The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - NFL Standings Predictions, Brian Baldinger

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

Colin predicts the NFL 2025 standings and some may really surprise you.He talks to Brian Baldinger about his NFL predictions, Caleb Williams not playing in the first preseason game, and the drama going on in Dallas.Colin gives his thoughts on Jerry Jones saying he cares more about controversy to stay relevant.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The herd, wherever you may be, however you may be listening. Brian Baldiger is going to be joining us from the Jets and Giants camp today. They're having joint practices with the Jets and the Giants. Both teams have some real talent on the defensive side. We don't know what transpire is a quarterback. So J-Mack likes one of them and has disdain for the other. Jackson Dart, pretty promising. Justin Fields will see.

So, Jemak, once the NFL season ends, I give myself four opportunities to make predictions for the following year. Last year I went four for four in the AFC division champions, two for four in the NFC. I did get Washington was my surprise team in the NFL to make the playoffs. I predicted Denver was the easiest team to double their win total. I don't think they quite did, but they were much better. the playoffs. So I felt pretty good about last year. It's hard. You're not going eight for eight.

The AFC is much easier than the NFC. But I do think now that you watch OTAs and rookie camp and you get consensus opinions from camps on what rookies are crushing. Who's hurt? Who's injured? So you ready to go? Fire away, buddy. Here we go. This is my final big tweak, my NFL predictions. We start in the AFC and most of what I am predicting will stay the say. AFC East, bills are going to win it. Patriots are my most improved team in the NFL.

Will be a wild card team. They've had a very good camp. Dolphins coming out now, as we predicted, the culture, the accountability. Mike McDaniels saying it must improve. We said that and we got nothing but you know what from dolphin fans. The coach says it and everybody says, well, of course.

The Jets, I just structurally, I have no idea thereforth. We go to the AFC North, it's going to stay the same. Bengals, Joe Burroughs had a great camp. That's promising because they've been a slow starting team. Ravens are the best operation, arguably, in the sport. Steelers have not been impressive.

Once again, can't run the ball in camp or in the season. Cleveland's trying to get a number one pick next year. Shadur is going to start, mark my word. Probably finished fourth, but there'll be an interesting fourth place team. That stays the same. My first change, not a major one. I am going to move the Jags into the second spot. They've had a very good camp.

Travis Hunter has been effective on both sides. Trevor Lawrence has had a very good camp. Leon Coleman and him are on the same page. Brian Thomas, year two. And this is mostly about the Titans, who I think they have the quarterback and the coach for the future. But they've acknowledged both the quarterback and the coach are acknowledging. The offense is struggling.

They probably have the worst receiving core in the league. So I think Tennessee will be a fun watch, and I really like Cam Ward. But I, Trevor Lawrence is healthy, offensive coach between Brian Thomas and Travis Hunter in the camp. They've upgraded their old line. I'm going to put them at second, Titans, third, Colts, fourth. And, AFC West, I am flipping the Broncos and the Chargers. Mackay Beckton is banged up. Roshan Slater out for the year on the offensive line.

Joel Alt's going to have to change positions. offensive line, which was a concern, is now once again a bigger concern than last year. They still also have a couple of receivers that are young that can't consistently catch. I think all of these are legitimate concerns. Denver maybe has the best camp so far in the league. Every reporter that's been there. Wow. Also, they picked up a running back, RJ Harvey, in the second round.

he's had a great camp. Sean Payton is raving about him. So I think Kansas City is a good team. I think they're not going to go 11 and 0 in one score games. So Bill's Ravens, Texans, Broncos now winning their divisions. Patriots, Bengals, Chiefs are playoff teams. Patriots Bengals, new playoff teams. We go to the NFC.

The East remains the same. Eagles, commanders, giants, cowboys. I just don't think, I don't think the kids. Cowboys are very good. I don't like the staff. I do think they'll be interesting, but that's an Eagles division. I know everybody says, well, it flip-flops. I wouldn't be shocked if the commanders won the division, but they've been noisy. Terry McLaurin holdout, noisy. Don't love that, but Jaden Daniels, in my opinion, and the staff are too good to fall to third, so that stays the same. NFC North, major change. Green Bay, quiet camp. I don't worry about George.

Gordon loves non-throwing hand injury yesterday. The Lions, I'm dropping them to second. I think their roster and O-line and quarterback and culture's too good not to be a playoff team in the NFC. Bears have been the noisiest camp. I don't trust it, but I know more about the Bears than I knew J.J. McCarthy and the Viking. So I am taking the Bears from second to third,

the Lions from first to second. And the more I look at Green Bay, they love their first round pick. The more I like the pack. Do not worry about Jordan Love's non-throwing hand. He will start week one. And then in the NFC South, it stays the same. You know, Falcons, Bucks are both teams capable of making the playoff.

I think the best quarterback in division is Baker Mayfield. It's a workable schedule. I love their GM. They can make a move at the trade deadline. Overall, the Saints are one of the worst teams. The Bucks are always feisty. Baker Mayfield playing with more maturity, I'm going to take them to win the division again.

And then I have a change. The Rams have had a bumpy camp. Matt Stafford's not practicing. I know. And their left tackle, their best offensive linemen or second best, Alaric Jackson, not practicing. Blood clots. Well, with an old quarterback in Matt Stafford,

yeah, I'm concerned that the left tackle again has blood clots and is not practicing. Rob Havenstein could be playing his last year at right tackle. So that worries me. It has been a bumpy, bumpy camp with a left tackle and a quarterback, not practicing. I'm not saying not playing. Not practicing. I'll move the Niners from fourth to third, even though they've got massive wide receiver grouping injuries.

And I'm going to put Seattle, this is my shocker. I think Seattle is going to win the division. Gray Zabel, that offensive lineman, their first pick, has been a dog in practice. So the Eagles, Packers, Bucks, and Seahawks are the division winners. Commanders, Lions, and Rams are the playoff teams. So it matters. I'm sorry, if you're a quarterback who's old and your left tackle are not practicing, especially the left tackle issue, it worries me.

And remember, of all the good teams in the league last year, go look at point differential for the Rams. Ravens blew a lot of people out. Bill's blew a lot of people out. Lions blew a lot of people out. Eagles blew a lot of people out. Rams won a lot of close games. Left tackle not practicing.

Stafford banged up, bad back. It worries me. J. Mack, quick thoughts on that? Oh, my gosh. I have all these notes for your Patriots pick that are not good, but then this Seahawks nonsense just has me totally rattled. I mean, I'm shaking to the core. What are you doing, my friend?

Colin, Seahawks. New offensive linemen? New offensive coordinator? They've had a very, very, very good camp. Sam Darnold? Colin, I'm looking at their, do you want to guess how many times they're favored in their first six games? I'm sorry, first six games.

They're favored once. They're underdogs. Most of the six. How many times was Washington favored in their first six games last year? How many games? How many times was Bo Nick's favorite in his first eight games? Colin. Oh, this is a setback.

Okay. Brian Baldinger, 13 NFL seasons. NFL network analysts is joining us. Okay, of all my predictions, Brian, give me one you didn't like and one you did. There's got to be something you didn't like. Oh, yeah. I mean, to put the Vikings last in the NFC North, Colin,

And I was just in Egan, Minnesota. Like, that roster is stacked. They led to the league in takeaways last year, Colin. You think that's kind of an important stat. Brian Flores then gone away, and he got better on defense. The offensive line is upgraded. You can argue the quarterback. He's got to step up.

But I think the coach has proven that he can work with any quarterback on a very good roster. They're going to get a lot of extra at bats. I can't see the Vikings being the doormat of that division. All right. What about, I'll throw it out the Seahawk pick. Second year, totally new culture, upgraded. You know, they view it as a little bit of an upgrade. And Sam Darnold, who's closer to his prime than Gino Smith.

They love their offensive line pick. You're smiling. What do you make of it? Well, because you've been doing your homework, Colin. Like, you're watching Gray's Abel play left guard last week. Like, it's an upgrade. So he was a great pick. And he's really one of those guys that you build culture around.

I think, you know, Mike McDonald's second year, it takes about a half a year to understand his concepts defensively. But I thought they really caught on last year, and they should be very good. The team that I think is going to surprise, though. And look, Seattle won 10 games last year, didn't make the playoffs. You know, you bring Sam Darnel in fine. You change the offense coordinator upgrade. But I do think the Arizona Cardinals are going to be a lot better than what people think. The differences that they've added defensively,

and the coordinator that they have, Nick Grails, that's going to be a tough team to beat right now, especially in that division. I think the Cardinals are going to be vastly improved. I want to ask you, Jets and Giants joint practices. I said it this week. If you play for Lane Kiffin for three years in the SEC and you're productive, especially the last two years,

I think you're ready for the NFL. It's the toughest defensive conference with the most NFL bodies. Lane can coach in the NFL today. He had ups and downs, but I thought he looked really comfortable. And I look at this team, and maybe there's been promises made to Russell. This is not a Super Bowl team. It's a, what the heck is Jackson Dart? And I don't think you can discover that with four starts this year.

I think you've got to put him on the road outside, inside, division rivals. You tell me, what do you see from Jackson Dart? What do you hear? you're at practice. Well, I like what I've seen, and I've talked to him. The touchdown throw that he made the other day to a little Jordan Humphrey, he never saw the completion. He was on his back when he made this throw.

So he was like, he just heard the crowd. But, no, this guy, I mean, if you play the SEC, and you start three straight gears, and you're going into LSU, and you're going into Georgia, and you're facing that schedule. The NFL isn't only, the crowd isn't anything like what he experienced. experience in the SEC. I think he's built for this thing right here. I think the upgrades or the offensive line are real. I don't know when he's going to get his opportunity. It is Russell's job, but it's fair. But, you know, we've seen coaches say these kind of things before,

and then, you know, then all of a sudden it's time to make a change. But look, the Giants go to Washington week one. Why can't the Giants go into Washington and win that game? Defensively, they've got a defense line that's going to rival anybody's in his business. And they know they're good. And they're practicing like they're good. They've got four guys up front that are literally shark-infested waters. And they're going to make things difficult for any quarterback they face. I like the upgrades with the Giants.

And I like the way Jackson Dart is fitting in to this team right now. So I said this about Jackson Dart and I said it about Shadur. A lot in the NFL at quarterback, probably 60 or 70 percent is traits. arm size, toughness, all that stuff, movement. But 30% is maturity, IQ, EQ, pre-snap film study. I think Shadur, in my opinion, is a little immature. I wish he was more serious. But when I watch him, movement, accuracy, comfort, he doesn't play, he's not frenetic,

he doesn't look nervous, he's athletic enough. When I watched him in that game, I'm like, that's what I saw in college. There is something to be said, Brian. He's a comfortable football player. He never looks over-hyped or nervous. What did you see? I saw that. I saw a guy that

you know, like the second touchdown, well, this throw right here is a layered throw, Colin. He's got two panthers right there and he fits it in. He comes out of these end zone. He takes this shot right there. He hits Love Ardain right there in that dig route. You know, this scramble right here, he's beaten

a defensive lineman right there, knows when to slide to get down. Like this throw is a stick throw. He hits Caden Davis right there. He trusted his protection to go pick up the blitzing linebacker. He didn't, you know, over. Some guys panic, and they just run out of the pocket. Like, he just basically parry to punch in the middle of the ring to make the throws.

There are so many things that you liked about sure. And the thing that's interesting about his performance is I've been to Berea, Ohio, to watch him practice. He was getting 14 reps, maybe two reps in every single drill. He did this with no preparation for the most part, and he was very comfortable doing it. And so, you know, he's playing with the third offensive line for much of training camp, and he got a chance to play. I want to see him, you know, play up. I'm going to see him tomorrow against the Eagles down at Novacare and then play this weekend against the Eagles in the game.

I want to see him take another step up and see some of the same things that you're talking about that we saw in week one, I want to see him carry over the week two. So, generally speaking, noisy teams worry me. Seattle's been very quiet. Green Bay has been very quiet. New England, by and large, has been very quiet. Raiders have actually, this is rare. Raiders have been quiet.

Chicago's been a noisy camp. Now, some of it is Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams. But I am, I watched Tyson Bayesian play against Miami, 16 play drive. And then I, you know, I've hear Ben Johnson before the game talking about Tyson saying, oh, sharp. I mean, he really prepares.

And it did make me think, that's a lot for a backup. I have, and I'll be the first to admit, I'm rooting for Caleb, but it feels like it's been bumpy. They didn't play him Saturday or Sunday. That was a little odd to me. Or am I, did that bother you

that they didn't play him at all? Completely. It completely by me. It's a new offense, a new offensive line. Presumably, the coach and quarterback should be joined at the hip.

I mean, we see Joe Burrow go out there and play in Kyle and Murray. We saw all these starters out there playing. I thought Caleb needed to play. I was out there last Tuesday at trainee camp in, you know,

Hallis Hall and talk to Caleb for a long time after practice. The guys tell me that have been there and have been around the league, Montez Sweat. it's the toughest camp they've ever been through, full contact. Like, okay, great. You're toughening the team up.

They needed to get tougher mentally. Let's put the quarterback out there. You've upgraded to the offense line. You can't be the least bit worried about him getting hurt. He was sacked 68 times and never hurt last year. Put him out there. Let him show the world that this offense fits him, and he can do the things that Ben Johnson wants him to do.

There's no point to hide him. He needs to play in this offense. And he needs to get the ball out of his hands and win from the pocket. We know he can extend plays and he can play some hero ball, but we got to see him went from the pocket and cut those sacks down in half like they did with Jared Gough. And so I was disappointed he didn't play. I like guys who want to play in preseason. I understand some guys there's no need.

But, I mean, with all of his injuries, is out there playing from Miami. Certainly, Caleb can get out there for Chicago. In your 13-year career, you were signed undrafted. by the Cowboys back in the early 80s from Duke and you played all those offensive line positions and even back then it was a high profile franchise but it's been weird so uh mica is is not practicing Trayvon digs is unhappy uh George Pickens is a it's a new star um and the coaching staff I don't love Brian Schottnheimer was not up for coordinator jobs and was named the head coach I don't think Jerry in my opinion respects coaches enough I don't think he does in my opinion I

There are some owners that really understand it. Some don't as much. But I look at Dallas and I'm like, well, Micah, the messaging, if he's your best player, and that's an argument, and he's not being taken care of, does that affect the locker room? Does that affect the culture? You tell me, because he's got a year left in his deal, but it's been pretty choppy. I mean, the press in Dallas is all over Jerry. They're very pro-Mika.

How does it affect the team and the culture? I think it affects him. I mean, if I was, Mike, I told this to his partner, Abdul Carter here with the Giants today. I said, if I was, if I was telling Michael what to do, I wouldn't have had a hold in. I would have just go fishing, you know, go disappear. Don't be around Jerry.

Don't be around the team. You're not doing anybody any good. These negotiations get choppy. They get personal. Jerry saying he missed six weeks last year. He missed four. Like, it gets personal. And you don't need to hear that stuff because it does get,

It does become the focal point of every practice. And so I wouldn't have them out there. Look, when DAC is healthy and play 17 games, this offense moves. You know, the postseason is a little bit different, but I'm not ready to write the Cowboys off. But I will say this, Colin, you know, a guy that played with the Cowboys, they have been most relevant when they have Star running backs. When they have Tony Dorset, Emmett Smith, when they have Zeke and Elliot.

like they're relevant when they have great star running backs. And when they don't, like they don't now, they don't look like a team that should wear the star. Like in their offense line is built to run the ball great with a great back. And they're not built like that right now. And so it kind of came. And I know Schottenheimer wants to run the ball. And you can say Miles Sanders and Javante Williams,

you tell me all about all these guys. They're not what Emmett and Dorset and Zieg were. And so I just feel like that's who the Cowboys have always been when they've been great with great running backs and i don't see it right now uh brian baldinger NFL network analyst jets and giants joint practices and did you um Andy reed won't do joint practices at all um Kyle Shanahan will do one but he won't do two where are you on those do they help yeah they help yeah Andy is different Andy from the day he came to Philadelphia, Colin, like he loves just banging each other.

I mean, just contact. He runs difficult camps, camps that make him look like a dinosaur in some of the drills that he has him doing. He likes that privacy out there in the middle of that cornfield that he's at. And that's fine. But I think both the jets and giants benefited here this last two days. The Eagles are scrimaging the Browns today. I think the Browns can benefit a great deal. It's good for Shador to go out and see a great deal.

defense and great defensive schematics that, you know, that they have there in Philadelphia, great young talent and that side of the ball. And for Philadelphia, like Lane Johnson going up against, you know, Miles is good theater. I mean, it's good to watch. I don't know how many reps are going to go against each other, but, you know, you get your best players against their best players. They got a good offense line in Cleveland, really good line. That's, that's going to be good scrimaging right there between those two teams getting ready for the game this weekend. By the way, Baldi, Ben Johnson just said everybody's playing. and Sunday against Buffalo, including Caleb Williams.

There we go, Baldy. We get our guys. He listened to us. He's listening to the program. What can we say here? Baldi, you do great work. Thanks, is always, my man. Yeah, my pleasure.

You got it called. NFL Network. There's a guy that loves football and knows football. So how about that, Jay Matt? Caleb Williams taking some live snapperoonies. Wonderful. I'm still shook by your Seattle Seahawks nonsense.

I mean, honestly, I just... I'm Florida. Listen, I like outside the box predictions. I love them, actually. This one just doesn't make sense to me. You have to make it make sense. When you get a chance later in the show or Mannyana, but you have the nine, Arizona dead last in the division.

You have the Niners third. Yeah. What's going on, man? Have you been reading about this Niners schedule? Are you overreacting? Have you been reading about the Niners? Wide receiver issue? Oh.

You know, like they don't have a wide receiver outside of Ricky Pierce. I mean, they've got contract disputes. It's a mess. So, Colin, the best quarterback the Niners face outside of division is Baker Mayfield. That's it. None of they don't face any elite quarterbacks. Robert Sala's back. You know how good of a defensive coordinator is.

I think you butcher the NFC West badly. You know, there's a world where you got it upside down. And Arizona shocks people and wins a division. But I will be stunned if Seattle's not fourth. out of like a major injury to a quarterback or something. Okay. Well. That's a hot take for you, man.

Well, yeah, so was Washington and Denver last year. By the way, do you want to know what Seattle was at home last year? Remember the, what do they call it, the 13th man or whatever, 12th man? Yeah. Three and six at home. The mystique is gone. Okay? Okay.

All right. My concern in that division is Alaric Jackson and Matt Stafford. That's the issue. That's a little. Old quarterbacks. you know, Steelers let their left tackle go. Here comes Aaron. That's not good.

Like, to me, it's not the Matt Stafford injury. It's like, Alaric Janssen, Jackson, you're like, okay, we have an issue now. Again, Rob Havenstein is an excellent right tackle. Rob may retire after the season. Rob may play 13 games. You can't have issues at tackle with Matt Stafford. You could have them with Cam Ward. You could have them with Jordan Love, young quarterbacks that can move.

Matt's an old pocket guy. Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins, Aaron. You can't have tackle issues. Little pause with the Rams. 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. Hi, this is Jay.

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Listen to the Paul and Tony Fusco show on the IHart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. He's still moving. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it.

Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast. we could call in and say, hey Jonas, and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&Lis. NL'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. 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.

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Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chinchin win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. 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. Tony Grossey, Cleveland Talk Show host, memorable video with Sederer Sanders. He's going to be joining us. Phil Steele, college football maven next hour as well. Nobody has been more accurate at predicting college football outcomes over the last 15 years than Phil Steele in that magazine. So he joins us.

J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This. is the herd line news. Let's go back to the quarterback tiers, shall we, Colin? Because Joe Burrow was in the first tier tied with Mahomes as first overall. But how about this?

Huge compliment in the piece on Burrow with an anonymous head coach. Why would you have to be anonymous to admit this? Joe Burrow is the closest thing to Joe Montana that I have seen. I'm going to just put your name on that one. But I guess then it would look not great if you're complimenting him and he's not your quarterback. Yesterday I said Burrow not a terrible bet for MVP just because he's going to be slinging it and he seems like he's on a mission, Collins. Seems very focused, wants to play in the preseason.

I mean, the easiest pick, I made it, you made it, I'm sure. The easiest pick in the NFL this year for a team that didn't make the playoffs last year and will this year is Cincinnati because it's almost impossible to be as good as Burrow has been and not make the playoffs. It's a total indictment of the ownership and front office of Cincinnati that Joe Burrow didn't make the playoffs. He was, for most of the year, better than Patrick Mahomes, and that's not debatable, almost all of the year. Yeah. I mean, wait, did you say almost?

Because Burrow was better than Mahomes last year. Well, statistically, he was, yes. They're not even close. Mahomes had a rough year. I know you can't say anything negative about Mahomes. But yeah, Joe Burrow is an all-time great. There's no doubt about it. I'm just curious.

Given the division, Lamar, Mahomes, Josh Allen, all about the same age. Do you think there's a world where Burrow just doesn't win a Super Bowl in his career? Yeah, Dan Marino didn't. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think so much of it is, I mean, Burrow and Stafford play, it really came down to one Aaron Donald play. I mean, that was the Super Bowl. Well, and the Stafford drive before that for the game. No, it was great.

But, I mean, Burrow had had great drive. So, I mean, so much of this stuff is, you know, I mean, Jimmy Garoppel. I was thinking about this this morning. Jimmy Garoppel outplayed Mahomes for three quarters in the Super Bowl. If he connects on one deep ball, Garoplo is arguably, I don't remember his stats. Is he MVP of the Super Bowl? It was the chiefs dominate the fourth quarter. Play great.

And San Francisco and Shanahan get tight. If he hits on one play, there's a different out. Very likely a different outcome. And now Mahomes has lost three Super Bowls. Yeah, Mahomes hit a Tyreek Hill on that. It was like third and 18 and hit an unbelievable bomb. Yeah. That's like an all-time great play.

And that's a little lucky. I mean, look at this. Pete Carroll Patriots. If they run with Marshawn Lynch, Seattle's got two Super Bowls. I mean, that disrupted that entire culture. There was so much resentment toward Marshawn Lynch, because everybody loved Marchon and Russell wasn't as popular. I mean, I always said this. Pete Carroll came within one play at USC.

If he picks up a first down against Texas, it's like fourth and one, and they missed by a helmet. And then he gets a touchdown. Look at Pete Carroll's career. The closest Super Bowl loss and the closest Natty loss. If not for that, and Pete's going to get a Hall of Fame boat, he'd be a lock to be in the Hall of Fame. On one play in the NFL, and then in college at USC, it's fourth. I think it's fourth and one. They don't have Reggie Bush on the field.

They give it to Lendale White, and they're a helmet shy of beating a great Texas team. What do they say close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes? Yeah. And Pete Carroll's career. All right, let's move on to, oh, hey, how about this? James Cook, we've been talking about him not getting a deal. He got it done.

His little hold-in or whatever it's called worked. James Cook, the elite running back, got a four-year-48 million-dollar deal. $30 million guaranteed. Congratulations to James Cook. He's the sixth player of the bills have extended this offseason, including Josh Allen, Rousseau, Benford, Shakir. By the way, Shakir, I love that guy in the slot. Grab him in fantasy.

And of course, Terrell Bernard, the linebacker. Listen, man, Buffalo's got their push, Colin. I don't want to go overboard here, but I do really believe if Buffalo does not win a Super Bowl, that McDermott's out. If the Bengals don't get to the playoffs, their head coach is out. Yet both of them have elite quarterbacks and are on the cusp of greatness.

But that's how close and tenuous things can be, right? Well, remember, really good coaches have been let go. Belichick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Marty Schotenheimer. Really good coaches get let go. Chuck Knox. I always said Sean McDermott is Chuck Knox. If you're older, if you're young, you don't know who Chuck Knox is. Seahawks?

Everywhere Chuck Knox when he was, Ram, Seahawks, Buffalo. Everywhere when he went he won. But in the end, Chuck would get punished because he couldn't win in the postseason. Marty Schottenheimer, right? So, like, Sean McDermott would be in a list, a long list of great, I mean, even in Philadelphia, they felt like Andy Reid, it worn out its welcome. So the truth is, it's not a criticism to say Sean McDermott needs to win this year. Chuck Knox, Andy Reid, Belichick, Pete Carroll.

I mean, Mike Tomlin's one of the few survivors that we've talked about it before, but the Steelers just don't make coaching. changes. So it happens. Tomlin's won Supervitz. Listen, great politicians have lost elections. Great coaches have been dismissed. It happens all the time in pro football.

I mean, again, I think we need to adjust. You keep saying good coach, good regular season coach. Can you deliver the playoffs? No, no, no, no, no. He's won playoff games. That doesn't make you a good coach just winning playoff games? The big ones that you've got to win. The conference

championship. Are you winning that? Phil Mickle. since a great golfer, he wasn't as good as Tiger. Like, nobody's quite, I mean, a lot of this stuff is that Buffalo's defense can't make a stop of Mahomes. It's not the Josh plays for them. What do you mean? Once you pay your quarterback a lot of money, you got holes. The holes for the chiefs have been receiving. Offensive line, been blow out twice as a Burbles. The holes for the bills have been. They've had to let go of some really good linebackers

and corners and safeties. So their decisions, they've upgraded their own. offense but had to let go of defense. The chiefs have upgraded their defense and they've let go of offense. That's why Mahomes' numbers come down. So I, I'm a big believer. There are these players. The Phoenix Suns with Charles Barkley, they were pre-warriers. Like they were shooting threes when nobody else was. They were scoring 128 a game. When nobody was scoring 128, they were dropping 130. But Michael Jordan and the Bulls ensured they weren't going to win. The Utah Jazz had great teams and would have two titles without one player. So I've always given Buffalo's well coach, well run, well quarterbacked, Kansas City is decided they are the Tiger Woods of their generation.

I would disagree. Buffalo is all that, but they're not that in January. They were not well coached in that arrowhead loss when they could not convert all those short-yarded situation. That's on coaching. When they got blasted in Kansas City, that was not good. Now they did get screwed when Mahomes had that unbelievable drive with what, like 13 seconds left to beat them in that one classic. But again, it really comes down to a handful of plays and who's better? Mahomes has been better. Now, in the regular season matchup, remember last year in Buffalo where Josh Allen had the keeper? That.

Show me that in January and get to a damn Super Bowl. I mean, I need to see it in the playoffs. I'm sorry. I'm a jerk. You're very results-oriented. No, I'm very process-oriented. Oh, stop. You're stealing by material.

Finally, we got to go to Bo Nix. We have a new contract here in Herdline. Bo Nix must be in one every single day. Heading into year two with Bo Nix, expectations are through the roof. You just picked them to win the division. Drew Brees views everything the same way. Anytime you're going into your second year, I think, is an NFL quarterback. Last year probably feels like a blur in a lot of ways just because, man, it's a long season.

You know, you're adjusting a new offense, new speed of the game, just new mode of operation. And so I think for Bo, there'll be a much higher level of comfort. Yeah, I think, do we have the schedule? Let's put Denver's schedule on the screen just for fun. I want to see Denver's schedule because, all right, so let's look at this. Okay, home against Tennessee rookie quarterback, W. Colts quarterback situation at W. Chargers game, let's see.

Denver led the league in sacks. Chargers have offensive tackle and O-line issues. Denver. Bengals at home. Now they do go to Philadelphia. That's rough. But you start looking at that, this is why I picked them to win the division. Start looking at that first seven, eight weeks. That's rough. I mean, Dallas at home, Giants at home, Jets, Titans, Colts.

Now, it's tough on the back end. There's a lot of Ws on that schedule. There's a lot of, they're going to be favored by six to seven points in a lot of the first seven games, potentially. One of the things you like to do, I think this is smart, is look at the quarterbacks they're facing. You could cover the schedule. I'll name the quarterbacks. Cam Ward, Daniel Jones, Herbert, Burrow, Hertz, Justin Fields. I'm going to just play St. Jackson Dart for fun.

Dak Prescott, C.J. Stroud, Gino Smith. There's a lot of wins on the schedule, Colin. I got him won in the division. I'm with you. Yeah. Jay McLaughlin News. Well, that's the news. Stopping by. The Herd Lie News.

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey, John? 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 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, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's

Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an Acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement home. 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 should win. 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 courtside 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. Bryson, Kepka, Ram, Phil, and DJ. Some of the biggest names in golf are teeing it up in Indy for Live Golf, Indianapolis. Catch coverage of round one Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern with weekend coverage of round two and the final round starting at noon Eastern only on Fox. So there's a new Netflix show called America's Team. And, you know, Cowboy fans get worked up. You know, Colin, you're very negative.

Well, I'm negative because of the results. So Jerry Jones now just publicly admitted. which this is Stan Cronkey is invisible owns the ramps he hides from the press right like hides from it you don't see uh Steve Bouchotti who's pulling a ton of strings in Baltimore Steve on draft day has powers like Steve Bouchotti is all over the Ravens you never see him here's Jerry Jones on what's what's important when you're an owner If we're not being looked at, then I'll do my part to get us looked at. Oh, it's wonderful to have the great athletes, have the great players.

But there's something more there. There's sizzled. There's emotion. And if you will, there's controversy. That controversy is good stuff in terms of keeping and having people's attention. Okay. That you're treating it like a movie or a toy. like I again I've said that Jerry views the Cowboys as a business first because you if you really think

about it they've had too many good players too many confident coaches um they've been two I mean between Tony Romo and Dak Prescott those are above average quarterbacks and if you add their careers together I mean they've had good quarterback play for like 20 years and yet they have the longest NFC drought getting to the conference championship. Right? Like they're well financed. They've got, you know, I mean, like the Rams, they've got a lot of money. They're quarterback.

If I told you there's an NFL team for 20 years. And I said, listen, they make a lot of money. They're well financed. They're popular. Free agents like playing there. No state tax. They've had good quarterback play. Hey, they had about a six-year stretch.

They had the best offensive line in the game. They've also had elite pass rushers. star running backs star receivers one of the all-time best tight ends jason witten uh and i said how do you think that team is done in turn you'd be like oh okay they got at least two super bowl appearances one win uh 13 division titles i mean all the boxes that you would check for this NFL 20 years a good quarterback play. I'd say a decade of above average offensive lines. At one point, best in the league for five-year stretch,

star running back, star receiver, star tied in, pass rushers, never been a problem with Dallas. And that they have the longest drought in the NFC of getting to the NFC championship. Yeah, I'd say upstairs has under-delivered. On the fields delivered fine. criticize Mike McCarthy all you want.

The best Dak Prescott I've ever seen came from Mike McCarthy. And you can bang on Jason Garrett. Jason Garrett won 13 games. Dak Prescott was a rookie from Mississippi State who didn't throw a pretty ball. So Jason Garrett won a lot of games. You know, so, I mean, Mike McCarthy won with Cooper Rush. You can blame coaches all you want in Dallas. You can blame quarterbacks.

Tony Romo is one of the more underrated quarterbacks of my lifetime. And Dak Prescott is overpaid, in my opinion. But you get what you get financially. He's a grown-up. He's way better than his career. He's a well-known, highly productive quarterback when healthy. He was productive with Jason Garrett. He's productive with Mike McCarthy.

I mean, what Jerry just said is what we have speculated, and he just confirmed, play that bite again. He had just confirmed what we've all thought is happening in Dallas. I do believe if we're not being looked at, then I'll do my part to get a. looked at oh it's wonderful to have the great athletes have the great players but there's something more there there's sizzle there's emotion and if you will there's controversy and that controversy's good stuff in terms of keeping and having people's attention

controversy's good stuff okay because chicago's had a lot of it she got controversies good stuff for reporters for podcasters for Joe Rogan. I mean, controversy is good stuff. Elon Musk's businesses maybe. I don't even know what has happened. It's crazy. Hey, we need more controversy on our show, Colin.

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

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

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories,

their reactions in the moment and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon Polo. And an Armenian businessman. Multi-million 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 IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.