THE HERD - Hour 1 - Steelers path to another winning season, this might be what the Chiefs need

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Hour 1

December 16, 2025
Main Theme:
Colin Cowherd dives into the state of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ winning formula, questions whether consistency is enough, breaks down what missing the playoffs could mean for the Chiefs, and gives an unfiltered look at rising and falling NFL teams and quarterbacks as the playoffs draw near.

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on:

• The Steelers' continued string of winning seasons – but what is lost in the pursuit of “just good enough”?
• Why missing the playoffs could benefit the Kansas City Chiefs (and parallels to past Patriots strategy).
• Honest assessments of quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers, Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence, Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, and more.
• Team trends, playoff picture analysis, and betting angles for key games.
• The importance of roster construction, coaching, and the right mindset for NFL teams on the verge.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Steelers' Formula: Competence, Not Contention

Timestamps: 03:10 – 08:17, 08:35, 30:15

• Steelers win again at home on Monday Night Football. Colin notes, “They just don't lose. I feel like the Steeler model is what I have a problem with.”
• The Steelers focus on the wrong benchmarks. “They care about two things that just don't matter to people with high standards: Having a winning record, and winning Monday Night Football. ...If you have high standards, a winning record is not a top three or four thing.” (04:37)
• Groundhog Day: The template is repeating: "Stop gap at quarterback, barely above .500, rinse and repeat and that's where we are."
• Old roster, few assets, no clear QB future. “They're currently drafting 20th and they have a stop gap at quarterback. No long-term solution and they don't have any assets to trade up.” (04:08)
• Aaron Rodgers is praised for elevating the offense: “Aaron deserves all sorts of praise. Short-term, it feels really good... but he can’t fix what’s systemic.”
  • “[Rodgers] was a consultant. He’d solve some small problems, but he’d leave soon, and the big stuff remains.” (06:50)
• Notable Stat: “Seventeen teams in the NFL have a positive point differential. Steelers are 17th—barely treading water.” (05:54)

Notable Quote:

• “Congratulations. Aaron deserves a lot of praise. ...He’s turned their red zone woes into red zone wins. At 42. Not a great O-line, not a dependable run game... but what does it mean?” – Colin Cowherd (06:40)

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2. Chiefs: Why Missing the Playoffs Is The Jolt They Need

Timestamps: 08:36 – 12:47

• The Chiefs’ streak may end — and that’s good: “Missing the playoffs is perfect. It’s a cold glass of water to the face. Sometimes you make the playoffs and you think, ‘We’re inches away.’ No, you’re yards away.” (09:53)
• Rebuild vs. Retool: Colin asks, “Who’s their fourth-best player in their prime? ...Rams have about 12. Eagles have 12. Lions have nine. Baltimore's got eight.”
• Reminds him of the Patriots’ post-Brady overhaul: “Belichick literally tore all the championship evidence off the walls and said, ‘We’re starting over.’ Then they got on a heater.” (11:04)
• Critique of incrementalism: “It’s not a tweak. You’ve got to take this boat back to port and rebuild it.” (11:39)
• Parity in the NFL: “The NFL lets 40% of teams into the playoffs – and Kansas City might be out because of core issues.”

Notable Quote:

• “The last three years, Kansas City... are 16th in points per game, 18th in yards per play, and 24th in big plays. Does that sound like a tweak in an offensive league?” – Colin Cowherd (10:23)

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3. QB Evaluations: Rodgers, Tua, Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, Trevor Lawrence

Timestamps: 13:10 – 21:30, 24:27

• Aaron Rodgers: “He’s always played well in these cold, harsh environments. ...Still, he can’t solve the fact they spend too much on defense.”
• Tua Tagovailoa criticism: “The Dolphins gotta cut bait with Tua. That thing’s over. He is a backup quarterback in this league.” (05:14)
• Small Quarterback Syndrome: “Small quarterbacks age really quickly. ...Russell Wilson regressed badly in a year and a half. Tua is a backup and not a great backup.” (13:00)
• Caleb Williams analysis: “Fewest interceptions in a QB’s first 1,000 passes – greatest ever. ...Who cares if he puts his pajamas on backwards? You’ve got Beethoven down the hall.” (17:07)
  • “Caleb Williams, the horsepower, the torque. ...If your kid’s doing Beethoven at eight... not everyone’s playing by the same rules.” (18:02)
• Josh Allen vs. Caleb Williams: “Everybody's talking about how accurate Josh Allen is this year. That's because he throws the tight ends. ...I’d rather Josh complete 64% and throw downfield.” (19:13)
• Bo Nix praise: “If there's a year to win it with a young quarterback, Drake May or Bo Nix, this is the year to win the AFC.” (23:16)
• Trevor Lawrence: “Bo Nix doesn’t make the mistakes, doesn’t take the sacks. ...Trevor Lawrence gets sacked, ugly picks, negative plays.” (24:24)

Notable Quote:

• “Not every quarterback's the same. Caleb, Josh Allen, and Mahomes — it looks different.” – Colin Cowherd (20:13)

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4. Team Trends, Matchups, and Playoff Picture

Timestamps: 22:04 – 31:07, 39:20 – 50:37

• Broncos’ playoff run: “Bo Nix plays like that again, this team’s going places. And the Russell Wilson dead cap money off the books, roster’s gonna have space.” (22:32)
• Denver defense’s quality debated: Some analytics like them, but “a lot of it, they got fat and happy off bad teams.” (23:51)
• Betting leans:
  • “If the Jags line goes to 3.5, I’d take Jacksonville.” (24:15)
  • “Love Detroit this week. ...This is my second favorite bet of the week, Lions at home.” (29:44)
  • “Over 51 – I think the Steelers could probably get to 24 and Detroit’s probably going to hit 40.” (31:07)
• Lions’ bounce-back ability: “After a loss, the Lions have been the best team in the league. ...They’ve won 12 straight after a loss.” (29:30)
• Rams offense and flaws: “It’s about as deep as you’ll find. Their hole is the back end of their secondary — you can throw the ball and go over the top on them. Offensively, not a lot of flaws.” (26:50)
• Seahawks drop-off: “They have not been a good football team for about a month. That Rams loss where Darnold threw four picks kind of messed with them.” (27:43)
• Playoff scenarios and matchups:
  • Analyzes AFC and NFC brackets in detail, notes who he’d favor in each potential game (see timestamps 43:20 – 47:15).

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5. Roster Construction, Coaching, and Team Chemistry

Timestamps: 31:07 – 35:32

• On George Pickens’ maturity: “At Georgia, Pittsburgh and now Dallas, George Pickens is really immature. ...It’s a little bit of the Dez Bryant thing.”
• Lessons in team-building:
  • “Two rules in a contract. Pay big money very infrequently...and only to the mature, team-first guys.”
  • “It's not about your stars. It's about what kind of guy your stars are. ...Are they we-guys or me-guys?”
• Citing Tim Duncan as the right kind of star: “An NBA GM told me years ago, it’s about getting the right star. Obsessed with winning, team-first.”

Notable Quote:

• “It’s not about the stars. Which star do you get? Because there’s a lot of stars in sports – especially at wide receiver. Are they built around you guys? Are they we guys, or me guys?” – Colin Cowherd (34:06)

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6. Miami’s Situation: Time to Move Past Tua?

Timestamps: 39:20 – 43:08

• Mixed feelings on Mike McDaniel: “He’s not my kind of alpha. He’s quirky. But...you can keep him another year. Maybe he finds his Bo Nix.”
• Why keep McDaniel? “There is no Vrabel or Harbaugh or Ben Johnson on the market. ...Not a great cycle for coaching candidates.”
• Tua’s regression: “Small quarterbacks age very fast. ...He is a mediocre backup.”
  • After Monday night: “Tua was awful...that’s a terrible sack to take. It just doesn’t work anymore. Come on. What are you doing?”
  • Tua’s own accountability: “I gotta be better for our guys offensively. ...I kinda felt like I let our guys down.” (42:43)

Notable Quote:

• “Sean Payton looked at a broken offense and said, ‘There’s this quarterback nobody else likes...I’m going to get him’...Mike McDaniel may look at one of these college quarterbacks not named Mendoza and say ‘That’s my guy.’” – Colin Cowherd (40:44)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Colin on Steelers identity:

  • “Feels like Aaron is one of those consultants...they could solve some little problems...but consultants always left, and all the big stuff, like bad ownership or a bad GM...they couldn’t solve.” (06:50)

• On the value of “winning records”:

  • “Sean Payton never talks about that in Denver. It’s not a thing.” (04:40)

• On Mahomes and the Chiefs:

  • “It’s not a tweak. You got to take this boat back to port and rebuild it.” (11:39)

• On NFL playoff parity:

  • “The NFL allows 40% of teams in this league into the playoffs. ...Kansas City won’t, with Reid and Mahomes. I don’t buy that it’s just a retool.” (12:20)

• On Pickens' attitude:

  • “Pay big money...and it’s gotta be the mature guys and the team guys, the we-guys over the me-guys.” (32:41)

• On Caleb Williams and outliers:

  • “If your kid is doing Beethoven at eight... not every kid ages, grows the same way. Not every quarterback’s the same.” (18:02)

• On Tua's struggles:

  • “He just doesn't want to get hit. He wants to get rid of the ball, especially on a cold night, hard turf...it just doesn’t work anymore.” (42:57)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [03:10] Steelers’ philosophy and Aaron Rodgers’ impact
• [08:17] Mike Tomlin postgame sound
• [09:53] Chiefs need to miss playoffs to recognize issues
• [13:10] QB talk: Rodgers, Tua, small QBs, Mahomes
• [17:07] Caleb Williams’ unique skillset; comparisons to greats
• [22:04] Broncos’ playoff prospects and AFC landscape
• [24:27] Jags/Broncos breakdown, Trevor Lawrence vs. Bo Nix
• [26:09] Rams/Seahawks preview, strengths and flaws of each
• [29:30] Lions bounce-back stats; betting angles
• [31:07] Team-building, the Pickens problem, and contract caution
• [39:20] Dolphins crossroads, Tua/McDaniel debate
• [43:20] In-depth AFC/NFC playoff scenarios and upsets
• [47:43] NFC playoff matchups and speed of postseason
• [50:15] Houston defense and Rams offense matchup discussion

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Tone and Language

Colin maintains his trademark direct, conversational, and slightly irreverent tone throughout—a blend of storytelling, sharp analysis, and opinionated critique. He’s candid with praise, scathing in criticism, and never shies from calling out outdated thinking in NFL leadership.

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For New Listeners:

This episode cuts to the heart of persistent NFL organizational issues: are you committed to true contention, or just repeating modest success? If you want high-level, honest talk about football’s biggest teams, quarterbacks, and the upcoming playoff picture—with betting and business angles—this is a can't-miss hour.

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End of Hour 1 Summary.

Transcript

[Sophie Cunningham]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Coca-Cola Announcer]

What a matchup we got, y'.

[Colin Cowherd]

All.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance, echo, drum beat, everybody showing that school pride. Game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there.

[Colin Cowherd]

Mmm.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Sophie Cunningham]

This is Sophie Cunningham from Show me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or osa? In adults with obesity, they may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly a medicine company.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go on a Tuesday Herd hierarchy one hour from now Nick Wright an hour from now we are live. We're in Chicago. It's the Herd. Steelers do what they usually do on Monday night when they're at home. They win. It is great to have you in balmy upper 20s in Chicago. Feel like walking around with my shirt off. Absolutely fantastic. So let's let's start with positive Uncle Colin. Aaron Rodgers comes to Pittsburgh. Took a tone deaf and mostly dead off for the last seven years and he's made it. Competent. Not great, not elite. But they were atrocious in the red zone last year. Now they're top three time of possession, yards per play. It's a competent offense. But as I'm watching them beat lifeless Miami, the downside is they're currently drafting 20th and they have a stop gap at quarterback. No long term solution and they don't have any assets to trade up. T.J. watt old. Cam Hayward old Jalen Ramsey Old. They they let go of Pickens. Aaron's old. So how many first round picks do you want to give up to go get Mendoza or maybe a Dante Moore? So again, it feels good. It's a candy rush, but it's Groundhog Day. Stop gap at quarterback barely above.500. Rinse and repeat and that's where we are. And they also are dominant at home on Monday Night Football. They just don't lose. So I feel like the Steeler model is what I have a problem with. They care about two things that just don't matter to people with high standards. One of them is, hey, we've got a winning record. Sean Payton never talks about that in Denver. It's it's not a thing. 60 teams since 2003 have had winning records and missed the playoffs. If you have high standards, winning record is not a top three or four thing. Winning division, winning playoff, winning conference championships, winning Super Bowls, winning a big free agency on a star quarterback in his prime. That's the stuff people care about, winning. The other thing is winning on, winning on Monday Night Football. Yippee. How about winning in January? Been a while. So I think again, Aaron Rodgers deserves to me a ton of Praise. He's a 42 year old guy and he was much better. I mean, he's a different class of quarterback than Tua. The Dolphins got to cut bait with tua. That thing's over. He is a backup quarterback in this league. But I think this one stat about the Steelers really sums up the organization. Seventeen teams in the NFL, slightly more than half have a positive point differential. Where are the Steelers? 17th. Just. Just treading water. Just barely. Just, just got their chin above it and that's what they are. Aaron has turned their red zone woes into red zone wins. At 42. Not a great O line, not a dependable run game. Oh, see, so Aaron deserves all sorts of praise. And short term it feels really good. But I look at last night, I'm sitting there in the third quarter and I think they had like a 21 to 3 lead and I'm like, what does it mean? It feels like Aaron is one of those consultants that used to come by local TV stations or radio stations I would work for and it was a fresh set of eyes and you'd bring them in and they could solve some, some, some little problems in the building. But consultants always left pretty soon. And all the big stuff, like bad ownership or a bad GM or you know, not very good content, they couldn't solve the big stuff. Aaron can't solve the fact they spend way too much money on defense. And Aaron can't solve the fact they, they still just love bragging about winning on Monday Night Football. So Aaron's going to leave here pretty quick, maybe comes back for one more year. So congratulations. Aaron deserves a lot of praise. I've been critical. He's done a good job. They, they were a mess in the red zone. They're now good in the red zone. Top three in the league. They were bottom four last year. And Aaron's always played well in these cold, harsh environments. He was a California kid, but Green Bay, Pittsburgh, he's good in these spots. Here's, here's Mike Tomlin after another Monday night Win.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

Man, we love Monday Night Football.

[Colin Cowherd]

Mission accomplished. Certainly, we wanted to engineer victory, but we wanted to do it in a certain way. We believe in the strength of the pack, and a lot of guys stepped.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

Up, certainly, and made that a truism.

[Colin Cowherd]

You talked about the importance of playing well in December. Do you feel like your team's getting there?

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

You know, see you next week.

[Colin Cowherd]

Keep watching. Been a while since been a part of stuff like this. Nothing changes. It's just, you know, I feel real comfortable in this environment. Obviously the crowd was really good tonight, but I feel comfortable in the cold weather. And I've always been able to throw up pretty good in the cold over the years in Green Bay. And it can be an advantage if you, you know, if you embrace it. Yeah, I mean, between Philip Rivers, Kirk Cousins on Thursday and Aaron Rodgers, old guys are crushing in December in the NFL. So Kansas City has been a really well run organization for a long time. I mean, the Hunt family does it right. They're going to miss the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. Not just Mahomes, Prima Holmes, Alex Smith. They make the playoffs. And my interpretation of this is missing the playoffs is perfect. It's a cold glass of water to the face because sometimes you make the playoffs. Pittsburgh is a great example, and you're like, you know what? We're inches away. This is a rebuild, not a reboot. I'll give you an example. The last three years, Kansas City, with Andy Reid and Mahomes and Travis Kelsey, hall of famer, are 16th in points per game, 18th in yards per play, and 24th in big plays. Does that sound like a tweak in an offensive league? Here's Albert Breer on what the Patriots Belichick decided to do, interestingly enough, was almost at the same juncture of Brady's career as has happened with Mahomes. Now look back, right, so, 2008, Brady goes down. Matt Castle wins 11 games. That causes the Patriots to say, okay, we're going to lean in and try to win with this aging roster one more time. It doesn't work in 2009. Then the beginning of 2010, Belichick goes in and literally tears all sorts of evidence of any championship football off the walls and says, we're starting over again. And then they really got on a heater. From a draft perspective, I honestly think that's what Kansas City needs. I've been asking every guest, rebuild or retool, who's their fourth best player? Trent McDuffie. Mahomes. Who may not be available next year. Creed Humphrey, who's their fourth best player in their prime because the rams have about 12, Eagles have 12, Lions have nine. Start looking around. Baltimore's got eight. So, so the Chargers, by the way in division are getting both their offensive tackles back and Harbaugh is going to ace his third straight draft. Like they've done really well drafting this Harbaugh Ortiz. They know that college game by the way, Bo Nix is getting really good and that Russell Wilson dead cap hit. It's off the books that they're going to get better. When you got a Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Bo Nix, Herbert in division, tweaking is not their issue. 24th on big plays. They have offensive issues and that's with Andy Reid, the best offensive play designer arguably we've had since like Bill Walsh. Right? Like it's not a tweak. You got to take this boat back to port and rebuild it. Think about this. The NFL allows 40% of the teams in this league into the playoffs. Jacksonville's getting in, Houston's getting in. Not historically well run franchises getting in. If Miami would have won last night, they'd still have a life. The tone deaf to offense. Steelers are probably going to get in. Baltimore offense is broken, completely broken. Still may get in. Kansas City won't with Reed and Mahomes. I don't buy that. It's just a. It's a retool again. Boat back to port. Rebuild it. Good stuff today. Nick Wright, Drew Bledsoe stops by the Miami situation with tua. It's, you know, I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but small quarterbacks. Remember when Russell Wilson regressed badly like in a year and a half we were like, what, what, what is it? Have you watched two today and two years ago? He is a backup and not a great backup. Small quarterbacks age really quickly. Kyler Murray. Does Arizona even want to play him anymore? He'll have a market, by the way, because there's eight desperate teams and only one star coming out. We think Dante Moore stays at Oregon, but that's where we are today. 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 Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio. Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show. Yup, that's right. You can now watch Covino ENRICH Live on YouTube every day. All you gotta do search COVINO and RICH FSR on YouTube again. Go to YouTube search COVINOENRICH FSR. Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

What a matchup we got, y'.

[Colin Cowherd]

All.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beat everybody showing that school pride game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere and in ice cold Coca Cola, that's a winning combo. No matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Sophie Cunningham]

This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea or OSA in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snore loudly or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at. Don't sleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly a medicine company.

[Rob Gronkowski]

This is Rob Gronkowski from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and jules. For the second season in a row, I partnered with T Mobile's Friday night 5G lights, powering up hometown football across America. This year, T mobile invested over $4 million in prizes to help schools take their Friday nights to to the next level. The votes are in. And now it's time to crown our $1 million grand prize winner. Congratulations to Derrick's high school and Derrick's Arkansas, home of the Outlaws and your 2025 T mobile Friday night 5G lights champion. The Outlaws and their community rallied to help them score a game changing home field upgrade, a Gronk Fitness weight room makeover, an epic 2026 tailgate party and a VIP trip to the SEC Championship game. To every school that competed, posted and rallied your communities. Thank you and to T Mobile for making it all possible. This season may be over, but the story isn't. Stay tuned for season three in 2026. Congratulations again to Derek's High School Outlaws.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thursday Night Football is on and it's only on Prime Video. This week the NFC west grabs a spotlight as the Rams visit. The Seahawks coverage begins at 7pm Eastern with TNF tonight presented by Verizon. It's Rams Seahawks Thursday at 7pm Eastern. And don't miss Broncos Chiefs on Christmas night. Only on Prime Video. Not a Prime member. Simply sign up for a 30 day free trial. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details. This may make some of you uncomfortable, but it needs to be said. Caleb Williams now holds the NFL record. It's official fewest interceptions in a quarterback's first 1,000 career pass attempts. He's the greatest ever by the way. He is second behind Aaron Rodgers all time in highest passing touchdown interception ratio since the merger. All that torque and horsepower, not a lot of mistakes and I wish he completed more than 58 and a half percent of his throws. I do think that's a little low, but there are three quarterbacks in this league. Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Caleb Williams. I can't lose that much sleep on it. I'll give you an example. Let's say you had a child 7, 8 years old that had been tested and you had what they call a gifted child. Top 1 of 1% was playing Beethoven. At 8 years old, you're really going to lose sleep that three, four times a week he puts his pajamas on backwards. You got Beethoven down the hall. Get over it. Not every kid ages, grows the same way. Not every quarterback's the same. Okay, I'm not losing a ton of sleep. I think 61%. Probably where you're going to go. But everybody's talking about how accurate Josh Allen is this year. That's because he throws the tight ends. He never throws the ball down the field. Aaron Judge one season led baseball and strikeouts. I'm okay with it. Brett Favre, most interceptions ever. Kobe second most missed field goals in league history. Shaq. Shaq a 52% career free throw shooter. Michael Dell, the late Paul Allen, Bill Gates all dropped out of college. Not everybody in society is playing by the same rules. Aaron Rodgers had pretty good old lines in Green Bay. Consistently, he's the most sacked quarterback in league history. Held the ball a little longer because he wanted to Try something spectacular. So Caleb Williams, the horsepower, the torque. He's making about two throws, three throws every Sunday. They look like optical illusions, like. Like next gen stats is like, oh, that had 16% chance of being completed. And it was so, again, if your kid is doing Beethoven at 8.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

All.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right, he wets the bed more than you're happy with. Okay, whatever. He's different. That, like, not everybody's playing by the same rules. Caleb, Josh Allen, and Mahomes. It looks different.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

It's.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's not ideal. I want. I want a higher percentage. But I watched him against the Browns. I'm like, he made two throws in that game. I said, this one's one of them.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

How did he see that?

[Colin Cowherd]

Like, in the stock market? I've been in it since 1988. The gains outweigh the losses. You can't lose your. You know what, because of a bad earnings report. With Caleb, the upside is so great. I Wish he completed 61%. We're at 58 and a half. And I don't want to hear about Josh Allen. He's really gotten accurate. He never throws the ball down the field. They don't have a wide receiver in Buffalo that could crack Chicago starting lineup. Luther Burden would be their best receiver. He's the Bears third. Dj Moore would be their best receiver. Roma Dunze would be their best receiver. Even the Bears tight ends are great. So are Buffaloes. But Josh. I would Rather Josh complete 64% of his throws and throw the ball down the field more. Here's Ben Johnson on where Caleb is with his accuracy. He was comfortable.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

He did a great job, you know, and that's.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's a hard thing to do, is be comfortable when a pass rush is like that. Yeah, I thought it was a good week for him, a step in the right direction. And, you know, I told him this afternoon, I said, whatever he ate for breakfast yesterday, we just need to keep doing that on game day from here on out. Take a deep breath. He is spectacular. And there's only two other guys in the league to me, that feel the same way when they take the snap. Josh and Patrick J. Mac with the news. No, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Herd line news.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

All right, let's get started with that Broncos win over the packers on Sunday. It was a big one. A lot of people crowning Denver as a potential super bowl team now. I mean, they're in the discussion for sure if Bo Nicks plays like that again. One of the big plays in that game was Patrick Certain diving Interception of Jordan Love. I mean, it. It literally flipped the game. Packers could do nothing after Watson left. And Sir Tan is now saying that this team showed what they're capable of in the postseason.

[Colin Cowherd]

Means a lot. I mean, we just kept talking about it the whole week, you know, how big of a game this was. But we always say, man, we going to play in bigger, bigger games down the road, down this stretch. And, you know, I mean, we, we not a finished product at all. You know what I mean? We still got a lot more work to do. And that's the scary part about it, you know what I mean? Going into this run, you know, I mean, going on to these last three games, going into the playoffs, man, I just feel like we still got a lot more work to do and, you know, we just correct some things. But, man, you know, this team's going places. And the Russell Wilson dead cat money off the books. Roster's gonna have space. J. Mac right now looks like people. It is such an interesting year. Sometimes you get breaks in life. No Mahomes, no Burrow, maybe. No Lamar Jackson, you say, well, what about Bo Nix? Well, he'll be facing potentially at home. Trevor Lawrence, old Aaron Rodgers, young Drake May Herbert with a horrible O line. I mean it again, Houston's offense, you don't know what you're getting. The defense is great if you're. Because Mahomes and Kansas City are going to be back eventually. Burrow's actually eventually going to make the playoffs again. Baltimore's never down for long, so if there's, if there's a year to win it with a young quarterback, Drake May or Bo Nixon, this is the year to win the afc.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Yeah. Interesting game against the Jags this weekend. I started to dig into this a little bit. Yeah, this, this Denver defense, I don't want to say overrated. Some of the analytics like them, but a lot of it, they got fat and happy off bad teams. Colin, we watch the Packers. I think they scored on five straight possessions in the game this past week. The Giants, the Colts, lots of teams have moved the ball on them. I'm very curious where you land on.

[Colin Cowherd]

This game because Jacksonville, if I got the hook, I would take them. It's three right now. If it went to three and a half, I would take Jacksonville. I would.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Yeah, this is a tough one. Who's the better quarterback in this game this season?

[Colin Cowherd]

Bo Nix. Bo Nix doesn't make the mistakes. Bo Nix doesn't take the sacks. I mean, I'm watching to a. Last night, you had to See this and you're like tua, you're taking like rookie quarterback sacks. Like throw the ball out of bounds. Like you can't figure out the little stuff. Like Tua, first of all, he's a small guy. He doesn't have the arm the size, but he's taking like these bad rookie quarterback sacks. So it's I, Bo Nicks, durable, never get sacked. Trevor Lawrence gets sacked. Ugly picks, negative plays. And I like Trevor. I think Bo's better than people think.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Interesting thing that emerged. So he's starting to run a little bit more. Trevor Lawrence, you remember at Clemson that. I'll never forget that Ohio State game down the sideline. Yeah, it was like 60 yard touchdown run. Like, who is this guy? And he's starting to run a little more this year. Liam Cohen, remember, had Baker Mayfield doing a lot of scrambling, keeping drives alive with his legs. This is a new album. I think Jacksonville's a little dangerous. Colin, their wide receiving group after getting Jacoby Myers.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, the other thing, this is.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

A fun team to watch.

[Colin Cowherd]

The other thing is Travis. They've done this. When Travis Hunter left, there was a little bit of a just. And it's not against Travis. Good kid, but he was a bit of a distraction. Oh, he's a star. What to do? Offense, defense, he's left. They caught fire. Like they had this kind of weird thing in the building. Well, he's our best athlete. What are we gonna do with it? Now everybody's got their defined roles. That's not a topic. I'm not blaming Travis Hunter, but they're a very. It's always felt like a distracted franchise. They've had about a six week run. Totally focused. Run the ball, stop the run, quarterback plays better, no noise. Jacksonville's a real team.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

A lot of points in this one. Jacksonville and Denver both can move the ball here. All right, next up is the Thursday night matchup here out west. It is the Rams at the Seahawks. It's essentially for the number one seed, certainly for the division. If the Rams win it, they will lock it up. Kyron Williams talked about the big win over the Lions and how good the offense is right now.

[Colin Cowherd]

Can't stop us.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

You can't stop us.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know where the ball's going.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

You still can't stop us.

[Colin Cowherd]

Like for me, that's just. It's so cool to see and being out there on the field and, you.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

Know, with great guys like Puka and.

[Colin Cowherd]

Devonte and all the tight ends and offensive linemen and it's fourth down, they think that they got us and then we, you know, we get the first down.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

So to me that feeling is like.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hahaha, you can't stop us. We going to keep doing what we doing. Well, I will say Blake Corum has now emerged as a legitimate number two back. Terence Ferguson, the Oregon rookie tight end, he's getting snaps and they're going to need both because Devonte Adams has the hammy issue. He may not play in the regular season again. So they don't. I would say this their flaw is Stafford's lack of mobility. If the pocket gets devoured, he not. He's not picking up stuff with his feet, but it is about as deep. Their, their hole is the back end of their secondary. You can, you can throw the ball on this team and you can go over the top on them offensively. Not a lot of flaws. Yeah.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Huh.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

You see that? Seahawks favored in this.

[Colin Cowherd]

I saw it. I saw it. Come on.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Really? We got some numbers on Seattle. We'll save them for later in the show. They're not good.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right?

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Colin, they have not been a good football team for about a month. That Rams loss where Darnold threw four picks kind of mess with them. They have not been the same team since. I don't want to hear about beating old man rivers on a 56 yard field goal with.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm going to give you, I can give you Sam Darnold stats. I'll do it. Last hour of the show today. That you will not believe. And I'll go all the way back to Carolina. Not Minnesota. I'll go all the way back to Carolina.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

You, you could go back to like November on Sam Darnold and there's some bad stats. Listen, I'm not selling the Seahawks. I'm just saying I don't see how you pick against the Rams here. I mean whether it's the three tight ends, the dual running backs. Puka, they've scored over 34.6 of their last eight games. This is the best offense in the league. You're not taking the Seahawks, are you? You going back to your Seattle roots?

[Colin Cowherd]

I don't give all my spice out. I save some of the spices for Thursday.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Yeah, okay.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Final story is the Rams, they are coming off that loss. I'm sorry, The Lions, they're coming off the loss to the Rams. The Lions had a good, good start to that game. 24:14 Lead late first half and then collapsed. The Lions have not won consecutive games since weeks four and five. Somehow Jared Goff is confident and a bounce back against the Steelers this week.

[Colin Cowherd]

We're resilient, you know, I hope, I hope I can give you a really good answer in a few weeks. But we're resilient. We really are and I expect us to bounce back from this and we still have plenty of stuff in front of us. We do. And we've got a great group that can win a championship here and we know that. And we just have to stick together and not allow some of the narratives to pull anything apart. And our captains need to step up, our leaders need to step up and be vocal and, and have energy and not anything that I don't expect us to do. But yeah, we, we got to show that resilience a few more times here.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

One of the good stats here this last couple years under Dan Campbell after a loss, the Lions have been the best team in the league. Colin. They've won 12 straight after a loss. Not just straight up against the spread too. They're a machine. That's why this line has ballooned out to seven.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes, this is my, this is my second favorite bet of the week. The Lions at home covering by the way Steelers generally struggle against the run, especially on the road. And here comes Jameer Gibbs Montgomery and that O line. Love Detroit this week. Number I think the number will get to like seven and a half and then it's not as badable. But at six and a half seven, I love the Lions this week.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Yeah, the Steelers cannot get stops Their, their defense is not very good. I don't know if Watts back but offensively I'll say this. Aaron Rodgers showed me some things last night throwing the ball. It was 23 at 27.

[Colin Cowherd]

Listen in the red zone they were. The Steelers were a tro. They were like bottom four. Now they're top three or four. Aaron's been great. Basically he's been the exclamation point to the offense which last several years has been great between the 30s and can't finish drives. Aaron's IQ, his accuracy, his quick release. Suddenly they're very good finishing drives. That isn't Tomlin. That isn't the oc that isn't the run game. None of those we know any we don't trust. That's Aaron. Great quarterbacks are great in congested areas. Aaron is the difference for this offense in Pittsburgh in the red zone specifically.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

And now we know the Detroit defense is hemorrhaging stuff. Back end cannot stop anybody. So I think there's points I bet the over this morning over 51. I think the Steelers could probably get to 24 and like you said Detroit.

[Colin Cowherd]

They'Re going to probably hit 40J Mac with the news. Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the herd lie news. So I always say, new information, new opinion. I mean, you're a pilot and you get handed the latest storm which has moved into your area. Should you just fly through it? New information, new opinion. George Pickens earlier this year I believed. Yeah, I think they found their number two receiver. I don't feel like that. First 11 games with Dak Prescott and George Pickens were absolutely remarkable. Dak completed 72% of his throws and had a passer rating of 134. But in the last three games, George Pickens is pouting.37 passer rating for Dak to Pickens. And it's not on Dak. Dak's been spectacular. It's why they always say business deals get done on a golf course, because it's hard to play golf. You're playing for four hours, three and a half in a private after a couple of bad five woods. How's a guy act? How's a woman act? Throwing their clubs, swearing, blaming somebody else beyond themselves. Golf unveils the truth. And the NFL season is long and it's cold and players are banged up. This goes back to something I've always said about pro football. Two rules in a contract. Pay big money. Very infrequently in the NFL. Certain positions and certain guys. And it's gotta be the mature guys and the team guys, the we guys over the me guys at Georgia, Pittsburgh and now Dallas. George Pickens is really immature. It's a little bit of the DEZ Bryant thing. Remember DEZ Bryant? You saw a video of him hard knocks in that room and you're like, he never got a big contract after that. It's like, wow, we. This stuff is bad with Pickens in the last three games and that's what we see. I've always used the argument, if you go to a, if you go to a. A party and you see a couple arguing, that's what's it like in the drive home. So Pickens, this isn't it. And so much of GMing is the landmine. You don't step on the contract, the big one, you don't sign. So I think he's a unique talent, but he's into a pouting stage. And Mike Tomlin, who is about as player friendly with talented people as, as you know, he kept a B around for a long time and finally said okay and AB unraveled. So now Jerry, Jerry, you know, Jerry, the dealmaker. Jerry hasn't sold the stock yet. They did a good job of mitigating him, and it was effective as far as his effort. I would have liked to seen him make a few of those outstanding catches that he makes, but I'd like to have seen Dak with more time to get him the ball. Has anything changed in the last two weeks regarding your desire to bring him back next year in the future? No. A reminder. Dallas is projected, and these things can change, certainly. But Dallas is projected to be 48 million over the cap. Be very careful about a player that you thought was a diamond in the rough pivoting to diva, especially since we've seen it before. It's not about your stars. It's about what kind of guy your stars are. Are they built around you guys? Are they we guys or me guys? I've said many times on this show, an NBA GM told me 20 years ago, it's not about a star. It's about getting the right star. Obsessed about winning, willing to be team first. Tim Duncan. It's not just about the stars. Which star do you get? Because there's a lot of stars in sports, especially at wide receiver. Is there an argument heard? Hierarchy, top of the hour. Plus Nick Wright. Is there an argument. I thought about this this morning. To keep Mike McDaniel in Miami. I want to throw this out to you because there's an example of, of. Of how it could work. Next, be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, Weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

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[Colin Cowherd]

All.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Mmm.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere and an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo. No matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.

[Colin Cowherd]

So let me get this straight. Your company has data here, there and everywhere, but your AI can't use the data because it's here, there and everywhere? Seems like something's missing. Every business has unique data. IBM helps your AI access your data wherever it lives. To change how you do business. Let's create smile to business IBM.

[Sophie Cunningham]

This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep on osa.com this information is provided by Lilly a medicine company.

[Rob Gronkowski]

This is Rob Gronkowski from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and jewels for the second season in a row, I partnered with T Mobile's Friday night 5G lights, powering up hometown football across America. This year, T mobile invested over $4 million in prizes to help schools take their Friday nights to the next level. The votes are in and now it's time to crown our $1 million grand prize winner. Congratulations to Derrick's High school and Derrick's Arkansas, home of the Outlaws and your 2025 T mobile Friday night 5G lights champion. The Outlaws and their community rallied to help them score a game changing home field upgrade, a Gronk Fitness weight room makeover, an epic 2026 tailgate party and a VIP trip to the SEC Championship game. To every school that competed, posted and rallied your communities. Thank you and to T Mobile for making it all possible. This season may be over, but the story isn't. Stay tuned for season three in 2026. Congratulations again to Derek's high school Outlaws.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thursday Night Football is on and it's only on Prime Video. This week, the NFC west grabs a spotlight as the Rams visit the Seahawks. Coverage begins at 7pm Eastern with TNF tonight presented by Verizon. It's Rams Seahawks Thursday at 7pm Eastern. And don't miss Broncos Chiefs on Christmas night. Only on Prime Video. Not a Prime member. Simply sign up for a 30 day free trial. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

NFL Doubleheader first it's the Eagles versus the Commanders. Then the packers take on the Bears for control of the Eagles. NFC north pregame coverage begins at 4pm Eastern on Fox.

[Colin Cowherd]

Listen, I don't have to love everybody I hire. In fact, you can be pretty mid and because it's a headache to replace you, there's no viable candidates. I can keep you around for a couple years. So Miami's not good. They've already fired the GM and they should cut at the end of the year. Tua, here's my argument. I'm not saying it's a strong one, but to keep Mike McDaniel for another year. And again, he's not my kind of alpha guy. He's quirky even when doing halftime interviews. What did the Broncos do? They were 5 and 12 and the offense was broken. They got a offensive coach, Sean Payton, who found a young quarterback that nobody else loved. Bo Nix. A lot of people at him as a second round talent. Sean Payton loved him and look what happened. Yes, they had to deal with a dead cap issue, but when you get that quarterback, first few years, you mitigate it because you're not paying him anything. So Mike McDaniel, again, not my ideal candidate. But hear me out. Miami today has the number 11 pick. The next three games are the Bengals, the Bucks in New England. They'll lose the last two because they just don't have the personnel. The Bengals have announced that Joe Burrow is going to play well, well, well. You know, we're just going to sit a couple of our safeties and corners for that game. You lose all three, six and 11, and suddenly that 11th pick becomes the seventh or eighth. Well, now we can make a move. Now we're going to get, if not the first, the second best quarterback. And. And there I can make an argument. The GM extended Tua that's not on Mike McDaniel. Tua. Like a lot of small quarterbacks, Russell Wilson has regressed badly in the last year and a half. And there's an argument to be made that Mike McDaniel did his job and actually overachieved. Do you realize he got TUA to lead the league in completion percentage one year, passing yards one year, passer rating one year with. With tua. You watched it last night. So Sean Payton, you got a broken offense. Sean Payton comes in and says, you know what? There's this quarterback nobody else likes. I'm going to get him at like the 11th or 12th pick. Mike McDaniel does offense. Mike McDaniel may look at one of these college quarterbacks not named Fernando Mendoza and say, okay, I don't want to go get that. We've got the seventh or eighth pick. But I see my Bo Nicks. And because you're watching TUA last night, TUA is a mediocre backup. And that's not a shot at tua. Small quarterbacks age very fast. It's like hyper athletic athletes age fast. So do small guys. Kyler Tua, Russell Wilson, I mean, I think there's an argument if you get the GM job, you're going to be looking for an offensive coach. Tell me the candidates right now. There is no variable on the market. Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton, they're not on the market. There's no Ben Johnson on the market. I can make the argument that last night was obviously a mess. Is that on Mike McDaniel? I mean Tua was awful. Here is Tua on his struggles last night. I got to be better for our guys offensively.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

And two, you know, I pretty disappointed.

[Colin Cowherd]

In myself with how, how ready I got our receiver core in terms of operation, in terms of guys knowing where.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

To land, in terms of the communication.

[Colin Cowherd]

When it comes to personnel.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

You know.

[Colin Cowherd]

And that's something I harp to those.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

Guys when we're, we're in our own player led meetings and you know, I.

[Colin Cowherd]

Kind of felt like I let our guys down on that aspect. Yeah, I mean he took a couple of sacks last night that are rookie mistakes. Like he just taken bad. I mean why, why throw that ball? He's afraid to get hit. So if you look his numbers have just. I mean that's a terrible sack to take. It just doesn't work anymore. I mean that throw that. Come on. What are you doing? He just don't want to get hit. He wants to get rid of the ball, especially in a cold night, hard, hard turf. So I there, there is an argument that the GM was over his skis or at least not very good. Two is regressed. Go. There's. There's plenty of good gms on the market. There are good gms on the market. There's a lot of sharp guys out there that know how to run the draft. There's not a lot of great candidates. It's not a great candidate year. Last year with Vrabel it was year before with Harbaugh it was. All right, here's the current playoff picture. It's really, really interesting this year because you're not having many of the star quarterbacks, you know, Mahomes Burrow, Lamar Jackson may not be in. Here are the current AFC playoff matchups for the radio audience. We'll, we'll go slow here. So Denver gets a buy. How about this one? Houston a seven seed at New England a two seed. I gotta tell you, I think I take Houston and I like New England, but I still contend. The second half of that Bills game with the Patriots, you saw the truth. They miss the left side of their offensive line. They still don't have a ton of depth. They need another draft class. Empower, emboldened. The offensive line and defensive line. I think I would take Houston there. Buffalo at Jacksonville. I'm telling you, Jacksonville is a. They'll be. Jacksonville may be an underdog in that game. I think I take Jacksonville at home. I think I would. Much better defense, very good. Consistent run game good. Good team to knock off. Come in with a little chip on your shoulder. Liam Cohen against Sean McDermott, the offensive clever coach. I think I take Jacksonville. Chargers battle line at Pittsburgh is a coin flip. It's just one of those games. The Chargers would come in favored by a point and a half and Pittsburgh would win. But I think. I think trying to predict the AFC outcomes is tough. I don't know who I like in Chargers, Steelers. Let's go to the NFC where I think it's clearer in the NFC so Rams get a buy. I would absolutely take the Seahawks to be Tampa in Tampa. I don't think that's a good matchup for Tampa and Baker at all. A San Francisco at Philly. I would take Philly. If it was in the Bay. I would take San Francisco. I would take Philly. I mean, you're talking about a patchwork defense and an elite defense. And the elite defense is at home. Green Bay at Chicago Bears all day. This is not a knock on Green Bay. I think about this this morning with Green Bay. They've not only lost Tucker Craft a month ago, great tight end Christian Watson, their primary deep threat. They're not the same offense without Christian Watson and Micah Parsons, their best pass rusher. They are also missing Kenny Clark in the Cowboy trade. So if you take those four players, Watson, Micah, Kenny Clark and Tucker Craft, those are four of their top six players. Green Bay is not. And when I do herd hierarchy, I'm based on your current personnel. Green Bay has lost four of their top six. Seven players, maybe four of their top five. Kenny Clark's a good player. So any big disagreements? J. Mac, if you go AFC to nfc, I think the AFC is really tough. I think Seattle at Tampa and Chicago hosting Green Bay. I mean, what's interesting is Green Bay and Chicago are playing this week in Chicago. I think Green Bay is a favorite.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Not for long. I'm with you. I think the Eagles are suddenly becoming more dangerous in the NFC. I just think if the 49ers have to go to the Bears or Bucks, the 49ers win. But if the 49ers have to go to the Eagles, I don't think they win that game. Would you agree? How do you handle San Fran at Chicago? You've got an amazing coach and quarterback in San Fran. They've gone to cold weather before and one. Okay. And you got a first time playoff quarterback in Caleb Williams against Robert Sala.

[Colin Cowherd]

So Peyton Manning has said this for years. There's preseason speed, there's regular season speed, and then there's playoff speed. So the teams that make the playoffs, even the worst team in the playoffs, they usually are very good. They have a good coaching staff. Very few bad coaching staffs make the playoffs. So when you get to the playoffs, you're facing the best coaching staffs, the top 40% of coaching staffs. And they're very good at exploiting your weaknesses. A lot of these teams, like Tennessee, you know, on interim coach, can't exploit what the niners can do. McVeigh could, right, like, like Ben Johnson could. The Niners defense is just not very good in terms of personnel. I think in the regular season. Jason, you're on a treadmill. A team comes into town, they're banged up, you're banged up. A lot of it's survival. If you score in the first drive, you have a 66% chance to win. You're doing things in the regular season. It's, it's a treadmill. Like, it's, it's okay, we're going to script 12 plays. Let's take a lead, not turn the ball over. It's like postseason baseball. Everything gets more circumstantial, more situational. You'll use starters in the bullpen, you're going to do stuff in the postseason. The best 40% of coaching staffs to exploit holes, and those holes don't get exploited as regularly in the regular season. The Niners defense will be a liability. It won't be Brock Purdy. He'll be fine. That defense will be a liability. That's why I say there are boxes to check. A lot of people look at Seattle and go, sam Darnold's recklessness. It's not going to cost you against most of the league. It did against the Rams. Right. So you do get to a point where I think San Francisco has been a great story. I don't think they're a great roster or a great team.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Okay, can we go to the AFC real quick? Because that Jacksonville matchup that you mentioned is interesting. I, I'm not betting against Josh Allen in December.

[Colin Cowherd]

I know you're not.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

It's bit me in the butt before against the Chiefs in the playoffs, but I just, I don't Think you could go against Josh Allen? None of those teams in the, in the. Who scares you the most in the AFC because of the Houston defense. They're the best unit of any unit. Quarterback defense.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right. Yeah. The best unit in the NFL is the Houston Texans defense. I mean, speed, length, rush ends it, it. I, I don't know what the number is. If you go look at Rams offense.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Rams offense versus Houston defense is pretty much a touch and go.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

They're both at full strength. Rams offense is a truck right now.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. So I, I think Rams beat the Texans earlier this year and that was the score, 14 to 9.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

That's right.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

Early in the season, the Texans were driving and then Landman with the peanut punch. Remember that one? Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

And the red Blake Corum and Devonte Adams weren't quite rolling.

[J. Mac (Ben Johnson)]

But you could argue the Houston defense showed well against that juggernaut Rams offense. But you like it was. It was September.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. So, yeah, that's. I think the AFC is wide open again. Even Denver is the number one seed. Has won a lot of close games at home. A lot of them. Nick Wright's around the corner. Heard hierarchy. You're watching FS1 right now. Season's greedy. Even if those are just graphics. Seasoned Greetings from our fake fireplace.

[Sophie Cunningham]

This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly A Medicine Company.

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

Oh boy. Where do I even start with these performance mesh boxer briefs. These boxer briefs are like a magician's trick.

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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What a matchup we got, y'.

[Colin Cowherd]

All.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beat everybody showing that school pride game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere. And an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.

[Colin Cowherd]

These days, it seems like AI agents are just about everywhere you turn, every field and every function. But without identity, you can't trust they'll serve your business instead of jeopardizing it. Fortunately, Okta helps you get identity right by securing your AI agents identities, giving you a single layer of control, a single standard of trust. So whether an AI agent supports a single user or your entire enterprise, with Okta, you'll turn risk into opportunity. Secure every agent. Secure any agent. Okta secures AI.

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[Colin Cowherd]

Lounge by the club at Boston Logan Airport.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

You get the clam chowder. In San Diego, it's Tostadas, New York. Espresso martini. It's 10:00am why not? It's the quiet before your next flight. The shower that resets your day. The menu that lets you know where you are. This is access to over 1300 airport lounges and every Sapphire lounge by the club. And one card that gets you in. Chase Sapphire Reserve, the most rewarding card.

[Colin Cowherd]

Learn [e-mail] Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan, Chase bank and a member FDIC, subject to credit approval.

[Sophie Cunningham]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Colin Cowherd]

Guaranteed Human.