January 9, 2026 • 34 mins
Colin to Eric Mangini about Packers vs Bears and what makes this matchup interesting, why John Harbaugh might be interested in being the Raiders next head coach, if the Steelers have a fighting change against the Texans, and more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Well, it's a different world now.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
A high school quarterback seven on seven camps, kids come
out better earlier. Tom Brady is a rookie Drake May
as a second year player. It just feels like it's
a different experience cap more games, more practices, more coaching,
more tutoring, more film study now than twenty years ago.
(00:49):
Eric Mangini was with that young Tom Brady. He now
joins US live as Drake May gets ready for his
first playoff game, and it does feel different. I'm much
harsher on quarterbacks in year two than i was fifteen
years ago. You know, Peyton Manning in year two or three,
you know, is throwing a lot of picks. And I
kind of feel like with Drake May, it's been established
(01:11):
he's really good and he should probably win home playoff games.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Or is that unrealistic in your opinion, I.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Don't think it's unrealistic. It's strange with quarterbacks because you
have the Jaden Daniels experience and then you have the CJ.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
Stroud experience where.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
They pop in year one and fall off, and then
you have other guys like Drake May and to some
degree Caleb we're in year two after they go through
that learning curve. It's really hard to be successful as
a rookie quarterback in the NFL. There's all the volume
of stuff that you have to learn, the volume of
defenses that you face, the new environment, getting used to
(01:49):
the longer season. It's layers upon layers, which makes it challenging.
But in year two, once they get over that learning curve,
especially if you're in the same system, you should take
a significant jump if you're you know, if you're of
the talent level that they expected. Now where Drake May
is really benefited is the fact that he gets someone
(02:11):
like Josh McDaniels, and then, to the to some degree,
not to some degree, but to another big degree, Mike
Rabill as well. So you've got two experienced guys that
come in there. But Josh has as such a range
of experience and has dealt with so many different types
of quarterbacks. He had the benefit of obviously Tom Brady,
(02:32):
but others along the way where he couldn't have gotten
a better situation than getting Josh McDaniels this season.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
So, and then the other side of the spectrum is
this great talent who comes from Wyoming. He's super raw
for a couple of years, and now we look at
it and we're like, okay, so Josh Allen's zero for
five in road playoff games. And I said, I said
this a couple weeks ago. The only downside to getting
a superstar quarterback is the standard changes, and the standard
becomes January. The standards no longer you know, sept Labor
(03:06):
Day on the standard is.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Now January, mid January on.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And I've said this, if they go down to Jacksonville
and face plant, and you know, Jacksonville's good. They demolished
the Chargers, they demolished Inver and it's thirty three twenty.
What do you do moving into a new stadium with
Sean McDermott, who we all know is a very capable coach,
you know, like nobody thinks McDermott doesn't know what he's doing.
(03:35):
But I do think the standard has to change with Josh,
does it not?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, it's it's interesting because there's it depends on who
you're competing against. With these great quarterbacks, and with Josh,
there's been the Patrick Mahomes issue when we had Tom
you know, that was difficult for Peyton Manning and for
a lot of other great quarterbacks achieve at the level
that they could have achieved at coming out of this game.
(04:05):
If they lose, I think it will depend on how
they lose. So if he goes in and plays a
great game and walks off the field with the lead
and then the defense gives up a touchdown, it's hard
to say, Hey, this guy, this guy is the problem.
The issue is if he goes into superman mode and
takes a bunch of chances against a very, very opportunistic
(04:28):
Jacksonville defense. One of the reasons they're winning so many
games is because of the turnovers that they generate. That
to me is a totally different different equation. But you're
absolutely you're absolutely right. When you've got a great quarterback,
the expectation is you're going to be competing for super
Bowls every single season, and this year to me, Colin
(04:49):
is so different. He's the only superhero left in the AFC.
Burrow's home, Lamar's home, mahomes is home.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
He's it.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
All these other guys that they're buying for it, He's it.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
So over in the NFC, there's sometimes you'll see a
stat and you'll be like, wow, that jumps out at you,
and Kyle Shanahan's twelve and forty four when trailing at half,
and you're like, how's that possible? And my take is
every coach has a hole, everybody, every human does. My
knock on Shanahan for years has been he creates the
(05:25):
first or second best playshet in the league, but he's
not real flexible with it, and if you're trailing at half,
he's not going to say out with a playsheet, we're
starting to That's not who he is, and so he's
tied to the playsheet. That's my only That's all I
can come up with is to why. In fact, I
think we talked about it yesterday when trailing by a
(05:47):
touchdown or more. Since he's been in San Francisco, they're
like one in thirty two or so. I mean, it's
just an insane number. My take is he creates this
majestic play sheet and he's really inflexible moving off it.
Is that maybe why these numbers are what they are.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
And if you are so used to creating a majestic
play sheet, you believe, and you've had a ton of
success with it, and you continue to have a ton
of success with it, you think, Okay, maybe we didn't
execute it the way we should, but we're gonna keep
going in this direction because everything we've studied, everything we've
looked at, everything we've practiced, was based off of that.
(06:30):
I remember talking to Ron Earhart, the great offensive coordinator,
years ago, about a situation like that, and he said
he used to have a thing called the fine fifteen,
and his fine fifteen was if they went into a
game with a game plan and it didn't work, and
no matter how much they wanted it to be successful,
it wasn't going. He had fifteen plays that he could
(06:52):
go back to, even if they hadn't practiced them, that
all the guys knew and they could go to and
that could get them out of holes that that the
opponent's game.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
Plan had put him in.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
And I always thought that was a really interesting perspective
of in case of emergency break lass, you've got the
Fine fifteen that you can go to. So if everything
you thought was gonna work is and this is something
you know that guys can go execute even without a
lot of practice.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
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Speaker 1 (07:58):
So Bears Packers is fascinating. Green Bay's favored, and they're
on a four game losing streak and uh, you know,
I mean, the better O line and the better run
game is Chicago and the weather's lousy and so it's
like to me, it really plays in a Chicago's favor,
but green Bay is favor. So let's just say we've
talked a lot about Buffalo, green Bay loses. I think
(08:19):
Lafleur is a very good coach, but there's a lot
of talk right now he's looking for an extension.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Let's say green Bay goes and loses.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
My take is I think Chicago now that Micah Parsons
is hurt, I think Chicago's better than Green Bay. I
really do.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I think they're a better team than green Bay.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
When Micah was there, one defense was notably better than
the other. Then it's a coin flip, but I like,
I think Chicago's better, better run, game, better online, lousy weather.
What if Green Bay loses? What do you think your
opinion would be on Monday?
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Well, remember the history there, right, So you've got Aaron
Rodgers of Mike McCarthy, and Mike McCarthy was really successful.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Well, he lost that power struggle.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
So then they bring in the floor and he has
back to back MVP seasons. They don't win the Super Bowl,
and now they transitioned to Jordan Love. They feel like
Jordan Love is going to be the next FARV Slash Rogers.
He gets hot for a little while to give him
the contract extension. The expectations are there like this has
(09:22):
played out in the past, where the expectations become gigantic
because of you think you have the next great quarterback, and.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
You know they've done this in the past.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
So it wouldn't surprise me if the pressure ramps up
significantly and the expectations did change dramatically for Green Bay
when they traded for Micah Parsons. And you even heard
it from the players. Remember early on Colin the players
are saying, we have a chance to go undefeated, and
then they lose to the Browns, and then they lose
to Carolina, they tie the Cowboys, all of those things,
(09:55):
So that that didn't come out of thin air. That
was the talk in the building, and that to me
was probably the expectation of the organization. Now that the
seventh seed, they're playing the Bears. They beat the Bears
the first time, Love didn't really play much in the
in the second game, I imagine that green Bay.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Is probably going to win the game.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
My expectation is green Bay ends up ends up winning
this game just because I think that I think that
they have the Bear's number.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Okay, Harbaugh and Stefanski, So we talked about this. If
I was John Harbaugh, I would watch this weekend's games
and see what happens to Buffalo.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
So that's what I would do.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
And if Buffalo wins or loses in McDermott keeps his job,
then I like the idea of going to Miami where
I have some control on personnel, instead of New York
where Joe Shane's been retained, even though I have Jackson
Darton some interesting pieces, because I think Vrabel may not
be the GM in New England, but he's got to
(10:58):
say Harbaugh is not the But he's got to say,
you know, Joe Shane's track record is a coin flip,
not great. So you tell me, if you're John Harball,
you're top of the market. You see these eight openings
right now, Let's take obviously Baltimore let him go. Let's
say Buffalo is not open. Is there one of these
(11:19):
for Harball that's attractive to you?
Speaker 4 (11:23):
This may sound strange, but the Raiders could be very attractive.
So you've got the number one overall pick, right, so
you could get the quarterback. You've got a veteran quarterback
in Gino who you could survive with he could be
you always want to have that guy you know in
the building. Sure, then depends on how you feel about
asking gent, whether or not you legitimately feel he can
(11:43):
be the lead back. They've got the second most cap money.
They've got over one hundred million dollars in CAB money,
so you've got potentially the answer at quarterback. You've got
one hundred million dollars to build the team. In free agency,
You've got Tom Brady, with which I think could could
be a moderating influence in a very unpredictable ownership situation.
(12:08):
There's a lot of resources to work with. You get
to play your brother twice. I don't know if that's
a good thing or a bad thing, but from a
pure resource standpoint and the ability to answer the quarterback
question right now, if you feel strongly about about this
quarterback class, you could be competitive pretty quickly in Las Vegas.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
That's interesting, all right.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
You have.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I thought Aaron Rodgers played really well in the second
half last week, and I've defended him all year, but
now he's got dk Metcalf and gain Well and Friarmouth
and he's got he's you know, Jalen Warren and the
on line has played better than it's played in several years.
I give the Steelers a fighting chance against Houston, a
team that settles for a lot of field goals in
(12:56):
the red zone. I think Tomlin is a dog, is
a very good coach. He's a great motivator. I don't
always love Mike Tomlin as a favorite, love him as
a dog. And I think Aaron is not making any mistakes.
What do you make of it? And you've got to
play with Aaron this week?
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Yeah you must.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
You must love Tomlin's record on Monday Night too. He's
undefeated at home, So there's that. And I think this
comes when you look at it statistically and matchup wise,
there's not a lot we're saying, oh oh, the Steelers
have a real ledge here. I think this is going
to have to be about the old guys and the.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
Experience of it.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
And the Steelers are the second oldest team you've got,
you know, the longest tendan head coach, You've got, the
oldest quarterback. The experience is going to have to carry
the day here. And this is the play that I'm
gonna show you is a really good example of this.
Speaker 5 (13:51):
Against Baltimore last week. It's it's the third.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
And eight that leads to the touchdown where they eventually
end up taking the league and Lee and what you're
gonna see here is Baltimore is disguising. They're showing a
five down look. They've walked the two linebacker types up,
so they're showing, hey, we're going to pressure and then
outside with the defensive backs. They're doing a good job
here showing press man and man coverage. So they're selling
(14:16):
to Aaron Rodgers, we're bringing heat.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
We're playing man to man.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
What the Steelers are going to do is they got
a fade on the outside. They've got a high low
combination down here at the bottom and then got prior
moveth and he's going to run down the middle of
the field.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
That's the route combination.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Now is this thing unfolds, what's actually going to happen
is they're only going to end up rushing three defenders,
so they're gonna rust these these three guys, drop those
two linebacker types out, so at the end of the day,
they're actually dropping eight defenders. So they show max pressure,
they show man to man, press coverage. Now they're dropping
(14:51):
eight and they're playing a cover two zones. So they're
going to take the two safeties. They're going to drive
to the half the field. The vulnerability is the middle
of the field, and that's what Aaron Rodgers is.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Going to recognize post snap.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
So now he's got to see whether or not this
matchup with Friarmouth can.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Can get open.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
And at Darius Washington, who's on Firemouth. He's got to
run with Friarmouth down the middle of the field.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
So Rodgers drops back.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Firemouth does a great job here of selling that he's
going to break out. See the head is bidy, doesn't change,
but his head changes.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Now what's what Washington does.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Washington thinks, Okay, I'm going to jump this. It's third
and eight. The guys at the sticks. He goes to
jump this. He's still looking back. Now as Farmuth continues
to break down the middle of the field, there ends
up being almost three yards of separation between him and
the guy who's supposed to carry him down the middle
of the field. Then the two safeties they're a little
bit too wide in their landmarks. They're supposed to be
(15:44):
three yards inside the numbers. All they can do at
this point is come in and do it exactly what
happens and make the tackle on Fiarmuth. So instead of
third and eight, now you've got first and goals and
it ends up leading to the touchdown that where they
initially take the lead. But that's where this game, to
me is going to be won by Pittsburgh is it's
(16:05):
going to be the experience of Aaron Rodgers and you've
got a lot of guys with experience. Thelan has experience
and even the experience.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
Of coaching the playoffs. Uh with Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
That's the edge as opposed to looking at the numbers,
because the numbers they don't look good, you know for Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Eric Man Jenny first things first, after us good scenior coach,
great sing you Kle. Yeah, it's interesting as I watched
him last week, I'm like, they've kind of got the
offensive line going. I like Jalen Warren and they don't
have a lot of a's but Friar Moose very solid.
Uh gain well Jalen Warren. You know, Metcalf can make
(16:46):
explosive plays. I it's I know he's a one physically,
but you know, I don't feel he's like in the
Jeff Jefferson, Jamar Chase JSN class.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
But you know, I think.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Pittsburgh's got uh and I like Houston all year. I
think they got a puncher's chance. I wish the number
was three and a half. But keep your eye on
the Steelers. J. Mack with a news.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
All right.
Speaker 8 (17:12):
John Harball obviously on the market. Everybody wants him. When
we have an interesting report out of Cleveland. Now, I
don't see how Harball could go to the Browns. But
Tony Grosy, a longtime reporter in Cleveland. He's the guy
who got into it with Shador, kind of friendly in
the tunnel. He is saying that Harball has some contingencies
before he'd be interested in joining the Browns. This is
(17:34):
Tony Grocy's reporting. Harbo wants twenty million dollars a year salary.
That might sound crazy, but Andy Reid's in that ballpark,
and you know Harba wants a ten million dollars staff budget,
So he wants his coordinators to get paid. He wants
total authority over the roster, and he wants a handpicked GM.
That's according to Tony Grosy. Does any of that sound that's.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Too much power for a coach, probably like I think
Belichick got in trouble when he had too much power.
Andy Reid doesn't want that. Shanahan doesn't necessarily want that.
Sean Payton's got a lot of power right now, but
he also has a really good, capable GM above him.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I would be.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I would be willing to give my coach a lot
of money. Twenty million is not ridiculous in this day
and age. I'm not going to let him hand pick
the GM. I want him to interview four or five
and will come to an agreement. But I don't necessarily
want Hey, I want my guy, and he's a valet
for Harball. I'm not giving my coach that. I want
(18:33):
my coach to have a say. But the truth is
we have history here. When you try to coach in
GM didn't work for Mike Hombrun. You know, Pete carroll
him in in Seattle. The minute he left John Snyder
controlled the drafts. What happened Seattle drafts got good. I
don't want my coach to have ultimate authority. I want
him to have a say, but I don't want ultimate
(18:54):
That sounds like it's too much power to the coach.
Speaker 8 (18:56):
Does it almost sound like I'm asking for the world,
so you say no thanks and I don't have to
deal with Cleveland anything. Yeah, maybe he just ask for
everything on planet Earth. Like that's a lot. Again, Listen,
I'm just gonna play Devil's advocate. He harball extremely good resume,
won a Super Bowl, gets the Ravens to the playoffs
every year. In recent years, they've had some really really bad,
(19:17):
inexplicable losses playoffs and otherwise. I mean, who's blown more
double digit leads in the last few years in the
Baltimore Ravens. At some point it's kind of got to
be on the coach. I'm not totally blaming him. I'm
just saying this isn't like Jim Harball getting Jim Harball
from Michigan. This is not that right.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah, I mean I think they're both really really both
Really he's really good.
Speaker 8 (19:38):
All right, Let's move on to the Patriots and Mike
Rabel's unbelievable turnaround three and fourteen to fourteen and three,
they are the number two seed facing the Chargers and
they got to face Justin Herbert. Here is Rabel talking
about facing that superstar quarterback he's good toughness, great arm, talent,
(19:58):
great athletic ability.
Speaker 9 (20:03):
You know he's under duress, I mean, and it doesn't
really affect him. You don't see him get frustrated. A
lot of respect for him.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
As a as a as a person man, obviously as
a player.
Speaker 9 (20:13):
And you know, he's lived up to everything that they
thought he'd be as a franchise quarterback. And he's really
just one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
That's a nice feeling. You take a job over and
you've got your CEO. If you own a company, you
find your CEO and you're like, oh, I'm going to
have a great ten years owning this company. I'm going
to have a great ten years. Mike Brabel and New England.
I got the owner, and then this owner's son is bright,
and then I've got my quarterback, and I got my
star coordinator who's got a ten year runway like New
(20:46):
England for the next ten years is going to win
Super Bowls. I don't know how many, but they're going
to win debslutely interestingly. So yesterday we talked.
Speaker 8 (20:54):
About all the bad or maybe it was two days ago,
the bad quarterbacks the Patriots have faced and Rams and
Chargers fans are see he can't be the VP. So
our staff put together a list of all the quarterbacks
that the Patriots faced, and without a question, Colin Justin
Herbert is the second best after Josh Allen. Like I know,
people like Lamar Jackson Herbert. He had a better season
(21:15):
than Lamar who was kind of banged up. Other guys
on the list Bryce Young, Spencer Rattler, cam Ward, Dylan Gabriel, Tua,
Gino Smith who they lost to, Quinn Yours, Brady Cook, Colin,
that's I mean, Baker Mayfield, Joe Flacco. They haven't seen
anything like.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Herbert, no, I know.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And Josh he beat him up in one of the halves.
Speaker 8 (21:38):
Yeah, yeah, so this is one of those games I
did play in my flag. I'm all in on Chargers.
I'm rooting heavily for the Chargers this weekend obviously, and
as a Jets fan.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Well, Joe Hargers are.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
I mean, their defense is great, their coaching coordinators are great,
They're kicker stupendous. I think they're receiving core like New
England's better than people think.
Speaker 8 (21:58):
Omar and Hampton. Listen is questionable, that's not great. I
thought he just got back from an injury. He runs hard,
him and Vidal Sassoon go Chargers. Final story, Colin is
the rematch tonight in the College football Semifinals Oregon Indiana
in the Peach Bowl. Now we I kind of made
you ask Urban Meyer earlier about the rematch angle. He
(22:18):
didn't take the bait, but this is unbelievable. Fernando Mendoza
is claiming in the rematch against Oregon that Indiana is
the underdog.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Here we go.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
Oregon's a fantastic team, their national powerhouse. And although that
we beat Oregon, it shows that we are still the underdogs.
You know, at that point, you know we were for
sure the underdogs. They are ranked above us. However, we're
trying to keep that underdog mentality going into this game.
As you know, we might be ranked higher than them
now in the college football playoff seed, but it's a
(22:50):
neutral site. Right now, it's a neutral site. They have
fantastic talent on their team. Like I said before, draft picks,
star studed all across the board.
Speaker 8 (23:00):
Get a nice try for a Nindo your three and
a half point favorites. Okay, so stop now, Colin. Regarding
the rematch. Specifically, our Cracker research team has dug up this.
In the last thirty years, we've had some rematches in
college football natties. Wouldn't you believe it. Teams are one
(23:20):
in six in the rematch after winning the first game,
and the one win was Ole miss over two lane.
Look at that history. It is not great. Take a
deep breath. Okay, Indiana fans, this is not gonna be
easy tonight. I'm just telling you. I think about it.
When you play tennis at your club and some guy
beats you in the ladder. You go to the rematch,
(23:42):
you're fired up, you're locked in the other guy's off.
I beat this guy ready. I'm just telling you this
is a real thing. I'm not taking the ducks out right.
I'm nervous about my Indiana money line parlay got Miami
home last night, but I don't this is gonna be
a good one. This is gonna be probably last team
with the ball wins.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
There's a chance for Jmack with the news.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
Herd Line News.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
We'll give you the picks of the week next.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
at noon eastern nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Well, after eighteen weeks of action, there's just fourteen teams
now with an opportunity to grab the Lombardi Trophy. Five
games that jaymac has perused and made a choice, and
he will now unveil them.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Here we go tomorrow's headlines.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Today we start Rams at the Panthers tomorrow on Fox.
Speaker 8 (24:49):
It should be a good opener for the playoffs, right.
You get arguably the best team in the league in
the Rams, and then against first time playoff quarterback in
Bryce Young. The headline will bu on Matt Rushmore Stafford
still moves mountains. I like the Rams. Here a lot
colin fun staff for you. Rams had eight wins of
fourteen or more points this year. Eight. Okay, they crushed
(25:11):
teams and it's not all Falcons and bad teams included
in their Jacksonville who they stomped over in London and
San Francisco as well. Just remember, guy, the Rams dominated
the earlier meeting with the Panthers seven point four yards
per play. They faced five third downs on the whole
game because they're getting chunks of yardage so easily. Just
the Stafford pick six hurt and then Bryce Young with
(25:32):
a couple lucky high leverage plays on fourth down, but
Quentin Lake will shore up the secondary he returns. Now,
I will say there is one word of caution. I
haven't heard anybody mention this. So the defensive coordinator of
the Panthers is Evero, who was with the Rams and
McVeigh for a few years. He has faced three McVeigh
quarterbacks this season, Jordan Love who he beat, Brock Purdy,
(25:54):
who threw three interceptions, and Matt Stafford, who threw two.
So he seems to know that McVeigh s a hand tree. Well,
I just don't know if the Panthers can score to
keep up with the Rams, even if they hold them
to twenty eight. Do you think the Panthers are getting
twenty one on this defense. No, They're gonna need a
defensive touchdown. So I like the Rams to win and cover.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Tomorrow's headlines today packers at the Bears tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
I know where you're leaning.
Speaker 8 (26:17):
Round three should be a fun one. I mean it's
gonna be cold. I'm waiting on the full weather report
because the precipitation we still don't know. I don't know
that it matters. Call him the headline for Packers Bears.
Round three will be great expectations, shetter heads, barbecue, Johnson's brats.
I'm going with Jordan Love. Listen. I can't get over this.
(26:38):
But both teams had that week five by They've been
playing for a long time. One team played their guys
last week against the Lions, hard tough matchup for the Bears.
The other team sat their stars. Packers are gonna be
rested coming in. Maybe there's some rust I like Jordan
Love here to get it done. He's gonna have his
full complimentary receivers Watson, Reid, Dobbs, Colin. They faced off
(27:00):
this year, the Packers led or the Packers never trailed
for one second in the two meetings. I know Ben
Johnson smart. I just I think the Packers get it
done here and I think they can win with some margin.
There is a theme I'm gonna be fading first time
playoff quarterbacks Brice Young first time, Caleb Williams first time,
and the reason Colin. The number first time playoff quarterbacks
(27:22):
against quarterbacks who have been in the playoffs nineteen thirty
seven and one they do not do well tomorrow's headlines.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Today another game on Fox, Big Brand, San Francisco forty
nine ers at Philly.
Speaker 8 (27:35):
This one, this one hurts because I love the Eagles.
You know, I had them smashing the Chiefs in the
Super Bowl, and I love me some Rock Purty in
the Niners. However, the headline for Eagles hosting the Niners
will be a kittle hard work never hurts anyone, gimme
Jalen hurts, Colin. I like the Eagles here pretty comfortably.
What stinks about this is it's such a great It's
(27:57):
the matchup of the best I think defense in the NFC,
sorry Seattle against the best offense in the NFC. So
you get these two great units meeting and I just
got to give the edge to the defense. It feels
like a year. Yeah, I'm looking at the injury reports.
It looks like the Eagles are all clear. They did
rest their guys last week. Remember Week eighteen against Mean
Johnson's gonna play Lane Johnson's back, Jalen Carter's good with
(28:19):
the shoulders. Then you look at San fran They were
in a war last week against Seattle.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
That was a battle.
Speaker 8 (28:24):
Remember Brock Purtty ended up on his back at the
end of that game. It's not looking good for Trent Williams.
The injury report today will be pivotal. Pearsall unlikely to play.
I don't know. I'll go Eagles low scoring twenty one thirteen.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Tomorrow's headlines today. You've been hot on this since Monday.
The Chargers in their wobbly oh line traveled to Foxborough
to take on the Patriots.
Speaker 8 (28:47):
And imagine that the guy out here in LA likes
both West Coast teams. In what should be a barn burner,
the headline Sunday Night, Chargers Patriots will be te party
foul Petez Pat's puke after Charger punch. Yeah, Drake may
look at that. Listen, man. I just everything about this
matchup for the Chargers Colins screams success. The Patriots don't
(29:10):
get to the quarterback twenty fifth in pressure rate, so
they can't take advantage of that week offensive line. I
will also add New England only played four playoff teams
one in the last twelve weeks they went to and
two fewest opponents in the playoffs. We were not gonna
go over the quarterbacks they faced a week Justin Herbert though.
In the red zone, Chargers, they're awesome. Chargers defense fourth
(29:32):
best in the red zone, Patriots twenty ninth. If they
can matriculate the ball down the field with Vidal Sassoon
and mister Hampton, he better play. I think they're gonna
be fine. Gadsden is an emerging tight end. By the way,
last year Harball beat up Drake Nate badly. They won
forty to seven. Now, I know it was Mayo and
a different staff and they was a young guy. But
I'm just telling you, Jesse Minter could be the star
(29:54):
of this one. Colin, he's gonna I guarantee you he
gets a head coaching job Nick and the next whatever
they're done because he's highly coveted in net quarters.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Seaman, listen, you feel strongly about it, and I just
I just that all line for the Chargers is so leaky.
Speaker 8 (30:08):
By the way, Patriots at home three losses this year.
One was of the Raiders. Week one also lost to
the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Finally, Tomorrow's headlines today, Monday night, I don't think this
will be the most stirring game.
Speaker 8 (30:23):
My god, come on, you love defense, don't you?
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Not that much defense? Texan Steelers.
Speaker 8 (30:28):
Texan Steelers Monday. We haven't done too much on this game,
but I feel like this is kind of a slam dunk.
The headline for Texans at the Steelers will be rust
in Peace, Texans tarnished steel curtain. It's over for Tomlin.
Give me the Texans. We are winning comfortably. Colin fun
stat in the playoffs, You've been on this for years,
Mike Tomlin. Last six playoff games, owen six straight up,
(30:49):
owen six against the spread. They're not competitive. It almost
feels like Pittsburgh does everything to extend that. Mike Tomlin
makes the playoffs, finishes above five hundred streak, then they
get to the playoffs and they flop. Now I know
Rogers is your guy. You love you, Samaron Rodgers. I
don't know how he survives against this pass rush from
the Texans. It is nasty. Tonico Ryans has them juiced up,
(31:10):
and Nico Collins is a guy I'm gonna look to
bet his prop over against his zone defense like they cannot.
Nico Collins is gonna eat.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
You know, Houston doesn't have a great offense, but they
have big play potential and.
Speaker 8 (31:23):
The young guys from Iowa State.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Yeah, yeah, they're not. It's not they don't you know.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
It's not a fifteen play drive consistent efficient offense. But
they got home run hitters.
Speaker 8 (31:32):
Somebody tried to sell me on what Dome team going
to cold weather? Apparently it's gonna be freezing. I do
you think of Houston as like they can't handle cold.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
I worry about weather like green Bay's deep passing offense
in Chicago. Christian Watson is supposed to have thirty mile
an hour gusts, so that you just take that out.
So I don't think green Bay runs the ball effectively
with consistency, so big plays down. And for the record,
Jordan Love loves throwing the deep ball. Ye sir, he
(32:02):
left it rip. You can just eliminate that stuff.
Speaker 8 (32:05):
But like CJ. Shroud played at Ohio State in a
lot of cold weather, I don't think this is going
to be a big weather game in Pittsburgh. I think
of anything the Steelers, they were in a major battle
last week. Texans pulled their guys at halftime last week,
Pittsburgh brutal matchup, a slobber knocker against her Ravens. I
just I don't see them bouncing back, Colin, I I
like Houston, You're like twenty three nine or something like that.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
All right, well, you know you didn't touch the Bills Jaguars.
Speaker 8 (32:32):
I bet Jaguars first half. But I'm just I've got
to be nervous about Josh Allen taking over the game.
He can do that now, Willy is another question.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah, it's it's one of the I felt nervous about
New England and no O line that bad has ever
won a playoff game. I think all your stuff on
New England is true. They have not played a good schedule.
I think it's I think I really look at that
in college a lot. You know, for years and years
the SEC was so good, they just beat each other up.
I think it's something. I don't know how much it is.
(33:03):
I'm more concerned about schedule when it comes to MVP race,
Like Stafford faced a much better schedule than Drake may
so individually, I think that benefits Stafford as a team.
You're a ficientary or not. I think New England's really efficient.
They're not further record, they're not great. You and I
have said this. I think they're still in a rebuild.
(33:25):
I honestly think New England's in a rebuild. They need
another six draft picks.
Speaker 8 (33:29):
Chicago and New England are way ahead of schedule, way
ahead of schedule. Final thing. We talked about McDermott. If
they lose in badly, maybe he gets run. What about
Mike Tomlin? Could we see Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
They don't make moves.
Speaker 8 (33:42):
I don't think they would let him go. What if
he says, guys, I'm exhausted as hardballs out Let me
just chill.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Tomlin's energy is great, I think. And again, I don't
think Houston's a kind of team that can blow him out.
It'll feel twenty three seventeen or thereabouts.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
And yeah, and then you're just gonna say, well.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
We made the playoffs and and Kumbaya and Aaron loves
tom and I think he's coming back.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
See him unday, ye h
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Well, it's a different world now.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
A high school quarterback seven on seven camps, kids come
out better earlier. Tom Brady is a rookie Drake May
as a second year player. It just feels like it's
a different experience cap more games, more practices, more coaching,
more tutoring, more film study now than twenty years ago.
(00:49):
Eric Mangini was with that young Tom Brady. He now
joins US live as Drake May gets ready for his
first playoff game, and it does feel different. I'm much
harsher on quarterbacks in year two than i was fifteen
years ago. You know, Peyton Manning in year two or three,
you know, is throwing a lot of picks. And I
kind of feel like with Drake May, it's been established
(01:11):
he's really good and he should probably win home playoff games.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Or is that unrealistic in your opinion, I.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Don't think it's unrealistic. It's strange with quarterbacks because you
have the Jaden Daniels experience and then you have the CJ.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
Stroud experience where.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
They pop in year one and fall off, and then
you have other guys like Drake May and to some
degree Caleb we're in year two after they go through
that learning curve. It's really hard to be successful as
a rookie quarterback in the NFL. There's all the volume
of stuff that you have to learn, the volume of
defenses that you face, the new environment, getting used to
(01:49):
the longer season. It's layers upon layers, which makes it challenging.
But in year two, once they get over that learning curve,
especially if you're in the same system, you should take
a significant jump if you're you know, if you're of
the talent level that they expected. Now where Drake May
is really benefited is the fact that he gets someone
(02:11):
like Josh McDaniels, and then, to the to some degree,
not to some degree, but to another big degree, Mike
Rabill as well. So you've got two experienced guys that
come in there. But Josh has as such a range
of experience and has dealt with so many different types
of quarterbacks. He had the benefit of obviously Tom Brady,
(02:32):
but others along the way where he couldn't have gotten
a better situation than getting Josh McDaniels this season.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
So, and then the other side of the spectrum is
this great talent who comes from Wyoming. He's super raw
for a couple of years, and now we look at
it and we're like, okay, so Josh Allen's zero for
five in road playoff games. And I said, I said
this a couple weeks ago. The only downside to getting
a superstar quarterback is the standard changes, and the standard
becomes January. The standards no longer you know, sept Labor
(03:06):
Day on the standard is.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Now January, mid January on.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And I've said this, if they go down to Jacksonville
and face plant, and you know, Jacksonville's good. They demolished
the Chargers, they demolished Inver and it's thirty three twenty.
What do you do moving into a new stadium with
Sean McDermott, who we all know is a very capable coach,
you know, like nobody thinks McDermott doesn't know what he's doing.
(03:35):
But I do think the standard has to change with Josh,
does it not?
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, it's it's interesting because there's it depends on who
you're competing against. With these great quarterbacks, and with Josh,
there's been the Patrick Mahomes issue when we had Tom
you know, that was difficult for Peyton Manning and for
a lot of other great quarterbacks achieve at the level
that they could have achieved at coming out of this game.
(04:05):
If they lose, I think it will depend on how
they lose. So if he goes in and plays a
great game and walks off the field with the lead
and then the defense gives up a touchdown, it's hard
to say, Hey, this guy, this guy is the problem.
The issue is if he goes into superman mode and
takes a bunch of chances against a very, very opportunistic
(04:28):
Jacksonville defense. One of the reasons they're winning so many
games is because of the turnovers that they generate. That
to me is a totally different different equation. But you're
absolutely you're absolutely right. When you've got a great quarterback,
the expectation is you're going to be competing for super
Bowls every single season, and this year to me, Colin
(04:49):
is so different. He's the only superhero left in the AFC.
Burrow's home, Lamar's home, mahomes is home.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
He's it.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
All these other guys that they're buying for it, He's it.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
So over in the NFC, there's sometimes you'll see a
stat and you'll be like, wow, that jumps out at you,
and Kyle Shanahan's twelve and forty four when trailing at half,
and you're like, how's that possible? And my take is
every coach has a hole, everybody, every human does. My
knock on Shanahan for years has been he creates the
(05:25):
first or second best playshet in the league, but he's
not real flexible with it, and if you're trailing at half,
he's not going to say out with a playsheet, we're
starting to That's not who he is, and so he's
tied to the playsheet. That's my only That's all I
can come up with is to why. In fact, I
think we talked about it yesterday when trailing by a
(05:47):
touchdown or more. Since he's been in San Francisco, they're
like one in thirty two or so. I mean, it's
just an insane number. My take is he creates this
majestic play sheet and he's really inflexible moving off it.
Is that maybe why these numbers are what they are.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
And if you are so used to creating a majestic
play sheet, you believe, and you've had a ton of
success with it, and you continue to have a ton
of success with it, you think, Okay, maybe we didn't
execute it the way we should, but we're gonna keep
going in this direction because everything we've studied, everything we've
looked at, everything we've practiced, was based off of that.
(06:30):
I remember talking to Ron Earhart, the great offensive coordinator,
years ago, about a situation like that, and he said
he used to have a thing called the fine fifteen,
and his fine fifteen was if they went into a
game with a game plan and it didn't work, and
no matter how much they wanted it to be successful,
it wasn't going. He had fifteen plays that he could
(06:52):
go back to, even if they hadn't practiced them, that
all the guys knew and they could go to and
that could get them out of holes that that the
opponent's game.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
Plan had put him in.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
And I always thought that was a really interesting perspective
of in case of emergency break lass, you've got the
Fine fifteen that you can go to. So if everything
you thought was gonna work is and this is something
you know that guys can go execute even without a
lot of practice.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
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Speaker 6 (07:27):
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Speaker 7 (07:32):
And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from seven
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Speaker 6 (07:42):
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All you gotta do search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube.
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Speaker 1 (07:58):
So Bears Packers is fascinating. Green Bay's favored, and they're
on a four game losing streak and uh, you know,
I mean, the better O line and the better run
game is Chicago and the weather's lousy and so it's
like to me, it really plays in a Chicago's favor,
but green Bay is favor. So let's just say we've
talked a lot about Buffalo, green Bay loses. I think
(08:19):
Lafleur is a very good coach, but there's a lot
of talk right now he's looking for an extension.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Let's say green Bay goes and loses.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
My take is I think Chicago now that Micah Parsons
is hurt, I think Chicago's better than Green Bay. I
really do.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I think they're a better team than green Bay.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
When Micah was there, one defense was notably better than
the other. Then it's a coin flip, but I like,
I think Chicago's better, better run, game, better online, lousy weather.
What if Green Bay loses? What do you think your
opinion would be on Monday?
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Well, remember the history there, right, So you've got Aaron
Rodgers of Mike McCarthy, and Mike McCarthy was really successful.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Well, he lost that power struggle.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
So then they bring in the floor and he has
back to back MVP seasons. They don't win the Super Bowl,
and now they transitioned to Jordan Love. They feel like
Jordan Love is going to be the next FARV Slash Rogers.
He gets hot for a little while to give him
the contract extension. The expectations are there like this has
(09:22):
played out in the past, where the expectations become gigantic
because of you think you have the next great quarterback, and.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
You know they've done this in the past.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
So it wouldn't surprise me if the pressure ramps up
significantly and the expectations did change dramatically for Green Bay
when they traded for Micah Parsons. And you even heard
it from the players. Remember early on Colin the players
are saying, we have a chance to go undefeated, and
then they lose to the Browns, and then they lose
to Carolina, they tie the Cowboys, all of those things,
(09:55):
So that that didn't come out of thin air. That
was the talk in the building, and that to me
was probably the expectation of the organization. Now that the
seventh seed, they're playing the Bears. They beat the Bears
the first time, Love didn't really play much in the
in the second game, I imagine that green Bay.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Is probably going to win the game.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
My expectation is green Bay ends up ends up winning
this game just because I think that I think that
they have the Bear's number.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Okay, Harbaugh and Stefanski, So we talked about this. If
I was John Harbaugh, I would watch this weekend's games
and see what happens to Buffalo.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
So that's what I would do.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
And if Buffalo wins or loses in McDermott keeps his job,
then I like the idea of going to Miami where
I have some control on personnel, instead of New York
where Joe Shane's been retained, even though I have Jackson
Darton some interesting pieces, because I think Vrabel may not
be the GM in New England, but he's got to
(10:58):
say Harbaugh is not the But he's got to say,
you know, Joe Shane's track record is a coin flip,
not great. So you tell me, if you're John Harball,
you're top of the market. You see these eight openings
right now, Let's take obviously Baltimore let him go. Let's
say Buffalo is not open. Is there one of these
(11:19):
for Harball that's attractive to you?
Speaker 4 (11:23):
This may sound strange, but the Raiders could be very attractive.
So you've got the number one overall pick, right, so
you could get the quarterback. You've got a veteran quarterback
in Gino who you could survive with he could be
you always want to have that guy you know in
the building. Sure, then depends on how you feel about
asking gent, whether or not you legitimately feel he can
(11:43):
be the lead back. They've got the second most cap money.
They've got over one hundred million dollars in CAB money,
so you've got potentially the answer at quarterback. You've got
one hundred million dollars to build the team. In free agency,
You've got Tom Brady, with which I think could could
be a moderating influence in a very unpredictable ownership situation.
(12:08):
There's a lot of resources to work with. You get
to play your brother twice. I don't know if that's
a good thing or a bad thing, but from a
pure resource standpoint and the ability to answer the quarterback
question right now, if you feel strongly about about this
quarterback class, you could be competitive pretty quickly in Las Vegas.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
That's interesting, all right.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
You have.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I thought Aaron Rodgers played really well in the second
half last week, and I've defended him all year, but
now he's got dk Metcalf and gain Well and Friarmouth
and he's got he's you know, Jalen Warren and the
on line has played better than it's played in several years.
I give the Steelers a fighting chance against Houston, a
team that settles for a lot of field goals in
(12:56):
the red zone. I think Tomlin is a dog, is
a very good coach. He's a great motivator. I don't
always love Mike Tomlin as a favorite, love him as
a dog. And I think Aaron is not making any mistakes.
What do you make of it? And you've got to
play with Aaron this week?
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Yeah you must.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
You must love Tomlin's record on Monday Night too. He's
undefeated at home, So there's that. And I think this
comes when you look at it statistically and matchup wise,
there's not a lot we're saying, oh oh, the Steelers
have a real ledge here. I think this is going
to have to be about the old guys and the.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
Experience of it.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
And the Steelers are the second oldest team you've got,
you know, the longest tendan head coach, You've got, the
oldest quarterback. The experience is going to have to carry
the day here. And this is the play that I'm
gonna show you is a really good example of this.
Speaker 5 (13:51):
Against Baltimore last week. It's it's the third.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
And eight that leads to the touchdown where they eventually
end up taking the league and Lee and what you're
gonna see here is Baltimore is disguising. They're showing a
five down look. They've walked the two linebacker types up,
so they're showing, hey, we're going to pressure and then
outside with the defensive backs. They're doing a good job
here showing press man and man coverage. So they're selling
(14:16):
to Aaron Rodgers, we're bringing heat.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
We're playing man to man.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
What the Steelers are going to do is they got
a fade on the outside. They've got a high low
combination down here at the bottom and then got prior
moveth and he's going to run down the middle of
the field.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
That's the route combination.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Now is this thing unfolds, what's actually going to happen
is they're only going to end up rushing three defenders,
so they're gonna rust these these three guys, drop those
two linebacker types out, so at the end of the day,
they're actually dropping eight defenders. So they show max pressure,
they show man to man, press coverage. Now they're dropping
(14:51):
eight and they're playing a cover two zones. So they're
going to take the two safeties. They're going to drive
to the half the field. The vulnerability is the middle
of the field, and that's what Aaron Rodgers is.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Going to recognize post snap.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
So now he's got to see whether or not this
matchup with Friarmouth can.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Can get open.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
And at Darius Washington, who's on Firemouth. He's got to
run with Friarmouth down the middle of the field.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
So Rodgers drops back.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Firemouth does a great job here of selling that he's
going to break out. See the head is bidy, doesn't change,
but his head changes.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Now what's what Washington does.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
Washington thinks, Okay, I'm going to jump this. It's third
and eight. The guys at the sticks. He goes to
jump this. He's still looking back. Now as Farmuth continues
to break down the middle of the field, there ends
up being almost three yards of separation between him and
the guy who's supposed to carry him down the middle
of the field. Then the two safeties they're a little
bit too wide in their landmarks. They're supposed to be
(15:44):
three yards inside the numbers. All they can do at
this point is come in and do it exactly what
happens and make the tackle on Fiarmuth. So instead of
third and eight, now you've got first and goals and
it ends up leading to the touchdown that where they
initially take the lead. But that's where this game, to
me is going to be won by Pittsburgh is it's
(16:05):
going to be the experience of Aaron Rodgers and you've
got a lot of guys with experience. Thelan has experience
and even the experience.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
Of coaching the playoffs. Uh with Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
That's the edge as opposed to looking at the numbers,
because the numbers they don't look good, you know for Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Eric Man Jenny first things first, after us good scenior coach,
great sing you Kle. Yeah, it's interesting as I watched
him last week, I'm like, they've kind of got the
offensive line going. I like Jalen Warren and they don't
have a lot of a's but Friar Moose very solid.
Uh gain well Jalen Warren. You know, Metcalf can make
(16:46):
explosive plays. I it's I know he's a one physically,
but you know, I don't feel he's like in the
Jeff Jefferson, Jamar Chase JSN class.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
But you know, I think.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Pittsburgh's got uh and I like Houston all year. I
think they got a puncher's chance. I wish the number
was three and a half. But keep your eye on
the Steelers. J. Mack with a news.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
All right.
Speaker 8 (17:12):
John Harball obviously on the market. Everybody wants him. When
we have an interesting report out of Cleveland. Now, I
don't see how Harball could go to the Browns. But
Tony Grosy, a longtime reporter in Cleveland. He's the guy
who got into it with Shador, kind of friendly in
the tunnel. He is saying that Harball has some contingencies
before he'd be interested in joining the Browns. This is
(17:34):
Tony Grocy's reporting. Harbo wants twenty million dollars a year salary.
That might sound crazy, but Andy Reid's in that ballpark,
and you know Harba wants a ten million dollars staff budget,
So he wants his coordinators to get paid. He wants
total authority over the roster, and he wants a handpicked GM.
That's according to Tony Grosy. Does any of that sound that's.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Too much power for a coach, probably like I think
Belichick got in trouble when he had too much power.
Andy Reid doesn't want that. Shanahan doesn't necessarily want that.
Sean Payton's got a lot of power right now, but
he also has a really good, capable GM above him.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
I would be.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I would be willing to give my coach a lot
of money. Twenty million is not ridiculous in this day
and age. I'm not going to let him hand pick
the GM. I want him to interview four or five
and will come to an agreement. But I don't necessarily
want Hey, I want my guy, and he's a valet
for Harball. I'm not giving my coach that. I want
(18:33):
my coach to have a say. But the truth is
we have history here. When you try to coach in
GM didn't work for Mike Hombrun. You know, Pete carroll
him in in Seattle. The minute he left John Snyder
controlled the drafts. What happened Seattle drafts got good. I
don't want my coach to have ultimate authority. I want
him to have a say, but I don't want ultimate
(18:54):
That sounds like it's too much power to the coach.
Speaker 8 (18:56):
Does it almost sound like I'm asking for the world,
so you say no thanks and I don't have to
deal with Cleveland anything. Yeah, maybe he just ask for
everything on planet Earth. Like that's a lot. Again, Listen,
I'm just gonna play Devil's advocate. He harball extremely good resume,
won a Super Bowl, gets the Ravens to the playoffs
every year. In recent years, they've had some really really bad,
(19:17):
inexplicable losses playoffs and otherwise. I mean, who's blown more
double digit leads in the last few years in the
Baltimore Ravens. At some point it's kind of got to
be on the coach. I'm not totally blaming him. I'm
just saying this isn't like Jim Harball getting Jim Harball
from Michigan. This is not that right.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Yeah, I mean I think they're both really really both
Really he's really good.
Speaker 8 (19:38):
All right, Let's move on to the Patriots and Mike
Rabel's unbelievable turnaround three and fourteen to fourteen and three,
they are the number two seed facing the Chargers and
they got to face Justin Herbert. Here is Rabel talking
about facing that superstar quarterback he's good toughness, great arm, talent,
(19:58):
great athletic ability.
Speaker 9 (20:03):
You know he's under duress, I mean, and it doesn't
really affect him. You don't see him get frustrated. A
lot of respect for him.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
As a as a as a person man, obviously as
a player.
Speaker 9 (20:13):
And you know, he's lived up to everything that they
thought he'd be as a franchise quarterback. And he's really
just one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
That's a nice feeling. You take a job over and
you've got your CEO. If you own a company, you
find your CEO and you're like, oh, I'm going to
have a great ten years owning this company. I'm going
to have a great ten years. Mike Brabel and New England.
I got the owner, and then this owner's son is bright,
and then I've got my quarterback, and I got my
star coordinator who's got a ten year runway like New
(20:46):
England for the next ten years is going to win
Super Bowls. I don't know how many, but they're going
to win debslutely interestingly. So yesterday we talked.
Speaker 8 (20:54):
About all the bad or maybe it was two days ago,
the bad quarterbacks the Patriots have faced and Rams and
Chargers fans are see he can't be the VP. So
our staff put together a list of all the quarterbacks
that the Patriots faced, and without a question, Colin Justin
Herbert is the second best after Josh Allen. Like I know,
people like Lamar Jackson Herbert. He had a better season
(21:15):
than Lamar who was kind of banged up. Other guys
on the list Bryce Young, Spencer Rattler, cam Ward, Dylan Gabriel, Tua,
Gino Smith who they lost to, Quinn Yours, Brady Cook, Colin,
that's I mean, Baker Mayfield, Joe Flacco. They haven't seen
anything like.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Herbert, no, I know.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And Josh he beat him up in one of the halves.
Speaker 8 (21:38):
Yeah, yeah, so this is one of those games I
did play in my flag. I'm all in on Chargers.
I'm rooting heavily for the Chargers this weekend obviously, and
as a Jets fan.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Well, Joe Hargers are.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
I mean, their defense is great, their coaching coordinators are great,
They're kicker stupendous. I think they're receiving core like New
England's better than people think.
Speaker 8 (21:58):
Omar and Hampton. Listen is questionable, that's not great. I
thought he just got back from an injury. He runs hard,
him and Vidal Sassoon go Chargers. Final story, Colin is
the rematch tonight in the College football Semifinals Oregon Indiana
in the Peach Bowl. Now we I kind of made
you ask Urban Meyer earlier about the rematch angle. He
(22:18):
didn't take the bait, but this is unbelievable. Fernando Mendoza
is claiming in the rematch against Oregon that Indiana is
the underdog.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Here we go.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
Oregon's a fantastic team, their national powerhouse. And although that
we beat Oregon, it shows that we are still the underdogs.
You know, at that point, you know we were for
sure the underdogs. They are ranked above us. However, we're
trying to keep that underdog mentality going into this game.
As you know, we might be ranked higher than them
now in the college football playoff seed, but it's a
(22:50):
neutral site. Right now, it's a neutral site. They have
fantastic talent on their team. Like I said before, draft picks,
star studed all across the board.
Speaker 8 (23:00):
Get a nice try for a Nindo your three and
a half point favorites. Okay, so stop now, Colin. Regarding
the rematch. Specifically, our Cracker research team has dug up this.
In the last thirty years, we've had some rematches in
college football natties. Wouldn't you believe it. Teams are one
(23:20):
in six in the rematch after winning the first game,
and the one win was Ole miss over two lane.
Look at that history. It is not great. Take a
deep breath. Okay, Indiana fans, this is not gonna be
easy tonight. I'm just telling you. I think about it.
When you play tennis at your club and some guy
beats you in the ladder. You go to the rematch,
(23:42):
you're fired up, you're locked in the other guy's off.
I beat this guy ready. I'm just telling you this
is a real thing. I'm not taking the ducks out right.
I'm nervous about my Indiana money line parlay got Miami
home last night, but I don't this is gonna be
a good one. This is gonna be probably last team
with the ball wins.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
There's a chance for Jmack with the news.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by the
Herd Line News.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
We'll give you the picks of the week next.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays
at noon eastern nin am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Well, after eighteen weeks of action, there's just fourteen teams
now with an opportunity to grab the Lombardi Trophy. Five
games that jaymac has perused and made a choice, and
he will now unveil them.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Here we go tomorrow's headlines.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Today we start Rams at the Panthers tomorrow on Fox.
Speaker 8 (24:49):
It should be a good opener for the playoffs, right.
You get arguably the best team in the league in
the Rams, and then against first time playoff quarterback in
Bryce Young. The headline will bu on Matt Rushmore Stafford
still moves mountains. I like the Rams. Here a lot
colin fun staff for you. Rams had eight wins of
fourteen or more points this year. Eight. Okay, they crushed
(25:11):
teams and it's not all Falcons and bad teams included
in their Jacksonville who they stomped over in London and
San Francisco as well. Just remember, guy, the Rams dominated
the earlier meeting with the Panthers seven point four yards
per play. They faced five third downs on the whole
game because they're getting chunks of yardage so easily. Just
the Stafford pick six hurt and then Bryce Young with
(25:32):
a couple lucky high leverage plays on fourth down, but
Quentin Lake will shore up the secondary he returns. Now,
I will say there is one word of caution. I
haven't heard anybody mention this. So the defensive coordinator of
the Panthers is Evero, who was with the Rams and
McVeigh for a few years. He has faced three McVeigh
quarterbacks this season, Jordan Love who he beat, Brock Purdy,
(25:54):
who threw three interceptions, and Matt Stafford, who threw two.
So he seems to know that McVeigh s a hand tree. Well,
I just don't know if the Panthers can score to
keep up with the Rams, even if they hold them
to twenty eight. Do you think the Panthers are getting
twenty one on this defense. No, They're gonna need a
defensive touchdown. So I like the Rams to win and cover.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Tomorrow's headlines today packers at the Bears tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
I know where you're leaning.
Speaker 8 (26:17):
Round three should be a fun one. I mean it's
gonna be cold. I'm waiting on the full weather report
because the precipitation we still don't know. I don't know
that it matters. Call him the headline for Packers Bears.
Round three will be great expectations, shetter heads, barbecue, Johnson's brats.
I'm going with Jordan Love. Listen. I can't get over this.
(26:38):
But both teams had that week five by They've been
playing for a long time. One team played their guys
last week against the Lions, hard tough matchup for the Bears.
The other team sat their stars. Packers are gonna be
rested coming in. Maybe there's some rust I like Jordan
Love here to get it done. He's gonna have his
full complimentary receivers Watson, Reid, Dobbs, Colin. They faced off
(27:00):
this year, the Packers led or the Packers never trailed
for one second in the two meetings. I know Ben
Johnson smart. I just I think the Packers get it
done here and I think they can win with some margin.
There is a theme I'm gonna be fading first time
playoff quarterbacks Brice Young first time, Caleb Williams first time,
and the reason Colin. The number first time playoff quarterbacks
(27:22):
against quarterbacks who have been in the playoffs nineteen thirty
seven and one they do not do well tomorrow's headlines.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Today another game on Fox, Big Brand, San Francisco forty
nine ers at Philly.
Speaker 8 (27:35):
This one, this one hurts because I love the Eagles.
You know, I had them smashing the Chiefs in the
Super Bowl, and I love me some Rock Purty in
the Niners. However, the headline for Eagles hosting the Niners
will be a kittle hard work never hurts anyone, gimme
Jalen hurts, Colin. I like the Eagles here pretty comfortably.
What stinks about this is it's such a great It's
(27:57):
the matchup of the best I think defense in the NFC,
sorry Seattle against the best offense in the NFC. So
you get these two great units meeting and I just
got to give the edge to the defense. It feels
like a year. Yeah, I'm looking at the injury reports.
It looks like the Eagles are all clear. They did
rest their guys last week. Remember Week eighteen against Mean
Johnson's gonna play Lane Johnson's back, Jalen Carter's good with
(28:19):
the shoulders. Then you look at San fran They were
in a war last week against Seattle.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
That was a battle.
Speaker 8 (28:24):
Remember Brock Purtty ended up on his back at the
end of that game. It's not looking good for Trent Williams.
The injury report today will be pivotal. Pearsall unlikely to play.
I don't know. I'll go Eagles low scoring twenty one thirteen.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Tomorrow's headlines today. You've been hot on this since Monday.
The Chargers in their wobbly oh line traveled to Foxborough
to take on the Patriots.
Speaker 8 (28:47):
And imagine that the guy out here in LA likes
both West Coast teams. In what should be a barn burner,
the headline Sunday Night, Chargers Patriots will be te party
foul Petez Pat's puke after Charger punch. Yeah, Drake may
look at that. Listen, man. I just everything about this
matchup for the Chargers Colins screams success. The Patriots don't
(29:10):
get to the quarterback twenty fifth in pressure rate, so
they can't take advantage of that week offensive line. I
will also add New England only played four playoff teams
one in the last twelve weeks they went to and
two fewest opponents in the playoffs. We were not gonna
go over the quarterbacks they faced a week Justin Herbert though.
In the red zone, Chargers, they're awesome. Chargers defense fourth
(29:32):
best in the red zone, Patriots twenty ninth. If they
can matriculate the ball down the field with Vidal Sassoon
and mister Hampton, he better play. I think they're gonna
be fine. Gadsden is an emerging tight end. By the way,
last year Harball beat up Drake Nate badly. They won
forty to seven. Now, I know it was Mayo and
a different staff and they was a young guy. But
I'm just telling you, Jesse Minter could be the star
(29:54):
of this one. Colin, he's gonna I guarantee you he
gets a head coaching job Nick and the next whatever
they're done because he's highly coveted in net quarters.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Seaman, listen, you feel strongly about it, and I just
I just that all line for the Chargers is so leaky.
Speaker 8 (30:08):
By the way, Patriots at home three losses this year.
One was of the Raiders. Week one also lost to
the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Finally, Tomorrow's headlines today, Monday night, I don't think this
will be the most stirring game.
Speaker 8 (30:23):
My god, come on, you love defense, don't you?
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Not that much defense? Texan Steelers.
Speaker 8 (30:28):
Texan Steelers Monday. We haven't done too much on this game,
but I feel like this is kind of a slam dunk.
The headline for Texans at the Steelers will be rust
in Peace, Texans tarnished steel curtain. It's over for Tomlin.
Give me the Texans. We are winning comfortably. Colin fun
stat in the playoffs, You've been on this for years,
Mike Tomlin. Last six playoff games, owen six straight up,
(30:49):
owen six against the spread. They're not competitive. It almost
feels like Pittsburgh does everything to extend that. Mike Tomlin
makes the playoffs, finishes above five hundred streak, then they
get to the playoffs and they flop. Now I know
Rogers is your guy. You love you, Samaron Rodgers. I
don't know how he survives against this pass rush from
the Texans. It is nasty. Tonico Ryans has them juiced up,
(31:10):
and Nico Collins is a guy I'm gonna look to
bet his prop over against his zone defense like they cannot.
Nico Collins is gonna eat.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
You know, Houston doesn't have a great offense, but they
have big play potential and.
Speaker 8 (31:23):
The young guys from Iowa State.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Yeah, yeah, they're not. It's not they don't you know.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
It's not a fifteen play drive consistent efficient offense. But
they got home run hitters.
Speaker 8 (31:32):
Somebody tried to sell me on what Dome team going
to cold weather? Apparently it's gonna be freezing. I do
you think of Houston as like they can't handle cold.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
I worry about weather like green Bay's deep passing offense
in Chicago. Christian Watson is supposed to have thirty mile
an hour gusts, so that you just take that out.
So I don't think green Bay runs the ball effectively
with consistency, so big plays down. And for the record,
Jordan Love loves throwing the deep ball. Ye sir, he
(32:02):
left it rip. You can just eliminate that stuff.
Speaker 8 (32:05):
But like CJ. Shroud played at Ohio State in a
lot of cold weather, I don't think this is going
to be a big weather game in Pittsburgh. I think
of anything the Steelers, they were in a major battle
last week. Texans pulled their guys at halftime last week,
Pittsburgh brutal matchup, a slobber knocker against her Ravens. I
just I don't see them bouncing back, Colin, I I
like Houston, You're like twenty three nine or something like that.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
All right, well, you know you didn't touch the Bills Jaguars.
Speaker 8 (32:32):
I bet Jaguars first half. But I'm just I've got
to be nervous about Josh Allen taking over the game.
He can do that now, Willy is another question.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah, it's it's one of the I felt nervous about
New England and no O line that bad has ever
won a playoff game. I think all your stuff on
New England is true. They have not played a good schedule.
I think it's I think I really look at that
in college a lot. You know, for years and years
the SEC was so good, they just beat each other up.
I think it's something. I don't know how much it is.
(33:03):
I'm more concerned about schedule when it comes to MVP race,
Like Stafford faced a much better schedule than Drake may
so individually, I think that benefits Stafford as a team.
You're a ficientary or not. I think New England's really efficient.
They're not further record, they're not great. You and I
have said this. I think they're still in a rebuild.
(33:25):
I honestly think New England's in a rebuild. They need
another six draft picks.
Speaker 8 (33:29):
Chicago and New England are way ahead of schedule, way
ahead of schedule. Final thing. We talked about McDermott. If
they lose in badly, maybe he gets run. What about
Mike Tomlin? Could we see Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
They don't make moves.
Speaker 8 (33:42):
I don't think they would let him go. What if
he says, guys, I'm exhausted as hardballs out Let me
just chill.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Tomlin's energy is great, I think. And again, I don't
think Houston's a kind of team that can blow him out.
It'll feel twenty three seventeen or thereabouts.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
And yeah, and then you're just gonna say, well.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
We made the playoffs and and Kumbaya and Aaron loves
tom and I think he's coming back.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
See him unday, ye h
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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