The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Hour 1

Episode Title: Broncos Proving Doubters Wrong, Lions Fall Apart
Air Date: December 26, 2025
Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Host: Colin Cowherd (with co-host J. Mac)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Colin Cowherd dives into the biggest sports stories from the holiday weekend, spotlighting the Denver Broncos proving critics wrong with gritty wins and the Detroit Lions' season falling apart after coordinator departures and injuries. The hour also features in-depth reactions on the Lakers' recent blowouts, a debate about the future for Dak Prescott in Dallas, Caleb Williams’ progress with the Bears, San Antonio Spurs dominance, the swirling Lamar Jackson rumors, Michigan football’s new coaching hire, and the mounting pressure on Buffalo to deliver in the playoffs.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Denver Broncos: Winning Ugly and Proving Doubters Wrong

• Main Idea: The Broncos deserve more credit for their success, especially given dismissive narratives about their style and draft decisions.

• Colin’s Take:

  • “You can keep telling me Denver’s not good. But this is not figure skating—it's football. I don’t need style points. They were great on third down. They dominated time of possession.” (04:00)
  • Praises Sean Payton’s coaching and the picks of Bo Nix (QB) and RJ Harvey (RB).
  • Highlights Bo Nix’s unique statistical milestones and clutch play: “First quarterback ever, ever—league history ever—10 plus wins, 30 plus total touchdowns first two years in the league.” (05:00)
  • RJ Harvey’s efficiency compared to Christian McCaffrey: “Dude's got only four fewer touchdowns than McCaffrey with 200 fewer touches…Tremendous receiver, tremendous young player.” (05:30)
  • Emphasizes not to dismiss road wins over rivals by “just a touchdown,” describing such a spread as meaningful in the NFL.

• Contrast with Chiefs:

  • Points out the Chiefs’ dynasty is showing classic signs of decline: “Dynasties do not fall off a cliff… Old guys look old, young guys can’t bring the energy and juice.” (07:00)
  • “Kansas City’s 1 and 8 in one-score games—that’s kind of how dynasties end. They’re not explosive anymore.” (07:30)

2. Detroit Lions: The Ben Johnson Impact and Team Regression

• Predicting Struggles: Colin and J. Mac both forecasted the Lions’ step back due to significant coaching departures:
  • “We both said it would be the Detroit Lions [to regress]—they lost two great coordinators.” (09:00)
• What’s Gone Wrong:
  • Offensive line injuries cited as an excuse, but Colin pushes back: “Find me an offensive line in this league, in the entire league, healthy for 17–18 weeks. Chargers and Texans have been worse—yet they’re a combined 21–9.” (09:30)
  • The offense has lost creativity since Ben Johnson left: “This is very reminiscent of Kyle Shanahan getting the Niners as OC to the Super Bowl and Matt Ryan…After [Shanahan] left, Atlanta’s record: 63–84.” (11:00)
• Dan Campbell’s Shift:
  • Notes Campbell taking playcalling from his OC as a warning sign: “If your boss ever says, ‘You’re doing a great job, but I’m going to take over your accounts’...start looking for work.” (10:10)
• Lions Out of Playoffs:
  • “It’s not just the offensive line. Detroit was a crisp operation, more creative and innovative. They tried to recreate that movie—maybe picked the wrong director.” (12:00)
  • Dan Campbell quote:

    “Whenever you lose, man, it takes a village. Everybody’s involved, including myself...I’m always going to look at myself first, wish I would have given Goff more...” (13:20)

• Silver Lining:
  • Strong front office, good drafting, but reiterates that losing a top OC exposes teams: “When you have culture-creators, they're much more reliant on offensive coordinators.” (13:40)

3. NBA: The Lakers' Identity Crisis

• Lakers Blown Out by Rockets:
  • “Lakers got their doors blown off. Three straight losses. Three straight awful blowouts. The effort was subpar.” (17:31)
  • NBA is now a “wing league,” not a center/old-school league: “All the best Lakers players are offensive guys…but it's just not a versatile, switchable 3-and-D lineup.” (18:30)
  • Issues: atrocious defense, poor rebounding, worst in the league defending the three. “Just not athletic enough. The world's changed now.”
• Hard Conversations Ahead:
  • LeBron’s defensive decline and worsening impact on team net rating. “When LeBron's on the floor, the Lakers are worse defensively. Net rating's worse.” (20:10)
  • J.J. Redick’s bluntness praised.
    • Memorable J.J. Redick Quote:

      “We don’t care enough right now. That’s the part that bothers you a lot…I'm not doing another 53 games like this. It’s a matter of making the choice. And too often we have guys that don’t want to make that choice.” (21:53)

  • Only untouchables: Redick and Luka; “Everything else to me is up for a phone call.” (23:47)

4. Dallas Cowboys: Dak’s Future and Bench Debates

• Christmas Win Over Washington:
  • “Cowboys and Dak Prescott got a solid win over Washington, 30–23. Dak was, you know, pretty good. Washington was terrible.” (24:24)
• Quarterback Questions:
  • Co-host J. Mac advocates giving backup Joe Milton a look: “If I'm the Dallas Cowboys, I know what I've got in Dak, I’m putting Joe Milton in as the starter just to see what I've got.” (26:08)
  • Colin downplays Milton’s upside: “There will be halves he looks like Joe Montana…and halves he disappears. That's what he was in college.” (26:44)
  • Observes league trends (backup QBs, "soft tanking").

5. Chicago Bears: Ben Johnson's Impact on Caleb Williams

• Caleb Williams Praised:
  • Ben Johnson, Bears OC, commends rookie Caleb's drive: “Everyone talks about Caleb’s arm, but he’s been blown away by Caleb’s competitive drive. He loves football. He wants to be great.” (27:37)
  • Colin: “Doesn’t throw a lot of picks. Good at the microphone. Durable. Huge arm. Unbelievable movement. Wow, he’s talented. Just keep polishing, just keep refining.” (28:06)

6. San Antonio Spurs: Statement Wins & Player Praise

• Spurs Dominate OKC:
  • “Spurs are the best team in the NBA right now. I don’t think you can even argue.” (31:44)
  • Stefan Castle praised as an all-world glue guy:

    “Tough, physical…Stefan Castle’s guarding you—held players to 3 for 13 shooting yesterday. If you just said the two best players the next five years in San Antonio are Stefan Castle and Wemby, that’s good enough to win a title.” (30:36)

  • Fun moment: Wembanyama caught on mic rooting for Chet Holmgren to miss free throws, showing competitive spirit. (31:25)

7. Lamar Jackson & Jets Quarterback Debate

• Lamar’s Place in Tiered QB Rankings:
  • “There’s about six quarterbacks [in the NFL] you don’t even pick up the phone for. Lamar has gone from group one to group two—which is still very, very good.” (33:00)
• Jets Should Explore Lamar:
  • “Jets have some players…It’s been a decade straight of the Jets being atrocious offensively. They show no ability to develop quarterbacks. To me, they have two first round picks. It’s not a good quarterback draft…Do I explore this? Absolutely.” (34:10)
  • Cites Lamar’s 65% career completion rate versus Jets QBs’ 59%.
• John Harbaugh (Ravens) Quote:

  “I don’t know where this stuff is coming from…Our relationship is A-plus. I love him, always have, always will…one of the ultimate competitors you’ll ever see.” (36:43)

8. Michigan Wolverines: Kyle Whittingham Hired

• Cowherd Reacts to Coaching Search:
  • Calls Whittingham a “very, very solid hire. Two reasons: ethical guy—no BS… Second thing, he’s a culture builder.” (40:00)
  • “Utah was always the one school in the Pac-12 that played like a Big Ten team. Tight ends, o-line, tough linebackers. He’s been making three-star guys into five-star guys for years.” (41:00)

9. Buffalo Bills: Playoff Pressure and Sean McDermott's Job

• Bills Must Deliver:
  • "Going into the playoffs, they have got to get to the AFC Championship or you gotta change coaches...You get these little tiny windows. You gotta get it right." (44:47)
  • Draws parallels to Doug Collins (Bulls), Mark Jackson (Warriors), Dan Reeves (Broncos) as good coaches replaced to get teams over the top.
• Bills QB Josh Allen Quote:

  “To win the lottery, you gotta buy a ticket. To win a Super Bowl, you gotta make the playoffs…Now what we do with that is up to us.” (48:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You can keep telling me Denver’s not good. But this is not figure skating—it's football. I don’t need style points." – Colin, (04:00)
• "Would you rather be Detroit? Jared Goff faced a backup and they lost. If you win in this league…you take it." – Colin, (08:05)
• “If your boss ever says, ‘You're doing a great job, but I’m going to take over your accounts’... start looking for work.” – Colin, (10:10)
• “We don’t care enough right now. That’s the part that bothers you a lot. We don’t care enough to, like, do the things that are necessary. We don’t care enough to be a professional…I'm not doing another 53 games like this.” – J.J. Redick on the Lakers (21:53)
• “There will be halves [Joe Milton] looks like Joe Montana...and halves he disappears. That’s what he was in college.” – Colin on the Dallas QB situation (26:44)
• “Jets have some players...It’s been a decade straight of the Jets being atrocious offensively. They show no ability to develop quarterbacks.” – Colin, (34:10)
• “The Spurs are the best team in the NBA right now. I don’t think you can even argue.” – J. Mac, (31:44)
• "To win the lottery, you gotta buy a ticket. To win a Super Bowl, you gotta make the playoffs." – Josh Allen, (48:10)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Denver Broncos’ gritty win & Bo Nix/RJ Harvey praise: 03:11 – 08:00
• Chiefs dynasty fading, Denver’s upside: 07:00 – 08:30
• Lions’ regression, Ben Johnson influence: 08:30 – 13:40
• Dan Campbell on missing playoffs: 13:20 – 13:40
• Lakers’ struggles, Redick’s honesty, LeBron’s decline: 17:31 – 23:47
• J.J. Redick calls out locker room: 21:53
• Cowboys win, Dak/Milton debate: 24:12 – 27:22
• Caleb Williams growth under Ben Johnson: 27:37 – 28:56
• Spurs dominate OKC/Stefan Castle discussion: 28:56 – 32:23
• Lamar Jackson & Jets QB talk: 33:00 – 37:43
• John Harbaugh on Lamar rumors: 36:43
• Michigan hires Kyle Whittingham: 39:53 – 41:35
• Bills face playoff pressure: 44:44 – 49:40
• Josh Allen on playoff mindset: 48:10

Tone and Style Notes

• Colin’s tone is bracingly honest, sometimes blunt, often funny, and deeply knowledgeable about both the NFL and NBA.
• The conversation flows quickly, shifting topics with high energy and off-the-cuff analogies (e.g., “not figure skating, it’s football”).
• J. Mac provides grounded counterpoints and additional context, contributing to a lively back-and-forth.

Summary Takeaway

This episode delivers classic Colin Cowherd: fact-driven, skeptical of easy narratives, and quick to identify crucial turning points in team construction and culture—whether it's celebrating Sean Payton’s results, diagnosing Detroit’s coaching dependence, or demanding honesty from legacy franchises like the Lakers and Cowboys. Throughout, emphasis is placed on the importance of coaching, adaptability, and honest self-assessment—critical for teams and organizations facing winter crossroads.