The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - Herd Hierarchy, Dak Prescott is playing like a MVP, Chiefs should be fine, Nick Wright

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

Colin reveals his latest Herd Hierarchy, ranking the Top 10 NFL teams heading into Week 6, and makes a bold case for the Detroit Lions as the best team in the league right now. Plus, special guest Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to passionately defend Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, while also proclaiming Dak Prescott as an MVP leader.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio. or stream us live every day in the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It's hour two.

We are firing on all cylinders. It is great to be here. Today it is a Tuesday, A-Rod last hour, Yank season on the brink tonight. Dodgers up to nothing. Milwaukee's a machine. Probably going to get a Brewers, Dodgers, NLCF. That's interesting. I'll take that. J-Mack, in the first hour I stated

that Jacksonville will not, despite a glossy four-and-one record, make the herd hierarchy. I have them at 11 out of respect for Trevor Lawrence. They are ridiculous, and we're outplayed and out-gained, and I don't think the team that wins the game, is always the best team. So I just said that I can respect somebody and you can win a game, but Kansas City was a better team last night.

And with that, I'm going to move into my herd hierarchy, which for the record is one of my best ever. Here we go. Third hierarchy. Time is now. Let's go. The top 10 NFL teams, according to college, number 10. Most underrated team in the league, I've been on it for a month as the Colt.

Should have beaten the Rams. Lead the NFL in point different. differential, few as sack surrendered, most efficient scoring offense. I mean, they barely had the ball against the Raiders and they drop a 40-burger. Their offensive line slowed down the Rams defensive front. They've got a ceiling. It's Daniel Jones. They've got a ceiling. But they're going to end up hosting a playoff game and they're going to get somebody like Kansas City or Denver. And I'm telling you right now, you don't want to play this team. Jonathan Taylor, behind that old line, behind that play calling, behind Warren and Pittman. and this is a good team. This is a good roster Colts at 10.

Number nine. Here's what worries me about the Rams. They are very Puka Nakua, reliant on offense. And the problem is both their running backs, Blake Coram and Kiron Williams have ball security issues and McVeigh doesn't trust them. So that's not going away. They have got to develop tight end

and Devonte Adams fast. Yes, their offense leads the NFL in yards, for play at 6.4. They're a very good team, but I got to watch them the next two weeks. They had that Niners game and blew it, and the Colts out played them, Rams at 9. Number eight. I think Kyle Shanahan is having his best year as a coach. I mean, they don't have Purdy, Iuke, Kittle, Jennings, Nick Bosa, they're 3-0 in the road. Mac Jones looks like a pro bowler. This is great coaching. Now, they're the only team averaging 40-yard, 40 passes a game. that with mac jones there's no substitute teacher here they're asking mac to throw it 40 times a game

christian mccaffrey touching it more than i want him to cross your fingers on his health but coaching matters and shanahan could be coach of the year right now he's coaching his butt off number seven bills don't look right they just defensively can't stop the run i don't worry about the offense i don't but they just don't have that force, that jet fuel they've had in recent years. They can't stop the run. And I just, when I watch them against New England, I'm like, boy, New England closed the gap kind of quickly, didn't they? I thought New England was going to get there in about another three or four games against

the bills. So I have them at seven. Number six. Don't worry about Green Bay. Can we stop with a Jordan love criticism? Eight touchdowns, one pick, and 113.13. passer rating. They're a young team that can't figure out a way to close out inferior teams. Twice Seattle's the second youngest team. Seattle's thrown games away

against the Niners and Buccaneers. Young teams struggle in close games until they figure out how to win. Mike is having a year. The schedule, Carolina's coming up, the Bengals, Arizona, they're going to go on a heater. They are just fine. Green Bay at 6. Number five. Listen, the Chiefs, they're good. Better team last night. 7.6 yards of play. A team that had averaged 7.5 yards of play had won 33 straight games.

Mahomes threw a pick six because he did not see Devin Lloyd. He didn't see him. Mahomes is great, unbelievable. Keep your eye when Rishi Rice comes back. Breschard Smith, the young player out of Miami, worthy, Kelsey, this wide receiving Corps is going to get really good, really fast. They had a bad pick six. This team is good. Situationalally, they're outstanding. They're great when they get down to the red zone. I don't buy it. If you're selling stock on Kansas City, I am buying all of it today.

Number four. Philadelphia, listen, you can't be 29 yards per play and be a top two or three team. I don't care about their roster. They've got an offensive coordinator issue. Now, Once they get into the red zone because of the tush push, it's pretty fearsome. And they don't, you know, I mean, Jalen hurts most pass attempts by any quarterback without a pick. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes. But they are struggling to get their best players the ball. That is a coaching issue. A.J. Brown needs 13 targets.

Barclay needs 13 to 15 carries. He had six this past weekend, Phillyet 4. Number three. Denver. Two combined losses, four points. Denver's roster's good. We all know the good rosters in this league. Nobody just mentions Denver.

They lead the NFL in sacks. The number two scoring defense. No team in the league does a better job of protecting their quarterback and getting to yours. Bow Nix never gets sacked five times all year. And Bo Nix is a way better athlete that anybody wants to admit. And now they face, Denver faces six straight teams without a winning record. So watch out. Denver is getting.

better by the week. We picked him to beat Philly and Philly, and they did. Number two. I'm going to give it to Tampa. Folks, going to Seattle and putting on that offensive clinic. Emeka and Buka, folks, we have a star. Period. We got an offensive rookie of the year.

Baker Mayfield stills a chip on his shoulder, but he's using it as fueled to get him fired up. He's not reckless. He's not throwing interceptions. He's always been a smart kid. He's playing very smart football, and they're doing it without Bucky Irving and Mike Evans. So this team's doing that not fully loaded. Tampa at two.

Number one. I don't think the NFL has a great team, but the NFL does have a complete offense. O-line, running back room, tight-end, wide receiver, quarterback, Detroit's offense is absolutely devastating. And it's built to beat really superstars. quarterbacks, really good quarterbacks. I mean, Jared Goff right now, it is pitch and catch. It looks like a seven-on-seven summer drill. And this is what they're doing that they haven't done in previous years. Second and sacks, third in takeaways. Their defense is not great, but they're taking the ball away. I do not think we have a great team right now in the league. But I do think

Detroit offensively is about as good as you can be in 2025 with an expensive quarterback and a rigid cap. That's about as good as an offense could look. That is my herd hierarchy. Jacksonville at 11. That was a ridiculous win. Kansas City's better and Nick Wright. Weekdays.

First things first is joining us live. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. That was great. No, that was great. First of all, let me apologize to the audience for a moment.

If I look a little sweaty, it's because I am. And the, when you, hear guys who love what they do for a living say, oh, I'd, you know, I'd rather be at work. It's not only because we love what we do, because there's no first things first today. It's because, as it happens, the days we have off work, our wives assign us things like yard work. Colin, I live in the middle of Manhattan. I don't have a yard. Yet I've been out in whatever our yard is for 90 minutes, digging out plants.

I don't even, I'm sweating still. I just been 30 minutes later. I don't know why I'm still sweating. I'm not built for manual labor. I'm going to tell you that right now. I got no makeup. I've been out of the heat. So, okay, which is why the hierarchy column was such a pleasant surprise.

Because I was a little sad last night, but here's why. So let me, this is a very weird reversal. Let me give the concerns about the chiefs and then respond to what you said. they they they what makes the chief special is they don't blow games like last night while they maybe don't blow teams out as often as the lions or the bills over the last few years they have a 14 nothing lead they win that game yeah and so that was disappointing and the the penalties and the special teams mistakes that was a bad loss yeah that could you know could hurt them in the state it does hurt them in the standings and seating all of that but your bigger picture of

point, which is over the last two and a half games from the second half of the giant game to right now, that offense looks the best it has looked in three years. Yep. And they're getting Rishi Rice back. Patrick finally trusts his offensive line. Yep. And once Rishie comes back, it will be the best collection of past catchers they've had since Tyreek was on the team. So all of that is super positive. They need a more consistent running game. and they need a better pass rush without having to send a blitz. You know what? But I can go ahead.

There is one thing, and I said this, you have to make choices as a team. So when you pay Chris Jones and Mahalms and Kelsey, what they have right now is they have a youth problem and they're putting guys on special teams and they're trying to teach them out of like football. And by the way, Buffalo, you've got to make choices. They can't defend the run. Because Detroit's front office is great and because they've hit on so many stars, in the first round.

Detroit's offense is literally a Pro Bowl offense. But it's hard. And so I think they're playing. I watched them last night and I'm like, these are correctable mistakes when these guys have played 12 NFL games or 15. They're just making 23-year-old guy mistakes. Jacksonville's mistakes. I've watched that for 20 years.

That's who they are. Well, listen, and you know I love Trevor. And last night was the full Trevor experience. The past Brian Thomas, the running, reminding you of Clemson, and then just some plays that I really thought Troy Aikman might be like, guys, I need to take a quarter off. I can't watch that. I can't deal with it.

Like Troy, Troy gets so frustrated at really talented quarterbacks missing layups. And so you got the full thing. That was the best win for Jacksonville since they beat everyone's future Hall of Famer Justin Herbert in a playoff game. And so I give them, you know, I give them a lot of credit. I agree with you on the Chiefs. Let me say something about the Broncos real quick, because I find the Broncos and the Packers to be in a very similar situation.

Okay. Great defenses. Yes. Really sharp coaches. Obviously, LeFleur hasn't accomplished what Sean Payton has, but they're both excellent coaches. And their two quarterbacks are two of the most influential and interesting players in the league this year.

Yeah. Because if they get solid, turnover free play from their quarterbacks, those are super dangerous teams. Now, I believe in Love's upside more than Bo Nix is, but Love also is more likely to have a three interception game than Bo Nix. Right. And so the Broncos, if Bo Nix for three quarters against Philly did nothing, and then in the fourth quarter did everything. If they can just get 80% of what he gave him in the fourth quarter, they're legit. I'm skeptical of that, but if they can, they're legit.

And shout out to you, Ann Baker. I just can't wait until he's back on the show. It's going to be such a beautiful moment. You know what? I'm so excited. You know what? So people, I think you know this about me. I do, yeah.

But the audience doesn't know this about me. I have gray hair now. And an important thing for me is to be, I like to be part of people's success or young people, Danny Parkins, or you, like Jay Mack. I like that. It's fun. That's when you're a gray hair. That's the responsibility because people help me. So people think that I've rooted against Baker, and I didn't like Cleveland Baker. I thought he was too cocky. I love Tampa Baker. I love him. He's one of my favorite players. I said yesterday, I'd vote him MVP. Yeah. Dak or him. And the thing I like about Baker is that I think a chip on your shoulder, Michael had it to the end. Brady had it till the end.

is valuable. Don't let it turn you into a grudge holder or a reckless player. Baker has gotten rid of the reckless. And when I watch him, I said this yesterday, if you had never seen Donald

in New York or Baker in Cleveland, and you watch Sunday, you would have thought they were Brady and Manning. It was a great game. It was a great game and a great duel. And it is, listen, you are, You are part of Baker's story.

And like for good or for bad, you're part of his story and your criticisms while at the time, you know, we argued about it then, I thought, you know, were maybe harsher than I would have done. They weren't rooted in fake and falsehood. Like they were rooted in something real. He matured and also continued to improve. And part of the stuff that rubbed people the wrong way, is also part of the reason you can get cut by the Panthers and still believe, I'm awesome. And I'm going to prove to the world I'm awesome. A less confident player,

that would have broken them. And so this is a great, and you're, listen, he, he deservedly right now would be the league MVP. Yeah. Dak is trying to follow the Joe Burrow path last year of the teams that mediocre, but my numbers are unbelievable. Baker's been unreal and there is, I want to say something about, because you said he got rid of the reckless. There is still some reckless, but it is with so many explosives, you can deal with it. Yeah. And this is actually kind of a Josh Allen piece because Josh, over the last two years, got rid of the turnovers and also really cut down on the explosive deep passes. which has made the team more efficient and more reliable.

But it's also why now they are oddly less equipped to deal with if he turns it over. Three years ago, if he turned it over, they were like, okay, we built that into the game plan, and we're going to have a three play 80-yard touchdown drive coming up next. If you are Baker, you can average one pick a game like you did last year because you lead the league in touchdown passes. You can have some turnovers if you have a bunch of explosives. If you're going to be conservative with it, then you really got to take care of the ball. So generally with quarterbacks, if you consider their career a book with, let's say, 15 chapters being 15 years, the average, the great ones play.

You know, Mahomes, by the start of chapter two, year two, you're like, well, okay, that doesn't look like anybody else. Brady was probably chapter four. Josh Allen chapter 3 Lamar late chapter 1 you're like oh boy that's going to be a problem and I was thinking about the other day Dak is in a very weird weird spot

because I didn't I thought he was overhyped early I thought he had the best old line and the best running back and then he got Amari Cooper I think I've figured Dak out and it's like chapter 11 and here's what it is I've never thought of a quarterback. It took me 11 chapters.

Zach Martin left, Des left, Amari left, Zique left, Mike McCarthy left, Jason Garrett left. Everybody leaves him. And every time he wins double-digit games, and now he's got Schottenheimer, arguably his weakest, most unproven head coach, he looks unbelievable. He doesn't have a number one receiver or a number one tight end.

The O line's still in a rebuild. The running back room's better than last year, but not elite, not Detroit. I think it took me years to figure out. Is that everybody has a superpower. With Jalen Hertz, it's his strength. With Josh Allen, it's his size. With Mahalm, it's a lot, but it's armed talent.

Same with Stafford. With Dak, it's a combination of IQ and EQ. He is so self-aware, so egoless with the biggest ego owner, is that I watched Dak and I'm like, God, it took me 12 chapters to figure him out. is that in this circus known as the Cowboys, he's the grown-up. He is the constant security. So let me add something to that.

Because, listen, DAC has been phenomenal. Phenomenal. And the first two weeks of the year, he had like a bad passer rating and his numbers weren't that good. And that was a good test of, do people actually watch games? If they were like, oh, Dak's been okay. Dak has been awesome from the first game of the first pass of the first game to right now. Like that Eagles game, he was phenomenal.

I don't care what his numbers were. He was phenomenal. He's been great. So to add to that, because you know I'm a big believer with quarterbacks that there definitively is such a thing is, you know, a big game quarterback, guys who elevate in the biggest spots and guys who shrink all of it. Dax's biggest criticism, fair or not, I think it's been mostly fair, has been in the biggest spots under the most pressure he doesn't play his best. So it absolutely narratively would make sense that this year, the year that going into it, he's been under arguably the least pressure.

The team had the least expectations. And they trade Micah, there's a rookie head coach. nobody's putting the Cowboys in the Super Bowl that he can play as freely as he's ever played. He's on something of like for the first time in a very long time, a reputational free role this year, where if the Cowboys are bad, it's not on him because the defense has been so awful. And when they're good, he's got to do it all. And so he is playing to me with less tension and stress than maybe any other moment of his career. and he's been phenomenal.

Like truly phenomenal. But if it were true, if we didn't care about reputation or resume, one could argue that the three leading MVP candidates at the quarter poll of the season would be Baker Mayfield, Dak Prescott, and I can't believe I'm saying this,

Daniel Jones. Like those three guys, like, again, if it was totally contextless, would probably be the, three candidates and credit to all of them and Dax been great and he makes the Cowboys scary because the Cowboys right now are a team that can definitively lose to anyone when you have a defense that bad yeah anyone can beat you and

can beat anyone when you have an offense that good even when they're missing C.D. Lamb they can beat anyone it makes them really interesting in a year I did not expect they would be. The finally on the Eagles. I've said this before. Sometimes in life you have a problem. It's like, this is hard to figure out why me and my wife are fighting and you have to go to therapy.

And then there's the problems where you're like, oh yeah, that's easy. The Eagles are 12 and 0 since last year when they throw it less than 25 times. Throw the ball less, run more. That's always the answer in Philadelphia. Sequin Barkley touched it six times Sunday, and they were leading by two touchdowns. this the moment when when eagle fans have to acknowledge that seriani's been kind of writing on the coattails of a great GM and a highly functional quarterback so there's a lot here man and i'm glad you brought up you know marriage counseling because i heard the story yesterday that jail and a jay and

Saquan got together and hashed out what's been going on. And then I heard the end of the report, which is the meeting lasted for a little over two hours. And you know what I said? And people can get mad and Eagle fans can tweet this and aggregate it and say, oh, Nick's being unfair. They know I'm right. Two hour meeting, too long. You know, marriage counseling is 55 minutes. Your whole life's on the line. Anything that is not resolved. by minute 45 is not getting resolved minute 98. So that I didn't love that report. I was like, all right, that's first thing.

Second thing is, and I'll bring up marriage again, it seems like Kevin Petulow keeps overcorrecting in various directions, like when your wife gets mad at you, who's like, you don't buy me flowers anymore, and then you bring her flowers every day for a week. And by the end of the week, she's like, all right, enough. You're overdoing it. I said, like, the problem was we're not passing.

We're not passing enough. So in a game you're leading, you call two design second half runs. So the Eagles are objectively, Colin, an excellent team. They have an excellent roster. They have the most expensive offense in the history of the NFL. And they have a top five offensive line, a top five running back, top five receivers, and a really good quarterback. I don't know where you want to rank him.

but which makes it so unfathomable that in their last six halves of football they have either had less than eight yards rushing or eight yards passing in three of them yeah half in the last they've only played how many halves all year to a ten halves all year and in three of the last six they have been totally non-exist on one side you know in one facet of the game And here is why I think it is fair to be a little concern. It reminds me a bit of two years ago when they started 10 and 1, but it was so angsty. And every game they won, but it was like, yeah, but, yeah, but. And what that led to was a historic collapse, where they went from 10 and 1 to losing six of their final 7 and basically giving up in the playoff game. I don't think that's coming here for Philly, but I do think they need to have the ability to just have one normal offensive game, and they seem to be struggling with that. Yeah. Yeah, yard work is fascinating in Manhattan.

There's not a lot of yards. I mean, there's Central Park. No, we know. We've got, we've got, listen, I'm very fortunate. We have nice little outdoor spaces here. but it doesn't there's we have I set the over under of plants or in this house or on the outside at 47 and a half and somehow I was assigned digging them out and I and I kind of wanted to look at her and be like baby I love you so much but you do know who you married right that's

like am I a guy that really exudes yard work is my strength so no I'm still sweating I don't know I might have to know we were off the air today we're supposed to be back tomorrow I might have to sick. I don't know if I'm going to recover. This is tough. I tell my wife about twice a year when she asked me to do yard work. I'm like, honey, I've got to entertain America tomorrow. Exactly right.

I've got to listen. And I'm simulating the economy. I can hire a professional to do this. It's their job. It helps everyone, including me. All right, I'll see you, Colin. I got to go plant a tree in the cement.

There you go. Weekdays. First things first. Good stuff. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeartRadio app. He's by Carmen. I'm Dan Byrd. We have a fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. That's right, Dan. Every week we're going to scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup. Sit, starts. Fantasy football players' rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition. Listen to I Want Your Flex.

with Mike Harmon and me, Dan Byer, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you be your podcasts. 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 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. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Sportslice 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 Slicelife-12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen she went. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French, me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is. arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Cleveland Browns. Trading Joe Flacco and a six-round pick to the Bengals for a fifth round pick. So the Bengals won a new quarterback. Shadour Sanders is now the Cleveland Brown's backup to Dylan Gabriel. So we said

Kenny Pickett would get moved. And I, and we thought that Pickett would get moved and Gabriel and Shadur would get their chances eventually. Flacco would start. So they've seen enough of Flacco. And, you know, Flacco may give them too good of a chance to win. So let's move him away. And let's use the young guys. So we're a Shadur-Sanders sighting on a field near you in the next couple of weeks, I suppose. By the way, Browns Steelers, they're calling this one of the worst spots for Cleveland coming off London, no-bye. Oh, no, no, no. Facing Pittsburgh off a buy.

It's my second favorite bet of the week. I told you, I already have my blazing five. That's crazy. You know, the Steeler game jumps off the board. Like last week, I told you the Colts. Remember last week the Rams jumped off the board. No, the Colts did. Colts did, yeah.

The Steelers is one of two games that doesn't make sense. The Steelers. It's just unfair. They get two weeks break and then the Browns are coming off a buy with a rookie of London with a rookie quarterback. Maybe Shadour plays this week. Will he be miming calls when he gets to the line of scrimmage? He's not going to be barking.

He's going to be miming. Well, if we don't have Lamar and Burrow, we need quarterback stories of interest, and that would be interesting. Can we not do Shadour? How about this? We do a draft of quarterbacks we don't have to talk about. I get first pick. Aaron Rogers.

I like talking about winning quarterbacks. All of them. I may do a Daniel Jones segment next. Now that could get my, yeah, let's do that. JMAQ with a news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. More exciting than an NFL trade?

That's the Yankees Blue Jays series, big one tonight on FS1. The Yanks have been outscored 23 to 8 in the first two games. They're facing elimination tonight with former Sy Young winner Shane Bieber taking them out for the Blue Jays. I'll take the Yanks. I know you want Toronto to win this. I don't want anything. I've said the Yankees

are an uneven team that's home run dependent and that means Aaron Judge is going to have to come up. Aaron Judge has had a good series but he's going to have to come up in a huge spot and get a huge hit. He hasn't proven he can do that yet. There's a lot of stress on him. There's a lot of because O'Tonnie, there's not stress.

He's got Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts and great starting pitching, and they field well. And they, oh, Tani's great, but you feel like there's seven other guys, Max Muncie, Tay Oscar Hernandez. You never feel like the weight of the world is on Shohey's shoulders. Last night it was Will Smith and, you know, Blake Snell. And it's different with the Yankees. You need Aaron Judge to hit bombs in the eighth inning with two on. to win the games. Let me ask you for

this show content and national interest, who do you want to advance in these two series today on FS1? Mariners, Tigers, Blue Jays, Yankees. Who do you want to see advance to the next round? Yankees, Mariners. All right, let's move on to the next story. I like that. Penn State,

oh my gosh, Colin. This Penn State loss to UCLA is getting glossed over a lot. Somehow Franklin's dodging a bullet here because the card was weak, there's baseball playoffs, there's NFL. I mean, listen, James Franklin talked to the media about the state of his program. This sounds bleak.

Fair question. I believe in Penn State. I believe in our players. I believe in the men in the Lash Building, men and women in the Lash building. And I believe in myself. And obviously, you know, after the last two games,

we're going to get these types of questions. I get it. Fun fact, UCLA did not lead any of their opponents at any point all season. Yeah. They were up 27-7 against Penn State. Well, they also change coaches, and sometimes you put play calling in different hands, and you have young coaches who maybe were suppressed a little bit by the ex-head coach.

You never know, but I will tell you this. Their play calling was excellent. Jerry Newheisel, I thought, I just thought they came out with much more energy. I watched that game. I thought they had much more energy. Nico Iommaleava, they put the ball in his hands, and they leaned into his athletic ability. He was terrific. Colin, are you a DJ? Why are you spinning so much?

There's no way to spin this for Penn State. This is awful. This is rock bottom. Nico, remember the first three weeks? They were like, oh, what a joke that guy is. Why did he transfer? And now he beats Penn State? I mean, Colin, I'm looking at the schedule. Penn State still has to go to Ohio State. They have to go to Iowa. That's not a lock.

They'll probably win that. And they host Indiana. Indiana's pretty good. They got an NFL quarterback. If Penn State doesn't make the playoff, Do you think Franklin gets fired? They open the country. I think they open his number two in the country, right?

No, he doesn't get fired. You're having to spend so much money on facilities and NIL. You're going to buy him out? That's why these guy, all these Lincoln Riley's in trouble and Brian Kelly's in trouble. The NIL is saving these coaches. You can't just buy them out anymore. You're spending $25 million. How many times can you go to donors and ask him for another $35 to $45 million?

dollars. The NIL has been the best thing, all these coaches that grumbled about it. See the big picture. It's saving your butt. Let me ask you about Drew Aller. By the way, Franklin's buyout, my staff found out, 50 million. That's not that's pocket change for the Penn State

crowd. No, it's not. That's come on, 50 mils. There's not a cell phone tower within two hours of that campus. In the middle of no one. Did you Sean Payton take the Broncos to the playoffs after they bought out Russell Wilson and his deal? You could do this in college football, man. So by the way, Drew Aller, do we want to talk about his NFL prospects, sir?

He's not a first-round quarterback. Is he a second or third or four? I mean, his passing high yards this season is 209. He's got the size, he's got an arm. I don't know what's happened, but he doesn't play with a lot of command or a lot of energy. He's low energy. Again, you watch him on the field with Dante Moore. It's like, that's not close.

But again, Dante Moore's Oregon's whole programs about juice and energy. Is this shades of Christian Hackenberg? Do you remember him? He's better than Christian. Yeah, he is. Yeah. Final story, Colin. So another football weekend was crazy in the NFL, but our staff put together, this is pretty

crazy. I did not even notice this. Six teams came back from double-digit deficits to win this week. Six. Wow. The Broncos were down 14. Commanders were down 10. Jags down 14 last night.

Panthers were down 17, nothing. Saints were down 11. Titans were down 18. That is kind of insane. Now, underdogs went 9 and 5, not a game. against the spread, straight up. Underdogs were barking this weekend. Is this just the end of the

favorites dominating? Is this the top is coming back? Give me a macro analysis of how the hell this happens. Well, it's an offensive league. We've got a lot of interesting court. I mean, even Bryce Young, everybody critical. Bryce Young can play. Spencer Rattler can play to some level. Well, Bryce Young can play when he's

down 12. Also remember right now, it's a very warm fall. The weather's perfect right now. I mean, Seattle? Do you see that game, Seattle? I'm like, I take your shirt off. Perfect weather. So you have a very warm fall that always benefits the offense. You have a lot of defensive players banged up.

Why? Because defensive players get hurt more than offensive players. So you have a lot of thin defenses. Perfect weather. Excellent coordinator play in the NFL. Right now we have the most smart offensive coordinators in the history of the league. And they're dialing up good plays. and the way.

I mean, the Buffalo. Once the last time you saw snow in Buffalo? They're playing New England, and I'm like, I'm like, God, take your shirt off. It's a fun night in Buffalo. So it's good weather, good coordinators, and a lot of banged up defenses. Torrico even made a joke.

He was like, it's 82 on the lake, whatever lake is in Buffalo, Erie. And he made it, it was like 80 degrees in Buffalo this past week. It was 80 in Chicago. Where's their advantage? Don't they have, like, some advantage? Hmm. This is weird.

I don't, do you back underdogs? this week you said you got your blazing five locked? Are you going favorites or dogs? I like the sealers. That's the favorite I like. There's some dogs barking this week. Is that like one of these put your kids' college tuition fund on the seal? Well, there's no such thing.

I had the Chiefs last night, and I thought I had it won after the touchdown. I tried to tell you about the Jags. I did have a great week, but, you know, we can't all be like J. Thank God. J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news.

And there's a lot of stuff happening. A-Rod next hour, it's The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. 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 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. 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 Smigel 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 acapella band

with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody 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 Slicelife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis.

And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chinchin win. I mean, she went down. 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.

A huge day of college football kicks off with Big Noon Saturday on Fox as Fianom Jeremiah Smith leads top-ranked Ohio State against Illinois. Then at 3.30, it's TCU versus K-State. And under the lights at 730, Kansas takes on ninth-ranked Texas Tech. It all begins with Big Noon Saturday only on Fox. Yeah, last weekend, it didn't have a lot of big billing, but a couple of games ended up being crazy good. How about my Texas Tech Red Raiders?

Remember when I said they were going to? the playoff this August. I think I was filling in for you. A lot of people laughed at me, Colin. They are looking good. Well, it's a weak conference. So, here's the playoff picture

as of today, and I think most of it will stand pat. Kansas City, I think, will make the playoffs in the AFC right now for our radio audience. I'll read them in order of seed. Colts, bills, Steelers.

Don't have of the Steelers. The rest of the division's beat up. Chargers, Jags, Denver, and New England, I think it holds. I don't think the AFC South is going to have two teams, and I trust Indianapolis over the Jags.

Although the Jags are a fun watch. I think Kansas City makes it in, eventually. And I do think the Chargers get it right when Joe Alt comes back. In the NFC, in the order right now, it's Philly, San Francisco, Tampa, Detroit, Green Bay, Seattle, Minnesota. I don't think Minnesota's going to make it.

Take them out, put the Rams in. I think Washington, I don't know what to do with Washington. You were at that game Sunday, and Jaden Daniels look very good. I don't love their roster. I would say Minnesota and Jacksonville, I think, are gonzo. But it doesn't take long. We're only five games into the season. And I think the truth comes out.

You know the best coaches. You know the best quarterbacks. I mean, the chargers obviously are falling apart physically. San Francisco's been winning despite falling apart physically. Shanahan deserves coach of the year credit here. he's having a great ear coaching. They're asking Mac Jones to throw 40 times a game with a bad old line and none of his targets.

Yeah, by the way, Niners are getting points at Tampa this week. You don't even know who's a quarterback. Mac Jones are pretty. Does it matter to you? I would prefer the less turnover-prone quarterback Mac Jones. The other thing, Washington, as you mentioned, they are at Chicago this week. Terry McLaurin may return.

Yeah, I thought this line was, this was my, Pittsburgh's my second favorite bet. I'm not going to say my first favorite until the Blazing Five. This was my third favorite bet. I like Washington. Tell people the line. I'm seeing three and a half, but I have a feeling that's going to be going up. At Washington?

No, I think it's at Chicago. Is it? Yeah. Interesting. I like Washington in that space. Oh, no, no. Is that Washington Monday night football? Oh, geez, that's a slam dunk.

At Washington, Monday night football. the very feeling good about themselves. And also, you say to yourself, well, the bears are off a by. Yeah. When teams that are playing well come off a buy, it can really be helpful to get rest. But if you're not quite right off a buy, does it necessarily matter? By the way, how did Ben Johnson and Jared Gough do in the NFC championship game against Dan Quinn's defense? Not good.

Washington body bagged him. Not in the NFC playoffs last year. Remember? It was like 45-31. Golf struggled. I have a feeling Caleb could be in some trouble in this one against. Washington defense is like no-name dudes. Bobby Wagner. Go ask Justin Herbert.

Great pressure. All up in his grill. I'm with you. I like Washington there. And also. Jets Broncos in London, that's definitely appointment viewing. I don't like betting those London games. You just get a different team.

Like obviously, Denver's like a five and a half or six-point favorite. They could beat them by 30. But they may let down after the Philly went. Did you see Sean Payton was driving the bus around Philadelphia, like flexing the Broncos afterward? I'm like, what? I looked at that line and I said, I am staying away. Now, do I think it's a coaching mismatch?

Absolutely. Do I think the Jets O'Line will struggle to protect against Denver? Absolutely. But beating Philadelphia, remember a couple years ago that everybody that played San Francisco the next week lost? Yes. That's kind of a stacked San Francisco team. You beat Philadelphia,

and you have a pretty young team in. Denver. Would it shock you if they went on the road to London and got a little fun against a Jets team that is kind of due and they're terrible. That to me is a trap game. In fact, the number is not as high. What's the number on that? I think you said you're right, five and a half six. So ask yourself this. If you're a, if you bet, Denver beats Philly and Philly, dominates the second half. Jets are atrocious and the line's five and a half. You see, it's weird. Like all of a sudden,

Bo Nix has to cover a number as opposed to being an underdog, a plucky underdog. Now you've got to go and win by margin. I don't know. So that line is that is a trap bet. Listen, there's some good games. I'm seeing this Seattle game. Seattle losing to Tampa messed me up.

Their defense got torched. And Jacksonville has some playmakers, Colin. That's a Fox game. Now, but remember, Jacksonville. That's a long, I think that's the longest. trip in the country. Seattle to Jacksonville. Okay, short week, come off their biggest win maybe ever. Watch Jacksonville turnover prone off their biggest win. A day less to prepare.

Seattle in a bad mood, could have won, thinks they should have won. I like Seattle. Sam Darn. And the Mariners. 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. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris.

She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennar Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcasts on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeartWart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever

reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multimillion-dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.