The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - Colin's Blazing 5 NFL picks, the best QBs from the 2024 draft, Mike Sando

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

Another edition of Colin’s famous Blazing 5 NFL picks for Week 10 — featuring his best bets, sharp insights, and against-the-spread analysis for: Falcons at Colts Ravens at Vikings Patriots at Buccaneers Lions at Commanders Steelers at Chargers More on the NFL games this weekend, Bo Nix starting to struggle, JJ McCarthy being under pressure this week, the 2024 NFL QB draft and more   Guest: Mike SandoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRadio.com. or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It is a Friday. It is hour two. We had been on a heater with a blazing five. We are rebounding today.

Live in L.A., wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. plus one of the sharpest guys who covers the NFL, our friend Mike Sandow, is going to be joining us in five minutes. You know, Jay Mack, it is a weird year. Last year, it was a great year for the Joe's, not the pros, the favorites crushed. I've been on this for a few years now that the bottom of the NFL

is looking like the bottom of the NBA, is that it's not watchable and it's not competitive. That was never the case years ago. But as the league has become more quarterback dependent, that means offensive lines and quarterbacks and offensive coaches have a greater impact. We're seeing ugly spreads and favorites are holding serve a lot. And this week again, I like a lot of favorites. It's a dead last week.

Early games, I took road favorites. I went 2 and 0 on those and I thought these are bad picks. They worked out. So here we go. Here's this week's Blazing 5. Let's blaze it up. Fire it up. It's Collins, Blaz and Fire.

Falcons at Colts. I like the Colts in Berlin minus five and a half. Don't overreact to the Steelers' loss. They lead the NFL at 6.3 yards of play. They haven't lost if Jonathan Taylor just russes for 90 yards. They have the number two total offense. And Daniel Jones on the road had a stinker. Five turnovers against Pittsburgh.

even good quarterbacks have bad weekends. I love the Colts. I love what Sauce Gardner does to the locker room. The Falcons are on a three-game losing streak. They've been outgained in all of their games. They're the worst third-down team over the last two games, so they are regressing. I think it's a bounce back for the Colts.

I like Indy here. Atlanta's struggling to score. Indy to win and cover 33-24. Ravens and Vikings. I'm going to take the Ravens coming off extra rest, averaging 32 a game when Lamar plays. I don't know if you've noticed this. Lamar's having an unbelievable year.

He'd be the MVP if he'd been healthy. And the defense in three straight games now healthy, holding people under 20 points. Lamar's averaging 73 completion percentage this year and a 137 passer rating. He's on fire. The Vikings have been out. gained in back-to-back games, including the win over Detroit, and they're allowing 30 a game

in their last three games. So again, a regressing Minnesota defense, which is on the field too long. Lamar owns the NFC. Ravens win and the Ravens cover. It's an urgent week for Baltimore and next week and the week after 30 to 20 B-more. Patriots and Buccaneers. I like the Bucks, minus two and a half, coming off a buy and their right tackle returns. Their last two wins have been by double digits. They're a very good home team. 28 a game at home, getting slightly healthier. My concern, though, is the Patriots who have played the easiest schedule in the league, and I think we're a little hot on a young New England team. Drake May is getting sacked at an alarming rate. Watch out. Todd Bowles,

J. Mack knows this. He dials up the blitzes. He and Brian Flores as well as anybody. So since week seven, Drake May is under duress. I like the bucks at home to win and cover 27 to 23. Lions at Commanders. I don't think I've ever taken four straight favorites. I'm going to take the Lions. Do not panic over the Minnesota loss.

They had more yards. They were better on third and fourth, better time of possession. They've won two of their last three road games. And they were really last week in division kind of pushed around. When good teams get pushed around, it's an angry, focused week of practice. And they are getting to the quarterback second in sacks only behind Denver. Commanders, four-game losing streak, no juice, just lost Jaden Daniels, and they only pressured Sam Darnold on three of 24 dropbacks.

That's brutal. So Jared Goff is going to have time to throw. Those interior O-line injuries have mostly been cleaned up. I like the Lions to win. I like another favorite here, 3321 comfortably. Steelers and Chargers. I'm going to take the underdog Steelers plus three. They're 4 and 0 this year when they hold their opponents under 30.

Well, the Chargers don't have either tackle. Beckton's hurt as well. They have four key O-line injuries. Aaron Rogers, 100 plus passer rating in four or five games. He's found his rhythm. They really held Jonathan Taylor in check. So the Chargers are going to need to throw the ball to win here. I don't think they'll run and be overly dynamic running,

and I don't trust this O-line. Justin Herbert's got one-plus picks in three straight games because he's rushed. So I think the Steelers defense against the Colts last week, they pushed around that old line and nobody had all year. I'm going to take the underdog Steelers. So far is going to be 60-40 Steelers, not a home field advantage, maybe 70-30 Steelers. I got an upset. 24, 23, Aaron Rogers and the Steelers walk out with a narrow win. I don't like a lot of favorites.

I do this week. J. Mack, use restraint when bashing my picks. No, no, I actually am with you on a lot of these. I would just be careful with that Bucks game. Everybody likes Tampa. Christian Gonzalez is a go. Christian Gonzalez versus Bucca should be fun. Overall, I don't hate the picks call.

I mean, you're hot. What can I say? You know, when you're hot, you're hot. Not last week. Mike Sandow is an NFL rider for the athletic, selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So, you know, I said this, a great senior Mike. I watched Bo Nix, and he has regressed badly.

And for young quarterbacks, the development is never linear. They have bad stretches, bad games, they can lose a coordinator. So I understand that. But there are, I think he looks nervous. I think he's trying to please Sean Payton. Sean Payton's then overcompensating, overcompensating on trying to help him. The rhythm is off. I don't know.

Like I, something feels off and wrong. Mike, what do you hear and what do you see with that? Yeah, I agree. Now, I do think one of the warnings you get from veteran coaches is, hey, that second year can be tough, right? People adjust to you. They got the film on you. He had some success last year. So you're probably getting people's plan a little bit more.

I think so much of him has been, you know, he's a little bit of an off-scheduled quarterback sometimes. And so, you know, we're dealing with that in a lot of markets where where's the consistency when a big part of your game is moving around. And sometimes when you come into the league early, moving around actually helps you. You know, you survive. But it's not sustainable. We see Arizona's changing to changing away from Kyler and Murray because they feel like their offense is going to be more consistent, even with a backup type quarterback like Jacoby percent. They can run their offense. So I think there's some of that.

You would think that, you know, Sean Payton would be the perfect person to. get the best out of him, but this has to be the least impressive seven-game winning streak that we've ever seen. It's like, how have they done it? It's, it does not look sustainable at all. Yeah, so let's go to Caleb Williams. I had said this earlier. Sometimes we zero in on stuff and we don't take a step back. And if I think most bear fans, even Ben Johnson, if you have said, listen, through eight weeks, you'll lead the NFL in big plays, you're fourth in yards per play and you have a winning record. I think Ben Johnson would have said, I'm signing up for that based on last year. But if you watch every play, and if you listen to Chicago Sports Radio,

there's a lot of anxiety. It might take his folks. There's a lot of the dynamic stuff is landing. Where are you on Caleb and Ben and that relationship? Well, the thing I look at is he's on a historic high average time to throw or sack, 3.6 seconds per play. That's not. not where it's at for Ben Johnson. So I think it's a stressful way for him to play. I give them credit. I think that it's, you know, look, this could have been a disaster possibly, or we could be talking about every week like it's not working. I don't think we're doing that. But when you talk about the long-term sustainability and really maximizing this player in this system, I still have those question marks. Although I will say that, hey, the SACs is not the story every week. And he's

not killing it that way. So his completion percentage is not, falling way off. It's about the same. It's kind of interesting to me that he's like avoiding sacks, holding the ball forever, not like he's throwing them all away. So it's kind of working. I just, I still need to see long term, you know, how, if there's going to be a lot of growth, or is, I think there's still a lot of inconsistency there. Yeah. You know, it's interesting, Mike. He's never thrown picks. High school college pros. He doesn't throw picks. So he holds the ball. And I think that psychology within him is, listen, I'm not going to throw a pick. I'll hold it a little longer because I can escape.

I can move my feet. So he doesn't get you in a lot of trouble. There's not a ton of three and outs. He doesn't throw a lot of picks. It's just to your point. The rhythm is off. The operational part of it's a little clunky, right? Yeah.

Yeah, I'm going to look at this too because I think one of the fears, even, I knew a couple guys in the scouting realm who had some concerns about him being off-scheduled to the point that you're playing behind the sticks a fair. amount, you know, and I think like for Seattle when they had Russell Wilson, that worked a while because he was a magician. I mean, he was, the positives were so amazing and pretty early in his career. Downfield throws, the accuracy. He made it work. In fact, once his legs wins, he couldn't do it anymore. And I haven't necessarily seen that enough consistent upside. I do think it's amazing with the explosive play thing. So that's positive. I think I'm generally,

I feel better about it now than I did the day after that big article came out saying, is it going to be a disaster? Remember that? Yeah. You know, everybody hated Caleb Williams that was there last year. So I feel better. I feel better about it now than I could have, but still probably need to see more.

Yeah. Listen, the J.J. McCarthy thing, I said before, I love all the ingredients. I love the coach, the left tackle, the receivers. I like the organization. I don't know if we have the right chef. I don't, the J.J. McCarthy thing. I didn't love him out of Michigan. I didn't see a wow trait.

I'm always so reluctant to embrace this term. He's a winner. Danny Worfell was a winner. That doesn't mean anything to me. You've got to give me traits, size, arm, movement. Boy, if you start taking out his two best quarters, his passer ratings is 37. Now, the next four weeks, it's Lamar, it's Darnold, it's Jordan loves. The truth is going to come out here.

What do you see and what are you here on J.J. McCormack? Well, it's nice to see something that he actually played the game. You know, I think that's been the biggest problem is he hasn't been out there. And I think, you know, some of those concerns that were sort of boiling underneath the surface about, you know, is he ready to lead the team and all of that? I mean, that just grew until he could finally play. So I have not been overly impressed. I love the end of the game against Detroit. I mean, throwing a back shoulder ball more than 15 yards down the field to ice the game is not typically done in those situations.

so I thought that was a nice vote of confidence, but he had 14 completions. Some of the other stuff, hey, ultra-ego stuff, like, to me, you got to play well for a while before I stopped thinking that's kind of corny. Do you know what I mean? Like, there's too much of that. I felt like there's been too much effort by the organization and the people around him to make it seem like they're excited about it. Didn't you sense that all off-season at all? Yes. Oh, this guy.

It's been like a campaign to convince us, and I just want to see it, and I'm not buying it until I see more of it. That's just kind of where I'm at. Yeah. So the AFC playoff picture, I told the staff this morning, I don't buy it. I'm sorry. Literally, Denver is a number one seed and leads the NFL in three and outs and punts. It's not going to last. I look at it, and I said, I'm still going to my homes, Lamar, Josh Allen.

I don't care. I look at it right now. Here it is right now. I told them, Jacksonville's not making it. Kansas City is and they'll beat the Colts. The Chargers don't have their tackles. Nobody loves Harbaugh more than me and Herbert. They're not making it.

Put Baltimore in there. They're beating Drake May and I'll take Buffalo over whoever. But I looked at the AFC playoff picture right now. There's no way that's what it is in two months, right? Totally. I did my pick six column on Monday, restacking the AFC. I put them in two buckets. The consensus favors before the year, Kansas City, Buffalo, and Baltimore have,

those three teams have the worst record to this point in the season. They're like 14 and 11 than they've had since like Josh was a rookie and LeVar was not even a starter, right? So it's totally different in terms of what their record is, but it would have to get a lot worse for me to come off of those teams. Like Baltimore is only three and five. It's not like they're one in five anymore. So I'm with you totally.

think a lot has changed. Now, I do understand, though, I'll say this, I think there's enough of an opening for a team like an indie to actually think we have a chance and let's make a push, right? I think that's so it's different. We don't feel like any one of those teams is necessarily consistently great or unbeatable at the top. Yeah. You know, there were stories out there that Tom Brady was not hot on Sam Darnold, and there were stories that they wanted Matt Stafford, but Matt, Matt wanted to stay in L.A. And it was a smart choice. Yeah.

So they pursued Gino. So Pete Carroll had a year out of the NFL to modernize, reflect, take stock, and they paid him $66 million guaranteed and gave up a third round pick. J. Mack asked this earlier. Could this be a one and done for Gino and Pete? I mean, it's just nothing is working, Mike. I always wonder, like, you know, can a top coach overcome? bad ownership, you know, how does that work? And how much is the ownership better with Brady there?

I thought about that, too, because Pete's going to be 75 going in the next season. If the takeaway from this year is that we're a three-year plan away, is that for Pete? Now, do you fire a Pete Carroll after one year? To me, it would really have to be, like, they had a game this year, they played the Colts. They got outscored 40 to nothing in the second and third quarters. If that type of thing is happening, then I think anybody isn't coming back, right? That no survives that when you're just totally incompatitive. The game the other night was just so ugly, but they were at least

there. It wasn't like they were losing 30 to nothing, so I would think Pete gets more time. It just felt a little weird to me. The way it came together where it's like, Chip Kelly probably wouldn't have been Pete's choice. Patrick Graham was already there probably wouldn't have been

his choice. I kind of agreed with that because you don't want Pete just getting the band back together with a bunch of guys that need Pete to have a job necessarily. but I'm not sure how like think of it this way when you're a head coach and your calling card is changing the culture it's not like Pete Carroll's coming in and bringing a differentiating offense or defense right you're not getting an advantage through the scheme like you might with Sean McVeigh or Kyle Shanahan you're really relying on the culture to turn number one can you turn a culture of a bad organization and number two how long does that take to happen like think about Dan Campbell was 419 and a 1 and he had Jared Goff, who's a good pro quarterback. And then he finally kind of hit it with Ben Johnson.

But like, does anyone think that they're going to wait that long? Is this a five-year plan with Pete to get every aspect of the building? I think they need to start to see it to turn this year. And if he makes it, it's got to turn by the middle of next year. Yeah. Mike Sando, senior rider, The Athletic. On a Friday, is the temperatures cool in the nation? and the aviation

forecast is not great stay out of airports America Mike it's great seeing you great seeing you appreciate it Colin all right Mike does terrific work yeah I don't it's an interesting idea by you

is that it is it's hard to turn around a culture I mean the reason Harbaugh took the Chargers job was Herbert right like that's why you take the job it doesn't matter who the owner is you bring your band, you bring the band.

Dean Spanos, now in L.A. with Sofi, his huge game day revenue, the money's good, you go for Herbert. You know, that's why we have said for years, we know Sean McDermott's a good coach, but if they get bounced in the first round, that's the best job in the NFL. Right. So

it's most of the great quarterbacks right now have good enough coaches. The Raiders, we don't know if it's the coach, the quarterback ownership is not great. There's money. It's just hard to turn this stuff around. I mean, again, you can do it if you land a Josh in the draft or Harbaugh lands a Herbert in his move.

It's just if you don't have the quarterback right and you've got to rebuild the culture, it looks like the Raiders. Yeah, well, it's funny. After I said that on social media guys coming after me, hey, J. Mack, you want to keep Aaron Glenn, but you want to run off Pete Carroll. And I said, well, those are different things. Pete Carroll's a veteran coach, right, coming into a Raiders team that I don't know, they were like maybe a 7, 8, 9. Nine win team? Yeah, we thought so. And he kind of handpicked his quarterback.

Aaron Glenn got, hey, this is you. You can bring in Justin Fields. You can do it. I'm giving Aaron Glenn a first time head coach a chance. I just wonder if Pete Carroll's the right fit there. I mean, you know, Chip Kelly, we like a lot. You know, we know the ownership group is some smart people. I just don't know how they landed on Gino Smith, of all people.

Because, Colin, he looks shot. Yeah. No question. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio.

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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

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Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jenchian went. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving,

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Urban Meyer next hour. I'm still telling you, there's the Lincoln Riley stuff at USC. Penn State might be interested. Keep your eye on Lane Kiffin. What is working in the NFL right now is young offensive guys. They're working AFC, NFC. You can bounce around the SEC. So wait, so is Lane taking the LSU job, the Penn State job,

Miami Dolphin job? Okay. Boy, Lane Kiffin's the bell of the ball this winter. Well, I mean, he's been, listen, don't blame the Raiders on him. That was Al Davis in his twilight years. And at USC, again, find all the USC. coaches that are winning since Pete Carroll. Sark, Kiffin, Clay, Lincoln, where are all the wins? It's more about like just, is it because some of it, Jackson Dart looks really good

in the NFL or better than everybody thought? Is it old miss? He's got a kid now, Trinidad Chambliss, the quarterback, I think he's great. Now he's undersized. I text five GMs this weekend and, you know, they were all kind of like his size is a concern. His quarterbacks, his offense work. All I know. You know what's funny about this. In a recruit, including offensive players at a high school or transfer portal will follow a coach. Defensive players, the great five-star guys, they want to go to Georgia, Ohio, State, Michigan. They want to go to the big programs. They're not as driven to go to a coach.

Offensive guys will follow the coach. They'll follow Lane, right? So he'll always succeed in college. Lane will always have good offenses because quarterbacks, receivers, backs, left tackles. Offensive players follow the coach more than defense. defensive players. And now in the NFL, obviously, that dynamic changes. You're drafting them. They're not choosing you. Right. So maybe he's just built for college because Lane's young, good-looking guy, big personality. And in the college level, he's got a Pied Piper effect.

He can get those transfer guys. They want to play for Lane, and they should. I look at the who he's answering to. At Ole Miss, nobody. It's Lane's show. Nobody tells him what to do. At LSU, it's, I believe, the governor of the state right now. No, you're right. Okay. The Miami Dolphins, Stephen Ross, you know him as an owner. Look at his history. It ain't great. And then the New York Giants who are a bit of a... Would you ask yourself, but these are good points. I don't want to kill the Giants. I would rather coach in the NFL than college, because I just would get tired of having to tell every player, it's like being a late night host, like you're Jimmy Kimmel. You have to fake that you care about some crappy

third-line actress or actor on a show you'd never watch. Late night TV is just faking it. You very rarely get Chris Rock on or Seinfeld or Dave Chappelle. Like that's a great guest. You get them like four times a year or a great like Bradley Cooper.

It's mostly second, third tier people you've got to fake. So in college recruiting, you have to basically you're constantly like, oh, I love you. You're my favorite to 18-year-olds. In the NFL, I draft you, I like you, I like you, it doesn't work, I cut you. It's more bottom line. I'd rather coach NFL than college. You say that, but then we've got all these meddling owners, Colin, who Woody Johnson goes and blasts

Justin Fields the week of the game. Justin Fields then shows up and is great, and you're like, what is Woody Johnson talking about? Do you want your owner coming into meetings and meddling? I mean, look at the Carolina Panthers owner the last few years. Now, he's simmered down this season, but like, do you want to deal with that? Well, I would rather, I would rather deal with one impulsive billionaire than seven needy boosters, an overwhelmed athletic director,

and the NCAA nonsense. I'll deal with one impulsive rich guy. I'll talk him off the ledge twice a year. Well, you deal with a lot of rich guys. I don't. I don't. I don't know what they're like. I just can make fun of them on the internet.

My friends are oppressed and living on peanut riddle. But the point is, I'd rather deal with one thing than a, bunch of things. Joey bag of donuts who's coming in. Yeah, I mean, every car dealer in town and guys that sell sofas at discount. Hey, what about my kid? Again, I don't know and I'd love to ask Lane, you take one of these car dealers out to a dinner and they're just thrilled. They're on

cloud nine for a month. That's it. And you're good. Thank you for the input. You know, and you just win on Sunday and your owner's good. Saturday. Yeah. Oh, well, yeah. That's tough. It's not easy. Do you want needy boosters and needy administrators? Or do you want to just be like a radio host and you know, you just say whatever. I mean, Belichick is like Robert Kraft, a lot of times the coaches are. I mean, Andy Reid gets along with Jeffrey Lurie and

the Hunt family. The Hunt family stays out of it. Yeah, I mean, Belichick's grumpy. He's like Robert Kraft. Robert Kraft's a top four owner. You're complaining about Robert Kraft? That's a tough owner? Belichick doesn't want anybody. Not all owners are created equal. Cleveland Browns.

What's going on with that owner? Like, there's just some team, like, I'd rather coach in college, Penn State's probably a better job than, you know, probably a third of NFL jobs, given how crazy and wacky these billionaires? You want to be recruiting small town, an 13th apple pie slice of the week. I love apple pie. I'll eat apple pie six days a week if I get to just schmooze with him. J-Mac with a news.

No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, so this one is interesting. Aaron Rogers, you know, I've stopped beating up on him after he got that one over. the Colts. Very strange situation this week. So Rogers talked about a alleged team bonding event that he was invited to, right? And then he shows up and he's the only player there. Listen to this, Colin.

The game invited me to a movie night a while back and said it was a big team function. I showed up. I was the only player there. On a Tuesday night, too. It was just like we had an early Wednesday morning and the quarterbacks with our meeting with Mike. So I was like, I don't know. I love, you know, team bonding, chemistry stuff. When I show up, I see him and his son Cal, who we got to know during training camp, I'm like, oh, cool. You know, for some camps here. I'm looking around, I go, where's everybody in?

So then he texted me a couple nights ago. I said, there was something on Monday night. And I said, is this going to be like the last one? Okay, so is this something, nothing is Rogers Yankee on our chain here? I like that he tells the story. That's kind of funny. So is it just Cam Hayward's older? Is he inviting guys over on all the young guys?

are like, we're good. We got, we got a night off. We're not hanging with the old boring guys. That's why I don't invite you guys over to my place. I'll get the same kind of treatment. Ooh. You guys all go to nightclubs and music. Oh, you night clubs. These guys go to music venues and night clubs and dance clubs and I go to bowling alleys. You're hanging out at cigar lounges, right?

I mean, I go home. I'm literally playing with the dogs at 545. The other night during, it was Monday Night Football. So Chicago's central time zone, L.A. Pacific. And so I'm sitting there and I'm watching the Monday night football game. And I'm getting tired. And I'm kind of battling a flu. I'm like, I'm going to get into bed and I look down. It was 5.54.

And I'm like, I wanted to take magnesium and shut it. And I had to watch the Monday night football game. Those Midwest winters hit hard. How you hold it up, buddy? Let's move on. Hey, we'll get you happy with this one. Sam Darnold, your guy. You can't stop talking about him.

He's the best quarterback in the league this year. That's undeniable. He had 17 straight. completions against Washington. That was the best half of football by any quarterback this decade. Unbelievable. NFL analyst Hugh Millen believes that one of the keys to Darnold's success has been his ability to manipulate the defense with his eyes and smoking the ball into those tiny windows. Your thoughts. I know Hugh, and I think he's right. I think Sam's really grown. I think we forget how young Sam was with the Jets. So he was 21 years old. The Jets are dysfunctional. But

And it also, Sam's also helped that this general manager, John Snyder, this roster is really good. They got their left tackle. They got their interior offensive linemen. They now have got three receivers. It's a really good roster. When you watch them against Washington, I made this comment, it looked like a, it was Ohio State against Purdue. It looked like an unfair fight. They are so long, strong, they're so nimble.

They draft really well. They don't miss. They don't miss much in drafts. So we're talking about coaches and hot coaches. So is Sam Darnold looking different and better because of Clint Kubiak? Now, remember, he's the OC. Last year, Colin, you remember when the New Orleans Saints started 2 and O? They scored like 90 points.

Yeah, Kubiak was there. Kubiak was the guy. Then it went sideways, but Carr was hurt. I just wonder if Kubiak's been so good for Darnold that maybe he starts getting some looks and interviews this off season. succeeded in his life with Clay Helton, Kevin O'Connell. Kevin O'Connell.

When you start succeeding with three different sets of eyes. It's not all that. But how about this? Kubiak before he was with Seattle, it was a Saints before that, San Francisco 14-9ers. Well, that's where Donald... Shannahan's the one that never quit on Darnold.

After, you know, bouncing around the league. McVey liked Baker. Remember he brought him to L.A. McVey is like, no, Baker can play. That's why you have to be careful as a fan. You know, when a quarterback's losing and say, well, let's contextualize it.

Why is he losing? Right? Like, a quarterback can only do so much. Joe Burrell, last year, was the best quarterback in the league, statistically, could not make the playoffs. He's overcoming a cheap owner. We don't know how great of a coach, Zach Taylor is. The old lines always banged up. So, Darnold plus Kubiak, if you have an opening in the NFL

and you don't bring in Kubiak, because they're doing stuff. JSN is open all day. Yeah. And he's elite. How is that happening? And I think Kubiak has a lot to do with Darry. Final story, Colin.

Let's go to the NBA. Listen, you can't win them all, okay? The Dallas Mavericks are a total dumpster fire. Things are going awful. Obviously, they made their change. A Cooper flagged, the rookie is not at point guard. They put Clay Thompson on the bench. Take a listen to what our guy found here.

A Mavs beat writer said the vibes are off in Dallas. Listen to this. What was your perception of the vibe today? I mean, we talked about pre-game. They were playing Marvin's room. It just felt sad and dark, and I don't want to be dramatic, but it just, the energy wasn't high. You know, I've been around some championship high school teams.

And you go in a locker room, the vibes are pretty high. I mean, they're dancing. They're playing music. They're just a different type of energy. They're laughing with each other. They're joking with each other. the Mavs aren't doing that as much. Hmm.

Any theories why things are suddenly gloomy and dark? Well, it's just very early. Oh, really? Interesting. So who's the leader of this team, Colin? That's a good question. They don't have one. They don't have leadership.

Cooper Flagg's 18. He's not walking in there and telling guys what to do. Clay Thompson, not a leader. He's got his own, you know, he's dating a famous woman now, and, like, that's his story. Anthony Davis has never been an alpha leader. Right. They don't have a leader. Yeah, that's fair.

And without that, they're two and six. The vibes are dark. Like, who's at practice? Let's go, fellas. And who's the hype guy, the energy guy? Maybe that's Kyrie when he comes back in five months? I think it's over this season for that. I know it's dramatic.

Jason, too early. You just watch them and you're like, this is not a playoff team, especially in the Western Conference. Yeah, you're probably not wrong. I mean, I really like the front line. Cooper Flags had one bad. game. Otherwise, he's good. He's good player. So remember all the talk. Would LeBron go to the Mavericks? You know, play with

Kyrie and no, no shot. LeBron's on a winning team. The Mavs, they're not winning. By the way, Lakers dodged a bullet with Clay Thompson. Remember how Laker land out here? We got to get Clay. Come on, bring him in. They got lucky. Everybody likes Clay Thompson, nice guy. There's a great guy. So. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lyneyer last hour. J-Max got his picks. You've had a very good year, by the way.

So that Mike Sando had an earlier comment, which I totally agree with. You start looking at the playoff pictures now. NFC, I buy. AFC nonsense. Denver can't end up a number one seed. Can't. You cannot have more three-and-outs than the Titans and more punts than Cleveland. and be a number one seat.

In L.A., it's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news.

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

special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, 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 band 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 gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis.

And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chinchin win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. Yeah, she's an outsider to win the first. French, mate. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Leonard Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month,

I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Start your Saturday strong with the unstoppable second-ranked Hoosiers. All eyes are on Fernando Mendoza as he leads Indiana and continues his Heisman campaign against Penn State.

It all starts with Big Noon kickoff at 10 a.m. Eastern. Then it's Indiana, Penn State, Big Noon Saturday, only on Fox. So right now, Denver, and that was an inartistic windy mess, is the number one seat in the AFC, the conference of Mahomes and Josh Allen and Lamar and Herbert. And they lead the NFL in punts. It's brutal. Here's Sean Payton discussing last night's mess. So you're asking, my comfortable as a coach, we're never satisfied.

If my answer were to you, I'm comfortable. That'd be silly. Right now, you know, we're teams sitting at eight wins. I think we're the only team sitting there. And yet we're constantly looking internally and starting, you know, but it was a tough night offensively, obviously. So nothing looked good. And this is a number one offensive line in football, according to PFF.

So they're a number one seed. Next up, Kansas City Chiefs off a buy. I'll take Kansas City regardless of the line. Here's the current AFC playoff picture. So Denver's a number one seed. They only give out one buy now in each conference. Seventh-seated jags would take on the Colts in Indianapolis, the two-seed. The third-seeded Patriots would host the sixth-seeded chargers.

And then Buffalo a five-seed would host Pittsburgh a four-seed. Now, nobody loves the bolts, Harbaugh and Herbert like me, but they don't have their offensive tackles. I don't think that works. And I wouldn't trust the Jags to park my car. And you can buy into the crypto Colts. I'll go with a real equity. So I'll put Kansas City to replace the Jags as a wildcard team. I trust Andy Reid, Mahomes, and Spags.

the Ravens to replace the chargers, even though the records right now don't feel that way. But, and then I'll take Buffalo and Pittsburgh to remain the same. I don't know what Pittsburgh is going to do. Let's just make these two moves. So then I believe the winners are Kansas City over the Colts, Baltimore over New England, and Buffalo. So the road teams with the Hall of Fame quarterbacks all win.

then Kansas City would go to Denver and I would take Kansas City. And I think I would take Josh Allen over Lamar. So it would be Josh Allen and Mahomes again meeting for the AFC championship in Buffalo. Hold on. Let me add something. So I got to look this up just to make sure, Colin. That Chief's Colts game is interesting. Indianapolis would be at home.

I believe their defensive coordinator is Lou Amaruno. Yes, yeah, from Sincenzy. He's the one who hatched that great plan against Mahomes in the playoffs when the Bengals took them down. Now he adds Sauce Gardner to the mix. That's interest. That would be a good game. I think, you know, Kansas City probably would be favored by three, three and a half.

If you go to the NFC playoff picture, I mostly buy it. Maybe the Bears will sneak in. But the NFL, we said this before the year. The AFC is better at the top, but its middle and bottom looks like the NBA Eastern Conference. The NFC doesn't have a really bad bottom outside of like the Saints. I mean, Carolina's got, they just beat Green Bay at Lambo. So the bottom of the end of Arizona just clobbered Dallas. So when I look at the NFC playoff picture, Philly, Tampa, Seattle, Green Bay, Rams, Niners, Lions, Bears,

there's stuff I like about all those teams. I even trusted, I think Chicago at this point, we know what they are. They're not very good defensively. AFC, I think the cults are a little overvalued. They're more regular season than postseason team. New England's a great story. I don't know if they're going to win a playoff game against an elite quarterback.

Pittsburgh's what Pittsburgh is. Chargers all beat up. Don't trust the Jags. So I think the AFC has got all sorts of changes, and the big dogs will come roaring back in the next eight weeks. But I'll tell you. There's nobody in the NFC outside of the Bears who I think will change. I think the Bears could end up like supplanting San Francisco as a wildcard team.

I don't think the Bears are going to win their division. We'll see if who comes back for the Niners. This is fascinating. Connall look at the top four in the AFC and NFC. Okay. Broncos cold weather in January outdoors. Colts dome. Patriots, cold outside.

Pittsburgh. Cold outside. NFC. Philly. Cold outside in January. Tampa probably warmed Seattle. Battle's going to be cold. You know, that's messy.

Messy, yeah. And Green Bay, the tundra. You better be, you better be able to travel with that defense and run game is going to be huge in January. Yeah, no, there's no question. It also shows you, and this has been true forever. There's never been a dome dynasty in the NFL. There's never been a warm weather dynasty. Think about that.

Cowboys? Is that warm weather 90s? Dallas winters are cold. It's not, when I say warm weather, I'm talking L.A. Florida. Arizona. All the Florida teams.

New Orleans is warm weather. AFC North, AFC South, NFC South. Well, that's a lot back. Right. But there's never been, the dynasties in my life are Pittsburgh. Outdoors. Yeah. New England, Kansas City.

Again, you could say, what about San Francisco? What's the old joke? The coldest winter I ever spent was the, summer in San Francisco. So San Francisco's foggy and can be, you know, it can be cold. I guess San Francisco would qualify as the warm weather dynasty in the NFL. But my point is, this league is a Thanksgiving on league. It is a cold weather league.

Go back to Bart Star. I mean, go back all you want. You go back to the Packers with Bart Star. You know, it just, it's been a lot of, I mean, look at it if I said to you, best teams over the last 10 years in the NFL Baltimore Green Bay, Kansas City New England, the Steelers have been

very good Seattle has been well run Even Peyton Manning with the dome in Indy Could not really generate a dynasty Yeah I mean he had one Super Bowl In Indy yeah so the disadvantage to warm weather And dome you get very comfortable I can remember the Dan Fouts game

Dan Fouts was an amazing quarterback goes to Cincinnati It's like nine degrees and all the San Diego guys, but there is some value in playing in crappy weather in having a rough, relentless, harsh media. Now, I will say the Rams. It's a discomfort league, not a comfort league. So this Rams team, because, you know, this defense is nasty and they have a run game and a great coach, I think they can handle outdoor weather in January.

I think the Rams will be okay. Would you agree? Stafford also, he can play in the elements. Yeah, no, no, he did. But I think my, the point is, if you look at this last 34 years in the NFL, these cold weather, December, January decides this league. Look at the teams that continue to dominate. The cold weather club.

As a Jets fan, I got to look up Mendoza now. Can he play in cold weather? He's our pick. He's our guy. Pretty frigid. I think Mendoza and Dante Moore are going to go one and two. That's my guess. Urban Meyer coming up next time.

Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast.

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

We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make. You funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, 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. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

Timbo, in every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, 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's an outsider to win the French name. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerabachina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.