← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
THE HERD - Hour 2 - Last Herd Hierarchy before the playoffs, NFL predictions, Nick Wright
00:41:42
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- [00:00]
Colin Cowherd
This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.
- [00:05]
Grainger Advertiser
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- [00:34]
Colin Cowherd
Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com 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 Radio. Here we go. Hour two and a Tuesday. Our final regular season. Herd hierarchy. 18 weeks, 17 games. It all comes down to this Nick Wright around the corner. You know, I talk about this, I think Kevin Stefanski to me, I would hire tomorrow if I was Las Vegas. If I was the New York Giants, I was the Titans. Think about this. The last two first round corners, quarterbacks drafted Cam Ward last year, number one and Jackson Dart later, first round. They'll both be on their third head coach at the start of their second year. I mean, it's just, you got to get, you got to get the coach right. And in Todd McJ reporting, like if you're, if you're Dante Moore and Mendoza goes number one and you're number two. Stay in college. Oregon's better than the jets. Not in terms of the on field quality of product. I mean, the jets would beat Oregon obviously if they played. But the coaching kind of the symmetry between the coach and the players and the organization. Oregon football is like a top five job. It's a great job. Enriched capitalized, unbelievable facilities. I mean, they're sold out every game. They treat their players. They were way ahead of the curve. They treat their players better 15 years ago than anybody else was treating their players. All right, here we go. Herd hierarchy. Our final hierarchy of this regular season. Herd hierarchy. Time is now. Let's go. The top 10 NFL teams according to college. Number 10. I would put Chicago. They won the NFC north for the first time since 2018. When they win the turnover battle, they win. But they're Very reliant on it. They're 101 when they win the turnover battle. So if you play clean, you can beat them. Most offensive touchdowns in Bears franchise history with Caleb led the NFL with 11 touchdown passes, 20 plus yards down the field. But they disappear offensively for entire first halfs. This Packer game's a rough one. It's going to be windy which plays into the run game of Chicago. Great year for the Bears. I put them at 10. Number nine, the Niners. Listen, Brock Purdy in the last month 107 passer rating. They they're not as good as Seattle. Don't punish them too much for losing to Seattle. They didn't have Trent Williams and Ricky Pearsall. If they have them back, they're a live underdog against Philadelphia. They have lost nine of their last 10 games when trailing at halftime. Some of that is on Kyle Shanahan who to me has always been very tied to his script. He's not been a great second half or come from behind coach, but if Pierce all and Trent and Kittle are available, that game with Philadelphia gets interesting. Niners at nine, number eight. Listen, the Bills are good. I don't think they're super bowl good. They are 12 and all when scoring 21 plus points. There's a way they win. They lead the NFL in big plays in rushing. But that defense 28th against the run. They've lost eight straight road playoff games. How do you win on the road against a Jacksonville shut them down and take the crowd out. I also worry about this team because they're slow starting. When you go on the road and face a high powered offense like Jacksonville, you do not want to play from behind. And the Bills make a habit of playing from behind. That's why I have mid eight. Number seven, the Texans. They're on a nine game winning streak. Best defense probably easily. Give credit to Nick Casario. He's drafted the hell out of this defense the last three years. But in the red zone they're not good. They settled for field goals and I think that will be their undoing. You gotta get sevens, not threes. In the red zone they are 24th in yards per play. There's so much I like about him. I've always been a huge C.J. stroud fan. That red zone offense, they'll settle for threes, not seven will cost him. I put them at seven. Number six. The weird Philadelphia Eagles who are three and four over their last seven games and since week 10 have a bottom six offense. I mean they're 10 and, oh, when Jalen Hurts is held under 200 yards passing, they're the opposite of what wins in the NFL. But their roster is so complete. Their defense is so good. But even. I mean, even this, they're five and three at home. I don't even know what to make of Philadelphia. That's why I have them at six, number five. Denver's a great home team, so at least I know what they are. They're good in the fourth quarter. They're good at home. They're 13 and one since week four. Do they have a ceiling with Bo Nix? Maybe. But he is the first quarterback in the super bowl era to lead in pass attempts in his first two seasons. That tells you that Sean Payton trusts him. It's a little like Andrew Luck. We're going to give you the whole playbook. They're also 4 and 2 against playoff teams, so they've beaten good teams. I put them at five, number four. The Rams aren't playing great right now. Three and three over the last six weeks. Six weeks. But I love the fact they've got three different guys with seven sacks. I love the fact they're playing a Carolina team they lost to as a favorite. Devonte Adams comes back. Now, you can beat him downfield. I mean, Carolina's got two big receivers. You can beat them downfield. You can. You can beat them with big perimeter weapons. That's why Philadelphia is a tough matchup for them. But Stafford, the O line, the coach, the weapons. I have the Rams at four, number three. We got to pay attention to Jacksonville, okay? They're eight. No. Since week 11, beating teams by 19 a game, they're like a dominant college team. And three of their four losses have come to teams like you can lose to the Seahawks or the Texans once or the Rams. They lose to the right teams. I mean, they're just. They have had really good draft picks for a long time. They've missed on the coach, but Trevor Lawrence has his kingmaker. I have them at three, number two. I'm going to put New England at two because I love Vrabel. They've won 13 of 14 games and they are a great road team. That matters. Mike Vrabel, third coach to win 14 plus games in his first season. I don't love their O line. Their run game is inconsistent. That's why I have them at number two, number one. I mean, you watch the San Francisco game. Seattle wasted offensive opportunities and totally shut down Christian McCaffrey, which I said, that's like shutting down Barry Sanders or Walter Payton. How do you do that? I like everything. I think their GMs the best personnel guy in the league. Go look at their last nine picks in the first and second round. Nine for nine. They have a rare combination of a quarterback who's highly productive on a team friendly deal and they don't miss on draft picks. Translation, stacked roster. It's better than Philadelphia. Now their own line like New England is okay. My, my top two teams, O lines. By the way, New England and Seattle in the draft both will address their O lines. Both addressed the O lines last year in the first round. So that's where we are. Nick Wright, first things first is joining us live. Okay, that's my final herd hierarchy of the regular season. Anything you like or dislike took 18 weeks.
- [08:39]
Nick Wright
You finally got it right. Perfect, perfect hierarchy. No, I, I the I appreciate the fact that you are giving the Jaguars their respect. You mentioned the winning streak over the last eight games. Over the last six, Trevor Lawrence has 19 touchdowns, one turnover, 290 yards per game. They went to Denver and bludgeoned them. They have beaten the Texans. As you mentioned, 3 of their losses are to 3 of the best teams in the league. Teams in your top 10. And the other one was week two to the Bengals with a healthy Joe Burrow. At least for the beginning of that game. He actually got hurt in the game. They have been a machine the second half of the year and Trevor has cut out the dumb stuff. He always had the highlight stuff, but he also had these red zone turnovers and the inexplicable fumbles and he's cut that out. So they are legitimately dangerous. I because I respect what the Pats have done and I think Drake May is a future if not already superstar. But where I do think the strength of schedule stuff will show is in the postseason when they play the three hardest games they have played all year in a row. If they get to three of them. Which leads me to this. Colin. I think my pick, this is kind of a cowardly pick, but my pick for the AFC is the winner of Jags Bills. I think if the Bills can go to Jacksonville and win, get their first road playoff win, beat a team that hot, then really. And the advantage of having Josh Allen versus this quarterback field. And if the Jags beat Buffalo to win their ninth straight, I really like their chances. I think the, the, the. Yeah, with no disrespect to the Pats or Broncos, that's my AFC pick as we sit here today.
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Colin Cowherd
But here's the thing about Buffalo. First of all they're all for their last eight on the road. Not all. McDermott yeah. I think there's certain sports that you and I know this is true like golf and baseball. You have a lot of downtime so we've seen golfers on Sunday collapse. We've seen great baseball players. A rod admits it in a series against Detroit like couldn't hit generally in basketball, hockey, football you just go there's just too many players. You're not you know. But I will tell you this. When I've watched Buffalo play Kansas City it's maybe not as it's not as projected as maybe Baltimore. I think they get tight and so here's my my two worries about Buffalo. They're a slow starting team that is not that does not win road games against good team. The second thing is if this is tight late huge edge to me Jags huge edge. They've got to win convincingly, don't they?
- [11:35]
Nick Wright
So I, I'm not as much as I like the Jags. I'm not sure I agree with that just because I don't think Josh Allen gets tight late. I think the Josh Allen's last drive against Kansas City last year he wasn't great but aside from that he's performed in these big moments for the most part. I think McDermott's gotten a little tight but I wonder how much of that is just because of the boogeyman across the field and Mahomes where I would be. I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing for the Bills that the Patrick, Lamar and Joe are all burrow are all out of it. It's obviously a good thing in that the field seems so much clearer.
- [12:16]
Colin Cowherd
Right.
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Nick Wright
If you're worried about them getting tight and that's where it could be a bad thing. There has never been I say this confidently having done no research on it but I know it's true. There is never been a six seed in the history of the NFL playoffs with more pressure on them to make the super bowl than the Buffalo Bills.
- [12:35]
Colin Cowherd
That's how I feel that the Mahomesboro Lamar does not play to their favor. Everybody in the room knows you. You're the one team that can't lose this weekend.
- [12:44]
Nick Wright
Well so that's the it is so odd that you have a 6 seed on the road against a red hot 13 win team and if the 6 seed loses people will say they choked and by the end when we say people I could be one of them. I got to see how the game plays out. But I do think that there is more pressure on that player and that team than anyone else in the field by far. I just think that maybe you could say your guy Darnold is a distant second place. But it's so interesting to me. There is way more pressure on six seed Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills than potential league MVP winner of the same division as Josh Allen. Two seeded Patriots. If the Patriots get clipped by your beloved Chargers, people will be disappointed by but say it was a great year and they will make it about Herbert finally breaking through, winning his first big game since I think Mesa Vista High School or wherever he went. I'm not sure. I'm sure, you know, if the Bills lose.
- [13:54]
Colin Cowherd
Oh yeah.
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Nick Wright
I think in part because people don't respect the Jags much as they should and because the other hall of Fame superstar quarterbacks are out of the field. I wonder if it could cost McDermott his job. I don't know if that's fair, but I just, I, I wonder what a loss would mean for that team.
- [14:09]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, especially moving into a new stadium. You could argue let's bring in, you know, let's bring in everybody new. So I don't know if I've ever asked you this. You know my affection for Sam Darnold, but it is interesting. The year that Stafford won the super bowl with the Rams, he led the NFL in interceptions. Through a seven year period of Peyton Manning being the second best quarterback to Brady, he led the NFL in interceptions. Brett Favre, until recently an American icon, absolutely beloved, is one of the all time leaders, if not the all time leader in interceptions. But they cling to Darnold. They cling to him. In fact, I was texting a couple members of the Seattle organization, they're like, why don't people like him? And I said, well, it's a Tony Romo thing. In big games he's had costly turnovers and they stick to him. I always felt this was Andrew Luck who was the best young quarterback I ever saw. But anybody talked about, well, he's reckless. Well, so Stafford, so was Favre, so was Elway, so was Peyton. How do you land on the reckless nature of Darnold? Having won back to back, he's now in a class of Brady Farve, Manning like back to back 13 plus season. Where do you land on the picks And Sam.
- [15:22]
Nick Wright
All right, well listen, I think they were probably, the picks were a little easier to get over with Favre and Payton and the eight MVPs between them. I think that probably helped, you know, What I mean numb the loss a bit by the fact that when these guys weren't throwing picks, they're throwing 40 touchdowns and winning league MVPs. I do think for your right in this regard, it is the fact that prior to Sunday or Saturday night, if you said Sam Darnold big game, only a couple games came to mind and they were all losses and they were losses where he played really poorly. But now, and I guess, you know what, let me amend that if you said that a month ago. Now in the last month he has the really unique 3837 win against the Rams which Colin for the first three quarters of looked like it was another Sam Darnold meltdown game. He was awful and then in the fourth quarter he got better and in overtime was excellent. They steal the win. Saturday night was weird because he wasn't great and the Niners defense is really banged up. But he didn't. He had it was the exact spot he was in last year. Week 181 seed or 5 seed win the game and they won and his defense helped him out. And so I do think that Sam right now does not yet get the benefit of the doubt. One thing that I like about him is he the only person who has more confidence in Sam Darnold than Colin Cowherd is Sam Darnold. Like the Internet, he doesn't get scared. He's going, he's not going to turtle, he's going to keep firing. And I think that could be good for Seattle. I think Seattle is the best team. I say that feeling knowing that if we get SEAHAWKS RAMS Part 3, I'll be picking the Rams. But all things considered, I do think Seattle's the best team and I think that Darnold certainly has more to gain than anybody on his side of the bracket. It would be the revisionist and maybe accurate history of if the Seahawks go on this run, it will just be my God, the Jets almost ruined an otherwise excellent player and look at what he's been since he left there. If they get clipped in their first home playoff game, people are going to feel like you just can't trust Sam Darnold in big spots. It might not be fair, but it's pro football. The sample sizes are this big and that's how we evaluate you when you don't have a long resume.
- [18:03]
Colin Cowherd
So if Drake may lost to Justin Herbert and Harbaugh, I agree with you. People would say it's his first playoff game, he's going to I think if Bo Nix even lost in the playoffs somewhere in The AFC people would say, oh, he lost to Buffalo or he lost to Jacksonville. They're better teams. Jags beat him twice. But it feels like Caleb's at home. No Micah Parsons, he has the better O line statistically, the better consistent run game, excellent weapons, and a brilliant coach. It does feel like if Caleb and the Bears offense can't generate points to beat them, he probably deserves a little heat despite the history of this franchise. Right.
- [18:44]
Nick Wright
So I think the qualifier you put on at the end is the most important one. If they lose a game similarly to how they lost Week 18 to Detroit because the offense doesn't perform, then absolutely. If they lose a game like how they lost to the Niners where the defense just can't get a stop, then I won't feel that's fair. But the Bears offense against this banged up packers defense should one absolutely should win. They're at home. They are healthier. They, they. They knew that this was the matchup they were going to get if they got the 2 seed because the packers have been locked into the 7. So if the Bears lose because the offense doesn't perform, then Caleb goes back to being behind schedule. It's very like he was he. At various points this year, he's been behind schedule, ahead of schedule, on schedule. If he's awesome in this playoff game and they win, he's back to being ahead of schedule. If he's bad and they lose, he's probably a little behind schedule. And can I say one quick thing about the opponent, about the Packers? Yeah, because it's very interesting. Everybody knows Matt LaFleur is a really good coach. I feel like everybody knows that. We watched Malik Willis and all of a sudden we're like, man, he just built a quarterback out of clay. But for a guy who is just universally respected as this really good coach, it is interesting to me that his final year with Rogers, they were playing in week 18, that if they won, they would be the 7 seed. Then his first year with love, they were the seventh seed. And then last year, his second year with love, they were the seventh seed. And this year, the packers find themselves as the 7 seed. Nobody has benefited more from NFL playoff expansion than the Matt LaFleur, Green Bay packers and I. And so that we feel like they're really, really close and really good and got them lucky. And I feel like that. But they have won eight games, nine games, 11 games, nine games over the last four years. They have won one playoff game, that game against Dallas. I also feel like there is a little pressure on Leflore. Maybe not this game because they're so banged up, but at some point you would like to see this packers team be the three seed and division champion. Something like that. We haven't seen anything like that since Bretford. Since Aaron Rodgers winning MVPs.
- [21:15]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. It's funny, when he got the job in Green bay, remember he, McVeigh and Shanahan were all together in D.C. yes. And I called somebody in the league, been a good source for years and I said, what do you make of it? And he said, the reputation is McVeigh of the three is the culture guy. Like he just, he just bursts the door down. He's the most impressive at the podium. He's the most impressive culture builder. Shanahan is the best scheme guy. He's on that play sheet. And LaFleur is neither. But he's solid at both that. He's a culture. He can do the schemes. I actually think your Malik Willis point has been so beneficial to Leflore that you're like, God, Tennessee just got him out of the building and the kid's going to eat. He. I would absolutely give him a two, three year deal. So I think you're right. The mica injury gives him a pass. But today if I said to you name the top six or seven coaches and he's won a lot, I don't think he'd make most people's list. It's just.
- [22:22]
Nick Wright
It's just interesting because it feels like the packers have been really close post Rogers and they're the seventh seed every year. They're literally have been the seventh seed every single year. And up until the pandemic, you know what the seven seed was out of the playoffs, like seven seed was not a thing. And so that part's just interesting to me. For a Packers team that opened as a favorite in Chicago and it's now flipped to Chicago being the slight favorite.
- [22:51]
Colin Cowherd
Great seeing you, buddy. First things first.
- [22:53]
Nick Wright
Oh yeah. Great seeing you. And happy birthday. You thought he was going to get away with that? Happy birthday. You guys better have a great compilation of the best cowherd moments. This is a big one too. Happy birthday, buddy. I'll see you.
- [23:05]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. It's about a 13 second clip of my greatest moments in the history of FS1. Nick Wright's awesome Greg Olson last hour. Yeah. And I remember having this conversation. They're like, I like Matt LaFleur. He doesn't own the room like McVeigh. He's not. I mean, maybe nobody in the league's the scheme guy of like an Andy Reid or a Peyton or a Shanahan, but he's, he's solid at both. And we talked about this yesterday. We were doing our morning prep meeting and I'm like, I can't believe this guy gets this much heat. But when you put it in those terms, seven seed, seven seed, seven seed. And you're like, I don't think it's bad being a seven seed this year because Jordan Love's injury and Micah's injury and the NFC's better. But the previous years, there's an argument in LA, it's the herd, one more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from the Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio. And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from 7 to 10pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show. That's right, you can now watch the Odd Couple Live on YouTube every day. All you gotta do, search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube again. YouTube. Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out on YouTube and subscribe.
- [24:34]
Grainger Advertiser
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- [25:04]
Ed Zitron
I'm Ed Zetron of the Better Offline Podcast and I want you to join me at this year's Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Starting January 6th through January 10th, 2026, we're doing 10 radio style podcast episodes about the world's biggest tech conference. And I'll be joined by David Roth, Chloe Radcliffe, Adam Conover, Cory Doctorow, and a host of other guests to tell you all about what the tech industry is desperate to sell you in 2026.
- [25:27]
Colin Cowherd
Today I did five hours of back to back panels on artificial intelligence. It included a number of great moments, including an entire room full of people laughing about people losing their jobs due to artificial intelligence.
- [25:38]
Ed Zitron
It's going to be the single best coverage of CES ever recorded, even if it Kills us. Listen to Better offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you happen to get your podcasts.
- [25:51]
Colin Cowherd
So much good going on. Greg Olson's joining us last hour. Always love to have Greg on the show. Kevin Stefanski apparently interviewing eventually. Atlanta's interested, Tennessee's interested, Giants are interested. Cleveland had seen enough of him despite the fact he was two time NFL coach of the year in Cleveland. J. Mac with the news. No, no, turn on the news. This is the Herdline news.
- [26:19]
Greg Olson
All right, let's start with the Eagles. They are hosting the Niners this weekend. Colin Sunday 4:30 on Fox. Good game. Nick Sirianni rested his guys in week 18 ahead of this Niners matchup. Sirianni's confident Jalen hurts. His experience will carry them.
- [26:35]
Nick Wright
Obviously Jalen's a great player and has had a lot of big game experience. You know, the amount of big games we play on a yearly basis in our regular seasons, you know, are huge. You know, every time he steps out in the field, I feel like Jalen does a great job of, you know, continuing to raise his level of play. And so, yeah, he has a ton of experience and the quarterback we're playing has a lot of experience too.
- [27:03]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, well, you know that my theory on four, if, if the line is four, four and a half or five, take the favorite. Yeah, it's Vegas. Vegas is telling you one team is better. Vegas would rather the number be three, four and a half. That's, that's, they're telling you Philadelphia is going to win this game. I, I, the numbers leading me to this.
- [27:28]
Greg Olson
Yeah, the, the, the numbers for Hertz say that in the last three years. Look at those playoff numbers. Colin Z, very impressive. Six and two. Now just for fun, I went and compiled all the NFC quarterbacks and their playoff wins. What, what's that matter? It's clutch important January football. Caleb and Bryce Young are rookies, so they have zero. Sam Darnold, Owen 1 in the playoffs. Jordan Love 1 and 2. Brock Purdy 4 and 2. Matt Stafford 5 and 5. Jaylen Herz, the much maligned Jalen Hurts 6 and 3 is career in the playoffs. The most experienced quarterback with the wins. Stafford obviously has played longer. But Colin, I think that's interesting that everybody's selling the Eagles short. And as you open the show with today, only two quarterbacks in the entire playoffs were not first round picks. And they're meeting Sunday on Fox. Brock Purdy and Jalen hurts. Everyone else was a first round pick. Somehow Hertz was overlooked. I, I like him a lot.
- [28:23]
Colin Cowherd
I like the overlooked. He was drafted in the second round. So was Drew Brees.
- [28:27]
Greg Olson
Well, remember they had Carson Wentz as their guy and they were like that's a smart organization. You say this all the time about.
- [28:34]
Colin Cowherd
You have to see problems. Howie Roseman before they appear.
- [28:38]
Nick Wright
Yeah.
- [28:39]
Colin Cowherd
And the really smart teams in this league are draft day. They're often drafting positions that they don't have an immediate need. And it tells you they're probably moving off a player who's not good in the room. They don't love his agent. Negotiations have started. So yeah, I mean Philadelphia does a really good job of moving off potential problems a year early.
- [29:04]
Greg Olson
Really smart. A.J. brown in the off season. I think he's gone. I think they my mock draft. I think they'll get a wide receiver in the first round. Would not be surprised at all. Eagles have a great roster. Like they're almost set. Maybe you get another offensive lineman. All right, let's move to the Rams. Colin they they were missing Devonte Adams for the final three games. With that hamstring reportedly he could have played in Week 18. They decided to sit him. All appearances are. Devontae will be good to go Saturday against the panthers on Fox McVay saying all the right things. I'm surprised this is still 10. I can't make a case at all for Carolina. Their best bet is, hey, we just got to run the ball, keep Stafford and Puka and Devonte off the field. Otherwise this to me is an easy revenge hammer for the Rams. Do you think the Panthers have any shot here?
- [29:47]
Colin Cowherd
Not much of one. I think it's a benefit that Devonte is back and they lost. Previously here. It's a wake up call. I told you this yesterday. If I have a blazing five this week, Rams at tens in it at ten and a half, I'd stay away. It's. It's. The Rams have everything. They're healthy, they haven't played great. So there's certainly urgency in the building. I do think Carolina, you said something yesterday. If you go back to that win over them, they really didn't. They had a couple of big plays and Stafford was reckless.
- [30:20]
Greg Olson
He had a pick six that was a killer.
- [30:22]
Colin Cowherd
The one thing I will say about them, between Dowdle Bryce Young's mobility and their size on the perimeter, they can hit for big plays against the Rams. You can't be super aggressive against them because both their receivers can beat you down the field and the Rams corners. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rams used two picks early on corners. So there, there is a vulnerability and you don't want it close because the Rams special teams are a liability.
- [30:46]
Greg Olson
So you pointed that out. So two fourth downs. Bryce Young beat him on deep bombs for touchdowns. I looked it up. You know who didn't play in that game? Quinton Lake. You know who's back this week? The great safety Quentin Lake. He's expected to play for the Rams. Huge get back.
- [30:59]
Nick Wright
Final story.
- [31:00]
Greg Olson
Let's go to the NBA. Warriors were in action last night at the Intuit Dome, and Steve Kerr, in a rare moment of just, I don't know, losing his mind.
- [31:09]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [31:09]
Greg Olson
Really lost it and was ejected. And also the staff here really like that Snoop Dogg. Yes. The awesome rapper was NBC's play by play guy and had a great time calling a highlight here.
- [31:24]
Colin Cowherd
Oh, look at Steve Ker. He's all the way out here. Uhoh. Steve, don't get thrown out. Get. Get him out of there. Get him out of there. Back him up. Back him up, GP Back him up. Steve. Ready to fire on him. He's already gone, Steve. Banging Inglewood right now. Inglewood. Get him. Steve. You in Englewood, Steve, The Arizona Wildcat that came out and look at him.
- [31:48]
Greg Olson
Steve Kerr is going through it right now, man. This Curry, you know, they're saying all the wrong things. Your guy Draymond, is he. Can I still call him your guy or no more.
- [31:57]
Colin Cowherd
He's. He's everybody's guy.
- [31:59]
Greg Olson
He's really on the struggle bus. Keeps getting ejected, arguing. Colin, they're not a good team right now. Clippers are surging with Kawhi. I know nobody cares, but I just wonder what becomes of Curry in Golden State. Because, Colin, we talked about this for like a year. At some point, do you just say, hey, we can't build around you? Do you want to get traded? Like, I don't know what you do. Because they're like a fringe play in team right now. That's not what we want from Curry.
- [32:23]
Colin Cowherd
It's sentimentality is a powerful thing. They should have blown this team up after they beat the Celtics. They should have moved players and they couldn't, they couldn't break them up. Why not? Fans get over it really fast, this idea. Oh, they should have moved, Clay. They. They. You know, I also think they didn't do well in the draft.
- [32:46]
Greg Olson
The Kuminga, Weissman, they really didn't hit on anything.
- [32:48]
Colin Cowherd
They don't, they don't work with staff. So I, I wouldn't want to trade staff. He's still the best shooter in the world. But there's, you know, it's hard to have sympathy when we all saw this three years ago. I mean, they've been old for three years. It's like Milwaukee make a move or not.
- [33:03]
Greg Olson
Well, just in the NFL playoffs, we don't have Mahomes, we don't have Burrow, we don't have Lamar. It's okay. It's a bit of a reset. It's interesting and wide open. But in the NBA, we need Curry in the playoffs. Come on, he's one of the three most exciting players in the league. You know, along with Wemby and Luka.
- [33:16]
Colin Cowherd
I mean, they have the third fewest fast break points, fewest points in the paint. Like they just score on threes. They're not fast enough to beat you down the floor. They don't have size. Like it's over. Like make a big, take a big swing. You've got so much equity with the fans because you've won so many titles. It's like after Jordan, they were still selling out games for years in Chicago because you had so many blocks season ticket holders that had so many quality memories. They just love going back to the center and watching games and feeling the love.
- [33:43]
Greg Olson
And your, your people in Chicago remember the Eddie Curry, Tyson Chandler days. Those guys were big time recruits. It didn't quite pan out.
- [33:51]
Colin Cowherd
But J. Mack with the news, well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the Herd Lie news. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.
- [34:07]
Grainger Advertiser
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- [34:36]
Ed Zitron
I'm Ed Zitron of the Better Offline Podcast and I want you to join me at this year's Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Starting January 6th through January 10th, 2026, we're doing 10 radio style podcast episodes about the world's biggest tech conference and we're going to dig into the latest and weirdest gadgets, gizmos and high horrible AI gear that the tech industry is desperate to sell you all while covering the biggest stories in Silicon Valley as the AI bubble threatens to burst. I'll be joined by David Roth, Chloe Radcliffe, Adam Conover, Cory Doctorow, Ed Ongueso Jr. Robert Evans, and an incredible cast of the greatest talent in the tech media with over 18 hours of interviews, commentary and bizarre stories all told from the Better Offline Pop up studio connected to its own open bar.
- [35:18]
Colin Cowherd
Today I did five hours of back to back panels on artificial intelligence. It included a number of great moments, including an entire room full of people laughing about people losing their jobs due to artificial intelligence.
- [35:29]
Ed Zitron
Will we make it out Alive? There's only one way to find out. Tune in starting January 6th through January 10th, 2026 and listen to the literal Best tech podcast ever recorded. Listen to Better offline on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts. Wherever you happen to get your podcasts.
- [35:45]
Greg Olson
Wildcard Weekend has two huge games on Fox. Saturday MVP front runner Matthew Stafford leads the Rams against Bryce Young and the Panthers. Sunday Jalen Hurts and the defending champion Eagles take on Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers. It's wildcard weekend powered by Verizon, Saturday and Sunday on Fox.
- [36:07]
Colin Cowherd
If the Niners start strong, if they have a good first couple of drives on script, that game gets really interesting. But to me it's just remarkable. The Niners are here. Seriously, what a, what a coaching job. I mean, I look at the Chargers, how do they win 11 games with that offensive line? It's a credit to Herbert. How did The Niners win 12 games with that defense? It's a credit to Robert Sala. It's not just about hoisting trophies. So there's a story. Todd McShay came out and I totally agree with him. He said, hey, Dante Moore, stay at Oregon, don't go to the Jets. And this is one of those things. I've always felt bad for professional athletes. The harder you work and the better you are, you go to the worst company. Like if you're a top law student from Virginia, Yale, Cal, Berkeley, you could you pick your law firm, you get choices in any other business except in sports, the better you are the crappier franchise you go to. And everybody understands that. But there are moments like the New York jets current situation where you have a coach that is so far over his skis. They did not have an interception this year in the league in a division with tua, who was second in the league in interceptions and you played him twice that I think if I was Dante Moore and kind of wanted to come out. I would stay in college so that I don't play with the New York Jets. I don't think I've ever said that before. I just say, you got to give me something. You have to get me. That doesn't mean, like, Las Vegas is different for Fernando Mendoza. They have a Pro bowl tight end, a really good young running back. They're going to have a ton of cap space. Tom Brady's involved. And I'm like, all right. Like I, like I could, I could talk myself into that. Even if I don't think Mark Davis is an elite owner, you've got to give these young people something I've said before. The Giants and the Falcons, I mean, you start looking at the Giants, for instance, they're drafting five. If I was a quarterback coming out, you know, and, and, and, and Jackson Dart wasn't there, well, I've got a left tackle, Andrew Thomas, number one receiver, Neighbors. I got Scatter Boo and a defense that has a pass rush in a division where only absolutely Philadelphia's got better players. I, I would have no problem coming out if Jackson Dart wasn't there. I think Jackson Dart today believes he's in a pretty good situation. If Scatter Boo and Andrew Thomas can, and neighbors can stay healthy and feel pretty good about it. But you can't ask a guy in the Nil era to come out of Oregon, which was 15 years ahead of everybody else in terms of facilities and treating players like, I mean, they, they didn't have to pay him. They treated them so well at Oregon. Their training tables, their facilities, the game day environment. It's a great city. Eugene's a wonderful place to go to college. It's like, I'm not leaving. And now I get paid. I'm not leaving. So I do think you'd. You occasionally have really bad situations. Now there's an argument. Houston was one of those. And then C.J. stroud got DeMeco Ryan's. So if the jets had D' Amico Ryan's, okay, you're giving me something to grab onto. There's nothing for Dante Moore to grab onto. It's hard enough. I mean, Jackson Dart and Cam Ward, who were the first round quarterbacks last year, they're going to be on the third coach this year. It's just chaos. So here was Joel Klatt on quarterbacks like Dante Moore. Just stay in college another year. Mahomes had a ton of starts. Matthew Stafford had a ton of starts. Look at what he's doing. There's a good chance he's going to win the mvp. So this, this has borne out. This is not a one or two year sample size in the National Football League. This has been a 25 year deal where we can look and see who's succeeding in the postseason in particular. And that's why it's easy to, you know, say to a guy like Dante Moore or a lot of these quarterbacks stay in school, stay in school and now they're getting paid to do so. Now I was saying, you know, I think Dante Moore is going to be a good pro. I what's, what happens now is everybody gets picked apart. Listening to people criticize Fernando Mendoza. I've seen like multiple people come out. I don't know, he's 6, 5 with a good arm, moves well enough and Indiana runs a lot of pro style stuff. Mendoza is going to succeed unless he gets bad coaches. Dante Moore, similarly, great kid, legendary reputation, hard worker, throws a gorgeous ball, got a little bit of mobility too. Those are both really good potential prospects. But Dante Moore's 20, you know, Mendoza has already been to Cal for two years where he had to carry him and then at Indiana. So he's got like a real college experience. He doesn't need another year even if he wanted to come back. Or he could come back. Is Mendoza junior or a senior? I didn't watch him a lot at Cal for two years. Highlights. I see him at Indiana. He's ready for the pros. He, Mendoza is ready for the pros. Dante Moore's 20 needs another 15 starts. I don't think he's quite ready to overcome a little bit of chaos, which even Mendoza will have to overcome. And he's a probably a higher end prospect. That's where I feel, by the way, the Miami Dolphins are not a guiding light or a North Star over the last 30 years, right? Yeah, the Don Shula days are long gone. But it is interesting that they are considering bringing back Tua and Mike McDaniel and I actually agree with them. So you owe Tua. I think the number is like 50 million and then he's off the books. Well, he doesn't have much of a market and the truth is he's comfortable in this system. I think Miami's problem, the root problem was roster construction. So if you their GM think about this. So they draft Tua and then the next year they draft Jalen Waddle. So they've got plenty of speed at receiver and they double down and go, let's give up draft capital and pay A fortune for Tyreek Hill. Well, Tua does not have a big arm. It's not a great deep ball thrower. And that's what Tyreek Hill does. And you already had Jalen Waddle speed. You're not building a track team. So if you have two as a quarterback, you need a good old line and a consistent backup. They had neither. So my take is Tua's comfortable with McDaniel. McDaniel's comfortable with Tua. They made a Pro bowl together. The problem in Miami was roster construction. I mean, there are certain quarterbacks in this league that smaller quarterbacks or like Jared Goff. Jared Goff needs protection. Matt Stafford needs protection. TUA needs protection. Lamar Jackson in his prime. Mahomes Darnold can run around like some guys can live. Like right now. Sam Darnold is a Super bowl favorite. And there's an argument the second worst offensive line in the playoffs is Seattle Gray. Zable is help, but it's not a good old line. Darnold can make stuff up, right. He can move to pocket run on his own. So here, Here is Mike McDaniel on Potentially. They haven't hired a GM yet, running it back with Tua.
- [43:30]
Nick Wright
First things first. You know, I don't think anybody quite understands what, what it would be like to be through the ringer of a. Of a year that he's had. So to remove emotions to, you know, have a conversation will be very healthy.
- [43:51]
Colin Cowherd
So you probably want to hire an offensive coach. And if you go look at the first two seasons with Mike McDaniel until the roster construction was just too difficult to overcome. They were making Pro Bowls, they got to the playoffs. So I look at McDaniel and two, and my take is why not bring it back one more year again if it was a great year for candidates. They had a top three offense in the first two seasons and then Tua, not surprisingly, got hurt. So I kind of look at Miami and my take is the first couple years this thing totally worked. But Tua got hurt. They didn't address the offensive line. It's been the weakness of the team for years. That's on the GM and he's gone. So again, it's easy to just say clean house, but the coach is capable if you give him something to a made a Pro bowl when he was upright and you'd want to hire an offensive coach anyway. And it's a weak job market and Stefanski doesn't appear to be in line for it. So I don't always trust all the things the Dolphins do, but I don't think it's the craziest thing when you owe him 50 large anyway to bring two and McDaniel back for one more year. Don't think it's the craziest thing. Greg Olson around the Corner.
- [45:12]
Grainger Advertiser
If you're an H Vac technician and a call comes in, Grainger knows that you need a partner that helps you find the right product fast and hassle free. And you know that when the first problem of the day is a clanking blower motor, there's no need to break a sweat. With Grainger's easy to use website and product details, you're confident you'll soon have everything humming right along. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [45:41]
Ed Zitron
I'm Ed Zedron of the Better Offline Podcast and I want you to join me at this year's Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Starting January 6th through January 10th, 2026, we're doing 10 radio style podcast episodes of about the World's biggest Tech Conference and I'll be joined by David Roth, Chloe Radcliffe, Adam Conover, Cory Doctorow, and a host of other guests to tell you all about what the tech industry is desperate to sell you in 2026.
- [46:04]
Colin Cowherd
Today I did five hours of back to back panels on artificial intelligence. It included a number of great moments, including an entire room full of people laughing about people losing their jobs due to artificial intelligence.
- [46:16]
Ed Zitron
It's going to be the single best coverage of CES ever recorded, even if it kills us. Listen to Better offline on the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts Wherever you happen to get.
- [46:25]
Colin Cowherd
Your podcasts, this is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.