THE HERD - Hour 1 - The Bills have had a rough couple of days, people are still upset at the Dodgers but not other teams

Summary

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The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Hour 1

Date: January 22, 2026
Main Theme:
An incisive look at the top sports stories of the day, focusing especially on the Buffalo Bills' turbulent week, biased sports narratives, visionary front office decision-making, and shifting perceptions around big-spending MLB teams and iconic NBA figures.

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1. The Buffalo Bills’ Bad Week: Perspective Over Panic

[00:30 – 10:15]

• Colin opens by framing the media and fans’ “chaos bias”—everyone jumps on recent failures or “bad weeks,” with the Bills as the latest target after their playoff exit and Sean McDermott’s firing.
• He urges fans and media to step back and appreciate the Bills’ big picture:
  • Ownership is stable, new stadium coming, and the roster is strong with a “superstar quarterback” (Josh Allen), “top-6 offensive line,” Pro Bowl talent at skill positions, and recent league-leading stats.
  • “Over the last six years, [the Bills have] most wins in the league, best point differential by a country mile, number one offense, second in playoff wins.”
    – Colin Cowherd [03:25]
  • Winning Super Bowls is hard, even for greats (examples: Sean McVay, Jim Harbaugh, Kyle Shanahan, Sean Payton).
  • Bills are “a controversial catch away” from even more success; close playoff losses are the NFL norm.
• Fans and media apply too much “recency, confirmation, and chaos bias.”
  • Don’t let a bad week erase years of smart management and near-elite status; “the wind blows harder at the top of the mountain.”
  • “If this stuff happened in Carolina, I would not even make the show.”
    – Colin Cowherd [05:48]
• Ownership’s mindset: “An organization doesn’t carry that kind of record without being a great organization and without having great players.”
  – (Pegula, quoted by Colin at [06:53])
• Colin likens underappreciated innovators (Bills, Van Gogh, visionaries in sports) as not getting due credit in their time.

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2. Visionaries and Unpopular Front Office Moves: Seattle Seahawks as a Case Study

[07:45 – 11:23]

• Seattle’s GM John Schneider credited for bold moves (moving off Russell Wilson, signing Sam Darnold, letting go of Pete Carroll, DK Metcalf trade).
  • “Sam Darnold was available to the entire league… Seattle’s moves, they look brilliant now. That’s what happens when you have a great visionary GM.”
    – Colin Cowherd [09:13]
• Seahawks’ recent signings (DeMarcus Lawrence, DK Metcalf trade) also met with fan/media skepticism, but are now validated.
• Emphasizes how visionaries often only get praised in hindsight, not at the moment of risk.

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3. Rams vs. Seahawks: Talent and the Clash of Strengths

[11:23 – 12:20]

• Dissecting the NFC Championship showdown:
  • Both teams “so loaded you could go 15 deep” on potential top players.
  • Rams’ offensive line is a major strength—second-best guard in the league with Dotson, who missed their Week 16 meeting.
• Jason McIntyre: “Anytime you can get McVay, Stafford, and a healthy Rams team in a big game, plus points, I think the side is L.A. Doesn’t mean they’re going to win, but I think that’s the betting side.” [11:57]
• Discussion on advantage in coaching, QB, and OL favoring the Rams, but noting defense and special teams still matter.

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4. Inside the Lakers: LeBron, Jeanie Buss, and the End of an Era

[13:30 – 19:06]

• The Baxter Holmes report details Lakers internal strife: Jeanie Buss reportedly felt LeBron was not committed, and LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, is talking about other deals.
• Colin argues the relationship with LeBron has run its course; he’s been more of a businessman than loyal franchise leader (unlike Kobe, Jeter, Magic).
  • “LeBron’s never been loyal to teams. This is not a Derek Jeter situation.”
    – Colin [13:48]
  • “It’s easier to move off people who have been highly mobile.” – Colin [16:16]
• Lakers, despite a strong record, are a “mirage”—bad defense, aging stars, and “a mile” from true title contention.
  • “You can be a credit to the game and it can be time [to move on].”
    – Colin [17:18]
• LeBron’s era in LA described as “mutually beneficial,” but “It’s time to move on.”

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5. AFC Championship Quarterback Face-offs: Drake May and Playoff Realities

[19:06 – 23:21]

• Patriots’ Drake May under scrutiny for poor playoff stats (5 turnovers, 10 sacks in two games).
  • Jason: “Not a great O-line. New England still needs to fortify that O-line in the draft.” [21:07]
• Playoff football is tougher because of the weather and elite defenses: “Try driving in snow, much easier to drive in Scottsdale, Arizona, than Chicago this weekend.”
  – Colin [22:50]
• May’s aggressive play is both a liability and asset; playoffs are a different grading scale for QBs.
  • “If you win playoff games, I don’t care about the numbers.”
    – Jason [22:51]
• Alternate histories: had one call gone differently, it could have been Allen vs. May; league not designed to keep Bills out.

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6. Coaching Carousel: Philadelphia Eagles’ OC Search & New York Giants Dynamics

[23:21 – 29:22]

• Eagles struggling to fill OC role—Matt Nagy emerges as a candidate, but skepticism on the job’s appeal and credit distribution.
  • “I think Matt Nagy wants to call plays. When you’re with Andy Reid, Andy’s on the headset. He probably wants a little more power.”
    – Jason [24:00]
• Jason and Colin note the risk: “If the Eagles don’t suddenly get back to Super Bowl contender, everybody’s getting blown out.” [25:24]
• Giants’ power dynamics: Joe Shane (GM) asked about Harbaugh’s role in personnel—“the only way it works is together,” denies turf war.
  • “Don’t be in the taking credit business. Be in the winning football games and collaborating business.”
    – Jason [26:43]
• Critique of both GMs’ (Shane, Bean) highs and lows: e.g., Daniel Jones contract and Saquon Barkley loss for NYG, WR misses for BUF, but “there are dudes everywhere” on both rosters now.

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7. MLB Hot Stove: Why Dodgers Get Heat, Mets & Yankees Don’t

[30:21 – 34:56]

• Mets are “spending like crazy,” but there’s no outrage:
  • Big signed names: Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr., others—“but you don’t care because the Mets are the Mets and they’ll underachieve. It’s their brand.”
    – Colin [30:56]
• Yankees and Mets’ recent free agent sprees go largely uneventful in national conversation, unlike Dodgers, who get attacked for “ruining baseball.”
  • “There’s a lot of money in LA, Houston, New York… If the Dodgers want to spend it, God love them.”
    – Colin [33:23]
• Colin’s key point: don’t focus on salary “ceiling”—raise the floor (“there should be a limitation, there should be a floor that you have to spend $75 million a year.”).
• Defense of Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman—smartly using a large % of revenue, unlike revenue-rich but stingier teams (Baltimore, Yankees).
• “Your billionaire could do it too, by the way.”

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8. College Football Reflection: Star QBs vs. Coaching

[35:00 – 42:26]

• Brief pivot to college football: Indiana football’s rise under coach Signetti and star QB Mendoza.
  • Emphasizes Mendoza’s “special, number one pick”-level talent in clutch situations, comparing his value to big-name college QBs of the past (Andrew Luck, Mahomes).
    • “That’s not only a first round quarterback, that’s a number one pick.”
      – Colin [39:55]
  • Argues championship teams are often about the roster (and historically, the coach), but Indiana’s story is Mendoza-driven.
• Comparison to the Brady vs. Belichick credit argument for NFL dynasties.
  • “In the NFL, it’s understood, it’s 70/30, even with a great coach. In college, it’s coach first because recruiting is so much about the coach. But… they’re not 16-0 without Mendoza.”
    – Colin [41:50]

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “There’s recency bias, confirmation bias… In the media, we have what I’d call chaos bias. The more chaos, the more we jump to it, because we know you’ll jump to it.”
  – Colin Cowherd [01:15]
• “An organization doesn’t carry that kind of record without being a great organization and without having great players.”
  – Quoting Bills owner Terry Pegula [06:53]
• “If I told you… upstate New York, superstar quarterback, Pro Bowl running back, great left tackle, good OL, star slot receiver, excellent TEs – that roster is full of B guys… They could use another cornerback – so could the league.”
  – Colin Cowherd [04:38]
• “Sam Darnold was available to the entire league… Smart people in Minnesota, they let him walk. So Seattle’s moves, they look brilliant now.”
  – Colin Cowherd [09:13]
• “LeBron’s never been loyal to teams. This is not a Derek Jeter situation… It’s easier to move off people who have been highly mobile.”
  – Colin Cowherd [13:48-16:16]
• “Try driving in snow. Much easier to drive in Scottsdale, Arizona than in Chicago this weekend… I just grade in a different scale. You win playoff games, I don’t care about the numbers.”
  – Colin Cowherd and Jason McIntyre [22:50-22:52]
• “Don’t be in the taking credit business. Be in the winning football games and collaborating business. That’s the league now.”
  – Jason McIntyre [26:43]
• “There’s a lot of money in New York, Houston, LA… If the Dodgers want to spend it, God love them.”
  – Colin Cowherd [33:23]
• “In the NFL, it’s understood… 70/30, even with a great coach. It’s 65/35 quarterback over… At the college level, it’s coach first… But they’re not 16-0 without Mendoza.”
  – Colin Cowherd [41:50]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:30–10:15] Buffalo Bills aftermath & “chaos bias”
• [10:15–12:20] Seahawks, visionary front office moves, and previewing Rams vs. Seahawks
• [13:30–19:06] Lakers, LeBron James, and organizational crossroads
• [19:06–23:21] AFC Championship QBs, Drake May, playoff grading curve
• [23:21–29:22] Coaching hires: Eagles, Giants front office dynamics
• [30:21–34:56] MLB hot stove, Dodgers/Mets/Yankees spending narratives
• [35:00–42:26] College football: Indiana’s Mendoza, coach/QB credit, context

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Episode Tone:
Sharp, humorous, and armed with stats, Colin is quick to call out lazy narratives, highlight the complexity behind front-office decisions, and resist knee-jerk fan reactions. Prudent perspective and historical examples override short-term thinking throughout.

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Useful For:
Any fan wanting an informed, nuanced take on the sports news cycle, not just recaps—Colin contextualizes headlines with history, organizational insight, business acumen, and a healthy skepticism toward hype.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Jason McIntyre]

Guaranteed Human New Year. Same extra value meals at McDonald's. So now get two snack wraps plus fries and a medium soft drink for just $8 for a limited time only. Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska and California. And for delivery. 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. It's a Thursday. Greg Coates cell One hour from now, we're live at Chicago. It is chilly. It's the Herd. Wherever you may be. However, whatever platform you're watching or listen, a lot of choices out there. Thanks for choosing us, making us part of your day. We all know there's bias. For the record, you have some, too. There's recency bias. There's confirmation bias in the media. We have what I would call chaos bias. The more chaos you have, we jump to it because we know you'll jump to it. That's. That's how it works on YouTube and TikTok. People find chaos, and I think sometimes it steers us in the media, myself included, toward chaos bias. Buffalo Bills have had a bad 48 hours. Everybody's piling on. You may want to take a deep breath. Let's look at where Buffalo's at. Ownership stable, new stadium coming, massive revenue upgrade. Buy more players. Superstar quarterback, top six offensive line. In a league that has shifted over the last decade to offense. Tight end, slot receiver, running back, quarterback, O line, left tackle. Really good. Last six years, most wins in the league. Best point differential by a Country Mile. Number one offense second in playoff wins. Yes, they had a bad 72 hours. They had a bad press conference yesterday. The Sean McDermott firing and press release could have been better. They've been excellent for six, seven years. Excellent. Can this also be noted? Winning Super Bowls is hard. Sean McVay, the best coach arguably in the league, has won and should probably thank you. Aaron Donald. And one sack late on Joe Burrow for that. Jim Harbaugh, none. Kyle Shanahan, none. Shawn Payton, 1. And if the Colts recover that onside kick, he's maybe looking at zero. Okay. The Buffalo Bills are a controversial catch, no catch call from beating the excellent Jags and the excellent Broncos on The road. Okay, Bill Belichick. Five of his six Super Bowls decided by a possession, three by a field goal. Rory McElroy, best golfer in Europe for 15 years. He went 11 years without winning a major. He was often PGA Player of the Year multiple times in a year he didn't win a major. And in golf you get four chances a year to win a major. In the NFL you get one one, three and a half hour window. That's it. I would rather be a Buffalo Bills fan today than almost anybody not named Kansas City because of Andy Reid and Mahomes and Andy Reid could retire in a year. I'd rather be the New England Patriots. I think Drake May is actually at this point underrated. I like where the Rams are, but Stafford could retire. I like where the Seahawks are, but if. Do we all trust Sam Darnold yet? I do. Most of you don't. Recency bias, confirmation bias. There's also chaos bias. And it's what we in the media do. And it's also what you, the fans are attracted to. Brandon Bean's probably not the best personnel guy in the league, but again, if I told you in 2026, an offensive league, if I said, yeah, there's this franchise, upstate New York, superstar quarterback, Pro bowl running back, great left tackle, good old line, star slot receiver, really is good. Excellent tight ends. And their roster is full of B guys. It's not like they've got C and D guys all over. They could use another cornerback. So could the league. Except Seattle. Everybody needs new corners because everybody's going three receivers wide and nobody has three great corners, not even Seattle. And they've got two. Terry Pegula didn't have a great press conference yesterday, but what he's saying has so much merit. We're pretty good here. We've got the things you'd want here. Here's the owner yesterday. That's our seating over the last seven years in the playoffs. Five, two, three. Two, two, two. An organization doesn't carry that kind of record without having. Without being a great organization and without having great players. We are focused on bringing a Super bowl to buffalo. Josh Allen's 29, not 39. That's Matt Stafford going to be 38, 39 soon. Josh Allen's 29, seven years, hasn't missed a start due to injury. New stadium, stable ownership, more revenue. O line, left tackle. They had a bad 48 to 72 hours. There's an old cliche, wind blows harder at the top of the mountain. They're near the top. This stuff had happened in, you know, Carolina, I would not even make the show. Would not even make the show. It's the bills. It leaves the show. You know, here's the thing about smart people, even geniuses. You know, Van Gogh actually died poor. Yeah, yeah. And, and wasn't viewed as. As successful. And then he died. And now you have to wait in line to see his work. Right. Like that's the way it works sometimes. Because visionaries and people who see things before I see them or you see them, we don't give them credit in the time. And we also. Not only do we not give them credit, we forget the risk they took to do it. And I'll give you an example with Seattle playing the Rams. Seattle, 90% of you thought Sam Darnold was not a good signing. He got lucky. He had Justin Jefferson. Kevin Oconnell's a genius. Not a very good defensive A division. You didn't like it. You didn't like it. He's been great. By the way, DK Metcalf moved. You didn't like that either. Well, what is Seattle doing? When Russell Wilson left, I can remember saying on the air, he's been at least a 103 quarterback rating dude for four straight years. Are we sure this is the right move? I didn't think it was the right move. Geno Smith's a bum. Not really. He made a Pro bowl, they won 10 games. And Seattle had the number eight passing offense in the league his last year in Seattle. But John Snyder bailed on Geno and bailed on DK Metcalf and signed Sam Darnold. And by the way, Pete Carroll was wildly popular in Seattle. A lot of people didn't think he should be let go. And then you watch him in the Raiders and you're like, yeah, John Snyder, the GM of Seattle, got that right too. When DeMarcus Lawrence signed 33 year old defensive end, they brought out the checkbook. How many of you are like perfect? That's what we need. A 33 year old defensive end who I forgot about in Dallas. He had more pressures this year than Nick Bonito in Denver. We do this all the time. When somebody sees stuff, a visionary is what they call them before you and I see them. Okay? We, we always forget the risk they took. We don't give them the credit. Everybody now goes, well, of course Darnold was better than Geno Smith. And go back and look at some of your tweets. The DK Metcalf move. You didn't like it. Crazy. 1 of 1 There's nobody like him. So Sam Darnold was available to the entire league. Pittsburgh could have had him. They wouldn't guarantee him multiple years. Minnesota had him in the building. Smart people in Minnesota, they let him walk. So Seattle's moves, they look brilliant now. That's what happens when you have a great visionary gm. It looked good now and we didn't love those moves. Go back to Russell Wilson's last years in Seattle. Oh, let me guess. You got that right too. He had a 103 passer rating year after year after year after year. Right. Let Russ Cook maybe didn't work, but he was still successful. So I don't know, I, I, when, when I look at what Seattle's done, is that a lot of these moves we just, we line up with, I mean, you know, they hit some draft picks. They've hit everything. They, hi, Mike McDonald was a kid unproven as a head coach. Home run. They found their McVeigh. Darnold was great in Minneapolis. Why wouldn't he be good in Seattle? DeMarcus Lawrence, DK Metcalf, they all worked. Here's his, his boss is John Snyder. His name's Mike McDonald. Here's his thoughts, his leadership example from.

[Colin Cowherd]

On a day to day basis shows.

[Jason McIntyre]

Up in so many ways, just like the spirit of the building, his interaction with everyone. I mean he talks to more people in the building. I do. You know, like he's just, he's doing his thing all the time. And he's been incredibly helpful to me. He knew when to kind of give you some, some air to breathe and grow and expand and learn, you know, maybe fall a little bit. And he also was there to support you when you needed it. Can't wait. Ram Seahawks, Seattle -2 1/2 by the way, in about an hour from now. I do this as J. Mac knows. Anytime you get a massive game, AFC championship, NFC championship, I go to both teams who's got the top 10 players. Generally the team with more of the top 10 players. I'm doing AFC today. I think you'll be surprised by it. Seahawks, Rams is impossible. You could go to 15 players and still leave like really, really high end starters off. Seattle, Rams. I got the 10 players and I'm like, I don't even. There's like four other defensive players that I think are near Pro bowl players. There's so much talent in the Rams that Seahawks game, it's insane.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, there's probably two guys Colin on that list who didn't even play in the week. 16 Meeting Devonte Adams who missed that game, remember?

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

And Dotson, the offensive lineman who's back and who was excellent against the Bears.

[Jason McIntyre]

Dotson's in the second highest rate. Denver's got the highest rated guard in the lead. Dotson for the Rams is second. Like they those positions you don't think about but that those are great players.

[Colin Cowherd]

Remember those two guys missed a game with the Rams, scored 30 points in regulation and had I believe 550 yards of total offense. You can tell where I'm leaning in this one, Colin.

[Jason McIntyre]

I think anytime you can get McVeigh, Stafford and a healthy Rams team in a big game, plus points, I think the side is la. Doesn't mean they're going to win. I think that's the betting side. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Who's a better offensive line in this.

[Jason McIntyre]

One, by the way? A Rams. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

So better coach, quarterback, offensive line. Okay.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right. Defense though. Special teams though.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yes, defense. Special teams matter, certainly a little bit.

[Jason McIntyre]

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 Cavino 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. Yep, that's right. You can now watch Covino and rich live on YouTube every day. All you got to do search COVINO and RICH FSR on YouTube again. Go to YouTube. Search COVINO and RICH FSR. Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe Hit that thumbs up icon and comment away at Charmin.

[Colin Cowherd]

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[Jason McIntyre]

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[Colin Cowherd]

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[Jason McIntyre]

You're now entering the no Bull zone sponsored by credible great rates. None of the bull. All right, so that was a big story from Baxter Holmes, espn detailing some of the strife inside the Laker organization. Jeannie Buss, who I've always liked some some, you know, felt a little disrespected by LeBron James. LeBron didn't take you know, responsibility for the Westbrook move. I talked about that over and over and over. LeBron wanted that move. It was a disaster. Now Westbrook and LeBron don't get along, whatever. But I read the story. I'd heard about half of these rumors, maybe 75% of these rumors. Baxter Holmes has a history of getting stuff right. Jeanie Buss is now saying, oh, this. This stuff is. You know, it's putting LeBron in a. In a bad space. Listen, here's. Here's the good news. It's time to move off LeBron at some point in the next calendar year. And LeBron's never been loyal to teams. This is not a Derek Jeter situation. You know, this is. This is not Magic or Kobe. LeBron's easier to move off. It's been a mutually beneficial relationship. His net worth has almost doubled since he came to LA. He came to LA for basketball 60% and business 40%. I mean, he kept the thing. The thing. Yeah, by about year two, his network is almost double net worth. He's expensive. He's not always available. He's not the player he once was. Lakers are so bad defensively and statistically, they're worse when he's on the floor. So I've said it forever. Really, really confident, successful men are bad at exits. They've all got a great pickup line but won't pick up the phone when they break up. That's what successful, confident men do. LeBron's been great for the game. There's a little LeBron fatigue around the league. I get it. But this new ownership group, they have no loyalty to him. In fact, remember when Bob Myers left the warriors as GM and many speculated he just didn't want to trade. He didn't want to trade Klay Thompson. I think Jeannie Buss knew deep down she didn't want to move off LeBron. She didn't feel comfortable with it. It's easy for the Dodgers people, too. They're the smartest guys in town. I really believe that. That at some point, instead of confronting bad pr, and I can't believe a lot of people just don't like that discomfort. I mean, now you've got LeBron's agent, Rich Paul, who I like talking about Austin Reeves deals potentially on his podcast. So, you know, the other thing is, look under the hood. The Lakers are a Mirage. They're 26 and 16, but 15 of their 16 losses, they've. They've gotten blown out. They're great in clutch games because they have a really smart head Coach, but they're not in that many clutch games. They're horrible defensively. It's a three and D league and they don't have enough of either. No rim protection, not very athletic. This is a Luca JJ Redick and maybe Austin Reeves franchise going forward. So if you look under the hood, they're a mile from San Antonio and Oklahoma City and Minnesota and Houston, they're a mile from those. I don't think they're as good as Detroit. Long term. The Knicks eventually will get it figured out. And next year, Hal Burton and Jason Tatum come back and Philadelphia is on the rise and so is Orlando. So it's like, it's actually easy, or I should say easier to move off people who have been highly mobile. Right. Like. Like. LeBron's bounced around the league. He's been the ultimate opportunist, and I totally defend him on that. He has been front and center of the player empowerment era. Barclays and Jordans, they're not as comfortable moving around. But now, these days, if you don't consider moving, people look at you and go, are you crazy? That's because of LeBron. LeBron's been great for players. Tiger woods was great for golf. LeBron's been great for NBA player empowerment. Is he good for the ratings? Well, Lakers still get a lot of ratings when they play the warriors every Christmas or near then. But it's easier to move off somebody that's moved off multiple teams. LeBron is a businessman at this point, first and a basketball player. I know, keep the thing, the thing. But for his entire career, he's a basketball guy that did business. LeBron now is kind of a business guy who's still pretty good at basketball. But moving off him is not difficult. The agents talking, look, they're a worse team defensively. When he's on the floor, he's not always available. You can be a credit to the game and it can be time, but I. Part of me thinks the Lakers sold this because the discomfort of the LeBron exit. LeBron's exit. He's been exiting his entire career. He exited from Cleveland, his hometown, twice, Pat Riley. And remember, when he chose the Lakers, they stunk. He didn't choose the best basketball team. He chose the best economy in the country, Los Angeles. That's what he chose. First. This was not a good operation. He could have gone to four other teams when he was closer to his prime. And he's still good. But it's not a criticism. I can think two things. All time. Great, unbelievable asset to the League. Totally defend his opportunistic business ventures and moves and mobility. Totally defend it. Think it's great for players. Smart, smart dude with a smart circle. And I can also think it's time to move on. J. Mac with the news. No, no, no. Turn on the news.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is the Herdline news. Let's start with a real conversation about Drake May, who may or may not win the MVP this season. But let's be real, he's been pretty bad in two playoff games. Now, we faced the brilliant Jesse Minter and the Chargers, didn't do much and then kind of got swallowed up by the Texans. I believe he had four fumbles, lost two of them. Not a great effort. May does not plan to change his aggressive mentality heading into the AFC Championship.

[Jason McIntyre]

No, I don't think you'll try to change it. I think last week, you know, you change it and k' Sean doesn't make the play. So little things like that, just knowing the time and place for it. I think trying to get the ball out of my hand and just being cognizant of the edge rushers and taking care of the football is the number one thing. So if we have time and have a look downfield, you know me, I'm gonna take a look and take a shot. Now, remember, two things happen in the playoffs that don't happen regularly in the regular season for quarterbacks. Number one, the weather stinks. Matt Stafford in Chicago missed seven guys like, did you see his completion percentage? It's much easier at SOFI in September than it is in Chicago in January. So the number one thing is he's now quarterbacking in snowdrifts. Secondly, you're facing the best defense in the NFL, like Seattle. Now Stafford's gotta face the Seahawks. May had to face Houston. So quarterbacks don't look today like they look in September and October. The weather's lousy. You face the best schemes, the best coaches, the best corners, the best pass rush. Drake Mays won twice. Trevor Lawrence, great year. Couldn't win a home playoff game. So to me, if you win in the postseason, you know the. Stafford didn't throw a pick last week, but Stafford had three drives, two long ones, one short one. They didn't move the ball consistently. Drake May's winning games, I am totally okay with it.

[Colin Cowherd]

So Drake May has five turnovers and has taken 10 sacks in two playoff games.

[Jason McIntyre]

Not a great O line. New England still needs to fortify that O line in the drafts. Not a great O line.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is a difficult one, Colin, because Again like he has not been good. Now he has to go on the road. And remember they had faced the Patriots defense overwhelmed the Texans O line and the Chargers O line Boats are bottom of the league. Denver's got a great O line. I, I have a feeling this game's going to be close.

[Jason McIntyre]

Oh, it is. Think about this. If that controversial catch, no catch in Denver Buffalo was flipped, we'd be getting Josh Allen against the kid.

[Colin Cowherd]

Why can't.

[Jason McIntyre]

I'm saying think about that. We'd be getting Josh Allen against the kid for the third time and the Rams Seahawks third time. So for all the. It's rigged. You did not want to eliminate Josh Allen from facing Drake May. Can you. We'd have basically Seahawks, Rams, NFC and Seahawks Rams, AFC version with Patriots Bills that arguably you can't do better in the league than that. So yeah, for all the, you know, the call gets flipped. Nobody rigs a game to get rid of Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, that's the team you'd want in. Do you think anybody even forget Jarrett Stidham, anybody rooting for Bo Nix in the AFC championship that you think that moves the needle? It doesn't.

[Colin Cowherd]

It May is so fascinating, Colin. So he took the second most sacks in the NFL this year. Usually guys who take a ton of sacks, they don't rank highly in the epa. But Drake May is like one of the best in the league. Yeah, because of these big plays. He hits booty on a one handed unbelievable catch. Outside of that, like I didn't think May had a good game. Man, I'm. I have a feeling Denver keeps his close. I just don't know if Stidham can get them there.

[Jason McIntyre]

I grade on a totally different scale in January for offenses. I mean, I mean honestly, try driving in snow. Much easier to drive in Scottsdale, Arizona than Chicago this weekend. Well, the tried driving in Nashville this weekend. Weekend with the ice storm. Try playing football in Chicago this past week. Caleb and Matt were both great. Their completion percentages little low. Well, it's windy, it's cold. I mean it's, it's. I just grade in a different scale. You win playoff games. I don't care about the numbers. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, let's move on to the Philadelphia Eagles. And the news just keeps getting not amazing. Colin, the latest name for this vacant OC job which apparently nobody wants is Matt Nagy. Yeah, that, that guy who I know you like because he worked some wonders for a season with Mitchell Trubisky in Chicago. But again, the Kansas City Chiefs quietly Were like, oh, your contract expired. Oh, we'll let you go explore the market. You want to go ahead and get a hoed coaching job, go for it, Matt. And nobody's really beating down his door. Come on.

[Jason McIntyre]

I think Matt Nagy's fine. This whole idea that Matt Nagy's just lost, doesn't know what he's doing, I don't buy that. I think Matt Nagy wants to call plays. And when you're with Andy Reid, you know, Andy's on the headset. He probably wants a little more power. Also, just pretend you're Matt Nagy. So you've been the coach of the Chicago Bears. You got fired despite getting Mitch Trubisky a couple of times into the playoff with Matt Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins in their prime, same division, played him twice, and you got Trubisky into the playoffs. Okay, and then you get fired, and you think, okay, I want to. I want to take some time off. And then you go under Andy Reid. Even when you succeed with Andy Reid, you know what people say? Well, you didn't call any of the plays. So I think Matt Nagy's like, I want to go somewhere where, if we win, people go, oh, Matt Nagy. That's the problem coaching under, like, Sean Payton. You can tell me. You can tell me. You. You're the offensive coordinator if you work for Sean Payton. But I know who's calling the plays. Lane, Kiffin, Lincoln Riley, Andy Reid. I mean, it's hard to be. It's hard to work under them. You get to win some games, but I don't think you're the one. I think Matt Nagy's probably like, I. I want to go somewhere where I get some credit if we win.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'm shaking off a sneeze here. Okay? So here's my only problem with that. You say he goes to Philly, he'll get credit. Will he, though? Shane Steichen didn't get credit. Remember, it was, oh, my gosh, Jalen Hurts is amazing. And then Kellen Moore didn't really get the credit. Hey, Jalen Hurts was a Super bowl mvp. Saquon Barkley was historic.

[Jason McIntyre]

So I.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is a tough job. And by the way, I think we would agree if the Eagles don't, like, suddenly get back to super bowl contender, everybody's getting blown out, right? Head coach is gone, so this is not a great job.

[Jason McIntyre]

Here's.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's why McDaniel didn't. Is like, no, thanks.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

And Dable's like, nah, I'm good.

[Jason McIntyre]

No, I think you're right. I think it's a hard job and I think that is very true. I think you're spot on.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, let's go to the final story. Colin, is that the New York Giants? You are all up in the. John Harbaugh, you are riding the big blue train. You love it. Well, somebody who may not love it, GM Joe Shane, he's getting grilled by the New York media about the perceived power shift because Harbaugh has some say in personnel. Here's Joe Shane.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah, and I'm not worried about that. Everywhere I've been, I've been in the league for 26 years. So everywhere I've been, the head coach and general manager work together. That's the only way it's got to work and get on the same page. Go through the process again. We've done it everywhere I've been, so I'm not worried about it. Like you said, that's just, you know, something on a piece of paper doesn't matter. We need to work together and we're going to come to the, you know, final conclusion and it's always going to be about what's best for the New York Giants.

[Colin Cowherd]

So I have no problem with that.

[Jason McIntyre]

And, you know, I'm looking forward to working with. That's a good answer. That's the old.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's the only answer. What, you can't be combative. He's happy to be employed right now.

[Jason McIntyre]

Right. How about we. We give him credit for a good answer in front of that relentless New York media? That was a very good answer. Don't be in the taking credit business. Be in the winning football games and collaborating business. That's the league now. It's not about. I, I have all the power. That's not what the league is. I like that answer. I'm willing to give credit where I just hasn't been my favorite gm. I'll say. Okay, okay. But we've got to be fair. Everybody bangs on Brandon Bean. Go look at the offense. If Keon Coleman would have hit, and I thought he would. I watched him in Florida State. I thought he was good. It's been the number one offense last six years. The Brandon being getting credit. You can bang on Joe Shane hated this Aquan Barkley move. But look at the roster. They need a right tackle. By the way, Evan Neal. Everybody liked Evan Neal out of Bama. He was a bust. Nobody thought he would be a bust. If they get a right tackle, neighbors can stay healthy. Go look at the Giants roster. There've been a lot of good moves by Joe Shane. I don't think he's. I don't think he's John Snyder. I don't think he's Howie Roseman. But I look at the Giants roster and look at the Bills roster now, I, I don't think the Bill's defensive roster is that good. I think it's okay. Very okay. But the Giants have a lot of dudes. They got a lot of dudes. That roster is Scatter Boo and Dart and Neighbors and Andrew Thomas, Abdul Carter Burns. They got a lot of good players. Dexter Lawrence, fiba, though. They got a lot of dudes. He drafted them. Most of them. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hopefully Abdul Carter is not sleeping in team meetings and missing stuff this year, but I'll just, I'll go back to it. The Daniel Jones contract, the day it was signed, the ink wasn't dry and you and I were savaging the Giants for how bad of a deal that was. Yes, that's on Joe Shane.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yes.

[Colin Cowherd]

And then to let Saquon walk. They were a laughingstock in the league the last couple years.

[Jason McIntyre]

Colin.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, again, mostly because of those two moves. They overshadow everything again. Thibodeau.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah, yeah, they were high profile moves. Absolutely. I'm not, I'm not. That's why he's not viewed as a, you know, maybe, you know, a less need or something. He missed on that, on that move. I'm not. But again, it is Joe Shane and Brandon B. Now don't. They just can't do anything right. Buffalo's offense and the Giants defense, there are dudes everywhere and somebody's got to get credit for it. Day Ball wasn't drafting all those guys. I mean, he bought into the Jackson Dart move. Jackson darts better than we thought. Joe Shane had to sign off on that. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

My guess is Harbaugh walks into the building and is like, you know, I like this Reuben Bane guy. That's our target in the first round. Hey, by the way, Joe, can you grab me a coffee while you're. While you're at the printer grabbing some updates on. On Ruben Bane. Sorry, I'm a Jets fan. Come on, I got to take some shots.

[Jason McIntyre]

J. Mack with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the Herd lie news. I've got something so tasty, I don't even want to give it away yet. I want to tease it. Greg Cosell, top of next hour. Plus the 10 best players in the AFC championship. The Patriots or the Broncos have more coming up next. I thought everybody was outraged and enraged. But the Mets did it, and nobody's upset. Next, Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

[Colin Cowherd]

Seattle will be electric on Sunday with a trip to the super bowl on the line. Matthew Stafford and the Rams take on Sam Darnold in the Seahawks. The NFC championship. Presented by Intuit TurboTax Sunday at 6, Eastern, 3 Pacific, on Fox.

[Jason McIntyre]

I don't know if you've noticed. I certainly did. The New York Mets have been very busy this offseason. Let me read you some of their new additions. Some good ball players. Bo Bichette just signed him. 126 million. Marcus Simeon, 72 million from the Rangers. Luis Robert Jr. White Sox don't have many good players. He was one. They owe him 20 million. Jorge Polanco, 40 million. Devin Williams, three years, 51 million. Luke Weaver, 22 million. Freddie Peralta. They made that deal yesterday. Gave up some minor leaguers. Brewers got some good minor leaguers. Infielder, pitcher. But they're going to have to pay in one year. Freddy Peralta, a lot of money. It's interesting. 126 million. 72 million. 40 million. Where's the. Where's the outrage? Why the owners should be furious. Nobody spent more money the last five years than Steve Cohen, the richest owner. But you don't care because the Mets are the Mets and they'll underachieve. It's their brand. Cody Bellinger, 150 large Yankees also got one of the Marlins. Garage sale. Got a good Marlins pitcher. Crickets. Because you don't respect their front office either. I talked about this yesterday when I hear that Kyle Tucker acquisition by the Dodgers from the Cubs that pushed owners over the top. Chicago couldn't wait to get him out of town. They upgraded it third and on their staff let him go. They complained about him for a year that he didn't care about baseball. He's the eighth best Dodger. Maybe ninth if Tyler Glass knows healthy. So I look at this five years Steve Cohen's been in baseball. Richest owner only made the playoffs twice. So you don't care. You're not threatened by the Mets and you're not threatened by the Yankees currently. You used to complain a little about that hot stove thing when you had Jeter in his prime and Mariano and Bernie Williams and they were winning. Then it made you uncomfortable. Now you don't trust them. Yeah, I mean, they went and got cody bellinger for $162 million. Not a. Not a crickets. So I've said This with the Dodgers. Here's the chart you need to look at the revenue and payroll percentage of revenue chart. I grabbed this from 2024. Yes, the Dodgers make 752 million, but they spend 73% of that 752 million. The Yankees make almost as much 728 million as they spend less than 50% of it. So what you're seeing is outside of the Mets and the Blue Jays, the Dodgers just spend a lot of their profits. Your billionaire could do it too, by the way. The orioles, little old Baltimore, 366 million. They only spend half of it on players and talent. So the Dodgers president of baseball ops, Andrew Friedman, on this notion that they're ruining baseball, we don't pay much attention to that because we operate within the rules. We do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position, both short term and long term. And we're not thinking about more macro things outside of that. It is about how can we win as many games and put ourselves in the best position to win a championship in 2026 without really compromising ourselves out into the the future and falling off that proverbial cliff. Like I'm not a fan of socialism and salary caps to some degree are sport socialism. Don't you dare spend well, there's a lot of money in New York. There's a lot of money in Houston. There's a lot of money in Los Angeles and San Francisco. If the Dodgers want to spend it, God love them. I mean, when I watch the Dodgers play, it's like an all star game. I mean, I, I to me, Toronto now Toronto's the powerhouse economic bell cow of Canada. They're spending a ton of money and a big chunk of what they make. The owners in the Blue Jays, they could absolutely pocket it. No, they want a great baseball team. The Orioles are good. Could they get great? They could if they spent 72% of their revenue, not 49.9%. So again, I'm more concerned about the floor. I think billionaires, there should be a limitation. There's a floor that you have to spend $75 million a year. That's what worries me. Just taking the Dodgers money and the Yankees and Steve Cohen's money, pocketing it, that would bother me. Raise the floor. I don't care about the ceiling. Spend Louisiana is a huge economy. It's hundreds of times bigger than Cincinnati. Of course they're going to have a better roster. So I was thinking about this. There has been, you know, I was talking to a texting a GM during the Indiana game. And I said, oh boy, that run looked a lot like Andrew Luck. And he said, well, he's not Andrew Luck or Elway. And he's right. He's not, he's not, he's not that. I think he's better than a lot of people think. I think he's an absolute franchise quarterback. The only thing that could ruin him is possibly the jets and thankfully he won't go there. But what's interesting about Indiana, and I'm not denying that Indiana's roster this year, it is better than last year's roster. Last year they had a couple guys drafted. This year they'll have the number one pick, but no other first round guys. Is that the truth? Is this story? Signetti is getting the credit. If you didn't have Fernando Mendoza, they lose to Miami, that's not even arguable. That fourth down run by Mendoza and that fourth down pass, they lose to Miami, they lose to Penn State. I watched that game. No other college quarterback could make the throws that kid was making against Penn State on the road. It was magical. And they probably lose to Ohio State. And what they are is a really good football team. But they're not Cinderella, they're not this Signetti. Well, we don't fumble. We don't, we don't, we don't drop snaps. All of that is true. They didn't have an errant snap all year. They didn't have a fumble their last 15 games. They don't drop passes. All of it's absolutely true. That doesn't make you a national champion with their roster and even with that coach. Because to win a national champion ship, you have to go undefeated at the point when they face Miami, one loss. They're not, they're not camps. I think Mendoza strangely gets. I mean, let's be honest about college football. The last decade or so there's been a lot of quarterbacks that have won Natties that have largely been carried by the roster. A Mac Jones, a will Howard, a JJ McCarthy, they're fine. But if you go look at the last six national championships, Mac Jones, Stetson, Bennett twice, McCarthy, Will Howard. There's only one of those guys, only one of those guys where the team has multiple losses if he's not the quarterback. I think J.J. mcCarthy, Stetson Bennett. I think there's a lot of quarterbacks that could have taken that Michigan roster and those Georgia rosters. The Natties, nothing against Will Howard. I like Will Howard a lot. I thought he was. Didn't go to Syracuse. He Was a really good player. I like him a lot. I think there are a couple quarterbacks that could have won a natty with that team. So I. In all this stuff about Signetti and he isn't a terrific coach. Let's not forget, as great as Andy Reid is, he kept getting beat in the playoffs until he had Mahomes. We always look at college football. It's coach first and it usually is. I think Mendoza is really special. And the reason I have compared him to Andrew Locke and he's not the prospect of Andrew. Luck, size, toughness. Almost seeks out contact early in the game. Late game, drives, poise, humility, gratitude, Great parents. It was, yeah. Kyle McCord. There we go. Will Howard was from Kansas State. Howard replaced. Yeah, McCord. McCord went to Syracuse. Right. I, I like Kyle McCord. I like Will Howard, but I think there's other guys that could have done that. Dante Moore does not win a natty at Indiana. Nope. Ty Simpson, in my opinion, does not win a natty with this team. I think this guy is a different grade. And, and you know, maybe I'm wrong on this stuff and I'm not in any way saying Signetti's not magical. This is a really good roster at Indiana. It's not as good as Georgia. It's not as good as Texas, not as good as Ohio State. I'll tell you right now, it's not as good as Miami. Miami had 45 players who are four or five stars. Indiana's got seven. Do the division like 11 6, 1 7th the roster. Urban Meyer was at that game on the sideline. He's like, he told me off air the other day, but he was like in person. One of them looked like an NFL team. One of them looked like a good college team. So here's Signetti on Mendoza leading him to a title. You got the right people. Anything's possible in our particular situation. In the athletic world, world, college football's changed quite a bit. The balance of power also. But we had the right people on our staff in the weight room, in the locker room, and we had great senior leadership and togetherness and, and, and we had a really good quarterback that played us best when the chips were down. Yeah, you go to that Miami game, in that Penn State game, I'm telling you, that's a first round. That's not only a first round quarterback, that's a number one pick. I sat on my couch, I had missed the first half. I turned into Penn State. Indiana second half, Penn State had a backup quarterback and they were mowing up and down the field. They had more yards in Indiana that day. And Mendoza put on a cape. I mean, he put on a Mahomes cape. It was like, holy. He was making throws that crowds 90,000. He was so good at that. Penn State second half, it was. By the way, they could have lost to Iowa. They could have lost Ohio State. They should have lost to Miami. Miami, I thought was the better team in the second half. Just Mendoza, the run. I'm not knocking Indiana. It's a great story, but we keep talking about they don't fumble and they don't have a lot of errant snaps. It's not like Harbaugh's team fumbled a ton and had a bunch of errant snaps either. I mean, like, right. Like national champ Miami so good. They do make mistakes. Indiana can't make those mistakes. Miami Canada did all year and came with it a, you know, one pick late of winning the whole thing. J. Mack. Top 10 players in the AFC championship around the corner, plus Greg Cosell.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hey, can we go back to. So. So if. Remember the whole Brady versus Belichick, who got more credit for the Patriots dynasty.

[Jason McIntyre]

For forever spell until the divorce. Yeah, yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

So it's a little tougher with Signetti versus Mendoza.

[Jason McIntyre]

They're both great.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I don't. I don't know that there's a right answer. I mean, listen, somebody had to call the play on fourth down. Somebody had to call the play. Then Mendoza delivered, right?

[Jason McIntyre]

Yes. In the NFL, it's understood. It's 70, 30 even with a great coach. It's 65. 35 quarterback over. I mean, Mahomes has proven that with Andy Reid, Breeze and Sean Payton. I mean, we know the quarterback, he's got the ball. And by the way, we don't huddle as much now. So you got the. You got the ball for 70 plays, not 52. Yeah. So quarterbacks have never been more valid at the college level. It's coach first because recruiting is so much about the coach. But I'll. I'll tell you, I. They're not 160 without Mendoza.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Jason McIntyre]

Guaranteed Human.