First Things First - Broncos beat Raiders, Chiefs ‘still in AFC West hunt’, Maye vs. Mayfield, Upset Alert & Nick’s Picks

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

(0:00) Broncos beat Raiders, Chiefs AFC West odds, Will the Ravens stay hot? (25:21) Eagles vibes, Should the Packers be concerned if they lose to Philly? (39:08) Drake Maye vs. Baker Mayfield (45:21) Upset Alert & Nick’s Picks (01:08:53) Eagles vs. Packers preview, Can Mac Jones keep up with Matthew Stafford? (01:21:47) Ravens vs. Vikings picks, More pressure on Lamar Jackson or Ravens defense? (01:26:29) Parkins’ Picks, Guaranteeing a Bears win over Giants?  (01:46:01) Herbert vs. Steelers defense, Can the Chiefs catch the Broncos (01:57:55) Drake & Bake, Will Mac Jones upset Matt Stafford? (02:08:30) Eagles vs. Packers picks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York, it's a show it's congratulating Bruce Uncle Kenneth. Wow. Thank you, Watts. Hall of Fame, Xavier University of New Orleans for basketball. Athletic Hall of Fame. That's awesome. That's awesome. All right.

Oh, I believe it. Brew was a good athlete. Oh, yeah. Also, commitment to work, because if I would have gone down to New Orleans on a Thursday, you're not making it back here Friday. I already got a call. 6 a.m. flight. Good for you.

Yeah, which is risky these days. Yeah. So congrats. Thank you. Yes. Shout out. First hour of first things first. Today, Bo, booed.

But are the Broncos still a threat to Kansas City we discuss? Meanwhile, bake show versus the Drake Show. Who plays more like the MVP in Tampa Bay? Interesting today, both starting running backs out. For both teams. For both teams. Yeah, Buck Yirving and Romandre. And finally, well, it's the hottest segment in all of sports.

Upset Alert with a chaser of Nick's picks. How's Nick's picks doing? Still hot. All right? We're okay. I think it's still. It's kind of unfortunate. On the pot, so on the pot, I give out five picks, and I pick my three favorites for this.

Yes. On the pot, I went three and two. Yeah, of course. But I picked the two losers here. Whenever he starts talking about the pot, you know, you know the one for the show is bad. I'm just telling you. It's just bad luck. I went three and two last week.

Yeah, no. Danny's lead is blinding. In conversation, five and O. No, I'm not. Just kicking it around at the bar. Perfect. Yesterday, we don't give credit for it.

Last night, Brew, I gave out the Raiders and the under. Winner, winner chicken dinner. You know, picking up sets, I'm phenomenal with my boys. Oh, my God. In my journal, guys, my, for some reason on the show, I'm terrible. My dream journal that I write down. I'm at like 85%. Okay, here we go.

I'm actually starting to pull for you, man. I hope you start winning a few years. You always say that now. I need it bad. It's like every week. We're starting with an ugly win. 10-7. But seven straight wins for Denver.

They're 8 and 2. Also, booed consistently during the game. Also, the camera kept cutting to people doing the thumbs down. Oh, Nick's reacted to everything after the game. Take a listen. We got to do better. At some point, 10 points ain't going to be enough. We got to score more. Would you think about some of their reaction, booze and that kind of thing? Well, I've been booed before and I'll be booed again, so not going to be the last time. It's obviously unfortunate. You don't want your own fans booing you, but, you know, it's part of it.

That is a quote from the quarterback of the AFC West leading Broncos. Here are the numbers. Completed 57% of his passes. Expected completion percentage 70. It wasn't good. I wrote, I went freestyle the question because you guys weren't on the call.

Hey, what's going on? Well, if I may quote Bruce Willis from the legendary film Die Hard to America watching the Broncos last night, maybe for the first time for three hours. Welcome to the party, pal. That's what it's been every single week. And Brew, Wednesday you were here in Wilds during tears, was like, you know what? I think I'm going to believe in the Broncos.

And then Thursday, he doubled and tripled down on it. And then, because here's the deal. There's a lot of football every weekend. And the Broncos are not a super marquee team if it's not your team. And so it's a weird, you know, where most of the people who are watching the Broncos week in, week out the closest are Bronco fans and they want Bo Nix to be good and they want to puff their chest out and be like when the Chiefs were winning close games it was all good and now it's not the only other people

watching the Broncos really closely are people that are it's their job or gambling on it or have a vested interest in the Broncos not being good I happen to check all three boxes I'm gambling on it. I don't, I want them to fall back for the chiefs. And it's my job. And I'm telling you, America, that defense is awesome. Yeah. And while I think Sean Payton is a little overstated at times by some members of the media,

I think he designed an offense where guys do seem to run open a fair amount. And their quarterback cannot hit him. and the running game is not as potent as they hoped it would be and there be. But it's better, it's the best part of their office right now. No question about it. No,

but if they had a dynamic, if you have a great defense, good offensive line and dynamic running game. Right. Then you can get away with having what is right now a bottom five or six production from the quarterback position. And so they are, This is exactly how they played in London when they escaped against the Jets.

This is how they played last week when it took a dirty hit to knock CJ out of the game to escape against the Texans. It's how they played in week one to beat the Titans. And so I just, they have a great defense and the defense makes them frisky. But that offense and that quarterback make them every other AFC playoff team brew is going to be saying, please give us the Broncos. Of all the available teams, give them. Because again, there's not going to be any bad teams in the playoffs.

He is going to be the worst quarterback in his playoffs by such a wide margin that you're just going to roll the dice with him. I wouldn't go that far. Obviously, with him, he's struggling badly, and I'll get to him. But because of that defense,

like, that defense is playing historically well. It's great. You know, what did they have, 46 sacks? Sounds right. Something like that. Like they're on pace to break the record, you know, the Bears record in 1984, which 72. They're on pace, I think, for 78. And obviously, they're getting the guys five and six times every game.

It feels like on average is 4.6. But so that, for that reason, teams may not be, you know, clamoring to face them in the playoffs. But obviously the issue is Bo Nix. And even you're right with the run game. I mean, if they had like a top level back. then you could just dig and dunk with him with Bo Nix and then run your bell cow. Now, J.K. Dobbins is having a good year.

I think he got hurt last night. Yeah, yeah. And he tweeted about it. He tweeted about a hip drop. I'm just starting to interrupt. Like 30 minutes ago, he tweeted about the hip drop tackle. And he said he's like, they either need to flag it or actually outlaw it. This is some BS.

And the reporting is he's getting a second opinion on his foot, even though he finished the game. So they have the rookie R.J. Harvey, but it looks like. Who hasn't given them as much as they were expecting because Dobbins was on pace for like a career year. So, but Bo Nicks, first of all, I feel like this is the latest example to us to just pump the brakes on some of the young quarterbacks. And I don't necessarily feel that way about Drake May because he's been so good. He's big, like he has all the measurable. You know what I mean?

But C.J. Strout. phenomenal rookie year came back to Earth and still on Earth right now, you know, after his third year. Jaden Daniels, the injury is obviously a huge, the biggest factor, but even when he was playing, he wasn't like

on fire. Quite like last year. Right, right. And now you got Bow Nix, and you rightfully said, this is kind of what's going to happen, like a Mac Jones type situation. And so far, you've been right on the money with that. And he is the, they are winning despite him.

They, it's not even, I don't even know, I mean, I guess I can't say it's worse than the Trevor Lawrence situation where they were kind of winning in spite of Trevor. But this looks worse. Like right now, I mean, his decision, decision making is horrible. I even whether it was the press conference post game, you can't, I can't see everything in the game. But I feel like he's playing without confidence. Like he is just what the guy you saw last year, particularly toward the end. of the season and the guy you see now are light years apart. So that's funny because,

Drew, I think he's playing with too much confidence. Really? I think he is, I think he really believes so many of his throws are audacious. It's I'm not setting my feet and I'm running or I'm going to like it's trying to fit it into tight windows. Like I feel like his problem isn't that he's too conservative. I feel like his problem is sometimes that he tries to do too much. So maybe it's a combination of being unconfident on certain things,

but also still really believing in his overall talent in a way that, again, the Broncos are eight and two. I want to separate these things. The Broncos team has proven they're a good team. I was wrong about them. I, like, I, but the defense is carrying the entire workload right now in a way that I don't think it's sustainable

against the good teams, even though they beat Philly. And quickly, what you said about the Chiefs, because this, I mean, obviously Mahomes was playing way better than this, but it's reminiscent the close wins, some wins where you're like, they got a break, they won. The difference is the track record. And so the Eagles don't even get that benefit of the doubt. Even though they won the Super Bowl last year,

when they don't look good in wins, people criticize them. The Chiefs, you know, because of their past and the Super Bowls, they have gotten a pass and rightfully. so that you can't give to the Broncos. Go ahead, K.W. Seven-game win streak. He's completing less than 60% of his passes. I'm a big completion percentage guy.

I know you hate it. No, it's good. He even enough. I'm not, no. I'm not a completion, but go ahead. And he's not really throwing it that far. Yards per pass at 6.2. It's the worst on any seven-game win streak since the Steelers.

That was the season before the better than the body. Correct. That was the fraudulent. They started 10-0. and nobody really believed in them was that year. Oh, the Steelers? That being said, and maybe I'm just playing a little bit of devil's advocate. That's okay.

Seven games is seven games. Yeah. So that's one part of it. There's a point where we're in this weird part of sports TV. It's like maybe it'd be better to get like, that was just a dud game and I was totally, like sometimes you get more credit for like, you know what? Throw that game in the garbage. But you don't throw it in the garbage because they won.

You know what I mean? So then it's like, ah, you don't. But it's just every week like this, KW. I know, but how they look consistently. I mean, they beat the Jets 13 and 11. So that's the other. They were fortunate. So the Jets are there, the Texans are here.

The Eagles thing is real. The Eagles win was a real win. I'm watching that game and he looked great. No, but that's their own. The Giants win was great. Was it lucky a little weird thing? But Bo Nix was out there. So, looked like a franchise quarterback.

That Eagles game, if. you remember it, he looked exactly like this for the first three quarters. I don't know, but he flashed it. And then the fourth quarter was excellent. And that's the other distinction that I will draw, because I know we're about talked about the Chiefs this year, because I went back and looked at it. The Chiefs last year, it was close games. It was close games against playoff teams.

It was close games against the Broncos, who made the playoffs, against Cincinnati, against Baltimore. The only close game against a non-playoff team they had like that against bad team was the Raiders game. The Broncos, it's these close games against the Titans and the Giants and the Jets and the Texans with the backup quarterback and the Raiders last night. That's the other piece of it. And so I just, I think he is going to be the reason this team does not achieve Sean Payton's belief in it. Sean Payton said this team can win the Super Bowl. And the reason that at 8 and 2, with the best statistical

offensive line in football, the best defensive line or past Russian football and an excellent defense. Nobody thinks they can win the Super Bowl is because of the quarterback. They can disrupt the quarterback. Yes. That might go a long way. Last time Denver won seven straight, they won the Super Bowl.

So the Broncos have eight wins. Kansas City has five. A quick update on the playoff odds. Brew, luckily you missed it yesterday. Grievous error on my part. Terrible life for miles. Denver is now 90% to make the playoffs, 50% to win the division according to the athletic, which is owned in part by the New York Times. Can I tell you something funny about this graphic?

Sure. Yesterday before the game, Denver had slightly better odds to win the division. They were plus 100 and Casey was plus 150. So even though they won because it looked the way it did, the odds dropped. Vegas was like, ah, the chiefs have a slightly better chance today than they did yesterday, even though Denver won the game. Do you think the division is out of reach,

even though the odds are tightening? No, I, so this is a very unique circumstance that I cannot remember this late in the season, this being true. Technically right now, the Broncos, Chargers, and Chiefs all control their own destiny for the division, meaning it because they play each other enough, meaning if any of them win out, they win the division, right?

And so, but I don't anticipate the chiefs are going to win out. However, I do anticipate the chiefs off a buy are going to win in Denver, and I do anticipate the chiefs in week 16, I think it is, at home, are going to beat Denver. And that de facto in my brain ties them. Like, chiefs have four losses, Denver has two. I believe the chiefs are going to go two and oh against the Denver Broncos. In which case, no, it's definitively not out of reach. Now it does mean Kansas City, because Denver keeps winning these close games and having these comebacks, even if Kansas City sweeps them, it doesn't lock the division for them because Kansas City's margin of error has narrowed.

But I don't think what Denver is doing is sustainable in the second, the final third of their season when they finally play good teams other than Philadelphia. And so, no, I don't think it's out of reach for Kansas. Well, I agree. And, I mean, like you said, the fact that the Chiefs play them twice means that it's not out of reach. I mean, if they beat them. And I think it breaks really well for the Chiefs because, as you said, the next game against Denver is off the buy.

So you certainly think the Chiefs are going to be ready and win that game in Denver. And then the last, like that game, I think it's week 17. You're right. That could determine the division champion. I think the Chargers, and I really have liked the Chargers, but the injuries, and look, Joe Walt, we've been talking about him like he's the best offensive linemen of all time, right? But still, without Slater, without him, I think they're going to fall off a little bit. I still think they can make the playoffs.

But I think it's between Denver and Kansas City, and that last game being in Kansas City, that you got to like the Chiefs in that one. And here, you mentioned it, Nick. The last four games for the, I don't know if it was up there, for the Broncos, Broncos, Green Bay, Jacksonville, Kansas City, and the Chargers. Correct. Like, that is some tough sledding. So I think the Chiefs, look, obviously if the Chiefs lose to Denver off the Buy, then the Broncos are in control.

The Chiefs play a division championship elimination game. out of the buy. Like if the Chiefs, I am going to be on the record, look into the camera right now. If the Chiefs lose out of the buy, they cannot, in my opinion, win the AFC West. And we have to start sadly talking about

can they miss the playoffs if they lose coming out of the buy. So that game is as important of a regular season game as the Chiefs have played in Mahoney. Holmes' career. Can I see why I'm worried about it? I love to hear. The Chiefs? A little bit.

I mean, they're only a three-point favorite on the look ahead. So Denver, it's got the longest home winning streak in the NFL. They're very good in Denver. The off-the-by thing is usually great. Andy Reid's great off the buy. But this Thursday night game, I was like, Denver gets like half a buy. I didn't realize that when we were looking at it.

Like, oh, that's kind of like a miniature buy. And there's one real way to beat Patrick Mahomes. You can't go toe-to-to-to-to-with the guy. You have to hit him. and they can do that. Four times he was hit the most. 11 times, 7 times, 7 times, 6 times. Bill's loss, Eagles lost.

Giants win, but it was a tackle the turn of time. And the Chargers lost. So if they can get to Mahomes, that is like a rest, and you're good at home, and you're rested, and you're not a full off the buy. It's a recipe for an upset. No, listen, your analysis there is definitely correct. If you remember the last few games of last season,

when they needed, they had those three games in 10, days and they needed to win them to be able to lock up the one seat. When the offensive line was really in sh-like the offensive line wasn't in Shambles, the left tackle position was in Shambles. And they were playing the Texans who were great at getting to the quarterback, and they were playing the Steelers, who's the whole way they were clawing their way into the playoffs was getting to the quarterback. The Chiefs, I think, had two of their most potent offensive games of last year up to that point

by just doing the quick hitter passing, spamming that again and again. I have to believe that Andy understands against Denver that we aren't going to need massive explosives because their offense is not explosive. We just need, to your point, to be able to protect Patrick. I think Buffalo was different because Buffalo, I feel like they felt we need explosives.

And then Buffalo was able to get to him. Finally, Ravens Vikings Sunday at one. Oh. And we talked about this Vikings defense, Brew, but maybe more reputation than reality. Thank you. Here's the recent passer rating against Brian Flores' defense. Rogers round 120. Dylan Gabriel played well.

That's the most embarrassing number on there. Jaylor. You let Dylan Gabriel. Perfect. Perfect. Herbert 122 and golf. I mean, those numbers are crazy. So, brew, how confident are you?

That the Raven stay hot. Wiles, if I was any more confident, I'd be Muhammad Ali. All right. I am incredibly confident that the Ravens are going to continue to roll. And firstly, I love what I hear coming out of that locker room. And it started with Kyle Van Nuoy on our show. Like, we're not there yet. We still got a long way to go.

Like, they are not feeling like, okay, the defense is fixed. Everything is good. Like, they know they dug themselves a hole. And they, every single week, they have to dig out of it. I think they are talking like there's a sense of urgency. There's a seriousness. There's a we got to win every single game to get ourselves out of this hole. And they know there's a chance.

It's not like it's a pipe dream. They control their own destiny too. Yes. You know, because they play Pittsburgh twice. And so I feel very confident. Look, J.J. McCarthy is almost like at Michigan. His numbers are not impressive. That's a great.

his play is not impressive. But he makes winning plays. I will give him that. Against Chicago, obviously. Last week he had didn't, numbers aren't very impressive. But he had some, you know, two touchdowns, what, passing, one running. So, but he has not played well overall. I do think that Ravens' defense is improving.

I'm not even going to say they're there yet. They still got to keep doing this week after week. they're getting better. And then Lamar, I mean, you showed those numbers. Lamar's passer rate is 136. So guys with much lower ones are lighting up Minnesota. I think he's going to have his way. And also Minnesota, really, they've struggled against the run too.

So Derek Henry, one of them, or maybe both, is going to have a big game. Nick, I think it's going to be a shootout or it's going to have to be a shootout for Minnesota to win. And I don't think JJ can come close to Lamar at this stage of his. career in a shootout. All right. I think a lot of that is fair analysis. Your graphic confused me a bit and not confused me, but surprise me, I should say. Yeah, me too.

Because Minnesota did really get to Jared Gough. Maybe he didn't show up in his passer rating, but this past week, like he was under constant duress. I thought that was the best game Minnesota's defense has played all year. So even if it doesn't. Absolutely. Even if, right, it didn't show up in golf's passer rating numbers. if that defense comes to play against Baltimore,

that could give Lamar some trouble because you're right that Lamar has basically solved being blitzed where he used to be bad at it. And one of the things that kind of helped him grow was years ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. By the way, speaking of Miami, everybody knows I'm a big, the tackle, the turn, the tide guy.

Yeah, everybody knows. But no other team that's floundering has been like, hey guys, why don't we draw something up so our quarterback has to force a fumble to see if it turns everything around. You did see that another team decided to see if they could have a toy toss that transformed the tacklers.

That felt like it was... Miami got rid of the Papa shot, Brew. I'm just letting you know. Now? Miami should have done that about a month ago. Miami got rid of the popa shot. I just, so that just, it feels like your T7 is maybe taking

some of the league by storm. They need to get rid of the cardboard that's on the floor in the locker room where they break dance and do back spins and all that. Here's the deal. I want the Ravens to win KW. Yeah, of course. Do you? You have to.

I do because I feel, and I don't know if you agree with me, I feel like if they lose it's over. That they are done, done. I think the Steelers stealing that win against the Colts.

I shouldn't say stealing. They outplayed them. But winning is a dog against the Colts. That in conjunction with if the Ravens lose this game to fall to three and six, the hole is too big. Really? I do. And so I don't want the Ravens to be done yet. Right.

And so, and I also am a little anxious about what I saw Minnesota's defense do last week. And so that's my only trepidation on it. Now, what weighs more heavily is? I'm not worried about treating Goff like Lamar. And Goff, we know trouble is more against pressure. But Lamar does, here's the thing. Lamar doesn't do that as much anymore. And I still have bouncing around in my head what I thought was spags in the Chiefs game,

really giving Lamar some trouble in that game. And so. Well, look, the Chiefs give him trouble that other teams don't. Right. But I'm thinking more about. Spags and Flores as like creative, really smart D-coordinators that can cook

what the kids call a bespoke game plan up just for Lamar. Kids are using the term bespoke? Only when it comes to defensive game plans, oddly. They're like, that's a very bespoke defensive game plan. And so I am not quite as confident as

brew, but Lamar owns the NFC for his career. He's lost his last two, though. Yeah, but prior to that, what? He was 29 in 0 or something. He's 24 And so I, so I, great job. Brew, you're the best. You did not take the day off. Brew's locked.

But I'd be a little nerve. If it's close, late, I'm nervous. That's what I'm saying. For the show, not even just for brew. Vibes in Philly. Confusing. We discussed next on first things for us in the Fox Sports Channel at Sirius XM. Also streaming sometimes.

All the time. Well. Hey, our podcast. Is my Jane Worthy out there. Is back to number one in our YouTube. channel is now streaming sometimes. It's not live. It's not the live show, but it certainly feels like it.

Definitely. Check it out. Yeah, check it out. The more eyeballs the better. Exactly. That's my model. Especially, yeah, of your goggles as well. Vibe check in Philly. As they prepare to take on the Packers,

we're going to play two pieces of sound here and have you guys react. The first is A.J. Brown, who wasn't traded and was asked if he wants to be on the team. And then it was Jalen Phillips, who came over from the Dolphins and is just absolutely thrilled. So take a listen to two pieces of sound. Well, has I said anything to not be here or something like?

Yeah. I thought I was excited day one. I mean, talk to me now. Like this is literally the greatest thing that's happened to me in my whole life probably. But it's just awesome. And the guys are awesome. Everybody's been super welcoming. I love the environment here.

I love the vibe here. City of Phillies, you know, giving me a very warm welcome I got about 20 times. the amount of Instagram likes that I ever got in the post from Philly fans. So shout to y'all. No one even knew I was in the NFL. It was in the golf. Brew, your reaction to the vibes in Philadelphia? I don't even know that it matters.

That's a like and I say that as the architect of the supernatural funk phrase. So that obviously mattered. But we're at the point where. The vibes look great for obviously Jalen Phillips. And, you know, AJ was fine there, but it doesn't even have to be a loss for A.J. to throw the vibes into disarray. They could win this weekend, and he could say something, post something that has everybody going, what in the world?

So I think the good thing for the Eagles is that I think they just completely ignore. Like Jaylen, Jayden said it earlier, or Jalen said it a couple weeks ago. Jalen Hertz said it a couple weeks ago when he was like, you know, I just keep focused on the collector. And we, I think we kind of brushed it aside, whatever. But I really think that's how they look at it now. Like, look, whatever A.J. It's kind of like the boy that cry wolf. Like he's so many times he said something, posted something, whatever.

We won a Super Bowl with him being a distraction on the sideline by reading a book. with him saying things and tweeting things. We're fine. Whatever he says, I think they just ignore it, which I think is smart and you move forward. So I think that'll be fine for them. They're built for all types of vibes. Any vibe, whether it's negative, whether it's great,

they're built for all of it because they've had to. They've endured it all. Last year, you kind of alluded to it, last year a nine-game winning street, win against the Carolina Panthers. A.J. Brown is asked, what needs to be passing game? And now, to his credit, we all felt the same way.

Yes. So he does say the things that most guys aren't going to say in a locker room that they feel that we're not going to disclose to the open public. Jalen Phillips, on the other hand, he's coming from a situation where, look, I had no chance to win. Right. Like, it was miserable. By the way, I've been down there. I know what you're talking about. Like it, and so you get in a locker room and the opportunity, look, all I see is the opportunity to win.

but to defend I don't necessarily want to say I want to defend A.J. Brown But you got to have a guy like this in the locker room. And last year, I thought the book was the distraction. You guys know how I felt about the book?

But you know how many guys came to his defense? Guys in that locker room came to his defense? Even yesterday when we saw that site that we just put up there, DeVante Smith. Devonte Smith. He jumped.

It's in. Yeah. It's like, what y'all think? He want to be, like, A.J. Brown is never going to be the guy that just goes with what feels good. He's going to be the guy in the locker room, in the team meeting room that's going to say what he feels, how he feels, whether we're winning or losing. And he's the guy that everybody, when something, you know somebody's going to say something, it's like, oh, AJ's going to say something. When something needs to be said and nobody's saying anything, you know who everybody's going to look at, AJ, you're going to say something. because you want that guy.

Absolutely. Oh. You think it started that way or it's just become that? I think it's become that because of the frustrations in the passing game. And again, he's experienced it. We watch it and we see, man, they're going to have to pass the ball if they're going to be able to accomplish what we all feel like they're talented enough to do.

What were you going to? You had a funny look when Bruce said what he said. Because I 100% agree with Bruce. So I wrote down my paper, not just. sure any of this matters. To me, it's like turbulence on a flight. It doesn't matter if we're sitting next to each other and you start freaking out and you start screaming with your shoes off. Jalen Hertz is the pilot and he's cool. He's not rattled at all. So I could be like, put your shoes on. We're going down. You've got your toes out there wiggling. It's like Jalen Hertz is so calm and so

steady. I'm not sure this matters. All right. So I have in response to that. About the shoe thing? I want to agree. I want to agree with you guys. With the exception of I think

one could make the argument this is the team of all 32 where it could matter the most because we saw what we think was bad vibes. Sink a that we saw this team be 10 and 1 and then for reasons that are so inexplicable,

we have just used it like a, like it's a real event like for the tackle the turn of the tide, the supernatural funk. We're like that, you know, wow, that was, right. It's written in history as the supernatural funk. And it was brought about by weird vibes on a winning team. But we're not there yet. No. Last year they had the same experience.

And they went through it. And they got through. My other, here is my other kind of bigger picture opinion on this where we move on. We used to hear all the time about when I was young, like how hard it is to play in New York City because of the back pages, right? The tabloid. And I remember when this show first started,

I might have even argued with you about it seven, eight years ago, when I was like, man, that's not a thing anymore. Like that's not the way players consume the media anymore. I think what that is morphed into is the teams that have the most spotlight on them, if there's anything to pick at, it's going to be picked and the players are going to see it the way guys in New York used to only see it. And so I think that Philadelphia is, the back pages are basically, the Instagram and Twitter feeds, and Philadelphia has been the subject of a lot of picking,

and we are in a way that, like, the Chiefs just are not. Like, you know, there's not, there are not people regularly, I'm not reporting about the unhappy guy in the Chiefs or Packers locker room or the Niners. But that's because they don't say stuff like AJ. Right, but that's kind of my point is it becomes a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. You know what I mean? Like Philly is, you know, a hot

bed of this stuff already. Now they have a guy who will talk and now you have all, everybody going to him for it and it's a story that just won't, you know, it won't go away. He didn't say anything. It's just exactly. And to your point, Brew, a win doesn't fix it.

A win where A.J. Brown is awesome doesn't fix it. Because that's what got us the using me, not using me. It was when he, like, it's just going to be there. So they have to be able to sustain it because it's not going to go away. There's nothing that'll make it go away. As for the game, the Eagles are underdogs in Green Bay.

Jordan Love looking to bounce back from a dud game against Carolina in a three interception game when he faced the Eagles in the playoffs. Greg will ask you, are the Packers in trouble if they lose on Monday night? You know, I've been going back and forth with this, and they would be definitely staring down the alley of trouble. staring down the alley of trouble. They would. I think that's a no. That's a kind of a no.

Yeah. They wouldn't necessarily be in trouble because we've seen them lose games and then get back on track. However, after losing to the Panthers in the fashion of which you've lost to them and then knowing what we know about this team, losing to them week one to open the season last year, getting your season ended by them last year and Jordan Love not playing great, it just wouldn't feel. feel good because you're then looking at their schedule and saying, where is the win that tells us that this team is really, really good?

Now, I picked them to win the Super Bowl and get there, obviously. Detroit week one, we almost are almost wanting to throw that out because Detroit hasn't looked anything like that since. And so you need to put together some type of win against a team like this. If you are going to be the team that we expect you to be, you're going to have to face the team. that's going to be in your way. And this is one that's going to consistently be in your way in the NFC. I do not think they be in trouble. I think when you make a good point that that would be three,

at least three straight losses, three in the last two years to the Eagles. So that could be deflating, right? You're like, can we get over the hump against this team? But I also feel like when you are a good team and you lose to the defending Super Bowl champion, that can't deflate you. It's like they're great too. I mean, so it's not like we lost to a bad team again. And I also think, Greg, the thing is they have gotten up for the good team.

Yes. There probably has been the bad team. Washington at that point, we thought was a very good team. And they beat one more Pittsburgh. Yeah. Right. And so, yeah, it's been the bad teams. Cleveland, Carolina, Dallas.

So I expect them to be up for, even if they lose, though, they're 5-3-1. Now, that would drop them out of the playoffs. for the time being, most likely. But because they got Minnesota twice, who is a team, they theoretically could be battling with. They got Chicago twice, which is a team they'd be fighting with for one of those last playoff spots. And they still play Detroit.

Now, I don't necessarily expect them to sweep Detroit, so they probably will lose that game. But I just still think they have enough games against the teams they're battling with. And we know they're better than Minnesota. They're better than Chicago. they have to play that way, but I still think because that's their schedule,

they would still be in fine shape. So if they lose this game, I don't know that I will just say definitively they're better than Chicago. Really? Yeah. Really? Yeah.

I mean, you think on paper they're better. I mean, going into the year, I had Chicago and Green Bay both as wild cards. I think it's the six and the seven. You know what I mean? I didn't find them to be that far apart. Right now, one team's five and three coming off its, you know, arguably best moment of the season. The other team's five, two, and one coming off arguably its worst moment of the season and or second worst moment of the season.

And I just, I think, Dust, I don't know if we can put up whatever version of the standings we have. Because to your point is correct, Brew, if they lose this game, if we think Chicago is going to beat the Giants in their favor. They will be out of the playoffs going into this week. I know right now it says they're the four seed, but that's not the important part. The important part is the records. And if they lose, you do have Chicago poised for right there. And you also have the possibility of team that almost every year there's a team

we're like, man, they're not as good as some of those teams that missed the playoffs, but they got to 10 wins, Carolina or whomever, and they stole a spot. And so if you look at then Green Bay schedule, you're right, Brew, they play all the teams they're competing with. They don't play any soft spots, but the Giants. Like, I would, so it just does be, at some point, it becomes a bit of a math problem. And in a similar way to what I was saying about Kansas City, if they lose to Denver. You know what I mean?

And it's like, oh, well, it doesn't really matter how good you, in theory, can be if you don't have enough opportunities to get the wins. And so I would think if they lose Monday, I would say they're like a coin flip to make the playoffs. And that to me is a big deal. Drake Show versus the Bake Show next. I thought about rolling out the Drake Show. Why don't you just call them Drake? Nobody has that name. Well.

Drake versus Bake Sunday at Tampa Bay. Both QBs in the MVP conversation. Both teams in first. both defenses great at stopping the run. They'll be even better because both starting running backs, Bucky Irving and Ramondra Stevenson, will not play. So the ball should be moving through the air. Who's more likely to look like the MVP?

Drake or Baker, pardon me. The Drake or Baker thing threw me off. Baker, and I want to say something to you about Drake. Great. Because he is legitimately should, MVP candidate. Oh, yeah. The Patriots have a legitimate shot at the one seed, and his numbers are stunning.

This is a little bit like, I feel a little bit like A.J. Brown in, like, when you won the Super Bowl. Like, I started to roll out this Drake May stuff, and then you're just like, he's, let me all those things, and you feel nothing, feel empty inside. I need a rabbit to chase. Okay. You want to give me, Drake? You can take the next young, up-and-coming guy.

So this is the rabbit you should chase. Okay. And I think it is super important in this game against Todd Bull's defense, but also important the rest of your regular season. He's got to get hit less. I know. And he talked about that, you know, some of it. And he's a really, he seems like a really good leader and kid. And when he said, oh, those sacks, they're on me.

Like, that's the right thing to say. It's also true. That's not all of them, but he is holding onto the ball a little too long. He, one of the reasons his completion percentage is on pace to maybe set the, all-time record is because he is taking some sacks instead of throwing the ball away, and he takes big hits. And so I think Baker is off-a-bye, big spot. I think he's poised to play really well.

And if I were you watching Drake in this game, I would really be saying, man, we need you to be whole going into a real playoff run. And we need you to put into practice what you said in the press conference this week, which is I'm not going to take as many sacks because that is the way that this season goes from, oh my God, what a great year or two off the rails.

I'm going to go with Drake. Love it. You know, look, Baker was in the MVP conversation. He was on top of my ballot for a while. He's still in it. He's still on the periphery. Yeah, on the periphery if he puts together a nice string. But even then, Baker was not having, like, he's not having a phenomenal season.

I don't think he's playing as well overall as he did last year. I know he led the league in interceptions last year, but he also had 41 touchdowns. He was just heroic at the end. He wasn't playing terribly for the first three quarters or whatever, but he wasn't lighting it up. He was playing okay. And that's why they were in close games with some teams that were less than them. But he would come through with some great plays down the stretch.

And so I think Drake is having a far better year. and I do think Drake is going to have a better game than Baker coming out of this by. Yeah, I'm with Nick. I think it's going to be Baker in a large part because of what you were talking about, the hits that Drake decides to take. Like the Buccaneers, their last three games,

they've sacked the quarterback 15 times. They only have 25 sacks on the year. So they're trending in the right direction as far as being able to actually pressure the quarterback. And then Baker, to your point, Like he hadn't been playing good going into the break. You get that by, you settle in, and it's like, yes, he has the heroics. Now it's time to be a little bit more efficient because against the Saints, he wasn't great.

No touch. Against the Lions, he was inaccurate. They had a chance to win that game in moments or at least fight to get that game within striking distance and he wasn't able to do it. And I just think this is the moment where either Baker continues to rise and be the team and be the player that they need them to be, not just in the fourth quarter and the waning moments of the game where we've seen him do special things. No knock against Drake, may, because I think he's great. He's fantastic. It's the youthfulness of you got to let that ball go. I remember when Aaron Rogers first started playing, and one of the things that he did

that drove everyone crazy is he held onto the ball. And it's because you still feel like I can. make that play. It's what I was talking about with Lamar. They just feel like Ben Rothensberger did it for his entire career. There's just this I can make a play still. I still can make a play. Even with somebody

hanging off of me, I feel like I can make a play, and it kind of gets them in trouble and he doesn't need to take those hits. A little Josh Allen, early Josh Allen. How far do you have the bucks going, losing in the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs? And a lot of people, Danny has

the bills in the Super Bowl. Yeah. if the Patriots beat the bucks in their building and the bills at their building. It's great. It's huge. What do you think is a fair ceiling that I can come in and start talking about on Monday? You should already be talking about the Patriots playing in the Super Bowl. No, you should not. No, a ceiling? You should stay the course.

But I'm getting there, Greg. I'm starting to see like not as many hurdles. No, KW. Just keep knocking on the doorstep. I mean, that's, but Brew, if they win, this game and they're eight and two they would start to feel like a real contender

especially like if the Chiefs they got two games left against the Jets. If the Chiefs lose the next game to Denver which you brought up some reason for then maybe the Chiefs won't even you won't even have to beat the Chiefs to get there. If you take the Chiefs out

then you got to give New England a shot, a real shot. Okay. Stay tuned. I'm okay losing, too. I am. You almost won a loss just so you can get more comfortable. A little bit.

I feel like I'm going too fast. From New York. It's a show that's looking at hotels in Santa Clara in February. Just maybe. Book it now. I might. Book it now. I'm sure nobody else has thought of it.

I'm willing to commute. What does that mean? I'll book far away and then drive in for the game. Drive back out. So it's available. Patriots might go to the Super Bowl, everybody. It would be great, man. It's where we belong.

If you're, I got to tell you, I don't know it would be good for the show if your Patriots make a Super Bowl before Bruce Ravens. It wouldn't. Not must-win Wednesday, but is Lamar facing a must-win? Meanwhile, a fresh edition of Nick's picks looking to go 3-0 this week. It feels 3-0-ish. It does. It doesn't see it. I feel like I heard that exactly one week ago.

Well. That one fell three and O and then exactly two weeks ago. But right now. We're headed to Denver. The Broncos scored 10 points. They won their seventh straight game. They're eight and two. They're in first place.

The defense is excellent. But the eye test, not good. Here's Sean Peyton. We got to clean up the penalties. We got to clean up some of the execution. And that is an ongoing thing that probably never ends. You know, you search for that. at Shangri-law. Right now, you know, we're teams sitting at eight wins. I think we're the only

team sitting there. And yet we're constantly looking internally and starting, you know, but it was a tough night offensively, obviously. And, you know, and I give them credit. Here's the AFC playoff picture. The Broncos are the number one seat in the whole AFC. Does their 8 and 2 record deserve your respect? All of our respect, really. Listen, yeah, being 8 and 2 deserves at least a modicum of respect, and that defense deserves well more than a modicum of respect. That defense is awesome, and it's not just Nick Benito,

Zach Allen. I thought they hit on, Gino yesterday was borderline dirty, but he's an excellent player, and those aren't the only guys. Fonga's a great player. The Sertan's not even out there. He'll be back. He's a great player. That defense legitimately might be the best in football.

And the offensive line has allowed the few of sacks of any team in the league. And everybody thinks Sean Payton is at the very least a good coach. You know, a great coach at one point in time still. I don't know. So you've got maybe the best defense, maybe the best offensive line, a good coach. A legit home field advantage because of where you play, the only way, and you have the best record in all the football, the only way that team would not be universally regarded as one of, if not the favorites, to win the Super Bowl, is if they had just a dreadful quarterback.

And I'm sorry to tell you, Denver, but what your old buddy Nick Wright's been telling America for 10 weeks, all of America got to watch last night. And that was not an aberrant performance. It is week after week of guys open, sailed over their head, of clean pockets. He gets happy feet of Bo Nicks doing his best young Aaron Rogers. I'm going to slide out to my right, throw it off one foot because of this arm talent, and it sails out of bounds. And so I, if you look at the teams we think are going to be in the AFC playoffs, the Bills, Steelers or Ravens, Colts, Chiefs, Chargers.

Right now those are the Vegas favorites and the Patriots. I left out the Patriots. My apologies. Every single one of those teams, I believe if you said to them, hey, who do you want to face? They are picking maybe the Chargers

because of their injuries and if not them, they're picking Denver. Even though they have the offensive line, the coach, and the defense because we've seen that quarterback play that way for 10 weeks in a row, right? No. Look, I was one that said that this team would make the playoffs. I don't believe anybody else picked them to make the I did. You did pick them to make them. I did not. I picked them and finished last in the division.

And one of the reasons why is because I believe in the head coach. I obviously believe in their defense. And I said, Bo Nicks, year two, is going to continue to come on strong. Last night was hard. Don't laugh. It's a serious, right. Last night, it was really really. really hard to watch. And they just find a way to win.

Like, when you listen to Sean Payton, like, he's like, the only thing he can really hang his hat on is we're eight and two. We know we have a really good defense. We have some struggles offensively. Watching them up, they had, they fought, tooth and nail to get 10 first downs in that game. That's all they got.

Ten first downs. first downs. And so it's not just that Bo Nix is bad. There's no rhythm to the offense. There's no sustainability to what they're trying to do. Like they want to run the ball. You know that they're, you know that Sean Payton wants to protect Bo Nix right now. And so you know that they're going to run the ball first. And if he doesn't show that when, when I, unless I need it in a fourth quarter and we're down and I we everybody even that doesn't watch football knows you got to throw to get back in the game if you if you just need to get a a dink and dunk I was watching like the checkdowns and some of the outlets to the running back any the way he throws the ball accurate yeah he doesn't give them

a chance to do anything after the catch and that was what stood out to me it's not that he was inaccurate because everyone's inaccurate from time to time but it's like when he does have these guys in front of them. He doesn't give them a ball that they can do a lot with afterwards. That's problematic. When you already can identify, we sputter offensively.

If we start to even get going, it was really hard to watch. But they're 8 and 2. Yeah. And that's going to carry him to the playoffs. They can't blow it now as far as making the playoffs. Yeah. Colin made a great

observation I thought earlier. speculation, but it could be true. He said he thinks that Nick's playing, he's overwrought with anxiety, and then in the fourth quarters, when it's like, I can't think about, I just got to play off instinct, that's when

he's been better. So I don't know if that's the case. Obviously, Sean Payton put a lot of expectations on his shoulders going into this season, but I'm not ready to write, and I know you haven't been with Nick's, his whole career. I'm not ready to write him off and say, this is him.

like he played really well last year especially the second half of the season and you know he's had his moments obviously this year in the fourth quarters so I think he can get there I think it's in his head some of those throws I mean those are mental some of these bad misses he's having so they might be able to get him back but I I was surprised at your take as far as respecting it because I thought you were just going to rip it I do I think two things can be true like I don't consider them a Super Bowl contender right now, but I do respect what they've done.

I mean, when you look at where they were, yeah, I respect what the team is done. When you look at where they were when Sean Payton took over, you got to give him credit. And I agree. I think he's made some mistakes. I thought he made some bad calls last night. But you got to respect what he's done. He's made them

one of the better teams in the NFL when what looked like, I mean, he had Russell Wilson, like, it looked like a disaster and he turned it around. And then to your point, the defense. The special teams has struggled. We saw that in some of the videos. The quarterback has been

bad, and yet they're eight and two. And so you have to respect it, but it could be like that Pittsburgh 12 and 4 in 2020 and Philadelphia even turned out to not be real when they went 10 and 1 at the beginning

of 2023. Dusty, if you can grab the Bo Nicks throw from Weird and Wonderful and drag it down. I just want to ask Greg a question about that specific play. That was supposed to be a touchdown. I know you're just talking about checkdowns. But his footwork on that particular play,

not like I'm the quarterback guru, but he's all kind of like happy feet here. Is that so bad? If you just watch his feet here, he's just like on top of it. The mechanic seems so off. Is that actually kind of like a batter to cross sports?

Is that like a batter in a slump? Like, hey man, just set your feet And you're a good quarterback. Like you got to the NFL and you're not doing, you know, basic quarterback mechanical footwork. So obviously you want to, there's a timing to what that's a timing clock that you got to have. In these situations, when I saw this throw, and Herb Street kind of mentioned it in the broadcast,

like he just never even thought to set his feet. He saw a wide open guy and was like, let me just throw it there. And when I see things like that, It's not that it's not even a confidence thing. It's a you're you're moving too fast. Slow down, relax. And I feel like he feels pressure. Because sometimes when even when he was escaping the pocket,

he's escaping into pressure. And it was weird to me because it's like you're setting yourself up. But this was just bad. This was just bad. I see a guy. I got to hurry up and get to him. And I don't even think to set my feet. That is like elementary.

Listen, I know this is going to sound, it might sound harsh, and it just, it is what it is. And I'm glad, Brew, I appreciate you saying that you were surprised by the fact that I am trying to bifurcate my analysis here. I do think the Broncos team deserves respect. But we talk all the time about, man, maybe that quarterback was really good. And he just was in the worst situation possible. You have dropped a five-year college player into a team where they are never off game script early because the defense keeps him in every game. The teams always have to worry about the run or the pass.

You have a head coach whose entire calling card is drawing up open guys and amazing offense. You have the best offensive line in football, and he looks like this. I am not exaggerating when I tell you my opinion is I think there are 25 starting quarterbacks in football that if we drop them into the Broncos right now would look better than they actually are. And so, like, and better than what the Broncos are getting right now. This is kind of an ideal circumstance for young quarterback to be in,

and that's the production they're hitting. That's the big concern for Denver. It's time now for the hottest segment in all of sports. upset alert. And it's a controversial segment. It's not controversial. Turns out how, you know, how analytics ended up ruining, for lack of a better term, some of the sports that you love. Too many threes, for example. Baseball had to change the rule. Too many home runs. The shift. We have learned in the last few weeks of upset alert that the one point for covering and the you get the amount of points it for the outright win plus three or something.

Yeah. Just makes for not a competitive game. So, hold on. Show the scores and you go to the rules. Coach and Greg got a 15-half pointer last week. So basically you could pick every game right from week one to week 16. Uh-huh. And be a half a point.

Oh, if you go against the spread. Come on. What do you mean, KW? You mean the spread versus? right for 16 weeks, it would be a minimum of. If I got every game covered. He means just covered. If I was in next pick, I said.

Again, it's not called cover. Show the rules, dust. It's very straightforward. Everybody understood stands we all agreed to it. But we learn. You get a minimum. We agreed the shift to school. Read the final two bullets.

You get one point if your team covers fails to win outright. The point is to honor the alert part of upset alert. It should be. zero points, but we wanted to honor the alert part. You get a minimum of three points if your ups and alert wins outright, plus number of bonus points. That is flawed. It is obviously flawed.

Oh, okay. Well, you weren't saying that when you were wearing a groundhog hat and you were the Pungestownie football. You're just saying it because Greg and coach are cooking you guys. That was ages ago. That was before we did the score. Well, it is. I just got to give a shout out to coach because right now,

coach you're putting the team on your back. Did he both in a big win? Yeah, we have three wins. I have one. Coach has two, but he has hit grand slams on both of his. So credit to coach. But this week, are you disappointed? He's getting lucky. He just, he knows what's the biggest upset? Every week. Exactly. Well, this week, I'm going with the Arizona Cardinals. And they're facing off again, absolutely. They're going up against the Seattle Seahawks. I know we're all excited about the Seattle team, as in my. But this team in Arizona is starting to heat up in the desert.

Really? Yeah, it's starting to heat up in the desert. They made a decision at the quarterback position. I'll get to that. But when you look at this team, and I know every time we show a team's remaining schedule when we look and we see the Cardinals, we're like, oh, that's a win.

But really is it? When you look at what they've been able to do, they've won games. They've been in close games every single week. These are their losses. They've led in every one of their losses, and then they end up finding a way to lose. That's a sign of a team that just doesn't know how to finish.

That doesn't mean that they're a bad team. Now you insert a veteran at the quarterback position that steadies everything, gives us a little bit more production on the offensive side of the ball, allows our defense to rest a little bit because we're sustaining some drives. We're actually waking up a draft pick that we all thought was.

just going to be sleet throughout the rest of the entirety of the year in Marvin Harrison Jr. Like these are the numbers when Kyler was starting versus now what you have with Jacoby Reset. This is why I feel like this team has a chance in every single game because they've been in every single game. Now you have Jacoby Brissette. Not a world beater. He's going to take some sacks, but he's going to put the ball in the end zone and he's going to protect the ball. I like where they're going defensively. Jonathan Gannon always has had a really good defense. The defense can play a little bit better,

but this is a team that in that division, they're going to scrap to the end, and it's heating up in the desert. It's in Seattle, yeah. Well, they're in the desert. Well, they're in the desert. They're practicing right now in the desert. They're in Arizona.

But you're about to play. I know they're playing. That means nothing. I'm just desert, rain. I mean, okay. It's like the Alps. I actually like your pick. I would have picked that had you not picked it from it.

I do like that pit because I agree. I like Arizona. I mean, and, you know, they're due for one. You know who else is due for one? You, the Atlanta Falcons. Me, yes. The Atlanta Falcons. Three straight Ls.

Wow. Very similar to what you're talking about. So you're shaking your head. Yeah, get them to play their worst. It's in Europe. Yeah, it's in Berlin. He's thrown off a little bit. All right.

I would feel even better about it if Indy weren't coming off a loss. All right. So they're coming off this loss. They're going to obviously want to make amends for that. But who do they have next? The Chiefs. Oh, yeah. Coach, part of his reason for picking that upset last week was looking ahead.

And obviously Indy is thinking about Kansas City. I don't care what they say. They're thinking about the Chiefs. Atlanta, 3 and 5, their seasons are on the last. line. Like they lose this game. It's probably over. And I don't think they feel like it's over. They've almost beat Tampa Bay. They almost beat New England. Like they have reason to feel like we are right there. Just like your, uh, Cardinals, except I think they, the Falcons are more talented. The receiving court, I know you got a good one too. But the quarterback, Pinnock's, I'll take

him over Jacoby Brissette. You know, the defense, one of the best, ranked in the top five total defense. So I think Atlanta's going to go out here and shock the world this weekend. Plus, I need to go big game. They're going to sprinkle a little sauce on that hawk. What about sauce gardener? And eat that on that. No, I mean, it's the first game. Drew, I love that upset alert and you. Left by one thing. Well, you did. I mean, called to build for a fast track. And this is on a soccer pitch in Germany, a little foggy weather. Is it going to be foggy? Is it going to be foggy? He definitely did. I was showing Greg. Foggy? Foggy.

It's not morning time. I'm just telling you, it's supposed to be foggy. I'm just telling you. I don't know. This is such a guarantee that Paxitani football is not even fired up for it. Well, you need it, buddy. No, I don't. I was correct.

You do need it. But you want to catch up. You want to win. The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are underdogs coming off of a buy. in Green Bay that just lost to the Panthers. Doesn't that seem super obvious to everybody? It was so obvious. I had to get in the Google Doc early to escape my claim.

How's Jalen Hertz do as an underdog? Surprise, surprise. And this is a little bit. Jalen Hertz is such a winning quarterback. We've gotten to the Mahomes category where it's like, how does they do on a waxing, you know, gibbous moon? It's like, guess what? Excellent.

Five and two as an underdog. He's always good. How about the last calendar year? It felt like we maybe wrote Jalen Hertz off a little bit too early. 20 and 2. Remember, we always take out that Commander's game where he got hurt in the first quarter. Deep passes, how's that? How's his arm look throwing the ball deep now that A.J. Brown's back.

Oh, surprise, surprise. And everything. Sequon's coming off, his best game against the Giants and a buy. So he'll be extra fresh. Jalen's coming off of a perfect game against the Vikings. And then he just had a nice little game against the Giants. I feel the only reason I wasn't going to pick this game is it felt a little too obvious. Oh.

Trap? A little bit. Michael Parsons has, I think, three and a half sacks, maybe one force fumble against Jalen in three or four games. But he was quiet last week. Yeah, that means he's going to be loud this week. Maybe, maybe not. Are you a good five and a half pointer? I would only want the one.

Okay. Well, that's not how it works. What's the time now for you? It's time now whether you like it or not for Nick Fix. Well, you can't do that. You can't switch the weather you like it or not. You found a loophole. All right.

You bet. The losses were bad. There's no way around it. The winner was up 28-0 at halftime. But I had the Lions laying 8.5. They lost outright. I had the Chiefs laying 1.5. They lost outright.

No excuses. Point thumbs, not fingers. Bad week. The only way to earn back the audience is trust. Perfect week. Is with a perfect week. I feel it. Luckily, I haven't liked it.

It was hard for me to pick just three. There were five games I loved this weekend. I narrowed it down to three. We are starting with Bakeshow. Sorry, KW. What? KW is a Pats fan. He doesn't even want the Pats to win.

Baker, off a by, at home, laying less than a field goal. By the way, Baker is a favorite off a buy, 4 and O. Baker, with extra rest, 6 and 4 against the spread. Patriots, a little banged up. Baker, offensive line, getting. healthier finally even though the skill position guys are not. I believe with respect to the Patriots, the bucks are the better team. They are the more well-rested team. They are at home. I am laying less than a full field goal. No problem. Even that Baker last second magic,

field go to win covers bucks minus two and a half. Next, everybody knows the cults aren't built to play outdoors, particularly in Germany. And I'm getting six and a half with the Falcons. This line was five and a half, and then they traded for sauce gardener, it moved a point. That is America overreacting to a fancy trade. And we all know a corner should not move the Vegas spread of full point. Also, real analysis here, not weatherman analysis, which is real analysis, but Greg doesn't like it. Hey, Greg, DeForest Buckner important to your team? Because he's out for this game.

In fact, he just went on the IR, actually kind of a big story, particularly about to play that guy, Bijon Robinson. and the Atlanta Falcons. Here's the other thing. It's a Europe game. They're sleepy early. They're weird and I'm getting almost a full touchdown. I don't need the Falcons to win outright like Brew does.

I see him recover the six and a half. I think they could win outright. Falcons plus six and a half. And last but not least, when you need to break a losing strut, you know what you do? Wow. You go to Mike Tomlin as a dog. Mike Tomlin, getting three.

Tomlin, in his career as an underdog, 6740 and 4 against the spread. As we had the Steelers last week as a dog on the pod, not on the show, they won out right? I think they can do it again. All I've heard all week is, ah, you can't blame Justin Herbert because Joe Old's not there. Well, you know who is there? T.J. Watt and Nick Herbick and Cam Hayward coming for him. I think the Steelers are going to win outright.

I'm getting three points. And one other thing. I know this says it's at the Chargers. That's because it's in Los Angeles. Totally agree. But you know what? You know who's going to be in a silent count in this game, Justin Herbert? Here's going to be Steelers fans galore out there buying up those LA fans tickets and it's going to feel like a Steeler home game.

So three picks this week. One favorite two dogs. The Bucks laying two and a half. The Falcons getting six and a half and the Steelers getting three. That, my friends, is a three and O weekend to get to $500 before the stretch run. You watch. I'm rooting for you because I think it's good for the show. I'm rooting for you too because I think it's good for the show.

Thanks, guys. I like that. Can Mac Jones beat Matthews? Stafford yet again we discuss. 40 layers, very injured. We got college football tonight. Under the Lights prime time, Northwestern, at USC number 19th. Tonight, 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific, only on Fox.

Welcome back to the show. No hot old time. Eagles are in Green Bay, Siriani, perfect off a by. Jalen Hertz and Sequin coming off. Some of the best games of their season. Here's Jalen Hertz. Take a listen. That's one thing that you don't think about as a competitor.

You know, you look back on it, I guess. You know, you live life forward, but you learn it backwards. You reflect on these things after it happens. And that's one thing that I've never, ever thought about. But I think that's just a testimony to the singular focus going into every game. The biweek is a time where we can take a brace and decompress a little bit, come together and say, hey, okay, what do we want to do? How do we want to do it?

And so, again, this biweek came in the middle of the year. And we'll see what that does for us, but we just want to find ways to win. Locked in. John Hertz after a buy. No big deal for, no. Pass rating. 115. 11 touch zones.

Three turnovers. Is everyone expecting the Eagles to stay hot against Greg's Packers, bro? Well, they're also my Packers. Well, I got them going to the same. I mean, Greg. Yes. I think he means Greg's Packers in that he won a Super Bowl with them. Well, I'm just, I thought it was because he picked.

I thought it because he picked them to win this year. He thought you were. I'm the Packers. Suggesting you were in the unit room, wide receiver unit room. Wide receiver. Don't take a shot. I'm simply saying I picked them to win the NFC.

Yes, that is true. And look, I like the Eagles a lot. And I think there are tons of reasons to think they're going to win this game. So I would not be surprised at all if they win this game. And maybe I am guilty a bit of going with my heart in this one, because they are my pick. But I am going with the Packers to win this game. As I said earlier, their problem has not been facing the good teams.

They beat Detroit. They beat Washington when we thought they were a good team. When they had Jaden, they beat Pittsburgh soundly. So I think they will be up for this game, especially coming off a bad loss to Carolina. And like you said, Nick, those losses could come back to haunt them as the season goes on. Like two just bad losses that you can't explain. And so I think that the Packers are going to win this game.

It's in Lambo. Obviously, I don't want to lose two straight in Lambo. And this is what you gentlemen have not factored into your thinking. Jordan Love, second half quarterback. Look at this. These are his first two seasons as a starter. First half of the season, eh, he's all right. second half of the season, he cooks in every single way.

Yards, everything goes up. Look at the TDs to interceptions. And remember, he's already been good. He has had his bad moments. You're not worried it's going to be reversed this year. No, not at all. I think he's going to take it to an even greater level. Look at the passer rating, 23 points.

So I think Jordan is going to really start playing even better than he already has been playing. And Green Bay is going to go ahead and get this W. Yeah, I don't expect the Eagles to stay hot because of the opponent in the Green Bay Packers. And I'm obviously going with the Packers. And one of the reasons why I'll piggyback off what you were just saying, I think if you're Matt LaFlor, you've got to start putting a little bit more on Jordan Love's plate. And I know a lot of people will be like, well, why would you do that?

He's a little up and down. But we know against really good teams, he tends to play really, really well. And he locks in. The Green Bay Packers haven't had a tremendous running game all year. Like Josh Jacobs, the year that he had last year, it was great. It was excellent, kind of a catalyst to why they were able to make that run the way they were at the end of the year. That hasn't been very prevalent this year. What has been is Jordan Love throwing the football and spreading it around.

I know you lose Tucker Kraft, huge piece to their puzzle. However, you're going to ask. your quarterback who you have paid, who you believe has the skill set to get it done to be a little bit more. Like, be more because we all believe that he can be more. He just needs to be a little more consistent in where he chooses to throw the ball. So you know I'm the king of vibes, right? Yeah.

And unfortunately, there's no off switch on it. Oh, okay. So you know when like a superhero comes down to Earth from another planet? Sure. And they're like, ah, it's all too much for them, you know, because they can like see through walls and stuff and they can see people's bones and stuff like that. Oh my gosh. That's me a lot of times.

With vibes. Yes. And what did you see? They don't actually believe in the package of all. At all. At all. Your whole take is Josh Jacobs hasn't been good. And you're like, oh, okay.

Wait, my take is J-Lo already is Wade Wells about to take it to the strategy. I love you with all my heart. You have two teams. One is the Ravens, and one is the Packers. The way that you talk about the Ravens is a galaxy away from the way that you talk about the Packers. I just feel like you guys deep down in your heart. You're terrified. The Eagles are a great team, too.

It's not like they're playing. Because I'm the only, oddly, I guess, neutral party on this game. Because you're- The King of the Bives and the Eagles guy. Right. You have the Eagles. Sorry, Greg. winning the Super Bowl.

Packers in the Super Bowl, Packers winning the Super Bowl. I have neither of these teams even in the conference championship game from before the year. I think that the thing you mentioned at the end, the Tucker Kraft injury,

is on the very short list of most impactful injuries that have happened during this NFL season. We talk a lot about the Joe Alt injury, Namde Madabouque for the Ravens. The Tucker craft injury is up there. and impacted, particularly because I have been

underwhelmed by the Packers receiving Corps that they've actually poured a lot of resources into over the last few years. I think Golden maybe will be good, but he has not popped yet. I know that your guy who's dealing with injury, the... Jayden Reed. ...dealing with the collarbone. I get

that. But I think Kraft had become their go-to option. I also do really believe in great team off a buy. Like that to me is that's a little too simple, but not really. Like great team off a buy, extra rest, and Philly, the healthiest they've been all year.

I think Cam Juergens is one of the linemen. I don't know if it's Dickerson or Jurgens. One of their linemen is the only guy that they're worried about for this game. I think Philly, I do expect them to look really good. I'm with you, KW. Sorry, guys. That actually made me more confident. You act like I've been off.

Nick's big. It's been of a rough spot. But my analysis has been spot on. My analysis has been great. Rams are in San Francisco. Game of the week, Sunday at 4 on Fox. Last matchup was Robert Sal and Kyle Shanahan Masterclass, an efficient offense. Great defense, capitalized off of two Rams turnovers.

Also, offensive explosion. Turns out, 731 combined passing yards, third most in any game this year. You say, wilds, I thought it was Robert Solid master class. It was because everybody was injured. Does anyone think Mack Jones and the depleted 49ers can keep up with Stafford again? Can they? Yes, because Mac has been good. Now, is that because Mac Jones is all of a sudden good,

or is that because any competent quarterback can look good in that offense? Differing minds can disagree. And as long as Christian McCaffrey is still healthy, and I hate even saying it like that. that like I'm anticipating an injury. That's not what I'm saying. But they are using him as much as he's ever been used in any moment of his career because he's their only star that's been there all year long.

Kyle Shanahan's going to cook something up. So can he, yes? I think the Rams understand that this is a seminal moment for them in their season. Are they going to once again just be a playoff team, that, hey, nobody wants to play Matt Stafford in the Rams in the playoffs, or are you going to go 13 and 4? Are you going to go get the buy? Are you going to guarantee at least one home playoff game by winning this division? Because with the Niners at six wins, Seattle's a legit, really good and unlike the Niners' healthy team, you lose this game.

I know it's in Santa Clara, but you're the favorite. Like, I expect the Rams, and they looked, they weren't, you know, they were dialed in last week. They could have overlooked the Saints leading into this matchup. They didn't. So can I, Mac Jones has earned enough respect this year to where I'm not going to act like it's an impossibility. But I do not expect it. I think the Rams win this game. Yeah, look, I'm not predicting Mack to fall off and have a terrible game.

But I don't think you'll keep up with Stafford in this game for a lot of the reasons Nick said. But also, like, again, I don't, the Niners beat them already in L.A. I just don't expect them to sweep the Rams. I mean, they're both really good teams. I think the Rams are better because of the Niners' injuries. And Stafford is on the heater of his career, maybe. 16 touchdowns, no interceptions in his last five games. Like, he is cooking with oil right now,

and I think that's going to continue, in part because of their injuries for the Niners. So, no, I don't think Mack will be able to keep up with him in this game. I actually do think Mack Jones will be able to keep up with him in this game. I actually do think Mac Jones will be able to keep up with them. Can we put those stats back up that we put up with Mac Jones and Stafford in that game one of the season? Because in that game, what we're failing to mention is although Christian McCaffrey was available, George Kittle wasn't out there, Juan Jennings wasn't out there.

Mac Jones did that with a week of practice with Kendrick Bourne. Oh, yeah. That was those numbers with just Kendrick Bourne out there having an all-pro type performance. Now you have George Kitto out there. He's available. Joanne Jennings. You have Kendrick Boren out there available. Christian McCaffrey doing what he's been doing all season long.

Robert Sala cooking up some things on that defense. We know Kyle Shanahan is going to come prepared. He always seems to do that. And no knock on Sean McVeigh because he's going to be just as great of a counterpuncher. But yeah, that's why he'll be able to keep up. Can I just, I said this, I don't know if it was Wednesday or Thursday. I just want to reiterate something I said about. Stafford for this year because I think it is

something to watch for for the rest of the year with Bruce saying he's on this heater of a lifetime. He's also I know he's number one on Bruce's ballot. He is rising in the Vegas MVP odds. The Matt Stafford cinching the pro football Hall of Fame by winning

the MVP this year is to me a very interesting story. I don't know if you were here when I said it. And so I know that's not like a definitive thing. That's just my belief. But I think that and I also think I think Stafford playing at this level this late in the year and not being banged up is something we haven't really seen since either they won the Super Bowl where he is healthy and rolling. The Niners in Tulsa. Dusty, do you want to show we have one roster update from the Rams? What's that? They have signed Harrison Mivas, who is.

known as the thicker kicker. Okay. Tipping the scales at 240 pounds. Wow. He will be the Rams. Wait, they signed him to the active. He's definitely their kicker. They signed him to the active roster?

Well, that actually matters not because he's the thicker kicker, but because Sean McVeigh really didn't like their kickers. Yeah, I couldn't get worse. Yeah. All right. I didn't know that. That's a roster update. Live from first things first.

Thanks, Katie. Coming up next is Lamar Jackson, facing a must win. The idea that Stafford could get to the Hall of Fame. Yeah. And poor Lamar, the season might be over. You've got some huge storyline. Ravens in Minnesota. Lamar says the team turned over a new leaf.

Ravens defense trying to slow down Justin Jefferson and J.J. McCarthy, who has thrown 4 TDs, 4 INTs, and 444 yards. Wow. Numerology over here. Who's under more pressure, bro. Lamar or the Ravens' defense? Well, the defense. I mean, Lamar has owned the NFC.

Now, he has lost his last two games against them, but those are elite teams. So Lamar is not under pressure. He's just going to go out there and cook like normal. The defense, though, I want to see it continue to go. And this is not a great quarterback by any stretch of the imagination. So they should give him real problems. problems and the game I don't think will even be close enough for him to work his magic at the end or whatever, you know, he's tended to do.

So is it, I cooked up a little surprise for you guys. Excellent. I don't know if Dusty wants me to reveal it now, Dust. Okay, we probably should have figured it. Oh, so with my pick. Oh, okay. Within this segment, though? Yes.

Are we, okay. Within this segment, Dusty's mad. Yeah. Go ahead. I was ready for it. I was ready for it. I'm with Brew on this. It's definitely the defense.

Look, this young quarterback and JJ McCarthy hasn't really gotten it going in the passing game. If he is to wake up somehow against this defense, you have problems. Yeah.

You have problems. Like the one reason why that the Minnesota Vikings has had success is when they've been able to run against teams, which you can run against the Ravens, and it gives the quarterback,

a little confidence, takes a little more pressure off your quarterback, and now he can start to settle in the game and not feel all that pressure and start to pick you apart. J.J. McCarthy is the athlete. Right now, he's not, none of us believe he's where he's going to be. But one thing he can do is ride off adrenaline and momentum. You see the looks in his eyes. If he gets going, there's a level of confidence and belief that this young man possesses that can turn into something that the Baltimore Ravens' DeVos.

defense don't want to see, they can't allow that to happen if they want to win this game. My answer is neither person or group of people on the bar. Most pressure is on John Harbaugh on the second most is on Bru. Because if they lose this game, their season's over. And I'm just, you're not recovering from three and six and a loss to the Vikings. Like they, we agreed, Brew, that the Bears game was a must win. But then we talked about how it started a stretch of must wins. The Bears game, the Dolphins game, the Vikings game, and then I think it's Jets Browns.

Like that they had to sweep the board there going into their final six, this is the middle of it. They have to win the game. Okay. It's time now for picks with a special cameo coming from Brew at the end. So, Greg, if you want to start with your pick, I don't even know who you're taking really. We know. Yeah, I'm going with the Baltimore Ravens. Okay.

I just think they have a little bit more offensively than what the, you know, then so the Vikings can handle right now. Yeah, I'm also going with the Ravens. That's mostly had a little heart because I don't want the Ravens to be done. I'm 50% heart because I love Lamar, 50% head because Lamar's unstoppable. Ravens moderately easy.

I like that our picker thing is leaving Greg. Yeah, what is it? It must be a technical error. No, it's because he's the former Vikings. Yeah, who knows? I want to say, I think I just said the wrong team. I think I did because you're picking the Vikings I do this thing I have to I always have to make sure that I see who you guys pick and then Oh, do you know changing your pick? Yeah, I'm going with the Vikings

Okay, that's solid analysis with the Vikings great job by us bro. What's your group? I am going of course with the Ravens and I cooked up a little headline on Monday morning headline here we go Baltimore's transformed the tackler's toy with JJ and the Vikings. Say you love it. You know you love it. I got to tell you, I feel like this whole last 60 seconds isn't going on. Transform tagler's toy? I got to tell you.

The play or word from T7? I got to tell you. I got to tell you. This is, again, this is that pass right there, that's what we just did. 100%. And I was Bo Nix right. Jealousy does not look good on you. Live from New York, it's first since first overtime.

I stand by that decision, buddy. We're talking to Danny Parkins. He's just so cheap. But he's cheap, but he like is out on change. He tries to be like a big shot. He's like, I don't need change. I don't. Yet when it was his turn to buy lunch for me and hubs,

he ordered two orders of fries for the three of us, with the justification being their big orders. So we're like going in there, like having to fig divvy up. Like, wait a minute, there's three of us. So what? We each get two thirds of it. Zero. No drinks.

Water. Water? No. We have in the studio. We have beverages here. This guy. I'm telling you, this guy's the cheapest guy, but all of a sudden, he's like, he's like, oh, keep my pennies.

Yeah, that's some odd. It's just true. Today, a fresh edition of Parkinson's Picks. That's true. How is Parkins' Picks doing hotter? This is why we got to split fries, okay? It's going poorly. It's going poorly?

Yeah. I mean, better than this guy. You guys. Meanwhile, Lamar is facing a must win. Greg Jennings, Willie Cologne, join overtime in about 20 minutes. But right now, I'm going to, I lifted the band on puns for overtime. It's stop, collaborate, and listen. That's good. I get it. I like it. I didn't love it. Giants at Bears, Sunday at 1 on Fox. Caleb said the vibes are great earlier in this week. Today, his coach agreed. Take a listen. We've got opportunities right now to, to, and we got playing. to come back and we're never out of it. And so I don't know, I wasn't here, so I can't say what a difference was. But I think those guys understood that, you know, there's a certain narrative out there about them.

And they wanted to change that narrative. Danny, are you willing to guarantee a bear's victory over the New York Giants? No. No. Guarantee. You really lost your confidence. No, no, no, no, no, no. No.

I think the Bears will win. I think they'll win. They'll probably win. Guarantee, I was born. I wasn't born yesterday. I've seen this Bears team lose way worse things. Isn't this Bears team supposed to be different? Yeah, I, yeah, I know.

Isn't Caleb supposed to be different? Aren't you and Ben Johnson like text buddies now? Hold on a second. This is no disrespect to Caleb Williams or friend of the show, Ben Johnson, or hopefully eventual friend of the show, Caleb Williams. The invitation has been extended. He's front of the show. We had a bunch of show.

Yeah, he's friend of the first thing's first year. That was when he was the sixth best quartermaster. Yeah, that is true. Yeah, pre-Appella, pre-barian. Well, I'm just saying they are going to need to be good for probably like years before I'm willing to guarantee a victory. But the giant stink. Nick, I have too many scars, buddy. I don't know that I would guarantee a victory over Rutgers.

Okay. Much, much. Much less the giant. No, but listen, I do think this team is not bad, and they have the potential to be good, and they have beaten bad teams. So they should win. I can show you what they've done against the bad teams to make the case for it.

I just am taking numbers with the word guarantee. Against teams with a losing record this year, they're five and one, and they've looked great. So I expect... The Giants have a losing record. So the Bears should win the game. But I'm not setting myself up for a broken heart. I have fallen for that time and time and time.

Save the second. Yeah, I mean, I'm stunned. I have to tell you I'm stunned. Guaranteed. Yeah, of course. It's the, well, Brue, go. And then all, I mean, did I, did I mess up? It's just sad.

There you go. I mean, I look at this as an indictment on your belief in Caleb. Yes. You guys are, no. This is the, this is not only the giants. who are a bad team. Bears win. But the giants who are crestfallen.

Correct. They've lost several of their best young players, you know, first neighbors now, scat-a-boot. Like, they know the season's over. They're deflated. They had to win last week to try to get it going. I think that they are mentally not there. And the

Bears, this is a bad team you are facing. You guys are right in the smack of the playoff hunt. Caleb coming off a great game. I'm looking at it as Caleb needs to cook. This is a type of game I want to see him play well. And then he has because the Giants, their defense has been good. But I think in the state that they're in right now, he needs to go out there and make

them pay the price. I am just shocked, though, at your disbelief in Caleb. It's not disbelief. And it certainly isn't disbelief in Caleb. It definitely is. No, it is no way. Wait a second, man. Guarantee a win.

Buddy, you're at home in a game you've got to have. You guys won't watch the NFL. No, okay, no, listen, nobody's going to chop off your hand if you're wrong. And so, yes, there is a bit of, I guess, any given Sunday, like creative license to guarantee. But are you as confident as one can be in a football game that the Bears, when they've got to have it against a Giants team that I believe is done? I believe that giant lost to the Broncos, and I said it the day after, might end up being the Bears lost to Washington last year, the Hail Mary game. It broke the team, that the coach gets fired because of it.

We look at that moment as that team was like, oh, sneaky competitive. Because remember the Giants were coming off the Eagles win, they were dominating that game, and then they are just a shell of that team. So I agree with Brew. you're this is maybe unintentional but this is a crack in your faith in it is not be well then i don't even think the bear listen i think the giant's defense is the second worst rush defense in football i think it's going to be windy at soldier field they're saying 20 to 30 mile an hour wins i think kyle monungi could rush for another 175 yards like he

did last week so why did i guarantee the w i watched the game against cincinnati and it took a miracle for them to win. The Bears' defense, all so bad. I think the Bears will move the ball on the Giants. I think Caleb will be fine. I think the Bears will win. They're four and a half point favorites. They're not good enough yet for me to write in pen or ink

that they are guaranteed to win. Where's the base? They lost the Snoop Huntley three weeks ago. Brew, are you willing to guarantee a win over the Vikings? He's got Lamar Jackson. He's got five. He's got five. He's got five.

Yeah. Exactly. I believe in my quarterback. Caleb Williams is not Lamar Jackson. I will lower the bar. Okay. Can you guarantee me, although it's going to be windy. I'm sorry for doing an analysis.

Caleb Williams will outplay Jackson Dart. Yeah, yeah, I can guarantee you that. I can guarantee you that. Really? Yeah, I got no problem with that. Okay. I got no problem. I'm trying to get you somewhere.

I got no. I'm sorry. I didn't know that I had to just be like, absolutely. There's no scenario where a Bears team that lost to Snoop Huntley that has all of their secondary out that's a four-point favorite is just a tier one upper echelon guaranteed victory. So then the real story is, if we're done pilloring Danny, which we could keep going.

The rest of the show if you guys wanted. It's a past time. Is the person, I think it's fair to say, on this show who pays the most attention to the Bears is legitimately worried about this game. It's like has concerns. Every day. Yeah, but

remove the Bears scar tissue and this team with Ben Johnson and Caleb, this team that you think that under the right circumstances, it doesn't sound like it would shock you if the Giants, like to me, here's the other reason that I am

oddly confident about the Bears this weekend. I think I think it's a really, really rough look if your playoff hopes get extinguished by a bad team. And I think that when we're talking about the NFC, and I don't know if we can throw up our NFC playoff bracket or not, the Bears are right there, but it's a bunch of teams we think are really good ahead of them. Like there's no one ahead of them that we're like, oh man, that team's are fraudulent. That team's about to have a four-game losing streak. So the Bears can win this game and wake up Monday morning still in eighth place, right?

But losing this game is devastating. Oh, listen. And if they lose the game, I mean, you've been saying if the Ravens lose their season's over, if the Bears lose the game and we can throw up the Bears' schedule, it's very difficult to find a path to 10 wins. Yes. If the Bears lose. So they need to win.

They should win. But you say remove bear's scar tissue, that's like an easy phrase for you to. to say. It's not an easy thing to do. But it's not, it gets very difficult here in two weeks. So yeah, hopefully they win these next two games. They should win at least this one against the Giants. And then there's going to be a lot of coin tosses the rest of the way. Yeah. And that, yes, I agree with the coin tosses piece. And I don't even think the week after the Bears game, or the Giants game would be a bad loss. Like a losing on the road in division. No. You know, that wouldn't be a, you want to win, but that wouldn't be a bad loss. This would be,

A horrible loss. Like right, let me ask one of the, let me ask you this. After that, I would like to make an announcement. Oh, wow. Oh, boy. Oh, this is. I've disappointed wild. The, the question I was going to ask is, as we sit here today,

how many teams in the league do we think are worse than the Giants this moment? And I, you know, the Titans, the Saints, the Jets. Mm-hmm. And after that, and Dolphins, maybe. Dolphins, Browns. maybe. Like, you know what I mean? They are like the fifth or sixth worst team. And so that's the, if the bears are good,

they're at home in a game they need. You know, and with not like they suffered their version of the Tucker craft injury a week ago that we haven't seen since then. They should, they should cover. But Danny clearly doesn't think they're doing. What's the announcement? The announcement is this. Oh, boy. The first Super Bowl I ever watched, Patriots, Bears. Bears beat the Patriots.

Obviously, you grew up a Patriots fan. But oddly, I was like, oh, the bears. They were always kind of like this, you know, shining light on the hill. My wife went to Wisconsin. She, you know, has a lot of friends in Chicago. I go to Chicago a lot. Caleb was a friend of the show. We had him on in the Super Bowl.

I right now, Oh. Can I go to this camera, please? I'm willing to guarantee you that Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson will beat the Giants and I become the Bears guy on this show. Guaranteed. Wow. I mean, that's how precarious these.

This is how colds on your team. I was an Anthony Edwards guy. You should have seen me. Next thing you know, I was in a commercial getting ripped. It's true story. Yeah, that is true. Wow. Time now for parking.

Either why. Yeah. They're really about seeing the NFL very clearly. This is the official pick segment. I plug it in the matrix. I see the league clearly. I'm not going to let three and oh change me. I'm not scared of picking big games.

Taking the points with Detroit. Playing the wood with the Chicago Bears. Easy, easier, and easiest. I know that I'm right. Time now for Parkins' picks. Here's the review of last week. It was not good. Well?

It was not good. And the worst part about it is that Nick and I won the same game. We both won on Seattle, and we both went one and two. And I am a very embarrassing 13 and 14. But Nick said to me, he said, you can't wear the king costume today. Yeah, you're under 500. Yeah. And then I said, you know what?

You're probably right. And then I thought to myself, self, should I be taking picks advice or fashion advice from a guy with a worse record than me? And I decided to go. You take picks advice, but you're under 500 have some dignity. You're here, here, here. This will get you over the home. Three and O. Dignity left the station a long time ago.

Okay. I don't know what you're talking. We've known each other too long for you to sign. Dignity or shame to me. But where I agree with you is I need three and O. Yeah. So to the, what is it, week 10? Yeah.

It feels like week 10. Week 10 picks. Wild, your Patriots, plus two and a half in Tampa. Yes, Tampa is at home. and yes, Tampa is coming off a buy. Yes, Tampa's offensive line is getting healthier. Both teams are banged up with the skill positions. I do think Tampa inflated based on the fourth quarter

comebacks. Their record is a little bit better than what their team actually suggests they are. And Drake May on the road, for real. The Patriots this year, 4 and 0 against the spread on the road. They've been shattering the expectations. May has been awesome. I simply think right now today,

The Patriots are a better team than Tampa, so I think they win the game outright. I certainly will take the two and a half points, even though Tampa is coming off the buy and by weeks have been very good for teams this year. My second pick in week 10. Forgot it. There we go. Eagles plus two and a half. Eagles off the by in Green Bay.

Philly's offense the first six weeks was one of the biggest stories on the show. What's going on with Sequin? What's going on with the offensive line? What's going on with A.J. Brown? What's going on with Jailen Hertz? Last two games, they look like the Eagles from last year. Saquan Barkley had his best game before the buy. The offensive line had its best game before the buy.

Jalen Hertz had his best game two weeks ago at this point. Tucker Craft out for Green Bay. The rest advantage for Philadelphia. The Packers running game has not looked good so far this year. I am a believer. This is two outright upsets. Eagles and Patriots win the game outright. And last but not least, the Baltimore rating.

Ravens in Minnesota. I think this is a double-digit win for Baltimore. That Minnesota Detroit game was weird. I think you play that game 10 times. Detroit wins eight of them. I really do not believe in what I saw from Minnesota last week. But more than that, the Ravens look back. And what does Brian Flores do? Everyone knows what does Brian Flores do? He blitzes. How's Lamar against the Blitz? The best quarterback in football since the start of last year. First across the board. So this would have been the type of thing that could have knocked Lamar off, maybe three years ago, four years ago. He's a fully formed offensive player at this point.

There was basically no rust, first quarter and a half or so last week. He looked spectacular. The mobility looked good. He wasn't scrambling, but he was moving around to throw. I don't think Florida is going to be able to get home. Ravens win that game in Minnesota. Easy. I firmly expect this to be a three and a week.

Well, we both can't have three and oh weeks because we have the opposite side of Patriots fun. Which makes me happy. Okay, go ahead, bro. Makes me happy. Eagles Packers. I mean, look, like I said, I like the Eagles. I think there's a lot of reasons to think they're going to win.

But what you didn't take into consideration is how Jordan Love, J-Lo, picks up his game in the second half of the season. I like this. He's been much better. I think if they show the graphic, he's been much better in the second half of seasons than the first. And he's played well this first half of the season, but he's going to take it to another level. And they need, look, even though the Eagles have.

lost twice as well. I think the Packers need it's much more than the Eagles. I mean, obviously the Eagles division nearly is tough. There's no question. Packers definitely need the game more. And they're at home,

lost last week at home to a bad team in Carolina. So I think the Packers got this. But I will say, Brew, and you know, you weren't here yesterday. J-Lo was on the Douglist. Yeah. All right.

I factors. I might put him on the board. Before I give my take, a question about Eagles Packers, Because before the year, even post-Mika Parsons trade, you had the Packers missing the playoffs barely. I think you had them as like the first team out. Yep.

If they lose this game, there'll be five, three, and one. So that's what I was going to ask you. With everything you've seen, you expect the Eagles, obviously, to cover, but I also think you're picking them to win. Yes, I am. So right now this moment, you think the Packers are going to play themselves out of the playoffs? They've been better than I thought. Listen, I think it's more.

likely, obviously, that they make the playoffs than mess. I think they're like a 5 to 1 favorite to make the playoffs. You'd have to get them like 3.5 to 1 for them to miss the playoffs. But I'll say this, it's more likely that the Packers miss the playoffs than they're the one seed. Oh, yeah. I do not think. I agree with that. I know they were the one seat a week ago.

Yeah. They were the one seat a week ago. They're in first place in their division. But the Eagles path to the one seat is just much easier. The Packers will probably make the playoffs. There's nine teams in the NFC with five or more wins. Yeah, but one of them is fraudulent bears. who you don't believe in, which was my real, that is not what I said.

Well, it's not what you didn't say in the first 10 minutes. And it's not what you said during Parkins' picks because I don't know about you guys. Hey, KW. Yeah. If your Patriots were four point favorites at home against a Wobagon Giants team, would you like it? Hey, Brew. If your Ravens were a four and a half point favorite at home against a Wobogon Giants team,

it might like, I'm just telling you right. right now at the very least, if I won't guarantee it, I would have it in my picks. I would say I think my team's more likely to beat up on the Giants than the Patriots are to go to Tampa and win. You're real nervous. Nick, you think they're going to lose. Let me explain something. You think they're going to lose. Listen, maybe it's your first time gambling. But if the Chiefs were a four and a half point favorite against the Giants, I guarantee it for the Chiefs too. But the Chiefs would be like a 10.5 point favorite. I understand. I understand. I understand.

I understand. They're better. All of your teams are better than my team. The Patriots are better than the Bears, the Ravens are better than the Bears, and the chiefs are better than the Bears. You're worried. The fact that Ben Johnson still comes on with you is. I know.

He doesn't respect Homer's. He knows that I'll tell it to him straight. Run the ball, Ben. I do think that was a three and O week. I'm rooting for Nick's picks, but I think that a three and a week. Really? Honestly, I love that. It feels a lot like one and two.

Really? Yeah, it feels a lot like one and two. I like it a lot. Side of which one of us. Coming up next, Herbert versus Aaron Rogers. I mean, who knows? Who knows what he's going to say? He's probably going to come home and be like, I don't know, without Joe All.

That's Mar and Alis. Yeah. Welcome back, Willie Colon and Greg Jennings hanging out. Halloween made a quick comeback in Denver last night with all the booze coming from Broncos fans. You get it. for Bo Nix. He actually won the game. But Bo Nix describes the not so friendly atmosphere in Denver.

Take a list. I've been booed before and I'll be booed again. So I'm not going to be the last time. It's obviously unfortunate. You don't want your own fans booing you, but, you know, it's part of it. More like booed Nix, am I right? AFC West Standings, Chargers, a comfortable 8-2,

but basically even money to win the division because we all have eyes and we watched the game last night. So after watching that, do you guys think the chiefs can catch you up to the Broncos? So obviously they have some work to do. Can they catch up? Yes.

If the Broncos are going to be what we saw last night offensively, that's going to end up being problematic. The good thing about the Broncos is their defense is for real. You had your defensive player of the year, if I remember. Nick Benito. He's awesome. A problem. Yeah, you weren't.

And he sets the tone for that defense in terms of being able to disrupt what the offense wants to do, throwing the football, and allowing everybody else to then do their part. But Bo Nix has to be better. I didn't even like what I heard with the idea of, you know, I've been booed once before. Yeah, we get that. But understand why they're booing you, too. Because you were really bad. Good point.

Like it was, and I got this team, I had this team at the beginning of the season, making the, making the playoffs. I thought Bo Nix would take a step. And I'm not saying this over, but he just has to be better. Last night was hard to watch as a fan, as a former player. Kudos to the guys in that locker room on that offensive side of the ball. Sticking with them and not letting whatever their frustrations are get outside that locker room because I'm sure they have them. Yeah, I think historically the Chiefs this time of year, when the temperature drops, they turn up, right? I got a graphic right here to show you what Patrick Mahomes looks like in a month of November.

He dominates, right? You talk about total yards per game, 331 plus his winter percentage. So overall, I'm expecting him in this office to take flight right now. And I think if you're the Chiefs and you remain in sync and play unselfish with the defense coming into fruition, you've got blood in your mouth because you took the L in Buffalo, you're coming off a bar. I expect historically this Chief's team to say, okay, we got to go. And to Greg's point, when you watch the Denver Broncos on offense, you laugh at it, right? Like, oh, this is what we should be worried about?

Oh, this is easy money, right? And so I'm looking at this Chief's team to say, yeah, we have two head-to-heads. We got one on the 16th. The next one is December 25th. We got to have those. Because if we go half and half, then it doesn't matter. Right. And the first one is out of the buy.

So can the Chiefs catch the Broncos? Yes, obviously they can. There are two back in the Wall's column, and they play that. twice, so they definitely can catch them. You ever watch a football game and kind of resent it? I kind of resented the game last night. So this game is so bad, but it's like prime time. It's staying alone.

You're watching it. We love football. Like, both teams had more penalties than first downs. Yes. What? Troy looked it up for me. First time since 1976, more penalties than first downs. And I have left the Broncos off of top 10 Tuesday all year.

Their defense is great, but I just don't believe in Bo Nix. He's either throwing behind the line of scrimmage or he's chucking it deep. Their defense is great, but I'm like, you're going to have to do something offensively. And they are on this winning streak. They have not lost since week three. But there is something about this 7-0 stretch for the Broncos that doesn't seem sustainable. And I will show you because they have been trailing in every game. They're horrible at first course.

So, but look at the, in terms of since week four, most snaps tied or trailing, and then the win-loss record of those teams. Because if you're losing for large portions of the game, you often lose the game. They are fifth on the list for most snaps while tied or trailing, yet they're undefeated. That is the least sustainable football ever. So maybe they'll get to 11 wins. They probably will because of the schedule and the defense, and they'll make the playoffs. This team is not a real contender. They're just not.

You said something a little while ago. The reason why we hated last night's game, because if you watch what they did against the Giants in the fourth quarter and how they rallied and put up points and they looked explosive, at some point during this game, I thought we were going to see that, right? Because for me, the ratings. We needed to see it. We needed to see it.

But for me, the Raiders were just beating themselves. I was expecting the Broncos to turn it up, wake up, and be like, all right, this is why you're here. This is why we're on prime time. And this is why you should watch the next week's game. I saw none of that. And so I'm worried about the Broncos going for it because if you play like this at home,

Thursday night football with the world watching and you got the Chiefs' neck week, I mean, the Chiefs are like, man, feed me my business, I'm ready to eat if that's how they're going to play. Yeah, I already bet the Chiefs minus three. Yeah, well, I mean, look, every team that they've played has watched this tape. We watched it last night on the national scene

and we know how we felt. Imagine being in the film study room and this is your opponent coming up. You feel the same way. And somehow, some way, that team seems to find a way to be in the game and then come out victorious with that type of performance being their constant. There's also like, oh, they're bad games. There's blowouts all the time. They couldn't even punt correctly.

They kept shanking punts. The game was just a ridiculous watch. And you brought up the Raiders and we don't talk about them often and they're two and seven. But Brock Bowers is one of the best, like, football players. He's like a polar bear that catches the ball. He's unbelievable. He had three targets last night. Yeah, that was amazing.

Like what are you, the one catch that he had, he's like shedding dudes off and running for 31 yards. Maybe throw him the ball? And I also, somebody said this last night on the telecast in reference to the Broncos poor play that maybe they're just looking ahead the next week. On Thursday? That's my, I'm like, that's BS, right?

This is a team that had to perform and didn't perform to the standard in which we expected them to, and they should be, and they should be thrown because of it, honestly. All right, so let's stay in the AFC West here. Justin Herbert and the Chargers. Huge game this weekend, Sunday night. Got the Steelers in L.A. Herbert against the Steelers defense and just the pressures, and we know what it is, right? The Steelers sack the quarterback. They pressure the quarterback. And Justin Herbert gets sacked and gets pressured a ton. So that is the X's and O's matchup of the game. Can the Chargers offensive line hold up against the Steelers? And so the question is, can Herbert overcome it? And what I will say, and we'll get more into it, but like, he has to. I really don't see a formula for the Chargers.

People are like, oh, well, why don't they run the ball like last year? I don't know, because they're on their 10th starting offensive lineman and their third string running back. They're starting running back literally was on the practice squad at the beginning of the year. And the guy they just penning, who they just traded for from the Saints, will be their 10th starter on the offensive line. and you've got a top five talent in the league at quarterback. He's your only path. They're not going to be able to run the ball. So if they win, it's because of Herbert.

Yeah, and this is going to be a shocker. But to me, this feels like a letdown game. For, really? On Sunday night? Because I just don't know if the defense can perform the way to perform last Sunday. It took such a hercling effort. Invalid, they shut down and run. And TJ popped off the tape.

Ramsey did well. Kyle Dugger had a big game. it really took Alex Highsmith to get back into being who they needed him to be. But isn't this a blood in the water situation if you're the Steelers because of all the backup, something off? I'm surprised to hear you a Steelers say that. Because the defense is what makes me nervous. They have been inconsistent this year.

That's no question. That's what makes me. If this was a more of a consistent brand, I'm saying, yeah, we'll go to L.A. and do what we do. It took them three weeks to get right, right? They had one good game. Now you're going to go on the road against Herbert. You know he's going to wear the cape. bad. Like, I just, I just feel like this going to be a letdown game. I want to be wrong.

Yeah. But there's something in my stomach is telling me, you know, hold your horses. So, so for me, it doesn't even need to be a letdown game for the Steelers to lose this game because if somehow, some way, the Chargers can get any sign of protection to where Herbert can drop back and be able to find guys open with a little bit of time. Now, I'm not saying he's not going to get hit. He's probably going to get hit. However, if he has that, they're going to be in a dog fight because he's one of the best in the business as far as spraying the ball around and getting guys open and making plays. And when you look at this defense, there are a defense that can be very opportunistic. If you leave the Chargers opportunities, they will take advantage of it.

And he's shown us this year to a degree, not on the grand scale like we want them to see in the postseason or in the prime moment, but this is the prime moment where Justin Herbert, regardless of what he needs to overcome on his team or otherwise, he's been able to do it. I think this is what he knows he needs to do. I listened to him in the presser earlier this week and just about all the offensive line mixups and whatever. And he was as steady as I've heard a quarterback. He didn't mention it. He didn't allude to that being an excuse, reason. He's like, yeah, we got to be better for those guys, they're going to be out. So we need to just step up and... Because it's not the world he lives in that. He understands it. But it was different because

you normally hear somebody kind of speak to it. He never spoke to it. He said, the guys are doing a great job. I got to be better. And he spoke to just what he believes that they really can get done. So I'm interested to see if he can really deliver. So that's great leadership. I want to my buddy, friend of the show, Nick's mentioned him a bunch. Andrew Philopony does radio in Pittsburgh covers the Steelers. He texted us this morning and he was like, man, Parkins, you're in a great spot because if the Chargers win, you get to say

Herbert played great, and if the Steelers win, you get to just blame it on the Chargers offensive line. I'm like, yeah, you basically figured it out. But like, is that yes, I believe in Herbert's talent, but is that not also what is happening right now? Like, if Herbert just

throws it to the other team blindly and has terrible interceptions, fine. But if he is under duress, 50% of the time he drops back, because he's planning against a great defense on paper with backup offensive linemen. Like one player cannot single-handedly win games in the NFL. We've kind of talked about this before. He's not allowed to get the pass because of where he stands right now and how we view him.

And when you have a deficient officer line and, yeah, you may have weapons on the outside and you have a spotty running back. I think Kamonika Vidal is going to be an answer for them, especially offensive. He's going to get Herbert a lot of quick outs. But Herbert has to be better than what we already know because that's what we're expecting him to be. And so if he's not able to do that against a really good defense in the Pittsburgh Steelers, we now question because we've seen Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen stand up in the face of adversity. So that's why you sit back and say, all right, here's another statement game, another big test on Sunday night versus Aaron Rogers.

Go put on the Cape. If you can't, then we're going to keep putting you in the B level. I mean, if he does, it'll be the story of the week next week because this is a very, very tough spot for him. Lamar Jackson is back and the Ravens have lost basically all margin for error. We'll discuss the opportunity for a win street coming up on FDF. Time now ahead of week 10 for a little edition of Trust or bust. We're starting with Drake May and Baker Mayfield. The Bucks host the Patriots in a battle of two first place teams.

Take a look at the quarterbacks, see how they match up against each other throughout the year. Baker was a big MVP candidate early. Numbers have regressed a little bit, still very impressive, especially the touchdown to interception ratio and the rushing. His scrambling this year has been great. Drake May has just been awesome across the board. So Greg, I'll start with you on this one. You trust Drake May to outplay Baker Mayfield?

I don't trust Drake May to outplay Baker Mayfield. Not because of who Drake May is and what we've been able to see, but in this spot, this is a tough spot. You got a veteran guy who's been playing bad. Going into the break, Baker was not playing at that high MVP talks level, and he gets time to rest, gets time. to assess himself, recoup, and recalibrate. He's been heroic.

He's had heroics. Now he's going to understand this is the back stretch of the season. A very important opponent. I had extra time to study and prep for you. I think Baker will come out ready to go. Yeah, I trust the kid. I do, too. I trust the kid in Tampa, man.

Listen, he's been top five in yards. He's explosive. I think if he's on time with the football, they move his launch point, and they live in 12 personnel where they can stress the edges for the bucks, I think gives him a shot. The thing about Baker right now, he's being efficient and conservative when Drake is saying I'm going for it.

He kind of has that young kind of that young boxer like I'm looking for knockouts. I like that about that. You need that on the road, especially when you're going to get a hostile defense in the bucks. I trust Drake May, man. So we'll see how healthy Abuka looks for Baker, but I'm with you on Drake May. Like both teams are banged up. The Bucks offensive line is getting healthier. They're at home.

They're off the by. I understand all of that. But you mentioned it, Greg. Like that game against the Saints, yeah. They had one offensive touchdown. It was a lot of long field goals. Like, they won comfortably, I understand that. They won by 20, but he didn't look good.

Didn't look good. The offense did not look good. The week before against the Lions, one offensive touchdown. They scored, I think, nine points in that game. He didn't look good in that game. And he didn't look good in that game. Drake May has looked good every game. Every game.

He hasn't won every game. But he takes a lot of sacks. And that's a problem right there. And the bucks, I think, are fifth in the NFL in sacks. He takes a lot of sacks. But he looks good. Like the Bucks could win. I think it'll be a great game.

I picked the Patriots, but I do give the slight edge to Drake May just based on the consistency. He doesn't have the last two data points that Baker has. Yeah, I understand. The last fully quick point that I'll make is the Bucks defense, 15 of their 25 sacks have come in the last three weeks, so they're coming on strong. If Drake May decides to continue holding onto the ball, he's going to take the unnecessary. They have to know better going into this game. They got to move them.

They can't have them sitting away and think he's going to be Brady-ass. That's not going to happen. And he took a lot of accountability for that this week. He did. He was like, these sacks are mostly on me, not on the offensive line. So we'll see if he can improve on it. Let's go to the Bay. Huge game here in the NFC West.

Stafford of the Rams are four and a half point favorites in San Francisco Sunday. The last time these two teams met back in week five, the Rams were eight and a half point favorites because it was like, well, Mac Jones can't do this. And then Mac Jones did it. Like that game was probably the best game of Mac Jones's career. He balled, man. 340 passing yards. Two touchdowns, no picks, an overtime win in a division game in that spot. So will you trust Stafford to avoid another upsetting it to the Niners?

No, because for me, it's not about Mack Jones versus Stafford. This is about Shanahan's scheme versus Stafford. If you're the 49ers right now, you have to win this game on the ground. You've got to allow CMC to be that dog that he's been throughout his career. And you also got to realize you got to play a physical burn of football. Hopefully that goes against what the Rams want to do. And I think Shanahan right now understands that Stafford is playing the best I've seen in his own career.

Like he's damn there playing perfect. So you're going to have to play some ball control and own the time of possession to keep him on the sideline. But I trust the scheme versus Stafford, man. I just, I think Kyle Shanning is going to have something drawn up for him offensively. This trust the bus is tough. We don't make it easy on O.T. I'm not asking easy question. Clearly I trust Matthew Stafford.

I do. I like the Niners. I trust Matthew Stafford because, look, Sean McVeigh is his coordinator. He's going to come with a game. He knows how to beat this team and compete against them. And he's been putting Matthew Stafford in some awesome situations. Anytime they get down in the red zone, they're almost money good. Matthew Stafford's playing, like you said, the best ball of his, like he's healthy.

I did not believe he would be this healthy. And a healthy Matthew Stafford with Pooka and the cool, Devante Adams, and the running game that can support what they do, it's going to be hard for the 49ers to do what they did the first time. So I'm trusting Stafford here. I think the Rams are going to win this game. It's hard to say it was the weirdest game of the season, but I do think it was in my top five the first time these two teams met. Because I saw that Denver Giants game.

That's the weirdest game in the season. There have been other weird ones. But like, man, the Rams had two turnovers. Niners had none. Kyron Williams fumbled at the goal line. Rams are driving in overtime and they go forward on fourth and one. And McVeigh has that terrible play call where they run right into the line of scrimmage, give the ball back, lose on a field goal.

Now the Niners defensive injuries are piling up. McKell Williams, their first round pick is out. Fred Warner is out. Fred Warner played in that game back in week five. So the Niners defense against a Rams offense that is rolling and they've got revenge on their mind and this division is one of the most competitive in the NFL. I just can't see Mack Jones doing it twice.

Well, they also get Kendra Bourne and Juan Jennings back. I know Perthal is kind of off and on where he's at. Yeah, the Niners are getting healthier They didn't have Kiddle in that game. They didn't have Jennings. But they're not as healthy defensively. I understand. It's a trade off.

Yeah, but you got to school. You know, and when you know what Stafford can do, and we talked about the rhythm in which he plays with, you got to put up points. So they have the firepower to do so. But how much better can Mack Jones play? He had 340 yards, two touchdowns, and no picks without, to your point, Kiddle, Pierce, and Jennings.

So you're telling me, he's got 500 yards? No. In this game, like, he can't be better. Why not? Andy it up. But I feel better. He can kind of. repeat that because he has the guys on the outside and the perimeter that can support

what he provides this offense. Look, this is why it's tough. Because, no, I think it goes into, well, listen, that week five game, I think the Rams walked in like, Mac Jones ain't going to beat us. Like, come on. Like, I think they scoffed at the notion. And then to your point, put up 342 yards and two tusses. You're like, oh, okay.

Let's calm down now. Mac Jones is a guy. So I don't think he's going to run up on them. That's why you have to put the ball on CMC or hopefully you can win with him. I stayed away from it in picks, but it's one of the biggest games of the week. Ravens in Minnesota for our last one here. Feels like the first time all season. No injuries.

Baltimore's injury report is pretty clean. Everyone's a full participant. Wednesday's injury report yesterday's. Ravens coming off back-to-back wins. How they looked in those games is very Ravens-esque. Scoring nearly 30. Great defense. Out gaining the opponent.

Everything you would want to see. So do you guys trust that? the Ravens will win their third straight. Yeah, I expect the Ravens to not only win, but dominate. Like the interior of the Vikings' defensive line is softening in hospital cut. It's been a problem for them all year. I expect the Ravens to look on brand. Their speed and power, Lamar has a legit option.

Derek Henry, this defense is healthier. You know, Kyle Hammond's is playing a lot better. I think overall, I think they roll the Vikings. I don't even think this game is close. Well, I don't think it's going to be a role, a steam roll. I actually have the Vikings. I know earlier I kind of fumbled this a little bit because I do like the offense of the Ravens.

However, if the Vikings can run the football, which I believe that they can, just like most people against the Ravens because of their interior issues, then that allows your young quarterback to gain confidence. Ryan Flores is going to have a plan against Lamar. Will it work? We shall see.

Lamar tends to hold the ball a little bit long. And we saw against Detroit, holding the ball, plays, make plays, took seven sacks. That's kind of the game that I'm, if you're the Vikings, you want to have Lamar play, knowing that he's still going to get you every, every once in a while. But the Vikings definitely will have a chance to get this down. But that Detroit game is an interesting data point here.

I would just say, like, what does Brian Flores do? Blitz. He blitzes. Yeah. How is Lamar against the blitz? I mean, me. What me when a graphic just speaks for you? I'm just saying, like, it's not hard.

and it's like first across the board. He's just first with a bullet against the Blitz. And what's their record? Because he's been so awesome. They probably haven't lost any games, huh? Well, no, they occasionally lost. No, that's just second. Since the start of last year.

I don't know. The graphic was so good. It was like, it's a pretty good. First, first, first. It's like, ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, it's pretty good. It's a pretty good graphic. And I think the Ravens defense also, they look good, man. They do.

Hamilton makes them look healthy. I know you scoff at who they've done it against, but what happened to them last year where they were terrible early and then they turned it on late, I am open to the possibility that what everybody thought about the Ravens before the year, which was basically, this is the most talented 53-man roster in the league. I'm open to the possibility that now that those guys are all healthy,

that that is still in play for this Ravens team this year. Look, it's still in play. But if you're the Vikings, you're looking at all that tape, and you understand that they're getting healthy, But you believe in who you are. You understand if you're Brian Flores, like, look, he might be that good against the blitz and against pressure. But we also know he has the tendency to not even get outside the pocket and use his greatest weapon, which is his legs, because he's such a great passer at this stage in his career.

So you bank on him holding the ball and getting him down. I also know the Ravers know they understand assignment. There's no room forever. No. They got to have it. This is health, urgency, win or lose. If we want to place at the table, we got to get them out the way. Yeah, they cannot be dropping any more games where they're the favorite.

Probably the biggest game of the week. We've got to wait until Monday for it, but it's Greg's Packers. And Willie's been on the Eagles all year, so we're going to pick sides coming up. Monday night, forget the one seat in the NFC. It's an OT showdown. Willie's Eagles traveling to Greg's Packers. Packers coming off a loss. Eagles got their offense clicking.

They're coming off their week nine by gentlemen. You guys just each take in your respective squads on Monday night. You got your Packers? Of course. You know I got the Packers. And you have your Eagles. I have my Eagles. Sequin.

I know it's 50-50 if he's going to play. Dickens is banged up. But this is a game where if you're AJ Brown and Jailen Hertz, you bump hands and say, let's go get them. You get on the same page. Hopefully you have a repeat of what you did in Minnesota. But I expect the ball to fly Monday night. Starting with that man right there, number one, Jailen Hertz.

Mike, I had a very quiet outing against the character. Carolina Panthers. He's seen this offensive line a handful of times. I think he'll be all right. Eagles are off the by. Eagles are off the by, but it's in Lambo at night. Jordan Love in the weird game, and they lose is the big favorite.

But Eagles coming off their two best games off the game against Minnesota. Jalen Hurts is the perfect pass-a-rating, the last game, Sequin has his best game. I like the Eagles in this spot, and what will be hilarious is if they win the game and they're the, like, they're comfortably the one seat and everyone else is bad in their division. It'll be like all of the drama and all of the talk and it'll look like they've got a cakewalk to the one seat. Well, I think it just proves to the fact that they can win in multiple ways.

And that's a good thing, right? That's not something you look at and be like, uh-oh, like we don't have an identity. No identity is we can run it and we can throw it. However you want it, we have access to get it done. So they should be proud of that. And I'll be very fair. This would be an awesome win for the Packers. It would be a great win.

Like if the Packers win, we have to start talking about them as a legit one seed. For Jordan Love, pending on how he performs. No Tucker Kraft, you got to show up. Yeah, that's a tough injury for them. No Tucker Crack. Everyone, have a good weekend. Enjoy the games. We'll be back on Monday.