The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 – Greg Cosell breaks down Philip Rivers, Santa Colin hands out gifts

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell joins Colin and discusses how Philip Rivers is still operating at quarterback at age 44, plus some film talk to preview the Bears and 49ers game on Sunday. Holiday gifts and stocking stuffers from Colin to his favorite NFL quarterbacks. Someone wants the Lamar Jackson story out – but who?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. For listening to Fox Sports Radio, Oh, we got a great hour. This will be a great hour. Live in Chicago, it's the herd, wherever you may be, however you may be listening. A big story today before we get to Great CoSell. Big, big story today breaking in Baltimore, Mike Preston, a respected long-term beat reporter that covers the Ravens, breaks the story today that Lamar's fallen asleep in meetings, that, you know, he's playing video games, late into the night. When he does show up to mandatory camp, he shows up for a day. There is some belief as he's gotten, let's be honest now. He's going to be 29 next year.

That was Cam's last great year. Now, I think Lamar's a much better all-time quarterback because I think he's more consistent. I think he's more, I just think Lamar is really an all-time unique talent. But hyper-athletic athletes in any sport age faster than a guy like Philip River, who can do it from the pocket. Right? So I have always said,

Steph Curry will be able to shoot threes until he's 50. You know, the guys with 47-inch vertical jumps, they can age very, very quickly. So it's a very concerning story. I've always been a huge fan of Lamar Jackson, but next year his cap hit is 24% of Baltimore's cap. Bo Nix, his is less than 2%. Caleb Williams less than 4%.

So the Ravens are not a low self-esteem franchise. I've talked about this for a year. Cleveland. I mean, they'll guarantee the Sean Watson's contract because they have such low sports self-esteem. Baltimore, arguably best owner in the game. Great owner. Great coach.

Great equity. Great fans. Unbelievable brand. I could absolutely see them taking a phone call from the Raiders and the Dolphins. Absolutely. Well, why would the Raiders and Dolphins do that? Have you watched the Raiders play the last five years? have you watched the Dolphins regressive quarterback this year?

I've always had a rule. There's about six quarterbacks in the league, and I know I say this too often. I would not even pick up the phone no matter the offer. I think Drake Mays become one of those guys, obviously like Mahomes, Josh Allen. Then there's another six to eight guys that I'm not going to get on the phone and call people,

but I would take a call if you offered me three firsts. Lamar, to me, was always in the first group. Now he's transitioned. If this is true, and I trust Mike Preston, he's in the second one. I'll take phone calls. Then there's about 15 GMs, 15 teams. You should get on the phone and make calls to upgrade a quarterback. That's most of the league.

But Lamar was always one of those Herbert, you know, Mahomes, like untouchable, falling asleep at meetings, you know, wants a new deal, clearly has not. I mean, this is just eyes. We can all see it. He's getting banged up. It's the first time I've watched him and thought, Where's the juice? I don't see it.

And he's like multiple injuries to multiple body parts. It's just fascinating. With that, Greg Kosell, 46 years NFL films. Okay, let's talk about somebody that's not hyper-athletic, Philip Rivers. And I think all of us, who are, I'm over 44, we can stop there. All of us who are a little older watch Philip Rivers, and it's hard not to root for him. You know, Kyle Shanahan said, here's all I know when we played him.

He always throws to the right guy. That's a little underrated sometimes. What do you see with Philip on film? Oh, just before we start, I just want you to know, Colin, that I can still shoot the three. Just want to let you know that. And I'm older than 50, so, okay. But anyway, Philip River, it just blows me away.

The guy hasn't played in five years. He looks exactly the same. You know, if you want to reduce quarterbacking to its simplest terms, And obviously much goes into being able to do this correctly, but he throws it to the right receiver at the right time with the right kind of throw. And he just sees the field. And sometimes, and I know you've talked about this, I'm sure, many times in all sports, he's just one of those guys that innately sees the field the right way.

And, you know, it's funny, that last interception that he made, you know, the one that was returned for a touchdown that put the game away, it was one of those things where he actually was two. quick with his reading of the coverage. He knew exactly what the coverage was, but he threw it too quickly. So Winters, who was actually the flat defender in cover three, he threw it so quickly that he didn't give Winters a chance to get to his flat responsibility. But he is just, it's remarkable to me. I watch him, and I'm totally in awe of just how he sees it, how he gets rid of the football. I mean, doesn't he look exactly the same as he did, you know, when he was playing with the

the Chargers? Yeah, he was he was unathletic in his prime. So yes. I mean, I knew his GM Tom Telesco and Tom's like his last year with the Chargers, he's like, yeah, he's probably the least athletic quarterback in the league. He goes, we've never really worried a lot about that. Like, that's just not, that's not what we've leaned into. Jared Goff's not running around either, and he's 32 TD's five picks. I mean, you know what it's like? It's like if you're comparing it to another sport, it's kind of like, you know, the Joker in Denver. I mean, that guy, I've had people tell me he may be the most unathletic player in the NBA,

and all he does is win MVP's every year. I mean, some guys just see it, feel it, know how to play, and it's very innate. It's in their DNA. All right, I want to talk Bears' Niners play. I was sort of taken back by the fact that Christian McCaffrey had 27 touches. The Niners this year are 0 and 4 the week after he has a lot of. at least 27 touches. He had eight touches in the fourth quarter. I look at him and I'm like, okay, they are way too dependent on him. But when you watch film, does that come across?

Well, what comes across is how physical and hard a runner he is. And it's an interesting point you made because he's just one of those guys. He's just, look, he hasn't broken a lot of long runs this year and because of that some people think he's lost his step but he runs so hard and they use him in the past game i mean obviously in the past game they use him really well he's a matchup nightmare they are very much a personnel and formation based offense so he lines up in multiple spots um look you see him here beating guys beating linebackers that that first touchdown he called when he beat pratt i mean i think that's the one we just saw you know they use him in multiple ways and they are so good with the use of motion. I'm sure when you watch them, you see this motion and I wish I knew

what they called it, where Ushche kind of lines up as a tilted wing and then motions into the backfield, and they do about 10 different things off of that. I mean, they are very much a choreographed offense. You know, I was watching that game, and I got to tell you, and it was almost a master class in two different ways of playing quarterback. You had Rivers, who's a pre-snap master of the position. He controls the game before the ball is snapped. Then you have Purdy, who is a post snap operator. He doesn't have anything

to do with setting protections, changing protections. He's a post-snap operator. So it's two different styles of quarterbacking, and they both play at a very high level. Okay, Caleb Williams, did it again.

Yep. I mean, I feel like I've asked you this question a lot, but, you know, you can give me the same result, but you can incrementally improve, do you kind of feel like the last eight weeks he's the same guy, or are these little tiny metric jumps, little micro jumps, or do you feel kind of it's been established what he is? Well, you can always improve the mental part of the game, and we're not in the building as they're coaching him, and they're working on that part of it.

So that's hard to know how Ben Johnson, who's obviously very good at designing a pass offense with his use of formations, motions, shifts, route concepts. So you can always improve and build upon that. That's the mental part. But when you just talk about the physical part of the game, I mean, you're dealing with a guy that has really high-level physical traits. I mean, his ball, he just spins it. It's different than most guys.

We'll get to Justin Herbert. He's another guy like that. But Caleb Williams is like that. He just spins it a little bit differently. He can make unbelievable throws on the move. The ball comes out great. I mean, that winning touchdown throw was just ridiculous. I mean, and we're looking at it now.

I mean, you couldn't have handed it to him any better. And that ball was, I don't know, what, 60 yards in the air, and obviously bad weather. So, you know, yeah, there's always improvements to make, but he's clearly getting better. It's incremental each week. When you see a great throw or a great play, I don't think you're surprised because he's got the physical traits to do it. And I'm sure if Ben Johnson was listening to our conversation, he could really, off five things right away in which he he needs to improve but that's typical he's only a second year player and a first year player in the system but it's obvious what the physical traits are

now you by the way you were defending him early when he was struggling a bit you kept saying and i don't hear you say this much you're like all i know is what i see and what i see is like crazy yeah it's not so i mean stuff i haven't seen before yeah and and there's no question we get caught up a lot in when you see a guy make a play that is a special play physically. I mean, we saw Cam Ward make one of those plays this week running to his left and throwing the ball 40 yards on a line at the sideline. You know, I mean, there are quarterbacks that are capable of doing that. Then there are quarterbacks, as you mentioned, like a Rivers or a gop. They're not going to make those plays, but they do other things at a really high level.

Okay, so Jacksonville, Trevor Lawrence, you and I, I loved him. I got all, because I love college football. I got all hooked up on him. And you're like, and I remember this very early. You said, you said Josh Allen's way better. It's not close. And I was like, okay, okay, okay, sure, whatever. Well, it's obviously been established. But I will say that some quarterbacks find the right mentor earlier.

Sure. And it does feel like Liam Cohen has unlocked something. Yeah. What is the film say he is unlocked with Trevor Lawrence? By the way, I'm used to year whatever. I got a wife and two daughters. I get a lot of year, whatever. But the point is, the point is that I think what you see, number one, you're seeing Lawrence play really decisively. So how does that come about? How does a quarterback go from sort of being stuck too often in the pocket and not seeing it clearly and not being decisive to being decisive? And you've talked about this a lot. I talk about it all the time because I'm such a big believer in coaching. So how does that happen? What does it mean when you're we say a guy is a good offensive coach. So it starts with how he's taught, then it gets down to what you see when you watch tape. It comes down to personnel, formations, motions, shift, receiver splits, how you set up routes so that the quarterback can be decisive. Just being decisive doesn't

come about because you say, hey, just drop back and throw it. You have to feel good throwing the ball. You have to feel like, hey, I know exactly where I'm going to throw it based on this play call versus whatever the anticipated coverage would be, or if it's pure progression, what my reads take me through. And all of a sudden, Trevor Lawrence looks really decisive throwing the football. So it's a combination of he's got obviously pretty good traits and the fact that Liam Cohen really does a good job. Because don't forget, he came from the Rams.

So it's a lot of the Sean McVeigh stuff. So a lot of teams in the NFL, there's a part of the team, like the Texans defense that jumps off the film. Seattle has a lot of speed everywhere. Is it the Seahawk offense or the Seahawk defense when you watch the film, you are going, wow, that feels, that's better than what I see on most pieces of film? Well, you know, it's funny you say that because in the summer, I said to people that I thought the Seahawks would have a really good defense.

So I'm not surprised. Now, again, I didn't know how Nick Emanwari would feel. fit into this. And right now, he's sort of the poster child for the concept of big nickel, which a lot of teams play where they play three safeties instead of a third linebacker. And that becomes essentially both their base and their nickel defense. And Emond Worry has been such a critical piece of what they do. But their defense has played exceptionally well. They're not a high percentage blitz defense, but when they do, the principles and the concepts are really good. They've got a lot of players. You know, one thing I always

notice, you notice this with quarterbacks in particular, but I notice it with other positions. When you see a backup go in the game, Colin, and have to play meaningful snaps over, let's say, four, five, six game period, and there appears to be no drop-off at all in the play of that position

and the play of the entire defense. That tells me, anyway, that the coaching staff does a great job. And we saw that in Seattle when Julian Love got hurt, and they had to play Ty O'Cada number 39, and he played really good football. So that tells me that it's being coached really, really well. And that's what you see when you watch this defense. And of course, they do have really good players. Byron

Murphy's come on in his second year. Leonard Williams is a multi-positional delinman. Ernest Jones is a really good linebacker. So, you know, they're a really good. I would say that their defense stands out to me more than their offense. I'm not surprised by their passing game. I think they want their run game to be more than it is. All right. Eagles, Bill, is a headline game. I want to really concentrate on the Eagles over the last two games. Sequin Barclay last week, it looked like last year. Have they tweaked anything or is it bad competition? Well, I think last week in particular, their O line played very well.

It was the first game where I thought their O line really moved people the way they did a year ago. And because of that, I thought Barclay was the most decisive that he's been all season consistently. you know, not just with one run here and there, but consistently. I thought he felt far more comfortable with what he saw. I thought his patience, his vision, and then the short area burst was there. I mean, people may be surprised that over the last three games, Barclay has the most carries in the NFL and the most 10-plus yard runs. That would probably surprise a lot of people.

And I think what they're doing on offense, and I think they'll continue doing this, and I think it makes sense against Buffalo for sure, is a lot more no huddle and a lot more empty sets, which really clears up the picture. And the reason I think it's a good thing to do against Buffalo is because Sean McDermott is one of the best in the league in terms of late coverage rotation, changing the picture pre-snap to post-snap. And when you go no huddle and empty, it's harder to do that defensively. Yeah. Anything you see with Buffalo in this matchout with Philadelphia, anything their offense is doing that's different? I mean, they're going to run the ball.

Obviously, look, we don't have to guess this, Colin. They told you by the fact that they had Keon Coleman and Gabe Davis as healthy scratches last week. We don't have to guess this. They're telling you they're really not comfortable with their wide receiver position. They're clearly a tight end-based passing game. I think if they can avoid as good as Josh Allen is, and we know he's great, that's not my point at all. But as great as he is, I think they feel that the best. best way for them to play on offense is to be able to run the ball with sustainability and

consistency that they just don't have enough on the perimeter to really have him drop back 40 times a game unless the game demands it which of course we've seen games that demand it and he's been great because he's Josh Allen but I don't think that's the way they want to play by choice so Texans Chargers it it I'm an understood USC Homer but I remember talking to people in the league and saying, I'm telling you, Woody Marks is special. And when he doesn't, when he doesn't play, the Texans offense dries up really fast. But I want to talk about their defense against, they play the Chargers this week and the Chargers O' line. I look at that and I think, okay, we got to get a cape for Herbert because that is a bad matchup. Let's talk a little bit about what

you see with the Texans when they face the Chargers, the matchups. Look, and you and I both know that Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman and that staff know that that's a mismatch. They know that. Now, that doesn't mean that every play they can control it because there are some plays where, you know what, Will Anderson's going to beat somebody, or DeNeal Hunter's going to beat somebody, or even inside where they have very good deed tackles. But the Chargers staff knows that they're overmatched. So I'm very curious to see how they go about dealing with that because it's obvious.

Everybody knows they're overmatched. But Herbert has been playing at a really high level. I mean, they've got four really good receivers, okay? I mean, Trey Harris, the rookie from Ole Miss, has really come on. He plays meaningful snaps. They will play big people. They will get physical. You know, so they're a team that can attack you in multiple ways on offense.

Now, whether their O line is an issue in the game and prevents them from running what they want to run, that remains to be seen. But they are a pretty diverse offense with a lot of good players other than their O line. And, you know, so it's hard to know, quite frankly, how that's going to play out in this game. Does Justin Herbert have a weakness? I don't really think he does. I mean, look, I think if you talk to people in the league, they would tell you that he's one of those guys. You know, I mean, the guys, I've been around him. You've probably seen him in person, too.

I mean, he's a legit 65-6-6-6. He's a legit 235, 240. I mean, the play we're going to show, by the way, you know, you hear all the time people say, well, only a few quarterbacks can make that throw. normally when people say that it's a bunch of garbage but you know there are certain throws that are just wow throws and he made one last week and we should just go to it because it's this is a wow throw I mean when I saw watching the tape because I probably saw it live too but you know when you're watching it on Sunday you're watching a hundred plays and they just kind of roll over you but when I'm watching the tape and I saw this I was like whoa

so this this was you know obviously last week and it was a 50 yard completion so you're going to see herberts in the gun here and it's going to be trips to the wide side of the field. And the two receivers that we want to take note of are Johnston on the outside and McConkey in the slot. Now, the safety in the linebacker on the defensive side of the ball are important here because what's going to happen here and we're seeing this more and more in the league is what we call late coverage rotation, changing the picture. The safety will drop deep as a half-field player and the linebacker will drop as a middle hole defender. They're going to play cover two. So now what you're going to see, that corner,

because it's covered two, he's not going to drop to that second box. He doesn't drop deep because he's a flat defender in cover two. So now let's go to the route concept. It's going to be two verticals by Johnston and McConkey, which is a very good concept against cover two. Now they may not have known they were going to get covered two, but this is a good concept. So let's watch it map out as we play it out. So what's going to happen is the safety kind of becomes the conflict player here because you're getting two verticals and he's a deep half player. And remember, the corner on the outside is not going to drop deep because it's covered two. He's an underneath player. So he's not going to carry Johnston. So now what you're going to get is they actually do a great job on defense,

the safety and the linebacker passing off McConkey and the safety does a good job. But Herbert is going to climb the pocket here. So now he's going to make this whole shot throw late. Look at that thing. This is a ridiculous throw. The safety can't get there, it's such a good throw. And when you see it from another angle, you're just going to see, like I said, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say, gee, no one else can make this throw. But the key thing here to me is he sees this as a viable throw. I talk about this all the time. One of the things that there's no metric for or there's no stat for is throws that should be made, that aren't made, and throws that are

that are, that quarterback see as viable throws. Because not every quarterback would see that as a viable throw. see that as a viable throw because they know they're not comfortable making it. Obviously, Herbert can make any throw. Yeah, he is special. Texans, Chargers, Eagles, Bills, Niners, Bears. There's some great matchups. Greg is always, thank you.

Happy holidays. Thanks, Colin. Same to you. Merry Christmas. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Heart Radio app. Paulie Fuscoe here with Donie Fusco. As everybody knows, we're the host of the award-winning Paulie and Tony Fusco show.

But instead of us telling you how great we are, here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on our show. Quick, knowledgeable, and funny, opinionated. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing? You're interrupting our promo. Yeah. He wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally out of context.

Oh, yeah, well, after this promo, I'm going to take you out and beat you. Let me put this into context. Shut up. Yeah, anyway, just listen to the Pauli and Tony Fuscoe show on I. Radio, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, 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 podcast. 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. 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 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.

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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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist.

Kier 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, because 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, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

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. Jenchian won. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina 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.

News. This is the Heard Line News. All right, you want to talk Pro Bowl. We got more Pro Bowl stuff for you. Sam Darnold is a pro bowler, Colin. Your guy slinging Sammy D. He has, uh, had a pretty damn good season. in Seattle's the number one seed, but it's weird.

Everybody's saying, well, you know, he kind of fails late in the season and the playoffs. His head coach, Mr. McDonald, he disagrees. Well, when I think of big moments with Sam, I'm thinking the guy that took us down the field in San Francisco when we needed one. I'm thinking the guy that scored that helped us win the game against Arizona at the very end. I'm thinking of the guy that put us in field goal range when we're on the minus one against the Rams to go kick a field goal to win it. I'm thinking of the guy that in 40 seconds took us down the field to kick a game winning field though against the Colts. So, I mean, show me the times where in big moments this guy hasn't, you know, responded as a Seahawk.

Yeah. You know, it's funny. I hear this. I just heard this the other day from a guy on the train. Well, he said, he said this guy, I think he was talking about Caleb. He hasn't won a big game. For everybody out there, you do realize there's. 17 games, and they're almost all big.

Because once you lose more than five of them, your chances of making the playoffs are small. I know you think big game is Super Bowl. Caleb Williams has played the two Packer games are the two biggest football games in his life. Like, so let's stop this. Well, Sam darn, every Rams game is big. They're all, every Niners game as a Seahawk quarterback is huge.

Those are big games. I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to slander Sam Darnold. I'm not going to challenge you on the four interception game he had against the Rams in L.A. It's the holiday season, Colin. Let's move to the next story. And let's go more Pro Bowl action. I mean, that's what people are talking about right now.

How about this? Eagles, D.C. Vic Fongio. By the way, I have an interesting bet on Eagles bills. We'll talk later. Eagles defensive coordinator, Vic Fongio, says, Pro Bowl voting needs an overhaul. I think they need to form a committee for the Pro Bowl. Get a couple retired coaches, a couple retired personnel guys,

couple retired players that will take pride in it, and they name it. Not all, everybody and their mother's got revoked. Yeah, that's interesting. Well, his corners both made it. Well, they're freaking awesome Mitchell and DeGine. I feel pretty good if you're Howie-Rosman, you draft a couple of corners one year,

both quickly become pro bowlers. That's pretty good GMing. Yeah. Not a bad job. It's interesting. I don't know. I mean, does he have a point? Do they need a committee?

They did approach me about voting on the pro bowl, and I was like, I'm not doing it. Like, it's the Pro Bowl. I'm curious. Pro Bowl, Hall of Fame, I would redo that stuff. Pro Bowls, I don't care much. I mean, I think I looked at the list this morning. I looked at it yesterday and this morning. I think they mostly get it right.

I mean, listen, you know Martin on the staff, he's really, he's like, Did Jared Goff get snub for Darnold? Then he put the numbers side by side. And I'm like, Goff had a marginally better year. And also, Darnal's team can be a number one seat. So there is something.

Well, with cornerbacks, you're going to be judged largely as the team over or underachieving. Lions feel like, shouldn't they be better? They've got all these elite offensive guys. It's not, it's not. It's not fault, though.

The offensive line, I mean, they lost their center before the season, you know, they never figured that out. And the secondary's hurt. So, I don't know. I mean, I just can't get that worked up about a purple snub, you know. Final StoryCon, let's go back to the Bears. We got to talk.

No, no, no, no jets in the herd line this week. But the Bears are hot. They're rolling. Caleb Williams was asked about all these crazy comebacks. I'll throw the word lucky in there for you because you love that word. Anyways, here's what Caleb said about this incredible season. You know, I do take a little satisfaction and things like that. And, you know, being able to help this team, help this organization, be a

part of it, you know, to get to the playoffs. And, you know, my goal isn't to just get to the playoffs. My goal is to win and win big. And so, you know, I'm going to keep my head down. I'm going to keep growing for the guys in this building, for the coaches and things like that, for this organization and for the city to be able to be proud and happy to be fans and supporters of Chicago Bears. Yeah, you know, it's funny about luck. I do believe luck exists. I just think everybody gets the same amount over the course of their life of luck and dis-unlock and unlucky, and it's just some people aren't good at taking advantage of the luck they get. I mean, I've only known one person in my life.

I used to laugh at this. His name was Randy, still a friend in Vegas. Every time we go to a golf tournament and you fill out those, you know, you buy $20 worth of, like, tickets. He won a golf bag every time or golf shoot. I used to always say, I mean, literally, I don't think he ever bought anything. He won everything he had.

He was a great golfer. But I do think, by and large, all sorts of quarterbacks have had these opportunities, and they just haven't made the plays. Everybody gets equal amounts of luck. Justin Herbert got a couple of coaches that weren't good. Then he got a great coach. Matt Stafford had a couple of coaches that weren't elite. Then he got McBay.

Over the course of time, you will get, Sam Darnel eventually got really good coaches. He just didn't get them in New York. So eventually everybody gets some break. 100%. Listen, if I win the powerball drawing tonight, I think it's like $1.6 billion. That's luck. Okay. Okay, it is. That is straight up luck. Okay.

Then revisit you in 10 years. And if you lost 70% of it, you didn't take advantage of the law. I ain't losing 70% of that. Yeah, I'm definitely not. But like, we talk careers. Colin, you know, I started as an ink-stained wretch. I hated the newspaper industry. Got lucky that I started a website, started writing about the media, including the guy

I'm talking to here on the show. And then I get lucky. Like, there's different kinds of luck. And I would say getting an onside kick Saturday night. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The rate of onside kicks that have worked this season. That was, look, Romeo Dobbs on the hands team. But it should be noted.

When Dobbs touched it and didn't secure it, there were six bears all over it. Fair? I mean, they were literally, there was an army of bears all over it. So say what you want, the special teams coach for the bears. They knew where that ball was going. The kicker delivered it. Romeo Dobbs had it hit his hand, and there were like six bear jerseys in one Packer jersey. So even that, you can say it's luck.

How many onside kicks are fielded cleanly? Not that many. There's a lot of bobbling. He boppled, boom, bears everywhere. Just remind people, last year, when the Chiefs were rolling in the one-score games, there was one man, one lone voice in the wilderness saying how lucky they were, and they would have to pay the piper. that's like an old person. And they did this year. And this year it's happened. So I'm not saying

the bears are going to regress next year with this one score stuff. But keep an eye on another very fortunate team in the AFC with a quarterback you like a lot that they've been running hot in one score games. And you know that stuff evens out, Colin. Jay McHle, the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurdline News. Is a coach with a playoff team sort of on the hot seat and some stop. King Stuffers were passing out around the NFL. Next in 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 to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, Nick? 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 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. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. 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 Headwriters. or street or sidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Sports Slice 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 Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway 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 rapidly. 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, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or 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 All 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. 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. Jenchian win. 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, Lernerabakina 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. Monday night on FS1, it's a college hoops triple header, starting with number nine, Michigan State hosting Cornell. Then it's Big Ten Women's Hoops as sixth-ranked Michigan takes on Oregon, Oregon. Then out west, it's Utah versus Washington. It all tips off at 7 p.m. Eastern only on FS1. Well, it is the giving season, and it's always better to be. a giver, not a taker.

And so I thought I'd hand out a few, I don't know, gridiron gifts, some NFL stocking stuffers. J. Mack, are you ready? You give me the player. Born ready, my friend. Born ready. All right. Go ahead. All right, Colin. First up, what's your gift for Bill's quarterback? Josh Allen. Well, he has scored 37 of the 52 touchdowns.

How about a Theragun pro-massage gun? to sue those sore muscles that have helped carry your franchise to each and every win. 71% of offensive touchdowns. Buffalo has scored. 71% by Josh Allen. All right, what's your gift for Patriots quarterback? Drake May. 11 games with 100 plus passer rating tied for the most in the league. How about a lousy t-shirt?

Drake can't go home an MP-handed this year, so I got a May. I played an MVP-worthy season, but all I got was there. this lousy t-shirt. Second best odds after Stafford at 23 years old to win an MVP. All right, what's your gift for Jets Coach Aaron Glenn?

An OSHA bulldozer certification. J-MAC, to your beloved Jets, this franchise is as stable as a Jenga tower. Time to tear it down and rebuild already. Oh, what the heck is that? All right,

your gift for Philip Rivers of the Colts. How about his own NFL franchise? I mean, Rivers and his 10 kids, that's a starting 11. I've already got him eighth in my herd hierarchy. The best family in the NFL, the Philip Rivers family, deserve their own franchise. Okay. What do you give it, Travis Kelsey of the chiefs? You know, I thought a lot about this.

Sure you did. I'm going to give Travis Kelsey a joint custody agreement for the future Mr. Taylor Swift. And the reason being is that way Mahomes can still have you on weekends. Wow, I like that. What's your gift for Jackson Dart? I'm going to give Jackson Dart, who I like, a Fisher Price playground. I know he's 22, but you're not too old for this. Spend some time learning how to slide.

Learn how to slide. Listen, five trips to the medical tent. Learn how to slide, bro. I like the hat backwards. in that as well. What's your gift for Caleb Williams? Oh, this is easy. Las Vegas residency.

I mean, he may be the new king of Chicago, but he puts on a Bruno Mars-level show every week. Caleb Williams, baby, he is getting his own residency in Vegas. Well, all right, what are you giving your man-crush, Jared Gough? How about a digital photo album so he can relive all the great memories he had with Ben Johnson? It's been a rough season. Wow. That's harsh.

And finally, be careful here. What are you giving my guy, Brock Purdy? Well, I thought about this, Jay Mack, and you have been one of his most ardent supporters. I'm giving him a gift certificate to two to Mastros. So, J.Mack and Brock Purdy get white tablecloths, talk. endlessly about their favorite person, me, two for dinner, bacon, champagne, our stocking stuffers. So the story of the day, which emerged, it emerged today,

about halfway through the first hour, is according to Mike Preston, who's a very good, very serious, very respected reporter, a reporter for the Baltimore Ravens. Now remember, this is something you know and I know. Stuff gets out when somebody wants it out. Why did this story suddenly get out? Lamar Jackson had a pretty disappointing last five or six weeks, right? This year not been good, banged up, comes back,

not that he has fallen asleep in meetings, playing video games at night. They moved their practices to mid-afternoon because Lamar doesn't like early morning practice. That when they do criticize him, he shrinks, he withdraws, he doesn't like criticism. And J-Mack brought this up. And I think both of us have always thought he's really good. I've always thought he's better in the pocket that he was given credit for. He said, rookie year he is more runner than thrower, but he's gotten pretty good at that. is his cap hit next year is massive 24%.

That is ungodly. His cap hit next year is 24% of the Ravens cap. Bow Nicks, Denver, 1.7%, Caleb Williams, 3.6%. That is unbelievable. Your hands are tied as a GM. Your hands are tied as a coach. If you have injuries, you're down to third stringers. So there are some quotes here in the article.

that will put up. I am a fan of Lamar Jackson, one of the quotes. A major problem. A lot of it on the Ravens is that there are team rules and then there are rules for Jackson. Well, I'll defend him a little there. Once the Ravens become critical of him, he becomes more withdrawn.

It's clear that Coach Harbaugh has become tired of Jackson. Nick Wright, for the record, has been on this for a lot of the year. And Mike Preston is a very respected guy. So, you know, the injuries are piling up. Next, he's always been hyper athletic. Now, Mahomes and Josh Allen are athletic too. But they're also unbelievable all-time guys in the pocket.

Lamar's good in the pocket, but he really, his secret sauce has always been. He's the most elusive quarterback, the fastest quarterback I've ever seen. It's hard to even put two or three guys in the history of football in his class. And that's his secret sauce, and it's not that big of a secret. He's just hard to prepare for. Always dominated NFC team. which don't see him very often. If you see him for a first time,

it's just hard to comprehend how elusive he is. But now the injuries are piling up. He's a massive cap hit. He's withdrawing. When there's criticism, his window, and the NFL, you know,

in basketball and baseball and mostly in hockey, you're not being tackled. So, you know, for offensive players, a lot of these offensive skill players, your windows are quick. Cam Newton's last great year,

29. Cam was a better athlete than he was, a sit-in-a-pocket pre-snap audible guy. He was just an absolutely mammoth, great athlete. He aged very fast. Big Ben to me, aged fast. Aaron Rogers, 42, still slick. Because Aaron's great in the pocket.

Stafford, Brady, Breeze. So he is, I do think he has now become the kind of quarterback that is still Pro Bowl level in his best years, but is he somebody? that the Ravens would take a call on. Now, let me throw another quarterback out, Joe Burrell. I would never take a call on Joe Burrell, but after his third injury, I'd take a call.

I would not take a call on Drake May, Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen. I wouldn't take a call on Bonix and Caleb right now because they're such small percentages of the cap, and they're very good young quarterbacks. I'm not taking a call on a lot. But there's always about six or seven guys. Lamar was one of them.

don't even pick up the phone. I think he's moving into the group of the next six or seven. So Colin, I was just digging into like, we've talked about this all week, the cap situation, right? So once you pay Lamar, you have to get ready and say, hey, we got to move off these guys. With the chiefs in Mahomes, they lose their offensive line. You see the result this year. I was just looking. So Baltimore essentially coming into the season,

bet on a 22-fourth rounder and a 20-23-7th rounder on their offensive line, because they could not afford Morgan Moses, John Simpson. That's right. That's right. Good call. Those young guys in the draft did not pan out, right? You only get a couple swings in the draft. So when the offensive line doesn't work and Lamar's injured, all of a sudden, you've got like nothing. And we saw it with the Chiefs, I'm just really curious what's going to happen with that offensive line on the Bengals? It already isn't great. Burrell got hurt again. I mean, if you're the Miami Dolphins of the Raiders, do you not make a call? Oh, of course you do. I would not be surprised if already calls were not made. Now, we don't know what about the dolphins with their GM situation. They ran him off. But if I'm McDaniel, I'm like, guys, Lamar Jack, you could be Lamar Jackson?

You got to keep me. I think that helps McDaniel's cause. Raiders are interesting because if you get the chance to coach Lamar, I mean, I don't think they keep Pete Carroll. Sorry, I know you guys are friendly. I don't see that happening. But, yeah, I would probably trade that number one or number two pick of Mendoza and roll with Lamar.

if I was the Raiders, they need to sell tickets, they want to be on television. You know, they're not getting any primetime games. No, and here's the thing. Folks, I've never understood this criticism of people. New information equals new opinion. Period. We didn't know this. We didn't know what was going on.

Teams try to hide this stuff. So why does it get out? Because the Ravens want it out. That's why stuff gets out. We've all had secrets in their life that don't get out. companies don't want them out. When stuff leaks, it's because they want it out. And, I mean, we find out a lot of stuff during the Belichick-Bradie era

that didn't get out until there was a divorce between Brady and Belichick, and then Seth Wickersham writes a book, you know, Connor writes a book, Jeff Benedict, then all the books come out, you know, as the relationship gets worn down in the last couple years together and then eventually, you know, Brady goes to Tampa. So I think when stuff gets out, there's people that, you know, because some of this is Harbaugh is getting ripped, Harbaugh's getting criticized, the front office is getting criticized, and they're like, front office in Baltimore. Wait a minute. It's not on us. It's not all us, guys. Time out. It is not all us. So Mike Preston's a very good reporter. And during the breaks, we've been kind of going back and forth on this story.

and I think you get new information and you're literally rigid, stubborn, and dumb if you're getting information and not using it. It's like George Pickens in week seven. Oh my God, this is amazing. George Pickens in week 13. Oh, he's pouting. New information.

Adjust to it. So this is a massive story from one of the top three or four or five quarterbacks in this league the last several years. Hour three on a Wednesday coming up. 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. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Turn someday into right now with Buddy by Jake Radio. Nonstop workout music and expert tips 24-7.

Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your hardest hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit. Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free.

Have a great day. 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. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. From IHeart Podcasts, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. They're pouring patril all over here. Freedom for Vietnam! There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything.

Listen to Saigon on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.