THE HERD - Hour 2 - The early top 10 teams for 2026, NFL draft prospects, Greg Cosell

Summary

The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Hour 2 (February 11, 2026)

Main Theme:

Colin Cowherd and co-hosts dive into a post-Super Bowl NFL landscape, unveiling an early 2026 top-10 teams ranking, examining NFL draft prospects, and engaging with Greg Cosell (NFL Films) for deep analysis of Super Bowl performances and evolving league trends.

---

Early 2026 NFL Top-10 Teams (00:00–09:55)

Colin’s Approach to Team Improvement (02:36):

• NFL franchises improve via three avenues:
  • Coaching/staff hires (most important, “worth about 70%”)
  • Free agency (~15%)
  • The draft (~15%)
• “Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel are proof the coaching is about 70%. … The coach making 18 million a year has a lot of say in even the draft and free agency.” (Colin Cowherd, 03:21)

Colin’s Early Top-10 Teams:

• 10. Kansas City Chiefs
  • Three picks in the top 75, needs at pass rush, offensive tackle, running back.
  • “If they get that Notre Dame running back in the first round ... absolute home run. I have them at 10.”
• 9. Buffalo Bills
  • Tough schedule, uncertain defensive stars, questions about coach Joe Brady’s upgrade over McDermott.
• 8. New England Patriots
  • O-line overhaul needed (Drake May sacked 68 times), toughest upcoming schedule, high on potential but not a conference favorite.
• 7. Detroit Lions
  • Impressed by OC hire, star players secured at key positions (pass rusher, tackle, weapon, QB).
• 6. Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Liam Cohen’s turnaround, first-year coach with historic win increase, expect continued growth.
• 5. Los Angeles Chargers
  • Upgraded OC, tackles returning, cap space to build around Justin Herbert, expect major offensive leap.
• 4. Chicago Bears
  • Overcame close losses, defensive draft focus, seen as a rising power.
• 3. Denver Broncos
  • Injuries derailed Super Bowl run, led league in sack differential, strong head coach, QB, and roster.
• 2. Los Angeles Rams
  • Outgained opponents in all five losses, top-graded O/D (PFF), survived the hardest schedule, only concern is Stafford’s age.
• 1. Seattle Seahawks
  • Praises Mike Macdonald, GM John Schneider's “drafting record,” young stars on rookie deals, defensively dynamic.
  • “Seattle just doesn't miss. … Their top two picks, … I mean stars the last four years in the draft.” (Colin Cowherd, 07:53)

Notable Absences & Reactions:

• Absence of Eagles, Joe Burrow (Bengals), Lamar Jackson (Ravens), and Texans called out by Nick Wright and J. Mac (09:07–09:35).
  • “So no Eagles anywhere to be found? No Joe Burrow? No Lamar Jackson?” (Nick Wright, 09:07)
• Discussion notes on why certain teams like the Ravens (cap constraints) and Texans (QB regression) are left out.

---

Greg Cosell: Deep Super Bowl & Player Analysis (09:56–23:44)

Sam Darnold's Super Bowl Performance (10:09–12:15)

• Cosell on Darnold’s Play:
  • “He played that game the way it was demanded to be played, given the way their defense played.” (Greg Cosell, 10:47)
  • Managed the game efficiently; missed a few throws that could have blown out the Pats had he connected.
  • Endorses the idea of 'game commander' instead of the outdated 'game manager'.
• Notable Quote:
  • “Tom Brady talks about this all the time. You play the game the way the game demands that you play it.” (Greg Cosell, 11:38)

Kenneth Walker’s Unique Style (12:15–13:51)

• Lauded for breaking tackles and his “calculated patience,” with Cosell comparing his patience to Le’Veon Bell.
• Walker’s edge runs and ability to manipulate defenders highlighted as keys to his effectiveness against a tough Pats defense.

Patriots’ Defensive Game Plan (13:51–14:46)

• Cosell credits New England’s defense for keeping Seattle at bay for much of the game, highlighting rookie safety Woodson.
• Points out “if Darnold hits two throws, this is a rout” but Pats hung tough.

On Drake May & Pats’ Offensive Struggles (15:09–16:46)

• Seattle came out blitzing, then shifted to clever alignment and front manipulation (using five/six-man fronts to dictate protection).
• May “started playing fast” mentally and physically, leading to mistakes.

Seattle’s Defensive “Secret Sauce” (17:27–18:35)

• Ability to stop the run with a two-high safety look thanks to dominant tackles Leonard Williams, Murphy, Reed.
• “They’re able to stop the run without having to allocate a safety ... they can keep them in a too deep shell.” (Greg Cosell, 17:27)

New England Offense: Line and Personnel Issues (19:04–20:03)

• Seattle induced one-on-one protection, exposing the Patriots’ inferior O-line, especially at left tackle.
• Football is often “matchup football”—Seattle just had superior athletes up front.

Great Defensive Coaching (21:16–23:44)

• Mike Macdonald’s design dissected:
  • Example: on 3rd & 15, clever front alignment and unaccounted blitzing (Witherspoon) cause havoc.
  • Emphasizes that this early pressure “got Drake May just playing fast throughout the game.”
• “This is just beautiful design … when you’re a quarterback, you feel this, you see it … everything just happens too fast.” (Greg Cosell, 22:04)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Coaching value in NFL Success:
  “It’s mostly the coach.” (Colin Cowherd, 03:07)

• Sam Darnold’s Maturation:
  “He played efficient football ... not about putting up big stats, he played that game the right way.” (Greg Cosell, 11:43)

• On Blitz Manipulation:
  “They did such a good job of that ... lined up with a lot of five-man fronts, six-man fronts that dictates how you have to pass protect.” (Greg Cosell, 15:42)

• Walker Compared to Le'Veon Bell:
  “There were times watching the tape where I thought of Le’Veon Bell with how patient he was.” (Greg Cosell, 13:33)

• On Defensive Coaches' Complexity:
  “Eye candy … for someone like myself watching tape, this is just unbelievably good.” (Greg Cosell on Mike Macdonald, 21:21)

---

Discussion of Coaching Hires, OC Openings, and the Chargers (32:01–50:26)

• Seattle OC Vacancy:
  • Concerns over promoting from within (Andrew Ginoco or Jake Peets) after Clint Kubiak departure.
  • “With very few exceptions, I don’t like promoting from within. ... When you lose a legend, go broad with your search.” (Colin Cowherd, 33:06)
• Kansas City Chiefs Outlook:
  • Chiefs have weak O-line, secondary, lack cap room. Must “nail these picks” in the draft to retain contention (35:58).
  • “There’s just no room for error … there’s nowhere you can start the Chiefs other than third place in the division right now.” (Nick Wright, 36:00)
• Chargers Ascending:
  • Optimism with OC hire and cap space: “They will feel to me in September we’ll all be saying, ‘Oh, that’s a Super Bowl team.’” (Colin Cowherd, 50:23)

---

NBA Quick Hits – Jason Tatum/ Celtics (37:24–41:55)

• Caution over Jason Tatum’s Achilles return: pace of the modern NBA raises risk of re-injury.
  • “Boston’s very well run. They have a solid roster. They’ve got six more years with this group. There is no rush.” (Colin Cowherd, 39:38)

---

Fun: Darnold Works Studios – Coaching Carousel Movie Parodies (46:04–50:14)

• Colin introduces “Darnold Works Studios,” poking fun at NFL coaching changes via movie parody pitches:
  • “Once Upon a Time in Solid Wood” (defense gets top billing)
  • “Being John Harbaugh-vich” (inside a championship coach’s mind)
  • “Halfley Baked” (Miami’s new regime)
  • “Steeler Magnolia” (AFC North relationships)
  • “Monken Impossible” (fixing QBs in the AFC North)
  • “Smart and Smarter” (Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel collaboration)

---

Key Timestamps

• Colin’s Top-10 Teams: 02:36–09:55
• Cosell on Darnold and the Super Bowl: 10:09–12:15
• Kenneth Walker Analysis: 12:15–13:51
• Patriots Defense & Super Bowl Breakdown: 13:51–14:46
• Seattle’s Gameplan vs. Drake May: 15:35–16:46
• Secret Sauce: Seattle Run Defense: 17:27–18:35
• Mike Macdonald’s Defensive Masterclass: 21:16–23:44
• Seattle OC Discussion: 32:01–33:11
• Chiefs' Roster/Draft Needs: 35:01–36:45
• Chargers Optimism: 50:26

---

Overall Tone

The episode is a dynamic blend of analysis and banter, with Colin setting the table for big-picture NFL debates, analytical deep-dives with Greg Cosell, and playful segments lampooning the NFL’s annual coaching shuffle. The panel is sharp, opinionated, and unafraid to challenge each other’s takes.

---

Summary prepared for listeners seeking the analysis, top team insights, and key takeaways from The Herd – Hour 2, Feb. 11, 2026.

Transcript

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees from the big guys. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage. Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals. Wasabi driving innovation in data storage for up to 80% less than the other guys. Try for [e-mail], wasabi Hot Cloud Storage proud partner of the Volume Podcast Network hey, it's Kavino and Rich ready to tackle your financial goals? We Bull makes it simple to start investing, no matter your experience, whether you're actively trading or building. For the long term, We Bull gives you the tools to invest your way. Trade stocks, options, ETFs and more, or explore cash management and retirement accounts to help your money work harder in the long term all in one platform. With advanced trading tools and an intuitive app, Webull helps you stay informed and in control. Don't sit on the sidelines. Download the Webull app today W E B U L l or visit webull.com We Bull Financial LLC member SIPC FINRA investing involves risk for more information, visit webull.com disclosures hey, this is US Olympic gold medalist Tara Davis Woodhull and I'm US Paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhull.

[Nick Wright]

As athletes, our lives are about having a clear path and a team that you can absolutely trust. So when it came to getting the.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Best mortgage, we chose PennyMac.

[Nick Wright]

PennyMac is proud to be the official mortgage provider of Team USA and you.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Learn more at pennymac.com PennyMac Loan Services, LLC equal housing lender NMLS ID 35953 licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act. Conditions and restrictions may apply. Insurance may all seem the same on the surface, but having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. As the leading auto and homeowners insurer in the US State Farm is there how and where you need them. Whether that's in person, with a local State Farm agent, on the phone, online or through their mobile app, State Farm can help you find the right coverage for your needs. Don't take a chance with insurance coverage that may not meet your needs, and don't settle for insurance that may only be halfway there. Stop living on a prayer. Get State Farm like a good neighbor. State Farm is there. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

[Colin Cowherd]

Now let's get this party started.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Here we go. It's hour two. It is a Wednesday. We're live in Chicago. It is the Herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening or watching. Thanks for making us part of your day. Greg Cosell is going to show up about four or five minutes. So I, I was thinking about this. I know it's really, really early, but the NFL season is over. And once an NFL season ends, there are three ways to improve your team. Number one is the coaching and staff hires. Number two is free agency, and number three is the draft. Those are the the primary ways. I think the draft's worth about 15%. I think free agencies are worth about 15%. And I think Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel are proof the coaching is about 70%. Now, most rosters don't radically change, and if they do, like New England change this year, well, it's up to Mike Vrabel, the coach. Okay? So to me, the coaching thing really matters. So if you look at the teams that have made big jumps in a year, Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel, Jim Harbaugh, Liam Cohen, Sean Payton, it's not all players. It's mostly the coach. And if they do change the roster, the coach has big say in that. The coach making 18 million a year has a lot of say in even the draft and free agency. So I mean, the Titans and Giants had a lot of money last year. They didn't have the right coaches. Okay, New England had a lot of money last year in free agency. They had the right coach. I mean, Jackson Dart and Drake May are both talented. It's the coach. So in Seattle ace the draft. So it's not the draft. Seattle ace the draft. They had two guys, a guard and a safety out of the draft class that had an impact. Two of 22 starters. And that's not counting special teams. And their special teams in Seattle were impactful. So I do believe you can look after all the coaching hires. I'm going to do a top 10 after the coaching hires, after free agency and after the draft. And I would say here we go. Number 10. I think the Chiefs, I'd put them at number 10 right now. They've got three really good picks. Three of the top 75 picks. They need to get a rush and an offensive tackle. Probably a running back. If they get that Notre Dame running back in the first round. I don't think they will, but if they do, absolute home run. I have him at 10. Number nine would be Buffalo. Okay, Buffalo doesn't have a lot of cap space and they don't have a Pro Bowler on defense right now. Joe Brady. Is he an Upgrade over Sean McDermott? I don't necessarily think so. I'm going to wait and see. Their schedule is brutal. Rams, Texans, AFC West, NFC North. Brutal, brutal schedule. Number six, the Patriots. Number eight, the Patriots. I like New England, but Drake May was sacked 68 times this year. The O line doesn't need a tweak. It mostly outside of guard. Needs an overhaul. Three straight playoff games with eight plus points at one point in the super bowl. Eight drives, eight punts and seven completions. They also played an incredibly weak schedule next year I think it's a top six most difficult schedule. They'll be a very good team. I don't think in the AFC they'll represent the conference in the Super Bowl. Number seven, I would say the Detroit Lions. I really like their OC higher out of Arizona. I was surprised how good the Cardinals offense was at times this year with Jacoby Brissette. I think they've got their star players all signed and they've got star players at key positions. Pass rusher, tackle, weapon, quarterback. I have the Lions at seven. Number six, Liam Cohen. Year one. What a turnaround by the Jaguars. Top 10 in offense and defense. They're only going to get better. I mean, listen, first coach to ever win 13 plus games taken over a team with four fewer wins. Only first year head coach. That's pretty good. That's pretty good team. So and I and I think they didn't have Travis Hunter playing much. He should play a role going forward. Jags at 6. I think the Chargers are going to feel like a Super bowl team in September. Upgraded OC bolter, tackles back, tons of cap space. And I think they're going to spend it on offense to protect Justin Herbert as they should. The defense may not be as good without Jesse Minter. It'll be fine. But I think they're going to look like a different team offensively next year. I'd put the Bears at 4. I know you think it's high. The Rams had to play a perfect game and beat him in overtime in the playoffs. Last four losses all came in one score games. Teams by the way went 2 and 14 and 1 after they played the Bears. I don't know what that means, but it's something. They did not take the ball away in the playoffs like they did in the regular season. I think they have spent almost their entire draft capital on defensive players. Number three, the Denver Broncos. Not only were they missing Bo Nix, but J.K. dobbins and two of their top three receivers in the playoff game. They should have been the super bowl team. They matched up with Seattle much better. I think Seattle would have won, but Denver kind of felt like between the blizzard and their injuries, they got bad breaks. Fewest sacks allowed. Tied for the fewest sacks allowed and the most sacks on defense. I'm sorry. I like the coach, the roster and the quarterback. Number two. And maybe they should be number one. I'd put the Rams outgained opponents even in their five losses this year. Highest gridded offense, highest gritted defense according to pff. Played the toughest schedule by any playoff team. I worry about Matt Stafford's age, but there's an argument they'll be the best team in the league next year. Number one, Seattle. Between Mike McDonald, John Snyder, his drafting record, Sam Darnold, so many of it's like. It's like watching a little bit like watching OKC last year, the spurs this year, they have so much upside and they're already really, really good. So Seattle just doesn't miss. And they've last four years they have hit on their top two picks and I mean stars the last four years in the draft. Top two picks. So they're not even paying those guys yet. That would be my top 10 right now. I don't have Green Bay, but they've been a number seven seed in the playoffs, haven't they? This year they were a seven seed. Weren't they a seven seed the year before? J. Mac, you have a. You're just puzzled by this.

[Nick Wright]

Listen, I know, I know we have a guest usually here. I got a lot to say about this one, so maybe we should wait a little bit. I mean, we'll wait.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

We'll wait.

[Nick Wright]

It's kind of wild here. Coward.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Really, I don't.

[Nick Wright]

So. So no Eagles anywhere to be found? No Joe Burrow? No Lamar Jackson? I mean, were you the one yesterday telling me they had nine?

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Lamar Jackson, that new contract, he's going to get that. That the Ravens are going to have to move off people.

[Nick Wright]

Where are the Houston Texans? They 11 or something?

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Like, aren't you the guy that kept complaining that C.J. stroud was regressing?

[Nick Wright]

I think He's. He's not a very good quarterback.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

So if you don't have a very good quarterback, how you. How are you better than Mahomes and Josh Allen and Drake May and Jared Goff?

[Nick Wright]

The defense is elite. And we just saw. It's not about quarterbacks. It's about defense. At this point, I'm surprised the Atlanta Falcons. Okay, I'm just. That's just a joke. But, yeah, this is three from the AFC West.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Two from the NFC West.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

No.

[Nick Wright]

Niners.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Hey, you know how I like Mendoza. Raiders may be 11 by September.

[Nick Wright]

Stop it.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

All right, let's bring in Greg Cosell. 46 years, NFL Films. There's so much to talk about. You know, I love Sam Darnold. You know, I've always loved Sam Darnold.

[Colin Cowherd]

I. I know that. I know that he had a little.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Hitch in his, you know, delivery. And he came into the league at 20, so he wasn't quite ready. I. I argued yesterday. People say, you know, everybody loves to get credit. And I said the NFC was the better conference this year by the end of the year. Mahomes is beat up and all the. And I said to go through a playoff and Mike Rabel's defense without a turnover. Breeze did that once. Aikman did it once. Like, that is saint. Because that Rams defense can create turnovers. But you tell me, when you watch the super bowl and even the playoffs, how much credit does Sam deserve?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, you know, it's funny you say that, because normally we talk about the quarterback as being the key to everything. Now I thought what Darnold did in that game is he played that game the way it was demanded to be played, given the way their defense played. Now, I was actually surprised. I was there in the stadium watching the game. And then of course, I watched the tape yesterday. I was truly surprised when I saw that he had 40 drop backs because the game didn't really play out that way because they ran the ball really well. They ran a lot of plays. They controlled the ball for 33 minutes. Even though they weren't great on third down, they still controlled the ball. And I thought Darnold played that game the way it was demanded to be played. He missed a few. Colin, as you know what he just missed. And that would have probably made it even more of a rout if he hit those throws. But there were times where he clearly felt it wasn't clean, it was muddied, and he checked it down. He obviously had that scramble on the. I think it was the first third quarter. Drive. He played really efficient football. I think it was. It might have been Matt Hasselbeck, I can't remember. But. But the term, as opposed to game manager, which has a negative pejorative term. And I think the term that Matt used was game commander, which I think is such a better way to talk about a quarterback that, you know, and Tom Brady talks about this all the time. You play the game the way the game demands that you play it. It's not about putting up the big stats. He played that game the right way.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Yeah. Drake may set an NFL super bowl record for passing yards in a quarter. So that's all you need to know, because he was throwing the ball in the fourth quarter nonstop. So you got to get out of the stat. Now, I got to ask you about Kenneth Walker. He's got such a unique style. I think we both like him. I liked him at Michigan State. He's a guy that breaks a lot of tackles. He is so thick. The idea of a corner coming up and bringing him down by themselves, you know, maybe his own teammate, Devin Witherspoon, could do it. Most corners couldn't. What do you make of his effectiveness?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, well, you know what surprised me? We talked about this last week leading up to the game, and I was surprised that he was able to get to the edge as much as he did against that Patriots defense. They are really good. Running out of multiple tight end personnel. That's really their foundation. 21 of his 27 carries came out of either 12 or 13 personnel, meaning two tight ends or three tight ends. But I was truly surprised with him getting to the edge. I thought with a Mike Vrabel defense, and certainly Vrabel being coached by Belichick, we're setting the edge with was really a constant theme. That's something truly, that surprised me. But I thought that Walker in this game ran with sort of calculated patience. I mean, when you run with patience, what you do is you manipulate second level defenders. And I thought he did a really good job of that. And then, of course, he certainly has the burst when he saw the hole. There were times watching the tape where I thought of Le'Veon Bell with how patient he was. You know, you don't normally see that, and certainly not from Kenneth Walker, who always looks to get to the perimeter.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Yeah, New England did a pretty good job until they got tired and their tackling regressed. New England did a pretty good job to slow down Seattle's offense for a while. What was their secret sauce? Or was it just personnel?

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, no, I Think that that's an overlooked element of the game. I thought that the defense for the Patriots actually played exceptionally well. I mean, obviously walker had that 30 yard run and 29 yard run back to back, but for the most part, you know, I thought the Patriots defense played well. Now, as I said, Darnold missed a few and that would have changed the whole feel about the game. You know, obviously he just under threw Shahid on a vertical route, a post route that Gonzalez was able to get his hands on. He threw. He had Smith and Jigba on that sort of bang eight. That would have been a touchdown if he laid it out in front of him.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

He threw ball behind him.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yep, yep, yep. So that would have changed our conversation, but for the most part, they played well. I thought the safety, the rookie safety, Woodson, I thought he was all over the tape. He played a really, really good game. But, you know, it was a close game. Obviously when it got to be 197 and New England got the ball. I'm not saying you thought they were going to win, but for a moment there, you're thinking, oh, we might have a, we might have a ball game here.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

You know, Chris Collins were set at halftime. He and Tirico, when they came back for the start of the second half, you know, Collinsworth just laid it out. He goes, yeah, Drake's not, he's not ready like this is this right now feels too big for him. Now, some of that's the pass protection. But he did. Look, you know what happens when you speed up young quarterbacks. Accuracy dips. Was it just a matter of. He just didn't want to get. He was trying to get rid of the ball.

[Colin Cowherd]

No. Being in the stadium, the first thing I noticed, okay, was, was the pressure packages that Seattle started the game with. They're not a high percentage blitz defense. In fact, they were one of the lower percentage blitz defenses. But they started the game on third downs with pressure. Now then they backed off the pressure because they only rushed five or more on eight of May's 53 drop backs. It might have seemed like more watching the game because they started with pressure. And what they did a phenomenal job of, Colin, is you can dictate pass protection by how you align your defensive front. And they did such a good job of that. They lined up with a lot of five man fronts that. Six man fronts that dictates how you have to pass protect. And then once you know how they have to protect, then you can bring someone. And it was Witherspoon who's Not accounted for. So they did such a really good job with that early in the game. And they got Drake May sort of playing fast. You know, we've talked about this before with quarterbacks that all of a sudden they start to play fast and everything gets speeded up. The mental process gets speeded up, the physical process gets speeded up and then they miss throws the that they normally would make with no problem at all.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

The only guarantee I made on the Friday before the Super Bowl I said on the air New England will not run the ball. They will absolutely. That's the only. And I said that's why I ended up picking Seattle. I said that means Drake May is going to have to throw 35 times plus he's 1 and 7. That's not what you want a 23 year old doing in the Super Bowl. They will not run the ball. So it was obvious to me, which means it was probably really obvious to you. And it was to me. It was just felt like Seattle athletically in the box has better players. Forget scheme for a second. They're just twitchy, fast, long and I felt like New England's O line was overwhelmed right out of the gate.

[Colin Cowherd]

They were overmatched. And the secret sauce for Seattle all year quite frankly has been and this is a trend in the league, if you can do it, you know, it depends on your players is they're able to stop the run. Playing out of a too high safety structure, playing out of a too deep shell which played a lot of in this game because of the quality of their up front players. I did not think New England would be able to run the ball well in this game. Certainly not inside with Stevenson because Murphy, Leonard Williams, Jaron Reed, their tackle rotation is as good as any in the league. We know what they have on the outside with Lawrence, a terrific player who had a great year and they just overmatched a New England offensive line, particularly on the left side. With playing the two rookies they were just overmatched. But that's one of the secret sauces is they're able to stop the run without having to allocate a safety. And I'm not talking about Eminwari because he's essentially a Sam linebacker in their defense. I'm talking about allocating a safety either Julian Love or Kobe Bryant. They don't have to allocate them as part of the run defense so they can keep them in a too deep shell.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

I, I, I said before the super bowl there are parts of New England I like a lot. I don't love their O line and I think they probably need another tight end. I was disappointed they didn't use Hunter Henry more. I think you can beat the Seahawks at tight end. That's why the Rams are so effective against Seattle. They go right at the tight end. Obviously PUK is great, but New England's receivers are fine. The O line though to me is a really a priority in the off season. You got to draft it, you got to spend some money on it. What did the, what did the tape say?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, obviously what happened in the game in Seattle, in addition to those pressures early in the game that set the tone, then settled into playing a lot of, I don't want to say basic defense, but they created one on one matchups because they lined up a lot in what we call loaded fronts, meaning there were three defensive linemen to one side of the center and then they put Ernest Jones on the ball. So it was essentially a five man front. And almost always that dictates what we call five, zero protection. Meaning that the five offensive linemen are responsible for one on one blocks. And Seattle just can. They won those blocks too many times. They physically were better than the Patriots offensive line in addition to the times when they did pressure and they were able to beat them because they understood their protections and how to attack it with an unaccounted for rusher. So it was sometimes Colin footballers just matchup football and the Seahawks were just better up front and they won a lot of one on one matchups.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Yeah, no, it's, I mean that's, that's what the good coaches do. All this rah rah stuff. The bottom line is you have to say when you look at film guys, we are insufficient athletically here. We have to protect that. The one thing you could see that even I could see was Seattle's defensive front. You've got elite players and Will Campbell, and we said this before the game, is probably a guard. He came out of a bad draft class. He probably be a very good. He doesn't feel like right now a left tackle. Let's wrap it up with this. We talked about on this, this week on the show. Greg is that offense is eye candy. You watch Mike McDaniel, Sean McVeigh, you watch Kyle Shanahan, Ben Johnson, it's easy to see the motion and the creativity. But great defensive coaches, Mike McDonald, Brian Flores, maybe D', Amico, Ryan's, that's where Greg Cosell can come in and say okay, here's what's happening. Because offense we can all watch The Dolphins with Mike McDaniel and see all them and go, well, they're clever. What's Mike McDonald do that you 46 years doing this. Go. Wow, that is something.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean the play that I'd love to show is a perfect example of that. I mean it was third and 15 on the second possession because early in the game they came out and they pressured. Now they did that early. So if we could take a look at this play because this, to me, you know, you talk about eye candy. For someone like myself watching tape, this is just unbelievably good. I love when I see this. As I said, it was third and 15. You see Drake May, he's in the gun. Now what you're going to see here is a six man front. So now you have to count for six potential pass rushers. And what they did is they put Jones up there inside and Emmenwari on the outside. Now there's only of course five offensive linemen. So now what do you have to do? You've got to figure out a way to deal with the six man front. But with the five offensive linemen you get what we call five, zero protection. So they match up and that includes Jones because he's on the ball, mugged up on the ball, as we say. Now the right tackle is going to be responsible. I think that was Lawrence on the outside. Now what you have to do here is then you have Stevenson in the backfield. He's got to account for Emenwari. So ultimately you can match up to those six people on the ball. So what you're going to get is you're going to get one player now that cannot be accounted for. Okay. And that is going to be of course, Witherspoon. Witherspoon is going to come from depth. And this is the beauty of it. This is where the schematics, the tactics work so well. So we've just mapped out the protection, but now no one can account based on the protection call, no one can account for Witherspoon. And as we flip this and look at at it from the end zone, you'll see the right tackle is responsible for Lawrence. So he actually, even though he got help from Hunter Henry, he's still responsible for him, the right tackle. So no one here now is responsible for Witherspoon coming from depth and distance. So this is just beautiful design. And you see the speed, you see the athleticism and he just sacks me. And this happens fast. And when you're a quarterback, Colin, you feel this, you see it it's just all of a sudden there's a guy coming right at you in your vision and everything just happens too fast. So this is how they started the game. They did this multiple times on the first couple of possessions and this is what got Drake made. Just playing fast throughout the game. Everything changed with those first couple of possessions.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Greg Cosell, as always, this is just so much fun. Great seeing you. We'll talk free agency, draft. We'll keep bringing you back for sure. Great stuff, Greg. Thank you.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks, Colin. Really appreciate it.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

It's interesting, J. Mac, when you watch that, when you show it in slow motion, you don't see it. And then you roll the tape fast and you're like, devin Witherspoon is there 1001, 1000. Boom, he's there. It's like, whoa, whoa. So Drake may in the first couple series is like, okay, I got no time. So you start speeding him up. So you get into his young head, you speed him up. And now he's speeding up when he doesn't have to speed up. And they're only bringing four, so, man, there's good stuff. I. I haven't even gotten to some of the gems today. I don't even know if I will. Maybe I'll just save it. Call Nick Wright, tell him to give us an hour. J. Mac, you know, J. Mac's been very quiet today because his Lakers have gotten rolled and he's just not in the mood to talk about it. But I will tell you, and I feel strongly about. Well, I'll talk about it. I'm going to talk about on the other side.

[Colin Cowherd]

Wait, wait.

[Nick Wright]

Just for the record, you think I don't want to talk lakers? I mean, there's 15 layers to that team right now.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

I mean.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, go ahead, go off on the. I like when you go off on the Lakers. It's fun.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

I'm not going off. I am contextualizing what my eyes see. 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. Stigatz here I have a podcast empire.

[Colin Cowherd]

It continues to grow, and I have.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Brought it here to Ivar. I'm also doing a live radio show from 3 to 5pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me out of the house. It's called Stugac company Live, which is available in podcast form right when the show finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports, a lot of phone calls.

[Nick Wright]

I love you guys show.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

It's one of my favorites. A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too seriously. Those are just some of the things that you can expect from Stugouts Co. And Stugouts Co. Live. So listen to Stugouts Co. Live and our original podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review Stugats Co. And God bless football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. Do it today and you can check all of those out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. This month, iHeartRadio is celebrating the stars of the 2026 Winter Games. A legend from Sun Valley, Idaho, Hillary Knight is the ultimate captain of Team USA. Entering her record breaking fifth Olympic Games, the veteran forward continues to be a scoring machine and physical force on the ice. With a resume already packed with gold and silver, she leads a hungry squad into Milano Cortina Knight laces up her skates with one goal in mind bringing the gold medal back home for more Winter Games Gold Search olympics on the iHeartRadio app. This is Lavar Arrington from up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card. You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every Purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple. Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple Card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple co getdaily Cash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply. Hey, it's Jonas Knox, ready to tackle your financial goals With Webull, you don't have to sit on the sidelines. Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, Webull puts you in the game with powerful tools that help you make the moves you want. Trade stocks, options, ETFs and more. Or play the long game with cash management and retirement accounts all on one platform. We Bull's intuitive app pairs advanced analytics with real time data so you can read the defense, adjust your strategy and stay in control. And now meet Vega, your personal AI market assistant. Ask questions like Analyze my watch list or what's the outlook for this stock? And get real time stock analysis, volatility insights and fundamentals that turn comple signals into plain English. Want a wider view of the field? Use portfolio X ray to spot trends, manage risk and optimize the performance of your portfolio. So stop punting your financial future. Join Webull's community to discuss markets, trending topics and ideas with fellow investors. Download the Webull app today on mobile or desktop W E B U L l or visit webull.com and stay ahead of the game. Webull Financial LLC member SIPC FINRA Investing involves risk. For more information, visit webull.com forward/disclosures Think switching to T Mobile is a whole complicated thing? Nah, it's easy. You could do it almost anywhere in just 15 minutes, even poolside like Drew Ski. You can switch to T Mobile and unlock savings that are built to last. With T Mobile's Better Value Plan, you can save over a thousand dollars a year versus Verizon at, at&t save on streaming satellite and more benefits that they leave out. I get all the VIP perks. Start saving from day one and for a limited time, get T Mobile's Better Value Plan. I know you love deals. Plus Switch right now and we'll even pay off your old phone up to 800 bucks. What do you think of all that?

[Colin Cowherd]

Drew Ski?

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Stay chilling. Just switching. It's better over here. Check the math@t mobile.com bettervaluesavings versus comparable plans at ATT and Verizon plus the cost of optional benefits, plan features and taxes and fees vary with three plus lines, a better value plan, three plus new lines and two eligible ports or three plus lines and five plus years on T Mobile Postpaid plan required, Qualifying credit required. Check out in 15min or less per line. Get up to 800 per line via virtual prepaid card. Typically takes 15 days after rebate submission. Qualify unlock device credit service ported 90 plus days with device in eligible carrier and timely redemption required. No cash access and card expires in six months. Card issued by Sunrise Banks NA Member fdic this is Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jewels. Here's your reminder to stay hydrated today. Honestly, I needed that reminder. I'm feeling a little foggy. That might be your body telling you it's time to rehydrate. Wow. Subtle brain fog is one potential sign of mild dehydration. Surely you didn't forget already. Okay, maybe for a second, but I know the other potential signs are thirst, nausea, fatigue, headaches, irritability and of course, dark pee. There you go. And Liquid IV sugar free is clinically demonstrated to hydrate faster than water alone and is an excellent source of five essential vitamins like B3, B5, B6, B12 and vitamin C. That's a lot of clinical talk because Science Liquid IV is backed by scientific advisory board. Real experts. Are you saying we're not real experts?

[Nick Wright]

I'm saying you're an expert at picking the best flavors.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Sugar free strawberry watermelon or white peach. Wrong. Sugar free mango pineapple is clearly superior no matter what.

[Nick Wright]

The flavored.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Liquid IV is here to help you.

[Nick Wright]

With everyday extraordinary hydration. Stay hydrated and stock up on Liquid.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

[e-mail] use the code nuthouse for 20% off your first purchase. By the way, in. In about 15 to 20 minutes. You've heard of Steven Spielberg' DreamWorks Studios? Well, I have spent over the last 48 hours. I have a new business venture. It's called Darnold Works Studios. I'm naming it after Sam Darnold. So Spielberg has DreamWorks. I've created a new venture called Darnold Works Studios. And we've got some exciting new movie productions. 15 minutes out. Very excited to introduce them to you in 15 minutes. First though, J. Mac with the news.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, no, no, turn on the news.

[Nick Wright]

This is the herd line news. All right, Colin, but before you get started with this whole Darnold situation, I know you got a whole movie studio you're going to pop up. I just want to caution you. There is news in Seattle. So they have lost Clint Kubiak to the Raiders. Okay, we talked about this. He left as the OC he was very good with Sam Darnold. Who is going to replace him? Colin, we just saw this play out in Detroit last year with Ben Johnson. They went to a guy in house. All reports right now indicate Seattle is going to stay in house for this OC Job. And it's going to either go to a quarterback coach named Andrew Ginoco or the passing game coordinator Jake Peets. Those are the leaders to be the OC play caller for Mike McDonald and Sam Darby.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Don't love it. I have to be totally up front. Don't want to be.

[Nick Wright]

Don't love it or hate it immensely.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

I don't like promoting from within. With very few exceptions, I don't like doing it. The number we had a graph we put on the screen a month ago on this overwhelmingly does not work in football, right?

[Nick Wright]

In basketball and other fields it works fine. But in football, historically, it has not worked at all.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

The best candidate, when a legend leaves when Steve Spurrier left Florida, you know, or when you have an Urban Meyer leaves Ohio State. When you, when you. You gotta go and have a wide search. I've always had a theory. The greater the person you're replacing the wider the search has to be for them. Detroit lost Ben Johnson, the the best OC in the league for two or three years. I have nothing against anybody in that Lions building. You gotta go bigger and broader. When Michigan lost Jim Harbaugh, you don't just elevate the assistant everybody likes. You've got to make a national circ. That's why I said about Alabama when they lost Saban. You can say what you want. Every ad in the country knows Kalyn DeBoer is a great hire. Now Alabama is not as good when Saban was because they don't have the NIL money. Saban knew I'm getting the hell out of here. Once NIL got revved up, Alabama didn't have that kind of money in state. So you can blame Kaylin DeBoer. That roster is not close to Saban's roster five years ago. But DeBoer was a great hot. You usually don't go legend to like next potential legend. That would ideally be the way to do it but. So I don't love this but the.

[Nick Wright]

Best businesses often have that next legend. They've identified them and they got them on staff and they're already working with the coach. A lot of the best ones. I mean I'll have examples for you when we talk about this next week because you know, it's the off season. We got a lot to talk about. All right, Colin, let's move on to the next story. And that's the Kansas City Chiefs. The mediocre Chiefs this past season, hell you could say below average. A lot of nerves about what's going to happen with them this offseason. Patrick Mahomes obviously has the torn ACL and lcl. Well, the super bowl odds are out for next season and wouldn't you know it, these are. This is the Chiefs worst odds since Mahomes became the starter. They are currently plus 1500.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

To win the super bowl. That is extremely low for a Mahomes Reed led unit.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

They don't have any cap space. That's their biggest dilemma. They their three needs like they need an edge rusher. It's a very good edge rusher Draft. They need a running back. Well, they may nail one with their first pick. So I think a lot of this draft for Kansas City if they could get love in the first round, the running back from Notre Dame, that solves an issue. They need a defensive end. They probably need an offensive tackle. The things they need edge and tackle and running back. They could get all three because they have three of the top 75 picks. So I want to watch their draft before I have any great proclamations. They do need an infusion on the edge defensively, in the backfield and on the O line and they don't have the money to go get it. So if they draft, it's a very. They don't have a ton of, of.

[Colin Cowherd]

Of.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

You know, they have to nail these picks.

[Colin Cowherd]

That. And that's.

[Nick Wright]

I mean, Colin, their secondary is total garbage. They have no players. I'm just telling you. You said may need a tackle. I mean, listen, I know they like the potential of Simmons. How many games did he miss last year? I mean you can't have a rookie missing a bunch of games and then the right side's terrible. There's just no room for error on the offensive line. There's nowhere you can start the Chiefs other than third place in the division right now. Maybe that goes up at the draft and free agency.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

That's fair.

[Nick Wright]

But they're definitely behind the Broncos and Chargers.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

No, I have the Chargers winning the division next year. Denver second, Kansas City third. Today I do.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. And then.

[Nick Wright]

Listen, Chiefs fans, be optimistic. You can go up. But I'm telling you right now, Jeremiah Love ain't fixing that offense. If you go with him at nine, it's, it's not fixing any. Maybe Kelsey comes back. I mean, listen, I'm not taking glee in the demise of the Chiefs.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Sounds like it.

[Nick Wright]

But I mean listen, there's just a lot of teams better than them. If you, you know how they do the roster off season, like oh this guy. They got blue chip talent here and there. I'm just telling Chiefs are not in the top 10, maybe not top 12 for rosters. Yes, they have Mahomes and Reed, but the talent, it's just not there.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Well, they don't have, they don't have the depth of talent like Philly, Detroit, Seattle, Rams and after this draft in cap space, Chargers, Denver. They don't have Denver. They're quite where Denver's at.

[Nick Wright]

I mean Houston has a better roster then the Kansas City Chiefs. Jacksonville, are they close? They got as many defenders that are good. I mean Travis Hunter's bad.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

No, Joe Jags roster is good. It is.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

All right, final story.

[Nick Wright]

Colin. Let's go to the NBA. This is an interesting one because Jason Tatum, off the achilles injury suffered 39 weeks ago, he is now working out with their G league affiliate, took part in his first five on five scrimmage yesterday. Tatum said he was feeling good, but added that this doesn't point to him returning this season or not. He's just following a step by step plan. Now, Colin, this is an interesting one because we recently saw Jamal Murray suffer an acl. He started practicing with the G League team for Denver and everybody got excited a couple years ago and they said, no, we're not bringing you back. We're not going to rush it. They waited. It worked out. We saw Klay Thompson come back. Remember, he had the Achilles and ACL back to back years. I know he was a little older than Tatum. Colin, you know I love me some Jason Tatum. I would preach extreme caution if I'm the Boston Celtics and I.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

And I agree with you, and here's one of the reasons I agree with you. What is the NBA today compared to, let's say, 10 to 12 years ago? The pace is much faster, so you're getting a lot of these soft tissue tears. LeBron's talked about this. Now, I don't think that's primarily. I don't think that's overwhelmingly the reason guys don't play. They make too much money. The season's long. They look at their baseball and football counterparts and the money and that the NBA's got some regular season issues that go a mile deep. And I don't. The tanking is. I'm sorry, it doesn't work. People tank when they want to. You got too many stars that just don't feel like playing. So. But I do think where LeBron is, right, the pace of the league, it's a pace in space three. You know, that's what it is right now. And. And more guys are getting little tears and dinged up. So Jayson Tatum, it's like he would merge back onto the freeway. It'd be the Autobahn. It's not just the 405, it's the autobahn. The pace of the league is too fast. I think if you're Boston, I don't think you bring him back. I think the pace is too fast and you could tweak and give prop and let's face it, Tatum's in impeccable shape. Boston's very well run. They have a very solid roster. They've got six more years with this group to win titles. There is no rush. There is absolutely no.

[Nick Wright]

Totally agree with you. One of your better takes. Now, I will say the Celtics started out slow this season, obviously. I mean, they lost like four or five guys in the rotation. However, they're currently second in the East. Colin? Yeah, five and a half behind the Pistons. Joe Mazzulla we got to give it up. I know your guy. Bill Simmons bashing Joe Missoula, calling him what, second row Joe for a couple years. Hey, Joe Missoula kind of knows what he's doing with basketball. Moves Peyton Pritchard to the bench, they move off Simons. This is a damn good team. And they will contend in the east, right? Top five in offensive and defensive efficiency. Missoula's done a hell of a job. I know coach of the year is going to whoever, Detroit or okc, one of those guys. But Missoula needs some props from you and your cadre.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

I don't, I didn't criticize him. I said his first year, I said he's not a top five coach. And they have a top five roster, so it's uneven. But, you know, you have a right in America to learn on the job. Not everybody that takes a job in a tech company is Zuckerberg day one. Like, it's okay in the NBA if you're a young coach and your first year, you're situationally, you're not. You know, the really good coaches, like in college basketball, they're scoring six points a game. Like Tom Izzo calling timeout, having an inbounds play. I mean, Izzo is the master at calling a timeout, inbounds play and scoring like that. That's, that's second, third level stuff. Some of these young coaches, they have great relationships with players. I mean, Denver had a young coach first year. Is he. Is he as good as the guy he replaces? Probably not situationally, but it's okay.

[Nick Wright]

Brad Stevens moved up to the front office. Every guy he plugs in at center is working for. For the Celtics. They lost Horford and they lost two other centers. I'm spacing on him now. Any guy they put in there is like crushing it. I mean, the Celtics are doing a damn good job. And, you know, I don't like any Boston teams. And being a New York guy.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Why?

[Colin Cowherd]

Why?

[Nick Wright]

Because I'm a New York guy. We don't like Boston.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Come on, let's go into every game and every season with a clean slate. There's no reason to have agendas. Boston Celtics.

[Nick Wright]

I like me some Tatum.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

You know, my Celtics are a. One of the top three best run teams in the league. Yeah. OKC, Celtic, spurs, last 10, 15 years. Well run.

[Nick Wright]

Can't really dispute that. I will say there's a mantra about Jason Tatum. Laker, you know, he's as a Kobe Bryant tattoo.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

People call him future Laker. Jason Tatum. So I am a Jason Tatum guy. Maybe he's coming to LA at some point. I I don't know.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

J Mac with the News well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the Herd LIE News Starting a new venture. You've heard of DreamWorks? It's Darnold's works and I'm very excited. Next, be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. This is Lavar Arrington from UP on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card. You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple Card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple Co/ Get Daily Cash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply. Hey, it's Cavino and Rich. Whether you're actively trading or planning for the long term, Webull gives you the tools to invest your way. Trade stocks and ETFs with real time data, explore cash management, or build toward the future with IRAs and retirement accounts all on one platform. Now with Vega, your personal market AI assistant can give you real time analysis, watch list insights and alerts when earnings drop. Download the Webull app today and visit webol.com and take control of your investments. Webull Financial LLC member SIPC FINRA Investing involves Risk for more information, visit webull.com disclosures think switching to T Mobile is a whole complicated thing? Nah, it's easy. You could do it almost anywhere in just 15 minutes, even poolside like Drew Ski, you can switch to T Mobile and unlock savings that are built to last. With T Mobile's Better Value plan, you can save over $1,000 a year versus Verizon at, at and T. Save on streaming satellite and more benefits that they leave out. I get all the VIP perks. Start saving from day one and for a limited time get T Mobile's Better Value plans. I know you love deals. Plus switch right now and we'll even pay off your old phone up to 800 bucks. What do you think of all that?

[Colin Cowherd]

Drewski?

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Stay chill Dylan Just switching. It's better over here. Check the math@t mobile.com better value savings versus comparable plans at 18 Verizon plus the cost of optional benefits plan Features and taxes and fees vary with three plus lines a better value plan, three plus new lines and two eligible four to three plus fines and five plus years on T mobile postpaid plan required. Qualifying credit required. Check out in 15 minutes or less per line. Get up to 800 per line via virtual prepaid card. Typically takes 15 days after rebate submission. Qualify unlocked device credit Service ported on you+ days with device in eligible carrier and timely redemption required. No cash access and card expires in six months. Card issued by Sunrise Banks NA Member FDIC this is Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules. Here's your reminder to stay hydrated Today Liquid IV is spreading the word about the importance of hydration and the potential things to look out for thirst, brain fog, dark urine, nausea, fatigue, headaches and irritability.

[Colin Cowherd]

Right.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

And on top of that Liquid IV has been a great partner for our podcast. We had a blast at the liquid IV nut house 100 and keep an eye out for all the new content that we'll be producing and partnership with Liquid iv. We got some exciting things ahead that you don't want to miss. Check us out on YouTube and listen to dudes on dudes on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Bowen Yang. And I'm Matt Rogers. During this season of the Two Guys.

[Nick Wright]

Five Rings podcast in the lead up to the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Games we've been joined by some of our friends. Hi Bon. Hi Matt. Hey Elmo. Hey Matt. Hey Bowen.

[Nick Wright]

Hi Cookie.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Hi. Now the Winter Olympic Games are underway and we are in Italy to give you experiences from our hearts to your ears. Listen to Two Guys Five Rings on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nick Wright]

The Great American Race returns with back to back champion William Byron looking for a historic quick three peat. It doesn't get any bigger than this. The 68th running of the Daytona 500 Sunday at 2:30 Eastern with pre race coverage starting at 12:30 only on Fox.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Well the coaching carousel has come to a stop until next January and so we thought we'd present coming coaching attractions with all the new hires in the NFL and is substantially important. So from the DreamWorks studio that Spielberg has and I I just ripped it off. I came up with my Darnold Works studio and these are some of my new ventures. They're in production right now and I just want to give you a heads up and give you A little taste of what's about to come. You remember Once upon a time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino. I mean, who can forget that? What an all time classic. Well, my new feature is a gritty reboot where the defense gets top billing in Once Upon a Time in solid wood. And this time, the fairy tale ends with a goal line stand in. Not bad, right? Well, one of the great actors in recent. I mean, in our lives is John Malkovich. Right? Like, everybody knows John Maltovich is unbelievable. Well, being John Mountovich. Check out mine. The psyche of a championship coach with a young quarterback in the new film Being John Harbaugh. Vich, it turns out playoff enlightenment requires special teams meetings at dawn. Very excited for this. Okay, now, now, I know you love Dave Chappelle and remember he did very, very funny comedy. Half baked. Very fine. Everything Chappelle touches. Well, now my venture, Miami wants all the smoke, but the expectations are as high as the vibes in Halfley Baked. Time to see if these new buds can plant a seed.

[Nick Wright]

I see what you did there.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Okay, Half Lee baked. All right. I mean, now, this may not be in your wheelhouse. Dolly Parton, the Southern Classic. Steel Magnolias. Yes, that's a great all time movie. In a town built on toughness, sometimes the story gets a little soft. A familiar face returns to the AFC north to renew a bond as strong as Steeler Magnolia. Old relationships at a new offensive wrinkle.

[Nick Wright]

And they got Aaron Rodgers in there, huh?

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Mike McCarthy, Cam Baylor. Steeler Magnolia. Well, is there a bigger fan? Probably is. But Mission impossible. Oh, J. Mac, you. You know, I mean, we. You and I both. This. This gets me to it. No, not. Not a lot gets me to a theater. But the mission with my new venture has changed. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, Fix the quarterback, modernize the offense, survive the AFC North. Will Todd assemble the elite team he needs in Monken Impossible. The game tape will self destruct if the protection doesn't hold. Monken Impossible. Wow.

[Nick Wright]

No Miles Garrett. But Shador and Deon. That is impossible.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Oh, my gosh. And finally, it's a lot of work. I mean, I hope this. This studio works or I'll be working, you know, a second job here. You and I love Jim Carrey. The classic comedy Dumb and Dumb. Well, in my reboot, he's the quirky offensive genius, and he's the quirky offensive genius. One wears khakis, the other wears athleisure. Together they're trying to prove that in the afc. Brain power travels. Presenting smart and smarter yeah, with Jim Harbaugh. Just when I thought the Chargers couldn't get any smarter, they redeemed themselves. It's Jim Harbaugh, Mike McDaniel and Smart and smarter. You know, J. Mac, there's still room for investors in Darnold Works Studios.

[Nick Wright]

What kind of are you looking for? Five figure investments? Six. Some seed money.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Look for really just emotional support is all I really need.

[Nick Wright]

I'm just curious, do you think that everyone else in the country is as high on the Chargers as you and I? Because when you look at these hires and what teams have, it seems like a no brainer that the Chargers were the biggest winners so far in the offense.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

When you watch the Chargers this year, the feeling was it's a defensive coaching story and you're just hoping the offense can generate 20 points this year. It's going to be a coaching and offensive story. So the defense, I mean they won 11 games last year in a division with Peyton and Andy Reid. So to me improvement with the Chargers will not just be standings improvement. They will feel to me in September we'll all be saying, oh, that's a Super bowl team. That's why for the record, this is why I've said it's so important, the Joe Brady hire because the Chargers now just took an offensive step up. They also have a ton of cap space. So like if you're a charger doubter, they haven't had a lot of money, now they have it and they're getting their tackles back and they've upgraded oc so like to me, and also we all know Kansas City is not going 6 and 11. We all know Baltimore should be better and New England now has more cap space and everybody year three for Drake May. So this was the year to get right. And at the end of the year in the AFC championship, Bo Nix wasn't available. J.K. dobbins wasn't available. They were down two receivers. This was kind of that gap year in the afc. It's like, and Buffalo didn't get in afc. I can make a guarantee AFC is going to be better next year at the top. It's going to be much Liam Cohen in year two. You know, Peyton gets now Bo Nixon another off season. So chargers last year 70 when they just got the 25 points. 10 and 1. Yeah, yeah, they were 10 and 1 when they just got over 20 points. So like is it, is it realistic to say they will average six more points a game next year? That's Maybe I would McDaniel with their tackles with their cap space. I think that's very realistic. Albert Brer Drew Brees Last Hour on a Wednesday it's the Herd. Think Verizon is expensive? Think again. Anyone can bring their AT and T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal. So bring us your bill, walk in running Hogo, sticking teleport if you can, ride on the back of a rollerblading yak or flying on the wings of a majestic falcon. Any way, you can bring your AT and T or team or mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal on the best Network based on RouteMetric's best overall mobile network performance US 2nd/2025 all rights reserved. Must provide very recent postpaid consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply. Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees from the big guys. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals. Wasabi driving innovation in data storage for up to 80% less than the other guys. Try for free at wasabi.com, wasabi Hot Cloud Storage proud partner of the Volume Podcast Network over the last couple years.

[Nick Wright]

Didn'T we learn that the folding chair was invented by black people because of.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

What happened in Alabama? Montgomery Brawl this Black History Month, the.

[Nick Wright]

Podcast Selective Ignorance with Mandy B unpacks black history and culture with comedy, clarity.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

And conversations that shake the status quo.

[Nick Wright]

The Crown act in New York was.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Signed in July of 2019 and that.

[Nick Wright]

Is a bill that was passed to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

To hear this and more, listen to.

[Nick Wright]

Selective Ignorance with Mandy B from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

I'm Bowen Ying. And I'm Matt Rogers. During this season of the Two Guys Five Rings podcast in the lead up to the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, we've been joined by some of our friends. Hi Bern. Hi Matt. Hey Elmo. Hey Matt.

[Colin Cowherd]

Hey Bowen.

[Nick Wright]

Hi Cookie.

[Jason McIntyre (J. Mac)]

Hi. Now the Winter Olympic Games are underway and we are in Italy to give you experiences from our hearts to your ears. Listen to Two Guys Five Rings on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

This is an I heart podcast, guaranteed human.