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October 7, 2025 • 38 mins

Colin Cowherd breaks down why the Kansas City Chiefs Week 5 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars isn't as concerning as it looks — and why he's still confident in their Super Bowl chances. He reveals his latest Herd Hierarchy, ranking the Top 10 NFL teams heading into Week 6, and makes a bold case for the Detroit Lions as the best team in the league right now.Plus, special guest Nick Wright from First Things First joins the show to passionately defend Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, while also proclaiming Dak Prescott as an MVP leader.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of 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
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or FSR.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
All Right, it is a Tuesday. We are packed, postseason baseball, crazy,
Monday night football outcome.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
We're live, We're in LA.

Speaker 4 (00:40):
It's the Herd.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Wherever you may be and however you may be listening
or watching. Thanks for choosing whatever platform you're on. Jmact.
Part of what we do, part of what a lot
of people do, is being able to see the truth
befull the truth comes out. You know, you want to

(01:02):
buy a stock. You don't want to buy it when
it's gone up. You want to buy it right before.
And so I start my show today as the Jags
beat the Kansas City Chiefs last night, and I'm going
to give you all a heads up in one hour
from now, I am not putting the Jags four and one.
Jags in the hurt hierarchy, and I'm putting Kansas City

(01:23):
in it. Jacksonville's a ridiculous winning team. I told the
staff this morning. The Jaguars are a David Lynch film.
Even the ones I like make me uncomfortable. They're just ridiculous.
I mean, Kansas City averaged seven point six yards of
play before last night. A team that averaged seven point
five yards of play had won thirty three straight games.

(01:46):
I don't care what the final outcome was, yards yards
for play, first down, rushing, red zone. Kansas City's a
better team. Patrick Mahomes did not see Devin Lloyd on
a pick six. He didn't see him. Tom Brady had
picked sixes won in a Super Bowl. It happens he
did not see him, and the Jags deserve credit. Lloyd's
a very good player right now. I mean they they

(02:10):
leave the NFL in interceptions. I don't think it's sustainable,
but that's a great play. But I was impressed with
a team that lost. Kansas City. Keep your eyes open
for Breshard Smith, that late round receiver kid from Miami,
number twenty four. Keep your eye on him. Mahomes hit
eight different receivers. Mahomes athletically in the best shape he's

(02:32):
been in.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
He looked great.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
I'm telling you, Kansas City's coming and they're coming fast.
And the Jaguars, I mean, they're ridiculous. They get to
the one yard line and they fumble and then later Hey,
the final play of the game, a guy I love,
Trevor Lawrence has fallen all over the place, tripping over
his left guard. This is not sustainable. It's nonsense. I mean,

(02:57):
they leave the NFL in takeaways. A line leads the
NFL in interceptions. Not sustainable. Brian Thomas, wide receiver. I
don't know what's going on there. He's in a weird slump.
They're head coach twice has had to apologize. They don't
feel buttoned up, but they've got talent. I'm rooting for
Travis Hunter two. I've always loved Trevor Lawrence. I feel
like he's the indie band. I knew him before you

(03:20):
knew him. I saw him in high school and loved him.
I still love him. He turns the ball over too much.
But I look at Kansas City and they made a
lot of young guy mistakes, and this is what happens
when you pay Chris Jones a ton and Mahomes a ton,
and you pay Travis Kelsey a ton, you get top
heavy and you have to have inexpensive labor. And they

(03:41):
had thirteen penalties. I think they had five special teams penalties.
They're a very young team. Andy Reid is going to
coach those mistakes out of them. Jacksonville doesn't make mistakes.
Falling down on the final winning play, that's just Jacksonville.
Fumbling the ball at the one, that's just Jacksonville. So
I think you can coach out the thirteen penalties are

(04:03):
most of them. I think Kansas City's good and getting
better now. They're losing one score games. Last year they
were eleven to zero one score games, but this year
they were a little younger in spots and they're making mistakes.
And I mean the final play of the game they
had Trevor Lawrence trapped Jags out of timeouts and they
couldn't make the play, but they averaged seven point six

(04:25):
yards of play, had almost five hundred yards. They had
a bad pick six from Mahomes, So congrats to Duval.
I love Trevor Lawrence. I thought his throw to Brian
Thomas up the right sideline on that final drive was
one of the best throws of the year in the NFL.
He's always had talent, fumbles too much, makes too many mistakes,

(04:45):
but he's a great kid. I've met him a couple times.
I'll always root for him. But this morning, I feel
Kansas City's a better team. And I don't care what
the score was. My herd hierarchy is not standings. I
can't put Jacksonville in. But here is Trevor Lawrence.

Speaker 5 (05:01):
After I just panic, sheer panic on the ground trying
to we don't have any timeouts, got stepped on coming
out and I was like, I gotta get up, and
I was just gonna throw it out a balance to
stop the clock, and then there was really no one
around me.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
So when made a play.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, I mean again, I'm I'm the best team doesn't
always win. And I also think there are things that
are sustainable. I mean, you can win Powerball that's not sustainable,
or you can invest in the market, pay off your house,
live below your means that's sustainable. Jacksonville's a wild crazy
David Lynch film, Blue Velvet, whatever, I don't care pick

(05:41):
your favorite, but I'm watching it and I'm like yeah,
I don't trust this team. I trust Kansas City. They
had a bad pick six and loss, but I trust
them and they're getting better.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
And that wide.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Receiver group when they get Rashi Rice back, watch out.
They're still not running the ball well enough, but watch out.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
Okay. If you did watch.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Any Dodger game, especially a Dodger playoff game, you've never
seen him play.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
Last night was.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
The perfect example of why they may or may not
win the World Series. It was all the brilliance in
athleticism and pitching and timely hitting, all these great players
and a god awful bullpen that almost lost in the game.
It was the perfect Dodger game as they beat the
Phillies again on the road. Now they got three games

(06:32):
to win one. Let's start with Blake Snell. He was
great six innings, gave up only one hit, nine strikeouts,
a little wild, but Bryce Harper's a lefty, you know,
Kyle Schwarber is a lefty. Hey, you got to get
these guys out. It was an advantage and you had
to take advantage of it. Snell was great, struck out
Bryce Harper got him on a two on one out

(06:53):
in the six inning and got him out huge, huge
crisis management for Blake Snell. So let's start with there.
Great pitching, and this is what the Dodgers need. They
need great starting pitching. They got to push it late,
they got to get to the sixth, they got to
get to the seventh because you don't trust the bullpen.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
And then later.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
In the sixth inning, Miguel Rojas, who's been around forever
shortstop third base, makes a great defensive play for the Dodgers.
They had several great defensive plays. He races to the bag.
It is a huge play with a couple of runners
on in the sixth it gets him out of the inning.
So you saw Blake Snell. Great pitching, tremendous defense. Then

(07:35):
we go to the top of the seventh and the
Dodgers timely hitting. We've said before, they've got to hit
with runners in scoring position. They've got to get leads
in games. Not one runner two, they need three and
four runnings. Will Smith a couple of RBIs there, O
Tawny follows drives in another run, and here you go.
Dodgers now lead for nothing.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
Two nothing lead not good enough.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
And as we discuss, their bullpen in the playoffs has
a nine er. So they're giving up a run per inning.
So now they're gonna lead. And this is the classic Dodgers.
You've seen great defense, you've seen starting pitching, you've seen
timely hitting. Here comes Blake, try to well traveled old
dudeh for to one lead, three hits, three batters. Suddenly

(08:25):
it's four to three and there's still nobody out. This
is a classic Dodger game. A white knuckler. So you
see all the greatness and then they go to the bullpen. Shocker,
they can't close the door. But then they have another
great defensive play. It's called the wheel play. They hadn't practiced.
It's usually a spring training play, and the Dodgers month

(08:47):
set of Mookie pull it off at third base. That
could have been the game. Probably was the game. So
you've seen starting pitching, you've seen great defense, timely hitting,
more great defense, and that's what it took. They needed
three pitchers to get through the ninth inning. It was
a classic Dodger game. Even the final out of the game,

(09:08):
you are holding your breath. The Dodgers are a flawed team,
but unlike the Yankees, they're not uneven. They can play
small ball, they can play great defense, they can run
the bases, they can hit for power, they have great
starting pitching.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
They're not the Yankees. The Yankees depend too much.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
On the home run, they strike out too much, they
don't do small ball, and they don't love their bullpen.
The Dodgers are flawed, but they're not uneven. They can
win a multitude a ways. And last night was perfect.
You saw all of the ways. Timely hitting singles, not
home runs, starting pitching, great defense, the wheel play, and

(09:46):
here's Dave Roberts.

Speaker 6 (09:47):
After those guys executed it to perfection, it was a
lot tougher. They made it look a lot easier than
it was. And for me, that was our only chance
really to win that game in that moment.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Again, if you'd never watched the Dodger game, that was
the one to watch because it perfectly encapsulated what they are. Brilliant,
the deepest roster, the best roster. And I know you're thinking,
for all that money, you shouldn't have flaws. No, they
were on display.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
They are.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
I mean, the Dodger team could end up winning the
World Series and have more games where their fans literally
lost sleep as they win over one hundred games. If
you count the playoffs, well over one hundred games potentially,
so it was a great night of sports. Cubs are
in big trouble Milwaukee and the Dodgers. I picked Milwaukee

(10:44):
to win the World Series. It looks like right now
you're gonna get a Milwaukee and Dodger NLCS. And again,
the Dodgers have more stars, but Milwaukee's got the better bullpen,
Milwaukee's got some young star players. Milwaukee's a team without
a flaw. I mean Milwaukee last year, everybody thought they
had the best GM and the best manager in baseball,
and the Mets stole one of them. The Cubs stole

(11:06):
another one, and then they replaced him. Haven't missed a beat.
So Milwaukee's just a really well owned, smartly run, brilliantly
managed baseball team that may not have the star power
outside of Milwaukee, but they don't do anything poorly, So
that could potentially be a great series. J Mack heard
hierarchy one hour from now. Nick Wright stops by a
Rod's on the show today as well.

Speaker 7 (11:26):
You really said Jacksonville's not heard hierarchy.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
Interesting.

Speaker 4 (11:31):
You tick down the Niners and the.

Speaker 3 (11:32):
Chiefs have them at eleven. They're not worthy are the
Chiefs in the top ten? Yep?

Speaker 7 (11:37):
Oh dear, oh Mike, you know I were black today.
It's kind of Navy bluish because I want to celebrate
the Chief's funeral. Season over. If you look at the schedule,
con I'm not even kidding Lions this week at Lions
teams good. I think you like them a lot. And
looking forward, they still got to play the Broncos twice.
Chargers is in December when they're going to be healthy
with Hampton.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
Back, and yeah, okay, let me mention a few other
games Raiders can win, Bills can't defend the.

Speaker 3 (12:04):
Run or the back in the Buffalo and meeting Josh Allen.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Okay, Dallas Houston beat up Chargers, Titans Raiders.

Speaker 7 (12:10):
Again, But did Dallas just tide Green Bay, who was
like number two in your hurd hierarchy. I'll give you
the two runs over the Raiders. I'll give you Tennessee.
Find me more wins the colt is. That's not gonna
be easy. Culture very good. I'm just telling you this
schedule looks like eight and nine for the Chiefs.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
I don't see playoffs. I know you think that they're
gonna Rashi Rice I mean, is he Jerry Rice?

Speaker 7 (12:32):
Is Jerry Rice, and Bro'm Jerry Rice joining the Chiefs.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
I saw a great football team with a bad pick six.
It happens.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
I mean, if they score there.

Speaker 7 (12:43):
Keep that same energy when Brock Party throws a pick
six next week.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
He's not momes.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noone Eastern nin a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (12:57):
He's Mike Carmen. I'm Dan Bayern.

Speaker 8 (12:59):
We have a fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
That's right Dan.

Speaker 9 (13:04):
Every week we're gonna scour the waiver wire to find
the pickups to turbo boost your fantasy lineup, sit starts,
fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate
the competition.

Speaker 8 (13:15):
Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carbon and
beat Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast at
wherever you beet your podcasts.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Heard Hierarchy. I'm now go the top ten NFL teams
according to College.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Number ten most underrated team in the league. I've been
on it for a month as a Colt. Should have
beaten the Rams lead the NFL and point differential few
at sacks, surrendered most efficient scoring offense. I mean, they
barely had the ball against the Raiders and they drop
a forty burger. Their offensive line slowed down the Rams
defensive front. They've got a ceiling. It's Daniel Jones. They've
got a ceiling. But they're gonna end up hosting a

(13:51):
playoff game and they're gonna get somebody like Kansas City
or Denver. And I'm telling you right now, you don't
want to play this team. Jonathan Taylor, behind that old line,
behind that play calling, behind Warren and Pittman, and this
is a good team. This is a good roster Colts
at ten.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Number nine.

Speaker 3 (14:12):
Here's what worries me about the Rams.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
They are very Puka Nikua reliant on offense, and the
problem is both they're running backs. Blake Krum and Kyron
Williams have ball security issues and mcved didn't trust him,
so that's not going away. They have got it developed
tight end and DeVante Adams fast. Yes, their offense leads
the NFL in yards for play at six point four.

(14:36):
They're a very good team, but I gotta watch them
the next two weeks. They had they had that Niners
game and blew it and the Colts out played in Rams.

Speaker 3 (14:46):
At nine number eight.

Speaker 1 (14:48):
I think Kyle Shanahan is having his best year as
a coach. I mean, they don't have Purty, I you Kittle, Jennings,
Nick Bosa. They're three and zero in the road. Mac
Jones looks like a pro bowler. This is great coaching. Now,
they're the only team averaging forty yard forty passes a game. Now,
think about that with Mac Jones. There's no substitute teacher here.
They're asking Mac to throw it forty times a game.

(15:10):
Christian McCaffrey touching it more than I want him to
cross your fingers on his health. But coaching matters, and
Shanahan could be coach of the year right now. He's
coaching his butt off. Number seven Bills don't look right.
They just defensively can't stop the run. I don't worry
about the offense. I don't, but they just don't have

(15:32):
that force, that jet fuel they've had in recent years.

Speaker 3 (15:36):
They can't stop the run.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
And I just when I watch them against New England,
I'm like, boy, New England closed the gap kind of quickly,
didn't they. I thought New England was going to get
there in about it another three or four games against
the Bills. So I have them at seven, number six.
Don't worry about green Bay. Can we stop with a
Jordan Love criticism? Eight touchdowns, one pick, and one hundred

(16:00):
thirteen passer rating. They're a young team that can't figure
out a way to close out inferior teams. Twice Seattle's
the second youngest team. Seattle's thrown games away against the
Niners and Buccaneers. Young teams struggle in close games until
they figure out how to win. Mike is having a year.
The schedule, get Carolina's coming up, the Bengals, Arizona. They're

(16:23):
gonna go on a heater. They are just fine. Green
Bay at six, number five, Listen the Chiefs. They're good
better team. Last night seven point six yards of play.
A team that had averaged seven point five yards of
play had won thirty three straight games. Mahomes threw a
pick six because he did not see Devin Lloyd. He
didn't see him. Mahomes is great, unbelievable. Keep your eye

(16:47):
when Rashi Rice comes back. Brashards Smith, the young player
out of Miami, Worthy Kelsey, this wide Receiving Corps is
going to get really good, really fast. They had a
bad pick six. This team is good. Situationally, they're outstanding.
They're great when they get down to the red zone.

(17:08):
I don't buy it. If you're selling stock on Kansas City,
I am buying all of it today. Number four Philadelphia, Listen,
you can't be twenty nineteen yards per play and be
a top two or three team. I don't care about
their roster. They've got an offensive coordinator issue now. Once
they get into the red zone because of the tush push,

(17:29):
it's pretty fearsome.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
And they don't you know. I mean, Jalen hurts.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Most pass attempts by any quarterback without a pick. He
doesn't make a lot of mistakes. But they are struggling
to get their best players the ball. That is a
coaching issue. AJ Brown needs thirteen targets. Barkley needs thirteen
to fifteen carries, get six. This past weekend, Affiliate four
Number three Denver two combined losses four points. Denver's roster's good.

(18:00):
We all know the good rosters in this league. Nobody
just mentions Denver. They lead the NFL in sacks, the
number two scoring defense. No team in the league does
a better job of protecting their quarterback and getting to
the yours. Phone Nicks never get sacked five times all year,
and bone Nicks is a way better athlete than anybody
wants to admiss. And now they face Denver faces six
straight teams without a winning record, So watch out. Denver

(18:25):
is getting better by the week. We picked him to
beat Philly and Philly and they did.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
Number two.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
I'm gonna give it to Tampa folks, going to Seattle
and putting on that offensive clinic in Mecca Agbuka folks,
we have a star period. We got an offensive rookie
of the year. Baker Mayfield. Stills a chip on his shoulder,
but he's using it as fueled to get him fired up.
He's not reckless, he's not throwing interceptions. He's playing He's

(18:54):
always been a smart kid. He's playing very smart football.
And they're doing it without Bucky Irving and Mike Evans.
This team's doing that. Not fully loaded Tampa at two.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
Number one.

Speaker 1 (19:05):
I don't think the NFL has a great team, but
the NFL does have a complete offense. O line, running back, room,
tight end, wide receiver, quarterback.

Speaker 3 (19:18):
Detroit's offense is.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
Absolutely devastating, and it's built to beat really superstar quarterbacks,
really good quarterbacks, I mean Jared Goff right now. It
is pitch and catch. It looks like a seven on
seven summer drill. And this is what they're doing that
they haven't done in previous years. Second in sacks, third
in takeaways. Their defense is not great, but they're taking

(19:41):
the ball away. I do not think we have a
great team right now in the league, but I do
think Detroit offensively is about as good as you can
be in twenty twenty five. With an expensive quarterback and
a rigid cap. That's about as good as an offense
could look.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
in noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
That is My Herd Hierarchy Jacksonville at eleven. That was
a ridiculous win, Kansas City's Better and Nick Wright Weekdays.
First things first is joining us live.

Speaker 4 (20:19):
Wow?

Speaker 3 (20:20):
Wow? Well wow?

Speaker 4 (20:22):
What that was great? No, it was great.

Speaker 10 (20:24):
First of all, let me apologize to the audience for
a moment. If I look a little sweaty, it's because
I am. And when you hear guys who love what
they do for a living say, oh, I you know,
I'd rather.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
Be at work.

Speaker 10 (20:38):
It's not only because we love what we do, because
there's no first things first today. It's because, as it happens,
the days we have off work our wives as sign
us things like yard work. Colin, I live in the
middle of Manhattan. I don't have a yard yet I've
been out in whatever our yard is for ninety minutes
digging out plants. I don't even know I'm sweating still.

(21:01):
It's been thirty minutes later. I don't know why I'm
still sweating. I'm not built for manual labor. I'm gonna
tell you that right now. I got no makeup. I've
been out in the eat so okay. But that which
is why the hierarchy column was such a pleasant surprise,
because I was a little sad last night. But I
here's why. So let me this is a very weird reversal.
Let me give the concerns about the Chiefs and then

(21:25):
respond to what you said they they What makes the
Chiefs special is they don't blow games like last night.
While they maybe don't blow teams out as often as
the Lions or the Bills over the last few years.
They have a fourteen to nothing lead. They win that game,
and so that was disappointing, and the penalties and the

(21:46):
special team's mistakes. That was a bad loss that could
you know, could hurt them in the state. It does
hurt them in the standings and seeding all of that.
But your bigger picture point, which is over the last
two and a half game, from the second half of
the Giant games. Right now, that offense looks the best
it has looked.

Speaker 4 (22:05):
Yep in three years.

Speaker 3 (22:07):
Yep.

Speaker 10 (22:07):
And they're getting Rashi Rice back. Patrick finally trusts his
offensive line yep, and is once Rashi comes back, it
will be the best collection of pass catchers they've had
since Tyreek was on the team.

Speaker 4 (22:22):
So all of that is super positive. They need a
more consistent.

Speaker 10 (22:26):
Running game, and they need a better pass rush without
having to send the blitz, you know.

Speaker 4 (22:30):
But go ahead.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
There is one thing, and I said this, you have
to make choices as a team. So when you pay
Chris Jones and Mahomes and Kelsey, what they have right
now is they have a youth problem, and they're putting
guys on special teams and they're trying to teach him
how to play football, and.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
It's just by the way, Buffalo. You've got to make choices.

Speaker 1 (22:49):
They can't defend their run because Detroit's front office is
great and because they've hit on so many stars in
the first round. Detroit's offense is literally a Pro Bowl offense.
But it's hard, and so I think they're playing. I
watched them last night, and I'm like, these are correctable mistakes.
When these guys have played twelve NFL games or fifteen,
they're just making twenty three year old guy mistakes. Jacksonville's mistakes.

(23:14):
I've watched that for twenty years. That's who they are.

Speaker 10 (23:17):
Yeah, well listen, and you know I love Trevor and
last night.

Speaker 4 (23:20):
Was the full Trevor experience.

Speaker 10 (23:22):
O the past to Brian Thomas, the running reminding you
of Clemson, and then just some plays that I really
thought Troy Aikman might be like, guys, I need to
take a quarter off.

Speaker 4 (23:33):
I can't watch. I can't deal with it, Like.

Speaker 10 (23:35):
Troy gets so frustrated at really talented quarterbacks missing layups.

Speaker 4 (23:40):
And so you got the full thing.

Speaker 10 (23:42):
That was the best win for Jacksonville since they beat
everyone's future Hall of Famer Justin Herbert in a playoff game,
and so I give them, you know, I give them
a lot of credit.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
I agree with you on the Chiefs.

Speaker 10 (23:55):
Let me say something about the Broncos real quick, because
I find the Broncos and the Packers to be in
a very similar situation. Okay, great defenses, yes, really sharp coaches.
Obviously Lafour hasn't accomplished with Sean Baton has, but they're
both excellent coaches, and their two quarterbacks are two of

(24:16):
the most influential and interesting players in the league this
year because if they get solid turnover free play from
their quarterbacks, those are super dangerous teams. Now, I believe
in Love's upside more than bo Nix's, but Love also
is more likely to have a three interception game than

(24:38):
bow Knicks. Right, And so the Broncos if the bow
Knicks for three quarters against Philly did nothing and then
in the fourth quarter did everything, if they can just
get eighty percent of what he gave them the fourth quarter,
they're legit. I'm skeptical of that, but if they can,
they're legit. And shout out to you and Baker. I

(25:00):
just can't wait until he's back on the show. It's
going to be such a beautiful moment.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
You know.

Speaker 4 (25:05):
I'm so excited.

Speaker 3 (25:06):
You know what.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
So people I think you know this about me, I do,
but the audience doesn't know this about me. I have
gray hair now, and an important thing for me is
to be I like to be part of people's success story.
Young people, Danny Parkins or you like Jay Mack. I like,
that's fun. That's when you're a gray hair that's the
responsibility because people help me. So people think that I've

(25:30):
rooted against Baker, and I didn't like Cleveland Baker. I
thought he was too cocky. I love Tampa Baker. I
love him. He's one of my favorite players. I said yesterday,
I'd vote him MVP. Dak er him. And the thing
I like about Baker is that I think a chip
on your shoulder Michael had it to the end, Brady

(25:53):
had it till the end is valuable. Don't let it
turn you into a grudge holder or a reckless player.
Baker has gotten rid of the reckless and I when
I watch him.

Speaker 3 (26:07):
I said this yesterday.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
If you'd never seen Donald in New York or Baker
in Cleveland, and you watch Sunday, you would have thought
they were Brady and manning you it was a great game.

Speaker 10 (26:18):
It was a great game and a great duel, and
it is Listen, you are. You are a part of
Baker's story, and like for good or for bad, you're
part of his story and your criticisms. While at the time,
you know, we argued about it then I thought, you know,
were maybe harsher than I would have done. They weren't

(26:40):
rooted in fake and falsehood, like they were rooted in
something real. He matured and also continued to improve, and
part of the stuff that rubs people the wrong way
is also part of the reason you can get cut
by the Panthers and still believe I'm awesome and I'm

(27:03):
going to prove to the world I'm awesome. A less
confident player that would have broken them and so this
is a great and you're listen, he deservedly right now
would be the league MVP. Dak is trying to follow
the Joe Burrow path. Last year of the teams that mediocre,
but my numbers are unbelievable. Baker's been unreal, and there

(27:24):
is I want to say something about that. Because you
said he got rid of the reckless, there is still
some reckless, but it is with so many explosives, you
can deal with it. And this is actually kind of
a Josh Allen piece because Josh over the last two

(27:45):
years got rid of the turnovers and also really cut
down on the explosive deep passes, which has made the
team more efficient and more reliable. But it's also why
now they are oddly less equipped to deal with if
he turns it over.

Speaker 4 (28:04):
Three years ago, if he turned.

Speaker 10 (28:05):
It over, they were like, Okay, we built that into
the game plan, and he's got We're gonna have a
three play, eighty yard touchdown drive coming up next. He
for the If you are Baker, you can average one
pick a game like you did last year.

Speaker 4 (28:20):
Because you lead the league in touchdown passes.

Speaker 10 (28:22):
You can have some turnovers if you have a bunch
of explosives. If you're gonna be conservative with it, then
you really got to take care of the ball.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
So generally, with quarterbacks, if you consider their career a
book with let's say fifteen chapters being fifteen years, the
average the great ones play you know Mahomes by the
start of chapter two, year two, you're like, well, okay,
that doesn't look like anybody else Brady was probably chapter four,

(28:52):
Josh Allen chapter three, Lamar late chapter one. You're like, yeah, boy,
that's gonna be a problem.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
And I was thinking about this the other day.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
Dak is in a very real weird spot because I
didn't I thought he was over hyped early. I thought
he had the best O line and the best running back,
and then he got Amari Cooper. I think I've figured
Dak out, and it's like chapter eleven, and here's what
it is. I know I've never thought of a quarterback.

(29:22):
It took me eleven chapters. Zach Martin left, Des left,
Amari left, Zeke left, Mike McCarthy left, Jason Garrett left,
everybody leaves him, and every time he wins double digit games.
And now he's got Schottenheimer arguably his weakest, most unproven
head coach. He looks unbelievable. He doesn't have a number

(29:44):
one receiver or a number one tight end. The O
line is still in a rebuild. The running back room's
better than last year, but not elite, not Detroit. I
think it took me years to figure out is that
everybody has a superpower. With Jalen Hurts, it's his strength
with Josh, it's his size. With Mahome, it's a lot,
but it's arm talent. Same with Stafford. With Dak, it's

(30:07):
a combination of IQ and EQ. He is so self aware,
so egoless with the biggest ego owner is that I
watched Dak and I'm like, god, it took me twelve
chapters to figure him out. Is that in this circus
known as the Cowboys, he is the grown up. He
is he is the constant, the studying for yes.

Speaker 10 (30:31):
So let me add something to that, because listen, Dak
has been phenomenal, phenomenal, And the first two weeks of
the year he had like a bad passer rating and
his numbers weren't that good, And that was a good
test of do people actually watch games if they weren't,
if they were like, oh, Dak's been okay. Dak has
been awesome from the first game, of the first pass

(30:53):
of the first game to right now, like that Eagles game,
he was phenomenal.

Speaker 4 (30:57):
I don't care what his numbers were, he was phenomenal.
He's been great. So to add to that, because you know, I'm.

Speaker 10 (31:05):
A big believer with quarterbacks that there definitively is such
a thing as you know, a big game quarterback, Guys
who elevate in the biggest spots, and guys who shrank
all of it. Dak's biggest criticism, fair or not. I
think it's been mostly fair. Has been in the biggest spots,
under the most pressure, he doesn't play his best. So

(31:29):
it absolutely narratively would make sense that this year, the
year that going into it, he's been under arguably the
least pressure, the team had the least expectations as they
trade Micah, there's a rookie head coach. Nobody's putting the
Cowboys in the super Bowl, that he can play as

(31:50):
freely as he's ever played. He's on something up like
for the first time in a very long time, a
reputational free role this year where if the Cowboys are bad,
it's not on him because the defense has been so awful,
and when they're good, he's got to do it all.
And so he is playing, to me with less tension

(32:12):
and stress than maybe any other moment of his career.
And he's been phenomenal, like truly phenomenal. If it were true,
if we didn't care about reputation or resume, one could
argue that the three leading MVP candidates at the quarter
pole of the season would be Baker Mayfield, Dak Prescott,

(32:36):
and I can't believe I'm saying this, Daniel Jones, like
those three guys. Like again, if it was totally context,
lists would probably be the three candidates, and credit to
all of them. And Dak's been great and he makes
the Cowboys scary because the Cowboys right now are a
team that can definitively lose to anyone. When you have

(32:58):
a defense that bad, anyone can beat you and can
beat anyone when you have an offense that good, even
when they're missing ceedee lamb, they can beat anyone. It
makes them really interesting in a year. I did not
expect they would.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Be the finally on the Eagles. I've said this before.
Sometimes in life you have a problem. It's like this
is hard to figure out why me and my wife
are fighting and you have to go to therapy. And
then there's the problems where you're like, oh, yeah, that's easy.
The Eagles are twelve and zero since last year. When
they throw it less than twenty five times, throw the

(33:36):
ball less, run more. That's always the answer. In Philadelphia,
Saquon Barkley touched at six times Sunday and they were
leading by two touchdowns. Is this the moment when when
Eagle fans have to acknowledge that Siriani's been kind of
writing on the coattails of a great GM and a

(33:56):
highly functional quarterback.

Speaker 10 (33:58):
So there's a lot here, man, And I'm glad you
brought up, you know, marriage counseling, because I heard the
story yesterday that jalen Aj and Saquon got together and
hashed out what's been going on. And then I heard
the end of the report, which is the meeting lasted
for a little over two hours. And you know what

(34:21):
I said, And people can get mad, and Eagle fans
can tweet this and aggregate it and say, oh, Nick's
being unfair. They know I'm right. Two hour meeting too long.
You know, the marriage counseling is fifty five minutes.

Speaker 3 (34:34):
Your whole life's on the line.

Speaker 10 (34:36):
Anything that is not resolved by minute forty five is
not getting resolved.

Speaker 4 (34:42):
Minute ninety eight.

Speaker 10 (34:44):
So that I didn't love that report. I was like,
all right, that's first thing. Second thing is and I'll
bring up marriage again. It seems like Kevin Petullo keeps
over correcting in various directions, like.

Speaker 4 (34:58):
When your wife it gets mad at you.

Speaker 10 (35:00):
It's like, you don't buy me flowers anymore, and then
you bring her flowers every day for a week and
by the end of the week she's like, all right, enough,
you're overdoing it. I said, like, the problem was we're
not passing.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
Were not passing enough.

Speaker 10 (35:13):
So in a game you're leading, you call two design
second half runs. So the Eagles are objectively Colin an
excellent team. They have an excellent roster. They have the
most expensive offense in the history of the NFL, and
they have a top five offensive line, a top five
running back, top five receivers, and a really good quarterback.

(35:36):
I don't know where you want to rank it. But
which makes it so unfathomable that in their last six
halves of football they have either had less than eight
yards rushing eight yards passing.

Speaker 3 (35:53):
In three of them, yeah half.

Speaker 10 (35:55):
In the last they've only played how many halves all
year to ten halves all year? And in three of
the last six they have been totally non existing on
one side, you know, in one facet of the game.
And here is why I think it is fair to
be a little concern. It reminds me a bit of

(36:16):
two years ago when they started ten and one, but
it was so angsty and every game they won, but
it was like yeah, but yeah, but And what that
led to was a historic collapse where they went from
ten to one to losing six of their final seven
and basically giving up in the playoff game. I don't

(36:37):
think that's coming year for Philly, but I do think
they need to have the ability to just have one
normal offensive game, and they seem to be struggling with that.

Speaker 1 (36:48):
Yeah. Yeah, yard work is fascinating. In Manhattan. There's not
a lot of yards. I mean they're central saying no.

Speaker 10 (36:57):
We've got, We've got like we've got Listen, I'm very
fortunate we have nice little outdoor spaces here, but it
doesn't there's we have I'd set the over under of
plants or in this house or on the outside at
forty seven and a half, and somehow I was assigned
digging them out, and I kind of wanted to look

(37:19):
at her and be like, Babe, I love you so much,
but you do know who you married, right, That's like,
am I a guy that really exudes? Yard work is
my strength? So no, I'm still sweating.

Speaker 4 (37:29):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (37:29):
I might have to know.

Speaker 4 (37:30):
We were off the air today, we're supposed to be
back tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (37:32):
I might have to call in sick.

Speaker 4 (37:34):
I don't know if I'm going to recover.

Speaker 7 (37:36):
This is tough.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
I tell my wife about twice a year when she
asked me to do yard work, I'm like, honey, I've
got to entertain America tomorrow is actually right.

Speaker 10 (37:45):
I've got to listen and I'm simulating the economy. I
can hire a professional to do this. It's their job
and it helps everyone, including me. All Right, I'll see you, Colin.
I got to I gotta go plant a tree in
a minute.

Speaker 3 (38:01):
Say there you go. Weekdays, First things first, good stuff,
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Colin Cowherd

Colin Cowherd

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