Colin Cowherd Podcast - What the Bears Proved, College Football Playoff, Indiana Takes Down Ohio State, What’s Wrong With Lamar Jackson?

Dec 8, 2025

John Middlekauff, a former NFL scout and host of '3 and Out,' joins the conversation with valuable insights on recent NFL and college football action. They discuss the Bears' impressive performance against the Packers, questioning if Lamar Jackson can recover from recent struggles. The hosts debate the latest college football playoff rankings, expressing mixed feelings about guaranteed spots for non-Power 4 teams. Additionally, they highlight Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza's rising draft stock following a standout game against Ohio State.

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INSIGHT

Bears Proved They Belong

The Bears showed they belong in the NFL's upper tier after a gritty performance versus Green Bay.
Colin Cowherd says Chicago's mental and physical toughness made them a legitimate team despite the loss.

ADVICE

Let Playmakers Create

Let playmaking quarterbacks play to their strengths rather than force pocket-only constructs.
Colin and John repeatedly urge coaches to allow Caleb Williams and similar QBs freedom to create rather than restricting movement.

INSIGHT

Lamar Looks Below Peak

Lamar Jackson appears limited and less explosive than his peak form.
John Middlekauff and Colin both think he may be hurt or not at full strength and the Ravens look unlikely to go deep in the playoffs as currently constructed.

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Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to break down all the Week 14 NFL action + college football.

They start with the Packers holding off the Bears 28-21 and they both argue that despite the loss the Bears proved to be a big winner on the day and proved they belong in the top tier of NFL teams (3:00).

They move to the Steelers win over the Ravens to take control of first place in the AFC North, and they agree that Lamar Jackson looks like a shell of himself and neither team is going anywhere if they make the playoffs (23:30).

They react to the final college football playoff rankings and Colin argues the key was getting Miami in, and John explains why he doesn’t like having guaranteed spots for non-power 4 conference teams (29:00). Colin breaks down why bowl games are in big trouble now that multiple teams are pulling out of them (37:30), and why he thinks Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has likely played his way into becoming the #1 pick in the NFL draft after beating Ohio State (41:00).

They go back to the NFL to break down the Bills win over the Bengals and Colin argues that despite the win for Buffalo, they were outschemed, outplayed and can’t be trusted in the postseason (59:00). They recap Shedeur Sanders and the Browns losing to the Titans in a very uneven performance from Shedeur (1:07:00).

They pivot to the Broncos win over the Raiders in a game Colin calls “the most lopsided one score game” he’s ever seen and they debate whether the Raiders will blow it up after this season and/or potentially move on from Pete Carroll after only one season (1:16:00).

They move to the Seahawks blowout win over the Falcons & Colin explains why you can erase the Jets from Sam Darnold’s resume and that he’s proved to be a legit franchise quarterback (1:21:15). They break down the Rams blowout win over the Cardinals and why the Cardinals are completely out of their depth in an NFC West that features 3 incredible head coaches (1:26:00).

Finally, they recap the Vikings drubbing of the Commanders and argue it was JJ McCarthy’s best game and wonder whether Jayden Daniels will physically be able to hold up in the NFL (1:30:00).

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