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Sarah Spain
This is an iHeart podcast.
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Tyler (Ty)
Hey, I'm Ty.
Dan
And I'm Dan and we're the Solid.
Tyler (Ty)
Verbal College Football Podcast.
Dan
College football is pure chaos and that's exactly why we love it.
Tyler (Ty)
The solid verbal will keep you sane through all the madness.
Dan
We'll break down the big games and.
Tyler (Ty)
Storylines and of course highlight the weird stuff.
Dan
The solid verbal is your home for everyone. Everything college football, serious, silly and everything in between.
Tyler (Ty)
Listen to the Solid Verbal College Football podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Nicole Garcia
It may look different, but native culture is alive. My name is Nicole Garcia and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges we aim to explore that culture.
Colin Cowherd
Somewhere along the way it turned into this full fledged award winning comic shop.
Nicole Garcia
That's Dr. Lee Francis IV who opened the first native comic book shop. Explore his story along with many other native stories on the show. Burn Sage, Burn Bridges. Listen to Burn Sage, Burn bridges on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Colin Cowherd
Get fired up y'.
Dan
All.
Sarah Spain
Season 2 of Good Game with Sarah Spain is underway. We just welcomed one of my favorite people, an incomparable soccer icon Megan Rapinoe to the show and and we had a blast. Take a listen. Sue and I were like riding the lime bikes the other day and we're like wee people ride bikes because it's fun. We got more incredible guests like Megan in store, plus news of the day and more. So make sure you listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network.
Colin Cowherd
The volume football season's here and if you want to go to an NFL or college football game, game time is the place for you. The gametime app just gives you the advantage back to you, the fans. It's a hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in a few taps. I love it. Easy to use. The game time guarantee means you can Trust you'll get 100% authentic tickets on time and at the best price. 100%. So they even let you preview your seat on the app. That's special. Plus fees are always included. So what you see is what you pay every time. Take the guesswork out of buying professional football tickets with game time. Just download the gametime app. Create an account. If you use the code Colin C O l I N 20 bucks off your first purchase Terms apply again. Create an account Redeem code C O L I N 20 bucks off swipe tap ticket. Go download the gametime app today. This episode is presented by Uber Eats. When football makes you hungry, order Uber Eats. I do every weekend. Well, because games are played on Mondays, a couple of them and Thursdays, you don't always get the greatest Sunday slate. But some of the games today were Fantastic. Tampa Bay 38 walk off field goal to win it over Seattle 35. It looked like young Brady and Peyton Manning. I don't remember a game like that. Darnold always been a little more athletic than Baker had a couple of all timers Baker just kept. They couldn't stop him. You know, Seattle's defense has really shut down a lot of good offenses in the last couple years, especially at the end of last year. Baker had no problem with it. Ibuka had no problem with it. I guess my takeaway from this game was if these two met in the NFC championship, I wouldn't be shocked. I mean it's an offensive league. I would not be shocked. I don't think tonight was a mirage. I think those are really good quarterbacks and really good teams full of excellent young players. And by the way, John, John Middelkoff, two of the best GMs. These rosters have dudes everywhere.
Dan
Yeah, totally agree. I mean at one point in time, Colin, it was 21 21. They were 39 of 45 for 450 yards and three touchdowns. Like this is. But it just kept going on. I mean they made play after play outside the construct of the play, right? Both of them scrambling around. We know Darnold, I mean Baker now is a mobile, you know, behind the line of scrimmage. Keep. They were fantastic. That that was as entertaining of a game. Watching these two guys that have clearly resurrected their career now for a couple years, that was awesome. I mean those guys. I know Sam, you know the lasting image will be a him throwing the interception. But that was on Todd Bowles called an incredible blitz you saw in the slow motion replay. It wasn't a bad path. He got hit and the ball went in the wrong direction. Both those guys could miss. They felt like a, you know, Steph Curry when every time he shot, you just think the ball is going to hit nothing but net. With both quarterbacks. Abuka, I mean, that draft pick. One thing I was taught a long time ago is at the time they drafted him, you're like, well, they got Mike Evans and Chris Godwin's coming back. They got otten, they got multiple running backs. Why do they need a weapon? Because a position of strength can become a position of weakness with an injury or two. Look at the Chargers, best offensive line in the league now you're looking like, who are these guys playing tackle for him? Injuries happen. I mean, this guy, I don't want to say saving their season, but you know, Godwin's been out and then he comes back and then Evans gets hurt and this guy, find me a better rookie right now in the NFL than a Mecca. He's been fantastic.
Colin Cowherd
Remember a couple years ago? Of course you do. Atlanta drafted Robinson, Bijan Robinson, the running back.
Dan
Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
And I had a GM say he's Ladanian Tomlinson. There's no flaw. Good teammate, good blocker, everything. Ibuka, because he wasn't like a 43 guy, doesn't go in the top, you know, seven or eight. But I had an executive in the league say he's a flawless receiver, routes, teammate, toughness, catch hands. He's like, there's just no flaw. But he'll drop because he's not huge. And he's not, you know, he doesn't have a unicorn body type, but he's not a complete burner. He is just a great football player. I mean, he is open. He doesn't drop it. He runs Great. He runs 10 year veteran routes. And Seattle's secondary is good. Seattle's defense is good and they torched it today.
Dan
I would say the same thing about jsn. Also happened to be an Ohio State guy. I mean, I. Looking at the numbers right now, they combined for 15 catches, almost 300 yards and multiple touchdowns. But both those guys are good examples, right? Neither of them would go in the top 10 because they're not quite big enough. They're more slot receivers. Like, no, they can do everything. They can play inside, they can play outside. You know what they do? They get open every single play. Elite players, elite character guys. Like you said, elite teammates. And sometimes that wide receiver. Right. And you've been on this for decades, the little diva. Ish. These guys are rare breeds. I mean these, these guys are Wired like quarterbacks or safeties or line wide.
Colin Cowherd
John. I think a lot of it, John, is because when you are as big as DK Metcalf, he was that big in the seventh grade. He was the biggest, strongest kid and everybody was in awe of him. Whereas Jackson, Smith and Jigba, Mika Abuka, they weren't the biggest kids, they weren't the fastest kids. They got there because they had a lot of talent and they worked their ass off to become great receivers. And I think some. Mike Evans is the rare big strong guy, but super humble, hardworking Keenan Allen. But Keenan's not a burner either. A lot of times the Antonio Browns, the DK Metcalf, the guys that just are, have been gifted the fastest kid in every class. Tyreek Hill was probably the fastest kid in the fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, and you know it, things come easy for you. So a lot of these great receivers like Larry Fitzgerald, you can just see the work ethic, you know, like Puka Nakua, 5th round guy, Amaran, St. Brown. Look at the best receivers right now in the league. Puka, Amaron, St. Brown. These two rookies. It's a lot of guys that are talented, but you'd view them as classic overachievers. None of them are burners. None of them outside Mike Evans, you know, don't walk into a room and inspire awe. They're just dudes who got some genetic gifts, work super hard and it's just, you know, it's just like you go find a great attorney. He had smart parents, you know, he didn't have dummies as parents. But the truth is he put the effort in because there's a million attorneys, right? You gotta fight through it. So I just watched JSN and Abuka and I just look at. To me, you really have to be careful when drafting wide receivers. I mean, I saw another running back drop the ball at the goal line today. Arizona Tennessee. Like you watch Arizona Tennessee today, there's talent on the field, but just not just errors and fumbles. Kyler Murray at one point left the game. I'm not even sure he got hit like moods. And I just watched Tampa and I watched Seattle and I see great GMs and a lot of good character guys and a lot of tough guys and a lot of redemption stories. That was so much fun.
Dan
I also think it's a. If you're a defensive coach out there, like an assistant or a coordinator, it shows you. Obviously these offensive coordinators have taken over the league and rightfully so. The quarterback's really important. But Todd Bowles is an old school, like a safety from the 80s, right. Who has become, you know, he was Bruce Aryan's right hand man for a long time. He got some experience with the Jets. Like he's a really good coach and he's an excellent defensive coordinator. I've been saying for years, Mike McDonald is basically Kyle or Sean. He just happens to call defense. If he was an offensive coordinator, we would speak about him no differently than we do Kevin o'. Connell. But he's a defensive guy and you saw today, those guys have empowered their quarterback. They're, I mean Todd's probably one of the great blitz callers in league history. You know, Spags has turned into one Jim Johnson forever. It's a skill. And that call that won them the game because that was a game. And even for a split second when they had tied the game, I went, Todd's gonna allow them to go for two. And it turned out it was just Baker holding it up, hoping they would give, I think Todd Gold, you know, the field goal kicker on. But that's another thing. I mean in a, in a day and age when these field goals are kind of getting blocked, their field goal kicker in Tampa, I don't know if the guy's missed. I mean he's game winner after game winner. Pretty nails also when the guy hit the ground on essentially the game winning run, probably could have got a couple more yards. But you talk about coaching, clearly told him in the huddle, if you break this, it's an outbreaking run. If you get near the sideline, whether it's a first down or not, get to the ground. Right. We have seen in college and the pro sometimes guys like they have a, you know, brain fart, they go out of bound, they save the team a timeout. So it's just, just a high level operation. I'm with you. That game, I think Seattle's going nowhere. I mean the 49ers are 4 and 1, but half their teams on injured reserve. Tampa, I mean it's Tampa 49er game next week. You know, Tampa now has to fly. I mean what time are they going to get out of there? Seven o', clock, Pacific standard time. They won't get home till the middle of the night. The 49ers have this long break. They're missing a ton of players. That's, that's a huge win for them though. I mean that's a, that's a massive go on the road to Seattle and form one.
Colin Cowherd
Todd Bowles struggled With the Jets. Darnold. Disaster with the Jets. Devonte Adams, disaster with the Jets. Aaron Rodgers. Much better version of Aaron Rodgers. It's a cesspool. And we'll get into the jets loss today, which may have been like Rich Cotite level bad. Think about people aren't only leaving the jets and winning, they're flourishing. They lead their division. They're MVP candidates. That is a bad organization. I remember when Todd Bowles was with the jets, you know, and people would always rip him. He was a little like Carl Durrell, ucla the first year. He didn't even know. He didn't have much of a Persona on the sideline. He got lost within the sideline. You couldn't find him. But Todd was always so smart and so thoughtful and he was just one of those guys like he didn't want, you know, he was the opposite of Rex Ryan. Like he didn't want any attention. But over the course of your life, if you do good work and you just keep your head down, a lot of people get fired. It doesn't mean anything. You'll be rewarded. Todd Bowles was too good not to succeed in this league. Same with Sam.
Dan
And look at, you know, I think you brought up the two GMs. You know, Mike's going to have a long career. Came from the Ravens. But Todd, imagine if he would have got a second opportunity with the Carolina Panthers or some of these franchises. But he got Jason Light, who anyone in the league will tell you is easily one of the best GMs. Just a high level, humble guy who's seen it all, worked for everyone that mattered in the league over the years. And their team, like, they have had so many injuries and you watch them play, I mean, offensively, they're missing their starting running back and their hall of Fame wide receiver. And how many points did they just. I mean, they, they scored 38 points. I mean, that's on the road against Seattle and Mike McDonald.
Colin Cowherd
Wow.
Dan
What. What a game.
Colin Cowherd
Seattle is a Sam Darnold fumble and a Sam Darnold pick. And both times he like either bumped into a teammate or had somebody bump into him or Seattle could be an undefeated team. So this game is. Seattle's a really good team. They're the second youngest off the league. So if you're a Seahawk fan, you got some good years ahead. You know, it's. It's also. I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't worry about drafting a quarterback if I'm Seattle. I think they found, I mean, Darnold's still young. He's still totally. When he, when he was drafted by the jets, he was 21. I think he's 27 or 28 now. You have four more. Five more peak years.
Dan
Yeah, to me. I mean, I'm sure we'll talk about college. I. You look around, the landscape of college football doesn't look like a lot of Joe Burrows coming into the league here. I would say this though. Sometimes there's a win, win fit matters. Like I'm way better off as a podcaster than I was local radio and we had ties to the team. It's not Kubiak. Like they hire Kubiak and they get rid of Ryan Grub while Ty Simpson and Alabama are rolling. Right. And Ryan Grub much better fit for college. And they get Kubiak, who's more of a run heavy, great for Sam. And it's just worked out for both parties, right? Kubiak last year, fired as well. Sometimes in football you just get with the right person. Sam, now look at Sam. Now we talk about the jets for three straight years. Kyle, Kyle embraces him. Purdy embraces him, Changes the way we talk about him. Then he gets his opportunity with Kevin. Now he's in Seattle. I mean, just flourishing. Same thing with Baker Mayfield. He goes to Tampa, gets around Jason Light, gets around a high Mike Evans and just a more low key environment. I've been there. I've never lived there like you, but it's just an easier place to just kind of ease into things.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. And Baker, the media in Tampa is more supportive. Baker's one of those guys that sometimes if he feels like he has to overcome the GM and the coach, that he tries too hard. He's very composed now. He's got a support system. He's happily married. Baker has nothing to prove. Everybody knows he's good. He's playing with a very controlled chip on his shoulder, but it's a good chip on his shoulder. I agree. It's like he doesn't have to prove anything. Everybody loves him in Tampa and in Cleveland. He and Hugh Jackson battled and then Freddy Kitchens and then the gm and then the media was on his ass because the Cleveland media is, you know, it's bitter, it's. And I don't blame them. Tampa's got trophies. They don't. So I think it's. And I, you know, people, I know they find this hard to believe, but I root for young people to succeed. One of my favorite part of the volume is watching young people at my age. You're young I think it's great for Baker. Makes me very happy that he's kicking butt. That was this week's Sunday Night Football brought to you by Uber Eats. When football makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber Eats. I do every week. The official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now. I just did. Okay, another game. So I had picked the Broncos on my blazing five. I think I went two and three today, by the way. I had the over on Arizona, Tennessee. It should have gone over in the second quarter. Those teams are horrific. I took the Broncos to beat Philadelphia. They did 21 17. It was like two games. For the record, all Philadelphia games are two games. Yeah, just pick your half. So Philadelphia led 17 to 3. Bo Nix was stymied by Vic Fangio, just. But again, these are long games and you know, Philadelphia runs into these walls where they're just a punt factory and they, you know, they're very dependent on a big play over the top. Saquon's numbers have been reduced significantly. So you'll get your chance to beat Philadelphia because they'll go into a. They'll go into a punt, punt, punt situation. Sure enough, we get to the fourth quarter playing from behind and Sean Payton's play calling Bo Nick's hit on a couple of big throws. They have some crevices in the run game and they come back to win a game. So let's start with Philadelphia. I mean, John, they are incapable of playing a full solid game of offense. They're either really impressive or awful. There's no in between. To me, it's got to be a coordinator. It's not personnel. The O line has regressed badly. These guys are all in their prime. Except Lane Johnson, who's older. They're all in their prime. To me there's a coordinator issue.
Dan
Well, I thought Romo and Ants, especially Tony mentioned it a couple times. Like Sirianni's not the one under heat around here. It's. It's this Kevin Petula, that's his buddy for about 15 years, but they finally through the first, what, 60, 70% of this game. They were feeding Devonte Smith. They hit A.J. brown. They had an opportunity for, for a nail in the coffin moment in this game. It was 17 to three. They clearly had schemed up this play to A.J. brown and he's wide open. And Jalen had hit a couple deep bombs throughout the game. So when he let it rip, he went well this thing because he's a good. When his deep balls working it. It looks great ball game and it flew right over his head. And then they had to punt. And then it kind of flipped from there. That, that. Because 24. Three, the game, the game is over. Because, like you said, Bo Nix was horrendous. I mean, I, I, as someone that I bet on the Broncos to win the division, had high hopes for them. Like a lot of people, I bought into everything Sean Payton was saying. And you're watching him. He's missing these deep balls. They have big play schemes, and he missed them. And then I don't. I don't know if maybe he just kind of took a deep breath, but then he hit a couple plays to Sutton, hit some back shoulder throws, and obviously, you know, the game winning drive, he hit Sutton over the middle on a big third down. He used his feet a couple times. And Tony kept saying, it's almost like, you know, if you're missing jump shots, get to the line, get fouled. You're a really good athlete. And I think Fangio had said during the week, like, kind of reminds me of Baker Mayfield. And Tony's like, he's a way better athlete than Baker Mayfield. Like, he can really run. And it's like, just run a little bit. But I think he wants to prove that he can throw, but his arm, in terms of accuracy, has just kind of been off. And then he just got into a rhythm, and obviously then Philly just hit the skids, and you could tell, you could feel it on television. I've watched a lot of games there live. It got tight and the whole building kind of went silent because they've seen this song and dance and like you said, they could go through a quarter where they're clearly one of the most talented teams in the league, where they look horrendous and you're just, you know, in Fangio's defense, you can't. You know, in this day and age with the rules, it's hard to have just 60 minutes of playing like 85 bears. It doesn't work that way.
Colin Cowherd
No. And they weren't very good. Again, when you get them into a third and four or a third and five and they can't do the tush push. They weren't very good on third down one.
Dan
Did we even see the twist push today? I don't know if we did. I don't know. Definitely. They were definitely down the stretch.
Colin Cowherd
Third down, 45 yards rushing. Huge time of possession. I mean, it felt like in the fourth quarter, Denver had the ball the entire fourth quarter. And I mean, I wrote that down 30 to 22 minute time disadvantage. But in the fourth quarter, Bonix had two drives for touchdowns. 15 points in five and a half minutes. Oh, that was a big sideline throw to Cortland Sutton. Then there was that Zach Bond late hit that kind of sealed it. I mean, at some point, Philadelphia, that last drive, John, they were reduced to begging for PI calls.
Dan
Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
On the Hail Mary and the ball down to the two yard line. So you can kind of tell from their body language they know they're struggling. They're. And you know, it's just like anything else in life. I don't care if it's a relationship or a football game or an offense. It gets into your head and then you start doubting your play calling and then you start forcing the ball to certain players. Like. But I go back to. Sirianni's not a scheme guy. He's more in the Dan Campbell culture builder, alpha male. And so he's very dependent on who his OC is. Remember when he first got to Philly, as you know, he called plays. It was a disaster. Hands it off to Steichen. Heater. Steichen leaves Brian Johnson, disaster. Then he brings in Kellen Moore. They right the ship, Kellan exits. Now you got the new guy. So he's very dependent. Andy Reid's not, Shanahan's not. Although Shanahan's defense has been very dependent on the right coordinator. Sala now is dealing with kids and Fred Warner is outstanding. So I just look at Philly and to me it's. It's one thing you could argue that Saquon Barkley's got fatigue from all the carries, but when an offensive line regresses like it has, to me, that's coordinator.
Dan
Yeah, I mean, they've had injury too. I mean, Dickerson got hurt today. I just think Jalen is, I think clearly established himself as a pretty streaky player. Right. He just happened to have two of the great games and Super Bowls. One of them he won. He could easily be 2 and oh. Against Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid and he's played fantastic in them. But like through the course of a season, he's just a very. You don't know what you're getting series to series.
Colin Cowherd
You don't.
Dan
And that's where it's like, is there a huge drop off between Kellen Moore and this guy? Hard to tell. But like, Kellen had been an offensive coordinator for a long time. It coached from Dak to Herbert, like it just had way more experience. This guy never called plays in the NFL. He'd been a lifetime position coach even if he'd been around the Eagles the whole time and been on staff. There's a big difference than giving suggestions and making the decisions. Right? I mean, that's. Why do the Eagles feel pretty good about their defense? I don't know. They have a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator who's been. Who's 65 years old and been doing it for decades. So I. I also think they got an elephant in the room last year. Brandon Graham kind of let the cat out of the bag, and he tried to walk it back, but how often do you see a guy, he's 35 years old, Brandon Graham's got multiple kids. Like, this guy isn't just an immature young guy saying something stupid. He knew what he was saying because it was the truth. He tried to walk it back. This year's gotten weird. They clearly tried to force feed him the ball, which I have. I'd force feed him the ball, too, but, like, it's not in the. Like, you watch the Vikings with Justin Jefferson. He's just their best player, and they just give him the ball a lot because he's a great player. Jamar Chase, as you. The A.J. brown thing, kind of feel. It's weird because they. They got all these other options, but they know that he can be, obviously, a little fickle with his emotions, you know, and it's. It's hard for him to hold them in because at this point in time, he's on, like, his fourth contract, so he's made an ungodly amount of money. He's a Super bowl champ. He's an All Pro. Like, he's. He's checked all the rest now it's just like, he just wants the ball. He's just a. He's just an emotional receiver.
Colin Cowherd
Now, what did this feel like? Remember, Brandon Graham came out.
Dan
They don't. They don't like each other. Essentially, their relationship is fractured.
Colin Cowherd
Jalen and A.J.
Dan
Brown, because part of it. Part of when they traded for him was like, these guys are really good buddies. They've known each other. And then something happened, and it was like, well, it's life. You get. As you grow up, maybe your relationships aren't as tight and you just deal with it and they win the super bowl, whatever. But then this year, it feels like immediately it gets a little weird, and AJ Brings it back to the surface. Can't even hide it. You know, Part of it is Jalen, which is a good quality. He's, like, unemotional. Even. Even today, like, with the no time left on that final drive. It's just this guy's unfazed. I mean, sometimes I wish I had, like, his emotional stability. I mean, I get angry just podcasting. He's just, he's just a flatliner. And I wonder sometimes in football, like, some of our best quarterbacks can be a little emotional and Jalen just has none.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, no, I mean, I was told this by somebody who would know that's very connected to that locker room. And they said Jalen's not the most popular. Eagle players love emotional guys. I mean, I remember years ago, half the league thought Westbrook was better than Steph Curry. Steph Curry's married. He's quiet, he's not cool. You know, his shoe looks like something a pharmacist would wear. Westbrook's cool. He's athletic, he's got the music, he's got the game. And Jalen's one of those guys. He's got an all female, like, management team. He's not, you know, he's not going to hire one of your buddies. He's not, he's not one of the guys. It's like the old Joe DiMaggio with the Yankees. It was like Joe DiMaggio just wasn't one of the guys. He was brilliant. Not everybody wants to go out and hit it and be wild every night. Like, they just. Jalen's very reserved, very mature, very focused, and he has a life beyond football. And I, and I, and I love guys like that, but. And A.J. you know, I, I get it when you got a trophy and you got the bag, you. You're looking for legacy. He wants to be a Hall of Famer, so I kind of defend him.
Dan
That way, you know, and, and part of being an all time great quarterback because Jalen has the opportunity. He's already been to a couple Super Bowls. He's won one. Like, he's going to be a starter for a long time is like, by the end of Peyton and especially Tom, how could they relate to anybody? Yet you never have met anyone that has been in a locker room with Tom over the course of like the last decade of his career that wasn't like, yeah, he was the easiest guy to deal with. He was great. Anything I needed, he was always. He could bounce. He wasn't going out and drinking beers with him anymore or hanging. But he knew exactly how to be a great. And I've heard the same thing about Peyton Manning or Philip Rivers is a good example. Had like, had, had like seven kids with three years to go in his career. I know multiple people that played with him that said, I would have ran through a wall for his family, let alone the guy. Like there is a skill to be able to. And listen, when you get topped by Saban, like that doesn't really matter. You just kind of do what he says. Then you get to the NFL. And maybe it's just an attribute that Jalen's really going to have to focus on just moving forward because it's clearly not his personality, which, listen, our personality is our personality. But at that position, especially if you're not going to be like Patrick Mahomes. How does Patrick Mahomes relate to an undrafted free agent rookie? He can't anymore. He's worth $500 million. But ask anyone with the Chiefs. He does, right? Yeah. And Josh Allen now at this point married to some Holly like that. You have to do that. Lamar Jackson, I've known people that have coached here that just said people love this guy in the locker room. He's not hanging out with them all. So it is the onus is on the player at that position. You've said this forever. Not about any of the other positions. You can act like however you want as a corner wide receiver, not a quarterback. So sometimes you got to go above and beyond and just kind of almost fake it, you know, to be friends with a guy.
Colin Cowherd
And Jalen's pretty stoic, you know, that's his personality. Today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. They're a great partner. October baseball is here, baby. The pressure is higher. The moments are bigger. One swing can change everything. Hard Rock Bet lets you get in on every pitch. So if you're a new customer, you play a $5 bet. If it hits, a $5 bet hits, you not only get your winnings but also 150 bucks in extra bonus bets. Plus, every day this week on Hard Rock Bet, you can get a profit boost for a playoff baseball parlay. There are new promos every day. Boost your same game parlay or your SGP Max. So your bet pays extra winnings. So if you want to see what everybody else is betting on tonight, who's going to homer top picks or parlays across any sport. The Hard Rock Bet app literally shows you easy. Cool. Download the Hard Rock Bet app takes you 90 seconds. Tap Discover and you can see trending picks and parlays at any time. Download the Hard Rock Bet app, make your first deposit. Have fun. Payable and bonus bets. Not a cash offer. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida Offered by Seminole hard Rock Digital LLC in all their states. Must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia. To play terms and conditions apply. Concern about gambling in Florida, call 1-888- admit it in Indiana. If you or somebody you know has a problem wants help, call 1-800-9 with it gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia if.
Dan
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Colin Cowherd
At a store near you. Warning.
Dan
This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical what's up everybody?
Snax
This is Snax from the Trap Nerds Podcast and we're bringing you the Horror every week all October long.
Dan
Kicking off this month I'll be bringing you all my greatest fear inducing horror games from Resident Evil to Solid Hill. Me and Tony bringing Backfire team on Left 4 Dead 2 and we just gonna be going over some of the greats.
Snax
Also in October we'll be talking about our favorite horror and Halloween movies and figuring out why black people always gotta die first.
Colin Cowherd
The Umbral reliquary invites any and all fooling brave enough to peruse its many curiosities. But take Wicked. All sales are final. Weekly horror side quests written and narrated by yours truly with a full episode read and a commentary special.
Snax
And we will cap it off with Horror Movie Battle Royale. Jason versus Freddy, Michael Myers versus the Alien Thing with the Little Tongue Monster. October. We're doing it Halloween style. Listen to the Traverse Podcast from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
Dan
I'm Dan, he's Ty.
Hello.
And we're the Solid Verbal College Football Podcast.
Tyler (Ty)
College football season is here and you know what that means.
Dan
Your team is going to break your heart three times probably before Halloween.
Colin Cowherd
Uh huh.
Tyler (Ty)
But fear not. The Solid Verbal will be right there with you through every soul crushing loss and impossible comeback.
Dan
Join us all season long, all year long as we ride the rollercoaster of this ridiculous sport.
Tyler (Ty)
Whether you're a diehard fan or a casual observer, we'll help you make sense of all the chaos and, of course, celebrate the madness. Tune in for previews, recaps, bits you won't hear anywhere else, and all the emotional support you need. As a college football fan, we don't.
Dan
Just love college football, Ty. We live it.
Tyler (Ty)
Listen to the solid verbal college football football podcasts on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Betrayal Weekly Host
Betrayal Weekly is back for season two with brand new stories. The detective comes driving up fast and just like screeches right in the parking lot. I swear I'm not crazy, but I.
Colin Cowherd
Think he poisoned me.
Betrayal Weekly Host
I feel trapped. My breathing changes.
Colin Cowherd
More money, more money, more money.
Nicole Garcia
And I went white. I realized, wow, like, he is not a mentor. He's pretty much a monster.
Betrayal Weekly Host
New stories, new voices, and shocking manipulations. This didn't just happen to me. It happened to hundreds of other people. But these aren't just stories of destruction. They're stories of survival, of people picking up the pieces and daring to tell the truth. I'm going to tell my story and.
Dan
I'm going to hold my head up.
Betrayal Weekly Host
Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Colin Cowherd
I'm reticent to talk about the jets, but Dallas beats the Jets 37 to 22. I always judge.
Dan
I don't think it was that close either. When I.
Colin Cowherd
When I turned the game off, it felt like 47 to 3. It was awful. I mean, it was 23 to 3 at half and it wasn't that close.
Dan
No.
Colin Cowherd
So the best drive of the day for the Jets, I think, was the first one where they settled for a field goal. It was like 11 plays. You know, my takeaway has always been when a coach is hired, what's his side of the ball like? Their defense is bad and it's gotten worse every week. It feels like. I mean, the second half was a 7 on 7 drill. It looked like one of those 7 on 7 college drills where you take a really good quarterback, you know, in high school or college, and he just boom, boom, boom. Dak was terrific. Dak's having his best year as a pro because he's having to carry a team. This isn't the Zeke top O line in the league. Amari Cooper. That's not what this is. Without CD Lamb, John, I'm not sure they have a definitive number two. Their tight ends probably a two to a three on most teams, the running backs are absolutely twos. The O line still in a semi rebuild. Tyler Smith's great, but this is not, this is not an elite head coach. It's not an elite O line, it's not an elite roster.
Dan
It's.
Colin Cowherd
I've, I've been blown away by Dak. I've never thought this highly of Dak. I think again, like Jalen hurts, mature, head down, not highly emotional. An adult. Do I want to pay him what I'm paying him? You know what? Right now, Dax worth his contract. He's worth it.
Dan
Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
Could be the mvp.
Dan
You know, I think what really puts the jets into perspective is probably no one had a bigger question mark next to their name as a coach than Brian Schottenheimer. And you just said how you're defined as a coach, especially on a team that's not great. What does your side of the ball look like? Well, he's the offensive play caller and they've been awesome all year long.
Colin Cowherd
Awesome.
Dan
And now they've lost one of the highest paid and best wide receivers in the league for several games. And like you said, George Pickens is a 2. And you know, Ferguson solid. I mean this isn't Michael Irvin and Emmett Smith walking through the door. And the offensive line is definitely a question mark. And the offense, like it's. Listen, Brian Schadenheimer is kind of throwing it back to back in the day when he was declining head coaching interviews. Like pretty good offensive coordinator. I kind of know what I'm doing and I've been blown away. I mean their team, they got very, you know, the packers got very lucky a week ago that that ball didn't bounce in the air instead of hit the ground. Or the Cowboys would be what, three and one right now? Or. I mean they, I guess they were 2 and 2. They would be, they'd be 3 and 2. Like, they would be just good. Like there's be no disputing. Like they're just a solid. Like they could. Could they win nine games.
Colin Cowherd
And also the weather in the northeast and the north is beautiful. I was in Chicago over the week. Chicago was like 80 degrees. So it's a good time to have a good quarterback in this league because you're not dealing. You know, we're. We're about four or five weeks out from it getting ugly. Dallas is built for good weather. They're built for domes. They don't have a number one receiver without cd, but they've got enough guys. You know, it's funny, I was watching Justin Fields. He's never seen the field particularly well and they don't. This coaching staff hasn't figured out that. Listen, just, just use his legs. Just run him seven step drops don't work with him. I mean, multiple. And, and the jets pass pro is awful. They can't pass protect at all. It's gotten worse again. The jets are getting worse every week. I was reading a couple of the jets beat reporters and they're like, okay, I've covered 300 games. This is Rich Kotite. I mean, this is how bad this team is. And we're at week five. I mean, it's not like they're, you know, everybody's beat up. But. But Justin Fields has had three defensive head coaches and he's just not good enough. You know, if you give him McVeigh, maybe he would have gotten a second decent contract. But he's just, you know, he's the classic athlete, not a quarterback. So. But the fact that he was with Pittsburgh, who couldn't run the ball, struggled with their offensive line. But last year I think he was. Was he 4 and 2 or. He had a pretty good record early. And you looked at Justin and you're like, oh, he could get in our contract. Pittsburgh got rid of him. Pittsburgh went with old Aaron Rodgers. Because if you go back and if you remember Justin's numbers in Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin replaced him with Russell Wilson. We were all like, Justin's actually extrapolate those numbers out. He'd be like a, you know, nine, 10 win quarterback. Well, Pittsburgh move off. That moves off him. It shows you the difference between a Steeler team last year that struggled offensively and how bad the coaching and the infrastructure is with the Jets. Because Fields looks completely over his skis.
Dan
Yeah, I mean, I get that. Maybe they were bidding against some other. I thought giving him two years and $40 million and 30 guaranteed based on his history was pretty insane. Like to me, he felt like a one year, $7 million quarterback just to kind of get you through your year one as a coach. I do believe though they came in like I understood extending Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson's a starter on any team. You know, we've seen good wide receivers on shitty teams. It's hard to play when no one gets you the quarterback has or gets you. Quarterback gets you the ball. Sas Gardner. If you just ask people around the league or just watch football, to me is living off a reputation from several years ago and as a wise man told me in the league said, you know what changed last year, John? Why he had such a bad season, they started not allowing him to just commit pass interference every play. He is Not Deion Sanders or Reavis. In terms of a foot athlete, he is a long corner, like Richard Sherman. Well, Richard Sherman is a physical player, like a linebacker. One of the great hitting and tackling corners in league history. Sauce doesn't want to tackle and has elite ball skills. Sauce does not either. They gave him $100 million. Colin. They had never even coached him. So they came in, they had some sexy names, and now you're kind of stuck with a guy like that. Not making any plays does nothing for your team. It's not like he's a winning player and there's no court. Like, there's not a savior coming in this draft. It looks like you're an unwatchable team like that. That's when the Saints. They've been bad. I've watched the Saints three or four times.
Colin Cowherd
They're.
Dan
They're actually kind of entertaining.
Colin Cowherd
They're Rattler. It's kind of getting there.
Dan
Kellen Moore can call some plays. You're like, okay, listen, we're not that talented. At least our head coach bring something to the table. Aaron Glenn. I have a lot of respect for what he did last year with the Lions. I would say this about the jets, and I'd even throw the Raiders in there with my guy, Spy Tech and Pete Carroll. There are a couple franchises that are just hard to overcome. They've been taking down everyone for a long time now. And maybe these guys, you know, Brady and kind of that crew in Vegas. It is not an overnight fix. And there is an ethos and just like a culture that is permeated through the building, in the walls. And the jets and the Raiders, it's hard to shake because guys leave you. They excel. You bring guys in, they get worse. You bring incredible coaches or young energy. It still looks the same. And I'm watching the jets and the Raiders, and I just go, God, these teams are just. They're terrible. I mean, they feel like they have no hope. The rosters are bad. Yeah, I just. The Cowboys. I mean, when Dak Prescott's third looking like Tom Brady or paid Manning in his prime against you with no CD Lamb, I mean, that's. This is a pretty low point. I mean, I. And the Giants now feels like they're not very good again. You know, Dark gave him a little hope. It's like, God, the New York teams and the Yankees are getting killed. This is. You better hope Mike Brown coach up the Knicks.
Colin Cowherd
You know, it's interesting. The one franchise in New York that isn't impatient, that doesn't blow it up is the Yankees. It's also easily the most successful franchise and all they get is heat from their fans. And, you know, Cashman's been there 30 years. You know, I think eight years for Aaron Boone. But their take is, you know, the upstairs sets the lineup. It's analytics. The Yankees don't make moves. They're patient to a fault. The truth is, if Garrett Cole was healthy, they didn't have a chance to get, you know, to the American League Championship series. They just. I'm not sure they have the pitching. They've gotten really boxed in. Back to back games by Toronto, killed. Yeah. So, you know, New York is its own animal. 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. I want to talk about the Colts beat the Raiders. This was my favorite pick of the week. Got this one 40 to 6, Colts beat the Raiders. I will die on this hill. I think the Colts have a top six roster in the league. I love their offensive line. I think they have stars. I don't care if it's Pittman, Warren, Jonathan Taylor's outstanding. He just doesn't. He's not up. You know, Saquon Barkley is. You know, you get these running backs who stylistically, they pop. And Jonathan Taylor was always just a speed guy out of college. He wasn't shifty. He was like, oh, like track guy. Just, oh, behind that offensive line. I swear to God, John, like, it's just he three yards before he gets touched. I don't know what Pete Carroll's fascination. That's nine picks and six games for Geno in his last six games. I think it's something like that. Six touchdowns and nine picks this year. Six touchdowns, nine picks for Geno. That's. That is the Geno comeback story's over. It's the opposite of what Pete Carroll likes. He is so much about clean football. Run. Run the game, run the ball. I think the Raiders are just a big work in progress. When Colton Miller gets hurt o line, it's just one of the worst five in the league. But you look at the Colts, I mean, the Chiefs will probably beat the Jags tomorrow. I don't know. I look at the Colts like I look at Tampa. Now. Baker's better than Daniel Jones, but coaches who some people started doubting, you know, like Steichen with Anthony Richardson. Oh, Steichen's lost his magic. But that Tampa roster went healthy. That Colts roster, I know they're a middle of the country, flyover country. I think the Colts are good. I really do.
Dan
DJ Had a pass, a touchdown where he rolled out. And everyone's going to be, it's the Raiders. It's not about the opponent where he was just on the move. Guy in the back of the end zone, he split it through a defender. You know, I've always compared him to Alex Smith. He's got a better arm than Alex Smith.
Colin Cowherd
No question.
Dan
His arm actually is better than I thought. And sometimes it just takes you with a credible offense to really get to see that arm talent. It's pretty. You watch Baker and Sam, you're like, these guys can sling it. You watch a Daniel Jones In 2025, I would have said forever. He's got a average to below average arm. Like, his arm is more than strong enough. He's not Josh Allen, but it's.
He's.
He's heaving that thing in there.
Colin Cowherd
And I'm a big guy.
Dan
To me, the Warren pick looks fantastic. He has been easily one of the best rookies in the league. I mean, obviously the Raiders are bad, but I would say the Colts. I think the Colts can win a playoff game. I mean, I think the Colts can be a factor in the afc, especially now. It's definitely opening more up, right?
Colin Cowherd
They are the most efficient offense in the league. They went 8 for 10 on third down. So they become an incredibly efficient offense. John, they had the ball only 26 minutes. They scored 40 points. No offense in this league is more efficient. I know going into the Rams game, Daniel Jones is 20 of 29. So it's like we look at Baker and Sam, I mean, it's really the store. This year is the story of redemption. I mean, Baker leads his division. Sam's great. Daniel Jones, it's.
Dan
I do wonder if you got Shane Steichen over cocktails and Ballard if they knew like, when they truly was it a week into training camp, it's not even. This isn't even a close competition. Did they know before training camp just based on itas?
Colin Cowherd
I think they did. I think they did. I had. Listen, I was talking to Steve Keim about a year ago and we were out and I said, what do you make of Anthony Richardson? And Steve said, man, Colin, he said, you gotta be able to hit those layups in the flat. And he said, I looked at some of the film and he's like, if anybody can do it, Shane Steichen can fix it. But Kaim and I were talking about it and he just said, if you have to work on that stuff. If you're spending a lot of practice time on that stuff, it's really hard because generally with Baker, you're dealing with high end stuff. Baker solved all that stuff. With Baker, it can be concepts and defense. You're not worried about the layup stuff. And then I talked to somebody else, an active GM in the league, and he echoed what Steve Kaiman told me. It's just like, gosh, if you're struggling with the underneath stuff, you're spending a lot of time on that. You have to spend so much time on that to get that right. Well, then you're not. You're not really. That's elementary stuff in the league. You're not dealing with a second and third and fourth level stuff. You also can't call a game that you want to call in the NFL. I remember I got off the phone with this GM in the league, and my take was, well, God, if. If I don't trust a guy to throw it downfield, I can't call the same game. I just eliminated 35% of the playbook. So I think with Daniel Jones, you can use the whole playbook. That's the difference.
Dan
Isn't it crazy? You know, the redemption season, even watching Carson Wentz with Kevin o', Connell, it's like he actually doesn't look that terrible. You know, I mean, it's like this, it the power of some of these offensive coordinators that also, because what are usually offensive coordinators or head coaches have pretty good skilled guys around them, right? Kevin o', Connell, they got a pretty loaded roster. You know, Shane Steichen, they've invested some picks and some money into the offensive skill guys, right? You play for Shanahan, you play for McVeigh, you play for LaFleur. Like, they emphasize that side of the ball in terms of people, you know, the, the. The wide receivers, the running backs, the tight ends, These guys look a lot better than some of the franchise that failed them. I mean, you go back to the Giants, I mean, Daniel Jones was horrendous. I get asked a lot, like, is this going to. If Daniel Jones, I mean, is in the MVP conversation, this team wins 13 or 14 games, clear. The Giants aren't. What were they going to win five games? And listen, it was time for a breakup. I didn't blame them. It was not working. But this is one of those things like, oh, ultimately, Saquon Barkley is much better with a great offensive line. But if I'm, you know, the Giants ownership, I pay my head coach who's the play caller, I know he's kind of bounced around being the play caller, but he's an offensive guy to fix that position. And this guy, we had this guy. Hell, we paid this guy. And then he goes to another offensive coordinator as the head coach and looks like Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield. How's that possible? You know, how can that happen? This guy is going to get. I mean, Shane Psychic and Chris Ballard are going to get contract extensions, I would imagine, before the playoffs start. It's going that well.
Colin Cowherd
The other thing is. And we have, you know, it's the elephant in the room. There's been multiple reports that have surfaced the last couple of years. Chris Ballard in the front office, Jim Ursay had relapsed into some really problematic behavior. And this stuff, you know, I think Chris Ballard will never, Will never ever say it, maybe to his wife. There was, I think it was exhausting and energy sapping for the entire organization to deal with an owner who was beloved in the community, but was going through some really tumultuous personal times. And so, and I said this at the time when he passed away, two things can be true. You can love somebody and be brokenhearted, but you also think to yourself, it'll be a less chaotic organization upstairs. And I think Ballard's really good. I think Steichen's really good. I mean, the last several years, go look at the last two or three drafts. They've had great players in the first round fall to them. Like, remember the draft where everybody. I think Ballard got the first defensive player taken in the draft. The UCLA Edge, who was the best pass rusher in the league, fell to him like 15th. And he was laughing about it. They had a camera on him. He's like, we just got the best pass record. We didn't even move up. And then Warren is available. So I think my take is problems are always upstairs. Number one, the Athletic, the subscription service. About two weeks ago, I talked about it on my show. They had the best 10 front offices in the league based on GMs and coaches. And it might as well have been the top 10 teams in the league. Yeah, is the. This college football. This is why Belichick's struggling. College football is about talent, recruiting. If you can recruit, you can hide a lot of problems. The NFL is about upstairs. And a great scheming coach. Solid's a very good schemer. Suddenly Fred Warner and a bunch of dudes look great. And. And I, and I, and I. So I think if you have Ballard upstairs and Shane Steichen scheming and the coach and the quarterback is capable. You're going to win the AFC South. It's not a very good division.
Dan
Yeah. I also think, you know, everyone in the NFL goes through adversity. You get an injury, you know, something happens. How coaches I've saw get, you know, get sick, get cancer, who knows, all sorts of crazy stuff happens. I would say Andrew Luck randomly retiring when no one saw coming is one of the most traumatic events. Just like in life, there are certain things that are, that are easier to come back from. That event had ripple effects on the franchise for a long, long time and most teams could not have overcome that. And they've tried. They actually kind of, they have not been embarrassing, but they finally found like they've been band aiding it, Philip Rivers to Matt Ryan and they finally found a younger player. You know the thing with Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan, like it was over for those guys, right. And then they took this swing on Anthony Richardson who's just not a good player. Right?
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
Dan
So they got Daniel Jones who I, I think we're honestly on one of the great runs. I remember being around the Raiders, they talked about Jim Plunkett. I mean, one of the craziest redemption stories of all time, right? High pick, Heisman Trophy and then wins the Super Bowl. But that for a long period of time didn't really happen in the NFL. It was a lot of paid Mannings and Eli Mannings and Roethlisbergers like Philip Rivers. You were drafted high, Carson Palmer and you were good, you know, and if you stunk, you were just bad. And now we got these guys who were just really bad, went through crazy, who are just thriving. And we got these mid round to late round picks kicking ass and taking names. I mean, look at Mac Jones who just kind of all of a sudden this guy's terrible to just had one of the great Thursday night performances in league history. So it's just, it's a time, it's a great time to be a quarterback with some talent because you're going to get opportunity.
Colin Cowherd
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Snax
This is snacks from the Trap Nerds Podcast and we're bringing you the horror every week all October long.
Dan
Kicking off the this month I'll be bringing you all my greatest fear inducing horror games from Resident Evil to Solid Hill. Me and Tony bringing backfire team on Left 4 Dead 2 and we just gonna be going over some of the greats.
Snax
Also in October we'll be talking about our favorite horror and Halloween movies and figure out why black people always gotta die first.
Colin Cowherd
The Umbral reliquary invites any and all fool brave enough to peruse its many curiosities. But take it all sales are final. Weekly Horror side quests written and narrated by yours truly with a full episode read and a commentary special and we.
Snax
Will cap it off with Horror Movie Battle Royale. Jason versus Freddy, Michael Myers versus the Alien Thing with the Little Tongue Monster. October. We're doing it Halloween style. Listen to the Traverse Podcast from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
Dan
I'm Dan, he's Ty. Hello and we're the Solid Verbal College Football Podcast.
Tyler (Ty)
College football season is here and you know what that means.
Dan
Your team is going to break your heart three times probably before Halloween.
Colin Cowherd
Uh huh.
Tyler (Ty)
But fear not, the Solid Verbal will be right there with you through every soul crushing loss and impossible comeback.
Dan
Join us all season long, all year long as we ride the rollercoaster of this ridiculous sport.
Tyler (Ty)
Whether you're a diehard fan or a casual observer, we'll help you make sense of all the chaos and of course celebrate the madness. Tune in for previews, recaps, bits you won't hear anywhere else and all the emotional support you need as a college football fan.
Dan
We don't just love college football, Tyler, we live it.
Tyler (Ty)
Listen to the Solid Verbal college football podcasts on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Betrayal Weekly Host
Betrayal Weekly is back for season two with brand new stories. The detective comes driving up fast and just like screeches right in the parking lot. I swear I'm not crazy, but I.
Colin Cowherd
Think he poisoned me.
Betrayal Weekly Host
I feel trapped. My breathing changes.
Tyler (Ty)
More money, more money.
Colin Cowherd
More money.
Nicole Garcia
And I went white. I realized, wow, like, he is not a mentor. He's pretty much a monster.
Betrayal Weekly Host
New stories, new voices, and shocking manipulations. This didn't just happen to me. It happened to hundreds of other people. But these aren't just stories of destruction. They're stories of survival, of people picking up the pieces and daring to tell the truth. I'm going to tell my story and.
Dan
I'm going to hold my head up.
Betrayal Weekly Host
Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Colin Cowherd
By the way the Saints beat the Giants 2614 Jackson Darth 26 40, a couple hundred yards. Giants first two drives were really good and then, and I don't think I've ever seen this, they had five straight possessions with turnovers and the Saints went on a 23 on an unanswered point run. I wrote a couple things. Now, Malik Neighbors wasn't there. Tyrone Tracy, the running back for the Giants. So they're, they're not great to begin with. They didn't have a lot of their juice. And next week the Giants now play Thursday against the Eagles off a loss. So, you know, they're 1 in 4 is 1 in 5. But you know, I watched Spencer Rattler and I've been, I've been doing this this year. I've been watching because it's supposed to be a strong quarterback draft. We'll get into that. It's not as strong as we thought, but Rattler was good on third down 20 at 30. He's always had a nice arm. That's never been a question. He's. He. I don't know if it's a power arm, but it's a, it's a. I would say he's kind of an easy thrower, but I watched Spencer Rattler today and I'm not sure the Saints draft a quarterback. I'm not sure they do. What do you make of it?
Dan
Yeah, I mean, I mean they just drafted the guy that's like 40 years old, the rookie, and Spencer Rattler beat him out pretty easily, I would imagine. Easily. Listen, I've been, I've been really impressed with the Saints on offense, they are good. On offense, they are. It's defensively they don't have much talent and most weeks they have no chance to stop anybody. Like you said. I mean they caused five turnovers. Some of them are like punched out of scatter boo's hands. Like that's not happening most weeks. But their offense has not been the problem. I, I I, I, I don't think, Listen, I watched a lot of football on Saturday, most weeks like you do. I, I do not see a lot of saviors coming into the league next year. So I, who knows? I mean, I, this draft is pretty open. It doesn't feel even like that potent of a draft. So I think a lot of these quarterbacks that are on bad teams are going to continue to get to play. And if you need an answer at that spot, you're in some trouble because it, you know, you better hope to hit, you know, strike oil in the third or fourth round with one of these random guys. But for every Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy, most guys are like Tyler Schuck. They get drafted in the second, third round. You never see anything of them. The history of the league is not a bunch of third rounders thriving in the NFL.
Colin Cowherd
No, no, it's people, always. I've heard this before. Oh, it's such a coin flip. Not your best. Your best offensive tackles, your best defensive tackles, your best quarterbacks are all overwhelmingly first round guys. I mean, Jalen hurts, Drew Brees. There are occasional guys that drop to the top of the second. But, I mean, there's a reason we all know what round Tom Brady was drafted in. You know, there's a reason we know that Dak went in the fourth round. Like, there's a reason, because it didn't happen very often. You know, there's a couple of college things I wanted to talk about with you because again, I didn't think one of the downsides to the NFL being quarterback Reliant. If you don't have a quarterback, you're out of it by week five. I mean, the jets and the Giants are out of it. It's over. They're just, they can't compete. The other thing is when you have so many games, like, I think these dual Monday Night Football games are ridiculous. Nobody likes it. Well, it also takes another game out of the Sunday rotation. So, you know, again, if you'd have put Rams, Niners today in the late window, along with the Seahawks, Buccaneers, you'd have had one of the great late windows in recent memory. Right.
Dan
What's the business sense behind the doubleheader? Because they're clearly doing it. Are they just trying to. I don't get more people.
Colin Cowherd
Amazon just paid a billion dollars for very few games. So I get that. I understand Amazon. You want to get a streamer in, but it takes a really, they usually put a pretty good game up. So Amazon gives you that money. Amazon's like, we'll do it, but we want winning teams. Remember when they first started Thursdays, and the Thursday games, oh, mostly sucked, and then kind of quietly, Fox did it for about a year. Remember that? Fox did it for a very brief time, got outbid eventually by Amazon, but Fox did it for about a year and the games got better. And, you know, the reason I think it got better under Fox, this is my guess, is I watched the Fox schedule for about a year. I forget how long Fox had it. It wasn't very long, but you started seeing division matchups, which are easier because the teams don't have to travel as far and they're built in rivalries. So Ravens, Steeler or Bucks, Falcons. It's not as disruptive.
Dan
Rams 9ers.
Colin Cowherd
Right. So then the NFL looked at it and thought, you know, this. This whole thing we did on Fox, it kind of makes sense. Like, don't have multiple time zone differences on these short week games, which is how it started. And then Amazon's like, okay, we, like, we like the way you're doing it now, and we want more good games. So they're putting pretty interesting games. If you go to these Thursday games, there's always at least one star quarterback. So you take Matt Stafford out of Sunday. Well, okay, Matt Stafford's great. And, you know, then you do a dual Monday, okay, well, you take really good quarterbacks out of Sunday. So, I mean, today, I mean, there were three or four games I wanted to watch. And I mean, like. And there was a half of the lineup. I mean, Minnesota, Cleveland, you know, Cincinnati, Detroit, Arizona, Tennessee, either what was a mismatch or it's lopsided. So I don't like it at all. I thought Saturday was once again fascinating. So there was always this kind of feeling. The SEC would always say, hey, man, the reason this is such a great conference, anybody can beat anybody. Well, UCLA beat Penn State 42, 37. So I don't hear SEC fans saying, you know, they look at the Big Ten as weakness. Well, you used to always pat yourself on the back because the eight seed would beat the number two seed. And my takeaway was, I've always been a James Franklin supporter, but this is one of the things that makes the Big Ten tough. In the sec, everybody's in the same time zone. You're asking Oregon to go all the way cross country, and now you're asking Penn State to go all the way cross country. I watched Washington play Maryland. Washington was asleep in the first half, didn't wake up until the late third quarter and then the offense looked great, but they just got beat up by Ohio State. Had to travel 3,000 miles. And then I'm watching UCLA and Penn State. Penn State didn't wake up until midway through the third. You're asking these college kids, you're traveling cross country. You don't travel nearly as well as the NFL does. You don't stay in the kind of hotels, you don't bring in 26 trainers. I mean, the NFL now travels, John, as you know. I mean, it's like staying at the Ritz Carlton, going to a spa six hours a day. So I think what makes the Big Ten the problematic for these coastal teams is you're going to get some of these games in the middle of the season off a huge Oregon game. Penn State cross country was just. No Juice. That was my take on it.
Dan
Yeah, well, I think it's twofold. One, I think Penn State had treated that Oregon game like their Super Bowl. That was going to be a season defining game. Because if we beat this team, we finally get that, you know, kind of monkey off our back. We beat a top team who's not as good as they had been in theory because they're a much younger. We should win this game. It's at night and then they lose. So the way they had built the schedule leading into that game was a joke. Right. They were playing fiu, Nevada. And then they lose that game in dramatic fashion. Almost felt like they had checked out. So you show up long cross country against my guy, Tim Skipper, Fresno State guy that takes over for Deshaun Foster.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
Dan
Who's Tim Skipper's brother, is the running back coach for the Bills. His dad's a longtime NFL coach. Just going to bring them juice. Jerry Newheisel, who's been at UCLA as a player and a coach forever, they just kind of had a fuck it mentality. And they unleash Nico as a runner. And Penn State's just coming off this game that was their Super Bowl. Lost it and let's face it, no chance. They had a great week of practice. I don't believe that for a second, which I understand, because when you build something up, anything in life, young kid.
Colin Cowherd
With 22 year olds.
Dan
Yeah. So then all of a sudden they were down. If that game was six quarters, Penn State would have came back and won the game. Right. But they were down. And then all of a sudden their quarterback's pretty overrated. Right. I mean, that's. I mean, it wasn't his fault they lost the game.
Colin Cowherd
The defense was a Trust John there, there. When I watched Drew Aller, there's not a lot of juice to it. There's no. He doesn't have a lot of. He doesn't have great instincts. He's not inspiring. He doesn't have tons of energy. He's just a big, strong kid. But when I. That was a game where you sort of needed your quarterback. Say fellas, get on my back.
Dan
Nico was doing that. Nico was doing that. Running guys over. It was just a fan of football and I grew up actually a pretty big UCLA fan. But my cousin was a walk on there in the, in the late 90s and early 2000s. That had to be the coolest UCLA moment in football in 10, 15 years. Well, remember when they, Josh Rosen, beat A and M?
Colin Cowherd
Yep. Remember they came back at halftime. Similarly, not a lot of fans in the stands. And they beat Texas A and M and it was like 44, 41. It was just wild football game. But I don't know, I like James Franklin, but I think he's a great energy guy and a great recruiter.
Dan
But I think it's over after that moment. I mean, it's one thing to lose to Oregon, which it sucks because he's lost that game a lot. But you know, they lose in overtime. They're clearly right there. They were just in the final four. But you can't lose the UCLA as a 25. That, that is, you know, I think USC losing to Harbaugh and Stanford was more out of left field. Right. That was in the peak of the Harbaugh, the dynasty. Stanford was an embarrassment. I think they had just been 1 and 11 to Vita Pritchard. They were 40 point underdogs. This might even be crazier though because of the hype that was around this team. Even though they just lost Oregon. I mean, I didn't think maybe they would cover because it was 25 points. But if you said, what would you guess the score? 45 to 25 or something? Yeah, Colin. Penn State, Jim Knowles, the guy that they took from Ohio State, is the highest paid defensive coordinator in the country. That's what Penn State just paid the defensive coordinator to come. UCLA had scored 57 points to start the season. They just scored 42. They scored 57 points. Nico had become kind of a running joke. Like he left all this money at Tennessee to come to this bad program. And you talk about inspiring, like how many runs he's just running over guys. He looked like Cam Newton meets Lamar Jackson. He was. If he had played like that over the course early on against with ucla, they clearly would have been in more games. I mean, it was just. To me, there was the human element, too. I mean, I love Tim Skipper. I've known him forever. But seeing Rick Neuheisel who had coached at ucla, watching his son who had played there, and now, you know, as an assistant coach calling place, Jerry Neuheisel found out he was calling plays, like Tuesday night. You know, it's been very chaotic practices. Yeah, it's been very chaotic in that program. Just. I mean, the coaching staff probably includes like seven total coaches right now. What a. I mean, the Rose bowl, it feels like they've sold signage all over the place because they know people won't show up. The whole thing's boarded off. Remember those old Raider games and like 20 years ago that would used to be blacked out. They mount Davis was all tarped off. That's what the Rose bowl feels like. I. If buyouts did not exist, I would say if you told me James Franklin was fired this morning, I would have believed you. But obviously, the buyouts, the 50 million, it does feel like it's at the point in time, like, I saw someone comparing it to Calipari. You know, Calipari eventually just kind of leaves. You know, James Franklin is kind of like John Harbaugh. Like, if it's John Hart, no one thinks John Harbaugh. Or when people say it was a time for Mike Tomlin. These guys are bad coaches. You put James Franklin at one Florida, he'd be fine. He'd win. Is he Saban or Kirby? No, but, like, maybe it's just run its course. He's been there 12 years, and the resume speaks for itself. Last year was his opportunity. And Auer throws that ball across his body and they lose to Notre Dame or else they're in the national championship.
Colin Cowherd
Yep. Yeah. And I think the Calipari comp is. Is spot on, is that, you know, John could still coach, but when you're a diet, when you're a dominating recruiter, the expectations ramp up. Because that stuff's now so transparent. There's so many sites and fans get so worked up, the expectations ramp up. You know, Mark Few always told me that, because the great thing about Gonzaga, he goes, I can get our recruits. He goes, if I went to UCLA and I recruited the exact same class I did at Gonzaga, I'd get heat. And he goes, yeah, but that's our system. It works for our system and our players. And we keep getting to, you know, the tournament and winning games. You go to These big schools, fans pay attention to that recruiting and they go crazy when you get it and. But then you got to win all these games.
Dan
Chris Peterson's a great example. Right. The team he had at Boise, if he had at UCLA or he had at Washington, they would have loved it, but they would have hated the. They would have loved the team, but they would have hated the classes as the kids were coming.
Colin Cowherd
That's right.
Dan
They'd be like, Kellen Moore. We don't want this guy as our quarterback. We want Arch Manning.
Colin Cowherd
One more college topic. Florida beat Texas. Billy Napier. Every. Every time you think he's done, he pulls one out. They beat Texas and Arch Manning, 29, 21. So listen, they have four new offensive linemen at Texas. The pass protection's not great, but I got to tell you, I sat there and watch Arch Manning. He holds onto the ball way too long, and he doesn't have a great instinctive feel. When I watched him this weekend, there were a couple moments, John, where I thought the game was in his head. Like he like double pumped on stuff or he looked almost mechanical. He was afraid to take big shot down the field. And, you know, I don't want to be too harsh. I'm not sure Arch Manning, you know, there were some when he came out that said he went to a small school, he dominated average competition. But I've not really seen. I mean, he's got a great. He moves well, he's got the body, he's got the name. But there is something to be said about. He's still young, about. There's an it. You know, some guys just, they. You get them the ball and there's a confidence and there's an it. This. This Texas team, you know, Sark, for all the criticism, you know, he wins a lot of games. They're not a good football team now.
Dan
Well, I think if you go back 15, 20 years ago, a guy like Arch gets several seasons. I think in the day and age where you're paying so much money to individual players, I think his spots in major jeopardy in 2026. You just pay too much for the roster to leave it in the chance of. Seems like a good guy. Obviously, his uncles are legends. Like, this isn't Peyton or Eli's son. This is Cooper's. And if you removed. He threw a beautiful, like, deep bomb for a touchdown. You removed that play. I thought he was mostly atrocious yesterday.
Colin Cowherd
Yes. Yeah.
Dan
And this is. They played Florida, you know, they didn't just play, you know, Georgia or Bama. So they still A and M looks excellent. And you know, Elko is known now with Saban retiring right there with Kirby as like the best defensive coordinator in the, in the, in the country. So this could get even weirder. And it's like, well, the kind of a transition year. There are no transition years anymore at the top programs with the money. Ask Oregon. We're in a transition year. We bought it and we're moving and we plan on winning the net.
Colin Cowherd
They had to replace 11 offensive starters, Oregon, and they're great.
Dan
So to me, I would say, yeah, I would say Arch's position's in major jeopardy in 2026 because their mentality wouldn't you agree with the amount of money you're paying for a roster and a coaching staff? And the transfer portal now is to compete for national championships every single year. And you don't get like a three year Runway like out the Drew Aller experience that this is his third year, pretty rare. But by his second year, you know, they were in the, basically the final four. I don't know that Arch is getting a second year, you know, and I bet there would be some people that said, well, what if we had transitioned last year? I mean, there are people in Penn State saying we shouldn't have let the backup go to Missouri. We should have gone with that guy over Drew Aller. But these are the type questions you ask when you're at the top programs and you have access to all the sweet players, right? So if they go 8 and 4 and he continues to look like this, I just don't see him as a quarterback in 2026. I really don't. And that's just how this thing works. It's because you basically can cut a guy, slash, move on from a guy, force him out. Remember a couple years ago at Ohio State when they basically blamed it all on Kyle McCord? It's different because McCord's last name is not Manning. But again, this pretty cutthroat now. I mean, you hear these Lane Kiffin, it's become very transactional. You either get it done or you're done. And they're like, Kyle McCord. They blamed everything on Kyle McCord for losing to Michigan. Ironically, they lost to Michigan again. Now, granted that they won the national championship, Will Howard, but they just kind of force you out. It's not like Arch. Other people would want him, I'm sure, but he. His arm talent. There was a throw that Lagway made a deep bomb down the middle and you just went, God. The physical attributes on this kid are just are eye opening. And then you watch Arch, you know, you said he was a good runner. They ran a couple like quarterback powers for him. He's okay. I mean he's not Cam Newton or Lamar Jackson. So with athleticism, he can't just take over that way. He's like drew out. He can move a little bit, he can bust off some runs, but I wouldn't call him a runner. And then watching the arm, he misses a lot of layups too. That's, that's part of the problem. So the layups and Sark's getting guys open.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, Sark's always gotten guys open. And he not only misses layups. When you watch him, sometimes you're not quite sure he's got the right arm angle or the mechanics. Like some of it looks bad. It just doesn't look right. It's, it's, you know, again, Dante Moore can spin it, he can miss. And you're like, you know, like Sam Darnold could throw a pick and you still like the delivery, you like the velocity. Like I don't know, I just.
Dan
Well, if his name was Arch middle cough and he was just a five star normal quarterback, not famous last name. Is he benched right now?
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. All of our odds are presented by Hard Rock Bet, a new and great partner at the volume. Let's talk Monday Night Football. Kansas City minus three and a half at Jacksonville. So Jacksonville's probably the weakest home field advantage in the league. I don't trust them in big spots and Trevor Lawrence is always good for a bad pick. I think, I think I would take Kansas City in this. You know, it's one thing to say Kansas City just came off this impressive win over Baltimore, but we watched Baltimore get housed today at home by Houston. So I, I don't, I don't think it was a big win for Kansas City. I think by the third quarter, you know, they were on cruise control. But my takeaway is adding Xavier Worthy opens up the underneath routes for them. I think I'd probably take Kansas City to cover, but because they don't have a run game if they do lead, it is hard for Kansas City to eat the clock up and kind of just squeeze you to death, you know, which gives Jacksonville a chance for a backdoor cover. But their home field's not much of a home field. I'll take the Chiefs by a touchdown. What say you?
Dan
Yeah, I'm in complete agreement here. I think Kansas City's got a little. I mean, when you have the success they do almost like the Kevin Durant warriors, like they need extra motivation sometimes. It's not just the slow start kind of woke them up, but now the Chargers have all these injuries that they're not going to look the same. Missing their tackles.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, Chargers are a mess.
Dan
The Broncos are clearly still figuring it out. You got the Ravens now imploding. It's. You think Kansas City is losing sleep over Aaron Rodgers. So the afc, the Bills, they played them a million times. They beat them every time that mattered in the playoffs. They're not intimidated to go to Buffalo. I think Kansas City now looks at the afc, goes, God, we just win a couple games, we're right back in it. This is still our conference.
Colin Cowherd
I think Denver win helps the chief side. They watch that game and they're all in their hotel room tonight in Jacksonville going, guys, forget the Chargers and the Raiders. We got to keep up with Denver.
Dan
So here's the thing. Jacksonville's defense is clearly pretty good. Like that unit is solid. The Trevor Lawrence thing, I don't see. I wanted to believe a couple years ago, I'm completely out. You got Brian Thomas is having a weird year. He's banged up. Travis Hunter has been just like mia, just not really working out for what they give him. I. I just, I love spags in this spot against Trevor Lawrence. Liam Cohen's good offensive coordinator Trevor Lawrence, even last week against Robert Sala wasn't that good. To me, this got like a 20 to 10 type feel. Kind of ugly. That's how the Chiefs like to play.
Colin Cowherd
The volume.
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Tyler (Ty)
Hey, I'm Ty.
Dan
And I'm Dan.
Tyler (Ty)
And we're the Solid Verbal College Football podcast.
Dan
College football is pure chaos, and that's exactly why we love it.
Tyler (Ty)
The solid Verbal will keep you sane through all the madness.
Dan
We'll break down the big games and.
Tyler (Ty)
Storylines and of course, highlight the weird stuff.
Dan
The Solid Verbal is your home for everything. College football circumstances, serious, silly, and everything in between.
Tyler (Ty)
Listen to the Solid Verbal College Football podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Nicole Garcia
It may look different, but Native culture is alive. My name is Nicole Garcia and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges we aim to explore that culture.
Colin Cowherd
Somewhere along the way it turned into this full fledged award winning comic shop.
Nicole Garcia
That's Dr. Lee Francis IV who opened the first native comic book shop. Explore his story along with many other native stories on the show. Burn Sage, Burn Bridges. Listen to Burn Sage Burn bridges on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sarah Spain
Get fired up, y'.
Dan
All.
Sarah Spain
Season 2 of Good Game with Sarah Spain is underway. We just welcomed one of my favorite people, an incomparable soccer icon, Megan Rapinoe to the show and we had a blast. Take a listen. Sue and I were like riding the lime bikes the other day and we're.
Colin Cowherd
Like, wee people ride bikes because it's fun.
Sarah Spain
We got more incredible guests like Megan in store, plus news of the day and more. So make sure you listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network. This is an iHeart podcast.
Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Colin Cowherd, with guest Dan (John Middlekauff)
Podcast: The Colin Cowherd Podcast, from iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
This episode centers on a high-scoring NFL Sunday featuring dramatic quarterback redemption stories (notably Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold), the Philadelphia Eagles’ ongoing offensive woes, the Dallas Cowboys’ resurgence behind Dak Prescott, and the under-the-radar strength of the Indianapolis Colts. The conversation also dips into college football upsets and quarterback prospects, with thoughtful commentary on the importance of coaching, front office culture, and the evolving landscape of the sport.
[02:18-11:47]
Game Recap: Tampa Bay beats Seattle 38-35 in a thrilling, offensive shootout, punctuated by a walk-off field goal.
Quarterback Redemption: Both Baker and Darnold are highlighted as examples of failed first stops (Jets, Browns) finding success in the right systems.
Receivers and Team-Building: In-depth praise for rookie WRs like Emeka Egbuka (Tampa) and JSN (Seattle), emphasizing work ethic and schematic fit over "freak" traits.
Coaching Impact: Todd Bowles is lauded for defensive playcalling, particularly on the game-winning blitz, as well as for rebuilding his image post-Jets.
Roster Construction: Both GMs (Tampa Bay’s Jason Licht and Seattle’s John Schneider) receive considerable praise for drafting well and developing balanced teams.
Memorable Quote:
“If these two met in the NFC championship, I wouldn't be shocked. I mean, it's an offensive league... I don't think tonight was a mirage. I think those are really good quarterbacks and really good teams full of excellent young players.” – Colin Cowherd (03:40)
[15:15-27:58]
[33:07-40:40]
[40:40-51:59]
[55:58-59:27]
[59:27-74:24]
[74:33-77:14]
| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | | --- | ----- | --- | | 03:40 | "If these two met in the NFC championship, I wouldn't be shocked. I mean, it's an offensive league... I don't think tonight was a mirage. I think those are really good quarterbacks and really good teams full of excellent young players." | Colin Cowherd | | 04:41 | "Watching these two guys that have clearly resurrected their career now for a couple years, that was awesome." | Dan | | 08:08 | "Look at the best receivers right now in the league... It's a lot of guys that are talented, but you'd view them as classic overachievers." | Colin Cowherd | | 17:44 | "They are incapable of playing a full solid game of offense. They're either really impressive or awful. There's no in-between." | Colin Cowherd | | 34:29 | "Dak's having his best year as a pro because he's having to carry a team... Without CeeDee Lamb, John, I'm not sure they have a definitive number two... Right now, Dak’s worth his contract. He’s worth it." | Colin Cowherd | | 49:09 | "Problems are always upstairs... If you have Ballard upstairs and Shane Steichen scheming... you're going to win the AFC South." | Colin Cowherd | | 57:11 | "Their offense has not been the problem…" | Dan | | 62:15 | "You’re asking these college kids, you’re traveling cross country. You don’t travel nearly as well as the NFL does." | Colin Cowherd | | 70:29 | "I sat there and watched Arch Manning... there were a couple moments where I thought the game was in his head... He looked almost mechanical." | Colin Cowherd |
The episode mixes Cowherd’s signature blend of sharp analysis, big-picture comparisons, and “story of the league” narratives, enriched by Dan’s granular roster details, coaching know-how, and personal anecdotes. There’s a sense of seasoned perspective paired with a willingness to credit both “hard work over hype” and “organizational culture over raw talent.”