Colin Cowherd Podcast - Jayden Daniels Best Rookie QB Ever? Eagles Smother Packers, Bills CRUSH Broncos, Patriots Hire Mike Vrabel

Summary

Colin Cowherd Podcast - January 13, 2025

Episode Title: Jayden Daniels Best Rookie QB Ever? Eagles Smother Packers, Bills CRUSH Broncos, Patriots Hire Mike Vrabel

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1. Introduction and NFL Playoff Overview

Timestamp: [18:00]

Colin Cowherd kicks off the episode by addressing the recent NFL playoffs, highlighting significant performances and outcomes. He sets the stage for an in-depth analysis of key games and player performances, focusing primarily on rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, the Philadelphia Eagles' dominant victory over the Green Bay Packers, and the Buffalo Bills' decisive win against the Denver Broncos.

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2. Jayden Daniels: A Rookie Quarterback in the Spotlight

Timestamp: [18:30]

Cowherd delves into the remarkable performance of Jayden Daniels, debating whether he is the best rookie quarterback ever. Drawing comparisons to Andrew Luck, Cowherd notes:

"Jaden Daniels the best rookie quarterback ever? I mean he had a little bit of turbulence in the mid-season, but it's a lot like Andrew Luck." (18:45)

Despite some early struggles, Daniels' leadership and decision-making in high-pressure situations have impressed Cowherd, particularly his performance in the playoffs where Daniels showcased intelligence, mobility, and a strong arm.

"His passer rating was 103. That's just incredible." (20:10)

Cowherd praises Daniels' ability to make critical plays in the red zone and his overall composure, likening his instincts to those of seasoned veterans like LeBron James in the NBA.

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3. Philadelphia Eagles' Dominant Play Against the Packers

Timestamp: [25:00]

The discussion shifts to the Philadelphia Eagles' overwhelming victory over the Green Bay Packers. Cowherd commends the Eagles' defensive strategy and the effective coaching of Vic Fangio.

"Their defense can carry you. The history of this league, even as rules have changed, the best defenses win in January." (20:24)

He highlights the impact of key players like Saquon Barkley, whose leadership has been pivotal for the team. Additionally, Cowherd contrasts the Eagles' well-rounded roster with the Packers' struggles, particularly criticizing Packers' quarterback Jordan Love for his erratic performance.

"Jaden Daniels' team is centered around an aggressive coach and a remarkable rookie quarterback." (22:40)

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4. Buffalo Bills' Thrashing of the Denver Broncos

Timestamp: [33:34]

Cowherd analyzes the Buffalo Bills' convincing 31-7 victory over the Denver Broncos, attributing their success to Josh Allen's outstanding performance and the Bills' robust offensive strategy.

"Josh Allen right now is playing as well as he's ever played in his life." (34:00)

He praises the Bills' ability to maintain control of the game, emphasizing their efficient passing and running game, which overwhelmed the Broncos' defense.

"Their defense is not great, but Kansas City is not a great offensive team." (36:47)

Cowherd also forecasts the potential dominance of teams like Buffalo, Kansas City, and Baltimore in the upcoming playoffs, citing their strong leadership and consistent performances throughout the season.

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5. Patriots Hiring Mike Vrabel: Implications and Expectations

Timestamp: [55:50]

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the New England Patriots' decision to hire Mike Vrabel as their new head coach. Cowherd expresses optimism about Vrabel's potential impact on the team, drawing parallels to successful coaching transitions in the past.

"I think it'll work out. I think they'll get good really quickly." (55:50)

He discusses Vrabel's coaching philosophy, which blends accountability, discipline, and a personal touch, distinguishing him from other coaches who often mimic Bill Belichick's methods without success.

"Vrabel is able to integrate the best parts of accountability, discipline, and detail, but also the personality of just a guy." (58:29)

Cowherd anticipates that Vrabel's leadership will rejuvenate the Patriots, leading to improved performances and a stronger presence in the playoffs.

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6. Broader NFL Playoff Predictions and Team Analyses

Timestamp: [42:37]

Cowherd and Middelkoff extend their analysis to other playoff contenders, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, and Baltimore Ravens. They consider factors such as quarterback performance, defensive capabilities, and coaching strategies in their predictions.

"I think this is the year for Buffalo to get to the Super Bowl." (37:51)

They also touch upon the struggles of traditionally strong teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers under Coach Mike Tomlin, questioning his future with the franchise due to recent poor performances and internal team dynamics.

"I would trade him for valuable draft picks. You're a couple of years away from that not being the case." (51:16)

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7. Concluding Thoughts and Final Predictions

Timestamp: [73:56]

As the episode wraps up, Cowherd reflects on the resilience and strategic prowess of teams excelling in the playoffs. He emphasizes the importance of strong leadership, both from coaches and players, in navigating the high-stakes environment of the NFL playoffs.

"Football shouldn't be that easy. It never happens." (43:38)

Cowherd reaffirms his support for teams like Buffalo and Kansas City, confident in their abilities to advance further into the postseason. He also reiterates his belief in the Patriots' potential resurgence under Mike Vrabel’s coaching.

"Patriots Hire Mike Vrabel" (Entirely relevant to earlier points)

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Notable Quotes

• Jayden Daniels on Rookie Performance:
  "His passer rating was 103. That's just incredible." (20:10)

• Philadelphia Eagles’ Defense:
  "Their defense can carry you. The history of this league, even as rules have changed, the best defenses win in January." (20:24)

• Buffalo Bills’ Dominance:
  "Josh Allen right now is playing as well as he's ever played in his life." (34:00)

• Mike Vrabel’s Coaching Style:
  "Vrabel is able to integrate the best parts of accountability, discipline, and detail, but also the personality of just a guy." (58:29)

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Conclusion

In this episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, the focus remains firmly on the NFL playoffs, with comprehensive analyses of standout performances, strategic coaching decisions, and team dynamics shaping the road to the Super Bowl. Jayden Daniels emerges as a potential all-time great rookie quarterback, while the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills demonstrate their prowess on the field. The hiring of Mike Vrabel by the New England Patriots signals a hopeful turnaround for the storied franchise. Cowherd and Middelkoff provide insightful commentary that not only assesses current performances but also sets the scene for future playoff matchups.

For listeners who missed the episode, this summary encapsulates the key discussions and expert opinions presented by Colin Cowherd and John Middelkoff, offering a clear and engaging overview of the NFL's thrilling postseason landscape.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Jon Stewart]

Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at the Daily show, which means he's also back in our ears on the Daily Show Ears Edition Podcast. Join late night legend Jon Stewart and the best news team for today's biggest headlines, exclusive extended interviews and more. Now this is a second term we can all get behind. Listen to the Daily Show Ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Adnan Virk]

What's up everybody? Adnan Burke here to tell you about a new podcast. It's NHL Unscripted with Verkin Demers, Jason.

[Jason Demers]

Demers here, And after playing 700 NHL games, I got a lot of dirty laundry to air out.

[Adnan Virk]

Hey, I got a lot to say here too, okay? Each week we'll get together, chat about the sport that we love.

[Jason Demers]

Tons of guests are going to join in too, but we're not just going to be talking hockey, folks. We're talking movies, we're talking tv, food, and Adnan's favorite wrestling. It's all on le table.

[Adnan Virk]

Listen to NHL Unscripted with Virk and demers in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bobby Bones]

Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Join me and former NFL quarterback Matt Castle every Wednesday for our new podcast, Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle. Between us, we have over 17,500 passing yards, multiple New York Times bestsellers, and one mirrorball trophy from Dancing with a Star. So where else are you going to find a show with that much athleticism and football insight? We talk sports, but we talk pop culture and music and a little bit of everything. Listen to Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt castle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch, right in time for a new season of my podcast. Next question. I'm bringing in some foks friends of Katie's to help me out, like Ezra Klein, Jen Psaki, Asted her. But we're also gonna have some fun thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee and Charlamagne the God. We're gonna take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume Our wild card reaction is presented by Uber Eats. Get game day deals all season long we have on Uber. All right, instant reaction on tonight's 23:20 walk off doink by the Commanders to beat Tampa. An upset. But if you had to pick one, you know this, this may have been the upset. I don't think many people thought Denver or Green Bay were going to come out with wins. I'm a little surprised, but I mean, is Jaden Daniels the best rookie quarterback ever? I mean he had a little bit of turbulence in the mid season, but it's a lot like Andrew Luck. I mean, Andrew Luck came into the league with a terrible roster and this isn't a great one. It's better than Andrew Luck's. But Andrew Luck was a top 10 quarterback as a rookie. Intelligence, toughness, mobility, arm. Jaden's much thinner. He's not quite as rugged. I mean the guy finished. I think I'm right on this fifth, fourth quarter comeback this season. That's tied with Patrick Mahomes for the most in the NFL. I mean it was interesting. I guess this was my best prediction of the year. I picked Washington to be a playoff team and I think that's one of my favorite things to do is do future bets where you try to predict. I picked Washington and Denver were my surprise teams last year. It was the Rams year before it was Minnesota. I have as much fun doing that is anything and but I didn't think Jaden Daniels would be this. I knew Cliff Kingsbury pounded the table for him. The kid, his quickness, his smarts. I mean in the red zone, I'm looking at this on fourth down tonight, his passer rating was 103. That's, that's just incredible. On the final drive, you know, three for three, ran for a first down, 57 passing yards. His decision making. I mean, do you know how fast you got to be above the shoulders to do all this stuff? I mean some of it's, you know, you're just kind of instinctive. Like obviously great athletes are just naturally gifted. But I've said this about some players in sports, like some guys, I mean LeBron broke into the NBA. And he was such a smart player. Had some limitations early on, shooting from the outside, but he just had a feel for the game. This kid's making decisions in crisis in a congested red zone that I mean like eight year veterans make. I just, I can't tell you how impressed I am with Jaden Daniels. And I had said Friday on the show, I like Tampa to win. And the only way that I thought Washington would win because Tampa's got a better overall roster was if, you know, Jaden Daniels just performed magic. Yeah, he did. What was he, 24 or 35? 270 yards, 2 tds, no picks, 11 rushes, 8 for 15 on third down. I mean, in Tampa's defense is, you know, Vidavia up front. I mean, it's active. Todd Bowles likes it's aggressive. Tampa's always been a little bit of an underrated place to play. It gets pretty rowdy down in Tampa. Now they're on to Detroit, which will be a real test for Washington. But I, I think what you're watching is all time stuff. And you know, and I'm going to talk to John Middelkoff today about. We've got a really good podcast that talks about Mike Tomlin, Mike Vrabel, Eagles, Packers, Bill's Broncos at the end of it, 20 minutes. I think you'll be interested, John, a native Californian, his thoughts, the wildfires and the disaster in California. I think you'll really enjoy it. But I'm sitting there watching that game tonight and I thought after that goal line stand by Tampa. That was a great goal line stand. I thought, wow, that's game changing. And then Tampa fumbles, Washington gets it right back, and Jaden Daniels throws a ball, a seed, in the back of the end zone. But you got to give Dan Coyne the credit too, because Dan, you know, a lot of people would have struggled to go for it on fourth down, but that's very Dan Campbell. So Dan Quinn's a very aggressive guy. Dan Campbell's a very aggressive guy. You'll see Mike Frabel do this in New England. Very aggressive guys. They're trying to create a culture, a culture of confidence, a culture of alpha, a culture of belief. And when you're as bad as Washington has been for this long, you've got to really change everything. I remember when Barry Alvarez took over Wisconsin and Wisconsin was a bottom 10 college football program and they had outdated facilities and nobody thought Camp Randall was an intimidating place to play. And, you know, Barry Alvarez was like, you got to be proud I mean, we are so lucky to have these facilities. And he really changed the way Badger players thought about Badger facilities and Camp Randall and the stadium and the environment. And he just instilled this pride and this confidence in Wisconsin Badger football. And you can go back and look at it. You know, it took a couple years, but I can remember him going to Rose Bowls and Wisconsin was just big, tough, physical, a little bit like Barry Alvarez, a little chutzpah, a lot of confidence. And I think that's what. And I think players become the coach and I think, you know, Detroit, a lot of belief. Say what you want about the Chargers end of the season, but the defense was tough and physical. And I think Dan Quinn has implemented that. That's why he's going for it on fourth down. It's like, hey, we got nothing to lose. It's in Tampa. Baker Mayfield's a veteran. I got a rookie quarterback. I'm going for it. House money here. And I love it. High pressure situations and obviously, and I had noted this multiple times, you know, there's kind of a rule when you get a rookie quarterback is downplay it in camp. Like, you know, hey, it's going to take a time. Let's reset expectations. When Dan Quinn and Cliff Kingsbury came out in camp and were like, yeah, this kid's unbelievable. Already knows the playbook. I mean, it's unbelievable what a leader he is. You're like, and Dan Quinn's been around the block and Dan Quinn was just heaping praise on Jaden Daniels in camp before preseason games. And you're thinking, man, this kid must be really, really special. And you read some of those early DC media reports I did anyway in the athletic or in print and you're like, man, this kid is tearing it up. It is camp. But it's not that Washington doesn't McLaurin. Terry McClure is a great player and they've got some defensive linemen. They have talent. Let's not make it. The commanders don't have talent, but it's all centered around an aggressive coach and a remarkable rookie quarterback. And I've noted this a few times before. I grew up in the 70s and 80s in Washington, was a football power and there was like a 30 year waiting list for tickets. This is a win starved football community. D.C. loves its NFL football and I just welcome back. This is great. Detroit is a big lift, but I think we're all watching an all timer in Jaden Daniels Mobility, release. Accuracy, twitchiness. I mean just to be this good in the fourth quarter and on fourth down and on third down in a playoff game, it just. You just don't see this. You get all the upside. Occasional picks, but you bake that in for somebody his age. You bake it in. What a performance. I mean, this is the first Commander playoff win in 20 years. But they had talent for years. But they were so poorly owned and so poorly run and so poorly coached. Like they had players. It just upstairs was such a chaotic zoo and the line is out. The Lions are minus eight and a half against the Commanders. That's a big number. But so was Buffalo over Denver and so was Baltimore over Pittsburgh. I'm not sure which way I'd lean on that. And to go into Tampa and win was something else. Finally got ourselves a close playoff game, a walk off doink, and for Tampa, hell of a year. Baker Mayfield earned every bit of that contract. One of the more underrated, underpaid players in the league. I mean, Baker is. He is one of the most underpaid players in the league right now and earned every penny of his contract. Tip of the cap. Great year. Rough loss. 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[John Middelkoff]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Jon Stewart]

Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at the Daily show, which means he's also back in our ears on the Daily Show Ears Edition Podcast the Daily Show Podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's news and pop culture. You get hilarious satirical takes on entertainment, politics, sports and more from John and the team of correspondents and contributions contributors. The podcast also has content you can't get anywhere else, like extended interviews and a roundup of the weekly headlines. Listen to the Daily Show Ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Adnan Virk]

What's up everybody? Adnan Burke here to tell you about a new podcast from iHeart Podcast and the National Hockey League. It's NHL Unscripted with Perkin Demers.

[Jason Demers]

Hey, I'm Jason Demers, former 700 game NHL defenseman turned NHL Network analyst, and boy, oh, boy, does daddy have a lot to say.

[Adnan Virk]

I love you, by the way. On NHL Network, we're looking forward to getting together each week to chat and chirp about the sport and all the other things surrounding it that we love. Right?

[Jason Demers]

Yeah, I just met you today, but we're going to have a ton of guests from the colliding worlds of hockey, entertainment, and pop culture. And you know what? Tons of back and forth on all things NHL.

[Adnan Virk]

Yeah, you're soon gonna find out we're not just hockey talk. We're into all kinds of random stuff on this podcast. Movies, television, food, wrestling, even the stuff that you wear on NHL.

[Jason Demers]

Now you wish you could pull off my short shorts, Ferkie.

[Adnan Virk]

That's sure to cause a ruckus. Listen to NHL Unscripted with Burkin Demers, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bobby Bones]

Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Join me and former NFL quarterback Matt Castle every Wednesday for our new podcast, Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle. Between us, we have over 17,500 passing yards, multiple New York Times bestsellers, and one mirror ball trophy from Dancing with the Star. So where else are you gonna find a show with that much athleticism and football insight based in Nashville? We're more than just your baseball NFL show. We talk sports, but we talk pop culture and music and a little bit of everything because we got lots to say. I. I texted you and you text me back. Now, I don't know if you have the update, but, like, all the little thumbs up and heart and stuff, like, it's all colored. They changed it and the. The heart's a little pink. It felt like I told you I loved you. I'm gonna be honest. It was a little pink.

[John Middelkoff]

There was something sentimental when you. Like when you send it.

[Colin Cowherd]

It was like, do I send the heart now?

[Bobby Bones]

I don't. I don't like the color edition.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's extremely pink.

[Bobby Bones]

Listen to Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

Not as many games and lopsided games, but John Miloff and I are here to discuss Philadelphia's win over Green Bay. Denver getting hammered by Buffalo despite scoring first. We'll get to Mike Vrabel to the Patriots and Mike Tomlin's disaster against the Ravens. Let's start with Philadelphia sort of dominating win from the opening kickoff that was fumbled. You know, Packer fans grumbling about that. You know, John, as I looked at the weekend, Buffalo much better than Denver. Baltimore much better than Pittsburgh. Philly much better than Green Bay. If you go to last year's wild card weekend as well, there were some really lopsided scores. And this is something I've hit on a lot as the league and I've been on this for about three years. As the league has tilted the rules toward the offense, Quarterback now is the only way seemingly to win. The better quarterback. And today, Jalen Hurts wasn't great, but Jordan Love, like he was in college, was reckless. I do feel like this year more than any I can remember, it had an NBA feel. Four, five, six teams at the top, special, a pretty small Middle Eastern and a bunch of garbage in the back end. I mean, were you surprised by Philadelphia really controlling this game over Green Bay?

[John Middelkoff]

Well, Jalen was not very good and granted he hadn't played in a while because of the concussion and he looked, I would say before they kind of hit their stride, their offense had struggled passing wise and he wasn't good. The problem is Jordan Love was atrocious. Jordan Love saw Justin Herbert's effort and tried to duplicate it because, I mean, he throwing those interceptions all over the place and I know he's banged up, but that offense was. I thought if they would have played, not the game they played last year against the Cowboys, but just had a solid offensive performance, they would have been right in it. Yeah, and he kind of, he shot him right out of the game really, really quick because think how often during the McCarthy era and then even during the LaFleur era with, with Rogers early on, the defense often let the packers down. They were joke on defense. They're actually, they played pretty good today.

[Colin Cowherd]

And I thought they kept them in the game.

[John Middelkoff]

Their offense was really, really bad. I'm not shocked. I mean, Bo Nicks on the road. Rookie quarterback in Buffalo, Russell Wilson in that performance, I think we both saw that coming. I would say the Herbert performance was, you know, it's one of the worst games you'll ever see him play for sure.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, and I talked about this yesterday in the pod. They don't have a number one receiver. Their number two, Palmer was hurt. Their best receiver, Keenan Allen's a bear. You know, I mean, it's what happens in these playoff games. Young road quarterback falls behind, you know, starts making throws. He may hold back on in the regular season because he knows it's the last game of the year. I mean, I thought Jordan Love made some throws today that felt like, hey, I got to get some juice here. I got to make something happen. I don't know if he makes those throws three weeks ago, four weeks ago. So I kind of defend quarterbacks, young quarterbacks, who, by the way, Jordan Love's always been a bit reckless. He's always been more Favre than he has Aaron Rodgers. And I'll give the packers credit, Xavier McKinney, they went out and spent some money on Josh Jacobs. You know, Green Bay, historically, in the free agent market, doesn't take a lot of swings. I thought they did. I think they need a pass rusher. I think that's. And I could, you know, we'll see what they do at corner. I don't feel bad about this for Green Bay. I don't. I think they're young. I don't think they have Philadelphia's roster. They were on the road. They didn't play well down the stretch. Like, I thought Philly would win. It was a weird game. I mean, Green Bay was out of rhythm, out of sorts offensively. But I don't feel like, if you're a Packer fan, you look at this. Hell, at one point they were down 6 and were being totally dominated.

[John Middelkoff]

Totally. Well, I mean, listen, even if some miracle, they would have been able to kind of get back in this game, they had lost half their team. They would have had no chance to play anybody after this game with all their injuries. And one thing that really stands out when you just look at this weekend, but specifically that, you know, when it comes to the Eagles, they spent a lot of money on Vic Fangio. And that defense, as the season has gone on, has looked fantastic. I mean, the two young defensive backs, they signed Zach Vaughn, he played a different position. They moved him to, like, stand up middle linebacker, and he became a first team all pro. That, that happens when you hire one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL. And, you know, look at Miami. They were complaining that Vic Fangio was an asshole and demanded too much of him. You think Philly, you know, I mean, come on. I mean, Mike McDaniel, I, I don't know if you saw the story last week. He said, I can't find these guys enough. They just don't show up on time. Meanwhile, Philly yearned for that accountability, and look what it shows now, their defense, listen, the playoffs, sometimes your quarterback is just going to play like crap or have rough stretches, your defense can carry you defense, the history of this league, even as rules have changed, the best defenses win in January. No different college football. You got to have big time defensive plays in these big games because you're playing all pro hall of Fame level guys on offense.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I mean I think also Philadelphia take out the concussion for Jalen hurts. From week four on, Philadelphia was humming. They weren't very good in the first quarter, but they finally got good in the first quarter late in the season. They took a 10 nothing lead in this one. But all year long with Philly from about week four on, we were like, God, they're awful in the first quarter, but they're really good. We said this two years ago about Philadelphia. We said it the first 10 weeks of last year like or for seven weeks of last year. If you go to Philadelphia over the last three years, there have been stretches where they looked like the 49ers four years ago. They just have more good players.

[John Middelkoff]

Well, think about this. If you just said who are the best players on Philadelphia's offense? You would list, you would probably include some offensive linemen. Before you even got to Dallas Goddard, you'd be like a guy 7 or 8, he made a play tonight that looked like a high school kid that's going to Alabama or Ohio State would make, you know, in a high school game. And again that's by far Saquon Jalen, the two wide receivers, he is their fifth weapon and he's a Pro bowl level. I mean that play it does sometimes in the playoffs obviously X's nose play a big role and the best coaches are usually playing in these games. But sometimes you get a one on one against another guy. And you shot with Jacobs like the cream of the crop rises in January. And that play by Dallas Goddard, I mean, wow. I mean if that's your fifth option on offense, good luck trying to stop them.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, and I, and I think you see it in college and you see it in the pros, you know, in college what schools have better recruiters? Ryan Day and more transfer portal money. Ohio State. You know, if go look at who's left. Marcus Freeman, Ryan Day and Chip Kelly, pretty good staffs. And then you go in the NFL and who has the best general managers? Well, Kansas City, Brett Veach, Howie Roseman. A lot of the Detroit by the way has been on like a four year run.

[John Middelkoff]

DaCosta in Baltimore.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yep. You start looking around this league and I mean Philadelphia in the end I think we've felt this for three years. When he had Shane Steichen. They were good enough to win the Super Bowl. He had a couple of bad picks at coordinators. They righted the ship this year. For all my misgivings about Nick Ceriani, this fricking roster is good. I mean, God, Slay today had a great pick and I mean, he's a guy now that's fallen sort of, you know, off out of the front page of the sports section in Philly because they've got these two, Mitchell and the, the other corner. So, I mean, Philadelphia, when Slay can be like the third most talked about corner you have, I just think Philadelphia again. I look at Green Bay and I think to myself, you know what? If you're going to lose, you're going to lose 22 to 10 to Philadelphia on a game that Jordan Love didn't play. Well, it's not a terrible day for the Packers. They're not equipped to beat this team in Philly.

[John Middelkoff]

No, I, no, I agree. I think if you're a Packer fan especially, I think you've kind of come to grips with it down the stretch. But I think big picture, they gotta figure Love out a little bit. I mean, I was high on him after last year. This year was a little bit of a roller coaster ride. Obviously the injuries played a part, but this reckless nature, I mean, Brett Farr is one of the greatest players in the history of the league for like a 10 year stretch. He won three straight MVPs. You can't just, you don't just get to play like Brett Favre, you know, I, you got to corral yourself a little bit. And that's why they went out and got Josh Jacobs, right, Just to just kind of, I would say, take a little pressure off Jordan Love, but man, I mean, at one point in time on a second interception, he had thrown two last year against the Niners and then two this, this game in the first half. That was four interceptions through his last six quarters. In the playoffs, you can't win like that. I'd rather have a guy playing like crap, like Jalen Hurts who's not turning the ball over. At least I just punt and play defense.

[Colin Cowherd]

By the way, there's a play that happened in this game with about a minute left where Saquon, Saquon Barkley got a handoff, could have broken for a 60, 70 yard touchdown and instead he slid to end the game, essentially. And it really states. I'll tell you something, Saquon Barkley has been such a class guy in this league in New York, he comes out smelling like a rose when he gets traded. He didn't complain about, you know, not breaking the all time single season record. That slide at the end of the game against Green Bay. I gotta tell you something, there are not many running backs that I can remember. I loved Walter Payton just as a guy, as a human. I love McCaffrey. I've met Christian a couple times. By the way, can we just admit this? This is a Saquon Barkley led team. I mean, Jalen Hurts went two quarters without a completion. This is Saquon Barkley's team. And by the way, I love it. He is really. If somebody gave him mvp, it'll go to a quarterback. I just, there's everything about him, his toughness, his elusiveness, his intelligence, his class. I just think he is such. And the truth is Jalen hurts. I think he's got enough self confidence. I don't think it bothers him at all. I don't think it bothers Lamar Jackson that Derrick Henry gets all the flowers. I think it's just a really cool thing when star quarterbacks are fans of the star running back.

[John Middelkoff]

Well, I think one thing with the Eagles specifically is, is Jalen. I think Lamar is more of a little. He's got more rah rah to him in terms of outspoken leadership inside those walls. That's not Jalen's thing. And last year, think of who retired on their team. Jason Kelsey, one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise and Fletcher Cox, I mean those are two guys are going to be in the ring of honor that were the leaders on the team. So you replace him like Saquon Barkley. One thing, I don't think Howie gets enough credit and I think he's learned this is like, you know, he's all. He was pigeonholed early as being like an analytical gm, like a Daryl Morey. Daryl Morey doesn't give a shit about character cohesion. He just puts the best players together.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[John Middelkoff]

Howie has learned to value that greatly. And Saquon Barkley, obviously he has to have the ability when you're going to pay a guy money. But from the off the field, character stuff, seamless fit. And he fills a void that they lacked once Kelsey retires. So you know this team is hit some in Brandon Graham, who's nominated for the man of the year. I forget his injury off the. Oh, he tears, his shoulder is out, so he's just gone. And having Saquon around there is a really, really big deal. I mean, think about the last game of the year, he has a chance to break the record. We can say it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything to me. I think they had already won, but that would have been something. I think Saquon be like, hey, man, this has been. My whole career has been a little underachieving, given that I played with the mess I want.

[Colin Cowherd]

Didn't say a peep, didn't say a word.

[John Middelkoff]

It's like, yeah, whatever I need to do. And he remember earlier in the season when they wanted him to, he like, hey, you want to break the record against the Giants? He's like, no, let the other guys run it. And that's in this sport. With so much going on, I don't think he gets enough credit for the guy. We know how great of a player is. And I thought Brady, you know, one thing with. To be a great running back, you don't need elite top end speed. It's not a. And him and Derrick Henry, you know, he compared him to Ohtani. It's like if you can pitch and hit, because I can live with 20 yard runs all day long, but at any moment him and Henry can go 70, 80 yards.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I think there is something about Philadelphia. They do things that dysfunctional organizations do and it works for them, I think. And it may be just the city of Philadelphia, it's such a glue city. You know, Washington has the political power, Louisiana's got the famous people. New York's got the money. Boston's got a lot of history. Dallas has a lot of flair. You know, Philadelphia has kind of a small town feel for a big city. Like everybody in that city, anybody in my life. I've been doing this for a long time. It is amazing how often I'm in an airport, on a ski slope, at a restaurant, anywhere that I live. And they're Eagle fans and Phillies fans. They're just something about the loyalty. They've been, you know, they. They've had so much success recently. The Eagles have been so good now for a stretch. And the Phillies are very good. The Sixers are still disappointing, but their sports teams are pretty damn good. They went long stretches of just being like Chicago is now, where they just got beat up. There's something about Philadelphia, the city, like there's. It's almost like the fans keep you in line, you know, Embiid, you know, fans. Fans aren't going to mess with that bullshit. Like, if you don't play, fans can turn on you very quickly. And I don't know, I just I just look at Philadelphia stars. I can go back to Mike Schmidt, Ron Jaworski. It just. There's a toughness and a unique kind of. There's. I don't know how to describe it. When I. When I watch this Philadelphia team, it feels like a Philadelphia team. Young stars, stars in their prime, older stars, and they all just gel. They all kind of get along. And I didn't think Jalen played well today. I'm not sure he's 100% healthy, but I thought that game, honestly, if you could bet a football game after one series, I was like, yep, Philadelphia Green Bay was out of their element. They look rattled. I'm like, oh, this is over. This game. I felt five minutes in, I felt that with Baltimore and Pittsburgh, it's like, okay, this is done. I can tell you right now, Pittsburgh's not ready to play. It's time to look at this weekend's tastiest matchup in this week's Sunday night Food Ball brought to you by Uber Eats. Okay, let's pivot to Buffalo 31, Denver 7. I don't think this surprised anybody. A lot of the Sharps looked at some Sean Payton stats historically, but I think we've both said this. Denver lost by 24. I'd still rather be the Broncos than the Pittsburgh Steelers. I've got a great offensive coach and a quarterback who's going to be a hell of a player. We'll get to Pittsburgh later. But I kind of looked at this Denver loss and I thought, listen, man, this was not a winnable game this. This Buffalo team. Kincaid's now been added. I think James Cook is terrific. Josh Allen right now is playing as well as he's ever played in his life. He's getting very, very good protection. I don't see a lot of flaws with Buffalo, do you?

[John Middelkoff]

No. I mean, I think when the schedule came out, when we found out who was playing who, we were destined to get Buffalo hosting Baltimore. And it played out there pretty seamlessly. I think Buffalo, I think they have more pressure on him in this upcoming game than Baltimore, given how well their offense, James Cook, has changed their offense. I mean, early on in Josh's career, they did not have a runner like that.

[Colin Cowherd]

And he just smells the end zone. He feels it.

[John Middelkoff]

How about Khalil Shakir? I mean, that stat. They said today that no one has more yards after contact beside Jamar Chase than him. I mean, he has been fantastic. Keon Coleman, the Florida State rookie has really come on as the season, and there is a calmness to Josh's game. I think both Josh and Lamar, I think, you know, for guys that are runners and make these just spectacular all time great plays are so under control. It's always what Patrick has had and he had it earlier in those two guys that always felt like Mahomes from day one was just completely under control. Even when chaotic situations, you watch those two guys, it's like, even when chaos happens, it's like I don't feel like they're freaking out as they're scrambling around to make a play. I mean they are, they are in the peak of their powers right now. And like how does a rookie quarterback. And I'm sure you saw the stat about Sean Payton's record against bald coaches. It wasn't John Bade. I just think a rookie quarterback on the road, they were going to need a historic defensive performance. And playing at Buffalo, I mean that place, do you know, it kind of hit me today and there's been a lot of great games at Lambeau as well. The one thing cool about the NFL is some of these smaller cities. For as big as this, how fun does a home game at Buffalo feel in the playoffs? The buzz in that place, I mean, I would imagine we don't have. We're recording this even before the Sunday night game. That's probably going to be a night game next week. That place is going to be ripping and rocking and cold in the snow. And the fans, well, one of the.

[Colin Cowherd]

Of the many reasons football is king and there's about eight in the NBA, there are clearly glamour cities where the stars want to play. In Major League Baseball, there's about six teams that can win a World Series based on payroll. Think about the dominant teams in the NFL right now. Buffalo, Kansas City, Baltimore, Green Bay. Okay, those are four of the winningest teams. The New York teams are in the toilet. Washington was for 10 to 15 years and the one big market team is Philadelphia. And they've just been. They're exceedingly well run. And I think that's just part of the appeal. I got to tell you, I am such a big fan of Kansas City and Baltimore. I can't lose this year. I would love to see Lamar make a Super Bowl. I would love to see Josh Allen make it. I mean the AFC division winners and the AFC Final Four is the same as last season. And I don't think it's going to change. I think Kansas City, Baltimore and Buffalo are going and I should say I think Houston's going to mostly win their division. CJ Stroud was down this year the O line wasn't as good. I think the afc, I don't think there's going to be a lot of change. It's going to look like college football. You're going to see about four names, five names every year.

[John Middelkoff]

I know, you know, listen, I mean Veech and Andy, their resume speaks for itself. Same with, with Baltimore. I do think Buffalo's shorter. I do think we have to throw them in the mix of just how well run they are. Obviously quarterback led operation, but they transitioned. Everyone thought they were cutting a bunch of guys. A lot of people picked the jets to win the division. They had a hat and T shirt game like basically in Thanksgiving and they have become the Patriots now of that division five straight times. They are, I mean a huge part of this upcoming game is they are the two seed. I mean these home games in the playoffs, we just saw the Chargers go on the road and get smacked. It really, really matters. And obviously Baltimore had kind of a weird regular season with some losses. Buffalo handled business and they are hosting this game for a reason. And I think, you know, the, I don't know if much separates them and Baltimore, at least they have been doing it not as long but in terms of like they're the two elite second tier teams in the afc. They just haven't been able to beat Mahomes, but they're kicking everyone else's ass.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, 28 unanswered points at one point. I mean it was just, and it was Allen to Kincaid, Allen to Curtis Samuel, Allen to a running back in the end zone. I mean, Josh has just become an unbelievable player. You know, I feel like Buffalo's a little Phil Mickelson and Tigers prime, where sometimes it's just timing and I look at it and I think to myself, God, now I do think Buffalo is going to beat Baltimore. I do, I think at home they're going to beat him. I don't know if Kansas City, Kansas City will take care of business. I mean, I, Kansas City is going to beat Houston. I may be a sucker. I think this is the year for Buffalo to get to the Super Bowl. I think this is the best version. There's, there's just, I, if they can stay healthy, there's nothing I don't like about them. There's nothing I, I can't find a flaw with the team, the game, their defense is not great. That game against the Rams, when Stafford went up and down the field, they're not a great defensive team, but Kansas City is not a great offensive team. And Now I do. I mean, do you like Buffalo against Baltimore?

[John Middelkoff]

I would say no team down the stretch beside the Chiefs who flipped a switch is playing better than Baltimore. I mean, their offense, last year they were the number one overall seed and had the best defense since like the Pete Carroll peak days. This offense is dramatically better than last year because Lamar's better. They added Derek Henry, who somehow does not age. I mean, he's in the peak of his powers, running for 190.

[Colin Cowherd]

What's funny is he wasn't great his first two years in the league and now he got better as an old running back, which is the opposite of what happens for star running backs.

[John Middelkoff]

It's crazy. Mark Andrews is now back, looks fantastic. Bateman, who they've kind of ridden out over the course of his career, has turned into a really good player. If Zay Flowers comes back, I do think guy for guy, if we just say the quarterbacks cancel each other out, I think Baltimore is better than Buffalo. But home field, there's going to be a lot of. Listen, this is, this is one of the best games of the year. I mean, it doesn't get any better than this. And I, I would lean, slight lean Baltimore, but I'm rooting for one of these two teams. Unless Nandy Veach, I know all these guys. I do think it would be cool. I mean, part of Phil is Phil never took down Tiger in a big moment. You know, is Kansas City just going to kick the crap out of Houston and then beat this team and then just be back in the super bowl and then everyone's going to pick them and they're just going to win another Super Bowl. Football shouldn't be that easy. You know, it wasn't even for New England. Right? It never happens. Three, three, Pete. Usually most of the time you get bounced. I actually think Houston, the one thing you saw Houston, D'Amico, if you did a coach draft from scratch, he'd go in the top 10. He is an elite defensive mind. He's an elite leader. CJ Stroud finally got his 2023 mojo back.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, it's funny, CJ at home, I think he's now like 13 and 5 or 12 and 5 and 100 passer rate. He actually is a much different quarterback at home. I don't think there's any question for sure.

[John Middelkoff]

Nico Collins is one of the most talented young players in the league. They have two, they have one pass rusher. They just gave a two year contract for $50 million and they guaranteed every penny in Denel Hunter who was, who was kind of working Joe Alt yesterday at moments tough first matchup. Will Anderson is one of the best players to ever play for Saban got drafted third overall. I mean they got some high high end guys and a real coach now we just saw the map. One advantage for Andy is they literally just played him. So they had already game planned for him three weeks ago. They only have to watch these last couple games. I've been around Andy Reid, he's been in the office these last two days. They're already on it. I mean this is, it's a tough spot for Houston but you watch him, you go God they got. If CJ's going to play like that, they have more talent or every bit the talent is the Chargers and their high end players are so high you think they could give a game. Remember last year against Baltimore for a half they gave him a game, then they ran out of juice. I, I would imagine I haven't seen the line probably a seven point spread for the Chiefs. I would guess something.

[Colin Cowherd]

I think it's a, I think it's a steps league. I think I went into this season saying about Green Bay. They're too young, they're a year away. That bears itself out watching today and I think Houston the same thing. I still think Houston needs another draft. I think they're an inconsistent football team because they're not a team that if they suffer injuries in certain spots their O line wasn't as good this year. So they're not a Super Bowl. I think Green Bay and Houston are good enough to win a playoff game. They're not good enough to win two. Certainly not good enough to get to a Super Bowl. But you know there's, there's CG.

[John Middelkoff]

CJ's a better play. I would, I would take CJ over love.

[Colin Cowherd]

I would too at this point. Absolutely. That was this week's Sunday night Food Ball brought to you by Uber Eats as the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Uber Eats use them every week. Has the best game day deals all season long. Order now for game day. I do. We do. Great company. You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected. From big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile, keep your phone and they'll pay it off. Up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com Keep and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days with device device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Cart has no cash access and expires in six months.

[Jon Stewart]

Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at the Daily show, which means he's also back in our ears on the Daily Show Ears Edition Podcast. The Daily Show Podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's news and pop culture. You get hilarious satirical takes on entertainment, politics, sports and more from Jones, John and the team of correspondents and contributors. The podcast also has content you can't get anywhere else, like extended interviews and a roundup of the weekly headlines. Listen to the Daily Show Ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Adnan Virk]

What's up everybody? Adnan Burke here to tell you about a new podcast from iHeart podcast in the National Hockey League. It's NHL Unscripted with Firkin Demers.

[Jason Demers]

Hey, I'm Jason Demers, former 700 game NHL defenseman turned NHL Network analyst, and boy oh boy, does Daddy have a lot to say.

[Adnan Virk]

I love you, by the way, on NHL Network, we're looking forward to getting together each week to chat and chirp about the sport and all the other things surrounding it that we love. Right?

[Jason Demers]

Yeah, I just met you today, but we're going to have a ton of guests from the colliding worlds of hockey, entertainment and pop culture. And you know what, tons of back and forth on all things NHL.

[Adnan Virk]

Yeah, you're soon going to find out we're not just hockey talk. We get all kinds of random stuff on this podcast. Movies, television, food, wrestling, even the stuff that you wear in NHL.

[Jason Demers]

Now you wish you could pull off my short shorts Virky.

[Adnan Virk]

That's sure to cause a ruckus. Listen to NHL Unscripted with Burke and demers in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bobby Bones]

Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Join me and former NFL quarterback Matt Castle every Wednesday for our new podcast, Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle. Between us, we have over 17,500 passing yards, multiple New York Times bestsellers, and one mirror ball trophy from Dancing with the Star. So where else you're going to find a show with that much athleticism and football insight? Based in Nashville, we're more than just your basic NFL show. We talk sports, but we talk pop culture and music and a little bit of everything because we got lots to say. I I texted you and you texted me back. Now, I don't know if you have the update, but like all the little thumbs up and heart and stuff like it's all colored. They changed it and the heart's a little pink. It felt like I told you I loved you. I'm gonna be honest. It was a little pink.

[John Middelkoff]

There was something sentimental when you like when you send it, it was like, do I send the heart now?

[Bobby Bones]

I don't like the color edition.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's extremely pink.

[Bobby Bones]

Listen to Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts lately.

[Colin Cowherd]

On the NPR Politics podcast, we're talking about a big question. How much can one guy change?

[Jason Demers]

They want change.

[Colin Cowherd]

What will change look like for energy?

[John Middelkoff]

Drill baby Drill schools.

[Colin Cowherd]

Take the Department of Education and close it. Healthcare better and less expensive. Follow coverage of a changing country.

[John Middelkoff]

Promises made, promises kept.

[Colin Cowherd]

We're going to keep our promises on the NPR Politics podcast. Listen on the iHeartRadio app or wherever.

[John Middelkoff]

You get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

Let's, let's go into the Mike Tomlin Pittsburgh stuff. So I thought it was interesting. This may have been the moment. Dan Orlofsky at ESPN as the Steelers just look unprepared and no juice. I mean, the one thing about Tomlin, he was always known as an elite motivator, the best underdog coach in the NFL statistically for a decade. They had no juice. None. It was almost as if they weren't, they weren't concentrating. Dan Orlovsky had a breakdown of some tape in the first half from the offensive line. They it was brutal. It was embarrassing. You like guards pulling into each other and the O line has been, this has been my criticism for a lot of defensive coaches. Mike Tomlin, Pete Carroll, you know, McVeigh and Andy Reid can fix an offensive line in an off season and he's done it multiple times. These defensive coaches really struggle with it. And I watch this offensive line. It's, they've drafted it. They've got some good talent. They couldn't create a run game, but it was, it was Baltimore going into a game without Zay Flowers and having a, you know, a 15 straight runs and still doing it. And I think Pittsburgh's got very conservative owners. They're not big spenders. That's always been the reputation. As you were an Eagle Scout, Steelers always had a reputation. They didn't take as many big swings. It was draft and develop. I think they need innovation. I would say Ben Johnson feels like a good fit here. Do you think they have the cojones to it to let go of Mike Tomlin?

[John Middelkoff]

Well, I don't and you and I have been talking this about for a year. We said it last year, and it doesn't even feel like they entertained it. So I guess another year they should entertain it. I don't expect them to, but eventually you're going to get the line of diminishing returns where his value is going to start to go down. Right. And right now, because of think of the desperate team, from the jets to the Jags to the Bears, his value is pretty high. Like, you could trade him for valuable draft picks. You're a couple years away from that not being the case. Like, you can't just keep going about this. Because think about this. Mike Tomlin, like you said, he's a defensive guy and known as just one of the best leaders in the NFL. So even if we remove, like, if you're Tomlin's defense attorney, like, they can't fix the quarterback. Okay, I will remove the offense. Let's just talk defense and effort. Well, you're coming out against your bit of rivalry. And Herb street now are questioning, have they quit on Mike Tomlin in the first half? Have they quit? So his whole thing was, like, effort and leading the boys and the troops into battle. Well, that clearly went away. And their defense has been atrocious down the stretch. I mean, guys wide open. It felt like Lamar Jackson. It was like a preseason practice. I mean, it's like, what do we do? You could have called the game at halftime. You really could. And they went with Russell Wilson. Anytime that you are celebrating that our quarterback room only cost us a couple million dollars. Yeah, it's probably. And you got rid of the guy that you just drafted 20th overall. I mean, we probably saw this coming. I mean, as it got cold, Colin Russell really came back to earth. Now, he hit a couple big plays in the second half, but the game was already out of.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's more Pickens than Russ.

[John Middelkoff]

Why wouldn't you, if you're Ben Johnson? And clearly he's still apprehensive about, like, you know, he's very worried about taking a job that's going to ruin his career. Don't blame him because he sees all these other guys take jobs and just derails their career. He's got a great thing going. I think he makes like 5, 6 million dollars in Detroit with an offense full of pro bowlers. Well, you can trade Mike Tomlin if you're Pittsburgh. You can take a young coordinator, a young guy like they did with Mike Tomlin and put him in a position to succeed. And then it just gives you some life. The other problem is maybe bottoming out wouldn't be the worst thing ever. The 49ers this year sucked. They kind of need some high draft picks.

[Colin Cowherd]

Why?

[John Middelkoff]

Because their roster is really expensive. It's actually a healthy thing. The way it played out for them. If they get it right, winning nine, ten games every year and just getting curb stomped in the first round is. They're making no progress. You know, it's impossible to get a quarterback.

[Bobby Bones]

It's hard.

[John Middelkoff]

You got to hope, cross your fingers, hope you can get a TJ watt at pick 22. That happens once every five years. So your draft is difficult, and you're just seeing a team that they take a lot of flyers for character and eventually. Like Antonio Brown.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[John Middelkoff]

Okay. You get a Hall of Famer, and then you get George Pickens. Who? It's like when that guy on my team.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I couldn't tell you the last time Chase Claypool. I couldn't tell you the last time they had a receiver room without an attitude. Deontay Johnson. It's just. It's what they do. And it's funny because Tomlin doesn't get those guys on defense, but it's almost as if, hey, I'll let the offensive guys worry about the drama. Defensively, he doesn't get a lot of attitude, but my little guys on D, nope. So it's again, it's the lack of urgency at quarterback, the lack of development, offensive line, all that stuff is obvious. But when you see the lack of effort, it's like, Mike, that's kind of your hallmark. That would be like. That would be like, kyle Shanahan can't run the ball. It's like, well, dude, that's kind of. That's kind of who you are. You know, if the run game stops in San Francisco, then you got real questions. I think it's time to make a move.

[John Middelkoff]

Listen, I would trade him. I 100%. And if I was Mike, I understand. I've said this over and over. Being the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers if you're going to be a coach is awesome. Like, I don't blame him for not wanting to leave that post, but we saw specifically with Andy Reid, he got a fresh lease on life and it changed the course of his career because it invigorates you. It lights a fire under you. It kind of puts the chip back on your shoulder. I don't know if you saw Jimmy Johnson throw out a trade for Mike McCarthy, a Pittsburgh guy, to me, if I'm the Pittsburgh Steelers. I just let Jerry resign. Mike, the Ben Johnson thing take a swing and listen. It might not work out, but the loyalty commendable. But you get to a point where it's like the loyalty thing feels like it's run out. This is not where you're now kind of an embarrassment. Tomlin's whole thing is the standard is the standard. So the standard is this is back to back years double digit blowouts by the second tier of the afc. Listen to this universe than you.

[Colin Cowherd]

If Cam Ward or Shador Sanders lands in Cleveland Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Shador Sanders, you will have the fourth best quarterback in the division. That is just, that's a, that's a death sentence for a coach. You're just, you're. I mean and Stefanski with a good college quarterback, a lot of energy, youthful, healthy, keep your eye on. You know, we just saw what Bo Nix did with an offensive coach. We saw what Sam Darnold did with Kevin O'Connell. I just, I think if you just look down the road, this is not getting better. There is no great quarterback on the horizon for Pittsburgh.

[John Middelkoff]

Well, if Joe Burrow's healthy, how often are they going to go 9 and 8. So if you played this season over again, the Steelers are not in are not the right the like the Bengals are in their spot. Right. We saw the last game of the season when they played it. It was 19 to 7 going into the fourth quarter. Now the thing with Cleveland, if we just. Let's just assume Cam Ward goes one.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[John Middelkoff]

I cannot imagine primetime allows his son to go to Cleveland. I can't. He's already kind of hinted that, you know, he would go, you know, Archie Manning for Eli. I think he would. Would draw a line in the sand though with DeSean's career looking over. Chidor would start immediately on a team that has a bunch of talent. But I have a hard time seeing primetime allowing that one to happen.

[Colin Cowherd]

And now for our next segment, whiskey business brought to you by Green River Whiskey, the official whiskey of the Colin Coward podcast. It's good stuff. When you want to enjoy life's simple pleasures, reach for Green River Whiskey. All right, let's pivot to something that we saw coming. I talked about it on my show Thursday and Friday. I thought the Patriots was the best job because of the stability at ownership and Drake may even Joe Milton as a backup. The quarterback room is set. They're young, they're inexpensive. You got a good owner here. I was thinking about this, John. About once every two or three years, somebody gets a job and you know it's going to work. Andy Reid to Kansas City, Jim Harbaugh to the Chargers, Sean Payton to Denver, Dan Quinn to a lesser degree to Washington with Cliff Kingsbury. Mike Frable to New England. He's going to bring up his GM buddy from Tennessee. He's going to get his oc he's going this one. And then also conversely Eber flutes in Chicago. Dennis Allen to New Orleans. Some shit doesn't sound like it's going to work. The minute the inks dry, I think Vrabel is going to get. I think this team's going to get good really quickly. And I'm, and I'm serious. I think they'll, I think there'll be an eight win. I predicted that Denver this year was going to be better than people think. I think Drake may with a run game with Vrabel. I think, I think this is a great choice. I don't see it failing.

[John Middelkoff]

I would say this. He also gets to take over. You know, turns out Gerard Mayo, while he was a high level player and a team captain was like the Jim Tomsula of coaches. I mean you read some of these articles, it was pretty embarrassing what was going on there. So you take over an operation that is just desperate to be led. And 1 thought I had when I was doing the reaction videos and podcasts last night. Do you know who the big loser in all this is? Like the Bills are good and they're not going anywhere. Anywhere. But how about Miami and the Jets? I mean Miami has major question marks with the coach and the direction and just the, the accountability in that franchise and the. I don't know if you've seen the list of the jets interviews. They've interviewed 775 people. It just feels like every day there's a new GM or coach. Like what. What is going on here? So those two franchises to me with Vrabel going there, got no shot. Got. Got no shot. The Bills, by the way, listen, they're way better and they got Josh Allen. But I think the Miami Dolphins and the jets got to be like this is not an ideal situation for us.

[Colin Cowherd]

Think about this. The best coaching candidate last year Jim Harbaugh went to the Chargers primarily for one reason, Justin Herbert. And this year the best coaching candidate is Mike Rabel, primarily for one or two reasons. Takes that job. Justin Herbert, comp. Drake May, big mobile, nice arm, smart kid, doesn't, you know, totally focused. I think Drake may actually showed signs with a bad coaching staff and a pretty weak receiving core. Polk didn't do anything. The receiver from Washington, I think he's got some kids develop more slowly. I don't know. I look at Vrabel in New England and it feels very much Harbaugh, Chargers, Peyton, Denver, Dan Quinn, Washington. I think Josh McDaniels may take that job. I think that's going to work. They just need another back, another receiver. They need juice on offense, but they have some nice defensive pieces.

[John Middelkoff]

And I think clearly the crafts their relationship with him. I mean, Belichick has battled this. Always claim that they were sneaky, cheap, more than it was him. Yeah, at times. And this is a guy with a huge personality that if he wants something, I do think they will acquiesce. I had forgotten about this, but he led the Titans. They were the number one overall seed the year. Remember, Tannehill ended up throwing three or four kicks in that game and the Bengals beat him. But you look back on these Titans teams, you're like, how the hell did he have them that competitive with Ryan Tannehill, A.J. brown, Derrick Henry? Those two guys were good, but Tannehill was never better than what, the 15th best quarterback in the NFL?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, well.

[John Middelkoff]

And some solid defensive pieces. But it's not like they had Lawrence Taylor and Ed Reed on the squad.

[Colin Cowherd]

And when they let A.J. brown go, remember Mike Vrabel came to the. Yeah, he went to the podium and just said, yeah. I mean he didn't even hide his displeasure. I mean, he just went to the podium and said, yeah, this, this sucks. We're so. It's, it's like he knew it. That was the end of Mike Vrabel. I've texted him a couple times. I'm not going to get in too much, but you know, this is somebody that had options. It's like Jim Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh was going to find. I mean, Harbaugh said, yeah, I'll go up against Sean Payton, I'll go up against Andy Reid. I don't care. I need a quarterback in college you can win. I mean, look at our quarterbacks now. Will Howard at Ohio State, Quinn Ewers, Riley Leonard. College football is really about the roster. It really is. You can have a B quarterback in the NFL. You can't. And I, I think Drake May is going to pop. I think by the end of next year, mid, by Thanksgiving, we're going to look at Drake May and go, you know, they found a 15 year NFL quarterback.

[John Middelkoff]

I also think what makes Vrabel unique is why so many of these Belichick guys have Failed is all they know is Bill and they just copy everything he does. Vrabel took, I think, the best parts about Bill. And I saw Taylor Luan go on a rant like Bill used to like question guys in a team meeting, offensive guys about defensive stuff or what's the guy at the cafeteria's name? I mean, what's, who's the guy on the picture in the hallway? He would just have these and it was Belichick's thing. And then every guy did. McDaniels, the Patricia, the Flores, they all tried to copy and it doesn't work. It doesn't feel authentic. And Vrabel is able to integrate, I think the best parts of the accountability, the discipline and the detail, but also the personality of just a guy. You know, I played in this league. I'm a tough guy. I can relate to you as a human being. We could. I'm probably not going to have a beer with you, but, you know, I'm just a guy and I think those other guys really struggle with that. And I think Brable never coached. You know, he's known as a belt. He just played for him and then he went off to coach for Urban and then Bill O'Brien. So I think he's got a pretty unique perspective there and it's why I was so high on Dable. Right. He had coached under Belichick, but then he went to Saban and he went to Sean McDermott. He saw this other, other stuff. But clearly they haven't figured out the quarterback and that's just a huge advantage. I. Yeah, I think that, I think they knew this was the higher. What, a month ago? Yeah, you know, when, when, when the Patriots released eight paragraph statement two minutes after the final game. It's pretty clear that thing was written not on Saturday afternoon.

[Colin Cowherd]

You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com Keep and switch up to 4 lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.

[Jon Stewart]

Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at the Daily show, which means he's also back in our ears on the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. The Daily show podcast has everything you need to stay on top of today's News and pop culture. You get hilarious satirical takes on entertainment, politics, sports, and more from John and the team of correspondents and contributors. The podcast also has content you can't get anywhere else, like extended interviews and a roundup of the weekly headlines. Listen to the Daily Show Ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Adnan Virk]

What's up, everybody? Adnan Burke here to tell you about a new podcast from iHeart podcast and the National Hockey League. It's NHL unscripted with Virk and Demers.

[Jason Demers]

Hey, I'm Jason Demers, former 700 game NHL defenseman turned NHL Network analyst, and boy, oh, boy, does daddy have a lot to say.

[Adnan Virk]

I love you. By the way, on NHL Network, we're looking forward to getting together each week to chat and chirp about the sport and all the other things surrounding it that we love. Right?

[Jason Demers]

Yeah, I just met you today, but we're gonna have a ton of guests from the colliding worlds of hockey, entertainment and pop culture. And you know what? Tons of back and forth and all things NHL.

[Adnan Virk]

Yeah, you're soon gonna find out we're not just hockey talk. We get all kinds of random stuff on this podcast. Movies, television, food, wrestling, even the stuff that you wear in NHL.

[Jason Demers]

Now you wish you could pull off my short shorts. Ferky.

[Adnan Virk]

That's sure to cause a ruckus. Listen to NHL Unscripted with Burkin Demers, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bobby Bones]

Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Join me and former NFL quarterback Matt Castle every Wednesday for our new podcast, Lots to say With Bobby Bones and Matt Castle between us, we have over 17,500 passing yards, multiple New York Times bestsellers, and one mirrorball trophy from Dancing with the Star. So where else you gonna find a show with that much athleticism and football insight? Based in Nashville, we're more than just your basic NFL show. We talk sports, but we talk pop culture and music and a little bit of everything because we got lots to say. Say I. I texted you and you texted me back. Now, I don't know if you have the update, but, like, all the little thumbs up and heart and stuff, like, it's all colored. They changed it and the. The heart's a little pink. It felt like I told you I loved you. I'm going to be honest, it was a little pink.

[John Middelkoff]

There was something sentimental when you. Like when.

[Colin Cowherd]

When you send it, you like, do.

[John Middelkoff]

I send the heart? Now?

[Bobby Bones]

I don't like the color edition it's extremely pink. Listen to Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt castle on the iHeartRadio app after Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts lately.

[Colin Cowherd]

On the NPR Politics podcast, we're talking about a big question. How much can one guy change?

[Jason Demers]

They want change.

[Colin Cowherd]

What will change look like for energy?

[John Middelkoff]

Drill baby, Drill schools.

[Colin Cowherd]

Take the Department of Education, close it. Health care better and less expensive. Follow coverage of a changing country.

[John Middelkoff]

Promises made, promises kept.

[Colin Cowherd]

We're going to keep our promises on the NPR Politics podcast. Listen on the iHeartRadio app or wherever.

[John Middelkoff]

You get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

So listen, the games this weekend were pretty lousy. A lot of blowouts, ugly games. So John and I are going to spend about 20 minutes talking about something here. And if you're just into football and nothing more, that's fine. But John, until recently, lived in California his entire life. And I've lived here now for close to a decade. And over the last four or five days, I have watched an area of Los Angeles burn to the ground to a large extent, an area I lived right next to and have many friends in who have been displaced. My agents, my company has been a little displaced. Just people that mean the world to me. And so the last couple of days have been brutal. And this is not really going to be a political discussion. I said this yesterday. I voted for Rick Caruso. I would do it again. I think he's the right person for the right time, especially going forward. But what I watched over the last four days now I will say this, 85 mile an hour winds did not allow for choppers or planes for a day and a half to drop water, combined with the fact it was a hurricane and instead of rain, it had fire. This was going to cause immense damage regardless who was mayor and some political decisions. But it has been first, the media in Los Angeles has been remarkable. The local TV stations, cbs, NBC, abc, fox, the quality of the photojournalism, the reporting, the helicopter pilots, it's been better than cnn. It's been better than network television. So tip of the cap to Los Angeles media. It has been astounding. People are up all night, you can turn it on, two in the morning, they're on. So I want to start with that. The local media in Los Angeles has been better than the network coverage. It has been remarkable. It's been awe inspiring as somebody who was in local for 13, 14 years. But I wanted to start with you, John, because listen, the fire was devastating. This was not a fire with the winds that was going to burn down six houses. It, however, exploded to a level and it's become very political. As somebody who has lived in California until recently for your entire life and your family, what do you make of the political nature of the argument and sort of your thoughts on what you've watched?

[John Middelkoff]

Yeah, I mean, I've spent 35 of my 40 years of life in California and mainly in Northern California, a little bit on the Central Coast. But I would say this fires have been a big issue for us. You know, when I lived in the Bay Area, in Santa Rosa, in the Napa areas and obviously Tahoe a couple years ago. I do think there's an element of, in these states, you know, people say over politicize. I would say the ethos of San Francisco and LA is very political. It's driven that way. And when it comes to regulation, over regulation and people that run these things that are faceless. Right. Gavin's got a face, he's the governor. But these people, a lot of these people in these environmental boards, no one knows who any of these people are. And I do think the brush thing, and I saw it in Tahoe, is these environmental groups refuse to let you clean up anything.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[John Middelkoff]

I don't know when this began, but it's happened for a long time. And these things, we know these fires and it's dry. I've never lived in la. Obviously Santa Ana wins because I was thinking about, like this is about the time right when Kobe got in the helicopter crash. And wasn't that the fog and the wind and you guys get this weather that it's just very difficult in those hills. It's hard. Oh, it can't.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's crazy. I was going to. I lived in Brentwood for a while. The reason I didn't live deep into Palisades was access. I always thought if I had an accident or there was a fire, nobody could get to me. You're up these small windy canyon roads. And I always told Ann, I'm like this, as I age, I think about stuff, you know, getting into an accident, get having a heart attack. It's like, who could get to me?

[John Middelkoff]

And Lake Tahoe is a lot like that. And when they had those fires a couple of years ago, everyone was sitting ducks because you got one lane roads, it's windy roads, you can't go that fast. But to me, the element. And listen, I come from generation of farmers that deal with these environmental groups for different things. They're very, very tough to deal with. And I do think I can't speak to like, you know, the winds in Northern California are nowhere near 80 to. I've never been 100 mile an hour wind neither. I do know that these brushes, it's just like a sitting fire zone that it is dry. So. And I just saw Gavin did an executive order. We got to start cleaning the brushes. People been saying this for a long time.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, that's a great.

[John Middelkoff]

I can't, I can't speak to the hydrations. Clearly they were empty. And we got Maria, one of her best friends is a San Francisco fireman. He's down there and he's been there now for a week and he'll be there for another two weeks. He's sending us videos. I mean, that video of the stretch of street where the cars that. Yeah, basically the tractor is moving the cars out. He drove. It's, it's, it's like something you would see in a movie. When he sent the video, I mean, it's crazy. Obviously these people, they, they were deadlocked and just got out of their car and the police told him, start running. I mean, listen, that's insane.

[Colin Cowherd]

Trump said it two years ago. He talked about that brush issue two years ago. Listen, I have always been moderate left leaning, but there is no question the kind of left leaning DAs in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles. A lot of these people are getting voted out. They're just, they don't. You don't have to change laws when you don't adhere to laws.

[John Middelkoff]

California turned on them, right? Prop 36. Almost 75% of people voted against it when Gavin was the opposite. So it's clear that people in California are tired of some of this. I grew up in Davis, California, which is like Berkeley light.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, I know.

[John Middelkoff]

It's gotten much more liberal, I would say, since I left 20 years ago when I was probably in junior higher and high school, we built an overpass to connect part of Davis over Highway 80. And they couldn't build it until there were toads. And to keep the toads alive, they had to build them a toad tunnel, which, I mean, this is the late 90s. At the time it cost like $100,000, which was a lot of money. And I had friends in construction. Whenever they tried to build something, they'd find the burrowing owls. And you're constantly battling this stuff in California that you're just not battling in these other. And they, and when anything goes wrong, they're never anywhere to be seen. It's like if, if I, if something goes wrong on our podcast, my podcast, it's pretty clear it's one of three people that screwed something up. Everyone in the, in the business world is responsible. In a company, it's pretty clear who. But in the government in California specifically, there are all these faceless people. And I love this. I come from generations of people that live there and my family still lives there. And I left because I was like, this is my business where I wanted to raise my children. I'm like, I don't vibe with all this stuff.

[Colin Cowherd]

And it's no.

[John Middelkoff]

And you see these people, like, do you think. And I don't know, I haven't spent time down there, but a lot of people don't believe that they're going to be able to rebuild on the PCH because of the groups. They won't allow it to happen. It's crazy.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, here's the other thing. Who wants to rebuild in an area where every house is being rebuilt? I mean, you're going to have 400 houses connected. I don't want to raise my kids around construction sites. It's dangerous. Tractors, you know, all these gigantic utility vehicles. Like, listen, I. And it, it's. It. My wife doesn't like. My wife's not a huge fan of Los Angeles. So I think I've talked to you about this. I don't know if the audience knows this is. I am moving some operations to Chicago. We purchased a house in Chicago and I, I love Chicago. First of all, I don't dislike la, but I, you know, Ann and I had talked about this. I remember seeing a story about two years ago in the LA Times where they'd spent $24 billion on the homeless problem and it got worse. And I remember when I lived up near Palisades and my wife had a couple instances where an aggressive person at a coffee place or a pharmacy approached her and she was just like, I'm not paying this for a house in this zip code and dealing with this shit. And it's like when my sister or my wife or the women in my life, my daughter, feel less safe. And so I don't like people politicizing 80 mile an hour winds. But I think the points you make are points I hear from all my friends. And I think because we know this.

[John Middelkoff]

Is coming at this point now, it's been happening for a long period of time. So to have some proactive measures. There are going to be times when Something is going 100 miles an hour. If something does light, there is no stopping that. I, I could have every firefighter in the world. There is no Slowing that down. But there is ways to lessen the ability for that to get going. Right. And I do think the brush thing.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[John Middelkoff]

And again, anything Donald says, like the, the, the comment about the fish, everyone's like, oh, he's crazy. This is stuff people in California, especially in the business world, constantly make fun of about. We got to take care of this. And I'm pro animals and pro stuff. But it is, it is over the top again with faceless people and faceless groups that when it does come out, it's like, oh, the average salary in this group is $475,000. And that's, it's just become to me. And part of the reason I liked Arizona is there was a wild, wild west and up and coming vibe to it in California. You know, my, my grandparents moved there in the 40s or late 40s after World War II. And for a long period of time when it really took off, it had that vibe from, from Hollywood to the Central Valley to farming to San Francisco with Silicon Valley. And I would say over these last 10, 15 years, the overregulation of everything and just, it's gotten, I mean it's taken on a life of its own. And I think this LA thing has impacted a lot of people that have been very, very loyal Democrats that you see are really taken back by. No one cares about me, no one gives a shit. And I'm paying over 50% so the government is the majority shareholder in my own income and they don't even care. It's crazy.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, no, I listen, I hear this. The two people that I vacation with regularly are moderate to leaning right. Really, really good people, philanthropic, great dads, great husbands, just really good dudes. And they're in my age, so my wife and I travel with them. And believe me, I hear this constantly about the regulations and how difficult it is. And I think some of the stuff infuriates me because now anybody can say anything but Trump winning a second term. And people, the first time there was a lot of outrage. There wasn't a lot of outrage this time. I think there's a lot of Democrats who are very quietly accepting the fact that their party has lost its way. And maybe you find Trump crass, maybe even repugnant, but he's kind of a bottom line economy border crime guy. And I think that's really appealing to people, especially when they're in crisis, Covid wildfires. People want answers and they're not really interested in being, you know, they're not really interested in bureaucratic Answers and safe answers. They want definitive, hard, uncomfortable questions and answers. And I think that's what Trump provides. And I was really taken back by when he won the election, there was a resignation by the left. You know what, we ran a poor campaign and he connects with more people. And I think listening and watching what's being said during this, it is. I sit here and I look at America and I think you and I both, we're very lucky people. But there's also a reason in this country that football is so damn popular. Players play hurt, they play in crappy weather, there's no load management. They don't complain about games. They bust their ass. They treat the fans with respect. I think there was a, in that Covid space, there was a time in this country where people felt like they couldn't. They had to walk on eggshells, on social media, at parties, in public with what they said. And I think people in this country are over it.

[John Middelkoff]

Yeah. I mean, I would be one of those people. It's why California, everything that happened in the Bay Area during COVID me and them did not see eye to eye. And I was coming to Arizona a lot. I'm talking in like May of 2020, and it was completely normal. Normal relative to 2020. And I, I kept thinking, we're all breathing the same air. What is going on here? And like you said about the, the costs of living. I, I had a good buddy a couple years ago by, I mean, just a complete tear down in a really nice area in the East Bay for well over $3 million. And I was like, I, I'm not, I don't even. This is crazy. And I, I just moved my life and, and I came to a place that I've seen. It's just completely different. I can't tell you how many people that guys I play golf with or people I've met that are California transplants who were just. I didn't want to raise my children in that environment. I couldn't do the regulations. It was healthier for my business to come here. And overall, I think, you know, people are tired of being lectured constantly.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[John Middelkoff]

And it's one thing when something crazy happens to like, okay, everyone calm down. When you just never let off the gas pedal on the lecturing. And it cost me 7% to buy an overpriced house to. I go into the store and I get three items and it cost me a hundred dollars. I just don't want to hear it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[John Middelkoff]

Most human beings, I would say the overwhelming majority of Human beings all have the same needs. They just want to live somewhere safe. They want their kids to be safe and have a place to go to school and have good friends and just have a pretty peaceful life. And I think we jump the shark on constantly screaming at everybody about the moral outrage. People are over it because most people, wherever you go most of my life, I mean I'm 40 years old. Up until the last decade, Democrats, Republic, people just got along. He just, yeah. These friends, my family had these friends. We don't. It's just everyone just. And this becomes so polarizing. But then it got. And I think this has obviously hurt so many people in like the political media. Like I just don't scream at me. I, I don't care. I, I don't. I think what, I think I'm not going to change for you. And I think it's been very difficult for people with the lecturing of just the average income in America is like 60 grand. Like it is very expensive to live in all these places.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[John Middelkoff]

The price is trying to get by on a daily, weekly, monthly basis to live life. Life's not that complicated. I think we over complicate some stuff. But I do understand like this is a traumatic event, right. With the Palisades, with the money that's going to be involved, it's going to get very like it's going to get very hairy. Right. The no insurance. California is going to have to step in. It's going to be. It's going to get way uglier. I mean it's, it's kind of crazy that at least so far I think the numbers under 20 people have died. Given the, given the ferocity of these fires which obviously is a lot but I mean relative to what you see it's crazy that it's the numbers only that high but the rebuild the people. I think it's going to be very eye opening experience for a lot of people that let's face it, live a pretty, you know a great. I mean these are pretty. Some of these areas, you know, Pacific Palisades way better than me. But when the average price is 5 to 30 million dollars. But I don't know if you saw Steve Kerr. I think we talk so much about these celebrities and these people worth a lot of money. Steve Kerr's like my mom, my parents bought the House in 1969 and whatever. I forget the props like Prop 13, whatever the year is 79 or 85 or whatever. These people haven't been paying updated property tax.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's right.

[John Middelkoff]

The only way they could afford to live.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I think there's a feeling that in Los Angeles, in these areas, Beverly Hills, Palisades, Manhattan beach, where I used to live, I used to live next to a fireman and a schoolteacher and they bought their homes 35 years ago. Is that. And I also think there is a feeling that Los Angeles is all crazy left. Beverly Hills voted for Trump, I believe twice. And the truth is San Francisco and Los Angeles proper are left leaning. But I think people don't realize outside of the state, when you get out of LA and San Francisco proper, it's very moderate in this state. It's just. It can get looney tunes left up in San Francisco and certainly in like Hollywood. But I have a pretty wide group of friends. Nobody's far left, nobody's far right. But there's a lot more centrists in this area. And the outrage at the politicians. Remember, Palisades is one of the bluest areas of la. It is agents, it is actors, it is celebrities, it leans. It's not Hollywood, West Hollywood blue, but it's blue and they are pissed. And I don't know if it will create a seismic shift in the political landscape, but I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if this Karen Bass stuff, the mayor, I wouldn't be shocked.

[John Middelkoff]

I don't see how she survives.

[Colin Cowherd]

I think this thing may unravel quickly.

[John Middelkoff]

Listen, I don't see her having any shot with the amount of, I mean the toll of obviously the homes. When you talk about the financial and most importantly, whether you're worth $500 million or $500 total, where you live is probably your most personal thing. It's where your family lays their head every night. It's a very emotional thing to lose your home and then feel like no one gives a shit and kind of let didn't help you out to begin with and didn't put you in a position to save it. Right. And look at Caruso. Didn't he save the area his own, whatever it is?

[Colin Cowherd]

Rick Caruso is a legendary builder in Southern California. He's one of the richest people in Southern California. I also. He's a friend. He's one of the nicest, most gracious, genuine people I've ever met. I mean, Rick Caruso. I could tell you stories for 15 minutes about Rick Caruso, how kind he's been to me and how thoughtful. I thought he was the choice. I think he's the choice now. And that's not even a political statement. That's a common sense statement. He's a builder, he'll get it done. He'll zip through regulations. But he was an obvious choice, I thought, the first time. But you know, here's a guy that had been a Republican, he's a rich male in Los Angeles. That's a hard ask. And you know, he lost a close race. But listen, at this point, if you don't see the value of Rick Caruso, I can't help you because we need.

[John Middelkoff]

I'd implement him tomorrow morning at 7am and say, Rick, fix it. Help out. Let's go.

[Colin Cowherd]

John Middelkoff I don't even think that was a political discussion. I really don't.

[John Middelkoff]

It was a life discussion. I mean, city burned down.

[Bobby Bones]

The volume.

[Colin Cowherd]

Whether you're ordering wings for the game, whipping up a seven layer dip, or ordering pizza, there's something about football that makes me want to eat. And this football season, Uber Eats has the best deals for me on game day food no matter what I'm craving from two for one pizza to buy one, get one Wings. Uber Eats will be dropping new deals each week. All season long. I'm in Uber Eats, the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now for game day. Terms and conditions apply. See app for details.

[Jon Stewart]

Jon Stewart is back in the host chair at the Daily show, which means he's also back in our ears on the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Join late night legend John Stewart and the best news team for today's biggest headlines, exclusive extended interviews and more. Now this is a second term we can all get behind. Listen to the Daily Show Ears edition on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Adnan Virk]

What's up everybody? Adnan Burke here to tell you about a new podcast. It's NHL Unscripted with Virkin Demers, Jason Demers here.

[Jason Demers]

And after playing 700 NHL games, I got a lot of dirty laundry to air out.

[Adnan Virk]

Hey, I got a lot to say here too, okay? Each week we'll get together to chat about the sport that we love.

[Jason Demers]

Tons of guests are going to join in too. But we're not just going to be talking hockey, folks. We're talking movies. We're talking tv, food and Adnan's favorite wrestling. It's all on le table.

[Adnan Virk]

Listen to NHL Unscripted with Vir and demers in the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bobby Bones]

Hey, it's Bobby Bones. Join me and former NFL quarterback Matt Castle every Wednesday for our new podcast, Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle. Between us, we have over 17,500 passing yards, multiple New York Times bestsellers, and one mirrorball trophy from Dancing with the Star. So where else are you gonna find a show with that much athleticism and football insight? We talk sports, but we talk pop culture and music and a little bit of everything. Listen to Lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt castle on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hey, everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. I'm bringing in some foks friends of Katie's to help me out, like Ezra Klein, Jen Psaki, Asted Herndon. But we're also going to have some fun thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee and Charlamagne. Tha God. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.