The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 1 - The NFL is back, Jerry Jones is to blame for the Cowboys problems, Caleb Williams may have the right coach

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

Colin looks at the start of the NFL season between the Cowboys and the Eagles and why Jerry Jones is to blame for Dallas falling off that last 30 years compared to the perennial contenders in Philadelphia It's looking like Bears QB Caleb Williams is finally starting to be coached the correct way The ratings for the Texas-Ohio State game are out and it debunks the fear of change in college footballSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hiring. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the I Heart

radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. so let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter.

Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Crimless, Rory and I welcome a very special guest. When I would do it a podcast, I wear my sleep mask. I like where this is going. So if you guys will indulge me. That's right, the incredibly talented and hilarious Will Ferrell on an episode dedicated to crimes committed by people named Will Ferrell.

You're good for 300 crimes? Yeah. We've got two. I'm ready to go right up to present day. Listen to Crimless on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern 9 a.m. to noon Pacific.

Find your local station for The Herd at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching. Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. NFL season starts tonight. Eagles about to hammer the Cowboys in several hours. Greg CoSell, one hour from now.

We are live in Los Angeles. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of the herd. Okay, J-MAC season starts. tonight one hour. I'll give you my final predictions for all the divisions. Not a lot of move. I did make one move. I have a new division winner coming up, but some alarms sounding in Dallas with the Cowboys. Little alarm. Some alarms going off. The thing about the NFL, if you had to define what the most important stuff in the NFL is, it's really, are you focused and upset

with winning. You can make a lot of mistakes. Hire the wrong person, fire the wrong person. Are you obsessed with winning over everything else and never allow anything to get in the way of that? Tom Brady famously would not drink a single beer during the season. Bill Belichick's mantra, no days off. Andy Reed, drawing up plays off season. He's not on hunting trip.

He's not on fishing trips. He is all offseason, as is Sean Payton, drawing up and designing new plays. Going to YouTube. Look at up 95 Rose Bowl tapes to draw up plays, obsessed with winning. And yet Troy Aitman finally saying it, the former cowboy great, finally admitting it, that Jerry is not obsessed with winning. having the Cowboys as a discussion point is meaningful to him. And if people aren't talking about the Cowboys,

then he'll do things to stir it up. So he kind of walked into that and has given the impression that that supersedes winning. In the NFL, the good teams, if they sniff selfish, if they sniff anything that's not completely, about the obsession to win Antonio Brown was to me the most talented receiver arguably in the league. Steelers got him out of the room.

Got him out of the room. Tom Brady, got him out of the room. Actually, at his house, the room. Sean Payton goes to Denver. Russell Wilson has his own quarterback office. He sniffs, it's more about Russ than the team. Whether that's fair or not, that office is gone. Day one, Russell's gone year two. Cam Newton distracted.

No back-to-back winning seasons ever despite his talent. Ended very quickly. If anything gets in the way. And with Jerry, finally, Troy Aikman and others admitting it, Jerry's selfish and he's not obsessed with winning. It's about his vanity. It's about his drama. He puts it ahead of the team.

How about that article a year ago where cowboy players, former cowboy players came out and acknowledged, it was distracting to have tours. during practice at the facility. So Belichick said, do your job in Dallas, it's wave to the tours. That's not about winning. You can do a lot wrong.

I mean, Eagles signed Carson Wentz to a massive deal. Got rid of him soon thereafter. But they're obsessed with it. Howie Rosemann's obsessed with it. And I think what happens is when you have a distracted owner and an owner that lacks discipline in the workplaces that I've worked. It always bleeds down.

Who's the most penalized team in the NFL the last five years? The Dallas Cowboys. They're not focused, they're not disciplined, and they're not obsessed with winning. And what makes it worse is the one team more than any other in this league I could argue as obsessed with winning

is the Philadelphia Eagles. If you go to the Cowboys' last Super Bowl appearance, 1996, from that day to today, the Eagles have 20 playoff wins, the Cowboys have five, the Eagles have eight conference championship appearances, the Cowboys have zero, the Eagles have four Super Bowl appearances, and the Cowboys have, again, zero.

That's since the Cowboys' last Super Bowl title. Do you know every team in the NFC, every single team in the NFC in the last 30 years has reached the conference championship, except the biggest brand of Dallas Cowboys? And it goes back to lack of discipline. they are not obsessed with winning. Jay Glazer has said this.

It's almost unhealthy. The great ones in this league, the Belichicks and the Brady's and the Peyton Mannings and the Mahomes and the Andy Reads and the Sean Patens, the Harbaas. It's almost unhealthy. It is more important than almost everything else in their life. More Troy Aitman on Jerry. I'm sure that Jerry and the Jones family and everyone is tired of talking about. about the fact that they haven't been to a championship game, let alone a Super Bowl in 30 years,

the fact that the Cowboys are a soap opera 365 days a year, that then becomes the scoreboard. Yeah. Hey, Philadelphia can become noisy, too. I'm not saying Philadelphia is not noisy. I mean, they've got a coach going after fans, going after staff. I'm not saying Philadelphia is not noisy, but you always know what matters in Philadelphia above everything.

Double U's. It's not the case for the Cowboys and Jerry. So I'm reading an article in the Chicago Sun Times. That's one of the six newspapers still left in America. And it's interesting they're talking about Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson. And the opening line by this reporter is, The Moore Bears quarterback Caleb Williams explains how much he's learned from the new coach Ben Johnson. in the last seven plus months,

the clear it is how little he was taught as a rookie. An off-season and pre-season with Ben Johnson has been like grad school for Caleb Williams. That will continue for the rest of the season, if not longer, heading into the Opener Monday against the Vikings. So we were talking about this this morning. We've all had bad bosses. I've been very, very lucky.

I've had one. I've had overwhelmingly great supportive bosses and mentors. Very lucky, knock on wood, or whatever this new set is built from. I've had great bosses, but I had a bad one, and they make everything harder. They hinder momentum. Two steps forward, three back. And I think sometimes we all know there's really good coaches and really bad coaches.

We know there's really good owners and bad owners, really great quarterbacks and bad quarterbacks. I think the gap in coaching, the problem with it is it affects everybody. I mean, Caleb Williams last year as a rookie quarterback, essentially, let's be honest, sent into the wilderness without a compass. They gave him a couple of flashlights and a dark tunnel. Find your way. Bo Nix in Denver got human GPS, Sean Payton. He got a Sherpa climbing this mountain.

Caleb Williams, good luck. It's dark. Is that water? Is it a, is a, what do I see up there? That's the difference. The gap in coaching. if you go to the first quarterback taken since 2020 the last five years and this counts Caleb Bryce Young Trevor Lawrence Joe Burrow just to show you how hard it is for number

one picks and the pressure they're 12 and 47 and 1 okay and that includes Joe Burrow that that's a guy that got to a Super Bowl it is hard so I mean all you have to do is look at Sam Darnold with the Jets and the Panthers and then Sam Darnock with Kevin O'Connell, 35 touchdowns and a 102 pass already. Look at Gino Smith, career reborn, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold. It is so hard. So my hunch is with Caleb Williams, he is going to be the best version of Caleb Williams. And now, whatever that is in the NFL, if it's a notch below Jaden Daniels, that's okay.

This is a franchise that's never had a 4,000-yard passing quarterback. They've never had a quarterback throw for 30 touchdowns. So if he becomes an A-minus quarterback and Jaden Daniels is best in class, he becomes second or third best quarterback, it's still a franchise quarterback, but he'll be the best he can be. But anybody listening to me or watching me that has had a bad boss, they just get in the way of success. So Caleb Williams has a great drive, followed by bad coaching and a clunker.

And I just think there's such an advantage for a Jaden Daniels having a Clicksbury or a J.J. McCarthy having a Kevin O'D, Connell, a Bo Knicks having Sean Payton. For anybody that's had a bad boss, it is, and it's hard enough to scale Mount Kilimanjaro, even with a great Sherpa. So here is Albert Breer earlier this week on realistic expectations. Let's be realistic here.

It's a tough schedule for Caleb and the Bears. I think there is a world where you can get them over 500, but because of the division that they play in, it's a tough ask. And because of the schedule they have, again, it's a tough ask. Having to play the other North Division makes it difficult. So I would say, like, if I'm a Chicago fan, what I'm looking for is an ascending team at the end of the year with a quarterback who's playing well. I said, I'm being optimistic. I think they split their division games, which the Bears rarely do. I think they're 9 and 8.

I don't think that's overwrought, overhyped. Nine and eight, J. Mack feels about right to me. Again, if you put them in the AFC south of the NFC South, I think 11 and 6 is on the table. But Minnesota's roster is probably better. Green Bay by NFL executives and the NFC was just voted number two behind Philadelphia. Detroit's offensive line and offensive personnel is in a short class. you know, with the best teams in the league.

So I think 9 and 8 feels like, okay, we got the coach right, we got a franchise quarterback. That to me, in Chicago with their history, that feels very, very good to me. You and I have been doing this long enough. You don't make sweeping conclusions after week one. That being said,

if the Bears can't beat J.J. McCarthy at home and Caleb and Ben aren't on the same page, I would adjust that 9 and 8 down to like more 6, 7 wins. I mean, they have to win this game, Colin, or at least look good if they lose 30, 27. This isn't college football where Texas can stumble, but their next three games are basically versions of San Jose State. Yes. Like in the NFL, if you lose at home to a division rival, that can become a three-game skid.

And then you get the media in Chicago swirling. You're on a short week because you're playing Monday night football. And then there's panic. Oh, my gosh, here we go again. And I think Chicago is probably one of the teams that needs a win. in week one more than anyone else. That's a good point. Greg CoSell in one hour from now.

How good is it to have football back? Thursdays from this point. I barely prep. Drive in. I'm sitting eating breakfast in the car. It's easy street. We come back. We gave you a hint, a sniff of this yesterday.

You see that number for college football? It was significant, yes. That. and a thought on the Eagles heading into tonight. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's Ben, host of The Fifth Hour with Ben Mallor. It would mean a lot to have you join us on our weekly auditory journey.

You're asking what in God's name is the fifth hour? I'll tell you, it's a spinoff of the Ben Mallor show, a cult hit overnights on FSR. Why should you listen? Picture if you will a world when we chat with Kahn. Captains of Industry in media, sports and more every week. Explore some amazing facts about human nature and more. Listen to The Fifth Hour with Ben Mather on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what?

We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's actually. Extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was...

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

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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 Ely 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. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad. But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea?

It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No. I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change. my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue.

Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier.

We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized. but we actually meet people in connection. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network

on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. You are now entering the no bull zone sponsored by credible. Great rates, none of the bull. Oh, so Texas, Ohio State. Remember a couple years ago? If I've learned anything, doing this job for 30-something years, here's what I've learned about human behavior.

Half this country is terrified of change. I was told I will never watch college football again. This NIL, might as well just watch pro football. The transfer portal. I mean, what's going on? I mean, one day the guy plays for Michigan, the next day plays for Notre Dame. it was going to ruin the sport. Yeah, the college football playoff was going to kill rivalries.

Well, the ratings are in for Texas, Ohio State. 17 million viewers, most watched college football game in the history of the sport. Oh, and let me add this in 2023, about the time the NIL and transfer portal started ramping up, it was the most watched college football season ever. 2024 topped it. This season topped the previous. too. The sport is growing. It's just like everybody's terrified of AI. Let me make a guarantee about AI. It'll get rid of some base bottom line entry jobs in like, you know, mathematics and coding.

It will undoubtedly expand the economy. Like every single technology in the history of all of our lives, the economy will be noticeably bigger in a decade. And with the speed of AI, maybe half that long. So keep clutching your pearls as you step into your driverless car, but we're all going to be okay. This weekend, three top 10 matchups, and they were all riveting. Clemson, LSU, can't turn it off. Notre Dame Miami may have been the best game of the weekend. Ohio State, Texas. Even the clunker by Belichick was good for about two and a half quarters. It's all about quality of games, more big games. And yes, the Red Zone's going to be fine

with a couple of commercials. I've got a bladder. Apparently nobody else does. We're all going to be okay. We really are. It used to be Clemson's season. They lost at home? You're not playing for a natty.

Clemson reels off eight straight wins, six of them impressively. They're back into the playoff. Maybe as a top seed. Better content. Bigger swings. better games. The audience in college football is expanding since NIL, the transfer portal, and the college

football playoff, just like our economy will with AI. Maybe a little gravelly, a little bumpy, a little turbulent for 18 months. It will expand, take a deep breath. 17 million people. It wasn't even, frankly, that artistic. The offenses weren't very good. Ohio State only had 200 yards. Arch Manning, you get kind of stunk.

17 million people. I look forward to that first commercial on Red Zone. I'm going to toast it and then go to the bathroom two minutes later. J. Mack with the News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Heard Line News. All right.

Let's get started with Sunday night football, Colin. It is going to be an unbelievable matchup. Josh Allen, who won the MVP last year, and Lamar Jackson, who won it two years ago. Here's Josh Allen giving high praise to his counterpart, Lamar. You got Lamar Jackson, who's one of the greatest quarterbacks. Really, we can already say it of all time. Like, he's an absolute stud.

He's freakishly talented. He throws the ball just as good as anybody in the league. And, you know, he's a fun player to watch, and I got a lot of respect for him. That's a really good opener. I kind of like Baltimore on the road. Yeah, the ballpark the line's moving towards. Baltimore. The Buffalo defense looking like a bit of a mass unit. And you remember the regular

season matchup last year? They killed him. Baltimore beat them by a billion. Well, Baltimore, in my opinion, Baltimore's got the better roster and that Buffalo remains all these years later very dependent on Josh Allen. I've seen Baltimore on games in which Lamar is

not great in the regular season blow people out. So Buffalo feels more than any team in the league dependent. Their ultimate success is dependent solely on the quarterback. I mean, they've got a good left tackle and they've got a good back in James Cook. But they've, you know, they've moved off several defensive players once they've paid Josh Hound. They're a good drafting team. I don't know if they're great, but they're very good. But I think Baltimore's got, there's an argument after Philly, the best

roster in the sport. Yeah, and John Harbaugh, I think we said yesterday, number one coach against the spread in week one, always comes prepared. It's tough to go against the bills here. We've got some Lamar numbers for you. I was surprised that Josh said he's one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Oh, he's absolutely the best mobile quarterback of all time. I thought the first time I saw a mobile quarterback was Fran Tarkand, and second one I saw that I

couldn't believe was Steve Young. Third one was Michael Vic. Donovan McDamb could move, but he wasn't that athletic. He was just could do both things. Lamar is the most spectacular quarterback, and I'll go back to this. We can talk about playoffs all we want. I get it. He's won 75% of his starts. In a league where Bill

Parcells won like 58% of his games. Again, this is not a knock on Lamar, but he went to a great franchise. The Ravens are an amazing franchise. Great owner. Front office, topped in the league in the last I'm not denying that. But every

great quarterback ever, you'll notice this. Had a great coach. I mean, Aikman had Jimmy and Marino had Shula and Elway had Mike Shanahan. You know, you mentioned Mike Vic. I was a huge Mike Vic fan. We both went to for Chiefs. Mike's not as good as Lamar.

Not even close. But he went to the Atlanta Falcons of dysfunctional franchise where he carried them literally on his back for years. But let's be honest. And I agree in premise what you're saying. But when Lamar got hurt

and Huntley stepped in, remember the backup? Yeah, Snoop Huntley, yeah. Yeah, they couldn't score. All the great coaches and all the great O'Lignment and all the great, they couldn't score.

I mean, and again, yes, Lamar's a top 15 quarterback in the history of football? I think he is. I think that's fair. Yes. But again, like some other guys like Vic didn't really have the chance

because he didn't have a great. No, no. I think... Michael admitted he came in and he was immature. We have certain. No doubt. That's on Michael. He made a lot.

And I love Mike. Mike is the first to admit. I wasn't ready. I was distracted. Lamar came in obsessed. I mean, remember Lamar first year to second year? He came in with traps? Yeah.

How do you do that unless you're the rock? Who comes in with new traps? We're three summers removed from him and his mom squabbling as the agent. Well, his mom represents him. I know, but it was like a... That was the number one off-season story. That was like Micah Parsons for... Jerry Jones. He's got, you know, he doesn't trust, he doesn't trust a lot of people.

Nor do I. Let's move on to second story. And that is the Packers. Obviously got Micah Parsons. Micah has the back issue. LaFleur says he's hopeful that he'll have his shiny new toy ready to go. Colin, again, this is one of my favorite bets of the week. I like the Packers a lot. So do I. So do I. Possibly irrationally. So I can actually see a bit of a slow start for the Ryan's. New coordinators, O-line, rebuild. Interior O-line. Where does Jared Goff struggle the most with pressure? So this is, did you and I talk about this on the air off yesterday? I don't know. I think it was on the air late in the show. The one thing I worry about in the first two weeks of

the season is teams that are rebuilding their O-line. So Chicago's done a great job with Joe Tunney, Drew Dalman, and Jonah Jackson. How many snaps in the preseason? When you ask coaches about all the units. Secondaries can get better fast. A lot of secondary is just, do we have dogs or not? Pass rushes can be improved quickly. Running games. But offensive lines take snaps and cohesion and time. And I look at Detroit, new offensive coordinator. They attacked in the draft, the interior line. I think Detroit's good. Would it shock you if they were messy in the first month? Well, and also they've won five of six against the Packers. So Green Bay is a bit of a revenge spot here. They got swept last year. I'm going to remind folks last year, do you remember the

first two weeks what the New Orleans Saints did last year? Remember with Kubiak? I try to forget Saints games. They had like, they won like 4110. The first two weeks, they were one of the best I was like, oh my gosh, Kubiak's still not, he's not even there this season, okay? The first two weeks wacky stuff can happen, keep an eye on the Packers opening a can on Detroit. I would not be shocked 35, 17. We've had a, we should look at this up for tomorrow. We've had a massive upset. in week one. Yeah. It feels like every year forever.

And I've been looking at the... We should do that later. Who's the biggest underdog? What is that? Here's the thing. In the opening week, I mean, you've only got the line tonight's eight and a half, and then Denver's a seven and a half to eight point favor.

Arizona's a big, Denver's up to nine. Arizona's a big favorite on the road in New Orleans. Spencer Rattler pulls some stuff. Well, I mean, the Patriots beat the Bengals last year, week one. Think about that. That's right. They did. Now Patriots Raiders is interesting.

But that's only a three-point spread. I think it's up to three and a half. A lot of people like the Patriots. I'm going to tell you, a fascinating game for me is Houston against the Rams. So the Rams defense is nasty, and Houston's got, I think, three to four new offensive line starters. That really helps. I think my take is on that game, but Stafford hasn't practiced a lot. The left tackle for the Rams just started practicing.

I think the Rams are vulnerable in a lot. week one. They just don't left tackling quarterback, not a lot of snaps. Those are like two teams on your fringe Super Bowl Bowl. That's right. So I think they'll be fine later as long as Matt's healthy, but they also have Terrence Ferguson Rams rookie tight end. Hasn't practiced much.

Devonte Adams with Stafford. Hasn't practiced much. I don't know what, and Will Anderson's a great rush edge, Rams left tackle at blood clots. So that game has got upset written all over it potentially. Week one. Chaos. Final story Colin is yesterday we heard from Justin

Fields saying, hey, the game against Pittsburgh, it's not a big deal. It's just another game. Well, Aaron Rogers is echoing that sentiment saying he's just excited for week one. Now, he has been talking behind the scenes. Apparently with teammates, Pat Friermouth said that Rogers is saying, hey, this is just another game. It's not a revenge spot. I know it's me in Fields going head to head. The Jets got the crappy news about Vera Tucker yesterday, obviously. Brutal. Lines still at three. I like the Jets. Do you like, I like the younger quarterback that can extend plays, and I don't think Justin Fields is a franchise quarterback, but he may be my favorite quarterback in the league that's not a franchise quarterback. I don't think I'd build around him, but I can win a bunch of games with Justin Fields.

Again, I would not build around. I don't think he's that guy, but if you're telling me, and I also think he's not a backup. I think he's a guy that starts for several teams. He bounces around. but he is, first of all, big arm, likable kid. I mean, teammates love him, got a whip and can really move and move the change. So you think he's like, again, he's better than this guy, but Malik Willis, who was a. He's much better than Malik Willis.

Okay, so here's the thing. So this is the third year in a row. He started week one for a different team. Yes. I think he's going to have a Gardner Minshew feel where, by the way, everywhere he goes, you're like, Gardner Minchew's pretty good. Yes, he can do it. Nobody really wants to build around it, but Gardner Minshu is a really nice professional athlete.

Justin Fields has got talent, but there's a reason he keeps bouncing. There's a reason he's not in Pittsburgh. I'm with you. I think Jets are the side. Like you said yesterday, Sauce Gardner on Metcalf. What else you got to be honest. I turn my picks in early. All the lines are now worse.

I would rather not do a blazing five in week one, but America wants it. They're thirsty, so I'm going to do it. But I don't know. I don't even know what Aaron Rogers and Pittsburgh's going to look like. I was last year's blazing five week one. I don't recall. Poor. Jay Mack with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. Urban Meyer in a couple of hours. Greg CoSell, top of next hour. You know, I was, tonight the Dallas Cowboys faced the Philadelphia Eagles. And Philadelphia is a huge favorite and should. be. What is interesting

about the Eagles, they're really one of one. They do a lot of things that bad NFL franchises do. They fired Andy Reed and then another coach who won the Super Bowl. They gave Carson Wentz a massive

contract and then quickly moved off it. They have a player reading self-help books on the sideline during games. Their head coach often has to be held back. He's sparring with fans. They signed a running back with an injury history to a big contract. They pay both of their receivers.

They built their offense around a running game and a passing league. They hired a coach who wasn't ready and had the worst press conference, opening press conference ever, and they just keep ending up in Super Bowls. And I think it, and this is where Jalen Hertz value is underrated. I mean, he is the stoic therapist in a room with arguing couples. I mean, your coach is loud, the media is loud, you've got security guards on the sidelines, you've got players reading books, this is what, this feels like Carolina. But all the noise and the drama, I mean, Philadelphia is a loud sports city to begin with.

It could be the Phillies, it could be the Sixers, it could be Joel M. Bede. But this is where Jalen Hertz is A plus, plus, plus, plus. I said this a couple years ago, I stand by it. He is the best quarterback in league history at the podium. And you know what I think about the podium, the Wednesday presser at the podium with a bank sponsor behind you. Got the hat on forward, total grown up. Things are on.

There's an inferno burning around him. He's the quiet mind in a very loud storm in Philadelphia. So, I mean, last year, was it last year? Nick Sariani got a little rough patch shaving his head. not interested, doesn't get involved, doesn't have any comments. So it is just a wildly loud and restless sport city. And at times, Philadelphia, if I wrote down some of the things that the Eagles regularly do on an annual basis, you're like, who is that?

Chicago? Oh, is that the Texans eight years ago? No, it's the Eagles. They'll end up in Super Bowls. So I think a lot of it is the owner is really good. The GM's probably the best in the league and Jalen Hertz. There's a lot more than throwing the football. I have been on this for years and I get so much crap.

When I do care about your maturity, I said, can't draft Johnny Mansell, Baker's going to have troubles, Cam Newton worries me, James Winston's goofy, that stuff matters. And the greatest example of the value of that being a great. grown up. I know it's unfair that you've got to be 24 going on 48, but the greatest example of that is Jalen Hertz. And here's Nick Seriani this week on what he loves about a star quarterback. Jalen, I love how selfless he is, right? He's been so efficient as a quarterback, taking care of the football, efficient of going where the right place with the football. And then there's judgment on the outside of, well, he didn't throw for this many yards or didn't throw for this many

touchdowns. I don't care. He was efficient with the football and he did everything he needed to do for us to win the game. That doesn't just apply with your star football player and Jalen Hertz. That also applies for the rest of the team. I mean, imagine in the NBA going to a star and saying, we want you to take fewer shots. We want the ball in your hands less. I'm not sure how that would land, but that's what they did at the by week with Jalen Hertz. They said, we want a more efficient Jalen. We don't want you throw in 32 times. We want 26. He's like, I'm good. I want to win. And that's why I've always said, I think the basketball culture in this country, but the AAU stuff is a little broken. I love the football culture.

Obsessed with winning. They're standings. Not really, your feelings, facts and standings are bigger than feelings. You've got to get over yourself. And Jalen Hertz did it Alabama when they benched him. He did it Oklahoma, and he's done it multiple times in Philadelphia. Greg CoSell, top of the hour on a Thursday, Cowboys at Philadelphia. Philadelphia tonight, NFC executives anonymously sat down with Mike Sando and ranked one through 16 in the NFC.

Interesting how they rank the teams. That's next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? huge news. We created

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

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, 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. Keith Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like?

No. I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue.

Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that 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 Ely 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. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the possibility of connection.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast deeply well with Debbie Brown and explore the journey of healing, self-discovery, and returning to yourself. We explore higher consciousness, emotional well-being, and the practices that help you find clarity, peace, and self-mastery in a world that can feel overwhelming. The world is becoming lonelier. We're not becoming more social and connected. We're becoming more individualized, but we actually meet people in connection.

If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Saturday, the SciHawk series takes center stage.

It all starts at 10 a.m. Eastern with the best pregame show in college football live from the campus of Iowa State. Then Rocco Beckett lays the cyclones in a showdown against arch rival Iowa on big noon Saturday only on Fox. I'm taking Iowa State and Oklahoma big over Michigan this weekend. I can't believe you're taking Choclahoma in September. First of all, their defense is all juniors. seniors. Brett Venable's got his guys. It's an old defense. Have you seen that Bryce Underwood?

I'm familiar with his work, yeah. He's great, but on the road, inexperienced quarterback, how did they do this past weekend? They struggled. Inexperienced Oklahoma's a top five, six, loud environment, old junior senior defense, freshman quarterback

Michigan, and that quarterback's good, but that's a rough spot. Remember last year they bottled up Jalen Milrow made him look, I mean, really, really, yeah. Yeah. Sort of Vanderbilt. Okay. So Mike Sando at ESPN, who I think it does some of their good deep diving at ESPN.

He went and he went and talked to eight NFL executives about the NFC. So he wanted to rank one through 16 the NFC teams. And the executive said, listen, the NFC is really hard. And we've talked about this. The AFC, you have star quarterbacks. Josh Allen's going to win his division. You know, Burrow or Lamar's going to win his division. C.J. Stroud's going to probably win his division.

It's just easier. Mahomes will be a playoff quarterback. So one of the lines by an executive anonymously is, you know, it's going to be, he said, somebody's going to surprise you, shock you in the NFC and get into the playoffs, and it's probably going to be a super lucky team. So I went through 1 through 16. So for the radio audience, I will read this once in order. It was Philly 1, Green Bay, 2, Lions 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3.

bucks four. Rams five, commander six, Niners Vikings. Seahawks nine, Cardinals 10, Falcons 11, Bears 12, Cowboys at 13, Giants 14, Panthers at 15. I think Carolina's better than that. And the St. 16, I agree with that. I'll tell you why I think the NFC is harder than the AFC. I'll give you an example. What in the hell do I do with Minnesota? I love their coach. Top three left tackle. maybe the most talented receiver. Good running back. Excellent tied end. Rebuilt their offensive line.

Good home field advantage. It's an offensive league. I like everything about Minnesota's offense. Even the defense, I would argue after Andy Reed and Spags that Brian Flores and Kevin O'Connell are the best coaching tandem in the league. Now, Solon, Shanahan are up there. It's a great, in an offensive league, I've got the Andy Reed Spags of the NFC. Great left tackle. Great receiver.

tight-end running back above average. Rebuild all night. I have no idea what I get with J.J. McCarthy. I have no idea. I mean, I look at Minnesota. 12 and 5 is on the table, and so is 7 and 10. I have no idea. So I wouldn't be shocked if Minnesota,

they're not going to be as good as last year's record, but if Minnesota surprises us. The other one is Arizona. Jonathan Gannon's the coach. Here's all I know. First year 4 and 13, next year 8 and 9, took the worst defense or second worst defense in the league in one year. They're middle of the pack, and they spent six of their seven draft picks on defense.

And they were in a lot of one possession games. Now, JMAQ has called him, that's his team in the NFC. And I don't know. I think that division is totally up for grabs. If Matt Stafford's healthy, I'll take the Rams. If he's not, Rams could finish fourth if they're going with, you know, Jimmy Garoppolo 13 weeks. I don't know. But Arizona's interesting.

Also, star tied in, star receiver, star back. Oh, lines better than you think. I don't know what to do with Arizona. And I like Kyler Murray. Not everybody does, but spin it, movement. I, again, I'll say it with Arizona. 11 and 6 is on the table, and 6 and 11 is on the table. I don't know.

And the other one is the Bears. I don't know. Again, would you be shocked if they're 10 and 7 or a wildcard team? or what if it implodes in their 7 and 10? I like Ben Johnson, but I don't know. Caleb Williams, dude's got the horsepower, but I don't know. Receivers, DJ Moore, Roma Dunze, tight ends. They've got two of them, that kid Colston Loveland from Michigan's had a great camp.

I don't know. In the NAAFC, I know who's great and I know who's a tire fire. Buffalo's going to be really, really good. Baltimore's going to be good. Houston's going to be good. Jemak loves the Jag. I'm terrified to bet the Jags this weekend against Carolina. Like, I don't know what the Jags.

Okay, that's rare in the AFC. In the AFC, there's one team that could be anything. Jacksonville. Like, I don't know what Jacksonville. I don't trust them. It's a new coach. I feel like I feel that way about Minnesota, Chicago, Arizona. I actually think Carolina is better than people think.

I don't even know what to make. I love Seattle. You don't. Seattle's 5 to 1 to win their division. So Vegas doesn't have a clue what to do with Seattle. So just to clear something up, I don't love the Jags. I'm betting on Liam Cohen, their new head coach, who is a, I don't want to put the genius label on him. But let's be real.

What he did with Baker Mayfield, Colin, pretty impressive. I mean, very, very good. And I think with the addition of Travis Hunter, who's starting at wide receiver two, you get Brian Thomas, that offense will be making the jump to light speed. Travis E.N., they got a young kid. I would bet on the Cohen brothers. for another hit movie. I don't know if Liam Cohen's a guy I'm going to bet on yet. Have you looked at the Panthers defense?

Have you looked at their wide receiver room? Their number two receiver, who was awesome last year, Coker, he's out. Adam Thiel and they traded him last week. They got young dudes, Bryce Young. But I think Jacksonville is the one team in the AFC. We're not, you don't know what you're going to get. I think the NFC's got six of those. The NFC, it's just like this anonymous exec said,

somebody's going to get hot, somebody's going to get lucky, they're going to win the fumbles, games, they're going to win the walk-off games. Can you call that back on the screen? Because I thought I saw Tampa Bay 4. Was that incorrect in the NFC? Well, you like Tampa. I don't like them that much.

I mean, Colin, that's in... Wurfs is not even playing week one. So, again, I think that the NFC power rankings based on executives is you don't know after Philadelphia, even Green Bay. Is Jordan Love Good? Yeah, I don't know why the Rams are buried so low. The Niners feels like a...

a huge whiff. Colin, no Tristan Wurfs, an aging defense in Tampa that was hemorrhaging points last year. I don't think the bucks are that good. I'm on team Falcons here. I like Atlanta. Okay, so I want to end this first hour, Greg Kossel top of next hour. So we went back and looked. Not only were we right, it's happened now five years in a row where at least a six and a half point underdog, almost a touchdown underdog, has one week one. So last year the Patriots beat the Bengals, year before Lions beat the Chiefs on Thursday night football. The Steelers beat the Bengals the year before as a touchdown dog. The Steelers beat the bills.

Remember that game? I think there was a block punt or something weird in that game. Steelers went to Buffalo and beat Josh Allen and the bills. I remember that because I had the bills. And then five years ago, Jags beat the Colts. And it was not a very, it was a better Colts team and not a very good Jack's team. So when you look at the schedule, five years in a row is a trend. I'd argue three years is a trend.

years is an absolute. Don't tell me Philadelphia is going down. All right. So, Giants or Browns? Which one? You want one of those? Giants.

Both are divisional matchups. I like the Giants. I think the Giants is the upset of the weekend. Both have new quarterbacks this season. The other thing is the Giants' defensive front. They're going to keep them in that game. Also, Dan Quinn, head coach, bad in openers. Brian Daibble, offensive coach.

Offensive coaches tend to be. early in the season. They bring out the stuff they've been drawn up all off season. Giants at Washington. That one feels like it's six and a... What's the spread six and a half? It's been coming down, actually. There's some money coming in on the Giants as well as the Browns.

Now, let's just remember, Bengals, notorious slow starters, right? Their offensive line, have you looked at... Yeah, yeah. There's starting a guy named Patrick at Guard, who's been awful the last like three seasons. I wonder if Miles Garrett and company could scheme up some stuff and make that an interesting game. Well, I mean, Flacco's starting, so it's a grown-up. He's at home. We haven't seen him much in the pre-Sat.

I don't even know how many snaps did Joe Flacco take in the pre-season. Did he take one? I don't know. So they feel confident in that. That's our starter. One of those two, I'm not buying the Saints shock the Cardinals. Gosh, that would be depressing because I'm loaded up on the Cardinals. I mean, six, it's like six and a half, seven.

You know, you're interesting because you don't like Kyler Murray, but they're your shocking team in the league. So you're making a bet. You make fun of me because I bet against in the opener, Josh Allen, and maybe Mahomes. You don't even like Kyler Murray, and you're loading up on him. I used to like him. I'm kind of out on him. I know you guys are hanging out at UFC fights.

But it's less about Kyler. I'll be Colin. Connor, McBride, Harrison. They're stacked. Oh, they've got really good players. And you look at the Saints that I'm like, did you watch Spencer Rattler last year? Like, I know he was a great story. He was 0-6, I think, as a starter.

I read that somewhere. And Tyler, they draft a new guy. He can't even beat out to Spencer Rattler. So I don't know. Kellyn Moore, do we like, do we like, do we like, Kelly Moore? I know people are like, well, he was great with the Eagles. Come on. Undecided.

Eagles were going to be great with or without Kellamore. How did Callow more do with the Chargers? Remember a couple of years ago? There was all this excitement as the offensive coordinator. Oh, Herber has got shot. Callen Moore. Callow got fired. I don't know.

This week one is crazy. I'll all circle this. I think Minnesota at Chicago. Yeah. That is fascinating. Is that one of those nights where you're not drinking to, laser focus Bro.

You got me marginalized as some out of control boozer. Last night I had one Tito's iced tea. It's called a John Daly. Really? Yeah. One?

I thought you were hanging out with the boys. I didn't get a call. Still waiting for that. My boys were a good time. By the way, I check with the wife. I'm free tonight if you just happen to be in my neighborhood.

I'm all jammed up doing, I have a dentist appointment. I'm moving across town. Hey guys, it's us and there's Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick.

And guess what? We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it.

But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva. And on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex.

Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano.

It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was part of it. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to.

He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. You think you're in control until you realize you're not. As they're having this gun battle, thousands of feet up in the air, many of the bullets start

to puncture the aircraft. I thought we were going to die then. The Knife is a podcast about the moment ordinary lives take an unexpected turn. Real people, real stories, and the split second that changes everything. New episodes drop every Thursday on the Exactly Right Network and the IHeart podcast, network. Listen to The Knife on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.