Colin Cowherd Podcast - Jayden Daniels Is OROY, Vikings MUST Keep Darnold, 49ers Dilemma, College Football Playoff Blowouts

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd Episode: Colin Cowherd Podcast - Jayden Daniels Is OROY, Vikings MUST Keep Darnold, 49ers Dilemma, College Football Playoff Blowouts
Release Date: December 23, 2024

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Introduction

In this episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, host Colin Cowherd engages in an in-depth discussion with co-host Doug Gottlieb, analyzing some of the most pressing topics in the NFL and college football. The conversation delves into Jayden Daniels' candidacy for Offensive Rookie of the Year (OROY), the Minnesota Vikings' decision to retain Sam Darnold as quarterback, the San Francisco 49ers' ongoing quarterback dilemma, and notable blowout games in the College Football Playoffs.

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1. Jayden Daniels as Offensive Rookie of the Year (OROY)

Timestamp: Not explicitly provided

Colin and Doug kick off the discussion by highlighting Jayden Daniels' exceptional performance this season, positioning him as a strong contender for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. They commend his ability to lead his team effectively, compare his early-season impact to that of established quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, and emphasize his playmaking skills and composure under pressure.

Notable Quote:

"You got to have wow to be a franchise guy. Like, you can watch... you just have an innate playmaking ability. There's a courage to the way Luck and Darnold play." — Colin Cowherd [16:04]

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2. Vikings Must Keep Sam Darnold

Timestamp: [16:04] - [35:57]

The conversation shifts to the Minnesota Vikings' strategic decision to retain quarterback Sam Darnold. Colin expresses admiration for Darnold's recent performances, highlighting his multiple touchdown passes without interceptions over the past few games. Doug echoes this sentiment, stressing the synergy between Darnold and key receivers like Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. They argue that Darnold's leadership and ability to make critical plays are invaluable assets that the Vikings cannot afford to lose.

Notable Quotes:

"When you watch Sam on that final drive, he's making plays. It's a deep ball to Jefferson... that last drive... encapsulates what makes Sam Sam." — Colin Cowherd [14:38]

"So your best player and one of the best players in the league. And I don't know where Jordan Addison ranks on their team, but he's closer to the top than the 10th player." — Doug Gottlieb [17:34]

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3. 49ers' Quarterback Dilemma

Timestamp: [02:29] - [43:14]

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the San Francisco 49ers' struggles with their quarterback position. Colin criticizes Brock Purdy's recent turnovers and questions the 49ers' decision to invest heavily in him despite inconsistent performances. The discussion touches upon the team's overall roster health, Purdy's decision-making under pressure, and the financial implications of their quarterback contracts. Colin and Doug debate the feasibility of the 49ers continuing with Purdy versus seeking a more reliable quarterback, drawing comparisons to other teams' quarterback strategies.

Notable Quotes:

"How can you watch that and think, yeah, I'm going to give this guy 50 large?" — Colin Cowherd [04:00]

"He does not have the physical tools of the high-end guys. And this year in big spots, he has made poor decisions." — Doug Gottlieb [05:33]

"And once we start talking these crazy numbers... I just have to press pause and these last couple weeks were pretty glaring." — Doug Gottlieb [06:42]

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4. College Football Playoff Blowouts

Timestamp: [69:51] - [84:02]

Transitioning to college football, Colin and Doug analyze several blowout games that have sparked discussions about the structure and competitiveness of the College Football Playoffs. They examine Tennessee's decisive win over Indiana, SMU's performance against Clemson, and Texas' victory over Arizona State. The hosts debate the fairness of a 12-team playoff system, considering factors like team strength, conference representation, and the potential for upsets. They express skepticism about lower-seeded teams maintaining competitiveness against traditionally stronger programs in high-stakes environments.

Notable Quotes:

"The reason the playoff is allowed is because there was a lot of negotiation. So it's not going to be seven SEC teams and five Big Ten teams." — Colin Cowherd [75:23]

"We've been hammering at home and these coaches have been these teams. The depth isn't near the same." — Doug Gottlieb [82:43]

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Conclusion

In this episode, Colin Cowherd and Doug Gottlieb provide a comprehensive analysis of key NFL and college football narratives. They offer critical insights into player performances, team strategies, and structural aspects of the games, enriched by their extensive knowledge and experience in sports commentary. Notably, their discussions underscore the importance of quarterback performance in team success and the evolving dynamics of football playoffs.

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Notable Quotes Summary

• Colin Cowherd at [16:04]: "You got to have wow to be a franchise guy. Like, you can watch... you just have an innate playmaking ability. There's a courage to the way Luck and Darnold play."

• Doug Gottlieb at [17:34]: "So your best player and one of the best players in the league. And I don't know where Jordan Addison ranks on their team, but he's closer to the top than the 10th player."

• Colin Cowherd at [14:38]: "When you watch Sam on that final drive, he's making plays. It's a deep ball to Jefferson... that last drive... encapsulates what makes Sam Sam."

• Doug Gottlieb at [05:33]: "He does not have the physical tools of the high-end guys. And this year in big spots, he has made poor decisions."

• Doug Gottlieb at [06:42]: "And once we start talking these crazy numbers... I just have to press pause and these last couple weeks were pretty glaring."

• Colin Cowherd at [75:23]: "The reason the playoff is allowed is because there was a lot of negotiation. So it's not going to be seven SEC teams and five Big Ten teams."

• Doug Gottlieb at [82:43]: "We've been hammering at home and these coaches have been these teams. The depth isn't near the same."

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This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven't listened to the full podcast.

Transcript

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[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah. Speechless on that last throw, Colin. I just, I don't know. We talked about this last week when he Threw the pick to end the game against the Rams. Kyle Shanahan defended it last week during, you know, leading up to this game. I'm sorry, I'm not throwing go routes to Juwan Jennings with the game on the line. That's not his stuff. And there was nobody in the vicinity of that throw in the Miami game. So to throw that ball as he's getting destroyed. We talked about this last week. He's got to hang his head on being an elite decision maker.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's right.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Right. He does not have the physical tools of the, of the high end guys. And this year in big spots, he has made poor decisions like you said, I mean, throughout the game, he's, he's a solid game manager. They did a good job today of throwing the ball to Debo, getting the ball to Debo. Debo look like the guy they gave 60 million to a couple of years ago. Kittle. But some plays that aren't schemed up, they need him to rise above it and he just can't. And this is why you can't make a decision before you get all the information. And listen, I mean, Kyle's the boss and if he's dead set on paying Brock Purdy, if I'm Jed York and the guy's cutting the check, like we got to have a serious conversation about this before we. We just watched tua. Who they're in that situation. Do they want to be paying him 160, $170 million? Of course not. He's not good enough either. And I just think the amount of money we're talking, right. It's not a $50 million contract or $70 million contract. You're guaranteeing at minimum, what they're talking about 180, $190 million. Because his representation has an argument. Well, look at Trevor Lawrence. He got $200 million guaranteed. It's like, okay, that's true.

[Colin Cowherd]

But.

[Doug Gottlieb]

But I can't do that. Why? Just because someone else makes a poor decision, am I going to make a poor decision? We've seen everyone argue that with Deshaun Watson. Just because Jimmy Haslam gave him $230 million fully guaranteed doesn't mean we're going to do it. So I get the market's the market, but I'm not, I don't want that market for that guy. And this notion of like you don't have anyone else. Well, he's got another year under his contract, so let's just. This year's a disaster for the 49ers. It's one thing to miss the playoffs to lose this game in Miami, I mean they lost more guys today but Kyle Shanahan, I mean they're now destined to be under.500. The Rams headed to the playoffs surely again.

[Colin Cowherd]

And by the way and the Rams with a very young defense, they're not paying anybody. And now that Puka is free for another two years, Kyron Williams, look how many Rams are productive and they're not paying anything to think about that. I mean Puka, Kyron Williams, young, the two defensive verse stud, I mean curl, the safety is one of the guys that makes money. There's nine Rams now they pay cup and Stafford, there's nine Rams don't make any money and they're productive. Anybody that's slightly productive for the Niners, I mean they're opening up the wallet too like going forward. I look at the Rams future and they're going to win the division this year and I'm like, boy, I would love to have that roster. I think San Francisco, I said this six weeks ago, I think they're worse off than they think. I think they have a real issue.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, part of the reason I think they felt obligated to Brandon Ayuk was because of his connection with the quarterback and he made him and Brock had such a good rapport and then his leg got snapped. So that's a big picture problem. It wasn't just a broken leg. I mean you're talking about an acl, an mcl, like it was a devastating knee injury. And now you have the question with the quarterback. The other thing is the 49ers have been a great place to play quarterback because they had all these yard after the catch wide receivers and their defense was awesome. Well now it turns out Dre GreenLaw's Ray Lewis Jr. And when he's not on the field they get shredded. I mean they get destroyed in the run game. So they need a quarterback. Well, okay, we need a top 67 quarterback to help carry us. And listen, I like the guy, I've defended him, but this is a business and once we start talking these crazy numbers and I don't care about the average per year and all that bullshit, the amount of guaranteed money at minimum. Once you start talking the Tuas and the Trevor Lawrences, I just, I have to press pause and these last couple weeks were pretty glaring, Colin, pretty glaring.

[Colin Cowherd]

Because they're trying to win these games.

[Doug Gottlieb]

We're not tanking here. Like they are desperately trying to win.

[Colin Cowherd]

These last two games and Debo was productive and Kittle was productive and Jennings is on the field. Like don't give me this, we're all beat up. It's like you got three of your best weapons and, and I'm not talking cluster injuries. This isn't like the Rams early on when Puka Cooper cup and three of the offensive linemen were out. That's not, that's. We have here. We're missing Christian McCaffrey and, and again when the protection breaks down with Brock Purdy, he is barely outrunning 300 pound guys like he is there. You know, somebody told me once when it comes to quarterbacks in the NFL, there's got to be wow to be a franchise guy. Like, you can watch. And let's pivot now to the vikings beating Seattle 27 24. When you watch Sam Darnold, you can see wow. And I remember even when he was with the Jets, I would tell people you can put a 2 1/2 minute YouTube tape together of his jets highlights and there is shit on there. You're like oh my God. Flying left, throwing across his body. Andy. And, and his connection to Justin Jefferson, who had 10 catches, 145 yards and two touchdowns. I honestly, I don't know how you let Darnold go. How do you break this tandem up?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, to me you can't. And I've been hammering this home for a long time. And it's not just Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, I mean these two guys are going to combine probably for 25 touchdowns. So your best player and one of the best players in the league. And I don't know where Jordan Addison ranks on their team, but he's, he's closer to the top than the, than the 10th player. So the only goal you have as a team is to find the right quarterback. Whether you draft that guy, whether you trade for that guy, whether he lands in your lap as a $10 million bridge quarterback and you turn out kind of strike oil, who cares, right? The 49ers, Purdy was a good example of that. A couple years ago when they were able to pivot, they made the trade for Trey Lance. It blew up in their face. Brock Purdy fell into their lap at Mr. Irrelevant and they were able to make back to back conference championships in a Super Bowl. So yeah, it sucked losing those first round picks. Who cares if JJ McCarthy do they win that game with a rookie quarterback on the road in Seattle, in that environment, in the wet, no chance in Gino, I thought was playing pretty well. I mean that drive before Sam Darnold led Him, it's like Seattle. That was a kitchen sink game for them. Right. They ran the fake punt. They had to. I mean, this was their season. Felt like it was on the line a little bit today.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Doug Gottlieb]

And I just don't understand how you could even contemplate letting this guy walk out of. Out of the building. And maybe they'll go. We'll see at the sea. With the playoffs, you were in a position. The Detroit Lions are having the best season in the history of the franchise, and you can take them out. Right. You. I listen. They're the end of their season. You know, still got the packers next week. That's going to be a really hard game. Obviously, Green Bay gets a short week, so a little advantage Minnesota. But I can't. I couldn't even imagine having the conversation, honestly, because I would be much more inclined to have. If I got to give the Trevor Lawrence contract to that, I wouldn't want to do it. And I would love to give the Baker Mayfield contract, but I got to keep that guy in the building. How could you look Justin Jefferson in the face and be like, don't worry. This young guy, I know he tore his knee and then needed another surgery, but we got you, man. Right? When you're on the cusp of being. I mean, they're one of the best teams in the NFL right now, Colin.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's not even debatable. Yeah. And unlike Detroit, they're healthy. Unlike the Eagles, they have no drama. I mean, if you start looking at, like, unlike Kansas City, they got better protection. Um, you start looking at this team like, I kept waiting earlier in the year, week five, six, seven. I said this thing. It. It won't. It won't last. Sam, I love him, but he can get reckless. I'm going to read you a stat here. This. I think this was the sixth game this year that Sam had multiple touchdown passes. Yeah. The last six games. It's the seventh game this year for Darnold with multiple touchdowns and no picks. He only had four of those in his career. So now, again, neither one of us is denying that Kevin O'Connell is a big part of this. But it's more than that. When you watch Sam on that final drive, he got the. You know what kicked out of him. He's making plays. It's a deep ball to Jefferson. He ran for that first down like you were seeing the entire Sam Darnold package. His toughness, his playmaking, his legs, his vision, his playmaking, his deep ball arm. Like you. That last drive. If you'd never seen him play and you watched the last drive, you'd be like, who's this tough kid he's got? I've said this, I thought his comp coming out, I didn't think he was nearly as good as Andrew Luck, but I said, there's some. Andrew Luck was a big, tough, thick kid who by the way threw a lot of picks. Andrew could get a little reckless now. He's better than Sam. I'm not denying that. But when you watch him, there's just an innate playmaking ability. There's a courage to the way Luck and Darnold play. Like they're going to take chances and throw the ball in windows because they have such trust in their arm strength. And that in his career has gotten him in trouble. But I, I'm watching that today and I'm, you know, I'm writing some notes down on the Darnold late fourth quarter drive and I just think it encapsulates what makes Sam Sam.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Do you remember, I think it was the second game of the season they played the 49ers and he threw like a hundred yard touchdown. They were pinned and he threw a bomb and the momentum started so strong early for him. Most people went, there's no way he will be able to continue this. And we're basically at Christmas and he is doing, I mean, what he just did on that final drive because you just listed all those characteristics. The intangibles at quarterback are also, I say, are defining separator and toughness is a quality. We don't talk enough about quarterback. That is clearly not a question mark with him obviously resonating with his teammates. But I just get back to how could you look all the good players on your team in the eye and go, this guy doesn't give us the best chance. Just figure it out. That's all these players are going to care about.

[Colin Cowherd]

And by the way, this is not a great roster defensively. It's kind of okay. So they're, they're, they're getting in these games where Sam becomes really pivotal because they can't, I mean he's had a lot of these fourth quarter drives. It's not a dominating defense. It's, it's with Brian Flores. They'll take risks, they turn, they take the ball away. But he's in a lot of these close games. They have put him to the. This is not like Jared Goff early in the season where you could just turn and hand it off with a dominant O line. They lost their left tackle Aaron Jones isn't washed, but there's not a ton left. So a lot of this offense is very Sam Reliant. These wins are Sam Reliant.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, because they have explosive wide receivers and he's got a huge arm and he's willing to let it rip. The other thing is like the way they fell into this, they didn't mortgage everything on Sam and then draft JJ and they have $100 million contract like the Falcons did, and now we're going to eat a bunch of dead money. They did this and then JJ McCarthy fell to him and they got aggressive and they got him and it just worked out. And then it turns out, like, just figure out who the best one was. You know, Atlanta's in this weird spot where they're going to have to eat a bunch of money, waste money on his contract. Like, no one blames Minnesota for drafting J.J. mcCarthy. But once you find this, like this guy was. Kirk Cousins was the third or fourth round pick, right? He was 37 years old. This guy was a third overall pick who obviously his career got derailed. But in terms of size, arm strength and now production, I mean, he's going to throw my guess over under 37ish touchdowns. And they, I mean they easily could go into the last week of the season with a chance to be the number one seed. But what are the chances that JJ McCarthy in the next couple of years leads you the number one seed? One, coming off injury and two, he was a project. He didn't even have to. He never had to play like that in Michigan. Part of the thing was like we got to expand him, you know, he's got to, he's got to learn to kind of carry us, you know, as time goes on. Because that's not how he played in college. Like Sam's been used to that day one with the jets and now that it's kind of come together mentally. But the play, I mean, that throw to win the game to Justin Jesus, he's. He's their best player is Justin Jefferson by. And he's one of the best players in the league. He looks like peak Randy Moss right.

[Colin Cowherd]

Now with that guy. Yeah.

[Doug Gottlieb]

So how you break that up, I just don't, I don't think you can. I don't think you can look your team in the eye and I don't think you can do that to your fans.

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Okay, I want to talk. It wasn't one of the closer games, but I think it deserves discussion. Detroit beat Chicago 34 17. So Caleb was pretty good. 26 of 40, 332 yards since week eight. He's got 10 touchdowns and no picks I mean, he's lost his head coach, his play caller. It's been massive controversy. He's in the best division in football. So, you know, first of all, my take is, listen, this, this, this is a mess. We've got like a. The third coach this season. Like, it's a mess. We can, we can all say that this, this is a mess. But Caleb is six rushes, 40 throws. He's not throwing picks. And if you go back to his first year at USC and go to Oklahoma, that was always one of the remarkable things. And that's a trait of Mahomes generally. Higher risk quarterbacks, luck, you know, Elway, Josh Allen, you know, risk reward quarterbacks, you get a lot of turnovers. This is as bad. If they hire, let's say Vrabel. This is the most chaos he'll ever be involved in. He's not throwing picks since Week 8, does not have one. And again, trailing in all these games, they only win one way. Now they have to win by shootout. So everybody in the ballpark knows they're throwing the football. That's my first takeaway. The second takeaway was, did you notice Detroit with the fake fumble? And Peter Schrager had something on his Twitter account. He said, you think maybe Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, is showing off for the Chicago brass? And guys, I'm available because it was funny. They didn't need to use that. You could argue just save that for a playoff game. What are you doing?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Save it for the Vikings game to win the division, probably. But it is.

[Colin Cowherd]

I. When Schrager put that, I thought that is kind of interesting, is it not?

[Doug Gottlieb]

I think you have to judge Caleb right now as like a draft prospect because every game they're down 15, nothing, 20 nothing before you blink. So a lot of his big passes, which you could, his arm strength jumps off the TV screen. But Detroit's defense with the injuries right now is pretty putrid. So you can throw on him. And it's just when he is making these great plays, the game's already out of hand. So you're just judging him. Like, can I mold that talent? Can we improve the team? And even Ben, I saw Ben Johnson gave some quotes this week. Just seeing him on cross tape, obviously his talent is. It's a tangible thing to watch. I do have a hard time like winning football. Like they got a long way to go, the whole franchise. It is just because he's talented. We've seen a lot of talented quarterbacks in bad spots get derailed. I think best case scenario, if I'M a Bears fan. You look at this year like the Rams that first year with Goff, with Jeff Fisher, and just keep your fingers crossed that you can land a McVeigh, whether that's Vrabel, whether that's Ben Johnson and do a complete turnaround because they are. I thought early in that game it had 1, 2, 3, Cancun written all over it. Yeah, the team is in disarray. I mean they are, they have some parallels to the jets where they fired Eberfluss and they got dramatically worse, you know, then more got put on the plate of the offensive coordinator. But like he's not playing it. To me, it's hard to judge. Like, what does that look like when it's 17 to 17? You're playing a real scheme defense in the third quarter. Like he's not in any of those environments. So you're just, you're going to have to base it on can I mold that talent and can I improve the team? Because right now none of their plays really matter. Like you said, it's, it's more positive. The negative sound like he's throwing three picks a game. But I have a hard time judging anything with the Bears besides just, they are, they are the ultimate dumpster fire right now. It's pretty sad because you watch some of these teams like the tight. Every time you look up the Titans or the Raiders or the Jags, like they have a lot of bad players playing. You watch the Bears, like they got really good players.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Like if they get the right coach, you could see them being a 9 or 10 win team because they have absolutely more high end starters. But they are just in such disarray early in this game. In every game they play, I mean they've been down 24 nothing, Niners 16 nothing to the Lions. They were down again 20 to nothing before the, even the end of the first half today. And it's just like, what does this game even mean? And then all of a sudden if you're the other team, you kind of, you're like, let's be careful here. Like you said.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, the first.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Pretty alarming that Ben did run that trick play in that spot. Like, why would he do that?

[Colin Cowherd]

It felt. When Schrager put that, I thought it's not a. It's pretty good take. Jameer Gibbs had 20 first half carries, so there's no Montgomery now. And my first take was, I went and looked. I'm like, Jesus, they're just giving this guy the rock every play. And you know, I love the Run game. But you got to have two studs. Kyron Williams for the Rams like Blake Corum, if they don't trust him, whatever it is, they just don't give him the ball much. I mean Kyron Williams 25 carries is what he does and he's a smaller back. I'm looking at Jameer Gibbs, he's more the lightning, right? He, he's, he is kind of the home run hitter. I look at this and I think if, if they got to the NFC championship, you got two more weeks, then you got two playoff games. Boy, he better not get hurt because he's going to have to carry the ball. Because with this defense, let's be honest John, you don't want, you don't want golf throwing 40 times. You want to close these games out. You don't want your defense on the field. You want to keep that defense, that injury riddled Lions defense on the field. Gibbs carrying it 20 times in the first half. My first takeaway is how sustainable is that?

[Doug Gottlieb]

I think getting the home field advantage for them is bigger than any team in the league including the Chiefs who feel, you know, like more than likely they're going to get it now. They are desperate need of some guys coming back on defense because this is not a seven game series. And if your offense has an off half against the packers, against the Eagles, against one of these good teams against the Vikings in a playoff game, you would be in trouble because those teams can score. So like I have a hard time watching that Lions defense and who knows, I mean they, they keep showing the IR list every single week. 19 guys, you know, on injured reserve. Their offense is pretty, pretty freaking good though, even without Montgomery. I mean laporte is a stud. Jameson Williams just is one of the faster guys in the league. Obviously St. Brown is just an incredible over the middle and they have an offensive coordinator who's just elite as job. I mean the cohesion they have. But I don't know if they can win the NFC with all these injuries. I just think it's really, really, we saw it in college football if you get into a cold weather situation, if they, they could easily be the five seed. I mean we'll see how these next 15, 20 days play out. But you got to go outdoor. It's not as high as scoring. You got to play defense. We know they can run the ball but you got to be able to play defense and they would be able to play defense if everyone was healthy. But it's just not and I, it would be pretty sad because of how great of a season they had. But it's an all time like it. It's pretty remarkable that their record is their record given the, the injuries didn't start last week. I mean they've been going for a month plus and even back to Aiden Hutchinson a long time ago. So it's. I give Dan Campbell a lot of credit because a lot of teams would have just cracked a little bit and they just found a way. I mean they came out today and listen, obviously the Bears stink. They came out today ready to kick ass and take names.

[Colin Cowherd]

Our Week 16 reaction presented by Uber Eats. Get game day deals all season long on Uber Eats. It's time to look at this weekend's tastiest matchup in this week's Sunday Night Football brought to you by Uber Eats. Washington beats Philadelphia 36 33. There's an asterisk because Jalen Hurts had a concussion. Kenny Pickett came in. Kenny Pickett was okay, actually. His first pass was a home run down to A.J. brown. Smart kid, he knew where to go with the ball. But. So this is the second year in a row where a tire fire of a franchise. Last year it was Houston. This year it's Washington, a laughingstock for a decade plus. You bring in a new coach, a sharp offensive coordinator, a very good rookie quarterback who's taken second and you're going to make the playoffs. And it's like this is why the NFL is king. And if you watch Jaden Daniels who ended up with five touchdown passes against the number one defense, Philadelphia, there was that game winning drive and there were some turnovers early, it was, it was pretty choppy. But if you watch that game winning drive, you're like, yeah, that's what a franchise quarterback looks like. And I just go back to this. It's one of the things, I mean they asked this kid to throw the ball 39 times against a very good defense and you know, Philadelphia had a big lead. So that's a tough environment. Great defense, well coached team, good pass rush. I think if I'm, you know when people said the reason I picked the commanders to make the playoffs, I think it was my dark. Every year I pick a dark horse team to make the playoffs. And the reason I picked Washington and I said if you go back and look at how bad the previous owner was and the previous GM and the previous coach, you had to clean out everybody. I don't know if Washington can win a playoff game, but I thought today. And again, Jalen Hurts, concussion is out. I think they're like Tampa, I think they're a really live dog in the playoffs. Do you?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah. I mean, the quarterback's pretty remarkable, you know, for his great. Obviously Lamar Jackson's become one of the best players we've ever seen, but this guy is better as a rookie than Lamar was as a rookie. Now, in fairness, Lamar had only played a couple years in college. This guy was there for five plus years. But he is much more polished year one than Lamar and his game is somewhat similar. Right. I mean, his legs today he made some huge plays with his legs.

[Colin Cowherd]

Huge.

[Doug Gottlieb]

And like, listen, Jalen went out and that's huge. I mean, I'm not a big Kenny Picket guy at all. But he's not playing Jalen hurts. He's playing Vic Fangio and that defense, which is, I mean, not just healthy and awesome defensive line and he was, he was carving them up. I think he, he's blown me away. I, I always hesitate to think rookies are going to take the league by storm. That's why everyone. Caleb, I said this league so hard he to do that at this point in time in the season. Their season wasn't on the line or whatever, but they easily could have lost this game. Everything was going to be okay and he just wouldn't let him loose. And they are. And he's throwing to guys, a couple guys. I don't even. I follow this stuff for a living. Like, who's that? You got to google them, right? And it's, it's not Christian McCaffrey. It's his brother Luke McCaffrey. And Terry McLaurin is a really good player, but he's not Justin Jefferson. And those guys, I mean, those two look like Montana and Rice when they're connect Their cohesion. Year one is just out of this world. And like you said, it is amazing. You know, in football, so many people go, why doesn't Virginia McCaskey sell? Or why doesn't Mark Davis sell? It's like, guys, you would much rather have the $6 or $7 billion asset and live your life through the asset, which is going to be completely the same as having all the cash and you have to give half the cash to the government and no one then cares about you and you're completely irrelevant. These people don't sell if they don't have to. You know, Dan Snyder basically had to. They got lucky that it all played out that way and they just got a real franchise again. But what really separates you, you know, Dan Quinn's clearly solid is when you get a special quarterback. It changes your franchise forever. Look, I think Sean McDermott's good and their GM is good, but Josh Allen is the reason that the Bills are the Bills. Right. And this guy is going to be the reason that this franchise, I mean there's. If you had to pick a quarterback for the next 10 years in that division, you wouldn't hesitate to pick Jaden over Jalen. And Jalen's a good player.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, obviously Jack's a good player too. Yeah, Jaden's better already. I think. I trust him more from the pocket.

[Doug Gottlieb]

And I'm not even talking money. I'm saying if they all made the same amount of money, if all things were equal. I know one guy is on a rookie contract. I'm saying even if that didn't exist, you would take him. I mean his, his physical characteristics. You know, Jalen's a good runner, this guy's a much more explosive runner. Jalen's more of a power runner. And like you said, he is. His accuracy, you know, that was one of the things coming from college. He was great deep ball thrower. Well, yeah, he had Malik Neighbors and Brian Thomas. I mean two guys did have a chance to be like all pro players in the NFL. You're like, how's this going to translate to the NFL? And it is because it's like third down plays, accuracy over the middle. It's obviously he can throw the go route, which he has done all season long, but like it'll be third and seven, it'll keep a play alive and hit Ertz or someone over the middle. You're like, damn. And Kingsbury, what a great hire. And this just gets back to ownership. What happened? The Raiders only offered him a two year deal. They were kind of lowballing them. The new owner comes in, hey, we'll guarantee a three years, $10 million. Come here. Come work. With the number two overall quarterback. Cool, I'm there. So it's like we don't talk a lot. We do that a lot with like free agency or you should have traded up for this player in the draft. But coaches, Mark Davis would only offer him a two year deal. Why? Because Mark Davis knew that he might fire his coach. Well, if you're going to live in that world, you're going to lose out on a guy. Now would that have changed much for the Raiders? Who knows? But Antonio Pierce wanted him. And then all of a sudden something changes and he's with Washington. And safe to say that that was, that was a huge moment for the franchise landing Kingsbury because Him, I mean he's so good with these running and mobile quarterbacks.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Rookie of the year. Is it even a question now or him? Bo Nix, because I thought Bo Nix kind of surpassed him and it feels like Jaden after this win.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, and it does matter that Washington's in that cowboy Philadelphia Giant division. Those are big games. You know, it's, it's Bose playing against Mahomes. But I think, I think sometimes Jaden got off to a hot start and Jaden's getting, is closing it with dramatic wins. So it probably now is back in Jaden Daniels court. But you know you, you can do so many things right in this league and if you don't have quarterback right, you're screwed. It just doesn't matter.

[Doug Gottlieb]

No chance.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, I mean a great example is that is the Colts. I think they have a really good roster but you know, they won a game today with seven completions like Anthony Richardson. I was texting an executive in the league today and I'm like, you just, you got to go after Sam Darnold. You can't win in this league. Completing seven and eight passes. That's, you can tell by what a coach calls what he thinks of his quarterback. And like the Colts don't want to throw the ball. They just don't want to throw the ball. So when I look at Jaden Daniels, I think the thing that blew me away day one was I remember early in the year they were having him throw from the end zone and Sean Payton has Bo Nicks throwing from the end zone like they Kingsbury doesn't care. He'll have that kid at the four yard line roll out in the end zone. He doesn't care. And like what you're telling me is, is you he's a veteran. That was this week's Sunday night Foodball brought to you by Uber Eats. As the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL, Uber Eats has the best game day deals all season long. Order now for game day. I saw Michael Penix today. He looked like an eight year vet. He had a pick that wasn't his fault. Atlanta dropped some passes but I watched Michael Penix today, you know, and again 34, 7 over the Giants. But 18, 27, couple hundred yards. You could just see the poise and the accuracy. I mean I thought Penix looked pretty good. I thought even twice he threw the ball away and I was like, oh yeah. He even, he even had acumen and like he was very quick, very quick. You know he's got these mitts for Hands so he can almost palm the ball. He's, you know, he can, he's a pocket quarterback. But I don't look at him like golfer TUA because just the way he played in crappy outdoor weather, Indiana and Washington. He's got huge mitts. I think his ball cuts through rain and wind. But I watched him today and it was sort of like even when he was throwing the ball away, it was like, oh, he's totally under control.

[Doug Gottlieb]

You know, think about this quarterback class. They all, I know there's only his first start and I, A lot of people are like, well, his Pennix's box score wasn't great. Like, did you guys watch the game? You gotta watch, you watch the game. He looks light years better and more, his arms more lively and quicker than Cousins. My question was, why didn't they make this move three weeks ago? Why did they wait so long?

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, you know, $90 million they, Arthur Blank wrote a check and he's like, guys, we got a lot of heat for this. We better squeeze every last ounce of juice out of that check. I think it's basically the owner. It's like, okay, now they may have waited one game too long, but I think when you write that check, because I said I thought, I thought Cousins was good until Thanksgiving next year and he made it to about Thanksgiving this year and he fell off a cliff. But I think that's the reason I.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Was listening to a podcast this week for a guy that used to work with Steve Cohen on his trading desk. And Steve's big thing always was when you see a loser, you have to pivot or we're just going to lose more money. And I think if they end up missing the playoffs, they rode that. The money was already spent. You already did it. The mistake already happened. You made this draft choice who, I think Schrager. Someone reported he hadn't been getting any reps. You know, in practice the backup doesn't get many reps. And when you have a veteran like Cousins, he got no reps all season. I mean with the scout team, but you're not running your own offense. So he's just thrown into the fire today when he's been over servicing the defense. This is not like there's not a rotation going on in the NFL. So he's just thrown in the fire. And this was the thing with panics. He was a ready made guy. This is a 24 year old who's been playing in college for 10 years. He was a, he wasn't a J.J. mcCarthy or Drake May project. I think this we see all the time over the last like decade these, these draft classes that have three or four guys to get drafted in the first round and usually half of them after the first year we're like oh yeah, all these guys, I mean obviously Caleb's physical abilities jump out. Jaden is got to be one of the best rookie quarterbacks in recent memory. Drake may, I mean he's dealing with a shit show there. And you watch that first drive today, threw a beautiful touchdown against the Bills. You're like God, I, I understand why if males fired a lot of people would be interested in this job. You watch Pennix, you're like God, this kind of looks like Washington, like just his, his mannerisms. Bo Nix has gotten better and better and better and better and that's the thing where it's like you're just going to risk the percentages aren't on your side that oh yeah, JJ's also going to hit and all six of these guys are going to be good players. When you got Sam Darnold in your lap, I think back to the Darnold thing at minimum you got to franchise them because you can't let him hit the open market and get into a bidding ward. No, you just franchise them and then figure it out for there minimum if you're not, if you can't just extend them which I would do.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. I think when I watch Panics today As Atlanta won 34 to 7, first thing is poise. Second is accuracy. Not a throw, afraid to throw the ball down the field but it goes back to something. Herbert, first game you could see it. Burrow first. Second game you could see it C.J. stroud, second game you could see it. Mahomes first game. Year one, week 17 you could see it. Even Lamar when he came in week 11 for Baltimore you're like holy shit, what is that? That doesn't look like anything. We try to talk our. I mean I was talking to Giant fans four years into Daniel Jones and they're blaming and I'm always like if a guy is an if, like if the old line's great and if he's got, he's not a guy and like it's like anything else. If you have to talk yourself into stuff then it's not really, it's not true. You watch Pennix today, I would absolutely stand behind that guy's going to play for 10 years in this league if, if injuries don't get in the way. That's a 10 year starter and A multiple Pro Bowler.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I think if I'm Arthur Blank today, I go, are we not a 9 or 10 win today? If Penix had just been our full time starter and we had that 90, $100 million that we gave Kirk Cousins to allocate on other positions that we desperately needed and then this offseason because no one's going to trade for a 27 and a half million dollar 37 year old player that's declining, that we're going to have to cut and then have a $35 million dead cap in the second year of our rookie quarterback. I mean it's just, it's pretty bad business. And when you look at the last couple years of teams that needed some bridge quarterbacks, right? The Bucks last year they get Baker Mayfield for four or five million dollars this year and they make the playoffs, this year you get Sam Darnold for $10 million, boom, you're competing for the number one seed. And we paid a guy coming off an Achilles who clearly that injury has affected his biomechanics of his arm strength, which is extremely weak.

[Colin Cowherd]

Isn't it interesting? Aaron was bad early, he's better now. Kirk was good early, he fell off the cliff. So their bodies have reacted differently to it. Aaron actually in the last four weeks has been pretty damn good.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Cousins, far superior athlete.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, that's probably it.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah, yeah, I, I think that has to be it. I mean far superior like a guy in a. If you're just ranking them, you know, If Lamar's a 10, you know, Aaron's like a seven and Kirk for NFL standards, what's Kirk? Three, two. I mean, right. It's pretty low. And did you have that number that remember he threw a pick six. What was his Charger game? And it was the, it was the slowest pass of the year in the NFL or something. And I truly. Listen, I'm no doctor or trainer, but clearly that's affecting him because I thought last year before he got hurt, his arm strength was much stronger than it was early on in his career. And I think they kind of bet on that guy. When in the history of sports, and I know we have gotten, I would say a little spoiled because of Tom's run at 45. Let's just put in LeBron. Those guys are outliers. Most guys when they have an injury, fall off a cliff and that's what happened to Cousins. And I truly believe that you had all these new people and then they fell in love with Penix after the signing and it was, I hated the Move at the time because I thought Penix, if you would have drafted drake may or J.J. mcCarthy be like, okay, Penix was not a sit behind a guy, just start him immediately. And I listen, maybe they wouldn't have been good enough. But I know just watching him, he's. He's way more talented this year and today than, than Cousins. I don't even think it's close.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. So Rams beat the Jets 19 to 9. Another strange, ugly first half for Stafford and McVeigh, which, you know, your first half is your scripted half. A really rough first half, but they had a great fourth quarter. The jets had a fourth quarter league and just evaporated. The Rams are now 7 and 4 and 1 score games and the jets are 3 and 7 and 1 score game. So the jets have been in games and they can't make plays late. And that was typical. Today it was penalties. You know, it's interesting. They got Tyler Higby, their top tight end back. So that's another weapon. So the Rams, for the first time all year are completely healthy on offense. They have all their starters back. This was the first game. But it's funny, they're healthy and they're hot. It was the third straight game with no sacks allowed. So I think we would both agree that when Stafford's upright and not pressured, he's a top four cornerback in the league. I mean, he, he is sensational. But when I watch them and then I watch, you know, it's funny when you watch the Rams win and what I see is coaching excellence, like they just don't make a lot of mistakes. Now Kyron Williams got a unsportsman like Panel Lee today that, that killed a drive and they settled for a field goal, but it didn't, it wasn't punitive. It didn't cause a loss. But do you. I watch the Rams and I'm like, they're five players away. I just, I think they're good enough to narrowly win a playoff game. But Minnesota, so good. Detroit and Philly have much better rosters. I think Green Bay is just getting better, like on a weekly basis. Can the Rams win a playoff game because they're going to win their division?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, more than likely they're going to be the three seed and Green Bay is going to be the six. That's a pretty tough first round matchup. I would take Green Bay and Green Bay is pretty well suited to play indoors and score a lot of points. Right? I mean, that's some serious team speed. What did they do last year when they played indoors against the Cowboys. They lit up that scoreboard. So if love's on, that's. That's a tough draw for the Rams. Back to back years, getting the Lions and the packers more than likely because I don't think McVay gets enough credit for this. Right. We talk a lot about him being this great young schematic guy with Kyle and I mean, Kyle's taking a hit this year. But you know Andy, way back in the day, when he first got hired in Philly last year, they were 3 and 6 and went 7 and 1. I think their one loss was like to the Giants this year they were 1 and 4. Now granted that was a lot of injuries, but I don't give a shit if you have a lot of. You're one in four. I mean, that's a pretty deep hole to dig out of. And now they're more than likely going to win 11 games. Right? They got Arizona coming up, who's just not very good in Seattle. Might just be done by that point in time and that game might not even matter. Is this guy kind of like the younger version of Tomlin in terms of leadership and holding guys together? And I think we got very lucky because clearly he came close. I don't blame him. I mean, someone starts throwing 15, 18 million dollars in front of you to go call one game a week on Thursday night, the Amazon thing, and he turned that down and he stayed. And we've really seen him rise to the occasion these last couple of years because like you said, I like the Jets. I had money on the jets today just because that west coast team, they had just had a huge win that put them in position even like they were, they controlled their own destiny. You're coming. Five hours morning kickoff in New York. New York. The jets have actually been playing better. I expected that game to be weird and it was for a long time. But ultimately the cream rose and they separated like you said in, in the fourth quarter. But I think McVay is like a young Tomlin to just the adversity, being able to just handle different guys. Now he's proven that he can handle sweet vets, hall of Fame guys like Stafford or Aaron Donald. But all these young guys he made, you know, I think it was hard for him to his best friend become the defensive coordinator. They've been freaking awesome on defense. I mean, this young guy, I text around the league and everything. I hear the violence from Verse and Fisk. The two Florida State guys are just. People love those two guys around the league. Just violent, violent group.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, they need a number one corner. They may take a corner in the first round and they need an offensive tackle and a boundary receiver. But if they get a number one corner, dude, that means they got two more years of paying. Nobody on this defense. This is the youngest. You know how we've been saying the packers is the best young offense in the NFL. The Rams have the cheapest, most economical, best young defense that needs a lockdown corner. But I don't know if they can win a playoff game because I think the AFC is better at the top. I think the NFC is deeper. In fact, let me throw this out to you. The playoff picture today, I think this is right. Baltimore would open at Houston, Denver at Pittsburgh. Would it be Minnesota or Green Bay at the Rams?

[Doug Gottlieb]

Let me bring up the playoffs. I think it's Houston. It's. Yeah, technically, Pittsburgh has the three seeds. So it would be Houston, Baltimore. It'd be Pittsburgh, Chargers and Broncos, Bills. And the NFC would be Rams, Packers, Minnesota, Bucks, Eagles, Washington, which would be a tough game for the Eagles.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thursday Night Football is on. It's only on Prime Video. Best season yet. Packed with big rivalries and even bigger stars. Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreet, Kaylee Hartung. Every week, games you can't miss. Coverage begins at 7 Eastern with football's best party. TNF tonight. Thursday night Football tonight. If you're not a Prime member, no problem. Sign up. 30 day free trial. Cancel anytime. Thursday Night Football and it's on. Prime video restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

[Justin Pennock]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Gamora. Morning, Steven. Oh, have you done something new with your hair? It looks amazing.

[Justin Pennock]

They don't have the slightest clue. You were half asleep drooling on your pillow not ten minutes ago. Yep, switching and saving with Geico. Feels just like that. Get more with Geico.

[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.

[Bobby Skinner]

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?

[Bobby Skinner]

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 going to. You're 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 on NHL.

[Bobby Skinner]

Now you wish you could pull off my short shorts virky that's sure to cause a ruckus.

[Adnan Virk]

Listen to NHL Unscripted with Burkin Demers and the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jason Demers]

Catch Jon Stewart back in action on the Daily show and in your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. From his hilarious satirical takes on today's politics and entertainment to the unique voices of correspondents and contributors, it's your perfect companion to stay on top of what's happening now. Plus, you'll get special content just for podcast listeners like in depth interviews and a roundup of the week's top headlines. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your your podcasts.

[John Middlekauff]

What's going on, everybody? This is Justin Pennock from John Boy Media, the host of the Football Today podcast alongside Bobby Skinner and Chris Rose. We're rolling three times a week, on Mondays, on Wednesdays, on Fridays, breaking down everything you need to know about the NFL. We're talking about the MVP races, Josh Allen going to pull it out. Lamar Jackson. Can Saquon Barkley even break the rushing record? Can the Steelers keep up their momentum? We talk about everything, we break it down. Stats, analytics. And of course, Chris Rose is bringing his perspective on being a pro in the media world as well. Listen to football Today on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and you will be glad you did. Hope you could join us at the the postseason run.

[Colin Cowherd]

They said today that Aaron Rodgers would be willing the announcers to take a pay cut to stay and I think Vrabel's the best candidate for the jets or the Bears. I think if I was the Jets, I'd love to draft a quarterback, but they're in a tough spot because maybe Riley Leonard's in the fourth round. But there's I've had two executives tell me that they think every quarterback taken this year is better than Shador Sanders, everyone. And after you watch Panics today, I don't think there's any question, Jaden, you know, I mean, so it's like Green Bay. The jets are. They're in a weird spot. Like, there's now. Aaron's playing pretty well now, and he and Devonte are cooking. Yeah, I think. I think. I think you don't have a choice. I think he's moving better. I think you're stuck with Aaron.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Yeah. I didn't hear what your thoughts were on the article that came out, but you know, the jets, they're such an easy target right now that any story you read is just 100% believable. There's nothing crazy enough that can come out. I do think people would be stunned. How many of these owners. Now, some of these owners are older, so their children, like Jonathan Kraft, you know, in their 50s, or Stephen Jones, but those that have younger children, who can be the most honest with a billionaire? Their kids. I was watching Charlie woods play with Tiger woods today. Charlie can say things to Tiger that no one else can because everyone else that their owner talks to is on their payroll. So I think, you know, the story about the Madden rating, It sounds really like, whoa, provocative and crazy. I think these owners get told crazy things by their children all the time. And that goes for Jonathan Kraft to Robert Kraft and Steven Jones to Jerry. It might not be Madden ratings, but these people have ideas that are unfiltered. And I think the jets aren't that much different than the majority of these teams with just these owners that are just kind of living in. Because forever as an NFL owner, when I was a kid, people, when the nine 49ers were playing a candlestick, the DeBartolos had family money. But it's not like the 49ers. The league wasn't making as much. They were very dependent. These guys have Monopoly money. Now. Even the poor owners are billionaires. So winning and losing used to have to win to generate money. Well, now even if you lose, you're still getting the $500 million and your team's going to still make some other money in extra revenue streams, so you don't have to worry about winning to make money. So you're like, I kind of want. That's my theory on why some of these owners no longer. In the 80s, 90s, 70s, you'd hire whatever coach you thought would make sure or give you the best chance to win, even if he was a complete asshole. Now it's like, you know, we're making money no matter what. I'd rather have a guy that, you know, might listen. So I wonder, like the. Everyone was turned off by Belichick because of that, you know, Vrabel. And I don't blame Variable. Like, listen, I know what I'm doing here. Played in the league for 15 years. I played Ohio State. Like, my ideas are my ideas. But I think you kind of have to be a politician a little bit now to even get hired because these owners, like, don't want to deal with it because I can't go broke no matter what.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, it's funny. When Harbaugh took the Chargers job, you know, some people saw it as a risk, but I know Dean Spanos and I know their history because we grew up with it on the West Coast. He was never a meddling guy. He had a reputation. I thought it was earned that he was cheap. A lot of first round holdouts. But once he moved into SoFi, and he pays a dollar rent a year and Stan Kroenke is footing the bill, they're rolling in cash and he's not cheap. And they're paying for players and they're paying Herbert and they paid Harbaugh that job. I was thinking the other day, the three best job openings I could think of in the last 10 years. Lafleur to Green Bay was a great job. Aaron in his prime, I would say Mike McCarthy, Dak was in his prime or close to it. That's a pretty good job. And then Harbaugh to Herbert, and Rashawn Slater, the left tackle is a pretty good job. Most of these jobs are awful, I don't think because of Woody Johnson and because of a lot of reasons in Chicago. I think those are the two best jobs. One for personnel, the jets, and the other just because of the quarterback. But are you sure Vrabel should take either one of these jobs?

[Doug Gottlieb]

No, no, absolutely not. I mean, the jets have proven to go to a place where coaches die. And because their owner does, I mean, his kids, that's real. Like he's given up. And part of that article, which I didn't, I just assumed he was going back overseas. Like, he's not going Donald, pick someone else. So Woody staying. So every day when you go to the office, Woody's there in Chicago, you have to answer to Kevin Warren. Like, that's, that's not. Like that's a fact right now. Like that's. I mean, that is what is happening. I also think Jim, you know, the version of Jim that we saw with San Francisco where I think most people describe him being the crazy. He's completely different now. When you watch some of these post game, you know, after wins and he's pointing at John Spanos, he feels much lighter. I feel like much. And I know he's driven in the chip on his shoulder to win, but he feels less trying to take on the than I think he was a decade ago. And who knows, maybe that's with money, maybe that's with winning the national championship and maybe being around college kids and his dad. I think the last six it's a little different atmosphere than the NFL, you know, really seeing guys because most of his players aren't going to the league. Right. They're going to be citizens in society. And I, I bet that just, it just gives you a little life perspective. He feels like a different human being where you know, Vrabel, I'd want Vrabel as my coach, but I just wonder if some of these owners like I, I don't know if he's going to listen to me where they, these guys want. Because money now is no longer the jets can win four games for the next 10 years and Woody's printing cash so and, and he's giving you his opinions like let's face it, Woody's got some vibes of, of Dan Snider in Washington. It's a little different, but there are some similarities. Like who would want to do that?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I, I, if I was Mike Brable's agent, I, I'm not. I, because if you go and look one year from now, Joe Burrow could need a new coach. Means think about it like, like Dak could need a new coach. There's, there's, I mean Jalen Hurts and Howie Roseman can need a new coach. Like there were a year. And I keep saying this, John, Andy Reid's health. If Andy Reid won a third straight, I'm not sure. You know, I don't know.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I think he's looking slim right now. Colin. I saw, I saw a side shot. He looks good. I don't know. I think he's in this Sean.

[Colin Cowherd]

What if Sean McDermott gets bounced early? That job could, I think next year you have potentially three or four really interesting jobs. I, I'm just saying if I'm Mike Vrabel, I'm not sure I want these jobs.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I don't necessarily subscribe to this line of thinking, but it does feel like a lot of people, you know, you get that one year window where you either pounce. Right. Mike McCarthy did that like Fired coaches in Green Bay. People would come over and he kind of got the buzz going. Or you kind of go into the media and keep your name out there. Vrabel's, you know, Vrabel's not a big pump his chest out on tv. He's working for the Browns. It's not really his style. But I think most people would say you start going a couple years away, you somewhat get lost in the shuffle if you're not front and center, you know, because every year there's a couple new young offensive coaches. I don't necessarily think that way, but clearly some of these owners and people, you know, the agents around the league think that's kind of risky. You know, I think some coaches get worried about that. All of a sudden you get lost out of the shuffle. And with him, he's always got the connection. If anything goes weird with Ryan Day, I'm sure he'd be their number one call. And luckily for college athletics, that pays $100 million. So he's always got that on the back burner. But I think you got to be careful with that because all of a sudden you could look in a couple years and a couple cycles and maybe he's kind of out of the loop.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yep. I want to talk about one game yesterday, and then we'll get to college. Ravens 34, Cedar 17. And I was thinking about Lamar Jackson until Steph Curry was the MVP of the finals and did it without kd. So he won a championship, pre kd. But then when KD arrived and appeared to be kind of the big shot maker for the warriors, it to some degree hurt the overall image of Steph. Not the brand, but kind of the image. And then KD leaves and, you know, being the MVP of a Finals, you know, in the Celtics, I think like finally you and I knew it, everybody knew it. But it finally gave him credibility that was long overdue as the greatest shooter of our lifetime. And, you know, there were people, I remember NBA players, they had a poll several years ago. It was like four years ago. Half thought Westbrook was the better player than Steph Curry, which was remarkable to me. But I feel like Lamar Jackson is become little Steph Curry. Like, we're just nitpicking and we just, we, you know, Steph Curry's not a great defender. He doesn't have a major body. Take away the three point shot. What is he. Lamar Jackson is winning 76% of his games. And I understand the postseason struggles, but there are great coaches who struggled in the postseason. Dan Marino, Struggled in the postseason. John Elway for years struggled in the postseason before Terrell Davis, right? Like he was getting blown out in Super Bowls, he was losing playoff games. I just. Lamar had 115 passer rating against the Steelers yesterday. And I think we're getting to a point where we're not celebrating. I mean, Steph Curry is the best shooter and ball handler of my lifetime. Lamar Jackson is the most athletic quarterback of my lifetime. And he made a couple of plays against Pittsburgh and I'm just like, come on, man, this, this thing. And you know, Zay Flowers isn't a huge target. Mark Andrews, he's got good targets now, not great. I don't know. I think I feel like I've been defending. Usually I don't have to defend great players. I feel like I'm constantly defending Lamar Jackson.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I've been critical just because in the big spots he's let you down. You know, last year in the playoffs was tailor made for him and he just got frenetic. I thought yesterday was one of the finest performances of his career. And he's thrown four or five touchdowns and 350, 400 yards. I don't care about the box score because one, they took away his running ability. And where he eviscerates the majority of these teams that he doesn't play that often is he runs and throws on you. Well, yesterday he couldn't run because what did the Steelers take away from him? Because their edge is. Are so fast and they're so used to playing him. It was like, we're going to let Derek Henry run, but you are not going to run wild. You got a pass. And he was so much calmer than he was the last time he played him. And the way he was against the Chiefs, where he got really frenetic and he eviscerated them. And I thought like, if that version of Lamar plays a playoff game against the Bills or the Chiefs, like this team can win the afc. Like that version of a guy, completely calm, like, okay, I don't have to run for 80 yards today. I'm not going to run. I'm going to dominate. Because sometimes against them, where he doesn't freak out against like the Giants the previous week, that was, that was like a high school game for him. And he plays like that against a lot of opponents. And then the Chiefs and then the Steelers throughout his career have kind of been as kryptonite. And you felt like early on you're like, God. And he just, he just calmed down and it was like, I'M going to dominate you. And the Steelers got a serious problem, right? They can't cover anybody. That's back to back weeks. And Lamar's like, I'm going to destroy you. Like, and I'm going to make this look like I do against everyone else. And he kind of threw his hat back in the ring of the mvp. I mean, he's having. Part of the reason he won the MVP last year because it was an awful group. Like the competition for the, for the award wasn't Great. He threw 24, 25 touchdowns this year. He's by far, I think, having the best season. Brady mentioned on the broadcast, he's like, I think they're doing way more complex stuff in the passing game. And obviously it helps when you got Derek Henry running wild, but I thought just his calmness were in last year in that Chiefs game. It's like he freaked out. And a guy on the Raven staff kind of described it to me. It was like, it's like he's playing Tiger Woods. He was down a couple shots and then he just pressed and you could feel it. And so did the offensive coordinator last year, those two of them. And that game, it was like, we're good, we're good and I'm better than that guy. And listen, is he better than Mahomes or not? He can play just as good as him as long as he stays calm and he did yesterday. And if he plays like that. And their defense, the other thing, this is where the good teams, you know, bad teams freak out and they do chaotic stuff. Like, I got to fire this coordinator, Zach Orr, first time coordinator, replacing one of the best defensive coordinators we've seen in recent memory. It was really bad early. Like, this is not sustainable. They've moved Kyle Hamilton back. Their defense has played a lot better. The organization is pretty stable. They're like, take a deep breath, everybody. We believe in everybody. Lamar's like, put more on my shoulders, put more. And now you see them, it's like, God, when they play like this, I mean, they are a real threat, right? And listen, what the Chiefs are doing this year. I honestly don't know how they're doing it, but it's one of the great coaching jobs in the history of the league. But the Ravens and, you know, the Bills, I kind of give them a little bit of a pass today playing the Patriots, but it's going to be hard and I think they're going to need, they're going to need Lamar to be exceptional because you're going to have to beat the Bills, you're going to have to be Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. And more than likely for them on the road, right, that week two or the divisional round would be in Buffalo, obviously, the AFC championship, more than likely. I mean, I think the Chiefs are going to beat the Steelers here in a couple of days in Arrowhead. And if he did that, it would kind of, I don't want to say wipe away everything, but we wouldn't talk about the past if he's able to take down Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes on the road. I mean, that was a defining moment for Patrick Mahomes last year, right? Going to Buffalo and then going to Baltimore, it was really, it felt like the icing on his cake. He's like 28 years old. It's like, how do you do that? And I think Lamar has an opportunity because their offense, when that thing's humming, I mean, the Steelers are struggling a little bit defensively, but they're still pretty good. And they, they just, they toyed with them. It felt like, didn't it?

[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 Virkin Demers.

[Bobby Skinner]

Hey, I'm Jason Demers, former 700 game NHL defenseman turned NHL Network analysts. 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?

[Bobby Skinner]

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 on all things NHL.

[Adnan Virk]

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

[Bobby Skinner]

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

[Adnan Virk]

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

[Jason Demers]

Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports and more, joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondence and contributors and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

[John Middlekauff]

What's going on, everybody? This is Justin Pennock from John Boy Media, the host of the Football Today podcast alongside Bobby Skinner and Chris Rose. We're rolling three times a week, on Mondays, on Wednesdays, on Fridays. Breaking down everything you need to know about the NFL. We're talking about the NFL MVP race. Is Josh Allen going to pull it out? Lamar Jackson? Can Saquon Barkley even break the rushing record? Can the Steelers keep up their momentum? We talk about everything. We break it down. Stats, analytics. And of course, Chris Rose is bringing his perspective on being a pro in the media world as well. Listen to Football Today on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and you will be glad you did. Hope you could join us for the postseason run.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, let's talk college football. So road teams. Tennessee hammered Indiana, gutless performance. Boy, does that Kurt Signetti talks a big game and doesn't back it up. SMU hammered. Clemson did throw for 336 yards, but they were outmatched. I thought the best get bet of the weekend was Texas -12 and a half at home. And I thought Clemson played about as well as they could and they still got beat by 14. But I want to, I want to say this. So this is a 12 team playoff that will become 14 pretty soon and maybe 16. The reason we have the playoff, it was negotiated like These aren't the 12 best teams in terms of NFL athletes. That's not what it is. The reason this is allowed is because there was a lot of negotiation. The Mountain west gets involved. Everything was negotiated. So it's not going to be seven SEC teams and five Big Ten teams. That's not what it's going to be. But the other thing is, most of my life I remember arguing this. I don't, I'm not even sure if I was at Fox or espn, but I used to be against the playoff because my argument was always this. Have you ever thought in your life the sixth best team in college football by the end of the year could beat the number one team? And my answer is no. I mean, when Nick Saban's 15 year run, most of his teams, there were only two to three teams in the country that could play with them. Clemson with Trevor Lawrence or DeSean, Ohio State, Georgia, maybe an LSU team that could play with them. So by the time you would get to like the fifth, sixth, seventh team, especially if the first round was in Tuscaloosa, they were going to kick the holy hell out of anybody they played. So the idea that Ohio State or Penn State or Notre Dame in a home game now we go to neutral sites, we'll have an upset this weekend. But my take is we're overreacting a little bit. Now again, I thought Tennessee and Indiana would play close because I thought weather would be such a factor, but it was just cold and clear. But we've got to be honest about this. When Pete Carroll was rolling at USC or you know, again, the Nick Saban or Kirby Smart for about a three year run, there weren't five teams that could go toe to toe with them. The only thing it maybe be the natty game, a Michigan or an Ohio State. So I think this was not predictable. But I think we're overreacting because coming up now, John, now we've got neutral site games. I could, I would bet almost anything we're going to have an upset, one of the underdogs is going to win. I think we're overreacting a bit to a 12 team playoff that was negotiated. You're just going to get some Boise States in this thing and some ACC teams in.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, I think it's twofold. First, I can't expect it to be perfect. Year one, this isn't year six, this is year one. On the flip side, I see a lot of pushback of everyone complaining like you shouldn't complain, we should celebrate this. It's like, I don't know, I mean this all exists because millions upon millions of people give their time to be entertained. And I've been watching football my entire life and I don't ever remember before this year watching Indiana. And Indiana didn't get the benefit of the doubt right in most people's eyes because it's like we don't know you. You don't have any NFL players. Who did you beat this year in the NFL? If you make the playoffs, you, it's impossible to not beat some good teams. Plus even the bad teams you're beating are full of pros. I texted around some college scouting directors. I said, how many combined NFL players do SMU and Indiana have? And he said, I will have to see some all star game stuff, but probably five total. I said, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Alabama. He'd say probably on average low end, seven for a team. I mean Bama, eight, nine. So the talent the physicality, like Tennessee got their ass kicked. If you just watch Tennessee move around. The quarterback is a young, frenetic player right now. Their talent on the team is immense. And Indiana, we basically lumped in the Big Ten and the SEC as equals. And because Washington, who was in the Natty last year, lost their coach and all their players wasn't any good. USC was supposed to be good, not any good. Michigan obviously lost 17 NFL guys and their coach fell off a cliff. So they had three SEC teams. Penn State, obviously, Oregon, Ohio State. But the rest of the conference, it was really bad. Right. So it turns out Indiana, like, I just think they're not very good relative to the SEC teams. Like, I don't think they could beat any of them. And I think. But they went 11 and 1 and some of these other teams went 9 and 3. This isn't the NFL records. Like, it's like I said, we're comparing apples to cheeseburgers. So trying to do these records because in theory it makes sense. Well, they're 11 and 1 because that's how it's always worked. And I just go, I don't know. So I think we look back at it in Indiana and smu, two things can be true. Indiana had a remarkable season, the best season in the history of the school by a mile. And they're probably not a top 20. Like, are they better in Colorado? I just looked at the top 25 yesterday. It's like, well, Colorado's got a top 10 quarterback, Mica1, and the best player in the country, Indiana, I'm watching, like, do they even have a pro? They're solid defense. Smu, I mean, that was like JV versus varsity.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I mean, their quarterback was completely overwhelmed and the ACC's terrible, so of course it's overwhelmed. They don't have the talent. Who did they beat? So I think that moving forward, just because you have two more wins in a bad conference, this isn't the NCAA tournament where there's 64 teams, like, whatever, just throw this team, the seventh seed. We only had 12 spots and I thought we got pretty let down for. For a lot of people that dedicate a lot of time that don't even have a horse in the race. They just want to be entertained. You're like, this doesn't look right.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, and also it's going to get potentially worse because if you really look at Washington, they have an excellent young quarterback and Jet Fish had a great recruiting year. So Washington's going to be interesting team next year. They'll be back. They'll be a top 20 team. Michigan just got the best quarterback and again they recruit at a very high level. Michigan will be viable. I just saw this weekend USC went and bought two SEC defensive linemen. So I, I and their schedule is pretty weak by Big Ten standards. So my takeaway is the Big Ten, to your point, was top heavy and very weak. I don't think it'll be that next year. I think Ohio State will still be great, but I think Michigan, usc, Washington will be much better. And I think Oregon and Penn State are going to remain powers because Lanning and James Franklin are top 10 recruiters easily in the country. So I think this year we got Indiana. Not that it's a one off. I did. I kind of felt like when I was watching Indiana play, it's not that they lost, it's that if I'd have told you it was 27:17 and you didn't watch the game, you'd be like, okay, that was a game. Indiana was so gutless, punting down three scores, second half in plus territory. I think it really, it was the way Indiana lost, which was like, we just, we know we can't compete. We don't want to be humiliated, so we're just going to try. I think that really pissed people off. It was like, okay, if you're going to play like that, just put Ole Miss in the trauma.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I thought of a rule that if you are on the fence of a couple teams that you have to have minimum more than two guys on each side of the ball that would start for your opponent. And did Indiana have four guys on their, on their starting 22 that would start for Notre Dame? Do they have one? Maybe. How many guys on SMU starting 11 on offensive defense would start for Penn State? Two, maybe. Where? That's the, that's the argument for Ole Miss, South Carolina and Alabama. Yeah, they might not have won. Probably wouldn't have. But I know the talent discrepancy. Like I don't have a big issue with Tennessee getting their ass kicked because I don't think the talent discrepancy. Obviously Ohio State's better and I mean could win the national championship pretty easily. But like Tennessee, you could tell physically it's like their quarterbacks throwing the ball over the map. They got NFL players all over the field. So I could live with that game. I can't live with the Indiana game where it's like, I've never watched this program. I've been watching college football for three decades and I can, I do this for a living. So I know well, they don't have any talent. So it's like what's going on? And then Signetti, I think some of his comments to Saban before the game, bragging about I looked at their schedule. They go to Penn State, to Oregon, to Iowa and like you said, the Big Ten is going to be better. That game is going to be circled. The Big Ten coaches are going to want to beat the shit out of him. I will be stunned. Six and six. They are going to be a target next year and I hope they enjoyed this year because it's not going to be like that moving forward, I'll promise you that.

[Colin Cowherd]

So before we get to the quarterfinal games, I do think we have a potential upset. Listen, Tennessee, Ohio State, Ryan Day. The critics can go back to their Reddit boards but here's what I really took away. Clemson, they deserve credit. They fought to the very end and they don't have again they don't have transfer portal guys and they don't recruit. Even when Dabo was winning a Natty, they didn't recruit like Alabama and Georgia, lsu, they never have. They just don't and they don't use a transfer portal. So I think Dabo is a hell of a coach. But my takeaway on that is if Ohio State's if Will Howard is as good as he was against Tennessee, I don't know how Texas stops them. I mean Clemson was throwing the ball all over the yard. They were throwing it up the sideline, out of the backfield seam routes. I mean when you think of Clemson you don't think 350 yards passing. I know Texas won 38, 24 but that 24 points, I looked at that and I thought, Jesus, Texas plays Arizona state next 13 and a half point favorite. Maybe that's not an issue. But if I'm Ohio State in my passing game, I, I, after this weekend, Ohio State's my favorite to win the national championship, not Texas. I was almost dismayed. Not just that Clemson threw but the variety of throws, the third down throws, the wide open targets in the middle of the field. It was startling to me.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Well, their quarterback really come along. I mean he's the guy to keep if he goes back to school. I mean I think he'll be in consideration to have a chance to be a really high draft pick in 20, 26. That kids, that kid's really got a lot better since that first game at Georgia and last year was pretty bumpy. I like Kate Club Nick a lot and they had one of the great, I think freshman recruiting classes at wide receiver in recent memory, those couple five star kids. But to me, Sark has had to coach around Quinn Ewers a lot of the year. And you see that when we talk about coaching with some of these young rookie quarterbacks. What do you call on 3rd and 7 or are you willing to call something aggressive on 2nd and 10? Are you just trying to throw in like a screen or you know, a draw play? I think he coaches around Quinn yours because to me he is a pretty big roller coaster. You don't know what you're getting series to series. And this is where you know the seating when Ohio State's on. I mean, they showed up in that game. You went, holy hell.

[Colin Cowherd]

No. It was like, wow.

[Doug Gottlieb]

They were hitting guys like they were, you know, Dre Greenlawn, Fred Warner. It's like the defense, the how good Jeremiah's Smith is. Will Howard looked like Peyton Manning. I mean, that was one of the better games of his life. And Ryan Day, listen, they'd had a long time to soak up that loss coming at home. I listen, I picked Tennessee. Five minutes into that game you went, this could be 50 to nothing. This team is going to try to injure everyone in sight. Can they keep that up again? You know, Dan Lanning, this is where Oregon got screwed. They have to play that team in their opening game at the Rose bowl too, which is not a huge advantage because it's not like Ohio State fans aren't used to traveling to that game, which is a cool game that the Rose bowl gets Oregon, Ohio State.

[Colin Cowherd]

But that's. That may set a record that the, the ratings for that game may set a college football non national championship record. I'm not joking.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I think if you're Oregon, you just go, we had the best season. We're the only undefeated team. And Penn State gets to play Boise and Texas gets to play Arizona State. And we got to play that the biggest payroll in the history of college football with NFL guys all over that we had to like knock down, drag out to beat at home. That's. That sucks for them.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Doug Gottlieb]

You know, a team that's never won a national championship that if I told you right now they were getting a good draw, you would like them a lot more. But you're like, damn, they'd have to go through three tough games, right? They have to beat Ohio State, they'd have to beat Texas, then they probably have to beat Penn State or Georgia. I mean, that's, that's a murderer's row so. And they had to beat Penn State, you know to in the conference championship. So I listen if, if Oregon were to win the national championship it would be really, really impressive. I can't take Texas because of the quarterback but their talent on the team, I mean there were that goal line stop that they had basically ended the game. They can really rev it up. I mean they got guys on defense. You're like holy shit. And you know the skill. Their two running backs are really good. I just quarterback. If you told me Cade Klubnick, Clemson quarterback was Texas's quarterback, I'd be like watch out for I, they, they might be my pick. And I just. Is Will Howard going to play like that every game? Is he going to play like that against Dan Lanning's defense? Is. If he does, they'll probably win. Right. If he's going to, if he's going to be Peyton Manning Jr. Then Ohio State's going to be a serious problem for anyone. They're playing.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay, let's wrap it up. Penn State minus 11 against Boise State. I actually think genty run, he ran for almost 200 yards against Oregon. I think these are neutral site games now. It's a whole different ball game in college football.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Totally.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. The college football team, you know, the 70% of NFL games are one score, one possession games. That's not college football. Home teams win. I think Boise State, I think Boise State is going to be, you know, Penn State may be lulled to sleep opening with SMU at home, blowing them out. And now they look at C Boise State hard to get that locker room revved up. SMU is a bigger name to some of those Penn State players than Boise State. They couldn't, you know, they don't even know where. Hell, most college players out east don't know much about Boise State. Can Boise State hang with them? I think they can.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I do think Penn State's lucky that they got this generational player on Boise State. That's an easy one for the defensive coordinator circle. I mean this guy had like a Barry Sanders Oklahoma State level season. So it's to me if they were much more of like the Kellen Moore more of a complete team than a one man band, I think it would be a little different. You might look down upon them but I think when you're playing a guy that would just sit next to Travis Hunter on that Saturday night, the Heisman Trophy, it's easier to get up. I also think, and this is my argument, like listen, I started my career in the wac, which basically turned in the Mountain West. The difference of size and strength on the line of scrimmage, we saw it in Indiana and SMU against, you know, their two opponents at the Notre Dame and Penn State just overwhelmed them at the line of scrimmage on defense. And I don't know if Boise State, their passing offense isn't good enough. So I'm putting 10 guys in the box, be like, what are you going to throw on me? And I think it's a very, very tough matchup for Boise State. I also think Penn State, if this was the NFL and these games were out in the cold weather, I think Penn State and Notre Dame would be built for it. Play defense. Run the ball down your throat. Play like the 49ers did with Jimmy Garoppolo. We're just going to freezing cold weather. Let's roll. I mean, you watch Notre Dame, they would love every game at 19 degrees because that's. And same with Penn State, freezing cold, snow, rain, that's how they would want to play. That's where these neutral site games, you know, I think Notre Dame's a good example. Like, I actually kind of like them against Georgia. But then you put them in a dome, you put them in a dome, it does take away their strength. If you told me that game was outside in a cold weather spot, I'd be like, George is in for it in a dome team speed. Georgia's going to be a little faster, but Notre Dame can definitely win that game. I listen, I love Boise State. Been rooting for him for a long time. I think there's a really, really tough matchup for them. Same with Arizona State.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I might. Listen, I think Penn State's going to win. I think your point on Notre Dame, Georgia is well taken. Texas should beat Arizona State. So I said before the year I thought Oregon would beat Ohio State at ots and I thought Ohio State would beat Oregon on the second matchup. I think I like Ohio State to win in cover against the Ducks.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I think one big difference between Penn State, Georgia and Notre Dame than the other three top teams in Texas, Oregon, Ohio State. They are so explosive on the outside. Like they feel like an NFL team at wide receiver in the skill position. Penn State and Notre Dame just don't. Penn State's tight end is going to be a top 20 player. Yeah, but they are not as explosive at the wide receiver position. So I mean, like you said, I think Oregon, Ohio State, I mean that could, that could feel like the national championship game. And I Think Texas. If the quarterback can just play under control, which he's proven he can't really for four quarters, they could be pretty. I just don't trust them. And Notre Dame, Georgia, whoever wins that game might be. Honestly, I kind of like the draw for Penn State. Penn State plays Boise, wins that game and then plays that Penn State and Texas are going to get. I mean, they're enormous favorites. Favorites in the second round are going to be playing two teams that are going to be coming out of a war zone. I mean, Ohio State and Oregon and Notre Dame and Georgia bodies are going to be left on the field in that game.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[Doug Gottlieb]

So I think that is a massive advantage. If both those, if Texas and Penn State take care of business that. I mean, Ohio State pulled out their quarterback with nine minutes to go in the game.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I think what we're going to see in this playoff, and let's go back to the playoff as a whole, is I think it's going to expand to 14 teams and possibly 16 on any given Saturday. You may get three really great games between good teams. There's a lot of blowouts in college football. It's just the way the sport works. It's. It's. Of all the American sports, team sports, it's the most have and have not sport. Even, you know, baseball. Obviously now with the regional networks dying, it's getting more have and have not. There's like six teams that have money and like 26 or 24 that don't. But I think the neutral site games, I think Oregon, Ohio State is going to feel like usc, Texas, remember that game with the stealth fighters flying over where you have like 18 pros. The first game was great. I think Ohio State, Oregon becomes the game of the year. I also think it is hard to play perfect football back to back weeks. Ohio State was nearly perfect. It's hard to duplicate that on back to back weeks.

[Doug Gottlieb]

I also think that these guys have never played a season this long. Right. I mean a lot of these teams played in conference championship games. Some of the teams that didn't just play this first round, I mean, you start looking ahead, they still got three more games. I mean, and you saw some just collateral damage as, you know, Notre Dame, a defensive lineman get banged up. You're talking about by the time you get to the semifinals, can you stay healthy enough? Which. Which honestly could just be a determining factor for whoever wins it. Just a team with the most health. Because we've been hammering at home and these coaches have been these teams. The depth isn't near the same, you know, in the peak of the Saban era. So what? I lost a first rounder, I got a 19 year old first rounder behind him. Right? Those days are done. I mean, there's a massive drop off. Some of these teams are losing guys. Ohio State put a quarterback in the game when they yanked Will Howard. He's in the transfer portal. And Ryan Day had to have a talk with this team, like, hey, guys, are we cool with keeping him around? You know, these. Because these guys are in weird spots. Penn State's backup quarterback is gone. So. And that's not. Obviously we talk a lot about the quarterbacks, but it could be, you know, a backup linebacker or a freshman kid that might have had to be thrust in if someone got injured. So we got a long way to go. I mean, this is. You see the NFL guys are dropping like flies in college. Guys aren't as big. They're not. Especially some of these guys, 18, 19 years old that are playing, their bodies aren't as developed, taking a lot of big hits. It's not like the violence in these games is that much different. I mean, how hard was Ohio State and Notre Dame and these teams hitting the physicality. Honestly, I appreciate the one thing that jumped out to me about this weekend, which was obviously a pretty big letdown with the blowouts. You know, we talk about a lot about nil and people not having. It feels like guys are mercenaries now and maybe that's the case. But it does feel like the guys playing in the game are just all in and trying their 100% effort. And you feel that, you know, the teams, it's not like none of these teams took their foot off the pedal. Like Clemson just came back because they got NFL guys. It wasn't like Texas stopped trying.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right? John Middelkoff, his podcast is three and out. Good job, buddy.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Merry Christmas, Colin.

[Colin Cowherd]

Merry Christmas. The volume.

[Justin Pennock]

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[Doug Gottlieb]

And says, happy Friyay.

[Justin Pennock]

Then you check your phone quickly and discover today is actually Friday. So yes, Happy Friday. Random stranger in the elevator. Happy Fri. Yay. Indeed. Yep. Switching and saving with Geico feels just like that. Get more with Geico.

[Adnan Virk]

What's up, everybody? Adnan Vir here to tell you about a new podcast. It's NHL Unscripted with Virk and Demers.

[Bobby Skinner]

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

[Adnan Virk]

I got a lot to say here, too.

[Doug Gottlieb]

Okay?

[Adnan Virk]

Each week we'll get together to chat with the sport that we love.

[Bobby Skinner]

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, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jason Demers]

Catch Jon Stewart back in action on the Daily show and in your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. From his hilarious satirical takes on today's politics and entertainment to the unique voices of correspondents and contributors, it's your perfect companion to stay on top of what's happening now. Plus, you'll get special content just for podcast listeners, like in depth interviews and a roundup of the week's top headlines. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[John Middlekauff]

What's up everyone? It's Justin Penick from John Boy Media, the host of the Football Today podcast with Bobby Skinner and Chris Rose. We roll three times a week. On Mondays, on Wednesdays, on Fridays, breaking down everything you need to know about the NFL. We're gearing up for the NFL playoffs. I hope you can join us. Join in with us three times a week. Listen to Football Today on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts and you will be glad you did.