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

Dec 8, 2025

Colin chats with John Middlekauff, a former NFL scout and host of the ‘3 and Out’ podcast. They discuss the Bears' respectable loss to the Packers, asserting Chicago's place among the NFL elite. The duo analyzes Lamar Jackson's struggles and the Ravens' playoff prospects. They dive into the college football playoff rankings, debating Miami’s inclusion and the pitfalls of guaranteed spots for non-Power 4 teams. Lastly, they highlight Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza as a potential #1 NFL draft pick after his standout performance against Ohio State.

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INSIGHT

Bears Prove They're For Real

The Bears showed they belong in the NFL's top tier despite losing a close game to Green Bay.
Colin Cowherd argues Chicago's second-half resilience and clock control proved they're a legitimate team.

INSIGHT

Lamar Jackson's Performance Concern

Lamar Jackson appears diminished and possibly injured, limiting his downfield trust and mobility.
Cowherd warns that Baltimore and Pittsburgh look unlikely to advance far in the playoffs with current play.

INSIGHT

Playoff Structure Strain

The College Football Playoff chaos stems from including guaranteed Group-of-Five spots and NIL/transfer upheaval.
Colin Cowherd believes power conferences should separate their playoff paths from smaller programs.

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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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