl, I will put him one spot ahead of Aaron Rogers all time, and that sounds kooky. I think Aaron Rogers, 11th or 12th best quarterback ever, I would insert Stafford one spot ahead. There are no great movies with choppy endings.

Go look at the last five years between the two. Stafford has been on a heater, seven and two in the playoffs, multiple pro bowls, probably wins the MVP, more touchdowns than Aaron, higher passer rating, easily the better quarterback. But bigger than any stat is this. Aaron in his prime, in well-run Green Bay, only had one great playoff run. One in his prime. He was one in four in conference championships. Stafford late prime to out of his prime in just five years is on his second. There's no other way to put it.

Stafford was born into a dysfunctional family in Detroit. the minute he was adopted by the L.A. Rams, he has been significantly the better quarterback. All he needed was grownups in the building. Add this, too, which feels very Elway, Brady, and Mahomes. Matt Stafford, of his seven career playoff wins, five, he's had game-winning drives in a very short period of time. How many would he had if he had 12 good years? Aaron in that huge window in Green Bay didn't even have three. We only had two.

Game winning drives are what define L.A. And Mahomes, not just the trophies. And Stafford, this is another thing. His passer rating, his completion percentage, his yards per game, his touchdown interception ratio, go up in the playoffs. Again, very Mahomes and Brady. Aaron's actually go down.

So Stafford, in the biggest games, against the best competition, is actually better. Aaron is slightly worse. That's something. This is what you got during the Elway Marino debates. For a long time, people said, oh, Marino. No, that release, because Marino like Aaron was prettier. The aesthetic was more jarring and amazing. But in the end, that last three or four years for Elway separated the two.

You're getting that. Aaron's always been the prettier quarterback. The way he throws, connection to Hollywood, kind of cool. Just listen to how, thinking of Aaron and Stafford, just listen to how. just listen to how McVeigh describes Matt Stafford. This is instructive. I think any great leader that I've ever been around, and Matthew is a perfect illustration of that.

There's extreme ownership and there's accountability. That's what guys love about Matthew. I mean, you'll never see a guy when you look at the way Matthew handles himself that isn't an excuse maker. You know, I've heard it said before. I think excuses are tools of the incompetent. And Matthew is the furthest thing from that. He's got great ownership,

and I think that's why people want to follow him is because of the way that he handles, you know, stays humble and the great moments, which he sure has had a handful of those. And then in the moments that we can be better, he owns it and now we can move on. And he's a freaking stud. Yeah.

Doesn't point fingers, takes ownership, always accountable. I'm going to put Stafford with the Super Bowl, one slot ahead of Aaron. One slot ahead of Aaron. And I think Aaron's top 12 ever. That's how big of a weekend it is for Matt Stafford. All right, Brian Dayball is going to interview with the Buffalo Bills.

Philip Rivers is also interviewing. He's not going to get the job, but it's kind of an interesting interview. I want to go back because we don't tend to talk about who got hired last year in the coaching cycle. So if you go back one year in the coaching cycle, Vrable was an automatic, we all knew, he was going to be great. Faster maybe than you predicted, but we knew it was a big hit.

We also knew Ben Johnson had been the smartest, most clever coordinator in the NFL for several years, had several offers. We thought that was going to work too. And we knew kind of all of us, even people in Dallas knew Brian Schottenheimer, that's a pretty weak swing. So three of seven,

you know, he kind of felt like, you have Vrable and Ben Johnson are going to work, Schottenheimer. But when you went to Liam Cohen, Kellen Moore, Aaron Glenn, I don't know. Pete Carroll, I thought, would stabilize the Raiders. That was a mess. But in a lot of the young guys, he didn't really know. And I think that is where Brian Daibel is. I don't know. The best part about him, it's an offensive league and he's an offensive coach, and he's worked with Josh Allen. The worst part, he was 20, 40, and one with the Giants, and it ended ugly. So very few of these coaches, all these interviews are blue chip stocks. That's John Harbaugh. That will work with

the Giants. That's my prediction. Vrable, a Harbaugh, Jim or John, Sean Pay, blue chip stocks. The rest of them, including Brian Daibel, who I like. It's like venture capitalism. There's a lot of promise. There's a lot of hope. You need restructuring and new leadership. But it should be noted. All those smart people with all that money, venture capitalists, they're hit rate is 20%. And the hit rate on coaches not named Harbaugh, Sean Peyton Vrable. The hit rate is closer to 20% than 75%. I don't know what he's going to be. I know what he's inheriting.

New stadium, stable ownership, better revenue going forward, great left tackle running back, superstar quarterback, great tight ends, decent defense not special Eric Mangini considers Dable a friend knows him well thoughts on Dable landing with Josh Allen Brian is the ultimate Buffalo guy he grew up in Buffalo he could

literally work for the Buffalo Tourism Bureau because he loves Buffalo so much so from that perspective yeah it's a great fit he's got a really good relationship with the most important player on the team and a lot of respect from it and in my mind did a significant amount to help develop him

from a fairly raw talent in college to a much more polished talent. Yeah, Tom Brady one hour from now. I do feel strongly going into these weekends games, and I will have one hour from now. We're going to list, we did yesterday in the AFC, the 10 best players in the Seahawks Rams, and I'm not kidding you.

You get to like 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15, it's like guys who could make Pro Bowls. There is so much talent in the Seattle Rams game. I think the winner of the NFC wins the Super Bowl, regardless of who they play. I do feel strongly this morning that New England is the side, and I feel less strongly, but with some conviction, the Rams are the better bet.

So when I list those top 10 players, it's interesting that's very evenly split where the players land. I think it's going to be one. It's on Fox. It's going to be one for the ages. Completely stacked defenses. I said this earlier in the week. If you took the Seahawks Rams and made a Pro Bowl team just on the Seahawks and Rams,

it could compete with the rest of the league. The offensive line would be the weakness. Defensively, wide receivers, tight ends, backs, quarterbacks, coaches, McVeigh coaches, Mike McDonald's, the D.C. I mean, it is. You just do not get this. level of talent going up against each other very much. And J-Mack, you will have your picks coming up in the final hour of the show.

But I do think in the Rams Seahawks, we would acknowledge now they're not a draft away. This is as good maybe as the Rams will be because it's Matt Stafford potential last year. It isn't good as the Rams are going to be potentially for the next several years. They're probably not in a draft going to find the next Matt Stafford. Maybe they do, I doubt it. Certainly not an older experience guy. And I think Seattle's very, very good. I think their window, I think Seattle, this year, next year, the next year.

They have drafted so well. I think the runway for Seattle to be good. I think Donald's only 28. I think Seattle's going to be very good for minimum three years could be longer. I think it feels like there's urgency with the Rams. Because remember last year with Matt Stafford, we didn't know if he was coming back. then he didn't really practice before the season because of a bad back. So if you're asking me, who does the game mean more for?

I would say this may be the best Rams team for a long period. There is another Stafford on the market they can go buy? I would keep an eye on C.J. Stroud. I'll just plant that out there now with his Houston situation and his agent specifically. But I will say Seattle, amazing team, they've been outstanding all season. And Colin, you know, things kind of broke their way. Micah Parsons gets injured for the Packers. That's a huge swing.

The 49ers entire roster decimated. So things did kind of break their way for Seattle. I don't know. If you think Sam Darnold's in the class of Purdy and love and Jalen Hertz and all these guys, then sure, they're going to be sticking around for a while. Yeah. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app.

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Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts 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...

Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing,

a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite on Humor 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 defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like 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 why he got the ball. Like, 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 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. The Dallas Cowboys are hiring a new defensive coordinator, 34-year-old Christian Parker,

Philadelphia's passing game coordinator and defensive back coach. If you had told the Cowboy fans, hey, tomorrow we're going to announce they're hiring their defensive coordinator from the Eagles. You'd be like, damn! Vic Fangio. And no, he was a passing game coordinator and a DB coach. If you look at the last several great coordinator hires, you could see it coming. Josh McDaniels, New England, stacking trophies, been great forever as a coordinator. It was going to work.

Vic Fangio in Philadelphia, last 10 years probably been arguable top defensive coordinator, both years in Philly, top five defenses. Robert Sala to San Francisco, great defensive coach. The minute he left the Jets, say what you want about it, they circled the drain. He was going to be a great defensive coach he was this year. Cliff Kingsbury may not be a head coach, but Kingsbury was a really smart hire. Everybody knew going to Washington that Jaden Daniels, he got a really good first OC. Also, Jesse Minter, when he went Baltimore, Michigan to the Chargers.

He'd been great in Baltimore, great at Michigan. Michigan, that was a home run. Everybody knew what was going to work. So, you know, it's funny about Jerry. He says one thing and does another. And so you could say, well, Colin, Matt Eberfluse, he was a defensive coach. He was 28th in defense. Were the Bears when Iber Fluse was there. He left. They got better. Chicago was better, especially in the playoffs defensively. So I don't know if it's to maintain power because Parcells and Jimmy Johnson push back, but he keeps hiring cord. and coaches that need him. I mean, there was no real market for Mike McCarthy. I'm not sure there is now. Matt Eberfluse, kind of a disaster in Chicago. This kid, how many other teams are looking at him as a coordinator? Jerry keeps hiring people that need him.

And there's an argument that he's never really respected coaching. And Dallas really needs coaching because there are $30 million over the cap next year as of right now. okay that means they can't do a new england and spend 250 million in free agency to solve their defense they're over the cap now they have two first round picks i'd be shocked that they didn't use both for defense but you're not going to solve a defense with two rookies in the first round one may not even hit that's the that's the rate about 50 60 percent of first rounders become really really good players so they can't do a patriots they can't spend their way to a better defense uh that just that's not available but jerry keeps saying

it's all about getting to a trophy. My goal in life is to retire as the owner that won the most Super Bowls. That's my goal. To be retired in the NFL as the owner that won the most Super Bowls. We've got three. How many more do I have to go as a single owner? Bob's got how many? Six.

So I've got it. Got work to do. Got work to do. I've got work to do, but at least I'm up to the second rung in the latter. There is a way to do it. It's called Sean Payton, Mike Vrable, somebody with the last name Harbaugh. Yeah, it's just, it's always been odd to me, is that he's saying it's about the titles. Folks, we all know the key in this sport as quarterback.

Number two is not left tackle. Number two is coach. You go cheap on Schottonheimer? Mike McCarthy didn't have a big market. maybe this young guy's unbelievable same one thing doing another and again this defense was last than everything the first round picks will help

but they won't solve the issue you don't have any free agent money it always feels like Dallas is out of money and it always feels like Philadelphia's got more money and sort of the Rams I don't know how it works somebody's using a Swiss bank somebody's not J-Mack with the news no no no turn on the news

this is the herd So the Baltimore Ravens made a move yesterday signing Jesse Minter as their new head coach. Minter comes, of course, from the Chargers where he was excellent with Jim Harbaugh. Prior to that, he was with Jim at Michigan. And prior to that, Minter's first NFL job came with John Harbaugh in Baltimore, where he was a defensive assistant for a few years. This guy's really sharp, nose defense, excellent work with a mediocre talent in the Chargers. not like they had an excellent secondary or linebackers. And he really cooked up some good stuff.

Here, his numbers. Big higher for the Ravens. I applaud it. But Colin, for being real, I don't, this is wonderful. But I need to see who they get as OC because Lamar Jackson is the bigger question, especially his contract. This feels a little bit like Ben Johnson, except on defense, where he's been the hot coordinator in this cycle. People have been talking about Jesse Minner. Everywhere he goes, I mean, literally, he took the Chargers defense was dead last.

He took him to like number two or number one. So, I mean, he does, usually the hot coordinator on the market ends up succeeding, either side of the ball. I mean, D'Amico Ryan's was the defensive guy. Everybody's like super sharp and he crushed. And, you know, we know the offensive guy, Ben Johnson crushed. So when you're the, you know, generally the two things we know that work are that you're an established Vrable, Peyton Harbaugh. Or you are like, you are the hot court.

Mike McDonald, by the way, coming out of Baltimore, it was like, guys, this is the, this is the defensive McVeigh. So my take is it's a pretty strong hire, known in the building, and good personnel, star quarterback, they'll redo his contract. I think he'll be a good hire. My guess is a good hire. I feel the same way I did kind of with Ben Johnson, which is, I think it's going to work to the level it works, how fast it works, I don't have any idea. Yeah, the front four was mediocre at best. They had a poor pass rush all season. Kyle Hamilton is very good in the secondary, but Marlon Humphrey, it's over. He's kind of washed.

I think the personnel's a little more average than some others. I don't think this is a top-tier team. If we're doing tiers, I don't know who started this tiers thing, but I would go to Ravens as like a third-tier team despite having an elite quarterback. I don't think this team's... I like their talent. I didn't think they had a great pass rush. I like their talent.

Special team is also terrible, as we know. Yeah, yeah. All right, let's move on to Sean Payton. the Denver Broncos coach getting ready to cook up some good stuff for Jarrett Stidham in the AFC championship game. But interestingly, he had a message and it turned into some bulletin board material.

Wide receiver Kishon Booty responded. Listen to the war of words. You've had a message to fans every single week about noise. Do you have a message for them this week with being the final game? Well, they're going to have plenty of rest after this one. Two weeks. Not that you guys need any extra motivation,

but did you see the strong thing, about insinuating that Denver fans will have some extra rest for the school? No, I never seen it. Yeah, I never seen it. Yeah, I never seen it. Is that mad at you guys? You can rest in Cancun too. I think of the other guys.

The media is so funny. Do you hear what Sean said? Did you hear what Sean said? What is your reaction to what Sean said? It's like tattling when you were kids. Bob said, Jimmy said, it's like, guys, it's just, it doesn't matter. After the first play, nobody cares. You know, this is...

Media working overtime to make this. this game interesting. Stidham. I mean, I think with Bo Nix, it still wouldn't be as good as the Seahawks Rams. I think the story of the weekend is in the wiener. No, no, but whoa, whoa, whoa. Yes, I would agree.

But Bo Nix, I mean, like, he is a telegenic guy. We know his college story. People know he's a known quantity. Like, Cherit Stidim? I mean, Colin, I don't know which network has the Super Bowl, but you know they're praying for Drake May and the Patriots.

I actually think Drake May and the Patriots and Vrabble and the turnaround against against either of the NFC teams is a really good super bowl. Yeah, no, that's compelling for sure. I think Stafford is, again, just from a TV standpoint, Stafford literally climbing in the all-time rankings is really a cool story. I'm dead serious. I don't think people realize a Super Bowl win for Stap, even in a appearance takes him to another level, a Super Bowl win for the one player in all these games who can literally change his legacy is Matt Stafford.

I mean, it's really, he's the one, Drake May, obviously, it'll be the, it'll be like, wow, this kid is the next blank. But I mean, change your legacy from, man, that guy's going to get some Hall of Fame votes. He may get into, oh my God, he's a top 12 quarterback ever. I think it's Matt Stafford's it. Yeah, it's certainly interesting. All right, let's go to the final story. And that's the Los Angeles Lakers. Tough one last night against the paper clips.

They storm back from down like 21. They cut it to two, ended up losing. after the game, Jay J.J. Reddick said the team didn't trust each other on the offensive end of the floor. LeBron was then asked, hey man, what about this big story at ESPN about Jeannie Bus, not being happy that you weren't kissing the ring and all that nonsense? Here's LeBron. I thought it was good, but, you know, somebody could see it in another way. So it's always two sides of the coin.

We never talk. I don't understand. Yeah, like, it's not like me and Jeannie be on the phone talking. You guys ain't never heard a report about that. Don't make something out of it that is not. It's always been mutual. It's always been respect. It's always been a great partnership. But it's not like I call Jeannie on the phone.

It's not like I call Mickey Erison on the phone or Dan Gilbert on the phone. Like, come on guys, don't make this more than what it is. I don't care. By the way, I think this is a great answer by LeBron. I think, and if anybody else noticed this, I'm sure you have, but LeBron's gotten to a point that he doesn't get defensive about this stuff. He's got nothing to prove. His legacy is set.

His net worth has doubled since he's been in L.A. That's a great answer. Like, guys, I don't, I'm not on the phone with the owner. People can write what they write. There's a story about me every day. He's in a very good spot. I don't think LeBron's nine years ago answers like that. It feels like to me, LeBron is coming to the realization that his career is ending.

LeBron has too much pride. And by the way, you can say pride is vanity, whatever it is, everybody that's successful man or woman, you know, they have pride in their work. It sounds like to me LeBron, he doesn't really care, is that it's over. And that's not saying he's retiring. I would guess it's 75, 25. Does he want to limp to the finish line, be humiliated in a trade? His answers are, he's had so many opportunities over the last six months.

He could take shots here. He doesn't. If he noticed his answers, they're all like, grateful, it's been wonderful. We've had a great relationship. He has pulled the plane onto the tarmac. He's ready for takeoff into another business career very soon. Yeah, LeBron, I think he's at 22, 6, and 5, and he could walk away averaging that, which would be impressive. I want to remind you, so I was in the D.C. area when Michael Jordan came back to the Wizards.

Colin, it was open season on Michael Jordan. The Wizards were a dumpster fire. The media crucified him. Players didn't like him. Players didn't like him. The Washington Post had a writer specifically following him around. And it was brutal the way he treated Kwame Brown. I'm just telling you, at the end of these guys' careers, if you're not on top, the media is coming for you.

Because as you, you've been in this long enough, you know the ink-stain wretches love to build you up and then tear you down. And I'm telling you, but the vibes in this story. That LeBron stuff had nothing to do with the Jeannie Bus family story. It was just wedged in like four paragraphs in like a 10,000 word piece. And all the headlines are about Jeannie Bus versus LeBron. I'm telling you, LeBron, they're coming for you. I don't like it personally, but I've seen this game before. It's not a fun one.

I agree. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurdline News. I saw this headline this morning. Indiana's Fernando Mendoza, likely number one pick entering the NFL draft. It's not likely, he will be.

We are 90 days, three months out from the draft as of today. He's going to be the number one pick. And people are going to pick him apart. They, believe it or not, did it. with Andrew Luck. They did it with Caleb Williams. I don't like his fingernail polish. He's too emotional.

Here's what we know doesn't work long term in the NFL. Small quarterbacks. They age very quickly. Cocky quarterbacks, Johnny Mansell. Inexperienced guys that just don't get a lot of college starts, Anthony Richardson, Trey Lance. Here's three things that almost always. work. Humble, grateful personalities. A lot of Brady and Manning. Big body that can take hits

that can move a little. He's 6.5-225. And really, really accurate, especially in big games and in big spots. In the playoff this year, he was 3-0, completed 75% of his throws, nine touchdowns, no picks. Go to the Penn State second half. Go to the Ohio State. Go to Miami. He's great in the biggest spots. So he is the definition of a franchise quarterback. Big, accurate, clutch, humble, 4-4, and not just 4-4-4-4, all of them A-pluses. That does not guarantee Super Bowls. It does not guarantee multiple conference championship appearances.

It does guarantee if you get a competent coach, not even a great one, you're going to win a bunch of games. Fernando Mendoza has none of the roadblocks he's not small he doesn't lack experience and he is not cocky those are the three killers

and he's got the three and four things big accurate tough humble grateful those work everywhere and every business so he's going to win a bunch of games he doesn't even need a great

coach. He needs a good, competent coach. If you're good and confident, I mean, Dan Quinn mostly, they're good, he's competent, not great, not all-time stuff. Don't need Andy Reed. If he gets an elite top four or five coach, I think that's when you're going to see conference championships and a Super Bowl appearance. No guarantee

wins him. I mean, again, Stafford and McVeigh have won. It's hard. But here was this week. Here he was, Mendoz on Good Morning America talking about the potential to be the number one pick. I'd be so grateful and I can only do this with the glory of God and it just it would be a dream come true from a two-star recruit I was the reason I had this whole entire LinkedIn persona was hey I'm probably not going to make the NFL so let me double down on my networking on my connections and let me get a little head in the corporate lifestyle so when I graduate college I can have a foot up yeah by the way I

I'm going to have Tom Brady on in about 30 minutes from now, 40 minutes from now. He was at that game, and I'm going to ask him, you know, his interpretation of what he saw with Fernando Mendoza. Joel Clatt earlier this week on Mendoza winning the title. There are two types of quarterbacks, and there are quarterbacks that rise to the occasion when their best is needed, and there are guys that shrink. And Mendoza rose to the occasion. When his best was needed, he was at his best. That's why he won the Heisman, and that's why he's the national champ. Totally agree.

He's going to win a lot of games if he just gets good to competent head coach. All right, J-Mack, around the corner. I have a theory on something. The ratings have been great in the NFL this year, despite no Mahomes, no Mar Jackson, no Joe Burrow, Josh Allen's out, and the ratings have been stupendous. Alan, of course, just out. Seattle Rams is going to get a big boy number. and why with so many unbelievable stars in the NBA, it doesn't feel the same.

There is a difference between the sport, and you're seeing it now. I've got that thought. And the 10 best players in Seattle Rams, and we could have gone 16 to 17 and had borderline pro bowlers. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, is Kavino and Rick from Fox Sports Radio. Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show. Yep, that's right. You can now watch Covino & Rich Live on YouTube every day.

All you got to do, search Covino and Rich FSR on YouTube. Again, go to YouTube, search Covino and Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon, and comment away. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts 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. 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 I-heartedly. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new

one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a 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 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. Seattle will be electric on Sunday with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

Matthew Stafford and the Rams take on Sam Donald and the Seahawks. The NFC Championship presented by Intuit TurboTex. Sunday at 60 CERN, 3 Pacific on Fox and the man who's calling the game. The legendary Tom Brady stops by next hour to break down the matchup. Forbes magazine, I'm sure you've heard of it, kind of did a study on successful people, men and women. And the three things that they said, the three traits that successful people had. Number one, they do not care what other people think of them. Criticism is irrelevant.

They have their own journey. They know what they want to do. They just don't care about criticism. They just don't care. Second, and boy, this one is my mantra in life, they're not obsessed with being right. They're obsessed with getting it right. The Internet is losers everywhere telling you how much they know about geopolitics. They want to prove how right they are.

Successful people don't worry about that. They want to get it right. Not about being right on the Internet. And the third thing is pleasing everybody because it's impossible. The Pope has critics. Like, you can't please everybody. And when I spent a year hanging out with Sean Peyton and he would come by the studio at Fox, he embodied all three of these. And it rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Sean Payton does not care what you think. Sean Payton wants to get it right. We talked about that all the time. And he's not a people, please, sir. It just doesn't matter. And I think it rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But, I mean, the guy is just unbelievable. And I remember when he was at Fox, I was like,

like he's not doing this TV thing. He's got too much going on. You go to dinner once with Sean, have a couple coffees with him, a 15-minute conversation. He needs the coach. Mike Vrable clearly has respect, kind of tells you

as he faces him this weekend, what he's all about. Very successful football coach. Tough to defend for, you know, tough to defend against. I think he does a great job with his personnel and his scheme. I think he's had his core concepts that he's had for a lot of years, and then he's just continued to add onto that,

you know, as some of the game has changed and some of the ideas and the schemes have evolved. And so I think that that's pretty unique. Yeah, listen, if you can get to a Super Bowl and beat, because his defense wasn't very much, good against Buffalo. And the defense, the Denver defense is interesting. It gets a lot of sacks. I don't think it's in the class of the Seahawks or Houston, but it gets a lot of sacks. Nick Benito, Zach Allen, that's a big part of that. But I don't think it's a great defense.

So if you can get to a Super Bowl without what I consider a great defense, Houston's got a great defense, Seattle a great defense, Rams defense creates turnovers. I don't think Denver's in that class. I think if you take out Nick Benito, it doesn't even feel the same as it is now. And you can get it with Super Bowl with Jared Stidham. Now, I will say this. I do think their high-end players are very, very good. Yesterday I gave the top-10 players in this match-up. I think Denver's top-end players.

Patrick Sarting, Nick Benito, are just unbelievable. Quinn Miners on the offensive line. Garrett Bowles. Denver's got the better all line. no question. But I think there are some holes to Denver. Right now quarterbacks, one of them. New England's a team.

I don't think their high ends is good outside of Drake May, but I don't think they have any holes. I like New England in this spot. I think they'll come in, Denver will come in and Stidham will be like a backup quarterback playing in a massive game and he'll be limited. That'll give Drake May better field position and more possessions.

And I think over the course of a game, I think it's very, very close over the course of the game, I suspect. Vrable, Drake May, Stefan Diggs. I don't love their O-line. I've said before I still contend of the final four teams. New England's still in a semi-rebuild.

They've got to get the offensive line right. There's a couple of spots they need to upgrade. And I'll say this about Sean Payton. The year, people forget this, the year before he went to the Saints, they were wearing bags on their head. They were the running joke in the league. They were the running joke.

They were three and 13. the following year. They went 10 and 6, year four, they won the Super Bowl. So you're talking about Peyton and Brable. This is a, these are all-time coaches. These guys are really sharp, really sharp. So I was thinking about this.

Let me throw this out at you. I fell in love with the NBA when I was a kid, Dr. Jay. And I didn't like the NFL back when I was a kid. I loved baseball and I loved the NBA. And one of the reasons I liked the NBA was Spencer Haywood and Dr. Jay. because I was kind of a feisty kid. It had its own personality. You could wear your own shoes,

your own everything. It didn't feel corporate. It felt like individual stars. And downtown Freddie Brown didn't play like Spencer Haywood. And Spencer Haywood's like, I'm not going to get treated like this. I'm not going to play. That was its strength. And remember that. I'll get back to that in a second. So the ratings are up.

In the NFL, I'm reading no Mojom's in the playoffs. No Lamar Jackson, no Joe Burrow. Aaron Rogers, long gone. Ratings are up. One thing the NFL does really well the NBA stinks at, introducing their next star. You know who the most popular player in the NBA is right now? Steph Curry, you're 17.

Still. I'm sorry, SGA, Wemby, Yokic are remarkable players. personalities. So three of the top four teams left have quarterbacks that just won their first playoff game. The ratings shouldn't be through. the roof. But I think the reason is because the football in America, college and pro, but let's talk pro, football is reliant on the quality of their game.

That's why they're constantly changing rules. They want to keep the game number one. So you can insert any quarterback, any pass rush or into any team. He'll be popular. because they worry about the quality of their game and the franchise over the player. Yet the star player still makes a fortune. The NBA is about the player more than the franchise. And if the player doesn't have a personality, Yokic isn't that fascinating,

you get major dips in popularity. But there's something else that's happening between the NFL and basketball that I'm not sure this has been said. I feel strongly about this. I always felt the one advantage the NBA had over the NFL. It wasn't as corporate. You know, it was like a music club, and everybody had their own thing.

It was cool. The NBA was cool that, you know, Dr. Jay played one way. The other guy played the other way. It was a lot of one-on-one. It could be ISO. I mean, Magic didn't play like Steph, and Steph doesn't play like Dr. Jay, and it was kind of independent and artsy and a cool aesthetic. And then football was kind of corporate.

Here's the playbook. Don't get crazy. Corporation runs the shield. There's a way to play the game. And Tom Brady, please take pay cuts. It's actually flipped. The NFL now has all these guys like Josh Allen and Caleb Williams. They're like, bro, you do you.

You do you. The game has more great offensive coaches. It's more creative than it's ever been. There's still a big corporate shield hovering over the NFL. but a lot of the great young quarterbacks, they're just doing their own thing. Lamar played like nobody else. Caleb plays like nobody else. Josh plays like nobody else.

And you kind of lean into it. And conversely, the NBA has become the NFL. Their one advantage, it was art. It was unique. And now everybody plays the same game. Shoot a bunch of threes. I saw a Celtic game a couple weeks ago. I had to turn it off.

Everybody's doing the same thing. So, M.B., just shoot threes. Aunt Edwards should look like Dr. Ant Edwards should play like MJ. I watch him play, shooting 11 threes. So the one advantage the NBA really had was the individual, and yet they've smushed them with analytics into playing the exact same way. You can watch an NBA game.

They're 63s. 60. Just to everybody. Big, small, guard, forward, center, get to the corner, get to an angle, shoot a three. It's okay if you're Steph because that's his game. Dr. Jay's game was acrobatic and dunking, wasn't shooting jumpers. You were allowed. And so what happens to the NBA, when have they succeeded?

When their stars have big personalities and flair, magic, Kobe, MJ, Shaq, they've smushed it all together. And now it's very NFL where it's very corporate. Everybody shoots the same way. It's a math equation, threes and more three. And the NFL to me is now more willing to kind of say, this quarterback is unique, bro. I mean, you know, we'd prefer them to get up to 65% completion percentage. But if you're the high 50s and got horsepower of V8,

you kind of, we're going to, I mean, Ben Johnson has an offense. He lets Caleb do a lot of Caleb stuff. So when I see these ratings are up with all these young quarterbacks, when you're not dependent on anything other than the quality of the game in the franchise, you don't have these dips. The NBA's one advantage was personality. Now it's a three-point shooting contest. It's just repetitive.

Even the players I like. I don't see dunce. I see threes. Tom Brady next hour. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Sider. Idle 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. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of 20. which is most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner,

we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea, with me, Chelsea Handler, we have some fantastic guests like Amelia Clark. When, like, young people come up to me and they want to be an actor or whatever.

My first thing is always, can you think of anything else that you can do? Rather be disappointed in. Do that. David O'Yelloo. I love this podcast, whether it's therapy or relationships or religion or sex or addiction or you just go straight for the guts. Dennis Leary, Gait and Moderato from Stranger Things. Tena Mongeau. Camilla Morone, Carrie Kenny Silver, and more.

Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the On iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.