The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - Sam Darnold is under pressure, Super Bowl or bust for Josh Allen, thoughts on the Packers-Bears rivalry

Episode Date: January 16, 2026

Jason McIntyre steps in for Colin How much pressure does Sam Darnold have this weekend when the Seahawks face the 49ers? Is this playoff run Super Bowl or bust for Josh Allen?  The rivalry between the Packers and the Bears will really getting interestingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com. or stream us live every day in the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Hello and happy Friday. It's the herd. Colin Cowherd is out of town for the day, so you got a special treat.

Me, Jason McIntyre, joined by the immortal Rachel Nichols. We will bring the noise and the funk on a beautiful Friday out here in Los Angeles, this divisional weekend, Rachel Nichols. Favorite weekend of the year. This is the best playoff weekend in the NFL. I'm hopeful that we get some good games. We don't have all the great quarterbacks, right?

But maybe, you know, your Washington team was here last year. Remember they smashed Detroit? Yeah. Oh, boy, we got a great show today. Greg Jennings, one of my favorites. He's stopping by. I wonder if we'll talk about the Packers at all. I don't know, maybe, possibly.

And then, of course, Chris Felica, Tehran Armstead. We got a great show, but I want to start a lot. ladies and gentlemen, with first impressions. I'm sure your parents told you at some point, oh, first impressions are everything. Got to have the firm handshake, got to make the eye contact. Well, I remember my first impression of Los Angeles, a decade ago. You know, the wife and I, we come out here to check out Los Angeles, see if we're going to move out here. And Colin and his wife showed us out, really nice dinner, 70 degrees, the sunset, the South Bay. It was incredible. First impression of Los Angeles, we're here. We got to go. Sold. And I want to talk about the

impression of Sam Darnold. You guys surely remember where he started his NFL career, right? I was with my New York Jets. I have not forgotten this game. I remember it fondly. Monday night football. Sammy Darnold and the Jets, go to Detroit,

and Sam Darnold throws a pick six on his first NFL pass. I'll never forget it. I was playing basketball and I'm like, guys, I got to bail early. Sam Darnold debut. You know? It's a big game. My Jets, Monday night football. And there's all these USC fans watching the game and it was pure laughter.

Oh, here we go again with the Jets. And that was kind of the start of a rough go for Sam Darnold in New York. You know, whether it was pick six on their first career pass, they did win the game, but nobody remembers that. They won the pick six. That's all they remember. And the next year, Sam Darnold is seeing ghosts in the pocket, famously on Monday Night Football in a 33-0 beat down against the Patriots.

And I'm of the belief that Sam Darnold is under so much pressure this weekend and in these playoffs, because of that first impression. It was so bad. He's run out of New York. He's in Carolina. Okay, trying to rehab the image. Then he goes and sits in San Fran.

Now he's found a home in Seattle. And folks, let's be real. Sam Darnall appears to be a franchise quarterback. I got hit with a fun fact in the morning meeting today. Sam Darnold, zero career playoff wins. I was blown away. I was like, wait a minute. All I've heard Collins say all week is that, you know,

who has the most wins in the last two years in the NFL, not Mahomes. It's not Josh Allen. It's not Matt Stafford. It's Sam Darnold. And these regular season wins, what do they mean? Really, nothing. I don't think anybody's impression of Sam Darnold is going to change unless he wins the Super Bowl.

Beating San Fran, come on, their touchdown favorites. I don't want to hear about this oblique injury. Now, obviously, Donald addressed the game yesterday. Apparently kind of a pulled oblique in practice, shut it down early. says he's definitely going to play. I know some people are talking, oh, the excuses. Here we go. Here's Darnold talking about the matchup with San Francisco. I think for us, we're treating it, you know, just another week, another game. You know, that's how everyone, especially in that locker room, like we got, we got such great guys in that

locker room, mature, you know, leaders at every position group. So, you know, everyone's just ready to go attacking the week, you know, per usual and getting ready to go up against a really a good 49ers team. You know, that's been rolling and we're excited to go up against them. Yeah, it is funny. They are the favorites to win the Super Bowl. They're the number one seed and their quarterback has not won a playoff game. That's staggering.

And then you look at the other side of the coin and he's facing Brock Purdy. My guy, Brock Purdy, you know, I love to cape up for him. Well, Jay, what was Brock Purdy's first impression? Oh, I don't know. He won like every game he started in the first year in San Francisco. And then they go to the Eagles in the playoff game. he gets hurt on the first drive. And it's like, okay, TBD, next season, they go to the Super Bowl.

He takes the lead in overtime against Patrick Mahomes. First Impressions Matter. And that's why I've been blown away by Brock Purdy. Meanwhile, you got Sam Darnold. Folks, how about this stat? You know who had the best record against the spread gambling this year? Seattle Seahawks. Why?

Because nobody believes in Sam Darnold. They're laying points. I can't lay points of Sam Darnold. Folks, when that game kicks off, everybody in the stadium knows the deal. Shanahan and Purdy are going to cook. The Seattle defense is really good. We know what JSN's going to give us on the outside.

Man, Charbonnet Kenneth Walker, that duo's nasty. Is Sam Darnall going to be able to win us the football game? And that's why I think he's under more pressure than Josh Allen this weekend. I mean, Josh Allen has established himself as an MVP and a superstar. Sam Darnal doesn't have a playoff win. Okay? The moment he throws an interception in this one, remember that Rams Thursday night game? Remember how bad he was?

They get bailed out by the special teams, luck box two point conversion. Nobody credits that game to Sam Darnold. I mean, we're at the point. And again, Sam Darnold's a nice guy. I met up at the Super Bowl a few years ago. Really talented quarterback. But the reality is, unless he wins the Super Bowl. And I don't mean, hey, he's a game manager like Trent Dillfer in a 3310 victory.

That's not going to cut it. Sam Darnold needs to get the ball, fourth quarter, trailing like Caleb, Williams has done a billion times this year, go down the field and get the win. That's what it's going to take, I believe, for Darnold to exercise the ghosts. And here's Brady on Darnold needing to be aggressive in this one. When you get to these big moments in big games, whether that's, you know, certainly playoffs or some of these games that have happened at the end of the year determining whether they're going to get in or not. The margin of air when you play good teams is just very small. So that's where the fundamentals come into play.

you have to, you know, in order to throw the ball accurate, okay? And if you throw it accurately and make a decision, you're not going to throw a lot of interceptions. It's over time you need to refine your techniques so that when you get in these big moments, you're as accurate as you can possibly be because you have the least margin of air. Yeah, it's a tall order for Sam Darnold and the Seahawks,

but they're big favorites. Hoof, be careful. All right, I want to pivot to another game this weekend with an embattled quarterback, and that is superstar Josh Allen, the defending MVP of the league. And folks, I don't think people are making a big enough deal of this game right here. We're talking about Josh Allen in Denver. Buffalo was favored.

Now they're slight underdogs. And it feels like a crossroads game for Josh Allen. I do believe he's the best quarterback in the league. Obviously, he's not going to win the MVP. That'll be Stafford or Drake May. But Josh Allen has the ability to put a team on his back, win the game with his legs, or with his arms, and carry Buffalo to greatness. A lot of people, myself included, had Buffalo winning the Super Bowl this year.

Can Josh Allen pull that off? And it's kind of a big deal because you look at this roster and I don't want to scare anybody in Buffalo. But let's be real. They got eight of their 22 starters or free agents. We're talking pivotal guys in the trenches, starting linebacker. Folks, this is a crossroads game. I do want to point out Josh Allen turns 30 in a few months. I know he doesn't miss starts because he's a cyborg and you can't.

You can't hurt Josh Allen. He's getting banged up. And to draw parallel to another big strapping quarterback who won an MVP and one with his arm and one with his legs, Cam Newton. Go look up what happened to him at 30. Gets hurt? That's a wrap. It was basically over for him. These big quarterbacks who take a pounding, they're not meant to be 15-year franchise quarterbacks.

They don't last. I mean, you look at Lamar Jackson. A guy's had an amazing career running the football. Now he's really banged up. and you don't know what the future holds for Lamar Jackson, who's 29. You look at Joe Burrow. It's a guy who got to the Super Bowl in year two. Then the AFC championship can't get back to the playoffs.

And I do believe that if Buffalo doesn't break through Denver here, folks, we could be looking at them being the next team that pull back in the AFC, similar to Kansas City, similar to Baltimore, similar to Cincinnati. I saw that of the final eight quarterbacks, right, left in the playoffs. Josh Allen and Matt Stafford are the only two with cap hits in the top 15 in the league. Paying your quarterback, what he's worth, and exorbitant sum makes it difficult to build around him. And you go look at that receiving core, folks, going into this game against Denver. They got three healthy wide receivers going up against an elite secondary led by Patrick Sertan. You go look at all the matchups in this Denver Buffalo showdown. Folks, Buffalo has him in one spot.

That's it. And that's Josh Allen. argue James Cook, but the Denver run defense is so good that Cook could have some problems. I think Denver gave up one 100-yard rusher all season, Jonathan Taylor. So now it's basically Josh Cook against the world, and I'm trying to draw parallels. I keep coming back to early LeBron in Cleveland when he was surrounded by, you know, I don't want to, is Z. Elgouschus and Moe Williams and Antoine James. And it's like, LeBron basically took the weakest supporting cast in the NBA history.

to the finals. They had no business being there and they got smoked. Essentially, that's what Josh Allen is working with. I know people like Kincaid and they like Dawson Knox, but this is just not a really well-rounded football team. And Buffalo's in trouble. So I do believe if they don't get through to the Super Bowl this year, that that window's closed. And I know that's going to hurt Buffalo fans. We got our superstar quarterback. Just look at the quarterback injuries. Allen's not going to be able to stay upright forever. And I called this about Detroit. last year and everybody's, oh, you're crazy. Detroit's loaded. They didn't make the playoffs.

And it looks like it's a major uphill climb. They don't have an offensive coordinator. The defense is a mess. It's tough to stay on top for a long time in the NFL. Look at Rachel's Washington commanders. Last year, NSC championship game with Jaden Daniels. Yeah, we're here. We're good. A year later, Daniels is hurt. Cliff Kingsbury's out. The D.C.'s out.

And Dan Quinn's fighting for his job. Like, these things happen quick. And I don't want to get too excited for anybody in the A. but Fernando Mendoza is going to come into the Raiders and he's going to be successful. Okay. We've seen young quarterbacks turning around. You remember what the Patriots were a year ago? Look at them now.

Liam Cohen and Jacksonville, they're a 13-win team. The AFC is so ridiculously loaded. Maybe even my jets will figure it out at some point. Ha-ha. They obviously won't. But like, it is very challenging right now. I mean, CJ Strouds on his rookie deal, the Texans seemingly every year are in the division. round. So I do believe

Josh Allen needs to get the dub here. I don't know if he can do it himself. And Rachel, I'm not going to lie. I think Josh Allen is the guy I'm most focused on heading into this weekend's games. He's the most talented player on the field, right? And when it feels like a wash and what are they? Bills are one point

underdogs right now. I mean, it's flipped back and forth so many times. You go with the most talented guy in the field. Obviously, the altitude home crowd that fits into it. But I don't know, man. I feel like the bills are good at everything. that the Broncos aren't. Oh, it's a spicy take.

All right. You're going Josh Allen? Yeah, I'm going to go to us in this one. All right, I'm actually with her, but I don't feel great about it. All right, coming up next. Listen, hey, Philadelphia's got a problem, but is it a coaching problem, a quarterback problem, a wide receiver problem? That's next year on the herd.

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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. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Back here on the herd, top of next hour, we will rank the remaining quarterbacks in the NFL playoffs. I say we, but it's me. I don't want to attach Rachel to this hot take that's going to tick off a lot of people. We got some fun stuff coming up. I know Rachel loves this next story. Oh, my God. We will do the Eagles drama a little later in the hour. But this next story, folks, is starting to become a thing.

I think it's going to be the dominant storyline this weekend. So Caleb Williams and. Ben Johnson, they're working some magic right now. We know that. Okay. They're luck boxing their way into a billion victories, some fourth quarter heroics. Bears fans, don't get upset at the word luck. That's just the reality. You were getting smashed against the Packers twice and needed to get bailed out with some heroic fourth quarter stuff from Caleb Williams, okay? But all this has led to some beef, simmering beef. And as like Rachel likes to call it, it's like NBA pettiness. You know, there's a lot of NBA pettiness out there.

There isn't as much in the NFL, but we saw it with Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur. So there was some trash talk during the season. Ben Johnson initiated it if we're being clear. He started it with I don't like the Packers. Why did he start it? Because when you get hired, you know that the number one rival of the Bears is the Packers. So I'm going to lean in.

I'm going to be like, fans, ride with me. We hate those guys. Okay, you're seeing a lot of this in politics now. You're either with us or you're against us, but it's all hate and divisiveness and partisanship. And we're seeing that with Ben Johnson. He's rankling some people the wrong way. So I don't know if we actually have the clip of the handshake at the end of the game,

but it was tense. Ben Johnson was given like basically a middle finger to him at the midfield. Lafleur was classy about it. And then afterwards, in the locker room, Caleb Williams with a couple F-bomb, not Caleb, sorry, Ben Johnson, a couple F-bombs about the Packers and hating them. So now here's Ben Johnson and what he said a couple days. after the playoff with. There's a rivalry that exists

between these two teams, something that I fully recognize and I'm a part of. And yeah, I mean, there's some, I just, I don't like that team. So George and I have talked and we're on the same page. Now, I don't know what, I don't like

that team. None of the reporters pressed him. It's like, why? Do you have a legitimate beef with them? Does it date back to Detroit? There's the handshake you see on the screen. Just the classic run by. Look at that. Just drive But yeah, I'm sure he was muttering something under his breath. LaFleur didn't like it. Hey, you know who else didn't like it?

LaFleur's buddy. Mr. Sean McVeigh. Yes. How about this, folks? Dating back to the 2012 Washington at the time they were the Redskins, now they're the commanders. So 2012, this is the all-time great coaching staff, right? So Mike Shanahan is the Don, the veteran coach.

But he had his son, Kyle, on staff. And listen to who else was on the same? staff. So it was Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur, Mike McDaniel, Sean McVeigh. They made their chops that season with RG3 doing some incredible stuff as a rookie. They ended up losing to Seattle in a memorable playoff game. I had Seattle in that one. RG3 got hurt. It was one of those. He was already injured and then he tweaked a leg. It was really bad. And they all went downhill from there. But it didn't matter. That staff made an impact. And I think a book was written about it by Mike Silver, how that crew kind of got together and they are now part of the Shanahan coaching tree.

They've all branched off and had varying levels of success. Kyle Shanahan is an elite coach. I don't care. What people want to say, you go to Super Bowls, you're elite. Okay? We know McVeves, been to two Super Bowls. He won one. Mike McDaniel didn't quite break through yet, but he did get the genius tag, I think,

when he hung 70 on the Broncos a couple years ago. And then there's the floor who's won a lot of games in the regular season, hasn't broken through in the playoffs. Those guys are a crew, okay? Some of you who follow tech have heard of the PayPal Mafia, right? Peter Thiel, Elon Musk. You got this famous crew who got together. They were all on PayPal.

They made a ton of money. They're all, you know, Masters of the Universe, billionaires. There is like a Shanahan clan thing now that's becoming a thing. These guys are a crew, a posse. When you see them at the owner's meetings, they're all kind of young and cooler and hip. And they get, they're a crew. Well, Ben Johnson, and I'm guessing here, but Ben Johnson's probably a little sick and tired of hearing about this Shanahan Posse. Oh, those guys are good?

Well, really? Look what I did in Detroit. I took Detroit and that offense from nothing, and we were on the doorstep of the Super Bowl. We were right there. Like, I've done a lot. Why do I keep having to hear about LaFleur and Shanahan and McDaniel and McVeigh? Screw those guys. Well, it's pretty clear that Word has gotten around the Shanahan crew.

that hey this ben johnson guy he's kind of a i don't want to say that word on tv here's mcvay when asked about it this week what would you guess no you know what um we we watched the tape we do our work and uh you know matt is a very close friend of mine if you're listening on the radio macvay he's a close friend of mine with a smirk and nod okay so i'm gonna guess that lefleur call went something like, yo, can you work them this weekend? Can you drop a 50 burger on them? And it's kind of like, listen, man, you got

to worry about, you know, I say a lot in this industry of sports media. It's less about what you know and more about who you know, and you kind of got to get in with the right people. One of our staffers had a great analogy. He's like, are you a Star Wars fan, J. Mack? I was like, of course. Like, Ben Johnson, you could argue

he's Anakin Skywalker. He was the chosen one. He was supposed to to lead the Jedi's and he went to the dark side. Now, I don't know that Ben Johnson's gone full Anakin yet, but he's pretty clearly alienating himself on an island. And you know no man is an island. You cannot win that way long term. When you're winning and running hot, they love you. You're a genius. You've built culture. And right now, Ben Johnson's got all of that. Well, you know who else had that, right? Mike McDaniel had that in Miami. Oh, Mike McDaniel, offense. Look at this. Wow, he got to the playoffs with two or two of a two of a two of a two

and Brian Flores ate each other. What's going on here? McDaniel's a genius. We get this tag a lot. Zach Taylor goes to the Super Bowl year two. Well, there's a McVeigh guy. Come on. This guy should be out of a job.

I don't know how he's still coaching the bagels. But Ben Johnson has basically set it to the league. I don't care. I don't need nobody. I'll take all of you all on. You know, I remember a couple of my buddies, you have a couple too many to drink in college. You get into it, say something to the wrong girl.

And next thing you know, you got five guys. I'm like, I'll fight all of you guys. Not smart. And I feel like Ben Johnson may be picking a bad battle here. But we'll see this weekend. I can't wait for the drama. Let's go to Rachel with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. The story makes me smile, Jason. I'm not going to lie. As a commander's fan, obviously, Washington, you know, you have a rich history with them. Oh, yeah, no, I'm talking about the Dodgers story I'm about to talk about. Although don't forget about your last one. Michael Flore, I mean, you know that he's a lot of,

He's the offensive coordinator for the Rams. Yes. So there's beef all over the place. Anyway, all right. Let's talk about the story making me smile right now. The Dodgers and right fielder Kyle Tucker agreeing to a four-year, $240 million deal. Tucker, one of the most sought after free agents this off season. The rest of baseball, Jason, up in arms.

As the Dodgers had another expensive bat to the lineup, what is your take on this? Jeez. Listen, I'm of the belief, like, these are the rules. There's no salary cap. Spend whatever you want. Go get everybody. And the Dodgers are doing that. And I'm surprised personally that the rest of the league is not annoyed.

In the NBA, you know this. When teams get dynasties and the small markets start losing their guys, they all band together and push back. And like, I'm surprised baseball is just cool with this. Look at this roster. This is insane. Well, the other teams aren't cool with it. Baseball might be cool with it.

But there's definitely been grumbling. That's my point. This is another round of, oh, the Dodgers are just buying. their way to a title. And, you know, look, my take is the same as yours, right? It's in the rules. Yeah. Obviously, I'm a little biased.

You're a Dodgers saying yes. But also, by the way, Mark Walter, who owns the Dodgers, not the richest man in baseball. Who's the richest guy? Do we know? Steve Cohen, from the Mets. Oh, yeah. They tried that last year. In fact, in fact, Steve Cohen's net worth is three times that of Mark Walters.

Now, I'm not, I don't count people's, other people's money, unless you're a billionaire because, you know. Yeah. Were they bidding for Tucker the Mets? They were in the running. Yeah. What are you going to do? You tried, right? Like, would Tucker want to go to the Mets who, you know, aren't great?

Or the Dodgers who are a potential dynasty? Yeah, Mets, Blue Jays, I think were in the mix for Tucker. I mean, look, he's had some injuries, right? There's some questions about that. There's a couple opt-outs in this deal, which is unusual. People expected him to go for like a 10, 11-year deal. Security instead, you know, with his injury history, especially. Instead, he went for this sort of shorter-term blockbuster deal.

bet on himself a little bit and the Dodgers betting on him also I mean they've had a great offseason So did the Blue Jay's done much Is it going to be competitive this year at all? Who would be the second best team to the Dodgers? Who are you asking me? It's not going to be competitive at all. Come on, man.

I don't know. I mean, Star Power and Dynasties really work in sports. You either hate the Dodgers or you love them right now. Well, here's what I like about the way this has been going is that, I mean, in addition to, of course, the wins. But the idea that Mark Walter is investing back in the team. They have made so much money off of Shohei Otani and all of the endorsements and sales and merchandise and everything that's come in. They've not only already made back

Otani's salary, it is allowing them to do things like this because he's putting all of that money back into the team. People around him say that he's basically looking at, hey, this team is hot. Why would you not invest and back them all the way? Because it's not always going to be like this. There's a lockout or a strike coming in baseball down the road possibly. I mean, I mean, there's an idea of this team is so good. You throw everything at it and you deal with the consequences later. And we've criticized, right? The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't do that with LeBron.

You know, the Warriors right now aren't doing that with Steph Curry. There are teams and people like Shohei Otani where you got him, you throw every single dollar you have. Do you think there will be a salary cap in baseball eventually or no? I don't think so. That's got, listen, the worst teams are just bottom feeders. almost serving as AAA clubs for the elites, right? And the rich teams that want to spend?

Again, not the right person to complain to. Yeah. Must be good, Rachel. Nice. There you go. Look, I mean, you know, as I said, I grew up a wizard's fan. I'm going to take it where I can get it. Jeez. Yeah.

Let's move on. Patrick Mahomes suffered that brutal knee injury in week 15, but he is feeling good about his rehab so far. The Chief's quarterback says he's attacking the process. Jason, he says he's excited about it. Listen. I want to be ready for week one. I've doctor said that I could be, but I can't predict what's going to happen throughout the process.

But that's my goal. And so I'll try to prepare myself to be ready to play in that week one and have no restrictions. You know, you want to be out there healthy and giving us the best chance to win. And so obviously, hopefully be able to do some stuff in OTAs and get to training camp and hopefully be able to do a lot there. So I'm excited for the process. It's a long process, but I'm excited for it. I love that last couple sentences, right? He's excited for the process.

He's only, it didn't seem so much as like, oh, athletes speak, he is clearly treating this as he would the season. What's the week one progress? What's the week two progress? I'm excited about it. He's kind of looking at this as its own season before he gets to, as he said.

He wants to come back week one. What do you think about that? No shot. No way. Why did you rush back? He's young. Is that rushing, though? I mean, an ACL?

You think you give that quick turnaround? I mean, nine months is sort of the ballpark for an ACL. Some go longer, some go shorter. So he got injured on December 14th. Okay. So that's September 14th. He got quick surgery. Yeah, if you're going for the nine months. I mean, the season starts September 10th and they're not going to be the opening game.

So I don't know. I don't think it's so crazy. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but it is roughly the nine months more. Yeah, I would err on the side of caution. I mean, he's got a long career ahead of him. Now, I don't know the recurrence of ACL injuries after you get one. But I'm more worried about the team. Like, what are they going to look like? I saw a PFF wrote an article like, the roster is going to be better.

I'm like, how? All they're doing is losing people. Well, I mean, look, with Mahomes out, it gives them a chance to really evaluate how much is him covering for everyone else and where do they need to improve, right? Yeah, where's Travis Kelsey? Is he coming back? Still contemplating. Oh, he's planning a wedding. He's planning a wedding.

He's planning a big wedding. I mean, Rishie Rice stays in the news. We're not going to talk about that. The running back situation is garbage, the offensive line. They got a lot. I know, we know what Mahomes are going to do when he's back. Yeah. But to my point earlier about Josh Allen, it's like, you think Josh Allen's indestructible.

I mean, we thought Mahomes was indestructible. He's just a warrior. He plays through everything. And now he's hurting out nine months? Like, is he going to be what he was before, like physically running? Because that was one of his big wins, just being able to elude defenders in the pocket. Like, it's not foolproof. But if you start your team with one of the best quarterbacks, you automatically have an advantage in the NFL.

Do you remember? I think you were here. I was here. you were like, the Chiefs aren't making the playoffs. The Chiefs aren't making the playoffs. And I was like, come on, man. I don't think they're making the Super Bowl, but they've got to have to make the playoffs.

And I told me a Copeland. You were 100% correct. I got a little fortunate. They happen to lose every close game. But I want to see what they do with the roster because I'm running to double down. I don't, you see the AFC Ridge. It's loaded. Yeah.

I don't know what the Chiefs are getting back to the playoffs next year. Seriously. Oh, man. Again. Again. We'll see. I mean, I think Lamar has an uphill climb as well. I want to see the rosters where we have. actually go in on opening day before I start arguing with you over that.

Let's talk about the Chargers too. They fired O.C. Greg Roman after that 16-3 beating in the wildcard round. Jim Harbaugh said it was a tough decision to make, but one he had to do to get the offense going in the right direction. Take a listen. We as an organization need to need a fresh start, stimulate a new direction. Justin's talent, Justin's ability, you know, I have no questions about that. all the way and yeah it's our responsibility to to get up to his level and that's we are continually striving to do that this was a big deal for Jim Harbaugh because Greg Roman

has been with him stop after stop this is someone he was very close to but the numbers of the numbers Jason 12 points total in the two wildcard games since Roman has been the coordinator in fact not only was it only points in this game, only one touchdown in those two games. And the touchdown was 86 yards. So it was just, you know, a throw. You have to look, though, there's other OC jobs around the league. Do you think, where do you think this Chargers job ranks in terms of what the, what the best sort of openings are?

Well, it's funny. Want me to read them to you? Once you said Roman was with Harbaugh. So he was with him at Stanford, with him with the Niners. Yes. Then went to John Harbaugh in both. Oh, my gosh, that's devastating. Roman could still get a job with the Giants.

I don't think is the O.C. But as some sort of coach. That is tough. Family friend, obviously. Close. So offensive. This is a great job. So it's interesting.

You could either hire like a hot shot up-and-coming dude. Right. Or you could be like, hey, Mike McDaniel. Why don't you come here? Get us a couple of playoffs wins. Do you work your magic? Brian Daibel or McDaniel would rehab have their image instantly with Justin Herbert, right? You think McDaniel needs to rehab his image?

I mean, I personally think he should take the Atlanta job, but he came off like he can't come in, you know, the can't come into locker room, not a former player, that kind of nonsense. We'll talk about that a little later in the show. I like McDaniel a lot. What about Cliff Kingsbury? Yeah, I mean, look, I want to read you the open jobs, though, because I want you say if you are like where you take this, right,

if you're one of these guys. So you've got the Bucks, obviously Baker Mayfield, the Chargers, we know Herbert Eagles, Jalen Hertz, another discussion about him in the meeting this morning. Lions Jared Goff and the Raiders, of course, will get that draft pick. Oh, that's tough. Because the golf job is good. Goff job is good.

I guess I would go Herbert. Would you? Okay, that's the thing. When you fire your whoever you have, whatever kind of coach you have for the job, you have to think about, am I going to get someone better, right? How attractive is this job? I think it's pretty attractive. So your chances of getting someone better are pretty high.

So the only problem with the Eagles job is Siriani, if they flop next year, he's gone and you're toast. And then you're out. So I don't think Harbaugh is going anywhere. They love him. Yeah. I think the Herber job, probably the best O-C job out there, right? Yeah, well, we'll see. All right, Rachel, with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. All right, Philadelphia, I can't tell if it's a coaching problem or a star problem. We'll address that next year on The Herd. 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, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there.

But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, 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, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's

telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody

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Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from a million dollar fraud, but with two kings from a huge, entirely different worlds. Just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Tomorrow on Fox, after dethroning the defending champs, Christian McCaffrey leaves the Niners against Sam. Darnold and the top-seated Seahawks. The divisional round playoffs, presented by Inuit Turbotex, tomorrow,

7.30 Eastern, 430 Pacifics on Fox. Big game. Bang, bang, Niners gang. I'm out of a Niners fan now, guys. I don't know. It's a Brock Purdy thing. Interestingly, Niners took down the Eagles last weekend, and I was way wrong about that.

I lost money on the Eagles. I had Eagles futures. I thought they could go back to back. They win the Super Bowl last year. That victory over the Chiefs, I'm still beaming from the smashing of Kansas City. But the Eagles are at a weird spot, man. This is so wacky. I don't really know what to make of it.

So I'm sure you guys saw Eagles, Niners on the sideline. There was an incident with like 12 guys on the field. A.J. Brown and Siriani kind of sort of get into a dust up. Here it is. We got video of it. You see A.J. Brown. And then you see, is that big Dom separating A.J. Brown? You don't separate him if they're having a discussion.

And then, you know, Siriani comes back like, I'm not done with you. And it's like, that is not healthy. This is a toxic relationship. Look at that. A.J. Brown practically getting in his face. That's not good. Now, that was kind of an underplayed story, but the media was asking about it this week. So Howie Roseman, widely consider one of the top three GMs in the league.

Okay. Howie Roseman took to the mic, and here's what he had to say. It is hard to find great players in the NFL. And AJ is a great player. I think from my perspective, that's what we're going out and looking for. When we go out here in Free Agency and the draft, is trying to find great players who love football. And he's that guy.

All right, I'm going to turn back the clock a little bit. So when Chip Kelly got to the Eagles, he got in beef with Howie Roseman. And I'll never forget it because at the time I was writing for this website that I created. And I was all in Team Chip Kelly. I saw what he did at Oregon. What does Howie Roseman know? What, come on. I think even Chip Kelly, I don't know if he's quoted as saying it,

but he's like, that's not a football guy. He, like, moved Howie Rosen's office out of the football building. It was ugly. And I was team Chip Kelly. I was wrong, way wrong. Howie Roseman has done a phenomenal job building the Eagles the last five years. And I read a quote this week, the willingness to change your mind is the ultimate sign of intelligence.

Yes, I'm saying, you know what, that's, I'm willing to do that. A lot of people are wedded to their opinions, and they're not coming off of. Hey, I see this. I don't care what you say. That's what I see. No, you got to be smarter than that and change your opinion. I've changed my opinion on A.J. Brown.

When the Eagles traded for him, when they got him, I was like, this is amazing. He's the greatest thing ever. They go to the Super Bowl, lose to the Chiefs in a great game. Jalen Hurts was phenomenal. They nearly pulled that off. They get to another Super Bowl and win it with it. So, A.J. Brown's in Philly. They go to two Super Bowls.

What's not to love? The relationship has gone sour. I'm now officially done. And then people are saying, well, is it an AJ Brown problem or is it a coaching problem? And that's kind of an interesting one because, you know, when things are running hot, like with Ben Johnson in Chicago, everything's fine, everybody's happy. Kumbaya, this is wonderful. Remember in training camp for the Bears? Things were not awesome.

DJ Moore was unhappy. Caleb and Ben, there was friction. It was tough. They got through it. Everything's fine. Now they're winning. Everything's amazing. So the Eagles get upset by the Niners.

And the finger pointing is beginning. A.J. Brown's a problem. Get him out. Well, they don't have an O.C. Well, that's because Jalen Hertz can't do. Jalen Hertz. You're the problem. What about Siriani?

How is he somehow escaping blame for this? One of the big problems in Philly, I believe, is the offensive coordinator situation. five offensive coordinators in six years. How is that sustainable? You cannot win consistently when you're changing your offensive playbook every year. Now, two of them were home run. Shane Steichen, who's with the Colts now, and Kellynne Moore, who was the guy last year when they won the Super Bowl,

and Kellyn Moore had a pretty good year, beat all Vegas numbers for the Saints. They finished strong. They feel good about their team. The ones that didn't work, this year's guy, the guy in between Moore Stuyken, I think Brian Johnson was his name. Those were terrible.

Those guys are not going to be play callers anytime soon. So what is the issue? And I started looking at, you know, the situation for A.J. Brown. I'm like, oh, AJ Brown turns 29 here this summer. Hmm. Okay. Let me take a look at the free agent wide receivers. Oh, there are some good ones out there.

Mike Evans? I doubt he'd leave Tampa, but, hey, you want to play for a contender? You want to try to win your division? Rashid Shahid? Can you, can Rashid give you 65% of AJ Brown? And oh, by the way, he plays special teams. Shaheed has been pretty damn good for the Seahawks. Hollywood Brown, don't love him, always hurt.

This guy, like Joanne Jennings. Eagles know him pretty well, just threw a touchdown pass against him. And then Wondale Robinson, young guy for the Giants. Not an amazing group. AJ Brown's better than all of them. But AJ Brown is clearly toxic in the locker room. Does he have beef with Hertz? Hertz is saying the right things.

He clearly has beef with Siriani. He's reading books on the sideline. I think the Eagles have an A.J. Brown problem and a Siriani problem. Free solution. You trade A.J. Brown, you get whatever the hell you can. I like what Howie Roseman said. I was very political about it about how, hey, he's a great player. It's tough to find great players.

Come on. Seahawks draft J.S.N. And in a year? Literally, one year, they trade D.K. Metcalfe. JSN's their number one, and he's like a top two receiver in the league. He might went off at the player of the year. Like, you can find receivers. So here's my pie in the sky for Eagles.

Quick solution. Rachel, you can weigh in. You may not like this. I would get off AJ Brown, draft a receiver, find somebody a free agency. If that doesn't fix things, I'm booting Siriani next year, and here's my target. Are you ready, Rachel? My guy, Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame. So I know everybody loves Marcus Freeman.

They quietly change some things. They're now accepting regular transfers, not just grad transfers. Brian Kelly tried that. They wouldn't let him. They're doing that for Freeman because they know he's in high demand. Freeman's got a stud quarterback, CJ Carr, Lloyd Carr's grandson. And I think if they win the title or go to the playoff, there's a chance Freeman leaves and goes to the NFL.

That would be my belief. Give him one more year. I don't think Siriani's long for Philly. I think the fans are out on him. I don't know. Has he lost the locker room? He won a Super Bowl a year ago. What have you done for me lately? What is wrong with professional sports right now?

We are getting rid of coaches like they are Kleenex throwing out in the trash can. If you don't have that stability, you were just talking about it with the offensive coordinator. If you don't have that stability in the building and that voice over and over again, you are going to have problems. And you establish a culture where everyone is in and out the door in a year or two, Players don't know who they can trust. I just, I think this, in professional sports, in the NFL,

certainly we saw it this year, how many head coaching openings have we had? And it makes the guys like Mike Tomlin. It makes the guys like John Harbaugh, who was with that team for 18 years, more rare and special because they were able to be there for so long. So the counter for Tomlin would be, yes, great coach. The last seven playoff games, they got crushed.

Like, do we need to change things? Or Tomlin stepped down, so it's not like they shut them out. And you're right. probably a little irrational after just two years post-super. No, last year. He won the Super Bowl last year. I'm saying after next year if he flies.

Wait, you are already firing him for the job you think he's going to do next year, even though he only won the Super Bowl last year. So, Rachel, if he hits the market, do you think Nick Siriani is like instantly getting a job? Yeah, probably. A head coaching job? Yes, because in this league, there seems like there's 10 head coaching openings. Every year. Every year.

So, yeah, is some team that has not had success in a very long time going to be able? oh, this guy won a Super Bowl two years ago. Yeah. Yes, but I just, I hate seeing this. We see it in the NBA too. We see it in a bunch of other sports right now. I just, I don't get it. The coach is supposed to be the stable one.

You could be honest. You want him to stay because he's not a good coach and you like Washington. Dan Quinn could be on the go next year. Hey, you get rid of both coordinators. Now, you have some news on the Harbaugh situation with the Giants. We're expecting it to be locked down, but. Yes, well, Adam Schaefter tweeting, the Giants and John Harbar

still working through the details of their contract not done yet. We did expect it to be kind of a big announcement, be done yet. Schefter says the final issues aren't over money, it's over language, and that a source told them there's no derailments, the talks just continue. I thought that was interesting only

because over language can mean a lot of things. Once you are sort of set, you're going to get paid a tremendous amount of money. It's probably not about the money. You're going to pay $1 million less, one million more, whatever. But is this about control over some of the roster? Is this language about, I mean, what is the language about? Obviously, we don't know yet.

But whether this is a big deal or not or a big stumbling block or not, we'll have to see. Because over language kind of sounds like, ah, it's just, you know, crossing T's and dotting eyes. Over language is usually the hardest part of a contract once you've sort of got big money already. I will say I did find it weird. And again, I don't know which reporters are plugged in. You know they get their stuff. You know how this game works. So early in the week, it was like,

Harbaugh is going to take his time talking to all these people. And then within like two days, John Harbaugh in Washington, and I was like, New York Giants. And I was like, that was fast. What happened? And I wonder if this is the Giants thinking they got him. And they rush it out to every reporter. And now, are we sure this is buttoned up?

I don't know. I think it's good faith on both sides. I think they genuinely thought they got him. But Harbaugh is in a great bargaining position now, Especially now that this news is kind of leaked out that it's all but done, right? Because the Giants can't afford to have him walk away. You know, they did a great job the Giants, putting the full core press on Harbaugh. You know, they had the ownership there.

They had him talk to Tom Coughlin. Even Brian Daibble said, I recommend the Giants as a place to work. That was odd. So, you know, they knew they wanted this guy. I think he's going to be great for the organization. They need that stability. I think the ownership is strong. And that was one of Harbaugh's main sort of objectives.

this defined strong ownership and a quarterback he believes in. And apparently Jackson Dart sat down with him as well. So they all sat down with him over language. We'll have to see what that means. By the way, I saw a fun stat that no coach who has won a Super Bowl with one team has gone on to win with the second team. So Giants fans all excited. Hasn't happen.

Maybe John Harbaugh is the first. All right. Coming up next. Oh boy, next hour, I'm very fired up about this. We're ranking the quarterbacks on divisional weekend. We'll go eight to one. You probably know who one is, but three through eight. 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.

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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 Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know.

I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She can win. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any sense.

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