December 23, 2025 • 37 mins
Colin Cowherd breaks down the biggest NFL storylines following Monday Night Football, questioning whether the San Francisco 49ers are truly built to contend for a Super Bowl in a loaded NFC, even after a dominant win over the Indianapolis Colts.Colin also reveals his Week 17 Herd Hierarchy, ranking the Top 10 teams in the NFL as the playoff picture comes into focus. Find out why QB Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears make the list, while Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers are left out.Plus, Nick Wright of First Things First joins the show to explain why Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has his best championship window yet, and what must go right for Buffalo to finally win a Super Bowl.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Oh, it is a Tuesday, and it is a good,
good Tuesday. Herd Hierarchy one hour from now and Nick
Wright joins us too. We are live or in Chicago seasons. Greetings,
perfect holiday weather here wherever you may be and however
you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of
(00:50):
your day.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Jmac.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
That looked like a seven on seven summer camp drill
for Brock.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Pretty last night he was slinging it.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
The forty nine ers have no punted since November, so
they are humming. We both love San Francisco. Last night,
let's talk about it. Here's what drives me nuts. I
could spend the next five minutes saying, Ah, they beat Indy.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It's one of the easiest bets on the board.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Christian McCaffrey had twenty seven touches, six catches, twenty one carries,
seventh time this year he's had twenty seven plus touches.
No other player in the league's had more than three,
and he's a twenty nine year old with an injury history.
The game was out of reach. They already have two
(01:37):
fewer days to prepare for a very good team Chicago,
and that game means something for the Niners. Christian McCaffrey
next week will blow through Saquon Barkley's touches of last year,
which if you've watched Saquon this year, he feels like
a bit of a shot fighter. In fact, if you
(01:58):
look at most touches among teams in playoff positions, McCaffrey
not only leads the league, he's a mile ahead of
number two, James Cook. So congrats to Brock. Perty best
game as a pro the last two games for Perty,
and he deserves credit. He finally looks healthy now. Mac
(02:21):
Jones was good, Garoppolo's good. This is a very quarterback
friendly offense, but Brock last night was spinning it and
he deserves credit. He can move now. The other thing
is congrats on beating forty four year old Philip Rivers.
We can all laugh at that, but I love watching
Philip Rivers play, and I way to go. And congrats
(02:42):
to me because I went four to zero to one
in my blazing five picks and I had the Niners
as my second favorite bet. But if you noticed how
the Rams now are using Blake Corame at running back
with Kyron Williams, they're shuttling him back. Have you noticed
the Bears using both running backs? Have you noticed the
(03:03):
Patriots using two running backs?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
And yet the Niners.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
In a blowout are giving the ball to Christian McCaffrey
twenty seven times in the niners four losses this year,
they have all been games in which the week before
McCaffrey had at least twenty seven touches. The next week
they go zero to four. He's the third best running
(03:28):
back I've ever seen, but they're overusing it again. Congrats
on beating Philip Rivers. But now George Kittle is hurt.
And if you don't think Kittle matters, listen to this.
The last two years, Kyle Shanhan has a losing record
when George Kittle doesn't play. In fact, if you take
out quarterbacks in the NFL, I will make the argument
(03:50):
that George Kittle, because of his incredible blocking ability, is
the most valuable player in this league that is not
a quarterback. They score points more a game when George
Kittle plays. That is incredible. I don't care how good
Gronk was Tony Gonzalez. They're never been a tight end
worth a touchdown except George Kittle in Kyle Shanahan's offense.
(04:16):
So listen, the culture missing their top two corners. We
said it yesterday on the show, the Niners were gonna eat.
They haven't punted since November. Brock it was a seven
on seven summer drill. When he moves like he's moving now,
he's a handful. But this is why I'm reluctant to
embrace San Francisco. This team falls apart early and late.
(04:39):
And I look at them last night and I'm like,
I love McCaffrey. There is I know his dad, I
loved him. He's one of my favorite players in league history.
Walter Payton's the best back I've ever seen. Second is
Barry Sanders. On a short list. McCaffrey's third. In my opinion,
I think he could play wide receiver, slot receiver in
this league, twenty seven touches when you're already playing late
(05:00):
Monday on the road. Now you got to go back home.
The Bears played Saturday, and you're owing for this year
games after McCaffrey has had twenty seven touches. So the
offense is, you know, McCaffrey's putting up huge numbers. He's
a great teammate's a great player. But the whole in
the second half, I'm like, eight of McCaffrey's touches came
(05:22):
in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
What do we do?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
What are we doing here? How don't get it? Sharrion's brilliant.
What are we doing Here's Christian.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
After when we can not punt and continue to move
the ball and finish with touchdowns instead of field goals.
You know, I think it's you know, it's a big deal.
And uh just again, I think I give all the
credit to those guys up front and Brock doing his
job and receivers getting open. You know, I think that's
that's really when when that's rolling and Brock's doing his
(05:52):
thing and the old line is doing what they're doing,
it's it's a fun offense to be a part of
because we have the staff that can scheme things up.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
No quiet Kyle Shanahan, Robert Sala the coaching job of
the year in the NFL. So when Nick Saban was
dominating college football, he never got caught up in sentimentality.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
He didn't care about rivalries. He figured out very.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Quickly at Alabama the greatest run in college football history,
that he was not He was not going to play
out of conference games that were tough on the road
either came to Tuscaloosa or it was neutral field.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
He figured that out after a couple of years. He
kept the thing. The thing.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
People are criticizing USC and Lincoln Riley because they were
willing to play Notre Dame, but on their terms. So
since about March, on this show, I have said, to
the dismay of many Trojan fans who earlier loved me,
(06:53):
they should consider getting out of the Notre Dame game,
but play it on your terms.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I said, I keep it.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Let's play September only warm weather, so you can blame
USC or Notre Dame.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
But the reason in March.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
One of the reasons in March I started talking about
this is because an article came out. I think Pete Tamil,
great writer New York Times College Football Guy wrote it
noted that Notre Dame had a side deal with a
college football playoff, so if they were ranked twelve, they
automatically got in. What so Notre Dame as a side
(07:31):
deal to get into the playoff. They're already not a
full conference member, so they have a weaker schedule and
can manipulate their schedule, which SEC teams can't, which Big
Ten teams can't. So they're in a weaker conference. They
are not a full member. They can put buys in
front of big games and USC's like, okay, well play you,
(07:57):
but not in the middle of the Big Ten season.
You think I'm crazy. Go look at Texas's schedule this year.
It's insane. It's harder than the Saints schedule or the Jets.
So Notre Dame won't join a conference has a side deal.
I'm gonna show you they want to be high minded
(08:18):
on this. We are Notre Dame. Look at Notre dame schedule.
I want you to look at Notre dame schedule. One game.
I'm not gonna read all of them. It's pathetic. Basically,
if this was your class load in college, you'd be
taking home at three times, Jim class twice in wood
shop four times.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
It's brutal.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Now look at USC schedule where they have to play Oregon, Washington,
Ohio State at Penn State, at Indiana, now a Power,
and their arrival at UCLA. If that was your course load,
that would be trigonometry, physics, and chemistry twice. So USC
goes to Notre Dame and says, okay, okay, okay, we'd
love to play it, but since our class load we
(09:03):
have a trigonometry and a chemistry final, we want to
play it before the class load. Since you'll be taking
home back and Jim for the third time, you'll have
to do burpies. We have to have a trigonometry final.
And Notre Dame's like, no, we stand on principle. It's
(09:23):
like a trust fund kid saying I can't believe you
have a summer job. I'll be in turks and caicos.
Look at Notre dame schedule. It's nonsense, and Marcus Freeman
knows it. Notre Dame knows it, the school knows it.
So Notre Dame's got side deals. USC doesn't, Alabama doesn't,
(09:45):
Georgia doesn't, LSU doesn't, Ohio State doesn't.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Michigan doesn't. Notre Dame's got a side deal.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Notre Dame has the weakest schedule of any Top ten program.
Even their toughest game Miami's at home, Miami warm Weather
going to South Bend. That's a tough game. They'll be
favored in every single game. And you're you're upset at USC.
Kim me a break. The SEC was always tough. Then
(10:11):
they threw in Oklahoma and Texas and the Big Ten
was always really good. Now they threw an Oregon, Washington, USC,
and UCLA.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
In US.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Seems like we'll play you, but our class load is brutal.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
You're taking gym class.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Remember what the Texas Tech coach Joey Maguire said when
Notre Dame got left out of the playoff.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Do you remember this.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
You hate to eliminate anybody, but I do think that
when you have a criteria of uh where you're going
to select a team, everybody should be in that same criteria.
So I'm will make Notre Dame mad. But being a
(11:03):
conference and you're in the playoffs, maybe they're in the ACC.
They're in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
I'm tired of the special treatment. And I'm not anti
Notre Dame. I've been pro Notre Dame forever. I love
Marcus Freeman, I love the university. I wish I could
have been accepted in it. It's unbelievable. But you got
a side deal that nobody else has in the Big
ten or the Secy side deal. You're not a full member.
(11:28):
You have the weakest schedule. And by the way, when
you play a schedule like yours, you can stay healthier.
It's a little harder to be Ohio State when you're
playing Oregon one week in USC the next in Michigan.
You get beat up, you're missing starters. So USC is like, yeah,
our class load's brutal. If we're gonna play it, we're
gonna do it before the class.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Load in October and November.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And Notre Dame said, we stand on principle, we'll give
me a break. The other thing is, and this is
so embarrassing, so just scouraging. It's hardly worth mentioning. But
when I hear all these USC people say, well, Lincoln
Riley is not a trojan, that's embarrassing. Was was Pete
(12:12):
Carroll a great trojan?
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Before the run?
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I didn't know Nick Saban was a defensive back for Bama.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Was Dan Lanning, an Oregon guy in.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
The seventies, eighties, nineties, Bob Stoops an Oklahoma guy. Held
daboswiney at Clemson's Obama guy, Marcus Freeman at Notre Dames
and Ohio State guy. That is so embarrassing. I don't
even want to mention the people who mentioned it, and
there were dozens. Stop.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
You just hire the best guy available.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
When Lincoln got the job, it was a great high
It was overwhelmingly thought of as an upgrade. Nobody went, well,
they missed all that he's not a USC guy. Nobody
said that. No reasonable person said that. But this idea
that you got a side deal, weaker conference. I can't
(12:57):
believe Notre Dame didn't add baking to their class schedule.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
God brutal. And I have a noter. I like Notre Dame.
I really do.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I think it's a great university. But you know, stuff, folks,
The world changes. When Saban ran his dynasty, two things mattered,
and he knew it. He didn't get sentimental win the
SEC Championship and Hoyster Trophy, two things.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
All that matters in college football today, the only two
things that matter qualify for the tournament and win the
tournament for the big dog programs.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Not games that used to be cool, games that used
to be legendary. Some of you live in the rearview mirror.
That's fine. He got to qualify for this puppy. And
if I got Oregon Washington and I'm looking at Ohio
State in a week, I don't need another trigonometry class.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
So there you go. Sorry, J Mack, I.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Get worked up about that. You mean college Football's Ahway's
been a great movie with a weird so. I mean,
I love it. I think it's the first four I'd
probably baseball and that fell in love with. But you know,
all this standing on principal stuff, that's a little much
for me.
Speaker 7 (14:11):
I do love these college football rants out of nowhere.
That was pretty passionate, Colin. It's funny on social media.
I put this week that college football is becoming the NBA.
Were the subplots and the side stories, the schedules, and
the transfer portal and the coaching moves, it all supersedes
the games.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
The games haven't been amazing.
Speaker 7 (14:27):
The storylines in college football are off the hook.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Right now. It's just a sport in chaos.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I love that. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Herd weekdays and Noone Eastern non am Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
App Pauli Foods Go Here with Tony Foods Go. Yeah.
Speaker 8 (14:45):
As everybody knows, we're the hosts of the award winning
Paully and Tony Foods Go Show.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (14:49):
But instead of us telling you how great we are,
here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on
our show.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.
Speaker 6 (14:58):
What are you doing?
Speaker 4 (15:00):
The rupting on promo?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, you wasn't talking about you.
Speaker 9 (15:03):
You took those clips totally of context.
Speaker 8 (15:05):
Oh yeah, well after this promo, I'm gonna take you
out and beat you.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Let me put this into context.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Shut up.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (15:13):
Anyway, just listen to the Pauli and Tony Fusco Show
on IoT Radio. Apple podcasts ohereva you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yee, here we go.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
It's hour two, first hour flew by Live in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
It's The Herd.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Brought Purty seven on seven passing Drill last night. Those
secondaries both very mid as they say, all right, Nick
writes a couple of minutes away. I gotta tell you
there's a couple of teams in this league, and they
played on Thursday, ram Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
You gotta be impressed with those teams.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
But between the third best team in the league and
the tenth, maybe a point and a half.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Here we go in our herd.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Hierarchy heard hierarchy. Time go the top ten NFL teams
according to College Number.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Ten Buffalo Josh Allen's hurt. Did you see the offense
once he went for an X ray? They've been held
under two hundred passing yards in three of the last
four games. They can't stop the run. I am not
as high on Buffalo as everybody else is. People keep seeing,
well Mahomes, does it make the playoffs? If you watch Jacksonville,
you watch Denver, they're pretty good. Seen the Texans defense,
(16:34):
I don't know. I don't see this as a team
that can win three playoff games. They have no passing
attack down field. Buffalo at ten, number nine, The Niners
opposing quarterbacks, including Philip Rivers have a one oh one
passer ritting.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Against this defense. No Bosa.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I mean, the last night's pass rush wasn't bad, but
I think I think you can really beat this team
in the back end. And Christian McCaffrey twenty seven touches,
they're zero to four the game after he has twenty
seven touches.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
George Kittle's now hurt.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Do you realize Kittle this year is worth a touchdown?
To their offense that is insane. A lot of that's
is blocking. I have the Niners at nine, number eight.
I had no idea Woody Marx was that valuable. Texans
were atrocious against the Raiders. Woody Marks didn't play. Now
listen opposing quarterbacks this year. I have a passer running
(17:27):
of seventy four. I do think, and they'd be ugly,
but I think they could get to the conference championship.
I like the coach, I like the quarterback. If Woody
Marks is healthy, they can run the football. I got
Houston at eight number seven. Denver just didn't play well,
and the defense since the week twelve by has gotten worse.
(17:48):
It's allowing twenty six a game since the buy and
it's not the offense. They had four hundred and forty
five yards now. The other thing, though I will give
them credit, teams that played Denver are three and eleven
the following week. That tells you they're a really physical team,
and it also tells you you should bet against the
Jags this week.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Number six the Jags.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
They were four and five in the red zone and
teams had struggled all year against the Broncos in the
red zone. Six game winning streak. Hard to run against them.
I like their story. I thought that game felt so
big for them. They were very intentional. They're receiving core
is the real deal. Listen, when you're bad for years
and have top ten draft picks, you got dudes.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
And Jacksonville at six has dudes.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Number five, I like Philadelphia Lane Johnson, Jalen Carter coming back.
The band is back together. There's only two teams in
the league. The Rams are one Phillies the other that
are top five in red zone offense and red zone defense.
That's Philadelphia. I may not always love their coach, but
I got the Eagles at five.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Number four.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Bears beat them in Philly. I'll put them four now.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
They've played an easy schedule, but they're eleven and two
since Week three. They do not give the ball away
and they take the ball away. That is really good
going into the playoffs. Their quarterback. Yeah, he's young, but
he is dynamic. I think situationally. I love their head coach.
I know a lot of you have misgivings about him.
(19:20):
I don't care that they get out played in the
second quarter. I care they win games. Bears at four,
number three, it's like New England. They've had one stinker
in the last ten weeks, and they dominated New They
dominated the Buffalo Bills in the first half of that
game they lost.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
I like them seven to zero on the road.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
They're doing it now without their left tackling left guard.
So and the weakest part of this team right now
is their run game because they're all beat up on
the offensive line. But the reason I took him over
Baltimore is they move the chains. Their receiving corps is
way way underrated. Go look at big plays this season.
I think he'll be shocked at where New England is
(20:00):
number two. Rams are one or two. They lost to Seattle.
I'll put them at two. Three straight games with five
hundred plus yards, out gaining opponents this year by almost
eleven hundred yards. Nobody can stop Pooka the doing it
without Devonte Adams now two running backs, three tight ends.
I like getting a pass rush. Rams at two. Number one. Well,
(20:25):
Seattle turns the ball over too much, but they've been
very good against good teams. They could have beaten the
Rams twice, beat them one, Steelers, Jack, Texans, Colts. It's
not just Sam Darnold. I've said it. If you turn
the sound down when you watch the Seahawks, they look
like the best team in the league. They can turn
the ball over and still blow teams out. They can
(20:45):
get out played for three and a half quarters and
still beat excellent teams. I'll put the Seahawks at number one.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeart Radio app.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Now, Nick Wright, for the first time in his career,
is a Bills stand and he is joining us live.
I just there's so much about the Bills that worries me.
You've pivoted to Buffalo this year and it's a redeemable quality.
Speaker 9 (21:17):
Why well, it's I mean, no, I just last year
and this year. I thought going into the season Buffalo
was the second best team in the conference.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Last year I was correct.
Speaker 9 (21:28):
This year obviously both years to the Chiefs.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
This year, the Chiefs let me down on that end.
Speaker 9 (21:34):
The Bills are who they've been, which is they have
one of the three best quarterbacks alive. I think he's
the second best quarterback alive and the best healthy quarterback.
Even though Stafford's having the great year and the supporting cast,
It's a few years ago it was wildly overrated and
now it feels a touch underrated. I know people wish
(21:57):
Josh Allen had better receiver. I get that, but I
guess he just has to settle for having the rushing champ,
a good to very good offensive line, and really good
tight ends. That's enough in a wide open AFC. And
I do think for Josh when the hurdle for him
(22:18):
to make the Super Bowl has or to get deep
in the playoffs or make the super Bowl has been
Patrick Mahomes four out of five years and Joe Burrow
the other year. The fact that neither of those teams
or quarterbacks are going to be in the playoffs means
this is wide open for him. So I just think
I don't think Buffalo has the best resume, but of
(22:39):
every team in the AFC, their resume is close enough
that because they have the only Hall of Fame quarterback
in his prime that is going to be in the
playoff field, I think I'd roll with them with the
possible caveat of look out for my Jags. Colin oh Man,
(22:59):
I told you a month ago, what if Trevor went
on the Sam Darnold arc.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
I didn't know what was gonna happen. Right now, I.
Speaker 9 (23:06):
Didn't know what was gonna happen and been Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
He's been great now I want to It's funny so
years and years ago, this may have been thirty years ago.
I've never been a big car guy, but I loved Jaguars.
I think I saw a movie with a guy in
a Jaguar. I thought it was cool. But Jaguars had
a reputation. They fell apart that you could not trust
the Jaguar that British, the Brits. And then I think
(23:30):
somebody bought them, like Ford or somebody bought him. And
now the Jags, you know, they corrected those flaws. But
I feel the car and the Jaguars franchise are similar.
Where boy, they look good, there's a lot of good man.
They look good, but I don't trust them on a
long roadie, Why do you suddenly trust him?
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 9 (23:50):
I don't know that I can't fully trust them. But
what I will say is this, Liam Cohen just doesn't
have the pr that some of the other young coaches have.
He's been excellent, he has been awesome, and as much
as I love and I do love Baker, Baker seems
(24:11):
to miss him in a way he didn't miss Dave Canalis,
and so Liam Cohen, maybe because the duvault thing was goofy,
because on camera he doesn't really cut the same profile
as Ben Johnson or the Jamiko Ryans or some of
the other young coaches everybody likes. He wasn't taking as seriously.
(24:34):
And then there's Trevor who Here would be my argument
about what has changed with Trevor Lawrence. I do not
think his highlight throws this year are any different than
any of the last four years.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
I think since Trevor's second year in the.
Speaker 9 (24:51):
League, if you cut up his twenty best throws of
the season, that they would stack up next to just
about any of the all Pro quarterbacks. What Trevor's problem
had been was his twenty worst plays of the season.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Brutal looked like.
Speaker 9 (25:08):
The worst plays you've ever seen. It was just dropping
the ball, red zone picks.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Terrible. And he's the last month he.
Speaker 9 (25:19):
Has kept the highlight throws and cut out the other stuff.
They are this during this run, Colin. They are beating
teams by an average of eighteen point eight points per victory. Yeah,
that is the last year they scored eighteen point eight
points per game. It has been a transformation. And I listen,
(25:44):
they are alive for the one seed. They are huge
favorites to win the division, and they feel a little dangerous,
and they do have a bit of a nobody believes
in us since the whole media and your guys, Sean
Payton all made fun of Jacksonville for no reason. That's
a fine American town. None the wrong with Jacksonville. So
I like the Jags. I don't trust them as much
(26:06):
as the Bills, but see if Trevor can keep this
heater going.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
So you know, a couple of years ago, I said
a story that's not a big story, but it's something
as Andy Reid is aging and he's not going to
be around, So Mahomes is going to have to have
a second head coach and a second Gronk, Travis Kelce,
trustable outlet.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
So they like anything in life.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's just I mean that the Patriots weren't great at drafting,
but they got tight ends right for a few years,
and then in the end they didn't have enough players.
So it's hard. Wide receivers hard. It's an emotional position.
You get some immaturity blah blah blah. So is there
any part of you that looks at it? And you
may not say it on the air, but you're thinking
(26:50):
to yourself, if Andy retired after next year and they're
not quite great, next year, they retool, but they're not
quite great. They don't have the maybe the Seahawks roster.
Is there any party of the worries that the best
is gone?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
And then it was.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Wonderful, it was a Broadway hit, but the understudies filling
in aren't the same. In Mahomes's so ever, quite able
to duplicate it.
Speaker 9 (27:16):
So here's the thing I worry is not the word
I would use, Okay, and I here I if you
are asking me, do I think it is likely they
ever duplicate the last seven years because let's just be
clear on what it was that's as good of a
seven year stretch as any team has ever had in the.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
History of football.
Speaker 9 (27:39):
Are they going to do that twice? Are they going
to make seven straight conference championship games? Are they going
to make five out of six Super Bowls, including three straight?
I think that the odds are no. I like the
Patriots best stretch ever twenty eleven to eighteen.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
They did on the back.
Speaker 9 (27:55):
End instead of the front end, but there is no
they didn't do that more than I do.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Think.
Speaker 9 (28:01):
If your point is that we will look at the
entire Mahomes era and say the best six year run
was the one that.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Just ended, I think that's likely.
Speaker 9 (28:13):
I don't think they are likely to make five out
of six super Bowls again and be the favorite every year,
but that is a very vary to me far bridge
from they are done being a perennial super Bowl favorite.
I think they will go into every season over the
(28:34):
next I believe five to seven years with the best
quarterback in the league, and that being your starting point
is the most important starting point. And so if you
were to ask me, you know, how many more super
Bowls do I think Patrick Mahomes plays in? I would
probably say four. If you're to ask me how many
(28:55):
more Super Bowls as Patrick Mahomes win, I would probably
say two or three. Now, again, that would in any
era of NFL football, that career I just described would
be incomprehensible. Because Tom Brady went to ten and one seven.
That seems like odds, almost disappointing, But he's already second
(29:17):
most all time in Super Bowl appearances and tied for
third all time in Super Bowl or fourth all time
burdon me in super Bowl wins.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
So I think they are.
Speaker 9 (29:26):
Going to get back to being a dominant juggernaut. But
making five out of six Super Bowls literally no one
had done it before, so I don't know that I
can say the Chiefs are going to do it again.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
I will say this quickly on this.
Speaker 9 (29:38):
I think you for all the people poking at Mahomes
and I saw you say Josh Allen's been way better
for two years, which again I mean, I don't know.
They play each other in the playoffs, one guy who's
outplays them, but set it aside. I think we saw
on Sunday how much the offensive load Patrick is carrying. Yes,
(30:00):
because he goes out and they instantly become the worst
offense in football. So they do need to read tools
some things offensively, most notably the running back room, and
I think they'll do that next season.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
So I'm always fascinated by unicorns, people that do things.
And you know, it's like unbelievable that Jokic is the
maybe the best center ever. Now he doesn't have Kareem skyhook,
but passing threes low post screening, You're like, sure, I've
(30:33):
never seen and he goes against type, like he's not twitchy,
he couldn't jump over a folded newspaper, and you're like, yeah,
you can't guard him. You literally can't. Say Draymond Green's like, yeah,
that's the one guy I can't do anything with. So
here's Caleb Williams. It's fascinating when he paints his fingernails.
He's awful on script, he jumps into the crowd to
(30:56):
see his mom.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
I talked to all these gms. They're like, he's not very,
very accurate. He's kind of Moody's I'm not sure if
he's elite. And now you're watching the Dysfunctional Bears and
he's gonna win this incredible division. You know, before the
season where he's at the best division and it's fascinating.
I don't worry about the completion percentage, but it is
(31:19):
rare that you'd be like because Cam was in the
fifty nine to sixty. But I think Caleb's I think
his ceiling's more consistent than Cam because Cam's personality was
kind of distracted.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Are we you?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Is it possible that we are looking? I said this
a couple of weeks ago. Is he a shorter Josh
Allen's there's nothing else like him on the that even
looks like him? What do you make of his personality?
So the Jucks so all of it. So listen the
Josh Allen comp.
Speaker 9 (31:47):
I struggle with only because Josh so much of Josh's
greatness is just brute force, just how big and strong
and so like the So I I that comp. I
can't wrap my mind around. So let me just go
through all of it. Fact of the matter is, and
people were of, you know, kind of dancing around it.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
There was a lot of.
Speaker 9 (32:10):
Without saying it, people are like, ah, I think the
guy's too effeminate. That they didn't like that he cried,
They didn't like that he painted his nails, and they
didn't like that he was fine with it.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
Like that he was.
Speaker 9 (32:21):
He knew people were gonna have that criticism, and he
didn't care. I thought that critique from the beginning was nonsense.
People were like, ah, well, locker rooms follow him. And
the answer is if he's good, absolutely, like nobody know.
As long as he's good, no one will care. And
if he's bad, you know, all of a sudden, not
painting his fingernails won't do anything. So that I dismissed
(32:43):
that criticism. The him not being great at layups is
a fair critique. But if you were to ask me, Colin,
here are fifteen traits that make a quarterback, make up
a NFL quarterback. Pick one that is most fixable, I
(33:06):
would say, not great at layups. The stuff he is
great at not only is it not like fixable, it's
not teachable.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
Right, And so give me the.
Speaker 9 (33:16):
Guy who has the inherent greatness in him, and then
pair him with someone like Ben Johnson whose job it
is to help him with the other stuff. I would
say this after last year hit I thought he finish
his rookie year well behind schedule. I think now he's
not only on.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Schedule, but ahead of schedule.
Speaker 9 (33:38):
And still the completion percentage is crummy, and if not
for an onside kick recovery, he wouldn't have gotten any
of the highlight moments that we got against the Packers.
But after that onside kick, the fourth and four play
was unbelievable and the throw in overtime might have been
the play of the year in the NFL. And he's
(33:58):
young and he's figuring out, and Ben Johnson is, you know,
ushering him along.
Speaker 4 (34:04):
So I like, I love what he's doing. I believe
in the Bears to a degree.
Speaker 9 (34:08):
Do I think they're gonna win four playoff games to.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Win the Super Bowl?
Speaker 1 (34:11):
No?
Speaker 9 (34:11):
But do I think that nobody wants to play them? Absolutely?
One small critique about the Bears, and this was Ben
Johnson's issue in Detroit two. And I like, Ben, you
can be a little too cute for school sometimes, Buddy.
It's fourth and one in the first quarter against the Packers.
Maybe that's not when you call your trick play that
(34:33):
involves snapping the ball between your tight ends, legs two
your five to nine running backs so he can throw
a pass to your quarterback. Maybe save that one for
a lower leverage moment. But I think overall, Bears fans
got to be over the Moon.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
By the way, m My only criticism ever of McVeigh
was in his first two or three years he showed
off a little bit. He would do stuff. You're like,
yeahn run the ball, Todd Gurley, let's just do that, okay, correct.
I want to show you know, America should be proud
of us. You now have pivoted to a pro bills guy.
And I am an object Charger Homer because I love
Herbert and hardball.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
They did not make my Herd hierarchy.
Speaker 9 (35:10):
I was shocked by that, Okay.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
I wanted to ask you about it.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Okay, So I put them at eleven. And my takeaway
is I have to put Josh Allen in. I don't
know what to do with the Chargers. Where do you
put him on that list? Well, that's my problem I am.
Speaker 9 (35:28):
So here's here's what my response would be. And I'm
not as high on the Chargers as you obviously are,
as our pal Danny Parkins, who I'm pretty sure thanks Justin.
Herbert's the third or fourth greatest quarterback in the.
Speaker 4 (35:39):
History of the NFL.
Speaker 9 (35:42):
I think they're better than the Texans right now. So
the Texans, I don't know how much people watch Texans Raiders. Well,
but the Texans offense, Colin, is a problem. And here
is my Here would be my concern for Houston because
I like to mee Goo, the defense is obviously sensational.
(36:02):
When the fourteen teams or I'm sorry, the seven teams
that make the AFC playoffs, if we were to power
rank each team's offense and defense, so like the number
one unit might be Denver's defense. Number two might be
the Texans defense, Number three, Bills offense, whatever on down
would fourteenth be the Houston Texans offense. Are they going
(36:27):
to walk into the AFC Playoffs with the worst unit
offense or defense of either of any team in it?
I think they might, and so that, but I agree
with you. I would have the Bills ahead of the Chargers.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
I think the.
Speaker 9 (36:41):
Job that Kyle Shanahan's done with San Francisco is unbelievable.
And Colin, just so you know, be ready, I can't
believe we're going to be pulled into it again. But
after you and I one declared victory was drawing borders
for the Great Party War of the twenty twenties, we're
(37:02):
back in it now. Everyone's gonna forget that Mac Jones
did all the exact same stuff, and we're gonna hear
about how.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Elite this player is after last night.
Speaker 9 (37:11):
But the night so, I think all of those teams
except for the Texans, I think i'd have ahead of
the Chargers, So the Texans would be the spot. But
I appreciate your integrity by not having you know, just
just fitting in your beloved Los Angeles Chargers.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
I like to put friends in the hurt higher ar.
I don't know what to do. I had them at eleven.
Nick Wright is always buddy, great stuff, great to see.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
I see account.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Yeah, I did this last night.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
I sent it to Kyle, our producer, after the Niners game,
and I sat there and I literally had Chargers jumping
over like a fence. I was having these weird dreams.
I'm like, what am I doing? These are my friends.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
I don't know what to do with them.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
Buffalo's got to be in it.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for the Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Oh, it is a Tuesday, and it is a good,
good Tuesday. Herd Hierarchy one hour from now and Nick
Wright joins us too. We are live or in Chicago seasons. Greetings,
perfect holiday weather here wherever you may be and however
you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of
(00:50):
your day.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Jmac.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
That looked like a seven on seven summer camp drill
for Brock.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Pretty last night he was slinging it.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
The forty nine ers have no punted since November, so
they are humming. We both love San Francisco. Last night,
let's talk about it. Here's what drives me nuts. I
could spend the next five minutes saying, Ah, they beat Indy.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It's one of the easiest bets on the board.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Christian McCaffrey had twenty seven touches, six catches, twenty one carries,
seventh time this year he's had twenty seven plus touches.
No other player in the league's had more than three,
and he's a twenty nine year old with an injury history.
The game was out of reach. They already have two
(01:37):
fewer days to prepare for a very good team Chicago,
and that game means something for the Niners. Christian McCaffrey
next week will blow through Saquon Barkley's touches of last year,
which if you've watched Saquon this year, he feels like
a bit of a shot fighter. In fact, if you
(01:58):
look at most touches among teams in playoff positions, McCaffrey
not only leads the league, he's a mile ahead of
number two, James Cook. So congrats to Brock. Perty best
game as a pro the last two games for Perty,
and he deserves credit. He finally looks healthy now. Mac
(02:21):
Jones was good, Garoppolo's good. This is a very quarterback
friendly offense, but Brock last night was spinning it and
he deserves credit. He can move now. The other thing
is congrats on beating forty four year old Philip Rivers.
We can all laugh at that, but I love watching
Philip Rivers play, and I way to go. And congrats
(02:42):
to me because I went four to zero to one
in my blazing five picks and I had the Niners
as my second favorite bet. But if you noticed how
the Rams now are using Blake Corame at running back
with Kyron Williams, they're shuttling him back. Have you noticed
the Bears using both running backs? Have you noticed the
(03:03):
Patriots using two running backs?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
And yet the Niners.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
In a blowout are giving the ball to Christian McCaffrey
twenty seven times in the niners four losses this year,
they have all been games in which the week before
McCaffrey had at least twenty seven touches. The next week
they go zero to four. He's the third best running
(03:28):
back I've ever seen, but they're overusing it again. Congrats
on beating Philip Rivers. But now George Kittle is hurt.
And if you don't think Kittle matters, listen to this.
The last two years, Kyle Shanhan has a losing record
when George Kittle doesn't play. In fact, if you take
out quarterbacks in the NFL, I will make the argument
(03:50):
that George Kittle, because of his incredible blocking ability, is
the most valuable player in this league that is not
a quarterback. They score points more a game when George
Kittle plays. That is incredible. I don't care how good
Gronk was Tony Gonzalez. They're never been a tight end
worth a touchdown except George Kittle in Kyle Shanahan's offense.
(04:16):
So listen, the culture missing their top two corners. We
said it yesterday on the show, the Niners were gonna eat.
They haven't punted since November. Brock it was a seven
on seven summer drill. When he moves like he's moving now,
he's a handful. But this is why I'm reluctant to
embrace San Francisco. This team falls apart early and late.
(04:39):
And I look at them last night and I'm like,
I love McCaffrey. There is I know his dad, I
loved him. He's one of my favorite players in league history.
Walter Payton's the best back I've ever seen. Second is
Barry Sanders. On a short list. McCaffrey's third. In my opinion,
I think he could play wide receiver, slot receiver in
this league, twenty seven touches when you're already playing late
(05:00):
Monday on the road. Now you got to go back home.
The Bears played Saturday, and you're owing for this year
games after McCaffrey has had twenty seven touches. So the
offense is, you know, McCaffrey's putting up huge numbers. He's
a great teammate's a great player. But the whole in
the second half, I'm like, eight of McCaffrey's touches came
(05:22):
in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
What do we do?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
What are we doing here? How don't get it? Sharrion's brilliant.
What are we doing Here's Christian.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
After when we can not punt and continue to move
the ball and finish with touchdowns instead of field goals.
You know, I think it's you know, it's a big deal.
And uh just again, I think I give all the
credit to those guys up front and Brock doing his
job and receivers getting open. You know, I think that's
that's really when when that's rolling and Brock's doing his
(05:52):
thing and the old line is doing what they're doing,
it's it's a fun offense to be a part of
because we have the staff that can scheme things up.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
No quiet Kyle Shanahan, Robert Sala the coaching job of
the year in the NFL. So when Nick Saban was
dominating college football, he never got caught up in sentimentality.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
He didn't care about rivalries. He figured out very.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Quickly at Alabama the greatest run in college football history,
that he was not He was not going to play
out of conference games that were tough on the road
either came to Tuscaloosa or it was neutral field.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
He figured that out after a couple of years. He
kept the thing. The thing.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
People are criticizing USC and Lincoln Riley because they were
willing to play Notre Dame, but on their terms. So
since about March, on this show, I have said, to
the dismay of many Trojan fans who earlier loved me,
(06:53):
they should consider getting out of the Notre Dame game,
but play it on your terms.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
I said, I keep it.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Let's play September only warm weather, so you can blame
USC or Notre Dame.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
But the reason in March.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
One of the reasons in March I started talking about
this is because an article came out. I think Pete Tamil,
great writer New York Times College Football Guy wrote it
noted that Notre Dame had a side deal with a
college football playoff, so if they were ranked twelve, they
automatically got in. What so Notre Dame as a side
(07:31):
deal to get into the playoff. They're already not a
full conference member, so they have a weaker schedule and
can manipulate their schedule, which SEC teams can't, which Big
Ten teams can't. So they're in a weaker conference. They
are not a full member. They can put buys in
front of big games and USC's like, okay, well play you,
(07:57):
but not in the middle of the Big Ten season.
You think I'm crazy. Go look at Texas's schedule this year.
It's insane. It's harder than the Saints schedule or the Jets.
So Notre Dame won't join a conference has a side deal.
I'm gonna show you they want to be high minded
(08:18):
on this. We are Notre Dame. Look at Notre dame schedule.
I want you to look at Notre dame schedule. One game.
I'm not gonna read all of them. It's pathetic. Basically,
if this was your class load in college, you'd be
taking home at three times, Jim class twice in wood
shop four times.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
It's brutal.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Now look at USC schedule where they have to play Oregon, Washington,
Ohio State at Penn State, at Indiana, now a Power,
and their arrival at UCLA. If that was your course load,
that would be trigonometry, physics, and chemistry twice. So USC
goes to Notre Dame and says, okay, okay, okay, we'd
love to play it, but since our class load we
(09:03):
have a trigonometry and a chemistry final, we want to
play it before the class load. Since you'll be taking
home back and Jim for the third time, you'll have
to do burpies. We have to have a trigonometry final.
And Notre Dame's like, no, we stand on principle. It's
(09:23):
like a trust fund kid saying I can't believe you
have a summer job. I'll be in turks and caicos.
Look at Notre dame schedule. It's nonsense, and Marcus Freeman
knows it. Notre Dame knows it, the school knows it.
So Notre Dame's got side deals. USC doesn't, Alabama doesn't,
(09:45):
Georgia doesn't, LSU doesn't, Ohio State doesn't.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Michigan doesn't. Notre Dame's got a side deal.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Notre Dame has the weakest schedule of any Top ten program.
Even their toughest game Miami's at home, Miami warm Weather
going to South Bend. That's a tough game. They'll be
favored in every single game. And you're you're upset at USC.
Kim me a break. The SEC was always tough. Then
(10:11):
they threw in Oklahoma and Texas and the Big Ten
was always really good. Now they threw an Oregon, Washington, USC,
and UCLA.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
In US.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Seems like we'll play you, but our class load is brutal.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
You're taking gym class.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Remember what the Texas Tech coach Joey Maguire said when
Notre Dame got left out of the playoff.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Do you remember this.
Speaker 6 (10:41):
You hate to eliminate anybody, but I do think that
when you have a criteria of uh where you're going
to select a team, everybody should be in that same criteria.
So I'm will make Notre Dame mad. But being a
(11:03):
conference and you're in the playoffs, maybe they're in the ACC.
They're in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
I'm tired of the special treatment. And I'm not anti
Notre Dame. I've been pro Notre Dame forever. I love
Marcus Freeman, I love the university. I wish I could
have been accepted in it. It's unbelievable. But you got
a side deal that nobody else has in the Big
ten or the Secy side deal. You're not a full member.
(11:28):
You have the weakest schedule. And by the way, when
you play a schedule like yours, you can stay healthier.
It's a little harder to be Ohio State when you're
playing Oregon one week in USC the next in Michigan.
You get beat up, you're missing starters. So USC is like, yeah,
our class load's brutal. If we're gonna play it, we're
gonna do it before the class.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Load in October and November.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
And Notre Dame said, we stand on principle, we'll give
me a break. The other thing is, and this is
so embarrassing, so just scouraging. It's hardly worth mentioning. But
when I hear all these USC people say, well, Lincoln
Riley is not a trojan, that's embarrassing. Was was Pete
(12:12):
Carroll a great trojan?
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Before the run?
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I didn't know Nick Saban was a defensive back for Bama.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Was Dan Lanning, an Oregon guy in.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
The seventies, eighties, nineties, Bob Stoops an Oklahoma guy. Held
daboswiney at Clemson's Obama guy, Marcus Freeman at Notre Dames
and Ohio State guy. That is so embarrassing. I don't
even want to mention the people who mentioned it, and
there were dozens. Stop.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
You just hire the best guy available.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
When Lincoln got the job, it was a great high
It was overwhelmingly thought of as an upgrade. Nobody went, well,
they missed all that he's not a USC guy. Nobody
said that. No reasonable person said that. But this idea
that you got a side deal, weaker conference. I can't
(12:57):
believe Notre Dame didn't add baking to their class schedule.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
God brutal. And I have a noter. I like Notre Dame.
I really do.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I think it's a great university. But you know, stuff, folks,
The world changes. When Saban ran his dynasty, two things mattered,
and he knew it. He didn't get sentimental win the
SEC Championship and Hoyster Trophy, two things.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
All that matters in college football today, the only two
things that matter qualify for the tournament and win the
tournament for the big dog programs.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Not games that used to be cool, games that used
to be legendary. Some of you live in the rearview mirror.
That's fine. He got to qualify for this puppy. And
if I got Oregon Washington and I'm looking at Ohio
State in a week, I don't need another trigonometry class.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
So there you go. Sorry, J Mack, I.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Get worked up about that. You mean college Football's Ahway's
been a great movie with a weird so. I mean,
I love it. I think it's the first four I'd
probably baseball and that fell in love with. But you know,
all this standing on principal stuff, that's a little much
for me.
Speaker 7 (14:11):
I do love these college football rants out of nowhere.
That was pretty passionate, Colin. It's funny on social media.
I put this week that college football is becoming the NBA.
Were the subplots and the side stories, the schedules, and
the transfer portal and the coaching moves, it all supersedes
the games.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
The games haven't been amazing.
Speaker 7 (14:27):
The storylines in college football are off the hook.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Right now. It's just a sport in chaos.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I love that. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Herd weekdays and Noone Eastern non am Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
App Pauli Foods Go Here with Tony Foods Go. Yeah.
Speaker 8 (14:45):
As everybody knows, we're the hosts of the award winning
Paully and Tony Foods Go Show.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (14:49):
But instead of us telling you how great we are,
here's how Dan Patrick described us when he came on
our show.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.
Speaker 6 (14:58):
What are you doing?
Speaker 4 (15:00):
The rupting on promo?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah, you wasn't talking about you.
Speaker 9 (15:03):
You took those clips totally of context.
Speaker 8 (15:05):
Oh yeah, well after this promo, I'm gonna take you
out and beat you.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Let me put this into context.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Shut up.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (15:13):
Anyway, just listen to the Pauli and Tony Fusco Show
on IoT Radio. Apple podcasts ohereva you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Yee, here we go.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
It's hour two, first hour flew by Live in Chicago.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
It's The Herd.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Brought Purty seven on seven passing Drill last night. Those
secondaries both very mid as they say, all right, Nick
writes a couple of minutes away. I gotta tell you
there's a couple of teams in this league, and they
played on Thursday, ram Seahawks.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
You gotta be impressed with those teams.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
But between the third best team in the league and
the tenth, maybe a point and a half.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Here we go in our herd.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Hierarchy heard hierarchy. Time go the top ten NFL teams
according to College Number.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Ten Buffalo Josh Allen's hurt. Did you see the offense
once he went for an X ray? They've been held
under two hundred passing yards in three of the last
four games. They can't stop the run. I am not
as high on Buffalo as everybody else is. People keep seeing,
well Mahomes, does it make the playoffs? If you watch Jacksonville,
you watch Denver, they're pretty good. Seen the Texans defense,
(16:34):
I don't know. I don't see this as a team
that can win three playoff games. They have no passing
attack down field. Buffalo at ten, number nine, The Niners
opposing quarterbacks, including Philip Rivers have a one oh one
passer ritting.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Against this defense. No Bosa.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
I mean, the last night's pass rush wasn't bad, but
I think I think you can really beat this team
in the back end. And Christian McCaffrey twenty seven touches,
they're zero to four the game after he has twenty
seven touches.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
George Kittle's now hurt.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Do you realize Kittle this year is worth a touchdown?
To their offense that is insane. A lot of that's
is blocking. I have the Niners at nine, number eight.
I had no idea Woody Marx was that valuable. Texans
were atrocious against the Raiders. Woody Marks didn't play. Now
listen opposing quarterbacks this year. I have a passer running
(17:27):
of seventy four. I do think, and they'd be ugly,
but I think they could get to the conference championship.
I like the coach, I like the quarterback. If Woody
Marks is healthy, they can run the football. I got
Houston at eight number seven. Denver just didn't play well,
and the defense since the week twelve by has gotten worse.
(17:48):
It's allowing twenty six a game since the buy and
it's not the offense. They had four hundred and forty
five yards now. The other thing, though I will give
them credit, teams that played Denver are three and eleven
the following week. That tells you they're a really physical team,
and it also tells you you should bet against the
Jags this week.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Number six the Jags.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
They were four and five in the red zone and
teams had struggled all year against the Broncos in the
red zone. Six game winning streak. Hard to run against them.
I like their story. I thought that game felt so
big for them. They were very intentional. They're receiving core
is the real deal. Listen, when you're bad for years
and have top ten draft picks, you got dudes.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
And Jacksonville at six has dudes.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Number five, I like Philadelphia Lane Johnson, Jalen Carter coming back.
The band is back together. There's only two teams in
the league. The Rams are one Phillies the other that
are top five in red zone offense and red zone defense.
That's Philadelphia. I may not always love their coach, but
I got the Eagles at five.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Number four.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Bears beat them in Philly. I'll put them four now.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
They've played an easy schedule, but they're eleven and two
since Week three. They do not give the ball away
and they take the ball away. That is really good
going into the playoffs. Their quarterback. Yeah, he's young, but
he is dynamic. I think situationally. I love their head coach.
I know a lot of you have misgivings about him.
(19:20):
I don't care that they get out played in the
second quarter. I care they win games. Bears at four,
number three, it's like New England. They've had one stinker
in the last ten weeks, and they dominated New They
dominated the Buffalo Bills in the first half of that
game they lost.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
I like them seven to zero on the road.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
They're doing it now without their left tackling left guard.
So and the weakest part of this team right now
is their run game because they're all beat up on
the offensive line. But the reason I took him over
Baltimore is they move the chains. Their receiving corps is
way way underrated. Go look at big plays this season.
I think he'll be shocked at where New England is
(20:00):
number two. Rams are one or two. They lost to Seattle.
I'll put them at two. Three straight games with five
hundred plus yards, out gaining opponents this year by almost
eleven hundred yards. Nobody can stop Pooka the doing it
without Devonte Adams now two running backs, three tight ends.
I like getting a pass rush. Rams at two. Number one. Well,
(20:25):
Seattle turns the ball over too much, but they've been
very good against good teams. They could have beaten the
Rams twice, beat them one, Steelers, Jack, Texans, Colts. It's
not just Sam Darnold. I've said it. If you turn
the sound down when you watch the Seahawks, they look
like the best team in the league. They can turn
the ball over and still blow teams out. They can
(20:45):
get out played for three and a half quarters and
still beat excellent teams. I'll put the Seahawks at number one.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeart Radio app.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Now, Nick Wright, for the first time in his career,
is a Bills stand and he is joining us live.
I just there's so much about the Bills that worries me.
You've pivoted to Buffalo this year and it's a redeemable quality.
Speaker 9 (21:17):
Why well, it's I mean, no, I just last year
and this year. I thought going into the season Buffalo
was the second best team in the conference.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
Last year I was correct.
Speaker 9 (21:28):
This year obviously both years to the Chiefs.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
This year, the Chiefs let me down on that end.
Speaker 9 (21:34):
The Bills are who they've been, which is they have
one of the three best quarterbacks alive. I think he's
the second best quarterback alive and the best healthy quarterback.
Even though Stafford's having the great year and the supporting cast,
It's a few years ago it was wildly overrated and
now it feels a touch underrated. I know people wish
(21:57):
Josh Allen had better receiver. I get that, but I
guess he just has to settle for having the rushing champ,
a good to very good offensive line, and really good
tight ends. That's enough in a wide open AFC. And
I do think for Josh when the hurdle for him
(22:18):
to make the Super Bowl has or to get deep
in the playoffs or make the super Bowl has been
Patrick Mahomes four out of five years and Joe Burrow
the other year. The fact that neither of those teams
or quarterbacks are going to be in the playoffs means
this is wide open for him. So I just think
I don't think Buffalo has the best resume, but of
(22:39):
every team in the AFC, their resume is close enough
that because they have the only Hall of Fame quarterback
in his prime that is going to be in the
playoff field, I think I'd roll with them with the
possible caveat of look out for my Jags. Colin oh Man,
(22:59):
I told you a month ago, what if Trevor went
on the Sam Darnold arc.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
I didn't know what was gonna happen. Right now, I.
Speaker 9 (23:06):
Didn't know what was gonna happen and been Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
He's been great now I want to It's funny so
years and years ago, this may have been thirty years ago.
I've never been a big car guy, but I loved Jaguars.
I think I saw a movie with a guy in
a Jaguar. I thought it was cool. But Jaguars had
a reputation. They fell apart that you could not trust
the Jaguar that British, the Brits. And then I think
(23:30):
somebody bought them, like Ford or somebody bought him. And
now the Jags, you know, they corrected those flaws. But
I feel the car and the Jaguars franchise are similar.
Where boy, they look good, there's a lot of good man.
They look good, but I don't trust them on a
long roadie, Why do you suddenly trust him?
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 9 (23:50):
I don't know that I can't fully trust them. But
what I will say is this, Liam Cohen just doesn't
have the pr that some of the other young coaches have.
He's been excellent, he has been awesome, and as much
as I love and I do love Baker, Baker seems
(24:11):
to miss him in a way he didn't miss Dave Canalis,
and so Liam Cohen, maybe because the duvault thing was goofy,
because on camera he doesn't really cut the same profile
as Ben Johnson or the Jamiko Ryans or some of
the other young coaches everybody likes. He wasn't taking as seriously.
(24:34):
And then there's Trevor who Here would be my argument
about what has changed with Trevor Lawrence. I do not
think his highlight throws this year are any different than
any of the last four years.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
I think since Trevor's second year in the.
Speaker 9 (24:51):
League, if you cut up his twenty best throws of
the season, that they would stack up next to just
about any of the all Pro quarterbacks. What Trevor's problem
had been was his twenty worst plays of the season.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
Brutal looked like.
Speaker 9 (25:08):
The worst plays you've ever seen. It was just dropping
the ball, red zone picks.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Terrible. And he's the last month he.
Speaker 9 (25:19):
Has kept the highlight throws and cut out the other stuff.
They are this during this run, Colin. They are beating
teams by an average of eighteen point eight points per victory. Yeah,
that is the last year they scored eighteen point eight
points per game. It has been a transformation. And I listen,
(25:44):
they are alive for the one seed. They are huge
favorites to win the division, and they feel a little dangerous,
and they do have a bit of a nobody believes
in us since the whole media and your guys, Sean
Payton all made fun of Jacksonville for no reason. That's
a fine American town. None the wrong with Jacksonville. So
I like the Jags. I don't trust them as much
(26:06):
as the Bills, but see if Trevor can keep this
heater going.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
So you know, a couple of years ago, I said
a story that's not a big story, but it's something
as Andy Reid is aging and he's not going to
be around, So Mahomes is going to have to have
a second head coach and a second Gronk, Travis Kelce,
trustable outlet.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
So they like anything in life.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's just I mean that the Patriots weren't great at drafting,
but they got tight ends right for a few years,
and then in the end they didn't have enough players.
So it's hard. Wide receivers hard. It's an emotional position.
You get some immaturity blah blah blah. So is there
any part of you that looks at it? And you
may not say it on the air, but you're thinking
(26:50):
to yourself, if Andy retired after next year and they're
not quite great, next year, they retool, but they're not
quite great. They don't have the maybe the Seahawks roster.
Is there any party of the worries that the best
is gone?
Speaker 3 (27:05):
And then it was.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Wonderful, it was a Broadway hit, but the understudies filling
in aren't the same. In Mahomes's so ever, quite able
to duplicate it.
Speaker 9 (27:16):
So here's the thing I worry is not the word
I would use, Okay, and I here I if you
are asking me, do I think it is likely they
ever duplicate the last seven years because let's just be
clear on what it was that's as good of a
seven year stretch as any team has ever had in the.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
History of football.
Speaker 9 (27:39):
Are they going to do that twice? Are they going
to make seven straight conference championship games? Are they going
to make five out of six Super Bowls, including three straight?
I think that the odds are no. I like the
Patriots best stretch ever twenty eleven to eighteen.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
They did on the back.
Speaker 9 (27:55):
End instead of the front end, but there is no
they didn't do that more than I do.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Think.
Speaker 9 (28:01):
If your point is that we will look at the
entire Mahomes era and say the best six year run
was the one that.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Just ended, I think that's likely.
Speaker 9 (28:13):
I don't think they are likely to make five out
of six super Bowls again and be the favorite every year,
but that is a very vary to me far bridge
from they are done being a perennial super Bowl favorite.
I think they will go into every season over the
(28:34):
next I believe five to seven years with the best
quarterback in the league, and that being your starting point
is the most important starting point. And so if you
were to ask me, you know, how many more super
Bowls do I think Patrick Mahomes plays in? I would
probably say four. If you're to ask me how many
(28:55):
more Super Bowls as Patrick Mahomes win, I would probably
say two or three. Now, again, that would in any
era of NFL football, that career I just described would
be incomprehensible. Because Tom Brady went to ten and one seven.
That seems like odds, almost disappointing, But he's already second
(29:17):
most all time in Super Bowl appearances and tied for
third all time in Super Bowl or fourth all time
burdon me in super Bowl wins.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
So I think they are.
Speaker 9 (29:26):
Going to get back to being a dominant juggernaut. But
making five out of six Super Bowls literally no one
had done it before, so I don't know that I
can say the Chiefs are going to do it again.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
I will say this quickly on this.
Speaker 9 (29:38):
I think you for all the people poking at Mahomes
and I saw you say Josh Allen's been way better
for two years, which again I mean, I don't know.
They play each other in the playoffs, one guy who's
outplays them, but set it aside. I think we saw
on Sunday how much the offensive load Patrick is carrying. Yes,
(30:00):
because he goes out and they instantly become the worst
offense in football. So they do need to read tools
some things offensively, most notably the running back room, and
I think they'll do that next season.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
So I'm always fascinated by unicorns, people that do things.
And you know, it's like unbelievable that Jokic is the
maybe the best center ever. Now he doesn't have Kareem skyhook,
but passing threes low post screening, You're like, sure, I've
(30:33):
never seen and he goes against type, like he's not twitchy,
he couldn't jump over a folded newspaper, and you're like, yeah,
you can't guard him. You literally can't. Say Draymond Green's like, yeah,
that's the one guy I can't do anything with. So
here's Caleb Williams. It's fascinating when he paints his fingernails.
He's awful on script, he jumps into the crowd to
(30:56):
see his mom.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
I talked to all these gms. They're like, he's not very,
very accurate. He's kind of Moody's I'm not sure if
he's elite. And now you're watching the Dysfunctional Bears and
he's gonna win this incredible division. You know, before the
season where he's at the best division and it's fascinating.
I don't worry about the completion percentage, but it is
(31:19):
rare that you'd be like because Cam was in the
fifty nine to sixty. But I think Caleb's I think
his ceiling's more consistent than Cam because Cam's personality was
kind of distracted.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Are we you?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Is it possible that we are looking? I said this
a couple of weeks ago. Is he a shorter Josh
Allen's there's nothing else like him on the that even
looks like him? What do you make of his personality?
So the Jucks so all of it. So listen the
Josh Allen comp.
Speaker 9 (31:47):
I struggle with only because Josh so much of Josh's
greatness is just brute force, just how big and strong
and so like the So I I that comp. I
can't wrap my mind around. So let me just go
through all of it. Fact of the matter is, and
people were of, you know, kind of dancing around it.
Speaker 4 (32:08):
There was a lot of.
Speaker 9 (32:10):
Without saying it, people are like, ah, I think the
guy's too effeminate. That they didn't like that he cried,
They didn't like that he painted his nails, and they
didn't like that he was fine with it.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
Like that he was.
Speaker 9 (32:21):
He knew people were gonna have that criticism, and he
didn't care. I thought that critique from the beginning was nonsense.
People were like, ah, well, locker rooms follow him. And
the answer is if he's good, absolutely, like nobody know.
As long as he's good, no one will care. And
if he's bad, you know, all of a sudden, not
painting his fingernails won't do anything. So that I dismissed
(32:43):
that criticism. The him not being great at layups is
a fair critique. But if you were to ask me, Colin,
here are fifteen traits that make a quarterback, make up
a NFL quarterback. Pick one that is most fixable, I
(33:06):
would say, not great at layups. The stuff he is
great at not only is it not like fixable, it's
not teachable.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
Right, And so give me the.
Speaker 9 (33:16):
Guy who has the inherent greatness in him, and then
pair him with someone like Ben Johnson whose job it
is to help him with the other stuff. I would
say this after last year hit I thought he finish
his rookie year well behind schedule. I think now he's
not only on.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Schedule, but ahead of schedule.
Speaker 9 (33:38):
And still the completion percentage is crummy, and if not
for an onside kick recovery, he wouldn't have gotten any
of the highlight moments that we got against the Packers.
But after that onside kick, the fourth and four play
was unbelievable and the throw in overtime might have been
the play of the year in the NFL. And he's
(33:58):
young and he's figuring out, and Ben Johnson is, you know,
ushering him along.
Speaker 4 (34:04):
So I like, I love what he's doing. I believe
in the Bears to a degree.
Speaker 9 (34:08):
Do I think they're gonna win four playoff games to.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Win the Super Bowl?
Speaker 1 (34:11):
No?
Speaker 9 (34:11):
But do I think that nobody wants to play them? Absolutely?
One small critique about the Bears, and this was Ben
Johnson's issue in Detroit two. And I like, Ben, you
can be a little too cute for school sometimes, Buddy.
It's fourth and one in the first quarter against the Packers.
Maybe that's not when you call your trick play that
(34:33):
involves snapping the ball between your tight ends, legs two
your five to nine running backs so he can throw
a pass to your quarterback. Maybe save that one for
a lower leverage moment. But I think overall, Bears fans
got to be over the Moon.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
By the way, m My only criticism ever of McVeigh
was in his first two or three years he showed
off a little bit. He would do stuff. You're like,
yeahn run the ball, Todd Gurley, let's just do that, okay, correct.
I want to show you know, America should be proud
of us. You now have pivoted to a pro bills guy.
And I am an object Charger Homer because I love
Herbert and hardball.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
They did not make my Herd hierarchy.
Speaker 9 (35:10):
I was shocked by that, Okay.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
I wanted to ask you about it.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Okay, So I put them at eleven. And my takeaway
is I have to put Josh Allen in. I don't
know what to do with the Chargers. Where do you
put him on that list? Well, that's my problem I am.
Speaker 9 (35:28):
So here's here's what my response would be. And I'm
not as high on the Chargers as you obviously are,
as our pal Danny Parkins, who I'm pretty sure thanks Justin.
Herbert's the third or fourth greatest quarterback in the.
Speaker 4 (35:39):
History of the NFL.
Speaker 9 (35:42):
I think they're better than the Texans right now. So
the Texans, I don't know how much people watch Texans Raiders. Well,
but the Texans offense, Colin, is a problem. And here
is my Here would be my concern for Houston because
I like to mee Goo, the defense is obviously sensational.
(36:02):
When the fourteen teams or I'm sorry, the seven teams
that make the AFC playoffs, if we were to power
rank each team's offense and defense, so like the number
one unit might be Denver's defense. Number two might be
the Texans defense, Number three, Bills offense, whatever on down
would fourteenth be the Houston Texans offense. Are they going
(36:27):
to walk into the AFC Playoffs with the worst unit
offense or defense of either of any team in it?
I think they might, and so that, but I agree
with you. I would have the Bills ahead of the Chargers.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
I think the.
Speaker 9 (36:41):
Job that Kyle Shanahan's done with San Francisco is unbelievable.
And Colin, just so you know, be ready, I can't
believe we're going to be pulled into it again. But
after you and I one declared victory was drawing borders
for the Great Party War of the twenty twenties, we're
(37:02):
back in it now. Everyone's gonna forget that Mac Jones
did all the exact same stuff, and we're gonna hear
about how.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Elite this player is after last night.
Speaker 9 (37:11):
But the night so, I think all of those teams
except for the Texans, I think i'd have ahead of
the Chargers, So the Texans would be the spot. But
I appreciate your integrity by not having you know, just
just fitting in your beloved Los Angeles Chargers.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
I like to put friends in the hurt higher ar.
I don't know what to do. I had them at eleven.
Nick Wright is always buddy, great stuff, great to see.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
I see account.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Yeah, I did this last night.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
I sent it to Kyle, our producer, after the Niners game,
and I sat there and I literally had Chargers jumping
over like a fence. I was having these weird dreams.
I'm like, what am I doing? These are my friends.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
I don't know what to do with them.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
Buffalo's got to be in it.
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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