The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 - Eric Mangini stops by The Herd

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

Eric Mangini joins The Herd to talk about the big AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Broncos, Baker Mayfield's feud with Kevin Stefanski, the Steelers head coaching search, and more!See 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.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. 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. This is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us. From My Heart Podcasts, Saigon. You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam? One city, a divided country, and the war that tore America apart. This is for Vietnam. They're pouring patril all over here. Freedom for Vietnam!

There's a fire coming to this country, and it's going to burn out everything. Listen to Saigon. on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know.

Listen to help from Hippocrite Wednesdays 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. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Five years as an NFL head coach, Jetson Browns, franchises that often have turmoil. The Buffalo Bills don't. Sean McDermott's the rare firing where even though he didn't have a title after many years, a lot of the fans in Buffalo did not like it.

Eric Mangini is now joining us live, Fox Sports. Okay, let's start with this. It was a little clunky at the press conference yesterday, and the press release was embarrassing. were you comfortable as a former coach with a firing? No. I actually, I love when owners get up and give a press conference because it gives you some insight into the challenges that you have as a head coach.

Now, you got a little peek in conversations that take place, but there's a lot of those things that you have to navigate through with ownership. And you have an owner that comes in and says, okay, I made the decision in the moment, the most emotional moment you could get, even though I felt like it was a catch, which would have won the game. And when you hear things like that, it's just it, it's a precursor of what's to come. I think Sean McDermott maybe covered up some of the meddling that has gone on in the organization. Remember, this group bought the Buffalo Sabres, and there was a lot of hope that when they bought the Sabres, it would be really good. And since they

bought it. I think they've gone through six head coaches and four GMs, and they had a huge playoff right. There's a track record here with this ownership group that maybe Sean's stability that he had has covered up, and this could get a lot worse before it gets better. Were you surprised when McDermott in front of Brandon Bean and the owner suggested recently, I don't think we have a Super Bowl roster? I think we have some deficiencies. Were you surprised that he would confront those guys? No, you'd like to think that the GM and the owner want to hear what you feel is the truth. And when you have honest conversations, sometimes they're difficult conversations. And you may disagree with my assessment, but I would think that's what you would want from your head coach,

is what he feels is the truth about your situation. otherwise, how do you ever get better? If you're constantly glossing over deficiencies because you're worried about hurting people's feelings, then you have no chance to grow. So go ahead. Go hire someone that's a yes, man. Go hire someone that's going to agree with every personnel decision.

Go hire someone that's not going to have conflict in the draft room or with free agency. And typically what that gets is a whole lot of mediocrity, and it's going to get possibly what they had in Buffalo before McDermen got there, which was the longest NFL playoff drought, you know, to that point. Now, you know Brian Daibel

very well, and you speak very highly of him, do you think he'd work in Buffalo? Well, yeah, I mean, Brian is the ultimate Buffalo guy. He grew up in Buffalo. He could literally work for the Buffalo Tourism Bureau because he loves Buffalo so much. So from that perspective, yeah, it's a great fit.

He's got a really good relationship with the most important player on the team, a lot of respect from it. And in my mind, did a significant amount to help develop him from a fairly raw talent in college to a much more polished talent. Now, I don't know how that cell would be in Buffalo to move on from McDermid to Brian and Brian being let go during the course of season. I don't think helps his case. Look, I didn't agree with that either. So there's a little, There's that aspect of it.

And then it depends on how ownership feels about Brian's possibility to, remember, this is the guy that's going to come in and take them not to the playoffs. He's going to take them to the Super Bowl and win the Super Bowl right now. Okay. What do you think, you know, Vrable, what do you think, I mean, to go from last year to this year, they did have some money to spend. Drake May went from really promising to wow. What do you think Brable's best asset is? I mean, he's a tough guy. He's got a physical presence.

You don't want to mess with him, and he's pretty authentic and bottom line guy. I mean, he's got a reputation. He comes in, and there's no BS. Very player-friendly, though. In all your workings and dealings and talking to him, are you a little surprised by how good how fast they got? So I coached Mike and was there when we brought him into New England.

We originally brought Mike in thinking he was going to be primarily a special teams player, and then he developed into the player that he was. Here's what I can say. Mike was one of the smartest, if not the smartest player that I ever coached. And his ability to recall things from game plans that we had years back and not just recall it in sort of a general sense, but in a very specific sense, was impressive and then he had the ability to he could he could uh... tees bill belichick in meetings and a way

that bill would be okay with it so he can navigate through through that which very few players could do right uh... he and and it's a it's a skill so he could he can hang with the boys he's a guy's guy he's got that element to it he's incredibly intelligent and i think he has a level of empathy that really, it hits with the players. He understands what it's like to be a player,

and he has that component of it too. And then I think the biggest thing, Colin, is he was part of the system. He was part of our dynasty. But then he left, and he went to Ohio State, and he got a different perspective. And then he coached in Houston, and he got a different perspective. And he was a head coach in Tennessee.

He had that perspective. So he understands what it means to be a patriot and to be part of that. And he had all that experience with Bill and the things we did. But then he brought a whole different level of understanding back into the organization to me, which is what they needed to move on from Gerard Mayo, who had only coached under Bill. Yeah, perspective.

The Steelers reportedly, boy, they like Mike McCarthy. I hear about Chris Schuil. And my take is, you know, the New York Giants and the Falcons got their coach, which also means when you do it first, you get the best. receiver coach, the best coordinators. I mean, Arthur Blank and the Mara family now, they're interviewing and writing checks. Steelers just,

you know, they don't do this very often. It's like I said yesterday, Steelers have been married for 35 years, they're suddenly single. They don't even know what a dating app is. They don't know what they're doing. Like, I look at the Steelers now, Eric, and I'm like, they don't do this. I mean, if you sit and wait for another two weeks, aren't you getting

the fifth best receiver coach on the market? Well, not necessarily. And the Ravens are in the same boat. They haven't done it in, what, 18 years? So both those organizations are going through that. And you may not necessarily miss out on the best coaches because all these places that have openings, a lot of them are going to keep their coaches under contract.

And until a new head coach comes in, that head coach won't release those guys from their contracts. So sometimes you get a great head coach later in the process because they haven't been released by the new spot. When I was in New York, Dan Quinn, didn't get released until they made a head coaching change in Miami. He was the Miami defensive line coach, and I was able to get him later in the process

because he was on the market later. So you would think that if you get there, the earliest you'd have the pick of everybody, but it's not necessarily true because guys are still under contract in a lot of these organizations until a new head coach is found. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. is Covino Enrich from Fox Sports Radio.

Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio. We're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show. Yep, that's right. You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube every day. All you got to do, search Covino and Rich FSR on YouTube. Again, go to YouTube, search Covino and Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon, and comment away. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name?

Huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. 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.

And 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, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the eye 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 defying 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. He exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nasree. 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.

He running up the court, licking his fingers while he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah. You figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. Get your ass up. 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 and Rebel Spirit season two 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 two on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You bum, just the Belichick talk coming back into it, I don't think Buffalo's the fit at all. I think Philadelphia, because they have a strong GM, maybe next year, and that Bill wouldn't touch personnel, that would make sense. But I don't know, I think it's over. Do you think he's a viable candidate? Yeah, I know Nick was talking, Nick Wright was talking about him, possibly. in Buffalo and I was much more like you where I thought okay this this isn't going to be a fit necessarily in NFL anymore especially what happened last year in North Carolina it wasn't a rousing endorsement you know coming off the the lack of success he had late in New England

but the reason that I'd say that Buffalo could be a fit is after watching ownership I'm thinking maybe you need to go get a really strong guy that's not going to care what he will not care what the owner says. It won't matter to him at all. And even though he won't be in control of personnel in Buffalo, he'll still be willing to push back. But I can't imagine that that's

what they're really looking for. Although Bill would be the most plug-in play guy in that division, that's another hard sell for the fan base. Yeah. The Seahawks Rams, it'll be on Fox. I said

if I get the older coach McVeigh, the more experienced quarterback Stafford, Seattle's really young. This is a big, big spot. And listen, they deserve all the credit in the world. Now they're down to just one back they trust. Both teams are remarkably healthy. But I do get in some key spots, I mean, Kevin Dotson and McVeigh, you know, Devonte Adams. They've got Seattle's young. DeMarcus Lawrence is an older player.

I do think there's value in being in this game multiple times, or is that overstated? Yeah, first of all, I loved your take on John Snyder. I think he's done an amazing job, too, up there. I mean, the strength of the decisions he made moving out from Russell Wilson, moving on from Pete, and it was, what, 9 and 8 the year that they moved on from him? K. Metcalf, people couldn't believe it. Yeah, I couldn't. The Russell Wilson one, I was surprised by it.

That worked out. He went and got Gino Smith, which was, you know, Gina wasn't proven by any stretch, made him work, moved on from Gino, went and got Sam Darnold, gave him $100 million. Like, I give him a ton of credit. He's done an amazing, an amazing job. In this game, I'm giving the edge to the Rams because of Stafford, because of McVeigh, because of their familiarity, because of the way that Stafford.

played the last time he was in Seattle. He lit that defense up. What was it? 457 yards, three touchdowns. They've played twice now, and he hasn't been sacked once in either of the games. Isn't that crazy? And then there's, it's crazy. And the Sam Darnold factor is real. We saw him implode at the end of last year. I really hope that he, that's not going to be the case. I really want to see Sam Darnold, whether the wins or lose, have a really good game but until he proves that he can he can be like staff or staffer to be like an elite quarterback in these moments it's i'm i don't have a lot of confidence that that's going to be the case that is funny i think i'm the last guy that trusts sam i'm last guy john snider mike

mcdonald and me um let's close it with this i was talking the other day uh to somebody who's an executive in the league. And I said, you know what I really think is an important quality to great quarterback play, is humility. Brady didn't really do ads until after the Atlanta Super Bowl. Eli Manning would not talk to the media after wins, always available after losses. And one of the first things I see, and I think Baker's done a great job, but the Johnny Mansell, the Baker, it's like, guys, that's not what I'm looking for. when I look at Fernando Mendoza, I see this kind of nerdy Andrew Luck thing where good parenting, humble, grateful. I don't think he's as good as Andrew Luck as a prospect.

But there is something, when you come in and you're the star, at the star position, and you make a lot of money, I think humility is way underrated at that position. Like it's a weird thing, Eric, you have to be confident, and the 36-year-old right tackle has to like you. Like it's a weird dance you have to do. I think Fernando Mendoza has that, whatever that is. And I discuss that, your opinion on that. Yeah, that is very powerful. And the thing with Tom is no matter how much fame, success, or money he got,

he was the same guy in the locker room. He worked the same way. He treated everybody in the building the same way. he would be the first one to greet a new player that came in. So as he became more and more of a star, it wasn't like he pushed people down. If anything, he brought more people in. He was like the, you know, the real strength of character.

When you have all of that, and then you bring in the people that are so far removed from that, everybody relates to that. Everybody respects that. Everybody wants to play for that because it's real, it's sincere, and it's endearing, where, you know, with Baker, the second he gets back on top, he's back to, you know, taking shots at Stefansky. And I get it.

He went through the whole hero's arc, and I was cheering for him, but now it's like, why do you have to do that? Like, there's no need. There's just no need. Finally, you know Jim Harbaugh. I don't know if you know John Harbaugh. I think he's a great fit. I don't think they need a scheme guy. They need a culture guy.

The Harbaas are very similar in ways. And then they're, you know, I've seen pieces on like HBO on the Harbaugh family. I love them. They're not for everybody. I love them. How do you think that works? And what will it be like? What will it look like?

Yeah, I think John Harbaugh is a great guy, great, great person, a great leadership. And hopefully he brings in the stability that Tom Kaufman brought in. I'd say the biggest challenge for John's going to be, he was in Baltimore. where that personnel department's been in place for 30 years. Yeah. You know, I was in the interview with Eric DeCosta with Ozzie Newsom when we hired him as an intern. And now here 30 years later, he's the GM, the pro personnel guy's been there forever, the salary guy's been there forever. So he had that built in as a head coach.

Now he's going and he's going to have so much power over personnel and so much reach over the rest of the organization, which isn't a bad thing. And it's not like he hasn't earned that opportunity, but it's a lot and it's demanding and it takes up a lot of time. And when you don't have that incredible stability in the personnel department that's been successful and hit on, I don't know how many draft picks, but a ton the way Baltimore has, I think that's going to be his biggest challenge is the increase in the power that he has. I would actually maybe have liked it to be a little bit less so he could just focus on creating the stability and the coaching staff on the football side. But it's a big ass to do all the jobs that he now has. Yeah, Eric Mangini. As always, coach, great seeing you.

Colin, great seeing you too. Stay warm over the weekend. Yeah, nothing a little minus 46. Yeah. You're getting used to it now. Yeah, buy a third coat. Eric Mangini. Good show today. A lot of good stuff.

Yeah, it's just, I think the Rams, you know, that coach, that quarterback, one of the receivers is a veteran. Puka feels like he's been around forever. What is it? Three, four years. It feels like he's been around forever. By the way, the Mets acquire anybody else, J. Mack? I know everybody's upset about the Dodgers. They've acquired seven players. I've never heard you this hot for the hot stove in January. where you are all over this. Mets, baby. Are they going to finish second in the division or third?

Well, I'm looking at the Yankees and the Mets have like bought all these contracts out. They're going to be very, very talented. Nobody seems bothered by it at all. Don't get a story on it. Why is that? Well, because they're not winning. They're not a threat. That's my own point.

If the Dodgers lose game seven, you wouldn't be nearly as outraged with Kyle Tucker. Totally agree. Men don't like other men separating. And it feels like the Dodgers have separated. they spend, Dodgers spend 75% of their revenue on players. The Yankees spend 49%. They both make over $700 million. Okay.

It was like the Warriors. Remember the Warriors won 73 games and added Kevin Durant? Everybody hated them. And by the way, they blew through the luxury tax. They were paying $100 million a year in luxury tax. I mean, so again, you're going to blame Kevin Durant because Kevin's like, I like the way they're run and I can play with better players. college fans always celebrate this.

They love dominating national letter of intent day. They love when five-star players want to join other five-star players in Ohio State because they want to play with better players, right? Well, whoa, whoa, whoa, why is that okay? But a pro player, Kyle Tucker's like, I want better guys hitting in front of me and behind me. Yeah. I want to go there. Yeah. Okay, so, you know, the Mets are right and checks left and right.

Nobody's bothered because their brand is underachieving. The Mets have had talent forever. They just don't, you know, Freddie Peralta, they haven't, they're not paying him yet in one year. They're going to have to write a big check for him. He's great out of Milwaukee. By the way, do you think the NBA would love to go back to the dominant dynastic warriors when the NBA was amazing? Now they got a different championship every year. Like, I think the MLB is thrilled that the Dodgers are crushing it and have the most loaded roster,

and they got a target on their back. By the way, everybody's talking about it. Houston, if healthy, is going to be great. Cubs are better. Yankees are good. Mets roster now sick. Dodgers good. Padres good. Phillies good. Well, what about small markets? Cleveland won a division. Milwaukee was fantastic. I don't consider Seattle a small market, but in baseball, you know, the way the trajectory is for salaries, Seattle. It's like that we're, what about Cincinnati? What about them? The L.A. economy is a hundred times bigger than Cincinnati. What about St. Louis? St. Louis. St. Louis is a dying city. It has been for years. They've lost 15 Fortune 500 companies in 40 years plus an NFL team. Louis isn't competing in anything. How are the Blue Jays doing since they went to the World Series? By the way, they're, again, spending a ton of money.

The Blue Jays and the Mets and the Dodgers all spend a lot of their revenue, a really high percent, 70 percent of their revenue. The Yankees spend 50. But even the Yankees went and bought Bellinger, who's not cheap. 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, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.

Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And 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, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you

funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying 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, I said, you figure it out, quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the boss. 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 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. I've never been in a city where it's minus 10 degrees. And that's what it will be tomorrow in Chicago. And with wind chill, it will feel like, according to local meteorological. meteorologists, local meteorologists. That's a lot to say at the end of a show. That's a lot.

It will feel like tomorrow minus 35 degrees. You know what it'll feel like to me? A day off. Wait, wait, come on. Is that real minus 35? Well, that's what it feels. If Brady wasn't on the show tomorrow, I may just, I may be flying to Florida, tell the boss is a whooping cough. Well, are you sure? Are you in Chicago or Greenland right now? I'm not, or is it Iceland? Where are you broadcasting from? I am broadcasting. I am broadcasting. I went to Iceland two summers ago. I remember. You were texting me from there. I was so much fun. Looks cool. Iceland's great in the summer. Chicago is terrific in the summer. So tomorrow's going to be a, you know, life is about chapters and adventures. Let me try this again. Local meteorologists.

There you go. There's a lot. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's start with the NFC championship game, because I did not know this. Awesome fact, our staff got,

Devante Adams and the Rams are playing the Seahawks. Did you know that this is his fifth NFC championship game? Colin, Devante Adams, O and 4 in the NFC championship game, has never played in a Super Bowl. Here he is talking to the media about that. Fifth. Fifth?

Yes. Oh, okay. fifth NOSC title game. We're Super Bowls. Yeah. Thanks for the reminder. Haven't been here so many times and understanding exactly what it takes

to get where we're ultimately trying to go. So it's obviously exciting to achieve, you know, the minor goals along the way that you ultimately need to do it to get where you want to be. But, yeah, it just feels like almost like a mythical thing to me at this point, you know? Like you do everything you can to get there

and it's been so hard and been working so hard at it. So we're close. We just got to finish it out. He's been banged up in the second half, but when he was healthy this year and has been healthy, he is a red zone weapon. He is hard. Led the NFL in receiving touchdowns with 14, but did not play week 16.

Colin, I looked up his four NFC championship games and the stats. So the one rookie year against Seattle, he had one catch for seven yards. A couple years later against Atlanta, remember that blowout Matt Ryan and company, he had three catches, 16 yards. Yeah. He did have a good one against Kaepernick. They got smoked nine for 138. and then one against Tampa and Tom Brady.

Remember that kid? That was a crazy game. I get nine for 67. So four NFC title games. Only one touchdown for Devonte. Well, he takes a beating. I mean, this guy, he is built tough, like the truck commercial. He is built hard and tough.

This guy takes a beating. I mean, he gets flattened because he's willing to go places. A lot of guys aren't willing to go. So I just have a lot of respect for how he plays. He's hurt a lot, but he's willing to make tough catches. and he has been blistered about four times in the second half of the season and like bloody lip and you're wondering if the face mask is still attached. He is built for it.

He's one of those guys. He is, you know, say the same for Puka. Puka and Devonthe, I mean, they are hard to bring down. They are difficult guys to defend. They're just stronger. I mean, some guys just, you know, and maybe it's a lot of receivers, but not a lot of body fat. Just you can see how great a shape they're in. and he is built for it.

He is a tough player. Yeah, really impressive stuff. All right, let's go to Denver, the other championship game that nobody's really talking about. Jared Stidham, Colin, is your starting quarterback. He's stepping in for Bo Nix. I got to say some of these Stidham takes are getting a little wacky. I want to remind people he has not thrown a pass in the NFL since December 2023. Not thrown a pass.

And by the way, that was a week 18 game that, didn't matter. It was all backups. Nevertheless, Sean Payton says he's built for this moment. That's his personality. He's going to rip it, you know? And that'll be our approach.

I mean, hey, he's got this calm demeanor that I think suits him well. He's played in big games college. And, you know, I said this at the start of the season. I felt like our two was inside the best 32.

I think, you know, why not? I mean, I will say, the smart teams in this league do a good job of having good backups. I mean, let's be honest. Garoppolo, doesn't he back up Stafford? If Stafford went down in the fourth quarter, Garoppelos made a lot of big throws and a lot of big games. Jared Stidham, he signed him to a $12 million deal when they had Russ. Russell Wilson's salary on the books for multiple years. So I say this all the time.

I just trust Shanahan like Garoppolo. McVeigh likes Garoppolo. I think Garoppelow's got some talent. Jared Stidham. Sean Payton with Russell Wilson making a fortune said, no, I'm going to pay that guy too. I'm going to pay him. So I trust that he's going to be pretty solid.

I mean, my guess is, again, when it comes to quarterbacks, everybody was bailing on Donald. Shannon wasn't, Kevin O'Connell wasn't, Mike McDonald wasn't. Like, I trust who the smart coaches like. Just a quick fact check. Jimmy Garoppolo was a starting quarterback who went to the Super Bowl, okay, with the Niners and Shanahan. And on Peyton's point about, he played in some big games in college.

So I looked it up. Gerrit Stidham lost a peach bowl to the UCF Knights and then won a Music City Bowl against Perdomte. Sorry, Purdue. So let's settle down, Sean, with the big games, okay? he hasn't thrown a pass. No live action bullets in the last two seasons. He goes in for a couple of kneel downs.

Colin, this is a humongous step up in class for Jared Stidham. And he's facing Vrable and a pretty damn good defense. Their defensive front, you can't run on them since Milton Williams came back. I think they've given up 63 total rushing yards in two games. So now a quarterback who hasn't thrown a pass in two years has no run game. What's he doing here? This is just... I don't know what to do.

I think we both are looking to make a case for the dog. But if you give me a touchdown, maybe I'll take him. Final story, Colin, it's over for Brandon Ayuk in San Francisco. 49ers GM, John Lynch made that clear yesterday when he was asked about Ayuk's outlook with the team. It's safe to say that he's played his last snap with the Niners. It's unfortunate, you know, a situation that just went awry. And, you know, I will look long and hard at, you know, what could have been done differently.

But sometimes it just doesn't work out. And I think that this was a case where that happened. Yeah, they've been a little too willing in San Francisco to pay receivers. I don't know. Say more. I mean, I don't, they kind of, they got hoodwinked by the guy. Remember, he scrubbed his social media. He acted like you.

I want to be in San Francisco. He said all the right things. got the bag and then basically dipped out. Colin, he's not returning text messages from the coach. I know. What the hell is that? Well, when I stop responding to your text, you can know that I'm checked out. I got the bag and I'm not coming back to work.

Like, that's not a professional wide receiver? Well, receivers, you know, there's big personalities at that position. They want to be respected. So, I don't know. You got to earn respect. You know, just get, don't give me, oh, I had a 100,000-yard season. Give me all the money. I mean, Niners got a lot of cleanup to do with this guy.

I don't know who takes a chance on this guy. Somebody desperate? Well, he'll have a market. Talent always has a market. He's talented. Not playing a lot lately, but he's got a market. Hey, Joe Shane, maybe. Joe Shane, pick up the phone, call Brandon and you.

Grab him. It's not what we need for the culture in New York. Jay McElb the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. Good games. It's Tom Brady's on.

tomorrow I said that. Yeah, I'm being soft on this negative 10 stuff. It feels like minus 35. It's called jackets, coats. Although I will say somebody told me today, they often change the train schedule when it gets real cold. Like they have to go, they can change it and modify the train schedule. So now, I'm not hitchhiking to work, so I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to get here. But it will be, you know what? You got Brady on. You just make it happen. just going to make it happen. You know, speaking of Rams, the Seahawks, we had Greg Kowsell on about an hour and a half ago.

The Rams have moved the ball on Seattle, and the Rams have run the ball on Seattle, and that's just not what anybody can do, because Seattle's interior D-line has been outstanding. They have hit on so many draft picks. They just, it's a roster, Then when they got Rashid Saheed at the trade deadline, their special teams got jet fuel. So, I mean, Christian McCaffrey in two games in the last month was invisible against Seattle.

Like just, where is he? Here was Greg Kossel earlier on the Seahawks prepping for the Rams. Walker's been much better. Walker has been attacking downhill much more so over the last three, four games. And that has allowed them to stay on schedule. And it's also with their defense allowed Darnold. not to have to throw that many balls. Now, whether that happens in this game, that's hard to know.

You don't know how it's going to play out. But in an ideal world, I don't think they want Sam Darnold dropping back 35 times. I think they want it to be a very balanced offense and have their defense in some ways control the pace and tempo of the game. Yeah, I don't think, and that sounds like a shot at Darnold, but by and large, outside of, I mean, even Josh Allen, as good as Josh Allen is, it feels like Josh Allen is pressing, trying to do do much. And how many turnovers did he have this weekend? Right? Like so, I don't think, I mean, Brady was the exception. He never threw a lot of picks.

Mahomes doesn't throw a lot of picks. I mean, Jalen hurts. I mean, Dak Prescott's a great example. Dax's very good. There's some stat with Dak Prescott. If you make him throw, it's like 37 times and over, he's a sub-500 quarterback. It's like 36 times and fewer. He's got a great record. So I for most quarterbacks in this league, maybe Stafford is one of those exceptions. I think you want them throwing about 27, 28 times. You want a really good run game. You know, Zach Charbonnet, that running back, Michigan, UCLA now to the Seahawks. He's been good against the Rams.

He's not playing. That doesn't help. It's got a little bit of depth there at running back. It's Walker's offense, though, from behind center. I think it's going to go down as one for the ages, and Tom Brady stops by tomorrow. To break it all down, he'll be. doing that game with KB. Kevin Berkhardt.

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