January 7, 2025 • 35 mins
Colin examines the Bears search for a new head coach and has some serious questions about the current approach they are taking. He gives you his Herd Hierarchy ranking the top 10 teams in the NFL after the conclusion of the regular season. Plus, Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to tell Colin why the Chiefs are not scared of the Bengals and if the Lions are the team everyone in America is rooting for.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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dot com, or stream us live every day on the
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for listening to the Herd podcast. Here we go to
(00:23):
Tuesday live in Los Angeles. It is the Herd wherever
you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks
for making us part of your day. My New Year's resolution,
no haircuts. I am going shaggy baby, and I don't care.
Jaymack in one hour, Nick Wright, Herd Hierarchy. I'm so
fired up. There are so many things percolating in the NFL,
(00:44):
with all these job openings.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It is crazy.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I don't know what's wilder.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Your your hair flow this morning, or you coming off
the birthday with a bunch of hot takes today.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, it was a hot take birthday for se Man.
I brought in a lot of smoke.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Man. Just give yourself a nickname Seaman.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Okay, everywhere everywhere people were nice to me yesterday.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So thank you very much, and we move on in life.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Okay, So I look at the Bears list for reported
interview requests for the Chicago Bears for their job head
coaching job. I mean I follow this league. There's a
couple of guys. I mean, there's not this many great candidates.
Why are you wasting your time? I mean Anthony Weaver
(01:30):
Dolphins defensive coordinator. Did you watch the Dolphins at any
point this year and go, man? That defense is something else?
Drew Petsing offensive coordinator Arizona. Folks, this is not American idol.
I'm not here for the fun tryouts. The hell you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
And you're you're.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Wasting time on second, third tier candidates. Somebody else is
hiring Mike Vrabel, What are you doing here?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
The Chargers last year in late November in the building,
we're talking about two candidates, Harbaugh and Vrabel. It was
late November early December, and they narrowed it down in
the office to two guys they really wanted. One is
great now and one Mike Rabel's the best candidate this year.
(02:23):
So you know what's the Bear's path. This is just
too broad of a list. It's unserrious. You can't have
thirteen people. Let's be honest about this year's candidates. There's
one a candidate, Mike Vrabel.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I do think Pete Carroll and Brian Floores are worth
a zoom call, but they're not a candidates. Flores too intense,
didn't work in Miami, though I like him and think
he deserves a second chance, and Pete Carroll again tends
to be too loyal to average assistance. I think he's
worth the zoom call. I am not hiring a coordinator
(02:55):
for the Bear's job, and I think Aaron Glenn is great.
Ben Johnson likewise, too big of a job, too big
of a list, and coordinator candidates are like half a candidate.
You don't know if it's gonna work. You know Mike
Frabl's gonna work. So I look at this Bears list.
When you're hiring a head coach. It's a little bit
like house hunting in a really competitive market. You don't
(03:18):
have time to waste. If you qualify for a five
million dollar house, skip the fixer uppers, don't even stop
off at the condos, get to the big boy houses.
Don't waste your time. It's a competitive market, so it's
I mean this list is a who's who of who's he?
What are we doing here? No waste of time for
the Chicago Bears, And you know it's it's this is
(03:43):
too big of a job for ninety percent of the
guys on this list, and you should have it narrowed down.
I mean, you got rid of Matt Eberflus the day
after Thanksgiving, and it's what January seventh. If if you
fire a coach the day after Thanksgiving and it's the
day that is officially too late to say Happy New
(04:04):
Years to people in the office, you're wasting your time.
Get to it. It's the prom. Either asked the girl
out or she's dancing with somebody else. But this list
is just it's unseerious. This is an unseerious list. I've
said before. It is too complicated, too political, too big, historically,
too wonky for a coordinator, even a great one, even
(04:28):
a great one. And you could say, well, look at
what Sean McVeigh did. Stan Kronky's one of the richest,
smartest owners in the NFL. Jeff Fisher sort of felt
a little outdated. Offensively, McVeigh knocked everybody's socks off, But
you had Stan Kronk. You had, you know, a number
one picket quarterback and some good players on the roster.
(04:49):
You needed a left tackle and a head coach. But
there was stuff working there, an organization that had had
some success. Chicago is this is an eight hundred pound lift.
I mean, this is a big lift. Albert Breer yesterday,
I mean this, this list I'm looking at now has
got un serious candidates. Here's Albert Breer yesterday on the
(05:12):
Bears job.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
They haven't won a playoff game in fourteen years, and
I think if they look in the mirror, that's what
they'll find, is that there are issues there that go
deeper than just one coach or how just one player
is developed.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
If they do.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
Bring in a guy who's a leader of men, who
works on the defensive side, that person is going to
have to come in with a very clear, concise plan
for the quarterback, and not just for the next year
or two, but going forward. If you lose an offensive coach,
how do you replace them?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
All of that stuff?
Speaker 1 (05:39):
There's you know, one of the things that it's it's
hard to say it out loud, but it's sort of true.
In every business I've ever been in, there's a really small,
finite number of candidates qualified for most jobs, and you
look at the resume and you make a couple of
calls and the list gets whittled down very quickly. The
(06:00):
Chargers figured it out after hiring like Anthony Lynn and
Brandon Staley. Dean Spanos figured out, I need a culture changer.
We are lost as a franchise. We are on fire.
I got to bring in the number one captain. I
got to bring in the fire captain in the big truck.
And they went Vrabel interviewed him and Jim Harbaugh and Vrabel,
(06:24):
by the way, they called Rabel after they decided on Harbaugh,
and they said, you were amazing, and if Jim Harbaugh
is not in the market, you are amazing. I heard
this from like six different people in the Chargers building.
They loved Rabel. They thought they were going to hire Rabel.
They loved him, and so, I mean they got down
(06:44):
very quickly to the two candidates. You're talking Jets and Bears.
You can't have thirteen people up for it. Are not thirteen
people on the planet that can turn around the Jets
and the Bears. Okay, I saw this story, and I
have heard something similar we've discussed it this week. I
think Jmax said this, The Minnesota Vikings are a fascinating
team this offseason. They got this brilliant offensive coach. They
(07:06):
have Sam Darnald, a reclamation project who until Sunday was
in the MVP race, and then they brought in Daniel
Jones in November, and then they drafted JJ McCarthy. Well,
according to Jeff Howe of the Athletic JJ McCarthy would
rank over Shador Sanders and Cam Ward by several executives
and coaches. That is what I have heard. That is
(07:29):
what I have heard from people i've asked that JJ
McCarthy would be higher ranked than the two quarterbacks. Doesn't
mean everybody's right or my sources are right, but that's
what you're hearing. And that's why this game for Sam
Darnald against the Rams is fascinating. And there are times
I get nervous for young athletes because I know so
(07:51):
much is on the line. Think about Sam Darnold, Southern
California kid, when he plays the Rams in LA. It's
one hundred million dollar football game. Kevin O'Connell could lose it,
So what McVeigh could lose it? So what Stafford could
lose it? If Sam Darnald loses plays poorly, I mean
that people are going to make a decision that it's
(08:13):
just all Kevin O'Connell and Justin Jefferson and Jordan Andison
and in the end, the elite competition, big stage, he
couldn't handle it.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
The market drives up.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I don't even know. I don't even know if the
Vikings keep it. But if Sam crushes, he's either getting
franchised for a year in Minnesota. I would guess maybe
they signed him to a contract franchise, or he goes
to the market, and you got teams like the Raiders.
Now they don't have a great draft pick, they may
spend a fortune on him, and I wouldn't doubt it.
So it's a one hundred million dollar a game. And
(08:45):
here's the thing that is cruel and unfair in sports,
but it is a fact. Sam Darnald was one kind
of quarterback for six years. Super athletic, big arm, but reckless,
big too many mistakes in big spots.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
That's what he was.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
And that's where my brain goes, and your brain goes,
and general manager's brains go. When we see the Detroit game,
Yeah too much. Jews can't make the play, missing open
wide receivers. That's where our brains go. And it's like,
it's almost like if you miss a big free throw
in the NBA Finals as a young player. Nick Anderson
(09:22):
did this for Orlando against Houston. You have to hit
so many big free throws for me to forget about
that free throw you missed in the finals. And Nick
Anderson didn't. And that's what I remember him for. And
he was a good guy and a good player, but
that's what I remember him for. And so if Sam
Donald beats the Rams wins a playoff game, then Detroit's
(09:45):
on one off. It was Detroit. It was the biggest
game in fifty years. The Lions have better players. I
forget all about it. But it's almost like Sam Darnold
has been type cast. It's like Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter.
He has got to be in so many movies for
me not to see Harry Potter every time I look
(10:07):
at him. You put him in a crime drama, I'm
like I was getting cast a spell on somebody. I mean,
I'm sorry, that's what I see. I mean, he got
to be in so many movies. And so this game
for Donald is making me nervous. I try not to
pick winners on this. I just want Donald to play well.
And Jmax over here got the Rams rolling in this game.
(10:29):
He's got me all freaking out. It's my birthday week.
I need some symmetry. I need I need calmb and this.
And the Darnald situation is if I see something for
six years and then all of a sudden, you're really
good and I'm starting to forget about it in all
all biggest game, that's roy brain goes, and that's where
(10:50):
GM's brains go. So the Vikings are a fascinating team
and I don't think they have the answers yet. I
think they're waiting for this Rams game and they want
to see it. And I don't think they were going
to be Detroit anyway. I don't think it was a
winnable game. I said it last week. Take the Lions.
This is going to be a crazy, standalone, once in
a generation game for the Lions. Good luck Sam Darnold,
(11:14):
but it's cruel. I still think Nick Anderson I think
miss free throw in the finals because he didn't go
back and hit thirteen big free throws in the finals
to make me forget Michael Jordan miss free.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Throws in the finals.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Lebron has missed dozens of big free throws, but he's
hit enough that I forgot about it. I mean Chris Webber,
the guy that called time out. If Chris Weber would
have gone on to win four titles in the NBA,
that barely makes his resume.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
But his NBA.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Career was a little sideways and wonky and underachieving. So
that's what I think of, And it's just it's unfair,
but that's where my brain goes. And Jmack the whole
time here has got a very confident smirk looking at it.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
You love the Rams in this game.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
You see the line, you see the screen.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
It was two and a half yesterday. Now it's one
and a half.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Obviously, you know just one point.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
But I'm just telling you there's a lot of support
for the Rams in this game at home. And you
don't want to bass Darnold too much because I know
he's your guy.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
You had a great season.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Listen, Lamar Jackson does this every year, amazing regular.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Season, show me the playoff success.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
When has he ever had an amazing playoff game in
a big spot.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Well, for a long time people said that to be
fair about Peyton Manning in the play, it was true
at the beginning.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Yeah, I mean that's wrong with that is it's a
fact he struggled the first five years he had zero
playoff wins.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah, it's not great.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
Take some time.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
That game is making me nervous as well.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
It should.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
We're going to try to go to that, right, do
you like to go to that?
Speaker 6 (12:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Use your superpowers to cook us.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Listen, I have superpowers.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
One day, my birthday, I can ask for stuff in
my broad I got free kke yesterday and a backpack.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
What if you sold the Rams? Both of our birthdays
are this week?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Could you hook us up?
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Make it happen.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yeah, it's a small game that nobody's going to thirty
one fourteen. Oh, come on, I don't want thirty one.
I'm not interested in that. I want thirty twenty seven.
Anybody could have won heroic performances by Stafford and Darnold.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Whose house, Ram's house? You have a ubnoxious?
Speaker 6 (13:17):
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Speaker 2 (13:26):
It's our playoff Herd Hierarchy. Here we go heard Hierarchy.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Time is now go the top ten.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
NFL teams according to College Number.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Ten, Tampa Bay. I put him in over Washington. They
play him this weekend. I'll tell you there's one stat
that I love about this team. They have the best
third down offense in the NFL. That the only team
on third down that converts over fifty percent.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Of the time. That is a big stat for me.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
You're moving the chains, You're often keeping it away from
Jayden Daniels. This is a team that situationally, is very
very good. It's why I like Tampa to beat Washington.
I put Tampa Bay at ten. Number nine, the Packers,
you know what, I liked them all year, but now
Jordan Loves banged up, Christian Watson is out.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Seven straight games for Jordan Love without a giveaway. That
is the longest streak of his career. So would it
shock me if they went to Philadelphia and Jalen Hurts
didn't play and they upset them. Know I said early
in the year, and I believe this. They're a year away,
but I'm gonna have them right now. There's so many
things I like about the organization, but boy, Philadelphia is
(14:39):
an opener.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
It's a big lift. I'll take Green Bay at nine,
number eight. The Chargers.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I don't think they have enough weaponry to get to
a Super Bowl. But listen, they lose to the right teams.
Five of those six losses came to the Chiefs twice.
You know, Ravens Tampa Bay blew them out. So I
think they're the best version of what they can be
right now. And they've got a lot of things. I
like a star quarterback, two excellent offensive tackles, Khalil Mack,
(15:08):
Derwin James in the back end, but I feel they're
running back a tight end, a wide receiver shy to
beata Kansas City or a Baltimore or a Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I have the Chargers at eight, number seven.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I'm gonna put the Rams one slot ahead of them
because right now they are so healthy, and when they
have Cooper Cup and Stafford and Kyron Williams and Puka Nakua.
They are fourteen and five and most of their losses
are close. Matt Stafford's playing well. I don't love their
first half offense this year. It feels like Stafford is
(15:39):
an old pitcher that needs to get to the fifth
inning to warm up. They just feel like they're not
quite capable of getting off to good starts. Another defense
keeps them in games and they usually win them. I
don't think you can be a bad first half offense
and win multiple playoff games. So whatever that is, they
got to solve it. I have the Rams at seven,
(16:00):
number six, the Vikings at six.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
The Rams. Vikings is a great game. Listen.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
They were zero to four in red zone trips and
Sam Darnald had too much juice and too much adrenaline
and missed open throws. But the only two teams they've
lost to this year the Lions a couple of times
in the Rams. So like we're talking about a very
good football team. Sam Donald did not have a good
game in a big spot. I didn't think it was
a winnable game. I thought it was the biggest football
(16:27):
game in Detroit. With a better roster in fifteen years.
All took the Vikings.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
At six, number five.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
We have to be on Speaking of history, you know,
the Ravens are the first team in league history with
four thousand passing yards and three thousand rushing yards in
the season that cannot be overlooked. This is just not
another team in the NFL. They are a passing powerhouse
and a running powerhouse, and they lead the NFL in
yards per carry. So if you're gonna beat Kansas City,
(16:53):
that is the way to do it. I'm not saying
they're going to but the way to do it is
you get four and a half yards of carry and
Patrick Mahomes is thrown on third and two and second
and four. That's the way to beat Kansas City. So
I think they're uniquely built. They're a better version of
what they've been in previous years. They're even better on
the ground than previous years. Number four the Eagles Jalen
(17:15):
Hurts concussion protocol. Maybe I think their roster would be
number one. I am a little worried about the Jalen
Hurts situation. Listen, if Hurts and aj Brown play, they're
eleven to zero and they have the best roster in
the league. So I've always said the final four teams
in my Blazing five, I believe of the Super Bowl teams,
those are teams that can win a Super Bowl. My
(17:36):
final four teams, you know, if I did this tomorrow,
and Jalen Hurts was out of protocol. I'd probably have
him at three, but I'll put him at four. Number
three Detroit now they're getting healthier on defense, and this
should be noted, this is how good of a coach
coordinator Aaron glenn is. I don't think they have great
defensive first nel. I think they have great offensive personnel.
They've allowed the lowest passer rating of any team in
(17:58):
the NFL this year, and that's what Hutchison, their top
pass rusher out for most of the year, and massive
injuries in.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
The back seven.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
This is a really, really well coached team and also
another team that matches up with like a Kansas City.
Two running backs, great on line like Baltimore, can play
some keep away Detroit at three. Number two Buffalo feels
like the best version of Buffalo. They're no longer reckless
fewest turnovers in a single season in NFL history, tied
(18:28):
for the second fewest turnovers eight, so they don't beat
themselves like previous seasons. They don't give the ball away,
they don't lie sacks. So I think this is the
best version of Baltimore and Buffalo this year. Is it
good enough to beat Kansas City. If I was a
betting person, I would say no. So let's go to
number one, and we all know who.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
It is Number one.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
They're seven to two against current playoff teams this season,
seven straight games without a turnover. I think their receiving
corps is more dynamic today than it's been the previous
two years. Their defense maybe not quite as good. The
AFC playoffs are gonna be one for the ages because
you know, I look at this team and I see
a little snazzier version of offense. Navy You're worthy now
(19:10):
is a better tool than previous years. I think they
now have a second tight end. I don't think their
offensive tackle situation is ideal, but it's good enough. But
I think Baltimore and Buffalo are the best versions of
Baltimore in Buffalo in years. And I do think a
little bit. They'd rather face a bow Nicks potentially than
a Joe Burrow. That's the advantage for the Chiefs, although
(19:32):
I would have taken them to beat Cincinnati.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
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Speaker 1 (19:38):
Nick Wright cohos First Things Verse joins us now long. Okay,
the wild card in that is Philly who I thought
Jalen Hurts played his best football in the last month,
but now he's in concussion protocol.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Anything jump out to you.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
So a number of things. One is, I think you're
letting people bully you, Colin. I don't think you actually
believe the Vikings are gonna beat the Rams, so just
put the Rams out of them. I think you're gonna
pick the Rams. And I think that you didn't do that.
You did having a ten and seventeam at him, a
fourteen and three team you didn't want to do you
(20:15):
love Darnold, And again I'm not we'll see, but my
guess is Friday, when the Blazing five happens and you're
staring at the Rams plus a point and a half,
you grab that. So I would flip flop the Rams
and the Vikings if you're doing what I think you're
gonna do. And then lastly, you mentioned that you said
(20:39):
something that so many people have said, and so I
will just ask it to you because it really this
narrative that the Chiefs didn't want Cincinnati in the playoffs,
despite the fact that the Chiefs have won three straight
against Cincinnati, that since Cincinnati last won a playoff game,
the Chiefs have won two Super Bowls. Yeah, and that
the Bengals now have the same playoff drought as the
(21:01):
Giants and the Jags. Set all that aside. In order
to play the Bengals, the Bengals would have to beat
the Bills. Don't you think the Chiefs would sign up
right now for a playoff path that involves guaranteed never
playing Buffalo and you get Cincinnati in round two because
(21:25):
that was the only path. The only way the chief
played the Bengals was that the Bengals went to Buffalo
and clipped the Bills. I would have loved that. I
wish the Bengals were a better organization so they could
have made the playoffs and made that happen. Unfortunately, they
needed the Chiefs JV team to beat bo Nicks and
they couldn't abide. But wouldn't that have been good for
the Chiefs for the Bengals to get in and beat Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Well, I think the advantage Kansas City has now is
Buffalo and Baltimore have shown, especially Baltimore, they get tight
against Kansas City. Cincinnati's playing with house money. If they
would have snuck in and Joe Burrow on house money
with great receivers is always a little scary. There's always
a playoff team that gets in and you know yeah,
(22:10):
and you're like, they got to know.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
That offense, who could slow it down. I mean, the
Steelers are falling apart. They hung a whole nineteen on
them and needed Russell Wilson for getting clock and score
to beat them, and they need I mean again, the Bengals.
The Bengals are the scariest team I've ever seen at
the moment the season and then fired half of the
coaching steps.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
They're so scary.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
They're like, we need to revamp everything, but whatever we can.
We don't have to talk about the teams that missed
the playoffs today, so we can leave the Bengals out
of it.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Let's talk about something we both have affection for is
the city of Chicago and the Bears. And it's a
it's a huge job. I suggested twenty minutes ago. I
said it sounded crazy if I would have said to
you years before it happened. Brett Favre will lead the
Vikings to the NFC Championship. The Niners will bail on
Joe Montana Kad will join the right Warriors. I don't
(23:01):
think it's crazy. If the Steelers got boxed, the Chicago
calls Pittsburgh and says we'll take Mike Tomlin. And by
the way, this league fired Andy Reid and Belichick. You
can have the discussion. They haven't beaten a good quarterback
in a playoff game in fifteen years. So I think
if I'm going to all these silly candidates the Bears
are interviewing, there's like thirteen and some of them, you're
(23:22):
like the offensive coordinator for Arizona, what are we doing here?
I mean again, this is not American idol. I don't
need to see all these tryouts. What's the point. So
my take is is Tomlin. If they get beat I
think they should consider Rabel or Tomlin. Am I nuts?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Well, No, I don't think you're nuts at all. I
understand and I agree with the idea that Ben Johnson
should be the number one candidate for two reasons. One
is the ideal, and you've talked about it, is pairing
your young quarterback with the offensive minded coach so you
don't have to worry about the quarterback learning new systems.
(24:02):
That is that is the ideal. It has the added
benefit of weakening the biggest competition within your own division.
So I totally get that Ben Johnson should be the
top candidate, But after him, I agree with you that
(24:22):
I would prefer a established, proven coach like a Mike Rabel,
certainly a Mike Tomlin if you could get him over.
We're gonna spin the offensive coordinator wheel and hope it
lands on a Kevin O'Connell rather than it landing on
a Brian Dable. We're gonna hope it lands on a
(24:44):
Matt Lafloor rather than landing on a Freddie Kitchens or
a Shane Steiken like the it is very in vogue
to just say, you know, they should go after Liam
Cohen or, as you said, the offensive coordinator from araz
but a year ago bears folks, A lot of people
are like, you know, they should hire Bobby Slowick. Look
(25:07):
at what he did in Chicago with CJ. Stroud. Well,
Bobby Slowicked all of a sudden didn't get a head
coaching job, and now he is on the hot seat
as the coordinator. So it's not quite as simple as
flavor of the month offensive coach. I do think Ben
Johnson would be a home run higher, but I am
not at all against Mike Rabel there. I think he
(25:29):
would be excellent. And obviously, if they could get Mike Tomlin,
I think Mike Tomlin's great. I think he's clearly one
of the five best coaches in the league, and so yeah,
I think that would be great. You also, you are
really dead set on the Bears trading for a coach.
You wanted them to trade for Kyle Shanahan, now you
want them trade for Mike Tomlin. You want the Bears
to have a proven winner, And I like it.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
I will say this, I'm more impressed with Aaron Glenn
in Detroit than Ben Johnson. And here's why. Aaron Glenn
hasn't had hutcheson or a secondary for two months, and
they have the best defense against quarterbacks in the league.
They allowed the lowest pass right. Ben Johnson's got the
best ole line, a number one receiver, two great backs,
the best tackle combo like it's you're playing with a
(26:13):
lot of nice toys here that I think a lot's fair,
and I think Aaron Glenn is remarkable.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
They lost hutcheson.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
All of us were like uh oh uh oh No,
they went and got B and C guys.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
They put it in.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
So I think what they did to Donald who was
on a heater for three months. Donald looked like he
was the Jets.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Donald.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
That's what I was about to say. That's what I
was about to say. You want Colin Coward to think
your defensive mastermind make Sam Darnld look bad.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I mean can't.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
I mean there's no surefire thing for Colin to be like,
that's the head coach right there, that if you can
make Sam Darnald of all people, only score nine points,
I mean, it's fair form.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
So I said this, the Jets haven't been good or
interesting in forever, Rex Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. You might
as well just HBO now and say start micing people
up for hard knocks.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
This is the greatest combination ever.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
When Rex Ryan puts his name out there for the Jets,
part of me thinks, okay, I would prefer Ben Johnson,
but he's gonna have offers and probably won't take it.
How do you solve prickly Aaron Rodgers impulsive owner, pretty
interesting roster. You're in the city, You're hearing all the
(27:27):
opinions how do you solve Aaron the Jets.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
You don't. You can't. He's gonna be a forty two
year old quarterback who has demonstrated over the last two
healthy years of football that he is at best the
seventeenth best quarterback in football with no leadership capabilities, and
that where the team eats itself alive. So you can't
solve that piece of it. But they're gonna need someone
to go, so i'd move on from Aaron, but you're
(27:53):
gonna need someone to coach the team either way, and
if Rex Ryan somehow talks his way into this job,
it'll be an all time I'd only going to be
a good decision. But you don't do politics on this
show smartly, and this isn't political, But I do want
to give people, if they don't know what, a brief
history lesson long time ago. Back in gosh, the late nineties,
(28:15):
when George W. Bush was running for president, he hired
a guy to run a committee to figure out who
his vice president should be. That guy's name was the
late Dick Cheney, and Dick Cheney did a bunch of
research and then was like, you know what, after interviewing
all the candidates, the best guy is me and he
ended up being vice president. It would appear that might
(28:37):
be what Mike Tannembaum and Rex Ryan are doing with
the Jets. Tannebaum gets hired to pick the next GM.
I'm thinking Mike Tannabom's gonna have a list, and at
the top of the list is gonna be Mike Tannembaum
and the coach that he had when he already was
the GM, Rex Ryan. If they get the old band
back together, being able to sell Woody Johnson on Hey,
(29:00):
I mean, you've just sucked since we left. I guess
it's an idea. It's not an idea I would sign
up for. You mentioned Aaron Glenn. How about Aaron Glenn
who played for the Jets, who has like actual sweat
equity with the franchise. That would make sense. But yeah, sure,
(29:21):
Mike Tannebaum, Rex Ryan and Aaron Rodgers, which would have
been an interesting combination in twenty ten running it back
in twenty twenty five. Why not?
Speaker 1 (29:31):
So so many things the Lions do embody the NFL
like I remember this years ago. It didn't bother me
because Steph Clay and Draymond were drafted and developed by
the Warriors, and they'd already won pre KD, but when
they signed Kevin Durant, it was kind of shocking to me.
(29:53):
Everywhere I went for several years out in the public,
they were like, eh, NBA stinks. I refuse to watch
a league where they basically bought a dynasty, and I'm
like time out. Steph Clan Draymond were drafted and developed
Draymond's second round. People didn't like it. Detroit, a city
(30:13):
that builds cars, has built a football team three wins,
you know, nine wins, eleven fourteen. I honestly think and
I was thinking about you this morning, if the Chiefs
were to get beat Detroit would be the team that
you would be like, Okay, good American story. You're a midwesternery.
(30:36):
It's sweat equity. They put the time in. Just imagine
losing the Super Bowl because I think Detroit is speaking
to the country. I just saw the rating for the
game Detroit and Minnesota. It was a bad game. The
ratings insane. America loves this team. Do you love them?
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Oh, I respect them? And I thought Dan Campbell was
incredibly right list last Monday playing his guys. But listen,
the guy drew to an inside straight and it worked
out perfectly. He got out of that game, you know,
mostly healthy, and it clear listened. They came out with
their hair on fire and their biggest game of the
(31:14):
year they won. Now they get the buye and you
got to give credit. I love the fact that the
Lions are that they are who they are without apology
when it comes to the aggressiveness offensively on the fourth downs,
and I do like to bring them up again. The
fact that Aaron Glenn has recognized, you know what, our
(31:36):
defense isn't good enough because of the injuries to play
you straight up. So we're gonna do to bring up
the Chiefs the way the Chiefs before they had good
defensive players won a Super Bowl in twenty nineteen, which
is it's gonna be boom bust. We're gonna send the
house repeatedly and maybe we'll get beat, but maybe we'll
force a turnover, maybe we'll tip a pass, and that's
(31:59):
how we're gonna make up were a lack of talent
on defense because the Lions, because they've suffered all those injuries.
So I do have massive respect for what the Lions
have done and how they have embodied their coaches culture,
and I respect for Brad Holmes, the GM who said
I don't care that people are gonna roll their eyes
(32:19):
at a draft that goes running back, inside backer, tight end, safety,
because those are devalued positions. I'm going to get the
best or second best player in the draft at all
four spots, and while everyone else is taking defensive and
seven and wide receiver six, I'm gonna get starters. So
(32:40):
I truly respect all of that. Do I like them? No,
I don't like anyone but my team that's about to
win Thursday Super Bowl. Like I don't like any of
these teams. But I will tell you as far as
if it is one versus one Chiefs Lions, it is
going to be when they show those maps of who's
(33:01):
rooting for who, the Chiefs will have Missouri in Kansas,
and the Lions will have all other forty eight states.
Will even though they're fifteen and two, it will feel
like the underdog because of who they are. And yeah,
if someone's got to win a Super Bowl, that's not
the Chiefs. I suppose it'd be fine if it'd be
(33:22):
the Lions, but unfortunately, the Chiefs win all the Super
Bowls and so they're probably just not going.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
To Okay, Well, I love that confidence you.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
You know, you're a great poker player, so you have
confidence even with losing hands.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
And I think that's.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Imperative to be a great poker player. And I also
think to be a sportscaster. Your history is you believe
even in rough, turbulent waters.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Oh yeah, I mean, well, yeah, that's the thing. It
was really hard to believe in the Chiefs this year
started fifteen and one, and all year long everyone was saying,
what's wrong with them?
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Real quick?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
If I made before I go, happy belated birthday. My wife,
who you always say such kind things about, said to
me yesterday she said, you know, it's Colin's birthday. And
I was like, oh, I didn't because I'm a man
and I don't remember such things. And she said, she said,
are you gonna call him? And I was like, no,
(34:19):
I don't think I'm gonna call him. She was like
that's She's like, Nick, he's your friend, you need to
call him. And I'm like, I think he would find
that odd. She was like, at least text him. So
that birthday text you got from me yesterday was really
just because she told me to like, I it doesn't
feel like I love you with all my heart. And
(34:39):
it really felt weird even sending you that. I was like,
I'll talk to him on TV the next day. But
happy birthday.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Well I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
I'm one of these guys that says I don't care
about birthdays. And then I got all these texts and
these nice gifts, and I will be honest with you,
it was very nice, So I appreciated it.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Nice gifts. Yeah, wow, I guess I fell short. I
just sent a text. I wasn't even gonna send all
pay for that bottle of wine you were stunting on Twitter.
If you just send me an invoice, I'll buy that retroactively.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
See you, buddy, See you buddy, I'll send nick write
an invoice. That's what I'll do now. People were really
nice yesterday. You know, most kids that I paid college
tuitions for were nice. But I mean there was something
in it, you know, But no, the point, people are
very thought and I'm one of these guys that saya,
I'm always out there I don't care about birthdays, and
then people say nice stuff and it warms your heart.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
So who am I kidding? I'm a big soft nothing.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I'm out here like I don't care, I have no emotions,
and I get all teary eyed when I get a
backpack from a friend.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Give me a break.
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks
for listening to the Herd podcast. Here we go to
(00:23):
Tuesday live in Los Angeles. It is the Herd wherever
you may be and however you may be listening. Thanks
for making us part of your day. My New Year's resolution,
no haircuts. I am going shaggy baby, and I don't care.
Jaymack in one hour, Nick Wright, Herd Hierarchy. I'm so
fired up. There are so many things percolating in the NFL,
(00:44):
with all these job openings.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It is crazy.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
I don't know what's wilder.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Your your hair flow this morning, or you coming off
the birthday with a bunch of hot takes today.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, it was a hot take birthday for se Man.
I brought in a lot of smoke.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Man. Just give yourself a nickname Seaman.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Okay, everywhere everywhere people were nice to me yesterday.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
So thank you very much, and we move on in life.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Okay, So I look at the Bears list for reported
interview requests for the Chicago Bears for their job head
coaching job. I mean I follow this league. There's a
couple of guys. I mean, there's not this many great candidates.
Why are you wasting your time? I mean Anthony Weaver
(01:30):
Dolphins defensive coordinator. Did you watch the Dolphins at any
point this year and go, man? That defense is something else?
Drew Petsing offensive coordinator Arizona. Folks, this is not American idol.
I'm not here for the fun tryouts. The hell you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
And you're you're.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Wasting time on second, third tier candidates. Somebody else is
hiring Mike Vrabel, What are you doing here?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
The Chargers last year in late November in the building,
we're talking about two candidates, Harbaugh and Vrabel. It was
late November early December, and they narrowed it down in
the office to two guys they really wanted. One is
great now and one Mike Rabel's the best candidate this year.
(02:23):
So you know what's the Bear's path. This is just
too broad of a list. It's unserrious. You can't have
thirteen people. Let's be honest about this year's candidates. There's
one a candidate, Mike Vrabel.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
I do think Pete Carroll and Brian Floores are worth
a zoom call, but they're not a candidates. Flores too intense,
didn't work in Miami, though I like him and think
he deserves a second chance, and Pete Carroll again tends
to be too loyal to average assistance. I think he's
worth the zoom call. I am not hiring a coordinator
(02:55):
for the Bear's job, and I think Aaron Glenn is great.
Ben Johnson likewise, too big of a job, too big
of a list, and coordinator candidates are like half a candidate.
You don't know if it's gonna work. You know Mike
Frabl's gonna work. So I look at this Bears list.
When you're hiring a head coach. It's a little bit
like house hunting in a really competitive market. You don't
(03:18):
have time to waste. If you qualify for a five
million dollar house, skip the fixer uppers, don't even stop
off at the condos, get to the big boy houses.
Don't waste your time. It's a competitive market, so it's
I mean this list is a who's who of who's he?
What are we doing here? No waste of time for
the Chicago Bears, And you know it's it's this is
(03:43):
too big of a job for ninety percent of the
guys on this list, and you should have it narrowed down.
I mean, you got rid of Matt Eberflus the day
after Thanksgiving, and it's what January seventh. If if you
fire a coach the day after Thanksgiving and it's the
day that is officially too late to say Happy New
(04:04):
Years to people in the office, you're wasting your time.
Get to it. It's the prom. Either asked the girl
out or she's dancing with somebody else. But this list
is just it's unseerious. This is an unseerious list. I've
said before. It is too complicated, too political, too big, historically,
too wonky for a coordinator, even a great one, even
(04:28):
a great one. And you could say, well, look at
what Sean McVeigh did. Stan Kronky's one of the richest,
smartest owners in the NFL. Jeff Fisher sort of felt
a little outdated. Offensively, McVeigh knocked everybody's socks off, But
you had Stan Kronk. You had, you know, a number
one picket quarterback and some good players on the roster.
(04:49):
You needed a left tackle and a head coach. But
there was stuff working there, an organization that had had
some success. Chicago is this is an eight hundred pound lift.
I mean, this is a big lift. Albert Breer yesterday,
I mean this, this list I'm looking at now has
got un serious candidates. Here's Albert Breer yesterday on the
(05:12):
Bears job.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
They haven't won a playoff game in fourteen years, and
I think if they look in the mirror, that's what
they'll find, is that there are issues there that go
deeper than just one coach or how just one player
is developed.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
If they do.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
Bring in a guy who's a leader of men, who
works on the defensive side, that person is going to
have to come in with a very clear, concise plan
for the quarterback, and not just for the next year
or two, but going forward. If you lose an offensive coach,
how do you replace them?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
All of that stuff?
Speaker 1 (05:39):
There's you know, one of the things that it's it's
hard to say it out loud, but it's sort of true.
In every business I've ever been in, there's a really small,
finite number of candidates qualified for most jobs, and you
look at the resume and you make a couple of
calls and the list gets whittled down very quickly. The
(06:00):
Chargers figured it out after hiring like Anthony Lynn and
Brandon Staley. Dean Spanos figured out, I need a culture changer.
We are lost as a franchise. We are on fire.
I got to bring in the number one captain. I
got to bring in the fire captain in the big truck.
And they went Vrabel interviewed him and Jim Harbaugh and Vrabel,
(06:24):
by the way, they called Rabel after they decided on Harbaugh,
and they said, you were amazing, and if Jim Harbaugh
is not in the market, you are amazing. I heard
this from like six different people in the Chargers building.
They loved Rabel. They thought they were going to hire Rabel.
They loved him, and so, I mean they got down
(06:44):
very quickly to the two candidates. You're talking Jets and Bears.
You can't have thirteen people up for it. Are not thirteen
people on the planet that can turn around the Jets
and the Bears. Okay, I saw this story, and I
have heard something similar we've discussed it this week. I
think Jmax said this, The Minnesota Vikings are a fascinating
team this offseason. They got this brilliant offensive coach. They
(07:06):
have Sam Darnald, a reclamation project who until Sunday was
in the MVP race, and then they brought in Daniel
Jones in November, and then they drafted JJ McCarthy. Well,
according to Jeff Howe of the Athletic JJ McCarthy would
rank over Shador Sanders and Cam Ward by several executives
and coaches. That is what I have heard. That is
(07:29):
what I have heard from people i've asked that JJ
McCarthy would be higher ranked than the two quarterbacks. Doesn't
mean everybody's right or my sources are right, but that's
what you're hearing. And that's why this game for Sam
Darnald against the Rams is fascinating. And there are times
I get nervous for young athletes because I know so
(07:51):
much is on the line. Think about Sam Darnold, Southern
California kid, when he plays the Rams in LA. It's
one hundred million dollar football game. Kevin O'Connell could lose it,
So what McVeigh could lose it? So what Stafford could
lose it? If Sam Darnald loses plays poorly, I mean
that people are going to make a decision that it's
(08:13):
just all Kevin O'Connell and Justin Jefferson and Jordan Andison
and in the end, the elite competition, big stage, he
couldn't handle it.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
The market drives up.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I don't even know. I don't even know if the
Vikings keep it. But if Sam crushes, he's either getting
franchised for a year in Minnesota. I would guess maybe
they signed him to a contract franchise, or he goes
to the market, and you got teams like the Raiders.
Now they don't have a great draft pick, they may
spend a fortune on him, and I wouldn't doubt it.
So it's a one hundred million dollar a game. And
(08:45):
here's the thing that is cruel and unfair in sports,
but it is a fact. Sam Darnald was one kind
of quarterback for six years. Super athletic, big arm, but reckless,
big too many mistakes in big spots.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
That's what he was.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
And that's where my brain goes, and your brain goes,
and general manager's brains go. When we see the Detroit game,
Yeah too much. Jews can't make the play, missing open
wide receivers. That's where our brains go. And it's like,
it's almost like if you miss a big free throw
in the NBA Finals as a young player. Nick Anderson
(09:22):
did this for Orlando against Houston. You have to hit
so many big free throws for me to forget about
that free throw you missed in the finals. And Nick
Anderson didn't. And that's what I remember him for. And
he was a good guy and a good player, but
that's what I remember him for. And so if Sam
Donald beats the Rams wins a playoff game, then Detroit's
(09:45):
on one off. It was Detroit. It was the biggest
game in fifty years. The Lions have better players. I
forget all about it. But it's almost like Sam Darnold
has been type cast. It's like Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter.
He has got to be in so many movies for
me not to see Harry Potter every time I look
(10:07):
at him. You put him in a crime drama, I'm
like I was getting cast a spell on somebody. I mean,
I'm sorry, that's what I see. I mean, he got
to be in so many movies. And so this game
for Donald is making me nervous. I try not to
pick winners on this. I just want Donald to play well.
And Jmax over here got the Rams rolling in this game.
(10:29):
He's got me all freaking out. It's my birthday week.
I need some symmetry. I need I need calmb and this.
And the Darnald situation is if I see something for
six years and then all of a sudden, you're really
good and I'm starting to forget about it in all
all biggest game, that's roy brain goes, and that's where
(10:50):
GM's brains go. So the Vikings are a fascinating team
and I don't think they have the answers yet. I
think they're waiting for this Rams game and they want
to see it. And I don't think they were going
to be Detroit anyway. I don't think it was a
winnable game. I said it last week. Take the Lions.
This is going to be a crazy, standalone, once in
a generation game for the Lions. Good luck Sam Darnold,
(11:14):
but it's cruel. I still think Nick Anderson I think
miss free throw in the finals because he didn't go
back and hit thirteen big free throws in the finals
to make me forget Michael Jordan miss free.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Throws in the finals.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Lebron has missed dozens of big free throws, but he's
hit enough that I forgot about it. I mean Chris Webber,
the guy that called time out. If Chris Weber would
have gone on to win four titles in the NBA,
that barely makes his resume.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
But his NBA.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Career was a little sideways and wonky and underachieving. So
that's what I think of, And it's just it's unfair,
but that's where my brain goes. And Jmack the whole
time here has got a very confident smirk looking at it.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
You love the Rams in this game.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
You see the line, you see the screen.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
It was two and a half yesterday. Now it's one
and a half.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Obviously, you know just one point.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
But I'm just telling you there's a lot of support
for the Rams in this game at home. And you
don't want to bass Darnold too much because I know
he's your guy.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
You had a great season.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Listen, Lamar Jackson does this every year, amazing regular.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Season, show me the playoff success.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
When has he ever had an amazing playoff game in
a big spot.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Well, for a long time people said that to be
fair about Peyton Manning in the play, it was true
at the beginning.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Yeah, I mean that's wrong with that is it's a
fact he struggled the first five years he had zero
playoff wins.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah, it's not great.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
Take some time.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
That game is making me nervous as well.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
It should.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
We're going to try to go to that, right, do
you like to go to that?
Speaker 6 (12:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Use your superpowers to cook us.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Listen, I have superpowers.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
One day, my birthday, I can ask for stuff in
my broad I got free kke yesterday and a backpack.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
What if you sold the Rams? Both of our birthdays
are this week?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Could you hook us up?
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Make it happen.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yeah, it's a small game that nobody's going to thirty
one fourteen. Oh, come on, I don't want thirty one.
I'm not interested in that. I want thirty twenty seven.
Anybody could have won heroic performances by Stafford and Darnold.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Whose house, Ram's house? You have a ubnoxious?
Speaker 6 (13:17):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and The iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
It's our playoff Herd Hierarchy. Here we go heard Hierarchy.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Time is now go the top ten.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
NFL teams according to College Number.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Ten, Tampa Bay. I put him in over Washington. They
play him this weekend. I'll tell you there's one stat
that I love about this team. They have the best
third down offense in the NFL. That the only team
on third down that converts over fifty percent.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Of the time. That is a big stat for me.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
You're moving the chains, You're often keeping it away from
Jayden Daniels. This is a team that situationally, is very
very good. It's why I like Tampa to beat Washington.
I put Tampa Bay at ten. Number nine, the Packers,
you know what, I liked them all year, but now
Jordan Loves banged up, Christian Watson is out.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Seven straight games for Jordan Love without a giveaway. That
is the longest streak of his career. So would it
shock me if they went to Philadelphia and Jalen Hurts
didn't play and they upset them. Know I said early
in the year, and I believe this. They're a year away,
but I'm gonna have them right now. There's so many
things I like about the organization, but boy, Philadelphia is
(14:39):
an opener.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
It's a big lift. I'll take Green Bay at nine,
number eight. The Chargers.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I don't think they have enough weaponry to get to
a Super Bowl. But listen, they lose to the right teams.
Five of those six losses came to the Chiefs twice.
You know, Ravens Tampa Bay blew them out. So I
think they're the best version of what they can be
right now. And they've got a lot of things. I
like a star quarterback, two excellent offensive tackles, Khalil Mack,
(15:08):
Derwin James in the back end, but I feel they're
running back a tight end, a wide receiver shy to
beata Kansas City or a Baltimore or a Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
I have the Chargers at eight, number seven.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I'm gonna put the Rams one slot ahead of them
because right now they are so healthy, and when they
have Cooper Cup and Stafford and Kyron Williams and Puka Nakua.
They are fourteen and five and most of their losses
are close. Matt Stafford's playing well. I don't love their
first half offense this year. It feels like Stafford is
(15:39):
an old pitcher that needs to get to the fifth
inning to warm up. They just feel like they're not
quite capable of getting off to good starts. Another defense
keeps them in games and they usually win them. I
don't think you can be a bad first half offense
and win multiple playoff games. So whatever that is, they
got to solve it. I have the Rams at seven,
(16:00):
number six, the Vikings at six.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
The Rams. Vikings is a great game. Listen.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
They were zero to four in red zone trips and
Sam Darnald had too much juice and too much adrenaline
and missed open throws. But the only two teams they've
lost to this year the Lions a couple of times
in the Rams. So like we're talking about a very
good football team. Sam Donald did not have a good
game in a big spot. I didn't think it was
a winnable game. I thought it was the biggest football
(16:27):
game in Detroit. With a better roster in fifteen years.
All took the Vikings.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
At six, number five.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
We have to be on Speaking of history, you know,
the Ravens are the first team in league history with
four thousand passing yards and three thousand rushing yards in
the season that cannot be overlooked. This is just not
another team in the NFL. They are a passing powerhouse
and a running powerhouse, and they lead the NFL in
yards per carry. So if you're gonna beat Kansas City,
(16:53):
that is the way to do it. I'm not saying
they're going to but the way to do it is
you get four and a half yards of carry and
Patrick Mahomes is thrown on third and two and second
and four. That's the way to beat Kansas City. So
I think they're uniquely built. They're a better version of
what they've been in previous years. They're even better on
the ground than previous years. Number four the Eagles Jalen
(17:15):
Hurts concussion protocol. Maybe I think their roster would be
number one. I am a little worried about the Jalen
Hurts situation. Listen, if Hurts and aj Brown play, they're
eleven to zero and they have the best roster in
the league. So I've always said the final four teams
in my Blazing five, I believe of the Super Bowl teams,
those are teams that can win a Super Bowl. My
(17:36):
final four teams, you know, if I did this tomorrow,
and Jalen Hurts was out of protocol. I'd probably have
him at three, but I'll put him at four. Number
three Detroit now they're getting healthier on defense, and this
should be noted, this is how good of a coach
coordinator Aaron glenn is. I don't think they have great
defensive first nel. I think they have great offensive personnel.
They've allowed the lowest passer rating of any team in
(17:58):
the NFL this year, and that's what Hutchison, their top
pass rusher out for most of the year, and massive
injuries in.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
The back seven.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
This is a really, really well coached team and also
another team that matches up with like a Kansas City.
Two running backs, great on line like Baltimore, can play
some keep away Detroit at three. Number two Buffalo feels
like the best version of Buffalo. They're no longer reckless
fewest turnovers in a single season in NFL history, tied
(18:28):
for the second fewest turnovers eight, so they don't beat
themselves like previous seasons. They don't give the ball away,
they don't lie sacks. So I think this is the
best version of Baltimore and Buffalo this year. Is it
good enough to beat Kansas City. If I was a
betting person, I would say no. So let's go to
number one, and we all know who.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
It is Number one.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
They're seven to two against current playoff teams this season,
seven straight games without a turnover. I think their receiving
corps is more dynamic today than it's been the previous
two years. Their defense maybe not quite as good. The
AFC playoffs are gonna be one for the ages because
you know, I look at this team and I see
a little snazzier version of offense. Navy You're worthy now
(19:10):
is a better tool than previous years. I think they
now have a second tight end. I don't think their
offensive tackle situation is ideal, but it's good enough. But
I think Baltimore and Buffalo are the best versions of
Baltimore in Buffalo in years. And I do think a
little bit. They'd rather face a bow Nicks potentially than
a Joe Burrow. That's the advantage for the Chiefs, although
(19:32):
I would have taken them to beat Cincinnati.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd Weekdays
and Neon Easter not a im Pacific.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Nick Wright cohos First Things Verse joins us now long. Okay,
the wild card in that is Philly who I thought
Jalen Hurts played his best football in the last month,
but now he's in concussion protocol.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Anything jump out to you.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
So a number of things. One is, I think you're
letting people bully you, Colin. I don't think you actually
believe the Vikings are gonna beat the Rams, so just
put the Rams out of them. I think you're gonna
pick the Rams. And I think that you didn't do that.
You did having a ten and seventeam at him, a
fourteen and three team you didn't want to do you
(20:15):
love Darnold, And again I'm not we'll see, but my
guess is Friday, when the Blazing five happens and you're
staring at the Rams plus a point and a half,
you grab that. So I would flip flop the Rams
and the Vikings if you're doing what I think you're
gonna do. And then lastly, you mentioned that you said
(20:39):
something that so many people have said, and so I
will just ask it to you because it really this
narrative that the Chiefs didn't want Cincinnati in the playoffs,
despite the fact that the Chiefs have won three straight
against Cincinnati, that since Cincinnati last won a playoff game,
the Chiefs have won two Super Bowls. Yeah, and that
the Bengals now have the same playoff drought as the
(21:01):
Giants and the Jags. Set all that aside. In order
to play the Bengals, the Bengals would have to beat
the Bills. Don't you think the Chiefs would sign up
right now for a playoff path that involves guaranteed never
playing Buffalo and you get Cincinnati in round two because
(21:25):
that was the only path. The only way the chief
played the Bengals was that the Bengals went to Buffalo
and clipped the Bills. I would have loved that. I
wish the Bengals were a better organization so they could
have made the playoffs and made that happen. Unfortunately, they
needed the Chiefs JV team to beat bo Nicks and
they couldn't abide. But wouldn't that have been good for
the Chiefs for the Bengals to get in and beat Buffalo.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Well, I think the advantage Kansas City has now is
Buffalo and Baltimore have shown, especially Baltimore, they get tight
against Kansas City. Cincinnati's playing with house money. If they
would have snuck in and Joe Burrow on house money
with great receivers is always a little scary. There's always
a playoff team that gets in and you know yeah,
(22:10):
and you're like, they got to know.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
That offense, who could slow it down. I mean, the
Steelers are falling apart. They hung a whole nineteen on
them and needed Russell Wilson for getting clock and score
to beat them, and they need I mean again, the Bengals.
The Bengals are the scariest team I've ever seen at
the moment the season and then fired half of the
coaching steps.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
They're so scary.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
They're like, we need to revamp everything, but whatever we can.
We don't have to talk about the teams that missed
the playoffs today, so we can leave the Bengals out
of it.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Let's talk about something we both have affection for is
the city of Chicago and the Bears. And it's a
it's a huge job. I suggested twenty minutes ago. I
said it sounded crazy if I would have said to
you years before it happened. Brett Favre will lead the
Vikings to the NFC Championship. The Niners will bail on
Joe Montana Kad will join the right Warriors. I don't
(23:01):
think it's crazy. If the Steelers got boxed, the Chicago
calls Pittsburgh and says we'll take Mike Tomlin. And by
the way, this league fired Andy Reid and Belichick. You
can have the discussion. They haven't beaten a good quarterback
in a playoff game in fifteen years. So I think
if I'm going to all these silly candidates the Bears
are interviewing, there's like thirteen and some of them, you're
(23:22):
like the offensive coordinator for Arizona, what are we doing here?
I mean again, this is not American idol. I don't
need to see all these tryouts. What's the point. So
my take is is Tomlin. If they get beat I
think they should consider Rabel or Tomlin. Am I nuts?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Well, No, I don't think you're nuts at all. I
understand and I agree with the idea that Ben Johnson
should be the number one candidate for two reasons. One
is the ideal, and you've talked about it, is pairing
your young quarterback with the offensive minded coach so you
don't have to worry about the quarterback learning new systems.
(24:02):
That is that is the ideal. It has the added
benefit of weakening the biggest competition within your own division.
So I totally get that Ben Johnson should be the
top candidate, But after him, I agree with you that
(24:22):
I would prefer a established, proven coach like a Mike Rabel,
certainly a Mike Tomlin if you could get him over.
We're gonna spin the offensive coordinator wheel and hope it
lands on a Kevin O'Connell rather than it landing on
a Brian Dable. We're gonna hope it lands on a
(24:44):
Matt Lafloor rather than landing on a Freddie Kitchens or
a Shane Steiken like the it is very in vogue
to just say, you know, they should go after Liam
Cohen or, as you said, the offensive coordinator from araz
but a year ago bears folks, A lot of people
are like, you know, they should hire Bobby Slowick. Look
(25:07):
at what he did in Chicago with CJ. Stroud. Well,
Bobby Slowicked all of a sudden didn't get a head
coaching job, and now he is on the hot seat
as the coordinator. So it's not quite as simple as
flavor of the month offensive coach. I do think Ben
Johnson would be a home run higher, but I am
not at all against Mike Rabel there. I think he
(25:29):
would be excellent. And obviously, if they could get Mike Tomlin,
I think Mike Tomlin's great. I think he's clearly one
of the five best coaches in the league, and so yeah,
I think that would be great. You also, you are
really dead set on the Bears trading for a coach.
You wanted them to trade for Kyle Shanahan, now you
want them trade for Mike Tomlin. You want the Bears
to have a proven winner, And I like it.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
I like it.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
I will say this, I'm more impressed with Aaron Glenn
in Detroit than Ben Johnson. And here's why. Aaron Glenn
hasn't had hutcheson or a secondary for two months, and
they have the best defense against quarterbacks in the league.
They allowed the lowest pass right. Ben Johnson's got the
best ole line, a number one receiver, two great backs,
the best tackle combo like it's you're playing with a
(26:13):
lot of nice toys here that I think a lot's fair,
and I think Aaron Glenn is remarkable.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
They lost hutcheson.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
All of us were like uh oh uh oh No,
they went and got B and C guys.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
They put it in.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
So I think what they did to Donald who was
on a heater for three months. Donald looked like he
was the Jets.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Donald.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
That's what I was about to say. That's what I
was about to say. You want Colin Coward to think
your defensive mastermind make Sam Darnld look bad.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I mean can't.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
I mean there's no surefire thing for Colin to be like,
that's the head coach right there, that if you can
make Sam Darnald of all people, only score nine points,
I mean, it's fair form.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
So I said this, the Jets haven't been good or
interesting in forever, Rex Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. You might
as well just HBO now and say start micing people
up for hard knocks.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
This is the greatest combination ever.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
When Rex Ryan puts his name out there for the Jets,
part of me thinks, okay, I would prefer Ben Johnson,
but he's gonna have offers and probably won't take it.
How do you solve prickly Aaron Rodgers impulsive owner, pretty
interesting roster. You're in the city, You're hearing all the
(27:27):
opinions how do you solve Aaron the Jets.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
You don't. You can't. He's gonna be a forty two
year old quarterback who has demonstrated over the last two
healthy years of football that he is at best the
seventeenth best quarterback in football with no leadership capabilities, and
that where the team eats itself alive. So you can't
solve that piece of it. But they're gonna need someone
to go, so i'd move on from Aaron, but you're
(27:53):
gonna need someone to coach the team either way, and
if Rex Ryan somehow talks his way into this job,
it'll be an all time I'd only going to be
a good decision. But you don't do politics on this
show smartly, and this isn't political, But I do want
to give people, if they don't know what, a brief
history lesson long time ago. Back in gosh, the late nineties,
(28:15):
when George W. Bush was running for president, he hired
a guy to run a committee to figure out who
his vice president should be. That guy's name was the
late Dick Cheney, and Dick Cheney did a bunch of
research and then was like, you know what, after interviewing
all the candidates, the best guy is me and he
ended up being vice president. It would appear that might
(28:37):
be what Mike Tannembaum and Rex Ryan are doing with
the Jets. Tannebaum gets hired to pick the next GM.
I'm thinking Mike Tannabom's gonna have a list, and at
the top of the list is gonna be Mike Tannembaum
and the coach that he had when he already was
the GM, Rex Ryan. If they get the old band
back together, being able to sell Woody Johnson on Hey,
(29:00):
I mean, you've just sucked since we left. I guess
it's an idea. It's not an idea I would sign
up for. You mentioned Aaron Glenn. How about Aaron Glenn
who played for the Jets, who has like actual sweat
equity with the franchise. That would make sense. But yeah, sure,
(29:21):
Mike Tannebaum, Rex Ryan and Aaron Rodgers, which would have
been an interesting combination in twenty ten running it back
in twenty twenty five. Why not?
Speaker 1 (29:31):
So so many things the Lions do embody the NFL
like I remember this years ago. It didn't bother me
because Steph Clay and Draymond were drafted and developed by
the Warriors, and they'd already won pre KD, but when
they signed Kevin Durant, it was kind of shocking to me.
(29:53):
Everywhere I went for several years out in the public,
they were like, eh, NBA stinks. I refuse to watch
a league where they basically bought a dynasty, and I'm
like time out. Steph Clan Draymond were drafted and developed
Draymond's second round. People didn't like it. Detroit, a city
(30:13):
that builds cars, has built a football team three wins,
you know, nine wins, eleven fourteen. I honestly think and
I was thinking about you this morning, if the Chiefs
were to get beat Detroit would be the team that
you would be like, Okay, good American story. You're a midwesternery.
(30:36):
It's sweat equity. They put the time in. Just imagine
losing the Super Bowl because I think Detroit is speaking
to the country. I just saw the rating for the
game Detroit and Minnesota. It was a bad game. The
ratings insane. America loves this team. Do you love them?
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Oh, I respect them? And I thought Dan Campbell was
incredibly right list last Monday playing his guys. But listen,
the guy drew to an inside straight and it worked
out perfectly. He got out of that game, you know,
mostly healthy, and it clear listened. They came out with
their hair on fire and their biggest game of the
(31:14):
year they won. Now they get the buye and you
got to give credit. I love the fact that the
Lions are that they are who they are without apology
when it comes to the aggressiveness offensively on the fourth downs,
and I do like to bring them up again. The
fact that Aaron Glenn has recognized, you know what, our
(31:36):
defense isn't good enough because of the injuries to play
you straight up. So we're gonna do to bring up
the Chiefs the way the Chiefs before they had good
defensive players won a Super Bowl in twenty nineteen, which
is it's gonna be boom bust. We're gonna send the
house repeatedly and maybe we'll get beat, but maybe we'll
force a turnover, maybe we'll tip a pass, and that's
(31:59):
how we're gonna make up were a lack of talent
on defense because the Lions, because they've suffered all those injuries.
So I do have massive respect for what the Lions
have done and how they have embodied their coaches culture,
and I respect for Brad Holmes, the GM who said
I don't care that people are gonna roll their eyes
(32:19):
at a draft that goes running back, inside backer, tight end, safety,
because those are devalued positions. I'm going to get the
best or second best player in the draft at all
four spots, and while everyone else is taking defensive and
seven and wide receiver six, I'm gonna get starters. So
(32:40):
I truly respect all of that. Do I like them? No,
I don't like anyone but my team that's about to
win Thursday Super Bowl. Like I don't like any of
these teams. But I will tell you as far as
if it is one versus one Chiefs Lions, it is
going to be when they show those maps of who's
(33:01):
rooting for who, the Chiefs will have Missouri in Kansas,
and the Lions will have all other forty eight states.
Will even though they're fifteen and two, it will feel
like the underdog because of who they are. And yeah,
if someone's got to win a Super Bowl, that's not
the Chiefs. I suppose it'd be fine if it'd be
(33:22):
the Lions, but unfortunately, the Chiefs win all the Super
Bowls and so they're probably just not going.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
To Okay, Well, I love that confidence you.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
You know, you're a great poker player, so you have
confidence even with losing hands.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
And I think that's.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Imperative to be a great poker player. And I also
think to be a sportscaster. Your history is you believe
even in rough, turbulent waters.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Oh yeah, I mean, well, yeah, that's the thing. It
was really hard to believe in the Chiefs this year
started fifteen and one, and all year long everyone was saying,
what's wrong with them?
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Real quick?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
If I made before I go, happy belated birthday. My wife,
who you always say such kind things about, said to
me yesterday she said, you know, it's Colin's birthday. And
I was like, oh, I didn't because I'm a man
and I don't remember such things. And she said, she said,
are you gonna call him? And I was like, no,
(34:19):
I don't think I'm gonna call him. She was like
that's She's like, Nick, he's your friend, you need to
call him. And I'm like, I think he would find
that odd. She was like, at least text him. So
that birthday text you got from me yesterday was really
just because she told me to like, I it doesn't
feel like I love you with all my heart. And
(34:39):
it really felt weird even sending you that. I was like,
I'll talk to him on TV the next day. But
happy birthday.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Well I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
I'm one of these guys that says I don't care
about birthdays. And then I got all these texts and
these nice gifts, and I will be honest with you,
it was very nice, So I appreciated it.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
Nice gifts. Yeah, wow, I guess I fell short. I
just sent a text. I wasn't even gonna send all
pay for that bottle of wine you were stunting on Twitter.
If you just send me an invoice, I'll buy that retroactively.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
See you, buddy, See you buddy, I'll send nick write
an invoice. That's what I'll do now. People were really
nice yesterday. You know, most kids that I paid college
tuitions for were nice. But I mean there was something
in it, you know, But no, the point, people are
very thought and I'm one of these guys that saya,
I'm always out there I don't care about birthdays, and
then people say nice stuff and it warms your heart.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
So who am I kidding? I'm a big soft nothing.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
I'm out here like I don't care, I have no emotions,
and I get all teary eyed when I get a
backpack from a friend.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Give me a break.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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