Colin Cowherd Podcast - Bills Outlast Ravens, Eagles Beat Rams, AFC/NFC Championship Picks, National Championship Preview - The Colin Cowherd Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Our divisional reaction is presented by Uber Eats. Get game
day deals all season long on uber Eat. All Right,
here we go, Let's chop it up for over an hour.
John Middlecoff, former NFL scout, has his own podcasts Three
and Out and twenty seven to twenty five Bills Win.

(00:27):
I had a three and oh weekend, which is rare
because I've been awful this year. Listen, I feel so
bad for Mark Andrews. Who's I just think he's a
tremendous player. I remember in Oklahoma, I thought that fumble felt,
I mean to me, for Baltimore come back down and
score and have a chance to tie it. After that
fumble by Mark Andrews. Then the drop by Mark Andrews

(00:49):
which he catches ninety nine out of one hundred times,
before we get into Lamar. This has been one of
my favorite tight ends in the league. I thought that
fumble forgets to drop. I thought the fumble it felt
like Buffalo didn't score until he got a field goal.
I think in some of my notes here, somewhere in
the third quarter, I thought the fumble really sucked the

(01:12):
emotion out of Baltimore.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Yeah, I think Romo had mentioned it. They had scored
on it essentially three straight drives, one of them was
a kneel down at the end of the half. But
Buffalo couldn't stop them. I mean, the game had kind
of shifted. Lamar had settled down. They were running the
ball right down their throat. That was I think we
saw tonight and we saw last night. The games were
different because obviously this was much lower scoring than the

(01:35):
Commander game. You can't turn the ball over at the
rates in which the Lions and the Ravens did and
lose and win the game. It can't. This is not
basketball or baseball where it's a seven or five game series.
You your margin for air in a sixty minute game.
In a half, you could lose a game in a half. Yeah,
And I honestly I thought when he threw the interception

(01:56):
and the fumble in the first half, I'm like, I
don't know if they can overcome that. But the Rave
have a good defense. They settled down, they started stopping
Josh Brady started kind of calling some lateral plays. But
that Andrews, I'm with you, Mark Andrews is a stud. Yeah,
I mean for him to have that fumble and that drop.
It's hard to shake. I mean, that's kind of because

(02:16):
the goat of the moment.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, I mean Lamar is gonna take the heat because
he had a multiple turnover game. I mean, Buffalo, I
think had one penalty and no turnovers. But it was
also the fumble that von Miller picked up, and so
it was just you know, Mark Andrews drop, the Mark
Andrews fumble, the fumble that von Miller takes in. I
thought Lamar played well enough. Obviously one awful pick. I

(02:41):
thought he played well enough to win. Hell, if Mark
Andrews catches it, I would not want to play Baltimore
in overtime because I thought they'd seize momentum in the
second half. So I think Lamar will get tagged for it.
But I you know, like I'm not blaming C. J.
Stroud for the loss in can City. The Texan special

(03:01):
teams were awful. They were like collegiate goff, he can
take the hit. I thought Lamar wasn't as good as
Josh Allen did. One of the takeaways for me was
they really they didn't ask Josh to do a lot
in this game. It was a lot of passes to
the backfield, I thought they came in they didn't want
it to be a Lamar versus Josh. I think they

(03:21):
looked at the film and thought we can kind of
death by a thousand cuts. They didn't ask him to
make big throws much.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
To me, this is a coaching loss for the Ravens,
just like it was last year against the Chiefs. It
feels like when they played last year Mahomes and they
played Josh to night. They're obsessed with trying to prove
he could pass early in the game. It's like you
have the Shaquille O'Neal of running backs who as they
started running as the game went on, it's like, why
don't you do this? And then what happened on the

(03:49):
two point time the first time they passed, As they
ran it right down their throats, It's like, why wouldn't
you just hand it to him again? But you hit
it on the nail on the head. I thought that
this game felt like what the Steelers and Ravens used
to feel like. Right It's like, Okay, the Buffalo Bill
said we're gonna be as tough as you, and sometimes

(04:10):
that doesn't work for a pass heavy team. We've seen
it with Ohio State against Michigan, and I thought the
first half, on their first drive of the game, they
ran it right down the Ravens throats who their strength
is their run defense. It's like, whoa, they are not intimidated.
We know Josh can run, but how good were their
running backs? Their You know their line is not gonna

(04:31):
look like Saquon Barkley or anything in terms of yardage.
But I thought James Cook was fantastic. The data was fantastic,
was awesome, and it sets the tone in these games,
like this game was not gonna be like last night.
It was gonna be lower scoring. Every yard mattered, every
first down mattered. And Sean McDermott deserves credit because his
team came in physically ready to match the Ravens, who

(04:53):
I think we all would have said are the more
physical team, right.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, No, I think Davis. By the way, if you
go read the life story of Davis, that running back
to backup running back who is a big, strong kid.
It's his life is remarkable. He's bounced around and it's
so easy to guy to root for. But I wrote
this down. I think Buffalo has a much better offensive
line than people give them credit for. Now We know

(05:18):
Philadelphia and Detroit feel like two of the best old
lines in a decade, kind of like that cowboy line
dak inherited when he was really young. But I think
Buffalo's old line and now again we know Dion Dawkins
is excellent left tackle, but I thought there were you know,
one of the only times they failed to me was
on that chance to wrap it up and Josh Allen

(05:39):
got stuffed near the goal line in the fourth quarter.
That was one of the only times where I thought,
being a shotgun, there didn't and don't I just don't.
So that was one of the few and he almost
tried to later all it, but that was one of
those that was one of those where they got stuffed. Listen,
Sean McDermott is a little like Doc Rivers. We know

(05:59):
he's good enough coach, and Doc ended up with a title.
But I find myself really wanting Buffalo to get to
a Super Bowl because it's like we all know Lamar
Jackson's a really special quarterback, but it's hard when Josh
Allen and Patrick Mahomes are in their prime and one
of them's got Andy Reid. It's like and by the way,

(06:22):
Kansas City and Buffalo may have the two best front
offices in the NFL, along with Detroit. When it comes
to drafting, Rams are pretty good as well.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
So I.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
My takeaway today, I liked Sean McDermott and Buffalo's game plan.
I like how they created They were physical early. They
didn't ask Josh to be superman. It's almost like they
prepared a game plan John expecting whether to be worse
than it was.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
The one thing they're going to go back to Lamar
about running. It's one thing to run into mahomes when
you lose to Josh Allen in this moment, I get
it was on the road and you have multiple turnovers,
and I will defend his overall play. He was much
better today than he was in that AFC Championship game. Yeah,
but you get to the point where if he ends
up with this MVP and you and I both I
think are on the same page here. I don't actually

(07:09):
care about awards. You win three MVPs, you're on a
short list of guys in this league. You kind of
become the James Harden of football really fast. And you know,
I saw on Twitter this is his fourth game in
the playoffs where he has multiple turnovers, yes, and that
those are type things that listen the interception. You could
have an interception and then you can have that interception

(07:31):
right right. It was like Jared Goff's pick six. It's like, Jared,
where are you throwing this? That. It's one thing to
have a ball tipped or you know, a dB just
make an incredible play that when you hit guys in
the bread basket, it's like that can't happen. And then
the fumble, it's like you're trying to do too much.
Sometimes you got to learn to go down. I mean
that was a big deal with Josh and I did
not turn the ball over. They actually played the game

(07:52):
like you said, Like I thought the Raven. I had
the bills tonight and I had a decent amount of
money on it, and I got nervous as they started running.
I was like, why don't they just run it NonStop?
Because the bills are not built to stop them. But
sometimes it feels like, no, we have to prove final drive.
Totally get it. But in the EBB and flow of
a game, when it's fourteen to seven or fourteen to ten,

(08:13):
it's like, guys, your great strength right now is you
have this Earl Campbell Walter Payton player in the prime
of his career, and your quarterback is, I don't know,
the greatest runner in the history of the league. Don't
call pass plays. I don't know if it's Monken, I
don't know if it's Lamar, combination of them both. I
would have ran it. They did it against the Steelers
fifty times. I never would have called pass plays until

(08:36):
I absolutely had to.

Speaker 2 (08:37):
Like the end of the game, Yeah, in the third
quarter they had that Derrick Henry run, Justice Hill run,
Derrick Henry run than Derreck Henry for the touchdown. They
had sixty eight rushing yards on that one drive in
the third and you're like, yeah, that's who they are.
By the way, again, the Bills prepared like it was
gonna be a blizzard. They only passed the ball seven
times with Josh Allen in the first half. I just

(09:00):
felt like, I felt like Baltimore. I felt like I
got to give Sean McDermott credit. They came in with
a plan. They're like, we're going to create physicality. We
believe we can run on them.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
We're not.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
We don't know what The weather could get worse than
we predict and you know, Josh did his Superman stuff.
But I really got to give McDermott credit. I thought
it would what do they have one penalty? No turnovers?
You know, and even when Mark Andrews dropped that they
still had time left on the clock. I mean that,
like a minute thirty left on the clock. It felt

(09:32):
a little like a Kansas City game where I kind
of just felt I really did John.

Speaker 3 (09:37):
It's easy in hindsight to say this. I had Buffalo too.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
I I really thought Buffalo the entire day was going
to win the game. And I know a lot of
people thought early, you know, here comes Buffalo, They're more physical.
But I just liked their game plan. I thought the
Bills were really focused, laser focused on what they tried
to accomplish.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Well. I think last week when we talked, I said,
you know, I I think this is going to be
a tough matchup for the Bills because the Ravens are
so good against the run, and obviously, the I would
say separating factor this year than in years past and
even at the end of last year is James Cook.
And it's just like it's not easy to run it
against these guys, and they can run it against you,
and it's like it becomes a time of possession deal.

(10:18):
First drive of the game, the Bills had a lot
After the Ravens went right down the field and scored,
You're like, okay, this is going to be a shootout.
The Bills went they had nine carries for thirty six
yards on that touchdown drive, and it was like, Okay,
this feels like a Hardbob brother in Sean McDermott, like
I'm here for the fight.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
I think the Bills, remember when they've lost to Cincinnati
and they've lost to Kansas City in the past, it's
like they're not quite tough enough. And listen, personnel wise,
they're not as tough just because they don't have the
bodies as the Ravens, but mentally and the way they
showed up with the game plan. They showed up to
play like that, and I think that really benefited them
as the game went on.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Yeah, I feel bad Lamar's gonna take the hit. But
on that Von Miller play, it was a really bad
in bad weather. That's a tough snap.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
He was dramatically better than years past and flops. He
wasn't a couple bad plays, but overall, I thought he
was pretty damn good that final drive. It was like
he looked like mid season Lamar.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
So I mean, listen, Kansas City Buffalo is I think
what most of us. I mean, I do think Josh
Allen and Patrick Mahomes, I think we can say this now.
And I feel bad for Joe Burrow. They had to
sell naming rights to pay him. It is an antiplated
front office. I mean, it's really sad, and Tobin the
GM is kind of a powerless guy. So the Chiefs

(11:37):
are minus one and a half against the Bills. I'll
take Buffalo plus one and a half. I took Buffalo
plus one and a half today. I think Buffalo is
going to go into Arrowhead and win. They're they're pretty healthy.
Boy Milano again making nice plays. You know that guy
doesn't get a ton of credit football. People know he

(11:58):
made a couple of big plays near the goal line tonight.
So I think it's been established obviously where you land matters,
and you know Brady got Belichick and Joe Montana got
Bill Walsh. But that's just the way it works. I
think Josh Allen, Mahomes to me, John have separated themselves
as the best two quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
In the league.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
I like Joe Burrow a lot, but he gets hurt
and that's you know, genetics are what they are. You
get hurt, it's part of your legacy. And then I
think the next tier of quarterbacks after those two starts
with Joe Burrow and Jaden Daniels may be right behind him.
We'll get to that later in the podcast. But I
kind of feel like I've watched these NFC teams, John,

(12:42):
I do not believe. I think Kansas City and Buffalo
are going to win the Super Bowl. One of those two.
I just don't think Philadelphia has buttoned up. I think
Washington season well, and if it doesn't, they're just not
talented enough.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
Agree or disagree, totally agree. This game feels like forty
nine ers Cowboy. He's nineteen ninety three at Arrowhead and listen,
the Chiefs are my people. I probably wouldn't be sitting
here with you if it wasn't for them. I do
think this is the Bill's year. I think the Bills
are gonna win next week, and I think they're gonna
win the super Bowl. And you know, for one year
when I was with Philadelphia, Sean was there and he's

(13:16):
just I mean, he's a really really impressive guy. I
think he's become a really good head coach, and he
hired the right coordinator. I mean, going from Dorsey to
Joe Brady has changed their offense. But let's be real
about this. The Bills. You know, if you look back
when I was younger, Manning Brady was a rivalry. But
up until six oh seven, Manning could not beat him

(13:38):
and Brady at three Super Bowls. That's kind of what
this feels like. This Lamar Mahomes is not a rivalry.
This is the third time in recent memory and the
Bills have lost these games like last year the overtime
game where they went three plays and fifty yards or whatever.
But this is the game. It's Josh vers Moms and listen,
you could make the argument because of the last lack

(13:59):
of play off success, we got to reorder this is
it goes Mahomes, Josh, then Joe Burrow and then Lamar Jackson.
And the one thing and you just mentioned about Joe Burrow,
he does not have the infrastructure that Lamar has. I
mean the team that he took to the Super Bowl
and went toe to toe with Mahomes in the other
playoff game that he lost in the AFC Championship game,

(14:20):
Like I'm sorry, Like he's just accomplished way more now.
I think, you know, I used the NBA comps sometimes,
like James Harden or Joel Embiid in that individual sport.
I would much rather have Lamar in football than if
I was in basketball and have one of those guys.
So I and I think big picture, right, I still
think the Ravens can win a Super Bowl. But as

(14:40):
we sit here in twenty twenty five, like it's been
a pretty big letdown given a guy that I mean,
the guy could have like four MVPs and he easily
could get his third. So it's this is tough. But
the Ravens put themselves in this position having to go
on the road. They lost a terrible game to Cleveland
the second week to the Raiders. That first half against
the Chiefs, they didn't play very well. I mean that

(15:02):
Raiders loss was really really bad. So I mean the
Ravens and John Arbob put himself in this position.

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Speaker 2 (16:32):
It's time to look at this weekend's tastiest matchup and
this week's Sunday Night food ball, brought to you by
Uber Eats. Philadelphia going to the NFC Championship against Washington again.
We'll get the Jade and Daniels later. Philadelphia twenty eight,
Rams twenty two. It was thirteen to ten Philly at half,
closer than I thought, and I'll give the Rams credit.

(16:53):
I still feel there are about four players away. I
think again like I felt last year, they're just incredibly coached,
smartly quarterbacked, a little pooka reliant Kyron Williams again, a
big fumble, he doesn't he fumbles too much. Remember cam Akers,
they shipped him out of town. He fumbled too much.
I feel like Kiron Williams is getting that point where
he's fumbling in big games. But Philadelphia, Jalen Carter was spectacular.

(17:18):
Saquon Barkley was spectacular. And when I watched Philadelphia, I mean,
they have the best interior D lineman in the league
along with Chris Jones. They have the best running back
in the league along with McCaffrey, who's hurt. It just
this team is not led by Jalen Hurts. And it's
not a knock. I just feel like it's their physicality
on that defensive front. I feel like it's these young corners.

(17:39):
You know I was thinking about this was Saquon Barkley.
I always root for great players to play with great teams,
Lebron to Miami, OTAWNI needed to be a Dodger or
a Yankee, not an Angel, and I look at Saquon
Barkley and he was just too damn good to be
stuck in a circus in New York. Now, he maybe
he doesn't rise to Otawi or Lebron, but I will

(18:03):
say this, I really believe this. Just in terms of
jumping over people. Remember when he jumped over that player
backwards John. He is on a short list of the
best running backs I've ever seen. Maybe He's not Walter
Payton and Barry Sanders. Maybe he doesn't have the dexterity
at Christian McCaffrey. John He's one of the five or

(18:24):
six seminal running backs I've seen in my life. In
terms of just talent, I think he's sensational.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, I mean I think in recent memory, just as
a pure runner between the tackles. When you talk about vision,
power and speed, I think he's got to be on
the short list with Derrick Henry and Adrian Peterson, who
are too low Hall of famers. The difference is Adrian
Peterson got to play some pretty good teams in Minnesota,
and obviously Derek Henry had vrabel the Titans, and now
he has the Ravens. I thought today and I said this,

(18:49):
I did a quick reaction after that game. I thought
today was a pretty big Howie Roseman muscle flex because
the quarterback. We watch four quarterbacks today, three of them
all have something in common when they pass. And then
there's Jalen Hurts, who just feels like everyone's so critical
of Kellen Moore. It's like, guys, you can call any
play you want in the pocket. He's he's a coin
flip you have no clue what's coming in, and it

(19:09):
usually it's more tails than heads. Saquon Barkley they got
for under thirty million dollars guaranteed in a day and age.
When guards you're getting fifty million dollars. Jalen Carter's a
good example of let's face it. He was drafted ninth.
He was the best player in that draft by a
country mile. Pure talent, but like from like four to eight,
everyone was terrified and it took balls to draft them.

(19:33):
But you not only needed balls to take them, you
needed the infrastructure then of high character leaders. They had
Fletcher Cox, Jason Kelsey, they had a bunch of Georgia guys,
so they took the risk, but they had the infrastructure there.
I mean Saquon and Jalen Carter and Jared Verse were
the two best players. But Jared Verse you could argue
relatively easy pick if you need a defensive lineman, high

(19:54):
character guy, great player. I mean, Jalen Carter was a
He had to leave the combine to go to the
police station. I mean remember that story. What this was
a walking red flag? Who is an all time great talent,
I mean, honestly, one of the more talented guys in
the last like five years of the NFL draft. I
mean today it was just what is going on their
talent with just those two guys, and then on top

(20:15):
of the rest of the talent that they have on
the team, like how well they can play with their quarterback.
They I mean, it is conceivable they could win a
super Bowl and he could not throw one hundred and
fifty yards in any playoff game or the super Bowl,
like that could be on the table because how good
they are.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah, I mean I said last week I thought Bo Limmer,
you know, the rookie center six round Arkansas and Jalen
Carter was a problem. I will say this in defense
of Sean McVay. I mean, but that safety cut it
to sixteen fifteen.

Speaker 3 (20:47):
John.

Speaker 2 (20:48):
I kept watching this game thinking, how in the hell
are the Rams as close? They don't have the personnel
they just I thought their offensive line played well. There
was it was one of those games that got really loose,
really fast. It's almost like, you know, it's like when
you played the Dodgers in the playoffs. At some point
if you go up against Otani Betson Freeman, there's guys
on bass Taoscar Hernandez. You're like, shit, we can't. We

(21:08):
don't get a break here. Philadelphia can can just make
play after play after play on both sides of the ball,
and the Rams you really have to be smartly designed
to face Philadelphia because the games go sideways. They can
go on a four play drive and it's Saquon Goddard,
AJ Brown hurts and you're like, shit, that's eighty yards
and four plays. But I thought the Rams did a

(21:31):
good job to hang around in like really bad weather
for an LA team on a short week.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
I think the conversation has dramatically changed this year, but
I think the way Mike Tomlin was talked about, probably
from like twenty fifteen up until like last year, is
actually what Sean McVay is. I mean, what he does
to overcome as an underdog. I am totally with you.
One last week was like a Picasso moment for the guy.
His city's on fire. He has to pick up this whole,

(21:56):
not just his team, but they're family and their animals
and fly out to what was a road game at Minnesota.
Then take a team. I mean, think about this. We
talk about Miami NonStop. Well they're in seventy five degree weather. Well,
what Weather's la in. The difference is the way him
and Less build that team. Like they take Jared Versu
and Braden Fisk. You know where those guys translate to.
They could play in Alaska, They'd be awesome players. They

(22:17):
build a tough team. This is what the Niners did
for years. Build a tough team. It doesn't matter where
you play. Part of the reason Miami sucks in cold weather.
They have a soft team for him to go and
do that. I mean Jared Verse. The three best players
on the field today were Saquon Barkley, Jalen Carter, and
Jared Verse, who was a man amongst boys. And the
difference is is Listen, Jalen's has a matchup problem against

(22:40):
the You know, unless you're playing Larry Allen, he's gonna
be better than your guarter center. Jared Versus going up
against two of the better tackles in the league.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
I was watching, John, I was watching. I was watching
today and the two best defensive players I've ever seen
in my life are Reggie White and Lawrence Taylor. Yeah,
and I was just thinking against Philadelphia's old line and
I'm like, holy, holy shit, are we looking at like,
not Lawrence Taylor, but the closest thing to Lawrence Taylor. Now,

(23:11):
I think Lawrence a lot of what Verse does is
he just bulldozes you.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
He goes right at you.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
He doesn't have kind of the ability. I don't think
he's quite as athletic as Lawrence Taylor, who was. But
you look at Philadelphia's tackles and you watch what Verse
did as a rookie. I mean it, I guarantee you
if you're if you're Kyle Shanahan, or you're McDonald and Seattle,

(23:39):
or you're the guy down in Arizona. I mean when
you look you when you put that film in, you're
gonna draft an offensive tackle this year, Like you have
to get that right. You cannot face the Rams and
Verse for the next seven years if you don't have
your tackles right.

Speaker 1 (23:54):
Yeah. I talked to someone who was at a joint
practice this year with the Rams, and he said, about
five snaps in to their first practice with him, some
of their veteran guys on their team were like, Holy Molly,
who is this guy? You know? And the thing with
Jared Verse, do you know who he reminds me of?
Is young? Is and I don't know if he's gonna
become this good. But what Khalil Mack was early on

(24:15):
in his career with the Raiders, because Khalil Mack's first
year for the Raiders, he had four and a half
sacks because the pushbacks always well first only had four
and a half sacks. It was pretty clear. I remember
a buddy on that coaching staff with the Raiders. Now,
their talent on that team wasn't very good. The first
OTA practice, He's like, this guy's the best player on
our team by a mile. Now that's not necessarily the
case on the Rams because they got Pooka and Stafford, right,

(24:36):
but he clearly has a chance. Like this guy could
win Defensive Player of the Year.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
I think he is the Belay I think I think
right now him or Pooka, Yeah, Matt Puka and Jared Vers.
Jared Verse was on the field today with a shirt
off for the game. Dude, I it just doesn't look normal,
Like it's like, I mean his speed. Remember last week
against Men when he's picked up the Fumbland scored and

(25:02):
then he was chasing down Sam Darnel and you're like,
does he run like a four four five like, how
fast is he for two sixty five?

Speaker 1 (25:09):
Well, it's one thing to have the nine sacks last
week against that offensive line. What they have to day
six or seven. I mean they had sixteen sacks in
two games. They said on the broadcast they had under
forty on the season. I was like, where is this
coming from? And to me is really And Braydon Fisk
went out of the game, which I thought, you know
on some of Saquon's runs, Braiden Fisk having him in
there as an extra body, that's a big deal. You

(25:30):
only dressed so many guys in a game. He gets
hurt early. I think you saw as the game went
on the attrition of just the guys being out there.
But I'm listen, the Eagles should win that they were
basically a touchdown favorite for a reason. Their talent is
I would say. Now, then the Chiefs and the Bills,
you would say, subtract the quarterback. They are the most

(25:50):
talented team. But the coaching job by McVeigh and him
hiring his buddy Shula, where there's a lot of pressure.
He felt a little insecure about how what is that
guy Dan? I mean down the stretch, getting those guys
going I thought today was I was kind of rooting
for the Rams to win because I like like historic
moments from coaches, and it's like, how is McVeigh has

(26:11):
this team on the brink of a super Bowl with
this talent and stafford. He's been so bad outside and
I know his numbers weren't great, but I guess it's
a big time plays.

Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah, he had a couple of no lookers.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
Saquon Barkley against the Rams this year rushed for four
hundred and sixty four yards, four rushing touchdowns, eight receptions
for seventy four yards. A he's a superhero. He basically
saved Nick Sirianni from getting canned, Jalen Hurts from harsh criticism,
and AJ Brown going off the rails. I mean, really,
this team is about Saquon Barkley. To me, it really is.

(26:45):
He's a superhero.

Speaker 3 (26:46):
It doesn't.

Speaker 2 (26:47):
I mean, this is what's amazing about that I have
this conversation with people around the league, either reporters or executives.
This letting him go to the Eagles from the Giants
is to me a fireable offense. And I'm never calling
for a GM job, but Jesus, like, like I remember

(27:08):
when they made that move, and I remember saying on
the air, so he's going from arguably the bottom three
to zero line to the best with Jalen Hurts and
two receivers that will. You can't cheat in the box
like Barkley and New York had a quarterback that didn't
move or they didn't they didn't do a lot of
running with him, and they were bad at receiver because
it was pre Malik Neighbors. So you could just cheat,

(27:31):
you could bring a strong safety in the box. So
it was like, guys, you can't put a safety in
the box against Philip. He's gonna be He's gonna I mean,
it is the least. It's like KD to the Warriors.
It's like it's like, although with KD, you thought, well, geez,
they got so many guys that want to shoot on
this team because Jalen's so limited as a passer. He's

(27:52):
you know, as we've discussed, nobody in the league I
talked to, everybody went, oh, he may rush for two
thousand arms with his team.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
Well, I think John Mara got a lot of like
weird criticism for his comments in that in Joe Shane's
office when he said, I don't think I could sleep
at night if I lose him, And everyone's like, why
is he so obsessed with his star player? And it's
as simple as this guy's been around the team for
a long long time and seeing obviously Lawrence Taylor's one
of the greatest players. He's seen some of the ELI teams.

(28:22):
He has a pretty good understanding of what a superstar
player looks like. And it feels a little bit like
when Joe Shane said, I don't think he's going to
go to the Eagles. Then he goes and he has
a historic season. Now he has a historic playoff game.
Like when you tell your parents like and they're just like,
do not do this, do not do this, and you
do it anyway and then it just blows up in
your face and you have to walk back and look
them in the eye. How can those guys walk into

(28:44):
the office tomorrow and if they have to cross John
Mara in the hallway. I mean, this guy just carried
the team, your bitter rival, this right down the street.
I mean he's a superstar. Like you say, his individual
years is good of a year. I mean Terrell Davis
got to the Hall of Fame based on two years,
if they were to win the Super Bowl and this
guy has another one hundred and fifty yards and another
one hundred and sixty yards in the playoffs, and he

(29:05):
would run for a lot of yards if they played
Buffalo because they don't have a great run defense. That like,
that's one of those Obviously they kept their jobs this year.
How could you look at them the same You cannot
look them in the face and go, I can't. I
can't and listen even well, it's running backs and the
value and we get it, but there aren't that many
humans that can play like that on the field. I

(29:25):
would say the same thing about the Titans. GM got fired.
You're like, wait, Derek Henry just cost the Ravens eight
million dollars. That's what it cost the Ravens eight million
dollars and he ran for sixteen seventeen hundred yards and
he's clearly one of the best players on the planet.
We couldn't have just used that this year. Like I think,
sometimes these decisions, you know, get a lot of people
fired really fast. I think Joe Shane and Brian Dable

(29:46):
are the only reason they have a job right now.
And I'm with you. Like, I don't want these guys
to lose their job and at the back of their family.
But is John Morris said, like he doesn't want to
fire anyone anymore, Like he's just tired of firing people.
If he had had like if these guys have replaced
Tom Coughlin, these guys would have been fired three weeks ago.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
That's right, he doesn't want to be the Raiders. We'll
get to a Raiders story before the end of this podcast.
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(30:46):
com and discover a legend in a bottle today. So
let's talk about Jaden Daniels in Detroit. So I'm going
to get to Detroit first. So Philadelphia, Nick Sirianni is
not a scheme wizard, nor is Dan Campbell. So when
siriani lost his coordinators, that team circle the drain about Thanksgiving.

(31:09):
Campbell's not a scheme guy as well. McVeigh is Andy
Reid is. They can lose coordinators. It doesn't affect the
outcome or the momentum of the franchise. But Dan Campbell
probably isn't going to land Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn
and I think because of their own line and running game.
I think offensively, they're a double digit win team for
the next three to four years. But I think there's

(31:32):
a chance Detroit takes a slight step back because.

Speaker 3 (31:38):
Coordinators.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
I mean, we've seen it through the playoffs. Spagnola is
worth it feels like a touchdown. I mean, he's that
valuable in situational football, we're watching McVeigh. I mean, look
what Flores did to the Vikings defense.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
We know that coordinators, you can say McDermott, I mean
with his personnel, he's a defensive guy. He knows what
he's doing.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
So I look at the Lions and they'll be good,
but they're gonna lose both coordinators and I and I
also do you think they're looking at golf because look
at this weekend golf and Stafford, the last two pocket
quarterbacks in the playoff lost. If it was a really
good quarterback year in the draft, I think Detroit would

(32:23):
draft one. I really do.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
I think Golf after he got his head slammed, you know,
might have been playing a little fuzzy because he had
not looked like that really for two years he had,
especially in the Dome. I think looking back on Detroit,
I think the Ravens fall under this too. Last year
was your shot. I mean, they could they kick a
field goal. They have a seventeen point lead against the
forty nine ers on the road in the second half.

(32:47):
The Baltimore Ravens had Mike McDonald as their defensive coordinator,
the number one defense in the league, the MVPA quarterback,
and we're hosting the Chiefs. So both those two teams
get bounced to the second round this year. It's like
last year they were controlling their own destiny. I understand,
you know, the Lions head home field. But that team
on defense. I mean, what happens on that first drive.
The guy that just locked up justin Jefferson two weeks ago,

(33:09):
his arms pointing the opposite way, So they lose their
best corner. It's like their team's already banged up and
they just ran into the greatest rookie quarterback we've ever seen.
And they had even if they wouldn't have turned it over.
One of them was a pick six. You can't win
a playoff game if the offense is gonna score thirty
five plus points at home. You know, Jared Goff obviously
was atrocious. I thought Ben Johnson kind of got weird.

(33:32):
I mean, anytime you call a double pass, like the
one thing with Jared Goff, he does have a long
body of work for you to just turn on him
in that moment. The wide receiver is very inclined, whether
the guy's open or not, to always throw the ball,
and I know the coaches tell him, hey it's not open,
throw the ball away. They always throw it, and he
threw it. You're like, hey, you can't do that, but
that's just you call that play. It's it's I thought

(33:53):
it was pretty unnecessary. I know, you got that he
was getting cute, and I tend to agree. I don't
know if he's showing off for a Brady at that moment.
I dodn't think he's necessarily showing off, But I just
thought it was a poorly timed moment and it felt
like he had turned on jer Goff. He didn't trust
him because to call that play in that spot they
were down ten points.

Speaker 2 (34:12):
How about this, Josh Harris in twenty eleven buys with
a group the Sixers. He still hasn't gotten to an
Eastern Conference championship. With Joel Embiid, who's always hurt. He
buys the Commander's first year NFC championship, which shows you
why this league is so great. Houston was the embarrassment

(34:35):
of the league playoffs. Washington had a fifteen year smell
with Dan Snyder NFC Championship. One of the reasons I
love this league. I mean two a year ago, we
thought Denver was just you know, they were a heap
of tires on the freeway on fire. The Commanders for
the next three years can just surround Jaden Daniels with talent,

(34:58):
and I want to talk about him. I had a
five game stretch middle of the season, he got banged up,
bo Nick started to surge, and you were like, Okay,
Jaden's more athletic maybe, but you know, but his last
like eight games, his ability, I've never seen anything like this.
His last ten games, it says here, twenty touchdowns, seven picks,

(35:20):
ninety eight passer rating, and they played some good teams.
His ability to he's not Lamar the runner. And I'll
tell you why it's an advantage. Lamar is so gifted
as a runner, So was Michael Vick, Steve Young was
to a large degree to and Josh Allen. That you're

(35:44):
so great as a runner, it's always an easy out,
especially in high school and college.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
It's just an easy.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
Jaden's fast, but he's not quite a vic or a
Josh Allen when he can roll over you. But what
he is he's evasive more so than like Kyler Murray.
So he's he's fast enough to get out of trouble.
But he's not as big and strong as Allen, or
as shifty or pure speed as Lamar. So he's never

(36:13):
he's always relied on the pocket. Right like he sits
in the pocket. He feels so advanced to me, is
a late game pocket passer. I thought Andrew Lucke was
the best rookie quarterback I ever saw, but you got
downside with him. He was a risk taker. He had
little sam Donold and Carson Wentz. I get no downside
with this kid.

Speaker 3 (36:32):
None.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
If you just look at the best players in the
NFL at quarterback, there's like three or four guys, and
you know, I think Mahomes and Josh Allen are much
more playmakers than Drew pocket quarterbacks. Obviously, Lamar's a hybrid.
It would really be Burrow and what to Burrow and
Jayden have in common. They both had a transfer to LSU.
Their first year at LSU did not go well, and

(36:57):
their second year they kind of mastered it. Well, think
about this. You know, Burrow's the talent he went against
on defense every day in practice was better than Jaden's.
But think about you play every year Alabama a Nick
Saban Alabama, So with several NFL guys on the front,
you play A and M who's always loaded with talent,
and you just play an SEC schedule. So over the

(37:17):
course of a couple of years, after you had already
been in another school, got some reps Jayden had played
today as U Burrow hadn't, and you kind of get
to master your craft because I watched Jayden Daniels and
you go, he's pretty calm like Joe Burrow in the pocket,
you know which, And he was considered this dual threat
because last year was like, well, he's really good neat
ball thrower, that was like his Russell Wilson thing. But
over the middle of the field, blitzes can get him.

(37:39):
He looks completely under control. That's the craziest part about
his game is how cool, calm and collected he is.
To me, he's the more athletic running version of Burrow
because he really plays much more like a pocket quarterback.
How good is he throwing over the middle of the field.
I mean, that's he's the crazy part.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
In congested areas, He's just credible. It's just incredible.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
And you know, my favorite part of this is I
love I thought like cam Ward was a winner this weekend.
You know you're watching You're watching Jade and Daniels come
out of that draft and Tennessee's probably thinking, well, I mean,
cam Ward's like a thicker version of him like Jade

(38:24):
and Daniels' ability to just improvise. I mean Cliff Kingsbury.
Steve Kaiin was texting me, He's like Cliff Kingsbury, you know,
after that mess at USC in Arizona. He's like, he
earned this and deserved it. But I just think sometimes
people are special. And whereas Mahomes gott to sit for
his first year and Lamar didn't play until week eleven,

(38:46):
this kid was inserted onto a really I would argue
at best, second, probably third, best roster in that division.
And and the other thing is that Brian Kelly said
us in college, he said, he's just he's just a
great student of the game. He was good early, little
turbulent middle of the season, got banged up. He's just
gotten better. He's a better quarterback now than he was

(39:08):
ten weeks ago.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
He's just totally I was thinking about this, think about
the first three quarterbacks, Caleb, him and Drake. You know,
Caleb goes to a place where every coach got fired
halfway through the season. Drake goes to a place where
clearly the guy was in over his head. And this
guy gets to go to Dan Quinn, who had taken
a team to a super Bowl, had gone to Kingsbury,

(39:30):
who had coached in the NFL, had been a head
coach for a long long time as the play caller,
head coach in college, and the pros of just a
very stable place immediately because they don't have that much talent.
Mclaurin's a good player, but Zach Hurtz is like my age,
the brown guy. Most people that follow the NFL don't
know that much about defensively, Bobby Wagner's been in the

(39:53):
league forever. I mean he's on whole seventeen or eighteen
of his career.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
It gets best John at best, it's the twelfth to
fifteenth best roster in the league.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
At best, I think it's probably closer to low twenties.
And what he's doing and the coaching staff's doing. And
there's something in football right more than these other sports,
Like in baseball, I can't even if Bochie's my manager,
if I don't have the talent. I can't overachieve against
the Dodgers over six seven games. Right if I'm playing
the Kadie Warriors or the Shaq Kobe Lakers, I'm fucked.

(40:23):
Phil Jackson and doesn't John Wooden could be the coach
in football coaching staffs won just the belief coming into
a game. I think we saw it today with McDermott
and the Bills. They believe they could win that game.
That matters a lot. The Lions have had this for
a couple of years with Dan Campbell and then the
schematics of everything, But there is just an element that
they just got this guy. I mean they go for

(40:43):
it a lot on these fourth and shorts because they
got this guy. That's right, four fourth and two with
Jamis Winston or some random quarterbacks is not the same, Like,
I think part of the reason he's going for it
constantly is this guy. The Lions do it a lot.
They got the best defensive line in the league. They
got a star tight end, they got a star wide receiver,
they got multiple backs. It's a high percentage play. It's

(41:06):
not the same if you've got Tommy DeVito in that
offensive line, right, So things aren't all equal. I don't
think he's this crazy gun slinger. He's just going we
have one of the most dynamic players I've probably ever seen.

Speaker 2 (41:17):
Yeah, and I said this yesterday in my pod, you
knew you had something special when a veteran coach Dan
Quinn and you know a guy who had been a
head coach in two plays is Cliff Kingsbury. In camp
were effusive with their praise. I mean, the rule with
rookie quarterbacks is he'll get there, let's lower expectations. And

(41:38):
they kept talking to Dan Quinn zach Ertz told me
this last week. He's like, yeah, this is different. This
doesn't look like this. This is way better than a
rookie quarterback. And I remember people saying that about Andrew Lock,
how he memorized the Colts playbook in like two and
a half days. The instincts, the poise, to me, it's
just unprecedented. I've never seen anything like it. And again,

(42:00):
I wouldn't have guessed he would be the greatest rookie
quarterback of all time. In Week eight, they had played
bad against Pittsburgh, a couple of picks against the Cowboys.
He was banged up his last like eight weeks. It's like,
is he a top five quarterback in the league.

Speaker 3 (42:14):
He may be.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
I had a scouting buddy texted me last night and said,
you know, the Bears didn't even bring in Jade Daniels
for a visit, and listen, I'm not trying to write
off Caleb's career. We've seen Peyton Manning as bad as
a rookie by all means he can give.

Speaker 3 (42:30):
Caleb is not this accurate, no way.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
But your job as a GM Adam Peters took a
lot of crap because remember he had like all five
quarterbacks not named Caleb Williams. He took him to top golf.
That's kind of his job. Do we evaluate everybody who's
going to be available. So I think you look back
at Ryan Poles. It would have taken a lot of
balls to not take Caleb Williams. It was the easy pick.

(42:52):
But his job isn't to playgate to the media. His
job is to get it right and get the right player.
And they didn't even look at this guy and listen,
Caleb can become a good player. This guy is. It's
mind blowing because his team's not that talented. It'd be
one thing. It's like, well, he inherited this great roster.
They actually traded up from pick twenty to pick two
to get them. No, like this team was terrible. It's
essentially the same roster that we all made fun of

(43:14):
last year with Ron Rivera that ended up at number two.
And it's actually not because remember they traded sweat mid season.
They traded sweat Chase Young. They don't even have a
great defensive line. I mean, they don't have many defensive
line beside the tackles. It's crazy what he's doing. They're
the running backs for Eckler, who's a good little scat back. Yeah,
McK nichols, who Adam Peters likes. And Brian Robinson, who
a couple you know. Mid season started fumbling, so they

(43:35):
kind of kicked to the curve. It's not like they're
handing the ball to Saquon. That's not what's going on here.
It's crazy.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
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Speaker 3 (44:05):
Can't wait.

Speaker 2 (44:06):
The original Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce perfect for those who
demand great flavor with just the right amount of heat.
This stuff is remarkable. Let's talk Kansas City Houston. So
Houston had the worst special teams performance by any team
in the playoffs that I can remember, starting with the
opening kickoff by the Chiefs. They also had eight penalties.

(44:26):
There were a couple of calls. I thought the referees
over the course of the weekend let guys play, and
then they clearly on two instances got over protective of Mahomes.
You know, it's what happens when you're the marque player
in the league. The team only had Kansas City and
it had two hundred and twelve yards and Travis Kelcey
at one hundred and seventeen of them. It's interesting because dynasties,
it reminds me a lot of grong dynasties tend to

(44:49):
do this. New England had at Kansas City has it,
and I've seen this. You know, Steelers had this probably
if you go back to their dynasty, maybe the Niners
did you know that dynasty very well. In television terms
and local TV, you know, there's kind of a term
like red light guys, like when the red light of
the camera goes on you're on a live shot. My

(45:10):
buddy I worked with for years, Trace Gallagher, is a
good friend he's at Fox News. We bounced around the
country together, getting jobs in the same stations or markets.
And the first thing I noticed his first job in
Las Vegas is I'd never seen anybody that could get
dropped off in front of a hotel fire and we
could go twelve minutes with very little information and just talk.

(45:31):
And I'm like, that's a red light guy. And that's
Travis kelce Like when you look at this season, and
I mean there are there have been times the last
two years, John I've looked at him in Week four
and thought he looks overweight, Like I'm not even.

Speaker 3 (45:47):
I mean, well, I don't even know what you do
with him.

Speaker 2 (45:50):
It's like Gronk. You get those big mits and big games,
he gets open. He is just I mean, dynasties always
have one of these guys. And and by the way,
you can tell who Mahomes trusts he's getting. He's building
a trust.

Speaker 3 (46:09):
With Xavier Worthy.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
He really likes Kareem Haunt, but he is looking for
Travis kelcey on big plays.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
Yeah, to me, you hear a lot is like, why
how's he How's eighty seven always open in these big moments.
It's like, well, guys, he's not running just routes that
these teams have prepared for. Right, there are plays that
every team runs, and you know, if you're running this
defense kind of cheat here. This is where he wants
to go. He will go wherever you don't, and Mahomes

(46:42):
knows that, and then we'll go to him. So in
these biggest moments, it's like, well, we know what play
they're gonna run, and he should end up in this
like two yard radius instead in the hangar left, he'll
hang a right because he knows you know that, and
he'll be wide open. It kind of feels like almost
like John Stock and Karl Malone in the pick and Roll.
I'm sure there are some basic defensive rules for coaches,

(47:04):
but they knew each other so well. By the peak
of their powers. You could go left, they could go right,
and he knew he would go right. And that's what
it feels like in these big moments, because he gets open,
and it's not because someone's just screwing up. It's because
they're playing chess and you can't play on their level.
They're Bobby Fisher at this point, those two guys, because
on his big play that kind of exploded the game open.

(47:25):
He's not as fast as he once was. His top
ten speed used to be elite for a tight end
and now it's probably average, like NFL average. But his
instincts with the ball in his hands are still elite
as it gets. Just like Gronk, because he got older,
he couldn't move like he wants could, but he still
had the strength and he still had the size. That
was his separating factor, Travis. The separating factor is his

(47:47):
instinctive athleticism. He's like you know at this point Michael
Jordan nineteen ninety eight. Michael Jordan wasn't jumping and dunking
over guys then, but he was so much smarter than
you and his instincts were so elite that to me
is Travis. So it's like, yes, ninth one hundred yard
game does not look like the game in seventeen when
he was run by guys because he's not really running
by guys now, he's making moves to get around guys.

(48:09):
So I listen. He's one of the greatest champions this
league has ever seen. And Andy said it last night.
Mahomes said it. He's just he's not just a bright
lights guy like I just think he's smarter than you.
I think his football intellect in IQ is Peyton Manning,
Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Steve Young at tight end, which

(48:30):
I would say is pretty rare.

Speaker 2 (48:32):
Yeah, and you know, Kansas City gets ding done because
we say, you know, it's kind of lucky. But the
john they are taking leads on people. You know, that's
what they do. They kind of come out, they take
a lead on you a lot of the times. Now
they don't make many mistakes. And then what they do
in the second half is they start getting really situationally
great on third, on fourth down, on goal line stands.

(48:54):
And I think, Johnny, you and I have talked about this,
and I think this is now more true than ever.
The five things you have to be really good at
the NFL, like head coach, quarterback. You have to have
a stable ow line, one reliable weapon. It can be Kelsey,
it could be Puka, it could be Saquon Barkley. You
have to have a reliable weapon, and you have to
have some defensive presence on the D line, a difference maker,

(49:18):
which now the Lions don't really have. The Bills have
a Von Miller. The by the way, their weapons they're
running backs in Buffalo are underrated in my opinion. But
I think about Kansas City is this weekend two or
three things were really on display. Quarterback Jayden Daniels probably
was one of the stars of the weekend. But I
think when you watch McVeagh and Andy Reeve's teams, they

(49:42):
are so resourceful, like they just figure out ways to
convert and even if it's a field position, even if
it's stopping you on third or getting an extra first down.

Speaker 3 (49:53):
I just feel like they're always winning the margins. And
that's why it's not luck. They just do that regularly.

Speaker 1 (50:00):
Why I think one knock on Ay and Philly Fair
or not was the situational stuff. And I think situationally,
you look back, well like was it him or was
it you know, Donovan Nabb was really out of shape
in the Super Bowl and not make some great decisions.
You know, Michael Vick was just a hard guy to
coach because of the way he played. And I think
he's like he Bill wallsh finally found his found his

(50:22):
Joe Montana, Andy Reid found his Mahomes and now I
think he's situationally brilliant. And Demiko yesterday like it's it's
two sided. Demiko is a stud like that team showed
up ready to win. Dimiko is a high level coach.
I mean, I think one of the best, if not
the best young coach in the league. On defense. I
mean just Demiko is awesome. But kicking that ball into

(50:44):
the win for the field goal, It's like, this is
what are we doing here? It's almost like a par
five over the waters, like lay up. You know this
is not a good decision. And then late in the game,
who was calling that game, was Collinsworth or Brady whoever
was calling that game, was like, oh was Apeman. He's like,
I'd call time out because it was fourth and long, yes,
And Aikman's like I called they're all discombobulated. Call timeout.

(51:05):
You either got a call timeout or just take the
delay game and punt. He was just in no man's land.
And that was this is not week four or week ten.
That was John.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
I thought, I'm glad you mentioned that.

Speaker 3 (51:18):
That is mcvahan Reid.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
That's the difference between mcvaann Reid Aikman, a former quarterback
is screaming on TV, take a time out. You've got
to take a time out. The defensive coaches and I
like Demiko, but I swear if mcveighor Reid in that situation,
they would have called a time out. And when when
you're on the road and your special teams are a

(51:42):
grease fire, you have to get that play right. That's
one of those classic Nobody in Houston wants to talk
about it. It's about the officiating. That play is why
I tend to lean toward offensive coaches. It's that playoff football, situational,
circumstantial moment. I'm glad you brought that up, because that,
to me, was a seminal play in the game.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
I do think this, and I love Andy Naggi v
those guys are my guys. But the mahomes going out
of bounds and stopping is not just unbecoming. It's got
to stop it. It's got to be penalized. I remember
when it happened against the Niners earlier this season and
Nick Bosa said, it's all the officiating is against these

(52:27):
defensive players. I mean, there was a play today when
DeVante Smith got blown up. In the history of the
NFL up until three or four years ago, that's called
the hospital ball. When you throw that ball in the
middle of the field, and get him killed. Now it's
a fifteen yard penalty. The Mahomes thing of stopping at
the sideline, and look, they didn't end up calling a
penalty there, but one he's gonna get hurt. It's just stupid.

(52:48):
Just go out of bounds. It's it's and he does
this sometimes he stops and you stop and then he
gains a couple extra yards that I don't blame the
Chiefs and Mahomes like it's like Chris Paul and James Harden.
That's his version of what he's doing. The league has
to say, if that happens again, we're gonna penalize you.
And I don't know exactly how they do it. And listen,
I thought the second penalty on Mahomes, you know, the

(53:12):
the unnecessary roughness where they hit each other in the
head and he didn't even get really touched, was pretty egregious.
But that was the worst moment of all. And that
this is to me a Mahomes thing of like, I'm
pro you guys, but that's it's starting to get embarrassing
because it's like this is unfair. It's already not fair
to the defense what the rules are, but that moment

(53:34):
is like you talk, I'm all for loopholes in life.
That feels like a loophole that is just screwing over
people and that I honestly, I was surprised they didn't
throw the fifteen yard penalty.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
Okay, I want to touch on this. So we're gonna
start seeing here in the next week some coaches, I
imagine this this week. Do you think we'll see some
coaches take jobs? Because I saw a story today, and
there's so much information out there, I can't separate fact

(54:05):
from fiction, like rumor from substantial unless it's somebody I trust.
But one of the things floated out there is Ben
Johnson actually is leaning Raiders, And I thought, whoa, whoa
whoa toughest division, no quarterback, impulsive owner and one of
the poorest owners, mahomes Herbert, even bo Nicks. I'm like,

(54:26):
week quarterback draft, what in the hell are you doing?
Give me your feeling? And maybe that's the power of Brady,
who's clearly running the franchise right now. Like that, that's
clear obvious if you were Ben Johnson, Because I thought
I thought New England was the best job, and I
thought Rabel was the best candidate, Like I thought Harbaugh

(54:47):
was the best candidate in the Chargers was the best
job last year. I don't think it's hard to spot.
You could see it a mile away. Where would you
go if you were Ben Johnson. They're all somewhat dysfunctional.

Speaker 1 (54:58):
To me, I could understand go to the Raiders if
you told me Tom Brady lived in Las Vegas and
was gonna be doing this full time, and I essentially
answered to him. But that is not what is happening.
He's gonna stay in Florida and buy all reports, go
keep rocking with Fox. Mark Davis is the guy in
that building every single day. So even if you just go,
don't even factor in the roster or the division with

(55:21):
the coaches and the quarterbacks. The Mark Davis situation is
not one that I could get into business if I
have options. The problem is what are his other options?
The Bears. I'm sorry, like at least with if you
can't fix Caleb, it'll kind of be on you, not
him because of the hype coming in and you're gonna
have to coach him for a couple of years, and
what if you're not that indu him and you got

(55:43):
to answer to Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren. I'm sorry
the Jags, like if Trent Balky's there, I'm not taking
that job, say the Jets. He didn't even interview. So
I do understand the Raiders like Tom Brady. Maybe he's
just an all time great salesman. But if I was
recommending to Ben Johnson, I'd go, well, is he to
be there every day? Because if he's not, like Mark
Davis used to yell at assistant coaches on the plane,

(56:04):
and I'm not people are gonna say you're just a
Raider hater. No, I'm just telling you this that used
to happen a lot. Well, it's been reported on like
it's just a chaotic organization, right, I mean, it's just
I think going there, especially when then if you factor
in the division no quarterback, it's not like a quarterback draft.
Pretty nuts. And I would have been like, well, maybe
he can take his you know, Matt shabb with him

(56:26):
or whatever. His backup quarterback last night, Hendon Hooker. They
clearly don't trust him because they made him the third
string quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater, whose coach in high school
was the backup quarterback. That shows you it's not like
even likes the backup guy to take with him. So
I would say talent just on the roster the Bears,
but that situation's kind of messed up. The only good
thing the Raiders have going for him is you get

(56:48):
to essentially hire your GM as well. But like I've
seen that Dog and Pony show, Gruden and got to
hire what's his name from the NFL network, Josh McDaniel's
got to bring Ziegel. They all fail. You could argue
this cycles just awful. Maybe just stay with the Lions.
Don't touch any of these jobs. No, And I get

(57:08):
there's a lot of money on the line, Chefter saying
he's good as gone. I think all these jobs are terrible, Colin,
I mean not terrible.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
The only one I like, because remember we thought the
Washington job was a bit of a risk. I think
I actually think I've been lucky on this three years
in a row. I've picked the double digit win team
Denver this year, Rams last year, Minnesota before where there's
a team, and I think they are twice as good
as Vegas things. I actually think because the Jets in

(57:35):
Miami are pretty dysfunctional, and I actually think between Craft
Drake May.

Speaker 1 (57:42):
I'm not counting that one. I agree with you.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
Yeah, I think that's a pretty good job. Actually, I
think I think the next year they're gonna Patriots could
make the playoffs, because I mean, let's be honest about it,
like Steelers are going backwards.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
They can't.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
We know who's gonna win. Divisions like the AFC is
pretty damn predictable. If you told me the same four
teams ended up back here, I would say, I think
the Chargers with another four or five players with Harbor
Herbert will be better. But I just thought that that
rumor for Ben Johnson to the Raiders. I And it's
funny because I've bounced around the country before, and you know,

(58:15):
I get people and the things I always think about
whenever I join a job. I've had to replace really
good people. I replaced Tony Kornheiser at ESPN, even locally,
I replaced a couple of really talented people.

Speaker 3 (58:29):
It Fox.

Speaker 2 (58:29):
It was easier because the network was FS one was
kind of you know, it just wasn't substantial. But one
of the things I look at is you know who
was the predecessor, and so that's the one thing I
like about the job is you know you're going to
be a really clever offensive coach. But I got to

(58:50):
tell you there, they'd have to give up so much
draft capital to get cam Ward and they just don't
have a roster good enough.

Speaker 3 (58:57):
I just and yet, I don't.

Speaker 2 (58:59):
Know how you don't consider read Harbond, Sean Payton. How
do you not consider that?

Speaker 1 (59:05):
You know? I started texting around because Mike Porgazzi viaches
number two took the Titans job, and I texted my
buddies on different teams. I said, what's the difference, because
you would say the Titans job. I mean they've just
run through two GMS in like a year, so that's
a pretty risky job, right, even though they got the
number one overall pick. But it's not like viewed as
Andrew Lucker, Peyton Manning in this draft, cam Ward is

(59:25):
a very risky player. I mean, I've texted my friends.
They're college directors. Draft grades are all over the board
on that kid. This is not viewed in shador. And
they said, simply because as the number two, depending on
your organization, you make anywhere between seven hundred to one
million dollars depending on your experience. As a GM, you
get a five year contract. Usually somewhere three to four
million dollars, and that's obviously substantial, game changing money. But

(59:49):
as an assistant coach for Ben Johnson, let's say he's
making four or five million dollars, and it's for how
are the Lions not going to be good on offense
next year?

Speaker 3 (59:56):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (59:56):
They will? Yeah, his star wouldn't diminish. Now as a
head CoA, he might get ten to twelve. But that's
a big difference of like going from one hundred grand
to five hundred grand, which changes your life. He's making
five million dollars, he's at the office ninety hours. His
life doesn't change at all. When he makes twelve million dollars,
he gets more money in the bank. But he's thirty nine,
forty years old. He's going to be a head coach.

(01:00:16):
These jobs like, okay, you get a four year contract.
I see the Raiders fire someone every other year. I
see the Bears is not a conducive place to win.
The Jags with Trent Bulky, he will stab you in
the back if the offense looks terrible. If these jobs,
I don't He didn't interview with the Jets and the
Cowboys field dead set on Kellen Moore that like, these
jobs are places where people go to get fired and

(01:00:38):
it changes your career.

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
Yeah, I said this before. Next year is a much
better college quarterback class. And you also have the potential
that like Joe Burrow would need a coach.

Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:00:50):
There you kind of look around and you're like, oh,
there's next year is interesting. There could be some interesting
job openings. And if you look at the last two years,
I mean just think of the last four or five
jobs that a coach took that we considered really good jobs.
Matt Lafleur, Aaron Rodgers in his prime, Mike McCarthy, Dak

(01:01:10):
in his prime, Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert going into his prime,
and Mike Frabele Drake may looks like he could be
really special, kind of a Justin Herbert comp. What you
look at as a head coach is do they have
the quarterback? Right in the Raiders, you face two of
the top eight quarterbacks and the best quarterback and arguably

(01:01:34):
two of the top four coaches, and you don't have
a quarterback.

Speaker 3 (01:01:37):
Like to me, I.

Speaker 2 (01:01:38):
Listed a couple of weeks ago of the seven openings
one through seven, I put the Raiders last. So to me,
it's just Tom Brady has this gravitas or this aura
and Ben Johnson's kind of starry eyed. But I would
stand Detroit.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Yeah, I think the Bears is a sexy job in theory,
but also a lot like the Raiders' division's really good.
All three teams, I mean, you know, I know they've
went oh and three in the playoffs, like would Shakas
have had minimum two of those three teams are back
in the playoffs. Another job I would put as this
being like doesn't quite fit the criteria of dak or
definitely Aaron Rodgers, but Seattle ton of talent. They had

(01:02:15):
a guy that you can function with, and they have
a high level GM and a team that had just
been kind of winning not big, but nine games a
year and Mike McDonald that was a safe job. Seattle
last year is way better than any of these jobs
when you factor in GM that knows what he's doing,
a ton of talent on the roster in just a
stable place. I think I think the Bears and I

(01:02:36):
got a DM, an unsolicited beat DM that said they
thought this Raider thing, he could still end up in Chicago,
because listen, he's trying to get a lot of money.
I mean there is a chance that, you know, if
he gets a couple of teams bidding against him, that
his salary, instead of being ten million dollars, could be
like fifty. He could be one of the higher paid
coaches in the league, just based on like NFL free agency,
right when guys get overpaid because you got people driving

(01:02:57):
up the price. I don't know, man, I'd have a
hard time accepting any I couldn't do the Bears because
of the setup and the Raiders thing. I get it,
you bring in your guy, but that is a tough
building to change when the number one reason you'd be
doing it is because Tom and he lives on the
other side of the country.

Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
All right, so we go into Ohio state and Notre Dame.
I think we both probably like the Buckeyes. I'll throw
this out to you. I said this last week.

Speaker 3 (01:03:34):
On radio on TV.

Speaker 2 (01:03:37):
I don't think Marcus Freeman has the horses to win,
but if he kept it close or by chance won
I wonder if he's not the second best candidate to
Mike Rabel. I mean, there's a Sean McVay quality to
this guy that people that have met him are just
kind of blown away by him. Yeah, And first, do

(01:03:58):
you think Notre Dame has a chance? And do you
think if he again he put on a make vaylight
classic work. I mean they the fact that the Rams
had the ball late with a chance to win made
no sense, right like, it just made no sense at all.

Speaker 1 (01:04:18):
Did you follow your chair when he had Pooka down
the sideline?

Speaker 3 (01:04:20):
I could not believe you.

Speaker 2 (01:04:22):
I went, you have got to be kidding me. I
literally Tethern thought, this is going to be the ultimate theft.
They have no business being in this game, and I
don't think Notre Dame has any business being in that game.
If it was thirty to ten, I wouldn't be shocked
if you were Marcus Freeman knowing that Notre Dame the
academic umbrella, the religious realities. You know, the campus is

(01:04:47):
in a cold weather campus, not in the big ten.
If you're Marcus Freeman in won would you go to
the NFL?

Speaker 1 (01:04:54):
No, because these jobs are terrible. I think we just
saw Sark re up with Texas coach in college now
pays ten to twelve million dollars. You're the coach GM
and your owner does not exist. Now with the nil
situations why Belichick was kind of intrigued. It's actually much
more like the NFL, and you don't have an owner
breathing down today morning, yeah, with his three kids telling

(01:05:16):
you seven different ideas of what plays to call. I
actually think college has kind of changed in the sense
the money's huge and a place like Notre Dame you
can pay your coordinators. There's no different than the NFL.
Where's he gonna go? Like, I guess you'd go the
Bears right down the street, but I just don't think
the Bears a good job. He then has to answer
to Kevin Warren and deal with Ryan Poles where he's

(01:05:39):
the Ryan Polse and his Kevin Warren is who the
father you know, was like, as long as he's winning,
they leave him alone.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
And you know, I was thinking about this. Ryan Day
was going to get run out of town without the playoff,
right because he wouldn't have got into the Final four
because of that Home lost to Michigan and that in
a weird way, the twelve team playoff is a little
like March Madness. March Madness because it's so vast with
sixty eight teams. You know, guys like Jim Beheim you

(01:06:07):
could always say, well, I made the tournament. I've made
the tournament fourteen straight years.

Speaker 1 (01:06:12):
I think this, well, that's Calipari's thing for a decade.
He hasn't done shit.

Speaker 2 (01:06:16):
Yeah, I mean he was losing to Oakland School in Michigan.
He was losing. But in the end, you could always say, well,
I made the tournament. I made the tournament twenty two
years and I won a couple games in the tournament.
I made the sweet sixteen, which pretty isn't that hard
if you're like a Yukon and who you face in
the first two games. But I think if you get
to the twelve team playoff every year and you win

(01:06:36):
your opening game, it's hard to fire a guy because
the reality is Chad Melman and I talked about this.
Northern schools in the NIL most of them have more money.
I think it's twelve of the top twenty three schools
in terms of enrollment size are big ten schools. They
have a lot of graduates, a lot of those kids
make a lot of money. They give money back to

(01:06:57):
the university, and that I think. I think the money
between Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Oregon, even
I mean, God, USC's up in the twenty million. Now.
They may not spend it wisely, but they have a
lot of money in their collective. And my take is
nobody's going undefeated in college football. You will be able

(01:07:21):
to eventually get in with three losses, but certainly two
you can lose to your rival at home as a
twenty one point favorite Ohio State, and that I think
guys like if Ryan Day wins Natty, he set for
the next four years. I think this playoff was great
for college coaches.

Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
Well think about this, if you know, remember when baseball,
if there were no wildcards, you had to win your
division to get into the playoffs. If that would have
been in the NFL, Tom Coughlin wouldn't have made it
past like two thousand and eight. I mean he won
both his Super Bowls as a wild card, so forever.
Like you said, neither one of these teams would have
been in the final four. So I do give them

(01:07:59):
a five chance to notre Dame because I think you
saw with Texas. If you have a really good defense,
ugly the thing up. Just stay in the game and
then your quarterback needs to make some plays. Your guy
Riley Leonard's coming around on me. He made some big
throws in that game against Penn State, two huge throws.
If he can be superman, control the clock, run the ball.

(01:08:19):
You know, I heard people saying they run a lot
of man demand defense, where Texas played a lot of
zone against them and it's slowed down Jeremiah Smith, So
can they change their defensive game plan? Al Golden's a
really good defense. Like the coaching in this game, and
really in the Final four, I mean, all these coordinators
are seven figure guys. I thought the Final four in
college football felt like today in the end, it was

(01:08:41):
really high level two nights, and I do think, you know,
coaching belief, like if you're Notre Dame right now, you've
just beat Georgia and Penn State. You just talked about
the talent both those rosters. If you pulled the top
thirty college coaches, they would take Georgia and Penn State's
roster over Notre Dame right over Marcus from They have
to be believing that they can win. Now, this is

(01:09:02):
going to be the toughest test. But what if Will Howard,
who had a little stretch where he looked like Peyton
Manning in his prime, just has an off half a turnover.
Sometimes you just get a freaky fumble. First split second,
I thought the Ravens were gonna win, and then Mark
Andrews fumbles the ball right right. I thought the Rams
were gonna win, and then all of a sudden, Jalen
Carter sacks a big play and a key moment. These
are nineteen year old guys, not thirty two year old

(01:09:24):
four time pro bowler, guy worth one hundred million dollars,
who's seen you know, already been divorced, seen a lot
in his life. Things can change fast. We saw Ohio
State they gotten that weird game with Michigan and kind
of crumbled. The only thing is, I do think from
that moment on it's been like an enlightening moment for
the team. But I think you can say the same
thing about Notre Dame. That NIU loss right kind of

(01:09:45):
was an enlightening moment for them. They have not looked
back since. So I'm running for Notre Dame. I'm Ohio
State hater, but I just think it'd be a pretty
cool story. If Notre Dame it'd be one of the
bigger upsets. What are they eight and a half point.

Speaker 2 (01:09:58):
Underdock, Marcus Freeman with his energy, and I think you
see this now in college football a lot of these
older coaches like Brian Kelly, I'm not sure. I don't
think he wants the I mean, Chip Kelly wouldn't recruit
at the end. I don't think Brian Kelly's He's not.

Speaker 1 (01:10:14):
Dabble the best recruiters. It's Kirby, you know, Dabbo for
a long time, who's kind of viewed a little older now.
But Ryan Day, Steve Sarkisian. I mean that's the thing
with Lincoln. It's like Lincoln, you're young. Where's your energy
with this? Dan Lanning, It's like you guys, Kenny Dillingham,
I mean, you need some.

Speaker 3 (01:10:31):
It's a lot, It is all right.

Speaker 2 (01:10:33):
John Middlecoff love chopping it up for about an hour
and ten to fifteen minutes.

Speaker 3 (01:10:38):
Loved it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:38):
He has a podcast, three and out former NFL Scout
and Ohio State Notre Dame.

Speaker 1 (01:10:44):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:10:45):
We're doing this Sunday night on the docket for tomorrow.
Thanks buddy, see you tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:10:53):
The volume

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Colin Cowherd Podcast - Bills Outlast Ravens, Eagles Beat Rams, AFC/NFC Championship Picks, National Championship Preview

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