Colin Cowherd Podcast - Week 18 Games Were AWFUL, NFL Playoff Preview, College Football Playoff Predictions

This is an iHeart podcast with real voices. If you want one show to frame this wild year, catch the season finale of Next Question with Katie Couric.

Different vibe today with John Middlekauff. Gray skies, green hills in L.A., and a strange Week 18 where the early slate felt rough, the Bears snoozed, rallied, then lost, and the league’s push for more football didn’t exactly help the product.

You could feel the tank jobs in the morning window, and the gap between top and bottom is massive. Fewer pads, more injuries, and uneven coaching have made the worst teams barely watchable while the elites separate.

I’ve said it for a year: the bottom of the NFL now feels like the NBA’s basement. In a quarterback‑driven league, great passers paired with strong offensive minds blow open the haves versus have‑nots by Thanksgiving.

AFC board: Denver sits with the bye; Chargers at New England looks tight and low‑scoring. I’d probably take the points with L.A., but if I had to pick a side straight up, I’d lean Patriots at home.

The Chargers are a live dog. Harbaugh under the radar, tougher schedule, and bad weather would not scare them; New England’s path has been soft.

Bills at Jaguars with Buffalo slightly favored is wild to me. Jacksonville starts faster, has a pass rush, and Buffalo’s slow starts are dangerous on the road; I’d take the Jags by a score.

Jacksonville’s stacked eight wins in a row and looks balanced. Allen can take over any game, but if the Jags clear that hurdle, they can win the conference.

Texans at either Baltimore or Pittsburgh? I’d back Houston in both spots and expect them to be slightly favored. Ryans’ group is the wild card nobody wants.

Steelers can’t match them; Ravens are trickier, but Houston’s defense and corners travel. Along with the Jags, they’re the wild card with real Super Bowl juice.

Byes don’t always help young, fast teams like Seattle or Denver. Still, Denver’s altitude and cold against warm‑weather opponents is worth a couple points even if their offense feels off.

Denver’s crowd and thin air are real, like Seattle’s. But the Broncos’ juice comes and goes, and their quarterback’s confidence doesn’t always match the talk.

NFC: Seattle gets the bye. Rams visit a sub‑.500 Carolina team laying a big number, which I’d avoid. The Rams start slow and can be hit over the top; Bryce Young looks more bridge than franchise right now.

L.A. looked flat and leaky on defense, and their offense leans hard on Puka’s volume and their top red‑zone target’s health. Carolina could make it weird if the weather turns, though an upset would still shock me.

Six‑seed 49ers at the Eagles is about pressure and protection. If key Niners linemen return, they’re live, but Philly can rush without blitzing while San Francisco struggles to create heat; Seattle just beat them up physically.

Philly has absurd talent and a mobile quarterback, yet they go stale in stretches. If they stay competent, the Niners won’t get stops—and that crowd flips fast if the home team wobbles early.

Green Bay at Chicago is a pick’em. I like the Bears’ home energy and the growing Caleb‑to‑tight end chemistry, even with a shaky back end on defense.

It’s a brutal draw for a two seed; the Bears’ D leaks yards and the Packers are banged up but dangerous. The building will be electric, which might be their edge.

Coaching carousel: Raiders buzz around Brian Flores with Brian Daboll sounds like a Brady‑driven package, but I’d hire Kevin Stefanski for Fernando Mendoza and fix the offensive line. The sport is tilting offense, not back toward Patriot‑style austerity.

I’d pick Stefanski too. The Patriot tree has burned teams, Flores is elite on defense but risky for a rookie QB, and this hiring class is thin.

A lot of the top draft teams have ownership issues, and the Patriot Way doesn’t replicate. Belichick isn’t a teacher like Saban or Reid, and proximity to genius isn’t mentorship.

That model worked because Brady absorbed Bill’s hard edge. Today’s players need a different touch, which is why the personnel folks from that world have fared better than the coaches.

College semis: I’ll take Miami in a close one over Ole Miss—SEC depth is thinner in the portal era, and Miami’s physicality travels.

I like Miami to cover; they’re violent at the line and deeper than Georgia was this year.

Indiana versus Oregon: give me the Hoosiers to win and cover. They don’t beat themselves, and that’s death for a mistake‑prone opponent.

I lean Indiana, but this is Dan Lanning’s first true underdog spot with a loaded roster; only worry is portal distractions while Indiana stays locked in.

Fernando Mendoza feels like Andrew Luck from the neck up—big, sturdy, poised. He’s an A prospect without the A‑plus explosiveness.

He’s a clear number one in this class, just a notch below the Luck and Trevor tier. Toughness, processing, and bounce‑back throws in pressure moments all showed up.

Sam Darnold’s teammates keep vouching for him, and Seattle’s combo of a team‑friendly QB deal, elite drafting, and Mike Macdonald’s defense makes them a real Super Bowl threat.

Macdonald smothered Kyle’s scheme, the DBs hit, and Darnold played on time. Add one more receiver and that home playoff crowd becomes a problem for everyone.

That Brooks interception said everything as their defense flew around and came in waves, even the backups. They’d looked a bit off against the Rams and had that odd Carolina game, but last night they were brutal, and I’d bet plenty of Niners felt it getting out of bed.

I can’t remember seeing a healthy McCaffrey get wiped out like that; it’s like neutralizing Walter Payton or Barry Sanders at their peak. What a clinic—good stuff, man, take it easy.