The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 - Dak Prescott is having a MVP type season, Baker Mayfield is on the right track, Drake Maye is for real, Mike Sando

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

NFL insider Mike Sando joins the show to discuss Dak Prescott's MVP-caliber season with the Cowboys and why Patriots QB Drake Maye is having a breakout year that could reshape New England's futureSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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.

you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the ice. Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS.

Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to futas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me, or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turn, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with love. laughs, tears, or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Gianna Maria Riva 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. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season, and I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was crying.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game 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 SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeart Radio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. So Stafford, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rogers, the old guys are highly productive.

I don't think Aaron's the problem. Actually, his passer rating is like 104, 105 with Pittsburgh. Mike Sando, senior NFL writer for the athletic, selector Pro Football Hall of Fame. There is, you know, it's an interesting thing going on between the old guys flourishing, Mike, and the Darnolds and the Bakers sort of getting a reboot. with clever offensive coordinators. A couple weeks ago I saw this, where there were 15 quarterbacks

with a passer rating over 100. And it was six. Two years ago, some of it may be its zone defense across the league, so it's kind of throw to a spot. I mean, the quarterback play, when I watched Flacco do that last night, and Aaron's played well,

it does feel like the golden arrow of quarterback play. Is there a reason why? I do think it's easier to play the position, Colin, but those guys who have been around a long time usually get rid of the ball. And when we're talking about the worst quarterbacking in the league this year, it's Justin Fields taking nine sacks, not because his protection is terrible because he doesn't know where to go with the ball. And so these guys, if you look at Rogers this year, quickest time to throw for him in his whole career. He's getting it out. Also, we know just bigger picture, these guys

don't get hit like they used to. I think back in the day, some of the legends, you know, Kenny Stabler shows up late to the game. He's been out on. night, you know, he has a terrible first half and then he throws up at half time. That's actually happened and then goes out and has a big second half. You can't play into longevity the way those guys lived and played. And Saber was an extreme example and a Hall of Famer. But now these guys are the best rest, the best travel. You know, they know how to take care of their body and the rules are all set up. You never see him get earhold. You know, so it's really a great set up for these guys to play when they're older. What happened though the last few years is a lot

of them retired. So there's fewer of them now than there were four or five years ago. You know, I said this. Generally, if the average NFL franchise quarterback career is 15 years, I always feel like mid-second chapter, I got a good read on you. For years, I said, Dak is Kirk Cousins with better mobility. But Kirk never carried this kind of roster. And Dallas isn't a great team, but no CD Lamb, no number one tight end. Offensive line is still in a rebuild. I mean, let's be honest, they play from behind. You have to win by track meet.

I honestly feel like, we're in Chapter 11 or whatever year it is for Dak, and I, I mean, Zach Martin, Tyron Smith, Zeke, Dak, all these changes. C.D. Lamb, if he's upright, he wins double-digit games. I think I've undervalued DAC, or maybe the intangibles, the tangibles, the tangibles, the Tangibles caught up with the intangibles. Maybe it's that. Here's what happens, though, Colin. By the end of the year, when they lose in the first round of the playoffs or don't make it, that's what goes into our mind. It's like, hey, we discount DAC because he's had good years before and it never leads him anywhere. And so I think that's what happens. We have a cowboy fatigue, a DAC fatigue.

But you have to realize the last time he played a full season, he was second in MVP validing. That was 2003. So he's played really well here, has before, but I think it has been a little. bit of a different level for him here, maybe a little bit under McCarthy and now under Schottenheimer. Yeah. You know, I want to talk about some young quarterbacks. So, you know, Caleb's in year two, but Ben Johnson has a pretty sophisticated system. There's a lot of new got Burden.

Luther Burden's new. Loveland's new. They haven't used him much. Ben Johnson's system's new. The staff is new. And so I look at Caleb and I'm like, my eyes tell me this, Mike. he is playing within structure more than last year. It's more of an intentional offense.

I can see the game plan. But I made this argument this week. Bow Nix may never throw a deep ball, and Caleb may never be really consistently accurate. I mean, that's what I see is that he's playing with instructor to a degree, but he's still struggling with, I mean, Brady couldn't move. There are no perfect quarterbacks. Where do you see Ben and Caleb right now?

Yeah. I think it's really good that it's been relatively quiet and every week's not a referendum on it because, you know, Ben Johnson came out with guns blazing. I mean, he was hard on their players and Caleb in the offseason and said things like, we're watching our body language or he complained about burden being in the training room, all these types of things that it kind of got my attention like,

whoa, this guy's kind of old school in terms of how he treats guys. And I think that can ultimately be good for Caleb, Williams, because he probably hasn't had that. He probably hasn't had somebody. He's always been the star. It's always come pretty easy for him. And so now he's got this coach who's tough and going to hold him to it. I think what we want to see over time is, and I can't tell fully yet,

is how much are they setting up the offense so Caleb can function with whatever his weaknesses are versus how much can he really go in the direction Jared Gough went and really flourish as the, you know, in the system. I think we've seen some signs that it is a little bit more within the system. He still has a really long time to throw. I mentioned that for Rogers. You know, one extreme, Caleb, I think, is still on average. His time to throw is maybe second or third slowest in the league. So it's a mix. It's a process. But I love that it's not every week he's in the headlines. I'm going to ask you about three young quarterbacks. Let's start with Bo Nix. Last week in London, I thought Sean was body language told

me he was visibly frustrated with Boe Nicks. Where are you on Bo? Yeah, I think it's been a little underwhelming this year. I was very high on what I saw last season, especially late in the year. And all of the quarterback tears feedback I got most of it was from people in the league was, wow, let's see where this can go with Sean Peyton. I still kind of feel that way, but it feels like it's been a little underwhelming for a while. He was a little all over the place, a little undisciplined. You mentioned, you know, throwing the ball down the field. He still has a really low yards per attempt both years. His explosive play rate is pretty low. So I guess I need to see how much he can do beyond the system still. And that's fine.

I think he's a solid starting quarterback, but I wouldn't really move him ahead of high tier three at this point, would you? No, no, no, I think that's right. Drake May, now that's different. He's bigger, got a better deep ball arm, like Bo Nix moves very well. Are you surprised he's this good this quickly with all those free agents, draft picks are playing, brand new staff. There's a lot of moving parts here. I mean, this team spent $280 million on free agent. You got five, six new starters. Are you surprised? Very pleasantly surprised on Drake May. You know, I think that there were positive signs as a rookie, but all the discussion was, well, kind of hard to judge him because it was so bad around him. I know they spent a lot of money in free agency, but still, nine

out of 10 people in the league thought that's a really bad roster coming into this year. You can't buy a team in free agency normally anyway. You can make yourself a little bit better. So I think he has shown especially the last couple of weeks some really, you know, higher level stuff. Some of the off-schedule stuff's been kind of special. He seems to have the right makeup for all of this. So I'm really encouraged. I think he's somebody that's probably ahead of where thought he would be.

I think Jackson Dart feels a little better story than player right now, but he plays with confidence. I think the story is great. It's New York. I just saw something last night when I was going to make my picks that, you know, Russell Wilson actually was averaging more yards of play than Jackson, but the story is way more interesting with Jackson Dart. Where are you on Jackson?

Yeah, well, Jackson's first start, the average like 3.6 yards per play, and everyone was super excited. So I think he could definitely throw the ball. I do like the energy. I do think he has a chance. Now, I was, he takes too much contact, okay? I think 37% of his plays, which is really high. I think Justin Fields is the only one higher, are, you know, like a sack, a designed to rush,

getting hit after you throw the ball, a scramble. And that's okay if you're Lamar Jackson and you know how to wiggle on these hits and you're a really great runner who just doesn't get a lit up. This guy, you know, goes out there and just gets hit in the chin. I mean, he's out there downfield stiff-arming, you know, somebody with his throwing hand. And he's laughing about it after the game, and it's kind of fun. But that's a lot of contact without rolling with the punches, right? He's taking shots.

And I think that's not sustainable. So that's my one concern with him. Okay, finally, let's wrap it up with this. Did you ever think Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold were going to be this good? No. I thought Baker Mayfield could be good, but I didn't think he'd be this good. Because he was the number one pick who got hurt. And so I always thought that there was something there.

It was kind of weird how they bailed on him so fast. But Donald, for sure, seemed to be done. I thought, before he went to the 49ers, and there were people that I know who had been with him before and liked him, but just didn't see this coming. So the first person that told me, look out for Donald was Randy Mueller. He's with the Saints now, but we used to do a podcast together. And he saw him with San Francisco and was like, look out, this is going to be a reclamation story.

And it's been totally right. But what he's doing in Seattle, I think, is another level ahead of what he did in Minnesota. Yes. You know, and it's like, that's kind of surprising me. You would have thought with this Seattle team, hey, they traded D.K. Metcalfe. McDonald, Mike McDonald's got this defense going, but they're going to have to carry They don't even have much of a run game. Their defense has been up and down with injuries,

and the one constant has been darnled looking like a cheer one quarterback. It's awesome for them. And also, they're the second youngest offense. I said this two weeks ago. Minnesota had Justin Jefferson, the great coach, your left tackle, you know, tight end play. Seattle's kids. And we didn't even know if JSN was a number one.

Like this, that's walking into a new system with a second youngest offense. the Green Bay. And, I mean, that Baker game was one of the best quarterback duels. I've seen it's like a Manning Brady game. It totally was. It was, it was really, really incredible. I just, I feel like I'm totally betting on those guys. As far as Baker, is there any quarterback in the league whose guys are going to lay it on the line more for him based on how he plays? I mean, I want to play for him. You know, I'd run out there and take a huge hit over the middle right now for that guy. Just the energy he brings. I love it. Yeah. unique personality. Mike Santo as always love your work at the athletic senior writer.

We love his stuff. Mike, thank you so much. Okay, thank you. Yeah, it's between the old guys hanging in there and playing well, Flacco, Rogers, and Stafford, and the young guys like Drake May hitting, you know, I said this, this next draft, if you had four guys in the first ground that could play, you get to a saturation point. There's not that many team. Jets need a quarterback. Raiders need a quarterback. Cleveland needs an absolute quarterback.

Now the Rams may draft one and sit in behind Stafford for a year or two. But I mean, the Jets, the Raiders, and the Browns absolutely need a quarterback. But I mean, I watch Bryce Young. I'm like, you know what? Now they got them a number one receiver? They got a little bit of a running game. They got them an

offensive coach. It's something. I think some of the teams that draft a quarterback don't necessarily need them now, but they, you know, their quarterback's getting older. Like, Pittsburgh, you could see them drafting a quarterback with Aaron Rogers. Maybe not first pick, second, third pick. But there's only a handful of teams.

I mean, Spencer Rattler, New Orleans. Why not? I mean, they're not a Super Bowl team this year or next. Let's just, let's see if it meshes. Let's just let him play. What if Spencer Rattler outplays Caleb Williams this weekend? All it takes about three games. I mean, Jackson Darts' first game, everybody fell in love with him, and you're like,

yeah, yards per play was only, listen, you can. change the narrative with a big road win or back-to-back late game wins young quarterback. Everybody in the building's like, that's our guy. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeard Radio app. Hi, this is Jay. I'm the producer of the Paul and Tony Fusco show. Usually in these promos, they ask you to listen to the show. I'm here to ask you, please don't listen to this show. The host are two absolute morons who have the dumbest takes on sports

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

one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas. And offered it

as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

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

IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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 Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. man, he running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah.

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 Gianmanca seemed like a mild-mannered suburban dad, but secretly, he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea?

It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong 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...

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. J-Mack is going to have his picks coming up. But first, J-Mack with The Doos. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news! This is the herd line news. Alright, kind of let's start with that big game. Denver and the New York Giants. Oh my goodness, everybody's fired up about Jackson Dart and his wingman Cam Scataboo. They're calling him Arm and Hammer. I think you'd like that nickname. Anyway, Broncos linebacker Jonathan Cooper knows they got a bottle up dart.

You can't let them get off to a good start. Once you've played enough in his league and you've seen enough, Good quarterbacks. You know, we play one of the best quarterbacks twice a year every single year. So once you go against that, you kind of get a feel of the game, and you know, you know what you need to do. You got to make them feel

uncomfortable in the pocket. You can't let them get that confidence and that ego going, so you've got to take care of that. Yeah, I don't think Jackson Dart's going to have one of his better outings. So tell me, on the look-ahead line, you know, we consult those sometimes. Before last week's games, the Broncos were minus 10 against

the Giants in this spot. Then it was readjusted to minus 7 and a half and now down to 7. Why, if you and I are so obvious on this one, what are other people seeing that maybe we're not on the Broncos and Giants? A lot of Bo NICs skepticism. Well, don't forget, Dark did

just beat Philadelphia. I mean, 34 points on the Eagles, that was shocking. Nobody had that. And I told you when they beat Philadelphia and went to London, I told you the Jets was a stayaway game. Do not bet that on Denver. I said, here's a team. They're still trying to find their way offensively.

They beat Philly. Stay out east. I'm like, this doesn't feel good. Like, I like Jacksonville over the Rams. Rams stayed out east. I'm like, no, that's Jacksonville. They go to London all the time. So I don't know.

There are just games to me that are stay away, but I am all in. All in on Denver this week. Let me ask you one other thing. Darts superpower right now is basically just running around like a chicken with his head cut off. That's what he does in the pocket collar. He don't have neighbors to bail him out.

Is that going to work against the number one defense in the league? No, I don't think that. I don't see a hole with this defense. I think Denver's defense is best in the league, home or away. I would take odds on Russell Wilson passing yards. That's how firmly I believe Dart will not finish this game. I think the Broncos really corral him. Let's move on to Detroit, Colin.

That was a tough loss for the Lions against Kansas City. You know, Safety Brian Branch did the nonsense afterwards. and he's suspended for this week's game against Tampa. Despite the turmoil, Dan Campbell says this group is locked in for Baker. It's our players. We've got a good group of guys. They're competitive. There again, they're a resilient group.

They know how to overcome adversity. They don't like losing. And they go back to work to fix the things that need to be fixed. You know, we've got a couple of things to clean up, and we're going to clean them up this week. I like Detroit in the spot. Good teams off ugly losses, rebound. So it's interesting.

I'm looking, the Lions are 4 and 2. They were 15 and 2 last year. Already two losses. Listen, Baker Mayfield, who knows what's going to happen. Obviously, the Lions are not as good as they were last year. We saw that coming. But I don't know, Colin, do you have concern? Kirby Joseph, the defensive back, is tweeting out complaints about refs all week.

Brian Branch is out. Are we too high on Detroit? this week i think Detroit's going to control the ball on the ground i think they're going to win time of possession i think baker will watch long stretches of this game i think Detroit i don't think right now they're they're taking the ball away that's the one thing they're doing green bay's not they are and i think baker does sometimes have what they call turnover worthy plays i i you get one if you have one pick on the road as a road team that the chance of Fusses of you winning a game go down precipitously.

Yeah. And Detroit, we know, we talk about splits a lot. Detroit at home is a juggernaut with this, with Gough and Campbell. They just, they really are almost automatic. I like Detroit as well. Final story, Colin, let's go to Major League Baseball. You like to say Shohei Otani is the best you've ever seen. How about Mookie Betts at Shortstop?

He made a tremendous play last night. This is his first year playing short, and he was named a finalist for the Golden Glove two days ago. Also a great bowler, hits for average and power, can run. I mean, there's a legitimate argument that Otani and Mookie Betts are the two best players in baseball. And they got in from the Red Sox. And in that trade, they didn't, you know, they gave up prospects, some players. Yeah.

And not very damaging to the Dodgers. They won that trade. I'm going to ask you, you mentioned, I think you said the D-word dynasty in regard to the Dodgers earlier. So if they go back to back, they've kind of got the start of something. Right? I think in baseball, I think in basketball you need three. In football you need two, in baseball you need two. Because of the arm injuries that baseball suffers. I think if you win back-to-back World Series title, that kind of feels like you're a superpower. I think in basketball, it's star-driven. You've got to win three. Like when the Warriors had KD, that just felt different than everything else in the league. But like an NFL because of injuries and baseball because of pitching injuries, when you're going into long post-season, seasons. There's a fatigue and injury concerns. I mean, the Dodgers now, if they made the playoffs 13 straight years, I think it's 12 or 13 straight. You win back-to-back world series titles. What's remarkable and frightening is, I mean, I think if you asked Dodger fans, they had major concerns

about the bullpen. Yeah. Reds, Phillies, and now Brewers, non-factor. Non-factor. So the other thing is you got bets who's moved to shortstop it as a star. You've got Otani. You mentioned those other dynasties people did not like the warriors when kd went there they could not stand them people did not like the patriots on top for two decades the chiefs start dominating and it's like oh come on i'm sick of these guys oddly this dodgers dynasty it feels likable now i'm here in l a so i feel like everybody loves them but i don't see a lot of nationwide pushback like all the dodgers i'm sick of them i know with the yankees when they were a dynasty the evil empire everybody did not like the Yankees. Am I wrong? The Dodgers team is like a likable potential dynasty? Well, they don't have an

unlikable player. I mean, again, Mookie and Otani and who doesn't like Freddie Freeman? You know, I mean, listen, people resent wealth and they're the wealthiest franchise and their ownership group is willing to spend the most money and defer payments. But we've said this before. It's not just about money with them. You go look at the trades. They always win. They could have spent on Machado. they didn't. Zach Granky, they didn't. You know, they have been ahead on guys like Yoshi and Roki. They've been like years ahead in the planet. I think it's the best run. It's not

just money. You know, the game day revenue of the Jets is much higher than the Jaguars. Okay, Jaguars at least are competent. So it's not just a money issue. Big markets right now are not doing particularly well. I mean, the NBA, the Lakers. I mean, if LeBron doesn't go to the Lakers, they may have a nine-year run of man. But by the way, another dynasty, Houston Astros,

remember when they were cleaning up those cheaters? Nobody liked those guys. That's right. People don't like dynasties. We're conditioned in America that not like dynasties. But I'm just telling, I think this Dodgers one is a little different. Yeah, so do I. Road attendance is great for them as well. J. Mack with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurdline News. Yeah, yesterday I had an incredibly reasonable take that USC should go to Notre Dame, renegotiate the contract, play them every other year, and play them early. Because USC now, in a much better conference, has so many roadblocks to the playoffs that USC should look at what Nick Saban did at Alabama, which is, yeah, we're not adding hard games when you're in a, you know, sport-defining conference. Nick Saban took them a couple years to figure it out, like, we're not going on a road for out of conference games. we'll do a neutral field, we're not going on the road.

And so I don't think it's, I think it's completely realistic to say Notre Dame will play every other year. But it's going to be early. We don't want to be in the heart of our Big Ten schedule. How about this? We open with Notre Dame every other year. We'll open. How about we, first or second game, we open.

Okay, that you can come out and do some recruiting in L.A. We're not putting you in the middle of our Big Ten schedule. That apparently is out. outrageous to Notre Dame and USC fans. We'll open with you every other year. We're just not going to play right after we went to Columbus and lost four starters in a physical game because of injury. And then we got Oregon in two weeks.

We're not putting you there. I mean, you've got to get over this traditional stuff. It's got to make sense for both schools. It makes sense for the cold weather program that's in a lousy conference. It doesn't make sense for U.S. to play in November anymore against the Irish? That's dumb. Dave Wonstat earlier on the Notre Dame SC rivalry.

I coached at USC for three years and we played Notre Dame. Notre Dame back then was a big rivalry, but it was Notre Dame and UCLA and that was it. I totally agree with you. I mean, the chips are in USC's hands. I mean, Notre Dame can play Army, Navy, Navy, they can schedule who they want. USC's not getting away from Oregon or Michigan. Yeah. This show literally gives rational opinions

and faces unrivaled criticism. I don't even know how my opinion is not the standard. We'll play every other year. It's got to be the first game of the year. By the way, the sport would love it. Wouldn't that be great? August, Labor Day weekend. Notre Dame USC every other year.

Hell, if you want to make it every year, it's fine. But because we're in the Big Ten and you're in that softball conference, two or three games are in L.A. We can do that, but otherwise, USC holds the cards on this. They're in a better conference. They don't need the game. I don't think it's crazy to say every other year, first game of the year. I think it's crazy to say the opposite.

If your USC makes no sense to play these guys. November 12th every year, regardless of where it's at. J-Max picks around the corner. It's the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, new? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it.

We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. 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. 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 name. Notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite.

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

or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 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 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 running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, 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.

Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is. Getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is. getting a new one put up in its place. As long as there's a politics of race in America, there's going to be a politics of remembering the Civil War. To get to school, I had to go down Robert Lee Boulevard. Get to the grocery store, I had to go down Jefferson Davis Parkway.

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

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

A couple of winners last week. We were both doing very, very well with our picks. It's a good one. I thought last week was, I don't like these dual Monday night football games. I think they hurt the Sunday package. Now, I do like waking up on Monday morning and having a Bears Washington game. But this weekend, we have two Monday night games, but I really like some of the matchups. I think they're really, really interesting.

I like Bow Nicks going against Jackson Dirt. What about? Spencer Rattler, Caleb Williams. I like the young quarterbacks meeting. And you got the London game to start it. So you're stretched really thin. Two Mondays, a London. I like the London game.

I like getting on the treadmill in the morning, having a cup of coffee, and sit there for an hour, and I got a football game. I like the London games. I would take a London game over a second Monday night football game any day of the week. No problem at all. It gives me something to do. And I can also make excuses. Oh, I can't go to the store. I can't do that.

I got to watch games. Work. Have to. I've got to entertain America on Monday. I mean, that'll work. All right. Week 7 in the NFL, Bingles Steelers started out the week with a shootout. We call it tomorrow's headlines today.

J-MAC, Dolphins at the Cleveland Browns, both of us apparently like this game. We've talked about it all week. You know, Cleveland at home is really beastly. Miami is reeling the headline for Brown's Dolphins. Sunday will be. It's raining. It's pouring. The dolphins aren't scoring.

I think two of struggles in this one against as nasty Cleveland defense. I don't know if you saw the video, Colin. The media was asking Miles Garrett, hey, Miles, you haven't had a sack in three games. I saw that. And Miles was like, really? Are we doing this? I would not be shocked if the Browns came out and made a major statement here.

By the way, side note, it's fun that we have our first battle of left-handed quarterbacks in 19 years. We haven't had that since, I think it was like Mike Vick first, Chris Sims back in the day. But we know the weather's, this is not going to be visually appealing, okay? This is probably 16 to 6 or 17 to 9, something very low scoring, 40 mile an hour wins. I think Dylan Gabriel gets his first dub, and Miami's run defense has been gashed. Rico Dowdle carved him up and then Vidal. I don't even know his first name. Kamani, is that it?

They kid Vidal on the Chargers went nuts. He was like, what is Judkin going to do? He's a promising rookie. I like the Browns here easily. tomorrow's headlines today this is a stayaway game for me patriots at the titans new england's been on the road for a while that worries me but tennessee's awful third straight road game for young drake may i know you love him listen we'd like the patriots a lot this this season we took them last week against the saints however the headline for titans patriots will be hey mike remember the titans

vrabel loses winning script what i'm going out right up upset Tennessee shocks the New England Patriots and Mike Vrable. Now, I know that much is being made. Not only is this a revenge spot for Vrable, Colin, but this is also a revenge spot for Drake May. Remember last season, he lost in overtime to Tennessee. May was like making some things happen, lost to Mason Rudolph in that one.

I'm sorry, this is just on principle. This is one of those. You fire the coach, you kind of got to look to bet them. Right now, nobody's touching the Titans. You know how you look at those bet splits where it's like, oh, yeah, 80% of the tickets? This could be like 85% on a road favorite of a touchdown. So I've got to go with Cam Ward on principle here.

I will say this. The kid sweat the defensive tackle from Texas. He had been missing in action. He's back. You bear him and Simmons, pressure up the middle. I think Tennessee. You've got to go with an upset somewhere. Give me Tennessee outright.

All right. Let's go to the Mile High City tomorrow's headlines today. Broncos, yuck in London. They're back home against the Giants. What say you? I know a lot of people are like, this is a garbage guy. I don't want to, why?

Broncos, Giants, come on. Jackson, Dardy's got no chance. You're right. The headline, Will be. Hey, boo-boo. Let's go get us a picnic's basket. A lot of cartoons there for you, Colin. And no laughter,

but I guess you weren't a big fan of Yogi Bear back in the day. Give me the Broncos big here. I think this is one of the easier picks of the week. Sorry, I've seen the Giants on the road with their rookie quarterback. It ain't pretty. What do they have?

five straight turnovers against the Saints. And that was a Saints defense in a dome. Now you go outdoors at elevation. By the way, Giants riding high with Arm and Hammer. You know, they were celebrating all week in New York City, going to meet meeting models left and rights, Scataboo and Dart, you know, these two young promising guys. I think they're getting a little high on their own supply here.

And Denver off a not impressive performance against the Jets. Sean Payton gets a group together. This smells like 27 to 8. or something ridiculous. I think the Broncos handle of, remember, we talked about it earlier this hour. Broncos were minus 10 in this spot a week ago. And all of a sudden, it's seven. I think that's an overreaction.

Give me Denver. So this game is my sixth game. I like the Colts until I heard Joe Alt, Kalil Mack, and Quentin Johnson could all play. Now I'll take the Chargers because they, listen, they needed a play of the year by Herbert to beat the awful dolphins. So what say you tomorrow's headlines today? The Colts who are just at SoFi to face the Rams take on the bolt. Another long road trip to the best coast for Shane Steichen and Daniel Jones. This is a tough one.

Low spread, Chargers banged up. The headline will be. Her beauty and the beast. Colts find themselves in a hairy situation. Give me Jesse Minter and the Chargers defense confounding. The Indianapolis Colts, Colin, I like the Chargers here to win outright, like we talked about. This is a second trip west for the Indianapolis Colts. And they ended up losing to the Rams.

It was tough when the kid Mitchell had that goofy fumbled out of the end zone. But like you said, the Chargers are getting healthier. And I'll be honest with you, Colin. I think the Colts, you know, kind of maxed out two weeks ago. And I looked at their schedule. They beat up on Miami, who's one in five. They beat Tennessee who's one in five. They beat Arizona, who's two and four.

I mean, who's next on the schedule? They gave up nine big plays. Jacobi Burset had success down the field. So that Arizona game at home was a go-either-way game. And I looked into that. How do they give up nine big plays? Because Marvin Harrison left injured with a concussion. So here's what happened.

They lost Ward. Their good quarterback who was on the Niners. They lost him in warm-ups. They had to thrust in this dude named Edwards, who played a two-lane last year. He got absolutely cooked by Zay Jones like five times. I mean, it was bad, and now he's got to face either Ladd-McConkie or Quentin Jefferson. I'm just, I think the Chargers win this. I think the Colts, I was stupid to pick him last week at the top of the market.

And unless Jonathan Taylor goes for like 200 yards on the ground, I think the Chargers have this one. I'm going with Justin Herbert, who I think is getting close, man. From what I've seen from him in this year, Colin, with no offensive line, I think he's right there knocking on the door as the sixth best quarterback in the league. Finally, tomorrow's headlines today. This will be a good Monday night game. Big matchup.

The relentless Baker Mayfield and the Bucks go to Detroit off a thumping at the hands of the chiefs. Yeah, so the injury reports are key in this one, but also Dan Campbell off a loss. Oh, you know he's got that locker room fired up. The headline for Bucks. Lions will be. Rar! Over, arg! Lions take Bucs down a peg.

Give me Dan Campbell and Jared Goff in a revenge spot here. Colin, awful loss, the combo of Goff and Dan Campbell are 20 and 8 against the spread. They just bounce back as good as anybody. They're at home. This has ticked up now to six. It was four and a half earlier in the week. I know everybody likes the Tampa story. And Jason, you keep picking against Baker.

He keeps making you look like an idiot. I'm sorry, I got to go back to the well again. By the way, no Ibuka this week, no Godwin, no Evans. it doesn't sound like. So now you're throwing to like Ted Johnson, the guy who caught a touchdown. On the road in one of the best home advantages in the league with a team that's in a bad mood.

Yeah, you know that Detroit crowd is going to be real boozed up. They're going to be looking for blood here. Now the back end of the Detroit defense has me concerned. Mahomes did kind of toy with them. So I think Baker will have some moments. And Baker beat him last year in Detroit as a big underdog. But I think the Lions bounced back here. I'll go like 3, 120 Detroit wins.

My favorite two bets. I think my Lions bet was my favorite bet, and I do think the Denver defense, Jackson Dart, it's, again, it's defenses, I've always had that, I could be wrong on this, but I bet if you went to the last 20 years and looked at the best defenses, why are they always a little better at home?

And I think a lot of it is, Dave Wonstadt said this earlier, offense can be dictated by weather matchups, right? But defense is mostly know your assignment and play with incredible intensity. And that's easier at home. The home crowd

is all riled up. When you get a sack on the road the crowd doesn't cheer. When you get a sack at home or an interception at home, the crowd goes crazy. So like Cleveland's defense is good. At home, watch out. By the way, Ram's defense at Sofi, which isn't a great home field advantage. So I I tend to think when you get these excellent defenses like the Broncos, and then you have to play high altitude football in Denver,

and they're at home. That is a, I would be shocked if the Giants want. Denver, number one in pressure rate, they have 30 sacks. Look at the stats on the screen. At home, they're impenetrable. I know the opener against Cam Ward. They didn't cover, and they didn't look great. That was the opener, guys.

Let's relax. Bo Nix is a question. Maybe Abdul Carter has a monster game, and that Giants front wakes up. But, again, short of Bo Nix imploding, I think the Broncos role. Mike Sandoz, senior writer for the Athletic, joined us this hour. He's great. I asked him his thoughts on several players.

I went through a bunch of young quarterbacks, and here's Mike Sando on what he sees with Bo Nix. I think it's been a little underwhelming this year. I was very high on what I saw last season, especially late in the year. And all of the quarterback tiers feedback I got most of it was from people in the league was, wow, let's see where this can go with Sean Payton. I still kind of feel that way, but it feels like it's been a little underwhelming for a while. He was a little all over the place, a little undisciplined. You mentioned, you know, throwing the ball down the field.

His explosive play rate is pretty low. So I guess I need to see how much he can do beyond the system still. And that's fine. I think he's a solid starting quarterback, but I wouldn't really move him ahead of high tier three at this point. Yeah, I would not. I think he's got absolute. He doesn't get sacked. He's got wheels. He moves very, very well. He's coachable. He's very accurate under 15 yards. But the roster's got some deep threats. Cortland, Sutton, and Mims are built to beach over the top. Franklin is too.

So I think when you look at their personnel, Bow Nix has been underwhelming. But I also think Sean Payton demands a lot from quarterbacks. I just think he does. Can I ask you, Colin, if the salaries were equal, okay? Who would you rather have over the next four years? Kyler Murray or Bo Nix? Bo Nix. That was quick, too. Okay. Don't even have to think about it.

Give me another one. Bo Nix? Oh, I was going to say Justin Herbert, but that's obviously unfair. Okay, how about this? Sam Darnold or Bo Nix? Salary not in... Who? Sam Darnold.

He's got a very workable contract. He's bigger, stronger, more athletic, and Sam's on a two-year heater. I take Sam Darnold. But I love Sam Darnold. Yeah. Give me one more. Okay, one more. Drake May or Bo Nix?

next five years. Interesting. I need you to rank quarterbacks. I'm trying to plant this all the time, bro. What I'm saying about Bo Nix is he is absolutely a franchise quarterback. People are pushing back. No, no, he is. But I think Drake May has a higher ceiling. I think he did when he came out of college.

I think people were split on Bo Nix. Nobody was split on Drake, May. I have every single executive I talked to like Drake May. I said this on the air years ago. Two years ago. Bo Nix, it was very split. I like Bo more than the executives I talked to. and I knew Sean Payton liked him.

But Drake May, everybody liked. Justin Herbert, everybody liked. C.J. Stroud, everybody liked. Yeah, no, no. C.J's actually better. I didn't know. His comp was Jared Goff, which is pocket guy doesn't move that well. I think C.J. Stroud moves better than we think.

He just needs help up front. When he gets protection, he's really good. When he has any running game, he's pretty good. All right, we're done. First Things First is around the corner. Big College Football weekend is well tomorrow. name USCF, oh, the Irish. 3324.

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. Nice.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick.

Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman 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. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was calling you.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game 7, Marquis keep coming to him. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the I-Heart, radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, and on my new podcast, How Hard Can It Be? I call on my Gen X squad from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. Unfiltered conversations from night sweats to fupas to scheduling sex. Wait, what sex? Is it just me or does every woman my age want to look at Pinterest instead of having sex sometimes? They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try.

so let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.