January 10, 2026 • 39 mins
Where Colin was right and where he was wrong
His last Herd Hierarchy before the start of the NFL playoffs
7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady joins the show:
- The challenges of the playoffs as a young player
- Are the Eagles built to win another Super Bowl?
- Previewing Bears v Packers
Colin's Blazing 5 picks for the weekend
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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 Foxsports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app
by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome in. It is
a Monday.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Great to be here, Baltimore. We'll see you next year.
Live in Los Angeles.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
It's The Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Forty two year old Aaron Rodgers my comeback player of
the year. Good for him, good story. Pat hasselback just
around the corner. Let's not waste any time this week.
Starting Thursday, It's going to be as good as college
and pro football has been in this country in a
long time. I'm multiple potential upsets right, wrong, and here we.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Go where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I picked the Denver Broncos before the season to win
the AFC West and unseat Kansas City despite Russell Wilson's
cap hit still being thirty two million on the books,
bo Nicks I was a huge fan. Twenty four wins
tied for the most ever first two seasons for a quarterback.
Sean Payton may bother people time to time, but he's
(01:28):
one of the few NFL coaches I trust in the
draft room and the film room.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
He knows like Jimmy Johnson.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
He knows personnel, He gets trades, play design, play calling.
Denver was one of my better picks of the year
in the NFL. Where Colin was wraw, Kevin Stefanski got fired.
I don't get it, of all the fired coaches, I
think he has a really viable market. He's a two
time coach of the Year who had to swim in
(01:57):
chaos because of ownership a Deshaun Watson deal. In twenty
three years, the Browns have won two playoff games. Guess
who the coach for both was. Kevin Stefanski an intellect,
he's calm, he's a mentor, he's a teacher. If I
was the Raiders, I would have hired him an hour ago.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I lobbied for the Miami Hurricanes to make the College
Football Playoff over Notre Dame. Well, they've beaten Texas A and
M and Ohio State and they're favored over Old Miss.
I didn't think losing to an eight win Louisville team
in October should wreck an entire program season. College football
(02:40):
is more like pro football, and the most physical team
left and I don't think there's any question. Is the
Miami Hurricanes one of the glamour programs in college football
that pushed the Buckeyes around in a three and a half.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Hour flex where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Listen, I have play a lot of the Cowboys from
moving off Michah Parsons, and I love the fact and
a good draft they have two first round picks, but
this coaching staff was not equipped to handle it. It
exposed an incredibly weak secondary, worse than the NFL defensively
on third down, terrible scoring defense. I also don't think
it played very well in the locker room, where Micah
(03:21):
was respected and liked. I think by draft day you'll
like the deal, but right now it looks like it.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Was a miss where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Nine of the fourteen playoff teams have offensive coaches, most
notably Liam Cohan Ben Johnson. Folks, if you've got a
young quarterback, or you draft a quarterback, strongly consider the
guy that has a quarterback sensibility. Caleb's talent has now
been allowed to flourish. First thing he addressed, like most
(03:52):
offensive coaches, was the O line. Interior Ben Johnson got
the Bears to a number two seed.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Just say that out loud. Great job. Where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Well, my portfolio has never had a lot of Jaguar stock,
but this is the best Trevor Lawrence has ever.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Been quarterback coach. Run game and.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
They get good pressure. Although they don't have a ton
of sacks, they're legitimate. Liam Cohen is clever, he's intense,
He's brought a serious nature.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
There's not a lot.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I mean, if you were doubting how good they were,
go back to what they did to the Chargers totally
dismantled them, or the Broncos they went to Denver completely
dominated them. This may be outside of Seattle, the best
team in the NFL in Jacksonville.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Don't overthink the room. I said at mid season, Fernando
Mendoza is a runaway number one pick, the quarterback for Indiana.
Do you know Cinty showed up in Bloomington. Listen to
this forty four touchdowns no interceptions in the red zone
since since going to Bloomington. Overthink the room. Big, strong,
(05:03):
good arm played in an excellent conference. I said, they're
not gonna beat Alabama, They're gonna blow the doors off
of Alabama, and that's exactly what they did. Where Colin
was right, I didn't buy Ty Simpson at Alabama, who's
rumor to be transferring. He doesn't have a single wow
trade arm, size, mobility. I just don't see it as
(05:28):
a first round talent. He got banged up and then
pulled against the Hoosiers. Bama didn't score a touchdown. Simpson's fine,
but they have tremendous receivers at Alabama. He is, by
all accounts, second third, fourth round guy.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Where Colin was raw, I defended.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Not only acquiring Kirk Cousins but drafting Michael Pennix. But
the head coach in GM today got fired. Pennix has
dissolved into sort of a nothing burger. He's banged up. Cousins. Actually,
Kirk played pretty well at the end of the season.
Too little, too late. My takeaway was, folks, you can't
have too many quarterbacks, bring a veteran in for a
(06:08):
year and then have Michael Pennix take it from there.
Maybe they should have hired an offensive coach but it
doesn't look like I was on the right side of
that one.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern nin a em Pacific.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing
us live weeknights from seven to ten pm Eastern on
Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new
YouTube channel for the show.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
You can now watch The Odd Couple live on YouTube
every day.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
All you gotta do search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube.
Again YouTube, Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out
on YouTube and subscribe.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Heard Hierarchy time is now go the top ten NFL
teams according to College number ten. I would put Chicago.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
They won the NFC North for the first time since
twenty eighteen. When they win the turnover battle, they win,
but they're very reliant on it. They're ten and one
when they win the turnover battle, so if you play clean,
you can beat them. Most offensive touchdowns in Bears franchise
history with Caleb led the NFL with eleven touchdown passes
twenty plus yards down the field, but they disappear offensively
(07:25):
for entire first halfs.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
This Packer game is a rough one.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
It's going to be windy, which plays into the run
game of Chicago. Great year for the Bears. I put
them at ten.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Number nine.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
The Niners Listen brock perty in the last month one
hundred and seven passer rating. They're not as good as Seattle.
Don't punish them too much for losing to Seattle. They
didn't have Trent Williams and Ricky Pearsall. If they have
them backed, they're a live underdog against Philadelphia. They have
lost nine of their last ten games when trailing at halftime.
Some of that is on Kyle Shanahan, who to me
(07:59):
is he's always been very tied to his script. He's
not been a great second half or come from behind coach.
But if Pearsall and Trent and Kittle are available, that
game with Philadelphia gets interesting.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Niners at nine. Number eight.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Listen, the Bills are good. I don't think they're Super
Bowl good. They are twelve to zero when scoring twenty
one plus points. There's a way they win. They lead
the NFL in big plays in rushing, but that defense
twenty eighth against the run, They've lost eight straight road
playoff games. How do you win on the road against
the Jacksonville Shut him down and take the crowd out.
(08:37):
I also worry about this team because they're slow starting.
When you go on the road and face a high
powered offense like Jacksonville, you do not want to play
from behind, and the Bills make a habit of playing
from behind.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
That's why I have him at eight.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Number seven the Texans. They're on a nine game winning streak.
Best defense probably easily give credit to Nick Cassario. He's
drafted hell out of this defense the last three years.
But in the red zone they're not good. They settle
for field goals, and I think that will be their undoing.
You gotta get sevens, not threes. In the red zone.
(09:14):
They are twenty fourth in yards per play. There's so
much I like about him. I've always been a huge CJ.
Stroud fan. That red zone offense they'll settle for threes,
not seven, will cost him.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I put them at seven.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Number six the weird Philadelphia Eagles, who are three and
four over their last seven games and since Week ten
have a bottom six offense. I mean, they're ten to
zero when Jalen Hurts is held under two hundred yards passing.
They're the opposite of what wins in the NFL. But
(09:47):
their roster is so complete, their defense is so good.
But even I mean even this, they're five and three
at home. I don't even know what to make of Philadelphia.
That's why I have them at six.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Number five.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Denver is a great home team, so at least I
know what they are. They're good in the fourth quarter,
They're good at home. They're thirteen and one since week four.
Do they have a ceiling with bow Nicks, Maybe, but
he is the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era
to lead in pass attempts in his first two seasons.
That tells you that Sean Payton trusts him. It's a
(10:21):
little like Andrew Luck. We're gonna give you the whole playbook.
They're also four and two against playoff teams, so they've
beaten good teams.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I put them at five number four. The Rams aren't.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Playing great right now, three and three over their last
six week six weeks, but I love the fact they've
got three different guys with seven sacks. I love the
fact they're playing a Carolina team they lost to is
a favorite. Devonte Adams comes back. Now, you can beat
him downfield. I mean, Carolina's got two big receivers. You
can beat him downfield. You can beat him with big
(10:54):
perimeter weapons. That's why Philadelphia is a tough matchup for them.
But Stafford, the O line, the coach, the weapons. I
have the Rams at four, number three. We got to
pay attention to Jacksonville. Okay, they're eight to no since
Week eleven, beating teams by nineteen a game. They're like
a dominant college team. And three of their four losses
(11:15):
have come to teams like you can lose to the
Seahawks or the Texans Ones or the Rams. They lose
to the right teams. I mean, they're just They have
had really good draft picks for a long time. They've
missed on the coach, but Trevor Lawrence has his king maker.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I have them at three, number two.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I'm gonna put New England at two because I love Vrabel.
They've won thirteen to fourteen games and they are a
great road team that matters. Mike Frable third coach to
win fourteen plus games in his first season. I don't
love their O line. Their run game is inconsistent. That's
why I have them at number two, number one. I mean,
(12:00):
you watched the San Francisco game. Seattle wasted offensive opportunities
and totally shut down Christian McCaffrey, which I said, that's
like shutting down Barry Sanders or Walter Payton.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
How do you do that? I like everything.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
I think they're GM's the best personnel guy in the league.
Go look at their last nine picks in the first
and second round, nine for nine.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
They have a rare.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Combination of a quarterback who's highly productive on a team
friendly deal, and they don't miss on draft picks. Translation
stacked roster. It's better than Philadelphia's. Now they're all line
like New England is okay?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
My top two teams all lines.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
By the way, New England and Seattle in the draft
both will address their old lines. Both address the old
lines last year in the first round. So that's where
we are.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
in newone Eastern nin a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And with that, Tom Brady is joining us live. He'll
be doing the Niners Eagles game. Seven time Super Bowl champ,
so I went and looked, this is funny, Tom, I
went and looked at your highlights this morning of your
first NFL start, Tom scampering for a rushing touchdown, playing
in the playing I lived there for ten years in
(13:20):
New England.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Weather. Were you nervous first start? Go back to what
what were you like? Emotionally?
Speaker 4 (13:26):
It was actually such a great day for football When
you see that, there's only a few kind of games
in your career where you have that type of weather.
I remember going out there in pregame warm upon and
it was like six inches of snow on the ground.
I thought, Okay, the pass rush isn't going to be
too tough today, So kind of me plowing through the
snow and diving in there for the touchdown. I was
one of the memorable moments in my career. And I
(13:48):
never played in the game. There was maybe one other
game where I had that type of weather conditions, But
for so many reasons, I still can remember the way
the snow was falling in pregame, and you know, I
had these visions of kind of in a weird way,
I can kind of go back to that day and
relive it in my own mind when I see these highlights,
So thanks for bringing it up. There's a lot of
(14:08):
great memories, probably not for the Raider fans, are from
my boy Charles Woodson, who's still you know, literally, I
think every time we see each other in some former fashion,
you know, some type of fumble or non fumble event
comes up. But it was a really special first playoff
start for me, and it was it was I think
the last game in that stadium as well.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
So that was a lot of great memories.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
So let's talk Eagles forty nine ers. I was saying
to the staff yesterday, we were thinking of questions, and
I said, the Eagles are the opposite of your Patriots.
They're loud, there's drama, they're uneven, they have half they
don't complete passes. I'm not exactly sure what Ciriani is,
but he's a winner. You're Patriots. I always said this.
You guys were like the brilliant accounting firm. I knew
(14:53):
what I was get every Sunday. The weather didn't matter,
the opponent didn't I knew exactly when I lived in
Connecticut what the game would look. You'd have maybe one
game a year where it unraveled. I don't even know
series this series. What I get from Philadelphia You've done
their games. How do you explain their success when they're
this uneven, this lowed consistently.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
Yeah, you're right, but let me go back.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
First of all, Famously, New England isn't known for drama.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
I think we had more.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Gates than Logan International Airport for twenty years. There was
always some sort of drama happening with our team over
the course of the year. And I think it's the
product of having a lot of successful moments too. Where
you know, I look at Philly and they got a
tough media market, and in the Northeast in general, I
think there's always these environments that are a little bit
(15:45):
tougher for the fans, for the players. You know, it's
a tough city. It's a hard no city. The fans,
they expect a lot every year. So they've had success,
obviously in the Super Bowl a few years ago than
they won it last year, and you know, now it's like, well,
we should just win every game. But the reality the
NFL is you don't win every game. The competition is
really tough, and then when you cover the team, you're
(16:08):
always looking for little chinks in the armor and I
think that ends up kind of feeling like, you know,
there's distraction or drama because aj Brown doesn't get every
target or Saquon's not rushing for two thousand yards again.
But understand in some ways those are anomalies. You know,
that season Saquon had last year was an anomaly. He's
a phenomenal player, He's going to be a Hall of Famer.
(16:30):
But no running back rushes for two thousand yards every year.
So when it's less than two thousand, we all make
a big drama that it's not two thousand again, but the.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
Reality is it's probably closer.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
You know, this year is maybe a little down for
him for a number of different reasons, but he's still
a phenomenal player. The Eagles, they still got a great
football team. If they're drama and they're sitting in the
position they're in, I'm sure coach Siriani would take the
drama every single week the way that he ends up
his managements of the team. But I think they're as
(17:02):
dangerous as a playoff team as.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
Or is alive right now.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
So there's an interesting stat with Kyle Shanahan, and I
love Shanahan. I think he's the great play designer of
his generation like Andy was for years or Bill Walsh.
But there is a weird stat and I think it
does point to it. When a stat gets too weird,
I said last hour, it's usually a personality thing. Uh.
He has the best play sheet in the league, They
use the most motion, but he doesn't come from behind.
(17:28):
There's a remarkable number with Shanahan, like if he trails
by seven plus points at half, they don't win. My
knock is that he is a little tied to the
play sheet that I think a coach should be more
way more than Google maps.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
You gotta gotta go with the floor, right, go with
the flow.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
And I want to go back to Josh McDaniel because
you Sean Payton, bow Knicks, Ben Jonson and Caleb You
were a guy elway was this Sometimes you rip it
up and start over. Give me some examples in the playoffs?
Are there times? Maybe those Baltimore games, Tom, when you
went into it and said, guys, this isn't working.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
We have got to change.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
I mean, did you have like dramatic halftime moments like that.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I don't know if it's dramatic, but I think when
you have the continuity that we had over a period
of time in the playoffs, you could quickly adapt or
you know, because it's hard in the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
If you get down early in the game.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
And you know, we add a few games this year
where teams were, you know, Chicago for example, like Caleb
had six yards passing in the first half. Then he
comes out in the second half and he rattles off
two hundred plus yards and they win the game. And
it's a dramatic kind of come from behind win that
the Bears would have. But in the playoffs it becomes
much more difficult to come back by ten points or
more against a very good football team.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Right.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
So I would just say, though, the important part to
realize on all this is every team is built a
specific way. The forty nine ers have always been built
to run the football, to play good defense, and use
a lot of play action paths to get exploded. The
strength of their team isn't the wide out position. This year,
you know, with Ayuk situation, they kind of brought.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
In some.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Receivers that Juwan Jennings that like Boorn I like. But
at the same time, I would say the strength their
team is thrown to the half back throwing the ball
to the tight end, and it's not kind of maybe
what we see in a traditional Kyle Shanahan offense.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
It doesn't mean they can't come back.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
I do think it's difficult with some of these systems though,
that are built on the run game and play action
pass to come back. You know, I was a part
of more I would say, a drop back passing team
where our passing concepts were very detailed, very methodical. Our
protection schemes very methodical in detail. I probably had twenty
to thirty different protection schemes. I would say the West
(19:44):
Coast offense has maybe half of those. So there are
things that that West Coast offense has done. With some
of these coaches, they can do that are tremendous when
they play in their style, and I think when they
get out of their style.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
Ultimately, that's what you're trying to do.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
When you're playing good teams, you're trying to get to play,
You're trying to get those teams to play left handed.
You're taking away their stars, you're minimizing their strengths and
you're maximizing their weaknesses. There's always a formula to win.
I think the forty nine ers that they're going to
win this week, they better get out to a lead,
they better play from ahead. They and they're gonna need
to create some issues for this Eagles offense to get
(20:23):
them off track a bit too, because they play so
well and they have performed very well in the biggest moments.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
So one of the similarities with you and Mahomes is
that you both had great success early in the playoffs,
so you never had this thing hanging over your head, like, oh,
they can't win those close ones. Well, Buffalo's oh for
its last eight playoff road games, Josh is zero to five.
Usually golf and baseball, there's down time. The sport can
(20:51):
get into your head. Hockey, football, basketball, you don't have
prolonged slumps.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
You got a series coming up.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
But I do think Tom, it's tied at twenty four late,
Buffalo's got the ball. I can't believe they. I think
all the pressure in the world's on Buffalo of all
the teams this weekend. That's going to play a little
psychological part, does it not.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Yeah, well, I think it's very psychological, very emotional. When
they've been in these situations, they haven't played the type
of winning football needed in order for them to advance,
and they've sometimes they've gone against, in my opinion, Patrick
and the Chiefs team, which has been, you know, the
team that everyone's always aiming for, and you get caught
up in those games against you know, the Chiefs. They've
been a tough out for a long time. Now they're
(21:36):
out of it this year. So can Buffalo find it
within themselves to play their best football in the biggest
moments and look, some weeks they've looked great.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
The passing game looks great.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Obviously, they're runners, one of the top backs in the NFL.
And the way Josh plays when he's playing his rhythm,
you know, he's virtually impossible. MVP caliber season last year
and I thought he played very well this season. So
the good part about the playoffs is it's not where
you play, it's not who you play, it's how you play.
And if it really isteresting the playoffs this year, how
(22:10):
you play in these games is going to determine who
moves on the team that doesn't turn the ball over, controls.
The line of scrimmage plays well in situational football, makes
the stops in the red area or you know, or
it goes the opposite way. And that's why I think
this playoffs more so than what I can remember in
the past in the NFL has done an unbelievable job
this season with the parody in these games, and it's
(22:31):
been so fun for me to cover them for Fox
from my vantage point, I'm sure it's been very.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
Fun for the fans watching at home.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
So Bears Packers meeting for a third time, would you
rather have familiarity in the playoffs, a constant rival or opponent,
or did you like the element of surprise? They don't
know you, you don't know them, your tricks? I mean,
I don't which side do you like playing a team
for a third time?
Speaker 4 (23:00):
I would say that's pretty tough. Look, if you're in
the playoffs, it shouldn't matter. You know who you're playing,
where you're playing. Again, this is all about, like you're in,
You've got a shot, you got an opportunity. Now what
are you going to do with that opportunity. I've called
five Chicago Bears games this season. Nobody thought they would
have the type of season that they've had. We had
them in Green Bay where Caleb threw a kind of
(23:21):
an interception at the last play of the game to
Keishaw Nixon, which sealed the victory for the Packers. Then
all of a sudden, this crazy comeback which was America's
Game of the week where they were covered on side
kick and they go to overtime and Caleb hits the
bomb downfield. And this is what you love about it.
These two teams know each other so well. Guys are
coming out of you know, some unheralded receivers from the
(23:43):
Bears have made some plays late in these games. So
it is a super tight matchup for this game. This
is one of the most intriguing games of the weekend.
I can't wait to see how both teams played. And look,
they know each other so well, so now it really
does come down to the fundamental and possession of the
football and knowing your assignment's details. These are really tremendous
(24:05):
programs this season, great coaches. You know, we'll see if
who's the most prepared when they.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
Take the field.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So it's such an offensive league. Now, twelve of the
fourteen quarterbacks or first round guys. If I were Seattle.
If I was Seattle, I would not want to buy.
I think they're young, hot, I'd want to play. Same
with Denver I'm not a big by fan. Now again,
you played in the division you had a lot of those,
(24:33):
So I do wonder Seattle and Denver aren't playing. Did
you like the extra time or did you just want
to keep playing?
Speaker 5 (24:46):
Yeah, so it's a great question. It is not a
week of rest.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
Let me say that, it's a week of preparation, and
it's a week of preparation for what is going to
be the most difficult game of the season, because it's
whoever you play will have won a playoff game. As
you approached that game and that week, they're gonna have
tremendous confidence. Whoever you're gonna play, They're like, man, we're
already in the playoffs. We want to gain These guys
(25:10):
have been sitting there not preparing arrested. But to me,
it was like, what can we get done during this
week that's going to give us an advantage for.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
The following week.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
So to actually have the week off to really take
inventory this late in year what you're good at, what
you're not good I always thought was really important. I
felt like I was really fresh going into the divisional round.
I'm sure with the you know, there's some great coaching obviously,
Sean Payton with with what he's done, and you know,
young Mike McDonald as a coach and kind of the
(25:39):
valuable experience that he's gained from last year and this year.
Seattle's been tremendous on defense. Their defensive line is one
of the greatest, you know, D lines in football, probably
the best D line in football. They're suffocating on defense
and that goes a long way if they, you know,
get a turnover to going to Seattle and trying to
win with that crowd noise, that is a very, very
(26:02):
tough out to try to get see out out.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Of the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So I'm a Stafford over Drake May MVP. And the
reason being, I think even the NFL uses strength of
schedule in tie breakers, and Stafford's schedule he beat number
one Houston defense, Number two Seattle with great against the
Jags defense played Philadelphia. This is not a knock on
Drake May, but they had the weakest schedule in twenty
six years. I do think there is I think schedule
(26:28):
has to matter when one team has the weakest in
twenty six years and the other has an excellent schedule.
I don't know if you voiced this publicly I think
you're lean and Stafford, are you not.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Yeah, I just said, look, I love Drake May and
what he's done in his second You're working with Josh McDaniels,
who's another tremendous coach and has done such a great
job kind of understanding what Drake's capable of, and Drake's
taken advantage of every opportunity that he's got. And I
always think in these awards, when you say one thing
that's positive about someone means youre saying something negative about
(26:58):
the other. It's not like that they both had incredible years.
I just see Matt Stafford as a Hall of Fame
level quarterback that has played his best season of football
and he's done it against you know, in any conditions.
Forty six touchdown passes. He's just been incredible, and I
just love that the way he leads his team. And
(27:19):
you know, there's no bad choice at this point. You're
talking about some of the best players in the league,
but mad has in my opinion, he's just really exceeded
everyone's expectations this season. And what incredible quarterback and what
a career he's had.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Let's wrap it up with this.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
There's a There's a famous clip where you go to
the sidelines and Belichick says, settled down, Tommy, settled.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
In, and You're like, I am the guy ran the
wrong route.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
So Drake may first playoff game, Caleb Williams, that crowd
is going to be electric. First playoff game. You know,
Jalen Harris has been around the block, Josh Allen, So
how did you, I mean, even at the end you
get to Super Bowls like it? How how did you
control emotionally that first pass that first series because it's
(28:06):
just playing at the Masters is different than the Buick Open,
playing a playoffs game is different than Week twelve?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
How do you control them?
Speaker 5 (28:15):
So?
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I guess the point Colin is, first of all, that
clip with Belichick always thinks funny because he would never
come up to me at the first quarter of the
first series of a game and tell me to say
until I realized he.
Speaker 5 (28:24):
Was miked up. And then that came out and I
was like, oh God, now.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I got it.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
But uh, it's a good exchange because I actually I
can sink back into that memory as well, and we
had such a great rapport. Actually always in touch with him,
and he's been a great mentor for me, and he
was always trying to get the best out of me,
which is like what a lot of these great coaches
in the playoffs are doing with their quarterbacks. And how
do you prepare these quarterbacks for playoff football? You put
pressure on them every single week to be their best,
(28:52):
and you don't wait for the playoffs to go all right, guys,
well now it's playoffs, let's do something different. You've been
preparing them all off season since eight so that they
can be at their best when it matters the most
for their team. So I just felt like the pressure
to succeed on a daily basis in great organizations and
to not let your teammates down prepared you for the
(29:14):
biggest moments of the season when everybody's watching, and that's
when you need to play your best. The margin of
there is the smallest because you're playing the best teams,
so you need to be at your best.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
And the only way to be at your.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Best on these days is to think about over the
course of the entire offseason. You need to be at
your best every day. And that's the reality of professional sports.
That's what the great athletes do, that's what the great
quarterbacks do constantly putting pressure on themselves to succeed regardless
of the moment, and that prepares you for these big
moments that they're about to face this weekend.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
You know, we have so many interesting offensive stories, and
a franchise that doesn't get any attention is Jacksonville. And
I think you and you probably like Trevor Lawrence at
Clemson all thought yeah, but he was kind of turnover prone.
And I think it's Liam Cohen. And this will be
my final question. What is Liam doing to create clarity?
(30:10):
I always felt Trevor got lured in the bad picks
and now he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Is its scheme? Is it tempo?
Speaker 1 (30:19):
What is Liam doing that we get the real Trevor Lawrence?
Speaker 5 (30:22):
Now, well, it's a lot of things.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
And I think Liam's done a great job even when
he was at Tampa last year. Or he has a
couple opportunities to, you know, really kind of take the
skill sets that he's learned from other coaches that he's
been around and then morph them into a system where
they have a lot of good skill players. And Trevor
is you know, a coach has got to get the
players a lot of layups. Good OC's get their quarterbacks layups.
(30:48):
You don't have to thread the needle on every single throw.
You got guys that are wide open. Great, there's a
big margin of air on a big portion of the passes.
That's the goal of an offensive coordinator. It's to how
do we create through our scheme, either the route concepts
or run concepts, how can we give our players a
little bit of an advantage because they realize if you
don't give them an advantage. I'd liking it to a golfer,
(31:10):
would you rather hit a three iron or four iron
into a green or would you rather hit a pitching wedge?
Over time, the more pitching wedge you hit when your
opponent's hitting three irons or four irons, the more of
an advantage you have. And the good coordinators like Liam
and I know he's a head coach, but he calls
the place like a Kyle Shanahan, like a Josh McDaniels,
like a Sean Payton. These guys are hitting sand wedges
(31:32):
into greens and that's what you want to do. And
then ultimately the quarterback needs to play a part of that.
As you mature, you get older, you start to give
your coordinator. Okay, these are the things I really love.
This is what I'm really confident. You become an extension
of the coaching staff, and that's.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
When you really start firing on all so owners.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
That's what I did, That's what Drew Brees did, That's
what Peyton Manning did. We had our own imprint on
what the game plan should be. We were totally confident
in everything that was being called, which allowed us to
go out there and executed our.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Best forty nine ers Eagles Sunday for Eastern on Fox. Uh,
it's there's gonna be some records broken. That is going
to be so intense, two huge NFL blue bloods. Tom
as always, I appreciate you stopping by.
Speaker 5 (32:20):
Hey, thanks for inviting me back.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
I know Shanks and Zeger had to call to try
to get me on, so eventually, you know, you'll just
invite me yourself. But I'm glad we were going to
make this work, certainly as we go into the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Thank you, Tom Brady, seven times Super Bowl champ. He
is uh, you know, yeah, I don't like I don't
like to bother people. You know, maybe I'll just get
on the phone and you make things happen. That last
answer is fascinating. It's a really great way to put it.
The more times you can hit a pitching wedge instead
(32:50):
of a three iron, the better the golfer. No matter
how well you hit the three iron. If I get
to hit the wedge or my nine or my eight
and you're hitting fairway woods over the course of time,
I'm gonna win the round. That's a great way to
put it. You got you gotta create some layups. You
got to give these guys not everything. Hey, Trevor, just
(33:12):
go be unbelievable. I always said this about Michael Jordan.
Michael mastered the mid range jumper, and about three times
a game, Michael would put the tongue out, switch hands
in mid air, and you'd be like, oh, okay, that's
Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan's career was ninety one percent sixteen footers.
But you get the highlights and you're like, oh, that's it.
Speaker 5 (33:33):
Was it. You know.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's the same with Mahomes. Mahomes just doesn't miss any layups.
You go to the Super Bowls with Mahomes, he always
has one huge scramble late in the fourth quarter of
Super Bowl wins and there's probably a cup there's a
left handed throw, or there's a red zone player like, okay.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
That's insane. You get about three of them of his
thirty four dropbacks. That's it.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
It's the hurt.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours, seven
days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search her to
listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
All Right, Blazing five time, what a regular season? We
had sixty percent best year in a while. I like
my picks. Let's start our Blazing five postseason edition.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Let's blaze it up, Fired it up. It's Collins blazon
fuck ramsid Panthers.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Rams minus ten and a half is the side. They
had an NFL eight wins by fourteen plus points this season.
No team had that many big blowout wins. Number one offense,
number one scoring offense. They just lost to this team.
That is momentum at his motivation. They're twelve and two
in games in which they have one or fewer turnovers.
(34:45):
So if they can cut the turnovers down, and Stafford
hasn't had a lot of bad games this year, they're
gonna win the game.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
The question is by how much.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
The Panthers are the only team to make the playoffs
with a negative point differential. Bryce Young has struggled this
season against good teams. Passer rating is seventy against playoff teams,
Rams win it, Rams cover final score thirty three to twenty.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Packers at Bears.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
I like the Bears at home. Lousy weather, plus one
and a half. Bears have the number three rush offense,
don't turn the ball over, better O line, better run game,
lousy weather, forget vertical passing. I like the Bears their
offensive line. I think it's way better than people get
pff hes it at number three. They've won two of
the last three games against Green Bay. Caleb Williams five
TV's and a pick, and that pick was end zone
(35:37):
late in the game, trying to make a play. The
Packers are in a four game losing streak heading into
the playoffs. They've lost for their last five playoff games.
Thirtieth rank total defense since Micah Parsons has left. I'm
sorry it's not the same defense. Caleb's going to be
comfortable with a better run game. I like the Bears
take the points to win. Twenty seven twenty four Bills
(36:04):
at Jaguars. I like the Jags plus one and a half.
They're four and one all time in home playoff games,
eight and zero since Week eleven, and have outscored teams
by almost three touchdowns. They're eight to zero against the
spread in their last eight games. Remind me of that
Carolina team with Cam Newton. They just got hot and
you're like, get out of the way. I get out
(36:25):
of the way of this team. Defense is held opponents
under twenty points or fewer in six straight games, and
Trevor Lawrence in his last six games on an absolute heater.
The Bills have trailed in the second half seven and
the last ten games. That is no way to beat
good teams on the road. They cannot stop the run.
The Bills have the worst run defense of every playoff team.
(36:49):
I like the Jags to win. Superman or not a
quarterback for Buffalo thirteen to twenty seven.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
J Bil forty nine ers at Eagles. Listen.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
I'm gonna go Eagles minus five and a half. I
worry about Pearsall and Trent Williams. They do have the
number one red zone offense, so they get sevens not threes.
They also have one turnover in the last three games,
so they're you know, they've won three straight games. I
do think they run the ball a little better recently
Saquon Barkley last four games, it's got four hundred rushing yards.
(37:23):
They're at home to the better team, to the healthier team.
Listen the Niners against Vic Fangio. Jmack talked about it
earlier this week. The Niners and Shanahan against Vic Fangio
average twelve points a game. They struggle against him, and
they're too dependent on Christian McCaffrey. The defense has the
fewest sacks in the league. Jalen Hurts is comfortable at home.
Better roster, healthier roster. I'm going to take the Eagles
(37:46):
to win and the Eagles to cover twenty eight to twenty.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Oregon versus Indiana, I.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
Like Indiana minus three and a half. I don't think
that game at Outson was a score close at the
score indicated Indiana's coming off back wins where they hammered
Alabama and they beat Ohio State three to zero against
top ten opponents this year, I'd argue Indiana plays better
against better teams. They crushed a good Illinois team, They
hammered Oregon to Dotson. They you know, they pushed around
(38:16):
Ohio state did. They not committed fewer turnovers of any
power for team this season eight giveaways. They don't make mistakes,
the quarterbacks probably the best player in college football.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
And Oregon.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Their defense has gotten a little leaky, defending the run
in two of their last three games. Oregon's a very
good team. I just don't think they're built to beat
an Indiana team that is this efficient, this well coach
doesn't turn the ball over. I think Indiana wins, I
think Indiana covers. I think it's a really competitive game
(38:49):
with the two best college quarterbacks. Indiana thirty three, Oregon
twenty eight.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
So uh you know, I'm gonna pass on New England Chargers.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
I'm gonna pass on the Steelers Texans because the number
now is only three. That was gonna be my fifth bet.
I'm gonna take the Hoosiers. I got Dogs, Jags, and Bears.
I got favorites Indiana Eagles and the Rams.
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 Foxsports Radio dot com,
or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app
by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome in. It is
a Monday.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Great to be here, Baltimore. We'll see you next year.
Live in Los Angeles.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
It's The Herd.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Forty two year old Aaron Rodgers my comeback player of
the year. Good for him, good story. Pat hasselback just
around the corner. Let's not waste any time this week.
Starting Thursday, It's going to be as good as college
and pro football has been in this country in a
long time. I'm multiple potential upsets right, wrong, and here we.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Go where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I picked the Denver Broncos before the season to win
the AFC West and unseat Kansas City despite Russell Wilson's
cap hit still being thirty two million on the books,
bo Nicks I was a huge fan. Twenty four wins
tied for the most ever first two seasons for a quarterback.
Sean Payton may bother people time to time, but he's
(01:28):
one of the few NFL coaches I trust in the
draft room and the film room.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
He knows like Jimmy Johnson.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
He knows personnel, He gets trades, play design, play calling.
Denver was one of my better picks of the year
in the NFL. Where Colin was wraw, Kevin Stefanski got fired.
I don't get it, of all the fired coaches, I
think he has a really viable market. He's a two
time coach of the Year who had to swim in
(01:57):
chaos because of ownership a Deshaun Watson deal. In twenty
three years, the Browns have won two playoff games. Guess
who the coach for both was. Kevin Stefanski an intellect,
he's calm, he's a mentor, he's a teacher. If I
was the Raiders, I would have hired him an hour ago.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I lobbied for the Miami Hurricanes to make the College
Football Playoff over Notre Dame. Well, they've beaten Texas A and
M and Ohio State and they're favored over Old Miss.
I didn't think losing to an eight win Louisville team
in October should wreck an entire program season. College football
(02:40):
is more like pro football, and the most physical team
left and I don't think there's any question. Is the
Miami Hurricanes one of the glamour programs in college football
that pushed the Buckeyes around in a three and a half.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Hour flex where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Listen, I have play a lot of the Cowboys from
moving off Michah Parsons, and I love the fact and
a good draft they have two first round picks, but
this coaching staff was not equipped to handle it. It
exposed an incredibly weak secondary, worse than the NFL defensively
on third down, terrible scoring defense. I also don't think
it played very well in the locker room, where Micah
(03:21):
was respected and liked. I think by draft day you'll
like the deal, but right now it looks like it.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Was a miss where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Nine of the fourteen playoff teams have offensive coaches, most
notably Liam Cohan Ben Johnson. Folks, if you've got a
young quarterback, or you draft a quarterback, strongly consider the
guy that has a quarterback sensibility. Caleb's talent has now
been allowed to flourish. First thing he addressed, like most
(03:52):
offensive coaches, was the O line. Interior Ben Johnson got
the Bears to a number two seed.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Just say that out loud. Great job. Where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Well, my portfolio has never had a lot of Jaguar stock,
but this is the best Trevor Lawrence has ever.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Been quarterback coach. Run game and.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
They get good pressure. Although they don't have a ton
of sacks, they're legitimate. Liam Cohen is clever, he's intense,
He's brought a serious nature.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
There's not a lot.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I mean, if you were doubting how good they were,
go back to what they did to the Chargers totally
dismantled them, or the Broncos they went to Denver completely
dominated them. This may be outside of Seattle, the best
team in the NFL in Jacksonville.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Don't overthink the room. I said at mid season, Fernando
Mendoza is a runaway number one pick, the quarterback for Indiana.
Do you know Cinty showed up in Bloomington. Listen to
this forty four touchdowns no interceptions in the red zone
since since going to Bloomington. Overthink the room. Big, strong,
(05:03):
good arm played in an excellent conference. I said, they're
not gonna beat Alabama, They're gonna blow the doors off
of Alabama, and that's exactly what they did. Where Colin
was right, I didn't buy Ty Simpson at Alabama, who's
rumor to be transferring. He doesn't have a single wow
trade arm, size, mobility. I just don't see it as
(05:28):
a first round talent. He got banged up and then
pulled against the Hoosiers. Bama didn't score a touchdown. Simpson's fine,
but they have tremendous receivers at Alabama. He is, by
all accounts, second third, fourth round guy.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Where Colin was raw, I defended.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Not only acquiring Kirk Cousins but drafting Michael Pennix. But
the head coach in GM today got fired. Pennix has
dissolved into sort of a nothing burger. He's banged up. Cousins. Actually,
Kirk played pretty well at the end of the season.
Too little, too late. My takeaway was, folks, you can't
have too many quarterbacks, bring a veteran in for a
(06:08):
year and then have Michael Pennix take it from there.
Maybe they should have hired an offensive coach but it
doesn't look like I was on the right side of
that one.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Eastern nin a em Pacific.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing
us live weeknights from seven to ten pm Eastern on
Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new
YouTube channel for the show.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
You can now watch The Odd Couple live on YouTube
every day.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
All you gotta do search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube.
Again YouTube, Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out
on YouTube and subscribe.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Heard Hierarchy time is now go the top ten NFL
teams according to College number ten. I would put Chicago.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
They won the NFC North for the first time since
twenty eighteen. When they win the turnover battle, they win,
but they're very reliant on it. They're ten and one
when they win the turnover battle, so if you play clean,
you can beat them. Most offensive touchdowns in Bears franchise
history with Caleb led the NFL with eleven touchdown passes
twenty plus yards down the field, but they disappear offensively
(07:25):
for entire first halfs.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
This Packer game is a rough one.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
It's going to be windy, which plays into the run
game of Chicago. Great year for the Bears. I put
them at ten.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Number nine.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
The Niners Listen brock perty in the last month one
hundred and seven passer rating. They're not as good as Seattle.
Don't punish them too much for losing to Seattle. They
didn't have Trent Williams and Ricky Pearsall. If they have
them backed, they're a live underdog against Philadelphia. They have
lost nine of their last ten games when trailing at halftime.
Some of that is on Kyle Shanahan, who to me
(07:59):
is he's always been very tied to his script. He's
not been a great second half or come from behind coach.
But if Pearsall and Trent and Kittle are available, that
game with Philadelphia gets interesting.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Niners at nine. Number eight.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Listen, the Bills are good. I don't think they're Super
Bowl good. They are twelve to zero when scoring twenty
one plus points. There's a way they win. They lead
the NFL in big plays in rushing, but that defense
twenty eighth against the run, They've lost eight straight road
playoff games. How do you win on the road against
the Jacksonville Shut him down and take the crowd out.
(08:37):
I also worry about this team because they're slow starting.
When you go on the road and face a high
powered offense like Jacksonville, you do not want to play
from behind, and the Bills make a habit of playing
from behind.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
That's why I have him at eight.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Number seven the Texans. They're on a nine game winning streak.
Best defense probably easily give credit to Nick Cassario. He's
drafted hell out of this defense the last three years.
But in the red zone they're not good. They settle
for field goals, and I think that will be their undoing.
You gotta get sevens, not threes. In the red zone.
(09:14):
They are twenty fourth in yards per play. There's so
much I like about him. I've always been a huge CJ.
Stroud fan. That red zone offense they'll settle for threes,
not seven, will cost him.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I put them at seven.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Number six the weird Philadelphia Eagles, who are three and
four over their last seven games and since Week ten
have a bottom six offense. I mean, they're ten to
zero when Jalen Hurts is held under two hundred yards passing.
They're the opposite of what wins in the NFL. But
(09:47):
their roster is so complete, their defense is so good.
But even I mean even this, they're five and three
at home. I don't even know what to make of Philadelphia.
That's why I have them at six.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Number five.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Denver is a great home team, so at least I
know what they are. They're good in the fourth quarter,
They're good at home. They're thirteen and one since week four.
Do they have a ceiling with bow Nicks, Maybe, but
he is the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era
to lead in pass attempts in his first two seasons.
That tells you that Sean Payton trusts him. It's a
(10:21):
little like Andrew Luck. We're gonna give you the whole playbook.
They're also four and two against playoff teams, so they've
beaten good teams.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I put them at five number four. The Rams aren't.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Playing great right now, three and three over their last
six week six weeks, but I love the fact they've
got three different guys with seven sacks. I love the
fact they're playing a Carolina team they lost to is
a favorite. Devonte Adams comes back. Now, you can beat
him downfield. I mean, Carolina's got two big receivers. You
can beat him downfield. You can beat him with big
(10:54):
perimeter weapons. That's why Philadelphia is a tough matchup for them.
But Stafford, the O line, the coach, the weapons. I
have the Rams at four, number three. We got to
pay attention to Jacksonville. Okay, they're eight to no since
Week eleven, beating teams by nineteen a game. They're like
a dominant college team. And three of their four losses
(11:15):
have come to teams like you can lose to the
Seahawks or the Texans Ones or the Rams. They lose
to the right teams. I mean, they're just They have
had really good draft picks for a long time. They've
missed on the coach, but Trevor Lawrence has his king maker.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I have them at three, number two.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I'm gonna put New England at two because I love Vrabel.
They've won thirteen to fourteen games and they are a
great road team that matters. Mike Frable third coach to
win fourteen plus games in his first season. I don't
love their O line. Their run game is inconsistent. That's
why I have them at number two, number one. I mean,
(12:00):
you watched the San Francisco game. Seattle wasted offensive opportunities
and totally shut down Christian McCaffrey, which I said, that's
like shutting down Barry Sanders or Walter Payton.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
How do you do that? I like everything.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
I think they're GM's the best personnel guy in the league.
Go look at their last nine picks in the first
and second round, nine for nine.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
They have a rare.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Combination of a quarterback who's highly productive on a team
friendly deal, and they don't miss on draft picks. Translation
stacked roster. It's better than Philadelphia's. Now they're all line
like New England is okay?
Speaker 2 (12:38):
My top two teams all lines.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
By the way, New England and Seattle in the draft
both will address their old lines. Both address the old
lines last year in the first round. So that's where
we are.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
in newone Eastern nin a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And with that, Tom Brady is joining us live. He'll
be doing the Niners Eagles game. Seven time Super Bowl champ,
so I went and looked, this is funny, Tom, I
went and looked at your highlights this morning of your
first NFL start, Tom scampering for a rushing touchdown, playing
in the playing I lived there for ten years in
(13:20):
New England.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Weather. Were you nervous first start? Go back to what
what were you like? Emotionally?
Speaker 4 (13:26):
It was actually such a great day for football When
you see that, there's only a few kind of games
in your career where you have that type of weather.
I remember going out there in pregame warm upon and
it was like six inches of snow on the ground.
I thought, Okay, the pass rush isn't going to be
too tough today, So kind of me plowing through the
snow and diving in there for the touchdown. I was
one of the memorable moments in my career. And I
(13:48):
never played in the game. There was maybe one other
game where I had that type of weather conditions, But
for so many reasons, I still can remember the way
the snow was falling in pregame, and you know, I
had these visions of kind of in a weird way,
I can kind of go back to that day and
relive it in my own mind when I see these highlights,
So thanks for bringing it up. There's a lot of
(14:08):
great memories, probably not for the Raider fans, are from
my boy Charles Woodson, who's still you know, literally, I
think every time we see each other in some former fashion,
you know, some type of fumble or non fumble event
comes up. But it was a really special first playoff
start for me, and it was it was I think
the last game in that stadium as well.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
So that was a lot of great memories.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
So let's talk Eagles forty nine ers. I was saying
to the staff yesterday, we were thinking of questions, and
I said, the Eagles are the opposite of your Patriots.
They're loud, there's drama, they're uneven, they have half they
don't complete passes. I'm not exactly sure what Ciriani is,
but he's a winner. You're Patriots. I always said this.
You guys were like the brilliant accounting firm. I knew
(14:53):
what I was get every Sunday. The weather didn't matter,
the opponent didn't I knew exactly when I lived in
Connecticut what the game would look. You'd have maybe one
game a year where it unraveled. I don't even know
series this series. What I get from Philadelphia You've done
their games. How do you explain their success when they're
this uneven, this lowed consistently.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
Yeah, you're right, but let me go back.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
First of all, Famously, New England isn't known for drama.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
I think we had more.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Gates than Logan International Airport for twenty years. There was
always some sort of drama happening with our team over
the course of the year. And I think it's the
product of having a lot of successful moments too. Where
you know, I look at Philly and they got a
tough media market, and in the Northeast in general, I
think there's always these environments that are a little bit
(15:45):
tougher for the fans, for the players. You know, it's
a tough city. It's a hard no city. The fans,
they expect a lot every year. So they've had success,
obviously in the Super Bowl a few years ago than
they won it last year, and you know, now it's like, well,
we should just win every game. But the reality the
NFL is you don't win every game. The competition is
really tough, and then when you cover the team, you're
(16:08):
always looking for little chinks in the armor and I
think that ends up kind of feeling like, you know,
there's distraction or drama because aj Brown doesn't get every
target or Saquon's not rushing for two thousand yards again.
But understand in some ways those are anomalies. You know,
that season Saquon had last year was an anomaly. He's
a phenomenal player, He's going to be a Hall of Famer.
(16:30):
But no running back rushes for two thousand yards every year.
So when it's less than two thousand, we all make
a big drama that it's not two thousand again, but the.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
Reality is it's probably closer.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
You know, this year is maybe a little down for
him for a number of different reasons, but he's still
a phenomenal player. The Eagles, they still got a great
football team. If they're drama and they're sitting in the
position they're in, I'm sure coach Siriani would take the
drama every single week the way that he ends up
his managements of the team. But I think they're as
(17:02):
dangerous as a playoff team as.
Speaker 5 (17:04):
Or is alive right now.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
So there's an interesting stat with Kyle Shanahan, and I
love Shanahan. I think he's the great play designer of
his generation like Andy was for years or Bill Walsh.
But there is a weird stat and I think it
does point to it. When a stat gets too weird,
I said last hour, it's usually a personality thing. Uh.
He has the best play sheet in the league, They
use the most motion, but he doesn't come from behind.
(17:28):
There's a remarkable number with Shanahan, like if he trails
by seven plus points at half, they don't win. My
knock is that he is a little tied to the
play sheet that I think a coach should be more
way more than Google maps.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
You gotta gotta go with the floor, right, go with
the flow.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
And I want to go back to Josh McDaniel because
you Sean Payton, bow Knicks, Ben Jonson and Caleb You
were a guy elway was this Sometimes you rip it
up and start over. Give me some examples in the playoffs?
Are there times? Maybe those Baltimore games, Tom, when you
went into it and said, guys, this isn't working.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
We have got to change.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
I mean, did you have like dramatic halftime moments like that.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I don't know if it's dramatic, but I think when
you have the continuity that we had over a period
of time in the playoffs, you could quickly adapt or
you know, because it's hard in the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
If you get down early in the game.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
And you know, we add a few games this year
where teams were, you know, Chicago for example, like Caleb
had six yards passing in the first half. Then he
comes out in the second half and he rattles off
two hundred plus yards and they win the game. And
it's a dramatic kind of come from behind win that
the Bears would have. But in the playoffs it becomes
much more difficult to come back by ten points or
more against a very good football team.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Right.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
So I would just say, though, the important part to
realize on all this is every team is built a
specific way. The forty nine ers have always been built
to run the football, to play good defense, and use
a lot of play action paths to get exploded. The
strength of their team isn't the wide out position. This year,
you know, with Ayuk situation, they kind of brought.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
In some.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Receivers that Juwan Jennings that like Boorn I like. But
at the same time, I would say the strength their
team is thrown to the half back throwing the ball
to the tight end, and it's not kind of maybe
what we see in a traditional Kyle Shanahan offense.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
It doesn't mean they can't come back.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
I do think it's difficult with some of these systems though,
that are built on the run game and play action
pass to come back. You know, I was a part
of more I would say, a drop back passing team
where our passing concepts were very detailed, very methodical. Our
protection schemes very methodical in detail. I probably had twenty
to thirty different protection schemes. I would say the West
(19:44):
Coast offense has maybe half of those. So there are
things that that West Coast offense has done. With some
of these coaches, they can do that are tremendous when
they play in their style, and I think when they
get out of their style.
Speaker 5 (19:57):
Ultimately, that's what you're trying to do.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
When you're playing good teams, you're trying to get to play,
You're trying to get those teams to play left handed.
You're taking away their stars, you're minimizing their strengths and
you're maximizing their weaknesses. There's always a formula to win.
I think the forty nine ers that they're going to
win this week, they better get out to a lead,
they better play from ahead. They and they're gonna need
to create some issues for this Eagles offense to get
(20:23):
them off track a bit too, because they play so
well and they have performed very well in the biggest moments.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
So one of the similarities with you and Mahomes is
that you both had great success early in the playoffs,
so you never had this thing hanging over your head, like, oh,
they can't win those close ones. Well, Buffalo's oh for
its last eight playoff road games, Josh is zero to five.
Usually golf and baseball, there's down time. The sport can
(20:51):
get into your head. Hockey, football, basketball, you don't have
prolonged slumps.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
You got a series coming up.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
But I do think Tom, it's tied at twenty four late,
Buffalo's got the ball. I can't believe they. I think
all the pressure in the world's on Buffalo of all
the teams this weekend. That's going to play a little
psychological part, does it not.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Yeah, well, I think it's very psychological, very emotional. When
they've been in these situations, they haven't played the type
of winning football needed in order for them to advance,
and they've sometimes they've gone against, in my opinion, Patrick
and the Chiefs team, which has been, you know, the
team that everyone's always aiming for, and you get caught
up in those games against you know, the Chiefs. They've
been a tough out for a long time. Now they're
(21:36):
out of it this year. So can Buffalo find it
within themselves to play their best football in the biggest
moments and look, some weeks they've looked great.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
The passing game looks great.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Obviously, they're runners, one of the top backs in the NFL.
And the way Josh plays when he's playing his rhythm,
you know, he's virtually impossible. MVP caliber season last year
and I thought he played very well this season. So
the good part about the playoffs is it's not where
you play, it's not who you play, it's how you play.
And if it really isteresting the playoffs this year, how
(22:10):
you play in these games is going to determine who
moves on the team that doesn't turn the ball over, controls.
The line of scrimmage plays well in situational football, makes
the stops in the red area or you know, or
it goes the opposite way. And that's why I think
this playoffs more so than what I can remember in
the past in the NFL has done an unbelievable job
this season with the parody in these games, and it's
(22:31):
been so fun for me to cover them for Fox
from my vantage point, I'm sure it's been very.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
Fun for the fans watching at home.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
So Bears Packers meeting for a third time, would you
rather have familiarity in the playoffs, a constant rival or opponent,
or did you like the element of surprise? They don't
know you, you don't know them, your tricks? I mean,
I don't which side do you like playing a team
for a third time?
Speaker 4 (23:00):
I would say that's pretty tough. Look, if you're in
the playoffs, it shouldn't matter. You know who you're playing,
where you're playing. Again, this is all about, like you're in,
You've got a shot, you got an opportunity. Now what
are you going to do with that opportunity. I've called
five Chicago Bears games this season. Nobody thought they would
have the type of season that they've had. We had
them in Green Bay where Caleb threw a kind of
(23:21):
an interception at the last play of the game to
Keishaw Nixon, which sealed the victory for the Packers. Then
all of a sudden, this crazy comeback which was America's
Game of the week where they were covered on side
kick and they go to overtime and Caleb hits the
bomb downfield. And this is what you love about it.
These two teams know each other so well. Guys are
coming out of you know, some unheralded receivers from the
(23:43):
Bears have made some plays late in these games. So
it is a super tight matchup for this game. This
is one of the most intriguing games of the weekend.
I can't wait to see how both teams played. And look,
they know each other so well, so now it really
does come down to the fundamental and possession of the
football and knowing your assignment's details. These are really tremendous
(24:05):
programs this season, great coaches. You know, we'll see if
who's the most prepared when they.
Speaker 5 (24:11):
Take the field.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
So it's such an offensive league. Now, twelve of the
fourteen quarterbacks or first round guys. If I were Seattle.
If I was Seattle, I would not want to buy.
I think they're young, hot, I'd want to play. Same
with Denver I'm not a big by fan. Now again,
you played in the division you had a lot of those,
(24:33):
So I do wonder Seattle and Denver aren't playing. Did
you like the extra time or did you just want
to keep playing?
Speaker 5 (24:46):
Yeah, so it's a great question. It is not a
week of rest.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
Let me say that, it's a week of preparation, and
it's a week of preparation for what is going to
be the most difficult game of the season, because it's
whoever you play will have won a playoff game. As
you approached that game and that week, they're gonna have
tremendous confidence. Whoever you're gonna play, They're like, man, we're
already in the playoffs. We want to gain These guys
(25:10):
have been sitting there not preparing arrested. But to me,
it was like, what can we get done during this
week that's going to give us an advantage for.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
The following week.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
So to actually have the week off to really take
inventory this late in year what you're good at, what
you're not good I always thought was really important. I
felt like I was really fresh going into the divisional round.
I'm sure with the you know, there's some great coaching obviously,
Sean Payton with with what he's done, and you know,
young Mike McDonald as a coach and kind of the
(25:39):
valuable experience that he's gained from last year and this year.
Seattle's been tremendous on defense. Their defensive line is one
of the greatest, you know, D lines in football, probably
the best D line in football. They're suffocating on defense
and that goes a long way if they, you know,
get a turnover to going to Seattle and trying to
win with that crowd noise, that is a very, very
(26:02):
tough out to try to get see out out.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
Of the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
So I'm a Stafford over Drake May MVP. And the
reason being, I think even the NFL uses strength of
schedule in tie breakers, and Stafford's schedule he beat number
one Houston defense, Number two Seattle with great against the
Jags defense played Philadelphia. This is not a knock on
Drake May, but they had the weakest schedule in twenty
six years. I do think there is I think schedule
(26:28):
has to matter when one team has the weakest in
twenty six years and the other has an excellent schedule.
I don't know if you voiced this publicly I think
you're lean and Stafford, are you not.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
Yeah, I just said, look, I love Drake May and
what he's done in his second You're working with Josh McDaniels,
who's another tremendous coach and has done such a great
job kind of understanding what Drake's capable of, and Drake's
taken advantage of every opportunity that he's got. And I
always think in these awards, when you say one thing
that's positive about someone means youre saying something negative about
(26:58):
the other. It's not like that they both had incredible years.
I just see Matt Stafford as a Hall of Fame
level quarterback that has played his best season of football
and he's done it against you know, in any conditions.
Forty six touchdown passes. He's just been incredible, and I
just love that the way he leads his team. And
(27:19):
you know, there's no bad choice at this point. You're
talking about some of the best players in the league,
but mad has in my opinion, he's just really exceeded
everyone's expectations this season. And what incredible quarterback and what
a career he's had.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Let's wrap it up with this.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
There's a There's a famous clip where you go to
the sidelines and Belichick says, settled down, Tommy, settled.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
In, and You're like, I am the guy ran the
wrong route.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
So Drake may first playoff game, Caleb Williams, that crowd
is going to be electric. First playoff game. You know,
Jalen Harris has been around the block, Josh Allen, So
how did you, I mean, even at the end you
get to Super Bowls like it? How how did you
control emotionally that first pass that first series because it's
(28:06):
just playing at the Masters is different than the Buick Open,
playing a playoffs game is different than Week twelve?
Speaker 2 (28:13):
How do you control them?
Speaker 5 (28:15):
So?
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I guess the point Colin is, first of all, that
clip with Belichick always thinks funny because he would never
come up to me at the first quarter of the
first series of a game and tell me to say
until I realized he.
Speaker 5 (28:24):
Was miked up. And then that came out and I
was like, oh God, now.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I got it.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
But uh, it's a good exchange because I actually I
can sink back into that memory as well, and we
had such a great rapport. Actually always in touch with him,
and he's been a great mentor for me, and he
was always trying to get the best out of me,
which is like what a lot of these great coaches
in the playoffs are doing with their quarterbacks. And how
do you prepare these quarterbacks for playoff football? You put
pressure on them every single week to be their best,
(28:52):
and you don't wait for the playoffs to go all right, guys,
well now it's playoffs, let's do something different. You've been
preparing them all off season since eight so that they
can be at their best when it matters the most
for their team. So I just felt like the pressure
to succeed on a daily basis in great organizations and
to not let your teammates down prepared you for the
(29:14):
biggest moments of the season when everybody's watching, and that's
when you need to play your best. The margin of
there is the smallest because you're playing the best teams,
so you need to be at your best.
Speaker 5 (29:25):
And the only way to be at your.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Best on these days is to think about over the
course of the entire offseason. You need to be at
your best every day. And that's the reality of professional sports.
That's what the great athletes do, that's what the great
quarterbacks do constantly putting pressure on themselves to succeed regardless
of the moment, and that prepares you for these big
moments that they're about to face this weekend.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
You know, we have so many interesting offensive stories, and
a franchise that doesn't get any attention is Jacksonville. And
I think you and you probably like Trevor Lawrence at
Clemson all thought yeah, but he was kind of turnover prone.
And I think it's Liam Cohen. And this will be
my final question. What is Liam doing to create clarity?
(30:10):
I always felt Trevor got lured in the bad picks
and now he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Is its scheme? Is it tempo?
Speaker 1 (30:19):
What is Liam doing that we get the real Trevor Lawrence?
Speaker 5 (30:22):
Now, well, it's a lot of things.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
And I think Liam's done a great job even when
he was at Tampa last year. Or he has a
couple opportunities to, you know, really kind of take the
skill sets that he's learned from other coaches that he's
been around and then morph them into a system where
they have a lot of good skill players. And Trevor
is you know, a coach has got to get the
players a lot of layups. Good OC's get their quarterbacks layups.
(30:48):
You don't have to thread the needle on every single throw.
You got guys that are wide open. Great, there's a
big margin of air on a big portion of the passes.
That's the goal of an offensive coordinator. It's to how
do we create through our scheme, either the route concepts
or run concepts, how can we give our players a
little bit of an advantage because they realize if you
don't give them an advantage. I'd liking it to a golfer,
(31:10):
would you rather hit a three iron or four iron
into a green or would you rather hit a pitching wedge?
Over time, the more pitching wedge you hit when your
opponent's hitting three irons or four irons, the more of
an advantage you have. And the good coordinators like Liam
and I know he's a head coach, but he calls
the place like a Kyle Shanahan, like a Josh McDaniels,
like a Sean Payton. These guys are hitting sand wedges
(31:32):
into greens and that's what you want to do. And
then ultimately the quarterback needs to play a part of that.
As you mature, you get older, you start to give
your coordinator. Okay, these are the things I really love.
This is what I'm really confident. You become an extension
of the coaching staff, and that's.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
When you really start firing on all so owners.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
That's what I did, That's what Drew Brees did, That's
what Peyton Manning did. We had our own imprint on
what the game plan should be. We were totally confident
in everything that was being called, which allowed us to
go out there and executed our.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Best forty nine ers Eagles Sunday for Eastern on Fox. Uh,
it's there's gonna be some records broken. That is going
to be so intense, two huge NFL blue bloods. Tom
as always, I appreciate you stopping by.
Speaker 5 (32:20):
Hey, thanks for inviting me back.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
I know Shanks and Zeger had to call to try
to get me on, so eventually, you know, you'll just
invite me yourself. But I'm glad we were going to
make this work, certainly as we go into the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Thank you, Tom Brady, seven times Super Bowl champ. He
is uh, you know, yeah, I don't like I don't
like to bother people. You know, maybe I'll just get
on the phone and you make things happen. That last
answer is fascinating. It's a really great way to put it.
The more times you can hit a pitching wedge instead
(32:50):
of a three iron, the better the golfer. No matter
how well you hit the three iron. If I get
to hit the wedge or my nine or my eight
and you're hitting fairway woods over the course of time,
I'm gonna win the round. That's a great way to
put it. You got you gotta create some layups. You
got to give these guys not everything. Hey, Trevor, just
(33:12):
go be unbelievable. I always said this about Michael Jordan.
Michael mastered the mid range jumper, and about three times
a game, Michael would put the tongue out, switch hands
in mid air, and you'd be like, oh, okay, that's
Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan's career was ninety one percent sixteen footers.
But you get the highlights and you're like, oh, that's it.
Speaker 5 (33:33):
Was it. You know.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's the same with Mahomes. Mahomes just doesn't miss any layups.
You go to the Super Bowls with Mahomes, he always
has one huge scramble late in the fourth quarter of
Super Bowl wins and there's probably a cup there's a
left handed throw, or there's a red zone player like, okay.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
That's insane. You get about three of them of his
thirty four dropbacks. That's it.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
It's the hurt.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
One more Herd. The Herd streams twenty four hours, seven
days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search her to
listen live or on demand whenever you like.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
All Right, Blazing five time, what a regular season? We
had sixty percent best year in a while. I like
my picks. Let's start our Blazing five postseason edition.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
Let's blaze it up, Fired it up. It's Collins blazon
fuck ramsid Panthers.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Rams minus ten and a half is the side. They
had an NFL eight wins by fourteen plus points this season.
No team had that many big blowout wins. Number one offense,
number one scoring offense. They just lost to this team.
That is momentum at his motivation. They're twelve and two
in games in which they have one or fewer turnovers.
(34:45):
So if they can cut the turnovers down, and Stafford
hasn't had a lot of bad games this year, they're
gonna win the game.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
The question is by how much.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
The Panthers are the only team to make the playoffs
with a negative point differential. Bryce Young has struggled this
season against good teams. Passer rating is seventy against playoff teams,
Rams win it, Rams cover final score thirty three to twenty.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Packers at Bears.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
I like the Bears at home. Lousy weather, plus one
and a half. Bears have the number three rush offense,
don't turn the ball over, better O line, better run game,
lousy weather, forget vertical passing. I like the Bears their
offensive line. I think it's way better than people get
pff hes it at number three. They've won two of
the last three games against Green Bay. Caleb Williams five
TV's and a pick, and that pick was end zone
(35:37):
late in the game, trying to make a play. The
Packers are in a four game losing streak heading into
the playoffs. They've lost for their last five playoff games.
Thirtieth rank total defense since Micah Parsons has left. I'm
sorry it's not the same defense. Caleb's going to be
comfortable with a better run game. I like the Bears
take the points to win. Twenty seven twenty four Bills
(36:04):
at Jaguars. I like the Jags plus one and a half.
They're four and one all time in home playoff games,
eight and zero since Week eleven, and have outscored teams
by almost three touchdowns. They're eight to zero against the
spread in their last eight games. Remind me of that
Carolina team with Cam Newton. They just got hot and
you're like, get out of the way. I get out
(36:25):
of the way of this team. Defense is held opponents
under twenty points or fewer in six straight games, and
Trevor Lawrence in his last six games on an absolute heater.
The Bills have trailed in the second half seven and
the last ten games. That is no way to beat
good teams on the road. They cannot stop the run.
The Bills have the worst run defense of every playoff team.
(36:49):
I like the Jags to win. Superman or not a
quarterback for Buffalo thirteen to twenty seven.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
J Bil forty nine ers at Eagles. Listen.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
I'm gonna go Eagles minus five and a half. I
worry about Pearsall and Trent Williams. They do have the
number one red zone offense, so they get sevens not threes.
They also have one turnover in the last three games,
so they're you know, they've won three straight games. I
do think they run the ball a little better recently
Saquon Barkley last four games, it's got four hundred rushing yards.
(37:23):
They're at home to the better team, to the healthier team.
Listen the Niners against Vic Fangio. Jmack talked about it
earlier this week. The Niners and Shanahan against Vic Fangio
average twelve points a game. They struggle against him, and
they're too dependent on Christian McCaffrey. The defense has the
fewest sacks in the league. Jalen Hurts is comfortable at home.
Better roster, healthier roster. I'm going to take the Eagles
(37:46):
to win and the Eagles to cover twenty eight to twenty.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Oregon versus Indiana, I.
Speaker 1 (37:53):
Like Indiana minus three and a half. I don't think
that game at Outson was a score close at the
score indicated Indiana's coming off back wins where they hammered
Alabama and they beat Ohio State three to zero against
top ten opponents this year, I'd argue Indiana plays better
against better teams. They crushed a good Illinois team, They
hammered Oregon to Dotson. They you know, they pushed around
(38:16):
Ohio state did. They not committed fewer turnovers of any
power for team this season eight giveaways. They don't make mistakes,
the quarterbacks probably the best player in college football.
Speaker 2 (38:26):
And Oregon.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Their defense has gotten a little leaky, defending the run
in two of their last three games. Oregon's a very
good team. I just don't think they're built to beat
an Indiana team that is this efficient, this well coach
doesn't turn the ball over. I think Indiana wins, I
think Indiana covers. I think it's a really competitive game
(38:49):
with the two best college quarterbacks. Indiana thirty three, Oregon
twenty eight.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
So uh you know, I'm gonna pass on New England Chargers.
Speaker 1 (38:59):
I'm gonna pass on the Steelers Texans because the number
now is only three. That was gonna be my fifth bet.
I'm gonna take the Hoosiers. I got Dogs, Jags, and Bears.
I got favorites Indiana Eagles and the Rams.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.
iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the XXV Winter Olympics We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Milan Cortina Winter Olympics so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.