Green Light with Chris Long - Patrick Mahomes Bounce Back Season + Super Bowl Picks | 2026 NFL Season Predictions

Episode Date: September 7, 2026

FOOTBALL! Chris kicks the episode off with a deep dive into the Michigan football controversy. Michigan defeated Western Michigan on a hail mary after the referees returned one second to the game clock. Then, Chris delivers his NFL season predictions along with Macon and Nate. The fellas predict the winner of each division winner, their wild card picks and their Super Bowl matchup and score. FOOTBALL IS BACK! (00:00) - NFL Season Predictions (02:58) - Michigan Football Controversy (16:35) - CFB Player of the Week (20:27) - AFC Division Winners (40:16) - AFC Wild Cards (42:37) - NFC Division Winners (57:33) - NFC Wild Cards (59:51) - Super Bowl Predictions Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline presented by Zone Nicotine and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open: ‪[phone]‬ With the return of the Layup Line, make sure to check out the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=YP1-ffQ3T_yUDRnJRhDtOw Check out Green Light's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where you can catch all the latest GL action: Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And I'm going to take the bills. Now, if you don't win this division, it's going to be hard. Because I think the wild card could take 11 games in the AFC. The Chiefs, there's a lot of new faces on the team, specifically on defense, that I think the whole season is going to ride on. But I believe in Spags. I'm going to pick a dark horse. Dark Horse alert.

Now the show begins. Now the show begins. All right, welcome to the worst show. Okay. The worst show to do ever. You know, it's not a bad show. It's just a tough show to do. Where we pick division winners and playoff teams and all that stuff.

And we throw darts at a board with MVP and coach of the year and all that stuff. But did you learn anything from last year? If you pick the third to first, the from last to first, the Nate Collins route, where everybody forgets your Raiders division winner and they just give you credit for the Patriots. Yeah, that's right. That's the way to go. That's right.

You take shots. You take shots. Nobody remembers the stuff that doesn't come true. I'm not going to tell on myself, we're not going to go back a year. I honestly, I'm not even that proud when I pick something well in preseason because we have not seen these teams play.

I have a thing for seeing teams play. You know, it's like a it's a it's a it's a kink i like to see the teams play you know i like to drive the car you know you don't buy a car sight unseen you don't buy a house making sight unseen occasionally if you're super rich i'd highly recommend it yeah yeah okay um all right so dr fax is going to be here for that and we've got uh stanford steve going to be phoned in his picks as well as Bo Allen who's he's out of the country he's on Bo which country I really don't know I think it's Ireland well yeah that sounds

right yeah so Beau's having a good time he's on eternal spring break seriously it's like what what happened with him did he did did he miss Beach week in high school like everything's a trip dude holy shit true But anyways, he's sending his picks in. So I want this to be quick and painless. But I always say this, like, I don't make any of these picks to be disrespectful. I love your team. I don't dislike your team.

I tried to do a Woody Page message behind me, but the glare. So, but it said, I don't hate your team. And in the AFC especially, it's going to be hard. There's going to be some hurt feelings, I think. But first, we got to talk. Speaking of hurt feelings. feelings. All right. Last night, I hit making with a barrage of text at like midnight, dude. This Michigan finish, which I personally a little bit invested in it, you know, like a little bit of live money line.

But, you know, my friend coach is there. So, you know, like I'd like to see them win. But I also, I've lost to Western Michigan. Like we schedule Western Michigan for homecoming in 06, lost the game. It was hideous. like I know Western Michigan can win these games. It's a good program. That team played really well. You are heartbroken for some of the guys that felt like they were going to pull off one of the most historic upsets, the most historic upset in their program's history and all that stuff.

And yeah, like people don't like to root for, you know, the big dog and they don't like to walk back their takes. Two things that people don't like doing. Routing for the big dog walking back takes. that's why this morning, even after the NCAA came out and said, hey, like the game clock did not match the official clock. We'll get to that in a minute. A lot of people had problems with that. A lot of people have problems with the fact that, you know,

the claim is that the DB for Western Michigan touched the ball out of bounds with time still showing on the clock. Of course, on the game clock, there's no time. So I just want to talk this all out because I really like this was not coming from a place of like, hey, I love my visit in Ann Arbor, although I really liked Ann Arbor. Like, it was coming from a place of like, I'm watching the game and I'm a little stoned. And on the second of last play, there's nine seconds. And it ticks off to eight almost immediately. And I don't know if that's the case. You start second guessing your own eyes. You know, you start second guessing logic.

and you're like, dude, does that happen all the fucking time or am I just tripping? Like, like, does it happen all the time where the first second in a play takes off immediately in like a fraction of a second? And I start looking up other plays, right? Full second. First full second ticks off. So I start kind of like subruitering this thing at like midnight. You can barely keep my eyes open.

I'm thinking to myself, well, maybe the game clock doesn't match the official. clock because we're looking at a game clock that started at like eight and a half seconds, right, effectively, or like 8.25 seconds. Making what happened? A couple of things. I think 9.0 seconds is different than 9.9 seconds. Yeah? And I don't think there's any way to show it on a TV screen other than nine seconds. So let's say 9.0 clicks down to 8.9 right at the snap. That's why it's so quick. But my thing is, if you're having to release

any sort of statement, especially one in such a ridiculous font that it looks like it belongs on the back of a YA novel from the 80s and 90s, we just have too much replay. We're looking at too much stuff. It clicked down to zero.

You know, I want Michigan to win games too for a couple. of reasons, but I think we all saw a pretty historic upset there, and it doesn't quite pass the sniff test when the conference of the home team, the conference that needs the team to win a bunch of games, to be relevant and be on national television and get a bunch of eyeballs, says the clock y'all were seeing wasn't the real clock. There's another super secret clock that you guys don't see. So what if I told you, what if I told you the play took? seven and some change.

You're not moving error. Human error. I'm not saying like the TV broadcast clock is gospel, but I'm just saying I don't want to be looking at plays and football games that, that no, actually we had one tenth of a second remaining. But dude, you act like that's never happened before. You act like they never put one second back on the clock.

You're saying it's totally unprecedented to put one second back on the clock. I'm just saying do we do we figure out that the broadcast clock and the official clock are inaccurate at the end of the fourth quarter of the game is that not something you can tell during the game and remedy well I don't know the broadcast I don't know the officials are worried about the broadcast clock I'm just saying in in the in the truck everybody's looking at that stuff that's well Tanner Tanner come on in because you used to actually used to hang out. out in one of these trucks. How does it work? No, well, how it worked for us was that we literally just plugged into the back of the scoreboard that the scorekeeper, like the physical unit that the scorekeeper uses to control the scoreboard clock. We plugged directly into the back of that and that kind of auto synced up. I don't know about NBC and how they do it. I guess you can do it a different way. I know they always have a camera on the official clock on the field as well. And I believe when they did replays, they overlaid that clock with, or like that camera angle of the

clock on the field with this replay, and it still didn't line up properly. So what NBC came out and said was that the game clock visible on NBC's National Telecast had already hit zero. However, it was explained by NBC that the broadcast was not on the same synchronized clock that the replay center cameras and clocks are on which is used they use a strobe system a light system to sync up clocks 85 minutes before the game starts and so somehow some way mbc this go round didn't plug straight into the direct clock and or there are there's potential lag involved i was talking to chris about this maybe yeah he tried to tried to cheat the lag and sped it up uh 0.75 seconds and then the game came down to 0.75 seconds.

So, so shit like this is crazy because I never pay, pay attention to this shit until, you know, something like this happens. Like, I don't look at the first second that ticks off, how quickly it ticks off after a dead ball snap very often. But, you know, last night I looked at it and the thing that I sent in the group chat was like, damn, like it went from 9 to 8 quick. And you, you think that's explainable and everything making.

But I do think just to play devil's advocate, I know you'll say devil needs no advocate, but like we, I had Tanner overlay the play on a stopwatch to see how long it took. So I could understand better what's going on here. Now he started nine seconds at the snap. So you say, yeah. 8.25 seconds. Now hold on a second. Now hold on a minute, player.

In college football, what does 0.75 seconds mean? that there's a second remaining. I'm cool if you want to go to under a minute, tens of seconds, hundreds of seconds, not hundreds. You said we have too much replay. I don't think this would be replay.

I'm just saying display it for everybody. Like Tanner's saying, remember those old basketball games from the 70s and 80s, you can see that it's shaky on the clock because they literally have a camera trained on the scoreboard. Like it's cool looking. it's so old school.

Yes. But this stuff is too important. Yeah, I'm on the side of let's stop, let's stop looking at all this stuff. If we need to go to tenths of a second, then okay, that's an okay compromise. But this was a hose job. This is a hose job. Yeah. I think there is a theory of like how the reps could have got it right, though.

The ruling is that there are no, there's no tenth of a second shown on the official clock. but the display is supposed to continue to show one second from 0.99 seconds down to 0.01 second. And if you watch this clip that I did with the overlay, it seems that the seconds are going down at the right amount of time until it hits one. One doesn't seem to stay on for that entire 0.99 all the way down to 0.01. That's right. And the thing I noticed was upon the snap, nine went to eight in about quickly. Like a tenth of a second.

Yeah. And so my theory is that it was actually at point seven five, but somehow NBC's clock was not set up. Dude, but here's the thing. At this point, I might say I don't understand this shit fully and like I'm not convicted about it, but you know,

the playing devil's advocate here. But I know at this point waking up this morning and actually looking at like, the, you know, timeline last night. There's no chance. There's no going back on this, this take for people. Like, again, a few things that are cardinal sins for people. One, believing that there's altruism in, you know, officiating or that there's no conspiracy worth, you know, hounding in every situation. Two, you got to root for the big guy in this situation. Nobody likes doing that. And then three, people would have to walk their take back. And we're not

going to do that. So I don't think anything the Big Ten said would have sufficed for people watching that play out. But to me, as a sports fan who's constantly pissed off at the end of games when a team that maybe I bet or I want to see come back doesn't get the full shake, even if it's a ridiculous thing. It's like the last play and they blow it dead and the ball has gone out of bounds or hit the deck. And they let that last second roll off. I'm always like, man, I'd like to see that last second. It's hard to argue with the fact that played that second to last play did not take nine seconds. It did not take nine seconds. So if you're going to say it's a fuck job or they got robbed, then what you're in effect saying is that we don't want to play the full, the full play.

Can I get into the weeds on the seconds? Sure. If it if it's one second on the clock from 0.1, from 0.01 to 0.99.99 repeated. Then when it shows nine seconds, would that not be 8.01 to 8.99? I suppose it could, but maybe the broadcast is not, is not queued up that way. Because when you look at other,

why is it when you look at other plays in college football? And maybe I'm just looking at all the plays that have a full second remaining on the, on the on the highest number on the on the timer but dead ball snaps you watch them generally that if quarterback's in shotgun you get the shotgun snap and a and a beat you know what I'm saying and in this situation there was less time now I I'm not saying I understand completely what the what the official clock look like but I am saying it's feasible that they have a different clock than everybody else and I guess that's the leap of face

you have to take and you know we're way past taking things at face value so i totally understand that but if you're trying to will michigan to win don't you think it's a little trivial to be like give him one more hail mary that's such a low percentage play dude for sure it's not like giving them another heave at the 12 i think everybody making decisions in this matter was acting ethically a phone didn't ring in the replay command center saying hey give him another shot at this thing because you're right it is one in a million i just think some sports have had pretty sweet advancements tennis comes to mind where there are no more lines people we have the technology the balls in or out we we know it you know yeah um i think this clock issue could get better with more transparency with

going to a tenth of a second or a hundredth of a second but just generally taking michigan western Michigan out of it. I wish we looked at stuff less. Yeah, I don't know. It's worked out pretty well in the NFL. I think, I think more often than not, when people aren't complaining about it, they're saying, man, remember what it was like when, you know, Ernest Biner happened or whatever. You know, there was a long, there was a long history of, you know, you got what you got and you didn't throw a fit. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit. That's what they say. Like my daughter's preschool. But, you know, you got. You know, you got. You don't throw a fit. That's what they say it. I, they say that too in the 80s if somebody you know trapped a football and scored a touchdown it was like

well tough shit you're going home it's kind of nice to have the reinforcement but yeah it is about finding a middle ground tanner fuck this game although that was really exciting um i found my player of the week this week throw them up there now i was watching football friday night And Fresno State was playing. And I saw a guy with the name Full Wood on the back of his jersey on his nameplate there. And I said, man, I wonder what his first name is. And then I saw that it was Rowland without a D at the end. So it's Roland without the D, which comes out rolling.

Now, if you say the name straight out, it's rolling full wood. You understand what's so funny about this name, dude? Yes. I mean, I like Hollywood smothers as much as the next guy, but this is a fucking name right here, dude. I was like, there's no way this is a nationally televised game, and nobody else noticed Mr. Roland Fullwood, dude. Every time you say it.

Oh, and the Fresno State bio doesn't do us any favors. We don't know if he's a junior. They've been running this back. Yeah, he's from Long Beach, man. Lawndale, Lawndale High School. Shout out to Roland, shout out to Roland Full Wood. Hey, I got a,

I got a, you said, I was like, you know, I want to get that under control, buddy. Let me, let me shout out the JMUks for playing country roads, the second team in the Commonwealth of Virginia to do it. in consecutive weeks. The first was the University of Virginia. Take it back. Virginia plays West Virginia in a couple weeks in North Carolina,

which I guess is ironic given this argument. But yeah, we're taking back the song. We're because it is ours, because that's where the river is and that's where the mountains are. Let's do division winners, shall we? Sir. Let's dig our own fucking graves here. I like to see the games.

Are there any games coming up that maybe we could see that could help us understand how good some of these teams are? I mean, week one, dude, we're going to see stuff that's going to look real. It's kind of like in the Odyssey, when they say not to listen to the sirens, don't look at week one. So if we can't even take what we see in week one to the bank,

why would you take what we're saying right now to the bank but let's fucking do it when there's the old occupational hazard speaking of there's the i word injuries exactly dude and any time a team has like you know the best injury luck of all time you're like well maybe they're sure they won't be as lucky and people are like are you root for that are you banking on that i'm like no we're playing trends so apologies in advance there's still division or there's a third wild card spot in the aFC that i got two fucking little mice fighting over it in my head right now i know it i know it likewise warning this product contains nicotine nicotine is an addictive chemical underage sale prohibited if you've ever played sports

you know the competition get pretty heated same goes for all new flavor of zone nicotine pouches introducing jalapeno lime it's a burst of citrus meets subtle fiery kick each pouch is a premium nicotine experience with intensity and flavor that lasts. Believe me. Now available on six and nine milligrams. Want to learn more about zone nicotine pouches? Visit zone pouches.com and remember to join the zone loyalty program for exclusive rewards and offers. I'm going to say gentlemen, start your engines. What do we got? AFC East. All right. You ready for this? Yep. Yeah.

Will Campbell heard all of you guys, okay? And he was injured, all right? And now he has some reinforcements, a guy by the name of Elijah Vera Tucker, AJ Brown and Romeo Dobbs, incredible, incredible additions for Drake May, an MVP candidate, you might remember. And it's like,

I understand the Super Bowl losing team history of it all. but I don't know, man. I think Buffalo is going to come out of both of your mouths, and I like the New England Patriots to win the AFC East this year. You know, when they say their schedule got harder, it really did, dude. I mean, you know, like, I just want to say, and just for shits and giggles right now, this is one of those schedules where there's a lot of very good teams on it,

maybe not all elite teams. You've got the four games against Miami and New York, which kind of like if they don't win this division, it really helps them, you know, secure that wild card. You get four kind of, I don't want to disrespect my jets, but Cupcake-y type games.

I think because the schedule got harder, I said in the preview, I think there'll be a better team with a, with a worse record. I think it's going to take 12, 13 games to win this division. and I think they're going to come in under that and I'm going to take the bills. Now, I'm a giant homer

when it comes to the bills. I have an attachment to the team. I think they're very good. I think the quarterback's very good. So no shocker. I would have picked them again last year. I thought they were in the hunt, but it's going to come down to these two matchups probably.

And I think the bills have an edge. Were you my notes making? No. No, it was not. How did you know me and Chris? Chris both were going to pick the bills. Because as long as 17's a quarterback, everybody's going to. I mean, that's a fair assessment.

But I feel like maybe he has a couple of more pieces on offense. We're going to see what happens. But I think the bills, they finally get over the hump. I think they get over the hump this year. I feel better now. Why? Because I was like, whatever facts says in the hands. and the AFC East happens.

Yeah, I mean, last year, I mean, I did like the Pats last year. And I feel like the Pats are, they're always going to be a contender. So we've got two bills, one Patriot here. And listen, I think these two teams are very good. But if you don't win this division, it's going to be hard. Because I think the wild card could take 11 games in the AFC. So danger, danger, Patriots, we'll get to where we pick our wildcard teams after we picked the divisions. I need to mention that I went to a website that allowed me to click the result of every single game in the NFL season.

It didn't take as long as you think it would. And I said, instead of going the more successful Nate route of picking out crazy teams to win divisions and being right and being celebrated, I'm just going to stick with the results here. it popped out. Pat's 11 and 6, Bill's 11 and 6, but New England won that tiebreaker. All right. Interesting.

All right. Interesting. It's very interesting. I'm glad you took the time to do that. Let's get to the AFC. North. All right. The AFC North.

Definitely don't know what I picked here. Go ahead, Makin. Okay. It's funny. One of the reasons, not going to be that funny. One of the reasons why I don't like Buffalo as much as a surefire thing is because Joe Brady and Jim Leonard, we don't know what we're going to get necessarily. We also don't know what we're going to get from Jesse Mentor, but boy, do I love his four pillars

introduced to me by you, Chris, including obnoxious communication or whatever it is. what if he is Mike McDonald? What if he's Mike McDonald-Light? All right? What if John Harbaugh was holding these guys back a little bit? The first six games, here's five of the first six, Colts, Saints, Titans, Falcons, Browns. And when there isn't a whole lot of difference,

in my opinion, between Baltimore and Cincinnati, I like a team that's going to get off to a solid start, most likely four and two, five and one. Cincinnati, they take September off. They take September off. So, Trey Hendrickson, we'll see. It'd be really cool if Jacoby Lane turned into something or Walker or Surratt for Lamar. But until we see Derek Henry break down, I'm not going to bank on Derek Henry breaking down.

I like the Baltimore Ravens to when they have seen North. Go ahead, Nate. I'm going to pick a dark horse here. Dark horse alert. Now the show begins. Now the show begins. Let's go. It's the Steelers.

It's the Browns. It is the Steelers. That's made in heaven, dude. Man, I think Aaron Rogers, he is going to end his career on a good note. But they disappoint us in the playoffs. though, to be fair. That's their thing.

Like, that's why I could see when we go to coach of the year and this stuff, if I don't take the Ravens to go to the Super Bowl, they may well have a coach of the year candidate in Jesse Minter because he might win 13 games. You know, it might be, look at this guy. You know, that's kind of their MO is they're dominant in the regular season. So just to, I mean, throw my two cents in there. I don't know.

But the Steelers, I mean, the Steelers are going to be. solid, man. They're, like, on one hand, I love what they're doing. On the other hand, I kind of think they're just, they're chasing, um, chasing the dragon a little bit. I almost, I, I almost went with your boy, Joe Burrow, just off of one of his latest interviews. And I just feel like he's fed up.

This is, this is the last shot. I feel like the Bengals have to even, to even, to even, I, I feel. like if this season doesn't go right, the bangles, everyone in that organization is going to be on, do not disturb on Joe Burroughs phone. Like, and I think that team also, if they can keep him upright and keep him healthy, they always have a shot. So I feel like the AFC North is going to be interesting, but I'm going to go with the long shot and I'm going to pick the Steelers. Give me the bangles. I don't think it's going to be easy. But, you know, again, like, you know, it's big if stuff.

But even as much as Joe Burroughs gotten hurt, like to think it's, it's, you know, they're going to have bad injury luck again this year. I think last year had he stayed healthy, they win that division. I think that's not a hot take. You know, I took him last year. I'll take them again. I think Al Golden's unit is going to help a lot. Getting a lot better last year at second half of the season.

I talked about the way they improved. you know, kind of under the radar. I think a lot of times we make a decision on, on a, you know, a side of the ball with the team. And especially defensively, teams can make that leap from worse to, you know, middle of the road. And if they can be middle of the road, I think they run the ball well. I think Joe talked about how talented they are. You know, we, we talked about it coming to the season. Zach Taylor, you know, he doesn't have any excuses the way Joe's been talking about this group. And whether he was throwing, you know, not throwing Taylor under the bus, but, but, you know, preparing us for if we don't make the playoffs, this guy needs to be gone, man.

This is as good a team as we've had here. Or he really means it. I'm going to bet he means it, but I think he also wants everybody to know it. And if they don't get in the playoffs or if they don't make a deep run, something is seriously wrong in Cincinnati. I think a lot of I see a lot of people parading the offensive line as terrible take around. I think they have their issues up front, but I think that's a take where somebody's a little late to the party and is kind of just basing that off an aggregate of the Joe Burrow experience. I don't think this offensive lines as bad as it's been in the past.

I think it's actually not bad at all. So I could see this team being a number one seed. you know i'm not saying they will be but their schedule is fucking pretty easy um so i like the bangles in the north all right a fc south i uh i know that i know that duval county is involved but i hope we go three for three here because the houston texans i think are the one seat in the a fc i I think it's 13 wins. I think a, I know we don't know if it's a better offensive line yet. It's a different offensive line, but I like it.

I like Keelan Rutledge out of Georgia Tech. And if that different offensive line plus David Montgomery can be a pressure release valve for C.J. Stroud, the Higgins injury stinks. I just, I just think that offense can score enough to win 13 out of 17 games. speaks for itself. What is it? Texas-sized, whatever the S-I-cover was.

Read Blankenship, I think an underrated edition for the defense, and the front is just scary good. I think it's Houston in the south. Dovo! I know you guys didn't think I was going anywhere else. No.

Like, there's no way you guys thought, I was going to go anywhere else, but then to Duval County. That was foolish of us. So foolish. I love you guys. And I love the Texans, the green light. We get, we get love from that organization. We appreciate them.

But I'm going to go with the Jags. Yeah, no surprise here. I'm going to Texans. Yeah, listen, I think they're very good at, you know, I'm right there with. making on their ceiling. So, you know, I think they got better. You mentioned Rutledge. You mentioned, I don't know if you mentioned Teller or some of these other guys that they brought in, but Dave Montgomery is going to help a great deal. It's a team that got stuffed in the red zone a bunch

last year. And the quarterback played as bad as he could possibly play. And I'm convinced that if they got league average quarterback play in the playoffs they could win that super bowl last year they did not get that uh and if ifs were fifth or we'd all be drunk or whatever the fuck it was if but i'm just i look i look at this team and i say betting on the texans is just basically betting on c j stroud finding his footing a little bit you know i there were moments last year i bring up that Kansas City game on the road a lot where he found a way to make the throws. Got to be more consistent. The injury outside of Higgins really hurts, but you get Bouté in a trade.

And I think Tank Dell, we all wish the best for him, think he's going to come back and play well. I also think they really like the rookie tight end they got in Marlon Klein from Michigan. And so there's a lot to like about that offense. the defense is the defense, barring injury, barring some big regression from individual players. I think they win this division. And it's not about shading the Jags to me. I think the Jags had one of those years last year where a lot went right.

You know, the turnover margin was big time in their favor. I think camp's a great D.C. But, you know, it's hard to make plays on the ball like that, two years running. It's also losing A Chan offensively does hurt a little bit. I give the edge to Texans. I think they're going to be very, very good. And I forgot to even mention we'll talk about him later. But my guy, Travis Hunter, looking beefed up, is about to lock up your favorite number one wide receiver all year, guys.

Get ready. Get ready for some pick sixes, some touchdowns. and maybe a little bit of offense also i would love that excited i'm excited i'm excited that's what they should have done from the fucking minute he walked in the building yeah i'm i'm i'm excited but like yeah i'm excited for for the jaggs this season and hopefully Liam Cohen and you went through the whole thing without mention and tooting i without that's your guy yeah he's my guy i've been telling everyone he's probably other than a few other camp chancellor Not a lot of V-Tech guys I really, really root for or have a reason to root for,

but this kid, I think, is going to be special. If guys are in the right place, things, things, good things happen. And I just feel like the Jags, if they can keep the momentum of last season, it's going to be exciting for, for this division, for sure. Okay, so let's, let's go to the wildcard teams here. We've got to AFC West first. Weist, we got to do the Weist. Oh, shit.

My bad. My bad. It's like I'm avoiding the AFC West. Why? AFC West. Because I think it's hard to pick. Knockdown, drag out in part also because they're matched up with the NFC West, which isn't going to do anybody any favors.

So I've got three teams above 500, but barely. And the one I had a nose in front were the Kansas City Chiefs. Oh. Mostly because of a healthy Patrick Mahomes. Give me an MVP backed into a corner, doubted. Here are four words for you. Kenneth Walker the third. What if he's a legitimate run game answer?

What if the BN of me, Andy Reed combo, is back and informed? I just, I like a team with infrastructure like this. that's being talked about potentially third most in this division. Now, it is a torn ACL. There's not a whole lot of proven offensive talent around him, as is always the case. But in a division where they're going to knock each other down, NFC West, you're seeing the Rams and the Seahawks.

I like that, I like that institutional foundation in Kansas City, just a hair above Denver in L.A. Told you all last year early in the season, I didn't like how the Cheves look and that they wouldn't make the playoffs and that happened. But this year is going to be different.

I'm picking the Chiefs to win. Kansas City, they had a long offseason and they haven't had a long offseason like this in a while. So I just feel like everyone got rest. I feel like if everyone stays healthy, mainly Patrick Mahomes, I think they're going to be the team to be in this division. Yeah, I think a lot of good points are made there. Read the Chiefs. I think the big thing is the schedule is the far easiest schedule in that division.

And, you know, you talked about being backed into a corner. A lot of times with the team that doesn't perform well, you assume they're going to have all this bulletin board material. They're going to be motivated. I've said this before. You can't motivate a bad team to be good. You know, the Chiefs, there's a lot of new faces on the team, specifically on defense that I think the whole season is going to ride on. But I believe in Spags.

I believe in his ability to coach up the Delains of the world, the Woodses of the world. You know, they also added Tonga to the defensive line. The kid from Oklahoma can really rush. think he's got some juice. I think they'll be better than they were up front last year. Okay. I think the secondary, they'll have time to figure it out. And Noel Williams, guys like that, big swing players for them with Watson and McDuffie leaving. Sneed's got a knee. We'll see on that. But I think it comes down to the defense because the

offense is going to be better. Kenneth Walker, the third, the run game, the play action. Cyrus Allen's going to help them a lot, I hope. I think. And so, you know, I think the chiefs will be back to a degree. They lost a lot of one-score games last year. I don't expect that to happen again. The one question I have is Patrick Mahomes' health. And if you talk about playing corner in this division or having a dominant secondary in this division,

which the Broncos have, in these games, I don't think the Chargers have a tremendous group outside. I don't think Denver, although they add Waddle, I think Bo Nix has been pretty average in games against Spaggs so far. look at what it's taken to beat the Chiefs in these games so far in Bo Nix's career as a Denver Broncos starting quarterback. In 2024, that game went 16, 14. Then they played again when the Chiefs had it locked up in December. And then in 25, the game went 2219 and 2013.

So you think about that matchup with the Broncos. If the Chief's offense is better, then Denver has to score. And so I kind of, you know, put it together that way. All that having been said, I think the chiefs are going to win the division. So we're chief, chiefs, chiefs. That'll be fun. We're all in the chiefs. But I think this division, it's three teams with a winning record, like Macon said,

but possibly three teams around 10 wins for sure. And so three very good teams in this division. It's going to be hard to leave one out in the wild card race if we have to do that. So let's talk about the wild cards, guys. My three wild cards after division winners of New England, Baltimore, Houston, and Kansas City are Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Jacksonville. So I don't have an AFC West participant. You know, I think the other three teams have been mentioned. I'm with you guys.

Josh Allen isn't missing the playoffs. Joe Burrow, if healthy, isn't missing the playoffs. Jacksonville was a 13-win team and might not replicate that, but Liam Cohen is the goods. And I just see I see Denver and L.A. being really good and going 9 and 8 and missing the playoffs. Buffalo, Sincy, Jacksonville. My wildcar teams are going to be the Ravens, the Texans, and the Broncos. My three wild car teams, this was difficult for me.

I actually just decided it right this minute. You know, the first two slots for me, the Ravens aren't missing the playoffs. They win too many regular season games. You know, I do have concerns about their wide receiving core. Their interior offensive line, obviously, Jesse Minner is going to make that defense a real plus for them. But I think the Ravens get in the playoffs as a wild card. They win a lot of games. I think they're chasing a team that might.

might win 12 games in in the bangles i'm going to also put the patriots in this thing i think they're too good i think rabel's too good um i think the floor is too high on a team like that who got better from last year um i think they're a wild card team but i think they get in and then in the west i've got the chargers edging out the broncos to get in the playoffs i think the charges i thought about putting them as a division winner after doing that whole i'll never believe in the charges again diatribe at the end of last season um but i'm not going to going to I'm not going to give up on them completely. I think they're a wildcard team. I think the big question is Chris O'Leary defensively. Can he coach, especially the secondary,

the corners up to the level that Jesse Mentor did. But those are my three wildcard teams, the Ravens, the Chargers, and the Patriots. Okay. That is the AFC. Let's get to the NFC, making where are we starting? The NFC East. Now, I love the Philadelphia. Eagles, especially their fans. And I love, for the second time, I'll use the word infrastructure, run game, O-line, stuff you need to win games, Sean Mannion, hot commodity,

we shall see. I like the Dallas Cowboys to win this division. I think it comes down to the defensive coordinator, Christian Parker, coming over from Philly. He's a Richmond Spider. coached at Virginia State, shout out. He's got Quentin Williams, he's got Kenny Clark, he's got Rishon Gary,

overshone, Caleb Downs is everybody's favorite player after training camp. If that unit's a lot better, the offense is going to score a ton of points. I'm so impressed by DAC, who I don't think gets his due. more often than not. And he's just awesome. A top 10 quarterback, I'd say, for the vast majority of his career. I think Dallas gets over the hump, wins 12 games. It feels like a professional operation right now. Your shoddy seems to be a really good personality fit to be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, which can sometimes be a circus, but doesn't seem that way right now. I like Dallas and the NFC East.

Man, me and making are agreeing on a lot of things this year. I also have the Cowboys. I have it coming down to the Cowboys and the Eagles. And this year, I think just, yeah, I don't think the Giants are really ready to compete like that. And obviously, Jaden Daniels, he can. he's already proven that he can take that team to the playoff. So there's obviously a chance if he can stay healthy. But I really don't see the commanders making that much noise this year.

Yeah. So I'm going to be as honest as I can here. I went back and forth on this division. I think the Cowboys may well win it. Listen, I bet the Cowboys alternate overwin total. You know, it's juice to like, you know, I don't know. plus 170 or something. I think the Cowboys got a lot better on defense with Christian Parker and the rookies,

Barham, downs, those guys, the kid from UCF, they added Von Miller, you know, they've got a lot of good players. I am going to take the Eagles. I do think that the defense gives me a logical leg to stand on. This defense is going to be dominant again. I think Jalick's hunt is going to have a fantastic season. I think the safeties will be better than people think. You know, obviously you've got Quinyan and Cooper DeGine

who's going to play nickel. But in base downs, he's in the middle of field. You've got two of the best in the league up front on the interior and good linebackers. This is going to be a dominant defense. The whole thing comes down to Jalen Hertz and the offense. and the health of the interior offensive line. If the offensive line stays healthy,

I think they win the division, and I think Jalen is going to look better. But if the health of the offensive line isn't where we think it's going to be, this will be the Cowboys division, but I'm not going to predict injuries. I'll take the Eagles to win the division. Alrighty, NFC North.

My prediction is that we have three different division winners. here. I could see it. I could see any of these teams winning the division when I did my exercise on www.pick every single freaking game.com. I was shocked that by two games, I picked the Green Bay Packers to win this division. And I don't quite know how it happened. Maybe it is the schedule. Some improved corner play to hang on until Parsons is back. Jordan Love, highly efficient quarterback last year. I think that continues.

Had a lot of continuity with Matt LaFleur. Halfley's gone to Miami. This is the one where I'm least confident. you're throwing a dart. It could be, you know, Caleb's year two with Ben Johnson, vaults the bears. It could be that man Campbell and the lions haven't changed enough

where they just need to stay healthy and they'll be right there. And maybe Kevin O'Connell is the ultimate quarterback whisperer to Kyler. Green Bay. don't feel particularly confident about it. The Bears, the Indiana Bears. The Bears are going to be very, very, very scary this year. So we are all on different teams. I think the Lions regain their traction.

I think that what they've built is too respectable for me to write them off because they had a year. I think the window's been open for a little bit. They've installed a culture. They have a way of doing things. And I think last year they whiffed them. on the higher at offensive coordinator. I think Petting will be better.

And if guys like Blake Miller work out for them up front, I think they'll be tough to deal with. They still have, in my opinion, one of the best non-quarterback players in the league. And Jemir Gibbs, he's a nightmare to defend against. And with the receiving core they have, which is solid with the Amun Rah Saint-Brown headliner. And, you know, the run game, the whole thing,

I think they'll be back offensively. Defensively, I have concerns, you know, in the secondary and that sort of thing. And, you know, maybe some spots up front, the depth pieces you're not as familiar with. But they always do get that defense to play competitive. I think Kelvin Shepard's a really good defensive coordinator. And, you know, whoever's had to play corner nickel for them, they'll miss, you know, Amique Robertson and guys like that. And Terry and Arnold definitely had his highs.

And the other thing you have to worry about are the injuries in the secondary to start the season. But I think Detroit's the best team in the division. Now, I think Minnesota finishes second. I think Minnesota is going to surprise a lot of people. If you were to look at their team outside of the quarterback, I think there's a case to be made that they're right up there at the top of the division or maybe second in the quality. of the roster. So I think Minnesota is going to surprise a lot of people, but I think Detroit with their physicality and,

and you know, that whole like cornered animal deal that we kind of throw around. We talk about the chiefs and that sort of thing. I think it means something for Detroit. Give me Detroit to win the division. I like it. Tough one. NFC South,

less tough for me. I think the Saints give them a run for their money, but I still think it's Tampa. I read the word purgatory regarding Tampa this week, and I think that's right. Pencil them in for the four seed, and they're just not good enough to contend for a title. But it's Baker with something to prove as ever. I don't think any other team in the division got overwhelmingly better. Some got worse. I love, as I'm sure you guys do, the Ruben Bain pick. And, you know, it's still Vita Vaya.

It's still can't see. I think it's a good enough defense, a good enough offense to comfortably win enough games to win this division again. This is tough going back and forth. I think I'm going to pick the Falcons, guys. I think I'm going to pick the Falcons. This is going to be fun. A lot of good skill players. Obviously, Baker Mayfield has, is going to be,

they're going to be the team to beat, but we've seen Baker drop the ball late. No question. No, I got the bucks, man. Like, I had them going far last year. I think the injuries caught up to them. Definitely. I think they,

they whiffed on the O.C. Hire. They bring in a McVeatree guy, a guy that's worked with Baker before. You know, they draft, they've drafted well as of late. I always think lights a good GM. I think Bain's going to be a major plus.

I think their front is, you know, at least four deep with above average to elite starters. And, you know, offensively, a bunch of wide receivers, Bucky Irving, good offensive line. It's just they're the best team in the division. I think the Saints come in second. Saints have an easier schedule. but, you know, Saints also has some holes, in my opinion. I think they get better because of the H-N, you know, addition. But you also have injuries outside already with Tyson.

Alave's had injuries. I wonder if up front on either side of the ball, they're good enough to win this division. I got the bucks. And we're obligated to say the name Kenny Gamewell in addition. Kenny Gamewell is going to help. To Tampa. And I actually think.

think their ceiling's a little bit higher than you do make. I think they can make a run in the NFC. Okay. Okay. NFC West. We have the reigning Super Bowl champs. We have the most talked about team, one of the best rosters ever constructed. This was tough. I had these two teams with the same record, Seattle and L.A.

and the way it shook out, it was Seattle. I don't know that a champ has been this underestimated, and I just think they're so incredibly solid everywhere. We'll see if the Clint Kubi Act departure is meaningful. I think it's plug-in-play as much. much as I like Kenneth Walker, Judarian Price, seems to be like that guy from people who know what they're talking about. And Mike McDonald, man, it's all about him. It's, there's just, it's a drama free building and they, they win a ton of football games and beat you up doing it.

I think LA's right there when in 13 or 14 games. Stafford's 38. That doesn't automatically mean he doesn't play every game, but it's a factor. I think Super Bowl or bust can be a detriment. Some people are talking about whether they're going to lose any games at all. And I think that's a lot to put on a team. Puka, if you have them the entire year, that's great. I don't think that's a foregone conclusion. So I think there are more question marks. than you might think with L.A., but I think it's, I think they're both excellent, both playoff teens, both competing to play in the Super Bowl. And I'll go with the, the reigning champs, just by hair. I know everyone likes to talk about this team because of the substation,

but I feel like, don't do it. No, do it. Go ahead. Don't do it. Just do it. I think the 49ers can shock the world and pull this division out. First off, I think with San Francisco, I think the engine lights been on for some time. And sometimes when the engine lights light is on, you just drive and you say, hey, it'll work out. Like, I've done that before. I think the engine blows up a little bit this year. I think Seattle is going to be very good. They're going to be just the way they were last year.

But I think the Rams win this division. You know, I don't think they're one of the best teams of all time or something like that. I don't think that's what we're talking about. But I do think they're a very good football team that, you know, Les was like, hey, what's wrong with this roster and we're nitpicking? Let's go get Watson. Let's go get McDuffie. Aaron Donald's coming out of retirement.

the defense is going to be very tough to deal with. Chris Chula, one of the few guys who didn't get a head job last year that was in contention to get one. So you get the continuity there. You got McVeigh. You've got the whole offensive setup. They have the millions of tight ends, the solid offensive line. Give me the Rams. You know, we, Macon and I both took Seattle to win the division last year. And I love Seattle.

I think they're going to be, you know, one of the better teams. in the league for sure, top five type team, but they just happened to be in the Rams division. And mind you, last year, those matchups, they all came down to the end. And, you know, we certainly in matchup, too, felt like, hey, Seattle had a couple strokes of luck. And then the playoffs, they beat them fair and square, but the special teams has to get better for the Rams. Little things like that can swing this matchup the other way. I mean, you think about it, the first matchup, Darnold, through what, like four picks. they damn near win that game, which speaks to how good Seattle was last year,

but also the variability and the outcomes of these football games between these two teams, and they will have to play three times. You know, what happens in the playoffs? We'll see, but I think the Rams get the division. All righty, wild cards and the NFC. All right, go ahead, make. My division winners were Dallas, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, and Seattle. wild cards are Philadelphia, Chicago, and the L.A. Rams.

Three teams that have been talked about, I don't really know who's gotten snubbed here. The Niners, maybe, Nate's pick. I wrote down two futures, fellas. Bucks to make the playoffs plus 130. Okay. 55 grand gets you 126.5. Okay? Like that.

55 grand? You said? Yeah. Just pick a number. A number out there. Just throwing a number out there. Okay. Niners to miss the playoffs plus 122.

Yeah. So really hard to leave a team like the Detroit Lions out. I don't think there's a third team in the east, the Giants or the commanders. I don't think there's a second team in the south. And I'm with you on the engine light for. The Niners. Philly, Chicago, L.A. Rams. Go ahead, Nate.

Who are your wildcard teams? My wild car teams are going to be the Los Angeles Rams, the Eagles, and the Lions. No Seahawks. Say it again? No, Cahawks in the playoffs. No, no Seahawks in the playoffs. Wow.

No Cajal. Out of the damn dance. Okay. You're going on a bulletin board. That's a murderers row of wildcar teams. Those are good wildcard teams. I've got the Cowboys. I think the Cowboys could, shit, they could be, you know, the second seed in the NFC.

But I think they, you know, they end up winning the wild car birth with 10, 11 wins. Okay. And then I think the Seahawks get in. I think they end up winning 13, 12, 13 games, something like that. And then I think the Vikings, they're the big, you know, third to second story this year making. And they slide in the playoffs. So those are my three wildcar teams.

It is time to conclude this show with our Super Bowl picks, making you want to start us off. Sure. The SI cover reads Texas size goals, right? Yeah. I have the Houston Texans making it to that game to face the Dallas Cowboys. Ooh. Give me the Cowboys.

26 to 13 in the Super Bowl. Super Bowl, whatever the hell it is, in LA, everybody expecting to see the Rams, it's going to be a battle for Texas. Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl champs first time in 31 years. Wow. I had two different games I have in mind, but I think it's either going to be the Chiefs versus the Rams,

where I have the Rams edging out Patrick Mahom and the Chiefs 27 24 and it will be Aaron Donald and or Miles Garrett

ending the game with the heroic sack I think the Rams go I think the Rams certainly could be beaten by a team like Philly who's beating them before and you know if you have the rushers and then you got the cover guys

you know and you have an office line like Philly has where maybe you can buy Jalen some time. You know, Philly could beat the Rams. I think the Lions could beat the Rams. I think the Seahawks could beat the Rams, but I think the Rams beat the Lions in the NFC championship in a sad twist of fate for Jared Gough. And then I think the Texans get there. I think Texans and the Bills who open the season, playing the AFC Championship. And that's been a real bugaboo for the bills. We'll see if DJ Moore's edition helps out there.

Maybe one more guy that they haven't had available can swing that matchup. But I like the Texans to go. And I like the Texans. I'm going to do something outside the box here. I know it's not too outside the box. But I'd hate if I didn't pick the Texans, and I was a year early on that team, I think the Texans win a 2420 games. And I think Tank Dell scores the game winning touchdown under two minutes to go in the football game.

And if that happens, I'll just retire. But I think it's the Texans and the Rams. And I think the Texans have what it takes to batter a 38-year-old quarterback in Matthew Stafford. That game happened last year. It was a low-scoring football game. This kind of game, the Texans can win. So, yeah, I think that's going to be my Super Bowl. Gentlemen, we can make our picks, you know, later this week or something for, you know, MVP,

offensive rookie of the year, defensive rookie the year, all that stuff, coach of the year. But that is it for today, the division winners, the wild cards, and the Super Bowl matchups. Before we wrap up, we got Cowboy Reed here who's going to go through Steve and Bow's picks real quick just to see if there's any laughers. these guys can't make the podcast. Division winners from the AFC, Bo and Steve went three for four, same picks.

They both had Patriots, Bengals, Texans. Bo went chargers. Steve went Broncos. In the NFC, Bo had Eagles, Vikings, Bucks, Rams. Steve had Cowboys, Packers, Buck, Seahawks. They're wild cards.

Bo went Bill's Chiefs Broncos. Steve went Bill's Chiefs Chargers. Bo, Seahawks, Cowboys, Bears. Steve had the Rams, Vikings, and Lions. Macon, Steve was all over your Super Bowl matchup, although he predicts the Texans to win 27, 26 over the Dallas Cowboys. Bo has an L.A. Super Bowl in L.A. Rams versus Chargers. He didn't settle on a score yet. Hopefully he will soon.

Well, there you have it, guys. Everybody here has accounted for as well as those who couldn't join us. But join us later in the week as we recap the same. season opener, which is coming. It's coming Wednesday, and we can't wait. So none of this bullshit happens in pro football. You don't have to worry about controversial endings in pro football. That never happens.

So can't wait for that to get going. Y'all take care.