THE HERD - Hour 1 - Dolphins fire Mike McDaniel, the NFL HC openings, Matt Stafford vs Drake Maye

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Date: January 8, 2026
Hour 1: Dolphins Fire Mike McDaniel, NFL Head Coach Openings, Stafford vs. Maye

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode explores the surprise firing of Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and its domino effect on the landscape of NFL head coaching jobs. Colin and co-host Jason McIntyre assess which vacancies are now most attractive, discuss big names like John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski, and break down NFL and college football playoff matchups. The show also debates the MVP argument between Matt Stafford and Drake Maye, factors in strength of schedule, and analyzes coaching mindsets.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Miami Dolphins Fire Mike McDaniel: League-Wide Implications

[00:31–04:29]

• The firing of Mike McDaniel by the Dolphins surprised many, with Colin describing McDaniel as a "brilliant coordinator" but “not a culture guy” and "not really an NFL head coach."
• Colin highlights owner Stephen Ross’s connection to the Harbaugh family—a potential sign that John Harbaugh (recently let go from Baltimore) could be the next target for Miami.
• The shakeup has realigned the rankings of available NFL coaching jobs, as discussed in detail.

Quotes:

“I don’t blame him for all the Miami losses… I think he’s a scheme guy, not a culture guy. He’s a brilliant coordinator. I don’t think he’s an NFL head coach.”
— Colin Cowherd, 00:45

2. NFL Coaching Vacancies: The New Power Rankings

[01:45–10:32]

• Yesterday's ranking: Baltimore (best), Giants (second).

• Post-Miami firing: Baltimore remains #1, but Miami jumps ahead; Giants drop to 3rd or 4th best.

• "If Buffalo loses this weekend, their opening could leap to #1 because of the chance to coach Josh Allen." Colin notes that an opening in Buffalo could reshape the whole market.

• Colin advises the Giants to act quickly and hire Kevin Stefanski before they fall further in the pecking order, referencing Sean McVay’s fabled "don’t let him leave the building" interview.

Quotes:

“If I ran the New York Giants today, I would offer Stefanski the job. I’m not waiting… You don’t want to hire the fourth coach who’s getting the fourth best receiver coach, the fourth best offensive line coach.”
— Colin Cowherd, 06:08

• Discussion on Harbaugh’s priorities: control, choosing his staff, and fit with certain organizations.

“All Harbaughs want one thing: control.”
— Jason McIntyre, 12:35

3. NFL MVP: Matt Stafford vs. Drake Maye

[10:40–12:29]

• Colin argues Stafford’s MVP case is clear due to strength of schedule; Rams played the most difficult schedule among playoff teams, Patriots (with Maye) had the weakest in 26 years.

• Stafford’s stats against playoff teams: 2,000+ yards, 22 TD, 3 INT, 107 rating.

• Colin refers to PFF data, which backs Stafford as number one in metrics like play action, performance against playoff teams, etc.

Quotes:

"Stafford was taking AP courses to get his 4.0."
— Colin Cowherd, 11:29

"PFF. By the way, on all their metrics has Stafford number one."
— Colin Cowherd, 11:55

4. John Harbaugh’s Options: Miami, Giants, Buffalo?

[12:29–15:30]

• Jason and Colin dissect the idea of Harbaugh’s “need for control” and which organizations can offer that (Miami, perhaps by letting him choose the GM).
• If Buffalo opens, all agree it’s the best job by far due to Josh Allen and roster.

“Winners don’t care. They think about their job, not their opponents.”
— Colin Cowherd, 13:19

5. College Football Drama & Sustainability

[17:57–24:13]

• Colin likens the chaos and revenue-fueled drama of modern college football (coaching poaching, huge NIL deals, constant movement) to true crime TV: “It’s fascinating, dangerous, and wild.”

• He argues that, despite criticisms, this environment is totally sustainable as long as revenue and TV ratings continue to skyrocket.

“This is incredibly sustainable because the revenue is growing like crazy… The economy of college football is exploding.”
— Colin Cowherd, 19:45

• Example of Mark Cuban writing a $12 million check to Indiana, and other billionaire donors fueling the sport’s growth.

• Notable segment: Pete Golding, Ole Miss coach, discusses keeping the team together after Lane Kiffin drama.

“The only thing that was different — who’s running out of the tunnel? And to be honest, I don’t think the players give a damn who runs out the tunnel.”
— Pete Golding, quoted by Jason McIntyre, 22:34

6. NFL Playoff Matchups & Analysis

[24:13–32:10]

Bears vs. Packers

• Weather as a factor (30-mph winds); Caleb Williams compared favorably to Jordan Love in current form.
• Bears have not led the Packers for a single play all season. Jason likes the Bears slightly due to the running game advantage; Colin leans Packers due to rest and historical performance.

Bills vs. Jaguars

• Josh Allen is trying to avoid an 0–5 road playoff record.
• Jason points to Jacksonville’s stingy defense and the challenge of defending Allen’s improvisational ability.
• Colin is a “Trevor Lawrence guy," likes the QB matchup.

Herbert & the Chargers' Playoff Prospects

• Herbert playing through injury; discussed as likely the second-best QB the Patriots have faced all season.
• Both discuss the Patriots’ historically weak schedule and the impact of kickers in close playoff games.
• Colin and Jason joke about “fun” playoff picks and the unpredictability of new faces in the postseason.

7. Kyle Shanahan’s Coaching Quirk

[34:32–44:45]

• Colin highlights an “astounding” stat: Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers are 1–29 when trailing by 7+ at halftime, 0–38 when down by 7+ in the fourth quarter (since joining SF).
• He attributes this to Shanahan’s inflexibility and “too tied to his play sheet,” even though his play design is elite.
• Speculates if Shanahan should change strategic approach (take the ball, play with the lead).

Quotes:

“There are certain numbers that don’t make any sense. And when you see that about a person, you’re like… It probably speaks to inflexibility, intensity.”
— Colin Cowherd, 34:55

8. Quarterback Types in the Playoffs

[41:00–44:45]

• Colin splits playoff QBs into: “Game-changers”—those who can ad-lib and create (Josh Allen, Herbert, Caleb, Darnold, Love, Maye, Lawrence); “Game-planners”—pocket QBs reliant on script (Stafford, CJ Stroud).
• Discusses strengths/limitations: Stafford and Stroud won’t create much off-script but can execute elite game plans; advantage now lies more with ad-libbers.
• CJ Stroud compared to Jared Goff; Fernando Mendoza compared to Stroud.

“It’s not a criticism, but I do think Stafford, when Stafford gets in trouble, the pass protection dips, and he has to hurry throws and he can get a bit reckless, and he’s not going to move out of the pocket.”
— Colin Cowherd, 42:21

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On head coaching market shakeup:
  “So suddenly the coveted New York Giants job yesterday is at best third to a guy like John Harbaugh.”
  — Colin Cowherd, 03:37

• On the new era of college football:
  “College football popularity and criticism are both at an all-time high, folks. That’s good television.”
  — Colin Cowherd, 21:50

• On playoff unpredictability:
  “We don’t have a Patriots dynasty or a Kansas City dynasty. Meaning you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
  — Colin Cowherd, 32:10

• On Shanahan’s inflexibility:
  “If they trail by 10 points at half to Philadelphia and the Eagles have a great opening drive to take a lead, you can rest assured they’re in big trouble.”
  — Colin Cowherd, 35:55

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Dolphins Fire Mike McDaniel: 00:31–04:29
• Impact on Head Coaching Market: 04:29–10:32
• Stafford vs. Maye MVP Debate: 10:40–12:29
• Harbaugh/Stefanski, Control & Openings: 12:29–15:30
• College Football: Revenue & Chaos: 17:57–24:13
• NFL Playoff Matchups: 24:13–32:10
• Shanahan Coaching Stat & QB Types: 34:32–44:45

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Episode Flow & Takeaways

Colin opens with breaking news and rapidly transitions into broader implications for the NFL coaching carousel, using sharp analysis and trademark analogies. He and Jason trade takes on who should move quickly in hiring (Giants/Stefanski), dissect John Harbaugh’s mindset, and surveil the playoff picture in both pro and college football. The show maintains a brisk, opinionated pace, filled with data-driven insights (strength of schedule, coaching stats), locker room wisdom (on culture vs. scheme minds), and plenty of coach/QB matchup drama.

This episode is essential listening for NFL fans tracking coaching rumors, playoff odds, and the evolving landscape of both pro and college football.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Jason McIntyre]

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Oh, suddenly breaking news. Suddenly Kevin Stefanski, John Harbaugh have real leverage and the teams do not. We are live. We're in Los Ang. Us. It is the Herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of the day. Tom Brady One hour from now go one hour from now stop spot so this broke 30 minutes ago. The Dolphins, little bit of a surprise, have fired Mike McDaniel, their head coach. I don't blame him for all the Miami losses. I don't think he's the ultimate culture changer. I think he's a smart guy. I think he's a scheme guy. I don't think he's a culture guy. I I don't think he's really an NFL head coach. I think he's a brilliant coordinator. Dolphins owner Steven Ross met with him this week and just didn't feel right rolling it back. Also a story this morning, the Dolphins owner Steven Ross has a connection to the Harbaugh family. Uh oh, the coveted New York Giants job, which we said yesterday was the second best job to Baltimore. Is it now? Third Baltimore is the best job open. Currently open. It's the best job. Lamar Jackson, great roster, amazing culture. That's the best job. I said yesterday. Giants second best job. I'm bullish on the Giants for a lot of reasons. Jackson Dart neighbors Andrew Thomas, Scottaboo, Abdul Carter, lot of reasons. But Miami probably. Now what I'm hearing gives control to John Harbaugh to choose the GM and the Giants, they retained Joe Shane in the league not considered elite. So suddenly the coveted New York Giant job yesterday is at best third to a guy like John Harbaugh. And we said this yesterday, the Giants don't need another coordinator and roll the dice on it. They don't even need necessarily a scheme guy. They need a culture changer. They haven't had a good culture since Tom Coughlin. So Baltimore could use a scheme guy because they have a great culture. Stefanski be great in Baltimore. So. And remember John Harbaugh knowing Miami connection. The Giants are interested, though they haven't talked. I would guess if I was John Harbaugh or his agent, I'd wait and see what happens. Buffalo against Jacksonville this weekend. Because if Buffalo loses, I have to believe maybe how they lose. But if they lose, Josh Allen's looking for a coach with a great left tackle, with a great running back, with a superstar quarterback. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. So then if Buffalo loses the New York Giants job, in my opinion, second most coveted job yesterday is now four. You'd have. Buffalo would be number one, Baltimore would be number two. If Harbaugh can choose his GM suddenly, now Miami is three and the Giants are at best four. Well, folks, there are never four great coaching candidates. Then you get into coordinators. Right now you have two great candidates. John Harbaugh, the best culture changer on the market, just like his brother was a couple years ago, like Vrabel was and, and, and Stefanski, I think can do the culture thing, but he's really. No, schematically, he's a very, very smart guy. You could attach him to a Lamar Jackson. The culture and the talent. The roster's already there. Ravens would be favored to win their division. And the minute you hire Kevin Stefanski. So there's an old saying, strike when the iron is hot. If Jim Harbaugh can coach in SoCal, then John Harbaugh can coach in, in South Miami Beach. Like they work just fine. I know you think Harbaugh is cold weather. Nah, Jim's doing just fine in la. John would do just fine in South Beach. So my guess is the Miami News today, McDaniel out connection, Ross family and Harbaughs. If I'm the New York Giants, I probably jump on Kevin Stefanski and offer him the job. Today I would probably offer. If I ran the New York Giants today, I would offer Stefanski the job. I'm not waiting. I don't want to play musical chairs and get left without A chair with Harbaugh because let's be honest, Buffalo is a better job with Josh Allen. I'm not even mentioning Green Bay. I don't think Harbaugh and his personality works in Green Bay, Jim or John. But that could be an attractive job for Kevin Stefanski. So forget just for a second the John Harbaugh piece. Stefanski, you have Jackson dart a lot of your talents on offense. Neighbors Andrew Thomas, scatter boo. Jackson dart probably draft the tight end. Wouldn't it be nice to have an offensive coach? Even temperament, not as intense as day ball. Wouldn't that be nice? But what if Green Bay, Buffalo, Baltimore, Miami. I mean, so Stefanski now. I would love to be Kevin Stefanski's agent today. He's got all the leverage in the world. And if I'm the New York Giants, I probably go out and I hire Stefanski and let him build his staff. Because remember, John Harbaugh is going to build a staff. Steven Ross is the second or third richest owner. So Harbaugh is going to get his pick of the litter in Miami on the staff. You don't want to hire the fourth coach who's getting the fourth best receiver coach, the fourth best offensive line coach. If you hire Stefanski today, you get a jump on Harbaugh, who's probably waiting for the weekend results. Don't let Stefanski, you know, so it's the old Sean McVeigh interview with the Rams. They wouldn't let him leave the building. They're like, we're not Stan Cronky unless needed. Like, we can't let this kid leave the building. So I think it's very interesting that this Miami job could have screwed up the New York Giants. And the other thing, if you're, if you're Harbaugh, I mean, New York and Miami, there's got to be a lot of guys. The richer owner is Miami. No state tax, Very attractive to free agents. Miami is. Miami's always one of those. You can look at the jets and Giants and say, what a train wreck. The truth is, Miami doesn't bottom out much. Even though they miss on coaches and quarterbacks, it always feels like they're hovering around 500. Help. Brady for years struggled going down to Miami and beating them. Tom Brady struggled for years against inferior teams. He and Belichick would go down there. So Miami never feels like they bought him out. I think it's an attractive job. So this is really, really interesting that Miami just threw a wrench into the Giants. You can, you can listen. It feels like Everybody is scrambling for a homecoming date, right? Everybody's looking for a date here. And if I'm the New York Giants very quickly after this weekend, if Buffalo and Green Bay lost, how do you know? You don't wake up on a Monday morning and you're the fifth best job. But if you go and get a Stefanski and you beat everybody to the punch and he starts building a staff, well, then you're going to get the best O line coach on the market and the best DC on the market and the best receiver coach on the market. That's an advantage. Crazy. All right. I'm not a big awards guy in terms of like pro sports heism. I used to have a Heisman vote. I'm not really into that stuff. Like we all know who's good and who isn't. But the Matt Stafford Drake may mvp and it's down to those two folks. I don't think, I don't think it's terribly close. You have to consider schedules. 13 of 14 New England wins were against teams with losing records. The best team New England played was Buffalo and they don't have a good defense. So Stafford beat the number one defense, Houston. The number two defense, Seattle, against the top 10 defense, Jacksonville. Stafford had five touchdowns and no picks. He also played Philadelphia and which is the top five defense and San Francisco twice. And I think we all admit remarkably, Salah made that a really decent defense despite having no big name players. So you have to consider strength of schedule. Why? Because the NFL literally uses it as one of its tiebreakers. So you, you know, it's like the college football resume thing. You have to consider strength of schedule. And it's not that the Rams had a harder schedule. Here's the problem. The Rams have the number one most difficult schedule of all 14 playoff teams. And the Patriots have the weakest NFL schedule in 26 years. You're talking the difference between, you know, the SEC, the Big Ten in the mountain West. It's not that New England schedule is kind of weak. It's the weakest in 26 years. And it's not that the Rams have a tough schedule. It's the number one toughest schedule of the 14 remaining playoff teams. Stafford had better numbers against much better competition. I'm not saying they both didn't get a 4.0 GPA, but Stafford was taken AP courses to get his 4 point Houston, Seattle twice, Sala twice, Jacksonville, Philadelphia. If you look at Matt against playoff teams this year, over 2,000 passing yards, 22 touchdowns, three interceptions and a 107 passer rating. That's against playoff teams. You have to consider schedule. The NFL literally does for its tiebreakers. Here's Sean McVeigh on Stafford. I think Matthew's the MVP of the league. He played that way. Wouldn't want anybody else leading the way. Got a lot of respect for a bunch of people in this league, but there's nobody I'd rather have being the quarterback of the LA Rams than Matthew Stafford. His, his place speaks for itself. Listen, Drake May, a little bit of it is the, the shiny new object syndrome. He's the new toy, everybody. You know, the new popular kid in school. I get it. Drake May's fantastic. But you're talking about the easiest schedule in 26 years and the best team they played really isn't a great defensive team. In Buffalo, that was the tough one. Sorry, I got to go with Matt Stafford. Pff. By the way, on all their metrics has Stafford number one and they layless several. He was best on play action, best against playoff teams, best on this, best on that. Pff. Knocks it down to data and it, it's, it's Stafford. Doesn't mean I don't think Drake May is not going to win four of them. J. Mac this Miami Dolphin news is really, really throwing a wrench into what was perceived yesterday. The Giants was a very coveted job. If the stories about Ross and the Harbaugh connection are true, the Giants now are the third best job in the market.

[Colin Cowherd]

So, so that's a tough one. I don't know Harbaugh well enough. What does he want? Does he want to build something?

[Jason McIntyre]

Because all Harbaughs want one thing, control.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, he could, he could. Jim could easily push Joe Shane out in New York. Hey, I'll take the job, but I ain't having him as my gm. Right hand. Pick your own gm. You could do that in Miami because they don't have a gm. So then you're looking at, well, where's a quicker path to victory? You're going to win in facing Drake May and Josh Allen.

[Jason McIntyre]

You never know that. Did anybody know New England was going to be this good or Denver this good or Seattle this good or last year Washington this good or Denver that. You don't really know in the NFL unless you have Josh Allen or you know, even Patrick Mahomes missed the playoffs this year. So you don't really know.

[Colin Cowherd]

I just. But the one thing you do know is you have Jackson dart on his rookie deal. He showed promise and TUA is expensive.

[Jason McIntyre]

I, I, I do not I. I.

[Colin Cowherd]

Don'T know what the path is to.

[Jason McIntyre]

A great quarterback, but you have to remember how those guys like the Harboss think is that in. In my lifetime, when you meet very. I would say alpha, confident, aggressive men, here's what they don't say, boy, but that one's the easier path. They don't think Sean Payton, literally with Russell Wilson at quarterback, who he knew he didn't fit with, said, I'll take the Denver job. And you're like, Andy Reid and Mahomes are in the division. Did Sean Payton go, whoa, I want to go. I want to go coach. He left the easiest division, the NFC South. Sean Payton did. He left the easiest place to win that he had dominated to go to a division with. With Andy Reid, Spags and Mahomes. And that's what winners do. They don't care. They think about their job, not their opponents.

[Colin Cowherd]

So you think it's. You're leaning. He goes Miami. It's early.

[Jason McIntyre]

What I'm saying. I think he would choose Buffalo if they had an opening. Josh Allen in his prime for at least four more years.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's an obvious.

[Jason McIntyre]

That's an obvious one. New stadium, unbelievable fans, Dolphins. And then I think he would probably. He doesn't fit in Green Bay. Harbaughs don't fit in Green Bay.

[Colin Cowherd]

Is there an opening in.

[Jason McIntyre]

No, I'm just saying there. There's reports that I think it's ridiculous.

[Mike De La Rocha]

I agree with you.

[Jason McIntyre]

I don't totally ridicule. I think lafleur is more than capable. But I think right now the best job opening is Baltimore. But John just lost that job. But if Miami's in play, then and jot. Let's say Buffalo wins. It does feel like Miami would be the choice over New York. If you get control, I'll tell you who's sweating it as Joe Shane. This news. Well, I mean, he's hit on, you know, Scatter Boo was a great get. Jackson dart okay. I mean, he's got some hits. Andrew Thomas, left tackle. The Giants have players I'll. I am bullish on the Giants.

[Colin Cowherd]

Solid. He just. I mean, I can't get over the Daniel Jones Saquon Barkley.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah, but gentleman drafted him and the Barkley things on Shane, that's on him. That's a complete whiff.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. Major.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right. We got. We got. Oh, tonight, baby. College Football Playoff. Why Niner fans should be a little worried this morning with their coach. It's the Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from the Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing us live.

[Mike De La Rocha]

Weeknights from 7 to 10pm Eastern on.

[Jason McIntyre]

Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to.

[Mike De La Rocha]

Announce brand new YouTube YouTube channel for the show.

[Jason McIntyre]

That's right, you can now watch the Odd Couple Live on YouTube every day. All you gotta do search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube again. YouTube just search Odd Couple FSR.

[Mike De La Rocha]

Check us out on YouTube and subscribe.

[Jason McIntyre]

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[Mike De La Rocha]

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[Jason McIntyre]

You're now entering the no Bull zone sponsored by Credible Great rates. None of the bull. So tonight, college football Miami favorite. I think they beat Ole Miss. Very, very excited. So there is a reason that true crime podcasts, mob documentaries, Breaking Bad, Sopranos so popular. It's not a life you'd want to live, but it is fascinating and dangerous and crazy and wild. And that's why we just keep seeing more true crime shows. That's College football in 2025, 2026. It's wild. Is it sustainable? Absolutely, it's sustainable. What wasn't sustainable is Bama, Georgia and Clemson And Ohio State by week four, looking like once again they were the four best teams. Ratings and attendance were down. Nick Saban complained at the end of his run in Alabama he could not sell out home out of conference games. The sport got dull even for the dynasty. This is incredibly sustainable because the revenue is growing like crazy. Mark Cuban never cared about college football. He just wrote a $12 million check to Indiana. Larry Ellison. You have all these billionaires now writing massive checks. Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Oregon, Washington, usc. The revenue in the Big Ten is exploding. With Texas, Texas A and M joining Georgia, Alabama, the revenue is exploding in the sec. It's fine. What's not sustainable was the old model where the ratings and the revenue were going down. That's why the PAC 10 disbanded. They gave schools like USC and UCLA 35 million a year. USC is now going to make 90 million a year at the Big 10 and that's growing. They'll be at 120 in five or six years. It's totally sustainable. I mean it's crazy. It's like Ole Miss. I mean it is a little bit like a little Breaking Bad. Bravo wishes they had the drama of Ole Miss. Their coach gets poached by a rival lsu. You got coaches for Ole Miss seesawing back and forth to LSU right now. I mean it's, it's real coaches of the sec. It's like a housewife show. It's crazy, but it's absolutely sustainable. When revenue is great. Even debt in this country is sustainable. Debt in Europe's a problem. Their economy's not growing like ours. Our economy. You keep hearing economists say the economy we predicting of a recession. But it's very resilient economy because our economy just keeps growing. It's separated from Europe. So I don't love debt either. But it remains sustainable because our economy is growing. The economy of college football is exploding. We just can't keep paying. Mark Cuban just wrote a $12 million check. You got all sorts of billionaires and 200 millionaires writing huge checks right now. The conferences are growing in revenue. That's fine. I mean I get Oregon and Miami and Ole Miss and Indiana. The ratings are going to be huge for these games. So I keep hearing all these fear mongering, these death sentences of college football. College football popularity and criticism are both at an all time high, folks. That's good television. When you're driving revenue, you're popular and it's love, hate and it's polarizing. When Bama was running the sport, it wasn't that Polarizing. It was predictable. Now it's polarizing. The better P word. So the NFL has always been, to me, the sport of hope, where you can go from awful New England, nine months later, you're great. You can't do that in baseball. You need like six drafts. Half the teams can't afford the good player. Can't do that in the NBA. It takes years to become as good as, like, a San Antonio. You need breaks to get Wemby NFL. Hire the right coach, have a good young quarterback, stack your roster. Awful to good. Boom. That's Indiana. Unwatchable to best team ever. Are they going to go 16? And. Oh, and you're telling me this isn't sustainable. Here's Pete Golding, the Ole Miss coach, on the fallout of the Lane Kiffa drama and him leaving the program.

[Guest Athlete or Analyst]

The timing of when it happened, in my opinion, couldn't happen at a better time for the players because everything was already in place. The only thing that was different, who's running out of the tunnel? And to be honest with you, I don't think the players give a damn who runs about the tunnel. Does it make sense? They care about their plan. They care about getting held accountable. Right. And how they're going to prepare. And they care about people that care about them. All right? And I think that's been the message our players have created. And I don't have to say to.

[Jason McIntyre]

Anybody else, so think about this. The biggest show the last three, four or five weeks in the SEC is the only team standing. The biggest mess in the SEC has been Ole Miss. Oh, my. What in God's name? If they win tonight, they're in the national championship. Young people can handle drama. The Ole Miss players, they don't care who runs them out of the tunnel. They just lost their great coach. They're like, yeah, all right, whatever. Let's go beat Georgia. Everything is going to be okay. When revenue is great, even debt, you can live with it. When revenue is great, you can live with this college football drama. Take a deep breath. How are these teams going to afford it? All these schools have billionaire graduates, and I'm seeing some of these people write checks. I didn't even know they liked college football. I didn't know the Mark Cuban was a college footballer. He's a basketball guy. J. Mack with the news. No, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herdline news.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, let's go to the NFL playoffs. Colin, your Bears struggled down the stretch. Final two games. The offense not totally clicking. Ben Johnson was not thrilled but he's trying to stay positive heading into the big game against the packers this weekend saying Caleb Williams was built for these moments. And Caleb, he agrees, I am built for these moments.

[Guest Athlete or Analyst]

Mentality wise. I've worked. And so, you know, that's, that's. I've been in a bunch of big games before and a bunch of big rival games. And so, you know, in those moments and in these moments, it, you know, I don't. I think I can provide a spark for the team. I think I can, you know, do whatever my team needs me to do.

[Jason McIntyre]

I like them. I think it's a weather advantage. 30 mile an hour winds favors the run game in the O line and that is clearly a Bears advantage. Yeah. And right now Caleb's playing better than Jordan Love because he's playing more than Jordan Love.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, so Colin, I dug into this game a little bit. So do you know how long the Bears have led for how many minutes, how many plays in the Bears packers games this season?

[Jason McIntyre]

You mean at the very end of the game or.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, no. Total plays and minutes in the game.

[Jason McIntyre]

Okay.

[Colin Cowherd]

The answer is zero. They have not led for one second against the packers this season in two meetings. I'm a little nervous about the Bears now. So I did go and I'm on the packers officially. I hope we're not head to head. I know that's your squad. You're rooting for the Bears and Caleb and Ben. It's just if their defense is not generating turnovers and they led the league in turnover margin by a mile.

[Jason McIntyre]

What happens though when it's 30 miles an hour and it's cold and maybe the weather generates eternal the under caches.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, I don't see this a lot of.

[Jason McIntyre]

Because we know Caleb Williams does not turn the ball over. He's durable and doesn't turn it over. You can criticize him all you want. He doesn't turn the ball over and he doesn't get hurt.

[Colin Cowherd]

He's done a good job of Jordan Love. Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

Gets banged up and can occasionally turn it over.

[Colin Cowherd]

So the weird thing about the packers, they. They're gonna have their full arsenal of receivers. Jaden Reed, who missed a lot of time with that collarbone. Watson's healthy now and I brought this up. So the packers and Bears had one of the earliest buys. Yes, the packers had a buy last week. All their guys sat. The Bears were in a battle till the final minutes against the Lions. I just wonder if the Bears are a little worn down. I'm not trying to influence your pick.

[Jason McIntyre]

No, listen, I think it's a very close game.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

I'm not saying it's. I like. Yeah. I mean I like some of the. I think it's going to be a run game dominated team. I think Ben Johnson's going to create a lot of run Caleb move Caleb. Run backs run short tight end stuff. It's going to be a very. They're not throwing the ball down the field. I think they're like Christian Watson is great. Is he going to matter in 30 mile an hour winds? Hard to land that plane in 30 mile an hour winds.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

He's their deep threat to be a good game. Oh, I think it's going to be. It's going to be the biggest game in Chicago in a long time to.

[Colin Cowherd]

Get field passes for this. Go down on the field and check things out in the house.

[Jason McIntyre]

Pass 72 degrees. I'll have a bowl of turkey chili sitting in front of me. No more enchiladas.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, let's go to the next game. And that's. Oh, we're going to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills and a big one. I mean the ramifications here are massive. I didn't realize this. Josh Allen is looking to avoid going 05 on the road in playoff games.

[Jason McIntyre]

Wow.

[Colin Cowherd]

And he's facing that tough Jags defense. They are sneaky good.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

As some teams have found out. Here's Liam Cohen talking about how they plan on defending Josh Allen.

[Jason McIntyre]

Your rush plan has to be extremely dialed in. Your spy game has to be dialed in. If you're going to do any of that stuff, your zone coverage has got.

[Guest Athlete or Analyst]

To make sure that you're giving eyes obviously on the quarterback at all times. And look, when you have to account for the quarterback every play, you know.

[Jason McIntyre]

We have it a luxury of that.

[Guest Athlete or Analyst]

As well in ways where quarterback can.

[Jason McIntyre]

Take off on you.

[Guest Athlete or Analyst]

It's hard to defend every blade of grass.

[Jason McIntyre]

Boy, this is going to be good. We have some. You know what man? You talk about matchups. Bears, packers, perfect Niners, the brilliant coach and the roster we're concerned of against the Eagles great roster and the coach we're concerned of the two quarterbacks who aren't first rounders. Hurts and purdy. That Niners. That Niner Eagle game is going to be based on a fox playoff record. If that is gonna get a monster number.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I, I don't know if I trust the Bills to win this one though.

[Jason McIntyre]

I. I don't.

[Colin Cowherd]

Is it gonna be a good game?

[Jason McIntyre]

Oh my.

[Colin Cowherd]

I want. I listen, you know, I'M a Trevor Lawrence guy. I've been a believer. A lot of people bailed on Trevor Lawrence. Oh, what has he done? Even what's he won?

[Jason McIntyre]

Even the Drake made Justin Herbert meeting when Drake made a great game. Oh my God. You have two culture guys, two big strong quarterbacks. Drake may coming out of college. They said, oh, he'll be his comp as Justin Herbert. Both teams don't have, you know, New England Chargers o lines are really average. And these matchups.

[Colin Cowherd]

Who needs Patrick Mahomes? Who needs bur. We don't need those guys.

[Jason McIntyre]

I don't care.

[Colin Cowherd]

We got. We got good new quarterbacks. Yeah, enough Mahomes. He had a good enough run. We don't need him back.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right, final story.

[Colin Cowherd]

Colin, let's go. Justin Herbert, best quarterback in the AFC west this season. Remember, he's been dealing with that first fractured left hand suffered in week 13, but he did get the week 18 rest and so hopefully he's able to start taking more snaps under center. He was doing that at yesterday's practice. And here's Herbert talking about the injury.

[Guest Athlete or Analyst]

Not taking hits on it last week was. Was probably pretty helpful for it. Limited kind of the swelling and just getting back to, you know, making sure that you have got full strength, being able to hold onto a football. I would say that I was able to do most every everything out there. You know, it took some snaps today and you know, I think it's the point where I'm able to take snaps during the week, so I think that's helpful. But just making sure I can grip on the ball, you know, have two hands on in the pocket and you know how important that is to the quarterback. So I think that's been good.

[Colin Cowherd]

He's. He's played through the injury well. We got some numbers on him since the fracture, you know, 67, 66% completions, seven touchdowns, four picks. He's been fine.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah, he's been remarkable considering his lack of pass protection.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, 100%. Did you know that he'll probably be the second best quarterback that the Patriots have seen this season after Josh Allen?

[Jason McIntyre]

Oh, he will be, Colin.

[Colin Cowherd]

I looked this up. The unbelievable the schedule the Patriots play. They played seven quarterbacks who were either benched or they were backups to begin with. Tua, who ended up getting benched for years. Spencer Rattler, Dylan Gabriel, Justin Fields, Joe Flacco who was a backup. The Brady Cook, the Jets when they were tanking. And then Quinn Ewers who you know, was a rookie.

[Jason McIntyre]

Listen, you have been on this game, the minute the line came out. And I. You know what? Generally I stay away from your recommendations.

[Colin Cowherd]

Like Bird, you last week with the Bengals. I'm sorry. I know. Yeah, that was a rough one. But what are we doing? Are you sticking Patriots here? Are we going to wait for the blazing.

[Jason McIntyre]

What do we. If the number. I'm waiting for the number tonight. If the number is three and a half. You have to take the Chargers. It's coming after four.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah. It's going to be a cold weekend. Average, old lines, great coaches. You. You know what this game looks like? It's 2320. That's what this game is.

[Colin Cowherd]

Sounds about.

[Jason McIntyre]

So that the hook is everything in this bet.

[Colin Cowherd]

Everything. By the way, the Chargers have one of the best kickers in the league. Oh, Cameron Dicker. He's a huge weapon. And I want to go back to. For Jacksonville. Bills. That's also. The Bills are working with a practice squad kicker right now.

[Jason McIntyre]

The Jags guy is 60 yards.

[Colin Cowherd]

He's automatic from like 58. 60 yards. He hit from 67 last week. The kickers, special teams. That's important.

[Jason McIntyre]

I've never. I've never been this excited for a wild card.

[Colin Cowherd]

Really.

[Jason McIntyre]

Oh, I can't wait. We don't have a Patriots dynasty or a Kansas City dynasty. Meaning you don't know what's going to happen.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, it's wide open.

[Jason McIntyre]

No idea what's going to happen.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm still waiting to pin you down on your two soup. Your super bowl teams. Like, are you gonna go Seahawks, Broncos, to make. You know, because that's the most fun.

[Jason McIntyre]

That's fun. Hey, fun's overrated. J. Mac with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the Herd line. Right now. I've got a blazing three, so I'm gonna put a college game in to get it to a blazing four. And I. I'm just gonna keep waiting and waiting because tomorrow I've got three games I do like to bet and then. And there's a Friday college game that I feel very strongly about. Money's money. So I'm going to take that game. And I've got to find a fourth NFL playoff game I like. But it. This is going to be remarkable. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

[Mike De La Rocha]

Every January, we're encouraged to start over. But what if this year is about slowing down and learning how to understand ourselves more deeply? What if this year is about giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help. I'm Mike De la Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons. This is a podcast for men navigating stress, emotional health, fatherhood, identity, and the unspoken pressures we're taught to carry alone. We talk honestly about mental health, about healing generational wounds, and about learning how to show up with more presence and care. If you want a healthier relationship with yourself and the people you love, then Sacred Lessons is the podcast for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Dolarocha on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike De la Rocha and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app today.

[Colin Cowherd]

Wildcard weekend has two huge games on Fox. Saturday, MVP front runner Matthew Stafford leads the Rams against Bryce Young and the Panthers. Then on Sunday, Jalen Hurts and the defending champion Eagles take on Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers. It's wild card weekend powered by Verizon. Saturday and Sunday on Fox.

[Jason McIntyre]

Listen. At some point, there will be data in all of our lives that explain our personality. You know, if, if you'd been fired six times or married five, I can probably make certain assumptions about you psychologically or your personality. I think Kyle Shanahan's an unbelievable coach. I think McVeigh is the best coach in the league in his prime. Andy Reid, we know he's great. I. You could make an argument Shanahan's, too. But there are two numbers with Shanahan that I think speak to his personality, and the numbers are insane since he's been with the 49ers. When the Niners trail by seven plus points just at halftime, they're 1 and 29. That makes no damn sense. Right? When they trail by seven plus points in the fourth quarter and they've had very good quarterback play. They're on 38. Those are like last in the league. How would you explain that? Like, that's just not random for a coach that good. What it speaks to is my only criticism ever of Shanahan, which he's too tied to his play sheet. He's not flexible. Now his play sheet is second in my opinion, or maybe first in the league. I think Andy Reid and Shanahan play sheet is as good as it gets, even better than McVeigh or Sean Payton. And so Shanahan becomes like the anchor who never moves off the prompter or the actor who doesn't move off the script. And you can be great at both. But I do think those numbers are so outrageous and so bizarre that it does speak to a little bit of the Niner issue. They need to take leads. They do not play well from behind. Buffalo with Josh Allen plays great from behind because so much of it is off script. McVeigh, Stafford had been pretty good, but Shanahan's been brutal. And so I just think it's one of those things where there are certain personality quirks people have. And I don't think Shanahan, dad or son, are terribly flexible. I mean, but you get the upside to his play sheet, which, by the way, this year he beat LA with no Jennings, no Kittle, Mack Jones, and they had over 400 yards against the Rams defense. So the guy's an insane coach. But there are certain numbers that don't make any sense. And when you see that about a person, you're like, how many times have they been? How many times have they been. He's never won a game. Train. It probably speaks to inflexibility, intensity. And in Shanahan's case, and for the record, the Niners use the most motion of any team in the league by a large gap. So they're complete innovators. So you get all of his innovation, you get all of his brain power, you get all of his experience, you get the unbelievable play design and play sheet. But if they trail by 10 points at half to Philadelphia and the Eagles have a great opening drive to take a lead, you can. You rest assured they're in big trouble. And that's not necessarily the case. I mean, go look at Sean Payton and Bo Nix. They're great in the fourth quarter. Ben Johnson and Caleb better in the fourth quarter than any quarter. So here's Vic Fangio facing Shanahan this week, the Eagles defensive coordinator on the Niners offense. It's all packaged together very nicely. They give you a lot of good motions. Everything they do is with a purpose, and they do a really good job of it. Obviously, Purdy operates it very well. McCaffrey's an elite back. Got a good group of receivers. You know, Kittle at tight end. I mean, they had a run where they were. Hottest offense in the league for like, six, seven weeks in a row here of late. Yeah, but those numbers, you can put them on the screen again. They're crazy. You're like, what? I mean, Andy Reid, McVeigh, Sean Payton, other offensive innovators, they're great in the fourth quarter. Ben Johnson's been unbelievable with Detroit and in Chicago, the Niners aren't. Now, you could also say this is it, because Jimmy Garoppolo Mack Jones and Brock Purdy are not guys that can just put an offense on their shoulders and carry them. Maybe. But I. But I do think there's a little bit of an inflexibility to how Kyle coaches. It's the only knock. I think there's an argument he's the second best coach in the league. I think he's just an unbelievable coach. So there's four I. It's so interesting. There were 14 quarterbacks in the playoffs, obviously this weekend, 12 are first round guys. Jaylen Herz mid second. Brock P. Is a complete outlier again with a great quarterback whisper. Kyle Shanahan. And there's just this. There's a lot of different paths to becoming an NFL star quarterback, but mostly you got to be drafted in the first round. But it's interesting. I was looking this morning at all the quarterbacks and it's not necessarily who's better. There are kind of two styles of quarterbacks in the playoffs this weekend, and I would say there are game changers. These are the guys that may have a size advantage, an athletic ability, horsepower advantage. And then there are guys I would call game planners. They're more reliant on the game plan. If the play breaks down, there's limitations. So I think it's split right down the middle. I think seven guys have the ability O line breakdown, miss block, receiver falls, got to ad lib. I say it's Josh, Allen, Herbert, Caleb, Darnold, Love, May and Lawrence. All can take off and run. Very difficult to play man to man coverage. On those seven that you turn your back to these guys, you're in trouble. Then I think there are the guys that are mostly, I would call game planners. And by the way, Stafford and CJ Stroud, huge fans of both, are game planners. Whereas if the play breaks down, you're using a backup left tackle, your pass pro isn't as good. The running game is off. They're a little bit more tied to the game plan. And as much as I like CJ Stroud, go look in the red zone. Houston's a really bad red zone offense. Why is that? Why would that be? C.J. stroud's one of the best pocket guys in the league because he doesn't take off and run for touchdowns. That's not what he does. He's really. His comp coming out was a more athletic Jared Goff. Somebody asked me the other day about Fernando Mendoza's comp. I said it's a little bit of C.J. stroud. He can move a little, but he's great in the pocket. Super accurate, tough guy, good arm strength, super accurate. I'm like, yeah, I mean if you had to give me a guy in the league that I think Mendoza looks a little bit like. It's CJ Stroud. So game changers, game planners. And it's not a criticism, but I do think Stafford, when Stafford gets in trouble, the pass protection dips and he has to hurry throws and he can get a bit reckless and he's not going to move out of the pocket. He can move within the pocket. He's not moving out of the pocket. Tom Brady, top of next hour. So. And I know J. Mac, you're looking at Purdy saying what's going on. But I, I do think his history says he has been mostly reliant on Kittle playing and Trent Williams playing mostly in his career.

[Colin Cowherd]

Wait, are we talking about the running or the comebacks?

[Jason McIntyre]

No, I'm, I just think it's not about. You're, you're taking the outcome. What I'm saying is seven guys really are ability to change the play in a half second. Go get a first down. That's not Stafford's game. That's not CJ's.

[Colin Cowherd]

I don't, I would. Jaylen Herz is a really good scrambling quarterback. Has good, I mean strong running yards, rushing yards. Brock Purdy also in the pocket improvising. Bryce Young, you could argue could just could belong in that category.

[Jason McIntyre]

But Bryce isn't dominated enough physically. And Jaylen Herzler, of the six worst halves of the year in the NFL offensively, he's got like four of them.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. And two of them he didn't complete a pass.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah. So. Yeah. And I, it, it's. I mean obviously Stafford is one of the top seven quarterbacks in the league, but I, but I do think there is an advantage to having Drake May and having Justin Herbert with average O lines. They can just move and remember that you and I were watching, it was about seven, eight weeks ago. It was actually before he banged his hand and you and I had watched the Chargers and I forget the teams they had beaten like Kansas City and it was ugly. And we watched at the end of games and Herbert was just like, I'm just going to pick up first down.

[Colin Cowherd]

It might have been the Eagles game.

[Jason McIntyre]

With the Eagle and he was just like, I just got to pick up.

[Colin Cowherd]

First down like seven times.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah. That's not a game that Matt Stafford would have had success if, if his offensive line was that bad. I, and I've said this before. It is remarkable historically, and I forget who wrote this earlier in the week, no quarterback has ever won a playoff game with an offensive line ranked as poorly as the Chargers.

[Colin Cowherd]

A playoff game? Oh, geez, that's not good.

[Jason McIntyre]

Never won a playoff game. So to me, the remarkable thing about Herbert is the fact they're 11 and 6, how they lost Slater and Alt.

[Colin Cowherd]

Months ago and Minter's been excellent as a defensive coordinator. Let me go back to that other the stat you had on Shanahan and the lack of comebacks. I'm wondering, does that change his outlook on this game? Do you A lot of coaches want to defer we want the ball second half, right. Chance to double up. You get points late first half and then get the ball second. Do the Niners say we want the ball and we need to get an early lead here? We need to go down the field, get a lead and make Jalen hurts. Put the ball in the air.

[Jason McIntyre]

Absolutely.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre]

When you have a great game, does play designer and play caller take the ball? Yeah, take the ball. Get the I think, I don't know what the number is, but I think taking a lead in the NFL is like a 63% winner or it's like it's 58. I mean, it's a, it's absolutely an advantage. And the Niners have shown you they're not a great come from behind team.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. By the way, Trent Williams is going to be the most watched dame on the injury report throughout the league this week.

[Jason McIntyre]

It's so good.

[Colin Cowherd]

If they don't have him, they're in trouble.

[Jason McIntyre]

Tom Brady's coming up. Blazing 5 tomorrow on Blazing 4 maybe. Whether you want to maximize your performance or form healthier habits this year, knowing what your body needs can help put you on the right path. With Quest, you can buy your own lab tests [e-mail] no doctor visit required for purchase. Quest has a huge selection of tests, including the new Elite Health Profile, a panel made for men and Women, and tracks 85 plus health markers affecting the heart, liver, kidneys, hormones, metabolism and immune system, delivering a ton of insights in one snapshot. For a limited time, save on select lab [e-mail] with code herd10. That's herd10 at checkout. Terms apply.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.