The Herd with Colin Cowherd - THE HERD - Hour 3 - More on the Bears huge comeback win over the Packers, Danny Parkins

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

Colin talks to First Things First co-host Danny Parkins about the Bears epic comeback win over the Packers on Sunday, Ben Johnson's coaching style, Caleb Williams being a leader and more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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 in the IHeartRadio app by searching Fox SportsPortes. Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Danny Parkins is now joining us live. He had a pretty good seat for all of this. We met in the morning for coffee.

And I told him, take a jacket. It's going to be cold. You know, as a guy that's not from here, I knew it was going to be cold. So take me to the first half where the bears looked out of sorts. How dejected were you? First half, not as fun as the second half, Colin.

I'm willing to say that. right now. But I will say not as dejected as you would think, even though I don't fully remember what I said in all of those videos, and I credit the pregame tailgate for that. But it was the type of situation where that ended up being the seventh, fourth quarter comeback that the Bears have had this year. And so

I had seen six of them. So McManus misses the field goal at the end of the first half. We're talking at halftime, me and my my nephew and my friends who were all at the game together, are like, all right, get a stop to start the third quarter, and then it's time for Caleb Magic to kick in a little bit. They got the stop to start the third quarter. They outscored him 25 to 6 in the fourth quarter. I'm not willing to write off Pope Leo.

I think it's a great theory because you've got to remember, before he was Pope Leo, he was Bab from the South Side. Like he was a White Sox fan at the World Series. He probably called into my old radio show. Like, he's definitely seen my clips on the internet. So, yeah, if the Blues Brothers could be on a mission from God, why can't this Bears team? I think it's totally logical. What did this state, this play here in the fourth?

What was the stadium reaction because you were in row one? He's rolling left towards me, and he does, I mean, rolling left, 35 air yards throwing across his body, and he makes the completion. And you're watching Caleb. And then you turn to your left and you're like, oh, he's got to do and say, does that have enough arm on it? And it did. And it was an amazing moment, and I knew, of course, right away that it was an insane throw,

and, like, the game wasn't officially over. But it still is tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter, and they're still down 11. So that throw gets forgotten to history if everything else doesn't happen after it. But as soon as the game ended and you started to try to, like, collect it. What was the craziest play? Everybody knew that that was the throw of the moment because it extended it, it kept it alive. but it becomes immortal because of what happened afterwards.

You know, I was saying this is Josh Allen and Caleb Williams are often better late. And my take is, like a basketball player, they're momentum players. And Matt Hasselbeck said this earlier. He said, Caleb, maybe it's a little street football. He said he may be more comfortable, kind of like, coach, give me the structure. I'm going to do stuff. When you watch Caleb, because anytime I go to a game, it feels different than watching on TV. when you watch Caleb, there is a sense, and I've seen this with Josh this year, the second half isn't Ben's half.

It's Caleb's half. And does it feel like that where the second half, it's a little symphony. It's, you know, football is, you want to be complimentary. But I do think Ben's the mad scientist upstairs and the virtuoso stuff, Caleb's better off script. It looks like to me routinely. So two things there, and I'll get to the Caleb part in a second. I don't want to undersell what Ben Johnson's impact was there on the second half of that game because they consistently get better late.

So I think there has to be something to the halftime adjustments. And a couple of the stories that have come out since that game, one was he called back to a lesson, I guess, that he gave them in training camp. Grady Jarrett was on the Falcons. Joe Tooney was on the Patriots. He apparently had both of those players speak to the Bears about the 20. three comeback or collapse, depending on your perspective, to give them the idea of we're never out of this game. You know, it's 60 minutes, don't give up.

And he referenced that at halftime, saying that this was going to be the biggest comeback in Bears history. Bigger comebacks have happened before. We can do this. So I do think Ben Johnson being able to call back to something from preseason mattered. And then the touchdown that you've shown a bunch to DJ Moore that ultimately ended up being the game winner was a perfect call in the perfect spot because it was a play that built, yeah, this one right here. It was a play that built off a wide receiver screen early,

exact same formation, exact same blocking movement, exact same three receivers split out to the left, except this time it was more of a pump and go, and DJ Moore took it deep. So I do think that was Ben Johnson, like the scheme and the brilliance there. But there is no question that Caleb Williams is an artist, that he is a feel guy, that he is better off schedule, on the run, playing with feel eyes in the back of his head and that Ben Johnson's job is to continue to get him better on schedule. And I will take that as a Chicago and a Bears fan because I have to believe that you could coach the guy to hit the layups and that throw where he's escaping down 11 with five minutes left, six minutes left, you know, on fourth and eight. How many guys in the world make that throw?

Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, end of list, like Drake May, maybe, Justin Herbert, maybe. It is such a special thing that can't be taught that, you know, I'll take that combination of brains and artists. So I wouldn't fire Matt Lafleur. I think it's very difficult, taking a huge lead, and then going in a half time and thinking, I don't want to put my, Jordan Love's been banged up this year. I'm not putting them in the crosshairs. We're going to run the ball. Then it's cold. Then Jordan Love gets a little out of sync. I've seen this a thousand times. So have you, college and pro. I don't put it on Matt LaFleur. I think it's very hard to play a perfect first half. and then tell your team, you know, and then coach, you take the foot off the pedal,

and then expect them to be re-energized. I think it's really difficult to hold leads, especially in the playoffs. Your thoughts? Yeah, and the other team gets paid too. Listen, I wouldn't fire Matt LaFleur either, partly because the Bears, Packers' rivalry is finally a real rivalry, and Ben Johnson seems to hate Matt LaFleur, and Matt LaFleau seems to hate Ben Johnson. And I don't want that to go away.

Because one of my like bedrock principles is less hate in the world and more hate in sports. So I love that these guys hate each other. I think it makes the rivalry better. So I want Matt LaFleur to stay. But no, listen, Matt LaFleur is a good coach. He got Aaron Rogers a couple of late MVPs. He's gotten Jordan Love to be very good immediately when that was no sure thing. I think the thing that the Packers tend to do is actually be a little too aggressive.

Like they kept throwing the ball downfield 15, 20 yards down the field within the four-minute offense. late. That's just over-aggressive. I'm not saying you have to just do half-back dive, but there's got to be some sort of combination of screen passes, RPO's, more simple things, where you can have an easier shot of keeping the clock running. It's his third playoff loss as a favorite. That's bad. Getting a delay a game out of a timeout, that's bad. Getting outscored 25 to 6 in the fourth quarter, that's bad. But generally speaking, if you would fire your coach and five or six teams would immediately hire him, you probably shouldn't fire your coach.

Okay, I'll leave you with this. He's on first things first today as well. Danny, the Rams are a weird team. It feels like they peaked seven weeks ago. They have all this great defensive personnel, but they've been gashed twice for the Panthers. So you sit and watch them, and it's like, oh, this team is just,

they also have the only quarterback that didn't rush for a first down. So if the scheme and the play doesn't work, the play's over. In Chicago, if the play scheme doesn't, doesn't work, you get a second play with Caleb. Also, you have, I mean, between Loveland, the tight ends, DJ Moore, Romadunzei's healthy, even Col Commit, you have big Luther burden. The Rams secondary, very vulnerable, weakness of the team could be corner.

Your thoughts about a bear fan at home could be seven degrees playing an L.A. team, which is not playing particularly well. Yeah, I love the Bears plus four and a half. That bet has already been made. I'll tell you that right now. And, okay, because the last thing, the cold, the warm weather team flying east to the sub-zero temperature on the feels like if we, you know, get the weather gods on our side. And again, Pope Bob, I do think that a lot of those things favor Chicago.

And the Rams defense, they're giving up like 28 points per game. They, week 11 on, it's now over 28 points per game. As you mentioned, Carolina had their way with them. They beat him last time. It easily could have beat him this time. So I think the Bears will move the ball. And my guess is, Ben Johnson says, hey, guys, you were not able to run it against Green Bay. That's unacceptable, and they'll be able to run it against the Rams.

So I think it's another game that comes down to the fourth quarter. But also, like, period, next paragraph, Matt Stafford could throw for 600 yards on the Bears second day. Because the bear's defense is a huge problem right now, Colin. So I'm confident bears' offense against Rams' defense. Not quite so much Rams' offense against Bears' defense. Yeah, I'll tell you what, if you take the Bears and the Rams' offensive talent and stack it up, it's a Pro Bowl team. There are so, in the tight ends alone, you've got Puka, Devante Adams,

DJ Moore, Roma Dense, Luther Burden has become now a real one. weapon. So cannot wait. Lovelland is a superstar. Colston Loveland is a superstar. He's going to be great for a decade. Yeah, his jersey had so much chalk in it. It looked like honestly just rolled around in it for several hours. Danny is always great stuff. Good to see you this weekend, Colin. Thank you, sir. Yeah. What a magical moment. We'd have

coffee in the morning and he's like, listen, it's Bulls, Jordan games. It's the Cubs. That last game they played at home as they went on the road in that World Series, and he goes, and this game. It felt so iconic and important for the city of Chicago. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube, and you can be a part of it. Pay attention.

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and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and I on the Renee Stubb's tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris.

Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Genshin won. I mean, she went down to three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck.

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Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. So tomorrow I'll do a herd hierarchy.

A herd hierarchy, I'll go one through eight. And I'm just kind of penciling around. Seattle's one. Chicago now missing a left tackle. And their first or second best defender's got to be seven or eight now, right? They're a four and a half point dog at home. But two through seven, I'll watch the Texans tonight. I don't know.

Playoffs are just fine without Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, they're just fine. Appropriately named Wild Card Weekend. Jay Mack with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, let's start with that wild Rams Panthers game, Colin. Rams were in total control, 14-0, you're feeling good, and then Bryce Young started doing things, man. I was impressed.

It came down to Stafford late. trailing and he had a two-minute drive. Unbelievable touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson. I mean, great catch by the tight end. Here's Stafford and Devante Adams on the quarterback's message to the team on the final drive. I love this. An opportunity like tonight, I walked behind and tell you on the way out and it was like, before that last drive, I forget what I said to him, but I was like, let's go snatch these guys.

You know, let's go snatch this one back, man, let's go. Yeah, I think he said, let's go snatch these guys' hearts. And that was, that was pretty, uh, that was pretty cold. That was pretty cold. Just to hear that, and I actually, like, literally smiled in the moment because I thought that that was like one of the most gangster things you can say in that moment. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of when Stafford's really, really good. And again, Stafford falls into the Brock Purdy Darnold, Andrew Lockworth.

There's bad picks. They're like, whoa, what? But in the end, he's good pre-snap. You know, he had a couple to look one way, throw the other. Oh, yeah. They have a really, you know, I think Greg Olson said this during the broadcast, and he's a former tight end. It's probably the best tight end group in the league.

They go three, four deep at tight end, and they use their tight ends a lot. Colby Parkinson was a Stanford kid, went to Seattle, and then they got him, and it was kind of under the radar. I mean, Higby now healthy. They got Terrence Ferguson out of Oregon, Davis Allen a couple years ago. He's there four, but they're all capable guys all block at some level fairly well, but they're all guys that can make, they all have good hands. and they're used regularly in this offense.

Yeah, it's the defense of the Rams that is the concern, right? Strangely. I thought Quentin Lake would shore up the back end. He got cooked. I mean, it was a rough one for the secondary. I will say this about Stafford. As good as he was in the final drive, he nearly threw that pick in the end zone.

Puka had to adjust and play defense essentially. Puka had the play of the game, and it wasn't a catch. He knocked that out. The other thing is that Carolina has skill. I mean, between Dowdell, Bryce. Well, Dowdo, by the way, real quick, he had like five carries for nine yards. I don't know what that game plan was.

He was a monster this year. Any idea why Canales would do that? Because I think they wanted to pick on the RAMs secondary. And I think they did. I think Carolina's offensive talent and offensive coaching, I think it's pretty clever. It's young. It's a lot of young. I mean, they've got a rookie,

I mean, the rookie T-Mack, sensational guy. Bryce Young, is it what, in his third year? I think third or So it's a very, very young offense, and I think it's only going to get better. But you can see the Rams have struggled twice playing them, and they beat the Rams red zone and down the field. Yeah, I was way off on this just as a tease. Again, I have zero bets yet for this coming week.

Do you have any? Because when I poop my pants like that, I do not want to fire early. You know, my initial, I want to see New England would be about a one and a half to two point favorite if they played the Texans. I want to watch the Texans tonight. See what I get. I want to see New England, Texas. Texans line. I bring that up because I'm looking at the Rams,

and I was just about to dig into this. Matthew Stafford versus Dennis Allen defenses historically. Might want to do some homework on that one before firing. If you're liking the Bears, go for it. But Stafford has had some success against Dennis Allen defenses. All right, let's move on to the next row. That's Chargers, Patriots. just disheartening effort from the Chargers offense.

I didn't like it at all. Justin Herbert got sacked six times. They were 0 for two in the red zone. Three points and 207 yards of total offense. Jim Harbaugh asked afterwards how they'll approach the offense this offseason. I really don't have the answers. I wish I did. If I did, there would have been a different result.

But that I have. am, you know, going to be spending, we'll be spending a lot of hard work and maybe even sleep as nights getting it figured out. Yeah, I mean, the first pick, there's a Miami offensive lineman that can go tackle or interior. And I think with their tackle health issues, that's the pick. So he can be, he'll start in the inside where they're really weak guard center guard, but he can in a pinch play right tackle.

They also probably need another edge rusher. Other than that, another tight end would help. They're not good on the O line, but even if they get their tackles back, they probably have to address it, get a third tackle in the building they trust. I was going to say skill position, because Colin, now you see the stat there

one TD on 24 drives. I think it's 22 if you strip out the kneel downs. But like, it just doesn't really make sense how their priority in the offseason was, oh, let's go get Keenan Allen. Let's go get Trey Harris, the kid from Oklahoma. Let's get O'Mary and Hampton. Combined, they did like,

nothing in this playoff game. And we would agree. Patriots defense is middle of the lapack in most stats. They're not elite. Just disappointing stuff. And some of the film guys are now breaking down, Herbert. He did miss a couple of passes to McConkey. Didn't even throw them. It just didn't see them. And this could have been a different game.

But how about Mike McDaniel? Can they get him as the offensive coordinator, Colin? Oh, I'm sure they could. He's lived in the Bay Area. He's been in California before. I'm sure they could. Yeah. I'm thinking that would be a home run.

Now, McDaniel apparently is interviewing for the Falcons job right now. And McDaniel's going to be a hot commodity, man. He knows offense. I just need an OC for the charges. We got to get some playoff wins for them. Final story, Colin, college football. Got some news today. Lane Kiffin securing his quarterback in the transfer portal.

Reports are indicating that Arizona State Sam Levitt, who was pretty freaking awesome last season, leading Arizona State to the playoff. A memorable game against Texas. He's a gamer. He's intending to sign with LSU. Levin had a lot of interest around college football. You remember this guy.

He had Cam Scataboo. Yeah. And he's a good player. It kind of ended ugly in... No, I like him. He's a very competitive kid. I think that's a really good sign by Kiff. And I like him a lot.

I thought he was the best... To me, he and the quarterback that went to Texas Tech the Sorgeby kid that played at Cincinnati. Those are the two guys to get in the portal, and Lane got one and Texas Tech got the other. He's a really good quarterback. Very good. He will raise LSU. I just don't know if this is a

playoff worthy team next year. If you look at the roster, there's some holes. The SEC schedules are brutal. So I know people are excited about Lane. I'm just telling you, next year, like reasonable expectations. In Baton Rouge, that's normal, right? I'm sure. Yeah, reasonable.

That's what I think. J-Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lye News. Mike Tomlin, 23 and 5 on Monday night. We go to Pitchburg next, The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific.

On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. 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, Jones. 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 did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band.

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

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

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.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris, every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Genschen win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in in the world right now, and I actually can win on any surface, because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Well, he used to cover the Steelers for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He graduated to the Athletic. There's a great job. His name is Mike DeFabo and the Steelers tonight hosting the Houston Texans. They're an underdog. And Monday night, for whatever reasons, Mike Tomlin is like Bill Walsh meets Belichick meets Andy Reed. He dominates Monday. Let's start with this.

I've been very kind of, I don't know if cynical's the right word, but my take all year is Aaron's 42. They don't have a number two receiver. I think they're limited. And then over the last month, Gainwell, Jalen Warren, Friar Muso has been good. D.K. now returns. I do feel like there's something in the last four or five weeks that's clicked. You've watched every snap. Does it feel that way for you offensively?

Yeah, Colin. I don't think that you were wrong to be skeptical of this team coming into the year. And even midway through the season, the Steelers were a very inconsistent football team. When they sat at 6 and 6 at the midpoint, fans were chanting to fire Mike Tomlin. And at that point, the team could have gone one of two directions. And you would have seen a lot of teams fold at that point and fall apart. But that was really the turning point was when they went to Baltimore. And when they needed Aaron Rogers at his best, the 42-year-old quarterback,

delivered. It was his best game of the season to date, and he also even rushed for a touchdown for the first time since 2022. And over this last stretch and down the stretch, Aaron Rogers has played some of his best football as a Steeler when the Steelers have needed it most out of him. And to me, it kind of reminds me of the old Toby Keith's song, if you're a country music fan, I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was. And that's really what the Steelers were betting on with Aaron Rogers here, was when they, when they're going to, you're needed a game-winning drive, not even a great game, but a great moment in a great drive. Aaron Rogers has delivered, and especially last week with those two two-minute-like situations

where he ultimately led the Steelers into the playoffs. So I've seen this before where you have a dominant personality as a number one receiver, like an AJ Brown or I remember Des Bryant, and they leave and the offense flourishes because the quarterback doesn't feel burdened by having to get the ball to D.K. Metcalfe. So D.K. leaves. And I'm watching last week and I'm like, oh, Aaron's very comfortable. He's having a good time here. He's spreading it around the infield. So now D.K. Metcalf comes back tonight.

Obviously, he's going to be essential. But didn't it feel like last week in a weird way without D.K., everybody else got to flourish. Well, that's kind of been the Steelers offense this year. It really was constructed that it was D.K. Metcalf as the number one weapon, a big gap, and then everybody else. And everybody else, everyone kind of filled in where some games, maybe it was John Hsu Smith, who was kind of like a wide receiver too.

Sometimes it was Calvin Austin, the third, stepping up like a wide receiver too. And then they've remade this wide receiver room on the fly with some veteran guys that Aaron Rogers has classified himself as castoffs, Adam Feeland, and Marquez-Vald as Scantling. So that was kind of the construction of this team. And really, you have to give a lot of credit also to Kenneth Gainwell. Because a big part of this offense has been when, Aaron Rogers is not able to throw the ball deep. He's just been checking it down to Kenneth Gainwell and creating yards after the catch.

So that's kind of what their offense is, is you can't really key on any one guy. Obviously, D.K. is the guy. But if it's not him, really it can be any one of those guys that I just mentioned. Arthur Smith and Aaron. I mean, Aaron has a way of seeing the world. You're asking him to embrace another offensive coordinator. how much of the growth is just Aaron like, okay, I mean, when all of us get older, there's a little more rigidity to us. Some of this does feel like Aaron and Arthur have kind of clicked.

Is that part of it? Yeah, I think that you're right. Some things that are a little bit different than what Aaron Rogers has done in the past, the biggest thing is probably the use of tight ends. Yeah, really Aaron Rogers is somebody who likes having three wide sets, 11 personnel, and the Steelers are a very heavy 13 personnel, 12 personnel. team. So Aaron Rogers has been willing to evolve to a degree. At the same time, I give Arthur Smith credit because he's allowed Aaron Rogers to be Aaron Rogers. And I think that the Steelers

realize that when you bring in a 42-year-old Aaron Rogers physically, he might not be what he once was, especially in terms of his mobility. But if you're going to get the best out of him, it's because you're tapping into that experience and that brain. And let's just go back to the game winning drive against the Baltimore Ravens. And they're in the huddle. And Aaron Rogers looks at Calvinoss in the third and says to them, what route do you want? What do you want to do? And they're literally drawing some plays or at least routes up in the dirt.

And Scotty Miller, one of the other receivers said, that frees them up because he said it was almost like backyard football. And he said when you're playing backyard football, you're not stressed out. You're not concerned. You're just having fun. And I think that that level of comfort. and experience really showed in the most critical of moments last week against the Ravens. How do you explain? Tomlin's always been awful on Thursday night, unbeatable on Monday.

So there's got to be, you know, whenever something jumps out to you like that, my take is Mike's not good on short rest. It's hard to motivate guys and use sort of his motivational kind of tactics and skills. When Thursday is just an attrition game, you're just trying to get in, get out, nobody's hurt. it feels like to me, Mike really gets to build everything up to a crescendo. That's Mike at his best. That's the only thing I can think of. You give me your theory on why is Mike Tomlin the greatest Monday Night coach ever? You know, Mike Tomlin used to have a saying a couple years ago where he would say it's a five-star matchup because we're in it.

And I think one of the things that Mike Tomlin does best is he has the pulse of his team. And he knows how to poke and prod. Last game, Cam Hayward was saying he knows when to stir the pot and when to poke the bear. And I think that that's what he does with this team is he keys them up. And he knows what buttons to push to get them motivated. Another factor of that also, I think, is just the environment that's created in Pittsburgh on Monday night. When you have the yinzers in the parking lot, drinking those icy lights all day long, getting fired up, they come in there with their terrible towels and those terrible towels are twirling.

and they play Renegade and the other team can hear it. So I think that the environment, and that's going to be a big factor in this one, because this is going to be the Steelers' first home playoff game at full capacity since the 2017 season. So fans have been waiting a long time for a playoff win. They've also been waiting a long time just to see a playoff game here at Accresher Stadium. Mike DeFabo, final question.

Let's say, let's do the negative side, the pessimistic. Houston's defense is suffocating. They hit Aaron six to eight times. He gets beat up. You know, it's a 23-7 loss. You're a little outmaned. This is an old expensive defense. Is it possible?

You know, Aaron walks off the field and he just, and by the way, this wouldn't be on Aaron. Houston made it rough for Stafford. They make it rough for everybody. But it's just one of those nights where Aaron takes a lot of hits, several sacks, can't move the chains. Is it you think it's possible, Aaron? would be like, listen, what a great experience. I'm Seacrest out. It's over. Is that possible? I think it's possible. And what I'll tell you is going into that week 18 game against the Baltimore

Ravens, we asked Aaron Rogers about his future. And he could have said, look, I'm focused only on this game at hand. That's the only thing that has my attention. That's not what he said. What he said, and I'm paraphrasing him here, was after the year, I'm going to be a free agent, and I'm going to have some options. And so my interpretation and always you have to be careful when you try to interpret what Aaron Rogers means or read between the lines is Rogers is at least open to coming back next year. And I think what that means is it could be in Pittsburgh. It could be somewhere else. You know, the Minnesota Vikings, their quarterback situation hasn't exactly panned out as hoped. And I think Aaron had at least some interest in joining the Vikings. And I think also retirement is

a realistic possibility. So if I were to put first, percentages on it, you know, and I'm speculating obviously. I think maybe 40% he retires, you know, maybe 30% he's somewhere else and maybe 30% he's in Pittsburgh. And I think some of the 30% in Pittsburgh has to do with what happens with Mike Tomlin going forward. I can see no world where he's fired, but I have wondered throughout the course of this year as he hears his own fans in his own stadium chant to fire Tomlin.

Is there at least a part of him that's thinking, how much longer do I want to coach for a fan base that no longer seems to appreciate me? So I think all those factors are going to be in play as we look at Aaron Rogers' future, Mike Tomlin's future, and the future of the Pittsburgh Steelers. How many times does that happen this year? The negative Tomlin chance?

Really, it was only one time that I can ever remember in my entire life, and I grew up in La Trobe, Pennsylvania, been to tons of Steelers games. Obviously, you hear talk radio, there are calls for Mike Tomlin's job. You read the newspaper or read an outlet like the athletic. There are going to be critical comments from Mike Tomlin, but I've never heard it fans inside his own building,

chanting Fire Tomlin. And so that was something that I think really brought things to a head. And I think that there's a chance. Now, on the flip side of that, I should also mention, Mike Tomlin is the ultimate competitor. And I think it's part of his personality that backed into a corner, he wants to fight his way out of it. And he's the guy himself who says,

I do not seek comfort. And so really, I think it's going to be interesting if they are to lose tonight, what ends up happening with Tomlin and what he ultimately decides for his future. But again, I see no world where he's fired. I think that Mike Tomlin is the one that's going to have the greatest say

and where things go from here. Mike DeFaibo, the athletic. Great stuff as always, Mike. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Colin. Yeah, I think how it plays out tonight. You know, listen, you can, you can visualize Houston is so good at corner, so physical, so hard to block on the edge. You could see him at be 23 to 7 and just Aaron is just can't get loose. You know what I mean? Like a couple big

shots down the field. You know, it's just a cold night. You're taking a lot of hits. You get sack three times. You get hit eight. And it's frustrating. But they have played. It's pretty clear, and this was my first point with Mike, that early in the season, I'm like, you just can't generate enough offense. The defense is old and expensive, but they find ways to get points somehow, some way in games like tonight when you're like, what are they going to score? Nine points, three field goals. They find ways to score. They win the field position game. And when this one's decided, winner of this gets the 10. take on the New England Patriots.

So, Colin, there were three road winners wildcard weekend. I saw there were three total the previous three years. How many you, over under one and a half in divisional weekend, road teams getting the win. So that would be Buffalo. Over. Oh. Over. Oh, my.

So you got Rams in Buffalo. When you don't have dominant teams, dynasties playing at home, that's when the road dogs win. Yep. All right, we're done. Matt Hasselbeck. How about Danny Parkins? Mike DeFaibo. All good. First, things first. Right around the corner. 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 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

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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 part of it. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that, Game 7, Mark keep coming to, 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. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.