First Things First - Michigan beats Western Michigan with last-second Hail Mary, Tua named Falcons starter, Chiefs issues

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

(0:00) Michigan beats Western Michigan, Will the Seahawks blow out the Patriots? (25:48) Giants vs. Cowboys, Are the Rams under the most pressure? (39:22) Make or break year for Jayden Daniels? (47:39) Coach Mangini’s Super Bowl and MVP Picks (01:07:54) Should the Chiefs be concerned with Josh Simmons sitting out Week 1? (01:23:25) Will Aaron Rodgers make the playoffs or be benched? (01:28:14) Can the Giants prove they’re legit vs. the Cowboys?  (01:50:49) Tua Tagovailoa named Falcons starter (02:01:14) LSU blows out Clemson, Did Michigan deserve to beat Western Michigan?  (02:10:26) Will the Bears make the playoffs? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York. It's a bonus episode, a bonus day of predictions week. Oh, yeah. I cannot wait. It was so great last week. I'm excited to keep it going on. Coach Manjini gives his. And we have a special guest coming up.

And who's not happy. If I may, just for, oh, yeah. He shouldn't be. He's heartbroken, crestfallen. Yep. On this Labor Day. Oh, happy Labor Day. Happy Labor Day.

Appreciate all the union members out there in particular. nine year anniversary of the show today. Today? You just keep on, you just keep on doing that. What? It seems like every few weeks he has an anniversary. No. I just said that it was coming up. I feel like you've said it like three or four times.

That it was coming up. And now Labor Day is when it's the 10 year anniversary of the herd. Okay. Labor Day, Labor Day 10 years ago is when the herd launched. Labor Day, this year is when. Well, congratulations. Happy anniversary. No, the, all of them.

us. Drew, you've been on the show from the beginning. I was, you've been on the show from the beginning. KW had an opportunity and then was like, I don't want to do it. We're moving on. This I'm raising my hand again to move on to today. Mahalms protection problems. How worried should Kansas City be already?

You're in a tough spot. I'm not in a tough spot. Tough spot. Tough spot alert. Mr. consistency told you how important Josh Simmons is. Yeah. It's not a tough spot at all.

Kenneth Walker, buckle up. Meanwhile, contract issues with their star defensive player and now injury concerns on offense. They're fine. Are the Patriots already in trouble on Wednesday? Offensive line is fine. I don't tell you that much. Are they? Yes, they are.

They're healthy. Okay. And finally, bonus day of predictions week. Coach me and Jeannie unveils his prediction. Who's in? And maybe more interestingly, who's out? I didn't say anything. I, whoa, I didn't say anything.

He can't be joining. He can't make it a quartet for Dak. Prescott. Oh, I don't think that's true it. Let's just say you're not going to love it. Alongside Chris Bessard, I'm Kevin Wilde. Wow. You're spoiling his layout? I didn't say it joining the second. What?

Spoiling is coach. Western Michigan's most famous alum. Right now we're starting in Ann Arbor. Yeah. Western Michigan had this game won. Zero is on the clock. Games over. Not so fast.

Officials add another second because according to a big 10 statement, a Western Michigan Bronco left that of bounds and touch the ball with a second left, which stopped the clock. Okay. Bryce Underwood gets another shot to Hail Mary. This time it connects. Wolverines leave with a 13 to 12 win. They rushed the field.

Brew, did Western Michigan get robbed? Well, look, as you guys know, the University of Michigan has a lot of my money. That's true. My daughter went there, four years graduated. I'm grateful, but still, it's a lot of my money. You talk about it often. That's how much money it was. But so I often am prone to side with the Wolverines.

But in this case, yes, yes, a thousand times yes, Western Michigan was robbed. This is terrible. This was absolutely terrible. And I like what our own Mike Pereira, former NFL official, he said in the NFL, Well, if it comes down to one of the two clocks, the private clock that the referees use, the game clock that all the viewers, millions of viewers are watching, you go with the TV clock. Obviously, we know why, because now when you didn't go with the TV clock, you have millions of people thinking this is an injustice, conspiracy theories, cheating, all of that. and you go with this private clock that still it just seems so it wasn't even close so this is very important to note and I want people to understand this because you're going to see this a few times

when you're watching sports and you see a digital clock like that that is obviously a TV graphics but when you're watching sports and you see what looks like an old timey clock like you're about to see, that is a camera on the clock that is showing in the stadium. So on the clock that is showing in the stadium brew, there was no time left.

What they're arguing is that the actual clock that's showing in the stadium was wrong, which is outrageous. And in addition to the clock that was showing on TV. Yeah, it was terrible. And look, when you put it

in the context of what we know happened with the sign stealing just a few years ago. Jim Harbaugh is suspended, banned from NCAA participation till 2038. Like, it just makes it that much worse. So look, from a grand scheme as a college football fan and looking at a team like Michigan that was ranked 16th won the national title a few years ago, sure, It's nice that they got the win because they theoretically are still in

will still be in contention for the playoffs. But this was just robbery and I feel bad for Western Michigan and our upcoming guest. Classic one, KW. This is a classic. Oh, instantly correct whether people wanted to acknowledge it or not.

Replay in all of its forms is bad in sports. there is no consistency. It opens up far too much speculation about what Brew is talking about. Corruption. It's a speculation about it. It's bad for the fans. It's bad for the viewers.

And the cherry on top of this awful cake is it doesn't actually make the product more accurate or fair. All of the players on the field were operating in a world where that game had ended. Yeah. Everyone in all the coaches, the Bryce Underwood took that time, seeing that clock. So everybody's operating like, we lost. And they're like, well, actually, let's see. And even the most exact of replays that we're told, no, it's scientifically unimpeachable.

Go back to the World Cup. We got a heartbeat in the soccer ball and it hit the Croatian guy's hair. And you can see it blip. ignore the fact that a quarter of a second later it hit a guy in the chest and there is no blip. Just trust us on it. It is, it doesn't make the product better. It adds to more speculation about corruption,

about gambling, about terrible internet conspiracy theories. It removes the ability as a fan to purely and fully celebrate amazing moments because there's always a, but wait, what if? This was as clean as it got. You're right. There's zeros on the clock. The players are celebrating.

There's no flags. Should be over. But wait. Let's review it. For all of the times that replay corrects an obvious, clear, egregious error. There's five times on the show that we're talking about a game ending differently because of a questionable overturn or replay decision. It doesn't make things better.

And I don't understand why we've gone to such lengths to try to get it right when so often we see we are not getting it right. All right. Here for a Western Michigan perspective is a great alum. I would argue the most famous Western Michigan Bronco ever. I haven't checked maybe there's like some like scientist or something. You know, everyone's on the top of the head. or not that pops up or something.

Can I tell you something? Greg Jennings is more famous than like every astronaut but three. Wow. I mean, I'm telling you right now. You know, Neil Armstrong, you know, Buzz Aldrin, you know, Sally Ride, and that's it. Wow. I'm just telling you, maybe the senator. I mean, I mean.

All right, Greg. Was Western Michigan robbed? Of course. So I will say this. Shout out to Terry Cruz because Terry Cruz is a little more famous than Greg Jones. Oh, he's a way. Oh, yeah, he does. Yeah, you're right.

You're number two. I mean, you're right. You're absolutely right. This was a big house robbery. Simply put, it was a big house robbery. And everyone who watched this game knows it. And this is why this was bad for college football. Because when you look at the schedules and you get these mid-majors against these big tens

or these smaller schools against these larger schools, we, and I, say we because I attended Western Michigan in a mid-major. We look forward to having the opportunity to do what Western Michigan thought they did. And for all accounts, when you look at the game and the way we watch it as fans, as viewers, regardless of who we're rooting for, we actually tend to lean towards rooting for the underdog. We want to see this. This is where we see it most in college football and we got robbed of one of the group what which would what would have been one of the biggest upsets of the college football season definitely it was the biggest upset of of week one obviously it didn't turn out but you know i got i got i got family in in calamazoo western michigan's in

calamazoo and they're riding around campus and from what they are all telling me all the ws are missing from western michigan because they say michigan michigan saw them Like Michigan's total. So yeah, this was a big hot problem. Greg. You know, I respect your football acumen, and I lean on you often when I have to have a challenging flag football decision or something. Oh, wow.

And as a flag football coach, championship flag football coach, this would never happen to my team. Because once I would call the players over and say, hey, a mysterious second was just added to this clock. These refs are going to be under a lot of pressure. There is no chance. No chance. They are going to call pass interference on this next Hail Mary.

So please turn it into a grappling match. Have Royce Gracie out there. Have the players be tapping out. The idea that it was just a straight up, let's play it's fair and square play, that this Hail Mary, I hate to say, Greg, I'm blaming the Broncos for not playing a little more aggressively. And as Coach Mangini says,

doing business as business is being done, I think it would be impossible for them to call a pass interference. Do you put any of this on your Broncos for not defending this play a little more aggressively? No, wilds. Look, you're right. You're absolutely right. This is how you're coached. And even in the National Football League,

Coach Manjini can speak. to it. Like your coach to be physical, be aggressive, be, and put the pressure on the referees to throw that flag, which they typically in this type of instance, they're not going to throw a pass interference on a Hail Mary. There's a lot of holding. There's a lot of grabbing. You lean into that. But to say that Western Michigan, it's their at fault because they didn't play aggressively. They dominated this Michigan offense. They made them, they made the bully ball look like who's the bully we are and so I look man you can't you can't take this one away from I know they did but it's unfortunate Greg silver lining yeah when they go low you go high that's

right western Michigan the president the head coach they have handled it really well oh yeah they've been classy almost too much you can argue they should have right they should have right they should have went low but I'm just saying they have a learning experience they have a good examples for those students at Western Michigan. The student who had the single best moment of their athletic lives stolen from them. Thanks to a funny replay technology that nobody actually was adequately explained. All right, Greg. Not great.

Back to vacation free. Sorry to call you in on your day off, but it was a horrible play for your alumni. See you, Greg. We had to get you. All right. See you next week. And did you guys see, oh, the Michigan went from a two and a half point favor against Oklahoma to a six point underdog. You would think they're going to get humbled.

Head to Foxborough where the team is getting ready for Wednesday's Super Bowl rematch. I think. Trayvion Henderson still hasn't in practice since hurting his ankle in late August. Christian Gonzalez's contract extension still isn't done. This weekend, Gonson was asked about requesting a trade, perhaps. Here's what he said to that. It's getting bad. Not really.

I'm here right now. I'm here. Like I said, I'm worried about this practice, focused on this practice. I'll always be where my feet are. do what I got to do. Where his feet are? You guys, it's like you've never been around the Patriots before. It's the answer to everything.

I'm always where my feet are. That's what he says. He's like everything. I'm in the moment. Can I ask you a question? Yes. Is he one of the 25 best players in the league? Oh, according to the NFL top 100?

Yes. Okay. So that's, if we were to rank the 25 best players in the league in order of right now, worst relationship with their current team, Would he be high on that list? I don't know. Frustrations with contracts, I think is different than relationship with team.

I actually think the relationship with the team is pretty strong, which is why you're getting sort of Patriots Pablam from these quotes and nothing with any vitriol. Listen, I am at a loss on some of this stuff because I do feel like you have so overwhelmingly glass half full on everything Patriots related that you get like mad at Brew and I. But what, to me, objective facts on the ground going into the Super Bowl rematch, one of your most talented offensive players is injured. Your arguably best player, certainly best defensive player, the top two player on your roster,

is the only player in the league right now, the only star player in the entire league right now that is in something of a contract dispute. I mean, yeah, however you want to put Baker. and oh yeah so Baker is too DJ stuff but Baker is too so I should have I forgot about Baker

CJ is not even a dispute really it's just not happening it certainly not it would be better if like I'm what you're not hearing is I can't wait to get out there and go again we're not even hearing like Baker's like all right I'm gonna go out there and cook I'm there in trouble and I

think you guys your head coach had what I would call a trying off season how so I think I'm not going to get into it because I'm trying to be polite, but I think it was a trying. But I haven't been following the day. I think it was a trying off season. You add to all of that that I know you have talked about,

and I agree with you, that the A.J. Brown edition plus potential help to the offensive line should make the offense better. I don't think you guys made any significant defensive additions. That is the underrated part of, when we talk about the schedule stuff last year, a lot of it is in Drake May conversations. I think a just equally important conversation is,

hey, how good is this defense against good quarterbacks? Like how is that going to look and if they're just running it back? So all of those to me are fair, legitimate concerns. And I go into this game and I look at the Seattle as one of the absolute Super Bowl favorites. I pick them to have the best record in the entire NFL this year. them and the Ravens tied for it, I guess. And I look at the Patriots as somewhere between the 10th to 12th best team. That's how I view it.

You might view it differently. Which is to say, Brew, I would be more surprised by New England winning than by New England losing by double digits. Oh. So like a, if we're here Monday or Thursday and the final score is 2717 Seattle, that is less surprising to me than 2421 New England. And so am I picking them to get blown out? I don't know if 10 points blowout, but I'm certainly. Technically is what? I'm certainly picking them to lose and a blowout wouldn't shock.

So the weird part about it, Brew, is the score entering the fourth quarter, and the game was not close, I would call it a blowout, was 12-0. Yeah, but two minutes into the fourth quarter, it looked like this. But still, even at halftime, it was, it felt like a blowout in the first quarter. Yeah, I mean, this is, but it's because you guys were getting two yards. Yeah, so that's what I'm saying, the double digits. it was, I think not every double-digit loss feels the same. This felt ugly early. The Super Bowl

up until garbage time felt more lopsided than even 19-19-Rash time. I just call it the rest of the game. Really? That's what you do about late fourth quarter of the whole quarter, not just the end in two minutes. Wilde's, if Nick is right and they're blowing out, I won't

raise an eyebrow. In fact, I expect it. You expect the Patriots to get blown out? Now, I don't expect them to get beat 41 to 16 or anything like that. But I'm expecting Nick a two-touchdown victory for Seattle. The reason it was so close, or in score,

was so close even though Seattle was out playing. And we all know, Sam Donald didn't play well. 50% completion, below 75, pass a rating. I think he's going to come out. Now, I think Gonzalez will play. But if he doesn't play, JSN is going to, have a field day. And I think even if he does play

the passing game is going to be better for Seattle. So I think Darnal is in a unique position of not more to prove than Drake, as we talked about last week, but he's coming off a Super Bowl win with a chip on his shoulder. Because people still are questioning him, doubting him. He still has

stuff to prove, didn't play well in this game against the Patriots. So I think they're going to come out. And I like, Jadarian Price was your rookie of the year, right? Yes. Yeah. I think, I don't, With all due respect to Kenneth Walker, I don't think they're going to miss him because I like Price a lot. So I do think they're going to put it on you guys. Regular season, Drake was pressured at 38% of the time, which is not good.

Rogers and Bo Nix were around 27%. Rogers is just getting rid of the ball, but Bo Nix is protected really well. Sam Darnold was 28%. During the Super Bowl, Drake May was pressured 53% of the time. The whole playoff run. The whole playoff run was really bad. And a lot of it was Will Campbell. This is a Will Campbell.

Are you healthy? Are you a good game? So he didn't talk to the media after the Super Bowl. He said, I know what I need to work on. So this is what he needs to work on. He allowed 14 pressures. It's the most by anyone all last year. It was the most in the playoffs since I think 2018.

All of his other games, he's averaging about four. He did get. Still not great, right? Josh, is that? Josh is doing this phase. For top five pick left tackle, I think you. I prefer zero. Well, Drake was pressured a lot, so I'm guessing that's not a lot.

That's not good. So part of it's Drake, part of it's Will Campbell, part of it's Elijah Veritucker, part of its first round draft pick. If Drake has time and they get blown out, I'll have to reconsider what's going on in the season. But I would be shocked if with every change that we made to address the major issues that we saw in the Super Bowl, we still get blown out. So that was one you hold on. You added a, you added a.

It would not feel good. You said if Drake has time and they get blown out, you'll be concerned. What if it just looks just like the Super Bowl? He just doesn't. What if he doesn't have time and you guys get blown out? That's a major issue. Yeah, that's, okay. If you make three moves on the offensive, well, Will Campbell's health,

if three things have theoretically improved, you drop somebody, you got Elijah Vera Tucker and Will Campbell's healthy, and you still get blown out, and you have more weapons. What's supposed to do a fake-a-tree? it for the show. I was supposed to say we're going to win by 10 points. I feel like a comfortable win. You got to play well. You just got to play well even if it's a close loss. Comfortable,

I mean like three points. I mean like a nice game. I mean like I feel like oh, I feel good about this game. But not blown out. No, they just have to agree with. The three of us, I don't know if you guys know, got a little criticism over the weekend because we had the audacity to pick the third favorites, the fifth favorites and the sixth favorites to win the Super Bowl. People said

it's because they're the teams we root for as a to us, doing the data, doing the research, and just coming up with... I just go where I picked every game and I went where the data told. Exactly. I did as well as rude always does. Who doesn't like golf? But this is a team you believe can win the Super Bowl. If they get beat up in week one, it's highly concerning.

But you just point to last. If they get really cooked, like, you know what? I'll come in like good loss. I like that. Circle the wagon. So what's the... How are you like me? Nine points.

Nine points is where you'll be worried. Nine to 12. Nine to 12. Nine to 12 points is where you'll be worried. Yeah, maybe six to 12. Okay, got it. Five to 12. There's a safety.

Yeah, go ahead. We're doing Tua, Dust. Yes, quickly. News out of Atlanta, Tua. It's been named the week one starter. Falcons opened up in Pittsburgh against Aaron Rogers. Two of the sixth straight new starting quarterback since Matt Ryan in 2021. Nick, you got the Falcons making the playoffs.

And you haven't shown a ton of faith in do it, which is mostly my guy. No. You said you don't like left-handed people. Well, Pinnix is also left-handed. I'm also, I write Eat and play pool with my love. Which is what makes it all the more disconcerning. Are you so confident that Falcons grab a wild card spot?

I feel like this question shows an ignorance on you're and the producer's behalf. So allow me to explain a couple things. Not in charge of the runoff. The art of a deep sleeper. is you never feel good about it. You do it anyway. Can I tell you something before you start chastising us? You invented deep sleeper.

We don't know. Well, do your research. It's a new thing out there. You guys think I enjoyed picking and having to roll with the Raiders last year? Of course not. But in my quest, not to be good, but to be great. And being great means you go 14 of 14 for the playoffs. it be perfect, I have to have a deep sleeper.

A deep sleeper. Now with that said, one of the reasons I picked the Falcons, Tua has nothing to do with it, because I do not believe Tua is going to be their quarterback when it really matters. I think Tua is their starter at the moment. The Fansky wouldn't even commit to the past week one.

And so, and that might be because of play, that might be because of injury, that might, for whatever reason, if we could just quickly throw up the Falcon's schedule, The Falcon's path is winning four of their final five games and sneaking in at nine wins. It is after the Lions game, when they have the Browns, Washington, the Bucks, the Saints, and the Panthers, winning four of five. And so they've got, for my own picks, they've got to be, they have to find five wins in the first 12 weeks. So yeah, home for Carolina is hopefully one of them.

The schedule is not easy early. I understand that. It's why they're a deep sleeper boys. But Tua is not really a part of the math, and I'm not that worried about this, because I don't think Tua is going to be the starter by the time they get to week five. That's all.

I just, big picture, this was such a mistake, with all due respect to the young man, to draft Michael Pinnix. Remember, you had just paid Kurt Cousins $100 million, and I get that Pinnix is hurt, but that was the issue with me. Penix coming out of college. That's why he played six years in college. And so

this just is, I mean, if they had not drafted Michael Pennix, Nick, presumably you'd have Kirk Cousins right now, who played pretty well down the stretch. They started winning games with him. And still, I think it's probably a pretty good quarterback better than Tua.

But because they made a vast mistake, they're now in this situation where I agree. I don't think Tua is going to be long for this job. But then Pinnix, who's Both their quarterbacks are injury prone. I'm giving him a two-wise shot. Oh, okay.

I'm not, but that's fun. Two touchdowns, 250 yards against Steelers last time he played last year. He's in a dome, nice and warm. Giant statement game against the Cowboys. That's next on FS1. Fox Sports Channel on Sirius XM. Week one is not.

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Podcast is rolling and YouTube has all of our predictions, not necessarily because we have coaches predictions coming up. So Gianni, you have to update the YouTube with coaches predictions as well. It's not all of predictions. It's bonus week of prediction. And check out all of the social media as well. It's just fantastic. You can press the heart button.

Rams are Super Bowl favorites and the only team to ever have the reigning MVP and the defensive player of the year. And then for fun, they added one of the best defensive players of all time. Quentin Lake acknowledged the super team saying, you know, all these other teams probably hate us. They think we're like the new Dodgers or something like that. Financial impropriety aside. Are the Rams under the most pressure in the NFL?

Can I say this about this quote real quick? Sure. This is part of the reason as to when they were talking about adding Aaron Donald, I said I can't explain why I have a funny feeling about it. Because now we have Quentin Lake talking about how they're the new Dodgers. And it just feels like there is. is a level of... That very rarely, in my memory, in football,

has been a successful recipe where everyone on the team is, like, in unison, including, with respect to Quentin Lake, who's been on the show, but is not one of their 10 best players, being like, yeah, you know, we know we have a target on our back. We know everyone's, you know, hunting for us, when they're not the defending Super Bowl champions, NFC champions, division champions.

Like, only a handful of guys on that roster have actually won a Super Bowl. Like the best players that we're talking about on that roster, Miles Garrett, Pukanagua, Devante Adams, those guys didn't win a Super Bowl with the, obviously with the Rams. Donald did, Stafford did. With all that said, I feel like every time we ask this question until Joshua Lamar get a Super Bowl,

them and their teams will always be the two teams under the most pressure because of where they are held in the media's, regard where we talk about the quarterback so much more than everything else and where those guys are on the historical track for quarterbacks with the one hurdle being not even having been to a Super Bowl. I think those guys trump all the pressure the Rams are under, but I don't love this quote and I don't love this mindset for the Rams it being a successful one. I think it's so interesting. We have coaches who say we're going to be the greatest offense in the history of the NFL. Thank you. We're going to have shutouts and blowouts.

We have quarterback saying, I don't even know what Goddy stands for, but whatever it stands. Greatest offense there is. Yeah, greatest offense there is. You've got that and they're manifesting things. You've got other guys talking about how good they're going to be. So there's all of that. And now, Quentin Lake, he says one thing, which is probably pretty true where the rest of the world is looking at their off season. And they won the off season.

They clearly did. They add the defensive MVP. Aaron Donald comes out, who is a former defensive MVP. They had two starting corners from Kansas City. They lost the defending Super Bowl champions by a combined three points over three games. So there's a lot of reasons to look at this team and say, yeah, clearly they have had the best offseason of anybody on a very good team. So there is a significant amount of pressure, but it's not like Matthew Stafford is coming out and saying this. It's not like, I mean, Miles has talked about wanting to win a Super Bowl, which I understand.

but there isn't that that volume of guys pushing this narrative forward it's one quote from one guy discussing why they might be in that same category as the Dodgers yeah I tend to agree with you Nick on Lamar and Josh

but the reason you can put the Rams ahead of them as far as pressure is just because of Stafford's age and then Aaron Donald is on a one year deal we'll see if he plays longer, but there's more, I don't want to say, I mean, obviously the Ravens and Bills are urgent. But if the Rams don't win it this year, who knows what their team? Yeah, you can say their window is the smallest of a near the great window.

And the fact that they trade away a lot of picks just to make the team better. They made not only the moves you mentioned, obviously Trent McDuffie, like they are clearly, they are the ultimate Super Bowl or bust. Yes, Lamar and Josh have to win it. But if they don't this year, guess what? A year from now will be the same. They look great. Lamar is excited again about the office.

He was MVP or whatever he played well last year. Josh, you know, it's back. So I just feel like the ran. It reminds me, we don't have this as much in football now because of free agency and stuff. You used to in the 70s when teams would be stacked and keep their players. But this nowadays is almost reminds me of the heat coming together in 2010. with LeBron and Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch. And even though they weren't the defendant champions,

there was so much pressure on them. And we saw at the end it got to them. And so this is going to be all year with the Rams. Some people have said it might even be best if they lose to San Francisco. Because if they beat San Francisco, if they're going to tear open the season, now you're going to be here and talk about 17 and oh, is this the greatest defense ever, whatever.

But maybe they need to lose, get that pressure off of them, and then they can just have a regular season. But I do think there's a ton of pressure on their shoulders. Do you want to go over? No. I think the biggest beneficiary of all of this is Seattle. I think the fact that Seattle is the defending Super Bowl champion who beat the Rams in order to get there,

beat the Rams twice at the end of the year once in somewhat controversial fashion after the two-point conversion, but then in the NFC championship game, totally straight up beat them. blew out the Pats in the Super Bowl. Like we said, it was bringing back 20 of 22 starters. And they already were an under-discussed Super Bowl champion because of market they're in and just the fact that there aren't huge Seahawk fans, aside from Mina, in the media. And then you add to it there is a way trendier team.

It's in a bigger market and it's in your own division. Seattle, without ever losing a game, I think Mike McDonald's, can credibly say to the guys in the locker room, people still don't believe in us. I don't think Sam Donald's sitting back on, oh, I'm pretty psyched about Miles Garrett and that. No, I, no, I understand that there. And Aaron Donald, I'm not to face those two guys right there.

I get. Oh, and they added two starting corners. Oh, that's. I understand, Coach, I understand that their, that their divisional competition got harder. But when we talk all the time about one of the reasons it's so hard to repeat is because, you know, Wiseman told me success is like a martini.

It relaxes you. Like, I do feel like this, Seattle has more of a real bulletin board that they have disrespect or lack of belief or someone else getting the hype. And it's their rival. It's their team and their own division. I think that part's good for them. It's a great situation for them. Having all that heat taken off of them. That's as good as you can ask.

Giants host the Cowboys to open up their season. New York feeling confident. And Giants cornerback Greg Newsom the second says he thinks the Giants have the best cornerback room in the league. Camp Scadaboo, the best cornerback room? That's what he said. Told Kay Adams, his first carry is going to be punishment for the defense. Giants are home underdogs. Would a win prove to you that New York is an NFC East contend?

First of all, that's a lot of talking for a team to win four games last year. You know, Camp Scadaboo's thing reads differently than he actually said it to Kay Adams. It doesn't read well. He was kind of, he's like, it's going to be punishment for the defense, but I'm excited. It wasn't normal back flipping. Got him. No, not necessarily. What it might, remember last year, it's week two, the Giants played the Cowboys.

Remember that game with Russell Wilson threw for almost 500 yards? Oh, yeah. They lost 40 to 37 in overtime. Later in the season, last week of the season, DAC only plays half the game. The Giants beat the Cowboys. obviously we know what the Giants ended up being four-win team. We didn't know at that time when they played them Dallas tough that the Cowboys weren't going to be any good after week two.

And so if the Giants win, it could, of course, mean, oh, they're really good. It could also mean that I and others have overrated the Cowboys. Because I'm picking them coach to get to the Super Bowl. It could mean they're just not that good. I would actually maybe lean more on that than the Giants being great if they go out there and beat the Cowboys. But look, I think what you want to see from the Giants is you want to see dark looking good with neighbors. You want to see that defense and some of those new names that are Brian Burns as well. Like some of those guys, Arvel Reese, like playing well.

You just want to see evidence that things have changed and now they are. The culture's been changed and they're building something right. But it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be great. It could mean the Cowboys aren't any good. Yeah, week one of the NFL season was always easily in the top five of the hardest weeks to coach because there's so many unknowns. So there's the unknowns of the players the other team has. There's the unknowns of what scheme they've worked on in the off season.

And then when you add into the fact that there's a whole new coaching staff, so how is that coaching staff going to treat the players that were on the roster? So you can't even rely on that part of the information. Then there's all the things that you worked on from a scheme perspective. There's the new players that you have. So the results of week one can be a little bit of a mirage because it's just things are so unpredictable and you don't have the data points that you have later on this season.

But to your point, it would be more of an indication of where Dallas is if they lost than where the Giants are because they do have the value of continuity. They've got the value of. of the coaching staff being in place and they're building on a system that's in place. So if they come out week one and it doesn't look anywhere near what they expected

or what they've been projecting, that to me is more about Dallas and necessarily how good the Giants are. I am a little stunned by how trendy the Giants are like this team could be legit. Not a team that has, Got a last place schedule, and because of that, you know what I mean, luck's their way into seven or eight win, not luck's their way,

but you know what I mean? Takes advantage of bad schedule to having a better than expected season. That, I think, is reasonable. Harbaugh plus a soft schedule fine. But the amount of like, look, this team could be really good is baffling to me. They started last year, they were two and 13. They then beat the Raiders and the Joe Milton Cowboys to double their win total. I don't love their weapons other than neighbors who's coming off a catastrophic injury

that seemed to be worse than the typical ACL tear. Every year, the last three years, we've talked about how good the defensive line can be. We're yet to see it actually produce. Again, maybe it will, and the personnel on it seems like it would be impossible for not to produce, but I felt that way last year. When they had, when they have Brian Burns still have Tibado, Like, it felt like they drafted Abdul Carter. It was like, oh, my God. Like, they have this, you know, this year they got Arvel Reese, but I'm saying a year ago, I thought that Devens be really good.

The Jackson Dart stuff is baffling to me. He started 12 games through 15 touchdowns. And everyone's through for 300 yards. He seems like he has some maturing to do in my eyes as far as how he, the recklessness with which he plays. And I have. I am so scarred by the Pete Carroll experience in Vegas that I at least have a small percentage of chance that John Harbaugh's best days are five years behind him. That John Harbaugh is a Super Bowl champion head coach who had a really great run with his first team.

It, you know, ended there, not great, goes on to the next spot and people are going to be like, oh, man, there's a reason people in Baltimore are talking about what a breath of fresh air this is. all those reasons. Like, I agree with you, Brew. A Giants win to me would it would set off more Dallas alarm bells for me than it would make me feel like maybe I'm underrating the Giants. Now, week one can be a liar.

Week one last year, that Raiders team I'm talking about, beat the pads. You know what I mean? Like, we see some weird week one result, but I don't, I'm just on the record here. Like, I think Scataboo has 400 rushing yards last year. And we talk about him, like he's like, Jim Brown. I mean,

The Giants are a better interview than they are, to me, football team, but we'll see. Can I just say I know I'm getting old when Nick is talking about a brass quarterback and worried about his maturity? Well, I'm getting old. Grandfather now. Things have changed. I'm a great guy. Jane Daniels in Philadelphia to start his third season in league. I mean coach.

Year one was spectacular. Coach looking at him. Year two was a disappointment. Year three, TVD. Jane telling Albert Breer, a lot of people what they saw last year was me getting So what can I say? Can't live off of what was done 24. I have a chance when I get out there in week one to showcase my talents once again and remind a lot of people. It's just a make or break year for Jane Daniels. No one really believes in the commanders. I think it's a great quote. I think he's approaching it exactly the same way or the right way. And is this a make a break year for Caleb?

Is it a make a break year for Drake May? Is it a make a break year for Bo Nix? Is it a break year for the Prince? The Prince. I'm sorry, Prince has two elite seasons. I'm saying, the elite bar has dropped, coach. You know, we have a good season, and suddenly it's like, oh, their trajectory is going to skyrocket from here. And you have a down season. It's like, oh, man, that must not be very good at all. Yeah, but everyone you mentioned, I understand your point for this third year quarterbacks is one good, one bad season for Drake.

For Drake and Caleb, most notably, Bonix. I could argue that it. That was pretty good, you know, both years. But it does weigh more heavily if it's the more recent season, doesn't it? Because if Drake or Caleb had a down year and Jaden had a down year, yes, they would both, all three of them would only have one excellent season, right? But you would be more concerned about the guy with back-to-back tough seasons than a guy who went up or down, up, down, right? Well, so if Caleb has a down year this year, Drake has a down year this year,

are we, what are we saying? Not as worried as if Jaden does. They both have down seasons, so two out of the three seasons are down seasons. That's what I'm... We're going to say, okay, well, this guy still is going to be better, still has the potential to be better, but this guy is a missed. I would just be more concerned about a guy if he has back-to-back bad years. Well, he was hurt a bunch of last season, too.

We're not even looking at it as a full body of work. He just lost his left tackle. He's on one of the oldest. teams. Is this team going to be as bad defensively as it was last year? They were dead last in almost every defensive category. So is it going to be chasing points? Every single game is he got to score 30 with no left. Like I think there's there's things that go into the evaluation. We should see some progress. But the progress is going to have to be viewed within the context of everything else that's happening around them. Well, where I kind of agree with you, coach, is that they can withstand like, I don't even want to say a bad season, but say a so-so season, all right, if he's healthy. Like to me, that's what I'm looking at because where I think is make or break is his contract.

He will be eligible for the extension after this season. And if he plays 17 games, even if he's just pretty good, not as good as he was as a rookie, then I think Washington will feel good and maybe give him the contract. Last week, we talked about how Houston offers C.J. Stroud a deal worth 50 million a year coming off that bad playoff showing. So I think the key that the commanders are looking at is will he be

ready for 17 games? Because even the rookie year where he played great he was banged up a lot. He got banged up, but he played every game. So I want to see him be healthy for 17 games and really his health not be much of an issue.

And if that happens and he puts up pretty good numbers, I feel very good and they probably would extend him. I get what you're saying though, coach, and that, you know, yeah, if Caleb and Drake don't play well either, we'll also be kind of, I mean, they'll probably get extensions

anyway, but you'll still kind of wonder, okay, what level are they on? Well, you look at Joe Burrow, who's had up and down in terms of his health throughout the course of his career, but nobody's looked at him and say he can't do it. And when you look at Jaden's rookie season versus C.J. Straud's rookie season,

it's not even in the same stratosphere as, I mean, he's he was so much better than C.J. was. So you think he's definitely going to be a very good quarterback? I think, I imagine that in this class of three quarterbacks that he'll be competing with the other two, provided there's some level of support in the rest of the organization that they'll be, they'll all be in the same category. The other two are Drake and Caleb?

Drake and Caleb. And with Bo Nick's, look, he's had a lot of success. success and... But you don't view them as the talent of the other guys. It's just a little bit different equation right now because of how great their defense has been. And where his biggest advantage comes over Jaden is the best offensive line in the league against maybe the worst. So like that's, so I am, I don't think Jaden is set up to succeed. I didn't like their team build post-NFC championship game.

I think it got a little, tried to press fast forward on it. I think they got a little high on the, man, we were so close to the super. Super Bowl, and the team all of a sudden, to your point, got really old. Now, the Broncos are oddly an old team as well, but that they seem more stable because of the offensive line because of Sean Payton. So all of that concerns me. And it's not just that I would feel differently if Jaden Daniels last year suffered one really tough injury.

It's like, man, got unlucky or whatever it was. Last year, he missed time with a knee, came back, missed time with a hamstring, came back, Missed time with an elbow, came back, I thought, foolishly, and then missed the rest of the season with that same elbow. His rookie year, it was the bruised ribs that knocked him out of the game very early. He played through like two passes one week, got knocked out of the game, but then didn't miss the following game, to his credit, didn't actually miss any starts.

But I do have an honest question for you, coach, or for the group. I don't know, Dust, if we can run that B-roll again. Am I the only, so coming into the draft, I was worried about, about his frame and I was told guys put on weight in the NFL so he's just not going to huh this is not a priority it's just not what we want to do like I I'm not saying he's skinny very is very thinning black is thinning black is I mean put him in a white unit like a different I mean I think I wear black I don't I don't remember NFL quarterbacks

back with this frame. And that is, and I understand, like, one of his injuries last year was a hamstring. So, like, that's got nothing to do with it, I guess. But I, I can't be the only person that sees that and be like, man, that, it's odd to me that that that hasn't been prioritized. Is that not odd to you at all that he hasn't bulked up, that he hasn't, especially when he suffered these injuries? That he's going to be carrying too much weight.

So, I mean, it just, that part is... Slowed down a little bit. Yes, but Lamar also was never slight. Lamar always had that big old neck and, like, it was a, you know, it was a different type of athlete. Look, I'm sure they've addressed it and they're trying to put on good weight. And I can't imagine, based off of his personality and his desire to be as good as he possibly can be, that he's somehow saying, no, I want to remain as slight as possible. so it may take a little bit more time for him to bulk up to that point.

But there's a lot of quarterbacks that you look at that aren't gigantic quarterbacks by any stretch. No, and a lot of quarterbacks, I'm sure he looks better with his shirt off than most quarterbacks. Like, there's a lot of quarterbacks seem to be carrying my quarterback sometimes seems like he's carrying a little extra weight. But I don't know if that's bad. You're quarterback's older and a dad. Yeah, so, yeah. I mean, that happens. Coach Manjini's full playoff projections.

Coming up right after the break. Interesting to see who makes it. Interesting to see who's out, bro. Wow. It's obvious. When West Jet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion.

Inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when West Jet welcomes you on board. Here's to West Jetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years.

Live from New York, that got stung by a bee this weekend. You did? Yeah, that's in the show. But I also did. You're talking about you? Yeah, I also did. Where on your body?

On my neck. I thought it was slick. Where were you? Well, we're at an outside eating establishment, and my wife said, hey, there's a bee on you. And the children, you know, there are still afraid of insects. And I said, ah, no big. And I go like this, and it stung me right on the neck.

And I played it off. I'm like, ah, I'm like, it doesn't hurt, guys. and my neck got right and ready. Still kind of hurts. Still feeling it. RIP did that be. Second hour of first things for us today, chief concerns are injuries making Malm's comeback

even more difficult. You got to play that fierce Broncos defense. I don't know if it will be quite as fierce this year. Certainly with Jonathan Cooper out, that's a big loss. Meanwhile, Rogers' final year. What's the ceiling? What's the floor? Talking Super Bowl?

Talking being benched. huge delta? Yeah, good one. Good job, Kate. All right, you thought predictions week was over. You're wrong. Bonus predictions day with Coach Manjini. Coach, we're starting off in the AFC, one of your favorite conferences.

Certainly top two. What do you have making the playoffs here? I worked for a famous head coach. You used to tell the players all the time, don't make any predictions. Who do you think you are in Nostradamus? Like 95% of the room would be like, who's Nostradomin. But I guess I am, so let me just lay it off. Was that person?

Or Belichick? Who said that? Belletec, dude. You're not Nostradam. So I guess I'll beat Nostradamination here and just break it down in terms of who the AFC, NFC, and we're going right on through the list. Yeah. Let's go to the AFC first. Are these seated coach?

No. Oh, here we are. Look like it. Oh, my goodness. That's why I know. I like the Patriots. I know it's been a challenging off season and it's hard when you lose the Super Bowl. to have that level of success, but I think they're going to be able to do it.

I like that division that they're in. I think they've got the ability to repeat as champions. Cincinnati, I know that's a little bit of surprise, but Joe Burrow, a couple years ago, lit it up, had almost 5,000 yards, 43 touchdowns, nine picks. They've done a lot of work on that defense in terms of draft picks, trades, free agency. So I'm giving them the nod there. Houston. This was a little bit challenging

because I don't know where I come in on C.J. Stroud, but I'm just going to give the nod because of the defense. And then the Chargers. I like the Chargers with Jim, Carball being able to win back-to-back, 11 games with all the things that they had to deal with last year. Healthier this year. I know they had the ding at center,

but they've got a draft pick to take over there. So I'm giving them that. Denver's got a lot of people back. they should be in the mix from a playoff standpoint. Casey, this is a pure Patrick Mahomes pick. So I'm going on Andy Reed and Patrick Mahomes for them

to make the playoffs and have a rebound. Not necessarily a compliment. And then the bills... It's just a pure Patrick Mahomes pick. Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. It was a pure point of... A lot of Bulls in the 90s was a pure Michael Jordan. Corny you, Scottie Pipp. So you might notice, Brew, that the Ravens aren't in there. Yeah, the elephant in the room.

Here's what I'll say is that I was dead wrong on the Ravens last year, right? I predicted him to go to the Super Bowl. So I'm probably dead wrong on him now. So you should just probably bet against me on this one. But I... Oh, you had him going to the Super Bowl last year? Yeah, I did. I did.

Lamentably so. Yeah. But now I'm giving the bills the knot over the Ravens to get that final playoff spot. So what is it? Because, I mean, I got the Ravens winning it. Nick's got him as the number one seed. I think Mentor is really good. I expect the offense to just pop.

Like I think Lamar's back. Do you think he's washed or last year was a sign that he's declining? Or like what is your reasoning for not liking the Ravens? It's not that I don't like the Ravens. I'm not sure how it's going to work with the new offensive coordinator. And I do struggle with the idea of changing things up dramatically for a guy who's won the MVP twice. And you're asking to do a bunch of things that he hasn't done well over time. And maybe that will make him better, but he's pretty good right now.

So there's going to be a learning curve there offensively. With a new head coach, there's a learning curve from that perspective as well. And that division is filled with three out of four new head coaches. And so I gave the nod to the Bengals because they have the most continuity. And I think Joe Burroughs going to have a really big year. Coach, do you have the Patriots winning the AFCs? Yes. I had the bills missing the playoffs

and the other panelists took me outside and threw lettuce and old tomatoes at me. I think that's as reasonable a pick as me having the Ravens missing the playoffs. I thought you were going to, I thought you were going to because I know you didn't love the coaching change. I thought you were going to maybe join me and the bills missed the playoffs.

It was a little bit of a coin flip between them and the Ravens for the same reasons because I don't know how the coaching change is going to affect it. I don't know how the pressure of what the expectations in Buffalo are going to affect them. And I had to choose one or the other. So, sorry, bro. Okay, can I, just a couple things jump out to me. First of all, I agree with you guys. There's a shocker in coaches AFC playoff picks, but it's not the Ravens, who again, I believe in this year. But the Ravens missed the playoffs last year. The Ravens changed their coaches. The Ravens,

There's reasons to be skeptical. But you know this team is a rating. I know. Rating. However, coach, there was a 13 win team with a top five MVP finisher at quarterback who's in year two of a, they have had, they have continuity on the coaching staff. They have, you know, a elite talented quarterback who seems to finally, you know, be on steady coaching ground. They are only going to get more out of the number two pick of the draft from a year ago than they did last year. and you didn't even, not only do you not have them in,

you didn't even mention them, and the team you had winning the division, when you talked to them, you were like, I struggled with this. Why no faith in the Jacksonville Jaguars? Well, the track, I know we talked about quarterback play, the track record has been down, up, down, up. And so if we follow that pattern,

next year should be sort of a middle of road type year to a down year. And look, we saw it as rookie year, right? It wasn't very good. Change the coaching staff. It popped. Then the next year it went back to mediocre. I mean, next year they were playing for the one seat in Cincinnati, and then he got hurt, and he didn't have a cart for him.

And then what happened after that? He was suffering from that injury for quite some time. Okay. If you break up that season in the borders. Injuries don't matter. No, they do matter. Engines don't matter to Jayden Daniels. That's a death mall, but for anybody else that's an injury.

Whatever one of your favorite conferences? It's the NFC. Okay. Who do you have making the playoffs? I don't think this is going to be that surprising in terms of my pick because I took Dallas. And I know Dallas is the trendy pick, but were they the trendy pick last year? No, they weren't the – everybody's like, Brian Schott and I'm. Why should we go?

Yeah, that's true. That's true. Coach did like it. And I said, you know, I think he's going to be better than you guys are giving credit for. And he was, and the second year in the program, I despise the whole building up expectations. that they're doing. I think that's the wrong way to go. And but from a talent perspective and from the determined, coherent,

coherent, extensive way that they've tried to address the defense, which is radically different than what Jerry Jones has done in the past when he said, hey, we're going all in. They really did. So we're going to see, I would imagine that should pay dividends. I like Detroit a lot. Nice. When you look at Detroit last season, player by player, in terms of their stars,

produced at a really high level. They lost both coordinators. They had to make a change at an offensive coordinator mid-season, and they still produced at really high levels. I think this year with nowhere near the amount of turnover that they had the previous year and getting back on track in terms of a run-first physical type approach, to me, that's going to pay off, and it's going to pay off. big for them. Carolina, I'm a huge Panthers fan, love a lot of the coaching staff.

I think E.J. Everow, the defensive coordinator, should be a head coach in the NFL. And they're going to continue to. You're in on Bryce. Look, I like Bryce going into last year more than I think a lot of people did. And he made progress. And, you know, I know this is shocking you, but guys can make progress. I think he'll continue to make progress going into this season. The Rams, you know, they're everybody's pick. and I'm on that train as well.

Seattle, I think it's a little bit too much for the Rams. I love the way they're approaching the offseason. I think it's exactly the right way. You haven't heard a peep out of them, really, for a defending Super Bowl champion. That's rare. They're not talked about. Fantastic way to go into the year following the Super Bowl.

The 49ers, I struggled a little bit with this because of the age of the team and the injury issues they have. pick. But when I look at what he did last season and the volume of injuries that they had last season, I'm giving them a lot of credit for being able to operate in that world. So they're talented. They're talented in a lot of spots. And I think that's going to carry them at the end of the day. And then the Bears. Shocked by this. Go ahead.

I love defense. This was another one of those where I struggled with it. I'm hoping that Caleb continues to progress, and it's not just the end of the game. Type heroics. Better turn into Travis Hunter. You're going to play in defense, too. So I'd say that was the one that I was probably the most difficult of my decisions. Okay, so you have four new playoff teams, Bengals, Chiefs, Detroit, and Dallas.

So it's not the most courageous of picks I've ever seen. And you're obviously lacking the deep sleeper, which everyone knows you need to have. You have that either. You have a deep sleeper. Who is your deep sleeper? The Atlanta Falcons. Oh, yeah. I mean, they have nine number one draft picks on offense.

Oh, you're saying they're too good to be a deep sleeper. Wow. Let's go to sleeper. You've got ridiculous talent across the board. They've been the deep underachievers, not the deep sleepers. Yes. But so most notably, though, you have missing the playoffs, the Philadelphia Eagles, who, again, some people think that 2026, 2027 is going to be the year of Philadelphia sports.

I'm not saying I think that. Some people think that. What is your concern with the Eagles? My concern with the Eagles is a little bit of what happened with the last head coach there, where they won a Super Bowl, then had a couple down years. and then they got let go. And it feels like organizationally they do a great job every year, and that comes with a lot of expectations.

And when he got sort of stripped of the ability to hire the offensive and defensive coordinator, and then they hired two new guys, they go to the Super Bowl, they win the Super Bowl, then the next pick comes in. That's not very good. Now we've got a new offensive coordinator again. I like where they are defensively.

I like the organization a lot. Just think that maybe, maybe that maybe this might be the second year in a row and it could be really problematic for the head coach. Regular season MVP coach. Going with Joe Burrow. I'm going with Joe Burrow. I'm going with Joe Burrow.

Trendy pick. I didn't know it was a trendy pick. First on the show to pick it. That's true. For me, when you look at two seasons ago where they missed the playoffs and they got hot late, 43 touchdowns and nine picks, almost 5,000 yards passing.

If he has numbers like that this year and they are marginally better defensively. I would imagine that's going to be enough for them to win the division and then push forward in the playoffs. Coach, I know one of the reasons you like the Bengals is because they are the one team in the division that didn't fire their coach. Didn't have coaching change.

And I really like Joe Burrow. Right, no, of course. If they miss the playoffs again, assuming Burrow has a healthy season. They miss the playoffs with a healthy Joe Burrow, or maybe even without a healthy Joe Burrow. With a healthy Joe Burrow, if they missed the playoffs, I would imagine the way regime change.

Yeah, okay, that's what I. Unless he signed that secret extension that people say that he might have signed and they don't want to deal with the dead money. I don't know about that. I don't know Pablo about that. There's some articles about, about playoff predictions, coach. Okay, playoff predictions.

You know, I love predictions. Oh, my God. I'm going Chargers bangles in the NFC championship game. This is stunning. The NFC championship game. And here's what I'll say about the Chargers as well, is working with Jim Harbaugh.

There's great coaches in that division, and I think Jim's in that category. Now, it may not be like the other coaches are. He may not have the same approach, but it's a very effective approach. And again, I look back at what he's done over the last two seasons, especially last year with the volume of injuries. Now, they've added McDaniel, and they think that'll be a real boost for Justin Herbert. If that's the case, I imagine they push into the AOC championship game.

Bengals have the MVP of the league. He's playing at MVP level. The Lions, I think that they're... Their problems from last year and their focus from last year or their lack of focus as to what their brand was has probably been fixed. And if they get back to the Lions brand of football, which I imagine they will, that's going to lead them to the NFC championship as well. I got to say, before you reveal your Super Bowl, the coach Mienie that I once knew is just gone. Running the ball, playing defense. I mean, it's just, you just like fancy offenses and quarterbacks who can sling it.

I mean, I mean, Darwin James is our age. The Bengals haven't had legitimate defense in five years. The Lions secondary is either injured or awaiting a court date for the Seahawks. Rams got a good team over a defense offense the whole thing. I get that piece of it. But you really just went with the fancy fantasy football team. Has anybody else chosen those two in the AFC championship game? No, it's bad.

I heard about guys not having courage to make them. Well, no. They're courageous picks. It just reminds me of what some streamers would pick. So last year in the Super Bowl, the two teams that were in it, what were the odds of those two teams being in the Super Bowl? Oh, Seahawks, Pats, hundreds to one. That's a great point.

Kind of where the way the NFL works is. I like the charges a lot. Okay. Just not this much. All right. All right. Let's see your Super Bowl prediction and winner. Okay. Here we go.

In the Super Bowl. An L.A. Super Bowl. Wow. Chargers, Rams. Wow. And the game's in L.A. Wow. That's going to be a West Coast type.

And the winner is? And the winner is, this is tough. This is just, this feels kind of chalky now, Coach. What? It just does. Rams to win. I mean, that's not a bad. I mean, the goal is to be right.

I wanted to not pick the Rams. I wanted to not pick the Rams, but when you add the defensive MVP of the league, when you get Aaron Darnold to come back out of, look, and maybe he's 70% of what he was, but 70% of him is better than 90% of most defensive line in the league. You had two starting cornerbacks from Kansas City. We haven't talked to at the Aaron Donald Dishman. Can we spend a minute on that? Yeah, let's do it.

So what, let's say he is 75% of what he was, which was in the discussion for the greatest defensive player ever. Correct. What we talked about when he, they added him, that it's, there's only been a few times in the last 30 years in the NFL where you had a future Hall of Famer edge along with future Hall of Famer Interior Alignment. The Eagles with Jerome Brown who passed and Reggie White, obviously. I said, my chief's in the 90s with Neil Smith and Derek Thomas.

It happened all the time in the 70s, but football's different. What will defensive lines and offensive approaches have to be if Aaron Donald is close to vintage Aaron Donald, and he's playing detackle with Miles Garrett opposite him? Well, one of the problems that that creates from the offensive line standpoint is Typically, you're sliding the line one direction to the other. And you can push some help one side or the other. And if you put Darnold on one side and Miles on the other side, then you have to make a decision as to who you're helping.

So are you going to slide the line to Aaron Darnold and then help on Miles Garrett with a tight end? Or how are you going to protect each game? And depending how well Aaron Darnold impacts the interior part. Donald. You're called him Sam Darnold. All these predictions, taking all the energy out of it. So how you want to build your protection is going to be challenging because you have two, a problem that you can put on either side of the line.

And you have a problem that you can create outside and a problem that you can create inside. So you don't have a lot of good answers to deal with two problems that they can create in two different. create in two different spaces the offensive line, which both guys can, we talk about it, who can ruin a game? Both those guys can ruin a game for an offense. Would you expect Donald to, what percentage do you expect him to get to of himself? That's a great question. He's been on the couch for a long time, but we saw Philip Rivers come off the couch, not looking anywhere near the way that Aaron looks, and he surprised all of us. So even if you, let's say they control his reps and control the amount that he plays to...

His situational pass rusher? Yeah, it's still, every time he comes in, you're like, okay, how are we going to deal with this? All right, that sums up predictions week. Coach, you have to the end of the show if you want to make any amendments, if you hear anything from now until five. You want to sneak the Ravens in if you hear some... Baltimore already isn't a big fan of me. How worried is Nick? He said last week he'd be worried, and unfortunately, what you were worried about came through.

Potentially. Yeah. Oh, there's new news. Fake news. Is there new news? Great news. The federal EV rebate is back. Eligible customers get up to $5,000 with the federal EVAP rebate on select 2027

Volt and 26 Equinox EV models. Visit your local Chevrolet dealer today for more details. September 13th, the NFL's back. on Fox, week one double header, first, one Eastern. Falcons. A lot of people have them going to the playoffs. Taking on Aaron Rogers and the Steelers, then in America's game of the week. Deep sleep right hard. Commanders taking on Sequin and Jalen.

Not to tell you. Loves the QB or Dolphins Raiders. Our graphics department, mid-season form, showing quarterback for the opposing team of the Eagles and someone other than Jalen Hurts for the Eagles. Only on Fox. Chiefs. You're right. Open up against the Broncos, a week from today.

and it looks like they'll be without one of the Holmes's lineman, Josh Simmons, still dealing with a back issue. Pete Sweeney, Chief's beat reporter, says that he won't play. Nick, yes? Hold on, to be clear, he said, I don't expect him to play. He didn't. What's the difference? It's saying this guy won't play or I don't expect him to play.

I think, in fairness to Pete, I don't think, I don't think he, yeah. I just think he would, I don't want to say. Chiefs fear is saying he doesn't expect him to play. Yeah, that's all. I wasn't. Rather than. rather than definitively won't. Yeah, that's all.

In fairness to Pete. How concerning is this? Last week you said he'd be very concerned. Listen, I think he is, not I think. I know he's one of the three most important players on the team. Whether you have him second or Chris Jones second, you know, as a matter of opinion. But he is, without a doubt, the second most important offensive player. He also, that also is, tackle is the spot on the team that I think has the least depth.

and they confirmed that, you know, through their actions, that they were concerned about tackle depth by a few weeks ago, trading for two tackles. Now, in theory, that helped the depth, but those were end of training camp right before you finalize your roster, late-round trades or late-round picks that you traded. So Diego Pounds being the week-one starter at left tackle was not the plan. Right now, what Pete went on to say is they think Jalen Moore,

who they signed to kind of be the left tackle before they drafted Josh and has been a swing tackle that he might play right tackle and an undrafted free agent who they've been playing a lot of the preseason at right tackle would play left tackle. I don't know how that would work out. But what I'm telling you is, if Josh Simmons is out, then this, a few things. One is, I don't care at all about Mahomes' stats in the game.

Not 1%. You can throw for 75 yards, and I'm fine with it. That's the first point. Let's get through it. Second point is if he's out, then it has to be, not only do you have to chip on the left side the entire game or help on the left side the entire game. You also have to move the pocket, you know, roll him right to give him extra time because if Nick Benito is over there, and Nick Benito, I think, lines up on either side. be wrong on that. But Nick Bonito, they obviously don't have Jonathan Cooper, Nick Benito is a great

player. And the other one is, this is one of the reasons you sign Kenneth Walker. So you can go into a game with a run first game plan. But that for Patrick's first game off the ACL against a team that last year was a great pass rush, I think they'll be good this year, even if they're not as great, to be without their left tackle would be a challenge. And I said last week that it is I was not worried about him missing practices until this week's practices start. If he misses the next practice they have, it's a significant concern. Coach, I'm just getting this down for Andy. Mahomes, stats.

Don't worry about Mahom's stats. Move the pocket, Kenneth Walker. I was just going to text it after the show. Get that stuff cleared off. Look, when other left tackles go down, you don't seem to think it's that bad. big of an issue. When does that happen to coach? Washington with my...

I think it's a huge issue. My good friend, Jay and Daniel. Yeah, I think that's, and I think it was a huge issue. I do think those things are big issues. Jaylen Moore last year, didn't he start four games for him at left tackle? Yes, but they're saying he's going to start it, he's the project, he's going to start at right tackle. I'm just telling you what they're saying.

Well, you, I believe you, because you probably know someone who knows someone. No, it's what Pete Sweeney said. Okay. Yeah, and look, if the undrafted phrase, and just because he has an undrafted phrase, it doesn't mean he hasn't had a better camp, and there's going to be a learning curve for him, and there's going to be a lot of pressure for him. But if he's had the better camp, I'm fine with that as well. But Jalen Moore did play four games last year, and it wasn't for injury, right?

It wasn't there. No, it was because Josh Simmons was out. That's why he was playing at last time. There's another reason Josh Simmons was out. So he has played there. He's a better run blocker than he is a pass blocker. if you do focus on the running game and take some pressure off of him and the offensive line as a whole that should be, you know, positive. It just is unfortunate that you're going against a team that led the league in sacks last year with your quarterback coming off the season that he's the most sacked the previous year and an injury.

It's, yeah, especially early in the game, you're going to have to do a lot of stuff to slow down that pass rush and to protect to protect Patrick. Yeah, it's very concerning. I said I have the chiefs making the playoffs. I don't think they're a playoff team without Simmons because I think the protection is not going to be there. And when you look at their schedule, Nick, like I think they need to get off to a good start. They definitely need to get off.

Denver, okay, let's say that's the L, but you got Indy, which would be three and one going into the bottom. I mean, four and O is when I picked them to be. Because let's say Indy was red hot early last year. Yeah, Indy, Indy, you know, they could be good. But then you look at that middle row and it's tough. and so I think it's very, it'd be very tough if they, if they go two and two. I mean, you'll take it at this point.

But like you said, you wanted to be three and one going into that five. I want to be on the record here. Two and two. I will not take losing home games, the first two home games of the year. If they're two and two without Josh, let's say he hasn't played and he comes back after the buy, you won't, I mean, that's. No, we can't get. I don't know if he's going to be out that long. a pass because they lost one player.

Who's giving a lot? Remember last year, though, how, remember last year how, Drew just said if they lose John Sims, they can't make the playoffs. Yeah, because I remember last year, that was a huge problem with their protection. And it's also not getting, hold on. There's not. Have protection issues. A lot of people don't have all pros at left tackle.

A lot of people do really good things with lesser personnel. Like, we can't shut down the season because the guy's digging up with it. But it's the opposite. of giving him a pass. Brew is saying that he doesn't think the team is good enough to overcome

the loss of their left tackle. That's not, I think you're anticipating excuses that haven't been made. I'm just saying you've got potentially, arguably the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL

according to you, second grade. No, according to Bruce. So you've got that player, you've got a Hall of Fame head coach. Yeah. you feel like you've made improvements across the board, but now you've lost that one player.

Not going to be only like the playoffs. I mean, okay. The receiving core, we'll see what that is. So, you know, again, I feel like we're shadowboxing here. I don't feel, I have not said that if Simmons is out, they can't make the playoffs. I have said I think he is one of the most important players on the team, and it is a spot of the least depth on the team. I have also said I would rather the chiefs go into a game with street free agents playing receiver and a solid offensive line than the opposite.

Like I think Patrick has proven if he has time, it doesn't matter who's catching the ball. And so this is a major piece of concern for me as far as handicapping how they will do in week one, not to mention the fact that we are all of us, maybe me more than anyone, just taking for granted that on Monday night, Mahomes will be off basically the fastest recovery from an ACL in the history of the position. Like, I don't know if a quarterback has ever torn their ACL

later than Patrick did and started week one with no restriction. So those are all like, I'm not going to act like it doesn't matter. If this was, I would be sitting here saying if Rishie Rice was ruled, they're like, oh man, his knee flared up, he had to have it drained. He's going to be out for week one against Denver. It wouldn't change my opinion of that game much at all. If he was out for the year, it might change my feeling of their upside potential, but I don't think it would change my handicap of week one. Josh Simmons, if he's out for week one, it takes a game that I would fully, I fully expected the Chiefs to win because I think Denver is not quite as good as the

record suggested last year. Last year in the games they played against Kansas City when Mahomes played poorly in one and didn't play the other. Both of those games still came down to the final moment. So a game that I am very confident in to a game I am 55-45. in, like a game that was going to be part of Nick's picks to a game that the line hasn't moved, like, I don't know we'll be. That's where I stand.

Well, I guess I should swap out the Ravens for the Chiefs. Well, you go. You do whatever you want. You got a 26 minutes. 26. You do whatever you want. I'm sold. No left tackle.

Meanwhile in New England, Trayvon's ankle isn't feeling right. Gonzo's pockets are feeling light. Wow. Good rhyme. Thank you. Patriots running back hasn't practiced since August 24. Christian Gonzalez. Still negotiating contract extension.

Coach Mike Vrable was asked if the contract situation was frustrating. Here's what he said. Take a listen. I wouldn't use the word frustrating. And again, I appreciate how our players feel and their emotions. And I think that's part of life. I think this week, and especially today, it probably feels a little bit different because it is truly game week. Oh, God. Yeah, heck yeah.

Patriots in trouble. Got blown out in the Super Bowl coach. Fourth quarter was actually very all-New England. Was it? Fourth quarter? I mean, it was 12-0 going into the fourth, and I think they lost by more than that. He said the passing record on the Super Bowl history.

That was a big deal. Coach, do you think Patriots are in trouble? Got a contract thing. I can't imagine that Gonzalez is going to sit out the first game in the season. No, that would be shocked. I'd be shocked, too. And there's been nothing to indicate

that that's the approach he's taken. I know that there's been discussions and he wants to get it done as quickly as you can, but he hasn't done any, he hasn't missed any time because of the contract. There hasn't been any injury that sort of keeps guys sideline until their contracts get resolved. So imagine he plays,

and I'm a big Ramandre Stevenson fan. I think he's a really good player. He averaged 4.6 yards of carry, really positive out of the, the backfield, really good option out of the backfield. So is it perfect? I mean, I know it's not as dire as, you know, missing your left tackle, but I think it's easily overcomable over.

You can overcome it easily. I think it would be the way to say that you're too busy trying to dump with me. I got, I got, I got to get it out. What do? What do I do? I think the pat's in trouble. Whoa. Why, real?

Well, one, I think Seattle's better. but I want to see your offensive line improvement before I give it the benefit of doubt because Seattle's still going to have a great pass rush. I think their offense, I said, Coach, Donald's got a chip on the shoulder. He coming off a Super Bowl win, he didn't play well in that game,

50% passes he completed. That's why the score wasn't as lopsided as it could have been. And so I think he's coming out with something to prove. I agree, I'd be shocked if Gonzalez doesn't play. but is he in the right place mentally, you know, to guard J.S.N. So I just think Seattle, in Seattle, too. If it were in New England, maybe I feel a little differently. But in Seattle, I think they're going to.

They've got a loud crowd. Yeah, I mean, I'm surprised. Like, you're, we were in Kansas City two years ago for the Super Bowl remit. The Chiefs had gotten dominated in that Super Bowl and then put up some empty stats late. the Chiefs had, in theory, improved in the offseason and addressed some things, taking a receiver in the first round, done some things. And that game was in KC., as opposed to in Philadelphia. And you were ten toes down adamant that there had not been enough time or improvement

from the game we saw to go differently than what we were going to see. Why are you confident here? Well, a few things. from the Super Bowl blowout, if you asked me immediately after that game, all right, and he told me, hey, it's going to be week one. What do you want to see happen

from the end of the Super Bowl to the first game of the season? I would say, oh, well, it'd be nice if we had some, like, go-to, like, superstar wide receiver one. Stefan Diggs had overachieved, but he's not a true number one. And the genie said,

good news, you got A.J. Brown. I said, ooh, that would be good. And, like, by the way, throw in Romeo Dobbs from Green Bay. I'm like, oh, that's nice. And like now Will Campbell is magically healthy. He hurt his knee in week 12, kind of rushed back and gave up the most pressures in the playoffs out of linemen and gave out had one of the worst Super Bowls for alignment ever. He's healthy. How good he is. Let's see, but hopefully he had a few core powers in the offseason. And we'll take Elijah Vera Tucker who's off to injured player for the Jets. But it's week one and he's healthy. I'm like, all right. And by the way, we'll draft the tackle out of Utah. I'm like, oh, Oh, okay, that's pretty good. And you'll have a little bit of an offseason coaching scandal. Like, well, I don't want that. Like that happened, it's part of the deal.

Did you think your defense was great in the Super Bowl? Because none of that are defensive adjustments. And the Seahawks score. I thought the defense was fine. It was 12 nothing. And it was a fumble. It was going into the fourth quarter. It was a fumble recovery.

And the score was 12 nothing. They probably played pretty well. Like, I know you say Sam Darnold didn't. And he's not on. And oh, yeah, add a bonus that. And by the way, the Super Bowl MVP is not on the table. team and the offensive coordinator is no longer on the team. Hey, it's not a neutral site.

And it's in Seattle and they're loud. In Seattle and you're in your best running back. Oh, and by the way, Drake's, Dramey's shoulder is now healed too. And he's not, there's a lot of injuries that were, that were not considered going into the Super Bowl that were considered, I don't make it. I don't make excuses. That's why. No.

Your summer travels deserve an up. grade. With select Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles connected by OnStar, you can stream, game, and more on the go. Whether you're headed to a music festival or a cottage getaway, you can access hundreds of apps on Google Play right from your center display. Explore OnStar Tech Today at OnStar.ca and discover how to take your summer to the next level. OnStar. Better never stops. Friend of the show, Alex Polo, five-time champ, joins us tomorrow. 30. Is he bringing his wreath? Well, it's remote. He's not here? No, he's in Los Angeles.

Oh, I thought he was here. He's in the studio in LA. Oh, no. Gee whiz. Well, you still got to do the milk thing. Yeah, no problem. Aaron Rogers and the Steeler. I'll do the more thing. Even though it's not the ND 500 is a season championship. Posting newly named QB1 to a tongue of ILO and the Falcons this weekend. Steelers looking to improve on last year and do more than just get to the playoffs. Alex Highsmith saying we know our goal, not just to get to the playoffs, but when you get there, it makes a noise to win and go to the Super Bowl. How about that? There definitely is extra added motivation and sent eight out the right way. Aaron Rogers is number eight.

Here's how Rogers did last year. Full screen coming. Kind of mediocre, kind of middle of the pack, but he had some good games. Now, hi, everybody. There it is. 24 touchdowns. Dinks and dunks, but safe. That's the way to put it.

And your beloved completion percentage. Hey, it matters. You throw the ball. I like to have it caught. It's the middle of the pack. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's about right. Yeah, he was dinks and dunks, but safe.

Rogers more likely to end 2026 in the playoffs or on the bench. Yeah, I mean, I, I'd set the over under on Aaron Rogers starts at 12 and a half, either because of injury or benching. And I don't, I mean, I understand that he and Mike McCarthy have healed all old wounds, whatever it is, but those wounds can. be opened back up if the season's not going great. And I just, I don't think Aaron, who turns 43 this year, is going to play at a high level. I don't think the Steelers are going to play at a high level.

And I think when you have two young quarterbacks that you might want to get a look at, Will Howard, but Drew Aller, who they just drafted, I think it's really on the board that, you know, Mike McCarthy, who a lot of people think, got. got fired because of Aaron Rogers once upon a time, has the, you know, the intestinal fortitude to be like, sorry, Aaron. What's best for this team moving forward is to get a good look at Drew Aller. You could see him a healthy bench for Aaron Rogers. Yeah, if they're five and nine and eliminated, yeah, I definitely could.

I would imagine they have a better chance to go into the playoffs and him getting benched. And a little bit of this is not just offensively dependent. it's defensively dependent too. Remember, they had the highest paid defense last season. They were 29th against the pass. They were 26 total defense. They were 17th in point. They played really poorly defensively.

So they improved where they were defensively, which there's a lot of room to improve substantially there. And then offensively, adding Rico Duttle and Michael Pittman, I think, are both good ads. They drafted a tackle that I really liked in the first round. They spent a lot of draft capital on offensive play. It was middle of the pack, but his middle of the pack with those additional weapons is still going to be better than I think the alternatives middle of the pack with those weapons. Well, you mentioned McCarthy, Nick, and the last two years, I've said this before, the last two years he and Rogers were together in Green Bay with a good team that ended up winning 13 games after McCarthy left, they went 8, 10, and 1 in those two seasons that Rogers started.

So he was obviously better than he is now. And McCarthy is going to be the coach there for a long time, unless it's just a disaster. We know they don't fire coaches. He's from there. You know, like, he's going to be there a while. So if they start out poorly and it's clearly not going to happen this season, he needs to see what is Will Howard or what is Drew Aller?

Like, so if you look at their schedule, only one of their first nine opponents made the play. off. So it's after the buy gets right. So it's eight, yeah. So, I mean, if they, if going into, they could be rolling as coach said,

or by I'm saying, if Rogers is playing poorly and they have a bad record heading into that buy against that type of competition, maybe that's early, but I could see them being like, let's get a look at these. And even if it's not at the buy, if they're four and four going into the buy, that four and four turn into a five and nine real quick with that next group of games. And then...

11, 12, 13 is all over off. Yeah. All right. I'm kind of rooting for Aaron Rogers. 1112. Yeah, 14. 15. He's a legendary player.

I don't want to see him going out with a clipboard and headset. I mean, if he played great, it would be... Brewing here. This is great. I don't think... Do we do that for overtime or no? Just to get us hyped up.

You just did. Just to get us high. First thing's first overtime. Today, can the Patriots flip the script? Well, we had, we... That's why I see a blowout. That was last year. It wouldn't that long ago.

Well, we flipped our whole. The MVP's not there, and we have a whole new offensive line, kind of. Meanwhile, two is QB1, but for how long in Atlanta, Parkins? Guess what, two is pretty good. Is he? Yeah, I don't know. He led the league and passing. He's some good moments.

I mean, he's good compared to the earth. I don't know if he's good compared to NFL quarterbacks. Oh, the earth. Yeah, he's, that is correct. He's better, he's better at playing a mediocre quarterback. quarterback compared to like the guy sitting next to you at work. He's well below average compared to others starting in a health quarter. He's led the league in some stuff before.

Years ago, back when you used to cape for him and yelled at Brew and I because we said he's a slight injury risk. Many injuries. You're like if you're going to say that. Well, he played the whole season. Finally, how should Michigan feel about their win? Spoiler it, not good. They should do what that kid in the commercial did.

What? Go to the ref and be like, off me. Give them the other team. Remember that sportsmanship commercial? No. That's what Michigan should do. I'm surprised they didn't do that. Yeah, they just vacate their own win.

The clock ran. Be like, you know what? There have been, we just got hit for, you know, some unethical stuff and root to the actual championship. It's a new era, new leaf. We don't accept the victory. You know what they should have done? They should have done.

They should have kneeled that last night. You should take it in a knee. You're like, you know what? They would have got made Major points had they done that. What? Of this. No one, not one person.

Michigan fans would not have. No one would have loved it if you took a. Oh, don't say no one. You don't think in some of the congregations Bruce speaks to that they're They would have been like, Sunday morning it would be like, that's how you do it. That's what I'm talking about.

Yes. That's right. We should have led with that. Danny Parkins is here. I am. Danny believes the Giants can win the end of. Why not? And good news, the Giants do too.

A lot of positive comments coming out of New York. Marlowe's got the new team ready to go. Predictions week is now over. Here's how our giant specific predictions win. No Giants in Cowboys here. Yeah, because we got the Cowboys as road favorites in New York on Sunday night. Danny, you got the Giants winning. If they win week one over the Cowboys, do you think that you think that?

Do you think we should start to believe in them? Yeah, absolutely. And I was watching you guys talk about this game a little bit earlier, and Brew, you were saying, like, you don't know that you'd believe in the Giants, but you would just downgrade the Cowboys. Yeah, I agree with that. I don't get it.

Like, everybody seems to like Dallas. Yeah. Like on this show, other than Nick, between Wilds, Brew, Greg, and Coach, you all have them winning the, division. Most of you have DAC winning MVP. A couple of them have Dallas in the NFC championship game or in the Super Bowl. So that is like, as you would say, 10 toes down on Dallas. Yes. And one loss as a two and a half point favorite in the division on the road

at night, you'd abandon all of that as opposed to being like, well, maybe the Giants are better than I thought. No, I'm not saying I would write them off or try to change my pick or anything, But because last year we saw it with the Patriots, lose to the Raiders, and we know what happened from there. So I wouldn't write them off, but I would look at it more as, okay, in some, like, okay, maybe they're not as good as I thought they would be. But strange things happened in week one. I mean, the Giants played the Cowboys Tough in week two last year,

lost 40 to 37 in overtime of Russell. At that time, we thought, everybody thought the Cowboys were going to be good. and a playoff contender. So I just think that you won't be able to tell a ton from week one. If I'm the Giants, I want to see those defensive players play well. All the big names, they got Reese, Carter, you know, Brian Burns. I want to see neighbors in Dart play well. Scataboo look pretty good.

And if they win, great, but it's not going to convince me they're a great team. I'm just looking for them to make progress in terms of changing that culture. But no, I would have to see much more than a victory against Dallas in New York. Divisional opponent, too, you know, to believe in the Giants. I just think a lot of the narrative is going to end up being like, so the Giants have two week one wins in the last 15 years. Yeah, they've been bad almost every year that we've been adults. Correct.

Yeah. And DAC has, since his rookie year, he's owned the Giants. The Giants have beaten Dallas twice since 2017. and Dack did not play a full game in either of them. One he missed entirely, and then one was the game last year where he sat at that. So, like, if those two trends change, and it's like, man, it's a new era in New York. Like, John Harbaugh really is different. And Malik neighbors plays.

And they beat a team that a lot of people picked to go to the Super Bowl. And the news that came out today about Dallas is significant. Tyler Smith is their best offensive lineman by far, arguably a top five offensive linemen in football. He never misses games in terms of pressure rate allowed over the last three years. He is top five. They gave him a $96 million contract. They got real questions at right tackle in Dallas. Some would say they have questions at left tackle.

And they're playing a great pass rush. I think the Giants are a very live underdog in this game. So, yeah, I would expect you think that you're probably going to pick them to win. Well, listen, Parking's picks is being promoted by everybody at Fox. We're very excited about that. We'll save that for Friday. So I, listen, if people didn't see the Tyler Smith news, he's He just had surgery on his thumb.

Out four to six weeks. So he's out four to six weeks. So because he had the surgery, they don't have the, I guess they can't just put it in one of those oven mitts. Like you sometimes see with the offensive line. Like he's definitely missing this game and they expect him to miss, you know, upwards of a month. I am just in order, I don't know if we can throw up the Giants schedule. In order for me to believe that Giants are legit, they're going to have to, have to, have to. be four and two going into that Texans game. So like that, there's two paths there.

If I'm just assuming they're going to lose to the Rams, that is you lose, you start 0 and then rip off a four game winning streak, or you beat Dallas and you win three of the four post-Rams, and then I'll be like, okay, like maybe I am. I'm surprised at four, if they lose the first two and then beat, because those teams are none of them are very good. Still, though.

I'd be surprised you think three. I would still say, okay, if you start off four and two, you can make the playoffs. Like there's paths, you know, there's past there. It doesn't mean I'd be going as far as Danes or win the NFCs. I just, until proven otherwise, I'm just going to assume the New York teams or what the New York teams have been for the last decade. Teams, other teams in the league look forward to seeing. This is a giant team that started two and 13 before playing my Woebegone Raiders.

I can't believe I said my Raiders, but you guys have done that to me. Joe Milton, you know, the Cowboys with Joe Milton for a half. I, you know, we're just going to, until the game start being played, agree to disagree on Jackson Dart, who in 12 starts has 15 touchdown passes, has never thrown for 300 yards, how much the return of Cam Scadaboo and his 50 rushing yards per game is actually going to help them. And whether. Neelie Neighbors, he played zero complete games with Malik Neighbors.

I, listen. That should matter? I like Malik Neighbors a lot. that one star receiver coming off an injury is not the difference between a team starting and the league neighbors were there for some of that 2 and 13 last year at the beginning at the beginning before dart really I'm not that is not enough to over to change the fortunes of a team and I just I'm not last year I believed they were going to have this dominant defensive front they had the same personnel now they add R. Belrice obviously and last year their defense was one of their weaknesses so like I just

Maybe Harbaugh fixes a lot of stuff. And maybe we see the John Harbaugh that the Ravens underachieved with last year and we're over. So I'm just, I am a heavy giant skeptic. I think you're underselling all of the newness. It's a top 10 pick on the offensive line. It's a top 10 pick in the front seven on defense. It's Malik Neighbors, potentially a top 10 receiver in football coming back. It's a new head coach.

It's a new offensive coordinator. But you don't like the offensive coordinator. new tight. I don't know that you love the head coach. I definitely have questions about it for sure. But again, I think it is way better than what Jackson Dart dealt with last year. I don't know that their offensive minds better than Brian Dable. He got fired in week 10. Right. Of his rookie years, six games into his career, he had to deal with losing his head coach and playmate, and play caller, and still put up 27 points or more in five of the games that he appeared in without Malik neighbors. I think Jackson Dart showed, and yes, some of this is total touchdowns and rushing, no question. And Harbaugh's hyping up his guy like his brother hypes up Herbert.

He said he's a Lamar Jackson-type talent. So, like, they are going to really lean into Jackson Dart dual threat running quarterback. Then he's going to end up in the tent every other game. Hey, he's getting ovations at practice for sliding. Like, they're working on that with him. We'll see if that, we'll see if he gets injured, obviously it's going to be a problem. Can I push you a little further because you've done a good, if this was the voice, The voice?

The voice? Yeah, it was the voice. And I was listening to Danny talk about the Giants. I'd be like, I'm in. I love that. You have convinced me on the Giants. I'm not changing my picks just because Predictions Week is lost. Yeah.

But I'm like, oh, a lot of this makes sense. If Jackson Dart is the guy, you take out sort of the, what's going, you know, a little bit of the bro-ness to him, you know. But that's who he is. Sure, but maybe there's a level of maturity that can do. slide and he put up good numbers and he certainly had flashes, maybe like his aggregate numbers. I told you, man, I spun around in the parkets. All right. How hot, but do you want to take it a step further?

Like you're willing to go. I have them winning the NFC East. Yeah, I know. How much further would like me to go? Super Bowl. Do you want to go further? That's all I'm saying. Is it just, they win the NFC East and then they're out, you know, just like the-

I'm comfortable with where I'm at. Okay, so you don't act. So you believe a little bit. I believe they can win the NFC's. But I want, if I'm going to spin my chair around, I want a guy that can really do something. I'm sure he believes they can win a playoff game. I haven't heard that from him.

If you can win the NFC East, I believe you get a home playoff game. Well, I want to hear you say it. Then do you think they can win that game? Sure, they can win a game. Would you pick them to win it? Who are they playing? I don't know. Why are you playing?

I'm on your team. Because everyone's ripping you. He's telling you I'm willing to believe in you. He's really tested. But if you're being like, well, I don't know, Jackson Darry, then I'm going to spin my chair back around. Here's what I'll say. Not only, again, pencil, not. penned for week one for picks.

Yeah. They beat Dallas. I'm not convinced I'm picking the Rams in week two. Let's go. I'm spinning my chair. We should do that. Do they have copyright? They'd be coming back from Australia, Matt Stafford against that pass rush.

Not much of a home field advantage in L.A. Okay. All right. Wow. I like it a lot. You plant your flag on that. I like it. Plant your flag.

Patriots, O.C. Josh McDaniels had two weeks to prepare for the Super Bowl and didn't go very well. I don't know what he was doing. Patriots offense played their worst game of the year in the biggest moment. That's not good. But good news. Wednesday is a fresh start. Take a listen.

I didn't do a good enough job. I mean, pointed at me, you know what I mean? So, you know, they did a great job. They out everything to us in the game,

you know, so start with coaching. And that relies, you know, comes back to me. So we have a lot of things we've learned. But I think this will be a different game. I think it'll be a new game.

It's a new year. Patriots do have some momentum offensively in that fourth quarter parking. Yeah, good point. Are you buying the Patriots can flip the script on the Seahawks, flipping script? They better. It's going to be, I love that this game is week one, is what I would say. We don't always get the Super Bowl rematch right out of the shoot. It's pretty rare, actually.

And if Seattle blows out New England, again, it's going to be very hard for anybody until the playoffs. to make the case that the Patriots can win the Super Bowl. Of course. But that's just, if you got blown out by Seattle in the Super Bowl, and then you lose to them again in week one, when you got better on paper and they got worse on paper, and most people think the Rams are better than the Seahawks, it's going to be very hard to convince yourself

that the Patriots are a legitimate Super Bowl threat, but if they win, it validates everything from last year. So I expect Seattle to win the game. I think that Seattle is more likely to win by double digits than lose. Me personally. But if I'm wrong about that, because New England, I do think, is better team, worst record. I just think it opens up the field a lot.

And that's a very exciting prospect of the NFL season. If the Patriots win on Thursday, in regulation A-Block, do you want to walk through the door of destiny with me? The door of destiny is not back this year, is it? Of course it is. Is that a, is that an invitation? Are you saying they're a massive? It may have been the biggest hit we've ever had on the show. It was a smash hit.

It was a smash hit. As you would say, though. It was like Rock and Robin. You're like, oh, are we going to play Rock and Robin anymore? I'm like, yeah, it's a big hit. She rocks in the tree top. It's a big hit, dude. It's like Rock and Robin.

What are you talking? They don't know anything about Rockin. No, I also thought that narratively, the doorstep of destiny was about this young team arriving, not something that... So like you're saying, if God willing, we're doing this show in five years and the Patriots have won a Super Bowl,

been to another one, you're still going to be walking through that door? Look, I don't like to get into how that creative sausages made, all right? The doorstep of destiny might just become a door I walk through with different adjectives. Okay. But we got the bag. Wait, wait, we booked the bagpipe guy for 17 games.

Is it always going to be, to the doorstep of something? Is it just the people to interrupt brew? I mean, look, the banners we used to drop just for Chiefs wins. Yeah, but then they were bad. And then they just started to keep on it. All sort of a sudden, you're on it. Madison beers on the ban. I mean, quickly, is anyone else going to answer the question?

Sorry, are you coming through the doorstep of destiny or not? Listen, I'll never turn down an A-block invitation. Do we have this on the record yet? I think we're going to win? Yeah, that's what I, because I do remember before schedule release day. Yeah. The only thing you didn't want was this. Oh, yeah.

And I tried to tell you, I think the NFL is going to do this. Yeah, I'd rather not. And you repeatedly, on and off the air, your argument was, no, they won't, because it was such a bad game and a mismatch. Yes, that's true. And now, and so I think you were... I think that was pre-A.J. Brown for the record. But, no, you had put A.J. Brown on the Patriots...

Well, I mean, officially. Months before he was actually traded. Yeah, that's true. So what is... Because the Patriots could have a great season. With Caleb Lomo on the team at that point from Utah? The Patriots could have a great season and lose this game. Yeah.

So, and you have them losing five games? You have them going 12 and 5? I'd have to consult my thing, but I think a 13 of 4. Okay. I got to give them lost. What makes you confident in the game? Wednesday night. I think we got better and they got worse.

But that much better because it was a total domination. So that much better? I think our line and weapons got way better. And I don't think they got way worse, but I think our line got way better. I think our weapons got way better. I would like to think that Drake May

came out of the battle with some war stories that he can tell and he's going to be better. I don't think his shoulder. Hey, look, His shoulder is better, but I don't care if he had a bionic shoulder in that game. He was going to lose that game. So I expect us to win this game. If we lose this game, I'll be back through the doorstep of Destiny Week 2.

Don't worry about that. Even if you get blasted? I just can't see how we get blasted. But you couldn't see. Here's my concern. You couldn't see. You didn't think it was possible you were going to get blown out in the Super Bowl. No.

You did? Yeah. And now you're saying. Now, these two teams are playing each other again, and you are once again saying, you don't see how it's possible. So Josh and I, like, the, Drake May got sacked six times,

and then in the super, so I'm like, hey, all right, any other quarterback gets sacked six times. Patrick Mollum's got sacked six times against the Eagles. Think you address it. I'm like, hey, whatever happened in the Super Bowl cannot happen this game. Are you guys going to run the same script at us?

Our offensive line is just being healthy helps. Like maybe if we had this game late in the season and guys were a little bit banged up. But, I know, I feel pretty good. No Kenneth Walker, you know he's going to be excellent. I mean, that part I agree with. Take out all of Kenneth Walker's yards. Giardian Price. Nick loves him. I do like Judarian Price a lot.

It'll be fine. We'll see. You're in trouble. Broncos in Kansas City on Monday. Here's Pat Sertan on facing Mahomes in his first game back from an injury. I don't expect nothing less for him, you know, to be himself. It's still, you know, Patch of Mahomes at the end of the day. We still got to prepare and study for him.

like the years past. So, you know, we'll be ready. One note here. Josh Simmons is not expected to play according to Chief's beat writer Pete Sweeney. How concerned should Chiefs fans be? Listen, other than Patrick, for this specific matchup,

Josh is the most important player on the team. In general, I think he's the other than Patrick is the second most important player on the scene behind Chris Jones. But against this pass rush and against the Broncos, offense that I think is not going to be overly dynamic, even if it's effective. I think that you'd rather miss Chris Jones than Miss Josh Simmons.

And so this is a significant concern. I'm going to give you one little note here. If it's any point you try to allude to, Patrick Mahomes, I think he's not I think. He's second all time in playoff win, Super Bowl appearance, and conference championship appearances. If you do some comp to him in a player who's tied for dead last in NFL history in those categories, I might knock you out of your chair. Well, I just think it's interesting. I just think it's interesting.

I knew this was just going to be. I just think it's interesting that if the second or third most important player misses the game, earlier, you said all I care about, you know, Mahomes could have 75 yards and it would be okay. Because Josh Simmons is the 19th highest paid player on the Chiefs. He's on a rookie contract, bro. So is Joe. And so when Joe Alba and Rishon Slater were both out and there were 10 different offensive line

combinations and Justin Herbert played the Broncos and won 2320 and had not 75 yards brew, but 300, which bro is more than 75. That's why I could have been MVP. I just think it's interesting that all of a sudden it's like, well, if one offensive lineman who may or not be good in Josh Simmons is out, that is like very concerning. if both tackles are out. It's why are we making all these excuses for Justin Herbert? It obviously makes sense.

I just can't figure it out. No, so again, we can do it. I was trying to prevent this. We can do a Justin Herbert conversation on the Chiefs Convo if we'd like. No, I'm just saying it'd be very concerning. The critique for Justin Herbert is obviously he dealt with those no tackles all year, and then the playoffs started and he melted down and that he's a totally different player come to the postseason.

And so comparing him to the second most accomplished. postseason player in NFL history, I think is a bad look. That's just me. Set that aside. I think this is why you have Kenneth Walker. This is one of the reasons, Brew, they brought back your guy Eric B. N.m. who did such a good job with the running game in Chicago. I think that you have to see if Josh Simmons is out, if you can win a defensive running game

battle, low-scoring defense running game home night game against the Broncos to take back control that division while you give Patrick time to heal. Like there are time not to heal, but to recover. This was, I know we've been asking like the Patriots because they're, the Seahawks did blow out the Patriots in these Broncos games have been close, healthy Mahomes, healthy bone nicks, throw out the other ones. Are you worried about a blowout here? No.

No, no. The Broncos don't really blow people out. Okay. The Broncos last year couldn't blow up. Well, just Jalen, like they went and, so I think they looked at it. I said, we can't blow people out. and they went and got Jalen Waddle. You are more moved by the off-season wide receiver acquisition than I am.

Everybody that added a wide receiver except for, I guess, the bills with DJ Moore, you're assigning much more of an impact than I am. Jalen Waddle's pretty good? He's pretty good. I don't think. I'm not worried about a blowout in this spot. That would be stunning to me. He's worried about 75 yards.

No, I don't care about the numbers. Patrick is post-statistics. When you've accomplished everything and then you've beat the game multiple times, you become post-staffed. I get it down. That's Aaron Rodgers. Yeah. That's next. That's first time.

My bad. Thanks for hanging out with us on the OT, hanging out with Coach Manjini. This B-Block's all about coaches guys. He loves Tua. So we go to Atlanta. He's been the name's the week one starter. Michael Pennick saying he's just not quite where he wants to be. So Tua will be starting against the Steelers.

Coach, what are your expectations for your guy? This is really interesting because this isn't as much about Tua as it is about the fact that Pannix really isn't ready to play. And as much as they said he was cleared for football, obviously the fact that they're planning on keeping him inactive tells you he's not where they need him to be. Look, I think Tua's got a real opportunity. I didn't love the whole burner phone incident here recently where didn't love that. Don't think he needs to do that. But it's a talented group. They've got three legitimate stars on offense with BJ, Drake, and Kyle Pitts.

Overall, I think it's eight out of 11 guys, our first-round draft picks on that offense. And maybe it's 7 out of 11 or first round, another two or second-round picks. So there's a wealth of talent there offensively. And when you look at his seasons, two out of the last, I think, four years, he's been over 100 quarterback rating. So he has that in him. I like Stefansky a lot. I think he did good things in Cleveland and is underrated as a head coach. It's obviously hard to win there.

So it's all in front of them in a division that's very competitive. Hopefully from a confidence standpoint, he can get to those years where he was humming in Miami as opposed to a little bit of the downside. We saw at the early part of his career and a little bit they're late in Miami. My expectations are so low. A couple reasons. One, it doesn't feel like they want to start it. And I know we talked about it when that Ian Rappaport report came out about they were like,

we can't give Tua the job based on how bad it had been before Pennix had been clear. Like he just, he wasn't winning the job. He was just kind of holding the job while Pennix was coming back. So it felt like from a lot of the reporting around this story in the off season that if Pennix would have gotten hurt, a month earlier, that panics would be the starter. So just based on like the new cycle of the off season, I don't love it. And then whenever I see two a play, including this preseason, it looks like he has dueling primary thoughts, not like a 1A and a 1B, but like two 1A thoughts.

1A is execute whatever he is supposed to do on a given play call. And the other 1A is don't get hit. And I just don't know if you can play quarterback like that. And you're going on the road to Pittsburgh against one of the most expensive defenses in the NFL. And I get why because of his injury history and how serious concussions are and how a concussion knocks him out for such a long period of time. But I just think his style of play lowers the ceiling, like this version of Tua. I think the era of 70 points in a game, leading the league in passing, high-flying offense with Tyree Kill and Jalen Wadle. I mean, that's ancient history at this point.

It is ancient history, but it is part of his history. And we've seen a lot of guys with a lot less successful histories go on to be productive players. And I think that's where the NFL has shifted probably the last three or four years. With all these guys who are now having resurgence as other places, it makes you think that that Tua could be in that same mold. He's shown the ability to do it. I feel like Kevin Savansky will do a good job minimizing the amount of reliance. they knee down him early. And there are legitimate stars on that offense

that can carry the day as well as other depth of talent on that offense. Let's say he's not the best he's ever been, but he's in that neighborhood, somewhere in the neighborhood. That could be a productive offense. Snap? Check down to Bejan Robinson? It's a pretty good plan.

It's a pretty good plan. It's a pretty good plan. Let's talk about one of your other guys. we go to Houston here. You don't want to give up on C.J. Stroud. I understand. Texans host the Bills Sunday, one of the more interesting week one games. Now, there is more pressure on Stroud than ever before. He is not worried. There was an article posted on ESPN this morning. C.J. Stroud confident ahead of the biggest season of his life. He says, quote, pressure is a privilege. I've always been challenged in my career. I've always had to persevere through things. And I think this is something that I'm grateful for.

I didn't wake up and forget how to play football. I play this game because God has chosen me to go through these things and to have this talent, got some guys around me that want to protect and want to run the ball, so I think that'll help. And I'm a hell of a football player. And that last piece, and I know it's written so I can't hear his intonation, but I haven't seen or heard or read a lot of swaggy, confident CJ Stroud in a couple of years. he's been a guy who has been carried by his defense, and he had that unbelievable rookie year. And listen, the last time we saw him play football in the playoffs,

everybody who watches football without any regularity was like, are they going to bench this guy? Like, it looked like a quarterback who had the yips. He was either turning the ball over or making plays that you felt like should have resulted in turnovers. There was nothing good in this game. So I don't want to overrate how he struggled in the playoffs. last year. But Troy and I put this graphic together, and this is where I'm almost impressed that he can still have that confidence in himself. In their losses in the last two years, he has almost none that he can point to and be like, I played well, but we lost. Zero times in the 14

losses that he threw for even 250 yards. Zero times 30 or more points. So there's not been in the last two years, C.J. Stroud balled out. It was a a shootout, but we just happened to lose. So I'm impressed at the confidence, but I personally can't get myself there to back it up or believe in it. Yeah, the quote pressure is a privilege, then he's probably the most privileged guy in the NFL right now. A lot of pressure. Because the playoff number is two TDs, five interceptions, 51.8 quarterback rating, five fumbles with two loss. We talk about it in the NFL all the time. More games are lost than they are one. And he, he was he was the primary reason that they lost.

And watching the game and seeing not just the fact that it was making bad throws, the throws weren't even getting close to the receipt. They were, it was borderline terrible. Some of them were ground balls. Some of them were air mailed. It was just a math game. I would imagine that if they had to do it all over again, they might have said, hey, take a seat for the second half here.

we're going to try something different because it didn't get any better when he came out. Now, I do like the fact that he's saying positive things about himself because your reality is oftentimes what you make it. And if you have a bunch of negative thoughts, it's probably where you're going to go

and you're trying to constantly tell athletes to replace those with positive thoughts, which it looks like he's done, whether that can translate into something meaningful. Again, with the defense being as talented as they are, it doesn't have to be great. He just can't lose these games for the Texans as he's finding his way back to hopefully winning some of these games. Listen, I understand all of that. And I thought the article was pretty good. And Nico Collins had a nice quote in there talking about, like, he's built for this

and they believe him. And he's been in the spotlight for a long time, big time college football player, high draft pick, facing the pressure of a lot of money riding on all of this. I get all of that. But those are just words. Like the actions of the last couple of years for him have not been good. The playoff games have not been good. And follow the money. If they, if the Texans were convinced that the number two pick in the draft, who's been in the playoffs multiple times, who had the great rookie season, who has the big arm, who looks the part in terms of the physical check marks of what you if they absolutely believed that he was their guy they would have given him $250 million this off season yeah the fact that they weren't willing to give him a new contract

where so many of these young quarterbacks get contracts based off of you know two or three years it's it's a really big indication of how insecure the organization is in terms of his long term potential like this time next year Drake may is getting a new contract yep right can Caleb's getting a new contract. They should both be, if they follow, you know, even close to the trajectory, they're on, they're getting new contracts. Bo, Jaden. And now, with this, the question for me is, if it's poor in the early part of the season, would they make a change during the season? How many games through the course of the year does he have?

Does it get all 17? Does he get half the year? Like, what is their limit organizationally for when they're willing to pull the pin? and say, hey, we got to try something different. What do you think it should be? I would imagine you go through at least half the season and see whether or not it makes sense. And you also got to see where you are from a record standpoint.

And if the players still believe in them, that's a big part of it too. You may be willing to move on, but if the group collectively feels like he gives the best chance to win, that's got to be taken into account as well. All right. Most pressure and maybe the most money of any player in the league on the line this season.

That's C.J. Stroud. Unbelievable weekend in college football. This throw by Underwood completely underlooked because of the controversy. That's 60 yards in the air while getting hit for the win. Pretty good catch, too. Pretty good catch. You know me. I'm always focusing on the quarterback. We'll talk college next on the O2.

Oh, heartbreaking. It was a great weekend in college football. We're going to talk some of the biggest stories here, beginning. in Ann Arbor. You've seen it by now. You've heard the controversy. Western Michigan had won the game. There's zeros on the clock.

They're celebrating on the field. Well, the officials decided to add another second because according to a Big Ten statement, a Western Michigan player left out of bounds, touched the ball with the second left, which stopped the clock. Bryce Underwood then gets another shot at the Hail Mary. Unbelievable throw.

It connects in the Wolverines leave with a 13-12 win. Michigan fans stormed the field against Western Michigan, mildly embarrassing. They were a 27 and a half point favorite. Our very own Greg Jennings, an alum from Western Michigan, he was not happy, coach, on social media. His appearance with the guys at the start of the show today was great.

You can check it out on YouTube. My alma mater just suffered an absolute robbery against Michigan. I mean, come on, man. What was that? Criminal. Broken heart. We tried to FaceTime him. It's probably good that he didn't answer

because we would have. Taunted him a little bit. Coach, did Michigan deserve the way? I felt badly for Greg. I felt badly for Western Michigan. And it's such a great teaching moment from a coaching perspective, whether you're in high school, college, or pro football.

We talk to kids all the time about, you know, it's not over till it's over, and it sounds so cliche. Here's a great example of that. How small decisions can turn into big things, like the drive before where Western Michigan fumbled the snap right before. the field goal. That stopped the clock a lot quicker. That allowed time to be back on the clock.

It's a teaching moment for a team that's down. Hey, anything can happen here. So you get all of that stuff. If the officials went back and looked at it and there was a discrepancy in the play clock and there was legitimately one second on it, then Michigan should have the opportunity. I didn't feel like that in the moment, but I didn't obviously have the data that the officials had. It's just a, what a rough, rough moment for Western Michigan. Guess the only upside is it was a money game, so they got a million to have to play. I don't think they're thinking about that in the moment. That helps the program.

I was amazed that Western Michigan handled it. Like, they were so classy afterwards. I was like, why am I more upset than you guys are about this? I also, this thing right here, like the fact that the explanation at the end ended up being the TV clock and the stadium clock were not synced. Fix that in the first quarter. You should have recognized that so much earlier than that. Nobody knew what was going on.

It took forever for the explanation to come out. So just all sorts of conspiracy and the fix and gambling is such a huge part of how we talk about sports. All of that is just like permeating the conversation of this whole thing. And it's like, wait, so does that mean the whole game? The stadium clock and the TV clock were all? This didn't just come up for the last drive.

Like I just that should never happen with modern. Maybe worst case scenario, check it before the last play. That way. Yeah. Like worst case scenario, check it before the last play. Wasn't one of the prediction markets had to claw back 18 and a half million dollars? Because they paid out the Western. Yep.

There's there's always a story with the prediction markets. But man, and then that Underwood throw and you highlight the catch too, totally fine. But like, he's throwing that from the. The 40-yard line getting leveled and he puts it to the goal line. The previous throw, he throws out the back of the end zone. So he course corrects here and makes an absolutely perfect throw. There's a lot of NFL quarterbacks who couldn't get that ball 60 yards in the air while getting hit.

Yeah, it was an amazing throw. It was an amazing catch. There's a lot of things that Michigan did right on the last play and Western Michigan didn't do very well, but it's still just heartbreaking. Heartbreaking. Let's go from one great college town to another and head to Baton Rouge. So LSU takes on Clemson, hands them a 51 to 10 victory loss, depending on how you look at it, featured three total touchdowns from QB, Sam Levitt.

Their head coach, Lane Kiffin, shooting jump shots on the sideline. And Lane Kiffin is fully embracing the villain role coach. Let's take a listen to what he had to say at halftime of this game when it was just 31 to 3. Take a listen. We got to play better in the second half. We can't give away something like the first turnover, man. This ball should be, whatever, 38 nothing. Thank you, God.

Good map. Everything to say, not say, imagine if we had pro players. Took me everything to say, imagine if we didn't have, if we had pro players, except he said it on camera into a microphone. I'm not sure if he knows on that quality. It took me everything to say. It's like, no, no, you just said it. He didn't like stop rolling the camera.

the camera, Lane Kiffin, a huge villain. From, they throw the opening interception. Clemson gains about three yards, couldn't move the ball, makes a 49-yard field goal. So they're up 3-0. And then from that moment on, it was just, oh, LSU is bigger, stronger, faster, better. It's almost like they have fully embraced the transfer portal

and NIL and all of that. And Clemson has been late to everything, which is exactly what happened. Davos-Sweeney's the most accomplished coach. in the history of Clemson. Obviously, he built a mini dynasty there from the Deshawn Watson era to the Trevor Lawrence era, put a ton of players into the NFL, won a ton of games, went toe to toe with Nick Sabin and back-to-back

national championship games, winning one, losing one. Feels like the games passed him by. Feels like he has not embraced the modern era of college football coach. That was my biggest takeaway. Look, Lane is a really good coach, and Lane is willing to be the villain, and he's willing to, he's, and look,

And look, being the villain, he's embracing the opportunities that have been presented to him, which coaching the NFL for a long, or in college football, have done that. That he's trying to do everything he can to make LSU as good as they possibly can be. And there's some traditionalists that are angry at him for doing it, but you're seeing the results of it. And for him willing to go out and potentially bring back pro players, a lot of people disagree with it, but it's allowed. And for years, people did all this stuff not in the light. They did players. There were a lot of-

Well, they didn't recruit players off of NFL roster. Well, but there were a lot of things that were done in the dark that helped programs be successful for a long time. He's willing to do it in the light and he's willing to take the heat for it. And I would imagine they're going to be in the hunt for the national championship, not just this year, but for years to come. It's good for sports to have villains because it's fun to root against them. And Lane Kiffin, easy to root against.

Let's go to Austin where the Longhorns made light work of Texas State 59 to 7. Arch Manning, pretty good. 305 yards and four touchdowns, obviously not a fair fight in terms of competition. Coach, are you willing to say right now that Arch Manning is the best quarterback in college football? No, no. Everybody was willing to say that last year, and they were disappointed when it didn't turn out that way. and now we've got one game of data against a team that was severely overmatched. But let's take a look at what happened last year.

So now they're going to play OSU last year when he played OSU, and that was the opener, 17 for 30, 10070 yards. They lose 14 to 7. They put up 7 points. And then he had a couple duds later on during the season versus Utep and Kentucky. Again, 114 yards, 132 yards. He's got a, we can have the duds. you've got to see a much better performance against Ohio State.

And then there's a function of getting into the playoffs and going deep into the playoffs before we can put him in the category of the best quarterback in college football. I guess I would just say that no one is proven it then yet. Like if I need to see you go deep into the playoff, win a bunch of games, stack multiple great years. Dante Moore at Oregon certainly would have a claim and he might be the number one picking the draft.

Julian Sayan, been on the show. Really talented is produced. But I don't think that his traits, look nearly as impressive as Arch Manning. You're right, and you could point out those games. I'll just say this is a guy who's a little bit of a fan of the eye test. Arch Manning passes my eye test. And part of it is the name Manning on the back of the Jersey.

Against Texas State? No, I'd be honest with you. Let's see if he passes the eyepest against OSQ. Big Arm, Fast, Manning, quarterback. I'm like, I've seen guys like that be good. Right. And he has a great pedigree and great potential. but let's see what he does against Ohio State

and see if it looks a lot different eye test-wise than it did last year. All right. Coach made some predictions earlier that I took note of, mainly about that guy, number 18. We'll discuss, Coach. That was the hardest part of my subject.

It was tepid at best. And then the Bears. Go, coach. Shocked by this. Go ahead. I love defense. This was another one of those where I struggled with it.

I'm hoping that Caleb continues to progress, and it's not just the end of the game. What is that? Coach! I was fully expecting you to have the Bears out of the playoffs. Then you have them in the playoffs, and you're like, me, I didn't even want to do it. We don't want you on the Caleb train. I'm not on the train. I feel like I got...

You want their defense? I feel like I got run over by the train sitting next to you for months and hearing about the bears. I feel like I convinced you. You wore me down. He didn't convince me. You just. I have that effect on you. You relentlessly wore me down to the point where I was like, I guess I should do this.

But it is an unenthusiastic pick on my part. Yeah, it's an unenthusband. I got to be honest. You don't get to claim them. I'm not trying to claim it. But you put him in the point. playoffs over the Eagles. I did it begrudgingly because I just felt like I needed two for you.

I accidentally put eight NFC teams in the playoffs. It's like you put in six. You put it six. I don't want you. This is my gift to you. I don't want it. I'm returning. Happy new NFL season.

Can we have coach switch to the Eagles, please, or the Packers or the Vikings? I might have to because I don't want it. It was an outreach. I don't really want to do it. We'll be back tomorrow. Thank you.