The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - Did Vikings make a mistake with Aaron Rodgers? Greg Cosell, Super Bowl Bubble Teams

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

Should the Vikings have passed on Aaron Rodgers? Greg Cosell breaks down Caleb Williams in Week 3, and what kind of flaws are appearing in the Ravens defense after their loss to the Detroit Lions. Plus, breaking down film on how Sam Darnold is working in Seattle. Colin talks about the Super Bowl Bubble and which teams are on the cusp of going the whole way, and which strong teams don’t have a shot.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Greg Kosell in a couple of minutes. That's 15 minutes of getting smarter with Greg Kosell NFL films live. It's the herd, wherever you may be. However you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. J. Mack, do you, like I watch PFF. I've disagreed through the years on PFF, but I think by and large, Chris Collins was company, is pretty accurate. So it's funny.

Aaron Rogers right now, the Vikings play the Steelers in Dublin. We both like the Vikings in this game. Carson Wentz, according to PFF, is kind of middle of the pack grade. Aaron's the second lowest-graded quarterback below Spencer Rattler, who's never, I don't think he's ever won an NFL start. But it's funny, I've watched Aaron. I would have never guessed that he was that lowly graded. He's made, you know, he still has the back-shoulder stuff.

I thought he got a bad interception. He got a bad break from a teammate that made a mistake against Seattle. Well, that wasn't his fault. I have not, when I've watched almost every snap this year, I would never guess he's the second lowest graded quarterback. I would think middle of the pack. Now, he's strictly a pocket quarterback right now, but it's interesting. And this is not a criticism, but I think Aaron and Carson Wentz right now are fairly similar, past their primes, had some injuries, both more than capable arms. Wenz doesn't move like he used to.

He's a pocket guy. Aaron doesn't move like he used to. He's a pocket guy. But PFF has one guy at the bottom of the wrong. And the other guy is pretty interesting. Do you buy it? PFF, do you trust their numbers? Ranking. Yeah, I think for sure. You know, like anything, outside of sports, you take a little of info from PFF. You take a little info from here, EPA success rate. You put all of it together. You don't just look at PFF and say Aaron Roger stinks. But he's not passing the eye test, Colin. Let's be real. You know, he looked okay against that Jets team, but they've proven to be like a kind of a mid to bad defense so far. And Seattle kind of confounded him.

So I know, I haven't really seen it, the eye test, but PFF is confirming what I'm seeing. Now, what's interesting about this game is Aaron, there were rumors that the Vikings, Kevin O'Connell, the head coach. There were rumors they were in on Aaron Rogers. That leaked out. Aaron denied it. Aaron did clarify it yesterday when asked about the team he's facing this weekend and the Vikings. I'll just reiterate that Kevin and I have been friends since 2008. We used to work out together at a little place called Fitness Quest 10 out in North County, San Diego.

So I've known them forever. We've been friends forever, and we keep in touch. These are the guys that keep in touch with. Things never progressed farther than ketchup conversation. I'll just leave it at that. All right. Just leave it at that. I don't know what that means, but I'll leave it at that.

And we'll start it, not leave it, with Greg Kosell, 46 years NFL films. We've got a lot of ground to cover here, and I can't wait for today. So last week, when I started to compliment Caleb Williams, I heard this avalanche, this chorus of, it was the Cowboys. He hit open receivers. Dallas is a mess. Was there anything you watched or that changed that you looked at Caleb Williams and said, okay, that's a step in the right direction?

Well, Colin, the way I'd answer to that is the litmus test in a Ben Johnson passing game are throws between the numbers at the intermediate level. If you start to see those kinds of throws with more consistency, that will tell you that Caleb Williams is getting a better understanding and figuring out how to run this offense. Because think back to Detroit with Jared Goff. Jared Goff under Ben Johnson was probably the best between the numbers thrower at the intermediate level in football because that's the way Ben Johnson structures many of its route concepts.

And we saw some of that last week. So for me, it wasn't the nature of the opponent. That just adds to the numbers and makes the numbers look better. It's whether Williams is seeing it the right way for those difficult window throws between the numbers. That's the best way to look at his development and progress under Ben Johnson. So there was a discussion last week. It was a topic on this show. I said, in the NFL, start the quarterback that helps you win Sunday.

Don't worry about where you drafted a guy. Who helps you win Sunday? And I said, in my opinion, I said, as the Vikings face the Steelers over in Dublin, and I said, I think Carson Wentz, today is better than J.J. McCarthy today. I was always a Wentz fan. I thought he was reckless physically. I was a fan, big, strong guy, little reckless, had a little Sam Darnold, amazing moments, a little reckless.

So what does he bring to the Vikings offense? I think they're so well coached that I think Carson Wentz, it wouldn't shock me if you said in a month, oh, they went in a five-game winning streak. What did you see? Yeah, last week was a tough way to really evaluate him because of the way the game played out. Obviously, he didn't turn it over. The issues that he's always had are still there. He's a wide-based thrower.

So what happens at times when there is pressure around him, he tends to rush his throws and can become a little scattershot. But he made a couple of great throws last week. The 36-yarder to Jefferson was a short throw and a long run, but it was a phenomenal window throw into a really tight window. So he's capable of those things. And I heard you speaking before, he doesn't move like he used to, so he's essentially a pocket player.

So we'll see what happens in tighter games where instead of being ahead and not having to throw very much, he only threw six balls in the second half last week against Cincinnati. If he has to throw 35, 40 times, we'll see, because sometimes what that does is it makes some of his issues

really come to the forefront. run. So one of the great mysteries to me in the NFL is you got about 13, 12 and a half, 13 minutes to make an adjustment. Guys go to the bathroom, guys grab something to, you know, drink. You don't have a ton of time. You walk in, you walk out. The Philadelphia Eagles trailed 27 to 6 and then won, and were a different offense entirely. What didn't they do early? And what did Jalen Hertz? I mean, obviously, A.J. Brown was a focal point. But what are the Philadelphia? say on their second half? Well, it's funny you say that because I've had coaches tell me that the most important

player on the Eagles offense is A.J. Brown, because the reality is if you want to really buck up and stop the run, you can do that with bodies. And in fact, Barclay, this year, last year, first contact for Barclay was four yards down the field, so he was getting to the second level clean. This year, it's about two yards, so he's not getting past the first level. Their own lines not playing as well. But what they do really well and have for a number of years is throw outside the numbers to A.J. Brown. That's the strength of J. Helens Harts as a thrower.

Brown is a really tough cover outside the numbers. He's so strong. He's so physical. That's how their offense got started with a 38-yard fade route against the Rams in the third quarter, followed by the touchdown to Goddard, which was the perfect play call against the coverage that they got. But Brown, like I said, there's a lot of coaches who believe he's really the key to that offense because you get so many one-on-ones outside because of the run game, and he's a really difficult cover. Well, I love Justin Herbert out of college. I loved him in Oregon. He's a great kid. He comes on the show, so I've got some confirmation bias here.

But it does feel like he's leading the way and not the run game. It does feel like they've ramped up. You're right. Yeah, like they're a bit more aggressive down the field. What does the film say on Harbaugh's offense in year two with Justin? Well, I guess maybe they've locked Greg Roman in a closet somewhere because this is now a passing football team through three weeks. I mean, they are dropping back and throwing the ball.

And I think one thing that's important if you're going to do that, and I always heard Tom Brady talk this way, is if you're going to have your quarterback drop back that many times, then he's got to be more than willing and feel very comfortable taking six-yard throws if those are the throws that are there. Brady would talk about that a lot that, hey, if it's first and 10, and they're going to give me a six-yard throw, I'm going to take it every time. And I think Herbert's got that nice balance right now, Colin, between understanding that there's nothing wrong in a normal down-and-distance situation with taking the shorter throw, staying ahead of the sticks. And we know he's got a big arm and can make big-time throws and movement throws, obviously, when necessary, as we're seeing right here, this I assume, the touchdown to Allen.

and yes it is, and he certainly can do that. But through three games, they are a passing offense. So we watch the Ravens kind of shockingly get pushed around for three and a half hours and those by the Lions. And I said, listen, if you're trying to get through Buffalo and Herbert, I don't know if that defense is good enough, you may be a team that needs to make a move on the trade deadline. Now, Kyle Hamilton, Raqon, Smith, they've got some good players. They spend their money on defense.

But when you looked at, was it a bad matchup with the dominating O line of Detroit? Was it a bad matchup? Or when you look at the film on Baltimore, they just have some realities with personnel? Well, in this given game, Matt Aboquet was out, and I believe he'll be out again. Kyle Van Noy, who's a really good player, he was out. Surprisingly, Jones, the D-Tackle, who's a really good player, got moved off the ball a lot. And keep in mind, the two guards for Detroit, one's the second game. year player, Mahogany. The other is Tate Radledge, a rookie from Georgia. So they moved those guys

throughout the game. But it's funny. I'm watching the first, on tape, I'm talking about the first quarter and a half, and I'm thinking, where's this big run game? Because they actually stopped them for a quarter and a half, and then everything changed. But they are giving up the most points in the NFL right now, and they are really struggling with the run game. And sometimes your good players, Colin, have bad games. Roquan Smith did not have a good game, but you're not expecting that to be the case every game. He's a really good player. He just did not have a very good game. Yeah.

So we've been joking. Jay Mack and I have been joking. This league, Darnold, Baker, Gino, Mac Jones, you give up on them. People give up on them. Then you look up with a new staff and a new offensive coach and you're like, wow. Sure. I have been

arguing for a year and a half. I like the Colts roster. I think Warren now, Taylor, Pittman, I like their, I think they're offensive lines good. I thought it really, I kept saying with Anthony Richardson, just get somebody that can complete the layups. They've got really good players. So my theory is this is not a mirage. Coaching obviously matters, but like the Colts are, this is a pretty good roster. It's not the Eagles, but it's pretty good. Or is it just amazing coaching by Shane Stuyckin?

Well, there's a combination, but think of it this way. How many quarterbacks are Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson? There's very few of those guys. There's not 50 of those guys out there. So what are most quarterbacks, Colin? Most quarterbacks are ball distributors and executors of an offense. That's what you're asking your quarterback to do. That's what you're coaching him to do.

And right now, with the talent they have, they have a very good old line. They have four receivers. They've got multiple tight ends, including Tyler Warren, who's a very good player. So what is Jones doing exceptionally well? He's distributing the football. He's making the right decision. He's making good location throws. He moves when necessary.

He's executing the offense. That's what you want your quarterback to do. Now, you and I both know we have no idea what's going to happen Sunday next week, three months from now. But all we have is what we have right now. And at this moment in time, he is very efficiently executing a well-schemed, well-designed offense. with a lot of talent. Yeah. So I saw a story this week is C.J. Stroud playing himself out of an extension.

So I usually look at quarterbacks and I say, do they have a defined elite trait? I think he throws an elite, accurate ball when he's given reasonable time. But they can't run. Protects him second year in a row as bad. It's a defensive head coach. I worry about the O-line regression. I still think he's a big, accurate distributor of the ball. I don't think there's much around him offensively,

but what does the film say with this great rookie who doesn't look the same the last year and a half? No. Well, it's funny you say that because it's rookie season, and it started early. I saw maybe in the second game of the season just the precise timing and anticipation that he threw with. And he really hasn't looked that way. Last year he didn't, and this year up to this time, he has not. I think he's not a truly comfortable player. The O-line is certainly an issue.

But again, it becomes a difficult balancing act, Colin, because you can't walk into the locker room and say, guys, I'm not playing well because my O-line's not very good. You can't say that. So you've got to figure out how to function within a squeezed and muddy pocket. And I think that's something he's still figuring out. Now, are there some plays where the O-line just gives him no time and he doesn't have a chance?

Yes. But at some point, you've got to be able to function. otherwise you're not going to have a passing game. And right now their passing game is very inconsistent, very up and down. And he just doesn't look like the same confident thrower that seeing throws, window throws, as viable throws, the way he did his rookie season. Yeah, sometimes it's upstairs.

You lose confidence. You know, you lose trust. You said that last year with Mahomes. You could tell he didn't trust his offensive line. And in the Super Bowl, he shouldn't have trusted it. Yeah. But at some point, you've got to play. I mean, you still got to play.

That's the thing. Yeah. So I went back and watched the Packers-Browns game a second time. And I guess my takeaway is Cleveland's defense is really good. And I do think the- Really good. Really good. And I think the Packers are young.

Young teams kind of get into their fields. They were playing real well. Everybody said that the best team in the league. They came out without a lot of juice early. They probably should have won 10 to nothing. One bad pick by Jordan Love. I think it's a one-off. And I think Cleveland's got really.

good defensive personnel. What did what did Cleveland do that Jordan Love couldn't figure out because it's not like the Packers don't have excellent young offensive personnel either. No, but I think everything with the Brown starts with their D-line. They play, they have a five-man rotation at the end. Of course, Garrett plays more snaps than anybody else, but they have a five-man rotation. They're really good inside. This was the best game this past week that Mason Graham has played in his first three games in his NFL career. Malik Collins is one of those guys that is seemingly on a different team every year but is a really good player. So they've got a lot of juice and a lot of talent up front and they play a lot of man coverage and they're very good on the back

end. I mean, Denzel Ward is one of the best probably overlooked corners in the league. And I had a former coordinator in the league tell me that the two toughest coordinators that he's ever played against are Vic Fangio and Jim Schum. So Jim Schwartz does just enough in terms of rotation and showing you different pictures on the back end at key moments that he confuses quarterbacks. And you know in this league, when I say confused, all it takes is half a beat, and that's long enough for it to be a problem for a quarterback. Yeah. Okay, now a topic I'm going to like. It took a while for me to win this debate, but I'm a Sam Darnold fan.

I always felt that he was too much. hard. Yeah. Tough, athletic, well-liked, incredibly coachable. But I did think he was a reckless player, and he had to play within structure. If you gave him structure, throwing 26 to 28 times with a decent run game, if you ask him to throw on third and 12, it can be trouble. Third and four, he can be very, very good because he's a playmaker, and he's got a nice arm.

So what are you seeing that's clicking in Seattle with Sam Darnel? Well, you're starting to see the same thing we saw last year in Minnesota. You're starting to see the Clint Kubiak offense. And he basically comes from the same coaching tree to some extent as Kevin O'Connell. So now you're seeing more under center, more play action, play action boot, things that make Darnold feel very comfortable that help define the reads, make them cleaner, so he knows where to go with the ball. So he's not dropping back and you're asking him to read everything.

in front of him, which, quite frankly, is not the strength of his game. When he can see it cleanly and it's defined, as you said, he is very, very talented. And if we can go to our big play, because this play last week against the Saints in the Red Zone is very, very representative of a Clint Kubiak offense and how Darnold is very efficient within it. And this is play-action boot left. And this was such a beautifully designed play. And Darnold can make these throws. he can make any throw. So right now you're going to see Darnel. And again, notice that he's under center. So you're going to see Walker's in the back field and they're going to have three wide receivers on the field. And what they're going to do here, and more and more teams do

this, but it's really important to Seattle's offense is motion by Horton, the rookie wide receiver across the formation. So now what you're going to see is inside run action. And I want you to focus on the safety, Justin Reed, a really good player, by the way. There's Walker in the backfield. There's the safety just in Reed. Because this is a critical piece to this play. Because what's going to happen is when you do run action and you throw it, Colin, very often you're putting one defender in conflict. That's all it takes very often. One defender. Watch Reed's initial reaction. It's going to be inside and he's going to step up. That's the critical defender on this play. You're putting him in conflict. That's a big philosophy of

Kyle Shanahan as well. So now what you're going to see after they do that is we're going to go back to the snap and we're going to look at the route concept. You're going to see Cup run the corner route. The tight end's going to work into the flat. And JSN, who's having a phenomenal season, by the way, he's going to run the crosser that ties in with the boot action by Sam Darnold. So now as we play this, you'll see all the routes work. And you can see how they match up to it. The corner is going to match cup. That defender is going to make. match Bonner into the flat. And remember Reed? He's the one who has to play JSN on the crosser. But look how he gets sucked up by the run action. And then he goes, oh, you know what? And he realizes

that he's got to hunt up JSN and he can't do it. So you can really see it clearly from this angle. This is beautiful play design down in the high red zone. And Donald certainly can make throws rolling to his left, and this is just the design and the execution beating the defense. And Donald's in a really good situation. And by the way, they have a very good defense that's only going to get better in Seattle. Yeah, we just, we were talking today about the athletic. They surveyed 29 execs, GMs, and coaches on the best front offices. And it might as well have been my heard hierarchy, my top 10 teams. And it's like there's, right, people think the gap in this league is quarterback,

and coaches, but Seattle, John Snyder, when you watch them play, they may not have the Eagle roster, but Greg, Seattle is fast. They don't, they have to read. Yeah. And then defensively, Colin, I'm telling you, you look at that roster. Defensively, they've got a very good roster. Yeah. Great stuff. Greg CoSell, as always, NFL films, 46 years. Great talking to you on a Thursday, Greg. Thanks, Colin. Always appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah. It's so much. much of this league is upstairs, but you know, I mean, you don't know. Some guys take a while to develop and draft, and everybody was worried about JSN. Is he going to be, is he going to be a number one receiver for Seattle? And it's like, I just trust John Snyder. He looks like a number

one. Then they went and get this kid from Holt from Colorado State in the fifth round. And it's like, what is it? Horton, my bad. It looks like he's a number two. Like, now it's early. Whatever. But Seattle's done a really good job to get third, fourth, fifth, six-round guys who can play. They got a running back from Miami in the seventh round. He hadn't played a ton yet, but I watched him in college, Martinez. And it was like, he averaged four and a half yard every time I watched Miami. It was a good player. It's like, how is he available in the seventh round?

So, you know what? The guys upstairs have a huge influence in this league. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Hey, it's Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and, of course, the I Heart Radio app.

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

We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And...

Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers 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 guide. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the 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. two goes deep on both of those things, the fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that?

They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit season two on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. With 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 or 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 Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. Buckeye started as a 10-point favorite. It's come down. There are some money-line Husky betters. I'm not one of them, but Jed Fish, coach of Washington, has got himself, remember Ohio State? He's got a very young quarterback.

It is one of the loudest stadiums. The three loudest stadiums I've ever been in are Gainesville, Florida, Otson, and Husky Stadium. It is loud, and Washington can score. So that's a tough lift for Ohio State. I'll take the Buckeyes by about a touchdown. Oregon goes to Penn State. I like Oregon in that spot.

Oregon wins these big games, and I frankly, I think Dante Moore, it could be the most underrated player in the country. The Oregon quarterback is a stud. Also, I like USC. Now, Illinois is a heavy blitz, man-to-man defense, but they're banged up in the secondary. That game, I think, will be close early because it's an early start time for USC.

It's a weird early start time where it starts at 11, which is 9 a.m. Los Angeles time. So I think USC is going to look ugly in the first half and really struggle and pull away. But it is a great weekend. I'll take USC by about 10, Ohio State by a touchdown. I think Ole Miss is overrated. LSU wins on the road. I'll take A&M close, Indiana close, Oregon close. one of us likes Bama.

It's not me. I'm going to take Georgia. This is what they're prone to do. Win at home by a touchdown or more. It is a great. What a slate, man. I can just, you hyping up these guys, the hyperbole. I mean, it's not even October,

and you're talking about, like, Dodd-Taymore, and then the Washington quarterback. Like, I love the hype. And one of the guys just sent me a video of Penn State, the Whiteout. How do you leave Beaver Stadium off your list of loudest, Have you just? Well, I've only been there one time.

Okay. Again, Otson's not big, but it's built into the ground. Outson's insanely loud. It used to be louder before it got a little upscale and bougie. The crowd used to be a little rowdier and more lubricated, but it's still incredibly loud. Husky Stadium, it shakes. Husky Stadium, it like one side of the stadium shakes. It's wild.

The Gainesville, listen, you know, I almost went to college or I got accepted. We went down. But it's not that loud. No. No, it's about the structure. It's built straight up. So it's hard that the, like Michigan's huge, but the noise escapes. Gainesville, it's built straight up. And so the noise reverberates back and forth. So I'm just telling you, I've been on sidelines at most of the big stadiums.

And it's insane. Obviously, listen, Baton Rouge, where LSU, like it registered as an earthquake, you know. By the way, subplot for LSU O'Miss, the star linebacker for LSU is now dating Lane Kiffin's daughter, and they posted it on Instagram, and the SEC is like going crazy thinking Lane Kiffin's trying to play mind games. Listen, man, yeah, he's using his daughter to play mind games with Brian Kelly. Listen, this is a great weekend for football. Oh, it's Saturday is going to be absolutely bonkers.

Here's J-Mac with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's bust right into it. Jaden Daniels. is he going to play or not, Colin. Dan Quinn is listing him as day-to-day.

However, Jaden Daniels talked to reporters yesterday and said whether he plays or not will be up to the doctors. Now, that is interesting wording. He said he wants to play, but it's up to the doctors. That to me is probably why the line you see it come down. It was three. It's now one and a half. I think that's saying, hey, this is going to be another Marriota game.

And just for the record, Atlanta is at home? They do have good edge rushers. Gross. I will say this. The question about Jaden Daniels coming out of college was durability. He got dinged up last year. He's dinged up this year. It's like Brock Purdy.

It's not the end of the world, but it should be noted. You know, these players that get dinged up early, like Joe Burrow, and Brock Purdy get dinged up often. You're not calling him Glass Joe Burrow, though. No, no. I mean, I'm just saying this was the primary concern. It's like Caleb Williams. when he came to the Bears, the primary concern was he does hero ball. He doesn't play well with Instructure.

And then you see, oh, wait, he doesn't necessarily play well in structure. I'm always worried in the NFL when my number one concern with you is realized your first couple years in the league. For instance, it was Tebow. I never was a Tebow guy, but it was like people said he's got a slow, slow delivery. and you saw very early, it's like, yeah, it takes a while to get cranked up. So I would just say, when you see a problem in college, Anthony Richardson had accuracy issues in college. You're like he hadn't played the position a lot. He doesn't have a feel for it.

He misses easy stuff. Well, his first 15 starts or 12 starts, you're like, oh, he can't hit the easy stuff. That's a problem. So Chaden's amazing. But now this is the second time he's been banged up, and he's played a year in the league. Yeah. It's interesting. So we talk a lot about team building, right?

And you know the Mexican soccer team we have. You need a number 10, which is like a messy Diego Maradona. We had one last year on our team, and then we sold him. Without him, we're struggling. Well, you know what? In the NFL, Colin, it is the offensive line. If you do not protect your investment, he's going to get dinged up. Now, Washington did that, right, with Laramie Tunsells.

They went out and got him. And he's still banged up. This is not great. I forgot that he was injured last year. You're right. You brought that up. So that's now two seasons. You know, again, I don't want to go back to Tom Brady, but like he was healthy for like, like, what, 15 years in a row?

Eli, Manning and Brett Far. Again, Aaron Rogers has taken shots. He's been hurt once in his career. It just, it is, Joe Burrow keeps getting hurt. Well, you know, it's this left tackle for the Giants. Andrew Thomas, tremendous player. He has hurt every single year. So you do get to a point where you can love a player, but this whole league is, are you available Sunday?

Eli Manning was always available Sunday. The last thing, Rahim Morris is shutting down reports of a quarterback controversy. Mike Penix is our guy. No, not playing Kirk Cousins. All right. Next up is the 49ers obviously lost Nick Bosa. But listen, man, Fred Warner, they still have him, the middle linebacker. Colin, if we had a draft of like non-edge rushers for defensive players,

I would probably go Fred Warner, number one. The guy's incredible. You watch him. He's a machine. Here he is talking about the impact of Nick Bosa. I'm sick. I'm so sick for him, you know, because, you know, he knows what that's like to go through that process, right, of a recovery from that injury, which I know he's fully capable of, but that doesn't make it any easier. Obviously, it's a huge blow to our team, but we move forward. I hate to say next man up mentality because you can't just replace him with one player. But, you know, the mission is still the same. We're going to find a way to make, make a, just to get one win this week and we'll figure out the rest later.

Hall of Famer Fred Warner So good Oh he's so good You just watch him He is one of you If you watch a football player You can tell How smart they are

By their instincts Instincts I don't know Fred Warner Unbelievable instincts He has got He has an ability to sniff A play out He gets like a center fielder

Who gets a good jump in a ball He gets a jump on play And you see a lot of guys They're mostly like You know See ball go attack it And then there's guys that are ahead of the play.

Fred Warner is an unbelievable talent. Quick note, no practice yesterday for Ricky Pearsall. We know Jennings didn't go last week. Listen, man, if you don't have Kidding's Pierceall, sorry, Kittle, Pierceall and Jennings is that bad news. So we got to wait, and we don't know if it's going to be purdy or Mack Jones. I want to fire on the Niners, but I'm holding off. Final story, Colin, college football.

Oh, boy. Oregon, number six in the country, heads to Happy Valley to take on Penn State and James Franklin. Penn State obviously has a huge home field advantage, and Dan Lannning talked about the ducks handling that raucous atmosphere. That's part of what makes college football fun, is it's a real one to get to go play in. We've got a great atmosphere here. It's been an asset for us.

I'm sure they're counting on it being an asset for them. But again, play the game, not the occasion. Just how much we'd be playing Mobomba this week in preparation for what. It'll play a couple times. We'll be, you know, do everything we can to be prepared, for that environment for sure. On the left here? I don't love that song.

So there's a classic moment you can look it up on YouTube of where Penn State was playing Michigan and they blast this song, Mo Bamba. On the opening snap of the game, Michigan was penalized because they couldn't even get to play in. First play of the game, Colin. So it is a little crazy Saturday night is going to be fired.

It's a bummer you're not out here, man. We could hang together. I got a hall pass from the wife Saturday night. I'm going to be broadcasting Saturday on the USC, the most underrated team in college football USC, which is going to go to, let's see, Purdue, Michigan. They're going to go to potentially 5-0, touchdown favorite. I do think Illinois's O-line struggles and the Trojans lead the country in sacks. Yeah, James Struggling.

Look at those numbers, Colin. top 10 opponents, James Franklin. What is that about, by the way? How do you go foreign? What does that mean? Try to put that into context for the audience. Because I've tried it. It's tough.

Okay, so first of all, a lot of those games are against Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines in Ohio State. You got five stars? What's a big deal? Come on. Well, those are hard teams to beat. I mean, Ohio State couldn't beat Jim Harbaugh at the end. Penn State's not going to. Yeah, but this is a 24-game sample size, man.

This isn't like four straight to Michigan, you know? Well, they've lost a lot of close ones. They've lost often to the best team in the country. They've lost to Ohio State. They've lost to Michigan with hardball. I don't, you know, again, you've got to be careful about it. I'm not killing them. I'm just saying these are numbers that are undeniable.

You can't just, that's no big deal. There is some criticism of Franklin and late game strategies. I mean, again, I'm not crushing the guy, but this is a big spot. And I'm not saying you run him out of town, but like eventually you got. to win the big games, don't you? First of all, you run him out of town. I'm not saying they would, but you've seen crazy your stuff happen. I would give him a lifetime contract today.

I would give him a lifetime contract there. I'll never forget, Schottenheimer with the Chargers. They go like, I think it was like 14 and 2. Yeah, they did. And the Jets beat them. Or they lose in the first round in the past. And they just ran them out of town. They're like, you're not winning the big game.

It happens, man. SEC people freak out. And the Big Ten, there's big money at stake. There's about eight coaches in college football that they're just going to win games. of them are better on schemes. Some are better recruiters. I mean, Dabo wins a bunch of games. Kirby Smart's going to win a bunch of games. I mean, Dan Lannning at Oregon is going to win a bunch of games. You know how irrational these boosters are. You know these crazy rich guys. I'm donating all this money and he can't. It's not about like whether or not he's a good coach.

We know he's good. It's the boosters in college football are crazy and they're the ones funding the NIL money. And if they're like, listen, I want a new coach. It gets a little, it's like a board overthrowing the CEO. By the way, 14, I was right. 14. I think James Franklin's great. He is. 14 of the 20 losses for James Franklin.

Came to Jim Harbaugh, Ryan Day, and Urban Meyer. Well, okay. That's like Ohio State Buckeye fan for years was banging on Ryan Day. And I'm like, yeah, he's losing to Georgia and Jim Harbaugh. Well, give me a break. Ryan Day was crushing everybody. except Jim Harbaugh, whose last two years had a stacked roster with 15 NFL guys. Yeah, James Franklin's losing.

Urban Meyer is arguably after saving the best college coach ever. Jim Harbaugh, I think, is the best football coach in the world. And Ryan Day is outstanding. And Buckeye fans are weird because he couldn't beat two programs in the country. So he's losing to all the great. And I mean, again, Ohio, Penn State's a top six program right now in America. Undeniable. Under James Franklin.

Yeah. J-Mac with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd-line news. Yeah, I mean, I mean, listen, if they had some bumps in between, but you go Joe Paterno and eventually James Franklin, you know, programs, you know, listen, it's like people complaining about Sark at Texas.

You've had Mack Brown and now Sark. With both, you win a bunch of games. You know, what are we talking about here? It's like people, if you get, like in Philadelphia, I mean, they got rid of Andy Reed, and I wouldn't have done that, but the argument was, hey, it had been time. And I get that. And now Philadelphia has done well, but they moved through some different coaches, the Chip thing and the Doug Peterson thing, and now the Siriani thing was a little bumpy,

and now it's not. But it's, you know, in college, there's just a handful of guys that are going to win double-digit games every year. They're big-time recruiters. They build good staffs. Give them lifetime contracts. The idea that I'm going to get rid of dabble, Swinney. What? What are you talking about?

You know, I got that Super Bowl bubble. I haven't unleashed a Super Bowl bubble yet. I always have seven teams. That's it. I think I'll unveil my first Super Bowl bubble heading in the week four 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, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway.

If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes. in Rebel Spirit Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit.

How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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.

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Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man. the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And enter for a free shot to win your share of $10,000 in cash prizes. All right, I do it about every month. Maybe I do it four times during the NFL season. I save my Super Bowl bubble. There's always about six teams, seven teams that I think can win the Super Bowl. It's roster quarterback coaching momentum.

And then there's another three or four that I think can win multiple playoff games but I don't think they're a team that can really threaten to get to a conference championship. So let's unveil it right now, Jay Mack, and you can take your wax at the pinata here. So the teams, I think, are in the Super Bowl bubble, and I feel very strongly. Rams, Chargers, Eagles, Bills, Packers, and Seattle. I am high on Seattle's roster. We just heard from Greg Kosell, who said on film, they are really, really good. I think Baltimore can win a couple of playoff games. I don't trust their defense. I think

Detroit, in the end, do I worry that the quarterback is a strictly pocket quarterback? They tend to be very good at home, not as good in cold weather, not as good late in the season on the road. I think Tampa, you've got to trust they're going to win their division, but I think there's a little fool's gold winning over bad teams late, but I respect Baker and Todd Bowles. They have a great front office. In San Francisco, believe it or not, winning with Mack Jones is impressive. Bosa's injury will

be a problem late in the season when they face elite quarterbacks. Again, could they get to the playoffs and win a playoff game? I love their coach. I think when Kittles healthy, Trent Williams McCaffrey absolutely can win multiple playoff games, but I think

no Bosa is an issue late. Anything you see here, Seattle now tonight, for the record, Green Bay lost. So what? They lost to Cleveland. I think it's a trap game tonight for Seattle. It's a stayaway game.

Arizona at home, division rival, short week. They play everybody in that division tough. Your thoughts on it. Okay, so for starters, one thing is not like the other in that Super Bowl bubble. I'll just say the quarterback names, you tell me which pops out of you. Stafford, Hertz, Herbert, Allen, love, Darnold. Anything mildly different than the game? The others there?

No. I know PFS has him number one, but... I have a bunch of elite names. That's all I heard. Okay. So I just went to the Super Bowl futures odds, okay? This is a prominent sports book. I don't know if we use them, but whatever.

Buffalo is number one, okay? Number two is Baltimore, which you have. Number three is Philadelphia, Green Bay. Where's Seattle? Oh, 15th, Colin. 15th. Best Super Bowl odds for Seattle plus 6,000. So I need you to go to the ATM right now, pull some money out,

And it puts your money where your mouth is it back Seattle and Darnold at plus 6,000. They're currently behind the Vikings, the Colts. And oh, by the way, where's Bo Nex and Sean Peyton in your bubble? Did the bubble burst for Bo Nex? Right now, right now, Denver's not there. By the way, I like the Colts. I don't think Daniel Jones is winning two playoff games. I like Denver.

They're not playing well. They're not getting the pass rush. They're making too many mistakes. they're a bad first and second down offense. I can't put them there right now. I love their roster, but I don't like the team. The Washington commanders, I believe they were in the NFC title game and have Jaden Daniels and there are nowhere to be found.

Again, right now, their quarterback is not healthy. So I've said this. Seattle is a weird fumble from being 3 and 0. Seattle's really good. They had the blowout of the year. They hammered a Pittsburgh team. Pittsburgh dominated them physically in the second half. So I think, by the way, Seattle special teams are great.

That's indisputable. Their defense is great. That is indisputable. And now that JSN is a number one receiver, their running game is great. Our only question was, do they have a number one receiver? 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. You funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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