Colin Cowherd Podcast - Broncos SILENCE Doubters, Mahomes Tears ACL, Philip Rivers Returns, Bills STUN Pats - 3 and Out with John Middlekauff

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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NFL scout three and Out podcast Wild day blowouts as well.

(01:10):
I was reading some of the scores today. Jags forty
eight to twenty over the Jets thirty one to three,
Bears win twenty four nothing, Ravens thirty one nothing Eagles.
But there's also some great matchups. Let's start with Denver
thirty four twenty six over green Bay. Not only a
loss for green Bay, Christian Watson. He had been so

(01:32):
important the get back. He's a great deep threat, big target.
Hurt looked ugly. Micah Parsons kind of a non contact
injury looked ugly. You could say it right now if
Mike and Christian Watson are out. They've been such a
part over the last month of the surge by the
Packers offense, at least Christian Watson. Also, we'll get to it.

(01:54):
Bow Nicks had a really good dan and I've got
thoughts on that, but he saying with the Bears prove
it to us, But this was really a prove it
to us game for Denver. I thought bo Nicks was
really sharp. He and Courtland Sudden are a great tandem.
Consistent pass rush. Bon Nick's clever, deceptive, moving constantly. You know, John,

(02:18):
We've said this before. It's so important for a young
quarterback to get the right coach. It feels like bon
Nicks over the last couple of weeks, I just I'm
watching him make play after play, rolling right, and I mean,
clever stuff, last second, finding the guy. His accuracy has
gotten better. I was kind of blown away by I
mean today, I think bon Knicks four touchdowns, no picks,

(02:41):
four different receivers, three hundred yards, twenty two to thirty one,
and this defense is one we've talked about in Green
Bay for weeks.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
He probably had some games in Oregon that would match
this statistically, but this had to be the best game
I've ever seen him play. He was remarkable. I mean
the accuracy over the middle, down the sideline, on the run,
the playmaking. It was twenty three to fourteen, and it
felt like Green Bay was kind of had a stranglehold
on him. They got a pick, then both threw a touchdown,

(03:10):
Then they got a couple injuries, and on that interception,
what happened was Christian Watson got injured, then they scored.
Then Micah Parsons gets injured, chasing bo Nicks, who was
excellent with his feet today. This was what we said
early in the season, Sean, let him move around a
little bit, let him move around, or bo just move
around today. You know, obviously when Micah goes out, that

(03:33):
has to be a huge blow. But that defense still
from a speed standpoint, from a defensive backstandpoint, is excellent. Yeah,
I mean, I listen, I'm sure in high school he's
a huge recruit, but that's as good of a game
when you factor in the opponent the guy's ever had
in his life, don't you think?

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah? And I think I mean he generally rolls right
Sean Payton again, rolls him to his favorite side, whether
it's ad libbed or design. But what I like about him,
he's very deceptive, Like he won't John Hill roll right
and you'll think he's gonna run it and then he'll
dump it off. He's got now I'm not comping him
to Patrick Mahomes, but he's got a little bit of
that late cognitive ability at the very last second to

(04:12):
go from running to throwing or throwing to running Like
he's really quick upstairs, and that's like a skill. Mahomes
was one of the first I ever saw and like,
you know, just be able to change what he was
doing very quickly and be accurate. So I think there's
a lot of questions on bow Nicks, and certainly the
roster helps. But I thought it was a prove it moment,
and I thought green Bay. Green Bay had two hundred

(04:33):
and fifty yards in the first half. They came out
with a very solid game plan. But Denver, again, second
half team. You know, second half's the coaching half, right,
first half, and the second half is also kind of
the roster half, because how much depth do you have.
I don't know. This was a game I thought green
Bay would win close. When it was over, I was like, yeah,

(04:54):
Denver is the better team. And again I'm not discounting
the injuries, but I thought Denver answered the bell.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
I love Denver in this spot simply because that game
last week for both teams, Chicago and Green Bay was
one of those where they probably eve't got the ice
tub for a couple of days. Clearly, Chicago was unfazed.
I mean they obliterated, you know, Cleveland, but this game
on the road, you know, then green Bay has to
go on the road again. I thought it'd be a
little bit of a look pass spot, but they didn't.

(05:22):
I mean they came out fast, they were flying around.
I do think that game really flipped though on that
interception over the middle to Christian Watson. And then because
they were in trouble, well, let's face it, I mean
Green Bay. They were unfazed by last week. They were fresh,
they were flying around. They did not sack bo Nicks
all game. Now, he made some plays with his legs
to get away. He was even the play Parsons was

(05:44):
hurt on his mobility. I think the play you're referencing
on the Patrick Mahomes scrambled to his right. He puts
it right between two defenders, but he only had what
probably a foot worth of worth of area to fit
it through. There's no question on Denver's defense right there
on the short list, right there with Houston. Elite defense
is best in the league in a league that doesn't

(06:05):
have great defenses anymore. You know, the Rams are an
excellent team. Their defense secondary is a major question mark,
right Yeah, Denver's defense is super Bowl caliber. It just
came down to is their quarterback could enough. We know
their coaches, we know their coaching staff is and if
he plays, if he plays like that, And now with
New England losing you go to Denver. I mean, how
many times you'll Belichick Their rival early on was the

(06:27):
Shanahan Denver teams going to Denver, and even they lost
there late with Peyton Manning. It's hard to go there
and win, you know that. The elevation, the crowd, it's
kind of got a collegiate feel to it. So if
they can get home field, obviously there will be a
lot of pressure on bow next. But look at some
of the quarterbacks, I mean, look at some of the
teams in the AFCs, a lot of question marks. I

(06:49):
think you've got to be pretty really excited. If you're
a Denver Bronco fan, go, if we can get this
thing going through Denver with our defense, we don't even
need Bo to do that. I mean that was you know,
I don't know, like young l Way like before. You're
throwing four touchdowns against an elite defense. You can't ask
for that. But if he can just give you a
couple and they can run the ball and play defense,

(07:09):
yeah they can win the AFC for sure.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah. And he had all sorts of He had an
over the top, beautiful throw to Sutton. He had that
one at the goal line that was low that was
a perfect pass, doesn't make the highlight reel. It was
a great pass. Then he finds Franklin. He just did
a lot of different things today. If you look at
the dexterity of bon Nicks and his ability to throw
it short, red zone, deep timing, move coachability, durability, he

(07:36):
takes no sacks. I feel terrible for Green Bay because
I really felt you could make an argument they were
the most complete team. But I mean the Micah Parsons injury.
Even when he doesn't get SATs sacks, Mike is really disruptive.
He stands out on television. He's always half to double
team him. Don't have an option. And I also I

(07:56):
think Christian Watson gives them a bona fide big You
got to put a big corner on him. Watson's just
a straight down the field burner. And by the way,
I thought he was going to catch that ball that
Patrick Chartan intercepted and then caught his arm and pulled
it back. He has been injury prone a little bit,
but if those two guys are out, it is not

(08:18):
the same football team. I know that most players are
not even worth a point, but Watson, I think the
fear of getting beat deep with Watson is significant for
their offense. He gives them a component, a deep threat
that they don't have anybody of that size and speed
deep down the field. So really bad day for green Bay.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
I'm not trying to be hyperbolic, but that's a crippling
day for green Bay because look at the NFC Seattle one,
LA one, Chicago one, the Niners one. You could look up.
I mean, all of a sudden, you have these injuries,
you come limping into the Chicago game. In Chicago you
lose that. I mean you could be looking at the
seventh seat. That's how quick you could flip. Because what

(08:59):
was Seattle in the rams. One of them's gonna have ten,
the other one's gonna have eleven by the end of
the next week, right because they play each other. Yeah,
the forty nine ers get Philip Rivers. So all of
a sudden, you look like you might only get to
ten wins. Their next two games are the Bears. The
Ravens definitely look like they had a little more life today.
They can lose the next couple games, and then when

(09:19):
you factor in Parsons, you know it's knock on wood.
But if he's out for the season, like you, just
no longer the same devastating defense.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
All right, let's talk Philip, Rivers, Seahawks, and Darnald come
back to win eighteen to sixteen. Actually a wildly entertaining
fourth quarter was thirteen to six Colts at half. Philip
Rivers out played Donald for a lot of it. Philip
finished eighteen to twenty seven, only one hundred and twenty yards,
one TD, one pick, Donald twenty two to thirty six,
two hundred and seventy yards, got a W no interceptions.

(09:51):
Seattle gets that Myers field goal to win it. I
had said this Friday on the Herd. I said, listen,
would it be because I bet the under on this.
I said, Seattle is not going to show you anything.
Seattle's going to come in. They look looking ahead to
the Rams, huge favorites. They want to play a fast,
clean game, run win, get get out of that thing

(10:11):
injury free. Well, they just didn't have any idea that
the Colts were gonna, you know, start dominating the clock
and moving the change. I think it was much. It
was the thirteen to fourteen point spread. But I said,
this is going to be an ugly quick game. It
actually was a very entertaining fourth quarter. But Philip Rivers
I said this Friday, I said, guys, you see Kirk

(10:31):
Cousins on Thursday, like like old guys that don't move
from the pocket, that know the offense can move the chains.
They just complete the ball. They don't tow for a
lot of yards, they pick up first downs, they keep
your offense off the field. I'm I'm not shocked. I'm
shocked that it was a close game. I thought Seattle
would win by a couple of touchdowns. I am not

(10:52):
shocked that Philip Rivers wasn't awful. I mean, you watch
the old quarterbacks. I mean, we've got pocket quarterbacks in
the last couple of years, winning a lot of games
and having remember the Kirk Cousins Thursday game a couple
of years. Last year, you're like it was like an
MVP game. Were you shocked forget to score? Were you

(11:13):
shocked that he was this efficient?

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Well, I think when the story breaks that everyone goes,
this is the craziest thing we've ever seen. And by
the end of the week, his high school players are
getting quoted saying we run their offense, we watch their film.
Him and Shane Steichen are like, you know, like what
Adam Gase and Peyton Manning. Sometimes you meet a guy
in football as an older quarterback that you mesh with
it's a younger coach and they become lifelong. Brady's like

(11:35):
that with Josh McDaniel's. They talk all the time and
so like the understanding of the offense. Okay, but then
they see pictures of him before the game. He looks
like you weighs one hundred and seventy five pounds, you know,
he definitely looks like so. I would have said when
you factor in Seattle's defense at home, Mike McDonald, I
hear you looking ahead. But even if they kind of
went through the motions, I would have expected him to
be sacked four or five times. He only sacked one time. Now,

(11:58):
a couple of those he kind of went down on
his and got rid of the ball. But I think
part of it was this is their team was dead, right,
It wasn't leaking oil. It was dead. So instead of
signing some Desmond Ridder or whoever, some random quarterback is
out there, this does give a little life. The one
thing you noticed in the first half, because this was
a game, you know, if they would have started some

(12:18):
random quarterback. They probably lose by twenty and no one's
even paying attention. I thought it gave the defense life.
I mean, they were flying around Darnold. The numbers don't
look bad, but the first half he was atrocious relative
to the way he was not good. But their defense
was trying so hard because I think they kind of believed.
And I bet when Ballard and Shane Siken met and
they decided to do this, part of it was to

(12:40):
show the locker room. It's almost like sometimes you make
a trade at the traded line in baseball or basketball
to just show your guys you believe. And that was
kind of this. Even though I think some of these
older players like this crazy, I think it's less that
they're out of options. This was their only hail Mary
and Listen. He never had a powerful arm in his prime.
He's never been able to move when he was, so

(13:01):
he still he Honestly, he kind of looks like he
did five years ago. No, he looked exactly like he
looked the last couple of years with the Chargers and
that last year with the Colts.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
I thought, yeah, I thought I didn't think he quite
had the velocity on the ball. I thought his sideline
throws kind of died a little bit. It was you
know again. But I didn't think Seattle played a really
aggressive defense because John, their take was, wouldn't you think
this make Philip Rivers drive eighty yard andscre on our defense?

(13:31):
So Seattle didn't have a hyper aggressive game plan. They
they gave the receivers Pittman or a pierced They gave
them room. To me, They're like, Philip, go ahead, complete
seven passes on this drive. And I thought I thought
the just I figured it was going to be an ugly,
low scoring game. Think about what Seattle's thinking, Sam, We're

(13:51):
gonna keep this simple. The only way they beat is
if we turn it over. So Darnold had a very
vanilla game plan, and I thought defensively they were not
going to let get a freebie over the top. They
gave him plenty of cushion. I bet you next week
Philip Rivers may not play as well next week as
this week because now people have some film. That was

(14:13):
kind of my takeaway that Seattle will get beat up
for this, and they didn't play yuck.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
Me, Colin. I mean, if if Shane would have been
a little more aggresive. He kicked the sixty yard field goal.
I thought, listen, with this new kickoff rule, they get
the ball at minimum at the thirty, but it's pretty
easy to get to the forty. All of a sudden,
you're a completion away. Myers doesn't miss many kicks. They
had forty seconds on the clock. They got an explosive
offense when they do try so, I thought, listen, they

(14:39):
got nothing to lose. I understood you felt good about
your kicker making a sixty yarder, but that's a lot
of time in this new, modern day NFL, I thought
you could have gone for now. I know what he's saying.
We don't get at the game's over, but you give
him a chance. You know, I would say, now, when
you give a team the ball back with thirty plus seconds,
that's a lot of room because you're starting you know

(15:02):
before right, you just kick it out of bounds. You
start at the twenty. It's hard to get to the
fifty now, give or take, it feels like everyone's starting
minimum the thirty five. If you get to the forties,
your one fifteen yard completion away. From this new these
kickers now have the ball. So they are all kicking
sixty yard field goals. I mean the cultural that out
of kicker, he looks tiny, drilled that thing. And I thought, Indy,
given that you were already there, no one expected you

(15:23):
to win, I thought, And I get it, Rivers has
been here for three days. I thought they could have
been a little more agressive, because, let's face it, they're
there's seasons on the line. I mean, like you said,
they're not gonna this was their best chance catch you sleeping.
You don't really know what to expect. He's dinking and
dunkey to death. They're probably gonna lose out.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, it ended up being a really really I mean,
there were some ugly games today. I mean the Baltimore
since He game. I mean Jamar Chase came up after
that game and said, I'm gonna have to start for
the first time ever. Like Joe was Flat, a linebacker
for the Raven said, first series of the game, Cincinnati
wasn't prepared to play. I mean, you got some performances

(16:05):
today where you're like teams are done, Like teams are done.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
So I think we got we got some bad teams, right,
I mean the Jets, Raiders, Titan showed a little life
against the Niners. But I mean there are some Arizona.
The Jets are the Jets and the Raiders. I think
you combine those two rosters and those two coaching staffs,
I don't think they'd win five games. I mean they
are the Raiders are really really bad.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
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(17:37):
and on Netflix. Readed PG thirteen all right, La Chargers
sixteen Kansas City thirteen mahomes ugly season, ugly injury. He'll
have to have an MRII before we get into Kansas City.
I mean this is between they beat the Chiefs and

(17:58):
they beat the Eagles. They are using backup offensive tackles
at one point on a third string running back. They
lost to Bosa. Right quarterback's been hit more than any
other quarterback. This is a Yet they have ten plus wins.
They'll finish with more wins. What the Chargers are doing
Kansas City's now six and eight. The Chargers have a

(18:20):
decimated offensive line. They're ten and four in a division
with Sean Payton Andy Reid. It's a remarkable job of coaching.
Derwin James had to pick to seal it. But you know,
Kansas City got knocked out of the playoffs obviously, I
mean Patrick Mahomes, mri, you cross your fingers on that.
But as I watched him walk off the field and

(18:44):
Gardner Minshew come in the fact the line today was
Chiefs favored by four and a half. I think everybody
we just couldn't believe what we were watching here because
Brady made the playoffs every year. He was upright in
New England. Kansas City was not a good team. They
couldn't get people off the field. Chris Jones isn't the

(19:04):
same player. They struggle to have long, successful drives. I
think it's one of those things. This has not been
a great football team. I mean, like a decisive football
team all season long. And I think Broncos Chargers finishing

(19:24):
one two in this division feels right. I just feel
like I have more players and better situational football. The
Chiefs were known as a great red zone situational team.
They've been a bad situational team all year.

Speaker 2 (19:39):
Well the other thing is and clearly he was banged
up before, even before he heard his knees. Mahomes hasn't
quite been the same this season. He hasn't been Herbert's
a better player. Herbert was a better player, noah question.
I mean, you watched Josh Allen play today. He's in
a different universe than Patrick Mahomes right now. So part
of their superpower early on in the run was they
had the best player in the league in Patrick Mahomes. Well,

(20:02):
he hasn't really been that really, you would say over
the last three years. During the season now in the playoffs,
he's flipped in today. I mean, he just kind of
looks like a you know, better than a marginal player.
But he's just he's not good enough to take an
average team above. And like you said, defensively, they're not
as good. And listen, i mean they lost some crazy

(20:22):
games earlier that they won last year and they found
themselves behind the eight ball and clearly they're just you know,
you're not going to score many points when it's I
don't know what the what was a seven degrees ten degrees,
Dan Jeremiah saying the field fell like concrete. You knew
that was going to be a game in the teens.
Jim Harbaugh has been dreaming about playing games in the
teams since he was a teenager. Like that's like, here's

(20:43):
the other thing. Jim Harbaugh's an elite coach, Like we've
known that for two decades now, Like he's he's big time.
And one thing he always does, whether it's Fangio, whether
it's you know, the guys throughout his time in Michigan
to whether it's now mentor who came with him from Michigan,
their defense always really good, you know, so defensively, they
just ugly the game. And Herbert I think he's really

(21:06):
kind of earned the Harbaugh stamp of like that, the
toughness these last couple of weeks, like holy shit, I mean,
geez week. The other thing is too, like they draft
this guy in the first round, that they've been lucky
that this late round pick Videll has been good, but
they need Hampton to be solid. He had some big
runs today and that they need him. I think it's
gonna be hard, depending on the matchup, for them to
win a playoff game just because they are. I mean

(21:28):
even Keenan Allen think they didn't play great. They had
some drops that they had, some plays went against them.
But yeah, I mean, I just think this is a
classic Jim Harbaugh. You give a random coach in the
NFL this roster, what do they win six games? You know?
I mean they've been missing their tackles, their quarterbacks getting crushed.
I have been remarkable.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
They're they're Trey Harris, Lad McConkie, Trey Harris. I went
to dinner with their GM, the Chargers GM, last week,
and he said, Jim loves Trey Harris. He's really emerging
as a player. He said, I don't think he's dropped
a ball in practice all year. So Maconkie, Harris, Quinton Johnson,
their tight ends are okay, they're kind of you know
what I mean, they're kind of you know, it's they're

(22:11):
kind of making it work offensively, but they have a
way to win, and it's Dick or the kicker, play
good defense, Herbert run to pick up first downs. I
will say I believe I wrote this down fourteen of
mahomes sixteen completions, seven to Kelsey who's probably retiring and
seven to Rashi Rice, who I don't trust to stay
healthy or you know, I just don't trust them yet.

(22:33):
I think he is talented, but I think it's more
of a rebuild than a retool. And my take is
everybody keeps saying, well, there's Reid and Mahomes this division,
now Denver and the Chargers. If the Chargers bring their
offensive tackles back, those are elite teams. So and I
look at the Denver's roster right now, I think it's

(22:54):
much deeper. Look at the wide of receiving. Even guys
like Franklin who get forgotten had a touchdown Caday, I
think they got to retooler offensive line. Carl Loftis is
probably a bit overpaid. He's a big cap hit next year.
Chris Jones isn't the same player. I mean, the good
news for them they're gonna draft in the middle of
the rounds now in which they haven't done for seven

(23:15):
or eight years. They need to hit on three or
four draft picks.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
Well, I think for the first time in a long time,
they're not going to be drafting thirty two. They're better
off now losing out in drafting twelfth because it's not
just twelfth or thirteenth. It's then you draft fortieth and
they have not had that luxury because they've been in
the Super Bowl every year. So I listen, Travis Kelt
is probably gonna retire, right he retires. I think I

(23:40):
was looking at Chris Jones doing podcasts up this week.
You're probably trading him this offseason because you're not going
to extend him again. His cap hit is massive. He
would still have value, you know, for the teams that
have some cap space. I would imagine look at Joe
Tooney when they traded him to the Bears. Andy Reid said,
he's like one of my favorite players I've ever coach.
It's the crappy part of the business. When you've got

(24:03):
some guys making a lot of money, we couldn't keep
them financially. So you got Simmons who's on injury reserve
because he's injured. You hit on some draft picks, you know,
you try to finagle the cap, get some guys to
try to come with Mahomes. We'll see the Mahomes injury
and try to retool it. But you might be two
years away from being back to really good. Then you know,
next year, this is Denver's got a little window right

(24:23):
now this year and next year because they got this
cheap quarterback and they've hit on a bunch of defensive players.
I mean, Hufunga is as good as any player that
Kansas City has on their day, and he's just a
free agent that they added to one of the best defenses.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
It's been confirmed Torn acl for Patrick Mahomes, so that's
possibly out next year. I mean, I always say with
young athletes, they always recover faster than you think. And
you're talking to best. The Hunt family doesn't go cheap.
It'll be the best doctors in the world. You think

(24:56):
he's out next year, and he's he come back somewhere
trade deadline eight, game eight, game nine, game ten.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
Well, when you say young athletes, I mean he's been
around a little. You know, he's not twenty four. I
mean he's thirty. A lot of wear and terror in
those legs. He just to me, I think we kind
of got jaded by Adrian Peterson when he came back
in like two months, and you see guys randomly come
back in eight nine months. This guy's kind of the
key to the franchise, right I I think you treat

(25:26):
this a little different than you do most players. Does
this impact you know, you know Kelsey who most of
us assumes going to retire, or does this kind of
lock that in you just never you know, Coach Reid's
getting up there in age late sixties. What at this
point in time, what does he have to prove? I
you know, I think just brings in a lot of
question marks with a lot of different things. Obviously he

(25:49):
was he's been banged up, and that's a devastating injury.
I mean it really is, especially late, you know, December fourteenth,
on the day you get knocked out of the playoffs.
I would assume, you know, base on this injury, that
we've come a long way, that he'd be ready to go,
you know, early on the season. But aren't you a
little more careful with this individual than you would be
with ninety nine percent of other players in the league.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
And you've had so much equity built into the franchise
and the fan base, right like I think you you
play it cautious. You know, you don't rush this stuff back.
You've built in built up so much credibility with your fans.
I mean, nobody's it's like almost you know when Jordan
left and came back, you know, just like it's like
he never left did baseball for a couple of years.

(26:33):
Nobody was given their season tickets up right, Like It's
just I think I think Kansas City and he's always
been a good early season September coach. If he comes
back Week seven to eight, I'm not going to speculate
too much. They'll be fine. They just have to hit
on some draft picks. And I think I think it
was just sort of the lost year. You hear about
economy sometimes a last decade, a lost year. It just

(26:56):
felt like everybody was tired, everybody was fatigued. They liked
a little energy consistency. They started this season without Rashid Rice.
You know, Worthy gets banged up, left Simmons, Josh Simmons
left tackle, couldn't get it right, not available, Joe Tooney
had to move off him, goes to the Bears. This
just didn't feel right from the very beginning.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
You know, I listen, I know Andy and Veitch, and
I know they don't think like this, But if he's
not able to play till let's say late in the season,
what if you could kind of do next year as
a reset year. You know, you end up drafting thirteen
fourteenth this year and he's not ready, and maybe he
gets a red shirt almost next year and you kind
of bottom out get to retool the roster. So you're

(27:38):
almost looking ahead to twenty twenty seven. Maybe you get
like the six pick. Now, he's probably too good of
a coach to be that crappy, even if they had
a garnerment. But maybe you're just drafting tenth again, back
to back years of good drafts and kind of get
to siphon out some of these older, high priced guys.
You get him back fully healthy in twenty seven. Again,
he would fall out of his chair. He doesn't, you know,

(27:59):
they don't think like that. But like you saw this year,
they were like a car out of gas and you
could feel it when you watch it. And now this injury,
I mean you have to imagine the wear and tear
on Patrick Mahomes. How much have they depended on him
to scramble around the hiss he's taken the last couple
of years, And if you probably add up all their
playoff games, it's borderline extra season over the last five years.

(28:19):
So yeah, I mean, I think it's also just a
devastating as long as it's not you know him and
Parsons like, there's a lot of DeVante got hurt, had
we had a lot of star power today go down
And maybe it's just the wear and tear of the season.
These guys don't practice quite the same as they used to,
so you're just playing these games at warp speed. People
have never been faster. But you looked up at one

(28:41):
time today over a course about thirty minutes. I mean,
there were some big time names, some big time salaries
walking to the blue tanner in the locker room.

Speaker 1 (28:50):
And now for our next segment, Whiskey Business. Yes, Whiskey Business,
brought to you by Green River Whiskey, the official whiskey
of the Colin Coward Podcast. Buffalo thirty five New England one,
Patriots up twenty one nothing and twenty four to seven.
Completely dominate the first half. Now this is an interesting
one because I say I was gonna bet this game.
I like New England. They just dominate the first half.

(29:13):
This is the fourth time Josh Allen is four and oh,
I'm not sure if any other quarterbacks ever done in
this the history of the league. When he has to
score thirty points to win. He's four to oh. He
had a sensational second half. But the two things my
two takeaways on this game is, I've been saying this
all year, Rabel, Josh McDaniel. When you have an elite

(29:33):
coach and then a top two or three coordinator either
side of the ball, that is, that's a handful. Like
right now Shanahan Robert Sala, you have an elite coach
and a top two or three coordinator. You have Josh
McDaniel's a coordinator. He's probably the best offensive coordinator, one
of the top two in the league. And then Vrabel
is they were great on script, great, great game plan,

(29:53):
but in the end, you can't stop Josh Allen. But Buffalo,
like Kansas City, great co selp s out on my
show this week, it's hard to watch their defense and go, oh,
a bunch of exceptional players. It's just okay, they have
James Cook, Josh Allen, Ken Kaid. I mean this is
I think how they have to win. They have to

(30:14):
win shootouts, which considering Sean McDermott supposed to be the
defensive guru, they're just not very good defensively.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
Yeah, I mean I talked to a Buddy in the
league this week and he's advanced them and he said
one issue they have is they're not very big, so
you can really lean on them, and I mean New
England was rushing all over them. I think one mistake
New England made in this game is the last couple drives,
they had a three and out and obviously the four
and out that turnover on downs. They only ran the

(30:42):
ball one of those seven plays, and they hit multiple
big plays in the run, obviously with Henderson, and they
kind of tried to have Drake may turn into Josh
Allen and it kind of bit them. And I thought
that they could have leaned on Buffalo a little bit
that you had time out, you had time, and they
got a little pass happy those last couple drives. And listen,

(31:03):
I don't know if it's trying to match Josh or
you know, just thinking that Drake's had a great season.
He can make plays and their offense just sputtered at
the wrong time. But it doesn't it feel like I'm
like you, I don't care that much about awards, you know,
MVP Coach of the Year, So it's pretty clear who
the best guys are, whether they get the award or not.
It does feel a little bit like Michael Jordan in

(31:25):
the NBA. It's like, you give the MVP to someone
else if you want this year, but Josh Allen's the
best player in the league, you know, yeah, you know.
It's like I see all these the odds and maybe
they'll end up changing these last couple of weeks. Like
Jordan Love was near the top of the list, and
Jordan Love's solid, but he's not Josh Allen, not even close, right,
And this year it feels like, especially down the stretch,
I mean, it's twenty one nothing on the road. I

(31:46):
don't know about you, but you just even if Josh
is remarkable, it's like, how are they gonna win that game?
This defense is getting shredded. And then they they had
a stretch where they they had five straight drives, five
straight touchdowns. I mean they're down twenty one to three,
all of a sudden, they have, you know, a commanding lead.
So it was these last month for Josh Allen is
like one of the defining moments of his career. He's

(32:07):
just he's the franchise was teetering on like they might
miss the playoffs, and he said not so fast, guys.
I'll take care of it and listen. Cook, Kinkate Knox.
Knox made some big plays. Shaki had some big plays.
They're receivers in the rapport they have with Josh in
these freezing cold games. It's not like they're playing you

(32:27):
watched Golf and Stafford today. I mean, what's it inside
Sofi Stadium? Seventy two degrees is perfect? You know you're
you're hot these games. He's playing down the stretch of
the season in inclement weather. He looks I don't remember
like peak Lway in the mid eighties, but it has
to look something like this doesn't and he's even a
better runner.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
And I think New England the second half kind of
confirmed it. Trevon Henderson had a huge game, but I
did think the second half confirmed And this is something
I think we both said multiple times. They're still kind
of john in a small rebuild. It's a good roster.
They don't have a number one receiver. They had their
banged up on their offensive line. They have missing two starters.
I think they need I don't. I think athletically on

(33:09):
defense that Christian Gonzalez is great, but they could probably
use another edge Rusher like, I think New England's four
to five draft picks, a free agent signing away from
being like a Denver or a rams So. And I
think in the second half you're like, there's not a
lot of juice. There was a couple of great catches
today by Booty like, but there's not a lot of

(33:30):
juice in that receiving corps. And you saw that in
the offseason. You go out and draft somebody high. But
I think, listen, New England has overachieved by any metric.
But I thought when I watched the second half, I'm like,
MVP of the league, a team that still needs about
four to five players to be like a number one
seed and feel like Denver, where you may have six,

(33:52):
seven eight Pro bowlers, I don't think New England has five.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
Well, I agree, I mean today was their opportunity to
win the division. I mean this was and to be
up twenty one nothing, to be up twenty one to three,
to be at home, the place going nuts, you get
two runs, even the second run, right he had taken
retaken the lead, the Bills did, and they'd come storming
back and then and then Henderson just makes a play

(34:16):
that he probably would make.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
It high school.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
I mean that was remarkable. I mean the play was
stuffed him run around, he'd go. I mean he said
he's been huge for them the second half of the season.
I think they said today that he had ties the
rookie record for four rushes, four rushing touchdowns for over
fifty yards, ties like Saquon Barkley in his rookie season.
So that's a loss if you're a New England that
I don't want to say like ruin your season because,

(34:39):
like you said, I mean how they have been. It's
not just last year. They were bad, the last couple
of years of Belichick. They've been bad for a while.
But this was an opportunity to kind of end this
run for Buffalo. Now they still got the Jets and
we'll see how the Dolphins look tomorrow to end the season.
But next week at the Ravens, Buffalo's got a ton
of momentum. Now, I think this is one that you

(35:01):
lose some sleep, and you know, very Bowl tough guy
running offense. I think to get so pass happy down
the stretch when you were rushing with ease on these guys,
I think that's something even if you run like a
quarterback power to Drake may is something because, like you said,
they don't have Randy Moss and Gronk and Edelman out there.
That's not really They're depending on Diggs and you know
Hunter Henry to make some big catches. So when you

(35:23):
put it on a young quarterback and let's face these
human being, he's got to get a little tight. As
the game all of a sudden, we're killing him and
now we're down.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
Just looking at Josh Allen the league on the other side.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
That is, and this is you start seeing the way
this like Chargers obviously very flawed, the Jags are actually
playing really well right now. Same with the Texans. Uh,
you know, Denver they still got you know, bo Nick's
a young quarterback. It's it's still pretty open. No one's
gonna be shocked at any given outcome in a playoff game.
And Buffalo's got to go, well, we're gonna have the
best player in every one of these games that we

(35:54):
play come January. Now, do we have the best roster? No,
but this guy has proven that. You know, that's where
their defense isn't good enough, Like that Thursday night game
when Houston just sacked him like fifty times like that.
That's New England's not going to have the capability to
do that. And you just if you can't do that
to him, he can just take over. I don't know.

(36:14):
I mean, I've been a live forty years. I just
don't remember many people with the with the combination like
we've seen Cam Newton the physical runner, or you know,
got Brady and Rogers the unreal passers. He can do
them both. He's just an unstoppable force when he gets
when he gets rolling.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
Now you get the best of Elway's arm, you get
the best of Cam Newton's size. But he's better with both.
He's just he's the best quarterback talent I've ever seen
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(36:52):
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All right, Chicago hammers Cleveland thirty one to three. Again,
this is several weeks in a row now or Caleb
Williams very balanced offense, running pass Caleb couple of touchdowns

(37:14):
to DJ Moore. One looked like an optical illusion. I've
been still though. No, no, he got it. Caleb one
hundred and twelve passer rating, seventeen of what is it
twenty eight two touchdowns. He doesn't throw a lot of picks.
He had one last week against Green Bay. Chadur a
little bit overwhelmed. I mean, listen, it was it was
not you know. One of the balls that was intercepted

(37:36):
by Jalen Johnson was actually a great throw and Jerry
Judy had it pulled out of his hands.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
It was an actually a great cool collusion. You couldn't
even tell, like what just happened. The announcer didn't even understand.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
So I think, I guess my takeaway on the Bears
is from game planning to second half adjustments to the
weapons john they look and feel like a playoff team.
There's three things that are very important to be a
playoff team. To me. One, they're a physical team. Their
physicality on offense, running the game that matters in the postseason.

(38:09):
Finesse teams. There's never been like a Sunshine dynasty in
the NFL, even a Dome dynasty. You've got to be
a physical team. Second thing, they're explosive, you know what
they can you know, Seattle, the Rams, they can get
themselves back into a game. Detroit's got that. They can
get themselves back into a game very quickly with their
big time playmakers. Buffalo can't necessarily it's all Josh Allen.

(38:30):
They don't have a downfield threat, but they've got you know,
DJ Moore and Caleb Williams. They're also balanced, they're not
dependent on anything. The other thing is they're a cold
weather team. They're not going to be a warm weather
team going north and feeling like out of their element.
They're playing in cold weather. They're comfortable, they run, they're physical,
they're balanced. You know, this was one of the many

(38:52):
blowouts today, but I think officially going to Philly and
win blowout here Green Bay final series. This is the
playoff looking team to me.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
Well, it's a division winning looking team to me. I mean,
I'll think the l KLEB the last month has been fantastic.
That throw he mad, the optical illusion throw that you
still couldn't tell where it hit Dj Moore, I mean
that was that was Josh Allen. John Elway in his prime,
I mean rolling to his right, the absolute cannon across
the field. I mean that was pretty elite stuff. What's

(39:22):
crazy about him, right, is like now I get it
new offense. Ben's pretty intense. You would have thought that
as it got colder, if he was being pretty inaccurate,
it could get a lot worse. I mean, how many
degrees was in Chicago today? Single digits? It was not warm?

Speaker 1 (39:37):
He agrees. When I woke up, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
He looks in incomplete command to come off that. I
mean that that was a really good loss. But sometimes
a loss you're playing a crappy team. You're playing the Packers.
Next the Packers. Now with these injuries, Detroit loses today.
I mean, Chicago wins this game this week in I
think it's a Saturday night game or Saturday all. All

(40:00):
of a sudden, they have two more wins than green Bay.
I mean, Detroit is in trouble and Minnesota's dead. So
after that Green Bay game, you went, Okay, green Bay
is probably gonna win this division. Chicago is going to
be a wild card. That's a phenomenal season. I think
you could look up in Chicago would be a twelve
win division champion. That to me would be my bet
right now that Chicago at least wins two of the

(40:22):
You know, I think I like them a lot more,
assuming these injuries are bad. Against green Bay, they just
lost two of their best players, I mean their best
player in Micah Parsons and Christian Watson, who completely changed
their offense because the balance of his speed with Josh Jacobs,
Chicago the mental four to two. Today, you're playing a
Browns team, which is a complete joke. I wouldn't even
have held it against them if I looked up and

(40:43):
it was ten ten in the third quarter and they won,
like twenty to ten. It's the NFL. You know, you
kind of sleep walk after that game. I give Green
Bay and Chicago a lot of credit. Both those teams
off that game last week, came today flying to start
the game, and obviously Chicago was playing an opponent they
had no chance to get back defense. The other thing
is a couple of those passes, you know, the one
was not Schodor's fault. He did also made some bad picks,

(41:06):
so he and their defense creates turnovers. I mean every game.
I think they lead the league.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
Yeah, they I mean again, if you look, if you
check the boxes of what wins in the playoffs. It's
usually win the turnover battle. They do these days, offensive
head coach who's clever, dynamic, you know, if you're trailing late,
can run the ball, physical, comfortable in cold weather. I
mean there's again this is this is what playoff teams do.

(41:33):
And you know the other thing is it's Ben Johnson,
the best hire since Sean McVay in LA. I mean,
Sean McVay turned around a complete s show in one year.
Jared Goff looked like a bust and then it was
all of a sudden, you know, his career not only

(41:53):
blossom but exploded. I'm I'm watching the weekly improvement of
Caleb Williams. This defense isn't as good. I mean, they
give up yards for play. It's not as good as
the results. They shouldn't. I mean, the Jets have a
defensive coach. They have no takeaways.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
Oh they're terrible.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
They're terrible. You know, Aaron Glenn's a genius Defensively, they
don't take the ball away. The Bears have buyers, obviously
Jalen Johnson, but their pass rush is hit and miss.
They take them all away from everybody.

Speaker 2 (42:24):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
I think Ben Johnson is on a short list in
the last five to ten years of best hires.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
Yeah, to me, when you factor in the hype, you know,
McVeigh did. A lot of people thought it was crazy
to hire a guy at thirty one years old. I did.
He's my same age. I'm like, this is he's going
to be an NFL coach, you know. So to me,
he didn't come in hyped up. Shanahan had a lot
of hype, but their team was bad for a couple
of years. You don't usually get the combination of all
the hype the coordinator and then come in and they

(42:56):
immediately again Colin, they win this weekend, which who knows
what the Lion is gonna be as we find out
more about some of these injuries, it would not I'm
probably gonna pick them to win. They're gonna win the division.
So you came into the year with a division with
the Lions, who have been one of the best teams
in the league last couple of years. Kevin O'Connell, who's
viewed as one of the best coaches in the league.

(43:16):
Green Bay trades for persons right before the season, and
the Bears win the division. Especially, it was kind of
weird to start the season, right, it was like, oh,
something's a little off. I mean, what do they I
guess they lost last week, but they had won nine
in a row, so what have they won ten out
of the last eleven. They just they are they feel
more complete the way they play. Like then I would

(43:38):
say the Patriots like both these two teams. Right, great hires,
the good coaching staffs elevate these two teams. I don't
want to say the Patriots are smoking Bears, because I
think they're good, but you watch the Bears play, it's
like this really translates the way they play come playoff time.
And that game against Green Bay last week in Lambeau,
I think it's like one of the best losses of
the season for any team. So and to parlay this

(44:01):
into Cleveland because it's these players are human like. Coaches
are pretty dialed in, no matter, but they're looking at
the Browns like this is what we're playing these guys
and to come in and just do what they did
to them, that was I think they'll be green Bay
and win the division. I never would have imagined saying that.
I mean a week ago and now it feels it
feel it would be shocking if we think Parsons and

(44:24):
Watson are out. I think Green Bay could just fall
off a cliff just because what that does to you psychologically?
How do you keep your head up and keep fighting?

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forty one lions thirty four really entertaining game in the

(46:24):
second half, especially the fourth quarter. Rams pulled away. Now,
DeVante Adams has a hamstring injury. He's battled that for
a month. He'll he'll be around for the playoffs. They'll
probably sit him for the next three weeks and just
get that right. With the win, they gonna they're gonna
win the division. I think you know.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
The Lions the game this week they play Seattle Thursday.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
Yeah, I'll say this about the Lions. God, I feel
like they can't get the defense right, John, It's been
like six years all I mean, no, they lost Brian
Branch so the back end's not good. But I'm sitting
there watching Puka today. He is. He is one of
the best fifth round picks. George Kittle's the other. I

(47:08):
think Max Crosby was fourth, not fifth. I could be wrong.
Rock Purty in the seventh rounds pretty damn good. I
mean the Rams are Here's what you worry about if
you're the Rams. Amoran Saint Brown had nine catches in
the first half. Like, if you have an elite receiver,
the Rams can't stop you. And that's their real issue

(47:30):
because their pass rush. They have good personnel up front,
but their pass rush isn't as dominating. I think it's
not quite as dominating as it should be for the personnel. Again,
it's a really young team. But amor On Saint Brown.
The Lions had two hundred and seventy five yards in
the first half, amor On Saint Brown had one hundred
and twenty six yards. That's what worries, man. I mean,
the good news is and remember the Rams play in

(47:54):
a comfortable environment. So if they have home field, JSN,
what's he going to do against the in the playoffs?

Speaker 2 (48:01):
Yeah, I agree, I mean, looking at it, the Rams
secondary isn't very good now. Pooka like he's like George
Kittle in number twelve. He's breaking tackles, catching balls and
contested areas. But you look at Saint Brown and Jamison
Williams to day, they had twenty catches, two hundred yards
and three touchdowns. Now that's a pretty good one to
two combination. Right. How many teams that you're going to

(48:23):
play in the playoffs? You know the Eagles they had
they played the Raiders to day. I mean they got
two good receivers. The Lions will not be there now
that Watson's out. The Packers, that's not really the way
the Bears play like they're not gonna have throw for
three hundred and fifty yards, so they might get lucky,
but their secondary is an issue. And when yeah, when

(48:44):
DeVante's on the field, I mean their offense is dominant,
right because they can run the ball. They have two
elite wide receivers. But you remove the one Stafford pass
where Aydon Hutchinson basically took it to the house and
then they score, right, you remove that. I mean the Rams,
I mean once they got going on the second half,
the Lions defense is even worse. I mean they're terrible.

Speaker 1 (49:05):
The Rams offense. Blake Corum popped about three weeks ago,
so now you have Kyron Williams, Blake Corem. They've got
three tight ends. I like, by the way, Terrence Ferguson's
now starting to get open. The young kid, Colby Parkinson
came from Seattle, and Pete Carroll he's been productive, Davonte
will come back off the Hammy Puka Nakua. They have

(49:26):
the best guard tandem arguably in the league. Stafford McVeigh.
I got to tell you, if they get on a
fast track, and they've proven they can go play in Philadelphia,
but on a fast track, they're going to score in
the thirties. I just think they are if you give
them ten eleven. They don't have a weakness offensively. They're

(49:48):
tackle Havevenstein at right tackle. He'll be done after the year.
They're a little weak there. But when I watched the
Rams offense, from intellect to diversity to speed, they can
literally do anything. They'll play four, they'll play three tight ends,
all can catch, all can move well.

Speaker 2 (50:07):
If they win this week, they'll have swept Seattle and
they played the Cardinals. At the end of the season,
they'll go five and one the division. They finished with
the Falcons and the Cardinals, so they usually could, you know,
win out. The one thing going against them is they
don't really have a home field advantage from a crowd standpoint. Now.
They are built to play inside. I do think when

(50:28):
it comes to just to the Rams, I mean, one
thing that they held that they hung their hat on
last year down the stretch was the defensive line, and
like you said, it's just not quite ben as good,
and you need that area to dominate in the playoffs,
because I don't think you can just they're like a
better version right now of the Lions, and that doesn't

(50:49):
translate always in the NFL, the college. Why is Indiana
really good? It's not just Fernandum. Their defense is dominant
right in college. Yeah, to win in Division one football
and win in the NFL, you don't need Denver Houston.
But I don't think what the Rams have going they
can win the Super Bowl the way they're playing defense
right now. I don't think that because they can't cover people.

(51:10):
I mean, that's and that's a problem because even if
the games aren't as high scoring, you're going to be
in a tie game fourth quarter, it's third and seven.
Do you have faith that the Rams are getting off
the field. You don't.

Speaker 1 (51:19):
And it's funny because they have young They have Jared
versh they have Kobe Turner. Is it Punifford.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
Yeah, he's a run stuffer, but I mean he's a
run stuffer.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
They like him. I mean, they've got they've got personnel
up front. But again it's a it's a young Landman's
not young. Everybody else is like in their second or
third year. It's like a really young group. So my
takeaway is last year that defense got really really good
by about week thirteen, fourteen fifteen. They're young, they don't

(51:54):
get penalized They're a little bit like the Bears, Like
they win the turnover battle, they don't get panelized really
good after half. You know, I just watched them today
and I've just thought, God, they're so clever. They like
at some point Ben Johnson and Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan,
they're just smarter than other coaches when you watch their
offense like today, Let's segue to this. Niners thirty seven,

(52:17):
Tennessee twenty four. Rock Purty had an excellent day. Jennings Kittle,
McCaffrey Pierce, Like, I think their old line's okay, but
I looked at the rating a few weeks ago and
it was like much higher rated than I would have thought.
And outside of Trent Williams do I love their offensive line.
I just when I'm watching some of these offensive coaches

(52:38):
john it doesn't feel like a fair fight. I mean,
Sean Payton today, some of their situational play calling in Denver,
I mean four touchdowns four different receivers. They don't have
great receivers. I've always been a Courtland Sutton fan. I mean,
you take it away on the Niners, but I was
kind of blown away. I thought Brock Purty today. It

(52:59):
was the first time I watched him this year. John,
even the Arizona went on the road. I thought he
looked like he was one hundred percent healthy with this movement.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
Well, their offensive personnel is really good now. Pierce all
got injured toward the end of the game, but I
think Kittles looks as good as hes ever looked. He's
a dominant Pierce McCaffrey isn't quite as explosive as maybe
his heyday a couple of years ago, but he is
just looks like a nineteen eighty eight, you know, just
bell cow running back. He just hand them the ball,
Purty running around. They are going to be a team

(53:29):
no one's gonna want to play in a one game
obviously a playoff situation right now. I think if they
are a wild card team, if Seattle loses this weekend
and the Niners beat the Colts, the Niners would be
the five seed. And I don't know about you, but
I like the Niners against Tampa or Carolina in that
four or five. And then they're just a team that
they're defense. They are playing with a lot of me

(53:50):
and us out there, you know, Fred Warner, Nick Bosa,
mikeel Williams. So when they played a you know, a
stat a good offense, like they play the Bears in
a couple of weeks, that's gonna be really hard on
their defense. Now can they get into a situation The
one thing Kyle can do is he can just ugly
up the game, run the ball, control the clock like that.
That's where the top coaches. That's what Ben Johnson is

(54:11):
doing this year, like we it's on our terms, Like
that's how they've won so many playoff games over the years.
Like they dictate the terms and they ugly up the game.
But I listen, this thing is that they're not dead yet.
I mean, if the Rams lose this week in Seattle,
the Niners still got the Colts, the Bears, and then
they play Seattle at the end of the year, who
they've already beat so and they get them at home.

(54:33):
It's this is if the Niners end up twelve and
five with all these injuries and just win a playoff game.
I know he's made a Super Bowl a couple of times,
but google some of the names they're rolling out on defense.
I mean, it's it's pretty remarkable because you see these teams,
you know, just completely fall apart when they have injuries.
I don't know off the top of my head. I
think mac Jones won like four or five games this year,

(54:55):
not like one, not like Tanner McKee or not Tanner McKee,
but Davis Mills and Houston he went to and that
saved their season. But that's two wins, you know. Mac
Jones went like four or five and started for like eight.
That's usually a team. Look at the Bengals, burrols out.
The whole thing just fell apart during the middle of
the season, and the forty nine ers is kind of
kept on ripping. And that's the power of Kyle and
he's him and getting solid back who I think they

(55:18):
could lose immediately. I mean I think, yeah, you know,
I read a story that you know, the Raiders desperately
try to hire him as the defensive coordinator this year,
and I would imagine pete'stune like I've been, The Raiders
would be all over, some of the Cardinals will be
all I mean, he's just he's gonna I'd be a
little stunned if Saul was not a one and done
and he's back. Once you start looking at the landscape,

(55:38):
all these jobs coming open. The other thing is like
Sala is the type guy. Let's say the Steelers are
one and you know they trade tominto the Giants. Doesn't
he just feel like he'd fit right in Pittsburgh? You know,
I think Sala the Titans. He's gonna interview with every
job in the league. You look at the Jets, the
more and more they play each week, it's like, well,

(55:58):
that probably wasn't his fault, you know. So I think
the moment you leave the Jets, everyone's like, yeah, maybe
Aaron and n Saala weren't as bad. Maybe it's the Jets.
So yet, what Saala is doing this year, I've been
saying I didn't think he'd get a job, But you
started looking at the landscape, like, who's he really interviewing against?

Speaker 1 (56:16):
Yeah, the Yeah, I think the Raiders blow it up.
It's a mess of a franchise. I will tell you
when I when I look around, and I'll do it
right now. I'll pop up, pop up your NFL standings
right now as we look at it. I mean I

(56:37):
look at every team. I mean it's funny. I think
the Chargers can win a playoff game. I think Denver
can win several. I think the Jaguars and I think
that I'll say this again, if I had to guess
right now, I'd probably go Denver and the Houston Texans

(57:00):
in the AFC Championship. That's I think Houston's defense. You
know what Stroud today, and I know people are hitt
and miss on him. God he makes when he gets protection. Jesus,
is he a throw a pretty.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
He's played, He's played well. The last month he's he's
been really good. Their defense has been elite. I think
the Chargers and the Niners are kind of similar operations.
There's a lot of coaching, a lot of mental toughness,
a lot of championship mindset.

Speaker 1 (57:25):
Maybe can win a playoff game one, it's.

Speaker 2 (57:27):
Gonna be hard for them to win three. If they
were both healthy, they could win the both conferences.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
Right I think I would take the Rams. Jesus John
Shann looked a little off today, I mean, didn't scare me.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
I mean, I would say that's the Niners play Seattle.
I don't think there's a difference right now, So.

Speaker 1 (57:49):
I think Rams got it hit. I mean, Bears.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
It's crazy as to say I'll say this now the Raiders.
It's The Eagles had been one of the worst looking
teams for a month and they played the Raiders. Their
schedule does open up now to get some Commanders, they
get some Raiders, they could get a little mojo back
coming into the playoffs. They still have I mean, it's
a lot of aj Brown, DeVante Smith, they got Vic Fangio,

(58:14):
an excellent defense. They do have a lot of talent,
and they have a lot of guys that have won
a lot of games. You assume Jalen Carter, you know,
comes back sometime this season. They are not a team that,
like I don't look at the Eagles like I do
Tampa Carolina like they are real playoff opponents. They're gonna
win the division meeting. They're gonna be playing in Philly.

(58:35):
You know that three to six matchup probably be like Philly,
Seattle or San Francisco, and that will be Uh, that's
got like Saturday Night NBC written all over. It doesn't
a wildcar weekend.

Speaker 1 (58:46):
Oh, it'll be just absolutely incredible, all right. Our hard
Rock Bet Monday Night Football picks Miami Dolphins getting three
in the cold weather at Pittsburgh. There's been a real
I think I would take Miami plus the points. I
think they've played with a ton of urgency. I saw
some video of them playing around. They landed in Pittsburgh snowstorm,
they went out and played on the field and practiced.

(59:10):
I have been really impressed with Mike McDaniel's game plans.
Two is still not playing great football, but there's an
element of physicality to their play over the last month
that's been noticeable, at least watching on television. Pittsburgh's all
over the map. I always like Tomlin as an underdog

(59:31):
more than a favorite. I think it's really really close.
I'd probably take the three points in Miami. What say you?

Speaker 2 (59:37):
Have you ever heard of dry needling before TJ? Watt?
Because I can't imagine doing that, and that sounded like
it did not feel good. But in all seriousness, glad
he's okay. But that's a devastating loss for them, so
he's not playing in this game. Listen, Miami, we all
wrote them off in that franchise and blow that thing up.
This guy all of a sudden, you could look up

(59:58):
Monday ninety's seven in Evan. That is a remarkable accomplishment.
I'm with you. They've been running the ball. They've actually
been playing decent defense.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
They're physical.

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
Yeah, I mean, what's what's the difference between them right
now in Pittsburgh. So I'm with you, I'm gonna listen,
they haven't been relying on Tua. He's been throwing for
one hundred and twenty yards a game and they've been winning.
So I'm with you, I'm gonna I'm gonna ride with
the fighting Mike McDaniels.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
John Middlecoff chopped it up for an hour former NFL scout.
As always, John, great stuff, See you Colin. The volume

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Colin Cowherd Podcast - Broncos SILENCE Doubters, Mahomes Tears ACL, Philip Rivers Returns, Bills STUN Pats

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