Colin Cowherd Podcast - Bears Built For The COLD, NFL Playoffs Are WIDE OPEN, Lamar Jackson’s Future, Ranking Top NFL Coaches

Back from Chicago radio and now on FS1, Danny Parkins joins; my California buddy wanted a Bears game in thirty mile winds and snow, and I told him living in it is not glamorous, but that weather actually favors Chicago with their run game, line, and Caleb’s legs, so I like the Bears this weekend and Jacksonville too.

Caleb’s arm cuts through cold, like against Cleveland in that brutally cold Soldier Field game, and Green Bay’s defense has sagged since a key injury while the Bears keep taking the ball away, so I’m flying in to freeze behind the Bears bench and I’m oddly rooting for snow because this could be the start of a real shift in a rivalry I have watched since I was six.

There has never really been a warm weather or dome dynasty, this league runs through bad weather, and Ben Johnson built Chicago for it with interior line, tight end, and slot work that wins under sixteen yards, so I am big on Jacksonville, big on Chicago, and I like Tomlin Monday with DK back, what are your strongest plays.

The one you did not name is my favorite, Chargers getting the field goal and a hook, because New England’s schedule has been soft, their rush is not scary, and Herbert will not be staring at the sky all day, while Denver or Houston would have been tougher.

This season flipped a lot of assumptions and it reminded me to pay huge money sparingly, even at quarterback, keep restructuring, and draft a quarterback every other year because big caps hollow out rosters and force your guy to be Superman.

With the expanded field almost every above five hundred team got in and everyone has warts, do you really trust Darnold, a Rams defense giving up points, or a Bills run defense near the bottom, and while Jacksonville may bully fronts I still have turnover scar tissue with Trevor, so in a wide open NFC the flawed Bears can ride their run game and bracket to two home dates.

On Lamar and the Harbaugh split, hyper athletic quarterbacks age faster, the cap hit is massive, and I wonder if we are seeing a more tackleable version now, what do you think he is over the next few years.

He can still be good enough to win in the short term, but as the legs dip you have to separate how much of the passing jump was the run threat, so I would not want to be tied deep into his thirties yet ages twenty nine to thirty two can absolutely contend with the right coach, and Baltimore is still a great job.

They do not need a culture reset, they need an offensive head coach Lamar believes in who can elevate him as he loses a little juice, while the Giants need a culture hammer.

Everyone knows this is likely a five year hire, which is why he will cash in now rather than sit out.

Drop Harbaugh or Stefanski on the Giants and I would circle them as a double the wins candidate, and it would be rich if Cleveland moved on from Stefanski only to watch him own Baltimore from down the road.

Letting Stefanski go would be nuts, and league wide you cannot let a real play calling savant walk just to preserve status quo, sometimes you promote the genius even if it means replacing a popular head coach.

Culture matters, but the bigger mistake often comes after the genius leaves, do not hire the buddy down the hall because he knows the vibe, run a wide search and ask your smartest people who the smartest person they know is.

Ben Johnson flipped Chicago fast with ruthless standards and hands on installs in every situation, pair a top offensive mind with a top tier physical talent in Caleb and their chemistry already feels real and durable.

Let us place Ben Johnson on a coaching board and take Andy Reid out because he is in a different galaxy.

Shanahan belongs near the top after reaching a Super Bowl with Garoppolo and the last pick in the draft, though I will still stump for my guy as the list tightens.

I go McVay, Harbaugh, Shanahan, then Vrabel and Payton with Mike McDonald right there, Ben Johnson lands around seven for me, and Tomlin’s consistency keeps him in the tier.

LaFleur is good but I would still take Johnson, Liam Cohen is surging, and coach of the year should probably go to McDonald after that dominant week eighteen defensive performance against San Francisco.

Seattle scares me because they have the trifecta again, a highly productive quarterback on a team friendly deal and a front office that has nailed roughly nine straight early picks.

I doubted the Carroll hire back then in part because of age, which is a useful reminder to check my biases.

Head coaches are mostly CEOs who build cultures, and while I wondered if Mike McDaniel’s quirks would play in a locker room after tough losses, he is not their main problem.

Tomlin is an eleven out of ten leader with offensive blind spots, but give him a top quarterback and he wins big right away.

Pair him with Josh Allen and you have a Super Bowl threat, though as the league tilted even more to offense his ceiling feels lower than a decade ago.

Pittsburgh is too steady to draft at the top so they are stuck in the middle until a richer quarterback class arrives.

Houston’s recent drafting under Nick Caserio underscores how badly New England whiffed late in the Belichick era when Bill overruled the scouts.

Great hour, and yes I face planted to end the season on picks so I need a playoff heater.

I closed around sixty percent and took some shots for it, which is fine because the wind blows harder at the top, see you soon.

And no shade, but you do a little line shopping like a pro which helps, all love man, talk soon.