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Colin Cowherd
This is an iHeart podcast.
Chris Collinsworth
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Chris Collinsworth
The Volume Kenneth Walker is the Louisiana Hot Sauce player of the week. 135 rushing yards Seattle 2913 Walker the first running back to be named MVP since terrell Davis in 1998. How great is that? The original Louisiana Hot Sauce. The perfect balance of peppers and vinegars and salt. Put it on wings and tacos and burgers. Hit any tailgate food. The original Louisiana Hot Sauce. That's Louisiana Hot Bayou Some. All right, this is an emotional one for me, John. This is an emotional one. I was sitting there with my guys all night. We were just cracking jokes about am I going to lose it? Am I going to start crying? 29:13Sam Darnold Darnold didn't make any mistakes. Walker ate up the clock and got the yards. Myers with a field goals in the scoring I thought New England could move the ball a little bit through the air. I didn't know if they'd run the ball. Are you surprised? It was, I mean, one of the real blowouts in Super Bowl 25 year recent history.
Colin Cowherd
I think when you have a bad offensive line and, you know, you play all these teams now in the playoffs, have good front fours. We've seen New England play Houston. They were barely winning that game. If it wasn't for CJ Stroud last week, it was hard to tell because of the blizzard or two weeks ago. Seattle just manhandled their front. And if you have a bad offensive line in a game against a team with a good pass rush, it feels like you're not really trying. It's like watching a baseball team that strikes out 15 times in a game. It's like they're trying. They're just not making any contact. You got no chance. I mean, they had no. Because here's the thing with Seattle. You're not going to run for 100 plus yards on them. So you have to throw. And they have a left tackle who I think when the dust settles, probably going to end up playing guard.
Chris Collinsworth
That's what we thought.
Colin Cowherd
So it's like you put them out there and they're just getting pressure. And then McDonald, who, let's face it, is kind of like an offensive wizard, just happens to be on the defensive side of the ball. I thought three quarters through the game, he. You could give him the MVP as a coach and a play caller ever won the MVP could have given it to Mike McDonald's.
Chris Collinsworth
I thought Kyle Shanahan. Coaches twice said things in this game. Kyle Shanahan in the pregame show said, if Sam Darnold and Seattle don't turn it over, they have a chance to blow New England out. And that was. You don't hear coaches say that about other operations. I mean, Kyle said very. I mean, Kyle knows. He's seen the film. Kyle's like, they have a chance to blow him out. Meaning Kyle and McVay and those guys, they thought the super bowl was the NFC Championship. And then Mike Vrabel at half, when they asked him, I know Mike well enough. You've seen Mike enough. Mike Vrabel knew at halftime. John. I don't know if you remember the interview. Yeah, but they were asking him and he was just like, listen. You know, it was almost kind of acknowledging. That's why they were so damn aggressive in the first quarter. They needed Sam. They were trying to speed Sam up. They needed Sam to Make a big mistake. I think Vrabel knew they were going to struggle to move the football. He went hyper aggressive on the early blitzing and coverages. And like, to the point, you're like, man, if they, if Seattle hits on one of these, what they were trying to do is speed up Sam. That's when Sam can get reckless. But the story arc for Sam Darnold's fascinating because Johnny starts out as this wildly talented kid who's reckless. Then he becomes this kid that finally gets opportunities, can still be reckless, but you get all the upside. And now he proves against the Rams and against the Patriots, he can be the world's best game manager, not make mistakes, throw it away, hit on a couple of big throws, use his legs once or twice. He was basically asked the last two weeks, especially in this one, just don't make a big mistake. Don't, don't, don't make a big mistake. You talked about this two weeks ago. He doesn't make. He takes sacks. There was one here with about two minutes left in the game. He just sat down. He's like, I. He wouldn't have done that five years ago. He would have tried to make something out of it. And so it's like the story arc is complete. When you get the right coaching young people, once you're 35 as a quarterback, you are what you are. But for a young quarterback, 25, 26, 27, like, those are the years you're. You're malleable. You can be taught stuff. And between Sam's upside and now his ability to not. I mean, he did against the Rams, but, like, not get regularly reckless. He feels like a top 10 quarterback to me.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I mean, doesn't it show you too, that, you know, I saw McCaffrey on your show and I think we forget because that Carolina is so forgettable. He's like, you know, the most probably powerful thing that Sam brought to the table was his attitude. You know, he. You've never heard a bad word uttered about him. And he has seen some dark times in his career, you know, and he kept a positive attitude and he kind of just kept his head down, was a good guy and just kept swinging. And then the dam really broke last year and this situation, I mean, Minnesota's defense was good. It's not this. I mean, he's on a team. I don't know all their contract status, but pretty sure a lot of these guys are coming back. Like, Seattle's not going anywhere. Their coaches a star now. They are going to have to Replace the offensive coordinator. But I would be stunned, wouldn't you? If they don't keep. The same offense implemented this Kubiak Shanahan, which his skill set fits perfectly. And now if he's going to be a good decision maker. He went through that little, you know, mid season spell where he's turning the ball over. I feel like he hasn't turned the ball over in a long time. You know, you go back to that Rams Thursday night game, he's kind of played flawlessly at the highest level of being a game manager. You know, the problem for Alex Smith as a game manager or some of those type guys, Jimmy Garoppolo, they didn't have the skill set.
Chris Collinsworth
He, that's right.
Colin Cowherd
He missed Shahid on the deep ball. His skill set, his arm strength. Fred Warner said it on the pregame. He's like, this guy can rip it. Even Kyle Shanahan said on the pregame, we got too much credit. We just put him in a situation. He had the skill set. We just kind of built up his confidence. But he took it and ran with it. And props to him. What a cool, what an awesome, genuine story. We don't get enough of those anymore.
Chris Collinsworth
Sam Darnold in the playoffs, five touchdowns, no picks, 700 total yards, 102 passer rating and a Lombardi Trophy. That is more super bowls than the four teams that let him go over the last 32 years. You know, and like I get San Francisco, they had Brock Purdy, they weren't paying him anything.
Colin Cowherd
They wanted to keep him. He just got 10 million from Minnesota and they couldn't pay a backup 10 million.
Chris Collinsworth
What are you going to do? No, it's, I mean, a lot of people have said, you know, Colin, you, you. I mean, it was 19 nothing at one point in this game when he had A.J. barner. And I'm thinking, because I, I thought it would be low scoring and I thought New England, I thought the first half looked like. I thought the game would look. That's, that's what I thought the game would look like the first half. But I thought New England would move the ball enough, John, that their defense wouldn't get tired. I felt in the second half, in that third quarter, you could feel New England's defense didn't tackle as well. See it like it's. Darnold had like an extra second, an extra beat to throw. It's like, okay, that's your, you know, I mean, at one point you had like seven completions. Drake made late in the game. Like they Just until he hit those back to back ones. The Matt Holland So I, I thought Chris Collins were said something at the start of the second half and again you're working for NBC, you don't want to say this out loud but Chris Collins were to his credit just said Drake May's not ready. He's just not there. He's not. And think about this. Matt Stafford against the Seahawks the last time they played in Seattle. 374 yards, three touchdowns, over 20 completions. And that's the difference between this is what I talked about between Matt Stafford and Drake May one Stafford knows the why every time he walks up to the line. Drake May doesn't know the what yet. He didn't really figure out Seattle until the very end. But a lot of that was Seattle was in a more prevent defense. They weren't as aggressive. Collins were said this, they were getting pressure with four. So I think, I think New England, you and I had said New England's the strange team. I'm not sure if this has ever happened before they got to a Super Bowl, John. I still think they're in a rebuild. I mean I think their offensive line, they need another tight end, another receiver. I think they need two more offensive linemen. I think Will Campbell gets moved inside. They draft a left tackle. I think New England's still in a rebuild. Offensively.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, New England's going to be fine. Like think about, you know, that first series of the game for Seattle on offense. It felt like Sam Darnold could have thrown a couple picks. They were kind of squatting on some of the out routes. Yep. And it was like whoa, is, is this going to be. And it felt like he wasn't quite comfortable. Well what does he have going for him? You know, eight years of experience, he's seen the lows, pretty unfazed, got better as the game went on. Use the Drake May thing. He was completely rattled. And this is a defense and a defensive coordinator that can really rattle you. Use the Stafford example. I think Brady talked about this in his 40s. Like the game's never been easier. I've never been smarter. I, I've never, I. There's nothing I haven't seen. Peyton Manning won a Super Bowl. He couldn't throw Drake. What does Drake make? He's had one season of playing high level football. He played at North Carolina and his rookie year was, I mean they were awful. Right. They drafted fourth. This is the first time he's played in games that has mattered. It does feel a little bit like Some historic quarterbacks that. It's like this was his first kind of, I. I would say, playing in the big leagues. And it went really well. They made it to the freaking super bowl. And he was completely overwhelmed because Josh has proven like, do I think Josh had a bad game plan? I mean, Josh has coached enough Super Bowls. I mean, they've lost Super Bowls where Brady threw for 500 yards. Right. Against the Eagles. So I think this was a quarterback being a little over an offensive line. You have. If you can't block people, whether it's a regular season game, whether it's a Super bowl, whether it's a playoff game, you're in major trouble. They couldn't block Houston. It just happened. CJ Stroud played like me or you. You know, if he's. Shanahan said this. He said there were two super bowl defenses and he. The Niners played Houston. They could win the super bowl as long as the special teams and offense just didn't screw it up. Seattle and Houston. Well, the offense for Houston screwed it up. You know, Seattle, their special teams has Myers missed a kick this year. I mean, I feel like every game I watch, he's splitting the uprights. Their special teams is just fantastic. They didn't even need it tonight. And it's defensively, you're playing a young core that was a mismatch of personnel versus a young quarterback in an offensive line that just isn't. Isn't super bowl caliber.
Chris Collinsworth
Yeah. I don't know how many people are taping this, by the way. I was going to say show a show of hands to people taping it. I thought for me, I loved the first half. Like, I. You're taping this, right? And we have like four other people taping this right now. Is that we have.
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
Chris Collinsworth
I was thinking about that. I thought that my wife said at halftime she goes, this game is boring. And I'm like, no, this is. This game is exactly what this game has to be for New England to win. Like, people may have thought it's boring, but I'm like, New England was not going to drop 20. If I told you the score right now, 29, 13, you know who won the game. Like, there was only one way. And I think Collins were said it before. For New England to win, Drake May has to play really well. Sam Darnold just had to avoid turnovers. Drake May had to make six or eight great throws in this game to win. Donald just didn't need to pick six. And that was the difference going into the game. Now I again, I thought, I thought it was really going to be played within 30s. And it was for the first half. But I mean they held it in the first half. JSN had one catch for four yards. I will say this great players play great in big games. Kenneth Walker, amazing. Darnold, very solid. Weatherspoon was amazing. Christian Gonzalez for New England kept that thing from being a blowout in the first half. Like he was sensational. But when you watch Seattle, like I was thinking about during this game, I'm like, new England will be fine. I mean, Darnold's got two more years on this deal. Very young. I mean, Leonard Williams is one of the expensive older guys. They have a first, second, third. I think a couple of six. I was even. I was thinking about. John, what do they draft? They probably draft a receiver, skill guys, I would guess. I mean they've got three backs. Two they like, they both kind of get banged up. Seattle's in that weird space. John, I don't think they have a need. I think, I think they need another receiver. You know, office at jsn, I don't know if they'd waste another. Not waste, but use another. First round picking a receiver. They did with jsn, but it's very rare when you see a team and they don't have a lot of free agents. They're really young. I mean, this is what Green Bay has been for the last three years. But Green Bay had to go and make a trade for Micah Parsons. Seattle just went and found DeMarcus Lawrence. Like, I'm not sure what Seattle's hole is. Tell me another team in the league. The Rams are the second best team. We don't love their special teams or their corners. I'm not, I'm not sure what Seattle needs in the first three picks. What do they need?
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, to me, I think you just keep doubling down on the defensive line. You know, Lawrence and Leonard Williams are older players, they're not cheap. So I think you can never have enough defensive linemen. I mean, think about their secondary. Colin, it's all even worry. And Witherspoon are young players and kind of the heartbeat of the operation. Pretty sure Ernest Jones is under contract. How about John Schneider when he made the Russell Wilson trade and Denver bottomed out and they got the fifth overall pick. Not that he wasn't a high level prospect, but it was like, damn, he's going to take Witherspoon fifth overall. I mean, what did he look like Ronnie Locke tonight? I mean, guy coming off the edge his closing speed, I mean, he was fantastic. You can go skill guys, but look at Schneider's history as a gm. Skill guys. DK Metcalf, second round. Where was Lockett drafted? Middle of the draft. Back when they got Marshawn lynch, they got him for a fourth round pick. They have found value on offense historically with, with skilled players. So I mean they have nailed premium positions. The guard this year, defensive lineman in the past, you know, powerful secondary players, they've drafted high, even warriors. Second round pick. Witherspoon was a fifth overall pick. So if I'm a Seattle fan, I have so much faith in the operation. Do you know what I was thinking? You know, he, he kind of cut his teeth with Green Bay Packers. When you can maintain winning with different coaches and different quarterbacks. Yeah, you are. They're kind of like the Coastal packers. You know, the Ravens have proven they can win with different coaches and different GMs, different quarterbacks. Philly has proven that over the years. Now different coaches, different personnel people. Seattle just is a high functioning, high level American team sports organization now.
Chris Collinsworth
And it also proves Seattle, you can argue, has three of the top five coaches, not Seattle. The NFC west has three of the top five coaches in the NFL.
Colin Cowherd
I mean, if we ran a draft from scratch, I think all three guys are going in the top five.
Chris Collinsworth
Right.
Colin Cowherd
Especially if you factor in age, you know.
Chris Collinsworth
Oh, if you factor in age, you may get the top five. Sure.
Colin Cowherd
And I think that's what, you know, we've. Listen, I grew up around the Niners. Bill Walsh, Shanahan, Holmgren, they all came from that world. There's something pretty special about a genius defensive guy. And historically Bill has been known as the greatest one. But he was just, he was easy to hate. He's just so angry and such a curmudgeon. This guy seems pretty likable. You know, he kind of feels like his classic 38, 39 year old millennial. Just kind of a good guy, just easygoing. Like I, I've never heard anyone say a bad word about like the way he treats people. Just they seem like they got a pretty, pretty good thing going with Mike McDonald right now. Colin.
Chris Collinsworth
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Chris Collinsworth
All right, two truths and a lie. Here we go. I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwain. I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars, and I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years. Okay, I lied. All three are true. Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your ATT or T mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T mobile builder, Local Verizon store today, get a better deal, then start saving based on root metrics. Best overall Mobile Network Performance U.S. second half 2025. All rights reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. Reggie, I just sold my car online. Let's go, Grandpa. Wait, you did?
Colin Cowherd
Yep.
Chris Collinsworth
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Stugatz
Stugatz here I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have brought it here to Ivar. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stugats Co. Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls.
Colin Cowherd
I love you guys show. It's one of my favorites.
Stugatz
A lot of interaction. Guys not taking themselves too serious seriously. Those are just some of the things that you can expect from Stugouts Co. And Stugots Co. Live. So listen to Stegotson Co. Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stugots Co. And God bless football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.
Chris Collinsworth
No, I mean, I have a couple people really close to John Snyder and I've. I've Texted John a few times. I'm. I'm. You know, you've interviewed John is. John is a really big believer. They were talking tonight about what John drafts John Snyder, the Seahawks gm. And he said, like, when you get a coach, it's a marriage. Somebody's got to share the same vision, the same values. So much in the NFL is collaboration. Bill Belichick's kind of way of doing it wasn't collaborative. That was not his generation. Belichick, that he doesn't work that way. Nick Saban in college, it wasn't much about collaboration, although Nick was better than Bill. This modern era, players make more money. Players have some power. Not NBA level or baseball. But I also think the reality is people are bigger and faster and stronger. Like, football is a sport with a regulated level of violence, like hockey. When you play football, John, you can get paralyzed. You can get hurt, seriously. And so there's a humility built into the sport. You can never get too cocky. I don't care if you're the size of Gronk, if you're the. You know, if you're an athlete like Christian Gonzalez, he gets banged up all the time. There's something. The reason it's so easy to accept Sam Darnold, if you're a Seattle Seahawk, is everybody knows you could have been drafted to the jets, you could have gone to the Saints, you could have gone to the Bengals. I always feel like in football, there's this understanding that, like, a guy will make a mistake in a game and people will run over and, like, put their arm around him in football. Like, you don't see that necessarily in other sports, that level. And I think a lot of it is. Football's hard, John. Football practice is hard. And that's what makes Sam Darnold's story so redemptive. And it's like, he hit the bottom. I mean, your first team may go poorly. He hit the bottom. He was like, I see ghosts, like a meme. And I think Sam Darnold is one of. In my life, in my lifetime of football is honestly one of the great quarterback stories ever of redemption of what football's about. I mean, there's so many. There's so many messages in Sam Darnold, like, keep your head up. Life isn't linear. You're going to fail. It's how you react, not act. I know people will say this is a boring super bowl, but there's just not a lot of stories in the history of football better than Sam Darnold in terms of Quarterbacks being buried, bad organization. You know, it's. I, I just, I, it's. I just was so damn happy for him, I guess.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I mean just a very genuine moment. I mean for a guy that he was a linebacker coming into college, right. He played linebacker and quarterback. And I saw our guy, Ty Dunn had a, had a Q and a with John Schneider this week. And the one thing John said is like we just looked at him like a football player, former linebacker. The toughness, the humility. Like you would get in a guard, right. Or a linebacker. Because at any moment you get to. Whenever you hear an old NBA player or an NFL player telling a story, they always talk about the time so and so humbled them on the field where they just got destroyed by a guy. Because at any moment, it's why, you know, you can't really tank in football. You want a half asset football game, you will get injured. And there was. Listen, most guys in Sam Darnold's category, once they failed that much, let's face it, fail forever. Or just become a backup and kind of become irrelevant. I mean, how many guys of his generation that just became backups? Mario is a good example. Star college player, Heisman Trophy. I mean it's part of the rise of the dominance of Oregon. He's been a lock backup now for what feels like a decade. You know, it's just what you, there's nothing wrong with that. You know, you look up, Mariota will have made $100 million the rest of his life. He'll have played in the NFL, tell people for 14 years. I mean, Sam Darnold's a Super bowl champion. And this wasn't, you know, we had the Dilfers and the Brad Johnson's that that was not the case with this. And even coming into this, when you have a year where you throw 35 touchdowns on a team that won 14 games, like that's honestly that that momentum of last year I think kind of validated the realness behind the player. Like this wasn't just a guy dinking. This wasn't Jimmy Garoppolo.
Chris Collinsworth
No, right.
Colin Cowherd
Even though he had moments where that's all they needed. Just manage the game, don't turn the ball over. And he didn't. But yeah, I mean it was what a, what a cool story. I mean you couldn't make it up. People wouldn't have believed you three or four years ago coming in that Sam Darnold's the star quarterback on a team that just won the Super Bowl. And I would imagine when we look at the odds they're going to be near the top coming into 2026.
Chris Collinsworth
I would think the Rams would be number one and the Seahawks would be number one or number two. It will go. I mean Stafford and McVeigh have such power and you know, they're revered kind of in NFL circles. Stafford's going to get more money. So the Rams are going to have to hit on some draft picks and they have two and it's not a quarterback draft. So I mean Rams are going to address corner.
Colin Cowherd
Probably the thing you see though, and the one thing that Sam has and that most quarterbacks have now, it is difficult. And I know Stafford just had an excellent NFC championship. When you can't move at all in the way the game is played now, it becomes a challenge. I mean how many plays tonight did Sam just maneuver just to keep a play alive even in completions? Matt, who he once I wouldn't call a great athlete, but he was a good, remember Detroit. He could really move around. He is now Eli Manning or something.
Chris Collinsworth
You know what I noticed about standpoint, what I moved about noticed about Stafford tonight? Excuse me. What I noticed about Darnold tonight. His in pocket movement is better than Drake. May's in pocket movement. May. May beat Sam in a foot race now in terms of movement, but May drops back and he kind of stays where he's at. He because he doesn't have a feel for the pro pocket yet. Sam multiple times tonight moved within the pocket. That just comes from years of practice and game snaps. Darnold now, I mean think about this. Darnold had multiple times in that first half. You're like he's even Collinsworth said they should probably diagram runs for these quarterbacks. They can't move the ball. Darnold now doesn't really run well. I mean I've watched every Seahawk game.
Colin Cowherd
He'll.
Chris Collinsworth
He'll take off about twice a game. May about six times a game. And a lot of that's because May can't read the defense like Darnold. He's just too young. And Seattle's got JSN who's usually open. But I mean a lot of Darnold's growth is he just hangs. He not only throws fewer picks, but he hangs in the pocket and moves better to buy time. That was always Brady's strength is side to side movement. Darnold does that very well now.
Colin Cowherd
Part of the seeing ghost, I think a lot of people thought it's just that he didn't know where to look that he would see things that weren't actually there. It's also when you're getting hit a lot, you start freaking out and seeing things that aren't there. So you run into sacks. And tonight you saw that with Drake May the pot. He was not very comfortable in the first half.
Chris Collinsworth
Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
And that led to very, very inaccurate throws. That Collinsworth a couple times, like that's kind of a layup throw in the NFL. He's got to make. And I think once you start hitting a quarterback on top of. Clearly Mike's moving people around on the back end. He had no clue what was going on, which is very understandable. This guy didn't train with Nick Saban in college. Guy played at North Carolina. I mean, a lot of these quarterbacks. Part of the reason that drives me nuts about C.J. stroud is like, you come from Ohio State. Like you've played in some bright lights games. Like you. I understand the NFL is a different level, but you just need to calm down a little bit. Drake just North Carolina, Boston College is not preparing you for these NFL players.
Chris Collinsworth
There was a point where he had. Drake May had eight drives, eight punts and seven completions. And I bet you my guess is Mike Vrabel, if he has a moment with him, John, if Mike Bravel has 15 seconds with Drake May that nobody hears, he's going to put his arm around him and said, kid, you probably played the best defense in this league and certainly the best team in the last eight to 10 years in the NFL. I mean, I would argue you could say, oh, Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts is not right now as consistent in this pocket as Sam Darnold. He's not. He struggles to see over the field. Sam throws over the middle of the field a lot. And I, I think I can see Vrabel just saying, kid, yeah, nobody was winning today. We could. I mean, I just think that you, you know, the first thing you saw, and I think you saw the same thing, first drive, you're like, oh, Will Campbell is a guard. He. He can't block. He's going to get eaten alive. Whereas you saw that versus Houston. But Houston's offense, they can't run the ball. They're not as consistent. So it's like very first drive, I'm like, okay, this is what I talked about last week on Fox. Like, this was my concern. Like, they, they're not going to be able to run the ball that I knew. They, they're not all the numbers. Told you they would run the ball. I'm like, okay, Three strap drop, get it out. And I'm like, oh, they, they may not be able to do that much.
Colin Cowherd
One thing too is when you look at Will Campbell, his body doesn't exactly look like he's Lane Johnson or Trent Williams. And while he can work on that in the strength room over the course of the next couple of years, as a young player, Howard Mudd, the late, great Howard Mudd, the offensive line coach, taught me something that I never forgot. He says functional strength, like you can add 100 pounds to your squat or your bench. Your functional strength typically as a college player, definitely as like an early, maybe a rookie doesn't. You don't look 10 years and a guy that was weak is now strong like Trent Williams. Your strength is kind of your strength. And you're watching him, you go, he's not powerful. And in three years he's not going to just be stoning guys on the edge. And clearly the length. And you can't have the weakness at left tackle in this NFL. How many teams now, Colin have multiple big time pass rushers. Even if your best pass rushers are defensive tackles. Remember when Aaron Donald was kind of like, you know, they didn't have a great defensive line, but they had him. If you had a weak right tackle or left tackle, they would put him on the edge. So they will find your weakness and just expose it. These pass rushers move to right, to left. They don't stay on a side. They, they will just attack him over and over. And they were. And then he starts bringing corner and safety blitzes the other side. And Drake May got all frazzled. Now I'm not anti Drake May at all. I think there are some parallels. If. Did you watch the Elway doc on Netflix? I haven't seen it yet if you haven't watched it. But in there is that game where they got blown out by the 49ers like 55 to 10 in the super bowl. And John's like, looking back, we had no chance. They were way better. But he's like, I made it worse as a. I started freaking out and forcing things. And that's what it looked like a little bit with Drake. They're overwhelmed and he kind of starts getting frazzled and forcing things. And it kind of got worse because beside the two passes to Mac Hollins, it was horrendous offensive football, right? It was really bad. He threw obviously a pick on a couple drives later he could have easily thrown another pick on that jump ball into like triple coverage where even Collinsworth was like God, it looked like they were, they were fair catching the ball. I mean, it was just. He's had an excellent season. I think we got the right guy. Won the mvp. Like Stafford belonged as the mvp.
Chris Collinsworth
Especially when you, Kenneth Walker, won the MVP here, by the way.
Colin Cowherd
Oh, in the deserved. Yeah, you could have given. I thought you could have given to the kicker, but you could have given to Mike McDonald as well. I listen, Drake May, we might look back on a couple years and he goes, listen, it's the best thing that ever happened to me. A lot of great quarterbacks asked. Peyton Manning got his ass kicked for years in the playoffs.
Chris Collinsworth
Think about this. The Legion of Boom, you know, humiliated Peyton Manning in the super bowl. But I think they only had one sack in that game. If I recall, this team had seven sacks and felt like 20. It was. I mean, Drake May, I mean, there's a difference between the pocket being muddy and the pocket being quicksand. Like there were times he was throwing the ball and it was like the difference between me and somebody sitting next to me in this chair.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
Chris Collinsworth
I just don't think, I mean, I don't think there's. I mean, obviously if you had a more veteran quarterback. But I said it this week, I said, just look at Matt Stafford. I mean, his family, the kids, like he's an adult. You can't be president until you're 35. Like, Matt Stafford has more fourth quarter comebacks in his career for wins than Drake May has starts. And there is something to be said. Like you saw in this game, Drake May got nervous. Matt Stafford doesn't get nervous. Like again, when I said the mvp, and I don't know if it was Mina Kimes or somebody was arguing it. And there's a lot of stats. It's like, it's not about just stats. I mean, first of all, Drake May didn't have as many big plays. Big, big throws, they call it. Had more mistakes. But beyond that, when Drake May goes to the line of scrimmage, he's not all. How many times in this game did you see him audible out of plays? I don't recall one. Not a single one. Whereas Stafford does it. I mean, and when you're audible, audibleing out of a play, you're audibleing out of a Sean McVeigh call. And he does it four or five times in games. So, I mean, what Drake May struggled with tonight, I don't think anybody, I don't care. I mean, Andrew Luck, I think had nine different games with three picks. Andrew Luck like, couldn't memorize a phone book in two afternoons. Drake May wasn't born, wasn't ready for this moment. That's why I kept saying Drake May was 1 in 7 going into this game when he has to throw 35 or more. If New England couldn't run like they had to play great defense and they did for a half. They were really good for a half. But he's just. He's not ready for this moment.
Colin Cowherd
I thought watching as their offense could just sputter series after the guy who's got to be sick to his stomach is Josh Allen and the Bills. And the reason they cried after that, that Bronco game is I'm not saying they beat Seattle, but you'd be hard pressed if you're sitting with Josh Allen watching this game going, that's the team that represent. It's one thing when it was Mahomes, right? I mean Kyle Shanahan watching Seattle win it, he's like, shit. I mean we would have loved to run into this Patriot team in one of these Super Bowls. We're running to Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen tonight had to be thinking there was a reason. He was in tears because he knew he had to go through Bo Nix and you know, second year Drake May, whose team just the Patriots team is going to be dramatically better in a couple of years. It's.
Chris Collinsworth
It's next year.
Colin Cowherd
It's pretty crazy. Like last year when the commanders made the NFC Championship and this Patriot team made the Super Bowl. Typically, teams that I would say new into their rebuild from a talent standpoint and a roster construction do not make runs like that. And the God they got exposed tonight. I mean it's. And it's not. You can't tell me it's the coaching. Vrabel's establishes a great coach. Josh McDaniels coached a million of these games and there nothing they could do. Nothing they had no. When you can't block. Bill Walsh could have been calling the plays. It would not have mattered.
Chris Collinsworth
Well, the difference between Washington and New England is craft. We don't know if Josh Peters is he the owner of Washington? He took over Josh Harris. I'm sorry. He's more of a basketball guy. We don't know if he's going to be a great football owner. Robert Kraft is. Vrabel's a better coach than I think than Dan Quinn.
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
Chris Collinsworth
And Drake May doesn't have a history of getting hurt. Jaden Daniels is a spindly guy. We both love him. We both said about Jaden Daniels he is Thin, kind of a Teddy Bridgewater build, where you like him, smart, a lot of things to like. But you're like, man, can that guy take. Is that a 15 year starter in the league? So there's going to be no drop off. They're going to be better. They draft well. They got the right ownership. Josh McDaniels, I mean Cliff Kingsbury's already gone in Washington. Josh McDaniel is going to be there for 10 years. I thought, I thought there were some real telling signs early in this game. Vrabel was telling you by the early game plan. I mean he was telling you how super aggressive they were. Like they needed to take a lead. Like he knew we can't play from behind. I mean they were jumping routes in the first two series. Like they were taking bit and they're, they're taking. I mean they have. We have to create something guys we can't play once. It was 19 to even. 19 to 7. 19 nothing. 19, 7. You're like I'm sitting there thinking New England can't. They're going to need a blocked punt. That's I, that's literally what I kept thinking during the game was New England's going to have to block a punt. You're not going to return a touchdown on a kick. Kickoff. You have to block a punt. They got, they, they got kind of close to one, but I don't think New England's going anywhere. I think they'll be better next year. That's why for Josh Allen, you know, Burrow, Lamar and Mahomes and Justin Herbert will have his tackles. This was the year to win in the afc.
Colin Cowherd
This was it big time. I mean the, and the AFC though for, even for the Patriots is never going to be. Not that it was easy for them by any means, but it'll be much more difficult from a quarterback standpoint. If you just look at the average of the last five years, you're going through a lot more talented than the C.J. strouds. And the, the way it broke with them was Stidham. Right. I mean they got some pretty good. And listen, Herbert's going to have to answer some questions in the playoff games. We all know, like he can't really prove much in the regular season anymore. He's going to be judged with Mike and Harbaugh in January. I'm not jumping Skip. I'm not selling my stock. But I mean he's played three games. They've been pretty bad.
Chris Collinsworth
What do we do with Sam Darnold now? Because I think you and I think the same thing. The roster's young, the GM's great, the coach is amazing. They don't have to move off anybody. JSN's Young. The Cooper cup will be on the team. They'll probably draft another. Plus they got that kid that got hurt earlier from Colorado State. The receivers actually kind of an interesting player.
Colin Cowherd
Horton, Is that his name?
Chris Collinsworth
Yeah. Yep. So my take is going into next season. Tell me the quarterbacks that are definitively you would take tomorrow over Sam Darnold if you got a three year contract.
Colin Cowherd
Well, I mean to me you don't even. He doesn't really need to worry worry about the afc, the Mahomes, the Allens. When you look at the nfc it's like, I mean Caleb makes some great plays in the fourth quarter but God, he's throwing 50% completion percentage.
Chris Collinsworth
This is look in the NFC right now. You take him over golf because of his arm and the ability to move. Stafford's old Purdy can be injury prone and small. Jordan Love we like but he's not. I mean that I think I feel about Jordan Love. There's a lot to like, big moves, Whip. Maybe it's a lafleur thing but he hasn't won enough big games. Caleb's great. Still a work in progress I would argue. Would I shock you next year?
Colin Cowherd
Baker came back to earth. Dax Older.
Chris Collinsworth
If I said to you the two best quarterbacks in the NFC next year are Caleb Williams and Sam Darnold, is that crazy?
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I mean the Caleb thing, I mean we got. He makes some great plays, he makes some great winning plays but I mean to get consistent. Yeah, he's a little uneven now. This is a huge offseason for him. I always bet on, on the coaching. So it's like that's why P's not going anywhere. He's got Kyle, that's why Caleb's not going anywhere. He's got Ben Johnson. Right. So I. Sam's not going anywhere. He's got Mike in the infrastructure with John. So I, I and obviously Stafford's just established he's hasn't gone anywhere for a long time. Even, even Love like I mean he's got to be a little more consistent. But he's been solid.
Chris Collinsworth
Right.
Colin Cowherd
I mean they go to the playoffs every year. It's just the high end in the NFC is not the high end in the afc. I mean Josh Allen probably most talented player of all time. Mahomes might be the best player of all time. We'll see when it's Said and done. Lamar Jackson is, I don't know, the most unique player I've ever seen. Like the Steve Young I grew up on wasn't running like the guy in the late 80s, right? Lamar, the way he put now, can he maintain it? But burrow when he's on looks like stronger Montana. So I mean, yeah, those guys are, I mean these are all time great talents. When you look at the nfc there's a lot of like Dax and golfs and like to me that's what makes the NFC unique is you can watch Dak over the aggregate and he's fantastic. Then the playoffs he has been atrocious, right? And Jared Goff sometimes in these bigger games, if you can pressure him, he can't move. Purdy has had some big moments, but it's like if can he totally carry you with his team's a little down. Like he's got some limitations. Caleb, you're just not going to be able to consistently win. Thrown in the 50s, it's just going to be difficult. His completion percentage on the layups is going to have to go up. But he's got a knack. He's got kind of something special that it's hard to even describe. So I think the nfc, I'd expect the same teams to be back in the nfc. Like who's going to be in the NFC playoffs next year? Seattle, the Rams, the Niners, the Packers. I mean it's like I don't expect probably the Eagles. I mean I don't really expect much different. The Bear, I mean it'd be pretty shocked. Like who's the Atlanta Falcons, the Cowboys, like, I mean, what are we talking about?
Chris Collinsworth
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Stugatz Here I have a podcast empire. It continues to grow and I have brought it here to iVart. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stigots and company Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls.
Colin Cowherd
I love you guys show. It's one of My favorites.
Stugatz
A lot of interaction. Guys not taking themselves too serious seriously. Those are just some of the things that you could expect from Stugots Co. And Stugots Co. Live. So listen to Stew Gots Co. Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stugots Co. And God bless football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
Chris Collinsworth
It's interesting because there's at least four new teams every year in the playoffs. But it used to be like, it felt like, I mean, the two things, we always had six or seven new coaches in the NFL. This year we had 10. Why? Because the owners are all billionaires and they're more impulsive. So I think we're going to have a Trend of like 8 to 10 new coaches is going to become a thing every few years. Used didn't feel like it used to be that impulsive. The other thing is, I think it's easier to predict. I mean, like I've done this like four years in a row where I take two teams and I said, yeah, they're going to be the two best, most improved teams this year it was Seattle and New England. Right? It's not that difficult. Like the New York Giants, for instance, are easily going to double their win total with John Harbaugh. And you know, when they shore up the right tackle position, probably a tight end, that's an easy one. The Raiders with Mendoza could be a double your win total team. If Clint Kubiak is, you know, average to slightly better than average as a head coach and they can get their O line healthy. It was all beat up last year, but it is, there's not. I mean, the AFC will have the new playoff teams. Kansas City's probably finding their way back in Baltimore, probably Pittsburgh out. Aaron's a year older. If Aaron comes back, it may be Will Howard. You can look at the AFC and go, okay, this, this, this the nfc. That's why I say about Sam Darnold. It's like you could see, you could see like Stafford getting banged up. That's happened to him a lot in his career. You could see, you know, the Rams draft the tackle, he's not ready to quite play. One of their tackles gets hurt. Stafford gets banged up, maybe misses a few games. You could see San Francisco again. They're old, expensive, they have to hit on some draft picks. Seattle is one of the surefire teams to me in the league unless the Clint Kubiak replacement whiffs totally. But they're going to get somebody out of that tree, somebody that brings the same offense. So there's very few guarantees in the league. I kind of feel like strangely, two guys that we think, I mean, New England's going to be good. That's a guarantee. I think that's one of the safe guarantees. But I mean, I think the, I think the bill.
Colin Cowherd
I think the Bills are going to be pretty good too. I mean they'll be fine.
Chris Collinsworth
But we don't know if Joe Brady. You're probably right. But does Seattle does feel a little bit like a. Yeah, they're going to be back here a lot.
Colin Cowherd
Think about this. When, when Sam went to Seattle, if you would have said to most people that fall football, let's say he could have stayed in Minnesota, you'd be like, stay there. Better. Now looking back, the GM was just forced out. Clearly they got some dysfunction internally. Flores wouldn't resign his contract till they got rid of the gm. Now the coach who has never won a playoff game pretty clearly has all the power, which, you know, a lot of these personnel guys, that can be scary. Andy Reid went to Kansas City. He's like, I don't want to be the GM anymore. I don't want that job. So now you got Kevin o', Connell, Colin, free agencies in a month. They don't have a gm. Who do you think is picking the players for free agency or any of their moves? The coach. You go to Seattle, where I think we all thought highly of Mike McDonald after this year, we go, geez, I mean, he's one of the best coaches in the league. He's one of the brightest young coaches I ever remember. Because, you know, he kind of, I don't want to say came out of nowhere because he's been in the Ravens tree. But defensive guys, it takes a little while for their hype to grow. In about a 24 month span, he went from like, this guy's a big time defensive coordinator. This guy's one of the best head coaches in the league. And they have a GM. I googled it. There have been two GMs before this that have won a Super bowl with or multiple Super Bowls with different head coaches and different quarterbacks. That's Howie Roseman and Ozzy Newsom. Ozzy Newsom's already in the hall of Fame as a player. He might as well be as a GM too. He's in the, he's a Hall of Famer. Howie Roseman, when the Dust settles. Gonna be hall of Famer, too. John Schneider's a Hall of Famer. Minnesota just had to run their GM out because he hit on two out of 28 draft picks. John Schneider hits on three draft picks every year with his eyes closed. So it's like they actually went to a place with just fantastic infrastructure that you would just bet on in the future where Minnesota. You go. That's. That's now a co. A young coach would just. Kyle Shanahan and. And Sean McVeigh. They have powerful GMs and, like, lesson John have a lot. They can calm their. Who's telling Kevin and Brian Flores what to do right now? The answer is nobody. So in a weird way where it looked like God, you'd want to stay in Minnesota. The best thing that ever happened to Sam was him getting out of there and going to this place that is now, like you said, has this Runway and a place that just, like, he just kind of gets to have a home and create like, he's going to be their quarterback. I mean, what would you. Minimum five more years, like, not going anywhere. You talk about contract extension.
Chris Collinsworth
Yeah. I mean, he broke into the league. He was 20, so he's 28 now. And you can just tell from his body, like, he stays in shape. He's also. Sam's also gotten much smarter. Like, he sits down. He doesn't take sacks. He. Sam's. I mean. And I think they. I remember reading this once about autistic kids. That was an article, and they were saying, you know, autistic kids sometimes have advantages because they know they're very good, strategic people, because they know they have to be to succeed. You have to be more strategic when you're on the spectrum. And I don't remember where I read this. It was years and years ago. And I also think people who fail initially in their professional career, it really. It serves two things. One, you're so incredibly grateful. You're such a great teammate going forward. If you've been crapped on, if you've been in a bad environment, you're so appreciative of a good environment. So that's an advantage when. Anytime in life. Professionally, your first two jobs are awful. I mean, you. In radio, you're, like, one of the easiest guys I've ever. You got treated like crap in radio. I remember when I listened to your first tape, and I'm like, why did they let him go? I don't know. I don't understand it.
Colin Cowherd
But.
Chris Collinsworth
But the reality is you're probably now more Grateful because you had a bad situation 1,000%. And I think that's, that's what ingratiates Sam is like, Sam was always like a humble guy, but when it goes sideways, you just have like, there's, there, it's the duality of life. You know, if something, if you don't get this in your life, if you don't get that, if you have to deal with something, people usually are more appreciative, they're more humble, they work harder. I mean, there's no question if you took the average trust fund kid and the average kid that worked up in a working class family and had to work in a farm. The advantage to the latter is that his work ethic just may be so exemplary because he's always had to work. He never had the fancy cool stuff like the shoes and the cars. Life is just about give and take and action and reaction. And I think, you know how Tom Brady still cries when he talks about being drafted in the sixth round. It won't matter what will happen to Sam Darnold. My guess is John, he will always take reasonably team friendly deals. He will always take them because he got, he knows how bad it is when you don't have enough talent. And my thing is, I think Sam's going to look at this and go like, man, I got lucky. I could have gone to Carolina. Like, I think Sam looks at it and you could say, boy, I bet he wishes the jets never happened. But in a way, he's going to be one of those guys that's going to be like, you know what? It's like Matt Stafford's taking some team friendly deals. Why? Because he was in Detroit, right? Like he, you know, Aaron Rodgers, to his credit, took a team friendly deal, which is, he deserves credit for that because in Green Bay it never bottomed out. Like, it was always pretty good. So I think Darnold's career, I think going forward, he's always going to be a guy that's going to sign quick, team friendly, great teammate. He may have always been that because he's a great guy with a great family. But there are advantages sometimes to getting punched in the ribs early in your professional career, early in your life.
Colin Cowherd
Well, and it's harder to be introspective when life's pretty good, right? I mean, it's easy to look in the mirror when you're like, you know, things aren't going great. Look at, look at the Chiefs this off season for the first time. Some of those guys are going to have to Go. God, that sucked. It could be one of those, you look back in five years where Mahomes goes, the best thing that ever happened to us. We had to do some reevaluation. What are you reevaluating when you're making the super bowl every year, win or lose? Right. So I, I think the other thing is a team friendly deal. In a couple years, Colin could be like four years, $150 million. So it's like the, the, the, the boom of the NFL. You know, when I hear about the, these coaching situations, well, this guy, you know the, everything that happened with the 10 coaches, only one black guy. Well, if I'm Brian Flores, I would rather make 6 million and work for Kevin O'. Connell. I'm making more than Todd Monkin and the Arizona. I wouldn't take. Those jobs are terrible. I wouldn't touch those jobs with a 20 foot pole. That if I'm Flores, unless the Steelers or the Ravens are hiring me, I'm not going to these other places.
Chris Collinsworth
I get it.
Colin Cowherd
I've already, I've already had my career derailed and I'm being compensated to be the number two here.
Chris Collinsworth
But I wouldn't.
Colin Cowherd
The Cardinals job, that's, that's as bad. There are 15 college jobs that dwarf that. I mean that's a, that's a terrible football. The Browns like that is all those guys are gonna get fired in a couple years. I bet my life on that. So I think when you look at the NFL, some of these situations, you know, it's just, it's pretty rare to win all the time. When's the last time has John Schneider ever lost the gm like their bad seasons have been like nine and seven. It just, they, they don't lose. So most of these teams never win. I would have told Robert Sala, I said, you better be pretty sure going to Tennessee. I mean that, that is a place where you got a lot going for you. Your career is only going to go like this from a, from the way people talk about you. You go to Tennessee, it could really derail you. Raheem Morris, who clearly had changed his career around, takes the Falcons job. Like, I don't know if the Falcons is a good job. I would argue the fan, like that thing's not really going to work just because it's just not a good place. The Giants do have the infrastructure. They've just been hiring the wrong people. So I think when you look at Sam Darnold and you look like a lot of these guys, the story shefter put out today. They want to get rid of Tua and Kyler. Well, both those two teams paid them top of the market. They weren't top of the market Players get. It's like John Morant. You're not going to be able to give those guys away. You were not going to be able to give either maybe Kyler, if they eat a bunch of money because he's got some physical, you know, he's got a big arm, he can run around a little bit to. I don't think there's a team in the league that would touch him for the veteran minimum if he was cut, you know, So I the Miami. You pay overpay these wrong quarterbacks. We have a great lesson over the last, like, five, six years. You go all in on the right guys, okay? But you go all in on the wrong guys, it's going to derail your franchise. I don't care who your coach is.
Chris Collinsworth
Former NFL scout John Middelkoff. His podcast is three and out. The Seattle Seahawks are Super bowl champions 29 to 13. Kenneth Walker is the MVP. Jason Myers, super bowl record. Sam Darnold, no turnovers. Solid performance. I mean, his story arc is complete. He can game manage. He can get in a shootout.
Colin Cowherd
You think the Allen family just got an extra billion dollars selling it into a Super bowl championship? Does that add a billion on it?
Chris Collinsworth
Probably.
Colin Cowherd
Honestly, what's your guess on the number right now? Eight. I might even go like eight and a half. I don't see how it goes for a number that doesn't blow people out of the water.
Chris Collinsworth
Well, if you buy it for eight and you're worth 25 billion, you pay four and a half. You own 55, 60%, but you get other investors. That's what you do. So that's what Mark Cuban did with the Mavs. You buy the majority share, but then you get Elon Musk with Twitter. He's using all sorts of money, right? Like, so if somebody's worth 25 billion, they pay 4 billion cash. And they own, you know, 51, 52%. And then they get six other rich guys, but they have the final say. And 8 billion becomes pretty affordable in the oligarch world pretty quickly. John, I'm happy I'm going to sleep well tonight.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I can imagine all your Seattle friends. Big moment for the Pacific Northwest. That's that. That was. That was cool.
Chris Collinsworth
I'm gonna call my sister right now. All right, bud.
Colin Cowherd
See ya.
Chris Collinsworth
The volume.
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Think Verizon is expensive? Think again. Anyone can bring their AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal. So bring us your bill, walk in, run in, pogo stickin', teleport if you can ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or fly in on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way you can bring your AT and T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best Network based on RootMetric's best overall mobile network performance US 2nd/2025 all rights reserved. Must provide very recent postpaid consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.
Chris Collinsworth
I'll say it up front, I don't usually endorse supplements. Most promise shortcuts. Anybody who's done real work knows shortcuts fail. But I like EmDrive. Every morning I put that protein powder in my coffee. It's practical. As you get older, energy dips and weight comes easier. That's biology. EmDrive boost and burn support steady energy metabol metabolism and fat burning so effort actually counts. Clinically tested ingredients find that it sprouts Amazon or M drive for men.com mdrive for men who still show up this.
Julian Edelman
Is Julian Edelman from Games With Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time, and one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is something I am proud of, but I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the big Game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words. And sometimes standing next to someone is enough. And you can show support by sharing the Blue Square.
Grainger Announcer
If you're an H Vac technician and a call comes in, Grainger knows that you need a partner that helps you find the right product fast and hassle free. And you know that when the first problem of the day is a clanking blower motor, there's no need to break a sweat. With Grainger's easy to use website and product details, you're confident you'll soon have everything humming right along. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
Colin Cowherd
This is an iHeart podcast.
Chris Collinsworth
Guaranteed Human.
Episode: INSTANT REACTION: Seahawks Dominate Patriots To Win The Super Bowl, Sam Darnold’s Incredible Career Arc
Date: February 9, 2026
Guests: Chris Collinsworth, John Middlekauff
This episode is a post-Super Bowl instant reaction between Colin Cowherd and Chris Collinsworth (with frequent references to John Middlekauff, who’s also featured), focusing on the Seattle Seahawks’ dominant 29-13 win over the New England Patriots. The duo delivers in-depth breakdowns of the game, praise for Seattle’s coaching and roster construction, and—at the center—an exploration of Sam Darnold’s remarkable redemption story: from NFL afterthought to Super Bowl-winning game manager and, potentially, top NFC quarterback. The conversation examines team trajectories, quarterback arcs, and NFL organizational structures, laced with broader context for the league’s future.
“You could give [Mike] the MVP as a coach and a play caller… could have given it to Mike Macdonald.”
— Colin Cowherd (03:50)
“He was basically asked the last two weeks, especially in this one, just don’t make a big mistake. Don’t, don’t, don’t make a big mistake.”
— Chris Collinsworth (04:09)
“Kenneth Walker, amazing. Darnold, very solid. Weatherspoon was amazing. Christian Gonzalez for New England kept that thing from being a blowout in the first half.”
— Chris Collinsworth (13:05)
“There are advantages sometimes to getting punched in the ribs early in your professional career, early in your life.”
— Chris Collinsworth (54:17)
“If I said to you the two best quarterbacks in the NFC next year are Caleb Williams and Sam Darnold, is that crazy?”
— Chris Collinsworth (42:27)
“Most guys in Sam Darnold’s category, once they failed that much… fail forever or just become a backup and kind of become irrelevant… Sam Darnold’s a Super Bowl champion.”
— Colin Cowherd (26:03)
“When you can maintain winning with different coaches and different quarterbacks. Yeah, you are. They're kind of like the Coastal Packers.”
— Colin Cowherd (15:24)
| Person | Takeaway | |-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Sam Darnold | From high-potential bust to mistake-free Super Bowl winner; epitome of NFL resilience. | | Kenneth Walker | Game MVP, threw back to the RB-dominated Super Bowls of the late 90s. | | Mike Macdonald | Young, likable, lauded for defensive scheming—potentially among top 5 coaches in league already. | | Drake May | Promising, but overwhelmed rookie—needs more seasoning, not ready for Super Bowl pressure. | | John Schneider | Elite GM, compared to Ozzie Newsome and Howie Roseman; master of value in the draft and roster building.| | New England Patriots | Slightly ahead of schedule with May; roster holes exposed by mature Seahawks squad. | | NFC Quarterbacks | Conference in flux; Darnold and Caleb Williams favorably positioned by hosts for rapid ascent. |
This episode, driven by Cowherd and Collinsworth’s analytical style and easy rapport, is both a celebration of Seattle’s team-building and Sam Darnold’s personal perseverance, and a practical lesson in organizational management for NFL franchises. The show balances in-the-moment Super Bowl analysis with wide-angle context—why the Seahawks are set up for a sustained run, and what Darnold’s journey can teach about career, humility, and the value of the right system.