Colin Cowherd (2:55)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Matt Hasselbeck (2:55)

I mean, I will say four, four quarterbacks left in the NFL. Did you see what's similar among Jaden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes? They're all mobile, all mobile quarterbacks. And we see one tonight in Riley Leonard. Let's see if he. Because Will Howard, he can run, but he's on mobile. Yeah, let's see if Riley Leonard could pull off some magic feeling. The Irish tonight. Well, luck of the Irish.

Colin Cowherd (3:16)

I'm not, but I think they have better special teams. The better quarterback, I would say, the better coach. And the defense is at least as good as Ohio State, but the Buckeyes offense is a different level.

Matt Hasselbeck (3:29)

Yeah.

Colin Cowherd (3:30)

And you get an into these, you know, these three and a half, four hour games, somebody's going to pop. It's just hard to suppress. Now Michigan did it because I think, you know, they got into Ohio State's head.

Matt Hasselbeck (3:40)

How much of that was the rivalry though, Colin?

Colin Cowherd (3:42)

I think it was a lot of rivalry, but I remember you're the big dog favorite. I watched the, I watched the Eagles yesterday almost lose to the Rams if not for Jalen Carter. So it's like. And I, I mean, I watched Washington hammer Detroit. Sometimes going in as a favorite, you get a little tight if you fall behind. Here we do Monday, we call it Colin right? Colin wrong. Plenty of both. Let's fire away where Colin was right and saying for weeks, the Bills, this is the real deal. I think they should be favored over Buffalo, Kansas City. They're not, but they've created balance. They're not as reliant on Josh Allen. The front office is excellent. I think McDermott's evolved as a head coach. They moved off a star receiver like Kansas City and they've become more complete. First team ever, 30 plus passing and rushing touchdowns. I like everything about Buffalo. Yeah, I wish their defense was as good as the Eagles and the Chiefs. It's not. But I think offensively you go to the last several Super Bowls, it's the offense making a play regardless of how good the opposing defense is. I like the Bills over Kansas City where Colin was wrong. Nick Sirianni, he's in his second NFC championship. I don't have to love his methods, but he's loud. Philly's loud. He's emotional. Philly's emotional. It's just different. It's been a rocky flight, but I will say this part of coaching is getting your guys and your star Players to rise to the moment. And he does it. And I just think it works. He's 52 and 23. It's a hard city to coach in. Maybe Doug Peterson, who won a Super bowl, was too chill. Maybe Chip Kelly was a bit too emotionally remote. Whatever it is, he feels like a fan coaching the team. I'm wrong. It works. Where Colin was right. Well, my number one preseason surprise team to make the playoffs was the Washington Commanders. Colin, there's too much change. Yeah, but when all the other people are bad and all the new people are good, who cares? I love the staff, the gm, the coordinator. One host in America had the courage to say, yeah, I think this 20 year tire fire is going to make the playoffs. It was me, a little boy with big dreams. And here's Washington in the NFC championship. Good for them. Where Colin was wrong. Yeah, I'm a Jared Goff loyalist. That was ugly. Three picks, lost a fumble. It was just ugly. And got outplayed by a rookie, a great rookie. But when they had Jameis Williams throwing it, that the wide receiver from Alabama when he was throwing a pass, that felt like almost a message, like, you know, on Jared Goff throwing a ball. Because when you do those, you know, reverses, those receivers, they want to throw the ball. They're not going to. They're not going to tuck it. They're going to throw the ball. So listen, Sean McVay moved off golf. I don't think they're going to be moving off in them now. But you couldn't watch that game as a pocket quarterback and wonder what's the offseason going to be like? 2nd, 3rd, 4th round on a pretty stacked roster. Think they'll roll the dice now? Riley Leonard. Don't be shocked where Colin was, right. Kansas City's not lucky. I've been hearing this all year. They're circumstantially the best team in football. Best coach, best defensive coordinator, best quarterback. Yes, Mahomes can manipulate the officials, but what do you know? Travis Kelce. We say this all the time. It's like Gronk. You go to the NBA playoffs, the NFL playoffs, there's a red light that goes on for the great ones. And here's Travis Kelce, 70% of the offense. So listen, eight straight games without a turnover. I mean, just say that out loud. In the NFL, the Chiefs have played eight straight games without a turnover. That, to me, is not luck. Where Colin was right, I said, Mike McCarthy has the leverage. He should ask for the moon against Dallas. He'll have a market and all of it's been true. He now I believe could be the favorite to get the Chicago Bears job. And here's the thing about Mike McCarthy. Since he arrived in Dallas, only the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen have a more productive offense. He won with Favre, an old grumpy Favre. He won with Aaron, he won with Dak, he went with Cooper Rush. He won some games with Andy Dalton. I believed it was a regressing franchise and he is still a marketable coach. We were right on Mike McCarthy who now is interviewing for other jobs where Colin was wrong. You know I love Sam Darnold but those Last couple of games 66 passer rating were not ideal. Yes I had him receiving MVP votes in week 14 and 15 but it's how it ends. Jaden Daniels ends great. Sam Darnold did not. I think he is now what he's probably always been. Baker Mayfield, little reckless, darn good, works his butt off, likable B plus guy making mid-30s a year where Colin was right folks, all your billionaires or at least most of them could afford what the Dodgers are doing. Who landed Roki Sasaki, the next great young pitching star from Japan? You do realize the Dodgers deferring payments? Every franchise could do that. They also win trades. They have arguably the best minor league system. They stole Teoscar Hernandez for nothing. This is an organization that is hyper aggressive. All these owners in baseball, even the A's in the Fisher family are billionaires. All of these organizations can defer payments. It's absolutely legal. I hear this all the time. What is wrong with baseball? When the Yankees were dominating the hot stove league it was celebrated. People don't like it because they think they're they're using some system that's not legal. Deferred payments are the future of baseball and the smartest team in the sport has figured it out. First where Collin was right. Riley Leonard led his team to a natty despite the fact they have one five star athlete. I think this is the most underrated player in college football. I think he's going to go to an offensive Coach like a McVay, sit for two years not playing. You look up and he's getting reps on Sunday. I don't know I just when I watch him, tough, athletic, got kind of a weird delivery but every time they ask him to make a big throw he makes it. I think he has been my favorite dark horse player in college football for the entire year and here he is taking a team that doesn't have as many five star football recruits as Kentucky to the national championship helps. He's got a great coach and with that we got a great analyst. Matt Hasselbeck is joining us live. You know what? I. When I watched Buffalo yesterday, it was funny. So Tyreek Hill left the Chiefs and they had to pivot to being more efficient because they weren't going to be, they weren't going to be as elegant over the top. And Stefan Diggs leaves and I'm like, this team runs the ball. They have pivoted to kind of a more boring team. They don't allow sacks, they don't get penalties, they don't turn it over. And I keep saying to myself, they've kind of grown up. I feel like I've watched the Bills grow up in the last year.

Urban Meyer (11:09)

Yeah, I agree with everything that you just said there. And you know, the committee approach at the running back position. You know, I remember when Josh Allen would lead the team in rushing and you didn't see that yesterday. I mean, really, you know, you saw one running back running it down to the one and another guy comes in to score the touchdown, like, so what? Who cares? We don't care about credit, we don't care about carries. We're sharing the load in the running game. I would say the same thing in the passing game. I think nine different guys caught passes yesterday. So it's much tougher to defend a guy, a quarterback, when he's spreading the ball around, taking what the defense gives him in a sense and like not really caring about, do I have to get this guy his touches so he doesn't throw a little temper tantrum on the, on the bench. I think Buffalo has certainly lived that life. People live that life. But I think the life that they're living right now where it's more of a team and more spreading it around is certainly working for them.

Colin Cowherd (12:05)

How much blame goes to Lamar Jackson? What did you think?

Urban Meyer (12:11)

You know, Lamar is one of my favorite quarterbacks. I think he's one of the great quarterbacks of all time. And one of the things that I absolutely love about him is his leadership at the podium after the game. You hear a lot of quarterbacks when the game doesn't go well. They say, oh, we got to be better on third down. We can't turn the ball over. It's like, bro, you got to stop turning the ball over. You were the reason we turned it over. Lamar, you never hear that out of him. He always accepts the blame. It's almost like it just comes right from his head right to his mouth. He's like mad at himself. I think that's one of the reasons that not only do his teammates love him, the opponents respect him. I think it's one of the reasons that he will eventually get there. But clearly the interception early, super uncharacteristic of Lamar. The fumble after the bad snap, taking a bad situation, making it worse. Those were two plays that he's really going to be kicking himself about the entire off season. But again, I just really believe that that accountability at the quarterback position, not a lot of guys have it. Lamar has it. And so for that reason, for the long haul, I'll take Lamar any day.

Colin Cowherd (13:12)

Of the so, you know, it's interesting. The Eagles have 65 net passing yards, but I do believe that part of the sustainability of this team is that Jalen Hurts is okay with it. I mean, he played at Bama like he knows. Like, it's not just about me. And I also think if I was a quarterback and especially a guy that's a little smaller and has had injuries, I would be okay having a star running back. Like, I think the personalities on this team, Saquon, professional, classy, quiet. Jalen Hurts, reserved. Like, there's something about this team. Jalen is comfortable not leading them, and I think that's unique. I think most quarterbacks want to throw the ball. I think they like to. I mean, Howie Long always jokes, you can't have multiple quarterbacks in the room. They all take the oxygen out of it. What do you make of Hurt style, some inefficiencies? What do you make of this offense?

Urban Meyer (14:12)

Well, I do think he is the leader and I think he's got a great leadership style. He doesn't care about leading in stats, you know, in terms of the passing game, but I think they got to be better. They got to be better in the passing game. I'll just flat out say it. The quarterback that they're playing is amazing as a runner and is amazing as a thrower. And that's not just on Jalen. The guys around him got to step up. It was bad weather this weekend. It's going to be bad weather probably the next weekend. You got to catch the ball in bad weather. The better player, the guys around him got to step up and play well in cold weather. But at the same time, same time, I thought. I don't know if it was injury or what. Jalen Hurts didn't look like the best version of Jaden. Jaden, Jalen Hurts that I've seen. So he's got to raise his game and be at his best. Do I think Philly can, you know, not fly Eagles fly, Ron Eagles run to the Super Bowl? I do. But at the same time, they do need more out of their passing game. I know they say they could do it if they wanted to. You're going to need it against Washington, in my opinion.

Colin Cowherd (15:09)

You can lose at home in a playoff game, but the way Detroit lost, does that resonate in the off season? Do you think they're, they're, they're going to kind of review some things? That was ugly, some of it injury, but some of it just mistakes?

Urban Meyer (15:26)

I think some sometimes, and you saw it in some of the games, you can try too hard, you can want it too bad. And I think that was just the case. If you look at all the teams that didn't win, turnovers were really the story of the weekend. You got to protect the ball. You can't be sloppy, you can't be careless. You can't, I think, just try to force something that's not there. And, and really, you know, turnovers, they did. That's what did Detroit in. And I know they won a game earlier this year where they had a bunch of turnovers, but by and large, if you want to know the formula to not losing, you have to protect that football. There's a lot of coaches in the NFL. They've got signs all around the building. I remember when Pete Carroll came to Seattle from usc, he took down just about every sign that Mike sign in picture that Mike Holmgren had hanging there for like 10 years and Jim Mora after that. He took them all down and he put up basically in every single room there was a sign that said it's all about the ball. And so whether you have a sign or not, that is true. Turnovers will get you beat. And that's what got the Detroit Lions beat this weekend.

Colin Cowherd (16:33)

Okay. I watched Eli Manning, Joe Burrow go on the road, go through the playoffs as an underdog and get to Super Bowls. It can happen. The personnel wise, Washington, Philly feels like a massive, a massive mismatch. How much of a shot do you give Jaden Daniels and the Commanders?

Urban Meyer (16:55)

Well, unfortunately I lost a Super bowl to a wild card team in the Pittsburgh Steelers who did just the same thing. And I also, if you look at just like what's gone on, the home teams are usually winning, but it hasn't mattered to Washington. I see people talking about their inexperience being a negative. It is not a negative. They went on the road to Tampa against the hot Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans team. They said, so what? There's a game, anyone, anywhere, anytime, let's go, let's win it. And they go the next week, they win it. They're going to Philly. Like they don't care. Like they don't even know. Like they don't. They're not like, oh, man, remember we had those home playoff games, like it's nothing to them. So I just think that they're so engrossed in the game. They've got poise that that's never been, never been seen before out of a rookie quarterback. And they're playing so well. Cliff Kingsbury has them dialed in. I think Dan Quinn has the bigger job on defense because I don't think the defense is as talented as the offense in Washington. So that'd be the big question for me. But can they get to the Super Bowl? I said it on this show a couple weeks ago, three weeks ago, a month ago. Absolutely. You could have a rookie quarterback in the super bowl and Jaden Daniels is the guy to me.

Colin Cowherd (18:01)

So let's go back, segue back to Bill's Chiefs. So it's interesting. Buffalo's beaten Kansas City several times. Not in the game. But this, this does not feel like Baltimore. Kansas City to me, where just Baltimore just can't get past it. We saw, I think, was first week of the year, Baltimore lost by a toe to Kansas City. I think Buffalo feels we've beaten these guys. We've beaten these guys multiple times. I don't think psychology plays a role in this game. I think better team wins, but I haven't played the game you have. When you get to a conference championship, do those ghosts reappear for Buffalo?

Urban Meyer (18:43)

Yeah, I don't know. I think this is a pretty mentally tough team. They know each other really well. You know, I kind of mentioned that all year. I felt like all these team, you know, Kansas City and Buffalo, they were kind of going through the motions, knowing that these guys were going to meet up at the end of the year at some point. And that's what you see. I really think home field advantage is going to be the biggest player in this game. You heard Tony Romo talking about it, like getting into the perfect play, not wasting plays, using your cadence. That's an advantage that Buffalo has had so far in the playoffs. I think Josh Allen does a great job with that, but I think the best in the league is Patrick Mahomes at using his cadence, getting the protection right, getting into the right play. And so that home field advantage, there's a reason why guys care about it so much. It's not so much like, oh, you're, you know, you need people cheering for you or you don't want people booing against you. No, it's the communication at the line of scrimmage for these new age offenses that are calling one, two or three plays in the huddle. And it's just so important to get that communication done right. You talk about no penalties, It's a lot easier to have no penalties, especially offensively when you're at home.

Colin Cowherd (19:47)

So the rule states very clearly in the NFL you can't challenge roughing the passer. And it also says, we looked it up this morning. When in doubt, call roughing. If you think it's roughing, call it. They demand that it's in big black letters and underlined in the rule book. Let's, like we say in baseball, tie goes to the runner, tie goes to the quarterback. Call it. I also think Mahomes manipulates refs. So does LeBron. Does it bother you what you're seeing or did you try to whenever you could to kind of leverage and manipulate moments physically?

Urban Meyer (20:27)

Yeah, I think there's a fine line there. I think the NFL get it right. I think everyone's a little bit embarrassed by, you know, the fact that they didn't get the call right. I think replay assist will probably come in at some point. But I'm kind of okay with like what happened because I do think they'll get it fixed. The Mahomes at the sideline flopping. I mean, I used to give Andrew Luck a lot of heat about that. I used to think like, he sometimes flop, you know, he was a huge soccer fan. And I was like, okay, listen, this isn't soccer, you know, but at the end of the day, I think they will get it right. Do I think they got it right in that game? No. No, they didn't. There's room for improvement. But I also don't think that's why the Texans lost the game. I think the Texans lost the game for other reasons. And so I'm not going to sit here and discredit the Chiefs for the reason, you know, that being the reason they won the game. But did penalties have a huge play in that in that early drive? Yeah, it did. It really did. But again, I think it's just something everyone needs to learn from basically.

Colin Cowherd (21:21)

Now, I will say for the record on the Will Anderson hit from the perspective of the official, when it happened in real time, Matt, I Thought it was. I mean, the way from my television seat, I watched it like this one right here. My first take was, oh, that's helmet to helmet. And so, yeah, I mean I. Boom. That looks right there like helmet to helmet the first time you see it quickly.

Urban Meyer (21:43)

Yeah, and that's why I will never criticize officials. It's bang, bang. You're trying to do the best you can. Happens in real time. I think our officials do a really good job actually. But we're using replay assists for all this other stuff. And there's only one game going on during the playoff. It's not a 1 o'clock game on a Sunday during the regular season where there's so much to watch. You got to get this right. We have slow motion, we have high def, we have replay assist. That's where I'm saying, like, hey, now listen, I also would say watching the Baltimore vs Buffalo game the next night, you can't tell me that those officials didn't just let those guys play. Yeah, it was a completely different game. How it was officiated, consistency was not there. I saw an official get knocked over to the ground after a late hit on a fight. Nothing happened. Like, they weren't even calling PI. So like to think that like there wasn't some sort of conversation like, hey, we maybe overdid it, overprotected. I saw Lamar Jackson, who probably going to win the mvp, get tackled out of bounds with. I mean, trust me, these guys are human. They're talking about it. But until the competition committee gets together in the off season and puts a proposal out there, I don't, I don't know how much they can get a change in a way that's.

Colin Cowherd (22:55)

Yeah, I think you make a great point. There was a lot of physicality in the Ravens Bills game and it's, you know, listen, officials walk. They're all sitting watching that one game at their hotel and they're going, oh boy, this is bad. Then they're on their phones and everybody's saying officials stink. So point made by.

Urban Meyer (23:11)

And even the golf interception on the pick six, when he took it in the chin, he literally takes the helmet straight to the chin and there's no flag. And again, I think that's where, where people are kind of like, well, why did it happen? For one quarterback, I do think there's a little bit of a market correction in the official. Officials do communicate from game to game. They talk about it.

Colin Cowherd (23:30)

Matt Hasselbeck is always on a Monday. Money, thanks for coming on the show. But as always, See you calm. Yeah, yeah. It's, it's, it's the reality of it. Like games bleed into games. People sit in their hotel rooms, everybody's watching football and you watch them a homes game and think we got to back off and let these guys play. I've seen in the NBA series game to game, the official officiating change, like if it gets really, really physical and choppy in game one and tempers flare, it's almost like they get a call from the league office and the refs will in the first quarter of the game call everything and just course correct. We've seen this in the NFL in the preseason when they over officiate a new rule. So I remember a couple years ago in the super bowl, the Phillies special, when they allowed juggling balls as catches, like because the league was getting so much heat and there was a ball in the back of the end zone for the Eagles and they kind of of bobbled it. That was an incompletion all year and I'm not complaining, but it was like leagues do react, watch games, talk to officials. It felt like Baltimore, Buffalo let the guys play.

Matt Hasselbeck (24:32)

So what's your guess is what happens in KC Buffalo? Because Colin, listen, Troy Aikman used to work here. I haven't heard an announcer put the league on blast the way he did in that Texan Chiefs game. And it was right, it was justified. He had a lot of backing. Again, these Island Games, 30 million people are watching and it's very obvious at all of them what's happening.

Colin Cowherd (24:52)

Well, I have always, I think you and I both believe this when you. The higher the stakes, the less I want officials dictating anything. I do understand officials early in seasons or early in games saying guys like when you played the Ravens or you played the Patriots and the Patriots with Belichick were very grabby on the perimeter. Their cornerbacks would grab you and officials throw an early flag. They're like, bill, we're not letting you do that.

Matt Hasselbeck (25:18)

Hands off. Yep.

Colin Cowherd (25:19)

Yeah, like so I am for an official being overly assertive early. But you know, I, I'll say it again. I thought the Will Anderson hit was. When I watched it in real time, my take was, oh, that's a shot. Mahomes sells it well.

Matt Hasselbeck (25:35)

Wait, don't. Could you explain to me what the heck replay assist is? Because it seems to work very willy nilly. And I started asking around on text message like I don't get it. The league is unclear. When does replay assist chime in?

Colin Cowherd (25:47)

Like this is a great point. Remember you and I, there was about a six year period in this league or longer. I didn't know what the hell a catch was. It started with a Calvin Johnson catch against the Bears in the end zone and they wouldn't allow it. And all of a sudden it was heightened during the des Brian Bryant Packers. And I brought Roger Goodell on the show and I asked him and he was great about it. I said, I love your sport, I don't know what a catch is. And he's like, we have to address it. I think to your question here was Will Anderson this morning on the Mahomes hit and officiating.

Will Anderson (26:22)

I'm not the type of chase calls. The NFL can do whatever they need to do for the thing. I feel like as a player you just have to keep playing. Some calls were, you know, in my opinion, could have been better calls. And that's okay, that's my opinion. But at the end of the day, it's about us. We have to do a better job of executing, we have to do a better job of going out there and being ready. And no matter what the outcome is, we have to do a better job of handling Texas business on both sides of the ball.

Colin Cowherd (26:44)

Yeah, he's right. And listen, it's. The NFL is a business. Business is tweak. This is what they do. The NFL has always been the ultimate tweak sport. They're unlike baseball, which took them forever to get a pitch clock or defensive shift abandoned. And the NFL will fix stuff. Rules committee, they'll tweak stuff. I mean, in years where an officiating isn't controversial, they tweak. And they just changed the kickoff this year. A couple years ago they changed the pat. They will tweak.

Matt Hasselbeck (27:13)

Yeah. And you know, I coach my kids in sports, Colin. I am, I am aggressive defensively. I say, guys, I want you handsy, I want you all over them. Let the refs call it. If the refs call it, then we got to back off. But I want to see this game. Buffalo and Kansas City. I want the refs hands off. Let the teams play the game. Don't be all like, oh, here's a flag. I, I want to see. Let him play.

Colin Cowherd (27:34)

All right. Just know the Chiefs have the better defense. And so if the Bills have the better quarterback, well, subscribing to your theory, let them play. Then the Chiefs defense will grab and hold and clutch. Hey, McIntyre said let's try grabbing Josh.

Matt Hasselbeck (27:50)

Allen on the run. Big boy, huh? Try grabbing a call. Nick Bolton. What do you got? I Can't wait for this game.

Colin Cowherd (27:56)

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Colin Cowherd (31:50)

Urban Meyer last hour Notre Dame over a touchdown underdog against Ohio State. The Buckeyes on a roll. J. Mac with the news. No no no, turn on the news. This is the Herd line news.

Matt Hasselbeck (32:08)

You know we like to celebrate positives on the show but listen, there's nothing positive about Mark Andrews fourth quarter. I mean the drop 2 point conversion that tied the game. Oh just gut wrenching. You know I I don't know how else to explain it. Like pass was fine, maybe a tad low but I mean that's in his bread basket. He's making $15 million a year. You got to catch that Mark Andrews. You just felt bad Lamar Jackson defended his guy said you can't place blame on one guy.

Colin Cowherd (32:31)

I'm just to hurt his mark. You know. I don't his fault like all of us played a factor in that game. You know it's a team effort just not not gonna put that on Mark bro because he been battling all season. He been doing all the great things he's been doing all season. It don't always go our way. We wanted to but but at the moment time is like it's not going our way. We need to figure that out. Yeah, I felt really bad for him cuz he's a really good guy. He's been. There have been years when they didn't have good receivers where he was, he was the receiving game.

Matt Hasselbeck (33:03)

He's probably a Hall of Famer, right?

Colin Cowherd (33:04)

He's right up against it. Like you're not going to get out of this game without one of these games. Just there was a guy named Jackie Smith for the Cowboys years ago. He had a big drop in a Super Bowl. You just, you don't get to play. Barry Bond struggled forever in the postseason. A Rod did like the all time great players. Very rare when you don't have stinkers. It was just. He had a bad second half and a bad last 45 minutes of, you know, real time.

Matt Hasselbeck (33:27)

Well, unfortunately gets a little worse. Our staff pulled up Mark Andrews career playoff numbers.

Colin Cowherd (33:32)

Oh boy.

Matt Hasselbeck (33:33)

So he's played in eight playoff games in his career. He has zero touchdowns. He has more drops and more lost fumbles than touchdown touchdowns in his playoff career. That's not good. Now he had two drops yesterday and he lost the fumble. Of course. I mean listen, Mark Andrews again, great player but for whatever reason he, he has really struggled in the postseason. And again, it happens.

Colin Cowherd (33:55)

You know, it's like, listen, it's also, it's also neither team. It's. It's snowy, it's bad footing. There's just, it's these cold weather games. I was, I was thinking about this yesterday watching the game. Everything's harder in bad weather. Everything. It just. Driving's harder, it's harder for pilots. It's just first of all, the game gets into your head psychologically because it's the coldest game Lamar's probably ever played in or one of them. So it's just everything is. You tend to be thinking about, you know, the cold and getting your footing and your concentration is pulled in these games. Like your ball secure. You're trying to get your feet right and you don't, you can't make breaks. Puka Nagua had a moment yesterday when he was trying to come back around on a, on a play and he just, he just couldn't quite get his body to turn. May not have made the play anyway, but you're just constantly thinking about footing. LA teams don't play in snow. And so you know, Lamar was, you know, he played in Louisville. He didn't get a lot of games like this in his career. So I think it's tough.

Matt Hasselbeck (35:00)

Remember no Z Flowers. We talked about Isaiah Likely Shoot.

Colin Cowherd (35:04)

You said that Friday and I mean.

Matt Hasselbeck (35:06)

He had three catches, he didn't drop anything and Andrews kind of had a rough one. I'm a little surprised they didn't scheme it up for likely there but you know Andrews has been with him forever. Like I, you can't fault the play call. It was there. It's just, just a drop. Next up is the Rams. Colin. Whoo boy, they look like they had a game winning drive there before Jalen Carter stepped up. Man, he was a must monster.

Colin Cowherd (35:27)

They were. They did not play perfect football but they had a lot of guts in that. How about this catch? He just stole that ball.

Matt Hasselbeck (35:33)

Pick it on 34 a little bit. He after quinion Mitchell went out 34. Here he is getting beat again. It's a tough day for a couple for him but Carter was excellent. Stafford was pretty good.

Colin Cowherd (35:44)

Pretty good 320. He was like Lamar Jackson. He's pretty good. Wasn't great. Pretty good. Good enough to win a road game.

Matt Hasselbeck (35:50)

Now here's the thing. He is 36 and he's got two years left on his contract and the media started to ask him about his future. Here's Stanley.

Colin Cowherd (35:57)

As far as my future goes, I mean it's 30 minutes after the last game so I'll take some time to think about it. But I feel some pretty good ball. You got football left in you?

Will Anderson (36:08)

Sure feels like it.

Colin Cowherd (36:10)

If it was a robust quarterback class they would draft a quarterback. It is not. I will tell you there is a quarterback in this draft they believe they can get in the second and third round and if that quarterback is available, they will go after him. I've been sworn to secrecy. I will say this. They would like to trade down and get more and more picks. You know, if they had to rework a Stafford deal. Right now they have a first, no second, two thirds of fourth, no fifth and a bunch of six, no seventh. So I think they'd like to trade down somehow figure out a way to get a second even if it means giving up a third. They're fine. I think they need another corner, another receiver, a left tackle. They are very close. If this game's in LA and they're not planning that weather, who knows.

Matt Hasselbeck (37:04)

Let me ask you. I've watched the four mobile quarterbacks win triumphant over the weekend, okay? And I know we didn't love Jalen Milroe this season in Alabama, but I'm just telling you his value value has to be skyrocketing. You know, I'm glad he moves like Lamar Jackson.

Colin Cowherd (37:17)

You know what I thought this weekend the winner was Cam Ward. Hey, go get a guy that can move the loser. All the receivers Bell's better without Stefan Diggs. CJ Stroud good enough without his two of his best receivers is my whole AJ Brown no factor in the game. So my take what Tyreek Hill? What's it matter? I thought receivers receivers lost this weekend and quarterback like a Cam Ward. He and Shador Sanders is go either way. Cam is a much more mobile athlete.

Matt Hasselbeck (37:49)

Yeah. Final story is to the NBA. Last night the Lakers lost their fourth in their last six.

Colin Cowherd (37:55)

I watched it.

Matt Hasselbeck (37:56)

Kind of got dropped by the Clippers there. After the game LeBron was asked about how LA can improve on their inconsistency. Inconsistencies. And he had this response.

Colin Cowherd (38:06)

It's not our team that's constructively. We don't have a little much Raider. What happens. I mean that's our, that's. That's the way our team is constructed. We have to, we have to play close to the perfect basketball. Yeah. They're just not athletic enough.

Matt Hasselbeck (38:20)

Yeah. They're only six in the west which I think Barkley qualifies as garbage.

Colin Cowherd (38:24)

Well the east, by the way. How about this? I want. Can I throw this out there?

Matt Hasselbeck (38:27)

Please do.

Colin Cowherd (38:29)

You're an owner of some multiple Peruvian softball team. So let me throw this out there. Josh Harris in 2011 buys the Sixers. He hasn't gotten to an Eastern Conference finals. He has to cross his fingers every year. If Embiid is healthy. Josh Harris buys the commanders first year NFC championship. Well, that tells you the difference in the league. This is not a shot at the NBA or baseball. The NFL, you can go from a circus. I mean there was a smell around that Washington football team and that Houston team. You get the quarterback right and the staff right. Washington has no business being in this game. Name their two best defensive players. I mean it is Jaden, Terry McLaurin and hope you have a great game plan.

Matt Hasselbeck (39:22)

That's how many feel about the Lakers. It's LeBron ad and you don't trust Austin Reaves. Right. It's like hope you got a good game plan. And LeBron's out here saying listen, this is how we're constructed. Now I know some people are going to say LeBron, you built the team. Let's just, let's settle down. They're six in the West.

Colin Cowherd (39:36)

LeBron did want Westbrook. They've been reeling since that move years ago.

Matt Hasselbeck (39:40)

Man. LeBron catching strays here on a Monday.

Colin Cowherd (39:45)

Come on. What are we doing? 40. He's up that's very sus. I don't know. J. Mack on the News well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the Herd. Urban Meyer last hour. Urban Meyer last hour. I think I like the Buckeyes. I know, but Riley Leonard, I mean Josh Allen, I mean Riley Leonard will keep them in the game. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.

NPR Up First (40:52)

Experiencing the news each day can feel like a journey with up first from NPR, though it doesn't have to be. Welcome to 15 Easy Minutes of breaking news, clarity on international and national affairs, and a casual tone that you can take in with breakfast. Begin your day informed, ready and refreshed. Begin your day with Up First. Subscribe to Up first from NPR on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Bobby Bones (41:22)

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

Urban Meyer (42:05)

There was something sentimental with when you.

Colin Cowherd (42:07)

When you send it, it's like, do I send the heart now?

Bobby Bones (42:11)

I don't like the color edition.

Colin Cowherd (42:13)

It's extremely pink.

Bobby Bones (42:14)

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

Will Anderson (42:21)

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

Matt Hasselbeck (43:01)

Sunday on Fox Historic rivals collide with a trip to Super Bowl 59 on the line as rookie sensation Jaden Daniels lose Washington against Saquon Barkley. Jalen hurts and the Eagles pregame Coverage starts at 1pm Eastern. Will kickoff at 3 only on Fox.

Colin Cowherd (43:20)

Listen My take on Lamar Jackson if you want to tell the story of Lamar Jackson struggling in the playoff, then you also have to tell the story where on the road in snow without Zay flowers, he had 125 passer rating, went 12 for 15 and was a drop pass from tying it. You got to tell the whole story. And I could be a Lamar Jackson apologist, but like Matt Hasselbeck, I've never seen anything quite like him. I think he's remarkable. I think there are quarterbacks in the pocket like a Mahomes I would take, but he's so special that on a bad snap he's just trying to be Superman. And that's just his DNA. So every winning team in the playoffs had no turnovers and nine straight games have been won by a team with no turnovers. So again, you're not playing Carolina and the Jets. You just can't make mistakes on this stuff. And Lamar, in four of his eight playoff games has had multiple turnovers in four of the eight and in those four he's over four. So that's fine. Now conversely, the Bills kind of took the governor governor down their offense, especially after the early turnovers, and said, let's just play smart football. We've got a lead, we're at home. Let's just. Let's just let Baltimore beat themselves. And to a degree they did. But you know, again, the Mark Andrews fumble, the Mark Andrews drop, that's not necessarily on Lamar Jackson. You got to tell the whole story is that yeah, Lamar had a bad pick. That, that pick I'm showing the TV audience is terrible, but he digs you out of those because he is so unique. That fumble, I thought this was the Play of the game, not the drop pass. I thought that fumble. I thought Buffalo was in trouble. I thought Baltimore had taken over. They'd had big drives, they had seized momentum. Buffalo wasn't moving the ball in the second half. They were playing a little safe and they weren't moving the ball consistently. They needed, you know, Tyler Bass to hit field goals. But here's John Harbaugh, and there's mistakes that eventually doomed the Ravens. It was uncharacteristic to have turnovers like that.

Urban Meyer (45:16)

There are opportunities for us to, to.

Colin Cowherd (45:20)

Not have those, but we have, you know, so you try to bounce back from. That's what you try to do in.

Matt Hasselbeck (45:24)

The course of a game.

Colin Cowherd (45:24)

You can't take them back. Yeah, I, I mean, even, even on the interception that Lamar threw, it does appear that Rashad Bateman, he stopped running. So I thought there was a psychology in this game. You can watch it here. Again, Bateman just stops. So Bateman's a guy that was, you know, not a big crucial player in the regular season and he goes into the game is their best receiver. So I thought going into the. That Lamar and the Ravens were thinking, okay, Buffalo's really good. It's at Buffalo, we don't have Zay Flowers. We're gonna probably. Lamar probably is thinking to himself, I gotta make a few things happen here. We're not going in with a conservative game plan. I'm gonna make things happen. So Bateman stops running. It looks like a terrible pick, but you see what happened, Andrew. So Bateman Andrews let him down again. Stafford played good enough to win. Lamar played good enough to win, in my opinion. Now tonight, Urban Meyer. Next hour. Ohio State, which has a decided nil and talent advantage, will take on Notre Dame tonight. I do like Ohio State, but Notre Dame, I think has better special teams. I think they, I think they have Sean McVay as a coach. I think their defense is at least as good as Ohio State. But the Buckeyes have really one of the more amazing receiving cores. I mean, the last four or five years, Ohio State has become like a conveyor belt of first round wide receivers. And I just think Notre Dame, unless they can just, I mean, honestly, special teams, can Notre Dame, this sounds ridiculous. Get good punting? Can they pin Ohio State back? Can they kind of win field position in the first half of the game? They're going to have to do more right to win. There's more margin of error for Ohio State. They blew out Oregon, they blew out Tennessee. They look pretty unbeatable, but, you know, in The Michigan game, Will Howard had a rocky start. The coaches lost confidence in him. And when you do go in as a dominating favorite, you have a tendency, if you get sloppy early, to pull it back a little bit. Let's play conservative. So I get the better quarterback. I think I get the better coach. I get the better special team. Notre Dame's not here because they've locked into it. They've got a lot of components, but they're going to need to play a more perfect football game. Certainly capable of doing that, but they are, what is it now? Eight, eight and a half point underdog. I think I like the under. I think it's going to be a low scoring game. That favors, by the way, Notre Dame. I'm not going to bet. I just, I don't see Notre Dame getting blown out. Out. They just, they're very resourceful, a very resourceful football team. But usually in these national championship games, big favorites win and often win going away. That, as J. Mack will tell you, has been the trend.

Matt Hasselbeck (48:25)

Last five, Natty's favorites have just dominated.

Colin Cowherd (48:28)

Yeah. So in Ohio State's better.

Matt Hasselbeck (48:29)

I just want to know, game plan wise, is Notre Dame going to do what Texas did to slow down Jeremiah Smith? That's probably your best bet. But if you go in with this, we got here doing our thing, we're going to keep doing it. Smith is going to kill you. You can't man him up. He demands double coverage at least, right? I mean, Texas totally shut him down and hung around, hung around. And then they had a chance late before Jack Sawyer stepped in with one of the great places.

Colin Cowherd (48:54)

Texas also had a much more dynamic offensive machine. So Texas takeaway. You know, Texas is going to play and coach different than Notre Dame does. Notre Dame doesn't have that kind of firepower. Whether you're ordering wings for the game, whipping up a seven layer dip, or ordering pizza, there's something about football that makes me want to eat. And this football season, Uber Eats has the best deals for me on game day. Food, no matter what I'm craving. From two for one pizza to buy one get one wings. Uber Eats will be dropping new deals each week all season long. I'm in Uber Eats, the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now for game day. Terms and conditions apply. See app for details.

NPR Up First (49:38)

Experiencing the news each day can feel like a journey with up first from NPR, though it doesn't have to be. Welcome to 15 Easy Minutes of breaking news, clarity on international and national affairs, and a casual tone that you can take in with breakfast. Begin your day informed, ready and refreshed. Begin your day with Up first subscribe to Up first from NPR on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Bobby Bones (50:06)

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

Will Anderson (50:37)

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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.