THE HERD - Hour 1 - The Chiefs are at the top again, Niners can't stay healthy, Baker Mayfield is playing like a MVP

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode: THE HERD - Hour 1 - The Chiefs are at the top again, Niners can't stay healthy, Baker Mayfield is playing like an MVP
Date: October 13, 2025
Host: Colin Cowherd (iHeartPodcasts & The Volume)

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Overview of the Episode

Colin Cowherd leads a wide-ranging sports discussion, focused on three major NFL narratives: the resurgence and continued dominance of the Kansas City Chiefs, Baker Mayfield’s unlikely MVP-caliber season with an injury-decimated Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and issues with the San Francisco 49ers’ health and depth. The episode also touches on notable player performances (Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott), situational coaching insights, key controversies from the weekend's games, and big moves in the college football world—including the firing of James Franklin at Penn State.

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1. Kansas City Chiefs: NFL’s Top Team Again

[02:06–06:48, 20:11–24:17]

Key Points:

• Colin opens by declaring the NFL's “worst nightmare” official: the Chiefs are once again the best team.
• Mahomes and Andy Reid are praised for “making it work” with revolving receivers and an offensive line that was shaky early in the season but improved.
• Kansas City’s culture and system, not just star power, set them apart ("NFL is about the O line, DC, entire system").
• In recent weeks, the Chiefs offense jumped from 20 to 32 points/game: a sign of resurgence.
• Leadership, discipline (no turnovers, penalties), and adaptability are recurring themes.
• Comparison to Belichick/Brady Patriots in situational football intelligence.

Notable Quotes:

• "Sorry, NFL. They did it again. Kansas City." – Colin (02:29)
• "Andy Reid is the great chef. He's the Gordon Ramsay. Everything in the kitchen has a role." – Colin (03:10)
• "This is what Kansas City does every year. When you get into these big games, they play differently. No penalties, no turnovers, one punt." – Colin (03:36)
• "With Mahomes and Reid pulling the levers, that is a way above average receiving core." – Colin (05:48)
• "That's the best team in the NFL right now. Kansas City Chiefs. One punt, no turnovers, no penalties. Dominating an excellent Detroit Lions team." – Colin (06:48)

Memorable Moment: Mahomes' Milestone

• Patrick Mahomes reflects on becoming the youngest QB to 300 TD passes:

  "I've been blessed. ... Getting one of the best football coaches of all time, and some of the greatest players of all time around me. ... Let's continue it, let's have some fun. ... We’ve got a long career ahead." – Mahomes (06:26)

On Chiefs' Situational Mastery:

• “They knew the rules better than the officials. ... Very Belichickian.” – Colin (41:28)
• Discussion of a critical goal-line pick play that KC understood down to the letter, evidencing their preparation and intelligence in high-leverage moments.

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2. Baker Mayfield: MVP-Level Grit and Leadership

[06:48–11:52, 11:57–12:15]

Key Points:

• Mayfield’s resilience and toughness spotlighted after beating quality teams (Seattle and San Francisco) despite missing top receivers and using unheralded targets.
• Elevated the entire offense: “Baker’s like, get on my back.”
• Contrasted with other QBs who play the victim; Baker’s mentality is “what do I got to work with? All right, let’s go.”
• Historic for bringing out the best in teammates and offensive coordinators, not getting coaches fired.
• Mayfield’s MVP candidacy is attributed more to overcoming adversity than raw stats.

Notable Quotes:

• “He’s pulling a team right now. They are a mess. ... He's using D2 receivers and he's beating Seattle and Seattle. ... He's beating San Francisco.” – Colin (08:36)
• “Baker’s like, yeah, whatevs, let’s go.” – Colin (09:02)
• “His resilience is completely contagious and redeemable.” – Colin (09:32)
• On Mayfield's mentality: "You don't have to have the perfect play when all your guys are fighting for each other and are on the same page." – Baker Mayfield, postgame (09:21)
• “That's what an MVP looks like. That's what a franchise quarterback looks like.” – Colin (10:11)

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3. San Francisco 49ers: Injury Crisis and Franchise QB Talk

[09:45–11:11]

Key Points:

• The 49ers are "falling apart physically," with key injuries (Fred Warner, among others).
• Discussion on what separates true franchise quarterbacks: it's about "rising above" missing pieces and adversity, as Mayfield is doing compared to Brock Purdy.

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4. Quarterback Play: Justin Herbert vs. Tua Tagovailoa

[17:01–20:07]

Key Points:

• Revisiting the Dolphins’ choice of Tua over Herbert: Herbert shown as elite, especially when circumstances are tough (missing weapons, O-line issues).
• Colin calls out Herbert’s physical attributes and mental toughness, describing a highlight play where Herbert switches hands to get the ball to receiver Lad McConkey—called “the play of the day.”
• Echoes broader theme: top QBs "rise above their circumstances."

Notable Quote:

• “That play would be burned in my mind for... till they throw dirt over top of me...” – Jim Harbaugh, Chargers HC, on Herbert's play (18:56)

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5. Lions-Chiefs Player Confrontation and NFL Discipline

[20:11–21:43]

Key Points:

• Incident: Brian Branch (Lions) gets into a postgame altercation, refused to shake hands, and hit JuJu Smith-Schuster.
• Dan Campbell (Lions HC) calls Branch’s actions “inexcusable,” says it's not who they are as a team.

Notable Quote:

• "I love Brian Branch, but what he did is inexcusable and it's not going to be accepted here." – Dan Campbell (20:57)

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6. Dallas Cowboys: Defensive Collapse Despite Offense

[38:49–41:28]

Key Points:

• Cowboys’ defense called a “quarterback stimulus package”—opponents are thriving.
• Dak Prescott is praised for his offensive performance (“on fire”), but the defense can't stop anyone.
• Acknowledgement that Dallas needs to rebuild the defense via a draft "rich at corner and edge rusher."

Notable Quote:

• “The Cowboys allow opposing quarterbacks 117 passer rating and I’m told by my team... that's the highest since they've kept track. There's never been a defense this bad.” – Colin (39:27)
• “I watched Dallas's offense. They look reasonably well coached. Dax on fire. But this defense made Rico Dowdle look like Earl Campbell.” – Colin (40:50)

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7. NFL Coaching and Strategic Insight

[41:28–44:17]

• Kansas City's "situational genius" lauded: knowing the rulebook inside out, winning through attention to detail and situational awareness.
• Contrasts with Detroit, who failed to have a goal-line play properly buttoned up.

Memorable Moment:

• "Kansas City knew this pick was legal. I guarantee you they went to the rule book because the minute that play happened, they were all pointing at the ref." – Colin (44:11)

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8. College Football: Penn State Fires James Franklin

[44:17–48:26]

Key Points:

• Franklin is let go after a locker room blow-up and disappointing performances.
• Colin cautions against being pressured by message boards or short-term slumps and discusses the risk of promoting interim coaches.
• Points to the financial commitment and potential pitfalls of firing a “great recruiter” quickly.

Notable Quote:

• "If you’re going to spare no expense to fire a coach and they paid Franklin 50 large, 50 million, then you better spare no expense to hire the next coach." – Colin (46:19)
• "Be careful. ... All the players are going to protest. We want the interim coach. ... Then you're trapped." – Colin (45:35)

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9. Miscellaneous: Other NFL/MLB/CFB Notes

• Aaron Rodgers with the Steelers:

  • Rodgers praised for maturity, fitting into the Steelers’ culture, making the offense smarter and more efficient.
  • “He’s doing exactly that now. ... He’s really figured out the right tenor for this offense.” – Colin (32:36)

• Jets & Justin Fields/Bears Analysis:

  • Both criticized for strategic failings; Colin slams Bears playcalling and lack of situational awareness (25:10–27:54).

• MLB:

  • Cal Raleigh’s dominant hitting for the Mariners, against Toronto, heavily praised (29:04).

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Important Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------------------------------|-------------| | Chiefs’ Offensive Resurgence & Culture | 02:06–06:48 | | Mahomes' 300th TD Reflection | 06:26 | | Baker Mayfield’s MVP-Level Performance | 06:48–11:52 | | Mayfield's Mindset (Quote) | 09:21 | | Justin Herbert’s Signature Play/Analysis | 17:01–20:07 | | Jim Harbaugh on Herbert | 18:56 | | Lions-Chiefs Player Incident/Dan Campbell's Response | 20:11–21:43 | | Cowboys' Defensive Struggles (vs. Bryce Young/Panthers) | 38:49–41:28 | | Chiefs’ Situational Mastery (Rule Knowledge) | 41:28–44:17 | | College Football: Penn State/James Franklin Firing | 44:17–48:26 |

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Overall Tone and Style Notes

• Language: Direct, opinionated, energetic; Colin moves swiftly from point to point, always foregrounding his core thesis (“rise above circumstances,” “franchise QBs don’t make excuses”).
• Style: Combines narrative storytelling (player and coach journeys) with hard analysis and colorful metaphors (“Gordon Ramsay of coaches,” “quarterback stimulus package”).
• Humor/Self-Awareness: Admits to mixing up game locations due to NFL overload; banters with co-host about the chaos of keeping track.
• Critical but Respectful: Offers strong opinions while giving credit (or critique) where due, frequently referencing coaching insight and football IQ.

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Key Takeaways for Listeners

• The Kansas City Chiefs are back on top, and it’s as much about coaching, culture, and football IQ as it is about talent.
• Baker Mayfield’s story is one of resilience and leadership, making an MVP case not on stats, but on raising the play of an injury-plagued roster.
• The difference between good and great QBs (Herbert, Mahomes, Mayfield) shows most under adverse conditions.
• NFL games (and Super Bowls) hinge on situational mastery and knowing the rulebook better than your opponent.
• Bold moves in college football can backfire if made under social/media pressure.
• The Cowboys must fix their defense to be real threats; Dak is playing as well as possible.
• Aaron Rodgers’ veteran IQ has changed the Steelers’ offense for the better, even without big stats.

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Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Jason McIntyre]

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[Jason McIntyre]

Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports radio at 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, our number one. I'm not sure we can get all this show into the next three hours. We are live, we are in Chicago, and it is the Herd. One hour from now. Where Colin was right. Where Colin was wrong. I don't think we should waste any time. Everybody's worst nightmare is now official The Kansas City Chiefs once again are the best team in professional football. First three weeks, Mahomes was wobbly. They were averaging 20 points a game. And in their last three games they're now averaging 32 points. Along with that defense and along with those special teams. Sorry, NFL. They did it again. Kansas City. Only Andy Reid in Patrick Mahomes. They're the only people in this league that can take number two and number three wide receivers. They can take Hollywood Brown and juju Smith, Schuster and backup left tackles and okay running backs and get into the 30s. Xavier Worthy. With any other team, would he be this good? All they do is make it work. Andy Reid is the great chef. He's the Gordon Ramsay. Everything in the kitchen has a role. Let's just keep tinkering. Let's keep figuring out a way to make everything work. Put it into our ecosystem and let's make it flourish. By the way, this is what Kansas City does every year. When you get into these big games, they play differently. No penalties, no turnovers, one punt. Whine all you want about the penalties. Well coached teams. Belichick and Brady did this for years. They don't turn it over and they don't get penalized and they don't pump much. The NFL seasons are incredibly long. You can't overreact to 0, 2 or 3 and 3. Again, get people healthy, make everybody count in the kitchen. Three weeks ago when they beat Baltimore, everybody said, well, Ravens are beat up. Yeah, right now, so is Tampa, so is San Francisco. A lot of teams in the NFL are beat up. Doesn't matter with this defense, this play calling, people get distracted. The NBA is about talent and appeasing the star. The NFL is about the O line, the defensive coordinator, about the entire system. And it's about the culture. This is a locker room of 53 guys, not five that really, really, truly matter. And here's Kansas City. They keep tweaking, add a little salt, make everything in the kitchen work. Prime example last night when their offensive line, the first couple of weeks, offensive line, it was, it was messy. It was not very good. They had no running game. O line was bad last night despite the Detroit lions having a 10 minute opening drive. Kansas City one time of possession with this offensive line that was a bit chaotic and a bit messy five weeks ago. And I know you don't want to hear it, but Rasheed Rice is coming back the receiving corps now. All right, Worthy is a two. Juju Smith Schuster's a three. Hollywood Brown is a gadget four. Oh, that's oh, and with Mahomes and Reed pulling the levers, that is a way above average receiving core. Travis Kelsey again in a big spot. He arrives. So this is what Kansas City does. First three weeks, very choppy. Last three games, 32 a game. And Detroit's a really good team, but they were so focused last night. Here's Patrick Mahomes on being the youngest quarterback to ever get to 300 touchdown passes.

[Patrick Mahomes]

It's extremely cool. I mean, I've been blessed. I always say it, and I mean it like I've been blessed. I got drafted here in Kansas City. A great community, great ownership, and then getting one of the best football coaches of all time and some of the greatest players of all time around me. And so makes my job a lot easier when I'm able to throw to some great ones. And let's keep. Let's continue it. Let's have some fun. And we've got a long career ahead, and we'll see how we can get to.

[Jason McIntyre]

That's the best team in the NFL right now. Kansas City Chiefs. One punt, no turnovers, no penalties. Dominating an excellent Detroit Lions team. Okay, so the last couple of weeks, Baker Mayfield has had to go on the road. Out west. Seattle, San Francisco, good teams. And in both games, Baker Mayfield was the difference. He's missing Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving. Emeka Abuca got hurt in the game. Baker willed his team to a W. As you guys all know, this league is about toughness and resilience. Don't be a victim. Deal with it. Baker's not the biggest. He's only 6 1. He's not the most athletic. But his fight. Picking up that first down on the run is a plus. Plus, the dude was missing his top four receivers. Instead, he needed Tez Johnson, Heck of a catch. And Cameron Johnson, who was an undrafted D2 athlete. That was his receiving core. And both caught their first career NFL touchdowns. Baker Mayfield, a lot of these quarterbacks, I don't even need to name them, they get coordinators fired. Baker Mayfield's last two coordinators, he got head coaching jobs. And again, there's a quality that Baker Mayfield has that I wish everybody in America had. He just. Not everything has to be perfect. He never plays the victim. It's like, what do I got to work with? All right, let's go. That he's never pointing fingers. Baker's like, get on my back. This is. This is a guy pulling. He's pulling a team right now. They are a mess. Offensively. They are falling he's using D2 receivers and he's beating Seattle and Seattle. You see what Seattle did on the road yesterday? You see what Seattle did to the Steelers this year? He's beating San Francisco. All I hear, well, Brock Purdy's guys are injured. Baker's like, yeah, whatevs, let's go. I don't think right now that Tampa Bay roster, because I think they're the second best team in the NFL to Kansas City, but their roster so beat up, it's not a top 10 roster. They're missing great players. Pedal to the metal, head down, don't point fingers. Tampa's now 5 and 1. Big win after big win with Baker Mayfield. His resilience is completely contagious and redeemable. And here he was after another W on the road.

[Baker Mayfield]

I truly, genuinely trust the guys that are in there. They're ready. We talk throughout the week. Guys are on the same page, and that's real. I trust these guys, even though some of them might not have played a whole lot of ball. But if we're on the same page, good things happen. You don't have to have the perfect play when all your guys are fighting for each other and are on the same page. And that's an example of that defense played great special teams as well. And so that's complimentary football.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right. Right now, Baker Mayfield, I think he's got everybody's vote as the most valuable player to do it. With that beleaguered roster on the road, beating good teams, beating really good defensive minds or defensive coordinators, feel terrible for San Francisco. Fred Warner's now injured. The whole team is falling apart physically, all their stars. But I. That's. You know, we often asked ourselves, you know, what's a franchise quarterback? What's the difference? The difference is when things aren't right. I hear this all the time. Well, I mean, yeah, yeah, you'll hear it from, you know, for years and years. Well, you know, we don't have. Caleb's missing this or Jackson Dart was missing that. Baker's missing everything. He's on the road. Seattle and San Francisco are good, and he's willing his team to win. He may not be the best athlete, but on that one run, he looked like it. That's what a franchise quarterback is. You don't have your best running back. You don't have your top three wide receivers. You got a defensive coach, so it's your offense. That's what an MVP looks like. That's what a franchise quarterback looks like. It took Baker A while to get there from Cleveland and Carolina and Los Angeles. Took him a while to get there. Who cares? Some careers, you got to let them bake. But fantastic performance. Yeah, that was great, J. Mac. Gotta say this, by the way. That was. That was in Tampa. Was it in Tampa or San Francisco? I watched so many damn games yesterday.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I was in Tampa.

[Jason McIntyre]

My bad. My bad on that, folks. My. My bad. That wasn't. It was in Tampa. I. I got. I watched 13 games yesterday and nine the day before. I'm lost. But, I mean, the truth of the matter is, Saul is a great defensive coordinator to go to Seattle. You're facing the McDonald. I mean, look what he did to Trevor Lawrence yesterday. You're talking about facing the best coordinators. Smart, young defensive guys, pass rushes. And for him to go out there and pull that stuff is unbelievable.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, I think I saw a stat after Fred Warner went out. Colin, the bucks average like 7.4 yards per play. Something insane. Without Warner, the Niners have nothing. No Bosa, no Warner. So I'm pumping the brakes on Baker. He was fantastic again yesterday.

[Jason McIntyre]

Oh, my God.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, he's phenomenal. You could argue he's. He's been the best quarterback in the NFL this season.

[Jason McIntyre]

Oh, I don't. I don't even. I don't even think. I think. You have to. You have to consider everything. You have to consider it. You got to consider what you have. I mean, the Seattle win shocked us. I think you and I thought it was our second favorite bet of the weekend. By the way, how'd you. I went 40 yesterday. How'd you do? 2 and 2.

[Colin Cowherd]

Waiting on one more tonight.

[Jason McIntyre]

All right, I've got Washington tonight at home over Chicago. Bears don't travel particularly well. Not sure if you caught this. The Mariners.

[Colin Cowherd]

Your guy, Cal, Raleigh.

[Jason McIntyre]

Well, all right. We've got a lot to talk about. Speaking of quarterback play, Justin Herbert. I thought the Baker run may have been the play of the day. How about the Justin Herbert play to get the ball to lad McConkey when we come back? That is all time stuff. We talk about this all the time. I like traits with quarterbacks. I like big strong guys over small guys. And by the way, Baker's not the biggest guy, but he makes. He plays bigger than himself, right? Bigger than his size. What Justin Herbert did yesterday on one play. I looked at it this morning on social media. Switching hands during the play. We'll get to that. Plus Aaron Rodgers. Only compliments. Dodgers are playing tonight. We have got ourselves this next week. The next four or five days are as good as America gets for sports. Oh yeah, James Franklin got fired. I don't know what to do with that. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Hi, this is Jay. I'm the producer of the Paulie and Tony Fusco Show. Usually in these promos they ask you to listen to the show. I'm here to ask you please don't listen to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who have the dumbest takes on sports imaginable. Don't listen to this show so it can get canceled.

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[Jason McIntyre]

All right, welcome back. This is going to be an all time week. Dodgers tonight and tomorrow against the brewers who escaped the Cubs Mariners take a 10 lead on the Blue Jays all right, so of the many bad decisions the Miami Dolphins have made over the last decade, one of them was on display yesterday, drafting TUA over Justin Herbert. When they're on the same field, you kind of see the difference to a small, not terribly athletic, doesn't have a big arm, three picks, Herbert's unbelievable six six tough strong physical moves. Top NFL quarterbacks need to rise above their circumstances and TUA needs everything to be perfect. Herbert had no number one receiver, three backups on the offensive line, the number three or number four running back and Justin Herbert made a play in this game. It could it wasn't just game saving, it may have been season saving as Herbert again backups everywhere. Old Keenan Allen, that's what he has to work with. But he made a play to lad McConkey where he switched hands with the ball again on the road. Backups everywhere season it felt like season on the switches hands, finds McConkey again that is rising above the circumstances which were terrible for this team. Shedding 250 pound guys or more, 76% completion percentage, two touchdowns, 112 passer rating, backups behind him, backups to the sidelines, backups in front of him, Jim Harbaugh afterwards talking about that play to lad McConkey. 30 minutes later, could hardly believe what he saw.

[Jim Harbaugh]

That play would be burned in my mind for. Till they throw dirt over top of me, you know, Justin Herbert back to throw, defender wrapped around him. You know, he's able to just mighty man it and shake it off and hit lad McConkey, you know, on a physical level, it just can't really be done by many, you know, just a couple, you know, just a couple handful of guys really, that could do that.

[Jason McIntyre]

So it was Harbaugh who took McConkey out of Georgia. Great slot receiver. He has been unbelievably valuable his first couple of years with the Chargers. But again, it's like Baker Mayfield. You gotta rise above the circumstances. Don't be a victim, get it done. Put your helmet on. Doesn't matter where we're playing. That was probably the play of the day. Baker Mayfield's run for a first down and Herbert escaping that sack. That's what franchise quarterbacks do, don't point fingers. All right, let's go. We're trailing on the road. Saddle up J. Mac with the news. No, no, no.

[Dan Campbell]

Heard on the news.

[Jason McIntyre]

This is the Herd line news.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, Colin, let's get started with your new number one team in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs. There was an incident last night after the game. Brian Branch of the Lions, really talented safety, got ticked off. Isaiah Pacheco's talking trash. He refuses to shake Mahomes hand and then goes up and just whacks juju Smith Schuster in the face. Now, at the time, nobody had any idea what was going on, why it happened. You can see this turns into a big time brawl. Branch is basically ready to fight the whole team. Colin, Now I have gone back and found the reason that Branch went after Juju and juju Smith Schuster did block him in the back illegally. It was a dirty hit, but that's no reason to lose your mind. Anyway, here's Dan Campbell afterward talking about how Brian Branch's actions were unnecessary.

[Dan Campbell]

Let me start with this. I love Brown Branch, but what he did is inexcusable and it's not going to be accepted here. It's not what we do. It's not what we're about. I apologize to Coach Reed and, and the Chiefs and, you know, and Schuster. That's not okay. We. That's not what we do here. And it's not going to be okay. He knows that. Our team knows it. And so that's, that's. That's not what we do.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah, I mean, emotional Intelligence is really important, and people get ticked off. You got to learn to cope. That's the reality. Game's over. I don't know if he'd be suspended. He'll be fine. I'm not sure.

[Colin Cowherd]

He probably will be. Colin, this is not good.

[Jason McIntyre]

He's a great player. I. I love him as a player, but you just can't do that. Got to grow up. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Their secondary already stinks. They face Baker Mayfield next to. So that would be a. That would be a punitive suspension. Now, listen, you. You and I have played sports. We know in the heat of the moment, you lose your mind.

[Jason McIntyre]

I get it.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's. It's.

[Jim Harbaugh]

It's tough.

[Colin Cowherd]

Somebody's got to reel him in or he's got to just know. I can't do that. Juju did kind of hit him with a cheap shot, but again, it's no excuse for that. Just a quick question. Are you sure the Chiefs beating the Lions makes them the number one team? I didn't chime in earlier, but it's.

[Jason McIntyre]

Not that they beat them. It's that they controlled them. And they don't have Rasheed Rice yet. And they didn't have. They didn't have their offensive line all settled last night. They're getting. They're getting their left tackle. They're getting Rasheed Rice. This team's dropping now 30. We watched Detroit dis. Really? I mean, just dismember teams. It was just up and down the field, dominate. Time of possession. The Chiefs one time of possession, and that's after the lions had a 10 minute first drive. That's impressive. So they didn't have their offensive liner, Rasheed Rice. I'm telling you, man. Patrick Mahomes. It's hard to explain. I remember hearing this year, I thought this was the silliest thing. There used to be this saying among the analytic nerds. They would be like, winning is not a quarterback stat. Hell it isn't. You're watching Mahomes. You're telling me that's not. I mean, nothing against Spencer Rattler, but he's like 1 in 16 as a starter. You think you put Mahomes on the saints, he's 1 in 16 with the same players. Patrick Mahomes is smarter. He. He literally sees the field better cognitively. He sees stuff so fast. Some of these guys don't see the field. And then there are guys like Mahomes who not only sees it, it's like X ray vision. He's like Gretzky. He sees stuff develop before it develops. They're bringing in juju Smith. Schuster has done nothing. Every time he's with the Chiefs. Ever notice how valuable he is? What do you think? I mean, some of it's Andy Reid. Mahomes is just, he's an insane all time talent.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, is it possible the Lions were overvalued? They haven't beat a team with a winning record this season.

[Jason McIntyre]

They have really good players all over the field. They have, they have an all star team on offense. I'm telling you, Spags, everything you notice, it's almost like, I mean, again, one punt, no turnovers, like they're so good in these big spots. But a lot of times after the first drive, which is scripted, you get to the second drive and the third drive and the fourth drive at Arrowhead and it's just like there's no room. There's not a lot of. Sam Laporte is great. Laporta made a couple of insane catches. He's an all time talent. But it's like a lot of their stuff. Spags knows their tendencies and you got Chiefs just waiting for receivers who catch it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Okay. All right, let's move to the next story. Colin, that's my Jets. I know you woke up at the butt crack of dawn on Sunday to watch the jets accumulate 82 yards of offense. Listen, man, Aaron Glenn was not throwing the ball down the. I'm sorry, Justin Fields was not throwing the ball down the field, but I think that's by design from Aaron Glenn. Now, Aaron Glenn was under fire from the media afterward. Colin, here he is talking about Justin Fields and his comments after the loss.

[Dan Campbell]

When you look at what Justin did, the games that he played, listen, I didn't think he was bad at all. I actually thought he did some pretty good things in those four games. In this fifth game, he took a step back, you know, and I'm with you guys 100%. And we can't have that, you know, we have to have get better than that. And he knows that and he knows that better than anyone, you know. So I don't think you just try to bench a player after having one true bad game.

[Jason McIntyre]

It's not about that. What you have to do in this league is win. And in that second half, A, go to the backup. B. What? Oh, I would get Tyrod. Taylor's a pro. He's been around forever. Justin Fields, Denver was in his head. Denver was hammering him. He was done. He was done in the second half. The other thing is, I mean, there's a reason you bring Tyrod Taylor to your team, not just for injuries. You know, Justin Fields is an uneven quarterback, but it was remarkable. I mean, I'll get into it later, but on that final drive, I would have kicked the field goal, first of all. Second of all, why are you asking Justin Fields to do seven step drops? That is not who he is. Right? You had a chance on three straight plays, pick up seven yards and kick up 60 something yard field goal or a high 50, 58, 59. The play calling at the end of the half was egregious. It doesn't make any sense. The play calling at the end of the game was as bad or worse. This team does not know what they're doing. And if you don't want to go to the backup quarterback, I thought over the course of the game, I thought, you know, you've. We've seen this before when quarterbacks just lose their confidence, like they're just out of sorts. All right, go to the veteran, bring it down, move the chains. But I was sitting there like, dude, just get seven yards, kick a field goal and walk out of there stealing a win. Instead, they're asking Justin Fields with that pass rush, deep drops, now you're out of field goal.

[Colin Cowherd]

I love how you're saying just get seven yards. They had 82 for the game. Colin, their longest play all day, 11 yards. Now listen, Fields wasn't great. That's fine. We know he's not great. But what the hell was the game plan? The game plan, I can tell you this right now. They basically went and said, justin, don't lose the game for us. We can hang around. Denver's offense ain't great and they just basically hung around. Despite the ineptitude, the jets had a chance to win the game in the final minute. So I know they weren't awesome and they couldn't move the football, but by the way, Denver's defense is a crazy stat for you. So four times this season in the NFL, a team did not get 10 first downs. Only four times. Three of them were caused by the Denver Broncos. That's how good this defense is. So the idea that Justin Fields was going to go in there and light the world on fire, that was never happening. He didn't lose the game for them. They were in it until the end. This is a good loss, right? You're, you're winless, you're in line to get the number one pick, you covered the spread well.

[Jason McIntyre]

It's not a, it's not a good loss when your coach appears to be completely overmatched as a head coach.

[Podcast Advertiser/Announcer]

Well that.

[Colin Cowherd]

Come on, he's a first year coach against Sean Payton, the Hall of Fame.

[Jason McIntyre]

Well dude, it's beyond that.

[Podcast Advertiser/Announcer]

It's.

[Jason McIntyre]

It's got a Freddy Kitchens vibe. It's got a rich co type vibe. It's got a. We don't know what we're doing.

[Colin Cowherd]

Is that the worst thing in the world Colin, when you could get the number one pick because you, you lose 14 games that's not the worst thing in the world?

[Jason McIntyre]

No, I'm, I'm. I'm not saying it is but it, it, it. You would like to not have to buy another coach and another set of coordinators and more position coaches. How many times can you keep flushing this green toilet?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, well let's ask the owner Woody Johnson who keeps making horrible decisions. Final story Colin is to Major League Baseball. Your Mariners. Last night Cal Raleigh did it again. Hit a home run and Jorge Polanco had two big hits.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Seattle picking up the three one win. They steal game one in Toronto.

[Jason McIntyre]

Big win for your Mariners. That was where the Yankees got absolutely overwhelmed. I thought Toronto was going to win game one. When you come out of an emotional series, American League Championship Series. I thought Seattle was just going to get engulfed with the emotion in the rest of Jays. That is a, that could be a series deciding win. We give a home field advantage to Seattle. They play great at home. Cal. I have a number somewhere today in my notes. Cal Raleigh has been great against the Jays all year. He is just eating them up.

[Colin Cowherd]

Game two today on Fox.

[Jason McIntyre]

Fantastic. Look at this. Cal Raleigh in the playoffs.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean he's not Aaron.

[Jason McIntyre]

He'S batting 400 now think about that. Think about the hitters. Think about the Dodgers, Phillies, all the great hitters. Trey Turner, Bryce Harper, Otani, Freddie Freeman. Like the Dodgers Philly stars could not hit Cal Raleigh's hitting.400 against elite pitching. That is, that is beer league numbers. That's insane. J Mac with the news. Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the herd lie news. We have so much. I'll get to the James Franklin getting fired. I wouldn't have done it and I'll tell you why. I never really at Penn State all the insiders saying it was untenable. You had to fire him. We'll get to that. So I am going to shock you that for the second straight time. I'm talking about the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers. I've got positive vibes. They beat Cleveland. They were going to beat Cleveland 23 9. I mean listen they, Dylan Gabriel had no shot. Totally engulfed. But here's the thing. Aaron Rodgers has done two things really well. Number one, he has fit into the Steelers culture. He's not taking anything away. And secondly, he's made the Pittsburgh offense smarter. Pittsburgh's offense is unique. It's got huge targets. You know, the Hayward and Washington and D.K. metcalf and Friarmouth. It's got gigantic men. This is not like gadget receivers like Kansas City's doing it with some smaller body types. Pittsburgh's got massive size and Aaron realizes that there's no reason to take big risks down the field. For the last seven, eight years, I had said on this show Pittsburgh had playmakers defensively, but they just weren't. They were like tone deaf offensively. They just weren't very smart situationally. So Aaron has fit in. It's not about Aaron. He's fit in with a culture and he just made the offense much smarter. Now. Now places like PFF are like. He doesn't throw the ball down the field on this team. There's no reason to. This offense is big, strong and physical. And I'm watching this team. He's not doing a lot of wow stuff. He's doing a lot of we stuff. That's what this is for Pittsburgh. So now they couldn't beat Sam Darnold because I don't think, I don't think this team is going to beat the best quarterbacks. But in the AFC north right now it's backups. So I think Aaron has downshifted. He understands his. He's a smart guy. He understands what the team needs from me. And in these games, when you're facing Dylan Gabriel and backups, what the team needs is the system, first downs, not a lot of wild plays. I got big targets and I mean it's like you're throwing a defensive ends. This whole team feels like a tight end. But effective, productive enough. I like what I see. You're getting his touch, his accuracy and his iq and I think he's done a great job. The numbers will tell you well, he's not throwing the ball down the field. You know what? Maybe a younger Aaron Rodgers, when he was in his athletic prime would have been running around and running out of completions. This Aaron, for this team, which has Mack trucks as targets and Washington and DK Metcalf, this is exactly the offense you should run. Get some physical matchup advantages. You can throw stuff underneath, your big guys can break tackles. I'm really impressed by it.

[Podcast Advertiser/Announcer]

I don't.

[Jason McIntyre]

I. There they may run away with this division by Thanksgiving, but he's doing exactly that now. That was a great throw in the end zone across your body. That's an errand throw. But he, I think he's really figured out the right tenor for this offense. He's just moving the pocket enough here. He was after.

[Aaron Rodgers]

I think we're playing, playing pretty smart football. I think Art, you know, got us into a good rhythm today. And when we take care of the football and don't turn it over, we're going to have a chance any game. And then if we can control the line of scrimmage, you know, we're really going to be playing downhill. I thought the key to the last two games has been first and second down.

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah, I think it looks really good. And I, you know, for years and years, you know, it's so funny. Aaron, remember when Aaron left the jets and he was like, yeah, I had a meeting with Aaron Glenn. I flew cross country on my Gulf Stream or Citation or something, my private jet, and I sat down for a meeting and 20 seconds later, Aaron Glenn said, we're going to go in a different direction. And Aaron's like, that was weird. I watched the jets yesterday. They're weird. Aaron's not. Aaron went to Pittsburgh and he just, he, he's taken this weird. The Steelers offense for like seven years. They can't run the ball despite using draft capital on the O line and at running back. You're like, why aren't they more effective? They just weren't smart enough. And he's a trigger man and he deserves a ton of credit. Coming up next, another track meet involving the Dallas Cowboys. James Franklin gets fired. And there was a play last night in the Lions Chiefs game. There was a singular play that defines why Kansas City's probably going to win another Super Bowl. Oh, it makes you uncomfortable. Makes everybody but Nick Wright uncomfortable. But I'll talk about that coming up. Typical security systems don't really prevent somebody from entering your home and breaking in. They really only react once somebody's inside the house that's too late. Real security should stop a crime before it even starts. And that's why you should trust SimpliSafe. They have smart AI security cameras identify a threat and alert SimpliSafe's monitoring agents 24, 7 monitoring agents. It's like having a security guard stationed outside your home. Buck a day and more than 4 million Americans trust SimpliSafe, their agents and their smart AI security cameras. My listeners can save half 50% on a SimpliSafe home security system at SimpliSafeCollen.com there's no safe like SimpliSafe. The moment somebody steps onto your property, those cameras identify a potential threat and alert Simplisafe's monitoring agent. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd Weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific introducing your new Dell PC. Powered by the Intel Core Ultra processor, it helps you handle a lot even when your holiday to do list gets to be a lot because it's built with all day battery plus powerful AI features that help you do it all with ease. From editing images to drafting emails to summarizing large documents to multitasking. So you can organize your holiday shopping and make custom holiday decor and search for great holiday deals and respond to holiday requests and customer questions and customers requesting custom things. And plan the perfect holiday dinner for vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians and Uncle Mike's carnivore diet. Luckily you can get a PC that helps you do it all faster so you can get it all done. That's the power of Dell PC with Intel inside backed by Dell's price match guarantee. Get yours [e-mail] holiday terms and conditions apply. See dell.com for details.

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[Jason McIntyre]

Cool.

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[Jason McIntyre]

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[Colin Cowherd]

The fight for the American League crown continues as Cal, Raleigh and the Mariners take on Vlad Jr. And the Blue Jays. Game 2 of the ALCS coverage begins today at 4 Eastern on both Fox and FS1.

[Jason McIntyre]

Brewers beat the Mariners in six in the world Series. I'm not sure how good I feel about that after the Dodgers appear to have solved their bullpen. Probably go with Los Angeles. But be that as it may, the Dallas Cowboys lost yesterday and they lost because their defense is a quarterback stimulus package. Everybody, everybody. Bryce Young has never been more comfortable. He couldn't have been more comfortable sitting on a couch watching the game. Dak is on fire. 11 total touchdowns, no picks, last three starts. I mean, Dak is absolutely on fire. He's playing great football, but he can't play linebacker. Maybe they should consider it right now. The Cowboys allow opposing quarterbacks 117 passer rating and I'm told by my team this morning that's the highest since they've kept track of that station. There's never been a defense this bad. But I said when they traded Micah, you're going to lose this trade for a year. It's the Shaq Kobe trade. You're going to lose it for a year. Remember when they, they shipped, they chose we got to move Shaq, not Kobe. And for a couple years it looked really bad because the Heat were ready to win a title. But the Cowboys have two first round picks. It is a draft that is rich at corner and edge rusher and they're going to use all their picks in the first several rounds to draft the defense. They don't need a quarterback. Dak is healthy and playing great. The George Pickens move. You know, I looked at it and I thought, oh, pickens is a 11 year deal. I'm not so sure now. Dax Maturity has really tempered George Pickens kind of, you know, high maintenance. So maybe that's a tandem that works. You can pay two receivers. I mean it, it, it, you gotta, you gotta hit on Some free labor in the draft. But I. I watched Dallas's offense. They look reasonably well coached. Dax on fire. But this defense made Rico Dowdle look like Earl Campbell. I mean, they gave him the ball 30 times. He rocks from her 200 yards almost. So again, it's a track meet, and Dallas has only one way to win now. They've got to hit the ribbon first at the track meet, and they didn't. Bryce Young did. And here's Dak after.

[Dan Campbell]

I wouldn't say it's demoralizing. Excuse me. But I definitely say it's frustrating. Right? Like, just even the last time you have the ball weren't probably.

[Jason McIntyre]

Not our.

[Dan Campbell]

Best series of the game. If we don't score, last thing I'm doing is being frustrated at the defense. That's. That's my problem.

[Jason McIntyre]

That's our problem.

[Dan Campbell]

That's somebody on offense or, you know, something that we didn't do better.

[Jason McIntyre]

Okay, I want to talk about in that game last night. So remember a couple of weeks ago, Kansas City goes. They lose to Jacksonville. But it's. It really is the foundational piece of Kansas City. They are so good situationally. So there was a play that was called a pick in Kansas City's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is not a pick. It's within a yard of the line of scrimmage. That's legal. Travis Kelsey knew it. Mahomes knew it. Andy Reid knew it. They all were pointing. No, no, Mr. Official, you're wrong on that. It's within one yard of the line of scrimmage. They knew the rules better than the officials. And this is very Belichickian back in New England. Brady And Belichick, Josh McDaniel, they knew the rule book better than the officials, and they tinkered with it and they manipulated it. So Kansas City knew. No, no, no, no, no. That pick is legal. And they were right last night. Detroit gets into one of these plays, and I think Detroit's well coached. But the Jared Goff touchdown when he goes out to the flat. No, they practice that thing 10 times. It's illegal. You got to get that buttoned up. You can't run that play more than once a year. And when you run it, you got to get it buttoned up. It's an old rule that goes back to T formation where Goff has to stop for at least a second. He just can't go in motion and curl off. He has to stop and set. It's. It's kind of a specific to quarterback rule from the the lost ages, the halcyon days of football. So again, in both instances near the goal line, huge situational play. Kansas City against the Jags knew the rule book better than the official Detroit. Just a little play, was not buttoned up and didn't know the rules specifically. And to me, I mean, you start watching these games, I mean, games that should be 30 to nothing, like, they're not the jets and Denver. Denver is so much better and Denver's incredibly well coached. Denver had the better everything. It comes down to, like, situational coaching, situational quarterbacking. These Super Bowls. There was a period for about 10 years where all the Super Bowls were blowouts. The Cowboys were in a few of them. Win them. That's not the way it is now, generally speaking. Now, Kansas City's gotten their boat race in a couple of Super Bowls because they couldn't get the left tackle right. But by and large, these games are decided on these little situational, circumstantial plays. Moments, understanding the rules. Kansas City's great at it. They knew this pick was legal. I guarantee you they went to the rule book because the minute that play happened, they were all pointing at the ref. No pick the flag up.

[Podcast Advertiser/Announcer]

So it just.

[Jason McIntyre]

It just, you know, not the end of the world. But it Detroit, you got to get that right. That's a play that you run to Jared Goff one time a year. You can't run it again. It's like Philly special. You get one of those every couple of seasons, you better have it buttoned up. So Penn State, it's a strange. It really is to me. Lost three straight close games. Now they lost to Northwestern. They lost as a huge favorite out West. Although I will tell you, in college football, traveling 3,000 miles, nothing feels like an upset. That's why what Indiana did to Oregon this weekend is unbelievable. College teams are young men. They do not travel as well as professionals in the NFL home field. I mean, Seattle can go all the way to Jacksonville. It doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. But in college, you know, you travel to UCLA off that Oregon loss. It's not that shocking they lost. I mean, it's shocking now, losing to Northwestern. Apparently James Franklin and the athletic director got into a shouting match in the locker room. But here's why I worry about it. The old substitute teacher rule. If you're going to spare no expense to fire a coach and they paid Franklin 50 large, 50 million, then you better spare no expense to hire the next coach. What happens in the next six weeks if Penn State goes 5 and 1 or 4 and 2 because they got the players. And all the players are going to protest. We want the interim coach. We want the interim guy. What do you do? We're going to transfer. I'm telling you, these athletic departments, they bow. They bow to pressure. So when you fire a coach, just know that, like the substitute teacher, everybody loves the interim coach. They come in, everybody's on their best behavior, everybody's working their butt off. Generally, the interim is not as harsh, it's not as bleak or intimidating or as punitive as the head coach. Everybody's playing their hardest. They want to curry favor with the new guys, backups think they have a chance to start, and you go on a little heater. You go on a three game, four game winning streak, and then the players are like, this is our guy, or we're transferring. And then you're trapped. So if you're going to spare no expense to fire James, you better spare no expense to hire the next guy. So, you know, at Michigan, Harbaugh leaves, who was popular? Well, the popular assistant so far doesn't look very good. Now it's too early to make a call. Bryce Underwood, Marsh, two of their best players. You know, they're kids. Underwood's a freshman. They got a lot of good young players. Michigan brand, they still recruit well. But I always worry about that's how Antonio Pierce got hired by the Raiders. If you fire too early, it's one thing. If you fire and there's two, three games left, there's no pressure on an athletic department to hire the guy you hire with six games left or seven games left and you win a bowl game, you go four and two, maybe you upset a good team. Everybody's like, as a guy, is he really the guy or is he the guy the, the roster, the substitute teacher that everybody loves? So I think it's dangerous. Bruce Feldman will stop by later in the show to talk about it. I think you get into really dicey spots. I was shocked by it. I mean, they won 13 games last season. They had double digit wins multiple season. He's a great recruiter. Now there's an argument. It was, you know, just stuff gets untenable. Okay, I'm not close enough to the program to know. I went online this weekend. You know, everybody on the message board, everybody on the Reddit sites wants him gone. But just be careful. You guys all wanted Ryan Day gone. In Columbus before that Tennessee game last year when you lost to Michigan by 20, y' all wanted Ryan Day out. That's funny. You kind of like Ryan Day now. Ohio State won it last year, probably gonna win it this year. Gotta be careful. Listen to the fan base. J. Mack. Crazy weekend. What was your fate? What was your favorite game this weekend? We both had a very.

[Colin Cowherd]

Can I go with Penn State losing as my favorite game? The James Franklin. I mean we talked about this, Colin. It's insane how rapidly that accelerated. Can I. I also hit up somebody who's in the college football coaching industry, shall we say. And he gave me a name. You. You want it?

[Jason McIntyre]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Clark Lee at Vanderbilt. Keep an eye on him. Young guy, very sharp. Previously at Notre Dame. Vanderbilt is pretty damn good this year. Yeah, on a good run I would keep an eye on him. I know you like the Indiana coach as well.

[Jason McIntyre]

Listen, the Indiana coach should not leave and will not leave.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, he's making 64 years old.

[Jason McIntyre]

I don't know. I mean he's making 8 million. It's his program. They just went to Oregon and won. Why can't they win with a transfer portal in the nil? If you have support from your donor base, why do you have to go to Alabama?

[Colin Cowherd]

It's a great.

[Jason McIntyre]

Alabama doesn't have the money of right now of usc, they don't have the money of Notre Dame, they don't have the money of Oregon. Alabama now looks pretty ordinary. Why they don't have the donors to step up.

[Colin Cowherd]

They're not ordinary. The kid Ty Simpson's amazing.

[Jason McIntyre]

He's good. He may go. He may go higher in the draft. Go to the mock drafts. He's a first rounder. Hour two Colin, right? Colin wrong in the month.

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[Jason McIntyre]

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[Podcast Advertiser/Announcer]

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[Jason McIntyre]

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[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast.