The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 2 - The new Blazing 5, Ben Johnson is exactly what the Bears need, Dave Wannstedt

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

It’s time for Colin’s Blazing 5 — his best bets and sharpest NFL picks for Week 14, featuring deep dives into Bengals vs. Bills, Texans vs. Chiefs, and more marquee matchups He talks to former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt about HC Ben Johnson and how he has turned the Bears around from last seasonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. I heart radio. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation.

I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man. on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. I'm Akela Hughes, and Rebel Spirit, season two, is about both of those things. As I was watching these statues come down, I was thinking about what it meant that I grew up in a majority black city, in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslave people.

Listen to Rebel Spirit season two on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. All sorts of stuff going on. Mario, Cristobal coach of the Miami Hurricanes last hour, former Bears and Dolphins coach, Dave Wonstat in 15 minutes. It is a Friday. It is great to have you here.

Cowboys get beat, 3730 late, lost. Get to that in a second. It's been a strange year for the Blazing Five. At one point, I was up to 62%. last couple of weeks I've been one under 500 so at 58% which I would keep I would sign off on today if I could get 58 and a half percent this is the strangest blazing five ever I'm taking games I don't want to watch necessarily and I'm also taking underdogs I've been heavy favorites this year because the market called for it the winter weather is moving in I like four underdogs this weekend and here's the blazing five Hot one. Let's blaze it up. Fire it's Collins, blazing fire.

Bengals and Bills. I like Cincinnati getting T. Higgins back plus six. Coming off extra rest, 19 and 9. Last five years, December, January. That's Burrow. By the way, what's Burrow in his last eight starts? Eight and O, he is back. The Bills have not been good.

McDermott's one for his, for four against the Bengals. The offense now for Buffalo, multiple giveaways in four straight games. They can't stop the run. And the Bengals, three straight games rushing for over 100 yards. T. Higgins is back. Joey Bosa, out for Buffalo. Joe Burrell, more time to throw.

Upset. Take Cincinnati plus the six to beat Buffalo outright. Joe Burrow T. Higgins. Here they go, 3028. Colts at Jaguars. I'll take the Jaguars at home plus one and a half. They've won 10 straight games against the Colts in Javille. They own them in Jacksonville and they're on a three-game winning streak.

And they have the number one rush defense that will force, force the Colts to throw. The problem is Daniel Jones has a fibula fracture, not moving particular. well, and over the last couple of games, he's completing 57% of his throws. The offense feels a little broken. Since week nine, these are two different teams. Jacksonville very good. The Colts averaged at about 22 a game, one and three. Jaguars always good against the Colts in this spot. Win it 30 to 24. Dolphins at Jets. What am I doing? I'm taking the Jets as a home plus two and a half. Tyrod Taylor. I'm going to go with him. A.D. Mitchell, that wide receiver that came over from the Colts. Do you see what he did last week? Yeah. Ah. Got some good numbers.

Eight catches. You see that? Top 10 past defense without Soss Gardner. Listen, the Jets are playing their butt off. They've won three of five, and they're scoring points. And they're at home, and they're a dog. And did you watch Tua over the last month? I don't know what's wrong. he's terrible and cold weather. No touchdowns for Tua, and three of his last four games leaves the NFL with 14 interception. Tua, something's off, it's getting cold. The Jets are playing hard for Aaron Glenn.

Not a great team, playing hard. I take the Jets to win and cover 27, 24, take them in the point. Texans at Chiefs. I have to take the hook. I'm taking the Texans plus the hook, three and a half. Four game winning streak. Five of their six road games this season have been one score games, number one scoring defense, held opponents in five of their last six games under 20 points.

Hunter and Will Anderson against a beat-up Kansas City offensive line that three of their five starters on the O line are injured, including left tackle, guard, right tackle. I'm sorry, it's a low-scoring game. I've got to take the hook here. Chiefs have been outgained in three of their last four games. By the way, in 12 games, they have 22. sacks. Kansas City's 27th. So C.J. Stroud, going to have a little extra time. I don't know who wins. I don't know who wins. But I'm taking the points in the hook. 2423, Kansas City in the last

second field goal. I am taking Houston, though, three and a half point. Eagles at Chargers. I'm going to take the Eagles minus two and a half as my only favorite. They're four and two on the road. They beat Kansas City, Bucks and Green Bay on the road. Number one red zone offense. Number five offensive line and Saquan, Barclay may not be running, but Jalen Hertz, for some reason, is often a better road quarterback. The Chargers have faced two teams with a winning record over the last 10 weeks. They got hammered by both of them. And the offensive line, it's not good at all. So Jalen Hertz last two years on the road, I'm telling you, he's better away from Philly. And I think, I think I have maybe the best O line.

and unquestionably the worst O-line. I think it's close. I think the crowd is 65-35. Philadelphia feels a little bit like a home game. I'm going to swallow the two and a half. I'm going to take Philly 24 to 20. J-Mack, a reaction. I don't take dogs.

I don't like to bet games like the Jags Colts, which I find hard to watch. But I'm taking the underdog Bengals. I get the Jaguars. I'm taking the Jets. I know. I love the Jets call, by the way. You know what they're calling Tyrod Taylor.

Tide God, Taylor, because he's 7-0-1 against the spread in his last eight starts. All he does is cover, and it is cold in New York this week. I like that call, buddy. I will say this. Whenever you get a standalone game, last night was a standalone game. Everybody's watching it.

Everybody tends to overreact. And, I mean, that's just the way we do it. standalone games get a lot of discussion, much more discussion than the average game. Beating the Chiefs on Thanksgiving did not mean the Cowboys were a Super Bowl threat. It meant they can go toe to toe now with a lot of teams. We don't even think Kansas City's great. They're 500. I don't think losing to the Lions last night means they stink. It was 3730 with about two and a half minutes left.

It was a shootout. And George Pickens was pouting on prime. Not a good headline. They also held Detroit under their average running. I honestly think Dallas going forward, maybe not this year, has got a lot of things working in their favor. It's a great offensive tackle draft and a great edge rusher draft, at least in the first round. That's what I would do with their first two picks. So I think that George Pickens performance late when CD got hurt, that bothers me.

That's the Pickens in Pittsburgh. That's why they moved off him. ever there's a great player traded, I mean, Pittsburgh moved off A.B., Antonio Brown. You saw why. You can see why. George Pickens is too good to get rid of unless it's worse than you even see on TV. Mike Tomlin has a high threshold for drama. They moved off him. So I was hoping you wouldn't see this. here was DAC on Pickens last night I'm sure George will tell you what in his best game that's tough when you're playing the way that he's played

when you're the type of player that he is I'll be the first to say it's hard to do that weekend and week out but I think George can I know George believes he can and I think he would just say that this game wasn't up to a standard and I'm sure he'll own it and I know he'll be better I believe I believe words gotten to George Pickens maybe through an agent or a representative or a

friend, they're going to franchise tag him. And he's last couple of games, not giving it his best effort. Here was Brian Schottenheimer on Pickens. Was anything like he had a same energy tonight? No, I don't think so. I want to look at it. I mean, he was being doubled. You know, a minute CD went out.

They just decided to play everything, two men over there and try to double him and take him away. But I don't think so. Yeah, that worries me a little. But I think Dallas, the two first round picks, Dax's playing well. the O line, they need a right tackle in the draft.

There's three of them. They need a right tackle with one of their draft picks. They don't have to draft an edge, but it's a great edge draft, and if you look at where they're picking, they'll probably be able to draft the second or third or fourth best edge rusher.

But I don't think beating the chiefs on Thanksgiving meant they were a Super Bowl team. And beating Philadelphia didn't necessarily mean that. But these standalone games, they just get talked about differently and with more vigor and enthusiasm and excitement, I thought you saw a shootout, and I think the better overall roster today is Detroit,

and Detroit was at home, and their running game was rolling. And, I mean, we've said this. I mean, go look at what Detroit's done. Now, they did it when they had Ben Johnson. It felt like every Sunday, but Detroit's had several games this year. Go look at what they did to the Bears early in the season.

Look what they did to do the Cowboys. Look what they did to the commanders. I mean, this is what they did to the Ravens. Detroit right now, is a better overall team than Dallas. They were at home. They felt desperate. And they want to track me.

But it was 37, 30, 2 and a half to go. Here's something. Dave Wonstat around the corner. One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHard Radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from the odd couple on Fox Sports Radio.

And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7 to 10, 10 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show. That's right. You can now watch the Odd Couple Live on YouTube every day. All you got to do, search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube. Again, YouTube, just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out on YouTube and subscribe. Hey, it's us to 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 have

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 did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

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

title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to date. 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. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca. Austin Reed.

And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid.

He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stopped by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that I said,

you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Giamonka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad. But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy.

But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong or what that might look like? No. I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Yes. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man.

This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Ely Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job.

I'm Akila Hughes. in Rebel Spirit Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky State House that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence. We contain spirit. How do you represent that?

They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last time the Chicago Bears won a road playoff game, Dave Wonstat was the coach. He's now joining us live here in the studio in Chicago, 39 years, college or pro coach. So you must love Ben Johnson because last week they ran it, what, 47 times. And my argument is we always think of physicality with defense.

Actually, Kyle Shanahan, his physicality is with defense and running the football. So your thoughts on Ben Johnson's willingness, even with Caleb and all those receivers to run it. Well, I got fired for running the ball too much, okay? So, I mean, I was the extreme, but I didn't have a quarterback, right? So I love what he's doing. And when you really think about it, you mentioned Kyle Shanahan. When we were working together at Fox on the pregame show, I was assigned once to do a study when the Niners and Chanahan were going to the Super Bowl.

And the thing that jumped at me, they were shifting in motioning, calling more. than anybody in the NFL. And they had runs and passes that as you were watching that tape, and if the play first started with the line stepping in the back, you couldn't tell if it was a runner pass. And that's what he Ben's doing. I mean, Ben is mirroring the run with a pass and motion and shifting. The guy's doing a phenomenal job.

And let's give this offensive line some credit. Four of the five starters on the Bears' offensive line are new starters from a year ago. And I'll tell you what, Ryan Poles, the general manager, you know, people have been on them, but they sign the center and two guards. No one's been hurt, and these guys have just gotten better every week and every week. So combination of Ben with what he's doing on offense, and I'm going to give the offensive line credit for how they've come along and stayed healthy. This rivalry has been one-sided. Did Packer games feel different? They do now. I mean, the Bears beat them in the last game of the season last year, you know, and it was just a mess here with everything going on.

But I think the biggest difference has been the quarterback. I mean, the six years that I was with the Bears, I had six starting different quarterback. Wow. Six. Good luck, okay? I don't care how much you run the ball. And that's when Brett Farr was starting. And then it was Roger. So, you know, I got to believe that the consistency at quarterback has been the difference. with the Packers over the years.

And, you know, I don't see it changing right now. And this is talking about Bears' quarterbacks now. Mitch Chubisky, first-round pick. Justin Fields, first-round pick. So it wasn't a bunch of free agent that they signed off the field. It just hasn't worked for Bears at the quarterback position until I think this year with Caleb. So Mike Tomlin, former player, Big Ben, saying things this week,

the fans, Channing Fire Tomlin. My take has always been with Pittsburgh. I mean, they haven't won a playoff game in eight years. You can be a really good coach, but the league is pivoted to offense. I mean, if you start looking now who ends up in Super Bowls and Conference championships, it's overwhelmingly offensive coaches. I mean, Chicago turned it around, offensive coach. Denver's got a young quarterback, offensive coach.

I mean, Jacksonville's good again. Offensive coach. Is it possible that Tomlin, the message gets lost? It's an old team. They've heard the stories and the motivational tactics. Is it possible it's time to just good coach get a different environment? Yeah, because there's not as much turnover. In college, you're turning guys over two or three years.

So you can have college coaches that last a long time. Al Davis, Al Davis used to always say. I remember when we were working against the Raiders, I was at the Cowboys, and he was talking to Jimmy or Jerry or someone, and he was always talking about 10 years would be the maximum him that he felt that coach could be in one position and just for what you're saying. I mean, and yeah, players move around a little bit more now than they did back then, but, you know, you've got to have a special group of guys before it gets old.

And, you know, you talk about the Steelers and the standard. I mean, you know, it's, I think now that the fans have turned, X players have turned, and I was back there in June for the U.S. Open, and I had lunch with Art Rooney and Mike Tomlin came in and we were sitting there talking. Those guys are connected to hip. I mean, there's not going to be a problem there, but I just wonder how long Mike really wants to put up with that type of approach,

because I don't see it getting any better. I mean, I don't, you know, I mean, Aaron is what he is. The defense is getting old. So, I mean, it's a tough situation. I mean, looking back on it, and I was curious, when it was going back, it was June, and they hadn't signed Aaron Roger yet. You remember, it was late.

Who's the quarterback? I was waiting for them to trade T.J. Watt for a couple ones and go with Mason Rudolph, the backup quarterback for this year. Because where are they going next year? You tell me, where are they going to be picking? They're going to be in the middle of the pack, and they're right back to the quarterback scenario. It's tough to get out of that cycle unless you do something drastic. And I know it's all hindsight, but I'm sure they're thinking about that now. Yeah, I suggested it a couple years ago is that with T.J. Watt, the defense hasn't been very good for the last three years, not nearly as good as what they're paying for it,

so go get a quarterback. So, listen, the Cowboys lost the track meet last night. They need a right tackle. They have two first-round picks. It's a good tackle draft. To replace Micah, it's a good edge draft. I like where Dallas is going. The George Pickens thing is interesting.

Yeah. So Jerry has shown, if you're not committed or focused, Des Bryant, he'll move off you. Zeke, he got tired of him. Micah, the podcast, the celebrity, Dak is always football first. Yeah, you've got to love Dak, right? Always football first. Those offensive linemen, Tyron Smith, Zach Martin, football first.

The Pickens thing would bother me. Yeah, you know, and I remember when we first went to Dallas, we were going to be, we were trying, we had no players, we were turning everything over. I mean, from the ground floor, you know that. And we signed a couple of first. free agents that were out there and people were, and they have talented guys like Pickens. And after it didn't work out, I remember us all sitting around and Jimmy making the comment,

you know, there's a lesson to be learned here. Those guys are out there for a reason. That's right. And the team that they're coming from knows a lot more about. Look at the Steelers. Mike Tomlin. He is very tolerant of drama. Coach, I mean, Colin.

I mean, it's, you know, I used to call calling coach all the time. You know, you're the coach of FS1. Yes, you are. You are. You are the head coach. But when you look at Antonio O'Brien, the Bears made a trade for Chase Claypole. Remember the receiver? Not long ago, gave up a second round 10.

And then he got to Chicago. And they got rid of him in five weeks or a half a year or something. So my point is, Mike Tomlin, if he's going to be as patient with a player. As anybody. as anybody in the league, and you jump up there and you grab them. Free agency can be a little bit of a used car lot. Oh, 100%. The owner knows what the odometer is.

You've got to buy on, there's risk involved. 100%. And, you know, they were, and it's not about talent. And it's, you know, but it's just the long season. You want guys that during the ups and downs of a game are going to be able to stay at that high level. and obviously pickings, and I'm not putting the game last night on him. I mean, they turned the ball over.

Three times. And that defense, Matt Eberflus is really, Matt Eberflus is a good defensive coach. Trust me. I mean, I know Matt when he was here at the Bears, I sat with him, we talked football. He knows what he's doing. They got some players.

They're improving. Yeah. A big time. Detroit's got explosive players. Yeah. We've seen the last four years. They have games like this at home, especially. But when you're in average,

when your defense is coming along, you can't turn the ball over on the other side. You know what I mean? And three turnovers to none last night. You got... Dallas won a lot of the stats. Time of possession first down. Dallas was fine.

Turnovers and they couldn't make one big stop late. If I said to you, one team had three turnovers and the other one had zero. There it is. It's a 14 to 21 point loss. Look at the Rams in Carolina last week. If you turn the ball over, especially on the road, good luck. Philadelphia plays on Monday Night.

to get to a couple of college topics. Philadelphia is interesting. Jalen Hurt, strangely, is actually better on the road sometimes than at home. He gets away from the pressure. It is strange that Sequin Barclay, there's no juice. Is it fatigue? Is it the O.C.? Is it the offensive line?

Sequin Barclay looked like, next to Barry Sanders and Walter Payton, the best running back I'd ever seen. And this year, nothing. Did he just lose his fastball? I don't make I think it's a little bit combination of a couple of things one little bit of Super Bowl hangover okay okay with the team that's real that's real that's real and I think the other thing too is I think the Dallas Cowboys tore their heart out the week before they were up 21 nothing against Dallas and Dallas beats them 23 21 I think that because the look on that sideline was bad look yeah why isn't barclay run it more Jalen Hertz is running the ball now about seven times against. game on an average. When they had that Super Bowl run a couple years ago, he was 10, 11 runs a game. And anytime you're threatened by the quarterback running it, speaking from a defensive standpoint, you have to take somebody off the running back and be accountable for the quarterback.

And right now they're not doing that. They're putting everything on Barclay, and they're saying Jaylon Hertz, if you want to run it, prove it that you're going to run the ball. But I don't take, Kevin Patole, I worked with him at Buffalo. I know him. he's a good coach. This Nick Siriani is an offensive guy. You know, I'm not. It's up to him to solve the problem. Coach, I know.

I mean, it's, I, I, I, I, I, Flores offense was broken a month ago. He solved it. Thank you. I mean, dude, take, take it over. You're the head coach. You're an offensive guy. You and Kevin have been together forever.

Don't let the guy's house get egged. Yeah. Yeah, it might be better for Philly to get on the road. Get out of Philly. I think getting out of town actually helps them, plus the sofi crowd will be by 6535 Philadelphia. Oh, absolutely. Let's do some college. Big Ten championship.

I worry a little bit about Ohio State off the Michigan win and looking at the playoff, being, you know, dipping a little bit. But I was told this by a coach who has been on the sidelines for Ohio State in Indiana. Ohio State looks like bigger. They looked like they got 15 NFL guys. Ohio State's got better players. Their coaching staff's excellent. Julian San is, oh my, he is.

I like Ohio State here. I think it just comes down to, they've got, Indiana beat Oregon at Oregon. But Oregon doesn't have, as we saw at the end of last year, Ohio State guys yet. I like the Buckeyes, you. Yeah, two things here that Ohio State has not been behind in a pressure situation at the end.

end of the game. And you've got Julian Sayan who's playing leading the country. How do you complete 70? Almost 79% your pass is so incredibly good and accurate for a kid. Oh, it's unbelievable. And he's got two receivers. He's leading, you know, both Tate and Jeremiah Smith are leading the nation in plays over 40 yards. So he's got weapons with him. Yes. But here's what I think this game comes down to. You got Sayin who's a freshman, okay? And you've got Mendoza, who's a five-year senior, okay? He's been around. So you've got a little bit more experience, obviously a lot more experience with Indiana. And Indiana has been battle tested. And by that, I mean, they have been behind, it's final drive against Iowa. It's end of the game

against Penn State. It's Oregon at the end of the game. I mean, and they have found ways when they look up at that scoreboard and there's six, seven minutes left or less against a talented team, they have found ways to win the game. Ohio State hasn't yet, you know. So I don't know. I'm not selling Indiana short by any means. I think, you know, think about this. You said Ohio State's offensive line, they looked apart.

They've given up the top 10 in the least amount of tackles for losses. guess who's number two in the nation? Indiana, as far as making tackles for law. So there's your battle. It's going to be a battle up front here. And then if it comes down to a close game at the end, what quarterback can make a play? I mean, and saying this could be the first game that he's going to have to win the game. Julian said.

Yep, for Ohio State. I've already seen Mendoza do it at Penn State. That was one for the ages. Finally, you know the Miami Hurricanes well. They beat Notre Dame head to head. They had four common opponents. they were better against them. Miami's got the better defense.

Miami's got the better passing game. And again, once the records are the same, head-to-head, we know this in the NFL. That's the first thing they use. Absolutely. I have Mario Cristobal on Last Hour. And I'm a Notre Dame. I love Notre Dame. And I think they'd be favored if they played, but that's not what this is about.

I think Miami's getting host here, don't you? Oh, 100%. 100%. I mean, yeah, if you look at it. at both teams, everybody keeps saying, well, Notre Dame would be favored. I would say why. Well, they were favored the first time. Yeah, why? Why? I mean, you know, what defense would you like? Miami's. Thank you. What quarterback would you like? Miami's? Probably now. Miami. No, absolutely. Do you see the, in the pick game against my

alma mater, last game in the season, those receivers made some catches, you know, NFL catches for Miami. Miami's, Miami looks the part. By the way, they have the best edge rusher in the sport right now. that kid could be able to the second, third pick. So Miami's got the great edge rusher. Miami's got great receivers. What Notre Dame has is a terrific coach, so does Miami. And I love the running back.

He is a great player. But again, this can't be about the spread, and it can't be about what I think. Four common opponents, head-to-head matchup. And people have said, well, I mean, it was the first. And I said this. I said, you've got to contextualize that first game. Well, when I watched the PIT game, it did make me think differently,

and it made me get a microscope out and go look at their standings, the NCAA, the head-to-head. I'm sorry. Let me ask you this. What about if Texas didn't go play Ohio State the first game and lose by a few points? Yeah, they did. We're talking about, you know what I mean, so I don't know. You shouldn't get penalized. Miami shouldn't get penalized for playing Notre Dame.

That's what I'm saying. Oh, finally, Penn State, Lillard. bit of a circus, you know it well, reportedly finalizing a deal for Matt Campbell, according to Yahoo, give Yahoo credit, that's a pretty good debt. Is it not for late in the process? It is. For what you're working with at Iowa State, I've been there, I've coached up against him, that's a tough job. And he has done a very good job. He's, you know, he's a smart guy, he's good, a good staff. Yeah, I don't know, you know, where it fits, but recruiting his stuff. He's kind of a good recruiter.

East Coast guy, so he'll tie in there. I think it's a good hire for him. I really do. I know everybody's up in arms and stuff. But, yeah, it's a good hire for him. And how do you know, Colin? You know, everybody wants to hire the name guy. That wasn't going to happen. And Brian Kelly didn't work at LSU.

No. So, I mean, you know, hire the guy that you feel good about, that you can communicate with. And I think that's what they've done. Yeah. Dave Wonstap, last time the bear, won a road playoff game. Wow. Those are hard. Who did you beat?

We beat Minnesota in Minnesota. Yeah, that was hard. Who was a quarterback for them? For them, it was Warren Moon. Oh, my. I believe, yeah, Warren Moon, Chris Carter, Robert Smith. Oh, that was a good offense. Coach, good offense.

Do I remember the game? Yeah, I remember the game. We blocked the punt. We had Steve Walsh was our quarterback, and we were, you know, we were in. Coach, we ran the ball, as you can imagine, and we had the little boots and wiggles, the movement passes that Chicago uses,

and then we forced them to kick field goals rather than touchdowns in the red zone. That was the difference in the game. Field goals. Yeah, nobody wants to kick those anymore. No, go for it. Go for it. Yeah. The Detroit go for it last night.

Did Detroit scale back a little bit in the go-for-it-stuff? Thank God. Yeah. Thank God, Dan Campbell. 0-4-7, that would make you think twice about it, right? Good seeing the coach, thanks. All right, herd line on the other end. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd

weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. 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 was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, 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 a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? 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. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game.

His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got. got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reed. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense.

And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball. After you go through a training camp with that Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Keith Giamanka seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad.

But secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? that is not the look of an innocent man.

This is going to change my life and my family dynamic forever because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier. than it is. Getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America,

there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store. I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway. If you're an historian and you leave out half of what the history is, you're not doing your job. I'm Akila Hughes. In Rebel Spirit, Season 2 goes deep on both of those things. The fights, the politics, the people who won, and my personal campaign to add something to the Kentucky Statehouse. that's actually worth the wall space. We are more than our bodies. We contain essence.

We contain spirit. How do you represent that? They are just fueling a fire that is really catching. You'll see what I mean. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tomorrow for the first time in conference history, number one and number two collide in the Big Ten title game.

Heisman front runners collide as Julie. and Sane leads number one Ohio State against Fernando Mendoza and number two Indiana. Coverage begins tomorrow at 6.30 Eastern on Fox. Let me tell you something. If Miami, Mario Cristobal next hour, if Miami doesn't

make the college football playoff, I would not want to face them in a bowl game. What, the Poulon, weed eater bowl game? They're going to be in a bad mood. I'm telling you right now, that freshman receiver, they're edge rushers. They got stud. I mean, Miami is more impressive. If you take love

out for Notre Dame, the great running back. Miami's more impressive on television to look at because I think, now, defense, no question, Miami. Defense, no passing game, Miami, head-to-head Miami, common opponents, Miami. I've watched Miami play five times, Notre Dame five times. Love is unbelievable for Notre Dame. I mean, you could make an argument. He's the fourth or fifth best player in college football, the running back Jeremiah Love. He's unbelievable.

Their run game's really good. They got two running back. Price is awesome. What is this Miami lobbying? I mean, you're Chicago. Malachi, Tony, that receiver? It's good. Good.

He's really good. But the Notre Dame quarterback is a better prospect than the... Prospect. Yeah, Miami quarterback. I don't care about prospect. I care about today. Oh, yeah. Well, you care about today?

How did Beck do against Louisville as a double-digit favorite? He vomited all over himself at like six interceptions. Fine, not six, but like three. He was terrible. Come on. Stop the Miami-Divism. lobbying, Colin? This go-to-name team. Marcus Freeman could take

them to the national championship this year. That's how good this team is. Have you seen how many second-half points they've given up in, like, the last eight games? No, no, no, no. You can't score on this team. Marcus Freeman's great. Yeah. Their resume says they should be in.

What's their big quality win? They don't have any bad losses. Okay. All right. I mean, you can say Indiana schedules week. They went to Oregon and hammered the ducks. Okay, I mean, listen, you want to do that now or get the headline? Herd her, herd headline. I'm just saying.

I need some time to operate on this stuff. All right. J-Mack with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Heardline News. Let's get to the NFL. Justin Herbert, Colin, he will play likely, likely, not a lock,

likely to play on Monday. He only missed 10 snaps after busting up his hand against the Raiders. And he did operate exclusively. out of the shotgun in that matchup. Here's the bad news for the Chargers. If they decide, hey, Herbert, sit this one out. We want you as close to 100% next week against the Chiefs. That's a huge game, Colin.

Much bigger than this non-conference battle. That's right. That's one of the reasons in the Blazing Five that I lean Philadelphia. Jalen Carter may be out. No, he's out. He's out. Yeah, but they have other, I mean, their defense is not a concern. Herbert, I mean, ask yourself this.

with the Chiefs coming up, what if Herbert in the first quarter gets hit a couple times? And you're like, you could see the Chargers going, time out, get him out of there. I mean, if Philadelphia in the first quarter starts winning the line of scrimmage, and Herbert gets whacked, which by the way this year, he and Cam Ward have been hit more than any other quarterback, you could see the Chargers saying, enough, let's keep him for next week. The season's over if Herbert goes down and can't play for the next couple game. So that's why I would sit him. Now, I know that Harbaugh is a tough guy.

Herbert's a tough guy. He's going to want to play. But just remember, the Chargers don't have their starting tackles. And their interior line is the lowest rate in the league. This is not a smart decision. Again, maybe it's just me. Trey Lance would give them no chance. This line probably balloons to seven and a half.

If it's Lance, maybe more. I mean, Trey Lance is, he's not an NFL quarterback. So a tough one for the Chargers. And that's more bad news for the Cowboys, who will be. very upset if the Eagles win. All right, let's move on to more quarterback issues, and that's my guy, J.J. McCarthy in Minnesota. I don't want to take credit for him as my guy. He only has six starts, but he's been terrible. And it's really impacted Justin Jefferson. Colin,

I don't know if you saw this. Justin Jefferson did like nothing last week. Two catches for four yards from Brosmer, but he hasn't done well in the McCarthy starts. Here's one of the best receivers in the league. This is not diva behavior, but he's just a little upset, which is understandable. Here we go. Now I wouldn't say wasted. Obviously it's a difficult season. You know, it's probably one of the most difficult seasons just off of the circumstances, having a young quarterback, having a different team, having young players on the team.

So it's just, you know, one of those years, you know, not every year is going to be, you know, a top tier year for me. You know, it's really a part of the game. So it's just all on me to, you know, expect a lot from these guys. to improve on anything that we need to improve on. Yeah, this was going to be one of my picks until I heard Jaden Daniels was going to play. I backed out of it. I'm not a chicken like you are, so I will be talking about this game in the headlines final hour.

Just a quick note on Jefferson. There was news today elsewhere in the league that could impact Minnesota for next year. I'm sure you saw Kyler Murray done for the season. Oh, I did not. I did not. Thank you. I did not see that. Even the, Kyler put a cryptic thing on Instagram stories.

Like, what a weird way. It was just odd. Something's a miss. It sounds like Kyler's done. I think you've got to give McCarthy another chance, but I'm curious. Do you think Kevin McCarthy and the brain trust, not Kevin McCarthy. Kevin O'Connell and the brain trust in Minnesota says, do we kick the tires on Kyler Murray? I think I think I think it's, I think you can get Mack Jones for a much cheaper price, not a lot of drama.

I think Mac Jones. Remember, Kevin O'Brien. McConnell wants you to run his play. He doesn't want you to add lib out of it. So I think Mac Jones is the play. I really do. And by the way, bring Mac Jones in if you get it. Again, if you get the Baker number,

if you get the Sam number, you can keep all your other great players. That sounds good. I need to check his contract. I think he signed a two-year deal with Lynch and Shanahan. So I don't even know that he, I mean, you don't trade him if you're the Niners, right? Yeah.

Kyler Murray, though, his market, Colin, is going to be real interesting. Again, cold weather division, just forget about it, right? You don't want him going outdoors twice a year in 30-degree weather. So I think that removes like half the league. And then you're like Pittsburgh, you're like, oh, maybe Pittsburgh. Really? You want him outdoors in Cleveland and Baltimore? Well, I mean, Pittsburgh needs to solve their quarterback position for the next 15 years.

They've been duct-tafeing it for too many years. Yeah. This Minnesota, we'll see. McCarthy, I'll get another shot. Final story, Colin, is the Kansas City Chief. They have arguably the biggest game of the weekend. Sunday night football against the Texans. This number had dropped to three.

It's back up to three and a half. Listen, the Chiefs were dominant in one-score games last year. They have been less so this year. Here's Travis Kelsey talking about these close games. I'm sure everyone's sick of us saying it, but we're a few plays away from being a one-seeing, by mine. All the losses are within one. score and there's

a handful of plays within those games that are determining the outcome. It's crazy that you watch the film and you see what's real. And what's real is that we're this close, man. We're this fucking close.

I think there's two issues. One, the O-line as of this morning is a mess going up against Houston. That is bad. That is whatever the under is, go, Go below the under. And the second problem is, and it's fair to say, Chris Jones, Jason has not had a great year,

and they just don't get people off the field on third down. And as you know, I mean, there's never been more talented receivers, never been more talented quarterbacks. They're not getting people off the field. And now in their division, Denver and the Chargers have elite coaches and really talented quarterback. So I think it just, if you look at the history of dynasties, the windows closed pretty quick. Even the Patriots closed. They had two different dynasties. the early one in the late one.

For 10 years, they didn't win a Super Bowl. And that's why you didn't like him to make the playoffs. I did, but I said, I think the dynasty part is over, and it's just age. Chris Jones is older, Travis Kelsey older, can't get people off the field. This is what it looked. They haven't fallen off a cliff in terms of performance.

They were in close games last year. One of them, they're in close games this year. They're losing them. So they haven't gone, they're not getting blown out, but you can tell they just, they're just, The O-line, they have got to attack it in the off-season. It feels like the last three years. Once they moved off Joe Tooney, you're like, uh-oh.

Joe Tooney, Chicago picked him up, boom. And look what it's done to their interior all-line. No, that's a good point. I just looked, and it looks like a gentleman named Wanya Morris, maybe starting at one of the tackles this week. Colin, don't look at his pro football grades. You will go blind from all the redness. It is very bad.

This guy's not good. Remember, they went and addressed the offensive line with... I think Jalen Moore, is that who they got? The kid from San Fran? It's not really working out. He was a backup with the Niners. So, again, Kelsey could talk about being close. By the way, how about to pass off Kelsey's hands at the goal line against the Eagles

that results in an interception going the other way? That changed a game. He's not wrong about that. I just don't see how they turn it around this quickly. I agree. I totally agree. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping back. The Hurd-Lie News. Yeah, we can put the schedule up. It's a very interesting weekend. I mean, there are games that don't feel high profile like Colts at Jags. That's going to go a long way in determining playoff seedings. Thank you for the staff. They just put this up.

Chris Jones, PFF, ranked this season's 37th last year. It was first. And that's one of the reasons Chris Jones has always been a big play guy in big moments. He's like Aaron Donald was like this. Like if it was a big third down in a Super Bowl or a playoff game, you had to triple Aaron Donald. That was Chris Jones. You don't have to anymore, so they can't get people off the field like they used to. There's some interesting games, and I think there's all sorts of potential upsets.

I already told you, I think Cincinnati upsets Buffalo. I do. I think the Jets upset Miami. You know what? You talked me out of taking the Bears in Green Bay. You singularly did it. And then I started, once you did it, I went and listened to people who I read. respect and a lot of people like the Packers.

Oh, interesting. Real quick on that, Brown's Titans, I kind of want to call the Titans outright dub. And then a Shadour loses to the Titans and now it's like, oh, we got to get, who's the guy from Oregon? What's his face? Don't J-Mah. We got to get Dylan, Gabriel, yeah. We got to get him back in starting next week. That would be a bad loss for Shador if they lose to the Titans at home.

It's going to be a great Sunday. Saturday's phenomenal with the college football game. Dude, you got to be careful with the gambling this weekend. There's so many good games. And you feel Cabela. I started the week with a loss last night. How about Georgia, Bama? Yeah, a lot of injuries popping up in that.

I don't know if we'll get to it in the final hour. I like Georgia, but Bama has absolutely had Kirby Smart's number. That is a great coaching matchup. Cailin DeBore and Kirby Smart. Those are good staffs. Forget the NFL guys. Great staffs. 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 get to ask other 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. on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is. getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is,

getting a new one put up in its place. I'm Akila Hughes, and Rebel Spirit Season 2 is about both of those things. As I was watching these statues come down, I was thinking about what it meant that I grew up in a majority black city in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslave people. Listen to Rebel Spirit Season 2 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every family has its secrets.

But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life? That is not the look of an innocent man. Is everyone lying to me about who they are? I felt such desperation. I felt it was what I had to do. Listen to Deep Cover the Family Man on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Someday into right now with Buddy by Jake Radio, non-stop workout music. and expert tips 24-7.

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

Have a great day. IHeart Radio. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.