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Colin Cowherd
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Colin Cowherd
Here we go. It's hour two. We're live in Chicago. It's the Herd. Final Herd hierarchy for a while. 42 year old Aaron Rodgers. Longest drive in the second half, 23 yards. Texans D is for real. Well, so many delicious topics but let's not waste any time before we get to Nick Wright. Robert May's on our show in an hour. Here we go with our herd hierarchy.
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Herd hierarchy time is now.
Colin Cowherd
Let's go.
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The top 10 NFL teams according to college number eight.
Colin Cowherd
Listen, I'm going to put Chicago there season low in penalties and handle of yards against Green Bay. I didn't love Ben Johnson's night inter. I thought he was a little desperate in the first half. Tried to get a little cute, but they played clean. They're 7 and 2 at home this year, 9 and 2 against teams outside of their division. They're a great fourth quarter team, first win without a without a takeaway. So there's a lot to take from it. They played a clean game. Caleb was remarkable. But losing their starting left tackle and linebacker TJ Edwards is going to hurt against the Rams. They are not nearly as athletic defensively and it's not a great defense to start with. Without TJ Edwards and their left tackle against Jared Verse, I worry about the Bears. I have them at eight. Number seven, San Francisco again. Now you can prepare for the Niners without George Kittle. You're not losing him in game. Brock Purdy as a pick in four straight games, I don't really care. What I care is if you look at Brock purdy, he's had four game winning drives in six playoff games. That's what matters to me. They've won 11 straight playoff games in the wild card or divisional round and that's, you know, a lot of that's Kyle Shanahan, but I think Going into a game without Kittle, very rested Seattle team. That is a lot to ask. I have him at seven.
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Number six, Denver.
Colin Cowherd
Listen, they're very, very good at home. An 11, 21 score games. But there's, there's no more Raiders, you know, there's no more lightweight offenses like, like the Chargers. And they do lead the NFL in sacks and allow the fewest sacks. So I like the roster construct. But they've been held at 20 or fewer points in five of the last nine games. And I said this, I'm not so sure taking the week off was good for the young Seahawks or the inconsistent Broncos. I have him at six.
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Number five, Buffalo.
Colin Cowherd
I think Buffalo's probably gonna beat him. And I didn't think that a couple of weeks ago, but it was the first road win under McDermott. They've won six of seven games. And Josh Allen, listen to this. In his last seven playoff games, Josh Allen, 19 total touchdowns, one pick. He has a way of getting rid of the mistakes. They've got their tush push figured out, which they didn't last year in the playoffs. And I mean, I don't, I think their offensive personnel is better than I give it credit for. Left tackle, quarterback, running back, a couple of tight ends. I like good slot receiver. I have them at five, number four, but neutral field. I take the Texans. They've won 10 straight. Their defense last night outscored the Steelers offense. I mean, Pittsburgh was playing well and then all of a sudden they saw Houston and they weren't. They out gained the Steelers 408 to 175. Nico Collins, injury is not good, not good at all. But you know what? Woody Marks is healthy. Christian Kirk, C.J. stroud. I got Houston at four, number three, the Rams, I mean, they're beatable because I don't like their special teams. And they had nine penalties against the Panthers. They just couldn't lock in. And they're four and three over their last seven games. The key to beating the Rams is forcing turnovers. So they're.03 in games with multiple giveaways this year. That's the way to beat them. Get pressure on Matt Stafford, dial up a reckless play. They don't fumble a ton. That's the way to beat the Rams because when they play clean and they are healthier than The Bears, they're 13 and two.
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Rams at three, number two.
Colin Cowherd
I like New England. I, I, you know, everybody says, well, I mean, they're two and two against teams, you know, with winning records. Yeah, they lost to Buffalo and They also beat Buffalo. I don't think. In a weird way it reminds me a little of the Brady Belichick Patriots. I don't know what their hole is, but they're not great everywhere. I never thought Brady had the best receiving core for a brief time. He had the best tight end core. I never thought that the Belichick Patriots had the best pass rush or the best linebacking crew. But they spread the money around and there was nowhere they were weak. And that's how I look at the Patriots now that Will Campbell is back at left tackle. Two running backs I like there there's nothing to pick on with New England. I have him at two number one and I have Seattle at one rest advantage over the Niners. Eight wins by 10 plus points coming off a bye. They have not allowed a hundred yard rusher in 26 straight games. You have to throw the ball to beat Seattle and Brock Purdy when he's got to throw the ball 40 times and Seattle will get a pass rush and there's no kittle underneath to throw it to now that's when you can get Brock Purdy in trouble. That is my herd hierarchy. And with that, Nick Wright will get the first stab at it. He is joining us live. Yeah, I mean I, I, when I look at the Bears I'm like they could not afford to lose a left tackle or they're really one linebacker that's active and they lost both. They could have lost a wide receiver, they could have lost. I, it's, it's not that they're a bad team, they did play clean. But man, that Rams team right now is really healthy. I think it, anything take your shot at it.
Nick Wright
Yeah, listen, I agree given the injuries, I understand where you have the Bears. I also think what they have working for them is they are the only team in this tournament that if the fourth quarter starts on Sunday or Saturday and they're down two scores, they feel totally fine about it. The stat of the year for the Chicago Bears, Colin is the NFL other than the Bears down 10 plus with five minutes remaining is three and 159. The Bears down 10 plus five minutes remaining are three and three. What for everyone else is a 5% shot? It's for the Bears it's not even a 5% shot for everyone else. For the Bears it's a 50% shot. And Caleb has shown how special he is late in these spots. But that's a long way of saying I agree with you. The left tackle injury, the defense was already shaky. That was More to me I understand the Bears defense stepped up in the second half. It also was a culmination of a season worth of bad offense for the Eagles for finally coming to I'm sorry for the season where the bad of for the packers of the injuries and everything then being able to stop them. But that I agree with you on the Bears. The Texans are a little rich for my blood Colin which is that as great as that defense is I thought CJ was brutal yesterday and I don't trust the offense that the the Steelers did nothing for 45 minutes and it's seven to six entering the fourth quarter. The Steelers were right there so the Texans are a touch high but other than that I like where you're at on the hierarchy and I thought that the Patriots able to win with Drake made playing his worst half of the year was very very impressive.
Colin Cowherd
Okay. It could have been the last game for Aaron Rodgers. How will you remember holistically Aaron Rodgers career?
Nick Wright
What a great question. Listen, I think he is one of the most one of the five most talented quarterbacks ever. I also think that you can find specifically three huge spots in the playoffs where the defense left him drawing dead. Where they allow 44 points to Matt Ryan's Falcons in a conference championship game where they allow 45 points to Kaepernick when they score 30 plus when the Niners in a conference championship game score I think 37, maybe more but I know they only threw the ball eight times. There are instances where Aaron defenders could rightfully say that that's not on him. Yeah but there are also instances where in those biggest spots, be it the famous game against Seattle with the onside kicks where everyone remembers the onside kick and the Russell Wilson throw. What they don't remember is Aaron was brutal throughout the almost entirety of that game and it was really remarkable the packers were leading near the final moments for the comeback. Or the game against Brady where he had the brutal first half in the conference championship game and then couldn't get it in score from inside the red zone with a couple minutes remaining. Everyone remembers the two Hail Mary game to force overtime and then he never gets the ball. Well maybe they don't remember is they were in that spot because that packers team had 14 points 59 minutes into a game against that cardinal seam and he hadn't played well. He wasn't at his best in the biggest spots consistently. Yeah and I think part of that was Colin a little on display last night. Like I'm not going to hold last night against Aaron Rodgers, legacy wise, but the things you saw last night, which was the almost hyperbolic body language letting everyone know it's someone else's fault and what felt like icing out his best player after the one drop in DK Metcalf, we have seen those things throughout his career leading up to it. So it's a complicated legacy. He's one of the four greatest regular season quarterbacks ever. He's one of the five most talented quarterbacks ever. He has four MVPs. And so this is a compliment and also probably a bit of a dagger. I look at his career as underachieving, given how great he was. The. It is, it's really remarkable that in his second, third year as a starter, they get to the super bowl and win it. In his fourth year as a starter, they're 15 and 1 and he's damn near the unanimous MVP. And he never got to another Super Bowl. I, I can't. It's. I have a hard time believing it, but I think some of the things that made you forever skeptical about him early on, far earlier than me, maybe hurt him in some of the bigger spots.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. Three former packers have told me to my face, you know, having a coffee or a, or a cocktail, that he's moody. You're never quite sure which Aaron shows up. But I also can say simultaneously, he's smart, he's a little prickly, he can be a little condescending, but he can also be amazing. And there's as many teammates that love him that are turned off by him, and that's kind of the complexity of life. So, you know, the way I look at Josh Allen and I think Caleb Williams is like, this is. I don't sometimes people. Yesterday I talked about the gifted child syndrome. I said, you know, you hear about occasionally like one out of a thousand kids, they're gifted children and they're like, at 12 years old, they're still putting their pants on backwards, but at 13, they're taking advanced college calculus. And so the rules are different. Like with Caleb Williams, I'm like, I'm going to get over the completion percentage. He does stuff that nobody except Josh Allen can do, and Josh Allen's probably better at it. And I said, I don't know what to make of Buffalo's first half offense. And I think Josh is the most talented football player, period, I've ever seen. I'm not saying best quarterback, most touted football player. How does that land for you?
Nick Wright
Well, I mean, you know how it lands for me, because poorly. You know, I Could be. I could be really mean here and be like, man, you sure are damaging your relationship with your dear friend Tom Brady. Because that's now two guys in the last two years that you've elevated past Brady because you told me Mahomes was the most talented football player you've ever seen. Now it's Josh Allen. Brady's holding on for a bronze medal spot. I don't even know what happened to your guy, Tom Brady. Here's the deal. I and even in your commentary, you're like, Caleb makes throws that only other Josh Allen can make. I listen, I understand Patrick had a bad year, but his games were on TV in Los Angeles and Chicago, right? Like we have seen him do these things. So part of this feels like an attack on Patrick because he had the audacity to have a down season after making five out of six Super Bowls and winning three of them. With that said, Josh is an all time great player. And I got annoyed at this is like meta media conversation. But going into this game, it felt like some of Josh Allen's biggest fans were trying to lower the stakes for this game and set it up to where like it would that expecting Josh to find a way to get a wild card round victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars was asking too much and being unfair. And I didn't feel that way at all. And the reason that commentary bothered me as much as it did is because if you lower the stakes, if you lower the risk, you lower the reward. That was a big spot for Josh Allen. These are a massive postseason for Josh Allen because of who's not there. This is a clear path as far as the other legendary quarterbacks. For Josh Allen, it is all in front of him. Which makes that throw to Brandon Cooks all the more impressive. Which makes the fact that he basically played a perfect game on Sunday against a really good Jags team all the more impressive. It makes the fact that two years ago in the playoffs he had the ball in his hand, down three to win the game and couldn't come through last year. Ball in his hand, down three to go, winner, tie the game, couldn't come through this year. Ball in his hand, down four. And he does that. That makes it greater. That makes it better. The way someone with legendary talent becomes a legendary player are these moments. He has been the second best player in the league for a half decade. The best player in the league is not there. I understand it's not basketball, but the Bills are not the Washington Generals. They have the rushing champ. They have the best offensive line in the playoffs, arguably or at least top three. And they have a top five pass defense, they have bad receivers and a bad run defense and a superhuman at quarterback. That team can go win a Super Bowl. And it is not asking too much of Josh Allen to say we want what you win or lose. What you did against Jacksonville is even if it's not that prolific against Denver, that level of execution, that's what we want to see. And I think he can do it. I, I, I think the super bowl is going to be Rams, Bills. I said going into that Jags game, I thought the winner of that game was going to go to the Super Bowl. Josh is a special player who's on a could be on a special run and I believe in him now. The greatest quarterback I've ever seen or most whatever however you phrase it, that's a bridge too far for me. But he's the best player in the tournament. We'll see what he can do.
Colin Cowherd
Okay, so I said this yesterday on the show. I said Patrick Mahomes, if you're really honest with yourself, has had back to back years he struggled. Is it because Andy Reid or Travis Kelce or I mean he's been doing it with Hamon Eggin it wide receiver units. I said no, his O line stinks. And like, like bottom seven in the league. And I'm like he's been blown out twice in Super Bowls. The reason Brady wasn't one of the reasons Dante Scarnecchia. Brady never had a battle line ever. Now he didn't have the greatest, but he never had a bad old line.
Nick Wright
Patrick has a Justin Herbert defense. Is this a long bridge for Justin? Oh my.
Colin Cowherd
So Justin Herbert's got the 32nd ranked offensive line. PFF came out last week and said no quarterbacks ever won a playoff game since we've been a company with an offensive line like that.
Nick Wright
Okay. And yeah, they scored more than three points. What about that? What does PFF say about what does PFF say about the fact that Justin Herbert. I understand. Yeah, I mean it's ne, it's never his fault. It can't be his fault. Did you see him at the combine? I mean the guy's arm talent. I mean how we're six years in Colin.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
Nick Wright
He has the second lowest passer rating in the history of the NFL in the playoffs. The second lowest. You know, has the lowest Andy Dalton and I've heard people compare Justin Herbert's on this trajectory. Peyton Manning or Matt Stafford or Matt Ryan through six years. He has a hell of a Lot more in common with the career of Andy Dalton than the career of those legendary players. And I understand the offensive line stinks, but the offensive line stunk all year. Yet for the second straight year he had far and away his worst game of the season in the playoffs. For the third straight time in the playoffs, his defense put him in great position. Whenever we hear about Herbert not having any help, nobody brings this up. In his three career playoff games, his defense has forced 10 turnovers.
Colin Cowherd
Ten.
Nick Wright
That is the most turnovers forced by a quarterback's defense in a three game losing streak in the history of the NFL playoffs. Only one quarterback in the last 25 years has had their defense force more than three turnovers in a three game playoff losing streak. Stretch, it was Chad Pennington whose defense forced five. It is not unfair to say we now have a growing trove of evidence that this guy, for all his talent and ability and measurables has simply played his worst and his biggest spots and has played 10 consecutive F minus quarters of playoff football. And everyone who knew the Chargers offensive line situation. If I had told you the New England Patriots were going to have six points at halftime, Drake May was going to have had his worst half of the season. The Patriots were going to have nine points through three quarters. Do you think Justin might be able to come through? Everybody would have said yes. Everybody would have been on board with it. And now after the fact when and now that we've seen the All 22, he has guys running open, we're like oh man. Once again he needs more help. Once again we need to fire this coach or fire this coordinator. It's if Patrick's Brady and Josh is Peyton and Lamar is Big Ben and Burroughs. Phillip Rivers. Somebody's got to be Andy Dalton. It might be your guy. Justin Herbert. I'm just telling you.
Colin Cowherd
Okay, finally. You know I don't like my quarterbacks at the podium hat on backwards. I like them to be like Jalen hurts and buttoned up and I like him to be Dak Prescott. I will say Nick Sirianni jawing at A.J. brown. I'm like it's too juvenile. That just not.
Nick Wright
Of course.
Colin Cowherd
It's just insane. Like every. The fact that we have to have a security guard sometimes between the coach and players. Would you move off Sirianni?
Nick Wright
Listen, he won the Super Bowl a year ago. I know they're not going to. I also know that this is, this is always a good test. If the packers fired Matt LaFleur.
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Colin.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
Nick Wright
How many of the open jobs would say we don't even need an interview. If you'll take our job, you're hired for Matt LaFleur, maybe all of them that every job would call Matt LaFleur and say @ least interview. Have not come here. Yeah. If the Eagles fired Nick Sirianni, is he a head coach next year? I don't know. I don't know. I've never quite known what he does because Howie Roseman picks the players and the coordinators previously this year he got to pick Petullo. That didn't go well. You can't say like he's an ego manager guy because of the video we're watching here. He's obviously not designing sick offensive plays. He doesn't call the plays. So other than jawing at opposing team's fans, I'm not sure what he does. I also though think that for the Eagles as a whole, and he owns wears this more than anyone, this was a failure of a Super bowl defense and it was preventable failure because we have been talking on this show about the Eagles offense going into half long comas as often as the damn Titans offense did all year long and they never got it right. And so all of a sudden the Niner, the mash unit of the Niners defense getting stops and finding a way to slow them down actually wasn't shocking. I was so excited to talk about this. I was acting like the Bears played them earlier, but they. The Eagles, the Eagles this year, since that game against the Rams did not score more than 20 points against a playoff team once after week three, they had a. They had a hit and miss passing game all year. They had issues with A.J. brown all year. They couldn't get the Saquon from last year. Never showed up all year long. So it wasn't shocking that in the playoff game who they were all year is who they were. Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
By the way. Yeah.
Mario Cristobal
I.
Colin Cowherd
Want to give you a little heads up on Shefty Schefter just released this Chargers. Chargers fired their offensive coordinator, Greg Roman. See.
Nick Wright
Shot man. Another. Listen. Another. Another pig to the slaughter at the service of Justin Herbert's arm talent. Something.
Colin Cowherd
Had to be done. Something.
Nick Wright
Had to be done. What? One day he will have the perfect situation. You called it. You are. You love his head coach. The Demons have been excellent two straight years. Every. But listen, I understand they didn't have the. They were missing both tackles, one of which we knew was out all year. When people were picking this team to go to the super bowl without Rashawn Slater. It's fine. I'm sure year seven will be the time. Justin Herbert just plays a mediocre playoff game. 64 career passer rating the only player in league history with a lower career playoff passer rating. Andy Dalton. I'm just saying there's a lot of similarities there. I.
Colin Cowherd
Ran into Andy Dalton once at the JW Marriott in Los Angeles. I.
Nick Wright
Like Andy Dalton. People think that this Andy Dalton comp is a slight to Herbert. Maybe I just think more highly of Andy Dalton than everybody else. Andy Dalton beat out your guy Sam Darnold, my guy Baker Mayfield in Carolina. Maybe Andy Dalton should put some respect on his name and maybe if you were 66 with a rocket arm people would have even though Own four in the playoffs. Own three in the playoffs. I don't know. Good to see you Colin. Good.
Colin Cowherd
To see you. Nick Wright yeah, Greg Roman got yeah, listen, it's Herbert. You know, you gotta get somebody's gotta pay for that, man. We got good stuff, you know. I hope we don't forget about Miami and Indiana National Championship. Not forget about that either. Be.
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Colin Cowherd
Attention. Just.
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Colin Cowherd
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Colin Cowherd
Robert Mays, last hour. Nick Wright, hurt hierarchy so far. Some thoughts on the Hurricanes and Indiana. I think that's going to be a good one. Slight edge Indiana, but I think the Hurricanes out front can push back and make it very competitive. J Mac with the news. No.
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No, no, turn on the news. This is the Herdline news. Yeah.
Colin Cowherd
Colin, I was a little giddy last night on that Aaron Rodgers ending. You see everybody going up to him to congratulate him after the game. Hey, man, great career, Colin. It ended with a pick six. His last throw in the NFL was a pick six. I mean, we all think he's going to retire. The Texans were treating it that way. The camera literally followed him around everywhere. They didn't get the coach's handshake, nothing. Cam Hayward says he still wants Rogers around. Okay. Yeah, he's the only one. I think there's a hard reboot in Pittsburgh, but do you think Rodgers, you know, does another darkness retreat and decides, I'm.
Coming back, man? What.
Do you think? Well.
I just don't think. I never thought it was a great fit. I thought I kept saying all year, I think Aaron Rodgers is the comeback player of the year. I thought the fit was Minnesota. I'll tell you right now, my take is I would go and look at Minnesota because I think they're going to bring somebody else in to compete with J.J. mcCarthy. He can't stay healthy, can't make starts. They're not, they're not. You can't go into the year saying, we think JJ is going to play 17 games. You'd be lucky if you'd sign up today that he could play 10. I.
Scoff at that because he would be exactly copying Brett Favre who went packers, jets and Vikings to end his career. I just find that comical. Sorry, I don't know that that's possible. But hey, real quick on Rogers, Colin. I had to look this up. 2020 was his last playoff win. 2020.
Nick Wright
We're.
Colin Cowherd
In 2026. It's five years. He doesn't want a playoff game. The only reason they're in the playoffs was because Tyler Luke misses a 44 yard.
Field goal fair. And.
Because Burrow missed half the season and Lamar missed a bunch of games, I would go. Otherwise they're not even in the playoffs. I.
Don'T know. I just. I kind of think Aaron's going to disappear and we're not going to have an answer for a long time. And I think, for the record, I think Minnesota loves that. So Minnesota going into the draft isn't sure what they're going to do. So I think. I think after, I think Minnesota watch the Vikings in the draft, what do they do at quarterback? I would say better than 50. I'll make my guess here. It's only three things going to happen. Retirement, Vikings. Okay, two things. Retire or Vikings. Is my guess right. Do.
You think if Roger says, hey, Mike, you want to run it back, that that is more likely for Tomlin to want to stay versus go to a cushy TV job or take one of the other openings? Yeah.
Probably he'd stay forever. Yeah. A lot of Kumbaya. They like each other. Yeah.
Did you say Ayahuasca or Kumbaya? I missed that. All right, let's go to the next story. And that's the Green Bay Packers. Colin.
Nick Wright
Reports.
Colin Cowherd
Currently indicate Matt LaFleur is in contract negotiations with the Packers. It sounds like nothing definitive. He's going to be staying in Green Bay. That's good news for edge rusher Micah Parsons, who told the media he wants his coach to stay. I've.
Micah Parsons
Had my fair share of coaches and people around this league that have been around, and Matt's one of the best guys and people like, as a person I've been around since I've been in this league. I reached out to him when I started seeing this and I said, man, when I agreed to come here, you were part of the reason why I came here. I want you a part of this and I love you and I think you're a great coach. And he appreciated those words. And we had a brief conversation.
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Colin Cowherd
Shouldn'T fire Matt LaFleur. It.
Was a bad game. You could admit. It was a terrible. He.
Had a very good first half. Yes, that's the coach's half. He out coached Ben Johnson in the coach's half. Well.
Okay, so he had a better game plan than Ben Johnson, but he had that in all three games against Ben Johnson this season. Maybe.
That'S his strength. Okay.
But adjustments are part of coaching. Well.
Kyle Shanahan's not very good at adjustments because he's never won a game where he trailed entering the fourth by a touchdown. Yeah.
I mean, I've seen that stat. How much were they trailing the Eagles by entering the 4th? Was it 1610 or something like that? I don't. I mean, that's. I just. I like the adjustments for Dennis Allen and the Bears. They Decided, hey, we're going to dial up the blitz. We're not going to just let love sit back and kill us. And I saw zero adjustments from the floor. Man, I was extremely disappointed. That being said, you know, here we got some stats on him. Most wins by a head coach in their first seven seasons. He's tied for second most in the history of football, Colin. Now, some would argue that's because he had Aaron Rodgers for a few of those. Okay. I.
Mean, he's a. I mean, you don't.
Win without a good quarterback in this league. We know that. Right.
The guys won with Malik Willis playing. Yeah. So, I mean, just. It's the idea that you'd fly fire Matt LaFleur, that you're just too close to the forest, can't see the trees. That's like Packer cheesehead guy. Don't. It's just dumb. It shouldn't even be a topic. It's ridiculous. I'm.
With you. Final story. Let's go to college football. You're right. We. We shouldn't forget about the national championship coming up, man. It will have been a long time between games, but let's focus on Dante Moore in Oregon. He was ticketed for my jets, and then he kind of had a rough one, shall we say, against Indiana. Fumbling interception on the first play. But Urban Meyer was on a podcast and said if Dante Moore does come out, he hopes he gets a chance to develop. Here.
We go.
Mario Cristobal
I.
I
Just hope if he goes somewhere, he can go sit and learn for a year. Yeah, I, I hate that when they throw the. I did it. You throw that rookie quarterback in there and it's just. Man, you just wish you had some veteran guy in front of him. Aaron Rodgers learned. Learning from Brett Favre. Number four, Brett Favre. So that was the perfect way. Well, remember, for quarterbacks to have great success.
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. I love Urban when he comes on the show. That's just not realistic right now with these teams at the top. It worked for Patrick Mahomes, right. With Kansas City, they had a playoff team with Alex Smith. You.
Know, I, I'm. And I'm dead serious. If the jets had a coach I liked, like, if, if, if Dante. If the agents did a deal and Dante Moore literally threw his agent, contacted the jets, because you can do that. And the jets hired Kevin Stefanski, I'd come out. I'm not coming out for the jets mess. And Aaron Glenn, I'd come out. If the jets hired Kevin Stefanski, I would. If I was Dante Moore and really wanted to Leave. I would call my agent. I mean, I've done this a million times. I call an agent and say, can you give me a phone number of somebody? I want to pay him a compliment or I want to ask him a question. Just go to your agent, get a hold of the jets, find out if Aaron Glenn is absolutely coming back. If he is, there's no way I'm going to. I'm not. Because you'll have to play. It'll. It'll be awful. I'm not doing it. This.
Idea of sitting sounds great if you're drafting it. Like Lamar Jackson, 32, you know, Patrick Mahomes, 10 in the teens. You just can't do that at the top of the draft. The team is there because they stink and they need a savior. The jets need a savior. And.
How about this? I.
Don'T know that Dante Moore's that guy. I'll tell you right now. At.
Least you want to know an under the radar story developing? Please. Brian Dable to the Titans. You.
Were on this last week. We haven't heard Dable's name anywhere. I just saw a website. One of the prominent ones projected the head coaches for every opening. Brian Dable is not listed as a head coach. That's.
Interesting. What's.
That about? Is there some back channel stuff happening somewhere? He's.
Interviewing Friday. I.
Mean, they had Jeff Halfley ticketed for the New York Giants. I mean, if that happens, just start the mutiny in New York. I mean, come on. Jeff.
Halfley, Cam Ward, Brian Dable. That.
Sounds good to me. I don't know what my jets do. Keep.
Your eye on Brian Dable to the Titans.
Sounds like you have some inside information. I'm.
America's honesty broker. Also a 247 journalist. Oh.
Really? Big J or lowercase J? Lowercase. Okay.
J. McElhe. Well.
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Colin Cowherd
Fox College Hoops Friday features a prime time Big 12 battle as Baylor looks to take down Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks. It all tips off Friday night, 8 Eastern on Fox.
By the way, classes resume for the Miami Hurricanes Monday. So it'll be the first time now in the playoff the kids are going to class and playing in the games. They are about an eight point underdog to the Indiana Hoosiers. A lot was made like two weeks before the College Football Playoff teams were announced. Miami, Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Miami. Who do we pick? The truth is both are going to be in this college Football Playoff most of the next decade. Marcus Freeman and Mario Cristobal have a lot in common. Big confidence, great recruiters, build physically tough, relentless defenses and both schools have big nil money. I said this morning if you give me if I had to project top 10 next 10, the next decade with the transfer portal nil and the playoffs, who will consistently be in that playoff? The 10 programs that will consistently be in that playoff, just to show you, I I think a lot of it is your top booster and your economy. I have three Texas schools in it, Texas, Texas A and M and Texas Tech. They should all be in it. I have Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Indiana because of Mark Cuban and their coach, Miami, big nil money and USC and Oregon, Phil Knight and the LA economy. I do not have Georgia over the next 10 years they just a year ago their top booster passed away. They've lost five players. Georgia has five DBs in a transfer portal. The best quarterback just selected Vanderbilt, the academic school over Georgia. So I mean to me when you oh, what about Lane Kiffin, lsu? I don't think they'll have the money. I think Levitt's going to be great, but they won't be able to build top 56 defenses. I think going forward it's going to be about what is your economy. Georgia has 17 Fortune 500 companies. California's got 58, Texas has 54 and I think Texas is going to catch up to them. So I have three Texas schools over the next decade, Texas Tech, Texas A and M and Texas. I think they'll all be consistently college football playoff teams. We know Alabama can't keep up. That we know. I think there's a reckoning period for Georgia. When I watched Georgia this year, I didn't see a big distance between them and Tennessee and them in Auburn, them in Alabama and Alabama struggling. Alabama didn't have the players and now I don't think Ole Miss going forward. I thought, I think it was a great story. They won't be able to buy both sides of the ball. Here's Mario Cristobal on facing Indiana as a dog in the Natty. We.
Mario Cristobal
Have to prepare for an awesome opportunity. We preach it, we teach it and then we, we go and we, we get away from everybody just like we did a couple weeks ago, the last couple of weeks when we went on the road. And that's where I know the process was asked about earlier. It's, it's no different. Just got to shut out the outside world.
Colin Cowherd
And go to work. Yeah. So I, it's just a new world. We've seen it not only three years in a row with no SEC team in the national championship. We've seen that go. Look at who the SEC is beating in the College Football Playoff. Only SEC schools and Tulane, they're not winning the other games. So I think the drop off is precipitous. I was talking to an agent, an nil agent this weekend and a one of those 10 schools, Northern Schools I talked about who already has two really good receivers that'll play on Sundays, is bidding on another receiver seven figures out of Syracuse. Like that's the kind of money that's being like it's, it is, it is. Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, three Texas schools, Phil Knight money, USC money. It's just 6, $700,000 for off ball linebackers. That, that's the kind of money we're talking about until the NCAA can get this whole thing fixed. So. And Indiana, I mean again, Indiana's got a great business school, massive alumni. And I said this two years ago, these Big Ten schools are bigger than SEC schools. They got 40, 50,000 people and a lot of good business schools. And those kids pour out to the west coast, east coast and then they come back to write a check for football and basketball, especially football. So that's where we are right now. I think Miami keeps it close for a while against Indiana and again, say what you want about Carson Beck, but this will be his third national championship game. He's in. So he's been around the block. My top 10, next 10. There it is. Miami SC, Texas, Texas a and M, Texas Tech, Notre Dame, Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana.
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Colin Cowherd
Right, let me, let me ask. Sorry people. What's wrong? Why is USC in there? What's.
That about? LA's economy. They just had the best recruiting class. Why? They got their collective in order and they're building a $300 million facility and they're paying Lincoln Riley 80 million over the next eight years. Money's not an issue. Got.
It. Just, just making sure because I'm sure. Dozen.
Different boosters. Yeah.
Indiana is. I love this story, Colin. Great. It's.
Awesome. Great business school. So I, that, that I didn't say the previous 10. I've got two SEC teams in there. Texas and Texas A. Oil money remains undefeated. I'm sorry. Texas Tech's a nightmare for the SEC too. This.
Is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Date: January 13, 2026
Hour 2 of this episode centers on Colin Cowherd’s final “Herd Hierarchy” NFL power rankings for the season, in-depth analysis of quarterback legacies (notably Aaron Rodgers), and robust debate on the most controversial NFL playoff storylines, featuring guest Nick Wright. The hour includes candid reflection on Rodgers’ career, futures for young QBs like Justin Herbert and Caleb Williams, intense scrutiny on coaching situations, and lively banter about college football’s shifting playoff landscape.
[01:15–06:45]
#8 Chicago Bears
#7 San Francisco 49ers
#6 Denver Broncos
#5 Buffalo Bills
#4 Houston Texans
#3 Los Angeles Rams
#2 New England Patriots
#1 Seattle Seahawks
[07:45–11:00]
On the Bears
On Texans
On Patriots & Drake Maye
[09:39–12:57]
[13:00–18:10]
Cowherd says Josh Allen is “the most talented football player, period.”
"I think Josh is the most talented football player... I've ever seen. ...Not saying best quarterback, most talented." – Colin, [13:05]
Nick Wright pushes back, advocates for Mahomes:
[18:10–22:00]
Cowherd on Herbert:
Nick Wright’s response:
[22:00–25:50]
Cowherd on QB maturity and optics: prefers “buttoned up” Jalen Hurts/Dak Prescott types to “Sirianni jawing at A.J. Brown” [22:00].
Nick Wright on Nick Sirianni:
Herbert scapegoats?
[28:39–35:41]
Aaron Rodgers future in doubt:
Matt LaFleur’s job security:
[38:02–44:12]
On Bears’ comeback ability:
“For everyone else it’s a 5% shot ... for the Bears it’s a 50% shot.” — Nick Wright, [08:15]
On Aaron Rodgers’ career:
“He wasn’t at his best in the biggest spots consistently. ... I look at his career as underachieving given how great he was.” — Nick Wright, [11:20]
On Justin Herbert's legacy:
“He has a hell of a lot more in common with the career of Andy Dalton than the career of those legendary players.” — Nick Wright, [19:24]
On coaching firings for Herbert’s struggles:
“Another pig to the slaughter at the service of Justin Herbert’s arm talent.” — Nick Wright, [24:58]
On what’s next for Rodgers:
“Retirement, Vikings. Okay, two things. Retire or Vikings.” — Colin, [30:41]
The hour is fast-paced, irreverent, and deeply opinionated, featuring Cowherd’s trademark bluntness and Nick Wright’s sharp, contrarian wit. Discussions are candid and sometimes confrontational, but always insightful and data-driven.
Summary prepared for listeners who missed the episode, capturing all essential debates, stats, and moments that defined this lively hour of “The Herd.”