Colin Cowherd’s Cowboys-Lions Reaction: Detroit playoff hopes ALIVE, Pickens VANISHES | THE HERD NFL

Colin Cowherd’s Cowboys-Lions Reaction: Detroit playoff hopes ALIVE, Pickens VANISHES | THE HERD NFL

Welcome to the Herds official YouTube channel. Make sure to like and subscribe. Don’t forget to check out the Colin Coward podcast, all of our NFL instant reactions, and more football content. Detroit delivered. I mean, it was a wild shootout. 3730 with 2 minutes 30 seconds left. The track meet by the Detroit Lions. So, let’s talk about that. I liked Dallas last night, but it was pretty clear by the middle of the second quarter that Detroit found their rhythm. This felt like the Ben Johnson offensive coordinator for the Lions. Lions 7.2 yards a play. They have crazy offensive talent. They have two running backs. I like two wide receivers that are stars. They always get an offensive line push. And it’s a well- constructed roster. David Montgomery the Bruiser. Jamir Gibbs the home run hitter. Omaron St. Brown the volume receiver. Jameson Williams acceleration guy, speed guy. They can be physical or finesse. They can score slowly and eat up the clock or they can score quickly. They had a, you know, threeplay drive, 53 yard touchdown that took up 90 seconds. They had a 10play drive for a field goal that took up six minutes. For about three years, they were the most talked about offense. They look like the best constructed offense. Even before Jir Gibbs, it was Pro Bowlers and should be Pro Bowlers. That’s never been the issue. We didn’t even really question Dan Campbell. We didn’t. We always thought Dan was a great culture guy. Since he’s taken over the play calling, though, he’s a little better scheme guy than we give him credit for. They’re averaging 6.8 yards a play. And last night, their last seven drives, they had no punt. So I I I would say we’ve never criticized their front office. We love it. We we think Dan Campbell has established himself as a franchise culture builder. Kind of like a verbal big guy physically culture builder. We also like Jared Goff. Don’t listen to anybody. He’s really good. But we kind of this last night looked like the team with Ben Johnson. And and by the way, we’ve seen glimpses of it this year. I went and looked up this morning. They’ve scored 38 against Baltimore. They scored 52 way back when win against the Bears, 44 against Washington, 44 last night against Dallas. So, we know it’s there. We But they also gave us pause cuz they scored nine against Philly and 17 against the Chiefs. It’s not about talent with Detroit. And we’ve seen this. The Ner’s defense is more depleted than last year, but it’s better because they got the right coordinator, Robert Salah. And we’ve said when you lose Ben Johnson, an all-time offensive coordinator, even if you replace him with a solid guy, a pretty good guy, it doesn’t look quite as unique and quite as clever. So Dan Campbell stepped in and said, “Listen, our defense still isn’t great. We’re going to mostly win by track meets. And since Dan Campbell’s taken it over, you’re getting you’re seeing this.” But remember, this is a team that also lost to JJ McCarthy. But I thought it was a beautiful thing to watch by about the midsec quarter and you were looking at the Ben Johnson Lions. So ideally a coach does not want to take over play calling duties offensively or defensively from a coordinator, but I also feel like it’s time right now. Last night was a must-win for them. They’ve signed a lot of their guys to big contracts in Detroit, a lot of them. And a couple of them have injuries. As players get older, they get banged up. And so these windows, we all know this windows close very quickly in the NFL. So I’m watching it last night by the mid-second quarter and I’m like, “Oh, okay. These Lions, I’ve seen these Lions for about two, three years with Ben Johnson, it felt like every Sunday. This year it’s like every third Sunday and it was last night on Thursday. It was a beautiful thing to watch. The roster construction’s outstanding. You look at their schedule now at LA, Steelers at Minnesota, at Bears. They’re an eight and5 team. They’re going to control most of their destiny. Here is Dan Campbell after. These guys do a great job of they they take it for what it is, man. They don’t get they don’t get panicked. They don’t get panicked. They don’t make something uh out of it that it’s not. I think by doing that and keeping it that way, our guys are able to always answer back. You know, they they do. I think where you get in trouble is if you start just that you start panicking and you start, oh, you know, I got to I got I mentioned this last week. You got to start doing more than you need to do. Just do your job. the more often we get that Detroit and that offense and that explosion in speed um that that feels like a playoff team because their ceiling is very high. Um okay, let’s talk Cowboys. They lost a shootout. Two things are obvious and two things jumped out to us. One we kind of knew was the truth. One we were hoping would never be the truth again. Let’s start with the first. We told you we like Dallas’s O line, but they’re a much better run blocking O line than a pass blocking O line. And last night they got exposed. Tyler Gayton, their left tackle, was out. Uh yeah, that was bad cuz the right tackle is not good. So Dak Prescott was getting whacked. He got hit, sacked, knocked down 11 times. Do you realize this year Dak Prescott is the third most pressured quarterback in the league? First is Herbert, second’s Cam Ward, third is Dak. So Aiden Hutcherson had 10 pressures, seven in the fourth quarter. So when Dallas absolutely had to throw and time was running out, it got ugly. So Dallas has two first round picks. It’s a good offensive tackle draft. It’s a good edge rusher draft. They need both. That’s they can solve one massive concern and getting an edge just gives their pass rush even more push. But last night it was very obvious Jared Goff was the much more comfortable quarterback. This is not on Dak. I I’ve defended Justin Herbert all year. I’ve defended Cam Ward. I’ll defend Dak. When you’re facing that kind of pass rush and you have to speed it up, you make more mistakes. I don’t care if you’re a typist, a pianist, or a quarterback. When you’re when you’re playing faster than you’re supposed to, it gets ugly. So Dak in Dak’s six wins, he’s been sacked six time seven times. in Dak six losses. He’s in sack 14 times. So there’s there’s the answer to the test. The second thing, and I didn’t think this was going to be a thing again, George Pickins became the Steelers George Pickins. Uninterested, uninspired, immature. He still had five catches, but every Cowboy fan, you saw, we saw, we all saw. Now CD Lamb is so great and they’ve got enough other receivers like Turpin um you know where you don’t have to keep George Pickkins but George Pickkins has been so good this year when Dak in the first 11 games was throwing to Pickkins he had 135 passer rating in the last two games Dak throwing to George Pickkins has a 29 passer rating and that’s not on Dak. So remember Dallas moved off Dez Bryant Dallas moved off Michael Parsons. Jerry Jones, if you are committed, you’re an adult and you’re productive, Jerry, he’ll overpay you. But if you’re not, remember Jerry got tired of Zeke. He moved off Dez. Micah had his world famous podcast. Jerry wants you committed. Jerry wants you grinding. Okay. Jerry has been all in on Dak. Dak’s mature. Dak’s committed. Dak’s missed games. Dak’s been hurt. But he knows Dak is 100% about the team. George Pickkins, this is what we all feared. Pickins pouts on prime is not the headline anybody wanted this morning. And Richard Sherman, good for him, called it out after. The big story here is George Pickkins. George Pickkins throughout the game, especially late in the game, just looked uninterested. uninterested in playing football, you know, and that’s what you can’t have. If you’re gonna be a superstar, if you want to be the best receiver in the National Football League, you can’t ever be disengaged. You can’t just disappear in these games or else you’re not going to have impact. You’re the guy. You’re the guy. CD Lamb is not in this game. He’s out. It’s unacceptable. And if you’re the Dallas Cowboys and you’re looking at him and you’re looking to pay him big-time receiver money, $40 million, you got to look at this tape and say, “Hey, is this a guy we can trust paying $40 million to show up regardless of circumstance?” I don’t know. Uh, good for Richard Sherman. Regardless of circumstance. Regardless of circumstance. George Pickkins when the going’s good. But now, and I I’m just going to guess here. His agents called Jerry looking for a big contract and they’ve said, “Let’s wait till the season’s over.” Agent tells Pickins. Picking starts pouting. Remember those words from Richard Sherman. regardless of circumstance. Because regardless of circumstance, Dak Prescott always delivers. Winning, losing, hurt, Dak is a leader on the worst of Sundays and the best of Thursdays. Okay? Just because the workplace environment isn’t ideal, don’t don’t do a Dez because Jerry moved off Dez and it distracted in his mind and a replaceable Micah. He got tired of Zeke. So I Richard Sherman circumstance superstars circumstance superstars they’re not going to get the bag in Dallas and I know everybody’s going to go he’s been so great last couple games you’re getting the Pittsburgh guy. Hey Dez Bryant to the end in Dallas got into the end zone a lot. I talked to Jason Garrett off the air once about that. He’s like I love Dez. He got into the end zone. It’s hard to get into the end zone. So that that’s not a good look. And again, Dak was getting hammered. Picking starts pouting. That is not on Dak last night. And I’ll say this about the Dallas defense. It’s better, but I’ve seen Detroit do that this year to all sorts of teams, including the Ravens, who have a very good defense. It was banged up, but I I it’s just one of those nights where standalone games kind of feels like you quit late in the game when CD Lamb left. And that’s the thing. CD was out. You get taken off the field. Now it’s your time to shine. And it looked like you just quit on a football. You don’t get the bag, you get the boot in Dallas. If you’re a circumstances superstar, boot over the bag. For the first time in a long time, the Bears are going to face the Packers. And I like both the offenses. This is the most one-sided great rivalry in sports. Think about this. The last 20 times Duke and Carolina have met in basketball, it’s 10-10. The last 10 times the Buckeyes and the Wolverines have met in football, it’s 6-4 Ohio State. The last 10 times Texas Oklahoma play in football, it’s 6 to4 Sooners. The last 30 times the Bears and Packers have played, it’s 26-4 Green Bay. If this was a fight, they’d have called it like two decades ago. Why? And my belief isn’t just that Green Bay drafts good quarterbacks. The reason they do draft good quarterbacks and they draft ahead. Green Bay gets out of dysfunction very quickly. And everybody in the NFL has dysfunction and injuries. Everybody. Green Bay McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers started getting prickly, moved off it. Favre started getting prickly, moved off it. Even this year, Green Bay’s offense got it was broken a month ago and they fixed it. So, they stay ahead of dysfunction and Chicago doesn’t. And so much of life and so much of sports is not turning a bad day into a bad week. Is not turning one bad loss into a four-ame losing streak. I saw a story this week where Matt Stafford came out and he said, “I’m really good at getting over bad games.” And I was thinking about Tom Brady when he went to Tampa. He had back-to-back games before the buy where his passer rating was in the 70s and they were lost as a franchise. And then they had a buy and Tom Brady I think went 8-0 and won a Super Bowl from that point forward. Don’t let a bad day become a bad week or month as a human being. And so it in fact in golf they call it bounceback. What do you do after a bogey on the tour? The best guy is Scotty Sheffler. Scotty Sheffller 36% of the time after a bogey, next hole has a birdie. You got to forget losses, bad series, bad plays, bad days at work. Get over it. Just move on. You got to be resilient. The Bears until this season were still clinging to 1985. We’re tough. We’re physical. We’re about defense. I like defense, too. And I love physicality. But Ben Johnson said, “Yeah, we can be physical. It’s called a run game.” And that’s what the Bears that that’s where where they figured it out. Chicago loves physicality. Pittsburgh, Chicago, they love defense. They love violent football. Chicago is in their run game. It’s a great run game. So the Bears now that were looking in the rear view mirror since 85, you know, feel very progressive. They they’ve got a McVey feel. Everybody thinks McVey loves to throw. McVey loves to run. Kyle Shannon loves to run. Matt Laflure loves to run. We’ve discovered Ben Johnson loves to run the football. Physicality is not just on defense. And so I mean if you look at the Bears offensive improvement from last year to this year, they’re averaging eight more a game, almost a hundred yards more. The sacks are down by two and a half a game and they’re running for over 52 more yards a game. That’s that’s the biggest improvement in the NFL. So I I feel like the Bears have just discovered Venmo this year. They’d been paying people off in brown paper sacks since 1985 and they like they figured it out. Now what makes it tough for the Bears is Green Bay at home and when Ben Johnson got hired he probably regrets it now but um he kind of fired a shot at Matt Laflur and the Bears rival. Remember this? I’ve got tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and the players in this league, having competed against them for the last six years. And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt Lefor twice a year. Okay, I wouldn’t have said that, but you know what happens. It’s an opening press conference. Dan Campbell had a bad opening press conference. So did Nick Serani. It’s okay. Um, but it’s it’s I feel like the Bears have transitioned from taxis to Uber, from paying people off in brown paper sacks to Venmo, and it’s it’s cool. It It took him a while. Today’s show brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. Big news. Hard Rock Bet now live in Michigan. Michigan. 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Last time the Chicago Bears won a road playoff game, Dave Wanat was the coach. He’s now joining us live here in the studio in Chicago. 39 years college or pro coach. So, um you must love Ben Johnson because last week they ran it what 47 times and I my argument is we always think of physicality with defense. Actually, Kyle Shanahan his physicality is with defense and running the football. So, your thoughts on Ben Johnson’s willingness even with Caleb and all those receivers to run it? Well, I got fired for running the ball too much. Okay. So, I mean, I was the extreme guy. I didn’t have a quarterback, right? So, I love what he’s doing. And when you really think about it, you mentioned Kyle Shanahan when we were working together at Fox on the on the pregame show. I was assigned once to do a study when the Niners and Shanahan were going to the Super Bowl. And the thing that jumped at me, they were shifting in motion and Colin more than anybody in the NFL. And they had runs and passes that as as you were watching that tape and if the play first started with the line stepping in the back, you couldn’t tell if it was a run or pass. And that’s what he Ben’s doing. I mean, Ben is mirroring the run with the pass and motion and shifting. Uh the the guy’s doing a phenomenal job. And let’s give this offensive line some credit. Four of the five starters on the Bears offensive line are new starters from a year ago. Yeah. And and I tell you what, Ryan Poles, the general manager, you know, people have been on them, but they they signed the center and two guards. No one’s been hurt. And these guys have just gotten better every week and every week. So, combination of Ben with what he’s doing on offense. Uh, and I’m going to give the offensive line credit for how they’ve come along and stayed healthy. This rivalry has been one-sided. Did Packer games feel different? Uh, they do now. I mean, you know, I mean, they tune now. I mean, even the Bears beat him the last game of the season last year, you know, and it was just a mess here with everything going on. But I think the biggest difference has been the quarterback. I mean, the six years that I was with the Bears, I had six starting different quarterbacks. Wow. Six. Good. Good luck. Okay. I don’t care how much you run the ball. And that’s when Brett Favre was starting and then it was Roger. So, you know, I got to believe that the consistency at quarterback has been the difference with the Packers over the years. And, uh, you know, I don’t see it changing right now. And, and this is talking about Bears quarterbacks now. Mitch Trabiscy first round pick, Justin Fields, first round pick. So, it wasn’t a bunch of of free agent that they signed off off the field. It just hasn’t worked for Bears at the quarterback position till I think this year with Caleb. So, um, Mike Tomlin, former player, Big Ben, uh, saying things this week, the fans chanting, “Fire Tomlin.” I, my take has always been with Pittsburgh. Um, I mean, they haven’t won a playoff game in eight years. You can be a really good coach, but the league has pivoted offense. I mean, if you start looking now who who ends up in Super Bowls and conference championships, it’s overwhelmingly offensive coaches. I mean, Chicago turned it around, offensive coach. Denver’s got a young quarterback, offensive coach. You look at I mean, Jacksonville’s good again, offensive coach. Is it possible that Tomlin, the message gets lost? It’s an old team. They’ve heard the stories and the motivational tactics. Is it possible it’s time to just good coach, get a different environment? Yeah, because there’s not as much turnover in college. You’re turning guys over two or three years. So, you can have college coaches that last a long time. Al Davis. Al Davis used to always say, I remember when we were working against the Raiders, I was at the Cowboys and he was talking to Jimmy or Jerry or someone and he was always talking about 10 years would be the maximum that he felt that go coach could be in one position and one just for what you’re saying. I mean, and and and yeah, players move around a little bit more now than they did back then, but uh you know, you got to have a special group of guys before it gets old. And you know, you talk about the Steelers and the standard. I mean, you know, it’s uh I I I think now that the fans have turned, ex players have turned, and I was back there in June for the US Open, and I had lunch with Art Rooney and Mike Tomman came in and we were sitting there talking. Those guys are connected the hip. I mean, there’s not going to be a problem there, but I just wonder how long Mike really wants to put up with that type of uh approach because I don’t see it getting any better. I mean, I don’t, you know, I mean, Aaron is what he is. The defense is is getting old. So, I mean, it’s a tough situation. I mean, looking back on it, you and and I was curious when when it was going back, it was June, and they had signed Aaron Rogers yet. You remember it was late. Think who’s the quarterback? I was waiting for them to trade TJ Watt for a couple ones and go with Mason Rudolph, the backup quarterback for this year because where are they going next year? You tell me. Where are they going to be picking? They’re going to be in the middle of the pack and they’re right back to the quarterback scenario. It’s tough to get out of that cycle unless you do something drastic, you know, and I know it’s all hindsight, but I’m I’m sure they’re thinking about that now. Yeah, I suggested it a couple years ago is that with TJ Watt, the defense hasn’t been very good for the last three years. Not nearly as good as what they’re paying for it. So, go get a quarterback. So, um you listen, the Cowboys lost a track meet last night. Um they need a right tackle. They have two first round picks. It’s a good tackle draft. Uh to replace Micah, it’s a good edge draft. I I like where Dallas is going. The George Pickins thing is interesting. Yeah. So Jerry has shown if you’re not committed or focused, Dez Bryant, he’ll move off you. Zeke, he got tired of him. Micah, the podcast, the celebrity, Dak is always football first. Yeah, you got to love Dak, right? Right. He always football first. Uh those offensive linemen, Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, football first. The pickings thing would bother me. Yeah. You know, and I remember when we first went to Dallas, we were gonna be we were trying. We had no players. We were turning everything over. I mean, from the ground floor, you know that. And we signed a couple free agents that were out there and people were and they have talented guys uh like Pickkins. And after it didn’t work out, I remember us all sitting around and Jimmy making the comment, you know, there’s a lesson to be learned here. Those guys are out there for a reason. That’s right. And the team that they’re coming from knows a lot more about Look at the Steelers. Mike Tomlin, he is very tolerant of drama. Coach, I mean, Colin, I mean, it’s, you know, I used to call Colin coach all the time. You know, you I’m the coach of FS1. Okay. Yes, you are. You are. You are the head coach. bit. When you look at Antonio Brown, the Bears made a a trade for Chase Clayole. Remember the receiver? Not long ago, gave up a second round pick and then he got to Chicago and and they got rid of him well in five weeks or a half a year or something. So, my point is Mike Tomlin if if he’s going to be as patient with a player as anybody as anybody in the league and you jump up there and you grab him. Uh free agency can be a little bit of a used car lot. Oh, 100%. the owner knows what the odometer is. You you got to buy on there’s risk involved 100%. And you know, they were and and it’s not about talent and it’s, you know, but it’s just the long season. You want guys that during the ups and downs of a game are going to be able to stay at that high level. And uh obviously pickings and I’m not putting the game last night on him. I mean, they turned the ball over three times and that defense Matt Eberloose is really Matt Eberloose is a good defensive coach. Trust me. I mean, I know Matt when he was here at the Bears. I sat with him. We talked football. He knows what he’s doing. They got some players. They’re improving a big time. Listen, Detroit’s got explosive players. We’ve seen the last four years. They have they have games like this at home, especially but when you’re an average when you’re a defense that’s coming along, you can’t turn the ball over on the other side. You know what I mean? And and three turnovers to none last night, you got Dallas won a lot of the stats. Time of possession, first down. Dallas was fine. Turnovers and they couldn’t make one big stop late. If I said to you, one team had three turnovers and the other one had zero. There it is. It’s a 14 to 21 point loss. Look at the Rams in Carolina last week. If you turn the ball over, especially on the road, good luck. Um, Philadelphia plays on Monday night. We’re going to get to a couple college topics. Philadelphia is interesting. Jaylen Hurt, strangely, is actually better on the road sometimes than at home. He gets away from the pressure. Um, it is strange that Saquon Barkley, there’s no juice. Is it fatigue? Is it the OC? Is it the offensive line? Saquon Barkley looked like next to Barry Sanders and Walter Payeyton the best running back I’d ever seen. And this year, nothing. Did he just lose his fast ball? I don’t May I think it’s a little bit combination of a couple things. One, little bit of Super Bowl hangover. Okay. That’s real. That’s real. And I think the other thing too is I think the Dallas Cowboys tore their heart out the week before they were up 21- nothing against Dallas and Dallas beat them 23-21. I think that because the look on that sideline was bad look. Why isn’t Barkley running it more? Jaylen Herz is running the ball now about seven times a game on an average. When they had that Super Bowl run a couple years ago, he was 10 11 runs a game. And anytime you’re threatened by the quarterback running it, speaking from a defensive standpoint, you have to take somebody off the running back and be accountable for the quarterback. And right now, they’re not doing that. They’re putting everything on Barkley and they’re saying, Jaylen Herz, if you want to run it, prove it that you’re going to run the ball. But I don’t tell I Kevin Polla, I worked with him at Buffalo. I know him. He’s a good coach. This Nick Serriani is an offensive guy. You know, I’m not It’s up to him to solve the problem, coach. Tell I know. I mean, it’s I I I Ml’s offense was broken a month ago. He solved it. Thank you. I mean, dude, take take it over. You’re the head coach. You’re an offensive guy. You and Kevin have been together forever. Don’t let the guy’s house get egged. Yeah, you get that, right? Hey, it might be better for Philly to get on the road. That’s what I think this week. I think getting out of town actually helps them. Plus the sulfi crowd will be by 6535 Philadelphia. Oh, absolutely. Let’s do some college Big 10 championship. I worry a little bit about Ohio State off the Michigan win and looking at the playoff being a, you know, dipping a little bit, but I I was told this by a coach who has been on the sidelines for Ohio State and Indiana. Ohio State looks like bigger. It they look like they got 15 NFL guys. Ohio State’s got better players. Their coaching staff’s excellent. Julian San is Oh my He is I like Ohio State here. I I think it just comes down to they’ve got Indiana beat Oregon at Oregon, but Oregon doesn’t have as we saw at the end of last year Ohio State guys yet. I like the Buckeyes. You Yeah. two two things here that Ohio State had Ohio State has not been behind in a pressure situation at the end of the game and you’ve got Julian Saiyan who’s playing leading the country 70 how do you complete 70 almost 79% your power so incredibly good and accurate for a kid it’s unbelievable and he’s got two receivers he’s leading you know both Tate and Jeremiah Smith are leading the nation in in plays over 40 yards so he’s got weapons with him yes but here’s what I think this game comes down to you got Seyan who’s a freshman. Okay, and you’ve got Mendoza who’s a fiveyear uh senior, okay? He’s been around. So, you got a little bit more experience, obviously a lot more experience with Indiana. And Indiana has been battle tested. And by that I mean they have been behind. It’s final drive against Iowa. It’s a end of the game against Penn State. It’s Oregon at the end of the game. I mean, and they have found ways when they look up at that scoreboard and there’s six, seven minutes left or less against a talented team, they have found ways to win the game. Ohio State hasn’t yet, you know. Uh, so I I don’t know. I’m I’m not selling Indiana short by any means. I I I think uh uh you know, think about this. You said Ohio State’s offensive line, they look the part. They’ve given up the fourth le top 10 in the least amount of tackles for losses. Guess who’s number two in the nation? Indiana as far as making tackles for loss. So there’s your battle. It’s going to be a battle up front here. And uh then if it comes down to a close game at the end, what quarterback can make a play? I mean this and saying this, this could be the first game that he’s going to have to win the game. Julian Yep. for Ohio State. I’ve already seen Mendoza do it at Penn State. That was one for the ages. Finally, um, you know, the Miami Hurricanes well. They beat Notre Dame head. They had four common opponents. They were better against them. Miami’s got the better defense. Miami’s got the better passing game. And again, once the records are the same head-to-head, we know this in the NFL. That’s the first thing they use. Absolutely. I have Mario Crystal Ball on last hour. I I And I’m a Notre Dame. I love Notre Dame and I think they’d be favored if they played, but that’s not what this is about. I think Miami is getting hosed here, don’t you? Oh, 100%. 100%. I mean, I uh uh Yeah. If you look at both teams, everybody keeps saying, “Well, Notre Dame would be favored.” I would say, “Why?” Well, they were favored the first time. Yeah. Why? Why? I mean, you know, what defense would you like? Miami. Thank you. What quarterback would you like? Miami. Probably now Miami. Oh, absolutely. Do you see the re in the pit game against my alma mater? last game of the season. Those receivers made some catches, you know, NFL catches for Miami. No, no, no. Miami’s Miami looks the part. We, by the way, they have the best edge rusher in the sport right now. Bane, that kid could be the second, third pick. So, Miamiy’s got the great edge rusher. Miami’s got great receivers. What Notre Dame has is a terrific coach. So does Miami. And I love the running back. He He is a great player. But again, I this can’t be about the spread and it can’t be about what I think. Four common opponents, head-to-head matchup. Now, and people have said, “Well, I mean, it was a first.” And I said this, I said, “You got to contextualize that first game.” Well, when I watched the Pit game, it did make me think differently and it made me get a microscope out and go look at their standings, the NCAA, the head-to-head. I’m sorry. Let me ask you this. What about if Texas didn’t go play Ohio State the first game and lose by a Well, they did though. Yeah, they did. We’re talking about You know what I mean? I mean, if So, I I don’t know. I I You shouldn’t get penalized. Miami shouldn’t get penalized for playing Notre Dame. That’s That’s what I’m saying. Oh, finally Penn State little bit of a circus. You know it well. Reportedly finalizing a deal for Matt Campbell according to Yahoo. Give Yahoo credit. That’s a pretty good get, is it not? For late in the process. It is for what? what you’re working with at Iowa State. I’ve been there. I’ve coached up against him. Uh that that’s a tough job. And he has done a very good job. He’s uh uh you know, he I he’s a smart guy. He’s got a good staff. Yeah. I don’t know, you know, where it fits, but recruiting and stuff. He’s kind of a good recruiter, East Coast guy. So So he’ll tie in there. I think it’s a good hire for him. I really do. I know everybody’s up in arms and stuff. Uh but uh yeah, it’s a good hire for him. And how do you know, Colin? You know, everybody wants to hire the the the name guy. That wasn’t going to happen. Brian Kelly didn’t work at LSU. No. So, I mean, you know, hire the guy that that you feel good about that you can communicate with. And I think that’s what they’ve done. Yeah. Dave Wanat, last time the Bears won a road playoff game. Wow. Those are hard. Who did you beat? We beat Minnesota in Minnesota. Yeah, that was hard. Who was the quarterback for them? For them it was Warren Moon. Oh my. I believe. Yeah. Warren Moon, Chris Carter, Robert Smith. Oh, that was a good offense, coach. Good offense. You remember the game? Do I remember the game? Third. Yeah, I remember the game. We blocked the punt. We Oh, you blocked the punt. We had Steve Walsh was our quarterback and we were, you know, Warren Moon, coach, we ran the ball, as you can imagine, and we had the little boots and waggles, the movement passes that Chicago uses, and and uh and then we forced them to kick field goals rather than touchdowns in the red zone. That was the difference in the game. Well, that’s field goals. Yeah. Nobody wants to kick those anymore. Go for it on Go for it. Yeah. The Detroit go for it last night. No, they Detroit scale back a little bit in the go for it stuff. Thank god. Thank god Camp 0 for seven. That would make you think twice about it, right? Good seeing the coach. Thanks.

Colin Cowherd reacts to the latest in the NFL, starting with the Detroit Lions beating the Dallas Cowboys to keep their playoff hopes alive on Thursday night. Then he talks about Cowboys WR George Pickens’ disappointing performance in the loss. Next, Colin looks ahead to this weekend’s huge rivalry matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. Finally, Colin is joined in studio by Dave Wannstedt to discuss a number of topics including how Bears head coach Ben Johnson has transformed the team, the Bears-Packers rivalry, and Mike Tomlin’s future with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

0:00 Lions beat Cowboys
4:59 George Pickens
10:55 Bears-Packers rivalry
16:57 Dave Wannstedt in studio

All lines provided by @hardrockbet

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